A Learning a Day

Ha ha ha..

Morning and good day! :)

These were the 2 trips we took in university. And these would rank among my sweetest memories of the joys of university life.

Langkawi: Our 1st trip experience in our 3rd semester. For this one, we had Mom with us. This helped all other parents wave out first time jitters and we were all set to go. It’d be tough to list out all the wonderful things that happened.. 3 things I do remember are –

The Place: My god! Langkawi ranks among the more beautiful places I’ve seen just for the simple fact that it is a killer combination of hills and sea. The sea is as you would imagine – golden sands, bright blue water and the Hills are awesome as well.

I vividly remember taking the cable car up to the hill with a popular bridge(where the climax of a then-recently released Hindi movie called Don had been shot) and gasping at the sight of the beautiful sea just below.

The Hurry: This is something we set right in our 2nd trip. This one, though was jam packed and I remember us constantly rushing from one thing to another. We were at Langkawi for 2 and half days and 3 nights and there’s really a lot to do in the place! We had a day off for scuba diving, another for various water sports, other for some sight seeing and all in all, we were ALWAYS rushing from one thing to another.

It’s a funny memory – it’s probably because it was the first time we were getting out and our desire to do ‘everything’ possible in that place.

Late night drives: I love driving so it is only natural driving features in my top 3. For a small island, Langkawi has a beautiful road system with clear maps. And it was a small and safe place.. Remember going out for nice long drives – all jam packed(We had 10 people in an 8 seater car) with our shadow man entertaining us with his language skills.

There was also a drive in the afternoon just as it was about to rain that I’m sure to remember for a long time. We were climbing a hill and it felt like a journey in heaven with fog, clear roads and lots of greenery..

One that almost made the list: Great diving experience swimming 25 feet under water with nemo fish etc

It was a great trip. Learnt a lot on how to organize a trip once we went on this one. Following this, we practically took 2 years to go on our next one. Most of us went into a money crunch/got busy. By the time, we were in our 3rd year, friends had already left on exchange etc.. In our 7th semester, time was ripe for another one. After a bit of research, we decided to go with Cameron Highlands- which seemed like a scenic mountainous place and thought it would be a nice change.

Cameron: Tough to name 3 things again.. But here goes –

Getting there and Settling In: I clearly remember the excitement of waiting at the KL terminus for our beautiful black Toyoto Innova and the sheer joy at seeing the car and test driving it. We were all set for a lovely 3 hour drive down the highway. This was followed by an awesome climb! We had managed to rent out what seemed like a great apartment for the entire group – 9 of us living in the same house – imagine the chaos! Once we got there, I remember being dead tired and fell asleep.

Within a couple of hours, we were all set to do some minor trekking. So, we decided to go on the trail to a waterfall. And after a deliicious meal of waffles, strawberry and ice cream, we went on this ‘trek’. It turned out to be just a walk for 15 mins till we reached a small waterfall. Well, so much for trekking we thought..

And we came back, packed dinner and watched what will go down as one of the most eventful football games of the season – Manchester United vs Manchester City. United clinched a 4-3 victory with a goal in the 95th minute (i.e 30 seconds before the whistle blew).. Cannot forget! We were all set to go trekking the next day..

THE Brinchang Trek: We had all (well, almost all..) come fully prepared for an adventure trip. We knew there was going to be a fair amount of trekking etc. So, we went down and had a chat with a local travel person who recommended we all wear shorts instead of track pants as it would easier to spot leeches if they do manage to get on.. He also told us that the trek we’d be taking would be a good 4 hour trek and could get tiring. We were all set..

(Before we were asked to change to shorts :))

We reached the spot and the 1st 15 mins was a nice walk with a nice tarred road and we were again laughing at the ‘trek’. This road, however, came to an abrupt end and we didn’t know where to go. We soon spotted a small(miniscule would be the word) clearing with a stream and a way right into a hilly jungle. It had begun..

The trek did take a good part of 4 and a half hours. We managed to take a few photos in the nicer 1st part of the journey after which, it practically became impossible to stop at a place together. I was actually very surprised the locals are chilled out about people going because it is not one for anyone who is not in touch with regular physical activity. We had to use our hands, legs, lots of help from friends to make it through. And if it wasn’t for the fact that we had a formation to make sure we were able to help the person in front and behind, I doubt if we would have made it through..

There were still heart stopping moments like at a sudden point when a friend slipped and said she’d twisted her leg. I didn’t see any way of us going down the wilderness (would’ve been physically impossible) and the last hour of the climb was vertical. Luckily, the twist didn’t happen and she was good to go. The last hour was an almost vertical climb. And soon we were on top! The other side of Mt Brinchang was a beautiful 3 hour walk down tea estates and that was a relief after the long trek..

