information overload

It's been 3 weeks of training now and 2 more weeks to go before I start doing 'real work', whatever that means. These 5 weeks of training are called the 'bootcamp', and there are 12 of us in the programme. Most of them are like me, fresh from university. Some have finished post-graduate studies and there's one who had just submitted his PhD thesis.

The first day was okay and relaxing. We were given talks about safety, security and the overall structure of the company. The next 4 days were quite full. Seven and a half hours of technical stuff each day. That's a bit too much for me. Even in uni my schedule wasn't as packed as that. Yes, I know, some of you guys have classes all day, so I shouldn't be complaining right? Well I don't care, and I'm not actually complaining, I'm just saying, you know. Heh.

The thing is, I'm a bit slow in understanding stuff (some people would call it blur). I usually need to read it as well to really understand what I'm being taught. So when I'm bombarded with too much information, I can get a bit lost. Sometimes, to my surprise, I really did understand all that technical stuff, but then the next day, I'd forget what I understood. (Please forgive my overuse of the word understand. I've checked the thesaurus, and although apprehend and fathom sound much cooler and intelligent, I can't seem to make good proper sentences to describe the same meaning with those words. That's because I'm not cool and intelligent enough.)

And like Nina, I also have trouble remembering words, especially uncommon ones. Well, I forget normal words as well. So when I'm sitting there listening to the guy teaching us, and he's using words that he just talked about the previous day, which I've forgotten what they mean, it does get a bit confusing. It's a good thing we have a computer on our table, so I can just google the word or use answers.com. Not only do I have trouble remembering words, I also have trouble saying them. However, I can pronounce Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious with no trouble whatsoever. Hmm.. I wonder why.

During the second and third weeks, there were more talks, but less technical stuff. Plus we had to do a lot of practical exercises, which I struggled to do. It was really frustrating seeing other people complete some exercises with ease while I was trying my utmost best to apply what I've learned to the codes in front of me. The instructions were sometimes confusing as well. But alhamdulillah, I got through the first 5 exercises, and there are 5 more to go.

So it has been a full 3 weeks for me, and unlike Hyree, I don't have the liberty to be bored at work, because there's a lot to be done. But there is this game that's quite interesting if you're feeling bored during lunchtime. Try the Antbuster game. I've reached level 70. Go and beat that!

What I do like about the company is its respect towards other religions and races. I wanted to know where the nearest mosque is so that I can pray solat Jumaat, and the Human Resources kindly found a fellow Muslim working there to bring me to the mosque. So if any of you are in the SE1 area, the mosque is at marker A in the map below. Here's its address:

Bait-ul-Aziz Mosque
1 Dickens Square
London SE1 4JL

The mosque is not as big as the Regent's Park Mosque, but it is a standalone building. It has 2 storeys and fits quite a lot of people during the Jumaah prayers. However, the khutbah is given in Arabic, so I don't understand it. I'm not pretending to be religious, but there's this 'emptiness' in me if there's no spiritual/religious reminders every week. Yes, I do feel sleepy sometimes during khutbahs but it's no fun listening when I don't understand a clue of any of the khutbah content. They should at least say some sentences in English so that everyone can understand. I mean, not all Muslims are Arabs you know.

What I don't usually enjoy is the daily commute to work. I use the Jubilee line, which is repaired nearly every weekend. However, despite all the 'repairs' done, it still breaks down at least twice during the weekdays, which had made me arrive late a couple of times. And some people are seriously smelly, even in the morning. X sempat mandi la tu. I just pray that I don't become one of those smelly people some day. The thing with smelly people is sometimes they don't realise that they smell because everyone's kutuk-ing them behind their back and not telling them face to face. So if suddenly I do smell, please let me know!

Anyway, on Thursday, we had a team building day. There was a treasure hunt in the afternoon where we needed to solve some clues and take photos of certain landmarks around London. It was fun because we had the opportunity to go sightseeing while 'socialising/bonding' with our teammates. And in the evening, we went to Chinatown and had dinner there, which was paid by the company of course.

There are 2 more weeks to go and I hope I understand and complete all the exercises on time. There'll be more technical stuff next week (oh no, more jargon!), and at the end of the final week, we need to take the Accredited Symbiosis Developer exam. Maka dengan itu, saya perlu belajar. Wish me luck!

will obama bring change?

Of course he will. But let's just hope that these changes are for the benefit of all. To be honest, I feel glad that Obama was chosen, and I'm sure many people feel the same way. Everyone's tired of the needless wars and attacks by the arrogant Bush administration.

However, 8 years ago, with my young mind being influenced by the local Malaysian media saying that Al Gore is ntahpape because he supported Anwar's reformasi, I was hoping Bush would win. Well, not exactly Bush, but the guy who was running against Al Gore, whoever he was. Look at how that turned out. And during those 8 years, Al Gore has made a reputation of being someone who truly cares about the environment while Bush, well, you know what he's done.

I'm just saying that in reality, after a candidate is elected, he/she doesn't always do what they say in the campaigns. Maybe it's because they are blatant liars, but usually it's due to the constraints of the real world, like bureaucracy etc. They can't just do whatever they like. Well, maybe that Texan cowboy was a special case, selamba badak je attack Iraq without the UN's approval. Heh.

