Change in Plan/ Kelantanese road scenario

Looks like my plans to go to Melaka has been cancelled due to the weather. At the same time, it's a blessing in disguise that I can help to drive my dad to the hospital for his eye procedure. So I'll be heading to KL on Friday night, reaching at the house in Taman Melawati by Saturday morning, just in time to go to the Pasar Tani. I really miss going to the pasar tani so much, I can't wait to buy my breakfast there. Hehe...

Anyway, I just wanna let out my anger toward the drivers here in Kelantan. I mean I really hate the fact that some drivers out there would drive the car as if they're members of the royal family. One guy had the nerve to stare at me for not giving way to him. Yeah, like blame me for being civilized and obeying the rules because the jerk happened to drive the very side of the road and didn't even bother to give signal. I'm only courteous towards drivers who can drive with good etiquettes. Some people are just so rude and selfish when it comes to driving. Then again, at least they don't pose as much danger as compared to the 'mat & minah rempit'. I wish there would be harsher punishments to curb this menace and teach a huge lessons toward these motorcyclists.

MLYSN

Early this morning I wanted to look for the results of the Royal Debate 2007 since the UMT only let us to stay at the UiTM Shah Alam campus until 2pm. So as I typed in the search engine, it brought my attention to a website I've never heard of until at 8am. I stumbled on the MLYSN Debate Magazine website as a sweet mistake because I only wanted to know what was the outcome of the Royal Debate 2007 finals for all languages (Arabic, English and Bahasa Malaysia) and categories (Senior and Junior).

The MLYSN Debate Magazine was recently created as a periodic reading material for the upcoming CIMB Group World Universities Peace Invitational Debate (WUPID) that is to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The MLYSN highlights on the different viewpoints of individuals who are actively or directly linked with the debate community and professionals dealing with oral communication. In addtion, the MLYSN will provide information that concerns about debate in Malaysia and globally, and the issues that will be note worthy to read. Soon to be distributed in the upcoming CIMB Group WUPID with their very first issue (15th December, 2007), MLYSN will also be handed out among the schools and universities in the Klang Valley. MLYSN website is currenly managed by Muhammad Yunus, an UPM graduate who has many years of experiences in debate and also the Co-Founder & Managing Director at H&G Strategic Communications Sdn Bhd.

I truly recommend other debaters to make a habit of visiting the MLYSN website as it is very resourceful in providing links to other debate websites. I look forward to the development of MLYSN and hope that all institution would subscribe to this periodical to promote debate, create awareness and spark interest in the fine art of oral communication.

Hear. Hear.

The front cover of the MLYSN magazine.

Royals pics

To whoever that wish to view more of the pics from the Royal Debate, just click on http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9530&id=514870689 for more snap shots.

(^_^)v

dedication...

To my fellow debate team-mates, lil' juniors and honourable judge Gary, I dedicate this post to you all........

Berry, thanks for the memories that we both had on Wednesday. I didn't expect that you would accompany and make my day better as to not leave me alone. Hehe.. The dinner treat, tagging along with me to the TwinHead office, holding on to the bus tickets, thanks a billion girl.

(^_^)v

:Sabby (left side): :Berry (right side):

Sabby, I'm so sorrie if I ever leave ya out. Don't forget that I'm always gonna be your Doraemon. Hehe.. Then again, you were so mean having to pull that trick on me. *Phew* It's a good thing there was no marker stains on my face. I can't believe I fell for it.

;P

Hanu, girl you were good and thanks again for coming along. I'm glad that ya did the right choice to come along and thanks again for your fashion advice. Although there were a few disappointments that we find it hard to accept, well at least we all had a great fun.

:D

Manu, I hope you'll stick with the debate until you finish your course. You still have a lot of potential to be an influential speaker because your tone is soothing that I'm sure kids would love to hear stories from you. I'm sorrie we couldn't get ya the sandals. Don't ever give up.

=)

Pahsia, now aren't ya glad that you joined us with the Royals? If not, you wouldn't have met so much of your friends from old times, right? Hehe.. Many thanks for your help with the Junior team, and I do hope that you'll one day debate as well.

