Module Review: Year 4 Sem 2

Hello readers!

In this blogpost, I would be sharing about the modules I took in AY18/19 Semester 2. I took a total of 5 modules, which my coursemates deemed as crazy because it was so rare to see a final year student taking this many modules in their final semester.

But I'm glad I survived (barely). So here are the modules I took:

CE4104 B. Eng. Dissertation
CE5604 Advanced Concrete Technology
CE4282 Building Information Modelling for Project Management
LAS1201 Spanish 1
LSM1306 Forensic Science

That adds up to FYP, 2 UE and 2 TE! One mistake that I made was not overloading in earlier semesters, but oh well :-( Here comes the module reviews:

CE4104 FYP

For FYP, I felt that the projects can be classified into 2 main categories, they are laboratory works and analysis works. For lab works, it is basically running experiments in the lab, which I feel was more physically demanding compared to analysis works, where you could just run analysis on your laptop using various software and not enter the lab. My FYP was a lab-based one, hence I spent almost 3-4 days in a week at the lab preparing my samples and running my experiments. As my FYP was more tedious compared to some of my other friends who were also doing lab works, I rarely see some of them around.

As FYP for CEE runs through 2 semesters, one thing I noticed was that during the first semester, the human traffic in the lab was much lower than that of the 2nd semester. It just meant that we were people who waited till the very last minute, especially when deadlines were approaching to CHIONG our FYP *awkward smile*.

I cannot comment too much on analysis works because I did not do that, but hearing from my friends who did it, some of them had the luxury of downloading the software onto their laptops and doing their FYP at home. However, some of my coursemates needed the license for certain software, hence they stayed in the E2 and E1 PC clusters to do run their analysis.

Also, CHOOSING THE PROF YOU ARE WORKING UNDER IS SO SO SO IMPORTANT!!!!!!! I cannot emphasis this enough. Disclaimer: I understand that all professors are very busy people, they not only mentor kids like us for FYP, they also have to teach modules, do their research and write their papers, work for the industry as consultants, travel overseas for conference, have a family etc.. However, I believe that having a professor who is contactable and accessible is very important. This is because when I felt that my FYP had lost its directions or when I faced obstacles that was too difficult to handle, the person who gave me guidance and mentorship was my professor. I remembered right before my interim presentation, my professor stayed till 9pm with me to run through my slides and thesis. During that consultation, there were so many mistakes being pointed out (maybe I was lousy) but I am so thankful for that session. I do have a few friends who presented their findings to their examiners on the day itself because their professors were way too busy.

I felt that the results of my FYP were not that great, some of the experiments did not yield the results that I was expecting which was very worrying. It was that same feeling which I felt for 4 years: "my efforts did not reflect in my results". But I heard from my seniors that the grading of FYP considers both effort and results...

Since other reviewers have the habit of including their grades in their reviews, I will join the bandwagon!
Expected Grade: B+
Actual Grade: A-

For CEE department, if you want to get A or A+ for your FYP, you would have to participate in the poster presentation. However, if you are very sure that the highest you can get is A-, then just ditch the idea of the poster and enjoy your life unless you want "closure" for your uni life then go ahead with the poster (JUST LIKE ME!). Additionally, for the thesis submitted, we were graded based on our final draft and not the final thesis submission.

CE5604 Advanced Concrete Technology

I took this module for a number of reasons

1. Lectures were once a week and was recorded

2. There were only 1 mid terms (30%) and 1 finals (70%), no project no presentation.

3. Both the exams were open book

4. My friends said that it was easy to get A. (WE WERE WRONG)

This module was taught by prof Zhang Min Hong, it was basically a CE2155 materials part module but tougher, more content and more details. Even though it was an open book exam, DO NOT BE FOOLED. I felt that there was still a need to study for it because during my mid terms I was frantically flipping through my notes, trying to find the answers to the questions and hence wasting precious time. I felt that there was no need to memorise the content exactly, but there was a need to know where to find what (eg. which set of notes to refer to when certain questions appear). I personally felt that Prof Zhang's notes were slightly less organized compared to some of the other professors, which is why I strong recommend attending/watching her lectures. Additionally, many of the chapters were interconnected, hence it would definitely be helpful to remember some of the basic content (eg. functions of superplasticizers, mineral admixtures etc.).   

