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.

MEC - Mountain Equipment Coop

We went to MEC, and purchased some winter stuff. Interestingly, MEC is a coop, so we had to sign up as a member in order to make any purchase. But it wasn't that bad as we only paid CAD5 for a life membership. With that, you could purchase anything from MEC. Although we'd be eyeing for its clearance stuff as normal price could be pretty pricey, unless of course if we had no other choice.

Here are the things we got, a cap for Mrs. and to protect her ears.
Pretty nice with pony tails - but its an acceptable fashion ;) I've seen one with bunny ears too.


Mittens for both of us (because gloves just won't do). Mittens are warmer. We both had to purchase them from the teens corner as the adult ones were simply too BIG....


And a round turtle neck scarf which you could pull up to cover your mouth and nose too if it gets too cold.


We also got a MEC bag for joining as new members. Pretty neat...

Snow

So, we went over to the public library today to borrow some magazines and books. This was the day after our night caroling while it snowed. Thankfully it did not rain so, the snow that covered Halifax were still fine (just your ice cendol but even finer).

With our boots strapped and winter jackets zipped to our neck, we joyfully walked to the bus stop. It wasn't that bad since the snow was about 5-10 cm thick most of the places. Guess when there's heavier snow, you won't have to worry about the slippery spots, although I'd still be cautious as one of our friends nearly slipped when crossing the road last night. Its only where there's no snow to cover roads or side walks that there's a potential for it to be slippery.

I took some shots and a short clip of the surrounding as we just exited our apartment. I did it very quickly cause I didn't want my hand to freeze. So do excuse the quality.









Here's a shot from our apartment itself.

Going to Be White After All

Seems like it's going to be a white X'mas after all. Even when we're still strapped with our last remaining project (due next Monday) we managed to find the time to hang out with a uni mates who invited us over to caroling session which is kind of a tradition here (sorry, no photos, fingers were too cold).

Despite the being introduced to new people we've not seen before, we braved the cold weather and headed out to the streets of Halifax (well only 1 street) and sang along.

It was a great experience, especially when it decided to snow and snow it really did. As we were trying to sing the lyrics from the piece of paper each of us had, one could see the snow as they gathered on the paper. Wasn't that thick but thick enough to really feel the magical snowy sensation. Its simply amazing and indescribable. Places like the snow city in Singapore science center or even Bukit Cahaya's 4 season's house can't come close to the real thing.

We truely enjoyed ourselves. Hopefully, we'll bring the camera next time and take a good shot to share.

Trapped... Just a little more way to go...

Its how we feel at every moment we catch our breath. We're close but not there yet. X'mas and the holiday feel is creeping though we aren't able to immerse ourselves in the mood.

The final mile it is. Imagine us running a long 8 months lap and we're in our final stretch. The ending bell has rung, and we're now in sprint mode. The cold weather couldn't come at a better time.



The weather is colder. There have been a couple of short flurries of late. Snow is fun only if its not mix with rain. And because its not really winter as yet, they come and go. Weather temperatures are now all entering in the negative - below the freezing point. Although, that's not something to worry as long as one can cover oneself well with the correct amount of layers, what one should watch out is actually the slippery street and sidewalks. Now that the temperature is below the freezing point, any patch of water would easily turn to ice. So puddles get turned into mini ice-rinks. What's dangerous though is that some of them aren't very obvious.

Oh well, we got our list of to do's and put them up on the fridge. I'll blog of that a little later but some of them very quickly are:

• some home fix it things
• new recipes to try
• hobbies to indulge and
• also we're planning to set up our mini herb garden - yay!...

Stay tune. Until then, we'll see you at the end of the line....

Almost Full Circle

1 year ago around this time of the year, we were in the midst of applying to the get to here. I still remember how intense the moment was as we threaded through the paths we needed to take to eventually make sure getting here became a reality.

Even then, we weren't too sure of the possibility of ending up on this foreign land. But we did eventually. Same time, 1 year later, - December - we're still experiencing the same, "more or less", nerve-wrecking and gut-wrenching moments. This time, it's end of the term season where the pressure is on to complete multiple projects and also slogging for an end of term exam.

I pray for our well-being and sanity to make it through alright. But we'll be fine. We've made it this far and gone through a whole lot more - it'll take more than one hard-press semester to take us down.

On the bright side though, we're dreaming of a "white" x'mas.. So far, we've had 2 snowfalls.

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.