Category: Personal

Once upon a time, a neighbour of mine….

I have known him since I was in Durham.  A former neighbour.  He stayed at 21 Steavenson Street and I stayed at 60 Steavenson Street, Bowburn.   He is someone who has this charismatic qualities that I have seen when I was in Durham.  

When there was a little incident involving one of my housemates, he called for a meeting to discuss the matter.  Alhamdulillah, things were not blown out of proportion.  Well, I appreciate his concerns but the things involved my household thingy so I declined their offer to help me to sort things out.  

As I read the article about him on the newspaper, I know that it is not easy to hold a position like his and I can see that he is trying his very best to make sure that the education system will change for the better during his term in the office.  

All the best, my former neighbour!  In sha Allah you make us Dunelms proud with your achievement!

Rate my professors_Part 1

I know that in the US, they also have similar practice like eppp, but unlike eppp which is internally controlled i.e. by UTM, there are some which are not controlled by any institution.   They have different websites which are independent from any institution such as RateMyProfessor, MyEdu.com and UniYu.  But, I have been wondering the effects of such evaluation on many aspects such as improvement of learning experience for future students.  

I have experienced getting not-so-good comments from students because I am strict and assertive.  For example, there are times when I would no longer accept any draft that students send for feedback/comments after certain deadline.  But some students perceive this as tyrannical.  It is as if I am not giving them ample chance to improve their work.  Well, if they send their draft on week 14, a week before their final exam on week 15, when do you think they will submit the “real” assignment?  Week 16?  It will be too late for me to finalise their marks.   Don’t they get it?  I also work based on deadlines.  It is not that I set the deadline based on my whims and fancies.  

Normally, those students who give bad rating and evaluations are not-so-serious students.  Serious studious students would appreciate having instructors who are willing to guide them within certain time frames because they have discipline and able to regulate their learning process.  Students who don’t belong to this category like easy things or prefer if you don’t give “challenging” assignments. 

What a heck!  They are not kindergartners nor school kids.  They are university students who should be mentally prepared to face the challenges of the world and life in general.  We don’t need softies strawberry cotton candy individuals who cannot withstand any challenge or problems.  We have lots of problems and challenges to face and we need to have endurance to withstand anything that might come in our life.  

So, what should we do with the evaluations that students give?  Well, I found an article which explains in detailed how we should use whatever comments that students give with “wisdom”.  There are also research on this.   That’s I will explain in the next post.

 

 

 

You add colors to my life

I could be perceived as someone who is uptight and serious.  I do admit that I don’t know how to have “fun”.  But things change when I went to Durham and I met a bunch of people who are fun, playful and yet they are committed in their work (they are also academically excellent).  I don’t know how they can strike a balance to have fun and at the same time stay focused in their study.  But, I learn a great deal from them.  

One of those individuals are Yasmin Ahmad Rusli, fondly known as Min.  Min is an exceptional lady.  When she pursued her masters degree in Durham, she had a long distance relationship with her husband, Samir.  But, from her story and all, I learn to know about Samir even though I never met him before.  I met Samir once when he came to Durham in summer 2008 (Min and Samir went to Paris after that for a short holiday).

The picture was taken when we went to York for a shopping spree.  We bought quite a lot of things.  It is not that we intently wanted to splurge like that but for me, I bought some of cookery thingy (that I still have and use until now) and clothes (which I could no longer wear because the clothes are no longer fit.  I have gained weight since then). 

When I look at this picture, Min and I looked so happy.  Indeed.  Min is one of my best confidantes when I was in Durham.  We shared some ups and downs especially when we had a problem with our housemate of no 12 Steavenson Street.  But things changed for the better afterwards when I moved to no 60 Steavenson Street, Bowburn.  Thing happens for a reason.  Alhamdulillah Allah Gives me a friend like Min to share my woes and happiness. 

Indeed it is true that “A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked“- Bernard Meltzer-

BBQ chicken wings

This is one of my famous signature dishes when I was in Durham.   The ingredients are simple yet now it is difficult to find some of it in Malaysia.  So, I don’t make any now.   Well, I can easily go to Nando’s or Kenny Roger’s or Pizza Hut to eat this.  I don’t have to prepare it myself.   

The recipe?  I need to find my cook book where I wrote all the recipes of the dishes that I cooked in Durham.  Once upon a time ago.  Indeed.  

A memory with an iron lady

I met Rita in 2009.  We joined Kelana Convoy trip to Europe.   After that trip, she came to Durham in winter 2009 with her friend, Hayat.  We went to Newcastle and ate at Gekko.   The restaurant claims that they serve Halal food but they also serve non-halal food (they put the trays in different sections though).  

On our back to Durham, I remember of thinking about the plates and such that we use.  Opsie…. what if the plates that we used are the ones that were used by others who ate non-halal thingy like pork-based food?   This makes me realise that I have to be extra careful when it comes to eating at such restaurant which caters the halal and non-halal food.

Rita lost her mom not long after our trip.  Her trip to Durham was the trip before she went back to Malaysia for good.  She is a clever and hardworking individual.  Even though, she might appear playful, but she is very serious when it comes to serious things.  When she shared her woes with me, I told her that she needs to discuss and confide in with her mom.  She said that she didn’t want to make her mom to worry about her and her siblings so there were times when she would rather share about her problems with friends.  What a tenacious and caring girl!    She has already the characteristics of an iron lady at that time.  

