Still going...:-D

It has been a week since I first step my foot in the gym (minus the first time visit with Shima for registration). Thanks to my beloved friend Shima who promised to workout together, although she never show up, until today LOL...

As for myself, since I already paid the fees I have to workout regularly. Money must be well spend..kemut kemut juga...If I don't go, I will claim half of the fees from Shima hahaha

When I was in NZ I went to the gym after Fajr prayer which was around 6am. I was young back then and probably because I was a student. Nowadays I have to admit that I'm no longer a morning person. Sleep late and wake up late (or at least lying/ reading on my bed for ages) :-D..My best exercise time would be after office hour. The best time to be at the gym is after maghrib, least people, slightly cold and least tired..Again, who wants to drive all the way to the gym at night ?? hehehe...excuses...excuses..

We'll see if I could kill 2 birds with 1 stone..if you know what I mean..

Bring ur butt bebeh...

Finally I manage to bring my butt to the gym, although I don't know how long would it last :-D
Never say never, at least I made an effort to do so. On the first day there I was taught by a personal trainer. By the end of the session, he said to me seemed like I was so familiar with most routines including cardio and stretching...I just laughed and told him I went to the gym before, which I stopped nearly 4 years ago. 4 years...(I was younger back then).

I have to admit, here is not NZ, nor Paris, so I do not expect much. Thank goodness the gym was divided into 2 sections 1 side for body builders freak (wink) and another side for A-Joe (average Joe)..hahaha..Most people are average, not those slim and sexy figures hahaha..Yeah, in away this kind of environment does make me feel more comfortable. Now I wonder am I afraid of competitors ???hahaha I guess I just need to get myself fit. With my knee injury I don't think I would be able to jog around at least not for another year. In this gym I can choose low impact cardio machines to target certain muscles. No more lame excuses except lazy..

We'll see how long I can commit..having said that I already paid for a year membership. I hope this is a good investment, not flush the money down the drain..Chaiyoook cik K-ron....

Jalan jalan makan makan

Jalan jalan Penang with me of course was fulfilled with food..food...and food.. I'm not a good GPS/ google map to begin with..:-) Me and Marina started our day at Nasi Kandar Kayu next to Vistana hotel. After that with the help of Garmin GPS we managed to find P. Ramlee House-the very first time I've been there..Thanks to promotion about this house on TV or else of course I don't know about this house.

The house was nicely kept with a small museum next to the house. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures in the museum. The museum housed musical instruments, old pictures of P. Ramlee and friends, typewriter, and his favourite clothes..His house was a typical kampung's house-1 bedroom house with veranda..I like the bathroom and toilet :-D very classic...hehehe..

Berangan atas tangga hehehe

Marina get ready nak pi jamban hahahaha

Bathroom-zaman dolu dolu...:-D

Me in front of P. Ramlee's house

Pose with camera... LOL

Another highlight is Nasi Kandar Line Clear. The place was not so hygiene but the taste is a thumbs up...I like ayam kicap and telur sotong with mixed gravy.

Telur sotong yg besar..nyum...nyum...Perghhh..penuh pinggan beb...

CNY get 2gether..in Perlis

"Kingsland ave get 2gether"..that's what I would like to call the gathering..LOL..Myself, Nora and Kuna were housemates when we were in NZ back in 2004..Oh dear ages already, I feel slightly 'more matured' :-)

Makhluk 2 org ni mengelat dok jauh2 nak bg nampak slim hahaha

Typical me, every time I go to Perlis, I opt for pulut ayam at Padang Besar. This time, the chicken was quite small compared to the last time I had it. Probably due to too many people..not too bad though..

We also went to Gua Kelam..again a bit unlucky because they have electricity problem..again my main purpose was only to revisit the place some MRSM students washed our clothes back in 1990s due to water shortage hahaha..still remember bus full load of students head to Gua Kelam to wash clothes hahaha



Again this trip full of 'eat and eat and eat' activities....what more...?? makan, gosip, tido...

Sunset at Kuala Perlis

Tgk size kerang tu

nora play with her ABC

The gathering was continued at my place in Taman Sinar, again with full of "eat, watch Korean drama, gossip, sleep activities...:-D..

It doesn't really matter what we do..what really matter is we can allocate time for each other..as Seri once remind me, when we get older it is not easy to find new friends that will be our good friends 4ever...Those who still stick with us through ups n down, insyaallah they will be with us forever..

Happy Chinese New Year

In the spirit of 1Malaysia, happy Chinese New Year to all my fellow Chinese friend...A very happy holiday to non-chinese fellow friends (yang lebih over bercuti)..Hope all of us will have a prosperous year ahead..Hopefully we will have lesser bumpy rides throughout the year..

