Monday, May 30, 2011

Running In the Rain

Resumed my running regime again. Lama dah tinggal, sblm gi Lisbon kot last berlari2an. Kebetulan smlm kat Plymouth mmg ada annual half marathon nya, byk jalan raya tutup or diverted. Tp aku x join la, ish 13 miles tuh. Nasib baik x terserempak ngan diorg, kalo x wat malu je, pelari2 hardcore tuh.

Here are some pics. I love the roses yg blooming dkt park ni, and bunga apatah tp mcm kat cover perfume Kenzo tu. But as you may gather from the pics, the weather lately ni mmg rasa mcm nak winter la. Sejuk dan mendung aje (12C in May?). It feels like nak masuk Autumn plak. Tido menggagau cari stokin you... Even nak keluar pon kena pakaikan Aisyah hat utk elak sejuk, as you can see in the 2nd last pic tu. Actually masa tu dia tgh excited nak tgk rainbow kat window bilik, cerah kjp lps hujan masa tu. SubhanAllah mmg cantik. Apapon, I hope summer arrives soon, it's almost June already, crikey!










New School

This June Aisyah will turn three. That means she's big enough to sit the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. Skang ni pon Aisyah dah pergi nursery, tp sbb dah pindah rumah baru ni, dpn rumah betul2 ada satu lg primary school, so awal2 lg hari tu dah apply utk dpt kan grant utk hntr dia ke situ.

Alhamdulillah, last week dah dpt application result dia, and kitaorg dah pon pegi melawat school tu utk jumpa2 dgn guru kelas dia serta tgk2 persekitaran. Aisyah is due to start this July, full days (9 am-3pm) on Mondays and Thursdays and half days (9am -11.30 am) on Tuesday and Wednesdays. She'll have lunches at school for two days at an extra cost, tp saja agree to it so that dia belajar mkn sayur dan mknan seimbang serta latih palett dia mkn western, kat umah asyik mkn nasi. Plus dpt la dia mkn ngan kawan2 sesekali kan.

Then comes the hard part, writing the resignation letter to her now nursery.

Haih, hati mmg berbelah bagi lah. Nursery lama ni bagus standard pendidikan dia, dan facilities dia tu better drpd sekolah dpn umah ni (sbb nursery tu private school, sekolah dpn ni community school), tp grant utk Aisyah ni hanya lah akan start in September, whereas sekolah baru ni start July lg, so di situ aje dah dpt save dkt 500 pounds. The other reason is distance lah, of course. Nursery yg skang ni dlm 20 minit jalan kaki dari rumah, naik bukit some more. Yg baru ni mmg literally dpn umah saja, 2 minits tops. Dgn jadual kitaorg yg packed dan hidup x berkenderaan plak ni, mmg senang lah apa2 kalo Aisyah sekolah dkt umah aje, hujan x sempat basah, perjalanan pergi-balik pon jimat masa.

Tp sayang plak nak uproot dia from her friends - Alisha, Marksie, Amelia, Lucy, Alex, etc... And sekolah baru ni campur umur 3 thn dgn 4 thn dalam satu kelas yg besar, whereas sekolah yg private tu asing2. Bkn apa, agak hiruk pikuk masa aku tgk hari tu, takut Aisyah jd ganas plak/kena bully dgn budak2 yg lebih besar physically and mentally drpd dia, but at the same time, kalo think positively, mmg cpt belajar la sbb berkawan dgn budak lebih matang. Tp budak ramai pon rasanya ok kot, sbb saiz kelas and garden jauh lebih besar drpd nursery skang. Oh, and one other plus point, Irshad si bestfren / playdate Aisyah tu pon masuk kelas ni jgk September nanti, so ada la dia kawan yg dah kenal dlm tu.

But when borak2 dpt tau cikgu kelas Aisyah tu pon dulu keja kat nursery Aisyah skang before jd cikgu kat sekolah baru ni, aku rasa tenteram sket. Mesti la sekolah ni lebih bagus ek kalo dia sendiri pon pindah sini? Betul x? Lg satu, cikgu ni ckp, boyfren dia org half-Msian pon, so senang la cerita kan?

