Thursday, March 31, 2011

What motivates you?

Salam,

Few minutes ago, I received a call from my lil sister in Arizona. That motivates me to write this entry. At a very young age, this girl never fails to inspire me in such a beautiful away. She motivated me to reevaluate the direction of my life by telling me about her volunteering project. She showed me strengths that I could only see in my mother: she lost the person who inspired her most, at age of 19. She informed me that she will put aside her dream to volunteer in Africa temporarily to ensure that she can make her mother happy. She asked me how to define excellency in life, while I am struggling to graduate.

I wonder, in this life, what can we use as a yardstick to measure excellency? Money? Title? What motivates us? Family? Past, struggling life? The former is so true for me, especially having to see my mother struggled after her marriage separation. When I got the job offer with the O&G Company three days before my flight to US, I almost made my mind. Nonetheless, to see her tears just broke me apart. I made her cried once before, and I never forgive myself for that. I convinced myself that I will never lose if I try to make my mother happy. I believe that Allah S.W.T some other day will compensate the dream that I sacrificed for her. I am not ashamed at all to mention that I have a very mediocre meaning of distinction (in comparison to other's). For myself, it is not about title, not even about big remuneration and X5, but it is what I have contributed to other people. And I owe that to a person named Husna Diyana Hafit.

For other people, the motivation may come easily. However, for people who learned it in a hard way, they are indeed very fortunate. Why? Because I have seen they evolve and grew stronger from that. For my lil sister, my sincere apology, I don’t have a reputable answer to your question. Nevertheless, knowing you well enough to call you my sister, you bet, I know you’ll achieve the excellency that you asked me about.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Update(kira cincai sajelah!)

Salam,

Saya sedar blog nie dah lama tak berupdate. Saya memang sangat busy. Lately nie depressed pulak sebab 3 orang daripada geng2 saya kat sini (yang sama2 start program nie dengan saya) dah amek qualifying exam dan dah abes fieldwork. Depa semua dah start writing, dah tu selalu update kat saya. Lagi la saya tension. Advisor saya cakap, takyah gelabah-gelabah nak amek qualifying exam. Waktu head of dept saya jadi committee member (skrg dia dah pindah) dia urged saya amek last winter. Semenjak dia tade nie, advisor saya lagi suka. Dia kata Spring 2012 pon sempat lagi. Bila pulak saya nak writing macam tu? Dah la Spring tu saya still ada satu lagi kelas nak kena amek (nie sebab head of department soh amek that particular class, lepas tu boleh plak dia blah, hampeh!!) Saya takleh sesuka hati menukar kelas sebab saya dah submit degree plan saya kat graduate school. Arrghh kacau bilau ok. So sekarang nie, strategi saya ialah start menulis chapter 1, 2 (intro, lit review) secara random. Buat aje literature review sebanyak mungkin, nanti tahun depan bila dah register untuk dissertation, saya cnp saje mana yang patut. Chapter 3 (methods and materials) dah complete untuk fieldwork tahun lepas. Bila start aje pikir fieldwork, hidup saya dah huru hara. Bulan 5-9 saya akan spend almost everyday kat kebun, dari 6 am - 5 pm, no breeze, temperature 40 Celsius degree, very dry weather. Tak kiralah bulan puasa ke tidak. Satu aje perkara saya suka buat fieldwork, berat saya akan turun jadi 49 - 50 kg. Tang lain, saya memang boleh jadi orang gila.





Nie gambar dari poster competition last week. Saya confident saya tak menang hahaha sebabnya 2/3 dari judges  ialah orang daripada bank yang sponsor event tu. Saya memang fail nak explain sciences to non scientific crowd nie.  Tade skills langsung. Saya prefer buat oral presentation sebab tak kering air liur saya berjela-jela explain kat orang, dah tu orang tak faham apa pon hahaha. Anyway, semua tu a valuable lesson for me.


 Nie antara geng2 saya. Cody. Mamat nie kiasu, saya memang jeles dengan dia sebab dia memang sangat-sangat pandai. Wife dia kata, dia kat rumah tade pon study teruk-teruk. Tapi dia kul 6 am dah ada kat sekolah.
 Nie Amelia. Pon geng saya. Minah nie dulu x-Cornell and Fullbright. Dia punya publications dah berjela-jela.

