Just came back from a Cal vs Michigan State football (American) game. Really great experience. Cheered all the time. Partially lost my voice.

A look at my Physics 7A grading system:

20% 1st Midterm
20% 2nd Midterm
40% Final Exam
15% Homework
5% Laboratories, discussions, quizzes

Math 53:

20% Homework + Quizzes
20% 1st Midterm
20% 2nd Midterm
40% Final

EE20N (Electrical Engineering course):

10% Homework
10% Labs
10% Quizzes
20% Exam 1
20% Exam 2
20% Exam 3
0% Final (haha)

CS61A (Computer Science- darn so far I don’t understand much of what the Professor is talking about in the previous lecture)

3 x 40  = 120 3 Midterms
70 Final
15 x 2 = 30 15 Homeworks
15, 15, 25, 25 = 80, 4 Projects

A+ 283 - 300
A 276 - 282
A- 269 - 275
B+ 253 - 268
B 237 - 252
etc.

The really interesting one that I want to show you people is this:

Physics 7B

This professor (Andrew Charman) wrote out a 24 page course introduction for all of us. (!!!!)

Let’s take a peek inside the 24-page notes:

@@

G night people. Time to study.

After having experienced a week or more in UC Berkeley, I feel that this is really one fantastic university. I am proud to be part of Cal.

The student life is really vibrant and really alive. There are so many things to do on campus that I sometimes feel really lost at what to do next. There are so many options to choose from, at least during Orientation days. Located inside the town of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a place teeming with activity and opportunities. These people really play hard and work hard. The culture of fun is not lost at Berkeley even though it is known as a strong academic university.

I am now staying in Bowles Hall, an all-guys dorm (or rather the only one here). Now, people here will go “what? why in the world did you pick all guys dorm for?” I don’t know. I just prefer it. With an all guys dorm you can play Bowles Ball at 2 AM in the morning with Bowles guys running around the field half-naked (I joined the half-naked team to differentiate from the other team) (read: cold…). Bowles Ball is basically ultimate frisbee played with a tennis ball instead of a frisbee. Very very fun, expecially with all the guys in the dorm. Things like that makes the Cal experience great.

One bad thing though is that Cal is dependent on public funding. The state of California is currently cutting state funding to UC universities and thus the amount Berkeley is receiving from the State is decreasing. Hence as part of the cost cutting in the university “Welcome Week” is actually, in fact, two days, but I feel it is okay since there are lots of things going on during the nights for the rest of the week so there are really lots happening here. It will also hurt the hiring of new faculty members, and Cal might suffer in rankings since it may not have enough funding to hire more faculty members to keep it’s student to faculty ratio low. But then again, it’s is not sitting still and doing nothing about it. Cal is now going to work on it’s endowment. And is still a great university because of its people.

The research focus here at Cal is fantastic. There are lots of research opportunities and ways to develop your intellect. There are lots of resources for students to go all out and achieve their best. This place is teeming with abundant resources. But the catch is that Cal students are not spoon-fed. We are trained to go all out and get what we want. Ask for what we want. Pester and seek for what we want. Which is also a differentiating factor when comparing Cal students with that of other universities, at least that is how employers view Cal graduates.

Anyhow, I am taking 20 units this semester (actually 21, if you count E98, a 1-unit course teaching students how to survive Berkeley Engineering) and people think I am crazy. We’ll see how the load is. Classes start tomorrow. Bye for now.

I saw this on the last page of the Freshman edition of the student-published newspaper, The Daily Californian:

Haha, poor Stanford tree, terrified and bullied by the Cal bear. Run tree, run!

(Cal is short for Berkeley. It’s NOT Berk!)

Just blogging randomly. If you don’t get me, it’s ok.

There’s this thing on campus called the “Freshman 15,” which means that entering Freshman usually gain 15 pounds on average after their Freshman year due to the… food?

I need to pay a USD 500 deposit in order to get a phone line with AT&T. Well I guess I’ll just pay it, since I would still get it back anyway…

I realised that even though JPA is sponsoring my studies, it does not provide enough to cover my accommodation and lodging fully, so my parents would still have to fork out quite a bit, albeit considerably less than without JPA.

Met quite a lot of international students here today at the international orientation. Met a Malaysian girl who studied in Hong Kong previously. And quite a number of Indian and Singaporean and Thai people, some of which were on an exchange program. Not bad for meeting new people.

The Admissions Officer for Internationals revealed that this year 3840 international students applied to Berkeley, of which 694 were admitted, but maybe not all decided to attend.

