Not for the Squeamish. Thursday, May 31 2007

i performed my first dissection on the silkworm. i wanted to take pictures of my gross masterpiece but – duh – i was wearing gloves and my fingers were stained with worm juice… i didn’t think it was a good idea to take out my phone and snap away.

dissection is quite a cruel process. granted, all the silkworms in the lab are gonna be killed someday anyway, but at least most of them are killed by freezing in the fridge which is a relatively (i think) painless affair.

those selected for dissection, though, are placed in a small container, and subjected to a blast of 100% carbon dioxide gas to knock them out (following a brief moment of spasms) and subsequently, death.

when the worms die they feel really soft because their muscles stop responding when you touch them.

after killing my first worm, i removed it from the container, and laid it on a dissection tray filled with some chemical, and used pins to fix the head and tail onto the tray.

then, using a pair of forceps, i lifted up a small portion of the outer skin, and use the scissors provided to snip the skin apart, taking care not to damage the internal organs.

what’s inside the silkworm is fascinating. it’s just a blob of yellowish goo with black spots (looks like those curry powder you pour into your instant noodles), but that was not what we wanted.

there are lots of jelly intestine-looking stuff at the bottom part of the worm, and those are the silk glands. i was instructd to snip off the posterior parts and leave behind only the main portion for further examination.

after everything, what remained of the silkworm was the white skin flap, a whole bunch of gooish liquid suspended in the solution. to think just a brief moment ago the silkworm was still very much alive, and playing with my finger. i actually felt kinda guilty…

anyway all that was just a demonstration. hopefully i won’t get to do more dissections and just stick to using the machinery for the rest of my attachment.

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Lessons never learnt… Thursday, May 31 2007

1) if going clubbing on the day before the holiday, always go there early because it’s gonna be damn freaking crowded.

2) if someone approaches you to buy a shot from her, the shot is most likely diluted and not worth the money.

3) if you sleep late, you have to wake up late so you don’t get a headache.

ah well, it was still fun yesterday, albeit expensive. esp. when we went clinic before hopping over to zouk at 2 am when the crowd had subsided.

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The Art of Stealing Thursday, May 31 2007

this is the principle shared by richie and i , and later, i discovered, by peimin as well: spend money on stuff that looks expensive and nice (but cost little) so people will think you have a lot of money when actually you don’t. HAHAHAHAHA.

oh, and thanks to richie for the $50 springfield shoes which does look more expensive than it really is.

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Pirates of the Caribbean (Welcome to Singapore) 4 Wednesday, May 30 2007

OBSERVATION OF COPYRIGHT LAW
1.
Recently the University was approached by a representative of a local authorised distributor of foreign television programmes, including anime, and of the Anti-Video Piracy Association, Singapore and was informed that various illegal online downloads of anime had been made from IP addresses belonging to Xxx University during the months of March and April this year.
2.
After due investigation, the University found that the IP addresses belonged to both and staff and students of the University, who have subsequently admitted to making the illegal downloads. Disciplinary measures have, or will be, imposed on these staff and students by the University.

3. etc. etc. etc.

lol. professors can be pirates too! i don’t know why i found that funny, i guess it’s because i have always associate teachers as highly moral beings. yea this impression can’t shake off me even though i’m already in uni.

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Good Sushi Day. Tuesday, May 29 2007

I’M ALWAYS GONNA STEP INTO SAKAE SUSHI AGAIN.

thankfully, cuz if it weren’t for lingkai who suggested eating over there, i would have made the wrong decision and chosen swensens.

1. Rather pleased that the moment we stepped into the restaurant and said “table for 3″, we got a table immediately!

2. Fish roe sushi. Oh man… those are tasty.

3. Salmon teriyaki and potato salad bento. Those were nice. I thought the salmon was rather tasty; loved the fact that the skin was soft and tenderly and not crispy, and that it stuck to the skin instead. I loved the generous huge chunks of carrot and green peas in the potato salad. The soup was really nutritious as well.

4. There weren’t many customers in the restaurant, and luckily the food came only after 15 minutes because zhongyang was late for 20 minutes, so if it had come earlier we would have finished them all and it would be kinda awkward if he arrived when we had empty bowls in front of us.

5. Even though I’m not a Japanese, I loved how they try to create a Japanese atmosphere, by greeting customers in japanese, and not providing us a spoon for the soup so we can drink it japanese style.

6. Due to some deal available, there was a waive of service charge, which really made my day!

My friends were equally happy with the service. Sakae warrants an A.

lol ok nvm i’m just trying to be annoying to richie. sakae isn’t that bad la, though it isn’t fantastic either (lots of other japanese restaurants are much better) and grades a B. hey that’s still an honours certificate!

oh yea and pirates was so confusing. it’s thought provoking in an absolutely thoughtless way.

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What would you do if…. Tuesday, May 29 2007

You are comfortably seated on the bus, enjoying your mp3 and brief nap when someone just plonks on the seat in front of you and he has hair that smells like a rotting carcass?

