DTU Sights

It's back to school again!

Let me share with everyone some more sights from around school:
First off, here's a map of the entire DTU campus. The arrangement is pretty straightforward - the campus is split into 4 rectangular sections. The bulidings are numbered according to the section they belong to. So section 1 would have buidings 101, 102, 103 etc; section 2 would have 201, 202, 203 etc. But despite this simple arrangement and after so long, Siong Yang still gets lost on his way to class. But at least he's getting some much needed exercise compared to the few steps he takes from the bed in his room to the food in the kitchen everyday. I fear a violent reply to these comments soon.

Here's the Admin Block. Also known as the 101. Akin to the NUS University Hall. From the outside, it looks plain and simple, but the interior has a modern minimalistic feel to it. The big main road here cuts across the whole DTU and splits it into 2 halves. To cross it, you need to cross a bicycle track, a road, another road (in the opposite direction) and finally another bicycle track. Congrats, you made it!


This is the Administration Office. The architecture is very modern and you could very well mistake yourself to be in an arts museum. But the entrance fee is expensive. A visit usually means you're there to pay the montly rent of 2150DKK (S$565). Ouch! It's not cheap as that purely covers accomodation in a container without food.


Here is the Bookshop - for all your textbook and stationary needs. But be warned, things are not quite as cheap here! As of now, I've already spent S$450!!! on 3 textbooks! Each of them averaging S$150! You could probably get them for S$50 each back home from the NUS Co-Op. But the deal gets better! My Pakistani friend got his text from Parkistan for a mere 20DKK (S$5!) But the textbooks were really important, so I just went in and got it! I had grand visions of topping the classes at first, but they later became strange visions of myself eating nothing but cheap biscuits for the rest of the month.


Beside the bookshop is the Danske Bank. The ATMs support PLUS, so I'm able to withdraw local Danish Kroners using my Singapore DBS debit card. Most of my friends came over with a bank draft. But apparently, they are spending too little on beer and will have too much left over for the semester. Using the PLUS allows me more flexibility.




And here is the library, also called DTV. Again, the design is nice and minimalistic. There is no quota on the number of books you can borrow as well as the duration. But when someone requests for it, you need to return it within 7 days. Or they visit your home and hang a rotting pig's head on your door. Nah, I'm kidding. They wouldn't do that. There are more cows here and they would rather hang a cow head. moo~

In fact, the librarians will find the book for you when you request for it through their online site. And you can simply pick it up from the counter when they emial you back! Talk about convenience! Plus there's this really pretty librarian around. Who wanted to go to the library to do something? Can we go first thing tomorrow? Or now? You wanna go now?



And here’s the Kantine (Canteen). It was newly opened about 2 weeks ago as it was under renovation when we first arrived. The food is very expensive, but the ambience is good. You can purchase normal Western main dishes (like meatballs and potatoes) or you can go for the bread and salads. The salad bar concept is quite special. Think Ponderosa or Sizzlers, but you’ll have to weigh in your selection at the end. It’s about 10 DKK (S$2) per 100 grams. And I usually end up paying for about 300g at the end. Those onion rings are heavier than I thought!

But the kantine also serves another noble purpose. It’s the place to see and be seen. There are somehow many more girls (pretty too!) there than in a normal technical class. It’s fabled that they are from the Life Sciences and Food Sciences departments. And people go there to ogle at them. Haven’t heard of anyone choking on their food yet though. Maybe it’s cos the kantine has only been open for 2 weeks.

The Cellar Bar is where you can find good company, party and find alcohol. Every Tuesday evening is International Students' Night and many exchange students go there to party. Everyone is so friendly! All you really need to join a group conversation is a big smile. And bottle of your favourite alcoholic beverage! Alternatively, you can just tail Abel. Everyone seems to be attracted to him. Like a bunch of hard-core aloholics to a mug of refreshing, chilled of beer. ahhh~

And again, we're back to the container. On Valentine's Day after part 1 at the Cellar Bar, we headed back to the container for part 2. Here we are with the Koreans and PRCs. And that night, we all drank Abeljuice! Abeljuice is what the Danish call normal apple juice. But we’re referring to the juice made by Abel! Flaming Lamboginnis! It’s an alcoholic drink which is ignited as it is drunk through a straw. And the flames are extinguished at the end of the drink with some Baileys. Abled Abel is very able to make Ablejuice! How’s that for a tongue twister? Forget about that non-enterprising girl who sells seashells. Come on! I’d rather pick up seashells for free by the seashore.

At the end of the night, solving a primary school problem sum would probably feel as complex as solving a 5th order differential equation. Even Filiberto, one of our Italian friends proudly exclaimed: Abel is doing a Masters in Flaming Lambo Engineering. Right. But really, all Abel had to do was to send the photos and videos from that night to Zouk and he’d definitely get the job as bartender. Confirm!


And this is the DTU Pizzaria! They sell burgers, pitabreads and other Western delights. But their specialty has got to be the pizzas! They are gigantic! A family size pizza like this one will cost 80DKK (S$20). But it's larger than Pizza Hut's. And there’s nothing like eating a hot crispy pizza on a cold winter’s day! Plus the big friendly Arab waiter keeps greeting me in Chinese: ni hao! Ok, who knows what’s the equivalent in Arabian?


Next to the Pizzaria is the DTU Supermarket. It sells the bare essentials - beer and beer bottle openers. Also other less important things like food and toiletries. Really, the beer is stacked up high and ready to be moved out to a nearby party at a moment's notice!

I round up this tour of DTU with a weird building just in front of campus village. It always catches my eye as I pass by. It just looks like a giant humongous nail sticking out of the ground and sometimes, I think of finding a big hammer to drive it into the ground. Weird daydreams… But it’s also rumored that it was constructed to be a watchtower of sorts overlooking Campus Village. The admin was looking into making sure the residents would get enough study-time and not escape their rooms and go play. So they were thinking of posting armed guards on the towers to shoot those who stray. But later, they figured it wouldn’t help in their enrollment if others got wound, so they converted it into a watershed. Clever move there, I’d say!