Nie semua budak department saya walaupun lain-lain lab. Tak berapa geng hahahaha (sebenarnya tak pernah hang out dengan depa, tak macam dengan Cody n wife, Amelia n JD (tade dalam gambar).



Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Meaningless Spring Break

Salam,

My university is currently on the Spring break for a week. Sounds like a nice treat, but for graduate students, Spring break is meaningless. It is synonymous to term papers, catching up with studies, endless research works, yadda yadda yadda. I have been working on the take home exam questions, and still got 2 full questions and 2 incomplete questions to answer. I got 11 pages written with 4500 words so far. Plus, a 12-pages term paper that I found a way to include a lot of pictures (ngelat not cheating :p). Right now, I feel that my brain is saturated and drained, simultaneously. Today's already Wednesday, I need to finish both of them before the school session starts again next Monday. In my schedule, 21 March is for poster competition (dah siap tapi belom print lagi poster!!), 24th is for SAS workshop (baru kedek-kedek yang belajar guna command based statistical software, takmo SPSS and Excel) and due date for the take home exam,  28th is for research seminar presentation (slide tak siap lagi). Haihhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Tu belom include April *_*

Rupa take home exam yang tak siap-siap. Minggu depan nak kena hantar.

Term paper yang 3/4 complete. Dah tak lalu nak baca journals!!


I just want to watch Rango!!!! I love animation and Johnny Depp!!


Nota kaki: Poster Rango saya cilok dari Wikipedia.


Monday, March 14, 2011

Rakyat Malaysia yang sengal!!

Salam,

Tajuk nie memang dah basi, tapi saya tetap nak tulis juga. Saya ingat, budak lab saya yang bangsa Serbia tu aje befikiran cetek, rupanya rakyat Malaysia pon ada juga!! Malu ok, sampai keluar CNN pulak tu. Editor BH pon satu hal juga, nampak sangat tak buat kerja @ dia pon berfikiran cetek sama!!


En. Zoy, silalah berpada-pada buat kelakar.



Saya malas nak komen pasal artis (golongan yang suka buat fatwa sendiri etc). Berapa kerat aje yang memang bijak pandai (tak termasuk yang beli PhD).


Nota kaki: gambar-gambar semua saya cedok kat http://beautifulnara.com

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Mode bekerja keras!!

Salam,

Time: Saturday morning.
Venue: @ department.
Objective: Finishing 20++ take-home-exam questions.
Progress: 40%, currently on page 9, 3230 words and counting. To make it worse, this is my very first soil class.
Number of reference books checked out from library: 9



Nota kaki: Dalam kol 2 pm, tetiba aircond kat department nie rosak. Hangen satu badan!! huhu

Friday, March 11, 2011

Pants in US vs trousers in UK

Salam,

I recently discovered that many students decided to pursue their higher education in UK. In spite of higher currency rate, based on the increasing statistics, I presume that the government still stick on their policy to send students to the Queen's Land. I was in London for my master few years back, hence, for my PhD, it was a big NO to UK's educational system. I didn't consider Europe (despite free tuition fees) or Australia at all when I filled in the application forms. On the side of the spectrum, I wanted to explore for a better one, which I found out that US's fits me comfortably.

Listed below are some of the comparisons I have made (This is not a rule of thumb, these are only applied to me);

1. I was majoring in Remote Sensing and GIS for my bachelor and Master. I totally diverted to a new major for my PhD. US higher educational system requires you to complete a certain number of coursework (in my cases, it is 48 credit hours) so learning new subjects and knowledge are crucial for me to be able to teach when I  serve UPM later. Attending classes, doing homework, preparing for tests and term papers consume most of my time, hell yes, but without strong fundamentals in the new field I jumped into, I will be worth only a penny . I spent my first 2 years, solid, on taking coursework. No credit hours on research yet because there was an urgency to equip myself on learning new stuffs. Changing major is not an easy decision, and the "aftermath"? Well, I did really well so far (not to brag) with 4.00 CPA.

