A tribute to Chindian’s Chemical Engineers

HOME SWEET HOME!

At last, I’m finally home!

Home is a heavenly place to be. Time to reunite with my family after being separated for so long. Really glad to see Dad, Mom, Joanne, Jason and Jolin again. They didn’t change much, but the house did.

After settling down, it’s time to jump back onto my speedy internet surfboard. This will be my first post from home this sem break. I dedicate this post to my CE course mates, for the time we spent together, and to finally close the curtains for this hectic yet meaningful semester.

Here are some reflections on all the subjects we took this semester. Although these are my personal views, I think most of the CE people will have more or less the same opinions .  :P      

PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY

Physical chemistry is nothing but tough. I used to rely on textbook as the most trustworthy source but at some point I can’t even understand what is written in the textbook. So in the end I only depended on my lecture notes, which luckily is sufficient for the exam. Must thank Dr Azmi too for helping us a lot, although we did skip some of his classes because we feel that some of his teachings were redundant and not clear enough to answer our questions.

Organic Chemistry  

Prof Peven has it all. The knowledge and the enthusiasm to teach. But I just can’t understand him! Maybe it’s the Russian slang. But eventually I get used to it. Nevertheless, he has the tendency to deviate from the syllabus to unrelated topics such as IR spectroscopy or chromatography which I understand is his field of interest, but not for us please! Skip some of his classes too.

Differential Equation 

So far Pn Azizan is the best lecturer. She taught greatly and managed to keep me interested in this subject, although Math is never a domain of my strength. DE is an important subject which we’ll using again in our future courses. Thank God we had a great lecturer. Her lecture notes are exceptionally helpful and simple to understand as well. Never skipped her class except during unavoidable circumstances.  

Academic Writing

Frankly, it’s a boring subject. Luckily, there’s Mr Razol to brighten up the day and made the lesson interesting. There’s always jokes and laughter in the class, of course we did learn something at the same time. Only when it comes to assignment, we occasionally get lazy.. XD

Introduction to Oil and Gas Industry

This is the worst subject by far with a chaotic system of implementation adding to the boredom. There’s no attendance so we skipped most of the classes. Personally, I think this subject is only useful as general knowledge for engineering students and shouldn’t be put to test us. Tip: to ace the test, study as many past year papers as you can.   

Moral Studies

I hate this subject either. There’s no clear syllabus in the first place. Plus, there’s no right or wrong answer for the questions as long as you cook up some opinions while adding some secret recipes: the Moral terminologies that you’d learnt. The lecturer can be long-winded and beating around the bush until I lost my interest.

Tennis   

I must say this is an interesting sport. It was my first time taking tennis. We have a great lecturer who is diligent and enthusiastic, sometimes strict yet understanding as long as you are honest. We achieved and learnt a lot in just one semester. Fun and tiring sport, especially when you spent 70% of your time running around the court to pick up the tennis balls.

 

Next…..

The Gang of Four/The Four Kings/The Four Beggars/…(and many more nicknames given...)

 Steward

    Yi Herng 

Hon

Me..

and with the possibility of a new member joining the brotherhood:

 

Jonathan a.k.a Jenny, A-Jo, P****, JB and etc..

%

%

%

Meet the girls: Laura and Sze Mei

and Malaya!

 

Time to suit up! for lab… 

Although strictly forbidden, can’t resist to have some fun during our last lab session:

  Osama remains oblivious he’s under attack =.=

Mix it!

Drink it! ‘fall flat’ guaranteed!

 

 

Meet Mr. Razol. Too bored with the assignment given and end up secretly taking his picture.

 

Alright, it’s time to stop fooling around and show some “seriousness”. 

Assignments..

More assignments!

Thinking….

Some head-scratching.. 

Blank stare from Serena…

 

Laura thinking hard…

Sze Mei helps…

Still can’t find your answer? The best solution?

“

“

“

“

“

“

 

Sleep through it. Dream of the answers.

And everyone is happy!

 

Study smart, don’t study hard.

Take a break, so you won’t break!

 

This is what happen if you keep going non-stop:

Graham playing ‘Er Hu’ with the speed of light (until the bow reduce to a total blur!)

It’s too fast! I can’t handle it anymore! 

“Kaboom!” he’s knocked out!

The End of 1st year 1st semester

Here I am, bored in my room, things neatly packed and merely waiting for time to pass by. Dad will arrive soon.

