Next step September 29, 2006

Dunno why – I seem to be very sensitive lately. Maybe because the thought of leaving Malaysia in November. Yesterday Ayah called me back after he got the sms. Looks like he flattered for my sms.

As for my studies.. I think I want to start new. No reply from Sheffield. I’m waiting for the offer letter from University of Southampton by mail. I should take 2 weeks or more. Meanwhile, I will find other places.. cheaper places to live in, and for studies. First, will check the RAE 2001 ratings. Then, will search for any suitable supervisor start from universities in North UK. If none will do, then will go to Southampton in November. Just do it, girl! Everywhere we go, there must be obstacles to make us stronger and we should appreciate all the chances given.

Selamat hari lahir, Ayah September 28, 2006

Today my father’s birthday. Sudah 60 tahun.. huu.. bila difikirkan average age Malaysian men, rasa macam dah tak lama I boleh spend masa dgn my parents. I love them dearly. Pagi ni masa makan sahur, I makan sayur pecal. Arwah Uwan I selalu buat hidangan tu utk I masa dia masih ada. Pagi ni bila makan sayur tu, teringat kat dia. Rindunya..

Pastu I hantar sms kat my father ..

“Selamat hari lahir, Ayah. U shd be proud of urself n thanks to Allah.. Having great kids who love u dearly, ur health is excellent, a wife who’s always with u through good and bad times, already perform the 5 rukun Islam.. Cherish these 60 years of life that is dreamt of by all mankind. Semoga dapat teruskan hari-hari mendtg dengan penuh rahmat & kasih sayang Tuhan. I love u.”

Lepas send sms tu, boleh nangis la pulak. Isk.. isk.. Tapi, truthfully.. kalau I jadi my father, memang banyak perkara yg patut disyukurkan.. bahagianya hidup. Tapi utk capai bahagia tu, like what my mom said to me; perlu ada banyak pengorbanan dan cabaran yg perlu dilalui. Dan akhirnya, barulah nampak betapa kesabaran dan ketabahan tu membuahkan hasil..

Terlalu banyak maklumat September 27, 2006

Salam semua,

Beberapa perkembangan terkini :

1) IELTS results poyo – tak lepas band yg dikehendaki oleh Sheffield. Tapi, kementerian dah turunkan band IELTS yg jadi syarat utk sambung belajar kepada 6.0. So, I lepas laa. Anyway, mmg tak sempat kalau nak pergi jugak dalam masa 5 hari – visa, JPA, KPT, pendaftar. Erkk..

2) Camanapun, University of Southampton terima band results IELTS I tu. Sekarang tgh dalam proses tunggu offer letter drpd depa. Tapi.. Prof yg nak jadi supervisor I tu nampak rock lah.. camana ek? Ada juga khabar yang cost of living di Southampton tu tinggi. Habis.. camana ngan impian I yg nak bawa balik Merc utk my father?

3) So, dengan cadangan drpd boss I, I minta juga ke University of Sheffield; tapi kat Information Studies Dept (last time ialah Comp Sc dept). Bidang – Cheminformatics. Just try my luck la.. I tak de proposal pun and also don’t have any research experience in that field. Tunggu je camana..

4) Puasa setakat hari ke-4 ni rasa okay la.

Anyway, rutinnya.. I akan bangun 4.30 am, panaskan lauk utk org rumah, buat air teh, kejutkan people yg susah nak bangun, makan sahur, pastu meratah lauk sampai azan. Bila dah azan, I akan kacau baby yg tengah tidur beberapa round, pastu mandi, seterika baju kerja & solat Subuh. After solat, baca Ma’thurat. Hopefully semua dipermudahkan Allah – proses nak pergi cuti belajar hingga selesai dapat PhD. Ustazah I kat sekolah dulu kata amalan baca Ma’thurat mmg boleh mempermudahkan urusan harian. Kalau tahun2x lepas I join jugak group tadarus masa lunch. Tapi this year, belum lagi setakat hari ke-4 ni. Hmm..

Tapi yg seronoknya, mmg datang awal kat kerja masa Ramadhan – hopefully berterusanlah sampai bila-bila. Pastu, petang I akan ambil Hazeeq kat tadika and bawa dia beli lauk kat pasar Ramadhan yg berdekatan. Then, kitorang akan buka posa; and pastu solat Maghrib, mandi and Isyak. Around 10 pm, masuk tido.

