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,

10-minute post: A quick observation in the library

I am now at the library. Since this morning been writing about the outcome of the data analysis, eyes on the screen for a long period of time. And when my back and neck started to show the strain, I looked up and saw...around me, ONLY opposite gender sitting at the nearest cubicles/desks around me. Looking further, I can only see 1 woman out of 4 man in the vicinity. Wow... this is rather surprising. This is unlikely in Malaysia, well to be specific at a few institutions library that I have been too. I don't have any hypothesis to ponder. Just a mere observation.

yours truly,

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,

convenience as such

As a muslim, I feel comfortable living in Brisbane. Besides many Halal food outlet available around Brisbane and Queensland, you can find Masjid and praying rooms/area, especially in a campus/university. QUT Garden Point has a prayer room complete with telekung (woman praying attire) and an ablution place. It is also equip with a refrigerator and a microwave oven.




The curtain divides men praying area with the ladies.

The committee organises some religious classes such as learning arabic class. There used to be an usrah amongst ladies. So convenience it is ....

|From my mobile blog| Misteri sungguh

I just bought ths stneries caddy lst friday, and just realised ths morng a crack n chip. Pelik, it was ok when i bought it. Hmm somebody must hv touched it, yesterday or durng the weknd.

navigation aid for a cabbie

This is the continuation of my entry about atang's work. Ok.. sedikit geografi pasal Brisbane nie. First of all, the correct pronunciation of Brisbane is, Briz-ben (ben sounds like burn, not sounds like cane or Ben as in Big Ben). So everyone knows Brisbane is the capital of Queensland, with the current population is estimated 1, 760, 000.


I was trying to find information about the number of suburb in Brisbane. Ok, here it is, there are 188 suburbs in Brisbane (I get this from wiki, maybe not accurate). Banyak tu... Thus, to help atang navigate around Brisbane, he seeks help from two dedicated objects. The primary object/gadget/tool/aid etc. is .....




The GPS. This you need to buy, not just because you are driving a cab, but it really helps a lot when you are travelling. So it is a bonus for us when atang need to buy this for his work, and at the same time we use it to get around Brisbane (and outside Brisbane).





And another important thing is.....

The Street Index, or RefeDex or some people call it UBD. Directory nie tebalnya macam yellowpages. It contains map of every district, suburbs, popular landmarks in Brisbane. We bought this directory on the first week we arrived in Brisbane. Why atang need this eventhough he has the GPS? Well one absolute reason that I can give is, according to atang, the GPS usually will calculate the easiest route, so it will provide you with the Hway or Motorway route, that sometimes take longer to reach the destination rather than inner road. Jadi bila dah lame bawak cab nie, atang eventually knows some shortcuts, but he needs to refer to the RefeDex for verification.

Usually, if we are travelling together, I will be the co-pilot la...ahahhahaha..or else atang has to pull over by the roadside to study the map. Best jadi co-pilot nie, kalau sesat bleh buat muke kesian :p

Ok, this is one example of a map inside the UBD. Yang bulat tu la QUT :D. Betul2 tepi sungai Brisbane. But my office is situated at Margaret St, about two blocks away from QUT.


OK... tamat kelas geografi arinie.

The MSA QUT BBQ Lucheon

So these are some pictures taken from the event. Tak banyak la..cos I was busy BBQueing...ahaahha...

The bbq chicken wings, sausages, with onions. Pak Arab suke makan bawang. Tu yang jadi camnie.

I don't know the exact name of this dish, I assumed it was one of the middle eastern cuisine, sorry, forgot to ask laa.....Busy eating, bbqueing, and meeting new friends.

A couple of new friends that I met at the luncheon. On the right is Sarah, a Muslim Chinese from Beijing, in the middle is Fazillah, from Singapore. Sorry if I spelt their name wrongly. Kiri sekali tu tak payah diperkenalkan :D ahaks....

After the scrumptious meal, some of us played badminton, while others sat and watched while exchanging story.

We ended at nearly 5pm. Ku pun balik, kecapekan :D.

Rewang for MSA QUT

Muslim Student Association of QUT held a welcoming feast for newcomers and returning students last Saturday. The feast was held at Orleigh Park at West End, Brisbane.

