Winter in Montreal

Latest Update...

2009-03-15T07:15:00.002-04:00

I have started a new blog at www.emotionsquared.blogspot.com..

So check it out!!

I wont be blogging over here anymore...

Happy 2009! a new year, a new hostel room...=)

2009-01-10T11:05:00.004-05:00

hello!!

happy 2009!! may year 2009 be a much better year than crappy 2008....
now back in Singapore...today just shifted into Ridge view residence....the Old KR block...the room is actually quite nice really...totally surpassed my expectations...i was actually mentally prepared to shift into an old dungeon..=) but luckily, the room was ok...overall:

layout: Good...big table....large empty space in the middle of the room..

storage space: plenty....many drawers also i never use..

location: moderate....much further away from business school compared to sheares...oh well, have to wake up earlier to catch bus A1..

food: the biggest turndown so far...weekdays still ok, can go and eat in the school canteen before coming back...or YIH canteen...weekends, subway or macdonalds only....a big problem...somemore so difficult to find someone to go makan with u....unlike in hall, people here are less likely to 'jio' people for supper or dinner..

Toilet: Ok lar...quite clean...and near to my room...but the hot water hor, the temperature is like the lukewarm water we drink...but water pressure...excellent...very strong...

pantry: this is another negative point...a bit far...have to walk a level down...and today, i opened the fridge, i was so shocked...so many people put so much things into it...with raw fish and chicken also...hmm...i think i will only use the fridge once in a blue moon..

laundry: washing: free, but dryer have to pay 20 cents...so it's ok...nothing to complain about..

so overall, the place is not bad..quite happy...but didnt take photos coz no camera...i wanna buy a new camera....!

bye!

Coming home!

2008-12-27T20:49:00.002-05:00

hello....just came back from my 10 day trip to the US....visited 4 cities, namely boston, philadelphia, washington dc, and new york city.....it was a tiring and 'schedule packed' trip involving lots of walking and navigating....thankfully, the entire trip ran really smoothly with all the buses departing on time and arriving according to schedule...it was a fun trip, took lots of photos....but wont have time to upload it...will only do it after i reach singapore....but honestly, US really not as safe as canada...

ok, leaving montreal on 29th dec morning....6am flight...have to be mentally prepared for the 30 hours flight...if not, sure will have serious jet lag problem...have to go and pack my stuff now...
and do last minute souvenir shopping...=)

ok....see ya...my good friends in singapore and kl, see ya soon!!

byebye!

US Trip

2008-12-14T21:44:00.002-05:00

hello!

tomorrow night, i'll be going off on a 10 day trip to US....not bringing my laptop...so, wont be online for a while....i'll try and see whether i can use any internet kiosk or anything to go online or not..

anyways, my itenary:

15.12.2008- leave montreal...
16.12.2008- reach boston in the morning...stay in boston for 3 days and 2 nights..leave boston on the 18th night...
19.12.2008- reach philadelphia in the morning...stay in philly for 2 days and 2 nights..
21.12.2008- leave early in the morning for washington dc...reach washington dc...spend 1 and a half days in washington dc..leave washington on the 22th night..
23.12.2008- reach newyork early in the morning...spend 3 days and 2 nights there...spend xmas in NYC..
25.12.2008- taking the night bus back to montreal..
26.12.2008- reaching montreal at about 7am..

yea...so i'll be visiting the white house, harvard, MIT...and many other places...!yay!
hope that the weather's good tomorrow...
btw, i have lots of photos not uploaded yet...no time...maybe when i get back to singapore then only i'll do it..

ok, ciao! one more exam 2moro...

so much to do....so little time.....

2008-12-09T17:29:00.007-05:00

hello...

the past 4 days have been extremely hectic....crammed for 2 consecutive test with only a day gap in between....it wouldnt have been so stressful if i started earlier...hmm...being last minute again....last night, crammed for my financial statement analysis test held this morning....had hardly 4 hours of sleep...then have to wake up to mug some more...headache the whole night, waking up every 1/2 an hour coz i was paranoid that i might oversleep and be late for the test...lately, i been busy juggling between studying for my test, and preparing for my US trip...coz i m going right after my exam which is next week, so this week everything must confirm liao.. spending 2 days to study for an entire sem is crazy lar...damn tired...served me right..

so today's tuesday, hence, i have tomorrow and thursday to prepare for 2 tests on friday!! oh no...
i'll be cramming again...summore, one of the course i've been skipping classes for quite a # of times, havent been keeping up.....well...sigh....

anyway, today, it was snowing cats and dogs....haha....it's really like raining, but instead of droplets of rain, it's snow....but it was really cold when i rushed to school this morning for the test...but the snow doesnt really make u wet...i couldnt really see clearly coz the snow keep falling on my face..

there's a thick layer of snow oredi....easily a few inches...can play snow later!! actually i showelled the front entrance when i got back, but it snowed again....waste all my effort...=(
but yesterday was the coldest since i've been here...-20 degrees...getting out of the house is a pain in the ass...why??? coz i have to

1. wear longjohns inside
2. then long sleeve tshirt and jeans..
3. thick socks
4. gloves...damn impt...this one really cannot forget, coz i was lazy to wear my gloves when i brought the rubbish out, my hands hurt even after 30 minutes...
5.hat...
6.winter boots..
7.thick winter jacket..

basically, my whole body is covered except for my face...actually if wear a scarve, maybe can cover the mouth, then wear sunglasses, then practically everywhere is covered...=)

It feels like walking on very fine sand or flour.....actually it looks more like icing sugar....
pure and white.....but the roads are dirty and brownish...coz the vehicles run over it..

btw, i found out how i 'kena' the antivirus 2009 already....i m very sure it was from one of the pop-ups when i log on to friendster.com....coz after that incident, i went back to the site, and the window just closed immediately.and my AVG says it detected a virus...i even tried using the school's desktop, the antivirus thingy pop up at that website....so those using friendster, must be careful....well so far, my laptop hasnt been giving me any major problems..but it's lagging a bit...

ok...bye..

It's me against the evil monster...!..me: 1, stupid virus:0

2008-11-27T20:37:00.011-05:00

hi, so this morning, i made the effort to wake up early so that i can edit my essay for my intl biz project...i have to get it done before going to school as i have a group meeting in the afternoon...
as usual, i on my lappie, check my hotmail, facebook and log on to youtube....the usual routine...at least for me...and then, this stupid Antivirus 2009 keep popping up every 5 minutes or so...damn annoying...my whole pc slowed down...then my laptop hang at one point...damn annoying..so no choice lor, i have to go to school to do my essay.. it claims that it scanned my laptop and found so many 'threats' and spywares inside...can u see?? it's a bit small...so many trojan viruses...i was like panicking....how come suddenly so many viruses?? they say got 36 THREATS...somemore must highlight in RED...then i simply go and install that stupid thing..i m so stupid!..coz my laptop has been virus free for a very long time...actually so far, this is only my 2nd virus attack...the 1st one was really long ago....at first i didnt know what was it about, so i quickly go to http://www.download.com/ to download AVG.....thinking that it will work....coz currently, i m not using any antivirus software at all except for windows defender....i uninstalled AVG long ago coz i felt it slowed down my pc...

anyways, i knew that something was wrong...haha, then i 'googled' how to get rid of Antivirus 2009....and i realised that it was a virus....similar to antivirus 2008,antivirus XP...same family one....it give fake messages telling u that your laptop's has viruses...infact, it itself is a virus..can just google it...many ppl also kena before...very common virus....
got so many ways to get rid of it.....i researched a bit and on the internet....so in the end..i downloaded, Malwarebytes' Anti Malware....from http://www.download.com/...

anyways, it worked!!! yay!!....thanks to whoever that suggested it..so ppl, if next time your pc kena Antivirus 2009, just download Malwarebytes....it works!=)

so now, everything is back to normal..my laptop's running as usual....but i m still scanning my whole computer again just in case.......

wow, sometimes i m amazed as to how i can survive uni while being so computer illiterate....hmm, up till now, i sometimes dunno how to use the functions on MS Word....must buy the book, "Guide to Computers for DUMMIES" oredi...

btw, anyone has any suggestion as to what free antivirus program i should use?? my friend say Avast is good....hmm....should i download it?...coz i really dont like AVG leh..

shit...spend the whole evening 'fighting' the virus...well, at least my laptop is virus free now..up till now, i still dunno how i got the virus...sigh..

bye!

It snowed again...and this time, it's for real...=)

2008-11-25T23:23:00.004-05:00

britney spears new album "Circus" is coming out on dec 2nd...yay! so excited for her..I LOVE BRITNEY SPEARS!! no matter what ppl say...coz nowadays, all her antics a bit erratic..she started to fall apart after marrying the kevin loser..

but most of songs from that album all leaked or pre-released on the internet liao...so far, i quite like most of the songs....not bad..! i actually prefer her newer songs compared to all the old school eg. baby one more time..but i feel this time, she is ready having a comeback!!
besides that, in her 'Womanizer' music video, my birthday appear in the cellphone featured on the clip!!! spot it.....haha=)

....................................................................

