Got over it, and one more to go...

Fuhhhh fuhhh... berabuk betul rumah nie....habuk tebalnya seinci. Been away to prepare for another milestones in this journey. Alhamdullillah...all went well, I need to make some minor changes though, but as expected. But have yet to get a full report from the panel members. I don't want to put my hope up very high, sekali dapat report kena buat perubahan selambak ko..haaa... mau terduduk. But I am very hopeful that what ever it is, I can complete it in 2 months, because it is the targeted submission date.

Now I can really concentrate on the packing. Still have about 40% more to go. And I have other things to look after too... adeh...tetiba banyak benda nak kena settle nih...

yours truly,

Harapan

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

وَمَڪَرُواْ وَمَڪَرَ ٱللَّهُ‌ۖ وَٱللَّهُ خَيۡرُ ٱلۡمَـٰكِرِينَ

Maksudnya:
"Dan orang-orang (Yahudi yang kafir) itupun merancangkan tipu daya (hendak membunuh Nabi Isa) dan Allah pula membalas tipu daya (mereka) dan (ingatlah), Allah sebijak-bijak yang membalas (dan menggagalkan segala jenis) tipu daya."
(surah Al-Imran, ayat 54)

Ya Allah...permudahkanlah urusan ku di sini. Amin.

yours truly,

Dateline is approaching

I just got back the annotated draft reviewed by a proof reader....adoiyaaaa....banyak benda nak kena refine nih...but I am glad I have sent it to him, because when I read the comments he gave me, I realised there were too many careless mistakes and confusing sentences. My sifo and I sat down and look at the comments, yup, definitely much work is needed. My sifo saw that I was frowning at each comments given by the reviewer and he suggested that I put aside the thesis and go for a break...aiyoh....I cannot la sifoo... a break!! am penniless... I just want to finish this fast and go home.....nak balik nak balik....

tetiba teringin nak makan rendang mak.... nak buat, tapi rasa malas la pulak...aiyohhh

yours truly,

Ramadhan Day 16: Exhausted

Today is the 16th day of Ramadhan, been focusing on the amendment of my first draft this week, and hava another week to come up with a polish and succinct draft. Arrggghhhhhhh penatnye. My sifoo said, "less is more", what he meant is, I should write concisely but able to deliver the idea clearly...aiyoyo... I admit, I am very poor in writing, always finding it hard to elaborate and convey ideas clearly, and now I should do it in a condensed way.... Mak capek oiiiiii.... takpe2...sabar2...sikit aje lagi (ayat memujuk diri).

Apology not having anything else to write here rather than rambling about my writing. I guess the story of Ramadhan is getting dull ya. Well, life is ordinary after all...chewahh.... Anyway, tomorrow would be something worth telling, if I have the time to do that. Because tomorrow, we gonna have our annual iftar. Alhamdullillah, I am off from cooking...hahahaha... In the morning there's gonna be a gotong royong memasak, yeaaa... a break from all this writing, am so looking forward for both the gotong royong and the iftar tomorrow, InsyaAllah. Will try and blog while gotong royong is in progress, otherwise I will not have time to write about it tomorrow.

OK laaa.. need to continue with the writing. Bila nak abis nie!! Till next time, selamat berbuka, biar sederhana.


yours truly,

Ramadhan Day 14: We are 9 and the farewell

Today is the 14th day of Ramadhan. We nearly half-way through the Ramadhan. Are we prepared for the lailatulqadar?

Today is a very special day for us. 9 years ago, after maghrib, I officially became atang's wife. 9 years ago we began our journey together. We went through ups and downs together, were tested in various ways, we overcame many obstacles, learnt to accept things beyond our expectation, compromised and sacrificed for the benefits of each other. Alhamdullillah, we are still together and hope we will be together until death do us part, and reunite in heaven. Amin.

Yesterday I bid farewell to my sparring partner cum research colleague cum a good friend. We met over 3 years ago, when I started my PhD journey. We shared a lot of things together, from research, gossips and to personal problems. There were many occasions that we cried on each other shoulder, or infront of each other laptop while chatting through the instant messaging facility. I was so grateful that I met such a sweet but strong girl, and that's why I was devastated yesterday when we had the last chat. I almost cry infront of her but quickly turn my head around. Hahahahah very emotional yesterday. I can't believe that she's going to leave soon. I will gonna miss her, don't know if I could look at her empty workstation, the place that she used to occupy 5 days a week, next week. Lan, you will be missed.

the last picture

I have to stop right now, can't control my emotion anymore. Until we meet again, selamat berbuka, biar sederhana.
yours truly,

