Secret Smile..

Imagine 18 real human corps standing around you.. playing tennis, skiing, playing ckess, archering, riding a bicycle, lying on its side and elbow, all posing around you. all skin and muscles peeled off. some bodies are sliced into pieces.. layer by layer of real human bodies on a long table.. from top to toe, and slices of them are hanging around across the room.

hearts, brain, liver, spleen and kidneys all exposed. lungs blackened with cigarrate tars. almost all of them. men’s genital - hmm.. that’s quite an interesting one. no, i dont mean this slyly. i meant, its something you dont easily get to see.

only one women body was there. clearly showing the small uterus and fallopian  tube. it made me wonder- how does a baby stay in there for so long! and so small a space!

hearts of a person who died of heart attack.

lungs of heavy smokers - BLACK!!. (if ur a smoker and u dont feel like quitting after u see it.. u need to make another round)

arteries of the hand, in 3D - muslces of the hand was dissolved.

amazing aint it? thats what i saw last weekend. human bodies are sliced into two , showing the cross section of the body right in the middle. spinal cords are opened up down the back bone.. showing thousands -or even millions - of wires connecting the body to its sensory system all around the body. all bodies were preserved through a method called plastination - a method of replacing water in the body with polymer - so the corpse will be odorless - not smell of chemicals, is stiff and is dry enough to be handled, and pleasantly presented. another interesting fact is that all human bodies are standing on its own, using their own muscles that are still attached to the body and limbs, just like the manequins we see in supermarkets - those still models in the apparel department store.

amazing aint’t? because they dont allow cameras in the exhibition hall, and because i cant describe it good enough with words, so why dont you see them by yourself. just click this link here:-http://www.amazinghumanbody.com.au/

of course, its against our believe to keep human body that way when its dead. but the owner of all bodies have signed an agreement that their bodies will be used in such a manner - when they were still alive, of course. and according to the presenter that day, in the united states, after seeing the exhibition, another 41 people had volunteered their bodies to be used as exhibition specimen, using the plastination method.

for me, its a 3D textbook of anatomy. no anatomy textbook can explain the human body as well as the exhibition. and im really, really glad i was there.

subhanallah - that shows how intricate the human body system is, and how everything works in wonders in this small compact space of our body, and how durable and perfect it is - dont you agree?

  16th March this year was my 25th birthday. I didn’t expect much out of it since nobody close to me here really knows about it. - And I’ve been terribly busy these few weeks. I made it a point anyway to bake a cake for people in Rehabilitation Centre where I work, just for the occasion

I managed to bake a full sized chocolate cake - not that i have the experience of baking anyway, my sisters and brother has been baking cakes back at home and I just enjoyed eating it. but now, since they are not here to bake cakes for me, and I dont intend to spend my limited budget on a bakery made chocolate cake - which might cost me at least 20dollars, i decided to buy a baking tray - that’s 5 dollars, and a box of chocolate mix  - HAH! u got me there -  i told u i dont know how to bake cakes, i just followed the instruction at the back of the box! hehe .. i know , i cheated… but hey, u have to be good at following instructions anyway, or it would not turn out good anyhow. rite?

so! it was really easy.. mixing and pouring… and heating up the oven, and putting the tray in the got oven.. waited 40minutes.. and tadaaa!! the cake is well and smelled good too!! yum yum!! the next day, i bought it to uni.. had chocolate icing spread all over the cake.. and it sure looked moist and good! i tried a slice of it before putting it on the common tea table.. where everyone had a slice. i told them it was for my birthday, and i got a whole lot of birthday wishes from everyone in the Rehab Centre - good on me! o yes.. guess how old they thought i was?? guess guess!! haha! thay thought i was 19 or 20 years old..!! hehe… maybe we asians just have that ‘young’ look compared to them here. or maybe it’s really ME! (hihi.. well.. didnt mean to sound excited, but I AM!! oh, come on!)

my dearest Basid called the night i baked the cake, when i was deep asleep, tired and spent from my whole day busy schedule. like a prince waking up his princess.. (sorry.. had to!) .. he woke me up and we chatted the whole night through before he put me back to sleep with his much sought charming voice.

o yes, supanee, my Thai flatmate, got me a birthday gift too! she gave me a piece of ceramic plate, a ceramic bowl, and a baking tray. she was concerned that all my plates and bowls are plastic - well, its cheap, and its light.. thats why i bought them - remember, i’m trying to live economically here! also.. theres a number of chocolates as well! thats the good part!

i woke up that birthday morning with birthday messages on my phone from my two most beloved and missed sisters.. happily, i started the day.. only to get more messages and phone calls from abah, mama, n amir, my brother.. and my sisters too… when i got back that night (yup, im so busy right now i had to come home at night now) and i checked my mail box, finding an airmail from home. mama and abah signed one card, with all ‘important’ messages for this young new ‘adult’ , and my siblings another card, which came with a pretty japanese comb with a japanese figurine. very nice.

then, checking emails and friendster, finding more wishes from all you great people.. it really touched my heart. thank you so much to all.. for making my day a memorable one. i never thought being so far from home made me feel so close to all of you.. thanks again, sincerely from the bottom of my heart… may God bless us all with happiness and success..

