exams exams!

In contrary to what you might think(yeah correct, which is what you think I might think) I am gonna blog about, it is not. Well except the first paragraph.

3 papers down already so far! After 3 papers, I can come to a conclusion that today's one was not good. I am not going to say too much on it just so that I would not happen to jinx myself. Well, you never know. Haha

Well, recently there were times when during revision, my mind would wander and think about rubbish, i.e. stuff not relevant to what is in front of me. This ranges from what I am going to do once I first touch down on Brunei, to how many points LeBron James's gonna score in tonight's game to whatever. One of em was the long debated effectiveness of exams.

Sometimes I wonder whether exams are more of a memorization test to see who had better memory or really a test to see how much one could understand the material. In the first 2 papers I had for example, there were loads of stuff that I had to gobble up memory-wise. Stuff like definitions and a few examples for each particular emm.. waddaya call that, topic? You memorize so much, and all that comes up is only about 15 % of what you memorized. LOL.

Sometimes I feel its getting silly. We spend a year waking up early sacrificing valuable sleep time to attend lectures, rushing from lectures to home n to lectures n spend nights re-reading notes ( haha.. rarely done thou) bla bla. Not only that, for some(like me), we sacrifice our time we get to spend with our families, and all the yummy foods, to come all the way to a foreign land. Yeah seriously we do learn stuff in the lectures or practicals throughout the course of time here. BUT. What happens in certain subjects' exams is that they ask for definitions, examples bla bla, they'd it'd seem foolish to note memorize to prepare for em.

Somehow, I feel for those whose mothertongue ain't English(and also possibly some whose mothertongue's English), there is this higher chance that our command of English is not that strong which limits how we express what we interpret of something. Thus, our without-the-book defining of a term would be insufficient to cover what the term really means. Thus, what happens? MEMORIZE.

From: link

So, I was wondering recently, walao, if this course was all about memorizing, I could have just got all the notes, and just memorize every single damn term n whatever-there-is-to-b-memorized from Day 1 itself. Err wait. What course am I in again? Definitely not a 'memorization-techniques' course eh?

Besides, I feel that the scheduling of such exams that requires massive memorization is really important. Imagine you had an exam on the day before this paper. Chances are most likely you'll not do as well as when you have a couple of days before this one. Why, you might ask? Simple. Coz you don't remember stuff you memorized like 3 days back or maybe 2 weeks back during one of ur revision sessions. LOL. Why again? Cause err, we have like another 9 subjects to revise plus any other random stuff that utilises the brain of yours.

From:link

Im talking bout term definitions once more. Most likely you'll remember the outline of how something works, lets say emm, the steps involved in drawing a PERT chart for example. But most likely not those definitions! Well, one might have a case to say, that revising makes it easier to memorize. Well, in a way, I agree too as it works in my case. Besides, one might also say, revising makes you understand the material. Understanding material = easier to memorize. True too. But the 3 lines-definition of what is 'data re-engineering'? Ahh, I think a probable good point. BUT, you'd still have to most likely dig through these the DAY before the exams, which explains why I think the schedule of such exams are very important. Hahaha.

Come to think about it, sometimes all the 9 months of hardwork comes all the way down to the placement of the last day before ur exams. If ur brain decides to rebel, n bring ur mind all over the place instead of storing those definitions, mati. If ur brain decides to be good to u, and go to super-mode, any definitions also masuk, Sui. So what's the most safest way when applying to a course? Ask the one whose in charge of the exam schedule, when is this exam gonna be? Is there a few days preceding it for me to study or not? LOL

From: link

So, yeah thus sometimes I feel its a wee bit silly to use exams to judge one's understanding of the course. Ahh, how bout coursework then?? No memorizing, just applying what you've learnt and ur work will be individually assessed. Wonderful eh. Well, not exactly. In reality, courseworks are sometimes marred with people with good brain-manipulation-plus-superior-social skills getting the edge over honest & diligent in studies straight-forward people who don't know a thing about the word 'deceit'. Might sound silly, or childish. But it runs all the way in any levels of education. (Or maybe most)

From: link

Lol. Its true! I've seen over n over again, people seemingly not knowing much about a particular course score better than one who is diligent throughout the course. Why? The good-in-talking-n-going-about dude ask a bit here, and a bit there. Sometimes, even the lecturer becomes victim n leaks out a clue or two. The honest, but sadly dumb in this case dude, sits in front of his PC throughout and tries his best, never asks anyone, thinking this is INDIVIDUAL work. LOL. He goes home wondering, walao eh, work so hard also so low for the coursework. Nau hia.