The campus is pretty big, so walking can be quite tiring. Still considering whether a bike is necessary or not.

And yeah the plan to get an iPhone and build a PC would have to wait. It’s quite painful to pay that amount of money when I can use what I already have for a lot of savings. So no to those now…

The amazingly cheap (compared to Malaysia) Kensington notebook lock which I bought from Radio Shack for USD14.99 failed me. Have to get a refund… annoying. Hope the money doesn’t go to waste.

Yeah random statements. Goodnight.

Today was a great day. Went to the Gracepoint Fellowship Church and found a lot of very welcoming people there. The pastor asked the congregation who was there for the first time and I was like one of the 5 people who stood up (the majority of the freshmen would only arrive the following week) Worship style at this church was contemporary but less noisy compared to City Harvest. I guess cultures of a church cannot be 100% similar everywhere. People here do not have the culture of raising up their hands during worship. Otherwise this church is not the usual warm-the-seat on Sundays church. It is a church with a reasonable commitment involved, with bible study groups and prayer meetings and campus outreaches so it ain’t a slack church, similar to City Harvest KL. I don’t know too much about it yet but this church seems right for me. I’ll stick around.

Instantly after the service a two people approached me and greeted me, and one of them brought me to meet some of his huge network of church friends. Then they brought me to the nearest hangout food joint and we have some drinks and lunch. Well we talked quite a bit, and they really made me feel comfortable.

One of them, Jeff, kindly invited me to dinner at his apartment (turned out later to be in another guy’s apartment, Michael) and they all cooked the meals in their own apartment and brought it there to have a mini dinner party. I must say that these guys can cook really well: kim chi fried rice, miso soup, chicken, vege and even a pancake with mushrooms. Most of them are already in their third year (junior) and they are around my age already. So I am pretty old in US standards, and should be in my third year by now, but oh well… who cares.

After dinner all ten of us guys played a game called King Kong & Shower (!!???) and I must say that these guys are a really fun batch to be with. Later we went to Yogurt Park which is a place selling frozen yogurt, and it tastes just like ice-cream. So yeah it has been really fortunate for me to bump into so many Christian guys in church and hang out with them all night. Really really nice people, that’s all I can say. I might be starting to sound like an American myself. Now it’s still like a kinda fake accent haha.

Thank God for putting great people along the way here since I arrived in Berkeley. Things are pretty good. Tomorrow there will be this International Student Orientation so I’d better get going and retire before it’s too late. Till later, ES.

Paid San Francisco a visit with my newly-made Malaysian friend, Alan (what would I do without a buddy!). It’s quite a pretty place. I’ll post only a few pictures here, but you’ll find the rest in my Facebook album (later).

The busier part of San Francisco. Pretty place I was awed.

San Francisco’s famous Cable Car.

A streetview in San Francisco.

Posing in front of the Chinatown gateway.

The buildings in San Francisco are quite exotic.

Went to the Golden Gate Bridge but it was shrouded in mist Not bad anyway

A panaromic view of the landscape in San Francisco.

I’ll be visiting Gracepoint Fellowship Church today at 1.15 pm. See how it goes. Found the church online and it seems pretty suitable for me. Will tell you about it later on.

Pretty tired now after the journey of 17 hours flight and 8 hours transit in Seoul on the way to San Francisco. Had a brief immersion in the Korean culture, though I never did go out of the Incheon International Airport. Watched 3 movies on the way to San Francisco from Seoul.

God prepared the way for me there. In San Francisco International airport I intended to take the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train instead of the taxi or van to be the most cost efficient. So on the way to the BART terminal in the airport I bumped into an American guy, Sean, who was also going to the BART Downtown Berkeley station. We had a good chat on the train and later on I intended to walk to the temporary hostel from the station. (But I had a lot of luggage, 2 x 23kg bags and 2 hand-carried bags) It turned out that Sean’s mum was going to pick him up from the train station and so he offered to give me a ride to my place @ Piedmont Ave. Wah, so ngam wan. Really wonderful. (We exchanged Facebook contacts.) Thanks to you and your mum Sean!

Then in the hostel I met a Malaysian guy, Alan who is coming to Berkeley from U Melbourne on an exchange student program for 6 months (he knows Su San, my cousin, and he was also an ASEAN Scholar from AJC). Another coincidence. We’re planning to visit San Francisco tomorrow =) And in the same room in the hostel I met another American guy, Mike, a middle-aged gentleman who studied in Berkeley in the 1970s and was on visit to the campus. So we went out to dinner together at the International House Cafe and had an intellectually insightful chat. After that we went on a stroll around campus during the evening. Later returned to the hostel and found another Japanese guy staying with us in the hostel (it is a 4-person room), so we (Alan and I) had a chat with him.

