Walnut

A series or events happened over the past few weeks and i'm delighted things turn out fine! Hmm... let me try to account them starting from the latest event. Hall 12 offered me a place to stay finally! Don't know i should accept or not. I think i'm rather used to going to and back from school, have maid to serve me and get to sleep in train. Life is not that bad afterall since TCM lesson has not started. Dad told me to take up the place, and i can decide whether i wanna stay or not. In fact, i hope to stay in Hall 16, or at least try once before i leave NTU...

Oh ya! I receive this Walnut cake yesterday~!! Freshly baked by Bangawansolo! I've been craving to eat walnut ever since my BMS friends said that walnut are good nutrients for your brain. Haha! And someone is so kind enough to buy it for me!Ate the walnut cake and i think its fabulous. Joshua and Esther even "attack" it sia.. i thought i can have it all alone by myself. Humph... and seriously, this cake it so nice that i think i can finish everything myself.. :P thanks!
On wed, it was my family day! Everyone who belongs to this family is present of course! We went to one of the shop in chinatown named "Guo Fu" to have a steamboat treat! Veg, prawns, fish, sheep meat, chicken meat, pork, mushrooms, fried tapioca and a lot more things for us to indulge in! Taken after the waitress put on the soup we ordered. Available are tom yam, curry, chicken soup and soup with medicinal value. Not bad...

Look at the feast!
The scrumptious meal taken by me once again!
After the meal, we went home. But sadly, my sister lost her phone. Tried finding but to no avail. Anyway i get to go to sembawang beach and sit on the swing too! Had a nice stroll too before going home. * felt blessed * i always treasure the time spend with my family.

On tue, i went for my lab! Just taking a few pictures during the lab session:

Look at CCC taking a picture with the inverted structure of the brain. Eh... don't think it's his brain ba... it's just too big to be his... opps! Not implying anything... haha!This is our professor Tang Kai with his favourite toy! Make a guess... is this MALDI-TOF/TOF, ESI Q-TOF, ESI LTQ Orbitrap or ESI LTQ FT? And i cannot believe he actually look into my camara phone while i'm taking a picture of him teaching!Him teaching us to analyze the results from the screen. I think Jessica is trying to hide her face away from my camara.. good way to listen and hide at the same time!
This is the TV screen which amplify and magnify the metal needle close to the detector. Hmm... if i'm not wrong, this needle is used for the electronspray ionisation, which is so fine for the naked eye! ( i think so ba ) lol...
A closer look at what the TV screen is magnifying!
Hmm... out of lab, at jurong east i went to the newly opened popular and everything is nice and beautiful. Picked up a book on frogs and found some cute frogs!
See this frog? I like the thin lip and... it looks stupid to me.. haha...
Last but not least, a nice meal cooked by my maid! Though this meal has long digested and shitted out, i wanna highlight the fact that the food looks good before going into my mouth!
Although this western looks the same everytime, i just like the western cooked by my maid. It just seems appealing.. and mouth-watering...That's all! Hope everything will be fine this week... i hope...

Outside vs Inside

Some things are not what it seems to be... Friends may be surrounding you, but felt lonely on the inside. Why? Perhaps its the element of care that is missing? Perhaps constant contact is not really that possible? 310 contacts in my handphone... i have 300 free sms... every month send an sms also exceed my limit... Everyday sms one person also take 10 months... don't know what am i talking about actually... purely feeling resentful at times...

Perhaps what is portrayed on the outside does not really mean the same for the inside. Sometimes there are more to some things, and it's not that the truth can't be told, but it cannot be told, and it must not be told? Anyway i think i'm lumping too many things together. Brain is confused. Simplistically speaking, things is not as easy as what u think it is. It's complicated.

Don't think too much. Just study first, talk later.

Good medicine

A cheerful heart is a good medicine!

School work has been pilling up at exponential rate again... second week already and i still seems so slack!

