Hey readers,
Am back with writing module reviews! I am going to do a review for EC3101, Microeconomic Analysis I which I have taken for AY15/16 Sem 1.
Lecturer: Timothy Wong
Lectures: Tim just completed his phD in June/July and this is the first time he is teaching EC3101. I would say he was not bad at conducting his lectures, except for always having 1hour (prematurely ended) lectures instead of 1.5hour ones and that isn't too cool since it was an 8am lecture (ok, maybe minus the 'more time for breakfast' happiness)
Tim was quite clear in his explanations (for the lectures that I attended, 3 out of all 12 or 13 lectures) but sometimes he is not clear of the content (i.e when a student poses a question, he cannot figure out how to solve it on the spot). Also, every lecture slide definitely has at least one error (which makes it troublesome if you intend to skip the lecture/ you're not paying close attention) Although most of the time he will re-upload the newly amended lecture slides, sometimes he doesn't.
All in all, not too bad for lectures as self reading works for this sem's 3101. Reading the recommended textbook should suffice. All decent except for 8am lectures!?!?! (Don't ever choose 8am lectures especially if you stay in the East)
Tutor: Song Hong
Tutorials: This tutor honestly isn't that good. I think she is knowledgeable but does not know how to share her knowledge and problem solving skills to us.
The strong Chinese accent makes it even harder to understand her in addition to her being soft spoken. She goes through the short problem sets super quickly. We once ended tutorial in about 15 minutes (so there was a guy that came in late for tutorial ended up attending tutorial for 3-5 minutes)
Tutorial problem sets' difficulty is decent. Definitely some slightly challenging questions are added in. However, questions are different from what you might encounter in the midterms and finals, which means they were not too helpful in revision.
Graded Homeworks: There were 2 graded homework. First one was similar to the tutorial questions, however the 2nd one was challenging because his instructions wasn't clear. (One moment there's U(K) the other moment there's U(x)) Both constitute 10% of final grade if I remembered correctly.
Midterms: He assumed that you still had knowledge of 2101 and tested on perfect complements which he did not cover at all in his 3101 lectures. All in all, manageable midterm difficulty.
Finals: TBH I cant remember what the finals tested on, but I only remembered that it was challenging and tested a lot on application. Not confident on my performance for finals though so I cant comment much. It wasn't at all similar to the tutorial problem sets.
Updated: Tim Wong is currently still lecturing EC3101 and is also the prof for EC3322. No longer Eric Fesselmeyer for Industrial Organisation I. Tim Wong is ok given it is his first attempt conducting a module.
Generally, if you like microeconomics, you should be able to score well. I did quite badly for 2101 but still did decently in 3101, so if you're worried, don't be. I personally felt that the content was pretty interesting.
Monday 14 December 2015
Tuesday 13 October 2015
[Travel] Experience Taking Vietnam Airlines to Seoul, Incheon Airport from Singapore, Changi International Airport
Hi all,
I'm back with travel reviews! This time round for my flight experience with Vietnam Airlines. I booked my tickets in May 2015 for my summer school in July 2015. I booked a return trip and paid SGD529.10. I agree that this is really cheap for an air ticket to South Korea, the land of Kpop and amazing Korean dishes. However, I was utterly disgusted at their sales tactics.
I booked the flight in the evening at 5pm on a Saturday over my laptop, extremely delighted to get my tickets at just SGD100 which was the Special deal tickets. However, after I attempted payment via VISA, the screen indicated an "Invalid action, payment unsuccessful", and then I refreshed the page as saw that the Special Deal tickets were sold out. I was worried I had to spent SGD1K on SQ kind of tickets so I reluctantly bought the SGD150 tickets, spending SGD100 more instead.
To my horror, the next day from morning to night, when I looked through the fares, the Special Deal tickets were back again at the price of 100SGD! Not only the next day, even in Mid July when I checked through the webpage, the SGD100 air tickets were still available. I WAS SO PISSED, because when I emailed the sales management team, they said strictly no refunds, but "you can choose to cancel your reservation and pay the administration fee for cancelation".
I was just too pissed to reply him, because it was totally stupid. I already had keyed in payment information and everything, but payment was rejected just because I was a few seconds late, but yet the sale tickets were continually available at the same price for 1 month?! Not too sure if I was just unlucky or what.
Remember, when choosing your flight timings, always make sure transit timing is as short as possible, as there are connecting flights that make you transit for 12 hours or even up to one whole day. Unless you intend to tour Vietnam then please see the date and time of transit arrival and departure carefully.
I took the 8.30pm flight and we reached Vietnam local time 10pm, it was a 1 hour plus flight. Note that the airplanes are not linked to a gate, so you basically need to climb down the stairs and enter the airport bus shutte to bring you to the terminal. The flight to Ho Chi Minh came with food and beverages plus wet wipes upon boarding the plane. It was a really small and old plane, but decent and worth for the price paid. After landing, there would be a long queue for transit because most of the passengers are transiting to Korea too. You just need to go through a customs check, and you can head to the gate. There's wifi at the Ho Chi Minh airport, which made the transit of 2h 25min bearable.
Similarly, to board the next Vietnam Airlines plane, you will need to board the gate which is at the ground floor for you to board the shuttle bus that brings you to the airplane itself. This was an old Boeing too, but it was an even older, smaller, more crammed and air conditioning which was equivalent to Sauna. It was really hot, so my plane buddy and I had a hard time falling asleep. Thank god I managed to sleep for 2 hours, but without any blanket on since it was really too warm. My buddy on the other hand, was fiddling with her MacBook the entire time, editing videos. Kudos to her for not sleeping. The food was good too, with beverages like alcoholic drinks served. For some tips on booking, you can check the plane model on the VN website to see if its a big or small plane. The big plane I took from Seoul back to HCM to SG was super luxurious and comfortable. So you can actually plan beforehand if you are very particular about space and comfort.
Upon landing, thank god the plane was connected to a gate although our gate was the extreme last gate of the terminal (which means a lot of walking). The travelators made it much better, thankfully.
All in all, it was a good experience. I find that it was worth the money to travel with VN, however, if you ever see the Special Deal tickets ever sold out, wait for the next day to check back. Chances are it will be available the next day. The transit was good as I got to experience climbing down the airplane, and being able to capture photos of yourself standing on the ground with the airplane in the background.
On my return flight from SG to HCM, I met this really cute baby who was fed milk every single time she cried. (Pardon my bare face without make up, my skin condition got really bad when I was in Korea)
Let me know if you need more info on the flight experience(:
Cheers,
Rachel
I'm back with travel reviews! This time round for my flight experience with Vietnam Airlines. I booked my tickets in May 2015 for my summer school in July 2015. I booked a return trip and paid SGD529.10. I agree that this is really cheap for an air ticket to South Korea, the land of Kpop and amazing Korean dishes. However, I was utterly disgusted at their sales tactics.
I booked the flight in the evening at 5pm on a Saturday over my laptop, extremely delighted to get my tickets at just SGD100 which was the Special deal tickets. However, after I attempted payment via VISA, the screen indicated an "Invalid action, payment unsuccessful", and then I refreshed the page as saw that the Special Deal tickets were sold out. I was worried I had to spent SGD1K on SQ kind of tickets so I reluctantly bought the SGD150 tickets, spending SGD100 more instead.
To my horror, the next day from morning to night, when I looked through the fares, the Special Deal tickets were back again at the price of 100SGD! Not only the next day, even in Mid July when I checked through the webpage, the SGD100 air tickets were still available. I WAS SO PISSED, because when I emailed the sales management team, they said strictly no refunds, but "you can choose to cancel your reservation and pay the administration fee for cancelation".
I was just too pissed to reply him, because it was totally stupid. I already had keyed in payment information and everything, but payment was rejected just because I was a few seconds late, but yet the sale tickets were continually available at the same price for 1 month?! Not too sure if I was just unlucky or what.
Remember, when choosing your flight timings, always make sure transit timing is as short as possible, as there are connecting flights that make you transit for 12 hours or even up to one whole day. Unless you intend to tour Vietnam then please see the date and time of transit arrival and departure carefully.
I took the 8.30pm flight and we reached Vietnam local time 10pm, it was a 1 hour plus flight. Note that the airplanes are not linked to a gate, so you basically need to climb down the stairs and enter the airport bus shutte to bring you to the terminal. The flight to Ho Chi Minh came with food and beverages plus wet wipes upon boarding the plane. It was a really small and old plane, but decent and worth for the price paid. After landing, there would be a long queue for transit because most of the passengers are transiting to Korea too. You just need to go through a customs check, and you can head to the gate. There's wifi at the Ho Chi Minh airport, which made the transit of 2h 25min bearable.
 |
| Dinner part 1 |
 |
| Amazing skyline of HCM |
 |
| Upon arrival at HCM |
Similarly, to board the next Vietnam Airlines plane, you will need to board the gate which is at the ground floor for you to board the shuttle bus that brings you to the airplane itself. This was an old Boeing too, but it was an even older, smaller, more crammed and air conditioning which was equivalent to Sauna. It was really hot, so my plane buddy and I had a hard time falling asleep. Thank god I managed to sleep for 2 hours, but without any blanket on since it was really too warm. My buddy on the other hand, was fiddling with her MacBook the entire time, editing videos. Kudos to her for not sleeping. The food was good too, with beverages like alcoholic drinks served. For some tips on booking, you can check the plane model on the VN website to see if its a big or small plane. The big plane I took from Seoul back to HCM to SG was super luxurious and comfortable. So you can actually plan beforehand if you are very particular about space and comfort.
 |
| Dinner part 2 aka Supper |
 |
| First sign upon waking up after a 2 hour nap |
Upon landing, thank god the plane was connected to a gate although our gate was the extreme last gate of the terminal (which means a lot of walking). The travelators made it much better, thankfully.
On my return flight from SG to HCM, I met this really cute baby who was fed milk every single time she cried. (Pardon my bare face without make up, my skin condition got really bad when I was in Korea)
Let me know if you need more info on the flight experience(:
Cheers,
Rachel
Thursday 1 October 2015
[Travel] Tips for fashion shopping in Korea
Hey readers!
I'm back with some tips for fashion shopping in Seoul, Korea!
You must be thinking, the usual shopping places must be like Myeongdong, Dongdaemun (and that's about it right?)
