Flying with fokker tomorrow... *sigh

It's already 1.47am and I still couldn't sleep. I am a little worried about tomorrow's journey from SZB to KBR. I didn't know firefly fleets are mostly fokker.... hehe. Blame me and my ignorance. So, i'm worrried about flying in a fokker? Yes..and no. I've flown in a Fokker before, and even a Twin Otter when I was on an assignment in Sarawak. It was during an Indoor Acceptance Test at Purnama Limbang, where I think I had one of the most adventurous journey in my life. I was still single back then (I think it was in 2001..my second year in TMTouch), and I had to go there all by myself, without a technician. Come to think of it... that was quite absurd since most of the time we had any assignments, my colleagues and I would always be accompanied by our technicians cum friends eventhough if it was only a site survey in Klang Valley. Hmmm...

Okay, back to my story, there's no direct flight from KL to Limbang, so, I have to take a flight to Labuan, then, as planned with HIO and ABK (my ex-bosses), I had to do a brief site survey to identify new in-building sites for our coverage expansion plan. I think I manage to survey 2-3 indoor sites before I hopped onto a ferry to Limbang. If I'm not mistaken, I only spent one night in Limbang, then, I had to take a twin otter flight to Miri. At that time... the so-called Limbang Airport looked like a rundown 'kedai kopi', and it has a huge weighing scale where all the passengers including the baggage must be weighed. Being in a twin otter is quite an interesting experience. I remembered the fan, the 'crowdedness' feeling in it (memang sempit), and the livestock carried by the locals on it. Haha..it was like boarding a bus ... but the bus was flying.

Limbang Old Airport (Before they have a new one in 2004)

Upon arriving in Miri, I met my contractors from west coast who were supposed to survey some sites with me. They were not interested to survey Miri with me because they've already done it prior to my arrival. Me, being a rookie at that time, went out alone to search for 'possible sites', but to no avail. Fikir2 balik... innocent gila masa tuh.. kerja tak hingat dunia..kahkahkah. Suhaimi and Farique managed to laugh at me back then.. and at the same time pitying me. Apekah?

I think I stayed there for one night @ Rehga Royal... then, we went straight to Kuching on a fokker. Having an very much interesting experience on a twin otter before boarding a fokker is a blessing. I have no complaint.

But, tomorrow.... I'm the only adult with 3 kids. Uwaa... hopefully nothing went wrong. Ya Allah..please help me and safeguard our journey. Amin.

Tidolah mata... I need to rest, or else, things will be worse.

Kek Karamel

Tested recipe. I like it chilled. But, I think I will only repeat this upon request or in any special occasions because Wawan and Ecah didn't like it. MDH (My Dear Husband) didn't get to taste this yet because he's in Sweden.. but, I have a strong feeling that he won't like it.

Okay..refer the recipe here at Kak Ita's Masam Manis Blog.

Macaron ... first try

Macaron ye... not Macaroon ...because the latter has dessicated coconut in it.
For step-by-step guide, please refer here. I was truly inspired by K.Ita here. But, I've never left any comments in her blog. Malu..hehe.

For me, this one is a little bit too sweet, but I don't know why I keep on shovelling those sweet monsters into my mouth. I guess that was the effect of almond powder in it.

A little bit senget .. :D. Macam tuannya jugak. The above are filled with cheese frosting (lebihan topping Red Velvet Cake).

Sitting in the oven

These are the macarons after they were taken out of the oven. As you can see, some of them didn't have beautiful 'feet'. I guess I should have made the batter a little less thicker by stirring them more and make sure the temperature of the oven is set at its designated temp, which is 140 degrees Celcius.. (I set it much lower at that time because I was afraid that I might burn them!).

After a long hiatus

I neglected this blog because I forgot about it. Seriously! Blame FB and Mark Zuckerberg. I only remembered my blog when I was fascinated by masammanis blog about one month ago. In that blog, K.Ita has put a tremendous effort in ... shall I say 'documenting'... all her tested and tried recipes. She even had the talent to shoot mouth-watering dishes that she has prepared as if the photos were meant for magazines. Owh...how I wish I have the talent (and the DSLR too ..heheh).

