Tuesday, June 30, 2009

HOME SWEET HOME! 8:45 PM

Allo allo!! I'm home I'm home I'm home!!! *exhilaration*

There were no updates because I was busy trying to absorb everything here and meeting up with everyone. Ok actually, until yesterday the only people I met were Wj, Jacinth and my family and extended family ahahaha but! Yesterday I went back to my 2nd home Biopolis and met all my friends there! Okay wait.. not all. But fret not. I will be back again!

Here's Ja.. she's my darling my BFF my love <3 we went to Dintaifung for the newly launched mini xiao long bao which was such a disappointment =.= But disappointments aside.. I just realized that was the only day I managed to take pictures of.. hahaha!

Weijie being stupid.

Me being fierce muahaha.

OH and I got a haircut after that and got my teeth cleaned and am preparing my eyes to go for Lasik and also toying with the idea of getting braces cos I'd been feeling inferior about my misaligned teeth for some time =.= but we'll see cos the dentist I went to basically told me a grandmother story on whether I should or should not get braces and didn't even gimme a definite conclusion blah. And he also very hum sup.. kept staring at my legs and feet cos I was wearing some teeny shorts (cos I was sweating like hell everyday, the thought of anything that covered more skin was appalling!).


Oh and I went back to the lab yesterday cos my ex-boss/mentor was leaving to set up his own lab YAY! And since I went back I might as well go meet up with the rest of the people I miss so dearly like my SKII (minus fatimah). And we talked and talked and talked. I told them about all the shit I got into with the program cos my BLOODY BOSS-TO-BE went and complained to the program director. *calm down kah suan calm down*. And how I sent an email to him after that cos I was so upset with him and I indirectly told him how he screwed me over blah blah to get back at him. *oops*. Ahaha. And also Ky's story about her PMS PI and Sl's story about her 'wtf' post doc. LOL. And conclusion is, I feel much better after talking to them because I finally realized that I'm not the only one going through shit like this in the whole world muahaha. I am sick like that. LOL. Even though I probably have it worse because I am in a lot more trouble than them wtf =.=


And everything boils down to my bloody temper. IF ONLY I could learn to control it better. Shit. I used to have such good PR skills. For some reason after I went to the states my temper got very bad. I think it could be because I wanted to protect myself so badly in such an unfamiliar place, prevent myself from being taken advantage of. To show others that I'm not to be trifled with. But of course it wont always work. Tears, I have found, indirectly, really is the best weapon a female can have muahaha. After I was summoned to the program director's office, I was under so much stress from all the rubbish around me that I just broke down and cried in front of the 82-year old kindly director. And once I started I couldn't stop. Everything just fell apart. The poor old man didn't know what to do and started comforting me instead of berating me. Telling me how much I've achieved, how far I've come, and how proud he is of me. Heehee. Love the old man. And he told me to keep in touch with him after I go back to Baltimore blah blah. Of course, this only works with males. Don't try it with females. You might just get into more shit. Ahaha.


And now that I'm home, I can't even rest. Because of the bloody TAs of graduate immunology. The bloody bitch and her side kick. I mean, I didn't do well for the exam, granted. But if the difference between a pass and a conditional pass is the class participation, and I DID participate in class AS MUCH AS ANYONE ELSE WTF! And I KNEW what was going on. I can't believe the BITCH went and told the program director I DESERVE a conditional pass and not a pass cos I didn't participate in class. WTF! Just because she has a personal issue against me because I was unhappy about the way she conducted the midterm review?! The bitch and her sidekick. Damnit. Now I'm home and I can't freakin enjoy myself cos I gotta write a paper for the Immunology course if I wanted to pass. WTF! If I ever have to cross path with her professionally she better be afraid. VERY afraid.

Okay calm down Kah Suan. See what I mean about my temper? sigh. Need to learn to control it. Breathe in breathe out. I will just submit the paper and see what I got. Then I will go up to the program director with a complain against her and her sidekick. Of course the program director will protect her. But the least I can do is cast doubt in her direction to protect future students from TAs like her.

Ok till next time. TADAA!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Delay! 8:23 PM

Sorry for the long hiatus. Had a tough week but more about that next time. Today let me tell you about the drama at the airport!

So I was supposed to fly home this morning. Delta and Northwest merged and I got connecting flights from Delta to Northwest. We went to the airport in a rush after signing a lease for my new rental place at 8.30am this morning. Then we saw the crazy line. Bad feeling. Then we went in line. And then we waited. And waited. And waited.

After 1 hour, the line didn't move. Tempers were flying and people were getting upset. What is going on! It also happened to be the crazy summer break season so every one was going off on holidays.