There are really many other places to shop for cheap and yet fashionable but of good quality clothing! I can only list places for female clothing but for guys, I would think the best place with the most number of guy clothing stalls (although all sells similar shirt designs) would be Ewha University Street!
Tips for shopping (Guys):
1. Always walk around and explore all the shopping streets. Most of the clothing store are homogenous amongst the stalls.
2. Remember which stall you first saw it
3. Note down the price and if possible, get a picture as a reference for the design.
4. Continue shopping cos most likely you would be able to find a stall (in a more secluded and quieter street) at least 5,000won cheaper (which means you get to save SGD6!!)
I almost bought a shirt from this stall which was nicely lighted and the shop even invested in plastic covers for their shirts, but their tee costs 10,000won each! I decided to look for other designs and came across another shop which sold the exact same shirt at only 5,000won! It's a guy's tee! Not even kidding!
You must be thinking, "It's damn hard to go shopping in Korea for guys since it's a women paradise". While I must agree to the 2nd part of the sentence, the first part is totally an incorrect statement!!! Ewha and Myeongdong are both great places for shopping for guys! (Although honestly, Myeongdong tends to sell them at a slightly higher price; or they make you buy a minimum quantity (eg. 2 for 10,000won, 1 for 8,000won) In that case, just buy two!!! You wouldn't know if you realize you need to get a gift for a friend(: )
Tips for shopping (Guys):
1. Always walk around and explore all the shopping streets. Most of the clothing store are homogenous amongst the stalls.
2. Remember which stall you first saw it
3. Note down the price and if possible, get a picture as a reference for the design.
4. Continue shopping cos most likely you would be able to find a stall (in a more secluded and quieter street) at least 5,000won cheaper (which means you get to save SGD6!!)
I almost bought a shirt from this stall which was nicely lighted and the shop even invested in plastic covers for their shirts, but their tee costs 10,000won each! I decided to look for other designs and came across another shop which sold the exact same shirt at only 5,000won! It's a guy's tee! Not even kidding!
You must be thinking, "It's damn hard to go shopping in Korea for guys since it's a women paradise". While I must agree to the 2nd part of the sentence, the first part is totally an incorrect statement!!! Ewha and Myeongdong are both great places for shopping for guys! (Although honestly, Myeongdong tends to sell them at a slightly higher price; or they make you buy a minimum quantity (eg. 2 for 10,000won, 1 for 8,000won) In that case, just buy two!!! You wouldn't know if you realize you need to get a gift for a friend(: )
Ok for ladies and teenager girls, my recommended areas are: all underground shopping centers located in subway stations, Dongdaemun, Ewha, Hongdae, and Sinchon!
These places are listed according to my preference!
1. Underground shopping centres
They are simply amazing places to shop at. From 2,900won you can get nice blouse and occasionally dresses, while I doubt they are brand new, the quality is as good as new! I got THREE 2,900won blouse on the first day i touched down in Korea and they look perfectly new! The best underground shopping centre would be at Express Bus Terminal followed by Gangnam which I visited at least 5 times throughout my 1.5 months there. The good thing about Express bus terminal is that it's a good place for wet weather plans cos you can spend at least 2 hours there shopping! The clothes there are really nice, although I wasn't able to get discounts at any of the shops since they were already priced really cheaply.
Everything I bought there (dress, dungaree, oversized tee, casual tee including shoes) ranged from 5,000won to 10,000won. Average spent per piece of fashion clothing would be 8,000won. And I have to mention the clothes in Korea are super comfy! There are 2-3 shoe shops in Express Bus Terminal which all shoes are sold at 5,000won. If you see a big sign in their shop and you're not sure, if everything is 5,000won, get a design you're interested in getting and act like a Korean and ask "wu cheon won isseoyo? (Is this 5,000won?)" If the shop keeper says "ne" means yes!
They sell really cheap fashionable caps and hats (very k-fashion designs) and sunglasses at 4,900won. So many designs, and they are of really good material!! Grab some home with no regrets. I managed to get cheaper sunglasses at Forever 21's summer clearance sale so I didn't get any from these shopping centers.
These underground shopping centers usually have some small food eateries at the end of the shopping street (so if you're hungry you can just get something to eat at the ends of the streets, no worries at all!)
2. Dongdaemun
With so many malls around at Dongdaemun, it's just a shopping heaven. Knowing me, I'm the typical budget shopping queen. I mainly got stuff at Migliore and HelloAPM ladies area since they have 5,000-10,000won clothing. I love this shop on the 3rd floor of HelloAPM in a corner cos they have really nice designs on sale at 5,000won. The same design I got over there was selling in a local blog shop brand at SGD23!
Although there are many malls, the others malls besides the 2 I've mentioned above are relatively more expensive. Notably, Doota mall! But when you get there, try to go to the tourist centres and see if they have a sale booklet with different vouchers for different boutiques. Doota normally will have a small coupon cut out in the booklet for you to redeem a free gift. During the 2015 summer period the gift was a really nice multipurpose pouch.
3. Ewha Women's University street
Great for shopping from noon onwards! Perfect place for good and cheap food and for nice and fashionable clothing. Fashionable clothings can be found in almost every lane. My best buy from Ewha is plait tartan long outerwear of a good and comfy material for only 10,000won! The locals there are really friendly. Can always attempt to get discounts when you're purchasing more than one item! I would suggest to get there at 11am, explore the Ewha campus, lunch, then do your shopping after. Get street snacks while shopping cos they are really cheap there, as compared to other places like Myeongdong and Dongdaemun. Then settle your dinner here too: I would recommend Alchon flying fish roe rice!
4. Hongdae!!
The amazing place for shopping in the evening! Best time would be to reach at 4-5pm! Cos shops close by 9pm except the clubs (obviously). Lots of shopping here, but I find that it's generally more expensive than the other 3 areas I've listed above. Except for one shop, which was having a clearance sale, he had a rack outside with loads of clothes for just 1,000won! Yes you didn't read wrongly! 1,000won! Only SGD1.20! I bought almost 20 pieces of clothing there, from blouse to dress to denim shorts! No words can explain my joy when I got such a good deal!(:
5. Sinchon
This is mainly a place for food and cosmetics shopping. I love the Etude house at Sinchon cos it's a cute little pink house at a very prominent location opposite Sulbing! Clothings and fashion stuff are similar to everywhere else!(: It is a good for evening shopping as shops here closes pretty late! They have really nice food here and I would recommend the 8 flavour BBQ pork which is a lot cheaper in Korea than in SG! 30,000won for a set that can feed 2-3pax.
Ok that's all for shopping in Seoul for now! If I have any updates I'll edit this post!(: If I missed out anything feel free to comment below too! 😀 Thank you for reading I hope this will be useful! Sorry if the last 2 locations have really short descriptions. I will try editing them to include more info!
Cheers,
Rachel
Friday 25 September 2015
[School] NUS AY14/15 Year 1 Semester 1 Module Review: EC2104
Hi all,
Back with module reviews again!
Many people are asking me if EC2104 should be taken in Y1S1 or Y1S2. My stand is to take it in Y1S1. When I took it in AY14/15 Y1S1, I took it without knowing what it was about. It sounded a little tough from the module description and my Econs senior was telling me that Roy Chen is a good lecturer, which was why I decided to take it in Sem 1 to make full use of my free S/Us! (Thank god for gradeless first semester!)
EC2104
Lecturer: Roy Chen, the Asian guy with really strong American accent. He was a decent lecturer, I wouldn't say he was a perfect lecturer (seriously, define perfect..)
Workload: Decent. Just the usual take home and discuss in class: problem sets. Presentation in tutorial is a must to get your participation marks. Try to discuss with your friends the answers, cos correct answers definitely help in presentation scores (although the profs always says that accuracy isn't important, its the effort that counts...)
Difficulty: Not that difficult. It might seem a little confusing if you do not read your lecturers before classes, but I usually read through beforehand to roughly know what that lecture is about. And then read through it again after lecture. Everything will make much more sense if you choose to study that way. It worked well for me.
Tutor: I forgot his name, But I felt like he totally rolled out of bed to attend tutorials. Dressed in slippers and bermudas, not that appropriate an attire for a Teaching Assistant (given the amount of pay they earn)
Textbook: Essential Economics textbook which I did not touch at all although Roy kept telling the class that the textbook has important information. My friend went for one-on-one consultation with Roy and told me that he said the textbook isn't important. Focus on lecture slides, which I have always believe is the best resource for revision.
Exams: Not that tough for midterms since it was 15 MCQs and the average was about 9/15? I got 12/15 although that was totally unexpected. If you read through the lecture slides, redo your tutorials and attempted the past midterm papers, the midterm shouldnt be a problem for most, unless you were careless.
Finals was nerve-wrecking because I only knew how to do 2 complete questions. There was this theorem in the last few parts of the lecture (which I obviously don't remember its name) which I did not understand completely, and which I was praying will not come out. Ended up, almost all questions involved the use of that formula/ theorem ): I just attempted all the questions to the best of my ability, and at least not submit an empty, non-attempted question paper although I had no idea how to use the formula/theorem.
Thankfully, I did decently well for this module and did not need to S/U it. It is a fairly manageable module and I personally feel you should take this module in Y1S1 with your economics intro module. Once you have taken this module, the later modules like EC2102 and EC2101 will have some overlapping content(:
Cheers,
Rachel
Back with module reviews again!
Many people are asking me if EC2104 should be taken in Y1S1 or Y1S2. My stand is to take it in Y1S1. When I took it in AY14/15 Y1S1, I took it without knowing what it was about. It sounded a little tough from the module description and my Econs senior was telling me that Roy Chen is a good lecturer, which was why I decided to take it in Sem 1 to make full use of my free S/Us! (Thank god for gradeless first semester!)
EC2104
Lecturer: Roy Chen, the Asian guy with really strong American accent. He was a decent lecturer, I wouldn't say he was a perfect lecturer (seriously, define perfect..)
Workload: Decent. Just the usual take home and discuss in class: problem sets. Presentation in tutorial is a must to get your participation marks. Try to discuss with your friends the answers, cos correct answers definitely help in presentation scores (although the profs always says that accuracy isn't important, its the effort that counts...)
