Sway your head Move your feet Wake yourself from the sleep If there's a day, there's a way You can get yourself there Golden smile, you got style That they can't take away
Scream and shout, get it out Before it swallows you No surprise in these times How it really gets through All the walks and the thoughts But can you break through?
You're alive So alive Now c'mon
You gotta pull yourself back together Give it one more shot Its now or never With the new day falling for you You gotta believe
Build a plan, yes you can You've got nothing to lose Look around, up and down What are you gonna choose? Can you see the sunrise That came up for you
You're alive So alive Now c'mon
You gotta pull yourself back together Give it one more shot Its now or never With the new day calling for you You gotta believe
You gotta pull yourself, back in the water Take in one deep breath You're getting closer After all you've talked and seen You gotta believe
I think it's coming back I think it's coming back I think it's coming back to me
Now I, I feel I'm getting better Now I, my world is getting better
~"Sway your head" by We Shot the Moon
Another feel good song I stumbled on *ahem* while taking a short break from studying.
It's a little too pop-ish for my liking to listen to, say 10 times a day, but nice rhythm and intro nonetheless. I find the 'woah' parts quite cheesy as well, heh.
Another weekend with grim weather forecasts. HMMPH!
Michelle had her 2nd baby scan and found out that she'll be having a baby boy!!!
-grabbed from Shaza's facebook profile
Baby Alexander ;P No, not Alex aka Canai. We've already started calling him Xander (my nephew's name too!)
Baby Xander was probably feeling shy yesterday as he didn't turn around to face the ultrasound scan thingy. So we couldn't get a good look of his handsome face hehe. But everything else is normal, i.e. measurements of organs looked ok. I never knew the ultrasound technology and all were so high tech! 3D views were even possible when they took pictures from different angles and formed an image.
It was quite funny coz towards the end when Mich asked about finding out the sex of the baby, the lady looked for any "clues" hehe and pointed at a blurry thing on the screen, saying "oh there it is, the baby's penis!" Ah, priceless moment ;)
Again, congrats to you both, Ray and Mich, baby Xander's going to be so loved (he already is hehe). I can't wait for early October to arrive!
***
Had my last group presentation over and done with for this semester earlier on this morning. yay! In a way, I'm glad that our lecturer decided to mix our groups up so we don't just stick to the same groups for all presentations. Getting to know other classmates and reading their interesting comments being scribbled on the journal article is...refreshing. I.e. my groupmate wrote down "leech with a shotgun" on my copy of the article amongst other notes while we were getting ready to present this morning. Oh, if you do any microbiology at all, the leech was referring to CRISPR arrays. haha!
Ok, I really should start revising now. Country road sale coming up hmmmm should I or should I not go?
I'm bored. Not the 'I-have-nothing-to-do' kind of bored, but the 'I-really-have-lots-to-do-but-still-wanting-to-slack' kind. Like how most students are this time of the year: pre-exam season argh.
...but maybe not as bored as whoever that did this:
spot the anomaly
I'm surprised my group is pretty laidback about the last group presentation on Friday. We've read the paper, I've made the powerpoint slides, but essentially we have no idea how to answer questions if asked. Or what's the point of having that research done at all. So we emailed our lecturer, which happens to be the nicest lecturer in the department (I think) and might meet with him tomorrow to try and understand more.
My supervisor's being really organised. More than me! oops. He even gave me dates he wants me to hand in drafts of the project write-up. Starting from early August, final draft by early September. gah ugh bluerh. Though I've actually started doing a little introduction, I'm still hoping for more positive results to include.
Surprise surprise the weather's took a turn for the better! 1 whole week of miserable, gloomy weather has finally given way for awesome sunshine. But it's still cold; it's now below 0 degrees. Oh well, it is winter.
Something random I did since last time I blogged: I met up with a German couch-surfer, Bjorn, for hot chocolate after he emailed me asking for a chat/coffee. He's been backpacking/travelling around NZ for the past 11 months! Heading towards Aussie, Singapore, then back to Germany. I wish I could do that now- pack up and just go somewhere warm for a few weeks/months and meet random people, asking them to write down a phrase in their native language then get someone else to translate it.
