Preeeee!

Just felt I needed to do a post for those who are concerned about what I am up to, if there are any that is. Hahaha. Yeah, ai bin la this Bern.

Anyways, I've completed my long battle with all the exams last Friday! The freaking 9 papers battle. Siao. I was wondering whether this was much tougher as compared to O Levels where we have 8 subjects and each sub had 2 papers each, plus practs for pure Science subjects.

Conclusion? I am not too sure too. Hahaha. See, for O Levels you needn't study as much for BM and English subjects as opposed to pure hardcore studying for 9 papers, where 1 of em is actually a 2 semester course. Besides in O Levels, you have tons of past year paper resources to aid your revision. This year, for my course, there were changes in curriculum leading to 3 new courses which DID NOT have any past year papers at all. Thus, pretty much did not know what to expect for those. Oh well, past year papers don't matter much if you really know ur stuff.

Ahh, besides those points, I find the duration for papers here to be just perfect meaning, no time to check at all, even for some, no time to think! The longest ones are only 2 hours. I was browsing the other day at the papers back home, then remembered oops, we have 3 hours' ones. And, the papers here do not allow you to make choices. It is all "Answer Everything" format.

So how'd I find it? Emm, to be honest, all seems okay except maybe a few. I find the last 4 days particularly harsh, as there were 4 papers during that period. Thinking back, we used to have these schedules back home anyways, so I should be okay with such arrangements. Err, however, I wish they had given more time between papers! So much to learn ah uncle! I wonder if I have gotten lazier?

How do I think Im gonna fare? Erm, *fingers crossed*. I don't even wanna answer. I just hope not too bad. In terms of knowledge gained, daym, I think I learned WAY LOT during my time here. I can now fill up my CVs with a couple of new languages I have learned here. Yay! Looking back, I think the harsh workload is actually for our own good. I liked the fact that there was always proper hands-on work to cement what we learnt in lectures. Knowledge-wise, all I can say is, it is very fulfilling.

Woosh~ And 9 months have already past. Not long from now, I will be already leaving this place. Sighs~ Mixed emotions. Happy to be going home soon. A bit sad about hmm.. maybe the cool weather? Hahaha. The Bruneians here had a barbeque outing on the day I finished my exams. I arrived late but who cares. When I saw about a few footballs lying around and wide areas of space to kick about. ITS OVER. I when mad kicking balls for about a couple of hours. The last time I could kick balls as freely were maybe 4 to 5 yrs back kua. Lol. It was just like playing in the aircon. Maybe colder. The sweat that were produced during the 3 hr session quantity-wise would be like the sweat produced after running ard for 5 mins at 4 pm in Brunei on a sunny day. Hahaha. But the dangerous thing of playing in the cold is that, you do not know when your body needs fluids. Its coz when I went home, I felt like shit. Freaking thirsty and all the dehydration effects. So moral of the story, drink water even if you don't feel thirsty when out in the cold! Anyways felt like shit as well for the next 2 days (including 2day too) coz my whole body was aching. LOL. Dumbass who didn't warmup and didn't know his limits lol.

Anyways it just feels so good now. The bothering inner-voice that always screams "Assignment!" or "Revise!" is gone. I can just peacefully do whatever I want without a care of what I am gonna do next or not do next! I like this !

=)

homeee..

Its getting closer n closer. Going home that is, besides the end of exams!

Man, I can't wait.

Here's roughly why(in no proper order):

Basketball!

Buttermilk chicken.
Thien Thien Chicken Rice.
Ideal.
Ayamku.
No need to cook.
Husky.
Family.
Car.
Astro.
XBox.
eXcapade.
Thiam Hock.
Tutong Kolomee.
No freezing weather.
The Sun.
Coconut Grove Fresh Bee Hoon.
.
.
.

(Heck, the majority are food!)

But I think the way the human brain works is weird. Who knows? Maybe after a few mths back, Ill be blogging about how I miss living in Glasgow.

But most importantly, we should learn how to seize and ALWAYS appreciate the moment.
Accomplish what you want to accomplish when/while you can, don't wait!
or Freaking do what you want. Don't wait already!
(Haha. But its hard to do that.
We almost always succumb to the "tomorrow lah",
"still got next week mah", "got chance one" thoughts.)

Why?
Coz you never know if you'd ever be presented with this moment or
another chance ever again. You just never know.




Hmm.. Wondering why am I talking bout these eh?



Is Bernard contemplating whether to tell that special someone how he feels bout her?



or..



Is he gonna end it all by doing a superman stunt from the roof??




or..





argghh... what's it?




WHAT IS ON HIS MIND??


Hehehe..

