Musafir di Bulan Ramadhan

Ramadhan menjelma lagi. Alhamdulillah, kita masih berkesempatan untuk menyambut bulan yang mulia ini.

Ok la, direct to the point, I'd like to share my experience when I 1st arrived in UK. Masa tu bulan puasa. Sebab tu teringat.

Bertolak dari KLIA ~11.50pm hari Sabtu. Dapat business class. Selesa tapi mungkin kerana sedikit gemuruh, tak lena tido. ~4am, FA kejutkan bangun sahur. Memang aku kata nak puasa. Masa sahur ni tak tau lah atas ruang udara negara mana.

Sambil layan movie, sambil cuba melelapkan mata.

Sampai di Heathrow rasanya ~5:30am hari Ahad waktu UK. Masa ni UK lewat 8 jam daripada Malaysia. Ok, dipendekkan cerita... beratur untuk pemeriksaan kastam, pastu tunggu plak flight ke Manchester... akhirnya sampai Manchester pukul ~12pm.

Dah sampai Manchester kene tunggu bas untuk ke universiti pula. Tunggu punya tunggu, tiba masa untuk bertolak ke universiti. Sampai di accommodation hall ~5:30pm.

Terima kunci, terus pegi bilik. Tengok kat bilik hanya ada tilam, takde bantal. Terus tanya kat mana nak dapat bantal. Kemudian ke porter's lodge untuk beli bantal, duvet & sheet.

Akhirnya ~6pm baru selesai semua. Masa untuk berehat di bilik yang begitu asing & kecil pada pandangan aku ketika itu. 6pm hari Ahad waktu UK maknanya 2am hari Isnin waktu Msia. Maknanya sudah lebih 24 jam aku meninggalkan Msia. Penat gila... dengan suasana yang begitu asing, tambahan pulak puasa, tetiba rasa sebak mengenangkan nasib diri. Hehee. Tapi nangis kejap aje... sekadar melepaskan perasaan (penat + gemuruh) :P.

Pastu keluarkan periuk nasi & beras dari dalam bag untuk masak nasi sebagai juadah berbuka puasa. Juadah berbuka aku pada hari itu cuma nasi & sambal ikan bilis. Nasib baik memang sambal ikan bilis tu kesukaan aku. So makan dengan penuh berselera. Masih ingat lagi perasaan lega setelah berbuka puasa ketika itu. Rasa penat gila beransur-ansur hilang. Esoknya terus mengikuti orientasi di universiti. Tak ada masa nak layan jet-lag.

Alhamdulillah, walaupun travel lebih 24jam & mengikuti orientasi di negara yang begitu asing, aku dapat meneruskan ibadah puasa seperti biasa.

Ok, itu cerita masa pertama kali sampai di UK. Setahun kemudian, masa back for good pun bulan puasa gak. Tapi tak lah mencabar seperti perjalanan pergi. Dari Liverpool, naik train ke Manchester ~12pm hari Rabu.

Dari Manchester, naik flight ke Heathrow. Berbuka puasa di Heathrow dengan toasted tuna with chese yang dibeli di Eat. Sedap. Flight ke KL rasanya ~10:30pm. Dalam flight, sahur pukul 1am... jam tangan masih ikut waktu UK. Yang bestnya sampai Msia ~5:30pm hari Khamis. So cuma tinggal ~2 jam untuk berbuka puasa.

Memang best dapat berbuka puasa di Msia! :)

Walau bagaimanapun, tahun ni berbuka puasa ala kadar sahaja. Sambil menunaikan ibadah puasa, sambil berdiet. Yang penting, ambil peluang tingkatkan amalan ;-). Semoga kita mendapat hidayah-Nya. Amin.

On ramblings and reminiscences

Somehow the recent 5-nights course reminds me to the MSc program. The ordeal (studying, presenting & submitting a report) is quite similar but the pressure is different. During the MSc, I took it as a challenge, but during the course, I felt somewhat fedup. The point is, the environment & the people are different.

Some people do think that others are their competitors rather than comrades & take it very seriously. Some people do believe that they couldn't compete on their own, but need some 'advantages'. Some people do feel that if the chances are equal, they are going to lose.
.
.
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Well, reminiscing about the days during the MSc program...

Lecture notes. 7 files with different colors indicate 7 subjects per semester. The source of stress.

