A year has passed...

29th December 2008, today..is exactly a year since I lay my foot in the Great Britain. Wow..can't believe I'm already 12months living in another part of the world. Felt like it was only yesterday that I was busy preparing myself for the (I thought) long stay I've to bear with until my studies finish. But hey, after a year..i now feel time is ticking way too fast! huhuu..

Today, but last year...I could still recall family,relatives and friends sending me off at the airport with so much hopes and good luck wishes; thinking bout the million possibilities awaiting me during the endless journey in flight with even more questions in mind as the plane touches the ground of the completely (somewhat) new place in my life...and the next episode of my life begins...

A year in the UK has passed(so quickly). It's of course so much to say about what I've faced, what I've learned, where I've been, what I've done - well..everyone does. Perhaps, no one really wants to read the tales of a normal person. But, what I'd like to share is..I'm glad that I got myself into all the things that's happened to me for the past one year, a point which directed me to the meaning of independent(apart from others) in (very much) many aspects of life which (I hope) would result to a better me. Well, at least for now..I'm happy with myself but always hope to be not perfect but better(in if possible everything - although I know it's technically quite impossible) tomorrow, subsequently the following years.

Just 12months back, on this same day..I was at my cousin's house after a long 12hours journey from my home country. And now, 12 months later at 12am, I'm back here at his house for a short break from my studies. It feels good to have relatives around for a new year celebration. ;) Perhaps, I should be back again next year even if they're no longer here. O yes, it's also a coincidence that the new year is approaching soon, the year is celebrating its birthday again, for the 2009th. I wonder what's awaiting me in the coming year, let the new diary opens its page..

Another shopping day

This evening we went to Nottingham's shopping area, can't recall what it's called. But what I can clearly recall is that it has a great deal of interesting outlets..Next, Dunelm, TkMaxx, DP, Miss Selfridge, many more. It's a shame the daytime is shorter this time of the year, thanks to winter! Hence, back home early. But hey, our visit didn't end there..

We then went to Loughborough town. Could still recall, almost a year ago..I was so fascinated with High Street areas in England when I first visited the town's shopping area after arrival. Today, the memories were drawn together reminding me how fast time passes by. We went to a few shops, returned the clothings I didn't want back to Next, went to Primark, had hot drinks at Costa, continued our mission at Home Bargains for cheap home stuff before heading back home for a delicious Mee Hailam!

Boxing Day

It's the sale of year! 26th December 2008, the day when shoppers go mad! It's Boxing Day, a well known day (after Christmas) where shops and outlets cut down prices up to 70- 90% purely for their beloved customers, taking me as an example..(blink,blink). Together with my cousin and his wife, all of us went to York Designer Outlet, my shopping haven. with my recent visit to York, I am now left with 2 more out of 7 McArthurGlen's outlets in the UK that I always look forward to visit in the future(hopefully soon!).

So, what's so nice abt shopping during boxing day? Simple, things can be cheap for most well known labels. Back at home, it's just a dream to own designer's clothings such as M&S, Timberland, Gap, Polo and many more. But here during boxing day, prices of these labels can be as low as 5pounds! Another reason shopping can be fun. ;)

We were there just before the shops open their doors and were among the last to leave when shops were about to close their doors. Perfect. Among the things I bought : many clothes, chocs, cosmetics and many more to come..

Meals on Christmas

It's Christmas and shops are closed. Earlier this morning we had Sheperds Pie which I made. Tho it was a bit salty we finished it at one go. Better recipe has got to be considered in next attempt! A couple of my cousin's friends invited us for meals later in the evening. We went with empty tummies and had them filled with chicken meals - the first was 'Nasi Ayam' and the second was a Christmas meal - stuffed chicken served with crispy potatoes, honeyed carrots and it's related white vege cousin..parsnip, rice and chicken gravy..huhuuu! poor me! :/ But, all in all..it was a wonderful gathering. Can't wait for tomorrow's sale! hip hip hooray! ;)

Like A Princess..

Hi! I'm already at my cousin's place in the Midlands. Heeheee..feeling like a princess today. Since I arrived this evening, I've been so welcomed by this couple. My cousin's wife cooked 'Maghluba rice' for me, the arabic meal I've craved for a while now..as usual, I had almost 5 plates of the rice and it was yummy! :)) ..After that we watched tv, a means of entertainment I missed to appreciate 25 years ago! geez..Not very long after, my cousin surprised me with a gift! It was a Davidoff Perfume set, the one I've been eyeing on for ages but never actually bought them myself all this while. When I was still blooming happily, they once again made me felt like the luckiest person on earth by bringing in a homemade chocolate cake and my favourite drink, bandung sirap! how sweet.. *blink2, blush, blush*.. only then, i asked what all those were for, and the given answer was..my belated birthday celebration...sweet..thank you very much and i love u guys! muuuaax!

Christmas Gift

Today's the last day of of me at the university for this year! Tomorrow onwards, I'm off to my cousin's in the midlands (Loughborough) for a short break. heee..can't wait for the boxing day sale! wonder where's my cousin and wife are planning to bring me...the only hint i got was, "a special place"...hmm..it better be!

Speaking of special..I do feel special today..and why's that? Only one reason.. to my surprise..I got a Christmas present! nice..it's from my landlord's family. They're so thoughful and sweet! Didn't expect they'd surprise me with the pressie today as how they were went I sent up theirs yesterday. The gift nicely wrapped in a golden box were left on my dining table just before they went away for Christmas..anyhow, thanks very much to the family..To Gerard,Kirsten, Caitlin and Rowan, Have a wonderful Christmas and a great new year celebration! Love, Unaizah.