It was a very tough trek and that’s what makes it so memorable – the fact that we did it without any guide. Out in the wilderness for 4-5 hours is a memory that is going to stay for a very long time. And one thing for sure, we felt great finishing it!

Rafting and Caving: There was more adventure in store. The next morning, we headed for caving.

Caving involved us walking, crawling, climbing and slides in caves that were few storeys high (with thousands of bats right on top) and then suddenly just low and thin enough for 1 person. It was quite an adventure as we had a guide who was in charge of 12 people, could barely speak English and hence, communicated with the gestures. I remember a couple of instances when I was sure I’d just be falling off a cliff.. And just managed to slide out in time… The craziest memory during caving was when we had to float for a few metres along a stream(yes, there was water running all through) through a passage narrow enough only for 1 person and with no place to raise our heads even(thanks to stalactites). Tough for anyone who is claustrophobic. This was followed by lot more climbing, pulling each other up and sliding.. And ended with a wonderful natural jacuzzi..

Rafting was an experience to remember as well. The most freaky part was the briefing where they just let us glide down a stream, gesture for a rope, catch it and swim to shore. Once we started, our guides were in complete control. They were strong enough to comfortably lift any of us with 1 hand onto the boat. And they made sure we capsized a couple of times to add to the fun. Oh, and let me not forget, the water was FREEZING cold. And we also received a certificate for having rafted through a grade III river..

There’s a video of the rafting here.(of the rafting company that is..)

The big difference with the Cameron trip was that we were never really rushed. We did things at our own pace, had lots of food, a night of lots of music, dance etc – but all at our own pace.. And that made it great.

—
These 2 trips are memories that I’ll take forward for a very long time. If you are beyond your 1st year in university and haven’t taken a trip yet, it’s high time.. Haha

We’ve already made plans to go on more adventure trips with the Sparkz bunch also added in to the trekking interest groups. Hopefully, climbing Mt Kinabalu would be the next one..soon!! :)

—
3 days to go.. (As of yesterday)
—
Today’s post will be out late.. It’s a special one! Lots of pictures coming through. :)

Good morning.. have a great day! :)

“Here’s an equation I want you to remember for the rest of your life: CZ = WZ. It means your “comfort zone” equals your “wealth zone.” By expanding your comfort zone, you will expand the size of your income and wealth zone.” ~ T. Harv Eker from Secrets Of The Millionaire Mind

That’s genius.

Is comfort your priority? Um…If so, you’re in trouble…

EXPAND!!! And know that “The more comfort becomes your priority, the more contracted you become with fear.”

“Comfort kills! If your goal in life is to be comfortable, I guarantee two things. First, you will never be rich. Second, you will never be happy. Happiness doesn’t come from living a lukewarm life, always wondering what could have been. Happiness comes as a result of being in our natural state of growth and living up to our fullest potential.” ~ T. Harv Eker from Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

My ‘I will remember’ post is long overdue..

But, in spirit of my student life, I am going to procrastinate..

I just finished my last exam in NUS today evening (assuming all goes well in the correction stage as well of course.. :D)

So, I will remember 2 things that defined my university life tomorrow..

Until then, over to procrastination!

Haha.. Have a nice day! :)

Our kids will be able to scroll back in time and actually see what we looked like in our college years..

They’d be able to see what we did..

Would facebook still exist?

They’ll read our blogs and know what we were like when we were in our teens and 20s..

They’d be reading all this off their PHDA devices of course – a hybrid of phones, computers etc..

Actually, there may not even be such devices – the whole world would probably be one big digital screen. So, they could access email, read our blogs, check out our college photos on any wall or even on a glass top table..

There’d be so much information, so many options…

Would it make be better?.. or worse?

Just different..

We’ll think its definitely worse… after all, it was ONLY our generation that lived in the ‘glory days’..

Interesting..
—
This is probably inspired by my digital media module..

10 hours 55 mins to my last exam in NUS (assuming I pass all the others this semester of course..hehe)

:)

What would college life be without friends, eh? I’d detailed one post about friends outside the ‘gang’ and so here’s one for ‘the gang’. It’s been an amazing journey with these friends, one with lots of ups and downs and learnings as well..

1)The People: I’ve tried not to name people for some weird reason in all these NUS posts, and so, that trend shalt continue..

The Shadow: Likes all underground places. Loves the idea of living as a shadow, having your own space and being different from normal mortals. And if you ever want a human search function on YouTube, you know whom to go to..

The Dancer: Quite the Ms.flexibility with a passion for anything that gets life groovin’.. Oh, and this one is a not-so-apparent geek..

The Delicate one: Quite the sportsman. Averages atleast one fracture/ligament tear every 6 months. Oh, and this one can paint as well..

