Langkah penuh debaran..

Tomorrow as early as 4 am we will start our next journey; we are going home. Not for a holiday but for our data collection. A lot to do and we need to settle every thing by late of February. Fuh! penuh debaran coz this time we are dealing with "human". What if the selected companies refuse to participate? What if the respond rate is very low? What if the data gathered is not up to the sandard?All these will have significant implication on our analysis later on. Makin di fikir makin serabut le plak. Doa kami muga Allah memudahkan segalanya.Hanya pada Dia juga kami berserah...........................

Aidil Adha 2009@ Perth

Hari raya haji this year was on Friday (27 Nov 2009). On that day my hubby need to go to work from 6 am till 9am. So definitely tak leh pegi sembahyang raya. At the same time we have been struggling to finish up with whatever needed before going back for my data collection. It has been 3 (horrible, unhealthy, torturing) weeks for both of us. Very stressful weeks. My first hero plak ada 2 tests on that Friday. My second hero dah demam for about a week. Tinggal lah J Lo yang still "alive and kicking" which eventually boost up the stress level of everyone else in the house!

Around 4 pm my hubby, J Lo and I pegi juga jemputan open house few of our friends. My two heroes were not in the mood and tak nak ikut. Agaknya letih coz diaorang pegi sekolah as usual. This was the first time we all tak celebrate hari raya haji. Well...apa nak buat..life must go on......

Cerita Kehidupan....

On the way back from university my hubby and I met with another international student. He is also doing his PhD here and now in his fourth/ third year (not really sure about this). A very nice guy and devoted muslim.

At first our conversation was more on our PhD but suddenly slowly he declared to us that how he missed his family especially his two children. Dah 3 tahun tak jumpa. He said dia dah terlalu rindu but again money is the main constraint to go back. He need to make a choice either to pay for his flight ticket or to save that money so that he could at least send some money every month back home to his family.

Bila dia bercerita about getirnya kehidupan kat sini and rindunya dia pada anak anak..air mata dia bergenang...hari ini Allah memperlihatkan pada saya kasih sayang seorang lelaki dan rindu seorang ayah...jarang saya berpeluang melihat dan mendengar keluhan jiwa seorang lelaki.
My hubby and I terkedu but keep on reminding him supaya banyak bersabar and berdoa.. well..what else to say...

To me...today Allah mengajar saya lagi tentang kehidupan. Belajar with 3 children and tak ada kerja sampingan membuatkan kehidupan disini begitu sukar. Seringkali juga saya bersedih dan merasa beratnya beban yang ditanggung . Tapi hari ini saya sedar apalah sangat dugaan Allah untuk kami berbanding dgn dugaan yang dihadapi oleh kawan kami tu....Muga saya akan menjadi lebih tabah to go through this journey......Thank you Allah....

Happy anniversary

Tomorrow is our 15th Anniversary....lama tu.........

Memandangkan sekarang ni hidup dalam serba kekurangan....idak le ada celebration besar besaran..kek bertingkat tingkat ke...candle light dinner ke...hadiah yang glamour glamour ke...and memandangkan juga esok my hubby start semula career "floor engineer" untuk tempoh 2 weeks..jadi acara menyelebratekan anniversay dilakukan pada petang tadi...

Acaranya adalah minum teh tarik and makan keow teow goreng(share 1 pinggan makan 2 org ok) ....kah kah kah...ini kalau Dato' K baca blog ni mesti dia "tensen" tahap gaban....dia celebrate anniversary ngan Tok T habih beribu ribu lemon...... itu baru kahwin setahun jagung tuh....heeee

My hubby habis tak sampai pun $25....itupun dah masuk bayar 2 teh tarik sebagai upah to my two heroes jaga J Lo and 1 Bubble Tea untuk rasuah J Lo supaya tak nangis and stay ngan abang abang so that Mama and Papa bole kluar makan berdua...heeee...

Alhamdulillah both of us enjoy the teh tarik session...Dapat peluang borak borak tanpa "gangguan"...cuma topik utama boraknya still our research le...pasal data..pasal supervisors...pasal strategy nak collect data...pasal methodology.....hu hu hu....


Hopefully, lepas 3 tahun ni...kami dapat tukar topik borak kami kepada yang less ilmiah...contoh pasal cincin kat Habib Jewels ke...pasal handbag baru ke....pasal kereta yang kecil cam "smart" tu ke...pasal nak besarkan umah ke...pasal pegi Mekah ke...pasal second honeymoon ke....semuanya contoh aje..tak ada apa apa niat pun......heeeee...

Anyway, thank you for the lovely teh tarik session and also an informative "brainstorming" session...Muga Allah permudahkan segalanya buat kita sekeluarga......

Tunai janji

Dah lama my hubby and I berjanji nak melawat kawan kat Joondalup. Tapi asyik tertangguh le plak. Kebetulan ada barang yang perlu dipulangkan. Last saturday kami pun pegilah ke umah diaorang. Alhamdulillah, sampai je tuan rumah dah siapkan nasi lemak untuk kami sekeluarga. Dengan "ramah"nya kami pun breakfast dgn penuh semangat. Nasib baik le saya dah kenal tuan umah dari zaman dia anak dara lagi. heeee..idak le kekok benar nak bawa batalion saya yang memang le kuat makan. Sedaaap nasi lemak tu.....

Bila dah kenyang diaorang ajak pegi kutip strawberry plak. Best gak nak tengok pokok strawberry kat Ostolia ni. Sebenarnya, saya pernah bekerja sebagai buruh diladang strawberry kat UK masa buat first degree long long time ago.. Jadi ilmu bab bab strawberry and quality strawberry bole tahan gak le...heee.Maklumlah dulu termasuk golongan buruh yang berdidikasi kat ladang le and antara pemegang record kutipan paling cepat and paling banyak....wakaka..Itu cerita dulu...zaman muda...badan pun slim melim..tenaga pun kuat..masa tu semua benda main redah je...

Bezanya ladang kat Ostolia ngan kat UK (dulu la..sekarang tak tau le)..kat Ostolia tempat yang saya pegi tu kecil lah kalau nak compare ngan kat UK dulu. May be lebih tepat kalau kita sebut kebun strawberry. Anyway, seronok gak dapat bagi experience kutip strawbery kat anak anak. Suka diaorang .

Kat UK dulu ladangnya amat la besar. Masih ingat lagi setiap hari kami (all the buruh) akan dibahagikan kepada kumpulan dan area yang perlu kami petik. Kalau nasib tak baik kena lah area yang ada kat cerun bukit sikit..and nak pegi kat situ kami akan dibawa oleh lori yang digunakan untuk bawa kuda..bayangkan lah kami duduk dalam belakang lori tu ramai ramai and kekadang tu najis kuda pun ada lagi. Bab bau tak yah cakap le.

Itulah pengalaman hidup yang saya appreciate sampai ke hari ini. Mengajar saya keperitan untuk hidup ditempat org dan mencari duit poket. Zaman saya buat first degree dulu, saya bergantung sepenuhnya dgn duit biasiswa. Saya bukanlah dari golongan anak anak org kaya..hee..in fact sepanjang pengajian saya dari first degree hingga lah PhD saya diberi biasiswa oleh kerajaan Malaysia... ... tanpa bantuan dari kerajaan tak merasalah budak kampung macam saya untuk belajar di boarding school, buat degree kat UK, berpeluang datang Ostolia masa buat Master and now again in Ostolia...Bertambah bernasib baik semua itu adalah biasiswa dan bukannya pinjaman....Terima Kasih Malaysia!!

Back to our event, lepas kutip strawberry kitaorang dibawa pula untuk acara BBQ.. Sedaaapp and bebudak happy lagi bole berkejaran kat taman. Cantik tempatnya..and ada banyak burung..Enjoy betul bebudak that day. Lewat petang baru le bertolak balik umah and on the way back singgah plak majlis housewarming party . Ini pun best..dapat makan bihun hailam, cokelat kek, rojak buah.... Makan lagi.. Dah malam baru sampai umah... Letih betul tapi bebudak happy sangat. Alhamdulillah Allah pertemukan kami dengan sahabat sahabat yang budiman.. Terima kasih ye kepada tuan tuan rumah yang dah menjemput kami, melayan dgn baik dan menyediakan makanan makanan yang sedap. Muga Allah murahkan rezeki you all semua....

Halloween Disco Party

Last Friday nite my second hero pegi Halloween Disco Party . Sekolah buat. Untuk bebudak PrePrimary (tadika) and Year2 , disco mula pukul 4.30- 6.30; as for Year3- Year7, disco start pukul 6.30-8.30 pm. My second hero pegi yang second slot tu le.

Dia jadi hantu "Grim Reaper". Suruh jadi hantu Melayu saja....jadi la toyol ke, hantu pocong ke...tak nak plak dia...Ramai betul anak anak hantu malam tu. JLo as usual menyibuk nak jadi anak hantu juga. End up JLo pilih untuk jadi "Jason". Cuma JLo jadi hantu kat umah je la coz dia tak dibenarkan masuk disco ..bawah umur....

Moving to the next phase...

To start the second phase of my research, I need to do the pilot study. Have I done any pilot study before? The proud answer is YES. Next question, Do I really understand why I need to do it? Sincerely , NO.

I believed PhD is a whole journey of learning (that is why it sometimes become a very lonely and boring journey in your life). You can successfully grab your Master degree without really understand what you are doing BUT I don't think you could do the same in your PhD. As for me, things become tougher as I got my Master degree more than 10 years ago. Even if I have any knowledge about doing good research it must have been rusted by now.

