missing IPOH.. and more =(

Ok, we didn't just go ipoh to jump. haha. but no time to upload so many pictures now lah. next friday, after my BIG BIG exam, i will upload all ipoh pictures and tioman diving pictures! ^_^ meanwhile, just uploading this coz i miss those carefree times, tho it was just a week ago. it's been a big rush since i came back. tmr is my 3rd mock presentation.. with 20-strength audience. geez.

The last, and most synchronized jump shot :)

would seriously appreciate it if people would stop using vulgarities everywhere they go. so glad that many of my friends don't use them, and some others know about how much i dislike foul words, so they do make an effort to avoid using it when i'm around. but i don't usually bother informing other people around me if they don't know, coz though i dislike hearing it, i have no right in dictating what comes out of their mouths. so i just close one ear and pretend i didn't hear anything. just don't be surprised if i suddenly lose my smile and turn silent.

don't understand why people need to use those words. doesn't help the situation more when you use vulgarities you know. it doesn't turn the rain to sunshine. it doesn't stop drivers from cutting into your lane. it doesn't stop people from arrowing you to do work. it doesn't remove the stink of dog poo from your shoe. so why make it even worse by using such unpleasant sounding words? >.<

counting down... with distractions

The exam is just around the corner, and i am working extremely hard for it. for other reasons too, of course. but at the same time, my next weekends are full of distractions, with Ipoh and Tioman trips taking up my weekends! Can't wait.. haven't traveled with the FSC in ages. In fact, i've never traveled with 3 out of the 5 of us going to ipoh! whoaahaha.. the FSC is really going to the next level. we're going to conquer food out of singapore's borders! i'm sure it'd be a good trip. Thanks wyee for agreeing to bringing us home. ^_^

And that's not all. amidst exam preparations, i am preparing for other major activities too! amongst it includes the europe trip. FINALLY, tickets have been booked. at almost half the rates that i was quoted a month ago! Thanks to the flu, as well as the capability of the other 2 going on the trip. Thank God for them! now for the decision of where in Europe to travel after tt. =P there're other things i am planning for too.. really exciting things.. things i have had wanted to do ages ago but found noone to do it with. Now i have found companion! but... it cannot be done unless if i pass the exam. So... i will not announce it til i pass. hehe.

back to the topic of exam. if not for the distractions, i think i'd be so stressed. maybe overly stressed. if not for friends who're around to support me and give me encouragement every moment of the day, i may have collapsed. Lin asked me to watch 'Facing the Giants', and i did. 3 times in 2 days, in fact. truly enough, it touched me. right smack. And the scene on the death crawl (embedded film), really felt like i am doing it now. and i will only be able to do it with the encouragement and support of all around me. Thank you Lord, for sending these people into my life. =)

Space, the final frontier...

For a non Star-Trek fan, this was really good! Had half expected to be totally lost during the movie, despite friend's assurances. Plus, i was not as hardworking as fangers to go do any reading up before we all went for the movie! But it wasn't what I had expected. It was not-so-geeky, it was humorous, and quite easy to understand! (yes, save for 'red matter'... bleah) But yes, it's highly recommended to all! doesn't matter if you've ever watched or even heard of previous star trek films/shows. You can still watch this blockbuster! ^_^


And yes, he's quite cute. reminds me of a friend. who's not in town currently.

And the seats at grand cathay are nice, big and comfy. i like :)

Thanks

for the chat, the counsel, the encouragement. haven't felt so terrible in a long time, and i really appreciate the timely comforting words.

i tried so hard, to keep the tears at bay when you came in person today. put on a strong smile, i told myself. and indeed, it helps. no more of crying in front of everybody. first time because he left, second time because of the meaningful present. I think that is enough. i have a reputation to uphold. may i pick myself up again, and win the next showdown! =)

Passage of the Day

This passage was brought to attention when i was talking to a friend today. It's a very popular story, and i've read it many times. But each time, it just gives extreme comfort to know that He's always there, no matter how many times I have wanted (oh have) turned my back to Him. Thank you Father, for your agape (unconditional) love. =)

The Parable of the Lost Son

¹¹Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. ¹²The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.

¹³"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

¹⁷"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' ²⁰So he got up and went to his father.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

²¹"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.^a]">[a]'

²²"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

²⁵"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'

²⁸"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'

³¹" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "

Luke 15:11-32

and i don't understand the discrepancy. Am i blind or totally insensitive or what?

i'm asked to be more competitive. fight it out. yeah.. if it were a few yrs back, i wouldn't even need to be told to do so. I was so convicted to prove everyone wrong if they looked down on me. i was ready to fight back every professor's demeaning words, every obstacle anyone placed my way. but i have changed since then. I don't want to be so competitive anymore. But is it wrong? It seems like i was more ready then than now to do a phD, to compete with people and to fight my way into "the elite club". I don't want to bother about all these. I just want to do my research. I am not here to compete, i am not here to be on the right side of favouritism, not be here to prove i am the best. But yet, it seems like it is all part and parcel of the game. either you do it all, or do nothing at all. sigh. maybe it's time to go back to the old days? or is there some other way i can find a balance? i really don't feel like living tt kind of life anymore..