And now I'm interested to keep my blog updated because I want to document my passion in stitching and baking. Let's pray that I WILL REMEMBER TO UPDATE!

So, since this is my first post after being in a long hiatus.. I will update about our new addition to the family...... my dearest Azeezah Nurnadya! By now, she's already 14mo and I thank Allah for this long awaited rezeki. Alhamdulillah.

Nadya @ 1 day old@Annur Bangi

I was a little upset with myself whenever I look at her. Especially when she was having cough and breathing difficulties. I believe that she's more prone towards illness because she's not a bf baby, and I blame myself for not being able to breastfeed her.. unlike Wawan n Ecah. Long story cut short.. I was unable to bf her because she didn't want to latch even at the age of 4 mo. I was pumping thoughout the 4 months period post delivery ... and finding opportunities to make sure she latch, but to no avail. Unlike her sister Ecah... who at least started to latch at the age of two months. I guess, that is called 'takdok rezeki'. Sorry sayang... :(

Nadya@ 6mo

Nadya@ 6mo

Surah Al-Ikhlas whenever you face problems/difficulties

Tanyalah Ustaz Episod 210/2010

Surah Al-Ikhlas
Katakanlah (wahai Muhammad): "(Tuhanku) ialah Allah Yang Maha Esa;
"Allah Yang menjadi tumpuan sekalian makhluk untuk memohon sebarang hajat;
"Ia tiada beranak, dan Ia pula tidak diperanakkan;
"Dan tidak ada sesiapapun yang serupa denganNya"

Tips dari Ustaz Hanafi Abdul Malek, baca surah Al-Ikhlas dan hayati maknanya. Selepas membaca ayat kedua, hayati maksudnya ("Allah Yang menjadi tumpuan sekalian makhluk untuk memohon sebarang hajat ) - di kala ini, lintaskan didalam hati hajat kita . Contohnya : Ya Allah, lembutkanlah hati suamiku kepadaku sebagaiman Engkau lembutkan besi kepada Daud Alaihissalam. Seterusnya sambunglah bacaan Al-Ikhlas sehingga habis. Diulang sebanyak 3 kali.

Learning through example

As a new teacher, I'm in dire need of examples on how to conduct/carry out my lesson. I have to find ways to make things sounds less complicated for my students. Physics are complicated if u add in too much details... so, I constantly worry about making it sound simple and comprehensible. And, I think now, my prayers have been answered.



At first, my objective in using youtube, teachertube.. is to find any demonstration/simulation/experiment videos (ABM kinda thing la). I never thought back then that I should utilised the search engine for a teaching guide as well. Hmm.. I've wasted 8 months for the right videos. Rugi betul. Takpelah... I'll make do with the old sayings.. better late than never, eh? Btw, this teacher guy here is so cool! ;)

Photoshop part 1 - Select Tool

Upon request... now I'm going to present to you... Photoshop Tutorial!! hahaha.. poyo je rasanya, macam pandai sangat. ;). Tak pandai pun. Tapi, basic tu bolehla. And, I would encourage my friends to learn photoshop sebab banyak sangat benefitnya kalau pandai. Contoh benefit-benefit photoshop kepada saya sepanjang mengenali photoshop.




- Menang Drypers competition twice hasil kerja kerastangan mengedit gambar. Tapi, bukanla menang Nazaria .. menang sket je. Hehe. (The above is one of the lucky entry. Yang satu lagi..dah tatau dok mana. And, mind you ... plastik drypers dibelakang Aisyah in the third pic itu sebenarnya tidak berada disitu. Ia telah diphotoshop untuk berada disitu demi memenangi hati juri..haha).


- Memudahkan kerja (there's once when I was still working with C****m, I want to reduce the height of the monopole - tiang nak letak antenna RF untuk coverage HP - . Instead of asking the draughtman to redo the technical drawing, I photoshopped it. Hehe.. and, no one notice it.). Habis tu, semua benda nak urgent kan? Kalau redo .. lambat lah.

