Lebaran Ini 2008

Lebaran ini..



Kerinduan masakan mak terubat jugak bila makan nasi himpit gan rendang yg mak buat dan pos dr M'sia..
* Rendang kegemaran..Thank you mak!

kalau org johor, nasi himpit tak sah kalau tak sklai gan sayur lodeh..

Memandangkan tauhu dan tempe ada jual kat Foodtown (baru perasan baru2 nie). W/pun mahal sikit, sayur lodeh punya pasal, takper..

So..bgn kul 4.00 utk masak...jeng jeng..jadila sayur lodeh..he..he..


*Sayur lodeh..


suami kata mcm mak masak..ish..ish..harunya..suami kalau dia kritik makanan memang honest..kalau tak sedap..memang tak sedapla....dia akan beritahu apa yg kurang..tapi kalau sedap dan dia puji...memang banggala sbb memang sedap betul..he..he


boleh jadik food kritik dia nie...

Sayur lodeh mak memang sedap..Mana taknyer..resipi atuk nie...ikutje la satu2..mesti jadik...



Siap masak agar2 roti....dah jadi fav pulak la skrang..tak yah guna oven dan muai..byk dpt....dan rasanyer memang saya dan anak beranak suka..tapi agar2 powder nie susahnyer nak dpt..hari tuh gi beli kat kedai Toupu (betul ke eja?) kat Albany...singgah kejap lps belajar buat nasi tomato dulu

Dah cari agar2 powder kat lim chour, tai ping dan foodtown..tapi takde plak..ish..ish..

*Agar-agar roti

So raya pertama lebih kepada mendengar takbir dirumah kerana suami penat sgt kerja semalam. Sayur lodeh dan agar-agar roti yg dah masak lebih simpan dlm peti jek..


Tapi hari kedua dpt gak beraya....bestnyer..

Gi umah yg nampak train nie, memang Ikram enjoy la...

Nadhirah pun seronok...dah tak takut org dah..tak yah warming up....agaknyer dah besar kut..dah setahun dah...

*Adik melaram gan spek mata itam


Dan semalam...Mapsa punya jamuan raya...

Mcm2 makan..tapi terlepas nak makan sayur lodeh dan nasi hijau tuh..sbb dah kenyang sgt dah...tapi semua makanan sedap2 berlaka...Ikram dan Nadhirah dok makan muffin jek..

Gambar2 nie dptla gambarkan keadaan jamuan semalam...Alhamudulillah..Ikram tak susah sgt nak control..Nadhirah pun relax jek...

*Celebriti karpet merah ??




*Abg nampak letih
*Adik pun letih gak ye.

Apa yg penting lebaran ini, kita dpt mengukuhkan silaturrahim..

Semoga diri ini sentiasa beringat utk istiqamah dlm segala amalan yg dilakukan....

Ucapan selamat..

One day in Ramadhan:
*: "Salam..Taqabbalahhu minna wa minkum"...
#: Blur kejap..
*: "Oh in Iraq, when we meet each other in Ramadhan we said Taqabbalahhu minna wa minkum. It means : Semoga Allah menerima amalan ( amalan dan ibadat di Ramadhan) kami dan kamu (tapi dia sebut dlm english la)...
#: "ooooo"....
Then today I read this from http://www.zaharuddin.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=612&Itemid=72 dan antara isinya:
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4) Mengucapkan selamat dan mendoakan antara satu sama lain ;
Tiada masalah untuk menggunakan apa jua kalimah, asalkan ianya mempunyai maksud yang sama. Bagaimanapun, kalimah yang digunakan di zaman baginda SAW adalah "Taqabbalahhu minna wa minkum" ertinya : Semoga Allah menerima amalan ( amalan dan ibadat di Ramadhan) kami dan kamu".
Disebut dalam sebuah riwayat :
قال واثلة لقيت رسول الله يوم عيد فقلت تقبل الله منا ومنك قال نعم تقبل الله منا ومنك
Ertinya : Berkata Wathilah, Aku bertemu Rasulullah s.a.w pada hari raya dan aku katakan pada baginda "taqabballahu minna wa minka", baginda menjawab : Ya, taqabballahu minna wa minka" ( Al-Baihaqi, rujuk perbincangan di Fath Al-Bari, 2/446 )
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Oooo baru tahu..Sblm nie tak tahu...byk lagi nak kena belajar nie..

