Good bye, 2009... You will NOT be missed!!!

A year is coming to an end, with today being the last day of 2009. Not a lot had happened since the year had been spent in Melbourne struggling with my studies. Will just do a summary of the major happenings of 2009.

Celebrated my birthday and our first Valentine's Day with my Darling. Absolutely memorable experience!

My first birthday with my Darling!

My first Valentine's gift!

Travelled to Melbourne for the commencement of my third year of studies in Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology). Stayed with ZQ for the entire 2 semesters. First semester was spent in Unilodge, which was a disaster. Our neighbors were Koreans and I highly suspected that they are from North Korean due to their unfriendliness. They slammed the door on us in the kitchen and blasted girlie Korean pop music in the early hours of weekends. Next was my laboratory mate, Flavia. I don't know how someone like her can graduate from Unimelb. A total disgrace for this institution. Her classics? She asked me how I know the volume in a pipette is 12 uL when it has been set to pick up 12 uL of liquid. She also asked me whether it was substrate or enzyme that got degraded in a substrate-enzyme reaction. Third year student... Good griefs...

My first Australian sunrise.

My first lunch done up by ZQ.

Second semester, ZQ and I moved into a 2-bedroom apartment. We rented one room to a China boy. Mistake. Out of the 4 months together, he only went to the market twice with us. Other times, his excuses were that he's got soccer matches or project discussions with his project mates. His classics. 1) 政权，面包没了。2) He can come into the kitchen without offering help to prepare diner. Then he can have the cheek to come in again and say he's hungry. And yet again, he can have the cheek to say to me to add more water to the rice because the rice is a bit dry. 3) He simmered or soaked chicken in UNDILUTED dark soy sauce and upon serving it, he said he forgot to add salt.

My new bedroom!

红烧鸡肉. Which is basically chicken in dark soy sauce. This is after 20 minutes of simmering, so you can imagine how much soy sauce went in at the start.

Got my Honours project with Dr. Danny Hatters doing Huntington disease, looking at protein aggregation and trafficking. Commencement date is Feb 2010. Hope to get that done as soon as possible as I totally dreaded Melbourne lifestyle.

Celebrated our 1 year anniversary. No fancy arrangement, just quality time with each other. Next up, 2010 Valentine's Day!

My Darling with her Limited Edition Diana F+ Moma.

~~~ X'mas Fun 2009 ~~~

Rushed back for Elaine's wedding. Haven't seen her since July, so this is a great way to see Elaine in her most beautiful fashion.

X'mas outing with Melbourne gang. Although many people weren't around (even though they indicated their attendance on the event page), there were still plenty of fun and laughter! Lunch at Shin Kushiya. The food was great! I love my beef set! Tender and juicy beef slices! Went to the arcade after our lunch to have endless fun with World Combat and other games!

Had a cinema marathon with my darling and her buddies! "Alvin & the Chipmunks" and "Sherlock Holmes". The former movie was so-so, expected of the chipmunks. But the latter movie kept me awake throughout the entire duration! It was GOOD! The plot is excellently paced to keep you intrigued and captivated. There will be a sequel, so I am definitely looking forward to it! There were a few trailers of upcoming movies and a few looked nice. So hopefully I can get to catch them before I leave for Melbourne.

The nice neon effect brought about by condensation on my lens after we came out from Vivocity.

Hosted a X'mas gathering for my buddies. Definitely had a great time with them, despite the short amount of time I spent with each of them. But I guess quality beats quantity. And I am glad they are able to turn up despite their busy schedule. I can see they are really happy during this gathering, having endless fun with Guitar Hero: World Tour. It was overall a warm and precious gathering for me, meeting up with my good friends.

The Cannot-Make-It band with me (left), Choon Leng (centre) and GD (right).

The girls' band with Melissa (left) as drummer, Pauline (centre) as guitarist and Swee Yee as bassist.

Going to embark on my "personal project" soon, after I have gotten my materials. Hope to finish my project before I leave for Melbourne. Will keep this CONFIDENTIAL until completion. So stay tuned!

BACK HOME~~~

Feels good to be back home! So many things to do, but I tend to try to do too many things at the same time. Therefore, there are many things that will slip my mind.

First morning of my return, I went for a hair cut. Before the hair salon opens, I used the time to go buy some 4-D numbers. Also went to have my favourite wanton noodle! Hahaha! SHIOK~~~

So many things have changed. Orchard Road is never the same, despite me having returned in July. Things really changed fast in Singapore. Cannot imagine those who are really away from Singapore for almost a year.

Went with my mum to 313 and ION Orchard for a walk. It's really nice shopping with my mum. Window shopping and then diner with Swee Yee and my sister at Crystal Jade Korean Ginseng Chicken Restaurant. The homely feel of diner with your loved ones is indescribable. Just so lovely...

Can't wait for more times with my loved ones...