This is the 2nd time in a week that I leave my belongings behind! First, it was my student ID. And today, I left my thumbdrive at one of the computer terminals at the Engineering Building. I had forgotten to take it after photocopying my notes. Let's hope that the thumbdrive will still be there when I go and try to retrieve it tomorrow.
My right shoulder and neck muscles are so painful! :( I think I must have exerted too much pressure on them while sleeping too much on one side. My physical appearance is suffering in a few ways as well, dried and itchy skin, small pimples appearing near the mouth and having lips so dry that they crack and bleed. So many misfortunes seem to befall on me simultaneously. I have been applying dollops of moisturizer and lip gloss daily now. Hopefully, they will give me adequate protection against the cold and dry autumn air.
Michael's lessons continue to baffle me. Up till now, I still can't get used to his style of writing and lecturing. He seems to expect us to understand the concepts while copying them at the same time. The fonts on his powerpoint presentations are so small that we have to go right in front to copy his notes. And the way he writes letters is so alien looking and it never fails to evoke feelings of irritation in us. Worst of all, I do not understand what he is talking about in lectures at all. I am just merely copying things off the slides without processing the information. On a more positive note, Kris came to talk to me during the break. He would be going back to Indonesia shortly after the exams. And I got to find out that Garuda Indonesia is notorious for its appalling safety standards. No wonder European countries banned their airlines from flying there.
Had an afternoon nap that lasted a couple of hours after a lunch of instant Asian fried rice and grapes. It has been yonks since I last took an afternoon nap. Did some IRHR 1001 readings after I woke up. Poring through the seemingly never ending pages of small fonts makes time pass by very slowly. I just couldn't wait to get the readings over and done with. Cooked vegetable soup,which consisted of baby corns,beansprouts,a tomato and a mushroom for dinner. Handling baby corns is definitely much more manageable than the huge corns on the cobs. I am simply too lazy to cut vegetables, so I had always purchase frozen pre-cut vegetables, tomatoes and mushrooms only. But thanks to Jesmond Fruit Barn, I now have a couple more choices; baby corn and beansprouts. :P
Finally, I have paid off all my "debts'' today, after activating my Netbank account. Pray for all my misfortunes to be gone in the shortest possible time. I want to lead a neutral lifestyle again.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Failed Experiment :( = 6/5/08
Had CHEM 3210 lecture cum tutorial in the morning, but I was building castles in the sky most of the time. Just couldn't manage to focus on the lesson due to short attention span. My mind was flooded with a lot of random issues, basically anything under the sun except for academic material. I seem to have this mentality that I can catch up with my studies later even if I do not pay attention during lectures now. Ironically, I ain't even sure whether I can do that.
Today's CHEM 3310 lab session was the most disappointing ever, for I lost all my alkene product while rotary evaporating the petroleum spirit. In other words, I had zero yield! Luckily, Adam didn't make too big a fuss out of it and consoled me by saying that I would only lose a mere mark for not having the product. I was allowed to take the IR spectras from Cathy and analyze them from there. But deep down inside, I was upset with myself for being so undiscerning towards the amount of liquid left in the round bottom flask. Next week will be the last organic chemistry lab. Afterwhich, the time will be devoted to lessons on retrosynthesis. Wish me luck in successfully completing the remaining hanging bits of my experiments!
As winter approaches, the day gets progressively shorter due to a couple instead of just 1 factor. The sun rises at a later time and sets at an earlier time. At the rate the day is shortening, the sun would rise at past 7 am and set at a few minutes past 4 pm on the day I depart for home. There is some delay in receiving an email regarding the IA interview schedules. And the feeling of being kept in suspense is a stressor. Hope it comes soon.
Cooked udon soup with tomatoes,corn,mushrooms and beansprouts for dinner. Unfortunately, the end product tasted horrid, because of the overpowering sour taste that resulted from the combination of the tomato slices and udon. Initially, I tried to force myself to finish the whole bowl, but it was a futile attempt. I gave up after finishing only half a bowl and discarded the rest away. Since the hunger pangs were not satisfied, I microwaved an instant chicken with potato dish. Let's hope that history does not repeat itself with regards to wasting food.
Did some parts of my CHEM 3210 lab report, but I still lack a reference. Need to undergo the hassle of going to Newcat to hunt for it. If all goes well, Renee and I can pass up our first completed lab report on Thursday. But 1 out of 11 lab reports is barely significant for me. Still have more than 90% to do. This big percentage is very daunting. I just have one wish now, which is to shut out all distractions and think of nothing but finishing up my work.
Today's CHEM 3310 lab session was the most disappointing ever, for I lost all my alkene product while rotary evaporating the petroleum spirit. In other words, I had zero yield! Luckily, Adam didn't make too big a fuss out of it and consoled me by saying that I would only lose a mere mark for not having the product. I was allowed to take the IR spectras from Cathy and analyze them from there. But deep down inside, I was upset with myself for being so undiscerning towards the amount of liquid left in the round bottom flask. Next week will be the last organic chemistry lab. Afterwhich, the time will be devoted to lessons on retrosynthesis. Wish me luck in successfully completing the remaining hanging bits of my experiments!
As winter approaches, the day gets progressively shorter due to a couple instead of just 1 factor. The sun rises at a later time and sets at an earlier time. At the rate the day is shortening, the sun would rise at past 7 am and set at a few minutes past 4 pm on the day I depart for home. There is some delay in receiving an email regarding the IA interview schedules. And the feeling of being kept in suspense is a stressor. Hope it comes soon.
