PRESENT

I bid goodbye to winter semester with no regrets. I did my best and we'll see how it goes. The weather has been crazy lately, perhaps due to global warming. The days just get colder, temperature dropping greatly and it's not even the end of December yet. Outside, the snow continues to fall. This reminds me of winter last year where it only takes a day for the snowfall to put everything on halt.

These are the things that I will miss when I'll be back home. By home I mean Malaysia. I love drawing the curtains and to my surprise, the view is blanketed with inches of fresh, white snow. I like to have my coffee or milo while doing work and at the same time, spacing out every now and then as I'm watching the wind blows the snow in every chaotic motions. The silence when no one goes out during heavy snowfall and all I can think of is white Christmas. I will miss all of these dearly.

White

 

MRSM

Been sick since Sunday, had to skip midterm and consequently, really need to study for the final. It's the season, one after another gets sick, transmitting the virus to another host. I'm almost better now, just cough and phlegm. But my throat does hurt and it's not getting any better or worse. It ticks me off.

I was watching a wedding video of a famous blogger. Not sure if it's just me but I always end up tearing after watching wedding videos. I think during my own wedding, I am going to cry buckets. This means no-no smokey eyes, thick eye liner. NOT a big fan of smokey eyes, why on Earth people created such look? It looks like you have black eyes out of no reason.

This whole wedding (and marriage) business is tricky. I just received email about graduation photo session that will be held in early December. Pretty excited for that! Hopefully, Allah will give me a smooth sailing until I finally have the diploma in my hand (here, degree is also called diploma. Don't ask me why). After that, the real cycle of life will take place. Work, work some more, get hitch (if God's willing), have babies (also if God's willing), work, work, work... I guess some people know about my philosophy behind marriage and wedding. As the eldest, my parent has no less expectations for me. Set the bars, be independent etc. But I know, deep down I'm still a kid. One of my first memories was when we were in Langkawi for a family trip. I remembered taking a swing under Mahsuri's house with my sister (she might be 1 y/o) and my mom said that the way I sat was not lady-like. I wore a skirt (I was 3, probably) and of course, you can't spread your legs like the boys. Maybe that was my first lesson on how-to-be-a-girl. Even now, I still need to call my mom for advice.

Know what, I want to get married. But I AM FOR SHO(SURE) not ready for it. I still want to go home to my parents, celebrate holidays with them, go to mamak and have nasi mamak for dinner. I still want to go to Jusco with them because my mom and brother just love the store. Over the summer, my mother asked me about my plan (actually it's mine and Ahnaf's). We talked about it and I told everything to her. She agrees with it, alhamdulillah. It's still a long way to go. Step by step. But as I feel it gets closer, the more unready I feel. CAN I JUST NOT GROW UP? I hate all the responsibilities as an adult. Life was so much easier, so much simpler when we were kids. How can people get married at a young age, I have no idea. So much work. 

Here's my thought about marriage:
I take minimal care of myself. Taking care of another human being is an extra work. As long as I put minimum effort on taking care of myself, I will not get married. I ain't giving my parents unnecessary headaches and pains about my marriage. If you're matured enough to sleep in the same bed with another human being under matrimony, you should think twice before bugging your parents about any problems you have. Advice, yes. Asking them to solve your problem, no.

On a different note, is it true that booking for halls for wedding has to be done at least 1 year prior the date? Effing crazy.

SOUTH

Fall has always been my favorite, particularly this year. Since this is going to be last time to enjoy the 4 seasons, I decided to embrace everything that the seasons bring along. For example:

1. Fall-the brown and gold leaves, the breeze that blows away all the falling leaves, the chilly yet sunny weather, sweater in the early morning, t-shirt during the day and back to sweater in the evening.

2. Winter-the cold, the snow, the strong wind that makes everyone hugs themselves tightly, the coffee run to nearest Timmys or Second Cup, winter boots and jackets, layers and layers of clothes

3. Spring-constant rain, flower buds, chilly morning, wet fields, smell of grass after the rain, perfect time to wear flower-patterned clothes and scarfs.

4. Summer-ice coffee for $1, sweaty yet dry weather, flip-flops and sandals, basking under the sun, and... GRADUATION!

May God ease my journey, alongside with my friends.

6 months until the last day of exam.
8 months to graduation.