Actually, this posting is just to brush up my knowledge. To the readers, if you are in the advanced level of doing research, this posting might not benefit you. Just untuk saya memaham apa yang kononnya saya faham and untuk golongan yang "blurrrrr" cam saya...heeee

What is pilot study? It can refer to 2 things. First it could be a " small scale version" done in the preparation for the actual study; second it could also be the pretesting or trying out of a particular research instrument.

Why do we need pilot study?
Many reasons. In short, it could give advance warning about where the actual research could fail. As for me , my pilot study is more on testing the adequacy of my research instruments.

How to check the adequacy of research instruments?
Must check the validity and reliability.

What is validity?
Refer to a degree to which a test measures what it is supposed to measure. 3 types; content validity, construct validity and criterion -related validity.
Content validity- measures the degree to which the test items represent the domain of the trait being measured. Researcher need to identify the overall content of the construct to be measured. Not an easy task, so usually we end up asking the experts in the particular field to identify or evaluate the content of the test/construct to be developed.

Construct validity- concerns the degree to which the test measures the construct it was designed to measure. 2 parts in evaluating construct validity. First, examine the theory underlying the construct. I believed when you reached this stage, you have successfully done this. If not, you won't be able to get your candidacy approval. Second,evaluate the adequacy of the test to measure the construct. Check the convergent( if convergence exists, construct validity is supported) and discriminant validity ( demonstrate that the construct can be differentiate from other similar construct).Usually, researcher use factor analysis with VARIMAX rotation to get these reading.

Criterion -related validity- concern to detect the presence or absence of one or more criteria considered to represent traits/ constructs.

What is reliability?
Concern with the accuracy of the measurements. Refers to the degree to which measures are free from error and yield consistent result. Usually, we need to find the Cronbach Alpha. Rule of thumb, the alpha should be >0.70. If failed to get this result, then we should identify which item/ statement that caused the problem. Should exclude this item and check again on the alpha. If the reading improve, may be we need to make further investigation on this item. May be something wrong with the "translation process" (as I need to translate my questionnaire). Kalau teruk bebenor reading, may be need to think of doing the second pilot study after making all the necessary adjustments.

What to report in the thesis?
1) Detail explanation on how we carry out our pilot study.
2) Provide results of the pilot study:
- descriptive analysis
- explanation on the validity and reliability

My Swimming Class

Kat mana? : AquaLife Centre

Kenapa masuk swimming class ?: Paksaan dari my other half

Siapa yang buat enrollment & bayar?: My other half

Siapa yang kena masuk pool?: Diriku

Tindakan selepas mengetahui:

Cuba merasuahkan pihak penaja dengan bayaran double dari jumlah kos yang telah dilaburkan.

Tindakan pihak penaja:

Keputusan muktamad and tiada rayuan..disusuli dgn ceramah kesihatan dan ceramah mengenai kebaikan bersukan especially berenang kepada PhD student yang dah lanjut usia.

Sebab sebab paksaan :

My other half dah makin risau akan "keaktifan" ku di dapur dalam acara "gaya bebas - cooking & eating". Aktiviti gaya bebas di dapur ini juga telah menyebabkan perkembangan "mukabody" yang amat menggalakkan.

Bila mula class?: Yeterday (29 Oct 2009)

Latar belakang dalam arena swimming:

Gagal dengan jayanya masa kat Msia.

Sebab utama kegagalan:

TAKUT AIR...antara seksa dunia bagi diriku...

Pengalaman selepas first class:

Amat menakutkan!!!

Keterangan gambar kat atas tu:

J Lo sedang nangis takut tak dibawa ke swimming pool..dia dah ready nak ikut p berenang ...(pakai two pieces swimsuit lagi tu....heeeeee)

BZ week

This week penuh program . Monday ada 2 kursus. Pagi pergi dengar pasal "presenting at conference". Petang plak p kursus writing " Structure & Cohesion". Bestnya yang petang ni ada 3 org je datang. Gamaknya ramai yang ambik slot morning. Jadi instructor tu bole buat cam personal tutoring plak ngan I . Tambah lagi yang 2 org lagi tu budak Master and Undergrade. Apa lagi I pun mengambil kesempatan le..selain belajar pasal topic kursus siap tanya pasal English lagi. Jadi class English le plak..

Maklumlah teman ni memang dari zaman sekolah lagi tak minat subjek Bahasa ni tak kira la English ke Arab ke even BM sendiri pun teman konpius... Ingat lagi masa Form 3 exam Bahasa Arab. Ustaz tu "angin" betul dgn I pasal jawapan I untuk soalan surat kiriman panjang alamat dari isi kandungan.. Patutlah lepas SPM pergi UK..kalau kena pergi Al Azhar..pusing stesen bas le...stress...

Selasa plak ..pagi pegi mengadap SPSS expert ni.. kan ke I dok analyse pilot data..ilmu bab statistic ni pun bukannya banyak benor..kena la ada session mengadap ni...ini baru SPSS belum lagi masuk PLS...mana nak lari ni.....

alhamdulillah baik betul mak cik sorang ni...diceritakan dari A-Z dgn penuh SABAR...lepas jumpa ngan Mak Cik ni..I pun dapat semangat untuk menjadi manusia yang lebih baik...bantu org lain dgn penuh SABAR and terangkan apa yang kita tahu dgn cara yang mudah..kekadang benda yang kita mahir kita ada tendency nak "angin" bila org tanya 2,3 kali..tapi bagi yang bertanya tu..benda tu baru kat dia..jadi ada 2 pengajaran besar yang I dapat dari session ni...first of course pasal SPSS le and 2nd pasal kemanusiaan...

Petang attend plak ANZAM seminar " What Journal Reviewers are looking for: Insights from editorial board members". Ada 3 org Prof dok bercerita and memberi tips cam mana nak dapat publish kat Toptier journal... Gayat sungguh... sebab diaorang cakap 90% paper memang kena reject le..hanya 10% je yang berjaya masuk dalam journal journal ni..

Wednesday, hari ni plak nak kena mengadap Supervisor...haaaaa...kecut perut ni...Kena plak my other half pun jumpa svisor gak..nampaknya hari ni kena bawa J Lo sekali le.. Kena gilir gilir jaga J Lo kat workstation le...harap harap idak le lama meeting hari ni...risau J Lo akan mengganggu kententeraman awam kat workstation tu...

Esok pukul 11am kena bawa second hero pegi Dentist plak...balik dari situ nampaknya kena stop kat library..kena hantar buku..Friday plak nak kena pegi ambik gambar J Lo yang posing ari tu..letihnya hidup ini ye....

Ted Bundy

I have heard about his story, about how he killed his victims, about how smart and handsome he was during that time but never have a chance to read about his true story. Last two weeks, while waiting for my JLo for her story telling session at Vic Park library then I came accross this book " The only living witness: The true story of serial sex killer Ted Bundy".

Best la buku ni . The book cerita dari awal pasal Ted Bundy. The first half of the book rasa cam geram ngan dia but towards the end rasa amat kesian plak ngan manusia yang bernama Ted Bundy. A very talented person tapi ada masalah sikit and nobody dapat kesan problem dia until the very late. To me part yang paling sedih bila baca about his last phone call to his mother. Mak dia cakap kat dia " You'll always be my precious son"..inilah lambang kasih ibu..walaupun satu dunia dah benci anak dia and anak pun dah ngaku kesalahan yang dibuat but kasih ibu tetap ada...hingga akhir nyawa...

Another two important things :
1) to parents yang ada anak yang berkelakuan "amat" baik, pandai,very proper, tak create any problem tapi tak ramai kawan..jgn anggap perkara ini "normal"..sebab ini antara kesilapan yang dibuat oleh family terdekat and kenkawan Ted Bundy. Dia bukan lah budak yang "bermasalah" tapi dia pandai menyembunyikan "masalah" hinggakan org terdekat pun tak dapat hidu..

2) Berhati hati ngan org yang langsung tak ada ciri ciri orang jahat ( physically). Ted Bundy orgnya handsome, berbudi bahasa, polite and smart. Pendek kata " don't sangka clear water no boya"....

Lastly kepada kenkawan yang dah rasa "otak beku" dok memikiorkan pasal study..dah jemu dok baca journal articles..dah naik loya nak buat literature review...may be bole baca buku ni... for a change...take a break.....

Setahun dah berlalu

Pejam celik pejam celik dah setahun kami kat bumi Perth ni. Untuk "menyelebratekan" tempoh setahun kat sini disamping mengingatkan diri sendiri yang study pun dah nak memasuki tahun kedua ;yesterday saya masak ikan, sotong goreng and sup sayur. We are talking about whole fish tau...bukan kepala ikan or sirip ikan ye..ikan yang cukup sifatnya...wakaka...luxury tu..ditambah plak ngan sotong goreng ...fresh squid bukan yang frozen ok... heaven le kiranya bagi second hero..kelmarin je la ye... hari ni back to makanan golongan marhain kat sini lah ye..apa lagi..ayam le...

October 2008 kami sampai Perth. After 2 weeks baru lah dapat umah. November 2008 , my husband and I jumpa svisors. Kebetulan during that time kami diberi svsors yang sama, jadi kami jumpa serentak lah. Alih-alih svsors cakap diaorang dah nak cuti panjang (pegi conference kat NZ then terus Chritsmas Holiday then sambung cuti akhir tahun). January baru bole start ngan kami berdua. Ternganga kami berdua mendengar plan diaorang. Dalam hati cakap abih la...candidacy plak dijadualkan 6 months selepas tarikh daftar (Oct 08 and not January 09)...

