Frozen Mississippi river

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A picture worth a thousand words

Here we are! From Dallas to Little Rock to Memphis to St Louis!

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Malas vs Rajin

Salam,

Anda pernah tak rasa malas nak mengadap kerja research, duduk depan PC kerja chatting dengan best friend yang anda kenal dari sekolah rendah, blog-hopping, tengok-tengok website Macy's kalau-kalau ada sale item yang mampu dibeli, baca semua online paper dari Malaysia, dan tiba-tiba anda sedar jam sudah pukul 5.00 pm? Kalau anda tak pernah, anda memang layak bergelar pelajar tekun, cekal dan tabah. Contoh di atas ialah saya. Saya mengaku. Saya telah jadi pemalas sejak dua menjak ini. Research progress saya amatlah perlahan macam lembu yang dah kena sebat sebab disuruh berjalan pon tanak (lebih tahan kulit berbirat dari kena jalan). My first international oral presentation dalam bulan Feb depan, by end of January dah kena finalized material sebab masuk competition, tapi hampeh tak buat apa satu pon lagi.

Owh dalam pemalas-malas saya tu, saya rajin update blog walaupun tak kerap. Bila saya tade update, maknanya saya rajin pulun kerja sekolah. Bila ada update, maknanya saya rajin update blog tapi malas buat kerja sekolah hahaha. Sehari dua ini saya insaf sekejap selepas mendengar cerita kawan saya budak America yang sibuk nak baca buku sekolah walaupun balik kampung sambut Xmas. Dan buku itu untuk preparation semester depan yang hanya akan start pada 14 January. Budak Serbia gradlab-mate saya nie, balik-balik cakap, My research makes sense, finally!! I am writing my manuscript. Boleh tak rasa nak p PC dia dan delete manuscript itu huhuhu? Apakah dosa saya dikelilingi orang2 psiko macam mereka?

Orang lain pernah tak ek rasa malas macam saya? tetiba rasa letih saje belajar? Ke saya seorang aje yang bergenetik macam itu?

Kuih talam

Apa perasaan anda apabila pulang ke rumah dan mendapati kuih talam yang anda buat dah jadi macam ini?

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A same question that being asked countless times

Salam,

Perhaps when a same question being repeated so many times, especially a personal one, in spite of being asked by different people, can easily cause someone to behave like a bear with a sore head. Insanely, for me, that's not a big deal, especially that question. When I chat with my friends, after warm greetings, they would pop that question out. The same question that my immediate family members asked me during my short break  in Malaysia last October (They haven't seen me for 2 years, so I bet that they think two years should be sufficient for them to answer that question figuratively). In a long conversation with my lil pet sis, she politely asked me if she can ask a question, which turned out to be the same question that being posted to me now and then.

Envy, definitely. I guess that's always women nature. Ala, kita tengok orang rembat gerabak baru pon kita rasa terus nak kan hahaha.  Worry, surprisingly not at all. I believe in Lord's willing. After all, I have so much taken from me, and Allah have compensated that with something better. Yes, I once complained, when I was a brainless kid, about my nightmare childhood and the family that I never have, but He graciously replaced those with great experiences where I pick up the true meanings of life, a great man called a husband and a small crowd called true friends. I believe that He decides the best for me. When I think about it right now, I often complain about my busy schedule, so not having any at this time would give some air to breathe.

My final words, for all the moms out there who are juggling between research, exams, families: I am taking my hat off to you guys!!     

Suami saya

Salam,

Walaupun suami saya cakap bubur asyura yang saya buat kurang sedap, saya tetap sayang dia, walaupun bila suami saya balik dari kerja, badan dia bau macam chicken shawarma, saya tetap sayang dia hehe. Saya sangat kesian tengok dia balik dari kerja, dia sangat tension setiap kali balik dari kerja. Kenapa? Anda tension tak kalau dapat boss Pak Arab yang macam ini?

Kisah 1

Tokey Arab: Imran, dah pukul 2 pm nie. Apesal tak balik lagi? Nie musti nak claim duit lebih
Imran: Ada meja tak kemas lagi. Lagipun, saya dah tulis kat punch card saya balik pukul 2pm (Skrg pukul 2.30 pm)

Maka Imran pon kemas-kemaskan diri untuk balik. Tetiba,
Tokey Arab: Hey Imran, kan ada 2 meja tak kemas lagi tu. Kenapa dah nak balik?

Kisah 2 

Tokey Arab: Minggu depan nanti kamu kena datang pukul 10 am. Tapi tak tahu hari apa lagi.

