a day in my life

Hello everyone,

For my well-meaning friends, colleagues and students who has endlessly asked me over the years when I am ending my citizenship to Singletown… well, the day is finally coming

I would like to invite all my friends (and also Syukran’s friends), ex-students and students to our wedding reception on 18th August 2007 at my parent’s place in Sungai Petani, Kedah at the following address:

202, Jalan Kelisa Ria 5/12, Sri Iora, Taman Kelisa Ria, 08000 Sungai Petani, Kedah.

Sorry as I couldn’t possibly mail the invite personally to everyone… but please do come if you can, okay.. it will mean a lot to both of us. Thank you for your best wishes and prayers

No of completed bunga dulang : 11 (all done!)

No of completed bunga pahar : 250 (extra 150 from initial plan) hehe

hey all… been awhile since my last post. was very occupied with work and health issues… yeah, the worst case was being down with fever for 2 weeks… masalah betul!

RECENT UPDATE:

• My fiance is now working with Carrefour in KL, training for 3 months and then he will be transferred to Seberang Jaya, Penang..huuuyeayyyy!!!!
• It ’s now the semester break again… and the college is DEAD silent, sometimes at nite i can hear myself think… or was it something else..? I m sticking with the 8.30 am leave for work and 5.00 pm be at home routine, takut la pulak nak berjalan sesorang kat kolej tuh.. btw, i recently noticed some perv dok mengendap my apartment.. how scary is that??
• I m house sitting my parent’s place, they are both away for a holiday in Turkey for a much needed vacation… and having a blast there.. kids free!!

hmm… so now its back to mengadap notes and preparing notes for the coming July semester… the MOT 2 course i’ve been teaching is in dire need of "revamping", need to keep the content challenging and relevant to current issues… and should also appeal to the students… tough job.. i got a new course to deliver next semester (again!)… and that, my dears… is the story of my life!

Fancy a romantic movie? Me and me sis watched Music and Lyrics during the CNY break.. was kinda sceptical about it at first, tot it was another sappy love movie.. but i was pleasantly suprised. Thanks dear for making the right movie choice.. love you!

The movie’s about a former 80’s star from the group POP (Hugh Grant plays Alex Fletcher) trying to make a comeback and find the opportunity by writing a song for teen pop princess, a hybrid of Britney and Christina (Haley Bennett plays Cora Corman). Unfortunately for Alex, while he’s truly talented in composing melody, he is somewhat clueless about writing lyrics… he was pressed for time to complete the demo for Cora when he heard his plantlady (Drew Barrymore plays Sophie Fisher) muttering words to his newly composed melody while she was watering his plants..

To make it simple Alex managed to convince Sophie to co-write the song with him… and they get to know each other during the process.. and sparks fly.. and then they fell in love.. (romantic movie kan??) This movie can be endearingly funny if u pay attention to what the characters are saying, and not to forget the writers did a good job in creating Cora’s character… and made their point on the reality on pop princess.. hehehe… and of course, for those who grew up in the 80’s like me, you’ll be hilariously reminded of how ridiculous the music videos back then… the mullet, the make up, the shiny outfits, the dances… hehehehe… i was laughing to tears when Hugh Grant shakes his booty in his ‘then’ music video… ahhh.. good old days…

This is a good date movie…or can be a perfect ending for a girls day out.. strictly not for guys whose are ego/macho status are as big as the Petronas Twin Towers.. hehe.. Nonetheless, it was a perfect ending to a great day out with my sis.

So here are the lyrics to the theme song… pretty meaningful to me and some of the people i know that will definitely find their way back into love…*smile*

Hello people…been awhile huh?? was caught up in work (as a victim of office politics!!!), completing my research (or UUM will start cutting my salary) and family matters (me dad in hospital for a week)…the usual..

Another part of my busy schedule include my role as MOT Society Advisor and Kachi 1 College Fellow… which translates as a mentor for students activities. Funny, coz i never considered myself as a mentor (some role model I am.. hehe), and was not THAT active when i was in Uni (up till my final yr that is).. but here I am, some may call it identity conflict, being involved in students’ activities.. someone has to do it..in this case, the fortunate person is me .. *smile*

I learn many things dealing with the students… basically i see a part of me in most of them… at that age, being caught up in unrealistic idealisms.. thinking how great it would be once i got out of Uni and started working earning zillions of cash… where my reality check bounced, as my starting pay as an engineer was only RM1100.00 …  hahaha .. if I could turn back the time, i could have concentrated more on my enriching my life while i was at Uni rather than wasting precious time thinking what working life will be like.  Not that i am complaining, I am perfectly happy doing what I am at the moment (after 1 lousy and another eye-opening jobs)… i guess you get there… somehow you just will.