For the exams, everything that was tested could be found in the notes. For the quantitative questions (which were the concrete mix design and calculation of void space), it did required some sort of understanding as they were slightly application-based questions. There were some questions in the exam which she recycled from the Past Year Papers (PYP), so do take a look at the PYP.

Overall, this module was very manageable, because it was one of those "Own Time Own Target" module, this is why it was a good module for a bad student like me, who accumulated 3 weeks of webcast and watched for 9 hours straight. I strongly do not recommend doing this because it is very detrimental to learning but I needed more time for my FYP so..... you get it ;)

Expected Grade: A-

Actual Grade: A

  

CE4282 BIM for PM

This module had a mixture of hands-on PC cluster sessions AND lectures in classrooms. It was a very manageable module until the project part kicked in. Basically, I felt that my group and I did nothing until 2 weeks before the project deadline. Again, I really do not recommend last minute work because it was physically and mentally challenging (but I do it anyway because I prioritize FYP).

The reason I took this module was because when I was interning, everyone kept telling me how BIM would be the future of engineering. In addition, I already picked up some Revit myself during my internship, hence I thought I could beat the bell curve (BUT I WAS WRONG). Also, I saw the chance to write more lines in my resume with the many software taught in this module (which I am very thankful for because some of the job interviewers saw it as my advantage).

There were a few computer software that were taught, such as Revit, Tekla Structural Designer, Tekla Structures, Naviworks and Dynamo. The tutorials taught in the PC Cluster covered only the very basic functions such as creating walls, floors, beams, columns and running analysis with a click of a button. There was still a need to put in the effort to learn the more advanced functions of the software at your own time.

I felt that this module was a very group-project-based module, there was a lot of teamwork needed. Below are the breakdown of the components:
A group project (designing a building, yes you do archi + C&S): 35%,
An Individual quiz: 40%
A group assignment: 10%
An individual assignment: 5%.

Of course, the individual assignment was still done as a group because TEAMWORK! For the individual quiz, it was done at the PC lab using our own laptops, everyone received the same questions but with different orders, so ultimately everyone still has to learn the different software by themselves. There was no way to cheat.

Being a Technical Elective, there were a few masters students whom already had industrial experience. Hence, during the project presentation, some of the groups really came up with very sophisticated building design and walk-through using software other than Naviswork. I remember the feeling of defeat when I compared my group's design with the other groups. However, I heard of the judges telling this to the group beside me "It's a very nice building design, but how structurally feasible is your building?" It turned out that the group has yet to come up with a structural model and run the structural analysis (It was part of the project requirement).

All in all, it was a very enjoyable module with many things to learn. But for me, my greatest takeaway was how to use Revit and Tekla Structural Designer.

Expected Grade: B
Actual Grade: B+ (Thank you Dr Yeoh)

LAS1201 Spanish 1

The main reason I took this module was because there was no finals. Also, the thing I like about language modules was that there was no understanding of any concepts required. It was bascially just pure memory work. However, being a language mod, consistency was needed because new vocabulary was introduced every lesson. In addition, I felt that the pace of the lesson was slightly fast after recess week.

We were told to buy the textbook Aula Internacional 1 during the first lesson, however, there was a major disaster (emotional word I know) with the supplier and co-op, hence many students were unable to purchase the textbook. From the conversation I had between the aunty at the bookstore, she explained that the supplier did not manage to deliver what they promised for weeks and hence the bookstore decided to look for a new supplier.

To be honest, I felt that if you were only planning to take Spanish 1, and not continuing with the higher level Spanish modules, there is no need to purchase the textbook (if I remember correctly, it cost more than $40). I had a few classmates who took photos of the textbook from other classmates who bought it instead of buying their own, because Spanish 1 only covers the first 4 chapters of the entire textbook. Personally, I survived the first 6 weeks of lesson without a textbook. 

This module include a mid term quiz of 25%, final quiz that was conducted during week 12 (25%), oral exam conducted on week 13 (20%), a group project of making a video in Spanish (20%) and lastly, class participation 10%. 

Since I rarely spoke in class and predicted that I would do badly for oral, I told myself that I had to do well for my written quizzes and the video assignment which added up to 70%. For my mid terms and final quiz, I scored 89/100 and 82/100 respectively. It was not difficult as everything tested were taught in class. Basically, the format for both written quiz was listening comprehension, fill in the blanks and a short essay/write-up (I just memorized a few sentences and vomited them out). I skipped 1 lesson due to FYP commitments. Filming the video was easy (shoutout to Sheron, canoe dude Edwin and Karmae who edited our video alone herself) because it was freestyle filming and my groupmates came up with a very creative idea for the video (which was further confirmed by our tutor). I probably did very badly for my oral of 20% (as expected) because I spoke too much English to my tutor. The oral started with a 1 minute introduction of myself, and the next 4 minutes was conversation with my tutor. The questions asked were mostly covered during lesson. 

