After a small amount of experimentation, I found that a pursuit for diabetes was the key to me enjoying this newfound (and incredibly rare) spare time. Prior to exams I had a thing called “Chocolate Tuesday”, where every Tuesday I would make it a point to make something delicious involving chocolate. It lasted a good month, featuring truffles, shortbread biscuits and various other things, but was cut short because of exams and my terribly dull priorities.

With the pain of revision over, it returned with a bang featuring a project I was thinking about since Easter: the solid Easter Egg. The key is in the chocolate, filling it with solid chocolate would make it impossible to eat, so instead I used truffle chocolate, which is about 40x richer and 800x more unhealthy (95% of all statistics are wrong).

Recipe: Bring about 250ml of double cream to boil while cutting up 300g of dark chocolate (at least 60% cocoa; no one likes wimpy truffles). On completion, you should have at least 250g of chocolate left, which you place in a bowl, pouring in the double cream and mixing. One you have a consistent delicious colouring in the bowl, rehearse a two minute acceptance speech for a food based award you will soon win for these treats and then add 50g of unsalted butter in two stages. Mix until they have completely melted and then pour into two easter egg halves. Quickly put them together and tightly wrap in foil. Fridge for at least 3 hours, turning occasionally to avoid pockets of air. Once done, you’ll need a calving knife and a round of insulin injections to serve

Thanks for reading,

Chris

xx

Epic Chocolate Time

As fun as it was ranting on my blog to relieve the strains and stresses of exams, there are plenty of other things I like to do to have a quick detox, and this post is all about that.

Walking

The most effective means of relaxation during exams season is walking. Rather than just a short decrease in brain utilisation, a complete change of scenery, accompanied by sunlight and fresh air is always welcome. One downside is that it’s the method that requires the most effort, as you cover up the shoddy, un-groomed appearance you would usually be sporting during your work. However, I find it is a great way to completely distract oneself from anything troubling, even if you are the kind of person who has the thought of exams tattooed across their face around this time.

Mini-Games

A big bonus for me is any distraction that requires minimal lower limb movement. I’m not the hardcore gamer that I used to be, or ever was for that matter, but I do get a considerable amount of pleasure from mini-games. Previously, it would be a good half hour playing 8-Ball Pool on Miniclip or Stick Cricket, but thanks to the love of my life my iPhone, that has branched out into Infinity Blade, Fruit Ninja and Tiny Wings. I have a mathematical brain, and am a big fan of immediate, quantifiable success. Exams and revision are difficult, and don’t feel adequately rewarding till the emotions of struggle and determination have dulled. Having 300 game centre achievement, some of which you have to work incredibly hard for is instant and does feel rewarding. While not as impressive as a degree from Imperial, being level 100 on infinity blade is certainly a road I’ve enjoyed battling through and would happily boast about

Useless Talents

This extends my search for immediate rewards when my brain refuses to churn it’s way through past papers. During my time as a student trying not to learn, I’ve managed to accumulate skills like juggling, pen-flicking and rubix cube solving. Were I to take a subject like medicine, which requires around 40% more time hitting the books than I currently do, I’d probably be completely proficient in the unicycle, harmonica and slight-of-hand magic. While doing these quirky things is much more of a time-investment than mini games, having a tangible item to play around with feels better (and oddly, more real), and moving muscles besides those in your writing hand is always a good thing.

Cooking

Probably my favourite break from revision is when I cook. Cooking is definitely optional at this time – you saves around 30 mins by just buying an oven pizza, without really compromising on finances and taste. However, I always have enjoyed cooking, and the reward one gets from that can’t really be beaten. Everything taste better home-made, even my bizarre “rice plus meat plus bacon” dishes, which I tend to specialise in. Recently, my cooking attempts have turned to chocolate recipes and, as you can imagine, my housemates have been rather thrilled with this transition. Gone on a bit of a hiatus during exams as they do require a little more time than I can fully justify, but after Monday, I’ll have plenty of opportunities to get myself closer to diabetes.

