I wonder if anybody else other than those who literally lepaks around my blog reads my post!

~Who else I know lepak here?~

Some thoughts about the experiences in UK and Europe... ...

A small city in the northern part of England. The main town area is small enough for a day tour. You could almost walk to wherever you want to go, unless you are going somewhere away from the town. That's probably why their public transport and taxis are charging so expensive! It's like going from Serangoon to AMK by bus/taxi would cost you SGD4/SGD14! Preparing your own food would be the best option even for tourists as a meal in UK can be quite expensive, unless you don't mind eating mayo chicken from macs at SGD2, which was deemed as the cheapest stomach-filling food you can get. University students are given more freedom to act on or speak about whatever they want. Bills can be pasted around the campus without student union's approval, peaceful demonstrations etc. Calling professors by their first names is something that will not happen in Singapore! Generally, UK people are quite approachable and talking to strangers seem to be a norm while waiting for traffic lights, on trains, etc...People from different regions have different accents, but I still prefer the accent from London! haha Speaking of London, it is great to be in London as you can visit lots of museums for free on certain days! Metro is very well-integrated by much have to be done on escalators in stations, more spacious carriages, and air-condition/better ventilation in carriages. Checking the status of the metro lines is as important as checking the BBC weather. Expect delays/termination of trains when you least expected it.

Europe has been on many people's wish-list (especially Asians) to visit. Travel shows on TV may have given much video-editing and fixing filming angles to capture the beauty of the cities in Europe. However, when you are actually there, things does not seem to be what it was as shown in pixels. Imagine a metro which smells like a sewage, pavements with spits and rubbish, hoards of street-sellers pestering tourists, the poor/beggars almost everywhere, conman, pickpockets....these are some common sights in most (not all) European countries. On the contrary, some countries like Amsterdam, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Germany have rather clean cities, nice people and relatively safe place to walk at night. We can't deny that they have some of the world's most scenic views and awesome architectures. It is as if there is a developing region within a developed country. Probably it is because of the on-going European crisis, or are they already in such a state a decade ago?

26. Within the university, most of the main doors to buildings are automatic.

27. Students are given 10% discount for taxi fare.

28. The bananas here amazingly survive the cold weather and does not sustain any chilling injury.

29. You will have to pay £3.20 each time you use the washing machine in on-campus hostels.

30. A public bus service allows students to board the bus for free while travelling on one of the main stretch of road in the campus.

31. Buses do not have cashless payment modes.

32. Urinals flushes themselves at specific intervals automatically.

33. Went into the cinema hall without having my movie ticket checked.

34. Trains travelling within the specific town seldom check your tickets. However, you'll be fined £200 if you are caught boarding without a ticket.

35. Fish and chips are seasoned with vinegar and salt.

16. The final grade you will get is the overall raw score. No such thing as a bell curve here.

17. It will take weeks or months to get a problem fixed.

18. Most parts of the streets are fixed with CCTV. Your every movement is being watched in public.

19. They do not offer chilli sauce in eating places.

20. Waiters/Waitresses write a 'Thank you' note on the receipt during payment. Hoping to get some tips?

21. They have assessed workshops instead of mid-term tests. However, it is open to discussion with others (i.e. lecturer, lecturer assistant and other students) and you can refer to your lecture notes as well.

22. The walls and even parts of the flooring is hollowing in my flat.

23. In shops, you will be greeted with phrases such as 'love' / 'darling' for girls and 'mate' / 'duck' for guys. People will also tend to say 'cheers' instead of 'thank you'.

24. Their tax here (VAT) is 20%.

25. Their milk and bread expires within days.

1. There are 2 separate taps; one for hot, one for cold. You have to mix the water yourself.

2. The switch for the toilet lights is by using a string to pull.

3. They are into recycling as there are recycling points around the campus and accommodation. They even have instructions on packagings as to whether things can be recycled after use.

4. Their university system has way more support services. Each student is allocated to one of the eight colleges and a supervisor who is a staff in their department so that they could approach any one of them for help. They have special services such as disability services, equality and diversity office, open door team (for students experiencing emotional, psychological or mental health difficulties), chaplaincy (providing contacts for various Faiths), health centre (absolutely free of charge for consultation for full-time student or visiting student studying for more than 6 months...but medicine must be purchased from pharmacies with a doctor's prescription), nightline (offers a totally confidential listening service anonymously), various skills workshops such as for information literacy, academic integrity, language, english language and study, maths and employability.

