Monday, December 29, 2014

Tonton Piggy Bank ~Naruto~

Hey guys!

I felt like being super creative and found hidden in my hoard a piggy bank painting kit. It was a gift from a friend for my 20th bday! And only now do I decided to paint it.

I am a major Naruto fan and thought immediately of painting Tonton!

So here it is! 3h work and super kawaii.

Pre-painted




Starting to paint


 The finished product

I am so excited for the Naruto movie that's coming out! I've already booked my tickets in the cinema. I am SO glad and grateful that Australia is actually screening the movie in cinemas, even if it is only being shown for one day. So glad its only about a month after it premiered in Japan.

I am an avid NaruHina fan. Many of you Naruto fans could probably understand the overwhelming joy I felt when finding out in the last manga chapter that Naruto ended up with Hinata! :D :D

I cannot believe there were NaruSaku fans that were butthurt and going all hater against Kishi. Sheesh. So immature. The immature type are the ones that shipped Naruto and Sakura in the first place =_=
I hope they reveal Kakashis face in the movie.

Anyways. I'm excited!

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Medical School Rejection and Plans for the Summer and Next Year

Well folks.

I didn't get into medical school again. In case you were all wondering...

In the next year, I guess I'll be updating this blog a bit more often now hey? And time to set off into that list of things I wanted to do after Honours..

Thinking of starting an online novel. More like a series actually... It will be published on a separate blog and I'll send you guys the link once I get it up and running.

The plot has been in my head for a couple of years now. It's very teenage-girl drama-ish. Well.. I was a teenaged girl when the plot first came. So now I will translate those daydreams and those pre-sleep thoughts into writing! Hurray!

This is a little ambitious but would be totes awesome if people read it and enjoyed it! Like those light reads that are just for entertainment. hahah... trust me. It won't be like 50 shades of grey!

Will be back soon!

~Nurilen

Monday, October 20, 2014

Alhamdulillah

Alhamdulillah I got to redeem myself today. ALHAMDULILLAH!

I still gotta be well versed in the literature so I will get straight to that by doing my manuscript!

Insha Allah!

Friday, October 17, 2014

Presentation downer

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to recount what happened the other day and how I went into a depression slump.

So I did a practice presentation in front of my lab group (and another lab group) today and one of the questions i got was during my 'question time' made me wish i had just disappeared. It was the SIMPLEST question ever. A question THAT I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN after being in the group for 8 MONTHS. BUT I DID NOT KNOW.

And of course the group smirked at me when i said the wrong answer. I think my stupidity was revealed and now I can't face being back in there anymore.

Now that I've typed this, my way of trying to solve this problem of mine is really stupid.

I am now going to tell myself this:

DON'T LET THEIR OPINIONS OF YOU AFFECT YOU. Do your thing, make a lot of DUA and insha ALLAH when ALLAH SWT gives you the results you want, you can forget about this dilemma and laugh at yourself. INSHA ALLAH.

I guess because it was the first time that people's laughing at me.. actually affected me. Affected my pride? I'm generally a silly person and I think people laughing at you is a good thing. It means youre hilarious and fun to be around. But when they laugh at you because of something so OBVIOUSLY SHOWING HOW STUPID you are... that got me.

But I shall listen to my advice. Do my thing. Don't care what they think.


Just pray to ALLAH SWT. Amiin.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

[Review] Kazbah Restaurant

My friends and I decided to utilise a $50 voucher and go out for dinner. We chose Kazbah because it was apparently the cheapest out of all the restaurants. AND.. it had my vote because it had a halal menu.

Note: despite the restaurant having a 'halal menu' there were still some items that were not halal.

Not going to go into details but what went down that night. I guess this post will take on a review style!


The atmosphere and setting 4/5
Was pleasant. It was a weeknight and most of the diners were sitting outside smoking argileh and drinking wine.
We came in around 6.30pm and there was only 2-3people in the actual indoor dining place.

The room was dark but we had a nice view of the harbourside. We were seated at wooden table and chairs. But there was also those booth chairs with extremely comfy-looking cushions on them too.

I also saw a private space in the corner with curtains. So if any of you guys come in as a group and would like some privacy during your meal, I guess the restaurant can cater for that :)

Not sure if you can book it though. Probably should call up to check, especially if you're thinking of going on a busy night.

The Bathroom 3/5
Yes! They have a bathroom. It was quite small. But the essentials were there.. the toilet was clean and they have a nice sink. The floors were a little wet but not slippery gross wet as if a monsoon had filled up the floor.

The service 4/5
The waitress serving us was real nice and kindly pointed out which meals were not halal. There were some desserts that had vodka in it, but she took note of our requirements and arranged for the dish to not have alcohol in it which is super nice.
We didn't have to wait too long for our meals either. However, the waitress did know that we were sharing our plates so it would've been nice if she divided the meals equally between the three of us.

And now.. for the important bit...

The Food

Mains

  • Kazbah's Mezze Plate - Goat, Black Olives, Pumpkin, Saffron Yoghurt Sauce, Pinenuts % Almond Burnt Butter (with couscous) 4/5


I loved it. The side dishes (to the right of the blue bowl) was interesting. The top was some chilli powder, the middle was I think some saffron spicy thing and the bottom was a salty and sour pickle thing. I love salty and sour things!

This dish was REAL good. The goat was tender. And it's not everyday that you eat goat. It was a nice blend of curry with the couscous. It was like the fused together in your mouth and gave you this warm feeling in your belly.


  • Shish kebabs - Camel Kafta, Brown Lentil Moujadara, Tunisian Style Ratatouille, Date Sauce, Crispy Fried Onions 4.5/5


This was SO yummy! I love camel! This is the second time I've eaten camel this year (possibly my entire life) and I loved it! Only downside was that it didn't have enough side dish. I assume the rice surrounding it was the side dish. Well, it needed more of that! But the camel was tender, juicy and there's just something about the texture of camel meat that makes it special. Definitely one of those exotic dishes to try out in an exotic restaurant.

  • Specialties - Roast Duck, Falafel, Honey Baked Quince, Sweet Potato Chips 3/5
It was nice, to say the least. I wasn't too sure about what I was expecting from this dish. After coming in after the goat and camel dishes, it was quite plain. The duck didn't really absorb the sauce it was sitting on. It wasn't tender or juicy, but I guess it's safe to say I had tastier things that night. I felt slightly ripped off as it was the most expensive thing we ordered that night! But the dish was not bad.