Dalam tempoh 2 bulan tu ( Nov- Jan) .."meraban" lah kami berdua membuat proposal untuk candidacy.. at the same time nak kena settlekan anak anak and hidup kat sini... Masa tu stress betul... tapi sekarang ni kami rasa bertuah la plak, tak start terus after daftar coz we have time nak help anak anak settle down kat sini..tak le kelam kabut sangat..

Then on 9 January..pergi lah mengadap svors ...this time we have separate session dah.. husband I dulu...alhamdulillah topic dia ok and he can proceed.. malangnya bila sampai my turn..bincang pi mai pi mai...final decision kena tukar..sikit or banyak?..hampir semua...selesai bincang..terkedu ...svisor pun turut bertukar...gelapgelita rasa dunia masa tu....

Tapi Allah tu Maha Pengasih and Penyayang...Dia bukakan jalan ...yang awalnya gelap gelita tu..nampaklah cahaya lilin sikit sikit... Alhamdulillah.. both of us dapat candidacy on time... Now ni tengah buat pilot study..hoping that this December we will start our data collection...

Seperkara yang pasti....perjalanan ini amat memenatkan dan menguji kesabaran.. maklumlah kami berdua memulakan perjalanan PhD serentak..dengan anak 3 org yang makin membesar and meningkat remaja..hidup sebagai parents and students begitu mencabar sekali...

Doa kami muga Allah terus melapangkan perjalanan seterusnya...menurut pengalaman teman teman kat sini ....perjalanan tahun kedua dan ketiga adalah lebih mencabar.. hanya pada Allah jugalah kami berserah.........

Pasar Malam @ Curtin University

Last Friday we went to Pasar Malam. Jangan tak tau kat Curtin ni ada le plak Pasar Malam ni. Setahun sekali je . Dibuat secara besar besaran le. Plan awal nak pegi early lah kononnya. Pi mai pi mai pukul 8 gak la kami sampai kat tapak Pasar Malam tu. Mak ooii!!! ramainya org puteh yang turut serta. Yang dari asian countries tak yah cerita le. Nak membeli makanan pun "q" punya la panjang. End up terpaksa lah gunakan "cable" undergrades yang ada untuk bantu bab bab membeli ni. Terima kasih le ye..nanti tua tua cam auntie ni baru lah you all tau betapa malas nya nak "q" panjang panjang tuh...


anyway berpicnic la kami kat padang tu. cuaca malam tu plak cantik sgt...very the nyaman.. Ada show lagi..macam macam ada...tarian gelek pun ada... bebudak tiga org ni paling teruja tengok "Capoeira".. Capoeira ni Afro-Brazilian martial art kot.. gerak langkah and background music memang best. JLo pun semangat dok tengok show ni.. Memang best and mengkagumkan..Looking forward untuk next year punya Pasar Malam!

The return of my other hands

Alhamdulillah, my other hands have arrived home. Tetiba je the three comrades bole behave themselves. As for yesterday, tak ada perang 3 penjuru whenever they open their eyes in the morning. Kalau tak , they will start their day dgn perang mulut between the second hero and JLo . Usually the second hero akan kacau the sleeping beauty yang still tengah tidur. Sleeping beauty plak bila terbangun terus bad mood and start le meragam. Then the first hero will try to be the PBB between the two. Cuma biasalah PBB punya action selalunya not that effective. Itu cerita bila buka mata..

Then come the mandi time, another conflict. It is either semua orang nak mandi dulu or nobody wants to be the first. Nak pegi school pun kekadang berebut siapa yang nak dok kat depan kereta. Itu belum lagi bab sembahyang, bab JLo punya "creativity through out the day" yang kekadang diluar jangkaan and bab berebut PS or Wii...

Yesterday , my other half dah back to his routine..hantar the two heroes ke sekolah.. Tak ada le plak adengan berebut tempat duduk dalam kereta... balik sekolah plak..the three comrades tu bole sit together and dok sibuk tengok CD yang Papa beli dgn penuh suasana "harmoni"..Tak ada plak adengan "cuit mencuit" antara the second hero and JLo...Suasana agak tenang...Legaaaa.....

How to pass your thesis with flying colours!

I attended the above course. Few tips to share:


1) thesis examination varies from one university to another. As for Curtin, the thesis need to go through 2 independent examiners. Common criteria used by examiners:
a) adequately surveyed literature relevant to the thesis;
b) adequate skills in the gathering and critical analysis of information and report presentation;
c)demonstrated the capacity to conceive, design and carry to completion independent research; and
d) made a substantial, original and significant (for master's thesis- these two criteria are not required) contribution to the knowledge or understanding in the field of study.

2) Common steps taken by examiners in reading the thesis:
a) Read abstract, introduction and conclusion to grab the scope of the work.
b) Look at the references to see what sources have been used and whether they need to follow up on any of them.
c) Read from cover to cover taking detailed notes.
d) Go back over the thesis to check whether their questions have been answered or whether their criticisms are justified.

3) How do examiners grade the thesis?
a) Pass, no amendment (A)
b) Pass, need to make correction (B1, B2)
c) Pass, need to resubmit (c)
d) Fail ( based on statistical data only 1% fall in this category for the last 5 years....emmm a little bit of motivation here).

4) How long a thesis should be?
Try to make a maximum of 200 pages but the most is around 270-290 pages. Examiners will only get around $390 per thesis. So don't torture them by forcing them to read our "soap opera" kind of stories.

5) What about writing style?
Thesis is about communication. So try to express our thinking in the simplest way! Thesis is not about showing to examiners your ability to use"flowery language" (ada ke term ni???..hee)

Sekian, adanya....

To all kenkawan yang terjebak di kancah PhD ini...best of luck!!

Progress report-VacSwim

The two heroes are going back to school today for a new term. Last Friday they have completed their Vac Swim (Vacation Swimming) Class. The cheapest swimming class ($1 for a lesson). The second hero started with zero knowledge. Not even the "doggy paddle" things. As for the first hero, since he is in the high school he need to swim during his PE class and he is the only one who doesn't know how to swim, terpaksalah dia guna konsep "belasah je" dalam pool kat sekolah tu.

Alhamdulillah, the first hero passed stage 2 and the second hero passed stage 1. Both of them are looking forward for the next VacSwim class in January (Mama tak cakap le..rasanya during that time diaorang kat Msia for data collection). Don't forget J Lo pun cakap , next season dia pun nak masuk VacSwim. Alamak belum cukup umur la JLo. You must be 5 dulu baru bole enroll for VacSwim.

WIP

While waiting for my data (pilot study)..I am working on the last part of my hypotheses development. To test the mediating role of one of the variables. I kind of confuse on how to develop a strong hypotheses to test the mediating role of this variable. How to go about it? Should I first justify that previous studies have only test the direct r/ship between the independent and dependent? and go on explaning the result of the studies? then highlight and justify why the current study intend to test the mediating role of that variable?? Betul ke???....Oh!! adakah aku berada dijalan yang benar????blurrrrrr nye diriku ini.....

With the four independent variables , two dependent variables, the mediator, the moderator, the control, I , myself get "very serabut" with the model...waaakakaa..adakah ini normal???..kenapalah aku gataiiii sangat nak buat PhD ni...macam manalah aku bole terjebak dalam process yang mencabar minda ni...dah lah mindaku bukan nya best sgt..kalau kereta tu ..kira guna minyak diesel je....kah kah kah..

Someone out there...please help me!!.. cer..cite sikit cara cara nak settle kan benda ni...

Camera-Shy

Yesterday, after dropping the two heroes to the Vacswim Class I decided to "beli jiwa" J Lo. We have girls day out. Went to the shopping complex and let her play kat "free (penting nih..) play group area". Gumbira lah J-Lo. Lepas main she wanted to have an ice cream. Kena plak, the icecream stall yang biasa beli tu situated at the other wings of the complex so menapak la kami ke sana.

While walking suddenly one lady approached us. She introduced herself; she is from one of the company yang professionally ambik gambar bebudak. Kononnya she is interested ngan J-Lo especially J-Lo punya rambut spring tu.. (Dalam hati I cakap..emmm pandainya Minah Salleh ni bodek..sebab J-Lo that time lum mandi lagi ).

At first, malas nak layan. But then teringin gak nak tengok gambar J-Lo yang diambil oleh professional photographer. I pun agree la. Then pegi lah "model yand lum mandi" tu ke tempat ambik gambar . Ada lah 2 org anak Mat Salleh ni dok posing. Bebudak tu pakai baju pun cantik le and for sure dah mandi. Mat salleh tu cakap dia dah di offer few days earlier and datang purposely for that photography session.

Rasa tak sedap hati, I pun cakap sekali lagi kat Minah tu yang I tak expect benda ni and J-Lo tak ready lagi. Tapi dia dok pujuk cakap, why not give a try. Dalam hati cakap belasah je la..lagipun JLo kalau kat umah memang suka "posing" . Pantang orang pegang camera , banyak lah gayanya.. Manalah tahu J-Lo berbakat cam Cindy Crawford ka, Kimora ka, Naomi ka or paling korok pun cam Nasha Aziz.. heeee

Sampailah turn JLo plak. Tetiba je J Lo jadi amat "pemalu". Tak nak tengok camera, tak nak senyum.. Penat gak la, photographer tu dok "agah" . J Lo still tak nak tengok camera. Ada lah 2,3 shot yang diambil tapi model tak nak senyum ..Camera- shy rupanya JLo ni...