Speaking of students activities, recently I got the chance to attend (and supervised) the Ponggal Fest in my college. Ponggal is celebrated by the Hindus after harvesting season to thank their Gods for giving them good crop and fortune… something like perayaan kesyukuran. So how does the celebration go? Come sunrise, the Hindus gather round and cook Ponggal rice (very sweet, taste a bit like wajik) together… the clay pots were decorated and ‘kollam’ were drawn on the ground using flour… i was told by an Indian student that it was meant for sharing the food with ants.. also as an act of gratitude to their Gods for the good fortune.. the ingredients for the Ponggal rice is milk, rice, brown sugar, ghee, raisins and cashewnuts.. I was entrusted with the task of judging the rice cooked by groups of students to determine the winner…it was a whole lot of fun, seeing students of all races coming together joining in the fest dressed in Indian garments, which showed true Malaysian colours. I was really proud to be a part of that… so cool!

Come March, the college students’ commitee is organizing Chap Goh Meh festival, in celebration with the Chinese New Year.. hehe.. got to go get meself a red cheongsam-like thingie to wear.. dress to the occassion!!

My students at the faculty also had their share of fun… we recently play host to the delegates from Persatuan Strategi in UTM all the way from Johor and the basis of the visit was to create networks between MOT students in UTM and UUM .. you see the Management of Technology (MOT) is currently being taught in 3 institutions here, the other is UTHM (formerly KUiTTHO) in Batu Pahat.. i was touched to see the interest and enthusiasm shown by the UTM students, knowing that they had to endure 14 hours of bus journey… alahai.. if its me i dunno whether i sanggup ke tidak… the students had a forum, visits to UUM and Padang Besar (shopping… hehe..), makan and friendly games together for 2 days.. even Max did her debut as MOT Society’s ad-hoc mascot.. hehe…

It was a lot of fun, however things were loose here and there especially in our welcoming committee.. but its lesson learned for all, including the top mgt at the faculty… Which is why the counter-visit is going to be done soon (as instructed by the top mgt), somewhere mid-March… for our MOT UUM delegates to visit UTM… so, my dearest MOT students… anyone interested? jom pegi jalan!!!

This March, my schedule will be filled with students activities.. the Chap Goh Meh Festival, UTM visit, Kachi 1 Dinner, MOT graduates Dinner for class of 2007 (btw.. congratulations to all MOT students graduating in the upcoming convo on 11th March 2007), MOT Society Seniors’ Dinner… hmmm… banyaknya kerja… there you go, your most anticipated working life.. hehehe..

No of completed bunga pahar: 54

No of completed bunga dulang: 9 out of 9…(yeeehaaaa!!!!)

Man… time flies, not only when u r having fun anymore, but it just do.  Two weeks went by without me realizing it, and it makes me wonder.. how productive have i been for the past 2 weeks… hmm..

lets see… i started the week busy finishing my lecture notes so that i can distribute them to my students… actually its kinda hard to do these when u have to type a semester’s worth of knowledge within a week. Lucky me its the 5th time teaching the course, i practically remembered every single word in the slides, makes things a lot easier…hehe..

then… i had to spent 2 days in bed, coz i couldnt get up at all… fyi people i have a prolapsed disk on my back, and the condition gets worse when i spent extra hours of seating put at the desk… or just seating doing work for a long time without stretching at all… i must have hurt my back really bad coz i couldnt move without feeling jolts of pain up my back… sakit gila… nasib baik i have a housemate now, ada jugak org nak tolong (btw thanks yer fatiha..hehe) nak harapkan miau-miau tuh… hmm… besar rahmat laa… my parents came and took me home to SP, after stopping by the specialist so i can conviniently get a shot in my bum to reduce the swelling in my disk.. ouch!

