Summer trip at Newcastle :)

In the name of Allah the most Gracious the most Merciful,

I'm going to close my 2010 with this entry. As I promised in previous post, I'm going to share with you our summer trip to Newcastle on the last November. Jeng jeng jeng! =)

Okay, we went to Newcastle separately. They departed from Gold Coast Airport a day earlier than me due to some ticket-booking differences. 

From left: Aziemah, Ras, Ain, Hasanah, Zaira

From left: Aziemah, Ida, Zaira, Ain, Ras

Then they overnighted at Zaira's uncle's house (Erk.. Is the way I've put the apostrophe correct grammatically? Anyone?) for one night. They even managed to visit a kangaroo sanctuary on the next day. And left me behind. So unfair okay. >.<"

Abi, when will we ever relax?

Bismillah,

In this post I want to share one article that really touched me. An article by Productive Muslim.

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I wanted to share a moving story that I once heard and will always remember and cherish for its meanings. It's the story of one of the great Imams of this Ummah, Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal.

His son, Abdullah, asked his father one day, “Abi when will we ever relax?”. His father, one of the greatest revivers of the Sunnah and a role model for all Muslims, looked him in the eye and said, “With the first step we take into Jannah.”

Ya Allah, what a beautiful response!

There are days that come to you and you’re tired, you just want to sleep and relax and "shut off" as they say. Those are the days in which you need to ask yourself a critical question: ‘Where am I going with life?’ If it's towards Allah and for Allah, then regain your strength and continue your work, for Jannah is precious and must be sought. But if you look into your life and realise that it's not towards Allah but towards Dunya, then your tiredness becomes a blessing, for it is a reminder that you need to change direction and renew your purpose in life.

Boxing day in Aussie

Bismillahi rahmani rahim,

Yesterday was a Boxing day. Before this, I never knew there is such a day that you can call as a BOXING day. The first time I heard of this 'boxing' term, I thought that it is a day where all Australians go to the stadium to watch a boxing match. Haha!

Later, I found out from seniors that people used to go shopping like crazy on this particular day. Ape la pulak kaitannye lawan-lawan boxing dengan beli belah ni kan?? So, this is where the 'boxing' term is originated (Source from article).

What is Boxing Day?

Boxing Day is a day the higher classes gave gifts to the lower classes. Before or on December 25th people of similar class would exchange gifts to celebrate the Christmas season. Gifts were not exchanged with the lower class until the next day called Boxing Day. It is also known as St. Stephen’s Day.

Why is the holiday named Boxing Day?

The holiday is named Boxing Day because the tradition of giving gifts of cash, food, clothing and other goods to the less fortunate were placed into boxes for easier transportation. The goods were distributed based on the family needs and their services to the giver

Who celebrates Boxing Day?

Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Britain, and other Commonwealth Countries celebrate Boxing Day on December 26th.

Purpose of Teaching the Origin and History of Boxing Day

Boxing Day officially began in England in the middle of the 19 century under the rule of Queen Victoria. However, many adults and children do not know the true meaning of Boxing Day and its reasons for celebrating. It was a day to thank the community for all their effort throughout the years. The maids, drivers and other service workers were thanked with gifts of food, money, clothing, and other goods. It is important to teach students how they can contribute to society and to understand not all families are able to provide for their families all of the time. As well, the discussion on the origin and history of Boxing Day can open dialogue about less fortunate individuals in the community and how the students can make a difference. Students may do a viable proposal on how their class or a group of students can provide a service or gift to other families or students in the community who are less fortunate.

And now, boxing day I believe is the same thing as Year End Sale (YES) or Mega sale at Malaysia.

Okay, enough babbling about the history of this boxing day.

So last Sunday I went to Direct Factory Outlet (DFO) with friends. As the name itself explains its meaning, DFO is where the branded items are sold at a greatly reduced and cheap price. Then we split, to search for our stuffs. Me and Syazwani walked together as we will be buying almost the same items for our family members.

Okay, the first check point is where Corelle, the famous dinnnerware brand is sold. When I entered that store, almost everyone is Malaysian! Whoa! ;O Nampak sangat la orang Malaysia ni suka beli set pinggan mangkuk kan.. So, one item is done for Syazwani's mother. Alhamdulillah =)

Then we walked to the next store, Fossil.

