As i looked back to my old entries in the archive, I have just realized something:
- I wrote something on the fact that i've never been down under (australia), and last september, I've made it. I didnt realize that it was some sort of a subconscious wish what with all those Australian Open in Melbourne, and it actually came true.
- I was up to the point of expressing my dismay of unable to attend my graduation day last May 2006, but alhamdulillah I finally got my chance last May 2007.
It's autumn in the northern hemisphere part of the world and it has been 2 years since I passed my PhD viva. And not too long after that I was diagnosed with hypertension. How ironic this PhD as a supposedly short form of Permanent health Damage! It was not just my third and final tertiary education degree from the world 5th ranking university as published by Times Higher Education for the 2007 list (which saw no Malaysian universities made it in the top 200 list), but it also left an almost permanent scar.
31st October = Halloween day. Not a significant day in malaysia yet it was one of those days that my college mates and I did something crazy together. Not totally crazy but oh well, we'd dress up as some freaky monster. That was in 2001 and 2002 though. In 2003, I went to the Black Widow pub down Gloucester Road with 2 of my research group mates and we were given some free santa claus hats? OK sorry, that was our Christmas thingie before the holiday kicked in. Dont worry, I am a staunch teetotal...no need to worry about whether i downed some alcohol or anything close to some few drops of it in my drink. Yea, now i remember, I stopped doing this Halloween stuff from 2003 and onwards to pay my respect to Ramadan fasting month.
Early weeks of November, apart from missing those Lord Mayor Parade in South bank side, I'd opt to go to those bonfire night instead. And i managed to go to one of its fireworks sites in Ravenscourt Park. That was the nearest I stood next to a huge bonfire with some ear-deafening yet totally awesome firework pyrotechnics. The rest were mostly just watching from afar including from my old flat's bedroom window. As cliche and cheesy at times this fireworks maybe, i still would get excited watching those colourful flares lighting up the sky, doesnt matter where on earth I'd be. A bit similar to watching those snowflakes even though i've seen them for like the umpteenth time.
What I'm getting in Malaysia??? A face to face with Sean Ghazi, no fireworks between us of course but it was definitely an uplifting experience to meet a local artiste with international flair who can naturally speaks good English. No bonfire night in Malaysia, but inshallah, there'll be more "fire" relight inside of me soon.
31st October = Halloween day. Not a significant day in malaysia yet it was one of those days that my college mates and I did something crazy together. Not totally crazy but oh well, we'd dress up as some freaky monster. That was in 2001 and 2002 though. In 2003, I went to the Black Widow pub down Gloucester Road with 2 of my research group mates and we were given some free santa claus hats? OK sorry, that was our Christmas thingie before the holiday kicked in. Dont worry, I am a staunch teetotal...no need to worry about whether i downed some alcohol or anything close to some few drops of it in my drink. Yea, now i remember, I stopped doing this Halloween stuff from 2003 and onwards to pay my respect to Ramadan fasting month.
Early weeks of November, apart from missing those Lord Mayor Parade in South bank side, I'd opt to go to those bonfire night instead. And i managed to go to one of its fireworks sites in Ravenscourt Park. That was the nearest I stood next to a huge bonfire with some ear-deafening yet totally awesome firework pyrotechnics. The rest were mostly just watching from afar including from my old flat's bedroom window. As cliche and cheesy at times this fireworks maybe, i still would get excited watching those colourful flares lighting up the sky, doesnt matter where on earth I'd be. A bit similar to watching those snowflakes even though i've seen them for like the umpteenth time.
What I'm getting in Malaysia??? A face to face with Sean Ghazi, no fireworks between us of course but it was definitely an uplifting experience to meet a local artiste with international flair who can naturally speaks good English. No bonfire night in Malaysia, but inshallah, there'll be more "fire" relight inside of me soon.
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I knew those words i said may have hurt my mother so many times but i dunno, ever since i am back in Malaysia, I've thrown my tantrums quite so often that I prefer to stay quiet when I am at home. Contrary to the popular believe where office and work can add more stress to one's life, i am an opposite case. I seek my solace in my office. I laugh more when i am with some of my work colleagues than i do so at home. Yes, i have bought a new house but i am yet to be able to move there due to limited savings. I hope i can apply another loan especially for new house renovation and refurbishment so it'll be ready to be habitable, hence another of my personal haven.
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On a lighter note, I have bought a new desktop for home use. My old pc is already nearly 6 years old and being Dell, not just any RAM can be bought and fit in without consulting Dell PC. One little yet rather sickening problem: new pc supported MS Vista as XP is slowly phasing out of the market except by personal request on ordering a new pc. Both my HP printer and digicam photo uploading software do not support Vista. Consequently I still am relying on my old PC (good old PC, bought it in london yet received the whole set "made in malaysia". The new one has Made In China stamped all over the place) for printing and photo uploading purpose. Not that big hassle la, but it is also an early indication that whatever new electronic gadget i'll be buying in the future, it must support Vista as its ultimate OS (and its basic requirement has to be of XP-compliance). My new office PC is pre-installed with XP, which is a good thing as it is compatible to many softwares available.
And i bought this new Dell pc on a 12-month interest free credit card scheme. That would keep my options open on how i'll be paying it later within the 12 months period of course.
I am yet to own a laptop. I think i am one of those few people in the developed world who has never own a laptop but to date has bought a desktop for the third time. My virgin experience with owning a pc using my own pocket money was way back in Bradford, autumn 1998 during my undergraduate studies. The second was in early spring 2002. I love electronic gadgets tawwwww, but i am patient on when i can afford to lavish myself with equipping myself with woteva state-of-the-art latest technology gadgets. I hope to be able to get a new set of laptop once i get my own research grant.
