The Reluctant Scientist

The Scientist

2006-12-01T20:31:00.000+08:00

As much as The Reluctant Scientist wants to, its time for her to become The Scientist. She has been putting in alot of time in the lab. And hence the almost zero number of blog entries.

So dear readers (if there is any :p), you dun have to come here regularly for updates. I will post but probably once in a blue moon. Come and check my blog if u think of me once in a while. But let's catch up through other means.

I am missing him right now

2006-12-01T19:36:00.000+08:00

We have been apart for 10 months now. By the time he comes back for CNY, we will be separated for a year.

My friend ask whether it's hard. Yeah, it sucks. We have given up alot for this wretched PhD. And we are too deep in it (sh-IT) to get out.

I miss waking up with him in the mornings. Running my hand through his messy hair. Feeling his ticklish morning stubble (Stubble: Short, rough surface of beard.). I miss his snores at night. I miss the deep, sleepy voice that says " Baby, I love you " before falling into a deep slumber.

Last New Year's eve, we had steamboat for dinner at home. After that, we strolled out into the winter night. It started to snow :) and we made our way to the nearest coffee joint for a warm cup of coffee. We stood by the windows and watched people pass us by. It was cold and the windows misted from the inside. I wrote on the window- I love U. He wrote- Ditto.

The night ended with a round of fireworks by the harbour.

This year, I am spending the festive season jingle bell-ing with the cells in the lab. Sigh.

2006-09-30T14:17:00.000+08:00

有一个男人对我说，找女朋友要找耐看的，不能找 chio 的。

Hmmp. 那就去找个丑八怪吧。每天早上起床，都会有不一样的惊喜/吓。

我同意，找男朋友也要找耐看的，不能找帅的。:p

这样，我们在一起，惊喜才会一箩筐。

讨厌，人家生来就是如此，谁叫我遗传了我老爸的特征(大脸).

好了,现在我在为芝麻绿豆的小事发牢骚, 证明我的心情已经好转. 试验还是多方面受阻（每天都有一种想骂粗话的感觉）, 不过, 我也已经认命了. 虽然还不能说明天会更好, 至少我相信明年会更好吧.

哈哈。

A whole lot of shit

2006-09-16T19:21:00.000+08:00

For the last 3 days, I have been going to the toilet quiet often. I don't have diarrhea though. But I have been 'unloading' alot of shit (nicely formed ones, for the record :p).

Didn't know I kept so much shit in me. Mayb because i have been taking in alot of shit recently and not unloading them. I think the shit trigger came on wednesday. My boss kept repeating over and over again that 'It's useless if u dun noe how to explain. Means u dun know, means u dun understand a single thing. Useless.' I said to him ' I am not useless'. It's a known fact, students come to his lab to become stupid. Okay, putting this point aside, i tink this was the final straw.

Took a day off away from the lab. Can't he see that I am putting in effort communicating with him and trying hard to reach his standards? Fine. I will continue working hard, for myself. Cos he does not appreciate student's efforts in trying.

Then i started to unload alot of shit in me. So i guess that is quiet a good sign. Well, at least for my digestive system. Gek too much not good for health.

I wonder if he knows

2006-09-13T20:22:00.000+08:00

Having a boss that tells u day in day out that u cannot make it, u dun noe enough, u dun noe a single thing, u r useless cos u dun noe how to explain, is not helpful or encouraging. Especially when my degree depends on whether he wans to give me or not.

He has erode all my confidence away.

I wonder if he knows that he did not inspire his students to enjoy science.

When I first came to this lab, there were 4 other students. I wonder if he knows that he gave 3 of these students depression. One left, one hung on (it's still not over) and another hanging on but has never returned to the lab since months ago. The only one who was okay was because she worked on his only favourite project.

There are only 2 students coming in regularly now. Me and another guy. He has also given me the same thing.

He has wrecked people's minds and people's lives. I am trying hard not to let him wreck mine.

I wonder if he knows the reason why his lab has not attracted any new students for a long, long time.

Yet another despondent entry

2006-09-08T20:47:00.000+08:00

It's official. And I am trying to live with it.

The 3 craziest things that I have done in my life are:

1. To do a PhD.
2. To do a PhD in molecular biology.
3. To do a PhD in molecular biology under The Agency.

Sometimes, the craziest decisions are also the dumbest decisions.

... I have nothing to say for myself...

---

Okay, okay, I am picking myself up already...

No lucky stars to thank leh

2006-09-01T20:57:00.000+08:00

Here I am, typing away. It's approaching 9pm and I am still in school. I have been in school since 7 am today and it has been like this for the last few weeks.

It wasn't an easy month for me. A month for me to get over the fact that I am still very inexperience in experimental techniques, inadequate in my field of knowledge and I have very little time left. Prof's scolding never really got to me for the past 3 years. I wonder why it only hit me now. It hit hard cos I I knew I was at the verge of crashing.

So now, I am left with no ego. Everything learn from scratch again.

I've checked my Chinese horoscope. There are no lucky stars for me this year. (Yes, that means none for all born in the year of the monkey). Na-dah. Kosong. Zitch. "Much effort but may all go to waste." "Much difficulties with little help." "Not a good year for marriage." "Beware of accidents." "Career stagnant." Okay, enough. I get the picture. I'm screwed.

I made a desperate attempt to give myself some hope. Checked next year's horoscope. There are 3 lucky stars for me. Yeah!! Granted that they are not the lucky stars governing career or studies. But, they are pretty high up there in terms of status among the lucky stars. (Details on these I can tell u next time. Sometimes I tink its better for me to tell fortune or do fengshui. Phd for wat? Puit.)

Now I can only try to increase my luck. I am wearing a four leaf clover pendant now. And my handphone hangs a four leaf clover pendant. Earlier this year, my mum gave me a four leaf clover for my car keys. And BJ's mum gave me a string of jade Chinese horoscope animals (Dragon, snake, mouse) (These are the animals which will bring me luck) to help me along the way.

Now, I jus have to go find some scientific evidence for these. Ha.

The matchstick girl

2006-07-30T19:24:00.000+08:00

It's been a week since my Prof asked me to "tink about my project". Cos he "knows what to do, but because I am going to be a PhD, he does not want to spoon-feed me. I must tell him what the next experiment is."

*Roll eyes*.

I lay on my couch all day today doing what he wants me to do. Seriously, I have been tinking about it the whole week. I have some theories but I anticipate that whatever my theories are, he will be able to spot a loophole and my theories will come crumbling down.

Sigh. Keep trying. Next.

---

I weighed myself today. I am 44 kg. This is the lightest I have ever gotten since I reach my full height of 1.56cm. I have reduce my jogging to once per week. Ate more during lunch. Made sure i eat my Ben's and Jerry's. Have proper dinners. Still, Im shedding like Momo is shedding fur now. I dun wan to lose my boobs *scream*. Stress is the best way to lose weight and your boobs. Reluctant scientist certified.

---

She did it again. I went to the hairdresser who likes to cut my fringe real short. With specific instructions not to cut it short, jus T-R-I-M, she trimmed it. Short. Argh.

My face is round again due to my short fringe. And with my skinny body, I look like a matchstick.

Counting my blessings

2006-07-22T20:20:00.000+08:00

While I'm bitching quite alot lately about my wretched life. My life really isn't that bad actually. Henceforth, I shan't be self-destructive. Instead, I shall start being constructive and count my blessings.

Really, I can list for days and days about the many little and big blessings I had/ have in life. But I cant. Because in the next hour, I have to switch back to thinking about my work. Before I lapse back into bitching mode on this particular topic - work, I think I shall start to count now.

In no particular order of appearance or importance.

-I have my family by my side. On many nights, when they close shop (that usually happens around 11pm), my parents and my aunt will still bring soup back home for me and my sis. Jus to make sure we have at least some form of a proper meal.

-My sis knows when i am stress jus by toking to me or listening to my responses when we tok. I am usually not alone cos she will be hanging out with momo at home.

-Momo is such a cute dog. So cuteeeeee.... and paper trained. She knows how to stay, do pawpaw, stand on her hind legs, lay down and play dead. And she knows the meaning of the word 'Ball" when i ask her where it is.

-I have a good bunch of frens from secondary school and JC. They never really change since. Perhaps wiser and more cynical. But always around. MX, QW, XF, ZT, XW, YS, WW, JC, QW, JY. Cant do without these pple. (I realise there is alot of W s and X s in my fren's list. Trivial observation of the day.)

-I have a good bunch of frens under the same agency. They truly understand the stress that comes with this. Some of them are facing an even deeper shit-hole but are so much braver than me.

-I have a good bunch of work mates. They are unselfish in helping me work out my experiments and even help me stand up to Boss when I get a verbal trashing from him. Haha... n they are there to sayang me when I am really, really down. Maybe cos they are already at the site where the clash occur. First responder to assess the damage. WW, LJ, SP keeps me sane.

-I have this guy that wakes up early everyday, even though he doesn't have enough sleep all the time, to just to talk to me and make my day complete. He knows when I am having PMS but has no idea how to handle a PMSing woman.

-I have this guy who's one phonecall or even just hearing his voice will chase most of my worries and anxiety away. He calms my nerves in the strangest way. Mayb through his corny jokes. Ha.

-Yeah.. I'm toking about the same guy. Scared u, didnt it? Haha :p

I realise I didnt list anything material. cos nothing beats having these pple (and dog) around. I can walk to school, stay in a kelong (I miss my old place!) or remain in the shithole penniless, I cant do without these pple.

Okay lar, there is one material thing that I think I can count as a blessing.

-I have only 2 years of bond to serve.

Guy next door meets Gal next door

2006-07-08T21:50:00.000+08:00

At the bus stop.

Gal (Looks afar and thinks to herself): Hmm, it's the guy next door.

Gal: Hey, u taking that module as well?

Guy: Yep.

From that day onwards, three times a week, Gal and Guy took the shuttle bus together for lessons. They spoke more on that short two months than they ever had before. Even though they had been working next door to each other for the past two years.

When the module ended. They stopped talking. Even though they work next door to each other, they hardly ever met along the corridors.

Time passed.

One day, Gal stood at the lift lobby of the floor that she worked. She was going for lunch and waiting for her mates. She stood there alone, waiting.

The lift door opened though she hadnt press for it yet. Out walked Guy.

Guy: Hey, I'm leaving in a month's time. Want to have lunch together?

Gal: Yah, sure!

Being the procrasinater that Gal is, lunch arrangements with friends usually takes one full month to happen. This one happened two days later.

Sms.

Guy: Thank you for the nice lunch jus now.

Gal: Wah, so polite. No guy has ever thank me for lunch before.

Guy: Of cos. I'm a nice guy. But too bad nice guys are leaving for the US.

Gal: Hah, nice guys leave for the US to become fat. Too bad the nice girls are staying here in Singapore.

For the next few days, exchanges on sms and msn between Guy and Gal never stopped. Perhaps they were making up for lost time and making use of limited time. Guy's corny comments and witty replies made Gal laugh alot. She hadnt been laughing much for sometime already.

Msn.

Gal: Why are you so nice to me? You don't even know if I have a boyfren.

Guy: It doesn't matter.

Sms.

Guy: I've a position to fill in starting 2 yrs from now in Boston. Only interested person may apply... haha

Guy: Do u need time to consider abt this application? This job renders 1 to be patient, long lag phase before commencement. It'll be quite a struggle.

Lunch.

Gal: I dun wan to do postdoc.

Gal: I jus got out from a long relationship. The last thing I want now is a long distance relationship.

Sms.

Gal: You were quiet at lunch.

Guy: Wat do u think? I alreadi lost half of my lines when u say u dun wanna do postdoc...

A few nights before he left, he took out a heart-shaped necklace and placed it around Gal's neck.

Guy: Im leaving my heart here. With you.

Gal did not send him off at the airport a few nights later. Cos it was gonna be hard for Gal to bear. She was trying so hard to fight it. That she has fallen for him. Him leaving Singapore will put an end to this nonsense. But she knew, that night when he left, he took her heart with him as well.

---

It's been one year odd. We never really had an official date to start off with. Guess we dun really need that, do we? I always have a feeling that day at the lift lobby, I wasn't waiting for my labmates, I was waiting for you.

Happy anniversary :)

---

从前有一对老公公和老婆婆。老公公总是大步大步地走，老婆婆总是小步小步地在后头追。老公公说老婆婆总是走得那么慢，老婆婆说老公公总是走得那么快。就这样，一个等，一个追了一辈子。因为他们还是很爱对方。

有人说这是一个好可怜的故事。因为他们总是不能在一起，错过了很多东西。

可是因为他们还很爱对方，这些总是会追回来的。

Woman with alien child

2006-06-08T21:16:00.000+08:00

Hi folks, im back. It's been a long, painful, stressful few weeks. Cant sleep, cant eat (have u ever seen me with no appetite? I dun tink so. ) It's not over yet (not until I can see an end point to my PhD) but it's occasions like this where little things like going out with the family for a nice dinner helps.

Very happy after seafood

Woman with alien child

Sometimes I wonder whether I am my mother's child. Why do i have such a big head? But this may explain why I am born from caesarean :p

The birthday girl (not me)

Well, n no matter how things change and how stressful I get, there is always my sis around to distract me. She is going off to summer school this June. Gonna miss having her around (especially useful in helping me tah-pao food from outside) but that leaves one empty room in the house for around 2 mnths. All are welcome to stay at my humble house. Which is near to amenities like Nothing. With lotsa activities to do like Not much. And right in the middle of Nowhere. Haa.

12 things you really need to know about me and 12 things you don't

2006-05-21T16:28:00.000+08:00

Xiaowei has tagged me into doing this. And since I can't think of anything to write about this week, i tink this is the perfect excuse/reason to wriggle out an entry. :p

In no particular order.

12 things you really need to know about me

1. I hate beans. In their round, cooked form. The ones that goes 'squish' when u put them in your mouth. Their innards come gushing out when u chew on them. Leaving behind a mouthful of lifeless outer coats and guts spilling all over.