Alhamdulillah, kalau kekal begini memang dia tak akan berjaya le dalam bidang modelling ke, lakonan ke, apa ke... harapnya nanti dia besar tak le Mama serabut kepala ....manalah tau zaman la ni kan semua bebudak nak jadi artist..kah kah kah...

p/s: gambar tu akan siap on the 30th October..

When the cat is away..The Mice will play

Yesterday my other half went back home for his "pilot study". Supposedly, I will be the acting PM now and the cabinet members should follow my orders. emmmm...not that easy!

The second hero dah buat thousands reasons of not performing his prayer..He will give me thousands excuses..the favourite part is " I need to go to the toilet"..and lamanya dia kat toilet tu buatkan the first hero boring nak nunggu dia ..and perform the solat alone.. To add more "spices" to the situation, the second hero keep on "kacau" J Lo yang still not in the mood sebab masih gering... Last nite dia janji, ari ni dia akan jadi "good boy"..meh kita tengok...betul ke idak...

Busy Bee Day

Yesterday was a looongggg day for me. Mula dari malam lagi I did'nt have quality sleep. Abang Long was having stomach ache. Keep on visiting Mr T (Toilet) through out the night. Each time of his vsisit he will wake me up to report on his "progress". My J Lo plak first time demam selepas nearly a year kat Perth ni. So she keep on merengek. So with the 2 children tak sihat how can a Mom sleep?? Baru rasa nak terlelap since J Lo and Abg Long dah ok sikit.. jam dah bunyi for Subuh (now ni Subuh around 4.40 gitu). End up ..selesai lah waktu tidor seorang ibu.

8.30 in the morning I dah called clinic for an appointment untuk Abg Long and J Lo. Dapat lah appointment at 12.15. Around 10 am pegi hantar Abg Long and Abg Ngah ke swimming class. First day of their swimming class. Abg Long insist nak pegi gak eventhough perut dia still dok meragam. So pegilah semua orang kat Aqua Life Centre tu. Bila the two heroes masuk dalam kolam, J Lo pun menangis bagai nak rak nak masuk kolam gak. Masalahnya untuk umur dia mesti ada parents accompany dalam pool tu all the time. Serabut ngan kerenah J Lo my other half pegi beli Bermuda Short kat kedai dalam centre tu dan tercapai la cita cita J Lo untuk berendam dalam pool ditemani oleh Papa. As expected, lepas dia mandi demam dia pun makin teruk.

Lepas dari AquaLife tu singgah makan kejap b4 pegi clinic. Yang bengang nya bila jumpa Dr langsung dia tak nak bagi ubat. Kononnya biasalah budak demam and batuk. Abg Long pun Dr tak nak bagi ubat. Kononnya naturally akan stop le sakit perut tu. Cuba minta ubat yang selalu pediatrician kat Msia bagi pun tak dapat gak. Yang dipesannya make sure bebudak 2 org ni ambik enough water to avoid dari dehydration. Laaa...kalau script tu je ..Tak payah la jumpa Dr...Memang dah tahu pun.. jumpa Bomoh pun dapat script yang sama gak.. Dalam hati cakap..abih la sure malam ni tak dapat tidor lagi....

Sampai umah around pukul 3 gitu start masak plak coz ada 4 family called nak datang raya (dinner ). "Monster Chef" pun buat la Menu sempoi; Menu utama-Nasi ayam and Spaghetti; dessert plak - agar agar, strawberries ngan cokelat and buah limau. Lepas Maghrib around 7 pm gitu sampai lah tetamu..bermula lah acara makan makan and borak borak.. Pukul 10 malam selesai lah semuanya..Memandangkan "Monster Chef" dah letih and J Lo dah start meragam, alhamdulillah the other half pun terpaksa la tunjuk bakat "mengemas dan membasuh pinggan and periuk".

As predicted..malam semalam pun ..tak dapat tidor gak..J Lo meragam..Lepas Subuh baru lah bole tidor kejap... Pagi ni pun Papa terpaksa tunjuk bakat buat breakfast and pegi hantar the two heroes ke class renang. ...Kalau ari ni selsema and demam J Lo tak berkurang..alamat malam ni pun ..tak dapat le nak tidor nye... ish..Dr oooiii..nak bagi anak sembuh naturally..silap silap mak masuk ICU la plak...

A Tip About Girls

Yesterday my first hero informed me that he would like to have a hair cut. Suddenly the second hero excitedly said " No! Abg Long don't cut your hair" and he keep on saying "Mama I don't want to cut my hair". I asked him " why not? your hair also dah panjang. Potong rambut should be a good idea".

Then came the unexpected explanation from my second hero. Mama tak tahu.."I don't want to cut my hair because I know girls like boys with long hair". Then I said to him "Betul ke?". He confidently said " that's why Abg Long doesn't have any girlfriend and I have many.." Oh!! Romeonya anakku ini.......

Patutnya...Realitinya

Patutnya hari ni dah back to normal timetable le..
Patutnya subuh tadi dah spend masa baca apa yang patut..
Patutnya tadi dah sambung buat writing yang tertinggal..
Patutnya hari ni dah kembali focus ngan my PhD work..

Realitinya hari ni masih tak betul jadualnya..
Realitinya subuh tadi dok sibuk gosok baju ..
Realitinya tadi dok sibuk masak and layan J Lo tengok cd..
Realitinya hari ni dok "merapu dana" lagi...

Raya@Perth

Alhamdulilah, 1 Syawal 2009 dirayakan dengan gembira dan serba sederhana oleh kami sekeluarga. Cuma the Second Hero frust sikit sebab this year tak dapat buat collection duit raya except duit raya from "Dana Hari Raya Aruah MamaTok and Tok Ayah".

Ucapan terima kasih kepada Mok Wa selaku Pengurus Dana.

Terima kasih juga kami sekeluarga ucapkan pada our beloved Mak and Mummy diatas tajaan baju raya untuk the two heroes and J Lo. They love the colour especially baju kurung J Lo (dia perasan dia cantik macam "Melor" dalam cerita Wayang Kulit).

Salam Eidil Fitri

To All,

" Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir Batin"

Free Show

Yesterday we went to Fremantle and on the way back my other half stopped at Toys World. Actually we stopped there by mistake. We thought Toys World is like Toy Museum . The actual fact is Toys World is a shop selling thousands toys ranging from the simple play dough to the big play house.

J Lo was indeed happy with the mistake we made! She happily explored the shop and

after spending about 30 minutes playing and trying all the displayed toys she then made her decision; the magic microphone ( it has music function on it).

She then (dengan selambanya)performed her free show at the car park.Worried she would get carried away in her performance (showing off her dancing skill too), I then persuaded her to continue her singing show indoor (in the car). Fuuhhh!! lega... since ada gak la 2,3 family kat car park tu yang dok tengok free show J Lo..

For the two heroes we bought monopoly and scrabble. They were relieved when they got to know about J Lo's Free Show.. Abang Ngah cakap "nasib baik tak pegi..kalau tak malu kita"...

p/s: kitchen cabinet yang dalam gambar tu harga dia from $ 299 - $ 399. ada ngan peti ais lagi... ish ish ish...ada juga la manusia yang buang duit beli benda benda mahal cam ni ye...

Ketandusan idea

Akibat tak ada idea nak masak apa..yesterday saya buat nasi lemak untuk berbuka. Ada sambal tumis ikan bilis, telur rebus and ayam goreng. At first, suspen gak ..takut diaorang tak minat nak makan nasi lemak masa berbuka. Luckily, the two heroes and the other half tak banyak songe..clear je. J-Lo pun tumpang nyibuk waktu berbuka..

emmmm..ari ni ..persoalan yang sama gak..nak masak apa ek? Second hero dah suggest suruh buat Pizza untuk session lepas sembahyang terawih.. menu berbuka , belum decide lagi..mohon Allah bagi ilham le before 5pm nanti (waktu chef nak masuk dapur le..)

Gear 1

Aduss... lately my PhD work is not moving as it is supposed to be. Just like driving using the first gear and before I can change to the next gear dah jumpa plak ngan trafic light. Stop le plak.

Trying to find excuses for the unreachable target, I put the whole blame on Nescafe..emmmm..of course the culprit is not the humble and innocent ME..kah kah kah...

Want to know why? I think I am addicted to Nescafe..without Nescafe to start my day..my brain cannot function well and my body system get haywire!!
Again, I am stressing here, the problem is not ME but Nescafe...
"...kelazatan istimewa..citarasa masa kini...."

Harap harap esok lebih baik le dari ari ni.....bergerak le sikit benda yang tengah dok buat nih...ish..geram betul!

Zakat Fitrah

Last friday the Imam announced the rate for the zakatfitrah . The rate is $10.00 per person. The funniest things was that immediatey after the announcement, most of the postgrads students especially those without any extra income(not working) and have many children casually said may be they need to "wakilkan bayar zakat kat msia la". heee..

Life in the NOT that fabulous lane..

Let see my one day activities in my series of Life in the NOT that Fabulous Lane...