There was a lot of effort needed for this module as I found myself revising my Spanish every night. Havier was a great tutor who was very well-prepared for every lesson. However, I really did look forward to every lesson because it was a break from the mathematical concepts I was learning in Engineering classes.

Expected Grade: B+

Actual Grade: A-

LSM1306 Forensic Science

For the module, I was outbidded on CORS so many times that I wrote an appeal to Prof Stella. She was very responsive and kind to allow me to take this after CORS bankrupt all my points in my General Account but okay Year 4 last sem. I have never been more thankful.

This module was taught by lecturers who held full time jobs in the day, such as a prosecutor, pathologist, police officers etc. Hence, it was an extremely insightful module, which I felt that whatever I had learnt were directly connected to the industry. Lectures were mostly very enjoyable, with only 1 or 2 chapters consisting of very dry content. The gory images that the lecturers showed were sometimes disturbing, especially when they explained the entire event of the case, it made the case very memorable. There was no webcast for this module because the images used in the lectures were confidential.

From the many module reviews I read online about Forensic Science, they talked about how steep the bell curve would be when 1 incorrect MCQ answered could result in 1 grade difference. Hence, I did not want to take this module initially because I was always on the naughty list of the Bell Curve God. But I remembered that I had 3 SU left, so all I need was a C+ for me to SU this module.

For the hands-on practical, it was doing fingerprinting with black powder and black magnetic powder, writing an essay based on a video shown and identifying the types of hair (human/ dog/ cat/ deer/ mouse hair) under a microscope. The weightage of the practical was relatively low, hence I did not have the pressure to do well, but I scored an A- (no bell curve here yet). Similarly for the mid terms, which I scored a B+ (no bell curve here yet too). The weightage for finals was huge, hence I studied slightly harder than during the mid terms, because people warned me about the bell curve.

For the module, other than Prof Stella, I would also like to thank the Bell Curve God for pulling me through.

Expected Grade: B+
Actual Grade: A-

End of Blogpost.

Part 4: Hanyang International Summer School (HISS) 2017

Hello reader!

In this blogpost, I would be sharing about the 4 free activities that Hanyang International Summer School organized by Hanyang.

This blogpost is dedicated to one of my reader Duẫn Hảo Trịnh who posted a comment asking about the free activities that Hanyang provides. Initially I wanted to reply as a comment but I realised I was typing a bit too much and hence decided to come up with a part 4.

On 14 June 2017, Hanyang sent us an email with the link to register for the 4 free activities, application for airport pick up services and SIM card.

(You may want to check out part 1, part 2 and part 3 of my Hanyang International Summer School experience!)

Free Activities

For Summer 2017, the 4 free activities are:

Week 1: Hangang River Cruise (Mon, Tues, Wed)
We were given 3 different days to select from: Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. As it was July, Seoul kept raining and the river cruise kept getting postponed. So what happened on the day was that we had classes as usual in the day and were asked to report to Jamsilsaenae station exit 7 at 6.45pm after our classes. If we were to travel as a group together with the Hanyang staff and Korean student leaders, then we would have to report at Hanyang University Station at 6.30pm. (We had to pay for our own transport using T-money card)

Once everyone was at the meet-up location, we followed the Hanyang staff and student leaders to walk towards the dock along the Han river. When we arrived at the dock, we were asked to show our identification (IC or Passport) for attendance purposes before entering the building connecting the dock. They provided us with a sandwich and a small bottle of water while we were waiting for the cruise to arrive.

There was two decks on the cruise, the bottom deck had air-con while the upper deck was open air. When my friends and I boarded the cruise, we immediately went up to the upper deck as it was super windy. At the lower deck, there were plenty of chairs arranged in "church style", a small stage right in front, as well as a small bar at the back with free alcohol and snacks. There were Korean students singing and performing on the stage with their guitars. I would recommend taking a beer and going to the upper deck as it is the place to take nice photos of Seoul at night and enjoy the breeze. The only downside of the upper deck is that the seats are very limited, my friends and I were lucky enough to find some benches although we were not the first few people that boarded the cruise.