So tell me, how do you like to break away from revision?

Thanks for reading,

Chris xx

My excuse is simple and predictable: exams. Second year has and will always be a living embodiment of hell itself, for almost every university degree. However, the examination period this year struck me unlike any other. During this time, I’ve had very few nice words to say about the university, myself, or the computing department at Imperial, and as several TV shows always say: if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.

Fortunately, that’s never been a motto I’ve subscribed to, and based on the 5 tortuous papers I’ve sat these past two weeks, I would like to have a mini rant. Everyone has a different method of revising, be it: early in the morning or late at night, in the central library or chained to their own desk; fully suited or comfortably naked. Some like reading, some like writing, some like doing, and others like visualising. Whatever your style, it all combines into a series of past paper attempts.

These papers are completely useful, because it abstracts away from the broad descriptiveness of lecture notes and the steady progression of problem sheets. The four questions on your desk are of an identical style, format, font, wording and grading as the paper that will determine your future in a few weeks, days or hours. When you can conquer these past exams, you can make it to the next year.

For most subjects, students have easy access to past papers and answers, and can approach them however they like. I prefer to attempt questions, research lecture notes and tutorials I’ve completed to fill in any blanks in my knowledge, and, failing any inspiration from those, reverse engineer the answer sheets. I learn more by working through the process, than by reading a wordy bullet point. But one thing I can guarantee, is that by the end of my attempt, I will come away knowing what my examiners expect from me if they were to pose a similar question in May or June.

This is the case for the EEE department, as well as most of the other departments around Imperial. However, this year I took 5 modules with the Department of Computing, and they have no such policy. In DoC, we get no answer sheets, which would be fine if the problems sheets throughout the year were comprehensive and of an “exam format”, but again, DoC has no such policy. For vast periods of this past month, I’ve felt like I was in an incredibly unhygienic aquatic area without a means of forward propulsion.

Having to decipher past exams, when you have no means of discovering the intention is demoralising, when one is revising. In many cases, I saw questions appear in these papers, which were not present in problem sheets, and were very vaguely described in lecture notes. Some unfortunate year of students were presented with a question that they were never told how to answer. Internet research does of course help, but ultimately, you are blindly guessing what the marker wants, which is impossible for anyone beneath Professor Xavier (Imperial students are good, but not THAT good). Examinations have never been an accurate representation of intelligence or reflection of real life, but for me, this exam period has taken all of that to the extreme. While it is fair and justified to say this is their way of challenging us, weeding out the chaff, if felt more like they wanted me to fail.

**pause, with a deep cleansing breath**

And now I’m calm

That 650 word rant was just what I needed after a tough two weeks, I still have an Artificial Intelligence exam coming up on Monday, but it’s a subject I really enjoy, so I don’t expect it to be too taxing.

One thing I will say, is while I found DoC to be an incredibly tough department, and would love for them to ease up by including past exam answers, there are those who fully commit to them for 4 years and really do have to work their cotton socks off to get their degrees. I can criticise all I like, but the quality of the students they and the rest of Imperial produces really is an undeniable rebuttal to anything I can write in this small student blog. Heed my post as a warning, no matter what department you apply to, you will have to work harder than you’ve ever worked before. Their is wonderful, comprehensive and, should you choose, sordid social life waiting for you at Imperial upon entry, but it is around this time when you pay the price and really prove your worth.

It seems tough and unappealing when I write posts like this, but when I can boast that I have at one point been employed by my dream company before the age of 20, it all quickly becomes worth it.

Thanks for reading,

Chris xx

My Progress Bars

After an amazing 8 seconds of indulging in this lovely Spring feeling, I remembered I have bucket loads of work to do towards exams and resumed the hermit-like state that I’ve spent most of the year in. Revision is a very stressful time, but it is slowly something I begin to enjoy. I am an incredibly misleading example of an Imperial student, in that I don’t work particularly hard on anything that doesn’t spark my interest, and have an attention span that goldfish would judge me for. Nevertheless, having the fight or flight adrenaline rush of an impending exam goes a long way to converge my attention onto this one, gargantuan task and approach the modules at my own pace. I like that for the majority of my subjects I begin to see the beauty and relevance of what is going on, even if it does take 17 stressed-out hours to make this discovery. There are, of course, notable exceptions for every course at Imperial, but we all have our ways of dealing with those (I opt for chocolate, Red Bull and self-deprecation on my blog).