In all cases I encountered today, the Americans are so friendly, they help you before you can even open your mouth to ask for it. After alighting the BART train and seeing the stairs with a blank look and wondering where the escalators or elevators were (due to my very heavy luggage), an American lady quickly pointed to me that the escalators were down the corridor. (I did not even open my mouth!) And then there’s Sean giving me a ride. They are all really ready to speak their mind and ask when necessary or unsure, unlike me who likes to hesitate and act timid and try to figure things out on my own. (or rather I should compare with Asians in general, many of whom are timid and unwilling to ask or speak out.) I wonder if I would change to be more like the Americans here… more helpful and more willing to go all out and ask ask ask. And another thing, the cars stop obediently when you face the zebra crossing. So civilised. And also the Americans are so polite with each other, and at times they (perfect strangers) always like to ask me, “How’s things doing?” to which the answer is always “Great, thanks!”

Took a solo walk around the Berkeley town in the afternoon too. The campus is so beautiful, I can’t even begin to describe it. It’s like from another era, modern and classical all in one. Buildings of all shapes and sizes cluttered in an orderly spread around the campus compound. The buildings have well thought out designs and are splendid looking, with many never showing any signs of aging despite having stood for decades. The surrounding town area around UC Berkeley is quite happening with many food joints, cafes, convenience stores, book stores, etc. Perfect place to locate a university. The area is like Cameron Highlands, temperatures of 18C in the day and lower in the night.

I’ll post pictures another day, but perhaps with my photography skills the pictures would not do enough justice to the beauty of the place. OK, I really need sleep. Bye for now.

Yesterday I went to the JPA office in Putrajaya and met 4 other JPA Scholars who were going to the United States under the same inaugural JPA Ivy League and setara Scholarship Program. In total 6 Malaysians were offered this Scholarship to the US (UK another story), including the MIT girl who appeared in the Star recently, but she did not turn up and so there was only the 5 of us. (UK Scholars will be briefed later on, about 70 UK people versus the 6 US people)

Interestingly, all the five of us are non-bumiputeras. 4 Chinese students and 1 Indian student. 4 boys and 1 girl. They briefed us about all the procedures and payment of allowances and fees, etc.

Truth be told, I have to be grateful to the Government for such a scholarship offer which is worth about RM 600,000. Bond is 6 years. If after graduation they cannot give you a job within 12 months, they might release you from the bond. Since they are giving me so much dough, I would try my best to serve-lah. But I would prefer to the serve the nation through the private way, staying in Malaysia to build a Malaysian global company. OK, ranting about my dreams again… See how lah.

The officer, Mr Azriey was very helpful and entertained all our questions. Quite a patient guy considering the barrage of parents and students he has to deal with. (He remembers me as the guy who called him many (the most) times.)

He also noted that there should not be any blogging about anything which is against the status quo in politics (the RPK kind of blog posts), failing which the Scholarship may be revoked.

Henceforth from now on ernsheong.com will cease to have posts about political issues with the exception of mild and relatively harmless commentaries along with the occasional observations, rants and suggestions. But there will be no strong sentiments of Malaysian politics expressed in ernsheong.com anymore, with no affiliations or preference for any Malaysian political parties or political figures openly discussed. (Go Obama!) This is a politically neutral blog from now on, as I have to uphold one of the responsibilities of being a Government-sponsored scholar.

So yeah, JPA Scholarship is on track. I will go ahead and take up the Scholarship. No turning back.

I’ve been dreaming of studying in a US top U for many years… I can’t believe it’s happening. God is good.

The 5 very fortunate JPA Scholars to the United States.
From left, standing: Cher Hao, UPenn; ES, Berkeley; Kuhan, Berkeley; Si Jie, Dartmouth; Wai Kin, Cornell (Year 2). Seated: Encik Azriey, our Scholarship Officer.

**********

Had a small yum-cha session on Tuesday for the mostly DJ people who kept on bugging me to go yum-cha with them XD (Marcus missing in pic.). Thanks guys for coming and calling me to go out, which I would not if you did not bug me to have a gathering in the first place. (Sorry I did not call the whole world down so if you’re not there it doesn’t mean you’re not a good friend or something…)

And thanks to my Cell Group people, Sherene, Kevin, Min Huei, Jessica Q and Ai Teng for having a farewell dinner outing for me yesterday night. You guys take the trouble and I appreciate it. And thanks to the Cell Group people for the gift and cake last Sunday, you guys are the best.