;>

Wan, now you're the man! Why lah do you have to be so shy, huh? Just ask for her number lah. Hehe.. I feel so sorrie that your bed was "ANALyzed" by Gary the other night and that made your bed to fall down. Haha.. Keep it up Wan, and all the best.

(",)

Aizat, you better be lucky that ya got the censored version of my backdoor greeting. Hehe.. Wei, so sorrie for the times I ever offend ya, it's just that I treat ya like a lil' bro who needs much of my guidance. Keep working on your reBUTTals dude.

=]

Gary, thanks for the times you helped out to tutor the juniors. I think ya did a better job than me in explaining to them about debate. Too bad we didn't get to boogie down at any clubs. Then again, we can always take the time to do ANALyze and give reBUTTals. Hehe..

xD

Royal Debate 2007

Damn, it's been almost 3 months since I last blog here. Well sorrie for not keeping up to date due to the hectic schedule that I was suddenly dumped with. In addition, I was unfortunate that my faithful laptop, DurBy, was malfunction since then. However, that's all changed and things are looking good... :D

Just previously, I participated in the Royal Debate tournament that was held at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam. It involves only with all of the public universities throughout Malaysia, and students would debate in either of the three languages: English, Bahasa Malaysia, or Arabic. Of course I opt for the english debate since that's the only language I would be more confident to speak. Anyway, UMT sent two teams for english: 1 senior and 1 junior team. The Junior team compromises of 1st year students: Aizat (1st Speaker), Manu (2nd Speaker), Wan (3rd Speaker) and Pahsia (Researcher). As for the Senior team compromises of 3rd year students: Me (1st Speaker), Sabby (2nd Speaker), Hanushia (2nd and 3rd Speaker) and Berry (3rd Speaker). Hanu debated once as the 2nd speaker and twice as the 3rd speaker. The UMT also sent 3 teams for the Bahasa Malaysia debate, but I'm not sure who's who in which team. Although I do know about Uzair and Kama, since both are my coursemates (yeah marine biology rocks!).

Overall, I wasn't satisfied with the 2007 Royals because it wasn't properly handled as compared to the 2005 Royals in UKM. Not to mention, UKM really made the event much enjoyable. The only thing I did like about what the UiTM have done is just the t-shirt they managed to produce. Other than that, I sure had a lot of fun memories from discussing about the physics of the human body with the UTM boys to the disapproval of the loss that the UM judge gave us over the motion "This House Believes That Genetic Modified Food is the Answer to Global Food Crisis". For goodness sake, there's no such thing as GM food to be much costlier than organic food.

Here's a short photo essay for y'all to enjoy:

The BM debaters practising by having a mock debate. I forgot what was the issue they were debating at the time.

That's Uzair, the man in charge of handling the BM debate and training the BM debaters. I wish I could understand what's he saying most of the time. Hehe..

On the way to UiTM Shah Alam, as ya can see there are those who are enjoying the time by having a good chit chat.

Here's a good junior debater at work, James, just busy looking for casefacts. :P

Of course other than chit chatting, there are those who would doze off and sleep in the comfort of the new bus such as here with Kama and Erni.

The new UMT bus that dropped us off at UiTM Shah Alam and picked us up from there to UMT. The bus and the driver should have been there with us throughout the whole time.

Despite our bad performances, I'm sure that everyone learned an invaluable experience that we will never forget. I do hope the juniors will take this oppurtunity to promote more on debate at UMT and that this would act as a catalyst to spark more interest toward the future students at UMT. With that Dear Speaker, I finish this blog by bid you a pleasant thank you.

aaahhhhhhhh.. ^_^

It sure has been 2 crazy weeks since I last blog. The last time was about the soft-shell turtle that I helped Prof Chan to excavate and wash up the bones. Then last week from Thursday (23rd August) to Sunday (26th August), I took part in being the exhibitioner during the Convocation at the campus. Since I was doing my final year project (that's my thesis for those who are from out of Malaysia) on marine turtles, of course I would definitely have to help out Prof Chan in attending the Sea Turtle Research Unit (SEATRU) booth. At first, I only did it because I felt like I had nothing much to do. Then afterwards, it was fun having to answer all the questions the visitors kept asking. I was there only to educate the people about the sea turtle conservation that University of Malaysia, Terengganu (UMT) does. Prof Chan was more than pleased that I was able to attend the booth because I told her that I do not feel comfortable having to leave the preserved hatchlings unattended.

