Poly life

Okay so now that I've been through a little more than 1 semester in poly, I think it's time to share my experience with you guys. Poly is not as easy as I thought it would be but if it were, then maybe it wouldn't be tertiary education, right? Anyway, here are a few pointers you might want to look out for if you are hoping to enter a polytechnic.

COURSES
Polytechnics have a really wide variety of courses for you to pick. But it's also because of this that some may find it hard to decide where they should go, so here's some tips: Go to the open house of the various polytechnics and ask for information, and think thoroughly on where your interest really lies.

UNIFORM
As all of you should know by now, we don't have any uniforms, so it's up to you what you want to wear. However, some schools do put restrictions on the clothing types they don't allow but I don't think anyone really gives a damn. Still, be sure to check the rules of your school.
With no uniform, problems surface: some people judge you for your clothes, and sometimes you really have no idea what to wear to school. It doesn't matter what people think about your clothes, it only matters what you think. Don't bother buying new clothes and going broke just for school because it would be.....

To find out more please click here

Hahaha.
There is 1 particular clothing that every single student must wear, and that's called formal (screams). It's not a nice piece to wear because I really HATE skirts that stick to my legs... Urgh. But anyway, you'll need it for various presentations and even your graduation. You don't need to buy a blazer since it's not required and it's not like it will give you higher marks or anything.
Apart from that, some lesson venues have specific attire requirements such as long pants, covered shoes, lab coat and goggles for chemistry labs. Your teacher/OGL will brief you on this so fret not.

TIMETABLE
Unlike primary, secondary schools as well as JCs, not all of our lessons start at 8am, nor do we have flag raising, so you can rejoice. BUT if you do get really unlucky like me, you could easily get many days in a week starting at 8am (I currently have 4 of these days in the current semester). But then there's a perk of having early classes, and it's getting released early. Of course, lessons may also end very late when you start late. Last semester I had 1 particular day whereby the first lesson was at 12 noon and I had to survive till 6pm. And mind you, I need more than an hour to get back home.

FRIENDS
This doesn't just apply to poly students, this applies to everyone. Be very careful in making friends because some may secretly hate you and stick your photo on a wall at home and throw darts at it everyday (just kidding). Try to stick with those that are nice and are willing to help you out with things, because there are people who are really afraid that you might get really good grades and steal your position from the Director's List. (FYI: Director's List is something in our school that is kinda prestigious. If you are in the top 5% of the cohort in many modules you should be in it.)
Fortunately and unfortunately for me, I am friends with people who are smart and willing to help me out with work BUT always pick on me. Sigh.

MODULES
Simply what you call "subjects". Try hard not to slack in the semester because it is important to get a good GPA from the start (it's harder to attain a perfect GPA as you continue your studies). Always take notes in class and don't fall asleep!!

CCA
CCAs are not compulsory in poly but it would be recommended that you go for one. I'm not entirely sure about other polys but mine gives us a CCA point for every CCA we sign up for. Which obviously is good. Remember that CCA points does help in entrance to universities.

CONCESSION
All polytechnic students are entitled for concession fees for public transport. It works like this: you pay a certain amount of money to buy concession which lasts for a month. Within this month you can travel around without costing you anything. Well, that is if you bought concession for both the bus and the train.
That's right: You have to pick what kind of concession to get. There's the train one ($25), the bus one and you can also get both. Yay. Take note that if you don't get concession, you will be charged adult fare... And that's not very fair.

LAPTOPS AND POWER SOCKETS
You don't need laptop everyday for your lessons unless you want to, but laptops are definitely needed for your entire poly life because some assessments require you to do it online in class.
Power sockets are found just about everywhere so people with phones that have lousy battery life, great news for you! But that doesn't mean all of them work. Hehe.
SPEAKING OF PHONES, you are allowed to use them in class. Just make sure they don't divert your attention away from the lesson...

GROUP WORK
The most horrible component of all time. It is extremely likely that in the first (and even subsequent) semester the teacher will pick group members for you, and if you're lucky then good for you. However if you get really unlucky like I did for lab, you will get horrible partners that can't do shit and you'll end up doing everything yourself. And by the way, it doesn't mean that just because you are blessed with good members, it gives you the authority to slack. No please.

