1st day of Class

Today's the first day of class. And the classes that I registered for this semester are Limnology and Algae.

The class in Limnology was huge. The Prof said that there are about 165 students enrolled for the class. And I see that most of them are like sophomores. Wearing like, sporting gears as if they wanted to go to the track straight after class. Hmm can't blame them, when you got winter thats so bad that make you covered in layers of clothing with only your eyes to spare, who wouldn't want to expose themselves if they had the chance. Its summer time! Bask in the sun!
Anyways, the class was huge and it had 3 TAs.

Next was the Algae class. The Prof couldn't make it cause she was suppose to undergo a knee surgery tomorrow. So the class was presented a multimedia presentation of her lecture.It was crisp clear , and as if she was there. And for next week , we had to identify an 'unknown' algae species and also make a short oral presentation about the various different topics assigned for us.

Directly after class was the lab for Algae. And the TA looked like a girl next door, small framed, , with glasses, cute and innocently geek-like, until she spoke. OMG, could she spoke. I think that she spoke non-stop from the class stated at 1.20 until 3.00pm. OMG How could anyone speak that much. Its like, she was on a machine or something. And it turned out that she was in the debate team when she did her undergrad. And she majored in Biology and also French language. She explained everything, and has she good vocabs to spare. And she went through everything. Such as reminding us to 'leave our attitudes at the door of the class' and 'i expect you to behave like adults'. And also she went through every little detail on the microscope. Amazing.

I still had to do some background reading before Thursday. Chapters 1 & 2. Besides the Limnology background reading.

May Allah bless you guys during Ramadhan.

Ramadhan

Hari ni hari pertama Ramadhan di perantauan.
Pagi tadi I dikejutkan jam pada pukul 4.00 pagi. Masak sayur campur sikit. Dan makan dgn nasi dan ada ayam goreng KFC halal yang sahabat belikan di Chicago.

Hari ni tak buat apa-apa. Melainkan duduk di rumah. Petang tadi saya ingin meninjau ke Asian market tapi tutup pulak jam 5.00 memandangkan hari ni Labor day. 1 September 2008.

Hari ni giliran housemate saya, si Ifq tu masak. Dia masak ayam black pepper dan sayur campur. Boleh tahan gak si Ifq tu masak. Sedap. Walaupun ada perencah black pepper Maggi tu, tapi dia alter gak, dia letak cili 'sambal olek', sos tiram, dan black pepper. Ayam tu tidak digoreng terlebih dahulu, tapi terus di masak dengan kuah black pepper tu , bila kuah tu kering, air ditambah. Satu lagi menu ialah, omelette yang diletak hirisan cendawan , parmesan cheese, susu dan garam. Wow. Sedap gak resepi Ifiq ni.

Kami makan berdua aje. Sebab sorang lagi housemate makan dengan teman2 sophomore di rumah yang lain.

Lepas makan, saya dan Ifq berbasikal ke Islamic Center untuk bertarawikh.Lebih kurang 20 minit gak berbasikal. Kat sini Pak2 Arab mengimamkan. Hati terfikir, beruntungnya jadi Pak Arab sebab boleh menghayati setiap ayat2 Al Quran itu. Dan mendengar maksudnya. Hmm. Elok gak kalau I belajar Bahasa Arab untuk mengukuhkan pemahaman lagi.

Ada berita gembira- Sama-samalah kita berdoa yea

Ada berita gembira I dapat semalam.
Berdasarkan police report, mengatakan bahawa kereta #1 kami tidak patut dipersalahkan.

Kereta #2 patut di persalahkan kerana tidak memberi laluan kepada kereta kami. Seperti kata orang di Enterprise tu, sekiranya benar kereta #2 bersalah, maka, secara legally, kereta #2 harus dipertanggungjawabkan untuk membayar kerosakan kedua-dua kereta yang terbabit. Itu la proses legal /undang-undang bagi kes sebegini.
Alhamdulilah manager Enterprise tu pun, berbesar hati tidak mem'black list'kan nama I dari menyewa kereta dari Enterprise, sebab dia merasakan bahawa I pun tidak bersalah, dan sememangnya ini hanya kejadian yang pertama untuk I.

Hanya doa dari kawan-kawan kami harapkan.

Agar proses claim insurance kereta #2 dipermudahkan. Dan kami di pihak yang tidak bersalah ni tidak harus membayar apa-apa kerosakan pada kedua-dua kereta.
Amin.

