My first official post from KL.

Been close to a month since arriving in hot, humid SEA. And similarly since I blogged. Did come online on and off, but never had the heart to blog since there have been plenty to do. Splendidly, this post is from the new house where my aunts moved to. Just got the internet connection today after living here for a week and a half, and ironically the cable TV's service is currently unavailable. Thus the free time to blog.

I love the new place. Good view and location. Just right across MidValley Megamall. But the traffic jams during rush hour can kill. I managed to see my parents and sister in the first week here too! Was nice seeing them after a year and a half. They will be in again. And how much I'm enjoying the food here in KL!

Me and my brother have enrolled for a guitar crash-course starting next Tuesday. My aunts feel it's better than facing the computer all day. Plus, I'm waiting for the swimming pool and gym in this new condominium to be in function. Also eagerly waiting for the great Malaysian sale to come before we go on a shopping spree.

I have so much to blog, like about the 20-hour flight, yet am lazy to do so. I'll suppose I'll be back to blog. Soon, soon..

In 8 hours, the Cathay Pacific plane from Toronto to HK will be taking off. I love airplane flights: the food, ambience and entertainment. Oohh, the excitement is rushing through my blood and my mind.

Woke up early and did a bunch of laundry. Just cleaned the room till it's now spick and span. After this post, I'll be packing my lappie into the suitcase for check-in. Then change and finalize my packing. Going out for dinner with the house at Finch for a 'celebratory' dinner around 6pm. Then we will take the subway to the west where Pearson Airport is, in hopes to make it there by 9.30pm for the 11.40pm take-off.

So goodbye. I'll have fun. Won't be blogging till I settle down in KL.

I'm leaving, on a jet plane. Don't know when I'll be back again..
(Actually, will be back on September 2nd).

COUNTDOWN TO KL: 8 HOURS (+ 16 HOURS FLIGHT)

What of Toronto will I miss in my 2 months absence? Hhmm..

FOOD. Mainly Korean. Ever since coming to Toronto, Koreatown is one of my most visited place, and I've been eating so many instant Korean Kimchi Ramens. I really am looking forward to the local food in KL, and definitely wouldn't be having any Korean meals.

WEATHER. Weird, considering how I always complain about the erratic nature of Canadian weather. But at times, it get's really comforting with the sun and wind, with periodic showers. Unlike humid SEA. At least there's air-conditioning in KL when it's hot, which surely in the coming month Toronto will be in a scorching heatwave.

TV. There's cable in KL, but Canadian TV gets American shows at the same time being mostly in similar zones. Also, it's the seasons of Canadian versions of Idol and Next Top Model. Speaking of, CNTM is down to the Final 4! Sweet. CI had 2 shocking eliminations yesterday. It's still in the rounds of Top 22, but the better contestants were ousted. Everyone was in shock at the forums. Thankfully, one of them isn't my favourite. Eva Avila captivated me with her first Top 22 performance..


I can only hope for downloads of these shows available online. Most probably will through YouTube or Bittorrent. Anyhoo, didn't do much besides watching Bleach. Finally caught up with the episodes in Japan. I was supposed to do laundry today, but left it for tomorrow, the day of my approximately 16 hours flight. Got to wake up early for it, then do some final packing and hopefully relax after. Everything still isn't in order. But my flight is at 11.40pm. So I've got time.. Right?

COUNTDOWN TO KL: 1 DAY

I finally managed to fix the conflict of my EESA01 tutorial. Not the timeslot I want, but it's better than nothing. So no worries till I return to KL and decide whether to drop EESB03 for the summer to make my course count for my second year 8.

Last night I watched Eight Below. It's the Disney movie inspired by a true story where sled dogs of a Japanese expedition team were left behind for months on their own under circumstances, and yet most survived. The highlight were the 8 doggies in it. They could easily carry the whole show without humans. Such cuddly, adorable acting pros..

I watched yesterday's World Cup match between Germany and Italy. I thought they would go into a shootout, but in the last few minutes of the extra-time, Italy scored twice! Unbelievable. The other semi-final match is later on. France VS Portugal. For Grace's sake, let France win.

