ENGLISHMAN IN NEW YORK!

Love the song, love the lyric, love NY

I don't drink coffee I take tea my dear
I like my toast done on one side
And you can hear it in my accent when I talk
I'm an Englishman in New York

I would definitely prefer coffee to tea, thank you. I can finally say it out loud, coffee became my best friend in third year.
Don't you think tea is soo English?
Canada is all 'bout COFFEE!
....I've been Canadianized <-- I made this word up...

See me walking down Fifth Avenue
A walking cane here at my side
I take it everywhere I walk
I'm an Englishman in New York

I have my very own tradition on Fifth Avenue. I will go to this particular boutique on Fifth Avenue, and buy a t-shirt. It is tiring walking along Fifth Avenue, but you don't need a cane for that. heh.

etc...

(Englishman in New York - Sting)







(lyric from www.azlyrics.com and pictures are from flickr.com)

BRINGING MARS BACK TO LONDON
...quoting Dr Gordon Southam.

This can only mean, London is getting more famous by day. Before anything, I want to say something - and feel most oblige to, for that matter - that this London I'm about to write is in Ontario, CANADA. Hummm...yes, there are a few more London(s) in this world. And for those who knew all along, thanks.
Another thing, this is not a geek-nerd-dorky post. Feel free to leave if you think you are any less geekier than I am.

I know, too serious.
Darn I am!
If you don't feel like reading an educational post, just scroll down and read my Britney post, instead...
Ni bukan marah, tapi warning awal-awal haha

Is finding life outside of our own Earth is interesting to you? Then, you are perfect for my Astronomy 2021B course - The Search for Life in the Universe. I was skeptical at first about this course. It's the only course that fits my schedule. Nice. Not that I have any options right? Like I said, I was skeptical. I actually could not care less about life out there. Heh! But that is about to change! Tetibe menarik pulak course nih! It's a pretty darn Cool <--- Capital C, OK! course cause, despite it is at 7pm-10pm every MONDAY night...it never actually end at 10pm, and we watched a short movie every week for like 1 hr. So, the actual time for lecture was less than 1hr30min. If you pay any attention to me (lolz) you will know I love watching documentaries. I would get Tim Hortons while watching the movies, best kan? So, apa dengan cerita Mars and London nih? To date, it is the best studied planet and the one that excites most scientist. But why? Well, for some obvious reasons: it is a terrestrial planet, close to Earth and roughly the same size as Earth; so, we might find LIFE on it. Now that they proved water was in fact present on Mars in the past, there is a chance that life might prevailed in the past. No one knows that for sure, yet! For the 2nd assignment, we were asked to discuss should we bring Mars' sample back to Earth. I got 7/10. GRRR! I really thought I could have done better! Well, it was my fault. Last minute work and with my very limited knowledge about anything regarding space, I said we should bring back the samples...

Apparently, the answer was supposed to be NO. GRRR!

Rupenye, scientist fear if we bring back to the samples to Earth, contamination could occur. Imagine if the rocks do contain organic matters, who knows how they will react with Earth atmosphere. Pretty soon, entah2 some new disease could emerge and kill us all. Heh. Just look at Black Death in Europe. Itu baru datang dari East, still on Earth. Who knows what will be if it is from extraterrestrial origin. The gamble was not worth it.

But I know deep inside, these scientist do want the sample.
Good thing UWO is an excellent school for its Physics and Astronomy courses (for real)...and we just launched Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration (CPSX) and the Canadian Lunar Research Network (CLRN). CLRN is affliated with NASA.

Maka, samples from Mars can be brought back and studied here! yeay! This centre has the safest and sealed environment to "open the capsule" containing Mars soil with robots to work on them in a chamber. To make long story short, it is a good thing. HAHA.
They also planned to have a module on Moon to investigate the sample first before bringing it back to Earth. If it is not safe, it will remain locked on Moon :)
I read in National Geographic, it said, in the near future, NASA wants to build a space station (sort of) on Moon, and use it as a launching pad to Mars. I can't wait! Sapekah bakal angkasawan pertama ke Mars? heh, pastinye bukan Dr Sheikh kot...die ape kabar sekarang?? busy bercakap dan memberi motivasi ke?