Syazwani bought one watch for her sister and had adjusted her watch strap. And me? I've bought one already for my brother during my last winter trip to Melbourne. Whilst I've got my Fossil watch from Malaysia, long back before I arrived at Aussie. Haih, bertuah la sape jadi adik aku ni kan? Jam pun nak Aussie mali. Demand tinggi depa ni..

Usia antara masa - Saujana

Muffin and pizza making!

Bismillah,

Yesterday was my first attempt baking the muffins. Yeay! I divided the mixture into 2; one mixture for blueberry and the other mixture was for chocolate chip.

Sis Shuhada and Ayu joined me too, to try on their new recipe. I worked on my muffins and they worked on their pizzas.

Before picture. Nyum nyum!

In the making.

Here is the recipe for roughly 30 of medium sized muffins.

The answer

Bismillah,

So have you manage to answer my quiz in the previous post? :)

"C'mon, give it a try", Vignesh assured me to answer his simple quiz. We were on our way to the lab from the plant room.

"HIV?", I gave him my I-have-no-idea look. Okay HIV sounds like the dumbest answer to his looks-like-simple question.

"Not even SARS??", he replied in disbelieve.

"Why is that? Because it's airbone?", I continued. Okay saya memang lemah ya bab teka-teki ni. Sila la tanya sapa2 yang pernah main teka-teki dengan saya. =.="

"Try to get out of science", he gave me a hint after I literally begged for it. Haha.. But still, I couldn't.

More hint please!

"Right now you have it. Even I have it" he replied.

Hoh! Pulak dah. Penyakit apa yang dia ada, aku pun ada?? Uish, sulit ni!

Then Hannes (a PhD student) walk-passed us. Hannes waved and greeted us.

Then Vignesh told me the answer.

"It's a smile. When you smile at me, I smiled back at you and I will transmit the smile to anyone around me, like Hannes just now" he explained.

Well said Vignesh! Let's smile to brighten other's day. Kan sedekah jugak? =)

(Click the picture to be directed to the original source)

A gift

Dengan nama Allah yg Maha Pengasih lagi Maha Penyayang,

Christmas celebration is just around the corner. Yesterday a woman came into our lab with a present in her hand. I believe she is the person in charge of every lab in our School of Biological Sciences.

By the way, this was not about her, but this was about the present! :) A paper bag of Cadbury chocolate. Okay perhatian ye, Cadbury sini lagi sedap dari Malaysia, lagi pelbagai jenis dan rasa.

The chocolate was truffle-like with fill at the center of it. It has 3 different flavors; hazelnut filling, almond filling and chocolate milk filling. Awesome!

With gloves and lab log book as the background. Tak menyempat!

Owh.. If I can eat in the lab at that moment, I would have finished the whole Cadbury bag by myself!

Okay.. As for today, Vignesh gave me one puzzle to be solved. "What is the MOST contagious disease?"

Moving to Melbourne

Bismillahhi rahmanni rahim,

Some updates: currently my housemates and I are in house-hunting mode. We have put 2 tenant applications and still have few house inspections to be made. Phew! Hope to get the BEST house with the cheapest rent for another 2 years studying at UQ. ;)

No worries as this post is not about me moving to Melbourne  ye kawan2 (as you can see from my previous sentence). SKB lab is the one that's going to move to Melbourne uni (Clayton campus) probably around September next year. As Dr Suresh got his fund from Aussie's government and not from UQ specifically, so it's not a problem to move the lab to Melbourne.

I just knew about this from my previous lab meeting. At Melbourne uni, the lab will doubled from it's current size and they will have their own plant room! Melbourne uni also have stronger expertise in genetic (as Suresh told us) which is an advantage to the SKB lab. 

The thing is, I've already made up my mind to have my honours project from the SKB lab. Sigh. Now I need to find alternative. 

Or...... I might consider doing a transfer credit at Melbourne uni for my final year?? Hehe.. That sounds interesting! Clayton campus pulak tu kn? Da la syurga makanan halal kat sana.. Sisters from Melbourne, please do welcome me. ;p 

Below are pictures of the current SKB lab early in the morning. Saye pelajar contoh ye datang awal2 pagi.. Hee~

My lab coat, no. 4.

