Unsual Weather Again...

Canadians have a love-hate relationship with the weather. Its something we've been of late able to understand better.

Take for example today's forecast for the next few days.


Imagine this - its right smack in the middle of the winter month (not even at the end yet) and we're going to experience a temperature of 7 degrees Celsius with rainfall warning in effect!

Just 2 days ago it was -10 and -18 with wind chill effect. The weather is weird.

Here's CBC Nova Scotia's meteorologist, Peter Coede showing the viewers the weather outlook for tomorrow. Unlike back in Malaysia, the weather man is a much respected TV personality.


The markings in red are all the areas which are going to experience rain tomorrow.

Snow Storm

I guess some of you may have read in the papers of a bad snow storm hitting North Eastern parts of United States.

Well that's a famous places of course - NY, Washington, Virginia, Boston etc. Unfortunately places like Halifax and Nova Scotia usually slips through the radar. But yes, we here in Atlantic Canada, which is just north of those places and we too had a fair share of the bad weather. It came out in the news. I took some shots (video of the snow storm) from our apartment but will upload it later.

Here's the news from the papers the next day.

Just Some Links

So, here you are, finished with projects and exams. Fall can be said unofficially ended (since we've been having snow regularly of late) though technically speaking we're still in the Fall season. You're trapped more or less as going out is bothersome and cumbersome (it takes an extra 10-15 mins to prepare going out, now that the weather is colder). Not to mention, you've effectively increase the mass you carry (including your on body) wherever you go - due to things like your boots, gloves/mittens, winter coat, middle layer coat, long johns for your top, long johns for your legs, and also thermal (thick type) socks. By the time you walk 10 minutes around the mall (like we did today), you'll feel so tired that you want to go back even though you only got there.

Snow may be for those whose not seen it, like it was for us for the past few days, but reality is.... its troublesome....

Going out, should be done ONLY if it is absolutely necessary.

So what do you do then? There's no TV, no going out, and no cable. Apart from cooking food, the Internet is GOD's gift! Thankfully we have high speed Internet at reasonable price here. Its a wonderful technology. With the Internet, you don't need cable or TV. You don't need a phone or a call card.

You've got Skype to make your long distance calls and also do video chat.
For news, there's always CBC or CTV. We try to watch the local news to keep abreast with the local development as much as possible. Unfortunately, just like the locals here, which are bit more relax, local news are only on weekdays. We personally prefer watching CBC Nova Scotia rather than CTV Nova Scotia, because CBC kinda chunks all their new snippets into 1 viewing. I could be wrong but, my guess is, CBC is more like RTM version of Canada whereas CTV's like the TV3. One's government funded whereas the other isn't.

Of course, apart from keeping in touch with friends and families, using social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter, we'd also be googling for new recipes. But I'm a video guy so, I'd rather be watching any youtube cooking shows to learn how to do the stuff. Sometimes, I'll search for some popular video shows like The Naked Chef using torrent search engines and download them. With 5Mb, 1Gb download is nothing....

Of course we do visit theStar Malaysia to keep intouch with news back home. I'll even go to MalaysianInsider since MalaysiaKini is a paid service and I haven't bother to renew mine (got simply too many choices right now, so why should I pay right?).

Well, we hope we'd be able to pull through during the New Year break, but too much of the PC may make us sick, so we bought cards and was hoping to get some board games just incase.

Snowy Weekend

Its getting a bit more frequent for the coming weeks ahead. Infact why shouldn't it be. After all X'mas just round the corner and that's how the folks like it to be - a white snowy x'mas. But for now its slushy and cold. Yup slushy because winter's snow here is usually mixed with rain. Notice, Sunday's snow that comes after Saturday's rain. Remember 7 eleven's slurply? Especially when you've been drinking one for an hour or so and there's not much of actual ice left at the end. That's what you get when you mix snow with a rain. And you call that "slushy". Snow would be nice without the slush-i-ness. Oh well, wait and see, I hope we could go out and enjoy it a fair bit on Sunday. Probably built a snow-man. But, who am I kidding, with exam and project due, a good 5 minutes of the outdoor would probably do - and then its back inside and right straight to the books.

Snow Snow Snow...

Its in the news. Nova Scotia's finally witness its first snow fall of the season 1st hand today and that made it into local news already

See CBC's, Wintry weather hits Nova Scotia


or ChronicleHerald's N.S. gets blast of wintry weather

1st Snow Flake

The first snow flake has fallen.
This is the first time we're actually witnessing it (although as of now we haven't gone out yet to touch it first hand).



We can't say we're that eager too because the wind is "crazy" strong - gusting at a high of 110 km/h.
That's almost double that on normal days (without snow). So for now, we're content of just watching it from inside.
Guess until about 2 hours from now when we have no choice but to head for class - then we'll know.

Weather report says it'll be as thick as 15 cm...

Weird? You Tell Me.

We always read the weather forecast. Its important. Especially in Nova Scotia where the weather is always a little crazy at times.

Just like at this coming Friday's forecast.

Chances of Snow

Finally, or I would say, I spoke too soon. Weather report says that there's chances for flurries in Halifax tonight and tomorrow. Damn... and I haven't gotten my winter shoes yet.

Lazier?

There's a very large gap between the last post and this one. That's going to be very common soon. The good thing about having a blog is that it keeps your thoughts and memories shelved aside so that one day, if you need to, you could just go pack and recall "almost" all the things you encountered (at least the major moments) once more. Those moments, for us, have been alot since we're so new to this country. As time goes by, we become familiar and there seem to be less and less to say - unless of course we've been somewhere new of seen something unfamiliar. That's not to say that you don't see new things everyday or every week. Probably it just doesn't feel that BIG a deal as before!