Ramadhan Day 13: Mulai harinie delete terus dari kamus diri

Today is the 13th day of Ramadhan. Alhamdulillah it is sunny today. Today is an important day for me, my friend is going home for good this Sunday, and today is the last chance for me to see her for the very last time. This morning she presented her research as a rehersal for her actual seminar that is going to be held at her home country. Ahhhh sedih pulak rasa hati den nih, and feeling nervous at the same time, because soon it is going to be my turn. Bila dah dekat nih, rasa macam belum bersedia pulak untuk submit. Dulu rasa tak sabar aje nak submit, sekrang nie rasa tak nak pulak. Aduhai.... moga urusan den di sini dimudahkan...amin

OK in relation to the title, somebody share me an interesting note on FB yesterday, which I am copying here:

Perkataan "BYE" merupakan jarum sulit org Kristian... Di dlm bahasa Arab b'maksud "fihafzil baba ". Manakala dlm bahasa Malaysia b'maksud di Bawah Naungan Pope(paderi). Jadi foward dan sebarkan kepada semua shbt2 anda. Semoga Allah memberi rahmat kpd kita dan org Islam yang lain. Wassalam di Universiti Putra Malaysia. Itulah satu-satunya Universiti yang ada gereja. Gereja ini antara yang aktif untuk memurtadkan orang Islam. kalau ada saudara kita terminum 'Holy Water'. Sebenarnya air ini dibuat di Vatican City. Dijampi oleh paderi termasuk Pope John Paul yang jemput Perdana Menteri kita dulu! . Kalau terminum, cari air kolah dari 3 masjid. Baca Al-Fatihah 1x, Yasin 1x, 3 qul 1x, dan selawat. Ambil sebahagian buat minum dan sebahagian buat mandi. InsyaAllah mereka akan sedar dan dapat diselamatkan.insyaAllah. tolong fowardkan ... demi islam... demi agama yang tercinta...insyaallah... forwardkan mesej ini..""

So as usual, I used answers.com to find out more. I should used the web engine to find relevant articles, but I really have limited time, so one search is enough la. And I got this from answers.com:
from answers.com, search word "Goodbye"
[Alteration (influenced by good day) of God be with you.]

WORD HISTORY No doubt more than one reader has wondered exactly how goodbye is derived from the phrase "God be with you." To understand this, it is helpful to see earlier forms of the expression, such as God be wy you, god b'w'y, godbwye, god buy' ye, and good-b'wy. The first word of the expression is now good and not God, for good replaced God by analogy with such expressions as good day, perhaps after people no longer had a clear idea of the original sense of the expression. A letter of 1573 written by Gabriel Harvey contains the first recorded use of goodbye: "To requite your gallonde [gallon] of godbwyes, I regive you a pottle of howdyes," recalling another contraction that is still used.

hmmm....adeh...kita terpedaya lagi!!!.... Dah jumpe bukti ini, walaupun satu aje, tak cukup beri bukti yang kukuh kan, am sure if I google the word I would find many related articles, tapi sudah cukup untuk menanam azam untuk buang terus perkataan itu dari kamus diri. Lepas nie cakap, C U aje laaa kat orang2 bukan Islam. Antara muslim dah tentu bagi salam kan. So korang macam mana?

Now about iftar, yesterday it was the same old normal day, so we had rice, and some kuih. Kuih keria from my neighbour, which atang call it 'donut melayu', and kuih bakar that I made, eh both were made on Sunday. Banyak sangat on Sunday, tu yg boleh bring forward. Atang pulak, he actually doesn't know the name of the kuih, and keep referring it as donut melayu. Pardon my atang, bab makan nie mmg glosari dia terhad...ahahahha and that's why he marries me...huhuhu....

Kuih bakar n my neighbour's keria

Ok laaa... got to go.... rasa sebak pulak dok teringat kawan nak balik dah. sob sob sob...She is busy packing her things at the workstation right now. We took some pictures around the office just now, sad pulak rasa. Her journey is going to end soon. Soon she will have the prefix 'Dr' on her name.

yours truly,
 

Ramadhan Day 8: Prioritise

Today is the 8th day of Ramadhan. Days are getting less colder now, the winter is leaving soon and spring is coming. Aaaaa...can't wait to see jacaranda blooming, for the very last time.