Cooked udon soup with tomatoes,corn,mushrooms and beansprouts for dinner. Unfortunately, the end product tasted horrid, because of the overpowering sour taste that resulted from the combination of the tomato slices and udon. Initially, I tried to force myself to finish the whole bowl, but it was a futile attempt. I gave up after finishing only half a bowl and discarded the rest away. Since the hunger pangs were not satisfied, I microwaved an instant chicken with potato dish. Let's hope that history does not repeat itself with regards to wasting food.
Did some parts of my CHEM 3210 lab report, but I still lack a reference. Need to undergo the hassle of going to Newcat to hunt for it. If all goes well, Renee and I can pass up our first completed lab report on Thursday. But 1 out of 11 lab reports is barely significant for me. Still have more than 90% to do. This big percentage is very daunting. I just have one wish now, which is to shut out all distractions and think of nothing but finishing up my work.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Lunch with Zhaowei
Fell asleep really early at before 11 pm yesterday, due to an overwhelming wave of tiredness. And the cool weather made sleeping more conducive than usual as well. Barely completed any work, either than pasting figures onto my FCC assignment. And I am proud to say that it is finally completely done, although the deadline is on 12th May.
Had a change of CHEM 3310 lecturer again, this time to an elderly balding man called Ian. It is quite hard to understand what he is teaching because he mumbles at some points of time. And his speaking pace is also very slow, and that really induces drowsiness. Went to Auchmuty library after that to top up my student ID with credits so that I can print my notes. I got a momentary shock when I realised that my student ID wasn't with me when I went to the CHEM 3210 laboratory to borrow some references to do my lab reports. If one wishes to put the references on loan, it is mandatory to give the lab staff your student ID as a guarantee.
Thankfully, I managed to find my card on one of the computer terminals in the library. Heaved a big sigh of relief for if I had really lost my card, I would need to pay $20 in replacement fees. I wasn't so lucky the previous time, when I lost my NTU matriculation card after the Astronomy exam. It was never recovered and $21 was wasted as result. Shall resolve to be less careless in the future.
Met Zhaowei at 12 pm outside Subway, where we purchased a six inch long sandwich each. We headed to the tuckshop in Student Union where we started munching on our lunch. I was surprised to find out that we know several common people, such as Linkooi, Kwang, the Aarons, Fritz and Kangyuan. Speaking of the devil, both us spotted Linkooi and Kwang in the tuckshop as well. Kangyuan was Zhaowei's mechatronics engineering coursemate in SP. And coincidentally, both of them went through training at OCS as well. It is such a pity that I got wind of the UoN Singaporean Society too late, for their last activity was held in March. And the next event would only be held in October; by then I would have already been back home. According to Zhaowei, there are only around 40 Singaporeans on the UoN Callaghan campus, and not all of them have come forth to join the society. I reckon that some of them are like me, not knowing about the existence of the club.
Linkooi came and sat with us for lunch as well. I couldn't help but feel that his voice and style of speaking is so similar to that of Sherwin aka Fido Dido, my outspoken and sometimes sarcastic senior cum friend from JJC's Science Society. Despite Linkooi's nonsensical and straightforward nature, he is actually very intelligent! Currently, he is pursuing his Honours and will study all the way up to a PhD. He stays in Birmingham Gardens and his weekly rental fee is only $100, inclusive of Internet and other house bills. That makes me quite envious, because on top of my $120 weekly rent, me and my housemates have to split other miscellaneous bills among ourselves.
The chat between me and Zhaowei lasted for almost a couple of hours and I really learnt a lot of things from him, especially about Simon and his life in Newcastle. I am glad we have some common opinions, such as agreeing that home is the best and that living with strangers requires a basic level of tolerance. UoN's school fees are several times more expensive that than of both NUS and NTU. Each year of studies cost more than $20 K and each module costs a whopping $2000+. So if you fail any modules, retaking it will definitely burn a huge hole in your pocket. Thus, I am really thankful that my A Level results were good enough to secure me a place in both NUS and NTU. Up till now, I still find it ethereal on how I much I had yearned to enter NUS, due to its prestigious sounding name and established track records since secondary school. And ironically, I am proud to say that I am a NTU student now.
For the first time in UoN, I handed up an incomplete Green Engineering assignment. Guess I can afford a borderline fail for this assignment and still can pass overall since I have gotten more than a passing mark for all the past assignments. And contents from only 3 chapters will be tested in the examination. So, I will have a lot of time to study for the paper. Sounds really relaxing, doesn't it? Geoff set an optional assignment on Units and Material Balances for students who wish to pull up their marks for the first 2 quizzes of the semester. Thankfully, I have gotten good marks for them,albeit not perfect scores. Thus, there will be one less academic burden off my mind. :)
Had a change of CHEM 3310 lecturer again, this time to an elderly balding man called Ian. It is quite hard to understand what he is teaching because he mumbles at some points of time. And his speaking pace is also very slow, and that really induces drowsiness. Went to Auchmuty library after that to top up my student ID with credits so that I can print my notes. I got a momentary shock when I realised that my student ID wasn't with me when I went to the CHEM 3210 laboratory to borrow some references to do my lab reports. If one wishes to put the references on loan, it is mandatory to give the lab staff your student ID as a guarantee.
Thankfully, I managed to find my card on one of the computer terminals in the library. Heaved a big sigh of relief for if I had really lost my card, I would need to pay $20 in replacement fees. I wasn't so lucky the previous time, when I lost my NTU matriculation card after the Astronomy exam. It was never recovered and $21 was wasted as result. Shall resolve to be less careless in the future.
