Reading week, Sushis and Birmmmmmmmm!

i promised an update didn't i?



lets see..the only reading i've done so far is chapter 1 from O'Grady's SLA's book. as for the portfoilio entries, i've literally not typed even a single word.



but today, i did have an amazing time in Birmingham.



despite the fact that i'm notmuch of a sushi fan, i actualy dined in a japanese restaurant an swallowed sushi after sushi. one thing i notice is that sushis have a very bad effect on me. i makes me go all weird, as if i'm drunk or something. this has happened twice: the first was during the bonfire and fireworks in kenilworth and the second is this trip. why??? why?? what's in the sushi that makes me go all excited and crazy???! ppl from other tables were actually looking at our table and i could read it from their faces "these girls must have had too much alcohol"...



well, that's that. i guess, its no harm for me to go a little crazy once in a while right.



now to the other eventful happenings in birmingham. i shopped more than my expected budget. nothing surprising there. however, i am very happy with my buys. i simply adore my pair of boots (although it's exactly like lala's one..as she put it, 'it's ok kak long, we're sisters!'). while trying it, i din even ask for the price and since it was so very comfy and nice, i would have gotten it even if it had cost 30 pounds (it only cost 20 pounds). and then, though i already have 3 complete sets of thermal wear, i went and bought another 2 sets. erm..i'm not sure if this is a smart thing to do. i wash my clothes very often because i usually handwash and only use the machine once a month (maybe longer than that). so,do i really need so many pairs? but since i've already bought it, i'll just make the most of it. there are sure to be days when i wont have time to wash my clothes that often, so the extra pairs will do me good.

well...i could go on and on with this post but i'll stop here for now. perhaps i should do some reading. now, where did that novel go...?

My Big Plans for Reading Week

firstly, i wanna smile as wide as i can, cos after so long, i really managed to 'melepas rindu' to some ppl who i miss so much.

so, it's the reading week. logically i (and everyone else who has reading week) should be spending the wekk doing tonnes of reading right.

let me list out all the work which i have successfully accumulated
SLA
(from the o'grady book)- chapter 1
- chapter 2
- chapter 3
- chapter 5
- chapter 13
(Gass & selinker book) - chapter 1

ORACY- 3 theories of language learning
- Krashen's theory
- listening (i have no idea why there is so much to read on this...ish!)
- communicative competence

SOCIOLINGUISTICS- definition of bilingualis and all its problems
- individual bilingualism
- bilingualism & the family
- bilingualism & the community

CULTURE & CITIZENSHIP- 4 weeks of portfolio entries plus the ethnograpy report for this
week (which includes carrying out the survey, analysis the data
and writing the report)
- All the too many handouts...

so..i have all this to see to and since i have succesfully wasted my 1st half of the reading week doing nothing beneficial, i am left with too much to do in too little time. Live is to be enjoyed, its not worth getting myself all worked up for this mountain of work.

now to my plans for this week
1) lepak with ell in leamington spa. might even go to jephson garden to snap some pictures
2) write emails and catch up with my family, frens and lecturers in msia
3) handwash my clothes (this is a must..no excaping this chore)
4) carry out the survey for ethnography report
5) might actually start on the report if we have sufficient data
6) i'll probably do 1 or 2 portfolio entries
7) i must get my hands on the oracy assignment (since i dun have the question paper, i still dun even know the question or have any clue at all about the assignment)
8) maybe..just maybe i'll read a few pages for SLA , not sure what i'll read but i'll try to read something.

as for the rest of the stuff which i need to read or do, i will just have to forget about it for now. i will start panicking when the dateline is really near or when it's about a month before the exams.

hmm..it's 10 am now. i've been awake for hours but i havent actually done anything. i wonder why i even bothered deactivating fb. ever since my deactivation, i've found so many other ways to waste my time well. hahah...i know i'm so gonna regret all this in a matter of time, but i just cant bring myself to care.

btw, who else wnats to joing me and ell for leamington? we can release tension ppl (i dont thinki we actually have any tension as just yet but who cares..)