So, am I getting lazier? Yikes I guess its true on one end but at the same time I am prepared to give up the joy of "constantly" and "frequently" sharing our moments here. Gee, we even thought that it would be more fun (down the line) to get hold of a camcorder instead of a camera. Because that way we could capture the motion of surrounding environment in the new places we've been - and! nothing beats pictures more than videos itself!

If it isn't the laziness then I'll blame it on the weather. Having just entered the month of September, we're only 2 more weeks before entering fall. Technically speaking, there ought to have some more days with bright shinny, clear skies and slettering heat of 30 degrees tops and minimum of 28. BUT! That's not the case. Of late, the day has been pretty cool. And its just not last week but this week too. Believe or not, this year's summer is the summer that never was! Its now kind of clear that, with the cool temperature (in teens already - average 17 degrees during the day) that Fall is already here. Of course that means winter would be just round the corner. So I guess, it wouldn't be long before you'll start to see some post about our new experience with the change in weather. We hope to have some shots posted as well. Better yet, with a camcorder, some vids too.

Counting Down 2 Bill

Its now 9.30 pm and we're counting down the final hours of calm weather. After watching countless of news, 2 different camp of thoughts that - 1) either the hurricane simmers down as it approaches NS or 2) its may most likely hit landfall and cause quite a havoc to Halifax itself. Guess its easy to see that choosing to believe the 2nd option is safer than being sorry later. So having said that, we're getting our bag equipped with important documents, emergency kits, and moving away valuables from the windows. We may most likely not have power when the storm starts to strike, so this would probably be our last update until it moves away and things starts to calm down by Monday morning. Till then, stay tune....

Billy's Coming To Town

Guess what? So it seems like Billy's coming to town after all. But there's a possibility that its not going to be as bad as Juan.

We've got some extra supplies. Bought tin can, a better can opener, torch light, batteries, and an FM Radio for emergency. Should have gotten some med supplies but since there's possibility its the eye of the hurricane ain't coming straight towards here (just a brush only), we thought, that won't be necessary. In the event that things to change for the worst, we'll probably be heading to the store room or down to the car park. Let's see how it goes. Feels more excited and afraid right now. Kinda a weird. Shucks, our first hurricane experience, what can I tell you!


the latest news -> http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2009/08/21/ns-hurricane-bill-friday.html

Summer Setting In

Today its as HOT as HOT as it could get. A good 30 degrees max with an average 28. Humidity at 60% and wind speed at all time low of 14mph. I stress its really how. Wished we had a fan here, but that's the thing having all year round being (less summer) spring, fall and winter, there is no need for a fan. And have you seen the air-cond. Boy you should see the air-cond they make here, its ancient. Both the fan unit and the front unit are still connected in a single box. They aren't as advance as the ones back home. Geez, another few more days of sun. Just we thought that its worth the wait for the sun, here we are starting to complain about it. How fickle :)

Foggy Morning

Good sunny days are never here to stay long. Wife took a shot of the outside view this early morning. This is how a typical early morning foggy day looks like.





But don't let the weather fool you. That does not mean you should stay at home. Either way, even when its sunny or clear outside, doesn't mean that you should go out too. Check the wind speed and the UV rating and you'll know why. Foggy days, almost certainly means there's no sun and therefore less UV rays - but chances of pour lingers. But sunny days brings in the threat of burning UV rays and sometimes windy streaks that send shivers down your spine.

Great Weather

Lots and lots of sunshine for the past few days. Simply a fantastic weather which has made it possible for us to do lots of things.

Wish we could...

... transfer the rain from here back to Malaysia as you guys need it more there with all the haze and hot weather.

The Weekend

So we lost count of how many weekends we've been away from home. Its really not our fault. I guess that's because the number just got bigger and its easier to count based on the months now because that's a smaller number. I would say give another 8 more days and we're officially been away from home for 2 months.

The spring season is officially over this week. Starting next week it summer. However, we're going to experience alot of rain this weekend. Our friendly CBC weather man, Peter, has forcasted a soggy Saturday noon till Sunday and most likely till next week onwards....



Hopefully it will clear up for the following weekend as we already got our tickets for the Nova Scotia seafood festival.

Mirror Mirror On The Wall...

Imaginary me (the weather does this to you):
Mirror mirror on the wall,

What's the weather like tomorrow and the rest of the week?

Mirror:

Just because you ask, I'm giving you a bonus 1 sunny day amongst whole streak of cloudy and rainy days... Enjoy it!!!

Imaginary me:
What? That's not even a full sunny day. Looks like a possibility of "frost" on Wednesday.

Mirror:
Take it or leave it!

Imaginary me:
I'm taking it. Better than nothin' this part of the world...

Harsh Weather

Yes you said right. Today's weather is not very friendly. It is indeed unpredictable the weather here in Halifax, NS, Canada. Winds are strong and its chilly at 10 degrees C.

But we managed to open our bank accounts at Scotia Bank near campus and are right now in the Faculty building.

Here are some shots we took.

One is the Public Gardens which will only open on 15th of May.



And here's one showing Spring Garden Rd and there's the Metro Bus which we have been using quite frequently to get to places further away (otherwise, we'll stick to Bus No. 11 for awhile)



Cheers, gotta go check out other things.