macam-macam

1. ada sorang pompuan ni, pakai short dress dengan leggings sahaja. Pastu tertonggeng-tonggeng ambik ape tah kat floor. Haih..tak pasal-pasal ai nampak bontot dia. Soooooo tak perlu!

2. Masa beli gorceries, ai nampak orang minum air susu dalam botol. I thought dia memang bawa susu tu masuk. Pastukan, lepas dah puas minum, dia tutup botol tu, dan letak semula kat atas rack! euugghh....and ai baru je ingat nak beli susu macam tu jugak. Terus kansel sebab tak tahu berapa botol aganya dia dah teguk. tsk!

3. ai tak tahula pasal apa. Tapi i sentap sket dgn orang yg jalan dengan lemah gemalai bila tahu ada appointment to keep.

4. ai bersyukur that daddy pernah bawa makan kat a lot of places. Sebabnya, bila kena makan kat tempat yg memerlukan peng-aplikasian table manners, insyaAllah, saya boleh survive. Ingat ye kawan-kawan, napkin tu, letak kat atas peha. Kengkadang, waiter/waitress tak buatkan, maka kena pandai buat sendiri. Napkin berbentuk angsa ittew bukan semata-mata hiasan. Pastu, rule about the cuttlery is, guna dari luar ke dalam. And, sudu garpu yg dorang letak kat bahagian atas pinggan (not left and right) bukan untuk penggunaan main meal. Having said that, saya tetap makan pakai tangan bila bertandang ke rumah orang. Susah weihh...nak balance pinggan atas peha sambil nak pakai sudu garpu. Lagipon makan nasik kat rumah orang je pon, so I see no harm.

5. sedap jugak makan muesli dgn yoghurt! rasa macam nak makan lagi jer hari ni. Tapi hari ni rasa macam nak makan nasi pon ada. Oh, dan minum iced chai tea latte.

6. Kadang-kadang, susah untuk kita harapkan pertolongan dari orang lain. Betul. Kita mungkin ingat kita dah baik dengan dia, tapi hakikatnya, kita kena sedar, kita je kot rasa baik dengan dia. Tapi dia feeling-feeling 'ada aku kesah', kot. Pelik ok. Sebab bila kita cakap nak jumpa kejap, tak de masa cos nak study bagai dan banyak kali postponed. Tapi, bila ada orang ajak pi majlis makan-makan, laju ajer dia pergi. Maka, kita boleh sedar di mana kedudukan kita sebenarnya.

7. rasa mcm nak makan spare ribs lah pulak.

8. penat nak baca Baudrillard dan kejadian 911. Nak memahamkannya yang memenatkan.

9. penat berjalan kehulu kehilir semata-mata nak submit borang doctoral thesis agreement. Doakan semoga semua diluluskan. :)

tips beli tiket kapal terbang murah

Ini adalah tips membeli tiket kapal terbang untuk student seperti saya yang mahukan tambang termurah there is. And no, bukan melalui matta fair atau apa jenis fair pon uols! mudah sahaja.



1. survey harga tiket di internet. try all airlines you know and are comfortable with.

2. pergi ke sta travels cawangan berdekatan, dan mintak mereka cari tiket untuk ke destinasi tujuan anda.

3. make sure mereka tolong carikan tambang termurah, regardless of the airlines.

4. compare harga dengan research yg anda dah buat kat internet earlier.

5. if jauh lebih murah, sila BELI tanpa nanti sekejap.

pengalaman sebenar

I surveyed for tickets to go back since early this month. The cheapest i could find online was kl.m and that was about 956euros, if i am not mistaken. Next in line was qatar with 964euros macam tu. emirates plak, memang ai tak bleh nak even mimpi naik because the tix was about 1100euros!!! *pengsan*

Then, i had to consider my pregnancy plak. Not all airlines would allow you to fly when u are so far along (in my case, 34weeks). so, dalam airline di atas, only kl.m and emirates ajor yg allow me to fly up till my 36th week. Qatar bagi jugak tapi proses dia leceh because kena isi banyak form, submit ke doha and wait for them to approve (all this within 1 week from the date I was to fly). What if tak approvekan? matila ai nak beranak sorang2 kat sini. *nanges*

So, atas cadangan seorang auntie, I went to STA travels. It is actually a travel agency catered for students. I went to just try my luck. Dalam hati, mcm dah rasa kena beli tiket klm. Tapi KLM yg tak best, tak boleh LANGSUNG tukar tarikh once dah beli tiket. Ye la, i risau jugak if berlaku apa-apa ke yg membuatkan i kena balik awal or something. So, i memang tak berapa berkenan dengan airline tu, tapi terpaksa pasrah sebab ia paling murah, so far.
Neway, pergi ke STA and mintak dorang cari tiket untuk saya. And OMG, the tickets there were super duper CHEAP thanks to the student discount!

qatar internet = 900++euros. qatar sta=790

euros emirates internet=1100++euros. emirates sta=660euros!!!!!

So, no prize guessing which ticket i bought la kan. I feel so thankful that I managed to get cheap tickets on an airline which would allow me to have check in luggage seberat 30kg! And also, this would be my first time in Dubai. Lantaklah transit je pon kan. heheheh

rutin harian

apakah rutin harian anda?

semenjak bermulanya semester baru, i sort of have established a routine.

everyday, selepas bangun pagi dan mandi-mandi, saya akan bersiap-siap untuk ke universiti computer lab. Di computer lab, saya akan membuat apa-apa yang patut (writing, cari journal articles, buat assignment).

