I am currently loving ....

1. Walker Crisps Salt and Vinegar - this is almost bordering on addiction now hehehe

2. Sainsbury's Ginger Snaps with 35% less fat.

3. White-flesh fresh peaches - sweet, crisp and juicy

4. Warm, self-laundered clothes - I am sooo buying a dryer when I get back to Malaysia

Missing you..

It's now been a little over two weeks since I've been here. And that has been how long since we saw or talked to one another. Luckily, we are living in the mobile age and we are able to still text each other and chat online everyday. And we've started to be more open in Facebook again, which is really great. But hearing about open houses and planned events back home do make me missed him and doing things together as a couple. Hopefully this time away will make our relationship stronger and strengthen the trust in each other.

Plagiarism 101

Today, we had a briefing about Plagiarism. J had already warned me to be careful on this as the UK education system is very strict on proper referencing of others' works. However, after the briefing today, I think their concern on plagiarism is downright paranoid. Seriously. We were given an exercise on how to paraphrase a paragraph so that we are not seen as copying word for word.

The paragraph given was on the difference between outsourcing and contracting. It was basically a general statement on the differences. However, it was actually written by a guy named Brown. So, even after we paraphrase it, we would still need to make the reference to the original author.

The problem that I have with this is that the given paragraph was that it was a pretty general statement. If someone had asked me what is the difference between outsourcing and contracting, I would have answered in my own words something quite similar to what was given. Yet, if I have not read Brown's work and hence did not think of making the reference to his work, I would have been considered to have plagiarise his work. I think it is just absurd.

A penny saved, is a penny earned

One of the major changes that I had to make when coming here is on my spending. I wouldn't consider myself a shopaholic nor am I a big spender. But I do like to buy good stuffs, choose brands that I'm comfortable with even if there are cheaper ones on the shelves. And I really like to spend on good foodstuffs and good restaurants. With my previous salary, I can still indulge in this. But now, with just 200pound per month, I have to really watch what I spend on. Now, it's all about finding the cheapest one for everything, regardless of the brands. I would even browse through a few shops before doing the actual purchase to make sure that I'm getting the best deal for the item. Eating out is such a luxury now. Even for a cup of coffee. So far, I've only eaten out once, and I felt like I'm paying through my nose for it, heh. I guess maybe because in this early days, there are just so many things that you need to buy and you feel that you've been spending a lot. Maybe later once I'm more settled, I can relax a bit on this.

Raya Di Perantauan

Raya this year was almost an uneventful day for me. We called up my sister on Monday night and asked her whether raya ke tak on 30th. She said the masjid that they followed said it will be on 1st. So my parents and I still woke up for sahur on Tueday morning, and still performed our fasting on that day. But later in the morning, I went over to the university for my course briefing, and there I saw one Arab lady in tudung was drinking coffee. And she told me that the mosque in Lancaster had already declared Hari Raya the night before and they even had the solat sunat Aidilfitri at the mosque that morning. I was at first hesitant to break my fast, wasn't sure which to follow. But in the end, since I am going to stay and follow the mosque here, I decided that I should Raya on that day as well. Just as I was about to open my fast, I got a text msg from J, ucap selamat hari raya hehe...I felt like you could read my mind then dear. Scary :p hehe.

Diana pulak, met a Malaysian, Kak Rina when she did her library card registration in the morning. Kak Rina also told Diana that it is already Raya and that some of the seniors are doing Open House that day. So that evening, after all our briefings, Diana and myself decided to just go over to the Open House and introduce ourselves. For our bravery, we get to eat Soto and lontong that day hehe...

And that was our Raya day. Alhamdulillah, though I didn't get to Raya in my hometown this year, I still get to spend the Raya morning with my parents. And for that, it is still a great Raya for me.

First day back to School

I am finally here. Wow. After all these years of thinking, planning and talking about doing my masters in UK, I am finally here. Alhamdulillah. Thank you God for this treasured opportunity, and help me make the most of my time here for me to be a better person in all aspects. Ameen.

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It is my first day of registration today. With the registration, i get my library card (which essentially is the student ID card), my Lancaster email, my library login id, but most importantly my network ID, yeayy!! Hence, I am now able to have internet connection everywhere I go, including from my own sweet room.

There are about 60 students in my course coming from all parts of the world. It is truly a united nations here. The highest are from India, about 20 of them, next is Greece about 10, 8 from Britain, and others are from Nigeria, Cameroon, Panama, Mexico and Cyprus. There's only 2 from Malaysia, myself and Diana, my now partner in crime hehe...some of them are doing their masters straight from their degree, while most have some work experience. Most of them have quite impressive background, working for consulting firms like Accenture, PwC and Infosys. Some even have their own companies. It will be interesting indeed working with these diversed group of people.

I hope I am going to enjoy the studying environment here. Most importantly, I hope I can cope with all the works given. All the lecturers that we have seen so far keep saying that it is going to be hectic. Hopefully, I'll still have the time to blog. :)

Am here...well not quite yet

After two months of hectic activities, doing all the necesary preparations to come to UK, I am finally here. Alhamdulillah. I am now at my sis place in Oxford, spending the week here with my parents before going over to Lancaster this Sunday to start my new life as a student.