2011: ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL

 2 days left to say adios to 2011. 2011, for me, is a unique year. It can be divided into two phase –relaxing phase (up to the point it’s depressing), and ‘back in business’ phase. 

I was struggling to find job during the first phase. Mind u, I quit my first job on November 2010, after only 6 months of working. I was so confident at that time that I won’t be jobless for too long. Yeah silly me. That being said, I never (read: never ever ever ever ever ever –Barney Stinson’s style) regret the decision. The time I quit was the same time as my sister deliver Syauqi (my very first nephew), also my youngest brother involved in pretty serious accident. So I could lend some hand to my parents at home (or that’s what I thought I did –u know, to ease myself, heh). 

CPU Bangi was cool, but HATTM was pfftt. ;)

Anyway not that I didn’t get any offer during the first phase. I did get a few –but turned it down. Yeah I know, dah la tak ada kerja, mengada-ngada pulak nak memilih. In my defense, my 1^st job really thought me to be selective. Haha. Don’t get me wrong, I really learnt a lot from being a catering dietitian. It’s just that I can’t keep up with the work. The job demands me 24-7. They even call me at 2,3 am, also on the weekend. So yeah, I chose to leave. 

Well here are the recaps of the ups and downs in 2011. Check it out!

January

-I supposed to report duty for the Dutchlady job on the 3^rd. The pay was good though. I choose to stay at home instead ;).

-Fizah (my paus-mate) and Radzi wedding. I went to Radzi’s reception in USJ. 

February

-Besties wedding, Nawa. My roommate for 4 years. 

I love it how many of us are not ready in this pix. Love!

Add another year to my age, I am 24! Hey I'm cool with it (tipu).

One of my favorite from SR -chocolate strawberry. Yummeyh! Thanks long.

-Another month of being jobless. On the positive side, my cooks were improving (again, nak sedapkan hati).

March

-Interview in IIUM Kuantan, as clinical dietitian. God knows how nervous I was to be interviewed by dear lecturers –Dr Nik and Sis Fathin. I pass the interview, has to wait for 2^nd interview in Gombak by MSD. Quoted from Dr Nik when he advised me on tips for Gombak’s interview –‘I remember u being a very confident student in class, so I don’t have issue with ur confidence level. Its just that u have to be critical, because MSD love to ask question to test ur critical thinking skill (Nampak sangat budak ni maleh memikir haha).

Gath with these crazy but adooorable girls during interview, in diet kitchen and no less. How nostalgic that was. Love!

April

……………………………………. <--Shows depression. Six months with no jobs. No news from UIA. I seriously thinking about pursuing masters.

May

-Kakya’s wedding. 

-Went to IDP open day. Semangat berkobar-kobar nak sambung study. Dream big, nak pergi oversea. There’s no harm in planning (and dreaming) right?

-The end of May, saw some light at the end of the tunnel (cewah). Went for interview as a part time dietitian in Selayang Hospital (SH). Thanks to a friend Ilman for the info. Alhamdulillah was accepted (at last, sayonara jobless!).

June

-Kick off in SH. Blessed with a chance to work with many great, inspiring, and of course, fun people –Big boss Pn Mages (used to be our visiting lecturer back then), Kak Nora, Kak Elly, Kak Zam, Kak Fizah, June, Ben, TLF, and Ilman. 

Wonderful people

-Miya-Iqbal wedding! I went to Iqbal’s reception at Pontian. It was a day trip with Ilman, Pitat and Alip. And it was crazeyh! Haha. Laughing all the way. Alip asyik buat lawak bangang je sepanjang jalan (ade ke patut panggil aku JAH?).

Kitorang jadi extra dalam photoshoot diorg. Cool.

July

-Start this blog ;)

-My first time in PD. Hooooray! Thanks to my kakak and BIL for the invite to stay at TNB’s guest house with them. Went to Kakfizah’s wedding in PD as well.

Kakfizah yang gorjes.

-Move in to Kak Elly’s house. A very wonderful time with Kak Elly and June. They are the bestest and coolest housemates ever!

Buka puasa bersama2 @ Restoran asam pedas. OMG their bubur lambuk is awesome.