Nak mengamankan lg hati, compared OFSTED report antara dua institusi berkenaan. OFSTED report ni tiap2 tahun dia buat and update utk seluruh sekolah2 di UK, even nursery and jg kepada chilminder or babysitter berdaftar tau, so sapa2 nak enrol anak2 dia kat mana2 sekolah atau individu utk jaga, bole check terlebih dahulu. Ni ala2 nazir dtg cek sekolah la kot, tp OFSTED report ni lebih telus dan open, sapa2 bole access. Alhamdulillah, report antara dua sekolah ni lebih kurg sama aje. Tp aku amik excerpt report utk sekolah baru ni yg aku rasa interesting:

Mount ***** Primary School serves an inner city area of Plymouth that has much higher levels of deprivation than average. <--- depressing

It is of average size and has a higher than average number of pupils who speak English as an additional language <--- agak depressing jgk, but aku rasa ni sbb ramai foreign students mcm aku hntr anak2 kat sini, sbb sekolah terlalu dkt ngan Uni, and students mmg la flocking duk dkt2 Uni jgk kan.

The number of pupils who arrive at or leave the school part-way through is much higher than usual <--- ok konfem ramai international students punya anak, sbb enter and leave part-way, ye lah, habis PhD balik negeri la kan?

The provision for the children in the Nursery and Reception classes is good with some outstanding features. <-- bagus2

Communication, language and literacy are particularly weak when children start school but the good teaching and strong emphasis on phonics, reading and writing help children to achieve well in these areas. The children settle in quickly and, because of their excellent personal development and well-being, they develop high levels of confidence, independence and self-esteem. <--- masa dtg hari tu, cikgu dia ckp lps ni dia nak ajar phonics. Hebat tu, aku tau la bukan senang, at least when you are training computers sbb ada baca2 gak bab Speech Synthesis in order to get around my PhD work ni (music synthesis).

The support that children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language receive is excellent. This is because of the outstanding care of teachers and specialist teaching assistants and the very good use that is made of specialist support services, such as the ethnic minority achievement service and speech and language therapist. <--- perfect for Aisyah who is multi-lingual!

Pupils' personal development and well-being are outstanding. Pupils behave exceptionally well, demonstrating extremely caring and responsible attitudes towards each other. They work hard, play very well together, and say that they really enjoy school. <--- lega, x yah bimbang psl budak2 nakal di sekolah ni

They have an outstanding understanding of life in multicultural Britain and have very positive attitudes towards learning about cultures different from their own; as one pupil said, 'The nice thing about this school is all the children from different countries.' <--- again, mmg ramai la ni international students punya anak2 di sini. Heck, Aisyah and Irshad je dah dua org non-British :P

The school has an excellent reputation for high quality public music and drama performances. Basic skills such as literacy, numeracy, information and communication technology (ICT) and team working are encouraged so that pupils are well prepared for their future economic well-being. <--- I love arts and performances, so can expect Aisyah and Irshad in this year's Christmas play la kan? *excited*

Overall I am impressed with the report and all doubts have been put away. Generally, sekolah ni dpt Grade 2 in most areas, and Grade 1 in care and development, and very in tune with students of non-English backgrounds, which I think is more important than everything else. Hopefully Aisyah will have a jolly good time at the nursery. Dah last year in school dah for her, x sempat la dia nak merasa Reception or Year One di negara org....








Sunday, May 29, 2011

Am Getting The Hang of This Playdate Thing...

Kalo last entry diorg lom mandi pagi2 bertandang ke rumah Shafie, this one plak in the afternoon, at our place. Having had zero experience in the field of playdate chaperoning, I just winged it lah heheh. Thank goodness, with the help of pizza, chocolate doughnuts, orange juice and back-to-back shows of Backyardigans, it was a breeze and quite fun, for ME, never mind the children. Hehehe... Next step, sleep over. May be...












Saturday, May 28, 2011

The Perks of Living Next Door to Another Malaysian Family...

Is the opportunity to have impromptu playdate. Like this one, semua x mandi pon lg, tp bole siap peluk2 dah - Aisyah, Irshad & Safiyyah :)



Hehe..


