.:: All About My Journey in Life ::.

Business world..

2011-03-13T11:21:00.004+08:00

Hey fellas... lama dah tak menjenguk blog ni... maklum ajelah, dah ada blog lain, blog ni jadi anak tiri lak eh...:)) Sebenarnya aku baru je nka berjinak2 buat bisnes, saja2 je nak test market... hehe.. lagipun mana tau ada rezeki aku buat bisnes, alhamdulillah... so kawan2, apa yg aku jual? Mcm2... tapi setakat ni handbags and kids toys... kalau berminat dgn handbag Coach, bolehlah jengah2 kat sini -->

http://elegance-in-motion.blogspot.com

Buat masa ni jual beg Coach la, 100% original eh, tak main la replicate nye... huhu... kids toys pulak aku jual Melissa and Doug Educational toys.. aku suka toys2nya sbb cute giler, colorful dan sgt menarik hati... kalau berminat bolehlah jengah FB aku, or ada diiklankan kat agent aku (haha.. agent ke? ) Sebenarnya toys tu saje tolong member jual, sbb dia mmg dah bisnes brg baby..-->

http://karmilasbabycollections.blogspot.com/

So dgn sokongan padu dari kawan2 dan En Suami, maka berkecimpunglah aku dlm bidang ni... harap2 akakn dtg bolehlah aku luaskan lagi bisnes dgn menjual brg2 lain...hehe... so check it out, yeah..

Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-02T13:59:00.002+08:00

Salam everyone...

Dah haunted rupanya rumah ni... tuanny buat tak tau je... diam tak diam, dah dekat 7 bulan aku 'abaikan' blog ni... mungkin ada yg dah ingat aku dah resign dari dunia blogging.. mmg betul niat nak resign tu ada, especially bila memikirkan kesibukan sehari-hari.. lepas dah abis defend proposal and prelim exams bulan Nov 2010, tetiba mcm ada semangat baru nak continue blogging. Bila dah lama tak blogging, makanya lamalah tak blog hopping.. Sorry ye kawan2... aku dah lama tak jenguk korang... tak tahu apa kisah terbaru korang... yg pregnant ke, dah kawin ke, dah dpt anak ke.. semua aku tahu agak lewat... itulah Hidayah, bila dah tak baca blog kawan2 jadinya byk benda2 tak up to date... Tak pe lah... sekarang ni walaupun kerja tu ada (nama pun student, kan..) tapi tak de la busy macam masa prepare proposal dulu... harap2 jari jemari ini akan terus menulis entry tanpa jemu...

Slowly aku try ubah2 apa yg patut dlm blog ni.. org kata rumah kalau dah lama tinggal, sure bersawang, bocor sana sini, so kenalah kemas, ye tak? Makanya slowly aku cuba tukar layout, update widgets etc.. tapi hati ni masih kuat pada wallpaper jeans tu... cadangan nk tukar cat rumah tu mmg ada, tapi semuanya tak berkenan... nak buek camno...

So sempena tahun baru, apa resolusi korang? Mesti mcm2 kan? Aku ni jenis yg tak de la nak setkan resolusi semua tu sblm ni.. tapi tahun ni ada la pulak beberapa benda yg aku nak cuba capai... harap2 aku terus diberi kekuatan oleh Allah SWT untuk menempuh hari2 yg mendatang dan berusaha untuk capai apa yg aku hajati...

So Happy new year everyone! May all of you have a joyous and prosperous year...

The return of me to blogging land

2010-03-06T00:21:00.003+08:00

Rasa cam lama gile dah tak update kat sini.. diam tak diam adalah dalam 2 bulan lebih.Bukannya apa.. kerja hakiki tu memanglah banyak,kan.. di samping tu rasa malas nak update blog makin membuak2 dalam diri.. huhu.. Aku pun dah lama dah tak jenguk blog org lain.. so sorry ye kawan2.. bukan tak nak amik tau perkembangan korang, tapi almaklumlah.. bila dah put aside blog ni, automatically tak de la peluang nak jenguk blog lain. Mostly kalau ada update kat FB tu, barulah kutahu aktiviti kalian..and vice versa..

Banyak benda berlaku dalam sebulan dua ni.. nak cerita memang panjang lebar kisahnya.. alhamdulillah Mr Hubby dah selamat sambung belajar. Dugaan tu toksah citer la.. terlalu byk.. dari tak dapat nak ke Canada tukar status visa, sampailah kena balik Malaysia.. tuhan je yang tau.. dahlah tu masa apply kat Us Embassy KL tu, visa dia kena hold.. nak buat background check.. mahu gak dalam 2 minggu lebih tunggu result.. last2 time dia balik sini kelas pun dah start seminggu.. kesian gak la kat dia nak kena catch up segala.. huhu...

On the other hand, tiket nak balik Malaysia dah settle.. Insya Allah we all balik la some time in May.. dengar citer cuaca kat Malaysia tahap panas gile.. isk.. kat sini lak sejuk je.. sure berpeluh semacam aje.. hehe... Ada orang tanya aku, apa yg paling aku rindu pasal Malaysia.. of courselah makanannya.. hehe... balik ni apalagi.. belasah la mana yg tak dapat kat sini! Dalam kepala ni dah ada list dah apa yang nak kena makan bila balik ni.. kelakar lak rasanya... tak pe.. tak lama lagi je tu...

Progress study pulak... aku in the middle nak siapkan proposal... kalau segalanya berjalan lancar (bergantung kepada tahap kerajinan sebenarnya).. hujung bulan 6 dah leh la submit proposal.. then prelim early next year kot.. semester ni pun aku amik satu kelas je.. yang lain tu research credit.. sedar tak sedar dah almost setahun 4 bulan kat sini.. rasa cam baru je sampai Ames.. how time flies..

Si budak kecik pun bukan budak kecik lagi dah... Dah membesar.. makin mengada2.. maklumlah dia sorang je kan... sekarang ni kerjanya nak mewarna aje.. kadang2 penat balik kelas tu terubatlah tengok karenah anak dara tu.. dia pun macam dah faham.. yang sekarang ni semua orang dalam rumah tu belajar.. lepas sorang, sorang keluar masuk rumah..gi kelas la, gi office la...

Lagi seminggu je tinggal for Spring break. Seminggu je pun.. aku ni ingat nak la ke mana2. Mengenangkan kerja banyak, tak de la gi road trip jauh2.. probably Minnie.. or closer... depends la weather camane.. bosan gak terperap je kat umah kan...

That's all for now. Nothing interesting else to share. Oh. the weather is getiing nicer and nicer.. lama dah tak snow... sunshine manjang.. forecast kata next week ada few snow showers.. hopefully not too bad.. till then, ciao!

Family Visit Week 2, 3 and 4

2009-12-25T13:38:00.011+08:00

The next trip pulak, gi Chicago for Thanksgiving Shopping Spree and Detroit untuk buat Canadian visa Mr Hubby... wuhuu... so we all bertolak hari Selasa pagi, around pkl 8pg...and balik hari Sabtu... sakan ah jalan, bila lagi khennn... So dalam perjalanan we all singgah la Uni of Iowa... saja jalan2 tgk campusnya... Then perjalanan diteruskan sampai la ke Chicago..letih gilerrr... tak larat sungguh... lepas tu merentas Indiana nak ke Detroit tu paling la tak larat... mmg sampai hotel pun tghmlm.. masing2 terus tido tak sedar nya sbb penat yang teramat...

The next day pulak aku and Mr Hubby pagi2 lagi dah ke Canadian Embassy... nak mohon visa ke Canada... then sampai sana, visa application decline... wth???? Memula tu ingat Mr Hubby je sorang yg kena reject, rupanya ramai lagi yg kena reject... dah la tu, officers kat situ tak nak pun bgtau sebab musabab kena reject... just tick kat borang je .....sgt tak jelas the reason kena decline... bengong ah... ada satu lady tu siap nangis2 lagi kat situ... katanya dah 3 kali mintak visa tak dapat2... semua documents dah bagi... dia nk jumpa officer kat situ, sampai sudah tak dilayan... kesian... sekali mohon USD70, kalau dah tiga kali tu, you do the math.... kesian sehh... so we all dgn rasa kecewa pun blah la... in the end Mr Hubby decide balik malaysia je la...

So untuk mengubati kekecewaan - huh- we all gi snap pictures around downtown Detroit... kitorang gi jalan2 kat tepi sungai ala2 Kuching Waterfront kat Detroit... yang mana di seberang sungai sana is Canada..

Berlatarbelakangkan Canada

Downtown Detroit

Lepas sesi bergambar tu, kitorang terus ke Chicago.. nak gi jalan2 area bandar dulu, and the next day tu baru la nak bershopping sakan... haha... so since kitorang gi Chicago downtown waktu Thanksgiving day, tak de orang sangat pun... kereta pun tak byk...

Depan Chicago Skydeck

So malam tu we all meredah lautan manusia kat Aurora Premium Outlet.. dalam kesejukan ..hehe.. semata2 nak dapatkan barang2 dgn harga yg murah... gile seh... orang ramai tak hengat donia.. berpusu2... jalan punya jam jgn citer ah... we all jalan kaki je dari hotel gi sana...

Pemandangan di sekitar outlet... around 1 pagi..

Aku and Mr Hubby balik dulu...around pkl 2 pagi camtu.. sebab Fatihah dah tertido... lagipun sejuk ya amat... yang lain stay lagi kat sana.. around 4 pagi baru balik... tido kejap.. then semua pegi balik outlet pukul 9 pagi... sambung shopping lagi... sampailah ke tengahari... hehe...

Then kitorang spend masa gi jalan2 kat tempat lai pulak... Toys R us la... kedai sports la... masing2 shopping mcm tak pernah shopping... tak muat kereta... haha...

Antara barang yg diborong..

So in the end we all pun pulang dengan Chevy Tahoe yang sarat dgn muatan... siap beli canvas untuk letak barang atas Tahoe tu sebab ketidakmuatan tempat nak letak barang.. hehe...

************************************************************************************

So lepas beberapa hari kembali ke Ames, kali ni we all planning nak buat makan2 pulak sempena birthday Fatihah.. dah alang2 semua orang ada kat sini, bila lagi nak celebrate, kan... si budak kecik tu punya la excited... hehe... lagipun waktu nilah mama and daddy dapat mengenali warga Melayu Ames yang ada kat sini...

So the last week tu, aku plan nak bawak diorang gi TJMaxx kat Ankeny... tup..tup.. snowstorm pulak hari tu, sampai campus pun tutup... so memang tak dapat bergerak ke mana2... tapi best la diorang especially Angah dgn Apit coz ni 1st time diorang dapat merasa main dalam snow.. haha... onlye the day after tio baru we all dapat pergi Ankeny... other that that, dok round Ames ni la... trip ke Walmart tu dah ntah ke berapa kali ntah... not to mention JCPenny and others...

All in all, we had a blast... mama cakap insya Allah 2011 nak dtg sini lagi... hehe... waktu tu diorang nak gi Disneyland pulak... waahh... best best... travel lagi... so now tunggu bulan 5 pulaklah... balik malaysia...yippiee...hehe... so waktu tu pulak dah ada dah plannya... wait n see -=)

Family Visit Week 1: ISU Campus & Minnesota

2009-12-25T12:44:00.006+08:00

16th November 2009...

My family finally arrived in Ames... I was waiting for the bus to go to Monday's evening class, and I saw Adik drove the van, with 4 familiar faces in it. Kinda excited, I ran to greet them at the parking lot -- and ended taking the next bus to class..

19th November 2009...

I took Daddy, Angah and Apit to the campus for sightseeing.. Let them see the place where Adik and I study, and also let Daddy walked down memory lane looking at the places where his classes were held during his undergrad...We covered most of the grounds..including Jack Trice Stadium.. I was pretty ecstatic myself, as I never been to the Athletic Facilities..

L to R: Daddy, Me, Apit and Angah

21st - 22nd November 2009...

We decided to start our trip by going to the Minnesota.. Before that, we rented a Chevy Tahoe for the whole week (9 days)..

Hubby besides the Tahoe

First destination was The Mall of America, and it was well-decorated for the holidays.. We went to the Nickolodeon Theme Park and spent most of our time window shopping..

In front of the huge Christmas Tree in The Mall of America

The next day, we went to the St. Anthony Waterfall, The Art Museum and tour around The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus. We had lunch at the Marina Grill and Deli, and drove back to Ames in the evening.

My siblings, the 4 of us -- Apit, Me, Angah and Adik

Hubby and I

We arrived in Ames around 9pm.. So we got the next day to rest before we continued our journey to Chicago and Detroit... We did not do any shopping while in Minnesota, as all of us were waiting for the Black Friday deals..

To be Continue on Week 2

Back in the blogging business

2009-12-25T12:08:00.002+08:00

Hey y'all... it's good to be back! There are so many things to tell, yet I'm so demotivated to blog..sorry peeps.. this past few months, I abandoned my blog, stacked a bunch of good stories aside.. haven't been blog hopping either. Some folks asked for updates, as in what has been going on in my life. I heard some folks gave birth, got married etc.. so congrats to all those people... As for me, too many things happened, things that I expected and enjoyed, and also the unexpected..

Now it's the end of a year. Big deal, some people say. I beg to differ. I guess 2009 is an interesting year. A fresh start for me, stepping into the other side of the world. I stumbled all along, dealt with so many ups and downs. Some even made me think -- was it worth? The word sacrifice - seems to have a big impact in my life. Whatever it is... what I have been dealing with all these years... couldn't be possible without the support from my family.. and most of all, from The Almighty.

Last year, at the very same day...
- Busy packing all sorts of stuff, as we were scheduled to come over on the 2nd of January.
- Hubby was busy transporting our stuff back to his hometown.

This year, at the very same day..
- I feel demotivated, and in this gloomy weather... kinda lonely... as I missed Hubby that flew back yesterday to Malaysia.. why? More on the next entry.
- I am swamp with research work -- the semester break is for the undergrad kids. Definitely not for us in the grad school. Until we graduated, there is no "break". Duh.

Fall semester was over a week ago. The exam grades were out. Some people left to their hometown. The campus is dead, literally. The weather was gloomy. Not so much snow this past few days, but there is a snow storm warning across Iowa. Aahh... what a boring month. I finished watching Desperate Housewives season 5 (all of the episodes) and also the current ones, as I have no time to spare throughout the entire academic year for watching those. So now, what? Read some articles (ha! very funny)? Hmm... watch TV? not in the mood... and someone pointed out I should update my blog. Go figure.

Enuff for this entry. Off to the next entry. I guess I'll blog on the days when my parents came over, the trips we took, etc... maybe post on some pics or two. Or many some other good stuff to write about..we'll see.

She's 2!

2009-10-25T00:46:00.005+08:00

Semalam, anak dara mommy dah pun 2 thn.. dah besar dah... dan makin mengada2 sekarang... huhuh.... So sempena birthday dia yang kedua ni, of course la aku and En Suami belikan birthday present untuk dia... we all ni punya la beria-ia tempah hadiah tu awal bulan ari tu, sbb expected shipping dalam 2 weeks... kira sedang eloklah kalau sampai minggu ni... nak dijadikan cerita, dalam 3 hari je dah sampai dah birthday present tu... since aku order present tu kat walmart.com, we all pilih option Site-to-Store, means tak de shipping cost since walmart deliver item tu kat branch dia yg nearest dgn umah... So around 2 week ago, punyalah excited nak gi amik present Fatihah tu.. (aku yg terlebih excited ngalahkan birthday girl)... mana taknya, hadiah tu besar... jeng jeng jeng... nak tau apa hadiahnya...

Toddler Coupe.. comel, kan? hehe... sebab we all pakat nak beli benda ni pun sblm2 ni, dia suka betul main kereta ni (jiran Jaja punya)... dia punyalah suka bila tgk hadiah birthday ni... tak habis2 tunjuk "Car..car.." Haa.. apalagi, balik tu terus la pasang... bertungkus lumus jejaka2 tu pasangkan kereta.. aku cuma jadi pemerhati... hehe...

Masa tgh pasang tu, si kecik ni punya la tak sabar, merengek2 nak duduk dalam car dia tu... puaslah pujuk suruh sabar dulu... mengamuk sampai meraung nak duduk dalam car... isk isk... features coupe tu mmg menarik... ada ruang letak brg kat belakang, ada hon and stering...

Puas hati... dah dapat duduk... makanya, sampai tgh malam sibuk nak main car... huhuhu....

Tu cerita 2 weeks ago, then semalam we all beli la kek birthday utk dia kat Cold Stone Creamery... tak tempah2 pun, main beli ad-hoc je.. sbb dah plan nak buat birthday party dia bila mama and daddy dtg sini nnt... ni dia keknya -- sedap gilerrr....

Kek ice-cream Midnight Delight

Adik pun ada beli hadiah untuk dia... punya la suka --

Talking Elmo

Rasa cam tak caya je Fatihah dah besar... tapi masih lagi tak nak stop susu badan... huhuhu... ari tu dah try letak kopi, tapi yg kelakarnya dia belasah jugak... isk isk isk.... ni aku tgh nak try cara lain pulak... ari tu ada org tanya, Fatihah dah pandai buat apa skrg? Mcm2... mulut tu asyik bercakap aje walaupun ada antaranya tu tak tau le apa yg dia cakap... becok betul.. yg paling kelakar bila dia suka tiru aku tgh cakap on the phone... masa tu dia sibuk juga nak bercakap sambil pegang handset mainan... aku gelak dia gelak, aku cakap dia pun ikut cakap jugak... Fatihah, Fatihah.. yg paling kitorang tak daya nak tahan gelak tu bila dia sibuk suruh daddy online.."Appa..(grandpa)... onyain(online).." kalau daddy tak online mesti dia mengamuk... hahaha.... macam2 la anak mommy ni....

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY!! MOMMY LOVE TIHAH :))

I feel bad...

2009-10-22T06:52:00.001+08:00

Dah berzaman tak hapdet ini blog...

Byk mende nak citer...

Tapi tak de masa...

Nanti2 la...

Huhuhuhu...

Jamuan Raya Ames 2009

2009-10-08T12:22:00.013+08:00

Since raya jatuh pada hari Ahad, adalah peluang kami di Ames ni nak buat majlis jamuan hari raya... walaupun sibuk dengan kerja2 hakiki sbg seorang student, raya tetap raya biarpun in general tak rasa raya pun... huhu... Alhamdulillah... jamuan hari raya Ames 2009 berjalan dgn lancar... Almaklumlah, selaku team penganjur of course la risau kan... kalau boleh nak majlis tu perfect, tak de cacat celanya... tapi biarpun tak de la sesempurna mana, puas hati la bila tgk semua org enjoy sepanjang majlis berlangsung... memang meriahlah kiranya... ramai betul yg hadir.. student2 dari Drake University di Des Moines semua turun ke Ames lepas sembahyang raya semata2 nak menghadiri jamuan kami...

Suasana sepanjang jamuan berlangsung

Since jamuan tu berkonsepkan potluck, makanan yg dibawa pun meriah2 belaka... mmg byk dan terubatlah kerinduan pada juadah2 raya macam kat Malaysia.. kuih raya, kerepek semua adalah kiranya... Nilah antara makanan yg dibawa --

Aku pulak bawak ni --

Nasi impit dengan kuah lodeh

Majlis bermula around 1.15pm -- start dengan sesi perkenalan dgn student baru, dari ISU dan Drake University...

Continue dengan majlis makan2 la kan...apa lagi....

Sambil2 makan tu, ada la aktiviti yang dirancang... antaranya musical chair, karaoke lagu raya and coloring contest utk budak2... hadiah pun disediakan... hehe...

Lepas dah habis sesi makan2, sesi bergambar pulak... majlis abis around 4.30pm mcmtu.. then .. apalagi, tapau menapau la apa yg patut... perabihkan makanan yang ada... dah tak payah dah pikir nak masak apa mlm tu... hehe....

2 Bapa bersama anak dara masing2

Salam Aidilfitri dari kami -- maaf zahir dan batin

Salam aidilfitri dari Iowa

2009-09-30T10:39:00.003+08:00

Walaupun dah seminggu Aidilfitri berlalu, kami ingin mengucapkan Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri kepada mama, daddy, apit and angah di KL, mak di Jengka, sanak saudara, sahabat handai dan rakan2 sekalian di KPTM Kuantan, Kolej Komuniti Kuantan, UiTM, dan mereka yang mengenali kami di mana jua anda berada. Maaf zahir dan batin.

Tunggu punya tunggu, at last keluar gak la kat Salam Perantauan Kosmo! 20 Sept 2009 :))

Preparation jamuan hari raya and kisah tempeh..

2009-09-16T10:19:00.004+08:00

Tak lama lagi nak raya, jadi tak sah la kan kalau tak de apa2 celebration raya... especially kat perantauan ni... memandangkan kat sini dah makin ramai komuniti Melayu, and kebetulan raya Insya Allah jatuh pada hari minggu, elok sgt la kalau dianjurkan majlis sambutan hari raya....

Aku pun rasa terpanggil la nak organize jamuan hari raya ni... mmg la bila dah namanya penganjur, mmg byklah benda kena fikir untuk memastikan majlis berjalan dengan lancar... well, so far so good.. walaupun aku baru je dtg sini awal tahun ni, dengan berbekalkan pengalaman aku menyambut raya di sini few years ago and pengalaman menganjurkan berbagai2 program AMSISU (Association of Malaysian Students at ISU), adalah sedikit kekuatan untuk memastikan majlis ni antara yg berjaya diadakan di sini...hehe... by the way, aku tak menganjurkan sorang2... dibantu oleh kak Rosita and Kak Farah Norbi...

Aside from the Raya prep, of course la bila dah ada famili ni kena la masak juadah2 untuk santapan sendiri.. so aku plan raya ni nak buat nasi impit, kuah kacang, lontong, rendang... oh yeah kawan2.... aku memang kena pandaikan diri bab masak memasak ni... dah kalau dulu masak dgn Mama, kali ni, resipi Mama je la buat peneman masak... hehe....

So for the Majlis hari raya, konsepnya potluck, and aku akan bawa kuah lodeh.... so kalau orang biasa makan lontong, tau la dalam kuah lodeh tu antara key ingredientnya ialah tempeh (betul ke aku eja ni?).. nak dijadikan cerita, merata jugaklah aku mencarik tempeh tapi tak jumpa... semua ceruk grocery stores and oriental stores aku jejaki, harammmm tak de tempeh... sblm ni kalau ada tempeh pun nasib2 je... bila dicari tak de la pulak.... huhuhu... aku pun punya la frustrated menonggeng... tak best betul masak bila tak cukup bahan ni... buat hilang mood je... aku pun tanya la org sana sini, mana nak beli tempeh.. En Suami siap suggest suruh buat tempeh sendiri...(macam la aku reti....kan best kalau macam kat Malaysia... bersepah-sepah org jual tempeh... )

So last resort la kiranya, gi la ke kedai yg jual organic food and natural health store -- Wheatsfield...aku dah pasrah.. kalau tak de tempeh jugak, redha je la... pergi2 je nampak ini ----

Apalagi, meloncat kegembiraan la aku kat dalam kedai tu... akhirnya bertemu apa yg dicari... sudahnya, borong sampai lima bungkus tu... heheh....nampak gayanya adalah kelibat tempeh dalam kuah lodeh aku raya kali ni...

Hari-hari terakhir di bulan Ramadhan..

2009-09-16T09:40:00.005+08:00

Pejam celik pejam celik kejap je dah nak abis bulan Ramadhan... Syawal pun bakal menjelma.. rasa tahun ni cepat je Ramadhan sampai ke penghujung... nak nak pulak bila busy dgn schoolwork.. lagilah tak sedar betapa cepat masa berlalu...

Dua minggu yang lepas, kami sekeluarga bersama-sama family Kak Rosita, Abg Fazli and Kak Farrah Dina sempat la berbuka posa kat Minneapolis... kat Restoran Marina Grill yg menyediakan masakan timur tengah yg sungguh menyelerakan... hehe...Pagi Ahad tu kami bertolak dari Ames around 9.30am... smpi Minnie around 1 lebih... agenda pertama -- pergi Outlet stores... spend masa kat sana meninjau2 barang yg berkenan di hati (tak beli benda pun) then terus ke Restoran untuk menantikan waktu berbuka..

Bila dah makan ramai2 ni, dengan budak2, maka riuh rendah and kecoh la jadinya..rasa mcm kedai tu kami yg punya hahahaha.....Si Fatihah tu pun bukan main lagi join kakak2 and abg2 main pusing keliling meja... Orang punya la ramai kat restoran tu, siap ada khemah khas kat luar kedai untuk iftar...

Ni la antara makanan yg menarik hati kitorang ... dahlah buffet style, makanya... ambik jgn tak ambik... hehe....

Daging gyros and ayam

Self-assembled gyros with pita bread

Kofta kebab, chicken wings and rice

Rib and yellow rice

Sesudah tersandar kekenyangan, seperti biasalah kan... org2 yg kenal aku sure tau... kalau dah namanya buffet, apa yg biasa aku buat??? Hehe... tapau la kan... (dari Malaysia smpi ke US ni pun perangai tapau menapau tu tak hilang... haha).. sempat la aku tapau beberapa keping samosa, buah2an, and daging gyros bersama pita buat bekalan bersahur pulak..(byk ke? aku rasa sikit je aku tapau.. hahaha)

Mlm tu famili aku tak terus pulang ke Ames.. memandangkan esoknya (Isnin) tu Labor Day, maka we all tido kat hotel, esoknya baru la balik Ames.. the rest of the families mlm tu jugak balik Ames....

