Friday, October 30, 2009

Nursery Rhyme Pick of The Week -- Wind The Bobbin Up

Sepatutnya every Thursday dah letak Nursery Rhyme Pick of the Week, tp sbb teruja sgt semalam, g cerita psl work stuff plak dulu, walhal I usually write about work related matters on a Friday. Oh well, ini ganti entry nya utk Nursery Rhyme itu.

Seperti biasa, we took Aisyah to her Nursery Rhymetime session yesterday afternoon. She really, really enjoys it now, you can tell. And it has given her a positive impact as well, boosting her confidence around others and just comfortable being away on her own without so much of 'bertepek di kaki Ibu' sahaja. This is from my observation:

Note: Susun atur dalam rhymetime tu mcm ni - Ibu2 or bapa2 duduk atas kerusi, kerusi2 plak disusun membentuk bulatan. Bulatan agak besar, sbb ada dalam dekat 30 buah kerusi disusun (and always a full house! Tempat parking stroller mmg sesak, I tell u!). So kanak2 bebas menari/ berjalan/ berguling, swimming/ berinteraksi selagi dlm bulatan (dpn mata ibu bapa la kan). Instructor dia nanti duduk one of the chairs and start nyanyi, so ibubapa nyanyi sama2. Kalo baby kecik lg, pangku baby. Kalo toddlers dah besar sket mcm Aisyah, let them roam free.

Week 1: Ini first session. Aisyah takut2. Asyik duduk atas pangku Ibu sahaja, x berganjak. Tp very alert and meninjau2 keadaan sekeliling. Tidak dancing, apatah lagi menyanyi. Mcm mana nak nyanyi, lirik pon x tahu. Ibu pon miming2 sahaja :P

Week 2: Dah mula nak menari sket2, tp atas pangku Ibu lg, x turun jejak lantai pon. Dah habis sesi nyanyian baru berjalan2 dalam Children's Library mingling dgn budak2 lain.

Week 3: Dah x duduk atas pangku Ibu lg, tp x berani gi jauh daripada Ibu. Dah mula bergoyang kiri dan kanan. After habis satu2 lagu dah pandai tepuk tgn. Dah kenal certain2 lagu kegemaran, especially, "Gallumph Went the Little Green Frog" (full song here). Bila kuar lagu ni dia senyum keriangan! Main2 dgn budak sebelah yg hanya la berumur 12 bulan, tetapi kakinya laju ya amat!

Week 4: Mmg menari sepenuh hati sambil tersenyum2 hepi, kalah anak mat salleh sbb budak2 baya dia mcm buat bo-layan je dekat lagu2 tu. Mungkin sbb dia biasa dgr kat rumah, so bila dgr kat rhymetime pon dia terus masuk mood bergoyang. Again, tepuk tgk slps habis lagu. Pastu bila time buat action ada jg dah ikut sket2. Paling best, dah pandai masuk ke circle tu, tinggal kan Ibu, tp x sampai ke tgh circle lg la, main kat tepi2 je dulu. Pandai usik2 baby lain, then nak berebut kerusi ngan sorg budak laki ni (terpaksa la Ibu masuk circle and leraikan)!


Ni satu isu, nak tanya, apakah tindakan anda sekiranya anak anda:

1. Jadi tukang buli (merebut brg anak org lain pegang or main dulu, cucuk muka anak org lain)

2. Kena buli (anak org lain tarik barang anak anda, atau tolak anak anda)

Dua2 situation pon awkward for me to handle... but even worst kalo kena buli la, especially kalo mak nya sibuk nyembang ngan org lain x perasan apa anak nya wat kat anak org kan... x kan kita nak suruh anak dia stop plak, kang dikata kita marah anak dia. The only thing to do is cpt2 bawak Aisyah ke tempat lain la... what about u guys? hmmm....


So far, Alhamdulillah, nmpk nya kitaorg akan stick to this routine of bringing her here every Thursday. Tang nursery tu, kitaorg postpone la dulu kot, after weighing the pros and cons, mainly as listed below:

1. We had originally planned on sending her to the nursery for just one day per week, so it's almost like taking to rhymetime.

2. With rhymetime, she can stay there WITH parents, so x de la tiba2 terus ditinggalkan sebatang kara with another carer.

3. At nursery, one afternoon session is usually 6 hours. Rasa mcm too long to leave her there, but with rhymetime, it only takes half an hour and the other half hour we usually spend chilling and mingling at the library.

