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...