Graduation request, done. Now to wait for the emails for grad photo session and ceremony dates to be posted :)

41

Salam and hello,

I am finally back in TO after a good summer break in Malaysia. A lot of things happened during the summer, good and 'bad'. Perhaps challenging would be a better word.

If the title of the post is 42, it would have been much better. Fans of Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy would understand why.

I haven't fully settled down in terms of schedule and also mind, this is a bit of a distress. The moment when I know I have too much free time in my hand is alarming. I need to do something to keep my mind occupied. Hopefully I can get a job so it can keep me going.

Alhamdulillah, I had the chance to go to Thailand with my family during the break. The trip was planned because I needed some rubies for my thesis. If I am going to do a Master in the future, gemology will not be the field I would go into although it can be a 'beautiful' study. By beautiful I mean like really beautiful, imagine having to look at all the gemstones, ruby, emerald, diamond, jade . Who would not want that?

GOLD-TIPPED ROOF

Bangkok is a cool city, much cooler than KL. Bigger, grander, livelier. I really liked the city. 

Toast to 4th and final year. May God ease my way, amin.

MARRIAGE

Salam and hello everybody,

I had been missing for quite sometime especially since coming back to Malaysia for the summer break. My mother had a surgery more than a month ago to fix her ligament and I am so glad to be able to take care of her during her hard times.

This topic of marriage has been intriguing me for a long time. I am a firm believer that marriage should be done after study. And you should never ever get married at a young age (my definition of young is any age below 21). Some people will criticize my opinions on this matter but I'm writing this based on my logic and understanding of Islam.

I respect couples that are married at a young age and during their studies. You have that gut to do it while I still like living with my family at home and having to listen to my mom random rants about how ridiculous fashion nowadays can be. I like having to know that my dad will still drive me around to buy bread or curry powder. And my greatest pleasure comes when I know they are still taking care of me. The thoughts of someone else being there when I'm sick just doesn't work for me, at this moment. I take a minimal care on myself and having to do it for others is just a lot of work. Doing it voluntarily (eg. Taking care for my mother) is different because I want to do it, and not a task that I need to fulfill because I am someone's wife.

Marriage can prevent maksiat. I agree on that but this topic (marriage) is like a big stone on my shoulder. When you get married to someone, you don't get married to only him/her. It comes with a package known as family. And with that package, there are also other manuals that you need to understand. The family, their beliefs and thinking, illness and ailments, morality and etiquette. Those are so important which make me cringes every time I think about marriage.

There's no age limit for marriage. But when I was 20, I was nowhere close to my current maturity. I thought Linkin Park was cool and the world revolved around me. I am still immature compared to some of my friends but I can definitely say that life so far has taught me some good lessons.

My idea of marriage is when two individuals come together in unity, to carry responsibilities put under syariah laws without hesitations. They should never burden their families as they have their own family to be responsible for. The couple should also learn to keep the secrets of their marriage from others and learn to respect each other and the families too. Money should not be a problem as they must be prepared to raise a family, using their own means and ways provided they are halal. And should never ever burden the spouse and families when troubles come.

The saying that rezeki comes with marriage is very popular among our culture. But I can't imagine having babies running around and crying at 2am when I need my rest. Some people can pull it off and I salute you. I don't have the patience to do it and I still like coming back to my parents' house for the breaks  without having to ask someone else's permission. 

And another note, I dislike couples that display their happiness by putting pictures on social network and the public has the access to it. I'm happy to see your wedding pictures but I don't need to see your cuddling moments. It is quite   embarrassing to have people know what you up to with your spouse. Call me jealous but I believe those moments should be kept in private.

A friend of mine who just got married last month is someone I admire ever since in Langkawi. She has transformed into someone with modesty and I would love to be like her. At the end of the day, writing this is a reminder for myself. It just something that I've been thinking about and the points may be hard to understand. But insyallah, I know where they came from. 

Marriage is something beautiful, and I would love to keep that picture.

BENNY BELT

Salam and hello,

I guess it is expected of me to abandon my blog for a while. My hectic schedule especially the last 2 weeks of school had taken its toll on my life. Right after the submission of my last assignment, I sat for my first final exam for 3rd year on the next day. The exam itself wasn't too bad but the labs pulled my grade down. I had been putting a high expectation on myself this year and I managed to live up to it. However, this semester was certainly a tough one.

Holiday has officially started. I'll be leaving for my 14-days field school in Benny Belt, Sudbury. Coming back to TO on the 15th, probably around 5pm and I will have a 5,6 hours gap before my flight back to Malaysia. I so can't wait to go back! This summer is going to be F.U.N.