4. Ada gak rasa 2 mcm she's too young for nursery. Nanti la, tggu dia 18 bulan or 2 years, akan hantar jua.

5. Rhymetime is free! So of course la, for the time being, bole simpan dulu duit itu ngeh ngeh ngeh....


Of course this doesn't mean that we wouldn't send her to nursery at all, just postponing kjp plan tu sbb terjumpa alternatif. But if we had to, e.g. Hubs dpt keja, me belajar, without a doubt we would send her to nursery (sbb dah jumpa nursery yg best utk dia), but seeing that there is no urgent need for that yet, simpan la dulu niat tu. The library also organizes Storytime and another Rhymetime sessions, it runs them on Monday mornings and Saturday mornings. Time2 macam rasa mcm nak jadi full time stay at home mom aje *SIGH*

X pe la, once a week pon, asal ada exposure sket. This is Aisyah at the library.









Sila tgk bahan bacaan Aisyah versus bahan bacaan Ibu yg sungguh tiada pekdah nya itu! :P


Okay, as promised, this week's pick is 'Wind the Bobbin Up'. This song comes from the mills of North England.

Wind the Bobbin Up

Wind the bobbin up
Wind the bobbin up
Pull pull clap clap clap

Wind it back again
Wind it back again
Pull pull clap clap clap

Point to the ceiling
Point to the floor
Point to the window
Point to the door

Clap, your hands together 1, 2, 3
And put your hands upon your knees.





PS: Find out what a bobbin is here. I just found it out myself!



Thursday, October 29, 2009

Just A Refreshing Reminder That I Need...

If you've read my previous entry, I was in a dilemma whether or not to go to that Robotics Lecture at 7 pm kan? Well, in the end I DID go, bcoz Hubs kata ok, x pe, balik lmbt sket pon ok, and dia siap masakkan lg lauk dinner smlm. I am one lucky wife and should really count my lucky stars!

And boy, I am sure glad I went. It's so refreshing and sgt2 meng-humble-kan diri. For the past few days my mind has been a little stale, wat keja slow, kurg produktiviti etc, but pegi lecture ni jd insaf and berkobar2 nak wat keja cpt2!

The lecture was on iCub. It is a learning robot, yg bole bertutur. Mula2 pengetahuan dia zero, and memory dia adalah bermodelkan kpd kanak2 18 bulan ke atas (peringkat mula2 baby's cognitive grasp the language around them, and by repetition learn to utter these words). More about that here.

So spjg lecture asyik teringat kat Aisyah, and kagum at how uncanny iCub itu 'belajar', mcm baby mula2 diajar sesuatu. Siap mata juling2 lg kalo kita dekatkn objek kat dia. Then lama sket, tgn dia mula nak menggapai. Hihi..



In bullet points, these are the reasons why I stand in awe kpd komuniti penyelidik dan akademik di negara org ni:

1. I got there 2 minit lambat. Lecture sudah bermula!

2. Lecture hall yg di book bole menempatkan 200 org, tp when I got there dah overflowing and dah 5 org berdiri di row blkg. Nekad gak berdiri tu, x de sapa pon bila nmpk dah penuh patah balik or kluar dari dewan. And this was a 7 pm punya lecture!!!! Wayyyy past office hour dah, and it might as well be a 10 pm lecture coz kat luar mmg gelap gulita dah pon now that it is winter. But nekad u ols, hadirin2 ni dtg, majority students and researchers. Moi impressed. Oh nak cerita jgk, I dgn selamba nya gi duduk atas steps tu tau (tangga auditorium). Pastu beramai2 ikut my jejak langkah, woh2 kembang kejap.

3. It was very2 light and everyone from every platform (td ada geng robotics, neuroscience guys, neural network geeks, psychologists, linguists, etc) pon senang faham. I need to learn how to change my style when doing presentation. I always stick to the same old boring format yakni Intro, Problem Statement, Literature Review, Methodology, Experiment, Analysis, Conclusion... *yawn*

4. Slides adalah dlm 15 kpg sahaja and x sarat dgn tulisan pon. Hanya lah gmbr2 dan video clips of the robot and the simulation, tp yg penting, the point got across.

5. X lebih masa langsung. Berenti on time, so that audience were kept wanting for more. Xde la sampai audience asyik2 tgk jam, dah la ko menerangkan psl formula yg ko sorg je paham.

6. Tiada makanan provided langsung, yet tiada siapa kesah.

7. Projek iCub ni grant nya lulus March 2008. By Oct 2008, sudah siap satu prototype. 6 months sahaja!!!! It made me malu pada diri sendiri, sbb nya, I started my PhD almost one year now, tp prototype x siap lg. Granted, they had 30 PhD students working on it, but mmg dahsyat scope dia. Me? Scope nya ciput pon, masih x dpt nak tunjukkan finished prototype lg. Haish! But good news, hari ni dah mmg rasa excited sbb berjaya dah setel byk perkara, semakin menuju puncak dah yes!

