ours

This is the last post of 2011 on being me..

Just something to complete this post ^_^

So I'm back in Nottingham and my term starts on my birthdate in the first month of 2012.

But for now, I'm gonna write about about something that has taken place a few days ago.

I went to PMS (Perhimpunan Musim Sejuk) aka Winter Gathering in Loch Lomond, Scotland that took place at a mansion which I had went to 2 years ago in 2009. 

That place brings back a lot of memories..so many that I kept having flashbacks over and over again.

Masterchef PMS 2011

Well anyway, prior to the event, I heard that I might be assigned to become a facilitator.


And I'm like..

"Asyik jadi facilitator je. Nak jadi benda lain pulak"

Truly, I've become facilitators like...I don't know, 5 times? That's enough for me.

So yeah, I made a request to Afif to become a member of the cooking team and I got the job, hehe.


I was probably influenced by a former murabbi whom said,

"best apa jadi team dapur, dapat berukhuwah" 

And truly, it was a really enjoyable and wonderful experience. Honestly, I didn't even feel stressed when I was in the kitchen. Sleep-deprived, tired, exhausted and wanna lie down on the sofa upstairs - YES! 


But stressed, under pressure? NOT AT ALL :D

Maybe because I have been doing Microbiology for one whole semester already.

Maybe because it's something that I really want to do and take pleasure in doing.

Sure, I didn't have the time to listen to all the speakers of the event. Well, that's the sacrifice that you have to do in order to become a member of the kitchen. I have to make do with the recordings instead, inshaAllah.

And I don't even get to chat much with the other people I care but I had the time to get to know more of those hovering in the kitchen. Of course, most of them are from Southampton, there's one from Manchester and another from London (ex-Surrey).

I enjoyed every moment of it. My favourite tasks include tasting (which me and Syak gladly add more sugar into the cooking when Anas was upstairs. Sorry Anas but I know he doesn't read my blog, hehehe), preparing entrée and making a service for all the dining sessions & of course, my specialty - plating! Apparently, my plating skills were critically acclaimed, alhamdulillah and even got a picture of my dish (it was actually a tray :P) taken by one the speakers. Too bad I didn't bring my EOS 550D into the kitchen.

I'm glad that my former murabbi influenced my decision to go for this position. It was funny to hear my team members (who are also my roommates for PMS) conversing in Kedahan slang during the whole time in the kitchen, lol!

It was really fun. And I'm gonna miss cooking with them.


I even found someone who would call me by the name, Wafi =)

Ski, the 2nd attempt


Yesterday, I went for some skiing at CairnGorm Mountain, Aviemore.


The last time I went skiing was in PMS 2009 and it wasn't really on a mountain. We skied on a hill since there was a snowstorm on the mountains at that time.

Syak meredah ribut

Well, if there was a snowstorm in 2009, then what was that yesterday??

Fahmi menikmati kesegaran salji

I always thought that skiing was more of a fun activity but now, I have to say that it's more of a test of your physical endurance and willpower. To climb uphill with 4 ski gears can be really challenging. Carrying all those gears while running around in deep snow..I felt like I was in a war during winter. It was exciting! But indubitably exhaustive! 

Hanif, one of my models on the mountain

I kept lying on the snow as I was tired from all the cooking but mostly because I enjoyed doing it, haha. Thankfully, Fahmi Ruzaidi accompanied me in lying down, ihik2. Remided me of the time when I went skiing 2 years ago and lied down with Choki2 although the weather was much friendlier at that time. Anyways, I'm so going for snowboard next time. At least, you only have to carry one gear instead of 4, hahaha.

The Mansion

Apart from that, the mansion itself brings a lot of memories. I kept seeing glimpses of my first murabbi in various  corners of the place. I also saw scenes from the past involving me with the people I care. It's interesting really when Allah gives you a beautiful mind that can recall sentimental events in the past. I just hope that I can put it to good use. 


When I was having these glimpses from the past, it reminded me of a tweet I made once upon a time.

This place really brings back a lot of memories. Surely, I am forever grateful to have met him in KMB. I know..I haven't really talked to him for quite some time. That's okay, I remember him in my doa, inshaAllah.


