Description of the Journey:

Length of Travel: 45 mins south by train from Durham

Who's who: Me and Sofea (A tutor from UNIMAS taking up MPhil/PhD in Sociology Theories-who are thinking to move from Ustinov College to St. Mary's -what a betrayal !) Although this was our second time visiting this city who some say 'the larger version of Durham' both of us found York refreshing, at least not as hilly as Durham !!

When: Sunday morning till evening in cold and gloomy north-east winter !

What For: Just fancy a day out and Sofea want a hand to take photos for her to be sent home.

Any Additional Infos?: i) To Kamil, I can help you with it (if you know what I mean..Heee...Hee..She's also Sarawakian mate !)

p/s Lame doh dok bergayo poyo! So if you lot found the images provoking, sorry in advance Harrr...Harrr

These are the few snapshots of the New Year 2007...Happy New Year to everyone...Insya-Allah hopefully this brand new year will bring lots of returns to us all..And less than two weeks from now we all will greet 'Awal Muharram'

On new year's eve, me, Andrzej and Louise we all went for curry...lots of foods..can't even finish all of them and on the new year's day Fran and us went for a walk at Barnard Castle where Fran's parents live. Bad weather and freezing cold but we all had a great fun

Assalamualaikum to all..

Lama betul dok update fotopages ni....Lots of things happened....Loooong story...

Alhamdulillah dah final year...soon will be back home again, can't wait...


These are some of the photos taken in last spring in 2006 when Ed (my housemate) and I went for hill walking in the Lakes...Really had a good time !

Hooray...It was a break again for about two weeks, my earlier plan to go home for Eid Al-Adha has been postponed to Eid El-Fitr in October 2006, Insya-Allah, if everything goes well.

Anyway been invited by Kak Erin and Pok Dee to join them all to spend two nights at the Scottish Highlands over Christmas break. How can I resist, love travelling, we with the other three (i reckon) Glasgowian-Malaysian family drove a few hours to the north of Glasgow and been to all over the places- sight seeing basically. To name a few that as far as I can remember, Ben Navies, Loch Ness, Fort William, Inverness and some other breathtaking scenic spots. It was freezing cold, unfortunately there was no snow at that time except on the mountains, just frost but good enough to make us shaking, probably reached down to -10 deg C...

Cheers to Kak Erin, Pok Dee and the others who were organising the trip, and 'ta' to Kak Erin Kak Aida for the photos, As in Scottish Gaelic ' Tapadh leibh' means (many thanks in english). So moral of the story, ensure that the camera is fully charged before travel !!

p/s Sorry for not updating this fotopages for ages - been so busy lately, loads of things to work-on, now the 'boss' is in the Oz for 4 months....so what else...??

Alhamdulillah...Masuk hari ni dah kira-kira sebulan dah aku pindah dok rumah baru ni...Mula-mula tu memang dilema betul la nak pindah...Aku sememangnya nak stay kat Howlands Farm...more privacy org kate...Tapi dah rent akan naik drp £284 to £360 sebulan, makan daun kayu la aku...

Tapi Alhamdulillah aku skang ni dah pindah kat luar sewa pun murah ler sikit £255 sebulan and Insya-Allah bila term dah start in October ni aku dapat la peluang mengajar lagi...Bulehla buat beli sayur Hehh..Hehh..

Housemates aku ni semuanya excellent la..Dah lama dah kenal diaorang ni, Introducing the members of 53 Orchard Drive, Durham DH1 1LA.

Andrezj, (1st year, Organofluorine chemist),
Ed, (1st year, Plant Biochemist),
Ollie, (2nd year, Biological Chemist),
Chris, (3rd year undergrads, geologist),
Louise, (Andrezj's girlfriend),
Me, (1st year, Organometallic chemist),

Hooray....Cuti lagi...Tapi one day je..So kali ini aku, Ed ngan Ollie pegi camping kat Lake District...Lama dah aku dream nak gi kat sini coz memang scenery dia Masya-Allah lawa tak ingat...

So ktrg camping satu malam je, takleh nak duduk lelama ....heavy rain and windy as well...

But in the future, we plan to do mountain climbing and stay there for much longer...Only when we get perfect time of course...

"Finally"......That's what Stephane wrote to me in his e-mail a few days ago regarding 'the arrival' of the new member in Gaillard family.

Stephane and Juliette just had their first daughter recently; named Maia, cute, charming and adorable...Just like her parents..Stephane and Juliette are among my close buddies and now he moved back to Paris after his postdoctorate contract ended here in Chemistry Dept. last March.

So thank to God Almighty for the gift of baby Maia...and thanks to Stephane and Juliette for sharing with me this joy...

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Ni sambungan pasal konvo lepas...Sorilah ekk bukan mengada-ngada ke apa but I reckon that I should share the joy with all of you, no hidden thoughts.

Malamnya, yakni lepas konvo tu kitaorang semua pegi rumah Paul, ade jamuan makan-makan sket..sedap betul dia masak...sate ayam ngan lamb cecah ngan kuah kacang (2-3 hari before konvo Paul ngan aku dah pegi kedai halal kat Newcastle....jgn salah paham)...Heee...Heee

Di samping tu dia buat popiah dan irressistable muffins...sedap gila...Ni sayang supervisor nih...!! Anis did really enjoy herself by helping Paul making the muffin...she was really good at it..

Then Rachel plak buat segala macam salad..sedap gila...Simply semua org really enjoyed themselves la...

[With Ayu, Kak Erin, Paul, me, Kak Azna, Rachel and Kak Farid]



[With all my beloved labmates, from left to right: Anna, Mark F., Paul, Donocadh, Mark S, and Rachel]

Alhamdulillah hari ni adalah satu lagi hari yg bersejarah dlm hidup...Dengan cuaca yg cukup baik (20 deg C), tapi still panas membahang....Aku dikurniakan Master of Science in Synthetic Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry (by research).. from Ustinov College of University of Durham la mane lagi....

Mula-mula sedih la jugak because takde sorang pun family yg datang tapi rase sedih tu hilang and berganti plak ngan rase bangga dan lebih menggembirakan lagi, semua labmates, my 'boss' dan kengkawan drp Scotland pun turut serta, diaorang ni dah jadik lebih mcm family dah kat sini, satu ucapan yg takleh lupa, simple tapi penuh makna, drp my supervisor sendirik, iaitu Paul, 'congratulations....You have one more to go mate !!'

Yeap that's right, dua minggu lagi kena submit 1st year report and ade viva untuk boleh ke dak naik tahun 2...Argghhh seram-seram....

Thanks a lot for all of you who has made loads of efforts for my graduation, only Allah can repay all your good deeds....So to all my friends out there..Enjoy...



[Paul and me..]



[Dr Jamal, Bill Bryson;the chancellor and me]



[With sweet and charming Rachel]



[My best mate, Angelo]

Weekend ni best la sesangat coz menerima tetamu drp jauh nun...Thanks la bebanyak..drp jauh datang ke Durham ni..siap sesat sampai org kena pi 'survive'....Hee..Heee..Tak dapek den nak balas jaso ehh...

To Ayu, Asmaha, Kak Farid, Kak Azna serta Kak Erin and tak lupa jugak to Bro. Lokman sekeluarga as a co-host...Timo kasih la bebanyak kerana sampai dan put a lot of efforts dan spent masa ngan datang ke Durham ni...siap tuang lab serta cuti keja...Terharu-terharu..

p/s most of these pics are the courtesy of Kak Azna, masa tu ambo tak nak guna sngt. (coz nak save utk graduation)