Ramadhan soon.. Birthday too..

New day.. my horoscope tells me that I shouldn't be too focussed on negative energy.. I should be doing just fine when I take things seriously with the positive ones.  Okay, I will. I really miss my family at home but I should not think about them too much as I know they are all giving support for all that I'm doing right now.

It's just that my two sisters, I haven't got the time to tell them that I'm not in Brunei at the moment for 3 weeks.  Hope my parents have told them about it, well, I did text my sister to inform her that I will not be able to come to my nephew's Khatam AlQuran ceremony. Hope she understands it.

I just hope things in school are fine and my students are doing well in their studies, despite me not being there to help out. I understand that on the 30th will be the HOR for the Men 1, 2 and 4 Tests.  Hope things are okay. I know they can do that, as I've already left the work to some of the staffs there. 

It is already 26 August 2008, and soon will be Ramadhan, and also my Birthday is coming up soon, in about two weeks time.. I'll be celebrating my birthday here and also my ramadhan.. Anyway, I've already celebrated my big day with friends before I left Brunei the other day. Happy ;-)

My first two days in Melbourne..

My first two days here was really full.. well, full of going out to survey places, tempat shopping and also to buy the halal food. Our flight from Brunei was about 2am early in the morning a direct flight to Brisbane.. we arrived in Brisbane at 10.50 am, it was really very tiring but the weather was very nice. Bergambar pun mbari siuk.. but I regret coz I forgot to bring along my camera cables... I've my camera ready but can't b produced to show here..

hopefully if I got something to show then I'll post them up here. After we got in Brisbane, we catch a domestic plane to Melbourne, about 2 hours to get there.

An officer from the Brunei High Comm greeted us and brought us to the Marriot Hotel where we will stay there for maybe the whole of three weeks..

Very comfy here, but I've problems with my Prima line as it can't be used here.. always have registration problem. Thus, I decided to buy the Vodafone line, which only cost AU$2.00 to register and a pre-paid card for AU$29.00 in which have AU$160 credit limit.. Should be enough for the three weeks as I do not make calls unless it is urgent. For me, the internet access is the very important one as I can connect with friends via the MSN Messenger. 

Last nite, all the 7 of us went out to dinner and I had the cooked tuna sushi burger.. yummy... then we went shopping some food.. I bought Maggi Mee (Curry), Indo Mie Goreng, Ayam Brand Tuna flakes in oil (M) and Smiling Fish Fried Baby Clam.. All within reach!! mcm d Brunei rasanya.. These I bought in the asian store, most of the food there came from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia. So, no problem to get those. 7-11 here is quite expensive, there's plenty of the outlets here but I would think twice to go into that store (unless I had to get omethig very urgently).. Otherwise.. Mahal!! 

We haven't got our allowances yet.. and after calculation of the accomodation that the Brunei High Com provided us (without considering the Government budget!!), we found out that they had caused OVERBUDGETING!!! More than we expected!!  So we had to take alternative measures to save some up so that we can also save our own budget and also getting some allowance.. The allowance that we should get is B$180 per day, but what we are experiencing now is that the accomodation for each one of us (which the High Comm arranged) charged us AU$250!! Imagine the Exchange rate is AU$1.00 to B$1.30.. Try calculating for yourself. So, it is really expensive.. Though we like staying here in this 5-star hotel but we don't think that it is a good idea to also spend our OWN money as we are given allowance. Hopefully, the High Comm can consider this problem..

Tomorrow will be my 10th year anniversary working as an EO and tomorrow is the start of my training in ACER HeadQuarters.. We have to be there at 9.00 am and so we will go to the Parliament Station (underground) to catch the train to go to our destination. Since it is our first day there we wanted to go early and also have to bring our own laptops.. A funny thing is that the electrical socket here has a different design which requires us to get a different type of 3-pin socket that can fit our computer cables.  Well, nobody informed me about that.. hehehe..

Hopefully we can finish off our analysis by the 3rd week and we can write our own report regarding the analysis for the Ministry of Education to see and the whole of Brunei to accept our work here as we are going to compare our National result with Australia. Maybe this will go into the Brunei Education study.. If the study works, then we can proceed with the SPN-21 syllabus for English and Mathematics in Year 8 (for the SPE).  Otherwise, the syllabus has to be amended to suit the Brunei students' talents and capabilities. 

I'm glad that I'm having a good time here.. All the 7 of us seemed to have the same "brains".. Alhamdulillah..

 

Forever Friendship....

Sometimes in life,

you find a special friend;

Someone who changes your life

just by being part of it.

Someone who makes you laugh

until you can't stop;

Someone who makes you believe

that there really is good in the world.

Someone who convinces you

that there really is an unlocked door

just waiting for you to open it.

This is Forever Friendship.

A terrifying experience!!

Have you ever felt like some stranger is trying to do harm to you?

I know it is not something that everybody likes.  Yes, it was really nerve wrecking.

Yesterday, I was driving from my hometown to another district to attend tutorial sessions with the kids that a group of teachers have been training for the past three weeks. It was my turn this week.

As I was stopping at the Traffic Light junction at the highway, I saw a 4-wheel drive behind my car.. I think it was a Ford Ranger with license plate Q..... I couldn't figure out the car registration number. When the lights turned green, I accelerated at a steady speed of 100 km/h. After a while few cars were following and some were ahead. I speed up to get to the next traffic light junction. I went passed it. I saw a familiar car that was tailing me since the first traffic light turned green. 

