Undergnd

Soooo brain-dead

2011-01-30T19:58:00.000+08:00

I dunno where to start on my report and this is sooo badddd, really bad. a few more weeks of stressing. of cz by the end of it, as always i will go like "oh so that's how it's done, so simple, why didnt i figure it out earlier?!" unfortunately my head is so jammed out right now and i procrastinate like all the time. terrible habit!

How to summarize so many research papers??? how???!!! I think I have to work day and night for at least 5 days to do that.

More important Q would be: How to ban FB from my laptop??? how??!!! FB and msn and youtube to be exact.

sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. my life already so sad, y make it sadder, ha? cliched and stupid status would be: wishes work is asexual so it would do itself. hahahahahaha so x-rated make me sound like a bad girl. hahahaha

Puzzle puzzle! damn solve it already la!!!

Untitled #1

2011-01-16T00:14:00.000+08:00

I couldnt retrieve the password for my old blog so I resorted to writting here instead. My supposingly non-personal blog. Shit this blog somehow withered and met an early death, its purpose un-met. I hate work (internship), I hate work so much, i will NOT do research work next time. I don't know what kind of person can dislike work before even going into the workforce. I AM suppose to love what I do, be inspired and all those thing. BUT THIS INTERNSHIP IS CRAP BECAUSE WE ARE DOING BIOCHEM WORK INSTEAD. omg we r chem eng students ok, bio is not part of the equation at all! HELLO~~~ if i hav wanted bio, would I take chem eng???? all the bio stuff, i left bio when i left sec sch. I feel like the supervisor is asking too much. doin experiments and reading? I jus dun hav grasp on the subject matter. no matter how i see it, a chem eng dept is not equipped to do research in the project title without help from ppl from bio.

I had to relearn chromatography, amphoteric. THERE is NO ENGINEERING principle needed for this project. AND I JUST WANT TO USE CAPS COZ I LIKE IT. NOW IM DOUBTING MYSELF, AM I A LOUSY ENGINEER? I TOT OF LETTING THIS GO, GO HOME EARLY, DO INTERNSHIP NEXT YR INSTEAD BUT THEN I WOULD BE WASTING MY 1 MONTH HERE AND ABANDONING MY FREN. WHYYYY DID I GO INTO RESEARCH. I SHUD HAV BEEN DECISIVE.

I HAVE NO PASSION IN WHAT IM DOING RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I AM NOT TRAINED IN DOIN THESE THINGS. I FIND THE WHOLE PROJECT DIFFICULT.

I wish im blogging in xanga.

what do i want? what do i want?now i feel stupid cz im asking stupid questions.why is it that people are never contented with what they have. they go out and look for somthing they want only to realize evrything they need is back whr they come from. oh how i wish im those who know what they want to be the moment they r born.

On another note, i went to the Pompeii exhibition at the musuem yesterday. Pompeii was destroyed in 79CE when mount vesuvius erupted. The casts of human body who were buried in the pryoclastic ash were real casts made in the 19th century. there was 1 where a man was crouching and covering his mouth so that he does not inhale ash and toxic gases.the artifacts were at least 2000 yrs old. at first it din hit me on old ancient the stuff thr are until i saw this copper water barrel used to dispense water at the dinning table of old roman people. there were scratchings/carvings on it, with sharp object, like how u get vandalism on phone booths or bus windows. It made me think which roman kid carved those letters and why did he carved them on the nice barrel and if he got caught in the act. it was said that water barrel from those time in other roman cities eventually wear out with time and were melted. the volcano event preserved those artifacts. minted roman coins, gold jewellery, frescoes. a walk back in time. the city of pompeii only had 20000 dwellers and yet at its time it was regarded as a thriving port town.

