there was a salsa social event yesterday in the form of a fondue party at night at a team member's house.
the theme was halloween/gothic.
so i chose to go goth for a night.
there was pumpkin pie, which was really good.
prefer the farewell fondue party we had in s'pore though- it was much better than the one i went to- both in terms of food and company.
so i rather regret going.
but i didn't really have a choice cos its a team social event so there is this obligation to go.
if i didn't go for the party i could have gone to london with u :(
instead of sitting in someone's living room and trying to fit in.
fortunately there was this other fresher there so we kept each other company in the midst of lively chatter amongst the old team members.
ah well.
its over now, so i hope ming2 tian1 hui4 gen4 hao3.
or actually its hou4 tian1 cos training is on wed.
nonetheless.
thanks for the krispy kreme doughnuts yay :)

today was a productive day.
went to argos with yf.
bought a table lamp, clothes airer and crockery.
at last.
then went back, cooked lunch, and assembled the table lamp.
thanks for ur help hehe
then i did some work for supervision.
then i did my laundry.
hand washed some and machine washed some.
whee~

i love my cg!
i think God knows whats best for me.
i wanted to go to another cg with more ppl i know but in the end i was assigned to higher ground cg.
and it turns out that although the ppl there are older(mean age 3rd year) and may be potentially harder to communicate with, they are also spritually more mature.
and that, i believe, is very important.
so i'm very grateful i'm in higher ground.
which is the name of the cg.

no more saturday supervisions for me!!!
cos the supervisior decided that that sux.
so we have evening weekday sup instead.
yay~
still have 3 lects on sat morning though :(

Lady Salsa has arrived in cambridge!
the musical i watched with ying and jy at the beginning of the year!
wonder if i should watch it again.

and i wanna watch Woman In Black.
heard its more exciting than Woman In White.
so i really really wanna go to london soon!!
a bit difficult though, cos the team likes to train on sundays
looks like i'll have to wait till the end of michealmas term before i get to go :(

the workload is starting to increase.
i was warned of the fifth week blues that inevitably plague all first years.
hasn't arrived yet.

everyone seems to be ill- the freshers' flu seems to be neverending.
the LT is like one huge incubator of bacteria and viruses.
can just imagine the microbes hopping from one person to another.
ppl keep coughing during lect.
so sometimes the lecturer's words are blocked out by the noise.
yikes.
and there are ppl who actually bring audio recorders to lectures to record what the lecturers say.
don't think they can catch much with all the background noise.

lectures are getting tougher.
especially physio.
a lot of info crammed into a few pages and explained in 50 mins.
QB is tolerable.
cell bio is... cell bio.
chem is tough. a lot of new ideas to digest.

then again who ever said it was easy?

thankfully there are little things in life to look forward to here in cam :)

yesterday was an exciting day.
had training at night.
still no chemistry with my partner.
variation was challenging.
especially the stoopid hammalock.
cannot catch his hand.
grr.
learnt some styling as part of the variation.
seriously tested my co-ordination skills.
kept bumping into my partner when we did the shine.
argh.
must remember to take a huge step away from him or risk getting whacked.
bah.

skipped social last night cos we have free entry every other week only.
went back to bathe then went to Christ's college.
its the big yijin's bday today so a bunch of us went there to surprise him at midnight.
the thing is that he knew we planned a surprise so he was just sitting in his room and waiting to be surprised.
haiz.
so we sent two girls up to his room to blindfold him, then they led him to where the rest of us were waiting- about 20 of us in all.
then we did the usual- birthday song and cake.
and we had balloons too!
and some of them popped spontaneously.
so we were quite noisy.
and the porter came to scold us.
so embarrassing :s
the chocolate cake was really good though :)
then we went back so ju's room to slack for a bit.
then i went home.
and i love my bike :)
brings me from point A to point B so quickly :)
thanks for cycling me home - really appreciate it

the birthday surprise reminded me of the previous birthday surprise.
which wasn't much of a surprise.
but anw.
the previous one was a lot more exciting for me.
cos i was in yj's room slacking and waiting for the others to arrive so we could go and surprise the birthday boy.
then yj was like "if he comes to my room u have to hide"
me: "why would he come to ur room for no reason"
yj: cos they all love my room mah.
and that was that.
then suddenly we heard footsteps.
yj: it's him! u better hide!
me: crap! *grab my handbag and hide in the walk-in-wardrobe-cum-sink-thing*
door opens.
birthday boy walks in: hey yj can i borrow 20p
yj: i don't have 20p! i go ask my neighbour for u
*leads him out of the room*
i was there trying to stifle my laughter loh.
cos they were like one meter away from me.
quite fun haha.
so in the end i wasn't discovered.
not bad :p

so life here is cambridge is really quite interesting
do all sorts of things i have never thought i'd do.
like hide in a wardrobe.
or cycle everyday.
i think i have cycled more in these 2 weeks than i have in the past 2 years loh.
quite skillful now.
only fallen off once :D

physio lect yesterday was a case of deja vu.
we learnt about muscles
which is wat i learnt at biomed last year.
and what i learnt when i crashed nus med lect.
its interesting to learnt the same thing from a different perspective.
the lecturer concentrated a lot on the molecular structure of the proteins.
when i crashed med lect i thought "yay i don't need to know this stuff"
then yesterday i thought "crap i need to know this stuff"
the lecturer is quite amusing though, so thats good.

found the lyrics to a v nice song from a fantastic musical- Woman In White. feel like going to london to watch it again.