So again, if you decide to come into poly, all the best to you and I hope you do great. Cheers!

Study Tips 101

I think this post came a bit late since (almost) everyone is done with their exams, but I'm still going to do it anyway. As a student, I would understand the horrible process of studying really hard just for a test or exam but end up not getting decent results since I've been there before. So here's a list of tips that may help (take note of keyword: MAY).

RULE 1: NEVER EVER STUDY LAST MINUTE
I actually don't really stick much to this rule because I tend to forget everything really quickly so it doesn't help for me. However, if you just read up a little bit of your content everyday (this doesn't work for math), the content actually stays for a long period of time.
If you're really pressed for time and really really have no choice but to study the night before, I would suggest writing key points on small cards such as formulas for science or math, and in the case of subjects like geography, write down key words of a long paragraph instead of copying word for word. I got through O levels with this method and my grades turned out fine.

RULE 2: USE COLOUR IN YOUR NOTES
I write my notes using a variety of coloured pens. A whole set of coloured pens can be bought at Daiso. If possible, add in drawings too. It has actually been proven through a study that this works.

RULE 3: DO YOUR OWN
It's better to do your own notes than borrow others' notes because different people have different methods of studying. This is especially so for kinaesthetic learners (like me) because we learn better when physical actions are involved in your studying. So do your own notes!

RULE 4: DO NOT CRAM EVERYTHING AT ONE GO, STAY HYDRATED
A few months back before my semestral exam, I was close to failing my math, which is a module that in the case of failure, I would have to retake it. So in order to pass, I practiced math papers throughout the day for 3 days straight (I'm not kidding). In between, here's what I did:
1) Drink a cup of water every hour to replenish fluids. This helped me to stay hydrated and focused. If you're dehydrated, it's harder to study.
2) Walk around and stretch when I get so tired I can't think straight. Use this short period of time to use your phone, walk, jump, whatever. Of course, do it in a short period of time, don't drag it too long and lose focus.
3) Don't skip your meals. Seriously.
4) Sleep on time. This helps you to stay more energized throughout the day.
The end result? I got an A for the paper.

RULE 5: SLEEP EARLY
This is especially so if you have a paper or two the next day. There are people I know of that simply love to sleep at 9pm for 2 hours then wake up at 11pm to study. That's something you shouldn't do at all. You can take naps throughout the day but if you sleep at 3am and wake up at 7am 1 fact doesn't change: you slept for only 4 hours. You're still going to be tired. So go to sleep early, and revise the next day!

RULE 6: READ YOUR NOTES BEFORE SLEEP
A friend taught me to do this. He apparently read an article online that said you are better able to absorb information if you read it right before you sleep. On the other hand, I read an article that says that successful people work throughout the day and before they sleep, they actually relax and read books or fiddle with their phone. Ultimately, it's up to you to decide which is better for you.

RULE 7: IF YOU CAN'T GET THE RESULTS, CHANGE THE APPROACH
That sentence doesn't make sense, does it.
Anyway, it means to say that if you can't seem to get your desired results even after studying using whatever method you thought was "perfect", it could be that your studying method is not right for you. When I was younger, I simply flipped through notes thinking that I'll be able to ace the paper by doing that. But as I grew older, this method failed, so I changed to writing notes. And it works. Test various methods of studying to see which is best for you. Some do well by seeing, some listening, and others doing.

RULE 8: ASK
A very simple rule to live by: if you don't understand, ask. The notes aren't going to tell you how to ace the paper if you just stare at it all day without you understanding anything.
Before my O Levels, I was struggling quite a bit with geography. At that time, I was a little afraid to go to my teacher because I was all alone. My friends were either in a different combination, had a different teacher, dropped the subject, or were just plain lazy to join me. However, I went alone to find her anyway, and attended every single remedial I could. I went to my teacher almost every week just to ask about different things. Eventually, I managed to jump 6 grades, from F9 to B3.
But of course, it is better to go with friends. You get to learn more from your friends' questions, and they get to learn from yours.