Bila stress - makan. Sebab ni lah tak kurus-kurus. Naik lagi ada... =P

Having 2 sets of burger for a lunch/dinner with a wide range of appertizers & dessert dishes was normal.

My healthy breakfast & meal between meals.

Recess. Sambil menguyah anything yg available dlm fridge, layan online TV...

or these...

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As for me, I believe in a hard but smart work.

I had been smart but didn't work hard enough. My bad.

Graduation_Day@Liverpool: Part 2

The graduation day was held on Tuesday, 8 Dec. I arrived at Liverpool on Monday nite. Since my session was at 3:30pm, so there was enough time in the morning for me to prepare for the ceremony like collecting the ticket & the graduation gown.

We had to hire our gown online before Nov 23 where we had to submit the measurement for the gown & hat. So the gown was collected by showing them the reference number. There were staff assigned to demonstrate/help us on how to wear the gown. I started feeling the excitement. =D

Hall where the graduation gowns were collected by the graduands.

Before getting ready for the graduation ceremony, I went to the city for window shopping. Really, it was good to be back to Liverpool & see the familiar places.

A few hours before the graduation ceremony.

To be continued...

Graduation_Day@Liverpool: Part 1

Where do I start? Too much to tell but too lazy to type & too bz to spend time typing it (read: nak baring tgk TV).

Ok, I did say before that I won't attend the graduation ceremony. Actually I told my friends a.k.a my comrades in Liverpool that I'd only consider of attending the ceremony if I got distinction. Too ambitious? I don't think so. It just that we hv to set our goals high & there are only 2 levels of passing the program - with or without distinction. So, of course I want to pass with distinction. Besides, there are other factors to be considered as well such as time, cost, mood etc.

To make a long story short, I do get distinction & after considering all the above factors I think I have to go. Otherwise, I might regret it later for skipping this once of a life time experience especially after all the hard works for a year. That's also why I should write it down (or type?) no matter how lazy or bz I am. =D

Pics before the ceremony.

To be continued...

The money and time spent, jet lag, travel sickness etc are worth it...

... it was an awesome-memorable-ceremony of the day!

I did it.
I pass the Master with Distinction.
Yay!

Detailed story later. It's time for (window) shopping! Oxford Street here I come...
- London, 9:58am

Yes!

Thursday - Oct 8, 2009

I'm soooo happy!

Last Monday, I emailed my supervisor since he had asked me to keep in touch. So I think it'd be appropriate to wish him Eid Mubarak (walaupun dah 2 minggu kita menyambutnya).

Last nite he replied the email. To my surprise, in the email he informed me that he has got my aggregated project mark.

The mark is better than I have expected!

I don't know whether the mark has been finalised or not. I don't wanna be overjoyed until the official result is released. Still it's a good news & gives me hope.

I guess the hard work and tears might be worth it after all. Insya Allah.

PS: Tetiba teruja plak nak gi konvo.

PPS: I did create this post on Thursday.

Hari Ini Dalam Sejarah

Selesai sudah program MSc! Alhamdulillah.

Penat lelah selama setahun, bersengkang mata kerana study/assignment dan penyeksaan mental :P akhirnya berakhir. Tarik nafas panjang2... hembus... LEGA!

Apart of me still in disbelief that it's over. Wow. It feels really good indeed. I guess today I couldn't help smiling or grinning for the whole day.

Eh, tetiba rasa syahdu. Walaupun tanggungjawab sebagai seorang pelajar berat (dah macam karangan BM plak), somehow I have get used to it. It's not great, but it's not so bad either. Apa lagi belajar di perantauan. Certainly, there's something (other than the weather) that I'd miss here.

The graduation ceremony will be held on Dec 8. Lambat lagi kan. Tak bercadang nak pegi pun. Most importantly I have fulfilled the requirements to pass the master program, insyaAlah.

Will write about today more in another post. For now I just want to enjoy the end of the life as a master student. Seronoknya! :-D

I know that somehow I work better under pressure, but...

BUT... (memang sengaja ulang 'but' 2X)

don't ever wait until the last minute to complete a job!

Penat. I am. Really.

Last week, I've been pushing myself to work extra harder. I only realized that I was running out of time on Friday 28/8. Stupid me. I didn't put into plan the time taken for proofreading and hard-binding.

