On a journey, running a race

Back Again

2012-01-13T19:42:00.002Z

So, I'm once again back in London after the Christmas break. The trip back was... LONG. I left the house in BU at 7.45am, and reached the flat in London at about 7pm UK time, which is equivalent to 3am the following day. That, people, is a very long time indeed to be travelling.

The flight itself was about 13 hours 45 minutes, which is the longest I've ever experienced. Then, immigration took about 45 minutes as well. After collecting luggage and all that, I had to take the tube back, which again took about 45 mins, then walked for 15 mins home from the station.

Anyways, It's about 7.50pm here and I've just eaten dinner. But it's 3.49am back in Malaysia, so I'm SUPER TIRED. Gonna quickly shower then sleep. Hehehe =D

Life

2011-09-30T13:54:00.002+01:00

Hmm.. it's been almost a week since I got here. I guess an update is essential to let people know I'm still alive. So, here it is =D

I'd like to share about my very interesting life and entertain people, but unfortunately, it's really mundane. Haha

This is what a typical day looks like:
Wake up in the morning (afternoon?)
Get lunch
Watch some tv series (usually white collar) while eating
Read manga
Play some of the games I always wanted to play but never had the time to =D
Scratch on the violin
Watch my flatmate die multiple times in a game on the ps3
Cook dinner
Eat dinner
Play cards with my other flatmate
Sleep

And there you have it. My life in a nutshell. At least, until classes start again.. Then it will be much much more different. Hehe. But for now, I'm enjoying life =D

Oh, by the way.. The weather here's gone mad. It's averaging 27 degrees in the daytime, and it's meant to be autumn already. Global warming. Tsk tsk tsk

Holidays

2011-07-01T00:05:00.003+01:00

Ahh.. the blessed holidays.. How superbly splendid it is to be able to sleep whenever you like for as long as you like. And also to play as much as you want.

Last night I was playing some game up to 4 something in the morning before going to sleep. I then woke up at 8 am because for some weird reason, there were people chainsawing off branches of the trees outside my room. So there was an INCESSANT whirring sound that just kept me awake. But once they were done I managed to go back to sleep until about 2pm. AWESOME.

But the best part about summer hols is the amazing length of the days. You can be outside enjoying the sun in a park up to 8pm. And if you somehow stay past 4am playing games, the sky's no longer black outside and the sun's risen.

All I'm saying is.. SUMMER IS AWESOME

Exams. And What Came Afterwards.

2011-06-24T23:42:00.003+01:00

Hi there!

It's been a long time since I last posted. I blame it on the fact that I had exams, and absolutely not because I was lazy and didn't feel like blogging. *ahem*

Anyways, exams are OVER! And so here is a nice little post recounting my glorious days of the summer HOLIDAYS which has just begun. OH YEAH

Well, technically, after the exams (ended last Friday), I still had a case study presentation on Tuesday (earlier this week), which meant that all of Monday was spent preparing for it and all of Tuesday actually presenting it. So nothing fun happened on those 2 days.

So that leaves us with.. Friday (last paper day), Saturday, Sunday comes afterwards, Wednesday, yesterday was Thursday, today it is Friday (correct at time of typing). My gosh, I'm so proud of myself. I know the days of the week! And I didn't need help from an autotuned teenager. GO ME.

So, what did I do right after the exams. Ugh, how can I put this subtly.. Erm.. Let me just say this. I partook of quite a bit of a certain organic chemical characterized by the presence of a hydroxyl group. Hah, that prevents any under-18s from knowing what I did =D In hindsight, that prevents any non-geeky science nerd to know either. What a fail... How bout this. I went to a place VERY similar to McLarens from a certain tv series. There, my intended audience will get that =D

Hmm.. after that, the following day, I somehow managed to wake up and LIVE. Not a bad start to a Saturday morning. And, like a true Imperial nerd, I played computer games. WHEEEEE =D Seriously, that's like the one thing I miss while in hardcore study mode before the exams.

And after I got bored of just playing games, I got a bunch of friends together today and we went and watched X-Men! Good grief, that show was quite cool. Okay, some parts were absolutely nonsensical and made no sense whatsoever, but the effects (albeit really fake CGI) and all those superpowers were really cool!! *enter geeky mode again*

Sigh.. So I'm now back at home, on a Friday night, in front of my computer. I might as well continue the game I've been playing. Oh, and for those interested, I'm playing 2 games right now: Portal 2 and Civilization 5. Quite cool games ;)

So, I've run out of things to blather on about. That's it for now! Back to conquering the world with my Roman army.

PS: One of my enemies in Civilization 5 is GANDHI himself. And believe me when I say he's not too peace-loving.

PPS: Reading back on this post made me cringe a little.. Was I always this retarded when blogging? Oh dear.. the pain I must've inflicted on you guys..

Connections

2011-03-17T23:46:00.004Z

This is quite interesting.. I was reading somebody's blog and about 30 minutes later, I ended up reading a Wikipedia article on Manglish. The two events were completely unrelated, I didn't search Manglish on Wikipedia because the blogger was writing in Manglish. I think to enlighten you guys about this I'll have to tell you each step of the chain of websites that led me from blog => manglish.

The first step is that I noticed the blog post I was reading had the word "beneficial" in it. I was quite sure that that word was spelt "benefitial", but I wasn't 100% sure, so I checked online. I then found out I was wrong, and it was indeed spelt "beneficial". This made me quite puzzled, because I had always thought that "benefitial" was the right spelling, and I rather pride myself on my spelling/grammar (I cringe when I see someone spell it grammer)...

So I checked further, hoping it was a UK/US spelling thing, like colour/color or sulphur/sulfur. Unfortunately, it seemed that the word was spelled "beneficial" whereever you are. Oh well, I admitted defeat and accepted the spelling.

I was then interested with this UK/US thing, but not on spelling. I then searched for "water", and how to pronouce it with a UK/US accent. This was because I noticed English people didn't like to pronouce the Ts in their words and always pronouced water as "wah-er", without pronouncing the T. So that led me on an internet search of the word water.

One interesting thing that caught my eye in the multiple ways to pronouce the word "water" was the "cot–caught merger" way. Because it looked interesting, I clicked it and it led me to the Wikipedia article on English vowels. Apparantly, some English accents pronounce caught very much like the word cot by shortening the "au" sound to a simple "o" as in cot.

I then scrolled down on the page and looked at more mergers like "bud-bird" and "psalm-sum". One thing that caught (cot?) my eye was that the "psalm-sum" merger was very common in Singaporean English. I then went to the Singlish site to look at what it said and then I wanted to see what Wikipedia had to say about Manglish. Obviously, I searched that and read the whole damn thing. My gosh, it was so funny and true that I just laughed out loud in my room like a mad hyena.

Anyways, to summarize, I got from blog > Manglish via the following:
1. blog (www.*******.blogspot.com) <= to protect the blogger's privacy ;)
2. beneficial (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/beneficial)
3. water (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/water)
4. cot-caught merger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English_low_back_vowels#Cot-caught_merger)
5. Singlish (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singaporean_English)
6. Manglish (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manglish)

Interesting, eh? =D

Friday

2011-03-17T14:34:00.002Z

There's this new song out on the internet called "Friday", sung by a 13-year old called Rebecca Black. The reason I checked it out is because there has been a LOT of jokes directed at Rebecca about not being able to decide which seat of the car she should sit in. And, I discovered, it was due to the appallingly dreadful lyrics of the said song.. xD

Experts say that the lyrics were "a stroke of genius". A part of the lyrics is as follows:

Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah)
Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah)
Fun, fun, fun, fun

And the bridge is as follows:

Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday
Today i-is Friday, Friday (Partyin’)
We-we-we so excited
We so excited
We gonna have a ball today

Tomorrow is Saturday
And Sunday comes after...wards
I don’t want this weekend to end

Amazing lyrics, don't you think? You know what, I seriously think she's a Justine Beiber wannabe. I mean, she's like a mini-Beiber right there. Checklist of Beiberness:
1. Bad lyrics
2. Music video(s) at that age
3. Random black guy rapping in the middle of the song
4. Annoyingly repetitive tune
5. Dance moves that make you cringe

Combinations

2011-03-14T00:48:00.004Z

Following up from my previous post of a weird cocktail combination, here's a recipe for tasty snacks that might seem horribly weird but are actually pretty good to eat. In my opinion, anyway... which might be biased since I came up with the recipes.

The core principle in my weird recipes is that SALTY + SWEET = GOOD IDEA
I know, this might cause some people to shrivel in disgust and shudder at the very thought, but hear me out. A lot of the wonderful food we have is salty + sweet. Think of ba gua, roti boom, and roti bakar.

So, without further ado, here are the recipes:
1. Bak hu (aka pork floss) + Nutella + bread
This was an experiment I did when I discovered my hidden (even from myself) stash of bak hu. I felt it was boring having it alone with bread, so I adventurously added Nutella to it. SUCCESS. Nutella + bread has been a long-time favourite of mine, and the addition of bak hu simply makes it even better. Unfortunately, at the time of this post, my stash of bak hu has been completely consumed.

2. Bacon + kaya (aka coconut jam) + toasted bread
It is important that the bread used is TOASTED. I don't know why, but the texture of toasted bread just multiplied the tastiness level of this snack. I'm not sure about the rest of you people, but I personally don't really like the ends of the bread loaf. What I'm referring to is the ends of the loaf where it's brown on one side instead of white on both sides. However, when toasted, those two ends are the best-tasting. Don't really know why... It just is.
PS: I bought this jar of kaya in Chinatown here, and in order to enlighten to the Ang Mohs what "KAYA" is, they've stuck a label on it, calling it "COCONUT JAM". To be honest, that sounds absolutely disgusting... but I guess it's better than the alternative, "COCONUT AND EGG PASTE".

Anyways, that's pretty much the only weird combos I've been eating. Everything else is pretty much standard... Hope you guys actually try out these recipes. Trust me, they WORK. Cheerio! =D

Cocktail

2011-03-14T00:44:00.004Z

An intersting cocktail I personally came up with is a mixture of Smirnoff vodka, carbonated orange juice, aka Tango and Budweiser beer. I call it the.... weird-ass cocktail, which somehow happens to taste good. Interesting combination =p

PS: YOu wOUdl tyPe lik3e tHIS igf yOU had A CUap full of AThat wE1rd COascktaisL.

PPS: Note to all concerned parties, I am NOT becoming or has become an alcoholic. I was simply experimenting with some of the spirits available in my kitchen and I am and have always been fully in control of my senses.

PPPS: Although I said "carbonated orange juice", I am doubtful whether or not there actually is orange juice in it. It's probably just loads of flavouring.. Oh well, it tastes like orange juice anyways.

Zebra Crossing

2011-03-12T19:27:00.002Z

One awesome thing here that Malaysia can never ever compete with is the zebra crossings. The cars actually RESPECT the zebra crossings here. Back home, if you were to cross a road at a zebra crossing, it just gives drivers a reason to practice their punching skills on their car horn. Here, on the other hand, the drivers will slow down even from quite a distance away if they see you even BEGIN to cross the road on a crossing.

It's really quite nice to have a Ferrari, Lamborghini or a Maserati stop to let you pass, then zoom off with their beeaauuuttiifuull engine sounds. You then look back, and think to yourself "THAT car had to stop for me."

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAA

I'm sorry, this is one of the many odd things that really amuse me =D

Funny

2011-03-07T22:39:00.002Z

I was walking home just now and I thought of something funny. I then said to myself, I have to put this in my blog. Now, I am at home, and for the life of me, I can't remember what I wanted to post about. Oh well, maybe when I remember it I'll post it.

=(

F1 Racing

2011-02-22T21:10:00.002Z

You know Top Gear magazine? The one a certain smooth-headed man is the editor of? Well, it is based on the English TV Series Top Gear, shown by the BBC. I recently downloaded 6 seasons of Top Gear and am thoroughly enjoying myself watching it.

In one episode, one of the presenters, Richard Hammond tried driving an F1 car. He said "How hard could it be?" I can relate to that, because come on, those guys are paid insane money to drive around the same track about 50 times, and the money spent on the cars they drive is just.... slightly over the top.

However, during the show, Richard Hammond first tried out a baby version, with one fifth the power of the F1 car. He then progresses on to its bigger brother, before finally trying out the Renault F1 car that was used in the proper race.

One thing to note is that it is NOT as easy as it looks. It's not just about driving fast. You imagine yourself driving down the LDP at 130km/h, swerving in and out of lanes, and you think you're a good driver. How hard can F1 be?

Point 1: F1 cars can reach speeds of over 300km/h

Point 2: They can accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in 1.7 seconds

Point 3: An F1 track is not just all straight, like a highway. It has MANY bends

Point 4: At speeds of 300 km/h, there hardly is any time to think when you reach a bend. If you have to tell yourself to brake when you see the bend, it's probably too late

Point 5: The brakes require heat to properly work, so the driver needs to really speed up to get the wheels hot. If you don't go fast enough, the brakes don't work, and you just spin out of control. However, if you do go fast enough, everything happens so fast that you might just not brake in time.

I quote Richard Hammond "My thinking time, that was my problem. ... I thought I left it too late to brake, then I realised I hadn't. But because I was thinking that, the car was already round the corner, I was in the wrong gear, and I span. I can't think fast enough, more than anything else."

And bear in mind, Richard Hammond is not just some chap on the television that just talks about cars. He test drives them as well. He once raced a fighter jet with a Bugatti Veyron, the fastest road-legal car in the world. Later on, in a more recent series, he also drove a Vampire Dragster, which is a jet-powered car that holds the British land speed record. Richard drove the Vampire up to 505 km/h, but in his 7th run, the front right tyre failed and he crashed. But the point is, he is not some amateur newbie, but rather someone who has driven some serious cars at even more serious speeds.

So, F1 racing.. How hard can it be?

Surface Roughness

2011-02-15T18:18:00.004Z

The lab experiment I did last week was about surface roughness. Basically, we measured the roughness of 6 different samples using 2 different methods. However, this is the first time any of us has heard of the term "surface roughness", so we really don't know what it's all about. Remember the sample lab report I posted?

Abstract - Summary of whole experiment. That isn't so bad.

Introduction - Background info, like applications and theory. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT SURFACE ROUGHNESS IS ALL ABOUT. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WRITE 3/4 OF A PAGE ON SOMETHING I DONT KNOW??? The information given on the lab script is close to useless as well, and there are practically no books on "surface roughness". That's how obscure this topic is.

Experimental - That one went fine. I just explained what I did in the lab.

Results - My goodness, this one is a PAIN IN THE REAR. Remember I said we had to use 2 methods? The results for the first method is fairly simple, just a table. But the second method..... there are 2 graphs per sample, and the software we have to use is just not cooperative. It's some blasted high-tech software that looks really cool but is a PAIN IN THE REAR to use. Also, I have NO IDEA whatsoever what the numbers and graphs mean, which means that I don't know what to do with them.

Discussion - This is where I'm meant to discuss my results. Which is a joke, basically. I don't even understand the graphs I have, and I have to DISCUSS it. Awesome. Just AWESOME.

Conclusion - I HAVE NO FRIGGIN IDEA WHAT THIS LAB IS ALL ABOUT. SATISFIED???

Scam

2011-02-10T22:40:00.002Z

I get loads of scam emails, mostly about some dude giving me millions of dollars. Usually the scam involves some dead long lost relative with me being the only living relative. Or, it could be some foreigner trying to transfer money into a local bank and the only way he can do that is by giving it to me. I'm not really sure how the logic works, but it must work on some people, or else they wouldn't waste their time sending these scam emails.

Anyways, here's a totally new and unique scam that I recieved. I was so so so so so so so amused by it I thought I just HAD to share it with you guys. So, here it is. It might be a bit long, but it's worth reading xD

From Mrs.Sarah Diallo Najao and Son Johnson

My Beloved in the Lord,

My name is Mrs.Sarah Diallo Najao. a nationality of Kuwait. I am married to late Mr.JAMES DIALLO NAJAO who worked with Kuwait embassy in Ivory Coast for nine years before he died in the year Octorber 2003. We were married for twenty years with a child. He died after an illness that lasted for four days. Please I know this may come to you by supprise, because you did not know me, I needed your assistance that was why I write you through divine direction, it is my desire of going into relationship with you.

Before his death we were both born again Christians.When my late husband was alive we deposited the sum of (Ten Million U.S.Dollars) with one of good banks here in Cote d'Ivoire Presently, this money is still with the bank. Recently my Doctor told me that I would not last for the next three months due to my cancer problem,Though what disturbs me most is my stroke. Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to church or better still a Christian individual that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct here in.I want a person or church that will use this fund to churches,orphanages, research centres and widows propagating the word of God and to ensure that the house of God is maintained.

The Bible made us to understand that blessed is the hand that giveth. I took this decision because I have a child that will inherit this money but my son can not carry out this work only because i and my late husband decide to use some of the money to work for God and live some for our son to have a better live.our son is just 17year old now and been grow up in africa, he have low manterity and my husband's relatives are not Christians and I don't want my family hard earned money to be misused by unbelievers,I don't want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly manner.Hence the reason for taking this bold decision. I am not afraid of death hence I know that I am going to be in the bosom of the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14 says that the lord will fight my case and I shall hold my peace.

