Blog posts

Long(-ish) Commutes and Panoramic Kitchens

MBBS/BSc Medicine

Living in Halls

I present to you- Woodward (WW) a.k.a #DiamondofImperial a.k.a Alaska (because it’s low-key a trek from campus).

In case you aren’t sure how it works, all first year undergrad students are guaranteed a place for accommodation as long as they accept Imperial as their firm. I received an invitation to apply for accommodation in July- you get to choose 5 preferences but these are all ranked equally. 

My halls consist of three blocks: B, C, and D (I’m not quite sure what happened to A). Block D is arguably the place to be- where the kitchens have panoramic views. *Insert heart eye emojis* At WW, all the rooms are ensuite and we’ve also got an on-site two storey gym, music rehearsal rooms, study spaces, a common room complete with pool and foosball tables, etc. #BraggingRights

The nearest tube station is pretty much across the road (North Acton Station) and there are a couple bus stops dotted around nearby. There’s Tesco Express and Sainsbury’s Local a stone’s throw away, and a massive ASDA which is about a 10-15 minute walk from WW. (Oh, plus Domino’s, Subway, and Costa are also a minute away.)

Nearby is the other Imperial hall- the Costume Store. They share their building with UAL students and pretty much come to all our events. Sad.

Speaking of events- WW actually had something planned daily for a whole month during Freshers!

The regular events at the moment include free breakfasts and movie nights with snacks on Sundays in the common room. (Not going to lie- I’ve never been to any of the events but I do appreciate them!)

Admittedly, WW has a large medic presence *maniacal laughter* and most of the closest friends I’ve made live here- I suppose the commutes are almost a form of bonding? I’m actually sharing a flat with two of my best friends and it feels like a party everyday (except it’s not- the lectures are endless, and I’m personally constantly sleepy). :’) 

Admittedly, it’s not all rainbows and butterflies- as mentioned in the opening line, WW is a bit of a trek into campus (compared to other halls anyway).
I wasn’t totally thrilled to find out it was a 45 minute journey to South Kensington and a 35 minute journey to Hammersmith (Charing Cross Hospital). So basically, I wake up around 7-7.30AM for 9AM lectures.

 

Oh and did I mention I’ve got a roommate? There are definitely perks such as having company after watching horror films in case a killer is on the loose. Just kidding. We’re Imperial students- we don’t have time to watch movies. This is not at all true, I’m actually immune to so many horror films. :c

In all seriousness, having the company and someone to speak to is pretty nice plus speaking from experience, it’s always good to have a back up incase you get locked out of your room! (You could actually just go to security and admit defeat- but I’m not about that life and neither is my roommate.) I’m genuinely so grateful we get along and she’s honestly the absolute sweetest! I mean there’s a bit of clashing toilet use in terms of which side the toilet roll should be facing- but this can be overlooked. We actually also have conflicting bedtimes, but we make it work- thank goodness she’s a relatively heavy sleeper!

P.s. She’s a maths student- scary, right?

You can find more info about Imperial accommodation including different halls, their locations, and accommodation fees here.

Sending love and best wishes (from my super pretty kitchen)!
Alex (:

 

Feeling blue?

Mathematics of Planet Earth

The mission of my life is to show people surprising ways of using maths. However, today I’ll make an exception: I’ll talk about an example of maths abuse.

Surely you’ve heard that tomorrow we have the Blue Monday, apparently the most depressing day of the year. Even restaurants and shops all over the UK become almost charities by offering great deals (I can’t believe I just linked you to the Mirror!) to make this day a bit brighter for us, customers – I’m sure they do it solely out of goodness of their hearts, without any profit…You might also have heard that it was scientifically proven and that this date is found using a mathematical formula.

The facts are that you should rather believe I’m a raccoon than that there’s an equation for the day when the whole population of the UK is depressed. Seriously.

The man behind this pseudoscience is Dr Cliff Arnall who claims to be the Cardiff University psychologist. Claims to, because the university itself doesn’t want to sign under these pseudoscientific revelations (we can for example read in the Guardian that Cardiff University has asked us to point out that Dr Cliff Arnall, mentioned in the article below, was a former part-time tutor at the university but left in February). In 2005 Arnall came up with a formula to “prove” that a particular day in January was the most depressing day – a day that can be brightened only by a purchase from Sky Travel. Let me introduce you to the “science” produced for the travel agency (you can see where it’s all going).

