That's it!

Alhamdulillah, finally, everything is over now. A small step that I took 2 years ago to start a 'one million miles journey' in pursuing my dream has come to the end yesterday when I sat for my last exam paper. But of course, I can't say that it is really over until I get my result which will be somewhere in June or July. My quite bad experience in viva has caused my confidence to shatter. Well, I can just tawakkal to Allah for I know that He knows.....

Memories that I will cherish:

The four of us- Syikin, Azlan, Kumar and me. We are from the same workplace, decided to undertake the journey together and we 'swam and sank' together in our studies. Syikin gave birth to her third child 3 days before the final exam. Luckily, she still had the strength to come and sit for the exam and viva.


Two of my closest friends there- Kak Shahid and Chinda. Kak Shahid, a sweet, funny and caring friend and sister, was my senior when I did my degree in UKM but we have never talked to each other until we met in USM. Chinda is such a wonderful lady with a very contagious smile and sisterly style. Keep in touch ya!

Final preparation before entering the exam hall.

My assignment spot:

Empty tutorial room in my college. I would go there when the library was closed.

Discussion room 9 in the library. My students knew I would be here if they could not find me in my office.

The two extremely heavy bags that I always carried and caused me to get backache. Plus, the laptop bag which is not here in the pic!

The dining table in my house which was automatically converted to study table.

So, that's it. Now, I don't have to worry about going to night classes and lecture, finishing the assignments, preparing for the presentation and attending the exam. But no matter what, I do appreciate the moment and experience that I gained from being a Master's student. It is priceless and definitely has moulded me to be a better person in its own way.

Almond Butter Cake

Baking is addictive, betul tak? Disebabkan tu lah, walaupun hari ni saya tgh busy dgn preparation utk exam, saya ttp rasa 'gatal tangan' je nak bake sesuatu. Oven tu seakan-akan melambai-lambai kat saya minta digunakan. Check dlm fridge, hanya bahan2 basic saja yg ada, mula2 ingat nak bake super moist eggless choc cake tp kesian pula kat Mama saya yg tak gemar dgn apa jua jenis choc cake ni (cepat muak katanya). So, saya pun buatlah kek kegemaran Mama, butter cake tp saya modify sikit resepi asal yg kawan Mama berikan tu. Jadilah ia Almond Butter Cake. Yg bestnya kek ni senang utk dicari bahannya dan senang juga utk menyediakannya. And the taste is,hmmmmm.....mmg sedap sangat (to my taste lah). Kalau ada yg nak try, saya letakkan resepinya kat sini ya. Bukannya saya nak jadikan blog saya ni blog masakan tp saya rasa this recipe is worth sharing. Setiap kali dibuat dan dijamu pd org, mesti org akan cakap sedap dan minta resepinya.

Almond Butter Cake
250 gm butter
2 cawan tepung superfine (tepung gandum pun boleh)
1 cawan gula kastor
4 biji telur
1 sudu kecil essen vanilla
1 sudu kecil baking powder
1/4 cawan susu cair
1/2 cawan almond nibs

Pukul butter dan gula sehingga kembang dan putih. Masukkan telur satu persatu. Pukul sebati. Masukkan tepung yg telah diayak bersama baking powder. Kacau secara kaup balik. Masukkan susu cair dan esen vanilla. Kacau rata dan sebati.
Masukkan ke dlm dulang pembakar. Tabur almond nibs ke atasnya. Bakar selama lebih krg 35-40 minutes.


Seperti biasa, gambar yg tak cantik dan tak clear ni membuatkan kek ni nampak mcm tak sedap je kan. Tp rupa sebenarnya sgt gebu dan moist. (Agak2nya bila lah saya nak dapat hadiah Blackberry torch dari My Darling tu ya, bolehlah saya ambil gambar2 yg clear dan cantik sikit, hehehe).

Nervous.....

Semakin dekat tarikh tu, semakin berdebar-debar rasanya hati. 3 more days to go for the 3 stressful, fearful and eventful days.

"Ya Allah Ya Tuhanku, bantulah hambaMu ini menghadapi peperiksaan dan pembentangan ini dengan hati yg tenang dan terang. Mudahkanlah segalanya untukku dan smg kejayaan yg cemerlang akan menjadi milikku".