Syawal..
Kini
Kehadiran Syawal semakin dirasai..
Namun kehadirannya bermakna perginya Ramadhan..
Adakah aku bergembira menyambut Syawal tahun ini?
Ya, aku pasti gembira kerana berpeluang merasai bulan Ramadhan sblmnya..
Tahap kegembiraan ku pasti lagi tinggi
jika pengabdianku dan amalanku padaNya meningkat di bulan Ramadhan
jika visi dan rutin hidupku berubah ke arah penghayatan Islam yang optimum..
Ya, apakah tahap kegembiraan ku pada Syawal kali ni..?
Apa yg pasti aku pasti merindukan Ramadhan..
dan mengharapkan kegembiraan yang berganda pada Syawal akan datang..sebagai tanda aku telah membenarkan pernyataan jika di atas..
Ya Allah ampunilah dosaku..
Ya Allah terimalah amalanku dibulan Ramadhan yang mulia ini....

Najah
28/9/2008

One year old - Nadhirah (5th September 2008)

We're presenting........

......Nur Nadhirah Nabihah Mohammed Reza..........

The journey began 2007....

Four months before Nadhirah was born, we safely arrived at Auckland. We received wonderful help from Mohammed Minhat's family and lunch was provided by Kak Yati's family.

Then, with Kayron's help, we managed to open a bank account and the best thing was my supervisor met my family after that. I think from that meeting my supervisor started to know that I was pregnant.

When I know I was pregnant, of course I was very happy. But in my mind, there were thousands of questions keep coming to me.

Should I go to Auckland after giving birth?How much does it cost? Does it affect my study?

Some stories and advises that I got :

"During our time, the cost was free" (before 2003)

"My friend who was just giving birth also get free maternity services" ( I think she was under NZ's grant or she started before 2003)

"When I was doing PhD, my supervisor said that you should avoid to get pregnant" (But I was already pregnant when she told me her story and was facing the morning sickness)

Then I asked a doctor

"Doctor, could you please check me weather I get Placenta Previa (uri bawah)"

"It's too early to check that"

" But I really want to know as I got Placenta Previa during my first child. I will further my study soon and I want to calculate the cost"

"My friend who was in Autralia, her maternity cost was covered by insurance"

"But Dr, I'm going to NZ, and they said it was not covered by insurance :("

The good news was my plancenta was at a right position...

So we decided to go to Auckland and giving birth there..

The changes of immigration's policy give more benefit to PhD student as they get domestic fee (that's why elaun naik 100% tuh I think) and their partner will get a working permit. So for my understanding, if you've two years working permit, you're entitled for free maternity services. But for student? You've to pay....ada pro and con laa....

To make the story short :

If you choose home birth, the cost will be much less..

If you choose auckland city hospital, the cost is about 3,600 (including tax)
If you choose other places than auckland city hospital for giving birth, the cost might below 3,000 but if you've complication, they will still send you to auckland city hospital and of course the cost might be higher..

(the cost migh be changed now)

So we choosed auckland city hospital and we also choosed not to stay there after giving birth. It means, after 4 hours from giving birth, we should arrange to go home. Otherwise I might have to pay another 300 for staying in the ward.



Before the 4 hours ended, I didnt have enough energy to get up from bed (byk darah kuar kut) but a nurse asked me to clean up myself (signal bersiap utk balik kut..he..he...). With the help from my husband, I went to a bathroom which was just inside the labour room. Then, I think, why not mandi wiladah (mandi slps melahirkan) terus. Suddenly, I got a huge source of energy after taking the bath (patutla kena mandi wiladah nie, segar) but the nurse keep asking me, " are you ok?"....dia risau sbb sblm masuk toilet mcm tak larat jek....