Thanks to Cheong for such a productive year 2010..Sharon and Kim for being such good friends..And my students CY, PL and SA..Although I could be harsh, I'm doing it for the right reason.bukan marah, nasihat...:-D..

For 2011, I hope my research plan with KC will be materialize smooth and soonest possible...

Drive safely (including myself) :-D

A year to post on my blog

:-D of course not an excuse for me to abandon my blog since a year ago..Well, my typical excuse I am busy with so much things including facebook, works, research, writing etc etc..LOL...FB also requires so much of my time especially at night...

In 2010 I went to several places, official and unofficial, Cuba with stop over in Paris and London, Shenzhen with short holiday in Hong Kong, and South Korea including Jeju Island, Busan, Suwon, and Seoul..What a hectic schedule..hahaha..I will never become rich person as I always know how to enjoy my life..

Pics from Korea trip

Shenzhen and Hong Kong trip

Some pics in Cuba

With my busy schedule I somehow realise I need a new activity ensure I have other life besides work. Since 2nd quarter last year I found new activity, yess....believe me, all of sudden I interested in share trading..For people with science background like me of course the first thing I did was studying "shares trading for dummies" hahaha..learned carefully how to read annual report, read the charts, follow business news etc etc..In less than a year I think I can predict pretty well how the market looks like.

There are strict rules on what kind of money I can invest in such unpredictable market. Definitely not money for food, medication, and emergency fund.

One thing I realise, spend time on FB just for FUN..spend time on share increases my FUND HAHAHA..Tamak is another thing I keep remind myself. Although I keep remind myself "jangan tamak", as a normal human being sometimes I simply loss control. Not bad, Q4 2010 I earned 16%, and first month Jan 2011 I already earned 8%. If I invest elsewhere I have to wait a year to earn that much..

Again..happy new year..(belated)..my new year resolution still similar to few years back (sama macam Tulip) hahahaha

Happy New Year wishes

This is the most interesting New Year wish I got this year..So, I wish you guys the same hehehe

"It is time to say good bye to the year 2008 and welcome new 2009. I hope you did well and there was nothing left behind to be sorry for"

Ahaks...insaf tak?? I never receive such new year wish like this before hahahaha...

Journey towards 'carte de sejour'

When I first arrived in France, I did not have slight idea what the hell was carte de sejour. As far as I was concerned, we provided everything to the company to do necessary arrangement for our stay here. Before I came here, I had terrible experience with visa, somehow I managed to get it almost 1 month later than my colleagues. .

When I arrived here, we were told we needed endorsement from Prefecture for our stay here. Actually carte de sejour is a card almost like work permit so that we don't have to carry our passport around. Prefecture is almost like Bukit Aman Police who controlled everything including immigration. As experienced by many people (try google immigration in France, ANAEM, prefecture, work permit in France), the Prefecture was nothing but full of bureaucracy...The first day we went to 1 of the Prefecture, we were sent to other branch-Cite. When we went to the Cite branch, we were told for carte de sejour application, we needed to go to another Branch in Gaite. In the Gaite branch, after we queue for almost 3 hours, we were told we needed to bring some documents hahaha...I felt like Bangla or Indon queue in front of immigration office...

In our next trip to Prefecture office, we queue for 5 hours before we were told we needed to supply some documents, and do medical check up in ANAEM. The thing I hate the most at Prefecture was the office was full of 'colourful' people..Most of them were not professional...Imagine, queue in Malaysia surrounded by African, Nigerian, Indon, Bangladeshi and other immigrants hehehe...I just thought, well I could be easily infected by any disease soon..hmmm...how stressful the condition...... Oh ye, since we were guinea pigs, nobody really knew what to do. Then, after days of waiting, finally ANAEM asked us to do medical check up. The medical check up was ok, not that scary compared to at prefecture..

Once we got ANAEM clearance, we were told we must supply birth certificate in French...Any of you bring birth certificate everywhere??? Not me though. The last time I used my birth certificate was in primary school. Thanks to my friend that helped me to scan and later courier my birth certificate to Paris. I did the translation from Malay to French in Malaysian Embassy.

Yeah...I also thought everything was over when I had all documents. When I went to the Prefecture again, I was so surprised to see how they hired 'robot' instead of human beings..hahaha..How brainless French is..My passport stated my full name with binti. In my original bith certificate that was issued in 1977, it only stated my first name and my father's name was stated in Name of father. The robot at the Prefecture refused to accept me the 'daughter of Abdul Razak' is similar person with me 'binti Abdul Razak'...see...told you French are stupid...End up, I went to Malaysia embassy and they issued me with a letter saying that me in Birth cert and in the passport is similar person..hahahaha...I felt so stupid even to ask for such letter, but what choice did I have???

