I shut my eyes in order to see

Goodbye my almost lover

2008-12-07T14:19:00.002-05:00

Lovely bittersweet song~ A fine frenzy.

Almost Lover

OBAMA! time for change

2008-11-05T01:29:00.003-05:00

It is, indeed, an exhilarating time for America now! I can almost hear the people on the streets rejoice and there is a mob going in school now, I heard. It is truly amazing how Obama has reversed the tides of racism and remains of the antebellum America, winning a slim majority of the white votes. He also won among women and Latino voters, reversing a longstanding Republican trend. This African American is indeed a cut above the rest and has executed one of the most motivating, historic campaign in the history of America.

Even though I am not American, I was deeply touched by his intent during his landmark speech which just concluded. At least here is somoeone who knows the impact of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and calls for decent healthcare and tax cuts. How he is going to save the financial crisis, I don't know; in fact I don't know how that could possibly be restored in the near future. But at least looking at him, I see some glimpse of hope in America. Maybe its all just big talk and empty words, but I think that is precisely what America needs now to cover up her wounds and reinstate her dignity.

God Bless You, America! (So that other nations will be blessed)

CORNMAZEEEEE!!!

2008-11-01T23:56:00.004-05:00

WHEEEE! we went for a cornmaze and that was wayyyy too much fun to handle on a night hovering about the 50s. We were all frozen by the time we got out!

We went to Williamston, almost an hour away for that. And I'm glad we didn't choose to go for the haunted trail. It took us one an a half hour to get out of that maze!!!!! The whole route was about 3 miles. Inside the maze was pitch dark and every damn turning within those deep corns looked exactly the same. We had no maps, just a torch light. AMAZING man.

Kudos to those guys to carved out the maze from those tractors. Great Michigan theme this year too! Check out the big M at the bottom; the Upper Peninsula and Michigan state in the middle of the maze; the bicyle, snow automobile, the Mackinac Island Bridge in the left top corner; the Ford cars and the crazy T-maze on the right top corner, and of course the LightHouses!!!!:D

Would totally do this all over again if it wasn't that cold:)

Fall break

2008-10-20T13:31:00.004-05:00

Sterling State Park's great view of Lake Erie

This weekend is fall break and I didn't head anywhere for the first time, because UM School of Public Health was having an open house for prospective students. I went and I must confess that I fell in love with the school, the facilities and the curriculum. So, I decided to stay on in ( &@#%$ cold ) Michigan for another two more years starting next September. Of course, this is provident on that fact that I do get into UM SPH, because it is really quite hard to get in:S

Spent a lot time figuring out my future this weekend. Attending UM SPH prospective student day was the first step, and things are finally falling into place now. Sometimes I really hate myself for needing this sense of security from knowing how the future is going to turn out. But sometimes I'm glad that I have this trait because it keeps me forward planning.

For now, I have decided to go home from January to August. It will be great because I can help in preparing Weiyu's wedding. I can possibly taech for a whole 8 months (and please guys tell me if you have any lobangs for teaching..im looking at JCs. thanks). I can "pork myself up" and celebrate CNY, seomthing which I haven't done for a long time and which I would be missing another couple more years. I would be able to spend time with my family back in Singapore because my dad has decided to go back. I'm really feeling blessed to have this shelter back home, a family to fall back on when things aren't working out sometimes and someone up there who has been looking out for me. Especially since a friend just got diagnosed with cancer, and visiting him recently has just made me really pensive about my life, what I have been doing and what I should be doing. Along that line, I am glad that I have also made some personal decisions, and I should move on with my life:)

On a happier note, I went to sterling state park with a ocuple of the sophomores who stayed behind for fall break just yesterday. We had initally wanted to go apple picking but Wiard's Orchard was closed. But the picturesque views, sandy beaches and overhead sun at Lake Erie all made up for it. It was nothing too exciting, just a relaxed way of enjoying a Sunday afternoon.

I'm really hoping that everyone out there is getting along well:) Do please stay in touch with me, cos sometimes I got so sickening anti-social that I fail to keep those treasured ties tenable:) TC.

Tied up

2008-10-03T11:38:00.002-05:00

It's already October! Probably been through quite a bit in this first month of school. Adjusting, readapting, optimizing, falling, standing up again. Life is always full of challenges isn't it!

Trying to balance a lot of things this semester. Looking for jobs, applying for schools, doing that 18 credit workload. Hopefully will enjoy this semester as much as I intended to be:) Things are gonna be tough, but glad that things usually work out. Family's gonna relocate home to Singapore finally ( after ten thousand donkey years) and it seems that even if I cant get an internship or co-op here next year, I can just go back Singapore for the whole time yea!!!:)

Take your time to Realize

2008-09-25T07:32:00.004-05:00

I really love this song. It's been a while but always makes me melt every time I hear it. Amazing voice, Colbie.

If you just realize what I just realized, then we 'd be perfect for each other and we'll never find another...

coming back

2008-09-10T21:08:00.006-05:00

Here's a shout out to all, especially since the long summer hiatus I had. Hmm looks like when the travelling bug, slacking and torrid weather in Singapore hit me, and usual online/facebook exchanges all move off the virtual world to actual entities, blogging had to take a secondary status.

Now that schools been in full force for a week, and I'm starting to feel the brunt of it, taking 18 credits again this semester. Some people say I'm mad, crazy or throw out whatever labels you deem fit, but you know, I really feel restless. And that I really want so much more than I actually have now. College life sometimes is just too short. I mean, college is the time when I REALLY study, understanding, application and real world stuff. Prior to this was all taking blind notes-taking in lectures that were not interactive of any sort, discussions that were semi-helpful depending on my state of wakefulness from watching late night tv shows. College has sorta formed a regimen out of me, sleeping same time, waking same time, rushing here and there for club meetings, project meetings etc. Sometimes priorities do get messed up, but one definitely knows how to get back.

And now that I sorta finally figured out college life, I have to move on. As for the future, it's really now still very amorphous. What would fit in my situation now, is simply to take "one step at a time" ( which also happens to be one of my favourite songs by Jordin Sparks:D ).

Well, of course college life is not just about hitting the books and trying to attain that perfect balance between essay and homework deadlines, sleep, midterms and finals. A more salient feature is the socializing on campus- parties, hangouts, chill outs and just outings! Which makes it a worthy mention that I actually got my butt down to the 100-year-old-blood-feud-football-competitor-state of Michigan, Ohio State, and visited their almost now world renowned amusement park, Cedar Point. Imagine almost thirty different kind of rides, from the most common go-karts, bumper cars, to semi thrilling ones like Power Tower that sends you up on this vertical column so slow that its gets too scary and suspenseful at that tremendous height, and sends you free-falling down at something close to value of g. The other end of the spectrum consists of the TopThrill Dragster which is this impossibly daunting and CRaZy ride, that accelerates from 0to 120 MPH ( miles per hour, which translates to almost 192 kmph) in just 4 seconds. It sends you seated 90 degrees from the vertical up, and then you make some twists and turns at the top, flip a 180 degree so that you are literally looking at yourself falling down from the colossal height. That is totally scary. I got scared out just by looking at people at doing it.;S

Alrighty, getting a little long here. Some photos for visuals and ALOHA ( both welcome and goodbye in Hawaii)!:)

Meesiam batch gathering, at Great Lakes.
Yea we left exactly when it was closing.8.01 pm!

Not a very good picture to gauge the height of the power tower (the vertical plunge) but its really damnnn high. They must had a reason for naming it that hurh.

BACK

2008-06-02T09:18:00.001-05:00

B.A.C.K

Call me after 6 pm ( preferably) or text me :) 93862466

May- the month of travelling

2008-05-23T03:41:00.005-05:00

In 3 more days, it will be a full month since I started on my travelling holiday. In 10 more days, it will be the start of a hopefully less dreadful research internship at the Niopolis. I suppose it will be a hard transition back to work, but its really time to pick up tempo again after such a long holiday!

Philadelphia, Washington D.C, NYC and Boston trip was relaxing, meaningful and full of learning. The mere combination of those four cities meant a package of historical, political and cultural themes from the States. Boston, MA, was quite a tourist trap, but still remained the top on my list for its scenic views of the Charles River and the flashbacks of British, Irish, WWII history. Downtown was small enough to cover by foot and every single person you spoke to seemed in such a relaxed mood. The only throwback was the heavy Boston accented English.

Right now, I'm in Shanghai, blogging from the comfort of my dad's apartment in the heart of Shanghai's pristine shopping district, Huai Hai Road. The landscape of Shanghai has ceased to amaze me so far. To the north of the apartment, running east-west is the famous HuaiHai Old Town district, peppered with skyscrapers, throngs of office worker crowds and affluent shoppers. To the south lies the still poverty-striken lower class of China housed in low lying communal housing, often running their home "businesses" from their squeezy compounds. From family restaurants, dry good shops,roadside snacks, street barbers to rows of vegetables and fruits laid out on the already squeezy pavements, this bustling bazaar is the real reflection of many sub-urban places in China. For me, living in a thirtieth-floor apartment flanked by this two contrasting districts, serves more than a bird's eye view of the mosaic landscape. I can see the daily struggles of the lower class people when I visit the wet market with my mother as well as the flagrant spending of the upperclass at topnotch restaurants three blocks away. I can hear the constant buzzing of cars, taxis, buses alike- the very trademark of the congested roads of China. This is resolute proof of its unstoppable rising world power as hurried unflinching street drivers skilfully wind in and out of lanes, with only their eventual destination in mind. I can breathe the slightly musty, highly polluted air of this land which bore the Great Wall of China and the current host of the 2008 Olympic Games- events that have and will mark an indelible mark in the minds of many global people.

Interestingly, I landed in Shanghai 2 days after the massive 8.0 Richter scale earthquake annihilated WenChuan. In the first few days recovering from jetlag and waking up at the most unearthly hours, I refueled with the news on CNN and BBC. Later in the morning as my parents awake, the channels are changed to local Chinese news on CCTV. The difference in news content and delivery regarding the earthquake then unravels. The Chinese news carry largely more positive news depicting the People's Liberation Army heroic deeds of ploughing through 3 days of mountainous trekking to deliver supplies to the trapped villagers, music of newly composed songs celebrating the unity of the Republic of China in the wake of this disaster resonate during commercial breaks and a plethora of donation hotlines, latest disaster news constantly adorn the left hand column of the screen. Everywhere on the street donation boxes scream in your face, hoping you would donate a litte more today. In contrast, BBC and CNN news drill on the poor quality of building materials responsible for the tofu-buildings that crumbled at the slightest earthquake tremors and of how generations of Chinese are being wiped out in this natural disaster due to the one child-policy. I am not insinuating that the Chinese government is promoting propaganda, but that visiting China in the early wake of a truly devastating cataclysm, I really feel the unity of this masssive country that probably has been unfairly overviewed as a communist barbaric country. Millions and millions of dollars have been donated by the locals, and many spontaneously travel to the disaster area to volunteer. In my opinion, the disaster has helped to illuminate the economic strength of China. If everyone in China just donates one dollar, they have billions to tide them through another crisis. The strength of this country, is a question that neither any one nor any country/superpower will dare to answer.

Having just finished a 421 page turner the Persian Mirror: The Elusive Face of Iran, I feel especially a compulsion to compare between the States, China, Singapore and Iran. But I will keep my opinions to myself for they are not worthy to mention here. More importantly, I want to recommend this book to anyone who wants to better understand the situation in contemporary Iran, the holy ruins of the ancient Persepolis and the only Islamic Republic in the Middle East. Elaine Sciolino, writer for the NYTimes as well, has been in Iran for since the time of Khomeini's 1979 revolution. She is in a unique position herself, being an American and having married a American Jew. She artfully explores the different private and public faces of Iranians, their love-hate relationship for their homeland currently plagued with economic inflation of up to 40%, as well as the constrant contradiction between a theocratic Islamic government and the need to modernize, yet still carry out Westoxication. Iran is a young country still struggling to reach a clear consensus on the religious and secular boundaries of its clerics-ruled government. My reflections after finishing the book? Iran is only a microcosm of the religious and political unrest in Middle East. She is flanked by the extreme fundamentalist Taliban ruled Afghanistan and authoritative Saddam Hussein dominated Iraq, to just mention two of them. The diversity of Islamic influenced themes across the Middle East is just too confusing: Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kurdistan, Lebanon, Israel etc. Under the chador that all Iranian women are forced to don, one sees more than the actual facial lines of Iranian women, more than just repressed feminist voices, but inexplicable faces of frustration and ambivalence towards the Iranian government.
Elaine Sciolino said it most aptly. While America is struggling with a divide between different races, Iran and many parts of the Middle East are still struggling with the divide between the two genders.

Word of caution: Don't attempt this book if you dont have a basic understanding of the history of contemporary Iran. Even though Elaine Sciolino intertwines snippets of history with her anecdotes, it might still be too dense for one with a shaky understanding of the Middle East.

the Internal excellence

2008-04-16T12:17:00.004-05:00

I feel like I'm tearing apart sometimes. But after a really depressive episode last week, which really affected my cognitive, emotional, physical abilities etc. etc. , I can see why theres this chinese saying that goes somewhat like " You won't know what warmth is until you have experienced bitter cold". There are just so many things in life that are perceived RELATIVE to other things.

It started out with studying with Iz and Ghim yest. Iz was discussing her sociology class and asked us " what do you think definition of promiscuity is?". Dumbfounded for a while, andd i feebly attempted " err...its not absolute isn't it. I mean it depends on different culture backgrounds." She presented hers, which was really mind-blowing in a way. "Someone is promiscuous if she has more sex than you. relative to someone".

I mean thats really true. come to think of it, I always measure myseelf relative to other people. Maybe relative is just a euphemism of competition. AHHHH. There it is. I measure my own happiness, relative to what other people have, making myself feel more warmth and better self-efficacy when I htink that there are many other homeless people , many who don't get to go to school or choose the school they want to and the list can go on forever. I measure my "success" in a course in comparison to the class average. A standard deviation of 10 points above the mean is considered a success on a test. I measure my level of accmoplishment on any single day to the amount of work I did on another day when I was in the feel. Comparision, competition and relativism. Does all things in life really have to be such relative constructs?

I kinda figured out that perhaps the reason why I feel so ambivalent sometimes is because I am always strugglign to find that balance- the balance between absolute perfectionism ( which i will never do because thats simply Obsessive Compulsive) and the laid-back attitude at the other end of the spectrum. Many times I get complacent when i get slightly ahead in the rat race, lie back a little, only to realise after a short while that I am lagging. Which then inspires a mini-panic attack, that makes me pull up my socks and work hard again.

Which is exactly my point. Why can't I strive for internal excellence? You know, excellence where I count myself as my only competitor. Not grades, not classmates, not friends, not families. I know when I felt that I was learning because I really lvoed that subject, I retain and understnad that materials so much better. When I learn and truly try to understnad the material, which I appreicate what the US system has taught me to, I often do much better and therefore feel happier.

What is happiness? What is your definition of excellence- isnt that by itself a man-made construct too? What is competition? Is there always an absolute adaptation?

Probably the meaning of life is again, to pursue happiness. Recently I discovered that I might just fall intoo the high risk spectrum for depression because I have simply such bad negative cognitive triad and pessimistic explanatory. (For an explanation for these concepts proposed by the psychologist Aaron Beck, click here). Because I felt liek the whole of last wweek, when unhappy things started hitting me one after another and on and on, I could't even fight back. It was after a whole week of trying to think it out straight and faced in the impending pressure of having to prepare for my finals, that I literally forced myself out of it. But for now, I won't say I feel happiness ( for that would be totally manic to feel intense happiness right out of a depressive period), but I can feel myself, I can feel my friends and I got back my cognitive abilities. I woudl say...I feel like I'm alive.

