Virgin Atlantic is not too bad... Not as good as SQ of course, but at least they have a big TV screen and a on-demand video system. I almost didn't sleep at all for the whole journey; watched Beowulf and Atonement and 2 episodes of Blackadder and I am almost there already :P
Bad thing about VS is that it isn't very comfortable... I feel that even Southwest has more leg-space :P and the food isn't fantastic too, but better than UA, so it is definitely acceptable.
So have since settled down in the UK... typing this in an internet cafe because the house's internet isn't working yet. English weather is, as usual, terrible - luckily this time I am well prepared. It hasn't stopped raining since I came here :(
And I didn't realise that I have set a $700 upper limit for daily withdrawal from ATMs for myself - and briefly freaked me out in the afternoon when I cannot draw any more money from the machines after I took £350 in the morning. Grace ran into a lot of problems in the morning when we arrived... hopefully she has solved them now :P
Will be starting work tomorrow - and then I will see!
Went for Commencement today - took a few photos and then the battery went flat because I forgot to charge it the night before. Now I have to wait for my friends to upload their photos...
Whenever we have these ceremonies people will always throw their caps if they happen to have them. When I passed out from BMT in Tekong part of the ceremony consisted of throwing our jockey caps into the air. The OCS guys too. There isn't anything for us to throw when I passed out from both my level 1 and 2 medic courses.
Commencement is not an exception - and my friends made me throw the commencement programme when they wanted to take a photo of them throwing their caps with me :P Haha so, that was the end of my sophomore year.
This year was so much more meaningful compared to my freshman year. I did so much more stuff on campus and took a lot more interesting classes - to an extent that, for my spring semester, I can hardly be free before 10pm during the weekdays.
And it's not as if I travel a lot less - just a bit less :P
Well, surely it does keep me off MSN a lot - though there are still a lot of other sources of distraction, such as youtube, wikipedia, zaobao, yahoo! answer etc. I can watch different people quarrel on the MTR and people acting weird on buses for 2 hours at one go on youtube.
Basically I really have wasted my freshman year. I should have come out and be just a bit more pro-active and more adventurous with my classes, and I would have enjoyed it so much more. Probably it helps too as I managed to get something that bugged me hard out of my mind, so that I can fill it up with the history of p53 and more signalling pathways and an EFR qualification among more important stuff.
Now, whenever people mention something along the line of 'it's time for us to go find a girlfriend', my reaction would be:
'I will wait for her to fall from the sky.' Just like Stardust.
When they follow this comment up with - 'Don't you think guys should be more pro-active?' My reaction would be:
'When I see her fall from the sky I'll go pick her up (i.e. I am not expecting her to walk towards me).' Just like Stardust.
I know God will guide me through this, and I know He has something set out for me. I have faith in Him and thus, I will follow.
I love my sophomore year. I think my junior year will be as awesome or even more awesome - I will be taking even more interesting classes and doing even more interesting stuff!
Off to Cambridge in 2 days - all set to go!
To US people who are still having exams - persevere! The end of the tunnel is VERY near!
To UK people who are just starting to have exams or have yet to have exams (or whatever you call them), 加油加油加油! Have faith - you can make it!
To SG people who are already doing grad trip in Taiwan HK Japan Malaysia etc and those who are doing electives in Uganda Taiwan Baltimore Edinburgh etc have a lot of fun and take a lot of photos! :)
Haha this trip is genuinely amazing! We can't have been more lucky with everything :P
The bears are part of it -
(note the huge group of HK tourists who were talking and talking in the background destroying the tranquility... they are more interesting than the bears.)
Then the bald eagle and the coyote and the bear that almost knocked us off the road...
The springs with brilliant colours...
The meadows with the meandering rivers and bisons...
Snowfield with a lone bear on it...
The amazing sunset and moonrise by the river...
Places with scenery like that in Stardust the movie (which I loved)...
Places which reminded me of Switzerland...
Places which prompted us to keep singing 'Home on the Range'...