So last Saturday punya cerita, aku, Zairi and Fatihah gi Farmer's Market kat Des Moines... ala2 pasar tani kat Malaysia la kiranya.. itu je lah pun, mana ada pasar malam...and Farmer's Market kat Des Moines tu mmg besar... and ada berpuluh2 gerai and bermacam2 product and makanan ada dijual....

Sebahagian daripada gerai2..

Siap ada persembahan 'free' lagi...mcm belly dancing je..huhu

Penat sgt bershopping... smpi tertido.. hehe

Dapatlah aku beli bahan2 nak masak utk raya ni...Memadangkan raya tahun ni jatuh hari Ahad, maka kami famili2 di sini, insya Allah akan mengadakan jamuan hari raya pada tengahari Raya pertama tu.. since aku penganjur utama (hehe).. byklah benda nak dirancang untuk memeriahkan majlis.... so, cerita pasal planning raya ni aku smbung kat entry seterusnya ye....

Fall semester, puasa dan ....

2009-09-05T12:49:00.006+08:00

Sejak semester bermula, aku tak de masa nak jenguk blog. Walaupun aku amik 10 jam kredit -- 3 kelas (statistik, construction acct and financial mgmt, intro to basic research), mmg tak cukup masa nak bersenggang/melepak...I was pretty much occupied with research work... 40 jam seminggu kena keje ye... well, nak komplen pun tak leh, dah aku cari penyakit nak smbung belajar, so ni la nya... hehe...

Rasanya tak terlambat nak ucapkan Salam Ramadhan pada semua... nak dekat 15 Ramadhan dah, kejap je kan... jeezz.. time flies... pejam celik dah raya... serasa baru je smlm aku berbuka posa kat Vistana Kuantan, padahal tu tahun lepas punya cerita... huhu... ada gak yg tanya, camane posa kat sini... aku dah pernah posa kat sini dulu, so nothing new... bagi Adik and En Suami, mmg la lain sbb kat sini no pasar ramadhan whatsoever... nak mkn kena masak sendiri...huhu... rasanya tahun ni mmg pecah rekod la sebab most of my time sblm iftar dihabiskan dgn memasak... kalau dulu, gi beli lauk/kuih tunjuk je... hehe....

Mesti korang tertanya apa benda la yg kitorang makan kat sini utk iftar... aku admit mmg dulu aku jarang nak masak spesel2... tapi bila tekak teringin, belasah masak je la.... satu yg aku miss bila kat sini ialah Nasi kerabu ~~Uncle Bo~~ Pok Jit kat KIPSAS tu... mmg sedap... so aku pun apalagi, buat pertama kali dalam sejarah masak nasi kerabu sendiri.... serius... hahaha.... so inilah hasilnya....

Kellas kan? Jadi jugak aku buat nasi kerabu sendiri... lepas la kempunan kat nasi kerabu pok jit walaupun tak de la sesedap pok jitnyer...En Suami punya suka smpi minggu depannya aku buat nasi kerabu sekali lagi... isk... bangga dgn diri sendiri... hehe....

Aku ni jarang nak tayang2 apa yg aku masak sbb aku selalu rasa aku tak pandai masak... huhu.... aku selalu cakap kat org yg aku selalu "baling2" je bahan masa masak.. hahaha.... tapi kali ni exceptional kes... maklumlah first timer masak nasi kerabu....

Selain tu, aku ada gak la buat karipap, murtabak mini, all kinds of Nasi -- tomato, ayam, minyak, hujan panas... haha.... kekadang tu belasah western food je -- burger, pasta, etc... Bila dah masak hari2, sampai satu tahap dah tak tau nak masak apa dah, and dah bosan makan semua benda... huhu... so insya allah ahad ni nak gi Minneapolis -- berbuka kat sana dgn Kak Rosita and Abg Fazli nyer famili.. restoran Marina Grill tu serius sedap and byk choice pulak tu.... suka..suka...

Sebelum aku penn-off, aku nak cerita kisah aku yg betul2 terlupa pasal anniversary aku... aku ni jenis yg selalu ingat tarikh2 penting ni.. tapi sbb terlalu busy dgn mcm2 and fikirian pun dah tak tentu hala, anniversary sendiri pun boleh lupa... cesss... baru 3 thn kawin, dah lupa, belum berpuluh2 tahun lagi... isk isk isk.... nak tau macamana aku boleh teringat? Ha... kisahnya masa baca paper online pasal anniversary Siti Nurhaliza... utk pengetahuan Siti kawin 2 hari after aku kawin... sambil2 baca news tu, aku cakap la kat En Suami, apasal paper dok citer pasal anniversary Siti, padahal lambat lagi.... lepas tu terus terlintas dlm kepala yg dia kawin 2 hari lewat dari aku, aku terus cakap kat En Suami -- Ya Allah, camane leh lupa anniversary kawin ni? huhu... En Suami pun lupa jugak... dia pulak mmg jenis tak ingat tarikh2 ni.... makanya aku la yg kena ingat, bila aku lupa, tak jadi apa la... haha.... So sampai sudah tak celebrate lagi... nnt2 la tu... buat sekali harung dgn birthday aku, boleh???

Isk.... still tak caya yg aku lupa anniversary sendiri.... huhuhu

Iowa State Fair la pulak...

2009-08-23T19:22:00.012+08:00

Kalau minggu yang sebelum tu kitorang gi ~~fishing~~ shopping, the week after tu pulak kitorang gi Iowa State Fair kat Des Moines. Aku tau.. citer dah basi.. tapi nak gak citer nih... hehe... so citernya, pagi Sabtu 2 minggu yang lalu, bertolak dari umah pkl 10 pg mcmtu, smpi tapak State Fair tu dlm pukul 12 lebih... seperti biasa la kan.. bila ada ekspo/karnival mcm ni mmg jam ah kawasan, semua kenderaan berpusu2 nak cari tpt parking... dari exit nak masuk ke tapak State Fair tu punyalah berbaris kenderaan... selepas sejam dalam kesesakan tu, dapatlah kitorang parking.. itupun depan rumah orang... dahlah kena bayar even though tak semahal parking lot State Fair tu, tapi time tu la local people nak buat duit -- by charging for parking space..

Cuaca time tu ok lagi.. tak panas sgt.. redup je... orang punya la ramai... mcm semut je rupanya... oh sblm terlupa, baiklah aku cerita apa kebenda Iowa State Fair (ISF) tu... Every year, Iowa akan buat mcm karnival/ekspo/pesta/funfair (semua dlm satu la kiranya) and mmg macam2 ada la kat tpt tu, dari perlbagai booth ke makanan, games and funfair rides...

Punya la ramai orang...

Kalau pergi funfair mcm ni mestilah kena naik rides tu semua.. kalau tak, tak best ah kan... makanya, kitorang pun pilih la rides mana yg rasa mcm nak naik.. Adik memang nak naik rides yang mencabar aje.... yang aku and En Suami pulak pilih rides yang biasa je.. tambahan la aku ni penakut nak mampus... nak naik yg extreme2 ni kan.. haha...

Adik naik Ring of Fire -- gile punya berani...

And also this ride -- lupa pulak namanya...huhuhu

Aku pulak naik apa? Sebab penakut, naik je la Rock N Roll ni.. tapi laju gilerrrr....

Pemandangan di amusement park tu...

Si budak kecik ...

Makanan funfair ... shrimp on a stick

Gerai2 makanan ---
Sambil2 tu sempat lak masuk Animal display dalam dewan.. bau dewan usah ceritalah... huhu

Itulah aktiviti terakhir musim summer 2009.... the week after tu pulak start posa.... and Fall classes pun bermula...

Saylorville Lake, Big Creek State Park and Ankeny

2009-08-22T11:41:00.009+08:00

Haishhh... lambat lagi hapdet... makin busy hoccay.. byk je citer nak post kat sini... tapi busy + malas (aku macam ada perasaan dah malas nak menulis blog... apasal eh?)..anyway... last 2 weekend, kitorang gi picnic + fishing kat Ankeny... Saylorville Lake and Big Creek State Park.. saje je sbb jejaka kat rumah sibuk nak gi fishing.. even though I am not a big fan of fishing, gi jelah.. nak gak tgk pemandangan ala2 tepi laut.. hehe...

So first destination, Big Creek State Park.. ala.. sebelah menyebelah je dgn Saylorville Lake.. masa sampai tu memang mcm org jakun je... mana taknya, lama dah tak nengok tasik/laut.. (almaklumlah, Iowa ni ka tgh2 US, mana la ada laut)..

Luas gak la lake tu... siap ada bot2 mcm kat laut la pulak.. so kitorang cari port nak berpicnic -- lapar sehhh... tak toleh kiri kanan dah... hehe...

Tapi ada sorang budak kecik tu, excited memanjang... suka betul dia dapat gi jalan2...

Lepas makan tu, Mr Hubby and Adik cari port nak fishing lak... tapi kawasan fishing tu mcm jauh je dgn shelter... sbb kitorang bawak Fatihah... so malas nak duduk tepi2 tasik tu... dengan keadaan dia yg suka jalan ke sana sini, takut je dia nak masuk tasik tu... huhu... so kitorang decide gi pulak Saylorville lake, tengok keadaan kat situ camane... Masing2 mmg kagum ah dgn keluasan lake tu.. seakan tak percaya lak kat Iowa ada lake sebesar itu.. yg Mat2 and Minah2 Saleh ada aje menempel nak meng'sun bathing'kan diri... konon2 mcm kat tepi pantai... isk isk isk... masa tu dahlah pukul 12 tghari, panas terik gila2... diorang ni pakat jemurkan badan... tak koserrrr aku.... punyalah sukanya diorang kat matahari... haha...

Saylorville Lake and Dam

So... kesimpulannya, tak jadi la nak fishing sbb tak de port yg best.. lagipun masa tu tghari panas terik gila2.. makanya last minute nyer decision, we all gi Ankeny, konon2 nak tgk2 la TJ Maxx Store tu... Kak Rosita asyik cerita betapa murahya brg2 branded kat kedai tu... aku yang mmg berniat nak shopping baju sehelai dua ni pun .. apalagi... tuju je la sana... hehe..

Memula Mr Hubby and Adik mcm tak nak beli apa2.. aku je la yg gigih dok pilih baju, ha... last2, mahu 5 helai t-shirt adik beli, Mr Hubby pulak 3 t-shirt, 2 shorts, Fatihah pulak sepasang Puma sports outfit and aku?? 4 helai hoccay... hehe... kebetulan hari tu tax free day, mmg nasib baik.....

Apanya nak fishing... dah lari dari agenda dah ni... hehe... so bila balik Ames kitorang pergi Ada Hayden Park, dengan harapan nak fishing la pulak... sudah disangka, kalau bawak si kecik tu mmg tak jadi la... last2 aku ngan fatihah balik, tinggal jejaka2 tu berfishing sampai maghrib... tapi tak dapat ikan pun... haha... 1st time kan... tak pe ah....

Sejak hari tu, ada la 3 kali lagi diorang gi mancing... kali kedua tu tak dpt ikan gak... kali ketiga dapatlah 4 ekor ala2 ikan kembung... hahaha... yg last baru ni? hambek ko... 19 ekor kekdahnya... pueh ati makan... hehehe....

Kisah di pagi Isnin

2009-08-11T05:06:00.005+08:00

Pagi Isnin minggu lalu -- around pkl 11pg..

(Bunyi org ketuk pintu)

Aku: Abg, tolong tgk sapa dtg tu... ada org ketuk pintu.. Fatihah tgh nyusu ni.. (Sambil tu aku bgn terus masuk dalam bilik)

(Aku terdengar pintu dibuka, dengar pulak suara En suami berbual dgn sorang perempuan. En suami masuk dalam bilik)

Aku: Sapa yang datang?
En suami: Ada orang Singapore tu.. Dia tgh cari rumah Azizi (another family Melayu kat sini). Dia tak ingat exactly apartment number. Pergilah cakap dgn dia kat depan tu.
Aku: Dia dtg sorang ke?
En suami: Dia dtg dgn anak dia. Pergilah..

(Aku letak Fatihah yang sedang tertidur masa tgh breastfeed and terus ke depan - seorang perempuan bersama anaknya -- around 3 thn tgh duduk kat sofa -- rupa mcm India Muslim)

Aku: Hi.. You're looking for Azizi?
Lady: Yes.. I met him yesterday at the playground. We talked and he invited me to come over to his house anytime. I couldn't remember his whole apartment number, only the number 2 and unit C.
Aku: He is in Apartment 62C.. how did you end up looking here?
Lady: Actually I went to all apartment that has number 2 in the end, and knocked on every C unit in the apartment. Since I live in Apartment 10, I started with Apartment 12, 22 and now I reached your apartment, which is 32. Then I knocked upstairs, which is a Nepalise family, and they mentioned that there is a Malay family down here. (Untuk pengetahuan Apartment aku no 32 A)

We all sembang2.. dalam hati aku punyalah kesian.. gigih betul dia gi ketuk pintu apartment by apartment nak mencarik rumah si azizi ni.. nasib baik dia jumpa apartment aku dulu.. kalau tak? ketuklah pintu sampai unit 62. huhuhu... anyway, nama lady tu Afreen, asal dari Singapore, hubby dia visiting scientist kat ISU ni... anak dia umur 3 thn.. tak de kawan nak main.. tu yg nak gi main kat umah Azizi tu.. Fatihah lak time tu dah tido.. kalau tak, suka la dia jumpa kawan baru..

So petang tu aku bawak Fatihah gi playground, main dgn kawan baru.. suka sangat.. mana taknya, la ni bila petang aje, sibuk nak main kat luar.. asyik tunjuk luar and sebut "kakak.. kakak.." kekadang sebut "abam..abam" (abang..abang). Ha.. nak play dgn kakak dgn abang la tu... (anak2 kak Rosita and Jaja). Hehe..

Tapi kegigihan Afreen tu membuatkan aku berfikir.. kalau aku tak kuasa la nak gi ketuk2 rumah orang macam tu... huhu

Minnie Trip

2009-08-08T13:21:00.015+08:00

Last weekend (Fri - Sun), kitorang pergi Minnesota -- specifically, Minneapolis, St. Paul and the surrounding area. So dlm pkl 12tgh Jumaat tu bertolak, sampai Minneapolis around 3pm (byk kali stop kat rest area.. hehe). Kitorang stay kat Motel 6 Mall of America. So sesudah check-in, lepak kejap and makan2, then pergi ronda kat Mall of America (MOA). Konon2 tengok la apa2 yg menarik utk dilawati.. so lepas ronda2 kitorang decide nak gi masuk tengok Underwater Adverture ngan explore Nickolodeon Universe utk esoknya.. tapi serius mmg happening ah MOA tu.. selayaknya digelar MOA.. besar gila.. tak terjalan satu Mall tu ..

Esoknya pepagi kitorang gi kat area Stone Arch Bridge - Falls of St. Anthony. Kiranya kawasan empangan and sungguh la cantik dan berangin kawasan tu.. spend masa around sejam macam tu, then pergi makan kat kedai Arab - Marina Grill and Deli. Buffetnya reasonable and choice pun byk.. maklumlah, kitorang dah lama tak mkn daging halal kat restoran, makanya pulun ah cukup2.. hehe.. best2 and sedap food dia... sampai plan nak gi lagi mkn esok. Haha...

Next place nak visit pulak, Bakken Museum.. ni museum electric -- kiranya semua asal usul electric and electronik, power dsb semua ada dlm museum ni. Sesuailah kitorang gi, dah En Suami and Adik org electrical, kan.. mmg best ah dalam museum tu sbb ada mcm2 alat and gadget yg menunjukkan berbagai eksperimen dan bagaimana electric terhasil.. mmg bunyi agak ilmiah tapi mmg fun ah.. Kat tingkat atas museum tu, ada satu bilik -- bilik tu bilik Frankenstein, dlm bilik tu ada props semua, then ada satu switch yg bila tekan, ada suara yg akan start cerita pasal Frankenstein and ada lighting effects sepanjang cerita tu.. knowing me yg penakut, takdenya aku nak masuk bilik tu, duduk dgr cerita tu... Adik and En Suami je yg masuk... aku tunggu luar.. haha... ni ha gambar bilik tu... aku dok imagine Frankenstein tu kalau tetiba dia bgn.. mati ketakutan aku weh... haha...

Seterusnya dalam agenda pulak konon2 nak ke Como Zoo, tapi sampai je kat sana, punyalah penuh nak mampus dgn kenderaan and orang.. takde tempat parking langsung.. sampai parking area depan rumah2 org pun kena kebas... since kitorang nak gi MOA semula, we all decide lain kali je ah gi zoo. So perjalanan diteruskan ke MOA -- specifically ke Nickolodeon Universe and Underwater Adventures.

Masa kat Nickolodeon Universe tu, kitorang mmg excited la.. mana taknya, dapat jumpa Spongebob, Kai Lan, Backyardigans -- org tua yg lebih2, yg budak senyap je.. takut sbb character tu besar dari kartun.. hehe... then kitorang gi la kat area yg main games then dapat hadiah tu.. Adik main game baling bola pingpong dlm bekas yg bergerak and aku pulak main basketball hoop. Tak sangka lak, Adik dapat hadiah besar -- ni dia hadiahnya...

Aku pula yg melompat sebab excited gile.. maklumlah.. aku tak pernah menang main game mcm tu... haha... bangga seh dapat hadiah besar walaupun bkn aku yg dapatkan... haha...

Habis kat situ, kitorang masuk Underwater Adventures tu, best ah sbb byk sgt ikan2... Fatihah pulak mmg suka tgk fish... ikan ni pun ada...

The next day pulak, lepas je check out dari motel, terus tuju ke Outlet ... sampai je sana, aku rasa macam org gila... imagine la... ada 100 kedai, semua best2.. ada sale lak tu... mana satu nak gi dulu... lepas tu larat ke tak aku nak tawaf the whole area... gatal kepala wehhh... masuk kedai Nike je sejam lebih... we all semua beli sport shoes..adik siap beli jam Nike... then aku masuk Carters, beli kasut Fatihah... bila masuk kedai Coach, gila sekejap aku dibuatnya menengokkan pameran handbag2 yg harganya sgt reasonable... huhuhu... tapi sebab si kecik tu dah start grumpy, aku masuk je la mana2 kedai yg patut... ingat nanti Thanksgiving Break nak gi sana lagi shopping sakan dgn Mama and Daddy... tu baru best... hehe...

Lepas tu sempat la kitorg singgah lagi makan kat Marina Grill and Deli tu before balik Ames... so... tu cerita last week... ermm... mmg la best gi vacation2 ni... lepas tu rasa malas je bila pikir semester yg akan bermula 2 minggu lagi...anyway, plan utk esok? Gi fishing + picnic kt Polk County...

My new gadget

2009-07-26T12:22:00.002+08:00

Dah lama dah sebenarnya aku survey gadget ni... kejap2 check harga online, then tgk kat Walmart and Best Buy. Konon nak tgk yg mana offer best price... so akhirnya...

Ni dia gadget tu.. GPS Garmin nuvi 255W

Apa dlm kotak tu? Ha... selain GPS tu sendiri, ada car power cable, dashboard disc and suction cup mount.

Bila nak rasmikannya? Ha... minggu depan ye.. bila nak ke Minnie nanti ... hehehe...

Summer and Fall... in between

2009-07-24T12:24:00.004+08:00

July is approaching towards the end. There goes another month, and then comes another. It's still summer, though... perfect time for vay-kay or roadtrip. Nothing new and exciting for me at the moment, just doing my thing.. day in day out..

Speaking of roadtrip, it was pretty exciting to hear stories from Kak Rosita who has been travelling for two weeks -- went to 14 states. Cool, huh? Not to mention Kak Nor and her family -- 11 States. These people seriously were having sooo much fun and enjoyed themselves! Kak Rosita and family -- I bet when she got here, they must be so damn tired.. just imagine, they just got back from Malaysia the night before, and the next day off to travel -- despite the jetlag, not to mention the time difference. Never in a million years I could do such thing! Haha... memang salutelah Kak Rosita and Abg Jalal...:))

I'm kinda excited for this coming fall. Why? New semester , of course! Ye ye aje... well, actually it was exciting for us that Daddy and mama, together with Angah and Apit -- confirmed their flight and Insya Allah will be coming over. What else would be more exciting than having the big family here? Tentatively they will be coming over mid November, and will stay here for a month. Well, god timing, guys ... we are sooo going to hit the outlets and malls during the thanksgiving break! Hell, yeah! Shopping time... wohoooo.... and we got to celebrate Aidil Adha together, too!

To end our slow summer months, we plan on going to Minnesota next Friday, and will be back on Sunday. It's time for us to have the taste of summer, so to speak. Haha. Well, kinda chillin' before Ramadhan and school starts. We'll be going to Mall of America, Albertville Outlet store, and other must-visit places. Everything has been reserved and planed -- just waiting for next week to arrive!

Sekali sekala..

2009-07-20T13:45:00.003+08:00

Aku ni bukan jenis yang selalu shopping.. hehe.. tapi kalau sekali bershopping tu, boleh tahan gak la... so during my "depressed" week yg lepas, sempatlah aku rembat jeans dgn brg2 personal care kat Mall --

Apa yg aku beli?

GAP jeans --

Sini manjang aje sale... boleh dikatakan tiap2 minggu.. kiranya sedia duit je la... haha... yang bawah ni collection aku setakat 6 bulan ni... tu pun beli masa sale... sekarang dah jadi handbag addict.. tak tau ah lepas 3 thn nnt camane... :))

Reiman Garden

2009-07-12T09:36:00.005+08:00

Ni kisah masa Father's Day dua minggu sudah...:)) Aku tau mmg aku lambat hapdet citer kat blog... mcm2 hal... so anyway, masa Father's Day yg lepas, kami pergi ke Reiman Garden (Iowa State punya taman bunga + dinosaur).. Summer ni mmg bestlah pergi... cuaca masa tu sgtlah teriknya.. Reiman Garden ni ada byk bhgian.. 1st kitorang gi Butterfly area... mmg kawasan tu kea cover dgn huge net so butterfly tu tak de la terlepas keluar... Fatihah punya la suka tgk butterfly... mmg jinak2 butterfly kat situ...

Keluar dari butterfly area tu, kitorang jln2 pulak kat Dinosaur park dan kawasan yg dipenuhi dengan bermacam2 warna bunga ros... since masa tu Sunday, visitors pun ramailah jugak kat Reiman Garden tu... Mcm2 saiz dinosaur ada.. dari sebesar2 ke sekecil2 saiz...

The Reiman Garden Lake

So gorgeous...

Ada pulak satu kawasan tu utk kids... namanya children's park... ada satu structure dinosaur yg ditanam bunga2 diatasnya -- very cute... ada pulak budak kecik sorang ni dah start pusing2 keliling dinosaur tu... ntah apa yg dicari ntah...hehehe..

Lepas kepenatan tawaf satu Reiman Garden tu, kitorang pun berangkat pulang... yang paling seronok pasti la si kecik yg sibuk dok tgk itu ini.. hehe... oh ya.. sempena Father's Day tu dapatlah para ayah masuk Reiman Garden free... kalau tak, kena bayar $7.00...

Father and daughter together :))

The little girl

2009-07-03T12:56:00.006+08:00

I always find that whenever I am not in the mood, or whenever I'm not at my best, there is one thing that always makes me feel better: The little girl below:

Well, she's now in the stage where she imitates people, wanting to learn and go to school (hehehe..). Not to forget playing and watching her fave cartoon, "Backyardigans". It is truly a wonderful experience being a mom to such a lovely daughter.

Another thing that she likes to do now is playing in the water -- with bubble bath and her bathing pals. That's when I decided to bring her to the wading pool (it's a kid swimming pool) here in Ames. I bought her a swimming suit and Huggies swimmers (swimming diapers), and we were all set for a splash in the pool. So we went to Carr pool, where the wading pool is located besides the big swimming pool -- and there was nobody at the wading pool. We changed her and she started splashing water all over :)). Mommy and daddy didn't join the little girl -- we just supervised her from the edge of the pool. Here's the little girl that enjoyed the water:

The max depth of the wading pool is 18 inches. Not too deep for us, but definitely need to keep an eye on the kids, though... All in all, she really enjoyed the day and it looks like we'll be hanging out here often for the rest of the summer...

Argggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

2009-07-03T04:01:00.003+08:00

Sorry peeps... secara mentalnya aku tgh berserabut skrg... rasa nak meraung pun ada.. aaaahhh... nnt2 la hapdet kat sini... aku xde mood skrg ni...nak gi jln2 kat Mall boleh??

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T23:56:00.002+08:00

To all fathers out there --

Especially to both of these people .... :))

Daddy

&

Mr Hubby

The insight of my PhD

2009-06-19T23:33:00.008+08:00

Dah lama sebenarnya aku nak menaip in detail pasal kisah PhD aku ni. Niat tu dah ada sebenarnya, cuma sebelum ni tak menyempat nak taip.. Aku cuma dapat la nak cerita sikit2.. tapi kali ni aku rasa aku macam nak cerita 'behind the scene' tentang Phd aku, dan jugak observation aku yang tak seberapa ni selama hampir 6 bulan aku di bumi pak cik Sam ni :))

Ok, aku mulakan dengan mengimbas kembali kisah er... setahun sebelum ini..