RULE 9: DON'T BE AFRAID
This is likely to be the biggest problem of all students: fear. Don't be afraid. You didn't study this much to be this afraid of a paper, right? Just sit down, breathe, drink up and have fun with the paper. The more you freak out, the more likely you are the blank out in the middle of the paper. That's even worse.

RULE 10: STUDY WITH THE CORRECT PEOPLE
Here's the thing: Would you rather study with nerds so that you actually get to study for real, or would you study with disruptive people who won't let you study and leave you with a completely unproductive day? It's up to you.

RULE 11: RELAX
While this one sounds a bit like rule 9, it's also a wee bit different. If you feel like you're on the verge of breaking down and saying things like "why am I so stupid", it's a sign that you're too stressed. Get out and get some fun, call your friends out for a drink! It's not nice to face a book all day.

RULE 12: STAY POSITIVE
Be happy.... Even if it sounds quite impossible with all your notes around you. Don't ever tell yourself things like "omg I'm stupid" or "oh no I can't do this let me just fail school and become a stripper". Instead, tell yourself "I CAN DO THIS! I'll ace the paper and not fail school and I'm not going to be a stripper. YES!"

RULE 13: STAY AWAY FROM JUNK FOOD
Don't ever study with potato chips surrounding you. It's not good for your brain and your body! It is okay to eat while you're relaxing, but not too much. By the way, there's this studying method called the gummy bear approach. You can try this method if you really really like eating while studying, since it is a form of motivation.

RULE 14: STUDY AT A QUIET PLACE
This is especially so if you are easily affected by noise around you (aka audio learners, people who absorb information best by listening). Don't go to Starbucks or McDonald's to study, go to the library or stay at home... Unless some idiot nearby decides to drill holes in their wall.
Fun fact: Starbucks chases students that are studying in their premises because they tend to take up space and prevent customers from having seats. I'm not sure if this happens in other countries, because it does happen in Singapore.
Fun fact 2: There are 3 main types of learners: audio, kinaesthetic and visual. Some people have a mix of two. Audio learners should not listen to music while studying because it is a form of distraction. Kinaesthetic learners should walk while reading notes (I don't do that by the way. I feel like it's impossible to read with it bobbing up and down). Visual learners...... Should stay in a place with little people so that you don't get distracted by people running around.

RULE 15: HARD WORK > TALENT
To people who think that talent is the thing that helps people to score, you're most likely to be wrong. Yes, it is true to a very limited extent that talent helps in someone to get good grades because they have "high IQ" and whatever, but hard work is the bigger portion of their grades. Everybody is smart, it's up to you whether or not you want to work for it. Let's have a scenario.
Person A has an IQ of 150 and person B has an IQ of 100. Person A sleeps in class all the time, does not study at home, basically does nothing related to academics. Person B jots down notes and asks questions in class, and revises at home. The end result is darn obvious: Person B gets way better grades than person A. Makes sense. right?
Moral of the story: Quit slacking so much and then blame it on "smartness".

And I think that's it for this post. Remember, everybody has their own studying method, so search for the one that suits you best. Oh and, it's okay to have bad results. Just remember to pull up your socks in time.

Japan

It's been 3 weeks since I've returned from Japan but I only found time today to type this. It's my first time in Japan, so it was definitely an eye opening experience where I suffered a culture shock and had a hard time communicating with the locals.
Day 1 + 2: Singapore > Haneda Airport > New Chitose Airport > Toyota Motor Hokkaido Plant > Lake Toya > Usuzan West Craters
The culture shock hit me when I was at Haneda Airport. We had to get through the declaration of items and here, the staff had to check my passport. So I passed the lady my passport with my boarding passes inside. When I got my passport back, I noticed that the boarding passes were missing, so I turned back to get help from 2 officers who were standing nearby. They retrieved my things for me very quickly and bowed to me in apology.
Never in my life have I had people BOW to me in apology.
Either way, it was a really tiring day as we had 2 flights in half a day and I couldn't help myself but keep dozing off on the bus. To top it all off, we had a mountain hike at Usuzan West Craters, but the view was so spectacular the whole hike was worth it.

