2 pass 1 fail

Bentley, Western Australia
I went to work a bit early this morning. I didn't realise the fact that I’m early only when I reached the car park. There were only small numbers of cars. Usually I need to make a few rounds before I managed to get the parking. Today is not a public holiday in Western Australia and hell its definitely not an Independent day (merdeka! merdeka! merdeka!)....uhuhuhu..Then I checked my watch, its not even 8 am, no wonder! What an early bird. While marching to my workplace, my brain started to compute the suitable activities to do while waiting for my shift. I decided to check my emails and read news online. Well, today was quite boring, not much queries and not much work to deal with. After finishing my work, I grabbed some lunch (beef stew, vegetables and plain rice). Then I went straight to the Health Centre. They did take another blood sample yesterday. It's not the same nurse so I can feel the pain. Unlike the previous nurse..uhuhuhu.. I missed her! It’s not that painful but only the exaggerated feeling! Today I made it on time in fact I’m early for the appointment (learn from the lesson!!! No more Malaysian time). Once the doctor called me in and ushered me for the seat, he explained the result to me. I passed all the tests except 1 test. Another two tests I’m doing ok, nothing to worry about but another test I need to repeat. Iskkk..feel like sitting for the exam..pass, fail and repeat...uhuuhuhu. He made an early appointment for me on Monday morning next week. But I do believe I will pass the repeat test because I’m "clever enough"...ahahaha...missed old good days when I did my undergrad..life full with tests, assignments, exams.. I like assignment but not exam. Assignment is something that you are fully incharge..you can do like there's no tomorrow to get the best result. But when it comes to exam or test, there are many external factors influence your performance. For instances your nervousness can affect your performance. You can’t give your best!! After all the hassle with the work and the health things, I went to Jumaah prayer. The khutbah today is about fasting..marhaban ya Ramadhan. Few points I would like to share;

The month of Ramadan is an opportunity to develop qualities of endurance and self-restraint, to control anger and a fiery or malicious tongue

"The strong man is in fact the person who controls himself at the time of anger."

The above Hadith is stated in Bukhari.

Wordless Wednesday

Technology Park, Bentley Western Australia

This morning I received a phone call but I missed it. But the caller left the voicemail message.

Hi I’m looking for arsaili, I’m XXXX calling from Health Service Centre. Please call me back at XXXXXXX and speak to myself or any available nurses. Thank you.

“Umm, this must be related to the blood and urine test”, I told myself. So fast, I thought i will only get the result by thursday nextweek!. I rang back and spoke to the nurse. After asking for my identification – full name and date of birth, she told me about the result. The blood test is not good so I need to come and see the doctor for further details. She did explain to me but my brain was not functioning properly at that time. Uhuhuhu..absent minded syndrome. What am I going to explain to Lin later..aiyoyoyo…I don’t even know the details. Its ok, just wait till I see the doctor on Friday at 12.15 pm. Then I will get all the details. This time around I will make sure I wouldn’t miss my appointment again! Iskkk..not in the working mood, but I need to finish the “checklist things”…assignment from my sensei. To do or not to do…to do or not to do…lalalalala!

One fine Saturday

Australian Islamic College, Kewdale Western Australia

Subject: Pre-Ramadan Islamic Bazaar this weekend

Assalamu Alaikum IBC - Islamic Books & Clothing from Melbourne are coming to Perth for one weekend only to hold an Islamic Bazaar. We have literally picked up our shop in Melbourne.....................

When: Sat August 18th & Sun August 19th
Where: The Gymnasium at AIC Kewdale President Street, Kewdale
Time: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Who: Everybody is Welcome

#Excerpted from the email send by info@islam-australia.net

Last two week, I went to Pre Ramadhan Islamic Bazaar with a friend. At first we thought Kewdale is very far, but on the day we want to go, I found out its not really far from my house...heck...just wasting my energy to think about where to pray, where to buy halal lunch etc... it is on the way to Belmont Shopping centre. I drove pretty confidence since I'm familiar with the main road and there is also a detail map that I bought. The best thing in this country, the layout of the road is very systematic. You just need to count how many junction or traffic light as a guide and it will lead you to your destination. The problem occurred when we reached the Australian Islamic College (AIC). At the main entrance, there is no sign or banner about this event. There is not even a single car there. They must be kidding if they assumed all people would know where the gymnasium is. I checked at the back entrance on the left wing but there was no crowd at all. I drove back to the main entrance. By then there were 2 cars on the parking lot. So, my friend asked one of the lady drivers if she got any idea where is the event taking place. She's also on the same boat. So, I decided to drive and check the right wing. At last I found it. It is not near to drive from one end to another end, from one wing to another wing. This is very lousy promotional technique, arrrgggh!!!. When we entered the building, there were lots of items available especially the Islamic books. When I just about to do the cruising, I heard the adzan zohor. So, I decided to join the jamaah which was held outside the gymnasium but still in the building. After the prayer I continued with the cruising and I found 3 interesting books. There are quite expensive but it should be ok. You can't compare dollar to ringgit right... But the worst thing is that, all that 3 books are still intact on my bookshelf. There are endless list of books I would love to read. But I'm so busy with my work and project...maybe later when I'm in the stress mode and my brain are saturated with works and project, then I will pick one of the book from the list. I think the bestseller novel by John Grisham is at the top rank of my list at this point of time.