Surprisingly delicious bison meat...
Cheap and nice buffet lunch...
Terrific weather...
Amazing company...
And lastly, the miraculous connection at St Louis (10 minutes - due to an initial 2-hour delay) and the even more surprising appearance of my checked bag at BWI. (See? Southwest is the BEST domestic airline in the US. No doubt about it. I bet if it were UA I will have to get them to send the bag to Cambridge for me.)
This Yellowstone trip is just simply amazing. I have never appreciated a trip so much.
We saw a bald eagle in its nest, 1 mother grizzly bear with two of her cubs at close proximity, nearly get knocked down by a grizzly bear, and saw a coyote by the road at 10:30pm, all in a day:
Didn’t manage to take the photo of the coyote because it was too dark and, when the bear ran onto the road towards our car, the only thing we can think of is to get out of its way as fast as we can…
And bison meat tastes pretty good. It looks something like beef, but it doesn’t have the strange typical beef taste; instead, it doesn’t have any unpleasant taste at all, and it is much more flavourful than beef. Highly recommended if you ever visit the cowboy country!
More photos:
Jenny Lake (Grand Teton)
Stardust Land (Yellowstone, Phantom Lake)
Moonrise (Yellowstone, Madison River)
Sunset (Yellowstone, Madison River)
Meandering to Infinity (Yellowstone, Lewis Falls)
Black Pool (Yellowstone Lake, West Thumb Basin)
Argh and I better start reading what my Cambridge PI has just sent to me :P
The motel that we are staying in now is fantastic - there is a microwave and a fridge in our room, we are sleeping on a queen-size bed each, there is free wireless Internet in our room, and a personal parking space just outside our door!
The best thing: we are paying only $59 a night. That is even cheaper than hostels in New York City!
Anyway, Yellowstone is gorgeous. You get a whole new set of scenery after every mile you travel, and the wildlife there is simply awesome. So far we have seen 1 brown bear, 1 black bear with 2 cubs, hundreds of bisons and elk, chipmunks/ground squirrels, a huge raven, swans/ducks, and a bald eagle's nest :D
Needless to say, there are numerous geothermal features that are awesome too! And after the microbiology course, I now know quite a bit about the thermophiles that thrive in the springs, the cyanobacteria that inhabit the ponds, and various chemolithotrophs that breathe hydrogen gas and hydrogen sulphide :P They can all be found in Yellowstone!
Though before arriving, I made the most serious navigation blunder in my life. We didn't read the Google Map directions properly - and assumed I-84W to be the the same as I-15N until Idaho Falls. It turned out to be different - which we realised only after 200 miles onto I-84W. We wasted $40 on gas to rectify the problem :P
Yup all is done for the semester! Wrapped up all my work, packed my room, and even packed my stuff in the lab already :P
Writing this at Dulles Airport, waiting for my flight to start checking in. I am going to Yellowstone National Park for a week with Songyu, and let's see how many bears we will encounter. Victoria said that she was there for 2 days and she met 8 bears. Some other people told me that bears are a rarity... hmms. And I was told that we definite should go hiking in the park so that we can reach some geyser fields that are really hidden. Hahaha I'll see! Maybe we might even see meteors!
It is just that, when Baltimore is at high 70s, Yellowstone is still at 30s and 40s... Oh well.
Work hasn't been that great. Didn't manage to get the grant that I applied to; so now I am thinking I should meet my PI before I go to Cambridge to discuss what I can do again... The school doesn't seem to provide a lot of opportunities for undergrads doing what I am doing (i.e. I don't know what other grants I can apply to), so might need to scale down my project :P
And I got my first A- :D I was more happy than sad because now I am no longer under any pressure to keep a 4.00! I calculated; even though I can potentially get A/A+es for all my other classes my cumulative GPA will still remain at 3.984, which under no circumstance they'll round it up to put me in the CHL.