Difficulty: Not that difficult. It might seem a little confusing if you do not read your lecturers before classes, but I usually read through beforehand to roughly know what that lecture is about. And then read through it again after lecture. Everything will make much more sense if you choose to study that way. It worked well for me.
Tutor: I forgot his name, But I felt like he totally rolled out of bed to attend tutorials. Dressed in slippers and bermudas, not that appropriate an attire for a Teaching Assistant (given the amount of pay they earn)
Textbook: Essential Economics textbook which I did not touch at all although Roy kept telling the class that the textbook has important information. My friend went for one-on-one consultation with Roy and told me that he said the textbook isn't important. Focus on lecture slides, which I have always believe is the best resource for revision.
Exams: Not that tough for midterms since it was 15 MCQs and the average was about 9/15? I got 12/15 although that was totally unexpected. If you read through the lecture slides, redo your tutorials and attempted the past midterm papers, the midterm shouldnt be a problem for most, unless you were careless.
Finals was nerve-wrecking because I only knew how to do 2 complete questions. There was this theorem in the last few parts of the lecture (which I obviously don't remember its name) which I did not understand completely, and which I was praying will not come out. Ended up, almost all questions involved the use of that formula/ theorem ): I just attempted all the questions to the best of my ability, and at least not submit an empty, non-attempted question paper although I had no idea how to use the formula/theorem.
Thankfully, I did decently well for this module and did not need to S/U it. It is a fairly manageable module and I personally feel you should take this module in Y1S1 with your economics intro module. Once you have taken this module, the later modules like EC2102 and EC2101 will have some overlapping content(:
Cheers,
Rachel
[Travel] Korea, Annyeong-hasaeyo
Annyeong readers,
I'm finally back with a new blog post. Just gonna briefly describe my 1.5 months journey in Korea from July to August and what to do, eat and see.
Why is Korea such a popular travel destination?
The K-pop faze has definitely contributed to that (EXO!!), and definitely good food (TTEOKBOKKI!! SAMGYETANG!! BIBIMBAP!!), desserts (BINGSOO!!), and shopping (COSMETICS!!).
Where should you visit in Korea?
Shopping:
I'm finally back with a new blog post. Just gonna briefly describe my 1.5 months journey in Korea from July to August and what to do, eat and see.
Why is Korea such a popular travel destination?
The K-pop faze has definitely contributed to that (EXO!!), and definitely good food (TTEOKBOKKI!! SAMGYETANG!! BIBIMBAP!!), desserts (BINGSOO!!), and shopping (COSMETICS!!).
Where should you visit in Korea?
Shopping:
- All the university streets especially Hongdae have great fashionable clothings at reasonable prices! (5,000-20,000 won for really good quality ones though the 5,000 won ones were quite rare)
- Fashion Shopping: All the Underground Shopping attached to the subway stations!! Definitely I feel the Express Bus Terminal Underground Shopping at Express Bus Terminal Station (brown line) is the best!! The main shopping area with 2 long lanes of fashion shops is apparently quite hard to find (even though I gave my friends pretty detailed instructions on how to get there). Will be posting more about it in later posts.
- Cosmetics and Fashion shopping: Dongdaemun. I stayed around this district for 2 weeks, and it was a great choice. There is also a wholesale shoe market which sells really cheap and fashionable shoes for 5,000-10,000 won, which I found elsewhere selling at 15,000-20,000 won! My friends were so envious cos I bought a similar designed as theirs for 1/3 the price they bought it at (hehe)
- Cosmetics Shopping: MYEONGDONG! HONGDAE! Myeongdong is definitely the best place to go for cosmetics shopping because they are really generous with free gifts and with great bargaining skills, you'll bring back an entire bag of samples. What more, act like you're not interested in going into their shops, and they will try to lure you in with FREE facial masks! (IMPORTANT TIP: Make sure you grab them before heading in, and have a bag conveniently placed at waist level to throw them in, or else the staff might take it back if you don't purchase anything- esp. The Face Shop and certain Nature Republic stores) My favourite brands: The Saem (which can't be found in Singapore), Innisfree and Missha. Regarding price range, all are definitely cheaper than Singapore! Catch them during the sale periods (best sales during Summer Sale!) to get ridiculously cheap cosmetics of great quality. I managed to get BB cushions at a wonderful price: SGD14 for 1 casing with 3 refills (woohoo!)
Food:
- University streets again, for sure! They have affordable food for the university students who are sick of their canteen food! My favourite: Alchon Flying Fish Roe Rice (IT IS A MUST TRY- tastes so good and so cheap that I want to bring a Franchise over to Singapore) Specific university street I would recommend is: Edae (aka Ewha), Kondae (aka Konkuk Uni), Hongdae and Wangsimni (Hanyang University shopping area)
- Sinchon, Hongdae, Edae area has many famous food. In this area I would recommend the 8 flavoured BBQ pork in Sinchon. More about this place in later posts!
- Everywhere has good food in Korea, I'm not kidding. But the must try food are: Bibimbap, Jjajangmyeon, Samgyetang, Jjamppong (Seafood noodles- I love the broth omg), Tonkatsu (Pork Cutlet, they even have cheese pork cutlet specially catered for cheese lovers!) There are just too many to list all!
- Must try the Self Serve bars (aka Korean BBQ buffet). I was quite upset cos I couldn't find the 9,900 won one in Hongdae/Sinchon area cos they all closed down. But I ate the one near Hanyang University at Wangsimni Station which had a good flow of Beef, Chicken, Pork, Squid, fried food (chicken, seafood, etc.) and cup noodles (Yes, all free flow!)
- Street food! DEFINITELY SOMETHING YOU CAN'T FORGO! The fish cakes (eomuk) are my favourite street snacks, and they are so cheap and good! To be honest, you can find it for 500 won per stick at Sinchon, but other areas like Myeongdong and Dongdaemun sells it for 1,000 won. Hongdae and Edae has it for about 700 won. Egg bun (Gyeran-bang) is a unique street food which may not suit the taste of many cos it's a little sweet and has no fillings (occasionally sprinkled with nuts over it) Can be bought at 1,000- 2000 won. More on street snacks in later posts.
Places of Interests:
- All the palaces. During the period I went in, there was free admission into all the palaces in the month of July. To be honest, the palaces all look pretty alike. I find that Changdeokgong is the prettiest of them all. Gyeongbokgung was just TOO CROWDED, although it is the biggest palace.
- Gwanghwamun Square. The two statues here are famous statues of King Sejong and Admiral Yi Sun Shin. It is beautiful place for photo taking with the Gwanghwamun in the background. What's more, you can visit the peaceful Chonggyecheon Stream just 2 minutes walk away. At the stream, feel free to dip your legs into the clear and cool water to relieve stress and tired legs. Do not eat by the stream though, there will be security to chase you away!
- Iwha Mural Village (a lot of walking and climbing, but once you reach the peak, the view is simply amazing) Great place for those that enjoy picturesque views and for those who loves to take pictures.
- Many many other places, but due to time constraints and I don't want to bore readers with extremely long posts, I'll post it in later posts. Stay tuned!(:
Lastly,
Accommodation:
- Best areas to live in according to personal preferences (with the criteria chosen as easy convenience to shopping and tourist attractions) and in ascending order as listed:
- Dongdaemun
- Myeongdong
- Hongdae
- Wangsimni
- Sinchon
- Ewha
- If you are on a budget trip, stay in hostels. I personally find that the cheapest prices can be found on Hotels.com and by booking through them, they actually provides a Best Price Guarantee thing that makes sure you have the cheapest price for that same dates and same room types! It really works, cos I found a cheaper price on another site, and they matched the price by refunding me the difference.
- The areas I've mentioned are good and convenient for shopping but if you want cheaper accomodations for budget trips, I would recommend Star Hostel Dongdaemun. (Gentle reminder: I am not sponsored for any of my blog posts, and it is all voluntarily written to help netizens with their plannings.)
- Each night cost about $45 for a twin room and comes with ensuite bathroom. Rooms are fully air-conditioned, comes with soap in a dispenser in the toilets (shampoo and shower gel), bedroom slippers and towels (which were facial towels- would recommend to pack along a usual-sized towel cos the towels they provided were way too small for me to dry myself). Free breakfast was provided too (daily till 10am and self service), although simple: toast with jam or butter and cornflakes every morning, it was a nice gesture and can save a meal's cost (:
- The downside was that the room had no windows so we tend to oversleep since the room was just completely dark: no indication of the time of the day and it was as if we slept in a shed, separated from the world. Also, room was really crammed. I had 3 big luggage and 3 smaller ones, which made it impossible for me to maneuver around the room whenever I had to pack my stuff or get my clothes out (they had no cupboard too, just a couple of hangers below the drawer which served as a dressing table for me too). I had to do broad jumps over all my luggage, sometimes resorting to climbing on the bed to get to the door.
- All in all, pretty worth it for the price I paid. Would recommend you guys to stay there if you're visiting Seoul!(:
Interested to know more about my Korea Trip, stay tuned~
Thursday 25 June 2015
[Travel] Must Knows about Traveling in Singapore by Public Transport (Bus and MRT)
Hi all readers,
Rachel here. Sorry for the long break! Decided to create a post for tourists paying a visit to Singapore. Singapore is a very small and clean country, and definitely, the public transport system is the most efficient and affordable way to travel around the country(:
The MRT stands for Mass Rapid Transit. It is commonly mistaken as Mass Rapid Transport or Mass Rapid Train, but basically in Singapore if you're looking for an MRT station, just call it "MRT". People might just find you weird if you ask "Where's the Mass Rapid Transit Station" as almost none of the locals uses that term (at least none that I know of).
To take the MRT, you have to purchase either a one-time temporary card which is called a Standard Card and is made of paper (which can be purchased at the add-value metal looking machines), or a typical Ez-link (pronounced as "Easy-link") card that locals uses, or you could also purchase the Singapore Tourist Pass.
Ok, so which one should you purchase?
IF you think you wouldnt travel that much on Singapore's public transport system, you can purchase the Standard Card. The deposit for the card is only 10cents which was recently reduced from the usual $1! That means if you want to travel from Bugis to Orchard by MRT for example, and if the fare is $1, you just need to pay $1.10 for your one trip there!(:
How do you go about purchasing the Standard Card?
