You know what makes me sad?
When people say they miss me. I know that's supposed to make me feel happy - that I'm missed, meaning my presence meant alot.
Before leaving, and even now, when I hear such stuff it makes me both happy and sad at the same time. Touched would be a more apt description.
"So here's to Jamie: my dear neighbour, ally, fellow tshirt-shorts-slippers-crumpler friend, chauffeur, and pirate who likes to steal my songs and movies. I'm gonna miss the times when I can just call you up for a meal at Upper East Coast Rd/Parkway (those superb makan times haha), or just to watch a movie; laughing at the most inappropriate times during movies; when we take turns to drive out while the other person navigates; when we'd take the same bus home/out during outings; when you'd come over randomly to watch shows at my house; when we'd make fun of the rest; when we'd be cheapo shits together, going after all the bargains; and of course when you'd listen to all my complaints and nonsense. Wow I didn't realize we did so many things together haha. Actually we don't really meet so often, but at least last time I knew there was someone there I could just call and arrange to meet. Now, she's like 1000 miles away." - I really had no idea I made such an impact. Or maybe I did, but it's different when it's worded out. Leaves a really warm feeling. =)
Long train rides leave me time to think. The perfect lifestyle would be that of a globe-trotter's, or one which would allow you to live a few years in a country, amongst the masses, then move on to a different country. How diverse and enriching. Stepping out of your comfort zone is a giant step which is to me, an important part of growing up and experiencing life. I swear I would have shouted 服务员 if not for my stuffy nose and warped voice. Lol.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
A historic birthday - moving into a new house! And a cake with my name in chinese. Hahaha.
Locals everywhere keep saying our chinese is not bad, that we speak quite well and our pronounciation is accurate etc, but the point is they don't know we have been learning chinese since young, and current standards are actually cui compared to theirs. The yardstick they use for us is that of foreigners, comparing us to koreans etc. who only started learning chinese in China. But it's ok, behind all the thank yous and ego-boosters I think our chinese will really improve. Adopting the local slang will come naturally! And it's funny how some say we look local and some think we're from Korea.
I think our expectations are still too high. We come here expecting everything to be dirt-cheap and end up being disappointed. Seriously. Took the subway today, and saw pretty modern condo-styled high-rise buildings! China is modernizing eh? The subway is pretty much like our MRT, just faster and more stable. Wahaha. But I still want a bike!!! I'm sick of supermarkets. Days of Kroger shopping and lugging barrels of milk back to dorm in Virginia have given way to lugging all sorts of household barang home in 环保袋s. Kns. Now I know how difficult it is to set up home. Starting from scratch is so tiring! Expect me with muscles all over, and tanned back to the US days. Thank goodness for transitions, my eyes aren't dying yet. The weather here is crazy, cool in the morning, hinting at a cool day but suddenly blazing hot and glaring in the late morning up till evening. Then come nightfall it's cold all of a sudden. And hence the changing of the seasons. Autumn is here! :))
Home is directly behind!
Locals everywhere keep saying our chinese is not bad, that we speak quite well and our pronounciation is accurate etc, but the point is they don't know we have been learning chinese since young, and current standards are actually cui compared to theirs. The yardstick they use for us is that of foreigners, comparing us to koreans etc. who only started learning chinese in China. But it's ok, behind all the thank yous and ego-boosters I think our chinese will really improve. Adopting the local slang will come naturally! And it's funny how some say we look local and some think we're from Korea.
I think our expectations are still too high. We come here expecting everything to be dirt-cheap and end up being disappointed. Seriously. Took the subway today, and saw pretty modern condo-styled high-rise buildings! China is modernizing eh? The subway is pretty much like our MRT, just faster and more stable. Wahaha. But I still want a bike!!! I'm sick of supermarkets. Days of Kroger shopping and lugging barrels of milk back to dorm in Virginia have given way to lugging all sorts of household barang home in 环保袋s. Kns. Now I know how difficult it is to set up home. Starting from scratch is so tiring! Expect me with muscles all over, and tanned back to the US days. Thank goodness for transitions, my eyes aren't dying yet. The weather here is crazy, cool in the morning, hinting at a cool day but suddenly blazing hot and glaring in the late morning up till evening. Then come nightfall it's cold all of a sudden. And hence the changing of the seasons. Autumn is here! :))
Home is directly behind!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Beijing, beijing
I'm alive! In Beijing! Woots I jumped over the great firewall of China and here I am! Just a quick one before I zoom into bed.