When a dream comes true

i was supposed to write many more posts earlier but the preparation to go to uk really took up all my time-but alas, i'm finally here in uk.



my journey started off with the torturous struggle to drag my 23kilo luggage bag along with my 7+ kilo back pack and my extremely heavy laptop. the fact that westwood was a 30 minute walk from where we were dropped off made everything so much worse. i'm really grateful for the help i got from haniff. also, i just cant thank the seniors enough for seeing to our meals on or arrival day.

the walk was worth it. as it turned out, my room is one of the biggest and the view is simply breath taking. in the first few weeks the weather was a torture. coming from a very hot country, it wasnt easy to adapt to the cold weather in uk.

now that it's been one month, i think i am starting to adapt but i just cant imagine how cold it'll get during winter. i am still adapting and i still feel rather lost in this new place. i dun like feeling lost. i like feeling fully certain and confident.

the food is not much of an issue as it is easy to find halal food. besides, we can always cook our own meals. this is rather time consuming though.

one thing really does surprise me though. when i 1st arrived i thought i was dreaming and every step i took felt like a dream. surprisingly enough, i still feel that way. i dont feel very real. i feel even i am imaginary or something like that. even since young i wanted to study in uk, and my dream came true. now that i'm here, i should at least feel less dreamy, right..

when will the reality that i'm already in uk sink in?

LANGUAGE CAMP: PART1- FLOOD IN THE CHALET!!

The language camp this time was held in HOsba Valley in Kedah. The place was nice with a beautiful view and a lot of climbing to do. Phew!!! Remember those flight of stairs in the jungle people?? How i hated climbing up. for that reason and that reason alone, i kind of sighed when there are activites as all activites were held at the rooms which is high up in the jungle..hahaha..my description makes it sound weird, right. weird descriptions works well with weird people.


I was among the lucky ones who got to stay in the chalet. And my roommates were Faiza and Qistina. When i first entered it, i was in fact, rather impressed. After all Mr Earnest's empty threats about the place not being 'to our liking', i felt it was not bad. I still remember sending him an sms to inform him that my chalet was like a 4 star hotel. What a waste of my 15cents!!!


That night, we learned the true characteristics of the chalet. and we realised it only when we were sleeping. The ceiling was leaking! And the leak was bad. In no time at all, half the room was wet. To worsen matters, the room was carpetted, so even till the camp ended, the floor was still wet. Could you imagine the stink? we could smell it even from outside.

The lucky thing was, the management got it fixed fast. When they took of a part of the ceiling, we got a shock- the pipe was actually broken and the water was running down in top speed!

Despite the repairs, the three of us, along with our roommates form Batu Lintang lived in the stinking chalet for four days...

THAT IS LAST SECOND!!

"Sir, we are ppl who work best at the last minute."


"That is not last minute, that is last second!"


That was Mr Yusni's response to our many claims that last minute work is always the best.


With 3 assignments due on the same day, we had no choice but to work at the ';ast second'. I still remember working with Jamie, Yasmin and Alya. We took the topic of 'Deforestation'. A day before the exhibition, we started our major preparations like looking for the materials to present.


we started our online search at about 11pm the night before. till this day, i thank my lucky fortune that we could access the internet that night. otherwise, we might have jolly well failed the assignment. we worked till morning. we prited and cut out pieces of paper to be pasted on manila cards. we also read thorugh our notes and forced what we could into our brains. with no sleep and limited time, nothing much went through. thus, we took parts and divided the info between us.

That same night, Mr Yusni got us permission to enter Room 7, the venue of our exhibition. He expected us to actually set uo the exhibition as in utting up our presentations etc. But what did we actually do?? We merely arranged the table and other furnture at our respective booths. All around teslians were sitting and only just starting to prepare the materials for presentation. As for me, i was cutting out the bookmarks to be given out the next day. Mr Yus spotted me at work. If he had only seen me doing the same thing earlier, i would have been very pleased with myself, but spotting me at that moment just proved how unprepared i was for th efollowing day. Later that night, all four of us walked around to look for 'ranting kayu' to be put at our booth. Mr Yus was not oblivious to our last minute work.

"Are all of you really going to do the exhibition tomorrow morning?"

"Yes, sir.'

"But I don't see any of you being ready for it."

"NO worries, sir. We will finish up everything tomorrow. We will come at 6.30 am to finish our work."