So, that's it. The plan then is just keep working. I had to ignore the backache that the period given me. Even, I wasn't fasting, I just ate muffins for the whole day. Giler lah... & I swear to myself I wont ever procrastinating. Really I did. I think I have learned my lesson.

Alhamdulillah, it ends well anw. Somehow, I do work better, or at least work well under pressure, to be exact under crunch time. I managed to send it to proofreading section by section and did the hard-binding with nice embossed lettering on the cover while most of the students just did it at the library with a blank cover.

Today, I submit the thesis. Horray! Wait, I still have an oral presentation to undergo.

But knowing myself, I know I'll repeat this mistake again. & when I'm in the middle of the crisis, I'll regret for putting myself in that situation & promise all over again not to procrastinate next time.

Simply me.

However, I'll try to change this time. This post is a reminder to me how I've been suffering because of the last minute work. Indeed. I have suffered.

I'll start by preparing the presentation and packing my stuff seriously now. Btw, the oral presentation and collection date for my boxes will be on this Friday. I'll seriously looking for troubles if I don't start both of the tasks right away.

So, here I am, thinking which one I should do rite now, preparing the presentation or packing my stuff.

It's ugly, but it's the truth.

Dear Sir,

I've been informed that Prof. *** is the assessor for my MSc Project instead of Dr. *** as stated in the MSc Projects Allocation file. However Prof. *** is in different field, where he might not be suitable as the assessor of my project which is more related to digital system.

I hope you'll consider this. Thank you.

The reply:

Hi, I don’t think there is a problem- we all try to be fair. Also we have another assessment panel to moderate the final marks.

How fair is't when the other students project assessor are in the same field? Somebody who could understand their projects, who can judge them by the work & output of the project... not just marking based on the organization, language & contents generally.

Well, somehow the coordinator is the one who mentioned about trying-to-be-fair. So, there's an issue there. By having another assessment panel will solve this issue? Should I be relief then? This so-called assessment panel will have several numbers of meeting so that the result can only be published after a month & that's it. Nothing will change just like our exam marks.

Nak komplen & persoalkan lebih2 pun tak guna sebab penilai tu org penting dlm dept. Dia patut lebih tahu adalah tidak wajar menjadi penilai kepada projek yg bukan di bawah bidang dia. Dah lah tu, aku memang tak suka dia dari dulu. Sombong & berlagak. Dia pernah marah student for a silly thing. Kalau komplen lebih2 he might tell me to push off like he did to the poor student.

Maybe the assessor that had been assigned to my project before is very busy & dept kekurangan lecturer dalam bidang digital electronics, which is true. So, aku & sorang lagi student menjadi mangsa of dept attemp of 'try-to-be-fair'.

Somehow this dept is 'suckier' (more than suck) than I thought.

Rasa macam mimpi ngeri bila supervisor aku bgtau pasal ni. Aku rasa supervisor aku pun terkejut & dia yg nasihatkan kitorang supaya emel the coordinator. Yeah, I got a low mark for my interim report but knowing the assessor, he's being generous already. If only I knew he'll be my assessor, I'll write my interim report like the preliminary report. That's another thing that piss me off.

It's unfair! Indeed.

Nampaknya harapan utk dapat markah yg baik dalam projek - berkecai. InsyaAllah, aku lulus. Tapi terasa kecewa sebab projek ni akan affect markah purata aku & I couldn't maintain it. Seperti dlm lumba lari, aku dah mendahului peserta lain, tapi tetiba terjatuh sebab lane aku ada batu. Or is't just me being unlucky? Yes, I'm being dramatic now.

Mungkin terlalu awal utk kecewa. I couldn't help it.

Untuk menceriakan hati yang lara, aku ke city centre menonton citer The Ugly Truth sambil menikmati core sundae. Nyum, nyum. Citer ni ok tp hanya sesuai utk tontonan org dewasa. Kelakar. Memang menghiburkan. Lupa kejap masalah ni. Suka Katherine Hei^gl. Hari tu layan Knocked^Up pun sebab dia.


Somehow this movie has reminded me that I got a pocket full of sunshine =D by having this song as one of the soundtrack.

I smile up to the sky, I know I'll be all right.

For me the ugly truth is no matter how hard you try, no matter how good you are, no matter how well you've planned, no matter how control freak you naturally are... things don't always turn out as you expect them to be.