Apparenlty we can find the day where people’s mood is the lowest using the following equation:

$latex \frac{W+(D-d)}{M\cdot NA}TQ, $

where W denotes weather, D – debt, d – monthly salary, T – time since Christmas, Q – time since failed quit attempt, M – low motivational levels and NA – the need to take action.

Can you spot some problems with this formula?

So how exactly do we quantify the weather?

First, what is the “weather”? Does he mean the temperature? Average rainfall? Number of sunny hours? If we were able to quantify the weather with one number, we wouldn’t need thousands of scientists working on weather forecasts. And I’d lose my PhD funding!

How do we measure “motivational levels” or “the need to take action”? Don’t forget we aren’t talking about individuals here, we mean the whole population.

And even if we managed to figure out the values of all variables, we can’t put apples and oranges into one equation. What do I mean by that? The units must be consistent! We never add temperature in Kelvins to pressure in hPa, we don’t divide it further by the energy from chocolate you just happened to eat etc. Units, units, units! It seems that Mr. Arnall forgot about them.

Be very careful when you’re dealing with different units!

Does it mean that the saddest day of the year doesn’t exist? I’m not claiming that. However, this would require a big, long study involving many participants, a lot of data and a team of experts in psychology and statistics. As far as I know, it hasn’t been conducted yet.

The media coverage about Blue Monday is dangerous for two reasons. First, it promotes pseudoscience. That’s why you should always, always question whatever you see in the media, even when (or maybe especially when) they claim that something was “scientifically proven”. Another danger is that it again misuses and simplifies the word “depression”. Depression is a serious, deadly disease and it’s so important to state clearly the difference between suffering from depression and just feeling a bit down. Even the most scientifically established Blue Monday wouldn’t make anyone depressed.

Conclusion? Don’t be afraid to smile tomorrow, it’s probably not the saddest day of 2018 – and even if it was, a little smile won’t hurt anyone!

(originally posted here) 

Dealing with disappointment

Mathematics and Statistics

Moving on as an Oxbridge reject

Getting rejected from Oxbridge is one of those moments where you feel like you’ve lost control and things haven’t gone how you wanted or expected them to go, leaving you feeling utterly discouraged. Maybe you feel like you’ve let yourself or someone else down, or maybe you feel annoyed or angry. Perhaps you feel drained, not seeing the point anymore and wishing you hadn’t tried in the first place.

Whenever you do feel like any of these, from disappointment to frustration it is most important to share how you feel with someone, I know it can seem like the hardest thing to do but it will definitely help you cope better. Talking to someone can not only keep you distracted from focusing on the negatives, but speaking to someone can also help you organise your thoughts and feelings, sometimes everyone just needs a cheerleader in life, someone who’s got your back, believes in you and is ready with words of hope and encouragement. It is also important to remember that you are not the only one who feels like this! EVERYONE in life has aimed for some exceptional goal and hasn’t quite made it at some point. But that feeling of not quite making it, or of feeling rejected is 100% what builds you up and makes you stronger.

Along with the majority of my friends, I was one of those people who, this time last year, faced the daunting prospect of opening an email or reading a letter that simply said I was rejected from Oxford or Cambridge (Oxford in my case), there is no way of sugar coating it. And in that moment in time it honestly feels like an the biggest obstacle possible has come in the way of you reaching your dream. Applying to Oxbridge is often something that you sit and consider for months, leaves you worrying in your sleep and far too invested in the outcome, so it does feel like a set back at the time but despite feeling upset you shouldn’t believe that rejection is what defines you because honestly it doesn’t.

You should be proud that you tried your best and of all of the hard work you have put into your application and work to get to the position of even applying to such a prestigious pair of universities. You have put yourself though the painful process of applications, entrance exams and interviews and don’t say “it’s all for nothing” when you don’t get into that dream university, because remember why you’re doing all of this. It’s because you love your subject and that is what has given you the passion and the drive to get to where you are. Also, don’t forget about all of the other amazing opportunities you have had and received, one negative most certainly doesn’t mean the end of the world. No matter where you end up studying, it’s the same subject you’ll be studying. Think about the other universities you have offers from, all of which will give you a sound education and an amazing experience. 10 years from now you’ll look back on your experience at university and what you’ll remember first is the wonderful memories you had there, not the name or not the rank of the university, in the same way as how when you consider your time in school you don’t remember your exam grades even though at the time that is what felt most important.