"The Art and Technology of making Monsters: ANIMATRONICS" .. sounds interesting? yup.. i went to Australian Museum last Saturday to have a look.. playing a little bit of tourist there.. too bad they dont allow cameras inside the exhibition..

if you wonder what it is about, recall all the movies with monsters, aliens, talking animals, warewolves, king kong, apes from george of the jungle, peter pan’s alligator, and even mechanical men like inspector gadget.. they show them all how to build them from scratch to finish. from paper sketches, to casting n moulding (like in engineering workshop), to fiber glass skin, to clay model, to mechanical structure, the motors involved to move the limbs, a bit like robotics, and finally the skin painting and hair punching. interesting rite? even movie recording were demonstrated.. everything from start to end

after spending as much time as i could in the animatronics  section, i moved to Wildlife Photographer of the Year Section.  these are some of the winning photographs. 

Places, animals, captured at their most memorable and candid moments.. 

then i ventured the other spaces of the museum, 

other spaces showed skeletons of ancient animals, biodiversity, aboriginals (people who originally lives in australia) and other things museum have.. 

when midday came, i went out and walked to the art gallery at the other end of the road.

in the middle, there was the Mary Anne’s Cathedral.. there was a wedding ceremony going on. people can actually come inside to visit the cathedral, but only on sundays. with my headscarf on, and with me being alone, i dont think i would enter the building.

  i had my lunch at the park beside the art gallery, and, with satisfied tummy, played tourist again.. i spent a few hours roaming around.. trying to understand the difficult art, and enjoyed the more understandable ones..

after a hard days’ walk.. i went back home.. feeling happy and tired..

Hello everyone! Let me tell u my story visiting Powerhouse Museum.. it’s a place where Technology meets Art, where History meets Latest Invention, East meets  West, Culture meets Current Lifestyle, Kids meets Adults, Robots, International heritage, Music, Recycle issues,  interactive classes, etc.etc.. I spent the whole day just to cover everything in there…

the Lips shaped sofa was called Marilyn Monroe Sofa.. haha.. maybe because it resembles her red lips!

There was Kylie Minouge exhibition.. she, as the most successful Australian artist, has a lot to offer indeed.. 

there was also students’ design exhibition.. the guitar table was one of them.

the oldest transportation - horse carriages, steam engines ( train ), and the earliest planes are also there. 

They showed 5 pillars of recyled items, that’s the one on ur left. English costumes, the early people who came to Australia, was also there. Their furnitures, arts, jewelleries.. as well.

A display of the early business development over the early years was another interesting part.. they showed the branding of tea, the chocolate making machine..( yum! chocolate!) early cash machine.. it was a real treasure.

At the end of the day, I was tired .. but satisfied  indeed… that was surely worth my 5 dollars entrance and 4dollars train ticket!

i went to Sydney Olympic Park last sunday.. just to watch people in International Wheelchair Tennis Match.. its very interesting.. they are really worl player.. and they play wonderfully.. i dont know much about tennis.. but luckily i met a friend there, telling me all about the game.. i know that in normal tennis the ball is allowed to bounce once, but in wheelchair tennis, the ball is allowed to bounce twice.. another thing, they used another type of wheelchair during the game.. with tilted wheels with tip toe fpr support.. its easier for turning and stability i guess.. the best thing about the game was.. its FREE!! im starting to enjoy going around sydney now, provided the fee is ‘affordable’.. haha.. u know.. student life is not much leisure.. but u cant just sit at home and watch tv all week through!

well.. it was a good weekend..  except i got my face burnt! mcm udang kene bakar.. haha.. anyway.. here some pics of the champions for men’s single, men’s double, n women’s double.. that what i got to see..

enjoy!

People have been asking me how am I living here in Sydney. Let me tell you my story…

Lidcombe and Auburn are suburbs close to my campus. Not many Malays are here, but Auburn is a Muslim community, and Lidcombe are more mixed. When I first came, i stay in Auburn. Now, I’m in Lidcombe.