It started snowing last night....and it snowed the whole day today....snow's like everywhere...coz the last time it snowed, the snow was really a bit too little...but, it is forecasted that it will snow again 2moro...probably throughout the week...it started raining in the evening tonight...normally it will rain before it snows...=) it's actually warmer when it snows.....i think if the temperature is too cold, not much snow..

and the day is really short nowadays...the sun sets at around 4pm...so if u wake up late, say 12pm...eat lunch, then in 2hours, the sun sets, and it's dark...so technically, your day lasted for 4 hours only...crazy...6pm feels like 9pm nowadays....it gets really dark really early...

anyways, i likened montreal's weather to a high maintenance person....haha...why?? coz the similarities are way too obvious...

1. The 4 seasons weather in montreal requires a lot of $$$ monetary$$ cost...why? 4 seasons means u will have to buy winter wear...such as winter jacket, scarves, hat, gloves, long johns, boots, thick socks...then in summer, have to buy shorts and t shirt....fall, have to buys fall jacket...have to buy so many clothing..coz u certainly cant wear summer clothes in the winter...just like those high maintenance girls lor...have to spend so much money on clothes + makeup+ hair products...but, the different seasons in montreal are really pretty...u can see the change in the landscape, from green in the summer, to brownish red during fall, and totaly white during winter!!..well, pretty things comes with a cost..

2. weather in montreal requires a lot of maintenance...the residents here have to buy special tyres for both winter and summer tyres...winter tyres have better grip..and somemore, have to on the heater 24/7...electricity cost..then when there's so much snow, have to shovel it all the time...so troublesome....

ciao....have 2 more assignments to slog through..havent been getting much sleep lately..

bye!

Arrrggghh!

2008-11-19T23:37:00.010-05:00

arrrrggghh!

This week and next week will be hell week for me....have so many school work to complete..

just to let u all know, i come to montreal, i m studying hor....
sometimes i really don't understand...coz hor, that day, got one of my old secondary school friend ask me, what m i doing in canada....haha, pls dont be deceived by all the 'travelling' pictures...
i m a full time student ok, at McGill university....taking 5 courses this fall semester...which is the max load per sem oredi ok?? haha...i come here for like 3 months oredi still got ppl ask me this type of questions...anyways, i will be flying back to singapore this dec...arriving 30dec...yay!...
can't wait..=)

list of hwk due:

- 2 computer assignments : both also havent touch..havent even look at the question....die...this hwk very tedious and time consuming...must key in the transactions one by one...
Dateline: coming tuesday...

- Intl. biz group project : 12 pages of essay to hand in...we are like 70% done...but still, group meetings are time consuming and difficult to coordinate a time where everyone is free to meet up...the guy doing the intro hasn't been showing up...so now, the body is more or less completed, with the intro missing..like eating breakfast before brushing your teeth...
Dateline: coming Friday

- FSA case study...have to analyse the financial statements of a brewing company in Canada..this one, just started only...
Dateline: coming Monday

- finance assignment...aiyoh...this is the one that is most 'mafan' and the one that i m dreading the most....coz the questions very tricky and takes damn long to get one bloody question done..it's like maths, must sit down and concentrate one...last 2 assignments, i couldnt do 50% of the questions....have to refer to the tb...so mafan..which is something i dont really feel like doing lar...anyways,got group meeting this friday,...that means die die thursday night must start doing...sigh..
Dateline: coming thursday

actually most of the projects have been assigned at the beginning of the sem, but i procrastinated up till now....i memang 'dai sei'...(deserve to die)...

and not to forget, finals are just around the corner....2 more weeks only...
coz i m a bit blur after midterms onwards...lost oredi during lectures..
that means i have to practically start 'learning' everything again...
have to pray for a miracle..

oh yea, and have to plan for my US trip....objective: save money, save time, visit as many places as possible, and must be safe & secure..

so many things going on, but i still waste time blogging here...no time management at all..
=)
ok, maybe i should sleep early today...and wake up early 2moro to worry about the assignments...sleep deprived...

and i realised that if the temperature is warm, i tend to sleep better...as in go into a deep sleep...so nowadays, i wear a few layers of jackets to sleep eventhough it's not that cold...coz there's heater in my room..!

ok, nitez!

Music

2008-11-08T15:55:00.007-05:00

hi,

been listening to a lot of music recently....
i always believe that the kind of music a person likes or enjoy depicts the persons personality and character...

my dad's fav song is green green grass of home, ...haha, but i dont have an all time favourite song...

i listen to lots of different kinds of music...pop, rnb, cabaret, opera (especially b4 exam, can release tension), musicals, pop rock etc...can be in english, mandarin or malay...but canto seldom lar..

my current favourite songs are take a bow from rihanna and leavin' from jesse mcchartney..

but that's not the point of this post...the point i wanna bring is......

the power of art...

some people like to read novels because they totally throw themselves into the story that they are reading using their imagination...to the point that they totally feel for the character of the story....until it totally affect their mood and thinking in real life...

now, i believe that this kind of 'power' can also be translated through music...certain messages can be literated through the lyrics and emotions can be reflected through the melody and rhythm of a song....

last night, quynh and I were having a mini 'karaoke' session...haha, and we were like showing each other songs that we like on 'youtube'.....and she did intro me some songs that was kinda nice.....but there was this particular song that stuck on my mind up till now....which is this particular song....

'Gloomy Sunday'....now, this song is also known as the Hungarian Suicide song....apparently, many suicides have been linked to this song as it is a really depressing song...i wiki'ed this song and found out that this song has been re sung many times...and it was made popular by billie holiday...both the original composer and the singer commited suicide,,,and long long time ago, during the world war 2, this song was banned in Hungary as it was said to have been linked to many suicide cases....even in the US, it had been banned from it being played on radios and clubs...but now no more lar..many people have resung this song.....

but quynh insisted that there's actually nothing wrong with this song....and everything was a mere coincidence...but i think no lor...there must be something with this song that made its listeners sad...but in my opinion, different ppl hav different interpretations...
but to tell u the truth, i dare not listen finish the whole song...i've just heard like 10 seconds into the song, and i got a bit freaked out when i heard about the background of this song...this song is ranked as one of the saddest song ever...but many singers have resung this song and they are totally fine and embracing life...so it's ok lar..but still...
so ppl, if u r scared, then pls dont listen to this song...i m not responsible for your mental wellbeing..thank you...

but like i said, i totally believe in the power of music...and i find this incident very spooky....just like the curse of the eyptian mummy tombs...

i m scared, that's why i only listen to happy songs...=) like the Barney song....

These boots are made for walking..

2008-11-08T15:34:00.003-05:00

hey, in preparation for winter, i have bought winter boots....i think we bought it last week i think...it was cad 39.92 before tax...not a bad price from walmart....it's from bum equipment...

my criteria of a good winter boots:

1. good grip on the soles....as it gets really slippery on the melted snow...i almost fell on my butt...

2. water resistant....the last thing u want is the snow melting and the moisture absorbed into your socks...then u will feel really uncomfortable with the dampness in your feet for hours...

3. looks relatively stylish...this is really impt lor i think...coz if the boots is so ugly and ruggard looking, u wont want to even wear it...

4. no heels lar...coz it winter lar, who would be that stupid to wear boots with heels during winter? the heels will pierced through the snow...its one way to distinguish between a fashion boots and winter boots...

5. not too expensive...since i'll be wearing it for only 2 over months...but i'll bring home...just in case next time i happen to need it...btw, i bought US size 7, so if anybody wants to borrow it in future can ask from me..

actually there's one in a beige colour, exactly the same design...i like that pair more, but no size...so no choice lor..

so far, i havent worn it out yet...coz recently, the weather's been kinda warm....about 13 degrees average with NO snow...so have to wait...

and the weather's been really weird...coz at 4 something pm in the afternoon, it's like 6 o'clock outside...it turns dark really early...a bit strange....nowadays, i m eating dinner sharp at 6pm or even slightly before...coz the sky turns dark really quick making me damn hungry...

ok...bye!

Change in Local Time

2008-11-02T20:38:00.003-05:00

hihi.....as many of u might know by now that the time difference between montreal and singapore/malaysia is exactly 12 hours....hence if it's 12am in montreal on 1 of november, its 12pm in msia/sin on the 1st of november...

however, starting from today (2nov), the daylight saving time has ended at 1:59:59am last night....hence last night right, when i went to bed at 1.59 am (local montreal time), then the next second is 1am again instead of 2 am..like i've gained an extra hour.....coz the daylight saving plan has ended...

the daylight saving plan is a way of getting more light out of the day by advancing the clocks by an hour....it's for practical reasons, so that they can save electricity on lighting as it turns dark later....this year, it started on march 9th and ended nov 2nd....so now, we have to set our clocks back by an hour to revert back to the original EST(eastern time).... so weird right? i didnt know about this until yesterday....and i thought driving on the other side of the road was weird enough...so hor, now, the time difference between montreal and sin/msia is 13 HOURS!...

apparently hor, this daylight saving thing occurs every year..many countries observe the daylight saving time such as US and Canada...but cause in msia so near the equator, that's why we dont notice or even require it...and every year, it might start on a different date and end on a different date....depends on the weather forecast i guess...dont know how they predict the date..i think it's like how they predict which is the first day of hari raya....but i think for this, they dont look at the moon....haha

this morning i had a project meeting at 11am....luckily i converted my clock or else i will be an hour early....=)

so interesting right?
the weather here is so eventful.....unlike SEA, hot and humid throughout the year..
bye=)

from summer to fall to winter!

