Great things come in small packages!

I've been waking up early these days 

because I went out with friends

to watch movies and discover Montreal.

So today, I decided to sleep back 8.30 am and 

didn't have any plan on what to do today.

Then, I received fb msgr from Cher Tieng,

telling me I got parcel!

I was so excited!

I woke up and had my shower 

(1pm)

and by 1.30 pm I was at the office already,

to claim my parcel.

I was so excited!!

(even I repeat this statement!)

I ran (walked fast) to my apartment

to open the parcel

and booom!

I was so surprised and happy and cried because of it.

Qim was being such a sweet boy!

(this was his first time ever doing this to me)

I read the long letter first!

Letters are so rare these days,

even cards too because people only wish each other 

for birthdays or any special celebrations 

through all the technologies and social medias.

A letter, from Qim?!

That's unbelievable and

made me speechless!!

*won't tell you the content*

But I was so speechless,

and there's a box 

that's so difficult to unwrap

and even it stated it's only for me to open it haha, so cute ;)

Tadaaaa!

Attachment Ring (didn't know the name even exists!)

In the letter, 

he did mention how scared he was if it didn't fit and such.

It fits, perfectly!

I still can't believe this thing.

He also mentioned that,

it's not Tiffany&Co. but he will give me one, one day.

I was like,

no!! This is perfectly okay!

(for now hahaha)

Yeah, truly.

I really appreciate it!

So called him immediately via skype!

And answered YES!*

*showed him the ring*

The half-awake Qim sounded so happy!

He looked happy too!

Because he's afraid if the parcel didn't arrive.

He told me all the stories behind the parcel.

The whole family knew about it,

I was like 

*aegyo!*

*cover my face*

*it's all red*

I am so shy!

I din't expect this, yknow.

It has been two years since we promised to have this

heart commitment(?) but we didn't talk it out.

#fahamfahamsendiri #kindofthing

(Hate myself now for being too cheesy)

And he finally asked  me the question.

24/12/2015

Quebec City

Quebec City with Nawwar Qistina

Winter break is here! Went to Quebec City, stay at airbnb.
The apartment was so nice, got to conquer the whole apartment :D

A lot of festivals happening in Quebec City, we can see these people in costume
acting around, it's so lively, I love it!

It's snowing here! And it's so hard to take pictures because
the hand will be freezing and I can't feel my fingers :/

I made a snow angel! In from of Parliament du Quebec haha because I can!
But I couldn't stay longer on the ground because it was too cold!

Me and nawwar, we rode on this thing! It was damn fun! It costs us 5CAD
for the ride, hot chocolate and a visit to old castle :)
Before we played this thing, Nawwar pulled me up the hill, muehehe
No lah! Just before we had to climb up the hill.

We went to the army base (La Citadelle)! It was so beautiful especially
the view of Quebec City from up the hill.
I wanna visit here one day, again.
With my family+1 :D

The nicest shot of Quebec City that I managed to capture. I am so proud of this shot! I can make postcard out of it.
Gotta learn how to do it haha,
anyway, I am in love with the city.
:D

To more travels in the future :D

Post-Exam

My last paper was on the 18th of December, Friday

and it was COMP202 paper! 

I was so stressful, depressed because ugh

this was like my killer subject :/

I love my instructor, she's super cool

and with guidance, programming can be e very interesting to do,

but it seems like a very strange world to me.

After the exam, I was so upset

and knowing that I've received some of my grades,

I was more upset.

I've given everything I had,

put 100% effort,

studied damn hard but the grades seem not to reflect my effort,

so I cried.

But a few minutes later,

I realised that I was wrong.

Allah's plan is always the best.

He doesn't judge us based on the results,

but efforts.

I thought I've worked hard enough,

but maybe it's not there yet.

I have to work hard more

and tawakkal to Him.

He will give what's best for me :)

Forgive me, Allah,

for not believing in your plan at first.

:(

I shouldn't be doing that. 

ugh, I am such a bad girl.