Oh, itu je nak cerite. I don't go into too much detail, cause:
1. it's already 1.40am, and I have a class tomorrow morning at 9.30
2. it will simply be too long and too boring for you fellasss!

Hehe, tanye lah if berminat.

Pape pon, malam tadi...I decided to go to my Astronomy class over-dressed.

Saje2. Sebab baru beli belt skinny itu! Oh yea, you didn't get to see my super pointy killer-heels. Seriously, they killer...they kills my feet every time! Kalau korang rase ni tak over, takper lahh...saye pegi klas pakai tshirt je kadang2...so ni kire over la nihh.

Skinny belt baru beli di Toronto tempoh hari. Please ignore the book :) although that is one of my favourite book.

Sorry, but I just felt like a boy for a night. heh. The "tie" doesn't match though. Well, I don't have an "actual tie", so what the hell.

That is all for tonight..


PS: kepada commenter "tudung makcik kuih", sila tgk pic sebelah sebab tak dah makcik jual kuih! that is so the thing of the past!

-BRITNEY IS BACK-

Laporan bergambar
Dengan ini melaporkan trip saye ke Toronto bagi menyaksikan konsert Britney Spears Circus Tour. Namun, sebelum itu banyak halangan yang kami (saya & Izyan) terpaksa tempuhi sebelum berjaya juga ke Toronto. Antara halangan paling besar ialah oleh kerana konsert berlangsung pada hari Rabu, kami terpaksa ponteng lab Metamorphic! Jangan bimbang, saye sudah pun pegi ke lab tadi utk buat (hari sabtu ni beb!)

Maka, begini la laporan akan dimulakan.

Sometime in December 2008:
I was awaken by Izzy's sudden "I'm a Britney fan club member (I don't know she's a member), and she will be on tour next year for her new album, Circus!...and the tickets will be on sale soon, and I have a promo code (WOOOO....)"
I said, "Sure, this will be our revenge for missing Spice Girls Reunion concert!"
And so, we bought the tickets despite we were about to go on a vacation that will definitely cost us a fortune. (sigh...I wasn't too happy when I looked at my credit card bills)

And so, 4 months had passed.
The concert was last Wednesday... and YES, I am very proud to say, IT WORTH THE WAIT AND THE MONEY I SPENT ON IT!
Don't call me a dork or anything, but this is my first ever concert. haha, so I WAS EXCITED!
So, why don't I let the pictures do all the talking...


Two very excited people who were waiting in line. Apparently, it was not a long wait...nice!

Ticket!

My highly exaggerated Britney-edited-booth. I bought a keychain for $5.
I say that is cheap!



Me and the stage...Waiting for people to get in. They were lingering outside while
eating and God knows what else.

See, still empty...

but, not for long...minutes (I think) before the concert starts!

Pussycat Dolls opened the concert at 8pm! They actually sang live! and dance etc
And they sounded good. Of course, all the attention goes to Nicole, but the others
communicate very well with the audience, too :)

They sang all their famous songs, including "Jai Ho".
Side note: I just read Mod Cloth Blog just now. Apparently now there
is a pair of jeans called Jai Ho jeans...hummm...is it coincidence? I guess NOT!

PCD performed for 1 hour. Now, the crews are disassembling PCD's props to make
way for Britney's stuff! It tooke them 15 mins.

GAGAGA...The moment I've been waiting for! Britney muncul singing Circus!
weee...btw, she lip synced <---is this the right spelling?

Piece of Me, if I'm not mistaken.



I don't remember what song she was singing...



HAHA. I'm pretty sure she was singing Hit Me Baby One More Time!
This is the song that I've been waiting for!! At some point, I shouted "Harun kirim salam!"
Amanat orang, kene laa tunaikan...



The END! She performed Womanizer as her closing song.
Sangat suka lagu itu! She was dressed in a police uniform. Well, Halloween
came early for her this yr. haha. And the concert ended at 11pm.


