Aaargh...

I'm starting to hate what i'm doing for my FYP. I was trapped into the project, which did not even warn me of the existence of Computational Fluid Dynamics software. Armed with thousands over pages of the manual, i was required to figure everything out from scratch. I initially thought the introductory workshop conducted yesterday was a blessing for me...I was wrong though, it didn't help much as it didn't cover what i'm supposed to do for this project.

I have shut myself up in the computer lab for the whole day today, initially hoping that at the end of the day, i'll achieve something significant. The end of the day is approaching...and what i achieve is far from my hope.

I have been going out with him (with an excuse that time is running out for both of us before he leaves for SEP)...I have been involved in the Christmas project (with an excuse that i was so involved in this project for the past 3 years and this's my last chance of participating in it)...I attended a few self-development workshops (with an excuse that these will be useful for my future). It struck me that i'm just running away from my FYP by keeping myself busy with all these activities. I hate to receive comments such as "You are LYDIA! You can do it! You sure can master the software by urself!" There was not even an occassion when i complained to others and they gave me a different response other than mentioned above. I know myself well...i know that sometimes hard work may not solve ur problem...and i'm trapped in this situation where i think my hard work will not succeed this time round.

My busy supervisor, who travels here and there, is not of much help either. Not wanting to give a bad impression, i always nod whenever he mentions something (showing that i understand what he says) although most of the times, that's just the sign of pretention...the sign which orders me to go back home and read up more in fear of being considered "stupid" in front of him. I really need someone...someone who can really sit down next to me and explain to me everything about this software...someone who will free me out of this misery of self-learning!

FYP aside, i think i fail in making others feel belonged to a project which was handed over by me. How can i do it? i have tried myself to distant myself from the project, so that they would be more involved in it and hopefully they'll have a heavy sense of responsibility towards this project. That didn't work. I found myself being dragged more into the project...especially when i sense little progress in it...haiz...So what should i do? When can i leave this club in peace, knowing that my project will be sustainable in years to come?

Enough of complaints! back to Fluent...

LYDIA MADE TIRAMISU!!!

Unbelievable rite??? I, myself, cant believe it too,haha...but guess wad, my first attempt was A SUCCESS!!!

I was inspired by Yanlian, who made tiramisu last time when we were in UK and it looked easy, do-able, and worst case scenario, it should still be EDIBLE!

Starting from these...

to the first challenging task for me: Separating the yolk from the egg white...

There were supposed to be 4 UNBURST egg yolks in the bowl, but since it was ME who did this, u could only see 2 UNBURST and a pool of yolk,haha...at least my first attempt was a SUCCESS! I remembered vividly how many times in UK my supposedly sunny-side-up on the pan turned out to be an omelette, simply because the egg yolk burst! Approximating 100 g of sugar was another of my handicap. I am really LOUSY at making an approximation in terms of cooking ingredient...using my gut feeling, i just put the sugar in, hoping that it's 100g!

Then next one: mixing the mascarpone cheese with the yolk...

Mixing this MANUALLY really took an effort! my hand almost went numb,haha...

Another step that requires my APPROXIMATION skill...400g of whipped cream...

And finally... (i forgot to take picture of the lady fingers being laid on the container first)

Look at how ugly the Cocoa powder was being spread on top,haha...

I had to wait one night to taste the success of my tiramisu...thankfully, it turned out GOOD!!! and he loves it!!! (hmmm, or maybe he was forcing himself to finish it? haha... at least he pretended well enough that he loves it...) but i personally think it's quite nice...Nothing can really go wrong in making tiramisu, even for an idiot like me!

Ok, time to get back to work...i have been forcing myself to concentrate on FYP, but i simply cant! I was tidying up all my research journals and experimental results just now and i realised that i have hell lots of things to settle for this project...from re-reading the journals ( i forgot all the concepts!) ...to compiling and analysing my experimental results...to studying a new software from scratch...to mastering the software and doing simulation...to preparing for prelim presentation...It's still a long journey to the end of this project...haiz...I better get my motivation for this project back! A satisfying grade and maybe a little bit of contribution to cancer research!