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Above All Tuesday, May 29 2007

Above all powers, above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began

Above all kingdoms, above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There’s no way to measure what you’re worth

Crucified
Laid behind a stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all

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Tunnel Sunday, May 27 2007

Well I won’t pretend to know what you’re thinking
And I can’t begin to know what you’re going through
And I won’t deny the pain that you’re feeling
But I’m gonna try and give a little hope to you
Just remember what I told you
There’s so much your living for

There’s a light at the end of this tunnel
There’s a light at the end of this tunnel for you
For you
There’s a light at the end of this tunnel
Shining bright at the end of this tunnel for you
For you
So keep holding on

You got your disappointments and sorrows
You ought to share the weight of that load with me
Then you will find that the light of tomorrow
Well it brings new life for your eyes to see
So remember what i told you
There’s so much your living for

There’s a light at the end of this tunnel
There’s a light at the end of this tunnel for you
For you
There’s a light at the end of this tunnel
Shining bright at the end of this tunnel for you
For you
So keep holding on
Keep holding on

So remember what i told you
There’s so much your living for

There’s a light at the end of this tunnel
There’s a light at the end of this tunnel for you
For you yeah
There’s a light at the end of this tunnel
Shining bright at the end of this tunnel for you
For you yeah
There’s a light at the end of this tunnel ooh
For you, for you yeah
Shinging bright at the end of this tunnel
For you, for you
So keep holding on
Keep holding on
Keep holding on now

You got your disappointments and sorrows
Im gonna try and give a little hope to you

- Third Day

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A Silky Situation Saturday, May 26 2007

i’ve been posted to the NUS biophysics department to do some internship work, and i must say it is not bad at all, what with the friendly working environment (my mentor is really nice) and flexible working timings, although my tasks can get a little repetitive at times. i guess that’s the nature of research work.

this 6 week programme, i will be in lots of touch with silkworm. my aim for this stint is to determine how mechanical properties of silkworm silk vary at different temperatures. we have lots of silkworm in the biophysics lab, alive and dead. my job is relatively easy, just prepare silk samples and test the stress-strain profile using some very delicate and problematic machine. i was spared from the tasks of dissecting silkworm and using microscope so far, although i’m not sure if i will need to do this in the future weeks.

it’s also a good thing that i’m assigned with a partner who’s also in the life science programme. she’s really good at preparing silk, although she is extremely squeamish around silkworms while i think they’re quite cute. when we cut open the cocoon to throw away the frozen silkworm pupae inside, she was shrieking, in a rather hilarious manner, “it’s moving, it’s moving!” (i’ll never forget that classic moment HAHAHAHA!) and turns out not only her pupae was dead, it was super dried and frozen it turned black.

sigh. but i need lots of practise to prepare silk strands to mount on the machine. while my partner has not much difficulty in doing this, i take 3 hours just to prepare maybe 5 strands of silk. although silk bundles the diamater of a thick rope can stop a flying boeing 747 (hence, spiderman is actually physically, not biologically, accurate), one strand of silk alone snaps extremely easily. and i’m supposed to pull out a 20 cm long silk from that bundle of boiled cocoon.. and that’s 1 sample. it’s tedious, man.

but i guess i’m kinda glad that i have this opportunity, although in practical sense it’s useless since it’s not related to chemical engineering. it’s quite interesting actually.. i get to see different machines, and be exposed to different experiments in the weeks to come, as promised. my mentor is kind enough to show us his job scope in the lab. it’s also a kind of new exposure since i’ve been mainly doing chemistry and biology-related stuff in the lab and this is the physics department i’m posted to.

anyway, i bought a new album. four hours of break in betweem stuff forced me to take long visits to borders and HMV. i had ample time to decide which album to buy.

i was torn between a couple of them, including sick puppies, bloc party, maximo park, nine inch nails etc. and it boiled down to a choice between manic street preachers and fratellis.

although almost all the songs by manic street preachers are quite nice, i thought they were nothing spectacular outside the britrock realm, so i decided to buy the fratellis, which i didn’t sample.

in the end, the album isn’t that nice. before buying it i liked 4 of their songs, and in the end, i only liked 4 songs in the album (the 4 i liked originally).

nvm…..

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Sem 2 Results Saturday, May 26 2007

I got back my results for this current sem. got a 4.3. i guess it’s not too bad, if i don’t compare with my friends around me. in fact, i also predicted that i will get 4.3.

i thought i would surely get B+ for organic chem and chem eng (the hardest two modules i’m taking) and hopefully A- for critical thinking and maths. biochem would get B+.

turns out i got A and A- for organic chem and chem eng, B+ for critical thinking and maths – the direct opposite of my prediction.

oh well, overall score predicted correctly lol. and biochem i also guessed right.

this really shows that anything is possible. (as long as you don’t screw up your mid terms too much.)

i’ve been too lazy for sem 2, along with lots of personal distractions. i hope things will change by year 2.

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