Look what I found on Facebook...

Ho ho ho. Should I add him as a friend?

Yaz.

I’m in studying mode

“How’s your revision going today?”

That seems to be the thing everybody is asking everybody else these days, now that exam is starting and all. For some people. Mine is still a bit more than a week away. However, considering the fact that I haven’t finished revising everything yet, it is quite scary. I’ve taken some initiative, though. I started the routine of switching my laptop off just before breakfast so that I will not be distracted by it. I only turn it back on some time before dinner, when I’m too hungry to do revision. That’s a big accomplishment. Really.

I talked to a few Malaysians the other day. Somehow it seems like they all have achieved first class in their first year. Is it that easy? I’m pretty sure its not. And the fact that they are the kind of people who spend ages playing World of Warcraft sure doesn’t help any.

Sigh… exam period sure is an awkward time.

I peeked at some past papers recently, and now I’m pretty confident I can get second class upper without stressing myself out. But then again, I have a feeling that I really should do my best this time around, so I’m getting more serious now. Which probably means less updating my blog for a while. Not that I update it much anyway, he he.

So… I’ll probably let you hear from myself again on the 14^th, or sometimes during the exam week if I have the time (and feeling nasty enough to bore you with meticulous details on how my paper that day went). Until then, wish me luck.

Yaz.

Hmmm, that's random

Found this while I was walking along King's College. It's on one of the stone tiles.




Yaz.

Paper airplane frenzy

We had our last chemistry lecture last Tuesday, and the lecturer warned us beforehand to prepare paper airplanes for the lecture. We had no idea what it’s about but whatever it is, it should be exciting. After all, the lecturer is actually deemed by students to be the best in the NatSci course because of his interesting lecture. Usually, halfway through his lecture, he usually has a few minutes break in which there will be a demonstration, gory stories or just interesting tidbits about chemistry. In the first term, he soaked a BIG lump of cotton in the shape of a sheep with some chemicals and set fire to it. There was a blinding flash and I could have sworn half of the lecture hall could feel a blast of heat in their faces. The other day he read to us some erm…obscene poems and comments that past students wrote in lecture questionnaires. One read, “I love you. You can inspect my cleavage mechanism anytime.” There’s another one that says, “Dr. W, would you gain a pair of electrons and become a HOMO?” Ha ha ha.

(For those who don’t know, in chemistry HOMO stands for highest occupied molecular orbital ;p )

Anyway, at the end of that lecture, he prepared boxes in front of the hall containing some nitrogen compound that can rapidly decompose into gaseous nitrogen if subjected to a force. Our job is to throw the paper planes so that they hit the compound and produces a bang. So for the next 30 seconds, the air was filled with paper planes. Coz I was sitting at the front, some of them hit me instead of the boxes. One of them did go bang, though. The others didn’t.

I would not want to be the janitor at the end...

You need a plane that can hit its target for this, so I couldn’t show off my amazing fancy special turbo airplane that can spin around and come back at you, he he. Oh well, some other time, I guess.

Yaz, Paper Master (if you don’t get this, go watch Read or Die)

Mmmmmm…doughnuts!!

We all know how stressful exams can be. Therefore, in order to keep students sane and stop them from tearing their hairs out, the chaplains of Trinity College has provided a massage service. No, not from them (can you imagine how ridiculous it would be if chaplains start massaging people) but from a professional therapist. Obviously this will be in high demand so there’s a sign down sheet for it. But still, a free massage…wow!

Apart from that, they’ve also decided to give free doughnuts to students at the library (every day if I’m not mistaken) at two o’ clock. Yay!! Repeat after me…mmmmm, doughnuts (Homer Simpson style).

I went to the library at one minute past two yesterday because I have cravings for those doughnuts but they were all gone! And I was just one minute late!

Nooooo, me wants me doouughnuts!!!

Yaz is hungry. Not good.

Can’t think of a title

Hola!