And last but not least, I am a firm believer in the saying that everything happens for a reason. A cliche no doubt but often I see where I’ve fallen in life, made mistakes or not felt like I’d achieved my best at the time, and then I consider where I am right now, and the journey I’ve come along to get here and I wouldn’t change it for anything. The people I’ve met, the things I’ve learnt have brought me to a place where I am really truly happy.

So in summary:

  • Don’t let this rejection get you down and don’t give up hope, its just a name at the end of the day
  • Be proud of what you have achieved to have even been able to apply to Oxbridge
  • Remember that you have plenty of other options of where to study that subject that you love
  • And finally, wherever you do end up, being rejected from oxbridge is something that you will have in common with so many people and it will become a fond memory that look back and laugh at

So welcome to the family, our big genuinely happy family of Oxbridge rejects!

…and breathe.

MSc Sustainable Energy Futures

Phew! Relax, that’s the end of the first term.

What a rollercoaster ride it has been. Never again will I complain at the start of term when things seem to going quite slowly for the first couple of weeks; we finished the term with two major pieces of coursework to be submitted, an intensive week-long module on entrepreneurship (very interesting, by the way – I may come back to that in a future blog…), an exam and a presentation. All in the final seven days. Wow.

There was a palpable sense of relief at the end of term party. This was in two stages: firstly the more formal part, in the student room, where several recent alumni had been invited to join us for a networking event, and where the other main pass-time was changing the selection of the Christmas music playlist and the video of Christmas trees or yuletide logs ablaze on winter fires. Thereafter we retired to a student flat for the real party, where hair was let down and the tension flowed away faster than the Thames on a spring ebb tide. Who knows what happens in student parties these days? Not me – I confess that anything could have happened and I’d be none-the-wiser, as I was the first grandfather to quit this more important event, the after-party, leaving it to the youngsters as I headed home to my bed and a long lie-in the next morning.

So, how was it for me? The first term after 35 years? Fun. Interesting. Largely enjoyable, and rather busy. I’ve certainly learned quite a bit, and I found it very interesting how much stuff I had studied decades ago came flooding back (OK – dribbling back in fits and starts). My early fears that my brain would have atrophied irretrievably or that I’d be left well-behind by the youngsters do not seem to have materialised, at least not yet. I’ve got my research topic and supervisors selected and a reasonable idea of how to start with the framing of the research question. The next step is a literature review next term. Now it’s time for a short break skiing in the alps, a family Christmas, New Year on the Thames, and some rest before next term.

And London has not disappointed. It’s as loud and busy and dirty and vibrant and exciting as I expected. The streets may not be paved with gold, as Dick Whittington himself found, but there are galleries and museums wherever you look. So far I’ve had trips to the Natural History and V&A museums, Tate Britain and the National Gallery. Not to forget an evening reception at the Palace of Westminster to keep abreast of the energy storage world. Plus the old City Hall, whose debating chamber is now converted into a theatre. So much history and culture in one place – and I still have a long London bucket list of things to do and see.

For now though I think I’m all set. But wait. Isn’t there something else? Oh yes, there’s also a little revision required before the exams in the first week of next term. Ah well, you can’t have everything. Back to the books, I suppose.

Laptop Performance Tricks

ERASMUS+ exchange student

In the last blog entry, I showed you how to optimize your laptop hardware. Now I’d like to show you my three favorite tips for making a quantum leap on the performance side itself.

Learn shortkeys

When you think about what amount of mouse movements we daily do across the screen, you could realize that there is a huge loss of time. Fortunately, there is a free shortcut for most common programs: Shortkeys! Personally speaking, I’m always happy when someone shows me a useful shortkey.

In the meantime, there are also many websites that list the most common shortkeys of e. g. Google Chrome (open tab, switch tab, etc.) or Adobe Reader (marking, commenting etc.). Entire books have even been written about Shortkey’s. But I can’t tell you to what extent these are any good…

Anyways, think about which programs you use frequently and google for shortkeys!

Effort: medium – you’ll have a short settling-in period though! Time saving: enormous! 🙂

Use the Snipping Tool and other little helper programs

Whether you need to copy out a meme or create elaborate summaries of your lecture slides – the Snipping Tool saves you a lot of work. Back in the days, I used to take screenshots of everything and then cut them out with paint. Oh, man, today this feels like the Stone Age to me. Press Windows key, enter snip, press enter button – finished! The program is open. Using Tip one: Windows CTRL + N – and you can cut out what you want to cut!