This blog has always been dusty. To keep it updated, I came up with an idea. For the next month, I will try to post pictures on anything interesting that can be worth sharing. Something that I may witness with my own eyes and remind me of any peculiar moments or simply beautiful/funny shots of life around me. Caution! Since I will be away for 14 days with limited time for blogging, I might have to update my blog every other day or perhaps, whenever I will be free.

I'm excited for this. Like my own virtual scrap book.

Cheers!

RIDGE

Nobody likes rude and arrogant people. I personally believe that this type of people thinks that they are always right, no matter who is the expert of the topic in concern. And I have my own principle: if you don't like any of my actions or speeches, don't go blabber about them behind my back. Man up and tell it to my face. I would appreciate you more and I might think that I can change if that can make the world a better place. Don't f*cking go behind my back telling the world that I behave/talk like anything or anyone on/at any  spaces/occasions because it ticks me off. I don't give a damn about your thoughts on me because there is no respect install in your belief.

I have changed a lot since the past 4,5 years. Being in a country and away from my closest ones have taught me to be independent and respectful to each other. My mother constantly reminds me that never do something that can be hurtful to others as it can be a trouble to you at the end of the day. She also told me to be respectful, no matter under any circumstances, it can be an act of courtesy. Throughout the years, I spend less time gosip-ping, telling storied behind people's back and other bad-mouthing actions because the actions are simply rude. But, if you choose to do so, don't let me find out because I will think twice to forgive you.

This anger in me is a negative aura. I hate it, I despise it. At the end of the day, I don't give a f*cking care on what people want to say about me because they are equally the same like me. I sin, you sin. Don't let me give the middle finger to you because it is the final act of courtesy that I can show to you.

BACKACHE

Went for a badminton training yesterday with some friends; as usual pain is radiating from my right lower back all the way to my right shoulder. I need to bear the pain sigh...

On another note, here's what boredom and tiredness does to you.

81 days to home. I am excited;D

MARBLE

It's snowing outside but it won't be as bad as last week which is good. But the snow doesn't affect my daily routine or should I say my reading week routine.

This is my first reading week where I'm not outside of Canada. My first reading week was in Chile and my first time in South America. I have been a big fan of the continent because of its colourful cultures, my dream came true in February 2011 when I was there for a field trip.

On top of one the mountains in the Andes Range.

6 hours of climbing and got my 10.5cm scar on our way down from the mountain. With Hernan, Daphne and Lailmah.

 Last reading week was spent in another trip to SW USA. Another field trip with (almost) the same crowd. We have grown fond of each other and it feels different without them.

The morning after spending 2 nights in Death Valley.

 Truthfully, I don't have a lot of Malaysian friends in Canada because of my background (KMB, Petronas etc). I have one close Malaysian friend and we actually came to a conclusion that we are each other's close friend because we don't have a lot of Malaysian friends. We know the Malaysians but they are acquaintances, the one that you acknowledge as Malaysian when you bump into each other on the street. My closest friends are my classmates, from many backgrounds. We spent almost 3 years in the same classes, sleep in the same room, do coffee run in winter together, share our problems about school or personal matters and we shop together. I am not the type of person who will take pictures of every, single, thing and upload it on FB or Instagram (not that I have one) but I know that we cherish our friendships.

I am actually very glad that I'm not in UK or Ireland because the dense population of people that know me or have some sorta connections to me will make my life less private. It's as public as it can be and I don't need eye-prying people to mind my business.

Have you ever thought of having a more-private life?

Coffee, essential item to survive study period.

c

BEIJING

I have always been interested in arts. My mother is an art teacher and she used to work at Kraftangan and Guthrie, when she was in charged to design the school's desks (remember, the brown desk that we used to have back in primary school? Yup she designed it and the only prototype left is at my house). She was featured in Berita Harian (I believe) twice due to her batik designs on shoes when worked with Kraftangan. I am very proud of her.

My sister is currently studying architecture. She is more creative than me ever since she was a kid. I remembered when she was 2 or 3, she stayed up until 2am because she discovered the magic of a pair of scissors. Totally immersed in what the scissors can do, it was like she under a spell.

My brother has the artistic streaks in him too. He can draw better than kids older than him and the drawings were all done without anyone teaching him. I am excited to see more of his drawings in the future.