Korang doala yea.
Amin

Rabu Aug 27 2008

I tgh mendengar lagu Takdir-Opick. Best gak lagu ni
Di saat saat tension ni lagu ni memang menyedarkan kita. Sapa kita . Begitu kerdil di tangan Tuhan.
Hari ni tension betul. Dan since takde kerja kat jabatan. I kat umah je. Melayan tension I. I banyakkan berehat je hari ni.

Petang tadi I g jogging. Kasi adrenalin sikit. Baru la badan pun sihat.

Tapi otak I ni kalau tension mesti nak g ke situ .Mengingatkan si dia. Dan teringatkan si dia. Tapi hakikatnya dah abadi dan kekal bahawasanya dia hanya menganggap I sebagai kawan sahaja. Mengapa nak ingat lagi ek. Takde u-turn dalam kehidupan. Masuk gear dan bergerak ke hadapan.
Ntah la. Kalau tension je. Sure terkenangkan dia nya. Itu automatic dalam otak ni.

Tapi padahal the real masalah is here.
I am involved in the accident. I dah dapat dah surat laporan polis ni. Hmm takutnya. Cemana nak menghadapi masa hadapan sebab masalah accident ni.

Korang doakanla I yea. Agar dipermudahkan proses urusan accident ni. Agar I takyah nak bayar kos2 yang sepatutnya memang syarikat besar macam Enterprise ni tanggung. Bukannya orang2 yang macam kami ini. Surat laporan polis dah mengatakan bahawa kami tak bersalah. Amin.
Harap2 la orang yang bersalah tu dapat tanggung kerosakan kedua dua kereta kami ini. I mean pihak insurans orang yang bersalah tu.
Amin.

Takdir (Qada dan qadar)

Opick Feat. Melly Goeslaw - Takdir

Dihempas gelombang dilemparkan angin
Terkisah ku bersedih ku bahagia
Di indah dunia yang berakhir sunyi
Langkah kaki di dalam rencana Nya

Semua berjalan dalam kehendak Nya
Nafas hidup cinta dan segalanya

dan tertakdir menjalani segala kehendakmu Ya Robbi
kuberserah kuberpasrah hanya padamu ya robbi
dan tertakdir menjalani segala kehendakmu ya robbi
ku berserah ku berpasrah hanya padamu ya robbi

bila mungkin ada luka coba tersenyumlah
bila mungkin tawa coba bersabarlahkarena air mata tak abadi
akan hilang dan berganti ( hilang kan berganti )

Bila mungkin hidup hampa dirasa
Mungkinkan hati rindukan Dia
Karena hanya dengan Nya hati tenang
Damai jiwa dan raga




crashedby the waves
thrown by the wind
separated
saddened
enlightened

in the amazement of the world
which ended ever in the loneliness
every step of the foot has been written by Him
everything is moving with his accordance
breath of life love and everything

It has been destined
To undergo everything you wish Ya Rabbi
I obey
I submit
Only to you Ya Rabbi

Whenever there is pain
Try your best to smile
Whenever theres laughter try your best to be patient
Cause tears are non-everlasting
It will come and go

Whenever life felt sore
Could it be that your heart is missing Him
Because only with Him the heart finds peace
Mind and soul serenity

Life must go on & Orientation

Life must go on. There are things that might be learnt from this accident that happen.
Such as:

* Plan your trip ahead. And have some time for relax or buffer zone.
* Make sure you are covered with insurance all the way, even if you have to pay more.
* Add additional drivers for car rental, otherwise, there is no use of opting for the car insurance.
* Believe in your self when you have doubts about the trip.
* If you have negative thoughts about the trip, then just lookout for the worse, anticipate and ask. What is the worse thing that could happen? And how do I deal with it. Make constructive judgments.IT WILL HELP.
* Ask yourself what are your priorities?
* What of I go on with this trip? How do I feel? What do I do there? Will it make me feel happy? And what if I do not go on this trip? How would I feel? What will I do back here? Will it make me feel happy?

Like for me, I did anticipate that something would go wrong, but I didn't make backup plans to deal with the problems that may arise. Hence when something did go wrong, I was left there in the open. Like an open target.


***********
Yesterday was Monday.
Since the trip was canceled, I was able to go for the Department's Orientation. I was not formally introduced to the Faculty Members when I first got here in Madison. The lecturer's are not always around the department anyways if I were to go and meet them one by one. This time it is orientation and that means the lecturers have to make time to meet the new Grad students.