We decided to spend the night in Toronto, instead of leaving for London straight away. I could use some city life for a change! So, we stayed at Nadiah's room at Chestnut. Bapak ah besar bilik die. Sangatlaaa best ok! She even treat us for dinner at Chestnut. And the best part is...the chicken was Halal! I had 2! hehe. SO that was my second time makan in U of T residence. The food was good, plenty of choices! I don't even want to compare to UWO residence...ok maybe a lil. Here, there are tons of food...just I can't eat them :(

Malam itu juge, jumpe geng ah beb! (padahal nak bayar hutang).
So, I met Mus, Zul, Mbn, Arif and Safwan....later Fazry & Acap. The point is mmg nak bayar hutang pada Mus and Mubeen. Habes melayang duit. GRRR! Tapi takpe, sbb hati senang. SO kami hanyalah lepak2 di Tim Hortons dimana Zul menang coffee utk RRROoollll Up the Rim Contest. Damn, I'm never lucky in this stuff! Berlagak plak tu Zul ni bile dah menang. haha. Mereka siap bercakap2 pasal probability utk menang kereta dan hadiah2 lain...right...
I'm bad at this...so I can just sengih...

TidO.

New day, new adventure...SHOPPING!!
I'm shopping-deprived. I haven't been to the mall for so long, except to pay bills! I could use a fancy shopping mall. So, the obvious choice would be Eaton Centre! It's cool over there. They do have all the shops that I love (ie: AX hehe). Turns out, I just bought spec Aldo (murah tak leh blah) and belt. Oh, and a shot glass from HRC Toronto! Pastu, makan Popeye's... sedap gile! Malu je macam selak..pegi 2 kali tuhh!

In front of Hard Rock Cafe, Toronto. I don't know why I took this picture.
heh. Oh, I'm wearing my new sunglasses...

I'm proud to say, my shot glass collection is expanding. Just added 3 more!
From HRC Orlando, Toronto and Bahamas! Mus bought Orlando and Bahamas
shot glasses for me during his trip to the Carribean. Bapak fancy!

New sunnies. I'm in the bus....leaving Toronto =(
spec tu cantik ok pada tuan empunya, but this picture does not
do justice to me!!

Burger popeye yang kami selak! Naseb tak tunjuk gamba ayam
goreng...nanti korang mesti terliur (bagi mereka yang berada di Bumi Asing)

Menamatkan laporan ngan muka sendiri yg terpaksa study
sebab dah miss banyak! Tapi ade masa lak nak tulis blog nih hahahaha

Dear Britney, I'm back in London now...

More pictures and stories to come.

It comes by nature to complain
about the Weather

Warmer by the day! What more can any Malaysians in Canada ask for? They posted about the Canadian weather on their Facebook status more often than "I Miss Malaysian Food" <-- I do with all my heart.

Now, summer is on its way! Whoa!!
Oh wait, spring is before that.
haha.


*kat Malaysia pon komen panas ape...*

Canada and Its Multiculture Ethnicity Brag

No Jokes, I want to be critical.
Yesterday marked the end of my more than 1 months hardship (for dramatic purposes) to prepare for Culture Caravan Week at UWO. The way the organizer put it..."Dude, I'll tell you straight, it's gonna be the bomb!"

And,
That is just on paper.

Contrary to what I have instill, the event was not a success, at least in my opinion. I said so, not because we didn't get the sales that we wanted, but, it lacks dynamic. I can't imagine a university level event for something with such an important agenda can fall short. Only a few club participate, and even so, they do not put effort at all. We had a lot of things going on at our booth. We were depicted the most organized club in preparing for this, and now I see why. We had food, postcards, flags, brochures, candies, balloons and plenty more just waiting for students to approach us and learn about our culture. To my disappointment, I can actually count how many. My skeptical thoughts are already wondering, is it because we are so minor, nobody wants to learn about the Nusantara culture? Truthfully, lets face it, it happened to all clubs. Even to the Irish Club...which I expect they will soar, due to the fact St. Patrick's Day is coming up and they are selling tickets, but damn I was wrong. Somehow, I was feeling like jumping to a very bold conclusion that Canadians are not interested enough in learning about cultures that make up Canada TODAY. And by saying so, I sound judgmental and I don't want to be one because I know my friends are pretty into learning a new culture. So, screw my conclusion! It was an irrelevant, no offense trial to make sense why nobody is visiting any of the booth. Right. Nice save there.