5) Semester ni I mengajar Sistem Maklumat Berelektronik. Banyak juga pengetahuan I bertambah. Seronok! I cuma hairan.. camana ada sesetengah org yg boleh cope dgn semua jargon dlm IT, since technologies moving rapidly. Then my friend kata I should try Digg & Slashdot. Hmm.. jadi, setiap hari I kena update diri I dgn :
a. Berita semasa local & international- www.bharian.com
b. Current IT news for nerds – slashdot.org
c. Check e-mail & appointments – Outlook
d. Diigo any relevant/interesting web pages – www.diigo.com
e. Blog anything necessary

6) I mmg tak boleh hidup tanpa Nokia! Last month baru je beli Motorola L6. Lawa konon.. tapi setakat itu jelah kot. Tiap-tiap malam termimpikan Nokia flip. So, last week I habiskan duit beli Nokia 6131 .. geram! Best betul.. barulah hari-hari lepas tu rasa tenang sikit . I rasa Nokia ni mmg best dari human interface dier.. tak susah nak cari something inside the phone. Yg paling cekai pun model dia mesti able utk letak notes and reminder yg mudah digunakan. Motorola ada reminder-tapi x blh edit & x blh delete? Eee.. itulah last time I akan pakai Motorola rasanya ..

7) Personally I rasa hidup I semakin baik. Emosi semakin tenteram – walaupun selau gak menangis mengenangkan akan tinggalkan Malaysia for some time. Nasib baik bawak Hazeeq.

Lastly, this week is the last week that I will be teaching before pursuing my studies. Next 2 weeks, akan sibukkan diri dgn preparation IELTS -jika kena ambil semula. Kalau tak payah ambil, then I akan sibukkan diri dgn marking assignments & buat web site jabatan. Habiskan kerja-kerja berbaki sebelum cuti belajar.

I think I want to stop here. Will get back to you soon for updates!

Luv,
shereen

Busy weeks ahead September 3, 2006

IELTS?.. I rasa macam teruk je smlm. Masa listening, rasa cam berangan.. masa reading mcm tak paham.. masa writing rasa mcm terlalu byk idea scattered around.. masa speaking rasa mcm malas nak bercakap. Errkk.. letih sangat after that 2 hrs 45 mins tu.

Teruk giler .. tak tahulah camana resultsnya on 15th ni. Hopefully everything will be ok.. RM510 if want to resit 4 the exam.1/2 ribu tu..

Around 4.30 pm, gi Pertama. Sibuk sgt nak beli handphone. Memula nak beli flip Motorola V3 to be exact.. cantik giler. Lepas survey few shops, rata-rata kata flip mmg ada problem. Misalnya.. kalau jatuh, mmg skrin blh blank; which is to me.. dropping the phone is quite usual. So.. drpd membazir utk something too fragile to handle, better opt for value of money. Dah lepas berhempas pulas, decided to pick the Motorola L6. Harga.. RM480; pink, limited edition dgn set original; comes with original charger, cable & handsfree. Trade-in old hp with RM150, all in all have to pay only RM330. Oklah.. not bad kan? Kawan tu cam kecewa je i beli pink color.. he said, “Warna camtu menarik perhatian”. I replied, “Pink melambangkan org yg tak malu menjadi seorg perempuan”. That phone is mine.. mine and mine. Har.. har..

Today nak buat soalan exam final .. Monday, 4th buat semakan soalan.. Tuesday nak submit and taksir soalan tu. Wed & Thurs ada bengkel ASP kat lab.. Friday buat lawatan LI. Hujung minggu tu akan melawat a friend yg baru giving birth to her 3rd child (napelah I blh stay sorang je?) and going to my mom’s. The very next week start from Mon 11th penuh ngan aktiviti buat soalan mid sem, marking exam papers, periksa assingments, prepare lecture notes etc. Wed akan ambil gambar passport utk whole family.. Thurs the 14th akan buat passport. Fuihh.. list all the details pun dah cukup penat! Boleh bayangkan tak i nak bertolak ke Sheffield on the next Thurs the 20th?! I rasa quite impossible laa.. tak larat!

Sedihnya nak tinggalkan Malaysia.. especially family and org tersayang. I harap tak banyak sgt perkara sentimental yg akan berubah. Jika ada perubahan pun, i harap semuanya utk kebaikan.. mcm peningkatan taraf hidup, perkembangan dlm pekerjaan, kematangan fikiran. And I might miss some of my brother’s/sister’s wedding.. masing-masing pun dah besar panjang.. dah ader aweks/balaks. Paling cepat maybe I will miss Ija’s giving birth to her 1st child (not even pregnant yet now) and Ijal’s wedding (he has gf already, but said to finish their housement for medical practice first).