Bulan yang sama, tahun 2008... aku dah pun dapat tahu yg aku akan ditaja buat PhD. Tgh tunggu surat je dari Iowa State University (ISU) dan relevant documents. Perasaan masa tu? Of course la excited, kan... dalam pada tu ada la rasa nervous, tak conficent dan mcm2 perasaan la.. at the beginning, tak de la ketara sgt perasaan tu, tapi bila dah sampai sini, makin membuak2 rasa tu dalam diri.. isk isk... macam2 sebenarnya ada dlm kepala otak masa mula2 start semester hari tu... rasanya korang pun tentu ada baca entry2 aku pasal class performance, presentation dan sebagainya for the Spring semester yang lalu...

Dalam pada itu, byk sebenarnya perkara yg aku observed, yang sering membuatkan aku berfikir, dan jugak byk membuka 'mata' dan minda aku... Kalau korang nak tahu, masa aku buat masters dulu, aku tak de pun perasaan nervous la apa la macam yg aku alami kat sini. Memang lain sgt2 keadaanya. Memang aku dah belajar dua tempat sebelum ni, aku buat dip and masters kat UiTM, and buat degree kat ISU. Maybe ada org kata.."alah.. ko kan dah biasa kat ISU tu... apa lagi yg ko takut... tak de mende la..." Part of it may be true, but hakikatnya buat graduate studies and undergrad are two different things. Masa aku buat masters dulu, maybe aku rasa aku berada dalam 'zon selesa' - yelah kan, buat kat UiTM, surrounded by member2 yang mostly orang melayu, so maybe 'inferiority' tu tak sekuat sekarang... Kat sini, you're surrounded by different type of people from different countries, and mostly Americans... aku pulak mmg golongan minoriti..mmg la terasa inferior itu.. Kalau korang nak tahu, even international students yang dalam course aku, boleh dikategorikan hebat2 dgn byk experience dari segi industri and academic... huhuhu... and professor2 pun bukan calang2 orang.. aku memang selalu la dok cakap kat diri sendiri yang aku boleh berada sama taraf dgn diorang ni... tapi hakikatnya mmg byk yang aku kena belajar dan hadapi...

Aku hanya boleh bercerita pasal kisah aku di sini dan di UiTM je, sebab aku tak pernah belajar kat UK ke, or other places.. tempat lain caranya pun lain2, kan... and selepas 6 bulan kat sini, aku dah boleh rasa betapa sgt mencabarnya buat PhD kat US ni.. Standard yang department aku tetapkan untuk PhD work mmg tinggi... even aku dapat masuk ni pun kira mcm nasib2 je la... huhu... korang yg mmg sedia maklum US punya requirement for graduate program tahulah.. berapa byk exam kena amik sblm isi admission form.. GRE la... TOEFL/IELTS tu of course la kan.. kalau sapa yg amik law ke MBA ke kena gak amik test GMAT/LSAT... nasib la aku dapat exemption utk semua2 exam tu.. lega sehh... hehe... kalau tak, masa byk habis nak study utk test2 tu je...

Bahang PhD tu dah makin aku rasa. Ada dua peristiwa yg menyebabkan aku menilai kembali perjalanan PhD aku dan membuka minda aku. Peristiwa pertama, masa meeting dengan Director of Graduate studies and other grad students dalam dept aku. Kami diberitahu tahap dan quality yg professor expected upon completing PhD. Aku sempatla menganga kejap.. terkedu dan berkira2 akan kredibiliti dan kemampuan aku. Memang gile. Kami siap diberi contoh thesis PhD beberapa students dari Ivy League school (MIT, Harvard, Princeton) yang dianggap oleh professor2 - 'not to the extend of PhD work'.. 'not as we expected' , etc... Mmg kena brainwash la masa tu... aku curi pandang ke Dr Shane (major professor aku), dia pandang aku dgn penuh makna -- yg aku perlu sampai ke level itu... dan lepas abis sesi tu, aku diminta utk mempersiapkan minda dgn menulis paper for CRC conference kat Canada thn depan.. and diminta untuk turut menyumbangkan idea for another conference at DC.

Kiranya sesi meeting tu aku anggap sebagai sesi 'membuka mata and minda'. Aku kena work hard. Betul, bukan senang nak dapat title Dr. tu. Sekarang ni aku try not to be overwhelm dgn kerja2 research project dan research phd. Peristiwa kedua yang berlaku... semalam aku dijemput menghadiri sesi 'defense' thesis PhD sorang student Mesir, Tarek namanya. Dia dijangka habis pengajian hujung bulan ni.. So ni 1st time aku tgk Phd defense kat US ni. Nak tahu gak, lain ke dgn cara masa aku kat UiTM dulu...

Semalam masa sampai kat bilik defense tu, aku pulak rasa berdebar2 tak tentu pasal. Macam aku lak yg nak kena defense. Mmg terasa 'vibe' itu. Kebetulan defense Tarek tu ada video conferencing sekali, sebab 2 dari 5 ahli panelnya berada di Colorado dan California. Aku pandang keliling, ada la beberapa geng2 Tarek kat belakang. Then Dr Shane masuk, followed by a few Faculty member yang lain. Aku pandang skrin depan. Terpampang powerpoint slide Tarek. Baca tajuk pun dah gempak. Defense bermula. Tarek present kat depan selama sejam lebih.. Aku ternganga lagi.. dia buat 5 modeling, aku ulangi.. 5 modeling dengan programming C++ untuk membuktikan hypothesisnya. Fuuhh... giler. Satu haram pun aku tak paham. Siap ada matrix la hapa la.. Bila dia habis present, Head of Dept aku, Dr Jaselskis pun cakap -- "this is the standard that we are looking for our PhD students. Very impressive and you have set the bar high". Betul, 4 tahun Tarek mengadap benda modeling tu, and of course dia mahir luar dalam bab tu. Alhamdulillah, dia dah pun bergelar Dr semalam. Dalam kepala otak aku ni, datang lagi persoalan mengenai kemampuan diri. Bleh ke aku sampai standard tu? Betullah yang daddy cakap kat aku dulu, buat PhD kat US ni sgt mencabar.

Sekarang ni, aku mmg kena set target. Bak kata Dr Shane, memang ramai orang yang dapat title Dr, tapi apa maknanya kalau kualiti tak ada, tak dipandang oleh academician lain? Aku menilai kembali masa aku buat Masters dulu. Kalau ada peluang, of course I will approach my Masters dissertation differently. Mmg byk flaws masa dulu, and aku anggap itu as learning process. Aku bersyukur sangat sebab dapat peluang ini, datang sini dan menilai kembali apa yang aku lalui, dan menjadikan aku seorang manusia yang lebih matang, dan ingin improve and develop knowledge aku yang tak seberapa ni.

Kalau Tarek boleh buat, takkan aku tak boleh, kan? Aku kena berusaha keras, kena rajin, and sentiasa muhasabah diri. Insya Allah, dengan berkat doa mama and daddy, pengorbanan & sokongan Mr Hubby dan dengan izin Allah, aku akan menggapai juga title DR itu...

The basement

2009-06-09T11:01:00.003+08:00

The basement? Apa ini? Movie title? Ohh tidak... tidak sama sekali.. apa yg nak aku storykan kat sini bukanlah ulasan movie atau yang sewaktu dengannya.. Sebenarnya aku nak citer pasal basement kat apartment aku... Kalau korang nak tau, every apartment building kat Schilletter Village ni ada basement yang dikongsi oleh 4 apartments. Apa yg ada kat basement tu? Every apartment diberi bilik stor and ruang utk letak washer and dryer... kiranya tempat mendobi la.. So alkisahnya basement kat bawah apartment aku ni bknlah basement yg cun mcm dlm movie tu... physically basement tu gelap dan gloomy.. Bagi aku yang penakut ni, spookylah kiranya... haha..

Mesti korang tertanya2 camane perasaan aku turun ke basement bila nak buat laundry... well.. sejak aku duduk sini, boleh kira berapa kali je aku turun bawah buat laundry... itupun ditemani Mr Hubby (yg bising2 kena paksa teman sbb aku kan penakut)... so most of the time Mr Hubby yg buat laundry... hehe... bak kata dia kalau dah dia kena temankan aku turun bawah buat laundry, baiklah dia yg buat terus... hahaha...

So korang yg mmg dah tau nature aku yg penakut ni... boleh la bygkan... mana taknya, imaginasi aku bab2 takut ni mmg la tinggi... aku tak tengok langsung citer2 seram (tak kisahlah melayu ke, omputih ke, jepun and korea apatah lagi)... Yg tau aku penakut mmg dah sah takkan ajak aku gi movie tgk citer mcm ni... hehe.... so berbalik pada kisah basement tu... bila bukak pintu nak ke basement tu... nampaklah tangga nak ke bawah... aku pun mula la imagine bukan2... dahlah bawah tu gelap.. kena sampai bawah tu baru leh on suis lampu... so kesimpulannya tak koserrr aku nak turun bawah tu sorang2... mmg kena bertemanlah jawabnya.... nasib la Mr Hubby jenis yang tak kisah nak gi buat laundry pkl 2pg... kalau tak, huhu... basuh baju kat tpt lain la jawabnya... hahaha

Aku ingat nak amik gmbr basement tu nak letak sini... tapi tak jadi la sebab aku takut nak turun bawah.. sorry ye korang... imagine je la basement tu sendiri2 ye... hahaha

Garage Sales

2009-05-25T12:29:00.007+08:00

Sekarang ni musim garage sales. Bila summer aje, confirm org buat garage sales. Aku dan Zairi dah jadi "garage sales addict". Tiap2 minggu, kitorang round satu Ames gi serata ceruk rumah orang yg buat garage sales -- tak termasuk yang organize kat padang ke, gudang ke, semua kitorang redah. Hebat tak? hahaha... Misi bermula Jumaat petang, bersambung Sabtu pagi sampai tghari.. so far dah sebulan aku pnya weekend activity ialah ke garage sales.. hehe... Seminggu adalah dalam 20, 25 rumah kitorang redah... Fatihah pun ikut sama, dia pun dah tau dah mommy and daddy dia mmg tiap2 weekend mesti gi garage sales..

Mesti korang tertanya-tanya apalah agaknya yang aku beli bila gi garage sales, kan? Dan apa pulak yang mat saleh tu semua jual masa garage sales? Hmm... aku beli byk brg2 keperluan, mainan Fatihah dan brg2 lain (romance novel -- aku mmg addict baca romance novel ni, sama mcm mama.. hehe).. yang selebihnya cuci mata aje.. Kitorang saja suka tgk org berkerumun pilih2 brg padahal kekadang tu tak de beli apapun... masa garage sales ni mcm2 benda org jual... satu rumah punya barang la kiranya... mmg rambang mata la especially kalau ada brg2 yg menarik hati.. kat kedai mahal, kat garage sales murah.. walaupun dah terpakai, kekadang kalau nasib baik dapat yg brand new nyer brg.. ha tu mmg best ah... mcm toys Fatihah.. kalau nak beli Little Tikes and Fisher Price kt kedai mahal sikit.. tapi kat garage sales dapat la a dollar ke two dollars ke... ok la kan... antara toys dia yg aku dapat harga murah -->

Educational toys

ATM Machine -- fungsi mcm tabung.. kalau masuk kad tu, keluar la instruction kat screen tu, then boleh buat deposit dlm slot duit (syiling or kertas)... kalau nak withdraw, pilih option withdraw then laci kelabu kat bawah tu terbukak... sgt COOL....

Meja belajar dan dapur masak2 - dua2 Little Tikes

Laptop Fatihah - semua org ada laptop, da pun nak jugak.. hehe

Shopping cart - satu rumah dia tolak shoppping cart ni.. hehe

Sofa pun aku beli kat garage sales -- romance novel ta usah cerita la... ada satu rumah tu siap bagi free lagi kat aku satu kotak penuh CPU komputer tu. Tanpa disedari aku terus meloncat kat situ.. hahaha... sekarang ni dah berkotak2 buku aku kumpul.. aku dgn mama mmg suka baca buku mcmtu, nak beli kat Malaysia, mahunya satu tu RM30++... kat garage sales $0.25 je sebuah...

Maka keje aku tiap2 hari Khamis mlm duk mengadap iklan tgk rumah mana ada garage sales, then tanda kat peta Ames, next thing... merayap la... hehehe.... esok ptg gi lagi... aku nak cari katil bujang utk Adik and some stuff... mmg addicted la kiranya....

Kat Malaysia jgn harap la nak jumpa garage sales mcm kat sini... brg2 yg diorang jual kat garage sales bukannya tak elok.. mostly like new condition and even byk gak brg yg baru and tak penah guna lagi... even ada org yg gi beli brg kat garage sales tu mat saleh yg aku tau mmg loaded... tapi diorang tak kisah..... bagi diorang daripada tak guna brg2 tu baik jual sbb akan ada org yg memerlukan apatah lagi harga mmg murah giler...

Ok... dah pkl 1.11 am ni... esok nak kene gi ofis.... gua zzzzzzzzz dulu....

Chicago Trip

2009-05-25T06:20:00.012+08:00

It looks like I've been abandoning my blog, but trust me, that's not the intention. I've been caught up in sooooo many things, plus I don't feel like writing. That left me with more stories to tell, and I'm gonna try my best to put it all in writing. I haven't done much blog-hopping either, and I know I have tons of catching up that need to be done :)

Enough with the feeling-guilty-not-bloggging crap. Three weeks ago, (man, that long already?) we went to Chicago. We left right after our finals were over. It's a 4-days trip, so there's not much that can be done. Anyway, Zairi had a test at Dominican University on Saturday... so we didn't get to do a lot of sightseeing.

We rent a car for the trip (we got a Crysler Cruiser!) and it took us around 6 hours to Motel 6 in Schiller Park. Zairi and I drove alternately, and the drive was very boring!! It's soy/corn field all along, and the highways are dead flat. Luckily we had the GPS that Abg Fazli loaned us, so we didn't get ourselves lost.

The car! Look vintage, eh?

We made pit stops along the long drive. One of them was at Rochelle, IL. We ate and 'lepak' for awhile... The weather was warm, kinda like in Malaysia but without the humid part... Guess who's enjoying the weather...

The next day, we decided to explore the suburbs... and we found this...

The Leaning Tower of Pisa? Seriously? In Chicago?

Hell, yeah! I guess this is somewhere around the suburbs, could not remember exactly the place.. we passed by and saw this tower, and thought it was really cool...

Well, we didn't exactly push it.... hehehe

One of our main objectives were accomplished! We ate KFC the night we arrived, and managed to 'tapau' some on the way back to Ames, too...

We will definitely come again to visit Chicago since we haven't got the chance to visit around much. The Navy Pier, Sears tower, John Hancock Observatory, etc....we need to spend good hours for touring around Chicago... that's going to be on our Chicago-to visit list! So, long... windy city! We'll be back!!!

Loneliness

2009-05-12T10:39:00.006+08:00

"My loneliness is killing me.... "
Me being lonely? Funny, eh? Aku ada famili kat sini, apa kejadahnya nak feeling2 lonely? Ha.. sure korang cakap camtu, kan... Well, of course I'm glad that I have my family here with me, tapi context loneliness yang akan kukupas dalam entry ni lain...

Bila dah berada jauh diperantauan ni, perasaan ni hadir lagi. Bukan aku yang meminta, tapi secara tiba2. Emosi, orang kata. Dulu aku pernah rasa macam ni sekali. Now is the second time. Isk. Emosi ini buat aku sedih. Sungguh aku tak suka dengan feeling ni. Tapi aku tak reti nak luahkan dengan kata2. Sebab aku bukan jenis itu. Jadi blog nilah tempat aku luahkan segala...

First time...

Masa tu aku undergraduate, lokasinya sama je, di Iowa State ni la... masa aku arrive, tak ramai pun orang melayu. Ada 3 orang lelaki -- Azlan, Shahril dan Rapid. Famili melayu pulak ada satu -- famili kak maya and abg ishak. So masa aku arrive, famili kak fauziah pun arrive sama. So kesimpulannya banyak tu je la kami orang melayu.

At that moment, sungguh terasa loneliness itu. Dahlah bujang, tak de geng. Aku baik je dengan famili kak fauziah and kak maya. But sometimes you need to hang out with friends, and doing stuff. Aku tak nak la susahkan famili2 tu sebab mereka pun dah ada famili, kan... Makanya tercatuk la aku kat Frederikson Court, merenung tingkap dan terasa sgt lonely. Nak join American friends, sgt tak appropriate. Diorang ajak gi bar, hangout. Itu bukan aku. Budak2 cina, sama je. Once in a while ada la join diorang main pool and bowling, but then, once in a while. Sudahnya, aku sendiri lagi... Oh.. and it's not appropriate for me to hang around Azlan, Shahril and Rapid all the time, kan... huhuhuhu... so there.... that was kinda the scenario sblm Sam datang....

Now the loneliness is here. Again. *Sigh*. Kali ni aku datang bawak famili. Syukur. At least the loneliness part of missing family is partly settled. Wait till mama and daddy come, then it's fully settled. Loneliness ini takde kaitan dgn famili. Agaknya about me. Isk isk, Sungguh complicated utk aku nyatakan. Bila duduk2 tu, aku teringat. Jauh. Sesekali terusik gak hati ni. Teringat kat kawan2. Apa khabar agaknya korang ek? Especially orang2 kat KPTM. Entah ingat ntah tidak. Kenangan itu datang lagi, Hang out together, sembang2, makan sesama. Rindu sungguh saat itu. For those people who knows me, aku suka bercerita, gosip2, bual2 kosong... hehehe... kan best kalau momen2 itu ada di sini... memang aku ada famili... but then there are always time that I need to talk to somebody.. saja2 je... sembang2.... other than Zairi and Adik. I guess my point is, I'm missing my girlfriends... and that is when the loneliness starts to come again...

It's been 4 months now since we arrived here. Alhamdulillah we got to learn many things. I learn a great deal about friendship, and many more. Thanks a lot to the people here that makes us feel at home. Terharu sgt. You guys know who you are. Kami amat menghargainya... we always feel that we are being left out most of the time, but then, I hope it was just a feeling. All in all, we are truly happy here, and enjoying our lives at the fullest..

Disclaimer: Entry ini adalah luahan hati penulis semata-mata dan tidak berniat menyinggung mana2 pihak.

Final Week

2009-05-04T13:07:00.004+08:00

Lalalala... minggu ni final exam week. Habis je minggu ni, merdeka la masing2... hehehe... so kiranya study week a.k.a dead week minggu baru sudah ni la. Tapi tak serupa studi week pun. Kelas still on, keje still menambun. In my case, aku takde final exam, so tak de la kecoh2 cam org lain. But yet ada term paper and assignment kena hantar. Research still on, xde cuti2... huahuahua...

Bila cakap bab final exam kat sini, yg merana sure la budak2 undergrad i.e Adik. Aku dah merasa dah camane merananya belajar wat degree kat sini. Kerja MENAMBUN. Nama je 3 jam kredit, tapi YA ALLAH, kerjanya... ngalahkan 5 jam kredit. So tak yah imagine ah kalau subjek 5 jam kredit kerjanya berapa byk... huhuhu...

Adik dah pening kepala. Merungut gak sesikit. Studi week tak serupa studi week langsung. Final exam dia pulak berderet2 start esok (1 paper), Selasa (2 paper - pagi and ptg), Rabu (1 paper). TAK KE GILA???? Dia dah pening, tak sempat abis studi, katanya. Aku tgk buku teks kimia dia, mak aiii...setengah jengkal tebal.. bila kala nak perabis baca? Subjek fizik pun sama tebal bukunya... huhu... nasib ah dik... macam tu la aku dulu, siap tak tido semalaman lagi... tak terkejar nak studi satu buku... bkn tak nak studi awal, tapi workload terlampau byk and time consuming... aku cakap kat adik -- pandai2lah kadok... huhuhu

Aku pulak, minggu final ni kena turn in term paper and 1 assignment lagi. Aku tgh halfway wat research pasal term paper tu -- prof aku suggest aku tulis pasal globalization impact on construction industry kat malaysia.. huhu... bkn byk pun literature pasal tu, tak de idea aku nak goreng apa dlm paper aku tuh... Isnin depan, kelas summer aku dah start. Awal, kan? Memamng GILERRR... tapi kelas tu 3 minggu je... mmg packed and jem kepala otak tak masuk kerja2 research yg tak de hentinya itu...

Khamis ni kitorang akan take off ke Chicago.. release kepala otak skit... hari Ahad baliklah Ames.. so far tak detail out lagi nak gi mana sumer.. tunggu settle kerja aku baru ah nak plan2 baikkk pnya... hehe...

Tu la.. dah namanya student, kenalah redha dgn exam dan yg sewktu dgnnya... huhuhu....betullah org kata, PhD = permanent head damage! Haha... Supervisor aku lak kata, PhD - Piled Higher Deeper... lanjutan dari B.S = Bull S***, M.S = More S***. Hahahaha....

What's cooking, pumpkin?

2009-05-02T07:05:00.005+08:00

Sedang aku memasak di dapur...

Fatihah: Mi...mi....(short for mommy)
Aku: Yes, sweetie... kenapa?
Fatihah: Tu..tu.. (sambil tunjuk2 periuk atas dapur)
Aku: Do you wanna cook?
Fatihah: *cakap dlm bahasa dia*
Aku: You wanna help mommy?
Fatihah: (gelak and senyum2)

Rupanya anak dara ni nak tolong mommy kat dapur ye... tak boleh la... minyak panas ni... dah... gi kat daddy ye.... makanya pergilah Fatihah kat daddynya sambil marah2 sebab aku tak bagi dia duduk kat dapur... huhu...

So masa aku gi garage sales baru2 ni, aku belikan Fatihah dapur mainan... reaksinya --> sgt2 suka...sekarang ni kerjanya main masak2 aje....

Say cheese!

Masak sambil tgk TV (mcm org besar aje..huhu)

Eiii... hehehehe...

Tgh kacau apa tu?

Begini ye, puan-puan...

Errk.... nasib baik pisau tu plastik... huhuh

Hmmm... mlm ni nak masak apa ek?

Jgn kacau eh... tgh busy ni...

Mcm2 la anak mommy ni.... esok dah besar jgn malas nak masak lak ye... hehehe...

VEISHEA, classes and summer

2009-04-24T00:11:00.006+08:00

Here we go again. Dah lama tak update, busy satu hal, tak de mood pun satu hal, tak de cerita pun satu hal. Bila dah lama sonyap maka jadilah menambun cerita yang aku nak kongsi kat dalam blog ni. Camni ke sikap penulis blog tegar?? Oh tidak! Aku ni tak de la blogger yang tegar mana pun.. nak blog hopping pun tak de masa.. nnt la ye kawan2.. aku akan berusaha meluangkan waktu baca blog2 korang :))

Sekarang kat sini cuaca bak kata mat saleh "such a lovely day". Hahaha. Walaupun sinar suria memancar dengan teriknya, angin yang bertiup memang sejuk... hehe.. but now it's getting warmer... so... sambil jalan2 nak ke kelas tu, aku pun ambik kesempatan menikmati cuaca yg indah..

ISU Campus on a fine day..

Last week pulak is VEISHEA week. VEISHEA ni kiranya mcm karnival universiti, held annually and it has been a tradition kat Iowa State Uni ni. Pengisian utuk karnival ni mmg hebatlah... dari konsert sampailah ke perarakan besar-besaran. Semua orang kat Ames ni akan turun menyertai karnival ni. Bagi aku memang best ah sebab ada International Food Fair, pameran2, dan mcm2 lagilah..Dulu masa aku kecik, daddy ada bawak aku gi VEISHEA, and now, turn aku lak bawak Fatihah... so Sabtu lepas kitorang semua gi tgk VEISHEA parade and jalan2 kat campus.. Since jalan utama ke campus ditutup plus malas nak bawak kereta gi, maka kitorang pun naiklah bas... walapun pagi tu hujan renyai, orang still tak berganjak sepajang laluan perarakan tu ...

Kereta berhias dan food stall

Berlatarbelakangkan Lake LaVerne

Bagi aku yang dah pernah attend VEISHEA sblm ni, aku tak de la excited ke apa ke.. tapi Fatihah memang la suka, sebab dapat tengok kereta berhias, belon gergasi mcm2 rupa and sizes.. tangan tak henti tunjuk sana sini sambil jerit2 suka sebab dapat tgk mcm2.. hehe... ntah2 aku pun macam tu jugak kot dulu masa daddy bawa tgk VEISHEA parade... hahaa...

So tu kisah pasal VEISHEA... now moving on to the subject on wrapping up the Spring semester. Lagi seminggu je tinggal, then dah start Summer... macam tak caya je.. aku pun baru lepas present term paper kelmarin.. kalau aku cerita mesti orang tak caya, tapi memang kelakar kisah masa presentation tu... Ntah kenapa masa kat sini bila time ada presentation mesti aku jadi nervous dan cuak.. Pelik, kan? Macam la sblm ni tak pernah buat beda-benda tu semua.. Dah sblm ni aku lecturer, takkan lah ada nervous bila ngajar depan ramai students, kan... tapi situasi jadi lain bila present depan Mat2 Saleh ni... nak2 diorang present mmg dahsyat... terkedu jap aku dibuatnya... huhuhu... Aku punya nervous sampai sejuk beku tangan... nasib baiklah semuanya ok, soalan yg prof tanya pun aku boleh jawab... kecut perut tuhan je yg tahu...