The first week of pantang we got delicous food from akma, kak yati, kak zakiah, ijah & makcik dan Fariza..Terima kasih la byk2...tak lupa juga Nadhirah's clothes..comei2 baju yg dibagi..

Aduhai..puteriku sayang.....itu kenangan lama...saja nak berkongsi pengalaman..anugerah tuhan nie sebenarnya tak ternilai harganya......satu amanat ...satu tanggungjawab....Semoga menjadi anak solehah ye....:)

Mak nie menulis blog pulak pagi2 nie..bukan apa, carik mood utk buat keje..(boleh mcm tuh?)..berjujuk keje nak kena buat...satu-satu dtg..apa2 hal pun stay calm..he..he...apa nak masak mlm nie..ishh nak nengok resipi pulak..bila nak start keje nie....:)



Wajah2 terkini adik:


Alaa..tertutup pulak mata adik nie...

Seronok betul ye adik....

Lagi aksi pakai tudung..

Inilah besday kek saya....made in Foodtown..belum apa2 abg Ikram dah serbu dulu..tak sampai braper minit adik (tgn yg bawah) dan abg (tgn yg atas) dah mengabiskan coklat2 kat atas tuh..kejap jek lawa kek tuh...

Apapun adik, Happy birthday to you!!!!

Motivasi

How to stay motivated?

I'm now in the mid phase of my PhD. Lately, I'm having lack of motivation so that I've been searching from the internet to look for some sources that can increase my motivation.

#First, I found this from http://www.zaharuddin.net/:

"Kita semua perlukan motivasi, motivasi yang unggul adalah motivasi untuk mendapatkan redha dan syurga Allah.
Sebagaimana nabi dan sahabat baginda. Allah s.w.t mencatatkan betapa bermotivasinya mereka mengejar keredhaan dan syurga Allah dengan firmannya :-
خِتَامُهُ مِسْكٌ وَفِي ذَلِكَ فَلْيَتَنَافَسِ الْمُتَنَافِسُونَ
Ertinya : "tempat penamat yang harum semerbak kesturi (syurga); dan untuk yang demikian itu hendaknya orang berlomba-lomba" ( Al-Mutaffifin :26 )

Jadilah dan kejarlah redha dan pahala untuk kehidupan selepas kematian. Rancanglah dan fikirlah.
Jangan jadikan pujian manusia sebagai motivasi unggul kerana ia akan mencelamu dikemudian hari.
Jangan jadikan duit sebagai motivasi unggul kerana ia akan hilang dan habis.
Jangan jadikan pangkat sebagai motivasi unggul, kerana ia juga akan tamat dan dihasadi.
Jangan jadikan keluarga sebagai motivasi unggul, kerana ia akan mati jua.
JADIKAN ALLAH, RASULNYA DAN SYURGA YANG DIJANJIKANNYA SEBAGAI MOTIVASI, NESCAYA ALLAH TIDAK AKAN MATI DAN JANJINYA TIDAK AKAN MENGECEWAKAN.

Membiarkan orang lain sahaja yang bermotivasi dalam memperolehi pahala bukanlah sifat orang beriman. Jangan biarkan kata-kata negatif orang terhadap sesuatu yang baik untuk akhirat anda, membantutkan semangat. Jadikan ia pendorong dan motivasi "

Read the full article at http://www.zaharuddin.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=618&Itemid=72

#The Second source is more specific to PhD students (the full article is at http://www.pgoracle.uea.ac.uk/node/155):

The seven secrets of highly successful PhD students*
Researchers who know and make use of these seven secrets get through their doctorate more quickly, and just as importantly are happier, according to the Staff Development and Training Unit, Flinders University, Australia.

1. Care and maintenance of your supervisors

2. Write and show as you go: This is show and tell, not hide and seek

3. Be realistic: It's not a Nobel Prize

4. Say no to distractions: Even the fun ones and the ones you think you must do

5. It's a job: That means working nine to five but you get holidays

6. Get help: You are not an owner-operator single person business

7. You can do it: A PhD is about intelligence and persistence

I've read the full articles for both sources and YUP...I'm more motivated now :))

Next post: Nadhirah's birthday

Macam-macam

In this post I would like to talk about many things..