Met Zhaowei at 12 pm outside Subway, where we purchased a six inch long sandwich each. We headed to the tuckshop in Student Union where we started munching on our lunch. I was surprised to find out that we know several common people, such as Linkooi, Kwang, the Aarons, Fritz and Kangyuan. Speaking of the devil, both us spotted Linkooi and Kwang in the tuckshop as well. Kangyuan was Zhaowei's mechatronics engineering coursemate in SP. And coincidentally, both of them went through training at OCS as well. It is such a pity that I got wind of the UoN Singaporean Society too late, for their last activity was held in March. And the next event would only be held in October; by then I would have already been back home. According to Zhaowei, there are only around 40 Singaporeans on the UoN Callaghan campus, and not all of them have come forth to join the society. I reckon that some of them are like me, not knowing about the existence of the club.
Linkooi came and sat with us for lunch as well. I couldn't help but feel that his voice and style of speaking is so similar to that of Sherwin aka Fido Dido, my outspoken and sometimes sarcastic senior cum friend from JJC's Science Society. Despite Linkooi's nonsensical and straightforward nature, he is actually very intelligent! Currently, he is pursuing his Honours and will study all the way up to a PhD. He stays in Birmingham Gardens and his weekly rental fee is only $100, inclusive of Internet and other house bills. That makes me quite envious, because on top of my $120 weekly rent, me and my housemates have to split other miscellaneous bills among ourselves.
The chat between me and Zhaowei lasted for almost a couple of hours and I really learnt a lot of things from him, especially about Simon and his life in Newcastle. I am glad we have some common opinions, such as agreeing that home is the best and that living with strangers requires a basic level of tolerance. UoN's school fees are several times more expensive that than of both NUS and NTU. Each year of studies cost more than $20 K and each module costs a whopping $2000+. So if you fail any modules, retaking it will definitely burn a huge hole in your pocket. Thus, I am really thankful that my A Level results were good enough to secure me a place in both NUS and NTU. Up till now, I still find it ethereal on how I much I had yearned to enter NUS, due to its prestigious sounding name and established track records since secondary school. And ironically, I am proud to say that I am a NTU student now.
For the first time in UoN, I handed up an incomplete Green Engineering assignment. Guess I can afford a borderline fail for this assignment and still can pass overall since I have gotten more than a passing mark for all the past assignments. And contents from only 3 chapters will be tested in the examination. So, I will have a lot of time to study for the paper. Sounds really relaxing, doesn't it? Geoff set an optional assignment on Units and Material Balances for students who wish to pull up their marks for the first 2 quizzes of the semester. Thankfully, I have gotten good marks for them,albeit not perfect scores. Thus, there will be one less academic burden off my mind. :)
Met Rachel's friend, Haan while on the way home from the Engineering Building. I was kind of surprised that he could recognize me,but we still exchanged friendly greetings nevertheless. It is intriguing to note that a vast majority of my friends are linked to each other, all thanks to social functions, such as Bar on the Hill Latin Night and Mysun, in addition to mutual introductions done among all of us. Haan, Jian Wen and Rachel are Weiming's juniors in Architecture. Jonathan and Weiming are doing common majors, and the former was surprised to find out that the latter lives under the same roof as me. And of course, there are many more links. In a nutshell, it such such a small world!
Had enjoyable chats with Aili and Rachel when I got home. I think it's going to be quite hard for 3 of us to meet up, due to our conflicting schedules. Even so, I am just as happy to meet both of them individually. Another link to note, Rachel and Aili know each other as well, through Mysun gatherings and sleepovers at IH. Have yet to see how IH look like, but I am just too lazy to walk long distances just to explore the vast UoN campus. The time factor is also another hindrance. So much things to do but so little time!
The 11 incomplete lab reports are weighing heavily on my mind, but I have yet to muster up the momentum to start doing them properly. I keep thinking that there is a lot of time, when actually there is not. When will I learn to draw a clear line between studies and play? Really dislike the feeling of not being able to fully concentrate on either aspects. Sigh, wallowing in self pity is such a waste of time. But I still do it. In a nutshell, studying life is a misery. =( I need a time accelerator that will bring me straight to the future, the time when exams are non existent in life!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Darby Raj and Newcastle City Council
Today was another enjoyable day with Rachel. We slept between 12 midnight to 1 am and it was the first time I shared a single bed with a friend. It was a little squeezy but I still managed to have a good night's rest. Had pancakes with butter for breakfast. The pancakes I bought this time around taste better than the previous batch. Gave Rachel one of my organic fruit bars before she rushed to attend Church. And she said that it was one the nicest bars she had ever tasted. Guess the hefty price of $2.50 is quite worth it afterall.
Rachel came back from church at 11+ am and she helped me comb and style my hair again. The feeling is very therapeutic,analogous to a massage. She said that I should experiment different hairstyles on my thin and smooth textured locks. Shall try that when I get back to Singapore, because I did not bring any beauty accessories to Newcastle. Rachel really has a lot of songs in her external hard disk, and I transferred more than 60 of her songs into my computer. From now on, I would not need to be so dependent on the Internet to listen to music anymore. And, the bandwidth has just been renewed. But I reckon that it will be used up within 3 weeks from past experiences. Hopefully, it will be an exception this time!
Got to find out a lot of fascinating facts about Rachel. She was actually born in Paddington, which is a suburb of Sydney. All along, I thought that she was born in KL. And she may get an Australian citizenship in the near future, since her HK born mother migrated to Australia when she was a teenager. Not to mention, she has great taste in clothes, wide knowledge on fashion and really good with hands-on activities, such as cooking and giving me exotic hairstyles. I feel honoured about the fact that she shares a lot of insights and innermost thoughts with me. I dare to say that her maturity level is no lower than mine, if not, higher.