The people I care


I know we didn't spend that much time but I know you're cool with that. I know that we at least talked or smiled or winked or punched on the shoulder or trying to make me jealous of the things that I already did :P (seriously, most of the things that you've talked about Edinburgh's Camera Obscura are some of which I've experienced in Malaysia including the vortex. But I would go there for the 3D pictures since that's the thing that attracted me the most, hehe) or hugged me when I was shivering in the cold during Subuh or even sat on top of me and read about weird drug names while I was lying on the sofa trying to get some rest from the kitchen duties ;P


I would have written all about you in this post but I think I'm just going to write them down in my journal. 


Until then, these memories are mine; these memories are ours...

hello cold world

You know, I've been patient for this entire semester...
(This post will be filled with pictures from the lab to avoid stress. The funny thing is, the pictures are the source of my stress :P)

March 2011 - I chose 5 homebases (categories) for my future. This will determine my happiness in Sem 5.

May 2011 - The revelation of the homebases. I got my 3rd choice. Not that bad right? But well, I only like my Top 2 - Psychiatry & Immunology.

The aftermath was disastrous. I tried to hide my frustration with a smile. I emailed the homebase that I wanted but of course, they said "No". I changed my blog's name (this and a list of other reasons led to the change of the name). I couldn't focus on my studies. The result? My result for Sem 4 was quite average but I am forever grateful to pass FBN (Functional Behavioural Neuroscience) and CLS (Clinical Laboratory Sciences II).

It was a really tough period. I thought that was it. Foolish of me to think so. It wasn't even Sem 5 at that time.

I'm really not fond of working with carcinogenic substances

That's my spot in the lab with those plates on the table. Look outside - it's already dark -_-"

Sem 5 began and I became a Year 3 student in June along with my other colleagues. I chose the best supervisor in my opinion and alhamdulillah, I got her, Dr Kim. She's like the Top Microbiologist and very motherly as well.

My project? Errr, it's the source of my stress, my behaviour, my feelings, my writings, my work, my life for the past several months -_-"

It's very demanding, very rigorous, very challenging and not for the faint-hearted. 

Doing electrophoresis like a boss

Microbiology brings out the dark side in me that I'm not proud of. But along the way, I turned over a new leaf. Thanks to Allah for sending me the people in the process ^^. 

But of course, that doesn't mean I'll be stress-free. It's Microbiology we're talking about here. And you will have no idea unless you're actually doing it. So please don't judge me.

I have to wear this shield to protect my vision from UV rays (which are also carcinogenic)

Ultra-violet light

I would put my gels on this platform to cut it in darkness

Microbiology brings out the worst in you. I'm unfortunately a victim in this case. So, if you wanna know how your friend truly is, send them to a Microbiology lab for at least 11 weeks and you'll see who they really are.

I can happily say that it has finally ended. I mean I've suffered enough. Alhamdulillah, I've escaped the treacherous lab. You know, the only thing that I enjoyed were the people. My supervisors are awesome, the people working in the lab are very helpful & understanding. 

I mean, I'm in there for only 3 months. Bayangkan orang yang buat PhD dlm Microbiology..

:O

That's 3/4 years! But guess what, there's a clear distinction between me & them. 

They love Microbiology. 

I don't.

And we discovered this cool machine on the very last day of my labwork and it's sooooo cool. The guy in the photo is my lab supervisor, Esteban and he's funny. I like making jokes with him and he'd always laugh.

I can't deny that I like doing this the most. It needs to be perfect everytime. Imperfection will lead to failure and most of the time, I succeeded in doing protein gel electrophoresis.

The PCR machine. I rocked when I'm doing PCR too.

Microbiology labwork can be quite antisocial. I know I'm introvert but do you remember? I want to become an extrovert. I love working with people. That's why I'm aiming for Psychiatry. In addition, perasaan stress, tertekan ni semua mungkin tak berlaku di kalangan mereka yang memang suka Microbiology ie Hosni. (He was sleeping when I began writing this post and he's already on his holiday since this Wednesday. Plus, it's his 1st choice and he's promoting it to others. Don't let other people suffer, please!).

This is a table-top centrifuge (like in CSI)

And this is a bigger centrifuge

And we would colour up the gels with my favourite colour - blue and let it shake on this rocker

A close friend of mine said "Kenapa nak pergi lab selalu? Tak boleh ke kalau tak pergi?"