Friday, May 27, 2011

Best Day

Kenangan semasa my Ayah and Umi dtg hari tu. Most of the time duk umah je, and kalo keluar pon shopping2 locally. Diorg nak spend time dgn cucu, x heran dah jalan2 sgt ni, especially since this is the second time they came to Plymouth and had once lived on the outskirt of London once upon a time, so mmg x kisah dah bab2 tu. Tp carboot tetap agenda wajib hehehe... Anyway, visitnya skjp aje, tp terubat la rindu seketika... I've put all the pics in one video coz there are quite a lot that I would love to treasure them all. Background song plak drpd Taylor Swift's 'Best Day'. Mmg mendalam maknanya, sbb dia pon decicate lagu ni utk parents dia jgk. As her fan, mmg menyengat betul la dgn jiwa dan tema hari ni... Suka lagu dia sbb lirik penuh makna, dan bkn ulang2 mcm Lady Gaga dan other lagu yg memeningkan kepala. Aku plak mmg layan lagu2 country, so enjoy lah ye...








Thursday, May 26, 2011

Hello?

Forgive me dear blog, for I have abandoned thee...

Lama x menulis. Bkn x mahu, tp x sempat. Bkn x de idea, tp x kena masa nya dan temanya. kemudian bila dah berminggu2 x berkarya, mula rasa complacent and agak freeing jgk rupanya x terikat dgn kewajipan menulis blog. Patut lah ramai rakan seper-blog-an dah keciciran and abandoned blog masing2, bila dah tinggal mcm best jgk, x semak2 kepala, x tercungap2 cari masa... Dah la mmg jammed habis kepala otak nak manage masa ni, especially since dah summer hari makin pjg, mlm makin pendek. Byg kan lah mcm mana mengantuknya kalo nak tggu Isya yg masuk pkl 11.30 mlm tu baru masuk tido, and pkl 5 pg dah habis subuh. Konfem lps Subuh tido balik, maaf lah x dapek den nak berjago tahan mato study ...

Sebenarnya byk dah entry nak diluahkan, buat waiting for the right time. Now sbb kerja pon mcm kureng progress, I am wondering kalo2 blocked sbb x lps gian memblog kah? Hopefully lps ni dah buang habis, lancar balik workflow. And of coz, peminat2 *ahem* dah ada jg bertanya2 bila nak update, so seharusnya la iols memenuhi peminat theyols kan?

But seriously, mmg teramat2 x de masa nak layan blog sejak pindah umah end of April hari tu. Mula2 busy packing, lps tu busy moving and unpacking la kan. Also internet masa pindah rumah tu ada interuption, of coz la kan, what do u expect tukar alamat n servis provider. Then pindah x sampai seminggu pergi Lisbon plak. A week after, my parents came to visit, tu pon byk nak share gmbr, tp x sempat2, hatta kat FB pon x tertempek2 lg. Then my parents balik tu, layan2 blues malas nak hapdet. A few days after, we got the news that my BIL's wife had lost their 5.5 months baby in utero, and we were very much saddened by this. It was too upsetting too write about, so I leave it at that. Not two days had gone past, then the landslide in Msia struck, and we found out an almost family member of ours was there at the orphanage, tertimbus lebih 8 jam sblm ditemui. He survived, Alhamdulillah, but had many complications. No way can I write after a news as shocking as that has hit. Apapon, sama2 lah kita berdoa moga Allah cpt menyembuhkan beliau dan memberi kekuatan dan kemudahan utk mengharungi hidup ini after a very traumatizing event.

Tp kalo dah nama nya blogger kan, lambat laun ianya kembali menghadap papan kekunci jua. Insya Allah lps ni this blog will be updating spt biasa, depending on how tied up I am with work. It really does my head melihatkan my carta Gantt yg x sampai lg setahun harus balik sudah. Anyways, this entry is a start lah, to let u guys know we are orait, Alhamdulillah... Thanks for still browsing and staying around whilst we were gone. Hopefully we will be up and running like normal after, Insya Allah...




Saturday, May 7, 2011

Ultimate Reason for Not Blogging


My parents arrived here on Friday to visit us from Malaysia, Alhamdulillah!!! *ecstatic*

Eh esok Mother's Day di Msia eh? Caught me off guard sbb di UK Mother's Day dah lps...