*i am missing him...though i was with him this morning...haiz...how can i survive next semester without him around?*

Exams are over...but...

I dont feel like i have sat for examinations...
I dont feel like exams had just ended...
I was not stressed up for exams...and i was not excited even after my last paper this afternoon...
I simply dont feel ANYTHING...


i'm only aware that i had been studying hard for the past 2 weeks...and that's my only impression of this semester's exams...


Is this because i only had 2 papers for exams this semester?
Or is it because i'm aware that after these exams, i still have lots of things in my hand to be settled before going back home?

Anyway, i was not confident i could achieve what i had been aiming to for both of my papers despite the amount of efforts that i put in...i was not that disappointed though coz i have really done my very best for these 2 modules!

OMG!!!

I'M SO HAPPY FOR LYSIA...

I'M SO HAPPY FOR DIAH...

I'M SO HAPPY FOR MYSELF...

I'M SO HAPPY FOR THE THREE OF US...

i-Cute, u won the BEST DESIGN award!

Check out this email from my Professor!

Second Prize...Best Design award...well-known brand name...

All these certainly matter most than being the first...At least this's what the i-Cute engineers feel..

The whole i-Cute chapter was officially closed yesterday with the final presentation and submission of final report. There were mixed feelings: Firstly, i still cant believe that this success is real...i'm still basking in the joy of our success...i'm relieved yet sad that everything is over...

Our complete achievement

The whole team had gone through so much for the past 3 months...and for now, we are just living in memories of how we evolve from being strangers to close friends...thanks to "i-Cute"!

At the board room...right after the presentation...enjoying GIGANTIC pocky

We started it off officially here with "NO LIGHT at the end of the tunnel"...and we ended it elegantly here with "FIREWORKS at the end of the tunnel"

Final celebration @ Munchie Monkey

Take a look at this video (courtesy of Guo Long)...the video of our journey for the past 3 months!

It's finally time to get down to earth...and concentrate on final exams...

Good luck, people!

It's still about "i-cute"...

More than 48 hours after the competition...

I still cant take "i-cute" out of my mind...
I still long to watch the video again and again
I'm still nervous everytime i watch the video
I still smile everytime i think of what happened on Friday

Quoting some of my group mates' comments:

"...It was an amazing process, from the 1st day we came together until the success on Friday. I am still living in Friday's joy... cannot believe that it has happened. This project is surely one to be remembered fondly...this project cast the deepest impression in me, my entire life as a student. We won and finished it beautiful. Its an experience i cannot describe with just words but to go through the 3 months ourselves. Unforgettable, simply." (Zhongmin)

"8 ppl + >$500 + countless hrs + 1 aim = i-cute stacked 9 blocks" (Hejie)

"1)WE DID IT!
TOTALLY AUTONOMOUS-NO EXTERNAL BATT PACK-NO DOWNLOAD CABLE-NO
NOTHING
2) WE DID IT! 9 blocks/9 blocks
3) WE DID IT IN 2.45mins
4) WE DID IT! WE ARE 1 of 2 ROBOTS BEING EXHIBITED " (Qinhan)

i-cute, u really made my day!

Isn't she cute?

The past few months had been extremely tiring and arduous for me and my design group mates. It can really take days or even weeks for me to tell you everything that i had gone through in the manufacturing and testing of our robot. To cut the story short, this afternoon was the final competition for Champion Stacker. There were around 9 groups doing the In-house design project and we were supposed to build the robot according to our desing and let it compete on the arena to see whose robot can stack as many blocks as possible within 3 minutes.

In the process of manufacturing and testing of our robot, we were overwhelmed by lots and lots of problems, honestly speaking, one problem after another...We called it the 1001 problems...You just think of any single problem under the sun, i-cute has experienced it all...from 'Parkinson's disease' (jerky grippers) to brain damage (burnt HandyBoard)... We spent so much time troubleshooting...want to find out the amount of time invested in this project??