Just finished my physics lecture a few minutes ago. According to the schedule, we’ll have two more next week, but technically, this one’s the last one of those that will be asked in the exam. The next two will be on non-examinable material, so they’re kinda optional. We’ll be learning cosmology, and as the lecturer put it, “Next time we’ll cover the whole history of the universe in one lecture.” Is it just me or that is kinda funny?

Guess I’ll be saying goodbye to physics and chemistry since I’m starting chemical engineering next year. I would rather continue with natural sciences, but then nobody’s gonna give you a scholarship just to be a scientist (at least in my case). A friend asked me just now, can’t you not do chem. eng. but stick to nat. sci? I think my Materials Sciences lecturer/supervisor was also dropping not so subtle hints on how she would like me to continue with my subjects. Oh well, sorry guys (or girls, to be pedantic) but it’s a no go.

I’m getting kinda scared. Probably because my friends are turning into politicians, or at least political commentators. Eeurgh, politics…nasty.

Haha.

Just kidding about the politician bit. Well, it does scare me a little, but I’m more scared about what my friend said the other day, that to get a first (top ten percent) you have to go against all these nerds and super nerds and ultra-geniuses that you’ll probably don’t have a chance. I’m targeting 2-1 now, looks like a more reasonable aim, doesn’t it?

On that note, the room privilege that goes with being a first only applies in the third year. I already know where my room is next year. Got a nice one (I was lucky with the ballot) which probably is nicer than the one I’m in now.

Well, there’s my rambling of the week. I was writing this on my laptop while occasionally staring out the window, watching the weather turned from windy to bright to a drizzle to sunny to a drizzle again… all in ten minutes. Half the time I don’t know what I’m actually writing but hey, it’s my blog.

Think I should rename it “The annals of insanity”?

P.S. To Keste: Oxford?? What’s that? Never heard of it. Can it be eaten?

Bwahahaha!!

*sigh* don’t mind me…

Yaz.

Clockshifting

Just one more week of lecture, yay!

I woke up at half past one last Sunday morning. Not being able to go back to sleep, I studied chemistry for two hours. Somehow it seems to roll over until today. I think my biological clock went haywire for a bit, and then it adjusted itself, much like a jet-lag. So now I woke up at five and went to sleep at eleven. It’s like my day being shifted a few hours early. Probably a good thing though. I was never able to study at night anyway.

Oh well, undoubtedly I’ll be very busy for the next couple of weeks. My exam’s in mid June, and there are only five papers, so it’s not that overwhelming really. Some people here are targeting a 2-1, which, they reasoned, is good enough since it’s comparable to a first class anywhere else. At least, that’s what they say. I’m not getting my hopes up high (somehow I have a habit of saying this for things I really want) but I’d love to get a first, cause then I can get the nice room in college. Well, you need something to motivate yourself, right? Repeat to self: nice room…nice room…nice plush room...

Yaz

Cambridge pastime?!

Trinity College has this society called the “Magpie and Stump”. It’s basically a debating society, and they organised a debate almost every Sunday for people in Trinity to watch. The twist is that the motions are humorous and absurd, and it’s more of a hilariously comical debate that anything. Guess what this week’s motion is? “This house believes that breast is best”. Perverted? Probably. Ha ha. And to think that people wonder what Cambridge students do in their free time.

I didn’t get to see it yesterday cause I’ve been busy. Hmmmmm…is that a good or a bad thing?

Jokes?!

I guess the general consensus is that scientists don’t have a sense of humour. Or they do, but it’s all in-jokes and obscure references that you need to study at least 4 years of physics to actually understand what the punch line really is. I remembered cracking a joke in maths class about differentiating e^x. There was silence for about 5 seconds. Then somebody said, “Is that a joke?”

