UTM's Convocation Ceremony

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (Skudai), Johor.

Its the 47th Convocation Ceremony for UTM. Its quite a large ceremony too. If I'm not mistaken, UTM has two convocation ceremonies; a large one and a small one. But I've heard from other people that UTM has three convocation ceremonies. Does it? Am I mistaken? hm... Well, I don't know about that, so we'll just leave it out. haha.. Every convocation will have some sort of festival. The festival usually take place at UTM's Padang Kawad. There's nothing much in the festival, just some plain entertainment and commercial selling (e.g. clothes, shoes, accessories, foods and drinks, automobiles, etc - you name it.).

For this particular occasion, I came to celebrate my senior's (Kak Huda) graduation in her masters degree. We used to be in the same class, but she was 1 semester a head of me and my other friends of the same batch - so she's my senior, technically. Fit and Aza was also there to celebrate too.

That morning, I had a game of badminton with Habib, Ayu, Pa'an and Yusop. We always play during the weekends; from 9am till 12.45pm. But on this particular reason, I stopped playing at 11. Then I rushed home to get myself ready, then picked up Aza and Fit at their hostel, then headed straight to where the ceremony was taken placed. Kak Huda wanted someone to take photos of her graduation moments, so I took the honor of being her personal photographer since she didn't find anyone to be so. ^^,

So, here are some shots taken. ^^,

(p/s: also included are some shots from Fit and Aza - credit to them both) 

Akrab 2011

Kem Kaizen, Gunung Pulai, Johor.

As the new session begins, I enter a new semester and prepare myself for new challenges. Technically, for each new session comes with newly registered undergraduate and postgraduate students. For this particular occasion, its common for new students to go for an orientation, which took almost a week. Basically, there are two phases of orientation; the first phase of orientation is organized by MPM (Majlis Perwakilan Mahasiswa) and JKM (Jawatankuasa Kolej Mahasiswa). The second phase of orientation is handled by the students' committee in each department, within their respective faculties and this usually takes about a couple of days.

I was a former student of FAB - in Department of Quantity Surveying, and also a former committee member of the Persatuan QS-Bina. The Persatuan QS-Bina annually organized an orientation program for the new juniors of the department. Basically, I've attended this program several times before, but I don't have any direct involvement with it. I come just to have fun watching their activities and shooting photos with my camera. 

So this time, QS-Bina organized their program at Kem Kaizen, Gunung Pulai. Kem Kaizen is situated near my home. Since its near, I can travel back and forth from my home, hence, no need for me to sleep there. But that will cost me my fuel and energy - driving, but I didn't care. All I was thinking was to fill my time with something beneficial. So for that particular reason, I do what I love most which is capturing moments with my camera. ^^,

So here are some shots I've taken. ^^,

Aidilfitri 2011 - Kenduri Bak & Ida

Hutan Melintang, Perak.

Attending this wedding ceremony is by far the most furthest place I've been. During the Ramadhan, I was informed by Wani and Nore that Bak and Ida are gonna get married on the 10th of September. So I asked where the ceremony would take place and they said Perak. I was really in shock, like yeah, that's very far from JB for God sake! At first I didn't want to but then they convinced me by suggesting to go there together and "tong-tong minyak + tol". So I immediately changed my mind and agreed on it. hehe.. 

So, on the morning of 10th September, my friends and I woke up early as we planned to start our journey at 6am. I arrived at UTM around 6am, then waited for the others (Wani, Nore, Anis and Abg Shahrul) to get well prepared for the journey. After everything was ok, we headed off to Perak with my car at 6.40am. I estimated that the journey would take about 5-6 hours to reach there. So most probably I should maintain my speed at 145-150kmh. (Crossing my fingers so that I don't get caught speeding..haha)

Since I'm familiar with the route to Perak, I felt pretty confident. So I thought, in order to go to Hutan Melintang, I  take the route from Teluk Intan, because at least I recognize all the roads there. However, the Google Maps app showed an alternative road to go there, which the suggested route will head straight to Hutan Melintang. Wani's GPS also showed the same preference. So we all agreed that we use the route preferred by Wani's GPS.


So, driving from JB, I took the Behrang Exit to head to Hutan Melintang, as preferred by the GPS. At first, the road was pretty good, a little narrow though, and had great surroundings, plus it was pouring rain a little at the time. I had this feeling like I was rallying through the curvy roads, so basically I had lots of fun driving through it (didn't care about how the others felt though..haha). Then we entered this route which was really isolated. Like really, there were no one using that road. What's more, along the path of that route the road surface was really uneven. It was a bumpy ride and spoiled my car's alignments. Then all of the sudden the road got really dirty with wet red soils. It just spoiled my car 'cleanliness' really bad. Overall, the road conditions seriously tortured my car.

Eventually, after facing several road challenges, we reached Bak and Ida's wedding ceremony by 12.40pm. My first thought was that the brides will arrive by 2 o'clock, but once we've reached there, the brides were already eating their meals. I was surprised though. I guess the 'perarakan masuk' Bak and Ida was planned to be done early. Then we met with some other friends there who arrived earlier than us.

At the moment, I took some pictures, so here are some of the results. ^^,

Aidilfitri 2011 - Rumah Asyiqin

Skudai, Johor.