I will like you to understand that my contact to you is a divine direction from God , I don't want any of my husband family relatives to recieve this money but I know that With God all things are possible. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the Finance/bank. I will also issue you a letter of authority that will empower you as the new beneficiary of this fund. I want you and the church to always pray for me because the lord is my shepherd. My happiness is that I live a life of a worthy Christian.Whoever that wants to serve the Lord must serve him in spirit and truth,Please always be prayerful all through your life. Any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing for a church or Christian individual for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated here and Please I will like you to contact me Immediately you receive this mail so that I will instruct the Bank to transfer this fund into your account for me and my Son to start coming over there in your country this year so we need this transaction very urgent in the name of our Lord because of the Political Crisis here in Ivory Coast.

Remain blessed in the name of the Lord.

Mrs.Sarah Diallo Najao and Son Johnson

My Telephone Number is +22545838759

BOOYAH!!!

2011-02-07T22:37:00.002Z

For those unfamiliar with the term, Urban Dictionary defined the word "booyah" as:
"an exclamatory statement, often said when someone is extremely overjoyed. Often people do a hand movement simultaneously as they say 'Booyah'(clinching fist and thrusting their elbow downward vertically)"
Ref: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=booyah

Anyways, BOOOOOOYAAAAAHHH!!!!

I just opened my college email, and there was an email there regarding a Maths test I recently had. Not sure if I blogged about it, though. I think I did.. Did I?

ANYWAYS, the email said:

Hia,

Many of you have already been informed of the mark in the mathematics test either by their personal tutor or by asking Fiona.

Just to make sure that nobody has been left out, I am sending this email.

You mark in the mathematics test was: 93 / 100

Best wishes

Luc

Several key points to note:
1. I GOT A FRIGGIN 93!!!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
2. The person who sent the email was the head of second year, Luc Vandeperre. Luc. As in "Look", or how some people would say "Luke". Cool name.
3. And the head of second year starts his email with "Hia". I'm gonna spout out some adjectives here, and choose whichever you like. Feel free to pick more than one.
- cool
- weird
- informal
- friendly
- creepy
- youngster wannabe
- genuine
- down-to-earth

So, that was my quota for random posts fulfilled. Back to creme caramel baileys with milk.. MMMMmmmmmmmm..... Ever had liquid happiness run down your throat? Nah, me neither

Lab Report

2011-02-02T08:59:00.003Z

No, no, this isn't a rant about how I hate lab reports or how much of my time they take up. Instead this is a sample lab report (albeit a short one) to show you guys what a lab report is all about. Additionally, I will use cool scientific terminology that I normally use in lab reports to sound as if I know more than I actually do on the topic, to gain more marks. Laymen terms will be provided in parantheses (brackets). The experiment I performed was about food, plastics, and a microwave oven. Although I didn't need to tell you that because it will be in the abstract, which is a summary of the whole report..

Abstract (summary of whole experiment)
This experiment was performed to determine the behaviour of polymers (aka plastic) when subjected to a steady stream of electromagnetic waves with a frequency of 2.45 GHz in the form of standing waves within a large mechanical structure (aka microwave oven). It was found that the sample failed after 100 seconds, and had deformed heavily (the plastic became cacated and twisted up into some strange otherworldy shape).

Introduction (background information)
I was feeling hungry at 9am in the morning, and so I decided to eat a pastry puff filled with cheese and bacon that I bought several days ago at a discounted price. 2 days ago, to be exact, and the price was discounted because the best before date was the day itself. 2 days ago. Which, by my calendar, means it's still edible up to 2 days from today.

So, I took the puff out of the fridge and wanted to microwave it. I had 2 options:
1. Place the puff on a plate and then heat it up.
2. Simply shove the whole thing, with its plastic packaging in the microwave.
The second option had merit because it would save me the trouble of cleaning the plate. Although, as a materials scientist, I was well aware that there are dipole moments in the plastic that will be affected by the microwave too (no idea how to write this in laymen's terms, sorry). But I thought it'd be fun, so I did that.

Experimental (How I performed the experiment, duh)
Erm, I placed the food with all its packaging into the oven. DUH

Results (The results of the experiment, obviously)
The food was piping hot, as expected. The plastic, however, was not hot, but had deformed into a strange shape that the English language fails me. I require some alien language to describe its exact shape. Maybe the term "gompugaga" from the Oozofil language might be appropriate here.

Discussion (The part where I explain the results)
The polymer (plastic) had dipole moments within its microstructure (again, dunno how to describe dipole moments in laymen's terms). As the microwave passed through the sample, the dipole bonds within the sample absorbed the energy from the wave, energizing them. Thus, they vibrate at a greater amplitude and frequency than normal, creating thermal energy (heat) that causes a rise in temperature. However, the high temperature caused an endothermic reaction (a chemical reaction that absorbs hear), resulting in the degradation (breakdown) of the microstructure, absorbing heat in the process. Therefore, the result is a disintegrated sample with no apparant temperature change.

Conclusion (Kinda self-explanatory, like results and experimental)
It can be concluded that plastics should not be placed in the microwave oven.

References (I need to cite sources so that I cannot be accused of plagiarism)
1. Oozofil Dictionary.
2. Jeron Hatt (2012). How To Destroy Plastics. 16th ed. Oozofilla: Stryx
FYI: The format is Author (Year of publication). Title of book. Edition. Publisher: Location

And there you have it, a personalised lab report from me to you.

PS: Due to the plastic being so weirdly deformed, I had to use a plate anyway. But it was still fun =)

Offers

2011-02-01T17:18:00.003Z

I was walking back from uni one day with a friend, and since we were walking together, I took a slightly different route since it was nearer to his flat. It's about the same distance anyway, since it's a pair of parallel roads. Maybe a diagram might help..

So, my uni is at the top, and my flat is at the bottom of the map. There're many more roads in between but this is just a rough schematic. I'm an engineer, not a cartographer. So, the route I normally take is shown in dashed lines (I tried to make the dashes the same length and equally spaced, but I got tired of trying halfway through), and the route I took instead is shown in red. The interesting thing about this alternative route is that it is nearer to the large Sainsburys, equivalent to the Tescos in Mutiara Damansara. Okay, maybe a bit smaller.. and with only 1 floor. But it's the biggest in the area.

And so, I decided to go to Sainsburys because I needed 2 items quite urgently:
1. A bottle of creme caramel Baileys. I've tried original, mint chocolate and hazelnut. All I'm missing is creme caramel and coffee. And the only place I know that has it is the big Sainsburys.
2. A large bottle/jar of Nutella. Bread + Nutella is my favorite snack because it's easy, cheap and tasty. However, the mini-Sainsburys 5 mins away from my flat only sells the small bottle/jar. And they run out approximately every 1.5 loaves of bread.

So, with the 2 items in mind, I went shopping in Sainsburys. However, I think Sainsburys have a psychic manipulator or their marketing team is just really good. Or I'm just a sucker for offers. I had to pass by several aisles before reaching the Baileys, and I picked up the following:
1. Cadbury cake bars - 2 for 2 pounds
2. Pringles - half price (1 pound after discount)
3. Bulmers Cider - 3 for 4 pounds
And sucker like I was (personally, I believe there's a psychic manipulator. I'm determined to find it and save the world from Sainsburys' global domination), I bought them all.

So, I got 2 cake bars, 3 tubes of pringles, 3 bottles of cider, and my Baileys. Among everything I bought, the only item that wasn't discounted was the Baileys. But anyways, everything else was pretty cheap so I didn't really mind (even though I didn't plan on buying all those junk). Then I left Sainsburys, and headed home, feeling very happy and proud of myself. Until I was about halfway home, when I realised I forgot to buy Nutella.

Awesome

2011-01-24T08:25:00.002Z

I get up at 7.30am like I always do, then snooze until 7.50 like I always do, to get ready for the 9am lecture that I always have, then found out that the 9am lecture was cancelled. You know the feeling when that happens? It's called AWESOME.

Awesome (adj
Pronounced: "aw-suhm"
Definition: That amazing feeling you get when you find out that a class has been cancelled and you can waste more time in your room.
Synonyms: Excellent, super, phenomenal, fantastic, terrific, wicked, bang-up, way cool, sweet [1]

References:
1. en.wiktionary.org/wiki/awesome

Adrenalin

2011-01-22T22:16:00.003Z

Dear all,

I just realised I haven't posted anything short and random lately. All my posts were long essays that nobody (probably) ever reads to the end, and I don't blame you =p

But anyways, I was washing the plates just now and a plate came to life and almost jumped off my hands onto the floor. Luckily, my super fast reflexes caught the rogue plate and no damage was caused. I had a 2-second adrenalin rush though. It felt all tingly and weird, and I felt like I could beat a cheetah in a race. And oh, I really feel like going bungee jumping now. Would any of you disapprove?

Before I continue with an essay about adrenalin (trust me, I could), I'll just sign off here. =D

Without wax,
-J3tHr0-

Random

2011-01-16T12:13:00.004Z

What is randomness? To me, randomness is something that isn't affected by any outside factor. The outcome can simply be anything, irrelevent of other factors. Something that is random cannot be predicted, because the outcome is purely RANDOM, that is, not affected by anything.

In that case, is anything in the world, or even the universe, truly random? A coin flip is not random. The outcome depends on the size of the coin, the strength in which it is flipped, air movement, weight distribution of the coin, etc.

Another worse case of randomness is the human mind. List down 10 numbers from 1-10 randomly. Chances are that you have omitted some numbers, or that you favour other numbers. Usually, the first number that comes to mind will the same number if I asked you again 5 months from now. Also, there's a lower probability that you'll choose 1 or 10. The human mind likes to be in the middle, take average values, and play safe. If you did choose 1 or 10, it might be that you realised you were omitting it, and then felt guilty and included it to the list. Or you might just be the minority if you picked it randomly.

Back to scientific randomness. If a random event is one that is unaffected by other factors and cannot be predicted, is anything in the universe truly random? Assuming I knew all the factors mentioned above regarding the coin toss, I could accurately calculate the outcome every single time and be right. Other examples are like poker or roulette. If I knew the initial position of the cards, and all the details of the shuffling, I could predict all the final positions of the cards. In roulette, if I knew the ball speed, coefficient of restitution (how bouncy it is), wind movement, speed of the wheel, the exact shape of the ball (it can't be PERFECTLY spherical) etc, I could predict where it's going to land.
PS: I use gambling examples because they're arguably the most "random" example I can think of. I do not gamble =D

Simon Pierrre-Laplace was a mathematician/astronomer who came up with this idea of a theoretical being that knew the states of every particle in the universe. With that knowledge, that being would then have omniscience and could predict the future indefinitely. He did not name this being, but later it became known to the scientific community as Laplace's demon. "Demon" is used here was used in its abstract sense, rather than implying the evil context of the word "demon". I guess "Laplace's Fairy" doesn't sound all that scientific and cool =p Additionally, imagine that this demon can change the state of any particle he wants at any time he wants. He could then control the future, by being able to manipulate each particle, making him omnipotent.
PS: particle here doesn't mean dust particles, but particle is a general term for atoms, photons, subatomic particles etc. It's just every little smallest thing present in the universe ;)

So then, let's extend this concept to human behaviour. Our actions are determined by our muscles' behaviour, which is then determined by electrical impulses sent from our brain, and these impulses are affected by what we percieve from our 5 senses. And what affects our senses? The outside world, which can be predicted by our dear Laplace's demon.

If anyone is still reading up to this point, are you getting a reaction similar to "WHOA, hold on!! What exactly is this guy saying??"? That's because if you ARE still reading, my last paragraph was a blatant statement that our actions are not random, can be predicted, and are out of our control. Now, bear in mind that I'm just thinking and theoretizing. I do not believe any of this to be the hard truth, but I'm simply voicing the possibility. But then, based on my whole theory above, we are indeed simply a result of chain reactions in the universe and we can't control our lives any more than you can control the outcome of a car collision.

Some people (me included) might then argue back, saying that the human mind is capable of making its own decisions and that it's not just a thing that follows the laws of physics. That may or may not be true, but we don't know enough of the human brain to be sure. Who knows, our brain could just be like a computer programme, just much more complicated.

So, that was just an interesting train of thought I had. Not sure how I started it though, but I got carried away until the point of human behaviour. Oh well =D

Oh, another thing I was implicitly trying to imply... I hope I'm not being blasphemous or something. Gotta word this right.. =S
Remember Laplace's demon, the being that knew everything, could predict everything, and could manipulate everything. Could he knowingly/unknowingly be describing God?

And on that bombshell, it's now time to end. Thank you so much for reading. See you next time! Good day.

Lemons

2011-01-14T01:45:00.002Z

You know the saying "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade"? Basically, it's just a nice way of saying, if you face problems in life, turn them to your advantage instead.

Oh, and that reminds me.. it's reeeeaaaaalllyyyy annoying to me when people on facebook have horrible grammar. I know I'm not an English teacher or anything but come on, some proper English would be nice.

Lesson 1: IT'S VS ITS
-IT'S is a short way of writing IT IS
-ITS is a short way of writing "that which belongs to it"
Example: IT'S a hot day today.
Oh, that horse is limping. Its leg is injured.

Lesson 2: THEY'RE VS THEIR
-THEY'RE is a short way of writing THEY ARE
-THEIR is a short way of writing "that which belongs to them"
Example: The circus is packing up. They're moving to Penang next. [I dunno why I chose Penang... I guess I miss char kuey teow =S]
Those guys must be drunk. Their breath reeks of alcohol.

Lesson 3: I can't think of any more, so that's it for now..

ANYWAYS, back to lemons.. I have to say that that statement is quite motivational. Unless, of course, you don't get lemons... =D

STORY OF MY LIFE:
Usually, I wake up at 7.20 in the morning every day. Well, that's what my alarm clock is set to. I usually snooze until 7.47, which is exactly 27 minutes after 7.20. That also happens to be 9 x 3 minutes after 7.20. That is because everytime I hit the snooze button, my phone lets me sleep for another 9 minutes. How nice of him.

So, I get up at around 7.50-ish (NOTE: -ish is a suffix that the people here use that means approximately.. so 7.50-ish would mean around 7.50) and then I get ready for classes at 9. It takes me at least 20 minutes to walk there so I have to leave by 7.35. That gives me over 3o mins to shower etc and maybe briefly read up on the day's lectures, check my email and facebook. Then I walk to college.

Lectures start at 9 am every day, unless a lecture's cancelled for some weird unknown reason. That being said, one lecture has been cancelled every day except one throughout this week. This must be a new record made, since lectures are hardly cancelled. Anyways, lectures start at 9, and end at 12pm latest. If I'm lucky, I will only have lectures until 11, depending on the timetable. From Monday to Wednesday, I'll then be free for the rest of the day. On Thursdays, I have programming courses from 2-5 and lab sessions from 2-5 on Fridays. In betweeen 12 and 2, sometimes a group of us will just head to the computer room and play games.

The game we normally play is Age of Empires 2. It's an RTS game which involves you building a base, gathering resources, and creating an army using those resources. You then use that army to defeat your opponent. The amazing thing about this game is that it brings people together. I know, some of you are skeptical, but hear me out. Before we played this game, I didn't know 80% of the white people in my course. After we started playing, there's this group of around 8 people who became close friends =D Also, these friends are from all around the world, including France, India, Malaysia and Spain. AOE2 tightens international bonds.

Oh, I forgot about lunch. Usually, we have 5-10 minutes break in between lectures because some lecturers are really considerate and ends the lecture 5-10 minutes to the hour (9.50, 10.50 etc) so that we can grab some coffee or snacks. I usually then go upstairs to the RSM cafe (RSM = Royal School of Mines, which is the building my department is in. And I'm in the Department of Materials, for those who don't know) and buy a baguette. It's 2quid (2 pounds) for a baguette filled with chicken, bacon, mayo, tomatoes, and believe it or not, LETTUCE. A VERY VERY satisfying meal at a decent price.

So, I think it's pretty obvious that my life is really quite relaxed and enjoyable. Oh, I forgot one thing. I had a progress test on Tuesday. It was basically a Maths test on EVERYTHING we learnt in the first term before the Christmas break. Thankfully, it was only Maths and not all the subjects. The topics we were tested on were Vector Calculus, Fourier Methods and Tensors. To be honest, I only studied for the test around 4-5 days before the test. So, I wasn't 100% prepared, but I was hoping for a borderline 1st class (equivalent of A grade). However, when the test came, it was much easier than I expected. The complicated stuff which I decided were not worth spending time on didn't come out in the test, and some stuff which my friend explained to me just the day before carried a huge weight in the test. So, overall, I am pretty confident in getting that 1st, hopefully scoring 90%+. Really thankful for that =D

Anyways, it's 2.20 in the morning now, and I should go to bed. There's only one lecture tomorrow, from 9-10, but I have labs at 2. Shouldn't be too bad though, I'm actually kinda looking forward to it. So, there's the story of my life, with lots of fun and play, and some study when it's needed =D Hope you guys didn't find it too boring to read a whole essay up there. I know I tend to write lengthy posts, but that's just the way I am. I write essays, not short stories =D

New Year!!