Yeah, so this shows that the questionability over the efffectiveness of coursework in assessing one's understanding too!!! LOL.

******

Cialat. So how like that? Is there a proper solution to this?

From: link

Some of the possible solutions :

Solution #1:
Exams that test you not on definitions, but ur understanding. Hoho. I think this one's effective. BUT.. Its too scary for the students. If you don't know ur stuff, you'd be dead for sure. Good right? But maybe not too. Here's why. I feel sometimes, lecturers just cover way too much in such a short period of time that we tend to not catchup. Yeah, they say you could ask, but damn its just way too much plus its the fundamentals leh! Paiseh man. Study by myself ok. Ok.. But what happens? Study break too short, insufficient time to learn n prepare at the same time.

Solution #2:
Exams that have the right mixture of elements that require memorizing and also understanding. Perfect! Memorize as much as you can without really understanding and you could pass! Well, nah, not as effective right? Not as scary as compared to the latter, for the students thou' hahaha.

Solution #3:
Every 2 weeks once, assessed in-class-only practical or test sessions. Maybe 10% of overall marks each. No copying. No going about. Just basically testing ur knowledge on the subject material learnt during the past 2 weeks. Not too much needed to memorize either in this case eh since its only 2 weeks worth of material.

Possible schedule:

1st n 2nd week lectures.
3rd week - Test week.

3rd week's programme:
Monday,Tuesday - Study break.
Wed to Fri - Practs/test

4th n 5th week lectures
6th week - Test week.

.
.
.
.

How's that sound? Will you forget, what you've learnt at week 3 during let's say week 12 of the course? Yeah most likely, if the test's material is only built upon 2 weeks worth of work. Why not tests focusing 70% on the 2 weeks' worth of work and 30% worth of previous weeks' work??

Sounds good to me.. Any suggestions people? Im sure there are. Hahaha. Let's revolutionize the education system! LOL. Go ahead. Spam my cbox.

Well.. Not this 'spam'. Hahaha. From:link

p-P-PARIS!

I am back from Paris!

Yeap! Paris, the city of love/romance or whatever. The city that makes girls go gaga. The city that most girls would first blurt out when asked where they'd like to spend their honeymoon. Besides that, I know more about Paris as compared to other European cities when I first came to Europe. Haha, well I don't know this city very well either. Just 2 FAMOUS landmarks, i.e. The Eiffel Tower and also The Lourve. END. LOL. Tell me to name a landmark somewhere else in another city I'd most likely only end up with one or none.

My initial image of Paris was streets lined up with lovely trees, fresh air, peace, friendly people, buildings with beautiful architecture. At night, it'll be laying down on a spot nearby the Eiffel and just staring, or a wonderful French dinner. Plus all the hype that makes Paris such a popular city amongst the people I know, I was definitely anticipating a lot.

The Arc de Triomphe. The roundabout around it was sick.
Its like a 5-lane roundabout with no road lines!

I have to admit there is something magical about this place. I am starting to have the thoughts that I am missing that city! My take on whether something/somewhere/someone is good is when after a few days you miss/crave about it. Then you know, that was something. This is how I feel about Paris right now. Same goes as food. I wouldn't know how to rate the dish, until after a few days. I know the dish is something good, if my brain goes "I wanna eat that!". If there weren't any thoughts, the dish is not something at all. That's how I judge stuff. Weird? Hahaha..

Honestly, my first thoughts on Paris when I was there was it was an overhyped city. Romantic? I do not think so. How could it be possibly romantic if you had to walk with ur eyes fully fixed on d grounds ahead, so that you would not step onto any shit(yes, bird or dog shit) all the time. Not to mention the smell. That's one. Heck, I even saw someone pee in public. Heh. Talking about class. Metros(Paris's version of MRTs), are not very pleasant. You can always smell the stench of urine around in the air.

My initial thoughts of stopping by the base of Eiffel and marveling and appreciating this humongous, unique-looking structure couldn't be fulfilled satisfyingly. Why? One, I was constantly harassed by people selling fake/stolen souvenirs every 30 seconds or so. Some are so aggressive that you can certainly feel intimidated. They were sold not by 11 yr old half-ur-height kids, but by grown-up black adults whose a head taller, large in frame. Luckily I wasn't a victim to any of them. Haha. Two, there are just so many people at the base, you just gotta be extra careful of ur valuables. Not only that, you have to be aware of the loads of people taking pics too so that you would not be in their way. Hahaha. Its like standing in the middle of the Gadong Fish Market on a Sunday morning. So how could one possibly be at peace and appreciate Eiffel? I dunno. By going up? I don't really know what's the hype of going up high either. One would most likely barely know what is below/around you at that high. Which buildings are significant. Why? Etc Etc.. Even if one would, would he/she spot that particular landmark. I seriously couldn't see anything at night except lights. The mornings I remembered were haze-filled. There weren't much one could see at the time I was there. LOL. My apologies for being that negative. Just an opinion.