For the past 2-3 weekends (Friday to Sunday), eight of us took turn doing shift testing, 4 people per testing for more than 12-hours per shift...There were even times when a few of us stayed in school for more than 24 hours to test the robot and troubleshoot all the problems...There was not a day without me not doing robot...For the past 2 weeks, during weekdays, we woke up at 5 am so as to be able to reach school at 6 am to do testing, as there would be many groups doing testing on the arena in the afternoon. Two days before the competition, i was in school from 5 am till the next day 7 am...without a single second of sleep! One day before the competition, we stayed in school till 1 am...

Throughout this project, we kept on emphasizing that we did not aim to win! We just wanted to make the robot perform what it was supposed to on the day of competition...Weeks before the competition, looking at other group's robots could sometimes demoralise us...Theirs are so much bigger than ours, much taller, very rigid, made of metal, while ours was just a tiny, short robot made of PLASTIC! But what consoled us was the fact that our robot is very unique in terms of its look, its strategy of gripping, its design...mainly every single aspect of this robot is just very unique!!! We then named our robot "i-cute" to emphasize its cuteness! (oh btw the gender of this robot is FEMALE, haha!)

Two days before the competition, i-cute managed to grab 9 blocks and stack them onto the platform (That's our main aim! we never aim higher than 9 blocks, even though we were aware that other groups managed to put 12 blocks or aimed to stack 18 blocks). One day before the competition, there were few success tries and few failures...the inconsistency of her performance did trouble us. We were just hoping for the best!

On the day of the competition, a few hours before the competition started, i-cute refused to cooperate...the grippers were not functioning well, all our tries on the arena failed! We tried lots of ways to troubleshoot the problem...just minutes before the competition, we implemented a possible solution without even testing for it...We were gambling on the possibility that this would either solve the gripper problem or affect the whole programme. I was totally stressed out for the whole of this morning and afternoon, my heart was beating extremely fast and the fastest rate was experienced during the 2 mins and 50 seconds of my robot's performance on the competition arena.

i-cute started off well from the starting point, the gripping problem was solved, to our amazement! Every single movement of i-cute was perfect, like what we expected...And i-cute managed to successfully stack 9 blocks on the arena, beating all other robots which performed before her turn! I am so emotionally attached to this robot that seeing her stacking the last 3 blocks on the platform made me burst into tears! For the past few months, when problems arised, i would not be able to concentrate doing other things but robot...even receiving a msg frm my group mate informing abt the new problem which arised during testing could disrupt my concentration during lecture...I even dreamt abt this robot several times...

In terms of the number of blocks, we lose out to Lester's group whose robot managed to stack 12 blocks, but we were extremely satisfied and proud of i-cute's performance simply because:

- i-cute is TOTALLY AUTONOMOUS robot (no wire from the power source, no download cable, she relied fully on the internal batteries)

- i-cute succeeded performing her task ON THE FIRST TRY! None of the other robots managed to do that

- "Time-out" was not in i-cute's dictionary!

- i-cute's design was totally different from all other robots (some of which have very similar design)

- i-cute's strategy in stacking the blocks was totally unique, different from other groups!

- i-cute was selected to be kept in NUS design lab (with another group's robot) to be displayed for future batches (and i'm so 100% sure, i-cute's video will be shown to the future in-house design project students)

- i-cute has a very famous identity! Other groups never call us by the name of our group member, but by our brand "i-cute"!

- With such a small size and fragile look, i-cute managed to show that she can perform as good as other bulky and tall robots and even better!

- Only i-cute managed to make the audience "waaahhh-ing" and "hahahaha-ing"!

Nothing can beat the joy and satisfaction of seeing this robot performing to our expectation...I was totally over the moon, jumping for joy, extremely extremely happy...The feeling was just indescribable by words, even as i'm typing this entry, i'm still smiling from ear to ear...All our hard work really pays off at the end!

