Coming Home!

The long awaited torture of coming home is killing me... Time seems to slow down when you are waiting for something. I wish the same could happen when I'm back.

I guess I am not suitable to stay in Melbourne. This city is too boring for my liking. Boring in the sense that shops close at 6pm on weekdays. Boring in the sense that there are no major shopping malls to browse around. Boring in the sense that night activities are restricted to pubs and clubs. Boring in the sense that there are no entertainment after school. It's always study, study and study. I want to come back to have my own life. Go home after knock off to home cook food. Watch some TV shows or play some games. Surf the internet without having to worry about download quota. My Bitorrent is always on to download movies and songs. Having stayed in Melbourne for the last 4 months has shown me how difficult it is to stay in Melbourne. The internet alone is enough to kill me, not to mention the hectic school work and constant worry about how much money I am spending.

I also dread putting my bag into the huge container before the exams because it takes ages to retrieve your bag when your paper is done.

Although it's nice to have really blue sky with fluffy clouds, the weather is insane in Melbourne. I cannot complain enough about the weather.

IT'S FINALLY OVER!!!!!

My first semester at University of Melbourne is finally OVER!!! I've completed my final examination today!!! Although I am not very confident about this paper, I am still delighted that I survived through my first semester. 

This semester has taught me to be constantly updated about my lectures. I was lost in Biochemistry of Metabolism and Nutrition early in the course and I didn't have the time to clarify all my doubts until examination period. I realized I was confused about what was being taught towards the end and it certainly didn't do my revision any good. I have way too much doubts in my mind. Looking back, I should have used the iLectures more frequently. I will definitely keep myself on track, on par with whatever is being taught. 

Nonetheless, it is such a huge relief to be free and alive again. I have been having nightmares and insomnia for the past few weeks. The worst nightmare was one when I dreamt that I was going to this HDB flat. I said I wanted to stay there for one night, but the lady owner of the flat refused to let me. I insisted and when I was sleeping, I felt this burning sensation throughout my body. I thought that dreams aren't supposed to feel pain or sensation. But this nightmare did. I was afraid, so I started chanting Amitābha. The burning sensation gradually subsided, but I woke up feeling really scared, thinking it was something real. It really felt real... Talk about stress-induced nightmare. This is definitely one... Now, I sleep with an amulet just to keep myself safe. I know it is very "uncle-ish"... But who cares when I feel safe about myself. 

Can't wait to get back to Singapore for my loved ones, food and unlimited internet!!! 

Resurrection

23rd June 2009.

12.30p.m. 

Royal Exhibition Building (Rathdown).

Seat Number 2284.

Resurrection will begin.

I can't wait for 23rd June to come by. I can't wait to finish the most dreaded paper of all my subjects. Biochemistry of Metabolism and Nutrition. Chemical pathways and pathways and pathways... My brain cells are dying every second I read the notes. I just can't wait to be alive again! 

Once that's over, I will be sleeping in to recover my lost sleep for the past month. Been very hectic. Moving places. Preparing for tests and exams. Looking for housemate. Worrying about meals and internet connection. All these have been weighing me down for some time... I need a well deserved rest. 

2nd July. I will be back in the warmth of my loved ones in Singapore. Really looking forward to going back to eat my mum's home cook food. Although I can cook, but nothing beats mum's cooking. Also, I am going back to make rice dumplings! My mum said she will leave some ingredients for me to make my own. Hehehe~

Off to study now... 4 more days!!!

回來新加坡必吃的美食！

Roti Prata

炒粿條

水粿

菜头粿

沙嗲

肉搓面

羊肉湯

Katong Laksa

Eunos釀豆腐

辣椒螃蟹

云吞面

粿汁

魚片米粉

叉燒燒肉飯

鴨肉飯

豆花／豆花水

油條

最重要的是要吃媽媽煮的家常菜！

2 Months' Update

I have been very busy after the Easter break to be seriously updating my blog. Many things have happened, good and bad. I'll try to summarize them so that I can get back to studying for my exams.

Goods

1. My darling came over for a short stay (14-18 May 2009) and we definitely enjoyed each other's warm hands and love. 

2. Moved out of Unilodge and no longer have to see the NKB's sickening faces.

3. Managed to clear most of my assignments, presentations and tests with relatively satisfactory grades. 

4. Moved into a 2-bedroom apartment and I now have a queen size bed to myself.

5. Finally going back to Singapore in 3 weeks' time (2 July 2009)! I miss my family, my own bed, my unlimited, high speed internet usage and Singapore food!