8. Collaboration dahsyat. Berbelas2 Uni dari serata ceruk dunia berkerjasama.

9. Berpusu2 org tanya soalan masa Q&A, tp tiada satu pon soalan2 sengal yg condescending.

10. It's 100% open source. So go ahead, build your own iCub hehe...

Alhamdulillah, balik lecture tu terus insaf, terus buang perasaan Malas tu kt tepi hohoho...



Cough Cough

Skang ni pkl 1.12 pagi, tp terjaga kejap td sbb Aisyah terbatuk2. She's been having coughs at night since the past 6, 7 days. Siang hari mmg x batuk, just mlm bila dia tido mula la. Itu hari sampai termuntah (I think it's actually her mechanism to get rid of the phlegm). And ever since I got very scared and dah jadi suatu mcm reflex plak utk cpt jump out of bed and pick her up coz takut dia termuntah dlm tido which is very dangerous as it can cause choking in babies (nauzubillah). Plus winter2 ni kalo dia nak muntah, I would rather she do it on me than the sheets, sbb x larat nak basuh byk2 helai coz kain cadar lambat la kering. But yes, semenjak itu, if I heard her start coughing je, cpt2 sit her up even when eyes are closed, or even dukung dia and rub her back. But yes, having had to do it several times a night for several nights in a row now, mmg starting to tire me out during the day. I hope she gets well soon. It sounded as if it has improved, but only slightly.

Bkn x nak bwk gi jumpa Dr., tp dah telepon nak book in appointment, and Dr ckp budak2 under 2 x yah bawak dtg la klinik sbb dia x prescribed ubat batuk. 'It will usually go away on its on, but it can take up to two weeks.' I am very frustrated with the health system kat UK. Termasuk kali ni, dah 4 kali kitaorg call utk dpt kan appointment utk Aisyah (lain2 kes dan masa - e.g. demam, selsema, cirit birit and now batuk), tp manjang la Dr suruh baik sendiri. Alhamdulillah mmg eventually Aisyah recover, tp having used to have access to a Dr anytime of the day di Msia membuatkan aku sgt2 menyampah n menyumpah seranah Dr sini. You would think that a developed country like this one would have enough Doctors to go around to see each and every one of its people that needed care, but noooo.... main calling2 over the phone, pastuh suh gi beli ubat sendiri over the counter. And yup, you've guessed it, kalo budak kecik je suh beli Calpol (liquid paracetamol), and now coz she's coughing, CalRub (mcm Vicks tp milder utk external use, sapu kat dada and leher) and CalCough. Although it is a cough medicine, it is very2 mild. Yg under 2 yrs ni ada glycerine, and it's not for getting rid of the phlegm, but just to soothe their throat temporarily.

It's one of the unpleasant things that we have to deal with. Susah hati jg, especially bila tgk list ni and it says mcm2 jenis cough, each one scarier than the other (e.g. Cold, Croup, Bronchitis, Flu, Allergies, Asthma, Pneumonia, Pertussis, Cystic Fibrosis -- plus now dgn H1N1 scare nya), but tawakkal je la pada Allah. And syukur la Aisyah x demam or ada temperature, so I am guessing that it is indeed just plain old cough. On the same note, I want to mention that Aisyah's cousin (anak kakak Hubs di Msia), is not so lucky and now tgh admitted kat hospital for H1N1. Altho the nasty flu has seemed to die down a bit and media dah x reporting so much on it, it is still a very serious virus and very much a threat, so people, still hati2 ye at crowded places. Tolong doakan agar both my daughter and my niece get better soon.



Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Plymouth Respect! Festival

Last weekend di Plymouth ni ada sambutan Respect! Week utk meningkatkan kesedaran terhadap equality antara kaum. So byk la shows seantero dunia yg dipersembahkan. Yg sempat aku joined last week was the Samba Parade. Mula2 tu diorg main percussions sahaja, this was from a group called Ilu Axe from Brazil. Best gak la, sbbnya dance floor tu open, so kiddies and mommies byk menari2 bersama.

Half way through they brought in the dancers, yg pakai ala2 Las Vegas Showgirls tu, yakni bercoli dan bersepender sahaja, makanya berkoyan2 la kaum adam yg x tahu dtg dari mana dgn x malu nya mengasak ke depan amik port paling baeeekkkk punya. Habis ditolaknya kanak2 n mommies2 yg sebentar td menari sbb nak penuhkan 'saf' kosong aje tuh td. Ish ish... x sononoh betul... mcm la x biasa tgk diorg ni. X civilized sungguh. Coincidentally, Eti pon reported the same Samba show last weekend kat Erlangen. Is there something going on that I don't know about? World's Samba Week ke? Anyway, coz I'm nice, this is here the direct link kalo nak baca entry nya :)













Aisyah seemed to enjoy the show, especially masa parade bermula la from Drake Circus to the Hoe. Biar pon muzik agak kuat, dia refused Ibu tutup telinag dia, sbb nak tgk n nak dgr n nak nari. Wah wah wah... anak dara sorg ni... ke main lagi...!




