the hand belongs to a rabbit...hmm...

i read the last sentence and laughed out loud
appreciate it, thanks lots...

I am but an exchange student

Ok i've been pretty occupied with schoolwork lately...

Psychology Level 1000 (PSY 100) here in Uni of Hawaii (UH) is NOT a module for exchange students. Why? Exchange students need to pass only. Just pass. An A grade is the same as a B and a C grade. So, in a sense, no stress eh?

But for PSY 100, you need to sit for 17 online quizzes in total, and each quiz is based on a chapter. To advance to the next quiz you need to pass the previous quiz. Sounds easy eh, but not when the passing mark is 9 out of 10! Ridiculous. And the ten questions can come from anywhere in the chapter so basically you have to go through them properly. Hmmm, looking back this is really a good way to get students to learn. Ha, i know i've learnt quite a bit. 15 more quizzes to go!!!

The other time consuming module is geological remote sensing. Ha the labwork is very very tedious and time consuming. All in all i spent a total of 6 hours sitting in front of the computer trying to mark out points. Here's the story.

We were given hand-drawn map of Mount Kilauae, and tasked to mark out the same points on the first image on the computer. So we had to find the points on the image in the computer, and once we have found like 7 or 8 points we get the computer to warp (i.e. rotate) the image in the right orientation (i.e. north,south, east, west) etc. This was JUST the beginning.-matching points in the drawing to the image in the computer. See the small box on the lower left and all the chicken pox marks. Those are the points i marked out-

-1st image after warping-

After that, we were given two other computer images of the same location. These two images were taken at different times, and worse still, they were taken by different cameras and by different media (airplane and satellite) so basically my point is you cant easily compare the three images just like that.

Firstly they have to be all rotated in the same orientation. Secondly they have to be warped into a manner in which all three have the same scale etc. So in all three images we had to look for same locations 'tie points' so that the images can be warped accordingly by the computer.

-These are the three images. The one in the middle is the final image we had to work on, and like it was impossible. I even mistook a hole in the ground to be Mt Kilauea's vent until i asked someone for help!! I found out later that the vent was NOT in the third image at all-

-finding 'tie-points' i.e. similar points in two separate images-

-the two images on the right have been 'warped'. This means that their orientation and scale are pretty much the same-

-finally we superimpose everything into one image-

-And this is the map i submitted!-

Time consuming but i guess I gained a lot from the whole ordeal. It was cool using the image to discuss the lava flows over time too!

hydrogeology lab

Well, contrary to popular belief i do go to school. Erm, not for all lessons though but nonetheless i go to school like five days a week >.<

School's quite shiong actually, and on monday, when i got the lab instructions for hydrogeology, I was felt quite sian coz it appeared rather laborious. I pictured myself working on the lab (which dealt with porosity of materials and capillary rise) and returning back another day to complete it. If it were another lab just like remote sensing i would have killed myself.

But lo and behold, we were all brought to this little room and all of us were told to do the experiment TOGETHER. Haha. And we were supposed to share the data. Hmmm, so it wasn't individual work. Well, at least we had fun (i think) and lab ended pretty early. BUT yes, there's a lab report which i have to come up with by this monday though and i am still not done with it yet.

Anyways here are some pictures from the lab session we had that monday.

this group worked on the experiment that dealt with the porosity of different types of sand and lead shots.

yup, that's them again.

and if u actually tilt your head to the left, you would see the set up for the capilary rise experiment. erm, basically there's sand in the pipe or whatever-it-is-you-chemists-call-it.

close up!

haha did i just bore you folks? Stay tuned for the remote sensing one!!
Akan datang!

Pearl Harbor: USS Arizona War Memorial

Finally went to the Pearl Harbour today. Bus ride took us about an hour... and we actually took the wrong bus (route 9). But the driver was kind enough to let us off somewhere so that we could walk to another bus stop so that another bus (route 42) could take us there.

The Americans refer to Dec 7, 1941 as 'A day, which will live in infamy. Okay for background information i shall just post an excerpt from the postcard i bought from the shop in the memorial:

The USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii is visited by over 1 million people a year. The USS Arizona Memorial is a vivid reminder of the outbreak of WW2 between the US and Japan. The memorial spans the wreck of battleship Arizona. The ship is now a tomb for a majority of the crew [i.e. the bodies are entombed in the wreck and are still there now!] On that fateful morning of December 7, 1941 the USS Arizona's life was extinguished by a direct hit to its forward magazines resulting in a loss of 1177 sailors, marines and officers.

Entrance to the USS Arizona Memorial is free, and each person gets a ticket allowing him to catch a 30 minute video about the events leading up to the fateful day, as well as the day itself.

ticket

After watching the documentary, we took a ferry ride to the Memorial itself.

view from the ferryah, the memorial...

Interior of the memorial. The memorial was built over the sunken ship that still houses all the bodies.

view of part of the sunken USS Arizona from the memorial's interior

It was very windy at the memorial... hats were flying about.