Which is good, I mean, what's the point of maintaining a 4.00 when there are better and more fun things for me to do? If I were to maintain a 4.00, judging by my class schedule and plans for the next semester, I will die of exhaustion 3 weeks into the semester. I will definitely have to slack off for a class or two :P I guess, as long as I can maintain a 3.90, it should be pretty decent...
Oh and need to study for GRE over the summer too. If I can get my graduate school application done next year, that would be the best! I will get the full 14 days of leave all for myself! And I will go back to Singapore knowing that I have a place to go to! Though it is just that not all schools allow deferment I think (why am I always asking for deferment because of the Singapore government...)...
And hopefully SICS will still take in one-year staff who hold B.S.es. Should start talking to people from A*Star again when next semester starts.
I drove down to the med school at 9pm, started developing a blot, took photos of slides, compiled my previous blot data and RT-PCR data, and stayed in the conference room to type furiously in order to produce a summary report of my results this semester.
2182 words, including 3 figures and legends. I cheated a little though, because the introduction / background was essentially the brief literature review I did last semester, although I did add a new paragraph in.
I have not had a more productive night. I drove back at 7am.
I sustained the night with 1 rice dinner box, 1/3 of a packet of PF, 1 bottle of Starbucks dark chocolate Mocha, and 2 cups of strong coffee left-over in the warmer since the morning before.
Tomorrow: microbiology final. I will have to spend the night mugging strange latin names (like Bolleria burgdorferi), linking them to various mechanisms and diseases, more or less like AIDS : Going to take a nap now - these days I don't sleep at night; I sleep in the morning, or in the afternoon :P
Shireen posted a video of the song 'I Know Him So Well' from Chess the Musical - which reminded me about it!
I have known Chess since secondary school. There is a band score for the medley of songs from Chess and we were always playing it. The musical didn't really take on Phantom of the Opera fame; though every now and then they will revive it for a few nights. Actually I didn't know that it was revived again recently in London with Josh Groban!
'Anthem' - one of my favourites - is sung as the finale and at the end of Act I:
ANTHEM
[THE RUSSIAN] No man, no madness Though their sad power may prevail Can possess, conquer, my country's heart They rise to fail
She is eternal Long before nations' lines were drawn When no flags flew, when no armies stood My land was born
And you ask me why I love her Through wars, death and despair She is the constant We who don't care And you wonder will I leave her -- but how?
I cross over borders but I'm still there now
How can I leave her? Where would I start? Let man's petty nations tear themselves apart My land's only borders lie around my heart _____________________________________ Oh and I went hiking yesterday. We went to Annapolis Rock - which is on part of the Appalachian Trail in Maryland. It was nice - and we were extremely lucky because, if we had went 1 hour later, we would have been caught in a downpour which lasted till today. Follow this link for the photos (signing in not required):
Haha the author of that article is writing about how cool her mum is basically - her mum is a doctor and she is just not a typical mum. The article reminds me so much about my mum! It is just that my mum wasn't that cool when we were still small. Haha judging by how naughty we were when we were small, I do really appreciate her strictness then, and coolness now :D
What struck me is that the author is trying to say that we should stop giving stereotypical attributes to mums, and we should see mums as just humans - and in that way we will be able to be more open in the definition of what a 'good mum' is, considering the mum's personal characteristics and the social context that the mum is functioning under.
Whether or not this is valid it is up to debate - I feel that I should support her stand, but I have this feeling that there is something wrong with it. It sounds like we are easing the standards that a mum should achieve but the gap is replaced by nothing - and this is a bit scary :P
Anyhow, I love my mum! :D
By the way, I think I need to learn how to be more sensitive when I talk to people, and not just say things by instinct, especially when I am discussing more contentious issues. I should also learn how to not perceive certain comments as provocation - and stop judging!
But it is just that, how do you not see comments that suggest - 'people who are more religious tend to have a lower IQ', subsequently providing a link to parthenogenesis of a whale (or shark?) under the title 'virgin births might not be a miracle after all', then quoting Joseph Fritzl (the crazy Austrian guy) and inviting you to discuss 'whether the Bible criticizes' Lot's daughters' acts after God destroyed Sodom (Genesis 19:30 - 38) - as provocation? I do not feel mad when I read all these but, initially I still wanted to set it straight, but now I am just too lazy to make significant replies?