We took 108 for lunch at Darby Raj at around 1 pm. As usual, we chatted almost non stop throughout the whole journey. Rachel's presence really brings out the humourous and cheerful side of me. I haven't laughed so hard and felt so optimistic in the longest time ever. Most of the time, the acute loneliness and apprehension did nothing but fuel the negative thoughts in my mind. Like Weiming, she has no exams, and will go back to Malaysia on 24th June. =( But I believe true friendship can withstand physical separation, for we still can be around each other spiritually.
We shared a wholesome lunch of butter chicken,beef and vegetables with rice, garlic naan and chicken samosa. And the price was very reasonable at $9 per person. But the variety wasn't that wide, for there were no thosais,roti johns and roti pratas. The afternoon was chilly despite the sun rays penetrating through the trees. And the sun showed signs of setting although it was just 4 pm. After eating to out hearts' content, we adjourned to Newcastle City Centre where we took several photos of the serene looking parks and other structures with intriguing designs. The large patch of grass looked very inviting for picnics. I felt as if that I had been transported to another realm, and that gave me a feeling that was oh-so-surreal. It is probably due to the fact that this one of the rare times I get to explore more of Newcastle city with such fantastic company. And I could take my own sweet time to enjoy the subtly wonderful surroundings that Newcastle has to offer.
As the saying goes,all good things must come to an end. We left the place reluctantly and took 101 back to our respective homes. A natural smile never fails to curve up on my face as I reminisce of this eventful weekend. So many unexpected and pleasant surprises and incidents have happened. I have never envisaged that I would get to know 3 more Singaporean friends and chat with some of them on MSN so comfortably, in a mere span of 2 days! Zhaowei and Durrah are the other 2 Singaporeans I have befriended and both are committee members of the UoN Singaporean Society. They are from Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering respectively. And Durrah was allowed to enter the 3rd year of her major directly. Back in NUS and NTU, she was only allowed to go direct into 2nd year, with her diploma. It is indeed an ecstatic feeling to make more friends, especially with your fellow countrymen. :)
Rachel came back from church at 11+ am and she helped me comb and style my hair again. The feeling is very therapeutic,analogous to a massage. She said that I should experiment different hairstyles on my thin and smooth textured locks. Shall try that when I get back to Singapore, because I did not bring any beauty accessories to Newcastle. Rachel really has a lot of songs in her external hard disk, and I transferred more than 60 of her songs into my computer. From now on, I would not need to be so dependent on the Internet to listen to music anymore. And, the bandwidth has just been renewed. But I reckon that it will be used up within 3 weeks from past experiences. Hopefully, it will be an exception this time!
Got to find out a lot of fascinating facts about Rachel. She was actually born in Paddington, which is a suburb of Sydney. All along, I thought that she was born in KL. And she may get an Australian citizenship in the near future, since her HK born mother migrated to Australia when she was a teenager. Not to mention, she has great taste in clothes, wide knowledge on fashion and really good with hands-on activities, such as cooking and giving me exotic hairstyles. I feel honoured about the fact that she shares a lot of insights and innermost thoughts with me. I dare to say that her maturity level is no lower than mine, if not, higher.
We took 108 for lunch at Darby Raj at around 1 pm. As usual, we chatted almost non stop throughout the whole journey. Rachel's presence really brings out the humourous and cheerful side of me. I haven't laughed so hard and felt so optimistic in the longest time ever. Most of the time, the acute loneliness and apprehension did nothing but fuel the negative thoughts in my mind. Like Weiming, she has no exams, and will go back to Malaysia on 24th June. =( But I believe true friendship can withstand physical separation, for we still can be around each other spiritually.
We shared a wholesome lunch of butter chicken,beef and vegetables with rice, garlic naan and chicken samosa. And the price was very reasonable at $9 per person. But the variety wasn't that wide, for there were no thosais,roti johns and roti pratas. The afternoon was chilly despite the sun rays penetrating through the trees. And the sun showed signs of setting although it was just 4 pm. After eating to out hearts' content, we adjourned to Newcastle City Centre where we took several photos of the serene looking parks and other structures with intriguing designs. The large patch of grass looked very inviting for picnics. I felt as if that I had been transported to another realm, and that gave me a feeling that was oh-so-surreal. It is probably due to the fact that this one of the rare times I get to explore more of Newcastle city with such fantastic company. And I could take my own sweet time to enjoy the subtly wonderful surroundings that Newcastle has to offer.
As the saying goes,all good things must come to an end. We left the place reluctantly and took 101 back to our respective homes. A natural smile never fails to curve up on my face as I reminisce of this eventful weekend. So many unexpected and pleasant surprises and incidents have happened. I have never envisaged that I would get to know 3 more Singaporean friends and chat with some of them on MSN so comfortably, in a mere span of 2 days! Zhaowei and Durrah are the other 2 Singaporeans I have befriended and both are committee members of the UoN Singaporean Society. They are from Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering respectively. And Durrah was allowed to enter the 3rd year of her major directly. Back in NUS and NTU, she was only allowed to go direct into 2nd year, with her diploma. It is indeed an ecstatic feeling to make more friends, especially with your fellow countrymen. :)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Colourful Saturday :)
Once again, I went back to Auchmuty library to recharge my handphone with credits and surf the web. There was barely anyone in the school premises on a Saturday, but the internet connections were still as slow as yesterday's. And I could not print my IRHR 1001 readings for there were some problems in opening the PDF files.
