Korea Solo BBQ at Bucheon

Hello readers! I remembered my friend once told me take Korea is not a loner friendly place, especially at KBBQ places. Her sister was alone when she stepped into a KBBQ shop and she had to order a 2 people portion before the owner allowed her to eat alone. 

But recently, there is a hype about "hon-bap" (which actually comes from "honja" meaning alone and "bap" meaning meal, shortened to hon-bap) which I am eager to try because I rarely have a chance to eat alone in Singapore. 

After my summer school has ended, most of my friends went back to Singapore (T_T yes you, Sheron) and I had a lot of alone time. Hence, I decided to try this solo BBQ at Bucheon called 독고진 돌판구이&철판볶음 Dokgojin Restaurant.

It is located at Line 7 Bucheon City Hall (부천시청역, reads Bu Cheon Shi Chang Yeok, the word 역 "Yeok" means station). Take Exit 1, then walk straight pass the Bucheon City Hall Building then cross 2 roads. Next, turn right and walk straight, cross 2 roads and then you should see something like a park at your northeast direction, turn left and walk 2 stores down. You will see the BBQ shop with orange signboard. . (In doubt, just refer to the map below)

Taken from NAVER maps.

The road I took is drawn in red here.

Below the photo of the left is the stretch of road opposite the City Hall and on the right is the City Hall.

This is how the shop looks like from the side.

If you don't know Korean, the above sign roughly translates to 

<Opening hours>

Open - Afternoon 5pm

Close - 12 midnight

Closed every Monday

So do take note they are only open from 5pm to 12 midnight! I actually planned to have the BBQ for lunch because some of the reviews I read online said that they are opened from 12 to 3 and then 5 to midnight BUT IT'S NOT TRUE! I was alone and hungry when I reached there at 1pm, but luckily, there was a convenience store at Bucheon City Hall Station so I settled my lunch there. 

I went back to the BBQ store around 5.30pm and it was almost empty. There was just one other man sitting inside. The restaurant was very quiet and all I could hear was the sizzling of the meat coming from the man's table. The tables were arranged in cubicle style, on the left for the solo diners and on the right are for 2 people. 

This is the menu. The downside of this place is that there is no English menu or English Speaking Staff, but I think it didn't really matter because there is minimal human interaction. My Korean is pretty limited as I taught myself so here is my attempt at translating the menu:

One Man portion

Fresh samgyeopsal (pork belly) 150g - 11,000 won

Frozen samgyeopsal (pork belly)150g - 7,000 won

Fresh meat 150g - 11,000 won

Frozen meat 150g - 7,000 won

woo sam gyeop - 8,000 won (okay I'm sorry for this one cuz I really don't know)

Half Man portion 

Fresh samgyeopsal (pork belly) 80g - 6,000 won

Frozen samgyeopsal (pork belly)80g - 4,000 won

Fresh meat 80g - 6,000 won

Frozen meat 80g - 4,000 won

woo sam gyeop - 4,500 won (okay I'm sorry for this one cuz I really don't know)

For the rest of the words I am not sure what they are, but I know there is octopus. 

When I ordered, I pointed to the half man portion but the staff told me that I got to order the one man portion. It dawned on me that half man portion only applies as a top up if you want more meat. 

I ordered the 11,000 won fresh samgyeopsal which is what some of the Korean bloggers suggested. Once the food arrived, the staff set an alarm on my table and told me that once the alarm rings, I can put the meat on the pan. I replied "huh okay", she probably thinks that I don't understand; Once the alarm rang, she came to check on me to ensure that I placed the meat on the pan. She was very polite!

There is also charging cables for mobile phones, by default it is a Samsung charger. There is also a sign that says for iPhone user, please approach staff for adapter. (Which I did!)

There is also a mini television which you can change the channel using the remote control. I didn't bother watching because I didn't understand 90% of the show.

Honestly, the meat and side dish (like any other KBBQ shop) tasted alright, so if you were to stay in Seoul, I probably wouldn't recommend you to take all that transport to come to Bucheon just to eat this. But if you want to try solo culture, I think this is a good place to spend some alone-time as part of a Bucheon Tour. 

One last thing is that in Korea, restaurants provide FREE plain water and FREE tissue! (unlike Singapore)

Part 2: Hanyang International Summer School (HISS) 2017

Hello reader!

Welcome to part 2 of my blog regarding my Hanyang journey (For part 1, click here!). In this post, I would be sharing about my timetable (the mods I took) and my accommodation, as well as canteens in the university.

Also, read part 3 for some the FAQs I've received and part 4 for the free activities!

Timetable

I took 3 modules in total as mentioned in part 1, they were ISS1041, GEN6060 and ISS1056. I was very lucky in course registration as I managed to get all the slots I wanted before they were all taken.