Nah.. No big deal. Seriously. Be ready to be disappointed. A bit childish I guess.
i.e. I fear not being able to go to the stadiums & a few places that I intend to go before I go back! Shyt!
The sudden existence of the Swine is not helping at all.
My parents might recall me back early if Swine decides to get serious!

Now how ?

Let's recall..

-----The timeline-----

9 months ago, si beh lots of time, rather stay at home, slacking, chatting, Facebooking. Why not get my ass out of the house for a bit? Very hard meh?

6 months ago.. A few down. The rest next time la. Still got 6 months left mah.

3 months ago. Summer ba. Wa seh. Still 'tai ba' time.

3 weeks ago. What?? Swine flu outbreak? Possibility of pandemic? Cham liao. How to go??!


So,
Moral of the story: If chance presents itself, "hoot" nia. DON'T WAIT!

...

Anyways, talking about dominant ladies in relationships. This is SCARY and SILLY. Is it because the girl was really hot? I could not see her face. Or.. No more women in China as hot as that lady? Or what?! See for urself:

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

A free day!

Yes a free day it is! No more lectures, no more assignments. Its the end of the sem already! I had a more-than-sufficient 9 hrs of sleep. Watched movies. You-tubed. Music blaring all day. Googled just about anything and also gamed! I won the D2 League in the 'Top Player' mode in PES in just the 2nd season! Basically just relaxed the whole day. =)

However, I just fear I'll get bored quickly over the course of this upcoming 1 month of break. Im one who dread repetitions. I usually get bored after a few days doing stuff balik-balik and nothing productive. However, this 1 month of break must be one in which I use to properly revise for the upcoming 9 papers that I will face starting from 28th of April to 22nd of May. The last time when I had to face so many papers in one session to sit was at A Levels! (4 yrs ago?) Gosh, I hope I have the right spirit with me to go thru' em all successfully. God bless.

I feel a bit light-headed at the moment. Definitely not drunk. Hahaha.. I think the cause is the one pint of Carlsberg beer I just downed. Yes, BEER. Lol.. (Im just drinking very very occasionally) Drinking a bit of alcohol should not be considered harmful and bad I guess. My views on drinking alcohol sort of changed after I saw its influence over here. Its part of British culture, which is to DRINK (besides the regular use of the 'F' word) . We even have pubs in the uni campus. No joke! LOL.. I remember a coursemate downing a pint of beer before presenting hahahaha...

Needless to say, alcoholic drinks are sold nearly everywhere. Drinking is not merely something to get you high so that you can go strutting ur stuff on the dance floor, or to forget ur woes or whatever. Its also a social tool! I found this out when I was at this talk organized by our departments which featured a company looking to recruit ppl to take up attachments with em. You know what was their refreshments? Budweisers, wines and sandwiches. I was shocked at first! But talks that ensued afterwards also offered similar refreshments. Thus, I realised, it damn sure wudn't harm if you learned how to drink at least a wee bit. Who would wanna get drunk in the middle of a meeting with ur client(who has a multi-million dollar deal at hand with ur company) due to the inability to drink? Hahaha..

Ah well, besides alcohol, I've also started to eat beef which shocked those who knew my eating habits beforehand. I had this grudge against beef all these while. More to a religion thing actually. Well, its supposed to be practiced only if you were that devoted I guessed (which I think I'm not.. as I should be). Besides Dad gave me the go-ahead and told me to open up my views on eating a lil when abroad. Food choices there might be different from here. Learn how to eat beef. I heeded his advice. Beef sometimes do taste good. The Burger King with Angus Beef filling is a good example. Damn it does taste good! :D

Anyways to end it all..

I think its a nice song from Hsiao Hong Ren, thou' I do not know what its lyrics meant.
"Fa Ke Zhe Ge Ren" is the title. I don't know if the "Fa Ke" is meant to be used as a vulgar word because it was censored in a live performance of this single. Enjoy!




PS: Im not in a shitty mood anymore. Back to my happy self. =)

A very very short note..

Yes Im still alive if anyone on this planet would even care..

If I sound a lil depressed, well maybe I might be.. Just a lil thou'. Depression is not an issue to me atm. No worries bout that. Anyways, a random thought popped out.. well this random thought has been in my mind for maybe my whole life already, which I have yet to solve.

The question of :

What makes one so loved by others?
What makes one not so loved by others?
Loved not in the romantic sense. I mean loved as in the friendship/family context.

It might be a very childish or possibly trivial question to the others. I do not know.. But not to me..

Anyways, a few more weeks and it'll be end of my 3rd year already. Time really does fly more quicker as we grow older huh. I still remember how time ticked so slowly during my younger days. Hahaha.. I guess maybe its due to the 7.15 - 12.30 pm, 5 days a week throughout the year schedule. Anyways strangely, it snowed yesterday night and this afternoon, just as the temperature seemed to get warmer as spring's coming.