(In case anybody from Atlantic College is reading this, I was also the culprit who wrote about the horse having infinite number of legs on the blackboard, although Irene, my former maths teacher should have guessed. But that was too good a joke to just let pass)

Anyway, when I learnt quantum mechanics some time ago, I got this sort of epiphany because I finally understand one particular joke that I’ve heard. I’m pretty sure most of you will have heard it coz it’s really famous. It’s on how to measure the height of a building using a barometer. There is the original joke, but I’ve found this science joke website a couple of years ago where people just keep adding solutions to the original joke. There’s one about throwing the barometer from the basement and measuring the probability of it being able to quantum tunnel to the top. And then I learnt quantum mechanics, and suddenly it all clicked.

Anyway, if you’re into science jokes, or just want to see what sad bunch of people scientists are, hehe, then just check the website (or alternatively just type ‘science joke’ in google). Then you can either double up in bubbling laughter or shook your head sympathetically. Enjoy!

Here is a version of the original barometer joke for your perusal : ]

There's the Physics student who got the following question in an exam:


"You are given an accurate barometer, how would you use it to determine the height of a skyscraper ?"


1: He answered: "Go to the top floor, tie a long piece of string to the barometer, let it down 'till it touches the ground and measure the length of the string".


The examiner wasn't satisfied, so they decided to interview the guy:


"Can you give us another method, one which demonstrates your knowledge of Physics ?"


2: "Sure, go to the top floor, drop the barometer off, and measure how long before it hits the ground......"


"Not, quite what we wanted, care to try again ?"


3: "Make a pendulum of the barometer, measure its period at the bottom, then measure its period at the top......"


"..another try ?...."


4: "Measure the length of the barometer, then mount it vertically on the ground on a sunny day and measure its shadow, measure the shadow of the skyscraper....."


"....and again ?...."


5: "walk up the stairs and use the barometer as a ruler to measure the height of the walls in the stairwells."


"...One more try ?"


6: "Find where the janitor lives, knock on his door and say 'Please, Mr Janitor, if I give you this nice Barometer, will you tell me the height of this building ?"

Yaz, whose trying to be cheeky...unsuccessfully.

Punting anyone?

My junior from Atlantic College sent me an SMS the other day asking if he can visit Cambridge before going back to Malaysia. Seeing that I will have exams on the 9^th and a trip to Hungary straight after that, I told him I’ll be busy. He’s persistent, though, and being the kind-hearted bloke that I am, I think I ended up agreeing to it, heh heh. Oh well, I guess a weekend distraction a week before your exams will not hurt…much.

I just found out that besides the punts owned by the punting companies, Trinity College also has its own punts that I can hire. Guess what the price is? One pound per hour! Gosh, that’s like, one of the cheapest things ever. For those who don’t know, punts are these boat-like things that you steer using long wooden poles instead of an oar. It’s the main activity that goes along River Cam.

With the weather being ‘summer-like’, amateur punters have sprouted out of nowhere. Sometimes, when I stop by the bridge, it’s really amusing to see these people who obviously have no idea how to punt try and go about it. By these people, I mean Brits, coz the Asian tourists all go on the guided tour punts, with tour guides and everything.

Ooooooooo, punting traffic jam!

Sheesh, it's punting, not a tightrope balancing act.

There's this punt that passes under the bridge. Somehow, the pole got stuck at the bridge and they have to paddle to get it back.

On a side note, you don't really have to use the paddle. It's just there for emergency precautions.

So yeah, when my junior comes, I’ll definitely hire one of those punts coz I never steered one of those things before. I’ve been punting, but only on the guided tour ones (paid about £10 for that). On that note, I now feel deeply obliged to apologise to Keste for not noticing this earlier, hehe. O’ Keste, forgive my humble and unworthy self. Also, apologies for not realising that as a Cambridge student, I can enter any of the colleges for free. Please don’t kill me. Of course, if you want you can always visit Cambridge again : ]

Yaz, the ecstatic punter-wannabe.