After leaving school, I boarded 108 opposite the Maths building, with the intention of going to Jesmond to do some grocery shopping. I got quite panicky when the bus did not pass through Jesmond after 5 minutes. Instead, it made several rounds within the housing areas in Birmingham Gardens and Shortland. These housing areas looked really unfamilar and I was afraid that I had taken the wrong bus. Thankfully, my fears were uncalled for when the bus did a U turn and stopped just outside Jesmond Fruit Barn.
Jesmond Fruit Barn sells a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, even more that than that of Woolsworth. Organic products are abundant on the shelves as well. But an organic fruit bar is really costly at $2.50. Despite the hefty price, I bought 3 of them, for they only expire after July. For the first time, I bought baby corn and beansprouts. Got a few types of fruits as well, such as apples,bananas and grapes. The apples are really huge and rosy red. I got to discover a fact about apples: they can be kept for up to 1 month if stored in the refrigerator.
Next stop was Woolsworth,and I blew $86 on the groceries there. Bought several packets of sauces for my stir fried noodles, more packets of noodles,pancakes, low fat ice-cream and yogurt,together with the other usual groceries.Initially, I had intended to buy even more groceries, but decided against doing so for I do not have the strength to carry so many shopping bags. Last but not least, I went to House of Asia where I purchased some frozen fishballs,fishcakes,beancurd and some instant noodles. In total, I have spent more than $100 in shopping today! I guess the amount of food is sufficient to last me for 2 months. It is an exhilarating feeling to go on massive shopping sprees.
Met up with Rachel at 1 pm for lunch at Oceania. Ate white rice with chicken,vegetables and omelette this time. The meal cost $7.30, but I was not indignant about the price at all. The white rice was piping hot and the side dishes weren't as oily as the creamy chicken rice which I ate for the first time. It has been 2 weeks since I met her and we had quite a lot of catching up to do. And chatting with her is always entertaining. We took 226 home after Rachel had purchased her lunch from KFC. Lugging several heavy plastic bags between us was barely manageable, for more than one plastic bags showed signs of breaking or have already been broken. Interestingly, a trolley that we saw on the way home saved us from the difficult predicament. We put all the grocery bags in it and pushed it all the way home to my house's doorstep.
In my room, Rachel helped me comb and style my hair. It was such a pampering feeling. According to her, my hair is really fine and thus, it gets entangled easily. And it is very difficult to disentangle it because I cannot see the back of my head. We also had our usual dose of heart to heart talks and joke cracking. I feel as if I have known her for years,instead of a mere less than 2 months. Time whizzes past when you are having so much fun, and soon it was time to start cooking.
This time, Rachel marinated 3 chicken drumsticks with herbs for deep frying and cooked carbonara macoroni. I only helped her in boiling the macoroni until it was soft. From the standard of the taste and aroma of the food she prepares, it is almost impossible to believe that it is merely her first time cooking. I guess my compliments for her cooking will encourage to continue experimenting with food. :P. During our dinner, Wilson came back with his friend, Jonathan, who is a Singaporean. He is a 3rd year Architecture student and stays in Ang Mo Kio. Got to find out some shocking things about Simon Lee from him. Our landlord actually tries to squeeze as much money as he can out of us! And he committed an illegal act by leasing houses without a proper agent! Wilson advised us to look at the house bills before paying any amount of money that Simon requests for. I guess it is natural for businessmen to possess such calculative personality traits. Jonathan used to be the treasurer of the UoN Singaporean Society and he gave me the contact number of Zhaowei, who is the current president of the club.
My long awaited dream has finally come true, which was to know a Singaporean from UoN. Had a chat with Zhaowei on MSN and we agreed to have lunch on Monday together. As from today, I am part of the UoN Singaporean society. :) Although I only get to be a member for a mere couple of months, I look forward to attending activities organized by the committee and getting to know even more friends.
After leaving school, I boarded 108 opposite the Maths building, with the intention of going to Jesmond to do some grocery shopping. I got quite panicky when the bus did not pass through Jesmond after 5 minutes. Instead, it made several rounds within the housing areas in Birmingham Gardens and Shortland. These housing areas looked really unfamilar and I was afraid that I had taken the wrong bus. Thankfully, my fears were uncalled for when the bus did a U turn and stopped just outside Jesmond Fruit Barn.
Jesmond Fruit Barn sells a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, even more that than that of Woolsworth. Organic products are abundant on the shelves as well. But an organic fruit bar is really costly at $2.50. Despite the hefty price, I bought 3 of them, for they only expire after July. For the first time, I bought baby corn and beansprouts. Got a few types of fruits as well, such as apples,bananas and grapes. The apples are really huge and rosy red. I got to discover a fact about apples: they can be kept for up to 1 month if stored in the refrigerator.
Next stop was Woolsworth,and I blew $86 on the groceries there. Bought several packets of sauces for my stir fried noodles, more packets of noodles,pancakes, low fat ice-cream and yogurt,together with the other usual groceries.Initially, I had intended to buy even more groceries, but decided against doing so for I do not have the strength to carry so many shopping bags. Last but not least, I went to House of Asia where I purchased some frozen fishballs,fishcakes,beancurd and some instant noodles. In total, I have spent more than $100 in shopping today! I guess the amount of food is sufficient to last me for 2 months. It is an exhilarating feeling to go on massive shopping sprees.
