Know A Little About A Lot: Ingredients Management~

Alhamdulillahi rabbil a'lamin... We still able to perform our fast in a harmony way, free from any chaos, pressure and any other obstacles like what our sisters and brothers are facing in Somalia, Myanmar, Palestine, Syria and any other places that I can't state it all here. Sitting at home is such a bless, especially during this Holy Ramadhan since there's a lot of things can be learned, which I strongly believe that the knowledge is really important to be applied in our daily life :) Thanks to the future employer for the utmost considerations :))) Allah says wait, and He gives better ^^

Menu Preparations

I do believe that menu preparations is quite important since it consumes much of our time rather than to cook and to eat the menu itself. If you were asking me, I would try to minimize the time as much as I could especially during this month. As for myself, I starts to prepare the food to be cooked at 3.30pm (considering we are having our iftar at 6.30-7.00pm here and I want to stop for about 30-40 minutes to perform my Asar & recite Al-Mathurat), and try to ensure all the cooking to be done by 6.00pm. 

Planning the menu is quite important or else you'll be in trouble (like cooking still not done by iftar time or you will need to put lots of times everyday in order to prepare for the menu). From my reading and my experience, in term of preparing the basic ingredients such as onion, garlic, ginger, chillies, turmeric and galangal, there are two ways to do this express preparation; one is by weekly estimation and another one is by on the spot estimation. Among this list, I think the ingredients that we used the most are onion and garlic, unless you love to cook a menu that I would consider as complicated (since it consists of many ingredients) everyday.

Taken from Google Image

Weekly Preparations

If you are fall under those who wish to cook everyday for dinner (assuming that we are all working during the day), this type of preparation is much more easier. What you need is to plan for the whole week menu, and just prepare the basic two ingredients (blend them) for one week usage. Separate them while blending, and put each in one close container and leave it inside the fridge. However, for now, I can't practice this since my mom disagree as she prefer to have a fresh one (peel off the onion & garlic on the spot). Plus, she have me  to prepare for it everyday, so she still not consider this type of preparation. Hewhew~ (="=)

On The Spot Preparations

This is the type of cooking preparation that I am currently practicing in this housewife academy (sounds bombastic?) Hewhew~

What I need to do is basically an almost accurate estimation of amount of ingredients that need to be used in my cooking. Let say on that day I am planning to have sweet and sour fish, mixed vegetables, and sambal cuttlefish, what I need to do at the first place is add up the amount of garlics, onions, chillies and any other ingredients needed, then peel off all of them. After that, start blending the ingredient that will be used in all the menu that I've planned to have, then take off some of the ingredients that is allocated for the simplest menu (need only basic ingredients such as onion & garlic only), then put another ingredients that is needed for more complicated menu (more ingredients) into the blender. By practicing this, you will save more time not only in term of preparing the ingredients, but you can skip rinse the blender as well. And if you keep on practicing this, you will contributes in term of water saving :)))

The Knowledge of Ingredients Estimation

I remember when I started to learn on how to cook, I would ask "Mak, bawang merah berapa? Cili berapa? Bawang putih berapa?" everytime before I cook. And as time goes by, I can say that I can do the estimation more accurate. :)) However, there are some type of dishes that I still really can't understand on  how to estimate the amount of ingredients to be used due to I rarely do that dish or it's too complicated that I will leave my mom to do it. Hewhew~ I can conclude that besides looking at the recipe, experience in kitchen will help us so much in estimating the ingredients to be used in preparing the menu.

Hope this Ramadhan will be a better platform for us to improve ourselves in every aspect of life... And I hope, I could be a better person from day to day ^^.

~berdoa dan terus mengharapkan redha Illahi...~

Know A Little About A Lot: Interview ~

Alhamdulillah, today is the forth day of Ramadhan. May Allah grants us more strength and taqwa so we can become a better Muslim once this Ramadhan comes to its end. Aameen :)

As part of my Ramadhan resolution, I think I would like to come with "Know A Little About A Lot" series in this blog. In this series, I would like to share anything that I believe will help much in our daily life, be it something that related to job applications, house core matters, financial planning, books that I have read, tazkirah, and many other things. I hope that this kind of sharing will not only help me in enhancing my writing skills, but as well as to promote any other blogs and articles that I believe worth reading.