Been house-hunting since arrival. A very difficult task given the huge demand and limited supply. It's like an ever-changing stock market fused with a competitive fish market. Walk along any street and you see young guys in white shirts and long pants and you know you've spotted housing agents.
Just some random thoughts-
Becoming quite an expert at crossing roads.
Default phone-answering protocol is now "喂，你好。"
Life is hard but the chinese are like weeds - resilient, hardworking and able to survive anywhere.
It seems to me that the chinese can speak chinese better than the english can speak english. Compare speed and fluency.
I miss clear blue skies. It's "misty" everywhere for pollution and dust hangs still in the air. You can look at the Sun directly without feeling any discomfort as it's masked by the clouds, dust and pollution.
Have done pretty retarded things.
Our agent is so nice and helpful we had to double-cross another agent for him and it made us feel so bad and stressed we were like pulling our hair out. He treated us to hot milk and worked overtime for us so we owe him a treat no matter how he likes to laugh at us.
Our senior is also so nice and helpful we owe him alot for being able to survive our house-hunting endeavours and for all things foreign to us. For skipping classes for us and delivering breakfast and seeing us back to our hotel after midnight before getting lost himself, we sure owe him a treat too.
China people our age are much more capable than us :( Fellow BUCM students feel like they're already TCM doctors in their own right.
Singaporeans are too sheltered for their own good.
There are no 7-11s here and Beijingers are not very tall. (Except for our agent) It's not very hot and it rains.
It's surprisingly rigid here it feels as if communism still existed. Makes SG feel so much more liberated. We were forced to follow the arrows and only enter at entrances and exit at exits. No fruits to be brought into the department store - locker deposits available with high tech bar-code scanning for access, and they're free.
Horses here are used to drag cartfulls of fruit like gigantic watermelons and stop at the roadside for fruit sales before moving on.
When crossing roads, right of way depends on speed, wit and judgement instead of traffic lights. Best to follow locals. Everyone beeps it's so common nobody turns their head or minds it.
The streets are lined with little makeshift stalls at nightfall and everything is cleared up by 10pm.
At carrefour there's a guy dedicated to standing at the top of the travellator to help pull trolleys up when customers with their trolleys arrive at the top. Lame and a waste of resources if you ask me. But it's a way to boost employment maybe.
Department stores have so many security guards you think it's for security but they're more like human-traffic directors, blocking ppl from entering this way and pointing them another way etc. Another waste of resources. Why can't it be free for all like on the roads?
There are so many uniformed people around you can't tell a security guard from a policeman, a doorman, a warden, a soldier or a government/stat board worker. (Unless the soldier is marching on the road with a beret on or has a hard helmet on and walks up and down in the bank)
Sludge smells are distinct if you stand too near the drain or you're in a toilet. Seems like poor drainage and maintenance.
There are many hairdressing shops with hip young guys sporting funky hairstyles standing at the door. These are about the only shops which blast English music. As you walk along the street, you might spot a random clothes shop which looks totally out of place with the other shops. Housing agencies make up the bulk of the tenancy. Most eateries sell 火锅 and 烤肉窜.
Parking lots are very long but people tend to squeeze 1.5 cars into a lot so there's no difference with having small lots. Cars here are cheap.
Ok it's 2.10am. Better go sleep. Can't afford to be like a zombie tmr. Night guys, more next time. Won't be regular though. Till I move in and suscribe to internet. Hope all is well on the sunny, clean island.