Night time was slightly more exciting since we had our first traditional Japanese meal and we got to stay in a hotel that was of those you see in comic books like Doraemon.

After dinner, I went with my friends to a convenience store nearby and I managed to get some milk soft serve, which is the 1 thing you should try at least once in your entire lifetime. The one I got costs 100 yen, but since I didn't have small change I had no choice but to pay with a 10000 yen note. I think the staff wanted to murder me. (Take note: 100 yen is around S$1, and 10000 yen is around S$100)

Yum yum.

Day 3: Lake Toya > Jigokudani > Noboribetsu Bear Farm > Date Jidaimura > Sapporo
To kick start the day, we took a cruise around Lake Toya and fed seagulls with prawn sticks (if you go to Japan and get to take a cruise or go out to the sea, this is a good activity). It was a terrible experience because one of the seagulls decided it should poop and it did, only that it didn't just poop once like the pigeons in Singapore, it sent out a whole series of them. And all we could do was to scramble back to shelter.
Jigokudani, or Hell Valley, was a lovely place except for the terrible smell of sulfur that surrounded you. I can still remember the smell even now.

The bear farm gave me a great experience of feeding bears. I suspect that the bears were starved, because they couldn't stop begging for food. Here's what happens: If you just stretch out your arm, the bears will raise both paws as if telling you "FEED ME!" And then when you throw a piece of food to a bear, another one will start growling at you really loudly as if saying "WHY DIDN'T YOU FEED ME, HUMAN? I'M STARVING." And unfortunately for you and the bears, if you don't toss your food properly it will land on the ground and crows will snatch them.
Date Jidaimura is a theme park (not like Universal Studios with all the roller coasters and stuff) which highlights the Edo Period, which was about 400 years ago. There, they have various shows for you, including ninja shows, geisha shows, and those that tell you a nice little story. Contrary to what you may think, the place is really fun and exciting. Do go there if you visit Japan.

It was night when we reached Sapporo so we did some light shopping and went for dinner. That night, we had to cook our own dinner (literally).

Bad photo but whatever. It's called okonomiyaki. And it's available at pasar malam.

Day 4: Hokkaido University > Otaru Canal > Sakaimachi
Hokkaido University was more or less kind of boring since they were attempting to scout inviting us to further our education there. Skip.
Otaru doesn't really have anything worth mentioning except for it's scenery.

Sakaimachi is where the famous music box factory is. It's really beautiful inside with various music boxes that you can buy, and you can also make one yourself. Sakaimachi also has various shops located there including seafood shops as well as a few that sell honeydew, glassware as well as various handicraft stuff. And of course there are shops selling souveneirs.
Day 5: Ishiya Chocolate Factory > Nijo Fish Market/Sapporo TV Tower > Chitose Airport > Tokyo
Ishiya Chocolate Factory, also known as Shiroi Koibito Park, is a really beautiful place. It's just like the Japanese version of Willy Wonka's factory. Apart from showing you their production line, they also show you the owner's splendid collection of toys and gramophones.

Nijo Fish Market allowed me to experience the hospitality of the people there. The first stall we came by sold a wide variety of fresh crabs. The owner, despite knowing very well that we probably won't buy his stuff, gave us all a sample of FRESH CRABS anyway. Those crab meat, even though in a small amount, were the best I've ever had in my life. Not even those expensive hotel buffet crabs could compare to it. But then again, Japan is famous for their fresh seafood, so it's probably hard for hotels to compare since, excuse me, it might not be as fresh.

After lunch, we were given quite a fair bit of time to walk around, so some of us went to the Pokemon Centre which was located 6 blocks away (that's really far, mind you. I'm not even kidding). And let me tell you, if you're a Pokemon fan, that place is heaven. Their products are also cheaper than what you usually find in Singapore, and the plastic bags they give are really adorable. I really regret not asking for more of them, since I gave mine away.

LOOK AT ALL THE PIKACHUS

Apart from the Pokemon Centre, the building also has a large arcade (which I spent quite a bit of money on), a pet shop (you can find really peculiar pets there), Uniqlo as well as various other shops. There's even shops that simply hold capsule toy vending machines.