The next morning, i had my bath at 7am. I still had things to do so it was well after 7 by the time i reached my class. So much for our assurance of 'being there at 6.30'. Hah!! I managed to escape Sir but some other friends did not share my luck as Mr Yus saw them walking in at 7.30 and even later. Immediately, he knew there was trouble. Thus, he came to Room 7 to check things out for himself and.....WALAAAA!!! THE CLASS WAS IN TOTAL CHAOS!!!

We were only just putting up our materials for exhibition and as for my own booth, MIn and I were having a nice time decorating our title. We were literally colouring the alphabets which spelled 'DEFORESTATION'. Time was ticking, and our exhibition was due open in less than 30 minutes. Of all people to pay us an early visit, our main guest, the timebalan pengarah, decided to pop in early to check our progress. Till this moment, I can still see Mr Yus's look of panic. None of us were ready. There were 8 booths there with 52 people at work, yet not a single one of us were ready. However, with some unknown luck and a lot of cooperation, the exhibition started in time.

Alya blasted of the speakers at our booth with Michael Jackson's 'Save The World' and the exhibition was brought to live. We also had a powerpoint presentation at the front of the class. As people kept filing in to the room, we had to constatnly entertain our visiors by explaining about our topics. We were all very tired actually, but none of us let it show. As mentioned earlier, my group segregated our info and memorised only parts of our topic. So there were times when i couldn't actually answer the questions asked by visitors, but i rambled on nevertheless. As the day came to end, we knew our exhibition was a success. Everyone was happy and relieved, especially Mr Yus.

Looking back at this event after a year, I still smile and laugh at the crazy things we went thorugh to put up our Environmental Exhibition. We did everything at the last second, that's for sure, but working together made it a success, and made it one of my best memories in IPIP. special thanks to Jamie, Alya and Yasmin for being a fantastic team.

THE CLOCK IS TICKING

THE CLOCK IS TICKING...
And thank God that it is.

My four-month holiday is finally down with only one month left, and then I will be leaving the country to embark on a new life in a whole new world. With only a month left to finish up all my final preparations, I’m once again wondering if I am truly prepared. Despite my ambitious plan to do the cooking for at least a month, I have spent my holidays by hardly even doing ANY cooking at all. I’m just not comfortable doing the cooking here, not when I can find so many better ways to spend my time. Anyway, I know I’m a survivor, and it’s not like I don’t know any cooking at all. I’ve learnt a few simple dishes and I will learn a few more in the few weeks I have left here. Then, I will surely be able to cook for my own survival in UK.

Tick-tock.

The days are passing and that moment of take-off is drawing closer and I actually can’t wait for it. This would be it. The moment. After spending 21 years of my life at home (even when I left for college I still felt rather un-independent since my colleges had always been so close to home), I will finally be free to set out on my own. And I am finally ready. Mentally at least. As I take my first step in UK, it is my hope that I will be able to start a new life altogether. I hope to be happy this time. And I hope to make the most of the time I have in UK.

There are things I wish to leave behind forever and even more than that there are changes I wish to make – in myself especially. And once I’m convinced that I have changed for the better, I will see to it that I do all I can and all that it takes to change certain aspects of my life. I’m a lady with a mission. And with God’s grace, I have confidence that this will be an accomplished mission.

I’m sure looking forward to embarking on a new life altogether. Though I am grateful for being close to home for the past 3 years, I have to say, it gets a little tiring at times. I mean, I’m bored. All my life i've been stuck in Ipoh! how can i not be bored and tired??


So, University of Warwick, I AM READY FOR YOU.

The clock is still ticking and before I know it, my one month will be up. =)

Menilai Keimanan Orang Lain

Rasanya, setakat ni belum pernah lagi tulis blog dalam bahasa melayu. Tapi tak salahkan sekali-sekala budak tesl nak luahkan pendapat dengan menggunakan bahasa kebangsaan. Dah lama dah rase nak ketuk2 kepala sesetengah org yg agak menyakitkan hati ni. Nasib takde depan mata, kalo tak mmg gerenti la kene pancaran laser mulut saya ni.
Ni pasal email-email Islamic yand selalu sangat saya dapat. Memang penuh gak la inbox saya dengan email2 yg sedemikian. Alhamdulillah, mmg banyak ilmu yg dapat ditimba dan tatkala membaca email2 tersebut mmg ada peringatan agar terus beramal dan beriman kepada Allah SWT.