So summer ni aku still amik kelas lagi... aku punya plan nak habiskan coursework cepat, then nak fokus pada research je.. kelas aku untuk summer ni is Survey methodology.. kiranya kelas specific camane nak develop survey, analyze and conduct good survey methodology... bagi aku mmg bagus ah aku dapat peluang amik kelas ni coz ia sgt2 membantu untuk research aku yang mostly akan bergantung kepada survey and questionnaires.. Kelas summer tu 3 minggu je, tapi 4 jam setiap Isnin, Rabu and Jumaat... isk isk isk... agak pecah kepala gak la nak buat reading yg menambun2...

Bila cakap bab summer ni, mesti la nak jalan2 kan... so plan nak jln jauh tu tak final lagi, tgk pada masa yg sesuai sebab aku akan jadi busy giler dgn research so nak take off lama2 pun tak pastilah camane... anyhow, our 1st road trip is early May sblm kelas start, kitorang gi Chicago dulu, just a few days, then beru kelas summer bermula... jejaka2 kat rumah ni dah kemaruk nak makan KFC.. haha... kat sini mana lah ada KFC halal... kat Chicago je la kalaupun nak makan... so plan makan and tapau KFC tu dah jadi 1st dlm senarai road trip kali ni...

This weekend pulak, banyak garage sales around Ames. Maklumlah... ramai yang nak grad dan nak jual barang2... so aku ingat weekend ni nak "garage sales-hopping". Tgk2 apa yg patut utkku angkut bawak balik kasi rumah nampak "lively" la sikit, kan... berapa banyak garage sales aku nak gi? Adalah dalam 5 rumah... banyak tuuuhhh.... hehehe...tapi target utama nak cari DVD player... bosan weh.. tgk DVD kat laptop tak de feel la...:P

Panjang pulak entry kali ni... maklumlah, byk kisah... lepas ni bila la aku nak hapdet korang lagi ek... hehe... till then... toodles!

Nak makan apa?

2009-04-15T04:02:00.002+08:00

Aiseh... letih ah bila cakap bab2 makan nih...
kenapa ek? apa agaknya yang meletihkan aku tu?
bukannya apa.. aku sangat 'berchenta' bila nak pikir nak makan apa
sebab2nya ---

1. aku tak tau nak masak apa... boring ah makan nasik.. nak2 kitorang mmg jenis bkn makan nasik hari2 pagi petang siang malam...

2. nak makan western? dah muak... asyik2 makan spageti, pasta2, salad, sandwich, u name it... bosan!!

3. masa dulu kat malaysia kami ni jenis mkn2 mi... mi goreng ke, bihun goreng ke, kuetiow goreng ke... la ni dah bosan dah mkn bihun... asyik goreng bihun jee... nak makan kuetiow kerang, sebutir kerang pun xde kat sini... huhuh

4. kat malaysia kalau malas nak masak, boleh je gi order kat gerai ke kedai makan restoran mana2 ke, makan fast food ke.... kat sini mana ada.... nak makan fast food, tak halal.... nak makan kat luar, tak halal gak... plus mahal... kalau aku sorang lain cerita, ni dah ada family ni kena la pikir dua tiga kali nak mkn kat luar....

5. sometimes weekend tu ada la aku masak cam beriyani ke nasi lemak ke nasi ayam ke... tapi sekarang ni dah bosan dah makan benda2 tu... not to mention tom yam and adik beradik sup sumer tu... dah bosan jugak...

so kesimpulannya, aku tak tau dah nak makan apa... mesti korang tertanya2 apa yg kitorang makan kat sini kan? aku tak de la rajin nak masak mcm2... kerja melambak2...tunggu weekend je la.. dah kering idea dah.... jejaka2 dalam rumah semua dah bosan makan nasi... jejaki/anak dara je yg makan bubur nasi... hehe...

waaaaaaaa...... bosannyaaaaaaaaaa..... oh ikan keli... kenapa kao tiada kelibatnya di sini? huhuhu....

Meh nak update skett...

2009-04-07T10:52:00.009+08:00

Aku sebenarnya bukan tak nak update blog, tapi aku xde byk benda nak cerita. Ni kira kes nak kumpul story dulu, then baru best sikit nak bercerita =). Last week, lepas aku visit Ziegler-CAT kat Altoona, aku gi visit Weitz office and 2 jobsites kat Ankeny. Jobsite tour yang ni was organized by the construction engineering (CON E) ladies. Kitorang yang perempuan dalam CON E program tak ramai, so kitorang ada group sendiri yang organize mcm2 aktiviti... so kesimpulannya semua yg gi jobsite hari tu semuanya girls...

Tgh khusyuk dgr penerangan dari project manager

Rombongan ~~Cik Kiah~~ Miss Gladyss..haha

In the meantime, semenjak dua menjak ada transport ni, panjang gaklah langkah kitorang... ala, sekitar Ames je pun... Fatihah punya lah suka, dapat jln2 kan... before that, aku dapat car seat dari satu agensi ni, namanya Birthright. Agensi ni mmg khas tolong pregnant women yang low income dan yang sewaktu dengannya. Aku pun apply je la, mana tau dapat car seat free kan =D... err, sblm tu meh sini aku nak clarify skit, aku tak pregnant ye... mesti korang ingat aku pregnant tu yg gi Birthright.. haha... program car seat tu sesapa yg ada anak boleh apply, dgn syarat sblm ni xpenah ada car seat dan ada transport. So at last dapatlah Fatihah car seat...hehehe...

Cerita pasal Fatihah lagi... makin membesar, makin ngada2... dia tau semua org dalam rumah ni manjakan dia, apalagi... asyik nak bermanja aje... lepas tu dah pandai nak godek2 laptop daddy dia, and paksa daddy dia bukak videoclip disney kat laptop..isk isk.. anak mommy ni... tak padan kecik..

Ni tengah sibuk tgk videoclip kat laptop, and tangan tu pandai betul pegang mouse
(dia tak perasan aku amik gmbr ni.. hehe)

And another thing, dilemma aku dah solve sepenuhnya... yang mana aku dah dapat washer... alhamdulillah... walaupun tak de la sefancy gambar washer yang aku post dlm entry dulu, kira ok la jugak condition washer tu... so sekarang ni tak yah la aku nak kena gi laundromat lagi....

Pasal kelas pulak, lagi 4 minggu mcm tu je tinggal... then habislah Spring semester... sekejap je kan... dah 4 bulan kami di Ames ni... summer ni aku and adik ambik kelas, nak cepat habis coursework...so summer class kitorang starts dalam 18/5 mcmtu for 2 months...

So dah beberapa minggu ni weather pun makin ok, in the sense that walaupun matahari memancar terik, tapi masih terasa sejuk.... cuma tetiba je kelmarin ada snow storm... err... snow in April? My sentiments exactly.... how unpredictable the weather are these days.... huhuhu....

Anyway, I heard some good news from people at KPTM... congrats to Jet and Aminah di atas pregnancy kalian.... take a good care of yourselves and welcome to motherhood!

P/S: Lupa plak nak citer... aku dah dapat full license! yay me!! hehe....

Field trip at Ziegler-CAT Facility in Altoona, Iowa

2009-03-27T11:03:00.008+08:00

Today I went for a field trip at the Ziegler-CAT facility (dealer of Caterpillar equipment for midwest) in Altoona (around 45 minutes from Ames). I went there as part of the requirement for my GPS Grade Control class, and the whole class (there's only 8 of us) went down there around 3.30pm and got home at 8pm. It was a fun trip, and we get to learn staking out using GPS and actually get to sit in the cab of a dozer! (Yeeehaaaa!)hehehe...Here are some pics...

Me in front of the Ziegler-CAT facility

Me trying to stake some points around the facility

Some of my classmates listening to Josh Olson (2nd from left -- the CAT guy)

The fleet of equipment

Huge dozers!!

Checking out the GPS controller inside the cab

Talking to Josh while sitting in the cab (it's seriously comfy in there! There's air-cond and radio, hehe... jokingly asked Josh if there are going to install blu-ray players in here, too)

The simulator

All in all, we had a blast... and now, time to hit the sheets... There's another field trip tomorrow at Des Moines... will update on those, too..later..

Our Sweetheart =P

2009-03-24T14:12:00.003+08:00

Watchin' TV

Ready for a stroll outside

Posing kejap...

Hehehe... rasa macam rappers lak...:)

Setelah hampir 3 bulan..

2009-03-24T12:52:00.006+08:00

Pejam celik pejam celik dah dekat 3 bulan aku bermastautin dan bermukim kat bumi pak cik Sam nih. Alhamdulillah, macam2 ilmu yg aku pelajari, dan kehidupan kitorang pun semakin hari semakin ok... boleh dah adjust dgn surrounding dan cuaca kat sini. Baik aku, Zairi, Adik dan Fatihah, kitorang dah boleh adapt...

Overall life: Alhamdulillah ok, perabot and electrical appliances makin bertambah, kenderaan pun dah ada... tinggal washer je lagi (yg penting la).. lain2 tu, tak urgent sgt... lambat skit dapat pun xpe...

Research: Aku still x figure out lagi topik utk phd thesis aku, bagus tak? haha... kat sini ok, flexible.. style sini x push2 org sampai sesak otak pikir pasal topik thesis, dan diaorang bagi kebebasan dan guide utk aku decide topik... so far apa yg aku buat is just baca lit review dan tgk area mana lacking of research...then barulah aku pikir nak tulis thesis pasal apa.. in the meantime aku involve dgn satu project dgn prof aku, and dia mintak aku jadikan project yg aku keje ni as platform utk develop topik thesis... tapi, knowing me... since byk sgt journal yg kena baca, biasalah... mesti bertangguh aje... kekadang tensen dgn diri sndiri...huhu... aku ni sgt la last minute nyer type.. tapi seriously kali ni aku kena berubah perlahan2... giler apa nak wat thesis last minute! huhu...

Rutin harian:

Pagi -- Lepas solat subuh, baring2 jap (kadang2 terlelap balik kalau Fatihah xbgn lagi..hehe). Kalau anak dara tu dah bgn, jawabnya layan dia main2 atas katil dulu... then aku online YM, sebab mmg wajib chatting via webcm dgn mama and daddy (diorang nak kena tgk Fatihah..hehe). then lepas abis chatting, aku gi jenguk kat dapur, tgk apa nak makan utk breakfast.. biasa Adik gi kelas around 8.40am, so dia mmg xsempat ah nak breakfast... sambil Fatihah layan Wonderpet dgn Backyardigans, aku kemas ah apa2 yg patut... Lepas bermandi-mandian, aku pun start pikir nak masa apa utk lunch sambil layan rerun Gilmore Girls...

Tghari -- Aku masak lunch, then aku solat zuhur sblm gi ofis buat keje... around 1.40pm aku dh gi Dept... mesti korang wondering eh.. aku ada ofis sendiri... well, actually more of a desk space.. kalau nak buat research work /assignment kat ofis senang skit, kalau kat umah ada minah kenit nak kacau mommy je kejenye.. hehe... so ni la desk space aku... (Aku biasa gi ofis hari aku ada kelas je -- Isnin, Selasa, Khamis)

Ptg -- Kelas aku utk Isnin and Selasa start pukul 5pm, habis pkul 7.30pm.. yang hari khamis start pkl 6pm - 9.30pm... kalau tak de kelas aku lepak kt umah smbil layan Fatihah..

Mlm -- Bila dah balik mlm aku pun masak ala kadar aje la nk alas perut.. Zairi dgn Adik pun paham aku balik dah lewat, nasib baik diorang jenis makan x byk songeh..hehe... makan je apa yg aku masak or apa yg ada... klu x, jenuh la jugak aku... penat lagi, nak pulak kalau aku balik kelas, Fatihah tak tido lagi... nak kena tidurkan dia dulu, baru leh masak2... huhu...

Spring break baru je sudah minggu lepas.Aku xgi mana2 yg interesting pun, sbb kitorang baru je dpt kereta, lesen penuh belum ada lagi... lagipun, ongkos xmengizinkan utk berjoli sakan... haha... So aku ingat summer ni nak arrange roadtrip... hehe.... hmmm... destinasi hala tuju? Maybe nak cover states belah North West, sampai Canada... haha... iyolah tu.... haha... ala, tu perancangan aje... tgk bajet dulu macamana.... tapi for sure mmg kitorang nak travel.

Adoi laa... cepat la sem ni abis!! x larat den nak tnggu laie....

The Car (It's actually a van)

2009-03-23T11:39:00.005+08:00

Alhamdulillah... One of my problem was solved. Remember the entry about the car and the washer? yeah... now I'm still hunting for a washer.. We went down to Des Moines to take a look at the car which was advertised at autotrader.com with Abg Jalal, and fell in love with it. The price was reasonable, the mileage is okay nd the interior and engine is clean. Oh, our car is a Nissan Quest... Here are some pics...

And check out the lil' girl who's "inspecting" the Nissan Quest ..

I drove the van from Des Moines to Ames with Zairi beside me (eventhough both of us only have permits, not a real driver's license). Why van, not a car? Well... Since Angah is coming here for his Masters, and mama and daddy with Apit coming over in October, I guess it would be better for me to get a van rather than a car.. I can always haul everyone for a shopping trip around Ames and maybe farther, haha.... So there... we got a ~~car~~ van! Yay!

I yelled at a gangster in your bathroom because Big Bird said to and he's my leader

2009-03-17T00:37:00.004+08:00

Keep this going. Type out the sentence you end up with in the TITLE of your note and tag your friends.Have fun. :D

Pick the month you were born:
January-------I kicked
February------I loved
March--------I karate chopped
April----------I licked
May----------I jumped on
June----------I smelled
July-----------I did the Macarena With
August--------I had lunch with
September----I danced with
October-------I sang to
November-----I yelled at
December-----I ran over

Pick the day (number) you were born on:
1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a snowman
6-------a gangster
7-------my mobile phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbour
11-------my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18-------a spoon
19------ - a smurf
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an iPod
29-------a surfer
30-------a homeless guy
31-------a llama

What is the last number of the year you were born:
1--------- In my car
2 --------- On your car
3 ----------- In a hole
4 ----------- Under your bed
5 ----------- Riding a Motorcycle
6 --------- sliding down a hill
7 --------- in an elevator
8---------- at the dinner table
9 -------- In line at the bank
0 -------- in your bathroom

Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:
White---------because I'm cool like that
Black---------because that's how I roll.
Pink-----------because I'm NOT crazy.
Red-----------because the voices told me to.
Blue-----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want
Green---------because I think I need some serious help.
Purple---------because I'm AWESOME!
Gray----------because Big Bird said to and he's my leader.
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars
Orange--------because my family thinks I'm stupid anyway.
Brown---------because I can.
Other----------because I'm a Ninja!
None----------because I can't control myself!

Now type out the sentence you made, write 'em in my comment box and also as the TITLE line and tag your friends in the note!

Hmm... Not in the mood of tagging people..:0.. Most of 'em have been tagged anyway, so... whoever feel like doing it, you're most welcome...

When You Told Me You Loved Me

2009-03-15T06:43:00.005+08:00

I fell in love with this song when I first watched it on YouTube. It's also the background song for my blog :)) This beautiful ballad is sang by Jessica Simpson (I am not a big fan of her, but this song is so touching and made me cry because I love seeing Jess and Nick together-- but they aren't anymore, so....:( ). Anyway, enjoy this song's videoclip (if you are unable to listen to the background song for some reason)

"When You Told Me You Loved Me"

Once

Doesn't mean anything to me

Come

Show me the meaning of complete

Where

Did our love go wrong

Once we were so strong

How can I go on?

When you told me you loved me

Did you know it would take me the rest of my life

To get over the feeling of knowing a dream didn't turn out right

When you let me believe that you weren't complete

Without me by your side

How could I know

That you would go

That you would run

Baby, I thought you were the one

Why

Can't I just leave it all behind

Felt passion so bright that I was blind

Then

Something made me weak

Talking in my sleep

Baby, I'm in so deep and you know I believed

When you told me you loved me

Did you know it would take me the rest of my life

To get over the feeling of knowing a dream didn't turn out right

When you let me believe that you weren't complete

Without me by your side

How could I know

That you would go

That you would run

Baby, I thought you were the one

Your lips

Your face

Something that time just can't erase

Find my heart could break

All over again

When you told me you loved me

Did you know it would take me the rest of my life

To get over the feeling of knowing a dream didn't turn out right

When you let me believe that you weren't complete

Without me by your side

How could I know

That you would go

That you would run

Baby, I thought you were the one

Hanya kerna nama

2009-03-12T07:45:00.006+08:00

Bila diingat-ingat balik story pasal nama ni, memang lawak ah.. sebab apa lawaknya? Kalau kat Malaysia tak de rasa apa-apa pun, cuma bila kat US ni je yang lawak.. Aku bagi contoh diri sendiri je la... nama penuh aku Nurhidayah, satu perkataan aje pun... tapi biasalah, kat Malaysia orang panggil aku dengan pelbagai panggilan ... Hidayah, Dayah, Are-id... Bila kat US, aku memang komersialkan nama aku as Hida. Kenapa? Mudah, ringkas, mat saleh senang nak sebut (iyolah...tu).. So kalau org US tanya, what's your name -- aku cakap, my name is Hida as in 'hee-daa'. Itupun ada yg sebut --'hy-daa'. Isk Isk...apapun boleh bilang dgn jari kalau yang betul sebut nama penuh aku first time. Aku serius pelik, sebab nama Nurhidayah tu bukan susah sangat nak sebut pun. Mat saleh ni, kalau nama Schwarzeneggar ke, Matenoupoulus ke, Schexnayder ke pandai lak menyebutnya. Aku rasa diorang ni malas je nak belajar sebut nama foreigner betul2.. kekadang geram gak aku... hahaha..Camane la agaknya kalau nama aku Puteri Dewi Ratnasari Kesuma Nurhidayah... ooohhhh... tidakk!!!!! hahahaha...

Lagi kisah pasal nama... so sepanjang kat US ni, aku dikenali sebagai Hida Azmy. Simple and senang, kan... Tapi dalam rekod universiti, class list dan official paperwork, memang nama penuh la yg digunakan sebab ikut passport,kan.. yang Hida Azmy tu just panggilan informal... Nak dijadikan cerita, dalam attendance list most of aku nyer kelas, list disusun ikut surname dulu baru first name, so aku biasa jadi org first sbb surname Azmy, kan.. then ada lecturer tu kadang2 panggil surname aje... aku pulak masa mula2 dtg sini waktu undergrad dulu mmg daddy dah bgtau pasal ni... so ada sekali masa dlm kelas lecturer panggil nama untuk jawab soalan..tetiba je dgr "Azmy.. Azmy.." Aku pulak masa tu boleh terpikir sapa pulak yg panggil daddynye nama nih... haha...lepas tu lagi sekali kena panggil"Azmy... Azmy" since aku tak menyahut... then baru la sedar yg aku kena panggil... hihihi... mesti daddy asyik tersedak aje masa tu..LOL. Daddy punya kisah masa dia studi kat Iowa State pulak macam gini... dalam kelas dia dulu ramai org melayu, mostly nama start atau end dgn mohamad macam nama daddy.. then lecturer panggil nama --"mohamad.. mohamad"... so semua org yg ada nama mohamad menyahut, lepas tu confuse berjemaah.. haha... yelah... tak tau mohamad yg mana, either panggl first name ke last name pun tak tau....

Contoh kedua pulak nama Fatihah dan Zairi... masa nak isi borang bank dan health forms, jenuh jugak la nak bagi mat saleh tu paham... mana taknya, nama Fatihah mmg panjang -- Nur Fatihah Batrisyia, nama Zairi pulak Ahmad Zairi... last2 dia tulis Nur dengan Zairi as first name and surname... haha... Macam Zairi, dah nama ayah Mohd Zain, so atas kad ATM jadi Ahmad Zain.... hehehe.. macam2...

Tu tak masuk lagi kisah Adik... nama dia Mohd Tariq, so bersungguh2 la mat saleh nak sebut MOHD tu..dari mohed, mohhhhhh...d and mcm2 lagi la..last2 adik bgtau MOHD tu short form untuk Mohammad, baru dia org paham... Kes kawan aku budak Thailand pulak, nama dia Manop Kaewmoracharoen, sampai dia dah grad pun mat saleh tk reti nak sebut nama dia... semua asyik sebut "Kaew...Kaew..." sampai aku dgr macam bunyi "kayu... kayu" aje. :P

Tak ketinggalan, kisah nama Abg Jalal husband kak Rosita... Kak Rosita citer mat saleh tanya nama penuh Abg Jalal... Nama dia Jalalullail... mat saleh tu kata -- why are there so many L in a name? haha... tu pn boleh kena soal... and lastly, kisah officer kat admission office yang pening kepala figure out first name, middle name and surname sorang junior masa aku undergrad dulu - nama dia Syed Mohd Asrul Syed Muhamad Kamaruzzaman... haaaa... ambek sebijik... and Syed itu dikenali sebagai JOE... hahaha...

Sekian saja kisah nama yg tetiba mencuit hati aku bila teringatkan kisahnya....

Daylight saving time

2009-03-08T15:18:00.004+08:00

For those of you who knows what Daylight Saving Time (DST) is, well... it's the time of the year again... for those of you who don't, it's basically setting your clock/watch one hour ahead and it starts at 2.00am Sunday morning (like.. 40 minute from now). Why on earth do we need to do that? Heres some pointers ...

On Sunday, March 8, 2009 (the second Sunday in March) at 2 a.m., Daylight Saving Time begins in the United States.

Every spring we move our clocks one hour ahead and "lose" an hour during the night and each fall we move our clocks back one hour and "gain" an extra hour. But Daylight Saving Time (and not Daylight Savings Time with an "s") wasn't just created to confuse our schedules.
The phrase "Spring forward, fall back" helps people remember how Daylight Saving Time affects their clocks. At 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in March, we set our clocks forward one hour ahead of standard time ("spring forward"). We "fall back" at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November by setting our clock back one hour and thus returning to standard time.

The change to Daylight Saving Time allows us to use less energy in lighting our homes by taking advantage of the longer and later daylight hours. During the six-and-a-half-month period of Daylight Saving Time, the names of time in each of the time zones in the U.S. change as well. Eastern Standard Time (EST) becomes Eastern Daylight Time, Central Standard Time (CST) becomes Central Daylight Time (CDT), Mountain Standard Time (MST) becomes Mountain Daylight Tome (MDT), Pacific Standard Time becomes Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), and so forth. .

For more information regarding the DST, click here

Still searchin'..

2009-03-08T13:09:00.002+08:00

It's bugging me. Again. What, you may ask? Hmmm... Well, actually there are two things that I'm looking for, and sadly, I haven't 'found' it. So the thoughts on how to get hold of 'em has been inside my head for the past few weeks. Owh... and it comes with a dilemma, too.. to make the story short ---

1. I'm still car-hunting.
It has been my routine every morning since I arrived here to look up the local classified for cars. There are plenty, of course.. but most of the decent pre-owned cars doesn't suit my budget very well. The one that falls within the range will be the old cars with problems and if it's a decent piece, well... then it's far away from Ames. Soooo... still keeping my fingers crossed and hope that there will be one decent car that works with reasonabe price in Ames. There are many cars in the Des Moines area, but I just don't like the idea of bothering other people to bring me down there...

I am in a need of a car right now. Seriously. It is a necessity nowadays. Imagine me bringing Fatihah on the bus, which goes all around Ames, in cold weather just to get her immunization. Not to mention the number of busses that we need to transfer. Urggghhhh... Better get that car, right??? Well, not as fancy as this one here =) --

*sekadar untuk berangan saje*

2. I'm in DESPERATE need of a washer
My apartment is far -- quite far to walk to the laundromat. I have an old washer that Kak Rosita gave me in the basement, but after a couple of times using it, it won't drain. I got a dryer, though.. but what's the use of it if your washer is broken?

Solution -- walk to the landromat, which is far in walking distance, and when you're hauling two full load of laundry baskets, the laundromat seems to be farther than you realized. Yeah, and then it was raining. Just like tonight. So kesian at Zairi and Adik, both stucked at the laundromat and luckily Abg Fazli saved the day =). Again, most of the used washer are wayyyy beyond our budget (I'm talking about >$150 a washer, okay).... huhuhu....and now I'm still searching ... not as fancy as this washer, though...

Guess now we just have to be patient a little bit, while continue on searching.....

Weekend @ North Grand Mall

2009-03-07T10:51:00.002+08:00

These pictures were taken few weeks ago, during our trip to the Mall. We went there by bus, and rented a stroller for Fatihah. We expected the stroller to be the 'regular size' stroller, and instead, we got this --

Hehehe... that was the smallest that they have... so when we put her in the stroller, she hesitated for a while, then surprisingly, started to enjoy 'driving'... =)

After shopping at JC Penny, we 'lepak2 ' at the fountain --

**Notice the shopping bag? Price markdown, people! How could I we not shop?? JC Penny = SALE every week! Giler sehhhh...

Cuba teka?

2009-03-02T07:03:00.004+08:00

Beberapa minggu lepas aku ada beli 3 teddy bear untuk Fatihah. So saje je nak suruh korang teka, berapakah harga bagi setiap teddy bear tu? Yg besar, sederhana, kecik.... so silalah teka... hehe... sebab apa aku suruh teka? sebab harga-harganya sangat tak munasabah.... so... any takers?

