Ramadhan..it came & it's almost going...how sad..

* picture courtesy of nas and taken from stock.xchng

It has been 16 days since the start of Ramadhan. This year will be our 2nd Ramadhan and eid in Malaysia since 1998. Plus it's my first Ramadhan while giving lectures and I must tell you it's not an easy feat. After each lecture I'm left feeling so very thirsty particularly when the lectures are late in the afternoon. Coincidentally this is the first semester where I have a two-hour lecture every Wednesday afternoon, 4 to 6 pm mind you. By the end of the lecture I'm almost too tired to think. I do pity the students too as I know they too can't concentrate the full 2 hours. So I usually end the class by 5:30 pm. I just hope whatever I've taught them is subconciously absorbed by their tired minds.

It's almost the end of the semester and I've got a couple more lectures before the syllabus is finished. But I've still got a stack of test papers which I haven't even started marking. I hope I'll be able to get through half of them by this weekend. And I'm hoping it'll all be done before the festivities start. the students are given 1 week holiday starting from Deepavali day until 29 October. Then the semester exams will start and we'll all start to get busy again. Anyway, I just hope I'll get thorugh all the exam script marking speedily and with very little problems.

Gosh.. I can't believe that we're almost half way thorugh Ramadhan. I didn't even realise it whiz by. Before we know it Ramadhan will be gone. I feel as though I haven't even gotten the most or done my best to make full use of this month. I've been too caught up with work and too tired by the end of the day to even do anything else. I feel so ashamed of myself. I hope I'm not too late and will be able to do my best and get the most out of the last half of this month. InsyaAllah.

Anyway, in preparation for Eid, my sister and i have baked 3 types of cookies. I don't think I'll be able to bake more of them in the coming weekends as I've got to work this Saturday and next weekend shah and i will be heading back to Kangar for Eid. This year we'll be spending eid with shah's family. Shah is very excited to go home and I am too as it'll be nice break from work.

Well, I guess that's all for this time. Hopefully all of us will make full use of this blessed month of Ramadhan and pray that we'll be able to meet it again next year. And to all of you, Selamat Berpuasa and Selamat Menyambut Aidilfitri.

It's been a while..

Lots has happened since I last wrote more than 3 months ago. My job at the uni has been confirmed and the workload hasn't been easing at all. My life other then work has been...wait, I don't think I have much of a life as it's all been taken up by...yes, you guessed it, work!! Anyway, Shah and I did get a chance to take a 10-day break to Nottingham for my graduation last July, almost 1 year since we left. We got the chance to reminisce and I enjoyed our stay there. We went with my mum and sis. The apartment that we stayed at was lovely and I wished that we owned that apartment. Apart from the excitement of my graduation, I did get a chance to shop at the summer sales. And boy do I miss living in Nottingham. Maybe in 7-10 years time Shah and I might just get a chance to go back to the UK.



















Apart from that break, Shah and I did spend 2 nights during the Merdeka week relaxing at a hotel in KL. I was a well-deserved break and we've decided to do more of that. Even if we can't go far, we can always take a day or two off from work and just stay in town but in a nice place and away from the stress and worries of work.

Well, those were the most enjoyable moments I had in the last 3 months. Now it's already September and believe it or not I've been a career woman for a year now. One year of earning my own living. I think I've adapted well with working life because it's now become routine to me. Sometimes when the end of the month comes I don't even realize that my salary is being deposited into my account. I'll only realize it when the time comes for me to settle the bills. I don't know whether that is a normal thing or not. Sometimes I feel like I'm working to hard for the amount of salary I'm getting. But I hope all my effort will not go down the drain as I'm putting a small hope on receiving a big fat bonus at the end of this year. I guess I've just got to wait and see.