The first time I saw this quote was when I read  Rich Dad, Poor Dad written by Robert T Kiyosaki. I heard about this book when one of my batch mates told me that he wants to finish reading this book while we were having chit chat through Gtalk. Impressed with the title, I googled about this book and luckily I found one in PDF format. And I would say, this book is a must read book, especially for those who are just started entering new phase of life; be it in relationship, working or pursuing your study. 

It has been almost six months I finished my study but yet, I am still at home. To be honest, I am so thankful for being unemployed until this moment, because by this time, I think I already find the hikmah of why I am still at home. :)) It is so true that whenever you put your trust in Allah, and let Him decides the best path to be taken in term of any HARUS matter, you will definitely find the sweetest fruit in the end of your searching.

Honestly, throughout my unemployment periods, I did got few offers but after a thorough considerations, I need to let it go. It's not a matter of being too selective or being too picky, but I believe, everyone have their own path to be taken and so do I. So here are the few tips during the interview based on my experience and I hope it do helps you guys :)

Client Companies (Oil & Gas)

Honestly, my target is to be an employee of a client company only, thinking of my long term as a future wife and mother. In Malaysia, the most popular client companies are Shell and Petronas, and I did went to both interviews. I would say that client companies have their own interview structure, and what I can conclude is, client companies do not care much about your technical abilities during the interview. They are more concern on your attitude, capacity to think, learn and enhancing your soft skills, decision making and how you communicate. The full story on how the interview is conducted can be read here; Shell & Petronas.

Consultant & Service Provider (Oil & Gas)

In this type of company, your technical skills and knowledge is really a BIG MATTER. Whenever you are being call for interview by this type of companies, make sure you have all the technical knowledge with you, and few common answer to HR questions that you can easily found by searching in Google. They are particular about the project that you have been involved in, the software applications that you know and mentioned in your CV, and do not forget your big projects such as your FYP and FYDP (applicable for Chemical Engineering students). Make sure you know the differences between their company and the major client companies, and also a little bit on their company background. Speak technically is more preferable as they are assessing your technical knowledge but still, you still need your soft skills to make the conversation a fruitful one. Be updated about their current status such as the contract that they have got and how you can be a valuable asset to them.

If you get the interview from offshore based company, such as Schlumburger and Murphy Oil, you will need to attend few stage interview. I would say it's quite tough (based on my friends' stories) and I do got a few, but I just declined it without try to attend since I know that I have no passion at all in this type of business nature.

Manufacturing Based Company

Manufacturing based company do not stress too much on your technical skills, but it still there. Usually this type of company requires hard work, I mean less work-life balance as they need to always maintain the demand of their product. I would say that based on my experience, being frank during the interview is the key in winning the heart of the interviewers in this type of industry. Do not pretend that you are the angels or jack in all trades, as you will be trapped easily especially if you do not have much idea on what they products are. The interviewers in this type of company also tends to arrange a last minute interview; they even call or email you during weekends and out of office hours.

Other Types of Companies

I only got one interview opportunity outside of engineering based company and it's kinds difficult for me to make any conclusion. Since I also did not get the offer, I would say that this out of engineering world company is totally depending on your passion and your willingness to work.  

I really hope this first series of "Know A Little About A Lot" will help you in any way, and I hope Allah will grants me the strength to continuously writing through this series. :))

Salam Ramadhan Al-Mubarak, lets be productive!

