Batas Sebuah Kesabaran

Saya pernahmenanyakan kepada diri sendiri mengenai keberadaan kesabaran. Kesabaran yangada dalam diri manusia. Orang bilang “Sabar itu tidak adabatasnya”. Benarkah hal itu adanya.

Sekarang marikita lihat sisi lain dari manusia. Bagi saya manusia adalah makhluk Tuhanpaling unik karena manusia memiliki hal-hal yang tidak dimiliki oleh makhlukTuhan lain. Rasa cinta, benci, nafsu, semangat, dan kesabaran. Semuanya milikmanusia. Semuanya ada dalam diri manusia. Setan, iblis, atau bahkan malaikatpuntidak memiliki semua sifat itu dalam satu raga. Tapi dari semua itu ada satuhal yang membuat manusai juga unik. Manusia memiliki batas. Sebuah jarak yangtidak bisa ditembus bahakan oleh makhluk yang menjadi pemimpin di bumi. Manusiamemiliki batas untuk berfikir tentang sejauh mana keberadaan akhirat. Manusia memilikibatas untuk memiliki sebuah material. Manusia memiliki batas untuk melakukanhal. Karena jika manusia tidak memiliki batas, apa bedanya manusia denganTuhan. Zat terkuasa di jagat raya yang tidak memiliki batas untuk melakukansegala kehendakNya.

Permasalahannya adalah:Apakah batas yang dimiliki oleh manusia juga berhubungan dengan kesabaran?

Manusia memilikibatas dalam mencintai karena mereka juga punya rasa benci.

Manusia memilikibatas dalam berusaha karena mereka juga punya rasa malas.

Manusia memilikibatas dalam kekuatan fisik karena mereka bukan mesin (toh mesin juga memilikibatas kekuatan).

Semuanya karenabatas. Lalu saat orang bilang “Sabar itu tidak ada batasnya”. Apa artinya?

Apakah manusia hampirsederajat dengan malaikat yang mau melakukan apapun dan tetap bersabarmenjalaninya.

Tapi kita bukanmalaikat. Kita adalah manusai. Dengan segala pernak-pernik yang tidak dimilikioleh makhluk Tuhan lainnya. Kita berbeda.

Jadi wajarkahjika seseorang memiliki batas dalam kesabaran? Karena pada kenyataannyaseseorang itu adalah manusia.

Jawabannya ada dalam diri kita untuk sejauh mana bisa menahan kesabaran kita.

Here I come (again)!

Here we are!

Finally I write my blog after sucha loooooong time I hadn’t written.

I miss writingactually and this is the thing that becomes my runaway. After finishing mythesis about Class Struggle I feel that my time is getting ineffective so Igotta find something to do and writing could be the one. Writing my thesis isnot as easy as I though. I was thinking that it was going to be me and mywriting but I was totally wrong. In fact there were a lot of things related tothis final project. Yes, it is about my other activities, my family, and alsomy thesis advisor. The last one should got a spot light (underlined, italic,and bold written). I won’t blame that my thesis advisor is the reason why mythesis took such a long time to finish but there is something beyond that. Ilearned something! I learned that life is not like a straight line made byelementary students with their ruler. I was such a stubborn that think time isthe barometer of success. People especially my friends who could graduate inOctober always pursued time graduation while I didn’t. The reason was quitesimple. It was because I thought that it is not worth that I could graduate assoon as possible while my thesis became like an uncooked scrambled egg. Thus Iknew the fact that it would be impossible for me to graduate along with thosepeople. However I have to emphasize something else that I have mentioned beforethat I learned something. It is not only about the understanding of my thesisbut also patience. In Javanese people say “Sopo sing sabar bakal subur.” Ithink it is suitable for me. I learned how to be patient, patient when facingmy thesis advisor or even myself. Maybe I won’t get this learning elsewhere.

Patient. That’sit!!!

Hair Sweet Nothings!: A Lotus Flower Bomb inspired shoot!!

South Florida Hair is a hot topic these days!
Here is a few shots from a hot photoshoot All Dolled Up Salons did with Bailey Society Media. Enjoy!!

Renting in Canberra

I've actually moved out of my uncle's place a few weeks ago now. Since I've got a full time job, it was high time that I started being more independent. I'm currently renting a room in a fully furnished house with an Aussie family. The rent is AUD $200/week or around RM640/week (or RM33,280/year) which is inclusive of all bills; water, electricity, gas and internet. The price is average but you can probably find cheaper rents elsewhere. The main reason why I chose this place was because the house itself is clean and tidy unlike some of the other places I've checked out which were horrible.