Day Off

today i had a completely day off from my normal routine - didnt cook and didnt think bout studies at all..felt like i had no responsibilities! light like a feather..heeheeee..it's sometimes a must to break the routine to stay in tune. pretty much like a warm reboot(restart) for a computer, albeit better than a crash, of course very much better than the blue screen of death!

so what did i do today? spent an entire day visiting friends. one of the important rules in life to keep one alive and sane! :) went to baizura and huda's palace in the middle of the town. did i tell u guys that u've a nice and cosy place to lepak2..these ppl are experts when it comes to cooking! we had soto daging and it was simply delicious! i ate like 7 or 8 times, gawd, unaizah! say a little prayer before eating..hmm..dont forget to share the recipe guys! the agenda was eating and chatting in alternate order..ideal one. it continued until nite when we decided to have pizza for dinner. we sent fahmi & shaiful to buy them fr a nearby all time favourite pizza restaurant for a buy 2 and get 1 free deal, but thanks to shaiful for the impressive pr that got us another free piece..heehee..all together we had 4 large pizzas for 6 stomachs- opps..i think including mine alone, i'd have to consider another 6! we had another ideal eating agenda..a totally makan2 day i call it.. ;) thanks to the host! muuuuaax!

Baked Fish for Dinner

heheee..i've a new creation today..foodie talk! had an english dinner tonite. thought of wanting a change of meal and am glad to find that my lemon parsley baked fish turned out quite good, though they can be improved. i've to admit that the english way of cooking is less hassle than the malay style. something to opt for during the busy times..good idea!

*psst : would u believe the portion shown in the pic is for this one person to consume?

PhD Blues :\

im so cranky!..right now im in a state where i'd call it phd blues..perhaps, only those who goes through this 'what have i got myself into' degree completely understand this situation..a state where regardless how much u're madly in love with ur work there comes a moment of uncertainty, unsatisfied, unexpected, unaware, unforeseen, unanticipated...an unfinished list of unss...UN!!! get out of thesee!! :p~ huhuuu..

apologies..this is the sort of feeling when u're stuck somewhere in the middle of doing research, when the data so much hoped for turned out to have low correlation! arrgh! no no! reality is real..yes my dear self..so..what shall i do? take a deep breath? already done so..eat? ate more than my normal consumption! sleep..hmm..wouldn't make much difference..i know..sit back and relax..and perhaps shopping would alleviate..yes..as much i'm into this, i believe motivation and support are the keys for almost any person in this state to stand and walk, possibly run further..time will heal.. ;) for now, indulge in this unwanted moment.. perhaps, just for now..a little music could help.

as i was browsing around, i came to finding this song..a specially dedicated one for all phd candidates in blues(jz like me) out there..enjoy!(unfortunately, u've to d/w to listen) here's the link : http://hcs.science.uva.nl/projects/il/blues/ credit goes to Frans Prins & Pascal Wilhelm!

Hari Raya Aidiladha 2008 @ Lewes

Hi again! what's today's story? hari raya aidiladha..yep, it's my first hari raya haji in a foreign country..the feeling is somewhat different from that celebrated in own country.tho,it wouldnt really be a massively celebrated event even if i were at home, i somehow felt a little strange not really feeling the aura of eid celebration i normally do all this while..hmm..guess, that's normal when u're far away from home..anyway..the previous raya haji wasnt as bad as i would have probably described! huhuu..it was actully quite fun! honestly speaking, i didnt feel lonely at all being here.

so what happened? well..i organized a sort of a dual event at my new home..a house warming party and hari raya aidiladha makan2..it was great that yong & family and arif came along to celebrate together. well..we kinda celebrated on the hari raya eve. guess that's fine. a number of invited guests were ppl from the lab, they were rossano, grecia, alberto, chris and hector..thanks guys for filling in the invitation! they've been wanting to try authentic malaysian food..apart from others, poor chris had to cope with burning toungue, thanks to the hot food! yes, aunthentic malaysian dishes they were..glad that they enjoyed the food..am also happy that my first attempt of making beef rendang came to great success!yippie! special thanks goes to arif for all help! thanks to yong for the kuah kacang(peanut sauce) and nasi himpit(according to yong, compressed rice!), we also had kerabu rocket, meehoon goreng,fried wonton,sambal goreng, fried vege & white rice..it was a marvellous feast! yuummiee..we then played monopoly - the brighton & hove edition..nice one..

The Return of Un

hello world! wahaha! gawd..it's been ages since my last update on this poor bloggie. i almost forgot that i had one! geez..blame the hectic life..well..ok, shouldnt be it as a reason. ok, enuf bout it..now, let's get to the updates..hmmm..so much actually. been hundreds of ups and downs since the last entry. all i can recall, my tenancy on campus accommodation ended, managed to get myself a job on campus - aah, loved it! had a marvellous hari raya..dearest tomet was actually around for the celebration!he's now back home,always busy with work..poor thing!nvm..work hard! started 2nd year of my phd which now reminds me that i've only 2 years left!arrrgh!..hmm, what else..yeah..something more recent, i turned 26years old 16 days ago..thank god for another year of happy and healthy life..may future years be more meaningful for myself and ppl around..huhuu, sounds philosophical!haha..

ok, more interesting story, i finally managed to get my own place to live to shelter me for the coming years during my stay here as a student..honestly speaking, i am so in love with this flat which i've now lived for 2 weeks! yippiiiee! considering for a one person place and speaking of houses in the great britain in addition to it being in brighton, i am so so lucky to find this place for a reasonable price of rent. a spacious, lovely, comfortable and many best things i can think of, this house surely, does give me peace of mind and soul! havent got the chance to snap photos, but promise will do so soon! o yes, i'd like to take this opportunity to thank the sussex clan for the moving...u guys are the best! to yong and family and also arif, yea fahmi too, thanks so much for the extended help! to afzan & k izzah, thank you for having me while i was homeless! heeehee..aight, gotta get back to the data analysis but will be back with more updates..ciow cincau!

