My First Oral Presentation as A PhD student at a Conference

Assalamualaikum...

Just realised that the blog has not been updated for 5 months! wohoaa...today, I wanted to write something that I personally think that I have achieved my first goal since I started my PhD last year...

my supervisor is a very supportive supervisor and she always asks me to submit an abstract for any conferences that involve preterm labour/premature labour of which by the way is the main focus of my PhD...

last 2 months, I submitted an abstract for a small conference that was held in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, chaired by one of the PI (Principal Investigator) on my floor building in Imperial...since I have problem with my initial proposal and I need to drop the initial proposal due to the negative results and the project can't move forward with negative results, I started a fresh new project early this year (yes, I spend 1 whole year getting negative results!! but as my supervisor always said that "negative results is still a results and is publishable", I'm at eased), I don't have much data to write an abstract for that conference...at the end, I submitted a VERY simple abstract of which when I click the send button, I don't really hope for any miracle of getting either a poster and not to mention an oral presentation...

approximately a month before the conference, while I was washing my membrane for western (science students will understand this and how boring the waiting time is, haha), I saw an email in my inbox with the title of "Oral presentation..." and I can't see the rest of the title until I open the email...out of joy, nervous and the feeling of thinking that is just a mistake, I was screaming in the lab (thank God not so many people was in the lab at that moment) haha...and quickly I informed my bestie on the news and she shared the happiness with me..

not just that, more good news is that my BSc student, who was working on a small part of my project get an oral presentation as well...her session was just before me...by right, I can write 2 oral presentations in my resume right?? hehe...I think my supervisor was the most happiest person of all ^_*

1 week before the conference, I was still updating my results and the presentation slides...me and my supervisor come to a final draft of my presentation slide the night before the conference, pfftt! and she makes more changes during the conference by exchanging the oral presentation session between me and my BSc student so that I can go first and my student can go next to make sure that the flow of the presentation is clear to the audience...

Alhamdulillah, my presentation went well and I think that is my only presentations so far that I am not that nervous, you know when you are nervous you will get butterfly in your stomach, your hands and feets are cold and the best part is, when you use the laser pointer, you can't use it properly as your hand will be shaking ALL the time...BUT as for me, I don't have all that...that is because the power of fasting, so I believe...yes, I was fasting that day (Friday) as the following Monday was Raya Haji and I was already fasting the whole week that week and it will be a waste if I skip it on that day...was a bit nervous to hold the pointer when they give me the pointer at first, but alhamdulillah I can hold it without shaking it at all!!! which makes me easier to point the bar on the graph that I was referring to during my speech...Alhamdulillah ^_^

 

lets begin....

 

lets talk serious business here...

 

pfftt I'm done...the most awaiting session from the floor...bombard this girl with questions!!! haha

thanks to one of my comrade in the group who took this picture for me...thanks k.wahida!!

and I would like to thank my bestie for being there for me when I wanted to rehearse my presentation wherever I want especially in the house using the clothes dryer railing as the podium, hahaha I won't forget that...thanks for all the comments as well...and last but not least, a huge thanks should go to my supervisor for pushing me to send an abstract eventhough I don't believe in myself that my abstract is good enough to be submitted for a conference and thank you for believing in me and be there when I need you...

more oral presentation to come in the future?? lets see...

Bye~ ^_^v

p/s: that outfit will be my conference outfit for poster/oral presentation! quite few people like it. haha

Skydiving at UK Parachuting-Beccles Airfield Elloungh, Beccles, Suffolk

Assalamualaikum...

It has been half a year from my last post...its not that I have nothing to share with you guys, but I was so busy with my current status as a PhD student...I have lotsss of things to share but as I have just jumped from an airplane yesterday, I think its worth mentioning as the first post for my comeback...ahaks!

source: Muslim Hands page

this event is conducted by Muslim Hands, a charity NGO in UK...my bestie found this event through their website and persuaded me to join eventhough she knew that I am scared of height...at first I was reluctant to register for this event, but somehow after continuously persuaded me into it, she register my name and pay the fees without my knowledge :p

we register a month before the event and there is not a second of the day before the event that I keep mentioning to my bestie that I am scared and I don't think that I can make it up there...I might pass out or ask the instructor to not jump with me...haha...and this event is actually just right after we came back from our easter break from Italy which I will post all about Italy after this...

