School starts tomorrow, and I'm more or less looking forward to it. I attended a faculty advising/intouduction session yesterday and got some info about my course, and some encouraging words from the chairman of the Electrical Engineering department.
"Welcome to the best Engineering faculty in the country... and among the top 5 or 6 in North America."
Ok lah, nothing much new there.
"Electrical Engineering is one of the toughest, if not THE toughest course in engineering."
"Bear in mind, this is a professional degree, so you can expect to typically put in anywhere between 42 to 54 hours a week on your work."
"In your first EE course, Fundementals of Electrical Engineering, there is, statistically a 30% failure rate among students... Look to your left, look to your right. Chances are one of the three of you are going to have to retake that course."
Ok...
"A lot of you are interested to find our more about entry into our honours programme... We take in only the best, as determined by your cumulative GPA... Every year we take in anywhere between 20-25 students for the honours programme."
Wah lan eh... I'm going to have to work my ass off to get into the honours programme lah. At that session, there were about 150 people or so in attendance, and it wasn't even compulsory, so there might be even more people in the EE programme. Got lots of work ahead of me.
And I still don't have a cellphone (as they call it here). To get one, they need to do a credit check, and I need to have a credit card which has been with me for more than 6 months. My card's only been with me for 3 months, I've got to either wait another 3 months, or wait for my friend to get here and ask her to let me use her card to sign up, and then transfer the bills to me after my card hits 6 months.
It's hard to make friends without a cellphone, when everyone is exchanging numbers, and the best you can offer is your msn contact. So I got to wait till Sept 5th at the earliest, when my friend gets here.
Some more shots of my room added to my flickr set, so you can see them if you want. Some new photos not in any sets in my photo stream as well. Got one of the photo collage that a few of my friends gave to me at the airport. My friends rock.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Monday, August 29, 2005
Photos
Photos are up. Flickr only allows a user 3 sets if you're on a free account, so I compressed 3 sets into one. Might think of getting the pro account in future, though that costs US$24.95 a year. See how first, as I'm not too sure if I'll be taking too many pictures once school starts.
I need a screwdriver. The towel rack that I got from IKEA needs screws to be assembled. No surprise there. Then I find out it uses screws and so I need a screwdriver. Crap. I thought IKEA furniture uses that funny "allen" key thingy, and I thought that comes with the furniture. Now I got to go look for a screw driver.
I need a screwdriver. The towel rack that I got from IKEA needs screws to be assembled. No surprise there. Then I find out it uses screws and so I need a screwdriver. Crap. I thought IKEA furniture uses that funny "allen" key thingy, and I thought that comes with the furniture. Now I got to go look for a screw driver.
Weekend at Niagara
Said goodbye to the parents today, not very pleasant, but I'm glad that my good-byes are out of the way at last.
Went to Niagara Falls for the weekend with the parents, and also skipped both my orientation programmes in the process. Niagara was beautiful, though the area around the falls has changed lots from the last time I was there, which was over 10 years ago. There are now bright lights, flashy billboards and tacky amusement centres near the falls, and the place has a very Vegas-like feel to it. Fortunately, the place where the Falls are situated was relatively untouched. Crossed the American border to get a look at the falls from the other side, was a little bothersome as I had to wait almost a half hour to get my passport stamped.
Have pictures, but have to find out how to use my flikcr account before I can post a link on my blog. Working on it now, and trying to get everything up before Sept 1st, when term starts.
Check back soon for updates.
Went to Niagara Falls for the weekend with the parents, and also skipped both my orientation programmes in the process. Niagara was beautiful, though the area around the falls has changed lots from the last time I was there, which was over 10 years ago. There are now bright lights, flashy billboards and tacky amusement centres near the falls, and the place has a very Vegas-like feel to it. Fortunately, the place where the Falls are situated was relatively untouched. Crossed the American border to get a look at the falls from the other side, was a little bothersome as I had to wait almost a half hour to get my passport stamped.