Been house-hunting since arrival. A very difficult task given the huge demand and limited supply. It's like an ever-changing stock market fused with a competitive fish market. Walk along any street and you see young guys in white shirts and long pants and you know you've spotted housing agents.
Just some random thoughts-
Becoming quite an expert at crossing roads.
Default phone-answering protocol is now "喂，你好。"
Life is hard but the chinese are like weeds - resilient, hardworking and able to survive anywhere.
It seems to me that the chinese can speak chinese better than the english can speak english. Compare speed and fluency.
I miss clear blue skies. It's "misty" everywhere for pollution and dust hangs still in the air. You can look at the Sun directly without feeling any discomfort as it's masked by the clouds, dust and pollution.
Have done pretty retarded things.
Our agent is so nice and helpful we had to double-cross another agent for him and it made us feel so bad and stressed we were like pulling our hair out. He treated us to hot milk and worked overtime for us so we owe him a treat no matter how he likes to laugh at us.
Our senior is also so nice and helpful we owe him alot for being able to survive our house-hunting endeavours and for all things foreign to us. For skipping classes for us and delivering breakfast and seeing us back to our hotel after midnight before getting lost himself, we sure owe him a treat too.
China people our age are much more capable than us :( Fellow BUCM students feel like they're already TCM doctors in their own right.
Singaporeans are too sheltered for their own good.
There are no 7-11s here and Beijingers are not very tall. (Except for our agent) It's not very hot and it rains.
It's surprisingly rigid here it feels as if communism still existed. Makes SG feel so much more liberated. We were forced to follow the arrows and only enter at entrances and exit at exits. No fruits to be brought into the department store - locker deposits available with high tech bar-code scanning for access, and they're free.
Horses here are used to drag cartfulls of fruit like gigantic watermelons and stop at the roadside for fruit sales before moving on.
When crossing roads, right of way depends on speed, wit and judgement instead of traffic lights. Best to follow locals. Everyone beeps it's so common nobody turns their head or minds it.
The streets are lined with little makeshift stalls at nightfall and everything is cleared up by 10pm.
At carrefour there's a guy dedicated to standing at the top of the travellator to help pull trolleys up when customers with their trolleys arrive at the top. Lame and a waste of resources if you ask me. But it's a way to boost employment maybe.
Department stores have so many security guards you think it's for security but they're more like human-traffic directors, blocking ppl from entering this way and pointing them another way etc. Another waste of resources. Why can't it be free for all like on the roads?
There are so many uniformed people around you can't tell a security guard from a policeman, a doorman, a warden, a soldier or a government/stat board worker. (Unless the soldier is marching on the road with a beret on or has a hard helmet on and walks up and down in the bank)
Sludge smells are distinct if you stand too near the drain or you're in a toilet. Seems like poor drainage and maintenance.
There are many hairdressing shops with hip young guys sporting funky hairstyles standing at the door. These are about the only shops which blast English music. As you walk along the street, you might spot a random clothes shop which looks totally out of place with the other shops. Housing agencies make up the bulk of the tenancy. Most eateries sell 火锅 and 烤肉窜.
Parking lots are very long but people tend to squeeze 1.5 cars into a lot so there's no difference with having small lots. Cars here are cheap.
Ok it's 2.10am. Better go sleep. Can't afford to be like a zombie tmr. Night guys, more next time. Won't be regular though. Till I move in and suscribe to internet. Hope all is well on the sunny, clean island.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
never gonna be alone
A short last post before I'm off on a jet plane! (i mean a boeing plane)
Had lots of things to say but right now am too busy to blog. Before I continue my last-min packing, here's a good bye to all who read my blog/blogstalk me/love me =) All the best and take care!
After all that's said and done, you guys out there know who you are, and that I love you all. Thanks for everything and I'll be back! My last paper's on 15 Jan, but my return flight's not booked yet. Anyway I'll miss sunny singapore and all it's quirks and idiosyncracies, but for now let me experience China - Beijing, in particular.