2011-01-04T04:05:00.002Z

Due to some concerns on the rather morbid first post of the new year, I am now making amends! HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!! It is 4 days past the new year, but who cares? It's still the start of 2011!! And that's 1 year closer to 2012. Hahahaha just kidding =D

Anyways, just some cheerful stuff to share...

Earlier today, dinnertime, specifically, I cooked.... BAKUTEH!! =D And I think it was quite a success. The meat was a bit tough though, maybe because they were in the soup for too long. Note to self: Put the meat when the soup's halfway done. But that was just the pork chops. The meatballs were quite excellent, if I do say so myself. I made them from minced pork and random sauces and corn starch. Rolled them into balls and voila, tasty meatballs. Other ingredients in the soup were mushrooms, garlic, salt, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, A1 Bak Kut Teh packets and lastly, believe it or not, CABBAGE.

Going back in time, earlier this week, New Year's Eve, specifically, I went to my friend's house for dinner. He cooked Thai green curry and before you ask, he's a Singaporean who happens to like green curry. We had a good meal, then at 12, we watched the new year fireworks live online. Yes, it sounds pathetic, but we reached his house at around 7.30, and we would have to reach Westminster at around 8.30 latest if we wanted a good spot to watch the fireworks from. And since we were food-loving people, we decided not to rush our dinner and watch the fireworks online instead.

The fireworks were... awesome =D My whole life, I've seen fireworks and frankly, they kinda bore me. I remember when I was living in the BU6 house, I'd be able to see fireworks from Mutiara Damansara or 1Utama from my window or just outside the house. But those fireworks, as I said, were pretty boring. The London New Year fireworks were qutie something else. They fired it from around the London Eye, and some were fired FROM the London Eye. So there'd be rings of fire radiating from the huge wheel. Quite cool.

Hmm.. what other fun stuff happened...? Can't think of any... Oh well, might as well put down a list of stuff I watched over the holidays. This will be quite amusing.

TV Series
1. Almost a whole season of House
2. About half a season of Numb3rs
3. All of season 6 How I Met Your Mother
4. All of Sherlock (3x 1.5hour-long episodes BBC1 special)
5. A few episodes of Top Gear

Anime
1. All of K-On
2. All of Baka Test
3. Halfway through Trigun

Movies
1. Spirited Away
2. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
3. The Matrix Revolutions
4. Disney's The Aristocats
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Extended Edition

Not a bad list, eh? xD

Oh, and for those who are curious as to what London looks like, watch Sherlock. It's a story of Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective, but it is set in modern day London. An EXCELLENT show. It includes several London trademarks, such as the black minicab, red double-decker bus, billboards in Picadilly Circus and flats such as the one I stay in. The concept of flats is really hard to explain, but watching Sherlock can show what it actually is. Oh, in case you didn't know, there are no "houses" in London like the ones in Malaysia.

So, that wraps up my bright and happy New Year post. Cheers!

That's all for now, folks!

Media

2011-01-03T03:36:00.003Z

On facebook, two of my friends expressed their condolences to a mutual friend who passed away. She was one year younger than I am, and was apparantly sick for some time. It is indeed tragic that a young life has been taken so soon. However, I am ashamed to say that I did not feel as sympathatic as I should be.

I didn't know her at all, just that we had 2 mutual friends on facebook, but still, shouldn't we all feel some remorse over a death, whether we know them or not? But then again, if we were to do that, we'd be feeling remorseful every moment of the day because every second, somewhere out there, someone dies.

In this modern world, with the news and tv programs, we are somewhat hardened to death. We hear news of 10 people dying in a bus crash, 30 people dying in a bomb blast, and we say "oh no, what a terrible thing". Minutes after that, we go about doing what we were doing and the "horrible" incident is simply in the past.

I wonder, if we lived 100 years ago, when there were no tv or newspapers, and we were somehow informed that 10 people died of malaria or something. Would we be more remorseful back then? I guess, if you don't hear much news of death, the news of 10 people dying would be quite a shock. Or would it?

Since it is now the holidays, I have been watching a lot of downloaded tv series. One series in particular is House. Patients screaming in pain, having cardiac arrest, dying. After watching a bit, they don't bother me so much any more. Has House numbed me to the sufferings of life? Or do I just treat it as a fictional story with actors? I wonder..

For a moment, think of someone you love dearly. Then, imagine attending that person's funeral. If you're immediately disgusted by the thought, good for you. If you start imagining it then break off because it's just wrong to do so, good for you. If you can steel yourself and play the whole funeral in your head till the end, I do hope that there's a kind heart behind the nerves of steel.

Fortunately for myself, I cut off the vision seconds after imagining the funeral. I can at least convice myself that the media has not robbed me of my humanity. I wish that you guys are in the same boat as I am, or else some counselling might be in order.

Labs

2010-12-16T21:44:00.002Z

I've been wanting to post about this for quite some time, but I never seem to manage to get to it. Anyway, this post is about the labs I had this term.

I would have probably gave the general impression that labs are a negative thing, causing pain and suffering and occassionally lack of sleep. However, the labs this term were actually quite fantastic. Of all the labs I did, only 2 required a full lab report like what we did for every lab last year. Instead of a full report, the majority of the labs simply required to fill in a worksheet with questions related to the labs. Or, at most, we had to write a 2 page info sheet on the topic, which is still less then "a full lab report".

And even fantastic-er still, the results I got were amazing. I'm really thankful that my lab reports were returned with marks between 72.5-98%. Can you believe it?? 98 PERCENT. I was... ESTATIC when I saw that. It seems that the lab demonstrators (basically PhD students who conduct the lab and mark the reports) were really generous this year. Many people got 90 and above for various labs.

Anyways, I have one last lab tomorrow on the last day of term, which is quite annoying, actually.. Last day of term, and you have a lab when some lucky people start their holidays after lectures. Tomorrow's lab will be on phase transformations, where we will have to polish steel samples and etch them (dip them in chemicals to make the grains in the sample visible), then view them under a microscope. Quite cool, really, if you're into steels.

Test

2010-12-16T21:30:00.004Z

Hello! It's been quite a while since I posted on my blog. I had this test few days back which I spent a LOT of time studying for. And I'm not sure if I've mentioned this in earlier posts, but that test was for MSE 206/7? : Process Principles =D That was the cheery subject that nobody properly understood until 30 mins before the test itself.

The test was okay.. There were 4 questions, number 1 having 20 multiple choice sub-questions. We then had to choose 2 out of the remaining 3 questions, which were long structured questions with several parts each. The multiple choice bit was alright, since the questions were quite repetitive from previous years. The structured questions, on the other hand....

*BBZzzzwwwwpp* That was the rewind button of my life, taking us back to the night before the test, where everyone was frantically studying and discussing on msn. We looked at the structured questions from previous years and compiled a list of possible questions. For those interested, the questions were based on the following:
1. Pressure differences in a Venturi meter
2. Relaxation method to determine an object's heat distribution
3. Error function/Integral profile method to determine an object's heat distribution
4. Laminar flow of a fluid down an inclined plane

And since the notes were fairly complicated, I could only answer questions 2 and 3 and expect full marks. I could only complete certain parts of the other questions 1 and 4. Also, it was noted that question 3 came out in the test every single time since 3 years ago. So it was safe to assume that it would come out again. I then mentioned to my friends that the worst-case scenario would be for questions 1, 3 and 4 to come out. And guess what, it did! =D

Anyway, I didn't do too bad, because it's not that I can't answer it, but rather I can't answer it as well as the other questions. However, while thinking over the quetsion in my extra time in the test (I finished about 30 minutes early), I figured out the solution to a part of the question I couldn't answer. So really, I did better than I expected. Hehehehe

Oh, and the test happened to be on my birthday.. And I recall having an end-of-term test last year on my birthday too.. The crystallography test... Hmm, is this a coincidence or the department's evil scheme to mess with me? I wonder =D

MSE 206 Part 2

2010-11-30T23:52:00.004Z

This is a continuation to my rant on MSE 206: Process Principles. My first post can be found HERE.

I'm not even sure what module this is anymore. The timetable says MSE 206, but he uploads all his stuff on MSE 207 and entitles all his documents as MSE 207: blabla. Well, to be honest, all that doesn't really bother me anymore. It's like after finding out that your food is poisoned, it doesn't really matter if you find a dead fly in it.

Anyways, I'm doing the second question sheet now. Well, taking a short break from it, actually. I've been working for around 2 hours solid and I'm stuck on question 1(c). Had a cup of Baileys but didn't help destress. So, ranting is my only outlet.

His notes are just so.. #$%^&*()(&^$#!!!!! Seriously, he goes from one step to another, but in between he simply adds weird terms that don't belong there. And I have to figure out where the HECK it comes from.

You know what, pictures say a thousand words. Let me show you instead

There you have it. Let me point out how PATHETIC his notes are.
1. Note that the alignment is slightly skewed. This is because they are simply scanned from his 20-year-old transpancies.
2. There are MISTAKES in them, and he simply squiggles over them
3. The FONT isn't even standardized. Look at the "Q" in the last 2 lines. OBVIOUSLY different. I know this isn't important, but I'm ranting. Insignificant things matter
4. His DEFINITION of terms are atrocious. I have to keep looking back to find out what R, L, d, a etc are. The pic only shows one controversial term "a", but there are LOTS more.

GAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I feel like taking some Absinthe shots now. Baileys is too mild. I need something to knock me out. ARGH. Oh, and for those who might not know Absinthe, perhaps you know it by another name, the GREEN FAIRY.

Or I could steal my flatemate's Carlsberg... There are 4 cans... Hmmm....

Oh great, I just realised it's snowing outside too. Fantastic. Add more depressing frigid weather. Just fantastic. I'm actually considering that 4 cans now.

Weather

2010-11-26T08:08:00.002Z

Time to unpack the winter clothing!! Heavy winter jacket, gloves, scarves, the lot! Temperatures have been averaging 0 degrees throughout the day and weather forecasts keep reporting "chance of snow" but so far, everything's just grey, not white =)

Anyways, walks to uni are still bearable. No collapsing in the middle of the road with fingers chewed off by frostbite. You need to go to Russia for that =D

Hmm.. Snow... Not sure if I'm looking forward to that or not.. Hmmmmmmmmmmm....

Dislocations

2010-11-22T01:45:00.002Z

When an edge dislocation interacts with another edge dislocation with perpendicular burger's vectors, one of the dislocations will form a jog. However, if the burger's vectors of the 2 dislocations are perpendicular, 2 jogs will be formed, one on each interacting dislocation.

I'm craving for Ramly burger now..

BORED

2010-11-22T00:36:00.001Z

I can't sleep. And I'm bored. Very bored. So bored that I'm even considering studying. Yes, I shall try that. Hopefully it will be less boring. Or maybe just so boring that I fall asleep. Good idea. That's what I'll do. Tata

Mad

2010-11-12T00:00:00.007Z

What the HECK is that???

And after another round of hardcore studying, doing lab report, and finishing up my lovely MSE 206 work sheet, I feel like I'm becoming like the lady in the video.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, several of my friends posted a video of another girl singing the same song on facebook. It looked as if the girl was mentally ill, so I found the above video on youtube. Apparantly it's some weird-ass Chinese opera thingy. But the girl on the facebook video added in some antics of her own which makes me doubt her sanity. Then again, I question my own sanity for watching both videos completely.

Here's the facebook video if anyone's interested. A word of caution, you might lose some of your sanity.

Click here for the facebook video.

Good and bad

2010-11-10T21:12:00.002Z

I just watched an episode of House where an inmate facing the death sentence fell sick and Dr.House ended up successfully diagnosing the problem and curing it. However, the dianosis was that he had a tumor growing on top of his adrenal gland, causing it to randomly spit out doses of adrenalin, causing rage attacks.

This made me think a bit. I mean, the inmate was a murderer who killed 4 people. However, he had a medical condition out of his control that caused him to have uncontrollable rage. Towards the end of the episode, House said that removing the tumour removed the possibility of future rage attacks, but it does not absolve the inmate of past ones. He also said judging the inmate not guilty on account of his sickness would make it unfair to other people suffering the same condition but managed to control their rage.

Which brings me to another point. How can someone "control" themselves? The inmate in the story grew up without a father, and his mother died of drug overdose. He was obviously not brought up with moral values drilled into him. He would have no reason to control his rage because, why should he? Someone made him angry, they should pay. Is it his fault that he couldn't control himself and ended up murdering someone?

On the other hand, take another person suffering the same condition. However, this person grew up in a loving family, went to school, etc. He is a model citizen, able to distinguish between good and bad. Suddenly, the rage attack hits. But because of his upbringing, he controlled himself and did not harm anyone. Now, is it any credit to him that he did not do anything wrong? Some people would say yes, he could contain his rage, so he deserves some credit.

But consider this, both characters are the same when they were first born, and they both had the same condition. The only difference is the life they went through as children. Why should the first character be given the death penalty whereas the second be given praise and congratulations? Isn't it the environment that shapes a person?

Food for thought =)

MSE 206

2010-11-08T21:06:00.002Z

Hello, I am aware that I haven't updated my blog in a while. That is due to the fact that my life has been fairly routine and there hasn't been anything interesting to blog about. Yes, what a boring life I lead. =D

Anyways, this post is about one of the modules in my course, which is MSE 206: Materials Engineering Process Principles. Sounds cool? Sounds complicated? No idea what it is all about? Me neither.

The lecturer for this subject happens to be an old, OLD man. Who uses old-school styles, which include OHP transparencies (back from the day when there was no such thing as powerpoint o.O) and lulling people to sleep in lectures. His lectures are always in 2-hour slots.

In the first lecture, he went and explained some stuff for 45 minutes. He talked about some industrial processes, blah blah blah.. After that 45 minutes, he gave us a break, saying that he will start the real lecture after the break. That meant that all he was talking about for 45 minutes was IRRELEVENT to the course and was simply some preamble and introduction. The whole class was like.. WTF???? (If you don't know what that means, let's keep it that way =D)

So, after the break, he went on blabbering bout SOMETHING, but noone had ANY idea what he was talking about. Towards the end, one guy raised his hand and asked a question, "So, what are we really studying here?" To have a guy ask such a question is insulting to the lecturer, to say the least. However, it is unfortunately a very valid and legitimate question. After 2 hours of talking, we had NO idea whatsoever what this subject was all about. I realised about a week later that the main point was about heat flow. I can honestly say, that I would have guessed something totally different than heat flow. Seriously.

And what's worse, is that his lecture slides are HORRIBLE. Remember my department's new policy of not printing out lecture slides for students? So we had to download the slides on our own and print them. This amazing lecturer had his files in a folder entitled MSE 209: Personal Development. Some guy found it there while randomly looking through folders. To make matters worse, his files had wrong page numbers and some pages were upside down, and some simply had blank pages in between.

Needless to say, his performance in lectures was appaling. Noone could understand a thing he's saying. And because he's hard of hearing (come on, the man's gonna retire next year), he can't even hear the questions we ask him. Going to his lectures were just a waste of time. Really.

So, we had this homework assignment on this subject. The question sheet is 1 page long and has 4 questions. At first glance, it looks pretty normal. Until we attempted to answer it.

Point 1: Nothing can be learnt from his lectures
Point 2: His notes are SO disorganized
Point 3: The questions are ambiguous, to say the least
Point 4: The questions are HEAVILY mathematics based, which is on a level even other departments never even heard about. Seriously, we're MATERIAL ENGINEERS, not MATHEMATICIANS or APPLIED PHYSICISISTS. My friend asked his friend in chemical engineering, who basically study heat flow a lot more than we do, and that guy had no idea how to answer the questions. It's THAT high level.

Due to the 4 points mentioned above, I spent almost 3 hours in the library earlier today. And the results? I finished half the sheet. 2 questions. And that's just the first 2. You know, in exams or exercises, the easiest questions always come first? Yeah, it took me 3 SOLID hours doing the FIRST two. Joy to the world~

So, I'm now back in my flat. I'm gonna make myself a nice strong cup of Baileys and watch Numb3rs or House. I'm not touching that bleeping question sheet anymore today. And there's 2 hours of his lectures tomorrow. HAH! I'm sleeping in. And before you tell me I should attend lectures, let me assure you that it is NOT WORTH ATTENDING. Imagine yourself walking into a seminar on astrophysics or some other subject you've never even heard before. Add in the fact that the lecturer speaks a different language. And oh, also add in the fact that other people not paying attention causes you not to be able to hear a thing. Which wouldn't help anyway.

So there, I'm done ranting. My Baileys await me =)

I Wish

2010-10-25T08:23:00.003+01:00

When I wake up, I wish I could go back to sleep on my nice soft warm comfy bed, especially under the nice soft warm duvet. But I can't.

