Road to PhD

Alhamdulillah, after series of checking on the application status, I finally am accepted to be a PhD student in Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), my alma mater where I used to pursue my postgrad years as a Master student. This time around I will officially register on September 6, 2017 for PhD in Biology programme. Now I will spend approximately 3 years of my life more in Bumi Suloh Budiman. Couldn't wait for it!

Frankly speaking, I wish to further my study abroad. Initially my dream was to further my study at University of Northern Colorado in PhD of Biological Education but it seemed quite impossible as I am racing with my time. It is the matter between these two, to hold on and wait for future overseas chances or finish this up as quickly as possible. So, I decided to put the first thought aside and pursue with the second one. Now, it does not matter where I study, as long as I have the patience and perseverance to complete this winding journey full of obstacles and hindrance. 

But still, I am proud to be homegrown. With the advancement of technology and globalised sources of information, it seems like there are no big difference between studying locally and abroad as we still can access to the same knowledge and information. Thanks to the internet. So those who do not have the opportunity to further your study abroad, be proud that we are HOMEGROWN. PhD life, here I come. | ͰM

Cycling in Putrajaya

This time I had a chance to bring my bestie aka lab partner, Timah to roam around the administrative capital city, Putrajaya on the bicycle. We started our cycling at 6.15pm, which was quite late and ended up right after the Maghrib call of prayer. So, not so much places were covered this time where we were only managed to cycle around the grand Putrajaya Boulevard. Nevertheless, cycling on with this not-so-fit body was quite a challenge, especially when ascending and descending to and from the park next to the Jeti Putra. Thought I had enough cardio covered for a month with that. Still, there are lots of places that I need to explore in the next cycling trip. Couldn't wait for that! | ͰM

KL Car Free Morning

Today, I am so excited. I literally had a great time at KL Car Free Morning. It was my first time being here and what I can say about this event was SUPERBLY AWESOMEE!

I wished to come to this event since last year but usually, those whom I invited cancelled at the eleventh hour. So this time I planned on going there, by hook or by crook. No more relying on others and I should start going on my own.

At first, Miss Nethia was the only person who interested in joining me. Then, unexpectedly two of my other colleagues interested in joining as well. The more the merrier. So we decided to carpool there.

We met at around 6.15 at the Petronas Station before going straight to the Asia Jaya. Unfortunately, I missed the station and turn out parking at the University of Malaya's mosque. (Do not park here though because it is restricted for the congregations). We waited there for Nethia to pick us up.

Supposedly we should be there at 7.00 am but we were about 30 minutes late. At that moment I was thinking of 'okay, another disastrous moment', 'no bikes left' and 'just walk or jog around KL, great!'. This is because the earlier night before I had read a blog post about KL Car Free Morning where some of the bloggers came as early as 6.00 am just to grab the 100 free bicycles. Great..

Soon when we reached the Dataran Merdeka, I was so relieved to see there were some bikes left for us. So we decided to rent three bikes, a big-tire-off-road bike for Nethia, a tandem bike for Ruzanna and Nakiah, and a mountain bike for me. It was then at the starting line that we realised there were still so many free bikes available at the OCBC tents. What a waste!

After about one hour cycling and taking photos along the 7 km route, we finally reached the finishing line. I love to see how people were having a great time on the road cycling, rollerblading, skateboarding, hoverboarding and jogging.

What makes it even nicer was when we see the DBKL band marching on the road. The great morning view of the city and the sound of music echoed through the buildings on the roadside enliven the event. Everything there surely made me happy. It somehow recalled the fond memories of my childhood, cycling around the village with my silver bike.

I absolutely would suggest to everyone who lives in the vicinity of KL to come and join this great event. This perhaps would be the best weekend activity with family and friend, rather than lepaking at the boring shopping mall. | ͰM