If I manage to escape the great firewall of China, you can bet on seeing me on Facebook, blogger or wordpress still. If not, there's always msn, skype and email. Yeah trusty email. Or I will relocate to a cheena-based blog, after which you guys can continue to track my life.
Ok that's all for now, cya if I cya! ;)
(If this blog remains stagnant for months, there's a good chance I'd have moved. But I'll update when I have access, even if that means I'm already back in SG. Old habits die hard. All my stuff last long and I can't bear to part with them after years of companionship, so the same goes for this blog.)
Had lots of things to say but right now am too busy to blog. Before I continue my last-min packing, here's a good bye to all who read my blog/blogstalk me/love me =) All the best and take care!
After all that's said and done, you guys out there know who you are, and that I love you all. Thanks for everything and I'll be back! My last paper's on 15 Jan, but my return flight's not booked yet. Anyway I'll miss sunny singapore and all it's quirks and idiosyncracies, but for now let me experience China - Beijing, in particular.
If I manage to escape the great firewall of China, you can bet on seeing me on Facebook, blogger or wordpress still. If not, there's always msn, skype and email. Yeah trusty email. Or I will relocate to a cheena-based blog, after which you guys can continue to track my life.
Ok that's all for now, cya if I cya! ;)
(If this blog remains stagnant for months, there's a good chance I'd have moved. But I'll update when I have access, even if that means I'm already back in SG. Old habits die hard. All my stuff last long and I can't bear to part with them after years of companionship, so the same goes for this blog.)
Sunday, August 09, 2009
a decamer, maybe?
Is it me, my browser or my comp? My blog and fb looks screwed up. Hope I didn't kena some bug or virus.
Anyway, now that everything has come to an end, it's just the beginning of a new adventure. Aint my life exciting? Filled with new challenges and experiences, I like :) But somehow good times don't last. 天下无不散之宴席。I think my chinese is getting rusty after 3 months and a pile of scientific papers.
When you look back on a journey, if all that resonates in your memory is laughter, laughter, and more hearty laughter, you know you haven't lived in vain. I daresay my time in lab has been the best I've had in NTU. All the jiejies, sunbaes, crap and laughter...Never dreamt that I'd feel this way, but as I walked out of SBS after poster day, I felt a tinge of sadness which was reminiscent of the feeling when I walked out of MBS that last day of school. I didn't cry this time - no longer a pri 6 kid - but as much as we hate to grow up, we are, at this very moment, and we realize that change is the only constant. For the first time in a long time, I seem to want to hold on more than let go. For once, I don't feel trapped, restricted, tied down or burdened...I don't require liberation, and I don't know whether that's a good or bad thing. But I have to psycho myself to look forward, and embrace the future, for that's where I'm heading. In just a few days.
And now a tribute to NTU-SBS-04S-29 JT Lab:
Mukesh, Krupar, JT, CY, JT and JT. In JT's office, after poster day. :)
My poster! That's boss. "Boss, photo maybe?"-->"Why not?"
Jo's poster!
Ja, Siok Wan, Mukesh, Krupar and Lin Xin.
Our gigantic card. Boss is smiling! :D
Boss, who's ever critical, sacarstic and doubtful, but who's actually sporting, smart and humorous. Without his bochap style and attitude, we wouldn't have learnt full autonomy. Proud to say I can conduct my own experiments, handle my own stuff (Thanks to my mentor too, who MIA-ed half of the way but trained me to be independent) and give passable impromptu presentations :) To boss who stressed us with surprise meetings that came with mandatory presentations, and short-notice 1-to-1 meetings, thank you. Thank you for constructive comments at the end, for tolerating all the noise we generated, for our impudence and cheekiness, and for playing along with us. Although he's stingy and only cares about E protein, he's still the dear old godfather, the grinch, the harapucchi, the shining beacon of light (and hope?) and dear boss, who finally broke his 5-yr record by giving us a treat =) Also, thanks for spreading your smell and musking the other bad lab smells. Haha. I hope he drinks less wine, beer and coffee, and invest in more H2O maybe?
"So, who's paying?" --> "YOU, MAYBE??"
