A Programme for the Mentally Strong Students

[05:58] Danniel: What's it like so far? 

[06:06] Shania: Okay, I'll give you an honest answer. It's quite tiring and if you want to take up architecture you have to be mentally strong because I am one of those students who actually stayed up one whole week straight without sleep. I survived on coffee.

[06:35] Danniel: Why did you take architecture?

[06:37] Shania: I'm not sure actually. But it's quite fun, I actually love architecture. You should try it.

[07:04] Danniel: What about your friends so far in Architecture?

[07:06] Shania: For my batch, it's actually the march intake and it's usually the biggest batch for the year and initially we had 130 students. Everybody kept on leaving so now there's only 99 of us. It was too tough for them.

Making Memorable Moments

[13:35] Danniel: (Student question) This question is from Claudia. "What's your favourite memory studying so far?"

[14:36] Shania: Let's say the question is to ask me about my favourite memory studying Architecture, I think I kind of enjoy staying up late. It feels nice staying up late with no sleep because me and my friends will blast the music very loud and we will have fun. One of them will just switch on and off the light and then we'll be clubbing. Ya, and then doing our work. Then after the music ends, there's a little pause, all of us would just like... [mimics tearing up]. We still need to stay up late.

Where Friendships Start

[07:31] Danniel: Okay, so what about your friends? Are they people you met in your first semester and stayed on until now or are most of your friends from outside of your classes from clubs and stuff?

[07:40] Shania: Most of my friends are like from my classes lah, and I only have a few friends from clubs.

Where Shania Stays

[05:05] Danniel: If your home is in Penang, then since you've come to Taylor's, do you have an accommodation here? 

[05:28] Shania: Ya, I actually live in DK Senza, it's actually a 10-minute walk (to Taylor’s).

Where You Could Stay

[10:09] Danniel: Aside from DK Senza that's available, what other accommodation is there?

[10:18] Shania: There's D'Latour, Mutiara Perdana, and there's PJS7.

[10:23] Danniel: Could you tell us what are these options? For those of us who are out there, we may be thinking "Wah there's DK Senza and D'Latour." What's the difference between these two buildings or even what is 'Mutiara Perdana' or 'PJS7'? 

[10:47] Shania: The differences are that D'Latour is newer and DK Senza's a little bit run down. D'Latour is also more expensive and it's maybe a three-minute extra walk. It's a little bit further away. Mutiara Perdana is actually right behind Taylor's. It depends lah, where your classes are. If, let's say, my classes are in Block E, it's nearer to DK Senza. So, I’ll choose DK Senza but if your classes are in Block B, you can choose Mutiara Perdana or PJS7.

STAR Ambassadors

[08:22] Shania: From my experiences with STAR Ambassadors, my favourite is the campus tour for open days. I really love getting to know you all, come here please. Then, I'll give you a tour.

[08:51] Shania: I gave a future Architecture student a 45-minute tour. The parents liked me, so they just kept on talking and talking and talking. We just walked, even after I showed them all the places, they actually brought me to the commercial block and then we continued talking.

[09:22] Danniel: Can you tell us a little bit more about your tour guide? How can you be a tour guide for 45 minutes? Does Taylor's have a lot of things to show around?

[09:30] Shania: It's basically just me and the parents talking and exchanging about my life experiences in Taylor's.

[09:38] Danniel: Do you share the same answers every time?

[09:49] Shania: It depends on what the parents want to know. Mostly I'll tell them about the accommodation. Most of the parents who came for the campus tour are not local. They are from other states. So they mainly want to know about the accommodation.

(Find out more about the different accomodations under 'Accomodation')

Leo Club

[21:39] Danniel: Aside from STAR Ambassadors, you were also part of Leo Club. Could you tell us a little bit about that?

[21:45] Shania: Leo Club is basically students volunteering for outside work. We have monthly animal shelter visits and another one is refugee training. We basically go there and teach the refugee students. We teach them Maths and English.

[22:11] Danniel: What have you learned from being part of Leo Club? Do you feel you're more confident with teaching or communicate better with your friends about how to plan the study plan for the kids?

[22:22] Shania: After joining this club, you’ll learn how to communicate better and I personally enjoy helping people. That's why I joined this club.

[22:33] Danniel: How did you come about in joining this club? Did you randomly found it?

[22:37] Shania: You should come for the orientation. We have this Clubs and Societies (C&S) day so through that I found out about Leo's Club.