-Finally, interview at IIUM Gombak. However I was really demotivated at that time. The other candidates are the best –Pitat is very experienced, has been working in HKL more than a year already, and the rest; Ramadan, Sakini and Karimah, although they are juniors, I know that they are the best in their batch. So yeah, I just went, feeling down. And was the last to be interviewed. My hope at that time? 10%. Yup only that much. Betul tak tipu. Still, faiza ‘azamta, fatawakkal alallah~

August

-Puasa! Ramadhan kareem.

-4^th Ramadhan: The date that I’ll remember forever. It was the holy month Ramadhan, after Zuhur prayer and mengaji in the surau, I got the call from MSD, was accepted to IIUM. Alhamdulillah.

-It was also my last month in SH. As much as I longing to work in IIUM, I was having second thought about leaving SH. Betul tak tipu. Kakak2 kat SH baik sangat, the working environment was cool. So I say my farewell to SH, that has thought me a lot. :(

Pn Mages ckp, kita buat gaya freestyle laa.. ;)

-Hari raya aidilfitri!

September

-Start off at IIUM. Uish memang berdebar. Only a week after report duty the final year students start their clinical attachment. I was in charged for In-patient, in HTAA. That’s why I am so grateful and blessed for the chance to work in SH, though it was only for a short period. It sorta trained and polished me to be ready to teach students. Thanks SH!

The first group attached with me. Sorry I was still new at that time. I wish for us to start over.

October

Busy jangan kacau ;)

It takes forever to finish checking the logbooks

November

-Busy jugak ;)

-Hari Raya Aidiladha. The first birthday of the cutest little monsters.

Qi dan eyin, one year old

-Oh attend Clinical Nutrition Workshop. Cool!

December

-Final rotation, final group, finally…

-IIUM Mosque is finally done. Alhamdulillah. Really brought back memories…

IIUM Kuantan mosque. We grew up in IIUM listening to the sounds of its construction.

Well that’s pretty much the summary of 2011. I even blogged about some of the event, u know, to keep them as memory. It is a challenging year, with the job issue and what not. The most important lesson that I learn was Allah is the ultimate planner. Wa makaru wa makarallah, wallahu khairul makirin. What we can do is to keep on going, keep on praying. Jangan putus asa dengan rahmat Allah. Always remember that Allah knows best. There’s always something in everything.  So 2011, bai bai! Although you were a difficult year, I still love u, u know? 

2012? Azam? New year resolution? I don’t set any specific target. I am just hoping to become better –better Muslim, daughter, sister, friend, dietitian, and employee. Yeah maybe there are certain things that I wanted to achieve and do, hence may Allah ease everything. Semoga diberi yang terbaik. So 2012, bring it on!!!

Jangan malas berdoa

 Love, Ija.

THE STORY OF MY DIETETIC COUNSELING -PART 2

Being a dietitian is not all about dietetic consultation. Sometimes its beyond that. Take today’s case as example. I was covering Kak Aishah in Klinik Sekilau. One of the patient today was a 50 yo Science teacher. She was the 8^th pt, the last pt before lunch hour, newly diagnosed with diabetes mellitus.

So same old same, I asked for her 24 hour diet recall, and the food frequency checklist. To cut the story short, she practices a very good, healthy, well and balanced diet (the one that I myself found it hard to do), all that you can find in the textbook. The portion size is very good, no refined sugar in the diet, lots of veggies (organic some more), healthy cooking methods, healthy lifestyle, exercise regularly, regular medical check up, and she also has an ideal body weight. She claimed that she has always been practicing healthy diet, and has become more conscious on diet ever since her husband was diagnosed with cancer in 2004. She knows all about the anti oxidants, omega 3, unsaturated fat and what not, as she claimed that she read about diet more than she study for her Masters. That’s how conscious she is. That being said, she has a strong family hx of DM, as her mother was diabetic.  

Her question is –what have I done wrong?

It’s a very difficult question. Because she asked that not because she didn’t know the answer, but she asked that out of despair, frustrated, and sad. I could sense that she was heartbroken. It is always easy to counsel diabetic pt based on the guidelines that we have –regular meal time, don’t skip meal, avoid refined sugar, carbohydrate counting, increase fiber and less fat. What if your pt already knows all these stuffs, and what more has been practicing it for long? Do I still nag about all these things? Of course I still did the usual diabetic counseling; despite she already knows most of it, but with justification. Each diabetic guideline that I mentioned to her, comes with the ‘why’. Well I hope that helps. But that’s not all.