I would really like to thank lots of people who have helped contribute to this project in one way or another:

1. First and foremost, my team mates: Jian wei, Yaowen, Diah, Hejie, Guo Long, Zhongmin, and Qinhan...I REALLY REALLY LOVE WORKING WITH U GUYZ! Honestly, this's my best project group ever throughout my NUS life...I never dread waking up early in the morning to do testing or even staying overnight in school coz i know that you guyz will always make me laugh with all your jokes, funny comments, gossips...Our hobby is talking cock while doing work! haha... At this moment, i did feel a loss...i really gonna miss what we went through together for the past few months! I will never forget all our gossips and our discussions about Relationship... Special thanks to our main programmers: Jian wei, Yaowen and Qinhan, we really relied a lot on you guyz! To Zhongmin, my 'private driver', thanks a lot for driving us here and there (NUS Engin - FOng Seng - PGP- Rochor), haiz...now there will be no more driver for me to go to school,haha...

2. My boyfriend, for patiently listening to all my robot stories everyday, for helping me troubleshooting my sensors problem, for helping me carrying the tool box and robot stuffs back to my room (my group mates even called him "the logistic man",haha), for all your encouragement and words of comfort, for coming down on the day of the competition to support me...really really thank you!!! And very sorry if i scare u off during the competition with my trembling hand and very heavy breathing...it's really uncontrollable! haha...

3. Lysia, Evan, Erick, Zhiyong, Ruizhong, and Bernard for coming down this afternoon to support i-cute

Wanna see how i-cute performed during the competition? Check this out !

If you have problem buffering, u can check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oazOzokBQE

We get addicted watching this video that zhongmin and i decided to watch this video every day before we sleep until we get sick of it, haha...It was really really unbelievable that we could achieve this! I'm still smiling till this moment (more than 12 hours after the competition) and if u see me smiling while walking around school in the next few days, that means i'm thinking of "i-cute"!

After the competition, Zhongmin asked," So whose shift is it tomorrow? pick u guyz at 5.45 am?" All of us burst into laughter...

Take a look at our journey to success:

taken after our first meeting with our Prof.

(Zhong min, Jian wei, Lyd, Diah, Guo Long, Yaowen, He Jie, Qin han (from L to R))

Karaoke-ing session before manufacturing of the robot started

The day manufacturing of "i-cute" started...

The evolution of i-cute

Our 2nd home, where we spent most of our time manufacturing and testing

(including overnight testing)

...till one day before the competition (in our 3rd home:pavillion)

Posing with my baby - the final result!

The people behind the birth of "i-cute"

My group and Lester's group...posing with our Prof.

A toast to our success

We went for a proper dinner at Bosses Restaurant at Vivo City to celebrate our success, then headed for pool and arcade sessions and rounded up our celebration with a nice chatting and gossiping session at TCC..What a perfect daY!

I have already missed my group mates at this point of time...less than 24 hours after our victory!

I'm totally drained...

wanna find out how my schedule was for the past 5 days?
Sunday, 10 am - 7 pm: ROBOT
Monday, 9.30 am - 11 pm: ROBOT
Tuesday, 9.30 am - 11 pm: ROBOT
Wednesday, 8.30 am - 1.30 pm: ROBOT , 1.30 pm - 4 pm: FYP , 4 pm - 10 pm: ROBOT
Thursday, 10 am - 1 pm: ROTARACT , 1 pm - 10 pm: ROBOT

Wanna know my schedule for the next 2 days?
Friday, 1 pm till dunno when: ROBOT
Saturday or Sunday: dunno what time till what time: ROBOT

When on earth can i have time to do other stuffs? For the past few days, the moment i reached my room, my only wish was that i could just knock off...but i couldnt afford to do that...I had to rely on cans of Nescafe to keep me awake...there were times when a can of coffee didnt help at all...I just concussed!

My mid-term break is almost gone!!! and i have not even got the chance to learn how to cycle, aarrgh...

I have encountered so many problems and difficulties with the robot's sensors for the past few days...experienced a few successes, which really made my day...Sometimes i regretted choosing to be in charge of 'sensors'...but sometimes i'm thankful enough to be in this sub-group as i have really really learnt a lot for the past 5 days...Well, *cross my fingers* i am 90% sure by tomorrow night, my robot's brain shld be functioning well!

Mid-term Break is coming...

It seems only like yesterday my school break was a real BREAK! One-month easter break, weekends break, Bank holidays, post-exams break...Break totally means NO WORK, NO STUDY back then.