I mean of course it does look cool, but anyone can easily steal it and keep it for themselves. Leatherbacks are no longer to be seen in Malaysia, so of course anyone would love to keep a preserved hatchling. Anyway...

Then a few days back, I got busy with my proposal report for my Final Year Project. Owh yeah, my final year project is titled:

"An analysis on hatched hawksbill turtle nests incubated under hatchery conditions in Padang Kemunting, Melaka".

So exactly what does that mean? Well, my final year project focus on the conditions of the eggs of those that have been hatched and unhatch. I will be highlighting what are the causes why some hawksbill turtle do not hatch, and what are the ways to improve the hatching success. So overall, my research will help a lot to understand on hatchery management as to how to run the hatchery efficiently with high hatching success with the hawksbill turtle nest.

Well speaking of hatchery, guess what? I got a job offer!! I was so suprised about it that I was like in a state of shock when I had the conversation with that lady on the phone. Well the job offer was given to me through one of my professors, because she knew that I was the right person for the job. The job offer is having to be hatchery manager at the sea turtle hatchery in the east coast. I can't reveal all yet, but this is as much I can say for now. I'll keep up to date with more info later.

Okie lah, I guess I better go to sleep. I'll be picking Chin up from the airport by 8am. Life sure is sweet once again..... ^_^

dug up the grave...

Today was just another ordinary day, except for some reason I did felt poetic. I end up typing sweet sms to her bcuz yeah, I missed her and of course I was thinking a lot about her. Damn, I wish I could recall what I typed in the sms though. Hehe... Yeah, back to the story...

For the lab we had today for our Marine Biodiversity and Conservation class, we had to do a beach cleanup. Of course I knew what to expect since I did like a few already. However, Prof. Chan, who is the lecturer for the class and also happens to be my supervisor for my final year project, asked me to recall the spot where we had buried the soft-shell turtle back in January.

It was really an amazing day to find a dead body of an animal that once thought to be extinct in Malaysia. The body of the soft-shell turtle was washed on the beach, and I remember going there with Azri, Pian, and Fidzam to have a look at the body. We buried it after taking the length and width of the the poor animal. So 7 months later, Prof Chan decided to excavate the body to collect the skeletons. It took a while to find the spot where the soft-shell turtle was buried because somehow the sticks we used to mark the grave was removed. We dug at 4 different places, but we found the soft-shell turtle on the 2nd spot. It was that I didn't buried the hole deep enough to find the bag that contained the turtle. We dug out, and Prof Chan asked to washed the skeleton from the remaining of the decayed body. It sure was a freaking and messy job. My first reaction was EEEWWWWWWWWWW!!!! What shocked me was that not even the lab assistant was willing to help to clean the skeletal remains. So yeah, I volunteered for the job because somehow, it was an interesting thought to having found a very rare animal. So I did the whole dirty job, and of course got the higher respect from Prof Chan. Soon enough, we'll have to clean the skeletal remains furthermore and then to assemble it. I can't wait to do that part, as in the assembling lah. :P

I miss her...

It's almost 2 months since I last update my blog. I guess I haven't done so due to the amount of work and the longer duration of rests I'm having. Either that, or I just feel like I got nothing to blog at all. So does it mean I got something to blabber about today? Hell yeah....

Each time I look myself at the mirror, I do feel like I'm a hypocrite. I don't seem to learn the lessons that I advised to others or when I know that I ought to do so. I do want to be a better person, but I hate it when life just isn't going my way. Then again, we can't just have it all in life. I wish I could have her to be happy, but after how I behave, I guess I don't deserve her at all. I really do miss the happy times that I shared with her, especially when I'm next to her. Waking up this morning brought me back to the nightmare I'm still in. Yeah, I really do miss when I could smile just waking up to each morning. I'll never forget the moments that I did had with her, and for now, life will just go on.

