my first Montag in Mannheim (monday in mannheim)

German word of the day is Anmelden, means, Sign In.

Yes, i figured it out here cause everthing is in German. The google.com.de instead of google.com.my, the keyboard (I am still having a hard time finding the DEL, CTRL and SHIFT key and sometimes confuse the Y and the Z and they have this ß, ö, ä, ü). I had a hard time installing JAVA cause everything was in german.. It took me awhile to take out $ from the ATM machine cause Ikhwan had to assist me, the tv channels are all in German except CNN.. even the instructions to the curry powder are in german :) hehe I laughed and thought gosh, Guten Tag, Danke and bitte schön are just nanobytes of the German language.. and I really wanna learn more now :) it's exciting!

It's amazing. Living in a foreign land, with a foreign language and everything else is foreign except your other half who understands what your saying.. I still sometimes pinch myself (literally). Alhamdulillah..

We still have a bit of jet lagged, and sometimes the occassional homesick kicks in. But thanks to Ikhwan's Voipstunt, I call home on average 2 times a day to check on Mama Papa and sometimes ask Mama on how to cook curry or to manage kitchen things (which I am learning very hard now). No complaints from Ikhwan so far. And knowing him, he doesn't complain. Now that I am staying with him and understanding his life over here, I learned why he doesn't complain. This experience opened my eyes on how we should really be thankful with what we have. And Alhamdulillah.. Things could be worse.. But Allah is generous to bless us with what we have now. I am not just saying it because he is my husband and the bunga bunga cinta talk, I know him for how many years, though through very distant but we talk a lot and we understand and trust each other. People who know him knows that he doesn't complain. That's just Ikhwan. One of the many reasons why I love him.

Yes, married life in a foreign land. I am still coping and learning. Sometimes I feel like it's orientation when he shows me how to use the coffee machine, how to do the laundry, or showing me around places or what to do when what happens. Hehe. There are times that I feel like a freaking Asean tourist (which I am apparently) with 1 DSLR camera and a very good compact camera with 2 batteries (yes I know I am a freak). I get that occassional weird look which I am starting to get used to. I am loving every German thing and I will say, 'Omigod, that is sooooo German!!!' and of course he will roll his eyes and shake his head.. hehehe..

People will ask me, 'how's married life?' (usually the ones who are married) and me being naive will tell them what I feel. Some will give advices, some will just grin and give me they 'yeah this is only the beginning' look. It's hard to comprehend what people have in their minds when they throw me those questions. Are they just waiting to rub it in to my face ? Are they genuinely happy for me ? Are they waiting for me to give them an answer that they really wanna hear ? Honestly, I think that people should not ask someone on how's their marriage life is like. Because in Islam, and to me, personally, I feel that it's very personal. And I believe that whatever a person share with their other half is only between the two of them.

So yes, it's been a few weeks. And I don't know much about this new life but give me a chance to explore and learn and experience. And I think the best of people to give advice to us are our parents. Because they raised us from day one. They are the ones who know us, our actions, the way we think and the way we handle any situation. and the best part is.. They have never asked us 'how's married life?' because I know at every prayer, they pray for us.. Thanks Mama, Papa, Mak and Ayah :)

I know I promised a lot of pictures but give me time to edit it first ok.. Cikyah shared with me a very interesting lesson in photography she learned from Sifu Foo, 'there's always a story to be told in every picture. You must concentrate and think very hard on what story you want to tell and click with your heart'

what's the story behind this picture ?

Bis später! Auf Wieder sehen people :)

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my life starting now

Dora's back people :) I am blogging from Ikhwan's house in Mannheim, Germany.

Yes, alhamdulillah we are now married after 3 and a half years of long-distant relationship.

Thanks to the Al-mighty Allah, my husband, Ikhwan lafaz his akad with one lafaz at 1104am on 13th June 2009. And after that, it rained for abit at Masjid Ar-Rahman, Kg Tunku. Hujan rahmat :)

The walimah too was a success thanks to my family, especially Mama & Papa and of course my wedding planner, KakWar who did a superb job! May Allah bless my family and everyone who helped..

So this is marriage life. Sharing, caring, loving and everything. The past is the past and the present is where we are. And for me, personally, I want to focus on the present and plan for the future, insha Allah.

I think that is enough for now.. The flight was a bit bumpy and I slipped and fell right before boarding the plane (yes, that's me, clumsy dora hehehe). I think I'm gonna rest forabit more. We're gonna go grocery shopping later to stock up food for us to cook.