Looking for housemates for house near curtin, senadin

2011-01-11T22:39:00.001+08:00

Yup, I am looking for 2-3 housemates to stay at a double storey semi-d house that is 5 mins walking distance away from Curtin Villa bus stop. Do send me an email to ellen_lim_88@hotmail(dot)com if you are interested to know more! There are 3 rooms available for rent. Senadin, Miri, Curtin.

5th Malaysia Chem E Car Competition

2010-06-10T14:21:00.000+08:00

I have the details for the 5th Malaysian Chem E Car competition 2010. It has been scheduled to be held on 21^st-22^nd July 2010 at SEGi University College, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya.

I wanted to participate but time was not on my side; workload for this semester is quite heavy :/

5th Malaysian Chem-E-Car

2010-04-08T16:12:00.001+08:00

Forget Robocon, Robocon is soooo electronic-and-programming related, I cant join or even understand anything from it.

I bring you, the Chem-E-Car competition, currently in its 5th year in Malaysia! Last year UniKL won the national competition and went all the way to Canada to represent Malaysia.

So what's Chem-E-Car, you ask?

Basically, it's a small car that is powered with a chemical energy source that will carry a certain load to a given distance and stop. And without the use of a remote control or mechanical timer on it. :/

Curtin Cutec

2010-04-08T15:15:00.001+08:00

At the not-so-recent Curtin CUTEC's 1st general meeting of the semester, we were introduced to the office-bearers and informed of the future club activities. Also, the current chairperson of YES (Young Engineers Section) of IEM gave a talk to intro us to YES and its missions. The highlight of the meeting for me would be that CUTEC supports independent out-of-class engineering projects and the game part which I will talk about soon. I mean how cool is that?! Toying with engineering designs and ideas is easier if we are have enough funds and access to labs, no?

To know more about CUTEC's club activities, look for Curtin Cutec in facebook!

Later, we were grouped into a team of 5 and was challenged to build a no-bigger-than-A4-sized-paper, 20cm-high platform that could carry alot of weight in 30 minutes by using satay sticks, duct tape and strings provided. Some 40 minutes if chaos ensued.

The stuff that makes engineers tick (esp civil engineers!):

Some of the platforms built. Most civil engineers join the Curtin Civil Society anyway, so the bulk of student engineers in CUTEC are majoring in Chemical and Mechanical. ha-ha Hence, the lousy designs.

Testing

The winner team's platform managed to stand a loading or 9.5 kilos before failure and won Rm50. hah!

Finally, the only civil major in the board of committee decided to show off his creation. (19 kg before failure wtf) -__-

Show off!!!

The meeting ended with a combined buffet lunch with some other engineering clubs.

Say hello to the holidays!!!

2010-03-25T19:26:00.000+08:00

Muahahahahaha 2 weeks of blissful relaxation and fun! And mine starts 1 day faster than most students cause there's no class on Fridays.

Updates updates!
Curtin's Art and Dance's class will be having their first dance session at Rec Hall tomorrow at 5-7pm followed by their AGM at 7pm. hahaha Dancers will be sharing hall with the Badminton Club. Anyway, I will update soon about Curtin CUTEC's welcoming party that happened last last week.

Till then, Ciao!!

Engineering First Year Unit: Electrical Systems 100

2010-02-22T19:55:00.001+08:00

Hello my fellow students!

I have some useful links for Electrical Systems 100 unit.
Click here for the the 10th Edition of Introductory Circuit Analysis by Robert L Boylestad (Prentice Hall Inc.) free ebook.

I stumbled upon this link when I was looking at the ES100 unit outline. Previous ES100's lecturer were kind enough to upload lecture notes and tutorial sheets online. But then again, in 1 week's time, moodle's going to provide us with the latest notes and tutes. So not much point to dl the old version.

Anyway, I hope these links are helpful!
I found out there is a ES100 free ebook at the END of my semester! =P

O-Week

2010-02-22T12:53:00.000+08:00

It's been ages since I last posted! Blame it on the CNY celebrations! haha
Anyway, Semester 1 of 2010 is going to start very soon. In fact, O-Week begins today!