On the other hand, I'm sorta relieved that my proposal presentation went real smooth. So now, I just gotta finish up with the proposal report, and keep myself busy with other things in life.

be patient for she's gone

This morning, a turtle came up to lay her nest at a few minutes before the rain poured in. At the time she was laying her eggs, the weather was still OK. As soon she closed her nest, the rain poured, but luckily we managed to place in all the eggs just in time. The boatman whose job was to deliver and fetch us from the island was in such a rush that he started yelling when giving out the orders. It got me a bit frustrated because the three other people who went along with me were girls and of course they're packing their things up as fast as they can. He kept yelling to hurry up, and I was about to blurt out to him, "Be patient!" Right at that moment, those words really strike me.

The past two days, I've been so feeling so depressed with the heartaches and the headaches that I've been getting over here in Malacca. The one person I really wish I could talk to was no more to be contact. This time, I really closed the book of the true love I once shared with her. Of course I still love her, but I know I'm nowhere in her heart now. For me, I believe that I don't have to be with her just to love her with all my heart. What matters the most is her happiness, and I'm glad that she has found what she has been seeking for in life. For now, I would definitely pray hard for her and hope that she would live her life to the fullest. As for me, patient is what I should be and hope for the best that I wish for all.

The Courteous Ride

Thanks to everyone who has been supportive of me to cheer up my woes, and yeah, I do feel much better. Moments like these, it's good to know there are family members and close friends to count on. Anyhow, I don't wanna blog too much, but I just wanna showcase the article I did for R.AGE @ The Star newspaper online website. I just hope it gets printed.

Title: Courteous Ride

Commuter train has been proved to be convenient to people and one of the ways to help reduce traffic on the road. For those who often take this public transport, here’s something to be on the lookout: impatient and selfish passengers.

Ever notice when the doors are about to open, both people waiting outside and inside are ready to rush through? This is mostly seen as people have the tendency to quicken their time spent on the journey. In effect, people then fight for the space inside the train and to exit the station quickly. Sadly as in seems, not many people practice the habit of patience as one of their virtues.

Other than being generous, passengers should be considerate among themselves that most people are in a rush to reach their destination. In having to do so, by letting those waiting inside the train to exit first, people on both sides would not treat each other as hassle. This is mainly because of the fact that letting passengers to come out first would prove to be more efficient and time-saving as compared to having people rushing to leave and enter the train at the same time.

Other than the trouble with the doors, is it often to see people giving up their seats to those who are in more in need? Or even for a kind gentleman to let a lady to take his seat? Doubtful as it may seem, a selfish passenger would not think for a moment to do so. To avoid this, the person would go into slumber and pretend not to wake up until they are about to reach their destination.

Take a ride in any train, definitely there will be a displayed message insisting others to give up their seats to the following people: an elderly, a handicapped, and a pregnant mother. Then younger generation should show respects to their elders and remember that an elderly person have a weaker body especially for women. As for those who are handicapped, both mentally and physically, should have the benefit of having the seat as they are less fortunate with their state of body. Obviously, a mother who is pregnant with her baby should have the priority to have the seat since it is quite stressful to their body when standing. Lastly, men should behave kindly to the ladies that by giving their seats to them would show a sign of respect to one another.

There etiquettes in everything we do, and this include when taking the commuter train. Be patient when boarding onto the train, and be considerate to others who deserve to have the seat. The year 2007 is special to Malaysia for the unique celebration of 50 years of independence, which the government has urged their people to be more courteous and friendly. Passengers ought to remember this as soon they step into the train station.

Stupid me....

Damn.. I dunno what's seem to be wrong with me, I feel like I need to get whack on the head big time. I mean a cute chick came up to me in KLCC when I was heading off to Aquaria. So cute that I just couldn't stop admiring her beauty. She came up to me hoping to seek a charitable donation for this ngo. However, unlucky as I was, I couldn't help her out because my wallet was totally empty. :( The one time that I had the chance to enjoy my life, yet I just couldn't do so. Maybe this is a sign that I need to keep holding on to what my heart wants.

Have a break.. Head to KL...