Scholarship's update

2009-02-27T06:46:00.005+08:00

Ok readers... I'm sure all of you would like to know how things are going with Zairi's scholarship progress.. masa mula2 aku post entry kat blog, plus consult people i know (MSD, JPA, KPT)about it, macam2 reaksi dan advice yg aku terima.. so thanks a lot pada semua input/cadangan/nasihat yang diberi.. most of the people told me that Zairi's matter can be solved, and thus he may get his BTN postponed. Few days after, he was asked to attend a course on research methodology upon accepting his scholarship. So, what he did was... he wrote a letter to postpone both BTN and the course, emailed it to the KPT people, while with daddy's help, get the letter faxed to the officer as well. Kolej dia pun dah poslaju the acceptance letter yang Zairi kena sign untuk dihantar ke KPT. Tonight he will fax it to make it official that he receives the offer..SO, the next step is to wait the KPT people to deliberate (I guess they will talk about Zairi's case in their meeting) and wait for their response. Harap2 dapatlah dipertimbangkan...

Dugaan...

2009-02-20T14:10:00.004+08:00

Aku sebenarnya tak de mood nak post entry within these few days. Ni pun sebab rasa mcm tak best pulak kalau tak update entry. Aku sbenarnya berada dalam keadaan bercelaru, dan sedang bermacam2 benda sedang menghantui otak aku ni...

Macam yang aku tulis sebelum ni, Zairi dah pn dapat offer sambung master, under KPT (kementerian pengajian tinggi). Alhamdulillah, syukur sgt2. Bukan semua org dapat peluang mcm ni, kan... anyway, nak dijadikan cerita, kami sekeluarga dah diuji dengan dugaan dari Allah.. semua pun sedia maklum kan kalau ditaja government ni kena attend kursus BTN and mcm2 mak nenek lagi la kan... so yg memeningkan kepala kitorg is... Zairi kena pergi BTN and kursus quantitive analysis (QA) upon receiving scholarship tu. Isk.. isk... persoalannya ---

1. Camane lak dia nak attend kedua2 course tu? Dia dah ada kt sini... xkan nak balik Malaysia?Lgpun baru je sampai sini. ongkosnya lagi??

2. Boleh ke kalau dia mintak tangguh BTN and kursus QA tu supaya dibuat di tgh/hujung pengajiannya?

3. Orang kolej komuniti tu takkan tak bgtau kementerian yg Zairi dh ada kat sini? Bagi org kementrian aware skit ttg hal ni?

4. Yg paling sengal -- BTN tu start 26 hb februari ni ye.. so tak ke sesak otak kitorang nak pikir cara penyelesaian?

There ... lega skit bila dapat luahka dalam blog... Kalau sapa2 ada cadangan/penyelesaian untuk membantu meringankan beban kitorang, sila-silalah ye.... serius buntu ni weh....

Conference Call

2009-02-14T10:50:00.004+08:00

Hari ni kira 1st time sepanjang hidup (err... ye kot) aku experience buat conference call via phone bersama-sama teammates aku untuk discuss presentation kitorang untuk hari selasa akan datang. Sebelum aku citer pasal conference call ni dgn lebih lanjut, rasanya baik aku citer serba sedikit pasal nature kelas aku yang ini dan sebab musabab kami berconference call...

Kelas CE 501 aku ni kelas bdk2 graduate full time + off-campus (budak2 PLK). So setiap sesi kelas akan dirakam dalam bentuk video streaming dan akan diupload dlm portal student. Kitorang student on campus ada dlm 8 org, off-campus pun 8 org. So tiap2 kali kelas terasa macam buat rakaman tv pulak sebab kamera penuh keliling kelas, yang akan merakamkn segala macam aktiviti sepanjang kelas. Bagi aku, canggih ah jugak sbb jgn harap kat malaysia belajar style gini. Lepas tu, kitorang pulak diberi tugasan dlm bentuk kumpulan, yang mana ahli kumpulan tu campur2, on campus dgn off-campus. So student off-campus ni bkn ada dekat2 kawasan universiti ni, maunya ada sampai state jauh2... so mana leh jumpa2 nak discuss, kan... maka medium perbincangan kumpulan sama ada guna email atau conference call je la..

So tadi 1st time la kitorang set masa dan buat conference call. Group aku ada 4 org, yg lagi 3 tu lelaki. So bila dial satu number ni then masing2 dapatlah dgr suara org lain yg participate dlm conference call tu. Yang lawaknya, dahlah line x berapa clear, aku pn tak tahu siapa yg bercakap, biji butir apa yg diorang ckp pun tak jelas.. hahaha.... aku confuse siapa yg berckap, sama ada Aaron, Erik atau Greg. Dahlah tu, kkadang ada 2 org cakap serentak, lagi aku confuse.. aku rasa mat saleh bertiga tu mesti pelik kenapa aku byk berdiam masa conference call tu sbb aku x berapa dgr apa yg dibincangkan, lepas tu semua org nak bercakap, dan aku confuse sapa yg bercakap. Hahaha... mmg lawak ah... lepas tu memasing semua tanya -- Hida? Hida? So what do you think? Aku pun -- Aaaa... Err.... Sure.... whatever (padahal tak berbutir sgt apa yg diorang cakap tu... haha)

So tulah.. aku sebenarnya tak favor sgt style conference call ni sbb payah skit nak discuss. Aku prefer team member sit together, analyze data sesama... tapi nak buat camane, org2 off-campus tu semua jauh2... tu baru 4 org, kalau ramai aku rasa mmg haru....huhuhu

Congrats, abang !!!

2009-02-13T13:32:00.005+08:00

2 pagi yang lalu...

Zairi: Bangunlah... abg nak tunjuk something..

Aku : (Sambil terpisat-pisat) Apa dia?

Zairi: Meh la kat sini (sambil keluar bilik).. Tengok ni...

Aku : (Sambil tenyeh-tenyeh mata) Mana? Apa?

Zairi: (Sambil tunjuk skrin laptopnya) Ni ha...

Dengan mengantuknya aku kedepankan muka ke skrin sambil mengecikkan bijik mata (akukan rabun.. mana ada pkai spek time tu.. haha..). Ini yang aku lihat..

Klik sini untuk paparan yg lebih jelas

Maka aku dgn excitednya memeluk Zairi and cakap -- Congrats, abg!!! hehehe...

Alhamdulillah, Zairi akan ditaja sepenuhnya oleh JPA (under KPT) untuk melanjutkan pelajaran di peringkat Masters.. kira ni official dah la.. syukur sgt2... ni kira hadiah birthday yang paling bermakna la buat dia.. hehehe...

Tiba2 dlm kepala otak aku dah berfikir -- haiiishhhh... lepas ni leh la kitorang bershopping sakan.. muahahahahaa...

Hey Hida, How's it going on?

2009-02-10T10:55:00.007+08:00

Answers:
1. In general (as in so far, throughout the semester) -- okay, i guess
2. Now, as in right this moment -- not so good

Let's see in detail --

1. Classes

I'm taking 3 classes this semester, and so far in general everything went fine, except... remember the class that I was fussing about in my previous entry? The one that demotivates me due to the grade? yeah... it's that class again, people... i suck! i suck bigtime!!! i dunno what went wrong, and obviously i got the 2nd assignment back, with grades less than before.... *grrrrrrrrrrrrr* Seriously pissed with myself right now,don't know what i got wrong for. To make things worse, my Egyptian friend, (oh.. i should write an entry about her some time, by the way her name is Ghada) she got a perfect score. AGAIN. I'm feeling sick of myself. Duh. I know some people out there will say -- OK, SO YOU SLACKED OFF THE FIRST TWO ASSIGNMENTS. BIG DEAL! Well, it is a big deal for me, and might not be for some of you out there... I wasn't like this before, you know... throughout my masters and even during my undergrad... just make me feel soooo dumb whenever I keep thinking about it.. so I'm gonna drop the subject...*grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr* But I did took Ghada's paper back home so I can see where I got wrong..

2. Research

I'm currently in the process of starting doing literature review, and I'll be working on this cool project with my professor. I will only come up with a topic for my dissertation whenever I'm halfway through the lit review process. I'm feeling pretty good about it (eventhough I have a stack of articles to read), and I also discovered some good stuff to accompany my research process. I'm trying to use EndNote and Google Docs as my research tools, and help me keep organized all the time.

3. Life as a student/wife/mother

I am trying my best to allocate quality time for research work, family time, blogging time (need to allocate a good 2 hours for blog hopping and updating, since I know there are people waiting for updates :)), homework/studying time and of course, shopping (either grocery or window.. haha).. But once in a while, I need a break and just wanna enjoy life! Err.. I hope I can go and watch movies.. seriously, there are tons of good movies here, hehe... but with Fatihah around, I don't think it's possible right now.. should wait until she's big enough so that I can bring her along and don't feel bad about leaving her and go entertained myself :P

4. Fatihah

She's now in the stage where everything around her is so interesting, and wanna get hold of 'em! Hehe.. she develops quite an interest in plush toys, especially teddy bears.. (wonder where she got that from :P)..Very eager to run everywhere, and fascinated by anything that we (Zairi, Adik and I) did... very observant and will imitate whatever we did.. so "mengada-ngada" and "manja" all the time.. hehe

5. Zairi and Adik

Zairi just passed his driving theory test... now is planning on taking the driving test.. then hopefully he'll go to school this fall... and of course need to arrange a schedule so that there's always one of us to look after our precious Fatihah... As far as Adik, he's managing quite well with his studies and all... sometimes complaining that there's ton of assignments... hey, that's what students need to do, isn't it?

By the way, we went shopping last Saturday at the Mall and managed to get good bargain on jackets, shirts, jeans, pants and some other things... hehee... it's clearance sale, again... we went there by bus and had a good time :)

My US Memorabilia and collectibles

2009-02-06T06:47:00.008+08:00

I'm typing this entry because I'm trying to keep myself awake after done reading Chapter 3: Organizational Structures and Cultures for my project management class. The topic itself sounds boring, so you can imagine the reading! :) It's an hour away before my Project Control for Machines class starts. I've been wanting to share about memorabilia and collectibles that I have and would like to continue collecting....

1. United States 50 States Quarters Mint Collection

I'm sure people who have been to the US would loooooove to get all these quarters in a special book/board designed for this purpose... I had most of them when I was an undergrad, and it displays the states and it's symbol behind the quarters (cool!)... It looks like this..

This is an example of a quarter of South Dakota State and the year it's officially produced is encripted below the coin... so imagine getting 50 states in the US of these!! I'll keep you peeps posted once I completed the collection :)

2. Pennants

I'm just crazy about these things... whenever I go, I must be in search of one of these... size does not matter... but I prefer the large ones -- so far I've pennants from all the universities that I visited, all sports club and team of the cities I visited, not to mention some places that I visited, too.. I wonder why Malaysia didn't make these things (there might be at some places, but not that much)...

3. Shot glasses

Here's another stuff that I'll buy when I'm visiting anywhere (including the airports :P)... the ones that I have collected during my undergrad days are currently displayed at my mom's house in KL... It's neat and cute... plus I'll always have the memories of the place/logo displayed on the glass in my mind whenever I'm looking at it..

So those are the main stuff that I would like to continue on collecting while I'm in the US... and I also collect postcards and collectible plates -- but this started way before I came to the US... and I'll buy them whenever I'm looking for the pennants and the shot glasses. Fridge magnets, toothpick holders, fork and spoon sets, you may ask? For the time being I guess I'll focus more on the collection that I already started... but definitely will look into starting the fridge magnet collection in the near future..

Am I being paranoid?

2009-02-04T01:20:00.005+08:00

Yesterday night at CE 502 class..

I got back my 1st assignment this semester..
Looked at the grade..
It's above 80, less then 90...
Syukur, Alhamdulillah..
But then the professor said...
Everybody did a good job on the 1st assignment, there's A's and B's...
I peeked my Egyptian friend's paper -- she got a 100 -- perfect score..
Took a look at a guy sitting in front me -- he got 95
Didn't manage to look at other people's grade...
There's only 7 of us in the class..
Suddenly I ferl terrible, low and disgusted with myself...
I guess I did bad compared to the others (well, I just saw the grades for two of 'em)
All of the sudden I got this mental picture about me being the worst in the class..
And then so many questions came up in my mind..
Will I be able to keep up with these people?
And sometimes I do feel I know nothing at all... zero...(kinda stupid once in a while) especially when they start throwing ideas and opinion in class
And start thinking -- geez.. how smart are these people, and how "brainless" I am..
Am I pushing/judging myself too hard? Or am I being paranoid?

*Sigh* -- I know it's not good to "sigh", but seriously, I am not feeling good about all this...

What do you think?

2009-02-01T01:14:00.002+08:00

Adik : Weh Kak long, camane ni??
Aku : Amendenya?
Adik: Tadi masa dalam bas ada sorang mat saleh ni duduk kat sebelah orang, dia bawak anjing besar gile warna hitam, anjing tu pulak dok gesel2 ekor dia kat seluar orang. Hidung dia pulak bau2 lutut orang. Camane ni ....
Aku: Hahaha... abis tu semua org tgk ah? owner anjing tu buat apa?
Adik: Orang ckp kat dia "I cannot touch dogs". Lepas tu dia suruh anjing dia tu ke tepi sebelah sana, then anjing tu tak gerak, stay kat situ Orang lain pulak belai2 usap kepala anjing tu.. Eeeeiiii.. huhuhu... camane ni.. nak kena samak ke?
Aku: Anjing tu kering ke basah?
Adik: Mana org tau??? Adooiiiii laaaa... nak buat macamana ni?
Aku: Kalau rasa basah, kena la samak.. gi la carik tanah kat depan tu...
Adik: Mana ada tanah? semua snow...
Aku: Korek2 le bwh snow tu, ada tanah leee...
Adik: Camane ni??? Nak tanya Abg Jalal/Abg Fazli tak?
Aku :Tanyalah... dah ko tak pasti... kalau kak dayah, samak je la.. better save than sorry...

Lepas solat jumaat...

Aku: Adik dah tanya Abg Jalal?
Adik: Dah.. dia kata ambil kira keseluruhan, ajing tu kering, so tak yah la samak. So nak samak ke tak?
Aku: Pening la kepala ... kalau nak senang, samak je la...
Adik: Adoooiii...(membebel sendirian sbb tension dgn anjing tu)

Aku tau dia tension nak carik tanah semua.. haha... so korang rasa camana?

Perkembangan terkini...

2009-01-25T14:25:00.008+08:00

Dah seminggu aku tak update blog. Ramai orang tanya, tak update blog ke? Jawapan aku -- demotivated skit la last week. Lagipun, aku mcm tak de idea nak taip apa. Huhuhu. Anyway, aku dah janji dgn ramai orang yang aku akan sentiasa cuba update blog ni walau macamanapun (dah janji, so kena la tepati :)). Tak banyak aktiviti pun yang aku buat last week. Since last Monday is a holiday kat sini, dapatlah cuti hujung minggu lama skit :). So Ahad yang lepas kitorang gi grocery shopping, then gi North Grand Mall. Ada winter white sale -- tapi aku tak de la beli apa2 pun. Just window shopping. Lagipun Zairi, Adik and Fatihah tak pernah sampai Mall lagi. Adik sempat beli jeans - 2 helai USD38. Kira murah la tu...hehe..

Aku pulak tak de kelas sepanjang minggu lepas. Prof tak de, gi seminar kat mana ntah, so yahoo la aku (tak de la yahoo mana pun, sbb keje kat rumah still ada mcm biasa). Aku dah ada 2 assignment nak kena siapkan, satu individual assignment kena submit Isnin ni, and satu lagi tu group assignment, so lambatlah sikit kena hantar. Aku pun tak tau la apasal, jadi macam tak de mood and tak de idea langsung nak buat individual assignment tu. Lepas seminggu, baru hari ni aku start buat. Itupun separuh jalan. Esok sambung lagi. Ntahlah, rasa macam sangat tak ada idea.. ke sebab dah lama tak belajar? (padahal baru setahun lalu aku abis Masters). Topiknya bukan susah pun. Aku pernah ajar basicnya kat budak2 KPTM dulu. Tapi......confuse kejap aku dibuatnya. Aku jadi blur. Ke sebab aku terlalu fikir susah2 pasal topik ni? isk isk.. huhu.. tolong2... ke sebab aku expect semua mat2 saleh classmate aku tu terer nak mamposs sampai aku underestimate diri aku? Adoiii.... boleh tak kalau malas nak fikir... huhuhu..

Anyway, aku nak update skit pasal Fatihah -- dia dah setahun tiga bulan dah.. apa yang dia boleh buat ek??
- Dia dah pandai jalan (alhamdulillah...), kelakar je tengok dia terkedek2 jalan ke sana sini, tapi yang lawaknya, kalau kitorang semua tengok dia jalan, dia terus duduk and malas nak jalan... bila orang tak pandang (buat2 pandang tempat lain, laju je dia jalan ke sana sini)... hehehe..
- Dia dah pandai dah panggil "ma..mi" (mommy)... sukanya aku, kalau tak sebelum ni "da..di" (daddy) aje...
- Dia suka sangat tengok gambar dia sendiri (lawak sangat!) dan semua benda yang ada gambar baby -- kalau tengok mesti dia kata "baby... baby..." Kalau tengok gambar sendiri pun sebut "baby.. baby.." jugak sambil gelak and tunjuk2 gambar.. haha...
- Kalau dia mengamuk, tunjuk je slideshow gambar dia kat laptop, mesti dia suka -- ada satu gambar tu gambar aku dgn dia, dia siap tunjuk cakap "ma..mi.. ma.. mi"..sukanya aku..
- Bila aku balik kelas, dia nampak aku kat pintu terus mendepakan tangan sambil sebut "ma..mi.. ma..mi"
- Dah pandai nak godek laptop dan main mouse, pandai cabut plug (mmg kena jaga part nih) and pandai godek2 function tv (tutup, bukak, tukar channel etc)
- Dah pandai posing kalau kitorang nak amik gambar dia.. kat mana dia belajar ek? hehe..
- Dah tumbuh setengah batang gigi (akhirnya!) yang lain belum lagi
- Suka membebel sendiri cakap apa ntah kat kitorang atau masa main sorang2..
- Kalau aku cakap "No" kat dia, dia terus buat muka sedih (kadang2 nangis) lepas tu gi mengadu kat Zairi dan sebaliknya..kekadang mengadu kat Adik (cara mengadu = membebel baby talk dia tu la)
- Suka tengok kartun - Spongebob, Barnyard, Wonderpet and mcm2 lagilah (tak rasa ke tv tu mmg bukak Nickolodeon sentiasa -- Zairi and Adik pun suka layan spongebob tu)
- Suka main kat celah2, sudut atau keluar masuk closet, masuk dalam bakul toys dia
- Kalau main, suka mengemas (kejap keluarkan and lepas tu masukkan toys dia dalam bakul)
- Kalau dia minum, kadang2 suka main2, keluarkan air yg diminum tu, biar menitis kat mulut -- lepas tu buat muka tak bersalah
- Pandai buat2 bersin (haaa...chum..) dengan kepala2 sekali lepas tu ketawa-- ni dia tiru mama masa kat malaysia lagi..hehe

-kalau dengar Allahuakbar, dia gi cari sejadah, then buat2 sujud.. kalau org tgh solat, sibuk jugak nak menyempit atas sejadah sambil sujud...
- Apa lagi ek? Tu je yang aku ingat buat masa ni..

So memang seronok tengok anak develop, nak2 dia ada kat rumah sepanjang masa.. memang terhibur la dengan keletah dia tu... so, since dia suka sangat main masuk keluar closet, aku ingat nak belikan dia playhouse.. tengoklah nanti camane...

* Tapak kasut aku tercabut kat library semalam -- amat memalukan, huhu... sayang sebab kasut Sketchers tu aku beli masa undergrad dulu -- nasib aku tak kena frostbite.. ni yang nak kena carik kasut baru ni :))

Macam2 kisah...

2009-01-14T12:11:00.009+08:00

Semalam kat luar apartment...

Tak nampak walkway pun.. snow terlalu tebal..

Diambil dari dapur rumah menghala ke luar. notice the thick snow?

Betul2 luar apartment... camane nak lalu? nak pijak mana pun tak tahu... huhuhu...

Pagi ni cuaca ok skit... snow masih tebal tapi menjelang petang baru turun dengan lebatnya... aktiviti aku pagi ni ialah gi bookstore dengan adik ,beli buku teks untuk kelas kitorang... so since adik ada kelas pagi pukul 8-10, aku janji nak jumpa dia kat bookstore pukul 10pg. Lagipun dia ada appointment dengan International Students and Scholars Office pkl 11 pg nnt..

Nak dijadikan cerita, aku sibuk mandikan Fatihah sampai tertinggal bas.. nak tak nak kena la tunggu the next bus.. punya la menggigil kesejukan aku padahal dah berlapis2 aku pakai.. kaki aku dah tak rasa apa dah.. serasa mcm kena frostbite lak. Grrrrr... sampai2 kat bookstore, aku and adik gi la redah cari buku untuk kelas kitorang.. sebelum tu...

Adik: Kak long, clickers turning point tu nak carik kat mana?
Aku: Menatang apa tu?
Adik: Benda tu mcm remote control tapi guna dlm kelas untuk jawab soalan. Tadi dlm kelas semua budak ada benda tu.. kiranya lecturer bg soalan kat depan, semua org kena jawab by clicking on the clicker tu.
Aku: Macamana rupanya? Tak penah tahu pun...
Adik: Carik kat bookstore la. kot2 ada...

Rupanya menatang clicker tu kena beli kat bookstore and ada kat cashier... canggih betul belajar kat sini siap pakai clicker nak jawab soalan dlm kelas.. zaman aku undergrad dulu mana ada. huhu... kiranya lecturer boleh terus tahu berapa ramai jawab soalan dalam kelas and keluarlah markah ke mcm tu la lebih kurang...

Ni la rupa clicker tu... kat malaysia confirm tak gunanye... huhuhu.... masih pakai transparency lagi huhuhu...

Buku untuk kelas aku yg semalam tu..

So lepas gi bookstore tu, aku temankan adik gi appointment dia, lepas tu kitorang balik umah letak buku sebab nak ke Best Buy beli laptop dia. Kitorng amik la bus nak ke Best Buy tu... (Best Buy tu jauh kat belah South of Ames).. but then driver bus tu kata kalau nak balik nnt kena jalan la skit amik bus... Sampai kat Best Buy kitorang pun pilih laptop yg speknya ok dan harga pun reasonable... so in the end Adik beli laptop Gateway.. harga USD599.. oklah tu... spek baekk punya.. dengan printer Hp laserjet, microsoft office (sini takde pirate2 nya ye.. nak mamposs pakai ala2 loyat nye??) and also optical mouse... semuanya dalam $800++..

Alkisah masa nak bayar tu, debit card Adik kena decline lak... try credit card pun decline... aku pun cuak, adik apatah lagi.. dah la kitorang tak de cash sbyk tu... nak bayar dgn apa? bulu hidung ke?? Huwaaa... then cashier tu cakap baik kitorang call bank tanya kenapa. On the spot aku call bank (nasib la ada handset), rupanya credit limit diorang buat USD500 je.. so nak purchase lebih dari tu tak leh... lantas kusuruh diroang increase credit limit then baru la boleh... huhuhu... sgt cuak kami berdua ketika itu.....

Lepas beli laptop kitorang jalan punya la jauh nak dapatkan bas... dalam sejuk2 tu serasa jari jemari aku semuanya numb... gileerrr ahhh...aku bukannya tak nak ajak org yg ada kereta bawak kitorang gi Best Buy, cuma aku tak suka menyusahkan org.. lagipun waktu siang ramai ada kelas, kan... aku rela gi sendiri... hehe... waktu dapat bas tu dah pukul 2pm.. adik pulak ada kelas pukul 3pm... sampai rumah kitorng turun bas, on the other side pulak bas ke campus sampai.. makanya adik terus serahkan printer kat aku sbb dia nak ke campus semula gi kelas.. so tak rasa aku terkedek2 ke angkut laptop dgn printer dalam menahan kesejukan yg teramat?? huhu... nasib la aku tak tertangkup dalam snow... sampai depan pintu rumah aku rasa cam nak mati...lenguh gile tangan aku mengangkut brg... huhuhu...

Ni la laptopnya beserta printer yg tak pasang lagi...

So petang tadi aku ke kelas kedua aku untuk semester ni, Preconstruction Project Management... kelas aku start pukul 5.40pm-8pm.. but 1st class kan, so abis awal skit... kelas aku yg ini ada buat off campus.. so kelas tadi mmg dirakam supaya budak off campus boleh tgk videonya... and aku dah mula menganga confuse (figure of speech ye, bkn la nganga betul2).. haha... sebab aku dah diberi assignment yg mencabar dan semuanya ada kaitan dgn data analisis guna statistical method (walhal kelas management, bknya statistic). Melopong gak la aku tgk senarai data yg kena analyze tu... boleh botak kepala aku yg tak terer statistik ni.. huhu... lepas tu dah ada dah reading assignment... punya la melambak paper and article kena baca... huhu... yg paling tak bestnya kitorg dah kena fikir pasal hyphotesis statement menda2 alah tu la... oh ya, classmate aku tadi 8 org, off campus 8 org. aku tgk diorang semua (semua lelaki mat saleh, aku sorang pompuan) sama2 muka confuse and nganga jugak, lega skit aku... haha... kiranya bkn aku sorang la yg lost di awal kelas... tapi bila nengok lecture materials tadi, mmg dah terlintas di kepala...WELCOME TO THE PHD WORLD...huhu.. teringat aku supervisor kat UiTM dulu (Dr Ahmad Ruslan) cakap PhD ni Permanent Head Damage.. haha.. mmg betul pun... supervisor aku pulak kat sini cakap -- BS (bachelor science) stands for Bull Shit, MS (master science) tu pulak stands for More Shit dan Phd tu maksudnya Pile Higher Deeper.. hahaha... macam2 terminologi digunakan nak menggambarkan keperitan phd ni... hehe...

