A Mom, A Student & A Tech Prowess

 Hello, there! We are finally here in Pittsburgh at 2nd week of class. Luckily the classes are online so I was able to participate - sort of - during the transitions. The lectures have recorded zooms so I could simply just go back and re-visit missed lectures. Nonetheless, yeay, I am now officially a student at Carnegie Mellon University. Woohoo! Nonetheless, I have a strong support system to help me get here and it would not have been a breeze without them: 1. My family, my in-laws & makcik. For helping me with all the stuff - beli barang, kemas bags, jaga Mikael and Afrael when I needed to run some errands. 2. Kak Ifah, Abg Yus & family. They helped sending us to Pittsburgh and got us settled in super quick. I mean, without them, I probably wouldn't have a mattress to lie on the first day of my arrival here - that's how crazy supportive they are! I would never forget this - and they mentioned that it's a pay-it-forward, so if and when I found anyone needed some he

 Hi, I'm back! Because of the pandemic, the government's services have begun implementing "booking system" for many, if not all, of their services. This is definitely a step-up in terms of their services - people will no longer cramp the office. But, what if the queue is super long? We tried to book for Afrael's birth registration in Selangor - the next available appointment at that time was in January. (Fyi, Afrael was born in September) that's a whole 5 months without certificate! So, what's the pro tip? Do it at cities with less people / the village! We did Afrael's at Pagoh (a 2-hour drive and they open on Sunday). And tadaaa, he's probably the few babies who managed to get his birth certificate before 2 months! I decided to implement the same approach for my medical checkup. My city's health clinic's queue was until middle January. I decided to do the medical checkup at Putrajaya. I immediately got in the queue - awesome! So yeah, if y

For those who knew me during my breastfeeding journey with Mikael, you might have known how difficult the beginning of the journey was. I thought this would be a good sharing place for those who might encounter the same experience! 1. Nipple blisters / cracked Yucks! Imagine the blisters on your feet? Now it's at your nipple and you'd have your baby nursing from it - oh my goodness! I'd be in full breathe-in, breathe-out "prep mode" everytime before nursing. My advice? Get the nipple butter and use it before the breastfeeding session - especially the first few weeks when the baby is born! Why? Because it's your first time your nipple would be in use haha - so it sort of probably need some adjustment time! In addition to that, Mikael had tongue tie. So if that did not solve the problem, get your baby's tongue checked! 2. Baby sucking Well, according to the advices of the professionals, the blisters actually came from baby not sucking correctly. Both my babi

I've gotten into Carnegie Mellon University! And to top it off, on 24th of December, MARA has finally agreed to sponsor me under Graduate Excellence Program (GrEP)! It was quite a journey between applying to Grad school and scoring a sponsor. So hey, sharing here in case you need the information as well! First of all, most of the scholarships I've looked at require students to receive an offer letter first before considering to sponsor us! I personally thought this is understandable:  1) For post-grads, many may come from the industry. Since the sponsors are sponsoring students studying at a range of countries, it is hard to really filter out those who deserve it - so I guess the best way is to let the universities decide. For MARA, they will only sponsor students from Top 20 universities for UK and US / Top 10 universities in other countries - by subject - so don't just apply at any university, ensure that your university is ranked. 2) There won't be much waiting time

That little title just to show that I am and always will be a programmer at heart. The last time I wrote a blog was probably in 2008.  My plans this time around? 1. My little knowledge-base  I will definitely add things I've learned to share with you. 2. My little adventure  I am pursuing my Masters program at Carnegie Mellon University (yeay!). This time around, I'll be bringing my little family. I can definitely foresee it as an adventure and I am super excited to share them with you! Let me know if there's anything you'd like me to add.  What's a blog without a picture? Just a snippet of my little family. Missing in action is definitely me and baby Afrael.  Return;