September

We totally missed September, but the blog is still here. Sometimes I do wonder if anyone actually reads what we put on this blog but then I remember that it doesn’t matter.

Of course, September was basically all about our trip to the UK for Afi’s viva. We flew on Malaysia Airlines, in one of those huge A380 super jumbos. Up close, I’ve always thought that airliners don’t look that big at all, even when it’s the largest in the world.

To say that our flight was uneventful would be a huge understatement. Travelling to the airport we were caught in a massive traffic jam due to a road accident which along with the poor weather, which very likely had role in the said accident, then contributed towards delaying our flight by more than an hour. We were already on board in our seats, so by the time the aeroplane taxied towards the runway for takeoff the boys were restless and wanted to be anywhere but in their seats. Or in the case of Imran, anywhere but on Afi’s lap. Thus began our 12-hour flight, with both boys screaming their lungs out.

Thankfully, things generally went well once we arrived. We took a bus to Oxford, and two friends picked us up at the Park & Ride and took us to where we were staying. Here, we would like to record our deepest appreciation to Nazri for hosting us the eleven days we were there. We had quite a few items on our to-do list while we were in Oxford, which we’re happy to say that we managed to tick most of them off. Omar had a really great time throughout, though he took his time to warm up to Pakcik Nazri and started to miss his friends and grandparents towards the end. Besides, he came home with six new jigsaw puzzles.

Most importantly, of course, was Afi’s DPhil viva on September 11. Alhamdulillah, it went well and she’s now working on her final corrections. She missed her celebratory dinner, though, as I had a really bad stomach ache that evening. Since she forgot to take pictures with her examiners in the morning, there goes that as well.

Our return flight was better. It was an evening flight which Omar slept through. Once back at home, it took us the whole of the next week to recover from the journey.

Live from NY

Well, I’m not exactly in New York City. I’m in Long Island, which is some miles away from NYC, attending a great conference, meeting up my supervisor and presenting some of my work here.

I haven’t taken even a single picture. We’ve had the occasional rain since the day I arrived. However, today we are blessed with much more sunny spells. I missed the walking tour of the research institution where the conference is held, but I did enjoy the view during the ride to the centre’s daycare. The driver did give a bit of a tour around, well let’s see if I have the time to do a bit of walking.

Anyway, things are not the same without my other half and Omar. They are coping well, alhamdulillah, and I am really looking forward to be back in their arms. I cannot imagine enjoying myself in NYC without them. To me, that I could do later, when the opportunity permits. I can’t bear the idea of enjoying myself while my Sayang is having his hands full. Maybe others have the guts to do it, but definitely not me. I think I largely owe that to my maternal genetic contribution, as my mother shares the same sentiment too.

Of course, I am enjoying the conference, keeping up with an enormous amount of new findings and information by others, and exchanging ideas as well. Most importantly, I thank Allah for this great opportunity and will surely benefit a lot from it.

Afi
Long Island, NY, Thursday 10 May 2012, 1645 EST

LHR-BWN-KUL

This post was stuck in draft-land for far too long.

We flew by Royal Brunei. Since we were paying for our own tickets, we looked for the cheapest around. At the time, the Royal Brunei offering was cheaper by as much as £300 compared to the next cheapest by Singapore Airlines. The catch was we would have to fly first to Bandar Seri Begawan (with a refueling stop at Dubai) before taking a separate flight to Kuala Lumpur. However, flying with Omar we preferred a non-direct flight anyway so we could stretch our legs.

Before we fly, there were a few things we needed to clarify with the airline. We were taking Omar’s stroller and car seat with us so wanted to know how both items would be considered against our baggage allowances. We had to check them both in as baggage. As full ticket paying passengers, Afi and I both received 20kg each while Omar was allocated 10kg, for a combine total of 50kg.

I read that some airlines allow either or both items to be checked in for free. However, Royal Brunei was not one of those airlines. So with the stroller and car seat we were left with only about 25kg for the rest of our stuff. 25kg was definitely not enough, especially when we had planned to dedicate one suitcase just for Omar’s stuff. Thankfully though, I happened to mention to the Royal Brunei staff on the phone that Afi was a fulltime student and that we were returning home for good, and for that she was given an extra 15kg.