My landlord is a pretty nice guy. He and his wife are really friendly and easy to get along with. And because the house is fully furnished, I didn't have to buy too much when I initially moved in here (apart from all the Asian pantry staples such as soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, wan ton noodles, mee suah, etc. and a rice cooker that is). And fortunately for me, my landlord doesn't mind me cooking up the typical Asian stir fry.

I've been cooking the usual stuff the past few weeks. Nothing really interesting. Had stir fry snow peas with prawns with lots of garlic, eggplant with minced beef, fried mee hoon, wan ton mee, fried egg with french beans, stir fried broccoli with beef slices, stir fried ginger beef and so on. I even cooked a steak one day on my landlord's bbq. Just did the basic salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, oil and red wine marinate and chuck it on the fire. Nothing too fancy.

Anyway, here are some pictures of my room:

 

My current place now is also pretty convenient as it is located quite close to the town centre where all the shops, supermarkets, banks, restaurants and fast food joints are located. It is also where I catch the bus every morning to get to work.

 

The yellow line is the route I normally take to get to the bus stop. It's about 850m or a 10 minute walk. The bus takes about half an hour from there to the city centre where my workplace is.

This place where I'm currently renting is also very near a lake (or a pond). The distance round the lake is roughly 4km. So what I normally do is I go for a jog either on Saturday or Sunday around the lake just to keep fit. I hardly have any time to jog during the weekdays because I normally get home late after work. But I'll be looking to jog more regularly during the Christmas break.

The red line is the path I take when I go for my once-a-week jog. I think the total distance is around 4.5 to about 5km which isn't too bad.

Here are some pictures of my 'neighbourhood':

The Town Centre is all the way down this road where the building with the little 'chimney' is.

The path on the way to the lake

The jogging path at the lake

It's very green with lots of trees and plants all around

The usual ducks and ducklings at the lake. You can see some black swans there sometimes. Some people also go there to fish. Not sure if they ever caught anything though. 

That's all for now. Will update again next time. Am going to be busy with work over the next two weeks running up to the Christmas break. Take care!

New Phone: Blackberry Bold 9700

Just a short update.

I was actually just about to confirm my order for the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc when another rival phone company had a promotion for a Blackberry Bold 9700. It's a pretty old phone, but I get a lot more credit for calls if I sign up with those guys. For the BB plan, I only have to pay $29/month for 1 year (which is good as I can would be able to sign on to a new contract next year and get another new phone) and I will have enough credit to make a phone call to a mobile number in Cuba for around 3 whole hours (assuming my phone's battery doesn't die on me by then). With the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, I had to pay $29/month for 2 whole years and only get enough credit to call my friend in Cuba for 2 hours on her mobile phone.

And because the main reason for getting a new phone was not because of the phone but because of the credit to call my friend, I decided to apply for the Blackberry model instead. This particular 9700 model was released in October 2009. So it's about 2 years old as it is. The specs aren't great, with a 624Mhz processor (which is still faster than my current Nokia N97 mini's 434Mhz), 256mb of RAM (double my current 128mb), a slightly faster bluetooth connection with supporting up to v2.1 (unlike my current v2.0) as well as a longer battery life with the BB having a 1500mAh Li-Ion battery (compared to my miserable 1200mAh). The BB also boasts a slightly higher pixel density although it only has a 3.2mp camera compared to my Nokia's 5mp camera. However, I'm not really in it for the camera, so that doesn't really bother me.

Also, my current $29/month plan includes a 1.5gb of data for video streaming and unlimited Blackberry Email Internet Browsing. It should be more than sufficient as I hardly use too much of my mobile internet.

 

I've already put in my order for the phone. So hopefully my credit check is successful and I would be able to receive it by the end of this week if all goes well.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc

So now that I've started working full time, I thought I might treat myself and buy me-self a new phone. My current Nokia N97 mini is still working fine albeit a little (maybe very) laggy. It hangs ever so often and the battery doesn't seem to be able to last the whole day as well. I was also in the midst of looking for an extra phone line so that I can have extra credit each month to call a good friend of mine who is currently studying in Cuba. So since I was going to get a phone line anyway, why not sign up for a 24 month contract and get a new phone whilst I'm at it?

So after much browsing (of the various telco websites), I decided to get the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc. This phone was released less than a year ago in March. It is sort of a mid-ranged phone and is no where as powerful as the Iphone 4 or the Galaxy SII. However, the newly launced SE Xperia Arc S (which is one model after the Arc and was just released last month) which boasts of a 1.4Ghz processor might be able to compete with those two phones.