2008-10-30T17:57:00.003-04:00

hey, took this picture outside my apartment yesterday.....see the snow on the ground....everywhere looks so different compared to when i first arrived at montreal...now, the tree leaves are falling...and there's snow....but today less snow compared to yesterday...not everytime have one leh...but i suppose in a few weeks, snow will be everywhere...btw, the temperature outside is about 2 degrees...that's why we quickly took one photo and quickly run back in...

and i collected maple leaves to bring home...i 'kepit' it inside one of my text books....luckily i collected it earlier, if not now, the snow melt, the leaves are damp...

tomorrow will be a horror day for me, not becoz it's halloween, but becoz i got 2 midterms....*cold sweat*...

i cant stop eating....getting fat leh....sigh..
happy halloween!
=)

Snow!!

2008-10-29T09:55:00.003-04:00

hello, good morning!!

Just a quick update as my class will start in 5 minutes time...
this morning, i woke up to a lovely surprise...=) it started to snow...
it looks like a thin layer of icing sugar on the grass....
so pretty...everywhere looks so different compared to yesterday...
snow is at the top of the cars and building roofs...
i felt like i've just ticked on my checklist of 'things to do before i die'....
a bit excited coz it's my 1st time experiencing snow..
how nice if the temperature is a bit warmer, like 12 degrees like that, and it snows..then it will be perfect...haha, too bad..

It makes the road a tiny bit slippery...coz i almost 'pok kai' walking down the steps outside my apartment...like skating like that....oh yea, will be getting winter boots soon....have to get one with good grip...
yippee.....but it's kinda cold outside...
ok, no time to post pics...later lar...

ok, have to go...bye!

Updates

2008-10-26T11:35:00.005-04:00

woah....haven't touched my blog for like almost 2 weeks or more....hence, it's time for an update on my life here..=) have to revive this blog, if i myself dont read my own blog, how do i expect others to read it?? recently just went to ottawa...that's all...

recently, i realised that a few friends are also coming to McGill for exchange next year.....why the sudden trend?? how come McGill suddenly become so popular?? dunno lar..

anyways, what have i been up to the past few weeks..
- had 3 midterms, 2 more to go next week...
- didn't go travelling this 2 weekends...surprisingly, i felt a bit bored at home coz we've been travelling somewhere for the past few weekends...

Good things that happen to me:

1. nothing much really.....no news means good news...

2. watching youtube like crazy..

3. i actually enjoy studying finance....lol...quite interesting leh....last time, one senior said that finance is very hard bla bla bla...dont choose finance if u r not very sure of what u wanna do coz u will die...it is very hard...she was giving really bad advice...i m not gonna listen to the crap she has to say....coz why? no one ever said that it's easy, same goes to the other industries....oh well..

Bad things that didnt go my way:

1. i left an egg on the table, as i was going to cook it in 2 minutes time...the bloody egg rolled and drop on the floor...resulting in slimy mess on the floor and chair..

2. i forgot to top up my prepaid phone in time...hence, i called back home on my phone to finish my credit minutes...that's a really expensive call....lesson learnt...no more procrastination for me..

3. last week i was at the library, searching for a book at the shelves..and the book happened to be placed at the bottom..so i had to like squat down to take the book...then the stupid fella go and shift the shelves, i almost got 'sandwiched' between to shelves....so dangerous...coz the shelves are on rollers...i was so shocked as i was right in the middle...i have to give out a desperate sound of pain....this ppl, dont even bother to check whether there's ppl there or not before shifting the shelves....after that, the guy was quite apologetic, but i was too irritated oredi... coz if i kena 'kiap' in between the shelves, can physically hurt me leh....

4. my external microphone for my laptop spoil oredi lar...so now cannot call home....china products all not durable one...no quality control...now i have to borrow my friend's lap top to call home..

5. we were supposed to go to La Ronde, this theme park in montreal full of rides, and they were having this Halloween decorations and stuff...but it was raining heavily...we even went all the way there, but have to come back empty handed...a bit dissappointed, coz the theme park will be closed for the winter liao..=(

o yea..happy halloween...! it's this coming friday...dunno whether got kids will ring up our door bells for candies or not...=) but of coz we r not going 'trick or treat''ing...a bit too old for that lar..

ok, bye...

busy busy busy...

2008-10-07T22:27:00.003-04:00

hellooo...

long time didnt update my blog liao.....since coming back to montreal from quebec city....wont be uploading any pictures here, coz it takes damn long lar....so from now on, i'll be uploading all my pictures on facebook!! a thousand times faster and easier....blogger takes forever...so if anyone wanna see the pics, just go to my facebook profile...it's there...

busy with school lately...next week got 2 mid terms, both also not yet started studying yet....die...somemore this weekend wont be around....*cold sweat*.....

so today it's quite routine for me.....wake up early, rush for school, come back from school and go online/watch youtube....everyday also same....

and the weather is getting gradually colder....now always below 10 degrees.....that day Heather(our landlady) gave us a new set of thicker blankets and she say that she will on the heater by this week....she's damn nice lar.....she gets 10 out of 10points.....really nice and kind....we r so lucky to meet this kind of ppl....

oh yea, that day i tried to make yogurt....DIY yogurt....u know, take a scoop of yogurt u buy from the supermarket, then add in warm milk, leave for a day, then can eat liao.....apparently, that's the recipe....i researched on 'Youtube' and 'Google'....but went i tried, my yogurt looked like broken pieces of tau fu fah and lumpy milk solids....i dare not eat it also....dont look that appetising....still trying to figure out what went wrong....once i mastered the art of making yogurt, i'll share it with all of you.....that's if i ever manage to get it right...

not feeling so good today...beeen sneezing the whole day....hope that i dont catch a cold.....

bye!

Random*

2008-10-01T11:43:00.005-04:00

Wednesday morning
location: library
temperature: 17 degrees..
weather: the rain just stopped..

Selamat hari raya!

never written any post for a few days liao!.....not because i was lazy ok, but because there's some homework to do...

this weekend i m going to Quebec City.....it's about 3 hours away from montreal....going on saturday....one day tour....go 1 day enough lar, save money...

today, i woke up at 6.30am....to do homework due at 10am...=) so last minute hor... but anyways, the homework is actually quite interesting but difficult...they give u a set of financial statement figures, eg. the value of assets, inventory, equity of i think 14 companies or so, and by analysing the figures, u have to guess and match it to which industry does that company belong to ....eg, airline, departmental stores and etc.(all given)... quite hard leh...coz there are so many different combinations, and if u 'tikam' , probability of getting the right answer is very very small....so guess what, i tried to analyse it abit(on the train), and sometimes tikam also....like playing sudoku...=)
and u know how many i got correct??......ONE...haha, out of 14...=)
i dare not pass up my hwk....maybe i hand in next week's one..no worries...=)

ok, 2moro i'll post up photos from the places i went last weekend....all in montreal....=)
ok, have to rush another assignment.....
bye!

St Joseph Oratory photos- slept for 16 hours straight!!

2008-09-26T19:00:00.001-04:00

Friday night
Temperature: quite hot...

hey, i just did something damn weird today....i woke up at 4.45pm today.....so i slept like for 16 hours straight....it was quite shocking.....my roommate came to wake me up, asking whether i was sick or what.....well, i just slept....if she didnt wake me up, i will continue sleeping....scary lar...coz today is my free day, so for once, i didnt set up my alarm clock, which was strange, as i DID wake up this morning automatically and i thought i missed my morning class....so that's it, waking up at 7am almost everyday is really draining for me!!

ok, some photos from 2 weeks ago:

went to the St Joseph Oratory 2 weeks back...it's supposed to be the largest church in canada...it's really big, but to me, it's just another church!!

went to so many already....=)

the view of montreal from the top..

Inside the Church

Worshipers try to stick coins into the gaps of the rocks....it's for good luck...those are the ones that fell off..

Nice View..

St Joseph church..the weather was quite gloomy that day..actually it started raining when we were about to leave..

St Joseph Oratory

That's all!! waiting for the US presidential debate bet. Obama and John McCain, which will be held in 2 hours!!

bye=)

Trip to Toronto/Niagara Falls Day 2

2008-09-25T19:48:00.019-04:00

Day 2:

Morning: head to niagara falls, sat the 'Maid of the Mist' and went up the Skylon Tower..

Afternoon: Marineland!!=)

then it's back to Montreal....it took 8 hours to travel from niagara back to montreal...traffic jam somemore..

Marineland!!

In the Deer Park...

the Marineland Map...=)

the Sky screamer..

So cute!!

Steel roller coaster....We sat this....this one quite fun....not so scary..=)

traumatized look.....it will really make u scream..

i sat this!

Bear Bear...a bit off focus..

Dragon head.....

Whales..i think...

Birds...this pic quite nice..quynh took it..

Ducks..i think...or goose?

a line of birds.. killer waves ...

white colour whales..

willie...

the triangle u see in the sea, that scares u into thinking there's a shark in the water...

the trainer with the dolphin...

Walrus....got 2 protruding teeth...