Have pictures, but have to find out how to use my flikcr account before I can post a link on my blog. Working on it now, and trying to get everything up before Sept 1st, when term starts.
Check back soon for updates.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
McGill: day 1
Wake up and get ready to go to McGill. Pack everything into the car, but before we head for McGill, we look around the area for rooms for my parents for the next 2 nights. The area we are staying in, Laval, like Montreal, is fully booked. So the one of the front desks helps us to call around to find a room. Manage to get 1 in Dorval, which is beside the airport. It is about 25km from downtown Montreal, but it will have to do.
We get some brunch before heading to the university. When we reach, it is almost noon. Get the keys to my room and bring the stuff up. The room is tiny, even smaller than the room I had at home, which wasn't really that big to begin with. Oh well, my home for the next year at least. No wonder my friend tells me to get an apartment in the second year.
The room smells stale, and some of the furnishings are damaged, but it is liveable. Have stayed in worse conditions before, and what is important is that I have a private space, so I'll make do. Do a brief damage assesment, but do not fill out the form yet. It's only due next friday, so there's no real hurry. Head out with the parents to get bedding and pillows, because only a mattress is provided. Walk through the university to get to downtown. Some of the buildings look really old, and with their large wooden doors and stone walls, remind me of the UK.
Wander around downtown, and ask people where a good place to go to shop for bedding is. Come up with the name Linen Closet, so we head there. Spend $200 on bedding and pillows, and also hunt around for handphone (or cellphone, as it is called here) subscription plans. All the people we've met have been extremely helpful and very friendly, even though we don't speak French. I get the impression that these people take great pride in the fact that they are effectively billingual, and am impressed by the way they switch between the 2 languages so effortlessly.
Get back to the room, make the bed with some help from my mum, who has lived in Britain before, so she leaves me some tips and pointers. After that, head out, with the intention of getting dinner with my parents. However, I realise that my hall is having an evening barbeque, so I decide to stay and mingle instead. Say goodbye to my parents, and plan to meet them tomorrow.
Mix around with the crowd, get to know many people, and subsequently forgot a large number of their names. Do not meet anyone else from Singapore in my hall. No sight of anyone majoring in Engineering either. Mingle around for about 2 hours, floating around and talking to people. Nobody in particular that I instantly click with, but it's only the 1st time I'm meeting them. People are nice and friendly, and I'm thinking skipping orientation is not going to hamper my making friends al that much. I bet everyone who knows me is going to ask me, so I might as well say it - yes there are hot girls. Not all that many though, but at least there is eye candy.
Go up to my dorm at around 8pm. There's supposed to be an outing at 930, but I am quite tired, so try to decide whether to go. 920, and I decide, ah, what the hell, just go and take a look. Walk to downtown, and go to a pub. It has 2 levels, and we're supposed to go upstairs, but the owner says it's too crowded, and only allows a limited number of people up. Music is too loud, and like I said, don't really click with anyone, so I just flitter around. Meet a few more new people through people I got to know at the barbeque. Run into Alex and Emma, 2 girls whom I spoke to earlier. Talk to them a bit, find out that Alex plans to join McGill's debate club. Talk a bit about debates with her, then the 3 of us decide to head back to the dorms early because we all are tired, and nothing much is really happening. Partying just really isn't my thing. I go like once in 2 years, and I much prefer going to a pub to just chill and talk or listen to a live band, like at Wala Wala's.
Get back to the dorm at about 11 or so, and try to wash out my wash bag. The shampoo lathers a lot, and go through like 20 rinses before most of the shampoo is gone. Clean up my other toiletires as well, and go back to my dorm. Tomorrow is Discover McGill, a sort of free orientation package that takes up almost the whole day. Have no clue what the schedule is like. At least we're divided into our faculties, so at least I can finally meet some other EE undergraduates. Have a load of admin to sort out, and wonder whether I have the time to do so before heading to Niagra with the parents on Friday. But I guess I could always do it when I come back on Tuesday. I'l just play it by ear. I wonder what tomorrow is going to be like.
