Sheffield Day 14 - Arrival back home

So now I am back home. Really miss the people and friends that I met there. I unpacked loads of stuff, put clothes to wash when I was home.

When I was at the airport, we stood aside and split up the Yorkshire Crisps according to the order in which we had ordered. This is because they came packed in flavors instead of personal orders.

There is nothing much for this post, just to say this marks the end of my journey in Sheffield for the moment. Hoping to return some day to study.

I would have another post up for reflections when I'm not as tired since its already quite late.

See you all soon.


Winters

Sheffield Day 13 - Presentation

Today is the day of presentation. We finished up our report, presentation slides and video today just nice before lunch. There were lots of guests from everywhere, some familiar faces from industrial visits from the past few days.

We did our presentation on the wind turbine as the second group. Was a really great experience as I never presented in front of such a large professional group before. I think I did fairly well. The starting of my part in the presentation was really well done, capturing the audiences attention and leading them into the topic I am about to present. But towards the end, I was unable to describe, unable to figure out what word to use. After which I was unable to compose myself and I ended off really really fast. My friends praised me for doing a good job, but I believe there is so much more for me to learn, for me to improve.

After which we had almost 2 hours of free time before our celebration dinner. I decided to head down to Matilda street to find a shop called Forbidden planet to find some stuff. Sadly there wasn't what I wanted inside the shop, only got myself a small star wars magazine.

But I passed by an awesome shop: Games Workshop

Got myself an Astra Militarum book from there and headed back for dinner.

The dinner was really good. It was similar to a farewell dinner, last day together.

 I had some white wine to accompany the food

Had a scone that was supposed to go with the soup. The soup was a bit spicy with a toasted bread in the middle of it.

Had vegetable salad (photo with potato, broccoli and cauliflower), accompanying it was beef with pancake, potatoes, both stripped and round and also carrot.

The beef was really juicy (there was more of it underneath the one shown in the photo)

After which was dessert. I'm not quite sure what it was. But I think it was raisin cake. Filled around it was warm creamy milk. A really good combination I must say.

After that we had some tea and coffee to end off the dinner.

As the weather was really good, we went out to the balcony to take some photos with all our facilitators there. It was really nice as I get to take photos with all the facilitators.

After everything, we headed back and I spent the night packing all my stuff. I realized I did not have enough bag space. I have to give away some brownies and the Henderson's Delight sauce. Really sad but at least I was able to squeeze everything else in.

So that's all for now. Heading to the plane and will be back when I arrive back home.


Winters

Sheffield Day 12 - Awesomeness

Hey all, sorry about the lag on the post. I'm gonna update all the post that I have missed out right now for everyone.

So today I woke up late. Was unsure was it technical issues with the phone (which happened before) or I slept through all my 7 alarms I had set. I only got up when the bus was about to leave. Getting ready in less than a minute was much harder than I expected. Although I managed to do it due to training previously in my secondary school CCA NPCC, but I was still tired from it.

It was a secret place we were going to, which was Chatsworth. We visited the museum there, which was viewing of the inside of the castle and its history. It was really a sight to behold, lots of items kept through the ages, arts and paintings beyond imagination.

After which we went for English Tea for lunch.

English tea with white/brown sugar and milk

It is supposed to be 3 layers, but the order for this was wrong, as pointed out by Gary. The sandwiches were supposedly at the bottom, followed by the middle which includes the scone (correctly shown in the image). After which the top layers would be the cakes such as the sponge and caramel cakes. So all in all, the top should be at the bottom and the bottom at the top while the middle stays the same. 

The food was really good as this is nothing I have ever tasted. This is similar to fine dining, classy and quiet. But we were making so much noise, totally opposite. Its okay as this was our first time and were overly excited.

After which we did some shopping at the gift shop there, I made a wish at the wishing well before heading back to do our project work. My team worked through the night, having only an hour of sleep.

The result of burning midnight oil would be an almost completed technical report, almost completed presentation slides and a completed video.