Satu lg yg best semasa festival ni ialah the food! Ada makanan Gujerati (100% vegetarian), mknan Spanish, makanan Carribean, and paling x tahan, makanan Thai. Chettt... pergi merantau jauh2 pon, last2 King Prawn Phad Thai jg pilihan hati. Hubs n Aisyah layan mkn mknan Gujerati, Vege Curry & Rice for him and Samosas utk Aisyah je, diorg x segila aku pasal mknan Thai nih. Aku siap dtg beli lg esoknya sbb x puas mkn tu. Lps tu lusanya masak kat rumah plak Pad Thai tu ikut resepi internet, sbb festival dah habis tp mulut masih tergila byg. Taste nya dah tentu x sama, sbb pakai pasta ganti rice noodles, pakai prawns kecik instead of King Prawns (yum yum), x de kicap pekat manis, so belasah aje dgn kicap kipas udang, and x de chilli flakes *hampa*. Mujur la siap bwk balik brochure restaurant and simpan elok2, in case nak order dari rumah or eat out bila2. Teruk betul penangan nye ye? Hehe...




Ok itu sahaja nak report wat masa ni. Nak kejar masa coz ptg ni ada Robotics Talk at 7 pm. Sebenarnya 50-50 lg nak pergi ke x, sbb 7 pm is quite late (kalo start at 7, habis mesti 8++ pm), and baru jek berazam nak balik awal lah hari ni. But baca synopsis dia sgt la interesting, ada demo what not, plus I have a sneaking suspicions that the presenter is actually going to be one of my examiners masa Transfer nanti. He was the one who had signed my Project Approval Form masa 3 bulan pertama research tempohari. So I want to meet him in person and try to imitate his presentation styles and just generally pick up on things yg bole membantu when it is time for me to present nnt. Hopefully it will pay off, cuma nak minta izin suami terchenta je jap lg. Should I stay or should I go?



Monday, October 26, 2009

Full Circle

Hari ni, tanggal 26 Oktober 2009, genap la setahun kitaorg merantau di bumi org atas nama menimba ilmu. Macam2 suka duka, jerih perih telah dilalui, but I believe all that happened for very good reasons, and has helped shape me to become a stronger, wiser, person in ways that I never thought would have been possible.

Anyway, ini adalah gmbr2 snapshot kenangan spjg 1 tahun di sini mengikut kronologi :)

Malam 26 Okt 2008 - bertolak from KLIA - London Heathrow. Tgk betapa chubby nya Aisyah pada masa tu. 100% breastmilk sahaja. No added artificials ;P




Nov 2008 - dgn Umei n Ukyle di depan rumah mereka. We stayed here for a month plus, sementara tggu umah sendiri. Mana nak dpt tuan rumah baik mcm ni... Kitoarg on the way nak gi the Hoe...



Dec 2008 - Dah masuk rumah sendiri. Shot ni diambil semasa tgh kemas rumah baru pindah, jadi terpaksa la left Aisyah to her own device. Masa ni satu rumah pon kalo bole nak lapik duvet, sbb Aisyah kuat meniarap/ menyulur/ bergolek/ terlentang...




Jan 2009 - Dah mula ada rutin hidup. Tgk la betapa dia x de rambut lg masa ni!




Feb 2009 - We started to feel like we 'belong' in the community. Joined budak2 lain gi main bowling. Rutin hidup telah membuatkan aku kurus seketika rasanya pada masa ni...




March 2009 - Baru found out betapa indahnya Plymouth bila matahari memancar. Spring dah waktu ni, ni dekat the Hoe...




April 2009 - Aisyah dah ada gigi dan dah pandai gelak!




May 2009 - Dah pandai berjalan with support. If u notice, cuaca dah hangat, x yah pakai long sleeves dah




June 2009 - Peak of summer! Masih lg posing di the Hoe, lihat la pertukaran musim dia...




July 2009 - Masa Nek Mi & Tok Ayah dtg visit




August 2009 - Masa ni hari kedua Ramadhan, teraweh n berbuka i rumah Zali. First Ramadhan kat Plymouth. Aisyah plak baru start Play Date ngan Aqil. Jadi instant best fren diorg masa nih. Rilek x perlu pakai stokin indoors masa ni...




September 2009 - First beraya bersama Hubs and Aisyah di perantauan. Aisyah's first time pakai Baju Kurung...




October 2009 - Dah cukup setahun!