2. I don't know how to swim. Please remember to give me that one and only lifejacket on the sinking boat. If not, i will die.

3. I am learning how to cook. *Stop sniggering.*

4. I am learning how to speak better Hakka. Although BJ laughs at my hakka all the time, I tink his is no better than me :p well, at least i have a way to crack him up whenever there is a need.

5. My family is most important to me. And momo is a family member too.

6. I look more like my dad than my mum. Sob.

7. I do not like people who forget their roots. Puit.

8. But I absolutely detest people who take advantage of the goodness in others to their advantage. Sounds abit abstract eh?

9. I need to jog at least once or twice a week or else I will turn cranky.

10. I tok to BJ on msn almost every nite. if not, its on the phone. And yes, i see him on webcam as well. (i keep having to answer this question.)

11. I really wish my parents can work less hard and take it easy.

12. I am not a Christian.

And 12 things you don't

1. I think Hugh Jackman is cute.

2. I find a man in only his boxers, a turn on. A man in his boxers, sporting a rugged unshaven look, a definite turn on. Hugh Jackman in his boxers, oh yeah!!

3. I'm good at dirty talking. BJ is good at dirty talking too. ...*silence*... (alright pple, you don't really have to know this. )

4. Im depending on my mum's 4D/Toto to buy off my bond.

5. Im a poser. I wear my bikini and tan myself in the pool. Not by the pool. cos im a shy poser.

6. I have a scar on my right big toe. I was helping my mum carry beer bottles downstairs to the shop. Being 7 years old, i noe i am strong enuff to handle one bottle. I carried 3. One broke and the glass pierced straight in.

7. Travelling around Tanjong Katong never fails to give me a sense of nostalgia. I tink tis happens to alot of pple who used to study ard that area. Can never forget secondary sch yah.

8. I am always very proud that I live in the east. Where u have the beach, the bbq, the food, the chalets, the crowded estates, the airport. Haha. But its really a pain to go to sch/work in the west every day.

9. I never played with dolls when i was young. I played with toy cars and ran around the neighbourhood. But i loved my teddy bear. I still have it with me.

10. I regret never visiting my maternal grandmother often enough and I regret never being obedient enough to my paternal grandmother.

11. I have an urge to cut momo's nails very often cos they are so long but she refuses to let me.

12. I wish I have more sports genes in me. Well, jogging is a nice start but im starting to develope ah mah kness liao.

Incoherent post

2006-05-11T20:30:00.000+08:00

I can't believe im falling sick again. Since I've moved, I have been on the verge of falling sick for dun noe how many times already. It's only becos I always do a last minute self-medication of loads of orange juice and liang teh that i manage to suppress the flu.

Managed to let the germs proliferate this time round by not having a single drop of water for the whole day cos I was so busy running ard with the experiments. Mayb if i let this go into full bloom, i can get some antibodies from the doc and get them out of the system.

Mayb its the house fengshui, mayb its the stress to graduate.

Aniway, im starting to be incoherent. So i shall post pics (also incoherently) so i dun have to say much. cos im incoherent already. erm. Here is me, pink in health, with my momo.

And momo sleeping with her Boston Lobster. On top. ;>

House of Flying Cockroaches

2006-04-27T20:38:00.000+08:00

Thankfully, there was only one cockroach. Xiao Qiang did not bring his family along. But the thing is, how did he get into my room in the first place?

By flying, of cos. And that’s wat I hate abt flying cockroaches. Those big, fat, masculine ones with strong wings and disgustingly long feelers. They think they are untouchable cos they can fly anywhere they want to with their big wings and their cockiness is so evident from they way they show off their long, silky feelers.

Gross. Just gross.

Xiao Qiang knows that he can stare all he wans into the mirror of my room while the big loser (Me :p) stand at the door, keeping a close but very distant watch on him. Jus in case he slips and land on my bed mah! I had jus changed my bedsheets leh! I stood at the door of my room while the other two losers, my sis and Momo, went to another room to hide. So I stood there for about half an hour watching Xiao Qiang shake his feelers while I waited for my mum to come back.

Yes, I’m a loser. I can’t kill a cockroach and had to give my mum a frantic call to plead with her to close shop soon and come back to help me chase a cockroach out of my room. I did kill one such cockroach with a slipper once. I threw the slipper, with the squashed cockroach attached down the rubbish chute. Let that serve as a warning to all the roaches staying in the chute that I am not a force to be messed with. :p but last night, I cant be throwing slippers at my mirror right? What if I squash the roach right there on the mirror with my slipper? I will have to throw the mirror away. And that will mean half of the wall of one side of my room.

But the worst case scenario is that I might startle Xiao Qiang and he starts flying around. That is gonna freak me out big time. Cos when he starts flying, chances are, he is gonna fly onto my face. So better not risk it.

And so I stood there at the door of my room for what seemed ages before my mum returned. She didn’t kill it. Jus caught it gracefully (with a plastic bag) like she was catching a butterfly and ‘returned’ it back where it belonged. The rubbish chute. And all this while, making a mental note to buy the 4D number that represents cockroach tomorrow.

Phish Food

2006-04-20T23:43:00.000+08:00

Horrible immunology course.

Topics are interesting but it’s so hard to understand. My conclusion to the module is that western medicine is not the way to manage immunological disease cos it’s usually one drug, one target. Not understanding the mechanisms in which the drug works seem to drive the Americans (who, by the way, think they rule the world, NIH “National Institute of Health”, FDA “Food Drug Administration” and the moon.) nuts. Traditional Chinese medicine is the way cos they seem to ‘chap pah lang’ target everything. Hence, a ‘magic bullet’. If this is the case, it will help future students study better for immunology cos this will help shave off half of the coursework, namely mechanisms of drug action and those impossibility hard names of drugs to remember and spell.

Aniways, my exam for immunology is over. So good riddance. But on a scholarly note, I hope I get at least a B or B+. To keep up my CAP points, of cos.

And, hooray for the end of exams! No more surviving on junk food at my little deserted, highly vegetated home. Surviving on Ben and Jerry’s for dinner was great for one night but it is just plain sad to be eating it for the next few subsequent nights as some form of ‘dinner’.

Nonetheless, I see this as very symbolic. Notice the flavour that I am eating. Phish Food (read: “Fish Food”). While fish food are for fishes, Phish food are PhD students. Eating this consistently will take me nearer to my Doctorate of Philosophy. It’s Phil with a lisp.

Haha.

Im still writing

2006-04-03T20:09:00.000+08:00

Im still writing. But Im writing about the complexity of Lupus, why immunotherapy is good or bad for asthma, why some protein play an important part in deciding whether a organ transplant is successful or not and finally, why... erm... I forgot wats my last assignment question already (and I'm too lazy to get up and check). This thursday, I will be talking about why some receptors are important in the defence against infection by tuberculosis. All are welcome.

I have 4 essays and 1 presentation due this week. Where got time to blog? Maybe I can post my essays on my blog. Hmm. Cannot. Wait my classmates find them and copy. Hmmp. Haa.

And in 2 weeks time, I will be writing (Probably scribbling. Exams always not enuff time one.) about why immunology is such a freaking complex field of study.

My friends asked me why I take up this insanely complex module when I do not have the basics to it at all. Firstly, I am used to wearing a helmet and crashing into subjects that I have the slightest idea about. This time round, I crashed into a tangled mess. Argh. Help. Secondly, because He says we scholars always take modules to score, never to learn. I let him con me into taking this module. Cos I just had to prove him wrong. Scholars are not like that. They take modules not to score, but to maintain the infamous GPA. Hmm.

Friends' next typical response were "Why you let him con you? He's very smart, you know." Yeah, I know. He was the only one to get an A in that module (as I learnt later. AFTER I can't drop that module anymore. Or else I will get an F :p)

But what is most sabotaging is that, I can't copy his four essays because it's not the same essay questions anymore!!! Cannot copy, rearrange the paragraphs, change font and hand in as my own. I have to write my own essays! Horrors! Horrors! This reminds me. I have to get back to my essay writing.

Oh, by the way, Im back from Canada. More on this later yah.

Leaving on a plane, again

2006-03-15T21:55:00.000+08:00

Yes, I’m going away again. This time round, it’s for work. For once, the Reluctant Scientist is reluctant to travel. Because I wish I can settle down and have more time for my work. The past year had been spent writing up papers (which are not first authors papers for me = does not help in my graduation = I still need 1 first author paper), helping with the new house, enjoying a new lease of life, making sure my dog pees on the newspaper (She still misses the paper. She thinks that as long as her four paws are on the newspaper, it doesn’t matter that her butt is sticking beyond the paper boundary. Imperfections in life, I say) etc etc.

Been thinking a lot about my work lately, apart from thinking about some guy in Boston :p. And since my boss has banned me from doing any experiments until I have some concrete theory and plan for the next few steps, I have no data since December last year. It’s four, freaking months without data! Time to climb out of the post-PhD qualifying examination slump. Well. It’s not too bad to sit around and think about my project, actually. It made me take stock of the experiments I did before. And I realized Nike’s slogan ‘Just Do It’ is absolutely wrong.

My old data just showed experiments after experiments that do not lead me anywhere and repeats after repeats that aren’t really confirmatory. I used to be a busy bee running around the lab doing my experiments. Thinking about it now, I’m actually a headless fly. Maybe because I wasn’t pressed for time then. But now I am. So I need to make every experiment count, every step calculated. Use your brain, use your brain lah! Churning out data alone is meaningless. Doing it to answer a question that will bring you to the next question is. Hopefully, it will lead you to the answer. Or somewhere near it. Cos anyone who is in Science will know that contrary to popular belief, Science is not absolute. Your answer may be true but it may not be the whole truth. It may be true now but it may be disproved later. It’s true but it does not reflect what actually happens. It’s true but you don’t believe what you are seeing is true and so on and so on… (Argh)

The other good thing about sitting around is that it has fuelled this particular itch at my butt to start working. That’s why I can’t wait to start with all the ideas and plans running through my brain.

Ah well, I have to wait till I come back then. It is a little comforting to know that I am staying amidst the snowy Canadian Rocky Mountains, in a 1888 architecture styled after a Scottish baronial castle. It’s a different kind of resort from the one I just came back from in Bintan, sunsoaked again. Time to brace myself for the minus degree temperature once more.

Why Him?

2006-02-27T23:51:00.000+08:00

Been getting some queries on why I capitalized Him. I am neither from that religion (even if I use this as an excuse, none of my friends who know me will buy that) nor do I believe in God. Not exclusively (especially pertaining to certain religions) and not scientifically

But I believe in Him. Plainly, I have faith in Him. I have no religion but I believe in someone. So, there. :)

And I know just why you could not
Come along with me
But this was not your dream
But you always believe in me

- Home by Micheal Buble

Actually, my favourite lines of this song are these:

It'll be all right
I'll be home tonight
I'm coming back home

Ah, well :p

It's disturbing to live in Savannah

2006-02-27T20:57:00.000+08:00

It's disturbing because:

1. I have a feeling I live in a jungle. And my life story resembles something between LOST (really lost in my work) and Jumanji (fake animals everywhere).

2. I may develop a non-existence social life because i actually have to trek out to take a bus to anywhere else if i don't drive the car and some sorta divine intervention has bestow my humble home with free HBO!

3. The cascading waterfall is actually damm noisy and NOT actually giving me a peace of mind.

4. I see live shows everyday because the 'open' concept for the Master's bedroom toilet leaves very little for imagination. Thanks to the full length shower windows that face the opposite row of units. I suspect every resident is a closet exhibitionist. Else, its hard to explain why some choose not to block the big shower windows and let the whole jungle watch what they do in private. Hail Tarzan. Minus loin cloth. (well, not that I can see THAT clearly. Maybe cos most Asians are small... in built :p) Some choose to make these full lenght windows translucent. Giving them a false sense of security. God damm it. I can tell from the shadows whether it's a man or a woman and whether they are using a towel to dry their armpits or the nether regions.

5. I reckon if I have nothing to do on a Friday night, I can invite my friends to sit on my window ledge with popcorn in hand and watch all my neighbours opposite do their thing. Hey, it's like playing The Sims!

6. Finally, it's disturbing because Couple on Level 4 couldn't sleep one fine day at around 2am. Well, I couldn't sleep too and was looking for entertainment. Ha. They were in the toilet... the lady kneeling in front of him. (I Tarzan, U Jane. Eat. ahem. ) Erm, i cant find the clothes anywhere. WTF. It's disturbing cos it's against the law. I mean me spying. Ha Ha.

7. The couple disappear and lady on level 4 later reappeared to pee. Yes, I even saw that.

I am one disturbed soul.

Will be back

2006-02-16T10:36:00.000+08:00

Hi folks, I wasn't slacking. Jus making full use of the time I have with Him.

Thank You for coming home. I know who You are, and who You will, be in my life.

It's somewhat like a journey to truly understand what 'Cherish' means. To me. To Him. To both of us.

I will be back. He will be back.

Meanwhile. I need to graduate.

Meanwhile. Take good care of Yourself. Drink more water. Keep warm. Graduate.

:p

Rain makes you fat

2006-01-14T20:28:00.000+08:00

Thank goodness. Finally there's some sunshine. What's with all the rain anyways?

The effects that the rain had on me were:

1. It made me feel colder.
2. Hence, hungrier.
3. Thus, eat more.
4. Henceforth, need to exercise more.
5. But, it rained when I wanted to run. Stopped, when I didnt.
6. In conclusion, the rain made me fat.

Snow didn't made me fat. In fact, I lost ard 1 kg during the trip. Maybe it was because of all the hardwork lugging a 20 kg suitcase all around the place and up and down countless flights of stairs. Every Western country is made up of stairs and more stairs. They love stairs and they love going up and down stairs just for the fun of getting from point A to point B, to point Z and point 1, 2, 3, 4 . Grrr. What is civilization without escalators? What is a developed country without lifts? Guess most of these residents have bums of steel for doing so much step exercises.

Maybe it was because I didn't take alot of carbs during the trip. Gave most of my rice to sustain my camel cos he needed all the energy to carry my shopping bags and keep awake while waiting for me to do my shopping. Hmm, actually. It was all the cute gers that he was looking at in the women's store that kept him awake.