Well, memang boleh. Tapi kalau tak pergi, siapa yang nak buat project tu? I mean my supervisors are awesome. They never made me stay late or forced me to come on weekends or do anything that is against my wishes. Everything that has happened was because of my own decisions.

I hate this stuff cause it's toxic

These are one of the many solutions that I prepared, see the name Wafi? I hope that it can be used by other people when I leave for good.

It's true actually. Like...if you have to do something that you know is right but you don't do it because of your nafs. Then, that's bad. Cause you know you should do it but you don't just because you don't feel like doing it? Allah would be very disappointed. 

I went to the lab as early as 7 am and my latest time of leaving the lab was 9.05 pm. I am appalled at my own efforts! Seriously! But what drives me? It's simply because of You.

I am finally free :')


6.32 pm and 23rd Dec marked the time when I escaped from the lab.

It's the place where I hang my labcoat & today, I threw my labcoat into the bin (literally) :D

Feels hazardous when I need to turn on the UV light

Now, I can happily say (or type) this sentence borrowed from someone popular, smile, smile, wink, wink:

"Gua takkan respect sama lu selagi tak kerja kat lab Microbiology"

Haha, just kidding! I always wanted to say that but I don't really have anything to fit into the final part :D

This lab is always this dark and if I'm the earliest or the latest, this is the usual sight in this place of torture

I kept my E.coli in here

Dah habis..you don't know how it feels like. That's why you may think of me making it a big deal; cause truly, it is a big deal. It's freedom and I can't describe this feeling in words~

The place where you can get all you want

This thing is cool. It's called the sonicator and I need to wear ear protection whenever I use it. It causes cell destruction via the production of sound waves.

Bilik PhD, tempat lepak aku dengan supervisor: Esteban and Dina. Yeap, aku tau password dia, ihik2.

If you ever faced something like this, something that you have no control over, something you cannot get out of; try to make the best of everything. Remember, it's just a phase.  Get back up and fight those monsters (in my case, it's Pseudomonas aeruginosa). Thankfully for me, it's just 11 weeks, alhamdulillah.


If you really know me, I'm a planner. I plan for my future. Most of the things that I'm doing right now have been planned a long time ago. (Most ye, not all).


I planned a lot of things for this semester but they all got reorganized and reconsidered ever since I found out the bad news in May. Things didn't go as planned..


Cause apparently, Allah has a better plan by giving me this dreadful homebase for an entire freaking semester. I did not love it but I tried my best to make everything worthwhile. I learned various techniques and discovered gadgets that I've always seen on CSI. I even went to the Dark Room (the room for photography) which apparently, bacteria love their photos to be taken too. Gedik giler bacteria ni!


Remember, it's not the way you planned it but it's how you make it happen...

the beautiful occupation

I am just done with one of my 2 essay exams of the year!

It feels like this huge weight impeding upon me has been lifted and I can breathe a lot better, alhamdulillah. I have to say, that it was really nerve-racking during the days prior to the exam today. MBP - Molecular Bacterial Pathogenicity is now over!

Bring on III! 

III - Innate Immunity and the Immunopathology of Inflammation is actually an optional module that I chose during the end of my second year. It's sort of like my way to overcome one of my past denials - not getting my Top 2 choices of homebase. At least, I can still learn my favourite topic - Immunology!

So technically, I should perform better, right?

InshaAllah ;)

For now, I just want to share with you the blogpost that landed me a new job with The University of Nottingham. I am now a Student Blogger and my job is to write about my life at UoN for once a week..which is cool cause I like writing, so this is like a dream job for me. Hopefully I will become a Student Blogger for a long time, inshaAllah.

Well, I only post on Sundays and you can always check my blog on the UoN blogs under Student Life. Oh, there are 4 Student Bloggers and we all use the same blog. So, don't get mixed up.

For now, enjoy this post that I've sent for my job application on 11/10/11...while I suffer another week of strenuous studying for the last exam of this semester 

My Blogpost for the Position of Student Blogger

It’s my 3rd year in Nottingham and it’s the year to make it or break it! After going through my first 2 years getting average results, I believe it’s time for me to take things seriously and try to get the best result that I can get. I’m currently working in a lab for my third year project and if everything goes well, I’ll be graduating in winter 2012. I am really grateful to be a Medical student in Nottingham. Doing the double degree programme means I’ll be graduating twice! And not all Medical students in the UK get this special chance.  