Oh if you haven't joined couch-surfing yet, go join! That's how I met Jaslin and cell group buddies when I was in Singapore after I contacted her through CS. Great way of getting to know a foreign place better- which is through the locals, of course.
The Pancakes (Alex & Sam) came back to Dunedin for the weekend for their graduation ceremony. They just left hours ago, missing them already!
My 2nd time attending graduation ceremonies at the town hall. Official march from dentistry building to town hall was cancelled due to the awful weather (guess they didn't want the regalia and hood being wet), but I heard that many went ahead anyway
The organist of the ceremony
The Maori orator; funny guy
a reverand being awarded with the honorary degree of doctor of divinity he even gave a speech at the end- very philosophical
the chancellor giving his speech a few familiar faces behind him among the staff; some of the lecturers that had taught me throughout the past 3 years
the official photographers (McRobbie's) with the best view, of course
Sam being capped by the chancellor
I noticed that this lady has a pretty purple regalia! I wonder which uni she had graduated from...
little get-together we had last night Sam & Lisa, fellow intern pharmacist
Canai & Ray short lunch at Jitsu
I'm blaming the weather for the lack of photos- didn't even manage to take photos (using my cam) for them in front of the clocktower due to the bad weather. Time was very limited too, barely had time to just sit down and chat. In a way I'm glad that I'll be graduating at the end of the year- exams will be over and it'll be summer (better weather hopefully?) WOW less than half a year to go for my turn to be capped and receive that certificate. SIGH not too far away and I can almost see it- but big hurdles to pass through first.
Had a good laugh about a misunderstanding I had earlier on the week. Alex had asked me to buy a bouquet of roses for Sam, and I just instantly thought of a marriage proposal! Haha. So I even went to the florists telling them I want to order roses meant for it XD Then few nights ago on the phone, when congratulating Alex, he was like, "for what?" I said "for your engagement la, duh what else?!" .... then after a few minutes of clearing up the misunderstanding I realised that the flowers were just for graduation, not because he was going to propose (yet) hahaha! OOOOOPS :P Oh well, not sure why I assumed that in the first place, maybe I just can't wait for more excitement in my life.
Speaking of which, I'm so looking forward to this Thursday: Michelle's going for her scan to find out the gender of baby!!!!! =D I'm rooting for a boy of course, many others as well. But not sure why, something's telling me that it's gonna be a girl :P Ron made a bet with the Yeos and will have to cook for them for a whole week if baby turns out to be a girl hehe. Boy oh boy (pun intended), it's going to be an exciting afternoon no matter what since it'll be the 1st time I'm going to see an actual ultrasound scan ever!
My experiments, as usual, are not working again! Trying to not get frustrated, think positive, and do my best to keep the cells happy gah.
Better weather ahead too according to metservice? Actual sunshine... could this be real? *fingers crossed*
Most unproductive week, especially regarding the progress of my project anyway. Bummer. Nothing seems to work; hoping today's experiment will, still in the process of ordering more raw materials which will take a long time to arrive.
I'm beginning to feel.... overwhelmed. Trying not to; trying to stay positive heh and keep the momentum going. Still very nervous about the oral exam happening in less than 2 weeks- gosh gosh gosh. Out of the 4 lecturers (3 of which will be on the panel, selected at random): 1 is super scary and will ask hard questions, 1 is nyeh OK I guess (don't talk to him much), 1 always talks a little too much when I consult him about anything; the last one is the friendliest and very smiley :) So I'm hoping to get the 3 less scary lecturers; though I'll go into that exam room expecting the scary lecturer will be there.
I finally got myself a Kathmandu jacket! I think at least 1 out of 3 students in Dunedin own a kathmandu puffer jacket anyway. But mine's in cream, not the boring black. Expensive but oh well the terribly cold weather recently has got the better of me. I forgot to bring it home from the lab yesterday and freaked out whole night: how if someone stole it and sold it for half price??? *gasp* but of course, I was being paranoid and I was so happy to wear it today. hehe. Super warm my goodness I was even sweating when I got home just now.
3 more hours till Mantha arrive in Dunedin!!! =D The Pancakes' graduation ceremony is tomorrow, ah the excitement!
It is 5pm, and the temperature outside is 0 degrees plus wind chill!