It turned out that the Delta airline computer system crashed after the thunderstorm in Baltimore in the morning. So they couldn't check anyone in. So there were empty planes flying off and we were stuck in the airport not being able to fly. Dumb.

Anyway of course we missed our 1120am flight. And all connecting flights thereafter. And are stuck in Baltimore, in the airport hotel cos I checked out of my room so I can't go back any more. Blah.

Also met a lot of interesting people while waiting in line. 2 top the list.

1. An 88 year old lady traveling alone. Poor lady was waiting in line and couldn't rest at all the whole time. We got her in line with us and I tried to help her get to a counter in front of a crazy mob who refused to let anyone in front of cos they were waiting since 6am for their flight. Almost got into a flight because they were so mean (hello the lady is 88 years old waiting for the past 3-4 hours!). But everyone had had a long day and in the end we tried to settle stuff amicably.

Of course most people have domestic flights which are easier to reschedule than our international flight. But not us. Which is why we needed to try as hard as possible to catch our original flight.. which of course we ended up not getting anyway :(

The old lady finally got someone to help her and I was so happy. Before she left she hugged me and thanked me and that was the best moment the whole day.

2. Second interesting character was this soldier who was on his way back to Afghanistan. He also used to serve in Walter Reed and we chatted and he told us a lot of interesting stories. How Walter Reed used to be really good but after he left things just went downhill blah blah. Another soldier was going back to Iraq and he was waiting in line beside Afghanistan soldier. And we all started chatting while he waited for the stewardess to refund him 5 bucks. And after 15 minutes of chatting and waiting he was in such a terrible rush that he told me to take the money and he ran for his flight. When the stewardess came back, she took the 5 bucks and I told her the soldier left. And everyone behind me chimed in that he wanted me to have his 5 bucks and the stewardess put it on the counter and said she wanted no part in it. Everyone then looked expectantly at me. Weijie looked at me in disbelief. Not one to disappoint, I then calmly pocketed the 5 bucks much to the amusement of everyone behind us. Muahaha. Some light hearted moments to get us through the tough time.


Anyway, now we're in the hotel room, Weijie is watching crappy US tv and I am typing this out. Have lot more to say but very distracted by the tv noise. Will update more when I'm home.. in 2 days!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Pictures plus bad day 6:55 PM

Hello hello! Everybuddy! Long time no see! We had been having ourselves a blast in Baltimore baby! The weekend just past saw us going to the Homewood campus a lot.. to work on my presentation, to walk around, and just to chill in the beautiful sunlight.

Say hi to our dear friend Mr Squiggy! Squirrel is climbing on tree. Squirrel is not afraid of Kah Suan. Kah Suan walks closer to play with it. It stays. Weijie walks closer to take a picture of it. It runs away. Says so much. Who looks scarier.

Mr Squiggy.

Aww Mr Squiggy is itchy!!! Itchy itchy scratch scratch.


That's his Mrs Squiggy on the tree waiting for him.

Picture with the university sign. Muahaha. I realized I haven't taken a single one with it before. Not one.
So I took 2.

No actually 3. Except this is the only pic in which I am bigger than the sign and you cannot totally see the sign.

And the week also saw us going to the Charles Village Fest! Its sooo fun! Lots of food and games.

So many stalls!!!

I bought a cowhorn ring, that thing on my finger (at least thats what the sign said it was). Think its handmade.. hand drawn.. and probably done by some African tribal woman so by buying this I'm helping an African family build a mudhouse.

They had a live band playing!!!

The ring on my left index finger is the focus of the picture. Really.

We saw many beautiful kids there playing in the grass and decided to sneakily take one by pretending to take us.. but this one fails.

This one is better. See those kids playing the hula hoop? Hehe so cute! There was this small kiddo with a ginormous hula hoop and she can really move it man! Gawd.
I love parents who are not paranoid about hygiene and too rigid and let their kids have their fun when they can and when they are all innocent and not bogged down by the realities of life. That way they can truly be the happy kids they are and one day grow up to be great adults. And hygiene because if you are too clean you are spoiling your kids immune system by not allowing them to be exposed to the right spectrum of germs they should be. I say this cos I saw this ang mo kid crawling on his knees and tiny hands all around the grass patch and the stone pavement.. he must be at most a year old. And he was having so much fun his daddy was crawling with him. He tried to crawl down the steps (can't stand up yet) but was so afraid its so cute! Then he finally found a way to get down without hurting himself. Smart kid. Thanks to the dad. Respect the dad.


And then we saw a hippie car next. And decided we needed to take a pic with it hehee.