Besides, I’m near to completion of my Nottingham Advantage Award (NAA). I’ve chosen the third and final module which will begin this Thursday. The first 2 modules, Student Associates Scheme and becoming a researcher at Nottingham University Samworth Academy (NUSA) were definitely the highlights of my 2nd year. I can’t believe it’s going to end soon. I truly cherish the times I had with the children in the previous semester.  

I had a great time undertaking the award. If all goes well, I would be able to attend the Annual Celebration Event at Trent Building. If I remember well; last year, the party was definitely genteel.  

Although I am almost done with the Award, I’m presently waiting for a reply from Barnado’s, a leading children’s charity in the UK regarding a volunteering project which I’m thinking of doing. The previous two NAA modules might probably influence my decision in undertaking this volunteering work.

 This was the card made by the children during my last day as a Student Associate at Portland Primary School, Bilborough. I really miss them.

Oh yeah, I also have to finalize the schedule for BOOM (Blooming out of Mediocrity) Camp, an event organized by IKRAM, a Malaysian students organization throughout the UK and Ireland. Since I was given the trust to become the project manager for this camp, I really want to make everything perfect. It’s essentially a camp for freshers from Malaysia which will be held next week in Newark. We’ll be playing some cave maze, climbing, our own version of The Amazing Race and barbeque party. I just can’t wait for some fun in the air. Hope everything goes smooth. 

By the way, did you go to Goose Fair last week? The annual fun fair just ended a few days ago. If you didn’t get the chance, that’s alright. You can go again next year. It’s really exciting to go on the rides and feel a rush of adrenaline during the cold dark night. Plus, Goose Fair is one of the events that are only held in Nottingham.

 Goose Fair, Nottingham 

Ok, got to go now. I’m meeting my supervisor at 10 am...

i see the light

I have a very important exam this Wednesday.

So, this is more like a blog response to my own previous post which clearly showed my stressful condition. This post was made in reference to at least 5 people. Nope, make it 10.

1. Scrabble

It was Nottingham Malaysian Games (NMG) yesterday and I was the Quartermaster (QM) for Scrabble. It was probably the only game that I would play in NMG since Ultimate Frisbee was never in the list. But of course, there's no way I could play and maintain peace at the same time. So, I became a full-timer QM.

Anyway, I went out of my house early in the morning with a huge bag that contains all the equipments. It was important to note that the bag's handle was broken so I had to lower my body to roll the bag. It was very challenging and I somehow felt like I was in The Amazing Race doing a Road Block. Cami (Syahmi) even said that I looked like a mak cik yang terbongkok-bongkok. 

Well, the game began a bit late and I even mentioned to one of my volunteers that this game is really peaceful. Yeah right, things went into chaos after the first two rounds. Some players began giving their opinions and even bad-mouthing me. On the bright side, they weren't doing ghibah (mengumpat) as I heard those remarks right in front of me. Of course, what else I would do? There's no way I'm going to throw lemon meringue pies into these people's faces. You might think that Scrabble should not be that all challenging. Well, you have to know that these players are highly intellectual people and it's hard for me to convince them to follow the way that I have set up. Oh right, some players even ridiculed me and made a joke about myself. Sigh~

Nevertheless, most of the players were being very polite by suggesting some changes to be made in the future. Some of them courteously asked me to consider changing the way the game system works which I gladly thought about it as they were being very professional. In the end, Scrabble was the last game to finish at Portland D floor and I was really grateful that it has finally ended. 

Firstly, I just want to say to all QMs, you have my utmost respect! Now that I became one, it was truly one of the most stressful jobs to be given to anyone on NMG. It's not that I was being disrespectful to any QMs before. What I'm saying is - you can never appreciate unless you experience it yourself. Thank you Allah for giving me this chance. Hopefully, this would be the only one. Haha. I mean, ni baru Scrabble, belum lg bola, basketball, netball, badminton. I mean if indoor games are already this chaotic, outdoor games are more likely to be more challenging. To all QMs, you can all work in a Microbiology lab and survive! Seriously..

