My mood today

This morning, went to nearest groceries to buy sketch book and coloring/pencil... And here are the two results

1. Title: War between knights in highlands

2. Title: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

My typical Sunday activity (part 1)

Normally I start my Sunday by going to Mosque to pray Subh with others, i just feel it is good from time to time mingling with others for this time of prayer. And guess what? Then i will take a picture after the pray and post it in the social media that no one sees such as Tumblr and Flickr, just for my personal galleries; i mean how many of you do really use apps such as Tumblr and Flickr, there might be, but very little. Then what?

The next activity is to start the engine of the car just to 'warm' it; what is it for? It is usually to ensure all the combustion parts of the machine keeps working well regardless later in the day the car will be used or not. Honestly, my wife told me so, because if it were up to me, i don't put attention that much on such thing.

(To be continued)

Hopefully my travel schedule till the next 4 years

While in the midst of selection process in Grenoble, France and Switzerland, I have asked how the schedule of the residential modules look like, cause I need to adjust it with my normal activities such as work, life, etc. 

They give me below schedule, definitive up to 2016 but tentatively for 2017 cause it might need some tweaks...

At the end, there will be project and defense back in France. But now, lets focus on the selection process first!

Today's dream is tomorrow's actualization

This is what I learned from my father, that work harder and smarter from everyone else, because the best never rest

Selection process

Here we go again, the selection process. I always have a mix feeling on the selection process, there is an excitement but at the same time unnecessary grace period that normally is boring. This time is a selection process for my DBA, Doctorate in Business, the continuation of my MBA.


I already submitted the research proposal, now waiting for my transcript to be sent by both Electrical Engineering ITB (my undergrad) and WBS (my MBA) to my next university.

But then, there will be series of interviews and all prior to getting my seat in the DBA class

Let's rock and roll!

Start working on my DBA (Doctorate of Business) research proposal

I don't want to lose the infatuation of being academia by having graduated from my MBA-only, it has to continue. Today, I start working on my DBA selection process, that is planned to be in Grenoble Ecole de Management in France and Swiss.

Some credentials have to be collected from Medan, my hometown, where my sister saves all of my important papers. Then tomorrow, I will have to write the research proposal, doesn't need to be that long, but it needs to be what it takes to be a great proposal.

... and that's how it's done! Thesis is marked...

So today whilst spending some time with Wife right after evening prayer, I unintentionally opened my University internal sites (https://my.wbs.ac.uk), and checked whether the thesis is already evaluated or not; had to admit that I am a bit trembling. And voila!

The thesis (we called it P&D, stands for Project and Dissertation) is already marked, and got a merit! I have to admit, that it marks an end of a long journey, that started...

2012 - I enrolled to the global energy MBA in Warwick Business School. Friend told me that it is a good programme, especially for those who works in Energy business, but then it won't be only about Oil and Gas, but it will touch base electricity, renewables and clean energy, and many other things.

My friend, Singab, helped me through the selection process, by guarding the door in WFT training room in Buzurgan (one of the operating base in Iraq), so it couldn't be accessed by anyone else. The purpose was to ensure that my internet connection would be decent enough to teleconference during the interview with University. The effort was paid off. I got scholarship for this program, a 50% cut of the tuition fee. For me, it's a lot of money to save...

Had to admit, that my former company, WFT, helped me a lot for this MBA, especially in the first 1.5 years, cause it paid my air ticket to UK, and at the same time I can comfortably adjust my time off based on the time I had to be in UK to study, take the exam, and discuss amongst students.

2013 - I had to take the sustainability courses in University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. A very interesting perspective of sustainability business case and approach, good professors lecturing here, etc. The complete video can be seen in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OraQcmyrtNE

2014 - The final course that is Strategic Advantage was conducted in Shanghai, in conjunction with Tongji School of Economic and Management. The visit to Siemens, the coal-generated electricity company and all, made this course an interesting one.

2015 - Finally submitted the thesis on 20th-sh of April, and got the mark just last week!

Alhamdulillah, Thanks God!

Now, I am waiting for the procedures for the graduation ceremony in WBS, UK (probably in July 2015), which unfortunately clashes with Eid Fitr :( (what a predicament!)

Anyway, I am happy for now, but the greater challenge already exists ahead; that is the selection process for my DBA (PhD in Business) in Grenoble (France), http://en.grenoble-em.com/doctorate-business-administration-dba

Bismillah...