Sealion fetching a ball...

the sealion so cute!

come to greet the audience!!

Dolphin flying!

sealion

fatty sealion..

here onwards: niagara falls (consist of 3 falls, 1 big one belongs to US, the biggest belongs to canada, and another tiny one in between the big ones belong to the US...

wearing a raincoat..

the US falls..

the canadian falls...is in a horseshoe shape..

Maid of the Mist

View from Skylon Tower:

Canadian Falls...

US falls and the tiny falls beside it...also belongs to US...the canadian falls is on the right..the water flowing comes from the great lakes of US..

Flags outside Skylon Tower..

US Falls.

Niagara's Casino

US Falls

Trip To Toronto/Niagara Falls Day 1

2008-09-25T18:19:00.013-04:00

so last weekend, quynh and I went to Toronto and niagara falls on a 2 days bus trip.....
Day 1: morning- visited the Thousand Island....
afternoon- visited toronto town..
night- checked into the hotel..

ok, so here's the photos, have to select a few to post up....coz we took way too many pictures!!=)
the pictures are not in order...i just uploaded it randomly...

the hotel room....pretty ok...and spacious...but quynh was upset because the hotel had no hot chocolate, no toothbrush and no slipper..

but got hair dryer...what we need dont have, what we dont need, have..

Lantern Festival in Toronto

The hotel we stayed in

At the lobby,

the coffee maker lid was spoilt, so we used the bible provided to cover the lid....

near CN tower

Toronto's skyscapers

CN Tower.....CN is supposed to mean Canadian Nation...

So tall.....looks a bit like KL Tower..

in toronto

Mexican fest performer..

the new parliament building..

so many ppl at the mexican fest..

Mexico!!

this is all in toronto

Kingston....the place our tour stopped for lunch..

the old toronto parliament building..

At Thousand island....this is one of the islands...all look about the same..

we take by ourselves...that's why a bit to the side..

on the boat..

the picture is my least favourite lor....why? coz the wind keep blowing my hair, make me look like 'so po'....

some islands have beautiful structures on it..but the islands are generally small..

a castle..

waiting for the boat tour..

New Blog Template!!=)

2008-09-25T17:34:00.002-04:00

Thursday: 5.45pm
Temperature: 24 degrees...warm and sunny=) just like my mood...

i love my new template!!....so pretty right??? i spent my whole afternoon doing it ok? i downloaded it from a website, but have to customize by myself.....take so long lar....=)but anyway, it was totally worth it, as it turned out so nice...=) chocolates! so yummy....

haven't been blogging actively for the past week as i had homework to do.....you know me lar, everything last minute, so haven't really have the time to sit down and write....but i do log in to see if anyone leaves me any comments..=)

ok, something really funny happened today...

today morning after school, i went to top up my 'pay as you go'(prepaid card) phone so i bought a $20 top up card....then have to call up the hotline to activate the value.....and at Rogers, they have this Voice Customer service thingy....so the system is suppose to recognise what are you saying, they have prerecorded responses..... so the conversation went as follows:

Rogers =R

R: Welcome to Rogers !...thank you for using our services..bla bla bla...
Can I please have your # pls?

Me: 514 xxx xxx

R: I would need an identification info of you....Pls enter the 4 digit pin(cannot rmb) or your birthday for identification purposes...

Me: twenty april 1988

R: may i repeat. your birthday is August 17th 1980....is it correct?Pls answer yes or no...

Me: no....it's twenty april 1988

R: *pause*....pls enter the 4 digit pin or your birthday for identification purposes....

Me: April twenty nineteen eightyy eiighttt....(in slow mo)

R: *pause*...may i repeat. your birthday is May 18th 1988...is it correct?

Me: No....

R: *pause* ..pls enter the 4 digit pin or your birthday for identification purpose....

damn weird lar...the system just cant seem to 'catch' what was i saying....this process repeated for a few more times until i was forwarded automatically to a 'human' operator....then later, everything ok oredi....=)

then later, then only i figured out why.....maybe the system wasnt designed to detect 'asian' accent.....really leh....coz sometimes when i talk to my groupmates whom are locals, they cant seem to catch what m i saying becoz of my manglish/singlish accent....i have to always repeat myself....i wasn't even speaking broken english...and i have even stop using all the 'lah, lor, wah' so often already....but i can listen to the canadian english clearly....that's a bit ironic...

ok....will post up photos later...

bye=)

i'm back!

2008-09-22T22:05:00.003-04:00

Monday night
temperature: 6 degrees...

hello!

over the weekends, quynh and I went for a 2days 1 night trip to toronto and niagara falls.....quite fun lor...the journey from montreal to niagara takes about 8 hours by bus....will upload photos later or 2moro....!we took about 700 photos in total for the 2 day trip....luckily quynh's camera's battery have long lasting power...coz mine can last only half a day max...

anyway, today i feel damn happy lar....coz i made it for my morning lecture....and i was early....=)
then i finally get to meet my group members for one of my course's group project.....so everything is starting to look 'brighter' and all the pieces of jigsaw puzzle is starting to form a picture...

ok, need to do some school work liao....coz whole weekend not around, have some things to catch up on....

bye!

freezing cold

2008-09-18T22:13:00.003-04:00

temperature: 6 degrees...

just took a bath just now.....shivering in the shower lor...at first i thought of washing my hair, but after that, i quickly scrap that idea.....it's the first time i actually felt that cold in the shower....

nowadays i dont feel like bathing leh, haha, i know, very dirty right? but cold leh....hmm....next time during winter, i m not bathing everyday, maybe twice a week enough lar...haha...or even once a week...

drinking a hot cup of milk......tonight i wanna sleep early.....coz yesterday i slept for just 6 hours max.....a bit sleep deprived...

ok, nitez!

Sugar high

2008-09-17T20:10:00.003-04:00

today, i ate an entire bar of chocolate......couldnt stop my self, bought 2 chocolate bars, 2 for a dollar from the dollar store......on the way back from school, i felt a bit dizzy on the bus.....probably because of too much sugar in the blood stream......woah...must watch what i eat, cannot simply eat all the 'unhealthy but tasty' food anymore....scared already...

when i came back, i cooked, soup with noodles, put in carrots, cauliflower, mushrooms and chicken.....quite sweet and healthy.....hmm....must cut down on sugar intake....

anyway, today is just like any other ordinary day.....wake up, go to school, come back, then eat and sleep....

bye=)

Glad to be alive, normal and healthy!

2008-09-17T00:35:00.007-04:00

Time: 12.50am....Wednesday Morning...

Temperature: 10degrees

I just cant decribe how fortunate I am to be born normal, with complete limbs, good eye sight, normal growth without any sickness and illnesses......Lucky to be born in a loving family, with a roof over my head, with plenty of food for me to eat.....

Just watched a program on TV just now that follows the struggle of a family with a child diagnosed with primordial dwarfism....that means that this child is born with growth problems, very tiny, even when they are feotuses....this cases are extremely rare, only about 100 cases reported in the world....and the program featured this husband and wife with their 3 year old 'child'......It is due to a genetic problem, and it's extremely rare, and there has not been any traces of dwarfism in both the mother or father's family....so this cases just happen....it can happen to anybody...

It is a life long battle for the child, and the child's family....which is a bit pitiful to watch.....she had problems learning and growing, and at 3 years old, is still not able to talk....besides that, primordial dwarfs are subjected to a life long journey of medical woes.....she had to undergo a brainscan to check for burst vessels i think for example....and, these ppl normally die prematurely....

the child is cute and tiny, and as she is small and angelic looking, she looks like a doll actually....and i really wish the best of luck to her and her family....

so stop complaining as if the whole world owes you money, smile and be happy as u get to live life your way!! Some people just dont have the chance =)

good night!

Tuesday...

2008-09-16T13:34:00.006-04:00

hello, it's tuesday and it's 1.45pm now...=) it's 16 sept, so that means it's the day Anwar was 'suppose' to take over the government.....i guess he had to postphone his plans due to 'unavoidable circumstances" aka sebab-sebab yang tidak dapat di-elakan......eg. the sodomy case.....=)however, he claims that he is still on track...

teresa kok is still being detained by the police for another 28 days......apparently she's not feeling well in prison.....hope that they will release her soon.....her arrest is quite upsetting, especially when she wasnt at fault at all....at least that's how i see it..

this morning, i was quite happy, because i made it to my 8.30am morning class...=) yay!!
bus 51 came....thank god....but it was quite cold when i walked to the bus stop...probably 7 degrees or so......so i attended my finance class....

then after class, quynh and I went to sign up for the niagara & toronto tour....it's CAD 129 each, for this weekend....so i guess, we confirm going oredi...=) must take many pictures..

oh yea, yesterday was the scariest day in the financial world, as the american economy was facing some serious problems....today, the american market opened with a drop of 500 over points, the largest drop in a day ever since sept 11......crazy lar,....merrill lynch is being bought over by bank of america and lehman brothers have to declare bankruptcy......many other bigshot companies such as AIG, are hugely affected by this...dont know whether they can survive this storm or not...well, the american economy= the world economy.....so when america is not doing well, the asian market is affected greatly..... well, confirm got more drama to watch....better watch CNN more frequently, mana tau, this will come out in exam...