Hello Sheron!!!!

Week 2: SM Town OR Nanta (Fri, Sat)
I chose to attend Nanta instead of SM Town, so I am unable to share the SM Kpop experience; However, I saw my friend's instastory that they were basically in theatre with videos of EXO, SNSD, Super Junior, SHINee, Red Velvet etc. If you are a SM fan, you will probably enjoy it. SM Town was held on a Friday while Nanta was on a Saturday.

As for Nanta, it was a non-verbal Korean cooking themed performance. If I remember correctly, we were given 2 slots to choose from, one was a Friday and the other was a Saturday. We were asked to report at the Nanta theatre at Myeongdong ourselves. There were HISS staff outside the theatre to guide us in entering and getting our tickets.

There were enough reviews on Nanta around the web, but I would attempt to convince you to choose Nanta instead of SM Town because:
1. Nanta was a live performance while SM Town is just watching videos
2. The girl in the Nanta performance is pretty
3. The show was hilarious, I remember laughing a lot
4. Nanta theatre is in Myeong dong and you can have lunch or do some shopping after the show


Week 3: Everland OR Caribbean bay (Fri, Sat)
Everland was a theme park like Universal Studio while Caribbean Bay was a water theme park like Wild Wild Wet. My friends and I wanted to go for both but unfortunately, it was a 2 choose 1 so we decided to go for the one where the entrance tickets was more expensive. After much research, we discovered that the tickets for Caribbean bay cost a lot more than Everland.

If my memory served me right, there was only 1 slot for everland and 1 slot for caribbean bay. Everland was on a Friday, while Caribbean bay was on a Saturday. A few days before the trip, Hanyang sent us an email regarding the bus number we were allocated to. The list included our bus number, Hanyang student number and home university (that is also how I found out the huge number of NUS and NTU students at Hanyang). I was very lucky to be assigned to the same bus as my friends. Hanyang told us to board the correct bus number and not change bus for attendance purposes (but I saw a few people secretly swapping bus).

Additionally, Caribbean Bay was about 1 hour bus ride away from Hanyang University.

Another reason to choose Caribbean bay was that we felt that Everland was a theme park like Lotte World. Hanyang emailed us regarding the sale of Lotte World tickets at 20,000 won each (SGD$24) for a full day entrance ticket we can use anytime in the month of July. This means that we can still get a Korean theme park experience at Lotte world.

Caribbean Bay Entrance

Caribbean Bay

Road to Caribbean Bay and Hello Sheron again!!

Week 4: Boryeong Mud Festival (Fri, Sat)
To be honest, I did not attend this mud festival despite signing up for it because my friends and I were all girls and period syncing is real. We emailed HISS few days before the activity to inform them that we were not attending (but we didn't give a reason) as they were supposed to provide transport and lunch for the people going. Actually the Friday session saw many people skipping and not informing HISS, hence the admin team sent an email telling us that it will be good to inform them if we were not attending.

End of part 4.

Hiking in Korea (Hallasan and Bukhansan)

Hello my reader!

It has been 5 months since I returned from Korea and I have decided to stop procrastinating & start writing this post. One of the many things that Korea has and Singapore doesn't is MOUNTAINS! I managed to climb 2 mountains namely Hallasan in Jeju and Bukhansan in Seoul.

I feel that the best time to hike is during the transition from spring to summer or during autumn. I climbed Hallasan in mid June and Bukhansan in late July (yes it is summer but it wasn't as warm as I thought it would be).

I felt that the last 15 minutes trail to the peak of Bukhansan was the hardest because it was very steep, but the rest of the journey was quite easy. This is coming from someone who have not exercised since NAPFA test in JC2. For Hallasan, I felt that it was not as bad because we cheated on our way down. I'll talk about this "cheating" story below.

Hallasan 

Initially, my friends and I had plans to climb the Gwaneumsa Trail, but we parked at the wrong place and we ended up at the carpark beside Eoseungsaengak Trail and Eorimok Trail. 

Then we decided to climb the Eorimok Trail but we had no idea where was the starting point and it didn't came to us that we can ask the staff at the visitor's centre for directions. So we ended up climbing Eoseungsaengak Trail. We randomly followed a Korean family (I vividly remember one of them wearing sandals to climb!) up the starting point of Eoseungsaengak which was beside the visitor's centre. Although the tourist information on the internet said that the trail takes 30 minutes, we took about 1h to reach the peak. 