The typical General Ticketing Machines (grey metal ticketing machines). Do note that the Add-value machines (purple machines) do not issue this card
Ok, next. If you want to keep the Singapore Ez- link card for memento purposes, I would recommend you to buy the card that the locals use as well. However, it is definitely more costly. If you purchase it from Transitlink Ticketing Offices, Concession Card Replacement Offices (which is quite unlikely you will pass by any of the 6 offices they have in Singapore) and the Passenger Service Counters, it costs $12. However,that doesnt mean it has a stored value of $12. The $12 includes a $5 card cost fee, which means there's a $7 stored value in the card which is used to tap in and out of the MRT stations and buses.
However, do note that you can purchase it from the 7-eleven stores, however, it costs only $10 as there is only a stored value of $5. I would recommend to purchase from the 7-eleven stored if you intend to travel less than 4 times on the public transport but would like to keep a nice Ez-link card for use the next time you come back to Singapore.
Lastly, the Singapore Tourist Pass is a very useful option provided by the Singapore Tourism Board for tourists to travel to the places of interest in Singapore. They are passes that entitles you to unlimited travel on the public transports. They have 3 options: 1-day pass, 2-day pass and 3-day pass which costs $20, $26 and $30 respectively. In those amounts I've mentioned, there is a refundable rental deposit of $10, if you return the card within 5 days after purchase(:
The design on the Singapore Tourist Pass is quite pretty and worth keeping if you're willing to spend $10 on it, although I don't think you can reuse the card the next time you're back in Singapore.
Now, on to the BUSES!!!
I think most tourists will hardly ever take the public buses as they mostly come from neighbourhoods and MRT stations. And major landmarks and Places of Interest in Singapore are accessible via MRT. But basically the travel system in Singapore is all about paying by distance. The further you travel, the more you pay. Buses in Singapore are run by 2 major companies, SMRT and SBS.
You might be thinking, wow Singapore's public transport is rather expensive. However, do note that locals have special fare types for different age groups. The Senior Citizens have special Concession passes issued by the government and their fares are much cheaper than the adult fares. A typical bus ride for 3 stops is about $0.79 but for senior citizens it costs only $0.56, and the maximum fare for senior citizens during the off-peak hours (up to 6pm and after the morning rush period) is $0.90 (for train and bus services).
Oh yes, if you transfer between buses and trains, you're entitled to a rebate (exact amount I'm not sure) but definitely a plus point for you to save money while traveling. I think it doesnt apply to the Standard Cards but the typical Ez-link has such privileges.
Misc Must-knows in Singapore buses and trains:
- The corner seats in trains marked with the stickers "Priority Seat" are used to be called "Reserved Seat" basically for those who needs the seat more like the Elderly, young children, pregnant women, injured people, etc. If you happen to sit on it, it's totally fine even if you do not fall in that category of "needy" people. But if an elderly actually approaches you, its ok, just give up your seat to him/her. It's quite common actually.
- In buses, the priority seats are the seats in yellow (which are usually at the front of the bus). Same as in the trains, give up to others who need it more than you do(: Don't be too stressed about sitting on these seats.
- The older trains (white coloured ones with orange seats in certain cabins) have much smaller seats than the usual trains, so it gets a bit squeezy on that train especially if you're bigger in size than the typical Asian (like me, unfortunately). I usually would just wait for the next train if traveling a long distance.
- Eating and drinking is PROHIBITED IN TRAINS!! I have seen so many tourists eating snacks and drinking water on the train. Do note that it is NOT ALLOWED in Singapore, even plain water!
- Drinking plain water on the buses are fine, but no eating!
- If you want to check out the arrival timings of buses at the busstops you can download bus apps, "Iris" or "SG Buses". I prefer SG buses, as it indicates how packed the bus is, and whether there are seats available on the bus.
- There are different lines in our train transport system. The major ones are the East-West line (Green), North-South line (Red), Circle Line (Yellow) and North-East line (Purple).
- As tourists you will most likely be taking the Red and yellow lines most often as it brings you to Orchard, Haw Par Villa, Botanics Garden, Gardens by the Bay, Marina Bay Sands, etc.
- If you're interested, the different coloured lines on the MRT, are run by the two different companies, SMRT and SBS too! The Circle Line, Purple Line and LRTs are driver-less! (No driver operates the train, which is why I suggest that you enter the cabin from the train head on the Circle Line and North-East line to enjoy a nice ride while seeing the train travel maneuver its way through the dark tunnels)
- On escalators, ALWAYS keep to the LEFT if you're not climbing up or down the escalators. The right side are for people in a rush, to catch trains, reach home in time for their favourite dramas, etc.
LASTLY, enjoy your trip in SINGAPORE!!
Rachel here. Sorry for the long break! Decided to create a post for tourists paying a visit to Singapore. Singapore is a very small and clean country, and definitely, the public transport system is the most efficient and affordable way to travel around the country(:
The MRT stands for Mass Rapid Transit. It is commonly mistaken as Mass Rapid Transport or Mass Rapid Train, but basically in Singapore if you're looking for an MRT station, just call it "MRT". People might just find you weird if you ask "Where's the Mass Rapid Transit Station" as almost none of the locals uses that term (at least none that I know of).
To take the MRT, you have to purchase either a one-time temporary card which is called a Standard Card and is made of paper (which can be purchased at the add-value metal looking machines), or a typical Ez-link (pronounced as "Easy-link") card that locals uses, or you could also purchase the Singapore Tourist Pass.
Ok, so which one should you purchase?
IF you think you wouldnt travel that much on Singapore's public transport system, you can purchase the Standard Card. The deposit for the card is only 10cents which was recently reduced from the usual $1! That means if you want to travel from Bugis to Orchard by MRT for example, and if the fare is $1, you just need to pay $1.10 for your one trip there!(:
How do you go about purchasing the Standard Card?
The typical General Ticketing Machines (grey metal ticketing machines). Do note that the Add-value machines (purple machines) do not issue this card
Ok, next. If you want to keep the Singapore Ez- link card for memento purposes, I would recommend you to buy the card that the locals use as well. However, it is definitely more costly. If you purchase it from Transitlink Ticketing Offices, Concession Card Replacement Offices (which is quite unlikely you will pass by any of the 6 offices they have in Singapore) and the Passenger Service Counters, it costs $12. However,that doesnt mean it has a stored value of $12. The $12 includes a $5 card cost fee, which means there's a $7 stored value in the card which is used to tap in and out of the MRT stations and buses.
However, do note that you can purchase it from the 7-eleven stores, however, it costs only $10 as there is only a stored value of $5. I would recommend to purchase from the 7-eleven stored if you intend to travel less than 4 times on the public transport but would like to keep a nice Ez-link card for use the next time you come back to Singapore.
Lastly, the Singapore Tourist Pass is a very useful option provided by the Singapore Tourism Board for tourists to travel to the places of interest in Singapore. They are passes that entitles you to unlimited travel on the public transports. They have 3 options: 1-day pass, 2-day pass and 3-day pass which costs $20, $26 and $30 respectively. In those amounts I've mentioned, there is a refundable rental deposit of $10, if you return the card within 5 days after purchase(:
The design on the Singapore Tourist Pass is quite pretty and worth keeping if you're willing to spend $10 on it, although I don't think you can reuse the card the next time you're back in Singapore.
Now, on to the BUSES!!!
I think most tourists will hardly ever take the public buses as they mostly come from neighbourhoods and MRT stations. And major landmarks and Places of Interest in Singapore are accessible via MRT. But basically the travel system in Singapore is all about paying by distance. The further you travel, the more you pay. Buses in Singapore are run by 2 major companies, SMRT and SBS.
You might be thinking, wow Singapore's public transport is rather expensive. However, do note that locals have special fare types for different age groups. The Senior Citizens have special Concession passes issued by the government and their fares are much cheaper than the adult fares. A typical bus ride for 3 stops is about $0.79 but for senior citizens it costs only $0.56, and the maximum fare for senior citizens during the off-peak hours (up to 6pm and after the morning rush period) is $0.90 (for train and bus services).
Oh yes, if you transfer between buses and trains, you're entitled to a rebate (exact amount I'm not sure) but definitely a plus point for you to save money while traveling. I think it doesnt apply to the Standard Cards but the typical Ez-link has such privileges.
Misc Must-knows in Singapore buses and trains:
- The corner seats in trains marked with the stickers "Priority Seat" are used to be called "Reserved Seat" basically for those who needs the seat more like the Elderly, young children, pregnant women, injured people, etc. If you happen to sit on it, it's totally fine even if you do not fall in that category of "needy" people. But if an elderly actually approaches you, its ok, just give up your seat to him/her. It's quite common actually.
- In buses, the priority seats are the seats in yellow (which are usually at the front of the bus). Same as in the trains, give up to others who need it more than you do(: Don't be too stressed about sitting on these seats.
- The older trains (white coloured ones with orange seats in certain cabins) have much smaller seats than the usual trains, so it gets a bit squeezy on that train especially if you're bigger in size than the typical Asian (like me, unfortunately). I usually would just wait for the next train if traveling a long distance.
- Eating and drinking is PROHIBITED IN TRAINS!! I have seen so many tourists eating snacks and drinking water on the train. Do note that it is NOT ALLOWED in Singapore, even plain water!
- Drinking plain water on the buses are fine, but no eating!
- If you want to check out the arrival timings of buses at the busstops you can download bus apps, "Iris" or "SG Buses". I prefer SG buses, as it indicates how packed the bus is, and whether there are seats available on the bus.
- There are different lines in our train transport system. The major ones are the East-West line (Green), North-South line (Red), Circle Line (Yellow) and North-East line (Purple).
- As tourists you will most likely be taking the Red and yellow lines most often as it brings you to Orchard, Haw Par Villa, Botanics Garden, Gardens by the Bay, Marina Bay Sands, etc.
- If you're interested, the different coloured lines on the MRT, are run by the two different companies, SMRT and SBS too! The Circle Line, Purple Line and LRTs are driver-less! (No driver operates the train, which is why I suggest that you enter the cabin from the train head on the Circle Line and North-East line to enjoy a nice ride while seeing the train travel maneuver its way through the dark tunnels)
- On escalators, ALWAYS keep to the LEFT if you're not climbing up or down the escalators. The right side are for people in a rush, to catch trains, reach home in time for their favourite dramas, etc.
