1 week

- It's roughly 1 week left for my group to finish up our River-Taxi Project

- It's roughly 1 week left for my group to finish up our presentation for our River-Taxi Project

- 1 week after this coming week, my final examinations will start

- This coming week is the final 1 week of my academic calendar

- After this coming week, I'll have 1 week of study week


- On my final 1 week of final examinations month, I only have 1 paper

- The gap between my last paper and 2nd last paper is roughly 1 week

- There are 7 days in 1 week..duhh...merapu... Byah!!!

Course evaluation by Miguel

This semester is quite challenging for me even though I'm only taking 7 courses. I'm already in my 13th academic week and my first paper will be on the 8th November 2010, that's like so soon eh... What'cha gonna do?? Hopefully I'll do enough to complete this semester without any hiccups and crossing my fingers for some good grades. Some are ok, some are hard and some I don't really know what to say.... I'm ranking them as below with the last one being the hardest:

1) Principles of Marketing

It's a complimentary course and for finals, the weight is only 30%. I do hope I have a high carry marks coz I really need a good grade from this course to balance up my grades. PLus, this is a 4 credit hours course so an A will give a huge impact on my grades. For finals, there will be MCQ and essay..so should be ok.

2) Engineering Ethics

TO be honest, this is a course which I can't really rate because it's a very subjective course. Only essays for finals and marks will be based on my lecturer's view of my answers. I am quite lucky to get 35/50 for my carry marks because a lot of people did not do well in the mid semester exams. At the very least, the lecturer did mention that he will at least give us a C because he doesn't want to see us again next semester.

3) Manufacturing System

This subject is again quite challenging. I did not do that well for my mid semester but I did not fail it la. I do hope my assignments are enough to give me a carry mark above 30/50..I can only keep my fingers crossed. The thing about this course is that the earlier semester, it's more on theories and now it's more on calculations. In the finals, only chapter 7 to 14 will be covered, meaning most of the questions will be calculation based. The hard part is that there will be no equation given, so I have to memorize them all.

4) Solid 1

Honestly, this subject is not that difficult but it's easy to fail this course. One small mistake will cost a lot in terms of marks and there are a lot of calculations involved. The only way to study this course is by doing a lot of exercises. I managed to pass my mid semester exams and I do hope my assignments will play a huge role in giving me a good carry mark.

5) Engineering MAths 3

The first half of this course is not that hard but the second half is a whole new world for me. I am confident that I did well in my mid semester exams but there's still Test 2 next week. Hopefully I can do enough to give myself a good carry mark.

6) Engineering Economics

This is supposed to be an easy core subject but it didn't turn that way. My lecturer is a real engineer with JKR and he is very strict with everything and I mean everything. If you write 6% instead of 0.06, he'll give you zero marks. Everything must be perfect in order to AVOID ZERO marks...Gilo...

There is another course, Engineering Design, but there won't be final assessment for the course. We only have mid semester exam, assignments and one main project for this course. Although I should have done enough to pass, I'm hoping for a good grade for this course....Overall, it's a difficult semester but I'm still hoping for good grades here and there...Byah!!!

108 - 98

That's the bowling card score between my gf and I, mine with 98..hahaha. I think it's the first time she's beaten me but hey, it's just a game. It's been quite some time since I last bowl..the same goes to her. For her, it's the first time she's scored more than 100 pin falls...Well done!

Other than bowling, played pool and had KBOX session with my gf yesterday. Not a special day, but I was trying to ease some steam off myself. Been going through a lot of things (academically) and yesterday I was a little disappointed with how I fared with my Engineering Design Test/Exam.

I won't be so disappointed if can't do well or if I sit for an exam unprepared. When you know you've done little, you won't be aiming so high. As for this morning, I did fairly enough preparations and the calculation questions that came out were relatively similar to the ones I did during my revisions. In fact, I felt confident on the calculation part.

However, thinking back on how I really did this morning, I realized that I made 2 silly mistakes. Aduh aduh aduh..... macam biasa, I have to depend on my theory section for marks.... I'll be thankful if I can get more than 50%... I'm crossing my fingers..hehehe... BYah!!

Late..

COngrats to all those yang baru jak lepas konvo... You guys are the 14th graduate batch from UNIMAS!!!!!! I hope I'll be part of the 16th.... Byah!!!!!!!

