Halfway through an eventful month.

Well, first of all, I have changed my layout so hope you guys like it. Took me some time of editing but it's definitely awesome to bring some freshness to the blog.

**

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! It's my 2nd year away celebrating Chinese New Year away from home, and thus far (Chinese New Year lasts for 15 days), all is going great. I received my exam results on the first day of Chinese New Year and I have to say, I am quite satisfied with it. Now, it gives me an idea of the criteria which essay-examinations are looking for. However, that being said, it seems that none of my examinations this semester are in essay format. It feels like the module conveyors are psychologically messing with their students' mind. Ha ha ha. But well, it is what it is, uni life is not easy.

Anyways, on that day itself, my flatmates and I also attempted to make a hotpot dinner (steamboat in Malaysian terms) and I guess it went okay. I am really happy that we managed to go on with that idea as I used to have it back home every Chinese New Year and also during my first year in Exeter (w/ Malaysian friends). As you can see, we didn't have the proper equipment and just have to make do with what we have.

Just 4 Asians 

**

Last Friday to Sunday, I went on a journey to Southampton for 2 reasons, to watch their university's Malaysian Night performance and also to visit my friends. To go back and return from Southampton, I spent about 10 hours on the bus and to most people who I've told about this, it was kind of grueling to them. To me however, spending time in transportation is part of the travel package and in the end, I just hope that I will be able to say "This journey is worth it".

And it definitely is. Southampton Malaysian Society put up a great performance. It was my first Malaysian Night and I must say, it was an amazing eye-opener and I can hardly wait to attend my next Malaysian Night from another university. Southampton Malaysian Society's brilliant choice of theme - 'Back to School' has no doubt the ability to touch and connect the memories of spectators who have previously studied in government schools back in Malaysia. Gotta say, at one point of the show, I really hoped I could go back to my high school life. There might be more subjects to study during that high school life, but we were always surrounded by friends and classmates, studying felt less stressful and more enjoyable as a growing process, whereby everybody was learning together and competing with each other.

Booklet from the show

Well, as Vicky and friends have to prepare for the Southampton Mnight, I didn't have any companions to travel the city of Southampton with. Therefore, the following photos were from the solo journey and I had embarked on during the second day of my trip.

Southampton Solent University

St. Mary Stadium from far

St. Mary Stadium - Southampton's home turf

Bay view from Mayflower park

As you can see, puddles everywhere

West Quay Shopping Mall

Southampton has a really big city and bus rides automatically become a paramount transportation there. Moreover, the availability of a shopping mall have left me in awe (There isn't any shopping mall in Exeter). Ironically, compared to this, the size and amount of shopping malls Malaysia has is just ridiculous. LMAO. However, the fact that there is this presence of a huge distance between the university and town means that students would not opt to go to the town center often anyways, I reckon.

The weather in Southampton wasn't kind to me at all. As I was exploring the city of Southampton, the drizzle followed my footsteps and had shown no sign of stopping at all. It was alike my trip to Cardiff last year, the rain did little to provide me with a positive impression about both cities.

I am totally in favour of Exeter which honestly speaking, probably has one of the best weather in the United Kingdom (Cognitive bias). Well, sunshine and warmth never fail to keep cheerful all day baby.

Anyways here's my thanks to you two, Vicky and Yee Ling for letting me stay over. 

Thanks for having me!!

**

Anyways, that's about it this time. I promise there will be more stuffs to talk about in the following weeks. Stay tune if you're interested! :)

Bye,

Jayden

A fresh start.

First of all, Happy New Year everyone who is reading this. I believe every year is a brand new chapter of life and we all get a chance for a fresh start. Hopefully 2016 will be an amazing and wonderful year for everyone.


**
There were many events on-going for me last month, with the Austria-Switzerland trip being the most significant one of all. The reason I was able to travel anyways, was thanks to Vicky's invitation. So thanks a lot Vicky!! (If you ever see this). Initially, I had mixed feelings about going abroad for 10 days (Yes.. the trip lasted for 10 days), as firstly, University of Exeter's exam week starts on the 4th of January and the trip was from the 20th of December to the 30th; and secondly, it was projected to be really expensive. Well, as chances like this are not easy to come by, I went full yolo and joined the trip anyway. From when the Christmas holidays started to the day I left Exeter for my trip (12th - 19th), I went into overdrive and copied as much research and short notes as possible so that I could bring it to the trip. :v Those scrappy notes were my gambling token towards, hopefully, average results in the January examination.


