Farewell Commonwealth

It’s been real.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I just got back from my weekend trip to Kuala Lumpur (KL for short) in Malaysia.

We took coach bus there and back. On the way there, we took a night bus (11:30pm) on Friday hoping to sleep on the way however that didn’t go to plan. We got the back seats which means less leg room and reclining so I didn’t get much sleep. The coach chairs however also had a massage features.

We got to KL at like 3:30 am. Because it was too early, we just sat at a restaurant for about 3 hours. We then went and tried going up to the Petronas towers. Every day 1200 free tickets are given to people so that they can go up. The sign said that 8:30 was the time that they would start giving out the tickets but when we got there they already ran out.

We checked into Chinatown Inn and rested for a bit. In the afternoon we went to the Central Market to eat. Another highlight was that we tried the Doctor Fish. They were small fish that ate the dead skin from your feet. It was very ticklish.

After that, we went to the see the Batu Caves. There were monkeys everywhere.

In the afternoon we saw the National Monument. The monument was actually closing at 6 pm and we were about 10 minutes late but luckily the guard let us go in for some quick photos.

All in all, Kuala Lumpur seems like your average city, there wasn’t anything here that really blew me away. I think it is a popular location for exchange students because it is close to Singapore so I think of it like the “training” ground for backpackers.

Two days is more than enough for check out this city, one day if your efficient!

First Day of Class

Today was my first day of classes. I had two lectures: EE2009 Signals and EE2005 Electronics. Signals is the equivalent for ECE318 and Electronics is the equivalent for ECE332.

The professors were both Chinese (probably Singaporean). Although they both clearly had accents, I found that their speech is more coherent than most professors at Waterloo. In Waterloo, the majority of professors have accents but are less coherent. 

Another interesting point is that the professors focused more on intuitive approaches and emphasizing the actual applications of concepts learnt (though this was only first lecture). The textbooks seem to be cheap; EE2009 textbook is ~25 SGD new which is ~16 CDN. Although I expected Sedra’s book to be used in Electronics, the prof opted for a less comprehensive textbook. I think I will buy the recommended textbook for now and grab Sedra’s book before I leave (if it’s cheap!).

After class we went to check out the NUS Centre for Arts show. There was some free food and dance performances. The hip-hop dancers were my favorite of the night.

Mustafa Center

Background: I bought some sandals at the Mustafa center for 32 SGD. After wearing them for a bit today, I realized that they were very uncomfortable and was chaffing my feet. I brought them back to Mustafa center to return them.

Me: Can I return these sandals?

Shoe Guy: Let me see them.

Me: *Hands over sandals*

Shoe Guy: Hmmm. The bottom is dirty, you can’t wear them outside. If you had worn them around the house then you could have returned it. No one will buy dirty shoes.

Lesson learned: Wash the bottom of the shoe if you plan to return it.