Bila tiba masa untuk kelas, saya akan ke kelas. Lepas tu saya akan balik rumah. This is my routine everyday, except on Sunday. Tu pon sebab computer lab tak bukak on Sunday.

I spend more time at the lab on Thursdays and Saturdays because I have no class on both days.

Sundays are my stabux days. Days where I sit there sambil-sambil minum hot choc/chai tea/ decaf kopi while reading my articles or editing my work. Tapi sejak kena diet tak leh consume benda-benda manis ni, I tak menjejakkan kaki lagi ke stabux.

Setiap petang/malam, saya akan skype dengan keluarga (if Dr Sunshine tak oc) followed by blog hopping dan juga catch up on my tv shows dan surf the net pasal pengalaman bersalin dan sebagainya. hehe. Itulah rutin harian saya. Macam tak de life, kan?

And my current deadlines adalah:

Globalisation assignment 1 - May 1st

Globalisation assignment 2 - June 1st

Chapter 1- May 1st

Dan, saya juga harus mengingati diri sendiri untuk buat final editing for my paper for the conference dan jugek assignment for qualitativforschung. Ok...tu, kena buat Sabtu ni. Sebelum tu, ai kena concentrate untuk presentation this Friday dan juga baca readings supaya dapat mengutarakan pendapat bernas.

Oh empunya diri, silalah bersemangat untuk buat kerja kerana awak hanya ada 7 minggu sahaja lagi sebelum pulang. :)

Ada jugak deadline untuk group assignment, tapi tu, ai malas nak pikirkan buat masa ini. hehe.

kembang sekejap

Tadi, i had my critical theory class. It is by far one of my favourite class because for the first time ever, I had the opportunity to have in depth discussions on theorist and theories that have been taught by my previous lecturers when I was back in Malaysia. Tapi biasalah, masa kat malaysia, manalah kita nak baca original text. Plus, back then, I only memorized what I was taught, without really understanding what it was.

Anyway, today, we discussed Hockheimer's and Ardono's Dielectic of Enlightenment and also Hebidge's Subculture theory. So, this particular lecturer memang requires us to send in questions a day before class, I guess as a way to make sure that we all actually read the readings she gave. So, setelah bertungkus lumus cuba memahami intipati isi apa yang si Adorno and Hockheimer dan juga si Hebidge cuba sampaikan, ai pon buatlah soalan kan. But, the way I did the soalan was, I sort of summarize what I understood, and then baru proceed with the soalan.

So, tadi, dia pon distributelah kat kelas soalan-soalan yang kami semua dah buat kan. And guess what? Summary saya telah dicopy paste oleh lecturer untuk dijadikan summary bagi reading text ittew. heh heh. Mula-mula, ai tak sedar. Pastukan, bila baca balik kan, eh..rasa macam my words aja summary tu?? Rupanya memang ye pon uols! Dia asingkan soalan ai daripada summary ittew. So, summary saya jadi pembuka tema, then baru dia proceed dengan tajuk questions on clarifications and questions for discussions.

Oh, maka dengan itu, terus saya terkembang bontot japs. ihiks.

And....as usual, saya adalah pemalu dalam kelas. Yes uols. Ai memang malu nak bagi pendapat bagai dalam kelas. That is a fact semenjak dari dahulu lagi. So, saya memang penyenyap dalam kelas okeh. Walaupun dalam hati ni, byk aje opinions ai dan juga benda2 untuk diutarakan, tapi mulut ai berat (oh..mungkinkah AD ikut perangai ai sebab tu dia reserved sket?). So, lepas text Adorno and Hockheimer tu, as usual ada discussion, tapi i tak cakap apa pon.

Then, ada break and we continued with Hebidge. Lepas that group presented on Hebidge, terus lecturer menyatakan, ok..kali ni, kita buat discussion dalam group kecil sebab mungkin bila kita buat discussion as a whole class, ada orang yang malu untuk mengutarakan pendapat. Oh..terus I terasa seperti makan cili uols! Tapikan, memang ye pon. Bila group kecil, i tak de la malu sangat nak bagi pendapat ai. And even lecturer pon dtg ke group ai, and dapatlah mendengar ai mengeluarkan suara. So, pastu, she asked every group to summarize apa yg telah dibincangkan. Adala seorang minah british dari group ai tu ala-ala summarize tapi ai rasa dia sebenarnye tak paham pon apa yang kami telah bincangkan sebab dia tak baca pon text tu!. Pastu, lecturer panggil nama ai plak untuk membuat summary, mungkin kerana group mate i ittew tidak memberikan penjelasan yang memuaskan. Oppss..terus panas aje rasa muka ai. Tapi dalam masa yang sama, I rasa best la juga sebab that shows that she knew I knew my stuff, cuma maybe needed to be pushed kot. hehe.

Ok. Itu je cerita pasal kembang sekejap.

p/s: kenapa yek i feel so dehydrated? Nak minum banyak2, masalah because my bladder ni cepat penuh. Pastu pulak, kalau boleh tak nak pi wee wee when i am in uni because nak make sure ada wuduk. Haih....problem betul la bila kelas berderet macam hari ni!

siaran ulangan

alahai...guess what?

I would have to repeat the glucose tolerance test. uwaaaaaaaaaa.......semuanya because the first reading (before i had to drink the glucose drink) was quite high. Padahal, lepas test semua, ok je my readings. Tapi tetaplaaaaa nak kena repeat the test. And I thought that its ALL over. haih.