What else is there to say, other than it was a huge disappointment on my behalf. And I do not blame anyone. It just happened that way. Maybe next time, I should have known how Western kids are like. Maybe if I hang a baju kebaya at the back, people might come over and ask what is that dress? And who know I can sell it for $100 or more. HAHA. What a way for self-pleasure.


Honestly, what flags are those? They looked so random!
Diversity to me means embracing everybody's differences and make it your own; it might caught you by surprise learning so many different cultures and be sensitive about it, but that is the beauty of it.


I don't eat bacon.
I do drink Tim Horton's and yesterday, my Timmy's coffee was BAD! Medium Regular with 1 sugar and cream...how awfully wrong can it taste? Really WRONG!
I was not impressed by this list. It shows Canada has nothing! well, apart of aboriginal history which I love so much! Say whoa to dream catcher! I got one...but it was made in China (so much for wanting to keep a piece of the aboriginal, huh). Other than that, it seems Canada is coloured by the immigrants with our colourful clothes, tasty food, beautiful dance and all that fancy things. If you are not in Canada, and you look at this list for the first time...you maybe feel sorry for me. Poor ME.

Now that is not the mind set I want to imprint in your mind.
Canada is more than that, whoever wrote it just forgot, I guess.
Let me add my Canadian experience:

• Maple Syrup! Duh, only Canada kot that grows Maple trees; hence you see the maple leaf on the flag.
• Bagel! You can get bagel in Malaysia, at Coffee Bean for RM13, totally ridiculous. I love toasted honey and oat bagel with plain light cream cheese. OR I would also dig in Blueberry bagel, toasted, and strawberry light cream cheese :) That bagel can make me full all night. That is the power of Carb! Whooo GO CARB~!!
• Crazy WINTER! Who can forget that! Maybe this is a lil redundant if you want to include US as well, but dude, US punye winter MILD. Ours, Crazy with a capital C! And during winter, you get to do a lot of fun activities. Budak2 UK, dapat ke? haha. Maybe dapat, tapi bukan every week boleh pegi sebab snow limited. LOL.
• The word Eh! Canada is so Eh!
• Lets go the beach means lets go to the Great Lakes; therefore, don't expect salt water! Ni bukan macam Pantai Teluk Chempedak!

I do have more in my pocket...but I have to move on to the next picture!


Yey, picture of kami yang jaga booth! It looks a little messy at this time. It got better after that cause Izzy kemas! <--berpotensi nih! GRRR!!! Apelah lupa keluarkan iPod punya earphone, I looked all tangled up! and a little Gangster!

Highly edited dowh gambar2 nih. Sebab cameraku sudah tak dapat bertanding dgn kualiti gambar2 tangkap, contohnya dari camera gedabak2 macam Ariff Gemm punya. hummm. Apakah erti ayat2 ini? GO FIGURE!

Peace OUT!

ps: I just realised I made quite a few grammar mistakes in my previous post. Too bad korang, I am always too lazy to correct my mistakes. Nak comment pasal grammar salah, sila laa yer, I wont be offended...

Keripik Singkong Penggoda Tangan

Durh, this week is all about writing two perfect essays + one Astronomy assignment! I finally putting my heart and soul into my writing by trying to be more intricate with my sentence structure, rather than just: Ilmenite is a very interesting mineral because it bears the element Titanium. Right
...damnit, I'm a third year student! It has to be more complex than that...

In order to achieve super-power-top-notch vocabs, I gotta use thesaurus. haha. Since my thesaurus software is already expired and I don't know where I can download a new one, I resort to using thesaurus.reference.com

Bukan nak complain, tp complain jugak. Banyak betul iklan die di website tu. Paling tak tahan ialah iklan perut leper utk summer nanti. Korup ah! Muka Farisa dah stress...sebab die tengah makan Kusuka Keripik Singkong perisa Jagung Amarika yang sangatlah sedap, tapi jumlah kalori nya...mak aih!
Keripik ini apabila ditranslate kepada BM akan berbunyi Kusuka (brand name) Kerepek Ubi perisa Jagung (tak perlu lerr letak Amarika). Dengan kalori yang banyak, terdapat juge kandungan saturated fat yang tidak memberangsangkan.