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We had to incorporate Kemahiran Insaniah (human capital) evaluation in our final year grading. Hmmm...that is equal to more works to do.
And i bought this new Dell pc on a 12-month interest free credit card scheme. That would keep my options open on how i'll be paying it later within the 12 months period of course.
I am yet to own a laptop. I think i am one of those few people in the developed world who has never own a laptop but to date has bought a desktop for the third time. My virgin experience with owning a pc using my own pocket money was way back in Bradford, autumn 1998 during my undergraduate studies. The second was in early spring 2002. I love electronic gadgets tawwwww, but i am patient on when i can afford to lavish myself with equipping myself with woteva state-of-the-art latest technology gadgets. I hope to be able to get a new set of laptop once i get my own research grant.
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We had to incorporate Kemahiran Insaniah (human capital) evaluation in our final year grading. Hmmm...that is equal to more works to do.
12 comments:
Owh ..mak pun cam kau Manal..have yet to get a laptop for myself..walau dah lama menyimpan hasrat itteww
Desktop mak dah lama sedekah ke adik2..Now totally rely on my off desktop n hubby nye lap top...
Sib baik hubby ade laptop. Ade buat broadband connection at home using streamyx, jaring or celcom tak noks?
Laptop nih makin kecik makin mahal kaedahnya....so mcm tak jadi la mak nak aim for 12" one, better mak go for yang 15" to 17" terus so mata mak pon tak ler pedih memandang screen ittewww...
Ravenscourt Park? Iskk..dekat rumah I tuu....ppl in Chiswick area kalau main firework mengalahkan Al Qaeda kenkadang...but they were beaten by the Hounslow ppl this year, siapa boleh lawan Diwali punya mercunkan?
laptop are so bloody cheap here...(sambil berfeeling-feeling angkuh)
Makji,
Is it? and u've been mentioning twickenham most of the time....ok la not that far from each other...
Tu hounslow ppl tableh nak cakap la pasai depa pon dok fight those in southall and feltham gitewww...
Yeah makji thats when u can talk in a coupla hundred quids when we still think of RM2000 and above....but thats like GBP300-ish? Still, our meagre incomes makes it even pricier!
Where did u get your laptop manal? good deal eh? think of buying a laptop soon...
How user friendly is Windown Vista? Never use it and never see anyone use it before..
Hi Manal,
It's me -again, after MIA- I've got your no but not vice versa so I'm suppose to call you lah right?
No excuses except that I chicken out big time! heheheh..takut lah nak jumpa Manal in person (maklumlah awak dah biasa jumpa celebrities jer)!
No, not bcoz of you lah but the timing sucks coz by the time I finished marking (seciput je but pening tahap gaban) then you're already starting on yours & then I got my reviews & life becomes so miserable...
BTW, that 'fire' inside of you thing sounds so 'interesting & promising' - care to share your update on that?
And the trick for a good mother-daughter relationship is to stay away. Like ppl used to say, bila dekat bercakaran tapi bila berjauhan, rindu2an. They cannot help themselves from meddling in our life when we stay with them. Maybe the my-space, your-space issue?
Laptop advice - don't go for bigger screen coz then you've to lug around +3.7kg but as portable DVD player - put it on your abdomen while lying down & put your headset on to experience big-screen moment!
I've more to comments tapi melampau lah pulak jadi macam email - sorry beb!
Pisces dude,
I think u misread what i wrote in my post. I have never own a laptop as yet. I am planning to get one once my research grant is approved. It'll really help a lot especially when i am gonna be on the move more and more in the near future.
MS Vista is no greater than XP Pro if i had to say, but with visual enhancement, and supposedly better internet security, and not giving much choice for the consumer to choose unless they prefer iMac, it's really something thats not in our power to say much. And unless u have a spare functionable pc with XP, keep it that way so u can still able to use many softwares that are yet Vista-compliance.
And u better get used to Office 2007!
ayoyo Rad,
Yupp, it's like the absence makes our heart grew fonder kinda thing. I know they (parents) had had to jaga menantus' feelings, kena make sure food are ready for them la ape laa kalau depa kata nak mai, but anak2 bujang kat umah nak disukat2 plak? Tapi ksian pon yea gak to them parents.
U reckon i should go for 15" or smaller for a laptop eh? ok la paling kecik pon 13" la...tak minat nak type a puny laptop let alone lokoing at the irritatingly small screen for a long time. It had to be "compliance" to my vision too nanti makin rabun la makcik nih yg sudah sememangnya rabun!
Tulis la panjang mana pon, i tak kisa!
Hmmm, we did correspond through email before, and thats all i could do besides through blog. Ape nak takot nya plak? Kita baik tawww!
Ello cik Manal,
it totally slipped my mind to tell u that last weekend, wife was off on Saturday.
Anyway, kalau nak datang, lemme know lah yek, even during non-Raya season. Think I gave u my phone no alredi in de email..
toksah beli laptop lah... usung aje desktop tu ke hulu ke hilir... hehehehe.. (buat lawak bodo plak aku nih..)
Pisces dude,
Inshallah....
Sue,
Nanti orang ingat:
1. I pindah2 office
2. Desktop dia rosak la tu
3. Computer maintainer
4. Computer geek, nak pi carik gang main game
Not cool la babe! Unless they make the desktop CPU as small and as lean as the laptop, baru la cool...tapi kena la plak asek nak assemble those monitor and cpu together plus some cable connection...rimas gak tu kak.
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