Im just really thankful for all those people who hung on to me, encouraged me, talked to me and brightened up by days just by checking on me. I really hope I can be such a strength to my friends if they need it too ( hopefully not). For now, just let me get a little better and soak in this influx of blessings and care:)

P.S. Thanks to all you know who you are:) lovee

pleas, please

2008-04-14T18:12:00.000-05:00

please give me the strength to get through these 2 weeks.

in retrospect

2008-04-07T00:02:00.007-05:00

Its getting pretty late, past my bedtime for a sunday. But this weekend just too many things happened and I feel like rambling on for a little. Let me.

I must say the highlight of the weekend-highlight in terms of the overall entertainment, was the Seniors Day Program. It was a well planned, tightly themed to the Infernal Affairs, with at least 4 or 5 self made videos of Jose+10 videos, music videos, picture clips etc, dances and band performances. Looking at all these seniors's performance, does, to some extent make me really jealous why is it that it is hard to get my batch people to be enthusiastic about doing stuff. Its always those few people interested in contributing and helping. I have tried my best too, but I think its one of the few cases where I really just throw in my towel from the exhaustion of swimming against the tide.

I dont know if its a blessing or a curse that I am graduating one semester early, such that I wont get to participate in a seniors day party for my meesiam batch. I dont know if I will miss this bunch, or whether they will even remember me as they are preparing for the seniors day. Highly unlikely it will be anything close to what the XLB batch seniors put together yesterday, stemming from the efforts and sacrifices that they had to make to create a seniors day that is truly theirs. Im placing my bets that meesiams's will be much of a really simple affair. I had a couple of discussions with some of the people in my batch over this issue, and the conclusions were almost ...unanimous.

Saturday was also the first time I got SO drunk that I couldn drive myself home. It was at the Seniors Day's afer party. Well, I had that coming, with no inhibition on the number of drinks that I was downing. As i talked to some friends today, I tried to justify that as the toll from the accumulated amount of stress from this crazy semester coupled with unyielding lab results, the most horrible relationships I ever had in my life and with the impending departure of the seniors from wintry cold Michigan. But in no way, were all these reasons, sufficient for a lack of discipline-trashed-out state on the couch overnight.Really. I am kinda mad at myself for doing that.

This semester I learnt so much. So much more than I think what two years of JC, 6 years of elementary school and 4 years of RGS education has taught me. It is that much. Academically, I have matured so much. I can read super fast now, I swear, I can finish a chapter in an hour. A few days ago i was filing all my materials this semester and it came to my shocking attention that I had read close to 60 academic papers this semester and top of that many other textbooks and writings. Its become those kinda important reading skillls that as you read, you internalize and create a roadmap such that most of the stuff sticks in your head as you finish the book. Its really an amazing feeling. But this wasn't trained, it was forced out of me as I had to deal with just so many pages of readings.

Emotionally I matured so much- I learned to love and I also learnt to hate. I learned to give in as well as to give up. Although I havent learnt to truly let go, but I don't want to blame myself for that because I have shed more than enough tears. I think become more skeptical of peoples' intentions and who are those true friends that I used to think I had. Suffice to say, these are all those "friends" who only buzz you up when they have a favour to ask of you and want your advice on homework. And sadly, friends of these sort seem to be creeping up and infringing on my life more than ever before. Maybe it is just because I have learnt to identify and protect myself from all these people. Its really sort of like I have created an outer protective shield, to which I shield off all intentionally intrusive relationship or friendships. Like how a Bubble-boy creates his own "haven" amidst throngs of external viral or bacteria invasions. I certainly don't know if this is good or bad, but at least, I feel safe for now. I don't think I would be able to let anyone in for a long while.

Mentally I have grown too. I learned to use my mind to rule my heart. I have learned to stay mentally focused for hours. I have learned to really manage my time most wisely this semester. As for friendships, this semester I am glad I made more friends and maintained better ones with those who were deserving of a friendship(again sorry but, my cynical outlook).

If i had to sum up this semester, which is going to be over in three weeks ( WHEE!), its all about

LEARNING to LEARN.

Finals and Travel plans

2008-04-05T10:53:00.003-05:00

Freak.Afterslackening off for one week, I have like TONS of work to clear now. Finals coming up in one week! For my own sake, I will have to write down some dates to keep myself focused.

April 7: Psych 270 last quiz
April 10: MCDB 429 last quiz
April 11: Finish Binding assay for MCDB 400
April 14: MCDB429 final
April 15: PSYCH 270 final
April 17: BIO 390 final
April 18: Phosphorylation assay for MCDB 400
April 21: MCDB 400 lab presentation
April 23: MCDB 428 final
APril 23-26: Move house, settle finances, insurance etc, finish lab experiments.
April 26: NW 1776 to Philadephia
May 3: Amtrak 153 to Washington, DC
May 6: NYC
May 9: Boston
May 12: AE 467 and MU 588 from Boston to Shanghai
May 28: MU 701 from Shanghai to Hongkong
June 1: Hongkong to Singapore
June 2: Start work at IMCB

Exciting hurh hurh! Okay but this means that I have to travel light cos its impossible for me to carry so many things around. So, if you want me to buy anything from states, let me know early, so maybe I can get some of my friends who are going back to SIN to longpang stuff? Should work out!:)
Cant wait to see everyone back homeeeeeeee:)

michael johns

2008-03-26T23:16:00.000-05:00

watch michael johns:) he makes me wanna cry with this rendition..

SUMMER PLANS 2008

2008-03-22T00:54:00.003-05:00

Hey boys and girls,

So. Heres the catch. Im gonna be back in SIN after all, from june to aug, because i just landed an internship offer with A-star, IMCB. And in particular its with Prof Yoshiaki Ito, who is famous for discovering the RUNX gene for cancer. This guy has a list of achievements that just simply awes ppl, seriously.
http://www.ori.nus.edu.sg/pibios_ito.html

and, with that in place.the rest of my summer plans fall perfectly in place:)

april 23: Last exam for winter
april 26-may 3: Philadephia, rendezvous with miss lala:)
may 3- about mid may?: miss emmeline, tour of D.C, boston and NYC -again-. ohyeaaaa:)
mid may- end may: Shanghai and perhaps Tibet or Mongolia!
June 2- Aug 29: Attachment at IMCB.
Aug 31st: Bye Singapore and my Satay beehoon
1st Sept: Hi Ann Arbor and dearest Biggly's Coffee again.

yay things are working out pretty well hurh!:)

crunchy crunch time

2008-03-19T16:47:00.003-05:00

okay one more week of crunch time! I just need to get through to next wed, THIS time. and im done with most of my stuff, except finals.:)

Lol. Im will so gonna get mad with anyone who freaking uses "a gentle extension of " anything. its a consensus.

Watch how Obama delivers his speech. A more Perfect Union, at Philadephia,PA. This guy is an -amazing- public speaker.

decided

2008-03-14T19:04:00.003-05:00

Thanks for the opinions! I got the inspiron 1420 but upgraded to better specs. Lol.:)

Tough times ahead. UNleaash the superwoman power pleaseeeee:)

Take care everyone!

new lappie

2008-03-10T21:02:00.002-05:00

Im thinking of getting this.

Inspiron 1420 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7250 (2MB cache/2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB)
Operating System Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition
System Color Midnight Blue
Memory 3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
LCD Panel Glossy, high contrast, widescreen 14.1 inch display (1280x800)
Video Card 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GS
Hard Drive Size: 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
Integrated NIC and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 8.1
Optical Drive CD / DVD writer (DVD+/-RW Drive)
Sound Card High Definition Audio 2.0
Wireless Networking Cards Intel® 3945 802.11a/g Mini-card
Camera No Camera
Misc Productivity Software Microsoft Works
Anti-Virus/ Security suite (pre-install) Trend Micro Internet Security 36-months
Battery Options 85Whr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell)
Warranty & Service 2Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor, 24x7 Phone Support
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months FREE EarthLink Internet Access
Power Adapter Belkin 2-Outlet Travel Surge Protector
Miscellaneous Inspiron 1420
Processor Branding Intel Centrino Core Duo Processor
Labels Windows Vista™ Premium
DataSafe Online Backup Included 3 GB DataSafe Online Backup for 1Yr

Gimmeee your opinion pleaseeeee:)

boring-->bored

2008-03-06T22:05:00.002-05:00

I'm such a freaking boring person.

1) I am always doing one of the below:rushing for class, in class, in lab, doing homework, studying for midterms or writing reports
2) I havent read the Singapore newspaper in SUPER long...
3) I dont have regular mealtimes. i eat whenever i am free. which is not very often too.
4) I haven't partied at all this sem ( yea tmr theres one finally)
5) I havent been cooking at all. I eat really unhealthy stuff to get by. Chips, biscuits, yoghurt, bread and chocolate are my staples. p.s.I dont think i touched the rice cooker this semester at all.
6) suffice to say, I havent been exploring new recipes
7) The last movie I watched was.......I cannot remember. Look how bad that is.
8) Coffee is my best friend. I cannot do without her.
9) I haven't been net surfing for funny stuff.comics, random info and entertainment. Look i only found out the gillian chung and edison chen sex scandal like 2 weeks ago!!
10) I am boring you with this list.

OH WELL=S tougher times ahead. Beware the ides of march.

Tagboard replies
JULES: are you really alive? hahah i dont see you online. texas is in EST zone also right?!=P i really miss your funny crap. And everytime i feel like im struggling with bio, I think of you saying "aiya no need study one lar * hilarious laughter* LOL

KWAN: omg i havent heard from you in a gozillion years. are you studying at NUS now or heading to somewhere? whats your current email add! i will write you an email soon!:)

KAITING: hi my bakkutteh's kut:) anyway am i the teh or the bak and is lala the bak or the teh. well i guess once we figure out the role for one of us, then the other will fit in heh. Man i really miss bakkutteh heee. and the five star hainanese chicken rice opposite beauty world hahah.-random-.are you having exams -again-? =P anyways i saw the classes you are taking and they look much nicer than mine! I haev this really disgusting evolution class that I am struggling with now...brrrr.

Em: Hey you know that day I called Weilin and she said you called her earlier too haha so coincidental!:) Anyway yar how was alabama. All i know about alabama is the movie. sweet home alabama LOL. My ASB trip was so much fun! We are having a scotch and oreos party tmr night!

FANGYI: I am haunted by the extremely seductive pictures of you on your blog or weilin's blog. LOL. Eh is your iphone working well? :) I feel like getting a really nice phone too. But all my life i never had good luck with electronics, and everypiece i have used so far turns out to be a disaster. I'm so not suited for life in the 21st century. Maybe i should deport myself to 18th century to be happier. Anyways, I dunno when i will go back singapore lar! I havent even heard back from my internships applications=(

i <3 ASB

2008-03-03T15:42:00.004-05:00

ASB North Carolina

Song: North Carolina on my mind
Tagline: Wanna join? EVERYTHING HAPPENED SO FAST hahaha.

Great group awesome memories:)

Daughtry

2008-02-22T13:23:00.001-05:00

Daughtry Over You Lyrics
Chris Daughtry should have won. Great song:)

Lovely 21st EM!

2008-02-20T01:10:00.003-05:00

Sweet 21st, Em! Here's a toast to the days of trying to get to sch by 7.15 am ( esp on stupid mondays just so we can sing the song that we never learnt to sing), days of running away from tiger lee, days of breaking into incessant laughter in the middle of class ( pissing ppl like mr ong off), talking nonsense at all random-est times possible, organizing class outings ( almost all the time) and birthday surprises, shopping ( of course!), bitching (how can we forget this) and the silly crushes with even sillier names like chiku, mango, apple and erhhhhhh hahahah. I love you for all the nonsense you like to sputter -all the time-, the Em who always complains of putting on weight after eating so much ( i rmb the 30 durian seeds record), Em who is forever superhyper, Em who sometimes has a pathetic amount of $$ in her bank balance, Em who exudes energy and influences all around her. You don't know how much you brightened up my days!:) Happy birthday love:)

Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.

phD for piled higher and deeper

2008-02-16T22:48:00.003-05:00

LOL. Good one from phD comics. which stands for Piled Higher and Deeper btw.

tag board replies

2008-02-16T10:04:00.003-05:00

I didn wanna kill my own tagboard by replying everyone there..so here it is!

SW:hey thanks for that very disgusting bakkwa analogy. i have bakkwa here lar! i bot some from beijing ( bee cheng hiang opened a branch there) over december break. its those cutey mini bakkwa pieces, nicely wrapped and all. I havent asked you this right, where are you heading for studies? the last time i spoke to you it was still kinda unconfirmed or they lost your application or something.....

Aloy: oei u very giam lei=P but never mind i had a friend, ah jon , ( as he tagged here too) who spent two days making pineapple tarts for his friends in umich!!!:) beams. super happy. how is school so far? are you still slacking big time? I dont feel like going back to singapore this year you know, but then i will be missing yours and alot other's 21st bday ( and my own too)!arghh. anyway.. if im going back i will let you know, so if you want any AMERIKAN goods i can buy back. AND BIG NEWS weilin just told me miss neo is getting married?!:)

Jules: HAppy belated vday!! winks. ohman you have been missed big time. all those silly bubble island times haha w/o you and your characteristic laughter around. hows your work been getting along? im starting to develop this phobia of graduating and going to work. Im still thinking between a masters and a phD but i dunno which one is more suitable in the long run. And how are the current job prospects for bio-related in US har?:)

huishan: shan!!!! happy vday to you too. haha nostalgic. those HC days where the whole class bench was full of gifts and reveal angel-mortal hahaha crappy. i cant even rmb who is my mortal/angel. i think clement..and someone else. LOL. anyways hows your classes been so far..anymore irritating lecturers?:P

ahjon: hahaha that was a series of lame ones. Thanks for making tues and thurs, both CNY 1st day and V day memorable:) Dr. B will grill us on monday for sure......

KEOW: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!? u havent updated your blog for damn long. And yes i stalk you too:) sorry i know i owe you email...next week next week. cos i have three major exams coming up next week. So much to tell you!!!:) Oh LAM emailed me happy cny. apparently he is in jerusalem,israel...HMMM.....

OMG

2008-02-15T17:23:00.002-05:00

omg omg omg. i know this has no relevance to you all but i will just go on rambling.

Weiyu and Amanda are getting married next year! YAYYYY!! I couldn stop smiling when Amanda FB-ed me to tell me about it. (oh weiyu is my da ge btw). Wedding--> Means all the white gowns and beautiful flowers and what not what not. Oh man, judging from my brother's character, i think it will be super grand. IM SOOO EXCITED that i cannot write in proper sentences anymore!

okay and the next more exciting news is they want me to be the female emcee for their wedding! Greg (amanda's younger bro and my friend too) will be the male emcee. OMG OMG OMG can anyone tell me how to be an emcee for a wedding? i mean i pulled off the cny one, but i dunno how formal/funny/crappy/what language to speak in for weddings, with all the relatives and friends that i have known for so long?!
NEVER MIND I STILL HAVE ONE YEAR TO SLOWLY THINK. BUT OMG I AM SO EXCITED.

This is the best news I have had this week:)

Did i already say that i am SUPER excited? x100000000 times that.hee/.

a very special day?

2008-02-15T00:04:00.003-05:00

oh yea--> its valentine's day (again) today. I guess deep down some of you might be expecting some post from me thats full of angst and emptiness. I also thought so. But it turns up that i am more blessed than I ever thought and the present situation illuminates it more.