I used to stay in Auburn Hopital Residence, where students usually choose to stay as second in campus choice. Its quite cheap, $90/week, and I have a room of my own, fully furnished, complete privacy. I dont complain about the shared kitchen, with other 30 students in the floor, but we also had to share toilets, boys and girl.. not so nice, eh?

so, after 3 months, I got a new place, a flat, 2-bedrooms, sharing with a working Thai lady. I fell in love with the place immediately, as it’s very comfy and … homey… I will have my own sweet room, with a comfortable bed and duvet, a studying desk, a book rack, long mirror, a decent cupboard, a generous rattan laundry basket, and my very own little TV set!! it cost me $10/week more than the hospital residence, with additional bill payments, around $30/month, according to usage - phone and power only. Fair enough! Further more, its in my campus suburb, 30-40 mins walking distance from home to uni. there’s an 80cents bus if Im lazy to walk, and my place is just 5mins walk from the Lidcombe train station. How cool is that!

this new place - an apartment / flat I can say - is just so adorable. The lady has been living there for 4 years, and has everything you need to live in the house. washing machine, a big brand new fridge, DVD player, a big tv in a cozy living room with sofa and table set, a dining table, vacuum cleaner, and a lovely pink bathroom. not to forget, our very own balcony to dry our clothes.

if only I could ride a bike - I could save a fortune! time wise and money wise. but I still need to learn how to ride a bike - i hope its not too late or too embarrassing to learn cycling at this age and this hight.. <sigh!>

with that aside, its a good community. I buy my food from a shopping complex in Auburn, where there’s Woolworth (just like Giant) and Big W (a bit like Jaya Jusco, but cheaper). Since Auburn is a Muslim community, I also get my halal chicken and sometimes meat from the many available butcher there. And yes.. I cook, coz its way much cheaper living by cooking your own meal every day. I’m getting better at kitchen job by day. And because Lidcombe and Auburn are around 25 mins to Sydney city by train, its a comparatively cheap place to live in.

Alhamdulillah.. if you ask me.. life is getting better for me in this foreign place, praise be to Allah!

A young woman went to her mother, told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as though every time one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes, she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see."

"Carrots, eggs and coffee," she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?" Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity, boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. But after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?"

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt, become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become firm and strong? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside, am I tough with a strong spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean? May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best or most of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can’t go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that, at the end, you’re the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

        Touching Story And A Good Reminder :

"Take time to appreciate what you have now."
On the last day before Christmas, I hurried to go to the supermarket to buy the remaining of the gift I didn’t manage to buy earlier. When I saw all the people there, I started to complain to myself," It is going to take forever here and I still have so many other places to go. Christmas really is getting more and more annoying every year. How I  wish I could just lie down, go to sleep and only wake up after it…" Nonetheless, I made my way to the toy section, and there I started to curse the prices, wondering if after all kids really play with such expensive toys.

While looking in the toy section, I noticed a small boy of about 5 years old,  pressing a doll against his chest. He kept on touching the hair of the doll and looked so sad. I wondered who was this doll for. Then the little boy turned to the old woman  next to him, "Granny, are you sure I don’t have enough money?"

The old lady replied, "You know that you don’t have enough money to buy this doll, my dear." Then she asked him to stay here for 5 minutes while she went to look around. She left quickly.

The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand. Finally, I started to walk  toward him and I asked him who did he want to give this doll to. "It is the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much for this Christmas. She was so sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her."

I replied to him that maybe Santa Claus will bring it to her, after all, and not to worry.

But he replied to me sadly. "No, Santa Claus can not bring it to her where she is now. I have to give the doll to my mother so that she can give it to her when she goes there." His eyes were so sad while saying this. "My sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mummy will also go to see God very soon, so I thought that she could bring the doll with her to give it to my sister."

My heart nearly stopped. The little boy looked up at me and said, "I told daddy to tell mummy not to go yet. I asked him to wait until I come back from the supermarket."

Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was laughing.He then
told me, "I also want mummy to take this photo with her so that she will not forget me." I love my mummy and I wish she doesn’t have to leave me but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister." Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly. I quickly reached for my wallet and took a few notes and said to the boy, "What if we checked again, just in case if you have enough money?"
"Ok," he said. "I hope that I have enough." I added some of my money to his
without him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll, and even some spare money. The little boy said, "Thank you God for giving me enough money." Then he looked at me and added, "I asked yesterday before I
slept for God to make sure I have enough money to buy this doll so that mummy
can give it to my sister. He heard me." "I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mummy, but I didn’t dare to ask God too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and the white rose." "You know, my mummy loves white rose." A few minutes later, the old lady came again and I left with my trolley. I  finished my shopping in a totally different state from when I started. I couldn’t get the little boy out of my mind.

Then I remembered a local newspaper article 2 days ago, which mentioned of
a drunk man in a truck who hit a car where there was one young lady and a little girl. The little girl died right away, and the mother was  left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-assisting machine, because the young lady would not be able to get out of the coma. Was this the
family of the little boy?

Two days after this encounter with the little boy, I read in the newspaper that the young lady had passed away. I couldn’t stop myself and went to buy a bunch of white roses and I went to the mortuary where the body of the young
woman was exposed for people to see and make last wish before burial.
She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of the little boy and the doll placed over her chest.

I left the place crying, feeling that my life had been changed forever.
The love that this little boy had for his mother and his sister is still,
to this day, hard to imagine. And in a fraction of a second, a drunk man
had taken all this away from him.