Pada suatu pagi yang tidak dinyatakan,
Tokey Arab (tepon): Hey Imran, dah pukul 10 am nie. Kenapa kamu tak datang lagi? Kalau dah tanak kerja, bgtaulah!
Imran: Tapi boss tak pernah cakap dgn saya hari apa yg kena datang pukul 10 am tu!

Kisah 3

Imran sedang memasak kat kaunter depan, tetiba,
Tokey Arab: Imran, p isi botol sos kat kaunter depan tu. Yalla Yalla (cepat, cepat)

Imran pon speeding p dapur isi botol sos. 
Tokey Arab: Hey kamu duduk kat dapur nie, kamu tak buat kerja kat kaunter depan ke?

Kisah 4

Imran: Boss, chicken shawarma dua, take away
(Saya ada kat kedai waktu tu, maka saya dengar order Imran dengan jelas, walaupun saya bukan sebelah dia).

Tokey pon masak-masak chicken shawarma tp letak dalam pinggan.
Imran: Boss, saya kata take away
Tokey Arab: Hey kamu nie cakap lah betul-betul. Kan dah lambat nak kena tukar-tukar. Nanti customer dapat lambat, customer tanak datang lagi bla bla bla kamu nie ***** la!!
(Saya rasa nk tempeleng aje tokey Arab yang sengal tu, tapi Imran macam biasa kat kedai buat cool. Nanti balik rumah baru dia mengaruk dengan saya)

Nak dengar lagi? Oklah last ek

Kisah 5

Imran: Kat restoran sekarang dah ada orang baru. Ok lah sikit, tak kelam kabut sangat.

FYI, Imran ialah cashier, waiter, cook, sweeper, mop-er (bukan moper eh!!),  dan semua sekali. Restoran itu macam dia yang punya. Owh, hanya Imran seorang saje pekerja restoran itu hehehe.

Seminggu selepas itu:
Saya: Macamana budak baru kerja tu?
Imran: Owh budak tu dah kena fired semalam.

FYI again, restoran tu bukak pada February lepas. Selain Imran seorang, semua pekerja yang lain hanya bekerja selama 2-3  minggu paling lama. Semua kena fired!


Akhirnya, pada suatu hari,

Imran: Saya dah tak tahan kerja kat situ!! Balik kerja nie saya nak tanya dengan Ridhwan kalau dia ada kerja kosong (Ridhwan ialah orang Muslim yang tengah cari pekerja)

Bila dia balik kerja,
Saya: Jom, kata nak p jumpa Ridhwan.
Imran: Tak jadilah
Saya: Sudah, kenapa pulak?
Imran: Saya kesian dekat arab tu. Kalau saya benti, nanti arab tu bukan ada helper. Tade orang yang boleh kerja dengan dia.
Saya: Baik. Nanti jangan komplen2 lagi dengan saya (sebenarnya saya tak sampai hati nak dengar)

Suami saya (bak kata ramai orang) tersangatlah sabar. Tak komplen banyak (kecuali bila saya masak tak sedap eh, hunny hehehe). Dia kesian pada arab yang buli dia hari-hari, tapi dia tak kesian pada diri dia sendiri. Eh ada tak saya bgtau yang waktu bulan puasa, kita buka sedap2 kat rumah, lauk ayam panggang, daging masak black pepper, puding mango, Imran hanya buka puasa dengan tab water sebab arab tu tak pelawa langsung air manis dan Imran pon malu nak minta? Jangan salahkan saya, saya dah kata saya nak hantar makanan, tapi dia takut kena marah!

Current Progress

Tajuk entry nie macam nak hantar report kat ministry aje hehehe..by the way, to those who are sponsored by ministry (hinting to Ms Lurpak) report dah hantar ke belum? Karang allowance tak masuk, baru la gelabah hehehe.

Despite all the hardship and arduous fieldwork in Summer, I managed to get all the data necessary for my research. Unfortunately, I have to repeat the very same experiment next year (Malangnya, saya telah memadam entri pasal research saya awal-awal dahulu sebab terlalu banyak kutukan kepada penasihat saya hahaha). Thanks to the farm manager who refused to manage my trial plot necessarily. If only I can drive the complicated-to-maneuver fertilization tractor, I won't be complaining at all right now.  Alhamdulillah, I finally finished all the major processing work for my data. All left are minor data, waiting for the lab to send me the chemical test reports. So no more tight breath and boiling brain, at least at this time of the year where it is all about Shopping Holiday. I should, nonetheless start to write for my manuscript and dissertation. I am trying to graduate in July 2012, so I have thoroughly plan my schedule. 3 classes next Spring, research hours in Summer and Fall 2011, 1 class and manuscript and dissertation writing in Spring 2012.