Quynh was saying, dont know how many ppl that lost a lot of money will commit suicide...choi..
but i think it's true lar.....if u are poor all this while, then it's ok being poor....but if u r rich and suddenly become poor, might be difficult to accept the reality...=)

ok, that's all for today....bye=)

Dishes we cooked for Mid Autumn Festival

2008-09-15T21:18:00.006-04:00

It's 9.30pm right now and it's a monday night.....This is my 2nd post for the day....I posted up one this morning becoz i had 'some' time as I wasn't able to attend lecture...=(....

anyways, when I came back from school just now, about 5 something, i was waiting for the metro at the interchange, and it took 20 minutes before the next train came......there were annoucements in french, but i have no idea what was going on...but i saw other ppl still waiting, so i guess, the train will come...when the train did come, the train was quite dark, with only a few lights on....it was super stuffy with no ventilation at all....apparently, there was a major blackout in montreal.....reminds me of KL when tenaga nasional experience 'technical problems'....haha=)

anyways, photos of what we cooked last saturday....

vitamin water, this one of course not we make one...but it's like a 100plus drink....after drinking, really feel refreshed, as if there are really 'vitamins' inside....

rice, chicken and veggie

flavoured rice with mushroom and minced pork....very tasty with alot of 'liao'...

baked chicken....we cooked this before....but the recipe worked, so we did it again..

Fried veggie with minced pork.....I cooked this one...same recipe...

oyster sauce + soya sauce = tasty chinese food...

this is the mooncake we ate....sponsored by Quynh...=)

actually we also had cincau and jelly dessert.....but forget to take picture of it...=) i think heather didnt really enjoy it, coz even though she say it was very nice, she didnt go for a 2nd helping..=)

bye=)

Another Bad bad morning...

2008-09-15T11:26:00.005-04:00

Good Morning!

well, this is the 2nd time i missed my morning lecture....the 1st was last thursday morning coz i overslept, and today was totally not my fault.....I was at the bus stop early, at about 9.10am, and normally if i reach the bus stop at that time, i should be able to reach lecture early with 10 minutes to spare.....today, the bus service was totally screwed up.....the bus is suppose to come every 7-8 minutes....today, i waited at the bus stop until 9.30am then only one bus finally came....which was kinda strange, coz during the duration of me waiting at the bus stop, bus 51 on the other side, i think passed by like 5 times....and this direction none....damn weird lar...in the end, almost 30 people was waiting for the bus stop.....montreal, your bus system got problem lar...

anyways, by the time i finally reach mcgill it was at 10.30am, 25 minutes late for lecture, i dare not go inside oredi.....coz this lecturer is quite strict about 'puntuality'.....so well, missed a lecture for a level 3000 finance module which i m totally blur at....die lar....i hope the bus will come next wednesday...stupid bus...

anyway, my weekend was quite uneventful (we should have gone to quebec city)......on saturday, we celebrated mid autumn festival with our landlady which was kinda nice.....we just cooked dinner and prepared a few 'local' desserts for our landlady to try....

minling, quynh, heather, shan ming, me

a closer picture....

oops! forget to show u what we cooked!! later lar..

then on sunday, me and quynh went to St Joseph church, which happens to be the biggest church in Canada.....but seriously, it's like a normal church lar....just that it's big.....we are getting bored with churches oredi...well, we took many pictures as usual, will write a post on it...and later, we went to the Atwater Marche...

that's about it.....oh, yeah...this weekend, we are going to Niagara Falls and toronto.....this trip has been postponed for too many times oredi.....so we are finally going...should be confirmed...

Climbing Mount Royal

2008-09-13T00:59:00.012-04:00

We went to climb Mount Royal last weekend......which means i kinda procrastinated in posting up photos...=) anyways, mount royal is suppose to be the highest peak in montreal....i think the locals calls it 'mont royale'....pronouce the royale like in the james bond movie, Casino Royale...=)

ok, apparently, the initial founder of mount royal went on to name this place Montreal....so this is where Montreal gets it's name....actually, we shouldnt call this a mountain, it should be called a hill or even a park....coz it's not that high, i think it's like Mount Faber....the flight of stairs at NUS business school is steeper lor....

so the 3 of us went climbing...and we realised that there was a bus going up to the mountain...i think almost half way up.....and coming back, we just took the bus down....it was a bad day for mountain climbing, as the weather was gloomy, like going to rain, making the pictures quite dark...besides that, the temperature was quite cold, like 12degrees like that....so we barely sweat at all....we were actually freezing.....walking to keep warm...=)

Pics: (I just chose some to post up!)

the cross at the top of the mountain...at night, they will on it at night, and u might be able to see the cross even from very far away...

Squirrel...many squirrels around...all not scared of people one...

Bus/metro monthly pass..

Waiting in the bus stop for the bus to take us back down..we waited inside coz outside was damn cold probably touching 10 degrees..

The sky looks kinda gloomy....it drizzled a bit..

Me , Quynh and shan ming...the only picture with the 3 of us, but i go and blink my eyes...arrrgh...

Purple Flowers...=)

The building at the top of the mountain

View of montreal..

Me with the nice view behind..

The Entrance to the Cemetery ..

Signboard..

The cemetery we had to walked through because we entered through the wrong entrance....the cemetery was kinda big....hmm....a bit weird, walking through a cemetery....

A statue at the cemetery..

The Building at the top of the mountain...

a fruit that looks like a cherry tomato..

Pretty homes near the bottom of Mont Royal....some of the houses face the war memorial directly....i guess 'ang moh's dont pantang that much..

The Haunted house...so creepy looking..

A war memorial, so nicely maintained..

We were inside like for a little while before quickly coming out..a bit chicken..

Cactus for Sale.....quite expensive....i thought it is RM 10 for 3??

Me! looking much fatter...

Me and Quynh

Thai Express......so far, i saw a few, and there are many sushi shops here...

McGill vs Concordia

2008-09-12T23:38:00.000-04:00

just came back from a football match at the Stade Molson Stadium at McGill....i went with Quynh to watch my first american football match ever!! It was a match between McGill and Concordia Uni....well, i must say, we didnt really know what football is all about, not really sure of the rules..at first, quynh thought it was soccer...=)

anyways, the entire match was like a guessing game for us....we keep guessing what was going on....we keep saying, "where's the ball? where's the ball?" when the crowd suddenly cheer, then we will be like "what happened?? what happened?"...hahaha, damn funny...=)

Ticket....Free, comes in the orientation package...

Early on in the match.....got cheerleaders...

The McGill Team on the sideline..

Students selling beer...=)

Score during the first quarter...McGill is off to a head start..=)

so much movement...

the concordia team

The Redmen team(McGill) talks strategy..

Some younger kids watching the match....they get damn engrossed in the match lor....shouting and cheering like crazy....=)

Cheerleading performance during the half time break...

Quynh and I

The Stadium

Score during the 3rd quarter....concordia is winning.....the crowd was quite quiet coz nothing to cheer also.....mcgill losing...

advertisements..

McGill is catching up....the crowd is roaring....

Last quarter....the concordians are catching up...

then, this McGill guy threw the ball so high and his teammate caught it and touchdown....McGill is back in the lead....it was quite kan cheong lor....cant believe quynh totally missed it..

The score with 13.3 seconds left to go....Concordia is leading with 5 points..Does McGill have the time to catch up?

Final Score: Concordia 46, McGill 41....damn it...lost oredi...

anyways, who win or who lose also nevermind lar....=)

at times when no players score or attack, the game can be a bit 'sian'...=)

anyways, it was quite an enjoyable experience...but i dont think i will go and watch another match...!

Random Post*

2008-09-12T13:15:00.000-04:00

hi guys,

just an update on my life here.....dont worry, i'm getting fat and i'm healthy here...=) just remembered that yesterday was the anniversary of Sept 11...

I watch TV sometimes at night, while eating dinner, and the channel i watch most now is haha...CNN...really....because the cable tv here has a 50-50 ratio of french and english programmes...and apart from CNN, there's another channel that shows the discovery home and health programmes, eg. Jon and kate plus 8 and the show about the little people family...and some other random channels...

ever since Sarah Palin was nominated as the vice presidential candidate for the republicans, CNN has been really busy reporting about her....=) and nowadays, it's mostly about the hurricanes in the US....many places were on high alert as weather forecast predicts the hurricane to hit texas..

and i read today that teresa kok was detained under ISA?? together with the Sin Chew reporter? our teresa kok?? aiyo...how come? my dad will surely be upset over this...well, politics in Malaysia has certainly been in a turmoil ever since March 8th...

just some random pics i wanna share with you:

books i borrowed from the library....the older editions of the textbooks...mostly finance and accounting books...all untouched....borrow to collect dust...will probably get to it later..i hope..=)

this is the top i bought from Old Navy that day....it was on offer, and I tried it and it fits...so i bought it lor...i think it was CAD 4.99 excluding taxes...

u see?? i wear Size XL....for age 12-14 years...haha, we were shopping at the kids section....because, we couldnt find sizes in the Ladies section.....very hard to find XS..normally i wear M, but here, coz the sizes are bigger, .it's actually easier to find sizes in the Kids Section and it's a bit cheaper..

house slippers bought at the dollar store...quite useful lor...coz sometimes, the floor is a bit cold..and we only wipe the common area once a week...so better wear a slipper at home..

actually ying2 they all bought me a pair as gifts that's almost similar to this, but i didnt bring lar, my luggage was full...

i eat this almost every night....very nice....super sweet...it was on offer, at 2 for $5....so i HAD to buy 2 packets...it's making me fat...but it's very nice...almost as good as Oreo..