"What do you mean?"
"Excuse me?"
"So, have you fitted the data? Did you try incompetent fraction?"
"It is a pentamer!" *slams hand on the table for empahsis*
"What is this? Bad taste!"
"I'm supposed to keep this? But I have no space. I'll throw it in the bin then."
"It's freezing. Even my coffee is freezing."
"Is this what I ordered? I can't remember the name but I know it's Italian wine. Are you sure this is the right one?"
Siok Wan, my mentor, who's patient, nice and helpful...who's respected by everyone in lab and dares to defy boss. Who knows her stuff and speaks up in front of boss. Who's paranoid about contamination and obsessed with protein recovery, who has a mini self-sufficient lab on her bench, who knows so much about everything, many heartfelt thank yous. Respect. Without your guidance and advice, I couldn't have done it. Thanks for all your support!
"Like what?"
"Uh-huh...hmmm..."
Ja, the molecular cloning expert who never gets mad at us no matter how noisy we are, no matter how irritating we are, for imitating her ever so often. A really sweet and nice person, whom boss can never say no to.
"Maybe?"
"Really?"
"I donno! Ask Krupa!"
"He can't say no rightt? We need this righhtt?"
"Ya ya ya!"
"Up to you"
"Sorry ah!"
Mukesh, for (un)constructive conversations which made me experience what a real language barrier is, who's super funny and entertaining, but always really nice and apologetic, who loves coffee breaks and squash, who likes learning chinese with his cute roomie Vikram, who's so much more active in the night than in the day, who looks to boss as his idol...Thanks for letting me be the first to see your crystal, and I hope it grows big and shiny and can be sent for diffraction.
"xxx, can you do me a favour?"
"Thank you very much."
"What time you are leaving the lab?"
"Ja told me to do like this."
"Ok I will do it."
"I think so."
"You people are coming back during the weekend? No? Good. Have a good weekend."
"What is this herb in chinese?"-->"Oh basil? Can cook curry."-->"Coo-curry? That's what it's called in chinese?"
Krupar, who always tells us to relax but gets stressed himself when boss pushes him for results and gives him deadlines. For entertaining us with his pek-chek expressions when we surround him and speak in chinese, for looking like winnie-the-pooh...
"How can you do like this?"
"I'm gonna kill u!"
"Relax, it's ok."
Lin Xin, who's not physically in lab cos he's with the computational side, but he's the one who did my tetramer model so thank you all the same :) Really cheeky and monkey-ish, I still can't believe he's married. Lol.
Now to the jiejies, who're not really jiejies cos we're all actually the same age. But you guys are the ones who've braved the odds with me, and I'm so grateful for that. Thank you for being there when I was stressed, for anchoring me to sanity (or insanity?) when I was freaking out and rushing for deadlines. Thank you for helping me with so much stuff, even if they're just inconsequential favours like photocopying.
Janet, whose presence ensures that life will never be boring. For bouts of laughter that made me so tired, to the point that my jaws ached...We're on the same frequency and we play along so well, I'll miss you loads. I'll miss laughing with you at Mr. Bean, spiderman and bank-count, and silly cliche movies...Thanks for teaching me the yuan yang skill and taking the trouble to proof-read my poster, version after version :)
Chiew Ying, our data processor. Thanks for constructive discussions about AUC, help with sedfit, sedphat and origin...Without you I'd take even longer figuring out those stupid softwares...thanks for helping me with my thesis in those final minutes :) For feeling our stress and stressing with us...for pointing me to relevant papers about M2...Without you beside me life would have been very different.
Last but not least, my bro Jo! For going home together every day, you made shuttle-bus waiting less mundane, shuttle-bus flinging less frustrating, and train journeys less boring. (Other than the times we both K/Oed, or the times when I drove and you fell asleep in the passenger seat) For waiting for each other, complaining and supporting each other, I'm so glad we got into the same lab. (Thank goodness I didn't get char-gu afterall!) For lunch and coffee and cakes =)
To the 3 of you, for spontaneous sharp turns at the sight of boss. For buffet camping during convo ;) For company, camaraderie and all things in common. I'm so glad we'll all be convocating together in the end. See you guys in heels and square hats!