US educational system for graduate studies, interestingly, compared to UK's, just like comparing an apple to an orange. I believed, people are more acquainted with UK's system, which mainly consists of research work (sebab tu research work depa power-power hehehe). In US, it is compulsory to complete certain number of credit hours of coursework (I am talking about classes, exams, quizzes, homework, term papers, etc - no auditing classes here, folks) and research hours (total of these should make up at least 60 credit hours, at least for my university) before you can submit an application for graduation. Basically, it is juggling acts between class commitment, research work and marriage (Balik rumah nk kena masak, kerja sekolah tak siap lagi, esok ada group dicussion bla bla bla. Fortunately, I can cross out baby from the list). You will be just damn lucky if you can manage to graduate within 4 years or less. You need more than crossed fingers, lucky charms for this.

Last nor the least, I care to take pictures of my cold, gloomy, sumpek graduate room that I shared with other 8 students.

  The quiet, dark graduate room that haunts me every now and then, keep asking me, Kenapa malas sangat nk ke sini dan buat kerja kamu????

 Care to guess which of these desks is mine?

(A) Meja hari-hari dikemas

(B) Meja berkepah-kepah dan serabut - tak pernah kemas

Let me give a hint. Those 8 aforementioned, never show up except for my funny-yet-kekadang-terlampau-laser Serbian friend. It is totally weird because every time the department kerani comes and checks for vacancy desks for new enrolled students, all these desks are occuppied. Kan betul saya cakap, graduate room nie berhantu, semua orang tanak datang buat kerja tau!! Bilik nie haruslah mandi bunga!!

Salam sayang.

Kisah benar

Wife: hari nie saya masak bubur asyura. Cuba awak rasa,apa yg kurang ek?
Husband (without hesitation): kurang sedap
Wife: :l


Wife: alamak, lupalah nk simpan air soya nie mlm tadi. Mesti dah basi.
Husband: belom lagi. Saya dah rasa.
Wife: bila yang awak rasa x basi lagi tu? Kenapa tak simpan terus lepas rasa tu?
Husband: saya tak rasa pon.
Wife: confuse!


Wife: I am so grateful to have a great husband like u. Bla bla bla I love u so much bla bla bla
A few minutes after that,
Husband: were you talking to me just now?
Wife (dalam hati): bole tak nak tarik balik kata-kata saya tadi?


P.S: yang mana satukah pernah anda lalui?

Ini ialah Imran suami saya selepas pulang dari kebun kapas. Beliau tidak semestinya husband dalam kisah di atas. Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Of Khir Toyo and New Year Resolutions

Salam,

Haihh dah lama blog tak berupdate, tetiba blogging pasal Khir Toyo? (Nor I am trying to justify my busy schedule and tremendous amount of research data collected last Summer, by the way ada sape-sape yang buat phD tak busy? hehehe) After his controversial facial lift up (according to him, consuming tempe can give the same effect to the skin boost up by botox - aku yang hybrid jawa + cina sejak dari kecik dok makan sambal goreng, lodeh, kopok tempe, tahu, taufu fah, air soya, kulit tak cantek mcm dia pon!!), news on YB Khir, again filled up the mainstream newspaper columns and also (I much believed) opposition party-friendly blogs. Well, I am not into politics that much, but he's being charged of the corruption, I believed many cheers with the SPRM actions. My sincere two cents, the government should TOTALLY get rid of this type of YB, who is taking his position and title for granted, in order to gain (again?) the trust of people (especially whom are against them, hari2 komplen dalam FB). I am not against the government at all (it is not the fact that the government is generous enough to award me scholarship(S) - please note the S, plus they were not only to me, but thousands of the rest, that instead can be used to build low cost houses) but corruption among the leaders is truly a constraint to fair development and of course, unacceptable, unreasonable manner. Period.

For my new year resolutions, I decided to stay awake after subuh (which I can only do in Summer - sebab kena p kebun hehehe). Elders selalu cakap, tido lepas subuh rezeki tak masuk :( (sebab tu agaknya bila buat research byk problems hehehe)The very first day, I failed hahaha. Nevertheless, I managed to go to school 3 hours earlier than I usually did. Secondly, takmo malas-malas nanti kena extend lagi setahun babab and nak cuba khatam al-Quran at least setahun sekali. Cukup la tu ek, banyak-banyak karang bukan terbuat pon :p Pada sesiapa yang pasang azam tahun baru, semoga azam anda tercapai juga!