Things happen for reasons.

M.A.L.A.S

This is what I feel lately.

Cannot, cannot. Only 5 weeks left (including thesis writing). I should do my best & spend the time wisely. Tak boleh bermalas-malasan.

I got my mark for the interim report from my supervisor 2 weeks ago. Tak tau lah bila nak dapat markah dari assessor. Interim report ni 15% drp markah keseluruhan. Pembentangan pun 15% & final thesis will be 70% then. Dissertation ni 60 kredit, 1/3 drp jumlah kredit. Oh yer, somehow I never mention that here in UoL we don't use CGPA or GPA grading whatsoever. So, I don't have CGPA. Will talk more about this later but now, I wanna talk about my project.

Alhamdulillah. Projek MSc aku berjalan lancar.

*Warning: This post will get too technical.*


The logic analyzer system is working at 125MHz, 16 channels, 256 samples per channel with pattern triggering. The memory depth can be increased upto 4096 or more. Most importantly is it's working. Number of channels & memory depth are just features that can easily be upgraded depending on the hardware.

The GUI is built using VB.Net. I'm very glad that I have experience with VB6 since the options are either Visual Studio or Matlab. Turn out, to switch to VB.Net isn't so difficult. It did give me headache at the beginning but as I get familiar with the language & the differences with VB6, I started feeling comfortable. Now, I think I prefer it since VB.Net is almost as powerful & fast as C.

So the design & implementation is basically done. The issue that I have to work on now is the sampling frequency. I have to investigate why it does not work well for the higher frequency & suggest the solution. I have to do a background study & identify what cause the bottleneck in operating the system at higher frequency. Sigh.

Gotta work on it now. Sigh again. Stop sighing & being lazy!

Usaha memang tangga kejayaan

Aku nak citer pasal MSc project ni. Boring kan. So, just a brief update je. Kalau cite panjang2, baik tulis thesis terus. Thanx Mimi for your comment on the previous post! You got the answer babe. However, you should give me this answer earlier ;-). Apa2 pun, really thanx to you.

Aku belajar satu benda minggu lepas - teruskan berusaha & jgn malas. InsyaAllah, akan dpt hasilnya. Kejadian berlaku hari Rabu yg lepas. Pagi2 dah hujan. I was on the way to the dept. Boleh plak aku stop tengah jalan, rasa nak patah balik. Dalam hati pikir, takpe kot tak datang lab hari ni. Kalau supervisor tanya, alasan hujan :-P. Tapi bila pikir balik, aku pun dah sekerat jalan. Gi jer lah. Kalau rasa boring, balik lah kan. So aku pun meneruskan perjalanan ke dept.

Aku masih mencari idea utk implement U.S.B interface. Sampai kt dept, aku belek manual, tak tau lah utk yg keberapa kali.. Kira nak warm up lah ni sbb perasaan malas masih menguasai diri. Ini lah board yg aku guna.

Merujuk kepada gambar di atas, tetiba aku notis chip kecik yg bentuk 4 segi sama sebelah U.S.B blaster chip. Chip tu tak berlabel. Aku pun check kat board, chip apakah itu. F.T.D.I chip! Rupa2nya board ni ada F.T.D.I chip.

Isk... camna lah aku tak perasan selama ni. Supervisor aku pun tak tau kot sbb dia tak penah mention pasal chip ni. Manual pun satu, apasal tak label chip tu. Macam tak penting je. Aku pun cariklah user guide for the chip. Alhamdulillah, I got the idea on how to communicate this board with PC using U.S.B.

Cuma la ni aku tak guna V.C.P spt yg dicdgkn oleh Mimi. Aku call library. So, guna function provided by the library, sebab ada special function. Tengok lah nanti, kalau aku rasa macam susah je nak guna function yg aku tak familiar, aku guna V.C.P plak. Ni ler masalah aku. Tak fokus. Kalau bleh, semua benda aku nak try. Nak try develop G.U.I pakai VC++.net lah. Kalau masa byk, takpe jugak.

Ok, ok... cukup pasal projek yek. Aku pun boring gak :-D. Boring camna pun, usaha perlu diteruskan. Caiyok, caiyok!

Usaha Tangga Kejayaan... kan???