So that's all for this post. I would continue in the next post. See you all later :D

Winters

Sheffield Day 11 - Unbeatable

So today comes to an end as I return back after going out for dinner with my project group. The 3D wind turbines have been printed out. Due to unforeseen tolerance issues, we spent almost 3 hours filing it down before we got the wind turbine to actually work.

It was really tiring as continuous filing was not something I do often. Luckily I had awesome group mates (the 2 other guys in my group) helping me while 2 ladies are working on the powerpoint and film storyboard.

We went for lunch at a really awesome place. The food was really nice. Sadly the coupons could not be used there and we had to use our own money, but I must say it was well worth it. The food was way much better than the others we had the previous few lunches.

After which, we rushed the report, testing the wind turbine in a wind tunnel built by our facilitator himself, Dominic. I am really impressed as it was totally awesome. I would try to get a photo tomorrow.

Although we stayed till around 8 pm to try and finish up the project testing of the wind turbine. We still fell short and had no choice but to leave it for tomorrow.

Dom recommended a really good steak house which we all went to for dinner. It was my first time having steak, Sirloin beef and it was really good.

So that's all for today's post, kind of busy today, needing to go write thank you letters to our facilitators, see you all in the next post :D


Winters

Sheffield Day 10 - 3D print

So today was a really good day.

We had a seminar on how to do better presentation with better communication skills, things which we could take note of, by our professor Mr Gary Wood. After which we had a seminar on how to use Adobe Premier. I would say this program was really useful but getting use to the controls would take more time than anticipated.

We tried an activity where we did a video. Currently I am finishing up the last part of it with my movie maker as I am more familiar with it plus I am no longer at the campus and no longer has access to the Adobe premier.

I had drank a can of doubleshot Expresso Starbucks coffee for lunch alongside a Burrito wrap that my awesome group mates bought for us while me and my partner stayed behind during lunch to rush out the wind turbine 3D drawing.

We managed to finish up most part of the wind turbine 3D drawing and is now currently still printing. We can only collect the finished product tomorrow as it requires 13 hours for printing. I would post pictures of it once its ready. Just a sneak peak, this is what it looks like when the printing started:

We were supposed to make it back for the Village Store, similar to the co-op back in school to buy some stuff. Due to technical difficulties experienced during the 3D printing phase, we spent a bit too much time there, so we had to rush back to the Village Store before it closes. Thanks to Mr Gary and Bai Ju, the store remained open and I had bought most of what I wanted in one shot.

A really awesome buy as I have been eyeing these things since the day I got here to Sheffield but never really got the chance to get it.

I was supposed to join the entire group of us for a walk in the Botanical Gardens here in Sheffield, but I knew my body is already at its limit. Having slept late last night (2.10 am), rushing around for the project, surviving on 4 cups of coffee today and also having some chest ache due to the rush. This had kept me behind and I decided its time for me to rest. I know myself best, I know how much more my body can take, I know its time for me to take a rest.

So here I am now writing the blog and packing up some stuff to consolidate what I had bought here in Sheffield so far.

That's all for today's post. Can't wait for tomorrow's collection of the Wind Turbine. With all the luck I can wish for, hopefully the Wind Turbine would work as the presentation is less than a week away. See you all in the next post :D


Winters

Sheffield Day 9 - Continue

So I was writing the previous day's post just now as I missed the time for it. So now I am going to write about what happened today.

In the morning, I went for a run with my teacher and a few of my awesome friends. It was really tiring but the feeling of running here is totally different back home. The weather was perfect for running, the route was clear and we were all ready for it.

After that we went back to shower and had breakfast before we headed for the University. We had black pudding for breakfast today too. We took a bus there and had another seminar before we started on our project. I went for a full cup of cappuccino as I was feeling a bit tired, probably due to sleeping at 1.30 am the previous night. Thus I did not had lunch today as the coffee was already good enough. I just went for a bar of white chocolate for the energy.