Just being able to receive some msgs from friends,random notes,baked food, have the opportunity to talk to close ones from sgp over the phone and random talks with umich friends. Knowing that my friends do want to turn to me when they have joy to share, and when they have difficulties to get through really makes me very fulfilled.

I know all these people made a special effort to check on me on this so-called special day to know that I was not lonely or feeling empty:) Thanks Sel, Ghim, Anmin, Kaijian, Shenye, Zhijun and Jon. Thanks mummy who probably wont be reading this but who incessantly (although i was in class and couldn pick up) called from sgp to check on me. Thanks for all the unconditional love and friendships.

Flashback: My new year resolution for 08, one of them, says call and email friends more often. I should definitely continue working on that!

Meeting a social quota

2008-02-09T11:51:00.000-05:00

It was really the most "sociable" day I had since the start of this year. Its uncanny that I kept meeting friends randomly as i walked through campus

Morning 10-12 With family on phone
12-1 Talked with my mentor hui
Then went to do my errands and I met a couple of friends just walking randomly around ( its very rare to meet more than 1-2 person as you are walking along UofM cos the school is super huge)
2.30-4 my last SEA-N meeting..Because i was pssing over all my responsibilities also, i just kept talking and talking and talking lol
4-4.30 as i was walking back to lab, i decided to pass by a vending machine and grab something to eat. This was the opportune moment when we and an old friend were standing in front of the SAME machine, until we went ~hey werent you my classmate three semesters ago~ haha and funnily enough i remembered talia and she remembered me still!
Then randomly i met chaybes and Kianleong who just got of class
4.30 when i finally got back to lab, Ken ( my prof) and Jennifer( post-doc) were in a damn good mood today and almost everyone in lab just sat around the microscopes stands chatting......
6.30 got a RANDOM call from aaroncyc who was driving back to AA from new jersey and we both entertained each other for half an hour until my dinner appt with putt and marg
7 putt and marg dinne. FUNNY people lar. hey girls this is one good guy I want to introduce my SGP girlfriends to:)

9 putt suddenly realised it was 9 and had to leave cos he had an appointment at 8.30! then marg and me started talking along the sideroads of main street and didn feel like leaving. And we felt cold. Finally, we decided to head to stucchis for icecream to feel COLDER.
9.45 Samuel kwek and gena goh's arrival!samuel called me and said they were done with dinner. He decided to come to central campus's stucchis to pick marg and me up,
and we all ended up catching up at nansi's place.
my favourite couple:D

11.30 finally the kianleong bday surprise begins...too many sgp in the same house= more talking
12.30 Glad i got home and decided to return aaron's call. Another one hour of talking.
1.00 Ghim calls and asks if im home and if he could pop by.
1-2 MORE TALKING..until my mouth really got very tired and i fell asleep/collapsed from talking, on the couch...

Anmin calls this fulfilling social quota.....-___-'''

Happy CNY

2008-02-08T00:45:00.000-05:00

OH hmm why does it not feel like CNY at all!?

1. cos school goes on like no chinese's business in USA
2. cos its snowing like crazy and the snow outside is like 7 inches deep
3. cos i am wearing thick bundles of winter wear
4. cos i had to pour a whole bucket of hot water over my car door on CNY day because it was frozen and refused to open for me.
5. cos i am living on the other side of the globe with exactly 13 hours apart difference
6. cos i was in bed for SGP time 1st day of CNY (THE WHOLE DAY literally) after eating cold medication and i slept the whole CNY away officially
7. cos its been the 2nd year away from home w/o CNY. in psychology, they call this operant conditioning
8. cos..no angbaos
9. cos no pineapple tarts and almond tarts and kueh lapis freshly baked from mummy's oven
10. cos i have a stack of homework on my desk that i have to deal with after this post.

BAH =(
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR NONETHELESS!:D

log phase of bacterial growth

2008-02-03T21:33:00.000-05:00

Al Desko ing again

You know when you fall sick, there are lag, log and stationary phases to the developmental profile of the disease.

Im in the log phase now. Horrible.=(

somatoform disorder?

2008-02-02T12:11:00.000-05:00

Ughh i hate it when I am falling sick in this stupid weather.

Don't fall sick. I have tons to do in the next 4 weeks!=(

Know when to stop

2008-01-27T13:39:00.000-05:00

My FB Fortune Cookie says "Know when to stop".
So true.

SSA Elections was held yesterday. It was another roller coaster ride of emotions, when I heard about the huge number of people pulling out and getting cold feet in the morning of the elections and had to react to it immmediately.

Makes me really wonder if these people are really dedicated and sincere about giving back to the SSA group which Im sure they have benefited so much from. Some of them were my close friends, and which made me all the more disappointed with them as to why they could not make a damn decision early. So as not to make us worry and react at the very last minute. Was supposed to be doing my reports, but ended up calling and talking to some of the nominees to ask them to change their minds. But ultimately, glad that everything turned out fine, although I really really feel like giving some of them a kick in the butt and slapping them in the face if they can take it. *VIOLENCE*

I guess many people just go not think of the consequences of their actions. They do not plan far, think far or are simply too egoistical to realize that they could have been the one that caused things to go wrong. Sometimes, I blame myself too much and i would so willingly take blame for things that go wrong. 自己害自己，好像是一件我时常爱做的事, 为了不要让其他人累. 难道真的不会为我着想? ~ Miz Wang

Only until I share my feelings with my onlooker friends and they tell me that I am just being silly and too forgiving.

I am indecisive too. But to prevent unhappiness and pain, please all of you shout this in my face: Just make the damn decision, move on and let go, liyu tan. Know when to stop.

ASB here i come

2008-01-26T02:44:00.000-05:00

ASB, North Carolina for Spring Break!=D

.
.
.

Yesterday was so depressing in lab. There was this heavy cloud of depression that enshrouded the entire lab, hovering over our heads. And the disgustingly cold lonely weather outside certainly didn't help. JinHee was almost close to tears about her failed interviews and was wondering why the hell a PhD couldn't get her where she wanted. Chandan was *^&#ing pissed (yea he said that) about his GSI coordinator workload and wanted to get out of the system. Hui started becoming doubtful about whether she wanted to continue in academia or change to industry. Mikyung felt so lost because the results she gets is never comparable to the efforts she puts in.

I was thinking about my direction. Very restless, a bit lost and pretty tired.

But time will direct and time will reveal her truth.

Endowment

2008-01-25T01:36:00.000-05:00

Look, we are the 8th university with the largest endowment. TRuly living up to her reputation of the most expensive public school.

Is it worth it? or not.

new lottery number

2008-01-23T23:54:00.000-05:00

54 days.
Fifty-Four days of efforts.

She was indeed a Phantom of Delight.

Fatal folly

2008-01-23T10:36:00.000-05:00

In my semi dazed state after coming home from a usual arduous Tuesday from 10 am to 10 pm, with 1.5 hour total break in between, (also consider my low glucose level and starved self)

I took out a packet of chicken from the freezer. And was thinking, hey I need to defrost this.

Microwave defrost.

Unpacked the chicken, washed and put it in a bowl into the microwave oven.

Start. 3 min.

BUT NOT DEFROST OPTION ITS MICROWAVE HIGH.

HOly Crap. Ever tried microwaving frozen chicken? Yea I did. And Im so damn proud of myself. That was prolly the most stupid folly i made in a kitchen, and the most unkind inhuman treatment to a (dead) piece of chicken.

tear-jerker

2008-01-14T21:48:00.000-05:00

我們的開始是很長的電影
Wo men de kai shi shi hen chang de dian ying
Our relationship is the longest movie

放映了三年
Fang ying le san nian
It has been showing for three years

我票都還留著
Wo piao dou hai liu zhe
I’m still keeping the ticket

冰上的芭蕾腦海中還在旋轉
Bing shang de ba lei nao hai zhong hai zai xuan zhuan
The ballet on ice is still revolving in my mind

望著你慢慢忘記你
Wang zhe ni man man wang ji ni
Looking at yet slowly forgetting you

## 朦朧的時間我們溜了多遠
Meng long de shi jian Wo men liu le duo yuan
In the haze of time How far we have skated

冰刀劃的圈　圈起了誰改變
Bing dao hua de quan Quan qi le shei gai bian
The circles made by the skates’ blades, whoever’s in it changes

如果再重來會不會稍嫌狼狽
Ru guo zai chong lai Hui bu hui shao xian lang bei
If we could start all over again, will it be a tad too awkward

愛是不是不開口才珍貴 ##
Ai shi bu shi bu kai kou cai zhen gui
Is love more precious when it is kept in the heart?

** 再給我兩分鐘
zai gei wo liang fen zhong 　
Please give me two more minutes

讓我把記憶結成冰
Rang wo ba ji yi jie cheng bing
Let me freeze these memories forever

別融化了眼淚　
Bie rong hua le yan lei
Don’t let your tears fall

你妝都花了
Ni zhuang dou hua le
Smudging your makeup

要我怎麼記得
Yao wo zen me ji de
How can I remember?

記得你叫我忘了吧
Ji de ni jiao wo wang le ba
I remember you told me to forget

記得你叫我忘了吧
Ji de ni jiao wo wang le ba
I remember you told me to forget

你說你會哭
Ni shuo ni hui ku
You said you would cry

不是因為在乎 **
Bu shi yin wei zai hu
But not because you care

Beijing withdrawal syndrome

2008-01-06T17:03:00.000-05:00

Winter break was really rejuvenating. I feel energized enough for a combat this semester!
Days seem shorter and easier to get through ( obviously) with just food, movie, shopping and massage. What a good life!

My dad is relocating to shanghai this year ( sadly we are missing olympics 08) and seems like we ve got an apartment right next to xin1 tian1 di4 ( the shanghai equivalent of oour orchard road...WOot)

at this totally awesome peking duck restaurant

Ichi-Ni-San- Yon! one two three four

Back to cold wintry Ann Arbor

2008-01-03T18:27:00.000-05:00

Back from Beijing holidaying and gearing for the start of Winter Semester 08.

Wintry winter it is.

My car after the snowstorm. Maybe close to knee-depth snow?

And i dug and i dug and i dug. From dusk to dark indeed ( *note the change in lightings of the two photos). Good way to expend energy isnt it. Happily go out for dinner, and then to get back home, you use half of the calories from dinner to clear the snow. Oh yeah.

Holy Crap. 18 credits this sem.
Two research classes MCDB 429 and MCDB 400
Two bio classes Bio 390 and MCDB 428
One psych class Psych 270

Looks like its gonna be a looooong cold arduous winter.=S

Detroit!

2007-12-26T10:54:00.000-05:00

40. DETROIT

Historically crime-ridden Detroit may not spring to mind as a hot tourist spot, but don't tell that to the city's bullish hoteliers. Newcomers include the MGM Grand Detroit (www.mgmgranddetroit.com), the MotorCity Casino Hotel (www.motorcitycasino.com) in an old Wonder Bread factory and the historic Book Cadillac Hotel, being transformed into a Westin (www.westinbookcadillac.com). Plus, the Detroit Institute of Arts (www.dia.org) just reopened after a $158 million renovation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/travel/09where.html?pagewanted=2&WT.mc_id=TR-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M007-ROS-1207-HDR&WT.mc_ev=click&ei=5087&en=7e01f8b8c6c9bc72&ex=1213160400&mkt=TR-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M007-ROS-1207-HDR

Look Detroit is ranked 40th in the 53 places to visit in 2008 by NYTimes.

She was Phantom of Delight

2007-12-14T23:04:00.000-05:00

from She Was a Phantom of Delight

SHE was a Phantom of delight
When first she gleam'd upon my sight;
A lovely Apparition, sent
To be a moment's ornament:
Her eyes as stars of twilight fair; 5
Like twilight's, too, her dusky hair;
But all things else about her drawn
From May-time and the cheerful dawn;
A dancing shape, an image gay,
To haunt, to startle, and waylay. 10

I saw her upon nearer view,
A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
Her household motions light and free,
And steps of virgin liberty;
A countenance in which did meet 15
Sweet records, promises as sweet;
A creature not too bright or good
For human nature's daily food,
For transient sorrows, simple wiles,
Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles. 20

And now I see with eye serene
The very pulse of the machine;
A being breathing thoughtful breath,
A traveller between life and death:
The reason firm, the temperate will, 25
Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill;
A perfect Woman, nobly plann'd
To warn, to comfort, and command;
And yet a Spirit still, and bright
With something of an angel light.

William Wordsworth

Isnt this poem beautiful?!=)

almost here

2007-12-11T22:35:00.000-05:00

Woohoo. School wil be over in just another 8 more days.
Hang on it there!!!=))

Yaksik

2007-11-26T23:45:00.001-05:00

oh i forgot to mention that today in lab JinHee was nice enough to share some of her great Korean food with me. There was this really awesome Korean dessert called Yak-Sik which is a steamed rice pudding. While discussing with her about the recipe, I had a flow of creative juices on more desserts to create heee. Click here for a recipe for Yak-Sik.

Oh and I tried this cinnamon apple cider tortilla chips last week for Thanksgiving dinner in addition to my french bean casserole. The cinnamon apple cider was inspired by Seattle Coffee's apple cider with cinnamon btw. Lala created this awesome Nutella+Vanilla Yoghurt dipping heee=D

no special blog post from lala

2007-11-26T20:55:00.001-05:00

Dang. I wanted lala to do a special guest post for my blog by virtue of her Highness's descent on the cold land of michigan, but plain forgot about it. Ohwell.

True enough, to live up to her reputation of being a temperamental erratic Michigan lady, she blessed us with extreme conditions from pouring rain to bright sunshine to snowflakes to snowstorm over the short 5 days Lala was here.

No amount of sunshine from the sunshine boys hailing from Florida the Sunshine State could rub off, I guess=P

Alls good! Gonna take off from now till finals.
Can't wait to see my dad and mum in BJ. (oh talking about BJ, DJ one of my friends warned me against using BJ as acronym for Beijing. U get the idea =p)

new jay chou album

2007-11-20T14:05:00.000-05:00

Ooh so I read somewhere that Jay Chou's 2007 new album has been released. Heard 2 tracks on this new album, but then, again it sounds all too similar to his previous albums. Nothing too new to get me hooked back onto Jay Chou i guess.

Heres something funny that I found when I was youtubing for his new MVs. The creators changed the lyrics of 千里之外 to 欠你十块( owe you ten bucks), turning the romantic song into a CSI-like murder case inspired song. And the impersonators' voices are uncannily similar to the original singers! Lol.

cloning is doneeee

2007-11-12T20:09:00.000-05:00

FINALLYY!!! my cloning worked. Round 3 of cloning finally worked.

Praying hard that when the sequencing results come back on thurs, there are no mutations or any sort.

Finishing my tub of Haagen Dazs white choc raspberry truffle now =D heee

MBTI test

2007-11-09T17:20:00.001-05:00

WEILIN!

I changed!!UHHH.

"ENFJs are people-focused individuals. They live in the world of people possibilities. More so than any other type, they have excellent people skills. They understand and care about people, and have a special talent for bringing out the best in others. ENFJ's main interest in life is giving love, support, and a good time to other people. They are focused on understanding, supporting, and encouraging others. They make things happen for people, and get their best personal satisfaction from this."
http://www.personalitypage.com/ENFJ_rel.html

Yar, keow i know what you mean. Were you referring to your blog entry in late october? I read that. Seriously try reading the Art of Happiness. Its inspirational=)

sometimes

2007-11-09T01:34:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, I think and daydream too much that i dont get down to doing the pertinent stuff.

Sometimes, I think about the purpose of my blog and why i blog. Are the things which i say on my blog the uncensored deep-Freudian thoughts or are they things which I think I want to say for the sake of an audience?