I will do my best to keep blogging as much as I can during this period. This year, I’ve found myself more stressed than most years, mainly due to the increased consequence of failure thanks to my application to study in Singapore next year. With that in mind, my next plan for blogging is to do a detailed description of the year abroad scheme here at Imperial as I go through the application process. If that is something you would like sooner, rather than later, keep on commenting and reminding me to get writing!!

Very sorry for my absence from the blogosphere, I promise I will try harder from this point on

Thanks for reading,
Chris xx

One thing I’m not a fan of is politics, most likely due to the airbrushed, synthetic characters we use to portray it in this country. I do read manifestos prior to voting, but to be completely honest, the majority of my support stems from advertising. I like design and seeing the campus wallpapered in colourful posters is rather nice. In my opinion, how much effort you put into a poster is a fair enough indication of how much effort you are able to put in your desired role. The same applies for CVs, a tattered, poorly spell-checked, horribly formatted

document would lead me to the conclusion that the person in questions is equally tattered, poorly spell-checked and horribly formatted. This may not be the case, but there is no adequate reason to think otherwise besides optimism. I also have the unyielding rule that any use of Comic Sans should be punishable by being dropped into a den of adolescent Lion siblings, wearing the blood-stained fur of their murdered mother.

For me, the best poster goes to, presidential candidate, Danish Khan’s. It grabs your attention with a pleasing colour scheme, has a short snappy message for any brief glancers and immediately gives us the impression that Dhanish is approachable and fun.

I’m also a big fan of the font matching the image scheme, a subtle touch that shows real effort was put into the design. I could be knit-picky and say more emphasis should have been placed on his name, but it really doesn’t matter – amazing poster.

Indy (running for Felix editor) has a much simpler poster, but one which is incredibly effective. Anyone with a Mac could make it in 5 mins (add another 20 for people with PCs), but the main elements of a good poster are still present. The pastel blue is a safe, appealing colour, the main message is prominent and the picture is a positive portrayal of Indy. I also really like the t-shirt text effect, a simple effect, but one that shows a bit of effort was put into the design. Not a big fan of the amount of text involved, but at least it’s small print, and I really don’t like the “for Felix editor” which looks out of place, but all in all, very good poster.

One of the eventual winners Nicolas Massie had a comprehensive poster campaign with various designs, of varying amounts of text, colour, etc.

I’m not a fan of this approach, as it helps to have a consistent image in peoples peripheral vision for as long as possible.

However, one of his posters really caught my eye. For those who don’t like plastering their face everywhere, this simple design is very effective. Good colour scheme (though it could be a bit more striking), use of shadows to give a touch of depth, and the use of the word “I Voted” rather than “Vote” makes it seem stern and confident, rather than needy.

There were plenty of other good ones, but those were the posters that really stuck in my head. What were your favourite designs? and Are there any advertising campaigns out there you think are particularly comment worthy?

Thanks for reading,

Chris xx

Over the past month I’ve had a total of 7 courseworks which has, as you can imagine, been quite the hindrance. Along with the obvious impact on time, duration and quality of sleep, sunlight absorbed and time spent on Facebook (that is the only one that magically manages to increase during this kind of ordeal), there is a significant degradation in one’s ability to be sociable.

As repetitive as it is, the formula that works when it comes to conversation introductions is:

Person A (hereafter referred to as Chris): Hey,

Person B (hereafter referred to as Keira Knightley): Hello, How are you?

Chris: Not bad (lies), yourself?

Keira: Really good thanks, been up to anything lately?