All in all, a big THANK YOU to all at JT lab, for tolerating our nonsense and noise, for teaching us so much, for never getting mad, for beautiful sunsets and even more beautiful times of fun and laughter. Congrats for getting "contaminated", successfully infected with our mimicking lingo. I love you guys :D
Also, thanks to those at Lars' lab, for tolerating our unbelievable noise levels. I know we suck. We do try to stifle our laughter but sometimes (or most of the time), it's too much to bear. But who cares, we're out of there now, and anyway we're students so who can blame us? Hahaha. We're the ones who make life so interesting, RIGHT?
Anyway, now that everything has come to an end, it's just the beginning of a new adventure. Aint my life exciting? Filled with new challenges and experiences, I like :) But somehow good times don't last. 天下无不散之宴席。I think my chinese is getting rusty after 3 months and a pile of scientific papers.
When you look back on a journey, if all that resonates in your memory is laughter, laughter, and more hearty laughter, you know you haven't lived in vain. I daresay my time in lab has been the best I've had in NTU. All the jiejies, sunbaes, crap and laughter...Never dreamt that I'd feel this way, but as I walked out of SBS after poster day, I felt a tinge of sadness which was reminiscent of the feeling when I walked out of MBS that last day of school. I didn't cry this time - no longer a pri 6 kid - but as much as we hate to grow up, we are, at this very moment, and we realize that change is the only constant. For the first time in a long time, I seem to want to hold on more than let go. For once, I don't feel trapped, restricted, tied down or burdened...I don't require liberation, and I don't know whether that's a good or bad thing. But I have to psycho myself to look forward, and embrace the future, for that's where I'm heading. In just a few days.
And now a tribute to NTU-SBS-04S-29 JT Lab:
Mukesh, Krupar, JT, CY, JT and JT. In JT's office, after poster day. :)
My poster! That's boss. "Boss, photo maybe?"-->"Why not?"
Jo's poster!
Ja, Siok Wan, Mukesh, Krupar and Lin Xin.
Our gigantic card. Boss is smiling! :DBoss, who's ever critical, sacarstic and doubtful, but who's actually sporting, smart and humorous. Without his bochap style and attitude, we wouldn't have learnt full autonomy. Proud to say I can conduct my own experiments, handle my own stuff (Thanks to my mentor too, who MIA-ed half of the way but trained me to be independent) and give passable impromptu presentations :) To boss who stressed us with surprise meetings that came with mandatory presentations, and short-notice 1-to-1 meetings, thank you. Thank you for constructive comments at the end, for tolerating all the noise we generated, for our impudence and cheekiness, and for playing along with us. Although he's stingy and only cares about E protein, he's still the dear old godfather, the grinch, the harapucchi, the shining beacon of light (and hope?) and dear boss, who finally broke his 5-yr record by giving us a treat =) Also, thanks for spreading your smell and musking the other bad lab smells. Haha. I hope he drinks less wine, beer and coffee, and invest in more H2O maybe?
"So, who's paying?" --> "YOU, MAYBE??"
"What do you mean?"
"Excuse me?"
"So, have you fitted the data? Did you try incompetent fraction?"
"It is a pentamer!" *slams hand on the table for empahsis*
"What is this? Bad taste!"
"I'm supposed to keep this? But I have no space. I'll throw it in the bin then."
"It's freezing. Even my coffee is freezing."
"Is this what I ordered? I can't remember the name but I know it's Italian wine. Are you sure this is the right one?"
Siok Wan, my mentor, who's patient, nice and helpful...who's respected by everyone in lab and dares to defy boss. Who knows her stuff and speaks up in front of boss. Who's paranoid about contamination and obsessed with protein recovery, who has a mini self-sufficient lab on her bench, who knows so much about everything, many heartfelt thank yous. Respect. Without your guidance and advice, I couldn't have done it. Thanks for all your support!