Additionally, even if it is the same module, it could be taught by different professor and hence the exam format would be different. For my GEN6060 module, I managed to get a prof who loves MCQ exams while my friends, who was taught by a different prof, wrote essays for both their mid terms and finals.

(EDIT: I heard from a friend that NUS has reduced the number of map-able modules without charging a special term fee from 3 modules to 2 modules with effect from summer 2018! (So you can choose to take 3 modules at Hanyang, but you can only map 2 back to NUS). I am not sure how true this is so do check with your department or any emails from NUS you may receive!)

(UPDATE: I remember reading this from somewhere that we can skip 2 lessons per module for the entire semester and not get penalized (aka passing the module). Again, I am not sure how true this is so please check again.)

Morning class: ISS1041 Engineer and Society
9am to 12pm
Lecturer: KiPyung Kim

Firstly, there were different lecturers for the same modules, so it was important (or lucky) to get a lecturer that was chill. There were not many reviews about these modules, hence I am writing one right now and hopefully there will be students from the other classes who would write their reviews as well!

Honestly, Prof Ki Pyung was very chill. He provided lecture notes in pdf that can be downloaded from the hanyang portal (and no you do NOT have to print the notes out). His notes were very comprehensive, short & sweet and very well organized. Most importantly, the mid terms and finals were all 12 MCQs and 3 Short Answers (total 15 questions, 2 marks each). I was expecting the short answer questions to be writing at least a sentence, but no, it was just A WORD. Everything in the exam was covered in the lecture and notes, so it was not difficult to get full marks.

Basically, the module covered engineering ethics with a bit of project management because Prof Ki Pyung has a PhD in Project Management. If you are from Civil engineering (like me!), it should be easy because some of the things he taught were similar to the module CE2184. If you are not a civil engineering student, do not worry because most of the things taught were still about engineering ethics.

Why was prof KiPyung Kim chill?
1. Our first lecture ended in 15 minutes.
2. He always released us once he finished his lecture slides for the day. (usually 10.15am)
3. On the day we had our exams, he started the paper at 10am instead of 9am.
4. If you studied, the exam paper can be completed in 10 minutes although he gave us 1 hour.
5. MCQ and short answer questions!

If you are curious about my final grade, I got A (92/100). I just had good attendance (15% I think because I didn't skip any lessons at all) and did relatively well for exams. Although there was a 15% class participation, I did not speak a single word during class. So I am guessing Prof probably gave the full 15% to everyone. Hence, the tip is to not skip class and do well for exams. (or even if you are planning to skip class, get someone to mark attendance for you when the attendance list is being passed around during lesson; I do not recommend skipping lectures though, but then again summer school is to enjoy and play)


Afternoon class: ISS1056 Ceramic Arts
1pm to 4pm
Taught by professor Shin Mee Young

As Prof Shin did not speak perfect English, she had another assistant prof who spoke better English to translate for her. Initially, I thought we had to study the history of pottery because I saw the mid terms and finals component, but NO. This module was nothing but fun and relaxing. It was an extremely hands-on module where we made something (cups/plates/jewelry/bowls/free-and-easy) every single lesson. We even get to play with the spinning pottery wheel to make cups, bowls and vase. One thing to take note was that the product actually shrinks by 30% after firing in the kiln. If you are worried how your ceramics might turn out ugly, the professor actually told us that we were not graded entirely based on the appearance of our work; Hence it was alright to make ugly ceramics (like I did).

Everything about this module was great (and slack) except that we had to pay 50,000 won for the material fee (thats roughly about SGD 60). But it was totally worth it because it was fun, relaxing and we get to bring whatever we made back to Singapore! So if you are planning to take this mod, do not pack too many things in your luggage when you enter Korea. My friend ended up purchasing bubble wrap and boxing her ceramics to ship it back to Singapore (fly money fly).

Here are just some of the masterpieces my batch created:

Final Product

After 1st firing

Time really flies during ceramic classes, my friends and I were struggling to finish our work almost every lesson. I got 93/100 which was an A for my final grade. I don't remember having any mid terms, but our finals was making anything we wanted. Most of my classmates did figurines/cups/bowls/plates. Additionally, during my last lesson, professor Shin treated us to Korean fried chicken and Pepsi!!


Evening class: GEN6060 Principles of Management
4pm to 7pm
Lecturer: YunKi Kim

I have never seen such a happy-go-lucky professor before until I met Prof YK. I feel that it is very difficult to survive an evening class, hence I am very fortunate to be in Prof YK's class. He was very entertaining and really understood what most students want (come Korea is to play right?). Prof YK was also very experienced in both the workforce and teaching, he even wrote a book on investment banking and economics. Honestly, he was so chill that he even told us if we attended class we will get 100% in exams, if we do not, we will get 70%. However, don't be fooled! You still have to study for the exams if you want to pass. One thing to take note was that there was no bellcurve and the passing mark is actually 60%.