The Singer: Successfully dragged 8 other Indian classical music lovers (not!) to 8 paid classical music concerts.. What more can I say?

The Talkative one: Blah blah blah blah blah blah. Fills the airwaves, always.. ‘Nuff said..

The Bubbly one: Always full of energy, full of life.. And hence, always brought down by some constant rubbing the wrong way to normal human energy levels..

The Funny one: 3 things – Very tall, very thin, very funny. There’s gotta be one of these in every group..

The Mom-ish one: Has an interesting ability to bring up interesting biological facts and statistics – some say with a rather weird sense of humor, but hey, that’s a touchy topic..

The Ap-droid one: Would search for his dad’s name on Google on his phone if you given the chance on one hand and would wax lyrical about his rather icky looking white laptop on the other… tough choice..(These are replaced by others from time to time – we’re just going with the flavor of the season)

2)System attempts – Weekend, Dollar Tracker: Now, we’ve tried out various various systems and initiatives. I’m going to talk about a couple of things that did work..

Weekend System: This system meant allotting one weekend (i.e. Saturday evening) per person in a semester. And this person basically decided what needed to be done. As this was entirely person dependent, we had weekends spent playing Dumb Charades, board games, pictionary as well as weekends outside.. Was a fun initiative.. And saved us from spending hours on Saturday’s deciding what to do. This way, one person was god.

We’ve tried numerous numerous other systems to make our lives easier and to keep spamming each other on emails. Tried our hand with Dropbox and One Note (which was useful for planning trips), Google calender etc but one of the recent successes was an initiative called the Dollar Tracker.

Dollar Tracker: Now, we all owe each other some cash all the time. Often, these are sums ranging from a few cents to a few dollars to a few 100 in some cases. It got increasingly tiring to keep repeating every time we met each other that we owed each other stuff. That’s before the dollar tracker.. (in picture)

‘All amounts and characters are purely fictional. Any resemblance to real life characters is regretted’ :D

Keeping track has greatly reduced this headache. And given the increase in the number of jokes on this thing, I’ll definitely remember this one..

3)Music: I think music has been a big part of the glue that’s held together this bunch. And thanks to advice from the MIT Blog on 50 things for every undergraduate on burning a CD with all the songs for every period, here is a list. Some of these are just personal favorites during the period and others are group favorites..

Semester 1-> One Last Breath, Blue, Echo

Semester 2-> New slang, Honey and the moon, Ever after you, Only gay eskimo, Engel Kaisi paheli

Semester 3-> Hey there Delilah, Leaving on a jetplane..

Semester 5-> This year’s love, Sparrows over Birmingham

Semester 6-> Hurt so good, Say, Hurt, Bubbly

Summer Hols ’09 -> Hallelujah

Semester 7-> Love story, Super Trouper, Take a chance on me, Winner takes it all, Cloud Number 9, Ukulele Orchestra’s ‘The good, the bad, the ugly, Viva La Vida, Stu Song and Nakkamukka

Semester 8-> 3 Idiots – Sari Umar Hum, I’m Yours, Wavin’ Flag (Fifa 2010 song)..

There have been many many times when we’ve just sat all nights introducing each other to new songs.. So, here’s a tribute to all those late night chats usually followed by Mcbreakfast(how can I forget!).. :D

—
Another big part of time with the Gang was the trips we took, and that’s coming up tomorrow.. :D
—
4 days to go..

Good thing to remember for the week ahead, I think..

Good morning! :) Have a great day! :)

There was an incident once performed on 2 classes that had interesting results. I don’t remember the exact stats so I’m going to make them up.. It went something like this.

IQ tests were conducted on a class full of students and 2 groups were made out of them. The higher IQ group had an average of 120 while the lower IQ group had an average of 90. The idea was to give the smart ones special attention and the computer system grouped these into 2 separate classes for the coming year and in a funny computer error, mixed up the groups and named the ‘smart’ class ‘dumb’ and the ‘dumb’ class ‘smart’.

Now, the year progressed as per normal and IQ tests were again taken at the end of the year. What was observed was interesting –

-> The average IQ of the dumb class had gone up by a whopping 20 while..
-> The average IQ of the smart class had gone down by 10..

What made the difference?

The attitude of the teachers. When they were in the dumb class, they treated them as ‘slow learners’, never gave them the challenges necessary and in due time, dulled the mind while the opposite was done in the other class.

—
The stats may not be accurate but I think it communicates the point..
—

What we look for is what we see. Very often, external feedback, taints our opinion about a lot of things. I am not talking so much about reputation but more so about external points of view that keep popping in..

Feedback is always good and it’s important to listen to it with a balanced mind but it’s also good to remember that what we will see after absorbing these points of view is likely to change based on the color of the lenses of the spectacles we are wearing as well..