Trying Not to Notice

MARIAN
Sweet tension fills the air
which I know I ought not dwell upon
I look away and still see him there
I'm trying not to notice him
yet I can't help but stare

HARTRIGHT
No gazing!
Know your place
words that I'd be wise to tell myself!
I close my eyes and I still see her face
I'm trying not to notice her
but I don't stand a chance

LAURA
I'm trying not to notice him
yet I return each glance
A thousand contradictions
are stirring in my soul
they seem to grow in me
overflow in me

HARTRIGHT
In spite of my convictions
I'm losing my control

MARIAN
I'm slightly shocked inside
keep it locked inside

ALL THREE
Unspoken
Unexpressed
Still it's louder than a symphony
Can no one hear what my heart seems to shout?
Perhaps they do not notice it
Though it's as plain as day
I'm trying not to notice it
But it won't go away

suppposed to go to london on sunday.
but a salsa team social event cropped up.
so now i can't go :(
sad :(

just read a few posts from my archive.
they were written at a highly exciting part of my life.
that was the time slightly before the As until after the As. i think.
i read about how i was so happy to get the conditional offers from the various uk unis
how i wanted so much to go overseas to study so that i could sit in a little cafe by the road side with a cool breeze blowing and the sun shining. (which i still haven't done)
how i thought i totally screwed up my chem s paper.
how i was in a dilema as to which uni to go to.

that happened abt 11 months ago.
when i read the posts now about my fears and uncertainties then, i really marvel at how God has lead me through it all.
the phrase "leave it to God" cropped up more than once.
now i really know what it means.

"For surely I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

and looking back now, that is so, so true.
i love it here in cambridge.
it may sound weird, but if u ask me where i'm studying i'll say "robinson", cos thats my college.
so i hardly ever say "i'm in cam" cos everyone here is in cam too.
so sometimes when i look at my lecture notes and i see "uni of cam, dept of chemistry" or sth like that i still think "wow, i really am in cam"
and i just feel amazed.
amazed that God has such a fantastic plan for me.
cos He knows whats best for me.

sometimes i do wonder what it would be like if i didn't come here to study and had stayed in s'pore instead.
and i realised that i'm so happy that i am here.
even though i cried the day my appeal to nus was rejected.
i love cambridge.
and even though its only my first term here, i know that i'm gonna miss it when i graduate! which is quite far away.
i spoke to some of the third years, and asked them if they were going to miss cam when they grad.
this guy really put things into perspective.
he said that he could always come back to visit in future, but it wouldn't be the same.
cos its the people, not the place, that mattered.
and i realised how true it was.
the s'pore/msia community here is so small that everyone knows everyone else so its quite fun.
we do lotsa things together, and that's a really big part of the whole cam experience.
plus this place is beautiful.
so i'm happy i'm here.

had chem lab today.
ran the IR spectrum for the compound we were supposed to synthesize.
the spectrum was like crap.
and the demonstrator said "this is not very good"
then i thought "yikes"
and since the prac is assessed, i decided to do the IR spectrum again.
then when the results came out, i showed it to her and she said "is this yours?"
i was like "yup"
she said "this is quite good! you can see the peaks..."
i thought "yay!!"
so its a happy day.
i had a beautiful IR spectrum :)

its raining now.
don't like it when it rains cos its cold.
and wet.
and windy.
i need a better coat!

congrats!
i'm very very very happy for the both of you.
u guys deserve it :)
how i wish i could be there to witness it all- it must have been amazing and so exciting :)
nonetheless
yay~ :)

there was a salsa party today in the uni sports and social club.
the place had a big wooden dance floor so that was good.
it started at 7pm, and there were classes till 830pm.
i was there at 730, so i missed the first (more difficult) class.
then at 745 the basic class started.
the few other team ppl there had gone for the first class so we just sat and talked till 830.
i kinda regreted going so early cos i was just wasting my time.

then the music started and i danced.
and danced and danced.
i was quite fun cos i got asked to dance quite a few times in succession.
so i didn't sit/stand in a corner and look lonely.
in fact a bunch of us occupied a table by the dance floor, and those who weren't dancing just sat there and talked. so there wasn't any point when i felt alone. which is good.
i danced with the instructor a grand total of 3 times spaced out through the night.
it was so fun!!
cos his lead was really good, so he could do all sorts of weird variations.
and i was dipped at least 3 times each dance, and that was so fun!!
cos his preparation for the dip is the same as the one i learnt at xen, so i knew that there was a dip coming and was prepared.
so it was fun :)
and he said "u have a strong back"
yay~
then he danced with the instructress, his wife, who is a fantastic dancer. when he dipped her he was practically carrying her. and they did a super low neck drop very suddenly just when this guy walked past and i think he almost stepped on her head.
very scary.
but in the end it was ok.
they were amazing together, and when they finished the dance, the guy beside me looked at me and we were like "wow".

my dance partner didn't go for the party.
but its alright cos i enjoyed myself very much.
and i realised that i have a very limited vocab.
after every dance the guy would say "thanks!" and i will say "thanks! that was really fun"
cos it really was fun!
but i think i need to use words like exciting, amazing, fantastic.
yup.
fun is not cheem enough.

today i learnt the importance of being able to spin well.
if i can't style, the next best thing to do is to spin properly.
a few of the guys i danced with kept spinning me, and were quite impressed that i didn't fall flat on my face after a triple turn.
i was so glad that justin made us do all those spinning practices.
i still am very glad.
i need to practice my multiple turn, but i dunno who to practice with.
i'm afraid of my dance partner!
bah.
see how it goes.

danced from abt 830 till 12.
i think my following skills have improved.
either that or the guys i danced with were all v good so they led well.
or perhaps its both.
thats the good thing abt this place.
there are many good male dancers to dance with, so that really helps.
but the prob is that they do such complex stuff (to me) that i spend so much grey matter trying to follow their lead that i don't have time to think of how to style.
nevermind.

tiring day.
and 3 lectures and a supervision in the morning and afternoon.
(this is to prove that i am studying)
chem lect was bewildering.
learnt abt how electrons are classified.
there are 4 ways to describe an electron.
together they tell us the location of the electron in the atom.
we learnt that stuff in jc.
but.
we were taught a lot of other stuff along with that today, so it was quite mind boggling for me- i knew stuff but i didn't know it totally. strange.

