~ bljr itu mmg challenging: my story ~

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal. it is d courage to continue that counts"

~ Winston Churchill ~

 

after i completed my bachelor's degree at IIUM, it didn't immediately cross my mind to continue with getting a Master's degree. dh abis bljr kn, pkir nk cr kerja jelah. tp i sort of jd cm org blank/blur (mmg la sedia asal blur pn)... nk kerja tp xtau nk kerja kt mna/nk kerja apa. sempat la submit resume kt company, tp submit resume pn bkn dgn sepenuh hati. sempat gk g interview kt 1 or 2 tmpt tp mmg x sepenuh hati pn g interview.

 

luckily it didn't took me longer to discover d Master of Library & Information Science (MLIS) program at IIUM. kebetulannye my ex-roommate was taking this program at that time, so she became my source of reference. i asked her everything that i needed to know, including "susah x buat masters?" and "ok ke buat MLIS ni?" (soalan2 standard utk org yg masih 50-50 & xtau nk pilih jln mna). i became d all-rounder - submitted my resume & went for interview dgn x sepenuh hati, sibuk called my friend who was d source of reference, applied for the MLIS program & finally got my offer letter to do MLIS d following semester - all these in 1 semester.

 

basically lps undergrad i sempat menganggur for 1 semester jgk la. MENGANGGUR mknanye xde duit/income. duit dlm savings xla sebyk mna pd ketika itu. tp ada hati nk buat masters. so, savings digunakan utk byr registration fees & what not. during my 1st semester, i realized yg perbelanjaan/cost of living meningkat akibat photocopy and printing. print assignments, photocopy journal articles, print journal articles yg online, photocopy notes, etc2... seriously, duit semakin menyusut. tetiba b4 d end of that 1st semester, i saw an advertisement posted on the notice board to apply for scholarship. when money became d issue, i pkir d only chance to get more money is by getting a scholarship. & d only way to get a scholarship is by studying hard and get perfect scores for all courses that i took in that 1st semester so that nx semester dh leh dpt scholarship.

 

d motivation to study hard & to score good marks pd awalnye came from d idea to get a scholarship. i did pretty well in that 1st semester, went to the administration office again to ask about d scholarship & was asked these questions - "what's d topic of your research? where's your research proposal?". i was like "huh, apa hal pulak dgn topik utk research bagai ni?". that was when i got to know that in order to get a scholarship, one must be a postgraduate student doing Master by research. adoiiii. sempat la rs down sekjp cz kpale dok pkir "duit duit, di mana kau duit". tp memandangkn my results in that 1st semester x menghampakan hati i, i guessed that d most logical thing to do is just to continue & study sehabis baik for d remaining courses. selebihnye kita serah pd Allah cz Dia yg mmberi rezki.

 

mmg btul Allah tu maha kaya & Dia bg kt kita mnda yg kita nk pd wktu yg kita xjgka. wpun i xdpt scholarship, i stil survived dgn duit yg mmg xde tnjk ciri2 nk meningkat dlm account. pandai2 la urus duit ms tu. & tetiba, i was offered utk kerja parttime jg resource centre at the faculty. i worked there with another friend. kerja parttime cnfirm2 la dpt duit =) suka. xde la sesak nafas sgt pkir duit nk byr itu ini.

 

tp bila duit dh xjd issue, mnda len lk yg jd issue... i was forced to become wiser in managing my time. kalo kelas pg, kna kerja ptg. kalo kelas ptg, kna kerja pg. so, sesak nafas pkir cmne nk divide masa utk wt assignments/g library/wt discussion/group project/bc articles/etc2 (tp, asal mlm je sibuk main Zuma smpi ntah kul brp... yg tu pndi la pulak i divide time, muahahaha). as a result of xbrp wise nk divide masa utk study & kerja, jd lah i seorg gadis yg sntiasa penuh dgn airmata cz xtahan dh idup x terurus. byk kali gk i nanges cz dh xlarat sgt nk study. susahnye. rs nk quit. i was already in my final semester & penuh dgn perasaan nk stop study bcz rs xmampu nk urus ms utk study & kerja =( giller btul ms tu. itu br kerja parttime.

 

however, i had good support system around me. lecturers, friends, family - they were my source of inspiration. lgpn, i sndiri yg decide to continue studying. dlm erti kata lain, i sndiri yg gatal nk smbg buat Master. kalo i quit ms dh nk habis, mmg la xde org len yg leh dipersalahkn kecuali i. so, i bertahan. gigih. truskn gk wpun byk nanges (syaiton mmg berusaha habis2an nk hasut supaya i quit). & finally i managed to complete d whole program in one and a half years.