my darling came by on Saturday to drive me home… i had to put on ‘reinforcements’ (read corset) all the time so that i can sit properly and not strain my back with my ungodly posture… hehe.. got back home, and the ball start rolling again… but with more caution this time.. i had to take painkillers, and somehow it caused me to eat more… aisehhh.. dah naik 3 kg la macam nie…huhu…

lecture days went by in a daze… i felt that i talked a lot more this semester (maybe coz i had to stand in for my colleague who’s on maternity leave)… and potentially could strain my voice box… so note to self.. must bring water to lecture everyday. it has been a week since the Dean gave me a task, and to my dismay i realized that i have not started doing anything… alamakk!!! note to self again… must start tomorrow..hmm..

a week went by and i went to see the doctor for a follow up and he gave me milder painkillers that would (hopefully) not raise my appetite like the previous one does.. God knows how badly i need to stay in shape… with the wedding being less than 5 months away.. took my mom to SSF Penang to get more wedding supplies (and spent more money huhu….), spent a day at home with my family and drove back to Sintok this morning. I cooked dinner for my darling, had a lovely time with him… can’t believe how much i missed him. Isn’t it amazing how someone makes you long for them without even realizing it?

No of completed bunga pahar : 54

No of completed bunga dulang : 3   

dalam malam malam yang suram aku merenung langit..

ku lihat wajah awan kaku membisu tanpa kata..

ku berpaling kepada bulan..

bulan bagai menangis..

langit merintih..

gegak gempita halilintar memekik menerjah bumi yang haus tandus..

terpercik tanah tanih meloncat cepat..

bagai mahu menerkam bintang kerdip di langit..

lalu angin semiri datang..

hembus halus membawa pergi derita..

meniup wangian awan cinta..

terubat luka parah nanah yang pecah..

bagai satu tonik ajaib..

lalu sembuh tanpa parut..

licin suci indah dan harum..

percikan ganas hujan telah pergi berlalu..

burung burung terbang mula menyanyi..

unggas mengalun lagu..

bagai satu simfoni indah semula jadi..

muncul pula mentari pagi..

tanah tanih yang terpercik..

berubah manjadi pulau indah..

segala benih mekar tumbuh seribu bunga..

lalu..

kukarangkan bunga menjadi perana indah..

untuk ku letakkan di bawah rimbunan daun cinta..

ku letakkan di atas hamparan kasih..

bersama untuk kita bersanding..

-AaNz-luv

Thanks abang … i love u.

It has been raining all day, though the it is delightfully cold (makes you want to sleep and huddle in your blanket) I am slightly worried that the rain may cause the river near my college be flooded… and that might make us in Kachi be disconnected from UUM for a day or two… hopefully not, coz I am in the drive to work hard!! So, kalau tak boleh pergi kerja mcm rugi la kan…

anyways, its the first day of lecture for the 2nd semester this session.. I am trying to take a different approach in my teaching this semester insya Allah for the better kan.. I went into the lecture hall, just half of the class was there… mebbe its the rain, mebbe its the 1st day etc but still i took the attendance..hehe.. my previous students thought that i become more strict each semester… well maybe, but one thing i know, i do try my best to improve each semester so i can do my bit in helping to shape future leaders and generations… each semester i will encounter the same thing, students not wanting to speak up in class when I try to open a discussion…they are perfectly normal ppl yet once i say the magic words.."what do you think about that…?" suddenly semuanya senyap.. pelik sungguh…one of the reason i try to be more open and friendlier in lectures is to encourage them to speak up in class and be more comfortable and confident addressing ppl in public… tapi, setakat ni tak berjaya lagi… will work harder on that lah…

today is also the first day I go to work without my darling eversince we got together… i miss him terribly… was sort of expecting his call today when i finished my lecture to ask me where i was and to decide where to have lunch.. of course for the past 2 semesters in order to cut costs and save up, we bought lunch from home… home cooked meal… kalau dah malas masak, baru la pegi kedai… hmm… miss cooking for him and having our lunch together… but in all, its a good time for me to control my diet la jugak before the wedding Still, i felt a bit lonely, not being able to meet him everyday when we drive together to the campus in the morning or meeting him in the evening when its time to go back to the college… *sigh*

missing him…

No of completed bunga pahar : 54

No of completed bunga dulang : 1 (but the petals are ready lah…)

hmm… KL… one place i like to go, never to work there though.. everything is fast-paced and profit-oriented… ppl who are used to work in a slow and steady Sintok like me will find it hard to adjust to the pace. not that i didn’t get any offers there…adaaa… tapi macam payah sikit laa at the moment… later in life, no one knows lah.. but have always enjoyed going to KL… especially if shopping is one of my itinerary.. hehe.. and to meet up my darling koncu…no greater friends a girl can ask for.. and my uni friends Asma, Rewa, Basha and Maz:-) this time i only managed to meet one of my darling koncu, Fariny and her hubby Saiful.. itupun tak sampai 15 minit.. nak buat camner, full schedule..