So now, I would have to go on a no carb diet and no sweet stuff. So no more rice (ni i tak kesah sebab mmg dah lama pon tak makan rice sangat), bread (uwaaa...my staple food) and noodle. Have to load on proteins pulak dah. So, i guess it will just be salad and fish or chicken or meat la kan. Terpaksala pergi butcher to get some halal meat.

I guess, no more starbux for me as well!!!

:(

p.s: tapi lepas pikir balik, mungkin ini akan mengurangkan proses weight gain saya yang sekarang in membesar bagai johan! tsk tsk. ai naik 3kg uols dari bulan lepas. Doktor tak cakap apa pon tapi saya adalah amat risau. why? heran betul tau kali ni naik bagai dipump. tsk.

mimpi ngeri

i had a nightmare last night! I tell you, when I am pregnant, startlah datang mimpi pelik2 ni tau! Benci betul.

I dreamt that Dr Sunshine pergi conference sesambil holiday dengan seorang betina gatal. Apakah? Bangun-bangun je, terus ai tak de mood. Dan juga telah meng-text Dr Sunshine pasal mimpi ngeri ittew. Dia pon kata: "the only betina that will be in there is the orangutan."

Fuh. lega ai!

Speaking of which, dah 26 minggu dah ai pregnant. Dan ini juga bermakna, dah 6 bulanlah ai tak jumpa my boys. :(

I have 9 more weeks to go. Haih...tahu tak apa maknanya? Maknanya, if I jumpa depa in 9 more weeks, I haven't met them for about 8 months!!! 8 months. Who would have thought! This has been the longest time I have ever had to be away. :(

I miss my boys.

potong kuku

Dalam keluarga uols...siapakah yang bertanggungjawab dalam hal-hal potong kuku anak-anak? For me, it has always been Dr Sunshine sebab ai takut la nak potong kuku budak kecik, especially baby. Dr Sunshine relax aje, yela..ada steady hands katanya. Tapi tetapla dasar surgeon, potong kuku, mesti rapat ke isi. Kadang-kadang berdarah jemari mulus anak-anak I. Masa tu, mulut I sure pot pet la...hehe...

But, ai juga ada kenal some people yang menyerahkan tanggungjawab memotong kuku ni to their pembantu rumah and their own parents (meaning the kids grandparents). Ok, mungkin uols katakan suruh pembantu rumah or atok depa potongkan is ok. Tapi bagi ai, hal-hal anak ni should be our responsibility. Not only potong kuku, malah nak tengok homework anak-anak, apa depa makan and etc. Sebab apa tau. Cuba uols pikir. If it was your husband, would you let your pembantu rumah cut his nails or prepare his air kopi? Kalau jawapan you tak, then why should let her do it to your children?

Hmm...i tell you. Honestly, I am not the best mom there is. What more since I am so faaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr from my babies. But when I am with them, I try to handle them on my own. Mandikan depa, suap depa, buat susu, potong kuku, check homework and the list goes on. When I am not around, the Papa does it. And, he is GREAT at what he does. We ol memang actually pay someone to help with the kids, tapi we still prefer to do those stuff ourselves, when we are around. maybe also because we are super fussy with matters concerning the boys..eheh

Yang buat I geram is because I dengar cerita pasal anak Cik Y ni yang suka mencakar dan menggigit si X. Sampai X tu lebam-lebam uols. Dan, seperti biasa, Mak X complain kat Cik Y, Cik Y cakap, biasalah budak-budak. Yang I kesian kat Mak X tu sebab, dia cerita, manalaa anak dia tak kena cakar, kuku budak kecik tu punyalaaaaa panjang!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pastu, Mak X sajalah cek kuku anak-anak Cik Y yang lain...ya Rabbi, even the 8 year old's kuku was soooo super long, siap ada taik kuku lagi!!! Subhanallah!!! When Mak X tanya budak 8 tahun tu, y are your nails so long? dia jawab: oh...sbb org gaji tak potong lagi. Atok pon tak sempat potong.

So folks, it is important to not really depend on outside help, especially when it concerns our kids. Yela...kita kan parents dia? Cuba imagine kalau kuku dah hitam macam tu, kalau dia makan, sure ada lekat2 kuman bagai kan? And what about masa dia basuh tangan after keluar toilet, adakah fingernails ittew betul2 bersih? haiyaaaaaaa.....

Oh, and lagi satu, if tak sempat sangat pon, you can always cut their nails masa depa tido. Well, at least that is what Dr Sunshine and I normally do. hehe.

bila sakit

Two nights ago, I woke up at about 3am because I was experiencing stomach cramps. It comes and goes and really felt like contraction pain. Mungkin ia adalah Braxton Hicks. Anyway, it was so painful that I couldn't sleep.

Jadi, saya telefon Dr Sunshine untuk mengadu & dan dan tu jugaklah menangis sambil mengadu tu. haih. Tapi betul sakit uols!!!! Lepas mengadu dan sambil-sambil Dr Sunshine cuba memujuk saya dan tried to calm me down on the phone, I said goodbye and cried myself to sleep. Masa tu, rasa sedih sangat sebab pregnant sorang-sorang. Tak de sapa nak urut-urut belakang. No tangan for me to bite or squeeze when I am in pain. It was just me, baby, and God. *feeling-feeling ala-ala Mariam*

Tula...dok gatal baca blog orang lain yang pregnant. Bila baca, rasa mcm bestnyaaaaa bila pregnant dengan suami di sisi: suami tolong massagelah, tolong masak dan manja-manjakan dorang, belikan makanan and layan their cravings. Jealous? Of course la ada terasa juga. Yela, siapa tak nak pregnant dengan husband di sisi?? Tapi, ai tabahkan aje hati. Cuma 2 nights ago tu, I tak tahan sangat. Yela...sakit. And it was 3am. I was worried about the baby. And, I had no one with me. :(

It is not easy being pregnant and away from family. Tapi nothing ever is kan?