- Tolong mengedit gambar.. byk sgt contoh ni...

Apapun.. let's get ready. Hari ni, jom kita kenali one of the basics in Photoshop, cara membuat selection.


First and foremost, we have to understand the work space in photoshop. Saya menggunakan CS2, so, kalau version lain.. mungkin beza sikit lah. Tapi, basicnya semua sama.


WORKSPACE

Gambar diatas menunjukkan basic layout workspace photoshop. Yang penting, kena ada TOOL, LAYER and HISTORY. Yang lain tu pun penting, tapi, untuk buat benda basic.. tiga ni pun dah cukup. Kalau tiga window ni tak appear dekat workspace anda, sila klik pada Window di menu bar, dan klik mana-mana pilihan yang takde tu.

SELECTION

Selection ada perkara paling asas dalam Photoshop. Untuk membuat selection, anda hendaklah memilih tool selection seperti gambar dibawah. Terdapat 4 jenis selection, tapi, kebiasaannya, pakailah rectangular marquee ataupun oval marquee. Anda juga boleh menggunakan Lasso Tool dan Magic Wand tool . Tetapi, kita mula dulu dengan marquee tool.

1. MARQUEE TOOL

Apabila anda sudah mengenali tool selection, jom kita belajar buat selection. Mula-mula, pastikan anda pergi ke File - New - (Tukar saiz ikut kesesuaian. Boleh jadi width = 400 pixel, height = 400 pixel). Tekan OK dan ada akan dapat 'canvas' sebesar 400x400 pixel.

Now, kalau perhatikan pada Layer Window, cuma ada satu layer sahaja, iaitu background. Anda boleh bekerja diatas background, tapi, kalau ada banyak benda yang nak dibuat, baik buat atas layer lain dulu, supaya senang nak adjust mana2 yang patut. So, create new layer seperti guide dibawah.

Layer bernama background yang diLOCKED ini sebenarnya boleh di alter cuma tidak boleh didelete. Tetapi, saya suka reserve background sebab kalau tersalah 'cut', colour, etc, tak payah susah2 undo. Duplicate je layer yang ada tu lagi sekali. Dan, kalau taknak dia kelihatan di kanvas, anda boleh klik pada lambang 'mata' di sebelah layer tu. Kalau mata tu takde, maksudnya, layer tu invisible.

Jadi, menggunakan rectangular tool, anda boleh drag sebesar mana rectangular yang anda ingini. Garis putus-putus menunjukkan selection anda.

So, buatlah selection seperti diatas menggunakan rectangular marquee tool tadi.

Menambah selection seperti diatas. Anda boleh menambah selection dengan menekan butang 'shift' pada keyboard sambil membuat selection rectangular yang baru. (Perhatikan lambang ++ akan keluar semasa anda menekan shift).

Anda juga boleh mencuba menggunakan elliptical marquee. Sekiranya ingin mencuba menggunakan single row atau single column marquee, cuba lihat video disini.

2. LASSO TOOL

Lasso tool berguna untuk membuat selection sekiranya yang hendak di'select' itu berlekuk-lekuk dan tidak mempunyai background berwarna sekata. Ada 3 jenis lasso iaitu, Lasso Tool, Polygonal Lasso tool dan Magnetic Lasso Tool. Bezanya, Lasso Tool -> Freehand, Polygonal -> setiap klik diwakili oleh satu garisan, menghasilkan sisi yang banyak untuk selection anda (polygon). Magnetic -> Ia melekat seperti magnet tanpa anda perlu klik. Tetapi, ianya sedikit complicated. Jadi, untuk permulaan ini, kita cuba dulu Polygonal Lasso.

Apabila anda sudah mengelilingi objek yang hendak diselect, selection anda akan diwakili oleh garisan putus-putus seperti diatas. Jadi, kalau anda hendak memiliki kanvas yang hanya mempunyai objek tersebut, cara paling mudah ialah dengan menekan CTRL + C (atau Edit -> Copy), seterusnya CTRL + N (atau File -> New), dan akhir sekali CTRL +V (atau Edit -> Paste).