Even this thing had no effect on me. More of this please! ($2.50 USD!!! Where to find?!!)

So, yeah, carbs make you fat too.

Back to the rain. Yes, I can run in the gym. But nothing beats pounding the pavement and sweating it out.

So there, rain makes pple colder, hungrier, lazier, fat. And wmx might add, lose their tan.

看图说故事 II 之西游记

2006-01-09T23:34:00.000+08:00

Yes, many people say London is grim and hazy. Like around Trafalgar Square.

But more often, there is sunshine. Especially near the Big Ben.

Alternatively, look for sunshine in Paris. Although it may already be sunset by the time you reach.

Still, sunset in Paris is gorgeous as you stroll towards Arc De Triomphe. Hand in hand with him...

... Looking for the Zara store along Champs Elysees to buy that coat you always wanted!

---

BJ took all these pictures. Yes, even the one with him in it.

2005

2006-01-01T03:15:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year Folks! ***Confetti Confetti***

I’m sorry I didn’t blog much for the past 2 weeks or so. Erm. Bcos the weather is very very cold and my fingers are so frozen stiff. Aha. Ha. :p Will say more about the trip once I get back home. Meanwhile, since it’s the New Year, I thought I should first get down to what’s more important. Do the traditional roundup of the past year and of course, do a list of resolutions for this year.

2005. What the hell happened in 2005?! For comparison’s sake, consider one time point. 2004. In 2004, I. erm. actually. well. that year. my year was. erm. grrrreat. It’s not that I can’t remember anything that happened in that year okay. It’s just that nothing actually happened in 2004. Everything was status quo. Which, is a good and bad thing. Depends on how you like to look at it. Then 2005 popped by and my life was turned upside down. Inside out. Leftside right. You get the drift.

The fortune teller said major changes will take place when I reach 24.

1. Exactly 1 month into my 24^th year of life as a Homo Sapien on this polluted planet stricken with natural disasters, bad drivers and Harvesters of a certain kind (Gosh, I feel so fortunate to be alive right now), The Ex dumped me.

2. Momo the Corgi which smells nice on Mondays (after her bath day) and smells canine for the rest of the week came into my life. And, I absolutely adore her!

3. Momo seemed to have played cupid (besides doing her usual gig of ‘paw paw’) and got me He. No, it wasn't during one of those sessions playing fetch. And yes…, I absolutely adore him.

4. My family is moving house. And, for the first time in the history of our lives, me and my sis have an actual say in the design of OUR rooms. Plus every other single detail about the house. I say, it’s a gift. And a curse.

5. Am now a PhD candidate. No longer a procrastinating student but a procrastinating PhD candidate. Procrastination is chronic, thank you very much.

6. Have two accepted research papers with my name in them. Am now a published procrastinating PhD candidate.

7. Took up a savings plan. As well as an investment plan. (Yes, I forgot to mention that I shopped like I have never shopped before. Hey, vanity is costly.)

8. Spoiled my liver like I am jus next on the Q for liver transplant. But no hangovers yet.

9. Jogged on a regular basis for almost close to a year. (NB: I consider this a prime achievement cos prior to this, there is no way u can move MH’s butt off ANY surface.)

10. Traveled to Christchurch, Rawa, London, Paris, Boston, New York. Been down under and up above.

If you look at the scoreboard: Upside Down 10 Status Quo 0

There was no way I could have seen all these coming. What more can I ask for?

Yeah, 2005 has been a good run.

Ooops. I forgot about my new year resolutions.

Crash Test Dummies

2005-12-12T10:48:00.000+08:00

Okay, i guess most people are bored with the previous entry already. Sorry i didn't have the time to blog. It's been a crazy few weeks prior to my departure for London. Finalizing the details for the house, getting the stuff ready for the trip, wrapping up my experiments. Actually, for my last point, there is actually nothing major to wrap up cos my big experiments cant start without a particular cell line to work with. Have been waiting for months already. And jus half an hour ago, i finally got the cell line. BUT!! I'm leaving in 3 days time. How do i start?! Arghh.

Nevermind, shall remain in procrastination until an external force (eg. progress report) is applied. Meanwhile, I shall use the time to plan exactly what I want to do for my experiments. Think it through while sipping a cuppa coffee in London, Paris or Boston. Or mayb freezing my butt off in either of these above mentioned places.

Felt like I was wearing a helmet one size smaller for the past few days. Suffering from an irritating recurrent headache. Guess I'm too heaty. But there is still so many bloody things to settle before i step on the plane. Cannot rest. Damm. Shall piah until the last minute. So pple, if u dun see me blogging soon, I would probably have left already. Shall be back on the 5th of Jan. Alot poorer but with alot more clothes.

看图说故事

2005-11-27T00:09:00.000+08:00

I wish my lab is as cool as this lab.

Statue of Liberty looking pretty good against a clear, blue sky.

Haa. :p

Conversations with a German

2005-11-25T14:59:00.000+08:00

Another Friday night at Zouk has finally convinced me that I don't like House music. I thought it was the crowd I went with that mattered. First time round, I was with secondary school classmates. Both married (!). One of them with 3 kids (!!!!!!!). The young mother said she will let her daughters club when they are older ONLY if the club's music is good. Fair enough. That night, all of us concluded that House music wasn't really our cup of tea. And so, all of us proceeded to Marriot's Crossroads for, a cup of tea (but of cos), in the wee hours of the morning. Very tai tai stuff. Suits the two ladies better.

Pauline wanted to show a new German attachment student what Zouk is all about. Apparently, the only thing that Henriette has heard about Singapore before she came here was Zouk. Hmm. Never heard of the big durians by the river? So sad. Those are very expensive durians.

So off I went again the following Friday. Conversations flowed after some of these...

No one took on the Long Island that night

Pauline: (Looking intently at Henri) Do you think I have double eyelids or single eyelids?
Henri: (Taking a very long time) You... have... eyelids.
Henri: (Following up quickly) What do you mean double eyelids or single eyelids?! What are those?
Fortunately, my sis was there to the rescue. Her right eye is a single eyelid and her left eye is a double eyelid. Prime example to use for explanation.
Henri: (Very amused) I never knew there is a difference. Everyone back home had the same eyelids. It has never ever been an issue before.

Ah yes, the fortunate ang mohs. While we poor Asians grapple with ugly single eyelids, trying ways and means to make our eyes bigger and brighter with makeup and cosmetic surgery, they never have this problem AT ALL. The phrases- double eyelids and single eyelids were never in their vocabulary. Only the word- eyelids! Argh. Not fair.

Henri: Hey but I love the noses of you Asians. And yours is particularly nice!
Me: You love my nose? You like Asian's noses?!
Henri: Yeah! My nose is so big! All my frens at home hate their noses! We wish we can have noses like you guys. Jus the right size.
Me: My god, all Asians want YOUR type of nose. Straight and sharp. And you want ours?!

Well, the nose is always nicer on the other side. Henri wished she could exchange her nose with mine. While we are at it, I hope Henri can throw in her double eyelids in the package as well. :p

It's a deal!

Another thing, Henri is absolutely fascinated with the types of fruits we have in Singapore. Come to think of it, I have never appreciated the vast number of different fruits we can choose from. So...

Cheers to the different types of fruits we have! Including the lychee in our martinis. :p

What love is.

2005-11-16T16:14:00.000+08:00

BJ told me something recently and it has stuck in my mind for the past few days.

On a cold autumn day, he saw this very old couple walking on the streets. All dressed up. The old man was in his old suit and the old lady in a beautiful dress with perhaps, her favorite pearls. The old man was holding on to his wife's hand while they walked slowly to the pharmacy to collect the old lady's medicine.

How sweet...

---

U noe me. I am sucker for this sorta things.

Hari Raya morning

2005-11-10T17:00:00.000+08:00

It's abit late for this entry. But still...

The red bull vodka kept me awake for most of the night. Should have spent that energy in the club. Aniways, finally gave up trying to sleep at 6.30 am to talk to my dog. Fed her breakfast and went jogging at 7 am. It's kinda crazy but I thought it was a beautiful morning for a jog. The air was cool with a slight breeze. Very few people were on the roads and all these made the jog really smooth. Less 'obstacles' and I have to 'tsk tsk tsk!' less to those who block my path.

Almost finished with my jog, I sat at the void deck. Enjoying the cool breeze n the peacefulness that came along with it. A few cars whisked by once in a while. People were going about their daily marketing. I was enjoying this moment. A moment of wat I dun noe. Perhaps enjoying, once again, all the sights and sounds that I had grew up with. The little things I had neglected along the way when I was too busy growing up. The things that I didnt noe I would actually miss. I also wondered when will be the next time I can sit at a spot like this and watch the world go by.

Perhaps when I retire? I shuddered at the thought this. That, is gonna take a pretty long while.

I noe I am gonna miss this place when I move soon. Yah yah, I'm jus moving across, to the other side of the expressway, but still, its never gonna be the same again.

I don't know whether all the changes that had happened this year happened for a reason. But, once again, I noe its never gonna be the same anymore :)

The night before Hari Raya

2005-11-05T00:28:00.000+08:00

WMX and me @ Zouk

Me and my best guy fren. We have come a long way since... puberty. (wahaha!) I love him and hate him cos he piss me off and drive me crazy all the time. I sometimes do not comprehend his actions. At all. But on most days, he is a sweet man and a softie (despite all his cursing and swearing). Plus, he has both a witty and a corny sense of humour. Well, at least he laughed as hard as me when i tried to pile sand on his toes as a token of appreciation for our friendship. Kick sand *friend*. Well, nevermind. Very lame stuff.

Had a great time with him at Zouk with his friends from Northwestern University (NU). The place was jammed packed and I guess like what all good Singaporeans will do, everyone queued up. We didn't. Thank the heavens for giving these pple an American education! Everyone plays by their rules! Haha. I had no worries because I will probably be safe if any fight breaks out cos with all his tall friends around, I can basically squat down n let them shoulder the punches :p

It's a shame I had to leave earlier cos my mum had lost the previous 'conditioning' i had so painstakingly built up. There was a period in time where I kept late nites. She would call but eventually, the calls stopped coming. Either because she got bored or she got used to the fact that I will be late. Didn't keep late nites recently so we are back to square one. Gonna start conditioning her soon again cos the festive seasons are coming!

-----

One side note.

My mum saw me typing this entry and noticed the guy in the picture wasn't Ah Kong ("He").

She looked at me and said: 为什么你跟别的男人拍照？不要乱乱来啦！阿刚不会吃醋吗？可能阿辉不要你就是因为这样！(Why you take photo with other guys? Dun play play! Ah Kong wun get jeaolus meh? Maybe Ah Hui ("The Ex") dun wan you because you are like this!)

Me: (Rolling eyes and frowning at the same time) 你在讲什么？不要乱乱讲啦。(Wat are you saying? Dun anyhow say lah.) Was thinking silently that i am usually (well, alright. Tats an understatement. It's always) the one that gets jealous anyway :p)

Mum: 你不知道的。可能其中一个会吃醋，拿刀把你杀掉！！！ (You never know. One of them may get jealous and KILL YOU!!!)

I think my mum reads way too much tabloids nowadays. No more 新明晚报 and 联合晚报 for her!

Happy Howl~aween folks!

2005-10-30T21:21:00.000+08:00

It's Halloween but I had to pass two Halloween party invites cos it's been quite a happening week on the domestic front. And, I had to pass a Jln Kayu prata invite to blog this down.

The prata invite was the hardest to resist especially with a man on the other side of the line lamenting on his predicament of not being able to find anyone to have dinner with. Proclaimed that he is a lonely man now and shall evolve to become a lonely ah pek in the future. The prata and the amusing ranting were hard to resist. Not him. :p Finally at the end of the phonecall, he conceded that there was really noone to have dinner with and decided to get two burgers from Mac. Why 2 burgers?! I asked. Cos, it's a guy thing. They have to be in pairs. He replied. Duh.

On the domestic front, I've got the keys!! Had been the family runner these few days. Checking the house workmanship, engaging the interior designers, taking measurements, browsing for furniture n appliances, activating the power, water etc, checking out recipes so that i can grill n bake with the oven (Yeay!!) etc etc. There are soooo many decisions to make! A super single bed or a queen size bed? Do we want a feature wall for the living room and the dinning room? How about a false ceiling? A curtain skirting? L-box lighting? How big mus the mirror be? 45 or 50 inches? etc etc. I havent gone onto the colors of the rooms and the materials to use yet. Good thing there is dear sis to chip in to help once in awhile despite having exams. She was an exceptionally good help in testing out the facilities at the condo. Both of us spent a whole saturday afternoon 'testing out' the gym, the pool and the jacuzzi there. It was like I'm having a holiday!! Gonna get back my Rawa tan bit by bit now. :p Sun at my condo is really good. I really do feel recharged after soaking in the pool for an afternoon (soak, i said soak. I dun swim. Kick water, maybe. But dun swim.)

Busying myself with the house was mayb my way of taking my mind off the thought that my room had the crappiest view of the unit's exterior. Of cos, the master bedroom had the best. My parents basically had the WHOLE view. Floor to ceiling windows take away the privacy but that's their problem :p I foresee that on uneventful days, my sis and I will sit by these windows, look down upon the pple frolicking in the pools (the pencil-thin or eraser-wide babes in bikinis, pale skinny/fat man in odd color trunks, the kinky exhibitionist couples). And, like what I think gods in heavens do on a boring day when there is no war in other parts of the world (those started by America not included), bitch about the little people below.

I present to you, the left view from my parents' bedroom window. THE CLUBHOUSE. Gym, steam bath, 2 lane bowling alley, karaoke rooms, function rooms, bbq.

The right view from my parents' room. THE POOL. Where little people in even smaller pieces of cloth frolic and waste their afternoons. Pool, jacuzzi, fog slider, bbq. Oh, there is a ecological pond at the far right.