See.. How hazy..

Besides the above points, as roughly predicted beforehand, is an overpriced city. Everything is just so expensive!! I spent roughly the amount that an average office clerk in Brunei would had earned over a month in the course of 4 days. I roughly know what you'll be thinking. And no, I did not come back with a LV designer handbag nor anything of designer material. Hahaha. Those who know me would roughly know what I've spend a large portion to it to. FOOD! I couldn't resist experiencing dining in a French eatery. The FOOD there is sickeningly expensive. A dinner set meal could easily run up to BND $100. That is not even 'fine dining' level yet. Just a random cafe. LOL.

Proof:

Although the price, I appreciated the experience nonetheless.

Ohhh... Throughout the days in Paris, I still couldn't find the answer to why Paris is romantic. I had discussions with my male friends, trying to unlock and find the reason. Hahaha. Some say its coz of the tons of designer outlets. Some say the Eiffel. I couldn't get the link of these stuff with romance at all. Hmm.. Which means OH NO!!! Must be a problem of mine???? Then why people still go siao over Paris??? Think.. Think.. Tell me my girl friends!

Here are roughly 6 reasons why Paris WOULD NOT be a good honeymoon destination for me. Hahaha:

1) I don't want my honeymoon to be filled with memories of walking on walkways filled with shit or pee.

2) The people! Too many people. With people, comes noise, insecurity, queues. I guess its the norm for cities. People like me from our peaceful abode back home are still not used to this.

3) I'd be dead if my other half told me to accompany her to the 3rd level of Eiffel. I was already shitting myself at just the 1st level! I wanted to send postcards from the 2nd lvl. But shops above were closed already nonetheless.

Proof! I made it!! (till the 1st floor. hahahaha)

4) I don't want my meals to be only home-made peanut-butter sandwiches nor Digestives biscuits. Hahaha. Food is too expensive.

5) I'd be dead too if my other half wanted a designer product. Id comply if I had a really really stable job with a 5 digit monthly salary. LOL. It seems such a far cry when I saw a watch that was labeled more than 10000 Euros!!! We could get a steady saloon car back home already with that!

6) There are just too many pretty ladies around! Glasgow's pure peanut! Hahaha. How to focus? LOL

I'd had to say the highlight of my trip would be the PARKs! Yep the parks! The parks in Paris were really really really beautiful. Its like an image from a fantasy novel. Hahaha. The Luxembourg Park and the one behind the Chateau de Versailles(Palace of Versailles) were really pretty. The size of the garden at the Chateau is certainly beyond one's imagination. No joke! Google it up. LOL.

The Hall of Mirrors inside the Chateau of Versailles -
The place where the Treaty of Versailles was signed!!

The Luxembourg Park

The gardens behind the Chateau de Versailles.
See how far it stretches. Its not the end somemore. It goes on further!

Besides the Eiffel, the parks and the palace itself, I also visited a few other places such as needless-to-say the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral and Disneyland! The Louvre was so-so for someone who doesn't know a lot about arts. I tried to understand and comprehand the displays and sculptures nonetheless. I wasn't that successful I guess. The place was really really large. Mona Lisa, the painting that everyone knows about yet don't know anything bout it, was disappointing. You could only see it from about a distance of a few feet. Not to say, so many people were crowding around it, I could not get a good view. The painting itself was very small when compared to the others. Once I did, I saw the fading colours of Mona Lisa. The colours on her was really gloomy and dark. It ain't like in the pictures. Some say it is due to the age of the painting. Sad thing. Other paintings were far more impressive like the 'Wedding Feast in Cana'. Damn it was huge! A few art students were doing replicas of the paintings on display too. Wow, really impressive. I couldn't spot the difference!

The popular pyramid entrance to the Lourve

Notre Dame Cathedral - Seriously nothing spectacular inside and outside.