Monday blues

Health Service, Bentley Western Australia

Gosh..I’m late for my appointment. I woke up early this morning, but after subuh I went back to bed. I’m still not feeling very well this morning. Then I have just realised that I’m late for my appointment. It was suppose to be at 1045 and once I reached there it’s already 1105. Aiyoooo..I make a sad - 10cent face to the receptionist. She was asking me if I have a good reason for coming late…I told her that I’m sick this morning. At last she squeezes me in and the doctor also mad at me for being late. I just said sorry....it’s my fault ..sob sob sob. I came to see him for two reasons, for the flu (more than a week) and also for my every 6 month follow up as adviced by my nephrologist. I don’t like the follow up; in fact I’m supposed to do it in the last 2 months. I’m scared of the needle uhuhuhh.. Thank God, my blood pressure was nomal, that’s a good sign that I’m doing ok. Then I went to take my urine sample, the ‘mid stream’ urine. Since I did urine sample for many times, so I’m quite an expert already. The finale... its time for blood sample...my heart beats started to play the dangdut rhythm…dag dig dug (I just read about the dangdut singer, Haiza got married to the ex-hockey player). I told the nurse that I’m so scared of the needle even though this is my hundred times. “Nobody likes needles” she replied. I salute her..she’s an expert, I don’t even feel any pain. Fuhhhhh..what a relief!!!!!! The doc asked me to call for the result between 2-3 pm, Thursday next week.

Sunday Scribblings

Bentley, Western Australia

It was late in the afternoon. I just finished my duty. A soft wind chilled the air. I was heading back to my car. Once I reached the car park, its raining…its pouring and I can see people were running from the rain. I drove my old white Toyota hatchback 1.6 cc to the workstation at the Technology Park. By then, its stop raining and I walked slowly to the workstation to check my email. Then I rang Lin using my skype account. It is cheap for international call and we had been chatting for a while. On the way to praying room, I met a Vietnamese friend. I’m not that close with him though but both of us usually stay late in the workstation. He told me that he’s leaving to Vietnam for good. He will be flying to Kuala Lumpur tonight and then to Ho Chi Min city. Deep down I started to feel sad…sentimental feeling took place. Well, sad because no more friends accompanying me to burn midnight oil. I wish him all the best with his career. After I performed my prayer I drove to Zam house. Earlier, I had sms him about my visit. His wife just delivered a cute baby boy last week. I brought a gift for Zam junior and also his daughter. I’m just afraid that kakak will be jealous to see her brother get a present. Woww…I met energetic Zam junior, so much like his dad. “Like father like son” I said. After having coffee and peach caramel, I told Zam that I want to make a move. Its getting late and I headed back home to cook my dinner, Honey Roasted Chicken rice. Fuhhh….Mission accomplished!

Marsupial Mammal 2

Rotness Island, Western Australia

What Rat? Not Rat?
After frequently seeing what they believed to be rats, Dutch voyagers named this island Rottnest (Rats nest). In fact the rats were quokkas, the pouched mammal almost exclusively found on the island and its unofficial mascot.

Quokka belongs to the same family of kangaroo - the marsupial mammal. This herbivore creature is very welcoming. When we were in the island, we can saw a lot of them. At first I feel a bit reluctant to be in close proximity with this creature because it reminds me of a rat. But when I saw her (I assumed it is a female quokka), the way she moves and acts make me fascinated. It’s nothing like rat and so cute indeed. I fed her with the bread and hey look.. the way she eat...just like human.

Keroncong buat Ana

East Victoria Park

I had really late dinner last Sunday. I was fall asleep and when I got up it’s almost 10 pm. I can hear the pleasant sound of a growling stomach …I guess my stomach started to play a beautiful song call “keroncong buat Ana”…but the sad thing is that there was no food for dinner (uwaaa sedih sey). I’m so lazy to cook in the middle of the night. Well actually I don’t want to disturb my neighbour next door. The wall is very poor sound proof insulation…but I had no choice. I’m “hungry like a horse”..so I decided to cook egg sauce bihun, simple and fast recipe (for lazy people like me). I tried my best to minimise the sound effect and you can imagine how polite I am that night. If not you can hear all the utensils kind of flying here and there. While chatting with Uncle J, I managed to prepare my dinner..ehehe..I told him that I’m “killing two birds with one stone”. Let me share the recipe….