Last Friday night, I went to my friend's, Sabrina, house, to help her preparing for the feast. She needed to prepare fried rice noodle (or bihun goreng) for 100 people. Since the event was held in the afternoon, so Sabrina cooked the noodle on that Saturday morning. I only helped her prepared the ingredients on that friday night.



the uncooked rice noodle

While I was peeling the onions, suddenly I heard a familiar sound, and scratching on the sliding door grill. Meowww...

Aha, Sabrina neighbour's cat came to visit. I took a break to play with the cat. Manja sangat-sangat.... Owwhhh... Sabrina did named the cat with something, but I can't remember what. Then back to the kitchen to fry telur dadar, to garnish the fried noodle.

Sabrina did the frying, I did the cutting process. At 11pm atang came, and we went home.

Besides the preparation and the cooking, we chatted, ..and we were also wondering about Halida. Halida, if you read this.... we missed you heap, babe. Will try to write an email to you one day.

(note: Sabrina had to cook the whole lot (I mean the noodle) 10 times. Giler gigih makcik tu)

Invitation :QUT-MSA Welcome BBQ

I received an invitation to this luncheon...yeihaaa...iklan jap

------------------------------
To welcome the new students, QUT Muslim Student Association is organizing a lunch get together and invite all new and current Muslim students to a bbq scheduled as follows:

Date: 7 March, 2009 (this Saturday)

Time: From 12noon

Venue: Orleigh Park, West End (BBQ pit next to a playground near West End Ferry terminal - refer the attached map)

Transportation:
1) Take 199 bus and get off at the last bus stop in West End Ferry terminal.
2) Take a City Cat ferry ride and get off at West End ferry terminal

Come and bring your family or/and friends. Pls FORWARD this mail to any Muslim friends you know.

............................

Jemput datang .....FOC food laaa...hehehheheh alhamdulillah.....

Malam nie kita gotong royong, masak ramai-ramai, makan ramai-ramai :D

Cerita Ceriti : Gelagat 4 The Morning Rush

I am currently futhering my study at QUT. The university has 3 campuses, the main campus, where I am attach to, is called Garden Point (GP) campus. It is called GP because, it is situated nearby Brisbane Botanical Garden. It is a beautiful campus, but the campus is small due to limited space. In addition to that, it is located right in the city. Although I am attach to the GP campus, due to limited spaces, my office is located 2 blocks away from the GP, at a commercial building, rented by QUT. And that is where most of the research students are located too.

Getting to the office is not a problem. You can live at any suburb you like, and just take a bus to the city. I mainly take the bus to the office. I can also take a ferry, called CityCat (there was an entry about this along time ago) but since I have no more classes to attend at GP, I now take the bus to the office. Cab is possible, but here, it is way too expensive.

Rush hour is between 7.30 to 8.30. The distance between my house to the city is just 10 minutes driving. But during rush hour, it will take about 20 minutes to arrive at the city. FYI my office is a number of block away from the Queens St Mall, the shopping heaven/hang out for local and tourist. My bus will stop nearby that "longest mall" in Brisbane and I will pass by the mall, to get to the office. So every morning I observed many kind of characters during that wee hour.

Queenslands government offices are also situated, or rather scattered around the city. So during the morning hours, I called it "The Morning Rush", you can see men and women clad in dark suits, walking towards their offices. Some even join their friends at cafe, having their brekkie (that's OZ for breakfast). Some just have a quick stop to get a cuppa, and walk to their offices. Coffee shops, or cafes are just everywhere. At every block, every street, on both sides of street, or sometimes just two shops away from each other. Yes, Brissie are addicted to coffee, or should I say caffein. If they dont have coffee, they will have soft drinks instead.

You can also see a few people, jogging around the city. Not with dark suits though, but a complete jogging attire. I don't know whether they come early to the office everyday, and have a quick run before starting their day. But I assume some may do. Even my supervisor cycle almost every morning before he goes to work. Yes they are health conscious people. Futhermore, with the sun up as early as 6 am now, ones can have a quick jog, if they want too (but not for me :D).

I just need about 5 minutes walk (if I don't day dreaming while walking) or 8 upmost to reach the office. I walk about 2 minutes from home to the bus stop, so total walking distance is about 10 minutes (can somebody convert that to metres...hahahah). It helps burning some of the calorie everyday. So enough work-out for me. ;)

ITPS dinner

Following the Doc Consortium, the group organised a dinner at Stamford Plaza. Joining us are our family, spouses, partners, etc.







