a few happy things happened today.

went to the bank to settle some stuff.
and its settled.
albeit after 50 mins, 30 of which were spent waiting.
so thats good.

went to Darwin for dinner and to talk to cf seniors.
i really thank God for them- they have taught me much.

cycled without my bike lights cos i forgot about them.
and i didn't get caught by the wandering traffic policemen who lie in wait by the roadside, hidden in the shadows and ready to pounce on unsuspecting cyclists who cycle without lights and to make them pay a 30 quid fine :s
phew~

checked my pigeon hole and behold!
i saw this:



a Stanford postcard!
from singapore haha
from linus and silvanus- thanks guys! :)
its a very pleasant surprise indeed :) :)

i checked my email and my QB supervisior finally gave us our grades for the mock exam.
"most of you did very well. the question all of you chose was on the easy side, so there is no need for complacency"
indeed.
i did score well- better than i can ever score for any other subject- and i do thank God for that. math has never been my forte- not since secondary sch :s

yup so its supposed to be a happy day.
God put so so many things in it to cheer me up and make me happy.
then why do i still feel so down?





and i asked God "why?"
why are You so unfair.
why don't I get to enjoy what others have.
why don't You give me what me heart longs for.

and God said
look at your life
and what I have given you.
a loving family;
a scholarship;
a place in the university u've scarely dared to dream of entering;
the ability to dance;
close girlfriends who care;
good health;
and eternal life.

i'm sorry Lord
sorry for comparing
thank You for blessing me with so, so much.
forgive me Lord

its the first time i'm spending cny away from my family.
it doesn't feel like cny here.
there is just no atmosphere.
prior to cny, ppl back in s'pore have asked me "do u have holidays in england for cny?" and "are u coming back for cny"
ppl studying here will think these questions are absurd.
but they are not.
its out of love and concern that they asked the second question.
and the first question was asked because they genuinely didn't know.

anw.
so as i was saying it really doesn't feel one bit like cny.
my french calendar says "Nouvel an Chinois"
so i guess its really cny today.
being a typical s'porean, i decided that cny=good food so i decided to cook on fri, sat and sunday.
instead of doing supervision work (cny mah!)

on friday my cell group had a steam boat dinner.
fun!
i cooked green bean soup!
had practical till like 5 pm so i only had time to cook this :s




then on saturday we had "reunion dinner" at corpus.
most of the freshers came.
since it was a potluck, i had to bring sth, so i cooked sweet and sour pork.
v dangerous.
cos was the first time i attempted to cook it.
if it screwed up i wouldn't have anything to bring :s
fortunately its turned out ok :)
got the recipe from my mum halfway through the friday cells prac.
thanks mummy!


sweet and sour pork!

called home at abt 2 am last night.
that would be like 10 am in singapore on sunday.
but no one was home.
so i called my grandma's house.
and she picked up after 2 rings.
grandma: hello?
me: hello.. nai nai ah?
grandma: ah... mindy ah?
me: bu3 shi4
grandma: oh wo3 zhi1 dao4.. agnes ah..
me: dui4! nai nai xin1 nian2 kuai4 le4!
grandma: xin1 nian2 kuai4 le4..guai1 guai1..

and i could hear her joy over the phone.
and my grandpa picked up another phone and i got to talk to both of them
and as it turned out, my family was there too!
so i got to talk to my mummy and daddy.
i could just see them in my grandma's house, preparing for the cny tea ceremony where the children and grandchildren will offer tea to the grandparents.
just like i've been doing for the past 19 years of my life. or rather, ever since i could hold a teacup without spilling tea.
every year on the morning of the first day of cny.
it was something so familiar and so dear to me.
and i took it for granted.
like i'll always be there to celebrate cny with my family.
and now i can't.
i miss u all very much.



and since today is cny, i decided to make wantons.
another dangerous experiment.
cos i have never tried it before.



the wantons i made! cooked them in soup afterwards. was too hungry to bother taking photos after cooking.




i feel happier today than i've felt the past few weeks.
after talking through everything.
not quite what i expected.
actually i didn't know what to expect.
glad we came to a conclusion at last.
and i learnt more about myself in the process.
thank you.

Dear Lord, Thank you for being my Comforter, my source of strength. Help me to make You my all in all. To do Your will. Amen.