The most thanks goes to my mum for supporting and cheering me all the way all this while, going all out to make things possible for me, and being understanding all the time. I love you, mum. Not to mention my dad of few words, who supports in his own way.

I’ll miss all of you people and friends while I am away. I’ll also miss the girl who reminded me to do it all for God’s glory, and not for my own glory.

Take care, all.

*****Some things I plan to do in the US*****

1) Get an iPhone
2) Assemble and build my own PC
3) This is still a thought: Join the Cal Triathlon Team and train
4) Travel to LA, Vegas, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, etc. etc. etc. (all over US!)

**********

Bye guys. I’ll be back.

Not that I needed it anymore since the JPA offer, but just to let everyone know that I was not selected for the AMCHAM-MACEE Scholarship, which is only given to one Malaysian per year. So here goes the e-mail (edited due to its grammatical errors):

Dear Ern Sheong,

Thank you for applying to the AMCHAM-MACEE Scholarship. It is unfortunate that you have not been selected for the scholarship program.

The scholarship committee has been very fortunate to receive many strong applications this year. We had a most difficult time in selecting this year’s scholarship recipient because of the high qualifications of the candidates.

Once again thank you for your interest in the AMCHAM-MACEE scholarship. We wish you continued success in your future.

Sincerely,
…

If you are wondering what this scholarship is all about, click here to learn. This applies to those who are applying to United States universities. Every year, a sole Malaysian is awarded a USD 20,000 grant over four years (i.e. USD 5,000 a year). The grant does not come with a bond.

As a side note, a Berkeley friend of mine from Germany (my future roommate XD) pointed out that Berkeley ranks 3rd in the world in the latest Academic Ranking of World Universities - 2008 by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. In it, UC Berkeley ranks behind Harvard and Stanford respectively. How cool is that? But of course Berkeley fares somewhat worse in other rankings sometimes so I don’t really take rankings so seriously. But it’s really nice to note this

More ranking tables from ARWU 2008 here. However note that “The quality of universities cannot be precisely measured by mere numbers,”as this ranking’s FAQ says. It is good to remember this no matter what the ranking tables may say.

*This is ernsheong.com’s 200th post! woot! I just bought an additional 2 years hosting from eSurge, my domain hoster. So this webbie should stick around for another good two and a half years, at least. Thanks for reading!*

JPA is pretty slow in giving out the offer letter. I don’t think they realize that I will be leaving next Friday. But oh well, this is the Malaysian Government anyway. I left my handphone number twice and on both occasions there were promises of calling me back but of course, none did. Such is to be expected. Have to continue bugging them.

Two amazing things about my mum:

1) She gets things done and pushes until she gets what she wants:

I called JPA up but after dozens of calls, no one picks up the call. (Well, someone did but no one called me back afterward) This, despite trying so many numbers provided on the website. I considered going to haunt them at their office in Putrajaya the next day, but well my mum took care of it. She called the Telekom Operator, who led her to the JPA Operator, who led her to another person whom the Operator said would pick up the phone. True enough, someone picked up the call and with that at least the situation is not so stuck. The person is supposed to call her back tomorrow with more details. And my mum took down her name and demanded for a direct line instead of the public line. o.O

Apparently the Ministry did not give JPA the list of scholars yet. So they cannot do anything about it yet. Believe it or not. JPA is so inefficient…

Well, to put it briefly, I am not so assertive as my mum. (read: pale in comparison to her) Good or bad, I don’t know. I call, no result. She calls, something happens.

2) She can bargain and leave your jaw on the ground when you hear the price she manages to secure:

Durian. Well, some of you don’t like it but I’m ok with it. Giant was selling durian (packaged already) at RM 10 for one pack, RM 18 for two packs, and RM 25 for three packs. I was standing far off when she was talking to the guy in the hypermarket in charge of the durian for some time (external vendor i think). She ended up with 7 packs for RM 35. I was stunned.

Who in the entire Malaysia knew that you can bargain prices in Giant Hypermarket like in the pasar malam? @@

Other tactics employed: a) walk away (the seller will call after you with the price you want) and b) pay the amount you want to the person (literally fork out the cash and give) even though they protest to the underpriced product (they will just take the money anyway in most cases)

Yeah, that’s my mum.