But what break in Singapore means? More time to revise ur school work...More time to concentrate on projects...more time to catch up on neglected tutorials...and maybe a bit more time to sleep!

I really envy those exchange students here (the same way my NUS friends envied me last time when i was on exchange)...

A: So what's ur plan for the mid-term break?

B (an exchange student): Oh I'm flying to Jakarta this Saturday...I'll be there for 3 days 2 nights and i'll be heading to Bali after that...How about u? Where are u going?

A: I'M STUCK IN SINGAPORE!!! doing my robot...haiz...

Another conversation with other exchange students...same question asked and here were the replies:
"I'm going to Thailand...gonna shop like crazy there!", "We are going to Hongkong","Going Malaysia for the whole week..."

The conversations didnt end there...They told me where they're going to stay, what their plans are...and the story continued.

It seems only yesterday i was in their shoes:
"I'm going to Oxford this coming weekend..."," Next weekend? Oh i'll be in London", "gonna travel ard Europe during easter Break", "After exams? Heading to Spain & Greece"

Haiz...i have been missing Loughborough so much recently...Those memories kept coming back to my head, disturbing my concentration...I really want to be an exchange student FOREVER and EVER!!! hahaha...

Time to get back to reality...

My mid-term break is not that pathetic though...i'm excited enough to see my robot coming into action! And I GONNA LEARN HOW TO CYCLE!!!!! hahaha...

Things are not the same anymore...

Can you feel it?

One day, you looked very angry with me...From that day onwards, i could feel that u r avoiding me...our conversation is not as lively as last time...you become less cheerful...your facial expression tells me that you are hurt...Those differences are too obvious to be ignored.

Did i send you the wrong signal last time? Was i wrong to agree to go out with you last time? I'm really sorry if the answer to both questions is YES. I was just showing that friendly nature of me...

You are my best friend and i dont want that fact to change simply because of my recent decision. I want the same old you, who's always so positive abt anything, who never fails to make ppl around you happy, whose smile is so contagious...

Please treat me as your best friend as well!

Random

I'm still in the process of adjusting back to NUS lifestyle...i'm gaining back the momentum, but it's not maximal yet!

Two major works, which have been occupying my mind: Design project and FYP. Remember how i condemned one of my modules in year 1: C Programming...The most unbelievable thing is that i easily agreed to be in charge of testing & programming of the robot's sensors! GOSH!!! Where was my insanity at that point of time? Honestly-speaking, i dont see any light at the end of the tunnel...i could only pray that whatever is on the paper now will come into life fully on the competition day, November 2nd...and hopefully it'd be the Champion Stacker!!!

Final Year Project is more manageable...Oh btw, i chose this project for my thesis: "Thermal process and shaping of freeze zone in cryosurgery." Sounds chim? Well, i'm basically investigating the killing of cancer cells in cryosurgery using freezing process...What motivated me into choosing this project was the fact that i could do something to help others! No regret in choosing this as i have a very helpful & chatty lab Technical assistant, who always helps me in setting up my experiment and chitchats with me while waiting for my ice to form. My professor is another friendly and helpful one, who always replies my email promptly, even when he's stuck in a long meeting. I spent most of the days last week in the lab, repeating what the senior had done...and i was just given more tasks to do and more stuffs to be thought about!

Expect fewer updates from me...as the days ahead will be hectic ones!


* Btw, i'm really sorry if my recent decision has hurt someone or even more than one person...but i'm 100% sure that i have made the right decision ;) *

Amazed & touched...

A few days ago, I asked Lysia whether she wanted to bet with me on the no of people who would be attending NUS Rotaract Club Welcome Tea...My prediction was that not many people would attend this year's welcome tea, mainly because of the last minute change in the venue and my own reflection on our club's identity...There are so many other bigger and more popular community service club like NVAC and CSC, who are under NUSSU. I know that there should not be any competition between us, since we are all doing good deeds for the community...but i know for sure that my own club still loses in term of popularity...