Oh, I still vaguely remember my O-Week. Mine was enlightening to say the least. The SOAR Advisors were really helpful and friendly which made all of us, newcomers at ease. So this is how uni-life would be, I thought. Fun, warm, friendly, and lots of support. Ha-ha. Most of the acquaintances I met in O-Week were Foundation students. So when class started, I only know a few people in the lecture hall. But every now and then, I still see my ex-orientation-groupmates around! All in all, O-Week was alright. It served it's purpose well and I have no qualms about it. Plus there was free lunch and free dinner at the end of O-Week!! The dinner is a party called O-Nite! Sometimes they have it at the nearby Lutong Beach or the Shell/Petronas recreation place.Ours was held at LT if I'm not mistaken. Argh, why mid year intakes dun get priviledges one!!!

To all Curtin newcomers, your first sem is gonna be pretty interesting so brace urself for the ride, eh? Cheers to uni life and most importantly, FREEDOM!!! hahahaha

New Gym

2010-01-28T22:07:00.001+08:00

[Hi! I've been getting some hits directed from google about Curtin Miri Gym. So here's some info:]

Hmm.. it says here in the latest edition of CSM Express emailed to us that the Weight Room and Cardio Area is now open for use.

Weight Room and Cardio Area now open *NEW!*
The Weight Room and Cardio Area at the Recreation and Event Centre was opened on 12 January 2010. The facilities are available on trial basis until further notice and opening hours are from 11.00 am – 2.00 pm. Should you have any queries regarding the facilities, e-mail universitylife@curtin.edu.my or call ext. 3982.

Hah. It seems like they are separating the gym to 2 parts. But it's good to know that most of the equipments are new! :) Yeah, last year before the sem ended, we saw some new weight-lifting equipments in a ground floor room and new treadmills at the first floor empty space, from where you could see Delifrance. Cool! Let's hope the new treadmills are those that have the TV and radio mode!

Tata!

List of Clubs

2010-01-22T12:53:00.003+08:00

Hello!

After minutes of search, here's Curtin's List of Clubs as of 2009 for the benefit of the new students!

Religious                                     Social
Curtin Buddhist Society                                                       Curtin Leo Club
Curtin Catholic Society                                                        Curtin CiTY Club
Curtin Islamic Society                                                          Curtin Rotaract Club
Varsity Christian Fellowship                                                 China Students Association

Special Interest                                                                 Sports
Apple Box Picture                                                               Curtin Badminton Club
Computer Gaming Network                                               Curtin Basketball Club
Curtin Creative Inspiration                                                   Curtin Cheerleading Club
Curtin Music Society                                                            Curtin Cricket Club
Curtin Gamerz Club                                                           Curtin Football Club
Curtin Frisbee Club                                                            Curtin Karate Club
Curtin Photography Club                                                      Curtin Rugby Club
Curtin Red Crescent                                                             Curtin Swimming Club

Curtin Yoga Club Curtin Ping Pong Club

Academic
Curtin Chemical Society
CUTEC
Intensive English Program (I.E.P) Club
Curtin Marketing Club
Curtin Accounting Club
Curtin Geology Club
Curtin Civil Engineering

Noteworthy: I have never heard of I.E.P Club so I'm not too sure. In 2009, Curtin Photography Club and Apple Box Picture merged together and if I'm not mistaken, the new club is still called Apple Box Picture. 2 new clubs were created: Curtin Robotics Club and Curtin Chinese Culture Society.

To any club's committees who stumble upon this, I would like to link u up if ur club have a blog. Just drop me a comment or email! :)

Polytechnic...