Sometimes, I think if i have been leading my life the right way, rightly guided by some guidelines that the Dalai Lama outlines in his book the Art of Happiness.

Sometimes, I think if i am a superficial person.

Sometimes, I think if i would regret my life when i am lying in my coffin.

Sometimes, I just... think too much.

"The big R - relationship, is the thing that brings songs of joy to the heart, but also causes the most pain.

May u have enough love to keep u smiling, enough hope to keep u going, and enough trials to make u stronger!" - From a really heartwarming letter from weilin dear. I extend the same wishes to all of you!

no monday blues

2007-11-05T21:41:00.000-05:00

Sixteen long email replies from that mass update mail i sent out and hopefully still counting!

Always feel blessed to have news back from good old Singapore. Even more delightful to have replies from Zimbabwe, even though content wasn't that encouraging.

JinHee had a really great presentation during group meeting today and it really puts things back into perpectives--> My clone failed with false postiives. But given her laborious work over four long years and a to-be-born bio paper with perhaps Journal of MCB, my failure seems so so insignificant. Had a really insightful personal Q and A with her after that to clear my doubts too!

Hope all is well!=)

photos photos

2007-11-04T13:03:00.000-05:00

Photos photos! I need a camera=( my new camera was spoiled by a friend=((( You guys must be bored of my ramblings.

Jester and Greek Goddess meet at halloween

my sparse batch. But look LKY was there!

mini fa-cai

Me and my im-not-so-pleased-with-you Niagara Falls

one of the many midnight celebrations we had for birthday. This is sweetly planned for everyone to bring Sch uniforms over to Ann Arbor.

I placed a one buck bet with SNP that I would put on my boots with shorts.Uhhh... why did i even do that?!

sweet

2007-11-02T01:21:00.000-05:00

one of my guy friends said
"I can talk to a really attrative girl and have a really good conversation but I'd
rather spend 1 minute sitting alone with her"
"I might be all over the world and I just wanna marry her and bring her in my suitase"

SWEET!

John Tierney Lab at NYTimes

2007-11-01T13:15:00.000-05:00

while reading NY Times, I found this pretty interesting blog by John Tierney

This guy always wanted to be a scientist but went into journalism because its peer-review process was a great deal easier to sneak through. Now a columnist for the Science Times section, Tierney previously wrote columns for the Op-Ed page, the Metro section and the Times Magazine.

He's using TierneyLab to check out new research and rethink conventional wisdom about science and society. Most interestingly, his lab's work is guided by two founding principles:

* 1. Just because an idea appeals to a lot of people doesn't mean it's wrong.
* 2. But that's a good working theory.

That's pretty funny hurh!

Was curious and just wanted to contribute to a research by a psychologist at Columbia University. Try out this test

My results for
Where Does Your Mind Wander To?

You use your mind-wandering time wisely! You spend more time than the average individual planning or problem-solving while daydreaming.

You spend more time than the average individual planning and anticipating events in the impending future (i.e., you are a planner).

You are a social butterfly! You tend to think about your interactions with other people more than the average daydreamer while absorbed in internal thought.

Your daydreams involve more visual imagery than the average daydreamer. You tend to ‘see’ people, places and events ‘in your head’.

Your daydreams are fairly realistic and tend not to involve improbable events.

200th Post

2007-10-31T17:22:00.000-05:00

Wow. This post marks my 200th post on this blog.
I'm sure this is not an awesome figure compared to some of you who are avid bloggers. I 'm really more like the "fair weather" blogger--> only when the sun gets out and makes me happy or when i have time, i would blog. But nonetheless, looking back on the posts that I had since J1 ( damn that's like 3 years ago) I sense a marked change in almost everything about me. Certainly hope thats for the better!

I have been wanting to do this for a long time. To send out an email and blog post to update all you friends/ people on how my 3rd semester at UofM has been getting along. Just that those silly time consuming assignments , mind boggling midterms, as well as SSA events, social life has been getting in my way. Here we go!

House:
Well, I moved into an apartment this year from Stockwell Girls Dorm. The apartments which I'm staying at is called WillowTree apartment and it is indeed a pretty apt name for that because there is a huge pond right outside my apartment and there are dozens of willow trees surrounding the pond. Me and my fellow sophomores staying in Willow Tree did this pretty fun outdoor BBQ before the cold streaks starting hitting Michigan and ~voila about 60-70 people turned up!

Whenever I tell people i am from LS&A (literature science and arts) faculty and I stay in WillowTree( which is nearer to North where the engineering fac) is, people throw back horrified looks as if I made the greatest mistake in 5000 years of China history haha. But the fact is I really appreciate my spacious living conditions now, for the amount of rent i am paying. And the fact that I am so near north ( not a engineer wanna-be of course), simply forces me to keep heading back to the serene north campus to burn more midnight oil!
And of course.. next point,

Car:
Yes i got my car finally after days and nights of head scratching and trying to learn the car jargon. Start talking to me about Hondas Toyotas and Nissans I might just be able to keep up a conversation with you. So I got a pretty Honda LX Accord 2001 coupe, which is a pretty sweet deal, by KBB (Kelly Blue Book) standards. My car drives awesome and it has moved up to one of happiest things in my life right now: mobility, anytime and anywhere.

Academics:
This semester Im starting to move away from acad classes and focus more on research. Courses wise, which wouldn't make any sense to you btw and im just listing them for the sake of listing, are MCDB 427, 411 and HIST 132. I really enjoy MCDB 411 Protein Structure and Function and HIST 132, People of the middle East. You know all those cool colourful crystal structures you see in your biology textbook? Thats what im creating now for MCDB 411. Its a course that really deals with the most up to state bioinformatics stuff and with so much applicability in the real world, how can i not possibly feel excited about the course! Hist 132 is also another course which I really enjoy. Never knew why the hell the Sunnis and Shi'i are in two separate factions and what the Quran says. But now I learnt theres a wealth of knowledge about the modern Middle East out there waiting for me to devour, coupled with freshly acquired knowledge on the ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Anatolia etc.

Research:
So the last missing piece of the previous paragraph is research. I'm doing MCDB 300, Independent Research. This basically means I am an undergraduate who gets to do cool experiments at my own pace, from designing the experiment, to doing the experiment and writing regular reports. This, I must say, is the coolest thing is have ever done! I am currently working on cloning 2 fly gene called, Hid and Reaper. (Apparently Drosophila fly geneticists get to name their fly whatever names they want to. Theres a fly gene that is called A-go-go the dance, because the mutation in that gene causes the fly to twitch like its doing an A-go-go!) So anyway, Hid and Rpr are two inhibitors of cell apoptosis (cell death) and I am investigating the mechanism of the phosphorylation ( some jargon you don't have to know) with the inhibitors. My job scope includes designing PCR Primers, doing PCR, making and running tons of gel electrophoresis, restriction enzyme and ligase (that we learnt in high school during those boring stern Bio lectures), transformation, cell culture, agar plating, protein column chromatgraphy, Western blotting...... and the jargon goes on. I shall spare you from the specifics. You really get the idea, this research means a lot to me.
i am really fortunate to have great mentors and fellow lab mates who joke and talk with me (the only undergrad in the lab) with almost anything under the sun. From religion to food to journal papers, I certainly don't feel an age gap between all these PhD candidates ( who are mostly married or..gasp..already divorced) and I even have the privilege of having a whole lab bench to myself! That part is really wondrous b/c I don't think any undergrad has that=)

Non-academic stuff:
So I ve been part of the exco for UMSSA ( singaporeans in Umich) and we plan dozens of activities like Fall GM, MAF, Halloween, Midwest Games, SEA Games, Singapore Food Fest just to raise a few. And these events are piling up every weekend like crazy. I am so glad that fa-cai, what my exco calls ourselves and even names our group email after, has grown so much stronger and more capable through these 8 mths that we've together. Our events are getting so professional sometimes, that I feel so proud of it. I feel proud to invite my friends to the events and show them what Singapore is about. And to truly live up to our name fa-cai, we have been generating (quite a bit) of income for the SSA, and so indeed it has been a prosperous year for fa-cai!

As for my position for the Southeast Asian Representative, I stepped down as the President of SEA-Network this semester but took over as V-President instead. This certainly takes quite a bit of work load off my shoulders. I am most happy to say that the SEA-network has become much more structured this semester, with new initiatives like SEA SA Exco Retreat, Internal Showcase for SEA-N, fresh ideas and much better friendship. Friendship from friends Alda, Fareza, Pat, Dan who inspires me to embrace my Southeast Asian roots more strongly and friends where there is no need to put on a pseudo-American accent.
SEA Games 07 is coming up this Fri and Sat. And i certainly hope it goes smoothly. SEA Cultural Night which I did last winter semester was probably one the most challenging leadership experience in my life thus far.

Breaks and holidays:
Over Fall break I did hit Toronto and Niagara Falls in Canada over 2 days. It was a truncated trip for me because i was bound by guilt with the impending midterms and returned to Ann Arbor earlier than my travel mates. Niagara Falls was pretty much a disappointment to me, with all that commercialization while Toronto really reminded of Singapore in some ways. It was a short and sweet trip nonetheless, I must say.
Upcoming breaks are Thanksgiving, which I'm gonna stay in Ann Arbor because I am bound by my monetary concerns and Lala is coming to visit me anyway!
For Winter Break I am planning to visit both my parents who are in Beijing, China and gorge myself with some real good chinse food before returning the great land of America for fries, burgers, quesadillas and their fellow high-calories accomplices.
For Martin Luther King weekend in Jan, I am really looking forward to the annual skiing trip and for Spring Break, I am hoping to do some volunteer experience with ASB ( Alternate Spring Break) around Detroit or Midwest region.

Bank accounts and gifts:
Bank account figure is running low, with all the rent, food, hefty car insurance and of course fuel price hikes which simply doesnt seem like it would stop heading north anytime soon. Would appreciate it if anyone of you sends a check/ sponsorship for Liyu or simply send me some food/gifts from motherland Singapore. The latter is not optional, by the way.

Finally, i congratulate you for having read through this rambling stuff that I wrote. And please please do write me an email to tell me how you have been getting along! liyutan@Umich.edu or liyutan_87@hotmail.com . If you like to make international calls to hear my voice, buzz me at 1-734-709-4044 to catch up (its really not that expensive) or even better, I would be expecting that gift at my doorstep. 1845 Lake Lila Lane, Apt #C2, Ann Arbor, MI 48105.

Thanks for reading this b/c I know that only those who are genuinely concerned about my life will read on till here. Hope all is well and stay in touch!!=)

Happy Saturday

2007-10-27T23:21:00.000-05:00

Yayy a happy Saturday for me. Lab, erhu session cum catching up with Xuanzhong@ Pierpont Commons, followed by shopping with Izzie & Marg@ Briarwood Mall and then finally dessert@la dolce vita with Ruth!!=)

I got the music that I desired, the company that I loved, the shoes that I needed, the watch repaired and the catching up that I really have been looking forward to.

Its rare that I get great Saturdays like this. But at the same time, I feel really guilty cos I did really really badly for my MCDB 427. SIGH. Liyutan you shall study really hard for this course from now on and like try to score full marks for the exams.

Halloween tmr! Excitingness!

new blogskin

2007-10-25T01:10:00.001-05:00

Aye I dunno why I have so many things to do but I ended up doing a new blog skin.
I hope this looks okay on both PCs and laptops, because I realised that blogskins look differently somehow! Tell me if it looks weird on ur comp, cos it looks perfectly fine on my laptop.

Actually, heee, I think I'm quite smart to figure out all this html language on my own. Lalalala=)

But wait till I have time on Friday, I will improve on the colours.

Brief respite

2007-10-23T12:29:00.000-05:00

Finally, finally done! With all my midtermns. It has been an utterly crazy week for me, with sleeping hours and meal times that are completely screwed. No wonder my body started dysfunctioning over the weekend, which also robbed me of precious time to prepare for my MCDB427 exam today!=(

Do I deserve a good rest? Maybe. If I wasn't so lazy and started studying only the night before the exam, I wouldn had to torture myself into stretches of 20 hours studying marathon and eventually turning my biological clock topsy turvy.

But after all, midterms are all done!=) I can slightly relax for 2 weeks before more stuff pops out. OH WAIT. Prof Bardwell is handing out (killer) MCDB 411 assignment in 1 hour!!!!!!!!!!!

Had Singapore Food Festival over the weekend, which was truly a marvellous event. I htink large part of it can be attributed to the fact that the ENTIRE exco was involved in it right from the start and preparations were made way back into Singapore. Im glad the helium balloons signboards worked in the end! But a pity we didn get down to playing with the arch-shaped entrance. But what made me really happy was to see the happy contented faces of not only Singaporeans, but the local Americans as they came, tried the food, watched the Singapore videos and left with smiles on their faces.

NOW, its truly time for me to do all the random stuff that I ve been putting off for so long.
0. ~~Study for MCDB427 quiz tmr. Start on MCDB411 assignment.Do my readings for middle East studies.~~
1. ~~Do my laundry~~
2. ~~Clean up my apartment~~, buy vacuum cleaner for apartment
3. ~~Settle bills for house~~. ~~Pay rent for next month.~~
4. ~~Pay school fees and chase accounts.~~
5. ~~Watch some grey's or Scrubs or TopChef, which I ve been missing out on!~~
6. ~~Go hit the gym!!!!~~
7. ~~Send my car for servicing- wax and wash.~~
8. ~~Cook some really nice food to make myself and people who took care of me when I was sick all happy~~
9. ~~Go shoppping for shoes (with Sel whom i miss so much?). Or use up that sephora gift card. Buy Siyu's bday gift maybe?~~
10.~~Call my parents, brother and sister and have a good chat to catch up.~~
11.~~Find places to bring LALA the queen around when she comes for thanksgiving!!!~~
12. ~~Book room for SEA SA exco meeting on Friday and buy food and drinks.~~
13. ~~Collate T-shirt orders for SEA Games 07.~~
14. ~~Prepare slides for presentation on Friday. prepare for SEA meeting on Thurs.~~
15. ~~Do a mask tonight. (gosh i think i aged 10 years in 2 weeks)~~
16. ~~Finish my cloning expt!~~ And write my reports.
17. ~~Apply for GIEU? ASB.~~
18. ~~Buy airticket to Beijing in Dec.~~
19. ~~Bank in check.~~

Did i just say I was free?

But at least half of the list is non-acad stuff!

2007-10-16T21:31:00.001-05:00

Uhhh...something really weird just happened. I opened up a mail that came with a $25 bucks Sephora Gift Card, ( which is one of those that comes with credit card rewards), but I certainly did not exchange for any thing recently.
I swear i checked all my credit cards accounts and i did NOTHING recently!

And the weirdest thing is,its not sent wrongly. It was clearly addressed to me, got my US address and even telephone number right. HURH!?!? im really puzzled.

Christmas is still quite far away, isnt it?

Toronto and Niagara Falls, Canada

2007-10-15T15:26:00.000-05:00

It was indeed a hit-and-run visit to Canada over one and half days. It took us 6 hours to get to Niagara Falls, which is at the border of Canada and States. I guess to summarize it all, I was really disappointed with the visit to the Niagara Falls. In retrospect, I can churn out a couple of reasons for that. For the most striking one, the over-commercialization of Niagara Falls certainly does not do justice to her. Imagine a tourist spot thats cluttered with Planet Hollywood, Hilton hotels, and stretches of casinos, clubs right beside the great Niagara Falls! Aren't these natural beauties meant to be appreciated in their greatest wilderness?