Man, reminiscing those past 10 days of the trip, I had no regrets at all. In that short period of time, I made great friends, watched some breathtaking sceneries, ate some amazing food and most importantly, had a whole lot of fun!  From things like dragging luggage everywhere, chasing trains and travelling in public transportation for long hours, it was definitely a draining, tiring trip. I can still remember how I would ask the girls the time we should wake up everyday and hoping that it would be late in the morning.. well, it wasn't the case most of the time.

I packed ridiculously light for the trip - a gym bag with a bag pack. I was quite amazed at myself as my travel partners are, to be honest. Well, I think I did well with what I got anyway, not the best cleanliness but hey, I have the habit of showering twice a day and even did that on the trip so I figure it was okay. In the end, I made the right choice of travelling light, as I am able to provide some helping hands with the task of dragging the luggage. 

My trip started off in Austria for 4 days and ended after 6 days in Switzerland. In Austria, we visited Salzburg, Hallstat and Innsbruck and in Switzerland, Zurich, Langwies, Arosa, Lucerne, Interlaken, Spiez, Bern, Zermatt, Wengen and Basel. Lol... now that I have listed it out, only have I realised the big difference. XD

Just to clarify, if you are wondering..

No, it did not snow.
No, we did not ski.

And if I am to say something about the countries.
They are both absolutely beautiful countries with a rather cool but not freezing climate.
I think if there is an opportunity, everyone should visit there at least once, especially travelers who enjoy sightseeing.
The downside to traveling to these countries though, is probably the price and expenses required. Food is really expensive there, especially in Switzerland like wtf. The price of a McD meal is like a daylight robbery.

Here are some highlight photos, one for each city:

View of Salzburg from Mt.Untersburg

Hallstat - you need a ferry/speedboat ride to reach here

Innsbruck from the top of Hafelekarspitze

Zurich's Old Town

Scenery of Langwies ft. Shirley

Natural Ice Skating rink!! at Arosa

Lucerne!!

Trying to discover the meaning of life at Interlaken

A short stop at Spiez. Nothing much but pretty nonetheless.

Bern is one of the busier cities I have visited in Switzerland

Toblerone's signature mountain - The Matterhorn @ Zermatt

Wengen.. last day.

The border of 3 countries - France, Germany, Switzerland @ Basel

Bonus photos:

Shameless vertical leap at the top Hafelekarspitze

Probably the reason I was invited to this trip anyways. To be a coat hanger.

Photo credits to Yee Ling and Shirley.

**

I took the 1st bus in the morning back to Exeter and arrived there in the afternoon on the 31st of December. The rest of the days were just me trying to derive all the possible questions that they could've asked for exams and trying to compose my own ultimate essays that would fit in all sorts of scenario.

Well, the concept of having open-ended questions which require students to include contemporary studies that have to be obtained through independent reading.. it is kind of insane. 'What if the studies I find do not fit the question?' - was one thing that worried me a lot. There were only 4 questions which appeared in each of my exams.. and those 4 questions was based of 6 topics which branches out to 18 subtopics probably? To have independent readings of researches regarding each of the subtopics and to remember the details and including them in an 1-hour exam? Daunting.

Oh well, thank goodness that have passed by, hopefully I did not do too bad.


**
Well, new year, new memories, new experiences.
My dreams though, will always remain the same.

希望带给父母和黄家骄傲与荣耀。
希望自己能带给身边的朋友们快乐。

**

最后，
感谢身边的亲戚朋友们，
2015已回不来，
能从中带走的
也只有你们留给我的
美好的回忆。

Managing time... or being managed by it?

Looking back at my last post, September 11th and the date today November 22nd.. it has been 2 months which I have not written anything on this blog. That is no surprise though, as much as I love expressing myself and sharing my experiences and thoughts about life, the struggle to find time to do everything I fancy has prompted me to prioritize certain activities above others. After submitting my final essay of the semester (3rd essay of the semester) last Monday, I  am able to have some much needed break from the courseworks finally. The 3 essays were assigned in a way that students have to somehow race against time, the first due in October, and the next 2 due on the SAME DAY in November. The writing itself can probably be done in 2-3 days to be fair, but the amount of research we are expected to put in takes weeks and weeks of time. Anyways, it does not even matter anymore.