QB is quite bad.
i don't feel like i'm learning much.
i do most of the practice questions using A level knowledge and i can get it right.
not very good leh, cos i'm supposed to be learning new stuff.

cell bio has gotten better now that we have a diff lecturer and the topic is a bit more focused- macromolecules.
so now lectures have more meaning.

physio has gotten X1000 better cos there is no more physics in the topic we are doing now.
yay~!!
so although the lecturer is quite boring, the topic is quite cool so i'm happy.
we are doing the nervous system now.
at least the sensory parts of it, that is.
yippee

i wanted to go for the cumsa freshers' formal.
so i emailed the committee pple last night.
but i was too late so there weren't anymore tickets.
so i couldn't go.
then today at 5 pm i was at sainsbury's when daryl called me.
"do u want my tix.. i'm not gg for the formal"
so after much consideration i took up his offer.
so i raced back to college, got changed, and cycled to churchill in a dress and heels, no less.
and i even got there in time!
was there at abt 7:10 pm.
yay~
it was quite fun.
unfortunately there was some miscommunication.
so in the end the cumsa ppl couldn't sit together- we were all split into 3 diff tables.


the cumsa ppl at my table!

we pennyed each other as usual.
drank one glass.
then someone refilled my glass and pennyed it.
then another person refilled my glass and pennyed it.
then i double pennyed chris, so i had to drink half a glass.
then someone pennyed my half glass.
then chris pennyed my desert (!)
and ryan pennyed my coffee.
and i drank a lot of water in between, so i'm really full!


chris pennyed gladys' and my dessert! so we had to eat it without using our hands! but we cheated in the end and used our forks hehe.

fell off my bike this morning while cycling.
it was raining so the roads were slippery.
i tried to go up the kerb but i couldn't cos of
a) lack of friction
b) the wrong angle of approach
the angle of the front wheel with respect to the kerb was too small, so the bike skid and i fell off.
and landed on my knees on the pavement.
*ouch*
painful!
but i'm ok.
only a blue black on my knee!
no broken bones or anything.
i do thank God for that.
told a few frens of this sad fact.
then one fren visited me in my room to see if i was ok.
thanks :)

eventful day today.
had my first physio prac ever.
a bit boring, that.
cos there is too much physics involved.
but apparently the amt of physics in physio will decrease exponentially so i'm quite happy about that.
plus next prac we'll be playing with frog leg muscles so yay!
we had a briefing before we started.
the prac supervisors gave us important advice.
such as "if u are going to fall off ur bench, get off. cos the bench is rather high"
...
wise words indeed.
then we did the experiment.
a prof was walking around to answer questions.
so hk and i asked him a question abt the prac.
and he said "i don't know"
whee!
we made a prof say "i don't know"!
hehe.

my day started properly at 6 pm.
had dinner at chez gerad, a great french restaurant, courtesy of a.*
the big shots came to cam all the way from spore to chat with us, so they treated us to dinner.
fantastic food!
second best meal i've had here.
the best meal is still the matric dinner.

so i left the restaurant at 745 pm
it was raining so i held an umbrella in one hand and pushed my bike with the other. i think i'm developing arm muscles!
reached trit hall just in time for salsa prac.
the warm up was difficult!
did basic step + fancy footwork i didn't catch.
then we learnt the variation.
that wasn't too bad.
in fact it was quite managable. nothing too fancy.

then we all trooped down to a salsa club imagainatively named Club Salsa.
we have free entry cos we're in the team!
quite cool.
danced with some guy.
then i danced with my partner.
that was ok.
then i danced with some other guy.
then i danced with my partner.
then i watched my partner dance with a few other ppl.
and i concluded that he keeps doing simple steps when dancing with me and more complex and fun steps when dancing with other ppl.
i have no idea why.
argh.
maybe its cos i told him i only danced salsa since feb.
then he was like "u're kidding!"
i thought "oh no what have i done"
then after that he didn't dance with me liao.
he is really quite zai so i feel a bit inferior :(
argh.
he is a nice guy, only that we don't seem to communicate well.
maybe cos i'm a bit scared of him.
or maybe cos i look dao so he doesn't want to talk to me.
dunno~

on the bright side,
i danced with the bandana guy from the auditions.
apparently he has been in the team for sometime liao, but they make everyone re-audition.
yikes.
then he said "i'm glad ur in the team cos i had so much fun dancing w u at the auditions!"
that made my day :)
we danced salsa, merengue and bachata!
(thanks justin for "forcing" me to learn bachata!)
merengue and bachata were jsut basic stuff cos we both didn't know it too well.
salsa was fun cos we did eccentric stuff like weird dips and sitting halfway during enchuffla.
he does cuban, though, and so does his partner, who is this really nice girl.
and they look nice dancing together!
unlike my partner and i :(
no chemistry one :(

then i danced with other ppl from the team.
i dunno why, but it seems like they all do they same stuff when dancing with me- double spins, cblt and variations involving hammalocks.
i have no idea why they like that so much.
as in they keep repeating that when they dance with me but not with other ppl. most odd indeed.
and they don't ever let me shine.
bah.
i think they want to shine cos they break off so i shine then they do a cbl and variation.
bleh.
and i concluded that i don't know enough styling!
i need to learn more styling.
i have no idea how.

