University Life/Routine

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Last Updated: 24 Apr. 2024 18:45 (GMT+8)

Note: This page may update at any time (from time to time) for up-to-date (the latest) information (e.g. about our campus).

The Next Station is University

Welcome aboard Ken's University Study Journey!

As a university student, I will share my university campus life, routine and the environment.

My University: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (Hong Kong, China)

University Study Journey Poster and Me

Daily Schedule & Routine

Unlike high school, universities have no administrative classes and daily fixed schedules🗓️.

So, we can freely/flexibly✅ arrange our schedule provided that we take the enrolled lessons.

We can even go outside🧭 the campus (like opening a bank account💳 or for a SIM card) outside lesson times.

My General Schedule

Note: For reference only (general cases). Subject to change based on my workload.

Time	My Event
07:00 to 07:30	Get up 🌞
07:35* to 08:30	Breakfast 🍲
21:30 to 22:30	Go Back to Hall 🏢
22:30 to 23:00	Sleep 🛌

* The top gate of our Hall (connecting to the Academic Building🏢 with restaurants🥙) opens at 07:35 every day.

Lesson Types

Universities have different lesson types.

• Lecture 🧑‍🏫 (L) (generally without attendance)
• Tutorial (T)
• Laboratory (Lab) 🧪 (LA)

Lectures🧑‍🏫 generally do not take attendance, which means students may skip⏩ lectures (and then watch the video recordings🎥).

Tutorials and Labortories🧪 generally have attendance records📝 and coursework which will affect your final grades🏅.

The University Studying Environment

Lesson Schedule

The lesson times vary among students based on the courses enrolled in.

The followings are my lesson schedule in my Year 1 journey (for reference only).

2023-24 Fall Term

Day	Lesson Time
Monday	11:30 to 14:50
Tuesday & Thursday	10:30 to 14:50
Friday	09:00 to 16:20
Wednesday	No Lessons (day off)
Saturday & Sunday

2023-24 Spring Term

Day	Lesson Time
Monday *	10:30 to 19:50
Tuesday	09:30 to 18:50
Wednesday *	09:00 to 17:50
Thursday	09:30 to 17:50
Friday *	10:30 to 19:20
Saturday & Sunday	No Lessons (day off)

* Note: My last lesson each day is usually a lab (LA)🧪 lesson (during the 2023-24 Spring Term), which may end earlier based on our lab progress.

My University Life 

Campus Environment

The campus is directly at the seaside🌊 where we can enjoy the natural sound, wind and scenery.

Scenery

North Piazza (with the "Red Sundial")

HKUST Piazza with Red Sundial

Observation Deck at Atrium (G/F)

HKUST Observation Deck

One-World Fountain (near LG7 Restaurant)

HKUST One-World Fountain

Bridge Link

The Bridge Link of HKUST with Seafront Scenery

Seafront

The HKUST Seafront Area

Self-study Places

In our high school, the self-study places were designated for each administrative class with attendance records.

At university, however, we have our choice☑️ for self-study places. For example:

• Library;
• Learning Commons (Library LG1 Floor; opens 24 hours) (most commonly used);
• Student Center (opens 24 hours; opened from Nov. 2023)
• Starbucks Coffee (connecting to Student Center);
• Shaw Auditorium (1/F and 2/F);
• Hall (dormitory)

Since drinks🍶 with close-lid bottles may be allowed. This means the library (including Learning Commons) is probably my first Ideal Study Environment so far.

Hidden but Innovative🌟 Items in our Library (Floor LG1): Learn More

• Refreshment Zone 🍭 (eating light snacks and drinking🥤 during a rest)
• Storage Lockers 🗃️ (storing my bag when going outside; need Octopus)
• Tech Item Kiosk 🛠️ (borrowing tech items; e.g. cables🔌, converters, headphones)
• Nap Pods 😴 * (refreshing your mind for energy⚡️ with a 20-min nap)
• Study Pods 🚪 * (an alternative place for individual/group study)

* may also appear in other places (e.g. Student Center, Shaw Auditorium).

The University Self-study Places

Restaurants & Meals

Like self-study places, there is a number of restaurants🍽️ and convenient stores🛍️ around the campus at different floors and locations📍.

We can enjoy a wide range of foods, whether Chinese (e.g. Guangzhou Morning Tea), Japanese or Western food, in different on-campus restaurants.

Restaurants I Commonly Use (in the Academic Building🏢):

• LG1: HKUST Can.teen II
• LG5: McDonald's
• LG7: Asia Pacific Catering, Gold Rice Bowl
• (Hidden) Along Academic Concourse: Passion, American Diner, Hungry Korean

Common Cut-off Times for On-campus Restuarants:

• Breakfast / Lunch: 11:00
• Lunch / Afternoon Tea: (to be discovered later)
• Afternoon Tea / Dinner: 16:45 to 17:00 (vary among restaurants)

Since the cut-off time🕚 between breakfast and lunch is 11:00, I need to self-study for at least 30 minutes before lunch if my lesson ends at around 10:30.