2010-01-18T16:41:00.001+08:00

Singapore polytechnic, Temasek polytechnic, Ngee Ann polytechnic and Republic polytechnic are the few of Singapore's top leading institutions of higher learning. Which one to choose to atted to, it's really up to your own decision. Today,i am going to give some brief information of one of those polytechnics, which will be Nanyang Polytechnic. Established in 1992 over a 30.5 hectares land ,the polytechnic now accept students from all over the world ,provided that they achieve the minimum grades that have been set for the courses that they are enrolling into. To date, Nanyang polytechnic has seven different faculty, namely Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Information Technology, Faculty of Business Management, Faculty of Design ,Faculty of Chemical and Life Sciences and Faculty of Interactions and Digital Media. Besides that, the campus is also equipped with state to the art facilities. It has a computerized library where students can find what they want just by clicking on the mouse, a 300-seater theatre and a 1200-seater auditorium which is large enough to accommodate the students , the lecturers and the invited guests on special function. The gymnasium, running track, basketball court and rock-climbing facilities are open for all students to train their stamina and tone up their muscles. Convenient shops are also made available in the campus and are selling stationery, gift items and food items at a reasonable price.

Last but not least, Nanyang polytechnic is only a 5-minutes a walk from Yio Chu Kang MRT station. It is really convenient for the students studying there to go downtown for a movie or do some groceries or even shopping with friends at the weekend.

(Students who need financial aid for their studies can apply a loan-free interest from Singapore’s bank or apply for the scholarships made available on the polytechnic website. However, the latter requires the applicant to be bonded with the government for 3 years).

Love is...

2010-01-15T19:12:00.008+08:00

LOMOGRAPHY

Colours so ethereal, they lend the photos a cartoon-like effect. Can the real world ever look this beautiful?

Photo taken with old-school analogue cameras.♥♥

I can't decide between a Lomo, Diana or Holga. Full-sized or mini's?

A Diana Mini.

(All photos via lomography)

Take a Break,Have a Laugh!

2010-01-13T10:46:00.004+08:00

Avatar Vs. Pocahontas

2010-01-12T11:52:00.010+08:00

Hahahahaha. Not so original after all?

Bah Humbug!

2010-01-09T12:11:00.006+08:00

Newsflash, guys! What happen to impromptu, spur of the moment basketball session at 12am? Let's hope they are not so strict!

Ghostly Affairs! Part 1

2010-01-05T10:50:00.004+08:00

Part 1: G3 stories

(from exscale.se)

I'm sure some ghost stories wouldn't hurt. Muahahahaha I myself can't validate how true these stories are because I've only encountered ghost once but that too didn't happen in Curtin. But some areas in Curtin Miri are reaaally more spooky than the rest. Alot of sightings took place in the G3 building.

It was rumoured that the ghost came in the form of a long-haired girl in white clothes/gown (don't they all look the same? joking hehe). In one incident, a group of kids was illegally gaming in G3's first comp lab on the right, G3101 one late evening. Because of this, they sat right at the last row of the lab. Now in the middle row of the lab, there was another girl in white who was seemingly doing her own thing, minding her own business so the guys din really give much thought. Next thing they know, the girl stood up and floated RIGHT THRU the walls.

(from momokghost)

In the very same lab, 2 girls were working on a project/assignment into the night and they were sitting next to each other. Everythg was fine until girl on the right, A felt a presence. She turned left and saw the ghost peering at her friend's work but could not see the face. I dunno why, but the other girl, B was so engrossed in her work that she failed to realize this. I must say, A has got some courage for not abandoning her friend! She slowly got her friend's attention and they quickly left the lab.

It seems like the lecturers too have their fair share of hair-raising experiences. Right next to G3 building is the G2 building, sch of foundation. I'm not sure about the details but then I have heard about this rumour from more than 1 source so I guess there must be some truth behind it.

It was late and this lecturer was alone in her room doing some paperwork and she needed some books for reference. Magically, a book was handed over to her from behind her. As she was busy, she forgot that she was alone but after a while, she turned to find that she was alone in the room the whole time. So how did the book travel from the shelf to her hand?