Jadi, if you are one of those lucky ones to be pregnant with your husband by your side, sila bersyukur - even when your husband berdengkur je tidur bila u kejut dia banyak kali sebab sakit belakang/ tak le tido/ Braxton Hicks. Dan, sila appreciate apa yang suami buat untuk anda, even benda tu nampak macam kecik je and something that is assumed as memang patut dia buat pon (like basuh pinggan). Sebab at the end of the day, you still have him by your side. Biarlah dia tengah berdengkur pon, you can still sondol-sondol and tidur bawah ketiak dia or take his arms (secara paksarela) and wrap it around yourself.

I miss my husband.

Pengajaran

I learnt my lesson the hard way today.

1. Sila buat backup banyak-banyak. You see, I always email myself whatever I have written dengan harapan it will always be in my emails la kan. And that I can access it anywhere yg ada internet and also avoid me from using my USB sebab takut nanti kena virus plak lappie kat rumah. Rupanya, taktik yg I amalkan tak jadi uols!!!!!!! I lost 2 chapters I have written and I feel like crying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk. How dare you gmail! I hate you for simply deleting my saved emails!! I just hope I have a printed copy of the chapter stashed somewhere at home. Keyword: HOPE. I searched my thumbdrive but there seem to be no trace of the chapter in it. Balik nanti nak kena search lappie and also external drive. Kalau tak, terpaksalaaaaaaaaa menulis lagi sekali. *nanges*

2. Bila menulis, sila catatkan references yang digunakan. Nasib baik la at the age of technology ni, senang sikit nak cari info that I needed through the internet. Kalau tak de? Mahu laaa I nangis lagi sekali dek nak kena cari the books and articles manually. Jadi, kena ambik iktibar untuk chapter-chapter seterusnya.

Nasib baiklaaaaaa I memang plan pon nak revamp chapter 1. Tapi nak revamp pon, tetapla i need to see what I wrote before kan? kan? betul tak?

I nak kena berdoa banyak-banyak ni supaya my email would secara miracle akan appear balik (read about it happening to some people) and that I can find the printed copy, at least. Also, nak kena doa supaya inspirasi dan idea untuk menulis datang mencurah-curah.

Oh. Sedih!

macam sibuk

Hari ni, rasa rindu sangat dgn the boys, especially AA and AD. It has been weeks since I last skyped with them (1 whole misarable week of not hearing AA cakap hai mama, hai babe ... ini kes ajuk papa dia cakap, not listening to AD cerita about school and what he did). Dr Sunshine has been busy with kenduri kawen kawan dia, pastu OC (on days that I dont have classes) and me with my erratic class schedule! The time difference does not help at all because by the time I am home, my babies would be asleep, so I can only look at them sleeping through web cam. tsk.

Sigh.

Rindunyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

I wish that I am now on the same bed as they are walaupun harus berhimpit-himpit kat atas katil queen ittew.

I still have yet to purchase my ticket. Esok Dr Sunshine OC lagi. I know. again! Perluke EOD??? Dahlah tu, ai memang tak de kelas pulak tu esok. tsk. Friday, dia locum and I have class till 8pm. Saturday ajela peluang ai untuk berborak dengan the boys.

sob sob.

Only about 9.5 more weeks. Haih....cepatlah masa beredar. I wanna go home. Err..tapi kerja tak siap lagi. *nanges*

Hmm...I guess inilah derita merindu, kan??

p/s: suka tengok when Dr Sunshine's face lit up when he thought I was going to balik awal. But then, dia juga menyarankan supaya ai menyiapkan segala mala kerja. :(

topi bekerja

Since Dr Sunshine is on called today, I didn't feel the need to rush home at 1pm to skype with the boys. So, I decided to spend my time at the uni computer lab to do some work.

I was soooooooooooo super duper lazy yesterday. I had the glucose tolerance test (in which they gave me lemonade yang masam, which was a sweet suprise for me cos I was expecting that sickeningly sweet concotion yang i pernah minum at Klinik Kesihatan) in the morning. That took almost 3 hours. After that, I went to Kartner to qatar's hq, had nordsee for lunch, bought my lotion (trying a new brand!) and decided that I really should go to uni and do some work.

So, to Uni I went. But I felt so lethargic I tell you! Macam penat semacam. Maybe it is because of the glucose test? I don't know but what I am sure of was, I didn't get anything done. :(

So today, I was determined that I MUST get something done (tambah-tambah Dr Sunshine oncall kan). So, I goreng nasi in the morning to bawa to uni as bekal (semangat punya pasal!!) and manage to stay there till evening. Petang tu, I went to Starbucks dengan niat nak baca some materials but I couldn't concentrate. And soon, dah rasa sakit kepala. So I pon balik. Maybe my brain is too tired lah.

Apa pon, I am almost done with my qualitative research assignment. I still have to add some stuff, tapi tak banyaklah. Lepas tu, I can proof read and edit, and submit the paper! I hope I can get a feedback by next month so that I can improve on it and use it for my methods chapter. As it is, I am writing it with the intention to use it for my methods chapter pon. hihi. That was what the lecturer told us in class. "Write whatever you want...anything related to qualitative methodolody. You can even write the chapter you plan to use for your disertation." So, since my SV hardly has the time to read whatever I have written, I think its good to get another lecturer's perspective and input, kan? The deadline that I gave myself to finish the paper is April 1st, but looking at the rate I am going, I am pushing the deadline to 19March.