Update on the weather

Regarding my last post, being the guilty conscious git that I am, I feel obliged to state that Cambridge has moved on from its abysmal weather to a much sunnier spell. In fact, last Thursday was the hottest day that I've ever experienced in the UK. Kinda makes me wish I'm in Atlantic College again where the sunniness is always accompanied by a gust of chilling breeze from the sea.

The exam pressure has started to take a toll on us all. While the chronic exam symptoms hasn't yet appear (symptoms like grumpiness, crankyness and erratic and radical change of attitude for some people), the exam hung like a distant thunderstorm cloud on the horizon. I hope I'll do well on this one. It'll probably take a heck of an effort to compete with these eggheads over here, but I really really want to get first class. If you get first class, you'll get the Scholar title, and then you'll have all these special privileges like being moved up on the room ballot. That way, you can pick all these nice spacious rooms with showers and all and live the entire year in your own plush private space... *dreamy sigh*

Every weekend I go to this friend's room for the weekly cookout, and since Trinity College doesn't allow p2p or torrents, I always bring my computer there and freeload on the wireless internet connection that I found there. This is the time when I download all my stuffs through limewire and torrents. However, for the past few weeks, I haven't been able to connect to the network. It's still there, open network and all but it's like I've been banned from connecting to it. Noooooooo!! How will I ever be able to watch movies again????

It's times like this when I really wish I'm an uber computer hacker. Sigh...

Yaz

A collection of random events

It's April, and it's the time of year when the flowers bloom and sun shines...NOT!

I was getting used to the fact that everyday I will be woken up not by my alarm clock but by this ray of blinding sunshine that penetrates my curtains at half past six every morning. Guess that's what happened when your bedroom faces east. Not today, though. It was really chilly and gloomy and there's this heavy drizzle going on. Nothing better than to be greeted by the wet and cold in the morning, isn't it?

I went to breakfast anyway as I have this new term resolution of having a healthy lifestyle, or maybe it's just due to the fact that I realised that it's about as cheap as buying a sandwich in the department just before lecture. During breakfast, I met this guy who is in my tutor group but whom I never talked to until now. Turned out to be quite a cool person really. Slightly surprised that he can tell that I'm a Malaysian (he's a Dutch/Frenchman). He told me that that's because there were about 30 M'sians in his previous school (I'm not aware that there are that many there. Illegal immigrants?). Anyway, that's better than my neighbour across the corridor who doesn't know where Malaysia or Singapore is. I think he told me that he once thought India is in Africa. Yeah, in the Paleozoic era maybe. Not belittling him or anything, he's a nice guy, just not adept enough in geography.

Got my exam timetable. Turned out that mine will be on the last week of full term. Just great...I'll be having exams while other people are finished with theirs and are partying and laughing and dancing and singing like crazy. It's like the IB all over again.

There you go, a collection of random things for the sake of updating. Just to add to the randomness, Cambridge has this May funfair thing going on. Today's the last day and I might go there for a while after this since I missed the toffee apples and cotton candy.





Mmmmmmmm, cotton candyyyy!

Yaz.

Start of term!!

Well, that will not be until tomorrow actually but for a time outside of full term, today sure has been quite busy. Had my Tutor meeting just now, and there's Director of Studies meeting next, have to hand in my physics report, collect exam slip from the office, exchange pleasantries with friends that I haven't seen in a month, etc etc. Will have a four-hour physics lab tomorrow. I feel like being in an accident or something, one time you're just relaxing and all and then suddenly ,POW!! You're hit with all this things. Good thing I've prepared a bit for it. Some people stayed up till four last night to finish the report. I felt like laughing and dancing around in their faces.