Salam sayang.

Entry merindui tanah air

Tetiba rasa nk balik Malaysia:-

1. Nak lepak Perhentian macam dulu2

 

http://gotravelplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/02.jpg

2. Nak makan char kue teow kat Sg. Balak

3. Nak makan kat Rosdet, Kg. Baru. Tak pernah lagi p makan kat kedai yang 2 minit lepas order air terus sampai, 10 minit makanan terus sampai, walaupun kedai penuh sampai tade seat. Sedap n sangatlah murah.

4. Nak makan nasi goreng ketam (soft shell crab) n air mangga special gelas mayonis kat Murni SS2, SJ.

5. Nak kena pow dgn my nephew - hari-hari nak makan Mc D, KFC, Pizza etc atau nak keta racing. 

Forever my heartthrob - degil camne pon dia tetap buah hati saya no. 1

6. Nak peluk2 mama sayaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!

Takleh tulis pjg2 psl mama - nanti saya melalak hahahaha

A day out

Salam,

Pity us, our day out is not to a nice, scenery place. Instead,

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Kebun Kapas!! Nielah rupa kebun kapas saya tu - 2 acre luasnya - mana lah tak penat kalau keluar amek data. Nie baru kebun pertama, saya ada 2 kebun utk research

kesian lah suami saya nie, makan pon dalam kereta saje, tak sempat balik rumah pon, dr kerja terus ke kebun saya

Dah hilang kehenseman suami saya nie kena bekerja kat kebun

Hmmm saya pon confused dgn motif gambar nie

Terbayang-bayang agaknya Imran dgn parang yg dia guna utk menebas kebun getah mama saya dulu

Nie salah satu kerja saya di kebun, ambil gambar canopy dari atas. Tujuannya nak analyze kesan treatment. Setiap kali ke kebun, saya perlu ambil 72 keping gambar macam nie. Nie baru ambil, belum process lagi. 

Dah siap kerja, amek gambar dulu!!

Mountaineering frustration

Salam

I have been busy with my trial plots for the whole week. I had to go to my trial plots around 8.00 am, finished collecting measurement for my research around 4.00 pm and continued processing some samples at home till 11.00 pm. I hardly recalled when was the last time I cooked for my other half, and he barely complained about getting in the last-couple-of-weeks-cooked-and-frozen dishes into the microwave oven. My cozy little one bed room apartment that I used to vacuum and clean on a weekly basis, now turns into a tongkang pecah. Well, this entry isn't about the house chores, but a student worker that worked for my supervisor.

He hired this guy early this summer, with an increasing urgency to get a helper for his project, since I am running my own now; me and Imran lend our hands to him last summer.  His assigned working hours on the paycheck is from 8 to 5, but since my SV is a super nice guy, he allowed this mamat just to come to the lab or field if he has some works for him. Believe it or not, this mamat got a 2-weeks-paid off to watch the WC while my SV was busy with his research grant and thus spent most of his time indoor - no fieldwork. Sometimes he came to the lab around 10 am or 12 pm, but he still been paid the full working hours time.

Since he's jobless, my SV suggested me to take him to my trial plots, obviously to help me. In the first occasion, we started to work around 3.00 pm, and by 5.00 pm he was screaming into my ears that he needs to go home since his working time is only up to 5.00pm. I started to feel annoyed, because I know his leisure schedule in the lab.  When I asked him to help me with my measurements, he quickly said he doesn't know. By the way, it is not a rocket science stuff, it is only holding straight a pole over plant canopies.Then, he sit in the truck for two hours, waiting for me to finish the work.  My anger and rage started to bloom, but takpe, sabar dulu.

The next day, I asked him to come at 9.00 am, but only at 9.30 am when he showed up. The first question he shot to me is, can we go home early today, I have a doctor appointment at 4.30 am. I simply told him, we are NOT going home until my work is completed. After an hour measurement, he rested in his car in 15 minutes. In total, he took 2 hours and half to finish canopy height measurement (bukan susah pon, amek tinggi pokok aje, kerja baca pembaris, aduhaiiiii....) while it only required me an hour and half to do the same job. He was amazingly super slow, slower than the slowest person or animal that I ever known. I took leaf samples that I need him to run under an equipment, it only takes 5 secs to run a sample, but by the time I finished collecting all of the samples ( total: 400) he hadn't even finished 60. To cut the story short, I had to throw all the samples because there is a time frame that acceptable to run the leaf simple since it has been detached, due to his ridiculous slowness.  Plus, he kept asking me, when we can go home. In all conscience, his quality of works is unacceptable, and his nightmarish inefficiency weighing me down.  