since the event is conducted outside of London, Muslim Hands provide transportation from their office at Limehouse to the venue of the event which is at Beccles Airfield in Suffolk...we need to gather at their office at 5am and the journey will start at 5.30am so that we can make it exactly at 8.30am at the site...since from our house to go to Limehouse which is situated at East London is quite far and we need to change quite a few buses to go there past midnight, me and my bestie sleepover at our friend house at Shadwell that will only took us 20minutes by walking or 6 minutes by bus to be at the Muslim Hands office...

exactly at 5.30am, we start our journey by a minibus rented specifically for this event by Muslim Hands...the journey took around 2h30mnts and we reached there around 8.30am...we were brought to the office to hand in the 'Parachuting Student Declaration Form' and 'BPA Medical Form' to the parachuting staff...right after that, we were headed to the next station to hear a briefing if we want to sign up for a video and photograph, captured by the staff as we are not allowed to take any sort of devices during the parachuting even gopro...if we want them to capture the moment, the charge is £99 all inclusive...the fees is quite expensive therefore, we didn't sign up for it...

next, we were headed to the tandem briefing area whereby we were briefed on how to suit up for the skydiving, our leg, hand and body position when we board the plane and landing...after the briefing we just need to wait for our turn as there were only 2 female skydiving instructors available on that day...

 

after almost 3 hours waiting for my turn, which I am the last person to skydive on that day, I was called up to suit up for my turn... 

 

 

all suited up!

then I just need to wait until the plane comes back and fetch us and bring us up in the air...there were 3 of us that has instructors tied to them (tandem) and few single skydivers whose diving alone...total up I think can only accommodate around 15 people in the plane...

the plane has come back! its time!

since there were only 2 female skydivers instructors on that day, I was the last double that board the plane since I need to wait for my female instructors landed to the ground as she was on the air with another participants...(the red arrow is me) waiting to board the plane...

the double board the plane first and accompanied by the single divers...since I was the last double board the plane, I was the first double that leave the plane...it was scary watching the single divers leaving the plane and that was the moment when I was about the tell my instructors to go back...hahaha...but since I am the first double that need to leave the plane, I just follow my instructor lead and leave the plane...I closed my eyes! and when I open my eyes, gosh I was up on the sky with the fullest speed, and I was flying!...its hard to breath and trying to apply the breathing technique that my bestie thought me since her turn was before mine...all I can remember was gasping as much air as I could up there before my instructor open the parachute...it was around 10 seconds before she opened the parachute...and it was sooo cold around -10 degrees

once she opened the parachute, she asked me to remove the goggle, and I refused! haha...but then she insisted me to remove the goggle as that's how you can enjoy the view the best...and she was right! the view was spectacular, gorgeous, beautiful! at 10,000 feet, she let us fly for a while and I can feel that I was up there quite a while as compared to other people...I am lucky! hehe...then I know when my bestie told me that I was the last double that landed since it was my instructor last slot :D

 Alhamdulillah, I manage to combat my fear of and go on with this challenge...I am so thankful to my bestie as she is the one that persuaded me into doing it...if its not because of her, I don't think that I will ever do it in a million years!

therefore I could say: I have jumped 13,000 feet with UK Parachuting

we were given 2 certificates; one from Muslim Hands and one from UK Parachuting...once I landed, we started our journey back to London around 2.30pm...once we reached the minibus, the bus driver told us a bad news, the minibus is out of battery but with a good news that someone is coming over to help him with the jumpstart...once jumpstarted the minibus, the journey was quite smooth and I was half asleep until suddenly the bus stopped again...and the bus driver told us that the bus is totally broken down and he already contacted someone to pick us up and send us back to London...around 6pm, we hop on to another bus and continue our journey back sound and safe and we reached London around 8.30pm...

I would like to give full credit to the organiser especially the leader of this event, whose so calm and so organised in contacting us by phone and email every now and then...thank you again Muslim Hands for this opportunity.

Bye~ ^_^v

p/s: the normal price for skydiving is £200+

Parkside Farm Pick Your Own (PYO)

Assalamualaikum...