Project: River-Taxi Project_Part 3_Personal visit to Sri Aman

It's an advantage for me when I first knew about this River-Taxi project. Yala, Sri Aman is my mum's hometown so I can reach quite a number of people for information. It's even better since my mum's longhouse is along one of the tributaries (Undop, Lemanak, Skrang and Batang Ai) of Batang Lupar. So during the Raya holidays, I went off to Undop to interview a few locals.


Sungai Undop is further upriver of Batang Undop. The river is quite shallow but quite wide. The flow is quite fast (rapid) and there are a lot of dead tree trunks here and there. In addition to that, the river is nothing like Batang Lupar. Undop have clear water (in the picture it's not so clear because every time it rains, muddy water from logging will pollute the river) and it's with rocks rather than mud.


Thus, it is quite hard for one to use power boats but some do use small boats to fish and travel by short distance to their orchard. However, the scenery of flora and fauna along the river is breathtaking. It's no surprise that tourist do come over to the longhouse to stay for a night (home-stay).


Boats for locals to town is not necessary because it's a lot easier to go by road but if we view it in terms for tourism, then it's worth a shot. However, it's not that easy to do due to the depth of the river...How now???? Byah!!!

Dear You_3

Yes you.... I know la you bayar rent here..tapi..tapi... that doesn't mean you can park your bike all the way sampai kaki tangga.. how la others want to naik tangga?? I know la you so poor sik makan and kurus kering... Don't forget about some of us yang besar macam guni baja tok... If your bike tumbang by me kan susah... Bodoh na juak... Ptuih... Byah!!!

Project: River-Taxi Project_Part 3_Travel Log to Sri Aman

On the 19th August, we (Brian, Jong and I from Group 10, Stroyan and Raddy from Group 9) went to Sri Aman as part of our project requirements. We aimed to be able to conduct survey sessions at designated schools and random interview session with some of the locals. Designated schools are SMK St. Luke, SMK Simanggang and SMK Sri Aman. However, we did not conduct survey session at SMK Simanggang due to technical reasons. Brian and I conducted the survey sessions while Jong joined the guys from Group 9 to interview locals at the waterfront. In the end, we went home on the 20th August, satisfied with our trip to Sri Aman. Below is the journey log of our trip:

19th August

6.25 pm – Picked up Brian, Raddy and Stroyan from BRC and then Jong from Cempaka.


6.30 pm – Went off from UNIMAS after double-checking everything.

8.15 pm – Reached Serian. We stopped for dinner because if we continue on to Sri Aman, it’l be 11pm plus. There might be any eatery open at that time, it’s not like Kuching. If you look closely, we reached Serian after an hour plus drive from UNIMAS. Standard driving time to Serian from Kuching is 45 minutes. Thanks to someone, we spent 30 minutes looking for Berita Harian…..hahahaha…boh marah….enjoy… For dinner in Serian, Jong ordered kangkung belachan, deer meat, stewed pork leg, vege-soup and of course..rice.

9.20 pm – Went off from Serian. Raddy nearly got left behind hadn’t it for Jong to inform me that Raddy was not in the car. Sorry Raddy..sik sengaja bah….. Ney la aku tauk ko gik di jamban… Anyway, our jouney from Serian to Sri Aman was not so smooth. The road was dark and it was a rainy night. I had to drive slower, about 80km/hr…..


11.30 pm – Finally we reached Sri Aman (Jong and Raddy muntah..hahaha..tedah). We stayed at Hotel Taiwan, quite cheap la…. Each of us basically spent RM15 for accommodation. For a spring bed, aircond, tv, hot shower and fresh towel…ok wat…. I was soaking wet since I went to offload the stuffs from my car. Dah la sikda mbak spare short pants…huhuhu….

11.50 pm - After we all went for a warm shower (not together-gether okay..), off we went around town looking for supper. We went to a coffee shop but we’re not warmly welcomed. Maybe because we didn’t order beer like other tables. Only Brian and I had something to eat. The rest just ordered drinks… well, we eventually ordered beer, but tapau to our room la. The plan was to drink beer while discussing on who’s doing what and where….mok bincang cara US la tek…. But due to fatigue, we all tido terus lepas minum…ahahahah…


1.00 am - zzzzzz...dah 20th pun...

20th August

7.00 am – Rise and shine everybody….. Stroyan was the last one to get up… But it’s not so important for him (and for Jong and Raddy) to wake up early because they only need to interview a couple of locals and that’s it. For Brian and I, we needed to go to 3 schools.


