Trip to Oxford

Hey peeps..I had the opportunity to visit Oxford today. It was a 17pounds worth of tix, a trip organized by the international office fr my university, Uni of Sussex. What i can say is, it's a great place..for once, i envy those studying at this prestigious university..It's a university town, bz with people and daily activities. There're lots and lots of buildings similar to palaces and ancient buildings, churches, colleges..it's just a lovely place to visit. The architecture is marvellous..We had the opportunity to be on a guided tour and yeah, i learnt quite a bit from it..here's what i wanna share :

1) There are 2 main libraries in the Oxford University. In one of the libraries, students are only allowed to browse and refer to books but unallowed to borrow them (strange isnt it?), on the other hand the 2nd library allows books to be borrowed. Their libraries are huge. Some colleges own a library too. What's interesting is they have a massive amount of book collections, practically all books are kept in the libaries (and yes..according to the tor guide..this includes the Playboy mags) - for what reason? perhaps, for human studies..Apart from inside the library, books are also kept underneath the library..how's that and could that be possible? yes it is, books are stored under the library through a hidraulic system..basically, it's like there's a tunnel, and books will be laid on a compartment before a button is pressed b4 it dissapears fr sight to find it's way to be stored under the library..like the one scene in Harry Potter..smart isn't it..indeed..very smart..

But unfortunately, not everyone could enter the library, only Oxford students and their very own educators are allowed to have such access, even a Research Assistant could not be granted access. There's a kind of sticker obtainable from the counter just outside library to get into it, and this is permissible only with ..the oxford uni student card..Prestiguous..enuff said.

2) Becoz Oxford is a university town. It's has its own yeah..town in the area..buses are shops are around. They've colleges in between shopping lots. A great way to release the education stress..heheee!

3) Each college or student hostel has an adult who's not an academician who'd help around with tidying the rooms, preparing tea for the students and act as a friend to the students whenever they feel pressured with studies or simply feel like talking to others for advices. The reason the university is providing this facility is that, they want the students to give full 100% concentration on studies and not be disturbed by all these petty but necessary things..oh..how i wish i have a friendly and reliable housekeeper! looks like i have to be one for myself for now..

4) Speaking of a scene in the first Harry Potter movie, there was a particular scene where it was taken fr the uni of oxford..camera and video tricks amazed me when showed that the actual scene is way smaller than the one presented on screen! in the movie...so, which scene am i talking abt..ya know, there was one time where Harry and his friends took a boat after their trip to come to the magic school..yea..dya remember that the boat reached at night, they were all in the boat with lights lit heading to the school..and when they arrived, they met their teachers, Dumbledore and others on the stairs..yeah..those are the scenes taken at Oxford. The door opened to them on arrival is actually a very small one in comparison to the one seen in the play..

5) I managed to take a view of Oxford from the tallest buiding which is actually from a tower of the St Marie the Virgin Church. I would have definitely think twice to take up the opportunity if knew in advance that it would take me to climb 127steps up and another 127steps down...geez..it was an exercise for me! I was convinced enuff that there'd be an elevator, but i was wrong..well..fair enuff..the building was built ages ago..but it's worth the effort and entrance fee of 2pounds.. :)

All in all , I had a great time during this visit. It'll also be a great opportunity if you could have a visit or probably already had one..

Daily news

Jz thought of distracting myself from readings..hello! am feeling a lil tired, perhaps due to the lack of sleep and yea, today's a lil hectic. I had my 3rd discussion with my supervisor, someone i regard as a calm/serene, intelligent and stress-less person..i'm so thankful to have Prof Peter as a supervisor. Glad that he has considerable positive feedback fr current and previous students and i'm very much impressed with the research the Representation and Cognition Group is working on..the general idea of the research is to make learning process easier...less stressful especially for topics on electrical diagrams, probability theories , etc and learning should be a fun activity. I'd perhaps score better on add maths during high school if i'd come across this technique of learning through diagrams..perhaps, the future kids would appreciate these findings..they better be!

Anyway, apart from discussion, i had an opportunity to join an intro workshop on matlab..yea..i finally had the courage and enuf confidence to learn the.. i thought..ever so difficult software..it was kinda interesting when there's an effort for learning. this uni offers countless free workshops and courses for research-oriented students..there are vast opportunity to be undertaken..and it all depends on indviduals whether to take up or back up these courses. ok..enuff abt academic..