Another desktop favorite of mine is for example Qtranslate. A double-click is all it takes to understand the unknown vocabulary in the lecture slides! In case of doubt, it is also possible to consult several translation sources.

Last but not least – Sticky Notes! My favorite for listing all the things I want to do on the computer. It helps maintain focus and does not reset after reboot.

Effort: low – once installed, ready for use! Time saving: enormous

Learn to write 10 fingers professionally

I was lucky enough to have already gotten into a professional course in 2006 through my family (with certificate and all the trimmings). After years of practice on the computer, this technique saves me so much time! It was very tedious, but now I have an average typing speed of between 96 – 102 WPM (see screenshots).

  On the website 10fastfingers you can measure your writing speed – do you have room for improvement? If so, a training session might be worth considering 🙂 In the meantime there must certainly be online courses for this.

Effort: high, time and exercise intensive! Time saving: enormous

Otherwise, a professional speech recognition software might be worth considering when writing long texts. Huge progress has been made in this area over the past few years. Furthermore, some of my doctoral friends tell me about their successful use of such programs!

Let me know what you think about the tips + what kind of additions you have (again I am curious!)

Many greetings and a good start to the Spring Term

When PhD resembles break-ups a bit too much…

Mathematics of Planet Earth

Let’s face it: doing a PhD isn’t always rainbows and unicorns. The process can be painful and annoying, and at some point you’re probably going to get completely stuck. If you’ve ever done any research, you definitely know what I’m talking about.

There’s something you need to do, usually some task that was supposed to be easy – a toy example, an almost standard code, a “quick” experiment to check your hypothesis. And here you are, spending long hours, days, weeks, even months, not even closer to solving your problem. You’ve tried everything, used all possible sources you could find, but this devil isn’t giving up.

Hm, you guessed, it’s happening to me right now. To give you an idea of how it feels, let’s take a look at some stages of stuckness as described by psychologists. Well, not quite, these are the stages of grieving after a breakup, but it actually works. Let me walk you through the stages of being stuck in research. If you happen to be going through this process, some cuteness won’t hurt, so enjoy the pictures.

1. Desperate for Answers.

In the beginning you’re looking for answers.

In the beginning you just want to know – how to solve the equation, why your experiments give such results etc. You work hard trying different methods.

2. Denial.

You can’t believe that you haven’t solved this “easy problem” yet. I mean, it can’t be that complicated, right? You’re sure the answer is so close, just waiting there for you.

Denial: “A problem? There’s no problem!”.

3. Bargaining.

Hm, maybe you don’t really have to do that? There are many directions in which your research could go, why can’t you just pretend that this issue doesn’t exist and move on? Or even try to swipe the problem under the carpet, nobody will notice, right?

4. Relapse.

You might actually persuade yourself (and your supervisor) that the problem isn’t worth pursuing. However, the issue will come back soon, I promise. A very similar problem will appear in another example you’ll try to tackle.

5. Anger.

AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH, bloody gamma functions, why are you doing this to me, whyyyyyyy?!?!?!?! (I think I’m going through this stage right now).

Being stuck might make you angry and that’s ok.

6. Initial Acceptance.

You accept that the problem needs to be solved, but it might be too difficult to tackle alone. You start reaching out for help and admitting: “I have no idea”.

7. Redirected Hope.

Hey, maybe you won’t be able to solve the problem alone, but there’s somebody somewhere in the world working on something similar who would be interested in joining forces? Or maybe you could tackle an even smaller subproblem? Maybe there is some light in the end of this tunnel?

 

I’m sure all PhD students have had similar feelings, just not everybody talks about it. Remember: no pain, no gain. You can do that!

A Fresher’s Guide to Medical School Interviews

MBBS/BSc Medicine

Has it really been almost a year since I had my medical school interviews?

To get me through the preparation process, I recall going through endless online resources (TSR is great!) reading through interview tips, experiences, etc. So I thought it would be exciting to add to the wealth of online material and offer a post with some advice and a bit of an insider’s view to what my interviews were like!

I attended three interviews last January/February- two of which were panel (Imperial and Queen Mary/Barts), and one MMI (Newcastle). This is where I sheepishly admit that I personally found the Barts one most enjoyable (promise I’m not a traitor); whereas the Newcastle one was half a disaster- MMI was not my friend!