A day at Brighton

Hey hey! Another day is dedicated for relaxing..geez! Been having fun a great deal of time here! oh..not good..So what's happened today? Well, I had a day out with a couple of new friends at Brighton.

These people who are friends of my uni friend came from London. Most of them are Phd students studying at Imperial and King's College..very young and intelligent people! Most are doing biology related courses. When first met,I thought those peeps were undergrads! Awet muda! There were 9 one them. The uni friend of mine, Ghows and myself were the host and brought them to Brighton Marina, our uni, Bighton Pier. Eventhough I've been here for almost 3months now, it's only yesterday that I discovered new places(tho they're obvious) at Brighton! Yes, yes..I should be blamed for not knowing these places in advance, but hey..i've visited other places! (heee..in hope for a good excuse).

The weather was unpredictable..it was gloomy,windy,raining,snowing and the day ended with a great sunny evening! Were we consired lucky? Maybe, considering we had 4-season in a day! It's strange to get snow during spring when you should see flowers blooming.

We spent 7 hours walking around. They were most fascinated by the sea which reminded myself when I was small (until now!). Felt like I was the one visiting when snaping photos around..hehee..

Snow during Spring

I can't believe it! No wonder it was really cold today! It is snowing!! Yippie! For the first time in my life, I'm looking at real snow falling out my windows..but it's already dark, cant snap lots of photos..I heard that it's not easy to get snow in Brighton as it's supposed to be the warmest region in the UK. Isn't it strange getting snow during spring when flowers should bloom? The weather in the UK is totally unpredictable..

Evening snack

Uh..it's a totally boring day today...the heater isnt working, im shivering as a scared mouse! it's really cold right now..i wonder when the heater is gonna work back to normal..i hated the heat so much back in Mesia but right now, I'm begging and feel like paying for heat! hehee..

According to myself, as an alternative to prevent prolong shivering..the best thing to do is to eat without stop! Aah, i love eating. I been eating so much since morning..maybe I had a short pit stop. I had sweet potatoes, cereals, rice, fruits, juice, yogurt, crackers, chips and now I'm having tea (but without actually drinking tea). Thought of having something different and here I created something tempting but not so good for health. I call it Cheesy Nachos..But, hey..it's easy to prepare...the ingredients are - nachos, mozarella cheese, onions, ripe tomatoes, corriander and a sprinkle of herbs..mix them together and medium bake for 10mins and walla..here's the results..

Arundel Castle & Littlehampton

It's a bright sunny day today! Yippie! A couple of friends and myself made a day's trip to a place in West Sussex called Arundle Castle and Littlehampton. The Arundel Castle is so huge and beautiful! We had so much fun discovering the castle itself, there were magnificent architecture, fine interior with fascinating furnitures, tapestries and rare collections of paintings, rich history of the Dukes of Norfork, well groomed gardens and so much more. We could see the beauitful download in the South England and out to the sea from the top of the Keep (like a tower). It's amazing to know that although the castle looks old, it is still a home to the ancestors of the Dukes of Norfork since the past 900years!

We had a picnic by the sea at a near by place called Littlehampton. It got really windy while having lunch. We were shivering! But, it's a nice place and great location for playing kites which makes a helicopter sound due to the strong wind.

Another happy year

It's 19th March 2008! Yippie! Another year of hopefully stronger and closer relationship between me and Tomet! On this exact date, we've now been together for 4 years since knowing each other 8 years ago. =)

Can't believe how time got us this far,bless god! All ups and downs througout the friendship which then grew to a relationship that represents further commitment taught me abt sincerity, trust, forgiveness, gratitude, bond, support...a few examples of my endless list. My hope is to have brighter future together! All best wishes for us!

Worse and humiliating

heyya..don't know why, as i surf i coincidently approach sites which directs me to the worse of stuff like fashion and names..but found these amusing (in a way). A good approach to release stress i thought!

1st site, I came across about weird runaway looks..like rubbish can lid on top of head, discoball hat, one eye brow which connects both left and right brow, a nest-like hair style, uhh..endless! check it out at http://www.stylelist.com/ Poor models! I doubt they like it very much, guess models can't choose to look nice all the time..heheheee! here's a snapshot taken from the website above..

2nd site is about weird names given to babies...even worse! They've to carry such embarrasment for life..gosh, i can't imagine..the names are adopted from

• diseases(e.g: Hysteria Johnson , Cholera Priest, Kathryn E. Coli);
• food(e.g: Lunch Magee, Bread White, Plum Sellers, Mayo Head);
• sins(e.g: Wrath Gordon, Envy Burger, Pride Saint);
• professions(e.g: Cook Cook, Doctor Love, Gamble Moore);
• uncommon celebrities babies names are also listed (e.g :Apple, Kyd, Pilot Inspektor)

To parents...please have some mercy! There're more names listed at the website at http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/23631411/?GT1=43001&pg=1#TDY_Names_Bad . Check them out!