We were released early and had dinner at 5 pm. The food was good: boiled vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, sliced carrot and probably sliced radish), boiled potatoes and a bowl of fish pie. The fish pie was really good, with cheese layered around it, crunchy sides and also the filling of peas and salmon. The taste was superb and I have never tasted anything like this before.

After which we took our final trip down to Meadowhall. It had to be today as today is the day our bus pass expires and tomorrow shall continue the slow walk up to the University. Unlike the first time we went, we are now more systematic in looking for things that we want. I went into Primark and got myself a Star Wars sweater. Was considering a suit for my Dad, but was too hesitant to get it because of the price and my budget was quite limited. In the end I didn't get it as I too was unsure of his actual suit size.

I got this bottle for myself:

I got things for my sister too, but I am going to keep this a secret first as she might read this blog and I spoil the surprise gift for her. As for myself, I got 2 albums of the band Queen greatest hits album for just 10 pounds.

After which we had late night supper at Tacobell. I ordered myself a crunchy taco with Mexican chicken and shared a plate of Nachos with a group of friends. The Nachos was better than I anticipated, way better than what I used to eat back home. And it was my first time eating the taco as I have never managed to find one back home before.

So that's about it for today, hope to see you all in the next post. Stay tuned. I would most probably update the post with some photos tomorrow after I sort them through.


Winters

Sheffield Day 8 - First Sunday

Alright, so sorry guys for not updating yesterday, so this post is to make up for the Sunday event that I have missed out as I was late up doing some project work.

So on Sunday morning, we actually went for horse riding. It has always been a wish to go on horse riding as I really love watching mass cavalry charges and seeing some policemen on horse makes me want to ride them more.

The horse riding experience was totally awesome. We learnt to hold the reigns that halts or turns the horse. We tap the side of the horse with both our heels for it to start walking forward. To stop it, we pulled the reigns to stop it and release when it stop, but not hard enough to hurt the horse. As for turning, for example, we are turning right. So to do so, I pull my right hand out to the side and nudge it with my heels on the left side as a signal to guide it into the right direction. After which we learnt to trot, following the rhythm of the horse, 1-2-1-2-1-2-..... As it trots, we follow the rhythm and allow ourselves to stand up and down as it trots so that it does not hurt ourselves too much. During the trot, one of our hands holds both the reigns and the other holds the saddle to prevent ourselves from flying off the saddle. As we went down slope, we lean backwards with a straight back to allow the horse to descent easier and to not hurt ourselves. To get off the horse, we release our feet from the hook at the sides, lie flat on the horse back and slowly slide our leg from one side to the other and get off the saddle.

It is a totally amazing experience. After the horse riding, we went to Manchester to visit the Manchester United Stadium, the Old Trafford.

It was a sight to behold, especially for us fans. There was a museum for us to look around and take photos before we were led into the fields for the Stadium tour which was awesome. It was only a pity that it is Sunday and the souvenir shop closed early, thus when we ended the tour the shops were closed. But I believe that this tour has given us all and even greater gift, the gift of ever possibly entering the stadium. I never even thought it was possible until today.

After which, we went to eat pie at a famous handmade pie restaurant. The pie that I ordered was chicken pie with chips (called fries from where I come from) and mushy peas. The taste was out of this world and totally amazing, The chicken was so tender, the food was so delightful. It was the best pie I had ever tasted, way beyond my personal expectation for it.

I too played a game of pool when we were at the pie restaurant. After which, we had a few games of a game between wolves and people (I cannot remember the exact name), a similar online version is called the Town of Salem.

So that was all for Sunday's trip. Really eventful and lovely. The weather too was quite good. So I am now going to write for the next post. See you all later :D


Winters

Sheffield Day 7 - First Saturday

Hey all, today is the first official day we got off from the University here in Sheffield as its the weekends. We had a packed schedule on today, which I would go through soon. But first would like to apologize for the lack of photos as my phone went out when I reached the location of interest.