We get some brunch before heading to the university. When we reach, it is almost noon. Get the keys to my room and bring the stuff up. The room is tiny, even smaller than the room I had at home, which wasn't really that big to begin with. Oh well, my home for the next year at least. No wonder my friend tells me to get an apartment in the second year.
The room smells stale, and some of the furnishings are damaged, but it is liveable. Have stayed in worse conditions before, and what is important is that I have a private space, so I'll make do. Do a brief damage assesment, but do not fill out the form yet. It's only due next friday, so there's no real hurry. Head out with the parents to get bedding and pillows, because only a mattress is provided. Walk through the university to get to downtown. Some of the buildings look really old, and with their large wooden doors and stone walls, remind me of the UK.
Wander around downtown, and ask people where a good place to go to shop for bedding is. Come up with the name Linen Closet, so we head there. Spend $200 on bedding and pillows, and also hunt around for handphone (or cellphone, as it is called here) subscription plans. All the people we've met have been extremely helpful and very friendly, even though we don't speak French. I get the impression that these people take great pride in the fact that they are effectively billingual, and am impressed by the way they switch between the 2 languages so effortlessly.
Get back to the room, make the bed with some help from my mum, who has lived in Britain before, so she leaves me some tips and pointers. After that, head out, with the intention of getting dinner with my parents. However, I realise that my hall is having an evening barbeque, so I decide to stay and mingle instead. Say goodbye to my parents, and plan to meet them tomorrow.
Mix around with the crowd, get to know many people, and subsequently forgot a large number of their names. Do not meet anyone else from Singapore in my hall. No sight of anyone majoring in Engineering either. Mingle around for about 2 hours, floating around and talking to people. Nobody in particular that I instantly click with, but it's only the 1st time I'm meeting them. People are nice and friendly, and I'm thinking skipping orientation is not going to hamper my making friends al that much. I bet everyone who knows me is going to ask me, so I might as well say it - yes there are hot girls. Not all that many though, but at least there is eye candy.
Go up to my dorm at around 8pm. There's supposed to be an outing at 930, but I am quite tired, so try to decide whether to go. 920, and I decide, ah, what the hell, just go and take a look. Walk to downtown, and go to a pub. It has 2 levels, and we're supposed to go upstairs, but the owner says it's too crowded, and only allows a limited number of people up. Music is too loud, and like I said, don't really click with anyone, so I just flitter around. Meet a few more new people through people I got to know at the barbeque. Run into Alex and Emma, 2 girls whom I spoke to earlier. Talk to them a bit, find out that Alex plans to join McGill's debate club. Talk a bit about debates with her, then the 3 of us decide to head back to the dorms early because we all are tired, and nothing much is really happening. Partying just really isn't my thing. I go like once in 2 years, and I much prefer going to a pub to just chill and talk or listen to a live band, like at Wala Wala's.
Get back to the dorm at about 11 or so, and try to wash out my wash bag. The shampoo lathers a lot, and go through like 20 rinses before most of the shampoo is gone. Clean up my other toiletires as well, and go back to my dorm. Tomorrow is Discover McGill, a sort of free orientation package that takes up almost the whole day. Have no clue what the schedule is like. At least we're divided into our faculties, so at least I can finally meet some other EE undergraduates. Have a load of admin to sort out, and wonder whether I have the time to do so before heading to Niagra with the parents on Friday. But I guess I could always do it when I come back on Tuesday. I'l just play it by ear. I wonder what tomorrow is going to be like.
McGill: the day before
It's day one now, free internet till Sept 12, when I'll have to start paying for it. Anyway, my record for the day before is below. Today was much better, but will probably only put it all down tomorrow or the day after. Meanwhile, entertain yourself with what's below.