The orientation has two parts, the Monday slot and the Tuesday slot. On Wednesday, they are having a picnic. Fun!
By the tour that was done yesterday, I found that the Department has some really good and multimillion dollars worth of equipments. And I never knew this before.Yesterday, I was introduced to the confocal, laser, electron and some other microscopes that I haven't seen before. And If people would ask me 'are the equipments in the USA better than the ones in Malaysia?' . I would definitely say yes to that. Our department holds the Biological Imaging Center. That is one of the keywords that I would say.

The herbarium is also extensive. It is one of the largest in the Nation. All of the samples were cataloged successfully last summer. And we were told to make full use of it.

They are only 6 new grad students this Fall 08.

Accident

An accident happened. That involved our car. They (the students) say that's its alright, they will be able to drive and they are expert drivers. But apparently accident happened. It was so confusing. I wanted to go to NYC but there are responsibilities too at hand. It was once a year trip. And trips were only conducted on summer. My lab mate said that I should go cause, its when you are in your first year that you could go for such trips. Cause later you would be busy. I should have seen the signs. My heart was so heavy on this trip. The seniors who drove the car will always drove themselves. Its IMPORTANT to cover yourself with insurance. Maybe its 5,000 /7 person. And its 714 for each of us? SIgh. And I used my Msian credit card and Msian drivers licence. I need to work. That could be the budget to go to NYC. There goes our trip money. Things happen. WE SHOULD LEARN FROM THIS. We're here in Ohio. We should be heading back to Madison today. Alhamdulilah, kami betolak dari Ohio pukul 3.00 petang dan tiba di Madison pukul 3.00 pagi tadi. Setelah berhenti untuk membeli bekalan ayam halal zabihah di Chicago. (disuatu kawasan yang seolah2 area masjid India). Dan juga setelah menikmati nasi beriyani pada harga usd5.00 sahaja. Setelah sampai, saya telah menghantar kawan2 untuk mereka kembali ke Illinois ke stesyen bas berdekatan. Kembali pada cerita. Macam gini lah, kalau dari segi kesalahan, orang yang keluar dari stesyen minyak tu bersalah. Sebab kereta kami berjalan pada lampu hijau dan bukan laju pun kereta kami tu. Tapi dari segi undang2 kami dah melanggar kontrak dgn kedai sewa kereta sebab membenarkan orang lain selain yang dibenarkan untuk membawa kereta. Ini bermakna segala insurans untuk melindungi kereta kami telah terbatal. Kami semua pemegang biasiswa kerajaan aje. Cuma minta jasa baik pembaca supaya, mendoakan kami. Seboleh2 nya agar insurans menanggung segala ganti rugi kerugian. Takpun, separuh dari kerugian yang sepatutnya kami tanggung. Yang rosak adalah lampu kiri dan bumper kiri. Dan yang dilanggar pula tayar punya alignment. Saya tidak dapat bayangkan berapa kos yang harus kami tanggung. Sebab di sini, labor charges adalah amat mahal. Sesungguhnya amat perit untuk ditanggung. Kejadian sebegini menyebabkan kita kembali muhasabah diri. Nak kata tak baca doa, doa dah baca. Saya suka amalkan zikir. Pada setiap kali kereta bergerak. Cuma pada pagi tu aje, yang saya tidak membaca zikir sebab saya terlalu penat. Tiba di Ohio jam 3.30 pagi. Bersiap2 dan pukul 4.00 bertolak. Subuh pada pukul 5.30 dan kami bercadang untuk solat subuh dalam perjalanan. Seharusnya setelah tiba di destinasi setelah bertolak pukul 3.00 ptgdan tiba pukul 3.00 pagi di Ohio, seharusnya kami memberikan masa untuk berehat seketika dan tunggu dahulu untuk solat subuh sebelum bergerak. Mungkin pemandu begitu, tidak sabar dan mahu tiba di destinasi secepat mungkin. Dan ada 4-5 destinasi lagi selepas sampai di Canada. Mungkin terlalu banyak benda yang bermain di fikiran pemandu itu. Kami seharusnya bermuhasabah diri. Apa kesilapan kita yang lalu telah kita lakukan. Mungkin disini, saya tidak memberikan emphasis kepada apa yang lebih penting. Atau pun saya terlalu mempercayakan orang tanpa mempedulikan keselamatan saya sendiri. Itu amat bahaya. So korang semua doakan kami ye, agar bala ini diangkat dari kami semua dan kami tidak payah membayar ganti rugi insurans kereta kami itu. Amin. Solat hajat dan doa sahaja harapan kami.