The view from mine is not that fantastic so im not showing. You will see when you visit. At least I can still wake up in the mornings to the sound of a cascading waterfall.

The other domestic event is Momo's having her first heat now. So other than deciding on matters about the house, I have been cleaning up Momo's blood from the floor. My mum, sis and I are poor things. Momo is not a poor thing, she is a blood squirting machine. Bleah.

The weather is so damm hot nowadays. I tink im gonna be in heat soon too. :p Hahaha...

I can't think of a title for this

2005-10-23T22:55:00.000+08:00

Havent been blogging lately. Cos. I have nothing to blog about! Arghh!

It's been a dry spell. And still is. Or perhaps, im jus too lazy.

Was supposed to get the keys to the new condo unit this Wed. But, I screwed up for the whole family. Cos i booked the key collection date wrongly. The next 'auspicious' date will be this coming Tue. Apparently, this is also a good day to see the doctor or buy a bed. Although not a good day to launch a sampan/boat/yacht/watever. Hope nothing goes wrong cos shit had already happened. It made my mum wonder whether I have booked my air ticket to Boston correctly. Tks Ma, i noe where my sarcasm comes from now.

Mayb i will have more things to say when i get the keys.

Am looking for a watch now. Strangely, the 2 watches i have with me for the past 8 years refused to work anymore. Even with new batteries. And my alarm clock for the past 14 years suddenly decides to tell the US time now. And, it is not very good at that too. At the moment, its 19mins slower and steadily increasing. All these, i reckon, are signs from above telling me to get my time management act together. Thanks for being so subtle!

Oh, and for vanity's sake, i am looking for a pair of boots. These boots will be walking all over London, Paris and Boston. Together with my Versace (borrowed) or MaxMara (borrowed again. but i dun care.) trenchcoat. And, with a Hugo Boss model in tow. :p

Project Scorpio

2005-10-05T16:00:00.000+08:00

Yeah ~~

Going to the US in mid-Dec for a long holiday. Gonna 'showhand' all my accumulated leave days, a proud total of *drum roll* 13 pathetic days, at one go. Will be in Boston and maybe the cities around. Mayb Canada too. Depends on the snowfall. else i will be building snowmen and looking (trying to be) intellectual at Harvard.

But. Before i touch down at Boston, i will be stopping over at London for 5 days. In between these 5 days, i will be sneaking a quickie in Paris for a night. Wahaha... made full use of my air ticket, don't you think?

I call this trip Project Scorpio (sounds very YEP right? Haa... ) becos this trip allows me to meet 3 men that i adore in different ways- BJ, Prof Barlow and ZT (in order of appearance ONLY :p).

Incidentally, all three of them are Scorpios. I wonder why.

Thus, Project Scorpio.

Now i jus haf to find a theme song. Haa..

It's fun to work at the O-n-G-Lab!

2005-10-04T21:18:00.000+08:00

It's kinda strange working in a Obstetrics and Gynecology (O&G) lab. Sometimes it borders on being surreal. But most times, im jus pretty amused by the predicaments i get myself into.

Last week, a minus 80 degrees fridge broke down at my lab. However, we only realised it two days later. You see, normally, if a fridge like this breaks down, there will be two signs to indicate that.

Sign no. 1, the fridge alarm will scream. But, instead of walking over to my lab to inform us that our fridge is whinning, some bloody idoit decided to disconnect the fridge from its powerpoint to stop the alarm. How very clever. Thanks arh. I hope he/she gets his/her PhD soon.

Sign no. 2, the fridge contents start to thaw and a pool of water will surely form at the base of the fridge. However, we never saw any puddle of water. It was only on the third day when we realised our cleaner auntie was very on the ball for the past few days. Cleared every puddle without leaving a trace. I see great potential in her taking up jobs clearing up crime scenes.

And so, the stuff inside the fridge were pretty much a gone case and we had to chuck everything out. A quick check on the contents inside revealed samples of blood, serum, yellow liquid (crossed fingers that they are not urine) and a box of semen samples. Great. Mayb it would not be so 'erhem' if it's frozen semen (gives a more clinical feel to it, don't you think?), but it's thawed, liquidy semen. so it jus sounds... erhem, wrong. Nonetheless, we (me and Wilson- resident farmer) had to do the job cos we are the lowest life forms in the lab. Haha. Jus joking, we had to do it cos we are the lowest educated pple in the lab. with the lowest paper qualifications. Haa.. :p

-- 开宝箱，赢巨奖。猜猜哪一个宝箱有今天的特别奖! Would you like to buy the vowel- U and the letters- C and M? :p

-- Tadah! Proof of concept.

---

-- Pop quiz: Which of these has more proteins?

Dun ask me wats inside, ask the box.

---

Okay, enough excitement for the day. On normal days, its more peaceful. People in the lab will be doing their experiments while my prof will be typing on his computer. Either writing up on a paper or doing his slides for his lectures. As a good O&G doctor, his lecture topics will naturally be on women. While my prof goes to the pantry for a cup of tea, we know he has been working on his slides because right there on his computer screen is the frontal shot of a woman's *meow meow*. :p Legs spread. More hardcore than hardcore. Some pictures even have fingers (in surgical gloves, of cos. :p) spreading the ... erhem *meow meow*. Okay. I tink tat is too graphical for the day. But i guess u get the picture (pun intended).

---

So, isn't it fun to work at the O n G lab? *meow*

M.I.A

2005-10-03T21:24:00.000+08:00

Alright pple, I'm not dead. Jus kinda busy lately.

Lotsa things happening but most importantly, my parents are getting the keys to the condo soon. Yeah!!!

In other news, im going overseas for a long holiday and at work, i jus cleared a -80 degrees fridge that contained blood, semen and dun noe wat samples. More on these, wif pictures (!), later.

I leave you with the daisies at my building which never fail to brighten up my day. All thanks to our resident farmer! There are other blooming flowers as well on that window ledge. But i love the daisies most. There is also an ant plant. A ugly little plant which i tink is actually quite cute. Like a big nose with two nostrils. Haa...

家有喜事 (续)

2005-09-21T21:20:00.000+08:00

My cousins, nephews, niece and the sis who is irrelevant in these pictures.

Tadah!!!

I was high that nite not because I had too much to drink. I was high because of all of them. What an enjoyable time I had. Crappiness is in the blood. So is a good sense of humour. Its no wonder my mum tried to work her way into this 'youth' group that nite. She said we were laughing excessively and having so much fun. But i have to be firm with her and tell her to go back to her table because she is not cool enough. Hahaha... :p

---

Sophus and Amy 祝你们恩恩爱爱, 白头偕老, 早日添丁.

家有喜事

2005-09-21T20:26:00.000+08:00

The Mid Autumn's Festival, just the right time to have a wedding. Sunday was the tea ceremony for my cousin's wedding. Had a really great time catching up with my cousins. Seriously didn't realise I miss them so much. Awwww.... wat a happy sight to see so many of them grown up and crappier. Hahaha...

Esprit dress: $30. Picture with cousins: Priceless. (Yeah i noe. this tag line is way too overused.)

Personally like this pic alot cos my cousins + sis look so cute .

My other cousins plus nephews and niece. Actually, I have 16 cousins, 1 niece and 2 nephews. So this pic is way under-representing the whole 'cohort'.

Neway, not to worry. This is jus the tea ceremony. There is still the dinner on the following day. More pics on my other cousins coming soon. Hahaha...

And now, i will leave u pple with a pic of two bored men at the tea ceremony.

Dad and Third Aunt's husband at the doorway and on the steps. Stoning and nuahing.

He

2005-09-15T22:01:00.000+08:00

He has a pair of nice brown eyes. He has a silly grin which, on most days, is a killer smile. He is lean and 1.75m tall. He has cute ears that stick out like Momo's and thick eyebrows much like that of 蜡笔小新。

He is corny, smart, kind, patient, fun, forgiving, mature, streetsmart, independent, passionate, filial, great with kids, great with dogs, dependable, honest, brave, charming, does housework, cooks well, great sense of humour, sensitive, a gentleman, a ladies man, workaholic, sincere, understanding, overflowing with energy, gracious, Hakka, very Chinese, determined, speaks Japanese, very uncle, old (:p by 4 years), Scorpio ...

He makes me feel secure.

He used to work at the lab next door and he used to take the bus with me for lessons outside school. He went through life and death with me cos the bus driver almost slammed into a truck once on our way there. Not forgetting, we survived the Gene Regulation course together. He is a PhD student in NUS but is now in Boston as a research fellow at Harvard.

He is away but he often makes me feel that he is right by my side.

And so, the palm reader said...

2005-09-14T13:05:00.000+08:00

"你会有别人爱."

There is someone else to love you.

For Shan

2005-09-12T21:16:00.000+08:00

Was talking to Shan this afternoon on msn. She said this to me:

What do you get when you fall in love?
A guy with a pin to burst your bubble
That's what you get for all your trouble.
I'll never fall in love again.
I'll never fall in love again.

What do you get when you fall in love?
You get enough tears to fill an ocean
That's what you get for your devotion.
I'll never fall in love again.
I'll never fall in love again.

What do you get when you fall in love?
You only get lies and pain and sorrow.
So, for at least until tomorrow,
I'll never fall in love again!
I'll never fall in love again!

I forgot to ask which song this was from but I have this as an answer for her:

《女人心事》陶晶莹

曾经我也痛过我也恨过怨过放弃过在自己的房间里
觉得幸福放弃我如果没有分离背叛的丑陋
怎么算是真爱过

请你试着相信一爱再爱不要低下头 别怕青春消逝
就不信单纯的美梦我在这岸看着你游
为你的坚持感动 你会的有一天会幸福的

Dun kill me for having this in Chinese, Shan. But I noe you do read chinese right? :p

Like I said today. Heck it. I loved once and I can love again.

And so, my fortune says...

2005-09-11T17:06:00.000+08:00

I had my palm read for 10 bucks recently. Around that same time, i was re-reading a 20 page report on myself that was calculated based on my exact birth time. I had this birth analysis for half a year now. Initially, alot of the content did not make much sense. Going back to it now, many things inside suddenly fell into place. I guess I grew up alot in this half year or so.

---

I didnt tell the palm reader my birthdate. He sat there looking at the lines of my palms under a huge light bulb together with a magnifying glass. Imagine my surprise when I heard what the palm reader had to tell me. He was basically repeating what is being said in that birth analysis! This birth analysis tells me about my life path and my destiny. The palm reader was telling me the same things jus by looking at my palms. Kinda scary isint it? In the field of science, we call this repeatability. And usually, we need to triplicate this result to certify it as true. Tarot cards, anyone? :p

---

If both of them are true, then it is true that I should be working with people. They also say I should be in the creative field. Well, to pple outside of the field of research, it is actually quite a creative process (i kid u not.) but i dun get to work with pple as much as I want to. Cell lines dun talk to me. They either dun adhere, adhere too long, refuse to grow, grow to fast or simply, bo chup my commands :p This explains the sinking feeling I have since i signed my name on the dotted line that fateful day at The Agency :p Too late. But at least the quest for knowledge has kept me going.

---

N yes, both say I have a strong concept of fairness, the principles of justice and also equality. That I will not compromise when I feel that an injustice is being done cos on matters of right and wrong, i have strong convictions. In other words, I am very anal. Can be a stubborn asshole at times. Actually, if i am a behaviour psychologist, i would have picked that out by observing me when i get worked up. I bet my first words would be 'This is not fair' WITH lotsa of exclamation marks. The word 'fair' is the most used word for me when i get angry. Wanna bet?

---

I am often helped in my way by older people who are favourably disposed towards me. Very true. cos uncle n aunties all think i very guai. *sniggers* I choose to see the best in other people. Yes, and i pride myself in that. But this could be that I am jus naive. Well, watever lah.

---

"Emotionally, you prefer to mate for life- love is a serious issue for you, and you are inclined to be faithful, though possessive. There is considerable anxiety in relationships, and often a powerful jealousy, which in reality is testimony to the intensity of your love. Women with this position expect 100% emotional involvement from their mate, and the erotic element of the relationship will be a major factor.... It is difficult for her relationship to survive unfaithfulness- love is all or nothing. " Hmmm...

---

"Other things being equal, you have a very fortunate fate in relationships... The most important assets a partner can possess in your eyes is an intelligent and cultured manner. Your partner... may come (or resides in ??) from another country. You can have great pleasure from travelling together and cultivating your shared interests." Hmmm....

---

These were what the birth analysis said about my relationships that I thought were interesting. Haah... n the palm reader said almost the same things except the part about being possessive. I beg to differ there too. Mayb it has to do with a sense of security and the confidence I have in my man. :p

---

The last question I had for the palm reader was: " Will I go back to my previous relationship?"

---

Cliffhanger for the week. Stay tune next time, folks!

Go away auntie

2005-09-08T17:28:00.000+08:00

Am back home really early today (like, 1pm :p) cos I'm having cramps (it's the time of the month lah. Hence the corny blog entry title). I noe its gonna be a pretty bad one cos i felt like puking while driving myself back home. N yes, I puked my lunch out when i reached. Tats $4.50 down the toilet bowl. Bad cramps like these dun come often but when they do, they do it with a vengeance. Was half dead in my bed, trying to fall asleep n sleep the pain away but my clueless dog was very avid in her role as the house watchdog. Alerting me everytime anyone walked passed my door. How to sleep like that?!?! So, I was wide awake throughout the whole ordeal. Waiting for the intensity of the pain to reach its peak and subside. I feel much like a prisoner-of-war under torture.

It's always at these instances where women will wonder why do we have to go through this. I think the other instance is during childbirth. Definitely not during sex. Well, unless she doesnt enjoy tat. hmm. Aniway, I digressed. One lab mate asked me one day," Meihui, can you tell me why women have to go through periods every month?" I looked at her n replied, " It's so fucking unfair, right?!!" Everytime it comes, it messes up ur mood, ur emotions, ur plans to go out, ur plans to work (hence, the theme for many women commercials :p) . But giving it further thought, it's really not the organs fault. Girlfriends, we have the better deal. For one thing, we have more erogenous zones per reproductive organ than men. Haha. Furthermore, while 'not in use', men's reproductive organ(no S at the end cos only got one :p) has to moonlight as a outlet for Mr Bladder. Tsk.