In America, they have proved that race is not the issue. I wonder, when will that kind of mentality be the norm in Malaysia? There was a comic that I read showing some Malaysians cheering when the news on TV showed Obama the black candidate winning the US election, but the same people were then angry when a Chinese was elected a head of a certain body instead of a Malay. The sad thing is, many people behave the same way. When will Malaysia be mature enough to accept all Malaysians no matter what religion or race they are? When will all of us accept that jobs should be based on merit, not on race? I truly hope that there will come a day when these types of questions are no longer equired to be asked.

Anyway, I hope Obama really does bring great changes not only to the US, but also to the world. Yes he can!

withdrawn in new york?

I got a call from my bank on Saturday asking me if I had just withdrawn money from New York. New York? I don't even have a US Visa and very much doubt I'll get one anytime soon. Apparently, someone had twice withdrawn $80+ from New York using my card details. $160+ is about £100+! And my card is still with me. It wasn't stolen or anything, so it must have been ATM fraud somewhere.

But I must admit, I was surprised that the bank detected it so fast. Maybe it was because I has also withdrawn money here on the same day. So maybe they were thinking, 'Hang on, two ATM withdrawals in one day, across the Atlantic. Something must be wrong.' I don't know. That's just a guess.

Well, now my card has been canceled and will be replaced soon. And my money will be refunded as well insyaAllah. Haih, dah la duit x banyak sekarang, kena pow la pulak.

On another note, Mr. Bank, why are you so late in sending me my bank statements? I need them for my Leave to Remain application!

finally graduated!

Alhamdulillah, I have now officially graduated from Imperial College London with a Master of Engineering in Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree. We actually received our results about mid-July, so I don't know why our Commemoration Day was held a few months later (22 October to be exact). Nevertheless, I'm happy to have attended the ceremony and it's now time for the next chapter of my life: Work!

My mum and sister attended the ceremony as well. And it was nice to meet my friends again. It was a bit expensive because it was held in Royal Albert Hall. But maybe it was worth it. Big maybe. Anyway, thanks to everyone who came and congratulations to fellow graduates!

Oh and thank you very much for the tie and card! =)

I'm now a graduate. Yeayeah!

Tips for next year's graduates: Wave to the camera when you're on stage, like I did. Well, I just angkat my tangan, but best la jugak. Hehe.

eid in london (again!)

Salam Aidil Fitri everyone. So it was the fifth time that I celebrated Eid in the UK, away from my family at home. How fast time flies. The sad thing is I thought I won't get duit raya for 4 years only because of my 4-year course, but by the time I get to beraya at home (whenever that is), I wont be eligible to get duit raya any more. In fact, I have to give the angpow by then. Oh man. (Please bear with my immature thoughts for now since I'm not in the golongan bekerja just yet.)

At open houses here in London, I realised that I knew less and less people each year. And now, most of my friends are already back home. But raya was still fun though. Sometimes you'll meet your old friends and most of the time you'll make new ones. So it was nice to celebrate Eid with old and new friends while current friends aren't around. But now these old and new friends have become my current friends and hence the current friends which I mentioned before aren't so current anymore, but have become old friends but can still be current friends in the future. Haha pening x baca?

Eid mubarak!

kuih raya

Hoorah, I have succeeded in making some kuih raya. I assisted Nina to make these kuih corn flakes yesterday. Leceh jugak nak buat banyak2. Hehe.

Looks like corn flakes cookies. Yum. Takde la sehebat jam tarts or kuih almond london (which I don't think originated from London, but 'London' is used nevertheless as a marketing ploy), but I don't care. Still yum.

food

Since I'm feeling a little bit hungry now, I just thought that I should put up some photos of food.

Top left: Potato cakes with smoked salmon
The potato cake is a little bit like begedil. The cakes are topped with salmon plus a feather of dill.

Top right: Spaghetti pesto
Chicken and prawns are fried and mixed with pesto and some double cream, then eaten with spaghetti.

Bottom left: Blueberry cheesecake
Using crushed digestive biscuits as the base, soft cheese and double cream as the cake plus blueberry jam and blueberries as the topping, you'll get the blueberry cheesecake above.

Bottom right: Doughnut french toast
French toast with some vanilla extract added to it, coated with caster sugar.

Simple recipes for amateurs like yours truly. Oh I made these before Ramadhan. Hmm.. should I try making kuih raya now?

england produced stunning display

Croatia 1 - 4 England

ENG Goal Theo Walcott (26')
CRO Yellow Card Josip Simunic (40')
CRO Yellow Card Darijo Srna (47')
CRO Red Card Robert Covac (53')
ENG Goal Theo Walcott (59')
ENG Yellow Card Emile Heskey (61')
ENG Goal Wayne Rooney (63')
CRO Goal Mario Mandzukic (78')
ENG Goal Theo Walcott (82')

time to celebrate

Wow, what a surprise. England actually won convincingly against Croatia, the team who kicked England out of the Euro 2008. Yes, I know that Croatia was a man down after nearly an hour into the game, but congrats to Capello and his men for playing well and winning the game.

