What Accent are you?

The past 2 days, I facilitated a group of new students taking Interpersonal Skills course, which is a part of the skills enhancement programme. The 2-day-session was conducted in English. And the participants must also use the language for communication. (though some of them flouted the rule!).
There were 16 people in my group, they come from all over (Malaysia, of course). Most of them hold a degree and some possess a diploma in various disciplines. As a normal practice (I believe) in every event like this, the first activity must be the ice-breaking session.

(fast forward the story)

At the end of the ice-breaking, a student asked me a question which went something like this:
 'Madam, majority of people from Kelantan and Trengganu cannot speak English properly. They use their Kelantan slang. Is that ok?'
I answered that question with a question.'Do you mean their 'accent'?
Everybody rhymed : 'Yeeeeeessssssssss'.
I continued: 'Do you understand them when they speak English with Kelantan or Trengganu accent?
They answered: 'Noooooooooo'.
I felt like I was in a primary school class, with this kind of answer. Or probably that was influenced by my question itself. (???)
I asked them: 'What do you think my accent is?'
One said: 'Selangor'. I replied: 'I am Johorean'.
A girl said: 'Javanese!'
and that answer made me LOL!!!

To sum up, I really enjoy the programme, all group members were cooperative, creative, and most importantly, they have managed to speak much more than before, and that they are not afraid to use English to communicate their views. Above all, the team WON the TALLEST & STRONGEST TOWER competition, leaving the other 9 groups envious of that. Well Done!

am rm10k richer!

fuh, i wish! actually that money is not for me to spend leisurely. this morning, i checked the pigeon hole, and there it was. a letter from the uni RMC, informing that my application for short grant has been approved. Yeay!! I submitted the application April last year (2010), but due to some financial restriction, it was brought forward to this year. Alhamdulillah.... what else could i say. the research is funded for a year, 15 March 2011 - 14 March 2012.

now i need to fill in some forms and submit them to the Dean.

till then...

the other side of me

my mom is a fulltime housewife, and i admire her (of course, everyone should theirs, rite?). dulu masa kecik2, mak selalu bawak pegi masuk kelas mengait, sulam2an, masak2, mengaji, marhaban, dan macam2 lagi. baju kami adik beradik, memang lah tak pernah orang lain yang jahit kecuali mak yang jahit. even gunting rambut pun, mak yang buat. apatah lagi hal masak memasak ni, rasanya tak pernah makan kat luar. I know McD for the first time, masa matriks di shah alam, itupun roommate yg memang orang KL yang bawa masuk. other than that, my first lesson of muqaddam is also from my mom, and khatam al-quran also from her.

kan best kalau semua skills yang mak ada tu turun kat aku... tapi aku yakin memang ada, cuma tidak dicungkil saje bakatnya... what i know is, sometimes keinginan utk (for e.g.) menjahit tu ada, tapi tak tau nak start macamana, nak masak yang best2 tu ada, tp mcm tak confident, nak gunting rambut anak sendiri tp takut tak cantik lah pulak...

but, one thing for sure, i like doing cross stitch. memanglah benda ni dah sangat lama, i mean, teknologi lama. dulu2 mak memang encourage buat benda ni. the problem is me. susah sungguh nak siapkan satu2 benda. mak always said, 'bila dah mulakan satu pekerjaan, kena habiskan, jangan tinggal separuh jalan'. tu lah...

so di sini i try (word 'try' sbb tak tau lagi cara nak letak pic) letak some of the cross stitch yg selamat disiapkan...

the 1st cottage

the 2nd cottage of 6 in the village that I managed to complete

MC

Wah, sungguh lama tak menulis blog. Thats ok. Banyak keje, kan. With classes & materials to proofread, memanglah tak sempat utk leisure writing. Tapi hari ni, sempat pulak, kan. Hari ni, doktor bagi MC. actually sejak semalam lagi dah dapat MC. sebabnya, demam + batuk + selsema + sore throat + terus tak keluar suara. Dah keje guna suara, so bila suara takde, dapatlah cuti rehat. alhamdulillah, Allah masih bagi kekuatan utk jari2 ni menaip. so, eventhough MC, still datang juga ke ofis, tapi tak masuk ke kelas, hanya check email kot2 ada ape2 yg penting, and skim & scan assignments yg students baru submit tadi.