For both mid terms and finals, we had 40 MCQs. The good thing about the exams is that it is non cumulative, so whatever that was tested in mid terms would not appear in finals again. Everything that was tested was covered in the lecture notes pdf he uploaded on the Hanyang portal. The mid terms and finals were held in the same classroom we have our lessons; I am not sure if I can say this but the prof told us clearly not to cheat (aka if you cheat, don't get caught). To be honest, almost all the questions were just a simple recall-and-answer question, so it was not a tough module.

There was a textbook for this module, but everything he tested could be found in the lecture notes pdf, hence my friends and I did not purchase the textbook. There is also 20% catered to presentation, which is just topics and case studies found from the textbook, which Prof YK brought to class every lesson. We just took photos of the relevant pages we were supposed to present.

There was also 15% class participation but my friends and I did not speak a single word during class as usual. However, this did not hinder us from getting A+ for the module. I got 96/100 just by doing decently in mid terms, presentation and finals (no I did not get full marks).

Tips/ advice/ tricks

I think that such a timetable arrangement was the best as I ended my morning class early for lunch, spend the entire 1pm-4pm making ceramics (and time really flies during ceramics) before attending my evening class which also ended early for dinner.

Because Hanyang did not charge per module, I really recommend taking 3 modules (the maximum you can go). The fees were the same even if you choose to take 1 mod or 3 mod, and you only have to pass each mod. However, if you wish to have more time to explore Seoul/Korea, or you want to party, then just take 2 modules.

Accommodation

For my summer school at Hanyang, I chose to stay at the off-campus dorm called Roseville which is located just beside the main gate of Hanyang University. Roseville was an all female dorm that was located right beside Smartville, the off-campus all male dorm.

I chose Roseville over on-campus accommodation as there was a fridge in each room and no curfew. Although the website states that there was no toilet in each room of the on-campus dorm, my friends who stayed on the on-campus dorms told me they did have a toilet in their room. However, they did not have a personal fridge or washing machine like Roseville. They had a shared fridge (which I didn't like because people might steal your food lol) and shared washing machine instead.

I feel that Roseville's location was very strategic and centralized, with the closest subway station (Wangsimni Station) being 5 minutes walk away, GS25 convenience store 5 seconds walk away and Hanyang Uni main gate 20 seconds walk away. It was truly the safest place I had ever stayed in where there was a police station opposite Roseville and Hanyang University Hospital beside. However, the downside was that the buildings (school of business & Hanyang women's university) where I had my lessons were a 15 minutes walk from Roseville. Not to mention that Hanyang University had way more hills than NUS although it was not as big as NUS.

Something that shocked me was that there was no elevator in Roseville, so I was glad that my room was on the 3rd floor. My friends who stayed on the highest 5th floor carried their own luggage up the building when they checked-in. So try to choose rooms located on the lower floors (2nd or 3rd). Also, the building owners and permanent residents who stayed in the basement were not all girls. One of my dorm-mate was worried about Korean boys entering the building until the Residential Assistant told us they lived in the basement.

In my opinion, Roseville did have everything I needed -- hot water shower, microwave oven, pillow, blanket, bed sheet (more like a thicker blanket Korean style), air-con, mosquito net at the window, washing machine, hangers in cupboard and refrigerator. The only thing that I wanted but they did not provide was an electric kettle. My roommate and I ended up drinking mineral water purchased from GS25 (Korea's 7-eleven). My mother kept reminding me that it was not the healthiest to drink too much mineral water, so I mostly get water from water coolers and dispensers around school (also it's free).

I felt that some rooms in Roseville were slightly more spacious than the others. Each room had a number for example 101, 304, 506. The first digit is the level while the last digit represents the unit number. So 306 just means 3rd floor unit 6. I felt that units number 5 and 6 were slightly less spacious than 1, 2, 3, 4. Unit 6s were facing the stairs, so if you want to walk 5 steps lesser, choose unit 6.

EDIT 1: ON CAMPUS WASHING MACHINE (thanks Liling for this edit): My friend who stayed at the on-campus dorm told me that they had to pay 500 won or 1000 won (she can't remember exactly) for each washing machine wash!!

EDIT 2: COST & CHECK IN FOR ROSEVILLE (thanks Vick for this edit): In 2017, I paid 600,000 won for my off-campus accommodation, moved in on 1 July around 2pm and moved out on 30 July around 5pm. I am not sure if we could move in earlier, but the last day for us to move out was 30 July. For the on-campus accommodation, it cost 500,000 won.

EDIT 3: WIFI AT ROSEVILLE: On Hanyang website it stated that there was no wifi at Roseville, BUT THERE WAS!! and it was pretty strong, I could even play dota on my laptop. Also, the website states that only room 202 and 302 have induction cooker and sink, but my friends in 306 had an induction cooker as well. I stayed in 302 and there was an induction cooker but no kitchen sink. But it was not an issue because there was always the toilet I could use.