After taking a shower, I don't want to leave the nice steamy hot shower. I wish I could just stay there and soak in all the heat. But I can't.

After getting ready to leave, I don't want to walk in the horrible windy cold roads. I wish I could just instantly appear in the classroom. But I can't.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo T.T

COLD

2010-10-22T07:38:00.002+01:00

I can't believe it.. It's only October and it's starting to get really cold. ARGGHHH I hate the weather here. Seriously. But at least it's not so gloomy.. There's blue sky sometimes as I walk to uni. BUT STILL, it's COLD. Blue sky doesn't help much when your face turns blue as well. Oh, and I think it's worth mentioning that I walk 20 mins to get to uni, kinda shorter than last year. Whee! But I don't have beautiful parks to walk through any more..

Anyway, I'm in my room wearing 3 layers of clothes cos for some reason, I don't wanna turn on the heater. Oh, I just came up with a reason. You see, if I'm nice and warm in here, I'll freeze my fingers and toes off once I go out. So I should get accustomed to the cold now so I can walk and not turn into an icicle. Haha, good reason, eh? *pats myself on the back*

PS: IT'S COLD. and i can't imagine how it'll be in a few months. oh no..

Printing

2010-10-17T11:59:00.002+01:00

Last year, the lecturers would distribute printed notes or lecture handouts at the start of every lecture. However, this has changed this year. Instead, we are given extra printing credit and are required to print the notes ourselves. Apparantly, the department loves the environment so much that it wants to reduce paper consumption. This is a valid point, because some people who take the notes last year simply chucked them aside and never looked at them again.

UNFORTUNATELY, that new policy came with a whole new load of problems:
1) There is ALWAYS something wrong with the printer in the department computer lab. Twice it ran out of paper, and once there was not enough black ink. We are required to print our own notes, but the department can't even supply adequate amounts of paper and ink. Come on, if you tell the whole department (almost 80 people) to print their own notes, you should be ready to provide sufficient supplies for at least half of them.

2) There are some people who can't even be bothered to print on both sides of the paper, hence using up twice as much paper. When the department printed out notes for us, they would be sure to use both sides. Also, some people who are unfamiliar with the printing system would make errors and print 1 page per sheet, when it could be shrunk to 2 or 4 pages a sheet, depending on the size of the text. Realising they made a mistake, they would then proceed to print AGAIN, hoping to get it right. This uses up a LOT of paper too.

And I should state the fact that our lecture notes aren't like 10 pages. Take MSE 204 for example. There are 2 modules in it, and we're currently on the first. There is a booklet of notes to study for lectures 1-4, plus powerpoint slides used in the lectures, plus additional lecture notes, plus tutorial questions. The booklet has 49 pages, and each powerpoint presentation has at least 10 slides per lecture, and additional notes could range up to 1-5 for each lecture. And at the end of this set of lectures, there are 3 pages of tutorial questions.

So, for 4 lectures (2 weeks) of only 1 module of 1 subject, there is up to 100 pages to print. Try and imagine the total amount of stuff we have to print for ALL lectures in ALL modules of ALL subjects. Fantastic. Do you think the printer can cope with all that?

We are so gonna complain to the department about this ridiculous new policy.

Boredom

2010-10-11T23:16:00.004+01:00

What is boredom? Is it the absence of fun? If that is so, what then, is fun? The absence of boredom?

Well, to say that boredom is the absence of fun isn't entirely correct. I mean, there are plenty of people doing plenty of activities that aren't fun at all. However, that doesn't make them bored. Take you, for example. You're reading this post, which is in all honesty, not the most fun thing to read. But are you bored? Probably not. That's because if you are bored, you wouldn't be continuing to read this. Unless you were bored in the first place, of course, and reading this helps alleviate your boredom. Wait.. that would mean reading this is fun to you. Oh, you sad, twisted soul. My apologies, I should not ridicule your interests, strange as they may be. And, I digress.

As I was saying, people everywhere perform tasks which are neither fun nor boring. Eating is one such task. Putting aside special circumstances like you're having a special meal that's something you've never had before, I daresay eating will not be considered as "fun" to most. I mean, have you heard of someone saying, "There, I've finished my assignments. What shall I do now? I know, I'll eat! Oh, what fun!" You don't hear that, do you? Unless, of course, you have weird acquaintances.. Ah, do forgive me again. Your choice of friends is entirely up to you, and I should not meddle in it. And again, I digress.

So, there are activities which are neither fun nor boring, which disproves the statement that boredom is the absence of fun. In that case, a new definition must be made. One hypothesis put forward is that boredom is the state of mental inactivity in which the person wishes for something more interesting to do. Wait, that definition seems to be already taken... For an action known as STUDYING.

Pursuing this hypothesis (mind you, this isn't proven yet, it's only a HYPOTHESIS), we can safely say that boredom = studying. However, I recall from a certain email that said study = no fail. That email went on to prove that study = fail, which contradicts itself. I mean, seriously.. whoever came up with that must have skipped math classes his entire life.

So, here's our working equations:
Boredom = Study(ing) - 1
Study = No fail - 2

Substituting eq 2 into eq 1, we get
Boredom = No fail(ing)

It now seems that no failing equates to boredom. Failing in what, you may ask. A valid question, but since the savant who created the chain email failed to specify what kind of failure, I assume it's academic failure, noting the relevence to studying. If that's the case, why then do teachers celebrate when there are no failures in their class? They seem to be more.. joyous and exhilirated, not bored in any way. I highly doubt they are putting on an act because, come on, they're teachers, not actors. Therefore, it can be concluded that the hypothesis is flawed and that boredom = No fail(ing) is incorrect.

So then, it seems that boredom is not equal to no failing. But wait! There's a double negative there. If we rephrase the sentence, we get "Boredom is equal to failing". Oh dear, that seems quite grim to me. And that reminded me of myself falling asleep in this morning's lecture (read previous post for more information).
Fact: people fall asleep when they're bored in lectures.
Fact: statistics say that people who sleep in lectures fail their exams
Combination of the 2 facts: Statistics say that people who are bored in lectures fail their exams.

It seems that we've finally found a definition of boredom that works. Hence, I now declare that BOREDOM IS EQUAL TO FAILING. Good luck, all you students out there. Make sure you fill your life 24 hours with games and music and entertainment lest you feel bored. But wait.. wont that cause you not to study and fail? ARRGGHHH!!! THE PARADOX!!

Life is a continuously looping piece of string, with knots and kinks within. Time may go in one direction, but in the end, you end up at the beginning of the loop where you started. Why do you think history repeats itself? Hence, everything is a loop. Paradoxes and contradictions are part of life. Do not reject it and try to undo the knots of life, but rather embrace it. For if you don't, you will end up spending energy undoing the knot only to end up at the same place. Though, incidentally, since everything is a loop, you get back the energy you used.. So it's not technically wasted.. Hmm, interesting thought.

So, there we have it. A simple task to define boredom ended up as a greater understanding of life. I'd throw quantum mechanics and string theory in it, but I fear I will get disapproval of my efforts. Anyway, this comes to show that in anything you do, you can easily end up somewhere totally different and unintended. This is caused by the kinks in the string of life I mentioned earlier. So be on the lookout, for who knows? Maybe one day life will just yank us away to somewhere we can only dream of.

PS: I would honestly like to know if ANYONE actually read ALL of this crap without skipping anything. You probably have nothing better to do or this actually interests you. Whichever it is, I hope you had fun xD I'm done being bored now, and gonna sleep soon. Hahaha. Good night, world. Or this part of the world, anyway =.= Some delusional people live 7-8 hours ahead. Weirdos -.-

First day

2010-10-11T20:25:00.002+01:00

Today was the first day of classes. Hooray... And I am proud/ashamed (honestly I'm not sure which xD) to say that I slept in one of the lectures. WAHAHAHAHAHHAHA

The lecture I slept in was Maths, but I had a TOTALLY valid reason to fall asleep. That reason was because the lecturer gave a review/revision lecture on last year's syllabus, which happened to be a revision on A-level stuff. So, there I was in the classroom ready to absorb knowledge, but I was hammered in the head with vector stuff I learnt, what, 3 years ago? Can you blame me for falling asleep..?

But besides that, everything else was fine. Played 4 games of pool with a friend of mine and won all of them. WAHHAHAA. Guess I was on form =D

SERIOUSLY

2010-10-09T23:46:00.002+01:00

choices, choices.. seriously, making serious choices is a serious pain. and serious choices involving serious money is really quite serious. SERIOUSLY

Okay, a little bit of background info. For those who know me well, I've developed a serious interest in photography. Photography involving DSLRs, to be exact. And they cost money. Well, Des has been so kind as to give me his 10D camera. However, I need to buy my own lens, which brings me to a little side story...

Before, I was deciding (yes, more choices, but this one's settled =D) as to which lens I'd buy. And I've confirmed that I'm really more into portrait shots compared to landscapes. A post on my facebook newsfeed solved it all for me. It was a simple hello greeting from my friend from Sunway (Alvls) to another of my friends from WMS (school). They happen to both be in the same uni now. ANYWAY, the little thumbnail of that friend from WMS showing his profile pic was what affirmed my decision. It was a picture I took of him while we were going to Redang last summer. And then I realised that 2 other friends of mine also used a shot I took as their profile pic. Quite flattering, actually =D And then I realised that I reaaaallllyy prefer taking portraits, which means I'm getting the 50mm f1.4 lens. =D

So, back to the unresolved choices. I can either:
1) Just use the 10D Des gave me, but I'll have to wait till Easter to get it, cos I left it back home. Cos I was too loaded to carry a DSLR with me. I'd probably bash it all over the bus/train/plane/wall.

2) Buy a 7D. It's my first choice of camera if I were to buy one on my own. BUT, do I buy it here, or back home...? It's quite a bit more expensive to buy it here.. almost RM1,000 more.

3) Buy a 5D MARK 2. MWAHAHAHAHAA. It's da uber cool camera Des's using now. It's also uber expensive, but... while looking at prices for fun, I found an offer on a 2nd hand (description was "Used - like new") 5Dmark2 for about RM4140, give and take based on exchange rate. A firsthand model bought back home will cost around RM 7200, so it's really a lot cheaper. And that is even cheaper than a brand new 7D, whether I buy that here or back home. Downside? It's 2nd hand... But it does say "LIKE NEW"... And the seller has 97% positive reviews over the past 12 months. (4,722 total ratings)

SO, I either wait till Easter to be able to finally own a proper camera, in which I will use the 10D + lens I buy back home.

OR

I buy the 7D + lens HERE (lens is about the same price, it's only the camera that costs more)

OR

I buy the 5D Mark 2 + lens HERE (GREAT value for money, except the SECONDHAND part..)

SO HOWWW?????? ARGHHHH =(

Oh, just a quick point of interest. This is the first time in my life that I want the conversion rate to drop even more. I usually want it to go up to make a profit.. Interesting turn of events =D

I'm back!

2010-10-02T15:54:00.002+01:00

Yup, the new academic year is starting, and I'm back here again. I'm kinda looking forward to it, with new people coming in as well as living outside with my friends. Oh, I cooked my first meal yesterday. Cooking for 2 is soooooooooo much easier/cheaper/convenient. That meal was quite delicious, if I do say so myself. What I did was:
1) cook some rice in the rice coker
2) chop up little chicken bits and marinated them in sesame oil, light sauce, and oyster sauce
3) when the rice was done, i cooked the chicken in a pan
4) pour the rice in, with some eggs
5) add a bit of random cooking stuff
6) EAT =D

So yeah, settling into my new flat quite nicely. I've got 2 single beds joined together, making it some double bed. But you know what this means.. 2 beds = visitors welcome ;)

Oh, and the flight here was... THE MOST UNEVENTFUL FLIGHT EVER. =D I slept about 70% of the time, which was pure bliss. I scrolled through the list of movies and they were dead boring. I didn't watch a SINGLE movie the whole flight. Not bad, eh? =p I did watch some tv series, though. 2 episodes of Simpsons, an episode of 2 and a half men, how I met your mother and some others I may have forgotten. And due to my fantastic planning, I experienced next to no jet-lag upon arrival. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

So, I've got no internet in my flat yet, getting that only next week. I'm in the college comp lab now, actually. Hehehe. I'll probably post more when I get my internet. Tata for now~

Time

2010-07-15T04:02:00.002+01:00

What is the most important/valuable commodity in the world now? Oil? That's probably the common consensus. However, in my opinion, time is priceless. Okay, it's not technically not a commodity, but if somehow time could be traded, oil will be worthless in comparison.

Every second we spend in life can never be retrieved. Sure, that's a no-brainer statement that even a kid could state. But do you realise the huge implications of it? Every second you spend reminiscing old memories cannot be repeated. Every minute wasted on arguments over petty issues cannot be undone. Every hour forgotten when you're in a drunken stupor cannot be taken back. Every day/week/month/year sulking and moping about a relationship gone wrong equals that amount of time you could have spent building better ones.

Every second we spend in life is precious. We can either spend it on loved ones and do something productive with our lives, or we can waste it all away screwing up your life.

Time. The only thing that can be spent but not bought. The only thing that is powerful enough to destroy empires, level mountains, drain up oceans. One of the many things we take for granted.

If you knew you only had 10 minutes more of your life, what would you do?

MSE 104: Microstructure and Properties of Materials

2010-06-10T18:58:00.003+01:00

This paper was... a huge pain =.= The easy topics were made difficult and the difficult topics, well, they're just as diffficult as ever. There's this lecturer called Fraser Wigley, and he's a very good lecturer. I was sure I knew everything there was to know and I did all the past year papers successfully. Since his question are very repititive and he has a narrow spectrum of questions, I was looking forward to scoring at least 15/20 in his question.

However, this year, he set a question that was nothing like what he asked in the previous year papers. He combined a bit of each topic, choosing the especially hard-to-remember bits. So, I decided to just skip that question. There goes my chance of a 15/20 question.

Before I go on, perhaps I should mention that we get a choice of 5 out of 8 questions. So I didn't lose 20 marks by not answering FW's question.

Next in the list is polymers. The lecturer's name is Sandrine Heutz. Those who know my university application process intimately would know that she was the one who called me and offered me a place here =D Anyway, her lecture course was on polymers, and having done A-Level chemistry, it's quite easy for me. And I kinda like the subject, so again, I expected to score at least 15/20.

During the course of her lectures, she did one very complicated and thorough derivation on the board. That was because she assumed prior knowledge, which means she expected us to at least understand and follow the steps. Unfortunately, 80% of us didn't, and that derivation came up in the exam, carrying around 10 marks.

So, that left me with very few options. I ended up choosing a question I knew very little about, but could hope to guess most of it. And after the exam, I checked and found out that I guessed right. MWAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAA

So, anyway, that's all I have to say about today's exam. Conservative estimate of my score: 60%

MSE 102: Materials Chemistry

2010-06-08T16:17:00.003+01:00

Woohoo, just came out of the exam hall. I'm in the computer lab now, and the rest of the people are still in the exam hall continuing the exam. Yes, I'm here blogging when the exam is still going on. The paper is from 2 to 5pm and it's now... 4.18 pm =D I'll let you figure that one out.

Okay, for the blur, I left the exam hall early.. because I finished it in 2 hours.. and I didn't want to twiddle my thumbs during the last 1 hour. When someone finishes a paper quickly, it's either of the 2 scenarios below:
1) That person hasn't a clue how to answer the paper and just guesses what he can. Guesswork doesn't take too much time, and he finishes the paper quickly. No matter how much time he has, he can't think of answers he doesn't know. So, he leaves the exam hall and cries.
2) That person pretty much knew all the answers and just razed through the paper. Since he knows most of the answers he doesn't need to think much before writing them down. So, he finishes the paper quickly and leaves.

So, my face is dry and I DID start this post with "Woohoo", so you can safely bet that I'm in the second category =D

Conservative estimate on score: 75%

MSE 101: Mathematics and Computing

2010-06-07T23:10:00.002+01:00

Had my first exam today.. Maths. Yeah, the title says maths and comp but the comp module was completed previously. No exam for that, just coursework. Anyways, for those in the dark, I'm starting my week of mental torture and testing. Yes, I'm having my finals. Today I had my first paper, and I'll have more on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday,

Today's paper was not too bad.. I'm very thankful to have done Further Maths during my A-Levels. Seriously, it helps A HUGE LOT. Most of the stuff was revision and a bit more. The paper consisted of Section A (6 questions) and Section B (choose 4 out of 7). And we have 3 hours to finish it all. Trust me, 3 hours sound like a lot, but time flies when you're stuck on a question. Many of my friends couldn't finish in time. And there's also the occasional savant who finishes in 2 hours =.= Man, I envy that guy.

During the paper, there was this question on regression lines. It's basically plotting a line of best fit.. During A-Levels i utterly DETESTED that topic. It's the driest, most boring topic, which involves a most amount of calculated work. Continuously punching in numbers for over 5 minutes can be incredibly tiresome. However.. it happened to be the easiest question in the whole paper, so I grinned a little to myself during the exam. The one topic I hated the most turned out to be the easiest. Oh, the irony of it all.