Lepas tu, I must prepare for a presentation. And then, nak kena buat in-depth interview for the group assignment. Pastu study for exam.Pastu kena buat chai tea assignment. Pastu the globalisation assignment.

Dalam masa yang sama, I also target to finish my theoretical framework chapter by May 1st.

I really really want to have 3 chapters done before I beranak. I hope I will manage to do so, InsyaAllah.

pasal nak book tiket

You see, I always fly with Qatarair, because their rates are very competitive. But tadi, when I compared their rate to k.lm, the latter is cheaper.

Pastu, tergerak di hati nak compare pulak, when would be the last week that they would allow me to board a flight. Q kata, 32 weeks would be the last week with a doctors letter, if between 33 and 35 weeks, kena go through some panel doctor and etc. Pendek kata, leceh and theyols pon suggest better fly before 32 weeks untuk mengelakkan daripada kecewa tetiba tak bleh naik flight. So, tadi, I dah senyum-senyum dah memikirkan prospek nak balik cepat (in approximately 5 weeks y'all!).

Tapi, bila I balik rumah, I cek jadual kelas. And if I balik awal, I would miss a few topics which are very very very interesting to me and which I think can be used for my research. *geek mode* Hmm..tiba-tiba terasa sayang pulak la nak balik cepat dan miss kelas menarik kan? Jadi, I tried my luck dan email klm plak. Malangnya, the local ticketing office adalah sangat hampeh dan memberi jawapan based on what I can find online saja! I nak details, faham tak???? So, I did the next best thing. I cari dia punya fb page. And lo and behold, terus dapat answer within minutes!!!!

So, I guess I would be going back on my 35th week after all. That is approximately 10 weeks from now. Cannot wait.

And now, I nak cari tiket. hi hi.

Eiii....excitednya!!!!!!!!!!!!

my imam kecik

AD had a school trip to tbg hj yesterday. He was excited about it, yelah, kan boleh naik bas! hehe.

So, I called him today to ask about the trip and he told me that he was picked to be the Imam for solaz dzuhur berjemaah at the masjid! :) I am so proud of my boy! He's only 4 and one of the youngest in his 5-year-old class tapi he was selected!!! I know that its probably just role play or something tapi I am still so proud of him!!! I know that he was pleased as well...hehe.

So I asked him, AD solat apa? Dia kata solat dzuhur. My mom pulak tanya dia, solat dzhur berapa rakaat? Dia kata 4. Pastu my mom tanya, AD buat cemana? Dia kata, baca semua senyap je...cuma Fatihah baca kuat-kuat. hehe. Lepas solat ada doa tak? Terus anak teruna ai tu baca doa lepas solat. OMG. I didn't even know he knew doa lepas solat!!!

Syukur sangat that we decided to send him to that Kindy. Yelah. mama dia pon, tak pass doa lepas makan and doa naik kenderaan okeh. *tutup muka* At least kat sana dapatlah dia belajar these things. :) I hope it would build a great foundation for his future, InsyaAllah. And, I really really hope and pray that his adiks would follow suit.

Speaking about the future, I once told my mom of my intention to send AD to SRA masa standard 1 nanti. Rupa-rupanya, dia dah discuss benda ni dgn ustazah yang ajar AD Iqra' every Friday. So, Ustazah tu kata, nak masuk very competitive. I knew that there is an entrance exam but according to the Ustazah, they take students yang score 90% ke atas. Takpe, if ada rezeki, boleh masuk, kan?

Tapi, my mom plak yang excited! Siap tanya ustazah, ada buat tuition bahasa Arab tak?? Ustazah tu kata dia tak ajar, but she knows someone. And from what I can gather from the way my mom told me, dia macam ala-ala nak suruh ai hantar anak teruna I tu tuition bahasa arab plak. wakakakakak. I tell you. Grandparents sokmo excited kan!! hahahah...I think AD is too young lah. Tapi mak dok kata, nanti nak buat exam tu, mestilah dah belajar sikit-sikit, if not how to buat. Ayyooooo!!!! *pening kejap*

p/s: another highlight of his trip was that he met a tok kadi!!! heheheh...he was SO excited.

ramblings

haih.

1. dalam sibuk-sibuk remind Dr Sunshine untuk settle samannya, ai terlupa yang ai juga ada kena saman!! oppsss. *pekup mulut*

anyway, tu pon boleh teringat sebab nak renew road tax kereta i, yang due bulan ini. Oh, cannot believe Elena is 6!!!!

ok.

2. Dr Sunshine is going for a trip up north today for a friend's wedding. I hope AA won't be moody because this means that he will not be sleeping with his papa for 2 nights in a row. Tapi the papa dah bagitahu dia, to which he replied: ok. ok. a ah. wakakakak...

i wish that i am going with him.

3. on the bright side, there is a makan-makan thingy this saturday and the featured menu is nasi lemak and mee kari! YUMMYYY. I feel so thankful to be invited to this makan-makan. At least, dapat gaklah satisfy my cravings. :) Dah lama tak makan nasi. Yes, I hardly eat rice nowadays.

