Dear earthlings,
Among the long list of tasks that we have to do before we can actually jet off to the UK is to renew our passports..There's no choice there..If we don't renew, then we can't proceed with the VISA application..trying to get a day off for hubs is very difficult that is why we chose to renew our passports on a weekend...and since there is actually a place in Precint 15 that is actually open on weekends for passport renewal purposes, therefore, we thought that we were very lucky..I mean, we didn't have to travel too far..
The passport office in Presint 15 Putrajaya opens from 8am till 1 pm on weekends..but be careful, if the Friday is a public holiday, then there's a high chance that the passport office won't be open during that particular weekend..we did experience this by the way...
Anyhoos, we wanted to be there early, to beat the crowd..so we arrived at the passport office at about 7.45am and guess what? Other people beat us to it..there was already a loooooong queue lining up to get the number...So much for beating the crowd eh?Hubs was so disappointed he even suggested to come the next day to which I disagreed...he relented in the end so we just waited in the queue..
Finally, we got our number...76 and 77...can you imagine? We came at 745am and we got that kind of number...the other thing you need to beware of is that they don't give out too many numbers..If I was not mistaken, they only gave out until number 104...I wonder who was the 105th person...I'm just glad it wasn't me...There were also people coming in at about 10am and 11 am asking whether they could have a number to renew their passports but, no more numbers were given out that day...Some even came all the way from Ampang..I pity them..
There's not much to do but wait..Our numbers were called approximately at 11-ish...then our number was called again to make payment at the payment counter (RM300 for 5 years renewal)...and after that we waited for about an hour to collect our passport...
If some of you are wondering whether you could renew your passport even though the expiry date of your passport is still ages to go, the answer is you can. However, if you choose to renew for 5 years, what they will do is, they will add 5 year + 6 months from the date that you applied... They will not add an additional 5 years to your current expiry date...even the girl at counter questioned me whether I really wanted to renew my passport to which I adamantly said yes..
Thank goodness we finally received our spanking new passport...It's such a huge relief that we got that out of the way...
Yours truly,
Adventure Addict
Thursday, 20 June 2013
Wednesday, 5 June 2013
Percayalah bahawa rezeki itu dari Allah..
Dear earthlings,
In this world, there's not that many people who wish to see us succeed, or truly wish to see us happy... For example, during the meeting this afternoon, one of my colleagues asked me where I was going for my PhD..so I told her my university, and guess what she said?
"Oh, boleh pulak ye time you pegi situ...bukan ke itu university tu not up to the standard...dulu mase I mintak, cakap university tu macam tu macam ni..." and she continued her blabber to someone who actually cares...Please have some respect for people's feelings..Don't be so crass about it..People work damn hard to achieve their dreams..so please do not nonchalantly brush it off as if it meant nothing to them..
For me, I believe that everything that I have today I owe it to my Creator for without Him willing it, I know, I have nothing...I am nothing...So, the simple logic is that, If you believe that Allah has planned certain things for you and allocated certain shares of life for you, then you will learn to be grateful and thankful but if you for one second believe that you could change things or people, then you will never be satisfied with what you have...
Allah dah allocate rezeki masing-masing..siapa kita ni nak persoalkan apa yang Allah dah takdirkan? Adekah you are trying to imply that Allah is unjust? sila mengucap dua kalimah syahadah balik yer..
Yours Truly,
Adventure Addict
Tuesday, 4 June 2013
a story of a PUSPAKOM inspection runner
Dear earthlings,
I did not have a good day today..and beware, this is an entry where I rant and whine so feel free to leave if you don't feel like catching the negative vibe..
I'm actually in the middle of selling of my car deal right now..and I had to do this on my own since the very beginning..it's tiring I tell you..
Alhamdulillah, the loan for the buyer was approved...believe it or not, I was the one who had to chase down the banker to ask regarding the status of the loan, I mean, is that not his job, to inform the client that their loan has been approved?