**

Despite the hectic past 2 months, I enjoyed myself throughout this process. The opportunity to join the Residence Life Team last year and work for them this year has given me working experiences different from the norm job. Moreover, joining the university's intramural basketball team with my Malaysian peers also helped in keeping my health, fitness and competitive spirit intact. Apart from these activities, my gaming friends from last year in Exeter also invited me to a few DotA2 matches here and there, and by playing those games, the night passes by pretty quick. One thing I have not been able to commit time on is my Nintendo 3ds and the new game I purchased called Bravely Default. That is one hard game to play and requires a lot of strategy and planning and I just do not have the time for that unfortunately.

**

2nd year stress is real. As essays and exams start to play a vital role in the students' overall degree, the need to perform exceptionally in those aspects is there. Not only that, it is also the time of the degree year where students' have to compete for roles in companies for the summer internship.Being at this stage brings in a lot worry and suspense. Applying to large companies in U.K is such a big challenge.. looking at the amount of international students and local students here, the competition is ridiculously fierce and a chance for me to work for them is like a flash in the pan. Gradually,  sleep has become my best friend since the start of the 2nd year.. the only time which I can distance myself from all these thoughts. Nevertheless, never try never know.. who'd thought I would end up in the U.K and doing a psychology degree anyways?

**

The urge to spend is real here in the U.K., partly because you are able to discover things and events that are either never going to be available or are ridiculously expensive in Malaysia. First thing that comes to mind is that, I am finally going to be able to travel around Europe! (thanks to Vicky for the invitation.) In December, I will be going to Switzerland and Austria for 10 days, and fingers crossed, I have enough time to study when I get back to the U.K. as exam's right around the corner. :x Also, I bought tickets for Dream Theater's concert in February next year at the Palladium, London, which is also something I can hardly wait for! Still.. I have the urge to spend on a winter coat and a pair of headphones.. damn.

But one thing is rather comforting is that, I am earning some discount from living in the university accommodation as a result of working for the university.. so technically, I am spending those money on my living expenses and things I wanna buy. Fair enough?

**

Oh well.. that's all for this post.

Signing off,

Jayden

The tale of different perspectives

Before I proceed to the main topic of this post, I would like to do a short recap of the events I have been through the past 2 months. Despite failing to obtain an internship..(which I kind of expected really..), it was a satisfying summer break for me as I did nearly everything I couldn't really do during the university term. From completing games, reading comics, watching anime, learning guitar songs, playing basketball.. I couldn't think of a better way for me to thoroughly enjoy and at the same time exhaust myself through this break. Although I am still rather salty for not landing myself an internship.. but hey, look at the bright side, I earned myself more time to spend with my family and friends.

Now, it has been a week since I arrived in Exeter.. and I am starting to love this place all over again. The weather, the scenery and the hills.. they bring back many memories from my first year. Almost this time last year when I first arrived in my university, I was suffering from culture shock, language barrier, accents from my local flatmates from different parts of the UK and also the lack of Malaysian companionship.. I spent most of the time trying to settle in than to enjoy the peaceful environment that my university has. Luckily, everything went great gradually and I managed to get through my first year without many problems at all.

It still feels like a dream to study here.

**

Back to the topic.

During the last two months of my summer break, I found conversations with my friends and families increasingly interesting. It's probably not what they say though, but what can I gain from what they say. I believe most people know about the importance of eye contact and body language in a conversation.. fair enough.. but I find that these are little things that people in general tend to neglect while having a casual talk.. unless in a formal surrounding. It is quite easy to see whether somebody remains focused in a conversation or not.. just by looking at their gestures and listening to what they say. Well, this is what I find anyways.. most of people I talked to, depending on the subject, will either keep eye contact throughout the conversation or constantly diverting their attention away for a few millisecond. For me, it is a sign of a great conversation. Those who are not really interested would just refuse to keep eye contact at all throughout that subject.. signalling that they are just responding out of polite and do not expect to continue on the conversation. 

This is my deduction anyways.

**

Also what I find was that some people I have met tend to only think in one direction. For example, some typical motivators might say, "you are able to succeed in something if you work hard.. like <inserts famous names>." I find it ridiculous, how about those that work hard and fail.. obviously no one is going to remember their names and I would bet with those 'motivators' the list of failures are going to be longer than those that succeeded. 

Moreover, things like "you should do this way, it is the correct way and nothing will go wrong." is also a prime example of one-directional thinking. It reminds me about the "functional fixedness" theory which I learnt in a psychology lecture - a cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used. Yes, nothing will go wrong but to be fair, the other way might work as well but because of the sentence "nothing will go wrong", we tend to shun away from experimenting various options.

Obviously, this relies heavily on the situation.. if it is something major or important, we would definitely, if not, automatically choose the safe path and eliminate any forms of risk. However, casual stuffs like strategy games, cooking, even simple stuffs like how to tie a tie.. there are so many different ways to go about it.