I'm currently in KL now, and the house is partially clean. As always, I had expected the house was going to be a mess since the evil twin rarely cleans the house. The bathroom stinks, but at least there's cold water to drink in the fridge. I managed to reach from Melaka to KL in less than 2 hours. So yeah, I did speed like hell because I just wanna rush to the house and enjoy the comfort of the home. Dunno what's the plan for tomorrow, but for now, it's time to SLEEP!! :P

Week 8

Seven weeks has passed since I first came to this field house, and again, it surely has been fun. Not too much on the work though, so no stress there. Yet at the same time, I do feel bit down lately. I'm so confused and puzzled of what my heart wants, that at times make me wanna change my future plans. I do hope to go further than achieving a PhD., but only Allah knows. There is one thing I wish I could have right now, but not all wishes do come true. *sigh* There's a saying that if you really want it, just go for it. Due to some circumstances, I doubt I can go for it. It'll be just too troublesome. I'm sorry that I can't say any further details because I don't want to state what's exactly is my problem, but I just wanna let out a bit. Anyhow, I just hope I can get out of the low mood that I'm in; but I'm still thankful for the things I have and the people that's still with me. ^_^

pinky

You Are a Pinky

You are fiercely independent, and possibly downright weird. A great communicator, you can get along with almost anyone. You are kind and sympathetic. You support all your friends - and love them for who they are. You get along well with: The Ring Finger Stay away from: The Thumb

What Finger Are You?

I'm a WHAT?! Pinky?! Owh well, in a way it's true as to what the description says. Hehehe.. :P

the air car?

Well 4 weeks have passed, which means I'm halfway through doing my internship with WWF-Malaysia. I never expect that it would be somewhat a bit laid back here, but at the same time, I didn't expect that I wouldn't be able to do anything about my final year project. *sigh* I was really hoping that I get to carry out the study on hawksbill turtle here. Just wait and see how the future holds. Speaking of which, I was stumbling through YouTube, and I watched this very interesting clip. I think it's the only answer to make people limit the use of petrol cars and of course, making the environment much cleaner. So have a look and see for yourself.....

Entering Week 4 of Internship..

Awwww... Look! Pictures of baby penyu that came out from their nest yesterday. Hehe.. Aren't they so cute? ^_^ Well it was just the 3 of them only, out of 124 eggs. I feel so sorry the rest lah... :(

Happy Mother's Day

Well I'm feeling much better than before, but I still got the light coughs and the running nose that's giving me the deep sexy voice. Hehehe... The night I went to the hospital, at first my blood pressure read 165 over 111. Now that's freaking high, because the normal range is 120 over 80. However, after I had another blood pressure measure taken, it read 135 over 75. Well I guess it's still OK considering my obesity. So yeah, no more fry cook meals. I really miss doing some steam cooking.

Anyway, today's Mother's Day, so don't forget to let your mummy know how much they mean to ya. I just hope my mum would talk to me for a while after that incident with the evil twin. That jerk really gets on my nerves and I pray to Allah may that guy get to see the light of his wrong-doing and the fact that he ought to apologize to my sister for being such a bad sibling. Anyhow, since today is Mother's Day, I wanna share with y'all this video from Happy Slip Productions. This Kristine gal is so good with her work, I'm not suprise if she's gonna be big in the future. I sure miss the the sweet life in Manila....

feeling sick.... :(

Great.. Now I'm feeling sick... I haven't been diagnosed yet, but I plan to go to the hospital later tonight.. I don't trust the rural clinics here because there's no doctor present there, but there are medical officers. I prefer to be treated from a person who carries the M.B.,B.S degree.
And Azri, I hope you'll get well soon buddy.

Pics taken so far...

Well it's been 2 weeks since I've done my internship with WWF-Malaysia in Malacca. So I'm just gonna post up some pics that I've taken so far. Just click on the picture if to view the actual size of the picture.

The folks over at WWF-Malaysia in Malacca:

Azri and me in the Pajero...

From left to right: Sel, See Liong, Arvind (Programme Trainee), Yaya, Kama, and Azri. We wanted to watch Spiderman 3, but unfortunately the tickets got sold out. So we all end up just enjoying the day having our brunch at McDonalds.
From left to right: Yaya, Ernest (Community Officer), Min Min (Project Team Leader). Min Min is our supervisor, and she's really fun to have an interesting chat with.That's Grace at the right side of the picture. She's also the Programme Trainee here at Malacca.