So here’s some general stuff which you will hopefully find helpful:

  • Why medicine?
    This question genuinely used to freak me out but there’s no escaping it. Composing an answer for this was quite an arduous process, but try not to overthink it. Be honest, mention a couple different aspects of medicine that are appealing to you and then elaborate. Chances are that you will be asked this wherever you interview, and honestly it eventually became my favourite question! It just felt very safe as I practically had the answer recited.
  • Why our uni?
    Be able to tell them why you want to go to their medical school; this was also something I was asked everywhere. The university websites are a great resource! I found it helpful to speak about the general course structure at the university; the variety of patients they get at their teaching hospitals; student satisfaction and support offered; clubs and societies; the city itself, etc. They may even phrase it in terms of what you have to offer to the university- this is where I mentioned being involved in student life and different societies I was interested in joining. It may be a shout to speak about things that seem to be unique to that university. For instance, if you’re interested in research – definitely bring that up for an Imperial interview!

  • Know your stuff
    From recent medical news to the GMC guidelines; overview of what the NHS is and how it works; basic knowledge of some common medical conditions; and the four principles of medical ethics. I had the BBC news app on my phone- would recommend. It was an easy way to keep up to date with any medical advancements- what I then did was find one or two really interested me, then read further around the topic. May be a good idea to find one biological and one ethical piece for variety. The GMC website has a great guidance on professionalism and the duties of a doctor- Good Medical Practice.
  • Know your personal statement
    It is often you will find that questions the interviewers ask will stem from your personal statement. If you mentioned volunteering/work experience- be prepared to elaborate and reflect further! Especially if you mentioned a specific branch of medicine or a topic that interested you- read up quite a bit around it too beforehand.
  • Smile and be enthusiastic
    May sound a bit dumb but honestly, smiling gives off the impression that you’re not absolutely petrified. Fake it ’til you make it! Just be friendly and engaging- they want to find people who genuinely care about others and the profession itself. Medicine’s a long journey- can’t have students who seem fed up/uninterested before they’ve begun.

  • How suited are you?
    Adding to the last bit, interviewers are looking for people who have the qualities they deem will make a good doctor. These include being able to work well in a group (Hello? Multidisciplinary teamwork- learn what this term means, and use it!); yet possess leadership skills. To have problem-solving abilities; yet with that, knowing when to ask for help. Additionally, the ability to deal with stress and to prioritise. Try and think of examples of when you’ve displayed each of these, I promise it’ll come in handy! Don’t just tell the story, though- reflect! Great thing with examples is that you may be able to use some of them interchangeably for different questions if applicable.
  • Mock interviews?
    Okay- I’ll admit it, I never personally did any. Instead, I opted to practise answering questions out loud and had bullet pointed prompt words written out under each topic/question to help me out. Flashcard app on your phone might be a shout! However, more practice is always good and you may very well benefit from a mock interview so by all means!
  • The interviewers
    I can promise they’re there to help you and they want you to do well! At Imperial, the interviewers tend to be incredibly pleasant but this may not always be the case. I’ve heard of instances where some interviewers were being quite tough- allegedly to see how you cope under pressure. Fingers crossed you get super encouraging ones like I did! Regardless, they’ll surely try to guide you if you’re really stuck with a question so do let your thought process be heard! Also, never hesitate to ask them to repeat/explain/rephrase if you didn’t catch it or don’t understand.

  • Books?
    For general preparation, I used this interview practice book and I would highly recommend it but make sure not to let it stress you out too much! There’s so much content on there! For medical ethics, I read a short book Medical Ethics: A Very Short Introduction– super interesting read! Additionally, The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande was one that I read in my spare time. I suppose novels written by healthcare practioners about their line of work acts as a nice insight and may be a possible point of discussion.

Interesting fact: I did my entire Imperial interview with chewing gum in my mouth. I would not recommend. Story behind- the student rep came out and asked if I was ready to start ten minutes early. Having forgotten that I was chewing gum, I panicked and nodded. No rubbish bins on my way to the interview room and so I had to be as discrete as possible with it. Good times. Also, whilst I’m at it, might as well also mention- during another one of my interviews, the fire alarm went off and everyone had to evacuate the building. As if the interview itself wasn’t nerve wracking enough.