EDIT 4: CLEANLINESS (thanks Amalina for this edit): It would be good to bring or buy air freshener for your room and cupboard. Although my room did not smell odd, my friend's room (unit ending with 6 eg. 306) that was facing the stairs encountered smell from our neighbors cooking on the 2nd floor (They cooked curry). Additionally, due to the weather, our rooms was too humid and our Residential Assistant told us to purchase dehumidifier from the emart (aka Korea's NTUC Fairprice) but we didn't wanted to spend that extra money so we ended up opening the windows of our bathroom.

Canteens in school

There were a few canteens in the university but the one that my friends and I frequent was the one at Hanyang Women's University (because it had the cheapest food in the uni like 3500 won).

These were the directions I took to the canteen which I felt was the shortest and had the most shelter (I wrote this to the best of my ability as someone who has Short Term Memory, so please understand!)

To get to the canteen from the School of Business,
1. Go to B1 and walk along the corridor until you see stairs situated along the middle of the corridor.
2. Walk down the stairs and you should see a convenience store CVU for U, CU (it's a convenience store, something like 7-eleven) on your right.
3. Turn left and take the elevator/stairs down to B1.
4. At B1 walk in the direction of the the carpark, then turn right and walk straight until you see an exit/opening on your right
5. Walk to the exit and walk straight, you should see some stairs
6. Go down the stairs halfway and you should see a glass door on the right that leads you to Hanyang Women's University.
7. Open the glass door and walk straight all the way until you see a slope on your left.
8. Walk down the slope and then turn right.
9. Walk straight and turn right when you see the elevator.
10. Take the elevator down to B1. (you are on level 3) Take note that the elevator on the right does not stop at the 3rd floor, so you got to press for the lift on the left.
11. Once you exit the elevator, turn left and then left again, you should see some exhibition/ history of hanyang written on the walls on your right. Turn right and walk along the exhibition.
12. Walk down the stairs/slope and you should see a cafe in front.
13. Walk towards the cafe and turn left. Once you can turn right, turn right.
14. Walk straight and you should be able to see the machine to purchase food coupons.
15. The canteen is just beside the food coupon machines.

There was another canteen at the Ecology Building, but food there was slightly more expensive (around 4,500 won or more). However, the portion was larger and had more side dishes. I only ate at this canteen once so I had no recollections of the directions there :-(

End of part 2.

Part 1: Hanyang International Summer School (HISS) 2017

Hello reader!

In this blogpost, I will be sharing about part 1 of my Hanyang International Summer School (HISS) 2017 journey -- application and course selection/registration. In my opinion, HISS is the summer school for NUS Engineering students to clear the compulsory modules EG2401 (Engineering Professionalism) and HR2002 (Human Capital in Organizations). Since my friends and I heard many horror stories of taking EG & HR in NUS, we decided to apply for HISS. Also, summer school is a cheaper alternative to exchange program.

Read part 2 for my timetable, accommodation and module review!
Read part 3 for the frequently asked questions!
Read part 4 for the free activities!

Hanyang University

Application

For my batch, we had to complete an online application on the HISS website AND also another application on myisis under Self Service --> Global Education --> External Study Application. I used my personal email to apply instead of the NUSmail (it doesn't matter which email you use, just use the one that you check most frequently). I applied on the day when the application opened, while my other friend applied on the 3rd day, only to be placed on the waiting list! So remember, apply as soon as possible. On the Hanyang application website, you would have to upload your insurance which NUS had already purchased for us when we matriculated. For 2017, the insurance looked something like this: http://www.nus.edu.sg/finance/docs/summary-of-policy-cover-jan-2017-jun-2018.pdf
Just google for "NUS insurance" and the links would appear. However, my friends and I were concerned about the coverage. Although we uploaded the link, we ended up buying our own travel insurance (cheapest option is from NTUC Income).

EDIT: For my batch (summer 2017), the system on Hanyang Application website worked like this:
1. Submit application
2. Wait for Hanyang to accept application
3. Once accepted, the status on application page is updated to "awaiting payment" and you can make payment (read part 3 to find out more about payment)
4. Wait for Hanyang to verify payment, once verified, the status should then be changed to "admitted")

UPDATE: Regarding how long Hanyang took to accept the applications: they took close to 1 week to accept mine, while I had some friends that took 3 days and some that took up to 2 weeks.

Module Mapping

After you receive the acceptance email, it is time for module mapping.
On myisis, go to Global Education --> module mapping worksheet --> module details,

For EG2401 Engineering professionalism map to ISS1041 Engineer and Society
For HR2002 Human Capital in Organizations map to GEN6060 Principals of Management

Additionally, I took ISS1056 Ceramic Arts and mapped it over to a UEM, the dummy module code was sent to me by my department as EX1000, just follow the email that you might receive (4 MCs).