All glory, wisdom, power,
strength, thanks and honour are
to God our King
who reigns on high
forevermore.

the latest physio notes are... interesting.
keeping in mind that these are from cam...


general layout of the notes..


the important bit zoomed in. yf spent the last few mins of the lect filling this box in with hk and i looking on.


but that was after they both had a go on my notes at the start of lect! my notes were forcibly taken away from me and doodled upon by yf (blue ink) and hk (pencil).


and we are taught interesting facts such as who discovered the first hormone....


... and which college the person who coined the tern "autonomic nervous system" was from. its Trinity College.

long day today.
left the room before 9am and got back at 10pm
had 3 lectures, 2 supervisions and 1 QB examples class.
followed by dinner at kelvin's place and watching a dance production at the ADC.
i'm not tired.
i'm incredibly tired.

kelvin invited 3 freshers over for dinner cos when he was in his first year, audrey invited him over for dinner! so he decided to carry on the tradition.
and yes, this audrey is audrey pang, who taught us math in sec 3 :)
it was a nice dinner- thanks!
we'll carry on the tradition.

the dance production was put up by the cam contemporary dance workshop.
it isn't very big, but there were 3 singaporeans dancing.
and they were all v good!
whoa~
i'm glad i went to watch it.
it was an eye-opener - i got to see what is meant by "interpreting the music" and "expression", cos the choreography was truly amazing.
some dances were very difficult to dance to- not because of the technical demands, but because of the emotions that have to be conveyed. the dancers pulled it off though, so it was amazing :)
some dances were rather abstract. actually one dance was rather abstract, and i didn't really like the way they interpreted the music. it was such an exciting song but the movements didn't quite match that... pity.
there were a few flamenco pieces. the solos were really good! i love flamenco- its so intense and interesting to watch. i can't decide what i like more- the rapid footwork or the use of the back and upper body- both are fantastic! the dancers were really good, so it was nice to watch.
and, of course, there were beautiful contemporary ballet pieces. sigh~

there isn't a "no eating" rule in most theatres in england.
so ppl can bring stuff to eat while watching the performance.
someone sitting near me had a big cup of beer- or some other fermented drink.
i have no idea where that person was sitting, but i know he/she had a drink cos i could smell it-
the distinct scent of yeast suspension- just like the ones in the hc bio labs.

tired.
today's physio prac was v draining.
worked from 12-5 pm with only a 10 mins break to eat my sandwich.
then it was back to the lab again.
hk didn't even take a break loh (thanks!)
and in the end we were still the last pair to leave the lab.
we were wondering why the rest of them were so fast when..
we saw the pair of guys beside us blatantly filling in the table of experimental results with values from their heads.
we had to prepare and take readings from 16 samples and do a standard curve.
they did a standard curve and took readings from at most 4 samples.
plus they went for a long lunch break.
and they left the lab before us.
goodness.
so we were quite.. hmm.
plus they even had the audicity to ask us what our readings were.
before filling in their report.
watever man.

i'm happy!
finally got my bike fixed :) :)
amid threats by fellow nat scis to take a bet on whether or not i'll get it done.
well darlings, i did.
mwahaha.
wheeled it all the way to mill road in the cold.
cos i decided i might as well try to make use of the warantee. which doesn't specifically state that it covers broken bike chains.
but i decided to try anw cos it costs 30 quid to fix it in town.
and thats why it took so long for me to fix my bike- i didn't want to walk to mill road alone cos its so far away.
but in the end i still did la.

and it was worth it!
cos the ppl at the bike shop were really nice
they fixed my bike chain and pumped up the tires.
and it cost me....nothing!
:) :)
so happy
now my bike is good as new.
even better than new!
cos its a lot smoother now- better than when i first got it!
yay~

then i went to the chinese supermarket to get some stuff for myself and for my cg
we're having a steam boat this friday
yay

and physio supervision was cancelled today.
walked all the way to my supervisor's room and realised that it was locked. so i went back to my room.
yay

QB supervision was good.
my supervisor explained the whole fishery lecture to me in 10 mins.
and i could actually understand what he was saying.
he makes a lot more sense than the lecturer.
so i finally understand all that rubbish on how to regulate fishing based on modelling fish growth.
(like i really care)
but it feels good to understand all that math.




today is also a cold day.
apparently it was -5 deg C in the morning.
fortunately i didn't decide to be gang ho today.
i wore a spag top, a long sleeved top and my thick black coat.
so i was nice and warm
even though we had to wait in the cold outside the chem dept cos someone set off the fire alarm
anw so today is a cold day.
not wearing gloves= sticking ur hands into a freezer.
i took of my gloves for a while and my hands froze.
*shiver*

today is a happy day!