Just looking back at this pics makes me teary and choke up inside! How time flies, and how quick my baby grows.... And let's hope that my research is also on track and developing as fast as Aisyah is! ;)


Cuaca hari ni pon sebijik cam cuaca masa kitaorg mula2 touch down dulu... Rainy, blurry and dreary.... Cumanya last year it was colder, around 5C. This year on the same date temperature nya still belas2 lg. Thank God for the little bit of warmth still. Plus, last year pon kitaorg sampai time masa baru convert balik ke GMT from BST, same like it is now (that means that time difference between Msia-UK is now back to 8 hours ye... ) Oh, and this morning I had gone past the bus station that first took us to Plymouth from London Heathrow, mmg feelinggggg abis la I tell you. Terkenang semasa dulu kejap :)

PS: I had a quick look at the ledger down in the MOHE portal today, and my oh my, the amount that the Govts. have invested in me through my scholarship for the past year nearly gave me a heart attack! Almost RM200K u ols!!! *pengsan*


Thursday, October 22, 2009

Nursery Rhyme Pick of The Week -- The Grand Old Duke of York

Hari ni busy, sbb mcm produktif ngan coding. X tahu sbb hati agak lega sket hari ni (ada dilema yg dah setel), atau sbb td dpt emel dari my SV tanya progress camne, nak jumpa x esok? Aiyooo... I replied progress ok, albeit I underestimated the time it would take me to complete my system. maybe bkn tomorrow la perjumpaan tu, altho I did tell him that I believe I can get it finished in another two weeks time. Wah... mcm best kan? Tp kena la yakin. Dah lama dah rasa cam nak siap, tp after one hill climbed, baru perasan ada lg hills di dpn, so kena mendaki lagi dan lagi dan lagi. Mcm fatamorgana plak, tp this time sbb dah duduk bukit tinggi sket drpd previous hills kan, rasa cam nmpk dah summit puncak itu. Insya Allah, Oyis boleh!

Walaupon rasa masa itu agak la suntuk, sempat gak gi bawak Aisyah ke nursery rhymetime kat library. Alhamdulillah, hari ni gi awal dpt seat cun2, so Aisyah bebas berinteraksi ngan budak2 lain. Pas tu dia dah x malu2 sgt, dulu asyik takut2 melepet je atas pangku Ibu. Skang, nah, berjoget n bergoyang u olz, depan org ramai. Maybe sbb dia dah biasa dgr lagu tu di rumah, siapa lagi la yg nyanyi kan kalo bkn Ibu. Hehe... Tp nmpk mcm progress yg baik coz dia dah ada confidence, dah 'berborak' ngan budak2 baya dia (dlm bahasa dia la kan), bole tepuk2 tgn and sengih2 lps habis setiap lagu. So rasanya, utk once a week nyer aktiviti ni, dah berbaloi la. Free plak tu ;P

Ok, mcm dah jd trend plak every Thursday buh nursery rhyme kan. So ni this week's pick, tajuk 'The Grand Old Duke of York'. Catchy gak. Ni siap baik hati, bubuh lyric skali ok, so bole la nyanyi sama baby2 korg kat umah hehe. Oh, the ones in Italic tu, action yg korg kena buat masa nyanyi tu ok? So mmg kena participate kalo gi library tu. Semua parents sporting, nyanyi2 and duduk bgn buat action.

The Grand Old Duke of York

Oh, the grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men,
He marched them up to the top of the hill
(Everyone stands up)
and he marched hem down again.
(Everyone sits down)

And when they were up they were up.
(Everyone stands up)
And when they were down they were down.
(Everyone sits down)
And when they were only half way up,
They were neither up nor down.
(Everyone half-way up -- mcm nak mencangkung tp bontot di awang2an ok)

(repeat)




OK la. Tu saja dulu. Blogging ni sempena isi masa break sambil ngepam ni. I noticed kalo lagi byk mkn dan minum, lagi byk susu. Mmg formula yg simple, tp mcm mana nak kurus kalo mcm ni?


Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Hasil Photoshoot Aisyah

Hari ni gi collect gambar Aisyah yg dah siap hasil photoshoot 2 minggu lps masa ambik utk Plymouth Heralds Baby Contest 2009. Bkn main pjg lg beratur, ada dekat 15 meter luar drpd kedai pjg nya, tp gagahkan jg la, sbb nak tgk end result kan. Plus mmg kena pilih gmbr mana utk dimasukkan dlm paper (seandainya terpilih), even kalo x beli pon gmbr tu. Untung nya kat negara org ni, pandai beratur, so pjg mana pon cpt je queue nye berjalan. Kenapa di negara sendiri x bole tanam ye sifat ni? Dah tentu berpusu berasak kat dlm kedai, yours truly pon mungkin x terkecuali la kalo dah begitu style nya :P

