Recreation and cost of living

What do you do when you want to take a break from your assignments? Well, if you have been reading my posts and looking at my photos, the answer is obvious:


It's a sure way to quickly attract wild attention. Look at that seagull heading straight for me! (Don't worry, it is just an optical illusion. It didn't even come close)


But with the weather starting to turn quite cold, exercising outdoors is almost out of the question. My hands are like frozen numb everytime I finished my jog.

Ok, there is the gym at the sports centre (and now you know why gyms are so popular in "ang-moh" countries), but at £4.50 or S$13.50 per visit, it seems helluva expensive to me.

Yes, I still couldn't help but convert the prices to Sing dollar. The exchange rate automatically makes everything 3X more expensive.

10 minutes bus ride to city centre: $4.50
1 dinner at the canteen - 3 dishes, no rice, no soup, no drinks: $10
1 page of printing b/w: 18 cents
1 minute on handphone: 45 cents
1 day's fine per open shelf library book: 90 cents
if book's reserved: $1.80
1 week's hostel rent: $300
1 wash+drying of clothes: $9
1 loaf of bread: $3.30

I miss my bicycle. I regret not shipping more things over.

No wonder even the Japanese find the prices here expensive!

Academic calendar or rather, Best time to visit

Here is a summary of my academic calendar:
Autumn semester: 8 Oct - 16 Dec 2007
Christmas vacation: 17 Dec - 6 Jan 2008
Exams: 7 Jan - 13 Jan 2008
Spring semester: 14 Jan - 16 Mar 2008
Easter vacation: 17 Mar - 20 Apr
Exams: 21 Apr - 27 Apr 2008
Summer semester: 28 Apr - 29 Jun 2008
(but Project and Dissertation continues till end Sep 2008)
Summer vacation: 30 Jun - Oct 2008

As you can see, the assessments are at the beginning of the subsequent semester. Thank you, York, for being so considerate to give us sufficient time to study, and thus spoiling our vacation.

Anyway, if you are planning to visit, try to do it in the early part of the vacations. That will be the best time I can give you undivided attention.

The Hostel

Given all the nice scenery around us, the view from my hostel room is quite a let down as it is overlooking a car park. As we are in the countryside, it gets quiet at night, that is if there are no noisy students disturbing the peace of the night. Just now, while eating dinner in my hostel's kitchen, I can even hear the cows moo-ing in the distance.

Yeah, it's been a long time since I don't have to hear the sound of traffic at night. I suppose we all get use to the busy background noise in Singapore, but I do believe it has a negative effect on our well-being. You don't realize how noisy Singapore is until you get to a quiet place. I find that I can concentrate much better in my room than back in my apartment in Singapore.

My room space is quite big (matched equally by the rental -- bye bye allowance), and can comfortably fit in two other sleeping person. However, the attached toilet is really small. There is hardly space to spread out your arms when showering, and it feels a bit like trying to bathe in a pipe.

Each hostel block consist of flats. The flat here would correspond to what we call a unit in Singapore. Each flat consist of six rooms with a kitchen. So far, I have only seen 3 of my flatmates: One from India, US and British. Maybe more will move in next week because someone told me that there are many postgraduates who have now decided to transfer to my hostel, which is a exclusively for postgrads only. It's never a good idea to stay with undergrads.
Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/puayc/sets/72157602302351539/