prac ended early today.
cos we chose an easiest prac out of 3.
for those chem ppl who haven't done it yet, do E1!!
reflux 30 mins only.
as opposed to the 2 x 1hour one.
anw i said "we" cos its pair work!
so with good co-ordination it can be completed quite fast and we can get out of there.
and my lab partner for today happened to be a pakistani born brit who is from Trinity.
so i got a tour of Trinity (again! just went on sat..)
its really grand.
will post pics when i actually bring my camera along- been there twice in 3 days and without my camera.

then i went to check my pigeon hole in the plodge
and behold!
there was a Postpac there!
from singapore
and i recognised the handwriting...
it was from Xinyi!!!
yay!!!
thanks a lot for ur help in getting the stuff i needed and sending them over.
really really appreciate it :)
its perfect!


my postpac from xinyi!


so today has been a happy day so far.
and now i need to chiong QB supervision work
and there is cf tonight!
yay

just remembered that i bought a calendar in france.
and now that its 2006, i can put it up! :)

its a dance calendar.
or danse, since its fench.
of cuban ballet dancers, photographed by a spanish lady, which i aquired in a shop in versailles in france and is now hanging in my room in england.
:)



french calendar!

and then i went to borders and found out that they were having a clearance sale on all calendars.
so i had to get this calender of the brit royal ballet photographed by a brit.
a lot less exciting.
but its cheaper (gasp!) than the french calendar. after the discount of course.
the french one is 7.50 euros and the brit one was 7.99 pounds but was reduced to 2 pounds :)


The Royal Ballet covent garden calendar



i prefer the french one.
although its like 1/4 the size of the brit one and is black and white.
and the occasions/holidays marked out are all french ones.
its the whole arty calendar from an arty country thing that makes it so appealing.
plus i almost didn't manage to get it cos i didn't buy it the first time i saw it!
so yay.
:)

YAY
i'm so happy
thank u mummy and daddy!
:)
for all the trouble u took to send me stuff from singapore!
received it today!
singpost is very efficent- much better than the brand with the yellow box.


my box! yay... v solid box- the base was perfectly intact and strong unlike the *ahem* other brand


me and the box! note the pineapple tarts :) :)


box contents! pineapple tarts, kuey bangkit, almond cookies, agar agar powder, dried prawn and dried mushroom, can opener, clothes, and my english-chinese bible!! :)


ok enough excitement for the night.
have 9 am lecture tmr :(
but the box really made me very happy! :)

i have decided that the feeling of "sianess" is contagious.
and after the physio lect which i dutifully attened yesterday (so there!)i'm inspired.

i think there is a sian gene.
it codes for certian sian proteins (yes its protiens. not protein cos post transcriptional modification of the mRNA through alternative splicing means that 1 gene not equals to 1 protein) that induce a general feeling of sianess.
these proteins are synthesized primarily in the cells of the cerebrum, which controls a person's emotions.
and when these proteins are produced and exert their effects, the person feels damn sian.
these protiens are produced normally but are stored in vesicles as so they won't exert their effects unless they are released by sian enzymes. (ok this part is a bit dodgy)

and these enzymes are active only in their phosphorylated form.
there are sian hormones as well. these sian hormones are peptide hormones that bind to extracellular G-protein linked receptors.
binding of the hormone leads to a signal cascade involving adenlyl cyclase and cAMP and finally protein kinase A, which phosphorylates the sian enzymes, which release the protiens. since there is signal amplification lots and lots of protien are released so the person really feels very sian.

there are sian pheromones, and their synthesis is induced by the sian enzymes.
the pheromones are secreted into a duct and expelled into the surroundings.
when inhaled, the pheromones bind to plasma membrane receptors and cause the exocytosis of vesicles containing the stored sian hormones, which are then released into the blood stream.
binding of this hormone to G-protien linked receptors leads to sian protein release and thus great sianess and pheromone synthesis.

so if a person is sian, he/she releases sian pheromones, which affect the ppl around him/her.
therefore sianess is contagious.
and of course sian hormone synthesis and release can be caused by other factors besides pheromones.
thats how the first person becomes sian and starts affecting the ppl around him/her.
and as more ppl are sian, more pheromones are released and more ppl feel sian.
is a lovely example of a positive feedback cycle.

yup so this is to prove that i was listening during physio lect.
at least i remember some stuff we learnt mwahaha.

i made chocolate squares today (no cells prac!! :) :) ) they are chocolate biscuits. got the recipe from my brit grandaunt.


