August...my favorite month

it's another month coming in just another day! a month of celebration (my birthday), a month of rejuvenating (more like the end of the month when i'll be going away for a short vacation with my darling hubby), and a month of patriotism (hari merdeka is coming people, better get that jalur gemilang flying proud in your homes)
i'm about to call it a night. my weekend was superb although i didn't get much rest and sleep. got to do some reading for both personal and work related stuff. last week i joined a pilates class with a colleague. i am totally into classes which will actually make me fall asleep at the end of the class (like this one). and the instructor was such a sweet thing, she even poured some warm green tea in cute little cups with faces on it. i think i will continue with her pilates class from now on. (i still can't fathom how i can continuously yawn while doing the stretching excercises..while the rest who are in their mid 40s and 50s are perspiring profusely!!) anyhow, hubby said it's because i don't do enough excercises which is absolutely true. so i'm gonna give a twice-a-week excercise routine a try next week. hope it will stay on, and hope my weight is going to stay off!

okie dokie. bonsoir

unwinding the day...

ok..it's only been an hour since my last post...but i'm in the mood to write today..(i should probably focus on writing more academic stuff than blogging..seriously...oh but it's 4.12pm and people are one by one making their way to the exit..) so i did some stuff in between writing my blog..like preparing for my next class and trying to find a topic on what to discuss with the boss on thursday..quite productive lah..didn't entirely do nothing right???
like i said in my previous post...here, i have the opportunity to learn things which i never had any clue of...like this week for example...i was sent to a forum on Intellectual Property and Commercialization. before this, i had close to zero knowledge about IP and now, i know something about it...

i have a tonne of non-work related stuff to do..and they keep increasing by the day..so far i have only ticked 1 out of 9 things to do..it makes me happy and feeling like i've done a lot if i can check half of the list by tomorrow..let's see (fetching the list)...

1. send material to tailor (this one is kept postponed because it's on the other side of town)
2. send the maid for haircut (this one is quite near, but i'd have to go home and fetch her and go out again...hmmm hassle hassle..i just wanna relax when i go home)
3. get maid letter from Embassy in Jakarta (i don't even want to get started on this maid business..let's skip)
4. open bank account for Aishah Karima..(yes..this one is one of my priority as she is already 4 months old and is a good time to start her savings account)
5. arrange direct deposits for Aishah's and Nazim's accounts...(have to go to THaji and fill out forms..again, requires driving to town which i am absolutely not into right now, especially in the afternoon...)
6. send claim form to claim my medical expenses (even though the building to send the form is just 2 minutes away by foot, i often forget to do this, and find it difficult to do it)
7. get lining material for baju (related to number 1, and again, driving and timing issues are the limiting factors)
8. get the bunga telur which have been ordered at a local craft store (same reason)
9. get nebules for Nazim as he is having chest congestion and wheezing again..

so, i think i can do number 9 right after work since it's just one the way home. but the rest...hmmm..i guess would have to wait..for tonight, i plan to cook a nice meal, something which i have not been doing for quite some time now since we've had the privelege of having our meals at my in-laws because of visiting overseas relatives and now that they've gone home, we will get back to our normal routine of eating at our own home...ok lah...enough for today..have a nice evening people! buona sera or as the french say it, bonsoir!