It's the biological process's fault and some ladies (in fact, many) are also jus suay enuff to haf cramps to go with tat. And for some, like me, refuse to take painkillers for this. Well, Im stubborn, therefore I suffer. But I dun wan to be a slave to the painkillers. Aniway, i tink its still bearable for me. High threshold for pain (haha. SM. not funny.)

Then again, someday, I will be thanking this biological process for allowing me to have kids. Ah well, im stuck so i shall bear with it till menopause :p tough luck.

The Decadent Scientist

2005-08-26T16:11:00.000+08:00

It was like going back to the good old times again at Brewerkz last nite. The gang. Almost. GF the auditor works until 10.30pm. Good grief :p and ZT the London banker (pls enlighten me on ur job designation) were absent. hmm... mayb these two are the ones with the REAL jobs :p

Aniway, the gang minus 2 gathered over beer. Felt jus like the times in JC all over again. Except, we are a little bit wiser (especially in signing silly scholarships that take away our brains, social life, ideas etc :p) and yes, more, alot more, decadent. haha. mayb except QW. hah. Jugs of beer replaced our Milo-peng and every other conversations seemed to have a sexual undertone tat was quickly pointed out by various members at the table. (seriously, i cant remember wat we tokked abt in JC. But that was the time when i developed my corny wit. oh yah, i remember now. we tok cock. ) Now, we still tok cock. But we really tok cock :p ( can't u see the sexual undertone screaming right at you? :P)

Erhm. Wat's my point in this entry? I think my limited written expression does not permit me to highlight wat a great time I had last night. Beer. Tea. Vodlka. Tequila Sunrise. Sexual harassment. But well, simply. I appreciate this gang that grew up with me. The gang that came to my rescue moments after learning abt my breakup with THE EX (haha... okay lah. he got name lah. QH. hah.) Phonecalls from Shanghai and Michigan. Emails from London. N the sweet men (yes boys, i consider u guys as men now :p) in Singapore. Very much appreciated. The silly drama performance we put up in JC, the airport send-offs and arrivals, the steamboat sessions (i miss this so much. when will we ever have the complete group here again?), sessions where u pple get pissed drunk. I couldn't ask for a better group of frens to grow up with. (well, it will help if u pple all look like Jennifer Anistons and Brad Pitts. But, well. :p)

Okay, this looks like a very non-coherent entry. It is. Cos i only got home at 2.30am last night, up at 7 and at work at 8.30am the next day. oso, the vodlka nit from last night is only taking effect like now. It seemed like the only ones with work the next day and stayed up till 2.30am last night was MX and me. And as XF labelled us in her semi-tipsy state, The Decadent Writer and The Decadent Scientist. Well, at least I have a rejoinder to my entry title.

Rawa @ Nite

2005-08-15T20:10:00.000+08:00

The stars at Rawa are beautiful. Perhaps these stars can oso be seen from home, if not for the citylights...

Looking at the stars right above, the trio laid on the wooden balcony floor. Each of them immersed in their own monologues with the stars. Lost in their own thoughts. MX started to sing a soft, soothing song (no, not Twinkle Twinkle Little Star :p). One particular verse struck the innermost chord of MH's heart.

也许你不会懂从你说爱我以后我的天空星星都亮了

- 《童话》光良

Yep. MH thought. Wat a starry night indeed. ;)

Happy Birthday Singapore!

2005-08-08T21:38:00.000+08:00

Feet@Rawa

As I laid on my hammock @ Rawa, I observed the Singapore Dream unfold in front of me. Walking along the white sandy beach were a Singaporean family. The standard Singaporean family. Husband and wife. With 2.5 (here, round up to 3) kids. Elderly parent/s. AND maid. Singaporeans made good. Able to give the whole family a holiday. PLUS the maid, in toll. Making a guess, the family should be living in a 5 room flat, with plans to upgrade. n the family drives a MPV. Hyundai, Toyota or Honda, take ur pick. Up one rung, the family may be living in a condo or a landed property. still drives a MPV. But nonetheless, the Singaporean Dream.

---

When does a Singaporean's dream start? How is this dream shaped? The Singaporean Dream probably starts from Day 1 of Pri Sch. ('Mus get ah boy into top primary school. For a good future.') Nobody told auntie that nothing is guaranteed. Get into top Pri Sch, into top Sec Sch ('Mus be SAP sch arh, or Raffles. Raffles even more sey bing.'), into top JC ('huh, ur ah boy go poly arh? eeeyur, why go poly? He cannot go universiti liao.'), into Uni ('my son scholar leh. Dua Pek Gong mus noe tat I pray to him very hard. later mus buy gold chain to thank him'). Then wat?

---

Get a job ('i want to work for gahmen.'). If all goes well, get married, get HDB flat, get car, get kids. Work hard. Bring family for holiday. PLUS the maid. This Sinagporean Dream is the dream of our parents. Some parts done, some part not. Do we want to re-live their dream again? The answer for me is. No. This is not my Singaporean Dream. I want to move around places. Take watever that comes in stride. Accept the failures that comes with it. Enjoy the mistakes I make. Love the knocks I take. I don't want the Dream of my parents. They made good for themselves n for the family. Given the circumstances n all. But I do not want that kind of life, again. A family, yes. But I do not want the family to live this way. I do not want my kids to be caught in the rat race, in its different disguises, from the day they start school. I do not want them to think that failure is unacceptable. I dun not want them to have a maid :p I say, quit the elitism n start dreaming. Cos, wat if suddenly all fall apart?

---

One senior of my famous, SAP, elitist, Chinese (u get the picture) secondary school made it to the news recently. He chopped his alleged gerfren into pieces n flung her into the rivers of Singapore. It's kinda sad really. Good grades throughout school. Family with successful kids. Married high sch sweetheart. Loving wife. Good business. All the cards had been laid out nicely infront of him. Charting his life events would be like drawing an almost straight horizontal line. Then his business failed. Became supervisor at company. Met a china ger n fell in love (or so he tinks). A sudden peak in his oh-so-calm life. Ger decided to break away n he cant take it. Life spirals downwards from then on. The Singaporean Dream he had painstakingly built for so long, shattered. Maybe, it wasn't even his dream in the first place.

---

At another side of the world, in the rural pockets of Canada, some years ago, a 12 yr old ger left home with only a few pennies in her pocket. She hitched rides on trucks all the way to the big city of Vancouver. There, she worked as a waitress at nite clubs n strip joints for years. Finally, at the age when its time to go to college, with no formal education to speak of, she managed to talk her way into convincing the school to make an exception. Eventually, she graduated from Oxford with a PhD in Philosophy and became a Professor there. It is my fortune to be able to have her drum some philosophy n ethics into our budding scientists minds but it is her life story that truly fascinates me. As a young ger, her uncle asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. After much thought, she said she wants to be philosopher. In the end, she done jus that. She lived her dream. Not that of her parents'. Professor at Oxford vs A farmer's wife.

---

The future is for ours to make. The catchphrase for this years NDP. Happy Bdae, Singapore. The country that I am secretly very proud of, despite all the whinings. Cheers.

Wildlife @ Rawa

2005-08-08T17:37:00.000+08:00

Man and Dog

(a.k.a Smiley Dog and Elusive Man)
------

Gasp! A cock without a head.

Tok cock lah!

I am not a plant

2005-08-08T16:50:00.000+08:00

For the past few days, my dear body has done a great job in reminding me that I am not a plant. I do not need 12 hours of sunshine everyday because I do not photosynthesize. All the solar energy absorbed during the Rawa trip cannot be used to convert stuff into sugar and oxygen. However, the energy is jus enough to grow bacteria and viruses in my body system. Well done. I am a bioreactor.

The body did well by giving me a headache, fever and sore throat on Thursday.
Friday, headache still there.
Saturday, sore throat came back, else I feel fine.
Sunday, sore throat became worse. Starting to croak. I tink I'm turning into a toad. Family members kept asking me to shut up when I tried to speak. :p
Monday, still croaking. Decided to go school and freak my Prof out....

.... it was a success cos the moment I spoke, he asked me to go home and rest. Yeah! Mission accomplished!

Lonely flower on the hill top @ Rawa

So, I am not a plant. This is a plant.

Rawa ( A quickie)

2005-08-02T18:23:00.000+08:00

Here is my fav. shot on the trip to Rawa :p

Sunshine. Sunkissed. Sunburnt.

N yes, Narcissist.

Commencement 2005

2005-07-25T21:26:00.000+08:00

The Ex, The Good Friend and The JC crush.

Congratulations on their new life!

I can't help but notice

2005-07-18T15:18:00.000+08:00

A few members from my lab have been promoted recently or given a big pay rise. Definitely a chance to celebrate. And so, I have been given the arduous task of finding a place for dinner. Chongqing Hot Pot @ Suntec became our choice after some helpful discussions (although I played a large part in working the pple towards this choice. *evil laughter*).

And so, I have to make the reservations. While searching for the phone number on the net, I chance upon this blog. I am really sorry for using her blog as an example but her blog is what a typical blog that makes my skin crawl would look and sound like. I am not saying mine is good, but at least not inane. I hope. Go read it if u have time to spare... if u really have time to spare. Serious.

Inane entries i can tolerate. What got me to gag were the fotos taken @ Sentosa. Dragon boxers, thong bikini. Enuff said. MX, if u and I were on that beach, we will have a field day toking abt them.

Arghh... so sorry for being so bitchy. I've got to go pick up my goosebumps from the floor and collect the skin that had crawled away now...

Mid week crisis club II

2005-07-17T13:13:00.000+08:00

The reason I was out till 3am on Friday night was becos MWCC wanted to meet up. It's been awhile since we met and so the usual suspects made an effort to turn up. While waiting for everyone, the few early birds (me included, of cos) were standing outside Zouk. Looking at pretty gers on killer heels and miniskirts trip over the uneven pavement. And as usual, toking cock.

It came to our notice (yes, the ever observant budding scientists. bleah.) that payment for more and more things can done with a cashcard. With logical reasoning, we wondered whether prostitutes would one day start accepting cashcard payments for their services. In that case, they will have to carry a UI unit or a cash card reader on their bodies. Not very sexy though. However, like parking lots, will the charges be based on per ENTRY OR per HOUR? Without a doubt, charging per entry would be beneficial from the perspective of these ladies. Because per hour is a flat fee, there will be a ceiling to the amount they can make. However, there is no wage ceiling for per entry. Cos you guys have to go in, out, in, out, in, out right? ;)

Ahem. At Wine Bar, budding scientists were having intellectual discussions around the table. I overheard two talking about getting vibrators in Europe.

Dave: Collaborators lah! Wat vibrators. Haiyoh.

Me: Oh, sorry. Under the influence of alcohol.... so how many vibrators are u getting?

WaiLeong: Three. Why do guys need vibrators? Our is manual type.

Pauline: We dun really need vibrators too. There is losta test tubes in the lab.

Me: Yah, not forgetting, we have the vortex.

NB: sorry pple, punchline probably better understood if u work in a lab. so, this is a geeky joke. haha.

A glimpse of wat budding scientists have been up to at work and at play recently.

@KM8 sometime ago

As the saying goes, do what you enjoy and you will never have to work a single day in your life ;)

My mum's older cousin's aunt's daughter

2005-07-17T12:25:00.000+08:00

For the past week, I have been returning home quite late every night. And this was driving my mum crazy. It reached boiling point on Friday night when I returned home at 3am. No explosive fights though, just some very ridiculous and imaginative comments from her on Saturday morning.

As usual, I drive my parents to work on weekends. While in the lift...

Mum: (in a very serious tone) 你知道吗？我的堂姐的姑姑的女儿以前被她的七个好朋友强奸leh.(You know, sometime ago, my older cousin's aunt's daughter was raped by 7 of her good friends leh.)
Me: (my jaws dropped) HUH?!
Mum: 轮奸leh! (Gang raped leh!)
My dad, being nonchalant 99.9% of the time, was shaking his head. I was shaking mine in bewilderment.
Me: (blocking everything she had jus said out of my mind) 我去拿车。。。(In singlish: I go take car. In engrish: I will get the car.)

It was helpful for MX to suggest that I should have asked whether she was gang raped in her own car.

Cursed

2005-07-05T20:57:00.000+08:00

Yes, I have finished my PhD conversion. I am now officially a PhD candidate. Not a Masters student. ... n tats about as interesting as it gets. Haha.

I tink I am cursed. In less than a year, important men in my life have left me one by one. To different places, different countries, different paths in life. Damm it. What a wretched life.

Dec 2004
CJ, the post-doc that had been guiding me through my winding research path decided abruptly to quit research and work for a MNC. Within a week, he was gone from the lab.

Jan 2005
I got dumped. Enuff said.

July 2006
My mentor and friend, Prof PJB leaves for the UK where he will spend more time with his wife who is ill at the moment. Will miss seeing this jolly man so much!

My twin, J, from my next door lab (yes, physically the boy-next-door) leaves for the US to pursue his PhD. He is basically my twin because he shares the same frequency as me. So equal in crapiness n wit. Haha. And he is seriously in love with my dog. :p

August 2006
CY, the ever so nice researcher who passed me on my qualifying exam is going back to the US to become a lecturer. We actually had plans to do some work together so that he can help me graduate. Sigh.

Girl power from now on.

Be right back

2005-06-27T08:57:00.000+08:00

Dearies, I will be right back after I get my wretched PhD conversion examination out of the way in a week or two. Meanwhile, I will probably do the lazy thing of jus posting fotos. :)

A wedding invitation

2005-06-14T14:01:00.000+08:00

Something I read on a friend's wedding invitation:

'When you love someone, you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. This is impossible. A disservice to pretend it is possible. Yet that is what most for us demand. We have such little faith in the ebb and flow of life and of love and of relationships.