LASTLY, enjoy your trip in SINGAPORE!!
Tuesday 2 June 2015
[Travel] A hidden shopping gem in Bangkok- Union Mall
Dear Readers,
I'm back with more travel reviews. This time introducing to you a hidden shopping gem in Bangkok which few people know of. At the same time, I must express my dismay at the cancellation of my June 2015 Bangkok Trip because of the unavailability of the hotels I am interested in AND the non-promotional air tickets ):
My initial plan was to book the air tickets on Tuesday morning (for the Scoot Promotional Fares), and then book the hotels for the nights in Bangkok. However, Scoot has no good promotional price the past 2-3 weeks and Metro Resort Pratunam has apparently raised their prices from 1000THB to 1400THB. The other lower-priced range hotels have really bad feedbacks (eg. Have to enter the hotel by cutting through some restaurants, Hotel lobby in a really secluded area, and Dirty sheets and linen) So no thanks, I might just head to JB during the long leave.
Ok, so back to topic. The shopping paradise which isn't that well known as Platinum yet: Union Mall. I was contemplating whether to share this or not. Because being a typical Singaporean, I'm super kiasu and worry that once there is an influx of foreign travellers, the prices of goods there might increase. But I decided to help those who are looking for quality and cheap clothings, and those who are really exhausted after a hot and sunny morning/afternoon at Chaktuchak.
I usually will head to Chaktuchak in the morning and shopped till about 2pm, then head down to Union Mall via train.
Look out for the Sign that says Union Mall upon arrival at the train station. You should exit from Exit No. 5. Upon exit, you will be facing the "Union Mall" sign as seen in the picture below.
There were many things to shop (A pity I didnt take any pictures of the stalls with the really good promotion and sales ongoing) But you can refer to my picture below for my loots I was carrying back then.
The prices at Union Mall were comparable to the ones at Platinum. In fact, I think the clothes sold at Union Mall were made of higher quality. I got a really nice netted skater skirt for only SGD10, and back in SG, I actually found a similar piece retailing on a blogshop as a Latest Series for SGD29.90.
Thank god I bought the skirt. Usually they forbid you to try on their items on sale, but if you kindly request, I believe they wouldn't refuse (since these shops are normal sales motivated)
The clothes there ranged from about SGD5-40. There were definitely some high-end shops, which were definitely overpriced. But most of the shops there sold dresses at about SGD5-15.
If you are looking for shoes, there's this shop on the 3rd/ 4th level which had a sale when I was there. All shoes were going for 150THB! That is super cheap and worth it.
Till date, I'm still wearing the shoes I bought there. There were shoes of various designs (wedges, high heels, sandals) and they weren't those old-fashioned design ones, they were fashionable and stylenanda-inspired or some inspired branded sandals.
I manage to get a Hermes-inspired studded sandals in a really unique pale pink colour and my mother managed to get 2 wedges (one Hermes inspired and the other a black strappy wedge heel)
The material is really good and it is quite comfy. Definitely worth the price and also the luggage space and weight (HAHA)
Those other malls I mentioned above were not worth the time and effort to walk around. All in all, Union mall is a great place to head to when you're tired of all the walking around Chaktuchak, or if you're in need of an air-conditioned place to shop in. You'll need about 4 hours to shop here (based on an estimation as I shopped for about 3hours but skipped certain sections). They do have male clothings but very few stalls (same scenario as in Platinum Fashion Mall). This was all about Union Mall, any other significant stalls or experiences at Union mall I did not mention? Feel free to comment!(:
I'm back with more travel reviews. This time introducing to you a hidden shopping gem in Bangkok which few people know of. At the same time, I must express my dismay at the cancellation of my June 2015 Bangkok Trip because of the unavailability of the hotels I am interested in AND the non-promotional air tickets ):
My initial plan was to book the air tickets on Tuesday morning (for the Scoot Promotional Fares), and then book the hotels for the nights in Bangkok. However, Scoot has no good promotional price the past 2-3 weeks and Metro Resort Pratunam has apparently raised their prices from 1000THB to 1400THB. The other lower-priced range hotels have really bad feedbacks (eg. Have to enter the hotel by cutting through some restaurants, Hotel lobby in a really secluded area, and Dirty sheets and linen) So no thanks, I might just head to JB during the long leave.
Ok, so back to topic. The shopping paradise which isn't that well known as Platinum yet: Union Mall. I was contemplating whether to share this or not. Because being a typical Singaporean, I'm super kiasu and worry that once there is an influx of foreign travellers, the prices of goods there might increase. But I decided to help those who are looking for quality and cheap clothings, and those who are really exhausted after a hot and sunny morning/afternoon at Chaktuchak.
 |
| Coconut Ice cream dessert: A must eat in Bangkok |
I usually will head to Chaktuchak in the morning and shopped till about 2pm, then head down to Union Mall via train.
 |
| The really cute dog I saw at Chaktuchak. |
 |
| Head to the Chaktuchak train station and take one/ two stop down to Phrahon Yothin (I might have spelt the name wrongly) |
 |
| Take towards the Hua Lanphrong direction |
The train had good air conditioning and it was quite comfy after a really hot and sunny morning at Chaktuchak.
 |
| You can purchase your token (for a one time trip) via these ticket vending machine located in the station or from the passenger service counter. |
 |
| At the entrance of the train station of Union Mall. |
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| Hungry? Thirsty? Grab some waffles and fries and drinks at A&W! |
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| Looks good right? It was super appetizing and shiok! (Since Singapore doesn't have A&W stalls anymore) This was reasonably priced at about 5-6SGD for the entire set. It fed both my mother and I (as tea time snack) |
There were many things to shop (A pity I didnt take any pictures of the stalls with the really good promotion and sales ongoing) But you can refer to my picture below for my loots I was carrying back then.
 |
| Tired of shopping? Head to the Kbox! You have your own private room (although the walls and doors are made of glass which means no privacy) I think it was cheap, but being the shopaholic I am, I wanted to make full use of my time shopping at Union mall (before I headed to Chinatown later that evening) |
The prices at Union Mall were comparable to the ones at Platinum. In fact, I think the clothes sold at Union Mall were made of higher quality. I got a really nice netted skater skirt for only SGD10, and back in SG, I actually found a similar piece retailing on a blogshop as a Latest Series for SGD29.90.
Thank god I bought the skirt. Usually they forbid you to try on their items on sale, but if you kindly request, I believe they wouldn't refuse (since these shops are normal sales motivated)
The clothes there ranged from about SGD5-40. There were definitely some high-end shops, which were definitely overpriced. But most of the shops there sold dresses at about SGD5-15.
If you are looking for shoes, there's this shop on the 3rd/ 4th level which had a sale when I was there. All shoes were going for 150THB! That is super cheap and worth it.
Till date, I'm still wearing the shoes I bought there. There were shoes of various designs (wedges, high heels, sandals) and they weren't those old-fashioned design ones, they were fashionable and stylenanda-inspired or some inspired branded sandals.
I manage to get a Hermes-inspired studded sandals in a really unique pale pink colour and my mother managed to get 2 wedges (one Hermes inspired and the other a black strappy wedge heel)
The material is really good and it is quite comfy. Definitely worth the price and also the luggage space and weight (HAHA)
 |
| After shopping at Union Mall, we explored the area outside the mall (there was a link bridge to the opposite side of the road which held a large mall selling some electronics and also some fashion boutiques- although not as fashionable as Union mall) |
 |
| This was taken on the link bridge! (Look at the massive traffic jam!!) |
Those other malls I mentioned above were not worth the time and effort to walk around. All in all, Union mall is a great place to head to when you're tired of all the walking around Chaktuchak, or if you're in need of an air-conditioned place to shop in. You'll need about 4 hours to shop here (based on an estimation as I shopped for about 3hours but skipped certain sections). They do have male clothings but very few stalls (same scenario as in Platinum Fashion Mall). This was all about Union Mall, any other significant stalls or experiences at Union mall I did not mention? Feel free to comment!(:
Cheers,
Rachel
Thursday 28 May 2015
[Travel] Must Shop in Singapore: Bugis Street
Dear Readers,
Decided to post some recommendations for Must-visit places in Singapore from a perspective of a local. Are you looking for shopping places in Singapore? Cheap deals and quality clothings? Singapore doesn't manufacture fashion clothings, so most of the clothings you get in Singapore are imported either from Korea, China or Bangkok. I would say mostly from China as they produce the cheapest clothings.
Bugis Street
Yes, when in Singapore, Bugis Street is a MUST-VISIT! It is a place to get not only souvenirs, but also cheap clothings, and tasty but slightly over-priced street snacks. The key highlight at Bugis Street is the cheap fashion clothings. Bugis street is a large sheltered shopping area. It consists of 3 levels of shopping spree. I personally love shopping at level 2, as most shops there really cheap. You can get a nice looking piece of dress of decent material for just SGD5 (And I'm not even kidding, the prices are displayed, so you need not worried getting scammed)
Shoes are slightly more pricey but occasionally the shops on the 2nd floor does have offers like 2 pairs for SGD20. If you're looking for more fashionable types of shoes or sandals, the price ranges from SGD10-40. Certain shops sells the same items so do look around for cheaper deals before getting it.
Do note that level 1 of Bugis street is non-airconditioned so it is generally more stuffy. Especially at the main entrance near the fruit juice stall and the other exit near the Albert Street Food Centre. It is always jam-packed with people.
If you're looking for souvenirs here, I think it is good to get the Singapore-designed tote bags at 4 for SGD10 only! The material is acceptable and it comes with some small compartments inside. Definitely worth the price. Although the keychains seem cheap, with most stalls selling at 36 pieces for SGD10, I think the bags are more worth it (if you're getting for ladies).
If you're looking for cosmetics, it is not very cheap there. Reasonably priced, but not the cheapest cosmetics you can find in town. Cheap bags can be found in a number of boutiques, but I usually look out for the ones on the 2nd floor (newly renovated area) which has their offer racks hanging outside their stalls. I bought 2 cambridge satchel at SGD5 each, although it lasted about 3-4 months of continuous usage. You are able to find good deals there so long as you're attentive to the goods the shops display. I found one of the satchel retailing at a boutique in a shopping mall at SGD19.90, which was the exact same one I bought at bugis for just SGD5.