By certain circumstances (which theres no need to elaborate anyway), I spent quite a bit of time on my own at the Niagara Falls. Simply standing at the Falls, hearing the thundering sound of the water falling from the overwhelming heights of 90 feet and feeling the rain of mist caressing your cheeks simply created a great vacuum to reflect. (alas all the commercialized landscape at the background!). I think I'm one of those who needs a long personal reflection once in a while to put things back into perspective.

At Niagara Falls, I was reminded of the times last year with the girls at Victoria Falls. Yes, the awe-inspiring, one of the seven natural wonders of the world Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, whom I promised the Zim people that I would definitely return for my honeymoon(haha). At that point of time, I had not learned to truly appreciate the dynamic and complexity of the Victoria Falls, which is indeed such a pity! Over the past year, I've learned to fend for myself, make life decisions myself and learned to protect myself from those people who can inadvertently hurt me. It's been a pretty painful process but I'm glad I got it through and I swear- Im much stronger now~!

So in my solitary walk along the Niagara Falls, I was wondering who would be this person who CAN and who WILL be with me to appreciate all these esoteric side of life. I'm in no hurry to find this person, because I think all good things in life are worth waiting for. And being the person who believes in signs, I think my solitary walk along Niagara Falls is indicative that I have to search harder, deeper within myself before I am ready.

Another sign which i chose to pick up was to keep in touch with my friends who are currently scattered around the world. Uncannily, I met two of my sec sch classmates at Niagara Falls, both who were studying at UPenn. Is this a sign? Coincidentally, Niagara Falls brought back rushing memories of the Victoria Falls and the girls and Lam. Is this another sign?
.
.
.
.

In all, I wasnt really impressed with Toronto. It's just another city, another city with streets of lights that resembles Singapore or another more cosmopolitan city.

I think I need a travel to Africa, Middle East or India really soon. I need to embrace some nature so much more than this damn bustling city-cosmo life.

Now listening to: 落叶归根 by 王力宏
This Chinese song does actually sound good! And the lyrics are really meaningful. http://mp3.baidu.com/m?tn=baidump3lyric&word=%CD%F5%C1%A6%BA%EA+%C2%E4%D2%B6%B9%E9%B8%F9&ct=150994944&lm=-1&lf=3

2007-10-13T00:19:00.000-05:00

Fall Study break!!
As the name suggests, should be spending time studying for my upcoming three midterms.

But Im going to Canada, Niagara Falls and Toronto over the weekend.

Play first. Study hardER, Liyu Tan!

2007-10-08T22:03:00.001-05:00

Finally. Done with my killer 411 assignment after nights at the Dude!

I think im going for a night run now. Scared its dangerous though. Maybe I will just go to the gym.

When I'm back later, I will start clearing homework for the rest of the week! Lol.

Oh anyway, talking about Lol, one of the complex that i was writing on for lipoprotein processing is called LolA LolB Lol CDE. LOL!!!

:)

housewarming party

2007-10-07T14:18:00.001-05:00

Im taking a short break from my MCDB 411 Assignment. Almost there!!!!
Had a really great housewarming bbq at Willow Tree yesterday. I counted, about 60 plus people turned up! Had no time to take pictures though, and doing parties are DAMN tiring. But totally fun lar=)

check this out, its dork-ish sweetness =D

2007-10-03T01:11:00.001-05:00

At this time you are feeling 'uptight' and you are urgently in need of rest and relaxation; but perhaps even more than that you need to overcome that feeling that you have been 'hard done by' and treated with a complete lack of consideration. Maybe you have, but whatever may have been the cause of your inherent anxiety, you regard the situation as intolerable. Your are, however, sufficiently competent to turn that situation around - you have overcome similar problems in the past, and really this one isn't too different.

You are looking for excitement and stimulation and you are ready to try anything - but be careful not to take too many risks.

All the problems that you have been experiencing of late seem to have become a part of your life and there is little that can be done to change the situation. Your emotions run high - but even though you feel as if at times you are about to burst this situation will pass. Try to release your pent-up emotions by participating in some extra physical activities like running, swimming, whatever. There must be some favourite pastime, not necessarily strenuous, that can help you to relax.

You are feeling full of uncertainty and worrying over what you consider as missed opportunities. This is causing considerable stress and tension. You feel that there must be more to life than the constant pressures and anxieties - that surely life must hold far more opportunities than that which it has to date presented to you. You sincerely believe that there must be a simpler way to tap life's hidden recourses and should you be able to find that way - you could achieve your hearts desire. It's the not knowing 'how' that is affording you the constant worry. You are constantly probing and seeking - trying to ensure that at all times you are on your guard against missing any opportunity. 'Enough is enough'. You are anxious to avoid further setbacks. You are strenuously trying to make sure that you will not be overlooked and you badly need security.

You have so many ideas that you would like to revitalise but you need to realise a stable and peaceful condition to do so. Once you can free yourself from all the aggravation and tension around you, you will make strides that may amaze you. You will not be prevented from achieving all the things you so desire.

http://www.paulgoldinresearch.com/cg/index.htm

2007-10-02T00:13:00.000-05:00

CLUSTAL W (1.83) multiple sequence alignment

gi|91214006|ref|YP_543992.1| SYSQAMWILVGVMIVVLAVILAVWFGIKASLVAPMNRLIDSIRHIAGGDL 237
gi|1736539|dbj|BAA15702.1| DYRFAQWQLAVIALVVVLILLVAWYGIRRMLLTPLAKIIAHIREIAGGNL 235
gi|1736538|dbj|BAA15701.1| NYQISALVFISMIIVAAIYISSALWWTRKMIVQPLAIIGSHFDSIAAGNL 233
gi|1742320|dbj|BAA15044.1| RTRLGGMFMIGAFVLALVMTLITFMVLRRIVIRPLQHAAQRIEKIASGDL 245
gi|26249379|ref|NP_755419.1| -------------------------MMRKMLLAAALSVTAMT---AHADY 22
: :: . * .:

gi|91214006|ref|YP_543992.1| VKPIEVDGSNEMGQLAESLRHMQGELMRTVGDVRNGANAIYSGASEIATG 287
gi|1736539|dbj|BAA15702.1| ANTLTIDGRSEMGDLAQSVSHMQRSLTDTVTHVREGSDAIYAGTREIAAG 285
gi|1736538|dbj|BAA15701.1| ARPIAVYGRNEITAIFASLKTMQQALRGTVSDVRKGSQEMHIGIAEIVAG 283
gi|1742320|dbj|BAA15044.1| TMNDEPAGRNEIGRLSRHLQQMQHSLGMTVGTVRQGAEEIYRGTSEISAG 295
gi|26249379|ref|NP_755419.1| QCSVTPRDDVIVSPQTVQVKGENGNLVITP-----DGNVMYNGKQYSLN- 66
. : : : * * ..: :: *

gi|91214006|ref|YP_543992.1| NNDLSSRTEQQAASLEETAASMEQLTATVKQNAENARQASHLALSASETA 337
gi|1736539|dbj|BAA15702.1| NTDLSSRTEQQASALEETAASMEQLTATVKQNADNARQASQLAQSASDTA 335
gi|1736538|dbj|BAA15701.1| NNDLSSRTEQQAASLAQTAASMEQLTATVGQNADNARQASELAKNAATTA 333
gi|1742320|dbj|BAA15044.1| NADLSSRTEEQAAAIEQTAASMEQLTATVKQNADNAHHASKLAQEASIKA 345
gi|26249379|ref|NP_755419.1| ----AAQREQAKDYQAELRSTLPWIDEGAKSRVEKARIA--LDKIIVQEM 110
::: *: : ::: : . ...::*: * *

gi|91214006|ref|YP_543992.1| QRGGKVVDNVVQTMRDISTSSQKIADIISVIDGIAFQTNILALNAAVEAA 387
gi|1736539|dbj|BAA15702.1| QHGGKVVDGVVKTMHEIADSSKKIADIISVIDGIAFQTNILALNAAVEAA 385
gi|1736538|dbj|BAA15701.1| QAGGVQVSTMTHTMQEIATSSQKIGDIISVIDGIAFQTNILALNAAVEAA 383
gi|1742320|dbj|BAA15044.1| SDGGQTVSGVVKTMGAISTSSKKISEITAVINSIAFQTNILALNAAVEAA 395
gi|26249379|ref|NP_755419.1| GESSKMRSRLTKLDAQLKEQMNRIIETRS--DGLTFHY------KAIDQV 152
.. . :.: : . ::* : : :.::*: *:: .

gi|91214006|ref|YP_543992.1| RAGEQGRGFAVVAGEVRNLAQRSAQAAREIKSLIEDSVGKVDVGSTLVES 437
gi|1736539|dbj|BAA15702.1| RAGEQGRGFAVVAGEVRNLASRSAQAAKEIKALIEDSVSRVDTGSVLVES 435
gi|1736538|dbj|BAA15701.1| RAGEQGRGFAVVAGEVRNLASRSAQAAKEIKGLIEESVNRVQQGSKLVNN 433
gi|1742320|dbj|BAA15044.1| RAGEQGRGFAVVASEVRTLASRSAQAAKEIEGLISESVRLIDLGSDEVAT 445
gi|26249379|ref|NP_755419.1| RAEGQ------------------QLVNQAMGGILQDSINEMG-AKAVLKS 183
** * . : : .::.:*: : .. : .

gi|91214006|ref|YP_543992.1| AGETMAEIVSAVTRVTDIMGEIASASDEQSRGIDQVGLAVAEMDRVTQQN 487
gi|1736539|dbj|BAA15702.1| AGETMNNIVNAVTRVTDIMGEIASASDEQSRGIDQVALAVSEMDRVTQQN 485
gi|1736538|dbj|BAA15701.1| AAATMIDIVSSVTRVNDIMGEIASASEEQQRGIEQVAQAVSQMDQVTQQN 483
gi|1742320|dbj|BAA15044.1| AGKTMSTIVDAVASVTHIMQEIAAASDEQSRGITQVSQAISEMDKVTQQN 495
gi|26249379|ref|NP_755419.1| GGNPLQNVLGSLG---GLQSSIQTEWKKQEKDFQQFG------------- 217
.. .: ::.:: : .* : .:*.:.: *..

gi|91214006|ref|YP_543992.1| AALVEESAAAAAALEEQASRLTEAVAVFRIQQ----QQREASAVVKTVTP 533
gi|1736539|dbj|BAA15702.1| ASLVQESAAAAAALEEQASRLTQAVSAFRLAASPLTNKPQTPSRPASEQP 535
gi|1736538|dbj|BAA15701.1| ASLVEEAAVATEQLANQADHLSSRVAVFTLEE-------HEVARHESVQL 526
gi|1742320|dbj|BAA15044.1| ASLVEEASAAAVSLEEQAARLTEAVDVFRLHK------HSVSAEPRGAGE 539
gi|26249379|ref|NP_755419.1| ----KDVCSRVVTLEDSRKALVGNLK------------------------ 239
:: . . * :. * :

Some exciting stuff going on inside there! On my way to proposing a function for unknown protein yggN in E. Coli

2007-10-01T19:06:00.000-05:00

Both Mesopotamians and Egyptians used religious authorities to legitimize their rule. This is understandable, considering that in ancient time, concepts of religions were deeply entrenched amongst the locals, as with many other civilizations in antiquity. However, there must be distinction made between the divinity endowed on the human kings in authority in Egypt and Mesopotamia.

It must be highlighted that in Egypt,“official history began with dynasties of "gods, demigods, and spirits of the dead" who preceded the first mortal rulers” (Murname). Therefore, kingship in Egypt itself was innately associated with divine power. Consider that “the symbol of the falcon god Horus …… as an image of kingship throughout Egyptian history” was used to imply the ruler's official nature as the divine "Horus of the Palace" (Murname). Menes, who was attributed to being the first to unify Eygpt probably derived his name from Amun, the leading god and divine ancestor of the New Kingdom pharaohs. This conveniently serves as a powerful justification of his kingship, being the unique son of god designated by the higher divine authority to rule over the land, and whose powers must not be belittled. Menes was not alone in using divine authority to consolidate his power. Amenhotep IV of Dynasty 19, took over the kingship of an Egypt that was heavily inclined towards the cult of Amun. However, he advocated for the cult of Aten instead, of which reason still baffles us, and changed his name to Akhenaten- "He Who Is Effective for Aten". Once again, this illustrates the importance of having a religious divine authority as a strong back up for power play.

On the other hand, in Mesopotamia, amongst the different city states arose one king, who was usually empowered by his performance in wars. The rising of an empire in Mesopotamia was not seen so much as an endowment on a particular human being as in Egypt, but since there were evidence of “earlier local oligarchies before” (Murname) empire rule began, kingship was perhaps seen more as a credit to a war leader’s ability to unify the country. Thus, it is no surprise that these Mesopotamian kings were revered as gods only after their death. I offer my interpretation: Only after completion of his contribution as a leader to his empire, does a king deserve to be exalted as a divine god.

However, in later times of Mesopotamia, Naram-sin and his successors started to self-deify themselves even while they were living. Perhaps Naram-Sin craved for recognition or perhaps he was truly a brilliant leader worthy of that, but what stands out is that, the divine authority once again is seen as the ultimate authority of control over any kingship. This is also supported by Shulgi’s move to build a temple to exalt the power of divine kings and temple households were not only political landmarks, but economic forts for safe distribution of rations to Mesopotamians. The power of divine authority is indeed, despite their difference in embodiment, equal in both Egypt and Mesopotamian civilizations after all.

One of my hist for middle east reflection essay. My bio Prof, Ken, has a strong interest in the Middle East region as well, and we talked so much in lab today. Amazing memory he's got! On my way back home I took the same bus as Mikyung and I discovered shes married!!!!!!!

Quote of the day: you have done a great job of submerging yourself in the lab ~ Ken

Lol. I laughed at Ken and said he made it sound as though I was drowning in it. haha.

2007-09-30T23:42:00.000-05:00

I had a really happy Sunday and I feel so blessed I must blog about it!!

Woke up in the morning to meet chunyi, jingshen, kaiming and his friend lucy for breakfst at cafe maries. I suggested this cafe as i pass by it everytime i go to school and it turns out the breakfast is awesome! i htink its not as oily as angelos and the presentation is much better than northside grill. Well the company was awesome too and lucy was just a wonderful taiwanese girl to talk to! She speaks jap too and she lives at willow tree and likes working out too!!!

And then we parted and I went to lab where I met JinHee, the grad student who sits opposite me in lab. I had a really great chat with her and I feel so happy because im getting so much closer to everyone in lab, though they are all so much older than me. Hui, Chandan, Jinhee, Mikyung, Anul, Yan and even Ken ( my prof!)

And then on my way home in my greatest love, my honda accord, i noticed the bright sun overhead! And then i decided to give my beloved car a wash and wipe and it looks damn damn sleek now.

Then i decided to go for an outdoor run ( brian pangseh me to go and study). Explored the entire plymouth road and i ran all the way to US-23 which was pretty far i think but my stamina now is a far cry from that in Singapore, because i havent been working out for the past 2 weeks.

Then I came home and read my favourite book now, the history of the ancient east, to some chill jazz music.

6 plus i started preparing dinner because dearest Jenny, my ex roomate, was coming over for dinner! I steamed tilapia ( hk steam) and did chinese leeks with egg tofu. Jenny is a vegetarian so i couldn do more. I went to her co-op to pick her up, and we came to my apt for dinner. And then we just couldn stop talking. We talked and talked and talked from 7 till 11!!!! And then suddenly we realised that it was so late but we still wanted to talk more so we went to her co-op instead and she showed me around. There are 23 ppl in her house, and they have a super huge basement for communal cooking and laundry etc. Co-op is a US thing--> many ppl stay together in the same house and pool money together and basically split up roles to maintian the house.Some cook, some wash, some paint...