Wildan & Colouring Contest

Hari Ahad yg lepas, Wildan join colouring contest yg diadakan di Tapak Ekspo Seberang Jaya. Hampir kesemua students di Tadika Perintis Kecil join contest ni. Dari awal lagi, dia punyalah excited nak join dan dia mmg confident habis yg dia akan menang. Takut pula saya dgr sbb tak tahu nak pujuk dia mcm mana kalau perkara yg sebaliknya berlaku.


Wildan begitu bersungguh-sungguh dan tekun mewarna. Alhamdulillah, saya bersyukur dgn semangat dan kesungguhan yg dia ada.

Wildan, Wafriy dan Wafi (anak Kak Yati) semasa menunggu keputusan diumumkan.

Wafriy sedih tak dapat join sama. Takpa ya sayang, next year Wafriy masuk tadika, bolehlah join juga.
Habis je event tu, bawa anak2 gi lunch kat KFC, Tesco Seberang Jaya. Wildan kalau makan fast food mmg tak toleh kiri kanan dah.

Kebetulan terjumpa dgn semua teacher Tadika Perintis Kecil kat Food Court tu.

Ni lukisan yg Wildan colour. Ok lah kan, Ahamdulillah, Wildan dpt hadiah saguhati. Another important lesson to be learned by him, we cannot be winners all the time in life. Sedih juga bila dia tanya, "Wildan tak menang ke Ibu?". So, saya cakap ni pun kira menang juga, Wildan kena bersyukur and you can always try again next time. Syukurlah, dia kembali happy selepas tu.

Ni hadiah yang Wildan dapat. Folder, buku, set menulis dan juga mewarna.

No matter what my dear, Ibu is always proud of you and I will always love you with all my heart and soul.

Exam Blues

credit to Google

10 more days before my final exam and VIVA (thesis presentation). The stress is greatly felt now as these three days (26, 27,28 April 2011) will determine my fate in this strenuous yet sweet endeavor. Due to this, I need to get back to my routines which I have temporarily stopped once I submitted my thesis that day. Pity my sons as they really hate to see me doing my work or revision at the table, which means I cant play or entertain them anymore.

Again and again, may Allah help me in making everything smooth, safe and easy. May I pass all the papers with flying colours and may the results bring a huge smile on my face and in my heart. Ameen.

Wish me luck, ok.

Super Moist Eggless Chocolate Cake

Kelmarin ketika melawat blog Kak Yatie di Sinar Kehidupan, saya terus terjatuh cinta dgn resepi ni. Sepanjang hari asyik teringat saja sbb nampak begitu sedap dan senang pula nak membuatnya. So, sebaik saja selesai solat Isyak, saya pun mulakan operasi membuat kek ni. Bapa mertua saya pun hairan tgk menantu dia ni rajin terlebih buat kek malam2.
Memang senang sungguh buat kek ni. Sambil sembang2 dgn bapa mertua, dah siap pun adunan kek ni. Dan hasilnya...walllah, sedapnya. Mmg moist sgt2 dan rasanya pun tidaklah semanis kek coklat yg lain. Wildan pun suka juga, habis 2 slices dia makan semalam.

Hari ni saya bawa ke office utk di share bersama kawan2. Hampir kesemua kawan2 cakap sedap, superlicious dan sebagainya. Nasib baik saya dah save resepi ni kat PC office, so saya print kan sajalah kat kawan2 yg minta resepi tu. Tq ya kepada yg mencipta resepi yg sedap dan mudah ni. Kalaulah saya ni slim dan takda problem dgn berat badan, sure saya buat kek ni selalu, hehe.

Just as a reminder

JUST TO REMIND EACH OTHER

Answer the phone by LEFT ear

Do not take pills with COOL water

Do not have HUGE meals after 5pm

Reduce the amount of TEA you consume

Reduce the amount of OILY food you consume

Drink more WATER in the morning, less at night

Keep your distance from hand phone CHARGERS

Do not use headphones/earphone for LONG period of time

Best sleeping time is from 10pm at night to 6am in the morning

Do not lie down immediately after taking medicine before sleeping

When battery is down to the LAST grid/bar, do not answer the phone as the radiation is 1000 times higher

My Newly Found Love

Since my husband bought me a new oven, baking has been my newly found passion. It helps me to unwind and the satisfaction that I feel once I have finished baking and looking at people enjoying my cakes are indescribable. So, no matter how busy I am, I will always find way to bake something during weekend. Below are some pictures of cakes and pastries which I have baked. They do not look as tempting as other pictures at other blogs but layan je lah....

