Morning Tea at Toddler's Room

Took some time off work for the annual Easter morning tea at Numdaji Kwei. There were not many parents, most were grandparents. Zade spent the morning making some bunny faces and showed me around the toddler's room. His favourites were the big bears, which according to him were Humprey' papa and mama. And of course we had some yummy hot cross bun. Before heading home, we made a stop at Westfield and played at the outdoor playground. Then we had to rush to get some books at the Mill Park library since I had to go back to the office for an appointment in the afternoon. Maybe next week I'll get to spend a whole day out with Zade.

Request

I’m pretty much back into the routine of going to the office daily. Zade and Mama are settling in too. Finally, I'm able to see clearly the significance of my research project. Another one of my abstract has been accepted for a conference in Melbourne. When I opened my e-mail this morning, I got a note from the one of the editors of a technical magazine, asking a few questions about my research development as he wanted to feature my work in an upcoming issue. I was feeling good. Things are not that bad after all.

Then my sv came in to my office and pulled up a chair. I wonder if this is going to be another discussion about where I’m going with this research. I explained to him about what I wanted to do next with the controller of the actuator and the problems that I needed to address. After listening to my explanation he said that is where your PhD is – overcoming the hurdles and challenges with controlling the actuator. Pheww. I could finally breathe easy now.

Then he dropped a bombshell. He made a request that I can’t refuse. He told me to pursue it even with me giving tons of excuses. Now he’s sending me off on a wild goose chase. I sure wouldn’t be able to concentrate on my work with this hanging over my head. I’m predicting more sleepless nights ahead. Just when I thought that everything was going great!

Back to Work

We got back to Melbourne on Monday after almost 2 months in Malaysia. And thankfully Mama is here with Zade and I. Zade has been feeling much better about returning here once he found out that his Mima was coming along. I’ve returned with mixed feeling. Happy that we had a great holiday back home, relief that my chapter here is at the last stage, insyaAllah, but sad of the prospect of another year without Danial here by my side.

Life has to go on one way or the other. I should start moving and change to higher gear if I want to go home. So I’m back at the office and I have set up an appointment with my SV to set the next course of action. To my surprise he popped into the office before confirming the appointment. Well might as well get it over with. After the usual round up of what has been done thus far, he put forth a question that would cause me to dwell and guarantee some sleepness nights. How would my research add to the body of knowledge? It must not be simply an application or modification of knowledge or methodology. It must go beyond providing a solution to the problem. And bla bla bla….

I didn’t know how to answer those questions. Atleast not when he caught me off guard. Never was an impromptu speaker. So now I’m taking some time to ponder and re-examine where I stand. There goes my plan to start work on the controller this week. Well there’s always next week.

Happy 37th Birthday

Happy Birthday 37th birthday Sayang. I'm so happy that we're able to celebrate your birthday together. The last time we're together to celebrate a birthday was in 2008 when Zade turned 1.


All set for brunch at home


Ready to eat


Zade and Danial happily tucking in the food


Zade's ready to blow the candle. Now he ends up blowing candles eventhough it's not his birthday


And he'll end up opening the presents


Another cake at Nenek's house


This time it's chocolate cake


And again with the candles


Yummy

Jalan-Jalan Around KL

I've just realized that there are many public holidays in Malaysia. During my break this time, it seems there's atleast one public holiday each week. I'm not really complaining but I'm getting worried with my mama's visa application. The less working day means the longer it takes to process it. No use in dwelling, might as well just enjoy the holiday since Danial doesn't have to work.

Since both Danial and I hate travelling long distance, and Zade is not exactly thrill with sitting in his car seat for long duration of time, we decided not to go travel instead spending the holiday around KL. It's exciting to revisit our old hangouts and discover new ones along the way. We didn't do any shopping except for a few essentials, but we did found a lot of good eateries. After cooking each and every meal for the past couple of months, I just cannot take another bite of my own cooking. So the ability to buy food at any time and anywhere is such a welcome change. I think I was able to satisfy all my cravings.

We had a chance to visit a few favourites : TGIF - somehow it's not as good as I remembered, KLCC's Foodcourt - I love the Char Keow Teow at their new Penang stall and the teh ais is the best just like at my old high school canteen - Cafe Lavista and Palm Cafe. We also managed to try new ones : Victory Arab Street, Ayam Penyet, Tony Ramo's, Harrods, Austin Chase. I found both Victory and Ayam Penyet to be just so so. But Tony Ramo's is just simply fantastic. The best American food in KL. Harrods at KLCC has good food, but what makes it stands out is the excellent presentation and service. It's a great place to relax. And surprisingly, Austin Chase's choc chip frappe was out of this world!

Home Sweet Home

The time that both Zade and I've been waiting for is here again. It's already January, and Zade has been staying home with me ever since Christmas break which is almost a month now. I'm so relieved to be back home in Malaysia and I'm sure Zade feels exactly the same. We both miss Danial and crave to spend time with him. This time we'll be here for almost 2 months, and with Danial's new working hour, we should be able to get a lot more family time. Thanks to Air Asia for the free tickets. Another agenda on my list of things to do while I'm back in Malaysia is to apply a visa for mama to come back here with me. I pray that she'll get it cause I don't think I have the energy to go back to Melbourne and face another year on my own!