4. plan for tomorrow ialah to edit my paper at starbucks and do my readings for the class tomorrow. dah baca tu, sila tulis nota sekali ye! sebabnya, exam awak is only 1 month away. *yikes*

5. oh...and did i tell you how lucky i felt? you see, one of the paper i am taking, exam dia adalah 22june. tapi disebabkan sistem pembelajaran kat sini yang unik, they provide 3 sittings for the exam. So, there will be an option for me to do it in October, or January. Best kan? Cuma yang tak best, takut dah lupa benda yang dipelajari. Oh, but must not forget to ask the other lecturer (for a different subject) if she provide several sittings for her exam as well.

6. And, out of the 6 papers I am taking this sem, 3 are exam based. I am kind of glad because that means less assignments, and more time for me to write me thesis. Tapi kawan i cakap, lagi best if kena tulis paper dari buat assignment. hrm...i pon tak tahulah. But frankly for me at this moment, doing an exam is a better option kot. Sebab kalau nak kena tulis paper, cuba imagine nak kena tulis minimum 6 papers dalam dengan persediaan nak beranak (tu pon if satu subjek satu paper..tapi usually 1 subjek will require 2 papers).Cuma, mak dah lama tak study bagai untuk exam uols!!! *nervous* Harus diberitahu, I intend to finish writing my papers before I go back, supaya boleh beranak dengan senang hati. Hopefully, niat ai suci murni ini akan termakbul.

7. Oh, skarang ni, ai tengah dalam percubaan memantapkan my methods chapter. Sebab apa? Sebab nak hantar untuk my qualititavemethods subject. Sambil menyelam minum air. Sesambil siapkan untuk assignment, ai nak guna gak utk thesis ai.ok tak?? Kalau ikut deadline yang diberi untuk diri sendiri, i must finish it by April 1st. Tapi harap2 boleh finish earlier, supaya can get a head start on my other assignments and study for the exam! *geek mode*

8. Kalau tiada aral melintang, I hope to be able to finish my theoretical framework chapter by may 1st, InsyaAllah. I can do this!!!!

nama baby

untuk uols yang dah ada anak, who was the one who gave your baby his/her name? adakah u ols sendiri, your spouse, your parents or your siblings or lelain?

For me, it has always always been Dr Sunshine. I only came up with Ahmad, and tu pon because Dr Sunshine nak nama anak-anak dia begin with A.

Nama Dani came about when we were lepaking on the bed, and were talking about our baby's name and he was looking at the baby book and came out with the name: Ahmad Dani. At first I was like, are you sure? Nanti dorang kata kita tiru nama that indonesian band punye lead singer plaks. Tapi Dr Sunshine kata, alaa...bukan kita tiru pon. Err..ok. Tapi masa tu, nama Dani tak ramai lagi guna, and a lot of people called my son Daniel or Danish, despite his name being spelt with onlt 4 letters! haih.

Andi pulak, came about when I wasn't even preggers. LOL. Tiba-tiba je, Dr Sunshine came back from work and said that if we were to have a boy, dia nak namakan Andi. OK. And, unlike popular belief, the name Andi did not come about by twisting the spelling and letters D A N I. aiyoo...berapa kali laaa nak kena bagitau orang, because i keep getting this: "nanti no 3 kalu girl boleh bagi nama dian or dina. kalau boy nak bagi apa?". Penat ok i nak explain kat orang!

No3. Well, nama no3 pon dah ada even before i was pregnant. LOL. And, i memang tak de chance langsung lah nak bagi nama ni. Kononnya, since I was previleged to be pregnant and have the baby with me at all times during my pregnancy, the husband should be given the honor to name the baby.

Honestly, I don't mind at all. Because, I absolutely love the names my Sunshine came up with. :)

Only 16weeks left uols!!!

I really wanna go home. InsyaAllah, in 10 weeks. Cannot wait to be with my boys.

p/s: i am so glad that Dr Sunshine adores his sons. Hari ni dia pergi kursus, dan nama-nama yang ditulis pada fail kursus itu adalah nama anak-anak dia. bagus...biar peserta kursus yg lain tahu dia dah berpunya..hehe. Ingatkan ai je doodle nama anak-anak kat buku. heheheh..

p.p/s: Andi was not in a good mood a few days back because rindu the papa. The papa didn't see them for 3days/2nights. On the second day, he was all moody and that night, he woke up at about 3am asking for Papa. haih...memang my boys manja dgn my husband. Tidur celah ketiak every night, so of course la rindu kan.

p.p.p/s: On Monday, Dr Sunshine went to pick the boys up from my moms. Tapi kebetulan ada roda2, one of their most favouritest tv show ever ever kan. Tapi Dr Sunshine was like: jom balik jom balik... Tahu tak apa Andi kata? Sabaaarr....sabar papa. wakakakakkaka....

an exciting assignment

I went for my advance cultural studies class today, in which the very young, rugged and handsome english professor (i am so lucky to have good looking lectureres this semester!!!) gave out two assignments. One was a presentation and one more is a paper. Pasal paper tu, ai tak mo citer banyak, because, tho it is quite exciting for me (cos I would get to incorporate a theory I plan to use and at the same time do some content analysis, which hopefully could be utilised for my thesis). What I am excited about it the presentation.

Since I won't be presenting (because the presentation slot is just a few days before my due date, my lovely prof told me that i can just compile the things which I plan to present in something like a protfolio, and I would be assessed based on that. Since it would be 30% of the assessment, agak penting jugaklah kan. The assignment is on: a report on the impact of globalising processes on a specific aspect of life and culture in Vienna.