thoughts on my career

after reading leilanie's post on you hate your job when ...i have a thing or two to share too about my experiences with my bosses. unlike leilanie though, i don't hate my job...in fact, i like it a lot..and it's the first ever job that actually brings some value for me, my everyday life and my future..other jobs i've held before didn't have that value which i could bring with me.
for instance, my first job as an engineer in a big MNC in the US was more of me taking a huge paid vacation and not learning anything at the end of the day. i can't even remember exactly what i did except sitting in front of machines and running simulations after simulations of board testing..(yeah i know..fun...NOT!) but the nice thing about it was i got to make some new friends (mostly of foreign race) and get to experience of working with them. the work ethics there are also quite different from ours here. of course, people are expected to come to work on time, and if we arrive late, we wouldn't get "the look" as much as we would here. taking a break means taking it whenever you feel like having a cup of coffee or just say hi to your friends..here, it means you have to take it a certain time, and only for a certain amount of time, or you would be getting "the look" again..but i guess this is not applicable for private companies...they should be pretty laid back.
anyway, my second job was again, not too fulfilling for me, even though i kinda enjoyed the meeting with people from other companies and the eating here and there part. but when it came to the nitty gritty of it...i really didn't like what i was doing. i mean i was an engineer, in an engineering post, and 70 per cent of my job required me to draft/proofread legal documents which sounded too alien to me...so, i was more than happy when i gave up that job . but my boss was nice..even though she (yea SHE..my only female boss so far). even though she changed her mind like she changed her clothes, i still liked her...and she was nice to me..despite some (very small) incidents which proved to be otherwise..she even took me as far as Hong Kong on a business trip. and there, we bonded :) we went shopping for bags, shoes, and clothes..we ate at restaurants together, and went sight-seeing together..hahah...i haven't seen her for 3 years now..i hope she's doing well..
and then..my third job...as a lecturer..a career i never thought i'd get myself into ever..i still remember..the night before my first class, i cried myself to sleep in fear that i would not be able to face the students tomorrow, as i had no teaching experience, etc...but that was that...hahah i've passed that fear stage..and have become quite adept with talking in front of a big crowd..being a lecturer doesn't confine you to the "meeting with your boss" ritual like other jobs. you're expected to be independent...do your own thing..go to classes whenever you have them...meet your students when they need you..but interaction with the boss is pretty minimal...my bosses then were alright...didn't really work with them at a personal level...more of a collective work...
and finally, here..at my forth job, also as a lecturer but at another learning institution, the practice is quite similar with my previous job, but with more essence...here i get to explore on what i want to do within the next 5 years...and learning so many new things..things which i didn't get to learn while on job number 3, like research work, publications, and what's it like to be a real academic...i think it has to do with the environment that i'm exposed to now..and also having a boss who, from day one stressed the real meaning of being an academic. it's more than just teaching..it's about enriching yourself..to be in a life-long learning process..and i could say the "fear" of the boss too has something to do with it..hahahah..fear of not being as smart as he expected you to be...fear of not being able to talk the talk and walk the walk..and right now i am "fearing" of what the heck should i be talking about with my boss as a report routine which he has enforced. ok gotta look for stuff to talk about now...

just another manic monday

the day started off pretty swiftly but calmly for me as i hugged hubby before he left for work and me having ample time to get ready for work myself. on normal days, i don't normally have the time to bath my son for his school, but today, was an exception. and it didn't take me very long to get him dressed either. so my morning was going on quite smoothly until...i wanted to lock the house but there were no house keys to be found!! (again, i suspected my hubby has once again, taken my copy of the house keys and his is in his car all this while) there is a tendency for him to take whatever copy that is on the table just beside the door, and leaves me with nothing to lock the house, and this, has happened too many times...and every time it happens, i'd go crazy!! same goes if either one of the keys gets lost..i'd go crazy too. anyway, so that was the start of how my morning got a little havoc..and then there was nazim, who likes to get into the car by himself and play with the steering wheel. and this morning, as he was doing that, i was still looking high and low for the house keys, even though i'm very sure that it's nowhere in the house (gotta give a try). so, then suddenly nazim came out of the car crying, and i saw blood in his mouth (not too much, thank God) and i suspected it might've come from him accidentally bumping his mouth on the steering wheel. so by then, nazim could not stop crying and wanted to be picked up and consoled..and me, still feeling quite agitated at the thought of the missing keys (missing because hubby said he only took one set of keys..but he didn't confirm if the other set is in his car or not). so, my plan to arrive in the office by 8.15 was far-fetched at this point, as i had to send nazim to school myself....(at this point of time, i was interrupted by a colleague at work annoucing that Siti and Dato' K have finally admitted that they are getting married in a press conference)...so now i have nothing more to write (not because of the news...but because my train of thought has been distracted and i am too lazy to gather them again) so, thank you, and please drop by again, another time.

a quickie

now don't start thinking funny here...it's not that kind of quickie..

i have 15 minutes before i have to drive to class (yeah, not walk...since the class is 30 mins away from my office!) good thing they let us claim for the mileage.
anyway, just had my bowl of soto for breakfast, but i kinda feel my stomach churning. i hope it's not going to be trouble. my whole body kinda aches today. probably because i was tired the day before. Thank God tomorrow is Friday, and then the weekend! aaaaahh...this waking up at 7am routine is pretty tiring...and has made me pretty much like a robot. leave the house by 8, get back home by 5.30pm...i guess that's not too bad compared to KL people where getting home by 7pm is quite the norm! *count my blessings* :)

anyway, gotta go now!! See ya...