Coffee powder i bought here..it's Metro's house brand....i tried it already twice...and it taste ok..not bad...coz here, they dont sell 3 in 1's....

milk...1% fat...hmm, it taste ok only...i prefer the skimmed milk...

this is great....very very nice....eat with bread or on it's own....i think it was CAD 3.99, so it's ok..

my dry food section....quite packed right...a lot of things hidden behind....got some more food in the fridge....=)

that's all for now!! will post the mountain pics later at night...and i'm going to see a football match later! my 1st football match...=)

bye=)

The Difference between a 1st world country and a not 1st world country...

2008-09-11T15:12:00.000-04:00

Hello!!

It;s 3.50pm now and the temperature is about 20degrees....so it's quite comfortable, not too cold, not too warm...just nice....in the library now, coz i 'kedekut' dont want to buy textbook, so have to borrow the library books....and the books i need are all in the 3 hour reserve section, so cannot borrow back home to read... anyways, another reason why i dont mind going to the library is because it is warm in here....the irony is, last time in singapore, everybody goes to the library for aircon, but now, i m going to the library to stay warm...

will upload some pictures later or tomorrow, coz blogger takes damn long to upload pictures...

ok, back to the objective of this post,*points to the title*
the difference betweeen a 1st world country and a not 1st world country....haha, i know the title damn weird, but i didnt want to label singapore and malaysia as 3rd world country.....eventhough malaysia memang is lar..

point 1: attitude..

canadians read a lot...as in really alot....they are very willing to spend/invest money into books...take for instance, the textbooks here are like about 100CAD each, and practically everyone buys it first hand...

look on the bus, in the train, everyone is always reading something...which i think is a totally good thing...if u dont read, u dont learn....ppl learn using their 5 senses, through smell, touch, sight, hearing, and taste....so if u dont read, u r already losing out on a lot of learning...

compared to singapore and malaysia, how often u see ppl read on the bus or on the train? got lar, but few.....here, u see ppl with their textbooks busy highlighting on the train.... and the funny thing is, people here have their own individual style, and that everyone is so unique, u really cannot judge someone from their looks....for instance, that day on the train, i saw a punk, dressed in those weird clothes that punks wear, pierced ears, hair drenched in hair gel, with a messy unshaven look, studying physics in the train....so basically, my point is, learning is everything...

everything is relative...u get a B, because someone else gets a B+ and another person gets a C-....

point 2: discipline

hey, u know what? now only week 2, and the library here is full!! In NUS hor, normally week 2, the library is quite empty apart from a few PRC students studying inside...correct me if i m wrong....but after midterm, the library starts to gradually become packed....

but somehow, i dont really feel that stressful here compared to NUS....maybe because of the S/U option...at least, it gives me a bit of security...

McGill students quite competitive leh.....maybe because it's in north america, got some influence from US....but here, for business case studies, they like to use examples from canadian and american companies....so it's good exposure for me...!

Point 3: Common Courtesy...aka manners, civicmindedness(is there such a word?)

haha, this is a really big difference....ppl here very polite and very civic minded.....if u get lost with a map, they will come over and ask if u need help even without u asking...and they greet random ppl on the streets eventhough they dont know them....i feel that this could be part of their culture...

it's fairly different compared to singapore....

for eg. the govt have to 'impose' rules to get ppl to act correctly...for eg, the banning of chewing gums or instance....here, it's more flexible...

i feel in order to be successful in life (and that does not mean being financially rich), u have to treat ppl the way u want ppl to treat you...i always believe in karma....if u done something cruel to others, then god will 'punish' u back....so next time if other ppl try to be rude to you, or try to take advantage of you, or even try to influence you in a bad manner, dont counter attack!! dont be rude back....just smile back at them and say byebye......because, god has eyes, and he/she will receive their appropriate lesson....

ok, that's all.....this post so 'chem' right??
correct me if i m wrong....but this is what i observed.....

btw, just an interesting thing i saw, u know all the brands like GAP, ZARA and MANGO?? when u see the labels, normally the clothes are made in cambodia, vietnam and china.....that day, at Old Navy, i saw one cardigan, made in malaysia.....probably cheap labour kua..

bye=)

Morning routine

2008-09-09T10:28:00.000-04:00

early morning, she wakes up, with a knock knock knock on the door...(britney spears' Lucky lyrics...)...very old song...

well, anyways, waking up in the morning has been a chore for me lately....and it's getting more and more difficult day by day...and i have classes in the morning from monday to thursday...

today is tuesday morning, and i just checked the google weather indicator that it will be a min/max temperature today of 12/16 degrees which is a bit cold....tomorrow should be a bit colder...

this morning:

7.00am: handphone alarm rings.....(*oh no....have to wake up already.....how come feel like i just went to bed?? dont feel refreshed at all*...) quickly shuts the alarm, if not will wake Quynh up...
Sleep a while more....

7.10am: Lifts up blanket a bit....a sudden rush of cold air sweeps through my skin....aiyo so cold...but still have to wake up....

7.15am: bathroom....opened the tap, have to wait for the hot water to flow out....washed my face etc...

7.30am: eat breakfast and prepare lunch if needed for that day...changed clothes for school....which is about the same everyday, jeans, t-shirt, cardigan..

7.50am: leave the house....walk to the bus stop...as usual, missed the bus....have to wait for the next one which comes normally 7 minutes later....stand in the cold wind....with droplets of rain splashing down...

8.00am: bus finally came....went up.....get sandwiched between so many ppl because it was raining and everyone was taking the bus...

8.15am: still in bus, traffic jam....slow traffic due to the rain....normally i would have reached the metro station oredi..

8.25am: finally reached the metro station....hopped one a train...takes about 15-20 minutes to get to the McGill Metro....

8.45am: reached the station...walked to school....

8.50am: arrived at the lecture room.....late for 15 minutes....class started at 8.35am... a few slides have been discussed...but Finance lecture was interesting...

well, i have to repeat this routine everyday....sigh...
the weather hasnt been that nice lately....i dont know how many lectures i will be skipping during winter...=)

bye=)

McDonalds-review

2008-09-06T22:47:00.000-04:00

That day i ate this McChicken that cost me CAD 4.28 inclusive of taxes for just the burger ONLY....so expensive right...in Singapore, McChicken cost only 2 bucks i think.....aiyo, if not because i was hungry and just wanted something to eat quickly without much hassle, i wouldnt have eaten it....somemore, i thought since it cost more here, i expected it to taste better, or the serving will be bigger....but no lor, it taste just the same, if not worse compared to the burger in Singapore...somemore, the size is kinda small....maybe the locals might find it quite affordable, but in my opinion, it's not worth it....well, cooking yourself is still the cheaper and healthier option...

Plus, the McDonalds here most of the burgers use beef patties...not many other non beef burgers....which leaves few alternatives for me...in conclusion, i DONT LIKE the McDonalds in Canada...!

McGill

2008-09-06T22:02:00.000-04:00

I just realised that I haven't uploaded any pics of Mcgill yet....so here's it....to those who are curious to see what Mcgill is like...=)

It's rather spacious with a lot of greeneries for students to sit and eat their lunch while enjoying the sun...quite old and different from NUS...

but u know what, I actually start to miss NUS already...

The Main Entrance....no McGill sign at all, apart from engravings on one of the pillars..

Suppose to be James McGill....the person the school is named after....i suppose he donated a lot of money to the school...=)

Canada's Telephone Booth...it's available everywhere....almost every street there's one..

It's a museum...right inside the uni itself...one day during breaks between lectures can go and have a look..

Looks like castle..

Bookstore

This is the Business building...3 of my classes are held here...the Bronfman Building....

Got water feature some more....somehow i feel this is for fengshui one...

Bye=)

the Jean Talon Marche

2008-09-04T20:26:00.000-04:00

Hello!!

we went to the Jean Talon Market a few days ago....actually no big deal, it's just a rather big market in montreal, where u go if u need to find a certain veggie or need to buy a lot....because they are many stalls there, the prices are rather competitive......and they have a wide variety of fruits and vegetables....alll very colourfull, some havent seen before one...plus, we bought a few peaches from there, super sweet...havent tasted fresh peaches before, at home at most ate the canned peach only...bought quite a lot of stuff, coz we seldom come here lar, so must stock up...=)

nowadays we r getting quite auntie lor, going around buying vegetables and comparing prices........aiyo, what is happening to us?? hahaha....

anyways, when we were there, i took some pics for fun!!

Weird veggie....like a green bird's nest...

This round brinjal is damn huge!!

brocolli, purple cauliflower and normal yellow cauliflower....the purple cauliflower i dare not eat lor.....is it they use coloring?? how come the thing becomes purple?? bio students pls explain to me....how they plant it? if really use coloring, next time, can make pink, blue and all the colours of the rainbow vegetables...=)

so many types of berries.....blueberries, raspberry, strawberry,...and the grapes here quite cheap leh, $5 for 2 big baskets....the four of us share also cannot finish...must eat so many days..

not sure what type of fruit or veggie this is...many of the stuff we havent seen before in singapore/malaysia..

