Graduation Day!

Yesterday was graduation day for RMIT students and our second son, Hamzah was one of them. This was the main reason that I came to Melbourne, actually. He majored in Finance and Economics and after three years, there he was, Alhamdulillah, graduating at last! The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology almost 6,000 graduands started their day with a parade through the streets of Melbourne along with their families and friends and in the evening they attended the actual graduating ceremony.

Getting ready at start of the parade

Trying to figure out how to put on the hood..

A little help from a friend (photographer and housemate, Irfan)

The Parade

A lot of Chinese, Vietnamese and Asian students..

Walking along the street..the weather was good, Alhamdulillah!

Met up with Norlin's family (we went sightseeing together a post ago)

Picture taken with some friends

Hamzah with Norlin and another graduating friend

Well, in the evening we congregated at a stadium, where all of the graduating students from various schools were receiving their scrolls AT THE SAME TIME! Universities in Malaysia (and other universities in Melbourne, too actually) take days to cover their graduation ceremonies. How they did it? Divide the stadium to accommodate 13 mini stages where a big screen on each stage will show up the names of every graduating students as the go on the stage to receive their scrolls. Of course for the PhDs graduands, their names were called out as they went on stage before the other students' turn. Unfortunately, I couldn't catch a photo of Hamzah as he went on stage...

I was seated above the stage where Hamzah would be receiving his scrolls

This guy was going through the boring bit by playing a game on his cell-phone..(I would have done the same if my phone hadn't run out of batteries!)

The graduands lining up to go on the stage one by one..

I think this is the reason why they decided not to call out students' name..lol

Excited parents..

Another thrilled and enthusiastic family members

Where it all happened..

Well, a rather tiring day for everyone, I bet... Anyway, congratulations Hamzah! A different life awaits you now and let's pray that whatever you intend to do you always do it to gain the Blessings of Allah in this Life and the Hereafter...Amin. Love you Bang Ngah!

A Day Out

For nearly the whole day today I went for a trip to a couple of interesting places near Melbourne. A friend of Bang Ngah, Norlin, has her mom, an aunt with her two children to take on a tour, so I tagged along. The son's housemate, Irfan drove us around. First stop: Sunny Ridge Strawberry Farm. Yess! Strawberry-picking time! $8 entrance fee and you get 500gm of strawberries that you've picked (you must make sure you can close the lid or you'll have to pay for the extra fruit..)

That's me before I stepped on some muck on the far side..yuck!

Yummy... that which couldn't fit in the punnet popped into the mouth!

Next stop: Ashcombe Maze and Lavender Garden. $17.50 entrance fee and all the pictures you can take! The roses were simply amazing... just look at them: 

 Hydrangeas...truly beautiful!

The Lavender Garden. Pinched a tiny head and it smelled..hmm..lavendry... (Norlin said it smelled like toilet.. only because some air fresheners for toilets have lavender scent.. lol!)

Norlin's little cousins having their picture taken..aren't they adorable?

Our next destination was the Cape Schanck Lighthouse. Unfortunately there was a 30 minute wait before the next tour so we skipped it and just took pictures from outside..

Looking out to the blue, blue ocean..fantastic view!

Part of the lighthouse

Before heading 'home', stopped at the beach in Sorrento, watching boats while having some snacks..

Luckily it's summer so the day is long and by the time we reached Malaysia Hall where the others were staying, we still had time to do our zuhr and asr prayers.. A pleasant and enjoyable day indeed! (Wish the hubby is here, though...)

A Trip to Hidden Valley

Today, we (the son, his friend and I) went on an hour's journey to visit a Malay couple who lives outside Melbourne at the Hidden Valley. Hamzah has a tour-guide business and the couple wants their home to be listed as a Homestay for visiting tourists from Malaysia. The mission was to take pictures of the house and add to the son's business website (which is in the process of building). We spent about 4 hours there, having been invited to lunch as well. (that's Malaysian hospitality for you..) I took some pictures too using my PHD* camera (Hamzah's friend has a more expensive camera of course). Here are pictures of their lovely home. So for anyone out there who is interested to spend your holiday in Melbourne Homestay-style... do contact me: ummuumar@rocketmail.com (since they do not have an official website yet). Hmm... I might just demand a commission for the service...