For module reviews, read part 2 of this series, click here!

EDIT: I heard from a friend that NUS has reduced the number of map-able modules without charging a special term fee from 3 modules to 2 modules with effect from summer 2018! (So you can choose to take 3 modules at Hanyang, but you can only map 2 back to NUS) I am not sure how true this is so do check with your department or any emails from NUS you may receive!

Course selection/ registration

Hanyang would send frequent updates to the email you registered with them. They would email you the link to select the course. Unlike bidding on CORS, this selection was based on the fastest finger (NTU Star wars?). If registration were to start at 9am, camp in front of your computer at 8.55am and refresh till you can login.

Course selection day for my batch started at 9am, and all the vacancies for EG and HR were taken within 3 minutes (I am not even kidding). This is because each class size was about 80, given that there were 3 sessions (Morning, Afternoon, Night) 3 sessions x 80 vacancies = 240 students. I was told that NUS had 600 vacancies for Hanyang, most of them were engineering students who were there to clear EG and HR. As for ceramic arts, there were only 20 vacancies per session; Similarly all the vacancies were taken within 3 minutes. So plan your timetable well with your friends before course selection day.

(UPDATE: I received a few questions pertaining to course/module registration so I will answer them in detail here! For my batch, course/module registration was done through a Hanyang portal. If I remembered correctly, we used the same username and password when we did our application, or if it is not, then Hanyang will send an email and step-by-step tutorial document in registering for a Hanyang account. I cannot remember exactly where to click for registration, but the interface of the Hanyang portal is user-friendly and also in English; So do not worry!! Just take 10 minutes or so to navigate around the portal before the start-time.)

HERE IS A TIP!! My friends and I intended to take 3 modules and since it was first-come-first- serve, we opened 3 different tabs on google chrome (one for each module we were choosing), where every module was a tab itself. Then at 9am, we refreshed the 1st tab/module, and choose our slot, then we refreshed the 2nd tab/module and chose our slot, and then the 3rd one. ANOTHER TIP!! and that would be to make sure you already planned which module/course at which timeslot you want exactly before the day itself. So once registration opens, you can just click on the module and timeslot you want to register for it.

If you are reading this blogpost after all the vacancies are taken (be it you overslept/bad wifi/forget/didn't check email/finger too slow), fret not! There is a HISS closed Facebook group where you can join and then request for more slots to be opened. A few NUS engineering students posted on the group to request for more GEN6060 and ISS1041 vacancies. If I remember correctly, Hanyang added 10 vacancies to each session, from 70 to 80 vacancies. They would send an email to everyone regarding the date and time for the 2nd round. If you have already secured your slots in the 1st round, then you do not have to participate in the 2nd.

Still didn't manage to get a slot in the 2nd round? Don't worry. In my GEN6060 class, there were 2 NUS engineering students who did not manage to get a slot (They happened to be my coursemate). They attended the lecture for the particular timeslot they wanted and asked the professor if they could join the class. (But then again, the professor was a super nice guy, he asked the class "Is everyone alright with these new students who wants to join us?" Of course everyone said yes LOL and they proceed to write their names on the last page of the attendance sheet. If I am not wrong, they had to inform the international school office about the arrangements and acceptance. (However, I do not recommend this method because it can be very risky as the professor can deny your entry)


That's about it for part 1 of my Hanyang journey. Read part 2 for my timetable, accommodation and module review!

This is the part of the university that we rarely went.

Also the part of the university we rarely, if not never, went.

End of part 1.

Last Minute Survival Guides for Finals

Hello exam-takers. (A super warm welcome to those who are having finals in less than 1 week's time and reading this)

You are probably here for a series of reasons, such as being inconsistent with assignments throughout the sem or having tons of lectures to catch up but you don't have time. If you decide that you don't want to just pray for a B or B+ when you know that getting a B- seems impossible, then you have came to the correct place :D

Just a note before I carry on: this guide does not guarantee you will pass with flying colours, it is just some last minute things I did other than praying for a PASS/B/B+. I manage to get B and B+ for some of the mods, additionally, the bell curve god was kind enough to give me an A- for one of the mods. One other thing to note is that these tips may or may not work for everyone, so just take it with a pinch of salt. As I am an engineering student, the tips below applies more to the engineering mods I took, but it doesn't mean the guide does not totally apply for FASS mods (I took GES and GEH under FASS so I have tried university level essay writing).

Firstly, divide the time you have for the number of modules. If you have 1 week and 5 modules, then you can take 1 day for each module, spending the leftover 2 days for the module that require more time/more practice; Unless you plan to tabao certain mod (meaning S/U), then maybe you can cater less time to the mod(s).