I feel that it’s important to note that everyone will have a different experience- even when at the same place! So don’t be deterred from hearing a not-so-uplifting experience (such as what I mentioned above). If the interview does end up feeling like it went horribly (again, as aforementioned)- don’t lose hope as it often goes better than you think like it did for mine! And in all fairness, I enjoyed one of my interviews so much that I was genuinely disappointed when it came to an end!

So good luck if you’re waiting for an interview invitation, and congratulations if you’ve already secured one(/some)! Do your best and give it your all!
Please feel free to leave any questions in the comments and I’ll do my best to respond ASAP.

Sending love and festive wishes for the new year!
Alex (:

Christmas Rewind 2017

Biological Sciences with year in industry

Christmas is always a special time of year, everything becomes festive – whether it be the constant Christmas music and decorations that seem to be getting earlier every year or the impending Christmas shopping extravaganza – it is difficult not to be in the festive mood! London is no exception – there is huge range of Christmas events to have a go at in the capital. Every year I try and go to a few here is a selection!

Winter Wonderland

Every year Hyde Park is home to Winter Wonderland, a vast expanse of fairground games and rides, food and of course an ice rink! This year, like always, it was packed with people eating food, falling over whilst skating or going on some less than appealing fairground rides (in my opinion!). One piece of advice; bring your pocket money – there are plenty of things to try; fresh churros with chocolate sauce, carnival games promising winnings of the latest iPad and plenty of fairground rides – anything that spins or goes upside down is a no from me! Sadly all are London prices so, as if by magic, your money disappears very rapidly! If you haven’t managed to do any Christmas shopping, Winter Wonderland is a nice place to find some unique Christmas presents – a favourite of mine was alpaca wool winter clothing.

Be sure to wrap up warm though, I went in the evening and it was freezing!

Christmas at Kew

Kew is London’s largest botanical gardens – home to a huge range of plants from all corners of the planet. During the day, the botanical gardens is a wonderful place to stroll, forget the hustle and bustle of the big city and reconnect with nature. At Christmas time, Kew is open at night for their Christmas at Kew event – a truly enchanting light show. A Christmas trail takes you through parts of Kew at night, each section lit up using different lighting set to music. Along the way there are of course the traditional winter treats of mulled wine, mince pies and roasted chestnuts! Each section is crafted with an exquisite eye for detail, making for a truly immersive experience with a breathtaking finale. Some wise words however; going later in the evening is best to avoid the crowds of families with small children – although adorable, they do make the trail very congested!

Christmas comes at the end of term, itself a time of stress; especially in final year. Impending coursework deadlines, job application deadlines and revision can make a potent mix. So in many ways, it is really important to take some time out and enjoy the festive period – it allows you to recharge and also get some joy and balance back in your life. There are of course many more other festive treats that London has to offer like mulled cider at Borough Market and ice-skating at the Natural History Museum and Somerset House.

All in all, the festive season this year has been one to remember for me, so much so I decided to document it in a blog.  

 

A Week Touring London

MSci Geology and Geophysics

Salut tout le monde 🙂 Since I stayed in London for this winter hols, my two friends (Azmi from UCL and my bestie who’s studying in Loughborough) and I decided to go sightseeing around London. We went to a couple tourist sights, hung out a bit, ate at a some shops and generally had a good time (+ spent a lot of money).

Lina, my bestie, arrived at St Pancras and travelled together with Azmi to South Kensington tube station on Monday where I met both of them and we went for lunch at Chopstix. After leaving the luggage behind in my room, we rushed to go to Kensington Palace ’cause we were late (the tickets said last admission was at 3:30 pm). Sadly, we didn’t made it but at least we still got a refund so that’s good enough, I guess.

That night, we went to Winter Wonderland (yayy) where we ice skated and watched the Cinderella on Ice show + eat churros while walking around. Other than the fact that I fell on my bum twice, it was quite a fun, if not slightly terrifying, activity. I don’t have any videos/ pictures of Cinderella on Ice, but Lina and I were astounded that they could even danced like that on the ice when we could barely step forward without falling over (I’m exaggerating obv, but still…). Ice skating was £15.50 for 50 minutes and the show was £19.95

 

                                           BTW Azmi was the only one out of us who actually knew how to ice skate

 

On our second day, we visited the Sherlock Holmes Museum which is a must for Holmes fan. It was interesting to see wax figures, recreations of scenes of the 84 TV series and rooms with Victorian decoration. Adult tickets were £15 and children’s was £10. Personally, it was quite expensive and wasn’t really worth it for me (it was probably the first and last time I’m going there). After a pretty long discussion on whether we should buy some Baskin-Robbins ice-cream (we ended up not buying any), we made our way to UCL (affectionately called feet) where I unexpectedly met an old friend who turns out to be studying there as well (how the the world can be so small sometimes).