i discovered a lady bug on my water bottle yesterday
so cute :)


sunset from my window a few days ago


candle at Christmas

feel so cheated man.
slept at 2 am last night cos i had to do some physio supervision work that i thought was due today.
50 mcqs.
its not easy.
at all.
so i was quite pleased w myself for attempting most questions.
then i went to bed.
during supervision today, the supervisor said "so for the set of mcq questions i gave you, don't worry about them, i'll pass u the answers and you can go through them yourselves and come back to me if u have any problems."
...
so i stayed up for nothing!!!
*&^%$
i think, you thought, who confirm.
indeed man.


there is this person called Ernest Starling.
as in from Starling's law of the heart.
who also discovered the first hormone, secretin.
who also discovered that the DCT reabsorbs water.
amazing
anw he did his experiments on the isolated heart using a cardiometer.
a cardiometer is a glass instrument that u put a heart into and has some other stuff sticking out of it.
when he died his collegues inherited his cardiometers.
and used them to teach physio students.
one of whom was my supervisor.
so he told us "we got to use the cardiometer used by starling, and i was so afraid i would drop the damn thing!"
wonder what its like to use an instrument of such great historical significance.
i'm surprised they actually use those things instead of preserving them in a museum or sth.


so today is the first day of Lent term.
i went for the 9 am QB lect.
decided to be gang ho and wore a thinner black coat instead of my thick trench coat.
and a skirt.
cos it was 10 deg C so it was quite warm.
or so i thought.
then the wind started blowing.
bleh.
but it wasn't that bad.
adapting to the temperatures here now.
0 deg C is cold
5 deg C is mild
10 deg C is warm

yay
it's over!
papers ended at noon :)
and, as my coursemate said, the rest of the day will be spent "indulging in hedonistic pleasures"
indeed.

going on a shopping spree!
catch the tail end of the winter sales.
and catch some sleep too.
been deprived of sleep for sometime.

hmm
so the mocks were..... different
different supervisors had different aims.
some questions were managable, others weren't.
QB was good.
lots of proving.
and i love hc math notes.
those on DE
brought them all the way here.
and they are still useful!
got them in j1 maybe? or was it j2.
been using it for like 2 years.
love them man.

Chem was bad.
b a d.
couldn't draw the mechanism.
end of story.
then again neither could anyone else.

cells was ok.
physio was weird.

but its over.
yay
for now.

my DOS sent us an email some time ago.
the reason for great stress and regret of slacking too much in Michealmas term.

An exerpt:

Happy New Year.

A reminder:-

There will be a college exam for all first year Robinson students 9 am - 12
noon in the College Hall on Wednesday 18th January. Please be in the Hall
by 8.50. Students reading Natural Sciences will have a choice of one out of
two questions in each of their four subjects. blah blah blah


yipee.

moved back to my old room on thursday, 2 days earlier than i expected.
lots of stuff to shift.
heavy stuff.
therefore i had to enlist the help of yf, while yj was enlisted by sheila.
he came prepared with wrist straps.
and complained of backache and neckache and shoulderache after moving my luggage.
dun bluff!
thanks :)

and now its time to hit the books again.
and i also need to think of wat to do for hc nite in london next month.
i just realised that i have less than a month to go!!
and only 25% of a dance ready.
jia lat.

i really don't care how fishes breathe.
really.
or insects for that matter.
or how to maximise yield in a fishery
or how nematode populations in cattle can be varied.
but i do need to know.
grr.
can't wait for 18 jan.
then all this will be over.
sort of.

Lord please give me strength.

There is a higher throne,
than all this world has known,
where faithful ones from every tougue
will one day come.

Before the Son we'll stand,
made faultless through the Lamb;
Believing hearts find promised grace;
Salvation comes!

Hear Heaven's voices sing;
Their thunderous anthem rings;
Through sapphire courts and emerald skies;
Their praises rise.

All glory, wisdom, power,
strength, thanks and honour are
to God our King
who reigns on high forever more.

And there we'll find our home;
Our place before the throne;
We'll honour him with perfect song
where we belong.

He'll wipe each tear stained eye
as thirst and hunger die.
The Lamb becomes our Shepherd King;
We'll reign with Him.



I love this song.
it speaks of what is of eternal value, of worship, of grace,
of salvation.
I am so unworthy, Lord.
yet You have saved me and called me to be Your child.