Met up with Rachel at 1 pm for lunch at Oceania. Ate white rice with chicken,vegetables and omelette this time. The meal cost $7.30, but I was not indignant about the price at all. The white rice was piping hot and the side dishes weren't as oily as the creamy chicken rice which I ate for the first time. It has been 2 weeks since I met her and we had quite a lot of catching up to do. And chatting with her is always entertaining. We took 226 home after Rachel had purchased her lunch from KFC. Lugging several heavy plastic bags between us was barely manageable, for more than one plastic bags showed signs of breaking or have already been broken. Interestingly, a trolley that we saw on the way home saved us from the difficult predicament. We put all the grocery bags in it and pushed it all the way home to my house's doorstep.
In my room, Rachel helped me comb and style my hair. It was such a pampering feeling. According to her, my hair is really fine and thus, it gets entangled easily. And it is very difficult to disentangle it because I cannot see the back of my head. We also had our usual dose of heart to heart talks and joke cracking. I feel as if I have known her for years,instead of a mere less than 2 months. Time whizzes past when you are having so much fun, and soon it was time to start cooking.
This time, Rachel marinated 3 chicken drumsticks with herbs for deep frying and cooked carbonara macoroni. I only helped her in boiling the macoroni until it was soft. From the standard of the taste and aroma of the food she prepares, it is almost impossible to believe that it is merely her first time cooking. I guess my compliments for her cooking will encourage to continue experimenting with food. :P. During our dinner, Wilson came back with his friend, Jonathan, who is a Singaporean. He is a 3rd year Architecture student and stays in Ang Mo Kio. Got to find out some shocking things about Simon Lee from him. Our landlord actually tries to squeeze as much money as he can out of us! And he committed an illegal act by leasing houses without a proper agent! Wilson advised us to look at the house bills before paying any amount of money that Simon requests for. I guess it is natural for businessmen to possess such calculative personality traits. Jonathan used to be the treasurer of the UoN Singaporean Society and he gave me the contact number of Zhaowei, who is the current president of the club.
My long awaited dream has finally come true, which was to know a Singaporean from UoN. Had a chat with Zhaowei on MSN and we agreed to have lunch on Monday together. As from today, I am part of the UoN Singaporean society. :) Although I only get to be a member for a mere couple of months, I look forward to attending activities organized by the committee and getting to know even more friends.
Friday, May 2, 2008
9 more weeks left =]
I realised that I blog less frequently as the months go by. Hopefully, I can make an exception this month and post up 31 entries, for there are 31 days in May. Life has been pretty boring these days, for I seldom get to go out with my friends, as they are tied down by assignments. In another 3-4 more weeks, the school term will officially end. Exam period is from 10th-27th June.
Went to school in the afternoon to print my CHEM 3210 literature review and start working on my lab reports. To my annoyance, I could not locate the melting points of the compounds in CHEM 3310 lab, probably because their names are too long. And I do not know of any scholarly chemical website that could be used. Guess I have no choice but to ask my friends for help. I decided to leave at 2 pm instead of 3 pm because I was also getting frustrated by the long waiting times for certain webpages to load. Adjourned to CHEM 3210 lab at the Science building to hand up the literature view before going home to cook lunch.
Lunch was stir fried udon with chicken satay seasoning which was in powder form. I felt the slight sour taste of the udon does not blend well with the flavour of chicken satay. The overall product ended up tasting rather strange, but nevertheless, I finished everything up. There is still half a packet of the seasoning remaining, guess I would have no choice but to use it again tomorrow in order to get rid of it as soon as possible. Dessert was the weekly serving of green bean soup. Hopefully, all the beans can be finished before I leave.
The assignment on Pinch Technology is due on Monday, but I absolutely have no inkling how to go about continuing from where I last left off. And the motivation for completing lab reports keeps going on and off. I keep getting distracted by the Internet and MSN. I know that I should draw a clear line between studies and relaxation, but reality never fails to deviate from ideality. ( hey, that rhymes !).
Decided to skip dinner tonight, due to the heavy lunch cum dessert. But I just ate a slice of cheese. Dairy products are rich in calcium and will lower the risk of getting osteoporosis during the later years in life. Finally finished my large box of cornflakes this morning, the menu for breakfast can be changed to garlic bread and Milo.
Okay, I shall sign off now. Shall make another attempt on my lab reports.
Went to school in the afternoon to print my CHEM 3210 literature review and start working on my lab reports. To my annoyance, I could not locate the melting points of the compounds in CHEM 3310 lab, probably because their names are too long. And I do not know of any scholarly chemical website that could be used. Guess I have no choice but to ask my friends for help. I decided to leave at 2 pm instead of 3 pm because I was also getting frustrated by the long waiting times for certain webpages to load. Adjourned to CHEM 3210 lab at the Science building to hand up the literature view before going home to cook lunch.
Lunch was stir fried udon with chicken satay seasoning which was in powder form. I felt the slight sour taste of the udon does not blend well with the flavour of chicken satay. The overall product ended up tasting rather strange, but nevertheless, I finished everything up. There is still half a packet of the seasoning remaining, guess I would have no choice but to use it again tomorrow in order to get rid of it as soon as possible. Dessert was the weekly serving of green bean soup. Hopefully, all the beans can be finished before I leave.
The assignment on Pinch Technology is due on Monday, but I absolutely have no inkling how to go about continuing from where I last left off. And the motivation for completing lab reports keeps going on and off. I keep getting distracted by the Internet and MSN. I know that I should draw a clear line between studies and relaxation, but reality never fails to deviate from ideality. ( hey, that rhymes !).
Decided to skip dinner tonight, due to the heavy lunch cum dessert. But I just ate a slice of cheese. Dairy products are rich in calcium and will lower the risk of getting osteoporosis during the later years in life. Finally finished my large box of cornflakes this morning, the menu for breakfast can be changed to garlic bread and Milo.