Google Image

~berdoa dan terus mengharapkan redha Illahi...~

Whisper: Back~

It has been quite a long time I haven't update anything here. Life goes on, and of course there's a lot ups and downs. Friends come, friends leave and even some friends, I may consider that I loss them. It can be hurt, but well, our life is like a movie, some people are exist in few scenes, and once the scenes are done, they may go. And we'll never meet them again, until the end of the movie :) Waiting for miracle to exist? Maybe ^.^

This entry may sounds personal. But yeah, this blog is mine :P But mind me, we have to write good things and put all the bad things deep down inside our heart. That's why Allah created heart for us, to keep the bad thing inside. Share only the lovely things, so we can spread the happiness all around. :')

Along these days, I mean a very long dayssss, many things happened. Somehow, when someone I neglect or never expected still keep updated on how I am doing, I do feel touched. If u are in my shoes, will you feel the same? But yeah, things that he keep on asking is something that.. erm, it's not for you to know :P

And reaching this state of life, it do makes me realized, only a few can be true friends. It's quite surprising when someone you acknowledge for being so sweet, kind hearted, extremely change once she/he reached another stage of life. I know we shall not consider it as a change, since everybody is in the phase of growing up. From teens to adults phase. But... Maybe, the memories are too melancholic to be remember. Passed is passed.

There are someone that will always be there for you :) For me, and for us.. And He is our Creator, the Most Loving, the Most Gracious :') Who can expect, the last person you get to know is the one that will always with you until today? Who can expect, the person whom you was once trust the most is the one that will silently betray you today? Who can expect, the want that you was once adore, have tremendously changes this moment? Well, this is life, expect the unexpected.

Life sometimes do pressurized you. It's the inner strength that make you can pull the stress back. So, always be strong, never expect, give more, and take less. And for Muslims, do pray Istikharah prior to decide EVERYTHING that is HARUS, as the fruit of Istikharah is very sweet :)

9-10-11, I miss those moments :')

Dear all readers, 

May the barakah will always be with us. Lets be productive...

Taken from Google Image

Counting the remaining leave... InsyaAllah ^.^

~berdoa dan terus mengharapkan redha Illahi...~

Missing Out~

Most of the times, we always look and what we doesn't have, or what we'll never have if we look in the perspective of  the "real eyes". But yet, there's nothing impossible, so do not stop dream & act. And we are struggling hard to achieve what is not ours yet, and we tend to forget on how to fully utilize and live our life at the present. 

It's good to be ambitious, especially dreaming of owning or achieving something good, especially when it is not just for ourselves, but for the sake of better ummah. We think, prepare and plan so that we can act in a precise way on how to reach our target and aim. Indeed, if you are fail to plan, you are plan to fail.

But sometimes, we need a pause to think back and check how balance we are in maintaining our present life and what we have plan. After all, what is guaranteed for us in this dunya is only one thing, which is DEATH. Have we even wonder what we have done so far in order to ensure that our transforming time from this stage into the next stage of life will be the most wonderful and excellent moment for us? 

Let us find a rest through a strong remembrance to Allah, and the best remembrance is that through the Quran. And ask ourselves, be honest;

"Will we allow our heart to find a rest through Quran?" 

Taken from Google Image

Just for a moment, pause, think & do remember... :))

~berdoa dan terus mengharapkan redha Illahi...~

Notes (Part 1)

I think this is the best place to write this thing. Since I always check on my blog to view any updates on my blog lists. I really hope I can do it well. :) And in this entry, I would like to congratulates all of my friends who will entering the next phase of life soon, regardless in term of securing a good job or getting someone who will be your halal partner till the end of time. May this upcoming step will make you closer to Allah & gives you more opportunity to become the best servant of Him.

Technical terms:

Refinery - production facilities composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw materials into valuable products.

Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) - an analytical techniques that combined two techniques to single method in order to analyze mixtures of chemicals. GC separates the component of the mixture while MS characterized each of the component.

Raoult's Law -  in this law, the components are assumed to be an ideal solutions. The vapour pressure of an ideal solution is dependent on the vapour pressure of each chemical component and the mole fraction of the components present in the solution.

Evaporation rate - rate of materials take to vaporize. In general usage, it measures the the mass of materials vaporize from the surface per unit time.

Ignitability - capable of causing a fire.

Corrosively - capability to destroy or irreversibly damage another surface or substance in which it comes into contact.

Reactivity - tendency of substance to undergo chemical reaction, either by itself or with other materials, and to release energy.