And damn do I miss bball. I do play occasionally over here, but how can that compare to playing in the UBD Cup (which is already starting if u don't know)! Lol.. oh well.. Maybe that's d tradeoff:
Get snow, no bball! or Bball, no snow!

Rites I noe its boring, thus.. God bless. Take care. Byebye!

WALAO

Mouth gaping ..

Webadd1:www.gennextdegrees.ubd.edu.bn/index.html

&

Webadd2:hecas.edu.bn/hecasportal/

Was about to doze off, when I came across these sites.

Walao.. what a MAJOR change..
My gawd, someone tell me what is happening to the world..

PS: Tell me stuff u noe about this( coz Im curious) , esp UBD peeps =)

breathe.. breathe..

----Typed this at around 10 am (but ran out of time to post LOL)----

Hey,

I just arrived at my lab not long ago. I am actually sort of surprised at the condition of myself now. I am panting super heavily like someone just choked me or something after walking up 5 flights of stairs. I mean I think I could do better than that!! LOL.. Oh no.. Has the cold shrinked my lungs or smth.. I need answers lol... Aspiring biologists.. Its ur cue to answer now.. Hahaha

Anyways as expected, Glasgow dilanda dari salji too today, just as the whole of UK I suppose due to the cold wave from Russia or something.. Read that it is the coldest winter ever since the 1995-1996 season. Walao.

Footie fans, Becks is coming to town! Yea yea he is! Yeehee! I've booked my tix for the match.. Ac Milan vs Glasgow Rangers in a friendly. I guess its a rare sight to see a team such as AC Milan step foot in Scotland. He recently started the last AC Milan match, which means, pretty good chance he'll be playing! Besides him, they promised that the stars will be performing too.. Cool.. Stars in the form of Ronaldinho, Kaka n more.. Walao!

--Typed at around 7.15 pm--

I mentioned about the snow. Yes, its crazy! Wildest snow ever! I witnessed the snow most of the time from the lab window. It is sort of scary when you see the snow coming down so heavily. At some point, it was so heavy till you can barely see anything outside.

Notice the bunch of ppl down there?
They were actually doing a protest, supporting Gaza or smth, in the snow!
Wat the heck Hahaha

The tower sort of disappeared as it got heavier!

In comparison to the snow I mentioned about 2 weeks ago, that is more of sleet I suppose. This one was real snow. I estimate that in the fields, the snow went about 1 to 2 inches thick. Walking on em felt like walking on thick cotton wools! Walking on thin melting snow on pavement was not very fun. It is very very slippery. Not as slippery as black ice thou'.

Reports have said that the snow fall in London is the heaviest in over 18 yrs! Public transport are off and such. Flights cancelled. Oh noes.. Havoc! Crazy Snow here. Crazy Flood back home. What's happening with this planet? Hahaha.. Anyways, Glasgow is known to be a cold cold place which rarely rarely rarely snows, from what I heard. So I guess, kinda lucky that I actually experienced real snow before the end of winter =) Thank you God!

BUT.. As usual, with all good, there is also the bad. Remember the footie match I mentioned above? Yep.. It is common sense that it is dangerous to play in snow, or sometimes, practically impossible to play if its too thick. I have a feeling that it might be postponed or worst-case scenario cancelled? Phew.. I hope that don't happen. I wanna be at Ibrox! I wanna watch Becks play!

A few pics to get an idea of how destructive or disruptive snow could be to football..

link
Mind you, there white white pavement-lookalike is not an ice-skating rink, or cement-floor-painted-in-white. Its snow covering the grass..

link
This(The front rows) is where the manager and his players sit. They'll get cramps even before the match starts I guess.. Lol

link

N this is what the fans will be sitting on, if the match is to continue. Sitting on ice!

This is how the Emirates is like, when there is no snow. Taken back last month. I remember the tour guide mentioning that there is never ever a match that is canceled due to snow in this ground, due to their efficient heating system or smth..

Whoopsie Mr Tour Guide, I think its about time to tweak that line a lil' of yours

FINALLY TO END IT ALL..

*




*


.

I PRESENT TO YOU,


P.S: That "boy" in the picture ain't ME!!
For my own personal safety reasons, I would not reveal his name in public.. Hahahaha



Priceless.. =)

A new sem begins!

I have noticed that there is always a small no. of visitors coming to my blog daily. Thus, I feel guilty for letting whoever-that-is come n find nothing new to read. I hate it too, when I run out of blogs to read. Thus this post! Hhahaha..

Yeah, I'm back in one piece from Barcelona aka Barca. The trip was all tiring, good, fun, and also has some lousy moments. Many thanks to my mates who went together that made all these possible. I was back on Sunday night, around 9+ pm. The new sem(possibly my last here =( ) started the very next day! Just like those UBD peeps.