Disneyland - Place I wouldn't go unless I have kids along with me.
I spent more time scouring for souvenirs for my lil cousin instead of sitting rides. lol

I couldn't resist taking a pic with this cute cartoon.
I reckon he was the cutest among the lot from the parade! HAHAHA

Although the loads of negativity above(Maybe it is due to the high expectations I put forth on this city), I am starting to miss this city! (As I mentioned above). There is something. The food maybe? I miss the duck confit. I miss French wine. I miss the pretty ladies. Leong and Keong would go nuts if they were here. I miss the friendly French people. They were so friendly, approachable, well-mannered, respectful, and patient trying to communicate in English with us. I miss the wonderful parks. I miss going about trying to choose from the mind-boggling number of cafes down the streets. I miss the wonderful warm weather.

Thinking back, if there were a list of cities I'd return to in Europe, Paris would definitely be on the list. But first off, I need to have a healthy bank balance first!

Good day people! =)

the best damn actor ever!

The title goes to Chris Tucker!! His large eyes, crazily high-pitched voice and mad stuff he does/do never fails to make me laugh no matter how many time u replay his clips hahhaha..

Below are some of his funny clips which are sure to make u crack! Pls do take some time to see ALL the clips below. I promise you it'll definitely brighten up ur day!




A clip from Rush Hour 3. I think this is the funniest part of the movie! LOL



LOL! He's d one who directed the traffic wrongly, and he still scolds em but asks whether his bro's ok! LOL



LOL.. I like the "Everyone dun panic" part.. LOL! NUTS!



Tucker singing a Jacko song!



Damn look at Jacko at the end of clip! LOL

I don't know why he ain't acting in more movies thou'. Man I think he deserves the Oscar or whatever movie awards there is.. He's the man!

The night that Becks played in Ibrox!

On the night of 4th Feb 2009, arguably the world's most popular footballer ever to lived, in the form of David Beckham played in Ibrox Stadium, the home of Scottish powerhouse, Glasgow Rangers. Don't agree he is the world's most popular footballer? Even my mum knows who is David Beckham la. Haha.. Although mum doesn't watch football, I think she knows at least 3 players.. Beckham, Ronaldo(the no.9 one) and Michael Owen. Shyt Keong, you better buckle up ur football knowledge soon, else u suck. Hahaha..

Anyways, I was lucky enough to see him play in the very stadium that he was playing in, and breathe the same air as he was breathing. LOL.. Im not the only one who's ecstatic that Beckham was playing. The other 47000++ ppl who attended were too. That was proved when the announcer announced his name, and he got the biggest cheer. Not only that, these 47000 ppl were the ones who braved the crazily freezing temperatures in order to watch him play. Tiny bits of crushed ice were falling from the skies at the time of the match. Well, I wore 4 layers of clothes and 3 layers for the legs plus 2 socks. Pavements and walkways were lathered with ice all over. Not only that, tickets cost 25 pounds, equivalent to 60++ BND! Anyways, not as exp when compared to the Old Trafford one.

Well on arrival at entrance, I was told by the security guard to throw my water bottle away. LOL! Walao.. Uncle, mafan la lu punya Ibrox! Even Old Trafford allowed me to bring my bottles and bags in leh! Oh well, I sat near one of the corner kick spots. Well close but not that close. Seat was in the last row actually, thus couldn't see the other end clearly when the action is over there. Oh well, but not bad actually. Last row means you can exit anytime you want, plus, there was a roof over the last few rows thus, much warmer I guess. Well, honestly it was still cold. My strategy against the cold worked for my body n legs, but not my feet. My feet went numb! I remember the not-very-pleasant-walking back to the subway, how comfortable I felt.

We arrived around 20+ mins before the match started I guess. I remembered "Beckham Beckham" shouts at that time. And there I see, the man in action. Hitting balls around with Ronaldinho. It was warmup time, accompanied by very loud music to pump up the players I guess..

Becks in warmup

Welcome to Ibrox!

View from my sitting area, notice the lowered roof/ceiling..

Not long after, the players disappear into the locker rooms. Suddenly, the chorus of the popular Tina Turner "Simply the best" song was played and the crowd erupted. Thought what happened, well, it was the cue for the players to come out!

Players lineup

The home team's starting 11 -- I onlyrecognize 2 players! HAHAHA

The away team's starting 11 -- Here, loudest cheer went to who else?

Ready?

The players went to their own halves. Ball in the middle, whistle blew, music stopped. Start of match..

More Becks in action..

To be honest, the first half was disappointing. I was certainly expecting more from a side like AC Milan. Their starting 11 was very strong somemore.