Last year - if not mistaken, G7 (my school batch - SMIH) had organized a 'ziarah-menziarahi' program during the month of Syawal. That was when all our school friends are at Johor. We've visited most of our teacher's home during the time. Lots of our friends joined and we traveled with many cars. But this year, I think, our batch was unable to have the opportunity to organized such program as because, a week after the first week of Syawal, university students had to return back and register for the new semester. 

So, even though we weren't able to 'beraya' like last year, we still can 'beraya' at our friends house with a small group of friends. And for this particular visit, we've came to Asyiqin's house, which was somewhere at Kangkar Pulai. 

Aysiqin is still considered a part of our G7 family, even though she left SMIH early - if not mistaken, she moved to a different school during Form 4. She used to live in the same Taman as I do and we used to take the same bus to school and also used to be in the same class. After she moved to Kangkar Pulai and transferred to a new school, I've never had seen her since then until she entered UTM and was in the same faculty as I did. And now she has graduated from UTM. Currently she's working at a firm.

So, we have gathered some friends to pay her a visit. There were two cars convoyed to her house, and there will be another car which will come much later, so the first two cars had to head off first as we needed to search for her house. So, in my car I brought Mad Long and Acapamin, and in Nabihah's car, she brought Izzah, Hafizah, Nawal and Aimey (that's how its spelled - I think). Eventually we reached there at 9pm somewhat, and an hour later, the third car arrived, which brought Acap Ahmad, Zuhaili and Zakwan.

We all had fun hanging out, talking, socializing and laughing together at her home. I brought my camera along, so here are some shots I've captured at the time. ^^,

Thank you Asyiqin and Family for all the hospitality provided, we had a really great time. May Allah repay you with all His blessings and Rahmat. InsyaALLAH ^^,

Aidilfitri 2011 - Habib & Ayu

Skudai, Johor.

Habib and Ayu came to 'beraya' at our house that evening. It was quite a surprise though as we were not ready for any guests to visit our house. Since they were coming, my mother and I prepared some simple meals to serve them. My dad didn't come home yet at the time, but eventually he will by 6.30pm. I've made them some mushroom soup for them to eat and my mom served them some of the 'Kuih Raya' that we had.

This particular mushroom soup is considered as my ultimate specialty for any guests that come to my family's home. Typically, all of my guest love my mushroom soup and I feel pretty proud of it. haha.. Most of the guests did asked me for its recipe. But the recipe is kept secret with me and no one will know how it is made. haha.. Just kidding, its just a simple sup, and I have no hidden secret regarding it. I'm sure anyone and everyone can make one. =)

Habib and Ayu are basically my new badminton friends which I've made during a friendly match of badminton at Kompleks Sukan UTM. My dad and I always play a friend match with them during the weekends. Honestly, they're very fun to play with. They're energetic and have great passion for badminton. Not to forget, they are very friendly people. ^^,

So, here are the shots I've taken. ^^,

Aidilfitri 2011 - Parent's Portrait

Jejantas Ayer Keroh.

On that Thursday, we were on our way back to JB. The way I travel, Jejantas Ayer Keroh is a compulsory pit stop for me, from anywhere I travel to. If I travel to KL or anywhere in Selangor, my first stop would be that Jejantas. And If I travel to KL, I only make one quick stop, that is if I travel alone, and most probably would reached there within 3 hours. But with my parents, most probably the travel period would take about 4-5 hours. haha.. 

So, here at Jejantas Ayer Keroh, I've made some portraiture of my parents and here are the pictures I've captured. ^^,

Aidilfitri 2011 - Beraya

Puncak Alam - Sekitar Selangor.

As told on the previous post, my family celebrated Eid at our hometown. And since we don't have any kampung anymore, we went to pay some visits to our relative's house around Selangor (on my father's side). Well, atleast, we went somewhere, not like, just stay at home, which certainly would be very boring. 

So, on that same day of Eid (Tuesday), we headed to Puncak Alam at around 4 in the afternoon. And we eventually reached there at around 9pm. So basically, we had lots of fun and we also visited some other relatives around Selangor. Then we went back to JB on Thursday's afternoon. Fortunately for us, we were very very lucky to not get stuck in any congestion. 

On our way to Selangor that Tuesday, the roads were great, no congestion, even though there were lots of cars. However, the roads towards JB were very congested that Tuesday. And on Thursday, the roads to Selangor were congested and it weren't towards JB. So, basically, it turned the other way around. I guess we very in luck. ^^,

So, here are the photos that I've captured. ^^,

Aidilfitri 2011 - Family Portrait

Johor Bahru, Johor.

On the first day of Raya, my family and I celebrated (I think, for the second time) Eid at our beloved hometown, which is Johor Bahru. We performed our Eid prayers at UTM's mosque early in the morning. After we've completed them, we headed back to our home. Like everyone else, they all went back to their kampung (well, most off them, yeah), but not for my family as our kampung is Johor Bahru, officially. And that was not a problem for us as we were still happy with what we already have. ^^,

While we were celebrating Eid at our very own home, I wanted to capture a good family portrait with my camera. The day before the Eid, my family had cooked some meals for the Eid's feast. Not much though, but enough for the three of us to eat. ^^,

So, here are the pictures captured. ^^, 

" Selamat Hari Raya Maaf Zahir Batin "