Accessories are not cheap at Bugis, unless a stall is having a mega sale. For cheap accessories, I'll recommend you to get it from the sales at Cotton On and Factorie (I'll post more on such boutiques later).
Tips for shopping at Bugis:
1. Bargain (Only if the item is $10 and above, or if you are getting more than 1 item- Most salesgirl will give you a dollar or 2 of discount)
2. Do not purchase from the first stall you spot something that interests you. Chances are, there are other boutiques selling at a lower price. Bugis is easy to navigate around, so don't worry that you'll get lost.
3. SGD5 deals are not necessary goods of low quality. Some are really good one, and because they are urgently clearing stocks, they sell it cheaply.
4. Be careful of pickpockets. My friend (a local) was pickpocketed recently! Keep your bags close by your side (but don't make it so obvious- like hugging your backpack tightly, etc.)
5. If you cannot find a price tag on the item you are interested it, chances are the owner will randomly throw you a high price. Do not buy from these stalls!
6. If you're hungry, you can always head to the Thai eatery on the 3rd floor of the new compound. They sell delicious Thai food.
7. If you are getting a little warm, head to the higher levels which are fully air- conditioned.
8. Cravings for snacks? There's this really popular crepe stall that always has a long queue. About SGD4-6 for a flavoured crepe. (I personally tried it only once)
9. If you are looking for higher end boutiques and more commonly known brands, cross the road to Bugis Junction. There are various fashion boutiques like Cotton On and Topshop.
10. I would recommend you to bring your own recycle bag to contain all your small shopping bags. The plastic bags the stall provides are always really small and I hate it when they squeeze my dresses into such a small bag and crumple it. I always bring along a recycle bag to throw my shopping goods in it.
11. Very few shops in Bugis street allows payment by cards. Only a handful accepts Nets, majority accepts cash payment only, so remember to bring along enough cash to shop!
12. If you would like to get a tattoo here, I know of one tattoo shop on the 2nd floor of the older section of the building. Not too sure about the price.
Hungry while shopping? Walk across the road towards the Albert Street Food Centre! Delicious food stalls that makes me feel like eating everything there. Will be posting on food recommendations at Albert Street Food Centre soon!(:
Bugis is such a nice place to shop at. The best timing to go would be on weekday afternoons (after lunch and before dinner time) Avoid Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights! You might end up having to walk like penguins. Remember to bargain (reasonably obviously). Let me know of some of the good deals any of you readers got from Bugis!(:
Cheers,
Rachel
Decided to post some recommendations for Must-visit places in Singapore from a perspective of a local. Are you looking for shopping places in Singapore? Cheap deals and quality clothings? Singapore doesn't manufacture fashion clothings, so most of the clothings you get in Singapore are imported either from Korea, China or Bangkok. I would say mostly from China as they produce the cheapest clothings.
Bugis Street
Yes, when in Singapore, Bugis Street is a MUST-VISIT! It is a place to get not only souvenirs, but also cheap clothings, and tasty but slightly over-priced street snacks. The key highlight at Bugis Street is the cheap fashion clothings. Bugis street is a large sheltered shopping area. It consists of 3 levels of shopping spree. I personally love shopping at level 2, as most shops there really cheap. You can get a nice looking piece of dress of decent material for just SGD5 (And I'm not even kidding, the prices are displayed, so you need not worried getting scammed)
Shoes are slightly more pricey but occasionally the shops on the 2nd floor does have offers like 2 pairs for SGD20. If you're looking for more fashionable types of shoes or sandals, the price ranges from SGD10-40. Certain shops sells the same items so do look around for cheaper deals before getting it.
Do note that level 1 of Bugis street is non-airconditioned so it is generally more stuffy. Especially at the main entrance near the fruit juice stall and the other exit near the Albert Street Food Centre. It is always jam-packed with people.
If you're looking for souvenirs here, I think it is good to get the Singapore-designed tote bags at 4 for SGD10 only! The material is acceptable and it comes with some small compartments inside. Definitely worth the price. Although the keychains seem cheap, with most stalls selling at 36 pieces for SGD10, I think the bags are more worth it (if you're getting for ladies).
If you're looking for cosmetics, it is not very cheap there. Reasonably priced, but not the cheapest cosmetics you can find in town. Cheap bags can be found in a number of boutiques, but I usually look out for the ones on the 2nd floor (newly renovated area) which has their offer racks hanging outside their stalls. I bought 2 cambridge satchel at SGD5 each, although it lasted about 3-4 months of continuous usage. You are able to find good deals there so long as you're attentive to the goods the shops display. I found one of the satchel retailing at a boutique in a shopping mall at SGD19.90, which was the exact same one I bought at bugis for just SGD5.
Accessories are not cheap at Bugis, unless a stall is having a mega sale. For cheap accessories, I'll recommend you to get it from the sales at Cotton On and Factorie (I'll post more on such boutiques later).
Tips for shopping at Bugis:
1. Bargain (Only if the item is $10 and above, or if you are getting more than 1 item- Most salesgirl will give you a dollar or 2 of discount)
2. Do not purchase from the first stall you spot something that interests you. Chances are, there are other boutiques selling at a lower price. Bugis is easy to navigate around, so don't worry that you'll get lost.
3. SGD5 deals are not necessary goods of low quality. Some are really good one, and because they are urgently clearing stocks, they sell it cheaply.
4. Be careful of pickpockets. My friend (a local) was pickpocketed recently! Keep your bags close by your side (but don't make it so obvious- like hugging your backpack tightly, etc.)
5. If you cannot find a price tag on the item you are interested it, chances are the owner will randomly throw you a high price. Do not buy from these stalls!
6. If you're hungry, you can always head to the Thai eatery on the 3rd floor of the new compound. They sell delicious Thai food.
7. If you are getting a little warm, head to the higher levels which are fully air- conditioned.
8. Cravings for snacks? There's this really popular crepe stall that always has a long queue. About SGD4-6 for a flavoured crepe. (I personally tried it only once)
9. If you are looking for higher end boutiques and more commonly known brands, cross the road to Bugis Junction. There are various fashion boutiques like Cotton On and Topshop.
10. I would recommend you to bring your own recycle bag to contain all your small shopping bags. The plastic bags the stall provides are always really small and I hate it when they squeeze my dresses into such a small bag and crumple it. I always bring along a recycle bag to throw my shopping goods in it.
11. Very few shops in Bugis street allows payment by cards. Only a handful accepts Nets, majority accepts cash payment only, so remember to bring along enough cash to shop!
12. If you would like to get a tattoo here, I know of one tattoo shop on the 2nd floor of the older section of the building. Not too sure about the price.
Hungry while shopping? Walk across the road towards the Albert Street Food Centre! Delicious food stalls that makes me feel like eating everything there. Will be posting on food recommendations at Albert Street Food Centre soon!(:
Bugis is such a nice place to shop at. The best timing to go would be on weekday afternoons (after lunch and before dinner time) Avoid Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights! You might end up having to walk like penguins. Remember to bargain (reasonably obviously). Let me know of some of the good deals any of you readers got from Bugis!(:
Cheers,
Rachel
[School] NUS AY/15 Year 1 Semester 1 Module Review: LSM1301
Dear Readers,
Gonna continue with module reviews for Y1S1 AY14/15!
Modules taken:
- EC1101E
- LSM1301
- EL1101E
- SSA2204
- EC2104
This post will be purely a review for LSM1301!
LSM1301 (General Biology) was one of the most enjoyable modules I've ever taken! It had the most interactive lessons and covers very interesting contents. Furthermore, the lecturers and teaching assistants were really funny and nice people.
Lecturers: Dr Seow Teck Keong and Dr Posa
Lectures: Both lecturers are equally good, although I find Dr Seow more engaging as he often shares his personal experiences in the lectures. I remembered there was a lecture on hereditary and he placed his family photo in the lecture slides (so cute HAHA), and introduced us to his wife and daughter. Dr Seow also cracks a lot of biology jokes and causes an uproar of laughter during most of the lectures. He covered the first half of the lecture which had a lot of H1 and H2 Biology content. This module precluded anyone who have taken H2 Biology at the A levels to make it fair for everyone. I took H1 Biology at the A levels so some content wasn't unfamiliar for me.
The second half of the semester's content was covered by Dr Posa who was really nice and patient (but I felt really bad for her, as the LT was always so noisy whenever she wants to speak). The content she covered was very new concepts like the Sponges, and concepts on Genus, Phylum, Family, Order, Species etc. I personally felt the 2nd half of the semester was tougher as the content was really complicated.
Always print your lecture notes for lectures, or else you will be very lost! The lecturers often drop important notes during the lecturers which were tested during the exams and weekly quizzes (graded) (eg. The Golgi Apparatus is liken to be a post office) That was an MCQ question that came out in the weekly quiz and Dr Seow mentioned it during the lecture but it was not on the notes he uploaded.
Lectures were generally ok so long as you listened in class and have your notes with you.
Lab Sessions: For my semester, we had lab sessions which commenced about 3 weeks after the 1st lecture. Lab sessions were really fun. You need not get the white lab coats as the disposable (blue-coloured surgeon looking one was provided for free). HOWEVER, although it is disposable, please do not dispose it after the 1st lab session, keep it for all your 4 lab sessions as they were provided for free only for the first lab lesson. If you happen to lose your labcoat or want to wear a new one due to hygiene purposes, you can get it for $2 at the start of the lesson. Labcoats are compulsory for lab sessions, and girls had to tie up their hair and pin up your fringe (to avoid contamination).
During my semester, I got to dissect a flower, make kimchi, do gel electrophoresis and extract my DNA from my cheek cells too! It was really fun!! Lab sessions were 1.5hours, and I felt that it was a little short as I was having so much fun!
Do note that you have to print the practical worksheet out before the lab session and bring it for the lab lesson, if not the Prof will make you buy a hardcopy. Softcopy was allowed (you can bring your laptop for lab- but it was such a hassle having a laptop on your workspace- leaves you less space to carry out your experiments)
Also, the practical worksheet includes questions that required you to do lab reports after each lab session and upload onto IVLE for submission. They are all graded assignments. Please discuss with your lab mates and friends as they are meant to help you. Try to get full marks for all lab reports (Google is present for a reason)! There was a given dateline which you had to follow and you must always send your report for plagiarism check! (If not there would be a penalty mark deduction imposed)
Examinations: Finals was a electronic bring your own laptop examination (BUT please note that they stopped the e-exam after my semester) What does this mean? It means you bring your laptop for the exams. Yes, instead of a piece of exam script, you submit your answers (which comprised of MCQs only) on softcopy. There was a software you had to download into your laptop (details were provided during the lectures).
