Toowoomba & Byron Bay

I had a test last Friday for the 'Operating systems and network principle module'... It was 20 mcqs (each with 5 choices) and is supposed to be completed in 45 minutes... This implies that one will only have 2 minutes and 25 seconds for each qn... When I was looping thru the loop in the codes at qn 11-12, I basically had about 12 minutes left... Random picking seem to be the rule of the game after question 12... Results: I failed the test and so did 70% of the students...hahaz... Average was 8/20... Frankly, this is a very hectic module (esp with the labs). The 2nd one was a disaster... Personally I feel that this is too much for a level 2 thousand module... In any case, the professor actually recognised this and apologized through a email... He said that this was the first time that this module is offered and it obviously need some major changes to the course contents. So for now, instead of 5 lab assignments, it has been reduced to 4 with extended dateline for the remaining 2 labs... and the weightage has been changed to 40%, 30%, 20% & 10% (with the highest marks occupying the highest %). For the exam portion of the marks is either (15% test and 85% exam) or (30% test and 70% exam). Final grade will be the squareroot of the lab assignments marks and the exam (which comprises of test and exam)... Nic has agreed to assist me on the remaining labs and I will get the concepts right for the rest of the module... The change in assignment weightages is actually a blessing in disguise.=) (esp so for an exchange student)... =)

Cindy, Hong Ee, Sameer (from NTU) and me rented a car and headed for Toowoomba on Saturday... There were some hiccups initially coz we do not have a visa/mastercard that have sufficient funds inside for car rental company (they do not accept cash); but all was resolved after Cindy went back to the lodge and get her card... =) Before we arrive at Toowoomba, we stopped over at the University of Queensland Gatton Campus (specialises in animal studies); we saw pple training horses, grazing horses and cows mooing away... Afterwhich, we headed for Toowoomba - the Garden City... From Brisbane to Toowoomba is about 3 times the width of Singapore Island... It took us about 2 hours to arrive at Toowoomba via the highway... Activities included: Lookout point @ Toowoomba, Toowoomba Bicentennial Waterbird Habitat, University of Southern Queensland, Japanese Garden (supposingly one of the bests in Southern Hemisphere), Drayton & Toowoomba General & Lawn Cemetery (est in 1866, this cemetery is actually featured as one of the tourist attraction in the information booklet), Race course at Clifford Park (where horses are racing; watching horse racing is a family affair here as Australian go to the race course as a family; the focus seems to be placed more on family rather than winning $$$... The highlight of the day was the day was the Rodeo show at the showground... There was actually an entrance fee of AUD$15.00 but we managed to slipped through somehow...=) It is here where you can see the wrath of the horses and bulls when they are trifled with... Often, by tying of their testicles and/or hitting them hard before they are released into the showground... Yea, I agree with Nic that it is a cruel sport... =\ But it is something very interesting to me; this is something I only saw on cowboy tv shows... =)

Slept at 12am (Woke up at 2am) - headed for Byron Bay... Sun rise earlier and set earlier now...=\ It is about a 2 hours ride from Brisbane... across the New South Wales border... This is where the most easternly point of Australia is... Sunrise was elusive due to the heavy clouds.=\ But when the day broke, it was awesome to see the wave hit the rocky shores and dissipative waves hitting at the sand shores (things I have learnt while doing research on my marine module.) =) Chee Meng also taught me some stuff regarding photography too...=) Did something rather dangerous; I actually climbed out of the safety barrier and stood on a medium-sized cliff for photo-taking...If I fell off, I think it should be fatal... This photograph is definitely not for mum's eyes... haz... Visited the visitor centre for some information for my research paper and headed to the beaches for breakfast... (we brought bread and nutella along), chee meng & hong ee went for a dip in one of the beaches thereafter... All in all, Byron bay is a place for serious surfers as the surf zone is at least 200 metres and the waves were rather high...

We drove around Byron bay town to see what do they have to offer in the shops... Bought a few post cards for remembrance sake... I think I would like to visit Byron Bay in may or june when the hump whales begin to migrate to the northern hemisphere...=) The last stop of the day was at Coolangatta where the border between New South Wales and Queensland is... =) Took a photograph at the dividing line too! We pay about 40 bucks for the rental of the car as the car wheel silver plate was missing when the AVIS (car rental company) guy inspected the car. I guess it must have fallen off after mounting the kerb the night b4 at Story Bridge while making the turn...I did not slept for the rest of the day till 12pm coz work still needs to be done despite being an exchange student...=)