What I am trying to say here is, do not stop, mock, jeer at someone for having a different way of tackling a same problem in comparison. It's that easy.

**

I believe we were all born with an ego.. no matter egoism or egotism. A simple simple experiment is by randomly picking up your old class photograph. If my deduction isn't wrong, the first person you are  looking in the photograph is probably none other than yourself. Yes, I believe this indicates how self-centered we are.. not in a bad way, but it shows how we care about ourselves more than anybody else. Because people want to look good in a photo, thus, they will check ourselves first before caring about how anybody else looks.

The strength of the ego is probably why various people have various difficulty levels in accepting advice from others. Self-bias thoughts and cognitive dissonance cause us to think that what we ought to do is always better than what other people suggest. However, that is just 'what we think'. A successful person, in my book, has to be able to absorb numerous advice while suppressing his/her inner thoughts and at the same time holding the urge to refute any statements.

And that is what I am striving to achieve.

**

Oh well, few more days to freshers and meeting my new flatmates.

Hopefully it will be a smooth-sailing and successful 2nd year for me, fingers crossed.

Bye,

Jayden

Fools.

My beloved country has finally done it, becoming the brightest spotlight internationally for all the wrong reasons. From the scandalous 1MDB to the rediscovery of the missing aeroplane MH 370, these are not news that make us, the Malaysian citizens proud at all. Moreover, the way the government have handled these issues thus far, are not very convincing.

Questions have been continuously hurled towards our "much-respected" Prime Minister but his answers, responses and even actions towards them are ridiculous. It is a great chance for him to prove that he is a great leader but he has blown it completely. His weak responses have been thoroughly exploited by the opposition parties and foreign media, which somehow is able to give a clearer view about the process and details of the whole 1MDB issue.

Obviously, we as the citizen were told that foreign media reports are 'fake, mere speculation, lack evidence etc..' However, just by saying that, the government are not doing themselves favour at all as this means that something is happening, and there is much more unknown information yet to be found. 

Seriously, the situation of this issue is disastrous and will continue to be a downward spiral until probably 'the fall' of the current government. As issues like the problem of GST - which was implemented at the wrong time and the fall of the money value - ridiculously low now remains, it is hard to see them staying afloat for a few more months. *grabs popcorn*

**

I love talking to my friends about how living in the UK has 20% VAT whenever we buy items and goods there. It is a hefty cost compared to what we are experiencing now in the country but, I did not really hear any complaints about it at all. You know why? In UK, the basic minimum wage is around 5 pound an hour, and just by converting the amount into MYR, you will be utterly shocked at that figure. Not only that, in UK, for us international students, who presumably cooks everyday for our meals, probably spend around 20 pounds a week at most for the groceries. Dude, you can earn that shit just by working 4 hours in the UK. Convert it into MYR and you probably have to work for 3 days, 24 hours.

Man, see how crazy it is. The answer to GST is simple, we are not ready for it. When our income is not growing, the implementation of GST is not going to impact the peoples' live positively in every aspect at all. Is the government blind to see this fact, or do they just need more cash urgently for whatever reasons.

**

Recently, my friend Facebook messaged me and wished me good luck. I asked him 'For what?'. He told me to look at the exchange rate and told me that spending in the UK would be tough for me from now on.

To be fair, I don't even wanna look at the exchange rate anymore.. it is a major disappointment. 

For a country filled with the wealth of natural resources, the failure to recover from this free fall of exchange rates will definitely put it's own future, economically, in jeopardy....

To save a sinking ship however, it needs a great captain,

but, what if our captain has already plotted his escape,

and we are just fools drowning in this sinking ship?

Speechless, (Oh the irony..)

Jayden

Definition of Success

Success, in Google dictionary, is defined as 'the accomplishment of an aim or purpose'. It is merely a word to describe the outcome of a situation, nevertheless, the view of 'success' can be very subjective.

We cannot run away from this word in reality. Being born into not only an Asian but a Chinese family, this word has already been imprinted into my life, I believe, even before I am born. The typical Chinese community has a overwhelming sense of pride, and can be seen quite clearly that 'success' seems to be a trait that can be used to show off or act as a comparison tool. This therefore, results in the term 'kiasu' - afraid of losing, a term which Malaysians love to use to label the Singaporeans. 