Ya ya... sadistic.. that guy is trying to steal her heart. Poke into her breast, pull out a nice heart, which in turn sitmulates an enlargement of the girls eyes. LOL!! Can't believe i type "stimulate the enlargement of eye".. But notice the girl didn't die? And they start all over again.. enjoying themselves... Kinda cute. Yet i don't mean this when i said "A cheerful heart is a good medicine".. Practically eating the heart sia...

Sian... don't know if i can remember all the drugs name. The second lecture for Pharmacology already have about 50 drugs and my brain is rather dead now.. feeling sore with the throat too.. On top of that, someone is targeting my wallet.. LOL... notti...

Jan 10, 2008 Thursday ST Forum

I'm writing this in response to the comment made by Linda Cheng in the ST Forum at page H11 in The Straits Times.

She is arguing about the priority seats on MRT trains, comparing Singapore with Taiwan. I'm not against you truthfully, because from the situation as stated by you, you need the seats. It has been kind of you to highlight that younger commuters gave up their seat to the older commuters in Taiwan and Tokyo. Excellent job huh. So in Singapore, does it matter if those people occupying the non-priority seats gave up their seats to you? You just sucks in your attitude. Were you ever thankful when people are good to you, and write to ST Forum, complimenting these kind of people?

You personally say that whenever you stand near a seat with the sign, "Give up the seat to someone who needs it more than you", those people in the priority seats ignored you. You tired many times ( don't know what are you trying to do ). Until you stand in the middle of the carriage, someone then offer you a seat. As a result you suggest to SMRT to remove the sign since the possibility of a someone giving up his seat rarely happens. On top of that, you blame it on the culture of Singapore.

In the first place, since u're 7 months pregnant and really need the seat, is it so hard to open your golden mouth to ASK for a seat? Such as "I'm sorry.. i'm pregnant. May i have this seat?". You want it, you ask for it since u are the most gracious and so deserve the seat. All you know is just wait and wait? Have you ever come across your selfish mind that people are tired as well? You as a pregnant lady jolly well give people some respect, because i don't think you deserve any. Afterall, we DO have commuters giving up seats to you, just that those commuters are not sitting at the sign. Anyway, who are you to suggest to SMRT to remove the sign? Who are you to pinpoint this "fault" to the SMRT? You are the least generous, suckiest pregnant woman i've ever come across.

Asked LP from EEE to comment on this, she said you should stay at home. Pregnant already still travel around like nobody's business. Let me give you a suggestion in return. If you want a seat? Buy a car.

Start Of A New Sem

The new semester is here... Oh well.. Don't know i should feel happy or sad. Not staying hall anymore cos i'm not allocated any. On top of that, not much friends stayed in hall too... ever since i've shifted out of Hall 15 to Hall 1, quite lonely. Roomie alone is not enough... Anyway i should try to live without hall for once and see if it's really that bad. May my maid serve me. WHAHAHAHA!!

This holiday seems to go by very quickly and sadly speaking, i didn't do anything that marvellous and fantastic. I hope my lacking attitude will not affect the start of this new sem. I must study hard! ( hopefully )

Cute.. kinda relieve my pre-school blues... amazing how it did not get itself killed.

Oyster Upheaveal

New Requirement of Pre-Export Norovirus Testing For Frozen Oysters Exported To Singapore

Due to an increase of food poisioning outbreaks associated with the consumption of frozen oyster because of norovirus contamination, AVA will impose pre-export testing for norovirus in every consignment of frozen oyster, whether in half-shell, whole-shell or meat exported to Singapore with effect from 1 June 2007. This will therefore require the competent relevant government authority of the exporting countries to vertify in the health certificate that the consignment of frozen oysters has been tested and found free of norovirus. This certification will be in addition to the existing certification requirements, which will be read as follow:

a) the oyster were harvested from approved waters and processed in an approved establishment/plant in a sanitary and hygienic manner;

b) the oysters have not been treated with chemical preservatives and additives injurious to health;

c) the oyster have been tested and found free of norovirus;

d) the product is fit for human consumption.

Please contact Mr Thomas Lee at tel 63257102 or me ( Mr Koh Cheng Liat ) at 63257879 if you need further clarifications.