Been doing some more packing and cleaning of the room. I'm now starting to get eager as the day approaches. My aunt wants back one of the big red suitcase that I use when I came over, which means now me and my brother will have a total of 3 luggages to check-in. I'm trying to figure out what to put in the mostly empty bags.

Going to do my last round of laundry tomorrow so that I can pack some of those clothes in. So I guess I will be packing till the very last minute..

COUNDOWN TO KL: 2 DAYS

We met Karleng and her 'surprise', who turned out to be Marina, at Chinatown for lunch yesterday. Considered our last outing since we would be in KL till September, but by then she would be in HK.


The place behind us is where we ate. Marina left after that.


Went to Eatons Centre again for more shopping. The Chalk Master was at the entrance again. This time I managed to take a picture.
Karleng got a hat, while my brother got this Crocs shoes that are said to be the most comfortable ones. I, well, decided to wait for KL's shopping scene. Walked to Nathan Phillips Square where the Toronto Jazz Festival was held. Nothing much, but sat around and enjoyed the sun, breeze, and seagulls swooping overhead.


That's the City Hall behind. During winter, the fountain turns into an ice-skating ring. I skated here once last year.


That's the Old City Hall behind. Yes, just beside the current one.
We had to go to Bathurst for manual labour to carry boxes of caffeine-free Coca Cola. From Dundas, we walked along University Avenue where the most of the hospitals are located, up through University of Toronto St George. From the exhaustion, we took a rest at the King's College Circle. There were people jogging, lazing on the field, and playing soccer. Despite that, out came the camera and more picture-taking. We took off our shoes and started jumping up and down with the University College building as the backdrop.


University College, one of the oldest buildings in UofT.


Jumping beans.


Despite lying down taking this shot, my white shirt wasn't dirty.


My brother's acrobat pose. We aren't linked at the hands/legs.


My brother's Superman pose. Tucking my legs back gives the illusion that I jumped higher. Similarly with lying down and taking the picture.


Green blur, but looks artsy. Snapping a second slower, my right hand will completely block my brother's face.


Sitting on the grass field after many jumps.


Lying down on the grass field after sitting.


Still lying down after lying down.


Just as we thought we were leaving, Karleng came up with this quirky idea of belittling the CN Tower. And so she did..


And my brother did..


And I did. I was standing on a little bump in the ground, thus having the perfect effect of holding CN Tower with my hands.
I hope we didn't come across as tourists or loons, with our continuous jumps and hands hanging mid-air. I walked across the road barefooted too. The grass and tarred road felt awesome beneath my feet. But all the leaping has made my thighs sore, even till now.

Decided to confirm where Wilson Hall Residence is, as someone came up to us for directories. Found out we, or rather Karleng since me and my brother aren't familiar with the vast UofT downtown campus, led the girl to Sir Daniel Wilson Residence, though we did state it should be around that area. The actual Wilson Hall was nearby. Continuing with the walk to Bathurst, I took some pictures.


Some weird signs on one of the UofT building.


It's supposed to be Willcocks Street, but someone pulled off a 'l'. Karleng said that Hart House became Fart House.


Graduate House. I've always thought this is where lessons take place, but it's a residence for graduate students. Karleng says it looks like a prison with little windows, and that it looks unfinished since the final 'O' is clearly visible while the other alphabets are just glass imprints.
After transporting the Coke, me and my brother wanted to watch a movie, like An Inconvenient Truth or The Devil Wears Prada, but Karleng didn't. Unwillingly settled on Karleng treating us to milkshake at Greg's Ice-Cream. Then slowly walked to Bloor-Yonge and we parted there.

We will miss you Karleng! Thank you for all the food, milkshakes, movies, walks and talks. Take care studying in HK! Au revoir.

OH CANADA!

Spent most of my time downtown yesterday. First, for lunch we headed to Chinatown where there is a SEA-cuisine eatery, called The Merlion Restaurant. I'd walked past by there countless of times but haven't once noticed the signboard. Some of the food like their Nasi Lemak were good. I had Hokkien Mee; at first was thinking it was the Singaporean Hokkien Prawn Mee but it wasn't. And one of the worker and her young brother are from Alor Setar in Kedah.