I think most people are surprised as well. Here's a comment at BBC Sport Football from Mike T (via text on 81111):

It's the Hadron Collider - we actually have entered a parallel universe where England are good at football. Its the only possible explanation.

I have to agree with this guy. Hehe. Anyway, congratulations especially to Walcott for scoring a hat-trick. There's a light for England after all.

merdeka carnival 2008

Perpaduan teras kejayaan. A new Merdeka theme for Malaysia's 51st year of independence. And there's a new logo too. Well, I hope that there's still a large amount of perpaduan among the people of Malaysia, especially with all those racist remarks that has been flying around in the country. Okay, let's not talk about that shall we. Too boring (plus menyampah). It's time for something more fun and interesting.

Okay then. A Merdeka Carnival was held on 30 August at the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre in Hertford, UK. It was organized by the Malaysian community in the UK and also the Malaysian High Commission. Yes, I know that Merdeka falls on the 31st and the organizers know that too, but I'm sure they had their reasons for choosing that date. Anyway, I'm sure glad they chose Saturday instead of Sunday because it was a very nice and sunny day, which is rare here since it's nearly the end of summer. FYI, it was rainy and gloomy on Sunday, so well done, good choice of day!

The initial plan was Nina, Wan Aimran and I were to go to the carnival together. So we went to King's Cross train station at about noon. We were just about to buy our tickets when Aimran saw his cousins, Lia and Wawa somewhere in the queue behind us, and they were also heading to the carnival. The more, the merrier, and cheaper. You can buy group train tickets for 3 or 4 people which are even cheaper than tickets with a youth railcard.

Anyway, the train journey to Hertford North Station took about 40 minutes. There we met Noraini who was all alone crying and sobbing, waiting for the shuttle service to come. Okay, she wasn't crying and sobbing, I just wanted to add a little drama. Hehe, sorry. And then there were six. According to the Merdeka Carnival leaflet, there was a free shuttle service. We thought that the service was a shuttle bus, but apparently there were shuttle cars instead.

When we arrived, there were many people already there. What did you expect? It was already past midday. A lot of Malaysian families were there. And the weather was lovely. There were many stalls selling **drum roll** Malaysian food! What got me excited weren't the ABCs or the nasi lemak, you can get those in many places in the UK, but the roti canai. No, not the frozen ones, but the ones you buy at the mamak's. It's been a long time since I've eaten one of those. The roti canai were expensive, but worth it. I also ate some murtabak and aiskrim Malaysia (I'm not sure what its real name is, but it's the frozen asam ice cream which I ate).

Towards the end, there were some activities held: musical chairs for the kids and tarik tali for the women and another for the men. I must say that there was some intense rivalry during the musical chairs. Those kids were very competitive. Very very competitive. The men's tug of war was tight as well. There was a third round to determine the winner but sad to say that the eventual winners cheated. There was supposed to be 13 men in each team, but during the last round, one team had 14. Haih, tarik tali for fun pun nak main tipu ke?

Cheating aside, it was a very nice day to eat Malaysian food while lepaking on the grass with friends, old and new. Jeff and Hana also came to the event. And we also met friends of our new friends who were also friends of other friends who were friends with some of us and/or some of our friends. Or to put it short (and less confusing), it's a small world.

Happy Merdeka and also happy fasting!

notting hill carnival

The annual Notting Hill Carnival took place from Sunday 24 to Monday 25 August this year. I just heard of it a couple of days before it took place. I didn't know that there was such a carnival even though it's my fourth year here. Well, this is the first time that I'm staying in the UK during the summer, so I forgive myself. Heh.

Wan Aimran was the one who told me about the event and I planned to meet him there on Monday. I also called a couple of friends from high school, Arin (@ Aghain) and Kat, who I haven't seen for a while to meet up there. Adzmel, who was also staying at Ammir's for a while, went with me to the carnival.

Since I'm not bothered to write about the history of the carnival, here's an excerpt from Wikipedia (click the link to read more):

Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event which takes place on the streets of Notting Hill, London, UK each August, over two days (Sunday and the following bank holiday), since 1965. It is led by members of the Caribbean population, many of whom have lived in the area since the 1950s. The carnival has attracted up to 2 million people in the past, making it the second largest street festival in the world, after Rio. It is also often compared to Karneval der Kulturen in Berlin.

The event was heavily policed. There were a lot of people and so we didn't get to meet Wan Aimran there. Sorry ye! But we did find Arin and Kat, who were there with Afif, also a friend of mine. The carnival was quite good and the parades were very colourful. They really enjoyed themselves parading down the streets wearing their costumes. It was fun.

I do pity the residents there though. They have to put up with all the noise the whole day outside their homes. And most of the shops were boarded up. There must have been some riots of some sorts during the previous years to make the shopkeepers be extra careful. Or maybe the council was providing them with the boards for safety reasons. I don't know.

Anyway, it was a good day to go out and see the colourful parades. Maybe I'll go again next year.