Ronaldinho tried to entertain the crowd with a bit of his trademark 'Make-the-defender-look-silly' passes and flicks to partial success at most. Its a bit sad to be honest. I am sensing the downfall of the once-very-awesome Ronaldinho. He seemed to make his passes a bit more slowly then ideal, from what I see. What happens is, defenders regroup, and then its back to square one, i.e. Reset play or defend. He played for around nearly 70 minutes before being substituted by Seedorf. He had some bright spots from the game thou which included a on-target freekick and a wonderful pass which set up Inzaghi in the first half (He missed thou)

Beckham, whoa.. performed okay at most. He did do some of his trademark pinpoint long passes to the oos and aahhs of the crowd (me included). But I thought he looked a bit tired. You could see him panting, hands on his waist and not running as much. But of course, once again, he got the loudest cheer, I remember when he took the first corner for AC Milan. The Rangers supporters certainly loved him. But, he was substituted abruptly during halftime. I was a bit disappointed to not see him in the starting 11 during the 2nd half.

Sheva was very mediocre. Ever since he went to Chelsea, I think he went downhill from there on. Tonight was no different. Inzaghi, the Italian legend, was mediocre too. There were a no. of passes threaded to him from Becks and the others, setting him up in front of goal, but he either missed the ball completely or had a poor first touch. 2 of the Ex-Gooners featured too.. Senderos was not bad. Another ex-Gooner, Flamini, was not bad too.. Had a couple of good tackles. Pirlo the captain of the night, was kinda mediocre too. In all, Milan weren't playing up to their potential in the first half.

Rangers kept counter-attacking in the first half. Edu was playing well, and so was Mendes. Rangers were actually missing some of their regulars in the starting 11 , in Ferguson and Boyd..

The Rangers Mascot dancing and posing for the cams during halftime..

The second half started with the coming on of Seedorf, Jantuslovki(I dunno how to spell his name) and also Ferguson(the Scottish legend for Rangers).. Seedorf certainly looked bright. He did a couple of good tricks, n damn does he has super fast reaction. He's quick! But that ain't all the substitutions. The night was not over yet. The whole place was still anticipating for that one man to come on. That one man who is rated to be over 100-million pounds in transfer value. None other than..

A lil hard to spot eh.. Kaka! The Rangers fans were
shouting his name, wanting him to come on..

Around 70 mins( if I ain't wrong) Kaka and Pato came on. Oh Oh..
The whole complexion of the game changed from there on.. Sheva and Ronaldinho out.. An influx of pace now.

But suddenly, after a minor mixup from the Milan defenders...

Rangers scored!!
As expected, the fans went nuts!

I was really wondering whether a major major MAJOR upset was in the balance with over 20++ mins left on the clock. Milan weren't doing well so far somemore.. How how?

No worries, a few mins later.. A through pass from a Milan player set no.22 aka Kaka free. Kaka slashes into the box, does a quick pass. After some deflection, Pato strikes n ball ends up in the back of the net. I actually let out a small shout, when they scored! LOL.. I have certainly forgotten where was I sitting at. The home crowd area! My gawd! If I was in the middle rows, I might certainly have been bashed by em already. LOL.. Phew.. hahhaa.. It was sad actually. Milan's support was so lil! When the goal was scored, the whole stadium stayed quiet. No shouting or whatever. Walao..

Action begins..

Now Milan seems to have step up a gear or two. Better passes and movement. But then, ball finds itself on the feet of Kaka.. Hoho.. What else, he runs, holds off the challenge of a defender, strike from the edge of the box. GOAL.. LOL.. Its amazing how he did it. The Rangers defenders were certainly no match for him. Now I know why ppl rate him so highly. He single-handedly changed the course of the game that night!

Milan up!

Kaka taking a corner..

Well, since there was around 10 mins left on the clock. I thought nah, it is over! Rangers gonna lose this one. Suddenly, the crowd seemed to get excited over something. Everyone was looking over at the players bench area. LOL.. What is happening oh? I wondered.. LOL.. I looked properly, ah.. a player coming on. So what? I see the No.9. Oh.. Kris Boyd. Rangers top scorer! Should be an utterly popular player for the club. The support of the crowd for him was whoa! Everyone was standing cheering.. Lol..

Something is bound to happen, I feel. Then from a Rangers attack, after some nice technique by one of the Rangers players, a through ball threaded, a beautiful sidefoot shot by a Rangers player, GOAL! Crowd erupted! However it wasnt their hero, Kris Boyd thou'. It was a leftback if I aint wrong in the form of Sasa Papac..