6. Got myself a Sennheiser HD218 headphone!

Bads

1. Still looking for a housemate to occupy our apartment so that we all can split our rents.

2. Swine flu is causing such a havoc here. 

3. Still looking for a cheap bicycle to travel to school daily. Normal bicycles here cost at least $300. Insane.

4. Still trying to get used to living in a winter country. Mornings are extremely difficult to get up due to the cold. 

5. Broadband internet in our apartment is still not up. I am waiting for the landlord to come back and transfer her phone line to us so we can transfer it to Telstra and start using TPG broadband internet once it is set up. Complicated, I know... I am relying on mobile broadband which cost $70 and is only limited to 8GB (4pm-12midnight) and 16GB of uploads and downloads! Hopefully by the time I come back to Melbourne, ZQ would have set up the internet...

6. Hope to maintain my weight as it is now, 62kg. This means I have lost 7kg since Feb when I came here. 4 months, 7kg. 

Easter Break

People are rushing to the airports, jamming the trams and flooding the Customs to go off somewhere to spend their Easter break. Easter eggs, chocolates and gifts are being prepared for the Easter holiday. Joyous feelings, excited anticipations and wonderful memories await those going to have a good time during this holiday period. Great Ocean Road, Adelaide, New South Wales, Jakarta, New Zealand and many more places are destinations for most of my friends next week.

Not the same case for me. I have a laboratory report, a presentation and a paper review due 2 weeks from now. Not to mention the revision I have to do to catch up on lectures which I have totally no idea what was going on, especially Biochemistry of Metabolism & Nutrition. Luckily, my darling will be back this Saturday. So next week, I can have her on Skype as a motivation for me to do all my work. This week was spent in Hell without her. Torturous period for me as I have to constantly find things to do to keep my mind occupied. 

Going to give myself a break tomorrow to watch some movies on my laptop. I think I need this break to recharge myself for the busy week ahead... Can't wait for Saturday!!!

Laboratory Practical Session

I am a hands-on person. I like laboratory practical sessions because I can relax my brains a little and get down to use my hands to conjure up an experiment. At the end, the results revealing part will be the most exciting and most unpredictable.

 

To truly enjoy a laboratory practical session, your laboratory partner is very important. Take Kah Wai and I for example. He's the best laboratory partner I've ever had. The synergy, the understanding, the chemistry and the support. I am not sure if I am the best laboratory partner he's had, but I sure enjoy working together with him. Without any communication, our telepathy allows us to know what each of us are supposed to do for the experiment. We know what we should do and how to complement it to the other partner. Synergy level is always 100%. It is a great pleasure to work with him in a laboratory.

 

Now, my laboratory partner, a Singaporean girl, has proven to me the importance of a good laboratory mate. Not that she is equally good like Kah Wai. She is the opposite. A nightmare for anyone working in a laboratory. Once, I saw her pipetting up and down a fixed volume of water. Out of concern, I asked her if she was OK. She mumbled to herself ,"What is wrong with me today? How come I cannot pipette 12 uL of water?" She then turned to me with the pipette and asked me to show her how to do it. I turned the pipette to 12 uL, pipette up the water and showed it to her. Her reaction ,"How do you know it is 12 uL?"

 

For those non-scientists, a pipette is an instrument to draw the preset amount of liquid. If you set it to 10 uL, the volume it draws up will be 10 uL. Simple.

 

So I was totally puzzled by her question. She then took the pipette back and continued with her stuff. Stunned. Shocked. Puzzled. How can a scientist (especially one in her final year in Bachelor of Science) asked such a question. I was dumbfounded. Speechless. Never thought I would be asked this question. 

 

After this episode, she sent me this email:

 

As advised by my daily horoscope: "Censoring your feelings, though, is not an option, for the more you hold back, the stronger the life quake will be felt. Expressing yourself as if you are free can be the most exhilarating thing in the world."  

Haha maybe it's just me being inefficient or something, but I do appreciate the little gestures like helping me to collect my samples when you collect yours! It's.. not too hard right? We are lab partners and we are supposed to work with each other, just like the other lab partners in the lab! Right?  

Haha my bf says I should not be emailing this but I think it's worse if I dont say it out?  Feel free to share ur thoughts too :) I know I have room to improve too.  See u next week!  

xxx  

p/s: #ABC btw. can pop by to say hi if u want. 

p/p/s: yes i searched for your email address. 

p/p/p/s: add me on  if u haven't wanted to kill me after reading to the end of this email

 

So now it is my fault? Let me explain myself. The reason for not taking her samples out from the incubator was because my samples went in earlier than hers. If I had taken hers out, her incubation timing would be screwed. Doesn't she know that? Gosh... And instead of thanking me for showing her how to use a pipette, I am being accused here for not helping her to collect her samples? Clever...

 

I totally dreaded going to this practical session now. The thought of having to work with her is putting me off. Even when I have had only 2 hours of sleep within a day, I can understand and think better during a practical session than her. She questions almost my every action and I'm pissed by that. Whenever she has a question for me, I provided her with whatever I know. Not satisfied, she still has to go consult the demonstrator. So why ask me in the first place?! 

 

Can't wait for this semester to end so I don't have to see her anymore. She's weird beyond words.