If it seems like I sound very excited n enthusiastic about the new sem, you're wrong! It'll be this sem that I have to submit my group project and get my ass ready for 9 damn papers. Shyt! Its time to seriously start working hard this sem! Time for less PES-ing, youtubing, facebooking..

source

Oh, on the winter trips, Im actually working on some of the posts n trying to sprinkle some creativity here n there, in the aim of to not bore the reader. Don't expect too much though. I will most likely "hangat-hangat tahi ayam" halfway thru' hahaha..

Chinese New Year is around 2 weeks away too. Sadly there is no public holiday for that here. However, I read that it clashes with the 'Burns Night' or smth. (P.S. Burns is a legendary Scottish poet, if I ain't wrong) . Thus, who knows, we might have a holiday! However, I read in the papers just now that there are small celebrations by the Chinese community here too. There might be even performances by artists! Whoa! I went back and googled but sadly there weren't more info. on that. Instead, I found that on the 24th Sat, there would be celebrations in Kelvingrove. Liondance, food, etc is on the list!! Hope no work or stupid deadlines bar me from going there.

Besides that, in the midst of googling, I also found came acroos this link.

Easyway in Glasgow!!!

OH NOOO!!!

Apparently from the info given, it seems to be in a plaza that I have yet to visit before.
Anyways, first gotta clear out my winter cold/flu first before heading to get the BMT!

Ok should be enough. More googling work to be done. Trying to find an ebook on Operating Systems which is said to be MANDATORY for the course. Walao! I checked on Amazon.com, and found that the book has around 900++ pages and came at a whooping 40+ pounds + hardcover!!! WAlao.. If beli, how to bring back! Thus, supports my case for a the ebook! =) Psst.. dun tell the others aight~ LOL

Aights, byebye!

back and leavin' again!

Hey folks!

Its a new year already!

Fireworks by the River Thames with London Eye in the background

I just got back from London just yesterday. Phew.. and felt freaking exhausted from those trips. To be honest, we did not waste even a single day during the trip. We were mostly out from morning to night, visiting all the more significant attractions(Stadiums included, for a football fan la .. Hahaha) . Seriously, sometimes it seems more like a job(going to places that you have booked tix already) than a vacation. I hope to share my trips' experiences in future blog posts if I ain't lazy. Anyways, all those fatigue accumulated from the lack of rest certainly had its toll on our bodies as it seems like everyone's sick now. An example is dear Bernard who has a flu and a sorethroat. Damn!

More rest since now at home? Tak boleh lah.. Esok, am leavin' again. Its Barcelona this time!! God bless me on this one. I'll be leaving on a budget plane, which thus would reach an airport which is an hour's drive from the city centre. Plus the many scary stories(pickpocketed and such) heard from ppl who've been to Barca. Plus not knowing a single Spanish word.

Till then!

Manchester & London here I come!

A few more hrs and I'll be off to my Manchester!! Old Trafford baby! A few days after, I'll head to London for NYE's. I hope it'll be an awesome one. It's my first time to seriously explore England.

Before that, a 5 hr++ bus trip first hahaha..

Daymm, may there be great views to entertain me throughout the journey! (Coz my mp3 player(one of the those 29 bnd for 2 GB ones) only has an awesome battery life of around 20 mins when fully charged? LOL )

God bless you and me. An advanced Happy New Year & Happy Holidays ppl! :)

PS: Happy Birthday Bertman! May God bless ya with more of ur "brilliant" Einstein-ness ..

Old Trafford here I come!

Its official now! My tickets had just arrived, thus I'll be at Old Trafford to watch the Red Devils play vs Middlesborough in an EPL match! AHH! I guess it's a dream for every logically/mentally/spiritually-right football fan on this planet.

The long awaited tix. A lil' disappointed thou, they did not print my full name. There are so many Lims in this world la, angmo! But anyways, this would definitely be framed or something once I get home hahahah.

Yea yea.. hahahha.. I thought you were Arsenal! LOL.. True, but honestly, something about Old Trafford always attracts me. The place just looks good on tv. And I have to admit, it is the homeground of one of the most successful clubs in the world. Their style of play is attractive at times too(exception: disappointing previous match vs LDU). It'll be plain foolish to not visit other stadiums coz u ain't supporting em! Haha.. What's in store? I might be able to catch the current world's best player in C.Ronaldo in action (providing he'll not be injured or rested *fingers crossed*). Possibly England's best player in Rooney. The Argentine beast in Tevez. The legendary Ryan Giggs and gangsta Gary Neville. The Asian Pride in Park Ji-Sung. The most-capped Dutch player in van der Sar. Possibly my fav. Man Utd player, Paul Scholes (due to his humbleness, coolness on ball, pinpoint passes and nastily ferocious long shots). And possibly one of the world's most successful gaffer in the gum-chewing Sir Alex.