2. Many students have thoughts that studying in US in harder than in UK. Well, it is harder because you have to juggle between research hours and coursework, but harder doesn't make a system better. So, why then? It is really easy to get an A here as opposed in UK( an A in US worth 90, in UK it is 70), as long as you commit to your homework, assignment and exams. In many courses, I have an average of 6 exams per semester, a final, a term paper and bunch of homework. In a semester, I manage to take 9 -13 credit hours. I am not a genius at all, but the educational system here is designed such so that your grade / marks are partitioned into several sections. An exam may count only 15% of the total 100% mark, so you always have a second chance to improve your grade.

3. Your grade here is determined by your efforts, not by your final exams such in UK (again, this is based solely from my experience). Exam is not my strong point, I tend to flunk in a long exam session when I have to write 8 hours continuously in a day. Here in US, some of my professors, always give second chances to students. My committee member, Dr. Tina, in the mid of the semester, would call her students to inform them their performance. If you currently in the B jar, hye, it is not the end of the world. You still can get an A, but you have to do some extra works for me. It is not a free A. In another class, I asked the professor to check my term paper before the submission date and he returned me with  80% written on it. I did correct it for several times, resubmitted it, he recheck it, and by the submission date, he gave me 90%. The example does not stop here, I just list two.

4. Well, people may argue, is grade important in PhD? Well, that can get very subjective. For me, in a system where your performance is measured by a grade, then it reflects your efforts. In a system where grade is meaningless, like in UK (since there isn't coursework in PhD) then why bother? A good thing about maintaining your grade here is that it increases your chance to be granted by monetary award (Thus extra money for trip and shopping hehehe).

5. Research. This is the part I hate most. In US system, it is not mainly about producing novel works that will receive a Nobel prize, but it is all about learning process. Learning how to research and to be a good researcher. Nothing wrong to get a result that is against your hypothesis, but who would want that? You can get negative results, but you still can defense your thesis and publish. The reason is that, in future, no one will repeat the same work that you once thought it was a great discovery. Well, at least that sound better than trying to modify you results just to fit in with your hypothesis, but still, I hate to get negative results.

6. Time wise. In UK, I would say in average, students will wear their graduation robe in timely manner or plus minus an additional year. In US, the average program is about 4 - 5 years. Nonetheless, it is not possible to graduate in 2 years and half, provided that you can get your credit hours from your previous master coursework transferred. You may still have to take few subjects, but you have more times to spend on your research. In this coming Fall (it is called Autumn in UK anyway), I will be here for 3 years, yet my research progress is perhaps only 30%. That sounds bad, I know, but provided that I only started my research hours last Fall, it is actually not bad at all. The bad feeling will hit me only when I have to write a letter to the MOHE to ask for a semester extension.

After all, I guess it doesn't matter where students get their PhD. My friend said, tak kiralahlah dapat A ke B ke, janji dapat PhD. It is the Doctorate title that we are after for. It is very challenging to maintain your enthusiasm, passion and motivation during your PhD years, which I currently have that problem. I guess when you stuck and sleep with it for few years already, it just gradually consumes your passion from deep within.    


Thursday, March 10, 2011

Dasar Serbia

Salam,

Yea, saya memang tengah marah sampai saya menangis. Saya sangat marah pada budak Serbia kat lab saya nie. Ini bukan kali pertama dia secara kurang ajar membuat statements yang bukan-bukan. Sebelum nie, dia pernah cakap pada saya, yang saya nie half Chinese and Muslim, so that dia ada enough reason untuk benci saya. Dia memang rajin kutuk orang Cina, dengan bagi gelaran macam-macam. Sekali lepas tu, waktu banjir teruk di Malaysia (baru-baru nie) dia boleh cakap, you guys deserve it. God sends the flood to you. Pada kawan saya budak India, dia cakap, suami kawan saya tu lari ke New York sebab bangsa India nie kaki pukul. Padahal suami kawan tu kerja kat sana. Dah tu, bukan sekali dua dia komplen pasal gf dia. Dia kata gf dia tak pandai masak, pandai cakap saje, perangai macam budak-budak, suka cling kat dia etc. Bila kami suggest break off saje, dia kata, dia bukan nak kawen pon dengan gf dia tu. Cukup masa (gf dia currently duduk dengan dia) nanti dia akan dump juga gf dia tu. Mulut mamat nie memang tade insurans, sekali dua kami boleh terima as joke, lama-lama saya jadi menyampah. Bukan saya aje yang komplen, tapi dah 3-4 orang saya dengar komplen menda yang sama.

