On the night of Christmas.

Hello there!

I'm back! Kagami-desu.

How was your Christmas? I sincerely hope it was fun and enjoyable.

Today's post is about Ubaydah's Christmas celebration.

Last night, Ubaydah went to his friends' place to celebrate Christmas. It was a potluck event. Ubaydah baked a lasagna for that event.

His friends brought other foods too such as spaghetti, baked sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, roasted chicken pieces, green beans casserole, and desserts such as apple pie, bread pudding, and fruits arrangement. The great thing about all those food is that they were all home-made by Ubaydah's friends.

After they all stuffed themselves with loads of food, they played 'White Elephant'. For those who are not familiar with the game, let me give you a brief explanation of what 'White Elephant' is: 

1. Everyone buys gifts according to a set of values (in Ubaydah's case, something worth $10-$15) and/or other set of rules (no gag gifts, etc.).

2. Everyone places their gifts in the center of the room.

3. All participants will draw numbers (in Ubaydah's case, they used a software that randomly sorts out the participants' names).

4. Participant #1 will choose a gift and open it (without knowing what's inside).

5. Participant #2 may choose to either open up a new unopened gift of steal participant #1's gift (this is when feelings get hurt so don't get too attached to the gift that you opened).

6. This will go on until everyone receives a gift of their own.

7. If your gift was stolen from a certain participant, you may choose to either open up a new unopened gift or steal another participant's gift. You may not steal back what was stolen from you immediately after.

8. A gift can only be stolen twice. After that whoever gets it may keep it without worrying whether someone else will steal it or not. If you really want a certain gift, make sure you steal a gift that have been stolen once and you'll get to keep it.

I think that explanation should be sufficient.

During Ubaydah's turn, this is what he got.

A nutcracker.

That gift was then stolen from him and he gets to steal someone else's.

This is what he stole.

An assortment of Starbucks hot cocoa mixes.

After they played 'White Elephant', they played taboo. It was the guys versus the girls and the girls won.

Ubaydah left shortly afterward because he has to pick up some people in Anaheim.

Ubaydah then went home, enjoyed a Starbucks double chocolate drink that he won and went to bed shortly afterward.

It was a fun but tiring Christmas for him.

THE END

On the 21st day of Christmas...

Hello there!

Kagami's here!

How are you doing?

Christmas is approaching and Ubaydah is looking forward to attending a Christmas party on the night of the 25th. Ubaydah and his friends are going to do their own rendition of 'White Elephant' just like last year. The party is going to be a potluck so Ubaydah is planning to make lasagna.

Ubaydah received these from his mom. His mom owns a cafe in Bandar Baru Bangi, Malaysia called 'Little White Cafe'. It's a great place to visit if you are ever in Bandar Baru Bangi.

There were cookies, chocolates, and candy canes.

"Run, run as fast as you can; You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man." (The Gingerbread Man, Wikipedia, 2011).

"Now you see."

"Now you don't!"

Ubaydah also received a container full of baked goods from one of his colleagues.

There were different kind of cookies as well as carrot cake.

Ubaydah told me that all those baked goods tasted awesome!

THE END

Happy Holidays!

バイバイ~~*



Thanksgiving! XD

こんにちは~

Haruhi's back!

I know it has been a while since any of us wrote anything in this blog.

But anyway, we're back and today I'm going to talk about Ubaydah's thanksgiving~

He had an awesome thanksgiving a few weeks ago celebrating it with some of his friends at the Village.

Ubaydah's currently studying for his final this Monday so I'm going to make this post very brief.

Here's a picture of Ubaydah and his friends celebrating thanksgiving:

Did you see the two turkeys on the table?

One was roasted by the girls and the other was roasted by the guys.

Here they are up close:

The one on the left was roasted by the guys and the one on the right was roasted by the girls~

So by looks alone, I think the guys won that contest. That doesn't mean that guys are better cooks okay?

However, the one on the right was very tasty and rich with flavor according to Ubaydah. He also told me that the one on the left was tasty too but it's just that the stuffing wasn't cooked right. Ubaydah told me that the real winner was the gravy that made both turkeys tasted awesome! XD

Both turkeys were their first trials and I really think they did a really great job!

By the way, Ubaydah made some mashed potatoes and rock buns for that event! ^^

I think that should be it for tonight.

For those who will face their finals next week (including Ubaydah): All the Best! =)

お休みなさい~~*

The Celebration of Aidil Adha

Hi there~

Konata's here!

On behalf of Ubaydah, I want to wish you all...

Salam Aidil Adha!

Just now, Ubaydah went to one of the Malaysian consulates' house for dinner in conjunction with the Aidil Adha celebration. They had tons of food there. Apart from the food, they also had a prayer session for one of the consulate's members who recently went into a coma. Hopefully, she'll recover soon. Best wishes for her and her family members.

Tomorrow Ubaydah's going to the Aidil Adha prayer on campus and there will be food there as well. Hopefully, we'll update on that event soon with pictures.