We leap forward at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb, for we are afraid it will never return. We insist in permanence, on duration, on continuity. But the only continuity possible in life, in love, is in growth, in fluidity and in freedom, as dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in creating the same pattern. '

How true. How beautifully true.

LOST

2005-06-11T10:14:00.000+08:00

Did you watch the pilot of Lost on Thursday nite? If you haven't, you've seriously missed a great show. Despair, hope, humour, racism, fear etc etc etc it was all there. Argh. And the end of episode 2 (well, it's the 2 hr special lah), was simply, as ah bengs put it, power. The cliffhanger had my goosebumps standing for a full 3 mins and my eyes were tearing with fear. I was muttering WTF WTF WTF is happening on that island?

My excitement was somewhat curbed because no one in my lab watched it. 3 China Chinese, 1 India Indian and 1 Singaporean. The Chinese don't watch such shows, the Indian had no TV and the Singaporean does not watch any TV at all. Sigh. Wrong crowd.

Fortunately, Mid week crisis club came to the rescue. Met them last night at Forbidden City and out of the 4 I've asked, only one missed it (cos she was too freaked out by the whole thing).

So, my conclusion for the day is scholars from 'The Agency' are very free people who watch late nite TV. Despite the need to do our PhD conversion in around a month's time. Maybe it's because crunch time is always just around the corner.

Revelation

2005-05-29T14:29:00.000+08:00

It’s been two weeks since my ‘depressing’ entries. For those who might think that I have disappeared from the face of the earth, I didn’t. Though I hope to disappear from our small, sunny island to take a break in … erm… another small, sunny island.

These two weeks have sort of been a revelation of some sort for me. Lots of things happened in the past two weeks. Let’s see:

1. Attended 2 weddings.
2. My Mom bought a condo unit.
3. I am in debt now bcos of point 2.
4. Momo finally stepping out of the house and conquering her fear of the leash. Now she has to conquered her fear of bicycles, bigger dogs, uncles that goes ‘zut zut zut’ at her, her own reflection etc etc etc etc.
5. Attended an animal handling course on laboratory animals.
6. Got bitten by mice twice bcos of point 5.
7. Had my financial portfolio planned.
8. Some of my gerfrens had issues with their boyfriends, husbands and potential partners that reached boiling point. I sat there and listened.

And it made me look back at those previous entries and my life now as it is being presented to me. I actually felt a sense of relief. Maybe, just maybe, this is better for me now. Single, in my mid twenties, just starting out on my career (some sort lah!), spending my own money. Perhaps now is the right time to be by oneself. To grow up on your own. Make friends, have fun, enjoy life before commitments come. It really might just be as good as it gets.

-----
Two weeks before, he asked me out. I replied that I can’t meet him yet because I still miss him a lot. He said he understands.
-----

9. Met him last week just before his backpacking trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. Bcos of point 8.
10. I still miss him but life goes on, gerfrens!!

Yeah, and I shall continue to be in denial about my research :p

2005-05-14T11:50:00.000+08:00

Arghh... my previous entry is so depressing. Buay tahan. Will quit whinning (for now) and talk about my dog.

“You look worn out.”

2005-05-13T23:15:00.000+08:00

My ex-colleague came back to visit the lab and said that to me. Yes I am. Worn out in so many ways. This week was presentation week for me and I had to present to my boss the progress that I have made, or lack of it, for the past few months. After which, he will wallop me with question that I do not have the answers for. My stress levels shoots up every time it’s my turn to do a presentation. And it is also at such moments when I especially need someone to be there to cheer me on, push me forward, cheer me up. It is especially at such moments. One friend was sick and her experiments failed this week. She wished there was someone there to dote on her. Another friend just went through a bad interview (she wasn’t bad, the interviewers were.) and she too wished someone was there. Two friends’ blogs lamented when this someone will come to lift you up when you are down. Friends can play the role but they will never play it as well as this someone. Someone that’s first on your mind when you are in the dumps, when you are sad, when you are happy…

I am not as happy as I used to be. Maybe my friends noticed, maybe they have not. But deep down inside, I know I am not who I used to be. There are longer moments of silence. When friends expect some witty (I choose to believe that it’s more wit than bitchiness) one-liners from me, they do not always get what they want. I try to keep solemn-ness at bay but it creeps in once in awhile. I thought happiness is included in the package if I try to lead a simple life. A woman was once asked by the priest for her reasons for adultery (her husband was always busy and had no time for her), she replied, “I just want to be happy.” The priest shook his head and replied, “That is the answer of a selfish child.”

I have to look for my own happiness. But what amount of this happiness is being offered to me? How much of it will I take and how much will I leave it for someone?

好想好好爱你却沒有权利再把你抱緊

从今以后如果你能快乐就別管我想你

- 好想好好爱你, 周蕙

Random thought

2005-05-13T23:06:00.000+08:00

My friend says pet owners treat their pets like their own children. I’ve realized the truth in this only recently. The other day, I managed to teach Momo to lift up her paw on command for me to shake (“Paw paw.”). That was indeed a proud moment. While basking in a sense of pride for my little pup, I also came to learn that a guy friend of mine has been training his gerfriend’s dog. Now, this dog does crawling, sitting, etc etc on command. A dog with a bag full of tricks, all taught by this guy friend. I suddenly have this sense of loss and envy. How I wish my pup has a male figure like this guy friend in her life. To teach her tricks, play with her and to sayang her. Since Momo joined the family, she has been predominantly interacting with members of her own sex. My dad pats her once in awhile but does not actually play an active role. So Momo lacks a male figure in her life. At this instant, it struck me. I am jus like a single parent looking for someone out there to can take care of both me and my kid. To form a complete picture.

Probably my group of guyfriends I know since young would protest to my claim that Momo has no male figure in her life. I am sure they will gladly teach Momo tricks and play with her. Judging from their willingness in offering suggestions on how I can transport Momo around in the car and Momo’s fur shedding problems (special thanks goes out to wmx for his innovative ideas :p) , I am sure they will. But, its not the same. For them, Momo will always be loved as a pet, a dog. But I love my pet like my own kid. This male figure will too. Jus like how my guyfriend treats his gerfriend’s dog. Like his own.

Love me, love my dog.

Roundup of this week

2005-05-01T16:56:00.000+08:00

Hmm, this week was pretty boring and lame.

The most significant thing that happened was my boss falling sick. He had the flu and it was so bad that he was on sick leave for 3 days. But, he still came in for short periods of time to do work (mus be the non-drowsy type of flu medicine. bleah.) Nonetheless, he didn't speak to anyone of us for fear of passing on his flu virus. Which was a good thing. hehe...

Actually, there was a significant other thing that i did. But it's pretty lame and pathetic. So I wun say :p

The most exciting thought of the week was the plan to go holidaying. Yeah! Bitten by the travel bug again. Plus, i think a need a break from work. Getting tired of going to work everyday. Its not a good sign. My friend Weiwei and her boyfriend are going to Europe in May. Jus after her boyfriend finishes his degree. *pause* I made a similar pact with somebody sometime ago too. *sigh* But it is not meant to be. I will travel Europe eventually. Either alone or with company.

I have a new boyfriend

2005-04-24T15:12:00.000+08:00

I have a new boyfriend. He is from the US but born in Taiwan. Has a broad chest and nice six pecs. And I think he is Mr Right....

Or at least that is what it says on the package.

My ever thoughtful friend, Minxiu, bought me a boyfriend while on his holiday in the US.

Over the phone, he said: Meimei, I bought you a new boyfriend. Something that you need.
Me: Oh really?! (In jest) Dun tell me it's those that you can put in water and it will grow big one.
MX: Oh my god. Yes.
Me: Oh my god.

When I met my new boyfriend, I tried to learn abit about him. On the back of the package are the Instructions For Use.

No.1 Place boyfriend in room temperature water.
(Easily done. So my boyfriend is not high maintenance. No need air-con.)

No.2 Your boyfriend will begin to grow within 2 hours and reach a full growth within 72 hours.
(Maybe it is subtly saying that my boyfriend needs 2 hours to get aroused and 3 days to get an erection?!!!)
He will slowly shrink to smaller size when removed from water.
(So they mean we can only do it in the shower?! I like to do it in the wilderness. How? :p)

No.3 Your boyfriend can be grown over and over again.
(Yay!)

On the front of the package, it says that Mr Right will grow to 3-4 times his size in water. My question is, which part? Yay again if it's talking about the lower part. But if it's talking about his height, he will grow to a proud height of *drum roll* 28cm tall. I would rather have a midget as a boyfriend than this midget midget. I reckon they are talking about his height and not his body parts because the package also says this: Contains small parts. Sob.

N Minxiu bought this from a gay shop. So, he might be gay. (25 Apiril '05 I mean my boyfriend may be gay. Not Minxiu.)

Sigh.

The Dog has visitors

2005-04-24T15:07:00.000+08:00

Enuff said.

The entry that was 3 weeks late

2005-04-24T14:30:00.000+08:00

Was suppose to blog this entry 3 weeks ago but things suddenly change with Momo around. My hands were, and still are, full wiping up her pee and poo that I had to delay this entry for so long. Nonetheless, better late than never. :) I have this group of classmates from my secondary school days who I still hang out with. Maybe less often now because of the many commitments that each of us have eg. married life, vet career, insurance agent/surfing career, struggling Phd, uncertainties etc. At the very least, we will try to meet up for dinner to celebrate each others birthday when it's round the corner every year. More recently, thanks to Wendy, we have discovered a nice zhi-char store opposite SPH that does the best fried sotong, pai-gu-wong and other Cantonese cuisine ever. (Note: Dun try to ask them to do non-Cantonese stuff eg. Fried KangKong. It taste really really weird.)

The most recent meeting was 3 weeks ago. Nobody's birthday but just thought we should meet.

On the left is the surfer dude, Gerald. Not with his surfer dude haircut, hair color and surfer shorts so his good looks is abit muted. Tink the businessman look still does not suit him. Yet. And next to him is my dear Wendy. Teacher, wifey to a navy diver and owner to a cat that thinks she is a dog. Missing here is Yee Lin, our vet and wakeboarder. Busy lah her, can't meet us most of the time. Also missing is my ex-boyfriend. Yeah, all of us were classmates. It's still weird lah. Mayb next time. Bet he misses the food. (Note to him: Go eat it yourself lah. Alone. Hiyak hiyak hiyak :p)

On that day, the three of us covered pai-gu-wong, fried sotong, har-kiong-gai, fried kang kong (very wrong) and one more dish that I can't recall now. Hmm. This was a modest meal for us because we used to ordered so much there that once, the auntie refused to sell anymore fired sotong to us. We were so hurt. :p

I'm freeeee!!!!

2005-04-18T20:51:00.000+08:00

Yeah!!! Exams are finally over!! I'm freeeee!!!!! I had a 45 page exam paper today. Can you believe that? I had to write the answers on the question paper but there were around 30 odd questions to do. Plus choices, I had a 45 page exam paper. Tsk. The exam was supposed to be 2 and a half hours but it stretched to 3 and a half hours. It had to end because the venue was booked for a bone marrow donation exercise. Thank goodness. Brain dead for the whole day.

I realize my entries nowadays concern mainly Momo. Well, will write more about myself soon (nothing exciting mah, was studying for exams). Meanwhile, back to Momo.

I realize my dog may be a rabbit.

Edvidence 1:

She has no tail.

Edvidence 2:

She looks like a rabbit.

Edvidence 3:

She can hop.

On the other hand.

She may be an elephant cos her ears are so BIG.

She is like a baby....

2005-04-09T21:31:00.000+08:00

That's my sis and Momo after her second bath within the week. The pet farm advised us to give her a bath once a week. BUT. This ger is so smelly we had to bathe her twice. Sigh, I know its not her fault that she steps on her poo and pee and likes to walk all over her play pen with her dirty paws. It is also not her fault that she is having diarrhea (I've checked with the vet, she is probably having worms cos she eats, drinks and play well. Will de-worm her on her next vaccination.). BUT. She is still a naughty girl for eating her poo. She doesn't eat her semi-solid poo (those that form a nice pile, if u can get the picture). She only eats her lao-sai. Arghh. And it makes her mouth so stinko. I think she knows we will get angry with her for that cos she has attempted to cover her lao-sai eating tracks with her soft toy tiger. Sly little dog. Ha!

The first few days were pretty tiring. Had to tend to her pee and poo all the time. Kept worrying abt her at work and cant sleep well (my dark eye rings are making a comeback!). Have to wake up at 7 am to feed her and clean whatever mess that she has left. It's almost a week now and I think she has almost settled down. Thank goodness me, my sis and my mum are hardworking women who work nicely as a team in tending to her needs. My dad jus comes into the kitchen in the morning to give her a pat and my aunt jus stands there to talk to her and scream at US to come clear her poo while my aunt is with her. I reckon my dad and aunt have the best deal. :p

More next time. I am going JB tomolo for a Department retreat. The schedule includes a lobster lunch and a seafood dinner. And its freeeeeeee!!! Well, lets see how good it will turn out. Will enjoy the seafood while my poor sis takes care of Momo's poo n pee :)

Hello everyone :)

2005-04-04T22:02:00.000+08:00

Hello everybody... my name is Momo. I am two and a half months old. Singaporean. I'm new here. Stuck in my playpen cos I havent figure out when is the right place and time to pee and poo yet. Btw, my master caught me eating my own poo just now.

Corgi

2005-04-03T22:36:00.000+08:00

Sorry for not blogging this week pple. Wanted to blog over the weekend (and oso read up, study for my exams, do my lab presentation etc etc etc). But none was done. Because I've got a dog!!!!! Yes, I bought one. Scold me for not adopting one but this one is too hard to resist :) It's her first day at home. Havent thought of her name yet. But she has successfully poo-ed on the newpaper I gave her. After furiously praising her for her deed, she pee-ed all over the place. Hmm... lots to keep me busy with.