Ramai yang tanya Zairi buat apa in the meantime... dia jadi babysitter tak bertauliah.. haha... dia jaga Fatihah dulu... kalau dia gi kelas sama aku ntah apa jadi kat Fatihah pun aku tak tahu... huhu... harap2 bila dia wat master nnt aku dah stabil and leh arrange kelas gilir2 jaga Fatihah...

Oh... yesterday aku tak sempat nak masak tghari... so aku beli je --

One sinfully yummy large cheese pizza

My first class...

2009-01-13T11:01:00.003+08:00

Today is the first day of class at Iowa State University. It is snowing since the morning until now.. tebal sgt2 snow sampai nak dekat setengah betis.. huhu.. at certain parts on campus sampai lutut pun ada... huhuhu..

Semester ni kelas aku semua petang-malam. Seminggu sekali je bg setiap subjek, tapi sekali jumpa 3 jam.. macam masa aku amik masters kat UiTM dulu... so petang tadi aku dengan semangat waja gi la kelas -- Kelas Construction Project Management.. start pukul 5pm - 8pm..Dalam kelas aku ada 8 org je.. sumer mat2 saleh... huhu... terasa macam dah lama tak masuk kelas.. especially profnya omputih.. so bila dia start tanya soalan, aku jadi blurr.. hehe... tapi mmg make sense la kan sebab aku ajar basicnya kat bebudak KPTM.. hehe... before that...

Prof Strong : Welcome back, Hida! Glad to have you back here at ISU.
Me : Thanks. Been looking forward to be back :)
Prof Strong: That's good -- So how's your trip? When did you arrive?
Me : I got here on Jan 3rd. It was tiring, but overall everything went well.
Prof Strong: Good. Good.

Lepas tu dia terus bagi silibus.. haa.. amik ko... siap dengan semua senarai assignment... tiap2 minggu kena hantar.. huhu... sgtlah advancenya... aku ni buku pun tak beli lagi.. baru plan nak beli esok... anyway, kelas habis awal.. pukul 6.30pm aku dah tunggu bas nak balik umah.. snow masih lagi turun dengan lebatnya, angin kuat sampai aku rasa mcm nak melayang je...

Siangnya tu aku ada appointment dengan coordinator kat International Student and Scholar's Office -- kena settlekan paperwork sbb aku sponsored student... lepas tu aku lepak kat computer lab jap, then balik umah before gi kelas petang tadi...

Aku nak cerita pasal trip aku ke office WIC (Women Infant Child) kat area Downtown Ames. Kalau nak tahu WIC ni adalah satu program untuk ibu2 and infant/toddler yang dtg dari golongan pendapatan rendah -- diorang bagi food checks setiap 3 bulan.. so dapat mcm2 la (susu segar, cereal, cheese, beans, eggs, juices)... Then dia monitor la anak kita (antara baby ke 5 thn) dari segi immunisasi dan mcm2 aspek lagilah.. memang bagus la prog ni sbb selain dapat makanan free, byk khidmat nasihat disediakan utk ibu2...So barang2 groceries yang tertera kat atas check tu boleh diambil di kedai2 groceries yang ada dlm senarai WIC.. dan jumlah food yang diterima tu bergantung pada umur dan keadaan anak tu... macam kes aku, aku ni breastfeed lagi, maka bertambah la check aku di samping Fatihah punya..

Ni la check nye -- best giler.. dah save berapa dah on groceries..hehe..

Semalam pulak ada satu lagi famili melayu kat sini (Kak Nor and Abg Razi) ajak kitorang datang makan2 kat umah dia.. famili lain pun datang jugak.. so masa tu la nak kenal famili lain dan beramah mesra.. hehe... lepas tu pulak aku and adik gi WalMart carik barang2 skit... snow masih tebal and cuaca sejuk giler... nasib aku tak beku...

Lepas ni aku akan upload gambar2 apartment aku... and oh.. aku baru teringat yang aku kena tag... huhuhu.... alemak Pah... nanti la ek aku jawab.... hehe..

Orientation week

2009-01-11T02:45:00.005+08:00

Starting on Jan 5th, the orientation week for international students begin... So aku and adik dgn gigihnya pegi la kat Memorial Union dalam campus to attend the sessions. Pagi tu KAk Rosita hantar kitorang naik kereta sebab adik tak de ISU card lagi (kalau naik bas kena ada ISU card baru leh naik free). Aku memang dah ada student card tu. Anyway, kitorang dibahagi into 10 different groups. Aku dan adik terpisah sebab dia undergrad and aku grad student. So kitorang pun janjilah somewhere dlm union tu utk balik sekali tghari nnt...

Memorial Union

Group untuk graduate student ada satu je (dalam 20 org mcmtu -- dtg dari pelbagai negara.. ). Paling ramai dari China dan India... Kitorang nyer facilitator tu budak undergrad mat saleh. so dia tau la aku penah belajar kat sini lepas dah abis ice breaking session.. then beramai2 dlm kumpulan kitorang pegilah office2 lain nak buat student ID, sign up university email dan mcm2 lagilah. Memandangkan most of the things tu aku dah buat dan dah ada, budak fasilitator tu pulak siap mintak tolong aku bawak budak2 lain gi tpt2 lain sebab dia kena tunggu ada beberapa budak baru yg tgh stuck buat student ID... sabar je laaa.... kalau gitu baik aku yang jadi fasi... hehe..

Tghari tu aku jumpa adik kat dewan besar dan kitorang diberi lunch..pizza and brownies.. option kitorang pun cheese and vegetarian.. so tgh lapar tu makan ajelah..

Lepas lunch tu ada aku balik umah kejap nak sembahyang, then dtg balik sambung orientation.. on the way tu aku singgah Schilleter village office untuk amik kunci apartment.. sbab planning nak masuk apartment 5hb..tapi esoknya baru pindah sbb aku sibuk dgn orientation..

Masa balik ke rumah kak Rosita aku and adik naik bas... so sementara nak berjalan ke bus stand tu...

Kitorang menikmati pemandangan Lake LaVerne depan Memorial tu diwaktu petang... mmg cantik.. keadaan salji masa tu dah nak mencair.. kena la jalan carefully sebab ais licin.. nasib aku tak terlentang sekali lagi mcm dulu.. huhu..

Ni la pemandangan tasik tu... diseliputi salji...

Haaa.. ni la keadaan ais yang mencair.. sgt licin.. salah pijak boleh terlentang...

Esoknya tu aku kena gi Student Health Centre untuk screening TB. Adik pulak sambung orientation untuk undergrad.. petang tu pulak, aku jumpa supervisor aku untuk discuss pasal kelas apa aku nak amik semester ni. Masa masuk faculty aku tu, rasa macam excited sbb boleh jumpa prof2 yg ajar aku dulu... sempat la jugak jumpa beberapa orang, siap welcome aku beria-ia.. huhu... So kesimpulannya sem ni aku amik 3 kelas... kelas preconstruction project management, construction project management dgn statistik.. dalam 9 jam mcmtu.. tak de la busy dgn kelas sgt... sbb phd kat sini kena amik coursework 30 jam baru leh tulis research... sbb kelas tu membantu research kita.. tu yg aku suka sbb aku berpeluang mantapkan ilmu dan skill dalam statistik (especially SPSS) dan yg berkaitan bidang aku...

Mlm tu aku pindah masuk apartment baru... tido lambat sbb nak mengemas barang2... abg fazli satu famili dtg jenguk kitorang.. rupanya rumah dia sebelah bangunan rumah aku.. dia bagi kitorang barang2 yang member aku Sam (yang baru je balik Malaysia sbb dah abis phd) tinggalkan utk aku. Adalah comforter, bbrp bantal dan brg2 dapur.. Abg Fazli bg tilam and tilam baby sekali.. Alhamdulillah... tak yah dah aku cari tilam... then budak2 bujang (Zulu ngan wak) pulak bagi TV dgn stand sekali... dah rezeki.. so kitorang tambah la beli heater sbb kat sini jimat skit pakai heater elektrik daripada pakai gas heater dlm umah...

All in all, kira dah settle down la kitorang semua... Fatihah pun tgh dlm proses nak adust time tido.. mcm bbrp hari yg lepas dia bgn pkl 3pg terus berjaga sampai tghari.. skrg ni dah ok skit... hehe... aku pun dengan barang2 dapur yg ada tu masak la apa yg patut kan... smlm sempat buat nasi ayam (walaupun ada bahan yg tak de.. ) tai tak pe lah.. then ada gak wat nasi goreng.. Pagi tadi goreng jemput2 dan kentang... hehe...

Err.. lupa pulak nak cerita.. kitorang semua pakai handet kat sini.. senang nak contact... lagipun murah... USD10 dah boleh dapat phone dgn register prepaid... hehe... now kitorang semua dlm proses tgh tunggu kad ATM and debit card beserta cheque book sbb senang nak beli2 brg online...

Beginning of a new chapter

2009-01-10T09:52:00.007+08:00

Di Ames, kitorang menumpang rumah Kak Rosita, phd student dlm Apparel merchandising from UiTM Shah Alam. Rupanya ada satu lagi famili melayu baru sampai minggu lepas sebelum kitorang.. all in all adalah dalam 8 famili kat Iowa State ni..tak de la sunyi sgt mcm time aku wat degree dulu...

Kak Rosita bawaklah kitorang gi shopping beli barang2 keperluan dan groceries, disamping gi tgk kat kedai 2nd hand kot2 la ada brg terpakai mcm perabot ke apa ke yg boleh letak kat apartment kitorang nnt...

Masa tgh beli groceries kat Hy-Vee

Terlena atas stroller..

Tengah nak bayar barang2..

So lepas tu Kak Rosita bawak kitorang gi Goodwill Store, kedai jual barang 2nd hand.. dapatlah aku beli toaster and beberapa brgan lain..

Adik dengan Fatihah kat Goodwill

Fatihah yang 'blur'..hehe

Ni pemandangan kedai Goodwill

The many faces of Fatihah

Lepas tu kitorang gi First National Bank untuk bukak akaun...

Lastly, kitorang mmg flat sbb letih gila setelah seharian bershopping.. leceh sebab kena pakai berlapis2... Fatihah pun jadi rimas sbb kena pakai byk baju.. so balik umah Kak Rosita, sempat pulak minah ni berposing...

The next day tu pun, aku sambung beli barang dan settlekan beberapa urusan sblm nak masuk apartment.. so rasanya cukuplah kot aku menulis utk mlm ni. mengantuk gilee... salji kat luar tgh turun dgn lebatnya.. dah tutup semua jalan... so insya allah esok aku menulis lagi...

And the journey begins..

2009-01-09T09:06:00.013+08:00

Hello, peeps... I know it's been awhile since I updated the blog.. I was on a tight schedule.. orientation la katakan.. lagipun sampai kat tempat baru ni banyak yang kena settlekan.. so entry first dari Ames ni aku akan story pasal perjalanan kami merentasi lautan dan gunung ganang (hahaha) dalam nak sampai kat Ames, Iowa ni..

Start dari rumah, kitorang bertolak dalam pukul 10.30 pg, sampai KLIA dalam pukul 11.30pg. Terus je check in luggage and ambik boarding pass. Aku kan angkut 8 luggages (including hand-carry) so jenuhlah org belakang tunggu.. hehe.. Nak dijadikan cerita, seat kitorang dapat jauh2.. so aku dengan diplomatiknya meminta staf MAS tu arrange seat bagi duduk sebelah menyebelah sbb originally aku tercampak dgn Fatihah duduk kat middle flight, adik and Zairi kat tepi tingkap... so lepas staf MAS tu godek komputer sana sini, masih tak dapat duduk sama2.. kalau adik jauh sikit aku tak kisah. cuma aku nak Zairi duduk sekali.. senang skit nak jaga Fatihah nanti..So last2 Staf MAs tu kata sblh aku ada satu seat kosong..reserve untuk penumpang ke Taiwan.. kalau masa berlepas tu kosong, boleh la Zairi pindah duduk sbelah aku..

Lepas settlekan luggage semua, sedar tak sedar dah pukul 1 tgh.. pukul 2.45 flight akan start boarding.. so kitorang semua gi solat dulu.. then we say our goodbyes.. lepas dah go through custom checking kat airport tu, kami berkejar nak naik skyjet and gi ke gate C5.. nasib la sempat sampai dalam 2.45pm sbb masa scan passport tu, memula mesin tak dapat detect.. so bermulalah perjalanan ke Taiwan.. masa dalam flight tu sebelah kiri aku Minah Saleh and sebelah kanan (selang 2 seat pulak minah chinese)..

Ni masa kat KLIA sblm check in

Fatihah dalam stroller kat KLIA

So masa dalam flight tu kitorang dok melayan si Fatihah tu sebab dia nak berdiri and jalan sana sini.. letih gak la sementara nak tunggu sampai Taiwan.. flight ke Taiwan dalam 3 jam lebih mcmtu.. so masa tu kitorang diberi dinner sblm transit.. Masa sampai kat Taiwan tu dah maghrib mcmtu.. suhu pulak 11 darjah celcius.. aku pun tukarkan baju Fatihah, then kitorang lepak kat bilik transit tu sambil bagi Fatihah makan dan susukan dia..

Lepas sejam setengah menunggu kat Taiwan tu, kitorang naik balik flight yg sama and teruskan perjalanan ke LA selama 10 jam 30 minit.. so lepas 2 jam naik, kitorang dihidangkan dengan makan sekali lagi...

Menu: Nasi + ayam dengan sos apa ntah... tak de la sedap mana... biasa je..huhu

So memandangkan flight lama, memang la si Fatihah tu tidur.. aku memula tu risau gak ah sebab ingat dia tak muat bassinet tu sebab dia tinggi.. tapi sbb lama sgt, takkan la aku nak pangku/pegang Fatihah tu.. mau patah tgn aku.. so bila letak dalam bassinet tu rasa mcm ngam2 je... huhu... nak buat mcmana, kan...terpaksa la..

Fatihah dalam bassinet

Akhirnya lepas flight yang agak lama itu..(dengan Fatihah yang tak reti duduk diam nak jalan ke sana sini..) sampailah kitorang kat LA.. masa tu kat LA pukul 4.50ptg, tapi gelap sebab dah malam masa tu.. huhu.. suhu pulak 2 darjah celcius... sejuk gillerrr.. aku pakaikan Fatihah sweater and kitorang pun gi claim baggage yg byk nak mampus tu sbb kena go through custom check and immigration process.. leceh ... tapi dah kena masuk US, ikut je la rules and regulations diorang... so lepas settle semua tu, kitorang kena berjalan ke terminal 7 untuk ambik flight ke Chicago.. dari Tom Bradley Int'l Terminal ke terminal 7 tu ambik masa 10 minit kalau berjalan.. so dalam kesejukan kami teruskan perjalanan...

Sampai kat terminal 7 tu kitorang check-in untuk amik flight ke Chicago and ke Des Moines.. lepas tu kena go through security check lagi -- kali ni memang thorough checking.. Zairi siap kena tahan ke satu corner and backpack dia kena check betul2.. huhu... lepas tu kena tunggu lak sampai 11.25 pm untuk flight ke Chicago...

Sambil menunggu tu suapkan Fatihah makanan..

Menunggu untuk masuk flight -- ni pintunya

Pemandangan semasa menunggu untuk ke Chicago

Melayan karenah Fatihah yang cabut sebelah kasut.. huhu

Dah pandai pandang camera dan posing dah anak dara sorang ni. hehe

So dalam flight ke Chicago tu ambik masa 5 jam lebih.. kitorang duduk 1st class (tak de la gah mana pun... seat je besar).. anyway, Fatihah buat perangai sepanjang dlm flight so mmg letih sgt kitorang bila sampai Chicago.. huhu... nasib la pramugari tu rajin melayan dia...

Bila sampai Chicago, jam dah pukul 4.30 am mcmtu.. so flight ke Des Moines pukul 6.30 am mcmtu... so kitorang tunggu sekejap je... pulak flight delay setengah jam lagi sbb flight attendant kena go thruough security check.. so last2 bertolak ke Des Moines pukul 7 am.. dalam sejam lebih sampai kat Des Moines.. Alhamdulillah....staf Iowa State yang pickup kitorang dah pun tunggu dgn satu van besar. .. tapi masa claim baggage kat Des Moines, nak dijadikan cerita ada satu beg besar tak de.. rupanya beg tu tersesat masuk ke flight seterusnya yg ke Des Moines... org airport tu make sure that beg tu akan dihantar ke umah Kak Rosita (kami tumpang umah dia sementara masuk apartment) petang tu jugak..

Keluar dari airport terus semua orang menggigil sebab sejuk yang amat.. terasa sampai ke tulang.. aku peluk Fatihah erat2.. sebab takut dia kesejukan.. Zairi dan Adik angkat beg dalam van, dan sampailah kitorang ke Ames...

So.. entry seterusnya akan aku cerita pasal kisah menumpang umah Kak Rosita sampailah aku masuk apartment baru... so tungguuu ..:))

Goodbye, Malaysia. Hello, USA.

2009-01-01T22:57:00.006+08:00

It's is now less than 12 hours before I left daddy's house to KLIA. Oh, and this would be my last entry (for now) while in Malaysia. My next one will be in Ames, Iowa (insya allah -- may we have a safe journey) or in between (if time permits :P).

As in my previous entry I had a picture with our luggages in it. At that time we only have 6. Now, I have added 3 more luggages. Why, you may ask? I got tons of stuff to bring, and yet the MAS people told me that 1 person is entitle to bring 2 luggages (each should not weigh more than 23 kgs) and one hand carry.. So with 3 adults travelling, imagine the number of luggages.. you do the math :))

So tomorrow daddy will drive a car and get us a ~~regular taxi~~ MPV taxi to haul all the luggages and some of us to KLIA. We joke around saying that the MPV will most probably broke down due to the weight of the luggages.. LOL

Our flight is on 3.15pm, so we will depart from home around 10.00 am.. So early?? it takes about 1 hour ++ to reach KLIA from our house. The airlines imposed that for international flights passengers must be at the airport 2 hours early.. so we do have ample time for check-ins and makan2 (of course!!)

As I pen-off on this last entry, I would like to say that I'm so grateful for having my loved ones travelling with me :)). And peeps, check out for my very first entry written from the US!!

Welcome 2009!

2008-12-31T22:30:00.002+08:00

I would like to wish all of you a very Happy New Year! May we have a joyous and prosperous year ahead.. Selamat mencipta azam baru... lain la aku ni, malas nak berazam2 .. huhuhu... anyway, masih dalam stage packing di saat2 akhir sebab lusa (mcm tak percaya aje..) dah nak gi dah...

Travelling to the US

2008-12-27T15:26:00.009+08:00

We've got the tickets -- and will be travelling by MAS and United Airlines

Our itinerary --

Friday 02 Jan 2009
Dep KLIA -Kuala Lumpur Main Terminal 1515
Arr LAX - Tom Bradley Int'l Terminal 1650
Stop at Taipei
(17 hrs 35 min)

Friday 02 Jan 2009
Dep LAX - Terminal 7 2325
Arr ORD- Chicago O'Hare Terminal 1 0520
Non-Stop
(3 hrs 55 min)

Sat 03 Jan 2009
Dep ORD - Chicago O'Hare Terminal 1 0623
Arr DSM - Des Moines Int'l Terminal 1 0735
Non-Stop
(1 hr 12 min)

I've got my travellers cheques ready --

And the passports

And now still packing the luggage.. and after that we're all set!

The Final Step: Goodbye, Kuantan...

2008-12-25T21:37:00.007+08:00

Lepas seminggu ~~melepak~~ settlekan mcm2 kat KL, aku terpaksa gak datang Kuantan hari ni untuk angkut saki baki barang yang nak disimpan kat KL. Mlm tadi satu lori dah dtg and angkut barang2 yang nak dibawa ke rumah my MIL kat Jengka.. so kiranya tadi aku and Zairi angkut habis semua barang and kosongkan rumah.. aku datang dari KL dgn daddy .. penuh gila satu Vios and Kancil punya la sendat dengan barang2.. tobat dah aku nak pindah randah.. akan datang tu tak tau la camane kan... penat gilerr.. alhamdulillah semuanya selesai...

Kancil yg sarat dgn muatan..

Sebahagian sampah yg belum dibuang/di kitar semula

Rumah yang dah kosong..

So long, Kuantan... Insya Allah will be back after 3 years (or in between)...:))

Dentist + Munawwarah

2008-12-22T00:24:00.011+08:00

Hari ni aku (and Fatihah, of course..) ikut mama,daddy and adik gi jumpa dentist kat Klinik Pergigian Hew kat Kepong. Adik nak tampal gigi coz gigi geraham belakang dia berdenyut..then mama suggest aku check gigi sekali. Aku pun ok je la, sebab daddy boleh claim dental untuk satu family.. aku ingat nak buat scaling and tampal la gigi sebab ada satu geraham aku ni dah berlubang.. N'way, knowing that aku akan jumpa dentist, aku terus jadi takut and tak keruan (As I mentioned in my previous entry, I am afraid of doctors and hospitals.. hehe.. dentist pun sama gak..)Lagipun aku ada experience dulu2 masa nak cabut gigi punya la takut sampai 2 orang nurse punya tangan aku genggam sebab punya takut..:)).. So masa aku masuk jumpa dentist tadi, dia tgk2 gigi aku, dia kata aku kena cabut dah gigi geraham tu sebab kalau nak tampal besar sgt... aku dah la tak set mind pun nak kena cabut.. makanya makin la debar and takutnya aku sampai aku mintak mama teman kat dalam bilik dentist tu (Fatihah tidur and daddy dukung dia kat luar). Teruk betul aku ni.. hehe.. wat malu kat Dr tu je.. nasib Dr perempuan..

Then dia bius gum aku kat tempat nak cabut tu, bagi kebas.. sementara tu, dia wat la scaling.. aku ni adeeeh.. adoi.. mcm2 bunyik keluar.. smpai daddy kat luar pun dgr.. haha.. nasib ah.. aku dah takut.. plus ngilu and adsakit sikit.. ntah berapa puluh kali aku berkumur.. habis je semua tu, Dr pun cabut la gigi aku.. surprisingly, takrasa apa pun sebab kejap je gigi tu dah keluar.. Then sampai ke petang kebas kat gigi aku ni tak hilang... sekarang ni pulak rasa berdenyut kat tempat kena cabut tu...lega... walaupun penakut.. hehe

Lepas tu, petang dlm pukul 4 mcmtu, aku dgn mama gi Butik Sri Munawwarah kat Tmn Tun.Ingat nak tengok2 tudung ala2 Ekin, kalau ada bolehlah nak beli.. so masa kitorang sampai tu, ramai gak la orang kat kedai... yang bestnya tudung munawwarah ni, boleh test suka hati semua tudung2 tu sblm beli at our own leisure.. ada byk cermin so boleh la try tengok kena ke tak size tudung tu dgn kepala kita.. So akhirnya aku rembat 3 helai, mama 3 helai.

Yang kiri aku punya, yg kanan mama punya

Close up tudung Lycra Munawwarah

Tudung2 yg aku and mama beli harganya Rm60 sehelai.. memangla mahal, tapi kualiti tudung munawwarah ni semua org pun sedia maklumlah.. mmg best and berbaloi la beli.. tudung ni ada 4 size muka (S,M,L dan XL) manakala labuh pulak ada 4 jenis.. so kiranya memang kena test sebelum beli muka kita ni sesuai dgn saiz mana..

Akhirnya jumpa gak tudung yg berkenan walaupun mahal.. hehe.. oh ya.. and tudung ala2 Ekin (awning kaler lain, separuh lagi kaler lain) tak de stok. Kalau ada aku nak mintak mama beli and pos kat sana.. Salesgirl munawwarah tu cakap mmg ramai sgt org beli smpi selalu out of stock. kalau nak tahu update pasal tudung munawwarah ni, masuk je blog kedai tu..(Er... aku promote ni agak2 dapat tak tudung free.. hehe)

Aku ni semenjak dua menjak asyik berjalan + shopping je.. hehe.. sekali sekala apa salahnya kan..