Okay, I shall sign off now. Shall make another attempt on my lab reports.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Labour Day
If I were in Singapore, today would be a public holiday because it is Labour Day. But in Australia, 1st May is just another ordinary working day. I do not really feel indignant over this fact, for I have had 2 weeks worth of mid semester break instead of a mere 1 week recess break that my NTU friends had :P
I skipped CHEM 3310 yesterday morning, because I was awoken twice in the dead of the night due to acute abdominal pains which led to diarrhea. I had to grope around in the dark for I did not want to wake my housemates up. Due to the disrupted sleep, I decided not to wake up early to go for lecture. But I went for Green Engineering lecture at 12 pm. Michael went through 4 questions for the Kinetics and Catalysis tutorial and many of us found his handwriting illegible. We often had to ask him to explain what he was writing. To be brutally honest, I have never seen such horrendous handwriting from lecturers.
After the tutorial, I went to Auchmuty Library with Jon, and I got to find out more interesting facts about him. He has a Bachelor of Biotechnology from UNSW, but has decided to do another degree in Chemical Engineering because he could not tolerate the mundane job scope of a biotechnologist. Jon preferred a job that could stimulate his thinking and unleash his creativity skills. And according to him, the course on Chemical Engineering involves a lot of critical thinking for they have to constantly design new processes to improve the current state of affairs in the industry. I can't help but be awed by Jon's determination to pursue his interest, although I find that is such a pity that he spent a hefty sum of money studying for a degree which he ended up not liking.
Went home after printing some relevant notes for my FCC assignment. Cooked instant savoury chicken rice for lunch, with the addition of some butter. And the meal tasted great, for I absolutely adore the taste of dairy products. I also love to add milk to campbell soups. Went back to school at around 5 pm for I wanted to print articles for my CHEM 3210 literature review and enjoy the privilege of having a faster Internet speed. I proceeded to Auchmuty Library after meeting up with Renee at the Geology building to get her intepretations of the various spectra for Experiment 5 of CHEM 3210 lab.
I spent around 3 hours in the library, but did not manage to get a lot of work done as I was distracted by the Internet SMS and random web surfing. Doing anything related to school bores me out. Yesterday was the first time I walk home from school in complete darkness. It was quite a refreshing experience, but I still prefer to go home in broad daylight due to safety reasons. But I am not scared darkness!
For the first time, I marinated my frozen food with a myriad of spices and sauces for dinner before stir frying them. The fragrance and taste weren't as good as expected, for the taste of the sauces had neutralized the fragrance of the spices. I should not add both sauces and spices together in future. But cooking involves a lot of experimenting, doesn't it? And the saying " practice makes perfect'' is oh-so-true with respect to this life skill.
Today, I woke up at quite early at 8+ am for I had fallen asleep before midnight the day before. Spent most of the morning working on my CHEM 3210 assignment, which quite tedious because I had to put on my thinking cap and analyze the experiment. Time really whizzed by and I was late for IRHR 1001 tutorial by about 10 minutes
Attendance at the tutorial was exceptionally bad today, for there were only 8 of us in the class. The discussion topic was on managing change and as usual, I was more of a watcher than do-er. I felt that my ideas weren't in tandem with my group mates, and my brain felt empty despite doing the assigned readings. Everyone who was present expressed their opinions spontaneously to Tony, except for me. I only spoke out when he prompted me to do so. If I continue showing such passiveness during all the tutorial sessions, I will most probably fail for the 15% allocated for participation. And it is kind of demoralizing when you always feel tongue-tied but yet, you do not know how to overcome it.
Went to the Student Hub to try to finish up my literature assignment, but it was a futile attempt for 1 hour is not sufficient for me. Bought a pistachio and chocolate coated meringue, which was tasteless on the outside but sweet in the inside. Nevertheless, I still prefer cakes, cookies or wraps.
Although there were no major hiccups during CHEM 3210 lab, I felt that it was rather unproductive and disappointing. Despite 2 attempts, ie, 1 by Renee and myself, we did not manage to get the orange pink product for Experiment 3 for the cobalt complex had decomposed even though we did not heat it to 90 degrees celcius. Worst of all, even Geoff could not point out exactly on what had gone wrong. So, we were left with no choice but to utilize the samples from the fridge for our reports. And, I did not have enough time to use the rotary evaporator for Experiment 7, for a lot of time was spent waiting for the thermometer to show a reading of 90 degrees celcius, for the lab manual stated that the complex will become plum coloured at that temperature. And afterwhich the complex will become brown if heating is continued. Ironically, the complex decomposed and turned brown, even though the solution had not reached 90 degrees celcius.
Looks like I have no choice but to make a special trip down to school tomorrow just to hand up my literature review. In order to make the journey more worthwhile, I might just stay in school to complete my lab reports. It is already Week 9 but I have not submitted a single report for both CHEM 3210 and CHEM 3310. This weekend shall be spent devoted to lab reports, for the allowance time for procrastination is getting lesser and lesser at an alarming rate!
On the way home, I realised the leaves of the maple tree have turned from yellow to red. It was an intriguing sight, for red maple leaves are non existent in Singapore. This colour change indicates that autumn will turn into winter soon. For me, it is my maiden time experiencing the distinct differences in seasons all my life. What Liyun said is so true, living in overseas can enrich one's life.
There is something to look forward to this weekend. Rachel will be coming on Saturday for a 3rd round of cooking session and a sleepover before she goes to church on Sunday. I believe that the carbonara that she intends to cook will taste great. If your friend prepares food for you wholeheartedly, it will taste exceptionally good, even though it might be psychological. Anticipate a lot of fun and laughter. It makes me smile when I think of the excellent chemistry between the both of us. :) Hope our friendship will continue to blossom, even when I depart for Singapore.
