Wednesday, November 23, 2011

I need a break!! (i said seriously)

It's raining now and it seems the rain and air conditioning had failed to cool down my brain temperature!

I need a break but I too afraid to take it or too worried that even a minute break will waste my precious seconds. I have 2 major tasks this and the following week. No. 1 - extract all information from those articles and scan all contemporary issues concerning my study, and No. 2 - more RU paper in the pipeline. I suggest a very low level topic for the RU paper and I really hope to submit for publication. Seems ambitous though, but I believe it is now or never. The paper will be a fast track approach by the university to increase publication and if it published, I should be able to cite my own work or increase the credibility of the research that will be undertaken. It should be.

Task No. 1 is a new task suggested by my supervisor last week and looking at the timing she gave me, I know, time now is an essence. My strategy is two cover the two tasks within this week and I think task no. 2 is almost ready. The hurdle now is to write and give the paper a focus. The problem i'm having now is in term of reference, most are outdated and originated overseas. I need more local paper to support the proposal but it was nowhere to be found.

This morning I rushed to the library once it opened trying to look for books that the database mentioned as available. It wasn't there. Dissapointed though.

I need a break, I need a break....

Monday, November 14, 2011

The tale of paracetamol and gold digging

This week is rather melancholic. I started Monday with headache, end up the day with 4 hours sleep and wake up with more headache. A bad day indeed. This week suppose to be my 4th week in the whole study and I still reading and downloading more and more articles from the online database. The whole process is a lot of frustration cause it slow. The internet is slow, the loading is slow and the reading is well slow of course. Digging the database is like mining gold or diamond. The unearthing takes 'years' while the result can somewhat good or none at all. It depends on the key words used, and I feel like I used them all. Sometimes i found key words try it, and the result is good. Most of the time, from 100 results, only 10 match or have something related. The next problem is the publication dates. I know it is important to have an up to date reference in the list of reference. It means, the topic is contemporary and research is sought. To date, to be frank, in my 'end note' i only have 18 registered related articles and few others pending review. I think to date i'm good at the basic of end note and i do hope to explore more.

I started this morning with 2 tablets of paracetamol and i'm good. Don't know should this be what i'll be doing for the next 3 years!

I was at the Civil Eng (CE) Faculty this morning and noticed that Martin Skitmore is in town. He's a renown scholar in construction management and the faculty will be conducting colloquium tomorrow at 10am. I'm interested to attend hoping to broaden the horizon and perhaps listen to others talking. I think the CE faculty is more structured when it comes to PG since the numbers of PG students are large compared to the faculty in which i currently attached. They have a dedicated office to cater PG matters and all forms are available for students in a dedicated place, a sight not available in my faculty.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Euljiro Coop Residence, Seoul

We stayed in Coop Euljiro for 6 nights and i must say that this hotel exceed my expectation. We paid USD495 for 6 nights and for me, this place is indeed very awesome. The airport coach stop right in front the hotel (take 6001 for KWN14K) and the journey takes around an hour from ICN airport. The hotel lobby is small and PC with internet is available for free, just in case you need to update the facebook status. Just remember to change the PC language to EN otherwise all you see is Korean. The room is small enough for two people but interestingly, complete with stove and microwave. Kitchen utensils are also available for use. Bathroom is small but all are functioning well. The floor is heated and if the room become too stuffy with the heat, there an aircond to soothe the interior. We bring few clothes and we do our laundry on our own using the washing machine available at the basement 1. Each wash cost KWN4k that complete with a pack of detergent and softener for extra good smell. Subway is nearby, GS25/family mart are also nearby. If you are staying on low level, things might get noisy a bit. We stayed at 14th floor and still the noise is unbearable. There's a park nearby the hospital and it mostly filled with foreign nationals playing cricket or something. My favorite, doota is nearby and just a short walk to dangdaemun fashion market. if you wish to start the scenic river walk, this is suppose to be a good starting point. Overall i will definitely stay here again.

3rd Meeting and discussion

I think i just started meeting my supervisor on 28/9/2011 (before the official registration) and i am so happy to accomplish the 3rd meeting which was held 'impromptu' thanks to the myriad information i received from the university. It started on the 2nd Nov. 2011 when i received call from the Deputy Dean (PGR) requesting all staff to submit proposal for grant not less than 20k for the purpose of RU application. The university will be in its 3rd attempt applying for RU after all unsuccessful two applications. Before the call, i reply her email stating that i am now on my study leave and whether i am suppose to submit formal proposal which due on 9th Nov. 2011. I thought being away on study leave will give me a relief for their believe that staff on study leave should concentrate on their study and should not be 'disturbed' with issues at the university. On 2nd Nov. 2011, i received call using the university number and the DD-PGR mentioned that everybody non-PI should submit for the grant. I was stunned since the deadline was very near and having incomplete proposal (or near silly one!) would mean that the proposal will be another proposal dump to a drain. I experience once, and learning from mistake, proposal need to be clear and focus before submission or energy wasted. On the other hand, i sense an opportunity for additional fund for data collection and this will mean better cashflow for the whole research work. I know nothing as at the moment but at least that grant may fund my 1st objective (which suppose to be the most straight forward one).

I rang my supervisor on the same day (she was on medical leave - sorry) and told her about the university request. My supervisor concerned about the direction and i request to meet her just to discuss about the proposal. I got nothing else in mind that time, just thinking that money will greatly save the other allocations for data collection. She was unavailable on the 3rd Nov. 2011, and i was asked to come on Friday the 4th. Before our meeting, i received another call on the 3rd (from RMC) asking whether i will submit a proposal as they will be having a meeting with the Deputy Rector to discuss on the issue. I told them that i am currently on study leave and whether i can submit a proposal or not. According to RMC, staff on study leave can't become PI and should concentrate on their study only. I was quite disappointed to hear that as it means no grant for the data collection. I met my supervisor on the 4th and she agreed that having grant will disturb my study and she prefer me to concentrate on my study rather than chasing for the grant. I know this will be a great opportunity later in my academic career as i may apply for grant and having a master student on my own to do the research.

The meeting

I was moving without any concrete direction for the past week but i collected many articles talking everything in the industry just to keep myself informed about what's happening in the industry worldwide. I admit this is new to me and searching, knowing something new is actually fun. Well of course, i got itchy and watery eyes because of the reading but it was fun. The joy lies when i finished reading an article and understand what the author/s is/are trying to convey. I still having trouble understanding methods especially those with heavy statistic but i slowly learn and trying to appreciate everything that are written. During the meeting, my supervisor suggest something that is brilliant, why don't conduct a 'background study' and from there 'probe' the issue/s that is/are currently happening. That's good and given the lack of literature available in Malaysia, that suppose to be an efficient way to identify a gap in the existing body of knowledge. Her suggestion is simple, get to know the basic deeper and go to the field to probe the gap. I agreed, this is suppose to be the way. When there is lack of literature, probe the actual and establish the gap.

Starting from today, this is what i will do - get to know the subject better and deeper and brainstorm what lies beneath.

Till the next post...