*Heat 2 spoon of cooking oil in wok
*Stir fry garlic and onion till yellowish
*Add some water
*Add corn flour (which already dilute in water)
*Add fish sauce, oyster sauce and soy sauce
*Put squid and fish ball
*Put carrot and pak choi
*a pinch of salt
*at last, put egg and stir

I never measure anything, so all measurements are approximate and should be adjusted based on your taste.

Then serve with bihun…walla!!!!!

Road to success

Rotness Island, Western Australia

The Road to Success is paved with failure. So don't give up..One time failure doesn't mean forever failure...standup and go on. I'm struggling to achieve my dream..hope it's will not forever dream, but will become a reality...ameen.

One who adopts patience will never be deprived of success though the success may take a long time to reach him.: Imam Ali (r.a)

Agik idup agik ngelaban

Technology Park, Bentley

I don’t feel happy today with my work. Maybe I’m stress with the new working schedule. It keeps on changing and it’s hard for me to settle. Once you are at your comfort zone there will be a resistance to change. Another issue is the working values. I don’t know, working in this country is totally different when I was in UK. You can’t denied the fact that “lain padang lain belalang, lain ikan lain lubuknya” or something like “to live and let live”. In whatever situation, we need to learn how to adapt well. I’m trying my best but it wouldn’t give me any satisfaction.....till the clashed of my personal values with the working values resolved.

"It’s time we stopped putting up with unhappy workplaces and bad bosses. Unhappiness at work is not a minor annoyance. It makes us tired, stressed and negative. Worst case, it makes us sick or kills us. Being happy at work makes you more energetic, productive, motivated, creative and successful. That is what we need more of. That is how we will work from now on" - Alexander Kjerulf

"Ini Bahagianku Di dunia" as quoted from KS blog

Westfield Carousel Shopping Centre, Perth

When I read this wordings "there's something for everyone", its remind me of one of the entries from Kassim Selamat..."Ini bahagianku di dunia". Yea..Allah is the Al-Mighty..each and everyone of us have our own faith and destiny, there's always something for us, might it be good or bad. For instance we might think sickness is bad for us, but only Allah knows what is really good or bad. I think that’s why people come out with the term 'A blessing in disguise'. We don't recognize the mussibah that we face at first as a good thing. So, always look on the bright sight of life. InsyaAllah.."there's something for everyone", but I would like to remind myself that our life just like a rollercoster, there is up and down.

To KS, keep on writing coz I will always miss the entries. Yea..take a break but don't dissappered ok. Recite as many du'a as possible KS...

La ila ha illa anta subhanaka inni kuntu minazzalimeen(Ch. Al-Anbiya (21): vs. 87)And Yunus, when he went away in wrath, so he thought that We would not straiten him, so he called out among afflictions: There is no God but Thou, glory be to Thee; surely I am of those who make themselves to suffer loss.

Marsupial mammal

Western Australia’s Caversham Wildlife Park

Kangaroo is a marsupial mammal; Mammals of which the females have a pouch (the marsupium) containing the teats where the young are fed and carried*.

A male kangaroo is called a boomer

A female kangaroo is called a flyer

A baby kangaroo is called a joey

I like to see their actions...sexy..ehehe.

* source: wordweb

Patriotic

Sorrento Quay, Hillary Boat Harbour

On the way back from AQWA - the Aquarium of Western Australia, I went to Sorrento Quay for window shopping and looking for the food. But nothing much in the shops and even the kebab outlet sold only halal chicken kebab and the rest of the menu are not halal...umm..I don't feel like eating there. So I just walked around the open space to get some fresh air. Somehow I saw a signpost and as my eyes caught the name of Kuala Lumpur on one of the direction I felt so proud (reflexion of Bulan Merdeka..ehehe). At least the aussie recognized Kuala Lumpur as one of the major cities. But when I got closer, my enthusiasm drained to disappointment......KUALA LUMPAR...what a shame!!!!!! Can you all see it???