Sebenarnya di ketika ini aku cukup pesimistik dgn kemampuan aku utk melaksanakan project dissertation. Aku rasa mcm susah giler jer. Masa plak singkat.

Minggu lepas aku happy sebab kononnya boleh develop G.U.I guna VB. Rupa2nya VB.net!

Hari tu dah explore sikit. Nak letak chart pun aku tak tau camna. So aku masih tak pasti nak guna apa utk develop G.U.I. Pilihan yg ada cuma Vi^sual Studio 2005 & Mat^lab.

Pastu pikir plak camna nak implement U.S.B controller guna F.P.G.A. Supervisor aku tak mau pakai separate module. Dia nak aku guna the same F.P.G.A chip. Aku pun tak pasti sama ada dia faham ke tak pasal U.S.B ni. Dari pencarian aku di internet, kene guna U.S.B module klu F.P.G.A board tu takde U.S.B. Pastu driver utk PC kene pikir gak.

Tu belum lagi program the F.P.G.A itself. La ni aku guna N.I.O.S II embedded processor. Nak program N.I.O.S ni guna C. Sekarang ni aku tgh cuba guna P.L.L dalam design aku utk naikkn frekuensi. Tak tau lah kenapa, timing requirement for my design is not met. Puas aku godek, still tak met the requirement.

Well, merungut byk pun tak guna kan. Yg penting usaha jer skrg ni.

Friday Refreshment

Somehow the weather here has changed. It isn't hot anymore. After experiencing the hot weather, I've decided that I prefer the cold one, so I welcome the coldness. We're back with the jackets now. The heater that had stop functioning during the summer, now is working. Pelik gak cuaca kat sini. Adakah musim panas dah berakhir? I'm not sure. Tapi siang masih panjang. Maghrib is around at 9:30pm.

I had a quite long discussion with my supervisor. Yay, I don't have to buy the components now. Just connect the inputs directly to the F.P.G.A. It seems like I've wasted my time looking for them on Farnell website this week, but it's ok. Just like my supervisor said, we might proceed with that later.

Another thing that makes me so relief is I have an option to build the GUI with VB instead of VC++. The program that I expert most. Heheee. There's no VB software in the PC, but he told me that he has the CD & will bring it on Monday. Now, I can focus more on F.P.G.A itself. Two things in mind - the processor & USB controller. It's just a 12-weeks project. So, I'm looking for the easiest (& the best) solution to execute the project.

Seperti biasa, supervisor aku akan turun lab untuk check kitorang. He's very helpful actually tapi merimaskan pada masa yang sama. So, I won't let that bother me. Cuma, aku rasa adalah tidak profesional bila dia turun lab selepas tengahari, tengok student lain takde, dia tanya aku adakah diorang datang pagi tadi. Ask them directly when you meet them. Don't ask others.

Setelah perbincangan tamat, aku pun meringankan mulut bertanya pasal keputusan peperiksaan. As I already known, it's still confidential. However...

Him: I could tell you one thing. You're the 2nd one in your group.
Me: (Blur)
Him: The 1st one is J*har... do you know him?
Me: Yes... (of course I know him! Dia memang terer. Budak ni dapat biasiswa ARM. Dia takde kat UoL la ni sebab dia buat MSc projek kat ARM company.)
Him: So, he's the 1st & you're the 2nd one.
Me: But I want to know my marks.
Him: I think this is good enough.

Sempat gak lah dia 'memberi nasihat' betapa penting projek ni sebab ianya 1/3 daripada jumlah kredit, so it'll certainly affect the average mark & the rating. Aku dah tak kisah pasal kedudukan di dalam kelas sejak darjah 6. Yang penting adalah keputusan peperiksaan UPSR dan seterusnya. I'm not competitive. I just hope to get a good result for myself, never meant to be better than others. Memang tak layak jadi ahli sukan, ahli perniagaan dan ahli politik. Ahli muzik pun tak layak sebab tak reti main muzik. Btw, there are only 8 or 10 students in Microelectronics group. Agaknya kalau campur dengan group Telecommunication yang memang ramai, tak tau lah aku nombor berapa.

However, the info makes me feel good indeed & more curious. Does it mean that I got good marks in the exams :-)? Or is't just bcos I have done well enough in the fully coursework subjects :-(? We'll see, maybe next week... or the week after next week.

Oh yer, T-shirt yang D order dah sampai. Cepat kan. Order hari Rabu, hari Jumaat dah sampai.

