My first week in USM...

Hey there!
Salam...

On the 3rd of July, I stepped foot into USM grounds for the first time ever!
It was a bit of an overwhelming experience, as it meant that I will be starting Uni life soon enough. But as soon as I stepped into my new dorm (better than the room I had in LMC) and got acquainted with my new roommate, Ameera (who's such a nice and cool KL gal!), all of my nerves were calmed. I even didn't get upset when my parents announced that they were going back to the hotel to sign out and wait for their flight to KL (to visit my cousin before going back to KK). I guess one hellistic year in LMC can mature a person a lot. :P

Orientation was alright...it was better than the orientation I had during my first week in LMC. Now THAT was hell...truly. In USM, they let us do most things by ourselves, except the whole gathering to go to events and stuff, which is really fine to me. I was so thankful that they let us pray by ourselves and not solat berjemaah, because during my orientation week in LMC, that part was what partly made the whole experience unbearable. Because you have to wait for other people and wake up and rush just so you don't lag behind everyone else. But, my Desasiswa, Tekun, which is located in the Restu, Saujana, Tekun (RST), living complex, is a gazillion miles away from the main campus buildings. You have to go through a connecting bridge as RST was built across a main public road.

Most of the events held during orientation week were located in DTSP, which is short for Dewan Tuanku Syed Putra. It's about 30-40 minute walk from RST, and as most of us new students bought new pairs of shoes to commemorate our entrance into this APEX Uni...most of us ended up with blistered heels...OUCH...so much for Scholl padded heel liners...what a waste of RM10.90.

The worst part of it is, my school, which is the School of Languages, Literacies and Transalation (SoLLaT), is located even further away from RST! It takes about nearly an hour if you take your own street time trekking. Damn the hill climb too. The only thing that kept me from falling on my butt was me thinking to myself, "If you keep this up, you'll have firmer butt and thighs Farhana." But I do hope the buses will start actively operating soon.

Oh yeah, for your information, I am taking the English for Professionals course (which is NOT TESL by the way), and I'm hoping to minor in Japanese Language. Wish me all the best!!!


Peace.

Shopper's Nightmare: Pig Skin Lining

Hey there!
Salam...

My family and I arrived at Penang yesterday afternoon, and soon after we had rested for a couple of hours, we went out to check out the nearest shopping venues. Penang Times Square is the latest mall closest to the hotel we were staying at, which is the Sunway Hotel, Georgetown. It's new, and the inside of the building is impressive, but unfortunately, probably due to the current economic recession, there are only very few stores opened. I won't dwell so much on PTS, although it does house a departmental store as its anchor store (it's called Sunshine City...ummmm....whaaa?), but the one bright spot inside the otherwise dull shopping complex is this little store (I don't know even if you could call it that, as it's not really housed inside a shopping lot, rather outside in the open near the escalators), where the goods on first impression look like they are from Thailand (and then confirmed once you hear the store owner's voice). To sum it up, this store is cheap and sells quite pretty items, especially if you're into bohemian style of clothing like I am.

So, after maybe nearly an hour inside PTS (my mum spent some time shopping inside Sunshine City), we went off to Komtar, which is the oldest and most prominent landmark and shopping mall in Penang (where I bought my long awaited earphones), and then after a quick sweep of things around Komtar, we took the connecting bridge to Prangin Mall.

This is where the nightmare begins...

Prangin Mall is pretty okay. It's like Centre Point in KK, Sabah. Congested, filled with the old and new, etc etc. There's a Parkson Grand and a Giant Supermarket. And also stores that sells shoes.

My mum had been shoe shopping ever since her newly bought Bata Comfit sandals broke shortly after we arrived in Penang, and we found this one store called Stefeno on the 3rd floor of Prangin Mall. She went and bought a pair of sandals at a price of RM29.00. A bargain, yeah, but it came at a price.

As soon as we came back from shopping, I took the initiative to check whether or not my mum had accidentally bought a pair of sandals with pigskin lining. I had already cautioned her earlier to make sure the shoes she bought did not have pig skin materials. So, I went and had a close look at the sandals. I inspected with my eyes the main material of which the sandals were made of, and upon being certain that it was not pigskin material, I took one in my hand and closely looked at the inside lining of the strap. At first, nothing seemed visible but upon closer inspection, lo and behold...

the dreaded three dots came into view...

