happy CNY =)

It really is getting creepy. Getting (almost) daily visits from an unknown someone from New Jersey. And he/she ONLY visits the November 08 archive of this blog. And this has been happening since erm yea November last year. I can't recall anything so interesting about November on something I wrote or photos I posted that someone would read about every single day.

I'm almost done with packing. Bits and pieces of stuff I should start bringing back to Kch since there's only 1 more week to go in SG after the CNY break. It's an odd feeling: I felt as if it was only yesterday that I'd just arrive here in SG, explored the city, stayed at my aunt's place, moved to this new flat at Holland, and now- I'm getting ready to go home (wow that sounded foreign to me as well) just to come back here for 1 more week, then home again. I can't say that these 3 months had been exactly like what I had expected, and I have gone through better 3-month periods, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything else. As cliche as it sounds, I do believe that I've been placed here at this moment in time for a reason; one which I might not even be aware of, or fully appreciate yet. But someday, I (hope that) I will. =)

I've been counting the number of flights I've been on and will be during these 3 or so summer months. 14 of them. 14 flights from 7th November 08 till 23rd February 09 (approximately 17 weeks)- which comes up to 1 flight in every 8 days.

AMAZING. Statistics really can do amazing things to your mind.

Anyway. I attended a seminar this morning by a professor from NIH who published articles on "How to succeed in science". The seminar was entitled "How to succeed in science WITHOUT TRYING". =P He jokes about how students come out of the seminar feeling disappointed and angry as they didn't think or KNOW that the title was meant to be a joke/sarcasm. I like that he was being honest with us: that most students in the biomedical field will not even wind up in a science-related career. The auditorium was packed with hopeful (probably not so after the talk) students; I took heaps of notes and walked away feeling somewhat.. comforted.

the 9 types of Principal Investigators (PIs)- aka supervisors.
I highly suspect mine falls into the 'demi-god' category.
I hardly see/talk to my PI. Sad, but true.

One of the cartoon drawings by a post-doc researcher, the one shown here was also in the paper the professor published. It's amazing how much words a drawing can convey.

I like this one too.

Funny. But scary (and true).