Tadaa!!! Inilah hasilnya. ;). Tidak puas hati dengan sisi yang tidak smooth? (Diatas adalah hasil kerja bermalas-malasan, maka, begitulah jadinya.) Seeloknya, banyakkan sisi yang pendek-pendek (itu bermaksud, anda perlu teliti memilih sisi mana untuk di klik, dan sisinya lebih kecil), ataupun, cuba guna Lasso Tool biasa (freehand). Ataupun, antara cara lain untuk smoothkan tepi adalah dengan menggunakan blur tool atau feather.

Letih dah. Itu jela for the time being. Kalau sempat, insyaAllah saya tambah lagi.

*Disclaimer : Ini cuma beginner's guide daripada seorang individu yang tidak mendapat pendidikan formal menggunakan photoshop. Lain la kalu jadik student FCM (Faculty of Creative Media ). Jadi, maafkanlah segala kelemahan saya. Kalau ada ada cadangan/info tambahan, sila utarakan.

Each Day Is A Gift

By Author Unknown
The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. "I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy. "Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room .... just wait." "That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged, it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away, just for this time in my life."

She went on to explain, "Old age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what you've put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing." And with a smile, she said: "Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

/I need to work on #2. I'm becoming more and more like mother. Worrying too much. Hehe.. sorry mom.. and Happy Mother's Day in advance/

La la la

"there's a hero .. if you look inside your heart. You don't have to be afraid of what you are ..."
That's Hero by Mariah Carey, my bestest company when I was hiking Gunung Ledang back in 1999. or..is it 1998 ? Ntahlaa. Lupa dah. No, am not going to talk about the hiking stuffs. Too old for that LOL! I'm talking about how songs influenced me, and finally, being a teacher for me to improve my English. Thanks to Serie, Eena, and Ameen who influenced me to listen to loads of English songs back then. Ahh.. I really miss you guys!

Actually, before 1996, I didn't listen to english songs at home, or in school (radios are banned, walkman is okay, but I'm not rich). The only english song that I knew when I was in school is Tonight by NKOTB. And that was because we need to practise dancing for an event in Aspuri (hahaha...lalalalalala...tonite!!). So, when I was made to listen to english radio station during my tertiary level, I always end up with serious headache. The only song that I can 'layan' at that time was Celine Dion's. I can't get a word the deejay was saying (was starting to panic that I might get hearing problem..haha). But, later ... a few months later ... I fell in love with English songs. And I do learn a lot of vocabs from them.


So, I thought that if I use songs in my English lesson, I would attract students to like the language, hence improve their proficiency in it. But, after doing so, I didn't feel the 'love' for the language from my students. However, since I've made the requirement for them to present on a song for their 'school-based oral evaluation', we'll have to proceed with it. Let's hope that some songs will turn out to be their favourites and they'll get use to listening to the songs and grab some new vocab from them.

Oh, btw, I just want to share this. I hate the idea of having to bring my laptop to class just to play the song, or finding the radio/hi-fi to do so (because I don't have one pon..;)). Hence, I browsed for portable speakers on the intenet. Lucky me (or is it because I'm being the katak dibawah tempurung...very jakun about the portable speaker thingy??), there's quite a number of choices. But, when I arrived at sony outlet in JJ, there's only one type available. And it costs more than 100 ringgit. I hate it when I don't get to choose ... well, at least, when I'm about to spend a lot of money on that thing (same price as a pair of crocs tu.. ). So, I wander to another store, and voila! There're two types of unbranded portable speakers available at one third of the original SE's speaker's price. So, tested it ... and brought one home. ;)

But, another problem arise. Students said that the volume of the song is quite slow. So, through google, I found this software , MP3GAIN (and what's interesting about it is, you can freely download it). Add another 10dB to each songs .. and, we can finally hear the song. But, bear in mind, the noise in the song is amplified as well. So, do re-check after you've add the gain. Maybe you cannot add too much to it's default value.

So, english songs anyone??