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...

what's my name?

I don't normally write a blogpost past my bedtime but this is an exception. 

But when you think about it again, the previous post on this blog was written waaaay past my bedtime.

I told myself that I would write about my 3rd and final module for the Nottingham Advantage Award only after I have completed it and passed with flying colours. But I just have to write about it now cause I want to remember this day.

So after Maghrib, I went to my class at Trent Building (this is a classical style building that is a maze on its own) and waited for the tutor to come. Then, along came Thomas (my classmate) sat next to me and greeted me by my name, "Hey Wafi, you're alright?" And I was so touched that he remembered my name. We've only met for 2 times and never talked before this, huhu.

Oh yeah, one thing to note. Adlan Wafi doesn't really feel proud most of the times. He does have this feeling but he's trying to get rid of the feeling as best as his can. Usually, he will feel touched. In Malay, saya memang mudah terharu daripada rasa bangga. It's probably because I have this strong memory on sentimental events. Thus, my feelings are more channelled towards being touched rather than feeling boastful. And I always try to remind my brothers about the danger of vanity. It's not good being vain and all. It's just not cool.

And my friends would usually think that I'm proud that people remember my name but no, I'm touched. Sometimes, the feeling almost made me want to cry. And I tweeted this when Thomas greeted me this evening. But alhamdulillah, I remember his name. So yeah, I'm grateful that he's being friendly to me.

Ok, this is the revelation. I present to you my 3rd and final module for NAA:

Modern Standard Arabic

Level 1 Part 1

Okay, there are various reasons of why I didn't want to write about it on my blog. Some of the reasons include it's quite late for me to learn Arabic isn't it? I feel so inferior compared to others. And now, I'm just plain embarrassed that everyone who reads my blog knows that I'm just beginning to learn Arabic. Secondly, my friends who read my blog would now begin speaking Arabic to me where in actual fact, I have only learned a few words. So don't mock me, please. The reason why I go for this module is because I think it's about time that I start mastering this language. 

And today, our tutor, Ahmed decided to ask us to write our names in Arabic. When it was my turn, he exclaimed, "Wafi, a couple of Arabic names. Which one did you go for?"

I was impressed at his capability to identify that my name was indeed Arabic. I mean, I have met several Muslim brothers and some of them even asked, "Is that an Islamic name?"

Lol!

So yeah, I was glad that he knew that my name was Arabic. I said, "I chose Wafi".

"Go ahead then"

"Wau alif fa ya"

"Do you know what it means?"

"I think I do. Is it loyal?"

"Yes, it is. It does have some shades of meaning"

Bila dengar perkataan "shades" ni, teringat "shades of grey", hehe.

And I decided to guess what the other meaning is cause I've been hearing this quite a lot from my friends.

"Does it also mean healer?"

"I have not heard about that one before"

Thanks lah Sudin and Izdihar Zuhdi!

Haha, sebab diorang selalu teka Wafi maksudnya "penyembuh".

"The other shade of meaning is sincere. So, it's loyal/sincere"

And I'm like okay, that could be my new blog name after denial/redemption :P

Sincere? How wonderful does that sound. I never knew that. I have always associate myself to the meaning that I have always known - loyal. MasyaAllah, it's an evening to remember ;)

So yeah, there's a lady by the name of Dina in my lab whom one day asked me about Eid Ul-Adha. I wasn't sure how she knew that I'm a Muslim but I guess she might know it from my name.

And so, that's when I learned about another meaning of my name in a class that starts in the evening on this rainy day.

On another note, I received a parcel today with my name written as "Adlan Wafi Shin". And I'm like O_o when did I become a Shin? Heh.

Back to my final module, the progress is quite slow. Well of course, the class is designed for beginners and I on the other hand am only capable in reading but lack the knowledge in semantics which is imperative in order to become proficient in a desired language.

Nevertheless, I'm going to persevere. It's late I know. But at least, it's a step. Plus, I learned about my name along the way...

how do you sleep?

Time: 1:37 am, Nottingham

Tau tak? Tadi aku baring kat atas katil for 1 jam setengah but failed to fall asleep! I hate myself for this. Ok, I am really sensitive when it's time to close my eyes.

Case studies:

A. In my house in Shah Alam, my room is the only one that has these translucent windows attached on the walls thus, allowing light from the hall upstairs to pass inside my room. Ni tingkap yang kat belah dalam tau bukan untuk tengok luar. So, faham la apa yang jadikan? Bila nak tidur, aku akan keluar & tutup lampu regardless of who's using it. I would get irritated if someone left the light on for such a long time. Blood pressure meningkat bila tengok lampu menyala terang benderang. Grrrr...