Proof?
Nowadays, most Curtin rooms close after 6. The guards patrol around and lock the doors after the last class of the day is over. But then again, this could just be their standard procedure to increase security.

Next time, I shall tell you about my ex-housemate's first-hand experience, how a lecturer was being held by a possesed student. I hope I'm not painting a bad picture of Curtin. The G3 stories are of 'I-hear-this-from-a-friend-who-heard-it-from-his-friend' kind, much like how the game of chinese whispers goes. But the creme de la creme is my ex-housemate's tale! So, stay tune!

2010

2009-12-31T13:30:00.003+08:00

I think the picture says everything. Happy 2010!!

What to choose after SPM

2009-12-16T19:03:00.000+08:00

This is the most common question that SPM-leavers will have in their mind. There are a lot of options outside there, you can either go for STPM, A-levels or just go straight for diploma courses that you are interested in. But a word of caution here, don’t go choosing a course just because your friend asked you to, believe me, you are going to regret sooner or later...Haha…

4 years back, I was one of the students who sat for SPM and had applied for polytechnics in Singapore and scholarships from Sinchew Newspaper ,The Stars Newsaper, JPA and Petronas. I considered myself quite lucky to get an offer from Singapore polytechnics and called for interview for the scholarships(Sinchew and The Stars) and got it. However, I rejected the offers as I was not sure that I was really interested in the course that I have applied for and was also quite worry I might not excel in the course.

So, I chose to go for Form 6 as it is not that costly as A-levels. I am in the Science Stream and took the following subjects (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Pengajian Am). Frankly speaking,I learnt a lot in Form 6 as the syllabus is broad and tough. You need to put a lot of effort into studying every subjects if you are aiming for a 4 FLAT to secure a place in the top universities like UKM, UPM, USM and UM in Malaysia. Well, I am not that smart and brilliant student in Form 6 so I did not pass every subjects with flying colors but luckily I still managed to get JPA scholarship to study Chemical Engineering in Curtin, Sarawak Campus.

Lastly, I gotta say that studying is just a phase of life and it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are going to apply what you have learnt in real life situation. So, good luck to all those SPM leavers in making a wise decision.

Below are the links to apply for polytechnics in Singapore and some scholarship links :

http://www.sp.edu.sg/wps/portal/vp-spws (Singapore Polytechnic)
http://www.nyp.edu.sg/ (Nanyang Polytechnic)
http://www.tp.edu.sg/main/default.htm (Temasek Polytechnic)
http://esila.jpa.gov.my/portaljpa.php (JPA scholarship)
http://www.petronas.com.my/internet/corp/centralrep2.nsf/frameset_edu?OpenFrameset (Petronas scholarship)

Curtin Accommodation

2009-12-16T14:45:00.000+08:00

Hi! I hope this post will benefit prospective Curtin Sarawak campus students looking for a place to stay!

First, abit about where Curtin is in Miri. Curtin is actually located in Lutong, a small suburban town in Miri and the neighbourhood nearest to Curtin is called Senadin. 2 out of the 3 Curtin provided accommodations are located here; Curtin Villa and Curtin Village. So, anyway the thing is that Curtin is not very near Miri main city centre. I would say approximately 30 mins as the traffic is very smooth there. And travelling to the shopping places and city is not so hard; there are public, air-conditioned bus passing by every hour or so. The bus fare is around rm1 to rm2, I think. You can find out more about these stuff once u go thru orientation week!

One thing tho, Senadin is not exactly considered to be safe. Occasionally, you will hear about break-in's.

Now, I'm going to write to complement the info's provided by Curtin Miri.

Curtin Lakeside Apartment

Lakeside Apartment I is a 3 storey, hostel-styled accommodation with 1 common room in every floor and the buildings are divided between boys and girls. There are 5 Lakeside Apartment I buildings.

Lakeside Apartment II is a newer building that was build this year. It is apartment-styled with around 4 occupants in 1 apartment.