Ada sekali tu, saya jumpa selipar jepun saya ada atas meja , mestilah saya bengang (saya ada tinggalkan satu selipar jepun saya kat bawah meja, so senang saya nak amek wudhu).  Saya tanya budak pompuan tu (mustahil la dia sebab dia sangat kamceng dengan saya). Budak pompuan nie tanya pada mamat Serbia nie, memang dia yang letak selipar jepun saya tu atas meja, dia kata nak gurau-gurau. Gurau boleh ok, tu pon kalau anda dah kamceng giler sampai anda nak kutuk apa pon kawan anda tu tak kisah.


Kat grad lab saya nie, ada satu public microwave. Saya jarang juga guna microwave nie, n kalau guna pon saya make sure yang saya tutup container saya (dah jadi routine sebab saya tak suka makanan percik-percik). Kat grad lab nie hanya saya, dia n sorg lagi budak pompuan. Kami memang selalu saje nampak mamat Serbia nie panaskan pasta, etc yang tak bertutup (sebab dia beli instant dalam box tu ok) so terpercik-percik la sos-sos makanan tu kat dinding microwave. Saya pernah bersihkan microwave tu dulu, dan saya ada put note mintak sesiapa bersihkan lepas guna. Honestly, saya tak pernah nampak mamat nie bersihkan microwave tu lepas guna untuk reheat sos-sos dia tu. Hari nie, bila saya nak guna, Subhanallah, microwave tu sangat kotor, disgusting dengan food build up yang mainly nya merah-merah dan minyak-minyak. Sape lagi yang saya nak suspect? Budak pompuan tu selalu makan megi saje, saya panaskan air n jarang-jarang sekali letak makanan. So saya cakaplah dengan mamat Serbia nie, politely,  request dia bersihkan microwave tu semula. Dia mengamuk sakan, dia kata DIA TAK PERNAH GUNA MICROWAVE tu. Saya rasa nak hempuk dia. Saya mengaruk sekejap dengan dia, lama-lama dia dah keluar cursing word dia tu, saya diam n saya menangis. Ikut hati memang nak bergaduh lagi, tapi memikirkan dia tu memang dah dasar Serbia, saya benti dan saya spend 1 jam bersihkan microwave tu (Bayangkan betapa kotornya microwave tu kalau dah sejam nak membersihkannya).  Akhirnya saya put note lagi, kalau tak ingin nak bersihkan microwave nie, PLEASE jangan guna!!!

Bunyinya macam bodoh gaduh pasal microwave. Tapi saya tak rasa bodoh kalau dia tu bukan Serbia!!!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Makan penampar

Salam,

Semalam kak Mimah citer pasal zaman sekolah rendah dia. Antaranya termasuk pasal cikgu yang suka tampar menampar nie. Saya sangat anti cikgu yang macam ini, bukan sebab saya degil waktu kat sekolah, tapi kena pukul kat muka memang mental ok. Bukan saya tak pernah kena belasah kat rumah, apa yang saya tak pernah kena? Ikat kat pokok? Kena bantai sampai hanger plastic patah? Kena kurung kat reban ayam? Kena tali pinggang? Semua pernah, tapi kena tampar dengan parents saya memang tak pernah seumur hidup.