3rd site is..i dunno what to say..crazy maybe..it's about this lady who sits in her boyfriend's toilet for 2 years! without leaving the bathroom..unbelievable..yea..i couldnt as well, but after reading the story at http://news.aol.com/story/_a/woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-how-long/20080313080209990001 , i guess it is really true..The woman has a phobia leaving the toilet, so she sits on it all the time. It's just recently(5days ago) that she's been transported to the hospital by the authority after the boyfriend finally calls the police after she acted groggy! Geez..I think both of them have got some judgement problems. At the end of the story found at link above says that everyday the bf would try to convince her to leave toilet, but her reply was "Maybe tomorrow.." ..heheheeee!

More weird stories can be found at http://news.aol.com/weird-news . Among them are Illinois shape cornflakes up for auction at eBay where the bid is currently $500! ; there's also a flying saucer shape house in Tenneessee(maybe the owner had a passion for aliens or ufos); 800 dogs in a mobile house (gawd, i cant imagine!)...uhuuu..i shall stop..otherwise, i might be contributing to these weird stories...

Malaysian dinner menu

It's a wet day all day long..Felt really lazy fr morning until nite! Geez..not good! The laziness of me doing things included cooking. Only had tortillas earlier on and only managed to get myself moving around for dinner preparation around 9pm..late dinner, thanks to lazy me!

Luckily i didnt stop cooking halfway through! hehehe..yippie, food's cooked and I'm now having dinner. Somehow, I craved for 'ikan bakar'!(grill fish). Couldnt get the type of fishes in M'sia so i came with my own style of cooking and here i present my dinner menu for tonite - ikan bakar with air asam (tamarind sauce), fried mixed vege and white rice.

BarCamp Brighton2

howdy! how's it going on? i had a full of informative day today..how and why? well, i went for this event called BarCamp Brighton2 . It's a free 2 days event where 'computing' people from different level(e.g : developers, designers, games geeks, programmers, researchers, etc) gather around to share ideas and experiences on techninal and non-technical computing stuff. The idea of barcamp is that, the organizer responsible for getting sponsors like yahoo, amazon, madgex, microsoft, cogapp, realtimewords wouldn't actually setup any program for the event..but the attendees will..so, only when u show up on that day that ppl start picking up slots for a half n hour presentation on practically any topic! So, there u'll get diverse discussions ranging from ease of mind to mind bloggings topics! These run simultaneously in several rooms over the entire day.

The one i attended today and tomorrow is organized on campus at Falmer House. They're so many technie ppl, some fr amazon, yahoo, cogapps and many other leading companies! Though i don't much abt these technical stuff, but it's great to know their existence and capabilities..I might consider using them when needed. I learnt quite a lot from today's event alone..lemme list a quick recap on what talks/workshop I found interesting :

1. Accessibile Javascript : a bit programming tips and tricks
2. Twitter : status sharing program, kinda cool -(check it out below)
3. How to express yourself clearly : did a workshop and a small scale practical exercises
4. Widgets : intros to widgets and a bit abt creative thinking (interesting presentation!)
5. Second life : virtual reality environment

So, what am i getting from this event...a great deal of networking with ppl. I managed to make new friends, of young and not so young but very successful ppl! I'm so impressed with what they do. It's interesting knowing what ppl from various levels and expertise are working on. This has, somehow set me a stronger focus and motivation on the type of work I'm currently doing. Yippie!

Before signing off, here are some pics and vids of the things I said earlier on..

Love physics, love science

Hey there..it's Friday, 14th March 2008. Today's the last day of the spring term. The undergrads will be on break for a month! The Easter holiday! Enjoy enjoy..well, not so much for me tho', but that's alright. I had another productive day today, managed to submit all the review assignments for the ACT class, had a fruitful discussion with my supervisor which has opened up new ideas and yeap..my stomach is getting so much better(i had a terrible stomach upset 2days ago!), and that means..I can now resume to my craving for food! Food..i love food.. :)

I was jz browsing the net a while ago and found out about this link, http://potw.news.yahoo.com/s/potw/63302/high-wire-act. It's about the hillarious teaching methods a Physics professor at MIT teaches his students, so funny and crazy..a bit nutty! It's impressive that a passionate academician/scientist would go all out to make his/her student understand what the subject is all about. I never thought that learning Physcis would be fun all together. Guess, my views change after watching the clip of this cool, joyful, ecentric and commited lecturer. Prof Walter Lewin says that "by adhering to three principles; clarity, timing and suspense -- keep the focus tight, be precise and end with a big finish". Further, it's interesting knowing that he also has passion for contemporary arts which influences the creativeness for new inventions used during this lectures. He's even more impressive to have the momentum of teaching and inventions at the current age of 71! This line of his inspires me.."It took me a decade to come to the realization, that really what counts is not what you cover, but what counts is what you uncover." He's hope is that students love physcis, love science and see the beauty of the physcial world around them.. Inspirational isn't it?

Here's a clip of one of his lectures, the remaining is by the side bar..enjoy!