Remember I mentioned before that diet consultation is very individual? So I told the pt, that diabetic, is hereditary. When your mother has diabetes, the chance that u might also get it is 25%. At the beginning of the discussion (I rather called it a discussion as she knows a lot) she was very skeptical about genetic issue (despite being a Science teacher she is). For her it is not fair, you know, to get the disease simply because your mother has it, because it is in your DNA.

I’ve learned Developmental Psychology during my first year of study. The Kubler-Ross grief cycle. There are 5 stages of grief, upon knowing bed news. They are Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. I believed that the pt has been on the second stage –she she keeps questioning why, and how does she get diabetes, with all the healthy diet and lifestyle. She said that if it is not for the biochem result in her hand, and the repeating test, and the diagnosis by doctor, she will never believe it. And she is somewhat giving up on healthy lifestyle, as she mentioned that why bother when at the end of the day, she still sick. 

The Kubler-Ross Grief Cycle -image googled

At the end of the session, I did tell her something else –to bersabar, and having diabetes doesn’t mean the end of the world. She can always continue practicing healthy lifestyle, take control of the disease, don’t let it ruin you, physiologically and emotionally. And that was not me as a dietitian talking –that was me as a human being, trying to put myself in her shoes. Its difficult, really. I just hope that she will reach the end stage of the grieving process, which is the ACCEPTENCE phase, make peace with the disease, and yeah, control it.

Sometimes its hard to explain things with Science. As a Muslim, we have to have faith in Qada’ and Qadar. When Allah said kun, fayakun. No one can stop it from happening. And we must believe that there is always something in everything. Setiap perkara yang terjadi ada hikmahnya. La yukallifullahu nafsan illa wus’aha. May Allah grant us with good health, amin.

CERITA PMR 9A

I sit for PMR in 2001. It was 10 years back. 10 years! Really, how fast time flies. Kalau beranak tu anak kite dah 10 tahun dah, darjah 4. See how long ago it is. The memory of taking PMR is still there (somewhere in my brain), but somehow it has become hazy. Oh memory please don’t go away.

My lower form was in Ma’ahad As-Sultan Ahmad Shah Ad-Dini. Siqah kan nama? It is a sekolah agama under JAIP. Sekolah agama ni ada 2 jenis –under Jabatan Agama Islam Negeri (kain hijau) and also Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA, kain biru). The different is sekolah agama kain hijau took all the ‘religious courses’ (subjek agama) in Arabic; Quran, Hadis, Nahu, Tauhid, Feqah, Sirah Nabawiyyah, Tafsir, etc (could not recall la). 

Serius rindu nak jejak kaki ke sini. -Pic from Maahad website

Back  to the PMR story. Today was the announcement of the result for PMR 2011. Tengok berita see all the happy faces mula la layan blues teringat zaman kite dulu kan. My result? It was excellent! Haha. Hey its true I got 9A for my PMR 2001. When I saw in the news  those that get straight A’s I was telling them (or telling the TV, or…telling myself actually) hey aku pon straight A jugak lol! *Immatured! I know*. Anyway it is their moment kan, so lets not steal their thunder. Let them enjoy and be happy about it. We have ours before, so cukup2 la tu. Sekarang tak rasa apa2 pon dapat 9A itu. ;)

But I was the best student for my school back then (haha tak habes lagi cerita berlagak aku nih). Masa nak amik result pagi tu dah ready nak gi amik ngan abah ni. Dalam kereta kawan abah pakcik Muzahid (his daughter and son are my friend Mardhiah Hanis and Syafiq. Syafiq kawan before kite lompat kelas, Mardhiah kawan after lompat kelas –they are only one year apart) called and spilled the beans. Ish tak surprise langsung. So I went to school already knowing my result. Sampai sekolah the school clerk tried to crack a joke saying I got 9E. Ye la tu. Of course I was so happy at that time. Though I was telling myself be cool, jangan riya’, but more or less ada jugak rasa bangga itu. Astaghfirullah. 