The white rectangular box you see above is where the memorial stands. As you can see, the wreck is shown above as well.

took this photo in the museum...

view from the interior: entrance into the ... place where all the names of the victims can be found

yupp..that's the inside
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After that we took the ferry back to the main centre, and decided to goof around a bit....random shots follow...

Honolulu Academy of Arts

Sandy got some free passes to the the Honolulu Academy of Arts Museum and decided to take me there today. I must say i was very impressed by the stuffs inside. Some pieces date back to the 6th century! They have many sections ranging from japanese, korean to buddhist and islamic art. We didn't have enough time to venture around the entire museum sadly coz we didnt have enough quarters for parking haha.

photography was not allowed, and my camera had to be kept in the lockers they provided at the entrance. well at least my hp has the camera function!

at the buddhism section

This is a neck ornament from Hawaii. Lei niho palaoa were status symbols, worn by men and women of high rank. The necklace here consists of long, finely braided human hair that passes through a polished ivory pendant.

boo!

boo! boo! boo! boo!

Paintings here onwards are from the 'School of Volcanoes' section! Mainly feature mount kileaue (or however you spell it)... it's the most active volcano in the world!

ISS Welcome Party 6pm-9pm

Attended a welcome party for international students Friday night. Hmmmm, played some games, got to know new people, and like just on the spur of the moment asked a few people and we're going to plan a trip to the Big Island in February!

I think the best part about these parties is when you get to meet new people and listen to their life stories and all.

Didn't take many pictures, here are shots with some really fun loving people!

here's Mara who's born and raised in Hawaii

yoshina and gui! both on a two semester exchange..and they came in last sem.
gui (pronounced gi) was born in Brazil, but studied in Japan after high school, and is now here in Hawaii. how cool is that?

ok minus sunjin and myself, everyone else's is japanese haha
oh and that number six hand sign is actually local for 'aloha' or 'chill' etc haha

cheers!

random stuffs!

1) The public transport system that serves Oahu (the island of Hawai'i which i'm on) is called TheBus (-_-) . Apparently it's America's best transit system. No prizes for guessing what cabs are called here (yes, it really is called TheCab). Oh and they have boats that ferry people from the harbour to other parts of the island and they call this TheBoat. And i am seeeriously not making the names up!


2) This is what my matric card looks like.

3) This is an example of a typical breakfast.
4) I get fat free ice cream for dessert after dinner!

5) I am pretty impressed by how disable and elderly friendly Hawaii is. I mean, the buses can actually 'lower' themselves so that elderly/disabled folks can board the bus without much difficulty. Not just that, ramps can also extend from the front door so that those in wheelchairs can board the bus! One fine day i'll take photo of the ramps ...the very first time i saw it I was too surprised to take photos lol.

6) I reduced the costs of my books by first purchasing them, and then zapping one, and taking page by page photos of the other and getting them refunded after that. The lab allows me to print for free, so i print the photos after that. Still need to buy two books though oh well. Thanks those who offered to help with the books, appreciate it.

7) Hawaii's climate is like Singapore! Ok at least it gets as hot as 29 C in the day...but the main difference is that it is way less humid. Feels great cos you don't perspire so much. Because it's 'winter' now, the night time temperature drops to about 20-22 C, and because i live in the mountains, the winds are really strong at night. check out this video...



8) I'm not sure if this is the practice throughout the entire uni, but my lecturers print the lecture notes out for us, and some in colour too!

9) The society's very cosmopolitan... it's mainly pan-asian i believe... i read somewhere that those of asian ethnicity makes up slightly over 40% while white americans make up about 25%. Native Hawaiians make up about 10% while the rest are totally of mixed ethnicity.

10) When i first reached hawaii it felt as if i was in Japan! Apparently they make up the largest group of Asians we have here.

11) The curry sold at the most famous outlet 'Curry House' seriously tastes like McDonald's curry sauce.

12) Everyone's so nice and gracious here. They even thank the bus driver for dropping them off. And i have had many nice conversations with strangers while waiting at the bus stops which, depending on the time and service number, can come at 1 hour intervals.

13) I have been told many a times to talk slowly, because apparently i talk too fast.

14) I had to take my books and notes out from the drawer and placed them on the small table in my room, so that i can remind myself that there is a need for me to study. It's kinda hard to toggle between tourist mode and student mode i must admit. Like during lessons, i'll be thinking of what to do during the weekend. ha. And up to now, I haven't unwrapped my psychology textbook yet...yet.

15) They get a lot of rain, but it's mainly showers. I've been told that they rarely have thunderstorms. It's like very gentle rain, and frequent at that. And after a shower as you take the bus down the road and pass by valley after valley you get awed by the sight of so many beautiful rainbows! Lovely.

16) I dropped my Hula class reluctantly coz the timing was real bad, and for the two lessons that i went to i reached home past 9pm thanks to the best transit system. This is not good in the long run.

17) And it's about 9pm here now (thursday) I feel quite tired and i foresee myself giving tomorrows sociology class a miss again. For the fifth time in a row.... goodnite everyone! Have a great weekend ahead yar