1) 4.00 am- prepare sahur
2) 4.30 am- wake everybody else up for sahur, bersahur and kemas
3) 5.40 am- drive hubby to workplace (we have only 1 car so kena la hantar)
4) 6.00-7.30 am- buat kerja kerja PhD sambil basuh kain(masa paling berharga coz J-Lo belum bangun)
5) 7.30 am- Latihan vokal ketiga , memastikan the two heroes bersiap untuk ke sekolah
Nota: latihan vokal pertama , kejut the two heroes for sahur; latihan vokal ke2,kejut subuh.
6) 8.00 am- drive the 2 heroes to school
7) 8.30 am- after dropping off the two heroes , went to fetch hubby at workplace
8) 9.00 am- kemas umah, sidai kain,etc
9) 10.30 am-2.30 pm- buat kerja kerja PhD sambil entertain kerenah J-Lo. Of course during this time latihan vokal yang intensif dijalankan .
10) 2.45 pm- fetch the two heroes from school
11) 4.30pm- cook for berbuka
12) 6.00 pm- berbuka puasa
13) 8.00pm- sembahyang terawikh
14) 9.00-pm- Good Nite everybody, Mama dah tutup kedai!!! (Sebarang tipon hatta dari Permaisuri Agung pun idak le dapat teman nak layan lagi dah...)

Gitulah adanya...meh tukar tempat ngan Kimora...baru la Best!!..mau pengsan mak cik tu..kah kah kah

Bunga dah keluar...

Bunga bunga dah mula menonjolkan diri. Dari tingkap bilik tidur dah boleh nampak ros merah kat laman umah yang sekangkang kera ni. Then I perasan something, pokok ros merah yang paling awal mengeluarkan bunganya berbanding dgn ros putih and kuning (Kat my house ni ada 3 colour je pokok ros). I memang suka tengok pokok ros yang belbagai colour tu. Malangnya saya tidak berbakat langsung dalam "gardening". Tanam pokok tak pernah yang hidup. Tambahan lagi contract umah ni tidak langsung membenarkan kami tanam apa apa pokok disekitar umah. Kalau tak, pasti time my mum datang buat "lawatan muhibah" ari tu I dah minta tolong dia tanam pokok pokok ros yang pelbagai colour. haaaa...ada satu lagi pokok yang I minat kat Ostolia ni..pokok ni tinggi , besar and banyak kat tepi jalan..satu pokok bunganya warna purple and satu lagi bunganya warna oren terang. Nantilah bila berkesempatan I uploadkan gambar pokok favourite I ni. Nampaknya Spring dah nak mula le...emmmm hujung Oktober ni genaplah 1 year kami kat sini..Aduss..cepatnya masa berlalu...progress PhD cam mana le plak????

Ayam Golek

Another method used to bodek the heroes especially Abg Ngah coz berpuasa dgn baik. Ini Ayam Golek resepi keluarga. Most important, meet the 3 categories:

1) Easy to prepare...tak banyak cekadak nak cari pelbagai bahan.

2) Cepat di masak...jimat masa oooo...banyak kerja PhD nak buat...

3) The whole family like it...emmmmm...yummylicious!

Mulan Jr.

New style from J-Lo. Her latest favourite outfit . Yang seluar panjang tu she called it "baju Kung Fu". Whenever she wears it, dia akan buat gaya gaya Kung Fu (cam dalam gambar tu). Ala ala Michelle Yeoh gitu..cuma kekadang nampak macam dia dok buat senaman Tai Chi le plak..

Cheongsam tu plak , she called it "baju hantu lompat". The two heroes ajar dia tengok movie Mr Vampire kat you tube. She is so proud of having the cheongsam. Keep telling everybody in the house, she is the only person yang ada baju hantu lompat.

Luckily the current weather condition allows her to wear the outfit. Kalau tak mau beku J-Lo demi untuk bergaya.

Terima kasih kepada Penaja (her granny le) cum fashion consultant J-Lo
The two bajus(plural nih..) tu granny dia beli dari Beijing. Next time pegi melancong jgn lupa beli lagi kat model kecik ni ye...

Heran le...

Kat area umah saya ni banyak betul company jual kereta . Pelbagai jenis.. Ford , Nissan, BMW, Holden, Mercedes. Itu belum lagi kedai kedai jual kereta terpakai. Senang cakap ada duit je bole beli kereta apa nak. Itu tak le heran ...


Yang herannya..kereta kereta baru yang cantik cantik ni didisplay kan kat luar kedai. Mercedes cam Tok CT pakai pun ada, BMW cam Hans Issac tu pun ada, Mercedes Smart yang rupanya tak berapa nak smart pun ada, Beetles (ohhh..indahnya kalau dapat ku beli!) pun ada..Mini Cooper pun ada (yang ni pun best gak ni!)... tersadai kat luar kedai je..Bukan 2,3 macam kat Msia tu, tapi penuh...banyak... Open display plak tu...tak ada pun pagar pagar.. Even malam pun..kereta kereta baru ni tersadai kat luar kedai..macam siang hari le...


Yang herannya.. kereta kereta ni tak dicuri plak. Kat Perth ni tak ada pencuri kereta ke??

Dalam dilemma

Nak bagi dia baca ke idak ni... ish...dah 2 hari dok fikir benda nih....dah 2,3 kali buat attachment kat e-mail tapi bila nak click sent je..hati cam kecut le plak...last last aku cancel je message tu...ishh...geram betul ngan diri sendiri...

apasal le aku tetiba rasa cam tak confident bebenor ngan kerja aku ni...bukannya tak pernah ku buat benda ni....dulu dulu masa belum "belajar" pun dah pernah buat..entah apa apa yang aku tulis...tak de hal pun...ok je...(cuba menyedapkan hati sendiri)..

tapi ada plak suara satu lagi ni dok cakap camni...ye lah...dulu dulu tu guna konsep belasah je..lagi pun belum "belajar"..and tak le risau sebab tak bawa nama org lain sekali..kalau tak berquality pun no hal...sendiri buat sendiri tanggung...kali ni.. akan bawa nama org lain together with my work...dah ada tanggungjawab nak pastikan at least mencapai tahap yang sepatutnya...

Dah capai ke tahap sepatutnya?...haaaaa..ini yang buat dalam dilemma ni..kalau aku nak pastikan capai tahap ke idak..kena lah bagi dia baca...tapi knowing dia yang begitu "detail" dalam hal hal cam ni...hati rasa kecut sangat....what if tak capai tahap? or tak capai dia punya expectation?...huaaaa...tak pasal pasal...aku dapat extra kerja plak....sekarang ni pun dah rasa cam nak jadi sotong.. ada banyak tangan kot banyak yang bole dibuat ....tak ke cari penyakit namanya???....

so nak hantar ke idak kat supervisor ni........apa lah...benda kecik cam ni pun bole konpius...patutlah America selalu konpius ngan isu isu besar ...(ada kaitan ke dgn kekonpiusan aku ni...ke sebab supervisor aku org America...tapi dia tak pernah konpius le plak....)...huaaaaa.....cepatlah decide.......blurrrrrrr

Abang Ngah Hero...

Itulah ayat bodek yang Mama cakap kat Abang Ngah kerana berjaya berpuasa dengan baik pada hari pertama Ramadhan. Dugaan paling dasyat adalah dari J-Lo. Setiap kali dia makan, dia pasti berlegar legar disekitar Abang Ngah . Abang Ngah hampir hampir kalah sekitar jam 2 pm apabila J-Lo makan cokelat Kit Kat (favourite Abang Ngah) didepannya. Alhamdulillah, Mama berjaya membodek lagi menggunakan ayat ayat power untuk memberi sokongan moral kepada Abang Ngah.

Abang Ngah makan banyak sangat waktu berbuka sampai komplen letih dan akhirnya gagal untuk solat Maghrib. Dia merungut lagi, "dah lah kena puasa, kena sembahyang lagi..kenapa tak boleh pilih "..heeeee

Cabaran gak ni untuk latih Abang Ngah ni...dia plak amat payah untuk bangun sahur..emmmmmmm..
Esok nak guna ayat bodek apa le plak...

Ramadhan datang lagi

Kat sini dah ada yang start puasa hari ini (Masjid Turki). Cuma most of Malaysian will start our puasa esok le.. Tak tau la kot kot ada yang raya ikut Turki plak...kah kah kah...
Anyway, hopefully, this Ramadhan akan menjadi lebih baik dari tahun sebelumnya..
Salam Ramadhan untuk semua..

Kilang Duit/Perth Mint

How do you think you will feel when you were offered a job at Perth Mint? What about thinking yourself as a general manager there... Or to be more realistic and sensible, imagine yourself as an accountant there. ..Or you would like to be a little more down- to- earth..working as an executive there..emmmm....mesti seronok kan.

Jeng ! jeng ! jeng!.. my husband got an offer to work there. Of course not for the above positions but to fill in the most honorable job..."the cleaner" or bahasa kasarnya "pencuci toilet" or the upgrade version "floor engineer"...No worries.. kami satu family happy bebenor and bersyukur sesangat eventhough that job is just for 4 weeks .

We have been trying to minta kerja since January lagi, but bila recession ni those with student visa (limited working hours) memang perit/susah nak dapat kerja. Alhamdulillah, one of our friends nak kena balik Msia and he offered my husband to replace him.

Sebenornya, life (financially) memang perit especially for people like us yang dua dua belajar. Bukan tak nak kerja, cuma masalah visa and also time constraint especially we still have our little daughter yang memang kami tak mampu nak hantar childcare.. cost childcare dah naik lagi...the cheapest is $ 67-69 per day.. we are talking about perday rate babe!!