Drinks

I haven't been to many harbourside restaurants, but their drinks menu was packed with alcoholic drinks! But to fit in with the fancy setting, decided to go for the mocktails.

Mocktails

I ordered a lychee mocktail while my two friends ordered a mixed fruit.

Left (yellow): Mixed Fruit mocktail
Right (pink): Lychee mocktail
The lychee mocktail was so good. No regrets. I was hesitant to pick it as my friends ordered the mixed fruit. But after tasting theirs, I LOVE the lychee more. It was sweet and very syrup-py but I highly recommend it. I can't remember what the other flavours were though..

The mixed fruit had I think apple and pineapple amongst other things which I cannot recall at the moment. I thought those fruits were pretty everyday-ish. And the drink mostly tasted like pineapple.

Lychee mocktail 3.5/5
Mixed fruit mocktail 3/5

Desserts

Wow.. where do I begin with desserts. Let's start with the nice one - but not the best one of the night.
  • Fruit mince bisteeya, raspberry and custard sauce, pistachio coated halawa ice cream 3/5
This dish was really yummy. I loved the whatever pastry thing was underneath. And pistachio-covered ice-cream is my 3rd favourite ice cream. The raspberry sauce in the custard though.. to quote my friend "tasted like dimetapp". LOL. I didn't think of it when I first tasted it... but I can't find any other words to describe that red liquid any more accurately. But I think the custard saved that bit.

It's a dish I wouldn't really go for again though.
  • Kazbah bomb for Two, Turkish Delight Ice cream, Blueberries 4.5/5

This dish was originally "flamed with Vodka". But we asked the waitress to omit the vodka bit.

This dessert is one of the tastiest things to ever enter my belly! I LOVED the Turkish Delight ice cream. I am not a big fan of Turkish delights.. but that ice cream was just LOVE. And it was coated in some crumb thing (like they do with fried ice cream), and covered in meringe which I think made the overly sweet ice cream taste even better! And to complete the flavouring, the blueberries added this acidic tinge to the dessert which makes this so perfect.


Cost
It's a harbourside restaurant in Sydney. Expect dishes to be on the pricey side. To be honest, $30 for a dish is just ridiculous. But well we had a voucher..

oh damn that triple digit bill!
Yes. I THOUGHT we had a voucher until for some reason their eftpos machine couldn't read the voucher card! Well.. the night did not end well. Spent A LOT of money. We emailed the voucher company and apparently they got some new eftpos machine. Still waiting to hear the outcome.






Sunday, August 10, 2014

When trying to impress your supervisors for the sake of impressing

Okay, funny and depressing story I have for you lot today!

So since my research project is basically centred on this chromatin immunoprecipitation assays, I practically have NO DATA for my thesis yet. And there is ONLY ONE AND A HALF months left!


*panic mode*


So anyways. If I start ChIP assays on Monday, my data isn't usually ready before the Friday meeting I have with my program head (who is also my cosupervisor). But what I did have were some cyto assays I was working on. And I wanted to compare them to the sequencing paper that I am basing a part of my project on. But the IC50 of my results were different to that obtained in the paper.

When I brought this issue up, my cosupervisor looked at my graphs and the title and just said: how long was the treatment period in the paper.

And then I thought: OH CRAP. I didn't check that out.

After looking at the paper: "72 hours".

Cosupervisor: "And how long was yours?"

Me: "24 hours..."

And then I got asked why I chose "24 hours".

Tbh, I really don't know why. I thought that was the general treatment time for all drugs. But I didn't want my cyto assay trainer to get in trouble, so I told him:

"because it was convenient".

...

Um yeah. Not exactly the best thing I could have said. And then I got told off about how I didn't have any intellectual control over my project. Especially at this point in the year. I was also reminded of how I didn't have any data for my thesis yet.

So I basically felt like crap. And that conversation just kept echoing in my head throughout my entire weekend.

My cosupervisor asked if I knew how my drug worked. And I responded: "I don't know.."
He then asked if I had read the group's 2005 paper, which I couldn't tell which one..

So yeah. I am basically not that well versed in the literature. I don't have intellectual control over my project and I ask stupid questions and can't "arm myself" when I do because I don't know about the literature and am just blindly diving into doing things. :(

I am so angry at myself. What my cosupervisor said is all true. It was a giant slap in the face. But a slap I really needed.

I need to read more literature. But I just gotta find the time!

Well, after my cosupervisor expressed his disappointments about me not reading the literature...

I am still feeling a little down. I don't know if I will be able to face him tomorrow. I just... I haven't cried once. But I feel like it. But no tears will come out.

It is such a long journey. But considering the time I have left.. I wish the journey was longer. Im running out of time for my thesis.

wassalam,

Nurilen

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Eid Mubarak!

I haven't been updating this blog much lately!

But wanted to say to all my brothers and sisters: EID MUBARAK! TAQABALLAH MINNA WA MINKUM INSHA ALLAH!

I hope you enjoyed your open houses with your friends and families.

Anyways,

Just an update.. the end of honours is nearing and I am freaking out. So much pressure to generate data aiyyaaa.

I really want the end of November to come already. But at the same time.. I am dreading it! So much to do between now and then!

Insha Allah I can do this! Insha Allah!


Amiin!


Wassalam,

Nurul

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Ramadan Mubarak! and an update!

Just wanted to say to my lovely brothers and sisters in Islam a RAMADAN MUBARAK!

May we make the most of this blessed month inshaAllah!

Sorry I haven't been updating on much everyone! Been extremely busy with honours. But alhamdulillah I think I'm coping.

So I am 3 assessments into honours. I got my marks back for them and they were really good ALHAMDULILLAH!

But I won't lie. I am stressed. The other week my cell culture got contaminated. I thought I would get SO much done in the week that my supervisors were away on conference and when they would be back they would be impressed with all the stuff that I got done and all my results. But no :(

In the week that they were gone, I did practically no wet lab work that would go towards my thesis :(

Insha Allah everything will go well. INSHA ALLAH.

I am not going to quit! Speaking of quitting, the med student in our lab doing his ILP with us quit. He quit while I was away doing my introductory seminar. It's sad :( I thought we were all in this together. But it turns out he wasn't coping and just couldn't get stuff. I don't want to be like that. To be honest, I NEED to do honours.