That was the last goal of the match, thus the match ended at 2 -2..

The final result

The long queue to the subway station. Its nuts!
We ended up walking to the next nearby subway station

Rangers Megastore located outside the stadium

Overall, it was just an average match, in terms of entertainment. The atmosphere was kinda lacking to be honest. Definitely, cannot be compared to Old Trafford one. The fans there sing nearly every club song throughout the match plus there is no needfor speakers to initiate them to sing, like this one. They know when to start singing and all that. But, of course, Old Trafford is nearly twice as big as this place, so certainly understood. Btw, I am still an Arsenal fan. I am just talking about the wonderful atmosphere that Old Trafford has. It was a good experience nonetheless.. =)

Friend .. sudah update!

Ahh, hello ppls, I've didn't realised that the last post was around 9 to 10 days ago until last night?! Even sampai ada orang bising arah CBox sudah *ahem siapa yang bising2 atu huh? I've wanted to do one last night, but got lazy and went to sleep. HAhaha... Anyways, don't worry here goes a break down of what happened from the last post:

A lil smth significant 2 Sundays ago:

I dumbly thought that something was going wrong with my laptop as it wasn't showing the right time. The kitchen's clock was showing 3.30 pm whereas my laptop is only 2.30 pm. I dumbly adjusted my laptop's clock, and tried to figure out what went wrong! HAHAHA.. If you don't know it yet, you should after reading this para. It is the Daylight Savings Time aka DST. You can read how Mr Ang went ecstatic about that! Oops... ;)

What happens is our time gets turned back 1 hr starting from 2 a.m of that particular day(The day that DST starts). Our computers also changes its time automatically btw, which thus explains my laptop's actions. Napa Brunei nada? Hmm.. Not sure bout that, but I remember reading that only industrialized nations do practice that. Or maybe only places which have 4 seasons? Time will return back to their original state once winter officially ends I suppose..

As we get closer to winter, the sun's presence will get shorter and shorter. Thus this fact combined with the fact that time gets 1 hr slower = 5pm sky that looks just like 7 pm sky!!

The sight of the moon and uni's Bell Tower

A lil smth significant last week:

Around Tuesday and Wednesday last week, according to the weather forecast, Glasgow's temperature went below 0 degrees for the first time since I was here! No joke! Of course I was excited, 0 degrees meant possibly snow flakes!! The news even reported that the north of Scotland was already snowing. So is parts of England. But unfortunately, all the anticipation dampened as there seem to be none in Glasgow.. =( Hahaha.. According to the seniors, Glasgow is a place that is not a snow-prone area. I guess that explains it. However, I hope this would change once the real winter comes.. lol.. I want snow!!

A smth lil significant last Friday night:

Halloween!

The Brunei society in Scotland aka BruScot organised a Halloween party for us all. As expected of course, we would have to dress up! So here was the 'ghosts' and 'monsters' of the night:

Wasssssuuppp??

Why so serious?

Shh..

The supposedly 'dark'(blame the cam's flash) house littered
with cobwebs and a thing hanging in the middle..

And more 'ghosts' :

[PS>> Which of the following of all the pics am I in??]

And of course, enough of them for now, as uploading pictures here is such a pain(when you have 2 housemates who are download freaks I suppose.. Oops.. LOL). Just so you know, more pics are on my Facebook acct. =)

Anyways, the so-called Halloween's party, wasn't exactly a party, as it even involved electing who the next BruScot admins were! Who does that on Halloween's night huh? Haha.. But of course ,we did have some fun! There were games played and of course had food, of which the best was definitely the Brunei-styled Mee Goreng.. How great was it? Bernard had 6 PLATES!!! Hahaha.. Small small plates of course, those 10 cm in diameter super-thin plates.. Ohh, that was done around 2 instances of the night lah.. No social manners I suppose, if you eat freaking much at a place where you aren't the only guests. LOL..

Anyways, we planned to leave the place at around 11pm as the last trains were finishing at around half-past 11 if I ain't wrong. However, we sort of lost track of time, and there you go, missed it! Nah, not to worry lah, in such a modern city as Glasgow, there'll definitely be great public transports!! NOT!

I ain't kidding! NO! Its not because the taxi standard is as 'great' as in Brunei's. LOL.. Its because the taxis are fully booked on Friday nights! Taxi business is brisk on this night. Our seniors told us the taxis will only be available at 3 am. WALAO! Of course, I tried to call the taxis in the hope that there will be 1 available for us. Nah, instead, I was shouted at!! Yeah.. I think the telephone operators suck! In my opinion, tel. operators here ain't very customer-friendly. Their brains left out the simple fact that "Not all people are used to hearing the Scottish accent". LOL.. Thus ask for repeats, and risk being shouted at.