Another trip

This Saturday Shah and I will go on another trip. Work for Shah but play for me. We're heading to Terengganu as Shah has to visit some students on industrial training there. we'll be in Paka for 2 days and then we'll go on to Kuala Terengganu. On our way back we might stopover in Kuantan. I'm hoping to be able to go by the sea and also to do some shopping at Pasar Payang. I need to get some materials to make a few pairs of baju kurung. I hope that even though Shah has to work, we'll still be able torelax and have fun.

Oh gosh! It's already June and soon classes will start again. I've still got to do lots of preperations and think about proposing some final year project titles. This week I'll be handing in a research grant proposal for M*STI. I hope it'll be approved. There's just so much to do but so little time. What else is new eh?

Take care for now and till next time...tata!

Great holiday

View of Mount Kinabalu.

The holiday was excellent. Shah and I had a great time enjoying the laid back life of Kota Kinabalu and we're contemplating on moving over to KK one fine day. We arrived in KK on Saturday (13 May 06) night and myh mum's friend was waiting at the airport to take us to our hotel. The next day all four of us (my mum, sister, Shah and I) went on a tour to Poring Hot Spring (near Ranau) and Mount Kinabalu Park. The drive to Poring Hot Spring took almost 3 hours but we had a few stops along the way to enjoy the view of Mount Kinabalu (the highest mountain in South East Asia) and to but some local handiocraft as well as fresh vegetables and honey. At the hot spring we went on the Canopy Walk whereby we had walk across 3 hanging bridges 41m above the ground. It was an exhilarating experience although there were times when I was a bit scared of falling down. We did not bathe in the hot spring but we did dip our feet in the pool. Next we moved on to Mount Kinabalu Park. We were brought up to the starting point of the climbing track (which is approximaltely 1500m above sea level) up the mountain and enjoyed the view from there. It was breathtaking! Shah and I vowed to ourselves that we would one day climb right up to the peak of Mount Kinabalau. But before that we've really got to get into shape!

View from the starting point of Mount Kinabalu climbing track.

The next day, my mum's friend brought all of us to an Orang Utan Nature Reserve which is located at the Shangri La Rasa Ria Resort in Karamunsing. It is a very small version of the Orang Utan Natural Reserve centre in Sepilok near Sandakan (on the east coast of Sabah). We had fun watching 3 small orang utan's playing around. Luckily the orang utan's obliged us by jumping from tree to tree and haging from the ropes connecting the trees. After lunch we went to Monsopiad Cultural Village which is a place that showcases the culture of the Kadazan tribe in Sabah. We watched a Kadazan traditional dance show and were brought around the village by the tour guide who explained to us the culture of the Kadazan people. We were also brought to the House of Skulls which is the house of a kadazan warrior called Monsopiad who lived 300 years ago. According to the tour guide Monsopiad killed 42 people thourghout his life and each to the 42 skulls of his victims were kept until this day. This was done to an an act of bravery to display to other tribes that the Kadazan people of his village are not to be bothered with.

The orang utan must be thinking 'what are these creatures watching us?'

The final day of our trip in KK was spent touring the city and going to the Handicraft Market to buy some pearl jewellery which is what Sanah is famous for. I bought a pearl bracelet and a ring. We flew home that night but not after a 1-hour delay courtesy of A*rA*ia. Well, we couldn't grumble much since we got the the fare at RM0!

Oh well...

Just when:

• you are psyhced to go on a holiday, work comes tumbling your way each due during your scheduled holiday.
• you had a wonderful body massage during the weekend, your body start aching again come next midweek.
• your are relaxing since there are no classes, the boss tells you you've got to start proposing some topics for research.

Oh well, what can you do. Just have to go with the flow. My 'To Do' list is full and I'm slowly ticking off one at a time. I just finished my first Masters viva as an examiner this morning and it went ok. I hope the student felt that way too. Now I just need to get through 2 more Masters thesis and viva before the start of next semester.

Apart from work, I am excited to go see a few movies that are coming out in the coming few months. I still haven't watched 'MI3' even though it looks very interesting. But what I'm really waiting for are 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest'.

Well, it guess that's it for today.Must get back to work..