30 Mar: 91/100

Took a Dutch entrance test yesterday after my exam in the morning, so that I could qualify for the Dutch language course. Don’t ask me why a test is needed. Guess cos they are giving the course for free to exchange and masters students (while others needed to pay), so they wanted to make sure that we’ll put in effort, and that cld be shown by studying for and passing the first test with 75% or more.

Results were out today, and I got 91/100. Haven’t gotten this kinda grade since primary school! Haha. Feels good. Sorry I need to boast about it for a while, cos I’ve been getting lousy grades like Bs and Cs at NUS ):

Well, hopefully I can sustain, cos its gonna be an intensive two-month course.

29 Mar: Shiok exam

My first exam in TU Delft! Also, this is the first time I’ve ever had to study a design book for a design exam. In NUS, I needed only to study notes.

Anyway, I think this exam was an eye opener for me. I loved the experience. Im thankful I had the chance to take an exam at the school. Haha. Let me describe what I went through:

Upon entering the examination room, this pretty girl from the Student Association gave me sweets and wished me good luck.

I could choose to sit anywhere I like, and bring my bag with me even though it’s a closed book exam.

It was a 9am-12nn paper. Only at about 9:05am, the invigilators started handing out the papers. Whoever received first could just begin.

While doing the first paper, the invigilators continued giving out the second and third sets at their own time. If you had a missing page, just walk to the front and get a new set. If you don’t have enough paper, get it yourself too. Wanna go toilet? Just leave the room.

On my desk, there was a slip of paper, which allowed me to order coffee/tea, with or w/o milk. I just needed to tick my preference, and leave 25 cents on the table with that slip, and in the middle of the exam, two handsome guys pushed the beverage cart around and served us our orders.

And actually I only needed to do half the exam (again another long story), so by right I should be handing in at 10:30. but at 10:40, I was still writing. Then the invigilator came up to me and said, “Hmm, I think your time is up, but how many questions have you left?”

“One,” I said.

“Ok, maybe I’ll give you another 10 mins? You try and finish up.”

I finished at about 10:55, invigilator came to me to take my paper, I slowly packed my bag, put on my jacket, and walked out happy (:

Such a stress-free exam. I think NUS Student Union should also aim to provide this kinda service man.

24 Mar: Den Haag again

This weekend, our friends who are on exchange in Germany came to stay with us. And we decided to visit Den Haag, again! Anyway Den Haag is so big, compared to Delft, and even after today, we still haven’t finished exploring it. So we’ll probably be visiting it again sometime soon (:

Anyway since Den Haag is only half an hour away by train, we decided to save the cost of travelling and cycle there! Haha. By right, it should only take us an hour by bike, but cos we were unfamiliar with that place, so we spent a lot of time on navigation, and I think in all we were on the bike for about 4-5hrs? And so I took the chance to learn cycling single-handed, and now I can proudly say that I can do it with either hand! Haha, just that right hand off needs a bit more practise. Anyway, it was really a nice experience cycling along the canal, seeing sheep, getting lost. And it was definitely great workout. Both my thighs sng until cannot sng already. Dead tired when I reached home.

Yimin and Grace on the bikes.

Noordeinde Paleis.


We were at the Paranoma Mesdag Museum, but because we didn't want to spend money to enter, we just self-entertained with the reflection from the hemispherical top of the rubbish bin!

Vredespaleis.

Gemeente Museum: featuring the Sixties.

21 Mar: Piano Exam

…or at least it feels like one.

I was actually offered by a prof in my faculty to do and individual study with him, following the module “Experimental Form Study of Visual Information”. Erm, it’s a very very long story how I got here, so I shan’t go into it.

Today was my first appointment with him. I was supposed to show him some initial research and analysis of my assignment. I was kinda gan jiong as I didn’t know how much I was expected to prepare for this first meeting, and I guess the main reason is cos it’s a one-to-one thing, not like a group discussion or sth. Guess it feels a little intimidating.

Actually this teacher is a very nice guy, gentle and polite, just that he reminds me too much of the examiners I used to get when I went for piano exams. And piano exams are SCARY. He’s, well, not too old, maybe in his 40s or 50s; wears a black suit, looks through a pair of reading glasses, has a pair of large hands, sits upright at his desk, plus he’s ang moh. That really makes him look like the typical piano examiner. And that’s scary, to me at least.

Anyway, though I somehow felt that my preparation was insufficient, I just showed him whatever I had. And surprisingly, he was very impressed with the information I had found and ideas I had. Phew!

As we were making the next appointment for a discussion again, he said to me, “I am really excited to see what you can come up with in the next meeting. I like what you showed me today.” Hais, that just made me even more stressed. Somehow feel that I wouldn’t be able to meet his expectations of me and would disappoint him.