ATC - Blog 5

The term is almost ending, and so does the ATC course. Time really flies, can't believe that I've been in the UK for almost 3 months now. But, I like it here. So, it doesn't matter, really. Hmm, today I’d like ponder a lil about what I've gained from the Advanced Technology Communication course. Honestly, enormous amount of information! A great deal of knowledge and helpful tips related to academia. ;)

Briefly, over the past few weeks, the course covered issues about explaining a research work within a few seconds; writing good publications which includes writing abstracts, understanding the general structure of a publication, peer reviewing academic paper, etc.; giving effective presentation for both posters and oral. I learnt the most from poster presentation discussions. Although I’ve had previous experiences publishing posters at conferences and exhibitions, the skills and guidelines shared within the class are the few ‘easy-to-follow’ and ‘why didn’t I think about..’ tips which could tremendously change the appearance of a poster to a more appealing and interesting presentation. We had to do a poster presentation as part of the assignment. There was a class where we had to bring our poster drafts for discussion before they’re finalized and printed for presentation. I find this session valuable and helpful as there’s room for improvements. So, here I present the enhancement made to the poster after a fruitful discussion with classmates and lecturer, thanks all!

Before :

After :

ATC - Blog4

During the previous ATC class, (last week and today), each of the student had an opportunity to do a presentation. Most of the DPhil candidates presented a brief overview of something in relation to their current research while the Masters candidates presented topics they’re interested to work on in the future. The 2 presentation sessions were very informative and interesting. From my observation of my classmates’ presentation, I could pick up a few good and bad presentation skills, thanks to the session that we had discussed in the previous ATC class.


Good :

• Use of proper PowerPoint slides that aren’t distracting to the audience. Instead, only important information is presented with mostly contrast colours between the background and foreground.
• Most presenters manage to finish the presentation on time. Always keep up with the time given!
• It’s good that almost everyone introduce themselves sufficiently before they begin with the talk.
• Questions were mostly answered pretty well with examples given along the explanations.
• The use of props such as leaflets makes the presentation interesting.
• Demonstration that involves auditory and tactile focus also interests the audience.

Bad :

• Good posture is important during a presentation; this affects those ‘visual’ audiences. Leaning on the wall or having hands in the pockets are a few examples that should be avoided.
• Reading slides isn’t at all defined as a presentation! Never read slides while showing ur back to the audience!
• Slideshows are not the presentation, the presenter is. Therefore, keep the presentation concise and include only relevant information. Don’t overload textual information on a single slide, do keep to 3-4 points with appropriate text size.
• Sometimes, presenters are not aware that they mumble during the talk. Staying alert about the things you say out might help to overcome this.
  

I think I’ve used most of the tips shown by others during the presentation session, except the use of props. I intend to employ this method in future presentation. Apart from that, I should learn to answer questions by giving examples or analogy to make it easier for the audience to comprehend the intended message. Finally, practising a presentation improves your skill and boosts your confidence!

What's for dinner?

beep beep! hello! hope u're doing well..im alright, getting busy with daily schedule. today's been a productive day, been really occupied..started early in the morning with slides preparation for the atc course i'm currently taking, got carried away up till noon that i actually forgot lunch! went for a talk by a labmate and rushed for the atc class for a poster presention..by the way, it was kinda fun..we exchanged loadza information and learned a bit abt the classmates work/research..it's until 4pm that i realized that i've not eaten, thank god the potato salad i brought were enuff to keep my tummy fr making noise...heeehee..

i went back at 6pm, rest a little and started to feel hungry..and i thought it would be a good idea to start cooking, but didnt want to spend too long in the kitchen..then i decided to make something simple of quick preparation, the lasagna. yummy..this is my 2nd attempt after a 1st sometime last week..though i thought the 1st was better(it's unfortunate that i forgot to snap photos!), this one isn't bad, but i leave it to u to judge and thought of sharing, so here's a portion for u.. :)

ATC - Blog 3

I’m currently reading a paper publication related to the work that I’m doing. It’s a publication that I will most probably refer to a couple of times in this research, mainly because of the various possibilities of future works stated in their study. The title is called ‘Constraints on representational change : Evidence from children’s drawing’. I find this publication really interesting, in many ways. First of all, the title itself kinda explains the content of the paper. Secondly, simple English is used to convey the idea and what’s most interesting is that despite the complex ideas and discussions are made, there is a good flow of presentation where useful diagrams are depicted along with the given explanation.

The introduction starts with asking and answering why children’s drawing is found feasible for the study. There’s also a good list of literature review covered in the first part of the paper. The author makes the explanation clear by giving the underlying theoretical concepts relevant to the study before detailed descriptions are discussed , this includes an overview of the participants (which are of course children), the methods of experiment employed(children are asked to draw diagrams with many cycles of different types of changes made to the diagram; it’s interesting to look at the drawings the children produce such as a house with wings and a helicopter with legs!), results of the tasks performed and a comprehensive discussion on the findings are made with comparison of arguments from their work and previous researches . Examples or analogy are also widely used in order to make the context easy to comprehend.

It’s interesting that although this paper was published in 1989, the ideas and concept coordinates with my current research. During the time of writing, they did not mention anything about chunking. Probably because the theory of chunking wasn’t quite established at that time. However, their findings clearly focus on issues related to this particular subject. Somehow I’m amazed by the conjunction between my research and theirs which was done almost 20 years ago! It’s great to ponder abt how magnificent research evolves over time. Given the same information, probably I’d represent the findings in a more visually appealing approach, perhaps with the use of posters or power point slides. I believe this paper comes from a journal, therefore if I were to produce other publication for this, I see that the original publication can be divided into a few papers that could discuss on various aspects of the findings. Hehee..this has given me a motivation to start writing a publication of my own for this DPhil research..I’m motivated!