                         New UCL prospectus pic?

 

We also went to the British Library, the national library of the UK, where the Harry Potter A History of Magic exhibition was taking place. A lot of Harry Potter merchandise were on sale too at their gift shop. The library was very big and housed 150 million items. Bonus: they have awesome facilities there too.

                                    Somewhere inside the library

 

The next day, we went to the Coca-Cola London Eye. Lina and I were excited as it was our first time on it (or on any Ferris Wheel tbh). Sadly, it was a rather cloudy and foggy day so we couldn’t see the sights quite as well as we should. Nonetheless, it was an amazing view high up in the sky; I felt as if we were seeing things through a bird’s eyes. For lunch, we ate at Rasa Sayang, a Malaysian cuisine restaurant in Chinatown. Despite almost getting lost and having to wait 10 minutes before we got a table, it was nice to taste Malaysian food again after months in London. We spent several hours there, hiding from the rain and cold wind before finally leaving to venture to Tate Britain. The art gallery displays collections  of both contemporary and historic British art. We were there for about 2 hours during which time I fell asleep for awhile after admiring the art (hey, it was warm there and I was tired after all that walking). I must admit that while I like examining the usage of colour and brushstrokes in paintings (especially watercolour ones), I couldn’t really appreciate most of the art thereImage result for tear and smiling emoji (hmm I don’t really like portraits but I very much like van Gogh and Monet). The architecture of the building itself was very pretty though… long, winding stairs with white interior and exterior and a central domeImage result for eye heart emoji

      Me, Lina and London Eye
      At Rasa Sayang restaurant
               Look at how foggy it is outside

 

Thursday was girls’ day in as we were still too tired from the day before to go out and Azmi couldn’t come anyway ’cause he had assignments to hand in. Me and Lina spent our quality bestie time together gossiping and watching movies. We went out on a hunt for sushi at 5:00pm and took the tube to Hammersmith to do some grocery + window shopping. To be honest, it was (at last) a nice quiet day without Azmi and his weird jokes *shhh* Unfortunately, my shower chose this time to get clogged and to make things worse, the lady at the reception wouldn’t let us borrow the plunger (we think it was because we went there early in the morning, still in our PJs; and me putting on a lab coat over it; laughing like madmen… in our defence, we were tired after running around the hall in search of one). Worst thing was, we still couldn’t find one when we went shopping that evening.

 

Since my shower was still clogged on Friday, Lina and I travelled the 5 minutes needed to get to the RSM to use the public shower/ disabled toilet there (thank god for my building 😉 ) We met up with Azmi at the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square at around 11:30am (BTW there were van Gogh artwork there yayy. Oh, and I like the interior design, architecture and decoration used there. They complemented the artworks, giving a nice vibe/ mood. I know a lot of people criticised the building’s architecture, but this is just my opinion *shrugs*). After Friday prayer at a nearby mosque (which was tiny), we went to Covent Garden, had lunch at Nandos and went food + window shopping (again). The Chrismas lights that decorated the streets and lamp posts were of various colours and shapes. There were pretty stars, angels, reindeers and a big Chrismas tree. If only it’d snowed, it would have been perfect…

   Lina content at Costa
        Girls in Covent Garden
            So sleepy…

 

 

That was Lina’s last night in London so we decided to stay up the entire night. We sat in the Linstead common room until morning; munching on snacks, watching movies, doing Korean dance workout, singing, and playing all kinds of games that we could think of. It was a long, loud and fun night. And the good news was, when I got back into my room in the morning, it was no longer clogged so I didn’t have to haul stuff to the RSM to take a shower anymore. Lina left for Loughborough around noon and Azmi left after sending her off.

(P. S If you’re watching the video, the action start at 0.40 😉 )

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So that was how my winter break went. The rest of it was spent cooped up in my room studying, sleeping and eating.

 

 

With The New Year Comes The Resolutions List

MSci Geology and Geophysics

Hi guys. So New Year is coming in a few hours and do you know what that means?