there is a salsa party on sat.
need to pay 6 pounds to enter.
dunno if i should go.
if i go it'll be to practice my following, which is really quite bad.
my last dance was with this guy.
then he did this thing when the music was about to end.
and i just couldn't follow his lead.
then he said "how could u not get that?"
then he taught me how to do that step.
then i realised that he was probably an instructor from the class they had earlier or sth.
then i realised that i was probably too tired.
so i went back home.
tired.
physically and mentally.
argh.

i detest ppl who tag anonymously.
u have 2 options.
either u tell me, and everyone who reads my blog, who u are,
or u stop tagging on my tag box.

if i did something that hurt or wronged you, i'm sorry.
in which case u shouldn't have any problem telling me who u are so i can call/email u to clear up this mess.

if i didn't do anything to you and u are still saying what u did, then that says more about you than it does about me.

argh
i have an essay due today.
that i'm still struggling to complete.
haven't written an essay in months.
ok this is an essay plan la.
but still.
haiz.
anw this is to prove that i do have to do work here.
which is apparently not very evident from all my posts.
so yup i'm doing work now.
have supervision later.
hope it goes well.
there is a pyjama pub crawl tonight.
organised by my college.
where ppl wear their pj and go around the pubs in cam.
and i'm not going!
see i don't play all the time.
i need more sleep!

xiaoen called me today!
yay~
after we said hi we started laughing for a long time.
hehe
cos we were so happy to finally talk to each other.
yay :)
so nice to talk to u again!

a strange thing happened today.
i've always meant to get a bell for my bike.
so i bought one a few days ago, but i didn't fix it on cos i don't have a screw driver.
i cycled to lecture in the morning, and returned back to college early afternoon.
then i stayed in my room till abt 6 plus when i went for cf in town.
so i went to get my bike to cycle there.
i was about to cycle off when i realised that something was wrong.
there was a bell on my bike!
i thought i got the wrong bike.
but it was my bike cos i locked it and my key could open the lock.
so its all very strange indeed.
a bell just appeared on my bike.

i told a few ppl and there are 3 hypotheses.
the first is that someone got a bell and wanted to put it on her bike but put it on mine instead.
the second is that some person decided to be nice and caring and got me a bell and fixed it.
the third is that the bell has been there all along only that i didn't notice it.

i personally think that the third one is crap cos how can i cycle around for a week without noticing a bell by the handle bars?

well.
so its all very mysterious indeed.

went for formal hall at sidney sussex college last night.
food wasn't that great.
the ppl i went with bought wine.
i had a glass of wine.
then someone dropped a penny in.
so i had to down the glass.
then after main course someone dropped a penny into my wine again.
so i had to down another glass of wine.
then i stupidly when to penny the person who pennyed me.
and that means that i need to down his glass!
so i had 3 glasses of wine.
then my dear fren opposite me decided to penny the jug of water between us.
so i had to finish the jug of water.
but i didn't la.
i drank like a third. then he drank a third. the another guy drank the rest. so we finished a jug of water.
after that we were all very full.
and no, i didn't get drunk.

after that we went for some combined asian societies clubbing event.
music wasn't that good, so not that fun.
good company though.
so i had fun, especially towards the middle/end when everyone really relaxed and danced.
went back to college at abt 230 am.
and the door was locked.
so i had to ring the bell to get to porter to open the door for me.
he had this very stern look on his face when he opened the door. "next time get back before 2 am or i'll have to open the door for u everyday!" like some disapproving parent. or grandparent, cos he is quite old. quite embarrassing so be told off like that.
bah.
overall it was a good night.

i'm not happy.
i'm thrilled.
elated.
estatic...

I AM IN THE CAMBRIDGE SALSA TEAM!!!

I am beyond happy.
yay!!! :) :) :)
:D

i really really thank God for helping me through the auditions.
it was really God's grace.
the auditions were like nothing that i've ever done before.
the most stressful dancing experience i've ever had, almost as bad, if not worse than ballet exams.
there was stress from the need to follow the guy's lead, to style, to not screw up the steps, to look good, to impress the judges, to dance better than other ppl, to get on the team.

it was an experience like no other.

let's start at the start.
there were about 60 people in the hall.
then the organisers said "get into two groups. beginners over there and advanced over here".
so someone asked "what is beginners?"
they said "those who have danced for 1 year or less"
so i migrated over to the beginners group.
then i looked at the advanced ppl.
they looked quite pro.
so i asked the organiser "what is beginners"
she said "do u do like basic step, cross body lead?"
i said "i can do that.."
then she said "lets try"
so she danced with me.
and she said "ok those were the basics, u can go over to advanced if u want. but some of them are quite good. so its up to u"

i decided to go for the advanced group.
we started off by learning some styling together as a group.
the instructor taught us some steps.
then he taught as a v short a variation and made us pair up to dance.
we danced in a circle and rotated to change partners.
there were more girls than guys.
so we did the variation the we just learnt, over and over again.
it wasn't a difficult variation, but the styling was quite difficult.
and all the while there were ppl standing on this raised platform taking notes.
(we had to pin numbers to the backs of our shirts)
then they played music and got us to social dance.
since there were more girls i had to actively ask the guys to dance with me.
i got quite stressed then, cos i was so scared i would screw up.
i kept praying and praying that i would dance properly.
and then i relaxed and found that i could dance better.
when i didn't dance i stood and watched to try to see which guy did the most LA style salsa and suss out the competition at the same time.
and i realised that most of them danced cuban-inspired LA.
and i also realised that most of the girls were good. very good. they knew so much styling whereas i was struggling to follow the lead.
then i got even more stressed.
but then it was fun social dancing at last after like... 3 weeks of salsa inactivity.