Thursday, May 5, 2011

Escort ke Mascot?


Eh, kata nak cerita psl Lisbon lg?

Alah.. cerita pjg2 pon bkn nya ada org baca pon agaknya, so hari ni rasa nak tukar selera cerita benda selain Lisbon lah. Malas nak karang pjg2. Kalo bukak cerita Lisbon kena buh gmbr berkeping2, internet kat umah ni mcm har*m sket ni kurg kesabaran nak buat...

Smlm gi rehearsel gamelan. This 17th kitaorg ada gig dkt uni sempena Arts Show, so smlm for the 1st time ever, semua org turned up dan berlatih bersungguh2. Hasilnya, wah, kiatorg sudah mula berbunyi seperti layak main dpn org, dpt la dgr bunyi merdu isntead of bunyi tunggang langgang. Aku telah mengambil langkah bijak dgn volunteer turun takhta, dan main bass sahaj(Jegog instead of Kantil) sbb byk kali missed prektis sempena gi Portugal dsb nya, plus smlm and maybe the next prektis pon kena bawak Aisyah bersama coz tiad siapa yg bole tolong tgk kan Aisyah kejap. Dulu rumah dkt dgn Aunty Nad si Aisyah ni, so kejap2 leh tumpang kan. Skang dah dkt dgn Uni tp jauh dgn Nad, so mmg kena gilir2 swap childcare ngan Hubs (ptg2 beliau bekerja).

Anyways, lapang dada ku sbb main bass ni kacang mak labu (main beat 4/4) x payah susah2 main mcm lipas kudung spt slalu. Siap bole layan2 Aisyah lg sesambil main kuheh kuheh. Kena ingat utk lagu Sekatian dgn Manuk Rawa aku main alat Jegog. Tp cikgu tu kata next songs (Gopola, Longgoran and Gambangan) kena main balik Kantil. Ok lah, we'll see how. Now that we're starting to sound good, can't wait to be able to perform all 5 songs.

Gmbr di atas adalah budak Aisyah semasa ikut pretis. Dia duduk dlm tricycle dia diam2, tp dia takut sbb bunyinya kuat. Heh. Jgn kan dia, kalo org x biasa dgr Gamelan Bali mmg menakutkan bunyi dia, mcm mistik2 seram sket, bkn lemah gelamai mcm Gamelan Terengganu. Anyways, bcoz she is such a good girl cikgu kelas ckp nak jd kan dia escort music team kitaorg ni, so nnt hari kejadian nak kena pakaikan dia baju kurung (or kebayu if dpt cari), mengiringi kitaorg masuk woo hoo...

Oh ye, baju uniform team kitaorg mmg baju kebaya kain batik Indon ye, budak2 omputih ni sgt la jakun x reti nak pakai, but ckp cantik, cantik... Dan mmg diorg kalo tinggi lampai kulit putih sgt la cantik memakai nya, compared ngan kita yg renek2 sawo matang ni kan. Yg guys plak mmg mcm pahlawan, siap sampin, and head gear. Cikgu pesan dkt guys suruh jgn lupa pakai seluar dlm nnt, sbb sudahnya cikgu tu jgk yg kena kilas kan kain sampin tu sbb x de sapa yg tahu pakai, x hingin dia tgk benda2 bergayut sbb x de sense utk pakai sepender!

Enough psl gamelan. Aisyah smlm dah dibawa masuk ke kelas 3-4 years old di nursery. Dia akan masuk umur 3 tahun this June, and akan naik kelas la kiranya, tp sudah dibiasakan masuk kelas baru tu dari skang, nak amik feel kata org. Looks like she fits right in, x takut dgn budak2 senior yg besar dan tinggi sket drpd dia. Siap sound lg budak2 yg main puzzle x reti simpan, 'It's messy. Tidy up!'. Garang wooo anak dara aku, tp pembersih :)

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Lisbon, Portugal Days 2 - 4: Knowledge Sharing





Time, oh time, where art thou? Cpt betul siang mlm siang mlm, kemas nya x sudah2 lg... Laundry has been done and folded, tinggal nak get back into proper routine at the new house je skang ni. And yes, claim travel expenses, which can be quite daunting, the paperwork.