Hm.. I've got nothing much to say about the rest of the paper.. I think a conservative estimate on my score would be around 60-65%. Don't think I can get a first, though.

Oh, a first is short for First Class Honours, which is basically an A-grade. Next comes a 2-1 and 2-2. Not sure if there's a third or anything below that... I'm quite fuzzy on the details =.=

Anyway, gonna go sleep soon. Tomorrow's paper is chemistry, with biology in it. Oh joy. Hooray.

Ancient Songs

2010-05-31T23:00:00.005+01:00

The used-to-be top viewed video on YouTube was the "Evolution of Dance". It shows this guy dancing to songs over the ages. And hearing old old REALLY OLD songs got me searching YouTube for more ancient songs. Quite nostalgic =p

Playlist for the night:
1) Cotton Eye Joe (took me a bit of effort to find the song title)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEMVwZRJ-UQ

2) Blue (Da Ba Dee) - headbanging blue aliens are soooo funny to watch =D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68ugkg9RePc

3) Witch Doctor - Ooh Ee Ooh Ah Ah Ting Tang Walla Walla Bing Bang
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYgOlqinH7A

4) Dr. Bombay - Rice and Curry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTiMV1Vv1Tw

5) YMCA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS9OO0S5w2k

6) Grease - Summer Nights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpJUrt0O7uY

7) Grease - Grease Lightning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkPzo3RogRU

8) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H5uWRjFsGc

9) NSYNC - Bye Bye Bye
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ2jjGP2His

10) S Club 7 - Bring It All Back
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=38097177303

11) S Club 7 - Never Had A Dream Come True
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQcYGx_jzlU

12) Backstreet Boys - I Want It That Way
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DwkMDMUgg8

13) Westlife - Uptown Girl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3j0fLAXsSc

14) Westlife - Seasons In The Sun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf31kyAb3ZI

15) Westlife - My Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGoUTwIWxis

I think, of all the videos (not the song itself, I mean the music video), my favourite is definitely Uptown Girl. A bunch of rich jerks waltz into a burger joint, flaunt their wealth, and got served in the face when the girl goes out with the workers there instead xD and the girl is pweettyy!!!~
By the way, do some of the rich guys act elsewhere? 2 of them are AWFULLY familiar.

Well, it looks like my childhood music was dominated by NSYNC, S Club 7, Backstreet Boys and Westlife (slightly later on) =D nice music.. good times, good times. Hehehee

And, may I add that Grease was beyond my time, but some of the songs were used in school concerts. And, that reminds me... the earlist school concert I can ever remember. Back in Sri Cempaka... they used a song then and I absolutely LOVED IT...
16) BACKSTREET BOYS - LARGER THAN LIFE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uewJN__RykY (song actually starts at around 0.50)

All you people can't you see, can't you see? How your love's affecting our realityyyy.... and that make you LARGER THAN LIFE *headbang like the aliens in Blue*

I noticed.. they don't make good music like that any more =( now, we have 15 year-olds singing about heartbreaks. Yes, I'm talking about Justine Bieber. I don't like her. Not at all. Hmph

Oh, and I forgot Lady Gaga. Weird songs, weird outfits, weird dance routines. WEIRD.

Study

2010-05-23T18:04:00.000+01:00

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SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM

Studying is stressful. Especially if you don't know what's important and what's merely additional information. Because you don't know that, you just have to study everything, to be safe. And that's stressful.

There's this module in my course. MSE 104 - Microstructure and Properties of Materials. A submodule in it is Soft Materials. This module is meant to teach us about the microstructure and properties of the materials, as said in the module name. HOWEVER, in this particular submodule called Soft Materials, the dear lecturer gave us pages and pages of Mathematical explanations about models relating Soft Materials. The thing is, it's not a maths module. It's more like a qualitative module, dealing with how hard/tough/elastic/etc a material is. So, is all that maths stuff relevant?? I don't know. And it takes up a good 1/3 of the notes. No kidding.

STRESS

PS: The maths is not hard, but involves lots of complicated steps which are a PAIN to remember. A PAIN, I tell you, a royal PAIN

Forgot Something

2010-05-20T20:58:00.000+01:00

I just came back from college, and then I went out again to Somerfields to do some shopping. However, I forgot to bring something with me so I had to come back. I'm gonna go out AGAIN in a while. Just for fun, I'll give a box of chocolates to the first person who can guess what I forgot to bring with me that made me come back =D

PS: I don't give away lousy cheap chocolates, rest assured =p

So, guess away in the comment box! And if you don't put your real name, I can't give you your prize if you win. Hehehe.

Enough

2010-05-18T13:49:00.001+01:00

Ok, I'm done with spamming my on blog. Further "short posts" will just be sad and pathetic. Back to studying now. Whee~

Ditto

2010-05-18T13:48:00.000+01:00

Ditto the previous post

Mission to shorten average post length: SUCCESS

Short Post

2010-05-18T13:47:00.000+01:00

Since I realised my recent posts have been quite long and included a lot of rambling, here's a simple post that is short, sweet and rambling-less.

Also, it serves to shorten the average length of my posts.

Cheers,
J3tHr0 =D

Story of My Life

2010-05-18T13:21:00.001+01:00

Slept last night at 8.30 pm. I meant to take a 2-hour nap until 10.30 then study until around midnight. I did wake up at 10.30, snoozed until 11.30, then decided to simply sleep on until the next morning. =D

I woke up this morning at 6.30 and snoozed until 7.00. So I got roughly 10 and 1/2 hours' sleep. Not bad, eh? Hehehe. So, I woke up, did random misc stuff until 9.30. There's a lecture scheduled at 10 so I left my room at around 9.40.
Note: It takes me 30-40 mins to get to college by bus, 35 mins to stroll leisurely through Hyde Park, and 20 mins to run frantically through Hyde Park.

As I was saying, I left my room at 9.40 to the BUS STOP. Yes, the bus stop, which would mean I would arrive in college at 10.10 EARLIEST. Why am I being tardy? Let me explain. The lecture at 10 is to be delivered by someone I shall not name but will refer to in the future as ASD.

Some interesting facts about ASD:
1) Works out scientific and mathematical proofs on the board, does it wrong, makes a mistake somewhere, does another thing wrong, and somehow manages to get at the final answer correctly. Note, the final answer is correct, but the method was absolute junk. Even highschoolers can tell that ASD made a mistake.

2) Sent out an email last Wednesday night regarding a lecture the following morning that it will be postponed from 10 to 11 am. We (the students) arrived at 11, waited until 11.30, and then recieved a message saying the lecture was cancelled.

3) ASD's notes are merely part of ASD's evil mind-control scheme to totally mess up our minds. The notes contain material totally out of whatever was taught in class and consist of random facts here and there.

4) ASD's lectures are scheduled on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10am to 12pm. ASD will usually come in 20 minutes late (15 if you're lucky). It is also possible for ASD to come late, then forget something and has to return to the office to retrieve it. This adds another 10 minutes.

5) In one of the lectures, ASD merely told us to work on the homework sheet given the previous lecture and to ask ASD if we had any questions. A 2-hour slot spent on a HOMEWORK sheet. Hmm...

So, do you still wonder why I expected to arrive at least 10 minutes late to college and not be bothered? I hope not =D

ANYWAY.. Gosh, I realise I ramble way too much. And I didn't have much sugar today.

ANYWAY ANYWAY. So I left at 9.40, then at the bust stop, I rang up my friend to see if he's going to college. He mentioned he might just skip the class and revise at home (seriously, ASD's lectures are THAT useless). And guess what he told me? The lecture was rescheduled to next Monday. How UNEXPECTED. That was sarcastic, for the benefit of the not-so-quick aka SLOW. No offence to slow people, they make the world go round and should be appreciated ^^

So, it was a good thing I didn't get on the bus yet and then I walked back to my room. 5 mins walk. Yay, exercise. That wasn't sarcastic. Or was it? Not sure myself..

Back in my room, played a game called Portal. It's a kind of puzzle game where you have a portal gun that allows you to make portals and walk through them. Then I started revision. Quantum Physics again.

It is amazing how you can study so much and yet realise there's so much more left to cover. That's the case with me now. So, I took a break after realising that and wrote this post. Now that I'm pretty much done writing, I think my break's pretty much over as well. Oh well, back to studying. At least it's interesting.. unlike Sejarah or Moral in secondary school. Seriously, studying those subjects was a waste of my time, brain cells, and overall life.

Sugar

2010-05-16T01:01:00.000+01:00

I was just studying just now. Quantum physics, to be precise. One of the subjects I am (was) quite clueless in. And incidentally, it is also the subject of the previous record holder of the lecture with the least turnups. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go read my previous post about the Accountings lecturer.

Anyway, I was reading this book I borrowed from the library and was reading on wave-particle duality, Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, Schroedinger's equation, wave functions etc etc (wahahahaha spouting random stuff makes me feel a little smarter =D). And for those who know me well, you might probably know that I like eating when I read. Kind of a bad and not-so-healthy habit, but that's just how I am.

So, I was reading and eating the following:
1) Bread + Nutella (classic, a favorite)
2) Finger doughnut with a custard and Bramley apple filling
3) iced bun with a dairy cream and strawberry jam filling

Numbers 2 and 3 were part of a 4pcs box of pastries. The other 2 pieces are an eclair and something else (I just put it back in the fridge and I'm too lazy to take it out again to copy its description. It's something with strawberry filling, I'm sure). I got the box for a reduced price of 1.71 pounds. Original price is 2.29. The price was reduced because it's gonna expire tomorrow. Oh well, I'm pretty sure I can finish them all by then =D

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I drank quite a lot of milk with that. I looooooooooove the milk here. I never drank milk before coming here, but now that I am, I'm addicted to it. I can drink a 6 pint bottle in less than a week. =D And yes, a 6 pint bottle can fit in my fridge, along with other stuff, fortunately.

Just an interesting point, my fridge now contains the following:
1) 6 pint bottle of milk
2) a bar of Lindt's milk chocolate
3) 8 bars of Cadbury's milk chocolate (8 small bars, don't freak out. i got them all for 2 pounds)
4) Hartley's apricot jam
5) 4pcs box of pastries that only contain 2 pcs now
6) Pink lady apples
7) a candy cane I have no recollection of... (seriously, I don't remember it at all. where did it come from???)
8) a chunk of blue cheese remaining from when Hui Siang stayed over (I think I should throw it away soon... hmm... doesn't seem to stink up the fridge yet, though)

ANYWAY, I was studying and eating. And if you look at the list I was eating, there's quite a lot of sugar involved. (and about 7 bowls of rice? don't worry if you didn't get that. it's just a private joke with someone i hope is reading my blog ^^). So, as a consequence, I'm wide awake at 1.15 in the morning. And slightly hyper as well. I think my rambling in this post testifies as much.

So, this is just a random post posted by a random poster who had too much sugar before his bedtime.

Cheers~
J3tHr0 =D

Dedication

2010-05-13T20:29:00.000+01:00

This post is dedicated to by newborn niece, Tiffany Cyan Egbert.

The day you were born is a significant day
It is the day when your journey begins
Fearsome trials will surely come your way
For it is inevitable, even for a prince

Although this journey sounds grim, it actually is not
Not when you have people who deeply care for you
Your family, future friends, colleagues and the lot

Coppers and silvers you will not lack
Yet do not let them control you
A ship that has sailed will not turn back
Neither will time leisurely wait for you

Everybody, good or bad, is to be treated with respect
God even commands us to love our enemies, how absurd!
Blessings will richly fall upon you if you do, I expect
Especially if you follow closely to His Word

Remember, remember, the twelve of May
The day, when you came to this earth to stay

Business

2010-05-11T21:56:00.000+01:00

I've got a business EXAM tomorrow, consisting of Economics and Accounting. Yes, yes, engineers do need business skills, apparantly, and that's why I'm forced to learn those horrendous subjects. I've been studying Economics over the past few days and I've think I've got it covered. Accounting, on the other hand...

Let me paint a picture for you.

Start of by drawing a basic sketch, by telling you I never did like Accounting. Anyone who knows me academically knows that I'm the Maths and Science-y type, not the Finance, Econs and Accounts type.

Then, after the sketch is done, it's time for the foundation lines to be drawn in. And that would be me telling you I never had any Accounting background: never did it in school or A-Levels.

Time to splash in some colour. My Accountings lecturer here is, how do I say it nicely.. a bore. He's this guy who managed to eliminate about 30 students from the lecture hall halfway through his FIRST lecture. He gave us a break, and those 30 students left and never came back.

Yay, the base colour has been painted in. Now for the more elaborate strokes. This lecturer of mine has broken our record. Previuosly, the lecturer with the fewest turn-up was a Quantum Physics lecturer. 20 out of a class of 82 showed up to his lecture. In one of the Accountings lecture, though... 12 people came. And by the end of the lecture, only a precious 4 were left.

Now for the finishing touches. The light brush strokes here and there that makes everything perfect. The notes online are a bunch of words that try to explain stuff clearly. Whoever wrote them tried his/her best, I'm sure, but to be blunt, the notes are poor. Very poor. They don't do the word "explain" justice. The notes are a bit like Malaysian road signs. They lead you on somewhere, and then, at a crucial junction, they just suddenly disappear. Or hide behind a tree. Oh, and needless to say, the lectures themselves are no better.

And for those who are really expecting a picture, here you go:

Oh, and I just woke up from a 45 minute nap + 30 min snooze. And so, I shall start studying Accounting. Looks like a long night for me...

Weather

2010-05-03T14:08:00.000+01:00

I noticed I haven't blogged about the weather here. Well, it's spring now, and it's really the best time of the year, in my opinion. You get UK's cool weather + Malaysia's cheerful sun. I know, you all are probably thinking "Malaysia's sun?? So hot la, who like the sun wor??" Trust me, seeing sun and the blue sky here is a rare thing to behold, and is as sacred as a cup of water in the desert.

So, the temperatures are around 15 degrees in the day, and sometimes drop to below 10 at night. UK had a "mini-heatwave" few days ago when the temperature went up to 21 degrees. HAH! HEATWAVE??? *Me codescendingly saying: Poor English people.. Come to Malaysia and you will know what a real heatwave is* xD

However, the weather here is extremely erratic. It was bright and sunny few minutes ago and now it's clouded over =.= Like I said, sun is a rare beauty to behold.

Cereal

2010-05-03T14:03:00.000+01:00

Cereal is a life-saver, you know? I woke up this morning (afternoon, actually =p) and I was thinking to myself for about 10 minutes as to what I'm going to have for breakfast/brunch/lunch (it's 2pm now). My supply of sausages, eggs and bacon ran out. My loaf of bread is finished, so not even Nutella can satisfy me. Instant noodles don't really appeal to me at the moment, and neither do Subways and McDs.

DILEMMA

Until I remembered I had NesVita cereal! It's the 3-in-1 that comes in little packets that you only need to add water to. Of course, that's not all I add. A bit of Milo goes a long way =D

So, here I am, enjoying cereal + Milo in a good mood. Until dinner comes and I have to decide what to eat again T.T

RANT

2010-04-29T19:49:00.000+01:00

There's a test tomorrow, a Maths test. It covers a few topics we were taught the last term, before the Easter holidays. Not an exam though; that's in June. Anyway, I thought I'd do some revision although it's mostly A-Level stuff I've done before. So, I went online and access Metric Maths. It's like an interactive Maths revision program online, quite helpful.

So, I was halfway through studying Maths and solving the problems, and was pretty much "in the zone". And then, the BLASTED fire alarm went off.

My gosh... the fire alarm's annoying enough, but when you're in the middle of actually studying something hard (something of a rare occassion for me), the annoying-ness level goes up 100%.

I mean, come on.. we all flock outside like bees being smoked out of their hives and then after 10 minutes of stoning in the middle of the pavement, we all truddle back to our rooms. WHAT ON EARTH FOR????

Sure, fire drills are fine, but do we really need so much practice walking out of the hall? The only thing I'm thankful for is that this time it happened at a relatively reasonable time, compared to 3 in the morning like the previous drills.

ARGHGHGHHH

Now I'm just ranting because my hard-earned concentration broke. And I have no mood at all to go back to studying. *BLEEPEDY BLEEP BLEEP*

Feel free to add more bleeps or toots if you wish

Food

2010-04-25T20:37:00.001+01:00

Goodbye bak kut teh, mamak, fattening pork cooked in a way only Malaysians can, chicken rice, nasi lemak, Japanese food, tong sui, Baskin Robbins.

Hello bread and Nutella, bacon, sausages, eggs, toast, Subways, McDonalds with BACON.