Today, we went again..Thank God, we were served by a very helpful person. Although I was asked to get new pictures, she was very helpful..And finally Prefecture accepted my application but the real card willonly be ready in the next 2 months...Still not over, we were told until we get the real carte de sejour, we were not allowed to leave France...hahaha...helloooo...I'm not that 'religious' to stay in France during Christmas break...

Next few days, we will go again to other Prefecture office to ask for multi entry visa...I hope journey towards carte de sejour will not repeating itself in journey towards multi entry visa hahaha...

yeah...how difficult life is over here..I thank God, finally I accomplished a difficult chapter of my life..also, I appreciate those who help me this far-jasa mu dikenang...

Facebook fever

why I barely post anything in a week or two?? hehehe...Since, I came here I started my facebook using my full name. So, if you have facebook, you are welcome to add me. In fact upload lots of photos and activities in my facebook coz facebook is simpler than this blog..or is it just my excuse??? I just try to save some time....

Surprisingly using facebook, I met lots of long loss friends-could be more than 10 years I think...Out of no where, I came to know I have lots of friends in Europe and UK..hehehe...makin panjang la langkah....

This week is another hectic week per se..Had meeting with our sponsor, had breakfast meeting with Dato' CEO, chase USM for medical insurance, went twice to Malaysian embassy to translate my birth certificate and the most important thing tomorrow I have to go again to prefacture for work permit...Seriously I need a luck for this. The last time I went there, I waited for 5 hours before I was told nothing can be done...I really hope things will be much smoother this time....

Sabar..

Bila sebut perkataan 'sabar' tu sendiri terasa macam meredakan tekanan darah. :-) mungkin gak untuk diri sendiri boleh digunapakai. Dalam masa seminggu lepas, kesabaran seakan-akan teruji. Terasa macam the whole world goes agains me..(lama tu je la kot blh guna Malay, then I found myself lost of the right words to say..)..I was a bit disstressed since last week, work wise. I did lots and lots of mistakes. As I always said, always learn from every single mistake. I was blamed for all those mistakes, so what?? Things happened, nothing I can do about it so why should I bother about it in the first place??

I did convince myself, it was part of life, part of learning process. Make mistake and learn from it. I in fact I said to 'the person', "hello, I'm not going to repeat the same mistake 10 times. If I do that again, I'll drink PpIX"..oh yeap, PpIX is a dye, if you have it in your body and expose yourself to light or sun, then your skin colour will change-almost like vampire hehehe...I don't take panadol or sleeping pills...

Berkat kesabaran (passionate), the result was amazing or much better than I expected. Most of important thing, allow ourselves to make some mistake so that when we have problem in the future we know how to deal with it..We cannot solve everything by reading..There are so many things that we can only learn by experience.

Life is to short to restrain ouselves from doing this and that...as long as we know where to stop..

not in a good writing mood

this week is just not a good week to practice my 5-10 minutes free writing here...just being busy so many unnecessary things..catch me on my facebook la...

Update..

I just got internet connection at my apt this evening. Well, not really mine though, actually I kind of share with my neighbor-using his wireless account. Somehow, my old landlord just simply don't know how to get re-connection to landline, internet and cable TV. Thank God at least he arranged something for me so that I can do my usual business at home :-) If you know what I mean...

Life here getting harder each day. Work wise, so many things to learn and easily make mistake during lab work. A simple mistake sometimes very annoying-no turning back but to repeat all over again. Nextweek I have to work with mice serum yarghhhh...I'm a material researcher, I never thought one day I have to touch those kind of things. I hate the smell..I simply hate touching living cells...hehehe...

Weather here getting colder each day. Few days ago, the temperature was about 3C from morning to evening...not even winter yet! My surviving rate getting better but I found it's hard to leave here compared to English speaking country. Although I managed to do grocerries shopping, mostly using sign language..hahaha..To buy canned food in supermarket also not that easy, I simply find it difficult to read the ingredients. How do I know/remember all terms in French??Surprisingly, lots of food contains beef or pork flavour including pasta source. Really have to be careful before buying food. To date, I remember quite a few French words in order to help me during shopping.