Anyway, mencuri masa dlm half an hour buat entry ni sblm basi. Today nak share psl knowledge yg berjaya dicekup semasa di sana. Okay, this entry might be boring to some, but mmg pon perjalanan ke Lisbon ni atas nama kerja, so kita dahulu kan yg lebih penting lah kan. Yg jalan2 will follow shortly after this entry.

So my conference was for three days, held at the Instituto Superior Tecnico (IST). Sangka kan sbb nama institut, ala2 kecik je tempat nya. Rupa2nya, besar jgk, sbb nama je institut, tp sbnarnya ala2 universiti where ada lebih kurg 13000 undergrads, and around 1000 postgrads, of which 40 plus PhD candidates - ni mungkin ala2 ITM satu ketika dulu la, nama institut but in actual fact dah mmg uni pon, dan mungkin jg pilihan pertama pelajar2 nak buat degree. Dkt IST ni mmg fokus nya pada Teknolgi semata, agak intimidating sbb di kelilingi pakar2 dlm bidang engineering (diaorg campur comp sci & engineering together2), with the main focus at telecommunications. The conference venue itself was di Faculty Civil Engineering, so mmg nervous2.

[1] So lps dah rehearse2 lg sket pagi nya tu lps Subuh, maka bersiap2 sedia lah ke tempat konferensi spt di bawah. Knp posing mcm org nak jogging? Well, harus lah show off sket seluar slack hamba spt yg digembar gembur kan di sini hehe.



[2] Mencari lokasi.




[3] Following registration, dpt freebies ini. Std lah, program book, conference CD, kole air, pen, paper, bag, name tag and lanyard.



[4] Spt biasa jg, mula2 mesti ada Keynote Speakers. Ada 2 speakers pg tu, tp yg first by Jose Sal*cado tu mmg betul2 menarik la lecture dia, sbb dia bercakap psl peranan org2 sains & teknologi utk merubah masyarakat ke arah yg lebih maju. Cthnya, how pada awalnya, mmg sepatutnya kita melaburkan duit ke arah mendapatkan knowledge (yakni fasa R&D), tp after awhile, sudah sepatutnya role itu reverse, yakni knowledge men-generate-kan duit, maka inilah baru dinamakan innovation, dan tak seharus nya berlama2an di peringkat R&D. Menarik pada aku sbb Uni2 kita sibuk R&D, tp begitu kurg skali produk (ni ckp utk diri sendiri la, bkn kutuk sapa2).

Kemudian slide yg di bawah ni pon aku rasa bagus jg, siap aku lukis lg okeh utk tatapan semua, punya baik empunya blog - knowledge sharing lah katakan, khidmat aku utk sama2 memajukan rakyat la ni kiranya hehe. Slides ni menerangkan bahawa x guna ada info yg byk2, kerna semua tu garbage. Tp bila info yg byk berserta critical analysis skills (spt yg di ajar di sekolah2 skang), baru lah info itu bertukar menjadi knowledge, yg seterusnya membawa kpd wealth. Tp wealth ni biasa nya benefit utk individu aje, siapa yg ada maka beruntung lah. Tp utk menjadikan keseluruhan rakyat itu maju, maka kena go one step further, and turn knowlegde into WISDOM. Bagai mana caranya? Dgn mengajar anak2 kita di sekolah supaya mempunyai ATTITUDE yg betul - menghormati org lain, menghargai diversity, etc. Benda2 ni skang x diambil berat skang oleh sekolah, sbb kita mengejar skills tu la semata2. Bila semua org dah dpt wisdom, maka baru lah kita rakyat seluruhnya mendapat satu budaya yg tinggi (1st class mentality).


Antara point beliau yg aku rasa menarik jg adalah, para graduan should not be LOOKING for a job, but FIGHT for a WORK OPPORTUNITY. Two same things, very different aims.

Jg point yg best adalah setiap lecturers WAJIB mengambil sabbatical! Menarik, menarik, menarik!

