On MOOCs

I learnt about MOOCs early on when Coursera rolled out its test courses. It was an exciting experience and I  feverishly signed up for and participated in multiple courses. Naturally, I could not finish all that I had started as I was also juggling work, night classes and my social life. Disappointingly, I have only fully completed one course, Fantasy and Science Fiction. And by fully completing, I mean that I watched all the video lectures, read all the required texts, completed all the assignments on time and participated weekly in forums. (I do admit that some courses that I signed up for were too difficult for my mind that was too accustomed to arts and humanities, and I was not putting any effort into understanding the concepts).

Ever since the end of that class, I have been slacking off learning online and have instead fed my mind with shows series chosen had smart, witty dialogues, and great plots, I missed the aspect of learning and discovering new perspectives. 

The mind numbing activity of loading one's mind passively with drama became dulling so I started lining up books to read again. In between work and home, I have been scurrying to the library in an attempt to enrich my mind. But I missed learning from people and being part of a community.

Coursera recently posted a blog entry about an autistic boy. His loving father shared how MOOCs provided him with an safe space for learning and made him more confident. I liked the part where the boy describes the courses as "not impossible". That should be my outlook in learning and in life. 

The internet has transformed the world and I feel extremely lucky that I can tap on this free platform for university level courses from universities around the world. And I will take full advantage of this. Previously, I took the quick approach to learning online and had a tendency to speed through classes, But I will do it differently this time, and slowly savour the entire learning process, absorbing the knowledge that the lecturers freely share.

Oodles of noodles

My friend and I were whisked off to Hong Kong last weekend for four days of food and shopping. I love holidays with the girlfriends!

Of course, my first meal was wanton mee (prawn dumpling noodles) from Chee Kei. I love that shop! The noodles are chewy and (as the italians say) al dente, and the dumplings are bursting with the freshest prawns. Mmm just thinking about it makes me salivate!

Hong Kong will always have a special place in my heart as it is where my godmother and good friends from my exchange days stay.

How great is it to meet up with friends whom you have not met in years and still have that same sense of familiarity!

We also took time to head to Macau for a day trip and stumbled onto more great food. Unfortunately we decided to try our hands at the gambling table and lost! It was an eye opener though.

More about Hong Kong in another post as another busy weekend awaits me.

The Fantasy and Science Fiction course that I am taking on Coursera is coming to an end. I am going to miss it. On a happier note, I did really well for the essay that I wrote on Ray Bradbury and received great comments asking me to keep writing. It is great being good at what you enjoy!

Weekends should be this simple

I love quiet, restful weekends with a good read, some company and great food.

After sleeping most of Saturday away, we decided to make the most of Sunday - the last sacred day before the work week starts, again.

We walked off our hearty brunch through the atmospheric Tiong Bahru estate, trying to find a place to read, and settled in the aptly named 'The Reading Room' for some caffeine and reading time.

An halfway though 'The Martian Chronicles' and am eager to read more of Bradbury.

A quiet Sunday morning

Today, I'm enjoying a quiet Sunday morning to myself. It is really a rare moment because I'm usually sleeping till my stomach wakes me up for lunch.

I am now headed to the supermarket to get some things for a picnic in the late afternoon with my best friends.

Just finished "Herland", by the same writer of one of my favourite short stories "The Yellow Wallpaper", for my Coursera course. It is difficult to find time to read, think and write for the courses in between work but I'm enjoying the balance. I miss school. I miss Literature!

Anyway, "Herland" is great. The utopia that the female characters achieve is without the elements that I hate in the real world - war, destruction and the whole notion of the afterlife.