Phew.. Shyt, Sir Alex please play all of em against Middlesborough! No resting of players please. Ronaldo please do some nasty ankle breakers on the whole damn Boro squad. No 0 - 0 draws please please. I don't mind 7-0 routs. Or better still down 0 -3 at halftime, and ending at 5 -3 or something. You still lost to Arsenal. Its a fact Hahaha..

God bless me, may I have a super safe trip to Manchester so that I can fulfill one of my dreams!
Pardon me for my hypeness and ecstaticness..

Cheers! =)

Time flies~

Today can easily be considered the coldest day ever since I arrived in Glasgow about 2 months ago. The fog was super thick,and not to say, the cold was certainly merciless, it just ate right through me. I guess every part of my body was more or less covered from the cold except the face, thus my cheeks felt like someone was pressing ice on it! hahaha... Not even the cars were spared, there were thin ice layers on car tops and windscreens! Its only November though, which means more weather nastiness certainly to come.

It seems like everything out there suffer from the cold, except 1 thing, the 1 thing that amazes me, the dogs! They don't seem cold at all. Dogs do not have thick jackets and hoods. How can they withstand the cold? Yeah, they have fur and such. If their furs were thick enough to shield them from the cold, then Im sure there wouldn't be any dogs left in the tropical countries such as Brunei la LOL. Ohh, if you haven't know yet, its very normal for people to walk their dogs in the streets, in the city, whereever it is here. Dogs along the street?! No, it is not how you are envisioning it to be. My guess is that you will be thinking, dogs barking at random strangers, digging on leftovers on the floor or possibly being thrown stones at. Nopzz.. It ain't the case here. Amidst the large no. of dogs I've seen roaming around, I have yet to hear a bark or seen a dog chasing someone! I guess there is possibly a rule that dogs here must be well-trained or smth..

Hmm... Anyways, tomorrow will be start of the last week of my semester already! Super fast ain't it? It is just like I just came, and whoosh... the first sem is gone. Oi boss up there in the heavens, please please slow down the time a wee bit for dear Bernard down here whose yet to seriously explore this place. hahaha..

Ohh, so what are the places that you are longing to visit during your time here Bern? Those who really know me would get this right I suppose. It'll be the football stadiums! Those that you watch week in and out on ESPN every Sat night back home. Celtic Park, Ibrox in Glasgow, then down South, Old Trafford, Emirates, Stamford Bridge, and across the seas, Nou Camp!! So far, I have yet to step foot onto any of these places yet thou'. Sheesh, Celtic recently got knocked out of the Champions League, which means no more Champions League match to watch. One of my biggest regrets will be missing out on the recent Celtic-Man U match here. DAMN.. The tix were sold out even before I knew it. My next target would possibly be the Glasgow derby match between Rangers and Celtics. Oh, may God bless me on this quest. Ticket sales have yet to begin. Thus hopefully, luck will be on my side this time around =)

Hmm.. I'll just share a few random pics from around campus before ending this post ..

Main entrance.
My dept. ain't inside, thus I don't go through here often though.

Cloisters, I guess this is one of the must-take pics in this uni

I don't know why, but I like this pic.
I think has a "the Lord has arrived" feel due to the light?

The Bell Tower - The pinnacle(highest point) of the uni
which I guess is another must-take pic in the campus.
Should be the most photographed structure in this uni

work work work!

Hey folks,

Just a follow up on the previous post, yeah, I've managed to ignore those "give up" calls and plough my way through thus 1st assignment was successfully shot down(possibly 20 marks in the pocket)! Just as recent as yesterday the 2nd one was also shot down(10 marks hopefully!) Yay! A free Saturday coming up!

However thou, we were presented with another one yesterday. DAMN.. which means more ploughing to be done!!! Ahh!! 'Perseverance' is the keyword at the moment.. To be honest, life's hectic here in Year 3. Heard from a mate, Year 2's workload wasn't like that. No wonder, the Head of Year 3 group once said that Year 3 is going to be a really demanding year for us all..

I find that life here is not the same as back home.(duh of course.. haha) Besides the weather and the food, the mentality of people here is different too. Well there's the regular group of slackers in class but, majority of them are simply hardworkers or simply brilliant! I have this coursemate who seems to have this super-brain which enables him to answer simply any questions thrown to him by the lecturers. Heck, he even sometimes corrected the lecturers!! Mind you, I have lecturers which are book authors(which means that should be expert in their fields) themselves. Walao.. But strange thing is this dude doesn't seem to look every single bit like a "smart student" with his super long hair and such. However, of course, it ain't right to judge one that way, I just think he's just super brilliant! Btw, I have a lecture with super long hair too! hahaha.. He's a professor btw. LOL! Summarising all in a sentence, competition in this part of the world is high..