We estimated the climb to be at least half an day up and half a day down, so there was something wrong with reaching the peak in 1 hour. Unfortunately, it was only at the peak where we discovered that we were on the wrong trail. But okay at least I took some photos.  

We rented a car and followed the GPS to get to the carpark. I was not paying attention to where we were going but the road was just bumpy, curvy and uncomfortable. After a long drive, we finally reached the carpark.

Eoseungsaengak Trail 

It was quite foggy but my phone didn't manage to capture it

Pano of the peak using my iPhone 6

My friends chilling at the peak

I feel that if you just want to try out mountain climbing for a short while, then this trail is a good experience. If you are not spending much time in Jeju yet want to experience mountain climbing, this trail is also suitable as it is not time consuming.

Eorimok Trail

When we descended from Eoseungsaengak Trail, we had cup noodles for lunch at a small minimart beside the carpark. Then we went to ask the staff at the visitor centre for the correct trail up the peak. We were trying to speaking basic Korean to the staff but it wasn't working out, luckily she spoke Mandarin (not fluent but understandable) so we managed to communicate. She said the closest trail to where we were at was Eorimok. 

The staff at the visitor centre recommended us to take the eorimok trail up and Donnaeko Trail down, then take a public bus to somewhere near the carpark and then hike up to the carpark; But the frequency of the bus was extremely discouraging. Alternatively, we could hire a taxi and come up to the carpark. We decided that the both options were no-no, so we were going to hike up and down the same path and back to our car.

Okay I was ascending but I pretended to be going down for photography purposes

Mysterious aura, foggy area ft. my friend far away

There was a checkpoint kind of place where there was a bridge like platform and a fake crow. I felt that this is the place to take insta-worthy photos.

Here is me trying to be a crow whisperer

The roads changed from rocky to muddy to wooden platforms to rocky stairs.

Rocky

Wooden platform

It was estimated by the visitor's guidebook that the climb would take about 3 hours, but I remember we took close to 4 hours. Most of the people climbing were Korean and I manage to meet some families from China and Indonesia. It was easy to talk to strangers because every conversation begins like "How long more does it take to the peak?". Furthermore, the hikers I met were very friendly, even when I spoke broken Korean that I learnt from the many K-dramas, they managed to understand and answered me.

After what seems like forever, we finally reached the peak. There ware instant noodles, bottled water and chocolate bars sold at the the top. The things sold at the peak were very limited, but we were so hungry, everything tasted nice. Additionally, when we made our purchase, there was a plastic bag provided for us to bring the trash down to the bottom of the mountain to throw. I finally understood why everyone who were descending the mountain had a plastic bag on their hands!

There was also a toilet which had no water to flush or to wash your hands. So we bought bottled water. to wash our hands. I never felt that water was scarce in Korea until I climbed Hallasan.

The peak

Here comes my cheating story that I mentioned at the start of this post. As we started the ascend on the trail after lunch AND we took longer than average to reach the peak, by the time we descend, it was already 4pm and the park was supposed to close around 5pm. On top of that, my friend kept experiencing leg cramp (You know who you are, bro). It was then we decided that we will call the emergency hotline that were written on thick poles that were stationed at selected intervals of the trail. Unfortunately, the SIM cards we all bought were for unlimited data only, so we could not make any phonecalls or send any messages at all. 

At that point in time we realised we were in deep trouble. Suddenly, the park ranger appeared on this train-like transport. When we ascend, we noticed there were tracks along the road but we never knew the purpose. We were definitely saved by the park ranger. There were only 3 seats on the train and another box like structure to transport goods. Initially, the park ranger only allowed my friend who had leg cramp to board, but at the end, he allowed us to sit on the box like structure to take the train (thanks to our leg cramp friend).

Here is me on the box like structure

All in all, we took 4 hours to ascend and less than 1 hours to descend. 

Bukhansan

There are enough blogposts on how to get to Bukhansan so I will skip that part. I remembered my friends and I skipped the graduation ceremony to climb Bukhansan and turns out that we were not the only ones who did that. We met and chatted with a few NUS and NTU students from Hanyang Summer School who skipped grad ceremony too. I even met a girl from NUS who was climbing the mountain alone. She didn't know Korean but managed to navigate her way.

Below are just some photos I took on my way up and down the mountain.