ATC - Blog 2

Today, I’m giving my views on the conferences related to my field. I received an email from my supervisor earlier on stating that it might be worth considering this conference for publication sometime next year. Believe it or not, I was actually really excited to get my hands on writing so that I’ve a chance to submit them this year, but then, I guess it’s a little too ambitious as I currently don’t have anything to report! Geez.. :p ok, I’m still at the early stage of research, this is coz I started my DPhil program sometime early this year. It’s fair that I’m not getting much from the previous 2 months since I’ve started. Nevermind, aim for next year! Yes, I will. Furthermore, the venue is in Frace..uh! The place I’ve been wanting to visit all my life! Hehee.. Anyway, so..this conference is named ‘Fifth Eurographics Workshop on Sketch-Based Interfaces and Modeling’, which will take place in Annecy, France from July 11-13, 2008. Basically, the topics covered in conference are mostly related to diagrams.

The workshop gives focus on digital technology of pen-based computer hardware and digital sketched-based interfaces. Issues such as interface design, algorithms, models and technologies will be discussed. Among the categories are new techniques for classification and recognition of hand-drawn shapes; applications of sketch-based interfaces in various domains such as CAD, animation, 3D computer graphics and many more; and empirical studies for clarifying nature of sketch-based interfaces with comparison to other techniques. The latter is most related to my research.

Findings of these researches are essential to further understand the concepts of human perception, shape recognition and geometric modeling techniques. As the technology improves, the use of pen and paper are becoming less important. I see that there will be a constant migration to the use of drawing computer hardware such as graphical tablets. This isn’t only restricted to computer related tasks but also diverse fields such as architecture design, engineering, arts, games and animation. Therefore, I feel that researches related to diagrams are worth to put effort on in order to find out the advantage and disadvantages of these possibilities so as to improve our lives.

Let's draw

Today, I had the opportunity to play around with the device that I'll soon use a lot. It's something called graphical tablet. Pretty cool to play with. It's like those tablet pcs, where u've to use stylus to write on it, but nothing really appears on top of the tablet. Instead, the output will be shown on the monitor's screen. Been testing around with it and this is what I came out with..bear with me, I'm never good with drawings!

and here's a serious one, the actual research work...

Overwhelming news!

Howdy! Good news..good news...im just overwhelmed with a news I received a couple of minutes ago..I still cant believe it myself! wow..it's a miracle..I recently got a paper publication presented by a representative to a conference in Japan..Through the feedback, it was unlikely that attendees were even interested in what the paper was all about..and it was presented by a lecturer from my department back in UM..and the news I received fr the lecturer just now, Dr Woo..made me jumped! The paper was awarded the Best Paper Award 2008..it's always a dream to get my very own publication awarded as the best paper, and it is finally answered..thank you god..I personally didn't feel it is the best of all the previous publications..i actually thought it's the worse as the paper was written due to short notice before the dateline..wow..i consider this as luck.. Anyhow, thank you Dr Woo for presenting the paper on my behalf and thank you committee for the honour..cheerios! =)

ATC - Blog1

Today, I’ll talk a bit abt my research (previous and current). During masters, I was working on a subject area called image processing. Right now, I’m doing something completely different tho it’s also under the same umbrella of Artificial Intelligence. It’s an area called Cognitive Science, a topic i’ve been wanting to learn and perform research since I learn them during my undergrad years.

The cognitive science area has been vastly studied since possibly in the 50’s and what’s interesting is, it’s an area that’s applied to various fields that makes it an interdisciplinary study of mind and intelligence, embracing philosophy, psychology, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, linguistics, and anthropology. The idea of cognitive science began with development of theories of mind based on complex representations and computational procedures. My research, somewhat, is an extension of this particular study. To put in simple terms, my work is about understanding how people learn diagrams. I work in the Representation and Cognition Lab of the Dept of Informatics. There are a few other postgrad students who are also doing research related to diagrams, but each person has a different focus and interest. In relation to diagrams, they work on maps, mathematical/physics diagrams, specific computer notation diagrams, conceptual theories and many more. Although these colleagues of mine work individually, we often have discussion to brain storm ideas and help others by providing feedback to our progress. I find this very helpful as I tend to think outside the box and gain more knowledge from these intellectual discussions.

Apart from informal discussions, there’s a weekly group meeting. Supervisors will also attend the meeting. During this meeting, we will either discuss the problems one has with their research or listen to talk given by the group members. Before I joined, the group meeting used to be a session where everyone would read a paper publication and discuss their understanding on it with others. This group are also active in submitting papers for publications, either conference or journals. As I understood with my previous experiences writing publications, the process that applies to cognitive science conferences and journals are somewhat similar. Basically, there will be an abstract submission. On acceptance, a full paper must be submitted and the conference follows. In some conferences, the abstract submission isn’t required, instead acceptance is made solely with reviews of the full paper. It’s also best to submit a publication to the most related conference to the work one is doing, this would give a higher weighting to the value of paper submitted. I haven’t actually gone through any potential conference and journals, but I will find out more in the coming entry..until now..tata!