Eating by colours

French cutlets, roasted potatoes, grilled mushroom and tomatoes

Eating is one of my favourite activities. Well of course people need to eat. But I think I have extra passion for food. Err …maybe I can be considered as one of the gastronomist. But the irony is that my body maintain like a plank of wood. Well, nothing surprise at all because I’m not a healthy child anyway.. My weight dropped after undergoing major operation about 10 years ago. Ever since my weight just increased a few kgs till now. I have lots of advise from friends and relatives…you should eat a lot bla..bla..bla… but its only my closed family knows who am I..the food monster. My big sister used to warn me to watch my diet because she worried I took a lot of food with high cholesterol. People always relate the high cholesterol with big size but it is totally wrong. Even slim people also facing the same problem… When I lived abroad for almost 5 years, what I missed most is my mum’s cooking and Malaysian food. I think by then I started to appreciate my own country and lot of my friends agree with me. Well this is the most common issues shared by Malaysian living abroad. “Anywhere is always lesser than one's homeland, no matter how lacking it can be”…. or 'Hujan emas di negeri orang , hujan batu di negeri sendiri, baik lagi negeri sendiri…' At the beginning, it so difficult...I’m lousy in cooking but for survival cooking skill is a must. I cannot eat kebab all the time because my ‘Malaysian stomach’ need rice and Malaysian food. Thanks to technology, with the help of internet, I can access to lot of recipe and from there on I keep on trying all different kind of recipes. My mum help me a lot, she is my call center. As time goes by, my skill is getting better. When I returned to Malaysia, I was pampered by my mum, all the stalls and restaurants. Easy access to foods and busy with works make me full time gastronomist rather then a ‘chef’. The lazy syndrome develops faster than anything, so I just cook once in a while…and I found out most of my skill tarnished. There is a lot of recipe that I used to remember by heart, now all gone. I don’t expect that I will be away from Malaysia for another longer period, so now I start all over again. It’s not too bad though, I just need to polish a bit here and there to improve my cooking skill. When I’m writing this entry, it does remind me of arwah Zul. The colon cancer that took his life.. .kind of alert me to watch my diet and “eating by colour”. Eats balance diet with more vegetables and less red meat will help.

Life is like a boat

Rotness Island, Western Australia

In the blink of eyes, they lost their parents and 3 other siblings. What even worst, the 15 years old survivor saw the fire swallowed her loved one and can’t do nothing to help. She is traumatised with the incident. This heartrending story makes me ponder and I belief all things happen for a reason. In this world, not all people are fortunate. I can imagine parents with 3 children at the university and the rest still schoolings need lot of money to spend;

Jiran-jiran keluarga itu mendakwa ibu mereka, Sufiah pernah mengadu keluarganya kesempitan kerana wang banyak dibelanjakan untuk membiayai pendidikan anak-anaknya. Lima hari lalu bekalan elektrik ke rumah itu dipotong kerana suaminya, Kasmuri, tidak dapat menjelaskan tunggakan bil sebanyak RM800. Sejak itu mereka sekeluarga menggunakan lilin dan api lilin itu dikatakan menjadi punca kebakaran tersebut.

Due to incident, they are killed in a horrific blaze that gutted their wooden house in Kampung Tengah, Kluang at 3.30 am. This is all faith, Allah loves them more.

This what people said, the love of the parents is more than anything. They will sacrifice for their kids. This is a good lesson for me as a son to fulfil my responsibility towards my parents. If they can take care all of us, there is no reason for many of us can't take care just both of them. We will be at their shoes one day. After we have grown old and our children have flown the nest and have their own nests, you are sent off to the Old Folks' Home, what will be the feeling? That’s is the reason, if we treat our parents bad, most likely our children will do the same when we are old.

Al-fatihah to the victims and May Allah place all of them among the believer..ameen. And to the survivor and the rest of their children, I hope they will study hard because with the ilmu they can change their life and also be good children. Always pray for the family members that passed away.

One down, more to come!

Rotness Island, Western Australia

Alhamdulilah!!!!! one hurdle down, more to come. I’m done with my candidacy after struggling with sweat and pain. The presentation in front of the professor, associate professor, senior lecturers and friends took almost 1 hour including Q&A session. The session also reached lecturer in another campus with teleconferencing. I started my presentation with no emotion and butterflies in my stomach all flew away. I regain my confidence with the supports from the member of the floor. In this country, people are really helps when it comes to presentation. The best underlying principle is that they really want to help by giving brilliant suggestion not CONDENMING. The same scenario also happens in UK. I still clearly remember during my viva session when I was in UK few years back. Two professor from other university (external Examiner) and 1 internal examiner created a relax and friendly moment of time for me when I hardly can’t sleep the night before facing the stomach churning so call viva. They really help to cool me down and I can be myself to defend my thesis up to my knowledge with no interference of nervousness. Anyway, it is such a big relief after the candidacy. My supervisor said she’s happy with my presentation and I can celebrate…but “don’t get yourself drunk”! I just smiled and deep down I want to explain that as a Muslim, I don’t take alcohol at all. I did celebrate but with my friends at one of the Malay restaurant.