On a happier  note, I made cupcakes!

Cupcakes!
I made the blue-pink cupcakes. The mono-coloured cupcakes were made by my mum. Actually, my mum made the actual cake bit in the blue-pink pic. It's just that I decorated the cake with the buttercream icing. And my sister added the sprinkles on top.
Go teamwork!

So I actually brought the mono-coloured cupcakes for my lab colleagues to eat. And they really liked it. Some didn't even know who brought the cakes but just took one when they saw it on the table. LOL. But yeah. They were pretty cute. Maybe I should've made the icing a different flavour (or perhaps should've suggested to my mum). Such a pity my actual supervisors couldn't taste any though since they were away on conference.

So it's Ramadan now. It's the middle of the year and I need to focus on my Honours now and most importantly, on my Ibaadah. It might be a while before you guys hear from me again.

But until then inshaAllah!

wassalam,

Nurilen

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Vanilla Cupcake + Green Tea Icing [makes ~24 cupcakes]








You sure you really want to make this thing?

Okay... here it goes.

I've always been a diagram sort of person. I love looking at pictures over reading words. So I always turn recipes into a giant flowchart. To some people, it probably looks like its overcomplicating it. But to me, it makes it easier. I've been making an entire notebook on it. And I guess that's something to hand over to my grandkids ahahha. Even though the recipes weren't originally mine.

I find my recipes online.. and mix them together to make my own I guess.

Basic Cupcake + Frosting Flow Chart Recipe



And to have green tea, add in the matcha powder with the icing sugar whilst making the frosting/icing :)
voila!

Yummay!


いただきます!! ケーキはおいしかった!

A much needed change. Change is good. Starting with My Bedroom.

So this holiday, I decided to be productive. I vacuumed my room and the carpet looks absolutely spotless! By spotless, I mean, no strands of hair (which is really gross).
I'm losing my hair :( and it's a visible problem. No one really goes into my room, so all that hair on the floor must've been mine!

But yeah. Needa sort out this problem hmmm.

And I got a new table! And it has made such a BIG difference to my room. And hopefully to my study life? I'm typing on my new table right now and it feels so spacious up top. But unfortunately, not so much leg room.



In a way, I'm happy. But that leg room! I have giant legs and it hurts whenever my legs hit against that bar at the bottom :( But I know that that bar is necessary to keep the table upright.

It is also interesting to note that my table was once the family's old dinner table. Wow. It was so huge in my memory but now that I look at it, how did all 5 of us fit and eat on this thing?
Nahh I've got to be grateful. And anyway, due to Honours, I'm mostly at uni anyway and wouldn't be at this table.. much.

And I also got a new bedside alarm clock! :D
It's been so long since I've had a LED bedside alarm clock. My previous clock was an analog clock and its served me well the past couple of years. Except that it was such a giant pain. When you wake up in the middle of the night, you can't see what time it is. And sometimes, it is just too cold to stick your arm out of the bed covers and turn the alarm's light on.. JUST to find out what time it is. It ruins the comfiness ya know.

But one of the downsides of having a digital alarm clock is that you can't see what time it is in proportion to other times.. like, says its 8.14.. you can't automatically see how much time is left till it's 8.30..
Yeah. lazy stuff like that. But I am digging this radio function! I've never had a radio alarm clock before. Both my younger sisters have had a radio alarm clock. And I have NEVER had one.
Now I do ;)
Alhamdulillah. It's such a kawaii size and I'm a little weary since it's got a cable and all, and is next to that flower jar full of water..

btw, that's actually sandalwood. Not a flower. It's meant to be this aromatic herb that would give my bedroom a nice smell. Apparently my room stinks. According to my family that is.
Well that would keep unwanted visitors out of my room while i'm away hahaha. But I don't think the sandalwood is doing a very good job.

I found a caterpillar on the sandalwood one day, with a pile of its droppings at the base of the jar. SO GROSS! I can't imagine what could've happened if it had crawled along the bedside table, onto my bed.. and into my ear. EWWW!

I got rid of the caterpillar though. And the sandalwood yesterday was looking brown, so I got rid of that too. Whatever. There's too much stuff on my bedside table anyway. I like to keep it clear, just in case I don't knock anything over when my arm reaches out one morning to press that snooze button.

Speaking of bedroom aromas..

A couple of weeks ago, I tried to get rid of that apparent stench in my room by looking up for some green tea air fresheners online (since im a green tea fanatic) but I found this super cool technique instead. Hanging tea bags!

Tea Bags by the Window - How's the Serenity..
They haven't made much of a difference. Well, I can't exactly tell. I didn't really smell much of a green tea thing in my room. And that could be due to many reasons.
1. The tea bags were actually over 2 years old and I only decided to use them because nobody else was using them.
or
2. Maybe they just eliminated the odour, and not exactly emitted their own smell
or
3. These may just work in small enclosed spaces, like in an aeroplane's bathroom cubicle (as the article I read online mentioned)

Well, they didn't change the smell of the room, but my mother did notice it. And seeing how desperate I was, she bought me some of the real air freshener stuff. My room properly smells like lavender now.. unti the new table came along.

The new table still smells of new polish. And it's making my room reek of it. Is it safe to sleep in a room that smells of paint? I've been having my curtains and windows widely opened and I've also been sleeping with my door open these past 2 nights to let the paint smell out. I hope this smell fades out soon :( I don't like sleeping with my door open.. it makes me a little scared lol. Which is why I keep my lamp on throughout the night and that is such a waste of energy and I wake up feeling moody :/

I have also been trying to decorate my room. I'm not a very creative decorator though.. I've mostly been putting up the posters that I used to hang in my old room from my previous house.

Such a bare well next to my bed







With the Old Table
With the New Table (and poster of Central Park)

I tried to spice up my old table with a jar of roses. But roses don't last long.. and they were dead within 2 weeks. :( They were SO pretty though and I had enough pretty pink things to make a pretty pink corner. It was such a beautiful sight to wake up to.