Anyway, dlm keadaan ekonomi yg tergugat sementara menunggu elaun masuk ni pon, korek2 kan la jg kasi ada wang nya. Ye la, dah gmbr anak sendiri kan, x kan la lokek sampai x nak beli langsung. Mmg cair sungguh tgk, and mmg pandai promoter dia pon. Dah la kalo x beli dpn2 kita dia masukkan gmbr tu dlm bin. Sayang betul. Kitaorg dgn budget yg agak tight pon, Alhamdulillah dgn izin Allah, dpt la jg beli 'Gold Package', yakni dpt mounted 18"x10" photo, 9"x6" photo, and two sets of key chain. Kalo beli Platinum Package bole la post2 kasi sanak sedara gambar Aisyah kat Msia sorg satu, tp apakan daya la kan. Apa pon, ini dia hasil nya. Moga cukup utk tersenarai dalam foto2 terpilih yang bakal menghiasi dada akhbar Plymouth Heralds pada 12 November nanti!!!!




Ok nak bubuh sket video angin di Plymouth. Can you hear the sound of the wind? Bole imagine kah angin laut nya mcm mana kuat? Nyaris nak tumbang anak dara I berjalan tau. Huyung hayang jadi nya, tp dia enjoy sgt! X mahu dipimpin tu. Sengih2 lg hehe. Kalo kecik2 dulu nangis kalo kena angin kat muka, takut n susah nak nafas kot. Dah besar suka plak :)




Nak share sket satu info. Smlm I found out that Twix Bar tu x halal, along with a few other chocolates like Bounty and other common food product. Ada list nya di sini. Actually, di Twix tu mmg x de tulis Suitable for Vegetarian pon, and ada Whey Powder dalam tu. Nak kata x halal, x la jg, sbb x pasti source nya dari mana, but according to pendapat ulama', better avoid.

Lps ni kena lebih berhati2, even if it takes 5 minutes longer sebelum memasukkan sebarang item ke dalam trolley, sbb nya mungkin ia Halal di Msia, tp x halal di luar negara, tgk produce of which country la kan. Astaghfirullah al azim.

"If a pious person refrains it is better, whilst if a person is consuming cheese do not stop him." (on the subject of cheese with cow's rennet in it).

Source klik sini.

So ini hari beli la Snickers bar plak. Bkn la dpt apa pon kempen Snickers ni, tp sbb dia choose to use bhn2 yg tiada animal product, kita kasi up sket la penjualan dia hahaha!




Nak lg selamat, mkn aje la lepok (dodol durian) buatan Malaysia, manis jg. Lepok ni import dari Kelantan lg, panas2 bau Pasar Siti khadijah ahaks! Konfem Halal! Makan lah tanpa was2 ;P



PS: Lepok ihsan Kak Mazni yg baru balik beraya opssss, I mean, collect data (nada org jeles sbb org Comp Sci jarang la nak dpt buat field study or collect data kan?) di Msia end of Ramadhan lalu and baru sampai balik di Plymouth last weekend. Thanks kak!



Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Rojak


Gambar dicilok dari sini

Gmbr atas tu gmbr hiasan aje. Yg sebetulnya dah amik gmbr, tp kamera tinggal kat umah la plak. Mmg masak mee rojak pon smlm, sbb dah teringin sgttttt.....! Rasa kalo kat Msia dah cpt2 suruh Hubs bila kat kedai Mamak aje, tp apakan daya, dah duk jauh ni, leceh ke, remeh ke (sbb ingredients dia byk nak kena prepare, and goreng2, plus kuah kacang kan), pasrah la jua sbb mengikut selera... As I said before, winter2 ni mula la rasa nak mkn mcm2. Pg td aje sblm gi lab goreng bihun sebungkus. Biasanya mkn toast aje. Hehe.. Pastu dah cuba mcm2 lg menu lain, Nasi Hujan Panas, antaranya... sbb teringin punya psl la katakan... (yg ni gmbr sendiri -- jd x my nasi? Ada rupa org jual kat Pasar Malam x?)




Berbalik pada rojak, kepala hotak n coding jg sudah jadi sedikit rojak, sbb nya byk berdo'oh steps dlm nak menyiapkan sistem terchenta aku nih. Pastu aku ni konon pro la, x main lakar2 ERD apa semua, terus jump into the coding part, then last2 cari pen and paper gak hehe... Kadang rasa dah foresee pelbagai masalah yg bakal timbul, so rasa hepi jap, oh la la dah 75% siap, then bila siap satu lagi step, baru la perasan, oh byk lg steps2 yg x kelihatan sblm ni. X jadi la 75% siap, turun jadi 60% aje. huhu... back kata omputih, one step up, two steps down. Tapi better la nampak di mana loop hole nye tu skang drpd duk present2 utk transfer nanti, baru keluar semua cacat cela, tinggal sengih2 cam kerang busuk la jawab nya I... *shudders*..... X pe, lebih rela begini... sungguh! At least rasa produktif la jg, even if it's not the best way to go around doing things.... Btw, ukuran percentage itu bkn ukuran siap PhD ye, siap sedia utk transfer, I was referring to).