Now, the hard part...the PUSPAKOM inspection...since I've heard bad reviews from individuals who went to PUSPAKOM on their own, I decided that I should get the service of a runner who could do it all for me..How very unlucky for me, it so happens that this was the first time the runner was doing something like this (PUSPAKOM inspection for Higher Purchase)...
The runner was the one asking me a bunch of questions I had no answer to..like, come on...If I knew all that, why would I waste my money paying you the job I could do on my own? He asked what forms he should take for me, what are the next steps that he should do...For God's sake, you are the runner...I was ready to snap..seriously...
This afternoon, a banker called me up asking whether I signed a letter saying that the runner is going to pick up the car's original grant, I had to say yes, right? turns out that not only the runner just scribbled whatever signature he could think of and of course it wasn't even close to mine that's why the banker called up and asked me..the banker also questioned the registration number because apparently, on the letter, the registration number was not the same as my car...oh my...I was really really mad at that time, I felt I wanted to scream my lungs out...anyway, I sorted out the issue with the banker telling her that I would issue a new letter with the correct signature and the correct registration number and emailed it to her then and there..
I asked the runner to ask the banker directly since he was already at the bank, might as well be useful...he later called me up that he finally understood what his jobscope was...well, not holding my breath for his next actions...God help me...
Yours Truly,
Adventure Addict
Monday, 3 June 2013
successful PhD, from those who made it...
Dear earthlings,
I'm practicing something for my future PhD use..what is it that I'm practicing you may ask..the will to write as soon as I have something to write about...For your information, I am actually very scared of starting my PhD journey...I've heard (and read) so many experiences from those who's traveled down this road..Honest to God, I'm scared..I'm scared I won't have the resilience and patience..I'm scared that I won't have ideas for something novel..I'm scared of a lot of things...I'm just plunging in to this journey...I start in September...
In order to allay my fears, I started asking around about the whole PhD journey from all those Drs who successfully came out on the other side completing their PhD on time...I wanted to know, what it took for me to achieve the same feat...I'll list down some of the most important things they highlighted to me...
1. Always go to school..This may seem trivial and obvious but remember, PhD is a journey you take on your own..Nobody is going to boss you around and nag you to go to school..There'll be no classes, it's just you and your research..therefore, you must have a strong will and make sure that you clock in at least 40 hours a week...just like when you were working..only difference is, this time around, you are completely focusing on your research..They said that they'll come in at 8 and go back at 5...If they ever felt that they wanted to leave early on Friday, they made sure that they completed their to-do list earlier on..or if not, they would actually come in on the weekends to finish off whatever unfinished business...
2. Focus and focus and focus...oh...and struggle...and work extremely hard during the first year..this was said because many made the mistakes of leisurely cruising along the first year just by reading and doing the Lit Review...One of them actually advised me to start the experiment as early on as possible...Whenever I bumped into a wall, or some kindda hiccup in the experiment, then I could delve further into the LR and find articles closely related to the experiment I'm working on...then things will make more sense.. and we won't be like finding needle in a haystack..The LR will be more specific...
3. Write...write and write...Some people make the mistake of keeping the writing session till they complete the experiment, however, this is highly unadvisable said one of the successful Dr..It is better if we could do a write up about our experiment, comment on the results as soon as we are happy with the completed experiment...If we put off writing until at the very end, there's a high chance we'll end up with a lot of graphs, and numbers that don't make sense to us at that time...
4. Plan your work..this is what they said to me...Each week, Monday morning, just take some time to list down all you need to complete during the week..Make sure that the tasks are not insurmountable but not too easily achieved as well..there should be a balance so that at the end of the day, you are making full use of your time...make sure it is visible..write on small post-it..stick it to your laptop..so it's there..right in front of you...there's a huge difference between a TO-DO list in your mind and in front of your eyes..we are visual creatures...