Good Friday

2005-03-27T20:51:00.000+08:00

Alright, I said I had alot of work to do and I can't seem to be able to finish them. But it was Good Friday and I need to have a life. And so I did. Hee hee. Off I went, on that very fine evening, to KM8 at Sentosa for the Corona Beach Party. We could hear the thumping music from where we parked and our first sight of the actual event was indeed very pleasing. Women in bikinis and hunky men were gyrating on the podium. There were quite a number of ang mohs around (which according to Gary, are Australians cos they make up most of the crowd from Liquid Room. I quickly gave him a worried look and replied that there was an alert issued which said terrorists will target Good Friday and the last time I checked, terrorist don't particularly like Ozzies.) Neway, any worries about a terrorist attack were quickly dissipated with the fine sight of bikinis, nice bods and a 4 month old husky (Yes, another husky on Sentosa. Word has gotten around in the Cool Dogs world that Sentosa is THE place to be seen.).

Snippets from the event:

There was this girl with a very hot body (when i say very hot, i mean small waist BIG boobs) doing a private dance for her boyfriend by the side of the podium. On closer inspection, her boyfriend was female. Everyone other guy on that beach was gawking at her and wondering what has mankind done to her. Well.

The female toilet has 3 cubicles but only one was working. The queue for it was looooong. Val and I couldn't hold much longer and really had to go. No one was inside the guys toilet and we sneaked in. After doing the usual stuff I do in toilets, I opened the cubicle door and was greeted by an ang moh standing at the urinal right in front of me. Peeing. (Plus the sight of another 2 Asian guys at the far ends. Breathtaking. ) I look straight (Hey, I'm a lady. I didn't look downwards okay :p) at the ang moh and 'cooed' "Hello, boys..." and briskly walked out. The ang moh spontaneously replied "Hello Darling!!!". Splendid.

4 Coronas. 1 Bicardi 151 nit. 3 shots of Sarong Fly. Half a bucket of cold water. I had 3 Coronas before Pauline came (She was at Church before that. God bless.). She bought us a round of Corona. Staff from KM8 then came with a nit of Bicardi for every one (well, most of us. Except for the under 21s ie. my sis and her fren) plus a bottle of Sarong Fly. All thanks to the ever sociable Pauline. We had to pay for the drinks lah but we couldn't let poor Pauline finish all that right? She needs to drive. (Evil laughter). I didn't drink half a bucket of cold water. KM8 staff poured that on me. We were lying on the beach chairs and asked for a drink of ice water. Generous KM8 staff came back with a bucket of ice water and poured it all over us.

Val had an even more happening night than us. *wink*

I would have posted some pictures. But my ability to take night pictures sucks.

I didn't drive home. I brought my driver with me that nite. I thank the heavens for having a sister that likes to tag along with her sis. And, of cos, her ability to drive.

《我的爱》

2005-03-23T20:04:00.000+08:00

Been listening to this song for quite awhile now. It stuck with me because of many reasons. (24 Mar '05 Forgot to add, song is by Sun Yanzi :)

《我的爱》

曲：林毅心词：小寒编：吴庆隆

绕着上路走的累了去留片刻要如何取舍
前年捡的美丽贝壳心不透彻不会懂多难得

以为只要简单的生活
就能平息了脉搏却忘了在逃什么

我的爱明明还在转身了才明白
该把幸福找回来而不是各自缅怀
我会在沿海地带等着潮汐更改送你回来
你走路姿态微笑的神态见你是曾错过的真爱

莫非这是上天善意的安排
好让心更坚定彼此更接近真爱

我的爱明明还在转身了才明白
该把幸福找回来而不是各自缅怀
我会在沿海地带等着潮汐更改学着忍耐
不再怕伤害不再怕期待见你时那才是我真爱

P.S Sorry to pple who don't (or hardly :p) read Chinese.

My amazing boss

2005-03-23T18:17:00.000+08:00

This morning while brushing my teeth, I swear that there wasn't any pimple or budding pimples on my forehead. At work, I spoke to my boss. He needed me to crunch some data SOON. Summarize, interpret, conclude. There was alot of data. Very, very stress. Evening time now and I am still 80% away from finishing. By now, there is a budding pimple over my left eyebrow. And it's BIG. It's amazing how my boss can make my pimples sprout like this just by talking to me.

I jog

2005-03-21T20:24:00.000+08:00

Exam today was more of memory work. *pause* okay, enough on the exams.
---------
For those who know me since secondary, JC, Uni and at work will know that I DO NOT EXERCISE. But now I do. Shocking! But true. Yes, LMH does exercise. In fact, I jog 5 days per week. Rest days are usually Wednesdays (Wala wala day) and Sundays. But I do not jog for long distance lah, only around 2km+ everytime. It has almost been a month since and I think, I think, I have lost at least 1 or 2 kgs. I should be happy but the dismaying thing is, my cup size has shrank! Arghhh!!! Body, listen to me!! The fat deposits on my chest are meant to be there! Remove fats from the tummy ONLY! Sadly, my conscious mind is not communicating with my sub-consciousness (Probably too much Hoegarden).

But, that is not the point of this entry. I wanted to blog because I am here to proclaim that the pavements that I step on, momentarily belongs to ME when I jog. So stupid cyclists and pedestrians that stroll on them, please step aside. Special attention goes to families that 'clog' the pavements. Why do they have to walk in a single file? Why do they have big butts?

When you jog in HDB estates, you will realise that the pavements are lined with metal drain grilles/ covers (or whatever it is actually called) and there is a portion by the side that is only concrete. Nice and steady. I absolutely have to jog on the concrete part because it is dangerous to jog on the metal side. The metal grilles gets slippery after a rain and some of them have dents that threaten to give any jogger a bad sprain. So, any considerate person who is cycling or walking should keep to the metal side and let the jogger cross. This poor, red face jogger is huffing and puffing, concentrating on jogging and has a pace to keep. All you have to do is to walk or cycle to the side leisurely. But some don't. Indeed, I have many 'face-offs' with such cyclists and pedestrians. The cyclist will be cycling towards me on MY concrete side of the pavement and I will be running right towards him, staring straight at him and see who will give way first. No collisions has happened yet but there are times when the cyclist had to brake hard and stop in his tracks upon realization that this jogger is not giving way. The pedestrians are usually more considerate. BUT some of them also think they own the concrete pavement. I don't know why but at such instances, I usually lose the 'face-offs' with them. I am the one who switch, not them. Nonetheless, these pple are met with very loud, breathless TSK! TSK! TSK! from behind their backs when I run pass.

And so, I continue on with my jog.

Time-out

2005-03-16T10:42:00.000+08:00

Exam next Monday. Got to start studying right now. Will leave all my complains to next week :P

Henna

2005-03-13T18:20:00.000+08:00

As my lab demonstration (“Class, today we will be finding out how much the fat content of this milk powder is.”) for the day ended early, I asked one of the students to do a Henna for me. She is good at this and it’s FREE! Heehee. This is the second time I am getting one. I got my first Henna in Phuket while holidaying with him. I remember the design was a sun and it was painted on the back of my left shoulder. Having this Henna on my hand got me thinking about things again. It reminded me of the times I spent in Phuket with him. I couldn’t swim but I still went snorkeling because there would be him holding onto my hand while we snorkeled. Well, wearing a life jacket helps but my real life jacket was him. Having him see the seasick me puke my guts out was also fun.

I miss his hugs. What I miss most, is the way he hugs me from behind. I think having someone hug you from behind is the most intimate hug of all. At least this is how I feel. You let your guard down and in a way, you surrender yourself to him. He wraps his arms around you and for that moment, your world consists of only him and him alone. He is there to protect you, to take care of you and to tell you that everything is alright. He did not hug me like that often. Maybe this is also why it’s so special. Once, I was struggling in the kitchen, trying to cook something for him. (Although he liked me to cook for him once in a while, I did not do it often enough… it’s useless to regret about it now.) Bothered, frustrated, sweating and feeling oily. He came in and gave me a hug from behind. He didn’t say much but I knew that however crappy the outcome of this meal would be, it would be okay.

The Henna on the back of my left shoulder has since faded. But sometimes, if I look carefully, I can still see traces of it. Even if I can’t see its traces anymore, I can still feel that its there. Like memories, they can fade but they will always be there. And you can always feel it.

P.S I’m fine, I’m fine. No need for concern phone calls dear friends. Probably it’s the time of the month again :p

Moon, Sand and Sea!

2005-03-13T10:37:00.000+08:00

Actually, I couldn't see the moon when I went to Sentosa on Friday nite. Together with my mid-week crisis club, we were checking out a new place that Pauline was raving about. KM8. Incidentally, there is an article on today's paper, Lifestyle section Pg 9 on this new beach bar. Trivial fact: It's called KM8 because it is located about 8km from The Liquid Room, the main club's home. Too bad the pictures in that article was taken in daylight. I think the charm of this place can be better represented after nightfall. I think those 'babes' in the main picture of the article stuck around after the photo shot cos they seemed to be the ang mohs we saw on Friday.

Friday night at KM8 was pretty quiet. I guess Sentosa still has to do more on drawing in the crowd to Sentosa on weekdays. The happening stuff probably starts on the weekends. On this Friday night, and I guess on most weekdays, I would even describe the place as being romantic. Nice sounds and soft lighting. A little private part of the island. I think it is a perfect place to end a nice evening by having drinks here. Well, if you want more, you and your partner can walk further past the club and into a even more deserted side of the island. News flash: We spotted couples walking further towards the end of the island hand in hand. A couple walked out with a little mat in hand. How discreet. Well, if they feel hot from all the activity, they can jump right into the pool in front of the bar at KM8. Only couples are allowed in this private pool but since there was very little people at the place that day, all of us were allowed to soaked our feet in the pool. Hahaha. Very PEASANT (ammended 14/3/05 2.45pm, tks to wmx), I know.

I think Sentosa is very romantic on weekdays nights. It's quiet and the fine sandy beach will let you and your loved one walk hand in hand, for the longest time. The simple life.

Sun, Sand and Sea!

2005-03-13T10:00:00.000+08:00

Mighty fine day isn't it? To be exact, this entry is 1 week late. I went to Sentosa last Saturday, on the excuse that I will be playing volleyball. Which, to those who know me, know it's an excuse (I'm running out of vocabulary words here.) cos I will try to hit, volley, catch the ball with all my might, but most of the time, I will be either bitching with my bitch buddy, kicking sand on his feet or buying him a nice Corona.

This is me here, sitting peacefully under a coconut tree. A group of idiots was playing volleyball with the net behind me. Why do I call them idiots? Because they do not know the difference between a soccer ball and a volleyball! Getting hit by a volleyball causes minor injuries and embarrassment but getting hit by a soccer ball KILLS!! It won't kill me if I get hit by it but I will kill THEM. It almost happened twice. The group of us was happily sitting around chatting when suddenly a soccer ball flew right at us. Thump! No one was hit but I'm pissed. But I kept quiet. Stay demure. Moments later, the soccer ball flew into the middle of our circle again. Thump! F! I shouted to no one in particular that THIS IS A SOCCER BALL! NOT A VOLLEYBALL! and turned around to stare at the group. Gave them some evil eyes. They moved away from us and proceeded to play soccer. A smarter use of material. When they almost hit us twice, none of them ever offered a single sorry. Puit.

This is the husky we met at the beach. So handsome! Judging from his tongue sticking out so much, I bet he is so damm hot from the heat and his fur. His owner left him with us while he went to get a drink. As I have always believed, getting a husky is a sure babe/hunk magnet. Too bad I'm not getting one YET cos I think it's unfair to make such a big dog stay in my small little flat. With the size of this dog, we can also safely conclude that the owner is a rich kid. Too bad none of us actually went to chat up the owner (who looked rich and tanned in his Mambo shorts). Where is Val when we need her?

And here is dear Jovi, one of my good pal's dog! She took a ride with her master in my car to Sentosa. The most exercise I had at Sentosa was trying to walk her. Actually, she was walking me. Actually, we were not walking, we were running. Yes, she is hyper. A cross between a Jack Russell and a miniature Pinscher. Explaining the temperament and built respectively. MX was also trying to drown her cos she was so playful. Together with Jovi's owner, YS, and me, we took her towards the sea and coaxed her into the water. And she swam! Jovi was dog paddling in the water in circles. So cute! YS was very proud of her dog. Couples frolicking in the sea were also looking in amusement at this little swimming dog. When Jovi had enough, she went towards the shore and pee-ed into the sea. We left the couples in the sea to enjoy the little part that Jovi had left behind.

Woof!

Inane entry

2005-03-08T13:10:00.000+08:00

In view of Inane Month, (Yes, sometimes we have Save the Earth Month, Fasting Month and even the Month of the Hungry Ghosts. It's inevitable that pple will run out of what to name the many months they have [last count was 12 months]. So one day, a very creative individual subtlety hinted that this particular month is Inane Month. And so here we are chewren, that's the origin of how Inane Month came about.) I am here to blog some inane stuff.

I had a terrible lunch today. Because my experiments were running, I had to make my lunch short. So I went to tah-pao. The shortest queue was the zhap-cai-peng (mixed rice lah.), I ordered takeaway of rice with steamed egg, tofu and sweet and sour pork. As I ate the food after I got back to the lab, I realized the egg was tasteless, the tofu was too beany and the pork was cooked from yesterday! Pissed.

Nevermind. In the evening, I tah-pao a chicken salad from the cafe at my building. The two kids serving were obviously on their first day at work. My chicken salad consisted of 3 pieces of cabbage leaves and a huge bob of shredded chicken meat. Now, that's not chicken salad. It's chicken meat with vegetable garnish. And then they proceeded to place a lump of Mayonnaise on my salad. !!!!!. Who the hell puts mayonnaise on salads?! Hello? Very proud that they could pull it off, they smiled at me and asked me if I want Chilli, Thousand Island or Italian Dressing on my 'salad'. I want you to disappear right now and return me my $2.50. Not forgetting, they had squeezed my salad into a takeaway container meant for Nachos.

Me: Excuse me, can I have more vegetables?
Them: (sparingly picked a few more leaves and shreds of carrots)
Me: Sorry, is this the actual container? Can I change into the bigger one? Takeaway is already 20 cents extra, right? For any type of container.
Them: (changed to big container) (Both quickly proceeded to the back of the kitchen where I couldn't see them. Probably to bitch about me.)
Me: Hello?
Them: (smiles)
Me: Can I have a fork?
Them: (gives me a fork, smiles)
I finally left.