1. Watching the webcast at twice the speed

This tip is for those who did not attend lectures and accumulated tons of webcast to watch in a few days, one way is to watch it at twice the speed. Some of my lecturers speak a little slow, so I can still understand what the prof is saying when I play it at x1.75 or x2 speed. The key point here is that sometimes lecture notes uploaded on IVLE could have some fill-in-the-blanks or important notes that the lecturer did not include. For example, the lecturer for one of the mod I took provided extra information which I wrote down. It so happened that I had to make use of the extra notes I wrote down to answer a question during finals. Hence, it is important to watch the lecture in case the lecturer gives some hints/wise words.

2. Learn the Pattern, not the Concept

When you have no time, the best bet is to ditch the concept which needs more time to understand. Basically, focus on pattern recognition; In order to do this, spam your tutorials and assignments. By spam I mean redo the questions again and again. If there are too many questions, then do all of them at least once. For the extreme cases where you have never touched/read the tutorials before, copy the solutions key at least once (with understanding if possible). This is to aid in spotting the pattern/memorising the formulae and steps (if it is a closed book exam). I always rely on muscle memory when I have no time for the concept.

Still cannot spot the pattern? Move on to the Past Year Papers (you can get them on the website NUSLibraries). If you are lucky, the lecturer would have uploaded the solutions to the PYP. If there are no solutions/answer key at all (I'm talking about CE2184), and you have no time for consultation with prof, then what you can do is to match the PYP questions to similar tutorial/assignment questions and apply the pattern you see.

3. Spamming Smart

When spamming papers, ensure that you can do the assignment/homework questions. If I were to weigh the importance between assignment/homework and tutorial, I would choose the former. I am saying this when the assignment/homework is

a. a collation of all the topics into 1 question with many parts, or
b. an application of the tutorial questions, or
c. a more complex tutorial question, or
d. past year exam question

Hence if you are really running out of time, then at least attempt the homework/assignment. Take note that the above scenarios might not hold true for all the modules. Some modules could have no assignment but only tutorials.

4. Attempting the paper

The tip I want to share here is to write something even if you cannot do the question at all; I think most people are already good at this part. Try not to leave any blanks totally, maybe just throw in a formula or two, substitute some values inside. Everytime I attempt a question that I cannot do in the exam, I make sure I act as if I know what is happening by not leaving it blank. As stupid as it sounds, writing something (correct or wrong) boosts my moral of the paper and gives me hope that the marker might give me some marks out of pity or for the benefit of doubt. Of course before that, ensure that you have sufficient time to finish the entire paper, although you know that whatever you are writing is actually fluff. Also, remember what they say? If you cannot convince, then confuse.


Parting words: For the sake of your CAP and that piece of paper, be consistent next sem. (But if next sem turns out like this again, feel free to come back here and read hehe but seriously

Things I wish I knew before entering NUS

When I first entered NUS, I had no idea how everything would be because I thought it would just be another JC experience (except with tougher questions and concepts). I was thinking if only I had a senior/mentor/information provider/random articles/blogposts to prep myself before entering. Searching the web, I did not chance upon any comprehensive blogposts. Additionally, my sec sch friends who ORD-ed and are matriculating this year asked me for some tips, hence I decided to write a post to give incoming freshies an idea of what to expect.

To add on, I did not stay in hall/RC/PGP, hence I cannot share any tips regarding living on campus.

Note: everything I write is just my opinion from my personal experience! It is not representative of my cohort or my school :-)

1. Qualifying English Test (QET)

If your Alevels GP is A, B or C you would NOT have to take this QET. I got E for GP so I had to sit for the paper. If you're from poly, you probably have to take this as well. I took the QET before entering NUS (I think was in July), however, a friend of mine only took it after she finished year 1. Honestly, I would recommend to take it before entering NUS because if you get a Band 1 or 2, you would have to take English modules offered by CELC. Specifically, Band 1 to take 2 English modules and Band 2 to take 1 English module. There are only 3 bands, so if you get a Band 3, then HUAT AH, you would not have to take any English modules. For engineering students, you need to clear these English modules before you're able to take the module GET1021 (a faculty requirement).

The sample of a QET paper is uploaded on the CELC website, just google for it. I felt as if I was doing an Alevel essay writing paper. Standard exam procedures apply. Just register for the paper on the website, take note of the exam venue, remember to bring your IC and stationery. My friend who got Band 3 told me he studied for the paper so QET is a paper you can study for (read some articles, memorise some examples, polish the rusty english, etc.)