Chęf Alïah -- Recîpé

BIHUN TÔM YÆM

You only need:

• TOMYAM paste!
• Sotong
• Baby carrots
• Shrimps
• Mushrooms
• Meat
• olive oil (any cooking oil would do!)
• Garlic, ginger, onion (I bought the ones sold in bottles, they make my life easier!)
• Tamarind juice
• chilli powder

You only have to do:

1. Heat the pot, pour some oil and heat it
2. Put garlic, ginger and onion
3. Tom Yam paste
4. 1 glass of tamarind juice
5. 1 or 2 glass of water
6. Throw every other ingredients
7. Let them boil!! :P
8. Put some salt if needed
9. and some chilli powder if you want it to be spicier
10. Taraaaa you can serve it with rice noodles or rice or even spaghetti!

ps, seafood can be expensive. You can just use chicken instead :)

Alfredo Cheese Spaghetti

You only need:

1. Spaghetti
2. Alfredo (something) -- pasta sauce
3. Baby carrots
4. Broccolis
5. Meat  
6. Olive oil
7. Black pepper 
8. Salt

You only have to do:

1. Boil the spaghettis  
2. Heat the oil on different pan
3. Heat the pasta sauce
4. Put some water
5. Throw everything else into the pan
6. Put some salt and pepper if you want
7. Mix the boiled spaghetti with your kuah :P
8. Done!

You can clearly see how awkward do I sound in this post.

I am so not used to writing recipe lol.

The point is,

it's easy to cook for one, but in the future,

when you have to get married, things will be complicated.

LOL.

Currently enjoying my single life,

Chęf Alïah.

Chęf Alïah

Montreal has a lot of wonderful cafes 

but I've tried only a few of them

because...

as a poor college student,

I cannot afford to have my meal in fancy restaurants everyday :P

Triple Chocolate Pizza @ Cacao 70

Nasi Lemak & Otak-Otak @ Satay Brothers

Chocolate crepe @ Juliette et Chocolat

& most of my 10$ went to Shawarma (Arab food) :P

So,

I spent approximately 60$ per week

to buy my groceries.

(To my UK friends, don't be surprised, okay?

Canadian currency is lower than yours, that's why.)

I cook everyday!

I woke up early in the morning,

before I go to my morning class,

I will cook and I feel like a mom.

Seriously.

I also have to stay back sometimes,

because studying at the library or starbuck can be more productive

than at home :P

If my tok mak saw my ingredient,
or my family in law, they can pengsan!

I cook a complicated meal in the simplest way,
let's call it the Aliah way :P

Next post!

Islamic Reminder

There's no weekly usrah,

or after Maghrib tazkirah here.

So my after maghrib or 

whenever I feel like I need to feed my soul,

youtube will be my best friend.

This one video,

Jannah makes dua for you

really touches my heart.

Tbh,

I never know that Jannah actually does make doa 

for those who pray to be in the heaven.

I really want

the day I stand before Allah,

the best day of my life

and my family too!

I want to be granted Jannah.

I want my family+1 to be granted Jannah as well.

Therefore,

I edited this and made this as my wallpaper :)

Post Black Friday!

"Duit keluar macam air!"

English : Money flows like water!

Okay, basically this is my mum's favourite line.

Especially when me and my sister had to buy our stuff 

before going back to

ssp/tkc haha!

And now,

since I live so far away from my family,

I only receive my allowance, every three months,

thus I really have to plan my budget well!

And 

*drumrolls*

I am very very bad at it!

I keep track on my spending,

I have some allocations of money for my savings,

travel expenses etc

but I am still overspending.

I am so not good at this,

I need my mum!

Basically, 

that's the ultimate tip to prevent 

your kids from spending too much on 

unnecessary things, okay?

Give them monthly allowance,

and let them manage their own money.

They will be scared to death to spend haha

and as for me,

my over-budget crisis happens 

because I overlook some simple stuff,

i.e. my phone bills, my Metro tickets etc.

(Or at times, I just want to eat sushi everyday)

Thank god Montreal doesn't have 

expensive good tomyam restaurants like Chakri here.

If Montreal does have one,

you know where all my money goes...

I miss tom yam so much,

it hurts okay?!

Because the udangs and sotongs are all expensive here!

Haih

So back to my original plan on telling you guys about Black Friday 

hmm

I don't spend much on myself,

just some GAPs.

But I spend for my family :D

 *halo above my head*

I allocated 450$ but I only spend 350$,

I am getting better at this, I know!

And one more thing,

the fact that I spent on my family,

it made me feel less guilty haha

ifffff I go over-budget next time

LOL

I am so good at making excuses 

when it comes to money.

I also look for some Tiffany stuff,

but yeah,

only my dad can give me one, for now.

I cannot even buy one for myself.

*cries*

This makes me realise,

the only man, who can fulfill a girl's wish is

her dad :')

Thank you ayah!

I love you :*

and the only woman in my life,

 who can manage money well,

is my mum :P

I love you too mama!

I feel the pain now :/

oh, not to forget:

Dear future husband,

I won't take back my words.

My wishes are still my wishes.