One of the biggest eyesores in my room were these bags of books next to my shelf.
An eyesore: that pile of bags full of books to the left of my shelf
I have a lot of books. That i don't want to read. They were actually given to me by an aunt that was moving interstate and she didn't want to bring them with her. Now that I've looked through them, I can see why. The books are of various genres, but nothing really of my taste. There's some psychological, some horror, some adult. And beauty books.
Beauty and the Books

Nothing really of my taste. I'm more into the classics these days like Sherlock Holmes, Jane Eyre, The Power of One, Huckleberry Finn..

So yeah. I really don't know what to do with them. I had thought of giving them away to some friends as birthday gifts.. but to be honest, I wouldn't dare give them such cheap gifts. I don't think these books are even that good. And I am not judging by their cover, I am judging by their blurb. I wouldn't dare give  a trashy adult novel to a friend that loves fantasy adventure stories.

I'm thinking of donating them to the library. They're still in good condition. But ARGHH I wonder when I'll even have the time to even contact the library! Their opening hours are so small! And when they're opened, I have to be in the lab! :(

insha Allah I get this stuff sorted out. Till then, I have moved them away from next to the shelf.. to next to the bin. Well, if that's not a hint of what I really want to do with them, I don't know what is.
Nahh, it'd be tragic to throw books in such perfect condition away. They just need a new home.
I'm putting them next to my bin which is next to my door. So every time I walk out of my room, I spot a glimpse of these books and remember that these books NEED A NEW HOME.

Okay.. so I think my weekend of scuffling stuff around my room has been done and dusted. Almost everything has been moved around, and it makes my room look so different. It's as if I have just moved in and I am excited to live in it! I love change! I like trying out new things because I love the fact that it gives me the feeling of having a fresh start every single time.

Baking Green Tea Icing Cupcakes and a Long Weekend of Delicious Food!

It's not only been an intense week in the Honours world.... but it's been a busy week for my body trying to process all the tasty food I've consumed!

So much Chocolate.
What a sweet surprise it was when I found these chocolate eggs on my office table one morning.

Wednesday Morniing - Creme egg and 2 malteser chocolate eggs!
Thursday morning - a hollow chocolate egg




I must admit, I have never tried a creme egg before. Nor have I ever tried a Malteser chocolate egg. When I bit into those.. it was just.. AMAZING. I wish I knew who was giving them out.

By the way, I think there were two different people involved in this chocolate egg distribution. The person on Wednesday morning, who gave the creme egg and malteser egg must've been from my lab group.  Since nobody else in the research institute got one.
While on Thursday morning, the hollow chocolate egg was put on everybody's desk.

I must admit, I loved the 'solid' or 'filled' eggs more than the hollow ones. More value for money, and hence makes the receiver (i.e. me) feel more special :D

OH! And just when I decided on Saturday morning to make a lifestyle change.. I find on the kitchen benchtop an ENTIRE jar of MnMs, Twix and Milky Way.

OMG.
A jar of 'on-sale' chocolates
Way to go mum for buying it all since they were all "on sale". Aiyyyaaa. I am munching on the MnMs as I type this post. And I've really wanted to get thinner and healthier. I came across a picture of Ricki-Lee and she is SKINNY. Not bony-skinny, but fit-skinny! She used to be so curvy before! And I've read an interview of hers and it's inspired me to get healthier. If she can do it, I can do it! And I am starting by cutting down on the sweets!
And then doing exercise! Hopefully I can finally sign up for those Taekwondo classes this week now that my literature review has been submitted insha Allah.

Indonesian Night Festival
Unfortunately, I was enjoying myself far too much to take pictures. MWAHAHAH.

Just kidding. It was too dark. And I don't really have those chunky, expensive cameras. All I had was  a mobile phone camera (and for the record, its a Samsung Galaxy Note II).

I didn't stay long enough to do all those fun activities. I brought my uni friends along, but alas, we were pressed for time and they had to leave so soon. And then I had to leave so soon :(

My mum and little sister came though :)

And the happiest thing, was when I was reunited with my beloved sate padang and teh botol. I am crying. I am happy. :)

And what better way to end that night market, but with an epic moon above my university's campus. So beautiful, SubhanAllah~






High Tea Farewell Party
The lab group's admin assistant was leaving and we threw a small farewell party for her. She's such a sweet old lady and I am going to miss her. I didn't know her too well.. but we had our moments. We even hugged when I had to leave the party for my dark room induction training.


The food was.. really yummy. Of course, I didn't touch the wine or the meat foods. But I did taste some of the cupcakes and chocolate peanut cake. SO YUMMY. Every was fancy dandy. I didn't get to eat everything as they were on the other side of where I was sitting.. but I did manage to take pictures.




I didn't take any pictures of the scones.. which is a real shame because that was the tastiest thing I could get my hands on that day! I don't think I've ever had scones before.. let alone, have ever been to a high tea party. But they were scrumptious and I think that might be an interesting thing to make more the cooking section of this blog ;)
Scones are quite plain.. but I think it's got something to do with the cream and strawberry jam that makes it taste so magical and posh. :D
I MUST HAVE SOME AGAIN. one day.
Yes.. definitely something to consider baking.

And I absolutely loved the tea set.
 How cute are those polka dot cups? And the tea pot?? WANT.
I made sure to stay clear from the wine though ahhahaha. Totes haram man.

Dinner at Flame's Steakhouse, Bankstown
So apparently, this long weekend, Flame's was having a $35 (per person) all you can eat. I can tell you, I did not go for that $35 buffet ahahha. I went on Thursday night with some old uni friends. And even though I could've gotten that $35, I don't think I'd be able to eat all that food!

So I ordered beef ribs..

Beef ribs cost about $35.. BUT I shared it with two other friends. There were 9 bones so we were able to evenly divide it between the three of us. And they were sooo goood. The ribs came with the salad and mash. The mash wasn't all that good.. it was alright for me but not for my other two friends unfortunately. It tasted like instant mash from ALDI. ahahahha.

And we ordered other things like chips and pizza. We ordered meat lovers pizza and a chicken pizza. I didn't like the meat lovers pizza that much. They used salami! And didn't use the proper 'sujuk' (?) for pepperoni.. if you know what I'm saying. To be honest, it was quite plain.. and I was disappointed. My ma could make better-tasting pizza than that!

But all in all, Flame's steakhouse wasn't too bad. I can't complain much.. it's halal after all. And the atmoshpere was good. A lot of Muslims lol. i guess that comes with it being halal and all..