Chris: Coursework, Coursework and more coursework

Keira: Oh, right, I’m going to go to those people in the corner who look like they have something interesting to talk about. Goodbye forever.

For this horrible month, I have had this kind of conversation over and over again, never reaching the stage where Kiera Knightley feels it appropriate to reveal her true feelings for me.

Thus far I’ve managed to complete 5 of the courseworks mentioned above, in a time where I was incredibly stressed out. I felt it better to post nothing than to post something rushed and low-quality. But fear not, Chris shall be back soon and he will NOT be writing about coursework!!!

Thanks for reading,

Chris xx

The first thing I want to address is the absolutely astonishing new blog homepage. We were all told about the crazy plans back in November, and after months of anticipation, the page has exceeded all of our expectations. I know that a lot of people have been playing around with it and I’m very interested to see what people are able to produce. So please send me screenshots of any particularly creative arrangements you can come up with, (bonus points available for putting me in a position which feeds my ego). I’d also like to thank the powers that be for briefly putting me on the Imperial homepage. While I’m sure it’s made many of you seriously question your choice to apply to or currently attend this wonderful University, it certainly made my month and has convinced my parents that I’m actually achieving things here (as figuring out vector mathematics is nothing for anyone to get excited about).

Now that I am safely boarded at my stop, I can cease being academically busy and resume being busy in all other aspects of my life, including: my duties as Campus Rep for Apple and my responsibilities with EPOD. Optimism about the 14 videos I planned to produced was a result of me seriously underestimating how much coursework I would have this term (apparently being on the homepage gives you no special treatment), but I will go back to it and write something self-centred whenever I feel it’s appropriate. I am also beginning the process of applying to spend next year in the National University of Singapore, which I trust will be informative and interesting reading for anyone at Imperial with the intention of seeing the world in the course of their degree.

Much to look forward to (even more if you all have a play with the homepage and show me the fruits of your procrastination).

Thanks for reading,

Chris xx

It is always enjoyable when we get together, as we seems to follow the same social dynamic as an ethnic minority. We all inherently have something in common and we all know of the inside jokes and traditions, so we naturally get along. In this case, it’s the ability to make jokes in python or C++ at any nonspecific moment. Moreover, I sense that part of our time together is a survival instinct – by banding together, we appear bigger, and so ward off any potential predators.

The bowling was fun, and because of my severe inability to knock down wooden pins with a large spherical object, conversation was a lot more fun. Afterwards, any pent-up rage I had for those that beat my score (everybody) was thoroughly dislodged with a stint on the bumper cards.

Since Trocadero is a large, and incredibly enjoyable arcade, with bowling we got tickets for every spare or strike any of us made. At the end of the night we all decided to combine all of our tickets and purchase what would become an ISE mascot. Another great thing about having such a small number of people is the lack of red tape for these kinds of decisions. We already had over 10% of the year present, as well as 3 year reps who represented 80% of the entire course. In short, say hello to ISEBear, the official ISE Mascot!!

ISE ♥ ISE-Bear

Thanks for reading,

Chris xx

P.S: Huge thanks to Charlotte for the photographs and for general amazingness

When it comes to celebrations, the regional enthusiasm of all of these diverse backgrounds has an accommodating stage somewhere in the city. Last week was Chinese New Year, and I was particularly excited about this because it would be my first year celebrating in China town itself.

My housemates and I went early to an atmosphere that was steadily amplifying till the festivities began. Outside each restaurant were large, foil-wrapped, tubs of street food, ranging from noodles with pork, beef and chicken to treats like egg tarts and sponge cake. All nostrils were tinged with the aromatic blend of the concoctions used to make this vast mound of food. Towards the outer edges of the town were stalls selling bright red souvenirs for tourists, such as trowing-crackers (whose small, exhorting sound were filling the air) and origami dragons that children were playing with. Every Chinese face was aglow with anticipation, every other face was eagerly looking around with great curiosity.