I received an invitation to review two papers for a conference this morning. I have reviewed several papers before, and I like the idea of providing feedback to the authors for improving their paper. It is not an easy job, especially you are reviewing papers that are not closely related to your research or field. I am very new in this field, have very limited knowledge, hence not able to provide a good constructive feedback especially on theory, but can provide feedbacks on the methods, writings and ideas on practical implications. However, normally each paper is reviewed by least two reviewers, thus the paper got the advantage from other people opinion as well, not solely from my opinion. Nevertheless, I enjoy doing this. Thank you for my sifoo for recommending my name to the editors of several publications. This is a valuable experience indeed, an opportunity that I never thought I will get. But this time, I have to reject the invitation and recommend someone else to take the job (mind you it is pro bono). I totally can't do it now, time is pressing me, really bog down to accept other things right now (my sifoo has just assigned me to another task...hohoho). I have to prioritise. I hope this opportunity will cross my way again.

OK I guess that is what I want to write today. Yesterday's iftar we had ayam halia and telur dadar, am getting lazy to take picture and post it here.Not important right. After sending yaya to school today, I stopped at the local grocerer to buy kangkung, my plan is to fry nasi goreng kampung for iftar today. I wasn't lucky because there is none, so I bought a cabbage instead. I saw cavendish banana, bought them, and will fry the banana too.

So..till next time, selamat berbuka, biar sederhana.

yours truly,

10-minutes post: The proof is in the pudding

"The proof is in the pudding"

That is my boss favourite quote. After an hour of discussion, I learnt a lesson,

"Everything is open for discussion"

Hope that I am able to make one good, strong, interpretation and conclusion of what I have, found so far. Hope I have enough ingredients, utensils, the right temperature and the right amount (note the word 'right' but not 'accurate') to make a good, or better, the best pudding.

But again, will everyone enjoy my pudding?

"Que sera, sera"

Jawabnye.......

"TawakkaltuwAllah"

yours truly,

Been busy because....

Arrrrghhhhhhhhhh....stress stress.... all because of.. let this comic strip narrate my current situation

(source: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1323)

First time in my life I have numerous folders in the hard drive containing loads of extracted data, loads of report, loads of discussion. And am running out of space in the hard drive....

And am still crunching...doh!! I miss Mak!!!

yours truly,
 

10-minutes post: @ the most comfy place at home

Since I have this recurring backpain, I do my work on this comfy sofa bed. I think I can write better at this comfy nook rather than sitting on the office chair. Maybe the bulky chair, and the height of the table have force me to slouch a lot, hence causing me the backpain.



And there is another added advantage, adik seemed to be on her best behaviour when I am sitting at this particular spot. She didn't bother me much, and can play by herself most of the time. But I have to make sure that her fav movie of the day is playing.

OK, I have target to meet today. Have a productive and pleasant day ahead.

"Rabbi Yassir wa la Tu'assir wa tammin bilkhair wabika nas'ta'een ya fattah rabbi zidnee ilma"

10-minute post: The word that keeps on emerging

It has been awhile since I wrote something interesting than cooking ya. Maybe I should change the header of this blog to, "Makan-makan in Brisbane". Honestly I have many things to write, but I should adhere to my priority, to write and compile my first and foremost "novel" so that all of us can go home for good as soon as possible. Why did I said first and foremost though this is not my first thesis. I found writing this thesis is soo challenging, interesting, time consuming, and sometimes daunting. There is a time I can't look at the chapter that I was writing, at all. Rasa nak muntah pun ada. And there are some times I feel like laughing at what I have written, rasa macam tak ilmiah langsung. Well I don't have any other option, but to finish writing this novel, and hope I could write something that is novel enough.

Noticed lately on my friends' wall who are on the same boat with me, I mean literally, this one strong word.
Procrastinate.  And the definition:
"To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness"
"To postpone or delay needlessly."
(source: answers.com)

Aiyah... I guess I am not the only one laaa... though this is a negative vibe, but can't help feeling a little bit relieve. Ehhh...or should I not accept this at all?!!

...alrite...I have exceed the allocated 10 minutes for this entry. Got to start working right away, no more procrastinate for today.

p.s. while I am typing this entry, adik is sitting at atang's desk, punching the keyboard on atang's laptop, immitating me. I was concentrating on writing this and not realising her climbing up atang's chair until I heard the tapping sound coming from my right...ahahahhahah... when I looked at her, she responded, "adik work nih..." owwhhh and that sounds so familiar too


yours truly,

Fav comic strip from PHD comics

Can't help smilling when I read this comic. It is soo true, especially that "until death do you part?" Am sure many PhD students can't wait to be "apart" from all this (and of course completing it).

Source: PHD Comics

yours truly,

Marah mode....