my family, my sweetheart and I went to KL for our family trip this year, actually we wanted to go somewhere more vacation-holiday type of place but since me and my fiance needed to get some things for our wedding (kan tengah sale time tuh…hehe) so the entire family decided to make a trip out of it..it was great fun .. and a lot of food being consumed… jokes shared and laugther exchanged…money was spent (huhu… dah kering kontang ni…), work and diet abandoned (mampossss…) but  anyhow i feel loved. my sweetie and I met my family in KL (they went a few days before us) and spend 3 days there before coming back to Kedah.. not to forget we did stop at DOLI Kueytiaw in Taiping for dinner… i had a great time eventhough my back suffered..huhu sakit sgt..

you see, my family enjoyed travelling to great extent… walaupun dalam Malaysia aje, and even if we need to drive 2 cars.. we make it a point to go someplace together every year.. last year was Kuching, the year before was Kelantan.. 2 years ago it was Kota Kinabalu… next year? entahlah… nak pegi mana pulak yer? Insya Allah, the tradition goes on… hopefully the day comes when i can afford to bring everyone abroad for a nice vacation.. so… kena la kerja kuat dari sekarang!!!

No of completed bunga pahar : 54

No of completed bunga dulang : 1 (hehe… siap jugak prototype)

Lucky me, my sis has kindly come for a visit, she came on wednesday and will be leaving tonite.. huhu sedihnya… she has to since my family will be going to KL next week without me… huhu lagi sedih…. takper… we will join them later next week…

My only sister, Siti Fadhilatun Aisyah, born Nov 20, 1989… that gives us a good 11 years apart… she is my best friend, my confidante at times and i love her very deeply… though she’s younger than me, sometimes her maturity amazes me maybe coz i can never shake the image of her in my mind… when she waits for me everytime i got home from UKM.. with her ponytails and big expectant eyes with thick eyelashes (yeah, she’s blessed in this way more than me..) and all skinny and tall (again.. she’s blessed!)… i always get her ribbons for her ponytails, cute purses to put her coins & stuff, hairclips etc.. accessories.. what girl can resist them??

Being the youngest, she’s always the victim… selalu kena buli with her 2 brothers and me.. hehe.. nasib arrr… but we love her all the same. She has this high-pitched-irritating-at-times voice but our home will be so quiet without her. Though my parents had hoped that she being the youngest would stay with them the longest… she went to boarding school just after std 6.. and stayed there (against all odds.. hehe) until she finishes her SPM earlier this month.

Over the years, I’ve look at her in different ways. She can be such a hard headed person, but she has the kindest heart. She is very loud, but she is also very sensitive. She is one of the most hardworking people i know… tapi kadang2 kuat tido jugak laaa… comes with the teenage era i should think..we had our rough times, biasalah sisters mana ada tak bergaduh kan.. she’s one of my rock, whenever my heart was broken, she helped me through the ordeal… being firm and objective like i m the younger one, she the big sis.

I clearly remember when i wanted to buy my Vios, she actually did solat hajat for a few nites to ask the Almighty so that i get what i wanted… hehe.. i m so touched when i found out (which was a long time after). as i am typing this, she’s actually folding my clothes (hehe… kerahan tenaga!) sambil tgk cerita hindustan kat TV… typical her!

And now she’s at the crossroad of her life, waiting and deciding of what to do next.. still undecided. i told her to take a day at a time.. I know that she will make the right decision.. she’s a smart girl, a great sis, an amazing daughter and a wonderful friend.. she’ll do just fine.. i know it. I love you sis!!

No of completed bunga pahar : 44

No of completed bunga dulang : 0 (sending it to my mom tonite..)