The meal was superb. Malay dishes, kari ayam, kurma kambin, ikan sambal, beef rendang etc.

More pictures in my fotopages.

(Apology for a brief entry, am out of words. Experiencing writer's block)

ITPS Doctoral consortium

My research group held a doc consortium last Thursday. It was a one day event, and I was worn out at the end of the day. The purpose of the event is to get feedbackof our research from academician cum researchers outside QUT. We did organised a similar event last year. So it has become an annual event.

This year the research group has invited a prominent IS researcher from Univ of British Columbia, Dr Andrew Burton-Jones and Dr WuiGee from Univ of Southern Queensland.

It was a great opportunity to share your research with outsiders, who have no knowledge about your research (other by attending conferences) as well as to get feedbacks from them.

More pictures in my fotopages.

What it is like living in Brisbane?

I think it is about time I write something about our living in Brisbane. We have been here for exactly 3 months now. So far, we havent have the oppurtunity to travel outside Brisbane, the furthest place that we went is Toowoomba (it is an almost 2 hours journey.... it is another district in Queensland). The next furthest hahahha is Nerang, Gold Coast. To get our first car.


Brisbane is like hhmmmm hmmmm... I think PJ. That is the closest town that I can think of. What amazed me about this city and suburbs surrounding it, is how there were planned. Ok so you can say it is a modern city, everything is well planned. But if you go outskirt, where that place has been there since 18th century, you could see the same thing, the only thing missing are the skyscrapers. Atang explained to me, the westerners plan their city by establishing roads and streets first, then buildings. In Malaysia, roads and streets are built around houses. Overhere I really observe what 'iron grid' means. Go to googgle earth, and fly to Brisbane if you want to see what I mean.


Ok... I am not going to bla..bla... talking about town planning (it is not my position to compare, after all I only hold a CS degree)....hehehhe so lets talk about Brisbane. And so we live in St Lucia, another suburb in Brisbane. By car it only takes 15 minutes, after peak hours, to get to the city (not that Brisbane city congested like KL eventhough during peak hours). By public transport, bus or citycat (hey what's that..) it will takes about 15-20 minutes. Before I am pregnant, I usually take city cat to school, because there is a stop right outside the campus. But if I am going straight to the office (my office is outside the campus) I will take the 412 bus. My campus, QUT, is right in the city, situated at the Botanical Garden, near the Government house.

Want to know more about QUT, visit this link... http://www.qut.edu.au .... hehehehhehe...
Nice campus, I guess being an international student, you receive a lot of 'attention'. Hey my scholarship provider pay them AU$10,000 per semester, they better provide me with a lot of help. hahahhahhahahh Yup I like the environment, not just the place, but the people as well. So far I have received or should I say treated well. The staff are so professional, eventhough you are a student, and you ask stupid question. OK I should say QUT is a very condusive place for you to further your study. So I can say, I have come to the right place. Oh yes 1 more thing, Muslim association at QUT is very strong. We have a surau in the campus (here it is call mussolah). I even get a temporary prayer room in my office. And when ever there is a function, they would provide food not only vegan food but Halal as well (halal chicken sandwiches for instead). So yes, they are friendly to other religion as well. Here is a picture of QUT main entrance












I mentioned earlier that I used to take citycat to campus. Here is a picture of the citycat, taken from ourbrisbane website (www.ourbrisbane.com).... yes..it is a ferry... consession fare is $2.60 (daily ticket) ..... nice aaaaaa.... the river is named Brisbane river.










And here is another picture of citycat, taken from a far, in this picture you can see QUT on the right. This ferry already past the QUT citycat stop.







Here is another picture of Brisbane CBD at night, taken from a citycat. Nice ehhh..... All these pictures are taken from ourbrisbane site. Sorry still havent have the oppurtunity to take my camera for a ride....hahahhahahahha..... sampai aje terus sibuk ngan kuliah beb.......



1st semester just ended. I can start recharging my camera and take preety peektures of Brisbane soon. InsyaAllah.... I will stop now.... will continue other time, to write about our life here, which is so far is rather boring (hey I am studying here, not on sight seeing)..... So wait until I come up with something juicy yaaa... perhaps after our trip to gold coast..... perhaps....
......


Note: pictures taken from www.ourbrisbane.com