If you are studying for exams next week, then Ubaydah and all of us would want to wish you all...

...all the best!

I think this is where I should stop.

So good night and sleep tight~

:)

All the best!

今日は, Haruhi-desu!

It's been a while since anyone wrote anything in this blog. So I'm going to start now!

Ubaydah's currently taking a break from studying for his mid-term exam: Animal Models and Muscle Disease. All the best okay! =D

Ubaydah also wanted me to wish everyone (if applicable):

"All the best in your exams!!!"

It's kinda exam week right now in Cal Poly Pomona and everyone seems to be busy studying for their respectable exams.

A bunch of exciting stuff is going to happen in the coming weeks (to Ubaydah of course!). So be prepared for some exciting updates!

For now, バイバイ!

Still on Hari Raya (Eid Celebration)...

Hi, Sakura-desu...

They said that Hari Raya (Eid Celebration) in Malaysia lasts for a whole month... Therefore, last Saturday Ubaydah and his friends went to Arcadia in order to celebrate Hari Raya and also the Merdeka Day celebration (Independance Day). It was an event organized by the Malaysian Student Department (MSD)... um, I think so... I'm not sure...

...anyway, Ubaydah voluntered for the event and he and several of his friends were in charge of drinks.

Here are several pictures from the event:

That's his booth right there... As I mentioned earlier, he was in charge of drinks... That's Ubaydah wearing a 'Baju Melayu' which is a Malaysian male traditional costume.

All the food... Malaysian food... Um, there were 'rendang', 'kuah kacang', 'lodeh', 'nasi impit', 'ayam masak merah', and many more...

Several traditional Malaysian dances were also performed during the event...

I think that should be it regarding the event... more pictures are available on Ubaydah's Facebook if you know him personally... Thanks Konata for the pictures. :)

Umm, on a different subject I can't believe Ubaydah's blog has reached more than 1000 views in such a short amount of time which is something that we didn't expect at all... uh, congratulations...! :)

I think that should be it for now...

おやすみ...


さくら

Happy Eid everyone! =D

今日は! Haruhi-desu!

First and foremost, Ubaydah and all of us want to wish you all Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri!

So how's your Eid celebration? Ubaydah's was fun although he is a little tired right now.

First stop: He went to the Eid prayer in Long Beach along with his friends and some other Malaysian families around here.  He also enjoyed the food as well as meeting and talking to the people over there. He had soto, fried noodles, fried bihun, and rendang. That event was organized by MIFNA (Malaysian Islamic Foundation of North America).

Second stop: He went to Uncle Ishak's house (one of the main members of MIFNA) for some ayam masak merah and nasi minyak. He had fun chatting with several people over there.

Third stop: He went to Manja Restaurant (Malaysian Cuisine) in West Hollywood. The restaurant had an open house and all Malaysians and friends were invited. He had lemang, ayam masak merah, fried noodles, daging masak kicap, kuah kacang, and some kuih raya. He had fun over there too! =D

Last stop: Unfortunately, it wasn't all fun and games. He went to work afterward to finish off his lab experiment and some other lab works. He went home at around 8 p.m.


Here are some pictures from today:

This picture was taken at Uncle Ishak's house in Long Beach.

This picture was taken near Manja Restaurant in West Hollywood.

This picture was taken in Ubaydah's lab. He's wearing Baju Melayu at work.

Ubaydah's working with full dedication and focus (he told me to write that by the way). XP



I guess that should sum up Ubaydah's day. He's really tired right now from going out and from working.

Hope you enjoyed your Eid! =D

またね~~

Iftar at the Malaysian Consulate General's residence in California.

Hello there~

My name is Konata and I'm going to be in charge of taking and posting pictures from now on in place of Haruhi. Even so, Haruhi may still provide this blog with occasional pictures from time to time.

Today, Ubaydah went to the Malaysian Consulate General's residence in California for iftar or fast breaking. He went there with many of the current Malaysian students from Cal Poly Pomona as well as a few others from USC.

According to Ubaydah, it was really fun because he got to meet and chat with people he hardly ever seen even though he lives near them. He also said that it was a great opportunity for him to socialize and get to know other people.

There were Nasi Ayam (Chicken Rice) as the main course, Mee Goreng (Fried Noodles), Bihun Goreng (Fried Rice Noodles), some kuih-muih (Malaysian traditional delicacies) such as Karipap (Curry Puff) and Buah Melaka, and some fruits such as watermelons and grapes. In short, Ubaydah was full. :)

Here's a picture that was taken from the event (I didn't provide this picture, it was instead tagged by ZArf IEra on Facebook).

Ubaydah was wearing a maroon Baju Melayu (a Malaysian traditional men's costume) and standing at the back.

Overall, it was a good day.

I think I should stop here for now.

Good night~ Sleep tight~ Hopefully I'll see you again soon~

:)

Transfer in Taipei~

Hello everyone! Haruhi's here! How are you all doing?