We leave the house at 345, get to the airport slightly after 4. I thought I’d be early, but I was wrong; the terminal is packed. Apparently lots of Singaporeans are headed for NYU and U Michigan and are also taking the same flight as I am. Run into two platoon mates who are there to see other friends off, and also into one of my PCs headed for U Mich from my NS days. My friends present to me a photo collage. It's real nice, and I really appreciate it. Will get a photo up asap.
The stopover at Tokyo was uneventful. The flight from Tokyo to Detroit is bumpy, and we were in the clouds a lot. No personal TV screens on this 10 plus hour flight, so I try to catch a bit of sleep and read my book. It’s called “Everything Bad is Good for You” by Steven Johnson. He examines the positive impact of the various forms of mass media around us now, including video games, TV, and the Internet. His arguments are pretty simple, but pretty well substantiated. Halfway through the book now, and I find it pretty easy reading.
Emphasis on "No", like he is talking to an idiot. I let it slide.
“Why not?”
Meet up with the parents, and load my stuff up into the car. When my dad inserts the ticket into the machine to pay for the parking, the machine says the card is not readable. Great. Ask for assistance, and sit in the car . Some guy behind us tries to help, but the machine just can’t read it. We let the guy pass us, and the car park attendant comes. He tries the card, and it is still unreadable, so he gets my dad to follow him to sort out the problem.
In the room, open my bag and find that my wash bag is covered in shampoo. Stupid me. I forgot to empty out my shampoo bottle a little before packing it since it was brand new, and the changes in air pressure have caused the bottle to overflow. Toothbrush and razor now smell like my shampoo. Fortunately only one shirt has shampoo on it. Too tired to think, so I try to clean it off with a wet towel since it is only a little spot, and end up making it worse. When the shampoo gets wet it starts to lather. Damn. Leave the shirt in the toilet, together with the wash bag. Plan to pack both items into a plastic bag and sort it out when I get to my dorm tomorrow.
It’s late now, move-in is tomorrow, and will probably leave for Niagra with the parents on Friday. Hopefully things get better from here. This is not a great start, but I am still excited by the prospect of starting school. And the one thing that strikes me is that the people here are pretty friendly and helpful, even if you don’t speak French. So it isn’t all bad, just mostly so. For now, at least.
It will get better.
Monday, August 22, 2005
Just before I go
My secondary school days were the best times of my life, and the friends that I made during those heady days were the once-in-a-lifetime sort. There has never been any doubt in my mind that this has been the case, and the evidence is right in front of me now, literally. My flight to Montreal leaves at 6 am, so I've got to leave the house by 4; my parents have already flown to New York to meet me in Montreal. How to get to the airport? Trust my friends to come up with the solution. Stay over my place and send me there. So they are in front of me, catching whatever sleep they can get before sending me off, and then heading for class after.
I'm really tired now, and it's almost time to get ready, so I'll just say to these people with me now, thanks for everything that you guys have done for me these last few weeks. I really appreciate it.
I'm really tired now, and it's almost time to get ready, so I'll just say to these people with me now, thanks for everything that you guys have done for me these last few weeks. I really appreciate it.
Friday, August 19, 2005
Changes all round
New look, just cos' I was getting bored of the old template. Nicely coincides with major changes in my life right now, with me going to McGill for my undergraduate studies and all. I've been busy packing the past week, most of my stuff is in my luggage now, and I've been clearing out stuff from my room so that my brother can take over the room when I'm gone.
I now understand the buzz about starting school that my friends have been talking about now, but I'm also aware that it'll fizzle out pretty quickly, just like it has for most of my friends. Maybe observing my friends try to cope with school is a good thing, as it gives me an idea of what is to come, but then again, my experience might be completely different.
In a close friend's words, "It'll feel really surreal when you first get there.", and I'm already starting to get that kind of feeling. In a few days, I'll be in a completely new environment among unfamiliar faces.