Entrance to the Hidden Valley

Front of the house

Lovely view - really, my PHD camera doesn't do justice..

Truly amazing view from the house..

Side of the house

Garden - from one side and ...

...from the other side

Plants planted by the couple

More plants.

A view inside the house - the kitchen and dining area

Dr. Nasir and wife, Hasnah

*PHD - Press Here Dummy..lol

Melbourne, here I come! (again)

Now that I'm not tied to a job, it's time to travel...yeayy! This is going to be a longgg holiday - about 6 weeks. (Daughter: *groan* Australia? again? Why don't you go somewhere else?) Yes, again, and she's not coming, lol! Well, just arrived a few hours ago and since it's still early Malaysia time though quite late Melbourne time, I decided to write this and wait for subuh before getting some shut-eye. I came alone (the hubby will join me later at around Christmas) and is staying with Bang Ngah until the hubby comes and then we'll travel together to Adelaide to see Bang Long and his family.

The journey was quite uneventful (at first): daughter drove me to LCCT, arrived quite early, checked in early, bought some food and drinks, read, played Angry Bird, read again, boarded plane at about 1 pm, got on my seat (middle-aisle), prayed that the seat next to mine would be occupied by a friendly, slim, female... and then, this really HUGE gentleman claimed it and this was what he actually said: "Has the seat got smaller or I've got fatter?" (seriously?). The poor man was literally squashed in his seat (seriously again). However, once the sign to fasten seat-belt was off, I quickly dashed to the bathroom to take ablutions for prayers and noticed; Thank God there were many more unoccupied seats at the back in which I sank in one (by the window) gratefully for the rest of the journey..

Nice murals..

Dusk..bird-eye-view

 

My dusty bag on arrival!

To the Dentist!

Not one of your favourite moments..

I needed some work done on my teeth, so yesterday we took a 3-hour trip to Kota Bharu to visit the dentist. When you need to see a dentist, she needs to be your friend. Not many people love going to the dentist, so she has to be a really good friend! Anyway, as she happens to be specialist, the 3-hour trip was worth it. The picture above shows the hubby having his check-up. Nobody bothered to stand around him then, but when it was my turn a swarm of interns (MAs and freshly graduated dentists) was an appreciative audience..lol! Well, you can't see from the picture but the hubby was wearing a pair of goggle. I was given a pair of dark sunglasses. Not used to be given one on other dentist's visits, my first thoughts were; " OMG, are they to prevent splashes of blood on my face?" Later on I realized it was only so my face didn't get drops of water that tended to spray you all over.. (Don't you wish you can carry a conversation with your dentist as she does her work? I think a ventriloquist would drive one crazy!) I don't get to see my friend, who is a sweet lady, often but seeing her professionally deepens my respect for her. I wanted to laugh at this incident but you know, with my mouth wide open, it's kinda difficult.. Anyway, one of the interns was having a bad day I supposed (the good doctor had to keep reminding him to do this and that) and once, he was chided for leaving a tiny bottle of something opened so that its content had evaporated. As he handed her the bottle, I could see his hand was shaking like a leaf! Poor guy... but way to go Doc! And thanks for everything!

'Retirement' starts today!

Yesterday was my last day working at the College. Today is the first day of my 'retirement' and IT FEELS GREAT! Like a heavy load off my shoulder... I've worked there for exactly 2 years minus a day. Like I mentioned before, I love teaching and it will always be in my blood. However, as much as I love being the career woman and the bit of money that comes with it, I need the satisfaction of doing something different everyday. Anyway, it's time to move on to other things... The hubby has been complaining that I don't seem to have much time for travel and so I'm going for a long holiday next week - which will, I hope be my future posts. Yes, I promise to update this blog as often as possible now that I am the lady of leisure..

Below are pics of my ex-students from the College (love and miss ya'll!):

UFS 301 +  a couple of guys at the back from my former classes who crashed in at picture-taking!

UFS 211

UFS 201

UFS 111

UFS 101