This is amazing! Wonder if my bro will ever be able to do that.. haha

Evolution vs Creation

Was preparing all these for my lesson last sunday. Was quite intrigued by how nature really speaks for creationism itself. Had been quite convicted all along, but this only adds to it. ^_^

Assumptions in the evolution theory


Evolutionary Assumptions - Celebrity bloopers here

How the simple Chicken Egg defies evolution!


Scientific Discoveries : Incredible Creatures That Defy Evol - Click here for more home videos

Find more from "Incredible Creatures that defy Evolution"! ^_^

Thank you for all your prayers!

I also don't know why i was so stressed about the meeting. Just another meeting, ain't it? But i guess it was the 'warning' i received the previous week, that got me all jittery. There was nothing much i could do because it was sunday and i had no intentions to come back to work on a sunday. Hence, i went ahead with the meeting, able to only submit it all to the Lord. Vivi sent me an sms a couple of hours before, quoting Psalm 34:9 "Fear the Lord you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing". Thanks girl, for the encouragement you always give, be it sms or emails. ^_^

Thankfully, it went fine in the end. Of course i appeared really dumb and lacked all knowledge, but i was already prepared for the worst. Yeah, it's been so many years since i thought my life would be a big mess. gosh, the stress that made me all nauseous, which didn't help with the stench of the tumors i was working with in the morning before the meeting. The smell was still there after the meeting, but i felt alright! was even hungry due to the lunch i had skipped. Shows that the nauseousness was not from the stench, but anxiety! whoahaha... so old ler still stressed until like that. haha. well, i'm glad it's over. one month to piah now! >.<

Philly Cheese Steak!

Yes, i finally had Philly Cheese Steak in singapore! haha... had loved the ones in Philly, but never tried any in singapore because i was almost sure it would be totally wrong and spoil my wonderful memories of Philly cheesesteak in philly. But, today was special. I met steph and harry, in NewyorkNewyork! We all knew each other in Philly, and had traveled to NYC together then. So i decided to finally choose philly cheesesteak. I didn't expect it to be like the true philly cheesesteak of course, but rather treated it as another burger with the name only. So it wasn't disppointing, coz it was totally unlike the authentic one. haha. not the least bit like it. zero resemblance. I bet the creator had never even been to philly, let alone tried the real philly cheesesteak! even the bun is wrong. the cheese wrong. the shrooms wrong. gosh. what was right? maybe the name (oh no, the name wasn't. it was called philly cheese steak sandwich. nooo... it's not a sandwich... it's just philly cheesesteak!). and yes, it was beef inside. haha.

manz, i really miss philly. miss US. miss exchange. i wish i could go back there again, study there again, live there again. Why are we always never contented? hmm. i wonder if i would get to go there for my post doc?

Am I ready?

On one hand, i really want to get it over and done with. On the other, I question myself if I am really ready for such a big test. Some people tell me it's hard to fail. Others tell me most people fail the first time round. And I don't have much of a choice, for I die die have to pass the exam by august. To add on, The Big One is starting to be a little doubtful of my project again. yes, A-G-A-I-N. It gets frustrating sometimes, when I cannot merely focus on doing my research, but at the same time have to think of ways to convince people around me that it is a worthwhile commitment. Yes, I know that's part of research work. Think about the people who need to write grants for fundings. But... It's really a very promising project, can't you people see it!? I'm just a little slower in producing ground-breaking findings, not because i am lazy and don't do any work, but because I only have 2 hands, 24hrs a day, and not too much luck. And to add on, who on earth produces exhilarating results every other week? Give me a break... I'll show you what I can do. Just pass me and let me carry on with my pipetting... I promise you I wouldn't disappoint you.

Coincidence? Really?

I would never have thought that someone would share so many similarities as me. Not referring to looks or genetics (coz i am sure my sister would beat anybody to that!), but rather interests and thinking. It's nice, really, to talk to someone on the same wavelength. Many of my closer friends do share the same wavelength, agree on many things. But seldom on SO MANY things. It's a little unbelievable. Yet pleasant at the same time.

it JUST has to happen together. WHY?