My father is secretly a good sketcher. One of the times when he decided to sketch something on the newspaper, I suddenly realised that, "Hey, dad can draw too". But it only happens once in a blue moon.

What a long retrospection!

Here are my latest sketches that I did yesterday. Your comments are highly appreciated. I also uploaded the photos of my sketches in FB. Critics/comments are welcomed:)

I thought about Harry Potter's owl and I drew this.

One of the picturesque sights you can see in Winter, snow covered bushes.

Merci!:)

SONGZA

Snowstorm in Canada today.

UofT St. George has the reputation of being a 'stubborn' school. Despite of heavy snowfall that forced schools and offices to be closed, UofT said no. As long as the students and staffs can walk in the snow, the school will stay open. 

Finally, the school will be closed at 3 today due to heavy snowfall that brings from 30-40cm of snow. Hurrahhhh! I don't have class today, but I'm still happy for my friends because going to class in this kinda weather is a battle. 

How do I enjoy the view from my window? 

Put on Oscar-winning songs playlist from Songza (an itunes app), do my assignment and sing as loud as my heart contents with an imaginary orchestra playing the musical arrangement in my head. Or you can also play 30's,40's or 50's songs and you will have the perfect mood to enjoy the winter.

ps: Songza is playing Dinah Shore, Baby It's Cold Outside. What are the odds?:)

BABY

My family means the world to me. They are my support system and my life will never be the same without any of them. As the eldest among 3, I can't help but to think that my characters development are mainly due to being the eldest. Though my mom always tell me that I'm the most 'manja', which is true (sometimes), I don't mind it. In fact, that is just a minor character. My most prominent character is that I'm very feisty. I used to be all sweet and soft spoken when I was a kid, probably till I was 7. But things changed when you get older. I'm still soft spoken to almost everyone because it is nice to be gentle and respectful to people, but not with my siblings. They drive me nut.

My baby brother was born 10 years after I was born. I thought that it would be just me and my sister for the rest of our life, but He clearly had a different plan. He will turn 13 this year, become a teenager and I don't want that to happen! I can still remember waiting for my mom in labour at the hospital with my sister. We were bored to death and a man who was waiting for his wife (in labour too) talked and joked with us. I guess he was nervous haha:D 


To me, my sister and brother is everything. Although they can be the most annoying person in the whole world (esp. my sister), but there's nothing I can do about it. Guess I'm stuck with them for the rest of my life, and I'm happy to get in stuck with them.

GREEN

More than half of my friends are doing medicine. 30% are doing engineering and the rest are doing other types of courses such as accountancy, pharmacy, poli sci and etc. Studying geology makes me out of the ordinary. Even till this day, I'm still happy that I rejected the offer to do medicine because the picture of me in a white coat and attending patients are something that I would not enjoy in the future. It's not that I can't pull it off, but I feel more satisfied doing something that doesn't have to do with talking and understanding people. I can only tolerate children (that include babies and toddlers). 

Ever since I was a kid, I always questioned myself about the existence of earth. How do rocks formed? Why do some places have volcanoes eg: Indonesia but Malaysia doesn't have one? How do you get gold? What kind of places you should head to if you want to look for petroleum? I never questioned about sickness or diseases; the topic doesn't intrigues me at all.

Perhaps, in future posts I should tell you what I do as a geology student. Not everyone can be a geologist, you need good eyes and understanding of many processes. You have to be physically and mentally tough, and eating out of canned foods when you are in the field feel like dining in a 5-stars restaurant. Earth is a subject that human still hasn't fully grasped; each day you'll learn a lot more and subjects in geology constantly change. In the early 1900's, scientists and geologists did not believe in plate tectonics. Nowadays, you can even predict the continents' locations in the next million years. 

I thank God that I'm not doing medicine. Thank You for helping me to choose my future. 

My happiest state of mind is when I'm in the field.

Green stick-notes on my mineral deposits notes. I enjoyed it very much.

LIGHT

Light, you need it to see.

Light, you need it to see AND guide you in darkness.

Light, you need it to see AND help you fight fear of darkness.

 

Light is unnecessary when I'm in bed. Nuff said, be grateful with the gifts from God; that includes light. Imagine, living in a cave and darkness is surrounding you. None of us will like it. 

Reflection from my lamp and Darcy being melancholic. As the clouds move, a ray of sunlight appears and warms the ground in this cold winter month.