This is Shakira, the Pajero used by WWF-Malaysia in Malacca. How she got her name, I have no idea. Hehe..
Pics taken from Pulau Upeh:

Sign board at Pulau Upeh, and to me, it's the Spooky Island.

Whenever we spot a nest, we would immediately transfer the eggs from the original nest to this blue bucket. Then the eggs are carefully placed into the styrofoam box for incubation. At the same time, 10 samples of the eggs are measured in terms of their diameter and weight.At times, we also inspect the hawksbill turtle to see if there's any commensal species such as barnacles. In this one, this poor mother had a barnacle found on her face, but we managed to take it off.Below are two of my favorite pics of I've taken of the hawksbill turtle. Both are two different individuals.

time off...

Dang.. I almost got myself lost driving in Bandar Melaka just a while ago. Although, it was a good ride for me, better than having to finish dinner early and end up having a boring night. I wanted to go take Azri and Yaya for dinner at this food court where Azri and I ate for the first time since arriving in Melaka. Unfortunately, I missed a turn and instead got myself end up near to the A'Famosa Fort; which was kinda kewl because now I know the way to there. Hehe...

Well tonight I'm having the time off from going to Pulau Upeh since I've been there for 3 nights straight. See Liong has been enjoying his break too long, and finally I get to sleep in comfort where I don't have to worry about the sand flies. I recently have a new allergy now, which is sand flies bites. Comparing to everyone else, the bites I get from the sand flies tend to swell pretty bad after a day, and now my right arm looks like a map of the constellation of the stars. :P Owh well, the price to pay in the profession of conservation. Speaking of which....

Ever since I got here, I've had the chance to witness all of the nesting actitvities that has occured at Pulau Upeh. It's like I'm always there when the turtle is about to nest. As you can see on the picture below, this was taken precisely when the turtle was laying the egg. That's Yaya's

head and just busy watching the turtle laying her eggs. The eggs are collected from the nest and transfer into the styrofoam box that y'all can see on the left. Anyway, I would love to tell some more, but I'm gonna save that for next time. Plus, I'm so darn tired. Hehe.. Nite nite y'all! ^_^

After 1 week with WWF...

Well it's been a week since I did my internship with WWF in Melaka, and the experience so far has been truly rewarding. It's been part of my ambitions to be involve with a profession where I do get to aid those who are in need of assistance, whether in terms of conservation or conducting humanitarian aid.

So over here in Melaka, WWF is conducting one of their projects which focus on the hawksbill turtle and the painted terrapin. Their numbers are quite low, but through this project, WWF aims to boost the population and to let the government handle the situation when they are able to do so. Mainly my task as an intern is to assist with the WWF officers in conducting the beach patrol for turtle nesting at Upeh island, tagging the turtle is she has not been tagged, taking measurements on the mother turtle and her nest and eggs, transfering the eggs from the original nest to the nests at the hatchery, and also to give assistance at the field-house, which is also the office.

The best experience so far was last night when 3 turtles came to the island: one came in the early evening before sunset; while the other 2 nests at a time around 10:30pm to 12:30am. Unfortunately, we couldn't find the other 2 turtles, but the one I kept my eye one was tagged previously in a few weeks back. I monitored this one turtle at 10:40, and she laid her eggs about half an hour after digging her nest. By the time I start monitoring her, the weather was cloudy and it worsen through the time. Half an hour later, it rained quite hard and lightning was getting stronger. I stayed under the tree, trying not to get myself detected by the turtle. From 11:15 to 11:40, the lightning was so loud and scary that I swear I could feel the lightning getting close to hitting me. My supervisor asked me to abort the mission and return back to shelter at the island. While running, all I kept thinking of was my dear family of friends and of course, Rose. Thank God I'm still alive right now, but the whole adrenaline rush got into me that I couldn't sleep until 3:30am.

Well there's still more to come, and more for me to blog here. I hope I can make this blog as cool and as interesting as Chin's and Pian's blog. :)