Our (me and Vignesh) working area.

The close up of our workbench.

Lots of reagents! Can you spot which one is the highly used Agarose's bottle? Hehe..

The most precioussss (sila sebut macam gollum sebut okay..) babies. Thousands dollar machines.

 The essence of SKB's lab, Arabidopsis thaliana.

 This is where we keep the plants. The percival allow us to manipulate the temperature. Wait till you see the plant room located at the rooftop of Goddard's, it's bigger! 

Maal Hijrah - 1432 hijriyah

Bismillahhi rahmani rahim,

New year for Muslim has arrived. So I choose a song that suits one of my new year resolution. Presenting UNIC - Atas Nama Cinta.

Today My Life Begins - Bruno Mars

Pre April Fool?

In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

So last Tuesday I went to the lab just like usual. They (the pHD and master students) started to give me heaps of thing to do. In the lab, I was like the volunteer aka assistant to any one of them that need helps, in exchange of the new skills that I gained.

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Don't limit yourselves, instead open up yourselves to any possibilities.

A skillful and beneficial Muslim is better than pious individual yet have nothing to be offered to the society right? ;)

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Still remember the weekly meeting that I need to attend every Wednesday? Actually, that meeting is where people make presentation based on their project, using the slides and powerpoint.

To cut the story short, that Tuesday morning we were working on cloning. Then out of sudden, Vignesh told me that I need to make a presentation tomorrow morning. He said that presentation will be assessed and the mark goes to my final grade for the summer semester.

I was like, "What?! An assessed presentation? What can I present if I have no result? I just got my project like yesterday!"

With his slumber face he replied, "You know right as a summer research student we need to make a presentation?" And he turned to face Gautham (another summer student) looking for a confirmation nod.

Then he added, "Plus, Dr Suresh just showed the criteria sheet to me and Gautham"

My jaw almost dropped. OMG!! I need to present tomorrow in front of professional researchers and I have yet to prepare a thing??! I don't want to fail my summer course!

"This can't be happening. I'm going to talk to Suresh" I stood and removed my lab coat almost simultaneously (ok exaggerating je disitu..). I walked fast towards the doors when Vignesh yelled my name to stop me. When I turned, all of them were chuckling over my anxious face.

And yes, they just PRANKED me! To be precise, Vignesh did. You are one naughty-master-student. Grrr..

And so the motto of the SKB lab applies here, "The SKB lab; where science is fun" Haih~

The summer lab story

Bismillahhi rahman ni rahim,

This time I'm going to share with you my experience so far with my lab team. My supervisor is Dr Suresh, a geneticist. We call the lab that I'm working in as SKB lab, a short form to my supervisor's name. We shared the lab with Dr Ortiz's team, an evolutionary geneticist. These 2 guys are very kamcheng. Hehe..

So we have students with all sort of education level; pHD, master, honours, undergraduate, and summer research like me. There are 3 summer research students (and counting) currently in that lab. Each one of them are working on different projects, using A. thaliana as model organisms. So we are not using mice ok, nasty~

For this summer research I'm going to work under Vignesh, a master biotechnology student. He is very happy-go-lucky type of a person. I would say he is a very good teacher too. We are going to work on triplet repeat expansion, alternative splicing, RNA etc (sape2 yg belajar genetik or yang seangkatan dgn nye faham la.. hehe..)    

We have a lab meeting twice a week, Monday and Wednesday. The Wednesday meeting is where both Suresh and Ortiz's teams will be gathered in one conference room. So yesterday was my first Wednesday-meeting. We had a presentation done by a pHD student from Ortiz's team. It was about the evolutionary adaption of daisy on changing environment (sape2 yg blajar plant biology masihkah kamu ingat lg topik ni? ;p) The fun part was when Dr Suresh and Dr Ortiz quarrel among themselves over a term that the pHD student used in his presentation.

And hey, they do invite me to the Christmas party organised by the school but I'm not going la. Ntah ade alcohol ke pe ntah lg nanti tak pasal2 je. Heh. But the thing is, they are also planning to have a picnic just for our lab team. =) It will be in a couple of weeks' time. They are planning to play bowl (Australian way of saying bowling ye kawan2..) and cricket too. Owh I  like, I like!