September 18, 2012

Our first outing to Legoland MALAYSIA, Nusajaya

The crowd at the entrance

From my half day experience in Legoland..



Miniland







One of the cafes in Adventureland



Duplo Playtown @ Imagination


  • It IS a family theme park. 
  • Mostly suitable for kids between age 4 to 17.
  • The rides are not challenging enough for roller coaster’s die hard fans (if compared to Alton tower, USS or Disneyland)
  • Most of the rides for younger children require minimum height of 100cm. 
  • Better wait until 2013 where Legoland water theme park is due to open. More rides hence worth the ticket price (unless they increase the price). 
  • Children between age 6 to 15 years old would enjoy so much all the activities in here. 
  • It is very hot in Legoland since all the trees planted are still young. A friend of mine told me that the management is in the process to install misty fans. I hope this is true. 


Tips:


  1. After you pass through the entrance, you’ll be greeted by ‘The Beginning’, with Legoland merchandise store and The Cafe on your left, and mini market and reception on your right. Go to the left side of the park (to Lego Technic) if you are a family with older children (who would meet all the height requirements). Proceed to the right side of the park (to Lego City) if you come with younger children. 
  2. You’ll be amazed by the miniature of landmark buildings in Miniland, situated at the heart of Legoland, right after The Beginning. But you can always take picture later after you have completed all the rides. 
  3. Board Legoland Express first (at Legoland City) since even babies are allowed on this ride, if accompanied by adult of course. The train will take you around the park.
  4. Bring your children to Duplo Playtown (shaded area) in ‘Imagination’ if you are sick of queueing and just want to watch your children having fun by themselves (suitable for toddlers and preschoolers).
  5. You can find many activities that do not involve ride or roller coaster in Imagination land. 
  6. Baby care and prayer room are also located in this area. 
  7. Bring gigantic golf umbrella, drinking water, lots of tissue papers (or face towel because you’ll be sweating like hell), hats, and also don’t forget to put on sunblock with the highest spf that you have. 
  8. You can always rent a stroller or double stroller if you forgot to bring yours. 
  9. Well, of course the foods in Legoland are expensive, what do you expect? If you are short of cash, there is always Maybank ATM machine near the entrance.


I love MINILAND!!

March 02, 2012

Tips for A Research Student

Being a research student myself for almost 5 years, there are a few things that I'd like to share with you. Things that have helped me to survive the research world (as a student).  These are some of the important tips that I can remember. I may add some more tips in the future. Feel free to share it with your friends.


1. You need to have a log book to record every single research activity that you do everyday. If you are dealing with computer simulations/ experiments, make sure you write down in details all steps/procedures involved. You may think that it is okay if you don't write it down because you are pretty sure you can still remember the steps/techniques tomorrow, but trust me, you will find it very useful later especially when you go for holiday, all things that you remember about your research work will somehow evaporate into the air.

(Image Source: PhD Comics)


2. Same goes to your ideas. Jot it down as soon as you came across into it and it clicks into your mind. For instance if you suddenly got an idea on how to organise your thesis, or someone gave you an idea on your research, write it down immediately or else you'll forget about it. Hence, a note book is essential and you should bring it everywhere you go.

3. If your supervisor prefers that you work independently (Read: Less supervision), the first thing that you have to do is try to read as many as possible literature reviews on that particular topic. But you have to make sure that your supervisor agrees with the topic. Then, find a paper/papers (preferably journal paper with impact factor), try to duplicate the results from this paper. Learn about the methods proposed in the paper and from there you can expand and evolve the ideas and finally you will come out with something new/ improved method from the previous one. Working in your research group is another good way to do your research where you can exchange ideas with your colleagues.

4. As a research student you need to have the capability to work on your own. This means that no one will force you to do your research work, even your supervisor. For example if you are doing course work study (postgraduate study with examination), you will work extra hard during examination period because if you fail your test/exam, you will get bad result or you'll be expelled from the university. You are also required to do your assignment and submit it to your lecturer if you are a coursework student. But for research student, it is up to you whether you want to be a good student or a lazy student. Maybe you need to hand in some reports for your supervisor but your final result is whether you pass your viva or you fail it, and that will be about 2 or 3 years in time from the first day you registered. Therefore, self awareness is very important, meaning that if you value your money and your time, work hard from the beginning. Stay focus.