Weijie says.. dont be afraid!
Then we walked around and ended up in this cafe that looked really atas and I was like.. its not meal time so lets go in and get some coffee. Its probably the only thing we can afford in the menu. And its probably the only time we can go inside for coffee muahaha.

Then we felt bad and also paiseh (looks too miserly) to be ordering just coffee (with tons of free refill) so we ordered some fries with it. Its sweet potato fries! At first try it tasted so good. But then after a while the taste started becoming weird.. hmm. Not a good thing to be too daring with new stuff.

Oh god I needed the coffee.

Reflecting.
Yar right. Haha. I was staring at a dead spider on the wall when Weijie took this picture. LOL!

And I AM SO ANGRY TODAY! Bad day initially because of 2 things.

1. My ahneh post doc pissed me off! I am not racist la duh. I had many Indian post docs before but they were so nice. This particular post doc. Its not that he's not nice but sometimes I feel like shaking him HELLO DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING! Every small little thing he will go inside and ask the PI (the big big boss) what to do. Seriously.

"Richard how many cells should we plate?" "When should we split the cells" blah blah. I felt so paiseh to keep going in to disturb my big big boss when he's so damn busy so I kept telling the post doc that we can find it out ourselves easily or I know what to do but he will keep telling me its okay and I should go in with him to ask the big big boss OMG! Paiseh me!

Then that was still fine until today it was the last straw damnit. In the morning I came and he wasn't there. He finally came at about 11am. Then he said hi and went to do his stuff without telling me what to do (its not that I need to rely on him for instructions is just he don't let me do things without asking him damnit). Then after I duno how long he came back and told me to go have lunch and stay after lunch cos we needed to treat the cells. Okay I said so I went and ate lunch and came back. Then he told me we needed to go for seminar. Okay I said so I went.

Then after seminar he told me whether we treat the cells depends on when they get the drug. They might get the drug tomorrow or day after. And so I thought okay fine. No matter what I should stay cos if they get the drug tomorrow means I need to plate the cells today (pardon scientific lingo). Then tmd after like I duno how long he finally told me to just check the cells then if need to split then split if no need then can go home WALAU EH. Thats not the worse. I found out later that no matter whether they get the drug tomorrow or day after they were never planning to seed the cells today WTF!

Cut the long story short basically I wasted my whole day in lab today because my bloody post doc didnt plan experiment, duno how to plan experiment, have no sense of responsibility, and i'm not sure he even bleddy knows what to do! Blarh.


And that leads me to 2. I am super angry with the post doc because I wasn't particularly free today, I wanted to go to MVA to settle the license once and for all.

2. BLOODY BITCH AT MVA! This is not the first time and it wont be the last time I am complaining about a US govt official. I HATE HOW THEY THROW THEIR WEIGHT AROUND AND ABUSE THEIR FREAKING AUTHORITY!

I went to MVA today, after Xiaoyang helped me out a lot by telling me what documents to bring etc. So I brought 2 proofs of residence and passport and Singapore license blah blah. And I went in line to get a number. BLOODY BITCH first pissed me off by telling me my proof of residence was not valid cos I didn't bring the envelop with it WTF! KNNBCCB! FUCKING LOSER I TELL YOU! ENVELOP?! Lamest excuse I have ever heard.

Anyway I was fuming but I said fine. I will go get another proof of residence since I got it in my car. I went back to the car and got it and went back and went in line again. BITCH was helping someone else with the application and the booth next to her was open with a nicer looking young lady so I went to her with the stuff.

Before I can open my mouth BITCH said, "You come over right here. Don't talk to her because she's new. She won't tell you anything different from what I said. Don't think you can get around the system by doing this." WTF!

So I retorted, "Well there were 2 booths open, obviously BOTH were available to serve people and since you were occupied I thought I can go to her. I have ALL documentation I do not need to get around the system bloody bitch." Ok I didn't say bloody bitch but I was BOILING inside.

And she said, "There are no 2 booths. I am the only one here. There is only one line." Then she saw all my documentation and she got nothing to say so she shut up. And the worse thing is, someone else in line behind me went over to the young lady in the booth beside and BITCH didn't bloody say anything! OMG I felt like screaming in her face and asking SO WHAT NOW! ARGH SO ANGRY!

Now feeling better after complaining. Whoo. Anyway not everything is done yet I still gotta go back to MVA tomorrow but wish me luck and hope I can get my license before I get home!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Bunny bunny! 5:55 PM

Ello!


Long time no pictures! Here are some pictures before I turn my blog into a serious scientific discussion place and myself into a nerd muahaha.

What better picture to show u guys than my pride and honor.. my Bunny!! Even though she's been naughty lately..