By the time I’m writing this, final exam was long over. Physical Chemistry was my last paper. It was such a relief, with the euphoria of freedom overtaking me when the paper finally ended. Good or bad, I know I’d done my best, and I don’t want to think of any of those papers anymore.

Yesterday I went Ipoh again, just shortly a one week gap after the previous outing. I’m getting kinda tired of that place. This time, the gang consists of Graham, Michael, Yi Herng, Laura, Liang Yi, and me.

Thankfully this time we had a car and a decent driver (thanks Graham!) We reached Jusco by afternoon and had lunch at Sushi King again!

Just kidding. Will seriously puke if I ate at Sushi King three times in a row. Anyway, there’s no Sushi King in Jusco. We had our lunch in Pizza Hut. I still think Batu Gajah’s Pizza Hut is way better than Jusco’s, in terms of both food and service.

After that, the girls do what girls like to do the most- shopping. 

The guys do what they like to do the most- Dota

Shockingly, the only cyber cafe in Jusco don’t have Dota installed on their PCs. I was utterly appalled and surprised by this. A cyber-cafe that don’t have the most famous game played by millions installed?!  Such absurdity! Don’t they know how much revenue  they are losing? Don’t they know appealing to customers’ demand is the top priority for successful business? At least they should do their homework and stay in trend with the latest popular online games that players are craving and addicted to. Yet, they seem so carefree and ignorant.

In the end, we ended up bowling. Jusco bowling totally sucks!! Countless of times the machine jammed and it was annoying and wasting our time. Halfway through the second game, the system screwed up and we can’t continue with the game because the score was inaccurate.

In the end, we finished the remaining game disregarding the score and players’ turn. It turned out to be quite fun. There’s no rule to follow anymore, which mean we can simply send the bowling balls straight down the lanes, be it two or three balls at once! The only good outcome of this while thing? Graham lost! He had to treat EACH OF US popcorns! Thanks Graham again!

After that, it was movie time! But…I had to watch ‘Angels and Demon again following the consensus of the majority who hadn’t watch it.  Watching it a second time was not that good. This kind of movie can only be watched once. There’s no more element of suspense or exciting moments if you watch it again. But at least I understand the storyline better. The movie was dense with historical facts and unusual names that it might be difficult to understand it at first.

For dinner, we went to the nearby outdoor stalls in Bercham. The wan tan mee is delicious! After dinner, we sent Yi Herng home. First time seeing his house. But if you ask me now where is it I really don’t have  a clue because it’s too complicated, plus I’m not good with directions in the first place. I slept on the way back to UTP. Never realised I was so tired.

So that’s how I spent my last night in UTP. I must say it was a night well spent together. Sorry if it looked like I’m complaining a lot throughout this post. But I sincerely appreciated the time we spent together. That was what matters the most, not the lousy facilities in Jusco.

This semester had been a challenging one for me, not only academically. But most importantly is that I learnt something from it and start afresh in the coming semester. For those who was still in the midst of exams, good luck! It will be all over sooner than you expected. Until then, Happy Holiday!!    

Angels and Demons

Stress after one week of exam, so decided to go out to Ipoh today. The gang consists of Steward, Michael, Fazlee, Jonathan, Sze Mei, and me. Dress code: Black 

It’s been a long time since I used the bus. Usually will rent car but not going to shop because today is just to have fun! Waited almost half an hour for the bus, not to mention the ride was rough and bumpy. Seriously, bus services in Ipoh need to be upgraded, especially on its availability and punctuality. Until then, I’ll prefer to have my own car to drive around.

Reach about noon. As for lunch? --- SUSHI KING!

Sounds familiar? I just ate here last few weeks ago. This time we sat a different position, alongside the conveyer belt instead of the conventional table.

 Sitting alongside means that everyone has full access to the food! Looks so tempting and mouth-watering!

 

This time wanna try something different so I ordered chicken curry. Sorry, forget the full name of the dish but it’s still chicken curry with a fanciful name. The service is damn sucky and slow although there’s not much people. Had to wait long before I can finally savoured my dish.

Oops. It’s suppose to be nice and symmetrical with the eggs on one side. But I have this habit of mixing everything on the plate before eating.

 

This is how the real dish should look like. Michael is holding a super-tiny spoon (no idea why the waiter give him =.=). Not only the service is slow, it’s also weird… Gonna take the whole day to finish if you really eat that small mouthful.  