Firstly..Nadhirah...got fever...and now rashes..may be it is an allergic reaction..I still have to figure out what was the cause...so sad to see her so quiet, weak and cry frequently...One night, she woke-up many times because she felt uncomfortable. Then the next day, I struggled with editing my report. It was so hectic and full of tension to be in this situation. What a pity for Ikram because he had to face this situation...sabar ye...utk mak dan anak sekali...Thanks to my husband for helping me in this situation..

Secondly..PhD...I'm now entering my first 6 months for my second year..slow progress...why? because the direction of my research is not very clear..I got some data but it didn't work with the proposed method...a few weeks with full of trying...I tried and tried again...but...no positive results...very frustrated..very....But at one time...after discussing with one of my group member, I suddenly got some idea (Alhamdulillah)...why not try like this...and it did show something.....I make a report and sent it to my supervisors. After editing the report based on my supervisors' comments (during Nadhirah was sick), I sent the report to process engineers.. and now I'm in a waiting moment...Do they like the idea...does the idea work? Hopefully, they will give a positive response so that I can go on to validate the idea...Positive response means the direction of my research is clearer and many things is awaiting for me to do after that.. I must be very very busy....Doakanla berjaya....

Thirdly..fasting..last year I was not fasting...Got a baby a few days before Ramadhan..Nur Nadhirah Nabihah...This year..yup! fasting...Hopefully my fasting will be up to one level..this level hopefully:
Puasa paling istimewa, menurut Imam al-Ghazali, iaitu puasa yang ditambah lagi dengan puasa hati daripada semua keinginan yang rendah dan fikiran keduniaan. Inilah puasa yang paling tinggi darjatnya dan puasa semacam inilah yang dikehendaki Allah, BeritaHarianOnline.

Fourthly..Bread pudding...My favourite...if there is bread..90% there will be bread pudding..

So today is the latest version..put some cashews..


Nadhirah was looking at the bread pudding...she has just relieved from a fever teething (I think)..Now, she has had rashes...Get well soon adik...Miss your keletah..

Lastly...Selamat Berpuasa semua !!!!

Poster dan gigi

What is the relationship between poster and teeth?
Well they are the topics that I would like to talk about in this post:
My posters and My daughter's first tooth..


-Engineering Postgraduate Poster Competition 2008

One of the main reasons I entered this competition is that to visualize my research.
A Prof said during a prize giving ceremony for the competition:
" Poster is a brief description of your research"

Another Prof said:
"Try to balance between figures and words..
Do not use small fonts...sometimes it is very hard to read..
Use a good combination of colour"
This is general advice that I got after the competition.

Before the competition I went to course about:
"How to make a good academic poster" at SLC.
It was a very good course as the facilitator showed me some examples of good and bad posters.
After went through some editing processes based on comments from my husband (thanks cunyu!) and also my supervisor, here is the result:

(click to enlarge)

It was not really an artistic work. It was just a poster that I want the audience could understand the main idea of my research. I think I know what make other posters were better than me. They visualized every sections of the poster. I only put more focus on the result section. I should try to visualize other sections as well.

When the mood of making poster was still there, I was thinking to submit a poster for auis poster competition for Ramadhan. I had started to collect information even from journals from science direct. I'd found journals about effect of Ramadhan for smokers, for diabetes, for sportsman etc...Then I remembered some info from an Ustaz who said that Ramadhan is a month of changing ourself. 30 days of fasting and doing only good things are actually the best way to change our 'tabiat'. Tabiat is not easy to change but with 30 days of training, it is possible for us to stay in a way that we want to change. A good training too for smokers. I forgot the source of the info but I used the concept of transformation in my poster. However, as the info must be accurate, I couldn't finish the poster with so limited time. So this was the result on the due date (15/8):




:) tak sempatla...tu jek yg mampu...


-Gigi saya

Now, My daughter's teeth.....
After waiting so long (when Nadhirah nearly one year), finally her teeth have come out...
Can you see them? Have a look...:)




(click to enlarge)
Tengokla..saya dah ada gigi..:)

Happy Birthday to ME!!