The SE Xperia Arc has a 4.2" LCD screen which has the same panel that Sony uses in their Bravia TV range. This phone also has an 8.1-megapixel camera sensor which borrows the Exmor-R back-side illuminated image sensor from the Sony's Cybershot camera range. Apart from it's 1Ghz processor and Android OS platform, this phone is also one of the lighter phones on the market, weighing just 117g.

 

I might be getting this phone in the coming week or so. It should provide me with something to do over the Christmas holidays. Also, I'll be paying $29 per month for 24 months once I sign up with this plan. Hopefully I'll like the phone and won't have too many things to complain about.

ACT Road Rules Knowledge Assessment Test

In order for me to get an Australian drivers license, I had to re-take both the theory and practical exams again despite holding a Malaysian drivers license. It's just so unfair that we Malaysians have to re-take our driving exams again while our fellow neighbours, the Singaporeans, get to convert their drivers license without having to sit for any further test.

So anyway, I went to one of the two testing centres that Canberra has to do my Road Rules test or more commonly known as 'Undang' in Malaysia. There are 35 questions in the test and you are allowed to make 4 mistakes in the general section and none in the intersection, drugs and alcohol and seat belts section. If you do make a mistake in one of the three sections stated, you'll automatically fail the test and have to resit.


The test itself costs AUD $35 per sitting (maximum of 2 sittings per day) and you would be required to bring along:
1. your foreign drivers license,
2. an NAATI approved translation of your drivers license if it's not in English,
3. 3 forms of ID (Passport, Medicare card, ATO tax assessment, etc.),
4. 2 passport sized photos ($5 payable for picture to be taken on that day), and
5. $35 (both cash and Eftpos accepted).

Some practice questions can be found on the ACT Government's website. It is advised that you have a go at the practice questions prior to sitting for the Road Rules test. Some of the questions are actually similar in the actual test itself.

There are two testing centres:
North Canberra Office
Canberra Technology Park, Block D
49 Phillip Avenue, WATSON ACT 2602
Ph: 02 6162 5152
Fax: 02 6162 5153
E: roadreadynorth@freebott.com.au

South Canberra Office
72 Townshend Street,
PHILLIP 2606
Ph: 02 6282 8990
Fax: 02 6281 7432
E: roadreadysouth@freebott.com.au

Their opening hours are:
Monday to Friday: 9am to 5pm
Saturday: 9am to 12noon


It's fortunate that they open on Saturdays as Saturdays are the only time when I'm actually free to do all this kind of funny things now that I'm working full time. As for my test, it went alright. Managed to score 34/35. After I passed the test, they printed out a confirmation letter to be presented when I book my practical exam.

More on the driving test when I actually attempt it in the next few months or so.

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( sorry guys its the truth)


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Permanent Residency (PR) Application Approved

My Australian Permanent Residency (PR) Application has been approved. I got an email a couple of days ago informing me that my Skilled - Independent (VB 885) visa has been granted. It took the Department of Immigration and Citizenship approximately 20 weeks to process my PR application.

In the notification email, it is also stated that I will have to wait 2 years before I can receive most Centrelink income support payments. Centrelink is the government organisation that makes social security payments. "Income support" is government welfare assistance that is enough to live on.  The payments with a waiting period include unemployment and sickness benefits, income support payments for students and a number of other payments.

But I'm glad that's all well and done for now. Next thing to do is to get my Australian Drivers License. That's going to cost me another $300+. Will update again soon on that.

And maybe in 4 years time...













Back to PR Application Checklist

Another Conversion!! Just Wash and Blow!! Enjoy your day!! Healthy Hair

Just another day of changes!!!

How does the RECESSION affect your hair and salon frequency.

Going to the hair salon on a regular basis is a sure fire way to keep your look up to par with professional advice. Given today's economic climate this luxury item may be taking a backseat to DIY or "youtube experts." Salons are under severe pressure to compete with the financial strain on the economy and the gravitation of clients to finding hair advice digitally.

We have collected a few Hair Saver tips for those looking to maximize their hair swag while not breaking their budgets.



1)

Hit the Discount Salons in Between Pricey Cuts

I love this tip I read in the book, Confessions of a Beauty Editor" by the editors of Allure: Get maintenance haircuts in between your pricey salon visits. According to "Confessions," even beauty editors get discount cuts to save money.

They suggest telling the discount stylist to cut along the "map" set by the fancy stylist.

2)

Wait for the coupon! When salons don't see you in a while...

This one is a no brainer. When your favorite salon doesn't see you for a while, they usually send out big discounts on return services in the form of coupons or emails. This is a great opportunity for you to save money and maintain that awesome look. Beware of the fine print. They may require you to come in on slower days or even downtime like early morning or lunch. Remember in this game of economy its all about playing by the rules.