"Like what?"
"Uh-huh...hmmm..."
Ja, the molecular cloning expert who never gets mad at us no matter how noisy we are, no matter how irritating we are, for imitating her ever so often. A really sweet and nice person, whom boss can never say no to.
"Maybe?"
"Really?"
"I donno! Ask Krupa!"
"He can't say no rightt? We need this righhtt?"
"Ya ya ya!"
"Up to you"
"Sorry ah!"
Mukesh, for (un)constructive conversations which made me experience what a real language barrier is, who's super funny and entertaining, but always really nice and apologetic, who loves coffee breaks and squash, who likes learning chinese with his cute roomie Vikram, who's so much more active in the night than in the day, who looks to boss as his idol...Thanks for letting me be the first to see your crystal, and I hope it grows big and shiny and can be sent for diffraction.
"xxx, can you do me a favour?"
"Thank you very much."
"What time you are leaving the lab?"
"Ja told me to do like this."
"Ok I will do it."
"I think so."
"You people are coming back during the weekend? No? Good. Have a good weekend."
"What is this herb in chinese?"-->"Oh basil? Can cook curry."-->"Coo-curry? That's what it's called in chinese?"
Krupar, who always tells us to relax but gets stressed himself when boss pushes him for results and gives him deadlines. For entertaining us with his pek-chek expressions when we surround him and speak in chinese, for looking like winnie-the-pooh...
"How can you do like this?"
"I'm gonna kill u!"
"Relax, it's ok."
Lin Xin, who's not physically in lab cos he's with the computational side, but he's the one who did my tetramer model so thank you all the same :) Really cheeky and monkey-ish, I still can't believe he's married. Lol.
Now to the jiejies, who're not really jiejies cos we're all actually the same age. But you guys are the ones who've braved the odds with me, and I'm so grateful for that. Thank you for being there when I was stressed, for anchoring me to sanity (or insanity?) when I was freaking out and rushing for deadlines. Thank you for helping me with so much stuff, even if they're just inconsequential favours like photocopying.
Janet, whose presence ensures that life will never be boring. For bouts of laughter that made me so tired, to the point that my jaws ached...We're on the same frequency and we play along so well, I'll miss you loads. I'll miss laughing with you at Mr. Bean, spiderman and bank-count, and silly cliche movies...Thanks for teaching me the yuan yang skill and taking the trouble to proof-read my poster, version after version :)
Chiew Ying, our data processor. Thanks for constructive discussions about AUC, help with sedfit, sedphat and origin...Without you I'd take even longer figuring out those stupid softwares...thanks for helping me with my thesis in those final minutes :) For feeling our stress and stressing with us...for pointing me to relevant papers about M2...Without you beside me life would have been very different.
Last but not least, my bro Jo! For going home together every day, you made shuttle-bus waiting less mundane, shuttle-bus flinging less frustrating, and train journeys less boring. (Other than the times we both K/Oed, or the times when I drove and you fell asleep in the passenger seat) For waiting for each other, complaining and supporting each other, I'm so glad we got into the same lab. (Thank goodness I didn't get char-gu afterall!) For lunch and coffee and cakes =)
To the 3 of you, for spontaneous sharp turns at the sight of boss. For buffet camping during convo ;) For company, camaraderie and all things in common. I'm so glad we'll all be convocating together in the end. See you guys in heels and square hats!
All in all, a big THANK YOU to all at JT lab, for tolerating our nonsense and noise, for teaching us so much, for never getting mad, for beautiful sunsets and even more beautiful times of fun and laughter. Congrats for getting "contaminated", successfully infected with our mimicking lingo. I love you guys :D
Also, thanks to those at Lars' lab, for tolerating our unbelievable noise levels. I know we suck. We do try to stifle our laughter but sometimes (or most of the time), it's too much to bear. But who cares, we're out of there now, and anyway we're students so who can blame us? Hahaha. We're the ones who make life so interesting, RIGHT?
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