I just want to give a shoutout to all Scrabble volunteers: Dalila Atiqah, Viviene and Dorcas for helping me with Excel, tables, players with difficult behaviour and many more dramas that happened in that small room. At least, takde adegan lempang-melempang. To Akmal Aliff, kalau aku nampak apa dia buat kat kau, argh!!! Well, ape kau expect? Takkan aku nak baling pie kat muka dia kot, haha. At least, aku bagi kau Ferrero Rocher la lepas tu or Maltesers. And then aku bawak kau gi makan burger and minum Shakeaway.

I also want to thank all the Nottingham players: Li Chen, Zhao Wen and Cami for giving me guidance, tips, advices and even to help me calculate to see whether I'm doing the Math correctly. I can vividly remember them standing near the computer to check if I was entering the data correctly along with the volunteers. Thank you so much!

Guess what? I've decided to not get involve in Scrabble in the future. The reason? Just because I'm not up to the standards of the players in that room. Plus, I think I've had enough of Scrabble tiles. Hahaha. 

2. The remaining hours of NMG 

I would like to apologize to a lot of people that I didn't have the time to spend with. The people whom I could only looked from afar but not calling them and say "Hi" or giving salam as I had to be in that room most of the time. Ashraf Zakwan, I saw you walking down the hill when I was in the room. I went to the window thinking that at least, you could see me and it would be alright. But no, it wasn't destined, heh. Also to the people who tried to call me but not being able to reach me, I'm so sorry; as well as those whom I can only talk in less than 5 minutes and that was it. I would also like to apologize to Nazmi (the director of NMG) for not even looking at your face when you entered the room and talked to me. I was sorting out the data during the Swiss phase of the tournament and players were being restless due to my lack of knowledge in Excel until Dalila lended a hand. It was probably the most stressful period of the day. 

Apart from that, I was trying to redeem my past failures in the last 2 years of buying delicious Nasi Lemak. Let's just say I bought 2 of them yesterday and they were superb, alhamdulillah. And that was a redemption. I would also like to thank Cami for accompanying me to roll the broken bag from Portland to my home.

3. The talk that we had during dinner

Cami, you knew better what happened during this period. Thank you for your advices and secrets. It's true, different people have different levels of sensitivity. Ok, I'm not going to elaborate. Cukup sampai sini, heheh. Jangan bagitau orang lain, Cami ;P

4. Cleaning up the disastrous-looking kitchen at night 

Ok, I know...I should be studying. Aku kena score this upcoming paper like seriously. But when I think about it again, takkan nak biarkan dapur camtu. So, me, Faiz Khalid, Hakim Razali and Afif cleaned up the kitchen. I considered going upstairs and listening to the podcasts for the remaining 8 lectures but I decided to help along. I mean, I can clean dishes meticulously (lol, I sounded like someone suffering from OCD and I somehow think I am). And then, Faiz suddenly recited a verse from the Quran...

كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْقِتَالُ

And then, I'm like...wo, wo. That's like one of the verses that struck a chord with me. You should've seen the look on my face, I'm like "Wow". Allah is reminding me of this verse that I had once encountered in KMB when I had a tough time; the verse that frequently run through my mind when I was having difficulty but somehow, I didn't even remember it during this hard time.

Afterwards, we were like completing the verse in harmony (well, sort of). And I smiled when we finished reciting it. 2:216. how could I forget it? Well, you didn't. You were there to remind me. That's why I asked you why you thought about that verse. Although your response was to refer to the leftover chickens.

5. The walk back home after visiting Lutfi

Lut, lut, you made me worried sick. Ok, this is the first time I used this phrase to you, I think. Thank Allah, it wasn't serious :)

So, me, Cami and my housemates were walking home from QMC when we bumped into Bear (Afiq) and the gang. And Bear told me something that made me smile. He said about the reaction that this person had when he got my note. Knowing that I made someone smiled (or happy) makes me happy. So, I looked to the sky and thought, "This was a good week". 

And I told Cami about it and he enlightened me more with his words of wisdom. He said that sometimes, we tend to forget about the things around us. We'd be too focussed on our big problem and forget about the good surrounding around us. Like when you're drinking a cup of tea or coffee. If you drink it in one go, you would've missed the taste and might not be enjoying it. But if you take your time and experience it, you will feel the richness of the taste. And I'm like, "Wow Cami, you should write a blog". Haha. 