Disini Allah mengajar erti kesusahan, keperitan, kesabaran ..mengenalkan kami dgn pelbagai ragam manusia..mengajar kami menghadapi tekanan...membuat kami lebih menghargai masa....

Alhamdulillah atas segalanya..muga perjalanan PhD membantu membentuk kami menjadi manusia yang lebih baik...

Macam orang puteh cakap..No worries...when the going gets tough the tough get going....

p/s: pesanan penaja: "cucilah jamban untuk masa depan"

GSB Get Together

Yesterday my husband and I invited our Malaysian friends from GSB (Graduate School of Business) for lunch at our house. Actually, not many Malaysians attached to GSB. Most of the Malaysian postgraduates attach to Curtin Business School.Well.. some said we are the "isolated/unsocialised" group. May be due to the fact that muka muka GSB ni jarang kelihatan di social functions...heeee... But to keep ourselves motivated we keep on saying to each other that we are the "lucky few"..the selected one to carry the "burden and pressure" of being a GSB student. kah kah kah..

Back to the event..such a nice one since ni la masanya nak buat updates. As for me and another new student (baru 1 bulan arrived) took the opportunity to ask soalan soalan "cepu cemas" to the other two students yang dah buat first submission. Fuuh! suspen je bila dengar diaorang punya "journey". Keep on asking myself mampu ke ni nak sampai ke hujung jalan..sekarang ni pun rasa cam nak muntah je...heee..

Anyway, best le event makan makan ni..sebab kitaorang ni nama je satu workstation tapi weekdays kalau jumpa kat workstation pun tak sempat nak borak borak/ gossip gossip..selalunya bagi salam to each other then semua orang busy dgn "dunia" masing masing..

Teringat masa mula mula sampai and first week pegi workstation...dalam hati cakap..ish..gini ke bebudak PhD ni..cam tak ada perasaan je..berbagai gaya ada but semua org busy dgn hal masing masing..they talk to the computer more than they talk to each other !..now ni I think I myself has turned to be the "mutant"...kah kah kah...

One remark made by the new student during the makan makan session yesterday " takut la nak pegi workstation..takut nengok semua org sibuk buat kerja and nobody sembang sembang to each other"... Proved!! she is in the adjusting period before turning herself to be a "mutant" too.... heeeeee

Sebenornya kitaorang ni semua baik hati and "environmental friendly" lagi...cuma masa selalu mencemburui kami...cam joker cakap dalam filem batman lah.. "too many things to do in too little time"..

Looking forward for another GSB Get Together!

Dimana kan ku cari ganti....

Setiap insan ...
pasti merasa...
saat perpisahan terakhir...
dunia yang fana...
akan ditinggalkan...
hanya amalan yang dibawa...



Michael Jackson, Yasmin Ahmad and Ustaz Asri. I always admire their creativity and talent. Still remember the "beat it" era when I was a teenager. Masa tu rasanya kalau you tak tahu lagu Michael Jackson, you must have come from another planet!.

Yasmin Ahmad..I first attracted to her iklan. Rasanya iklan during hari raya. Then every year , rasa cam dok tunggu je iklan raya from her. Then baru I watched her movies. I didn't have any background dalam seni persembahan or what tapi bila nonton filem dia rasa cam best and tak buang masa!. Not many Malay movies bole bagi this kind of feeling.

Ustaz Asri.. Suka lagu lagu dia/ Rabbani and suka personality dia. At least he proved to be a great singer you tak perlu pakai tak senonoh, cipta personality yang entah apa apa, tak yah buka buka baju and tak yah tunjuk aksi terjeri -jerit bila ambik gambar..

Mereka semua dah pergi meninggalkan kita tanpa disangka sangka... Lirik lagu kat atas terus mengingatkan we will follow them soon....

Al Fatihah untuk mereka yang pernah menceriakan hari hari saya.....

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday!!. adussss..makin tua diriku ini. emmmm....hopefully by getting older I am getting wiser too. Muga terus dimurahkan rezeki and diberi kesihatan yang baik..Aminnnn.

p/s: gambar BMW 4 series tu lambang diriku yang dah pun masuk category "4 series" le...huaaaaaa

Happy Birthday J-Lo

Happy birthday to my drama queen. She is 3 years old but she keeps on saying she wants to be 4 years old. ok lah..4 tahun pun 4 tahun lah...Doa Mama and Papa Nina jadi anak yang solehah and berjaya dunia dan akhirat. Love you!

Playgroup

Another activity for J-Lo. Every Monday she will join the multicultural playgroup at Bentley communicare. We only need to pay $ 2 for the 2 hours session. The cheapest way to make J-Lo happy and make friends with children from different backgrounds. The only rule is that father/mother needs to be with the children during the session. Since Monday is my husband's turn to focus on PhD work, tugas membawa J-Lo tu jatuh diatas batu jemala patik le..

sms ...

sms dari utara membawa berita
berita gembira yang dah hampir terlupa
sekiranya benar bagai dikata
Alhamdulillah, dah nampak le "fruit of his labour"



p/s: tahniah to the other half......

Bz, very Bz, LLB

For the last few weeks:

I was busy contacting people to help me with the translation process. I have sent many emails to many people.Thank you to those who replied my emails. Really appreciate the feedbacks. Not many falls in this category. Alhamdulillah, I have found the right person and she has completed the first part of the process.

I was also very busy trying to balance everything; trying my very best to become superwoman; to fulfil all expectations. The truth is I am not a superwoman, I don't have any magic spell or a genie to help me around with the houseworks. Everything is DIY. I am just an old lady trying to survive in a journey full of uncertainties. A very tiring (mentally and physically)journey and the best part is I have another 3 years to go....huaaaa....

I thinkl I am a holder of LLB (Looks like busy) when it comes to my writing/ chapters progress!
Chapter 1,2,3,and 4...all in progress...huaaaaa..meaning tak ada yang siap betul betul lah tu..keep on betul sini, betul sana, terpeliot sini, terpeliot sana..bila nak selesai ni....

Storytime

This is another new activity which I need to "fit into" (no compromise!) my busy schedule. Every thursday; 11 -12; Victoria Park Library. Usually, librarian tu akan baca 3 stories then ada session nyanyi and finally session craft.

This week ada 3 cerita about dogs. Then nyanyi lagu apa ntah..( I failed to get the lyrics).. cuma bebudak tu nyanyi dgn penuh semangat kesukanan..Then session buat dog dari paper bag.

On the way back, J-Lo request plak dia nak ice coffee ngan fries kat McDonald.. Jadi pusingkereta-"drive through' le plak beli benda benda tu.. Sampai umah baru start masak for lunch... The two heroes akan balik sekolah le plak..

sambil masak..otak asyik dok fikir about kerja kerja PhD yang masih banyak untuk disettlekan..malam tu "overtime" la Mama dgn kerja kerja PhD plak.. Adusss busynya hidupku ini...

Yang pasti J-Lo happy all day..asyik dok tunjuk dog dari paperbag yang dia buat kat library tu..Siap cakap..next week nak pegi lagi...

Your Destiny is in Your Hands..

Itu Barack Obama cakap. Tapi bila nak masuk phase data collection ni (primary data); risau sgt le plak. Kalau respondents tu still tak nak jawab cam ne.. even selepas pelbagai cara dilakukan.
Dengar citer kenkawan yang dah melalui phase ni , especially yang ambik primary data kat Msia ...fuhhh..seram sejuk jadinya.

Pengalaman sendiri, baru tanya soalan biasa dah melenting. Cuma respon "melenting" dari org "besau besau" ni cam sama le plak bila literature cakap study berkenaan area tersebut susah nak buat kat Msia sebab difficulties in collecting data. .Itu belum nak korek or tanya bab bab yang kita pun tak minat nak tanya kalau bukan pasal study. Patutlah isu isu besar yang masih menjadi tanda tanya tu belum dapat penjelasan yang sewajarmya..

Muga dipermudahklanNya......

Questionnaire Design Techniques

I attended the above course at Bentley Campus. The person incharged has made a good, clear and precise explanation on the common mistakes made in designing questionnaires. Betullah org cakap, proses buat questionnaire ni kena betul betul teliti and banyak yang nak difikirkan. Alhamdulillah, nampaknya whatever yang I buat so far nampaknya berada di jalan yang "benar". The best part, dah dapat source untuk bantu dalam "data entry" bila tiba masanya nanti. Satu lagi proses yang memenatkan. Muga Allah permudahkan perjalanan seterusnya!

Malaysia Boleh....

Ari ni meh kita nulis about apa yang Malaysia lebih dari Western Australia ni plak. To those who are reading this posting, semua ni my personal opinion. No empirical study ye. I would like to highlight 2 things, facilities kat sekolah (primary school only ye!) and banking system.

Sebenornye Yob, facilities kat sekolah rendah kita lebih dasaaaat dari sekolah kat sini. Dari segi bangunan sekolah hinggalah bilangan Computers yang tersadai kat sekolah. Itu belum masuk bab taman taman hiasan keliling sekolah lagi.

Bangunan sekolah sini, mostlynya uzur bebenor, bangunan kayu, satu tingkat. nampak usang je. Kat Malaysia, bangunan kita lebih gah!. tambah tambah kalau sekolah baru dibuka. Bangunan paling korok 3 tingkat. itu belum masuk bab parking lot cikgu cikgu and tempat parking basikal bebudak. Padang bola, canteen . ishhhh...cam langit ngan bumi lah...