Shopping list:
4 pints of milk
1 bottle of NUTELLA
2 small bottles of meat paste for instant sandwiches
Cadbury Dairy milk twin pack (I'm a sucker for these cheap offers)
box of 10 eggs
2 x pack of bacon (5+ rashers each)
2 x pack of sausages (6 each)
loaf of soft white bread

Total cost: 19.77 pounds =D

That's about 5 days' worth of food, averaging less than 4 pounds a day. Me like cheap food =D

And a heavy breakfast + lunch would look like this:

Sorry for the lack of artistry, I was hungry and wanted to quickly snap a photo to remember what it looked like.

Closer up, you'll see traces of oil but I only added about a tablespoon's worth of cooking oil when cooking it. Trying to make myself feel better about healthy eating. And no, no greens, I'm sorry. Maybe when I'm in a better mood I'll throw a leaf or two. If they sell single leaves, that is.

And again, I apologize for the lack of artistry. My stomach becomes the boss of me when it's empty.

I haven't gone to either McDs or Subways yet but I'm quite sure they won't have to wait long for me =p

Travel

2010-04-23T19:26:00.000+01:00

Got up at 6am +8.00 GMT and now I'm currently writing this post at 7.30pm +1.00 GMT (technically it's GMT + 1 hour of daylight savings). For those who do not understand the language of GMT, I got up at 6am Malaysian time and it's 7.30pm here in London.

And yes, I'm back in London =D

And no, the volcano didn't bother me much, except that the flight I was on was overbooked, which gave me hopes that I could be bunked to up business or first class. I was mildly disappointed when I wasn't. =p

And yes, I've arrived back in my room safely and soundly and in one piece. 3 pieces, actually, if you want to include my bags. More pieces, actually, if you want to include every bit of belonging I have.

And so, for my first post back here, I imagine it's natural to write about my journey here. My schedule was as follows (times are all in +8.00 GMT aka MNST aka Malaysian non-standard time; as opposed to MST, Malaysian standard time, which would mean +10.00 GMT)

0300 - went to sleep (still living UK time even on my last nite in Malaysia =D)
0600 - got up. whee, 3 hours of sleep. joy.
0640 - left for the airport
0720 - reached the check-in counters (2 rows were available) and found a massive queue on both rows. joy.
0830 - finally reached the check-in counter.
0845 - finally got my boarding pass (it took so long because my flight was overbooked and they were considering giving me first class. it took them some time to decide not to waste it on me T.T)
0850 - went for McDs breakfast (without bacon, if I may add)
0920 - waved goodbye to parents and entered the "secure boarding area"
0940 - reached my gate and guess what? another queue! joy.
1000 - boarded the plane and plunked my butt into my seat

at this point, a lady asked me if I minded changing seats with her husband because they were given seats separated from each other. this is MAS's evil scheme to break up couples. so, being the nice, kind, good, *feel free to add in more positive qualities* person I am, I went along with the switcheroo, earning thanks from the passengers and the air stewards. the husband was pestering them slightly about the split-up. so, i got a seat right at the back closest to the toilet and the steward. oh well, good and bad.

1040 - plane finally took off. (scheduled take-off time was 1005)
1045 - went to sleep.. zzzzzZZzZZzzzZzzzzZZZZzzz PS: it's 3.45am UK time
1200?? - woke up for lunch, had bread and butter, crackers and cheese, beef lasagna, pudding. YUMMM
1200?? - went back to sleep

I probably slept for 4-5 hours, then I woke up. My plan was to sleep for 6 hours then stay awake for the rest of the flight. I stuck to it quite well, except for waking up to eat and dozing off a few minutes after the long sleep. I snooze even on the plane =D

During the time that I was awake, I watched the following:
- 2 episodes of the Simpsons (I've never watched it before in my life, believe it or not)
- 2 episodes of House
- 1 episode of the Mentalist
- 1 episode of Just for Laughs
- The Imaginarium of Dr.Parnassus
- National Treasure 2
- Nine (for 10 mins until I got so bored of it)
- considered watching Avatar but I really had no urge to watch it. sci-fi aliens just aren't my thing
- anything else I may have watched but have forgotton

And I played the following games:
- Who Wants to be a Millionaire
- a bunch of minigames whose names I can't remember

And I had the following meals:
- bread and butter, crackers and cheese, beef lasagna, pudding (as mentioned before)
- crackers and cheese, fruit cake
- Magnum ice-cream that I foolishly declined because I was still eating my fruit cake. I still regret it till now.
- bread and butter, beef stew and mash potatoes, cake, chicken salad (don't panic, I only ate the chicken, not the salad. It's not the end of the world YET)

back to the schedule...

0000 (UK 5.00pm) - landed and waited to go out. remember, i'm right at the back.
0020 (UK 5.20pm) - went to the UK border and convinced them I'm not an illegal immigrant. (what illegal immigrant goes through the border agency anyway?)
0050 (UK 5.50pm) - went to the luggage retrieval place and waited for my bags..
0120 (UK 6.20pm) - finally got my bags and went to the tube station (aka underground train station)
0220 (UK 7.20pm) - reached Paddington Tube station via the following route: Heathrow Terminal 4 => Earls court (Picadilly Line) => Paddington (District Line)
0227 (UK 7.27pm) - reached Wilson House, collected my mail, and carried my bags through 20 doors and 2 stairs. joy.
0230 (UK 7.30pm) - end of travel, started blogging
0300 (UK 8.00pm) - end of blogging, gonna sleep soon =D

Dream

2010-03-21T09:58:00.000Z

My goodness.. I just had the most AMAZING and WONDERFUL dream last night. Why, oh why, did I have to wake up..??? I really hate it when that happens T.T You get such a cool dream, and then BANG, you're jerked back to reality. It's one of the most sadistic aspects of life. Oh, the cruelty of it all...

I had a dream, a very very nice one
I was happy, having so much fun
And then life played a naughty prank on me
Why, oh why, can't it just let me be
I woke up, and the dream went away
No matter how I begged, it will not stay
Memories of the dream still linger
And whether it will ever happen, I wonder
(probably not >.< it won't be legal, anyway. whoops, said too much =p)

PS: Guess all you want, I will not confirm or deny any guesses regarding the contents of the dream. IT'S PRIVATE =D For me to know, and for you all NEVER to find out.

Spring

2010-03-18T08:10:00.000Z

Spring is here!~ It's not so cold now, and the SUN IS SHINING. A rare sight for the past few months =D Whee!~

TEST

2010-03-13T12:22:00.000Z

I have a chemistry test on Monday. Not too bad, cos my chemistry is fairly good. HOWEVER, there's gonna be biology questions in it. AARGGHHHH. BIOLOGY questions in a CHEMISTRY test. And I thought I was in a good university. It seems they can't even differentiate between subjects. T.T

A bit of background info:
1) I hate biology
2) Bio was the first and only subject I've ever failed in my life
3) I was glad that after SPM, there won't be Bio harassing my life ever again
4) It's back to haunt me

And for the record, I have no intention of pursuing a career with ANYTHING to do with Bio. Also, in the big exam in June, you can choose which question you do. And I am NOT going to choose Bio. Unfortunately, in the coming test, there is no choice. ARRRGGHHHH

me hates bio >.<

Southampton

2010-03-03T07:06:00.000Z

As you know, I went to Southampton for Christmas last year. I've got friends from A-Levels that are studying there and Portsmouth (pretty near by). Well, it was really nice meeting up with old friends and let loose all the lame jokes and crap =p

The most blog-worthy event(s) that happened there was the DRINKING GAMES =D and for the record, I was officially 18 at that time! Hehehehe. And noone got drunk =) Just nice clean fun.

Anyways, the game we played went like this:
1) 1 card is dealt facedown to all players
2) a rule is decided - for example, the person with the smallest card loses, or the person(s) with the card closest to 4 of clubs, or even maybe the person with the highest red card etc. Use your creativity =D
3) then each person takes his/her card and puts it to their forehead. this means that everyone's card is visible to you EXCEPT your own.
4) we then take turns pouring beer into a cup and the loser has to drink it all. if you think you will lose, obviously you will pour just a little bit or none at all, but if you see someone with a very high chance of losing... well you max out the cup =D
PS: there's a limit on the cup, i think it was half the cup.. to prevent killing the loser =p
PPS: we used a BIG cup... a measuring cup for baking, actually
5) everyone sees their own card and the loser drinks from the cup

So.. I was extraordinarily lucky =p I don't think I lost a single game, as far as I remember. And then, one of my friends went to the toilet. So, we decided to make a mega-bet round. The cup was filled to the brim (limit removed) and then we decided on the rule: the person(s) with the card closest to the JACK OF DIAMONDS would drink it all. If there's a tie, the 2 people will share it. So we drew our cards and opened it. Remember, at this point in the game, I still hasn't lost a single game. Guess what my card was? The JACK OF DIAMONDS.

My fateful card, with the cup behind it

Not only did I get the closest card, but I got the card itself -.- So I drank it all, sighz... Then the game went on, and I don't think I lost much after that, if at all. Then came the time for another super round.. The rule this time: person who has the card closest to the SEVEN OF HEARTS loses. So we took our cards.. And just to be sneaky sneaky and play with destiny, I swapped my card with my friend's. And then we revealed our card.. and I got.... the SEVEN OF HEARTS.

Again -.- but with a smaller cup this time, thankfully

So, in the 2 super rounds we played, with the most volume of beer (we used Fosters, it wasn't that nice >.<) I lost both times. And not just losing by getting the closest card.. I GOT THE CARD ITSELF. TWICE. Odds of that happening? 1/52 squared. which is 1/2704

I love the odds =D

LAPTOP

2010-03-01T07:27:00.000Z

After 12342542341412 months, I FINALLY HAVE MY LAPTOP BACK =D so, the posts will continue from now onwards.. Ok, not exactly now, because I have to go to college, but soon! =p

Cheerio~

Another update

2010-01-16T09:18:00.000Z

Thanks to wonderful Hiu Lert Peck Art, my laptop is STILL not back. So now I'm in college ON A WEEKEND because I cant do my work in my room. Not to mention blogging, my apologies. Anyway when I get it back I'll blog about:
1) Southampton - I had LOADS of fun there =D
2) Snowball fight
3) A major test I had
4) Other stuff I'll eventually think off

Oh, and that list was also to remind me what to blog about, because I'll probably forget it all soon. =p So, until my laptop returns.. Cheers! ;)

Update

2009-12-31T05:03:00.001Z

To all my cherished blog stalkers:
I am currently in Southampton with my Malaysian college friends and I'll update more and blog about what we did when I get back. And we DID have a good time, with lots of INTERESTING stuff to share =p

So, just an update to confirm that I'll still alive and kicking and well.

Cheerios~

Snow pictures!

2009-12-21T17:29:00.000Z

Sorry to keep you waiting, but here's the pictures I promised! When I posted the last post, I expected the ground to be covered with snow the next day, but it didn't happen.. so I didn't have any pictures to post. But just a few minutes ago, I went out shopping and it was raining quite heavily. Cooked my dinner and came back to my room and when I looked outside, it was SNOWING!!! And everything was covered with snow! So I rushed out with my camera and snapped a few quick shots.

Apologies once again, this time for the limited number of pictures. It's because:
1) I was too lazy to put on my bulky winter jacket so I only wore a jumper over my clothes (3 layers in total)
2) I find taking photos with gloves to be VERY annoying, so I didn't wear them
3) It's snowing outside. Hence, it's cold

Combining the reasons mentioned above, I only had limited time outside. It's like those games with a timer that you lose once the timer went down. I very nearly lost this round... T.T

So, enough chitchat, here are the pics with the captions BELOW them:

This is the view from my room window

Taken from the entrance of Wilson House

The lane in front of Wilson House, connects to the main road at the end

Same lane, different direction

Me punya footsteps. So nice to hear the snow go crunch crunch crunch below me =D

The old vintage car that's always parked in front of Wilson House. Now he's even got white hair.

Flower pot in front of Wilson. Poor plants..

PS: I just realised the pics are a bit small.. So I'll post it in facebook as well. It'll be bigger there.

PPS: I just realised you can click on the pictures to enlarge them -.- malu-nya.. anyways they're all in fb now, and some pics i took with my friends.

snow, Snow, SNOW!!!!

2009-12-17T21:59:00.000Z

IT'S SNOWING!! Yesterday it snowed a bit, but wasn't really that much. But today, or tonight specifically.. IT'S SNOOOOWWWWIIIINNGGG!!!!!! My goodness.. for an equator-bound guy like me, seeing snow is like.. unimaginable.

Walked from college to the bus stop, and the snow was just coming on and on and on. Small-ish, light flakes dropping from the sky, before somehow slipping in between my clothes and tickle the life out of me. And after walking a while, I could see cars getting a white layer all over. And, being the snow-jakun that I am, I couldn't help but scoop some of the snow off the cars =p

Snow... It's almost like ice kacang without the kacang. Soft, shaved ice. ARRGHHH I'M STILL TRYING TO GET OVER IT. IT'S SNOWING!!! =D

Anyway, when I get up tomorrow the snow will supposedly settle all over the place and cover everything in a blanket of white. I promise I'll take some pictures then =D

For now, all you have is a teaser picture of snow:

Lab Report

2009-12-14T22:58:00.000Z

I'm working on my lab report now. The title of this one is "Casting and Precipitation" and it involved pouring molten zinc into moulds (hence the title: casting) and age-hardening aluminium alloys so that solid precipitates form (hence the title: precipitation).

I've just finished one section of the discussion part of my report. Man, that was quite tiring. I had to refer to 2 scientific reports, my lecture notes, and a website. All that for one SECTION of my discussion, which is in itself only a PART of my overall report. Tired.

But at the end of the day, I feel quite proud writing these reports. Unlike those crap we learnt in school about hypotheses and inferences and styles like "semakin ... semakin ..." "jika ... maka ...", these reports actually convey information and knowledge to others. I'm certainly not doing much to the scientific community with my meagre report, but I can still take pride in it.

And also, I'm actually reading reports (just like mine but published in a proper journal) done by scientists in the past. So I feel like I'm connecting to great scientific minds out there and learning bits and pieces off of them.

Anyway, that was just a short break before I continue with mhy report. 11pm now, but I had a nice nap just now, so I think I can finish up by today. I'm gonna go to college early tomorrow anyway, but hopefully I won't have to do much there.

Cheers~!

Carol Service

2009-12-13T21:04:00.000Z

Hello! It's been quite some time since my last post. Probably because I don't really have much to blog about. Same old routine stuff, nothing particularly interesting.. until now! Yay =D Oh, and I'm gonna write a long essay now to make up for the long time since the last post. I apologize to those who hate reading.

Had a carol service at church today (as the title implies) and it was quite interesting.. Kind of like a typical Christmas service in BOL except the worship was broken down song by song and we did a lot of standing/sitting/standing exercise =p Oh, and the only instrument tonight was a pipe organ. Hehe. Quite cool if you're hearing one for the first time. I've never seen a real pipe organ before this except for when I went to MPO. And even that was shut away and cannot be seen properly.

Once more, sorry, no photos. 2 reasons for that:
1) Didn't bring my bag with me, and therefore didn't have my camera with me. Lame excuse, I know... Bite me. IF YOU CAN. =D
2) Didn't want to look like a jakun taking pictures of everything. Which is probably why I "forgot" to bring my camera.. Is this another lame excuse? Nah, I don't think so =p

Anywayyyy, after the service, there were minced pies and mulled wine. YUM and YUMMM. Ok, since we don't have minced pies back home (I never had one, anyway. Don't know about you guys), what IS a minced pie? Here's what I thought:
1) name - minced pie
2) the pie itself can't possible be minced, so I assumed the stuffing was minced
3) what do you mince and stuff into pies? meat
4) conclusion - minced pie is some pastry that has minced meat in it
5) Adakah keputusan anda muktamad? Erm... yes...?
6) Answer - PHAIL (for those not fluent with young people's language, that's just a cooler way to say "fail")

In reality, a minced pie has raisins in it. Caught off-guard, but it tasted good anyway. And no idea what mulled wine is.. It's warm and tastes like wine and it IS wine, unlike minced pie which has no minced meat... (I'm still trying to get over it >.<). Anyway, I don't really know the difference between mulled wine and regular wine... Guess I'll wiki it soon, but can't really be bothered to do it right now.

Oh, and after that, I went back. Since I didn't have dinner yet, I thought I'd go to Subways (cheap, fast, tasty, healthy... WHY NOT). So, I left my room. Outside the building, I realised I forgot my money. I've got money in my wallet, but I usually set aside all my coins for Subways. So I don't have a wallet full of heavy coins. Subway's the place I literally dump my coins. So I grab my coins and head out. Once outside, I counted my coins.. AND I'M SHORT 1P. For those unfamiliar with the currency here, 1p is like 1 sen. 1 miserable cent.

A foot-long sub costs 3.98. And i've got 3.97. Of course, I could just pay 4 quid and get 3p change. BUT THEN I'LL HAVE 3 MORE COINS. Not only I can't get rid of the coins I have, I'll actually get more!!! NOT ALLOWED, ILLEGAL, HARAM!!!! So, I go back in, say Hi to the people I've passed like 3 times already, and got the 1p from my room. And now I'm here sitting in front of the laptop with a sub waiting to be eaten and a wallet happily coin-less.