Well, we then decided to not call anymore, and thus waste our time lazing around playing board games, and some were 'scaring' themselves by treating themselves to a horror movie. The first train of the day will begin operations at around 6+ am, thus, yeah we decided to go for that.

On the way home, a few pics around St.Enoch's..

Deserted as it seems, but this wasn't the case just a few hours ago! The whole place was even more livelier than Gadong!! You can get to see all sorts of stuff, from "Hollywood characters", to half-naked ladies, drunk people, people smooching, etc etc.. LOL.. Well that's the way life is in big cities I guess..

A smth lil significant today:

A new assignment!! My brain just can't keep complaining enough! There is just so much work!! I've got 3 assignments, which weighs around 20% of total course marks. I've 3 team projects (no joke!) going on concurrently. Today, lecturer presented us with a new assignment. Nasty eh.. I suppose it is now really time to pull my socks up and start working.

Okie dokie, guess that's about it for now. There you go.. an UPDATE! =)

Please Brunei, learn to love dogs

I came across this sad video. Linked from Rano's if I have not mistaken.

Warning: The video consists of ain't-very-pleasing images if you know what I mean!!

I too, had one of my dogs killed by poison. I still remember the day that dog of mine died.

At that time, coming back home meant being greeted at the gate by 2 of my dogs. Lucy the German Shephard and Bingo the mixed breed one. They'd run towards me. Occassionally they would jump up to me too. I'd then guide them to their dens first, so that I could drive my car in(Who knows, they might run out of the house and attack a passerby while Im driving)

Anyways, on that fateful day. None of them came and greeted me by the gate. I called for em. But still no response. Something really wasn't right. I searched and searched around the whole compound for em. Still no sound, no sight of em. Then among the bushes, I spotted one of my dogs. He was just sitting there in a guarding-something posture. I called for him, he just ignored me. Then.. I saw it. She(Lucy) was lying there, with her tongue out. Her tongue was black (indication of poison). She was all fine in the morning, running about and all. It was IMPOSSIBLE to be a natural death.

The sight still haunts me. I so wish I could bash the f*ktard that did this. She was innocent. All she did was guard the house. Never did she cause any havoc or was a potential danger to the neighbourhood. For your info, I never let her out of my compound. I just could not think of a possible reason why you harmed my pet.

A German Shephard source

That is the fate of dogs in Brunei I guess. I've heard of many more similar cases as to dogs being poisoned. Seeing the carcasses of dogs lying dead isn't a rare sight here. Sights of stones being thrown to dogs is pretty common too. I saw that with my own eyes too. Groups of Malay boys coming over just to throw stones at my dogs. I think it is one of the actions that Bruneians (esp children) do when they see dogs, besides shouting at them or some other 'trying-to-get-the-dog's-attention' action. I don't know, maybe they just want to provoke them to start a possible chase? Maybe they love the thrill of being chased by dogs. Ahh.. what if you lost the chase? Do you know the consequences?

"Some dogs just chase wah with/without provoking"

Yeah yeah.. I know,.. Its true. Some dogs are mad. But not all dogs are mad. I always get extra careful when I see a stray dog nearby. I'd try my best not to provoke it in anyways. Just for your info, running past a sleeping dog or a dog that is eyeing you is not a very brilliant idea btw. That would excite the dog and prompt it to chase you.

There were 2 recent cases of stray dogs attacking ppl. It seems to me that the media seems to be more to the victims'(The bitten one) side. I don't have proper proof of this but you know, animals(esp. unwild animals such as dogs), do not attack unless provoked.

" If it ain't provoked, then it must 'sot' liao lah. Its a 'sot' one that attacked"

OK a possibility. But wait, if 'sot', why not others are attacked? You the only one who lived in that kampong ah?

"No lah.. Many ppl live here lah"

How come, those attacked are always the younger ones eh? Ohh, they were attacked while going back to school? Mate, you do not have a car to bring ur child?

" No car bah "

No car ah? Means ur child walks to n from school very often eh? If yeah, means the stray dogs were sent from heaven on the very day he/she( i forgot) was bitten huh?

" No lah.. They were there long time sudah "

Har.. No? Meaning you saw dogs in that area already before? Meaning they aint crazy before. So meaning the dogs went crazy on the day it decided to bite ?! So how many did it bit that day?