Reminiscing all these memories tiba2 tergerak nak tengok website Ma’ahad itu. Guess what I found? Tadaaa… haha. See I don’t lie.  

From the list, Habib also went to Kisas, stay for STAM in Kisas, then further study in Middle East (kalau tak salah). Nuar lost contact, Udi (Fadhilah), Fizah and Sarida all taking Laws in IIUM, Ainul IRK IIUM, Izzate pon lost contact. Haa list kat atas tu for year 2002 Muhammad Syafiq Muzahid (yes it’s the Syafiq anak pakcik Muzahid I mentioned earlier) amik architecture, IIUM jugak. *Eh sapik ko dapat D subjek apa hah? Hehe*. Eh budak Ma’ahad ni suke betol masuk UIA ye.

Though PMR seems unimportant now, but I am so grateful for what I got because of it. I was accepted to a very wonderful school (not to say that Ma’ahad is not wonderful. Both schools are great in their own way) because of it. Therefore, despite knowing that they are not reading this, my du’a goes to all my teachers in Ma’ahad, for all the thoughts of the wonderful 3 years. May Allah bless all of u. Amin.

I WISH FOR...

A flying mat...

Sudah jampi pon tikar ini tak mahu terbang

Mahu terbang
Jauh-jauh
Tinggi-tinggi
Tengok bumi dari langit
Tengok apa orang itu buat, apa orang ini bikin
Tapi sekarang hujan, nanti basah, tikar terbang tak ada bumbung
Tak apalah
Duduk saja di bumi
Tengok langit
Cari pelangi...

THE COOL COLDPLAY

I love music. Dont give me crap like Lady gagak or Nicky Minaj or Mizznina (gosh I really hate lagu whatchuwaitingfor itu). I mean real music by 'real' cool band, those that play rock, alternative rock, slow rock, pop rock and what not. Though I never been to any concert before (konsert nasyid kat sekolah and UIA tak kira kot), I always love to watch live performance. The feeling of live performance by live band is somewhat different. Its the best!

Love abam chris martin gigi gap ;)

I love Coldplay, since the epic Yellow. Masa tu kita dengar kat radio saje, mana ada download2 ni. First time listen to the song I was like this song is soooo cool. So I marked Coldplay as one of my favorite, though I dont know other song by them but Yellow. It was during university time that I started looking for their songs, download (illegal, sorry Coldplay kite student time tu, student kan selalu miskin) their album and stuff. That is when I fall in love with other songs such as In my place, Fix you, and of course the another epic, Viva la vida.

Eh anyway this entry comes after a friend share on FB the clip The Scientist. I wonder why the scientist is not one of my favorite dulu. Its awesome! Alah masa dulu rajin download full album, scan through (dengar semua lagu few times, select my favorites to put on the playlist, lepas tu yg lain tak dgr dah hehe).

The latest release by Coldplay is Mylo Xyloto. Huh title of the album pon dah cool. Haa dah kerja pon tak beli album jugak. Hey in my defense my car tak ada cd player. Nnt la kite tukar the old car stereo with a new one. Sayang la the old one is still ok tsk tsk.. My friend joke about the banjir kilat in KL is because of Every teardrop is a waterfall lol! The title of the song is so hyperbola, but or course, me like! Kite memang suke over2 ni kan.

Current love? Check this out. Para para paradise... Oh again, Coldplay is soooo cool.

Besides coldplay my other favorite bands include lifehouse, greenday, simple plan (this is mainly bcos my sister likes them so terikut), the fray (tapi the fray tak layan semua, only certain songs) and the latest one, one republic. Errr and westlife??? ;)

THE INNER ANIMAL IN ME

Whenever asked what my favorite animal is, or if u could choose to be one, what kind of animal I will be, my answer will always be a HORSE! No I am not an equestrian (its obvious is it?) neither a regular horse rider. But I always like horse. Horse always look strong, in fact they are strong. They are fast. They seem wild but are tame in certain way. And they are handsome (even a female one looks handsome right?). I superlike it when they run –gosh horse looks super strong and sturdy when they run. 