I was totally wrong! The whole of LT 29 was packed with people during this evening's welcome tea...One person even thought that he was in the wrong venue as he had never attended any welcome tea with so many people around...believe me, it's even more than last year's welcome tea!

I made my last presentation for the club this evening and as i stood in front of this crowd, these images kept flashing back: I was like them sitting there listening to someone talking three years ago, I gave presentation two years ago, a year ago, and finally it's my last year standing at the same spot encouraging these people to join one of our projects, to volunteer not for the sake of CCA points, but to serve the community willingly without asking for rewards!

Looking at other presentations made by the different directors, i was certainly touched at what the club has done and achieved...I have watched this club grow from a small community service club to what it's today...a club which offers more varieties of community service projects, serves more groups in the community, boasts higher membership, and is filled with more passionate individuals!

When I saw Jacy presenting the video on Lions Befrienders showing all the activities that we organised for the elderly, i was really really touched...Being involved in kickstarting this project last year, i'm emotionally attached to this...There were so many obstacles and challenges along the way..but i'm grateful that this project still remains strong and hopefully will remain this way even after I leave NUS.

I am actually aware that this club has done a lot locally and internationally, but when all these achievements are compiled and presented at one go, the impact on the audience was tremendous! I, myself, who was involved in some of the projects, still find them amazing...what would others think of this club? Hopefull they will experience the same effect!

Next Friday would be the official day I retire from this club...not a full retirement though! The incoming president has already assigned me to a 'mentor' position,haha...Well, i will still play my advisor role in the club, but with minimal intervention in the club's activities...Let the new blood take up the leadership position and overcome all the challenges that lie ahead...As long as this club's legacy continues, i would be more than satisfied!

NUS Rotaract Club 36th Executive Committee & the incoming 37th Executive Committee

I am BACK...in NUS!

It's my first day of school in NUS today, after being away for 1 semester...and guess what i'm having a splitting headache now, even though i only had a 2-hours lecture in the morning, a briefing in the afternoon and Rotaract meeting in the evening...totally shagged!!! I got back to my room at 11 pm, really drained to the core...haiz...

Who should i blame? An extremely boring lecture which saw me yawning thousand times throughout that 2 hours? The hot weather? The countless flights of stairs that i climbed throughout the day?

I really really wish that i was back in my campus in Loughborough...extremely cooling weather, lots of greeneries, flowers everywhere, minimal stairs, a more interesting lecture, angmohs all around me...haiz...a wish will still remain as a wish! And i cant turn back time!

Greeneries, flowers, weather and angmohs aside, i did enjoy my first day of school though...I saw so many familiar faces around the school, met lots of my friends who made an exactly the same comment,"YOU'RE BACK!!!" I made friend with an exchange student from Switzerland...and not wanting him to experience what i had experienced back in UK (the feeling of being left out by the locals), Lester and I accompanied him for lunch, showed him around school, explained to him abt NUS system...simply making him feel as comfortable as possible. I met my fellow NUS Exchangers, those whom i normally saw back in Loughborough, but this time round, it was in the new Arts canteen!

I enjoyed the Rotaract meeting as well...really miss the jokes & funny comments made by the Yong brothers...Having to step down soon, i didnt have much time left to make my final contribution to the club...so i should put in my 100% to the club which has transformed me to be a better person and spiced up my varsity life.

The semester ahead would not be an easy one...I need to gain back my momentum of studying in this university to achieve the goal that i have set right before this day...I'm sure i can do it!!!

Good bye, my Lough...

It’s over! To claim that time really flies is an understatement…time certainly flies at the speed of lightning…I still remembered vividly my last few days in Singapore, when I was a bit reluctant to leave this place and all the friends behind and here I am, back in Singapore after 5 months of adventure into the foreign land – the most memorable & enriching experience during my varsity life!

Five months were certainly too short. Having spent 3 months in Loughborough University and 2 full months traveling around Europe, I still yearn for many more months in Europe…but too bad I could not pluck Poundsterlings and Euros from any tree that I could find along the streets, so I had no choice but to return to this small red dot, being totally broke.