Anyways to the UBD-ians reading this, make sure you chop those papers into bits in the upcoming exams aight! All the best n good luck!

SmilE!

Frustration

The title says it all.. Frustration!

I've mentioned in the previous post about the work thrown to me .. The one I'm currently on involves programming..

Those who have done it will certainly have experienced this. Solving a programming problem which you are stuck on for quite a while would give you the best damn feeling in the world. On the other hand, getting stuck in a problem for a long time, is super frustrating and hair whitening(is there such a word?) !

I'm currently facing the latter! "HAHAHA". I've been dedicating hours and hours(a few days in fact) typing code just to get an algorithm to work right. I've failed to solve it till now.. Deadline's looming, whilst more work piling.. sheesh.. I can't remember the last time I got stuck in one for so long. Its just only a question! Oh my.. One which is carrying around 10 marks for my whole course! Gosh.. My patience is seriously wearing thin at this moment. There are even thoughts of giving up and just turning the half-baked code..

God bless me, God bless you. May I get over this hurdle asap!!! (cause I've have to deal with other stuff too!! eek..)

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! =)

Wet, Gloomy, Dark and Windy

Today's weather is definitely the gloomiest amongst the days that I was here. Not only that, the wind seems to be in full force too. Not to say, accompanied by rain. Reminds me of the 2nd day after I arrived, where I was greeted by a dark dark morning.

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Anyways, I had an early break from school today (because class was cancelled!). Ohh, the early break I meant was 2 pm right after a team meeting session. 2 pm!! I believe that isn't the case back home (applies to my year+course only I guess). If this was back home, 2 pm meant going to Lee Loi Fatt for ABC and Rojak liao. My classes schedule has been nasty so far.. lol.. My classes end at 4 pm on a daily basis! Just like those year 1 days where my schedule seem to be super packed. Anyways good thing is, majority of my days start at 11 am. Heh, even the earliest class in the whole uni starts at 9 am. 8am is an obsolete time for classes here Haha..

Right after school, I rushed back excitedly as I had a DATE.

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No not with some Scottish hottie la.. Blame Chee Huat, he too hiong liao.. LOL. The DATE I meant was a video call back home! It was a first for me and my family as our house's Internet has been successfully restored ever since our house's modem broke down. It was great being able to see them in motion and not only in images and sounds. Besides, this was the ideal time to be able to chat, as it was around 9pm at that time, and I'm rarely home during this time.

Besides, interacting with my family and all, I also tried calling for my beloved pet, Husky(that's his name) to see if he still remembered me. You know what? He did! From the webcam, I saw him jumping up from his sleep, run towards my door, and looked around for me, just like how he always welcomed me when I return home. His tail was wagging wildly too. Mom also told me that he even skipped his meals for the first 2 days I left. He's one of the most manja-est, cutest and smartest dog I have ever known, and of course I miss him badly. Sobs..I feel sorry for him for giving him false hope that I was already back. I hope he doesn't miss me too much, just like how I missed him. I just can't wait for the day I return to squeeze him in a hug. Sorry ppl for the eww-ness in this para, I just can't help it. I love dogs! Just seeing em, is a major joy to me already. I dunno why, but it just brightens my day! Thank you God for them..

Its 6.37 pm already. What else? Dinner time, before that, cooking time.

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If you're a non-cooker and you're abroad alone(w/o family that is), one of the damnest thing you'll realise and learn is, appreciate the food your mom puts on your table! Do not complain! No no.. Need more emphasis.. DO NOT COMPLAIN!! Its not the easiest of things, to take trouble to go out to buy food, buy the right amount that you need so that you don't go back to the supermart every 2 days or less(just like what me and my housemates are always doing.. ), think what you're gonna eat for dinner, how you're gonna cook it, the ingredients, how long so that sudah 'masak', correct proportions, cook already nyaman or not, so on and so forth..

Anyways to cap it off,

Moral of the story:
Appreciate Rojak and ABC if you're going to the Western World
Learn how to use Skype, cause video-caming here is far better than MSN
Appreciate the food, your parents put on the table for you.
Cooking is one of the most important skill you should acquire in life, you'll need it sooner or later.

Dloading went berserk!

I decided to download a 400 mb file when I got home around 4+ pm just now.

Typical dload speed is around 300 kbps hehehe.. but it was a surprise when it managed to reach 1.1 MBps throughout the dloading!

Thus, it took only less than 10 mins to dload the whole file!!