5. All their lectures are within an hour. Workshops can last for 2-3 hours.

6. Notes/handouts are printed and given out by the lecturers. Students do not need to print them.

7. Data booklet is given for free with much more information in it. Sponsered by an external chemical company.

8. The associations/societies here organises way more activities and events. An average of 1-2 a week.

9. They have about 18 eateries, of which 7 of them have bars. Also, there are 2 supermarkets within the university (although they are more expensive).

10. Shops here usually close around 8pm, and 4pm if it's on Sundays.

11. There are ducks of different breeds, pigeons and other birds wandering about the lake and walkways.

12. Class size in my course is about +-100 students.

13. There are cycling tracks on most roads.

14. Roads are all single lanes.

15. The green man on the traffic lights only last for less than 10 seconds.

...to be continued....

Last Friday a perfect Caucasian stranger (most probably European) just passed a remark to me about my shirt.

"Nice shirt! I like it!"

It's the shirt my 二姐 bought for me from the country down-under. That remark was uncalled for and I had yet to comment as he left hurriedly at Clementi station as the train doors opened.

Haven't got a chance to interact with strangers since the Taiwan metro incident.

Wonder if Singaporeans will be that outspoken and approachable to start a small talk in the lift, escalator, train..(or any other place where you'll spend a substantial time with a stranger)

Looking at the shirt once more, it made me realise that I liked it too~ =)

The 1st week of Year 3 is tiring.....even though only 3 days had passed by...

But it's a great start of the year as the add/drop mission is perfect on the first day!!! =)

Just applied for INSTEP. Hopefully can get into York!

All the best for the new semester to all uni ppl!

Yesterday marked the last day of my school attachment at St. Gabriel's Secondary and it has been an enjoyable 3-week stint together with a bunch of fun-loving colleagues! All the breakfasting, boardgaming, project meetings, toilet-going and trying our best to knock-off on time!

Watched 3 movies in a week!!! Despicable Me won over the hearts of people with characters like the minions and the little girl. I find that the villain changed for the better far too quickly though. Nonetheless, it's a cute movie. 7/10.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice was engaging in the beginning but the transition for the protagonist to use magic without the ring could have been elaborated. What happened to the other bad sorcerer again? 7.5/10.

Inception was way over my expectation. The storyline was intelligent enough to use infiltration to other people's dream to inplant ideas into their minds. The sequence was weaved too closely that some people may have difficulty to follow through and wonders whose dream was that. As usual, the end left the audiences hanging. 10/10.

Back to holidays!

这次的行程比两年前的香港行程还走得更多，现已开创了新局限！在台湾我很喜欢那里的不潮湿，不干燥。天气晴朗的时候最高温度可达到 35 摄氏度！比新加坡热！但唯一的优点是我们不会那么容易流汗。他们的空气和食水品质还有待进步。记得在日月潭住宿的时候，我大概已经煮滚了多过 5 回的水，但是还不能了解那一片片类似水晶的白色物体到底是什么。

What a way to end the semester and academic year with a paper many times easier than the 100 MCQ from the Pass/Fail MPS811 - Defence Sciene... ...CBC933 is indeed a paper done without any anxiety. lol...but I guess the bell curve will be more the the higher marks...hope I won't be the scapegoat of the cruelty of the bell curve. =/

The start of the Tiger year was more quiet than Cow year. Maybe it's because there are more people overseas. But it's a good 1 extra day break tomorrow and I'm more or less recovered from my flu+cough! Yea!

Honeymoon week is over!!!!! =(

B- was back....results being pulled down by 0.04 to 3.98. Need to improve to at least 4.00 next semester!!!!

After a month of sleepless nights.....EXAMS ARE OVER!!! Now it's the time to think about what to do during this break....

This new semester is getting too fast!! Who doesn't agree with this statement?! That's why I took such a long time for this latest entry. lol....1 month 3 weeks to be exact...

Before Earth meet a full lunar eclipse on the 22nd this month, guitar met 中阮 just this evening. lol

Japan's ANA created an advert on spending your weekends abroad...to singapore! lol

It's as if I'm reliving the first day of my 22nd year alive! Thanks to all the cousins (alicia, anthony, aveline, michael, may) + tzehou + yu si (am I correct? lol) + many other elders who celebrated my 22nd birthday!... ...whereby a cousin gathering BBQ was used as a decoy~ =p