So today, we went to Castleton. It is a really nice place to go to, with so much greenery, so peaceful and quiet community, it is like a place where I only get to see in dreams. It was like a dream come true to ever walk in such a beautiful place.

We split into two groups the moment we reached the area. I was allocated into group 1. Alongside the leaders of the trip and the help of a local volunteer, our adventure began.

The first place we visited was the chocolate factory there. It was really an awesome experience as it is a really small factory, one man making the chocolates with his hands instead of machinery. This is rarely seen as everything is so automated nowadays, even the food we eat are mostly machine processed.

The chocolates that were made are really really tasty, never tasting anything like this before. Plus there was a history lesson on chocolates, where they originated from and how they have evolved from when its first created to now.

After the factory, we took a hike up into one of the roads up at the side of the hill. My poor memory prevented me from remembering the road's name, but I know its a road that is constantly moving due to the land, causing cracks to appear everywhere, like it had just survived an earthquake. We too saw a plant with white foam like things around it. It was actually a bug that is called frog hopper if I remember correctly. It was said that when the bug is born, the adult bug surrounds it with its own spit (the white foam) to protect the bug against the harsh cold and hot weather depending on the season.

The second place we visited is a trip down into a cavern that is filled with Blue John, a type of rock that is beautiful with shades of yellow and blue. I was really fascinated by the exploration as I for one love caves. It gives me the excitement of something might be lurking within unexplored parts, another adventure awaiting me within the cave. It was also extremely beautiful and well maintained, with many parts we get to see and take photos of.

After which we went to the gift shop and bought a few stuff. One of the rocks which I bought for myself was the amethyst. This purple crystal rock is my favorite rock partly because I like purple. But most importantly, it gives me a strange feeling, a feeling of purity, unknown and elegance within. Its hard to describe but its something that inspires me in general.

When its all over, we went back to Sheffield to have our dinner. I shared the fish with my teacher as he just came back with another group that splintered off before dinner for some fun at the carnival. I too had some vegetarian lasagna. It was really delicious and absolutely fabulous. I remember when I first knew about lasagna was through the Garfield show, and ever since I love eating lasagna.

I went to wash my clothes after dinner, but this is where the fun part began. We washed our clothes, accidentally adding to much detergent causing some clothes to still be soapy and then realized we have overspent on washing and there was not enough left for drying. So we went around, getting help from a trusted friend Aaron to help us top up the card so we may do the drying. The best part was the dryer did not dry the clothes. I was told it was due to the dirt covering some part of the dryer and I should have removed it first. Now that I know, I guess next time I wash I know what to do, as they say, once bitten twice shy,

So that's all for today's post, extremely interesting and fun. But tomorrow has an awesome plan coming up, so I would not stay up too late. Let you guys know tomorrow :D See you all in the next post :D


Winters


Edit (21 June 2016)

As an update to this post, I actually had black pudding for breakfast :D Really tasty and really enjoyable. I really enjoyed eating it :D

Sheffield Day 6 - Incoming

So I had a pretty long day today, finalizing the idea and design for the project here for the OMA trip. I had a pretty nice breakfast, same as the usual with a touch of some cakes. The lunch we had was a take-away lunch sandwich with drinks and an apple along with a brownie cake.

But before I go into that, lets see what I did in the morning. We were supposed to learn about giving what the customer wants, learning about design and prototyping, making to customers satisfaction. We did this activity using lego and we got a mutant like thing. We came in last but it was really awesome and fun, having lots of hands on experience and leaning journey.

So this is my lunch that I ate on the bus during an industrial visit. It comes with the food mentioned above, but I only took the photo of the bread as its in my opinion the nice one. The flavor that I got is the Ham and Cheese:

The industrial visit was really nice as we get to see the fully automated transport vehicles, some new unseen before technologies that even I cannot work out what they are. Some day I believe I will understand them, but in the meantime, I am going to work hard and push myself forward till I can be the one who can create better technologies.