WALAO.. yeah sakai me, first time ni haha..

to the land of the Scot'Ish..

I feel a lil bit empty, and bored on a quiet Saturday night.. Sigh~ So here goes a potentially long-winded post.

-- Weeks preceding departure --

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A few weeks before leaving Brunei, I tend to get "Eh Bern, bila belayar? or Qi Shi Fei? or When leaving? " on a daily basis. Hahaha.. All the time the same answer .. "Dunno eh.. Belum confirm". I seriously do not know when I was gonna leave. There was no word of confirmation at all. Once in a while, I'll stop by the office to enquire on any developments.. Same thing jua.. "Tunggu approval" was their favourite response.

As a matter of fact, my tickets was confirmed exactly 3 DAYS before I left, i.e. on a Thursday. I still remember, on the previous day, i.e. Wednesday, I found out that my tickets weren't even booked! Knowing that nearly every flight to UK will be packed in around this period, I was really worried. I don't wanna be late for school. Luckily, I guess as God has planned it to happen, I managed to get the tickets the very next day!! What a surprise.. I had mixed feelings then .. hahaha.. Typical excitement, a lil sad, and also slight nervousness.. I just don't know what to expect. LOL

Prior to leaving my home town, I remember getting bombed by all sorts of advices and even some criticism most of the time, esp from those uncles and aunties as you would expect:

"Why Scotland? Scotland is a really cold country la.. Gloomy place, everyday no sun! "

"You won't be able to comprehend what the lecturers gonna preach due to the infamous Scottish accent"

"Backpacks ought to be carried in front of you, not at the back. I've seen cases where strangers steal from backpacks in crowded places"

"Remember drink lots of water even though cold"

The above are some of it.. LOL..
Anyways , besides that, I went around shopping for stuff. Apa apa pun beli.. But there is something to be learnt in the end.

I ended up unloading lots of stuff just to satisfy the "<=35kg" baggage limit.

1 box of meegoreng --> 2 packs of 5
6 packs of biscuit packs --> 1 pack
5 tubes of toothpaste --> 2 tubes
Lots of clothing --> Just right amt of clothes

Thus part of my shopping effort is wasted. I ended up bringing mainly clothing, nothing else. I wonder how some people can bring their rice cookers somemore.. Steady..

Hmm.. besides shopping, being advice-bombed, chasing the office ppl, packing.. I also started to COOK! As we all know, food in UK is super-exp.. Luckily I managed to learn a few recipes before leaving..

-- Departure day --

I tried to get as much sleep as possible the night before. But I remember ending up sleeping at 3 am I think!! It wasn't because I was suffering from one of the pre-departure symptoms at all. I was busy filling my laptop with mp3s and such. Remember my previous post at which I mentioned I pandai2 wipe out my harddisk?

Anyways it was a surprise too really. I was anticipating a loss of appetite and sleepless nights prior to leaving. But luckily NO.. Thank God.

Honestly, and slightly embarassingly, I remember I all of a sudden had this sad feeling when I was dressing up about to leave home. My eyes were starting to water. I gave my beloved puppy a final massage too.. Halfway thru, I couldnt take it and had to divert my attention to smth else.. LOL.. My biggest fear was breaking down in the airport! Thus I told my family to not get too touchy touchy during the send-off.. Hahaha

Flight was around 7++ pm. I arrived at the airport at around 4+ pm. Did the check-in thing, and of course hoped to sit alongside a friend. And God willing, I sat beside one of em.. Phew.. I dreaded the thought of sitting alongside a stranger throughout the 18 hr journey la.. Hahaha

Anyways once the checking-in was done, it was the waiting period now. I was surprised, my stomach churned and was craving for something to eat. Thus we stopped by the Airport Restaurant. Yum yum.. I ordered Mee Goreng plus Milo if Im not wrong.

Pre-departure meal: Mee Goreng plus Milo Meal verdict: Mee Goreng tasted a tad salty. The Milo would have tasted better if it was a lil more concentrated.

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See.. No pre-departure symptoms.. I managed to finish it all. Thank God.

After eating and slight bombardment, we went back to the whatever-you-call-it-departure-area, there was this large crowd already there as expected. Lots and lots of people. It felt as if the aircon system has broken down. Anyways, suddenly, a few of my friends appeared, namely CEO Seng, Panjang Liang, Prof. Vince, Wu Zun Metis, Fakhriah, Ridz. I appreciate the fact you ppl come over and say those few words. Thank you. Thank you to those who sent me text messages as well.. I really really do appreciate em. =)

Tick tock tick tock.. Then time was up. I decided to enter the gate when it was around 7pm. I felt this fearless confidence suddenly come and kick into me at that time. There was no sadness at all! My mind was "Scotland here I come! A new adventure awaits me!".. Final handshakes, hugs, waves.. n I was in.