Pagi-pagi dah buat den hilang mood.... arrrghhhh tension tul... susah ke nak beri tunjuk ajar....kedekut ilmu betul!! Bukannya suh dia buat keje kite, suh ajar je camne nak buat test, apa menu nak pilih. Itu pun susah ke, kalau nak asyik explore aje, tak siap la keje. Dah sah-sah den nie tak pandai bab tu, nak suh orang explore. Explore pun ada limit laaa... kang jadik Dora the Explorer kang.

Rasa nak jeritttttt sekuat-kuat hati.............

p.s. Sorry, tengah marah sangat nih. Gi makan lagi bagus....

yours truly,

10-minute post: a comfy Nook

Library is the most conducive environment whenever I need to focus on something, be it for writing or studying, or just for retreating. There are a lot of comfy, secluded spaces at the library. Don't know any particular reason why I can work better in the library, maybe the smell of the books, or the isolation, or maybe less distraction of people walking here and there unlike in the office. Or maybe the silence, ehhh..nah... that couldn't be it, the office is much more quieter than the library, yela, with the sound of pages being flipped, the sound of books being retreived from the shelf, people talking though discretely, still audible to my ears. Ntah la ekk...what most important is, I can work better here...

Kalau kat rumah .... haa.... I have several places. An each of them have a specific purpose. Sempat sok, I will tell you more. My 10 minutes is up. Got to go back to the writing.

Books that I need for referencing.

yours truly,

Who says writing is easy....

Alhamdulllilah... I have completed chapter 1 and emailed it to both sifoos. I thought I could finish it in 3 days, but I took 5 working days, about 40 minutes in total to complete it. But before I send it to sifoos, I did final review, and am satisfied with the outcome. But I am expecting a little more room for improvement, coz I felt my words were not smooth enough. But I think, I have tell the story more clearly. Anyway, I can now say, I have one completed chapter, and I can move on to the next 9 chapters (aiyah.... lets ignore the number). My target is to have a complete chapter (by complete I mean, the content, the story line is there, but maybe need more editing work to have a clean and smooth chapters) in two weeks. Yet I know, the LR chapter will need at least a month to do it. The date line is the first week of August. That is to come out with a complete draft, free from spelling and grammatical error. I sure need a proof reader to read it before I can hand over the complete draft to my sifoos for final review. Any volunteer? :D

Academic writing is not an easy task for me. Atang asked me why I spent a lot of time writing a paragraph, for I can write a post in no time for this blog. I said academic writing is not the same as creative writing. When I write this blog, it came straight from my heart. I just spilled out what I have on my mind, often I don't need fact to support my argument. And whatever I write today, it doesn't has to be valid, and may not apply for tomorrow.

On the other hand, in academic writing, you are writing a story that will contributes to the knowledge for the benefit of the people, nation, on the phenomenon you are researching. So you need to have the fact right. And you need to tell it in a language that anyone who have no knowledge about your research can understand. And you need to tell a convincing story. And you also need to relate your research with past researches. Senang citer, bukan suke-suke tulis la, for your own excitement and satisfaction.

Ahh sudah, dah mula bebel budak fazid nie. Don't get me wrong, I love writing. I think it is in my blood. But sometimes I can easily feel frustrated and demotivated when I am stuck at one sentence...yup...at one sentence. Last-last bangun dari kerusi, and carik yaya n adik. Phewwww... am so glad the kids are here. They are the one who keep reminding me the reason that I am here.

OK, tukar channel. I have a story to tell. Of late we noticed something about adik. Whenever we called home to talk with mak and abah, adik will be restless after talking to them. Especially after talking to her atok. She will has difficulty to fall asleep. Often woke up after a few minutes of dozing off. Many times, after she fell asleep, she will woke up and screaming for me. She will screamed at the top of her lung, and we didn't know what's troubling her. This has caused anxiety for both me and atang whenever adik falls asleep at night. Lately, I put adik to sleep in front of the TV, most of the time with Upin Ipin's vids running. Sometimes this works, other time she will demand this particular video I took of the kids back home in Malaysia. My conclusion is, she misses Malaysia a lot, and more of her atok. For a solution, atang suggested we shall not call home at night, a day time is preferable. We will see whether this solution will work. Kesian adik....

OK laaa...dah lama sangat nih... I should concentrating on my next task. Tomorrow I have a meething with the sifoos, to discuss my chapter 1. Suddenly I feel sooo nervous....

I end this post with some pictures of my two little princesses that we took at Southbank Parkland last Saturday. Masih lagi summer, so bagi chance diorang berendam puas-puas sebelum sejuk datang....

yours truly,

Spring has sprung....

