Giving and Sharing

Cuaca skang kat UK ni dah makin sejuk. Mmg confirm la autumn has come. For the 1st time smlm dah pasang heater, tp sekejap je, utk keringkan baju2 yg dibasuh (we don't have a dryer). Generally the temperature ranges from 8-17C, with the average being 14C. All week hujan or selang seli dgn sunny intervals. Daylight plak dah semakin pendek, dah jd lebih kurg waktu Msia aje, yakni Subuh masuk 5.30 pagi, Maghrib 7 pm.

Hari ni dapat parcel from my Mom, so gigih la dlm hujan brek brek kata org Klate tu, aku menapak gi post office collect. It consisted a few goodies termasuk lah rempah kari ikan, rempah kari daging, kerepek pisang, serunding gulung dan tidak lupa jg sandal utk Aisyah. I am very happy!





Di lab plak dah ada seorg budak PhD baru drpd Germany nama Christ. Again, terasa senior and berdebar x psl mengenangkan tick tock tick tock PhD clock. Oh, before I forget, on Wednesday, my lab mate Al defended his thesis and telah berjaya dgn successfully nya! Utk pengetahuan umum, ini adalah his 2nd PhD, his first one was done sometime in the late 90s. Mmg hebat la mamat ni sbnarnya. He shared his viva experience with me. Apparently, it was incomparable to his 1st viva, yg ni mmg kaw2 dia kena grilled dgn examiners sbb diorg tahu he is a PhD holder dah pon. In fact, dia ada 2 External Examiners lg instead of just one kalo kes2 org lain, sbb nya dia adalah Research Associate skang ni bekerja di UoP, so x nak ada bias di situ. Kata dia lg, masa 1st viva dia kena 2 jam je, this time, kena 3 jam setengah. Fuhhhh!

One top tip though, kalo anda ada website yg digunakan sebagai marketing tool yg menunjukkan diri anda atau reserach anda terlalu best, sila adjust kasi modest sket. Sbb nya, kata Al, lps dah lulus tu, examiner tu ckp kat dia, mmg sengaja kasi susah sbb website dia listkan achievements dia yg sgt impressive. Tu la dia, zaman IT, examiner pon check out korg sapa tau dok. Silap2 bukak FB kita lg, yikes!

So he shared a few more tips and pointers, and I gave him a Congratulations card. Then he handed me down his book, titled 'How to Survive Your Viva', by Rowena Murray (2009). According to him, this book got him prepared very well utk viva kali ini, and buku ni bagus sbb dia bgtau what to do bila dah submit and 1 month aprior to viva date, what to do at 2 weeks approaching the viva date, then 1 week bila dah nak viva, and so on. So he said he knew how to fill in his time doing useful things that he otherwise wouldn't have. I have just gotten this from him this morning, so x baca lg. But knowing Al, the book should be good sbb a few books dah dia rekomen kat aku, semuanya ok2 belaka. Even a few yg aku pernah reviewed kat blog ni satu ketika dulu pon mmg atas saranan beliau. So, those yg nak viva soon, bole la try2 baca ek, kot2 membawa manfaat.


In return to all the goodness I received today, plus it is a weekend dah pon, meh aku share a few good movie trailers yg aku rasa bisa menyemarakkan api perjuangan PhD kita. Kalo malas nak baca buku, bole la layan cerita2 ni. Sila la dload di VeeHD or torrent sendiri ek hehehe....

(1) Pursuit of Happiness

Why:
Because kita selalu ingat perjalanan PhD kita dah susah sgt, dah sengkek separuh mati bergolok gadai, tp bila tgk cerita ni jd insofff



(2) Fireproof

Why:
To make you feel warm and fuzzy inside, and menghargai pasangan hidup yg dah sama2 berkorban demi mencapai cita2 ni. Biasa la, time2 stress belajar tu pastinya ada bertelingkah dan bertikam lidah, tp sayang tetap sayang oooo... kiss and make up balik ok :)



Kalo x nak tgk cerita, dgr lagu pon ok gak, aku rekomen:

(1) While I'm Waiting (Soundtrack Fireproof)

Why:
Kita selalu rasa kita lost x de sapa nak tolong guide, or doa berbakul2 tp x dijawab Tuhan, tp sebenarnya Dia dgr, dan respon, tp pada masa yg Dia rasa sesuai, yg di luar pengetahuan kita. Tipu la kalo spjg buat PhD ni kita x rasa mcm ni kan? kan? kan?

(2) We Want the Same Thing

Why:
Ni saja dedikasi kat korg yg buat PhD. And bcoz I heart Belinda Carlisle, ngeh ngeh...

Have a Good Weekend, Peace!