(I know you can be the man who will fulfill my wishes too, someday! <3)

Dear Future Husband

I only have 15 minutes before

Malaysian and Singaporean Students' Association (MASSA)'s meeting.

I'm gonna write this fast!!

Dear future husband,

if you click on tiffany&co website,

you'll be able to see this.

I am a major fan of tiffany&co since birth!

And if you're wondering 

how should you propose me

and what should be given to me as wedding gift,

here're the hints for you.

They're so helpful, I know!

(I will pretend to be so surprised!! 

In fact I will be, because

when you ask from people, you won't get them.

 Only when you ask from Allah, you'll get something better. 

I ask Allah for you, so maybe the better part will be the things below :P)

Engagement ring, also can meh

Wedding ring pleaaaaase!!

You do know why I choose this right?

For my birthday (?) since we don't celebrate anniversary...

OMG,

thank you!

I love you from here to the second star to the left and

my love neverland ends!

(if only you know..)

Yeay! 10 minutes left before the meeting. 

I'm good at this, I know!

Curi Masa :P

Oh wow,

I barely have time for myself lately.

I've been staying back at McGill

to finish my assignments,

study for the endless quizzes and

my final for political science was just over!!

Okay, rewrite

the final was just over...

It's end of semester already, 

we only left with 1 week of classes

and 

FINAL WEEK!

But hey,

I am sad because POLI200 course was so amazing!

I did want to have a degree in political science

but it's just my luck;

I got into electrical engineering path

but that's okay

because McGill still gives me chance to take political science

as my complementary study, ALHAMDULILLAH

The professor is damn nice!

Prof Manuel Balan,

he's like the cool-est professor eva!

I like my first semester because my professors are all very helpful!

and TAs too!

There's not much pressure in McGill,

because of there is no stress coming from the lecturers,

I put the stress on me to score well

because I like the subjects.

I am weird I know.

My midterm was not the bomb! 

But A- was okay tho!

I am very thankful for that

but 

final just now was...

I didn't have enough time

for the 'short' answer questions

because I made them like a very lengthy essays.

I was criticising  writing about Malaysian politics

and my handwriting was so cakar ayam!

Because the idea was there but the time cannot be curi anymore!

I miss Malaysia so much so I tend to mix all the languages here.

Anyway,

I'm still taking political science course next year,

regardless of my final result! *hopefully*

And I wasn't on the waiting list anymore,

I'm in!

Yeay to more political science classes!

I have more things to say...

but next time!

Winter is here!!!!!

It's been a long time...

One of the best gifts

that Allah has granted me;

the opportunity to study in McGill.

Alhamdulillah.

People often scare me,

McGill University is gonna be harsh on me,

it's gonna be tough and 

I am obviously scared.

Knowing me,

I freak out so easily.

When I got to McGill

and after 2 months studying here;

everything went fine.

Assignments, quizzes and midterms are perfectly normal.

But now I realise,

I need pressure,

to push me forward.

If it's easy,

I might take everything for granted.

Hence,

this is optimal for me.

Encik Azman's wise words kinda gave me a very positive vibe.

"If it's easy, everyone can do it.

McGill University is gonna be tough on you, but hey,

that sets you apart from others."

Having that kind of thinking puts me in different world,

of different positive.

After all,

to survive in SSP and survive in doing IB were not easy at all,

but I made it!

So,

this is just anther challenge for me,

I have to really strive for the best.

*Bonne chance!*

Why We Girls Cry Over SMALL Things?

When I was small kid,
I got so confused when
my aunts cried over boys,
and I didn't get it, you know?!

Like why?
Don't cry over stupid things?
He's just a boy, go find someone better!

That's my perception back then.

But now....

Reality is just in front of me,
I don't just see it,
I can feel it.

And I understand why girls cry over boys...

Some might say,
you girls look so weak etc.

But ladies,
I can relate your feelings to mine.

Especially when we GIRLS have PMS.

Even when your boyfriend doesn't wish you good morning/good night,
you get mad about it. HAHA funny right?

And that's not a stupid thing okay?
Because it makes a big difference throughout your day and night!

And to counter my thoughts earlier,
NO GIRL, YOU CAN'T JUST FIND SOMEONE BETTER okay?

Especially not when you're ageing!

HAHA.

In my case,
I don't plan to find someone else, anywhere.
I can't imagine myself being in relationship with someone else, anyway.

Because this crazy boy,
he's the ONLY boy that can make me
cry then laugh straight away and
and cry again and feel like hitting him
and punch him but want to hug him too (but I can't :P)
and to hate him because I love him so much.
(ew? wanna puke? lol)

Yeap, he makes me crazy all the time sometimes.
But hey, that's l-o-v-e ugh haha

Change

Canada's weather inspires me to do this blogpost.