I went back to my lab, with a greater degree of frustration. I cried out loud to my supervisor, he had his ears for me, but he was speechless. The very next day, I found out that the mamat was fired by my supervisor. It turns out that his post doc had the very same experiences. He is passionless, and anticipates for effortless money. Instead of being a student worker, he was acting like a student supervisor - supervising us.  Hey, did I tell you guys that he received $11/hr while many others (once, including me) only being paid $8/hr.

For me, there is no relieve at all, even after the good news, because I have to redo all my measurements next week. Easily said, those measurements that I spent 6 hours on collecting them, are totally useless. Haihhh mana la saya tak balik melalak kat dinding bilik air selama sejam hahahaha

The take home message that I learned here, well, regardless how hard you work, you will be frustrated when someone mess up with your research. You can do very well in coursework, perfect straight A's by the time you wear the graduation robe, but when it comes to research, most of the problems are not even yours. I shared the experiences with my dearest Amelia - her supervisor even relocated her name as the third author of a paper that she, herself wrote, solely based on her works. It is not hard to understand that, people can be harsh to you, and change you fate. I guess I am totally right when I say that fairness never existed hahahaha

For those who never seen cotton, nie lah rupanya. Waktu dia dah berbuah karang barulah cantek sikit, putih2 seluruh alam. This is my significant half, he came to the field to spent his 1-hour break on helping me out. I never can thank him enough - pukul 8.00 am dia hantar saya ke kebun, lepas tu dia ke kelas dr 8.30 am ke 11.45am, pukul 12pm masuk kerja pulak, pukul 3.30 - 4.30 masa rehat dia tolong saya di kebun, lepas tu terus masuk kerja semula dan pulang ke rumah pukul 9 pm huhuhu. and him, being the greatest man for me, being Imran, never shout out a single complaining word. Haihh what a total opposite hahaha

Salam sayang,

Melissa

Cerita pasal saya dahulu

Assalamualaikum dan Salam Sejahtera,

Saya sangat lemah menulis. Baik dalam bahasa ibunda, baik dalam English apatah lagi Spanish yang saya baru belajar sepatah dua, sudah pun terlupa. Bahasa, adalah kelemahan saya yang paling utama, mahu menulis sepatah ayat pun sudah berjam-jam. *Sindrom itu akan datang secara automatik*

Saya telah berada di bumi separa gersang di mana penunggang2 kuda yg dikenali sebagai koboi pernah ber'wandering' di tanah ini berpuluh2 tahun dahulu, selama 2 tahun. Panas? Sudah semestinya. Lapang, kontang? Anda akan kecewa apabila datang ke sini, seperti mana saya. Seronok? Tidak sesekali. Jadi, mengapakah saya ke mari?

Sejak dari kecil, saya tidak pernah bercita2 menjadi medical doctor. Saya takut. Melihat darah sendiri dari luka yg kecil mampu menyebabkan saya pitam dan nausea. Tapi saya mahu gelaran doktor, kerana dari kecil telah disogok bahawa menjadi doktor itu adalah hebat. Maka, saya mengambil jalan yang panjang untuk menjadi seorang doktor. Selepas bertahun bertungkus lumus *perkataan ini digunakan seolah-olah saya ini seorang yang rajin & determinant :D* maka saya mengambil keputusan untuk meletakkan jawatan di sebuah syarikat yang mana cawangannya terceruk di celah2 ladang kelapa sawit di sebuah pekan di Banting, Selangor. Dipendekkan cerita, saya mendaftarkan diri sebagai seorang pelajar ijazah keDOKTORan di sebuah universiti, di sebuah pekan yang terletak di sebuah negeri di mana bekas gabenornya ialah Presiden US yang bertanggungjawab menyerang sebuah negara teluk berberapa tahun yang lepas . Seronokkah saya sekarang?

Untuk menjawab soalan saya sendiri, maka saya terbitkan blog ini. Tujuannya mudah, untuk berkongsi suka duka perjalanan seorang pelajar, seorang isteri, seorang anak dan yang paling penting ialah seorang manusia biasa untuk mendapatkan ijazah kedoktoran itu. Kalau pun catatan ini tidak mampu memberi inspirasi kepada yang lain untuk melakukan perkara yang sama, saya berharap agar suatu hari nanti blog ini dapat mengingatkan diri saya tentang perit payah, air mata dan pengorbanan yang dilakukan oleh mereka yang menyayangi diri saya supaya saya mendapat gelaran doktor itu.

Salam sayang.