Summer's gone, Autumn's here... Daylight Saving Time

Clear sky during summer @ Seaham, Newcastle

Pagi tadi bila bangun tidur, saya terus tengok jam. Pukul 5.30am waktu itu. Dalam kepala dah teringat, 'Eh!Hari ni kena tukar jarum jam pada standard time. Maknanya sekarang dah pukul berapa ye? 6.30 atau 4.30 pagi ni?'

Dalam keadaan kepala saya masih weng akibat makan ubat batuk semalam, saya cek World Clock Time di iphone saya. Pada World Clock website tertulis 5.30am. 'Eh! Betul ke World Clock ni?.'

Tak ada beza dengan jam iphone saya pun. Saya cek pula handphone suami, tercatat waktu 6.30am. 'Haa...jam Abang ni betul rasanya, mesti dia dah ubah sebelum dia masuk tidur semalam', fikir saya.

(Padahal sebenarnya suami saya tak tukar pun jam hp dia & dia tak set pun supaya jam tu automatically bertukar bila Daylight Saving Time. Hemm... Kiranya jam hp suami tu salahlah. Ishh...) Saya pun betulkan setting waktu pada iphone i.e saya jadikan waktu 6.30am seperti pada jam suami. Kemudian bergegas amik wudhuk dan kejutkan suami untuk solat Subuh. Yelah, matahari terbit jam 6.56am, maunya boleh terkedek-kedek nak menunaikan solatkan.

Lorong jalan kaki yang saya lalu waktu pulang dari school. Dah merahkan daun pokok tu?

Lepas Subuh, saya makan ubat batuk dan tidur semula. Suami pun sama juga. Bangun semula dalam pukul 10.00am~ini waktu yg tertera pada iphone. Buka laptop, jam di laptop menunjukkan pukul 9.00am. 'Eh! Salah ni', fikir saya.

Nak tukar tak boleh sebab laptop yg saya pakai ni laptop school (supervisor beli dengan duit grant), jadi saya tak boleh memandai nak download atau tukar apa2 software kat laptop ni. Saya cek lagi sekali pada website World Clock. Website World Clock menunjukkan jam pukul 9.00am sama seperti jam pada laptop. Aduuuhhh!!! Pening. Pening macam bila dengar lagu duet Ezlyn& M. Daud Kilau tu.

View dari tempat letak beskal Robinson Library, Newcastle University Dah kuning daun-daun ni, ada yg dah luruh pun :(

Kemudian saya chatting dengan member kamceng saya Ani di YM. Saya tanya Ani, 'Sekarang ni pukul berapa?' Sebab saya tersangat confuse, dah berapa kali saya cek waktu kat website World Clock tu, waktunya masih serupa dengan waktu sebelum saya tukar waktu di iphone saya pagi tadi. Kata Ani, 'Kul 11.40am Dilla'. Eh! 11.40 ke 12.40 ni? Confusenya. 'Dilla, tak yah tukar jam kat laptop & handphone, dia bertukar sendiri.', tambah Ani lagi.

Saya pun cek la setting iphone saya. Alahai.. rupanya saya dah setkan supaya waktu bertukar automatically bila tiba Daylight Saving Time. Kiranya pagi tadi masa saya bangun tu, waktu sebenar di UK memang pun pukul 5.30am seperti yang saya lihat. Tak perlu saya tukar-tukar lagi waktu kat iphone& laptop tu. Dahlah tak perlu tukar, tukar-tukar pulak salah tukar. Kalau ye pun saya nak tukar kedudukan jarum jam(terhad kepada jam2 yg tak mampu bertukar secara otomatik) , saya perlu tukar dari 5.30am kepada 4.30am, bukannya dari 5.30am kepada 6.30am seperti yg saya lakukan. Isshhh.. Entah apa-apa betullah saya ni.

Masa duduk di US dulu memang dah observe DST ni. Tapi dah lebih 10 tahun, dah lupa saya jadinya. Jadinya, bermula hari ni, waktu kami di UK dan 8o lebih negara lain ke belakang 1 jam. Pada waktu 0200 semalam, jam perlu diputarkan kembali ke waktu 0100. Macam back in time gitu. Jadi sekarang perbezaan waktu antara UK dengan Malaysia, kembali kepada 8 jam ( UK lewat 8 jam dari Malaysia). Nanti bila tiba bulan Mac, waktu perlu dipercepatkan 1 jam pulak. Inilah yang dinamakan Daylight Saving Time. Sebabnya bila tiba musim panas, waktu siang jadi panjang. Jadi demi untuk tak membazir tenaga cahaya dari matahari, jarum jam dipercepatkan. Waktu solat pun semakin rapat dan cepat sekarang. Subuh between 0500 to 0700, Zuhur jam 1150, Asar: +-1400, Maghrib masih lagi around 1645 dan Isyak dalam 1830. Tunggu jelah winter nanti bila Maghrib seawal 1540 gitu. Huhuhu.. sejuk tak terkata. Suasana luar rumah yg 'murung'. Memanglah asyik nak berselimut je jadinya.