Let's talk abt shopping.. :D an all-time topic of my interest..my hobby horse .. a term i learn from my supervisor today. well, i had my groceries shopping at asda (stores like giant/tesco)..a large mall on it's own..thought of spending 20pounds, but ended up paying for more than half! does anyone offer a course on budgeting? i desperately need one! been endlessly telling myself to restrict from buying things..but i can't resist! they seem cheap and necessary!..believe it or not, the most expensive thing i bought in the list costs 4pounds..the remaining were all below 1pound..but ya know..when there's a large quantity of things..the total price eventually mounts..drastically that is..my resolution of the month is to stick to the to-buy list..we will see next month..

Hmm..what else..yup..i finally got myself registered..uhuh..after 3weeks being here..im officially the uni of sussex student..on completion of registration, i received my student card..i find it kinda simple yet nice..it's green, my favourite color.. ;) check it out..

i've got a lot more to tell..but am gonna have to return to the reading..i promise to update..stay in tune yeah..

Tiring but exciting

hi! i had my last day of the course today..it ended pretty well tho everyone seems a lil tired due to the comprehensive 3days activities..i've gained so much from the course and yea..it is a good start with an fantastic boast of motivation. Thanks Gill for picking me among many others who were in the waiting list. The issue of networking really counts when u've a vast contact with others around, a key element i learnt from today's session. Just like i do, i hope the rest learns and appreciates this course as a whole. To me, this is one of the best course i've ever attended. Glad that the team members worked well with each other to make up every activity and task given throughout the given 3days..bravo bravo...thank you tutors for the wonderful guidance..last but not least, all the best everyone for ur DPhils...cheers! ;)

Personal development skills course

hello hello..9:39pm, local time..i'm just finishing off my dinner..today's been a second day of the course i was telling abt yesterday..the course called personal development skills really highlight a couple of things worth looking at through out a mature student's education, tho i never actually consider myself 'mature'..so what's this course abt? well..i would say that it's a run through and a reminder of issues related to the usual things such as communication, team building, time management etc..it's a 3-day course where participants are scheduled with various activities that runs from socializing, constant time management, lots and lots of meetings and discussions, negotiation, games and a whole lot more..some are pretty exciting activities while others gives a dose pain in all parts of the body!

i find this course kinda interesting, some participants don't. the activities put up for us are unique in everyway..what happened was, there were abt 50 of participants which were all divided into 5 smaller groups called syndicate..the initial introduction was interesting by itself..instead of the normal approach of into ourselves, we had to intro the person next to us..ok..perhaps, that's not really new..well, there was an activity where we happened to be a factory producing booklets..we were intially given the materials such as papers, pens, paper clips, sample money, stapler and so on to produce our booklet products in various sized of orders that kept on coming more frequently and we had to deliver them on time in order to survive the company..it was more on time management..another activity called 'desert survival' was on communication among team members and coming to a point where everyone agrees on picking the necessary things given the scenario that a plane crash in a desert and having to select upon the listed stuffs crucial for survival..today's initial activity was on negotiation..it was a business thing where the syndicate were divided into 2 smaller groups and act as groups of representative for management and staff for an airline company that goes under a restructuring process for which they're supposed to negotiate and agree upon a win-win situation..i didn't participate much coz im never(ever will i be) good in such effort! but an activity called belbin test kinda regenerate the interest and the game that follows put all the members on strong bond of team building which surprisingly made us the winner and got ourselves awarded a box of chocolate at the end of the game worth an hour of almost 20tasks! well done all! :)

yea..today ended quite as interesting to yesterday's. what i like abt this course is that it is moduled in such a way that the participant could relate, reflex and act upon the most important issues to their area of interest. yea..though it's a lil tiring, hope that these would help in coming days..tomorrow will be the last day for this course before research re-dominates. ;)

UM to US in the UK

wow...it's been almost a month since i last posted an entry..so many..so many things flew since then..from my comfortable room at home in Malaysia, i'm now in another part of the world..surviving myself for the next couple of years..there's definitely a lot to tell about..but..it'll be a while for me to get everything told..bear with me!

well..basically..im now in the United Kingdom.yeah..im finally here..a country that i never thought i would lay my foot on..i can't believe myself that i finally made it here, after the endless(it seems) reasons that does promise me a place here..from where i used to be attached to that is the University of malaya(UM), i'm glad to be here in the University of Sussex for my hopefully highest degree of education, a phd for short, hopefully 3years..

i've been here almost 3 weeks since my arrival on 29th dec 07..yeah..i had my new year here..my first new year in another country...everything now comes as a new experience to me..the weather, food, culture, clothings, social interaction, practically all..varies very much from the usual..i've really got to say alot, but i cant seem to do it pretty well at the moment..it's becoz i'm on a course which requires my attention and early attendance fr 9am-6pm including this weekend..it'll really late now..better off to bed for a good start tomorrow..i'll make sure that i catch up with more stories..my promise! nite nite...muuaax!