It's true. Sometimes, I'd be too focussed and stressed about something (the exam on Wednesday) that I would begin to forget about everything around me. I have a really good support system. It's just that, most of the time, I overlooked them.

Ok, that's all for now. I still have 8 lectures to go but at least, I'm back to being me... 

under pressure

It's me again.

Microbiology.

1 word that's enough to make me feel exhausted.

It's tiring, repetitive, demanding..I fell like I'm already in a working environment.

My life is hectic. 

If you say "busy", I'll say "Microbiology".

In addition to that, Nottingham Games is on the weekend before our 1st exam. Like seriously? I'm not sure why I did that. For one thing, I know it's not to please anyone.

Maybe that's the reason why I'm feeling this way right now. I want to redeem myself for the first 2 years of Medicine. THIS is not redeeming. THIS is jeopardizing everything I have ever planned. 

Working in the lab sure makes my 3rd year stressful. Pastu ada orang yang tak faham bahasa kan; instead of being supportive, they become annoying. Annoyingly obnoxious. 

My mode right now is "like i care". So, if you think of saying something to me, firstly, imagine me saying this phrase to you. Yeah, like I care.

I need time for myself. I have to reorganize my life schedule. Things are not going smooth right now. I am not being me. 

Emo giler post ni.

Now, I'm going to continue...

In life, Allah will test you to your limits. If you're not good at handling this, you're going to find it hard to survive in this life.

Firstly, the exam is on Wednesday. I have like 5 days to prepare right? Well, not really. Minus Notts Games, minus orang datang rumah. But one thing's for sure. I'm not going to quit cause that's not being me and that's not what Allah wants me to be. I can study on Sunday and even on Nottingham Games when everyone's outside. And I'm going to shut my phone off when the time is right.

Secondly, you are going to ignore people. Yes, ignore people that don't understand you. Don't bother if they annoy you. They're just minor distractions in life. Apologize if you cannot meet the deadline and suggest another mutually acceptable date. If they say they're busy, that's probably because they have never been in a Microbiology lab.

Thirdly, I will keep calm and carry on. Basically, what I'm feeling right now is because I have an IMPORTANT exam next week. Plus, a section of my dissertation to be submitted on Monday. In addition to the Scrabble tournament that I had no idea that we're sending more than 2 people from Nottingham to play. Argh, stress!

-END-

Now, apart from all those negative vibes that you can get from reading the above writings; I'll let you know what made my day in this week:

1. On Monday, I got an email saying that I got the position that I was applying for. It's something that I had wished for so long, alhamdulillah. This will make my life at the university more interesting. And yesterday was the day for the first briefing for my new position. I love my new job! Makes me feel jubilant despite the gloominess of the evening sky. The meeting was held at 4.15pm and I know I was smiling at that time.

2. Yesterday, Jeni, a lady who's working in the same lab as I am; revealed to me that my project is going towards a different direction with new techniques, new methods which could lead to new discovery, iA. And yeah, less dull than what I've done previously. Plus, she's the one who suggested it to Dr Kim. Thanks Jeni for making me feel more hopeful.

3. Banana milkshake. Cami promised me that he'd get me a banana milkshake. It took him months :P But it makes me smile nonetheless when he finally gave it to me yesterday.

4. Tempe. Semalam aku goreng tempe, pergh..bila makan terus rasa happy.

5. And of course, this:

Gambar ni tak sempat nak masuk birthday post, huhu

Techinically, I received this gift last week on the night of Eid Ul-Adha but still, bila tengok rasa macam nak tergelak & rasa bersyukur sebab ada kawan yang sanggup go to a distance to make my day. Thank you. Still tak nak keluar kan dari plastik sebab rasa macam sayang nak pakai, haha.

Ok, that's all for now. I need to sleep early. My lab sessions are very challenging. Right now, it's like 7-6.

And when I have too many things at hand, one after another, I remember 94:7...

last friday night

Okay, as usual...I would write a blogpost about my birthday.

My cake =)

So this is a story of what happened yesterday...so I went for an interview (interview apa? tak nak cerita for now) yesterday on my birthday! Haha. And guess what? I was late for an hour O_o

The thing was; I went out early for the interview at the city. But when I reached the city, apparently this place is not exactly known by many people. But strangers did try their best to help me. Well anyway, I called to let the interviewers know that I'd be late for about 30 minutes. And so I asked the driver to stop at the place that I wanted but no, I ended up stopping at City Hospital yang jauh giler tu. He actually forgotten to stop at the place that I wanted. So, he dropped me while at the traffic lights and exclaimed, "Oh it's not that far, it's just around the corner down there". Well, I ended up climbing hills for about 30 min. 