At first I decided to post a blog instead,

but any haha I am not confident enough to be doing that now lolz

Oh wait, what was I thinking?

Oh yeah, change.

You know,

when you're always in your comfort zone, 

you don't want to face troublesome,

you don't want to be in difficult situation,

you just want to stay there forever.

But little that we all know,

it's gonna decrease our level of appreciation towards what we have.

And so,

Allah designs variety of stories for us 

to face daily.

Never for once, 

your day will all be the same!

It's very unique, all of them!

But when it comes to changes,

drastic changes,

not everyone can adapt to it.

I feel that too!!

But great thing about change,

it doesn't happen drastically sometimes.

It happens naturally,

and you can see that coming slowly.

Like the weather or season or whatever.

Last week, 

it was quite warm in Montreal,

17degree etc.

This week,

it started of with a rainy day,

11degree, 9degree and 7 degree.

And for God's sake, 

it's 4degree today!

But the body is just used to it,

and it should be prepared for it.

If you want to change for good,
you always have to start with a small act,
do it frequently,
 (istiqamah)
and add on another good thing at a time
and insyaAllah you'll be fine :)

Don't drastically change,
because if so,
you will be tired of changing
and you cannot adapt with it
and by high chance,
you might end up be the old you.

#ALittleReminderForMe2 :D

Montreal -- Autumn'15

Montreal -- Summer'15

Hard time to fit in...

Hey guys, 

these days I am facing the biggest trouble in my life!

That's to be able to fit in.

I do have friends, they're super awesome

but I don't really make friends with the one that's in the same class as mine.

Tutorial to be exact.

Everyone seems to be idk

or it's just me feeling that...

And tbh, that's not me AT ALL!

I used to be the friendly kind of girl,

can fit in any conversation 

and do what you should do to mingle around.

But this time,

all the skills went out of the window.

wow that expression was used only in debate

but 

I won't be joining debate this year.

I will try another year

but now I am joining Model United Nation

which is so far hella awesome!

I don't go as delegation,

because I face trouble with my visa.

But I run as staff,

photography staff!

It's way different that what I used to join right?

But we'll see how it goes and will try to 

FIT IN where I can...

I personally think that there's something holding my back now,

like I don't be myself

or I am not comfortable in being me here...

We'll see.

Maybe it takes time, maybe or maybe I just change.

I mean, people change, right?

Or I don't get to find that one friend that I can be super comfortable with.

This feeling sucks, it feels like I am back to square one,

ugh and if you guys had ever been to boarding school,

this feels exactly like being a form 1 girl lol.

I heard about this kind of problems back then, 

from seniors,

but I don't believe it,

but shoooot it's just so true!

Is it because the culture or is it because 

I feel intimidated by them being so outspoken(?)

Oh yeah,

I just couldn't find the right clique and the right circle of friends.

I miss my fellow Amigas, gosh.

and I definitely miss my family +1.

After all, it's Eid Adha tomorrow

and when everyone's having rendang,

I will just be looking from my screen,

that's awful man.

To even think of it, I feel like crying.

But I chose this path, right? 

Gotta face it *muscle up* lol

Belanja selfie sikit

Malaysians in Montreal

McGill University

So I have a request to share about my experience here in McGill.

People always mention about the pressure

being in top university like McGill, Toronto etc.

Well,

trust me, the pressure is what lies in your head.

I feel the pressure,

not because the university is pressuring me,

but because I pressure myself.

I choose to do so,

because I am not a grey person.

I am just either white or black.

I can be extremely hardworking,

or extremely lazy.

I choose to pressure myself

because I have to be hardworking and score 

and you know the typical

nerd goals of mine.

McGill Uni is cool!

 The assignments are there but the due dates are two weeks after,

only some classes take attendance and everything else is optional.

There's a lot of volunteering prog and clubs

that I wish I can cut myself to thousands of pieces so I can join all of them.

The lecturers never ever mention about the university ranking

and the next thing I know,

we're the no.1 university in Canada.

That's great, right?

They don't pressure the kids. Hehe

I guess that's the trick!

IB helps me a lot!!

It's not just the knowledge I gain,

but also the skills that I develop during my IB years.

Thanks to IB,

I can skip U0 and 

I only have 4 years to finish my degree

and I have declared my major!

Wow,

I really am trying so hard to cheer up myself.

(Refer previous post)

I make a lot of friends here,

well obviously at first I didn't

but after three weeks (OMG 3 WEEKS ALREADY?)

I felt more belonged here.

