Sorry to have disappeared for more than a month. Work just overtook me, shoved me facedown into the muddy ground and jumped on my back a couple of times for good measure.

No la, it wasn't that bad. (Shouldn't scare the population of readers who are still in school hahaha.) Several highlights of my social life in the months that passed were:

Settlers' (or Settler's?) with colleagues sometime late-Feb. I haven't laughed that hard in a very long time. I also accumulated more nicknames. Sigh. I dunno what I do honestly, but they just keep coming! Why?!

Mind's Cafe (or Minds'? heh I can never remember) with dear Priya, Engel, Angeline and Qiaohui. Another very enjoyable session and some very happy news too :) hee.

My birthday!!! I was very very immensely touched by the surprise bday cake and presents from my colleagues. Domo arigato gozaimasuta minna-san! Now we have adorable moo-san and meh-san to comfort us in times of contamination, broken tubings, overfed batches and unsolvable problem sets :)

Met up with Pavaani and the rest of the nuts which was great and thankew so much for the lovely purple cardigan.

Dinner and movie with pltmates. Thankew very much for the handy pouch and concealer to cover my leopard spots. I'm making good use of them.

Dinner with some Stongers. Wow. Yeah wow. It was two years ago when I went up Stong and haven't really kept in contact with them besides Ke Rui whom I see in school and Yali cos we've known each other for so long. So it's really great to see them both and Keshia again. Ah those fond memories... brushing teeth at the top of a waterfall is truly a novel experience y'know... heh.

I have plenty of photos but none taken by me haha. Shall upload some soon.

I shouldn't make promises so hastily next time. When I thought I had a nice long CNY break, I kinda did have a nice long break but also a nice long worksheet to complete. And then everything just kinda snowballed into tons and tons of paperwork. Plus the party my parents are throwing tomorrow means they need the services of Maria.

*runs into telephone booth and changes into super-hero costume*

Well anyway, what I'm trying to say is that Part 2 of Sri Lankan Travels will come soon. Akan datang. Meanwhile, let me entertain you with some wacky pictures and you can try guessing which one is me.

This process is also known as gowning. Its purpose is to simulate astronauts gearing up for outer space exploration. And yesh, I get to do this at work. Cool huh?

I just got notified by snail mail that I've won $400 worth of makeup in a lucky draw contest so I'm in the state of "pleasantly surprised". I think it's my first time winning something in a lucky draw. Or winning something substantial in a lucky draw. Happy :)

(And yesh I'm openly gloating. Muhahaha.)

Now, weekend please come quickly. I really need a nice long break.

Hello, Happy CNY everybody! Er hehe what can I say? I was bitten by the procrastination bug haha. And this isn't even a complete log of my travels in Sri Lanka but I think it's better to get it published first.

JY's Sri Lankan Travels (Part One)

Why Sri Lanka? Seems like an uncommon holiday destination for Singaporeans. Well indeed it is. In fact, it's probably more popular among the Caucasians because I definitely saw more of them then fellow yellow-skinned people. Regardless, if you are one who enjoys the rich cultural heritage of ancient empires and breathtaking scenery, do visit Sri Lanka.

18 December 2007 - Bandaranaike International Airport

We arrived slightly after 4pm. After clearing immigration and baggage collection, we made our way out of the airport to the pick-up area. It was chaotic, but we got onto our van safely. It took about 2 hours to get to Dad's apartment in Colombo city because of slow traffic but that gave me an opportunity to observe their traffic police in action. At most major junctions and roundabouts, there were traffic police stationed to direct traffic. I even saw them stopping the incoming traffic to lead pedestrians across zebra-crossings so that really impressed me. By the time we arrived at the apartment, it was close to 8pm. Mom and I whipped up a quick dinner and we sat down to eat as a family for the first time since... oh wow I can't even remember... possibly one year!

19 December 2007 - Galle
We set off for Galle, 4 hours down south of Colombo, at 7.30am. Galle lies along the west coast of Sri Lanka and is famous for its beautiful bays and beaches, handmade lace and Dutch forts. Enroute to Galle, we stopped at two Buddhist temples. Unfortunately, I cannot remember their names and well, don't blame me, you wouldn't either. Heh.
The outstanding feature of this temple the dome-shaped ceiling which causes even the slightest whisper to be echoed and heard.
This is a very holy tree, said to have grown from a branch of another holy tree that was grown from the branch of the tree that Buddha sat under when he attained Nirvana.The second temple is famous for its gigantic seated Buddha statue. It also has a pet elephant. Dumbo below is 10 years old and lives on a steady diet of fresh fruits provided to him by the temple-goers.We also stopped by one of the many sea turtle conservation efforts along the way. The one we stopped at was manned by a young Caucasian woman and had two kinds of ticket fares. Tourists' tickets were 200 rupees each; locals' were 20 rupees each. And it's actually nothing more than a few long concrete tanks hall-filled with sea water, containing a few turtles each. But it is sorta for a noble cause so...