I have been planning for fruit picking activity with my bestie since the beginning of spring and that's the season where all the fruits riping deliciously =D

but since we were quite pack with other activities and labwork and all sort of other reasons that I could possibly type in, at the end, last Saturday, on the 22nd of August, me my bestie and 5 other of my friends went for fruit picking at Parkside Farm Pick Your Own (PYO) at Enfield

we took Piccadilly line train from Hammersmith station and hop off at Finsbury Park station...and we need to change here to National Rail train (Great Eastern line) to Potters Bar station...actually its only 1 stop from Finsbury Park station and the journey only took 10 minutes...so since its only 1 station and the area is still in London, we thought that we can use oyster, and there was no problem from Finsbury Park station when we use our oyster card...somehow, at Potters Bar station, when we touch our oyster card, there is an error saying "seek assistance" at the display machine...so went to the counter and ask him and he says that we need to but a different ticket from the ticket machine and we can't use oyster! haha...sorry sir we don't know that...but since we were already at the station, we don't need to pay for the fare...we just need to buy another ticket when we want to go back...

from the Potters Bar station, we need to take 313 bus and hop off at Roundhedge Way bus stop station and walk for about 15 minutes to the venue (our pace since its very hot and we walk slowly so as not to sweat! :p)

from afar the first thing that catch my eyes were the "Please Take A Leaflet" sign...straight away I took one leaflet because I know the leaflet will be so important in our journey later as you know farm would be so big and you will lost your way if you have no direction, I know it eventhough I don't have any experience with farm before...hihi...its just my instinct guys~instinct~ ^_*

so just for you guys, I took a snap of the leaflet...all the info is written in the leaflet...

  

the thing to take note here is: there is no entrance fees! but, each person need to spend a minimum of  GBP3 as I have already highlighted in red box above from the leaflet

this is the map for the whole lot of the farm! very big :D

and the sign of the opening hours are also written on a signboard at the entrance of the farm...the fruits and vege that's available at the time that we went were also being displayed...

once we entered, we need to queue...not to pay but to get the baskets and plastic bag to put in all the fruits and vege that we pick

in order to make their work easier at the cashier later at the exit (the cashier centre is just behind the lady in apron), we need to separate the fruits and vege in their respective baskets

the green basket is for fruits

the blue basket is also for fruits

and for vege, they will give you plastic bag to put it in

systematic and easy for them! so I took one green basket, one blue basket and 2 plastic bags same goes to my bestie...

then there goes our exploration inside the farm~

  

the first destination was to pick Blackberries

there were few blackberries that's already fully ripe and there were some still not...and we realise that most of the ripe blackberries were situated at the bottom as I think the logical reason would be other people already pick the ripe ones on the top

and there are few of this signs scattered on this farm...it means that they have just planted it so DO NOT PICK! hehe

next, we went to pick Spinach

  

that's the plastic bag that I was referring to for vegetables

we thought of picking some onions but when we reached this area, the onion is not pickable since there is a sign not to pick it...but as you can see there are lots of onions there...there were other area that you can pick it but since we were on different path from that area, we were so lazy to go there...haha...

next we went for Plums

if you realised, on the 8th photo in this post, they have written it down on the board that only few left for the plums...but still we went there just to try our luck and to experience it ourselves...hehe

and yeah not many left on the trees...the one that's left were the one that's still greenish...there were few that's fully ripe but its wayyyy on top of the tree...and I am not dare enough to climb the tree branch as the branch doesn't look promising enough to hold my weight...haha...end up we just picked the one that looks a bit reddish in colour and just hoping that it will ripe by its own in our house before we can eat it! :D

after we have explore the left side of the farm (refer the map above), we went to the most right side of the farm (refer the map above) of where we can pick french beans and sweetcorn...

we went for French Beans first

we only picked 1/4 of the plastic bag just for our own use...

then, we went for Sweetcorn

it is one of my bucket list to walk in between the corn field myself as I have seen it quite a lot in the movies...and here I was!! hehe...

I have no idea on how to pick the corn...my bestie told me that she learned it from a movie that when you see the brownish hairy-like fibre on top of the corn (red arrow), that's when you can pick it up...when I went back home and I peeled off the skin, all of the corn were fine and fully ripe! you are right bestie! haha

and last but not least was to pick Tomatoes

  

cherry tomatoes...

we don't pick any strawberries as I have done it before in Malaysia so I went for the things that I don't have any experience on picking them up yet>.<

just before we went back, we pay all the fruits and vege that we picked and we bought some ice creams to quench our thirst!

the total damage?? 