 

The curry was OK only. The side-dishes on the belt tasted better. I still prefer the salmon steak that I’d ordered before. But at least the chicken curry was more “stomach-fulfilling” than the steak.

Initially want to go bowling after that but the place is full. So end up loitering in Starbucks and played a game of Jenga. Loser must treat!

 

Then we window-shopped around Ipoh Parade. Went to a gift shop and saw this:

To us guys: Who in the world would buy that thing? Such a disgrace to our ‘manhood’. Imagine a girl or your mom came into your room and saw this..

To the ladies: Would you (even if  do have your ‘fantasies’) consider buying this? Imagine a guy or your dad came into your room and saw this…

No comment. The best place for this thing is to stay at the display counter of this shop forever. At least can attract and amuse customers.

After that, went for dota with Michael in IMAX cyber-cafe. Not my lucky day for dota there. Randomly given a hero that I almost never and dunno how to use, plus not used to the mouse and keyboard there. In short, I sucked throughout the game.

What a relief when it’s finally movie time. The movie we’re watching:

ANGELS AND DEMON

A must-watch movie! The plot of the story is just too amazing and so twisted that no one will ever suspect it. Briefly, it’s a detective movie where Langdon (remember him from Da Vincci Code?) is summoned to hunt down a killer who’s going the murder his four kidnapped victims using the elements earth, air, fire and water respectively. Don’t want to spoil the rest of the movie, so go watch it!

  As for dinner, get tired of eating in Ipoh Parade so decided for a change of environment. Went to Ipoh town and had ‘tauge ayam’ for dinner. Tasted really great! Plus it’s cheap and fulfilling.

That’s the end of an enjoyable day. Now have to sink back to reality. Better start studying tomorrow.

May angels guide me lest the demons tempt me into dota-ing again.

Good night.

Finally

These three days had been painstaking and slow.

But now, (drum roll please)*****

I OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED THE FOLLOWING SUBJECTS:

+Organic Chemistry

+Moral Studies

+Differential Equation

BANISHED, ANNIHILIATED, OVER AND OUT OF MY LIFE!

Things are starting to look better, at last there’s a crack of sunshine in my dull and gloomy life.

This week had not been smooth week.

Done lots of careless mistakes in the exam (each making me feel more demoralised). Sometime feel like jumping down from a building for making that kind of amateurish mistakes. Not to mention I had been careless and forgetful with my belongings (not due to old age, but perhaps all the studying was making me dumb).

The night before the chemistry paper I can’t sleep either. Really got me worried at first because I never face a sleeping problem before. There’s no disturbance (the lights are off, absolute silence, fan speed at maximum) but for some reason I just can’t fall asleep! Because I sleep too early? Because of the supper? Toss and turn, adjust my pillow, until dunno what time I finally slip into my restless slumber.  Luckily this problem persist for one night only. Being not able to sleep is scary, especially when there’s a final exam the next day!

But what past is past. At least I can look back at these problems and be grateful that they’re over. There’s no use crying over spilt milk.Instead of wallowing in self-pity, I should carry on with life with a smile and positive attitude. Har Har Har… (trying to :P)

Pictures taken throughout the week of insane studying:

Featuring the main character: myself doing some serious studying

Thiha. Came all the way from v5. Study spirit on!

Despite the study tension and stress in the air, there’s always room for laughter and jokes. Eric and Lawrence, laughing at steward’s laugh? 

 

Massage services available! Free of charge courtesy of Graham.

 

 

I’m taking things easy tonight doing what I enjoy, such as:

Dota (many many rounds.)

Checking out blogs (the blogging fever is high recently, there’s always a new update from someone almost every hour @_@)

Find something new to download from DC++

Currently blogging..

Later: dota another round? O2jam? or some movies?

Sleeping late tonight.

Might be going Ipoh tommorrow, bye for now.

The first hectic day, over..

It’s not that hectic technically speaking. We are only sitting for a two-hour test the whole day. But the studying part is hectic, at least for me.

I seriously don’t know what else to study for Academic Writing besides the APA referencing format. Keep reading through the same thing, and as a result? I still did some silly and careless mistakes in my exam. Don’t want to comment more.. In short, I hate ampersand (&).

Due to time-constraint too, I missed out an important detail in one question which will cost me dearly. The worst feeling is knowing you can definitely score but because of a mistake you flunk everything. Don’t know what’s gonna happen to my AW. I don’t even know my coursework mark!