Kepada pembaca mungkin tahu, orang ini sedang dalam fasa makan makanan sihat kerana die sihat, bukan kerana nak diet. walaupon in the long run, sbb nak kurus sikit. Tapi iklan perut leper itu seperti satu alarm yg suruh "sila bersungguh-sungguh makan sihat, tapi tetibe makan kerepek ubi pula". Ini satu perasan stress yang tak affect pelajaran, tapi affect tangan yang kerap bukak laci utk mencapai beg berisi kerepek itu...

Tapi nak buat macam mana, takkan nak gune Merriem-Webster plak sebab tak nak tgk iklan perut leper tu kan.. grrrr!

Yerp. Tujuan post ini mmg nak highlight pasal iklan, bukan hakikat saye sedang tulis essay dgn penuh jiwa raga, tapi end up kat blog pulak. Curse this fingers! and the brain for commanding them...

Later gAtoRs <-- relevant lagi ke besar kecik besar kecik dalam conteks kehidupan remaja sekarang?

Delayed for 2 months!

Kebosanan. Just had an exam yesterday, and I dont feel much like doing any work.

A quick update: Britney Spears concert is next week! We've decided to take the bus instead of driving...too much hustle renting a car in Canada. Oh well, Canada is a bit more "structured" than USA. Grrrr!! In the US, they don't even want to look at my International Driving License. Even the police, too.

Summer plans: I'm beginning to panic bout my summer plans! Because it is screwed when Neil didn't get all the grants he applied for, and so he cannot hire anymore student. So basically, what should I do?

I received my "hidung" camera last week! what a relief to get it back! The best part is, it looks brand new. Olympus not only changed the damaged LCD, but also the some parts on the LCD panel had depression holes in it. So now, shiny looking camera ready to serve me once again :)

Here are some of the pictures I took with it. Mostly they are the things I bought during my winter trip.

My travelling journal. Bought in Virgin Megastore, San Francisco.
I sure glad I bought it :) Annas, tolong jangan jeles.

My growing collection of shot glasses. I have, to date, 20 shot glasses from everywhere in the US and UK, and next week, I'm getting my Hard Rock Cafe Bahamas and Orlando shot glass from Mustaqiim :) Can't wait! I just gotta figure a place to put them all once I go home to Malaysia.

My wall. It has all my postcards on it, as well as Haight-Ashbury huge sticker,
Hollywood "car plate" and an old world map which is hidden underneath these four pictures.

Love All, Serve All (HR)

True enough. This is a radio where I can also plug in my iPod and play my songs out loud. Bought it cause it is Hard Rock and cause it is cheap. I just love that it is retro-looking.

Rocky Collection!

All these for 15 dollars! Bought it at UWO's Outcrop Club Rock Sale last month. As you can see, I bought tourmaline (black, large mineral in a rock), pumice (light, volcanic rock - the left most), rugose (2nd left, and it's a fossil), and I don't know if you can see this, there is a green, elongated apatite mineral in the second largest rock in this picture. The small ones are a bit tough to describe...

I love "Imagine" by John Lennon and I admire what Yoko Ono is doing with her Imagine Peace Organization. So when I saw this tshirt at Forever 21, I just got to grab it. On the other hand, I don't know what got into me when I suddenly fell in love with rugby jersey. So the closest I could get to that without the thick, usually loose jersey is this! A dark blue-grey stripes rugby shirt.
humm, not even sure if it fits in that category. UWO rugby jersey is damn pricey! I remember Harun asked me to buy it for him, but he backed out when he found out the stripes' colour are purple and white. haha

Kitson is the bomb!