Some say it might snow in the city tonight; who knows? FYI it's already snowing in Christchurch, people say.
I'd have to say that this winter is the coldest yet since I've been here in 2005. Wrap up, people. Layer up. Drink hot soup. Jump around and/or annoy your flatmate (that's what I do) to keep warm.
I'm OK with the cold, but not ok with clothes not being dry. Or how hard it is getting up in the morning just because it's dark and windy outside.
YESH my Threadless tee shirts just arrived today! Perfect sizing since I took a risk in ordering the same size for all 3 tees.
It was bright and sunny this morning, but it soon turned gloomy, wet, and windy. That's Dunedin, though. My umbrella overturned many times; and I hear the sound of hail knocking on my windows now.
Thank goodness I bought these super cute slippers to keep my feet warm ;P
P.S. 'Angels and Demons' was awwwwwesome. Loved every twist and turn in the movie.
Don’t ask me how I’m doing if you don’t wanna know I stayed up too late, woke up late, oh you know how it goes Give off the vibe that everything’s fine As long as, as long as you don’t look in my eyes It’s all going just so perfectly wrong
Hey hey hey what can I say? It’s just been one of those, one of those days Hey hey hey what can I say? It’s just been one of those, one of those days
Don’t mind this kind of life of hurry up and wait Too many things to do, to lose, it gets a little insane So much crazy in 24 hours So many bills, too little frills, and not enough flowers What I wouldn’t give for a minute to myself
Hey hey hey what can I say? It’s just been one of those, one of those days Hey hey hey what can I say? It’s just been one of those, one of those days
lyrics from Joy Williams- One of those days from her latest EP (One of those days), which I absolutely adore
***
Mondays; it's one of those days, eh?
And I love the bluntness of the first line "don’t ask me how I’m doing if you don’t wanna know". How often have we asked that question, but end up not even really listening to what the other person is saying, only to think of how to make our own day/situation sound worse than it really is?
So whenever I feel like complaining how bad my day/week/year has been, I listen to Joy Williams and imagine my troubles being washed away :)
Also, I'm excited and happy for Joy Williams for her song "charmed life" being featured in the season finale in Grey's Anatomy. I remember telling everyone how I would never start watching that series, but now thanks to my flatmate Amy, I find it hard missing an episode every week. Watch the acoustic version of "charmed life" here.
Found this auction when I was browsing through trademe. Hmm 'creative' but does it really help with the bids?
Finally, did something different with my experiments today. I'm being vague again as I'm bound by an intellectual property agreement. I finished the experiment and was about to throw out this particular reagent since the amount left in the tube was around 50 µL or less. So yeap tiny amount but then I was told to keep it aka store it back into the freezer as that would cost, I quote "a few hundred dollars".
FYI, the price of gold per GRAM = ~NZD50 the price of X reagent per 50µL = estimated NZD500 and as 1000 µL = 1mL, price of X would be an estimated of $10,000!!!
OKAYYYY. All the more pressure to score this experiment. So I took the precious leftover and put it back into the freezer, which would cost even more with ALL the expensive materials etc. in it. GOSH I know that research is expensive but this really opened my eyes. Which means one single day of running experiments (from now on, pretty much) would cost thousands. Now that's why I'm paying 27K for my yearly tuition fees...
There was so much hail at the North Island that it actually looked like snow!
The weather's going crazy; winter's arriving much sooner this year... all these contribute to:
YET I still have much to be thankful for-
...the fact that I'm healthy, unlike a friend who has to undergo surgery on Thursday and is incredibly stressed about, well, everything. You'll be in my prayers.
Lift conversations with strangers always have to do with how bad the weather is
You find it hard deciding on what to wear - "where are all my long sleeved tops? and why did I buy so many short sleeved/sleeveless tops anyway?"
You walk by shops with jackets on display and decide to walk in *just to have a look* ahem
You crave for hot chicken soups
You walk by the ice cream isle at the supermarket without a second glance
You go to the library more often just coz it's so much warmer there compared to the cold flat
You don't need to refrigerate fruits (and other foodstuffs) since the temperature inside and outside the fridge is about the same anyway
You wonder when it'll snow yay
You browse through old photos when the days were sunny and SIGH
My (potentially) last winter here in Dunedin. wow.