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I was slightly surprised that the departure area has already been extended. It aint the same like it was before(yeah.. sakai.. lama tak terbang la). Another surprise was that you have to do a second hand-luggage check inside! I don't remember this was the case before..

A slight plane delay was followed afterwards. The gate was full and thus very panas. Then gates open and into the plane, where it'll be my home for the next 18 hrs or so!

1st leg-- Destination: DUBAI

I was expecting a very large plane to be honest. A 3 - 3 - 3 seat formation. But it turned out to be a 2 -3 - 2 one only. It seemed very small. I had the window seat for this flight, which meant less toilet but more comfort for sleeping haha..

Results of pre-departure googling "what to do on long flights"

Bye bye Brunei.. See you next year!`

First part of the trip was to Dubai. Flight duration is about 7 hrs 45 mins if Im not wrong.

First meal of flight: Sweet and Spicy Fish Rice Meal verdict: It didnt taste good. The fish tasted weird. Plus the portion so damn little..

I rewatched "The Forbidden Kingdom" during this flight. The entertainment system has lots of choices to entertain you in the form of movies, music, games, tv shows.

I tried to get some sleep during this flight. But I remember getting into the 15-mins-doze -> Awoken -> 15-mins-doze again cycle.. I found it ain't easy to sleep in economy class, amidst the fact that I have a lean frame hahaha..

The flight attendants would once in a while, serve you with drinks, so don't worry whether you'll have things to drink or not during the flight. Ohh.. I think this only applies to RBA. I think other flights would charge you for these.

Before landing in Dubai, there was another meal served. I think it was Noodles..

Second meal: Noodles with Roast Chicken Slices. Meal verdict: The mee was cold already.. Eww..

Anyways.. after surviving 7 hrs 45 mins , 1st leg completed! Hello Dubai!!
Time in Dubai: 1++ am

Ohh by the way, we had to be back on the plane in around 30 mins time if I ain't wrong.. WALAO! You need to go pass custom checks too, where you take out all metal accessories including ur belt. Troublesome process, which including queing which do nothing but waste ur time!

Sights of Dubai Airport

Palm trees!! Spot James if you can! LOL

SC says, "Eh KW, spot for the fruits.. I wanna take out my portable parang first"
KW turns on 'fruit-spotting mode'
SC bends down to cari his portable parang

KW gets sick of waiting. "Damn slow la u.. I go first"

2nd leg -- Destination: LONDON

We got back up onto the plane. Everyone are supposed to return to their same seats! Yay! I have company for the next 7 hrs 15 mins. Muahahha..

Taken before take-off

As usual, yay! meal served not long after lift-off..

Third meal: Beef Kebab
Meal Verdict: Tons of meat given. Taste err ok.. Mind you, I mentally pictured the beef as char siew. It would have certainly tasted better if they provided me with Maggi Chilli Sauce

Ohh it was on this flight, that I put my Sudoku book to use. Hahhaha.. Reeled in my 18-hr neighbour for help..

The sia-soi result on our 1st attempt

Anyways, I had more sleep during this flight. Maybe longer sleeping bouts. But damn sure its freaking hard to sleep!!

It was also partly a "wow" experience on this flight. There was this real-time animated map on where our flight was, plus the fact that you could see city lights below. My heart screamed "I've entered Europe!". Our plane flew over those European countries, Germany, Bulgaria, Netherlands blabla.. I find it a lil hard to believe I was entering Europe! LOL

Then at last, we entered UK. We were planned to arrive at around 6 am. Thus the view out the window was complemented by the rising sun. It was beautiful. London seemed to be super huge from above. Just like in the movies, the many structures, street lights, etc etc.. LOL.. Once more, it was a really beautiful sight.

By the way,
Fourth meal: A different form of kebab also beef
Meal Verdict: This was yummy

Given before landing I think.. I think I missed out one more meal if I ain't wrong. Anyways back to arriving in London..

Taken right after we got out of the plane
Good Morning LondoN!

Look at the people -- Customs area

Lady at back was slightly mad coz she wanted to take this pic with me .. sorry yah..
LOL yeah lame...

My first meal in Europe/UK/London.. Hahaha..
Pret Manger's sandwich + hot chocolate
(Btw, its a norm here for ready-to-be-eaten sandwiches to be placed in the fridges)

the GIANT(London) and the dwarf(home) list of flights

A model(left) who happened to be in the airport ,
plus his ever-present photographer(right)

More lousily taken pics of Heathrow Airport

Scotland here we come..

Im tired already. I think this post took me 2 hrs to post!!!!

Anyways more to come if u happen to be interested .. 3rd leg of trip and more!!! LOL