Somehow, the experience of walking to an unknown destination made me feel like I was a contestant of The Amazing Race, haha. Stranger by stranger helped me to get to the manor that was supposed to be a place for my interview. Seriously, I was sweating by the time I got there and apologized deeply to the interviewers but of course, they were really understanding and nice. They even felt sorry that I have to walk so far. (Actually, bila aku first time kena pergi Portland Primary School bila jadi Student Associate pon aku jalan 1 jam sebab the bus that I wanted wasn't in service during that time. So yeah, I'm usually late on my 1st important meeting. Let's hope this would end.)

So, the interview...

The interviewers went inside the room which was so colourful and looked like a nursery (hint) and began asking questions about myself and my family. I talked about my siblings, Mira, Hani & Irfan; and that we all get along and became closer as we grow older. Most of my answers imply that I'm missing my family. I even told the 2 interviewers that I called Mak & Ayah the day before my birthday just to show them the funny blogpost that I wrote for the university. Then suddenly, one of the interviewers said...

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

And I'm like, "wah, terharunye". I gave them my bright side smile :)

So, the interview went well I think (except for the fact that it began an hour later than it was supposed to, hohoho). The interviewers even said, "We really appreciate that you're being very open with your answers". Well, that's what you get when I'm being me. They even asked, "Are you planning on doing anything today?". I replied jokingly,

"I'm hoping that my housemates are planning a surprise birthday party for me"
(Little did I know that this was going to happen later)

And then, we all laughed. When it was time to sign the application form, I wrote down the date as 3/11/1989. And the interviewer said, "Your mind is thinking about your birthday" and smiled while correcting the error for me. And then, she said, "Thank you for coming to the interview on your birthday".

So, that's the 1st part of my day.

The 2nd part was in the lab.

I'm not sure if you've ever experience it but when I was in the lab, I kept seeing all these bottles with the labels 3/11. It's just so weird for me. I'm like, that's my birth date, hey, that's my birth date again. And even when I wrote down the date on my lab book, it's just so weird. But thank Allah, I didn't have to spend so many hours in the lab on that day or I might go bonkers.

The 3rd part is the part that needs to be highlighted.

It's in my house. So, we planned to have an iftar with everyone in Dunkirk. And then, it was time for me to leave for my Arabic class. And I went to the kitchen and Hosni said "Lut" and Lutfi followed me to the kitchen. That's when I can tell something's going to happen. Hosni was talking to the attendees while I was cleaning my plate and Lut was hovering nearby. I actually thought that Lut was going to prevent me from going back to the living room so I decided to give it a try. In my mind, I was imagining the living room was going to be dark and when I went back to the living room, everyone would shout, "Happy Birthday". I know that this is so typical but I haven't had any experience of this typical surprise. Oh btw, I actually imagined there will be a cake coming from Akmal's room. Lol. 

But this was what actually happened,

I went to the living room and Lut did not stop me. So, I'm like okay, so there won't be anyone hiding in the dark. Hosni stopped me and I knew it, a cake is going to pop up somewhere. Lut came along with a cake from the kitchen, hehe. And everyone began wishing me. And I'm like, finally, a proper birthday party...correction, a proper surprise birthday party. Although it wasn't perfectly executed, at least I appreciate the attempt. 

The reason why I said "finally" (monolog dalaman) was because I like to compare my birthday party to others. By others, I meant my housemates. Like for this one housemate, someone actually made a cake for him, or for this housemate, he gets a cake during our dinner. It's good that no one saw my reaction when I saw these cakes on various occasions cause I was giving a how-come-I-didn't-get-one? look. After this, I can finally show my being-me look cause at least, I have had one ;)

 photo courtesy of Syafiq Zaim

Siapa yang tak datang semalam, serious aku ingat :P

Siapa yang datang, serious aku ingat :)

Not that I'm complaining but I did get something else from the people I care and people who care which made all my birthdays special in different ways even until this day.