Making friends

hello february! time flies..can't believe that i've already been here for a month..and with time, i learn, i understand and i adapt to situations better than before. I'm getting used to the environment i'm living here. Quite a number of ppl from home and here are concern abt how i'm coping with life..how nice of them, thank you for your concern..Honestly, i'm doing alright..I'm getting busy with courses, classes, workshops, discussions, daily chores..an endless list of things that occupies my everyday life. :)

today, i had the chance to meet a couple of new friends and new people...earlier in the morning, i decided to go to the town, got on the bus and on the way, a couple hopped in and one of them sat in front of me..we chatted and i was glad to find that they're from the indonesia, a country within the southeast asia region..somehow, i felt 'close' knowing these ppl as i could speak to them with my mother tongue, though it differs slightly with theirs. as the bus got us to our destinations, we exchange contacts and said our goobyes...it feels good to have new friends.

later at nite, i attended a friend's(whom i jz got to know during the recent wall climbing activity) dinner at her place in hove..tho it took me a while looking for the right flat within the house, i managed to find my way in after 20mins searching for the right flat number! The concept is, a house consist of a few rooms(called flats) complete with its own living room, kitchen, bathroom (like an apartment, really), and in front of it's door are a couple of doorbells for each flat..becoz it was at nite, i couldnt manage to find the right bell to my friend's coz there were only 7 bells but 9 flats, it also didnt ring the bell in my head to think that flat num 3 is actually the first bell..hence, made me walking around the house as if im a mak-guard! geez..and while i was finding my way, an elderly couple (they're perhaps in their 70s) passed by..it's really nice of them to 'help' me look for the right flat and later borrowed their mobile(thanks for mine being out of credit!) for me to call my friend after the attempt failed..hmmph, helpless me..anyway, yeah..i finally go in later after that..so glad that i did! there were already a couple of familiar ppl fr my lab and we chatted while waiting for the dinner. it surprises me that these peeps are into various activities in spite of being serious in the lab. the dinner was wonderful and thanks Beate for preparing the vegetarian dishes for me. :)

i made my way home after dinner and was surprised to find that another new friend whom i chatted a bit during one of my classes sat in front of me in the train. It's also a coincidence that both of us are living in the same building.

i felt tired as the day ended, but i'm happy to start having friends in this wonderful multicultural place.. ;)

Trip to Oxford

Hey peeps..I had the opportunity to visit Oxford today. It was a 17pounds worth of tix, a trip organized by the international office fr my university, Uni of Sussex. What i can say is, it's a great place..for once, i envy those studying at this prestigious university..It's a university town, bz with people and daily activities. There're lots and lots of buildings similar to palaces and ancient buildings, churches, colleges..it's just a lovely place to visit. The architecture is marvellous..We had the opportunity to be on a guided tour and yeah, i learnt quite a bit from it..here's what i wanna share :

1) There are 2 main libraries in the Oxford University. In one of the libraries, students are only allowed to browse and refer to books but unallowed to borrow them (strange isnt it?), on the other hand the 2nd library allows books to be borrowed. Their libraries are huge. Some colleges own a library too. What's interesting is they have a massive amount of book collections, practically all books are kept in the libaries (and yes..according to the tor guide..this includes the Playboy mags) - for what reason? perhaps, for human studies..Apart from inside the library, books are also kept underneath the library..how's that and could that be possible? yes it is, books are stored under the library through a hidraulic system..basically, it's like there's a tunnel, and books will be laid on a compartment before a button is pressed b4 it dissapears fr sight to find it's way to be stored under the library..like the one scene in Harry Potter..smart isn't it..indeed..very smart..

But unfortunately, not everyone could enter the library, only Oxford students and their very own educators are allowed to have such access, even a Research Assistant could not be granted access. There's a kind of sticker obtainable from the counter just outside library to get into it, and this is permissible only with ..the oxford uni student card..Prestiguous..enuff said.

2) Becoz Oxford is a university town. It's has its own yeah..town in the area..buses are shops are around. They've colleges in between shopping lots. A great way to release the education stress..heheee!

3) Each college or student hostel has an adult who's not an academician who'd help around with tidying the rooms, preparing tea for the students and act as a friend to the students whenever they feel pressured with studies or simply feel like talking to others for advices. The reason the university is providing this facility is that, they want the students to give full 100% concentration on studies and not be disturbed by all these petty but necessary things..oh..how i wish i have a friendly and reliable housekeeper! looks like i have to be one for myself for now..

4) Speaking of a scene in the first Harry Potter movie, there was a particular scene where it was taken fr the uni of oxford..camera and video tricks amazed me when showed that the actual scene is way smaller than the one presented on screen! in the movie...so, which scene am i talking abt..ya know, there was one time where Harry and his friends took a boat after their trip to come to the magic school..yea..dya remember that the boat reached at night, they were all in the boat with lights lit heading to the school..and when they arrived, they met their teachers, Dumbledore and others on the stairs..yeah..those are the scenes taken at Oxford. The door opened to them on arrival is actually a very small one in comparison to the one seen in the play..

5) I managed to take a view of Oxford from the tallest buiding which is actually from a tower of the St Marie the Virgin Church. I would have definitely think twice to take up the opportunity if knew in advance that it would take me to climb 127steps up and another 127steps down...geez..it was an exercise for me! I was convinced enuff that there'd be an elevator, but i was wrong..well..fair enuff..the building was built ages ago..but it's worth the effort and entrance fee of 2pounds.. :)

All in all , I had a great time during this visit. It'll also be a great opportunity if you could have a visit or probably already had one..

Daily news

Jz thought of distracting myself from readings..hello! am feeling a lil tired, perhaps due to the lack of sleep and yea, today's a lil hectic. I had my 3rd discussion with my supervisor, someone i regard as a calm/serene, intelligent and stress-less person..i'm so thankful to have Prof Peter as a supervisor. Glad that he has considerable positive feedback fr current and previous students and i'm very much impressed with the research the Representation and Cognition Group is working on..the general idea of the research is to make learning process easier...less stressful especially for topics on electrical diagrams, probability theories , etc and learning should be a fun activity. I'd perhaps score better on add maths during high school if i'd come across this technique of learning through diagrams..perhaps, the future kids would appreciate these findings..they better be!

