the short wanderer

Hello beautiful people :) It has been a period filled with a bunch of mixed feelings for the past couple of months. I began July feeling very excited about getting a lot of things done. I was looking forward to reading more mystery novels, more sharing and writing, and completing a few online courses. It started well but halfway through July, I was feeling rather unmotivated to get anything done. It wasn't too much to say that I feel like it has been the period I have felt the least motivated in life. I even tried avoiding social connection and human interaction - not wanting other people to get the ' tempias ' of my negativity at that moment I guess. That probably explains my (kinda) quiet blog too I suppose. And I'm glad I took some time off - or else, I'd end up dwelling over the same thing over and over again, which is of no good to myself and to others as well. But that's July - August has been storing a whole different story. I haven't been sharing any...

When people found out that I study archaeology, it is common for them to ask, "Archaeology? What do you learn? What are the exciting things about your course?" or "What are some of the things that you like about your degree?" , but I have rarely been asked about 'the other side' of this field (don't worry, I hope it isn't as bad as you thought it would be). Yes, archaeology sounds very adventurous and exciting, but obviously, everything in life comes with a set of challenges - it's a life package that archaeology doesn't seem to have an exception on (and I can say these things now since I'm finally done with three years of undergraduate studies phew)  Disclaimer: The following points are extracted from my personal experience of being in the field for the past three years. I am no expert in this field, and I am merely reflecting on my time as an amateur. I guess it's also safe to say that, this post is probably gonna be more about me ...

This is a very long overdue post that I almost gave up writing on, but I guess it would be something fun to talk about - not because of my bias towards human bones but I think it's going to be another (hopefully) insightful entry on the fact that archaeologists don't only dig the ground or look at stones and fossils for their lifetime, so here we go! I love beaches, and that's why I love Cyprus :D Last spring (that was in April, which feels like a long time ago right), I had taken part in the Human Bioarchaeology Field School organised by the Heritage and Archaeological Research Practice (HARP) in Kato Paphos, the historical city of Cyprus. The field school is led and supervised by Michelle Gamble, a bioarchaeologist of the practice, assisted by Kieran, who is a staff from the same institution. I had been working on human remains excavated as part of the Paphos Agora Project which is conducted by the team of Professor Ewdoksia Papuci-Wladyka from the Department of...

Random thoughts with unstructured scribbles. Digging archaeological sites makes me think a lot about the past. And of course I can't help myself from not thinking about my own past . There are just some things that happened in your life that you wish had never happened, or you wish had happened differently, or maybe you wish that you will be given the chance to experience it again in the future - does the phrase ' take me back to the good old days ' ring a bell? According to a Chinese personality test that my friend shared with me, the age of my soul is 500 years old - if only my soul had lived a little bit longer it might have been able to witness the day Melaka was conquered by Afonso de Albuquerque in 1511. Wait! That was the setting for the short story 'Pintu Gerbang Masa' written by one of the high school participants of a short story competition in 2008 (It was Sayembara Menulis Cerpen organized by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka)! I still remember the story...

Kira-kira lapan bulan yang lepas aku ada tulis satu ' post ' tentang subjek arkeologi, atau secara spesifiknya, aku cuba nak kongsi sikit (berdasarkan pengalaman yang tak berapa nak ada ni) apa yang ada dalam bidang arkeologi ni. Tanpa aku sangka, susulan post aku yang tak seberapa tu, aku mula dapat beberapa soalan dekat ruangan 'comments' dekat post tu pasal bidang yang aku tengah belajar ni. Mungkin selepas aku dah terangkan serba sedikit apa yang ada dalam bidang arkeologi ni, ada segelintir pembaca blog aku ni yang berminat nak menjadi ahli arkeologi. Alhamdulillah, rasa bangga pun ada, rasa terharu pun ada... TAPI Saudara sekalian, aku bukanlah orang yang sudah pun bekerja dalam bidang ni, apatah lagi orang yang berpengalaman dalam bidang arkeologi ni. Maka coretan kali ni ialah coretan secara rendah dirinya sebagai seorang hamba yang baru saja berjinak-jinak dalam bidang ni selama 15 bulan... (bukan 15 tahun ya!) Kepada sesiapa yang dah pun ba...

Sunday 19 th August 2018, 7.00 am From not being emotionally prepared to attend a fieldwork for the previous few days, I was surprised for an unexpected flip of mood I got that morning. Over-excited  might be the most accurate word to describe it. I was anxious and curious at the same time, for not knowing what to expect for the upcoming 3 weeks. “Sorang je?” “Study sana ke?” Asked a few officers when I passed by the immigration checks in KLIA. “Ha ah sorang je.”  Even though this is my fourth solo flight overseas, but it’s my first solo flight to a non-English speaking country huhu “Eh bukan study sana, ada fieldwork” I answered frankly and left another curious officer who might have guessed that I am a student as he scanned my bag pack and laptop as well. Almaty Airport The 8 hours flight was fine. I actually fell asleep throughout most of the journey. The flight landed around 6.00 pm Kazakhstan time. After I got my che...