Hari-hari terakhir di KPTM

2008-12-21T23:56:00.007+08:00

Last Friday (19 December 2008) adalah hari last aku kat KPTM Kuantan yg terchenta nih.. so the day before tu, org2 kat office Zeta and Lambda buat makan2 in my honor.. It was a potluck, so macam2 la hidangan yang dibawa -- ada nasi lemak, bihun goreng, kuih muih, variety of desserts, nasi ayam and mcm2 lagi la.. (Sorry guys, gambar aku tak amik.. tunggu org2 lain bg gmbr kat aku..hehe).. then I was asked to give a short speech.. frankly speaking, masa tu tak de la rasa sedih lagi..siap boleh gelak2 lagi...and later on my department bagi farewell gift -- jam berlatarkan ayat suci Al Quran.. ~~besar~~ cantik sgt.. aku suka.. hehe.. terima kasih banyak2... aku tak expect pun diorang bagi apa2.. lagipun aku bukannya berhenti keje, just cuti belajar je.. :))

Petang Khamis tu Kak Mahani datang ofis bawak homemade cheesecake dia yg sedap (aku yg tak minat sgt cheesecake ni pun bolehlah layan kak mahani nye).. thanks a lot ye kak mahani.. sedap... susah2 je dia buat.. kak yam pun sama.. dia buat lasagna and bawak office hari jumaat.. terima kasih kawan2.. i really appreciate it... :)).. Mesti aku akan rindu kat korang semua masa kat sana... korang pulak jgn lupa kat aku ye... *sob.. sob*

So dah nama pun last day, since most of the KPTM staff takde on Friday sbb diorang gi PD, aku pun merafak sembah le kat pengarah and timbalan pengarah buat serahan tugas..maklumlah jadi KJ ni, byk keje kena serah.. kang tak pasal aku kena panggil balik.. huhu..

On the Friday itself kitorang (9 of us) gi makan steamboat kat Johnny's. Lama dah aku tunggu2 nak makan ramai2 kat luar, lagipun sblm ni Noni asyik ckp dia teringin nak mkn steamboat.. anyway, it turned out to be that I was treated for lunch.. thanks gals.. korang mmg best.. hehe... time kasih daun keladi, lain kali boleh belanja lagi.. heheheeeee...

As far as the packing are concern, mlm tu aku sibuk laaa berkemas sampai tidur pukul 3 pagi.. mana taknya, esok mama and daddy nak datang amik barang2 and then aku balik KL terus dgn Fatihah. Zairi pulak kerja sampai 24hb.. Badan aku punya la letih and lenguh, tuhan je yang tahu.. aku dah mintak mama panggil kan mak cik tukang urut dtg umah minggu depan. Aku nak urut seluruh badan 3 hari sebelum gi sana..

Most of my belongings yg lain tu akan dihantar ke Jengka (umah MIL) by lorry the night before Christmas. Yang tu, Zairi akan uruskan.. it turned out that maybe aku kena dtg balik dgn daddy angkut saki baki barang yang tinggal.. lepas tu kosonglah umah.. aku rasa macam gilee je pindah barang ni.. macamanalah ye org yg selalu pindah umah tu.. tobat la aku.. tak kuasa dah... huhu...

Timecheck -- lagi 11 hari lagi nak gi.. byk lagi benda nak kena buat nih... uwaaaaa

Kisah seharian bershopping

2008-12-17T10:00:00.007+08:00

Last Monday aku and Zairi gi Jln TAR dan kawasan2 yg sewaktu dengannya - nak carik brg2 nak bwk pi US.. Lagipun aku menyahut seruan kerajaan sempena Malaysia Saving Sale nih.. haha.. pagi tu kitorang keluar rumah dlm pukul 10.30 pg mcmtu, Fatihah tinggal dengan mama, kebetulan mama MC ari tu.. (~ngeee)..

Destinasi pertama ialah gi Pejabat pengajuran MARA.. aku nak ngadap pegawai MARA tanya pasal Travelers Check (TC) ngan ticket flight aku dan Adik. Aku nyer tak siap lagi, tapi Adik punya TC rupanya dah berzaman dah siap.. bulan 8.. tapi yang mangkuk hayun org MARA ni bkn nak inform ke call ke bgtau TC Adik dah siap. Kalau aku tak gi ngadap, sampai sudah la tak tau.. hampeeehhsss... bila aku nak start 'naik hangin', org penganjuran MARA tu dok menyalahkan Kewangan MARA... isk isk isk... ntah apa2 la buat keje..

Lepas tu kitorang gi Sogo, tengok winter apparel.. ingat nak carik winter coat utk Fatihah and the accessories sekali la.. tapi knowing me, aku takkan terus beli, aku survey2 dulu, lepas tu nak tengok kat kedai winter apparel kat hujung Jln TAR (kat area kedai2 karpet nun tu..)... so destinasi seterusnya aku gi carik tudung.. konon2 nak beli tudung Ikin...kalau ada yg berkenan boleh rembat sehelai dua ke kan..

Habis semua kedai tudung kat Jln TAR tu aku masuk, tnya harga, belek2, lepas tu keluar.. Zairi dgn sabarnya tunggu aku kat luar kedai.. lepas satu kedai, satu kedai.. kesian lak kat dia, tapi aku ni jenis gi survey dulu, tgk jenis kain, tawar2 dulu.. kalau ok baru aku beli.. so tak rasa berjam ke aku kat kedai2 tudung? Hehe.. Zairi smpi tensen sbb lama betul tawaf kedai tapi beli dua, tiga helai je.. mostly aku rasa mahal, lagipun tudung Ikin yg bercorak aku tak jumpa.. lepas nak dekat 2 jam lebih kat kedai tudung, aku ke kedai Sharafali Winter Apparel -- sblm tu Zairi kata "Aiik, masuk punya byk kedai tudung beli 4 helai aje??" Huhu.. Nak buat mcmana, aku ni kalau beli mesti nak carik harga yg okay and quality yg okay...

Masuk kedai Sharafali tu, winter coat semuanya RM300++ dah tu tak de diskaun, maka aku pun patah balik ke Pertama nak carik Jeans sehelai dua utk aku and Zairi..... lepas tu destinasi seterusnya....gi Sogo beli winter apparel .. lagipun winter coat dia okay2 and byk pilihan -- kesudahannya, aku beli winter coat Fatihah sekali dgn topi, mitten and socks dia, thermal wear utk adik , aku and Zairi, winter socks, and Zairi beli satu winter coat utk dia.. dari RM 250 dapat RM 120 je.. murah dah bagi aku.. Brand pun okay, Hunt International..

Masa tu dah pukul 4 lebih.. sedar tak sedar kitorang tak makan lagi.. so gi makan kebab dulu kat bawah then lepas tu terus balik umah.. oh.. lupa nak mention tadi, kitorang naik komuter je.. senang, tak yah pikir nak byr parking berjam2.. hehe... so kesudahannya mlm tu terasa sakit kaki sebab rasa dah berkilometer gak la aku jln.. hehe...

Menjawab Tag dari Pah

2008-12-12T09:11:00.009+08:00

Err.. I've completed this earlier.. cuma tak sempat nak upload picture :)

Bleh tak letak gmbr ni? hehe.. aku tukang amik gmbr.. hehe

Tag peoples :1. Malas nak tag org..boleh tak mcmtu?? Sapa2 yg tak wat tag ni dipersilakan...

1. How are you?
-Sihat, Alhamdulillah.....

2. Who was the last person you hugged?
Zairi and Fatihah

3. Look to your left, what do you see?
Window with curtain

4. Where do you like to be the most?
At home..

5. Whats your fave film?
Too many to list.. some of them are the Harry Potter series..

6. What does the last person you commented on fs mean to you?
It has been ages since I updated my fs.. I'm kinda demotivated since now I soo enjoy
FB-ing!!

7. What did you last laugh about?
Zairi cerita pasal camane dia tipu ofismate dia pasal blackout kat Indera Mahkota

8. Where was your default took?
Suria Beach Resort, Cherating

9. Whats the first thing you look for in a girl/guy?
Understanding

10. If your still in school, whats your fave lesson?
German and english

11. What do you work as / want to work as?
lecturer

12. Do you play video games? if so, which is your fave game?
I still can't figure out PS1 eventhough kat umah daddy ada mcm2 game - PS2, XBOX, Wii, PSP, Gameboy -- Zairi and my brothers sumer tak nak ajar aku.. tensen.. huhu..

13. Who never fails to make you laugh?
Zairi, my family and friends

14. What are you listening to right now?
Nothing

15. Who did you last have a sleepover with?
Zairi and Fatihah, of course!!

16. I bet you miss someone, who?!
Zairi and Fatihah, mama, daddy and my bros

17. Are you happy with your life right now?
Totally

18. Why did you last get upset?
Few days ago, terselisih faham dengan Zairi

19. Who was the last person you texted?
Zairi

20. Who do you live with?
My Family

21. Do you like living with them?
OF COURSE.......

22. Who did you last shout at and why?
Er, lama dah tak jerit2 ni, student takde, kan... hehehe

23. Are you normally a happy person?
Very the happy one..

24. What was the last thing you went to see in the movies and with who?
Tak ingat movie apa dgn Zairi masa weekdays - Fatihah kat nursery.. hehe

25. Whats your fave food?
The list is endless...

26. Are you in love?
Truly, madly, deeply... with my hubby

27. Do you remember how you was 3 years ago?
Part time Masters student

28. If so, does it make you cringe?
Nope..

29. If you could be with someone right now, who would it be?
My family

30. Whats your fave thing in your room?
My pillow - punya la best and tahan lama bantal ni sejak aku darjah dua sampai sekarang elok je.. dunlopillow la katakan.. hehe (bkn bantal busuk aaaaa...)

31. If you had one wish, what would you wish for ?
Dapat habiskan PhD dan bergelar Prof .. hehe

32. Any last words? Doakan aku berjaya ek..

Shopping = Fun. Packing = Sucks.

2008-12-11T08:53:00.005+08:00

Ahrghhhh... It's been awhile, people. I know. I lost count of the days, merely because I'm on leave for a couple of days. Well, been doing lots of shopping. Going overseas sounds fun, but hey, imagine the 1001 things that need to be done... *sigh*.

Going away for 3 years - of course I need luggage. We're talking the good ones here, not the expensive (Well, people at the airport don't really care if you're buying Samsonite 'coz they still throw around your luggage with no mercy before it comes through the baggage claim area. So better get a good one with cheaper price). So we went luggage + backpack-hunting last weekend. Managed to get the good stuff with 70% discount :)). But seriously, can't imagine how we're going to hail our belongings running here and there while transit and changing flights (Huhuhu..)

*Notice the 'lil girl in the walker? She's running everywhere these days (in her walker). Hehe.

Now I'm in the final stage of packing tremendous stuff at my house. Next step? Shipping it to my MIL's house in Jengka. The packing process = sucks. Too many stuff. I even thought of discarding some of it. Right now I'm trying to be as patience as possible in order to get the packing done. (If only you people can see my face when I was packing ~urgghhh)

Still to come, more shopping this weekend and towards the end before we board the flight. All the spices, medicated stuff, few pairs of jeans and a little bit of this and that need to be bought. Spices, you may ask? I need to be able to cook Malaysian food while I'm there -- imagine no Malaysian home-cooked meal for 3 years ~ nooooo!!!!

Okay, I need to start packing my stuff in the office. More updates soon :)

My Family Look-alike Meter

2008-12-05T15:48:00.004+08:00

Fatihah : 1 year and 1 month old

2008-12-04T11:48:00.003+08:00

Here comes another tag

2008-12-04T10:36:00.004+08:00

Lama dah tak jawab tag2 nih.. so Kak Lieyn dah tag aku, moh le kita layannnnnnnnnn...

1) Do you think you're hot ?
Seriously??*thinking hard* Sikit2 kot (hihihihi... sambil tersenyum malu)

2) Upload your favourite picture of you!

3) Why do you like that picture?
I look soooo educated (haha!).. anyway, it inspires me to get a PhD (bagus tak?)

4) When was the last time you ate pizza ?

Last week, with Noniey and Pah - Pizza Hut Giant

5) The last song you listen to?
Aishah - Kemaafan Dendam yang Terindah

6) What are you doing right now besides this ?
Filling up claim forms

7) What name would you prefer besides yours?
I love my name ;)

People to tag :
1) kak mizar
2) halen

3) mahan
4) pah

5) tini

8) Who is number one ?
akak kat ofis yang kekadang kalut.. hehe

9) Number three is having a relationship with?
her boyfriend

10) Say something about number five?
My dear friend (x-housemate) yg just got married..

11) How about number four?
rakan segosip yang sekepala.. hehe

12) Who is number two?
one of my blog buddy in East Malaysia :)

Introduction to Ames, Iowa

2008-12-02T11:14:00.010+08:00

Tajuk entry kali ni macam subjek la pulak.. haha.. n'way, aku dihujani pelbagai pertanyaan pasal tempat yang aku nak gi sambung buat PhD ni. So berikut adalah serba sedikit la facts and info yang aku nak cerita, including the places of interest and tempat yang aku suka gi / lepak. Hopwfully boleh la beri sedikit gambaran tempat yang aku akan bermukim dalam masa 3 thn (insya allah)..

So inilah bendera Iowa, and population penduduk Iowa ni adalah dalam 3.3 million. Iowa terletak di antara 6 negeri -- South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois, Kansas (selatan).

Tempat yang aku nak gi -- Iowa State University ni terletak kat Ames (pronounce as Aims). Ames ni pekan sederhana besar, dengan population around 60,000 people. Airport yang paling dekat ialah di Des Moines (pronounce as D-Moyn - originated from a french word). Memang lawak sebab masa mula2 datang sana dulu, mesti orang salah sebut (aku tak, ye.. sbb dah tau awal2 dah..daddy bgtau...hehe). Mat saleh sana pun senyum je bila ada Malaysian yang salah sebut. Hehehe..

Tempat lepak/shopping/leisure

For grocery shopping or basic needs, I usually go to these places: WalMart, Target, Hy-Vee and Cub Food.

For window shopping/shopping saja2 je/Entertainment : North Grand Mall (ada byk kedai -- JC Penny, Younkers, Gap, Bath & Body Works, Victoria Secret, Eddie Bauer, Payless, Radio Shack and macam2 lagilah.. yang paling best ada panggung wayang yang tiketnya hanya USD 50 cents aje.. murahkan?? Eventhough diorang tayang cerita yang dah keluar panggung dua bulan dulu (kiranya tayang cerita lama), but it is still cheap.. panggung tu pun keadaannya ok sangat.. mcm TGV la kalau kat sini...kalau nak tgk cerita baru2, kena gi panggung lain, yang tu tiket dalam USD10macam tu (tengok jenis cerita -- kalau dah lama tayang, murahla sikit). Panggung tu ala2 GSC kalau kat sini..

Untuk perhiasan/hobby/ala2 SSF: Aku selalu gi Hobby Lobby -- kat situ macam SSF la.. tapi ada semua mak nenek yang berkaitan dgn hobby (dari scrapbooking ke quilting).. Nak tunjuk gambar tapi leh tengok kat sini.

Outdoor/Recreation

Kat Ames ni ada byk Park.. yang bestnya boleh barbeque.. buat outdoor activity ke, memang seronok ah.. aku dah plan dalam kepala ni nak buat barbeque ahead of time.. boleh x gitu?? hehe..

Kat sini ada Ice Arena -- aku pun dah plan nak hantar Fatihah main ice skating (padahal dia baru je setahun.. huhu). Ini Ice skating rink nye -->

Eating Out/Restaurant

Bila cerita bab makan2 ni, memanglah limited -- tapi ada la jugak beberapa restaurant tu yang aku gi kalau nak makan:-

1. Perkins Restaurant - kedai ni mcm bakery shop, tapi bukak 24 hours. Kitorang panggil Perkins ni kedai mamak Ames, sebab budak Malaysia selalu la lepak situ.

2. Red Lobster - Restoren seafood -- namapun lobster,kan.. so memang best ah makan kat sini..tapi agak mahal skit.. sekali sekala tak pe, kalau selalu, kopak weehhh

3. Pizza - yang ni kena tengok ah sebab byk kedai pizza. Aku dulu selalu order by phone aje.

4. Long John Silver - Restaurant Fish and Chips. Kat sini pun ada. Enough said.

5. Dairy King - Ice-Cream and deserts -- sini pun ada. Kekadang order ice cream cake dari sini je.

6. Subway, Jimmy Johns - ni jual mcm2 sandwich. Kekadang kalau tak sempat masak tu belasah je sandwich.

7. Ada restaurant Pakistani (tak ingat nama) - selalu makan beriani kat sini dgn ayam tandoori -- sedappp!!!

So tu la serba sedikit pasal Ames, Iowa. Ada banyak lagi sebenarnya tapi tak tau dah nak tulis apa lagi. Harap penjelasan tentang Ames dapat menjawab sedikit sebanyak soalan yang bersarang di fikiran.. :))

Freedom of writing

2008-12-02T10:52:00.002+08:00

Masa mula2 aku start blogging, aku selalu terfikir.. apa la agaknya 'pengisian' blog aku.. memang takde idea la mula2 tuh.. then lama kelamaan aku dah rasa blogging ni macam theraphy.. addicted pun satu gak.. sebab aku boleh meluahkan apa saja yang aku rasa.. and aku leh share dengan orang lain and vice versa.. aku pun suka je baca blog orang lain, tahu life diorang dan kenal mereka dengan lebih dekat lagi.. indirectly aku boleh belajar and bertukar-tukar fikiran in a lot of aspects of life.

So, bagi aku memang blogging ni sort of a way memberi kebebasan pada aku untuk menulis. Of course bila kita kata kebebasan tu, takdela sampai menyentuh sensiviti masyarakat. Again, menyentuh sensitiviti ni depends on how the readers interpret your writing. So bagi aku, selagi aku tak de memalukan orang in such a revealing way (bagi nama sebenar and so on), aku akan terus menulis. Yelah, kadang2 cara penulisan kita ni adalah untuk memberi pengajaran dan juga keinsafan pada diri sendiri dan juga orang lain.. agar kesilapan tu tidak berulang kembali.

Aku nak quote Mr Manager -- "Ada aku kesah?" Lagipun aku berpegang kepada prinsip -- kalau aku tak suka, aku tak baca....

Aku yang penakut!

2008-11-26T12:14:00.005+08:00

I have to admit, aku memang penakut on certain things. Some of them are anything that has to do with hospital, doctors, medicine, insects, and macam2 lagilah. Lagi satu, bagi aku mata adalah anggota badan yang paling precious bagi aku -- kalau boleh aku takkan biarkan or buat apa2 pada mata aku (pakai contact lens ke, nak masukkan2 benda ke.. aku takut!) Huhu.. bukannya apa, bila melibatkan mata ni, imagination aku running wild.. mesti terfikir kalau apa2 jadi kat mata hitam aku ke, aku terjadi buta ke.. huhu.. mintak simpanglah... tu la pasal sampai mati pun aku tak nak pakai contact lens (part of it sebab penakut mengatasi segalanya, second baru sbb imagination tadi tu, tak ditambah cerita org lain pasal pakai contact lenses ni..)

So kisah semalam melibatkan mata kiri aku..tgh melipat baju tetiba je rasa mata mcm kesat, aku pun dgn gatal tangannya menenyeh mata .. tup..tup rasa mata aku pedih dan kesat.. waaa.. menyesal pulak aku menenyeh semalam.. aku terus cakap kat Zairi ada benda masuk mata.. aku terus takut.. Zairi suruh letak eye-mo lepas tu tido.. so aku pun letak la eye-mo (letak dari tepi, sebab aku penakut nak letak eye-mo dlm mata direct mcm tu.. huhu), then aku tido.. lepas tu pukul 2.30am , lepas bagi Fatihah susu, mata aku terus rasa kesat lagi.. mulalah pikir bukan2.. kalau sampai bila2 macam tu macamana.. terus aku kejut Zairi nangis2 sebab takut.. Zairi pulak dok takut2kan aku.. tensen betul.. dia kata kalau aku jumpa doktor, doktor akan pusing bola mata aku sampai mata hitam naik atas.. waaaaaaaaaa.. tak rasa ke aku makin takut and tak leh nak tido..tapi sebab mengantuk sgt terlelap la aku..

Masa bgn pagi tadi sebelum gi keje aku masih tak rasa ada perubahan kat mata aku walau dah letak eye-mo..makanya, Zairi hantar aku gi keje and beli Optrex eye lotion. Dia siap demo kat aku macamana nak pakai eye lotion tu... so sekarang ni dah 3 kali aku cuci pakai eye lotion tu walaupun sebenarnya masa nak cuci tu aku sgt takut sebab kena bukak mata kan..

Huhu...sekarang ni aku kejap rasa ok kejap rasa tak ok lak mata kiri aku ni.. Aku lak takut nak jumpa doktor.. takut dicuci sambil putar bola mata aku, tak ke naya... waaaa... huhuhu... aku makin tensen.. dahlah byk keje nak kena buat... waaaaaaa...

Aku pening!

2008-11-25T11:21:00.004+08:00

Di saat ini aku rasa nak meraung je.. nasib la tak sampai tahap nak meroyan.. aku rasa mcm terlalu byk sgt benda yg aku kena buat sampai naik takut lak aku.. ntah sempat ntah tidak jee.. Aku ada masa sampai 19hb Disember ni, nak kena siapkan mcm2.. barang kat umah tak abis kemas lagi (sampai satu tahap aku rasa nak lempar je semua brg.. napelah brg aku byk sgt? hiiii...), kerja2 ofis melambak (lagi dekat masa aku nak resign HOD, lagi melambak keje nak kena settle.. waaa)..Aku sekarang ni sebab dah byk sgt benda nak kena buat, terus tak tau nak buat mana satu dulu.. aku boleh termangu jap dgn komputer sblm taip entry ni.. nak upah org dtg kemas umah, dah tentu2 org tu tak tau apa yg aku nak and apa yg aku tak nak.. uwaaarrrggghhh.. time is running.. boleh jadi bengong aku dibuatnya.. saat-saat ni rasa nak gi vacation jek... boleh tak camtu? Pening kepala pulak weh... nak carik minyak cap kapak jap.. terasa berputar pulak kepala aku.. erkk...

On the other hand, Zairi dapat interview untuk biasiswa HLP JPA pada 16 Disember 2008 kat Politeknik Shah Alam. Dia kena siapkan proposal utk interview and aku tolong2 la apa yg patut.. Harap2 dia dapatlah secure the scholarship tu.. All the best to you, abg.. :)

Nostalgia Perantauan 3: Snow..oh..snow..

2008-11-19T12:38:00.005+08:00

Masa winter la masa yg paling best (walaupun winter kat Iowa tu tebal and cuaca sgtlah sejuk -- cakap keluar asap.. haha). Mana taknya, masa winter nak main snow, buat snowman, main ski/snowboarding and mcm2 lagilah.. Aku ada kisah2 lucu masa winter time nih.. sebelum aku citer dgn lebih detail, enjoy the pics -->

Aku yang tengah seronok baling snow depan apartment

Dengan budak2 Uni of Minnesota-Twin Cities masa gi ski kat sana

Aku sgt berdebar time ni -- 1st time skiing, so kena naik cable swing dulu

Bersedia sebelum ski (Dlm hati tuhan je yg tahu..hehe)

Tu dia... aksi ski dari jauh... nasib baik aku tak tergolek.. so-so ajelah for a first timer..hehe

Wokeh..ni nak menyambung cerita tadi... memandangkan snow tebal sampai 4 ke 5 inci, ada yang sekaki tebal on certain areas, aku byk kali jatuh tersembam dalam snow. Haha.. buruk betul rupanya bila jatuh tu.. Dahlah pakai baju 2 lapis, winter coat lagi, muffler lilit keliling leher, bawak backpack, punya la nak meredah snow, dalam nak angkat kaki, terus ter.. dussshhhh... ha.. ambik, tertiarap atas snow.. dah tu org keliling sumer tgk.. malunya tuhan je yg tau.. tapi aku ni kalau sendiri jatuh still boleh gelak2 lagi, padahal mat2 saleh yg ada tu dah kerumun aku siap tanya, " Are u okay?", " Do u need any help?" Punya la concern.. hehe..

Kisah lagi satu, pasal terjatuh jugak, tapi ni time bila snow nak mencair. Snow ni bila dlm proses nak cair mmg licin giler. So kena la hati2 kalau terpijak, takut tergelincir, lepas tu tertangkup atas lantai. Aku dah kena dah mcm tu... haha.. masa tu depan library kat bus stop jugak (mesti berlaku depan org ramai.. hiii.. tensen aku!!). Aku terpijak ais licin, aku tergelincir and landing baeekkk punya sambil terlentang. Masa tu nak dijadikan cerita, satu bas baru je berhenti situ, semua orang yg ada dlm bas and keliling kawasan tu pandang aku. Aku boleh pulak time tu tahan sakit sambil ketawa. Mcm biasa ah, mesti ada org yg dtg tolong aku bangun.. hehe

Haiiiihhh....Macam2 kisah.. hopefully lepas ni tak de la jatuh2 lagi :P

Campanile (Central Iowa State Campus) during winter

Buat sahabat sekalian..

2008-11-19T11:45:00.007+08:00

Sahabatku

Persahabatan itu merupakan satu anugerah

Membuat kita tertawa, menangis, memberi, menerima

Dan yang paling penting

Membuat kita saling menghargai

Sesungguhnya

Aku bersyukur pada hadrat Illahi

Diketemukan dengan kalian

Pelbagai ragam dapat kupelajari

Menjadi panduan di kemudian hari

Yang baik dijadikan teladan

Yang buruk dijadikan pengajaran

Itulah lumrah kehidupan

Warna-warni persahabatan

Ketahuilah

Selagi aku bernafas di muka bumi Allah

Selagi hayat dikandung badan

Perhubungan ini tidak mungkin menemui noktahnya

Tidak akan kubenarkan

Melainkan maut menjemputku

Kerna aku seorang pemburu

Tetapi

Aku hanyalah insan biasa

Meskipun berusaha sedalam lautan

Setinggi langit, seluas alam semesta

Tidak bisa menolak suratanNya

Apatah lagi menyesali takdir

Hanya berserah pada Yang Maha Esa

Kerna itulah yang telah dicoretkan

Sejak azali

Errr.. Hope this does not happen to me fingers crossed

2008-11-18T12:46:00.005+08:00

The Iowa State University Alumni Dinner

2008-11-14T17:03:00.015+08:00

Date: 12th November 2008

Time: 7.30pm

Venue: Palace of the Golden Horses (POTGH)

This dinner organized by the Iowa State University Malaysian Alumni Association (ISUMAA) is the first dinner ever held in Malaysia, in conjuction with the visit of ISU President, Gregory Geoffrey to Malaysia. ISU has been established way way back during 1858 and now celebrates its 150 years. It was a pleasure for me to meet all the alumni, and the dinner bring back memories to all of us, reminiscing our student life at ISU.