So that basically settled our packing arrangement: 15kg for the stroller, 10kg for the car seat, a 20kg suitcase for Omar, and another 20kg suitcase for Afi and I to check in. For the rest of our stuff, I also carried my notebook backpack and a cabin suitcase (and Omar) and Afi her notebook handbag and baby changing bag. Yes, we had really had our hands full! Again, we couldn’t imagine how we would have managed without Zul coming along to the airport and helping us with the baggage. Things were definitely more manageable once we had our baggage checked in.

Omar behaved well during the whole journey, though he was understandably a bit cranky on the last leg from Bandar Seri Begawan to Kuala Lumpur. Between London and Dubai, he spent most of the time trying to take off his shoes. Sitting on my lap, he would rip open the Velcro fasteners and I would fasten them on again.

We were the very last people to reboard the plane at Dubai. It was a 1.5-hour stop, but we underestimated the time we needed to grab some dinner and gave Omar a nappy change, and were slightly confused about the time zone. Thankfully, we were then given a bassinet seat for Omar, so we could all catch some sleep.

However, you would not want to spend four hours in transit at the Brunei International Airport. After travelling for almost 18 hours we were tired so stayed inside the departure hall. There was absolutely nothing to do. We were starving but here was no food at the cafeteria and the Coffee Bean outlet ran out of ice! It was so unfortunate, as otherwise we really enjoyed flying with Royal Brunei.

We finally landed at KLIA at about 1710 on 9 February, after almost one full day of travelling.

It is good to be home.

LHR-BWN-KUL: Prep

We are back in Malaysia, YAY!

We already shipped most of our stuff to Malaysia on 23 January. I booked a 1300 pick up slot for the shipping but the night before I received a text message that the truck would come at between 1000 and 1200. Coincidentally, Omar had his first fever that evening with his body temperature reaching as high as 39 degrees Celsius. So, I was still no where near finished with the packing when the driver called at 0930 that morning to say that he would arrive at 1015.

Afi had to take Omar for his GP appointment at 1050. On panic mode, I called Arshad for help. He ended up bringing most of the heavy boxes down all by himself when the delivery truck arrived while I completed all the labelling and paperwork. The shipping company quotes 6-12 weeks for delivery. We pray that everything arrives safely.

Omar finally met Simon on 2 February when we had lunch with him and two other of his students, Marie and Yunli. On 4 February, we had our formal farewell at the Summertown House common room. With our tight finances we didn’t originally plan to organise the event but in the end were glad that we did. The attendance was beyond our expectations and we were deeply touched by the kind gestures and well wishes.

Our flight out of the UK was on 8 February, the very day our visas expire. Since it was a morning flight, we decided to leave Oxford on 7 February and stay overnight in a hotel (Travelodge Heathrow Terminal 5) near the airport. We made an appointment with Chris the caretaker to hand in our apartment keys at 1300. Zul also graciously offered to accompany us to the airport.

As 7 February arrived, we again apparently underestimated how much packing we had to do. There simply was not enough space, both volume and weight wise, to pack everything we wanted to bring home with us. On top of that, we also had to make sure that the apartment was in an acceptable enough condition for the hand-in. Again, Arshad came to our rescue by babysitting Omar while the both of us busied ourselves with the cleaning and packing. Zul also came later to lend a hand. Thankfully, Chris only dropped in after 1500 and after a quick scan of the apartment gave us his thumbs up.

Finally, after packing and repacking at least three times we were ready to go. Arshad, Uyie, and Zul helped bring our luggage down to the waiting cab. Syikin, Azad, and Min were also there to send us off. We left Summertown House for Gloucester Green Bus Station at about 1820.

Passport

Your Malaysian passport needs to be valid for six more months in order to travel out of the country. I thought everybody knew that. The requirement is printed inside the back cover of the passport, and I remember reading about it several times elsewhere before too, perhaps on airline booking invoices.

So I was surprised when a friend was denied from boarding a flight recently because she had less than six months left on her passport. Maybe it was an oversight on her part.

For that matter, the are several other details printed at the back of the passport, one of which is you cannot send your passport by mail from one place to another. After all, your passport is a form of personal identification just like your national identity card. I assume everybody knows about that too.