Bukhansan at a distance

The roads are mostly rocky, sometimes sandy.

The road for the last 15 minutes up the peak was very steep and slightly slippery. I was so glad it was summer and not winter.

Look how steep it is ft. my friend

Cats at the peak!!! 

On our way down, we went to a shop/house that sells water, ice cream and cup noodles. Things sold there were very limited but the prices were reasonable. The owner also had some dogs and one of them even ushered us down the mountain for a good 10 minutes.

Dogs

Dog ushering us down the mountain

Tumblr worthy staircase photo

I am ending this post with my learning points:

What I have learnt climbing mountains in summer
1. Bring your own water
2. Bring your own tissue paper
3. Wear comfortable closed-toed shoes that is not slippery
4. Bring a light bag
5. Don't bring a jacket

Part 3: Hanyang International Summer School (HISS) 2017

Hello reader!

Recently I received some questions from my friends & coursemates about Hanyang International Summer School and hence I decided to come up with a part 3 to answer some more questions!

For more information on Hanyang International Summer School, read part 1 , part 2 and part 4 of my Hanyang journey.

Payment for Summer School and accommodation?

For my batch (summer 2017), the tuition fee was 1,600,000 won which was slightly over SGD$2000. We were given a bank account number by Hanyang a few days after we submitted our application to wire the money over using ibanking. One of the thing that I was upset with was that the admin fee to transfer the money had to be paid by yourself (it amounted to $45 if I remember correctly).

Remember the system was a first pay first serve and Hanyang would only hold your application for certain number of days for you to make payment. (EDIT: Once hanyang verified your payment, your status would be changed from "awaiting payment" to "admitted" on the application form webpage)

The worst thing that happened was that the payment for Hanyang accommodation (on-campus, off-campus, partner). I applied for accommodation after I paid the tuition fees, so this meant that I had to transfer the payment for accommodation and pay another $45 admin fee! At the point in time, I was thinking I should have just airbnb-ed; But I already made plans to stay at Roseville with some friends so I just paid around 600,000 won + SGD45 :-( (Roseville was the off-campus dorm which cost 600,000 won, for on-campus dorm it was 500,000 won)

However, if you still have any money left in your PSEA account, you can withdraw this money out AFTER you have completed the summer school. Google and fill in the PSEA ad-hoc withdrawal form with the required documents stated on the form, then submit it to the Office of Student Admission (OSA) at U-Town. 

You could withdraw the money in your PSEA account for the tuition fee (+ admin fee), air tickets and accommodation as long as you have the proof of payment/bank statement/email. The certificate of completion of summer school was also required.

Do we need a visa?

For Singaporeans, congrats we have one of the world's most powerful passport! We can enjoy visa free for 90 days and summer school is only 30 days, so there is no need to apply for visa.

Debit card/credit card/ATM card?

I think that it was a good idea to activate your debit/credit card for overseas use if you do not like the idea of carrying a lot of cash around. But do note that the exchange rate isn't better than the money exchange in Singapore. I remembered that I exchanged for SGD$1 for 809 won, but when I signed my debit card, the exchange rate was 798won. It might seem like a very small difference, but if you were to purchase over SGD$100, the difference could be discouraging.

How much money did I spend on food?

I spent close to SGD$500 on food in total for that 1 month at Hanyang. For lunch, my friends and I ate at the school canteen so its cheaper (3,500 won). However, out of school, food in Korea was slightly more expensive. In Singapore, I could get a meal at a hawker centre for $4 but in Korea a meal could easily be 6,000 won (that is $7.50). In addition, I was somebody who drank bubbletea once a week so I drank my weekly dose from a random Korean bubbletea shop just a stone's throw away from Hanyang. GongCha was surprisingly more expensive with a milk tea being 5,000 won (SGD$6.20) and I kept telling myself I will try the authentic GongCha when I am feeling rich BUT I NEVER DID. 

Udon and bubbletea for dinner (+free radish and free soup)

What food did I eat on weekdays?

For breakfast, I usually have milk & cereal (Oreo O's cereal) and Korean Yakult from e-mart (Korea's NTUC or Giant) at Wangsimni Station. On days where I felt rich, I would buy double cheese bread and some random bread stick from Paris Baguette. Sometimes, I bought banana milk if they were on sale and drank it with bread and butter. 