Yesterday was my birthday...

The day when a cute baby (perasan jek) was born 29 years ago..at my atok's house in Pontian.

On this day, my elder brother (4 years old) got his first naughty sister with so much desire and thinking.

We did a lot of activities together since my younger brother was born 4 years later.

Since my parent's house was built in front of my atok's house when I was 9 years old, we used to play many kampung and non-kampung's games with our cousins like:

teng teng

Belon acah

polis polis

rounders (used tiang katil and bola tenis ayah)

football (satu pasukan gan abg)

Badminton (siap ada liga lagi)

getah

.......etc lupa dah nama...

Well, it was before my brother went to a boarding school (MCKK) and since then the liga for badminton was not really work as my brother was the mastermind.

How about schools?

Sek Tengku Mahmood Iskandar (II) was my primary school. This school is quite popular not only because of the name (using kerabat diraja name) but also its performance. Well, I quite active in sports (netball, volleyball, bola baling ) like my father and netball is my favourite sports until now. Our school was netball's champion for ten consecutive years (if I'm not mistaken) during that time.

Well, moved to kampung also make me moved to a nearer school which was sek men ren kayu ara pasong, Pontian. My father was also a teacher there. Less active in sports make me bigger than before. One acitivity which I do remember until now was a story telling competition (in BM). I represented my school with title "Puteri raja berkahwin dgn labi-labi" he..he..Until now I still remember accurately the story.

........Time goes by...and now I've already had two little children. Mcm tak percaya dah jadik mak orang....lagi tak percaya tgh buat PhD.... PhD nie kadang2 membuatkan mak orang nie rasa nak balik zaman kanak2 dulu...ingat main dan main jek..he..he...

Well, hopefully this year, saya akan lebih menyayangi diri saya, keluarga dan sekeliling. Sayang for me means if I do sayang myself, I should fulfill my rights like do anything because of Allah. I should fulfill my resposibilities as a wife and a mother if I do sayang my husband and my children. Hopefully, all the sayang that we give to others will make us lebih disayangi-Nya..InsyaAllah.




Pictures of Ikram and Nadhirah...

1) Saya tgh makan..yum ..yum..

2) Saya suka senyumla.....;)
3) Ikram dan wool adiknya..
Happy birthday mak...

How was Malaysia?

Apa khabar org kampung?

Ikram has been thinking about cik su, mimi tok, atoks etc. since we were here..sian dia..
Two weeks in Pontian, Johor and two weeks in USJ, Subang gave opportunities to Ikram and Nadhirah to know their family.





Pic 1: Ikram melihat2 kapal terbang sblm pulang ke Malaysia



Nadhirah..first time met her relatives. Cried very loud at first but few days later, she always smiles, smiles and smiles…





Pic 2: Nadhirah with her father while waiting for departure



The food was GOOD although the price is going up…
The weather was also good, not too hot.
The conference was also OK. Had a chance to meet a lecturer that gave an idea about what I should do about my research after finishing my PhD.



What else? Oil prices…had a chance to queue up in a long line before 12.00 a.m. and we asked for a full tank. There were a lot of people and we even saw a situation where a Kancil’s driver filled diesel instead of petrol, so the driver have to suck out the diesel from his kancil.
All in all, hujan emas dinegeri org, hujan batu dinegeri sendiri, baik lagi negeri sendiri. We’re HOMESICK!!!!

PhD?
I’ve started my second year in Malaysia..he..he..
Not fully holiday in Malaysia because the first two weeks I did some data analysis to an Industry and the work is still going on. A statement from my co-supervisor’s email to the industry’s people, “Nazatul is on holiday, but…..”….Kena kuatkan semangat betul utk buat keje…
Few days before coming back to NZ, I received an email from my supervisor that told me a few things that I should do. For my own benefit actually..However, a first week here, I used only 20% or 10% of my time for doing research…Help me!!!