I should still do what I should do, but how? I am still reflecting on that...
We are always working through the night these days...
All of us started a trend of starting to study for an exam or writing a paper only 1 or 2 days before it is actually due. Last night Grace, Yi Chung and I were working on our dining table from 12am onwards - I was writing my history papers, Yi Chung was reading his biomaterials papers, and Grace was studying for her algebra exam.
We slept at 5am - or later :P
We seem to have endless things to do - I recruited Grace over because yesterday from 9:30 - 11:30pm I was teaching organic chemistry tuition in the lounge outside her room, she came out to study her algebra, saw me, asked me for tea, and then hmms just might as well come over right. This morning I still have to go for lab meeting - and I still have one set of experiments to run before my final report. Not done yet.
Today is going to be another night like this - when I have my computer out in the living room, complete with table lamp and the Singapore flag, I am not moving from that position until I am done with my work.
Next semester won't be more free. I am applying for HERTU TA, biochemistry TA (or continue with tutoring), no matter whether I get PURA or not I will still continue with my project according to my proposal, and also HCF stuff and official SSA duties. Taking 19.5 credits of classes, with 1 language, 3 humanities, 1 engineering and 1 science class.
But it would be a fun year though! :) It is hard but I like it.
And something freaky :P The two papers that I wrote, one come up to 1850 words, one 1851 words :P
Singapore should come up with something like that to motivate Singaporeans, especially overseas Singaporeans, to not die when crazy things hit. Such as finals (or whatever people call them) and experiments that do not work.
(I don't think our national songs are that motivating... I tried but they don't really work :P You can try them yourselves...)
If you like this song, you can make Singapore = 東方之珠 and the contents will still work. It is just that the lyrics are in Cantonese.
It psyches me up because the lyrics suggest that, we - the people of this city - will continue to survive and own the world through our optimism, perseverance, courage, hard work and resilience no matter what kind of crap that we are currently going through.
And yes, I identify with this city, and thus I should persevere, work hard and fight through challenges bravely with a smile - and we will all celebrate success and make our mark in the world.
Look at how successful Singapore and Hong Kong are now - we have done it before, and we will always be able to do it, because these characteristics are within us, are part of us no matter where we are now, because we are born in these two cities.
(I have a bit of identity crisis - sometimes I speak to Singaporeans as a Hongkonger, most times when I speak to Hongkongers I am a Singaporean, and most of the time I introduce myself as a Singaporean - but some roots thing is still there...)
I don't really like the Mandarin version; that is basically just singing praise for HK...
I am officially the ambassador of Singapore on Yahoo! Answers - HK version.
Everyday, when I am free, I will type in the search terms 'Singapore' '新加坡' '星加坡' to look for new unsolved questions about all aspects of Singapore and solve them for people.
The most recent one that I have done -
從新加坡機場出發到hotel grand central singapore乘坐地鐵要幾錢?幾耐? (How long does it take to take the MRT to Hotel Grand Central? How much will it cost?)
My answer:
HOTEL GRAND CENTRAL 22 Cavengah Road Singapore 229617 Tel: 65 - 6737 9944 / 6733 3922
樟宜機場: Changi Airport (CG2) to索美塞: Somerset (NS23)
票價: EzLink Fare S$1.50 Standard one-way S$1.70 + S$1.00 可退還按金
乘搭方法: 1. 樟宜機場(Changi Airport (CG2)) 至 丹那美拉(Tanah Merah (EW4)) - 左邊車門下車, 轉乘往文禮(Boon Lay)方向列車 2. 丹那美拉(Tanah Merah (EW4)) 至 政府大廈 (City Hall (EW13)) - 轉乘往裕廊東(Jurong East)/兀蘭(Woodlands)方向列車 3. 搭兩個站到索美塞: Somerset (NS23)下車
Basically, it is a super detailed description of how to get from Changi Airport to Somerset and how to walk from Somerset to the hotel. In addition I suggested that he shouldn't alight at Dhoby Ghaut because he will get lost in the Dhoby Ghaut labyrinth :P
In another answer, I gave the guy the website that has links to all our national songs before 2003, and then supplemented it with YouTube videos of our newest national songs, plus the YouTube videos of Hossen Leong's 'I live in Singapura' and Dick Lee's 'Rasa Sayang' as bonuses - because he asked for songs that 'introduces Singapore and Malaysia'. I referred him to another guy whom I know is a Malaysian who is also active on Yahoo! Answer.
