live near Bowen Sec? that's where one end of e road leading into grandma's kampung used to be....serious you remember e kampung where Xinmin Primary is now standing?! how old were you then? you are at least 3 years younger than e cat & you can remember e duck ponds & e jungle & e neighbouring kampungs in e Woodbridge & Buangkok area? & a kiln that e cat cannot recall?
talked about e SARS-time Sepilok YEP that we both helped organise but never went on, e zoo guy who made e team leader kick certain people out because he felt that they didn't show him enough respect & deference when working with him on previous projects, e dramatic 'last meeting' where zoo guy told e two-thirds of e team who were pulling out (including all but one of those who had e relevant scientific expertise for e expedition) to GET LOST & leave e meeting room immediately, even before admin/research/fundraising/publicity/etc preparations could be handed over to e new team....
e Chiangrai YEP that e cat eventually went on....
e Cambodia YEP that YY almost went on & e horrific pre-ex mountain climbing experience that cost her 3 teeth....a leader who insisted on pressing ahead even though e only person who knew e route could not come, who refused to turn back when some guys were ill & vomiting early into e climb, & later when they were hopelessly lost, & who risked dangerous shortcuts that resulted in her fall & told her not to fuss over her injuries....
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met up with e non-wushu QF....bumped into YW & DN outside Funan - DN obviously far above & beyond e cat's line of sight =P
SPS, climbing Kinabalu & Tahan with e monumental YC, wushu, dance, yoga, taiji, piano - so many things to do/learn so little time!
'possessiveness' of dance & wushu instructors - don't go & learn from other teachers & bring back some funny style that is not mine!, asking for BT's 'permission' before going over to learn from Xue laoshi, masterclasses, stretching, dancer's observations of NUS wushu juniors trying to do splits brute force style, difficulty finding suitable trackpants that allow full freedom of movement, how irritating gathers (& zips) at e ankle cuffs can be, how hard it is for male dancers to find tight long pants, 'zhao2 gan3 jue2' - 3 words common to dance & wushu, putting so much effort into making something look so effortless....
how e electrical engineering-trained attachment student made e cat realise that molecular bio people are so accustomed to their working environment, they forget how it looks like through e eyes of laymen....stats major entering bio lab for first time - overwhelmed by e loads of equipment & bottles of reagents packed into e space, intimidated by e 'no gloves on door knobs' sign on door, & e idea that there are plenty of carcinogenic/mutagenic/toxic chemicals that cannot be handled with bare hands....in Maths/Stats department at most you get like....liquid paper on your hands? *LOL* (almost fell off chair laughing)
big fat bright full moon....what colour is e moon? - 'moon colour' - an answer from a toddler that no adult can think of =)
[190406] week-long FRET techniques workshop, only girl in 3 days of FCCS practical sesssions....
realised how used e cat is to people auto-assuming that it is a lab tech, despite e large increase in e no. of female graduate students here. brings to mind an American surgeon who wrote about how new patients & co-workers auto-assume that she isn't e doctor they are supposed to see/work with, simply because she is a black female (so-called 'double negative')....
remember that you will leave a far greater impression by surprising them ;)
also how used it is to e fact that nobody questions guys for chasing their dreams & ambitions - they get cheered on instead - but girls find themselves having to defend their choices every step along e way....to job interviewers, scholarship/medicine faculty interview panels, (ex)boyfriends, friends, colleagues, relatives, even parents & teachers/professors - people whom you thought you could turn to for support. someone once wondered aloud if her interview panel would still bombard her on whether she was planning to get married & start a family, if she stated somewhere on her application form that she'd undergone a hysterectomy *LOL* (but for all we know she would be asked if she was planning to adopt & take adoption leave?)
A*star scholar SPS junior was so pissed when a PRC senior grad student (incidentally one of e cat's 5 uni hostel frens who are all working in e same building) said that he thinks A*star is wasting loads of money by awarding so many scholarships to girls, as they will quit research once they start families....
better than spending that money on foreign talent like him who are here because US unis rejected him? especially those with no intention to stay & contribute?
also how it has gotten used (long long ago) to e reality that girls have to work twice as hard for half e recognition & less pay....can be scary when you come across an exception that wakes you up & makes you realise that you have subconsciously fallen into accepting it as e norm, as part of your life/fate to be born as a girl....
remember not to forget e 2 primary 6 girls who shocked e guest-of-honour & audience when they went on stage....because 15 years ago no one expected little girls to win a prize - let alone two each - in a national inter-school Science competition
smashing barriers *KA-BISH* can be fun, & e feeling of having helped to smooth e way for younger 'sisters in learning & sisters at heart' is great =)
but on e other hand, you can get chided for having a 'defeatist' attitude, & for wasting opportunities that other girls can only dream of, if you choose not to aim for e highest & fight to be e top....
at e workshop a scholar told e cat that she is embarking on her PhD not because she aims to become a professor/PI (principal investigator) heading her own research group (why join e ranks of e MC-countersigning, leave-approving, PO-signing overqualified 'admin' staff? =P), but simply because she wants to have more control & a say in e direction of her future research projects in whichever lab she works in. *SHHHHHHHH* don't let her scholarship agency know!!
& e cat smiled, because it took e same (but scholarship-less) path with for similar reasons....to ensure that it will be qualified enough to continue doing e labwork it enjoys doing for a long long time, since it likes working with Nature & using its paws, for e intellectual challenge, & to still have some time left over to groom its whiskers, & dabble in its 1001 other interests =)
remember not to care about what others say - it's your life ;)
[220406] Ichiban Boshi dinner @ Wisma + green tea frapp @ Paragon Starbucks with MUI =) can't recall much of what we talked about....but e cat was so fired up it didn't koon till 08:00AM e next morning, & only after finishing e Sunday papers.
on e way home, noticed this again, at e Nicoll highway construction site: e gate leading to site office (in between Ophir Road flyover & e corner of Suntec where Duck Tours parks its amphibious vehicles) is flanked by a pair of stone lions, each lit up with spotlights at night....for fengshui reasons? can't remember when they first appeared....after e collapse?
& at about 03:00-04:00AM, it decided to make this:
kurogoma pudding powder mix....used soya milk instead, & e pudding turned out super duper wobbly....cannot-make-it appearance & slightly rough texture as not all of e ground black sesame bits settled at e bottom to form that black layer (cooled too fast?), but tasted as good as e picture on e box promised =P something to do with lack of milk solids/some other components of gu3 ni2 (cow's milk)?
want to try this, but doubt e Singapore outlet of Azabu Sabo has it on e menu....
& Namja Town in Ikebukuro is e next must-go on e gyoza-loving cat's next Tokyo trip!!
[ filed under: 9_lives_2006 + labrat + japanese1 + catfood ]
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