Anyway, apart from discussion, i had an opportunity to join an intro workshop on matlab..yea..i finally had the courage and enuf confidence to learn the.. i thought..ever so difficult software..it was kinda interesting when there's an effort for learning. this uni offers countless free workshops and courses for research-oriented students..there are vast opportunity to be undertaken..and it all depends on indviduals whether to take up or back up these courses. ok..enuff abt academic..

Let's talk abt shopping.. :D an all-time topic of my interest..my hobby horse .. a term i learn from my supervisor today. well, i had my groceries shopping at asda (stores like giant/tesco)..a large mall on it's own..thought of spending 20pounds, but ended up paying for more than half! does anyone offer a course on budgeting? i desperately need one! been endlessly telling myself to restrict from buying things..but i can't resist! they seem cheap and necessary!..believe it or not, the most expensive thing i bought in the list costs 4pounds..the remaining were all below 1pound..but ya know..when there's a large quantity of things..the total price eventually mounts..drastically that is..my resolution of the month is to stick to the to-buy list..we will see next month..

Hmm..what else..yup..i finally got myself registered..uhuh..after 3weeks being here..im officially the uni of sussex student..on completion of registration, i received my student card..i find it kinda simple yet nice..it's green, my favourite color.. ;) check it out..

i've got a lot more to tell..but am gonna have to return to the reading..i promise to update..stay in tune yeah..

Tiring but exciting

hi! i had my last day of the course today..it ended pretty well tho everyone seems a lil tired due to the comprehensive 3days activities..i've gained so much from the course and yea..it is a good start with an fantastic boast of motivation. Thanks Gill for picking me among many others who were in the waiting list. The issue of networking really counts when u've a vast contact with others around, a key element i learnt from today's session. Just like i do, i hope the rest learns and appreciates this course as a whole. To me, this is one of the best course i've ever attended. Glad that the team members worked well with each other to make up every activity and task given throughout the given 3days..bravo bravo...thank you tutors for the wonderful guidance..last but not least, all the best everyone for ur DPhils...cheers! ;)

Personal development skills course

hello hello..9:39pm, local time..i'm just finishing off my dinner..today's been a second day of the course i was telling abt yesterday..the course called personal development skills really highlight a couple of things worth looking at through out a mature student's education, tho i never actually consider myself 'mature'..so what's this course abt? well..i would say that it's a run through and a reminder of issues related to the usual things such as communication, team building, time management etc..it's a 3-day course where participants are scheduled with various activities that runs from socializing, constant time management, lots and lots of meetings and discussions, negotiation, games and a whole lot more..some are pretty exciting activities while others gives a dose pain in all parts of the body!

i find this course kinda interesting, some participants don't. the activities put up for us are unique in everyway..what happened was, there were abt 50 of participants which were all divided into 5 smaller groups called syndicate..the initial introduction was interesting by itself..instead of the normal approach of into ourselves, we had to intro the person next to us..ok..perhaps, that's not really new..well, there was an activity where we happened to be a factory producing booklets..we were intially given the materials such as papers, pens, paper clips, sample money, stapler and so on to produce our booklet products in various sized of orders that kept on coming more frequently and we had to deliver them on time in order to survive the company..it was more on time management..another activity called 'desert survival' was on communication among team members and coming to a point where everyone agrees on picking the necessary things given the scenario that a plane crash in a desert and having to select upon the listed stuffs crucial for survival..today's initial activity was on negotiation..it was a business thing where the syndicate were divided into 2 smaller groups and act as groups of representative for management and staff for an airline company that goes under a restructuring process for which they're supposed to negotiate and agree upon a win-win situation..i didn't participate much coz im never(ever will i be) good in such effort! but an activity called belbin test kinda regenerate the interest and the game that follows put all the members on strong bond of team building which surprisingly made us the winner and got ourselves awarded a box of chocolate at the end of the game worth an hour of almost 20tasks! well done all! :)

yea..today ended quite as interesting to yesterday's. what i like abt this course is that it is moduled in such a way that the participant could relate, reflex and act upon the most important issues to their area of interest. yea..though it's a lil tiring, hope that these would help in coming days..tomorrow will be the last day for this course before research re-dominates. ;)

UM to US in the UK

wow...it's been almost a month since i last posted an entry..so many..so many things flew since then..from my comfortable room at home in Malaysia, i'm now in another part of the world..surviving myself for the next couple of years..there's definitely a lot to tell about..but..it'll be a while for me to get everything told..bear with me!

well..basically..im now in the United Kingdom.yeah..im finally here..a country that i never thought i would lay my foot on..i can't believe myself that i finally made it here, after the endless(it seems) reasons that does promise me a place here..from where i used to be attached to that is the University of malaya(UM), i'm glad to be here in the University of Sussex for my hopefully highest degree of education, a phd for short, hopefully 3years..

i've been here almost 3 weeks since my arrival on 29th dec 07..yeah..i had my new year here..my first new year in another country...everything now comes as a new experience to me..the weather, food, culture, clothings, social interaction, practically all..varies very much from the usual..i've really got to say alot, but i cant seem to do it pretty well at the moment..it's becoz i'm on a course which requires my attention and early attendance fr 9am-6pm including this weekend..it'll really late now..better off to bed for a good start tomorrow..i'll make sure that i catch up with more stories..my promise! nite nite...muuaax!