Ok, that's all the story about Friday the 5th.

MSc: A New Episode

I met my supervior today. So, I have officially started doing the MSc project. I'm going to design & implement F.P.G.A based lo^gic analyzer.

Last week, we've already received email regarding the project. There are 3 important dates:

July 10 - interim report submission
Sept 8 - final thesis submissiom
Sept 11 - oral presentation

I have to check out from my accommodation before 10am Sept 13. So, I'll be back for good on the day or the day before. But that will be another story.

No more classes & assignments. From now on we'll only focus on the project.

Tak seperti supervisor2 lain, supervisor aku mintak weekly report from us, the students under him. That's ok. Dia juga akan check kitorang kat lab hari2. Yang ni tak ok. Rimas! Dah lah PC pun dia yg allocate utk kitorang, supaya senang dia nak monitor. Buhsannya.

Ni lah kelemahan mendapat supervisor yg kurang sibuk. Kebaikannya ialah senang nak juper walaupun tanpa appoinment. Dah dia check hari2, apa hal plak nak buat appointment kan. Dari awal2 dulu aku memang kurang berkenan sbnrnya dgn supervisor aku ni. Kenapa aku pilih dia? Sebab dia lecturer Digital System. Projek F.P.G.A bawah dia.

We'll see. Today, is my first day. Lots of days to go. So I'll continue whining later. Now need to get back to do some googling regarding the project.

Hush now my love, the exam is over.

Yay! Dah abis exam!!

Will I miss the moment of having picnic in the library? NO! :-D
Had IC exam in the morning but kept on struggling to study during the night.

Not all my coursemates have the same exam schedule cos it depends on our major & optional module. Ada lah rasa sedikit jeles di situ... hiks. However, I believe I have done my best in the situation given but it's not my best though. If I don't have to study 2 (or 3) subjects at the same time, I believe that I'll do much better. (Yeah, right :-P)

For example (in my defense), I strongly believe in ADSP exam, there'll be a question on Lattice filter but my brain just doesn't have enough space & RAM left to go through the topic. I also did try to read about adaptive filtering, but I couldn't store it inside my memory. So I gave up. Tp memang kuar pun dalam exam. Subjek lain pun macam ni. Topik yg aku rasa mcm tak boleh masuk dalam kepala sbb dah overload, aku skip jer. Tp dlm banyak2 topik yg boleh disoal, punya tebal nota, topik yg aku skip tu lah yg kuar exam.

Tension? Frust? I'm too happy to be free from exam to feel tense or frustrated. I will enjoy this moment & cry later when the result has been out. I do hope I won't cry though.

Macam member aku cakap, dia tak ingat plak masa undergraduate dulu dia ada pengalaman macam ni. Memang cramp otak dibuatnya. Aku pun tak rasa aku ada pengalaman mcm ni masa undergraduate. Apa2 pun, abis dah exam. Alhamdulillah. Yay again!

Sebenarnya aku bukan nak tulis pasal exam pun.

Dan sebenarnya aku nak tulis pasal ni...

This song is awesome ok! The singer's name is Yuna. You might ask, Yuna who? Gi google. She's a Malay girl, looks like a typical Malay girl & wears headscarf. Rasanya lagu dia yang tengah glamer skrg kat Msia bertajuk "Dan Sebenarnya" which is also catchy.

This girl, she writes her own songs. Otherwise I won't promote her for free in my blog... hehee. Kira artis indie lah ni. Somehow this song has 2 versions. The other version sounds quite raw, takde bunyi piano masa intro. Aku nak download mp3 versi ni, tapi tak juper lah. Hiks... bukan nak beli album, nak download je kejenya. Actually, aku pun tak tau minah ni ada album ke tak atau sekadar single. Lagu ni kalau tukar arrangement, aku boleh bayangkan Amy Lee (Evanescence) nyanyi.

Ok lah, dah tersebut Evanescence, layan lah lagu ni sekali. Lagu ni ada yg kata actually unreleased tapi aku dah lama ada mp3 dia. It's a private song of Amy Lee. So sweet & romantic!

Sekarang, dah tak rasa bersalah nak layan YouTube ke, apa ke. Ok lah, nak sambung tengok video/tv kat internet.

Btw, the title of this post is dedicated to my brain.