Sebut rojak, entry aku ni pon rojak jg ini hari, tiada tema. Ada member tanya apa perkembangan Aisyah lately, so nak coret sket kat sini. Over the weekend she turned 16 months. So far, dia dah bole berlari. Sgt suka menari. Even masa nenen pon bole angkat bontot dan goyang ke kiri dan kanan, ikut suka dia sahaja. Yang paling ketara ialah dia punya attempt utk berckp la skang ni. Kalo kita tanya, and dia nak jwb ye, dia jawab 'Yar'. Sila sebut style omputih yg class ye, as in, 'yar, yar Dear Sayerr' (Ya, ya, Dear Sir).

Pastu kalo x nak, dia akan sebut, 'Nanak', utk Tak Nak. Yg ni bahasa Melayu plak. X tahu la dia select mcm mana nak ckp English ke Malay, quite fascinating if you ask me. Mmg kat umah ckp dua2 bahasa, ikut mood aku aje hehe. Dgn Ayah nya dia ckp BM, tp bila tgk TV sah2 la English. Ada sedikit konflik bahasa kah dgn anakanda ku ini? Xde efek sgt pon rasanya utk speech development. Aku dulu pon gitu gak, sbb membesar di USA, no problemo pon. Budak2 kan cpt pick up. Untung2 terus bilingual anak aku nih.

Satu lg, kalo dia nak kan sesuatu, tp x reti nak ckp (e.g. botol atas meja), mula la dia buat2 nangis sambil ckp 'Nak, nak, nak, nak, nak...' berulang kali sampai kita bole decipher dia nak apa and react to it. Bab decipher ni bg Hubs sbb dia lg terror, ye la, dah spend sehari suntuk ngan budak tu kan, you seriously can't blame me.

Bab mkn2 mmg dah laju, mandi pon suka, berkejaran ke bilik air. Masih sgt rajin membantu Ibu especially tang lipat baju dia insist nak hangkut baju2 bwk masuk bilik and letak dlm almari. Alamatnya mmg kena dua kali lipat la sbb dia carry ke bilik tu bajunya dah selerak balik, tp x nak la condemn sifat mulia dia rajin menolong tu kan. Appreciate kesungguhan dia dgn puji2an and tunjuk rasa happy sbb dia ringan tulang. Mudah2an sampai besar kamu rajin ye nak!

Gigi masih lapan. Rambut kalo syampoo panjang sebenarnya ialah seinci setengah melepasi bahu dia, tp rambut bergulung bagaikan strawberry curls tu menyebabkan nmpk rambut dia statik sahaja la. Sgt x suka org sikat rambut. Dah pandai tanggalkan baju sendiri, so kdg2 x de sbb dia bukak abis butang baju dia. Mmg pernah baca satu peringkat ni nanti baby2 suka menogelkan diri sahaja. Harapnya fasa ni berlalu cpt sbb ni musim winter, sejuk nak ooiii!

Dia dah faham byk perkara and can associate different items in the house with events. Contoh, kalo suruh dia amik kasut, dia akan excited amik kasut sbb dia tahu nak ajak dia keluar. Kalo suruh amik bantal, dia sengih2 amik bantal sbb dia tahu nak dpt nenen. Kalo suruh tido dia cpt2 masuk bilik sbb tahu it's late. Kalo masuk rumah dari luar, dia tahu kena tanggal kasut n jaket dah.

Suka copy. Org masak kat atas dapur, dia masak kat atas lantai. Org pakai lip balm, dia nak pakai jgk. Org hembus hingus di tisu, dia amik gak tisu, konon2 hembus hingus yg x de. Org amik tisu lap mulut, dia lap mulut. Org batuk, dia wat2 batuk. Org solat dia pon solat. Dah pandai sujud u guys! Sejuk perut Ibu mengandung okeh! Moga amalan ni kekal sampai besar wahai Aisyah puteri ku! Insya Allah....




Oh masih nak add sket lg, tiada kena mengena sgt, but td diskas ngan Sake psl Lemons. My motto has always been, "When Life gives you lemons, make lemonade".

But this made me laughed out loud "When Life gives you lemons, you stuff them down your bra to make your boobs bigger!" Haha.

Altho I also like, "When Life gives you lemon, you throw it back at Life and ask for Apples!"