And after that we rushed to the airport. Well, that was before I stopped by a convenience store to get an onigiri (triangle shaped rice ball) with salmon eggs as it's filling. It cost 100 yen. 100 YEN. FOR SALMON EGG FILLED ONIGIRI. And it was delicious.
Day 6: Asakusa > Tokyo DisneySea
Asakusa is a bit vague to describe exactly the place we went since it's like a whole area. We went to Sensō-ji, Asakusa Shrine, as well as Nakamise-dōri. Sensō-ji is basically a temple, and Nakamise-dōri is a shopping street that has various shops selling a wide variety of items from amulets to food.

Tokyo DisneySea is the place I officially took a roller coaster for the first time (I've taken a few before, but they are all rather kiddy). It was so horrible, my mind went all blank and I forgot how to scream. Really. Then my mother told me never to take roller coasters again (FUN FACT: roller coasters and any other overly exhilarating rides can cause great damage to your brain). But while it was horrible, it was a really fun ride shooting down a volcano.
We didn't really take much rides subsequently because 1) there was a queue that was 2 hours long 2) the place was really big and I was really exhausted and 3) I am terrified. But we managed to catch the night show and the fireworks. Their night show had really really good effects, with the volcano shooting fire (not lava unfortunately) and great sound systems.

Look, a fire breathing dragon.

Maybe if we had gone on a weekday, we could take more rides. Oh well.
Day 7: Tokyo Skytree > Tsukiji Market > Odaiba > Narita Airport > Home
The view from Tokyo Skytree is 1) breathtaking and 2) really horrible. It's breathtaking because it's really high up and you can see all the way to Mount Fuji. BUT it's really horrible because it was a foggy day and I couldn't see Mount Fuji even though it was within range, and apart from that, there's almost no trees around. It's just buildings, buildings and more buildings.

This is the view directly down from the 340th floor. Imagine falling down...

At Tsukiji Market, we managed to catch the cutting of a giant tuna. It wasn't as big as I had expected but it's okay. Still majestic.

After lunch, we set off to Odaiba, which is actually an artificial island. We visited Miraikan (Japan's National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation), where we managed to catch Asimo in action. 

Aaaaand that's the end. Sadly.
Food Reviews
The 1 thing that must not be missed when you are in Japan (unless you're vegetarian) will be the seafood. You can find fresh, delicious and cheap seafood practically all over the place. Even if you can't find a proper restaurant, their convenience stores provide you with quite a fair bit of seafood too.
Shiroi Koibito
This is only located in Hokkaido (I couldn't find it in Tokyo) but here's a warning: if you don't like overly sweet things, this isn't the food for you. But if you're ok with milk chocolate, they do have a selection of milk chocolate cookie sandwhich which, in my opinion, is less sweet than the original white chocolate flavour. But it's also not as nice, sadly. Ishiya, the company that produces Shiroi Koibito, also has a chocolate milk product known as Hi-Milk. But it's awfully sweet, so you might want to give it a pass (and it's a wee bit overpriced: 200 yen for 1 can).
Sapporo Chocolate
I chanced upon this while I was in a shopping mall in Sapporo. The staff gave my friends and I a sample each and all of us fell in love with it straight away. It's actually a cookie that's covered in chocolate, and it's really delicious because it's rich in chocolate and it's not overly sweet. If this is not for you, they also have one in white chocolate.
Kit Kat
They come in a very very wide range of flavours, but I bought only 4 flavours: uzi matcha, sakura matcha, wasabi and Mount Fuji special. The uzi matcha and wasabi flavours are really great, I haven't tried sakura matcha but I was told that it's the best, and the Mount Fuji special is literally just white chocolate, as far as I know.
Tokyo Banana/Tokyo Banana Pie
The Tokyo Banana is rather overrated in my opinion. Firstly, it expires way too quickly because it's made up of fresh banana paste and secondly, the banana is extremely sweet.
The Tokyo Banana Pie though, tastes less sweet, but my mum told me that it was a little too milky in terms of flavour. I find it really nice though.
Ultimately, whether or not you like the food, it's up to your taste.
And that's all for this post. Bye!