3)

Go Back to School (Beauty School) or Hit a Salon's Training Night

One of the best ways to get a fancy haircut without the price is to set an appointment at a local beauty school. Most of the stylists-in-training are overseen by an experienced teacher so you can bet they won't make a mess of your hair.

Some big salons also offer discount days or training nights. You can enjoy a pricey cut at a fraction of the price. Check out New York Magazines's list of training nights in New York City and this is in various cities. Check South Florida @ ( www.trainingnights.com)

Another option is to hair model for a salon. You don't have as much say in your haircut as you would if you were paying for it, but most stylists will stay within your perimeters.

A Job and Moving Out

I'm glad to say (or write) that I've finally gotten myself a job at a company called Dixon Advisory. I am indeed very thankful that I have been given an opportunity to work in one of Australia's leading independently owned financial advisory firms.

A short excerpt from their website:

Dixon Advisory is one of Australia’s leading independently owned financial advisory firms. We help more than 15,000 families with their superannuation and financial affairs including over 4,000 with self managed super funds (SMSFs) with a combined asset base in excess of $4 billion. 

Dixon Advisory offers the following services:

• Financial advice
• SMSF set up and administration
• Investment advice
• Property and mortgage advice, including Australia’s leading property investment inside SMSF service.
• Estate planning and other legal services
• Insurance advice.

We provide a comprehensive suite of financial services and we are the only major advisory firm that helps clients with detailed expert advice on self managed super, retail, industry and government super funds.

• Learn about the benefits of choosing Dixon Advisory.
• Read Testimonials from a selection of our clients. 

I guess Dixon is a pretty good place to start as a fresh graduate. I am expected to work late during the peak season (April-August) but the working lifestyle has been pretty good so far. I'm currently a financial analyst in the firm. Basically what I do there is to assist the Financial Advisors by taking notes during meeting with clients and drafting up Statements of Advice which are basically documents containing all of the recommendations made by the advisors during the meeting.

I will also be moving out from my uncle's place pretty soon. Am going to be renting a room with an Aussie family in a nearby suburb. The main thing that I was looking for when I was looking around for my own place was that my place had to be close to a bus stop. I do not plan to get my own car just yet although I might reconsider in a couple of months when I get a pay rise. I'm going to be paying AUD $200 per week for this place that I'm going to be moving into. I'll be getting a room, furnished with my own bed, a small work desk and a wadrobe. Apart from that, the whole house is also fully furnished so I do not have to buy much stuff when I move in.

My rent also includes all bills; water, electricity, gas and internet, which is pretty good. The place I'm staying in is pretty convenient because it is located around 800m from the bus stop, 2 major supermarkets, major banks, a dry cleaners, a post office and a couple of restaurants. Hopefully everything will work out well.

I'll also be on leave for around 2 weeks plus for the Christmas/New Year period as the firm will be closed then. Therefore, I'll be taking leave without pay during that period as I have not accumulated any annual leave just yet. I might think of something to do then. Maybe pop by Sydney or something.

I guess that's probably all for now. Will update again with pictures of my new place. Take care!

Meet Myriam... : All Dolled Up Salons Natural Hair Specialist.

All Dolled Up Salons: Natural Hair Rocks ! Natural Photoshoot !!

Processing Time, Permanent Residency (PR), Australia

It's been close to four months and I still haven't heard from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) regarding my permanent residency application. Apparently, they haven't even touched my application form yet according to their website.

Finding out when your application will be processed or whether or not it has been allocated a case officer:

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/estimated-allocation-times.htm

If you clicked on the link above, and scroll down, you will find a table showing the various visa subclasses as well as their respective dates. Applicants who have lodged their applications before those dates have been contacted by a case officer and should only take a matter of weeks before their final visa is granted. The table is updated fortnightly.

Processing dates for General Skilled Migration applicants. Updated on the 7th of October 2011.

I actually lodged my application online towards the end of June. So it shouldn't take too long before a case officer is allocated to me. I'm estimating a time of around 3 weeks before this actually happens. Hopefully once I get allocated a case officer, everything will be processed really quickly and I will be able to get my Permanent Residency Visa approved before the end of next month.


Back to PR Application Checklist

Family Holiday

My parents flew over into Melbourne from Malaysia last month. They were here for my graduation ceremony which was held in September. They landed in the morning and we took the Starbus shuttle to our budget accommodation called the Space Hotel. The hotel is located on 380 Russell Street in the CBD itself.