If only life were simpler. No decisions to make, no choices to make. That'd be so nice. Sometimes, we complain that we have no choice. Then, we complain when there're too many choices. haiz. I keep wondering if this is good or bad, that i have choices. If there were only 1 option, then no need to wreck my simple brain to choose. Then again, who doesn't like choices? Especially when offered all at the same time, then can take your pick. Choose the best one. BUT... then comes the worry that we might make the wrong choice, and regret later. HAIYOH. What contradictory creatures we all are. >.<

***

Geez. i so need a break from all my activities. So tired out. All of a sudden, everyone's meeting up and organizing activities. Not that i'm complaining. I LOVE going out with my friends, and i love it when everyone is so spontaneous and we can easily spend time together without going through much hassle of planning. But, i think i am taking on too much. meeting too many different groups of friends, doing too many different things, picking up too many skills, making too many commitments. Need a break. gosh. but no opportunity to. howhowhow. can't wait for dive trip at the end of may, then europe 2 weeks later! noone will be able to ask me out then, and i can enjoy life at its simplest, and maybe slowest. ^_^

Had wanted to watch with S and Wyee.. but we were unable to find a common time to go! How upsetting. Had to give up the idea of watching it. =(

Then.. TH suddenly mentioned that he also wanted to watch the musical! hahaha.. so wyee and i went to search for a new date to go... and did find one! and this time we managed to get student price summore! woohoo~ so much cheaper!

So, finally, after so much hassle, i finally watched Cats last night! ^_^ 4 months after the last musical in London... oh how i missed watching musicals. The moment the music started, i felt like i was in London again, watching my nightly musical, enjoying every moment of it. Can't wait for the next one to come to singapore!

The truth about cancer research..

This comic says it all... (taken from phdcomics.com)

Porridge steamboat!

ever heard of that? steamboat with PORRIDGE BASE. no soup, only porridge! cook ur food in the porridge! hehe.. ok maybe i am very suaku, but i only heard of it recently, and got to try it! good recommendation. it's yummy! the porridge gets yummier as u cook, coz more food then more flavour. i think one of the tricks is to add the salted egg right from the beginning! =) as usual, i forgot the name of the place ler... but it's at bugis. opposite the dessert place. haha. fine whoever wants to go jio me! i know the way. haha. and i mean it! (don't laugh. i know i'm always getting lost. but when i say i know the way, i don't bluff.)

and since i didn't take pictures yet again, i got this from sparklette.net. :)

GEYLANG!

finally made it back there again after almost 3 yrs. (oh yes, i've been in this lab that long! it was my first outing with the lab pple, for durian. 3 yrs later, we're back again, and my status has progressed from undergrad to grad! =P) This time round, instead of having durian first then dimsum, we had it the proper way. dimsum first, then durian, then rochor's beancurd! yummy. The dimsum was of course great. the chee cheong fun was nice! good recommendation by the snake-head, fangers. durian.. we had 2 different types. one cheapo and one expensive. just to see the difference. whoa.. what a great difference it was! maybe also coz the cheapo one was the sweet type, and i don't have much liking for sweet durians. Well at least one person liked the cheapo one.. haha.. so easy to please. He's a jap guy, and he says that durians make his fingers smell like sashimi+soy sauce+wasabi. Hmm. Fangers agreed that she could imagine the soy sauce. but i'm totally unable to link durians to jap food! I think they just miss jap food too much. =P

after the food, came a different highlight of the day. tour de geylang! woot! finally FINALLY got to walk around the red light district! thanks to friend who knows the way. hahahahaha. it was a wee bit early though, so we didn't see many girls. but i saw the houses. whoa, even have themes! and all pink/purple/red lights. i wonder if that really helps. hmm.

thank God for drivers, coz we got into the car (my first friend who owns a VW. and first person to choose a white car. but it's a beautiful car, i must say! wonder why noone else thinks of buying it) and went back for a drive through! it was later in the night by then, and yes, we saw many more people on the streets! all nationalities, all ages... Lor 10, 14, 16, 18, 20... yes, we did miss out 12. but it was abit messy driving thru tt area with all the guys desperate to get there. ah... there were many groups of NSmen! gosh.. with their meagerly pay still can.. and one even brought a guitar around. i wonder if it was an excuse to stay out late. then i saw something very funny. someone was zipping his pants in the middle of the streets! hahah.. we all figured he probably got a call from his wife and rushed out, forgetting to zip up his pants in the hurry. hehehehehe~

planning trips are fun~

it ain't nice to repeat the same thing everyday, hoping one day it works, but it never does.
it isn't wonderful to plan things together and someone just drops the aeroplane (backs out)
and it sure sucks to be ignored.

FORTUNATELY, there's so many more things to be happy about

• traveling is always more fun when there're more people. cheers to the new travel buddy addition!
  
• it'd be fun staying in a villa rather than the usual boring hotel.
• europe's definitely good when there's more time to travel. what's more, it's my first time there! (excluding a wee bit of UK last yr lah)
• 2 scoops of icecream to myself over lunch
• 6 bars of kinder bueno in a single afternoon
• durian outing@geylang tomorrow!

wheeeee~ so life's good. heck whatever else happened. ^_^

dreamt that i was back in tioman, together with vivi and yw. They're taking the open water course this time round (like in real life!) but i was with them in the dream. just joining them for fun. haha. and i wasn't bored at all, going through all that again! finning around in the very clear and clean pool, under the sun.. well, the pool in my dream was obviously much larger and cleaner than the one in tioman! haha.. but it was a nice dream. :)

hmm on 2nd thought maybe it was because i got ma PADI card last night. hehe~