 

to me, i don't think i'll b able to do well if i work & study at d same time. maka itu, i tabik spring kt sesiapa yg smbg study & kerja serentak (ex-officemate, anda dlm kategori ini, hehehe).

 

~ getting a Master's degree ~

 

had d chance to meet my lecturers yg i dh xjmp for almost 5 years. it got me thinking that i owe them too much. nk bls jasa cekgu2 yg dah bg i pandai ms buat masters dulu bknnye senang. so sebagai nk membls jasa, i buat la promotion yg x brp nk grand ni:-

 

"anyone with a good bachelor's degree & thinking of continuing your study, why don't u join Master of Library & Information Science program offered at IIUM. click here if u want to know more about d program (its requirements, courses offered, career opportunities, etc2)"

 

.ini bkn iklan berbayar.

 

~ bulan-bulan bahagia ~

Malaysia is rich with public holidays. we have d national level and d state level public holidays. for this year, we'll have most holidays in January and February, then bergigih kerja frm March to April, then a couple of days cuti in May and June, then fasting month and hari raya celebration in July and August, then gigih lg in September, then come anothr hari raya for muslims in October, and finally more and more holidays in November and December. working in PJ where u can either b working at d "PJ yg KL", or "PJ yg Selangor", that adds up to how ppl sometimes get confused. maka itulah jdnye smtimes i received work related phone calls on my mobile when "PJ yg KL" bercuti cz ppl thought that we are "PJ yg Selangor".

throughout January and February yg ada byk2 holiday ni, here's what i did:-
 

halfway reading 3rd book this year

 

 completed these two in January

 

 watched this cerita hantu Thailand, "3 AM" 

 

andddd.... did some shopping here and there... hahahahaha, bunyi mcm org kaya byk duit sgt =)

 

it's d 1st week of February. more personal shopping will come this month. & also other things to do and event to attend. yg pastinye, i xde lah g casting jd model,muahahahaha. yeahhhh, i'm grateful for the rezki granted by Allah to me.

 

~ ordering food has never been this easy ~

lunch break singkat? u dnt have canteen or cafeteria at your office? susah nk kua g cari food for lunch cz office korg kt area yg sesak-jammed-macet-padat merayap? bored with d food selection that u eat/prepare everyday? haaaa... ini dia solution menarik lagi memudahkan. i tertgk TV td. there's a segment in that program yg buat coverage psl service ni - food delivery service. anda2 yg rs nk kehidupan yg menyenangkn when it comes to finding food, now we have food delivery service by MangkukTingkat and Foodpanda.

 

~ MangkukTingkat ~

this is food delivery service yg provide food for lunch (10 a.m to 1 p.m.) and dinner (5 p.m to 8 p.m.), from Monday to Friday. sabtu, ahad and public holiday diorg rehat. u'll get buah, sayur and 3 jns pilihan lauk (chicken, meat or fish). they have published their menu for January and February 2013 and it all sounds yummy (take note Malay food lovers) =) korg leh order for 1 week terus or 1 month terus. selain drpd package lauk biasa, MangkukTingkat also provides catering service, as well as food utk ibu2 yg sedang berpantang. see? it's sooooo much easier nowadays... sesuai la dgn tagline diorg - "Senang nk makan", hehehe. haaaa... apa lg...kalo nk order, sila la e-mail mangkuktingkat. apa2 info lain, u can refer to their website.

 

~ Foodpanda ~

at the moment Foodpanda caters for those living/working in Cyberjaya - Putrajaya, KL, Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam - Klang, and Subang Jaya - Puchong. u can order food in Malaysia from 169 restaurants. PappaRich, The Chicken Rice Shop, The Secret Recipe, Restoran Bangkok House (PJ), My Asam Pedas Shop, Hadramawt Palace - those are among the restaurants listed on Foodpanda where u can order ur food from. once u have selected your area, they will show you the restaurants that deliver to your area as not all restaurants deliver to the whole city. browse the menu, make your selection, confirm your order, enter delivery address, follow the checkout instructions and they will send you an SMS to confirm your order and delivery time. u'll then just have to wait for the food to be delivered to you. at the moment, they only accept cash on delivery, so get your cash ready b4 d delivery is made. they r also partnering with Lazada and Zalora... u'll receive voucher from Foodpanda when u make online purchase from Lazada and Zalora (i received mine when i purchased books from Lazada). this is somethg more interesting, apart from Foodpanda Malaysia, there's also Foodpanda Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Vietnam and Taiwan. that would b great help when u r in those countries.