There was a trial run conducted one week before the actual final exam to ensure everyone had the software on their laptops and they running just fine. This was to minimise the technical difficulties faced during the actual final exam. I didn't quite like this method of examination as it was such a hassle to bring my laptop down to school for the exams, and the trouble of having a dry run on a Saturday morning to test out the system. All these hassle could be eliminated by conducting a usual black and white test paper.
Oh yes, during the exam, internet access to Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari, Mozilla FireFox would all be denied, which means you are unable to Google the answer, BUT you were allowed to refer to your softcopy notes on your laptop. Wifi purely for exam purposes was used (the router was placed at the front of the LT), as the software required internet access to submit your answers online. I opted for the school laptop as I was too lazy to bring my own and the school laptop would 99% be compatible and unlikely to have any technical difficulties. That meant I had to bring my thumbdrive with my softcopy notes and lecture slides to transfer into the school laptop before the exam. Thumbdrives were not allowed on the actual exam!
The final exams was quite tough I feel, as it tested a lot on Dr Posa's lectures, and Dr Seow's portion were tougher and more analytical questions (like antibiotic resistance in different scenarios). You had to have a good grasp of your content beforehand as there wasn't sufficient time to flip through your notes for the answers for every single questions. There were a few giveaway questions (thankfully), and also some video-based question, where you had to watch a short clip and then answer the MCQ. The videos were replay-able, so not to worry if you missed out on any part.
Overall: I would recommend students to take this module to fulfill as Unrestricted Electives. It is really interesting especially if you like Biology. The professors are really nice people, and lessons were informative and useful. I did generally well for this module, but I felt that the bell-curve was quite steep (probably because I didn't do too well for the final exams). I enjoyed this module very much!(:
Regards,
Rachel
P.S I still have my hardcopy lecture notes in coloured (printed using a laser printer) with good quality clear diagrams. Am selling it away (as a paid a lot for my coloured notes to aid my learning). Comment if you're interested!(:
Wednesday 27 May 2015
[Travel] Where to stay for a budget trip to Bangkok: Metro Resort Pratunam
Dear Readers,
I am back with travel reviews!
This time recommending hotels to stay in Bangkok for a budget trip!
Whenever I head to Bangkok, the only place I'll stay at is Metro Resort Pratunam.
It is conveniently located one road down Platinum Fashion Mall (about 10-15 minutes walk), and big malls nearby (including Shibuya 19 which sells wholesale fashion clothings and some electronics mall across the road)
I touched down at Survanabhumi Airport only at 7-ish to 8pm, and by the time I reached the hotel (by taxi), it was 9plus almost 10pm (local BKK time). Remember, whenever you take taxi, always ask for metered fare! (including to and fro the airport; some taxi drivers try to cheat your money by telling you there is massive jam at this time of the day, but don't fall for their trick!!) Unless you're in really popular areas at about 12am, like Ma Boon Kong, then most taxi drivers will only ferry those who agree to pay his requested fare (but always try to bargain (at least 50-100baht lower!))
The photo above was taken from the outside of the hotel the next morning after I touched down since it was really dark when I reached the hotel the night before.
Very cosy lightings with 2 desktops near the check-in concierge for guests' usage. Though I recommend not to stay in the lobby for too long as there were many mosquitoes.
You see really huge corridors, especially on the 3rd level. Where the middle area (on the right of the picture (with brown walls), are the exterior of one of their conference rooms.
All the rooms come with an attached bathroom, Do note that there is no carpeting in the room. Neither is there bedroom slipper provided. Please bring your own pair. In the room there is a cupboard, which had enough hangers for 2 days worth of clothes for 2 person, no luggage stand (place it on the floor), a glass table and 2 chairs, a wall-mounted TV with about 5-8 local channels, a dressing table (with a waste paper basket in the corner near the bathroom), a side table between both beds that had a table lamp, writing paper and a telephone for services.
Yes, to gain access to the room, you need a key and it isnt the high tech sort of tap card/ insert card into slot type of hotel. It is a physical key (the kind of key you use to lock your main door). Rest assured, if you're worried that you might lose your key, the concierge will keep your keys on your behalf. And the best part is, when you get back to the hotel (if the same concierge staff is on duty), she can remember your room number and pass you back your key. That is a really nice gesture as it shows how much they respect the guests.
They change the towels everyday, and cleared the bins too. Toiletries were replenished daily and the sheets were changed and bed for you (ONLY IF you placed the "Please make up room" sign outside your door!)
Oh, and yes, they had a mini fridge in the room too. The bottled water (first 2) is complimentary, there were also packet coffee, tea, creamer and sugar. They are complimentary too!
Water flask is provided for you to boil your own water too.
During my period of stay, there were many Indian guests, and they tend to sleep rather late. The walls are definitely not 100% soundproof, probably about 80%, so I could hear their conversation (but not like I understood anything they were saying) Other than that, the air conditioning was so shiok that I slept and snored like a pig.
Although no daily breakfast is provided for my option, the hotel area has many good road side stalls, which mostly closes at 11pm.
The fruits in the above picture are a must eat! Fresh fruits for sale on push carts. This was from a vendor selling right outside 7-eleven, and I bought from him every single night I was there. The guava was the only fruit he cut on the spot, but all his fruits tasted good. There were pineapples, papaya, pear, guava, jambu. Jambus are must eat here. They're so sweet, crunchy and juicy! Ah, missing the jambus now!
I am back with travel reviews!
This time recommending hotels to stay in Bangkok for a budget trip!
Whenever I head to Bangkok, the only place I'll stay at is Metro Resort Pratunam.
It is conveniently located one road down Platinum Fashion Mall (about 10-15 minutes walk), and big malls nearby (including Shibuya 19 which sells wholesale fashion clothings and some electronics mall across the road)
I touched down at Survanabhumi Airport only at 7-ish to 8pm, and by the time I reached the hotel (by taxi), it was 9plus almost 10pm (local BKK time). Remember, whenever you take taxi, always ask for metered fare! (including to and fro the airport; some taxi drivers try to cheat your money by telling you there is massive jam at this time of the day, but don't fall for their trick!!) Unless you're in really popular areas at about 12am, like Ma Boon Kong, then most taxi drivers will only ferry those who agree to pay his requested fare (but always try to bargain (at least 50-100baht lower!))
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| This is how the exterior of the hotel look like (pardon my flabby arms HAHA) |
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| Here's the lobby! |
Very cosy lightings with 2 desktops near the check-in concierge for guests' usage. Though I recommend not to stay in the lobby for too long as there were many mosquitoes.
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| The very large corridors along the 3rd floor |
You see really huge corridors, especially on the 3rd level. Where the middle area (on the right of the picture (with brown walls), are the exterior of one of their conference rooms.
The layout seems awkward for a hotel as this building was converted from a shopping mall in 2010/2011. Therefore, there were escalators too (which were not operating) which is supposed is meant to save electricity (since they have a lift anyway)
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| Interior of the room (twin bedroom) |
All the rooms come with an attached bathroom, Do note that there is no carpeting in the room. Neither is there bedroom slipper provided. Please bring your own pair. In the room there is a cupboard, which had enough hangers for 2 days worth of clothes for 2 person, no luggage stand (place it on the floor), a glass table and 2 chairs, a wall-mounted TV with about 5-8 local channels, a dressing table (with a waste paper basket in the corner near the bathroom), a side table between both beds that had a table lamp, writing paper and a telephone for services.
Air-conditioning worked fine. If you're worried the room gets stuffy, just turn on the aircon in your room when you leave the hotel (the cleaners will not turn it off just to save electricity). This means you can enjoy a cool environment after a long day of shopping.
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| Outside the room I stayed in June 2014 |
Yes, to gain access to the room, you need a key and it isnt the high tech sort of tap card/ insert card into slot type of hotel. It is a physical key (the kind of key you use to lock your main door). Rest assured, if you're worried that you might lose your key, the concierge will keep your keys on your behalf. And the best part is, when you get back to the hotel (if the same concierge staff is on duty), she can remember your room number and pass you back your key. That is a really nice gesture as it shows how much they respect the guests.
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| I took really little pictures of the room, so here's one with me in it. |
They change the towels everyday, and cleared the bins too. Toiletries were replenished daily and the sheets were changed and bed for you (ONLY IF you placed the "Please make up room" sign outside your door!)
Oh, and yes, they had a mini fridge in the room too. The bottled water (first 2) is complimentary, there were also packet coffee, tea, creamer and sugar. They are complimentary too!
Water flask is provided for you to boil your own water too.
During my period of stay, there were many Indian guests, and they tend to sleep rather late. The walls are definitely not 100% soundproof, probably about 80%, so I could hear their conversation (but not like I understood anything they were saying) Other than that, the air conditioning was so shiok that I slept and snored like a pig.
Although no daily breakfast is provided for my option, the hotel area has many good road side stalls, which mostly closes at 11pm.
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| Yes, this was just a 2minute walk down the hotel towards Platinum direction. |
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| This was taken on the 1st night when we first arrived (at about 10.30pm) |
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| Nice personalised pouches which are great as gifts (~8SGD) |
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| 3SGD roadside wanton mee stall that was cooked on the spot |
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| The famous Kuang Heng Chicken Rice stall (~3SGD including the bottle of coke) |
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| The 7-eleven sold Slurpee for only SGD0,70 for the giant size |
The fruits in the above picture are a must eat! Fresh fruits for sale on push carts. This was from a vendor selling right outside 7-eleven, and I bought from him every single night I was there. The guava was the only fruit he cut on the spot, but all his fruits tasted good. There were pineapples, papaya, pear, guava, jambu. Jambus are must eat here. They're so sweet, crunchy and juicy! Ah, missing the jambus now!
Yes, so now you know how convenient this hotel is, with the roadside stalls opened till almost midnight! The staff are really kind too, and tries to give you as clear instructions they can with their minimal English.