A Very Photogenic Lion

Just before noon the lion came out, as prominently indicated to all by the rhythmic drumming and the steady cymbals that accompanied it. It danced it’s way through the throng of people, their cameras and camera-phones raised yearningly above their head, trying to capture the beast before them.

The mission for the lion was to make it’s way to every restaurant and get itself some cabbage with a red envelope attached. It would stand outside the door and dance to earn it’s meal. The cabbage was hung high above the door, and once the lion was ready, it would reach up and grab it with it’s mouth, later expelling shards of the cabbage to indicate that it had been eaten (festival aside, I don’t think doing this at a dinner party would be a particularly nice way to impress the guests).

Following the lion was incredibly difficult. The only way to move about was to go with one of the small streams of people that were making their way through the horde. If you were inadvertently caught in one of these flows, you had no choice but to go with it and see where you ended up. In spite of this world-record-setting group hug we all seemed to be a part of, everyone had a great time, and left with a stomach full of delicious Dim-Sum and a camera full of incredibly blurry images of a bright orange lion.

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

新年快樂

Thanks for reading,

Chris xx

Whether you had a means of accumulating money with minimal effort or not, when you become a student, regardless of how potent your parent’s wallets are, you find you don’t have any. With this comes a complete unashamed disregard for anything that adds cost to anything. Things like expiration dates, “tap water” as apposed to “water” or having a nice 45 minute walk, instead of a 10 min tube journey. I don’t usually crave stale croissants at 9:00 in the evening, but when it’s 10 pence a pop, do I really want to splurge on Tesco’s basic loaves?

As cheap and unhygienic as I’ve now made myself out to be, there are quite a few nice things a student can actually do for no money. This applies to London more than any other city because of the pure abundance of places to go.

The Applause store is a website that provides free tickets to television recordings. When BBC, ITV or Channel 4 wish to record a show in front of a live audience, it’s more important for them to have every seat filled than for them to make money on ticket sales. In this website you apply for tickets and, if you get them, have the chance to see popular shows like Never Mind the Buzzcocks or even Top Gear for absolutely nothing. I say “have the chance”, because they always overbook tickets, so if you don’t get to the studio early enough, you will be turned away.

Previously, I’ve only made it to the hilarious “Now Show”, a Radio 4 comedy that I suggest all of you subscribe to (after subscribing to EPOD, of course). but last week I managed to book free tickets to see KT Tunstall, an artist who I’ve been a colossal fan of for quite some time.

The format was an interview (filmed in glorious 3D), with her playing a few songs when the particular track became appropriate. While it was annoying that only a handful of songs were played, I much preferred this kind of show to anything else I’ve seen. It was an intimate meeting with her, so the audience really got to know the person behind the artist. A summary of the night: KT Tunstall is a remarkable woman. Her life involved going down to London from St Andrews, as a teenager to busk every weekend; slumming it in a dirty old van to do gigs round the UK; and sleeping behind friends sofas while recording her first album at the age of 28. All of this she did proudly with the unwavering belief that her passion would see her through. Without a doubt, I’m not giving her story its deserved zeal, but it was one of the most inspiring nights I’ve ever had.

What separates a good musician and a great musician is conviction, not talent. Only when you apply 100% of yourself, can great things come your way. Intelligence and obsession are important and will lead to success, it’s the reason I have no worries about the career prospects of every Imperial undergrad. Why not all of us end up being Zuckerberg’s and Jobs’ is that very few have the drive and the arrogance to fully commit to a project. In my view, a big factor in that is they both dropped out of college. For Jobs, arguably it was a sign that he had nothing else to fall back on, if he didn’t give Apple his all, he would be back to having nothing. For Zuckerberg, it was a sign that he knew how big Facebook would become and he no longer needed the distractions College provides.

I’m not encouraging everyone to drop out of Imperial (although a less crowded JCR would be nice). I believe: to have the ability to shed all, including your safety net and march forward with credence in your own idea and your own ability, leads to failure 95% of the time. However, it also permits, and is the only path to, that small 5% that makes you legendary.

Thanks for reading,

Chris xx