 

.it's so easy to get food nowadays, so don't forget to exercise =).

 

~ my extreme condition ~

when i'm extremely hungry

ini rasanye ramai dh tau... perut i mmg xleh dikawal bila i dh lapar. dia punya vibrate, kuat yg amat smpi sebatu leh dgr ;p itu tipu. bkn la sebatu. tp... cukupla org2 sekeliling lh dgr & sggh la memalukan. ini bkn well-known fact among my officemates je (diorg dh lali kot dgr perut i bunyi), dgn vendor2 aku pn dh tau gk. malu. tp nk buat cmne, terima la saya seadanye, muahahahaha.

bila i extremely marah

i hv this weird habit bila i rs nk marah yg cm xleh dibendung. tp habit ni lh buat kt umh je... whenever i kt rumah & rs nk marah yg amat2 sgt, i g basuh kain/baju i. most of my clothings i basuh dgn tangan. so, bila rs nk marah membuak2 dlm diri (hasutan syaiton betul la), pegang berus & start mmbasuh baju kurung, shirts, pants, tudung, etc2, lma2 ilang rs nk marah =) weird huh? tp kalo kt opis, hmmm....xkn nk basuh kain lap sinki pantry lk kn.

bila i extremely malas nk bercantik2

bila dtg mood nk bercntk2, i pki la cntk2 g ofis (i jelah rs cntk, org len xrs cntk pn xpe). tp bila dtg mood mls, i amik bj kurung cotton plg sempoi je g ofis. bab kasut lk, i beli kasut/sandal ada heels tinggi sket pn cz taknak dikata org - "pe jns pompn daaaa... org len cntk pki kasut de heels g opis. ko pki kasut flat je". ikutkn hati nk tutup tlinga je dgr org ckp cmtu, tp xpelah... i cnsider itu sbgi constructive criticism, so i beli la heels. tp kdg2 py malas nk pki high heels g krja, sggp pagi2 kelam kabut gsk shirt & pants supaya leh pki kasut flat g ofis, hahahaha. shirt, pants & kasut flat = combination terbaik utk org mls cm i. ngehehehe. eh, bkn mls la... kita utamakn cmfort utk kaki. hah, alasan!!!

when i'm extremely exhausted

kdg2 bila dh terrrrrrrrlalu terrrrrrrlalu exhausted (1000X) bila blk krja, i ltk beg, tukar baju, then tido je trus smpi pagi (ni saat2 "bestfren tiap bln dtg la"). sggp xnk mkn. kalo time leh smyg plak, lps smyg mgrb and smntr nk tgg ke isya', leh baring2 dulu kt sejadah dgn berdoa semoga cpt la azan isya'. recently, dgn enhancement kt office yg memerlukan byk tenaga utk berfikir, i blk kerja dgn exhausted tapi... ada tapi di situ... mata xleh nk tido bila septtnye i tido. jadilah i burung hantu di mlm hari, berjaga & smbg buat kerja & only get like 3 hours sleep. mmg amalan yg tidak baik. & when my fren knew about my lack of sleep cndition, trus la i mndpt ayt nsht ini dr beliau - "heh, anak dara xelok xcukup tido. hilang seri!". ok fine, i nk maintain berseri...harus la aku ikut nsht dia =)

.now, i'm extremely malas nk bsh kain, so how?.
 

~ 1 day @ Cameron Highlands ~

i had a one-day trip to Cameron Highlands yesterday, with my officemates. we are still in d semester break, weekend xkrja msa semester break ni, jd dimanfaatkn dgn plan utk a short trip. it's interesting to see Cameron Highlands for d 1st time... yeah, it's my very 1st time there. 

 

i nk decide whether to go or not to go pun dh mkn masa. dgn skrg ni weather asyik hujan, dgn asyk dgr crita tanah runtuh here and there, dgn nk mntk permission from my parents...tu yg rs2 cm potensi tinggi utk x ikut. tp last2 dgn pnh keyakinan bg decision to penganjur that i'm going and yeah, rs cm xlh nk tido mlm pulak d night before d trip, hahahaha...sewel =)

 

mmg btul pn hujan turun kt highway on our way there. bkn sikit2 py hujan, lebat bkn main. accidents at several places & jugak kes yg kereta rosak, tayar tercabut bagai. dlm hati berdoa supaya once we reached there, takdelah hujan lg. our 1st stop was at a strawberry farm & bergmbr2 dlm kedinginan (it was still drizzling, mmg la dingin).