5. Make friends with your research group members..this is super important..yes, PhD is an individual thing but it's not wrong to have some kind of support system who understands what you are going through, who are familiar with the deadlines and research..talk to them..sometime, maybe even during coffee breaks, during casual talks, we can get ideas because we are sitting among people who are doing nearly the same thing..
6. Set up a small group of people and then meet maybe weekly to present your findings on the journals and papers you've read..this way, all members can benefit in the sense that they don't actually have to scour through the whole article, they can get the gist of it from the group discussion...
7. Meet the supervisor regularly, so that he/she knows your progress and if you are digressing, they will be there to help nudge you back on the right path...
8. If you really want to take a break, then the best time to do it is when you go off for conferences to present your paper...After 2 days conferences, you can take a couple of days off to re-energize your batteries knowing that you have actually done something that can contribute to your PhD before having fun...It is tempting to go off on a trip to Europe especially when UK is very nearby and the flight tix are cheap, but do abstain yourselves especially during the earlier years of your PhD...Once you've achieved a huge milestone in your PhD progress, then you can reward yourself with that trip you've been dreaming of..
9. Doa and prayers...So very important beyond words. We may try as we might...but if we forget to ask help from the source of everything, if we forget that it is from Him that all our ideas come from, then maybe He will test our patience and our will just to see whether we return back to Him...Nothing happens if the Creator does not will it, therefore, pray.
I'm sure there's a lot more tips from those who made it but these are just a few that I managed to grab from the people I asked..Hope this helps those embarking on this huge PhD journey..This post is actually more of a self-reminder for me so that I don't forget myself when i'm there...
Yours Truly,
Adventure Addict
I'm practicing something for my future PhD use..what is it that I'm practicing you may ask..the will to write as soon as I have something to write about...For your information, I am actually very scared of starting my PhD journey...I've heard (and read) so many experiences from those who's traveled down this road..Honest to God, I'm scared..I'm scared I won't have the resilience and patience..I'm scared that I won't have ideas for something novel..I'm scared of a lot of things...I'm just plunging in to this journey...I start in September...
In order to allay my fears, I started asking around about the whole PhD journey from all those Drs who successfully came out on the other side completing their PhD on time...I wanted to know, what it took for me to achieve the same feat...I'll list down some of the most important things they highlighted to me...
1. Always go to school..This may seem trivial and obvious but remember, PhD is a journey you take on your own..Nobody is going to boss you around and nag you to go to school..There'll be no classes, it's just you and your research..therefore, you must have a strong will and make sure that you clock in at least 40 hours a week...just like when you were working..only difference is, this time around, you are completely focusing on your research..They said that they'll come in at 8 and go back at 5...If they ever felt that they wanted to leave early on Friday, they made sure that they completed their to-do list earlier on..or if not, they would actually come in on the weekends to finish off whatever unfinished business...
2. Focus and focus and focus...oh...and struggle...and work extremely hard during the first year..this was said because many made the mistakes of leisurely cruising along the first year just by reading and doing the Lit Review...One of them actually advised me to start the experiment as early on as possible...Whenever I bumped into a wall, or some kindda hiccup in the experiment, then I could delve further into the LR and find articles closely related to the experiment I'm working on...then things will make more sense.. and we won't be like finding needle in a haystack..The LR will be more specific...
3. Write...write and write...Some people make the mistake of keeping the writing session till they complete the experiment, however, this is highly unadvisable said one of the successful Dr..It is better if we could do a write up about our experiment, comment on the results as soon as we are happy with the completed experiment...If we put off writing until at the very end, there's a high chance we'll end up with a lot of graphs, and numbers that don't make sense to us at that time...
4. Plan your work..this is what they said to me...Each week, Monday morning, just take some time to list down all you need to complete during the week..Make sure that the tasks are not insurmountable but not too easily achieved as well..there should be a balance so that at the end of the day, you are making full use of your time...make sure it is visible..write on small post-it..stick it to your laptop..so it's there..right in front of you...there's a huge difference between a TO-DO list in your mind and in front of your eyes..we are visual creatures...