London Trip

After several aborted attempts, we finally managed to have Omar weighed last week. He was 6.58kg, at fifteen weeks. “Textbook,” commented the health visitor. Though we knew that he was gaining weight and growing well, we were very happy to actually see it ourselves on the scale.

Then on Sunday, all three of us hopped on a train to London. The objectives of the trip were to register Omar at the high commission and apply him a Malaysian passport. We decided that it would be best to settle the affairs now before Omar grows heavier, the weather gets colder, and Afi becomes more inundated with work. Since we expected a lot of jumping on and off different modes of public transport, we took Omar in a baby carrier instead of the Xplory.

The train to London was jam-packed. It was not an express, running from Hereford. We only managed to find seats at Reading. Once arriving at Paddington station, we sat down for a drink before finding a bus to our hotel at Euston. We tried to feed Omar at the station, thinking that he might be hungry, but he was more interested in checking out the new surrounding.

Next morning we went straight to the high commission at Belgrave Square. The service was quick, especially since we already had all the documents and copies and Omar’s photos ready. By 1100 we were all done. The pickup was at 1530, so with plenty of time to kill we went to MSD for some authentic Malaysian food. Afi had her favourite ikan patin dish while I chose the sambal ikan keli. We also had the beef rendang. The food was heavenly. We also bought fried noodles and nasi lemak to go.

It was a surprise to see a familiar name signing Omar’s birth registration. It was my old classmate Mahathir, whom I had not met for almost sixteen years! It was nice to meet him after all these years. Small world.

We went straight to Paddington station afterwards—mission accomplished—and then home to Oxford. Omar behaved really well throughout the trip, as always. Now he has his very own passport, YAY!

:D

There and Back Again

This is long overdue.

It’s so cold that I just want to crawl under the duvet and not come out—hibernate—till at least March. Outside the temperature is practically freezing, and the last few days were foggy. In true Malaysian fashion, Afi looked out the window on Sunday morning, saw the fog and said, “Ah, jerebu.” And now that it’s fall, the day is short; it’s already dark by 1700. Going out every morning I cannot help remembering my Form Five English teacher’s description of England as a “wet, dark and depressing place.”

Thankfully, the weather was a little kinder when Abang was here and we drove out to see the funny ‘hanging stones’ at Wiltshire. They were in the middle of nowhere, despite the GPS. There was a slight drizzle when we arrived, but the sun did come before we left.

Earlier in October, we had a quick trip home for Kakak’s 10/10 wedding. We were in Malaysia for less than five days. It was a short and very tiring trip, but it’s always good to be home. The wedding went smoothly. But we didn’t even get to get over the jet lag from the journey to KL before jetting off back to the UK, that we both fell asleep before the plane lifted off the runway at KLIA. We then slept for two more days when we arrived at the apartment.

Lessons

INSPECT YOUR GEAR. On our very first day in Bali, the outsole of my right shoe came off as I entered our hotel room. Yes, shit happens, but I wasn’t planning on getting wet so didn’t even pack spare flip flops. Apparently, the rubber soles of both shoes have worn almost completely flat. They were still very much wearable, though, especially after I patched the lose rubber up with half a tube of contact glue that cost me Rp2,500 at a local hardware store.

INVEST. I should really buy a proper backpack for future travels. I took the old notebook backpack (sans notebook) for the trip, which is both too heavy and too small. I am already used to the weight, lugging my 3.5 kg full-size notebook to and from work every day, but the small internal volume (due to the protective padding) prove quite a huge setback.

BE PREPARED. Another important item, apart from the spare flip flops, that I sacrificed was a spare pair of pants. I figured, with daytime temperature of between 30 and 35 degrees Celsius, Bali is no different than Kuala Lumpur, so I could risk it with just the pair of jeans I was wearing. What a mistake that was; I forgot the last time I actually trekked around KL in the sun. It didn’t take long at all before I was soaked in sweat. Now I have two pairs of shorts I doubt I’ll ever wear again. :P

It rained heavily during much of the second day. I left my rain gear too but thankfully we spent most of the time in the car comfortably dry.

TECHNOLOGY FAILS. Mobile phone service was erratic throughout the trip. Only once a phone call got through; it wasn’t much better with text messages. ATM machines were just as moody. One minute they worked and the next minute they said that my account didn’t exist. This brings me to the next point...