Anyway i just cant stop smiling cos its been the most perfect sunday ever. Time with friends, new and old. Time on my own to read and exercise. And my cloning experiments are yielding some really cool results. My dad is in Singapore to oversee the clingy family issues.

Everything just seems so perfect.=D

2007-09-30T14:47:00.001-05:00

I need more people to share the bountiful happiness within me now!!=D

happiness index: :D :D :D :D

my schedule

2007-09-29T22:06:00.000-05:00

A Sunday

9.45 Rise and shine
10 Breakfast with Kaiming and Chunyi
11 Head to Lab to finish my cloning experiment
12.30 Get out of lab. Come home and fix lunch
1.30 Wash car
2.00 Gym with Brian
3.30 Shower
4.00 Do homework
6.00 Cook dinner/ Clean apt at same time
7.00 Dinner with housemates and special guest Jenny tmr!
8.00 Movie with Jenny
10.00 Quickly do homework again.
12.00 Sleep

Tell me does my life sound interesting?

2007-09-23T12:31:00.000-05:00

My new-est hairstyle. GO BLueeee!!

The Michigan Stadium. Now please hart Ryan Mallet.

JY partner in a long overdue photo from Macs

At Ikea, Canton. The total bill was $2200! WHOOOSH.

2007-09-21T00:50:00.000-05:00

The 2001 Honda Civic LX Coupe=)
Finally car is settled.

Lots more to do!! Michigan is really growing on me.

XZ: UROP is undergrad research opportunity prog. its for freshman or sophmore but its really time consuming! i havent been to your apt!=D

val: yar you must have been. lets try it out this weekend against penn state. See whos the jinx and the lucky star HAHA im not going to watch this weekend. I like your new room, i saw the photos of the mini tour of your room!=)

aloy: Better than your cute little mini-car LOL=)

Yk: heyheyy=D i realised i forgot to burn grey's anat for you before i left!! damn. anyway the black one was sold already when i called on monday to check so i jus went directly to the silver one. It looks much bigger in real life. 2.3L!

amyseow: ehh you left already? or in a few days time? I MISSED HC MAF. I saw the photos..the center piece is sooo prettty!

jer: YES! i just came back from passing by yourplace to pick up letters actually lol. hope everythings fine on your side. senior alr....=P

2007-09-16T21:10:00.000-05:00

give me your commentS thru tagboard!
should i take this

2002 honda civic lx coupe 9.495k

OR

2001 honda accord lx coupe 8.995k

tagboard
weilin:hii!!!! hows ur medicine going. *coughs* yar i changed my hairstyle few days before i left and hmm i stil trying to get used to having fringe in my eyes sometimes=)
em: hi dear! haven talked to you for long. i know time flies. i ve been here like half month already. i show u my house sooon ( in pictures of course)
xz: i dropped UROP. wise move right=) see u on bus 2 soon!
shan: heyhey what research are you doing? accounting also got research ahh!!! so scaryy

val and jer: GO BLUEE!!i think i jinx-ed wolverines. When i watch at the stadium they lose 7-39 and when i dont, they win 38-0. CRAP.

2007-09-10T23:16:00.000-05:00

Oh no Prof just up-ed credit hours to 15!!!!!!!!!
15+6+1.5= 22.5

Yay well done, Liyu Tan.

Nice catching up with jeannie, lora,vincent, shao and wj just now=)

foobal

2007-09-09T00:28:00.000-05:00

I didn't even feel like i was watching football at today's game against Oregon State. From finishing 2nd last year in Big Ten to being ranked out of top 25 after 2 weeks of sucky defense or should i say non-existent defence now... I'm highly encouraging friends who bought the season ticket to quick sell it off before no one wants to buy it.

Seriously, makes me wonder what will happen at Ohio State game.

Llyod Carr should be hiding in the locker room, probably fretting over the next Notre Dame game and all the media attention on him.

What a huge disappointment!

Anyway, my this semester is gonna be crazy.

MCDB 411 Molecular Biology
MCDB 427 Protein Structure and Function
MCDB 300 Independent Research
UROP
HIST 132 People of Middle East

Look at the 20 hour research i have every week. Looks like lesser and lesser amount of sleep is on its way.

I'm busy looking for cars now, but I am getting so frustrated. =S

2007-08-28T10:07:00.000-05:00

With the most important woman in my life on her birthday!

2007-08-28T00:56:00.000-05:00

Facebook Mini-feed

Liyu changed her hairstyle! people should have lots to say about it.

Liyu's MIS post has resulted in an interesting op-ed like post at Ted's blog (since he's a columnist writer)!

Liyu is leaving on 300807 and what coincidence. She learnt through Chinwei that Aaron,Ser and Chunyang are on the same flight......... and Aaron is on the same domestic as well. OMG.

Liyu is trying very very hard to service her old laptop right now. "Its freaking slow, and its getting me all frustrated. Slow computers just irks me. Can someone gimme some advice how to make it better?" says Liyu

Liyu need luggage space!!!! SSA collateral is taking up like 10 kg. Can anyone help ME PLEASE!

Liyu has gone from single to continue being single. <3 *think the facebook heart icon*

Liyu is laughing at how weird it is to write about herself as a third person.

2007-08-22T11:02:00.000-05:00

Arabic, Armenian, Persian, Turkish, and Islamic Studies
AAPTIS 200 - Introduction to World Religions: Near Eastern
Section 001

This course serves two main functions: the first of these is to provide an introductory sense of what is involved in the academic study of religion; the second, which will occupy almost the whole term, is to introduce the major religious traditions of the Near East, with emphasis on the development and major structures of Israelite Religion, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The course will keep two foci in view: one will have to do with the historical development of these religious traditions, their sacred texts and major personalities; the second will involve a comparative view of these traditions by analyzing their sense of the sacred in space, time, and text, their views on holy people. This is an introductory course: it is not necessary for students to have any previous experience in the study of religion. The course consists of three weekly lectures and a discussion group. Writing for the course typically involves an essay, a midterm, and a final exam.

Im pretty much looking forward to taking this class in Fall. Let's see, i made some last minute changes to my class schedule. Because Im taking this class, i no longer have a 3 day week. Crap hurh! But i figured i still have to go to school for my research stuff and this class seems worth all that travel.

han and Lynn, tell me more about that, seriously.=P

2007-08-20T11:14:00.000-05:00

STUPID ALOY I HATE YOU!
Everyone who reads this blog please say this loudly okay ALOY, I HATE YOU!

-LiEw- says:
yar very fat hor
aloy says:
go and run lor
aloy says:
like me
-LiEw- says:
i also damn disgusted
aloy says:
i run run run like mad, i juz ran 10km . lol
-LiEw- says:
i put on 3 kg ALAMAK
aloy says:
YAY
-LiEw- says:
stupid
aloy says:
hahahahahahahhahg i can see it
-LiEw- says:
STOP I T
-LiEw- says:
i slap you
aloy says:
hahahahahahahah
-LiEw- says:
im going to write on my blog i hate you

_____________________________________________________________________
I met up with Gena today and I think i finally realised the reason why i dread going back to Michigan. Its not about having to do household chores, or cook dishes, or do groceries. Its not about the crazy credit hours i have next semester, with tons of research. Its not about the freaking cold -30 deg winter temperature. Its not about the big question mark and totally unclear path for SEA Network when my brand new committee comes in this Fall. I mean I do fear all these a little, but thats not the root.

Its about the -DAMN- michigan inbreeding syndrome as I call it.
Period.

2007-08-16T11:00:00.000-05:00

I'm counting down 2 more weeks back to Ann Arbor. -SIAN-. Maybe i should stop wearing my watch and stop counting the days, they might just seem longer.

Am totally down on my luck these days. Having the most serious sore throat ever in my life, fevers subsided fortunately. Got my old sprained ankle treated so im walking around with a huge bandage. And like lightning out the blue, I went for eye specialist check up today and they discovered a tear in my retina.

So i've gotta go for laser surgery tomorrow. Luckily for weilin's advice, i kinda know whats gonna happen tmr. So im not worried about it. Just upset that my exciting weekend plans are all disrupted. ARGHH.

Bintan was great, with hot weather, not so much of hot bikini babes ( unless you wanan consider lala lulu and me, but thats highly unlikely as well), great company, exciting watersports and outdoor sports, but not so good with regards to the nightspots. My tan plan failed. Bleah.

I wanna play completely next week. Looks like my temporary work for the Singapore Jewellery Festival was cancelled cos i couldn turn up for interview, as i was in Bintan. Good money run away. But who cares, its the 2nd last week!=)

lala the wife and me the mistress

seeking refuge when it started pouring really suddenly

we love the sun but lu hates the sun

dinner at the kelong restaurant

my balinese look

NO biks babes. SAD.

the empty but beautiful la luna by the beach. from left to right--> blow job, woman on top and B52.

i love this photo i dont know why!!!

shot that resembles those from postcards

amyseow at jetset the night before.I did catch a wink before getting on the ferry. Its a miracle I didn puke on the ferry.

s75 class gathering at seow's again!

yar my class guys. beyond redemption.....

work at Australian Trade Comission

2007-08-01T22:40:00.000-05:00

Justcame back from a run~ omg i ran all the way to tampines from my house. And then when i reached the end of the runway, i stopped by one of those breakwaters to catch a breath. And i saw this man strategically hiding in the bushes, close to being totally naked and he was suntanning! OMG. which guy ever goes suntanning naked. From far, I was almost on the verge of placing a verdict that its one of those old se4 bei2 bei2, but I noticed he was listening to an mp3 and surfing on his laptop. What a weird man.

Anyway, I worked at the Australian Trade Commission, located in the Australian Embassy, for the past 2 days and its been a terrific working experience out of all the three I've done! I met Andrew West, this australian guy, whom according to himself, stole his current wife from KL. And the best thing is, both of them now work for Austrade, Margaret as Business Manager and him as the IT Consultant. Everyone in the office spoke such impecabble, slightly Aussie accented English, that I felt compelled to add a tinge of slang. haaha. My direct superior Irene, had a voice that was uncannily similar to Zoe Tay, and she also bore the surname Tay. For a moment, I really had the urge to ask her if she was related to Queen of Caldecott Hill (albeit now close to retirement)!

So I was E-blasting thousands of F & B Company for an upcoming Australian fair, and I realised that I was unconsciously discriminating against the presence of women in the workforce. Yes even myself!

Consider some names without salutations, like Tan Min Yi, with senior level designations like GM or F & B Manager. Whenever I wasnt sure about the gender of the other party, I always gave the benefit of the doubt. To the male gender. Because unconsciously I was thinking that managerial positions, GMs, CEOs are almost always filled up by our male counterparts in the workforce. What happened to my girl-elitist RGS education whatsoever?? =P

I also discovered that the male gender likes to abbreviate their name. For example i had many instances of C.F. Chen, KK Tan, JK Yong etc. I would almost confidently conclude that these are male. Perhaps its cos of the harsh sounding phonemes of the letters when pronounced, or perhaps males are simply to lazy to look for an alternative nickname or christian name. They jsut shorten the name, while ladies would go all, searching for names that flows with their surnames and accentuate their character.

Names and salutations are important, dont you think so?

2007-07-26T03:54:00.000-05:00

From the Monk who sold his Ferrari

The 7 timeless virtues
1. Master your mind
2. Follow your purpose
3. Practice Kaizen
4. Live with discipline
5. Respect your time
6. Selflessly Serve Others
7. Embrace the Present

random

2007-07-24T11:48:00.000-05:00

Exercising; Reading; Meeting up with friends i havent seen for long.

Zhihui and sherry; northwestern undergrad-to-be and SMU business undergrad-to-be
Eetse my primary school classmate of 5 years and neighbour
Gina 201/202 classmate and HC schoolmate
Miss Lala-who-still-loves-cakes-like-its-the-best-indulgence-on-earth
Sweetie Em and Stacy Dr. Ng for a relaxing monday afternoon to fight the blues

To all easterlies, ASTON'S SPECIALTIES is good! Try their ribeye steak etc etc. No service charge and no GST=)

Dad's back tmr night. WOW i think its been at least 4 years since all five of us, and now with the inclusion of grandma, are physically located in the same house at the same time. AMAZING.

SHOUTBOX: IF ANYONE WANNA GO KAYAKING/HIKING/CYCLING/SUNTANNING?OR ANY ACTIVITY UNDER THE SUN please jio me. THANKSs.

2007-07-22T12:53:00.000-05:00

STOP SCARING YOUR OWNSELF

University Application Incites Bomb Scare

Published: July 22, 2007
CHARLESTON, Ill., July 21 (AP) — Emergency crews evacuated a building at Eastern Illinois University on Friday morning after a campus postal carrier discovered a disheveled package heading for the college’s admissions office.

“There was no return address, it was poorly written, poorly addressed to the university, there were misspellings,” said Vicki Woodard, a university spokeswoman. “There was some tape over it. Just the overall appearance was rather strange.”

The stuffed and stained envelope was strange enough that police officers alerted the bomb squad.

Explosives investigators blocked off a street and X-rayed the package before learning that it contained nothing more than an application to the 12,500-student university.

Ms. Woodard said the application had come from northern Illinois, but she would not comment on whether the bomb scare would affect the prospective student’s chance of admission.

“I’m sure it’ll be processed like any other application at this point,” Ms. Woodard said.

2007-07-22T04:18:00.000-05:00

i CHANGED my handphone number. AGAIN. =S

birthday ramblings

2007-07-20T12:08:00.000-05:00

I used to be so touched that my friends would throw surprises on my birthdays. There was always the thrill of being kept in the dark, not knowing whos going to pop out from behind that corner and whether you would get thrown into that swimming pool/sea. Likewise, I used to be so enthusiastic about organising birthday surprises for my friends, going to great measures to prepare for them.

Turning twenty sparked off a major self-retrospection. Perhaps its 'cos im jaded, or on the other extreme, i just want so much more in my life. Isn't a birthday just another day on the calender year? Twenty years ago, on my birthday, the SMRT rides were launched. In 1986, the Spanish Civil war began with a revolt against the government. In 1918, nobel laureate Nelson Mandela was born on this day. All this great people, great inventions and historical landmarks justaposed against the birth of my own, reduces me to a miniscule human being. Perhaps just another human being struggling for her own survival on this densely populated world of 6 billion that is gasping for a breath of cleaner air, fresher water and more space. Where? Where should i place myself amongst this myriad of impermanence im living in?

Turned twenty already. The figure ONE has been devoured by figure TWO. Stepping into the THIRD decade of my life. I used to think of birthdays as an extremely important day. My birthday was a VERY important day. People who care for you will celebrate for you, and shower you with plenty of well wishes. Your loved ones will fight to presnet you with gifts on this special day. But out of the many many presents in your lives thus far, how many can you actually remember? How many presents are actually meaningful and have changed you in such a way that it's not just a birthday gift, by formality or whatsover, but it inspired a change in you or changed the way you think or look?

I ve gotten over all the presents and gifts. When my friends/ family ask me what present i want this year, I simply smile and turn it down.

What would really make me happy are just simple things like a dinner with family. Surprise by friends sure was a sweet blessing, but I appreciated more of the gathering and the heartfelt sharing chat after the ceremonial candle-blowing and loud happy birthday off pitched singing-cum-shouting.