My mom's favourite- traditional butter cake.

Cheese cake- I baked this for my hubby's birthday.

Classic cheese cake- I think this is the best recipe for cheese cake that I have. I got the recipe from Kak Nita. The whole family and friends love it so much.

Chocolate cake. This is the only cake that my fussy boy, Wildan likes.

Carrot cake. A very healthy recipe since it uses canola oil, omega egg and brown sugar.

Puff pastry. I have been doing a lot of this for breakfast with different fillings. My hubby's favourite.

Chocolate and almond brownies. The almond was not finely scattered. A work of an amateur.

I love this. Chocolate cheese cake which I got the recipe from Kak Yatie @ Sinar Kehidupan. Marvelous!

Blueberry butter cheese cupcakes. I baked this last Saturday to take to my auntie's and sister-in-law's house. The recipe is also from Kak Yatie@ Sinar Kehidupan. My sister-in-law texted me last night, saying that the cakes are so delicious and please bake more for them. Hehe...

I will bake more and more after this. In fact, I have promised my husband that I will bake my own raya cookies this year. He just gave me a cynical smile. Well, let's see ok.

Alhamdulillah....

Alhamdulillah, syukur byk2 kpd Allah. Akhirnya siap juga thesis saya dan telah pun saya submit pada hari Isnin yg lepas. Malam sebelum submit thesis tu, saya tidur hampir pukul 4 pagi utk final editing , printing, sorting dan siapkan mana2 yg perlu. Terima kasih byk2 kepada suami saya yg turut berjaga bersama-sama menemani saya dan banyak membantu dari pelbagai aspek di saat-saat critical tu. Terima kasih juga kpd mama saya yg tolong menjaga anak-anak dan memudahkan urusan saya. Di bawah ni sekadar berkongsi acknowledgement yg saya masukkan di first page thesis saya.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the name of Allah, the Almighty and Most Merciful. My endless gratitude and thankfulness to Him for all His grace and blessings in making my effort to complete this dissertation possible despite all the challenges and obstacles that I had encountered.

My gratitude goes to my supervisor, Dr Najeemah Mohd Yusof for her kindness and understanding in guiding me throughout the process of completing this thesis. Not forgetting my PLG 501 lecturer, Dr. Zarina Mustafa, who has kindly guided me in understanding research procedures better.

My deepest gratefulness to my dearly loved husband, Norrizal Abdul Razak, who is always there to love, help, support and pray unconditionally in every effort and struggle that I take. Your blessings and understanding mean the whole world to me.

My special appreciation to my beloved Mama and Ba for their never ending prayers, love and encouragement. Not forgetting both my dearest Arwah Ba and Arwah Mak for I believe their love and prayers are still here with me though they are no longer around to cherish my success.

To my darling gorgeous sons, Wildan and Wafriy, to whom this dissertation is dedicated to, my deepest gratitude and thankfulness for your sweet sacrifice and thank you for giving me the insurmountable strength to complete this battle. May this inspire both of you to soar up high to achieve your dreams in future.

My special thanks also go to my dear siblings, in-laws and family for their generous moral support, love and prayers.

Not forgetting all my friends, colleagues and course mates especially Shikin, Azlan and Kumar who have made my journey as a student more meaningful and joyful.

I am indebted to all of you for the rest of my life. May Allah bless us all here and in the hereafter. Ameen.

Bagi saya, saya dah mencuba dan memberi yg terbaik utk thesis ni. Bukan sedikit pengorbanan yg saya lakukan, bukan sedikit masa bersama suami dan anak-anak saya yg telah saya 'curi', bukan sedikit dugaan yg perlu saya lalui, kini saya berserah dan bertawakkal kpd Allah.

Sekarang ni saya cuma menantikan tarikh 26, 27 dan 28 April utk final exam dan juga VIVA (thesis presentation) sebelum berakhirnya perjuangan sementara saya ini. Smg Allah terus memudahkan segala urusan dan perjuangan saya. Ameen...