(Image source: PhD Comics)


5. Record all meetings that you have with your supervisor. Some important things that you need to write in your minutes of meeting are date, time and place, attendance (who else in the meeting), important topics discussed during meeting, and any resolutions agreed in the meeting. This is very important because firstly, by doing this it’ll remind you on what you have to do until the next meeting, and secondly  if something bad happen between you and your supervisor (hopefully not), then you have recorded it all. And oh one more thing, always always always bring something (Read: New results) when you want to meet your supervisor. Don't just attend the meeting for the sake of showing to your supervisor that you come to school everyday. Be prepared  before the meeting, and during the meeting bring your latest results so that you can discuss with your supervisor and get input from him/her.
(Image source: PhD Comics)


6. This is very important tip. Once you produce any results, and the results are different with existing methods/state-of-the-art techniques, book your seat in the research world by publishing them in a conference paper or better yet a journal paper. Do this fast as you do not know how many researchers out there are doing the exact same thing as you do and they may have the same ideas/methods and do the same experiment with you with the same objective. By doing this at least they can refer to your work or cite your paper if they want to publish similar paper as yours (but of course with different results). The results that you obtained do not have to be significantly different with other papers but substantial difference is enough to get your work published.

(Image Source: Google)

7. Along the journey as a research student, you may come to a low moment when an obstacle comes racing across your research path. Your research may presents you with seemingly awful surprises when you are least expecting them. Whatever it is, do not give up. The best thing to do is stop your work, take a break for 1 or 2 days (perhaps shorter/longer depending on the situation), and come back to work with a renewable energy and motivation. Sit down, relax, and try to figure out what and where things have gone wrong. Try to talk to your colleague(s), discuss with your supervisor and find out whether you can fix the problem or not. Listen to your supervisor advice and if you think it is not worth it if you continue to fix the problem, move on, just leave it behind. After all, life goes on mate.

(Image Source: PhD comics)


8. Conversely, when you come to a high moment (e.g. you are very happy because your supervisor like your work, or your paper is accepted in a journal), celebrate your happiness for a short time and quickly come back to work. Don’t be over the moon for so long because let’s face it, it won’t last forever. In other words, you have not finished your study yet and there is still a long way to go before you can finally graduate. As I mentioned before, stay focus throughout your study.

9. Spend some times to learn new techniques/skills that are related to your research work from the fundamental. For example, for a work that requires programming skill, if you are not a proficient user of a particular programming language; start to learn from the beginning. You can try to find ‘A *** for dummy’ kind of book so that you can really understand the technique. Do not just jump into source code and try to amend it to generate result, or else you will encounter with more errors. This also applies to work that involves experiment. Learn the necessary skills from your colleagues or technician before you start your experiment. Owh one more thing, attend any seminars/classes/workshops held in your campus even if they are slightly related to your area. Make full use of the modern facilities offered by your university.

10.  Finally, stay positive. In the sense that be positive about everything, everyone. Do not talk bad about other people. Do not think negative about others. Build a close relationship with Allah, perform your prayers regularly on time. If anything that is less favourable occurs, do not blame others. Somehow, don’t blame yourself either but take this as a challenge to improve yourself. I do not know about other people, but if someone did bad things to me/ talked bad things about me, it will only make me stronger and I feel the sudden urge to prove to them that I am a much better person than they are. Of course this tip is applicable even if you are not a student.

Lastly, enjoy your journey as a research student. Grow the interest in your research area. Be thankful of what you have become now and make sure every little penny spent for your studies is worth it.

My Favourite Songs

Thank you Adele for bringing back music into my life (apart from Maher Zain, which is a totally different genre).
She is purely talented. And funny too.


January 31, 2012

For Sale BMW E90 CBU (2005)

This is another one of my favourite things.
Sadly I have to sell it is no longer suit my needs.. sob sob...



January 10, 2012

Take a guess!

A

B

Which one is Banana and which one is Mejar?
*credit to Cik Awa's school uniform.

January 02, 2012

My 2012's Resolution

1. To be a good mother to my daughter and my son (to teach Hana ABC and 123 so that she is able to read by 4 years old)
2. To be a good wife to my husband (Read: more caring, less bebel).
3. To be a good daughter to my parents and a good sister to my siblings and in laws (Read: Positive thinking, more patient)
4. To write at least 2 journal papers with impact factor more than 0.5. (sikit sikit lama lama jadi bukit).
5. To own at least 2 copyrights by the end of 2012.
6. To write at least 2 book chapters or non-indexed journal.
7. To be a good supervisor to my students (frequent meetings, more knowledgeable).
8. To own an MPV, without having to break the bank (Read: more saving, less shopping).
9. To shop wisely and using brain (Read: saving, saving, saving).
10. To send a paper to one of the IEEE International ComSoc Major conferences.