A Damsel in Distress

Ok, I'm not a damsel. But I'm in distress.

Revising 3 subjects at the same time is very stressful. Nak buat camna, 1 paper hari Rabu ni, 2 paper hari Jumaat. Adei... aku mula rasakan sel2 otak aku mula memprotes.

Actually, study tak lah memenatkn sgt. Mcm tak biasa plak exam kan. But allocating the time to study all the 3 subjects at the same time & storing all the data into the memory in 2 weeks yg buat cramp sel2 otak2 ni. Just a few days left which means hv to work extra harder.

SABAR. It'll be over soon. So, just keep on fighting now.

Hi. I'm updating this blog to tell you that I'm still alive...

... so 'alive' indeed.

Isnin, April 27:
- Hantar asg terakhir IC. Yay! Berakhir satu penderitaan. No more Cadence. No more drawing layout unless I get paid for it.

Spring break terpaksa dikorbankan utk menyiapkan asg ni.

JK flip-flop = 38 transistor. Buruk giler aku lukis layout ni. Tak koser nak lukis semula. Tu belum lagi tgk layout counter aku yg mengandungi 176 transistor. Bayangkan jer lah kehodohannya.

- Mula buat asg Digital System. Looks like the lab hours that have been spent doing IC now been replaced with doing Verilog.

Rabu, April 29:
- Complete the lab work for Microprocessor. Tinggal siapkan report jer.

Neat? Not enough. Ada yg litar dia lg kemas drp ni. Sungguh berseni jari jemari menyambung jumper.

- "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" release hari ni. Work without play doesn't pay. Take a break. Beli roti di Sansbury & makan sbg lunch dlm wayang. Great movie. Aku suka. Rugi kalau tak tengok! D, gi ajak Ayoi tgk k. Aku rasa best sgt mungkin sbb aku skeptikal sblm tgk. Ingatkan mcm X-Men yg sblm2 ni. Tak pun sbb dpt peluang release tension.

Selasa, May 5:
- Digital Systems class test. Actually aku cuma baca 1 handout jer utk test ni, tu pun sebelum tido. 10%, rasa mcm tak berbaloi nak study bersungguh2 sdgkn byk lg benda lain nak baca utk exam. Hasilnya 1 soalan aku tak dpt jwb langsung... hmmm hilang 2 markah. Yg lain tu tak tentu lg lah.

- Siap Executive Summary. Submit to proofreading website. Asg ni under subjek research skills, jadi BI yg baik amat dititikberatkan. Bagus website ni, aku puas hati lah dgn hasil pembetulan depa. GBP6.00 utk 1000 patah perkataan.

Rabu, May 6:
- Hantar report Microprocessor. Yay! 2 down, 2 to go.

Khamis, May 7:
- Hantar Executive Summary. Yay! 3 down, just 1 to go.

- Ada kelas dr 9 - 10am. Habis kelas pukul 10 sampai 5 ptg, duduk kt lab, siapkn asg utk Digital System. Tekad mcm mana pun hari ni akan save whatever waveform yg dpt kat oscillocope & proceed with the report. Datang period lah plak, sakit belakang dibuatnya. Dah lah mlm tadi tak brp boleh tido.

- Balik bilik, makan cereal sbg alas perut & terus tido.

- Pukul 8pm start buat report. Tido pukul 5 pagi. Gigih siapkan report sbb due date esok. Kerana kesibukan exam yg akan bermula minggu depan, ramai student yg abaikn asg ni atau plan anta lmbt. 15% melayang klu tak anta, 5% per day akan dipotong klu anta lmbt. No exam for this module. Kalau ikut hati, aku pun rasa taknak buat asg ni sbb mmg takde masa nak pikir lebih2, design ke, apa ke. Nasib baik lah lecturer module ni supervisor aku. Nak jaga reputasi punya pasal, terpaksa lah gigihkn diri buat jugak. Tu pun aku buat seringkasnya, janji siap... kira basic system je.

Jumaat, May 8:
- 9:30am bangun pagi, tambah yg mana patut dlm report. Pukul 11:30am, gi hantar. YAY! The last asg. Phew... rasa ringan sgt dah takde beban asg. Sebab excited sgt nak hantar asg terakhir ni, lupa plak ada kelas terakhir pukul 1. Nak balik bilik malas. Lepak kat Costa, minum Mocha. Dalam kelas, mintak kertas & pinjam pen drp member. Kelas 1 jam, jd almost 2 jam. Tu pun tak sempat nak cover semua soalan past year exams.