B. In my house in Nottingham when I was in the first year, I learned about myself more when I discovered my human alarm clock. Yes, jam loceng manusia. His laughter can wake up the whole house. Or maybe, just me. His laughter approximates to a sound pressure level of 100 dB (remember, I'm being sarcastic here). It really ticked me off when I couldn't sleep at my bedtime. Cause it's going to affect the time that I'll be waking up tomorrow. I actually got up from my bed and went downstairs to give him an angry look which made him shut up for a while. Little did I know that this alarm clock goes off until this day.

C. 11.00pm - 12.30am, Saturday - Sunday, 15-16 October 2011. It was during this period of about 1.5 hours that I lay on my bed turning on the sounds of rain and thunder on my iPad (I even put on the auto-lock thinking that I'd fall asleep after the sound is over but Nooooo) trying to sort of neutralize the laughter that seemed endless coming from downstairs. Argh! Geram...Well, you're reading this post right? So yeah, obviously aku tak dapat tidur.

My senses can be very sensitive when it's time for me to fall asleep. And apparently, people don't get that. They think I can fall asleep easily. Haish..I know that you need to have a speck of light when you're sleeping and I know that you wake up easily if the duvet is pulled away from you and I know that you cannot even wake up even if 3 types of alarm are turned on: the chicken sound, the Indian beat & the Sony Ericsson alarm.

Dear readers, the message from this blog post is - Be considerate.

Yes, I don't think people should be making noise if it's close to midnight. (This includes you, jiran sebelah rumah yang buat party last week!) We need to think about others. That person might want to go jogging early in the morning tomorrow (Ye, saya nak joging esok tapi tak jadi kot sebab sekarang dah pukul 2.19 am). Apart from that, I should not be selfish thinking sleep is so important for myself. For all I know, they could be discussing on ways to save the world. Well, sacrificing a good night's sleep for the betterment of the world sounds reasonable enough for me. (Although I'd be cranky about it :P)

Which brings me to another point - Think good of others.

I'm not perfect, but I'm trying my best to do this ;)

So, I've sort of thought of ways to overcome my sensitivity in trying to fall asleep. I could buy earplugs as suggested by Andi Rizal. I could also get up from my bed after the first 40 minutes of terbaring dalam keadaan tak tenang and do something fruitful instead of lying for another 50 minutes pastu bangun jugak. Lol. And last but not least, aku rasa aku nak buat sleepover kat rumah orang kat Dunkirk the next time aku dengar orang gelak kat rumah ni. Boleh tak? Boleh tak? Please, please.

Okay, that's all for now. Maybe lepas ni boleh tidur kot. But before that, aku nak vacuum satu rumah so that diorang pulak yang terbangun. Okay, kidding. I'm not that evil. I hope you enjoy this funny post. Cause I was laughing the whole way. And I myself, need to be more cosiderate and think good of others...

dream on

So, here I am in Nottingham, in my new room. It's cold~

And this is my new blog name: denial/redemption (DR).

Cause in some ways, DR helped me to get through most of the dramatic events whilst in the UK. And the name reflects whatever that has happened in the past 2 years or even before that.

Anyway, I'm in my 3rd year now. You know what that means..a whole lot of drama with new twists and surprises.

Firstly, look at my exam dates between the 1st and 3rd year:

Year 1: this is a typical timetable for most universities (look at the reds)

Year 3: Look at the butterflies!

The cool thing is, the exams are distributed over the academic year instead of cramming it into one duration like during Sem 4 which was the worst exam experience ever in my life. I'm so grateful to make it through last semester. Having all of these dates means I'm going to rock and roll sooner than you think and more than you expect. So you see that this is actually one of the many hardships of Medicine.

I actually went to the introduction lecture for the 1st year Medics yesterday, just to hear the words from Prof Lowe. It's very inspiring really. Reminding me of the times when I was one of the freshers 2 years ago.

But what I want to highlight is something that Dr Burr said during the lecture. He said that although we are all brainy, most of us will be average and that's something that we're not really used to. And that's going to be difficult for some people.

Well, Dr Burr didn't tell me this when I came to Nottingham in 2009 :P

Cause that's what I am right now, average. But my dreams are high. Really high. Sometimes I wonder why I dream so high when eventually, I'd end up upsetting myself when I can't reach it.

Because Wafi, that is what Allah wants you to do. He wants you to dream big and He doesn't expect you to become a mediocre. I have to bloom out of mediocrity (BOOM).

Tetiba ada iklan. But the point is, we need to aim high. Kalau kita nak masuk syurga pon, kita kena aim masuk syurga firdaus kan? ;)

And 3rd year is the year to make it or break it. Duhh, I prefer to make it, insyaAllah.

It's truly going to be one heck of a ride.