Over the years of having exams, I had literally no stress in facing them. I do not worry about the thought of facing the exams and have no idea why. Not even the gruesome A-levels paper inflicted the level of stress which actually cause me to worry about the papers. To me, if you study, you will not fail, that's that. Unless, the individual has something at stake or did not study at all, then undeniably the stress level can be high prior to exams.

This though, might be the explanation for me to not achieve the best possible results for ANY of my examinations. I could only get average results or above average results at best. However, unlike some of my peers, I treat examination days just like any usual day and well just want to get the day done with, not thinking of my results. Therefore, when I told friends about what I think about when facing my exams, some of them are quite envious.

Success, however, in the modern community is used as a comparison between individual. As an individual you might acknowledge your success, but from the society you can be a failure. I guess this is one of the reasons of how stress emerge and conquer the minds of people, especially the young ones. 

A clear example would be seeing how parents like to compare their children's results among each other. This is one scenario that never fails to happen every time after the results of the latest examinations were released. There can be four type of parents, those who simply don't care about the results at all,  those who care about the improvement of their own child and awards the child when improvement is seen, those who care about the improvement but punishes the child for not being able to achieve results same as his peers, and those who just show off their children. Social comparison theory tells us that people compare to know their standards in the society.. fair enough. Other than that, it also tells us that people tend to compare with people weaker than them to feel better. Therefore, all I can say is don't be that kind of parents who just want to show off how well your children did. It's stupid. A well-known fact, our country's education is deteriorating, and the demand of tuition for the children of every household is on the rise, even during the period of primary school. Doesn't that mean those parents who are able to send their children to tuition has an advantage in getting the best outcome? Sending children to as many tuition as possible, robbing their childhood.., albeit getting the best results, is that success to you? 

Like I said, success is subjective. I can be rich and it is  success to me, but to the richer ones, they might call me a failure. Thus, in this scenario, it tests the strength of will power, do you accept yourself as a successful person or a failure? Are you going to care about what other people think? This is basically how thoughts get swindled and when people fall into this trap, confidence gets destroyed. 

As long as you believe on the dictionary definition of success, you can basically lead a happy life as I believe most people can accomplish their aim. Obviously, this also depends on what are you trying to aim for and how much effort did you put in to accomplish it. Basically what I am trying to say is to achieve success for yourself and not what other want you to be. Just live your way and fuck what other thinks about you. 

Whenever you are being compared, just think of the basis of Social Comparison Theory - they are just trying to compare with you to think of where they stand in the society, that doesn't mean you are at the bottom, it is just that they are one step above you. Rather than having the thought of you are the failure and he/she is the successor, just think that both of you are successful and that he/she is more successful than you.

Use that as your motivation to strive for greater heights.

I firmly believe that there is no failure in life, and as long as you are here in this world, there is always 'success' for you to find. And it's up to you to decide whether to hunt for it or not.

Signing off,

Jayden

Stuck.

There's always a good side and a bad side for everything. Nothing can be completely beneficial or disruptive, it all depends on how one sees it and perceives it. Therefore, there might be actually no wrong to somebody's thinking and action because to them, it is the right thing to do. The usage of the words 'Human Rights' further enhance this effect, negating the judgement and the condemns of the society towards what we are doing - which can be wrong itself but not in our eye. How many times do we hear advises such as, 'stop smoking, you will have bad health.' Well, to be honest, we are all going to die one day, regardless in an accident, or ultimately out of deteriorating health.

I am not supporting the usage of cigarettes here, rather I want to pinpoint the fact society overemphasize the fact that smoking cigarettes is bad. Since a very young age, I was told by my father to stay away from them as they were bad for health and people get addicted to it. These rather 'wise' words contributed to me thinking that smokers are automatically 'bad people' at that time. Over the years, I have thought about it, why do people still have the idea that smoking is bad entirely?

Just because of health and addiction?

How about shopaholics? How about gamers? How about caffeine addicts?

Why do smokers receive so much attention?

*

After 2 weeks in Malaysia, I am dejected at the fact that I am still unable to get an internship or a job. For the internship, it was just wishful thinking that any company in this country would actually offer me an opportunity. First  year student. Psychology student. Joker. The internships that I have applied to did not even have Psychology under their required subjects.

I have also applied to a customer service job, which they have not return to me yet.. fingers crossed man.

*

However, to be honest, I just want to relax and meet up with my friends for these 2 months.

Growing mushrooms at home is actually not a bad idea too.

If I am able to get an internship in UK next year, I will be spending 2 straight years there, and hypothetically, if I am able to get a job right after I graduate, it would be a road of no return.

So.. what now?

Sincerely,

Jayden