My Breakfast at HKUST Restaurants

Stores & Café

Apart from restaurants, we can buy a range of amenities from stores🛍️ and enjoy café right on campus, especially for Hall residents🏘️.

We usually buy a large number of food and drinks from the supermarket before an inclement weather (e.g. Typhoon🌀, Rainstorm⛈️).

Showing our university card🪪, we can enjoy some discounts:

• Supermarket and Convenience Store: 5% off
• Souvenir Shop: 10% off
• Café: 30% off

HKUST Starbucks Café and Fusion Supermarket

My Daily Exercise Route

To maintain a healthy🍃 body, I have set my Daily Exercise Route💪 for exercising around the campus.

My Daily Exercise Route (around 45 to 90 mins.) includes using sports facilities🚴 and/or mountaineering🏔️.

Route Details:

• Sport Facilities (Indoor Bicycles, Running Tracks, etc.) *
• Mountaineering (along the car road from Seafront (BBQ Site))
• Atrium, CYT Building, Shaw Auditorium (route ends here)

* My Goals🏆 for Indoor Cycle: (5 km / 15 mins) or (8 km / 30 mins), whichever (distance or time) is reached first.

My Daily Exercise Route on HKUST Campus

On-Campus Tech Applications

Focusing on Science and Technology, our university has been implementing a range of high-tech🛠️ applications right on campus.

This not only showcases the potential and ability🌟 of tech development🔬🧪 of our university but gives students a sense of future life🔭.

Path Advisor

Our university has a (self-developed) Path Advisor🧭 (web version🌎 and app📲) helping people find places🔍 (e.g. classrooms) more easily.

Just search🔍 your destination and pick your starting point📍 to navigate🧭.

You can open it with the “Path Finder” QR code🤳 at the bottom-left corner of the on-campus map.

Hopefully, it will evolve into an on-campus and indoor navigation app in the next few years.

Path Advisor 

HKUST Path Advisor to LTE

Bus Station Waiting Time Estimation System

We usually see a very long queue at bus stations before a public holiday and after the school hours🕓.

So, how can we find out the how many people without actually heading there?

Well, our university has a bus station waiting time estimation system🎥, available at both North and South stations (see Transporation below⬇️).

Note: For data security🛡️, this may only be accessible via the university campus WiFi.

HKUST Bus Station Waiting Time Estimation

Smart Hall AC Meter

In our student Halls, we need to top up to use the Air Conditioning (AC).

From February 2024, a new smart AC meter was implemented, accepting more payment methods💸 (e.g. WeChat Pay, Alipay and FPS) and, more importantly, allowing remote control🎛️ (i.e. turning on/off remotely).

Apart from the top-up and remote control, residents can set a time to turn off🔌 automatically (e.g. after 2 hours) to save cost💲, especially when sleeping🛌.

Before arriving at our Hall room, we can top up and turn it on remotely in advance to enjoy the cool💨 inside.

It's very similar to Smart Home applications🏡 in the future.

Learn More 

HKUST Hall Smart AC Meter Switch

Restaurant Pre-order

Last but not least, we can check the menu at our fingertips👆 and even pre-order☑️ food online (only some on-campus restaurants are supported).

There is a designated fast lane⬆️ and kiosk for pre-ordered customers in each restaurant, where we show our pre-order QR code and make payment.

It's available in our university apps (e.g. USThing, HKUST Student), or by scanning the QR code🤳 in the restaurant.

Note that pre-ordering doesn't reserve food. This means food can still be sold out after pre-ordering and before payment.

Transportation

MTR Stations

Like my home, our university is not near an MTR🚇 station.

However, we can take a bus🚌 to reach an MTR station, departing🚏 around every 10 minutes.

Students (usually those living outside the campus🏡) can also take the university shuttle bus.

MTR Stations I Commonly Used:

• Hang Hau (Tseung Kwan O Line) (the nearest one; most commonly used)
• Choi Hung (Kwun Tong Line)

Common Bus Routes

I will only describe each bus route for the 2 MTR stations🚉 I commonly use (see above⬆️).

* symbols below indicate mini-bus routes (luggage generally not allowed).

From Hang Hau (Tseung Kwan O Line) to Campus:

• 11M* (to North Station; most commonly used without luggage)
• 11*, 91M (to South Station)

From Choi Hung (Kwun Tong Line) to Campus:

• 11*, 91, 91M (to North Station)

For reference only. This is not an exhausive list.

For more transport information, please refer to our university's Campus Services Office website.

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