snak-ing...psssttt

i'm back in the office today, only to find not too many people are in today. including the Boss. half of them have gone for another workshop somewhere and the other half have gone...mengular...which brings me to want to vent out my ketidakpuashatian..if there is such a word...why don't they want to bring me along in their mengular activity/trip? haih....i don't know what is it with these people...one minute they are buddy2 with you and the next...total strangers!!! well, i guess this is just one of those office politics that i have to deal with...but i just feel so damn pissed at them for having this kind of mentality. i remember when i was working in the US, things like this don't/rarely happen. people are quite transparent with their feelings and in communicating with people, and office politics/beuracracy are non-existent.

so here i am, in the office, feeling a bit pissed and lonely, and what better way to express my feelings than in this blog. what is it with me that makes them not want to hang out with me? do i portray the "goody-two-shoes" employee who will leak out information about their mengular activities to the Boss? sheeshh...for goodness sake, i LOVEEEE to mengular...that's what i've been doing ever since i started working (ooopss..i hope none of my former bosses or present boss is reading this). anyway, maybe they think since i'm quite a newbie at this place so they shouldn't really get me involved in their activities just yet...or maybe not? maybe they just don't like me. ah well, it's ok, i'll get over it soon..

so what now?

i think i'll start doing my work (but i still can't help thinking how much fun they are having out there while i'm stuck in the office all alone).

shakira shakira shakira

the title above has nothing to do with my entry today. it's just that i'm so glued to that song "hips don't lie" because i hear it (almost) every single day while i'm driving to work or coming back from work. it's just so....i don't know...just makes me wanna move..(but of course i couldn't move in the car as much as my heart desires as what would people be thinking when they see a tudung lady behaving like that?) it's just got a catchy tune and wyclef jean's part is not bad either. what a title to a song though...hips don't lie? hahahah..i guess she's talking about how her hips don't lie because she's really havin a good time dancing huh? aaaaanywayyy

i have been away from work to attend a three-day workshop (on Problem Based Learning a.k.a PBL, but i'm not going to talk about it in this entry as it's going to take a whole different entry just to talk about that) and guess what are the buzz stories i've been hearing at the workshop? among other things:

1. the siti - dato' k perpetual romance (or is there?)
2. the mawi - fiance (ex-fiance) saga
3. who will win the world cup this weekend?

so, I guess I was a little late in getting some of the information above. i don't get to read my papers regularly due to time constraint and availability. it seems that mawi has called off his engagement on the same day his father had passed on. what a shame. there are many versions as to why the engagement was called off, but whatever reason it may be, i guess it's better to realize they're not suitable for each other now than finding it out much too late.

aaah..and the siti-dato' k story. my oh my, people (especially the former's fans) have a lot to say about this. and this includes some highly intellectual people who even go to the extent of doing a SWOT analysis on the possibility of marriage between the two.

Strengths:
Weakness:
Opportunity:
Threats:

anybody interested to fill out the blanks above?

and of course, the world cup is coming to its end this weekend. not that i've been following all the matches since it began earlier last month, but for some reason, i tend to get excited when the whole thing is about to finish. same goes to AF4, or any other show for that matter....and talking about shows..does anybody know what happened to that show Grey's Anatomy???? I have been eagerly waiting for it since its last episode where Dr. Sheperd's ex-wife (possibly) appeared at the hospital and Meredith was totally blrghh about it because all the while she thought she was dating someone single. And then the week it was supposed to show that episode, Astro started to show that "beauty and the geek" show. what the hey?? so am i missing something here or have they shift the show to another day or something? anybody with that information please let me know because i loike the show a lot and have never missed an episode.

hmm...ok, it's now 1 am and i'm trying to push myself to write a research proposal due on the 10th. after an hour and a half long of drama earlier (a continuous cycle of putting aishah to sleep, her getting up again, crying again, putting her to sleep again, me incessantly asking nazim to go to sleep, and him simply ignoring my orders...)...i finally have peace and quiet...so i better not waste this opportunity while i'm still up and awake.