Money issue aside, I have learnt a lot during this exchange…too many things that I could not list them one by one. Quoting what Xian once said,” You may not know what you have learnt from this, till you meet someone who doesn’t know something that you know.”

My exchange experience would not be as fun as it’s without the friends, who embarked on this exchange programme together with me and the friends that I made in Loughborough.

To Lester, Xian, Yanlian & Alwyn, the word ‘Thank you’ is not enough to express my gratitude for you guyz…Having spent 24/7 for 5 months with you guyz (except for Alwyn who were only with us till in Barcelona), I will never forget…

* our Thursday & Saturday weekly market sessions, when we shopped for groceries at the town centre. I still remember vividly the different stalls where I should get broccoli, carrot, oranges & apples, ginger, mushroom, garlic coz they are the cheapest, the English pork chop stall, the chicken stall where I’d get two gigantic chicken for 5.50 pounds

* our cooking session ( I gonna miss Xian’s teriyaki chicken, Lester’s black pepper sauce & hainanese chicken, Yanlian’s cheese cake & apple crumbles, and Alwyn’s beer-battered fish). Well, being the ‘cutting manager’ in the kitchen, in charge of cutting all the ingredients, don’t expect any specialty dish frm me,haha…but I only need to see them cooking a dish ONCE and I can actually master it (…in my dream!!!)

* the time we spent in the university - rushing to lectures in the morning under extremely cold weather, sleeping during lessons (btw we were the only ones, who slept during lessons, haha), rushing through the neglected courseworks, mugging for exams…

* many nights we spent planning for our trips: searching for cheap flights, cheapest yet centrally-located hostels, doing research on our destinations…hostelworld, hostelbookers, flycheapo – our favourite websites! Well, I can proudly announce that I have gained expertise in planning for budget trips…

* our table tennis & pool sessions in Butler Court’s common room…so sorry, if we, the lousy girls, deprived you guyz of your China-style table tennis matches,haha…I miss playing pool on that spoilt pool table with incomplete number of balls, but yet still fun enough (and most importantly, since it’s spoilt, I didn’t need to pay a single pence, only needed to squeeze my hand under the table to get the balls…)

* the two months we spent traveling around Europe…countless no of hours spent on trains, coaches, ferries, planes hopping from one place to another…Finding our hostel in a foreign place, given the limited info from hostel world, was always our challenge. It was no joke carrying a heavy backpack, wandering around looking for our destination, getting lost more than once…Thanks to the guyz whom I had to rely on for directions. We had gone through a lot during traveling together…losing our way to the hostel, being stranded on top of the icy mountain and struggling our way down together, being affected by train strike, airport strike, taking the wrong train and ended up being stranded in the train station, sleeping at the airport waiting for our flight, hopping from one supermarket to another in almost every city searching for cheap food and biscuit, losing our valuables...good and bad experiences...we had survived them!!!

My special thanks to the following people:

- The NUS Arts Exchange students: Aida, Mel, Joan, Yuan Mei, Yushan, Huiran, Yingzhi...I'll never forget our chitchatting sessions, first and only BBQ under cold weather, the Polar bear game, the late night supper...really miss your companions! Although we only got to know one another thanks to the International Day, your presence had certainly cheered up the lives of 3 Engin guyz, who were only surrounded by 2 boring Engin gals before Easter...haha...

- Eujin, Ying, Prima, Jeremy, Wee yong, and many other Singaporeans in Loughborough University. I learnt a lot abt Loughborough from you guyz...Thanks for making us feel like 'HOME' in that small little town...

- fellow exchange students: Sebastien, Chris, Junius, Martina...I learnt a lot of different culture from you guyz...

- my classmates & lecturers (Ian, Ed, Burns, Memis, Harrison)...I really miss attending the lessons in Loughborough...

- Lastly, our SEP coordinator, Henk...I have no regret being an exchange student in Loughborough UniversitY!

Last few hours in Loughborough

I went town this morning for the last time...took picture of every single shop that i patronised before, took picture of every single stalls in the market that i visited before, took a last glance at the stall owners...mainly treasuring every single second of my journey to and fro!

