Image source: here.

Forgive me for not updating for such a longggg time. I've been wanting to post something, but I'm not gonna lie, I'm just too good at procrastinating. ;D

I've just completed my first semester of degree in software engineering and went on a 4 days 3 nights trip to Penang with my uni mates. Currently, I'm enjoying my one month semester break. I figured I should finally blog hehe. I will also be uploading separate blog posts on how it's like studying software engineering so far at Taylor's and another post on my trip to Penang.

Disclaimer: I'm not paid to promote Taylor's hahahah. I'm just stating out my views and opinions as usual. :)

So when I told my friends that I'm enrolling at Taylor's lakeside camps, these are the most common responses I got from them: "Wasehh, taylor's ah? Damn rich hor"

I guess the general public unknowingly stereotype the students studying there as rich kids. Even my own personal perceptions towards the students studying at Taylor's are biased. The things that flashed to our minds when "Taylor's U" is mentioned are a university filled with spoiled rich kids.

Now, let me clarify something. I believe most of the students are not stuck up. In fact, the people I met during my 3 days of orientation are very down to earth and friendly! They're totally different from what I've feared them to be -- rude, bossy, proud -- none of that sort. I was so relieved that I've got to meet so many amazing, interesting, bubbly individuals. :D

So if you're worried of not being able to "blend in", rest assured. You'll be able to cope just fine. :)

Regarding my financial status? All jokes aside, I'm like the Cha Eun Sang of the hit Korean drama "The Heirs". Except I'm not even half as pretty as her nor do I have hot guys liking me. The reason I'm able to attend this uni is only because of scholarships.

For the longest time, the only motivation that drove me to study hard is to get scholarships so that the financial burden wouldn't be that hard on daddy. I attended an interview for my scholarship and though I was only offered half of the amount that I was entitled to get, I figured to be grateful because it was still a huge amount. More details on how was the scholarship interview like, scholar hours and shine points details on this blogpost.

One thing I quite like about Taylor's is the diversity. I saw countless international students when I was casually walking to lecture theaters. A few of my course mates are international students, from Indonesia, China and Maldives, how cool is that? Sometimes when I'm in the lift, I got to listen to Japanese students making conversations like the ones in anime and Koreans talking in their own native dialect like the ones in Korean dramas. *squeals <3*

All the international students that I know of have very good command in English. There's very little to zero language barrier between us. In fact, my housemate at DK Senza is from Japan and she speaks English so fluently till the extent that I'm ashamed of myself hahahaha. I'm super lucky to have her as my housemate as I get to speak to her in Japanese!! Friends who know me well will know how I used to love anime and Japanese hahah xD

DK Senza is an apartment that's around 5 minutes walk to uni. It's not owned by Taylor's. I'm currently staying there as there were no more on-campus accommodations available at the time. Plus it is so so overpriced. I wouldn't say DK Senza isn't overpriced too but I didn't have much of a choice.

You can read this blogpost on the places to stay neat the lakeside campus.

About the facilities at Taylor's, it's quite well equipped. In fact it's way wayyyy better than my previous uni. I don't wanna get into any sorts of trouble so I'm not gonna mention names here hahah. Unfortunately, I haven't been to any other uni so I can't compare the facilities at Taylor's with them. You might wanna check out the campus of the universities you have in mind before enrolling.

Again, I'm gonna do a free advertisement for Taylor's here. Idk what's wrong with me. At the lakeside campus, the lectures conducted in all lecture theatres are recorded. Note that only lectures are recorded which excludes practical and tutorial classes. It's a system which they call it as "rewind". As per the name, you can simply access taylor's TIMEs portal and rewind your lecture classes whenever you want.

This feature, to me, is super important. Sometimes when I didn't get to take down notes in time during the lecture, I can simply rewind it when I get back home. At times where you weren't in class or when you're simply too tired to focus, the rewind system is your saviour.

That being said, you still have to attend lectures. Taylor's is very strict with attendance. Try missing even one lecture class and the next thing you know, your parents will ring you up asking why didn't you attend the lecture as stated in the letter they received. Also, it's best to not fully rely on the rewind system because personally, I understand better when I'm physically in class paying attention to what the lecturers are saying. So treat the rewind system as a backup and not your primary source of learning.

Be sure to ask other universities whether they have this recording system as well if you find this recording system very important to you when you go for their open days. The lecture theatres ( LT ) can be quite cold sometimes so do remember to bring your jacket/ sweater to class.

The lecturers are, uhh, I guess okay. There are 1-2 lecturers which I adore because they can teach very well. I wouldn't say the other lecturers can't teach at all, it's just that you have to put in a lil effort to get used to their teaching method and understand the message they're trying to relay. All 5 lecturers in my first sem are locals. If you die die also want a foreigner lecturer then I guess you can try asking Monash or other international uni hahahah.

Another important part you might be interested in -- FOOD. The food at Taylor's costs an average of RM 12 per meal. Quite pricey to fork out that amount for every meal huh. There are a few cheaper alternatives though. One of it is Temptations. It's a restaurant owned by Taylor's School of Culinary, Hospitality and Tourism (TCHT). Basically, students studying under TCHT will be cooking your meals and serving them to you. The menu is pre-set but it changes everyday plus it's the cheapest decent semi-healthy food you can find on campus. My course mates and I always go there because it's cheap. So if you're on a tight budget, Temptations it is.

Apart from that, there's a Mamak stall on campus. The goreng-goreng stuffs (nasi, maggi, indo mee, bihun, kuey teow, mee) is around the same as Temptations' rice + dishes. I believe the healthiest food you can find in campus is Subway, followed by Temptations. Oh right, there's this new store that sells salad and healthy meals but it's way overpriced. :( I always buy the RM 7.30 sandwich at Subway because to me it's filling and yummy. Plus, it isn't that expensive. Another alternative with affordable food is the Face to Face noodle house right beside Subway. It's around RM 8~9.

If you're not concerned about the price of the food, there's many other restaurants on campus that you can try. Friendly reminder, watch what you eat! Don't go for deep fried food for 5 days straight. :)

The day before orientation

I moved into DK Senza. My mummy and brother helped me to carry all of my stuffs to my room. We had dinner together at this restaurant that sells Penang food downstairs and oh my gosh, their sweet and sour fish rice was sooooo niceeeee and the proportion was huge too. (But recently when I tried it, it wasn't as yummy anymore D: )

They went back after dinner and I got to know my housemate later that night. Thankfully she's nice to me, which really put me at ease after all the pointless worrying I've done, thinking what if she's not nice and so on.

I checked the schedule for orientation through the uni's portal before sleeping and found out that there was a difference in the sequence of activities for different courses. So to the new students who will be studying here, do remember to check out your own timetable beforehand!

Orientation

As much as I would like to recall, I can't remember much hahahah xD I would encourage new students or even students who previously studied foundation to go because there's when you get to meet your new course mates. I was happy to be surrounded with people with the similar interests and visions as mine. Smile and say hi to the person sitting next to you, in front of you or behind you. I'm actually quite shy with strangers but still I tried my best to mingle around hehe.

Try not to skip any of the activities they have throughout the orientation period. Even if the activities bore you, the people there won't. Just go there and enjoy to your heart's content!

We always converse in English. I feel sorry to the person I'm talking to because I stutter too much when I talk hahahah xD But it's okay, I'm still learning and that's what matters. I figured if I don't brush up on my English now, what would I do when I go our for work later on hahah.