A gift from Cami =)

Thank you for all those tweets, FB posts, FB messages, text messages from Malaysia and UK (not forgetting, Ireland), gifts (thank you Cami!), the attempt to make a surprise on my birthday, and to everyone who attended. Guess what? Since I have a good memory, this is going to stay for a very long time. (Apip buat kuih seri muka yang best)

My mentor-mentee group did plan a surprise birthday party as well when I was in KMB and the funny thing was, they actually bought the same cake that I bought for my class. Lol.

And that was probably the last time I said "you made my night".

Now, I can probably say it once again, alhamdulillah, you made my night...

boom

Hello,

I planned to write this one on the 2nd of Nov, not the 3rd. Oh well, I'm gonna write about BOOM Camp that we had last week anyway.

Ok, so we had an event that was initially a one day programme and we transformed it into a camp filled with fun and activities! With the theme "fun in the air", (this theme popped up into my head instantaneously when someone asked about it during the meeting) we were prepared to give our all despite the number of turnouts (which could be improved). 

This is going to be a personal post so I hope that you won't feel bored, haha (I'm so sorry). 

First, we had the activity called Leap of Faith. We had to climb up a platform which was 24 feet above the ground. In front of us, was a ball. The task - by having faith that we would not fall flat on the ground below or more appropriately, we believe that everything would be just fine, we had to hit the ball before experiencing free fall for a few minutes. Of course, it was all safe and secured but to have the courage to jump and tackle the ball, was truly a challenge to be overcome. And I just love adrenaline rush.

Gear up

Look at the view from above

And take that leap of faith

Afterwards, we had a session with Dr Al-Hady, a Specialist Registrar in the Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine. The talk was indubitably inspirational yet, the time allocated for the speaker was not adequate enough as the participants wanted to listen more to the stories from the doctor. By the way, it is important to note that I had the chance to hold a baby in my arms =) Maybe it's been a long time since I had the chance to do that. And people, remember that every events are planned and destined by Allah ^^

Moving on, we had BBQ and let me tell you, it was a feast that none will forget. In addition, from the feedback forms, ALL participants gave a rating of 5.0 whereby they agreed that "Makanan yang disediakan mencukupi" during the BBQ session.

Later at night, we had BOOM Workshop. It is really the true identity of BOOM. The famous workshops whereby participants would rotate in a cycle and go to different stations to learn about several different skills namely Communication Skills, Financial Management, Stress Management, Time Management and Study Skills. I would have joined along but I was too preoccupied with the event tomorrow. The participants gave good feedback for this workshop and even requested that the sessions would be made longer.

 One of the "interactive" stations :P

And on the next day, we had The Amazing BOOM Race. Out of all the The Amazing Race wannabes out there, I have to say that this one was definitely a wannabe. Cause we had Detours and Roadblocks :D Even Speed Bump! I wish that the race would be made longer and with more physical activities..but I think for now, it was sufficient as an initial step. After all, this was an initiative, huhu.

The clues with Route Infos, Detours and Road Blocks

One of the Top 3 teams, congratulations!

The wonderful committee members, only Allah can repay all of you

Lastly, we had Time Portal. The concept was simple. It's like you're writing a letter to yourself in the future. Instead of putting the letters inside a time capsule and burying it somewhere, we decided to post the letters to the house of the participants. Oh yeah, to all of my friends that had received letters from me, you'd realized that most of my writings were written on coloured papers. And for these participants, they had the same opportunity as I am!

One thing about BOOM Camp is that I realized that it's so personal that I think I might have design it to be something that I would like. But the feedback's great! They loved it and I enjoyed it ;)

And we are from Nottingham (and Loughborough) :)

sorila Akmal gambar kau takde, huhu.

Well anyway, I hope the bond that we share will be blessed by Allah. I know, I wish it was longer than 2 days and I wish that we had more people but hey, I'm happy :)

And speaking of BOOM Camp, I just want to let you know that my blogpost for the Nottingham Advantage Award has been launched on the University of Nottingham's blog. I was laughing when I saw the blogpost. Seriously, sangat kelakar. Hahaha. Oh, tinggalkan la comment so that they would ask me to write more, huhu.

Oh, kaitannya dengan post ni? Well, I think it's important for us to dream high and to bloom out of mediocrity.

Why?

Simply because that's what Allah wants you to be...and I'm ready to be all I can be...