Yesterday was Hadif's birthday

I didn't bought a cake for hadif's birthday yesterday. Instead I packed goodies in colourful plastic bags, put a tag (to indicate that they were from him) and gave to his friends at the taska. He refused to bring cake to the taska actually. He was bothered by a girl who liked to lick the cake's cream but he could not (perhaps he saw the girl licking someone's cake in the taska). So he said he wanted to eat the cake at home. I asked my husband to buy the cake on his way home after taking the kids, but he forgot. Luckily, Hadif didn't mention anything about it. I think what matter most in our kids' birthday is the thoughts of preparing "something" from their parents. It's to show that they are celebrated for their birthdays. A cake may be a good idea but it can be replaced with other things... Happy 4th Birthday, Hadif.

Comprehensive Exam

I completed answering the comprehensive exam assigned by my supervisor. I found it difficult to understand the questions. I discussed the questions with my friends and a lecturer in Uitm Perlis. They gave me insights on what to cover for the questions. To make the matter worse, my baby- sitter felt sick for two days. It was stressful for me because I had to meet the deadline in submitting the answers. Alhamdulillah, it is over now. Yet, it doesn't mean that I will be over with it entirely. I wish I will not be doing corrections or any sort of thing like that, though I hope for the worst.

My first day working after semester break

I'm back to work again after having a long break. And this is a new year already! I have great determination for these 24 months.. hopefully it will last. I need to be more enthusiast with my works (generally or academically). Tomorrow I'll be seeing Dr. Ahmad Fauzi. He's one of the committee members for my doctoral degree programme in UPM. Will be seeing him at 2sth before I go to Dr. Bahaman's Advanced Statistics class. I withdrew from his Introduction to Statistics class last semester since i could not catch-up. I took Introduction to Statistics when he was a part- timer in IIUM. I really worked hard for his subject. Scored a B in his class and to me it was a real achievement for someone who is so very2x poor in calculations and numbers (no jokes!). He was so fast and energetic, really he was FAST (back then and now also). Ask him and he can give the answer instantly. For this Advances Statistics class I'll be having my own 'personal tutor'. I know that I will not be able to learn stat. all by myself. And thus, I really hope she can make me understand concepts, calculations (especially) and others in learning the subject. At the moment I'm downloading notes for the classes. It's available online. You need to register for the course though you're auditing, sitting-in or even registered (legally) for the course at http://ace.upm.edu.my/~bas/. I'll be going with Anita for the class tomorrow. As usual, we'll be heading from Kuantan to KL at 9sth. We'll be reaching there at 1pm, perhaps. Talking about the way she drives, she's a speedy gonzales, I know we'll arrive earlier than the time I mentioned here. Happy 2010, may this year bring more bless.

To mok and pok, InshaAllah Ina akan pikul tanggungjawab yg diberikan ini dgn sebaiknya sebagaimana mok selalu pesan buat kerja mesti sungguh2. Semoga roh mok & pok dirahmati Allah. Alfatihah.

2010 is coming

Another year will come just a few days more. So elsewhere we'll be hearing people talking about new resolution(s). For me, initiating a new resolution is not difficult but executing it is the hard part.

So why do people have to initiate new resolutions despite the fact that they (resolutions) are only pieces of thoughts in their mind? I listened to IKIM radio station on my way home after visiting my father yesterday. It was a talk for teenagers; they were the audience. One of the contents of the speech that strucked my mind was about CONSISTENCY in anyone's resolution. He said that ones who initiated resolution needed to have consitency or else it is nothing, just like our previous actions we've done so far. He was definitely right about it..

Mahkota Hotel Melaka

We had the chance to stay at Mahkota Hotel when I presented ICELT's paper. Since I was not used staying in the hotel, I thought when the person at the reservation counter said that one apartment costs RM168, it meant that would be all. I knew there was always ++ but I didn't realised when I did the booking. I only knew that it was RM198 per night when I wanted to pay for 2 nights stay in the hotel during check-out. Well, it was worth it though since the kids had a great time there. Here's a picture taken when we had breakfast at the hotel, rather apartment. The food was OK. Similar to the ones that we had in other hotels. Sitting arrangements were not really friendly, perhaps because of limited spaces. As long as there's 'sunny side up', breakfast it's satisfying for me.

This was a picture taken after Haziq and Hadif swam in the pool the second day we stayed in the hotel. The apartment was not so big but it was quite pleasant to accomodate five people. There is a kitche , one bedroom, a balcony and a bathroom. There is also two-room apartment at RM2oo++.

The first swimming experience for Hakim. I let him played with the water for half an hour. Back to the apartment, he was quite tired. After taken bath, I let him go to sleep. But it was just an afternoon nap and he got up at night. Fed him until I felt asleep.. I guess both of us were exhausted!

Bila ada byk kerja ...

Bila ada byk kerja and plan musim cuti skolah ni and my proposal has not yet finished, I feel torn. Whether to just agree with my husband's decision or to get the proposal done. I'm writing Literature Review at the moment, however, my pre and post tests are also not completed yet. Intro + Methodology seem to be OK (I guess). I thought I've done with the pre-test but I realised that the one that I did was wrong. I used immediate level in Vocabulary Workshop (Tell Me More) for the pre-test. I only realised that I made the mistake before I presented the paper for ICELT 2009. I don't want to be upset but to set my goal in developing questions for the pre-test for advance plus in Tell Me More Version 7. So, this Monday, I'll be going to UMP and start all over again. Typing the questions to be given as lessons to potential students. Back home, I'll be developing the pre and post tests. I guess I'm always unlucky...

Hopefully with God's permission I'll be able to complete it before the year end. To be exact, I want to submit the proposal to Dr. Jaya in the second week of Dec. Biiznillah.

ICELT 2009

I will be presenting a paper the day after tomorrow. The paper entitles, "Multimedia Resouce for Self Access: What Students Benefit from It?". It is a paper about Tell Me More, a learning software for second language learners. The paper was written after I delivered Hakim. This is the first paper I will be presenting since I further my study. The conference will be at Equatorial Hotel, Melaka. However, me and my family will be staying at Mahkota Hotel. The former hotel is fully booked.