Tp mcm mana nak makan rojak kalo x de lemon or lime?

*grin*



Monday, October 19, 2009

Trip to Salisbury, Stonehenge & Old Sarom

Remember last entry I said my Saturday was going to be packed? Well, kitaorg pegi on a Uni Trip to the Stonehenge and Salisbury!

Stonehenge ni mmg a place not to be missed la bila melawat UK kalo berminat psl culture and World Heritage. Sebenarnya, malas nak tulis pjg2, sbb tgh busy dgn coding, but in short, yg menjadi kan batu2 tergantung ni menarik ialah:

1. Tiada sapa pon bole tahu kenapa the stones were erected here in the first place (astronomical kah, cult kah, etc)

2. Batu2 ni di bawa masuk dari Wales. Mcm mana diorg hangkut batu batan seberat 25 tan seketul ke sini pada zaman x de bajak, tractor dsb nya?

3. Mcm mana plak batu yg di atas tu bole diangkat sampai terletak molek di atas batu yg di bawahnya kalo zaman xde crane?

Bacaan lanjut bole gi sini atau tanya pakcik Google :)

On the mention of coding, bole x nak mencelah ni, nak bgtau, Alhamdulillah, coding yg tersekat tersumbat dari last week tu dah boleh berjalan lancar, tanpa perlu mengacau Sifoo Sake haha. Benar lah kata beliau, mind is like water... mungkin water di tasik Oyis sudah kembali tenang lepas demam! Terimas atas doa semua...

Trip ni anjuran Trips Out Society UoP, jadi ongkosnya GBP15 per person. Aisyah plak naik free aje. Salisbury ni 3 jam dari Plymouth. Kitaorg bertolak pkl 7 pg (masih gelap gelita lg masa tu) and sampai Plymouth balik pkl 8.30 mlm mcm tuh. Yg menjadikan lebih best nya sbb pegi ramai2 group Msian students. Ada lebih kurang 9 org, termasuk Gina and Janny, Indonesian and Thai respectively. Cuaca semasa di sana adalah sgt baik,matahari memancar terang, tp awas! jgn tertipu sbb angin sejuk x hengat donia....

Anyway, ni dia gmbr sekitar outing tersebut. Mula2 berjalan sekitar Bandar Salisbury. Imagine tahun 1600s diorg dah bole ada shopping mall. Pergh!

Depan Tourist Information Centre dia


Di Salisbury Old Town


Aisyah minat betul mendengar Abang Gitar ni mendendangkan lagu sepenuh hati


Lps tu naik tour bus dari bandar Salisbury ke tapak Stonehenge. Ni harga lain sbb ada admission to Stonehenge and Old Sarom. Ongkos utk student GBP14.50, non-student GBP17.50. Perjalanan adalah lg 15 minit aje.

Ni dia Stonehenge nye. Masa awal2 tu Aisyah tido, so posing sakan la berdua ngan Hubs.

Ada geng wat lawak kata pakai jin la plak ngangkut batu batan ni ... hmm...



Ada gaya pasangan baru berchenta x?



Utk makluman, ni bkn handset ye tuan2 dan puan2. Ni adalah Audio Guide, yg mana kalo kita sampai ke tempat ada Sign #1, #2, ke, maka sila la klik di Audio Guide itu, dan akan kluar la info2 di corongnya dalam bahasa yg telah kita pilih. Ni kira personal guide la, x yah sibuk2 beramai2 kumpul nak dgr audio guide di sesuatu tempat mcm kalo kat Zoo tu kan. Tp tu la, tgk mana2 pon semua org sibuk pegang benda ni letak kat telinga la plak hehe



Harus la tepek gmbr si suami plak kan?



Group photo!




Ni plak bergambar bila Aisyah dah bgn.

Gmbr 3 beranak







Ni plak gmbr2 lawak standard yg harus dibuat di tempat2 gini...






Lepas dah lunch tu, gi Old Sarom plak. Solat kat sana di padang terbuka sambil anjing2 bebas berlari2 dgn begitu dekat skali. Oh cuak nya semasa solat!











Ni last round Salisbury sebelum balik...









Overall, mmg best, but agak challenging sbb travel ngan budak kecik kan, atas bus 3 jam lg tu. And quite understandable la bila dia dah x nak duduk dlm stroller lps tu. Yg pergi selain kami ni student bujang2 belako, so harap nya we didn't slow them down too much. Ye la, mana nak suap anak lg, nak tukar pampers dia lg, nak fold stroller before naik bus lg, jalan kaki sambil berdukung budak 10 kg lg... But bila tgk piccies di bawah ni, hati tersangat la cair. Oh sgt berbaloi!











I suppose Aisyah isn't so camera-shy after all!