When I matriculated in AY15/16, I got a Band 2, so I had to take a module called ES1102 that has 0 Modular Credits (MCs). However, recently CELC implemented a new module ES1103 that has 4 MCs so if you do well for the paper then it can be counted into your CAP. I remembered getting B+ for ES1102 but unfortunately it has 0 MCs, so it cannot be counted :-(

Anyway, if you get a Band 3 then congrats it's a good start!!! BUT if you get a Band 1 or 2, don't be discouraged because you get to take more modules by paying the same amount of tuition fees as those who did not! Additionally, you may make some friends/acquaintance from your English class.

2. Camps/Orientation/Friends

For those who don't know, the orientation week on our academic calendar stands for O-week, which is optional (like every other camp). But I feel that it is important to know a few people before entering. The saying goes 在家靠父母 出外靠朋友 (Direct translation: At home lean on your parents, go out lean on your friends). Honestly, I would not have make it this far without my friends/acquaintances/OG mates. If you are not intending to stay in Halls/RC/PGP, then I feel that the place where you can make friends (not just acquaintances) is through camps.

Of course we have heard rumors about NUS camps, but this should not deter you from attending such camps because the organizing committee are more careful in their plans. I remember last semester, NUS sent us an email regarding this issue with all the punishments such as detention for the organizers. Anyway, I strongly encourage you to join at least a camp, be it faculty camp/course camp/O-week. You can meet new people, play some games and enjoy the start of uni life.

As for me, I do not stay in school or go to school that often (but I do not condone truancy), so I'm glad that I attended a camp to make friends (bonus: making some friends to dota with me!!). I feel that time spent in lectures and tutorials are insufficient to make friends, furthermore, many people are already sitting in their cliques when I entered the lecture hall.

However, that being said, it doesn't mean that you cannot make friends if you don't attend any camps. My current closest friend is one that I made from a tutorial class and that was the first time we saw each other (turns out that both of us skip lectures a lot). Although we both attended Oweek, we did not know the existence of each other until that tutorial session. Up till now, we are still close friends who eat lunch, attend classes and do group projects together. Another point to bring up is that group projects and CCAs are also platforms to make friends.

All in all, my point is that camp is just another good platform for making acquaintances. It will take some effort to "convert" them to friends. Hence, it is totally okay to not go any camps although I encourage most of my friends to attend.

3. CORS Bidding

Edit (1/6/2019): Congrats!! NUS has abolished CORS!!

Most of the information given on CORS website and some blogposts written by other seniors are very comprehensive so I'll just give some tips on bidding. These tips are either from my friends/seniors or my own personal experience.

Tip 1:
For extremely popular modules where number of bidders is much more than number of vacancies and you die die want to take this module: you can wait till it is closed bidding and then choose to ALL IN (meaning bid all your points). Unlike SMU, when the points you bid is greater than the lowest successful bid point, NUS will return you the remaining. For example, the lowest successful bid point is 20, and you bid 26, CORS will return you 6 points.

Tip 2:
Modules (usually those sectional teaching with more than 1 slots) where there is only 1 vacancy and more than 1 bidder: read tip 1 OR just bid for another slot where there are more vacancies OR take the module another sem

Tip 3:
Some popular modules have extremely high bid points such that freshies probably do not have enough points. Hence, start saving your bid points and bid for the module when you are year 2/3/4.

Tip 4:
Heard from an acquaintance that there are more vacancies given to year 1 and year 2 for the GEMs, so you should take more GEMs during Y1/Y2 since you can get them at low bid points or even 1 bid point.

Tip 5:
Gauge when you should bid using the past semester successful bid points, although the lowest successful bid changes might change each semester and each round. Ultimately it is all about supply and demand. For example, for the current GEM that I am taking, the lowest successful bid point in round 2A was 1, but in round 3A it became 200+.

Bidding might seem to be confusing/stressful at first, but after 2 semesters, you should get an idea of how it works. Just remember to take note of which modules are you are supposed to bid for at which round and the time period for closed bidding.

4. Webcasted Lectures

For some modules, the lectures are recorded and then posted onto IVLE (a platform where we download our lecture notes/tutorials/assignments/view announcements/watch webcast) through a video platform called Panopto. Usually the lecturer will make it clear if there is webcast or not, so if there is then you can skip lecture and watch it at home at x1.25 or x1.5 or x2 speed (once again, i do not condone truancy). So good news for people who do not stay on campus, webcast will be your best friend! However, the downside is that the webcast is usually uploaded 1 or 2 days after the lecture, so you will have to wait. In the event where the webcast is not uploaded after 3 days, one thing you can do is to email the lecturer and ask him to chase the IT guy who is supposed to upload the webcast.

Now for some bad news, most if not all of the tutorials are not recorded. However, many tutorials do not have class participation so you can still choose to skip them and self study (again, I do not condone truancy). Those that have class participation (sometimes 5% or 10% depends), please just attend. Usually, the tutorial solutions will be uploaded either after the tutor or TA (Teaching Assistant, they are mostly PhD students) finish going through the questions for that particular tutorial OR just before reading week starts. (reading week is 1 week before exams start where there is no lessons, usually for you to consolidate and try out past year papers).

