Hiking, here I come!

Have been planning for this hiking trip for a pretty long time. And finally on Sunday, 15/1/2012, my friends and I have made the move to go to Bukit Gasing for hiking.A little bit about this place:

Bukit Gasing Forest Reserve is a 100 hectare stretch of green belt dividing the city of Petaling Jaya (Selangor state) from the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. It was once a rubber estate but, in the intervening 60 years, the miraculous restorative powers of nature have been allowed to work their magic and the park is now a haven of lush secondary forest including some pretty large trees.

(source: http://www.malaysia-traveller.com/bukit-gasing.html)

My friend told me that due to the strategic location of Bukit Gasing, it is an ideal place for walking for exercise especially for those living in PJ and KL. They  come here frequently especially during weekends.

Sleepy while waiting for the lady who woke up late

The journey to Bukit Gasing started at 7.30am (tentatively, 6.30a.m, but delayed as my friend woke up late).

Together with two friends, we reached Bukit Gasing at about 8.00 a.m. Or we THOUGHT, we reached bukit Gasing as we followed GPS direction to Bukit Gasing Viewpoint which apparently wasn’t the correct destination.

Arrived at the wrong place- Bukit Gasing viewpoint. LOL!

Went down and took some pictures- My friend, Hwa.

The driver- Steven

Thanks to Google Map, we managed to get to Bukit Gasing. By the time we reached there, there were already many cars and walkers, some even have already sweated and completed their hiking routines. And don’t be surprised to see many, i mean MANY, grandpas and grandmas doing the hiking. Again, don’t be shocked if they are better than the young people because these senior citizens are really energetic.

The right place, finally- main entrance of Bukit Gasing.

Since we were quite late, we started the hiking once we reached.

And the journey begins...

Nice view in the jungle

One thing that I really like about this place is the friendliness of the walkers. Along the way, we were greeted “Good morning”; this is extremely precious and rare in a busy city like KL. Not many people is willing to take the trouble and time to stop, smile and greet.

So, the journey continued. I felt fine at the beginning as I deem it is within my ability range. But, later, I erm…rethink that.

Watching tower

He doesn't feel tired at all

And her? She could only afford to use body languge- exhausted!

Then, I thought the hiking journey was going to end soon as we have been walking for about 1 hour (that’s very long for an inactive person, like me). Apparently, I was wrong as Steven suggested that we should “challenge” the tough route. So, we did. We “passed by” the suspension bridge as we were told it was under repair.

The suspension bridge

This is the toughest part of the route, “steep like hell” ( I quote from other bloggers).

steep like hell

When my stomach was playing its drum, we realised that we were actually heading for the wrong route out of the jungle! Goodness… But, thanks for a pair of couple who led us all the way back to the exit and that took us another hour. In total- 3 hours! Woa…That’s not bad for a first-timer like me, I suppose. I’m seriously thinking of doing this more often, as  you know, 25 is the when the aging process starts…

Immediate result of hiking- super red complexion!

So, it’s 2012 already?

As 2011 draws to a close and the new 2012 year begins for all of us around the world, I want to offer up my Happy New Year wishes and say “Thank You” to all of the people that I have met for the past 24 years of my life. Every year, I have the wonderful fortune to be able to work with some of the brightest, most dedicated, and most talented people  through my interaction in my studies life in UKM and also through other encounters such as in the tuition centre.  Some of them, I have known for many, many years, and some of them I have just recently had the pleasure to meet or interact with. I must say that,  all of them have continually helped positively in my life.  Other than that, would also like to extend a very heart-felt “Thank you” to so many of people around me who have gone above and beyond the work aspect of our interactions and have reached out to me and my family. The  kindness and understanding  that they have shown have been beyond words.

I hope 2012 is a good year for everyone. A new year is upon us, and once again, we all have the opportunity to start fresh. May your year be full of the things that bring you the most joy and happiness, whether it be family, success, a new job, or some combination of all of the above. 🙂

 

“Each new day is a blank page in the diary of your life. The secret of success is in turning that diary into the best story you possibly can.” I wish you Happy New Year and diary full of best stories ever written in your life. -Douglas Pagels-

 

Web 2.0 Workshop

It’s the 30th December 2011- the day of the workshop. Early in the morning, our classmates gathered in Bilik Siswazah for preparation before the workshop. We had a simulation for the presentation and also some room-keeping stuff.

The 'early-birds" among the committees

After that, the gentlemen went for their Friday prayers while I went for a quick lunch with my friends- Nadiah Khalid and Nadiah Hassan.  Somehow, I had a feeling that time passed really fast today. Or has the anxiety overtook the time?

Anyway, when the clock struck 2.30pm, the workshop started. Looking at the faces of the participants, all of them were so eager to learn something new from this workshop. It is a good sign, but at the same time, I felt the burden already. Oh my…

Now, back to the workshop. Dr. Norazah delivered the opening speech of the workshop. Just a brief one, as she said, the focus should be the workshop, not her. Haha…

Opening speech by the course coordinator- PM Dr. Norazah

 

A little bit of issue right after the speech, we found out that some of the participants do not own an email account. Oops..that was not expected by the committee as the Web 2.0 applications planned for this workshop require an email account to operate. Therefore, it took an extra 30-mins to get these participants their email accounts. With that, the presentation of the first application –Storybird started.

My partner, Nadiah Khalid initiated the session with a brief introduction of the application. Not to forget, thanks to Khalid for his help in preparing this attractive Prezi presentation. After the “appetizer”, Nadiah moved on to the hands-on part of the workshop where she taught the participants how to register for a Storybird account. Apparently, the second “shock” emerged then- the students’ level of IT knowledge. One of the participants that I facilitated did not even dare to, literally, touch the mouse and keyboard. It’t the first time she used a computer and therefore, it is not surprising when she was so nervous to an extent that she forgot her father’s name(for the purpose of setting up an username). ” Siapa nama ayah saya ye?” Consequently, the process of registering for a Storybird account took longer as estimated.