Anyway, besides the normal assignment discussion the next meeting, I am also supposed to take an “exam” with him. Supposed to read a book called “Communication Design”, then he’ll ask me questions based on the book and my view on the author’s stand. How stressful is that! If it’s a written paper, I can still think it through, plan a structure and write an essay, but it’s gonna be verbal! Man. I just hope I don’t get too gan jiong until I start talking nonsense. But is really feels like the aural part of the piano exam, if not worse! Pray for me!

Sigh, I guess this is part of life. Eventually I’ll hafta go through interviews, which is similar to this, in order to get a job. So I guess this is good training for me. Anyway, I think im really very privileged to have a personal tutor. He actually has to fork out an hour each time just to do this assignment with me. And I think I can really learn a lot from these sessions. So I should really work extremely hard so that I won’t put this opportunity to waste.

18 Mar: “Your Mandarin is in vogue!”

... said to me by a girl from China, “and it sounds good!”

Haha, today in church, I was just speaking to 2 China students who are also studying at TU Delft. At first we were speaking in English, then one of them suggested, “Hey, since we’re all Chinese, why don’t we converse in Mandarin?” So that was just what we did.

Well, I uttered a line or two (couldn’t remember what though), and after that quickly apologised if they couldn’t understand me, since most people wld tell me to shut up once I started speaking in Mandarin in S’pore.

Then, one of them said to me, “No, your Mandarin sounds really good! Don’t worry!”

For a moment, I was thinking that she must be fu-yan-ing me, until she added, “You know, nowadays people in China are actually trying to speak like the way you do! Cos when they watch too much Hong Kong or Taiwanese serials, and hear the pop stars speak in a slang different from that in China, they think its fashionable and want to imitate.”

Whoa, I was surprised to hear that, but anyway, hey hey, my Mandarin is cool k! haha. Who are you to frown and tell me to shut up now when I speak. Haha.

Then she continued, “…while it is actually your English that sounds kinda weird.”

-____-

Oh well, Singlish marh, what to do. Hahha.

17 Mar: International Sports Day

This is an annual event organized for all international students from various schools in Netherlands. Its like a friendly competition between schools. It would last for a whole day, with a dinner and prize presentation at the end. Coincidentally, this year’s is hosted by my school, and Hun signed me up as a supporter haha, so I just decided to go and take a look.

Was thinking what they wld make us do as supporters, like practise and shout some cheers together or sth. In the end, they only gave us each a party thing (don’t know what you call that, the one which you blow and the “tongue” unrolls while making a sound) to blow and make some noise. So we ended up not actually really playing the roles of supporters, but just going round to watch the different events, and occasionally blow the thing for fun haha.

How supportive I am. Haha.

Badminton.

800m race.

Chess.

...and more.

Well, the best part of this sports day is that we get FREE lunch and FREE dinner when we participate in it, and supporters are also counted! (isn’t that the whole point about signing up for it anyway?) Haha. So, since we’re we done watching all the various sports by morning, we grabbed our FREE lunch, then went to the city centre walked one round, went home took a nap, then returned for the FREE dinner haha. Hey, we’re showing our Singaporean spirit in this int'l event ok, haha. Not that we so kiasu or what, but we’re just really sian of cooking our own meals larh.

Then at dinner, after some of the people were done eating, they just gathered round where the DJ played and started dancing. The whole thing was really amusing larh, cos it was more or less like a racial harmony gathering, so the DJ would occasionally play, say an Indian song, then quickly the Indians wld come forward to take the floor and dance some Indian dance. Then when the African one played, then suddenly everyone started dancing a routine, and it seemed like everyone, but us, knew it! Anyway, throughout they just played weird music larh, so we all just shake shake a bit for fun.

Yeps, that’s all for the day (: Free lunch and free dinner felt good haha.

Happy are we (:

14 Mar: The day I washed my clothes

…is also the day I built an obstacle course in my room.

Well, its my first time using the washing machine and dryer in 21 years! Whooo. By the way, not that I didn’t wash clothes since the day I arrived, but I handwashed them all to save money. Anyway, despite using the dryer, my clothes still came out wet! How loser am I. And because I didn’t want to waste another Euro drying my clothes, I had no choice but to do this:

And, oh, wait, that’s not the end. I lost my towel too. Maybe in the wash, or dryer, or on the way to the washer, or during the transfer from the washer to dryer… The best thing is I’ve really no clue how it could even disappear. I checked everywhere but just couldn’t find it ):

10 Mar: Den Haag

Den Haag is the 3rd largest city in the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Its only about half hour by train or tram from Delft, while Amsterdam 45mins and Rotterdam 12mins away by train. Ain’t I fortunate to be in Delft? Though small, yet every other happening place is so near! (:

Anyway, back to Den Haag. Zhang Rui , Hun and I decided to go there for a day trip.

Ok, just see pictures. Lazy to write. Haha.

Het Binnenhof - the centre of Dutch political life.