So now its dinner time, some of us had BBQ chicken, others had BBQ beef alongside some vegetable rice, coleslaw, onions toppings and potatoes. This is something that is different from the ordinary dinner we are having here, so its a new experience. We too had some cream puff for desserts. Although the cream was not as sweet as the ones we had back locally, it was still really tasty and the cream compliments itself perfectly with the chocolate sauce layered around it.

There too was a bug out there in one of my friends bedroom. It was really scary I would say, huge and unusual. Even I freaked out at first, not to mention it was a she. Luckily the others came along and put an end to it. But if it was me, I might also be screaming and running around.

So that's all for today. Hope you guys enjoyed this post of mine, I'll be back tomorrow with more interesting stuff. Now its time for me to get back to project work. :D


Winters

Sheffield Day 5 - Kickstart

Hey all, its been a long day today. Really interesting day actually, can't wait to get to all the points within this blog.

So today we had 2 seminars which were really interesting, learning more about project planning, consideration that we require so that we do not mess up the project too much. In a way, it was awesome and really enriching, opening me to things and ideas that we never really thought much about before.

 The seminars were a bit delayed as the bus came late and we arrived later than we expected. Had some vegetarian food in the student union building today. Really nice food over there with lots of variety.

After which we kickstarted our projects and are now researching on it. I plan for the group to finish all their parts by tomorrow night so that we can have enough buffer time at the end to write our report, powerpoint slides and also a video to showcase what we have done.

Tomorrow is going to be an awesome day so I won't write this post too long. We had a ghostwalk at night and it was really really nice. The way the story was told by the guy was really captivating. He has a voice that few people has, sharing stories while we walked around the streets of Sheffield, where the stories were real. It was really awesome. 4 pounds well spent I would say. This is a walk that I would never ever imagine I would take as there wasn't such opportunity opened to me before.

That's all for my post today. A little short as time is getting late and I got to wake up real early tomorrow. Hopefully I would be able to share with you more information in the next post.


Winters

Sheffield Day 4 - Inferiority Complex

Hey guys, I'm back again for Day 4 of being in Sheffield. Days that we are officially in school is actually 3, but counting the number of days we are in, I settle it into 4 for easy referencing and keeping track of the posts which I have written.

So today was a really great day, the weather was great, the breakfast was great, everything went really smoothly. We had a road trip visit to one of the awesome companies called Gripple.

It was really an eye opener as we don't get to have these industrial visits from where I come from. I really enjoyed the work area there, it was not what I would have expected as the working environment was so friendly, unlike back home. It was like a dream come true to even see such awesome work environment still existing in this constantly advancing world of ours.

I learnt so much from this trip, from being innovative, never giving up, to the process which we can follow on to bring the best out of ourselves. It was a really enjoyable moment for me as this is the first time I am out for a visit like this.

After which, we went for the laser quest, where we tag each other with laser guns and see the team score. I was in the blue team, ranked 5th out of 12 people in the team in the first round. But during the 2nd round, I fell off the slope and had my muscle at the calve tensed up till the point. I feel really embarrassed and apologetic to all my friends and teachers. I feel like such a burden. 

I tried to do my best in the game. I really love the game as it has always been one of my dream to be able to serve in the National Service and protect the country. But even such a small injury put me down so much. I am extremely disappointed in myself. It could have been my inferiority complex or for whatever reason, I feel that I could have done better, I could have fought to the very end. I always imagined myself to be able to overcome pain that I feel, but I was wrong, I was not able to numb myself up like what I usually do with the stress that I feel.

I am really upset with myself right now, and really apologetic to all my friends and teachers for being such a let down. Sorry for burdening myself to the group, to be more trouble than helping to solve the problem.

Guess I'll just be writing to this point. I would write again for the next consecutive days daily, updating you all with my experience. So stay tune and I hope to see you guys in the next post.