-_-"

we surely pass the minimum spend...oh btw this was both for me and my bestie since we live in one roof ^_^

(p/s: the lavender is from our backyard! :p )

we only spend almost 3 hours inside the farm...but we didn't explore the whole area...so you can manage your time if you are planning to explore the whole area in this farm...you might need more than that :D

all I can say is that I really enjoy the activity and Alhamdulillah the weather was so nice eventhough we were sweating inside the farm...hahaha...now I feel the farmer...love you farmer! <3

till then...

Bye~^_^v

Seven Sisters Cliffs

Assalamualaikum...

stamina is important for a PhD student...believe me, I have experienced it. therefore, I have planned for the next 4 years to go for a country sidewalk fortnightly starting this month! 💪

the first destination was to Seven Sisters Cliff at Seaford...I went there with few of my friends last week on the 9th of August...one of the comrades is already a member of a walking club here in London, so she invited us to go for a walk at Seven Sisters last weekend...more info on the club can be found here...the main walk is actually 22.3km (13.8 miles) away but since no strenuous activity have been done in such a long time, we decided to start with a shorter walk that consist of only 6.2km...

we took a Southern train from Victoria Station to Lewes and from Lewes to Seaford which took us around 1 hour and the half

once we arrived at Lewes station, we saw people dressing up as they were going to the beach and some of them were heading to the same direction as we are =D the chirping sound of the seagulls indicating that we are very near to the venue that we are heading for

  

the beach!!! this beach is very near to Seaford station...as you can see, this is how the people here enjoying their summer! just love the refreshing breeze of the sea~ I have been longing to go to the beach since I came to UK...and now here I was!

near the beach, you can find these cute colourful hut to serve the purpose for those that want to picnic or surfing or any activity at the beach...I guess you can rent it...I am not sure about that...sorry -_-"

the Mortello Tower with the red arrow indicates the start of our journey :)

  

we walked along the edge of the cliff

  

and we climbed this steep edgy cliff

until....

  

we can view this spectacular scenery...Subhanallah...its so beautiful

  

we made it!! group photo with the Seven Sisters Hump as the background!

  

while walking, we stumble upon the bushes with blackberries...we taste it and its so sour! haha...I got the sour one and my comrades get to taste the sweet berries...fine! -_-"

  

The place we were standing is called Hope Gap...there were many people went down the beach to find mud crabs...

familiar with this picture??? this is one of Windows Wallpaper view!!! have a look at your lappy/desktop wallpaper (if you are using Windows)

how cool is it??? hahaha...Alhamdulillah I have been here

this is the area where people search for the mud crabs...once I saw this, I have this crazy idea to walk along this slippery-full-of-seaweed to go to the beach of where we were going to have our lunch...and I drag my bestie with me...hahaha...and there is one point where she fell...sorry bestie~

finally we reached the beach side after a looong walk on the slippery rocks! haha

me and my bestie would have to cross this river that connects to the sea...I thought its not that deep and I dont have to take off my shoes...but its quite deep tho! and my other team members who were on the other side of the stream advice me to take off my shoes and cross the river...but when I did that, I cant even walk...its so painful to walk on the rocks under the stream...I gave up and walk with my shoes on

we had our lunch, enjoy the breeze of the sea and me, my bestie and the other girl of the team members went into the sea for a while...its so refreshing! love it

    

  

we then continue our walk for another 2.5km to the bus stop since its almost Asr...along the way there is one field where I can see how they make hay...and then we found a pen of sheep...the boys in the team were busy chasing the sheep...we were just watching them from a far...not only us, but other people were watching them as well! boys~ :)

I was yearning to have tea and scones since the beginning of the walk just like when I had a walk to Kent last year...since its too late to have that since we were late for Asr, so we couldn't stop and have that along our walk...so at the station while waiting for the train for 40 minutes, we waited at a cafe that serve fresh Lavender Homamade Sorbet...delicious and taste like perfumes...haha...at least I could have something difference =D sorbet check! >.<

since we didn't finish the whole journey this time, we gonna have another walk from the other end of the walk and finish it! jyeah!

till then~bye ^_^v

p/s: total cost of the journey: GBP 17.70 for the train ticket-return...since we bought the ticket in a group, we get 10% discount