I hope, as is an indication of my maturity, is getting over the materialistic and superficial part of me. I ve come to realise time and true love from my family and friends is what i really really need. Celebrate birthdays because you really want to spend time with the birthday boy/girl. Shower blessings and wellwishes not because you HAVE to say it just as if its another annual event. When you send your wishes, say it from the botommest part of your heart and think hard of the person whom you want your wishes to reach. Its makes a hell lot of difference between and sms that reads "happy birthday!" and "happy birthday,dear. You have been a great friend of mine all this past year and Im sure this birthday is just another one the many ahead we will celebrate together. Smile!=)" There is all the difference betweeen a timely phone call or another convenient facebook wall scribble from the-oh-i-just-realised-its-XXXX'sbirthday-today-because-of-facebook-reminder kind of revelation.

My wish this year is to invest even more time in my friendships and family ties thus far, and my future friendships. So that next year, when i look back , i will be proud that i have gained so much more than i did in the past 20 years.

Help. I'm free this sunday after family lunch and there is no one to go out with me. I realised that i only get energized around people nowadays. Days without going out seem so painfully hard to get through.Help Help.Someone please date me.

this weekend

2007-07-14T11:03:00.000-05:00

Am working on this book called The God Gene right now. The author argues that there is a gene VMAT2 that predisposes humans towards spirituality, and in this book, he explores genetics, psychology, evolutionary biology as well as some anthropology. Its really interesting to see how the past courses I've taken in evo bio, psych, genetics as well as anthr and religion all tie up beautifully in this book. Its amazing hurh! Just a year ago, i probably would neither have the ability nor the stamina to get through this book, because of all the jargon (inevitably).

Met up with amy jac em at timbre on thursday! As a mini amy seow bday celebration but emmeline got "distracted" along the way to timbre and spent all her money on a facial trial and therefore had NO money left to buy seow's cake. Wonderful. This is the kind of friends i ve got haha. Really cool meeting up with seowmai after so long and listening to her intriguing russia escapades, finland explorations, prague musical fairyland stories etc. Jac couldnt parallel park with her MPV and i had to go out to carpark to offer assistance. But of course i wasnt much help haha since i havent driven a car for how long! Haha. To think of it, I'm long over my one year triangular plate trial, but i am not so sure if i can drive confidently on the singapore roads.lol.

Enjoyed the percussion concert on friday, turns out it was a newly established percussion assembly under the tutelage of Quek Ling Kiong. several familiar faces in there, and as usual concerts are a fertile ground for meeting people. Saw Guan Lao Shi, wangui, jiada, sharon ang and her funkeh brother who addressed me with a 'yo' to which i replied a 'yo wassup' that scareed him hahaha, peiyin, lin li, lin na, ying tong and several other faces that just seem so familiar, but my temporal lobe has failed me with their names. Wasnt a mindblowing concert overall, but the finale was impressive. Guess they just need time to diversify their playing styles as well as, more importantly, to diversify the audience.

Oh yar haha i discovered this princess movie theatre at bedok central that still shows movies for 5 bucks on mon to wed and 6 or 7 bucks for the rest of the week. No queue, no hassle. And all the new movies are showing there too =) watched die hard 4.0 with mummy. Die hard is getting more and more exaggerating. Checked out the newly opened old airport road hawker food as well! Check out the famous hokkien mee, wanton mee, chicken wings theree!! Since bus 10 goes direct there, its so gonna be my favourite hangout place soon.

Went for the OG combined outing bet darren's and jean's today for like one hour. Kinda out of the way at North Canal Road, Settlers Cafe. Omyy and they played taboo (again! when there were so many other games to play there), super boring. Not too many freshies I saw, some I cant quite remember their names anymore. Happily, I left soon to meet up with Carine and Aloy (hahah ookay my LIFE long buffet buddies) for silly laughter and crappy insinuations at each other's height and stupidity and zhi kan dang ness and whatever not. Nice aloy aka number one nicest boyfriend in the entire singapore and JB, has a car of his own, so of course we can explore Singapore. Checked out this Ding Xian Lou at Golden Mile Complex that serves every dish for $4.80! Yes, including sharks fin( not authentic one of course), thai style red tilapia, cereal prawn etc etc. I would say they serve pretty decent food for the amount of money you pay; a value for money restaurant. Aloy then suggested going to eat chua4 bing1 at the dessert shop at burlington square (opposite simlim). All of these was a treat by the two of them for bday! Sooo sweet=) Hahaha and carine chose a photo frame that was freaking hilarious. Its screams in pink, over a black background "So Many Men, But so Few can Afford me" HAHAHAA. wanna die laughing. And a cute cup that goes " True friend. For lifetime, cos you know too much. "HAHAHAA. Okayyy yar carine your bday we go eat better food okay. I book you first.Rmb me one friend=5 friends. Go figure the math haha.

My blood checkup results came back. Doctor Lim said im the pink of health. Awesome. Just that i lack vitamin B12. Did you know that deficiency in vitamin B12 can lead to megaloblastic anemia, sleep disturbances , clinical depression, tiredness or a decreased mental work capacity, decreased concentration and decreased memory, irritability and depression. Bipolar disease can also result from it!! Siao lar. Better start popping those supplementary vit B12 pills.

Freaking scary phone call from **** on the way back in aloy's car. FREAKED me out. I had to pretend i was going into the movie theatre to hang up the phone.

AIYA damn sad lar, lala n lulu and my stayover is not working out. No place to stay at.=(

outing with kt and YC volunteers

2007-07-11T11:26:00.000-05:00

Its been a great past few days hanging out with my mum, my grandma and kaiting.. and the yc Girlssssss!!!=) just love this kinda lifestyle, plenty of time to sit around, reflect and be a little laid back and not have anything urgent on my mind to attend to.

Of course it was wonderful meeting up with kaiting--> been a long way hurh, since secondary sch and all those bah-kut-teh cheap names we give ourselves and notes flying around in classes. Ohmy those were the days in rgs... i Love heart to heart talks.... And stupid Fangyi is a psycho pervert, she kept trying to take pervert pictures of me. And she caught me unaware once. This si bian tai. JY is the same old nice considerate JY always fishing food for others and calling to check that i reach home safely, wanxuan the cutie pie ever who likes to jump in her seat as though lightning just struck her but maybe its just some spattering oil and YK hahah same lar we like to say exactly the same things at the same time.(Fei Chang HaoS. Stress on the plural). Rosie has the blur look as ever, but has the potential to be the next Korean Model. HAHA. Missing Sarah, Huishan and Carene today. But im looking forward to the 28th at redhill!=D

Finished the Art of Happinesss today and therefore i conclude, its one of the most inspiring books i have ever read. I swear that before i return it to the library tmr, im gonna take notes from that book. Isnt that impressive! Thats how much it has inspired me. There are so many points and arguments that i think i have to learn from and still ruminate over . For example, these few days, coincidentally over the time i digest the book, amazing life lessons has happened to me.

1) Yesterday i was hanging out with my mum at parkway parade. On the way while we took the bus there, my mum realised she left her checks at home (which was the main purpose why we were heading to citibank at parkway). So i got off the bus 2 stops later and walked back home to get the stuff. And of course, all these happening under the intolerable blazing afternoon sun at about 12 sharp. Fortunately, on my way out, a kind lady in her sixties offered me a lift to the bus stop out of no where! She just had me hop into her car, and she started telling me about herself.

She was on her way to volunteer at simei and teach crafts to the elderly at Blk 544 Kaki Bukit after that. She just fell recently and fractured her arm. Gotta have an wire inserted to support her humerus.

This is a sign! That, one, i have to go back to visit the elderly. And two, take better care of my grandma, cos she just a had a little fall recently. Nothing serious happened to her, but I could be more patient when i talk to her, or make the effort to spend time with her more. Maybe I could go for walks with her ( but very early at 6 am =S)

2) Today on my way back after a great get together with other 5 of the interns over Tiantian steamboat and dessert after at Ah Chews Dessert House, I was waiting for bus 14 at tanah merah mrt. This girl came up to me, asked to borrow my hp in a frantic tone. Turns out her work at changi airport dragged and she missed the last train home. She couldn contact her family and she was heading to a frens place instead to stay over. Keeping the teachings in the book in mind, I took on a more friendly, empathetic note to her. Though initial strangers, we struck up an open conversation easily, perhaps because of that. It was brief over the bus ride, but it felt nice being able to share some of her troubles at that point of time and perhaps ease her anxiety a little. Exactly congruent with what the books preaches: All of us human beings are the same. Based on this,we should approach all others with the mindset that everyone of us are the same human and all of us just wants to feel happy ultimately. This lousy summary of mine definitely does not do any justice to the wealth of knowledge in the book, but I just wanna stress that i have found so much relevance between the book and my daily life.

Two strangers, Anna and Lyana, brief, but they made a little impact in my life.

Things im looking forward to:
1) Stayover with lala and lulu maybe on sunday
2) Kbox with weilin on friday
3) Outing with Aloy and Carine on sat, my original buffet buddies. but now taken over by sam weidi and eric.haha
4) Tree top macritchie walk with VAL lee.
5) Meeting up with miss neo and em, weilin and hopefully amy seow on monday.
6) Percussion concert on coming friday.
7) Meeting up with the laos kids ahahah. cos all of them are one year younger than me. Wanna know where they are going to study/do etc etc
8)My brother is coming back on my birthday!!!!=D
9) Getting hold of my erhu scores so i can start toning my new red wood acquisition
10) Crazy exercise plans. Like that day i ran for one hour, came back and did circuits for another half.
11) Meeting the rgco gang. FOR crazy laughter and lame jokes again...Wanxuan revealed today theres this (sleazy) place in chinatown which provides ktv for 10 bucks and they freaking provide you sharks fin soup!!! hahahaha. we are so gonna check out that place.
12) visiting the redhilll elderly again. I hope they havent forgotten me=(
13) Go pounce on Miss Wang at Shangyin maybe next week during one of her lessons=)

Thats for it now.

super cool tennis match

2007-07-09T05:31:00.000-05:00

heard aboutt his super cool match from weidi. Imagine a tennis court split halfway between grass and clay surface!

PALMA DE MALLORCA, Balearic Islands -- The King of Clay ruled in this oddest of matches between the two best players in tennis.

Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (10) in an exhibition Wednesday on a half-grass, half-clay court when the top-ranked Swiss failed to reach a forehand that took a funny bounce across the green side.

AP Photo/Manu Fernandez

The grounds crew had to rip up and re-lay the grass side of the court, which required $1.63 million and 19 days to prepare, Wednesday morning.

"We're used to playing long, hard games with a lot of tension involved," Federer said. "So it's fun to play on this half-grass, half-clay surface."

Nadal came into the match with a record 72 straight wins on clay. Federer hasn't lost on grass in four years -- a 48-match run that includes four straight Wimbledon titles.

"It was a long match, with many changes of pace and with little time to adapt," Nadal said. "My feet are suffering as a price of having to adapt to the grass."

Federer was leading 4-1 in the tiebreaker before Nadal rallied. After the Spaniard double-faulted while ahead 6-5, the players traded match points. Nadal then hit three of the final four winners from the clay side before a sellout crowd of about 7,000.

The grass caused some tricky bounces, especially as the match progressed. But both players showed little difficulty in switching surfaces, as they changed shoes at changeovers.

The grounds crew on Wednesday morning had to rip up and relay the grass court, which cost $1.63 million and had taken 19 days to prepare.

After the players split the first two sets, the jokes dissipated and both players went for the win. Nadal displayed his trademark fist-pump for the first time after Federer's forehand landed long on the clay for a 4-3 lead. Both players held serve to force the tiebreaker, with Nadal dominating the baseline and Federer the net.

Nadal, who has won three straight titles at Monte Carlo and Barcelona, held a 5-0 lead over Federer on clay. Federer is 1-0 against the Spaniard on grass. Nadal leads the series with Federer 7-3.

Nadal, serving from clay to start, won the first point of the match after a rally of groundstrokes ended with Federer hitting his forehand into the net. Another Federer shot into the net, a backhand, gave the Spaniard the first game.

Nadal broke first in the fourth game on grass then watched Federer net a forehand as the Spaniard held from the clay for a 4-1 lead. Federer rallied to 4-4 after a break of his own before Nadal lashed a crosscourt forehand winner for a 5-4 advantage before breaking Federer again in the 12th game for the set.

Federer bounced back in the second, breaking Nadal on his second try from the green side. Federer's one break while returning on grass was enough for the 10-time Grand Slam champion to prevail in the second.

Both players were eager to do this again next year.

"It was a fun way to pass 2½ hours," Nadal said.

2007-07-09T02:54:00.001-05:00

Aww another time Federer got his 5th title. Brilliant game yesterday though, especially on the first set. And 1st and 3rd set were tie breakers that Federer won. I can see Nadal improving everytime he plays on grass. It wont be long i hope!
But it was great that Federer won too, cos he deserves it with all those impeccable serves, and its wonderful he's joining the ranks of Bjourn, to win Wimbledon 5 times in a row.

Somehow i the crappy Wimbledon movie 4 years ago, starring Kirsten Dunst, kept coming to mind.

Awesome fa-cai retreat yesterday at Ghim's villa like house. Indeed, the house lives up to its name hurh. King's Close. Pity i had to leave early. Miss those funny times we had during meetings. At the same time, I am reminded of the tough times ahead with SEA-Network, with so much internal affairs to iron out first, especially with a brand new committee coming in.

Jap buffet at Miramar Hotel with the guys yesterday. Not too brilliant thou!I still like Kuishinbo better, although they recommend Hanabi. And they got ridiculous service attitude in that place. After an hour and forty-five, they literally kick you out of the place by forcing you to settle your bills and proudly announcing "LAST ORDER". Not too much variety too, lacking good jap salads, teppanyaki, itamemono (stir fried jap food) and nabemono (japanese paper steamboat). The sashimi was not too bad though, fresh and succulent with a variety of fish like maguro, tai, hamachi and sake!i liked the shitake tempura though=) 36 bucks in total. Oh the company was great, we kept ridiculing the Live Earth concert the whole time, commenting that since Japan was having a "national crisis" with their scarcity of tuna for sashimi, we should do a live LIVE tuna concert for them. Haha and tons of other derivations of that.

the jap restaurant is called ikoi=)

yar the guys were fast at food. i was stu-g--gling to keep up.

cold soba advert.

And then on the way to clarke quay, we passed by the famous buffet place at Swissotel, Ellenborough Market Cafe, serving international buffet. Its 33++ dinner weekend and weekdays. Oh and I saw the Clinic by MOS. CrazY, I wonder who would dare to put himself or herself on the operating table. And they wouldn believe me when i said i tried shisha before. Are my words that not trustworthy?

Oh and central is pretty cool, u noe! They've got really good food places inside there. The entiere 3rd floor is devoted to japanese food and souvenirs etc (kokon tozai has a branch there), so does Waraku.

2007-07-07T08:23:00.000-05:00

This post is going to contain very random musings.

As part of my movie marathon feat on the way back from US, 20 hours flight, i watched music & lyrics starring drew barrymore and hugh grant. The story revolves around hugh grant, once a member of a popular boyband in the 80s but only idolized by women already in their 30s, and drew barrymore, a talented writer who fails to get out of her previous failed relationship. Both of them meet under the weirdest circumstances-> she stood in as a temp gardener for the plants in his apartment. And after discovering her talent for writing, they work on a pretty cheeesy song i would say, titled Way Back Into Love.

