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.  

Kampung Ayer Brunei Darussalam

These are old pictures.  I went to Brunei in late 2016 to attend my ex-housemate’s wedding.  Huda was gracious to be our tour guide.  I have been to Kampung Ayer in 2014 but it was the first time for my sister to go to Kampung Ayer.  

It has changed a lot since 2014.  There is new development of housing at Kampung Ayer in which they build houses with modern design.   I have to search for the pictures of the modern houses that I took (I forget where I store the pictures).  Until then, it is sufficed to provide only those two pictures 😀 

Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!

At the point of writing this post, I am preparing my OBE report.  Alhamdulillah.  One course is finished.  Another two more to go.   In sha Allah I will try to finish everything before Eid.  

When I look at the students performance (i.e. marks), I could not help from wondering, do they study smart before the exam because apparently, some of them are not able to get good marks.  I know that I cannot assume their understanding based on the marks alone but it seems that some of them are not brave enough to challenge themselves to do better.  Perhaps I am wrong in this matter.  I have been wondering if it has something to do with reading (how much they read to make themselves understand certain concepts).

Language of depression

A friend of mine posted this on her FB.  An article about depression.  More often than not, people who are depressed show many signs such as the way they use certain words (i.e. language).  They speak “the language of depression”.  To untrained eyes, such things can go unnoticed.  

The two aspects that worth to be noted are content and style.  Content consists of emotion expressions, use of pronoun, rumination and social state (i.e. in the case of depression, social isolation).  Style relates to how one express oneself.  It relates to the former aspect, content.  For example, the use of absolutist words (e.g. never, always, nothing, absolutely etc.) might indicate how a person views certain situation.  A sentence like “There is nothing that I do matters” indicates how a person is using self-handicapping note in the language with reference to oneself (i.e. the use of the word “I”).  

So, please be aware of our own language or others to detect any sign of depression.  Indeed.  Mind your (and our) language, please!

Concept maps_Part 1

One of the juniors asked me if giving students a concept map assignment is appropriate to measure cognitive skills (the code C6 – creating level).  I asked him back what makes him think otherwise because to produce a concept map is not easy.  It is not simply cut-copy-paste thingy (unless one copies other’s concept map).  To produce one as your own, you need to have a good understanding about a concept and how it relates to other sub-concepts.  It is not easy to produce a good and meaningful concept-map.  I guess, this junior rarely uses concept maps to be articulated and reflective.  Apparently from his question, it does resonate with that parts that he seems to be lacking of.  

While doing my PhD, I did many concept maps like this.  But, I find it difficult to draw a concept map in a white A4 paper.  So, I changed the medium.  I wrote on brown paper napkins that I could find inside any toilet in my school and it is FOC.  It did help me to stay focused on what I want to write and organise my thoughts.  In fact, a concept map is one of the ways that self-regulated learners will use to be reflective in a pictorial form.  There are research about this.   

So, when I crafted the assignments that I want to assign to my students taking SPPP1012 Educational Psychology, I want to them to be reflective.  Being reflective demands a person to have a certain routine and habit.  In this case, to produce a concept map for every topic learned also means helping students to develop a routine which I hope will turn into a habit.  2 in 1 thingy.  Students will learn how to produce concept maps and hopefully they could teach it to others.  Secondly, students might also develop good habits to summarise their thoughts in different forms i.e. pictorial format.  

What a heck!  As a teacher later on, the students will have to teach their secondary students how to illustrate points using I-think note (I-think note is a form of concept map).  How can they teach the students if they never had any experience to draw concept map before?   As an instructor, I ask the students to submit the concept map on regular basis because I would have a look at their concept maps and give my feedback so that their concept maps would be useful and more meaningful.  This is an example that I “show” real example to my students so that when they become teachers, they would make it as part of their habits to give feedback to students.  

For more information about I-think, check it out on KPM website.

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