Next, went to Eaton Centre for a walk. There are a whole slew of shops opening at Eatons, to take note of is Abercrombie & Fitch by the end of this summer! It's the second store in Toronto and finally easily accessible. Many other stores good for shopping opened too. I must not have walked around Eatons for some time. I had to fight the urge to shop, since we're returning to KL for it!

Got thirsty so went to Queen's Street near Paramount, where we would be watching a movie, for some snacks. Ate at Cafe Crepe West. The sweet crepes were fantabulous. I had hazelnut cream with banana, same with my brother but without an ice-cream, while Juyenty had dark chocolate with coconut with ice-cream.


MINE!


3 sweet plates and an Orangina.


Me, Juyenty and the crepes.
Around the corner was Paramount. There was a very long queue, for Superman. Thankfully we didn't need a line, as we finally watched The Lake House! It wasn't bad. I love how they have this trial of love where time separates them apart. Though I have to say that there were some parts that were just ZZZ.. Otherwise, Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves had good chemistry despite having little scenes together. I kind of guessed a part of the plot before it was revealed, although it didn't happen exactly what I thought would, so they had their happy ending. I'm now completely smittem by some of the main songs of the movie. Trying to upload to here ASAP. Plus, I'm interested with the original Korean film, Il Mare. There definitely will be more crying in it.


The show ended around 9pm. Had nothing to do, so we made our way to Exhibition Place located along the west Toronto lakeshore for the viewing of Canada Day's fireworks! It's known to be one of the better ones in Toronto. When we arrived, we had to enter Ontario Place, a theme park, and we didn't know if we had to buy an admission ticket since there were so many people lining up at the counters. We just walked past the gates into the compound.. Did we sneak in? No, as we found out that those with tickets are for the concert going on nearby. Quickly made our way to the viewing area, since many other people were charging forward. And so begins our photo journey..


Evening lights of Toronto on Canada Day.


Me, Juyenty and Toronto.


Found a nice place. Prayed for no one to block us, and also for no rain since there was a drizzle on and off as we sat there.


There were rocks right where the waves crashed further down from where we sat (not clearly seen here), but were fully occupied. There was a party going on in those tents. People around us had chairs and mats prepared, and some carried minature Maple Leaf flags.


The show started around 10.45pm with the Canadian anthem. With some accompanying Canadian music, the fireworks display started!


Out at sea where the fireworks originate from, is a very big sea vessel.


Fiery red against the darkness.


One, two, three, four. Four outbursts.


More flowery red ones. These generated lots of cheers.


Fizzle. These look like microscopic flowers. In fact many were after capture; must be the settings of the digital camera.


Mixture of big ones.


Bright purplish flowers.


Red and yellow with the silhouette of leaves on a tree.


Tell me this look like sperms, eh.


Like a dying fire..


That soon burns alive with sparks.


Some fades away.


Being shot around randomly.


Another big one.


Add in more colours.


This reminds me a little of an orchid without her full petals.


Continuous bombardings for a BIG finale!


HOORAY!


Remnants.
Many were kind of similar, but yet it continued to awe us. The people present couldn't help but cheer, scream, clap everytime there was a SUPER big or colourful outburst. The display was nice especially against the night sky and with the reflection of the water in Lake Ontario. Much better compared to last year's Mel Lastman Square's fireworks.

After the last one, people began moving out. As groups walked towards public transportation, there was a teenage group that started singing the Canadian anthem. I don't know if anyone joined them; I didn't since I don't know much of the words. But kudos to them for singing it through. Some clapped after, while others sarcastically.

Everyone was in a deadlock when it came to waiting for the streetcars. We missed two to three long ones before getting on. But not before being pushed and screamed at by a father whose child started crying due to the pushing from behind. My brother was just standing behind him, and he vigorously pushed my brother back despite him being a victim too. Gah.. It was chaos as everyone wanted to leave fast.

Went home straight even though we contemplated on going to a famous eatery for burgers. My feet are still sore from standing and walking. Later on going to meet Karleng for one of the final time..