Ubaydah is currently hanging out at a cafe in an airport in Taipei while waiting for his flight to LA to take off in an hour of so.

Here're some pictures from where he's at right now:

Ubaydah is currently enjoying a cup of Caramel Macchiato in that cute little coffee cup!

See you all later! XD

Visit Malaysia.

今晩は, Makie-desu!

In two days time which is this Saturday, Ubaydah will be going back to the United States. He said that he's really glad that he decided to go on with this trip and hopefully he can stay longer next time. Unfortunately, he didn't get to see several family members and friends due to his busy schedules. Most of his family members and friends are only available during the weekends due to work and stuff and he only has a few weekends to spare. I must say that he did the best that he could to meet everyone even though most meetings were very brief.

A few highlights of his trip include playing midnight futsal, playing cards until 4 am, the trip to Kalumpang Resort, the trip to Kedah, the trip to Pahang, Ramadhan bazaar, attending a friend's wedding, watching Malaysia vs Singapore on TV, and many more.

Today, I'm just going to talk about Ubaydah's trip to Kalumpang Resort. Even though it was raining when Ubaydah and his friends arrived there, the rain eventually stopped and the barbecue began. Apart from the barbecue, they also splashed and swam in the river at the resort.

The river was supposedly very clear but due to the rain and the amount of people there at that time, the river was kinda murky.

They barbecued some chicken wings and hot dogs.

Here's a picture of Ubaydah and his friends who were there at Kalumpang Resort.

There were several butterflies around so Ubaydah took a few pictures of them.


So there you go. The butterflies picture will end my post tonight.

お休みなさい.

お帰りなさい~~*

お帰りなさい Ubaydah-san! XD

The reason I said that is because Ubaydah is in Malaysia right now. It means: "welcome home".

I'm Haruhi by the way!

Ubaydah has been busy nowadays because he has a lot of catching up to do since he hasn't been in Malaysia for the past three years. That's a lot of catching up to do if you ask me! He's been meeting with family members and friends and they did some catching up as well as reminiscing about the past.

He went to MidValley megamall just now to meet up with some of his friends from college. Most of them are currently working right now. One of them is going back to Australia soon and another is going to the UK in September. I wish them best of luck! =D

After that, he went to a restaurant in his hometown Bandar Baru Bangi to see one of his friends from high school. They had same drinks just now.

Ubaydah's going to meet some other friends tomorrow and he'll also be attending one of his high school friend's wedding this Saturday. Hope you'll have a lot of fun! XD

I guess that should be it for now.

Goodnight everyone!

The 18th International C. elegans Meeting

今晩は, Makie-desu!

おげんきですか?

It has been a while since I wrote on this blog.

Last Wednesday, Ubaydah attended the 18th International C. elegans Meeting at UCLA. Just to be brief, the meeting involved researchers from all around the world including Japan, South Korea, China, France, Italy, Germany, Australia, England, Canada, United States, and many more who use C. elegans as their model organism in their research. Some of the activies in the meeting include seminars, workshops, poster sessions, and many more. The seminars include some recent advances in Physiology, Neurobiology, Evolution, Cell Biology, Genomics, and many more.

The meeting last from June 22-26. Here's Ubaydah's simplified schedule of the meeting at a glance:

7:00 am - 9:00 am - Breakfast (Ubaydah said the UCLA commons serve very good food).
9:00 am - 12:00 pm - Parallel Sessions (seminars basically).
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm - Lunch.
1:30 pm - 4:30 pm - Plenary Session (another sets of seminars).
4:30 pm - 6:30 pm - Workshops (Ubaydah skipped these and go play basketball and ping pong instead).
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm - Dinner.
8:00 pm - 11:00 pm - Poster sessions/Exhibits/Art Show.
11:00 pm - 12:00 am - Evening Socials (where all the top researchers in the world mingle and drink).
12:00 am - 2:00 am - Ubaydah and his colleagues playing video games, pool, and ping pong.

As you can see, the whole five days were pretty intense. Ubaydah said that he learned a lot from the meeting and got to meet some interesting people as well. He also had a lot of fun with his colleagues. He also helped presenting his research in one of the poster sessions. He's currently working on mapping and indentifying genes in C. elegans spermiogenesis.

Here are some pictures from the trip. UCLA is a huge and a very beautiful campus. See for yourself.

This was the bed where Ubaydah slept in. It's in one of the UCLA dorms. Ubaydah said that the dorms were like hotel rooms.

This is the program guide for the meeting.

This is a picture of Ubaydah's name tag and his key card. The key card can also be used to purchase food.

This was the view from Ubaydah's room.

Here are several of Ubaydah's colleagues. Three other were not in this picture including his advisor.

Below are several pictures of the beautiful UCLA campus.

The picture above is actually a picture of the ceiling in one of the huge lecture halls over there.

UCLA was so huge that Ubaydah said that he felt like he's in a whole other city.

I guess that should be it for tonight.

Hope you enjoy the contents of my post tonight.

お休みなさい