Cikgu yang suka menampar nie namanya Z. Ibrahim. Saya ingat lagi namanya ok. Satu hari, cikgu Z nie soh budak-budak bawak surat beranak p sekolah, ada borang la nak kena isi. Waktu tu ayah saya tengah kursus askar Wataniah, dia bawak sekali surat-surat beranak kami. Parents saya waktu tu dah divorced, dan masing-masing berebutkan surat beranak kitorg, jadi ayah saya angkut ke hulu-hilir (dia simpan dalam kereta). Saya cuba bagitau cikgu Z, tapi dia bolayan. Sebelum dia tampar saya, dia tarik anak rambut saya dulu, sambil tarik anak rambut dekat dengan telinga tu baru dia tampar. Berdesing telinga ok!! Sangat lah sakitnya. Malam tu, waktu ayah saya telefon rumah, meraung-raung berguling-guling saya suruh dia datang sekolah hantarkan surat beranak tu, sebab setiap hari yang budak-budak tak bawak surat beranak, satu penampar. Saya tak kira dia tengah kursus ke, tengah perang ke, saya tanak penampar cikgu Z lagi.  Esoknya, ayah saya terpaksa datang sekolah pakai uniform, dia explain dengan cikgu Z panjang lebar. Tapi, dasar cikgu Z, tadenya dia nak minta maaf ke apa ke.

Saya sebenarnya tak kisah cikgu-cikgu nak pukul nie, tapi janganlah pukul kat muka. Lagi satu, kalau setakat terlupa something tu, tak payah la nak tampar-tampar (cikgu Z selalu tampar orang terlupa bawa buku, nasib saya tak pernah kena). Nama pun manusia (dalam Arabic, manusia nie An-Nas kan, originate daripada Nasa, maksudnya lupa. Dah fitrah manusia tu pelupa, sebab tu dalam Quran pon diingatkan selalu). Lain la kalau meraba ke, merokok ke, ponteng kelas ke, curi buku ke, patut juga kalau nak dipukul / dirotan (bukan ditampar). Saya macam pernah baca somewhere, yang pukul di muka tu tak digalakkan, tapi tak sure.


Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Hannibal, MO (Road Trip Winter 2010)

Salam,

Hari pertama kami kat St Louis tu, hari malap2 saje. Tak banyak benda boleh buat, so Imran ajak p Hannibal, dalam 2 jam juga drive ke sana dari St Louis. Sampai lagi 10 mins pukul 5 petang, so semua exhibition tak dapat masuk, sebab makcik jaga kaunter dah sibuk nak balik. Hannibal nie hometown Mark Twain (sape tak tahu Mark Twain sila google!!) Walaupun saya tak tahu banyak pasal dia, at least saya pernah tengok citer kartun pasal Tom Sawyer dengan Huckleberry Finn waktu kecik-kecik (nie nak kutuk budak undergrad yang ikut saya sebab tak tahu sapa Mark Twain). Among his famous quote, (favorite saya):

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

Sape tak suka statistic, sila tulis quote ini atas homework statistic anda yang bakal dihantar kepada instructor. Confirm dapat A hehehehe


 Orang kat sini pandai menghargai orang-orang penting depa. Saya harap kat Malaysia pon buat begini, Rumah Ishak Haji Muhammad etc.
 

 Rumah Mark Twain. Bapak dia nie lawyer. 19th century dah jadi lawyer, patut la rumah pon besar.


 Tak dapat nk comment banyak-banyak sebab tak dapat masuk!!!


 Silalah baca signboard saje yea.

Lagi signboard. Imran nie suka betul amek gambar tak center. Dia kata, ini seni. Saya kata, main petik saje orang tua nie tau!!




Sebab semua exhibition dah tutup, kami pon masuk kedai quilt kat seberang jalan tu hehehe.
Saya yang suka tengok quilt nie sempat berangan kejap. Cantek-cantek tau quilt kat kedai nie, tapi reganya boleh pandang-pandang, jangan pegang-pegang saje.
Tetiba terpandang ada sigboard Mississippi River, laju-laju jalan, nanti dah gelap takleh petik gambar.
Hanibbal nie betul-betul kat Mississippi River bank, kalau bukan winter ada tourist boat lagi.
Saya yang dah jadi macam Imran, sikit-sikit nak amek gambar dengan signboard hahaha.
Mississippi River yang completely frozen. Kagum giler, maklumlah selalu tengok air batu dalam air sirap saje.
Belah kanan jambatan tu, dah masuk border Illinois. 