The second part of the session, creating a Storybird, was handled by me. Since Malay language is not a language that I usually use for presentations, I was quite nervous, actually. Luckily, all the facilitators were really helpful in providing assistance to the participants which made the session went on smoothly. And there, my part was completed.  Relieved was the only word that I can use to describe my feeling that moment.

 

Due to time constraint, the second application, Isuu, was only given a brief  introduction to the participants. Too bad that they could not try the application on their own. However, I am sure, similar workshops will be conducted in the future and perhaps, Issu will be taught in those workshops.

So, that was the experience of organizing a workshop and to be more precise, to be presenting in a workshop. Woa! It is great, I must say. I hope it is not the last, as this experience is indeed enlightening for teachers, in general, and me, specifically.

 

 

P/S: thanks Raina for these wonderful pictures!

Jingle Bell rocks~~

Though I am not a Christian, I am very affected by the festive atmosphere around me- Christmas trees everywhere accompanied by those familiar Christmas songs, Christmas decorations and gifts! Almost every shopping malls have their unique decorations. Take a look at these decoration. Some are by my cousin and some are by me:

Candylicious in KLCC

Fahrenheit

Fahrenheit again

Dear Reindeer~

Empire

Sparkling Angels

Pavillion

Purple Christmas in Pavillion

A dream of many- Hello Kitty

1 Utama

Cute stuff

Midvalley

Joyous moments

Viva Home Mall

Fairy Tale- X'mas

Mushroom homes~

 

Enough of the photos, now a little sharing posted by a friend of mine which I find interesting. In fact, I find it appropriate for Muslims in a multi-cultural nation like Malaysia.

Congratulating Non-Muslims on Their Festive Occasions

 

And lastly, Merry Christmas to all those are celebrating this joyous festival!

Jingle Bell Rocks

 

 

 

 

Beauty Day

I should have posted this a month earlier, but was really too occupied with other stuffs that need immediate attention. And so , I ended up posting an event that took place exactly a month (27th November) now.

So, on the 27th November, my friend and I, we headed to Pink Rose Beauty in Subang Jaya for a beauty treat.

This is how the place looks like-

An "English country home" ambience saloon & spa

It’s my first time visiting Pink Rose Beauty, but I really like the ambience of this place- it makes you feel “at-home”. See it?

A very comfortable place to relax...

The beauty treat started with brief consultation with the aesthetician.

Listening to the aesthetician

After that brief session, I proceeded to the Spa room. I noe it sounds “WOAH!”. Firstly, I had a 15-min sauna session. I just love the feeling of drops of perspiration rolling on my body and at the same time, “visualising” my fats being burned down into broken pieces! hahaha! It’s heaven!

Then, 20 minutes of body scrub session enhanced the pleasure of sauna session. Using sea salt, the lady helped to scrub and exfoliate the dead skin on my tired body. Refreshing, indeed! Oh ya, did I mention that the sauna/spa room is very cozy as well?

Right after that, I took a quick shower before being served by an Indonesian- the massager. unlike other massages that I used to have, this is an authentic traditional massage from Indonesia, I would say. This lady in her 50s’ is more like a mother to me. While massaging, we talked about the differences between Malaysia and Indonesia, the people here and there…One thing that I remembered the most from our conversation was the ungratefulness of our people in Malaysia… Bibik (aunty)said, during her stay in Malaysia for about 5 years, she sees how ungrateful we are- Kids don’t eat vegetables because they don’t like, we complain about not having air conditioners, we can stand walking for even a short distance etc etc… This Bibik doesn’t oni wakes my body, she wakes my mind too…

Finally, after the body and mind have gotten their treats, it’s time for the face- facial spa. Gosh, I could reli feel my pores being cleaned up one by one! And the aesthetician was being so patient with all sorts of questions from me.

There, my beauty day….

Do I look better? XD

First encounter- Conference

I have been listening to so many friends talking about their experiences in presenting their papers in conferences. And finally, it is my turn- Teaching and Learning of English in Asia (TLEiA) 4.

All the way to Penang with my supervisor and coursemate. But, it’s an enjoyable journey, I must say. After unpacking our stuff in the apartment, Dr. drove us to Gurney Drive for a feast. Plenty of stalls with local delicacies- pasembur, rojak, asam laksa, ikan bakar, fried chicken skin etc. etc. Needless to say, we enjoyed the food and on top of that, we had a relaxing walk near the beach after dinner. What a day!

The “excitement” continued at the next day- the first day of the conference. Since the venue was in Hard Rock Hotel, so, the keynote speaker, Prof. Vivian Cook, was wearing a pair of Red Crocs sandals during his talk. What a sight! Like the food which was of great varieties, the people who were present were of different nationalities with different expertise. Fresh and green student like me,definitely am enlightened by the parallel sessions and workshops presented.

After listening to so many presentations, the moment has come- my presentation. I was and still am grateful that everything went on smoothly. The best part- my supervisor had a lot of fans after our (her students) presentations!

So, what did I bring back from the conference?
1. Prizes from lucky draw
2. Valuable knowledge
3. Precious friendship
4. Sweet memories

More conferences to come, I wish.

The first day of the conference

Prof. Vivian Cook in flesh

Friends from Japan

Prizes from lucky draw

Batu Feringgi Beach

Hard Rock Hotel

The stalls in Gurney Drive

The view at Gurney Drive

Finally...