Life is good =D

Bus

2009-12-01T19:56:00.000Z

I just came back from college, taking the bus. No way am I walking through the park after 4.30. I don't know why, but the people here apparantly never heard of street lights in parks. So, after 4.30, the whole place is... VERI SCAREY T.T So, I take the bus. 414, to be exact. 414, to Maida Hill, the Chippenham, to be exact-er. And I get off at Sussex Gardens, to be exact-est.

However, today, I didn't get off at Sussex Gardens. I got off a few stops further, and I walked quite a distance in 5 degrees weather. Even though I'm wearing 3 layers, I still shiver.. Poor me. >.<

Why, you ask? Why didn't I get off at Sussex Gardens? Here are some possible reasons:
1) I was curious and wanted to find out where the bus will go.
2) I love walking in the cold so I wanted a longer time to walk back to my room.
3) The bus driver was mean and didn't let me off.
4) I was too scared to ask the driver to let me off.
5) There was a terrorist threat at Sussex Gardens so the bus passed it.

OR... it could be the real reason, which was:
I fell asleep on the bus just minutes before reaching Sussex Gardens and woke up 10 minutes later, frantically looking around for landmarks I recognised.

Remember, it's 8 o'clock here and it's dark. Not good if you're in an unfamiliar place. Anyway, I got back safe and sound, because I saw Marks & Spencers. I REMEMBERED IT! yay ^^ then it was easy to find my way back. Hurrah. Now to finish the pizza I couldn't finish for my dinner. Yum.

Quote

2009-11-29T01:38:00.000Z

"Good morning, my dear Espada. We're under attack. But let's have some tea first."

-Aizen Sosuke, Leader of the Arrancar-

Most of you will have no idea who or what this is, but for those who do, you know it was quite cool when he said that =D

Fun

2009-11-27T21:16:00.000Z

For those who have too much free time, here's some stuff that can keep you occupied for quite some time:
1) Dolphin Olympics 2
http://www.kongregate.com/games/arawkins/dolphin-olympics-2

2) The Helicopter Game
http://www.helicoptergame.net/

3) BLOONS TD 4
http://www.ninjakiwi.com/Games/Tower-Defense/Play/Bloons-Tower-Defense-4.html

4) The Impossible Quiz (I really will give 10 pounds to anyone who completes it on his/her first try)
http://www.notdoppler.com/theimpossiblequiz.php

And you guys will have a sort of idea what I do in my free time =p

18+

2009-11-24T23:09:00.000Z

Ho ho ho, I bought my first adult item few days ago. I waltzed right into the shop and requested for "that thing". You know, THAT thing. HO HO HO. And I left the shop the proud owner of an... AEROSOL AIRDUSTER. For those who were having ideas like alcohol etc, sorry to disappoint you. ^^ Here's the full story:

My laptop's been giving some problems with overheating. The fan starts getting really loud and it'll just shut down automatically. This is.. ANNOYING, to say the least. I've been asking for help/advice on forums but the best answer is to clean my laptop's air vents. So, I went to MAPLIN ELECTRONICS and bought this airduster. And for some weird reason... I had to be above 18 to buy it =.=

So, I asked the guy if he'll let me buy it since my 18th birthday is less than a month away (those who wanna send me presents, email me and I'll reply with my address =D). And he said that's ok, so I went back to my room (conveneintly 5 mins walk away) and brought my passport. After showing him my passport and debit card, the airduster is MINE. MINE, I SAY!

Hopefully my laptop's fine now... T.T

And don't you think it's weird? I mean, 18+ to buy an aerosol can? Makes no sense -.-

Joy

2009-11-24T07:46:00.000Z

Slept at 9 last nite, woke up at 7 this morning, snoozed until 7.30, then realized I have a Maths test later. Joy.

But then again, it's only 20 MCQs.. and it's Maths.. I guess it's not too bad ^^

Filler

2009-11-22T17:51:00.000Z

To all those stalking my blog, sorry for not updating for quite a while. The reason I've not been updating is that there's nothing interesting going on.. Sad, right? All routine stuff and such. Hmm.. I really have nothing to report, so I'll just write whatever random stuff I can think of:

1. Played badminton on thursday. I remembered to bring my badminton shoes here but I left my racket at home. Genius -.-" Anyway I bought a fairly good racket at Sports Direct for 24 pounds. 70% discount!! So proud of myself T.T

2. Finished a 2kg pack of Milo that I smuggled in here. 1 down, 3 to go! Seriously, I brought 4 packs. Thinking back.. WHY ON EARTH DID I BRING SO MUCH FOR?? XD

3. Managed to complete a 5x5x5 Rubik's Cube that I brought. Quite fun ^^

4. Wanted to go home for Christmas but the RM5**** prices changed my mind.

5. Heard this random song somewhere and liked it: Replay by IYAZ. Especially liked the bridge ;)

6. RANDOM RANDOM RANDOM

Quote

2009-11-16T09:27:00.000Z

Andrew L. "Andy" Stern, president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) said:

"College is about three things: homework fun and sleep ... but you can only choose two."

Arithmetic

2009-11-10T07:34:00.001Z

Well, boys and girls, today's lesson is all about.. ADDITION! =D

baking potatoes
+
sour cream
+

Malaysian pepper!
+

ham
+
cutleries
=

DINNER!

As you may remember, I prepared my first non-Chinese meal few days ago. Here's the pics to prove it! Hehe. And I know they're not of the best quality... That's because I took the photos using my handphone's camera with half-frozen hands.

"Th-th-th-that's all folks!"

For the BLUR who doesn't know where the above phrase comes from, go watch Looney Tunes. =p

Quote

2009-11-08T21:23:00.000Z

Jim Elliot, who gave his life in an attempt to spread the Good News to the Waodani people through efforts known as Operation Auca said this:

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

Another beautiful song

2009-11-08T21:19:00.000Z

Here's one of the songs sung in TBT (The Bible Talks) in CCM (Christ Church Mayfair). Don't know why, but they abbreviate everything.. pretty cool though xD

The Power of The Cross
Written by Keith Getty
Sung by Chris Townend

Sorry, the ending's a bit abrupt, and I'm quite lazy to edit in a fade-out.. So, blame the person who posted it on YouTube if the abrupt ending annoys you. Otherwise, enjoy!~

Baked potatoes

2009-11-07T21:55:00.000Z

I prepared my first non-Asian dinner today. And note that I said "prepared", and not "cooked". That's because all I did was chuck two nice big potatoes into the microwave and baked it for about 10 mins. Then I slopped sour cream all over it and lastly... topped up with some pepper (can hardly taste it but the dark powder + white sour cream gives a nice visual effect =p) and some ham. Oh, and the ham was already cooked when I bought it from Sainsbury's.

Just to sidetrack a little.. Sainsbury's the place where I do my grocery shopping. It's nearby and quite cheap compared to other places. Somerfields is cheaper only for a few items, so generally, Sainsbury's better =D The last time I went shopping in Sainsbury's, I bought the following:
1. 4 large baking potatoes
2. 1 small bottle of sour cream
3. 1 packet honey roasted ham
4. 1 small box of blackberries
5. about 0.5kg of chicken thighs
and the total was 7 pounds something. Not bad, eh? Wakaakakakaaa xD

Oh, and that's dinner for about a week. So.. average 1 pound for a day's dinner. Satisfying, both to the stomach and pocket.

PS: The reason I got potatoes was because I ran out of rice T.T

Life and its cruelty

2009-11-02T20:32:00.000Z

WHY OH WHY. Life and its cruelty.

I hate studying oh-so-much. Wait, I hate going for classes. Stupid classes. Stupid classes that JPA willingly pays for. For what? FOR NOTHING! I despise learning crystallography, which is the basic skill. I hate the phase diagrams, why must it be so complicated anyway? I keep screwing it up. I hate the lab reports, "MUST BE WRITTEN CLEARLY AND CONCISELY" I can't write. I hate the STUPID EXPERIMENTS, which is probably one of the idiot-iest thing mankind has ever brought to the scientific world. Telling if it's melting, softening, whats the difference, etc. OH FOR GOSH SAKES. I hate the programming. C++. I always get headaches over it anyway, not like I should care right? Computer is for enjoyment, not for stress! My exam's in mid January and I don't know how the heck am I gonna pass it. The lecturer is going to test us crystallography, and I actually forgot some of it. I am so so pissed. I was supposed to quit this month. I DON'T WANT TO STAY. I had to force myself to stay and I hate doing that. I HATE complaining to my parents who don't even give a shit listening. So I have to take it all in. I hate the Imperial syllables. I've only started this year. I'm actually okay with the whole materials thing but right now, i don't want to learn anymore. Maybe I should just ignore it and fail the whole stupid exam. MAYBE THEY'LL KNOW I HATE IT!!!!!

For all those people who care about me and are starting to get worried, please do not fret. I made the post just for fun. I've been blog stalking and I saw this post and I found it really really hilarious. Sorry =p So, I decided to tweak a bit here and there and made it sound like my own personal rant. For originality, i only changed a few words and phrases here and there and I even kept the bad spelling. Sorry again xD Oh well, I hope it doesn't offend the original author. If you ARE offended, let me know and I'll remove it ASAP.

And for those who know the author and have read the original post, I'm sure you can appreciate the joke xD

Food

2009-10-31T14:18:00.000Z

Malaysian food is off-limits here. Want to know why? The quality is not bad, I'll give them that. The prices, on the other hand....
PS: I use the conversion rate of 1 GBP = MYR 5.61582141 courtesy of Google. And you HAVE to convert, because after all, it is Malaysian food.

Satay House, 3 mins from where I live
8.78 pounds for a plate of nasi ayam
= RM 49.31

A shop in Chinatown
4.99 pounds for dried fish fillets
= RM 25.76

Bonda Restaurant, down the street from where I live, same building as MARA House
5.50 pounds for roti canai
5.50 pounds for satay ayam
= RM 28.39 each

Rasa Sayang in Chinatown
6.50 pounds for seafood hor fun
6.90 pounds for fried fish vermicelli
6.90 pounds for singaporean fried rice
6.90 pounds for prawn noodles
6.60 pounds for hokkien mee
= RM 33.55 for the CHEAPEST item

Melur Restaurant, opposite end of the street where I live (I stay somewhat in the middle)
The menu shows prices for individual dishes like chicken, fish, etc.
= NOT CHEAP :D

So, if you're planning to come here anytime, be prepared to eat lots of sandwiches and burgers, unless you've got a kitchen to cook in (like me!). Please, please, please do NOT eat Malaysian food. It's such a waste (of money and opportunity) to go to a foreign country and eat your local food. Try out their cuisine! Some of them are actually good ^^

Quote

2009-10-30T20:52:00.001Z

A great man once said,

"I have a cold. I want to go home, watch television, and drink whiskey. So let's get this tutorial done with."

ANNOYED

2009-10-25T17:10:00.000Z

It should be obvious from the title that I am very very annoyed. Why? I'll tell you. The fridge in my hall's kitchen broke down. Meaning, it's not cold. What happens to food you put in the fridge that's supposed to be cold but ISN'T?? THEY GO BAD. And I just happened to have 8 nice pieces of raw chicken in that particular fridge. 8 PIECES. THAT'S DINNER FOR AT LEAST 3 DAYS. Not to mention potatoes and carrots, but they didn't go bad. At least, I hope not.. I didn't check them.

So, I went into the kitchen HUNGRY. Happily started my rice cooker. Opened the fridge to be greeted with an AWFUL smell. Realised that the blasted fridge wasn't working, and that my chicken went bad. Threw all 8 pieces away. 2 pounds worth. It's not so much the money, but the trouble I took to get it. 8 pieces means I won't have to shop for 4 days. 0 pieces now means I have to shop TOMORROW. MONDAY. One of BUSIEST days of the week. Fantastic.

As for now, the rice's cooking and i've got nothing to eat with it. I'm contemplating a few options:
1. Eat plain rice with light sauce. EDIBLE, but no nutritional value.
2. Cook instant noodles, aka MAGGI MEE. More than edible, but also no nutritional value. And I'll have to wash the pan up after that.
3. Go out and eat. MOST EDIBLE OF ALL, but it's gonna cost my pocket.

So, if anyone happens to read this post within 20 minutes of me posting it, please do reply with some suggestions on what to do. I might not take your advice, but I appreciate them anyway.

!@#$%^&*(*&^%$#@#$%^&^%$#@#@!#@#$%^$%^&*()_)(*&^%$#@!@#$%^&

New post down below

2009-10-25T11:43:00.000Z

I started working on a post called "Of Beauty and Malice" few days ago, but only finished it just now. So... it's a new post, but since I started it few days back, blogspot recognised it as an old post. Anyway, just scroll down and you'll see my "old/new" post.

PS: That post took a lot of effort for a newbie blogger -.- i hate posting pictures. Ugh. And the poet is anonymous, by the way. Photos were taken by me.

Cheers

*Edit* To make things easier, I'll just put the link here:[Of Beauty and Malice]. Saves you all the trouble of scrolling down.

Mental block

2009-10-24T14:27:00.000+01:00

Ever had an interview for the first time? Or maybe went into an examination unprepared? You get... a MENTAL BLOCK.

Noun
mental block (plural mental blocks)
1. (psychology) Repression of painful thoughts.
2. (psychology) Inability to continue a train of thought.
Courtesy of Wiktionary

The definition I'm referring to is no2:the inability to continue a train of thought. However, I find that a tad inaccurate. To me, it's the inability to START a train of thought. And before I proceed with my rambling, I'll admit that this mental block is due to the monster called LAB REPORT. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I shall describe my resentment of the said monster.

This time the monster's name is "Sintering of Zirconia". Oh wait, he has a partner this time! Her name is "Determination of Tg and softening point of a glass". I think this week's monster married last week's one and is now ganging up on me. So, for the benefit of the blurrrr, I'll say it in English: I've got 2 lab reports to do.

As I said, I'm having a mental block. Technically I didn't say it, but it's kinda IMPLIED, don't you think? Unless, of course, you're BLUR. And I just noticed, for some weird reason, I keep picking on the blur people. =D Sorry, if that definition applies to you.

ANYWAY, mental block. Which is why I'm rambling now. I've gotta hand the report up on Tuesday by 4.00pm SHARP and I haven't started yet. Well, I've written the headings... but I don't think that counts. So, I think I should stop babbling and get on with my reading. Oh, I found this book online, "Engineering ceramics" by "Murat Bengisu". There's a copy in the library, but someone has it. There's a preview on google books, but only a few pages are in it. So... hurrah.

TTFN
For the BLUR who doesn't know what TTFN means, go watch Winnie the Pooh.

FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! drill

2009-10-22T07:31:00.000+01:00

I usually set my alarm to wake me up at 7 am, then I'll snooze until about quarter past. (And I'm learning to use quarter past 7, half 6 etc =p they mean 7.15 and 6.30, for those who're blur) So, I woke up at 7, snoozed until 7.15.. then I was about to wake up when there was a very weird alarm. It cant be coming from my phone.. Unless there's something really wrong with it. So I came to the conclusion that it was the fire alarm. Yes, I was pretty slow to realise that, I know. But it was due to the fact that:
1. I just woke up. Still on the way between dreamland and harsh, cruel reality.
2. The alarm was WEIRD. It wasn't a ringing, but more like a sound an ice-cream truck would make but instead of making you buy ice-cream, it makes you wanna strangle someone.

So, everyone strolled out of the building and so did I. And I made a CRUCIAL mistake. I didn't bring my jacket/sweater/whatever you call it. Well, technically, when there's a fire, you don't bring anything with you. You just RUN. And though I didn't run, I didn't bring my jacket either =.= and I checked google just now, giving the temperature here at 10 degrees. Hooray!

Wearing shorts and a thin t-shirt (thank God it had long sleeves) in 10 degrees ain't fun. But thankfully the warden didn't babble too much and he let us go back pretty quick. So there we go. My first fire-drill here. Usually fires are hot, but I was shivering out there.. Ironic much? No, not really, come to think of it.

Scientific Mysteries

2009-10-19T22:21:00.000+01:00

Scientists do not claim they know everything. For example, what is the origin of life? What is the smallest unit of existence? Is it the Higgs boson, or quarks, or maybe the string theory is the key? How about gravity? Just because something is much bigger than another object, there is this thing called gravity that pulls the smaller object towards it. So, are we attracting miroorganisms now?

Scientists try to understand everything. They want to be able to explain everything logically and scientifically. As for me, I just want to FINISH MY LAB REPORT.

And so, the mystery I'm facing is this: At any given temperature, the viscosity of borosilicate glass is greater than that of soda-lime glass. WHY?! WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY??

Nothing so fanciful as the Big Bang Theory, or the theory of relativity. It's not as universal and incomprehensible like the origin of life. It's pretty simple, actually. It's gotta do with glass. Simple... NOT

Here I am, a mediocre scientist wannabe, who desperately needs to understand the bonds within borosilicate glass, and why that makes it more viscous than soda-lime glass. I'm not asking for world peace, i just want an ANSWER so I can finish my report before the DATELINE. Wikipedia, AskNick and Google weren't much help. God help me.