Capsicums...so many colours...got some purple colour one...some variation in colours...the purple is the REALLY purple kind...u know like barney like that, not maroon....haha...

they sometimes label this colourful baskets of peppers, ratatoullie becoz of it's pretty mixture of colour i guess..

So many flowers...now still summer...all the flowers blooming..

Pamplemousse Rose?? I googled it...it says that it's pink grapefruit...but looks a bit like orange...

so many fruits and vegetables....an auntie's paradise..

Brinjals!! nothing special lar...but i like to eat it...so just take a picture..

bye=)

Old Montreal- Part 2- Inside the Notre Dame Basilica

2008-09-04T16:54:00.000-04:00

Part 2.....we went into the basilica, and the $5 admission fee was totally worth it....because what we found inside was so breathtaking and beautiful....we spent a good 2 hours there taking photos and just looking around....it was actually quite dark inside....light only came in from above....

the notre dame basilica was built in 1824....but it did undergo certain changes to its design...

Pictures:

Wow!!

Ceilings....there's a bulb right in the middle to provide lighting...i wonder how they change the bulb when it fuses...

Candles

Beautiful architecture...

Candles again...

Designs on the sides...

Outside the Basilica..

Jesus....this picture quite hard to take....coz the lighting was quite dark....

Ceiling design..

Quynh...

Me and Quynh..

Again! this time horizontal..

The organ pipes....the tour guide said that there are about 7000 pipes there...some in the chamber, some underground....so many....imagine when someone plays that, it will be like so LOUD....plus, organ pipes have this very eerie-sounding tone to it...

Me and Quynh....my favourite picture among all the pictures... we got a lady to take for us....

she's so pro......thanks a lot!!

A sheep i think....i feel christians will appreciate this more...coz they might understand the meaning behind it...

Nice View

Altars

the coronation chairs...

see the beautiful design on the chairs?? like there's a worshipper praying...every row also like that....craved by hand...

Confession box....

Altar...the craving of the wood.....the patterns, all so meticulous and refined...

Me...

This part quite modern looking..

I feel this picture quite artsy leh...with the stairs winding up...this pic was not taken by me lar of course...

This wall is actually right behind the main altar....the very magnificent one....it's like a secret altar....if the tour guide didnt bring us, we would not have seen this hidden treasure...there's a narrow path to walk to the back...

actually it shows a dove, piercing into the sun, those lines symbolises a sun, then there's jesus...the whole thing is made out of bronze...so it took alot of work to make it the way it is today..

organ pipes....1000 over pipes....but smaller than the previous one....

This place is big!

School has officially started!!

2008-09-02T13:09:00.001-04:00

School has started oredi.....finally.....that's why i was late in posting some pics....

anyway, managed to find the classrooms...and survive the classes.....well, i've got a feeling that classes will be taught quite fast....damn scared lar...esp the finance & accounting courses....my weakest link...luckily take here....at least wont pull down my grade...*cross my fingers and pray for the best*.....

went to a financial statement analysis class, the lecturer started bombarding us with finance jargons......in my own world for that one and a half hours..dont know what is going on...well, hope that things improve....

i miss home...

Visit to Old Montreal...=) Part 1

2008-09-01T21:33:00.000-04:00

Today, Quynh and I went to Old Montreal which is the historical part of montreal..it was a day of cam-whoring and fun!!

visited many places, some we even skipped coz we were tired.....maybe come back some other time...took about 200 pictures, but those blur one i take one....hand shake...we just toured around the whole area......there were many souvenir shops and cafes there....

Pictures taken:

the old port.....now, used for recreation purposes..eg, cruises

boats

Me!

A park near the Old Port..

Outside Notre-Dame Basilica...

Notre- Dame Basilica...so magnificent...wait to you see pics of it's inside...even prettier..

Horses.....the horses takes tourist around the area....leaving the place with a rather foul smell...horse poop everywhere...

flags: canada, quebec, *dont know*, USA

Another church..

Science Centre...

Outside Notre Dame Basilica

Beautiful Building..

Me and Quynh

shop selling halloween decorations....can see the toy ghost...

to be continued....part 2 tomorrow!

bye=)

Merdeka

2008-08-30T12:35:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to say Happy 51st birthday Malaysia!! =)

Since it's Merdeka, i thought i would share some infamous Petronas Merdeka Ads...

about a chinese boy and the malay girl, i think this is last year's Ad.....made by Yasmin Ahmad...a famous Malaysian director...=) Tan Hong Ming very cute leh...=)

another one:

How do you spell Dinosaur?....haha, i realise i couldn't spell it either....=) serious...

what is race?? race means race car lar...the F1 grand prix type..haha

This year's one: about a dad's sacrifice for his son....quite meaningful...but i still prefer the tan hong ming one...=) coz it's there's a certain feeling of innocence in kids...=)

The merdeka Sunat commercial....=) i remember i watched this on TV long ago...it's funny and it sends an important message of racial harmony...=)

anyways, enjoy!

Baked Chicken....it's finger licking good!

2008-08-29T20:31:00.000-04:00

Nowadays everyday cook at home lor....coz much cheaper and healthier.....eating out in Canada quite expensive, to get a complete meal about 10CAD....unless you eat pizza or other junk food lar, that type cheaper a bit....but cannot eat those type of food everyday....after get cancer lor, with all the preservatives, colorings and flavouring....

anyways, today we cooked 'Baked Chicken'....very tasty....the juice from the chicken is super sweet....

marinated the chicken with Barbeque sauce, salt, spring onion, and Onion itself....then put in the oven for about 40 minutes....the end result, soft and juicy chicken....

we ate this with sauteed cauliflower with asparagus...quite tasty....almost as good as outside food...minus the price...the only set back, the chicken no meat one....next time better not buy chicken thigh anymore....almost like buying chicken bone...=)

maybe our cooking has improved!!...well, but i cant say i fancy cooking that much....

note: looks a bit like airline food right?? only it taste much much better!!

=)

Pics

2008-08-29T15:28:00.000-04:00

just some of the photos taken at narita airport....found it in one of the folders.....thought might as well post it up..

didnt take any photos at chicago airport, coz i was in the amazing race there....so no time....haha..

anyways,

airplanes!

Yokoso Japan!

Me....looking very tired....

well, that's it!

bye=)

Trip to the Musee Des Beaux-Arts De Montreal

2008-08-29T13:44:00.000-04:00

hello, went to the museum of fine arts quite a few days ago....damn lazy to post up pics lor...

anyway, some of the pictures were taken in the museum itself...so dont know whether can post up online or not...dont know whether against the law or not...as my biz law lecturer once said, Ignorance of the law is not an excuse....well, if i broke any copyright laws or whatever laws, i will take this post down...

well,

the museum is divided into many sections, there's a canadian art sect, furniture art, etc..

warning* some pics quite dark...coz they dont let ppl take pics using flash..

me at the museum!

me, minling and shan ming

more buildings..

this pic is totally unrelated.....the 1st noodle i've cooked here....the taste quite ok leh....boleh tahan..

3 tall men....reminds me of Master Q (lao Fu Zi)...coz he looks thin and lanky,..haha

painting of a book....can you spot the violin?

artsy picture....

me in front of the museum

2 indian ladies..

apples....according to the tour guide, she says that this is one of her favourite paintings...coz the apple looks translucent and GLOWS....=)

apparently, one of them say that this lady keeps looking at you from whatever angle u see her...just like monalisa...but i think this is just a psychological thing lor....if u think she's looking at you then she's looking at you lor...btw, the picture shows a madame...

olden pictures are like that, there's another picture of a young boy with super long hair that looks like a girl...i guess the trends have revolved over the years...last time, guys may have super long hair...

painting by a canadian artist....looks so real like a photo almost..

jesus..

another art..

hmm, not sure what this is...

looks like children drawing graffiti on the wall..got mathematical working included!

signifies the depression period....that's what the tour guide said..

suppose to be a scenery in either canada or america.....drawn by a canadian painter..

chair made of white steel...if i m not mistaken.

looks like 2 are sitting, one standing...

abstract art....i like..

brass objects..

Made from Blown Glass....i guess when the glass is heated up to a certain temperature, it will melt and can be formed to a certain shape..

Zig Zag chair....dont know stable or not..

a bit off focused..

different chairs...it looks like i was touring Ikea...=)

but the structures are all quite unique...furniture art

art on the wall made of glass pieces....quite delicate/fragile looking....

this is a work by Pablo Picasso....the ONLY artist i know...quite funny right, three legs with a face...=)

weird abstract art...my motto: the uglier the painting, the more valuable it is...=)

this chair made of card board leh...so environmentally friendly.....and it's quite big actually..

wood like mosaic art....

the Red-Blue chair....according to the archi girls, this chair is quite famous....but it's just a replica..

antique chair....quite dark right? but cannot use flash in the museum....so soree about it..

A very unique looking table....

statue of someone impt which i dont know..

quite pretty right?