Interior.. yes that is a CJ7 doll hanging from my rearview mirror... hehe.. the chain's a little too short.. so its kinda got its head bumped into the back of the mirror sorry CJ7.

When I was gettin into the car..

6EZE33 Thats my Maryland plate number.. sorry its not 4 digits.. can't buy 4d (even though I got summon last weekend tmd).

Shotgun (not a wedding but the person riding next to me). Thats him.

Recently it's been raining garfields and goofies here omg! But its a good thing cos the rain here's cleaner than rain in Singapore so at least when I go out with its freakin pouring I get a free car wash! Hehe.. Oh and car washes (legitimate ones) here cost a freakin lot. So its always good to get a free one!


Oh and let me update u a bit about my life.. since life began last weekend (after the end of my exam) I'd been livin' it up. Went to the gym 2 or 3 times since.. working out hell of a lot.. Hope to lose some of that excess fat around my waist before anyone notices AHHH! Feels like shit to have to work out. Did I tell you I hate gym? I like yoga but that doesnt make u lose weight as quickly as gym. Blah. Every time I work out I burn like 300+ calories after running on the steps machine for 45 minutes. Then I do some weights. And I as I step down from the steps machine I tell myself STOP EATING SO MUCH! If only you ate less you wont have to do this. But when I enter my room I will think.. let me reward myself for going to the gym with this chocolate. =.=

Oh and we've been going out a lot cos poor Weijie complains I'm keeping him at home like a prisoner.. not my fault.. he can't wander anywhere without a staff ID and there's only 1 set of keys and he has no phone.. so I try to drive him out for a spin to get groceries or get ice cream or whatever after work.. but the price of gas is increasing!!! AHH!! When I first got a car about a month ago it was 2 bucks a gallon. Then it became 2.35 a gallon.. then last time I got gas it was 2.50 a gallon... then when I drove past a gas station and checked it became 2.60 a gallon!!!! I thank god my bunny is a gas efficient bunny and I didn't get the mustang I was thinking of heehee.


Oh and I talked to Charles today.. heart to heart. He finally has stuff that interests me. Its not exactly what I want and it wasn't his initial offer but I guess we finally met midway and I'm glad! Hehe no need to compromise on my interests. And Charles said he thinks my strength is that I read up and stay in touch with current stuff blah blah and have a lot of my own ideas and he won't wanna squelch that (hurray!) but let that wait till my 2nd or 3rd year in the lab because first he needs to work on the stuff he has grant for and not diversify too much muahaha. Okay I'll wait. I'm fine with that hehe. Exciting!

Okay no more boring talk.. till next time.. hopefully we get to go out this weekend!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

The world is not fair 6:42 PM

LOL

Why is the world not fair? Because now that my exam is finally submitted, I have time to read up on my project at work, I realized something.. the same project, done by different people, one with a more famous PI, one with a less famous PI, can actually land in 2 different journals.. 1 a very high impact one (famous PI) and the other a lower impact one. Some revelation. Same drug, same cell line, different interpretation, different PI, different impact journal. Win already. Moral of the story, learn to spin a good tale when u wanna sell your story! Heehee. Oh and also, follow famous PI okay.. even if its a side project of his, can land in PNAS. Siao bo. I also wan!

Welcome to the blog of 武林盟主. In this space of hers, she is entitled to and responsible for her own thoughts and comments. You are welcome to give your few cents worth in the tag, but do not force her to accept your thoughts should they differ from hers. If everyone thinks the same way we would all be robots no?

武林盟主 is this pugilistic genius everyone calls a deranged lunatic. But that's cos they haven't witnessed her great powers yet! She can be regarded as the best product coming from the Pugislistic World in the past 100 years, and 武當, 少林 and 峨嵋 are scrambling to get her to be their 掌门人. She likes think of herself as the next 杨过, 郭靖 or 张无忌.

武林盟主 also has this slightly straight slightly crooked sexuality. At times when the Estrogen triumphs, she preys on hot guys. Other times when the Testosterone levels peak, she preys on hot girls. Some say that is a side effect of the 葵花宝典. Her doctors are still working to establish that.

Many say she's invincible. But that's not true. Bring a DURIAN in front of her, and she will ditch her sword and raise the white flag. She's still desperately trying to master the 闭气功 so she can overcome this weakness.

She now resides in a tiny little room in a tiny little building in a tiny little university/hospital in the tiny little city of Baltimore, studying her tiny little life away in the hopes of getting some Permanent Head Damage. If you feel you can communicate at her level and wish for her to be your soulmate, feel free send her a note of pugilistic admiration and alliance!