He told us to be creative, and suggested that maybe we could do something on music or food. So, i thought long and hard about it (oklah..not that long pon) and was thinking of doing about food. I must admit that I was somewhat inspired by Kayla's documentation of Nasi Lemak (see here) and how she mapped it out. However, since nasi lemak is not sold anywhere here for the lack of Malaysian restaurants, I thought that I would do something on Chai Tea and how it has been globalised!!!!

So, I would first need to cari history of the chai tea, cara tradisional nak buat and maybe compile some pictures. Then come the exciting part! Sampling chai tea all over Wien. hehe. And observe how it is made. Oohh...saya sangat excited. Cuma sekarang, nak kena start cari cafes yang menjual chai tea lah kan.

If, that proof to be difficult, I was thinking of doing something about chinese food, or to be more specific, noodles. Tapi I thought that it would be quite hard to pinpoint that noodles came from china (sebab ada yang cakap it originated from Spain and Italy). Hmm...if not, then maybe Tom Yam, because tu memang sah sah dari Thailand.

Tapi, my first choice would still be chai. hmm...mungkin from now on, every Sunday I must make sure I go out to search for Chai Teas. hehe. *matilah alasan nak keluar minum2*

Apa pendapat uols??

inspired

selepas membaca blog oyis yang pergi exercise, i felt inspired. Truth is, I have planned to start my morning walk months ago, tapi never got around it! Tapi, bila baca blog Oyis, I decided that what she said was right. The most important thing is to start the habit. So today, I forced myself to go to the park next door and went brisk walking! Ye la kan, if I can develop the habit to go to uni everyday to do my work, sure exercise ni pon boleh kan? kan?

Memang betullah. Once you have put on your gear, there is no turning back. Turun tangga, dan pergi terus, tanpa toleh-toleh belakang.Bila dah sampai park, whether you like it or not, kena berjalan jugak. Plus, rasa bersemangat to see others running. Tapi I tak lari, I only brisk walked. Although, I think I would like to start running again after delivery nanti.

Anyway, dengan ini, I must start sleeping early, I guess. Sebab, in order to go for my brisk walk, and to uni later kan, maka, kenalah bangun awal.

I hope this will work!

hormonal imbalance

ok. Bagi sesiapa yang mungkin tak tahu, when you are pregnant, you tend to be emotional, or cepat marah or tiba-tiba menangis. Or, maybe its just me. hehe. Tengok cerekarama pon boleh nangis-nangis. Apa kes? wakakakaak.

Anyway, this week has been an emotional week for me. Mostly because I miss my Dr Sunshine and my babies so much. It has been almost 6 months ok tak jumpa dorang! This has been the longest ever ever I have been apart from them! Ever. Even when Dr Sunshine was studying in Kelantan and me in Penang, we always always manage to jumpa every three weeks. Paling lama pon was a few months kot.

Anyway, bila dah sorang-sorang dan rindu dan penuh emosi ditambah pula dengan hormon yang tidak stablil, mulalah macam-macam kita fikirkan. haha. I tell you, it is NOT healthy. Especially lepas tengok cerita Mesej Terakhir tu. Tapi you know what? Allah is Great. :) So far, everytime I start feeling down, I will try to istighfar, and doa-doa sikit. Amazingly, soon after, i will always get texts or phone calls yang membuatkan i melt like butter and left butterflies in my tummy. :)

Long distance relationship is not easy. So, my only senjata is doa and LOTS of it.

So, thank you Allah, for granting my wishes. Alhamdullillah.

splurge

hrmm...semenjak pregnant ni, i find that i mentitikberatkan hal-hal kecantikan.

sometimes i feel guilty to be spending so much on this beauty products tapi i guess its reasonable la kot since i have never bought myself any facewash, toner, cleanser whatsoever since muda remaja. I only started using olay total effects when i was here and tu pon sebab muka kering giller. tapi haritu, my olay habis, and when i went to the shop to get a new bottle, terkejut tengok harga yang about 4 kali ganda lagi mahal dari harga that i could get in KL masa time offer. Maka, dengan itu, terus bertukar brand. Dan dengan tak semena-mena terbeli brand yg agak pricey. tapi tak pe. dapat feeling-feeling mengekalkan kejelitaan wajah. wakakakak. tapi if that cream habis, i want to try a new one pulak...yg mmg spesifik untuk anti ageing or something to that effect.

lepastu, i semakin sedar dengan keadaan perut yg semakin membulat. maka dengan itu, telah membeli some cream specifically to combat cellulite. that cream tu, i beli pon sebab baca si daphneiking guna. hehe. gullible kan? baru-baru ni, cream tu habis, so i bought another brand, atas saranan sales assistant. hmm..pada pendapat i, cream baru tu, mcm best sebab sampai malam pon wangi je perut i!

then, lotion. i memang guna lotion, tapi dulu2 beli whatever was on sale. however, masalah kulit kering tak pernah selesai, malah gatal2 adala. so, masa masuk spital dulu, tgk rumet pakai lotion biotherm, terus pasang cite-cita nak beli. i have been using it, and so far so good. cuma la ni dah habis, so nak kena beli lagi. tahan lama tau satu botol tu, a few months juga. so i rasa pembelian ini amat justified.

then, untuk penjagaan tumit dan tapak kaki. its always kering pastu ala-ala crack plaks. beli cream scholl tu, mcm tak jalan je. so, satu hari tu, pi muller and beli vaseline petroleum jelly. every night akan pakai sebelum tidur, pastu pakai socks. Alhamdullillah, things have improved. and best of all, vaseline sangat murah!! less than 2euros!!! so, nak lumur banyak-banyak pon tak rasa sayang.

tu je la pon rutin kecantikan. i memang tak pakai make up. or cleanser or anything yg berkaitan. so, even having this routine (of putting creams on my face everyday lepas mandi and sebelum tidur) and lumur cream on my tummy and also tapak kaki is a significant step for me.

next step, mungkinkah make up? *gulp*

semester baru

woh...minggu depan kelas will begin. ok..actually, jumaat ni dah start kelas.

