coming of age

Convocation for the College of Science was last night. The reception was good :) And I know what my gown is gonna look like, unless they change it in 2 years. At least it's not ugly light maroon or weird sai-browns matched with minty greens. It's just abit uglier than my ideal royal blue-gold/red design.


Suddenly felt inspired to graduate with a round hat. I think that would be a really proud moment cos now I can understand the amount of hard work,time,sweat and tears put into it. But I need to concentrate on 2 years of chinese first hahaha.


Now that FYP is coming to an end, I think if I were a single-degree student I'd be ready to convocate and step out into the (science) world. It's really like a coming-of-age thing. Minus the FYP experience and I think I'd still be a stupid little student who studied for years but still knew nuts. As Richard Ernst, Nobel Laureate for NMR put it, (in my own words)[btw, this is the first time I've attended a talk by a Nobel Laureate, by orders of boss]: Real learning is stepping out of the lecture hall. Research and education should be hand-in-hand. Which is true, cos without practical experience, theory is absolutely nothing. The diversity and unpredictability of all things in life makes theory naught. Nothing ever turns out perfect, in strict accordance to theory. Everything is dependent upon a thousand other easily overlooked factors, which of course are impossible to keep constant.


The take home observation would be that a melting pot of different cultures is all that's needed for science to work. I think the experience was greatly enhanced by the different people in lab, from different geographical, racial, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. It's the chemistry, in all sense of the word. I wonder what life would be without lab. 2 years from now, maybe Mukesh's crystal would have grown into a huge shiny star and I as the maiden viewer (it was a cluster of hairs like a little spider when i first saw it) would be proud to have witnessed its humble beginnings.


I wonder why words fail me when it comes to reports. Maybe I should pretend I'm blogging when I'm doing my report.


And boss still sucks big time.

Everyday is an endless hunt for warmer clothes to wear, especially when it is raining/cloudy/going to rain. I'm wearing 3 layers as I type this, but I'm still cold and my brain has contracted. Today my friend did a little temperature test with the thermometer in the lab, and guess what? It gave a freaking 13.5 deg celcius reading. WTH. I thought it was like just 18 deg or less, never thought it'd drop below 15 deg. Wahaha. I guess this is colder than winter in other countries, cos during winter, as long as you're indoors it's warm (there's either a heater or a fireplace or insulated windows) but here, it's freezing indoors. Thawing only occurs during lunchtime when we can finally walk out of SBS. Always wondered why the cold air doesn't diffuse towards the north block. It's so much warmer there once you cross the linkway. Actually somewhere in the middle of the linkway I believe equilibrium exists - the boundary between normal biological temperatures and north polar temperatures. Please let me morph into a polar bear soon. I hate it when my brain contracts and the shivering thermogenesis gets activated as a last resort.


I think I should be writing my report instead.

I'm stressed beyond words.

Impromptu meetings with boss doesn't stress me as much as stupid deadlines and reports.

Pictures don't do justice.

"But the eyes are blind. One must see with the heart." --The Little Prince

surreal

"NTU receives S$30 million Competitive Research Programme grants

07-Jul-2009


Three proposals from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have won up to S$30 million in research fund from the National Research Foundation (NRF) following its fourth call for proposals under its Competitive Research Programme (CRP) Funding Scheme. Since the inaugural CRP grant call was launched on 16 April 2007, NTU has received some S$90 million grants from NRF. This underscores the significant role that the university plays in fuelling Singapore’s drive for research and innovation.

One of the winning proposals is led by Associate Professor Jaume Torres, which aims to develop “tools for rational discovery of novel therapeutics and diagnostics targeting integral membrane proteins”.

Commenting on receiving the funding, Assoc Professor Torres says, “With this funding, we will develop our proposal on membrane proteins, which is one of the most exciting areas of research in biological systems. We do foresee that this will be one of the hottest topics in biomedicine and biotechnology for the next 10 years. We envisage this project will help to position Singapore at the forefront of membrane protein research.”


The CRP Funding Scheme offers substantial funding support of up to S$10 million per proposal, over three to five years. The grant funds a broad base of research programmes through a competitive bottom-up (investigator-led) approach, with submissions assessed by international scientific reviews."


--Excerpts from NTU website.



1. Never saw the 伟大 side of boss before. As far as I know, his aim isn't to discover vaccines that will save mankind, cos "There are so many people in the world, why do we have to save all of them?" Right, I think he's more concerned about over-population and competition haha.

2. Richer not equals we get more/better equipment. Boss is so stingy, no invoice or bill ever escapes his scrutiny.

3. I bet boss won't treat us. He didn't even have a mini-celebration when a paper got accepted into some journal with a higher-than-normal impact rating.

4. I still can't imagine how and why boss got the grant. Always thought our research wasn't groundbreaking in any sense and that our lab would be contented with just publishing papers. In any case, I always thought stuff like cancer would receive more attention. Maybe the idea wasn't novel enough. Membrane proteins is now the hip science of the era. Wahaha. Boss probably just bull-shitted his way through his proposal with great-sounding ideas and bombastic words. I wonder what his ex-boss is thinking now. Lol.

5. 10 million! Omg. Still can't believe it.

fun and laughter, peace and joy

Ever watched a movie that made you laugh till you cried? With tears that blurred your vision and stung your eyes?

Probably the best movie I've watched this year - Ice Age 3!

Had to miss 5 seconds of precious screen time while wiping my eyes and specs haha.

Omg. Please go catch this movie. Even if it costs you 10 bucks, it'll be worth every cent. Serious. I rarely give such rave reviews, and it's really been a long while since I felt so positively about a movie! Makes the last 2 movies I watched feel like crap. Lol.

And I had my fave doughnut again :))

I must not fall sick. Cannot afford to fall sick and get quarantined for 7 days :(

Janet was trying to offer boss some chewing gum from HK.
Boss: I have a responsibility not to eat it. It's a crime. *grins*
Everybody: =O Huh?!
Boss: Yah, it's a crime right? It's a crime.


We were having (expensive, according to boss) portugese red wine during Happy hour.
Boss said it was 5.30pm.
Janet was trying to read her watch amidst her drunken stupor, saying it was 5.45pm. Boss saw her watch.
Boss: Oh, there's a thermometer? Is there a pH meter too?
Everyone burst out laughing. You should have been there to experience the wacky-mad side of boss.
Boss: I've never seen a watch with a thermometer before. What's the temperature?


It doesn't sound so funny here, but really it was. Our lab must be the most enthu one in SBS, for we're present for every happy hour haha. Not that we get to eat every time, cos boss was 5 mins late and missed the food; not to say us since we were 10 minutes late. Next time we shall chiong down at 4.45pm ;)

Don't these look familiar? Saw them on a ppt about daredevil vacations, and oh I've been there, done that, 1 year ago! Hahaha. They certainly look crazy. Lucky we took the taxi driver's advice and went straight to the top of Stratosphere hotel for the rides before going to the viewing gallery.

ephemeral

ephemeral- "in danger of early disappearance"


"What is essential is invisible to the eye."


-The Little Prince :)








Of crazy shuttle uncles who compete to see who can fling passengers the furthest.

Of Modern Jazz dancers who really should come up with better music and better moves.

Of beach-boy prof, earring guy, bistro man, NC and the many interesting personalities in school.

Of wanting to give up for lack of patience, resolve and hope.

Of choc banana, mamee and eggtarrrs.

Of simple yet funny things that make life interesting.

Of moments of madness and rebellion.

Of cultural exchanges and language barriers.

http://www.weebls-stuff.com/wab/pie/
http://www.weebls-stuff.com/wab/donkey/

Of stuff like these that make my day.