And we even got a 20% discount because we checked in on FB. But that night, they didn't accept EFTPOS which was a giant disaster for those of us that didn't have cash on us. We had to go to the ANZ ATM next door. I couldn't help feeling that it might've all been a partnered scam with ANZ. I did see a little ANZ globe on their check out counter :/

Astaghfirullah. Gotta give them the benefit of the doubt. But how silly of them to post signs up that no one can even spot! It was literally a sign written in a blue ball-point pen on paper. No matter how many signs you put up buddy, no one's going to see it if you don't type it out and print it on paper!

More Dinner Parties
It's Friday and my distant cousin (who's an international student here in Sydney) comes over this public holiday with his two young lady friends. They're such a loud bunch and they formed quite a group with my mum and they were talking in real fast Indo that I couldn't really take part in any of their convos. And I'm really not that confident in speaking Indonesian. Which is absolutely TRAGIC.

Anyway, they ate my vanilla cupcakes with green tea icing. But it was in the fridge for a while, so the sugar crystallised and you could actually crunch on the sugar. BWAHAHAH.
I don't mind them eating it, but it's just that the cupcakes kinda looked like vomit and I am too embarassed for anyone outside my immediate family to eat them. But my ma went ahead and offered it to them anyway for dessert. There was an insane amount of sugar in them, and the two girls took their time eating them. While my cousin (who isn't that fond of sugar) said it was really yummy and wanted another. Well that's nice to hear :-)

I shall post a recipe soon.




One of the girls actually recommended to me a green tea cafe in the Sydney CBD. It's called 'Chanoma Cafe'. Considering that last post about my Green Tea cravings.. I am DEFINITELY GOING ONE DAY insha Allah. I need to satisify my cravings. Oh.. and here's a link to their Facebook page: Chanoma Cafe. And plus, they're Japanese and they apparently have (and I quote) "a very cute chef".

Just LOOK at this Green Tea Menu!
:D

The rest of the night went okay. Watched the Bulldogs vs Rabbitohs game. Which was epic because the Bulldogs once again won by a point! And we had a BBQ which I really wasn't in the mood for. I ate a couple of lamb sausages and some salad. I guess I was just really sick of BBQ-ed food, considering I was eating out for the past 2 nights in a row. I felt really bad because that night I was like really unenthusisastic sounding, and may have come across as a complete *****. I feel bad. And I know I was rude. No matter how tired I was, I should never have treated my guests that way. Especially since one of the girls had never been to my place before..

D:

Still.. I hoped they liked the indo food and my cupcakes.

****************

So I hope you liked my food post.. do people enjoy reading food posts?
It was quite fun to write this, but I don't really eat out much. Nor do I ever come across some extravagantly tasty food like the ones I've had this week. Oh.. the Honours life. Makes you question what's happening on the other side of all this hahha...

and until next time!

Wassalam~

Nurilen

Honours Update

So this past week was pretty intense. Submitted my literature review, had a western blot training, got a new table, had a couple of food parties.. and damn. My belly is the roundest its been!

Uni Work
I submitted my literature review! ALHAMDULILLAH!
And I even printed it out for free :D My institute has it's own COLOUR printing and comb-binding service.
Mind you, I was almost about to go and print with P3 and spend 15 bucks! But a fellow honours student in my lab group thought to email the peeps upstairs and asked. I'm seriously so glad that she's in my group. I would be lost without her. And she's quite nice!

Alhamdulillah for awesome people in my lab group! I know some people went to Officeworks or P3 and had to PAY.

but yeah. I feel relieved it is out of the way and Insha Allah I get full marks! Amiin!
When I submitted to TurnItIn, it came back with a 11% similarity. My printing friend had 3%. But insha Allah everything turns out well.

Training Update
I started my Western blot training this week as well. It was super tiring. So many washings! I wonder how I'm going to get the hang of it all!
And I wonder if I still remember how to do a cytotoxicity assay that I was trained in about a month ago?

Insha Allah everything goes well!

I still have more trainings to go! I haven't been signed off for this Western blot yet. arghhh.

Other Honours Stuff Update
So my co-supervisor is back and we had a farewell party (more info in the food post) for one of our staff on Thursday. I sat across from him and it was super awkward. I was just trying to avoid eye contact with him. Which is pretty tragic. I should seriously try to have a conversation with him. He is after all my supervisor.. I just get intimidated sometimes. He's a pretty cool and laidback person. But I dunno. I've just this weird compelx with people in high positions as myself. Like, there's a barrier that I cannot cross because I'm just a measly honours student.

Ah well.

And I have a presentation this Thursday. What on earth am I going to say in this presentation? In front of my entire LAB GROUP? So I think I'm presenting my project plan, but I have almost zero idea on what it's going to be about. I need to talk with my primary supervisor more..

I'm getting a little paranoid as well about this presentation. A previous Honours student presented his project plan last time and he was GRILLED with questions. I don't want to be in that position :(
Insha Allah all goes well. Amiin! I feel like I've got something to prove you know? I've been like real bad in my training lol. I don't want to be bad in my presenting and communication skills ahahahha



Sunday, April 13, 2014

A Weekend to Chill [Finally!]

Okay, the weekend isn't all that chill.. in fact, we're in the middle of Autumn now and it's time to swap those shorts and t-shirts for some cosy sweatpants and jumpers :D

i don't wear shorts in public. i was talking about around the house. hahahah.

In public, I usually wear the same style in hail, rain or sunshine. For hijabi girls, it's all about the layering. I would wear like some spencers or longer tights underneath what I would usually wear and I'm pretty much comfy in that.

****************************

Literature Review Update

ALHAMDULILLAH my literature review is complete and I am in the final stages before submitting it in. Alhamdulillah, my primary supervisor says its good (Insha Allah) and now I'm just waiting for my co-supervisor's (who is the program head) review. My co-supervisor was in a conference in san diego so I guess it might take him a while to get back to me.

I actually sent my co-supervisor my second draft on Thursday afternoon. And in my email I told him it was like 1000 words over the limit and I needed to fix the reference list. I got a reply from him the next morning and the email said something along the lines of:

 "i think you should fix it up before sending it to us. I don't see much point in reviewing it if it's going to change again"

LOL. So the first time I read it, I felt really CUT. HAHAHH but then my primary supervisor sent me an email telling me not to worry about since he might be busy in the san diego conference. It's like my primary supervisor had a feeling I might feel a little cut! OMG. it makes me teary. Maybe it's because he's asian and we asians understand each other?

okay. Well I read the email again with a different mindset and didn't take it to heart and fixed everything up. Cut down words and fixed up my reference list then sent it in. 