But ultimately, it is still your decision to attend or pon. If you feel that travelling 3.5 hours for 1 hour of lecture/tutorial is not worth it (yeah that's me), then just watch webcast or self study. Sometimes, if you find that certain tutorials are not that useful because the TA do not explain concepts well, you can book consultation with the lecturer (email them) or attempt the question on your own before checking the solutions (okay, if you are my friend then you would know this part is a lie because I usually copy the solutions with understanding instead). One important point to note is that it is the lecturers who set the paper for finals, not the TA.

5. Planning your own timetable

This is something where we did not have the freedom to do in secondary school/JC/poly. For some classes such as lectures, there is only 1 slot so you don't get to choose. However, many tutorials and sectional teaching classes have multiple slots so choose and ballot wisely (read 6. for tips on tutorial balloting).

Some students prefer to see their timetable on CORS, however when it is not bidding/balloting period, you cannot login to CORS to view your timetable. Hence, another place to arrange your timetable is through NUSMods. NUSMods is a very powerful tool , just google "NUSMods" and you can start planning your timetable by typing in the module code and adding it to the sem 1/2 timetable. Then some boxes would appear and you can drag the boxes to arrange your timetable. For rectangular boxes with sharp edges, these are slots you cannot shift/choose because it is a fixed session, but for boxes with curved edges, you can shift them around to see all the available sessions.

Planning smart is very important for people who like to skip lectures, yet attend tutorials (that's me!). So one thing you can do is to shift all your tutorials to one day and just go to school for that one day; if it is not possible, then try to shift tutorial slots where you have/want to attend school (eg. the lecture is not recorded/ you have CCA on that day in school). However, if you feel that you do not have the stamina to last for an entire day in school, then spread out your classes instead.

6. Balloting for Tutorial slots

Edit (1/6/2019): Congrats!! NUS has abolished CORS!!

In a semester, you will be asked to ballot/register for tutorial slots, most of the time through CORS. However, some lecturers/TA would email you and ask you to register through other platforms such as through a survey form or google docs, so just follow. But, over here I would be talking about balloting through CORS.

When tutorial slots are open for balloting, you will see the options of all the tutorial slots for all the modules that require you to ballot. Some key points to note are that tutorials that are too early (8am/9am slots) or too late into the afternoon (5pm/6pm slots) are less popular. Popular slots for tutorials are those that are right before or after the lecture of the same module and also late morning/early afternoon slots (11am/1pm/2pm slots).

Here is the thing when balloting for tutorials, you are to select the slots you would like to ballot for before ranking them from 1,2,3,4 etc. No number should repeat despite different modules. If you were to choose the popular slots, make sure you rank them higher (1 or 2).

Here is an example if I were to ballot for module A and B, where module A has 2 tutorial slots namely C1 and C2, and module B has 4 tutorial slots namely D1, D2, D3 and D4. Let's say if I can only attend  C1 for mod A and D1, D2 and D3 for mod B, so I would choose these 4 options and then proceed to rank them

For example C1 and D1 falls under the super popular tutorial slot category, but there is only 1 option which I can attend for module A. This means C1 has higher priority over D1. Hence, I would choose to rank the options this way:
Rank 1: C1
Rank 2: D1
Rank 3: D2
Rank 4: D3
Remember no rank should repeat itself despite being different module, which is to say we cannot put C1 rank 1 and D1 rank 1 at the same time.

7. Printing Services

There are many places were you can print your notes, they include Central Library, Co-Op, E3, PC Clusters and Yusof Ishak House. BUT the cheapest place to print (Black and white pages) is at Com Centre Thinklab (level 3), which each page cost 0.03 cents. The rest of the place cost 0.04 cents per page. 0.01 cents might not be a lot, but if you were to print textbooks that have considerable number of pages, do consider printing at com centre; you can save up to $10.

Edit (1/6/2019): Thinklab has permanently ceased its operations! :-( 

Additionally, if you ever need to bind your notes/textbook, Co-Op and Central Library offers services like that!

8. Being independent

University is indeed a place to learn how to be independent, from attending classes alone to eating lunch alone. It is totally normal and alright. In some semesters where you and your friends might be taking different modules, it is difficult to match timetables to eat lunch together. In some other cases, your friends might be in another course from another school/faculty, thus, having different timetable, it is also difficult to meet for lunch. I feel that it is quite common to see people eating lunch alone so do not be afraid to be seen alone eating, if you are hungry, just go and eat la! :-)


Alright, this sums up my tips and tricks for freshies. Take the advice with a pinch of salt and don't be overwhelmed! As this is more of an "admin" guide, I would be writing a "study and survival" guide soon.