All in all, we had a great night, and I got the opportunity to establish network with the Alumni, and half of the alumni are people with great positions and big shots, too! Terasa diri ini kerdil sangat2.. some of the Alumni of ISU that I met and got the chance to chitchat -->

- A guy who designs proton cars (forgot his name)
- The owner of Johnny's Restaurants and Black Canyon Restaurants
- Owner of Tomei Jewellery Outlets
and many more from the government and private sectors

The opening act -- A dance form KLPac team entitled "Asmaradana"

Close up pictures of the table tent

Me with Ann Gogerty, my dear friend from the International Admission of ISU

Daddy with Mr Johnny, the owner of Johnny's Restaurants and Black Canyon Restaurants

At the backdrop

All the AMSISU (Association of Malaysian Students at ISU) ex-presidents

And ohh.. never thought that we went to the same university :)) --
and he was the Emcee for the night, too

Hehe.. I chatted with Halim for a while without forgotting to mention his fave line
" Itu dia yang kita cari..."

I had these yummy deserts

Together with some salad and cold cuts

The main course -- Sesame chicken with black sauce, succulent prawns,
noodle, fish fillets in white sauce and tofu

The Banner

The mascot of ISU -- Go Cyclones!!

I got the chance to talked to the President himself that I will be coming back to ISU next year, and he welcomed me warmheartedly. Watch out Iowa Staters, this loyal Cyclone is coming back and you can't get rid of me! :)))

Fatihah and her fever

2008-11-14T16:11:00.008+08:00

Finally,my dear Fatihah is sleeping soundly in the next room. It has been days since she was able to do so. Kesian sangat kat dia, badan dia panas within the last few days. It all started last Sunday, where Zairi and I thought it was just a regular fever. Nevertheless, we still brought her to see Dr Ang, her paedritician and we were assured that she'll be fine in a couple of days or so.

Then, comes Tuesday. We went back to daddy's house after work since I have a dinner to attend on Wednesday night. Later after the dinner, I sensed that she got the fever again, but this time her small body was searing hot. I panicked. Luckily I was with mama and daddy, and they told me to sponge-bath Fatihah until the temperature dropped.

As for the next day, her body temperature rose in the evening and I immediately brought her to meet a paedritician. I noticed small pink dots scattered on her body just before and suspected that she might have measles. Anyway, I want to confirm my suspicions and the paedritician said that it was not measles. IT WAS RUBELLA. The paed assured me that there's nothing to worry about since Fatihah already got her MMR vaccination 2 weeks ago. She also said that the pinkish dots will dissapear within few days, latest in 2 weeks.

I googled rubella symptom among infants and found some facts about it:

How do people get rubella?
People get rubella by breathing in droplets that get into the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks. Rubella can also spread by direct contact with fluids from the nose or throat of an infected person.

What are the signs and symptoms of rubella?
Most cases of rubella are mild. About half of people infected with rubella virus get a rash that looks like small, fine pink spots. The rash first appears on the face and progresses from head to foot, lasting about 3 days. Children usually develop few or no other symptoms. Adults can have mild fever, headache, reddened eyes, swollen glands behind the ears, tiredness, and joint pain.
An infected person can spread the disease for as many as 5 days before the rash appears to 7 days after. Infectious children should not attend school or day care.

How soon after exposure do symptoms appear?
In most cases, symptoms appear within 16 to 18 days.

So now, I am relieved to see that Fatihah is getting better by the day. Hati ibu mana yang tak risau bila anak sakit, kan.. Syukur sebab mama and daddy was there to give advice. Kalau tak, mahu pusing kepala aku and Zairi memikirkan pasal Fatihah..

Nak dijadikan cerita, I was asked to present the proposal for the new diploma program at KPTM KL this coming weekend when I planned on getting back to Kuantan on Thursday. Since Zairi have to work on Friday and I got the MC from the paedritician, I will be flying back to Kuantan with Fatihah on Sunday evening after the presentation session at KPTM KL ends.

Dear brother : All the best!!

2008-11-11T15:44:00.005+08:00

Dear Apit,

All the best in SPM 2008 ! Now is the final stage, and I'm sure you're nervous. I believe that you can achieve your goals. Oh yeah, about the reward, when you get that 10A1, then we can talk about it :))

Al kisah...aktiviti masa sekolah

2008-11-11T11:17:00.008+08:00

Semalam waktu on the way balik ke rumah, aku tiba2 teringat pasal kegiatan2 aku masa zaman sekolah rendah dan menengah yang sekarang ni aku rasakan memang 'bengong' ah. Lawak pun ada gak la bila fikir2kan balik. Aku pun tanya la Zairi..

Aku : Abg ada tak buat menda2 'bengong' masa kat sekolah dulu?
Zairi: Tak de.. abg budak baik la masa kat sekolah dulu..
Aku : Ceh! Konon baik la tu.. ni nak cerita pasal aktiviti masa ayg sekolah dulu..
Zairi: Ha.. apa dia? Ada2 je cerita dia ni..
Aku : (Tetiba je ketawa padahal tak start cerita lagi.. sebab aku rasa bengong betul buat benda2 tu dulu)
Zairi: La.. kata nak cerita.. ni apasal gelak sakan pulak ni?
Aku: Ni la ceritanya --> (Aku reword balik ah ayat aku utk memudahkan korang baca)

Masa sekolah rendah dulu, aku suka sangat baca buku Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Enid Blyton and Alfred Hitchcock. Memang minat abis la.. then ada la budak2 kat sekolah aku tu cakap yang sekolah tu dulu tapak hospital masa zaman Jepun. Aku pun tak tau betul ke tak story tu.. masa tu serius aku n the gang percaya.. pulak tu kat padang sekolah ada la macam penutup manhole tu.. tapi atas dia ada rumput2 .. bila nak bukak memang tak boleh.. macam stuck aje. Aku and the gang ni pun ada dengar kisah yang bawah tu ada mayat2 tentera jepun.. hospital jepun dulu ada simpan mayat kat bawah.. (sgt merepek je aku rasa sekarang ni) hahaha.. makanya, aku and the gang pun menubuhkan pasukan penyiasat (bengong tak bengongnya kitorang waktu tu.. ala.. budak2 lagi..). Memang nak menyiasat la betul ke tak misteri pasal hospital jepun ni.. kami siap ada password nak pegi 'port' kitorang -- kat tepi rumah pengakap supaya org luar tak leh join. Lepas tu pulak tiap2 tengahari (aku sekolah petang masa tu) mesti nak datang sekolah awal sebab ada mesyuarat nak bincang strategi nak buka penutup kat padang tu.. siap nak dtg masa weekend nak siasat lagi tu.. huhuhu... lepas tu ntah camane cikgu dapat tahu, kitorang kena la marah sebab nak bukak benda tu punya la umpil pakai macam2 alat.. so siasatan tu berakhir sampai kat situ..

Tapi kitorang tak putus asa.. kat hujung padang sekolah tu pulak ada semak samun, then ada sungai. Orang cakap kat situ kawasan penagih dadah. Ha.. apalagi, kitorang pun bukak kes baru nak siasat pasal penagih la pulak dah.. Ada budak geng kitorang jumpa jarum masa kelas PJ kat padang. So kengkonon nak buat bahan bukti la tu.. hahaha.. baru je nak gi menyiasat, ada pulak budak2 lain bagitau ada perempuan tua kat semak2 tu.. lagi la kitorang berkobar nak menyiasat..nak dijadikan cerita, hujung minggu tu pihak sekolah buat gotong royong, diorang tebas semak belakang tu.. padahal kitorang baru je nak start mission.. last2 dah clear.. terus nampak sungai.. tergendala lagi kes tu...haha

Masuk sekolah menegah, aku ni tak putus asa la nak siasat itu ini.. masa form 1, ada sorang budak kelas aku ni selalu tinggalkan nota kat bangsal basikal and depan nota tu ada perkataan KGAT. Aku n the gang tak tau pun apa benda tu, cuma musykil sebab dia sorok kat bangsal, dan ada org tertentu yg akan amik.. budak tingkatan lain.. so apalagi.. aku and the gang yg dah lama tak menyiasat pun skodeng gerak geri budak kelas aku ni. Kitorang siap reka kod kalau nak communicate dengan geng2, takut geng KGAT tau. Hahaha... lepas tu pulak, siap ada tempat2 tertentu kitorang tinggal clue utk geng lain followup semata2 nak menyiasat KGAT ni. LAst2 budak kelas aku tu cakap dia saje je main2 dengan member dai budak tingkatan lain konon2 macam best ahh tinggal kertas kat bangsal basikal and tukar2 nota. Ye ye la kitorang ni siasat.. huhu...

So tu la kisah 'bengong' aku kat sekolah dulu.. suka betul menyiasat tapi tak de mende pun.. Lawak la bila teringat balik betapa determine nye kitorang time tu.. bila dah besar ni, rasa ntah apa2 je la aktiviti aku masa sekolah2 dulu... dibayangi fantasi sebab asyik baca buku menyiasat.. hahaha..

Corat coret di hujung minggu

2008-11-10T14:02:00.004+08:00

Ada orang tanya aku tadi --> So dah siap2 ke nak berangkat? Dah settle2 dah ke semua urusan?

Huhu.. I wish everything is taken are of.. tapi weekend baru2 ni aku memang sangat letih. Sepagi hari Sabtu tu, aku hantar Fatihah gi nursery, Zairi pun ke kelas wiringnya, baru la aku start operasi mengemas barang2 and perabot. Pening kepala wehh.. rumah tak usah cakap le.. dah macam tongkang pecah. Budak2 bujang pulak nak datang ambil barang malam tu. Ruang tamu kat rumah aku dah pun kosong. Macam orang baru pindah aje. Haha.

Aku tak lama lagi gantung kuali la jawabnya.. Mana taknya, peti sejuk orang dah ambil dah. Kabinet dapur pun dalam proses nak diambil orang. So macamana aku tak gantung kuali? Tapi aku bosan pulak asyik nak membeli makanan aje. Bukan sedap pun kalau selalu beli2 ni. So agak2 apa aku nak makan ek? Nasib baik la Zairi tak cerewet makan.. roti pun jadi.. tapi yelah.. takkan tiap2 hari nak makan roti? Ntahlah.. pening nak pikir.. sampai masa nak makan, baru pikir, boleh ??

So, ni nak masuk final stage dah ni. Rumah dalam proses nak mengosongkan, tiket flight dalam proses nak tempah. Iowa State punya matters pun dah settle. So I'm good. Cuma nak mempersiapkan mind and soul untuk phd je yg belum lagi. Huhuhu.

So, Rabu malam ni (12/11/2008) aku akan attend dinner kat Palace of the Golden Horses anjuran Iowa State University Alumni Association (ISUMAA) sempen kedatangan Presiden ISU - Gregory Geoffrey ke Malaysia. Aku akan attend dinner tu dengan daddy, since kitorang berdua memang alumni Iowa State. Lagipun aku nak kembali ke sana, kan.. boleh la jumpa kawan2 lama and exchange stories.. I'm so looking forward to it..

Semalam jugak my dear Fatihah got a fever.. then kitorang bawak dia gi klinik.. kesian dia, malam tak berapa lena nak tidur.. then nak melekap aje.. nasib baik pagi tadi dah ok sikit.. kalau tak dah tentu aku EL hari ni coz nak jaga dia.

So malam ni aku kena kuatkan semangat sambung sorting barang - yang mana nak buang, yang mana nak simpan. Can't wait for the packing and sorting to end. Bestnya la kalau boleh ke spa and manjakan diri.. i wish...

Tag.. Again!

2008-11-05T09:02:00.006+08:00

Just found out that I have a tag that need to be completed -->

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.

Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names,then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment,letting them know they got tagged and to ask them to play and read your blog.

Starting time : 9.35 am

Name : Nurhidayah

Sisters : 0

Brothers : 3

Shoe size : 7, sumtimes 8

Height : 157cm (i think so)

Where do you live : Kuantan

Have you ever been on a plane : Yes

Swam in the ocean : Nope, just bathing

Fallen asleep at school : Haha.. so many times... from high scholl until uni.. buruk perangai..

Broken someone’s heart : I hope not..

Fell off your chair : Yup

Sat by the phone all night waiting for someone to call : Yeah

Saved e-mails : Yes

What is your room like : OK - presentable

What’s right beside you: Nobody - I'm in my office

What is the last thing you ate : Nasi Lemak Ayam

Chicken pox : When I was in primary school - standard 2, i think

Sore throat : Yup, Can't keep track the number of times I got sore throat

Stitches : After giving birth

Broken nose : Nope

Do you Believe in love at first sight : Definitely

Like picnics : Love it so much

Who was/were…The last person you danced with : Can't remember.. it was during primary school

Last made you smile : Playing with Fatihah this morning

You last yelled at : My students .. didn't come to my class giving lousy excuses

Today did you…Talk to someone you like : Yup.. My hubby

Kissed anyone : Hubby and daughter

Get sick : No

Talk to an ex : No??

Miss someone : My family

Who do you really hate: Nobody in particular

Do you like your hand-writing : Nope

Are your toe nails painted : Nope

Whose bed other than yours would you rather sleep in : Beds at showrooms

What color shirt are you wearing now : I'm wearing a yellow-chocolate baju kurung

Are you a friendly person : I was told that I am

Do you have any pets : No

Do you sleep with the TV on : Sometimes..

What are you doing right now : Answering this tag

Can you handle the truth : I'll try my best

Are you closer to your mother or father : Both

Do you eat healthy : Nope.. going in that direction

Do you still have pictures of you & your ex : Nope

If you’re having a bad day, who are you most likely to go to : Hubby

Are you loud or quiet most of the time : Loud

Are you confident : Yes

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:

- A Student at UiTM Shah Alam
- Having the time of my life - enjoy my life as a student
- Hang out with friends
- Shopping, jalan2, makan2..
- Study.. huhu

5 things I would do if I were a billionaire:
- Bayar hutang me + family
- Sedekah
- Gi Haji dgn famili
- Travel around the world dgn famili gak
- Beli aset

5 of my bad habits:
- Procrastinate
- Lambat solat
- Cerewet on certain things
- Kalau nak beli barang, survey berjam2 lamanya sbb nak carik price paling2 rendah among all the shops
- Kalau ada problem mesti asyik berfikir pasal problem tu sampai sakit kepala

5 places I’ve lived/living:
- Desa Jaya, Kepong
- Bdr Sri Damansara, KL
- Shah Alam
- Kuantan
- Ames, Iowa (Thn depan duduk sana lagi)

5 people I tag: I'm not tagging anyone.. malas..

PhD updates and more

2008-11-03T10:09:00.002+08:00

It's been awhile since I wrote the last entry, well..it's been a hectic week for me, with all the preparations for my PhD and such.. Memang la dugaan betul nak gi belajar ni.. macam2 benda nak kena settle, nak uruskan rumah and barang2 lagi.. boleh jadi gila dibuatnya. Aku pulak cukup menyampah bila nak packing2 barang ni.. heeeeeee.. rasa nak upah professional mover je buat semua tu... huhu..

Sekarang dah bulan 11. Aku dah senak perut fikir lagi 2 bulan aku nak fly. Barang2 kat rumah tu nak kena packing dah.. waaaa... rasa macam tak cukup masa je... last Saturday baru start kemas2 baju.. barulah perasan.. apasal la banyak sangat baju aku tu.. tak masuk lagi baju Zairi... tu baru baju, belum buku2 and barang lain lagi...

Visa aku dah settle. Now visa Zairi and Fatihah pulak on hold sebab kena ada I-20 form dari Iowa State. Huhuhu.. memang US ni strict betul.. now tengah tunggu I-20 dari ISU untuk dependents, baru la visa diorang settle.. **Waa.. gatal kepala aku wehhh** Tak pe, macam2 dugaan nak gi belajar ni.. so aku punya last day bekerja is 19th December 2008 (Friday). Lepas tu balik KL nak siap2 apa yang patut. Serious senak perut bila fikir pasal preparation ni.. Harap tuhan dapat memudahkan segala urusan kami.. Amin...

The Family

2008-10-29T10:21:00.002+08:00

Fatihah's Birthday Celebration

2008-10-28T08:11:00.013+08:00

Nursery Celebration - Cake and goodie bags for the kids

KL Celebration - Cupcakes and the food

Hadiah dari nursery

The Birthday Cards

The presents from mommy, daddy, grandpa,grandma and all the uncles - Before and After

Aksi-aksi Fatihah lepas dapat hadiah

Dear Fatihah: Happy 1st Birthday!

2008-10-23T16:17:00.002+08:00

Pictures on da way. :P

So many stories to tell..

2008-10-20T15:41:00.002+08:00

Despite my not-so-good mood last week, I managed to enjoy myself and have fun. Well, how can I still be moody when I have so many 'jamuan raya' to attend? Surrounded by scrumptious raya cuisine and delicacies really made my day :P. I actually got so many pictures taken by so many people, but I don't have time to organize the photos. I'll get it posted soon as I'm done with my 'kerja hakiki' :D

On the other hand, my previous entry really made some people wonder.. who's the not-so-lucky people that was mentioned by me? What actually happened during the 'ad-hoc meeting'? Well.. to make the story short, I lashed out during the meeting - expressing how I feel at that moment. I even gave time to my 'anak2 buah' to open up and tell whatever they have in mind. For me, a leader must be able to accept criticism. Everyone is not perfect, and so do I. After the 'sesi luahan hati dan perasaan', I feel relieved. When I'm angry or upset, I am the type that will let everything out, and left nothing inside. Yelah, nak buat apa simpan2 dalam hati lagi. So immediately after that, I'm calm and collected as before the situation happened. I work as usual and profesionally with my 'anak buah' as if the 'meeting' never happened before. Again, I don't know if there are still some 'anak buah' that are keeping things to themselves..

Enough about that. Now this week is the busiest week ever.. with so many academic matters need to be done before the final exam. Simultaneously I am in the process of scheduling an interview with the American Embassy, in order to get our visas done. Also, I'm excited about this week -- preparing for Fatihah's 1st Birthday :P

Okay, people. I need to get back to work. More updates soon. :D

Kecik hati sgt2...

2008-10-14T10:12:00.004+08:00

Aku sedih hari ni. Plus kecik hati sekali. If u're in my shoes, how do you feel? Here's what makes me feel that way -->

My term as Head of Department (HOD) ends December 2008. (That's approximately 2 months to go). I'm fine with it, yelah.. I'm leaving for my PhD in January 09. Of course I'm thinking of the most suitable person to replace me as HOD. In my case, it's hard to choose since most of my 'anak buah' all are kinda new people (baru 1 or 2 year experience). Most of the senior lecturers are on study leave. There is one person, though.. yet I dun think she's suitable.. too much things happened when she replaced me during maternity leave before...

However, the reason of my unstable emotion today is merely the fact that there are some 'anak buah' yang sort of 'ganging up' on me right now, and turn to the one person tu as if she's the new HOD. Hellooooooooo, I'm still the HOD okay... There are tremendous things that I need to get done, and I need help from my 'anak buah', and why the h*** are they (a couple of them) obsessing her and mengadap sgt dia as if she's in charge? (mind my language, I'm seriously PISSED). Kalau ye pun ko nak gulingkan aku, buang masa je.. lagi dua bulan je pun aku jadi HOD. So, can't u people bear with me for 2 f***ing months for the sake of getting the job done?

Fuhhh.. Sorry people. Aku nak luahkan perasaan. Kecik ati nak mampuss... My term as HOD still berjalan lagi, buat aku macam patung je... So, conclusion is.. I'm calling for a meeting.. and guess what? Aku nak cakap direct je... biar masing2 tahu situasi sekarang..geram aku!!!

Kerinduan ini .. bila sesekali datang bertamu...

2008-10-09T12:52:00.003+08:00

Heh.. tajuk bunyi macam jiwang.. haha.. tetiba je terasa kerinduan yang teramat sangat pada insan-insan tertentu. Bila duduk2 tu, rasa macam nak ulangi saat2 indah bersama. At this very moment, I really miss..

a) My Masters classmates - Min, Baya, Balqis, K.Ina, Zura, K.Aizan, Wan, Din, Nazri, Cik Kai, Hasli dan lain-lain.. 2 tahun belajar tu serasa kami memang close sangat2.. lunch sama2, lepak sama2..buat discussion sama2.. memang best la saat itu.. kitorang yg ladies ni asyik tumpang kereta Hasli je nak ke mana2.. maklumlah dia bawak kereta baru time tu.. hehe..

b) My childhood friends - Marina, Hazirah, Jainy, Sanjeeta, Monitha, Alwi, Paw, Mus, Salahuddin, etc.. ni kira member sekolah rendah and menengah.. kitorang membesar bersama, so ada la kisah2 lucu and sedih yang kami kongsi bersama.. bilalah boleh reunion dgn diorang ni ek...

c) My gang at Kolej Cempaka Kenanga, UiTM Shah Alam - Izlin, Wani, Rima, Marlinah, Eju, Inas, Naim, etc.. kitorang ni kira 'otai' kolej ah.. mmg kaki kecoh.. kengkonon glamer satu kolej la tu.. haha.. then waktu ni la ada yg develop crush dgn org itu la, org ini la.. so we share quite a few things and we definitely had an enjoyable life sepanjang time buat diploma dulu..

As in memories that I missed...

i) Beraya selamba je gi rumah orang walaupun tak kenal.. hehe.. that was masa sekolah rendah dulu.. best je bila dapat duit raya...masa tu la sibuk nak compare sapa dapat duit banyak..

ii) Gi outing dengan geng masa kat UiTM dulu.. merata gak la kitorang pergi..bila weekend kalau aku tak balik rumah, ada je arah nak dituju.. time tu memang best and happening sungguh.. kalau naik bas, serasa kitorang yg conquer bas tu.. haha

iii) Shopping masa belajar kat US dulu.. memang saje tunggu thanksgiving week, masa tu memang shop till u drop lah kiranya.. mana taknya, sale gile2, byk jugak la borong... hopefully next year ada la kesempatan nak bershopping kat sana lagi :P

Apa lagi ye? Actually, banyak memories yang kalau boleh aku nak ulangi semula.. tapi there's too much to write.. cukuplah di atas tu dulu..

*I'm walking down memory lane *sigh*

.:: All About My Journey in Life ::.

Business world..

Happy New Year 2011

The return of me to blogging land

Family Visit Week 2, 3 and 4

Family Visit Week 1: ISU Campus & Minnesota

Back in the blogging business

She's 2!

I feel bad...

Jamuan Raya Ames 2009

Salam aidilfitri dari Iowa

Preparation jamuan hari raya and kisah tempeh..

Hari-hari terakhir di bulan Ramadhan..

Fall semester, puasa dan ....

Iowa State Fair la pulak...

Saylorville Lake, Big Creek State Park and Ankeny

Kisah di pagi Isnin

Minnie Trip

My new gadget

Summer and Fall... in between

Sekali sekala..

Reiman Garden

The little girl

Argggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Happy Father's Day!

The insight of my PhD

The basement

Garage Sales

Chicago Trip

Loneliness

Final Week

What's cooking, pumpkin?

VEISHEA, classes and summer

Nak makan apa?

Meh nak update skett...

Field trip at Ziegler-CAT Facility in Altoona, Iowa

Our Sweetheart =P

Setelah hampir 3 bulan..

The Car (It's actually a van)

I yelled at a gangster in your bathroom because Big Bird said to and he's my leader

When You Told Me You Loved Me

Hanya kerna nama

Daylight saving time

Still searchin'..

Weekend @ North Grand Mall

Cuba teka?

Scholarship's update

Dugaan...

Conference Call

Congrats, abang !!!

Hey Hida, How's it going on?

My US Memorabilia and collectibles

Am I being paranoid?

What do you think?

Perkembangan terkini...

More stories to tell..

Macam2 kisah...

My first class...

Orientation week

Beginning of a new chapter

And the journey begins..

Goodbye, Malaysia. Hello, USA.

Welcome 2009!

Travelling to the US

The Final Step: Goodbye, Kuantan...

Dentist + Munawwarah

Hari-hari terakhir di KPTM

Kisah seharian bershopping

Menjawab Tag dari Pah

Shopping = Fun. Packing = Sucks.

My Family Look-alike Meter

Fatihah : 1 year and 1 month old

Here comes another tag

Introduction to Ames, Iowa

Freedom of writing

Aku yang penakut!

Aku pening!

Nostalgia Perantauan 3: Snow..oh..snow..

Buat sahabat sekalian..

Errr.. Hope this does not happen to me *fingers crossed*

Errr.. Hope this does not happen to me fingers crossed