this guy with a bandana was really good, and it was fun dancing with him cos he looked v happy dancing. and he did cuban, but his lead was so good it was easy to follow. most of all i didn't feel very card-boardish dancing with him so that was good.
then i danced with this other guy who also did cuban inspired LA. he knew a lot of interesting variations so it was fun.
so i danced almost continously for 1 hour, from the short lesson to the social. and the organisers made every girl dance with every guy. so it was tiring.
then the results came out.
they called out the list of 12 guys.
and a list of about 20 girls.
and i was one of the 20!
i was so happy to hear my number being called.
i thought that was it.

then they said "those whose numbers were called, please stay back"
then the rest of them left.
and the organisers played some music and said "now continue dancing"
then i realised that that was round 1 of the auditions.
this was round 2.
panic.
my adrenaline levels rocketed.
so we social danced for about 20 mins.
and since i was so stressed (i kept thinking "oh no oh no... what if i don't get in..."), i made mistakes here and there.
then one of the organisers said "dance with this guy" and made me dance with the bandana guy. i knew he was good, so i had to play along and act confident. all of yan qing's advice certainly came in handy then! in the end the dance was ok.
then they said "dance with this guy" and made me dance with the team captain.
in short, i screwed up big time.
i just couldn't follow his lead.
in fact i could follow everyone else's lead but his.
its not that he isn't good- he is a fantastic dancer, and his lead was good.
i just couldn't catch his signals, and i over- or under-turned (especially the hammalock parts) so many times.
was quite upset with myself for that.
argh.
so after 20 mins of non-stop social i was really quite tired.
and i looked around, and there were still people dancing away. and the girls that were left were so pro. they danced and followed effortlessly. my heart sank.

then the organisers said "now wer are going to pair all of u up to see how u dance with each other. don't worry if u aren't in a pair, we will still rotate"
so there were 12 couples and 8 extra girls.
and i was paired up with the team captain.
i thought "oh crap. i'm going to screw up again at my last chance."
but i danced anyway.
and i thank God that the last few dances with him were ok.
apart from tripping over someone's bag and a side body-bend-dip thing that went a bit wrong (it went well the first time!), it was alright.
he is the sort of person who leads with one finger, so it took a bit of getting used to.
overall it was fun, but i was really tired, and i could see that he was too.
in fact everyone was tired.

then he left and spoke to the organisers and they gathered us around.
they said "we'll contact u regarding future training sessions.."
then someone asked "are we all in the team?"
they said "if you have a partner at the end, you are in the team, and that's ur tentative partner"
felt a bit ambiguous to me.
so after giving them my email add i asked the captian "so am i ur partner?"
then he said "yup"
then i was like "ok!"
and i thought "yay!!"
after that i spoke to some of the other people in the team and they agreed that the whole announcing of the final team was incredibly ambiguous.
like no one knew whether or not he or she was in.
we were quite lost.
so it was rather anticlimax in a sense.
but after a while we decided that whoever was left must have gotten on the team so we congratulated each other.
then the truth started to sink in that i had in fact made the team and i was very happy indeed.

thank you Lord.

view from the bridge i cross everyday. it's been 3 weeks and i still find the view beautiful everytime i pass by.


food from the college restaurant/cafeteria/buttery/hall.


my college garden


King's college! i pass by it on my way to the LTs everyday.

saw an amoeba today!
i could see the pseudopodia advancing forward!
and the granules in the cytoplasm moving.
so cool :)
real cytoplasmic streaming, unlike the stoopid plant cell.
spent quite some time admiring that little blob of protoplasm.
then the instructions on the prac sheet said "using a piece of filter paper, remove some water from the slide, observing what happens to the amoeba"
so i did that and observed under X10 objective lens bright field.
i saw the amoeba move about quite violently.
so i thought that was that.
then i looked at it under X40 objective lens phase contrast to try to locate the nucleus and contractile vacuole.
i saw an invagination of the cell membrane and some stuff flowing out.
"a contractile vacuole expelling water!" i thought
then i looked closely and i realised that the stuff was flowing non-stop. and the boundaries of the cell were getting blurry...
... and i realised that the amoeba had popped!
by removing the water from the slide i had squashed the amoeba and so it burst.
oops.
felt quite sad for the poor little cell.
sorry~


i saw my cheek cell today!
its not some sec sch thing where u stain the cell using some aqueos dye or sth.
nope~
it was unstained, mounted using saliva and view using phase contrast microscopy.
which is incredibly annoying cos there are so many knobs to turn and adjust and focus and blah blah. and every time a different objective lens is used the whole process has so be repeated.
but when i saw my cheek cell i was in awe.
of God's creation.