(You have to listen to them if you really suaku until you haven't heard them before...!)
Haha this thing is really fun to play with. I am hooked onto it. Though also spent 2 hours at zx's place playing game cube today - haha haven't been doing that for ages though!
Added 2:10am:
Guys you have got to see this. You will see Dick Lee when he is like, 20 years old?!
And we finally, finally, finally found a place to stay together in Cambridge! It is in Cherry Hinton, some distance off Cambridge town centre, but it is near Addenbrookes hospital. So it is good! :)
Oh and like yesterday I didn't dig this up on purpose too :P
Throughout my life I have heard repeated themes regarding (usually younger) family members who are Christians refusing to eat food that are offered to the ancesters by other non-Christian members of the family, causing problems especially within the older generations. This is what Paul told the Corinthians in the bible:
1 Corinthians 10:23 - 11:1 '"Everything is permissible" - but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible" - but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it."
If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if anyone says to you, "This has beeen offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience' sake - the other man's conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience? If I take part in a meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God - even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.'
This is pretty deep - especially the conscience part - it took me a while to get it even with the help of notes. Though if you are interested as to why Paul wrote these letters, refer to wiki - English: First Epistle to the Corinthians Chinese: 哥林多前書
Haha so what conclusions can you draw from here? Is the answer a definite no / a grey-area no / and most importantly why is it a no? With reference to the background of Paul's letters, what message is he trying to put forward? :)
Yi Chung says that we are all burnt out. I agree... Working at extremely low efficiency (exam tomorrow and haven't really studied, paper due tomorrow and haven't finished writing), sleeping 7 hours everyday and still feeling tired, all I can think of are stuff that are outside of schoolwork.
Nadia is right. When compared to studying, even folding laundry becomes more interesting.
The accommodation situation in Cambridge is getting more and more frustrating and scary also, and it is stressing me out which is not good.
Khian Hong, Chen Li and I have been sending numerous emails out and calling whoever we think are worth calling. Until now we still do not have a positive response. There is a landlord who really wanted to rent his flat to us, but he promised a group of Finnish students first. Then there is this agent who had available properties on hand, but the landlord of the property insisted that his tenants see the place before he rents it out (?!), and since I do not have Doraemon with me I can't make that happen. So it blew.
(Well if I have Doraemon with me I don't even have to worry about accommodation...)
We are not even asking for prime property like it has to be next to Sainsbury's or Grafton or within walking distance from Addenbrookes. That second place we were talking about is 7.5 miles from Addenbrookes and will take us 30 minutes by bus to get to work. I think they are simply forcing us to all live in Newmarket or Cherry Hinton and then get a car to drive to work.
This is NOT a very good first impression.
Sigh now I really appreciate Baltimore and Hopkins. At least the Hopkins housing office is more useful and at least there is a free + reliable shuttle that runs between Homewood and East Baltimore campuses. If I were to take bus to work in Cambridge I have to pay 38 pounds to get a season ticket for 4 weeks.
Well, to be fair, that might be because I know Baltimore so much better.
This is a losing battle that I am fighting. Well, the worst case scenerio would be, argh I don't know what that would be. I don't want to think about it.
Added 2:12am: The bible always surprises - no matter which random page I am on :P
1 Corinthians 14:15 'So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.[..]'