My parents leave on Sunday for New York, and then they'll drive up to Montreal. I'll be leaving in the wee hours of Tuesday, at 6am. Which means I have to get to the airport by about 4am. Which means I'll be waking up at like 3am. I probably won't be able to get to sleep anyway, so we'll see how it goes.
But I am sleepy now, so I shall end here tonight.
I now understand the buzz about starting school that my friends have been talking about now, but I'm also aware that it'll fizzle out pretty quickly, just like it has for most of my friends. Maybe observing my friends try to cope with school is a good thing, as it gives me an idea of what is to come, but then again, my experience might be completely different.
In a close friend's words, "It'll feel really surreal when you first get there.", and I'm already starting to get that kind of feeling. In a few days, I'll be in a completely new environment among unfamiliar faces.
My parents leave on Sunday for New York, and then they'll drive up to Montreal. I'll be leaving in the wee hours of Tuesday, at 6am. Which means I have to get to the airport by about 4am. Which means I'll be waking up at like 3am. I probably won't be able to get to sleep anyway, so we'll see how it goes.
But I am sleepy now, so I shall end here tonight.
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Leaving soon
As the day for me to leave draws nearer, I'm actually starting to look forward to starting school. I can't really explain the change in my outlook on things, but I'm starting to get really excited. Maybe it's because I've met up recently with a number of friends who are back during their hols, and I hear from them how much fun school is; or maybe because when I speak to friends who are studying locally, I hear from them how they have to adapt to new circumstances too. It might even be that after 2 years of not doing very much, I can finally get on with my life.
Another thing I'd like to do is to thank those of you who turned up for the soccer game today, and also those who wanted to, but couldn't. Thanks for the stuff that you guys got me, it's greatly appreciated, and I'll be packing it with me, I promise!
Another thing I'd like to do is to thank those of you who turned up for the soccer game today, and also those who wanted to, but couldn't. Thanks for the stuff that you guys got me, it's greatly appreciated, and I'll be packing it with me, I promise!
Saturday, August 06, 2005
Am I coming back?
I still haven't really decided whether I am looking forward to leaving Singapore in about 2 and a half weeks' time. If I were just leaving for my education, and knew that I'd be coming back after 4 years, I'd probably be looking forward to leaving. But my enthusiasm is somewhat dampened by the fact that in 4 years' time, I might not have very much to come back to at all. I've been asked by many people on many occasions whether I am looking forward to going abroad to study, and my honest answer is, I really don't know.
My friends often ask if I'm coming back after I'm done with my education, and my answer is once again, my customary "I don't know".
I don't know because I'm uncertain whether or not we're leaving this place for good. For how long am I going to be saying good-bye to my friends and relatives, to this place I call home? Even if I wanted to, I might not have very much to come back to after I've completed my university education because my family would probably have all made the move to Canada by then.
Ask me again in another year or 2, and my answer would probably have changed. After I've settled, and after I've had a taste of what life is really like in Canada, and I'll probably be more certain of where my future lies, and what I intend to do.
If you ask me now, and if I had to give an answer, I'd say I'd want to come back after I'm done with my university education. But you'd have to bear in mind that it's highly possible that my answer would change in a few years. That's the best answer I can give at this point in time.
My friends often ask if I'm coming back after I'm done with my education, and my answer is once again, my customary "I don't know".
I don't know because I'm uncertain whether or not we're leaving this place for good. For how long am I going to be saying good-bye to my friends and relatives, to this place I call home? Even if I wanted to, I might not have very much to come back to after I've completed my university education because my family would probably have all made the move to Canada by then.
Ask me again in another year or 2, and my answer would probably have changed. After I've settled, and after I've had a taste of what life is really like in Canada, and I'll probably be more certain of where my future lies, and what I intend to do.
If you ask me now, and if I had to give an answer, I'd say I'd want to come back after I'm done with my university education. But you'd have to bear in mind that it's highly possible that my answer would change in a few years. That's the best answer I can give at this point in time.
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