Saya ada rasa juga nak pijak sungai beku tu, tapi memandangkan saya tak pandai berenang, lupakan sajelah hasrat itu. Anyway, takde fence etc yang menghalang sesiapa untuk berbuat demkian.
Balik dah malam, singgah Capitol State sekejap. Capitol State nie macam bangunan admin untuk state.
Lagi contoh susah pakai camera DSLR. Saya paksa budak undergrad tu untuk petik gambar kami sampai ok, kalau tak sila balik jalan kaki hehehe
Lepas beberapa kali petik dan petik dan petik, muka n tangan pon dah kebas dek sejuk, barulah dpt gambar ok hehehe. Kat belakang tu St Louis Arch. Arch nie macam tube, kita boleh naik sampai atas untuk tengok view across Mississippi River. Budak-budak undergrad yang saya buli tu, esoknya p naik bendalah nie. Tapi sebab gloomy (entry sebelom) satu sen pon tak nampak hahaha padan muka depa rugi USD10 (saya memang suka buli undergrad, harap maklum)

Monday, March 7, 2011

St Louis, MO (Road Trip Winter 2010)

Salam,

Lepas abes tour kat Graceland, kitorang makan-makan n solat n drive terus ke St Louis, dengan harapan sempat jumpa geng-geng kat Muktamar 2010 tu. St Louis agaknya dalam 6-7 jam dari Memphis? So bila sampai dah malam, Muktamar dah tengah closing ceremony time tu. Saya tak amek gambar sekeping pon sebab galak sangat jumpa orang, dah tak ingat benda lain hehehe. Esok paginya, kami ikut Abg Zahar (previously study kat MI) p makan frozen custard. Sejuk bukan main lagi, siap ada sisa-sisa snow, tapi berderet-deret manusia kat kedai custard tu. Lepas makan aiskrim, saya heret 2 orang budak undergrad untuk ikut saya ke Hannibal (will update this in another entry) sebab St Louis nie macam boring juga.

Suka giler bila nampak signboard dah tukar state. Every state besar gabak sampai jemu driving. Nasib baik saya co-pilot yang tak pernah driving hahaha.

Kedai frozen custard yang sedap tu. Sape dah dekat, sila singgah, tak rugi. Saya p 2 kali dalam masa 2 hari.
Saya punya yang belah kanan, ada banana, pineapple, shredded coconut n macadamia nut. SANGAT-sangat sedap. Saya tak ingat Imran punya apa, tapi dia MESTI amek option yang ada ceklat. Dia antu ceklat, saya anti ceklat.



St Louis nie bukan ada banyak benda nak tengok pon, so kami merayau-rayau saje. Sebelum bertolak p Kansas City, Imran macam biasa, pergi mana-mana pon nk singgah zoo. (Campur yang ini, agaknya dah 4 zoo kami p?) Tapi sejuk-sejuk gaban nie, bukan ada binatang pon. Dah la gerimis. Nasib baik tade admission fee.

Imran depan zoo. Dia bukan nak gambar zoo, dia nakkan sign board St Louis tu saje.

Nasib baik ada penguin, dapat tengok live. First time saya dapat tengok penguin, happy macam budak-budak.

Nie King Penguin. Fur dia sangat cantek, berkilat-kilat.

Setengah jam saya rasa saya duduk tepi kolam penguin nie. Layan tengok penguin berenang la, kuak-kuak la. Rasa macam nak pet kan satu?


Binatang lain takmo kuar dari pen masing-masing yea, sebab waktu tu hujan and temperature pon dekat-dekat below freezing. Jadi binatang yang kami dpt tgk hanyalah:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Lipas gergasi

dan Kupu-kupu
Sadis kan p zoo waktu hujan dan sejuk beku??

Lepas balik zoo dengan perasaan kecewa, kami singgah bandar sekali lagi. Konon-konon nak amek gambar St Louis Arch, tapi weather sangatlah gloomy, satu benda tak nampak. Kecewa lagi!!