.....it shouldn't be this early... but it surely warm nowadays... yesterday the temperature marked at 34 deg C.... it was like I was sitting near to a vacuum blower.... was expecting a cooler weather during this fasting month. Well this will be a motivation for me to stay in the office...

ok...been busy..and will be busy for the rest of the week, month until end of the year kot... nak dekat2 abis nie...tetiba je rasa tak cukup 24 jam....tetiba je sifoo jadi alert dan provides me with a list after list of questions for me to answer..... aritu rasa macam tak diendahkan.... how frustrated when your hard work, your arguments like falling on a deaf ear.... baru lepas overhaul agaknye.... suddenly everything is working well.... and I got an endless list to do (my sifoo called it as "laundry list") ..... hambik..... ahahhaha...

ok laaa...dah 4 hari Ramadhan berlalu.... tinggal lagi 26...eh tul ke....kalau kat sini slalu puasa 29 ari je...ahahhahaaa... Selamat berpuasa, terawikh jangan lupe :D


yours truly,

VALIDATING THE IS-IMPACT MODEL: TWO EXPLORATORY CASE STUDIES IN CHINA AND MALAYSIA

VALIDATING THE IS-IMPACT MODEL: TWO EXPLORATORY CASE STUDIES IN CHINA AND MALAYSIA

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Validating the IS-Impact Measurement Model in Malaysia: A Research-in-Progress Paper

Validating the IS-Impact Measurement Model in Malaysia: A Research-in-Progress Paper

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can we judge the person by his/her workstation?

There was one day I was pretty hung up with the research. Been re-analysing my research data, tried to look at a different point, until I realised most of the workstations around me were deserted. It was already lunch time. I heard noises at the break-out area, the usual crowd was having their lunch.

Suddenly, an idea came into my mind. Grinning, I quickly grabbed my camera that I carry around everyday from my backpack. Creeping from one table to another, coz I didn't want anybody to know what was I up too, I took some pictures of my colleagues' workstation.

So, what can we make up from this? Messy tables, clean tables, table full of papers, rows of binders, coffee jars, biscuits, kids drawing, etc...ahahahahhaha. There are so many theories behind this. Student that has been way through the candidature, student who is new, student who is busy (working under pressure) to meet the dateline, student who comes irregularly, student who spends 7 days in the office, student who kinda live in the office...ahahahhaha... well.... I surely will not forget this sight....owhhh I was mischievous that day :p

yours truly,

|From My Mobile Blog| Serabut...serabai...

Serabuttttt betul skrang.... Banyak benda nak complete before going to Hyderabad. Dan banyak juga benda nak diuruskan, tiket, lodging, visa..... kepala pun dah berserabut :p

This is my home office. Yup, dulu I had one big table kan. When we moved into this new apartment, atang advised me to use a smaller table because the old one is too bulky to put in the living room (well, the living room is smaller than the old apartment living room) and, since I will spend most of my working hours in the office, so I decided to move the old table into the garage, and use this folding table instead. Tapi......tengok apa dah jadi sekarang...

Sometimes I need to work at home, especially when I need to do serious reading, and writing. When I need to focus, I prefer a more secluded place (and quiet). Kalau ruang besar2 nie, kang mata pun luas la memandang, lepas tu berangan. Lepas tu bila orang lalu lalang, telinga pun mendengar, dan mata pun sibuk la nak melihat....wakakakakkaka..... So I am more like a horse in a race. Perlu ditutup sikit matanya supaya ia fokus ke depan sahaja. Ok dah start melalut.

So what is on my table for these couple of days (and going and going....). The papers you see in the picture are my survey responses, that need to be key-in, translate, review the translation, and analyse. Everything need (bukan have lagi dah) to be completed by the end of this month (2 minggu lagi adehhh). The books need to be read before the conference. My office table is getting out of space nowadays. Can't even find a place to comfortably put my elbow, it has to be on top of either some papers, or books. And yet they say research students have more space at the workstation. Duhhhhhh

And why I am working from home today, I have 2 strong reasons. 1) Need to get all the survey responses in MSWord, by today. 2) The IT people still have not solve the problem that I am facing with a software (dah 3 minggu nie, tulun la buat sesuatu, tak lame lagi nak start data analysis). Jadi kang kalau diorang nak troubleshoot, tak bleh guna machine. So baik ku melarikan diri dari workstation tu.

Sorry friends, this is more like a rambling than informing ya...wakakakakakkaka... (kes kelapa kepala serabut dah nie)

6 more weeks to go until Terbang ke Langit Biru lagi (maybe singgah Mesia jap, jenguk anak2, guling2 ngan anak2, peluk kuat2 anak2.....rindu bangattttt)