Gagah kan? -pic google

Anyway why talk about animal out of sudden? I did a sorta personality test the other day on animal stuffs, so emerge this entry. But we’ll come to that one later. Back to the animal story. Yes I love animals. They are also makhluk Allah so what not to be love about them? However being an animal lover I am, I only love to LOOK at them. Touching them? Hell no. This is mainly because animal is unpredictable. One time they like u, and the next, they suddenly bite u. Creepy right? So yeah, I just love watching and looking at them. It reminds me of Al-Hakim (Maha Bijaksana). Imagine how many species of animals is there on earth? Each is very unique and carries its own responsibility. So yes, looking at them is one of the easiest and deepest tazkirah u can get. Also, they bring tranquility (well some of them ;) ). 

Back to the animal test story. My dear friend kakak Sarah Rahmat share on Facebook the other day about the quiz. Its called what is the inner animal in you. It was a gloomy, boring, sickly (kan I demam) weekend, so a light and fun quiz wont do any harm, no? The quiz was cast by the worldwildlife (WWF) website (but the quiz is no longer available now). Hey guess what’s the inner animal in me? No its not horse. Well I am an EMPEROR PENGUIN! Should I yeay? ;). A total upside down from a horse lol! Tapi penguin cute kan? Kan? Kan? ;)

The result ;)

 Hihi kak sarah kata it describe me well! Highlight: YOU BOND EASILY WITH OTHERS AND A GREAT TEAM PLAYER, SHARING RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE COMMON GOOD. Haaa siapa kawan dengan kite untung la kan lol (ok siapa nak muntah dipersilakan hihihihihi)! But I think bond easily with others tu tak berapa betol kot. I am a shy person, so let u know ;). 

Berdiri macam cover album boyband je. Imagine Backstreetboys berdiri mcm ni. Haha kelakar x saya? -pic google

Haa in real life, emperor penguin is called emperor because they are the largest of all penguins. The unique thing about an emperor penguin is once the female laid the egg, it promptly leaves it behind. Sound irresponsible right? No no I’m not finish yet. They went for hunting trip looking for foods for as long as 2 months, traveling 50 miles *background song lagu imran ajmain seribu tahun: relaku mengejarmu seribu batu jauh lagi…*. Hey imagine penguin jalan 50 miles (approximately 85 km). They are slow walker (yeah that’s me I have small steps ;)). Tak ke penat tu? When female penguins return to the breeding site, they bring a belly full of food that they regurgitate for the newly hatched chicks. Oh besar sungguh jasa ibu kan?

Then what the male emperor do? Well unlike sesetengah lelaki durjana yang tidak menghargai isteri dan anak, male emperor stay back protecting the egg while the female hunt for foods (eh macam terbalik pulak kan?). The way they protect the egg is also very unique. They keep the newly laid eggs warm, but they do not sit on them, as many other birds do. Males stand and protect their eggs from the elements by balancing them on their feet and covering them with feathered skin known as a brood pouch (ouch mesti lenguh kan?). During this two-month bout of babysitting the males eat nothing! Oh mesti mereka kurus *jeles*.When the female come back then only they go to the sea to look for foods. It is said that the male emperor could lose half of their weight in the process (50% weight loss in two months is regard as significant weight loss. They need nutrition intervention!). Oh besar sungguh jasa ayah kan? All the info is credited to National Geography website.

Eh besides me my Optom friend Ain is also an emperor penguin. Yeah high five Ain! Kak sarah, on the other hand, is an iguana. Lol. Other Optom friend Kakdilah pulak is a kangaroo (I think its obvious lol!). 

Well I end this entry with the two animals that I don’t like. Don’t ever bring them near me I warn you. They are lizard and frog. Don’t ever!

I CELEBRATE THE END OF STUDENT'S CLINICAL ATTACHMENT WITH...

A fever...
37.8 deg Celcius
Inflammed throat
Flu and runny nose
Chilly and shivering
And...
A pile of logbooks to be marked.

My body is very smart
It waited till the end to fall sick
Kalau sakit awal-awal nanti kesian student tak ada chekgu.

Wishing u a speedy recovery Ija (doa untuk diri sendiri)

p/s: satu rumah sakit. mula2 my niece eyin, then my brother, then my SIL, and now me. sakit secara berjemaah.