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...

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.

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!

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?

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!!!

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 :))

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 ...

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.

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 ..

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)..








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...











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 ..:))

.

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!

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...

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.

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!

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?

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!!!

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 :))

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 ...

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.

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 ..

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)..








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...











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 ..:))

.

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!