I verified it with my father, and he checked on the net to compare the pattern we see inside the shoe to the ones found on the net. There was a match. Tsk...tsk...tsk... I don't really want to dwell on such things, but let me just say, to avoid such things to happen, muslim consumers must be aware that not all products are free of pigskin material, and likewise, it is even more crucial for store owners to be alert and sensitive and label something like this on their display case; "PIGSKIN LINING: NOT FOR MUSLIMS''. Because some of them do know, the shoe is made of pigskin, but don't bother to warn customers. Such was the case with Stefeno. After my mum returned the sandals, the store owner said there was SP labelled on the shoebox. SP=Skin Pig. But, what is the use of that knowledge if they don't share with customers? And to store owners, don't just assume what your customers' race and religion is just by looking at them. In our case, probably because my family looks Chinese and this is Penang, they just assumed we were non-muslims. Be sensitive and alert, this is Malaysia after all.

For those who have no idea on how to identify pigskin:

1. Ask and verify with the store whether or not they sell shoes with pigskin lining. If they do, ask them to pint to you which shoes are made of said material so that you can avoid them.

2. As an extra precaution and if you don't trust the store owners, look for three indented dots. They almost look like a pin or needle has punctured the surface of the material. Most are aligned in a triangle shape, but some, such as in my mum's case, the dots were aligned in a straight line.

Peace.

Bye Bye KK! Hiya Penang!

Hey!
Salam...
Today is my last day in KK before flying to Penang tomorrow morning via KL. I'm going to Penang to start my undergraduate studies in the English for Professionals course in University of Sexy Men, USM...(hahah, it actually stands for Universiti Sains Malaysia, but a family friend of ours, who's a local Penangan, called the university that, so I'm hoping there is some truth to it... ;p).
My journey will take the standard 3 years, and insyaALLAH, upon completion, I'd have the B.A Hons English for Professionals in my academic resume.

Registration will take place this Saturday, and I'm happy to say that an old friend of mine from Shah Alam will also be furthering her studies in USM! So, I'll have someone familiar to hang out with in a foreign environment. Plus, it turned out that we were both assigned to the same residential building or desasiswa, as USM calls it.

I hope I will do well!!!
AMIN...

Yeay! Finally!

Hey there!
Salam...
My 19th birthday was on the 25th of June, which was last Friday. I'm ecstatic to have turned 19, but a bit overwhelmed too, because this is going to be my last year as a teenager!...I'll be 20 next year! Adulthood is looming...
Anyways, for my 19th birthday, my papa bought me my own laptop!
To be precise, it's a netbook, a Dell Inspiron Mini 10...and it's in red! (I'd personally want a yellow one, but Dell doesn't make this line in yellow, so I settled with red instead...still cool :P).
It's got everything a netbook's supposed to have, and it came with Windows 7 Starter Edition as its OS. To be honest, Windows 7 Starter Edition's functions are very limited, you almost wished you could turn back to XP or upgrade to a better version of 7. For example, you can't even customise your own desktop background and watching DVDs is impossible as it doesn't read DVD components. But, thankfully, being a net surfer myself, I googled and surfed through some tech forums and found the solutions to the inadequacies that were bothering me a bit. So problem fixed for now. I'll just save more money so that I can upgrade the Starter to a better edition.

I lost my manicure and pedicure virginity today!

Hey!
Salam...

Today, it was a girls' day out!
My mum took myself and my two aunts to this beauty salon located in Putatan Point. It's called Tiara Kasih Beauty and Reflexology. My aunt wanted to get her mani-pedi done while she has time on her short stay in KK. So, my mum suggested that she take her to this place where the mani-pedi is really cheap. How cheap? RM20 for manicure, RM25 for pedicure. Wowwies!

Truth be told, I have never had any special spa treatment done to myself except the usual facials like...twice a year. And at first when I heard their conversation, I had no interest in joining because I didn't think my nails needed pampering. (What is the point of mani-pedi anyway??) But, my oh-so-generous aunt suggested that I join along. And she sounded so enthusiastic, it was infectious, so I agreed. Besides, I'll be leaving for Uni in a few weeks...what better time to do some pampering?

The surrounding environment of the small shop wasn't very inviting, but all doubts about the credibility of the establishment (hey, RM20? You gotta wonder about the quality) went pooft! as soon as their friendly and courteous workers work their magic beautician hands on you. After a long and relaxing and definitely worthwhile beauty trip, we came out thinking, "Gee, RM20 is way too cheap for services like that."So, if you have thoughts on giving your body and self a little gift, come and give this humble beauty salon a visit.

Peace.