"I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made" never seemed more real.
i saw the nucleus containing my DNA. i saw mitochondria. i saw many many granules floating in the cytoplasm. i was amazed.


went for CG at churchhill college today.
it concided with the cam union salsa class-cum-social.
wanted very much to go for salsa but went for CG instead cos its the right thing to do.
and i'm very very glad i went for CG.
initially i was quite put-off when i discovered the group i was in cos its so far away from my college and i was the only fresher.
then i met the CG and realised that they were really nice people.
we had dinner (we cooked), played a board game, had worship, sharing and prayer.
it felt so good praying together as a group.
i didn't realise how much i cherish that until tonight.
a group of believers gathering to worship Him, to encourage each other and to learn God's word- all that is so important to me, and I'm so glad God prepared this CG for me.
although i only just met about half the people there, i felt a sense of belonging at once.
we share a bond- a bond of love in Christ as God's children.
and that is wonderful indeed :)

there is cell bio prac tmr!
i'll get to do phase contrast microscopy
and look at an amoeba under the microscope!
and some pancreas cells i stained last week
and my cheek cells.
but those aren't exciting.
the amoeba is!
apparently i'll be able to see phagocytosis occuring if the cell is really hungry.
yay~
never seen a life amoeba before.
so fun!

Found this interesting paper:
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/jcen?joceah/68/i23/html/jo0349227.html

Synthesis of Anthropomorphic Molecules: The NanoPutians



the NanoBalletDancer!

it has been a good day today.

one lect. forgot to bring my notes. so i stoned throughout the lect.
fortunately its cell bio so not too bad.
i made a list of subjects in order of level of difficulty:
chemistry (easiest)
cell bio
QB
physio (most difficult)

physio is the darn hardest thing i've ever studied.
just can't understand.
maybe its cos there is so much physics stuffed inside.
argh.
then i had physio supervision yesterday.
i answered 2 questions he asked, and i could do that only cos he asked stuff i learnt at A levels.
he also asked qns based on wat we just learnt and i seriously couldn't answer.
arghhhh
got a physio textbook from a senior for free.
thanks a lot!


went to a chinese supermarket with ju and lp today.
at last.
the shop is abt 30 mins walk from my college loh.
bought lotsa things including 2 packets of chilli!
yay~
and rice wine for a certain mr. liew. and the rice wine was like how heavy. bah.
then we went to look for a bike for me.
and found a nice pink and purple one!
yay~
then we had to wait in the shop while they fitted on the mud guards etc.
we waited for quite a while. i felt quite bad making them accompany me like that- thanks!
then it started to drizzle as we left the bike shop.
and when we parted in town, the rain was quite heavy.
and i had to ride my bike in the rain.
argh.
fortunately this is england.
so heavy rain by english standards= medium rain in s'pore.
normal rain here= drizzle in s'pore
but i was still quite wet.
not drenched though.
haiz.
managed to find a place to park my bike in the bike shed.
yay!

24 hours in a day is not enough.
there are so many things i need to do!!
from the mundane, like laundry, to the important, like homework.
and there are so many society squashes, dinners, parties, bops, ents and other events to go to.
and i need to shop!
i need to buy a bike, coat and boots.
argh

physio lect is terrible.
i don't understand!!!!!!!!!!!
too cheem for my little mind :(
plus i have physio supervision later.
grrr
die liao.
and a birthday party afterwards.

looking forward to tmr.
i only have one lecture.
thats all.
woohoo.
enjoy one "free" weekday and suffer the rest of hte week.

to xiaoen:
happy birthday to u
happy birthday to u
happy birthday to xiaoen
happy birthday to u!

love u very much babe. hope u'll have a great birthday. hope to see u soon! :)

whoa this is disgusting man.
i have 3 lects and 1 supervision on saturdays.
cos cam has a 6-day work week.
wattheheck.
its so horrible.
yesterday seemed like a weekday cos of all the work i had to do and classes i had to go for.
and today is finally sunday and its my -only- rest day.
and on sunday night when i think i can relax and have fun, i realise that i have sch the next day.
argh.
i don't have the happiness that comes with knowing that the weekend is here cos my weekend is effectively only one day!
and since i have church sunday morning, i have to wake up early everyday!
sad :(

someone said that for nat sci students, the whole term is like one long monday.
don't like mondays!
which is so true now that i've gone through my first weekend with lectures.
it feels absolutely terrible not having the end of the week to look forward to.
sadd :(

i went clubbing on thursday night.
that was after the 3 lectures and 1 prac that day.
was a bit tired but it was v fun :)
good company!

then on friday there was cell bio lect in the morning, and cell bio prac after that from 11-5.
there was an open 1 hour lunch break so that was good.
wasn't too difficult, the prac.
or so i thought.
the light microscope is so mafan.
after focusing the image using the coarse and fine knobs, i can see the cells pretty clearly.
but no. thats not good enough.
we must perform like 7 more steps to ensure that we get a clearer view of the cells.
and after all that hassle it honestly still looks the same to me.
ah well.

then there was staining of a pancreas section.
quite fun haha.
the fixation and sectioning were done so we only had to rehydrate and stain.
but.
about 3 of us had to share the bottles of alcohol and dye.
so i shared with 2 girls.
they went there first so they started first.
i went a bit later so my slide was immersed later.
then after 5 mins i went back to collect my slide to immerse it in another solution and one of them was like "oh u have to leave it for 5 mins right" i was like "no thats 1 min only" then she said "oh i thought u were still at the first step" in this very annoying i'm-better-than-you tone.
so while waiting for the 1 min immersion i decided to ask them "i'm not sure.. do u know why we need to immerse the slides in so many solutions"
then they said "oh she (demonstrator) said that its to remove the wax or something"
in this very annoying i'm-better-than-you tone.
okie.
watever man.
my dearest j1 students can give me a better answer loh.
but my point is that those 2 girls don't have to be so proud and annoying.
argh.