I still haven't gotten a reply. It Sunday now and I know I shouldn't expect a reply over the weekend, but the literature review is due on Wednesday!

Well, I am having a meeting with my co-supervisor tomorrow. But my primary supervisor is going to be away for an entire week. :( So nervous about that meeting even though my co-supervisor's a pretty laid back guy. It's just that, he's a PROFESSOR and I, a measly honours student am just so intimidated by the distance in our ranks. I hope there isn't much bad stuff to discuss about my review tomorrow, insha Allah..

And insha Allah I get full marks in this literature review. Amiin!

********************************

Weekend Update

On Saturday, I had a shari'ah exam! And I left the labs early on Friday afternoon and my primary supervisor saw me walk out. Aaaaaa...

But I really had to study for that test.

And I didn't!

Looks like I went all out.. in reality I only read the revision sheets and some pages from the Textbook
:(
Well I did, but not as much as I could of, considering I left early on Friday! I was so exhausted! And I fell asleep. I tried to study a bit more after Fajr on saturday. OMG, I feel like such an idiot for trying to study in bed. of course i was dropping in and out of sleep! :(

So how did the test go?

Well, it was good and bad. I'm pretty sure I won't get 100%. There were some questions that asked for proofs from the Quran and Sunnah in the aqeedah test. Although I could pretty much say some hadeeths, I COULD NOT provide any Quran proofs because I didn't memorise them when I was studying! I felt SO BAD. When I was studying, I couldn't read the arabic.. I can read arabic. It's just that, it didnt have the vowel marks and since I don't have an arabic background, it was hard to discern. And I didn't have time while studying to actually look them up :( I thought of memorising the english translation, but I didnt do that either!

i am so frustrated with myself. But insha Allah I do well in Fiqh..

These tests dont really count to anything.. I mean, you don't get a certificate or anything like you do in some shari'ah schools. BUT THIS STUFF COUNTS FOR THE AKHIRAH! Of course I want to do well! 

Everything is make me so frustrated. All this literature review, honours DUNYA stuff is taking over what is really important. And my performance in that shariah exam is proof of it!

I should really juggle my priorities. I am just praying to Allah SWT that I can juggle my life more. So I can strive for success in this dunya, and also in the akhirah Insha Allah.

********************************
Other Weekend things I did..

Leisurely things that I have do so far are.. watching Japanese movies and making myself porridge for breakfast.

As a consolation for the guilt I was feeling after that shari'ah exam.. I watch 2 Japanese films that day. I watched "The Girl that Leapt through Time"(TGTLTT) and "Hana and Alice"(H&A)

I don't want to write a whole review about those two films in this post because that would make this weekend update blog post REALLY LONG. But, they were very cute movies and I guess you could say you'd feel good after watching it. In TGTLTT, I guess you'll feel a combination of sadness, but it really makes you think about love and stuff. It wasn't too deep but it was enjoyable.
With H&A, I was confused after watching it. But now that I've thought about it some more.. it wasn't really about the plot. It was about a friendship between 2 girls.

I don't want to spoil anything, but hey reader. If you're interested in watching it and want to read a review by me.. then please say so! Otherwise, i guess you could find some reviews on the internet LOL. I'm not that good of a writer.

And this morning, I ate porridge! But not only that, I cooked it myself! It was so delicious!
I was inspired to make it after watching a Jamie Oliver youtube video:

I made the poppy-seed one. It was real tasty but when my mum dug in, she said it was salty :(
She didn't like the coconut in the porridge. My dad doesn't really like porridge, but he had a spoonful and he said it tasted nice. My dad doesn't usually complement my cooking so it was nice to hear.

I remember making mac&cheese and he said that it was okay but it was the type of food he'd only eat if he was really hungry. And he didn't like my ice-cream cake i made a couple of years back because it was really hard.. like a brick. HAHAHAH so yeah. But I think my cooking's been improving.
and don't ask about what my sisters think of my cooking because they're just real difficult to please.

We also had a Korean bbq yesterday. a HOME-MADE korean bbq. We're still trying to figure out the side-dishes and sauces to go with the Korean BBQ but alhamdulillah the meat was tasty. The wagyu meat is really yummy :3 And I was doing the meat-grilling. I think I'm pretty good at cooking meat, ALHAMDULILLAH. I cooked the lamb chops when we went to the snow and my family really liked it :D and so did they with the wagyu meat ^_^

Anyways.. I enjoy cooking but for now, I don't think I'll be cooking an entire meal for my family soon. Don't want to make anyone leave the dinner table because it's so bad LOL.

*************************
Chores for the weekend

So there's this giant pile of ironing to do and I should do them ASAP. Or maybe I should leave it to the public holiday that's coming around this Friday? I should really get to making that presentation for my lab meeting on Thursday :S

I'm very nervous.

But Insha Allah everything goes well!

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Goals and Daydreams

Last night, I set myself the goal to reach 1000 words in my literature review. And I achieved it.

But there's just one thing. I did not reach those 1000 words in one night. It was a goal I had achieved over the course of a week, where I would be reading tonnes of literature and type a little each day.

The maximum word count for this literature review is 3000 words and I had told my supervisor I would hand in my first draft by the middle of this week.

And here's something else. I have set myself the goal of achieving 1000 words tonight, reaching approximately 2000 words. I was supposed to be finished with this thing last Friday according to the schedule I made myself. But my lab training took quite a bit out of me: both strength, concentration and motivation-wise.

I am already day-dreaming about the end of year break. I'm thinking of writing a story and putting it online. Not sure if anyone will read it though hahah. But yeah. I'm thinking of making a whole new blog just publishing maybe a daily post on this story. So I don't want to reveal too much about this story.. except that it's made me daydream A LOT when I should really be doing my assignment.

I'm just thinking of heaps of plots I could put into this. I think this story would sort of take the format of a soapie or something. Completely a guilty pleasure story that will most likely not have a message or any lesson you can take away from. But I promise to make it funny!