I was using the computer this morning, and this pop up window appeared, saying that this "Windows Genuine something something" program requests access to the internet. Not knowing any better, I gave it permission. Only later that I found out that Microsoft has taken a step to "brand" illegal and pirated Windows os. Basically, a pop up will appear reminding you that you're not using a genuine copy, which will be both annoying and embarrassing. Plus, you will also not be able to download Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Defender, not that I use IE any more. The program that I gave permission to is the one that does this branding thing. My Windows is genuine, so no annoying pop ups for me, but I'm sure lots of people back home are in for a surprise.

Yaz.

Experiment chocolate caramel: FAILED!

Okay, so my latest blunder is this recipe I found on the web that is categorised as easy. Darn, you'd think I would have given up by now. There's this, plus the caramel fudge I tried a while back, toffee apples, and not forgetting the apple crumble. This is probably why I don't tell my friends what I want to bring to each weekly meal. You know, to keep from being embarrassed every time my gourmet cuisines don't work out. If I tell them, they most likely will not be able to keep their mouths shut and start teasing me about it. In fact, it has already started with some people *ahem*keste*ahem*.

Oh well, as a consolation, I did manage to make some brownies for the weekly cookout, even though it was just some instant brownies mix from Sainsbury's that you just have to add water to. Still tastes nice. I'm gonna try making some cookies next week, fingers crossed.

Should have taken a picture of the brownies.

The new term has started for Cambridge although lectures will not start until next week. It feels great to see some familiar faces of first years in the dining hall after one month of it being filled with post-graduates and phD students whom I don't recognise. I pitied them though, since they don't have breaks like we do.

Read a really emotional fiction story yesterday that made me despise the world in general. The feeling lasted a whole morning so I couldn't get any work done. I wonder if it's normal to get carried away by stories like that.
Yaz.

The explorer in me

Somehow, the anime site that I always use to download from was pretty slow today. Usually it's capable of doing around 300 kb/s per file but today it was down to only around 30 kb/s. So while I waited impatiently for the neverending thing to finish downloading, I went out for a little walk.

Today was much better than yesterday. More people were out and about, and I took a slightly less usual route to the bridge near Queens College. I'm most familiar with the part of the River Cam between Magdalene and Queens since that's the usual punting route and haven't ventured much beyond these two points. Today, though, I felt inclined for a little perigrination. So I travelled down River Cam from Queens to the south.



It was a nice walk all in all. I came to a halt where the two forks of the river merged into one, stopping me to go further. But there's a nice little park and playground nearby for kids and their families. I remembered complaining to a friend once (can't remember who) that there's not really a park in Cambridge, one that has trees and all where you can sit down and just relax. Well, there's one behind the bus station but I don't like it much. There's also sort of a botanical garden at Hill's Road but you have to pay to go in. But this playground place is just nice. I think this place will see a lot of me in the near future.


It rained while I was at the park, so I had to go back. It stopped while I was at the town centre and I was probably the only one who looked wet, since at the town centre you could go into shop and all to take shelter. The magnificent English weather. Got to luv it.

Yaz.

Cacophony of Cambridge

I love the weekends. Especially when it's not gloomy, unlike today. I made a habit of going around walking randomly around Cambridge every day. Can't really pinpoint why I do it, probably because it's quite relaxing in a way,and I often go out and walk when I'm taking a break from doing work. I've had this habit since, well, forever. I'm pretty sure some of my friends would recall the numerous strolls that I had done in secondary school during prep time, weekends and in the middle of the night. I guess that sort of carries on here. Anyway, I sort of like walking around Cambridge in the weekends because that's when the denizens come out and fill the streets. At any other day it doesn't seem that there's many people around but during weekends you can see the families, kids and parents and all shopping or eating or doing whatever things they do. A nice change of scenery after being isolated from the world in the middle of nowhere somewhere in South Wales.

One thing about Cambridge is the mixture of sounds that you can hear. I live in the town centre, right smack next to a busy road and while it's endurable, sometimes it's quite annoying to hear drunk people shouting and singing off-key passing by in the middle of the night. Then there's this Big Issue magazine seller who hollers out to people to buy his mags and there's also this other guy who sings Green Day loud. VERY loud. He seems to be gone lately, not that I miss him.

