International Student Exchange Fair in Brennan Room

I did not get to blog yesterday, so I shall start backtracking from yesterday's events.

Had pancakes with butter spread, together with a glass of warm milo for breakfast. The pancakes' tastes were a bit weird, but overall they were still okay with the butter. But I still prefer the pancakes from MacDonalds, for the "wheaty'' taste is not so intense, in addition to a subtle buttery taste.

CHEM 3310 was on retrosynthetic techniques, which were similar to what Dr Bates taught in CBC 213. However, Warwick explained every single step explicitly which made understanding much more easier. Retrosynthesis has never been my forte, hopefully I will be able to improve here. The weather is really getting more and more chilly, especially eversince Daylight Saving Time ended.Temperatures are low even in the afternoons. The sky is often overcast, and sudden showers follow suit. I felt kind of demoralized after Green Engineering lecture, for I literally do not understand a single bit on Pinch Technology. And it is even more demoralizing that my inertia to start revising on this particular topic is still too big for me to overcome. Had a chat with Ding and I found out that Australian cars cost between $1000-$17000. No wonder Mummy said that cars here are so affordable.

Have been having headaches, probably due to the drastic change in weather. But so far, it has not "blossomed'' into a common cold as yet. Finally I managed to get some proper work done, which was successfully finding 10 articles from the Psychology academic journal for my IRHR 1001 2nd essay. :) Dinner was Chu Qian Yi Ding beef flavoured noodles together with the usual frozen condiments. However, I added too little water. And as a result, the gravy had a very salty taste. And it is important to take into account that the instant noodles will actually absorb some of the water during the boiling process.

The party of 4 knocked on my door unexpectedly and we sat down to have a "thrashing-out'' session for more than an hour. I was very astounded by their levels of maturity and sensitivity. I really underestimated their personalities and overwhelming emotions of guilt rose in my heart. Hopefully, after ironing out our differences, we will become even better friends than before. I certainly do not wish to part from Newcastle, with having only established a "no more than just a mere acquaintance" relationship with them. Let's go on to talk about the events today.

Geoff has started giving lectures for CHEM 3210. And the content of his notes are relatively elementary, for I have learnt them in either CBC 111 or CBC 212. But it was good in a way too, as it helped to refresh my memory on the basic concepts which have almost vaporized into thin air. During the 1 hour break, I went to the Brennan Room in Shortland Union to participate in the International Student Exchange fair. I spoke to a study mother who wants to her exchange in NTU in the one or two years to come. She was very friendly and I was glad that I was able to help her answer most of her questions. Another 2 guys passed the NTU booth as well. Answered their questions and gave them the brochures that were placed on the booth. One of them actually thought that Singapore is in China. And the same guy also asked if the medium of instruction in Singapore is English.

I got to make a new friend from the exchange fair. His name is Ed and is a 2nd year business student from the City University of Hongkong. Like me, he is also embarking on an exchange program in UoN. He is really amicable and I very candidly told him about my recent Hongkong trip. Ed lives in Sha Tin and is trilingual. Right now, he is staying at an off campus accomodation that is 4 train stations away from Warabrook. A pity I had to turn down his invitation to have lunch together for I have straight lessons from 12pm- 4 pm.

CHEM 3310 lab was a harrowing experience, for I nearly had to redo Experiment 4 as my yield was very little. Luckily, most of them were found in the filtrate, and therefore I had sufficient amount of product to do the melting point and IR spectrum. Thionyl chloride smells strangely pleasant to me, although Adam and Catherine said that it stinks. But of course, I am not so foolish as to inhale the vapour on purpose. Overall, the experiments went well today, although I chose to redo Experiment 2 for my product had turned into a liquid that was a shade of weird brown.

It was raining for the whole of the afternoon and needless to say, I felt cold from head to toe. And I made the mistake of not bringing my jacket. But thankfully, I brought my umbrella to shield me from the cold raindrops. Drank a bowl of instant soup as a late lunch and proceeded to stream music in the next few hours. Passed my time by listening to music on youtube and my daily dose of surfing the Internet. Had a microwaved dish of potatoes and chicken for dinner before heading out to watch the movie "Never back down'' with the party of 4.

The genre of this move lies approximately along the same line as "Step up 2 the streets'' as it is a teenage flick, peppered with angst,violence and rivalry. Basically, it centres around the main character, Jake who spared no effort to brush up on his boxing skills to pay his enemy back in his coin, for the latter had brutally beaten him up several times. The ending is predictable. Jake triumped over his enemy and got into a relationship with a blonde schoolmate whom he had developed a crush on. For once, I felt significantly happier to watch a movie with the party of 4. Anticipate watching the movies, "Horton'' and "Kungfu Panda'' with them as well. I definitely prefer comedies and animations over gory and horror movies.

On a chirpier note, I will be going to Tasmania with the same group of friends who went to Sydney on 16th April. This trip will probably last 3-4 days. Stay tuned for updates and photos! :)