 

memandangkn ni my 1st time g Cameron Highlands, i pn xtau sgt la sbnrny tmpt2 yg kitrg stop tu kt area mna. tp yg pstinye, ni first time rs mewah tgk fruits & flowers & veggies byk... & muraaaaaahhhh!!! heaven!!!

 

 ~ fruits ~

 

 ~ flowers ~

 

~ veggies ~

 

after lunch & solat break, we headed to tea plantation. i adore the beautiful landscape at the tea plantation. cntk... hijau & peaceful. kalo dok mengadap tea plantation ni pagi2, sure lg rs peaceful rsnye eh. cm feeling2 ombak rindu kot, hahahaha. after dh puas wt photoshoot session kt cni (photoshoot katanye!!!), sila lepak2 minum ptg kt tea house yg de kt sini. there are plenty of choices utk teh... i chose yg agk pelik, Chocolate Tea. d Chocolate Tea cm wt brain i confused nk rs Chocolate or nk rs Tea. nsb baik i order gk brownies. brownies ada eskrem... heaven lg!!!

 

 ~ greenery ~

 

 ~ Chocolate Tea (confusion) + brownies (heaven) ~

 

next, went to another strawberry farm. tp maybe minggu lps final week cuti skolah, so rmi dh petik strawberry ms tu & x tgglkn utk kitrg petik2 gk, huhuhuhu. xleh la nk feeling2 jd pemetik buah strawberry. xpelah. final stop, we went to d pasar mlm kt Cameron Highlands ni. oh ye, kt pasar mlm ni 1st time i tgk org wt broccoli gorg. sll tgk cendawan gorg je. wpn my friend beli, tp i xde keberanian nk try, hehehe... broccoli rebus or wt sayur air je yg i mkn.

 

.thank u to friends yg organize this trip =) i'm grateful for d whole experience.

~ those days when i learnt... ~

my 1st entry for 2013 is about Korean (to b exact, Korean songs that i listen to). this 2nd entry is gonna be about Japanese language (to b exact, what i learnt at school).

 

i learnt Japanese language for 4 years at school. we had to choose from Japanese, French and Arabic, and i chose Japanese. for 4 years, i was taught d basic skills of learning a foreign language - read, write, listen and speak. and while i was doing spring cleaning for my room recently, i found this...

 

 ~ my Japanese language text book for 4 years ~

 

i had Japanese teachers from Form 1 to 3, and a Malay teacher when i was in Form 4. speaking from experience, if u wanna learn a forein language, it's better if u learn from their people. lbh berkesan. & since we had to learn 3 different Japanese characters/alphabets/letters (smthing alien to me at first time), i think that it was good that the curriculum requires Japanese teachers to teach us the language.

 

 ~ Hiragana for Form 1 ~

 

we were drilled to remember each alphabet/character so that we can read and write in Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. Hiragana for Form 1, Katakana for Form 2, Kanji for Form 3. to make it more effective for us to remember all the alphabets, we had dictation. yeah, those exercises where our Japanese teachers showed the flashcards of d words we learnt from d previous class and we had to write it down. jgn igt msa tadika je guna flashcards okay =) 

 

~ i can still read these. thank u, teachers ~

 

to make d class more interesting, once a while we were allowed to watch Japanese videos. most of the times we requested for videos from SMAP, d group where Takuya Kimura (or Kimu-Taku) was one of the members =) sometimes we watched short drama, without d subtitles. had no choice but to listen to whatever being said by d actors & actresses in order to understand d drama. this in a way trained our listening skill. asal tgk videoclip je suka, tp bila tgk drama rs nk nanges, hahahahaha. another method that makes d class more interesting would b d sing-a-song session, including this world-famous song...

 

~ "it's a small world afterall (3X)...it's a small, small world" in Japanese language ~

 

just to test whether i can still recall simple words in Japanese, i tried a game from Kids Web Japan. i tested the Hiragana Picture Matching Game, where u hv to match the word with the picture shown. and the word is of course written in Hiragana.

 

 

and my score? perfect =)

 

 

.Japanese and Chinese have d same characters for numbers.