I am glad that everything turns out alright for her after the incident that shocked the whole country in 2010.  Alhamdullillah justice has been well-served even though it took about seven years to find the closure.   The thing happened during Ramadan.  May Allah Bless her mom with Jannah.  

Band of sisters

When I did my Latihan Ikhtisas, these three ladies are the ones who help me the most.  From the left: Fiza (wearing the sport attire), Aalia, me and Ita.  All of them are really passionate teachers.   I never had any teacher as passionate as them but I am glad that the school has them as their teachers.  May Allah Bless them with continuous hidayah, barakah and rahmah.  

Salivary duct stone

The year was 2010.  It was February.  I felt really stressful at this moment to finalise my PhD thesis.  Due to that, I didn’t take care of myself really well.  What happened then?  

I started to have a bit of swelling on my right cheek.  I had that for a week or two.  I didn’t think too much about it.  Then, on one morning, I started to feel a painful throbbing.  When I looked myself in the mirror, my right cheek was swollen.   I started to feel something hard on the inside of my right cheek using my tongue.   I didn’t know what the thing is.  I brave myself to endure the late winter chill to go to school to edit some of my work.  

I googled the symptoms and I came across this term “Salivary Duct Stone”.  I know what causes it.  It was my fault of not drinking enough water.  I neglected my health.  It was not a time for me to panic.  So, I googled more information on how to get rid of the stone naturally.  Going to the doctor was the last thing on my mind.   I tried several ways to flush the stone out naturally.  I did it!  My salivary duct was a little bit infected because there was yellowish /reddish puss coming out with the stone.  The puss didn’t stop for a while.  Once it stopped, there was a hole inside my cheek and my cheek was still swelling and the throbbing still persisted.  This was when things became unbearable.  

So, I went to the nearby clinic.  The doctor gave me a referral letter and asked me to go to Sunderland Hospital which would take me around 1 hour journey from Durham.  I called K Ila and she sent me to the hospital.  I packed some clothes just in case I have to be warded even though that would be the last thing that I want.  Alhamdulillah, it was just a salivary duct stone.   I showed the doctor the stone and he told me the stone was out and he couldn’t see any stone left.  With that, he gave me a prescription to reduce the swelling and I didn’t need to be warded.  It took me an hour and half to reach home.   

This serves as a lesson for me: I need to drink enough water everyday to keep myself hydrated and avoid of having a stone inside my mouth.  Alhamdulillah, I don’t have any recurrent swelling until now.  

A creative friend of mine

I had a chance once to visit my friend who was studying at Nottingham back in 2010.  We went to Nottingham Castle and whatsnot.  We came across Robin Hood’s statue at the hill of Nottingham Castle.  If I were the photographer, I would not have any idea to give instruction to make this pose. 

But, my friend said “Dij, why don’t you make it this way?  Take a peek under Robin’s shirt”  and then while I was peeking under the shirt, she took this picture.  She is creative indeed.  Now, she holds important position in UTM who in charge of the branding and rebranding of UTM.  Zac, thanks for taking this picture and memorable moment when I was in Nottingham visiting you.  I will treasure it for the rest of my life In sha Allah

Once upon a time…..

It has been a while since I cooked lasagna.  But it was my staple food when I was in Durham.  I looked up at an old posting from FB.  I found this recipe.

P.S:  I never cook lasagna since I came back to Malaysia for good in 2011.  Yup, it has been nearly 10 years since the last time I cooked lasagna.

Lasagna…

I have tried it couples of time. This is the best, so far

Mince meat (depends on how many people to eat but for a tray like in the picture, I use 500-800gram of mince meat)

Lasagna sauce (I use Dolmio’s – the most cheap brand here, not sure how much it is cost in Malaysia)

White sauce (I use Dolmio’s too but I improvise it)

Mozzarella cheese (around 300gram)

Cheddar cheese (around 100gram)
*can be replaced with slice cheese – 4-5 slices

Black pepper, white pepper, Tabasco sauce, tomato sauce and salt (for seasoning)

Fresh Milk

Olive oil for frying onions (tumis sikit – I use half of indian onion)

Oregano (for the smell – just a dash or two)…

Lasagna (in a box usually)

————————————————————–
1) For the meat sauce.

Fry the chopped onions. Then mix it with meat (make sure it is half cooked so it is still tender. Add Lasagna sauce (put other ingredients for the seasoning as well according to your preference). Let it simmer well.

2) For the white sauce

You can just use it without improvising. For better result, improvise it.

Simmer a bottle of white sauce in a pan. Add milk (accordingly) and melt the cheddar cheese and 100gram of mozzarella cheese)… if it is thick, add more milk (a dash or two of black pepper/white pepper)…. Let it simmer.

Then for the layering

First layer, meat sauce. Then white sauce. Lasagna. Repeat the process. Make sure the top layer is lasagna and pour all the white sauce (make sure the lasagna is completely sunk – tenggelam tak nampak) and then just put all over on top of the white sauce and the mozzarella cheese…

Bake it in the oven for 30 minutes or so with 170 degrees