5. Make friends with your research group members..this is super important..yes, PhD is an individual thing but it's not wrong to have some kind of support system who understands what you are going through, who are familiar with the deadlines and research..talk to them..sometime, maybe even during coffee breaks, during casual talks, we can get ideas because we are sitting among people who are doing nearly the same thing..
6. Set up a small group of people and then meet maybe weekly to present your findings on the journals and papers you've read..this way, all members can benefit in the sense that they don't actually have to scour through the whole article, they can get the gist of it from the group discussion...
7. Meet the supervisor regularly, so that he/she knows your progress and if you are digressing, they will be there to help nudge you back on the right path...
8. If you really want to take a break, then the best time to do it is when you go off for conferences to present your paper...After 2 days conferences, you can take a couple of days off to re-energize your batteries knowing that you have actually done something that can contribute to your PhD before having fun...It is tempting to go off on a trip to Europe especially when UK is very nearby and the flight tix are cheap, but do abstain yourselves especially during the earlier years of your PhD...Once you've achieved a huge milestone in your PhD progress, then you can reward yourself with that trip you've been dreaming of..
9. Doa and prayers...So very important beyond words. We may try as we might...but if we forget to ask help from the source of everything, if we forget that it is from Him that all our ideas come from, then maybe He will test our patience and our will just to see whether we return back to Him...Nothing happens if the Creator does not will it, therefore, pray.
I'm sure there's a lot more tips from those who made it but these are just a few that I managed to grab from the people I asked..Hope this helps those embarking on this huge PhD journey..This post is actually more of a self-reminder for me so that I don't forget myself when i'm there...
Yours Truly,
Adventure Addict
Saturday, 1 June 2013
no matter how much you think you need it...
Dear earthlings,
So, I know I promised to myself to write every day, but I guess one can only plan, right? I miss writing, so here I am..Last night, we had a small doa selamat, solat hajat and bacaan yassin for my sister who is going to further her degree..
The ustaz that mum invited (who slso happens to be my brother's ustaz at school) gave a little tazkirah to all of us...My mum asked him, how to obtain "ketenangan"...inner and outer peace...he pointed out that in order to achieve peace, we don't need to have money we can sleep on, we don't need titles because even those who had them have confessed to never actually feel that bliss called "ketenangan"...he also mentioned that we can never truly achieve absolute peace, if we feel that we can change things that happens to us...this is quite true..and I do believe this with all my heart...As long as we are not content with what we have, or what Allah has given us, we will never ever be at peace...
As His khalifah on earth, we have to believe that every good and bad things happen to us for a reason even though at first we could not quite comprehend it, but believe that Allah will never ever ever be cruel to His servants...I believe that with all my heart...
No matter how badly we may want something, if Allah has not written it for us, it will never happen...
Yours Truly,
Adventure Addict
So, I know I promised to myself to write every day, but I guess one can only plan, right? I miss writing, so here I am..Last night, we had a small doa selamat, solat hajat and bacaan yassin for my sister who is going to further her degree..
The ustaz that mum invited (who slso happens to be my brother's ustaz at school) gave a little tazkirah to all of us...My mum asked him, how to obtain "ketenangan"...inner and outer peace...he pointed out that in order to achieve peace, we don't need to have money we can sleep on, we don't need titles because even those who had them have confessed to never actually feel that bliss called "ketenangan"...he also mentioned that we can never truly achieve absolute peace, if we feel that we can change things that happens to us...this is quite true..and I do believe this with all my heart...As long as we are not content with what we have, or what Allah has given us, we will never ever be at peace...
As His khalifah on earth, we have to believe that every good and bad things happen to us for a reason even though at first we could not quite comprehend it, but believe that Allah will never ever ever be cruel to His servants...I believe that with all my heart...
No matter how badly we may want something, if Allah has not written it for us, it will never happen...
Yours Truly,
Adventure Addict
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