A horse at one of the entrance....dont know for what one...hmm

Montreal's Museum of Fine Arts

they are having a Yves St Laurent exhibition there.....put up some of his designs and stuff....but we didnt really go to that exhibition, must pay one....

anyway, i think that famous fashion designer passed a way oredi...

canadian post box....thought it would be interesting to just take a pic of it..

french....

the museum of fine arts...

buildings with the 'ancient' looking feel....not sure it's a church or not...but it looks quite old..

tall building....apartment kua...the architecture here quite different...

a totally different landscape..

A buffalo outside the museum....haha, some ppl take pictures with it, but dont know what's the signifance of it.......btw, buffalo dont give milk one right?

A simple picture of the area....as you can see, most of the names are in french,

eg, librarie=library....can guess a bit..

Comments setting changed!

2008-08-29T13:37:00.000-04:00

hey ppl, i've just changed the comments setting....so anyone can just simply drop me a comment....i will check frequently....it's good to receive some feedback, both positive or negative......

anyways, things have been going on fine for me here....
most admin stuff had been settled....courses registered, gotten my student ID, gotten my canadian SIM card, accommodation settled(loved it actually, nothing to complain about it).....

yay! looking forward to school next week!!

and my schedule is awesome......3 and a half days of school per week....monday to wednesday...thursday, one morning lecture, friday FREE day....awesome schedule for an exchange student....got a longer weekend to visit nearby places!! but too short to go to the US...US must wait for school break lar...

anyways, weather's changing.....and my roommate's coming 2moro! yay, excited lar...

=)

Home Pics

2008-08-24T22:17:00.000-04:00

My room...my bed is the one by the window..

2 desks....my roommate is only coming in next week..

Closet

The Neighbourhood

when we first enter the apartment

my main entrance...

so pleasant looking

red flowers, the flowers here all look very different from the ones in singapore...And as u can see, it's summer and it's damn hot here...

the back garden
so many flowers and plants, reminds me of smk sri sentosa's garden behind, the one with many bees one..

can see how bright is the sun from the shadows?

this is Phoenix...the landlady's cat...very manja one...keep following me everywhere...that's why the picture seems to show as if he's walking towards me...

he quite fatty lor...good eat, good sleep...bigger than shandi ..

nice view of the back garden

Flowers with a butterfly...but the butterfly fake one lar...made of plastic kua..

barbeque pit: well, making a BBQ dinner is just a bit tedious, unless someone else does the preparation...

Garden with a pond...but hor, i didnt see any fishes in the pond...only water..

Living room

Walah! Super big screen TV!!

purposely took the pic with a bit of the sofa so that u can compare the size of the TV with the sofa..

Laundry Line

bicycles....from what i see, people here either drive or ride bicycles, hardly any motorbikes..

btw, the landlady's husband has a nice white electric scooter...but it wasnt here

at the time i took the pics..

that's our main door...we have our own separate door into the apartment...no need to share with our landlady who's staying upstairs..very nice lady..

Kitchen

kitchen!

The kitchen and dining area...all fully furnished with adequate pots, pans, plates, cutleries..

Got toaster, water boiler....quite complete..

This is the stove...we will be cooking almost everyday coz eating out in canada is quite expensive....and it's healthier...compared to pizza and fast food..

self shots in my room...can see my laptop..

bathroom

United Airlines sucks...period

2008-08-24T10:03:00.000-04:00

Warning: Long Post*

well, I flew on UNITED AIRLINES from SIN to montreal...and boy was it disastrous....some more cost me about SGD 3000 plus lor for return ticket..somemore service so bad

The reasons why I chose United:

1. Cheap lor...(Main Reason) cheapest among all the airlines

2.Coz I booked quite late...all the airlines are mostly fully booked...it's my fault really, being indecisive and a late minute person..i wouldnt have mind paying a bit more for other airlines, but there werent many seats left for the date i wanna fly off...

3. I was desperate oredi...kinda

Well, it all started off like this... I was scheduled to fly on the 22nd of august morning to Montreal via HK and chicago...so it's SIN- HK- Chicago_montreal.....7 hours before my scheduled flight, I thought better check in online, just in case i wake up late and reach airport late...and u know what i saw??

Scene 1:

Flight UA896

Flight status: Canceled

Reason: -

and i got a big shock lor..eyes almost popped out,,flight canceled? how come nobody inform me one? somemore flight canceled so late no need to give reason one ah? damn terrible lor...

then i quickly ran and knocked on my 2nd bro's door, he didnt answer lor...sleep like pig...then i iknocked on my big bro's door...luckily he and a-so not yet sleep....called UNited's US reservation, coz it was 12 plus at night oredi, singapore office close....took about an hour before i was given another flight....so now it's SIN-Narita- CHicago- Montreal...coz HK got typhoon lar...

Everything was ok after that....flew to narita, reach on time...BUT when i was about to board the next flight to chicago,

Scene 2:

United gate has like really poor service...i wouldnt say poor lar, coz no one knew where the queue was to get into the plane...it was just one big mess...no annoucement or signs were put up to let ppl know where to queue or what to do next...at first i saw a queue, apparently it is for ppl to buy the plane tickets...then when finally the boarding gate was open, united has this policy of letting the economy class passengers to go in according to their row number starting from 1 to 2 ...etc....then i looked at my ticket, row 41....that means i need to wait quite long lar...the ironic thing is when the sign showed row 1-3, however, so many ppl went through the gate...isnt it strange? waited a while before queueing to go in....

Damn stupid lor, introduce stupid policies but dont implement it properly...well, u cant expect much from UNITED..

Well, the nightmare really starts when i reach chicago...

Scene 3:

There was a super long queue at the US immigration...queued for like 2 hours, probably even longer....and i miss my connecting flight to montreal...so there i was, stranded at chicago airport at 6.30pm, without a single US dollar with me, no coins to make a phone call...no nothing...

so i queued up at the United Service Centre for like an hour(Inefficient service,as usual) and was given the last flight of the night to montreal...they gave me 1st class though, but it wasnt really becoz they were sorry or whatever, it was becoz there were no more flights in economy class for the day, and i was practically giving the officer the 'blackest' face i have...luckily i got onto the flight and reach montreal at 12 something in the morning

Scene 4:

Arrived at montreal airport....everything was fine,,,crossing the immigration was smooth...UNTIL i went to look for my luggage and realise my pretty purple luggage is not in sight at all....sucks lar.....waited at the conveyer belt for like 20 minutes, praying for a miracle that my bag will show up....after a while, after almost everybody also left oredi, i had to go to the UNITED airlines counter again to fill up the baggage claim form...stupid lor....damn slow, took me another half an hour...

well, that's really all about my flight to montreal...it wasnt pleasant at all....and I was actually travelling ALONE....but ok lar, i wasnt scared at all, scared for what? anyway in conclusion

1. United airline sucks, pls ppl, never sit united airlines....service bad, schedules all upside down...

2. shit lar, when i come back have to fly united again....really not looking forward to it...

3. Pls fly other airlines, can be SIA, MAS, Cathay, Emirates, whatever la...just dont fly UNITED airlines...

4. before this, i read reviews online saying that united losses luggages, bad service etc..at first i thought those ppl who complain are only those with bad experience with them looking for an avenue to complain...but now, i couldnt AGREE MORE...

well....anyway, my luiggage arrived....unpacked oredi...and reach manage to arrive here safely..

bye!

In montreal now

2008-08-24T09:57:00.000-04:00

I am in montreal now, and it's quite sunny here, right in the mid of summer....the sun is quite "sunny', more of scorching....I feel a bit 'cheated' lor...I always thought that montreal is gonna be super cold with winter and stuff...and now, it's like 25-26 degrees celcius outside...

got a bit sunburn yesterday...=)how ironic is that? sunburn in montreal? and it's raining in singapore?=)

well, i have deleted all my old posts, so from now on, it's just about ME ME ME and only ME in Montreal!=)

will post up pictures later! stay tuned..

=)

***Winter in Montreal***

Latest Update...

Happy 2009! a new year, a new hostel room...=)

Coming home!

US Trip

so much to do....so little time.....

It's me against the evil monster...!..me: 1, stupid virus:0

It snowed again...and this time, it's for real...=)

Arrrggghh!

Music

These boots are made for walking..

Change in Local Time

from summer to fall to winter!

Snow!!

Updates

busy busy busy...

Random*

St Joseph Oratory photos- slept for 16 hours straight!!

Trip to Toronto/Niagara Falls Day 2

Trip To Toronto/Niagara Falls Day 1

New Blog Template!!=)

i'm back!

freezing cold

Sugar high

Glad to be alive, normal and healthy!

Tuesday...

Dishes we cooked for Mid Autumn Festival

Another Bad bad morning...

Climbing Mount Royal

McGill vs Concordia

Random Post*

The Difference between a 1st world country and a not 1st world country...

Morning routine

McDonalds-review

McGill

the Jean Talon Marche

Old Montreal- Part 2- Inside the Notre Dame Basilica

School has officially started!!

Visit to Old Montreal...=) Part 1

Merdeka

Baked Chicken....it's finger licking good!

Pics

Trip to the Musee Des Beaux-Arts De Montreal

Comments setting changed!

Home Pics

United Airlines sucks...period

In montreal now

Winter in Montreal