BRING ENOUGH CASH. Not all shops accept plastic. When they do, the connection may be busy or the phone line may fail. Swipe in the wrong place and you card may get cloned. When travelling to strange places, cash is king. My only complaint is the confusing Indonesian huge currency denominations. All those zeroes made my head spin.

GET CORRECT INFORMATION. My travel buddy told me to keep aside Rp100,000 for airport tax. I did, but the actual figure turned out to be Rp150,000. It was nothing major, but I should have known better to do my own homework.

All this while I thought I was the Internet addict but the disconnect didn’t bother me at all, while Suapi insisted on logging in to Facebook every evening. There are still 100-plus unread articles in my Google Reader page, but somehow I find myself not too eager to catch up.

Bali was wonderful, by the way.

Two Weeks at Work

The first week – so-called “adjustment period” – was chaotic as usual with students joining and dropping classes to fit their schedules and filling up their workloads. It was especially chaotic for me sitting in for the department head. I never gave so many signatures in one week!

I have four new classes with four new sets of students, though there are some familiar faces among them. I’ve always thought that the first meeting of a class points to how the mood of the class will be for the whole semester. Two of the classes were “happy”, i.e. the students readily respond to questions and actively participate in discussions, while the other two were not so “happy”. I hope to be able to turn them around pretty soon.

Dark clouds... I was half-hoping to see a twister

Last Friday the whole kulliyyah plus families travelled up north to Lumut for a weekend of work and play. Most of us took the bus, but I thought that it would be a great opportunity to take the new car on a nice long drive up the coastal road with my brother.

He wanted a picture of him standing on a rock, he got a picture of him standing on a rock

Raya III: Break the Bank

Raya is the time we bleed our bank accounts dry.

We needed to buy drinks for breaking fast while transiting at Narita, so I went to a money changer with $10 (US). Guess what, I needed to fill out a form!

There may be some currency control regulations behind it I am not aware of, but it is quite absurd to have to fill out a form to exchange $10. I gave the form and a $10 note to a middle-aged clerk, who processed the form in the same manner we typically see when paying utility bills, and passed the form over to a supervisor to stamp. Only then, the equivalent amount in Japanese Yen was dispensed by a machine. I couldn’t believe that all that was required just to exchange $10!

And this is in 2006.

The bureau de change was operated by a bank, so it gave me a poor impression of Japanese banks. Not that our Malaysian banks are much better, anyway, but at least I didn’t have to fill out a form to buy US dollars at the money changer at KLIA.

I have two bank accounts – one with Bank Islam, my primary bank account into which IIUM deposits my salary; and one with Maybank. While Maybank is the bigger bank, Bank Islam gives the better service. Bank Islam still issues me an account booklet, which I get updated from time to time as I happen to be at the branch office on campus; and I can always check my account transaction history online at the bank’s online banking website, BankIslam.biz. They also charge me only 50 sen for interbank transfers when I pay for my credit card. Maybank, on the other hand, does NOT issue an account booklet, does NOT issue bank statements NOR allow access for them on its website, and charges RM2 per interbank transfer. Aren’t bigger banks supposed to have lower costs from economies of scale?

Talk about corporate greed.

Selamat Hari Raya!

Raya II: Homecoming

Sadly I don’t have any Indian/Hindu friend to wish Happy Deepavali to, :(.

I just got back from a week-long (inclusive of travel time) trip to Boston yesterday. The whole week leading to the trip, everyone at the office was saying that I was going home – balik kampung. It goes with the spirit of the season, I guess. Nothing much has changed at Kampung Allston anyway. While Kam did tell me before that he has sawn off the legs of my old study desk to turn it into a coffee table, I never thought much of it until I saw it, MY DESK! Other than that, it was almost as if I never left. Well, it hasn’t even been a year anyway. But the Barnes & Noble store at Downtown Crossing has been closed, as does the AMC cinema at Fenway I used to go to (almost) every Friday; now taken over by Regal.

We came for a conference in Cambridge, at a venue at Harvard. Dr Shabri, on his first trip to the US, really took the opportunity to snap pictures. I didn’t take any even though I have my camera with me all the time. Somehow there is a feeling that there will be other such opportunities - that I’ll be back.