[22:54] Danniel: We actually have a day fully dedicated to clubs and societies because Taylor's has a bunch of these things. If you ever come for orientation, which I highly recommend, we'll have all these things to help you adjust to Taylor's. Clubs and societies day will help you with all things clubs related.

A Foodie's Recommendation

Satisfying the Penangite's Palette

[11:51] Danniel: (Student question) Charleen asks, "Where is good coffee that you can find on campus?"

[12:01] Shania: From a Penangite, I have this problem where I'm not homesick... I am food-sick! The first few months were actually quite tough for me because the food here is not really up to Penang standards. But, I think my favourite coffee is at JC's Pancakes.

[12:23] Danniel: Could you tell us a little bit about this JC's Pancakes? What is this place?

[12:31] Shania: JC's Pancakes is at Taylor's commercial block. There's Thai food, Indian food, Korean food, Chinese food, we have all sorts of food. JC's Pancakes sells pancakes but JC's Pancakes is mainly known for their nasi lemak. I really love their nasi lemak and coffee.

[13:15] Danniel: (Student question) The next question here is from Faisul and he says, "Do you miss Penang food?"

[13:23] Shania: Yes I do! My mom visits me very often so every time she comes here I'll just order Penang food. Then, she'll buy just for me, freeze it, and then bring it here.

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[19:25] Danniel: (Student Question) Another question here is, "Where can you find good coffee on campus?"

[19:31] Shania: JC's Pancakes or Chill Cafe.

[19:37] Danniel: Oh Chill Cafe! The one in Block E! For some of us who may not know, not only do we have a commercial block, but the academic area, like Block E in Taylor's University, has some food areas as well.

[19:55] Shania: Where all the lecture halls and your tutorial classes are at. We have two little cafes, one sells waffles, hot dogs, and sandwiches. Then, another one sells like Malay food.

[20:32] Danniel: What else do they sell at Chill Cafe? They sell nasi lemak too, right?

[20:40] Shania: The nasi lemak there is quite nice. It was actually the first food which satisfied my Penang craving because I was food sick. I went around searching for food but all of them didn't taste that good but the nasi lemak there is not bad. It's worth a try.

[21:00] Danniel: Alright so, if you're from Penang and you have some Penang food cravings, then you can come on over to Chill Cafe, and try their nasi lemak. I also heard they're very generous with their Milo.

[21:15] Shania: Ya, they're very generous. I will always order 'kopi ais tambah susu' (add on milk) with condensed milk.

Budget Eats

[17:02] Danniel: Do you have any specific places to recommend? Like for students out there, now that they know that commercial block has all these different types of food, anything specific you'd like to honourably recommend to our potential students?

[17:28] Shania: I'm a foodie so I actually like all the food. All the food here are actually nice, but the budget, that's the problem. I think the average for one meal is like RM10.

[17:44] Danniel: If you're on a budget then where do you normally go? Do you just wherever you go, look for RM10 meal or do you have a specific favourite restaurant that you like to go to?

[17:55] Shania: I have a specific restaurant that is within that budget which is JC's Pancakes.

(Find out more about JC'S Pancakes and what they're good for under 'Around Campus: A Foodie's Recommendation: Satisying the Penangite's Palatte')

More Than Just Food

[15:48] Danniel: For those of us who maybe don't know, Taylor's actually has a commercial block which is right next to Taylor's. That’s where all the food is given to the students. Could you tell us a little bit about this commercial block, and is it just food? Is there anything else there or what food is there?

[16:31] Shania: We have U-Residence which is the Taylor's Hostel and Ruemz Hotel is actually a building for the Hospitality students to practice in.

Architecture Rooms

[18:07] Danniel: (Student Comment) Oh Claudia replied! "I am seventeen, thinking of coming too, and really keen on Architecture." Oh, potential senior!

[18:21] Shania: I can actually help you with stuff. I have a lot of experiences. You want? Can come.

[18:27] Danniel: Not only can she be your tour guide, she can also be your senior and maybe give you guidance, some advice for your assignments, and maybe tell you which lecturer and what learning approach you should go with. If you ever come to Taylor's University, hopefully you can find Shania in the Architecture studio area. That's what it's called right? Architecture studio?

[18:51] Shania: It's called a next gen(eration) studio, but those are mainly for sem(ester) 6 students. For us, we are at Block E.