Basically, as long as it's not anywhere near my place, it's fine by me. Can even be quite amusing. I mean, you're just walking and you see some chaps singing or playing the keyboard or guitar or harmonica. There was this percussion band the other day,complete with drums and tambourines and all. Yesterday there were these three guys with drums. Where did those come from? I think they just did it for the fun of it.














I recorded a video of the band but until I figure out how to embed videos in my blog, you just have to take my word for it.

Holiday's almost over. With only one week left, guess I have to work my socks off very soon. Sigh...

Yaz.

It's been awhile...

Well, it's been awhile since my last blog entry. I blame it solely on the fact that it's a holiday and nothing much is going on, hehe. Reminds me of the fact that I used to keep a diary/journal, but I didn't bother writing in it during holidays since the entry "Same as yesterday" will probably crop up a lot. Of course, I did made plans for this easter break, like visiting some friends in Manchester, but I got quite the shock upon finding the train ticket price. Can't remember the exact amount but definitely more than £50. Ack, no way! I was talking with this guy from the Netherlands (Netherlands...Nether Land...Nether World...hmmm, somehow that strikes me as funny, LOL, of course, no offense to the people living there) and he mentioned that the flight ticket back home is only about £15! I mean, can you believe it. Last time I checked, UK is an island (well, Northern Ireland is on another island but you know what I mean) so The Netherlands is obviously further away than Manchester. Then what's up with the ticket price? Seems quite absurd to me.

Going by bus is definitely cheaper but there's no way I'm going to spend seven hours on the bus doing nothing. Well, at least until I buy an iPod or something. At least it's something to keep me distracted. Hmmmmm, the rational part of me keeps reminding me not to spend money recklessly but I'll probably succumb to the temptation by June. Oh well.

So I'm staying here in Cambridge in a block that currently only contains 3 people. Must be pretty lonely, huh? Somehow, even in that condition I find it hard to get my work done. I'm blaming it on...let's see.. yes, the internet. Yes, this atrocious distraction is like heroin, once you got sucked in it you won't have a life anymore.

*Sigh* I'm blaming other things again, aren't I? On a totally unsubtle jump of topic, that reminds me of the surname of somebody I know, Blamey. I teased her about it once, but I didn't dare to do it again lest I invoke the wrath of a Welshman, or Welshwoman in this case. I'm pretty sure if she read this then she will come all the way from Cowbridge to whack my head. I'm rambling, aren't I?

I did finish my work. Well, sort of. I left a few of the hard ones because I can't be bothered to crack my head for a few hours thinking about it. Might as well just let my supervisor explain it to me. I mean, why bother spending hours thinking about a problem when you can understand it all in five minutes during supervision session? Yeah, yeah, I know you're not actually supposed to do that and you should attempt each question but I should be able to get away with it as long as it's just a few. I think even though you're a Cambridge student you're not expected to be able to do it all. Last time I checked I'm still human.

Heh heh, actually I'm one lazy bugger, aren't I?

Not a happy clappy day

I tried to make apple crumble tonight. Apple crumble with a dash of cinnamon. It worked well before, I remember preparing it for my dorm mates. We ate it with custard in the confines of our room while engaging in idle talk.

I promised my friends in Cambridge that I would bring them some tonight. I saw some instant crumble toppings in Sainsbury's yesterday and I thought, why not give it a try?So I spent a while in the kitchen, mixed this and that, and I popped it into the oven. Forty minutes later, I took it out.

Hmmm, not yet brown and golden. I'll put it back in.

Fifty minutes later, still not golden.

An hour and fifteen minutes later, this is SO not happening.

So I abandoned my apple crumble project and went to the friend's place feeling very very frustrated.

