and so it arrives.

it pains me to write this, but i suppose this will be a final farewell to NUS, if anything.


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i'll start off with this final semester.

this semester has been nothing short of intense, in part due to the rigours of the design project, and also the need to do the very best i could, inspite of taking just one technical elective; guess those module planning did pay off in the end.

the design project has been nothing short of illuminating from an academic and non-academic perspective, to say the least.

from an academic standpoint, i get motivated to learn a whole lot of new stuff that wasn't, and will never be covered under the normal modules. for instance, mechanical modelling of a stripping column via solidworks and computational fluid dynamic simulation of a single distillation tray to illustrate the flow hydrodynamics within. i suppose they do me a whole lot of a good when i get to play with simulations.

additionally, it also reveals to me how woefully inadequate i am at the same time; things that i know that i do not know (in short, known unknowns). for instance, pump specifications, or p&id specifics. these will be things that i will have to remedy (and for good reason, which i'll elaborate further down).

i will readily admit there are also unknown unknowns which personally keeps me up at night.

from a non-academic perspective, it also underlines how important it is to find friends/people/colleagues who share the same goals, end-points with you. even a seemingly heroic task can be completed well if everyone's goals are aligned.

i think i've seen my fair share of individuals who would not hesitate to benefit themselves at the expense of others.

it personally disgusts me, but i can only watch in dismay as this supposed trainwreck continues. i do wonder if they actually realize that their own actions are actually harming others, or if they actually believe that they're doing it for the best interest of their own teams.


i can think of several examples. for instance, pushing work to others even though it is clearly within your domain (pushing the p&id design of the reactor to the heat integration section (which in this particular design project, is the most taxing section)), or internal strife/politics (its the same primary school 'i-don't-want-to-friend-X/i-can't-stand-X' mentality except its high stakes mode).

all these are pretty common in the workforce i presume for different reasons, but nevertheless, its pretty disparaging if you have to deal with such things.

then again, who am i to cast such judgment on others when i myself could had unwittingly commited them too?

with that said, i am deeply, deeply grateful for groupmates who i must say, put me to shame in terms of how hardworking they've been. i think its safe to say that i was one of the least hardworking of them all really (given how little i actually overnighted in campus for the project compared to them).

they are, and will always be an inspiration to me even when things goes to high hell for the rest of my life.

my personal thanks, in no particular order to david, bernard, dominic, nicholas, raj (...and guchao?!)

also, cheers to dominic for winning the top process design award.

(writing their names here for posterity, possibly to immortalize their names in this redundant blog)
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also, a technical elective on petroleum refining.

pretty ironic to undertake this module, given that oil prices are tanking (as of january this year it was hitting sub-30's for brents/wti at least).

but that said, i personally enjoyed the module; in terms of practicality it goes high with CN3135. hell, i got actually questioned by an interviewer on that incidentally!

exams were kinda normal for a nus paper i guess, although there was a fair lot of content to grapple.

i joke that one of the module coodinator could easily pass off as an asian santa claus. (santa aspi)
 
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finished up FYP as well, from last year to now.

had presented my research at an A*STAR forum together with another close friend, although i had to question the suitability of the forum for me (as i felt that it was more suited for comp sci individuals who were actually coding the simulation softwares, and not the actual applications (which i fall into)).

there was a particular indian individual sitting at the front of the conference/LT hall, whom my friend had spotted him saying along the lines of 'what the hell is this presentation, this is a waste of time; lets just cut short his presentation quickly'. i didn't realize it at all as i was trying to present my FYP findings within the time frame given.

got to admit, upon being told by my friend i was first surprised, then slightly annoyed, then finally... acceptance. its like the five stages of grief isnt it? ha.

i got to thank this individual though; he has unintentionally taught me that there will always be people who do not agree, or find your work meaningful. this is particularly true in academia and in work since they are focused on doing things they like or have an interest/inkling/inclination towards (or in the worse case scenario, exhibiting a case of domain dependence). of course, that does not restrict me from trying to sway that individual into having an interest in my research, but being just an undergraduate.... oh well.

it was fun (or a particularly harrowingly interesting experience talking in front of ~100 industrial people), at least.

so to that end, the correct (or perhaps most beneficial) reaction to it is to accept, and move on.

after all, you can't please everyone now can you?

also, had completed poster presentation as well, and (just) concluded writing two manuscripts for publication in an academic journal, which would had not been possible without help and assistance from my supervisor/professor in charge.

i've already been warned by my prof that the academic review prior to publication is going to be nothing short of critical and sharp, but i think that indian professional/individual has already provided me with the necessary sober reminder. thanks again!

i got to admit, my professor was a true saint in the grand scheme of things, from providing advice and suggestions when i hit a roadblock, to some of the administrative stuff too such as proofreading and also all the journal submission procedures. proofreading itself doesn't sound much, but given the fact that he had to proofread over 300 pages worth of documentation/report, it is no easy feat.

my sincere, personal thanks to you prof.

dr lim wee chuan, eldin, thank you very much!

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and so, my grandmother passed away in mid april, shortly after submission of the design project, and before the final exams.

i do miss her from time to time, but i suppose its for the better.

i think it would be better for her to move on then to continue enduring such pain and agony.

hours before her reported death i was there to witness how her body was clearly gasping for air, and trying its hardest to continue surviving in spite of all the ailments.

that was a sight that i wish i wouldn't have to witness again, but i feel that this is inevitable given that we will have to die one way or another.

such is life i guess.

take care grandma, i'll see you sometime soon.