I'm thinking that I will write less and post more pictures.. since pictures can tell you a thousand words :)

Yes, you can be sure there will be loadsssssssssss of pictures :) Salam

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my last post before D-day

My MSc. dissertation project was on Bayesian Change Point Analysis vs. Classical Change Point Analysis. The main idea is to see if there are any significant change of mean for a set of data within a given time interval.

In life, there will be a time when there will be a lot of significant change of mean. Change of status, change of mind, change of thinking, change of life, change of height, change of weight, change of work, change of friends, change of routine. Simply said, all these changes that means something to someone is change point (in life).

I will be going through a major significant change in my life. This time last year, I thought that this major change was not gonna happen any time soon.

I am happy for this change, alhamdulillah. A good friend once said that this change is going to complete half of my religion.. This is a wonderful change and I am thankful to Allah that I am blessed with this gift called love.

I think I'll stop blogging for awhile. I will be getting married. This is a major significant change for me, for Ikhwan, for my family, for his family :)

For my dear friend / friends who follows my blog (you know who you are), this change that you are going through, will be your change point as well. For whatever reason that this is happening, just remember that God is with you and I am also with you even though I won't be able to be there physically (I am sorry), but I have you in my prayers, insha Allah.

Can't wait for Saturday.. I am getting married to my significant other, my schoolmate, my bestfriend, my partner in crime, my everything, Muhamad Ikhwan, who completes every single thing about me :)

That's it, I'm dunzo ;)

Dora will be back :)

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I'm like a bird

Hey people, its Friday and i LOVE it. I'm listening to Nelly Furtado's I'm like a bird. So many things has been going on and I've been superbly busy.

This morning, my coordinator came by to see me saying that there's a student who requested for a rechecking of paper. Yes, I experience this almost every semester. Mesti ada student yang nak recheck. And to be honest, it's a mild insult (some sort) macam seolah - olah questioning my credibility as a lecturer. The best part is, student X got an F and he thinks he can score a D at least and it's almost 10% difference. Gosh~

Next Wednesday will be the last day of work for me before my long leave :) I have these songs in my head now:-

1. Baby I Love Your Way - Big Mountain
2. Stars Are Blind - Paris Hilton
3. Lucky - Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat

Do you know what do these songs have in common?
These songs will automatically transport me to the beach :)

Yes, kepala takde sangat isu mindblowing yang nak diblog kan..

Conclusion, me happy to love and to be loved :) alhamdulillah ala salama

I think I wont be blogging for a long time (kot). Warum ? Limaza ? Kenapa ? Why ?
You'll know why :)

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my first week of June

Today I bumped into HOUSE when I reached the office at 920am. He called me on Friday when I was on MC and said to see him today.

dj : assalamualaikum HOUSE.
house : walaikumsalam dora, apa kabar?
dj : sehat alhamdulillah, HOUSE nak jumpa saya kan harini ?
house : (puzzled) yeke ?
dj : HOUSE yg ckp haritu kata nak jumpa hari Khamis?
house : ye ke? tentang apa?
dj : errr...taktau...
house : ntah saya pun tak igt.. takpe la tak perlu
dj : (?@#$#$@*) ok (smiling)


APEKAH ??? buat suspen je seminggu.

btw, the semester has started and it feels weird that I am not teaching.. my former students comes to visit me everyday telling me about their new lecturers and how they miss coming to my class and asking me to teach them.. and they would wanna fail Statistics just so that they can repeat coming to my class. hehehe..

Saat saat begini, rasa diri ini sungguh dihargai :)

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The documentations for the JAIS is alhamdulillah completed :) So many borangs and places to go and people to meet. It's 9 days.. And people would ask me, "how do you feel?"

Right now, right at this moment I am writing this, I miss MSO alot..

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my first weekend

Last weekend was not like any other typical weekend. It was the first weekend I spent with MSO. Having him standing beside me was something that I have been waiting for 9 months.. We watched Wolverine at GSC Midvalley. [OMG (biting fingers) Hugh Jackman and Daniel Henney] and it was superb!

We had lunch / belated birthday celebration at Zen and headed to The Gardens to do some serious major shopping. I bought a turquise dress and also a pair of strappy diamond-y turqoise shoes. Unfortunately, we could not find a turqoise handbag to go with it.. And then he gave me a special gift that I love so much!

Before exiting Midvalley area, we bought Big Apple doughnuts (Alien sangat chocolaty and sedapp!!!).

A lot of things going on and my mind is not really in a blogging mode. Maaf ya..

Status : Smiling :)

Alhamdulillah ala salama~

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