Saturday, March 5, 2011

Projek pagi sabtu

Sebelum jawab take home exam, perut dah bunyi-bunyi. Saya yang jarang breakfast nie terpaksa korek dapur. Konon nak buat pancake tapi susu tak ada. Ada whipping cream saje. Belasah sudah. Campur itu ini, jadi la tu. Rupanya macam hangus, owh tidak. Saya tabur dengan coklat rice yang kononnya nak buat kuih sarang semut pd raya tahun lepas haha. Drizzle sikit dengan honey sebab rumah nie tak ada maple syrup. Bak kata kak mimah, wallahhhhh. Baru boleh jawab exam hehe

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Thursday, March 3, 2011

Graceland, Memphis (Winter Road Trip 2010)

 Salam,

Firstly, saya malas nk pecahkan entry nie, so tengok sajelah gambar banyak-banyak nie. Secondly, saya tobat nak p sini lagi sebab admission tiketnya saje USD 30+. 2 orang = USD 60.  Plus parking ticket USD10.  Total = USD 70 = Groceries for a week. Satisfcation = Priceless ?? (terpaksa satisfied sebab dah abes USD70! hehehe)

Elvisnya mansion  nie sebenarnya kat atas bukit, tapi lepas beli tiket ada bus akan pick up kita, so tade peluh-peluh, don't worry. Tour nie mainly guided, so macam tak best. Saya tak suka dengar-dengar recording nie, saya suka baca-baca. Mula-mula aje concentrate, lama-lama buang terus audio guide tu hehe. Besar boleh tahan juga, so tour tu dalam 2-3 hours. Sape yg nak p sini later, saya advice cari coupon kat hotel, ada diskaun USD3 agaknya? hehehehe



 Graceland nie synonymous to Elvis
 
 Living Hall. Semua displays nie tak boleh masuk, ada pagar tali-tali tu. So terjengket-jengket la Imran snap gambar. Kena tunggu orang lain dah berambus baru boleh dapat clear view.
 
 
Bedroom. Ada satu aje, kat first floor. Maybe kat second floor ada, tapi tak termasuk tour.

 
  Dining hall. Biasa aje. Rumah Dato' Sosilawati lagi cantek? hehehe

 Kitchen. Tade pon mixer Kitchen Aid?

 
 Bilik tengok TV. Elvis nie suka betul kaler kuning n purple. Saya pening.
 
 TV sampai 3

 
 Game room. Lagi pening sebab sebilik tu berbalut kain corak-corak, dari dinding ke siling. (Elvis tak hire interior designer ek?)
 
  Buai Lisa Presley, macam biasa tengok saje tak boleh lenjan hehe

 Bilik award. Banyak giler okeh, tak abes nak baca satu-satu.

 
 Lagi award.
 
 Lagi-lagi award.

 
 Okeh, sakit dah tengkuk saya. Ada lagi?

 
 Owh banyak lagi.....
 
Cukuplah tu Che Imran, saya dah tak larat nak tengok. 
Sekarang anda dah tahu kenapa orang gelar Elvis tu King of Rock and Roll?

 
Jirat Elvis nie kat luar rumah dia saje. Ramai orang nanges-nanges ok depan jirat dia. Saya takut nak amek gambar, karang kena sekeh hehehe

 Ini contoh gambar oleh makcik yang ada camera DSLR amek gambar kami guna camera DSLR.  Kecewa ok!!

 
 Depan mansion

 
  Saje nak tayang pujaan saya :p

 Keta Elvis yang berderet-deret. Cadillac, Merc, Jaguar, Rolls Royce etc.
 
 Saya tak pandai differentiate keta, jadi tak boleh label. Tahu Myvi n Kancil saje hehe

 
 MG ek ?

 
  Pink Cadillac. Elvis nie memang meriah dengan warna.

 Elvis nie memang kaya, keta dah penuh segarage (saiz padang bola) pon ada duit extra lagi beli kapal terbang (sebenarnya ada dua, satu lagi kecik saje)

Saya tak minat pon Elvis nie sebab saya minat N-Sync. Tapi orang kata, kalau dah sampai Memphis tak pergi Graceland, tak complete (pujuk hati). Siapa-siapa dah dekat tu, singgah la kalau family anda tak berapa nak ramai hehehehe.