Looking at the people around me, i really gonna miss the atmosphere, the friendliness and the smiles of the old Brits, the cuteness of the Brits babies, and the natural greetings uttered by strangers to me...

I went to donate my unnecessary stuffs to the Salvation army as well...so i'm left with 1 backpack (which seems to be exploding soon) and 1 hand-carry lugagge...

A few more hours left before i board the flight to Barcelona...and I still feel reluctant to leave this place...there are many more things that i still want to do for the last time in this town, and i don't have time for it anymore!

Gosh, i hate this feeling...haiz...

Ok finally it's time to pack my laptop in...

Bye Loughborough!!!

Last few days in Loughborough...

I'm back from my Scotland & last UK trips...Thanks to the flood around UK, i had the opportunity to spend most of my time on train, enjoying my last few hours of UK rail journey...will blog more about Whitehaven, Lake District, Scotland, Bath & Salisbury...(i really have to promise myself that i'll update all my travelling entries...)

Anyway, as for now i have less than 24 hours in this town...I still remembered my last few hours in Singapore when i was quite reluctant to leave for a new place and now i'm experiencing it again...the exact same feeling of leaving the comfort zone...I really wish that i can stay here longer...

Some farewell gatherings:

Last gathering with the NUS Arts Exchangers & Singaporeans at Loughborough University

@ GENEROUS BRITONS

Last dinner with our flat mates - Junius from Hongkong & Martina from Prague @ our own kitchen

Last drinking session with Eujin & Ying @ TOBY CARVERY

And the last shot with our SEP coordinator, Henk Versteeg at his office

Finally, last shot with the Loughborough University sign

Another interesting experience: Cherry-plucking session. I can pluck cherry at the comfort of my own room, isn't it amazing? And how is it possible?

Here's a glimpse of the tree outside my room during winter, spring & summer!

When i first came here, this's how the tree looked like...

After i came back from Easter trip, i was so surprised to see it blooming with beautiful white flowers.

And the tree shocked me even more when i came back from my Bath trip...It's full of fruits and they are CHERRIES!!!

Having finished plucking all the ripe fruits from my window, we went down to search for more ripe fruits. We had been plucking cherries for the past two days after dinner...since we had no fruits in fridge!

Look at the amount of cherries that we plucked daily:

It's time to continue packing my stuffs...will blog more after i came back from my Spain & Greece trip...

Till then take care!

Unbelievable!

Below is the recent email from my Design of Machinery I: Kinematics Professor:

Hi All,

I have completed marking your exams. I am under pressure to return marks to the School Administrators. If you have any further feedback on the contribution of your group members to the CW projects, you have until noon tomorrow to let me know. Marks will be finalised tomorrow pm. For your information, the range of exam results vary between 83% and 31%.Coursework marks have a similar spread too, though lower end is slightly higher. It looks like that I will have to set a resit exam!

All the best to you all.

Memis

Just to let you know, i sat for this paper last Friday...and one week after the exam, he has finished marking the papers!!! Unbelievable!!!

And there's a resit exam? There is a second chance for failures??? Unbelievable!!!

I just hope that i wont be one of those taking the resit...*cross my fingers*

I wonder when my exam results will be out...before i leave this place? hmmm...hopefully...

I am busily choosing my Final Year Project...so confused...have no idea how to choose...the description of the projects do not really tell you whether the project is going to be manageable or not...so should i rely on luck? hmmm...there're some interesting ones that caught my eyes...maybe i should just rely on my instinct and LUCK!

* widely awake...4 more hours to my train ride to Lake District*

My 'hard' work for the past one semester

Or should i say my soft work? I did not study that hard...haha...

That's the whole pile of notes for this semester...lecture notes, tutorials, workbooks, courseworks...

Now you see it...

Now you don't...

Where did it go to?

Recycling bin!

There's no way i could carry all these notes along with me around Europe...so yah that's where their fate ended up in...but of course not wanting to miss a single thing of education that i received here, all the soft copies of the lecture notes are neatly-saved in my hard disk...and i still keep those courseworks with the lecturers' comments on them...for memory! haha...