Summer's gone... Autumn's here... Winter's closing in...

Shut The H*** UP

JUST SHUT UP!

I’m pissed. Really pissed. I am as pissed as I was when people who are not in the teaching/lecturing line have the guts to say that teaching/lecturing is easy. You’ve got no right to say that until you give it a shot. Still, if you teach like P. Ramlee in his film Masam Masam Manis then again you’ve got no right to say that. Some of you surely remember the famous quote from that film:
"Cikgu suka main bola. Hari-hari cikgu main bola"
"Cikgu suka main bola. Hari-hari cikgu... tidur. Mari kita main!"

Anyway, I’m not pissed because of the lecturer issue. Rather I’m pissed at some idiots out there who think doing PhD is easy peasy. Oh! Come on, if you really think it’s that easy, why don’t you endeavour yourself into it?

You know just because I took few days leave to travel does not mean that doing PhD in the UK is a piece of cake. Just because I spend few minutes FBing (is there such a word?) does not mean I have endless hours to spend mindlessly. You are not in my shoes so you don’t know what it’s like. Yes, I make a foolish mistake in sharing some of my travelling pictures, some of my hobbies and what not in the Facebook. Probably I need to set up another FB account where I only add close friends. Yes that probably is. By the way I do not mean working on a PhD in Malaysia is easy. NO! Rather it is harder because if you are married you have to juggle more than 2 balls in the air; your PhD, your family, your other family, your in laws and Allah's know what. If you are single people expect you to have no life other than your PhD and they expect you to be at their becks and calls.

Or I might write a proposal to http://www.phdcomics.com/ to produce a reality TV show base on PhD students’ life. Of course its boring but with a little drama here and there it can be a top hit. Every reality TV show is a drama in fact. Do you really believe its ‘REAL’? Then I can be rich and famous and... whatever. The point is people get to see what’s our life is like (plus the dramas to spice things up of course) and most of them believe what they watch anyway.

It’s hard dealing with idiots. Idiots being idiots, there is no point talking sense to them. Seriously, they are so thick in the head that you can’t even inject an ounce of truth or fact into their inane brain. So yes, a reality TV show might be the perfect answer.

Truth is I’m not really pissed anymore. I’ve calmed down after last night sleep and two episodes of venting off. Heartfelt thanks to my dear friend Ani, who called immediately once she received my e-mail, despite her lovely daughter Iman is not being 100% well yet. Heartfelt thanks to my husband too who keeps listening to me rambling about those idiots.

Just to be clear again and again and again, to me working towards my PhD is more of a responsibility more than a proud banner to parade around. I am responsible not only to myself but also my husband who quits his job just to accompany me here. Not to mention I am also responsible to my family, my guarantors, my employer, and of course to the tax payers (i.e. my scholarship)/ my sponsor.

Buttered Prawns / Udang Goreng Bermentega

Gambar tak clear (guna iphone yg 2megapix tu je)

Ini resepi Sabtu lepas. Baru hari ni sempat nak kongsi. Saya cari di internet beberapa resepi Buttered Prawns tapi kebanyakkannya menggunakan white wine ataupun arak Cina. Untuk menggantikan white wine, saya gunakan perahan jus lemon. Idea nak menggantikan white wine dengan jus lemon tu datang berdasarkan hasil borak-borak saya dengan kawan-kawan satu research group. Beberapa minggu lepas kami ada get together & salah seorang dari mereka minum white wine. Saya menyibuk bertanya apa rasa white wine tu. Yelah, bila tengok resepi-resepi mat saleh ni, banyak yang menggunakan white wine. Kata kawan saya tu, "It has a citrusy taste to it..." Jadi conclusion saya, rasa white wine = masam macam lemon atau limau nipis.