Toxicity - level of poisonous.

Ventilation rate - rate of indoors air enters and leaves the building.

Auto Ignition Temperature - temperature of vapors that will ignite spontaneously from energy to the environment. 

MIE - min energy input to initiate combustion.

Some important things to ponder:

- mixture of fuel-air will burn if the percentage of the fuel is in between the UFL & LFL. Gas mixture is considered flammable if it is in between the explosive range.

- AIT - It depends on process conditions and need to be determined as closed as its conditions. Influenced by pressure, fuel type & concentration, volume of vapors and existence of additives and oxidiser. Contaminated air, increased in pressure, system volumes & oxygen concentration lower AIT. Significance -> to determine minimum safe operating temperature.

- Average value indicates the minimum safe temperature to operate. FP; 358.10 K, AIT; 598.15K, MIE; 1.219mJ, vapour mixture; 0.0954%. HC with low AIT & MIE may ignited and spread it to the whole system. Average FP tells the condition we can expect the fuel vapor to be created.


Approaches, Communications & Key challenges:

- Almost all previous measurable data was taken from previous researches in this field; 1. By Mr A.W who did investigation of fire and explosion in the drainage system related to process industry and 2. Ms N.F.A who proposed inherently safer design for hazardous waste contaminated in industrial drains.

- For some unavailable data, discuss with Supervisor or try to related formula that might helps in previous journals and books. Some of the value is unable to be calculated or cannot be found, needs to estimate the value from hydrocarbons that have the most similar chemical structure.

- From previous researches, data taken are ->77 components inside the liquid samples taken, mole fraction in both liquid and vapor phase, activity, fugacity, vapor pressure, volume percent, flash point.

- Parameters to be calculated -> evaporation rate, mass transfer coefficient, concentration of volatile in an enclosure, auto ignition temperature (for unavailable data), mass transfer number, fuel-air weight ratio, specific heat capacity for alkane group, heat of combustion using RQ online tool, then comes MIE interpolation.

- Drainage line assumption; W=0.5m, L=50m

To be continue...

~berdoa dan terus mengharapkan redha Illahi...~

My Last Wish~

This is not the song title anyway. The title is actually Guide Me All The Way... :')

  So my last wish is for You to be pleased with me :')

 

 Guide me all the way...

Don't let me go astray...

~berdoa dan terus mengharapkan redha Illahi...~

Katak oh Katak~

Alhamdulillah, pagi tadi berkesempatan menghadiri usrah di rumah Ummi Sadiah... 

And I would love to share about one sharing from one of my usrahmates with regards to "the frog inside the kettle". And it's actually quite significant for us, as a human who is always forget but yet Allah have always and will continuously gives us the chance to repent from all the mistakes and wrongdoings that we have done as long as we alive and not reach our ending-time yet.

The hot water inside the kettle represents the big sins that people may commit. And the frog signifies us, the always-forget-human-being.

Let us imagine that we are the frogs that jump straight into the kettle containing hot water. How do we feel? We'll straight away realize that the hot water make us feel uncomfortable and we'll jump outside the kettle as fast as we can.

Taken from Google Image

However, let us imagine that we are the frogs that stay inside the kettle since the kettle had not yet been boiled. The kettle is been heated slowly and as time goes by, our body resistance towards the heat is increasing. Until one point, we already feel nothing about the hot water surrounds us and we just choose to stay inside the kettle. And once the temperature reach its maximum, it is already too late for us to get out from it.

Big sins usually starts with small sins that we commit continuously. As time goes by, the small sins had turned to be our daily routine and we feel so comfortable in doing it. And finally, it had turned out to be the big sins. 

People will not easily starts committing crimes. They usually start by making a simple bad habit or bad thing that can be count as small before they have the courage to commit the big ones. And the moral of this "frog inside the kettle" story is, be careful with a small sin that we usually did, and try to replace it with a small good thing or else, we'll be drown inside the hot water that we actually have trained our own heart to be comfortable with.

~berdoa dan terus mengharapkan redha Illahi...~