Mauritshuis


Escher in het Paleis. I love Escher's works!

Other random pics.

Look at how they just pile the bread against the window.

Sunbathing in the park??

Look at the pillars.

Look at our happy faces.

Dinner finally.

Yay, in train, going home!

10 Mar: I Just Can't Stop

SHOPPING!!!
Cos it just feels really SHIOK!

Oh man, someone stop me from becoming like Juls. Haha (:

Cheap kids wear which I can fit in!

Tank top: E2.50!

Skirt: E3.00!

Le Coq Sportif turtleneck pullover: E9.95! (originally E39.95)

Forecast denim jacket: E15.00! (originally E64.95)
Boots: E19.95 (oh well, not exactly v cheap, but i wanted v much a pair of boots so, haha)

Forecast battle cuff 3-quarts: E15.00! (originally E59.95)

Here comes my favourite! The blouse! I think its the best buy! and I really love it!

Forecast blouse: E5.00! (originally E49.95)

Forecast 3-quarts: E10.00! (originally E49.95)

Benetton belt: E8.90 (well, not cheap again, but i really like the patterns)

And I got most of these stuff from this Forecast shop, which I kinda like cos of their cuttings which most of the time fit very nicely. And everything in the shop is super ex except for those on sale, where after some mad digging can find really good buys! And also, I usually will hafta buy XS (and sometimes they are even still too big), which makes me feels small, which makes me feel happy hahha! (:

And im really really v happy with all my buys! Wheeeeeee! Yay! (:

05 Mar: Where is my money!!!

Before the exchange, I’ve already transferred money to the sch, as a proof that I’ve sufficient money for living expenses throughout my entire stay in Delft. Can you imagine how much money that is. By right, they shld subsequently open a Dutch bank account for me when I arrive here, and then transfer all that money into the bank. Yes, they did open the account, but didn’t transfer the money! for 1 whole mth I had to live on the cash that I brought. The school (or in general, the culture here) is ridiculously slow in handling all these admin matters. I kept bugging the sch for my money but just didn’t get it. To make matters worse, all payment made in sch is through this Chipknip (sth like cash card), so I cant pay by cash at all. And to top up this chip card, I can only transfer money into it from a Dutch bank acct (which has currently no money). So I basically cant buy anything from sch.

I was about to blow today (cos I haven’t been able to get my course material for an exam coming up in less than a mth), till I checked my account and saw that they’ve finally put the money in. Really felt like killing the sch.

26 Feb: Bike!

Haha, finally bought a bike today. For 50Euro, a 2nd hand. Well, the cheapest I can find already. It’s a kiddy’s city bike! Haha, thought the adults’ were too huge for me, especially when I sometimes cant even cycle straight in Sg, I guess a smaller one wld be easier to handle. And I love the colours! But but but, I don’t know if it’s the bike, or just me, I just cant go fast at all. Compared to all other bikes on the lane, im as good as crawling, especially uphill, I can hardly move. To sch is only 10mins, but my legs are already wobbly when I reach. So, I better return home with slim thighs after half a year!

My bike (left) and Neighbour's (right). Notice the difference in size haha.

Trying out the bike. Its really hard to cycle with the bag cos it keeps dropping!

25 Feb: Church

Christelijke Gemeete Levend Water, Delft.

In English, Living Water Christian Church.

The first time I went to a church in Delft. I found this church on the web and decided to go have a look since its only 5 mins walk from my house.

The moment I stepped in, it just all seemed so strangely familiar. I felt like I was back at home. I now understand how God is the same everywhere and connects all His people from all over despite the differences in race, nationality and culture.

This church is very much like church back home, small and cosy, with about 150 people. And its now raising funds for new church building because it can no longer grow in this current one (which is only temporary). There is only one service which is in both Dutch and English, so I get to learn some Dutch while worshipping God, not bad uh haha. The people here are very warm and friendly, and quite a number are from TU Delft (my sch) too, which is good (:

Worship.

Sermon Time.

Pastor (left), with English translator (right).

The column on the left is a measure of the funds they have raised. Once they've reached a mark, they'll colour it.

This church is of no denomination, but so far, their doctrines seem sound, and amazingly, both sermons I’ve attended actually coincide with the QT I’ve been doing. God is good! So I guess, this is where I shall be continuing to go to receive God’s Word and for Christian fellowship, and I thank God for bringing me here! (:

24 Feb: Ikea

Took a bus to Ikea today, and hey, buses are free on Saturdays from 11am-6pm! Anyway, Ikea here is super huge, compared to Singapore’s. Inside is pretty much the same, though they have a wider variety. And meatballs are cheap!–er than in Sg! Only 5.25 Euro per kg! I believe in Sg its about 15SGD? And its cheaper than chicken (7.29Euro/kg) or pork (7.99Euro/kg) here, can you believe it. Meatballs shall replace all other meat during my stay here. Haha.