Beautiful song

2009-10-18T22:15:00.000+01:00

Lab Report

2009-10-18T00:38:00.000+01:00

I did a 3-hour lab experiment on Tuesday and I'm supposed to write a report about it. The experiment was to determine the "Viscosity and Softening Point of Soda-lime and Borosilicate Glasses", which is also the title of my report. All that the Malaysian government taught in schools about writing a report.. USELESS. Aims, hypotheses, inferences, procedures etc are NOT required. What I need to include is an abstract, introduction, experimental (something like procedures), results (but the table and graphs must follow a STRICT format, totally different than what I learnt), discussion and a conclusion. Oh, and it's gotta be at least 1500 words long. Hooray.

So here I am, blogging at 12.45 am because of 2 reasons:
1. My brain is so mashed up with Littleton Softening Point, amorphous structures, is glass a LIQUID or SOLID (yes, it's not exactly a solid), Arrhenius equation, viscous flow... etc
I NEED A BREAK. And blogging gives me a bit of mental relief ^^
2. 12.45 am because of... pro crust in a shern. I could've started working on the report since Tuesday, but I obviously didn't -.- The report's due on Tuesday 4pm and I am DETERMINED to get it done by Monday so I can show it to my tutor and redo the whole thing all over agian if he totally trashes it. Pessimistic, but safe.

So, I'm not sure if I can continue working on the report.. I'll try, but if my mind just cant get a move on, I'll just go to bed.. Under the warm duvet while it's 7 degress outside. Nice and comfy.. Warm.. Soft..

Of beauty and malice

2009-10-16T15:23:00.000+01:00

There's a fork in the road, which one do I take?
The one that goes straight home, or that which passes the lake?
Well, I'm not in a hurry, so I might as well see
The Albert memorial, how and why it came to be.

But near the memorial, lay a path hidden from view
Curious I went through it, under an arch covered with the morning dew
And emerging from the other side,
I found myself in a park called Hyde.

Walking through the park, beeches on my left and right,
With squirrels scampering everywhere, oh what a glorious sight.
Come what may, come what may
I could keep walking throughout the day

Releasing subtle scents are the delphiniums, tulips and roses;
Scents detected only by the sharpest of noses.
Oaks, chestnuts, ash and firs stands majestically overhead;
Shelter from rain; and from the sun, a comforting shade

But underneath all that beauty
Lies a little-known but terrible history,
One full of hatred, malice and bloodshed
That brought many innocent people to their death

A merry procession was badly interrupted
By a nail bomb planted by the IRA
An act done in cold blood that is so corrupted
Cannot be human, so they say

And so as a result of the bombing,
Some were killed instantly, and others were hurt
What benefit, I ask, could this possibly bring?
Nothing whatsoever, to be blunt or curt.

Anyway, what is done is done.
This will be a tale told from father to son
Of the desecration Hyde Park was forced to resist

And also, of beauty and malice.

COLD

2009-10-15T07:54:00.000+01:00

My goodness.. the weather here is unbelieveably COOOLLDDD. Let me try to describe the cold here.. It's like Genting at night + BOL with ALL the airconds blasting + strong wind like on a beach. Walking to college is getting harder and harder. Yesterday, by the time I reached college, my ears were as cold as if I was sitting in front of an air-con for an hour.

One thing I found cool about the cold though (pun not intended, but it's pretty cool anyways xD) was that I could see my breath in front of me. Hahaha for someone who lived his whole life in a tropical country, that was pretty fascinating ^^

And I'd like to blab more about the cold and how cold it is here and did I mention, it's really cold? Buttt... I gotta go college -.- and freeze my ears off again. I think I gotta start wearing a beanie. Thanks Des for the beanies!~ So.. long walk ahead of me, comfy bed behind me.. Cross ahead, world behind. Sorry, I know that was random.

Cars

2009-10-12T20:39:00.000+01:00

Where I am, the cars here are simply gorgeous. BMWs and Merces are like Protons and Peroduas back home. When walking to college, it's pretty common to suddenly hear the super-cool sound of turbo engines firing up. And these are bona fide turbo engines, not those ciplak ones certain people put on Proton Wajas.

Anyway, here's some of the cars I see along the road. Forgive me, but I used my handphone to take the pics so they aren't so clear as using a proper camera.

No idea wat car this is

A Jaguar

Same Jaguar, but in white

Ferrari.. I think =p

That's the few pics I took while walking around. If I catch any more, I'll post them
And now, in comparison, these are the cars I see when I was in Sunway University College, Subang Jaya, Selangor, MALAYSIA.

Tennis balls on the bumper...

The owner of this car has serious issues..

So, that's just a quick comparison between the cars that catch my eye here and back home. Hopefully, when I go back for holiday or whatever, nicer cars will be more common and painfully weird cars will be less common.

Cheers!~

Church

2009-10-11T21:52:00.000+01:00

Went for a church service this evening, at Christ Church Mayfair. Quite a nice place, with cathedral-like interior, but not that big. Oh, and there was a PIPE ORGAN. a full sized one, which was pretty cool to me. their service was pretty different than ours. 2 songs to start the service, than there was a confession prayer (we read it off the paper), then another song, then a few prayers led by a lady (we just sit tight and agree, no repeating or anything), and then... scripture reading, another song, and then the sermon aka "talk", as it says on da paper.

I'm really pleased with the service cos
1. worship was nice =p there was a trumpet, keyboard, bass, vocals who could harmonize, and drums. they din use the pipe organ T.T
2. the prayers were reasonable, not super weird ones that scare ppl away. and the group confessinon prayer was bout neglecting and forgetting His commandments, sins of commision and ommision etc. simple but to the point prayer. nothing scary ^^
3. doctrines were sound.. so far i only heard 1 "talk", but so far so good
4. the minister taught bout enduring unjust suffering (not prosperity/once saved always saved etc) based on 1Peter 11-12, 18-25

So, thank God for a good church. I think I'll stick to this one, but we'll see =)

Kinder bueno.. WHITE

2009-10-10T17:02:00.000+01:00

b4 i go do laundry, i think i'll indulge myself in a little thing called chocolate. this thing has powerful cheering up powers, even though i dont need cheering up =p but it will probably make my mood much much better than it already is.

and for those who enjoy kinder bueno back home.. here's a white version. dunno how it's gonna taste like, but if it's nicer, i'll be sure to mock you guys eating da normal kind. WAKAKAKAKAA

Saturday

2009-10-10T16:40:00.000+01:00

Today is saturday. the day when everyone is supposed to sleep in and enjoy their day. i woke up at 7.00 am.
why? because i set my alarm at dat time.
why? because there's a meeting for all MSOC (malaysian society) members in college at 10
10? then y set alarm so early? I OSO DUNNO -,-

So anyway, woke up at 7.00, snoozed until like 8, then got up. after all da normal morning stuff and cleaning up, left the house at around 8.50. stopped by at subways on the way to the tube (underground train) and had a sub-of-the-day dat cost me 2 pounds. quite cheap, considering.. oh, and i took da tube cos i was wayyyy too lazy to walk. saturday is NOT meant for work, both mental and physical. and i was deprived of sleeping in, so.. not in da happy walking mood =p
refreshments were provided at da meeting. FREE sandwiches and croissants and carrot sticks with dips. so da 2 pounds i spent on subway didn't seem so cheap after all. after da kinda boring meeting, went for a tour round south ken, then had kebab for lunch.

the kebab was... EXTRAORDINARY. da kebab i'm used to is da one near TGV in 1U, where they wrap a capati-like bread around some meat, veggies and sauce and it was eaten kinda like a sandwich. this one... there was a bowl with salad and meat and a capati-like bread on top. and we eat it with a fork. for those who know me well... u might guess correctly dat i had a REAAAALLLLYY hard time eating dat. PS:the bowl was BIG and there was a LOT of salad -.-

after dat we went back to college and we passed... a LAMBORGHINI SHOWROOM.
and this was on display by the window........

Even for a guy who doesn't know much bout cars.. (i cant tell a porsche from a jaguar) that was preeety impressive =D

so now i'm back in my room, probably gonna do laundry.. wish me luck =.= tata~

1st meal~

2009-10-09T23:38:00.000+01:00

I know it's already a week since I'm here, but today was my verryyy 1st time cooking on my own =p not much of "cooking", really, but at least I created an EDIBLE meal out of basic ingredients. haha. nothing great actually, just rice and steamed chicken. but at least the rice didn't become porridge and the chicken was actually perfection in its tenderness/fully cooked balance ^^

when i was eating i actually wanted to take a photo and upload it.. but then i decided against it cos seriously, it's embarassing xD it's just a plate of rice and a piece of chicken, no veggies or anything else. soo.. yeah =) oh, and btw, i got the chicken thighs for quite a good price. it's about 2.5 pounds a kg and i got almost a kg. so, it's like 2.5 pounds for chicken dat can last me 4 days =p

soo... jus proud of cooking my own meal. nothing much, but it's a personal achievement. wakakaakakaka

IC and RSM

2009-10-08T08:51:00.000+01:00

Some pics of Imperial College and the Royal School of Mines (my department's building) ^^

Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus

Exhibition Road, where IC is located

Archway in the RSM entrance

Entrance to the RSM

Looking from the corner of the building:
To the right - RSM
To the left - Main entrance

IC logo? i think =p

The RSM

Royal School of Mines
Imperial College of Science and Technology

One of the 2 figurines "guarding" the archway

The RSM entrace

More pics soon to come!

PS: uploading photos is a pain -.- or maybe i'm doing it wrong?

Hello from London!

2009-10-03T16:27:00.001+01:00

I've just settled into Wilson House, my home for the next few months. Quite a nice place, though it's really easy to get lost -.- No pics of the place yet cos I've got bags everywhere and I don't wanna publish my messy room online =p maybe when i've tidied up, i'll post a pic.

So now I'm in my room with some time till the free BBQ session later and a briefing by the head warden. So, I shall tell a story. The story of my arrival in London until now. If you think you'll like the story, read on. Otherwise, just leave this blog and have a good day =)

Pre-arrival
Flight MH4 flying to Heathrow Airport, London ===> DELAYED
When I first saw that, I thought, yay, at least there's time for me to relax and have a breather (FYI, I slept at 4.45 the previous night and woke up at 5.45). But then I found out that the delay was 5 HOURS. Oh well, doesn't matter that it's gonna be 9 at night when we reach London. Doesn't matter either that my accomodations are nowhere near the airport. Doesn't matter that the tubes close at midnight. Doesn't matter that our friend picking us up might not make it due to the late-ness. No matter~

13 hours flight.. No joke -.- I watched 4 movies on the plane: X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Proposal (Sry, but I prefer "The Ugly Truth"), Night at the museum and NATM 2. Napped a bit here and there.. and played chess and who want to be a millionaire. My record was 125,000 pounds.

Arrival
Landed at around 9.30 After giong through immigration and getting our bags, it was reaching 10.30. We went to arrivals and tried to figure out how to get to Redland House Hotel, the B&B inn we'll be staying at for 2 nights. And then I saw Uncle Sem, who was supposed to pick us up but I thought he wouldn't be coming due to the long delay. Thank God for him.

Uncle Sem took us through a myriad of tube stations and changes and finally reached the Marble Arch (see my FB for the pic) and eventually took us to RHH at around quarter to midnight. And as he had to take the tube (underground train) home, he literally ran off and we checked in, before carrying all our luggage to the 3rd floor. That was... exhausting -.-

Post-arrival
Had English breakfast the next morning (bread & butter & jam, no sausages, no ham. and somehow, that rhymes), then headed to the Malaysian Hicom to register myself with JPA. Nothing interesting there, so we headed on to Imperial College, aka IC.

To get to IC, we had to cross Hyde Park, and MAN was it big. and nice. and big. really big. nothing much about the park except for its plenty of ducks and oh, did i mention, it's really big? pictures in FB

Anyway, I went on to Imperial College to check out the place and register. And the place was sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. Sorry, I know pictures say a thousand words so I'll upload some tomorrow when I go to college and actually take some pics. so, the place was nice, kinda "hi-tech" looking, and BIG. okay, i might be biased on the "high-tech" part becaused come on, IC specialises in science and engineering (and medicine and business o.o). After paying for my accomodations, registering, etc.. we (parents & I) went back to RHH (Redland House Hotel).

I actually wanted to open a bank account before going back but I had this splitting headache and I was feeling really drained physically, and looking into my parents' faces told me they had the same thing. So we went back to RHH at around 5 (we took the tube this time, walking through Hyde Park would be too tiring). I planned to take a short nap until 6 and then go out to find Wilson House to familiarise myself with the place. I'd hate to walk around with heavy backs having no idea where I was. So, napped at around 5.30. Woke up at 5.20.

No, I did not make time go backwards.. I slept all the way until the next morning -.- and so did my parents, by the looks of it. Haizz.. now I know how cruel jet-lag can be. Oh, this reminds me *what happens when I use an old computer?* JET-LAG. Sry, only certain youths from BOL will appreciate the joke.

So, woke up, had breakfast, then moved into Wilson House. And several hours later.. and a network cable that costed me about 5 pounds -.- here I am, writing this SUPER DUPER LONG ESSAY. I had no idea how long it was.. I jus kept babbling on and on until I hit "preview". Wow, I can really talk alot -.-

So anyway, no pics here yet. Maybe tomorrow when I snap some photos of my room and IC. And should I post pics here, on FB or both? Pls feedback =p

Arrival

2009-10-02T14:18:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post to ensure everyone that I'm still alive. Reached the B&B inn at close to midnight yesterday. Now in the College cafeteria having sandwiches for lunch with my parents. When I have the time, I'll post more interesting stuff and pics.

Final hours

2009-09-30T19:55:00.000+01:00

So, here I am, in my room, and packing all the final stuff to bring with me. Tick tock, tick tock, the clock mocks me of the little time I have left here in my personal sanctum. With the aircond blasting, it almost feels like I'm already in that faraway place.. I put on my sweater and my gloves, and imagine myself there.. Before saying my final goodbyes, I take some time to linger.

I look at my four bookshelves, three of which are identical and from Ikea.. I'm gonna miss my all books.

I look at my electone (aka keyboard) which I had since I was in primary school.. I'm gonna miss my music.

I look at my violin, the one instrument I resent playing but am proud of.. I'm gonna miss my violin. Oh wait, I'm bringing it along -.-"

I look at my bed, my soft comfy bed, which I missed so much while I was in NS camp.. I'm gonna miss my bed. AGAIN

I look at my couch, filled with memories of me lying there under the light reading while munching on some fattening snacks.. I'm gonna miss my reading couch.

I look at my table, the same one I had since I stayed in Selayang. The same one I USED TO slave away at, doing homework. Now it's filled with my junk and clutter.. I'm gonna miss my messy table.

I look at my wardrobe, also the same one since Selayang. That brought back memories of the time I used to share a room with my sister. She said I talked in my sleep, I say she snored.. I'm gonna miss my sister. All of them, in fact. Oh, cut that.. I'm gonna miss my family.

I look at an A4 sized paper on the wall in front of me that has the heading "Our God Now Shows His Kids About Sin With Commandments". That paper was given to me in Sunday School during my childhood days.. I'm gonna miss my childhood friends.

I look at all the little things I have in my room. A toy dog, a withered rose, a little Coca-Cola can, a penguin keychain... and many more. All these were presents from dear friends.. I'm gonna miss my friends.

Last of all, I look at my bunch of keys that I always carry with me wherever I go. Out of impulse, I almost wanted to bring it along with me but then I realised, I don't need it where I'm going. So I reluctantly leave it on the table.. the messy table mentioned earlier.

Within that bunch of keys are 2 small keys that represent something close to my heart. Those 2 keys are actually pretty insignificant.. They are only cabinet keys, but to me, they represent the audio and visual ministry in BOL. Oh boy, I'm so gonna miss BOL... the people, the premise, the instruments, the system.. THAT MOOD-SWINGING, TEMPER-THROWING SYSTEM. But I think I'm gonna miss dat tiny little sound system booth at the back the most.. And the people who worked with me.

So, besides that 2 small keys, the rest are the keys to my house. The house I moved in a couple years ago (I can never remember how many years exactly). The house that at first, seemed odd and unfamiliar, but in the end grew to become a home to me.. I'm gonna miss my home.

Unfortunately, the time to linger is drawing to an end. Time and tide waits for no man, and I have to move on. It's now 4.35 am and I need to sleep one last time on my soft soft bed. So I bid a soft farewell to everything in my room, but I will never say goodbye to all the memories they represent. I will move on with life, and start a new life in that far far place, but the memories that I have, as much as I can remember, I will forever cherish and keep with me.

To all my family and friends that contributed to those memories, both sweet and bitter: Thank you. Without you I would have nothing to muse about, nothing to miss, nothing to anchor me in this one place I call home. Thank you.

*~Goodbye~*