PS: Oh, it wasn't such a bad experience. Except the pedicure kinda tickles. :P

WHAT THE?!: ESMOKE

Hey there!

Salam...

Last night, two of my aunts and one of my aunt's husband took out a cigarette. I was busy making tea for the guests but my eyes were caught when I saw him grounding the tip of the cigarette onto my father's kain sarung. I was momentarily frozen, as I thought my dad's leg would soon catch on fire (and the fact that I hate cigarette smoke)...but my aunt's husband just laughed it off, saying that he was holding an...
ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE!
WHAT THE?!

Apparently this breakthrough invention came as a way to help cigarette addicts who have trouble putting down their ciggies for good, to smoke healthier. How can healthier smoking be achieved, you say? Well, this gadget, called ESMOKE, is electrically charged using an electronic charger. Thus, the body of the cigarette does not contain nicotine (which induces the addiction) and tar (which causes the countless amounts of diseases in a smoker's body). In fact, ESMOKE is said to not have the negative effects of smoking, and smokers all over are warming up to this product as it actually TASTES like you're puffing on an actual cigarette. My aunt's husband said, you can even purchase ESMOKE in many different flavours-namely that of cigarette brands, such as Marlboro, Dunhill and whatever ciggie brands that exist out there.

AND...one of the advertisements for ESMOKE also promotes that with ESMOKE, a smoker can smoke anywhere...as the smoke that comes out as you exhale doesn't actually smell (yeah, this is actually true..he was puffing the cigarette in the living room and the room never smelled like ciggie smoke)...

ESMOKE is purchasable for RM290.00 for a box of 5 (if I'm not mistaken, sorry if I am), plus its own electronic charger. My uncle also said something about one charger that can be plugged in like a USB port...Where to purchase? My uncle said he bought his cigarette wonder at Giant Damansara.

Truthfully, I am not a smoker myself, and none in my immediate family is. Some people say, with this invention, more people will turn to smoking, and in a way, I sort of see it that way too. But if the rise of smokers can't be stopped, then we might as well give them cigarettes that are healthy to smoke with. Besides, most smokers out there smoke mainly for the taste, right?

Peace.

Top Eats: Warung Saji

Hey there!

Okay, I want to share with everyone my favourite local restaurant here in Kota Kinabalu. Or, more specifically, Putatan.

Warung Saji is absolutely a great place to go and eat-out with your family, friends and even by yourself. The first time you step foot into the open-area restaurant, which is actually part of a house, the first thing you'll notice is that the restaurant is not noisy at all. Unlike most local restaurants whose environment is noisy, (mostly contributed by their talking, laughing and gossiping waiter/waitresses), Warung Saji's employees are trained by their employer to not mingle with one another in front of their customers. So, even if a few of their waiters have finished serving tables and are waiting for their next orders, they would quietly stand at a corner and stay alert to any raised hands from the customers. For as long as I have been eating there with my family, I have never heard them engaging in loud and brash casual conversations. Furthermore, their service is excellent. The waiters are quick, efficient and sociable enough for an easy ordering experience. Oh, and they wear uniforms too, instead of the usual casual tee and jeans plus slippers outfit we see most of our local restaurants employees wear.

Here comes the most important part of eating at a restaurant; the food.
I have been told that the head chef of Warung Saji was trained at a MARA training centre for cooks (whatever that's called). That's why the food tastes wonderful and is presented equally that way too. You can order single meal orders such as a plate of rice with a serving of delicious lauk like lemon chicken, salad-cream fish, masak merah beef and an assortment of others. You can also order fried foods such as mee goreng, nasi goreng, kuey teow goreng, etc. If you're eating out with a party, you can order plates of rice and have multiple servings of lauk and vegetables too. My personal and my family's favourites (we usually order the group servings) are the lemon chicken, salad cream fish, assam laksa fish, flour-coated fried prawn and cuttlefish as well as mixed veggies. There are also other delish lauk like garlic chicken, and sweet and sour fish.

Talking about pricing. the price is about mid-range. A small serving of one lauk costs around RM6-8. My family consists of five people, and I'd say we usually spend around RM40-50 at each visit. Some people might think that it costs too much, but for me, to pay that price to dine in a relaxed, hygienic and hospitable environment, with courteous and efficient waiters, plus with delicious and mouth-watering dishes, Warung Saji is an absolute must for foodies to indulge in.

Environment: 8/10
Cleanliness: 8/10
Service:9/10
Food: 10/10
Price: 9/10

Overall: 8.8/10

Peace.