But still,

I like to go anywhere alone

and will just meet my friends once or twice, 

but that's okay!

I don't feel like a loner cause everyone is like that here :')

Do come to McGill University, my fellow Malaysians

who're doing IB and CPU.

Despite having to be in a place that's completely new to you

because they all speak french here

and I am learning that (thru duolingo, it helps trust me!),

good university with its own museum of dinosaurs and rocks,

you have me to guide you and help you out!

HAHA

But seriously, I would love to welcome more Malaysians

and I am willing to help you out!

It has dinosaurs inside!

Greetings from Montreal!

I just can't believe it that I am gonna write this entry

here in Montreal!

This is so not real!!

Well, to study abroad is definitely

my dream since forever,

but I don't quite sure why, tbh.

The only thing I want to do is to travel!

I love travelling so much it hurts

because I have not enough money.

I am in the middle of 

"should I spend on things I really wanna have back then?"

or

"should I save the money for a brighter future?"

or

"should I travel?"

I seriously don't mind spending time and money just to travel

but there's a very loud voice inside my head (and heart)

just telling me,

it will definitely be a great idea to travel with my whole family!

I am very very homesick

till I cry.

(Literally crying)

Because I want them to be here with me

(and not me being there with them, you know...)

Wait, I am gonna continue in just a minute.

*Next post*

New Video!

Old Montreal :D

Enjoy!

First Video From Canada!

I'm planning to do loads of videos,

this is the first trial 

so don't expect too much!

Vlog..? Hmm not sure tho, we'll see! Haha

But yeah I hope you enjoy this one :D

MSA Frosh Day 2

Remember I was telling you 

how I hardly got to make

a lot of friends like how I used to

in high school here,

well it's true until the MSA Frosh.

Frosh is like a welcoming event that

a faculty or a club will held annually 

to celebrate new students

and it's like a homecoming thingy for the returning students.

Faculty of engineering has its own frosh,

but I don't join that 

because of personal reasons.

So I join MSA frosh;

Muslim Students Association frosh.

I made thousands of friends here!!

(Exaggerating much but it's true!)

They're super cool people,

of same religious belief 

and they like Malaysia!!

I am really glad they're and 

Malaysia seems cooler now 

because I explained to some of them

about our scholarship programs.

Dude,

we have a lot of scholarship programs 

and there're almost 500 sponsored students or more

every year!

Malaysia is generous 

and we just have to prove our worth man!

Seriously,

I'm telling this to myself too!

Tuition fees are not cheap.

All we, the sponsored students just have to study and score well

and come back and do something for our nation.

Or migrate to other countries but the GDP thingy will 

kinda show how we make progress as a nation!

#adviceformyself

So yesterday we had laser tag!

Today we traveled to Old Port and 

the city is beautiful!

and we went up to Mont Royal and watched sunset there

and we got to perform our prayer there :)

We played the labyrinth maze too!

Me and Sofia (she's half Malaysian, born in Canada tho)

we didn't cheat at all and we're very satisfied!

So, enough with the talk!

Here's the pictures!

ps, I'm not in most of the pictures because I'm the girl behind the camera.

I'm in Canada :D

I am pretty busy with adjustment now and trust me, I miss Malaysia a lot!
Here's a funny thing about me.
I really wanted to study abroad, since forever then when I got this chance,
I took several days for adjustments.

But hey, I like it here. Well, at least I'm challenging myself
and people won't tease me anymore
(because apparently everyone thinks I'm the manja kid who cant stand on her own feet pfft)

But I am perfectly okay!
(okay I lied, I cried a lot...)

But I am okay, I just feel like it's really a long journey to get here.
Practically it's a 32-hour-journey, and it took a 13-year-struggle to get here.
I am left with another 4 years to make my ultimate goals come true, that is to
be an engineer!

Have I told you about this cool lady on my flight from toronto to Montreal?
Well she has degree in engineering and master in business and administration, that makes
her a consultant for an engineering company here.

Well, that's what I'm aiming for...

My residence is cool! My housemates are amazing.
But still it's not easy to make friends here especially
when they speak French, Quebec french not the France french haha

Anyhow, the international students here are super incredible!

Here's Wiam! She's from Morocco

I am at no.5!

It's not spring but the flowers deserve to have a picture with me!

Ain't the shades so coolz?!

Green and yet almost autumn-looking tree

Was on skype just now so I snapped my picture haha

Throwback to first day in McGill!

Can't believe I made it!!!!!!! Alhamdulillah!

Place des Arts

St Henry town

Rez Fest! 

The photobooth!

Australasians