Well. This story thing is a LONG way away. DEFINITELY after Honours insha Allah.. which would be the end of November. Ya Allah! So far away T_T

Insha Allah I can get through this literature review and get a high mark for this. Really can't afford to slack off in Honours.

Wassalam~

Nurilen

Saturday, March 29, 2014

And how does that make you feel?

Assalamualaikum!

Just finished my 3rd week of Honours and already I am overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I have to do. I really am trying not to stress but can I just say that looming deadlines are approaching ever so faster and I feel like crying because it feels like one of those nightmares where you're being chased and trying to run away but you're just not moving.

Unfortunately, I cannot escape this nightmare of a reality by simply waking up. This is the REAL WORLD. I have no choice but to tackle it all head on.

By the way, GAMSAT was last Saturday. I don't want to say too much about how it went right now but I am just praying that I do get the mark I need to get into my desired medical school insha Allah! 

Back to the Honours topic..

In one of the Honours workshops I attended, the presenter told us to write about how we feel at the moment. It seems I am not the writing by hand type anymore. My handwriting has become atrocious! But I am a fast typer ;) So I thought I would use the excuse of writing about my feelings to update my blog!

Maybe I can even talk a bit about my project and my thoughts on it. I don't think I'll be able to disclose any data on my actual project as it's confidential and all.. but hopefully I'll be able to perhaps skim the surface on it?

Okay, so for this post, I'm going to introduce my Honours project.

My project centers around the disease called leukaemia. Leukaemia, as some of you might know, is basically a cancer of the blood. More specifically, I am looking at acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Although more adults have ALL, it is in fact the most common paediatric cancer and although the cure rate against this disease is reaching 90%, there are still some patients that are unresponsive to the treatment. A class of drugs used in the treatment is called glucocorticoids. Glucocorticoids are a type of steroidal hormone produced by your adrenal glands and their physiological functions are many. One of their roles in our body's management of cancer is the induction of apoptosis (cell death). It is this apoptosis that is important to suppress the growth of the cancer. It is heavily recorded in the literature about patients having resistance to the glucocorticoids themselves and I am going to study the mechanisms behind this resistance. 

So there you have it. I hope I didn't overwhelm you with how overwhelmed I am. 

But until my next post, be prepared for more posts about my Honours project woes and angsts. Hahahah. 


~Nurilen

Saturday, March 8, 2014

I Should Stop

Complaining.

I feel like I do that often. Just look at the header of my blog, "a place where I rant".
LOL.
This might sound sexist, but is it just me or do women complain a lot? I think it's just me. Most of the girls I talk to usually don't have anything to say except "complain complain complain blah blah blah".

Me? I usually bottle it all up. And use my blog as a medium to complain! Woohoo.
To be honest,  I don't think it's right of me to forcefully impose my emotions onto people if they don't want to.

But you, dear reader, read my posts and I assume you chose to read my whinging? hahah.

It will be a sad day when the world will run out of things to say and just fill their conversations with complaints about the world, their mum, dad, everything around them and these constructive conversations will turn into trashy gossip and a lot of backbiting. Astaghfirullah. May Allah SWT protect us!

I learnt from shariah class that if you have a complaint, complain to Allah SWT. There is NOTHING wrong with that. In fact it is good, because you are turning to Him and asking Him for His help. If you have a wish deep down in your heart, open it to Allah SWT and insha Allah, He will answer it :)

He said, "I only complain of my suffering and my grief to Allah , and I know from Allah that which you do not know.

Surat Yūsuf (Joseph) [12:86] 

سورة يوسف


What I miss the Most about Indonesia



As most of you might know, I was born in Australia.
オーストラリアで生まれました!
But my parents are from Indonesia.
でも、両親はインドネシアに来ました。

Okay, I think that's about as much Japanese I can type lol. After all, this is a post about Indonesia right?!

Maybe I should practise some of my Indonesian as well? Okay, from this post onwards, I will try! I should really stop embarrassing myself whenever I go back to my mother country. My Indonesian just won't come out! My embarrassment will definitely not be one of the things I miss about being there.

Tapi, saya cinta Indonesia~
I love Indonesia!

Waktu saya di Indonesia, saya pergi ke banyak tempat-tempat yang paling indah.
When I was in Indonesia, I went to many beautiful places.

Saya pergi ke taman kupu-kupu di Makassar dan juga lihat air terjun. Tempat itu bikin saya rasa segar karena cuaca di Indonesia selalu panas dan saya tidak bisa tahan panas. Saya jadi keringatan!
I went to a butterfly park in Makassar and also saw a waterfall (see pic below). That place made me feel fresh as Indonesia is always hot and I can't tolerate the heat very well. I sweat really easily!


*********************************
And there you have it. Some English, Indonesian and Japanese. I guess I cringe a bit more when I'm typing in Indonesian than when in Japanese because with Indonesian, I KNOW I sound weird. But with Japanese, I don't know whether or not I'm writing it right so I have more of a "whatever" attitude.

Ahhh.. I really love languages. I hope to travel the world one day and no doubt, languages will get you to places most tourists can't get to. By the way, Insha Allah I might be going to Umrah at the end of next year. And hopefully to Dubai as well. So I gotta brush up on my Arabic! I wish my university offered an Arabic language course. :(

*********************************
So.. on to that actual list eh?

1. The green that was everywhere. The green forests.

I love this picture. So much. 2hours drive from our hotel to see this tiny waterfall..
I was expecting to see a waterfall as large as the ones I've seen in the pictures of Niagra Falls. But this is okay too. I've never seen this much water rushing down before. SubhanAllah!
Waterfall - Makassar

Just a house here in the forest - Makassar
Forest Trek in Makassar leading to caves

2. Giant bodies of water everywhere!

One of the things Australia and Indonesia have in common is that they're islands. Water pratically surrounds us. And I love swimming! But I dislike getting wet though. Being a hijaabi, it's a big hassle when you're trying to remove layers and layers of wet clothes.

By giant bodies of water, I don't mean floods. I visited Jakarta during it's monsoon season and towards the last few days of our trips, it was raining non-stop. And we left just in time before the Jakarta city was flooded some 2 or 3 days later. Alhamdulillah!