I saw this MTV a few days ago on MTV channel. Its a MTV that Hugh Grant specially arranged for his stint in the movie, singing the song which has a fantastic retro title, Pop! Goes my heart! i almost couldnt believe my eyes when i saw the ridiculous kind of retro dance steps he did. MUST WATCH!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TReQQiMKOo

Singapore so far has been lovely. As what CaoLu said that day, im a tourist. HAhah. i mean in some ways i feel i do feel that way, like when i hit vivo today, i just felt like i was re-discovering this little red dot. Perhaps its because over the past year, i have changed wrt think many issues. Things like Global issues ( the Live Earth Concert today!), friendships, relationships, attitudes in life and I always am trying to define my purpose in life. But alas, i havent found it so far.

I picked up this book called the Art of Happiness, by the Dalai Lama the other day while at Orchard Lib with Brian. I finished the Art of Happiness at Work, and i found it pretty inspiring, so i was determined to get this copy too. So far it has been a brilliant read, and right now I am debating over the main argument that he puts forth in the book--> "I believe the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness". Although its written by the Dalai Lama, but the ideas he discusses are very generic. One doesnt have to be a buddhist to understand or practice all these basic human qualities. That's certainly one point that keeps me going through.

dear funkeh emmeline who goes on and on and likes to squeeze her fats out to show me when we are out in public. PLEASE, i dont need publicity that we are fat.

future MOE teacher miss elaine low. Good morning, miss low.

ever miss gentle yaqi, my v-CT, who stays at gentle close also hahaha. The good time at Clarity after NDP preview!

pretty miss Dr. Stacy Ng trying to shun the camera cos i said that i wanna intro guys to her hahahaha. I really think stacy is very pretty lei! She looks like Keira Knightley!!!

yar the NDP preview by the marina bay. awesome la. the stage was so much closer, I could really appreciate the perfromances much better. I bet Samuel is cursing away at the amount of job that he has to put in for NDP, while eric is seriously enjoying himself. Haha what opposites.

pretty !!

luckily the sun set pretty soon, saved me from the unbearable heat

see, even the march past people seems so much bigger in my photos!

stacy nG! hahah she cannot name the 8 finger bones when i tested her. Like i know like that=P

she says i remind of her of the character in legally blonde. GOOD OR BAD?

omg my carine is getting so chio that i cannot stand it anymore. I LOVE THIS Photo!!=D

yar i hope Jude Law is my fren. Boyfren maybe better.

lu lu, who was jealous i managed to catch the gay pride parade in NYC hahahahah

" i look weird" take TWO. since when did caolu like the way she looked in photos.

i didn noe when this photo was taken. But i think DJ and Darren look like ostriches.

yar barchormee at blk 85. bar chormee is a guy thing. seriously.

satay! anyone got recipe for satay sauce???! i noticed prima taste advert for satay sauce today in newspapers (sorry that sounds very auntie), its going for like 6.35 for 2 boxes on offer. Not bad right!!

So i finally went to vivocity. Very suaku right! but the much coveted Vivo was such a disappointment. I made up for it by purchases at VNC and Vivie...

Yk and me debated over whether this is sheep or white horse. Silly.

seriosuly these horses that are propelled by consecutive butt lifts. I think they got inspiration from iGallop. not bad these kids wil grow up to be hotties~

emo yk thinking of the best way to get to sentosa

we waddled in the little pool there!!!

this girl is so pro. she brot her primary sch maths homework to the poolside to do. Respect.

this super cool gymnast on display can do a flip by itself!!!

cathay after transformers with the umich girls.

2007-07-05T10:54:00.000-05:00

argh this arranging timings to meet up with ppl thing is very exasperating.
Now i know why DJ says he needs an organizer. What irony. No organizer in Michigan, but i need organizer in Singapore.

Someone please design a built in organizer chip or wadeva you call it, to be embedded in brains?!!
I will pay good money for that.

2007-07-03T09:35:00.000-05:00

ohmygosh my parents just bot this red wood professional erhu at slashed price of 4000 rmb for me. awesome lar! cant wait for it to be back next week. but then damn, i realised i left all my music scores in michigan. i shall steal from sectional ppl then=P

2nd day at work calling up clients and trying to find sponsorship for the golf event to raise funds for the Society of the Physically Disabled. im like, hmm, saying the same stuff over and over again ( not that i ve not done that before), but i just dont really enjoy talking to people over the phone. Im not very adept at talking over the phone, because i definitely feel more comfortable convincing people. by looking at them in the face or straight in the eyes, with body gestures and all that. ARggh but never mind, its for a good cause anyway. I have no idea why my whole life, all my jobs/assignments come in back one big circle to be linked to charity. Maybe its fate lar hurh.

speaking of which, okay never mind. i shall not dwell on that.

Anyway, i watched transformer yesterday on a pretty last minute notice but cool invitation anw. And the whole show was super hilarious i tot, i just kept laughing to myself most of the time. Its SO weird seeing a machine emo emo with humans!!! And its the first time I see killing/gory scenes etc and I dont feel anything at all. My mind somehow perceives metal as a totally inanimate object and i am so unable to piece scraps of metals together into a kind, compassionate machine devoted to saving the human race. But nonetheless those cars in there were nice lar hurh. If i really wanted, I would have gone to the car dealer for nicer ones. But of course the 143 minute show was worth what i took out of my supposed family time, hahaha cos its totally free, thanks to lobang king hurh hahah

And so i was scolded by my sister the other day for hanging out too much. I definitely kinda feel an imbalance between the kind of freedom that i have in SG and over in Michigan. Definitely way different and i think i have to get used to the fact i should try to spend as much time as i can with my grandmother and sister at home. But then you know what, i was pretty upset with my sister on friday when we went out together for lunch at ding tai fung cos she was pretty much sms-ing (i think her bf to be) the whole time and wasnt really focused on talking to me. Not that i needed a 100% attention span from her, but at least respect me as a living entity sitting across her from the table and trying to catch up on the 13 months that we havent seen each other at all.

And the irony of it all, which i suspect was the result of her being grounded when she first came back from australia, is she started scolding me on a brilliant sunday morning the first thing she saw me in the morning. I can swear i was trying my very best not to blow my top, and i didn't, because i havent lost my temper in really quite a while and I tried to talk to her in a very cultured way (i guess inculcated by the angmohs). Hey hey isnt this what they call in psychology displacement/ projection?

okay i feel so bad im kinda bitching about my sister on my blog but i need to let it off as i feel hard done at.

2007-07-01T10:40:00.000-05:00

wow time just flies when ur hanging out, shopping, eating and just crappping hurh! i have only met up with like 4 good frens so far. and like its 4 days since i came back already. had a mini 75 class gathering today. was a hi bye thing with the guys hahaha but hung out with dearest gfs a lil more.

orchard is SO squeezy. not realy getting used to such huge crowds after a year at sparsely populated AA.

went to catch ndp combined rehearsal with weilin stacy and yaqi yesterday! i never used to be so patriotic but i guess going overseas helped instill that sense of patriotism a lot more hurh. it was pretty nice by the bayside. a lot more close upfront and personal, with a lot of navy displays this time. I really enjoyed it, albeit the not so perfect combined rehearsal with lotsa sections abridged by "impersonators" holding placards standing in place for the artiste/ minister who obviously couldn be there. just super hilarious lar. Great time at Miss clarity cafe after that with the girls too=)

one week of part time job ahead! its gonna be fun!=)

2007-06-27T06:10:00.001-05:00

this is why i love singapore.
www.ieatishootipost.blogspot.com

2007-06-26T20:37:00.000-05:00

excitingness!! you can get a lot of discounts at wisma suntec and marina square if you present your boarding pass within 7 days of arrival.

GSS. Yes.

Time to go work on my cross trainer. EH one thing, i didn gain weight lei. my weighing scale said, but i dont believe.

2007-06-26T08:31:00.000-05:00

im back on the little red dot!
contact me pleaseeeeeee=D
quick quick quick..

i really wanna publish my hp no. here but thats crazy to do.
Facebook/email me okayy liyutan_87@hotmail.com
THANKSSSS

2007-06-23T23:30:00.000-05:00

So my nice brother has been bringing me to eat at several nice places in NYC.

Had my first really authentic Korean dinner at Kum Gang San on 32nd street today. Its a 9 chop dinner (with 9 different banchan). There was this really interesting one that I really liked with marinated pollack and as usual there was kongnamul (soybean sprouts), dubu jorim (tofu simmered in soy sauce, a little bit of sesame oil, minced garlic, and chopped green onion) and japchae (translucent yam noodles accampanied with a variety of vegetable and beef in a slightly-sweet garlic sauce) etc.

and then for mains we had galbi
it really tickles your taste buds after you nicely wrapped in a cabbage after dipping it in korean soybean paste. This is a beef dish made from beef short ribs, marinated for hours and grilled over charcoal

and Kimchi Chigae with codfish

So anyway, so exciting i was googling for the exact spelling of the names of the dishes, then this website recommended Kum Gang San for these two main dishes can! how cool.

We had dinner at Kiri yesterday, this another awesome authentic japanese restaurant. The whole place was full of Japanese who were going on and on in Japanese so fast I couldnt figure out what they were saying=( this is the result of studying jap for 4 years and then not using it for another 4 years. NULLIFY totally.

Met up with Henry today and coincidentally NYC was celebrating International Culture Day with processions, food fair and pasar malam-like fair right in the centre of Manhattan. Damn cool! And then went shopping along 5th Ave for the rest of the day, and there were a lot of great deals going on.

Tmr gonna wake up early, head for dimsum at Chinatown with brother, then meet with Monika for dessert near Central Park and then with Carene to hang out at MOMA, Museum of Modern Art. Finally off to Teuscher's to get champagne truffles to bring home and maybe Hersheys too if I have time. And then to JFK.

Yay! looking forward to taking airplane on our national carrier tmr night=)

2007-06-22T01:37:00.000-05:00

HOW can i forget about this. Look this should be top priority on my wish list. Its a professional red wood erhu.=D

random spring photos

2007-06-21T18:55:00.001-05:00

So this is how the story goes. Yesterday, I went shopping with Sha at Biarwood Mall after staring into my microscope for 6 hours straight. (today i spent 9 hours, thanks to the training from yesterday).

Care to know how the story proceeds?

So now, I can strike off a couple of things off my now pseudo wishlist.
I bought super a lot of clothes, maybe I needed an outlet after crazy labs and finals. So instead of the Hollister Polo-tee, i got a similar looking yellow one from aeropostale, and i got 2 dresses from Forever 21 and lotsa other clothes =D

sha looking at the whole range of piercings and she said she wanted to get a belly button piercing. I was like NOOOOO. Very painful!=S

ohyar victorias secret was having a semi-annual sale. Thats where some of my money went to too!=D

so as usual, we always shop until briarwood mall closes.=S

then this is sha and me after all the shops were closing and we were ready to catch the last bus home....

okay call this camera whoring, i dont really care, but dont you think this pokka dotted dress that i got from forever 21 is really really pretty!its my favourite purchase yesterday=D

okay down to more serious stuff. This is how Natural Sciences Building, the one im doing research at, looks like from the Diag. I took this photo when I was lying on the diag during lunch break.

hahahah a blob of fats lying on the grass near the Diag.

the bright beautiful sun above the diag

and this is my beautiful sophisticated microscope that i use to peer my flies under. It has a camera attached to it, so i was spending 9 hours taking photographs of the flies' eyes for documentation. Its really such an arduous process: from selecting the virgin flies, to creating the male transgene flies, to crossing them, and culturing them for a week, and then screening for the transgene progeny, and selection of the intermediate representative phenotype to finally selecting two "lucky" flies that pose themselves in a nice way, when they die, for the camera after I freeze them.
That was a really bad run on sentence but I dont care.=P It has to fit in one sentence to sound like a mouthful.

anyway, dont you think that the optic light ( the two metal tubes that intercross) look like that evil character in spiderman 2? I cant recall his name, but that octopus looking like monster with all those optic-light looking hands....=S

RUTH!! my ibuddy. Had dinner over at her place two days ago, 'cos i was leaving already and shes going off to detroit to teach! Dont you thnk she looks very sweet and motherly, I wanna find a nice boyfriend for her (as if i really have the means) cos shes so sincere and nice to all her friends. But she says she got commitment fear too, hahaha

us again in her apartment. The previous shot was taken in her car, after we came back from grocery shopping at Meijers. Haha, yes not the best kinda outing I know.

This was taken like 2 weeks ago, when we were setting off fireworks in the field near Island Drive. Tianhan was screaming RUN for your LIVES frantically after he set off the fireworks because its illegal to do that in Michigan. I remember the other time when we set off fireworks was for Shenye's Birthday.So sweeeet=D

heres a really bad video that i took when we set off the fireworks.

Im leaving Ann Arbor tomorrow evening! To New York City over the weekend and then i will be back in Singapore on the 26th. YAYYYY. Time to hang out with my girlfriends=D

dream wish list

2007-06-19T02:17:00.000-05:00

I am done with my spring exams!=D

So while trying to make the full use of the limited time i have in AA, and not 'wasting" time online while MSNing and blasting my music, I have resumed one of my favourite activities!

*dream* wish-list
1. Canon ixus sd40 (why? my camera is spoiled!=(

2.15" laptop sleeve. (this is the only cute one that stands out from all the other solid shade laptop sleeves)

3. a box of shakolad truffles or chocolate body paint!=D ( european style chocolates)
(their pictures are copyrighted=(
4. Vidal Sassoon Three Barrel Waver Ion VS184C (imagine the kinda stuff u can do with this. of course, amount of time invested too)

5. aromatherapy diffuser or nebulizer( i think i need to relax a bit sometimes)

6. ~~polo tee from hollister (dont know why im back into polo tees.maybe i just wanna get stuff simple and plain)~~

7.Bebe silk keyhole halter. (this one is amazingly stunning!)

8. running shorts or jersey capri pants for working out.
Anything really comfy works!Working out. Enough said.
9.~~Calvin Klein Mesh Scoop-Neck Dress with Contrast Sash~~(another straight cut dress)

10.~~CHRISTIAN DIOR AIRSPEED 1 Sunglasses Sun Glasses White Opal Frame (my shades broke=(~~

11. ~~Rhinestone G Buckle belt (i love white belts)~~

12. Women's Betsey Johnson BJ4122 watch (this is super pretty, dont you think!=) )

13. Earrings and hairbands. back to good old far east!
14. work out mats/gym mats

15. 3 lbs or 5 lbs dumbbells

16. I saw this really cute travel bag, that has a similar hobo bag design. And i think both are REALLY cute!! from thecrazyday.com ( i think sel will love this website by the way)

17. tote shoe bag! (this one is sooo overpriced but its the nicest i ve seen so far)

okay i think i better add one book to avoid looking like an overzealous apparel shopper.

16.Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Dont say i didn't warn that this was a *dream* wish list.

2007-06-17T14:29:00.000-05:00

from keow's blog

What's Your Best Quality? Your Result: Out-Going Your best quality is out-going! People like you because you are fun to be around and no one ever knows what you will do next. Also you are not afraid to say or do whatever you want.
Personality
Loving
Intelligence
Ambitious
Sense of Humor
What's Your Best Quality? Take More Quizzes

im damn freaked out for tmr. i dunno what i dunno. thats the main problem.=S

chromosome walking

2007-06-12T22:31:00.000-05:00

Chromosmome walking

One recombinant phage obtained from a phage library made by the partial EcoRI digestion of a eukaryotic genome can be used to isolate another recombinat phage containing a neighbouring segment of eukaryotic DNA. This chromosome walking illustrates how to start at molecular landmark A and get to target gene D.

Proof that im studying bio okay=P Anyway i think this chromosome walking is the coolest term i have seen among all the really uncreative biology terminology.

2007-06-10T14:23:00.001-05:00

yay three time championship for nadal at french open!

and hes only 21.

LONG way to go!!=))