Lakeside Apartment is the Curtin's only in-campus accommodation and living in campus is extremely convenient. You can wake up at 7.30 am and still be in time for the 8 am class! At the heart of the lakeside apartment area is a recreation hall that can be used as either futsal, badminton or volleyball court at any one time. There is not enough area for 2 sports, just 1! Play basketball in the middle of the night? No problem! Except that there will be mosquitoes. There is an outdoor basketball court and a rugby field adjacent to it just opposite Lakeside Apartments.

Food. 2 choice: The newly-opened cafe at the recreation building which opens till around 9 or 10 pm or the uni's Cafeteria which is slightly farther.

Btw, some infos in the Curtin website are old. The gym at the recreation hall is permanently close since starting of this year but there will be a new one soon in the new Multi Purpose Building, just that it is far.

Curtin Villa

Night time in Curtin Villa.

Curtin Villa!! In my opinion, the best out of the 3 because I used to stay here! Okay, biased. haha But hear me out first! Curtin Villa is the nearest to the eateries and the local supermarket, Pick and Pack(used to be Dua Puluh Sen), let's call this Senadin shoplots. Curtin Villa is jus opposite Senadin shoplots so residents have more freedom of food choice!

Curtin Management do not provide residents cable internet like they do to Lakeside residents but Deconnexion, some generous company (testing thing), provides free, slow Wireless internet for both Curtin Villa and Curtin Village.

And because I used to stay here, you get to see exclusive picts of the single room they don't show you in the Curtin website!

View from one corner.

View from the other corner.

The single room is .... small! Notice the window? The window faces to a small alley-like space at the back. -_- Some view, huh? Definitely not a place for claustrophobics! Refer to the curtin villa layout. I shared the corner unit with 4 other girls. The other 2 single rooms of the corner unit are slightly better. It's hard to get wireless internet from my room. So I had to surf the internet at the dining area last time.

Corner unit.

Curtin Village

Curtin Village houses are one storey semi-detached houses so living there is more comfortable and quieter. There are less people there I think but I've been in there once only so I'm not sure. Curtin Village is 15 mins walk to Curtin Villa and hence Senadin shoplots. Meaning food is 15 mins away. Or you can time ur dinner properly and use the shuttle provided by Curtin. Last shuttle bus is around 9 I think. The shuttle bus service schedule they show now in the site is for the year-end-holiday only. I think that the location is the major disadvantage but Curtin Village really looks prettier than Curtin Villa hence the price difference.

Finally,
the security at all 3 accommodations are satisfactory, strict even. Living in Villa, Village or Lakeside is recommended in your first semester to help you adapt to the new place and you get to make more friends and acquaintances.

Any questions, just leave a comment and we'll try to help! Hope it helps!!

#2

2009-12-16T14:06:00.000+08:00

Numero Uno. Intro

2009-12-14T22:43:00.001+08:00

And now for the grand tour!

The Unofficial Chatter is the brainchild of my housemate, Fallenstars and me, Nat because ~~we just have too much time doing nothing~~ it seems like there are insufficient info's about things that matters.

Sometime last year, I was surfing the web looking for accomodation in Curtin. Yeah, I found alot about the hostels alright but then there were 3 different types of accomodation provided by the Curtin site; Curtin Villa, Curtin Village and Curtin Lakeside.

How does one judge and decide? By price? And risk walking more than 1 km to the shoplots for food? Fret not, for The Unofficial Chatter is here to save the day. haha More like to unravel the knots, take away the ambiguity and tell you about stuff that we have gone through before. Okay fine, we are not genius nor have we gone through alot but hey we are trying to help, ok? Give us some cookie points!!

Anyway, the blog will start to take shape as soon as we start writting.

That's for the info part, how-to's/what are's etc. Occasionally, we might blog about current happenings, gossips, whatever we find interesting la!

That's all for now!