Good to be back to Malaysia. Wish to see all of you again. May be in NZ? Dtgler NZ..holiday..:)




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More pictures:
Nadhirah with her mak sepupu, cik Effa

Nadhirah and Ikram with their Tok Ayah

Nadhirah with her Mami tok, Cik Sha and Cik Su

Ikram and Nadhirah with Ayah Jih

Nadhirah was playing with her sepupu, Nazif

Nadhirah with mak Nor and mak Faizah. Thanks to my sister, faizah and my mother (not in the pic, how come?) for taking care Nadhirah while I was attending the conference.

Nadhirah and her mother during majlis pertunangan her uncle, pak Udin....Tahniah pak Udin !!

Mother's day..

Mother...



at 25 years old I started to be a mother..and having two little children now seems a very big responsibility to be carried out.



When I was doing my master degree, I saw my friend who was strunggling to manage her time between revising for an examination and taking care her little children.



I have no idea how difficult it was.



and now I know..



Hanya kepada-Nya la aku memohon pertolongan..hanya kepadaNya..memang hanya kepadaNya...



Seperti nasihat seorang lecturer seblm saya membuat PhD" buatla solat hajat byk2..memang kita tak mampu tanpa pertolonganNya"

Alhamdulillah...segala2 nya dgn pertolongan Allah s.w.t.




Wajah2 yg tercinta -->

:) Senyum seindah suria..penyejuk hati ibu...wajah2 yg tercinta di Malaysia akan kutatapi jua akhir minggu ini....rindunyer........

Anak ayah nie..

From birth until now, I always look at my daughter face. I think her face follows my husband's face. Her eyes, nose and mouth are really similar with my husband...

'Anak ayah nie'..he..he..he..

Semoga menjadi anak solehah ye...

All about Nadhirah...

..................................................................

Adik dah pandai duduk..:)

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Adik dan abang, teman sepermainan..

-----------------------------------

Adik, senyum dik...tapi adik lebih berminat gan kamera

................................

Ish..ish..ish

Geramnyer gan kamera nie

______________

Usaha tangga kejayaan..adik melangkah..silap..merangkak utk mendptkan kamera...

Akhirnya, adik dpt jugak..tapi gambar tak upload sbb blur..dekat sgt....

Itulah Nadhirah...ajjah..attah...uppah...attah...sibuk bercakap skrang..:)

Sehari bersama Ikram

What is your name?
Ikram!
How old are you?
Three years old..
Where do you live?
I live at 'odge' Auckland!
Siri jawapan Ikram kalau ditanya soalan2 tersebut...
Lagu kegemaran Ikram ?
My mother..who next my mother..who next my mother..and then my father....
satu lagi..
Bismillah..Alhamdulillah....
satu lagi
alif diatas aa, ba di atas aa, ta diatas aa...semua bunyi aaa


Pukul satu tghhari..
Sekarang Ikram sudah bersiap sedia gi 'school'..

Saya dah sampai dah...seronoknye!!!

Pusing kanan

Pusing kiri

Emm..mcm menarik pulak kat sana
Main air dulu la...

Pas tuh..main pasir pulak...Mane tak seronok gi 'school' nie

Pukul 4.00 ptg...bila sampai, Ikram dah duduk dalam..tgh kusyuk main lego

Buat 'house' ke?
Jom balik..pakai sandle...jln dlm 15-20 minit..
dah sampai dah umah...

Apalagi ...sambung main la..kali nie buat 'train' atau 'bus'..

Nie apa nie? 'Train'.....panjangnyer....

Nak main sama? Jom la....

....................................................................

Inilah post mengenai 'sehari bersama Ikram'

Dikala sibuk2 tahap maksima nie, sempat lagi mencelah tulis blog..release tension......

Lps nie sehari bersama Nadhirah pulak :)

Adik (Ikram's sister)

Adik...

She starts to eat now..

Adik..

love playing with her brother, Ikram

Adik..

I love u so much...

When I was pregnant,

you give me a lot of strength,

I become so ambitious in doing my PhD.

And now,

although I have more responsibility,

as long as you're there,

I still can move on...

with different approach, different time mangement and different situation...

Hopefully, adik, I can still give you the best that I can as a mother.