That's a hatching ground. The sticks indicate which type of eggs lie beneath the sand.

We then stopped at the beach to take a boat-ride in a glass-bottomed boat specially designed for coral-viewing. Here's the beach (and my mom):

And the coral with fish happily swimming in between:Moving on, we finally reached Galle where we had lunch at a hotel and everyone else around us were Caucasians, most likely English. Turns out that Galle has a famous cricket stadium and the match between the Sri Lankan and English cricket teams was on the same day so many of them were watching the live telecast on TV. Anyway we weren't interested in cricket so after lunch, we took a short stroll among the fort walls and also went to the lighthouse.

Then it was back to Colombo. But not before stopping to take a picture of this boat:

It probably isn't meant to carry a lot of people and I do wonder whether it will be a comfortable experience for the buttocks.

Alright more to come soon. For the first time in my life, I will not be spending CNY in Malaysia but will be right here in Singapore so I should be able to finish blogging about Sri Lanka during the long break. Gong Xi Fa Cai everybody!

I haven't updated for a while now because the photos of my Sri Lankan travels aren't complete and various family members who are holding on to them are kinda out-of-reach for the moment. I have so much to show my dear faithful readers so I hope you'll be patient. JY's Sri Lankan Travels are coming soon!

Those who have me on MSN probably noticed that I'm no longer using "the bummer" because it's a misnomer actually. In fact, it has been since the start of FYP? Or maybe even earlier. And now that I've (sort of) entered the working world, I don't really qualify as a bummer anymore. Maybe in another 30 or 40 years time, I can truly bum again. So it's goodbye to "the bummer".

Having said that, some qualities inherent of a bummer are deeply ingrained in me so this blog address will remain. (The previous statement can also be translated into: I'm too lazy to change my blog address.)

I spent the last few days of 2007 happily in the company of the people I love most so I started 2008 in good spirits and enthusiasm. With my newfound financial ability, I hope to acquire some stuff, rectify some other stuff, experience new stuff and save stuff. That about sums up my goals for the new year haha.

Happy New Year everybody!

Writing a business plan is pretty much the ultimate test of writing the same idea differently. Synonyms, euphemisms, double negatives, you name it, our business plan probably has it. Thesaurus was our saviour. The whole experience was fun and excruciating at the same time, but definitely more fun. Here's an excerpt from the entrepreneurs' profile:

"Leading the team is Nikolay, whose outstanding leadership capabilities, proven track records and strong passion for the unconventional make him the unanimous leader for this venture.

Stephy is a wonderfully creative artist, always brimming with new ideas and innovative solutions to problems.

Kah Wai, the resident sports aficionado, lends his energy and spirit into driving the progress of this venture.

Li Wei specializes in industry analysis and her timely identification of market trends is invaluable for strategic planning.

Sherry’s excellent organizational skills enable the team to remain on task and accomplish organizational goals.

Yajing, the accounting whiz, plays a crucial role in ensuring that the team’s financial goals are achieved."

A Big Thankew to fellow team members listed above. You've made my last days in SBS very enjoyable and full of laughter. Thank you very much :)

Will be in Sri Lanka from 18th to 23rd. It's rainy there too so I guess I won't be missing much heh. Hopefully I'll have some photos to upload when I return. My blog is painfully devoid of them (because yours truly is terribly cam-shy and lazy). Happy holidays everybody!

For my friends who are deep in business planning for BS402 Entrepreneurship:

http://businessandstrategicplanning.blogspot.com/

I'm not the first person to do this. Oh yes, it's yet another "I've finally ended my undergraduate education and it's time to begin on a brand new phase in life that does not involve studying. Hooray." blog post.


Ha ha ha. Well I am entitled to do this because I have finished my undergraduate education. Well, save for Entrepreneurship and knowing my final grades (please please please let me pass everything).


So.


It's nice to feel un-obligated to study and if I ever need to work my brain academically, I'm gonna make sure I'm getting paid for it. Money is a good motivation for me. I wanna develop some skills other than spotting exam questions and printing Powerpoint slides 4-to-a-page, double-sided. Now I have the time (I think) to do all those things I wanted to but didn't so yeah, un-obligation suits me and I'm lovin' it.

(Every 4 hours and 59 minutes of it.)

Looking forward to meeting friends, the vacation, the cleaning (no, I actually dread that but it needs to be done), the movies, the games. I shall uphold my nickname to its fullest (save for the cleaning part) and I encourage everyone to do so too!

Oops. You all still got FYP hor.

*smirk*

Things to do after my exams end on 30 Nov...

... after BS402 ends on 17 Dec...

... and after I come back from Sri Lanka on 23 Dec...