One thing for sure though, is that the United States still feels like the other side of the world to fly to. We changed planes three times at Changi, Narita, and San Francisco between KLIA and Logan one way. In total on this trip we flew on five different aircraft types – Boeings 737, 747, 757, 767, and 777. The Muslim menu on the flights, prepared in the Middle Eastern or South Asian taste, is exactly the same that we could barely touch it on the return journey.

How long will it take till we have either [1] cheap super or hyper-sonic air travel, [2] hibernation technology so that we can sleep all the way through long journeys, or [3] instantaneous teleportation à la Star Trek?

How about the space elevator? (Illustation by Pat Rowling)

Selamat Hari Raya everybody, everywhere, whether you will be spending it at your very own kampung or not.

Names and Numbers

Finally, I’ve finished marking the mid-semester tests. YAY! Small consolation though, as the notice is now out for submitting questions for the finals.

Dr Ruzita asked me to drive her Jazz to our two-day workshop at Awana Genting Highlands. It was my first time ever driving automatic and it didn’t help to have three ladies in the backseat criticizing.
The verdict: I’ll stick to manual transmission for now – shifting the gear up and down is half the fun in driving.

When Suapi asked me to come to Sogo last Sunday, karaoke was the last thing on my mind. Come on, Sogo, karaoke? I only figured it out when I stepped out of the elevator on the eighth floor. I should have seen it coming: Suapi = karaoke.
Lesson of the day: Again, I cannot sing.

On Monday *we* were supposed to go to Butterworth, but the trip was cancelled through a late night text message. Apparently nine equals zero and it was a no go. To be honest I was partly relieved, as waking up as early as 4 a.m. to make a 6 a.m. rendezvous at Stesen Sentral was not something I’m too excited about. But I already took the day off, so *we* met for lunch instead, and I came home with a free copy of the latest Perajurit.

Found out online the Crocodile Hunter is no more. RIP. I couldn't help to be skeptical at first, as there were rumors about his death before, but this time it was reported by all the major news agencies.

Thursday, it was sad to see Storm Large performing Wish You Were Here before leaving Rock Star: Supernova. It’s the only reality TV show I watch.

Friday, we had a farewell lunch party for Irwan, who is leaving for Ottawa on Tuesday. I played bidan terjun MC, again. We bid him good luck.

And today, I finished marking the last of the mid-semesters.

YAY!

Welcome to the Wild

Sungai Lembing

Pigs, or rather wild boar, droppings, got my colleagues all freaked out. LOL. We were volunteered (kena jual, as I put it) to spend a night at Kuala Tahan last weekend to survey potential venues for an annual staff program. The boss wanted to have it at Taman Negara. Everybody hated the idea - Taman Negara isn’t exactly a place for everybody - but wouldn’t dare to speak up against the boss, so the five of us were sent to check the place out. “What an expensive way to prove a point!” commented a fellow volunteered colleague. She hated the thought of going through all the trouble for nothing. I had never been anywhere near Taman Negara before, but it turned out just about what I imagined. It’s animal kingdom, so you should expect to find artefacts to that effect.

The all-expense-paid getaway to the edge of civilization was fun (the mobile phone signal was excellent, though), but it did cost me my weekend. I was really looking forward for a quiet weekend after that chaotic first week of classes. This is my first semester with a full twelve-hour workload, which so far has been unexpectedly exhausting that I find myself completely knocked out by 10pm every night, if not right after dinner. Hopefully, it’s just my body adjusting; or perhaps it’s just because I have sleep in mind coming home from work everyday. Whatever.

I did, however, manage to go and watch Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest on Thursday last week. Harta Lelaki Mati, as per the subtitle, was fun. I should have known, in a movie created to promote a theme park attraction, nobody dies; nobody with a named character that is. Is Jack dead? Johnny Depp was brilliant as always. I love sail ships, even merepek ones like the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman in a merepek movie like Dead Man’s Chest.

(Interesting webpage on what kind of ship the Black Pearl is, here.)

Great news too with the coming of July is the start of new tenth season of Stargate SG-1 and third season of Stargate Atlantis. The first episodes premiered last Friday on SciFi in the United States. Finally, something to look forward to during the weekends.