The hotel itself was pretty impressive. I paid a total of AUD $139 per night for a queen bed and 2 single bunk beds with my own ensuite bathroom. The so called 'hotel' also has quite a number of facilities such as their own theater room, lounge area, mini arcade room, gym area as well as quite a number of computers for guests to go online with. The 'hotel' also had a pretty big kitchen area for guests to cook stuff. But the downside to this place is that half the facilities don't actually work. The whole mini arcade room had game machines that are all spoilt. Their gym area was appalling with non-functional equipment that might pose a serious safety hazard to guests. The lounge area was pretty bare. And the worst part was that the hotel rooms only had heaters and not air-conditioners. Fortunately for me, I was staying during the start of Spring. So it was still pretty cooling when I was there.

I took my parents to Port Melbourne for fish and chips on the first day and then down to the Crown Casino at night to watch the fire display along the river bank. The Casino actually built a number a 'chimneys' along the bank that emits a huge flame at night. If I'm not mistaken, this fire display starts at 9pm and lasts for around 5 minutes every night and is displayed every hour until midnight.

OZ Doner & Chicken Kebab or also known as Flemington Kebab

18 Racecourse Road, Flemington, Melbourne

 A friend of mine recommended this kebab when I was in Melbourne. It's situated quite a bit out of town but it's easily accessible by tram (15-20 minutes ride). The kebab was pretty good although it is just a little bit pricier than the food you can get in the city. You do get quite a big kebab for the price you pay. This place opens from 6pm until the wee hours in the morning (hardly anyone is open at those hours) and is quite popular among uni students.

The following day, we went to the Carlton Brewery in Abbotsford for a brewery tour and some beer tasting. It was a pretty informative session and we got a chance to sample four different types of beer each. Entrance was AUD $12 per person as I bought a coupon from a group buying website prior to their arrival.

In the afternoon, we headed to the Prahran markets just a couple of streets down from where we were for lunch. It's no where as big as the Queen Victoria market but I guess it's still somewhere to have a look around. After that, we headed to the Queen Victoria market and walked around the city's CBD.

Lunch at Prahran. Had some fancy stuff. Crispy skin fish with grilled vegetables.

The usual steak

Seafood Risotto

We caught the early morning Greyhound bus to Canberra early the next morning at 7am. The journey was a killer. It took us about 9 hours plus just to reach Canberra because the bus had to make various stops along the various towns along the way. Over the next two days, we stayed in Canberra and didn't really do much.

Floriade, the flower festival in Canberra. Photo was taken from a ferris wheel. Lots of different combination of flowers of various colours/designs at the festival itself.

I also went to Jervis Bay for two nights at Hyamms beach. Apparently this beach has the whitest sand in the world as certified by the Guinness Book of Records. I guess they were right. The sand was indeed really white. Only managed to take a short dip in the sea once because the water was freezingly cold. The weather during the trip wasn't exactly ideal either.

 The whitest sand in the world.

We came back to Canberra the day before my graduation. And my graduation ceremony took up the whole afternoon the following day. My parents managed to sneak in a short drive around Canberra's northern and southern suburbs in the morning before my ceremony itself.

 I was also nominated as a Student Representative and had to go on stage to deliver a speech.

The following day, we headed up to Sydney via Greyhound again. The only reason why I chose Greyhound was because all my flights that I booked via Tiger Airlines were cancelled when the airlines got grounded. Subsequently, they then decided to stop servicing the Canberra route as they deem the route as unprofitable. What a shame.

We stayed in another budget accommodation in Sydney; the Formula 1 Hotel which was located in Kings Cross. This hotel was slightly cheaper for the same type of room but way crappier. The F1 Hotel in Kings Cross was a really old one and they didn't really have any other facilities apart from a tiny kitchen. The next time I head up to Sydney, I'll definitely be booking a different place to stay.

 

The iconic Coca-Cola signboard synonymous with Kings Cross.

At Sydney, we did all sorts of touristy things. We took pictures at the Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, popped by the Sydney Fish Market to take some photos and had brunch there, caught the train and a ferry to Manly beach, shopped around Paddy's Market in Chinatown and walked along George Street to experience the culture.
 

 The Opera House (above) and Harbour Bridge (below)

Half a lobster, some chips, calamari rings and oysters.

After Sydney, it was back to Canberra for another night and then back to Melbourne to catch their flight.

We took the scenic Pacific Drive route back to Canberra on the way back from Sydney.

We also stopped over at the Kiama blowhole to have a look and take some pictures.

Blowhole <-- click for definition

Overall, I think I might have crammed a little bit too much within the two weeks that they were here. The next time they come over, I'm just going to leave them in Canberra to do nothing for two whole weeks.

That's pretty much it for now.

Take care!