Oh yes, Thai massage is a must when in Thailand right? No worries, there is a whole street of Thai massage parlours just 5minutes walk down the street towards Platinum direction! There are 4-5 stalls for you to choose from, and I went in to try 3 of the stalls (during the 4 nights I was there in June 2014)
After telling you so much about the hotel, I haven't mentioned the price I paid. For this 3 star hotel, I paid only 4000THB for my 4night stay. That means each night only costed about ~35SGD per night!
Where else to get such deals? Although the nearby GLOW Pratunam and Amari Watergate are much better choices in terms of the quality of service and ambience, the price is about twice to thrice the price. Being the cheapo me, I think Metro Resort is comfy enough for me. I just need a proper place to sleep and rest in preparation for the next day. So what if there are gym facilities or swimming pools in other hotels? The price you pay includes the use of facilities, but truth is, you'll hardly have time to use it, as most of the time you'll be out of your hotel. Even when in the hotel, you're probably dead beat and just wanna sloth around in bed.
I am not sponsored to do this review, but since I couldn't find any reviews on the hotel, and I find that the reviews on Tripadvisor is not an accurate representation of the hotel. I decided to post on my staycation in June 2014.
Comment if you have any queries!
If I realise I have left out any key info, I'll amend at my leisure time.
*Updated on 2nd June: The prices of all rooms at Metro have been raised. Currently, the promotional price is 1400THB per night, not the 1000THB I paid last June. Please take note!
*Updated on 2nd June: The prices of all rooms at Metro have been raised. Currently, the promotional price is 1400THB per night, not the 1000THB I paid last June. Please take note!
Cheers,
Rachel
[School] NUS AY14/15 Year 1 Semester 1 Module Review: EC1101E
Dear Readers,
Cheers,
Rachel
I'm back with module reviews for my first sem ever in NUS!
Modules taken:
- EC1101E
- LSM1301
- EL1101E
- SSA2204
- EC2104
I am going to dedicate this post purely for EC1101E
An exposure module for Economics.
Overall: You might have read other reviews that it is very similar to A level Economics content, however, I would say everything in A levels including some new concepts like the prisoner's dilemma was included. Class is very big, but the 3 hour lecture (which started only in my Y1 Sem1) was a very bad idea.
Lectures: I would think it is important to listen in the lectures, as it allows easier comprehension of the topics. Although I have to agree, 3 hours is really crazy, Dr Ong Ee Cheng was really nice and she always had at least one video/ animation for lecture. It helped a lot, both to wake up me up and keeping me entertained in class, as well as for understanding the topic she was on that day. Dr Ong taught the first half of the semester, while the other guy (I can't remember his name), taught the second half.
Dr Ong covered Microeconomics, while the other male lecturer taught Macroeconomics. I personally preferred the micro part as it was more similar to A level Econs. Macro on the other hand, involved more calculation like calculating the GDP deflator, CPI, Inflation rate, etc. Furthermore, the lecturer wasn't as good as Dr Ong. (I think he tried to hard to be funny and crack really lame jobs- that hardly anyone ever laughs at). (OH I REMEMBERED HIS NAME, Mr Chan Kok Hoe)
Lecture content was manageable (if you paid attention). Dr Ong kept emphasizing that the Textbook: Principles of Economics by Mankiw was very important and urged us to get the latest edition which was published in 2014. I obviously didn't as I felt it was a waste of money. Thankfully my friend gave me the ebook, and I had the older version in hardcopy (blue and white copy) since my cousin passed hers to mine. I referred more to the hardcopy one as I didn't like reading from the ebook (I suspect I'm a detractor of technology)
The textbook was really good and useful! A must get and it was useful for the weekly quizzes (ungraded) before each week's lecture.
Tutorials: I think the tutorials were ok. At the start the tutorial questions were rather manageable, but towards the end of the semester, I struggled a little with the questions and had blanks when i attended tutorials. My tutor was a young lady, Clarissa Ooi, and she made everyone present their answers on the board (based on a rotation basis). However, her explanations were not clear and she doesn't know much about EC1101E content as often she said that she will check back with the prof and email back the questions we posed. Also, she often ended tutorials late (instead of the usual 45min, it became exactly 1hour), therefore there were some people who would leave class earlier to head for their next lesson).
I heard that the other tutors provided very clear explanation to every single question especially those questions that were common mistakes and provided tips on how to avoid those mistakes. It was a pity I did not get those better tutors which meant I needed to work harder on my own.
Conclusion: EC1101E is not hard to score, but you have to put in a lot of hard work to get at least an A as the midterms and finals were not too tough. They were manageable. So long as you have studied well, memorising and understanding the logic behind the graphs, how to explain shift in demand and supply, how taxes and subsidies affects the curves, how to compute GDP deflator, etc., you should do just fine for this module!
On a side note, for my semester, Dr Ong made us get The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford as well as the Undercover Economist Strikes Back. I got only the former book, and read it diligently (although it was purely optional, I felt that it was a very interesting book to read which strengthened and helped in understanding the concepts, and why certain people make certain decision (eg. in businesses)
I did decently well, although I expected a higher grade. I guess this module was really competitive and especially since it was a large cohort, the distribution of grades were more bell-curved and follows approximately a normal distribution. (I heard one of my RI friends attended only one lecture and slept in tutorials got an A for the module in the end)
Hope the review helps!
Hope the review helps!
Cheers,
Rachel
Monday 25 May 2015
[Travel] Bangkok Scoot Flight 2014 Review and Tips
Hey readers!!
Decided to do some travel reviews. Will start with the most recent one, and if there are actually significant viewers and readers, I'll continue posting!(:
For this blog post, it will be purely for FLIGHT reviews and tips. Follow up on more blog posts regarding itineraries during my 5-day Bangkok Trip June 2014!
Headed to Bangkok (my favourite travel location ... for shopping) on the 14th June 2014. (SIN --> BKK)
It was a very last minute decision to fly as I was viewing through online that Scoot was having a promo fare to Bangkok.
I paid $370-ish for the tickets for both my mother and I. That was the best flight deal I've ever gotten! The best part was that I booked the tickets about 3-4 days before I actually flew. (I loved that feeling. It was like a pack-and-go, YOLO decision- Makes me feel more enthusiastic about life. HAHA)
Forgot to mention earlier, the flight deal was the FlyBag option, which means checked-in luggage was included. This was so much cheaper than AirAsia which fares doesnt include checked baggage, Also, I was worried that my mother and I would not be able to get adjacent seats (plus I love window seats), so I opted to pay extra to choose my own seat. Can't really remember how much I paid for the seat selection. I think it was SGD8 per pax? (Yup, so actually my tickets were much much cheaper if I hadn't opted for such options). HOWEVER, do note that Scoot doesnt serve in-flight meals, nor do they have entertainment onboard.
In-flight meals were available at additional costs while on the flight, and you can actually choose your preferred meal while purchasing your tickets. I felt it wasn't worth it to pay around SGD10 for an inflight meal, and especially since it was just a 2.5 hour flight.
Although I was slightly worried when I read online reviews that the Scoot staff were very unfriendly and that the seats were not of acceptable comfort, I felt that it was totally worth it for the price I paid for it!
Look at the seats! They look great right? The plane looked quite new (although Scoot planes are supposedly refurbished SIA planes). The seats comfort level were the usual Economy class seats.
As the saying goes "You get what you pay for", so definitely I wasn't expecting a soft cushiony type of seat nor a first class service from cabin crews,
The flight went rather smoothly with occasional turbulences which can't be avoided as it depends on weather conditions(:
The picture below shows my in-flight meal. (Yes, I smuggled Burger King 6pcs nuggets- although it was against their rules but I didnt get caught)
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I took the 5.35pm flight, so I reached there only at about 8pm (Singapore Time).
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| Look at the pretty clouds in the sky which I managed to capture while the plane was during a right turn! |
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| This was taken about 5 minutes before we landed in Bangkok. |
I think it was because we landed earlier, therefore when we arrived at our baggage claim conveyor, it still had remains of some luggages from another flight. Everyone waited for about 10 minutes before the luggages appeared on the conveyor.
I'm too lazy to type for the return flight, but it was about the same experience and not that I noticed too much about the plane as I was dead tired after the 5 days worth of shopping. (aka I slept through the flight back to Singapore)
Rating for Flight Experience:
Cabin Crew: 8/10
Remarks: They were slightly late in response when I needed assistance to purchase their souvenirs from their on-air shopping catalogue. Other than that, I couldn't comment on as I didn't order in-flight meals or called them for any other purposes. Oh, I have to mention that they were not too polite when asking me to adjust my seat back to it's upright position.
Ambience on flight: 9/10
Remarks: The 1 point deducted was not because the flight wasn't very enjoyable, but rather due to occasional children screaming and shouting (which can't be prevented either way). They dimmed the light to allow some short power nap
Seat Comfort level: 9/10
Remarks: As mentioned above, but the seat recliners were not functioning at its best. Some seats were loose (and caused occasional squeaks as the passengers shuffled in their seats)
Tips for Scoot Flights:
- Always bring an empty water bottle as there are water coolers at the back of the plane for you to quench your thirst during the flight (and if you're as cheapo as me who doesn't want to pay for food or drinks). Not too sure if they provide plastic cups (as no one around me did so)
- Do not expect too much for Scoot flights as it is meant to be a budget carrier.
-If you and your travel partners are sharing one luggage (eg. 2 person 1 luggage), get the FlyBag option for 1 pax, and the Fly option for the other pax), it should be sufficient, unless you're worried your baggage weight might exceed (which shouldnt be the case as my average-sized luggage weighed only 18.3kg when I came back.
- Try to sneak small snacks on board especially if you have a long flight (and don't get caught, obviously)
- Bring your own source of entertainment (no inflight entertainment, games, movies, shows, music etc.) They do have a personal TV, but ... it doesnt work (duh, it's a budget carrier)
- Bring a portable charger, especially if you plan to read ebooks or play games on your electronic devices.
OH AND YES,
I forgot to mention that Scoot no longer fly to the Survanabhumi Airport. They now fly to Don Mueang only. Don Mueang is quite close to Chaktuchak so if you intend to stay near Chaktuchak Weekend Market, it will be great!
I might try flying with NokScoot if I am flying to BKK this June.
Will post a review then!
Cheers,
Rachel
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