Amazing love
how can this be
that You my King should die for me
Amazing love
I know its true
its my joy to honour You
with all my heart
I honour You.

cooking is therapeutic.
it helps me de-stress.
it allows me to meet the ppl i share the house with and practice making small talk while chopping carrots and slicing potatoes.
so i just spent 1.5 hours in the kitchen cooking a big pot of food to last me for lunch and dinner today and lunch tmr.
yay~

this is horrible.
stoopid stoopid cam.
why on earth must they come up with a new policy to make all first years sit for a mock exam on the second day of Lent term?
why why why
:(
its a mock exam but everyone is mugging.
the streets are empty.
walked through town just now and there weren't many ppl around at all.
blardy stressed now.
4 papers in 3 hours.
i really can stuff all the info from 4 subjects into my head at one go.
doesn't help that my brain is rusty and refuses to comprehend wat a wavefunction is.
can't wait for the next academic year.
then there will be no more chem and no more math.
argh.
and i still need to pack up and prepare to move back to my old room.
and cook dinner.
can't wait for it all to be over!
oh.
and i still have 2 essays to write.
wattheheck man.

england is a temperate country
the weather here is erratic
but sometimes this crazy weather can yield quite beautiful scenery
its fun to see the same places in different seasons- they can really look quite different


a bridge i cross everyday. taken in october... autumn!


the same bridge in november- half the field is covered in frost


the bridge in dec.. when it snowed one day :)


Burrell's Walk in november


the same walk when it snowed on 28 dec :)



reminds me of a song from Moulin Rouge- Come What May
Seasons may change
Winter to Spring
But I love you
Until the end of time
Come what may

just thought it fit the post quite well.
though it should be autumn to winter.
but ah well the song just popped into my head so here it is.
i do like Moulin Rouge though- fantastic songs :)

cg dinner tonight at my place.
potluck tmr night at my place again.
i'm really learning to be the perfect housewife.

and now my bike is spoilt.
sad :(
the chain broke!
and just before i was about to cycle across the road too.
so terrible.




and once again i don't like goodbyes.
the third in exactly 5 weeks.
i should have gotten used to it by now, but no.
it made parting a bit easier, but i'm still sad now.
:(

went to london yesterday.
to eat dim sum, meet up with xiaoen, shop, eat thai food and watch a musical.
in that order.
bought a purple top from mango :)
and xiaoen bought a pink one.
yay :)
and i went to Hamleys- this world-famous toy store.
saw a gigantic stuffed toy giraffe that apparently cost a few thousand pounds. goodness
was nice catching up w u!
one day is too short though- didn't get the chance to visit diane, yunlei and the other imperial ppl!



xiaoen and i at leicester sq~ :)

finally got to eat tom yum again after so long.
i miss red ruby though.
spent lots of money on food- GBP10 on lunch and GBP6 on dinner
i think dinner was quite reasonable.
lunch was a bit steep
so next week its bread and lettuce everyday liao

watched a musical at night- Chicago!
lots of dancing in it
and everyone wore black underwear.
i know cos they were wearing underwear, tights and little else.
i loved the dances
so nice :)
esp the chair dances.

on the way back we decided that the next musical to watch is Les Misérables.
cos there is a good belgian restaurant beside it.
london trips are centered around food.
makes it seem as if we are starving in cambridge.
which isn't too far from the truth.
starving for good asian food.
the best asian food is found in the kitchen of some of the seniors
some of them can really cook quite well.
as it is
i'm glad i got to eat dim sum at last :)
exorbitantly priced dimsum at that.
GBP2.10 for a tray of 4 xiu1 mai2
ouch.
thats like S$1.50 per xiu mai
no choice.
it was nice though :)

on the whole it was a good trip :)

went online.
and this interesting conversation

hk says:
eh

Agnez says:
wat

hk says:
u know how to say the stand bhind the yellow line in tamil or not

Agnez says:
no

hk says:
i suddenly really want to know leh

Agnez says:
why

hk says:
i dunno


and that made me think.
cos i was trysing to figure out how to say that in tamil.
and suddenly i was just transported back to chinatown mrt station, and clementi mrt station and douby ghaut mrt station.
back to sunny singapore.
i like the song "singapore town"
learnt it in pri sch.
and i mentally picture images of singapore according to the lyrics.
and then i feel so singaporean.
ah well.
but thats all so far away now.
its scary.
i can still remember everything so clearly.
its as if i'm in my room at home and i'm thinking about places in s'pore- where to go and how to get there.
but i'm actually 13 hours away by plane.
on a different continent.
in a parallel universe, as someone puts it.
how true.

hk says:
anbukoornthu payanigal kavanikkavum, unggalin paathukappai munnittu manjal kottirku pinaal nillungal. nandri.