My schedule is packed to the brim. I only have thursdays free. The rest of the days, ai ada kelas. ada juga kelas yang overlap, jadi nak kena jumpa lecturer minta kebenaran keluar awal untuk kelas itu. harap2, pensyarah memahami.

anyway, this semester, I will only be taking 1 class in deutsch, lelain adalah bahasa Inggeris. phew! Walaubagaimanapun, jadual kelas ini has yet to be approved by the head of my school's grad students guy, PG. ye. sy pepandai je pilih kelas, tapi at the end of the day, he will be the one who decides that the credits for the courses i am taking will be counted or not. Since dia sekarang kat Israel on fieldwork, maka I will just go to the classes first, and try pujuk2 dia masa jumpa dia nanti. How i am going to pujuk him? I have no freaking idea, but hopefully dia akan mengasihani seorang ibu yang mengandung.

anyhoo, classes i am taking are:

Advance Cultural Studies 11

Forschungpraktikum

Global English and International Communication

Advance Cultural Studies 1

Critical Theory

Intercultural Negotiation Patterns.

Total credit hours: 33

Saya sangat risau sebenarnya. Kenapa? Sebab fact is, I would not be able to attend the classes till the end of sem, so, saya mengharapkan budi bicara lecturers to allow me to skip a few lectures. Also, some will have written exams at the end of the course, so I am hoping that the lecturers would let me sit for the exam next sem (ye, sini boleh suka hati nak sit for written exams at your convinience...yang penting, register for lecture).

Also, I takut tak boleh nak bawak all this subjects. I think its a lot! Tapi Dr Sunshine telah memberi kata semangat and told me that I could do it! And i believe I can!!! So, insyaAllah, I can.

The thins is, I really need to fulfil my credits by this sem, so that the next winter sem can be utilised for making my thesis corrections and betul-betulkan draft dan prepare for viva. Thats my plan. Tula sebab bertungkus lumus pulun ambik macam2 paper ni. Lagipon, I plan to bring baby along with me, so I plan to work from home aja. As of now, I haven't figured out if I will ask my mom to come here and help jaga baby, or it will just be me and the baby.

I am currently re-working on my methods chapter. Cannot wait to have it done by april. Lepas tu, ingat nak start on analysing my content analysis data. tak buat2 lagi you!!!

But, looking at my class schedule, I am pretty sure I would be bogged down with assignments and readings as well. Good thing is, I am pretty excited nak pergi kelas cultural studies tu because the lecturer is a professor from England. And, I am also excited nak pergi kelas critical theory because I have got a feeling that I can write a paper for this subject, which I can use for my thesis later. Forschungpraktikum tu, ambik sebab sv punye kelas.

Dalam banyak2 subjek kat atas tu. Global english dan juga intercultural nego patterns tidaklah sangat berkaitan dengan bidang research i. tapi i decided to ambik because i need the ects uols!!!!

Also, I am REALLY hoping that PG akan memberi ECTS untuk paper yg I akan bentang dekat conference in KL dan juga untuk privatisimmum. If dia bagi, then I would gladly drop the two papers which I am taking as a back up.

Sila doakan plan saya berjaya.

jadual saya

semenjak dua minggu lepas, i have been quite diligent in going to uni. the thing is, walaupun i ni student phd, my school does not provide a phd suite, office or even photocopy service whatsoever untuk student-student phdnya. Maka, we are free to do whatever we want, without feeling obliged to go check into the office once in a while or etc. Instead of finding it liberating, I find it not good for me, at all. Dengan sistem ini, I don't know any other PhD students who are in my field, and have no chance to interact with them. Walaupun I attend classes, I still tak jumpa-jumpa jugak orang yg boleh dibuat gang atau boleh dijadikan rakan untuk bersembang about phd work.

Anyway, that is not what I want to tell. I nak bagitahu yang sekarang, I have sort of established a routine. Although initially, I was so liat nak follow the routine, I am now quite used to it. What is my routine?

Everyday, I force myself to go to the computer lab (provided for all uni students) to do some work. Biarlah mcm tak de kerja, I akan cari kerja. Mula-mula, it started with my plan to finish up a paper which I have submitted today. Lepas tu, I still kept going, despite having finished that paper, to find some other thing to do. Like, work on another paper, cari journal articles and etc. I only spend about 3 to 4 hours at the computer lab.

However, I do have my cheat day. My cheat day will usually be pre-decided because before the day comes, I will make sure I have enough reading materials (journal articles, books, copies of my own paper to edit). What I normally would do is to go to my favourite stabux (in kartnerstrasse), and lepak sana, while reading my materials. I usually would spend a few hours doing that.

Now, when i get home, I dont touch my work anymore. My time at home is spend with skyp-ing, reading blogs and catching up with tv series. Nowadays, i like to browse through pregnancy related blogs and food blogs. hehe.

I really hope to be able to keep up with this routine. Risau juga because classes will commence next week, so I will be really busy (classes everyday except thursday!). I am planning to take 6 papers, but I am not sure if that is too ambitious for pregnant me. hehe. yela, my target is to finish my coursework by this sem, so i must do what i need to do, kan??

o well...let's hope semua berjaya.