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS *cue streamers, drums and party stuff*

 

So, to be honest, I’ve never really made any New Year resolution before. I mean, I’ve obviously had at some point listed down my personal goals that I’d like to achieve but they’re not technically New Year resolutions. For one, most of them aren’t meant to be achieved within a year (most of them are much more long-term) and secondly, ’cause I didn’t come up with them specifically for/ on the new year (so it wouldn’t really be the New Year resolutions, would it?)

Anyway, I thought maybe I should try to come up with some and see how it goes. It is a very popular tradition after all, and if it worked for the Babylonians, Romans and knights, maybe it’ll work for me?Image result for shrug emojiBesides, the last day of the year seemed like a very good time to stop and reflect on how 2017 was… and it’ll also be an opportunity for me to measure my personal growth (physically, mentally and emotionally) over the years and learn more about myself.

BTW, I’ve read that only 8% of people actually manage to keep theirs so as a means to make this work, I’ll jot down my list then add a definitive goal at the end of each point, okay? Here it goes 🙂

 

  1. Blog more frequently and more freely

I realised that I keep putting off blogging this month because I keep waiting for things to happen so that I’d have something to talk aboutImage result for tear and smile emoji But when I do start writing a post, I’d over-analyse things and get so worried about what people would think of it that I’d end up procrastinating again (I know, it’s a never-ending cycle). So, I decided that I want to try writing (and then posting) whatever’s in my head at the time. Sort of like a candid, free-writing thing… it seems kinda fun anyway, and it’ll help me voice my opinions better.

Goal: 2 posts/ month is enough (more is always welcome), but umm… pls don’t write both towards the end of the month

 

2. Bake more

I’ve always liked baking ’cause of my fondness towards desserts. While I was waiting for my IB results back in Malaysia, I used to bake at least once a week. Mostly cakes, but I sometimes I’d also make cookies (especially traditional ones for Eid) and pudding/ jelly is pretty easy to make too. Now that I’m finally getting used to London, I thought of taking up this hobby again. It’s quite a slow process, starting from scratch and having to buy everything all over again, especially since I can only buy only a couple of ingredients/ equipment at a time (I’d use up my meager monthly allowance if I bought all of them at once). Fortunately, my family and friends have been supportive of this particular interest of mine (thank you Secret Santa for those cute cookie cutters you gave me!!!Image result for kiss emoji).  Anyway, throughout Autumn term, I’ve managed to make bread pudding, cookies (gingerbread with my floormates and some shortbread during hols… making use of my brand new Totoro cutters hehe), crepes/ pancakes (breakfast + dessert?) and make use of some mug recipes (not exactly fond of these, but they work most of the time). So now that I’ve managed to slowly gather everything I need, I intend to find more opportunities to bake next year and bring them to BakeSoc potluck, share with friends, etc. After all, what more to brighten up your day than a good ol’ slice of cake, right? 😀

Goal: bring something to at least 1 BakeSoc potluck and share something with floormates at least once

 

3. Eat healthier

Aim is to not have a dinner of just eggs or just “baked potatoes” (it’s technically cheating since I just pop them in the microwave for 8 minutes) and nothing else three days in a row ’cause I’m too lazy to cook.

 

4. Sleep better

Sleep quality is more important than the hours you sleep. Even if you sleep for 12 hours straight but your sleep quality was bad, you won’t feel rested or that you’ve slept enough. Besides, oversleeping is bad for you too since it affects certain neurotransmitters in the brain (for example, serotonin). Ways to improve sleep quality include monitoring light and temperature conditions in your bedroom (sleeping in the dark is often better, and make sure you’re cosy but not too warm), reading, not eating heavy meals (or at all) 2-3 hours before bed and avoid taking afternoon naps.

Goal: sleep before 12 everyday (including weekends)

 

5. Read more

I’ve been watching a lot of anime/ movies/ Youtube in my pastime these days that I forgot about reading for leisure (non academic-related books). Also a chance to actually go and borrow a book from the sci-fi/ manga library of the clubs I joined (pls don’t ask exactly how many clubs I’ve joined…)

Goal: read at least 1 book/ month

 

So, those are my New Year resolutions for 2018. I’ll probably update you on the progress and whether it’s working. Maybe I’ll write another post on whether to list or not to list later on. Toodles… and thanks for reading this 😀

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