Cuma....susun atur dalam kelas kat Msia tu..nampak cam boring sikit.. kat sini ..bila kita nengok ke dalam kelas tu..kita yang tua ni pun rasa cam syok nak dok belajar dalam tu!. Barang barang yang didisplaykan tu sebenornya hasil kerja students. Tapi meriah betul. Penuh didinding and digantung gantung. kekadang nampak macam nak sambut birthday party le plak.

Padang sekolah.. diaorang punya padang simple..Tapi kat sekolah ada tempat mainan cam yang selalu ada kat McDonald tu...Waktu rehat plak bebudak digalakan oleh cikgu cikgu ni pegi "melompat". Boleh ambik bola or alat alat mainan lain. Kat Msia pun rasanya lagi banyak and lagi canggih peralatan sukan yang ada. Cuma rasanya bole guna masa subjek P.E je kot. kalau waktu lain cikgu marah! Meriah sungguh waktu rehat diaorang ni.

Library sekolah lebih uzur and kecil dari library kat sekolah anak saya dulu. Bezanya, sistem library sekolah kat sini lebih kurang kalaupun tak sama sebijik ngan sistem kat University. Maksud saya, susun atur buku, katalog, sistem pinjaman and etc. Ada computer untuk cari buku (tak banyak- tapi ada). Buku buku plak diatur rapi macam kat established Library. Kalau kita nengok dari facilities- Malaysia lebih banyak..Tapi pengalaman masuk library kat sekolah anak saya dulu...serabut kepala otak..material tak dikatalogkan dgn betul.. buku tak disusun dgn teratur..beterabur...

Computers...rasanya tak sebanyak kat sekolah di Msia(cikgu cikgu kat sini tak dapat computer free!) ..tapi Math, Science, English ..kebanyakannya diajar through games..bebudak seronok lah..pasal diaorang suka games..

Taman taman hiasan kat sekolah...Sekolah di Msia ada taman hiasan yang canggih..pokok pokok bunga yang glamor..cuma saya tak pasti adakah ibu bapa and cikgu yang tanam or sekolah keluarkan duit untuk upah contractor buat...Kat sini, tak ada taman taman canggih tu...tapi ada gak pokok pokok yang ditanam.. cuma ia adalah aktiviti persatuan ibu bapa guru... tak dak extra cost bayar kat contractor ..cost beli pokok and baja etc je....

Meh kita tulis bab banking sistem plak..Rupanya banking sistem kita kat Msia 30x ganda canggih dari sini.. (maklumat ni dapat dari manager bank kat Msia yang cuti tanpa gaji kat sini- hasil sembang sembang dia ngan manager bank kat sini).. start dari susun atur / hiasan dalaman bank sampailah keluasan bank and segala mesin mesin yang ada dalam bank. Malaysia lebih dasssaaaat lagi..Lebih glamor..lebih canggih..

Cuma yang membezakannya,,kat sini kalau nak buat urusan bank/ counter..tak kisah lah nak buka account ke nak simpan/keluar duit ke..semua tu bole dibuat within minutes.. di layan ngan penuh senyuman and kemesraan yang tidak dipaksa paksa..

Kat Msia (again my pengalaman le)..kalau nak berurusan di counter bank..siaplah 1/2 hari dok melangut kat bank tu..dilayan plak oleh staff yang tidak memberi seyuman ..cuma ada small "button badge" tersemat kat baju diaorang dgn pelbagai slogan berunsur "kemesraan" dgn pelanggan..

Kesimpulannya Yob, Malaysia ada semua...Malah lebih baik dari diaorang kat sini kalau kita betul betul utilise apa yang kita ada....cam org puteh kata le " the key succeeding in marriage is not finding the right person; its learning to love the person you found"...(ada kaitan ke ngan yang ditulis nih...kah kah kah...)

p/s: sekolah menengah diaorang lain le...siap ada swimmimg pool and gymnasium..

Movie

Last night we went to a movie-Transformer...(I don't even remember the full title)

My two heroes were so excited and thrilled about this movie. Papa diaorang pun cam ok je..He did mention to me "ok gak citer ni".

J-Lo , as usual tried her very best to make herself comfortable during the 2 hours slot. She occupied most of her time exploring the cinema instead of sitting down watching the lousy robots fighting.

As for me, ishhhhh...failed to digest the "story". Similar experience when I watched Harry Porter. Sampai sekarang tak tak paham paham... (knowing the new series of Harry Porter is coming...lagi le rasa cam loya gitu..heeee)..

Back to the transformer. I just didn't know how to appreciate robots as actors!!. I said to my heroes, "kalau Mama muda , cantik and seksi-mama pun bole berlakon dalam transformer coz the skill needed hanyalah jumping, running, and screaming!!.

Anyway, the two heroes and J-Lo seronok betul..sampai umah ..terus tidur...letih le gamaknya.

Redah je....

Keep reminding myself:

" If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience".

- Robert Fulgham

X-File

My second hero got another present from his school . He was so excited telling us as his name appeared in the school's newsletter. This time the present is in the form of a "voucher" to be exchanged kat kedai basikal (org utara panggil gerek).

We went to the shop. waaaaa...first time masuk kedai yang jual gerek and all peralatan yang sewaktu dgnnya. I didn't know about all the various accessories needed to ride a bike/gerek. During my childhood time, riding a bike was just an easy and simple stuff like A,B,C. What you need was just a bike. That one pun optional as you can always borrow (for free) from kenkawan or your abang (my case, we have to share the bike). No helmet, no other things. Off we went/ tour all around the kampung. Life was so easy.

My hubby and I were pening/ confius looking around the shop trying to find something that "worth" to tukar with the voucher. Of course we did not want to pay any extra cost (buying something more expensive than the given voucher). End up , my hubby said " we need to discuss more about this"...kah kah kah..(gamaknya dia konpius bebenor nak decide nak tukar ngan apa)..Till today, that voucher belum tukar lagi...tak apa la..December baru expire...heeeee

p/s: tajuk tu to indicate benda ni still unsolved le....heeee

FAQ

Seringkali kami menerima soalan "cepu cemas" dari rakan rakan.." macam mana you all study ek???"..seringkali juga jawapan yang diberikan adalah senyuman.

Senyuman yang membawa banyak pengertian, dan hanya kami berdua aje yang faham.

Kenyataannya, kami tidak dapat membuat jadual tetap untuk pegi ke workstation setiap hari ( 9-5 ) seperti kebanyakan students PhD lain.

Kami berdua selalu terkejar kejar mencuri masa untuk belajar and masa belajar tidak menentu, dimana ada ruang , disitulah kami belajar.

Sudah menjadi kebiasaan, my husband membawa article ketika pegi mengering baju (kami tak ada dryer, so musim sejuk ni pegi kedai je la untuk kering baju-jimat dari beli dryer). Sambil tunggu kain kering, ambik kesempatan baca article.

Saya pula , dah menjadi kebiasaan, mencuri belajar tatkala anak anak dan suami tidur nyenyak. Perasaan takut bangun sorang sorang tatkala makhluk lain dibuai mimpi terpaksa ditolak jauh jauh. Masa tu lah , saya dapat fokus sepenuhnya dgn kerja kerja PhD.

Alhamdulillah, Allah telah perjodohkan kami berdua dengan supervisors yang begitu memahami constraints yang kami alami. Setakat ini, kami berdua mencuba sedaya upaya untuk tidak mengecewakan kepercayaan yang diberikan mereka terhadap kami dan juga "duit rakyat" yang digunakan untuk memberi peluang kami mencari ilmu disini. Muga Allah terus memberi kekuatan untuk terus berjuang, walaupun lingkaran hitam dibawah mata makin jelas kelihatan .heeee

Gambar gambar ni adalah cara belajar yang dah biasa dilakukan oleh kami berdua... Yang kat luar sana..tak payah ikut...susah sebenarnya cara ni...tapi terpaksa....heeeeee

What I like most about schools here

Uniform
Each school ada colour tersendiri. Each school has its own identity and bebudak ni cam proud ngan sekolah diaorang. The best part, uniform bebudak ni adalah T-Shirt and seluar panjang/pendek. Jadi mak mak tak le penat nak menggosok baju sekolah. Bebudak pun selesa amat untuk ke sekolah.

Topi
Satu kemestian especially for Pre-primary and primary. Diaorang concern sangat about cuaca yang kononnya panas tu.

Kasut sekolah
Bole pakai apa apa kasut yang selesa kecuali selipar and kasut yang terbuka. Most of the bebudak pakai sport shoes pegi sekolah. Again selesa.

Aktiviti kat sekolah
Semua tanggungjawab cikgu yang mengajar/ pihak sekolah untuk sediakan bahan. Maksud disini contoh for class craft. Diaorang kena buat project buat Naga (dragon). Jadi kena guna old newspaper, balloon, glue etc. Bebudak or mak bapa tak payah le susah susah dok cari benda benda tu semua. Sekolah yang sediakan. Bebudak plak tak perlu angkut buat project kat umah. semua kerja buat masa sekolah. Another contoh, like cooking class,semua bahan bahan pihak sekolah sediakan. Legalah mak bapa dari segi nak tekejar kejar mencari bahan yang cikgu suruh bawa pegi sekolah.