Sabtu, May 9:
- No more asg. Seriously, rasa best sgt. Sekarang boleh tumpukan sepenuh masa untuk exam. Hari ni 11am - 4pm & 8 - 10:30pm lepak kat library. Byknya benda nak hafal. Takpe, 2 minggu jer camni.

Aku pada hari ini, di luar accommodation hall, sebelum gi library dgn semangat utk belajar yg membuak-buak :-P. Shrug kaler hitam tu aku beli kat eBay minggu lepas. Masa mula2 dpt aku mcm tak puas hati sbb material dia nipis sgt. Tapi bila pakai, rasa selesa. So mlm tadi aku beli lagi, kaler putih plak.

See ya next 2 weeks ok. Nantikan bermulanya episod baru aku sbg pelajar.
Until then, take care.

Back to the life that I hope would be over soon...

... but at the same time, I hope I can stop the time so that I have more time to finish all the assignments & study for the exams.

I'd love to blog all about the trip & my short stay at home but I don't have enough time to write a long post now. I'd say that it was the best vacation. 6 days might be short & for some people it doesn't worth 14 hours flight, but for me it was one of the best experiences. If I'm rich, I wouldn't mind do it again. The journey is nothing compare to being at home sweet home.

Kepada kawan2 yg aku tak sempat jumpa & contact, sorry yek.

Only 7 weeks left for 4 assignments, 1 class test & 3 exams. I guess this will be the last post for now until May 22, when the exam is over. Please pray for my success ok.

"Suffer, you must." Sorry Master Yoda. Ahad ni orang balik kampung!

However, instead of return back on April 26, I'll return on April 12. Dapat balik kampung seminggu jer. Kalau ikutkan 6 hari sebab aku sampai Msia April 6. Takper lah. Janji balik. I need this break to recharge my brain cells.

I think this is the win-win decision. Aku still boleh study for the exams dlm flight & kat umah kan (cita-cita besar). Pastu balik, sambung study and siapkan assignment. Hopefully, my brain cells will work better since really I need every single of them to work hard for the exams. No excuse ok. Apa taknya, aku ada 2 paper dalam masa 1 hari. Selang sehari sebelum tu aku ada 1 paper.

Now the challenge is not just trying to understand & memorize all the notes, but also to manage the time very wisely. Seperti kata kerani kat ofis, you have to suffer. Tapi bukan semua student have the same exam time table. It's regarding to our optional & major module. I think we who take the optional module & somehow major in Microelectronics instead of Telecommunication are very unlucky this semester. Komplen pun tak guna kan. So, just start studying hard & get over it.

With the assignments queueing to be submitted & the coming exams, the program really gives me nerve. Luckily, I don't suffer from migrain or any sickness like fever. Alhamdulillah. Hopefully I'll remain healthy until the end of the program.

Wah, I can't believe it that I'll be in Msia next week. InsyaAllah.

Tapi, sape nak jaga pokok bunga aku ni???

Pokok bunga yg dibeli lebih kurang 2 minggu yg lalu sebagai pengubat lara kononnya sebab masa tu rasa tak dapat balik.
Sesaper nak amik pic ni jadi wallpaper, silakan.

"Young Padawan, be rational you must. Mourn, do not. The ticket you should cancel, " Master Yoda adviced me.

I have 5 assignments to be submitted on 1/4, 3/4, 24/4, 6/5 and 8/5. I hardly start doing the latter 4. I have a class test on 4/5. The exams will start right after the end of semester 2 which will be on 11/5.

I need extra time to finish all the assigments and study for the exams. & that extra time is during this coming 3-weeks spring break.

Btw, not just we have to submit IC assignment during the break (the main reason of winter in my heart), there'll be lab sessions on 7 & 21/4 even not compulasory. Really crazy. Yes, I do mean the demonstrator indeed.

Should I go home then?

Absolutely not. That's the rational me talking.

However, I didn't reply "Yes Master" to Yoda's advice. I haven't make my final decision. I know I'm a bad Padawan. Camna nak jd master ni...

Ok before continuing lightsaber practice, let's enjoy this YouTube.