I told myself, even before arriving in LA that I must go to, and buy something from Kitson, regardless of the price! Enough said. We went to Beverly Hills on Xmas Day, so Kitson was closed :( However, the next day, we managed to persuade the boys to go Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive once more just so that we can shop! haha Luckily we got our car already, so I drove to Rodeo Drive and dang! the jam was massive! Naseb baik, kereta lawa... nak compete ngan kereta2 org lain, sangat la fancy... I parked the car somewhat far from Rodeo Drive, and just walked there. I just had 2 places to go: Polo Ralph Lauren and Kitson. We end up looking for toilets first. Haha.
Yea, tinggal je bdak2 laki dalam kereta. Let them get their beauty sleep, despite the fact I'm the one driving! cess!

Dah, semangat pulak cerite ape berlaku 2 bulan lepas. heh.
Sorry =P
Now nak pegi masak ayam madu kot, sebab teringin bile tgk kat fotopages sorang aunty nih. korup...Don't worry, still trying my best to eat healthy. Just that, sometimes, ice cream dlm freezer tuh love to tempt me so bad!

A Recognition

Today, I am $375 richer!
I won the Dr. Harvey Hunter Memorial Award! Truth is, I dont even know anything about it, but it sure will look good on my resume :)

I went to the Keith's office, and there he was flashing an envelope at me with a big grin.

"Surprised?"
"Yes"

Apparently he doesn't even know the name of the award, but he told me it's an award given by the Faculty of Science, and students do not apply for it. It is especially for me. WAAHHH, I was in Cloud Nine! And then he continued to say

"Congrats, and I think there might be a chunk of money in there!"

No, there is no chunks of money in here, just a cheque. LOL
For whatever it's worth, I'm on a lucky streak here. Now I can use this money to pay my camera repair which is somewhere $153 and my SIFT fees $100. And then, I have another $122 to spare, which I think I will just keep it :)

SO, here is what is says in the letter about the award:

Awarded to a second year student who has the highest marks in Earth Sciences
courses and who has enters the third year of an Honors Specialization in Geology
or a double major in an Honors degree which includes Geology
(In memory of Dr. Harvey Hunter)

This is sure a motivation to keep up my average this year! Although I'm skeptical I will be able to get good grades because so far GIS and Astronomy (electives) are pulling my average really2 low! DANG! I hate those kinda electives! It makes me wonder why do I have to take them!

No, Veggies are Good

Today, my lunch is
one small scoop of rice
+
chicken drumstick marinated with ground pepper & fish sauce,
cooked in water (sorta)
+
mixed frozen vege added to the chicken
+
raw baby carrots

My lunch is still on the stove right now, and it's smelling good. The chicken recipe is my original recipe. haha. I tried it last week, and it was absolutely scrumptious. So, don't gag while reading the weird sauce I used for marinate!

I find my body is still adjusting to the less carb diet I'm practicing. It is so easy to get hungry! I told my friend, "gosh, I'm hungry". She asked if I had my dinner, and I said "yes, I had some veggies". She went on to say...

"Farisa, u r so skinny u dont need to diet"

And all I want to say is,

There is nothing wrong with eating healthy.

I'm not trying to diet here, just wanna eat healthier food. Cut some carb and fat intake. Even if that means I gotta sacrifice a little. I maybe skinny to eyes of my Canadian friends, but in the end it's what I feel about myself that counts.

An Invitation

Last Friday, I was not in a good mood while studying for 2240G - Catastrophic Events in Earth History Midterm. It really boiled up once I started reading about the devastating-and-presumably-the-reason-for-mass-extiction-yet-we-can't-really-prove-it continental flood basalt. I couldn't understand a thing.

I was pretty much cursing the whole time. Not a good thing when you are supposed to be concentrating. I dunno what got into me at that time. huh

After finally finished reading the almost 10 pages front and back notes, I decided to take a break. Turned on my computer and later I know, I was eating cendol while checking my email. And guess what was in my Inbox? It read "2009 CSPG-SIFT Selection". I said, hurmm...what could this be?

AHA! The rest is history...

I got into SIFT! Another dream come true :)



ps: Harun got into SIFT as well. I'm so happy, cause at least I know I'm not going to be alone. I told Harun, lets rock that damn thing together. I know he is into that idea as well. It will be totally like Taylors all over again where I went to Taylors not knowing anybody, except for Harun. We are always into things together. Sweet thing! See ya bud!