This time around, I'm bringing Wafi back...

shut up and drive

I'm leaving Malaysia today and this year, I drove a lot more than I did last year. Probably because I have a car to myself for this whole summer, ihik2. Anyway, I actually just found out the reality of driving in Malaysia. It's distressing! 

You know, I really enjoy adrenaline rush..like when I go down the large slide in Leicester or run against the wind in Nottingham. But the adrenaline rush that I'd usually get when I'm driving on Malaysian road is different. It's the bad kind. It's like you're trying to survive a disaster. And here are some of the characters that I would usually find on the road.

The immortalized motorcyclist

There was only one encounter -  I was moving into the fast lane when suddenly, this motorcyclist appeared at the right side of my car. It's clear that this motorcyclist was accelerating as I have made sure that it was really safe before moving into the lane. So, I let him pass since he was immortal and there's no need to drive with him side by side as if we're a couple. He went past me and the funny thing is, he actually turned his head around to face me. Too bad I didn't have a camera installed at the front of my car; I would have displayed his face on my blog or on Facebook. He was giving me a look that said something like "Don't you know I'm immortal?". My response: "Dude, I know. That's why I let you passed." In Australia, motorcyclist deaths are approximately 30 times more than drivers of other vehicles. In Malaysia, this motorcyclist believes 30 times more than other motorcyclists that he is immortal.

The lane keeper

This is a normal character on the highway. If you haven't meet them, you need to drive more :P

There was one time when I looked at the lane on my right during a traffic congestion. There was a gap of about 3 cars next to me and the cars on that lane was moving slowly. I said to myself, let's perform an experiment.

Research question: Is the driver on the right lane a typical lane keeper?

Hypothesis: Adlan Wafi believes the driver is a lane keeper and would not allow him to get into the fast lane. In addition, he believes the driver would accelerate as if he was on an assassination mission.

A normal driver would definitely let me get into the lane. And so this is what happened as the experiment was preformed..

I gave a signal and moved into the lane on the right and the car behind (the person being tested) accelerated as if he needed to go to the nearest toilet or he'll wet his car seat. In addition, he honked his car furiously. Hypothesis proven and experiment was successful. I only smiled when he honked. Yelah, takkan nak mencarut kot. That is so not cool. I'm just a bit disappointed with his behaviour.

The hired assassin

Did you know? I actually met a lot of these assassins on the road. There was one day where I think it would have been a total massacre if I had not use the horn. 

These assassins originate from the slow lane or the middle lane. They attempt murder by driving so fast and close to their victim on the fast lane, forcing the victim to slow down his/her car and let the assassins get in front of them. Of course, the victim who did not survive this technique might be unfortunate enough to suffer an accident, naudzubillah.

So yeah, when I was driving in Malaysia, I didn't use the horn that much as I find them offensive. But when I finally discovered these assassins. I just have to use it for my survival.

You see, when you horn the honk at these assassins, they would finally realize that killing is wrong. They would stop from trying to get into your lane and stay on their own lane. They would probably go and see those who hired them to return the money. Honestly, there was one day where everyone was out to get me.

The telepathic lane stealer

These characters are everywhere! At first, I thought their signal lights were broken or they're trying to reduce the consumption of their car batteries but no, that can't be it. They must be telepaths.

 Let me read your mind! (Source)

These telepaths; I envy them. They can move into any lanes that they want without illuminating their signal lights. All they have to do is to use their ability by getting into the head of the drivers on the other lanes and said something like, "Hey, I wanna go into your lane". And they go into their lanes without any signal lights. However, they forgot that most drivers (like me) wear those head protectors like Magneto. Telepaths can't get into our minds silly. You need to use the signal lights like normal people. My heart skips a beat when these telepathic lane stealers are on the road.

And that's reality.

You might think it's easy actually. I can just turn into any of these 4 characters any other day and survive the treacherous roads of Malaysia. Be them and live!

But I beg to differ.  I choose to be myself. 

Be who you are and not what others are forcing you to be (provided that these other people are not portraying good qualities)

You see, when Rasulullah was trying to touch the hearts of others, he didn't fight fire with fire. Let the people throw anything bad that you could ever imagine upon him but no, he didn't throw it back to them. He was a man who displayed good traits; qudwah hasanah. Rasulullah was being himself.

And that's what I believe. I believe in portraying good qualities which I hope others would be inspired to follow. I believe that the act of illuminating signal lights and giving way to people on the road may be a small step for the drivers of Malaysia to actually do the same thing. 

I believe that small good deeds may be minimal in the eyes of men, but they are noteworthy for Allah.

Be the change that you want to see in Malaysia. 

It starts from an individual. It starts from you.

And this is the importance of being me...