For lunch, I ate either from the canteen at Hanyang Women's University or from the convenience store (cup noodles) beside that canteen. Honestly, the quality of food from the canteen was not the best (its mostly spicy or fried) but the portion was enough to last me until dinner time.

Dinner gave me the most headache. My friends and I didn't want to spend too much money on food because we wanted to spend more on cosmetics. Hence, we tried eat cheaper meals for dinner. There was a street near Hanyang's main gate that had many food stores. When you exit the main entrance, turn left and walk straight till you reach the traffic junction, cross the road and you will be along that street. Turn right on the street and walk down, you will arrive at HANSOT (the food store that sells the cheapest meals with rice meat and vege). 

I know someone who eats Hansot very frequently (Melissa who always eats Happy Box everytime I coincidentally meet her there). I wouldn't recommend eating this every dinner because there are many other places to choose from such as Lotteria and Taco Bell at Wangsimni Station.

(EDIT 1:Taco Bell at Wangsimni closed down when I went to Korea in March 2018!)

Hansot Meal

Just beside Hansot, there was a hotdog stall that sold different kinds of hotdog (plain, mozzarella, cheddar cheese etc) & even ice-cream. When I buy rice and curry from Hansot, I would grab a hotdog to go with it. The downside of Hansot was that there were no seats at the store so there was only the takeaway option to eat it at my dorm. 

Hansot Meal and Cheddar Cheese corndog

Hansot curry rice and Mozzarella corndog 

Must try food in Seoul?

1. Ginseng Chicken

Like every online guide, one of the must try food is the famous ginseng chicken soup near gyeongbokgung. When we went, it was raining and had no queue. 

Directions: From Gyeongbokgung Subway Station take Exit 2, walk straight along the road for about 200m or so until you reach a junction, turn left and walk for another 5m, you should see the shop Tosokchon Samgyetang. 

Ginseng Chicken near gyeongbokgung palace

2. Pazza

If you like Pizza and Pasta but you don't have the stomach for both then you should totally try the Pazza (Pasta + Pizza) at Papa Valley Pizza. Honestly, I would give this a 101/100 because it tasted super good.

The address is:

434-5, Yeongdeungpo-dong 4-ga, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul 

I cannot remember exactly how I managed to find this place but it is located at Shinsaegae departmental store.

EDIT: I tried finding the same place in my Korea trips in 2018 and 2019, BUT I was still unable to find this place. 

3. Yoogane

Okay yes I knew there were many Yoogane branches in Singapore, but in Korea the price was much cheaper. Yoogane was almost everywhere in Korea!! The one I went to was at Myeongdong.

Yoogane

UPDATE 1:  Throwing Rubbish in Roseville

Throwing away trash in Korea was the biggest culture shock so far even for an ex-Kpop fan/ ex-Koreaboo like me because I had no idea there was so much recycling going on.

There are 3 main types of waste namely general waste, food waste and recyclables.

Firstly, general waste trash bags could be purchased at any convenience store (7-eleven or GS25 or CU) or supermarket (e-mart). Initially, we really did purchase general waste trash mainly for throwing away toilet paper (oh yes, we were not supposed to throw our toilet paper down the toilet bowl because it will get clogged, BUT we secretly did). After 2 weeks, we just used whatever plastic bag we have to throw our general waste. 

Secondly, food waste trash bags could also be purchased at any convenience store. We didn't purchase any food waste trash bag as we ate outside for most of our meals. But occasionally, we had expired bread lying around or unfinished apples that turned brown. I was thankful for my roommate who taught me how to settle any food waste that we had. She placed any food waste we have into the fridge to prevent any ants and on the last day when we checked out, we placed all the food waste into a plastic bag to threw it away downstairs. You might be wondering what classifies as food waste, the rule of thumb as told by my friends to me was that if an animal can eat it, it will be classified as food waste. (and no your food waste would not be fed to animals, it was just South Korea's way of measuring the amount of food waste generated). One thing to note was that egg shells was not food waste! Additionally, if you order fried chicken and have any leftover food, you were supposed to remove the chicken meat from the bones and throw the meat into food waste and bones into general waste.

Lastly, recyclables which was further classified into paper (milk carton), plastic (banana milk bottles), glass (soju bottles and plastic bottles have to be placed in separate bags), cans etc. could just be thrown into any plastic bag. 

It might seem like a chore because we usually just throw everything into general waste in Singapore. However, after staying there for 1 week or so, we gradually became used to it.

End of part 3. 

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.