Bahan:
20-25 ekor udang saiz sederhana ~ buang kepala. Kalau terlebih rajin, buang mata saja tapi biarkan kepala intact
4-5 ulas bawang putih ~ dicincang halus
5-7 ulas cili padi (tambah kalau suka pedas) ~ dicincang halus
segenggam daun kari ~ lebih kurang dalam 20 helai
3-5 kuning telur
1 sb kicap manis
6 sb mentega
1/4-1/2 dari perahan sebiji lemon
sedikit minyak untuk menggoreng
garam & gula secukup rasa

Cara:
1- Panaskan minyak dalam kuali & goreng udang sehingga kemerahan. Angkat udang & toskan minyak.
2- Tuangkan lebihan minyak menggoreng ke dalam bekas dan tinggalkan lebih kurang 3-4 sudu besar di dalam kuali.
3- Tumis bawang putih, cili padi dan daun kari hingga naik bau. Asalkan jangan hangus.
4- Perlahankan api dan masukkan mentega, kicap manis, gula dan jus lemon. Kacau hingga mentega jadi cair.
5- Masukkan kuning telur. Untuk dapatkan juraian kuning telur yg cantik, masukkan kuning telur ke dalam penapis santan(sieve/sifter) dan guna sudu untuk menggores kuning telur tu supaya keluar dari penapis. (Susah nak terangkan dengan ayat part ni)
6- Masukkan udang dan tambah garam atau gula sesedap rasa.

Oh!

picture: http://www.ehow.com/about_5097422_causes-light-headedness.html

I'm feeling slightly lightheaded today. I can't do a thing at work. It's already 1p.m. now and all I have done is pasted few figures from my simulation into my phd log book plus adding few sentences to my case study report. I REALLY need to work on my report & I REALLY want to. I just can't at the moment. To say that I don't have enough sleep might be it but I don't feel sleepy either. What is WRONG with me???!!!

I googled the word lightheadedness and as usual thousands of links come out. This one catches my attention: 37 possible causes of 'Lightheadedness'. Is it Stress and anxiety or Food allergy?Surely its not Testicular torsion isn't it.

Just A Little Bitching...

Alright, this may be a little bit of bitching plus some of the content is not very comfortable to read. So reading is at your own risk.

I'm a week plus late. Yup! Late as in my period is a week plus late. I'm worried that I might be pregnant because I can't be pregnant until I go through my CT scan this December. On the other hand, I'm worried that I may be sick again. My menstruation is not 'on schedule' for these past few months. Last time when my period is not on schedule as usual (for few months), it turns out I had an ovarian cyst which then turns out to be an ovarian cancer. So now when it happens again, I'm worried sick. I don't let on my worries to consume my thoughts, just that everyday now I pray for my period to say 'Hi! I'm here now'. I know I should get a pregnancy test kit but last time I did, I just wasted 5 pound of my money.

Talking about pregnancy, I've been hit quite a number of times with questions and remarks like "When are you going to have a baby?" or "Next will be your turn (especially when I hold someone else baby). " Huh! As if.

Having experienced being an ovarian cancer patient widen my perspective. I am extra careful when asking others about getting pregnant. Surely I am always cautious when asking this sort of questions because I detest people asking when am I going to get marriedwhen I was still single. I consider myself lucky because I still have an ovary intact. There are people who do not have a choice but to remove their entire reproduction system. So imagine yourself being in their shoes, and all the while people keep asking when you're going to have a baby. The first few times, you might still have the decency to smile and be nice. However, at the end of the day with just a few ounces of patience left, you might feel the urge to retort back with snappy answer like "Why do you care?"

Some might think the easiest way out is to bare the truth. Just let people know your condition. Of course some may offer their deepest sympathy but some may not really care. So what's the point in sharing your pain and probably misery when what you get in return are hurtful remarks like, "A friend of mine also had a condition like yours... she has already died" or "I heard there's no cure for cancer. Its like a death sentence" or "Oh! You live a healthy life. How can this happen to you? I don't really like to eat healthily. I just hope it won't happen to me."

Excuse me! Do they really think that I want to hear about some people dying due to the same condition as mine? Do they know that people die for a silliest reason there is like choking on a tiny peanut. Good grief! Do they think I wish day and night for this?

Even though the evil side of mine sometime lurking around to surface, I do not wish this to anyone. I may secretly hope they sort of fall flat on their face. Hahaha.. Well, I do not. Seriously I don't. Take my word ;)

Below is a picture of an ovarian cyst. Sadly, the picture that an intern doctor took of my ovarian cyst was somewhere in my old handphone and that handphone was sort of gone. I did remember though that my ovarian cyst was 1.2kg in weight and about 8 inches long. Huge eh!

Taken from: http://bms.brown.edu/pedisurg/images/ImageBank/Ovary/OvarCyst2.jpg