HAT

' I would travel across the land'

'Searching far and wide'

-Pokemon theme song

The 2 lines from one of my favorite songs reflect my life as a future geologist. I love what I'm doing now, often expressed it in my previous posts. I just simply like the idea of waking up at 6am, driving for a few minutes or hours to destinations, arrive and look at the landscapes. When the prof/s post/s questions such as, "tell me what you see", "what do you think happened to the rocks?", "why did you say this is a metamorphic rock? give me the evidence" etc, I would cram my brain and try to remember all those hours spent in classes and labs looking at AFM diagram, identifying muscovite and phlogopite, and cursing my way through the semester while trying to keep my sanity. I also love having my lunch under the sun while admiring the thrust fold that overturned the underlying rocks. And now I know how mountains are made and what will happen to the Everest in million years from now.

The more you see, the less you know.

And it humbles me. We are so tiny like a speck of dust in the galaxy that we actually know almost nothing about the universe.

Again, it humbles me.

Chile, Feb 2011: My usual field trip gears - a hat, a hand lens, a rock hammer, a pair of hiking boots, a pair of shades, a bagpack (with water, snack bars, sunscreen, vaseline, write-in-the-rain notebook, camera), my dice-watch, sometimes a compass. Oh, a sweater/jacket, t-shirt and jeans/hiking pants.

SWEET

I'm not a big fan of sweet food or drinks. I don't hate them but I prefer not to have them. I love ice cream but, I always cringe when I have, let's say, vanilla, praline cake or other sweet flavours. They make my teeth hurt which implies that I have sensitive teeth and also make me dizzy. Whenever Ahnaf and I had coffee, he made me try his and I would just made the annoying face since he knew that I didn't like his coffee, it was always too sweet! But, that's just me. 

Wahida's cake that is still in our fridge. Too sweet. Finished my slice but  it was just SWEET!

Sweetness is a trait that I wish I have. Although my friends often call me sweet, probably because I'm always polite (I'm not boasting but that's the most common comment I get from my friends), I could use a drop or two of sweetness in life. Thankfully, life has been good for me and I don't wish to trade it with anything. But hey, you need some sugar in your diet thus, why not put some amount in your life as well?

:)

STREET

December has always been a special month for me since my father and I were born in this month. Being a December baby has always makes me feel younger than the rest of my friends. They turned 22 when I was still in my 21 and that affects my psychology in a funny way. It makes me feel that I can achieve more in my life, in terms of studies and relationships. If I graduate in June 2014, I will be 23.6 years old. Phew, to graduate when I turn 23 is a big deal, trust me. That means I have another 6 months to accomplish other goals such as applying geology to the real world (WORK!) and maybe, travel to Iceland; all of that before I turn 24.

To celebrate my favorite month, I will upload a picture every day to remind me of the things, be it just a pencil, the clouds, my cats or even a speck of mineral, that I hold dear to my heart. 

So photo uno numero, on 10th December 2012 (my birthday):

Under Tommy is a newspaper. He and Darcy sometimes snuggle, with the newspaper underlying them.
Tag: under

Tommy, he drives me crazy every single day when he decides to wait in front of the door and meows his heart out because outdoor is surprisingly more exciting than playing in the shower. But I still love him.

WALL

When you miss home and the closest ones, it's good to sometimes take a break and think about the good memories you had.

DAWN

It won't hit you until it actually happens. This is exactly happening to me as countdown to Ahnaf's departure is nearing. I generally suck at containing my sad emotion and you can tell it from my face that the day could be one of the worst days in life.

To console myself from the sadness, I need to get myself occupy with schools and other relevant stuff. It will be boring without him. PLAIN BORING.

Do you have any ideas on how to keep up with the upcoming boredom cause seriously, I will be needing one, or maybe two, or maybe simply more.

Cheers!

ONLINE

Successfully bought 3 pieces of blouse from POPLOOK and they had it delivered from Malaysia to Canada. It took only 10 days for my new clothes to arrive. I'm really satisfied with their service and I will definitely get more clothes from them. The price is reasonable, the delivery charges are quite cheap (taxes etc) and I'm so happy that everything turned out to be great.

I'm always skeptical when buying things online because if things do go wrong for example, wrong size, delivery doesn't reach on time or worse, it doesn't reach your place at all, I will have the hardest time ever to get refund etc.

For ladies out there, do check this website: www.thepoplook.com