A lot of cars were on the road and I could see the Ford Ranger was still following my lead, with about the same speed overtaking all the cars behind me and still maintain to follow without even bothering to overtake the car that I was driving.

It was about 12.45 p.m. when the Khutbah was read, and I saw that I should be in the Capital by 1.30 pm, I managed to accelerate to 140 km/h. All the cars were behind me. I sped up to 160 km/h and the car could not pursuit my car.

At around 1.00 p.m. I suddenly saw a greyish silver coloured car behind. I was terrified from that moment on.  My heart was racing and it beats at a terrified pace. I was so shaken by this and I stepped on the accelerator pedal. I could still see the car behind me pursuing at a close range. I didn't know what to do but I just read my prayers :"Ya Allah, tolonglah hamba mu ini.." and lots of Zikr, and Istighfar.

I slowed down and quickly the car drove past. A sigh of relief.

However, it was terrible.. Don't ever expect me to drive at that racing speed again..

I hope i will not experience this again.

16 days to go.. I just can't believe it!

Just can't believe it.. This year will be my 10th year anniversary, as an EO. Well, look at me and how fast it is... Still counting the days to come..

Hoping for the better.. ;-)

Are you shy too?

People always mistakenly label a person as arrogant the first time they saw a person. It is just what they thought a person might be, thinking that he/she is a much better person than the man/lady they just saw.  Come to think of it, this does happen to me, well almost anyone.. Believe me.. I know it may sound as if you are denying it but it just so happens that you feel that way.. I had that feeling before.

How do I see people? Well, I observe and ask people around. When I have an idea on how to talk to that person, knowing a little bit about him/her, then I'll start the conversation.  This is how a SHY person would REACT and DO.  And, surprisingly I'm ONE of them. That is why people thought that shy people are SELFISH and ANTI-Social (hope those are correct words). If you know how a shy person feels inside, then you would want to take back all the words that you've babbled out..

These people are mostly soft-spoken (but will let out their emotions very loudly), bookworm (books are their best friends), always doing work (it is how they want to keep themselves occupied), have less friends (mix only with the same type of people), feel inferior (they always feel guilty) and they are actually very sensitive (get hurt so easily). 

This was how I felt before.. Now I've changed.. So I know and understand how they feel. They also have their own goals in life and be successful. People out there, give them a chance.. I have changed from a shy person to a chatterbox. Thanx to my friends and family who are very supportive. 

Loving this new feeling..

A few days ago I was really dumbstruck by what had happened.. Losing a friend whom I thought accepts me for who I am as I have accepted him for who he is... but my guess wasn't actually conforming.. he didn't.. really hurt by that.  Anyway, I forgive him.. there's no point in creating much of a scene as what happened the day before.. He's just a friend and I'm just human as he is. Alhamdulillah..

It didn't take me quite long to realise the mistake that i've done.. A dear friend of mine consoled me, giving me advice that I should be happy as it is not worth to wait for somebody who hates me.  I remember at once a Motivation expert once said "Kalau orang baling tahi kat kita, kita jangan baling tahi. Sebaliknya, kita baling bunga kat orang tersebut." His words are still clearly audible to my listening tools close to my brain.  What he said was true. To some extent, I shouldn't get mad or feel bad as that was only his emotions which he doesn't want me to take care of. It is not what he thinks I might feel, which is rejection.  I never felt that as I don't have that kind of special bond with him. It is just the friendship that he doesn't want to continue with me.. Poor thing.. I feel sorry for someone who wants to break the 'silaturrahim'. Hope he's having a happy time now.  

What ever his decisions are, and that he's happy with it, then, why should I be sad.. I should be happy as I've made him happy now. Right? Haha.. 

I thanked HIM for bringing me this new feeling.. A feeling of self and loving, very comforting that makes me much stronger. Alhamdulillah..

Today, I went out a bit later in the evening on my own to a beauty salon, asked the beautician for consultation on a new skin care product.. then I went to a hair salon, just to get a new hairdo. Guess who I saw there.. somebody.. haha.. I know he's there coz his friend brought him to meet his partner.. alamak nampak tia rambut ku... well, what to do..

It was quite funny too as these two kids (1 boy and 1 girl), who went with their mother (most probably from Saudi Arabia), laughed at my hair that was being shampooed by the hair stylist. I guess they've never seen bubbles.. poor things.. haha hehe..

After the cut, my head feels lighter and free.. Happy.. ;-)

My Brother's Birthday, 08 August 2008

Happy Birthday to my big bro today 08.08.08.. Wow!! 

His wishes came true, after a 35 year wait.. ;-)

He's got a new Junior too.. Congratulations to my bro, Mie and my sis-in-law, Non for the new born-baby supposed to be born today but was 2-days early.. no worries dear, Alhamdulillah it was a safe delivery on 06.08.08 (still a good even number date).. Well, look who's loving numbers and counting here.. Haha..

I baked cakes today, though my bro is in another district, I'm just rejoicing the Birthday and the Birth of a new family member. Tomorrow my colleagues will have a taste of my cakes. Baked Cheese Cake and Peach-Grapes Philly Cheese Dessert Cake... Oh.. I do love to bake these two simple cakes.. ;-)

Blogger Buzz: Blogger Babies

Blogger Buzz: Blogger Babies