8.00 am – Off we went to SMK St. Luke. Although I’ve been to Sri Aman a gazillion times, I don’t really know the roads. We just agak agak…hahahha..nasib I printed out a map (TQ google earth..)

8.10 am – Reached SMK St. Luke…Phew..that wasn’t so bad eh… nasib Sri Aman town is a small town…. We went to their office and we warmly welcomed by the staffs. The school principle was out for a meeting, so the Penolong Kanan entertained us. A very nice fellow and he even went on to conduct the survey session for us… Brian and I just jadi tukang pegang form jak…hahahaha…

8.45 am – Semua done…we thanked the Penolong Kanan and we’re off to the next school, SMK Sri Aman…

8.50 am – Thanks to Penolong Kanan SMK St Luke, we didn’t waste a lot of time looking for SMK Sri Aman. Again we were warmly welcomed by the staff (they expected us ba..we faxed and called all schools a few days before coming over). It’s meeting day for all school principles, so the Penolong Kanan again la…. He’s kinda sik hal sik hal type of person..meaning we can do whatever la….and he didn’t really stay with us for long….after showing which classes available for survey session, he went off… sik hal….ok juak….

9.40 am – We wanted to finish SMK Sri Aman before class break but sik sempat… Most teachers preferred us to conduct the surveys by end of class session ba.. That’s why lambat done… Next up, SMK Simanggang….

10.15 am – I basically don’t know where is SMK Simanggang…. I only knew it’s near Jalan Kelab…So I just drove around aimlessly..ikut nasib jak…. Mot of the time we turned right at junctions..and tada!!!! Jumpa sudah….. At SMK Simanggang, things were different… We were escorted to the school office by the guards (rasa betul2 outsider eh..).. Sampai di office, we had to wait for 15 minuted because someone was with the school principle (I tot it’s hari meeting principle eh..ponteng ka??) After waiting and waiting..baru dapat jumpa… The thing is, he didn’t know we’re coming (tapi his staffs tauk pulak..sapa yg sik kerja tok???)..and bla bla bla….. technicalities forbid us to conduct our survey..so we went off to waterfront area with a lil of perasaan kecewa…


11.00 am – Meet up the rest at waterfront…sedang berposing-posing….. yala..1 hour pun dah cukup for interview ba….. Off we went to our hotel, check out time 12 noon…


Noon – check out…. Before pulang..makan dulu mee dawai Sri Aman… sedap wooo……

1.00 pm – Time to pulang…….


1.50 pm – Reached Lachau..stopped over for some refreshments and buang air air di jamban….

2.00 pm – Bergerak lagi…to Serian…. Hujan also la…

3.15 pm – Pit stop at Serian…mok kemeh ba….bocor kelak… kejap jak..then terus jalan to UNIMAS

4.05 pm – Sampai UNIMAS…..sempat gik Raddy and I turun kelas….

Well….that’s all la perjalanan. Overall, fun also….. Penat juak la.. Byah!!!

CONGRATS!!

Just a short note for my friends in Swinburne, whom GRADUATED today (finally eh....) CONGRATS!!!! A huge HUG from me.... may all of you do well in the future.... IF ada masa, we main futsal k.... BYAH!!!

Dear You_2

Hi there,

Well, nothing much really. Just want to tell you that pressing the 'UP' button multiple times will not make the lift come down any faster. You are not playing an online sex game....you're not playing DOTA.... it's not the same as clicking your mouse. So please la, as an engineering student...a professional student... think like one.

Byah!!

Dear You_1

To whom it may concern,

In order for one to be Justin Bieber, you need to be:

1) barely teenager
2) can sing and dance a little
3) hang out with guys to dig chicks
4) white
5) male

Out of the basic 5 requirements, you only meet number 3. So basically you're just a person thinking yourself still a teenager, someone who can't sing or dance, not white but colored and you don't have a dick. So if you think this post is for you, WAKE UP!

p/s: I'm getting annoyed with this Bieber-mania....

Busy?

It's October (yeah, Oktoberfest!!) and this is my first post for this month. Looking at September, I posted a lot eh...but I can't say it'll be the same for this month since I'll be very busy. Assignments..projects.... exams..bla bla bla... but I'll post as many as I can...Byah!!!