Long Rally Part 2

Done that, did that

10 things that happened today:

1. ISS (Internet Something Something) people came to my flat to inspect our internet connection data point. Something is definitely not working and he promised to come back tomorrow morning with some of the repair tools.

2. I renewed my mobile phone contract and got my wife the new Sony Ericsson K810i. It should arrived tomorrow. Her birthday is next month so I guess I'm safe for this year.

3. I called and put my name for dentist registration. Apparently you had to wait for available places before you can go visit the dentist. I'm going to put the whole family into that registration thing.

4. I picked up my Indonesian friend, Maulana from Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal, about 23 miles from here. He got a screw removed from his foot. He broke his leg last year and the doctor had to put some steel and screw to strengthen it. The bone is OK now so I guess the screw already served its purpose.

5. I received 'The Darwin Conspiracy by John Darnton' today from an Amazon seller. Several days ago I received 'Book of the Dead by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child'. I don't think I will be able to read these books this month. There are two books I'm currently reading and the progress is very slow.

6. Got the rental DVDs today, 'My Super Ex-Girlfriend' and 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning'. Probably going to watch them tomorrow.

7. Did some 'adjustments' to my website www.ligaalumni.com. I put State flag beside each team's name. Going to tweak some more tomorrow.

8. Had a two hours session with the badminton club. Had to play doubles with three ladies. Hate it! Cannot smash!

9. Created a YouTube account for my children. You can go visit www.youtube.com/ilyasmaisarah

10. Ate karipaps made by my wife and the children. The most delicious karipaps ever!

Bass Hunter - Boten Anna (with corrupted subtitles of course!)

Research Money Part 3

Have submitted my final claim for the year ending 31st July 2007. A receipt for wireless keyboard and mouse worth £12.99. So the amount left in my research fund is £13.33. Hmm.. come to think of it, I should have bought TWO wireless keyboards and mouses instead!

Best Bollywood Stunt Ever! (kih kih kih)

Backgammon News

Yes! After seven consecutive weeks of losing to Kevin, I've finally managed to beat him 9-4 in our weekly backgammon duel. I was trailing 1-4 and the thought of not winning for the full two months started to form in my mind. But then I realised that I had nothing to lose and started to play aggresively. Whenever my pieces look promising, I immediately offered a double cube. Sometimes he declined it and sometimes he accepted the offer. And lady luck was on my side as I was finally in front at 6-4. I tried to put more pressure on him by offering a double cube again in the next game. He accepted it and after few moves decided to offer back the double cube to me. The positioning of my pieces doesn't look good but it was too early to tell.

So I've been thinking, either let him win this game and tied the score at 6-6 or I can just finish off the match altogether. And maybe I was crazy in accepting back the cube but when I rolled double sixes at the last moment, it was such a sweet victory. I am going to cherish this moment, at least until I meet him again next week.

Dschinghis Khan - Moskau (with funny subtitles!)

Manchester United Calendar 2006

Mike the porter gave me this, a 2006 Manchester United calendar. What struck me most is the cover. There are seven players portrayed on the cover. All of them have sweet memories during the 2006/2007 season except that they are not necesarily celebrating it together. Rooney, Ronaldo, Heinze, Ferdinand and Scholes can at least have a party among themselves to celebrate the return of Premiership title to Old Trafford.

Nistelroy on the other hand will celebrate the La Liga triumph with his new Real Madrid teammate. And Keane will celebrate in different kind of way when he guided Sunderland to a Championship title not as a player but as a manager (Who would have thought that is possible considering that when Keane took over, the team was nowhere near the top). On top of that Ronaldo has also won the PFA Young Player of the Year and PFA Player of the Year, a feat not achieved since 1977 by Andy Gray. And another kind of record is in the making if Heinze is finally allowed to crossover to bitter rival Liverpool, last time such a dreadful thing happening is in 1964 when Phil Chisnall moved to Merseyside.

What a difference one year can make!

Long Rally Part 1

'New' PC

Two days ago one of the Malaysian undergrad here is going home for good. Obviously she could not carry all her stuff to Malaysia so the usual hand-me-down took place. She gave us her two duvets (I want to keep them for the new family from Malaysia who would be coming this September), kitchen stuff and her PC. My wife and I are very happy with the PC because this means my children can play games in their own PC instead of having to share with me. My wife can also use the PC for her own benefits and this will free up my notebook considerably in term of data storage and usage.

Unfortunately, the mouse and keyboard are not working, so today my wife went to the PC World and bought them, a wireless version. The only thing is, our flat is having a bit of connection problem with the data point (my notebook is using wireless connection so no problem in there). Apparently when the flat is being refurbished back in 2005, they must have forgotten to check the internet cable connection whether its working or not. Report has been made so the wait continues.....

Dikir Audition Part 4

Dikir Audition Part 3

Jamea Al Kauthar

Today the Lancaster University Islamic Society decided to make a visit to Madrasah Jamea Al Kauthar, situated near the Lancaster city centre. I tagged along since I was curious myself. This madrasah is quite unique, in a sense that it is one of the largest in the UK, due to the fact that it occupy one of the famous historical building in Lancaster, Royal Albert. It used to be a hospital and even a school for the mentally handicapped. The building is very huge (30,000 square ft) and and surrounded by 20.5 acres of greenery. You can have more details on their website (http://www.jamea.co.uk/). It costs them £750,000 when they purchased it in 1995 but now it's worth is close to £50 millions. Talk about shrewd investment!

Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles

ASMARA

ANSARA (Persatuan Bekas Pelajar Sains MARA) to which I belong has initiated their own co-operative called ASMARA (Koperasi Anak Sains MARA Berhad). Their official website is www.asmara.com.my and I think it is a very good and noble idea. Membership is open to former and current students and staff of MRSM. Initial investment is only RM1000 and there is an option of RM50 monthly subscription. It has a quite impressive list of pro-tem committee members and it has also already outlined its future business projects. Let's just hope it will become amongst the most successful co-operative in Malaysia.

Irwansyah - Pecinta Wanita

Research Money Part 2

Just bought EndNote X for Windows and Starter Guide Book for £78.01. So I'm left with £26.32 to spend before 31st July. Hmm... what's next?

The Best of Ren and Stimpy Commercials

Research Money

My officemate asked whether I have spent all research money that have been allocated to me and I asked her why. She said, 'Well, they are going to close the account in less than a week, so you'd better start spending it!' I thought that £250 (in which about £42.50 has already been spent on seminar accomodation last year) allocated to me was supposed to last for the duration of my PhD, which is 3 years. How wrong I was and how generous my deparment is. They are giving me £250 to spend every year! So today I started shopping and these are what I have bought (so far):

1x Western Digital 120GB Passport V2 External USB 2.0 2.5" Hard Drive and
1x Western Digital Elements 250GB FAT32 USB 2.0 External Hard Drive

Total cost: £103.17

I'm going to buy an EndNote X software which will cost me £68.

And I've been thinking on buying cordless keyboard and mouse. So that will leave me with few pounds to spare. And starting this August, the budget will be replenish to its £250 limit again. Hmm.. I wonder how much a new laserjet printer costs nowadays....

The Offspring - Come Out and Play