After my jog, I sat down to eat the salad. Gingerly avoiding the lump of mayo, the salad was surprisingly good and satisfying. Oh, I found another extra fork in the bag. I'm the bitch. Haa....

I suck

2005-03-06T15:30:00.000+08:00

Okay, I do not really know how the program to post pics works. My pics are small. And the timing and dates are screwed up. I can't even put a title. Tsk.

2005-03-05T23:12:00.000+08:00

Dawn at Greymouth

2005-03-05T23:11:00.001+08:00

Dad and Mum. The clouds are very nice.

2005-03-05T23:11:00.000+08:00

My mum, trying to promote the buying of the number 2 for Toto

2005-03-05T23:08:00.000+08:00

NZ- A little chapel by the lake

2005-03-05T23:03:00.000+08:00

What is she doing there?

I work at the backwaters of research

2005-03-05T22:23:00.000+08:00

I tried to deny this fact since the start of my postgrad studies but I realize no matter how hard I try, the truth is- I work at the backwaters of research. Bleah. Having Biopolis around is not helping either.

In a nutshell, at the start of my scholarship, I had to look for a postgrad supervisor either in NUS or in any of the research institutes (RI) ("as long as the supervisor is in the 'approved' list"). Thinking that it will be more relaxed at NUS, being the slacker as I am, I choose that. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong decision. Now, I am not complaining about the quality of research that NUS chums out as compared to the RIs. I think they are comparable. Also, expectations for postgrad students are the same everywhere. What makes the difference is the supervisor you have. And asshole supervisors are all over the place. So, it doesn't matter. What gets me complaining now is that the RIs are so much more well equipped than NUS. Equipment are in wanton abundance (Yeah, I'm exaggerating here for maximum effect)!! Cos they have lots of funding, lots of moo-la. To all taxpayers out there, thank you for your generous contribution to science.

I have 1 set of Western blot kit (NB: A kit used to analyze different types of cellular proteins) in my lab. There was this particular time when 4 people in my lab had to use the kit at the same time. Sensing the inefficiency, I asked boss to buy some more kits. He said no. In a very indirect, assholic kind of way. He wanted me to prove that by buying more kits, we will work more efficiently. ie. Go and borrow kits from other labs and within the next 6 months, produce a research paper which would have taken a longer time. Duh. It's not like we do not have the money to buy them. We even have a huge sum to spend by the middle of this year. What Is His Problem! I related this incident to my mates working in RIs and they are greatly sympathetic. Dave said his lab has 10 kits and no one ever use them. Some remained unopened. I can't remember exactly who said what but around that table, each of them reported a respectable number of kits in their labs. Definitely better than my lonely 1. They all kindly offered me a loan of their kits. But still. I want my own (Whining...)!

My mates in RIs also get free laser color printing. I go to lectures conducted by the RIs with black and white notes and people around me all have full COLOR notes. Steve, taking pity on my plight, will be printing subsequent notes for me. My RIs mates have two workspace. One for experiments and the other for paperwork. I have one workspace. I work, do experiments, write, use laptop, sleep, secretly eat, take shit from boss all on the same small workbench in my lab.

Arghh. Probably I should stop comparing now. So that I will stop complaining. It's true. I lead a wretched life.

"谢谢你来帮忙我们参观!"

2005-03-03T09:59:00.000+08:00

Finally, my boss's TCM conference is over and done with. Free labour for this event was quite rewarding mainly because food at Raffles City is very good. This is primarily the reason I survived the ordeal.

Snippets from the conference:

My boss is basically a banana. Speaks English well but speaks Chinese, barely. As he was walking past a very prominent speaker from China, my boss respectfully said: " 谢谢你来帮忙我们参观!" (I think he meant to say thank you for your participation) and briskly walked away.

Embarrassed, I asked the prominent speaker: 您听见他说了什么吗？
Prominent speaker: 没听见。我时常搞不懂他说的话。
Me: .....

--------

The opening ceremony, well, opened with literally a big bang. The guest-of-honour (GOH) was invited to sound a huge gong to signify the the opening of the conference. The moment he sounded the gong, two Chinese lions burst through the doors. Tong-cheng! Tong-cheng! Tong-cheng! Wah kao! So orbit. Then, the two Chinese lions proceeded to chew up the vegetables and mandarian oranges, as per normal. BUT, the two lions choose to throw the chew up veggies and orange peel towards the GOH. Of cos, sitting around him are also a couple of very important people. So, it's kind of interesting to see orange peels settling on the head of the Dean of Medicine and veggies on the GOH. Finally, the two lions proceeded towards the guest. For a moment, I though they intend to chew up the guest-of-hounour and throw pieces of him towards the crowd.

--------

My boss happily went to the MC before the opening ceremony: Hey, why don't you say- Let's invite our guest of honour to sound the gong and SUMMON THE　ＬＩＯＮＳ! (Complete with expression and a deep voice.) to make the atmosphere more exciting and more anticipating!

I was trying to dig a hole to hid in. Arggh.

Banes of wearing contact lenses

2005-02-27T13:56:00.000+08:00

Since I started wearing these flimsy plastic films, I realise it's not only the daily struggle of opening my eyes big enough to fit them in and the eye poking to take them out that grapples me. There is also the extra mile I have to take to 'emphasize' them.

sis: Eh, u haf to emphasize ur eyes lah.
me: Like how?
sis: Use mascara loh.
me: Huh? Lend me lend me yours leh.
sis: erm, cannot. I live in hall so need to bring it there. Plus, it's running out... (blah blah blah)
me: (roll eyes) (Yah, I get the point. Sharing mascara, for a while at least, will expose her to infectious sexually transmitted eye diseases. So do not share your mascara, always buy new ones.)

I look into the mirror and realise I also have very sparse eyelashes. Darn. Now I also have to make it 'voluminous', 'lustrous' or watever the beauty advertisements say. Think eyelashes like a camel's. And so, a frustrated message to Pauline to tell her that I have receding eyelashes. Poor ger replied to say she has no eyelashes at all. Makes me feel so baaaaddd. It's like saying "Hey, I can't see the whole rainbow. Can you see it from your window?" " No, I'm..... blind..... bwaaaaah!!". Well, she is kind enough to recommend Loreal's Longitude. Will KIV. It's a good thing she doesn't stay in the Middle East. The sand storms will be very bad for her eyes. Maybe this is why camels have long eyelashes. Hmm.

Lena, at conference: Why you got orh-bak-kak? Someone box u arh?
me: (WTF) No lah, I play too much. Not enough sleep lah. (Nervous laughter.)

Shit lah, now also have to buy concealer to conceal the dark eye rings. Frantic message to Pauline met with the reply that she bought her concealer in Japan. Sigh.

And then there is the search for a nice soft hair styling gel to keep my fly away hair from, well, flying. ...... Actually, if they really fly away like they intend to, and not fake me by standing in all sorts of directions AND NOT actually flying away, I will have no such problem.

Well, that's another story.

On retrospection...

2005-02-27T12:45:00.000+08:00

There is actually only 1 thing to do on the 'To do list'.

Dun drink.

But still... Hoegarden doesn't taste like beer. It's a soft drink. *Bish bish* *Wake up your idea, Meihui*

Well, at least there is conviction that this point will be on next year's New Year Resolution.

Drank & drive? Remenber to wear a wig.

2005-02-25T08:00:00.000+08:00

Now, the phrases: drink and drive, drunk and drive, drank and drive are different.

If you drink and drive, you are drinking and driving at the same time. While my car is an auto, I prefer to be sipping, from a straw, a can of green tea instead. If you drunk and drive (very singlish hor?), well, God (whichever one you choose) bless you. Not forgetting, a tight slap on the face by me. I prefer the last- drank and drive. Drink but sober enough to drive myself home.

Nonetheless, our dear Traffic Police (TP) doesn't play with word games. They play with breathe analyzers. It seems like they have been working doubly hard these days. Some of you might have heard of my brush with the TP awhile ago when I was on my way back from Mid-Week Crisis Club. I was lucky that they felt lazy that day and was sluggish in putting up the road block. I coolly filtered to the right lane and was waved past. On guard after this incident, I confidently told my sis last night before I drove home that I will be taking the Shell petrol station road and not the Expo road. I will be able to siam the TP! Muhahahaha... I'm brilliant.

The moment I exited from ECP, shit. Red and blue flashing lights ahead. I can't even reach the roads I planned to take! Keep cool. Filter to the right and queue up.

Me: (coolly)Hi. (Trying to keep my large face as far as possible so that TP can't catch the slightest hint of alcohol)
TP: (Looks in at me and my sis) Where did you come from?
Me: NUS. (Dumb, I know. Was even prepared to say that I was doing experiments.)
TP: Go party arh? (Wei, wearing spaghetti strap does not mean I go chiong okay. My cells in the lab likes it when I dress less, if you really need an explanation.)
Me: (smiles shyly and looks away) Nooo lah! (Flips hair.)
TP: Driving license please.
TP: (Looks at license intently) Okay, have a nice day Ma'am.

Woohoo~~~~~~!!!! Drove away as I looked at the poor souls that had to pull over to the left for 'further tests'.

Lessons learnt:

1. When you see a road block, dun panic. Too many cars there to be able to check every driver for their alcohol levels. The most is just your driving license.
2. It helps if you are a zah bor. Gers are 乖。They don't do such things. Haha.
3. Put on your big auntie t-shirt (yellow, frayed, with holes preferred) when driving. Lowers suspicion that you went to chiong.
4. Blast your ah lian music, zeng your car, put stickers, put neon lights on your car and you sure kena.
5. TP road blocks comes out after 12. They are everywhere. Puit.

To do list:

1. Put t-shirt in car.
2. Find alternative route home.
3. Don't let TP kill my social life.

Oh, for the guys, remenber the wig. Try to be as girlie as possible.

Mid-Week Crisis Club

2005-02-25T07:00:00.000+08:00

My Wednesday nights have never been the same since the Mid-Week Crisis Club was set up.

10 factors that made it worked:

1. Having a group of people whose day jobs are being some sort of a researcher.

2. Having experiments that do not work most of the time. When it works, it is not repeatable. Puit.

3. Having messy relationship issues. Everyone, not just me.

4. Hoegarden

5. Hoegarden, again. Cos it’s 1 for 1.

6. Losing the ability to count.
“Oh, 8 glasses of wine please.”
2 hours later.
“Sir, you still have 8 glasses of wine. It’s 1 for 1. AND there is one more pint of Stella. ”
Silence around the table.

7. Great company. NB: I don't mean the agency that gives me money.

8. Group hugs!!!!!!

9. Having Ngak, no. 41 from Female Magazine’s Top 50 Most Gorgeous People sing to us.

10. Not forgetting that he is cute, has a cool goatee, sings really well, chooses all the right songs, makes us sing the chorus at the top of our voices, comes over and says hi and offers a hug and a peck on the cheeks to our dear Val.

Missing CSI every Wednesday is worth it. I can always get the pirated DVD from Shanghai.

Well, here I am.

2005-02-24T09:08:00.000+08:00

Alright, it's my turn to start a blog. So, u need reasons.

I started this blog b'cos (in random order, sort of) :
- Someone requested.
- I used to have my own 'audio blog' at around 10pm every night. This someone was my only audience. But things change.
- My experiments are crap and I need an avenue to whine.
- I need to bitch.
- I need to re-take my GRE, so I need to practice my engrish.
- I have to let my friends know 我活得很好。

A little something else:
-if I use hanyu pinyin and words like goudong doesn't make sense in context. I actually mean guodong. I have an illness. I can't differentiate the -ou s from the -uo s. So my fruit jelly becomes dog hole. Thank you for the understanding.
- if I start to treat my blog as a diary, please stop me! I do not like blogs that just relate watever shit that happened that day eg. I took a cab to Orchard and crossed the road from Cineleisure to HMV. I do not give a damm whether I myself crossed or flew over the road so I will try my hardest to spare you guys from such junk.

As you can see, I am a aspiring/budding (overkill words the agency I sold my soul to so likes to use) young scientist. So that's why this entry is in point form. For your reading pleasure.

The Reluctant Scientist

The Scientist

I am missing him right now

A whole lot of shit

I wonder if he knows

Yet another despondent entry

No lucky stars to thank leh

The matchstick girl

Counting my blessings

Guy next door meets Gal next door

Woman with alien child

12 things you really need to know about me and 12 things you don't

Incoherent post

House of Flying Cockroaches

Phish Food

Im still writing

Leaving on a plane, again

Why Him?

It's disturbing to live in Savannah

Will be back

Rain makes you fat

看图说故事 II 之 西游记

2005

Crash Test Dummies

看图说故事

Conversations with a German

What love is.

Hari Raya morning

The night before Hari Raya

Happy Howl~aween folks!

I can't think of a title for this

Project Scorpio

It's fun to work at the O-n-G-Lab!

M.I.A

家有喜事 (续)

家有喜事

He

And so, the palm reader said...

For Shan

And so, my fortune says...

Go away auntie

The Decadent Scientist

Rawa @ Nite

Happy Birthday Singapore!

Wildlife @ Rawa

I am not a plant

Rawa ( A quickie)

Commencement 2005

I can't help but notice

Mid week crisis club II

My mum's older cousin's aunt's daughter

Cursed

Be right back

A wedding invitation

LOST

Revelation

“You look worn out.”

Random thought

Roundup of this week

I have a new boyfriend

The Dog has visitors

The entry that was 3 weeks late

I'm freeeee!!!!

She is like a baby....

Hello everyone :)

Corgi

Good Friday

《我的爱》

My amazing boss

I jog

Time-out

Henna

Moon, Sand and Sea!

Sun, Sand and Sea!

Inane entry

I suck

I work at the backwaters of research

"谢谢你来帮忙我们参观!"

Banes of wearing contact lenses

On retrospection...

看图说故事 II 之西游记