pagi tadi check email, memang ada yg sangat penting. dapat email dari PP utk isi borang2 yg perlu diaju ke KPT. i'm in the process of applying for CB, so banyaklah forms yg perlu diisi & dilengkapkan. Deadline - isnin, 21/3 sebelum 9 pagi. Sempat ke nak isi tu, banyak tu. InsyaAllah... sempat rasanya....

(p/s: betapa kecil ujian demam ini jika dibandingkan dengan ujian gempa dan tsunami... Ya Allah, Ya Rahman Ya Rahim... Engkaulah yang maha pemurah dan penyayang)

lotsa things happened

still in Week 1 of 2011, so it's still not late to wish everyone Happy New Year, rite? this year, i spent the new year eve cozily wrapped in blanket and head covered with pillow, after swallowing 2 panadols. Yes. headache. a really throbbing pain. luckily i was in my BIL & SIL's house in KL, so I have a nephew & nieces who helped babysitting all my children. until at 12 midnite I was awaken by the firecrackers explosive sound that forced me to get out of the bed, as Nina excitedly called me to witness the sparkles. our plan was to go out somewhere, like dataran merdeka, and my niece suggested a less crowded place in the amcorp mall, to celebrate new year. but since i was down with headache, the plan was cancelled. but everybody was happy. staying home wasnt bad at all. i imagine going out with crowds around would make my headache worse!

before that, on thursday, 30th december, we went to Aquaria, again! this time i took along my BIL's 3 loyal children. they were big enough to help handling my small kids. ;) So, the trip was fun, exciting, and better than the previous one. this time around, there's an octopus. the seahorses are distinctive. previously they were still small & transparent. i feel that the number of sharks is more, and stingrays too. Adlina was excited as always. Fathinah, still did not enjoy watching 'big fish', but she's ok with the 'small' ones. Akmal fell asleep on our way to the tunnel. The 3 big kids, are supportive . along the way...

on the day that Malaysians got their public holiday because of football, we planned to visit the bird parks & also jln TAR. But those 2 were cancelled. my hubby was exhausted and had leg pain. the kids asked why they just stayed home that day. But, at nite, we went to mid valley the gardens. I purposely asked my BIL to take us there. yes, BORDERS. Hani, my friend, told me that. when I reached Borders, the aroma (books + starbucks coffee at the back) really reminds me of Borders at Bristol. the place where I used to pop in everyday, especially during lunch break when I worked at the Co-Op, Queens St. And also late evening, especially after my husband returned from his lab, we used to have coffee at starbucks. we were regulars there, that in 2005 we were given tokens for free drinks & cakes by the starbucks' manager, Richard, i guess his name is. So, here in Borders, i bought 6 books for my daughters, and 2 magz for myself. and my SIL bought some books for her children as well.

(ok, got to stop here. will continue later, now it's time for faculty meeting...)

what happened?

what i foresee is true. my last post was about a month ago. what happened? i actually wrote about the aquaria trip, but then, something went wrong when i pressed that 'publish post' button. so thats it. malas dah nak retype.

alrite, just a bit of update of what happened this week.

over the weekend sampai isnin, ada meeting di Avillion Legacy, Melaka. skt fakulti. food there was superb. dari breakfast sampai supper. and sempatlah aku jalan2 ke POPULAR & MPH. and found what i've been looking for!! best best. and i also bought 2 new exciting sticker & activities books for my daughters.