Makassar has one of the bluest waters I have ever seen. It was such a clean city! In contrast to Jakarta and Pontianak lol.
Makassar Waters

Bangunan di atas air - Makassar
LOL. Didn't know what else to call it.
Casually sipping some a coconut while overlooking the waters in Singkawang, Pontianak
If green tea is the flavour of the Japanese, then coconut is most definitely the flavour of Indonesia. It probably isn't but I was crazy about coconuts when in Indo! It's cool.. and refreshing! Tastes a little weird the first time, but it is strangely addictive. It must be the Indonesian in me.


Sailing down a canal in Puncak

As I am going through my holiday pictures, I've realised that I don't have that many pictures. So much for being a blogger eh?

3. Cats everywhere!

I love cats! And dare I say this, but I think I'm a bit of a cat whisperer. Every time I meow at a cat, they stare at me and run away. It's as if they're confused about how a human can speak their language!
Yep. Definitely why they run off.

I saw so many cats. Meow meow mew!
Try and understand what I just said there hah!

An island of cats - on an island off the coast of Makassar


I actually found A LOT of cats at my aunt's house! Her nephew is actually a cat breeder. So he breeds those expensive cats. They're all pedigreed and such. And expensive!
 
Fluffy Persian Cat!

Kitten at my uncle's house - Pontianak
(She looks like my uncle - LOL)


4. Food!! But most importantly, it was all HALAL.
I regret not eating more in Indonesia. The food was delicious but the heat really decreased my appetite. And mostly because I was stressed lol. I was just worrying about all the stuff that would be going on when I'd have to get back to Australia that I almost didn't enjoy my holiday!
But I still took SOME pictures.. not many though.

One of things I noticed when I went to Indonesia is how much it's changed. There are now new malls, and there has definitely been an increase in the amount of Japanese and Korean restaurants! The last time I went to Indonesia, which was around 5 years ago, I have NEVER seen these restaurants before. But I definitely appreciate Indonesia importing these Japanese and Korean restaurants.
It is so difficult to find that type of food here in Australia that is HALAL. So I got to eat as much as I could!

I would usually eat these fried bananas with cheese on top as a snack.
Fried Bananas with Cheese

Hot Pot - Singkawang


At Makassar, we ate at one of the best seafood restaurants ever! The atmosphere was really good! The lighting was good and the food was delicious. And I was also mistaken for a Malaysian there. LOL, I was wearing baju kurung so it was no wonder ahahah.
I believe the restaurant was called RM Bahari. And apparently, the Indonesian president SBY also ate at that restaurant. You can see a picture of him at the restaurant hanging on the wall.



 

I would seriously give RM Bahari 6MMMMmmms! out of 5 MMMMmmms!
The fish was fresh and I kept coming in for seconds and thirds! Now THAT's a good sign! Although I was starving that day so maybe that's why my appetite was so large? And it was also raining that day too...



At the Chocolate Museum - Makassar
 It's not every day that you get to eat this hot pot! Especially in Australia where it isn't halal in restaurants. To my surprise, it didn't really meet my expectations. I was expecting flavours from Japan.. lol. Maybe because I ate this the night after I arrived from Japan and had high standards. ROFL. I forgot the name of this restaurant.. but it was a restaurant in the Grand Indonesia Mall.




But OMG. I just LOVED what I had for dessert! Now THIS definitely reminded me of Japan. I think it was Green tea shaved ice. LOVED ITTT! I didn't have any of this when I was in Japan so you can imagine my delight when I dug into this!


The one dish that is high on my favourite Indonesian foods is: Sate Padang. My FAVOURITE.
And my favourite Indonesian drink? Teh Botol!!
So yummy.. omg I am remembering the taste of it all on my tongue. It makes me cry because now I want some so bad TT_TT


We stayed at Hotel Santika for new years. I forgot which hotel santika it was, but it was the one that was across that water park, and attached to the mall. I think it was Hotel Santika BSD?

Well, I really LOVED that hotel. It was fun to get away for new years and muck around. It was joined to this mall called Teras Kota and I had never felt so free in Jakarta till then. It's so convenient just going downstairs from your hotel room and then being in an entertainment district!

We had Korean BBQ there too! I thought we'd be cooking the meat ourselves like they did in those Korean dramas, but it was actually the dude that came in with his trolley and cooked next to our table. Nawww :(
But it was still tasty! I've never had a Korean BBQ before. And now I have! ^_^


At Teras Kota, there was also a stall that sold crepes! They had nothing on the Harajuku crepes, cos my standards for Japanese food are so high since I've been to Japan and all... (LOL jokes jokes). They were still good though!
 


Also at Teras Kota, I had an iced green tea shake? I think the name of that store was "The Coffee Bean". So good...


Hotel Santika BSD also had a new years party which guests of the hotel were invited to attend! We even won a ticket that would let us stay at Hotel Santika Lombok for a night! Unfortunately, it was going to expire this year, so we gave the ticket to my cousin's wife.
It was such an awkward moment when I went up to get the hotel ticket and the male host extended his hand to congratulate me. Of course I just pressed my palms together in front of me, in the usual Indonesian manner of greeting. Dude, I thought since Indonesia was a majority Muslim country they would know these Islamic customs?
Well, I'm not going to delve into the state of Islam in Indonesia in this post.. so, moving onwards!

And here's the food we ate at the New Year's party. The food was average I guess.. but I ate roast beef! What is it with my meat cravings? I was craving a juicy Aussie steak and Alhamdulillah they served Western food at that party.
By the way, it wasn't a dancing type of party. It was more.. a dinner party LOL. Food was good. I give it 3MMMmmms out of 5MMMmmms!



5. The low currency karena aku pelit
One of the best things about holidaying in a developing country is that you can buy things there that would usually cost a fortune in Australia, especially Sydney! Sydney's in the top 10 in the world for most expensive cities..
In Indonesia, I got a full body massage and scrub (green-tea flavoured! LOL what?), cheap hotel tickets, cheap everything. Even bought myself an Arsenal jersey. Whether or not the jersey is authentic or not.. err I don't really mind.

6. I guess I could go on and on.. but I really should sign off now. Indonesia is a beautiful place! Indonesia adalah negara yang sangat indah dan saya menyarankan anda libur di sana.


I still have much exploring to do. I feel like I hardly know Indonesia, despite being there a couple of times. One of the most important things I believe I should preserve is my heritage. Knowing who you are, and where you come from is one of the most important things you will take with you in life.