Wet weather this weekend. I wish I can visit museums tomorrow because of free entrance every first Sunday of the month. Not that I'm into free ride or something but I already paid almost 3 months allowances to the landlord and the agent. We are still waiting for the company to review our allowances and reimburse some settlement allowances, which God knows how long we have to wait..For me the current allowance is enough for me to live comfortably here (not JPA rate).

internet connection

I'm moving to an apartment today. The apartment won't have internet connection until November, therefore, I won't be able to post anything until then. 'Kemut' landlord ni hehehe..Anyway, the apartment is 5 minutes away from the company-so convenient for me.

you want nano, I give you nano...

ahaks... among my colleagues the title of this post is our favorite slogan..We plagiarized this slogan from one of the extremely high self esteem professor a year ago. :-))..

Oh well, I work with nano particles, nano materials for years. When I came here, wahhhh the method simply not so familiar with me. Out of my league...Well, in my work before, most of the materials were for electronic application. Therefore, we did not care how hygiene, accuracy, precision, hazardous those chemicals to human..Out of no where I simply have to learn biology and chemistry..I would say what I work on until now is just not enough for me to do the work here. So many things to learn...

Before I came here, I said to MBC part of the work will be carried out in my school..yeah right, totally out for now...just simply impossible..The approach here is just not really for material engineers/scientists..hmm...not sure if my judgement is just too early....I repeat again I'm not a chemist!

*weather getting worst each day...I simply don't like autumn...wet and ugly hahahaha...

Honeymoon is over

ahaks, what can I say? Honeymoon is over before barely even start hahaha...although today is the first of my training, I would say 'get back to work'! Believe it or not, even this is the first day, I spent several hours in the lab already. Well, I came here a month late compared to my 2 colleagues. So, what else can I expect except to catch up asap..? Anyhow, I managed to visit a potential apartment for rent. Looks good but the price is quite high. About 5 minutes walk from the company though. If I manage to get that apartment then I can wake up at 8.30 am to be in the office at 9am. We are not allowed to arrive before 9am..

A place call a home...

I took all these pictures just before I left my house the day I left for Paris..It was not easy decision for me to make all along. There are doubts each and every day. But somehow I was left with not much choice but to go with the flow.

I simply don't know what will happen in the future nor do I know if this is the best or the worst decision I ever made. Still, I believe sometimes we just have to do what we are supposed to do. My main concern of course to leave my family including my 90 years old Tok Wan, my career, my friends and last but not least my home. I'll never know if those important factors that I left will ever still the same when I go back next year. But, somehow I believe in fate. If I was mean to see something in a certain condition, then I absolutely will. I cannot simply go against God's will..

will my home still look the same after I go back next year??

This is my room on the day I left...will it ever look the same or will full of dust etc???














My hall..I did cover some furniture though...but will it ever in the same condition..




























My backyard, some of the veges can be eaten already..feel free to help yourselves..will it remain the same or full of grass after a year???














my prayer room (downstairs)-will it ever look the same???

Lamb lovers...

There are recipes which we think we will never forget..or it is in our blood..:-) But today, I woke up in the morning and missed the lamb dishes that I used to cook while I was in NZ..hmm..I remember, I learned about it from Tisha (well, I never heard from her for ages...never met her since I return home...)..We never know/ give this dish any name..The taste is more like vindaloo, but with a certain Indian flavour...














Well, in the first place I simply did not remember anything about the recipe. Somehow, when I went to wet market, I sort of manage to guess what I usually put inside..To ensure I will never forget about it, let me share the recipe here..

First, cut lamb into curry pieces..If too large then it will take ages to cook it properly..marinate the lamb with fennel powder (jintan manis), curry powder, soy source, and oyster source. Also add in some blended onions..To get a better taste, do marinate it for 2-3 hours before cook it.

Sautee some onions, garlic, cinnamon stick in vegetable oil (tumis)....Add in diced tomato is an
antioxidant which is good for our body...For me I just simply like its soury taste..




























The best thing, we can just simply pour the marinated lamb, and leave it....not much to do, just wait until it dry, add in some sugar and salt...that's about it...

Hmmm...guess how long does it take to get product like this? I fall asleep while I was cooking, luckily it's still ok hahahaha...enough to imagine how long did it take to dry the gravy.I would say it took almost like rendang. Quite common when we cook meat, the juice from the meat itself was quite a lot..So, don't put too much water...Make sure the gravy becomes thick like we see in mamak restaurant..



















For me I like to have roti canai with it-that's my lunch today...Of course it's nice with rice as well..
Economy wise, if we go to mamak restaurant, it will cost us RM5++ / person to have this meal..I bought a kg of lamb for RM14, which should be enough for at least 5 persons...Anyway, I love to cook my own meal...