yesterday, kontraktor pasang blinds menggantikan langsir biru gelap dlm bilik ni. the effect - WOW! terang benderang bilik ni tanpa switch on the lites. memanglah. jimat letrik. TAPI. mata aku ni sakit sebab silau. nak tengok komputer silau. nak baca pun silau. fikir punya fikir, terpaksalah aku susun semula kedudukan meja ni, supaya boleh buat kerja dengan lebih selesa. 2 days back, dah mintak siap2 dengan akak cleaner tu, 3 beg plastik hitam. as usual, semester baru nak buka so kena buat housekeeping, maka banyak lah kertas2 dan botol2 air mineral utk direcycle oleh akak cleaner tersebut. tapi tak siap2 lagi kemas.

today, email uni tak berfungsi. kenapa ye? tak taulah, hopefully tak ada email2 penting hari ni, taulah hari ni jumaat. i spent the whole morning today jadi PA to my husband. pegi PPI lah, pejabat penerbit lah, faculty office lah, sampai keje sendiri pun tergendala. kalau dapat gaji extra ok juga, kan bang. selepas semua tu selesai, barulah i hibernate in my own cozy room.

what did i accomplish today? searching and searching and searching... some were fruitful, some weren't. tiba time tak berjaya tu, geram je. tapi tak ape, alternative sentiasa ada. so, this coming monday, i must run to the library, for interlibrary-loan. the place i work, library tak subscribe to all e-journals. so mana2 yg tak dapat access tu, boleh request for loan. aku pernah buat a few months back. alhamdulillah berjaya. so, next week nak kena buat lagi la nampaknya...

today also, we plan to go home early. pengasuh anak2 nak pegi KL ada majlis kawin anak sedara dia. and for us, my in-laws nak datang ke rumah maybe tonite, or most probably tomorrow. best juga, meriahlah nanti rumah aku tu...

ok.. cukuplah..

Legend Hotel & Aquaria

last sunday-tuesday we stayed at Legend Hotel. but not on our expenses, my husband was invited as one of the speakers for ICEM2010, the international conference on experimental mechanics, so the stay was fully sponsored by the organisers. we arrived at the hotel at around 9 pm, because it was raining so heavily, there were 3 accidents along the highway, and the traffic was packed, plus the navigator went hairwired and lost satellite reception several times in the city. we could've arrived 2 hours earlier if not for those conditions. tapi tak apa, alhamdulillah akhirnya sampai juga ke sana dengan selamat.

the kids, macam lah sebelum ni tak pernah duduk hotel, were excited as always, tak sempat lagi bellboy bawa masuk beg2, anak2 dah menyerbu masuk ke bath tub. ye lah, seharian dalam kereta, mau nye tak rimas. dalam hujan2 macam tu, berendam dalam air panas memang sangat best! sehinggakan adek yg tolong angkat beg tu kata, baiklah puan tengok anak2 puan dlm bilik air tu, biar dia je yg angkat beg masuk bilik. bagus betul.

monday - the conference began. and i was left with the kids. thought of taking them to the pool, tp hujan. so, instead, bawak diorang pegi jalan2 the mall. sebelum keluar, dah pesan pd anak2, jgn lari2, kena pegang mama etc etc... and alhamdulillah, they all well-behaved. makan dengan penuh sopan.

petang, around 5.30pm, conference ended. semua orang lapar. so hubby called his brothers who live in kl. that nite, all of us went to a seafood restaurant, (tak ingat nama ape & area mana) tp according to my BIL, restoran tu pernah masuk rncgn jalan2 cari makan. hujan lagi. lepas makan, abg E balik utk fetch kak Awe from work. so, Abg Ikin pulak yg bawa kami jalan2 & upon his kids' request, we stopped at klcc. Wah! Adlina paling syok. Fatin berlari2, dan Akmal pun taknak pegang tangan. Nasib baik I have 3 nieces yang dah besar so boleh tolong kejar budak2 ni & pegang diorang. kalau harapkan myself, mau ada yang tergelincir. fountains sangat cantik. klcc pun cantik waktu malam. actually dr balkoni bilik hotel pun boleh nampak klcc & kl tower. i snapped some pictures. tp tak pandai lah pulak nak masukkan dlm post ni. dulu2 ada belajar, tapi dah tak ingat.

ok, tentang aquaria akan disambung kemudian....