Contact for fuck. I called so many times and no one picked up the phone.

Agri-Food & Veterinary Authory of Singapore ( AVA ) is becoming more of a pest nowadays. My dad's business is seriously affected by this delayed-and-over-reacted testing for norovirus these days. Why do i say "delayed"? As a science student, i've did a mini research on this matter. There is no recent food poisioning outbreak associated with the consumption of frozen oysters because of norovirus contamination. The outbreak occurred in 04 Nov 2003, 4 years ago, where half-shelled RAW oysters served in hotels, clubs and restaurents were suspected. The specific shipment import from Shandong, China was problematic and the remaining 21 carton was recalled. No further outbreak was report since then, and it took AVA 4 years before they started do anything.

Finally when AVA implemented a norovirus testing, ALL oysters in Singapore did not meet the requirement, including our supplier Pan Ocean Singapore Pte Ltd, which has rumoured a future increase in oyster price to gain a hefty profit from the retailers. Anyway, all the consignment was burned and destroyed. Called two other suppliers and they replied the same thing.

From the Journal of Infection (2005)51, 413-418 Oyster-associated outbreaks of Norovirus gastroenteritis in Singapore, electron microscope and real-time reverse transcription PCR on ABI PRISM 7700 Sequence Detector was used to examine the presence of Norovirus.

Picture taken from Journal of Infection (2005)51, 413-418 via NTU database.
This is the actual figure in the journal itself. Figure 4.
What can u see from this picture? Can you see the presence of norovirus particle round, granular with a diameter of ~35nm, a ragged edge and an morphous surface appearance? I don't know what is it that "dot" myself, but i can conclude that this EM has low sensitivity and has a rather low resolution. In the journal, they used real-time reverse transcription PCR on ABI PRISM 7700 Sequence Detector. So? How big is your sample size? Do you know you have limited stool samples being tested, which may result in statistical error? Did you know that norovirus can be inactivated at temperature higher than 60 degrees? Try touching the frying pan to see if its more than 60 degrees. It is fair to ban all oyster now when it is the hotels and restaurants that is serving the raw contaminated oysters 4 years ago? Did you consider the possibility of false-positive results? Although there is no routine test for norovirus ( or viral contamination ) in the service laboratory previously, isn't it too harsh to burn all the consignment now that u've started testing? Even if all the while norovirus was present, Singaporean for the past few years have been eating and they are fine. Now that a few weak westerners ate the raw oyster had diarrhoea, it is fair to the general public, where no previous outbreak associated with comsumption of raw oyster has been reported? Problematic. High carrier frequency for cystic fibrosis already still want to eat raw oyster and self-destruct.

Anyway this matter will not rest. Initially i thought the police force was useless enough, now AVA is giving more trouble. Now none of the oyster consignment from all the supplier passed your test. Everything is burned. Thanks man. SAF is fucked up too. Great. What's next? Impose fine again for those who jaywalk? Nothing better to do. What a peaceful city afterall. U're the best.

Butterfly

The days of a butterfly are numbered. Average lifespan for an adult butterfly is 20 to 40 days. Some live up to 6 months, and some live no longer than 3 days. When rain comes, some butterflies become tattered and die. This remind us that our days are numbered as well. For me, i'm 1/3 through my life. Days are too short for anger, for tears to leave unhealed, for quarrel and for idling around with nothing to do. Its time to cherish those important to you and bring happiness to those you love so that when you leave this world with nothing, you leave with no regrets as well. How fragile are we indeed.

If you try to spare a butterfly its struggle by cutting open its cacoon, the butterfly will die. It is that struggle of freeing itself from that cacoon is what develops its wings so that it can fly. Many a times we avoid hardship. But more often than not, hardship is necessary to make us a better individual. Don't give up easily.Butterfly is like happiness. Some people uses their whole life chasing after it, but never catches it. Some people don't even need to give it a chase, and butterflies ( or happiness ) can be seen all around them! But sometimes, they are not appreciative. I'm lucky to chase some butterflies and got it. Very appreciative and not willing to let it go, intended to keep it with me until it leaves. But i grasp it too hard that its suffocating. I should learn to let it go and let it flutter around me with freedom. Perhaps what's yours will be yours, and be appreciative when it comes to you.