1. Clean room.
a) Put away notes. For good. Muahahaha.
b) Throw away Primary and Secondary notes. See how long I've been procrastinating.
c) Repack cupboards. One for comics should be enough I think.
d) Repack wardrobe. Need more space for new clothes.

2. Sort photos.
a) The old ones. When my hair was naturally straight.
b) The Cornell ones. Should print some of them.
c) The recent ones. Should also print some of them.

3. Learn Yoga. To prove that I have a better sense of balance than Mom.

4. Learn Piano. To finally get that Grade 5 Cert to be on par with Mom.

5. Wash the car. Or maybe arrow Kor to wash the car.

6. Exercise. Aiming to be Jo's weight or lighter.

7. Learn Rollerblading. Seeking kind, patient instructor who will provide first aid kit.

8. Gloat. Heh.

To s******v*****@yahoo.com,

You are a coward for sending a nasty, unjustified email anonymously. If I find out who you are, I WILL slap you with a fish for wasting one hour of my time. And I WILL kick you real hard in the groin for having the audacity to assume that your personal sentiments reflect the entire cohort's feelings.

I hope you fail your exams.

This comes a bit late but...

Well done, Jay Chou. That was a nice movie. I'm quite inspired to pick up piano again.

DVD rental shop lady says Transformers and Die Hard 4 DVD will reach the store at the end of the month. Whee.

Thank you Pavaani, Qiao Hui and Ming Jie. I think our presentation was great and I'm really glad to have worked with you all :)

It's a month to the exams. Good luck ppl!

If anyone is in need of a very good laugh (this is in view of the numerous white hair-inducing, academically-obligatory activities), do watch the British comedy "Death at a Funeral". It's hilarious. And there's yummy eye candy too, if you're inclined to the masculine species.

nevermindsaideyecandyactsreallycuckoothroughouttheentireshow

It's over!

*throws confetti in the air*

*runs round in circles*

*grins madly at everything and everyone*

*whee*

"This phenomenon remains unexplained."---FYP thesis 2007.

This afternoon I heard the neighbours' kids playing. My immediate thought was: Kor, I miss you.

Then I told my mom and she claims that as children, we were never that noisy.

*Ego-boost*

Somehow the conversation retreated from my childhood to my babyhood. Then she said that I was a particularly quiet baby. All I wanted to do was to drink milk and sleep.

Then I realised, nothing much has changed. These days, all I want to do is to sleep with a happy stomach.

Have I not evolved at all?

*Ego-flattened*

Hello dear reader of my sorely neglected blog,

This message is to reassure you of my existence in the living world. I am still breathing. Today I survived the first of many CAs. I am really very glad, rather pleased also although I did make one huge blunder. HUGE. To fellow BS413 pple, thank you for all the feedback and support. Your words have spurred my decision to continue taking the subject and I hope we'll have a fruitful time studying it together. And please please remember this: IEDB has an ontology. It has. It has. It has. Got it? It has.

Dear reader, good luck. I hope you wish me the same.

Sincerely,
the bummer

Lactobacilli are lazy.

Klebsiella pneumoniae have "mini-me"s.

Enterococcus faecalis misled me.

Escherichia coli are greedy.

It's a love-hate relationship.

The theme of this year's FOC is Ancient Egypt. While they were having fun and games out in the sun, I was building my very own pyramid in lab. Ta-da!!
I wonder if any pharoahs are hiring now.

After that exhausting day of agar plates, I've had pretty slack days. The calm after the storm. Something along those lines. Well until today that is. Just had a big load of work dumped on me. I've figured out two-thirds of it so far and I'm gonna abuse my brain a little further with the remaining one-third, just so that I can sleep peacefully tonight. The calm between the storms has just passed.

So I'm really really glad that I went ahead to watch Oceans Thirteen today. Sorry Angie, never wait for you. Paiseh paiseh.

Before the show started, there was an ad about Sentosa. I wonder if anyone in the audience ever noticed that the lady in the ad accidentally flashed her undies. I do know one person who noticed. The producer of the ad. That microglimpse of underwear was blurred. Probably detected post-production, otherwise the scene should have been NG-ed.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the show. It's my kind of humour. I totally agree with and believe in revenge. And they do it with so much style! Although I think it is highly unlikely that an Oceans Fourteen will pop up, one can still hope. I definitely hope to see more of this gang of charming con-men/thieves/whatever-else-in-between. Heh.

Spreading 420 agar plates wasn't that bad.

The 3 cryptic messages of the day:

1. Today, our lab made 713 plates of agar.

2. Autoclaving had never been so exciting.

3. Many glass bottles had a jolly time rolling on ice.

Ok, the first one is a give-away. As for the rest, I'm too tired to explain myself. Today's ordeal is only the first of two parts. Stay tuned for my update next wk.