Setting that aside, I got an e-mail today from the International Office. I had applied to the Cambridge-MIT exchange program because I think it would be cool to go to both Cambridge and MIT. Apparently, I was not accepted. Oh well, I didn't actually get my hopes up high on that one, so I don't feel very despondent about it. It sort of shucks, but on the bright side, I'll live in a very nice room in Cambridge next year (which I have to abandon if I was accepted). A set with en-suite shower and all.

So yup, not a very good day (the apple crumble got to me the most). Not exactly sulking or anything, just need to vent a little. Sorry for ranting, guess I'll end it here.

</rant> . He he.

A trip down memory lane

So I went to London on the 25th of March for a meeting with my sponsor. Nothing worth mentioning, unless you count the fact that we got a free lunch at the hotel afterwards, which is a welcomed break from the cafeteria food or those that I cooked (if you can call it that) myself.

Since I was already in London, I took the opportunity to visit my old school in Wales (I have to go via London to visit it from Cambridge anyway). Was looking forward to it, especially since this week is the last week that ex-students are allowed to visit (afterwards the current students will be preparing for the International Baccalaureate exam) and I have some stuffs left there that I need to take back, namely my printer.

I guess you can say it was a bit weird to go back to the place that you used to know. Somehow, quite a number of people looked different. My ex-dorm mates were sporting new hairstyles and there's this Russian kid who was really short the last time I saw him but I could have sworn that now the top of his head was reaching my eye level when I walked past him at the hall. Was it him or was I getting shorter? You think?

Anyway, my camera sort of broke down so I couldn't use it to take pictures but luckily there's my trusty N70 to the rescue, he he. So yeah, I managed to take some snapshots of my beloved Atlantic College where I spent 2 years in.

My school is a 12th century medieval castle overlooking the sea, how cool is that?
































Seafront
















Where I sometimes go to unwind...
















Castle and the Beast Garden...














See why it's called the beast garden?
















I am the protector of this castle, muahahaha!





















Ooooh, another one! Warrrghhh!!





















Unfortunately, the rose garden doesn't bloom at this time of the year. Otherwise, it's really really pretty.














The main drive...














We don't really live in the castle. Instead, we live in separate student houses. Some of the classes, however, are conducted in the castle, and not forgetting the dining hall. It's very Harry Potter-ish.

Usually there are some sheep around. can you spot them?
















All in all, it was nice meeting old friends and faces. Gosh, I guess I really must have missed them. It's been what, almost a year? My next visit will probably be during the 10-year reunion, *sigh* that's eons away.
Stayed there for 3 days, then I took off to London. I also brought the printer with me. Ever tried carrying a box with a printer inside all the way from Cardiff to London to Cambridge? Trust me, it's no fun.

Holiday, procrastination and sundials...

Yay! I'm on holiday!!

In my opinion, Cambridge has one of the longest holidays compared to other unis in the UK. Mine started on the 17th of March and ends on the 25th of April. That's like, what, 5 weeks? To top it all, I only have 2 assignments to finish and one of them can be done in 3-4 hours. One good thing about the course I am taking is that I never need to write any essays (yeah, go Natural Sciences!) and the closest thing is probably writing lab reports. So, being left with two easy-peasy (lemon squeezy ;p ) work, I did the only thing one is expected to do in this predicament...

...I procrastinate. He he.

Yup, the 4-hour assignment is still there fermenting on the table. It's about sundials. Didn't realise it until a few weeks ago, but my Maths (computing) lecturer is a person who goes around making sundials. Sounds odd? Well, he designed a few sundials here and there; there's one that he made for the Queen and another one in Denmark (or was it Sweden, I can't remember). Funny thing to be doing for a hobby. Anyhow, we're all expected to do the same, except we're modelling in on Excel and Mathcad, which is much easier than carving it on walls of buildings. Not that it's of much use anyway, considering the English weather =p

Anyway, I wouldn't worry much about it for the moment. Should be enough time for me to do it before going to London this weekend.