had thai food for dinner.
about GBP 7 for a plate of fried noodles.
which incidentally costs more than a buffet at a 5-star shangri-la buffet in indonesia.
or so i was told.
scary.
and the noodles weren't even that fantastic.
haiz.

there is an event at the college tonight!
a sort of clubbing thing (again).
its called Corruption.
no idea why.
clubbing 3 times this week.
whoa.
twice in collge and once in town.
need to tone down soon.

sch started today.
had QB, chem and physio lect.
QB was boring.
cos a) its math b) the lecturer just skimmed the surface of everything and we know that they will go into it in depth in future so there wasn't any point.

chem was fantastic.
the lecturer is this dr. who is young and handsome.
who happens to be the head of some chem dept section thingy.
who also wrote some textbooks.
who cracked jokes throughout the lecture.
it was quite cool cos all the time i was thinking like "hey this guy wrote my textbook man"
so it was a fun lecture and i enjoyed it v much.
plus my chem supervisor is this old dr. who is supposedly v good so i'm quite happy with the way things are going for chem so yay.
chem is fun!

then there was physio.
the lecturer had some unpronouncable name, but he was quite entertaining.
made a lot of jokes throughout the lecture.
and taught us interesting concepts too.
really made me think, and question what i learnt in the past.
was good fun~

then there was QB computer prac in the evening.
hk gave me a crash course in it so i completed it quite fast yay~ thanks
so i could leave quick quick and go to Queen's
unfornuately i was a bit lost on the way.
so i reached Queen's just in time for dinner.

i have cell bio prac from 11 am to 5 pm tmr.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

found an old blog entry i wanted to post but didn't cos i had no time.

Monday 3 oct 2005:

Still having orientation now- it consists mainly of interacting in groups that keep changing. It’s good cos I get to know more people.
I’ve met people from many parts of the world. I wish I could say that they’re from all over the world, but that’s not really true.
I got to meet people from wales, Nigeria, Ireland, Russia, Canada and Switzerland.
I think one of the best parts of cam is the diverse range of subjects that people study. I I got to know all 4 classicist freshers in my college- they’re really nice people. One of the classicists is a swiss Count from Switzerland! He was in my group for a while. He’s a really nice guy, but he smokes, as do many people here really.
Classicists are people who study the classics- latin and ancient greek literature.
Don’t think we can get that in Singapore. And there are people who are studying languages as well, majoring in French and Spanish.
Of course there many scientists- people doing natural sciences, engine and math, but these are common courses, as are law and med.
My neighbour, who shares a toilet with me, is a theologian- how funky is that.

I was feeling rather depressed in the morning today.
My hidden introverted self was really revealing itself.
I didn’t feel like talking to anyone, yet I felt lonely cos I didn’t have anyone to talk to. I sat with some people during lunch, but I didn’t really talk to them much. In fact, I only said hi, and that was it. I felt quite left out, yet I didn’t really feel like making the effort to talk to them. Tried to catch the eye of the guy beside me so that I could at least talk to someone but I couldn’t so I just ate in silence then I went to my room.
I was wondering how to overcome this problem when I realised that I hadn’t prayed.
And so I did. I prayed that I would not be left out at the workshops in the afternoon, and that I would be able to interact well with the people there.
And, thanks be to God, I did.
I made new friends- a guy from turkey and the Count.
The Turkish guy was really nice, and he was genuinely interested in Singapore so the conversation kept going. In fact the conversation continued through the tea break, which is good, because I was so worried I’d be alone. In the end I had a crash course on Cyprus instead.
I participate reasonably well in the discussions, so I’m really thankful for that.
Going for the matriculation dinner now, I do hope I will fit in well.

-end of post-

well in the end i was assigned to sit at the same table as the Warden, who is hte head of the college. and i sat beside this math prof as well.
it was a bit scary at first but in the end the math prof turned out to be quite humorous despite his stuffy exterior.
matric dinner is a harry potter like affair- formal wear+ gown :)
quite daunting at first cos of all the cutlery but it was ok- just watch what other ppl are doing.
so i spent dinner alternating between talking to the prof, warden and guy beside me.
so it was quite ok.

photos!


a classicist, an engineer and me!
note the black harry potter gowns :)


after the dinner there was a toga party in the basement.
if u wear a toga u get GBP 1 off the entrance ticket.
so pple wore their bed sheets!!
i obviously didn't cos our bed sheets will only be changed next week *eek*
the party was held in the party room, which has a dance floor, coloured lights and music. so it's pretty much a club.
and events are held there regularly.
so if i wanna club i go to the basement of my college when there are events.
how convinient.

and there is also a bar in my college.
in fact every college has one.
there are booths and alcohol is sold quite cheaply there.


college bar! u can make out the counter in the background.



matriculated on monday morning! wearing the college gown of course

i just changed the date and time.
so now the dates that u see are british dates- britian is 7 hours behind s'pore.
its quite funky selecting "time zone" on internet forms that i fill in cos its
GMT 00 or sth like that.
hehe.

hi everyone!
i've finally gotten internet connection in my room!
yay~
and my dear dhl box is set to arrive today.
yay
need to run off to do some stuff, but thought i'd post some photos.
quite outdated though.
these were taken before 1 oct, when the s'poreans met regularly.
now we are all caught up in a whirlwind of college activites.