Newsletter
Parents akan di e-mailkan tentang perkembangan/aktiviti sekolah or class anak anak through newsletter. Semua aktiviti/ cam sports ke /trip ke dah diplan pada awal tahun pengajian.

Rewards
Bebudak ni akan diberi sijil penghargaan to motivate them. Kat Primary school dah biasa bila balik sekolah lengan bebudak or baju penuh sticker. pelbagai bentuk and warna. Semua cikgu bagi atas pelbagai sebab contoh bole jawab, start bercakap, tolong kawan, pandai menari etc. Bebudak ni rasa macam diaorang disayangi and dihargai oleh cikgu cikgu. Itu yang cuti sekolah pun sibuk nak pegi sekolah.

Parents-Teachers interview
Before break akan ada sessi ni. A week earlier, pihak sekolah dah edarkan appointment card. Sessi jumpa cikgu ikut appointment yang dibuat. Jadi senang le mak bapa nak plan pukul berapa nak pegi jumpa cikgu. Tak yah la ambik cuti 1 hari plak just nak pegi berbincang bab anak anak ni.

Diary system
Bebudak ni wajib tulis homework, test, aktivity in their own school diary. Diary ni plak parents kena sign and cikgu class pun kena sign. Jadi markah test cikgu akan tulis kat situ le. Sian Abang Long, kalau markah Math selalu menakutkan je.Heeeee

Itu lah beberapa perkara yang menarik kat sini. Benda benda ni membuatkan saya "keep going" bila saya rasa down dgn kerja kerja PhD, sebab saya tahu anak anak suka sekolah disini!!

18SX

My house is located near Victoria Park. Finding halal restaurants is not a big problem here. One of the Indonesian restaurants is just a walking distance from my house. But , this does not mean my family always have outside food at home because as students my hubby and I cannot afford to have that lifestyle. However, once in a blue moon we do entertain our children with that kind of "luxury". Just to make them happy and as an escapism for me from doing my routine work (cooking ).

We found out, there are two nama makanan that might not lepas tapisan FINAS kalau kat Msia le. My two heroes akan ketawa terkekeh kekeh when they order these food i.e. Nasi goreng TETEK and Soup BONTOT. Ishhhhh...macam tak ada nama lain le plak..

My J-Lo plak whenever I cook soup kat umah, dia akan cakap soup bontot and my nasi goreng will become nasi goreng tetek. Dia dah blanket kan that term to indicate all kinds of soup and nasi goreng. Tak sedap betul telinga mendengar!!

Extremely Makeover

Project: Hair Restyle

Objective: Posh Beckham

Result: Dora The Explorer

Huaaaaaaaaaa......

Parking

Dari Nov08 sampai last week my husband and I telah dengan jayanya meletakkan kenderaan kami secara illegal di campus. Lupa plak nak cakap, kat sini students kena bayar parking bila masuk kawasan universiti. Rate dia $4 per day.

Untuk menjimatkan our expenses, my husband study le dulu area area yang "selamat" dari security team. Kemudian, dia brief kat I. Jadi whenever I masuk campus, I hanya akan cari parking kat area area selamat je la. Sampai last week berjaya la strategi tu!.

Tapi lately ni cam ramai le plak mamat mamat org puteh ni yang tumpang sekaki park kat situ.Gerrammm gak. Diaorang kan banyak duit ..pegi lah beli parking tiket and parking lah tempat students. Biarlah tempat tempat "strategik" tu untuk golongan cam I ni.heeeee...

Dah jadi payah le plak nak dapat parking kat kawasan selamat especially bila turn I pegi Uni . Maklum lah skill parking and menyelit nyelit ni tak capai tahap ISO pun. Disebabkan sekarang ni dah makin bz and makin kerap le plak I kena larikan diri ke library,last week my hubby dah beli lah parking tiket sampai abih semester ni ($58).

Bila dah ada sticker kat kereta tu, rupanya bila masuk Uni, tetiba psychologically rasa cam confident je. Dgn seronoknya I berputar putar mencari parking kat area yang dikhaskan untuk students( payah gak sebenornye). Satu lagi yang best jarak yang nak kena menapak pun tak le sejauh dulu..

terima kasih lah ye....

Thesis writing workshop

About 20 postgraduate students attended the above workshop which turned out to be more like a motivation session.heee.. Most of the participants are doing PhD or DBA. Of course at different level of the journey.

It was a good session eventhough it was diverted a little from the original objective. I met people with different background and with different stories of their PhD journey. Overall, most of us agreed that doing PhD is the most difficult, lonely and isolated journey.

I learned on how to overcome writer's block; dealing with self-doubt( diriku selalu alami yang ini);developing scholarly writing (bet not as easy as it sound!)and also about critical reading.Fuuuuhhh!! a lot actually.

The next step is the application process. Good luck to me!!

Satu Pandangan..

Ari ni tergerak hati nak tulis about perkara perkara baik yang org barat amalkan. Before citer panjang panjang eloklah saya clearkan kat sini , tak semua yang org Barat buat tu baik, cuma I am more interested to highlight yang baik baik. Why? sebab yang buruk tak yah lah kita share.Yang baik je la yang patut di share so that kita dapat manafaat dari amalan mereka.

1)Hari pertama registration,sedang asyik dok isi borang kat counter (student service) tetiba seorang lecturer datang menyapa dan bertanya adakah kami berdua students baru kat Graduate School. Lepas cakap sekejap dia terus perkenalkan dirinya Professor Y(bukan nama sebenar..hehee).Selepas dia berlalu, my hubby and I tergamam, seorang Prof boleh dengan senang hati menegur students seperti kami tanpa sebarang sebab, dan menghulurkan salam perkenalan.

2) Sessi pertama untuk jumpa supervisor. Kebetulan one of our supervisors tu adalah Director Graduate School pada ketika itu. Selepas memberitahu PA dia yang kami dah sampai untuk first meeting, the PA asked us to wait outside his office. Dalam jangkaan kami tentulah nanti PA dia akan memberitahu kami bila waktu yang sesuai untuk masuk berjumpa our supervisor. Tanpa kami duga , our supervisor yang juga seorang Director telah keluar menjemput kami berdua untuk masuk ke bilik and after the meeting he escorted us untuk jumpa dgn all the staffs (non academic).

3) Ketika masuk hospital (macam hospital kerajaan kat Msia le). Since tak ada org yang nak jaga my J-Lo, so kami kena bawa dia sekali. Dr yang kendalikan my case siap keluar explain kat my hubby yang I need to go through banyak tests and suggest supaya my hubby balik dulu dgn J-Lo and she will contact my husband bila semua selesai.

4) Rata rata lecturer yang berkelulusan PhD, tidak langsung kisah dgn title "Dr" yang mereka bawa. Semua nya panggil nama je. To them ilmu tu yang penting . bukannya title!.

5) Budaya sharing information. Diaorang ni cukup murah hati dgn ilmu yang mereka ada. Kekadang kita rasa soalan kita tu tak standard/ tak ilmiah/ remeh etc. Tapi org Barat ni they will try their best to answer our questions and paling best they answer it politely!!.

Kat atas hanyalah beberapa contoh yang kekadang membuatkan saya terfikir kenapa kita org timur , muslim pulak tu tidak ada ciri ciri yang sepatutnya kita tonjolkan. Kenapa sesetengah kita begitu kedekut dengan maklumat or ilmu yang kita ada. Bukankah semua itu hak Allah??? Harap harap kita termasuk dalam generasi yang akan membawa budaya yang berbeza.......

J-Lo and her disciplinary problems.

Kedua dua menteri kabinet telah sebulat suara menghantar usul kepada President agar J-Lo di hadapkan ke lembaga disiplin. Kedua dua menteri yang lebih senior juga telah membuat laporan lengkap kepada Balai Polis St James. Puan Inspektor yang bertugas mengesahkan menerima lapuran tersebut.

J-Lo is facing with various accusations especially dari segi mengganggu ketenteraman awam. Diantaranya menggangu kedua dua menteri ketika mereka bersolat, merosakkan mainan mereka, menghabiskan cokelat Kit Kat yang menjadi kegemaran Menteri kedua, memasang keyboard terlalu kuat sehingga mengganggu kedua dua menteri dan yang paling tidak dapat diterima oleh kedua dua menteri adalah memaksa mereka melihat persembahan nyanyian dan gelekan dangdutnya dan juga merampas sessi permainan playstation mereka.

Lembaga disiplin parti hari ni telah memanggil J-Lo untuk disoal siasat. Malangnya, J-Lo didapati enggan berkerjasama . J-Lo telah memberi jawapan yang sama bagi setiap tuduhan i.e."Nina, tak buat apa-apa pun..".

Siasatan masih dijalankan. Bagi pihak Presiden, beliau berjanji dgn menteri menteri kabinet untuk cuba menyelesaikan masalah disiplin J-Lo secepat mungkin..

The King of the School

Last week my second hero brought back home another two certificates for his outstanding performance at school. He was so proud about it and keep telling us (1000 times) that there were only 2 pupils got 2 certificates ( him and another aussie girl). Of course, his excitement somehow disturb my first hero.

Relax lah Abang Long..I think you could be like Steven Speilberg. A very talented film director. Mama was impressed with your 2 short stories project (for your English as a Second Language Class). Just focus more on other subjects. Then you can be whoever you want to be!!.

For Abang Ngah, If you really want to be the king of the school. You should start controlling your Big "M" (Malas) problem!!!

I love both of you with all my heart.