Anyway, glad that AW is finally over and out of my life. Don’t know what’s the point of the subject. Really, we won’t be writing any academic reports or journals so soon. By the time we do, I bet everyone will forget everything. There’s plenty of APA referencing guide that we can look up anytime on the internet if we really are so desperate.

Free for tomorrow. But after that, things will get ugly starting on Wednesday. Three exams in a row for the consecutive three days. Organic Chemistry on Wednesday, followed by Moral Studies on Thursday and Differential Equation on Friday.

Can’t wait for everything to be over. But there’s still a long way to go. Maybe I’m considering this issue too early. Can’t have that interfering with my exam mood at this important moment. But that day will come, surely. Goodnight. Best of luck to everyone. We all need it.

Happy Mother’s Day!

I apologise for the late post.

I know I’m SUPER busy at this moment. Final exam is due tomorrow and I should be panicking studying.  Nevertheless, I can’t just let this special day past by.

Mother’s Day is only once a year! This post is dedicated to my mom. Happy Mother’s Day!

  Picture taken in Cameron. She looks young in this picture, and every other picture. You’ll always look young to me, mom :)

I don’t know why, but I never have the courage to say these  3 simple words: “I love you” right in front of you. Why do I feel that it’s awkward?

And I wonder, really, how many of us really do say “I love you mom and dad”, give a hug, or kiss our parents?

Despite that, if you accidentally read this mom (you’re not a tech-savvy person so I won’t expect you to read this before it’s long hidden by future post :P), I want you to know that I love you, sincerely from my heart.

Can’t imagine life without you. You are strict occasionally, but you’re are always patient and bear with us no matter how rebellious we have been. Sometimes you appeared to be stressed, the white hairs are sign of you being worn down by this tough and busy life, yet you can still carry on and overcome everything. I really admired your fortitude and strength. If I had half of those with me, life would have been easier. I never expect anything more from you, you’re the best mom ever and no one can replace you.

Sorry I can’t spend my day with you. Instead I’m stuck in UTP toiling myself for this final exam. I heard Dad bought more flowers for our mini-garden. Can’t wait to see them when I’m home. I love you mom, Happy Mother’s Day!

Everyday should be a Mother’s Day.   :)

The day after Tomorrow.

The day after 2moro will be our big day—FINAL EXAM!

First paper: Academic writing. I had briefly glanced through a past year exam paper, seems to test us on more technical stuff rather than testing our English. Damn difficult…

Despite final exam drawing nearer, I still can’t find the zeal, the energy, or a spark that will motivate me to study. This is the moment where everyone will appear stressed, tensed, and moody (and perhaps bitchy) yet I just feel carefree and calm. Definitely not because I’m well-prepared, but dunno know why, just no mood to study.

Today continue Moral and Organic Chemistry where I left half-way yesterday. Can’t wait for these two subjects to be over and out of my life. Organic Chemistry is not even a pre-requisite for the future subjects that I’ll be taking. We are engineering students ok? Leave Organic Chemistry for the doctors or biochemists out there. Moral no need to comment more, everyone know how Moral Studies, since secondary school, has been taught right? Lazy to elaborate more lest the post gets long and windy with my babbling. In short, studying Moral or scoring well in this subject doesn’t make anyone more moral or whatsoever, believe me. 

After that, went sports again. Always make me feel much better after being cooped up inside my room the whole day. Took another snapshot. Getting bored of looking at the skies? I think I’ll soon be too.

 A grey streak of cloud on a sunny day.Looks like a dragon ascending into the heavens.

As for dinner, went to V3 with Eric, Lawrence, Harold, and Vyner. Surprisingly, there’s a mini shop there that I don’t even know exist. More surprisingly, the shop displays final exam papers where students can photocopy them for a price. Shopping for final exam papers, sounds weird? There’s one paper I wanna photocopy but after dinner I’m told the photocopy machine had broken down. WTH?! It was working fine just 20 minutes ago, such bad luck… Luckily still manage to borrow the paper from Kuhan and Kalai who photocopied the thing earlier.