i just read my tag box.
its nice to know that so many of u care.
love u all v much.




view from my room!

argh.
i can only post one photo cos i don't have time and the internet connection here is terribly wonky.
will try to get it fixed then i can post more photos.
:(

i'm feeling v sad now.
just went to Wolfson college for salsa lessons plus social after that.
sounds good?
i thought so too.
in the end they taught cuban salsa and merengue.
the lessons were pretty fast, but they were not too bad.
went with hk and danced with him so it was good- its nice to dance with someone i know. thanks for accompanying me there! :)

then there was social.
there was no one to dance with.
all the guys had partners liao so i didn't really wanna interrupt or anything.
so in the end i settled on the instructor, and asked him to dance with me.
he agreed postponed the dance for one song to dance with someone else.
then the dj played 2 merengue songs and i didn't want to dance merengue so i continued waiting.
then finally they played a salsa song and i danced.
but since it was cuban it was quite strange.
i felt so stiff cos he was moving a lot when doing the basic step.
so in the end he ended up leading me to do some simple steps which he kept repeating. then when he danced he kept looking away and talking to othe ppl.
like wattheheck.
so it wasn't a pleasant experience at all.

then i spotted this indian guy who looked quite good dancing.
so i asked him to dance with me.
he was really nice.
unfortunately the song was merengue, so i requested to wait till they played salsa.
but he was like nvm jsut try.
so i did, and it was fun.
then we danced salsa.
he danced cuban salsa as well, so once again i felt like a piece of cardboard compared to him.
and since he didn't move in a straight line it was quite difficult.
the best cuban dancer i've danced with is still luther.
but anw.
so the salsa was quite ok- not fantastic, but much better than with the blardy instructor.
it helped that the indian guy was nice and friendly, unlike the damn dao instructor.

ah well.
then it was 1130 pm and we decided to leave.
so we did.
thanks for walking me back!

so it was altogether a tragic salsa night.
i feel as if i can't dance anymore.
and i'm gonna just like screw up the salsa team auditions.
my only consolation is that the team does LA salsa. but the rest of cam does cuban.

standing there on the dance floor and waiting to dance, i really missed s'pore- xen and union so so much. i miss dancing properly. i wanna dance with someone who does LA salsa! i miss our performance variations.
i miss dancing with you.

haiz.

on a happier note.
my darling dhl box arrived today.
the box was tattered but the contents were safe.
a packet of 2 in 1 coffee had a small hole in it so some powder came out but it wasn't too messy. only a tiny bit of powder.

so to celebrate this momentous event i invited hk and audry over for dinner.
cos they always walk me back at night and i wanna thank them.
and i cooked!
yay~
fried dong fen.
they were v helpful and helped to de-skin the chicken thighs :)
and wash up too!
then we had crackers and brie and a nice custard pudding from sainsbury.
it was fun cos they are great company
hehe.
and they don't mind my moments of bimbotic madness too.

some ppl in cambridge do.
they look at me with that "wats wrong with u... so childish" look.
like wattheheck man.
i can be serious and discuss the asymmetric mitotic division of rat neuroblasts with them if they want. or the significance of angiogenesis in tumour growth and metastasis.
but i don't, and i just wanna relax when i'm eating dinner or walking around, so if they can't relax, then thats their problem man.
bah.

ah well.
but the upside of studying in cambridge is that its a tourist magnet too, so its pretty fun to see bunches of tour groups around.
then i think to myself "wow i'm studying in a tourist attraction"
then i look around me and i understand why.
this is a beautiful place, and most of the ppl here are great.
trying to strike a balance between hanging out with the brits and hanging out with the sporeans.

i walk this road on my way to the city centre, which is where the shops and my LTs are.


punting!


me punting! and yifan slacking mwhahaha


cambridge university press bookshoop :)

hi everyone!
i've finally found a computer with internet connection in my college.
will get the internet in my room soon, then i can post pics.

now i understand why the brits can talk about the weather all the time.
when we landed on the 29th the weather was fantastic, clear blue skies and cool wind.
it rained on the 30th so it was dreary.
then today its sunny again so i really much go outdoors soon.

i miss all of u very much.
thanks for the hugs, good wishes, cards, prezzies and most of all, presence at the airport.
i'm wearing the scarf that ying and jac gave- thanks babes.
the photoframe from san and aud sit on a shelf in my room.
i read the book that dunlin gave me for QT everynight.
i eat the many sweets that i received from mel and fish when i need sth to munch on.
i'm wearing the pretty necklace from jacinta.
the roses that zi xiang gave are on the table.
i have many many note books now... all v pretty. dunno which one to use first.
the sweet notes from everyone sit in a drawer by my bed, which i take out to read when i'm feeling lonely.
thank u all so much!

went punting yesterday.
was fun making the boat move.
the stick was really heavy though.
and i crashed into another boat.
actually we crashed into each other.
scary. :s
but quite fun la.
feed the ducks in the river cam.
somehow managed to make them jump out of the water to get some cookie crumbs hehe.
huixin took a video that.
btw punting is not rowing.
it involves moving a boat down a river using a stick.

my room is ok.
the view is great-it overlooks a garden.
my room mate is a brit girl with a strong bf who helped me to carry my 31 kg luggage up the stairs.
yay

ok the sun is really tempting.
going to town to look for food now.

miss u all very much.
especially my mummy- love u!!