" 1 eh. You saw the news reported one mah "

1? Ohh.. so it just went crazy on that particular time during the day. Walao.. u damn lucky lah. Hope over the border and go buy lottery man, Im sure no problem for u. Sap sap water. Kena liao, can buy car leh.

"Eh no.. maybe a few more. They attacked when the reporters went into jamban for toilet break"

-.-""

To be honest, other possibilities do exist too lah. I might be wrong. Anyways that is just what I think. The key to solving this problem is not to kill dogs whenever u see them and think of dogs as some crazy biting machine that chases anything down. I think the mentality of most Bruneians is already like that in this department. Dogs have life too. They have the right to live. Like the video said, "Dogs do not know religion", and many other stuff that made sense.

Innocence source

The most applicable solution in this case is to take extra precaution when you see stray dogs, or enter into a house guarded by dogs. Keep in mind, never to provoke them. If they still persist in barking or still have a i-wanna-attack posture. Be wise lah. Use another route, or wait till the dog leaves the area. Another more ambitious solution that is always mentioned would be to collect all the strays and place them on a piece of land, or let them be adopted. I really dread the day that the government comes out with a rule to kill all strays or all dogs! I really hope that would not happen.

Once again, please please please don't harm the dogs. Learn to love them, Brunei.

the 8am class

Most students shrug and sigh when the thought arises. Its the least favourite time for most students, I suppose.

The 8am class!

Why we don't really like 8am classes?

Its not just a class.. Haha..
Some of the sacrifices that comes along with this class are LACK OF SLEEP and TRAFFIC JAMS! which means long journey with lots of foot off-n-on-the-pedal action and yawning. Better not doze off when you're driving alone, else you'll risk bengkok-ing others' backs, which will further lead to worser jams.

What makes a 8am class worse?

When its the only class of the day! You wake ur ass up so early for just that 1 class! You'll be roughly back home at around 9++ am. Walao.. spoil my sleep nia. Haha


What makes a person so hard to decide whether to go to such a class?

Questions such as:

- Whether value of knowledge acquired in 1 class > cost of petrol and sleep time?
- Lack of sleep tend to be a factor into determining my day. You don't want ur day to be a day full of yawning and filled with sudden dozing bouts do you?
- No attendance taken! Thus will attending or not attending to that 1 class would be the difference between ur A or B grade?
- Heard of the quote "study smart, not study hard" ?

Walao.. 8am so late meh? You used to attend 7.15am classes daily w/o fail.

That was years ago. Somehow, university has so much less classes and no fixed start-of-school time. Guess the effect is that students somehow get used to this lifestyle that we slowly think that 8am is too early a class.

LOL.. Anyways, I still went to that class.
Decided to capture some moments of the journey, as I was freaking bored in the car.

Presenting to you:

The Chronicles of the journey to the 8 am class:

Left house around 7.25 am.

Met my good friend, the first jam when it was:

"7:32 am"

After some light foot action and also tagging along with another good buddy of mine, the second jam, I then met my best buddy, the 'third jam':

"7:49 am" - Start time for 3rd jam

Views of the 'third jam':

Great sights! Thanks buddy!

Arggh.. the heat!

A solution that was tempting. Go to the left, and balik rumah. I decided to tahan..

Its on a highway btw. And when there is a jam on it, chances are there is an accident. After a while, found out it was a just a minor car accident that caused this. Typical bump-to-the-back thing. Must be stupid tailgaters who think following others closely behind is cool.

"8:00 am" .. When I was freed from my ordeal..

FREEDOM! Step on it!

Vroom... Destination arrived.

"8:08 am" - Arrived in style with 1-time only back parking.

Not-very-surprisingly, I wasn't late for class. And lagi-not-very-surprisingly, the no. of students present were just a few - 5 to be exact.

Something interesting mentioned by my lecturer during class:-

Computer memory as we know, is fixed at the moment. When you buy a hard disk of 120 GB for example, its capacity stays as it is forever. It will never increase. However, there is some work going on to develop memory by using living organisms as memory? Which means that there is a possibility that the memory capacity of our future drives can increase by itself! Imagine the 120 GB hard disk becoming a 500 GB after a few years.. Whoa..

"9:10 am" - Head home!

Reached home. Time to clear out some work.

Nah.. Was busy watching TV instead. Lazy me. Haha

Yea yea.. I promise I'll start after I finish posting this. LOL

--end--