   Browsing through the messy pile of papers

At night, continued my study as usual. Should start working on other subjects tomorrow, especially Academic Writing. Dota many rounds tonight. It’s late, time to hit the sack, goodnight. :)

Fell in love with this song recently. Will get stuck in my head until I’m tired of it.   XD

‘Halo’ by Beyonce

Remember those walls I built
Well, baby they're tumbling down
And they didn't even put up a fight
They didn't even make up a sound

I found a way to let you in
But I never really had a doubt
Standing in the light of your halo
I got my angel now

It's like I've been awakened
Every rule I had you breakin'
It's the risk that I'm takin'
I ain't never gonna shut you out

Everywhere I'm looking now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby I can see your halo
You know you're my saving grace

You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away

I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo
I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo

Hit me like a ray of sun
Burning through my darkest night
You're the only one that I want
Think I'm addicted to your light

I swore I'd never fall again
But this don't even feel like falling
Gravity can't forget
To pull me back to the ground again

Feels like I've been awakened
Every rule I had you breakin'
The risk that I'm takin'
I'm never gonna shut you out

Everywhere I'm looking now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby I can see your halo
You know you're my saving grace

You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away

I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo
I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo

I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo
I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo
Halo, halo

Everywhere I'm looking now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby I can see your halo
You know you're my saving grace

You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away

I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo
I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo

I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo
I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo

 

And to end this post ‘coolly’…

Found this large chuck of ice that dislocated from my fridge. The icicles on the side were really sharp! Can really stab someone with this ‘weapon’.  

2 days to go!!

OMG! Time really fly. There’s only 2 days left before FINAL EXAM!

Didn’t even realise today is already Friday.

Yet, I dunno why, the nearer to final exam, the more I lost my mood to study. Today just briefly glanced through my Moral Studies and Organic Chemistry.

I seriously don’t know where I’m heading to. Feel like I’m gonna forget everything that I study by next day. How I wish I had super memory or photographic memory) so I can remember everything without forgetting a single detail.

Yet humans are meant to forget. To be unable to forget is a curse too. Some wounds can only be healed with time. But imagine a person having to remember painful memories as vivid as if they had happened yesterday for his whole lifetime. They can never let go of the past. Kinda torturing don’t you think?

Managed to avoid playing dota for the whole afternoon, but still fell asleep on my bed. Just too tired and ‘sien’ so I need a quick nap. Weather too hot again so I can’t really sleep. Wake up still feeling moody. Decided to go jogging. At least feel better after I sweat.

A few more snapshots taken. I’ll be needing a camera if I take this hobby seriously. Huhu    :)

 Around 5pm, Clear blue sky with wispy clouds and a bulky cumulonimbus almost touching the horizon.

 

Looks like a hole in the sky. But it’s the Sun slowly being overshadowed by dark clouds.

 

White wispy swirling clouds forming interesting patterns in the sky.

 

Night. Dinner in Kampung Bali. The food is great as usual. Really need a change of environment besides eating UTP food my whole life. After that, resumed my study. Dota a few rounds. And finally here I am, blogging. That’s all for now. Shall continue my battle 2moro. Good night.    

Sunset

 

They say (in modelling shows I watched) sunrise is the best time for pictures. But I found out pictures taken during sunset are no less picturesque and amazing.

Anyway, these pictures are taken at the sport field while on the way back from jogging with Eric.

Decided not to coop myself up in the IRC the whole day so I studied in my room yesterday. IRC is freaking cold and the excessive air-conditioning makes your skin feel dry and sticky.

Unfortunately, the weather was hot and the heat was scorching, so staying in my room was not much better. It’s the same everywhere, it’s either too hot in your dorm or too cold in IRC (not good for someone with a cold). 

But I still prefer studying in my room. I realised that I can absorb more despite what I mentioned before about the downside of studying in my own room. I dunno why, maybe I’m used to studying in my room already.

Yes, there’s the occasional calling for a few games of dota which I gladly submit myself to after a few long hours of staring at the books.

It’s a well-deserved break. After the dota game, my mind sprung back to full concentration and I can continue study with a fresh mind. The mind can’t keep doing the same thing. You can’t trap yourself in IRC studying every hours till night then only you take a break. It’s better to alternate between these two. Perhaps study an hour first, then take a break doing something you enjoy (for example dota), then continue another hour.

Nevertheless, it’s not good sitting in your room the whole day. That’s where sports come in. Go outside, breathe some fresh air, stretch those tensed-up muscles, run around, play your favourite sports with your buddies.    :D

Today the weather looks fine and a bit cloudy. That’s a good sign. Hopefully, it won’t be that hot again this afternoon. That’s all for now, gotta keep going…