Winters

Sheffield Day 3 - Wind Farm

So here I am back again writing my blog :D

Today has been really interesting in my opinion.

But before I go into an exciting part, allow me to show you my breakfast.

Now back to the exciting part. Today we finished up the lat few skills workshops we have, learning more about ourselves in the process and getting to do some group work which I think has taught us a lot. We must not give up in the face of despair, we must persevere on even when the odds are stack against us. This reminded me of a quote from a game which I have played: We hope in the face of despair, that makes us strong.

After which, we were separated into 4 different groups to work on 4 different projects. I got myself into the wind farm project which I think interest me the most. Currently we are discussing where this project would be headed.

When the group has been settled down, we went down as a group to Meadowhall for some shopping in the area.

It was really awesome as the shopping mall is totally different from back in my own country. Although it was pretty rush as their closing hours are quite close, but I believe it was really fruitful, many of us wishes to go back again someday for more shopping.

I myself bought some snacks and a couple of books from the bookstores there.

So that's all for today, hope to see you all again soon in the next post :D

Winters

Sheffield Day 2 - The Beginning

So day 2 has just ended for me here. Finally back into my room resting, so in the meantime I'm going to write about my experience for the day.

Breakfast was really good, one of the best that I had tasted ever. I couldn't stop eating when I took the first bite. I had a total of 2 full servings with coffee and raspberry juice. Here is a photo of one of the servings in which I have taken.

Going right in to the day's activities, we were introduced to the facilitators and student leaders from the University itself. After which, we were taken onto a short tour around the building which we would most likely spend our time the most at, known as the Diamond. There were many different labs within the building itself, being able to accommodate a large number of students.

After the tour, we had a treasure hunt around the entire campus.

It was extremely fun although the time constraint put us back a bit.

After the treasure hunt, we began doing workshops, the first being communications within a team. There was a student leader who pointed out something which I felt was really important, which was no matter what problems we may face, we must not put money as it will sometimes cause dire consequences. We must learn to look at things from a wider perspective rather than doing things just for the sake of personal gain.

I believe today was a really great day and experience. Hoping to start off my blogging at the end of every day when I get back into the room. That's all for today, see you all in the next post.


Winters

Sheffield Day 1 - Touchdown

Hey all.

I have finally touched down after transiting from Istanbul into Manchester airport. Currently I am on a school trip to Sheffield University. I am not really good with words, but I will do my best to let you guys know what I have been doing here.

So I know this time is actually 5 am in the morning of Day 2. I forgot to update my blog as I dropped onto my bed and fell asleep instantly.

What I did during Day 1 was really a wonderful experience, getting to know more about the place and lifestyle, getting used to the food. The food is exceptionally good.

The first meal we had after touchdown:

(Main course: the burgers and drinks)

(Nachos)

(Potato)

The meal was really good, it was supposedly our lunch. Although I had many meals on board the plane on the way to Manchester airport, I couldn't resist the food and still ate plenty. The food here is totally different from back home: much more flavourful and appetizing.

After lunch, I took a break in my room, packing some stuff, catching up some sleep and taking a bath while some of us others went out for a walk.

When it was time for meeting, we met as a group and went together for an official briefing from the University teacher himself, Mr Gary Wood and two student ambassadors: Baiju and Jordan. We too were given an awesome bag with our name tags and student card with an important file.

After the briefing, we went for dinner, I was really full so I didn't eat much. It was so appetizing but I was too full to have it, so I just took a photo and went to grab a drink. But I would eat more for the days to come :D

Everybody is friendly here and we would officially take a walk down to the University campus from the student accommodation later in the day after breakfast.

I would update this in Day 2 when I get back from the University. See you guys soon :D


Winters

Introduction to my travel blog

Hey all.

This blog is dedicated solely for me to write when I am travelling, sharing my experience and feelings that I have through the trip.

Hopefully you guys won't feel bored reading this blog.

Guess this ends my introduction to the new blog :D

I should be writing soon, stay tuned :D


Winters