Oh, and lastly, beliau yg dah mengajar di Univ. of Stanford ni berpesan, org Sains & Teknologi tolonglah never take politicians at face value. At the very least, menjadi tanggungjawab kita as scientists to ask WHY. Hohoho... kata dia eh, bkn kata aku. Aku paraphrasing aje, which, he also said, is better than regurgigating, yg mana students kita hanya pandai buat pada masa ni. This teknik menghafal utk exam beliau telah equate kan dgn = STUPIDITY. Lg byk org tu bole hafal utk exam, lg bodoh lah org itu. Again, says he, not me.

Okay, enough psl ni. Kontroversi plak kang.


[5] Masa keynote speech tu kan, aku mcm ternampak 2 org budak Melayu (aku assume la, dari segi pemakaian dan facial features). Muka sebijik cam blogger Azzamoro (tp bkn la). Senyum2 kat aku. Masa tgh boring2 dgr speech tu sempat gak selak2 buku abstrak tu, cari2 and rasanya mmg org Melayu kita kot, sbb sorg tu nama ada suffix Yati gitu, and sorg lg yg laki plak nama dia mcm nama Islam yg generic, tp sbb co-authors dia nama Salleh A*wang, hah, aku rasa mmg konfem org kita la kot hehehe. Lps coffee break nak try gak cari diorg, tp x jumpa. Lps2 tu mmg dah x jumpa2, mungkin depa masuk parallel sessions yg lain drpd yg aku masuk la kot, conference besar and very broad gitu payah nak cari.



[6] Lunch. Wallah mmg Lisbon heaven utk seafood. Fried batter boneless fish ni makan dgn nasi (Arroz) mmg heavenly skali lah. Sbb buffet aku tambah 2 pinggan, diam2 ye. Btw, org Lisbon ni mcm x mkn daging sgt la aku perasan, pork product pon x byk. Sihat betul org2 dia agaknya.



[7] Ni bersedia2 nak present dlm bilik air.


[8] Bilik present nya begini. Ni masa org lain present la kan. Sayang x kenal sapa2, kalo x bole mintak tolong amikkan gmbr masa tgh present. Overall, presentation wasn't too bad not my personal best, if I'm honest. Soalan yg dpt pon more on the surface aje, dah expect pon ye jg, tp ok lah. Tp aku mmg made sure aku salin balik soalan2 yg org lain dpt, hopefully bole membantu aku jg esok2.


[9] Next days tu biasa2 je la. In out on off. Sbb nya diorg susun sessions tu mengikut bidang siap2. So 1st day tu mmg habis2an psl signal processing dan intelligent systems (bidang aku). 2nd day buhsan sket sbb Circuitry and Communications kot. Third day ok balik, tp not directly related sgt la, E-Learning dgn Energy. But this is me on the way to conference in another outfit (x setiap hari ingat nak amik gmbr pon).


[10] Spjg kat sana aku mmg lone ranger, but last day tu aku paksa diri melibatkan diri secara aktifnya dlm bertanya org psl poster masing2. Ada yg aku x paham apa2 pon aku cuba jgk tanyakan (hopefully) relevant and intelligent questions keh keh. Motif aku nak dpt kan network dan jg nak push supaya berani bercakap secara konfiden. Acap kali aku rasa mcm ilmu aku x cukup, and I think one part of obtaining a PhD is feeling confident about where you stand in the world of academia. And it felt really good talking to others too, so that was useful and provided a bit of a much needed confidence boost :)





[11] Kehadiran


[12] Oh ye, makanan2 semasa break kan, betul2 mcm kuih raya - tgk la ni, mcm samperit, mcm kurma gulung, mcm tart nenas. Manis2 plak tu... hiiii.... Gigit sket, buang, gigit sket buang. Tu je keja aku masa break tu. Sekadar nak amik rasa hehe...


[13] Balik bilik hari2 tu biasa nya Aisyah dah kebosanan mcm ni (masa ni tgh tgk cerita Rio kat laptop), tunggu Mummy dia balik so that bole start jalan2 hehehe.



So I promise, next entry mmg psl jalan2 dah. Tutup buku psl knowledge eh, although bkn lah setakat ni aje yg dpt ilmu nya, tp korg mesti tahap muntah darah dah baca asyik olah boring stuff ajo. We'll get the juice going tomorrow ok bebeh!