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with that, i move on to another major aspect that dominated this semester as well - job hunting.

from the get go i was cognizant that the job situation this year ain't gonna be stellar especially for chem eng (given the falling oil prices), and i was right.

you know that something is wrong when the predominant hiring industry for chemical engineers are from the semiconductor sector (which in all fairness, is all fine and good but in (many, many) previous years it was the oil & gas/pharmaceuticals that were dominating all along).

think i dropped ~20 resumes, with only 5-6 replies. i presume those that did not provide a response had either found me unsuitable, or they had a hiring freeze.

had an offer from a EPC company which i've accepted and will be starting work in just a few days time (!).

granted, the pay isn't anything to write home about right now compared to civil service (which i've been scolded by some of my friends by being foolish not to exploit it) but its something i kinda like, and i believe that the growth/progression prospect will be worth it in the grand scheme of things.

well, only one way to find out isnt it?

...did i also mention how soul draining an interview can be? after every single one i feel like i've been drained of life, and just want to chill at a corner and relax.

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i had a nice exploration of NUS for the last time a few days ago shortly after my commencement ceremony to see what has changed, and what hasn't.

for the most part, it was those places that i don't frequent often (i.e. places i went just for gem/ue's) that had some crazy changes.

for the record, the route was engineering E5 --> central library coop --> FASS canteen/LT9 (SSA1203)--> EU2301 tutorial room --> FASS auditorium/seminar room (EU2301)--> mochtar riady (cyberspace mod) --> business/computing canteen --> HR tutorial room --> I3 (IT1005 lab) --> LT23 via shortcut from business to science --> LT25 (chaos theory) --> science canteen --> engineering auditorium --> natural history museum --> utown SRC (ES2331).

i personally feel that arts/fass canteen is the worst of the lot; if i had to rank that it would go as utown > science > business >= engineering >> arts.



they've demolished the computer labs in I3 and are rebuilding it (possibly for office space)!

also, tried the shortcut between business and arts through the backdoor route along temasek lifescience lab to the pharmacy department. it is crazy steep in terms of the inclination!

man the whole science canteen has gone to high hell; they're demolishing it for good! there goes my hope of tasting that good western food.

had a nice sip of iced coffee again at good news cafe for the last time.

checked out the engine auditorium again where i had my last lecture (petroleum).

walked over to the natural museum where i could enter for free (saving ~20 bucks in the process if i eventaully visited it as an alumni)!

had a nice exploration of the museum as a first timer (and possibly the last time too).

took a D2 bus to utown, tried my luck to enter the SRC pool but by then my matriculation card had been dead already.

walked over to the ERC to see one of the seminar rooms where i had ES2331 ~3.5 years ago before evacuvating and heading back home.

man, i am going to miss nus.

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now, to the question i had for myself.

i must concede that this 4 years did not provide clear-cut answers as to what i truly want for myself.

but i suppose it had been useful in eliminating stuff that i clearly have no inclination for at least, so i guess i am thankful for that at least.

well, i guess working will knock some sense into me.
 
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also, had a nice little graduation trip with a friend to osaka and kyoto for about 8 days.

it was a nice whirlwind tour of the area, although we basically walked till our legs start to ache. the perils of free and easy i guess, when you don't have a driver to chauffeur you around.

it was fun trying to get around with my friend's expertise in japanese, as well as my pigeon japanese too, trying to navigate around busy intersections and source for local recommendation on food.

on the upshot, i get to explore places that are notably less touristy, places which you wouldn't really see much tour groups loitering. such places include the osaka aquarium, mino park, fushimi inari taisha, nishiki market and so forth.

that said, both of us did go for tourist traps too, such as osaka/nijo castle, USJ, etc because why not.

had a nice time actually shopping for books in kinokuniya/junkudo. i suspect if i told people that i enjoyed looking for books in japan, they'll probably give me the 'wtf is wrong with you' look. ha ha.

if there's a downside to this trip, it would be that it has spoilt me in terms of its standard.

for instance, i can't eat japanese food in NUS anymore having been exposed to such elevated standards; neither can i be fully contented with singapore's yoshinoya having tried the real deal.

...japanese curry (at least the authentic variants) are rich in taste, not the watered-down type i have tasted so far within singapore.

wished i had just a few more days to explore both places in greater depth, but hey i really really enjoyed it.

so tempting to try another free and easy in japan, this time either at tokyo, or kyushu/shikoku. probably the latter if i'm going to be sent to yokohama for work/assignment.

can't take guided tours (at least in japan) anymore. i am that spoilt after just one trip.

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i had a nice little laugh when queuing for one of the 4D harry potter attraction rides in USJ.

there was a taiwanese family behind me, who were complaining about the lack of english or chinese guides/signages for the attraction. to that end, they used USS(singapore) as the basis of comparison.

man, i did not know that USS is that well respected; last i tried in 2011, i wasn't exactly impressed by it. perhaps i've been ambivalent to theme parks in general but i felt that USJ in general was a few notches up vis-a-vis USS.

but whatever i guess, ha.

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and thus, working life beckons in.... 24 hours time?!

well i'll be damned really.

i suspect i'll be in a world of pain since i will have a lot of catching up to do and assimilating into the organization's culture, but hopefully i'll make that transition as quickly as possible.

i hope i'll be able to get up to speed asap and contribute to the fullest extent.

i would be lying if i said i ain't worried, after all, i am pretty sure the company also has some degree of expectations of me, and i will have to make good on them at least.

but i guess there's only one way to find out.

lets go gary, good luck!