I skipped CHEM 3310 yesterday morning, because I was awoken twice in the dead of the night due to acute abdominal pains which led to diarrhea. I had to grope around in the dark for I did not want to wake my housemates up. Due to the disrupted sleep, I decided not to wake up early to go for lecture. But I went for Green Engineering lecture at 12 pm. Michael went through 4 questions for the Kinetics and Catalysis tutorial and many of us found his handwriting illegible. We often had to ask him to explain what he was writing. To be brutally honest, I have never seen such horrendous handwriting from lecturers.
After the tutorial, I went to Auchmuty Library with Jon, and I got to find out more interesting facts about him. He has a Bachelor of Biotechnology from UNSW, but has decided to do another degree in Chemical Engineering because he could not tolerate the mundane job scope of a biotechnologist. Jon preferred a job that could stimulate his thinking and unleash his creativity skills. And according to him, the course on Chemical Engineering involves a lot of critical thinking for they have to constantly design new processes to improve the current state of affairs in the industry. I can't help but be awed by Jon's determination to pursue his interest, although I find that is such a pity that he spent a hefty sum of money studying for a degree which he ended up not liking.
Went home after printing some relevant notes for my FCC assignment. Cooked instant savoury chicken rice for lunch, with the addition of some butter. And the meal tasted great, for I absolutely adore the taste of dairy products. I also love to add milk to campbell soups. Went back to school at around 5 pm for I wanted to print articles for my CHEM 3210 literature review and enjoy the privilege of having a faster Internet speed. I proceeded to Auchmuty Library after meeting up with Renee at the Geology building to get her intepretations of the various spectra for Experiment 5 of CHEM 3210 lab.
I spent around 3 hours in the library, but did not manage to get a lot of work done as I was distracted by the Internet SMS and random web surfing. Doing anything related to school bores me out. Yesterday was the first time I walk home from school in complete darkness. It was quite a refreshing experience, but I still prefer to go home in broad daylight due to safety reasons. But I am not scared darkness!
For the first time, I marinated my frozen food with a myriad of spices and sauces for dinner before stir frying them. The fragrance and taste weren't as good as expected, for the taste of the sauces had neutralized the fragrance of the spices. I should not add both sauces and spices together in future. But cooking involves a lot of experimenting, doesn't it? And the saying " practice makes perfect'' is oh-so-true with respect to this life skill.
Today, I woke up at quite early at 8+ am for I had fallen asleep before midnight the day before. Spent most of the morning working on my CHEM 3210 assignment, which quite tedious because I had to put on my thinking cap and analyze the experiment. Time really whizzed by and I was late for IRHR 1001 tutorial by about 10 minutes
Attendance at the tutorial was exceptionally bad today, for there were only 8 of us in the class. The discussion topic was on managing change and as usual, I was more of a watcher than do-er. I felt that my ideas weren't in tandem with my group mates, and my brain felt empty despite doing the assigned readings. Everyone who was present expressed their opinions spontaneously to Tony, except for me. I only spoke out when he prompted me to do so. If I continue showing such passiveness during all the tutorial sessions, I will most probably fail for the 15% allocated for participation. And it is kind of demoralizing when you always feel tongue-tied but yet, you do not know how to overcome it.
Went to the Student Hub to try to finish up my literature assignment, but it was a futile attempt for 1 hour is not sufficient for me. Bought a pistachio and chocolate coated meringue, which was tasteless on the outside but sweet in the inside. Nevertheless, I still prefer cakes, cookies or wraps.
Although there were no major hiccups during CHEM 3210 lab, I felt that it was rather unproductive and disappointing. Despite 2 attempts, ie, 1 by Renee and myself, we did not manage to get the orange pink product for Experiment 3 for the cobalt complex had decomposed even though we did not heat it to 90 degrees celcius. Worst of all, even Geoff could not point out exactly on what had gone wrong. So, we were left with no choice but to utilize the samples from the fridge for our reports. And, I did not have enough time to use the rotary evaporator for Experiment 7, for a lot of time was spent waiting for the thermometer to show a reading of 90 degrees celcius, for the lab manual stated that the complex will become plum coloured at that temperature. And afterwhich the complex will become brown if heating is continued. Ironically, the complex decomposed and turned brown, even though the solution had not reached 90 degrees celcius.
Looks like I have no choice but to make a special trip down to school tomorrow just to hand up my literature review. In order to make the journey more worthwhile, I might just stay in school to complete my lab reports. It is already Week 9 but I have not submitted a single report for both CHEM 3210 and CHEM 3310. This weekend shall be spent devoted to lab reports, for the allowance time for procrastination is getting lesser and lesser at an alarming rate!
On the way home, I realised the leaves of the maple tree have turned from yellow to red. It was an intriguing sight, for red maple leaves are non existent in Singapore. This colour change indicates that autumn will turn into winter soon. For me, it is my maiden time experiencing the distinct differences in seasons all my life. What Liyun said is so true, living in overseas can enrich one's life.
There is something to look forward to this weekend. Rachel will be coming on Saturday for a 3rd round of cooking session and a sleepover before she goes to church on Sunday. I believe that the carbonara that she intends to cook will taste great. If your friend prepares food for you wholeheartedly, it will taste exceptionally good, even though it might be psychological. Anticipate a lot of fun and laughter. It makes me smile when I think of the excellent chemistry between the both of us. :) Hope our friendship will continue to blossom, even when I depart for Singapore.
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