A Change

Have been playing these days... Jogging, window-shopping, mahjong, warbook ( an application in facebook ), watch movies and doing things that are rather "useless"... as a result? I feel useless as well.

Spent a lot of time in warbook trying to built up my army. Although i've just started this game not long ago, i get addicted easily. As a result, i deleted this application from my facebook. Perhaps i might delete the entire facebook if i'm spending too much time on it. I always delete. Whenever i want to forget someone, i will delete his/her hp number from my phone and make sure i never see it again. Been thinking i should be spending time thinking what i really want in the future, and give careful planning to achieve what i want. Leisure is necessary, but compulsive playing is definitely not going to bring me any good.

In life, no matter what we choose, we will always gain something and lose something... losing the opportunity cost... losing the alternative... I hope the choices i've made will not make me lose things that i treasured most in my life. haha... sounds general? Just thinking of something... School is starting next week and i'll be busy studying again. People might feel sad, but i want this to happen because i want to graduate and proceed on with my life. Have been studying for about 16 years already and the naive me have not really decipher the treacherous and deceitful society. No work = No money.

Temptations are hard to resist. Commitments are hard to keep. Once i've committed myself to serve the church, but i got disheartened. When i do not feel like going to church these days, its not only the superficial "Joseph-did-not-come" only, but it shows how much i value and keep this commitment i've made years ago. Once i've commit myself to learn piano. No doubt i learned the basics, but the continuous learning and constant practice is really a challenge. I no longer feel the passion for it.. excuse such as hard to master and no time is inevitable. Once i told myself that i will not speak a word of vulgarities because it is hurtful, but i still did 10 years later. To some people, vulgar words is no big deal! But to me, it is another kind of "commitment"... or should i say, a promise to be kept? A promise made by myself. Haha... moral values corroding... admire those people who have integrity and the strength to persevere in what they believe in. I think i need lots of encouragement to keep the commitments to come. People might think i'm deemed to fail considering the failed past commitments, but i love to give surprises and hate those who look down on me.

No matter how pessimistic i feel, i still believe life is good. In retrospect, a change is definitely a must to better myself. Just like what the Democrates said: Change. Change for the better!

A brand new beginning of 2008

On sunday, suddenly have the desire to play mahjong. Called some of my friends from TPJC, NTU, Hall 15 and church but none was available. Esther tried calling her friends and could not find anyone free for the moment. In the end, we have to execute the last plan: to call our very own sister Eunice, who is having fun with Francis. SIAN... haha... no choice... all friends not available. Surprisingly, Yu Sheng and Jessica came to visit me after their church service! This is such a wonderful surprise and i'm more than happy to accomodate them for the night. Oh ya, we played mahjong of course (^.^) we had a heartly supper ( sponsored by my parents ) and a great night!

Spent the last day of 2007 in Kent Ridge Park and Sembawang Park. WOW... so many people was there! Had a great exercise walking and climbing.. Since it's late at night, some parts are very quiet while some parts are very crowded.Especially the narrow carpark in Sembawang park, the 2 traffic lane as become 1.5 as we tried hard to drive through it. Not very well balanced in terms of the car density and population density, but the night was beautifully spent! Saw a lot of campers, families gathering, children playing, couples cuddling together ( not making love please ), BBQ food and stalkers like us.. HAHA!

New year resolution for me?
First maintain my grades at second upper standard = study hard
Second pass my ippt in 10 months time ( before the closing of my window )
Third to increase my weight from 48kg to 50kg
Fourth to save $1000 from my daily allowance
Fifth to be able to play Canon in D
Sixth to stay handsome ( joking )

That's all! Will update my new year resolution if i thought of anything. Haha! May all of you enjoy another new beginning!