New Zealand Here I come!

Hi all!

It is official, I will be heading to New Zealand to do my masters! Will be leaving on the 18th of February. So yeah, I've got 19 days left apparently, only thing left is to decide on what classes to take for my course. The course itself is a Masters in Engineering Studies (MEngSt), I was also offered the option of doing an Masters in Engineering (ME), but I didn't want to do any research. So it'll be completely lecture based. Most of the same course around Malaysia and Singapore do same degree but calling it MSc. I guess the Kiwis' just wanted a way to recognise the difference of an engineering based course and a science based course. I will be studying at The University of Auckland.

I was actually thinking about going Australia as well, but hearing a number of people saying there's so many Malaysian there that its almost exactly the same as doing anything back in Malaysia, I opted for New Zealand. I guess its mostly just that New Zealand gives of this impression of scenic and peaceful surroundings.

Then again, I am one that knows, that not all things are as they seem. As the saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover. 

Now it would seem rather weird, that one such as myself would actually want to see and experience this. One who is such a tech geek. (Will post up some photos of my room some time later before I leave and you'll see what I mean)

Well in all fairness, I've always loved the outdoors. Always have loved to go jungle trekking and mountain climbing, though I don't seem like the kinda guy who does so. 

Then again I will be going to the University of Auckland, which will probably be in the middle of the city. 

I am also looking forward to the internet there, hopefully it'll be a billion times better than the current one we have at home. After experiencing how fast the internet can be in Manchester. You'd realize how behind Malaysia's internet actually is. Well it is moving forward compared to when I first left malaysia, but at such a slow pace.

Only recently do we have 4mbps speeds on streamyx in my area, which we've applied sometime in August, and have yet to hear from the phone company. The biggest problem with our broadband is the lack of competition. Its ridiculous how much cheaper and faster and better in general 3G connection can be in the UK. For the telco service I used over there, it was only 5GBP per month, which is RM25 for unlimited internet. DiGi provide's 1GB of internet for RM48 at a speed of 700kbps. Its just the lack of competition in Malaysia to be honest. When a single company controls the market, they don't get the needed competition to produce better services. As is commonly said, competition between service providers will only serve the customer better. 

Back from my mindless ramblings, I am really having a lot of mixed emotions about leaving. I am rather nervous about meeting new people. When I went to Manchester for my degree, at the time I've already made friends with the other Shell scholars and that made it a lot easier for me to acclimate. This time, it'll be completely different. I don't know anyone in the university at all. So it'll be a completely brand new start for me. I am also excited however, looking forwards to meeting new people. My list of new acquaintances has become stagnant since I got back to Malaysia. It's been a rather dull and busy few months for me in all honesty. 

But I guess that's just how it is with family businesses. You work even during the weekends and evenings. That's also another thing I am looking forward to, not needing to be busy all day and week long. Then again, we all know that university life is not as free and easy going is it sounds. So we'll see how that goes.

Anyways, I am just feeling rather excited as almost everything is settled for my university (visa arrived yesterday and accommodation confirmed a few days ago), that I just couldn't but putting up a post about it. 

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