Yang buat saye rase kurang senang ni email yg saye kategorikan sebagai ‘email melampau’. Memang tak salah dan tak dosa kalau kiter nak galakkan orang dan saudara seislam kiter untuk ‘meng-forward-kan’ email2 Islamic ni kepada org lain. Ilmu dicipatakan utk dikongsi bukan disimpan untuk diri sendiri. Saye cukup suke email2 yg manggalakkan kiter berkogsi dgn pendekatan yg menggunakan ayat Quran dan firman Allah. Cth: ayat2 mcm ‘kongsilah ilmu walau seayat sekalipun kerana apabila meninggal hanya amal2 sahaja yg mampu membantu di akhirat’. Alhamdullilah, lembut je bunyi nye, tapi maksudnye cukup mendalam dan bermakna. Baca pun tak rase sakit hati. Tapi masalahnye, ade byk gak email yg tulis ayat2 mcm ni ‘org yg tak forward email ni adalah org2 yg tak sayangkan Allah dan Islam’ atau lagi best... ‘org yg tak forward email ni adalah sahabat syaitan’. Setahu saye, walau baik mane sekalipun kiter ni, kiter takde hak nak nilai keimanan dan ketakwaan org lain. Jadi, siape la kiter nak tuduh org lain tak sayangkan Allah atau sahabat syaitan?

Ape jaminan nye, kalo org tu forward mail tu, dier org yg beriman? Setakat ni, xde lagi ayat Quran yg cakap, kalo tak forward email2 islamic, kiter dianggap tak beriman kan.

Kalau nak dakwah, banyak caranya. Mungkin sesetengah org suker menggunakan email, dan ini mmg tak salah. Kalau difikirkan, ini mmg langkah yang cukup sesuai dengan era globalisasi skarang ini. Kalau org lain tidak forward email, tak bermaksud org itu tak beriman dan tidak berdakwah. Mungkin bagi org lain, lebih mudah berdakwah dgn cara bercakap atau berbual, cthnye dalam usrah. Bagi saya, selagi kiter hidup dgn mengamalkan nilai2 Islam, itu pun adalah satu cara dakwah kerana org lain dpt melihat nilai2 yg kiter pegang dan insyaallah ada yang akan mengikut. Cthnye, kalau kiter berpakaian sopan dan menutup aurat. Mungkin ade sahabat yg terbuka hatinya utk meneladani kita setelah berkawan dgn kita Jadi, itu dah menjadi dakwah bukan. Ataupun apabila kiter menjaga batas2 pergaulan kiter, dan ade sahabat yg memilih untuk menjadi begitu juga setelah menyedari kepentingan menjaga batas, itu pun dakwah jugak. Jadi, kalau nak dakwah, tak yah ar nak tulis ayat2 yg menghina org. Rasullullah SAW berdakwah dgn care yg cukup lembut dan beretika. Sebagai umat Rasullullah SAW eloklah kite mencuba sedaya upaya untuk meneladani baginda.

Alang2 bercakap tentang isu ni, sy ingin mengambil kesempatan ini untuk mengucapkan setinggi-tinggi penghargaan kepada ajk2 di Surau An-Nur di IPIP dan semua sahabat lain yg pernah berkongsi ilmu Islam dgn saye. Selama sye berada di IPIP, tak pernah sekali pun saya rase tidak selesa dgn ajk2 surau di IPIP. Anda semua mmg best dan saye cukup suka care anda berkongsi ilmu Islam. Sungguh, saye amat2 bersyukur kerana berpeluang utk berkenalan dan mengambil manfaat dari ilmu yg telah saudara dan saudari sekalian kongsi. Mmg sye bukan ahli surau, tapi itu tidak bermaksud yg sye tidak menghargai segala yg telah dilakukan oleh ajk surau. Biar Allah sahaja lah yg membalas jasa2 anda. Also, kepada mane2 sahabat yg pernah berkogsi ilmu dgn ape cara sekalipun (care baik la), tak kiralah ngan email ke, ngan sembang2 ke, usrah ke, tazkirah ke, terima kasih byk2 ye..syg korunk.

Dan bagi org2 yg suka sgt nak hantar email yg menghina org, esp kalo email itu berkisar ngan islam, siaplah, lepas ni sye tidak akan ‘forward’ email itu, tapi saye akan ‘reply’ email itu dan nanti tengoklah, ape yg saye reply.

Assalamualaikum.