Ski trip is less than 2 months away! An exam in the way, then there's still the project that thankfully is progressing along quite well. I am learning lots, so fingers crossed in 3 months' time there'll be enough results (groundbreaking, maybe? a cure to MRSA? =P) to present and write up the honours dissertation.
Alex and Sam coming down for their graduation ceremony in 2 weeks' time! Super excited! =D
Gah my fingers are numb from the cold. K enough typing. Keep warm
My new favourite singer/guitarist in a while: Newton Faulkner.
I personally think he has the voice of Chris Rice and guitar skills of Kaki King. Brilliant combination :) I love this song of his "to the light". It was featured in one of the dances in the dance competition show "So you think you can dance (Australia)"- which I am totally addicted to now =P Go have a listen, it's such a feel good song, perfect after a hectic, manic Monday.
I'm taking a break because I'm losing it again And I wanna relate without you thinking I'm insane Oh, it's the same another train Just sitting around with-a-record in my brain You could have everything you wanted But you would be still be wanting more Cause the sun is always in your eyes You search for stillness on a rock That's spinning round and round and you're surprised
Take a break from all I know, Just sit back and let it flow, Then I find I've broken through, To the light again.
Every time I find I'm thinking about the things I want to That is the time I have nothing to sing And every time I find I'm thinking about things that don't matter That is the time I see everything I want to know lord Why it's got to be so hard Wanna know lord Why it's got to be so hard I feel like a muppet with a drunkard puppeteer but I'll survive I will survive.
Take a break from all I know, Just sit back and let it flow, Then I find I've broken through, To the light again. Then I find I've broken through, To the light again
Speaking of which- sorry for the lack of updates. I barely had time to breathe, let alone blog. But I'm keeping on my eyes on the goal- graduation and getting that awesome job next year haha! 6 months to go- yeap that does seem very soon YET it's still so far away.
I've been talking to the postgrads in my lab, which have been very helpful. I've found my potential employer- Institute of Environmental Science of Research. Eyeing the forensics department ;P It's quite a sought after place to work at, especially for fresh grads, and a previous PhD student at my lab had went on to do her postdoc there, and she's coming back for a visit soon, so I'll get prepared for questions to ask her then.
To be honest, I don't have the slightest idea of where I'd be in 5 years' time. I can definitely see my friends getting married *wink wink you know who you are* and having babies, comparing diaper prices. I'll be the aunt taking photos of them. Fingers crossed, I'd have permanent residency by then, so my parents can retire here/travel around, maybe broaden my horizons and go overseas (again)- but really- who knows? But for the next 2 years, staying put (somewhere in the north island) would be my immediate plan. As for doing a PhD.... HMMmmmm not going to happen anytime soon though it does sound tempting to have the "doctor" title and scrap the "miss".
New things since I last blogged: I bought a new mouse and mousepad! Great gaming mouse and super smooth m/pad which I had always wanted to get. Bought a few tee shirts from threadless.com, sharing postage with Chyi my fellow KW buddy. Looking forward to the Pancakes coming down to Dunedin in 3 weeks time for their graduation ceremony :)
Ok more pics and stories to tell during the last day at Napier/Hastings during Easter. Gosh how I miss that place!
Day 4: touring around Napier yay
the "duck" bus/boat which nearly ran me over as I was taking a photo of it
on the way to the chocolate company, we found this beautiful park I love this photo of Sam!
wallpaper, anyone?
Mich *wistful thinking* ;P I like the windy footpath
group photo- joss, may, & sam a fun park for kids at the background
nothing but blue skies!
hehe how cute! *cough* Mich, Sam, and Janice in the future *cough*
finally, we reached the Silky Oak chocolate company and ordered the amazing "Hot choc extreme"- extremely rich melted chocolate with thick cream and optional chilli flakes sprinkled on top
ordered bacon & mushroom soup as well. YUMS
then we joined a tour around the former Napier Prison the hanging yard- people did get executed here decades ago
fooling around...
...and again
there was even an actual graveyard where a few executed prisoners were buried at *creepy* we saw the rooms and solitary confinement units etc: a real eye-opener indeed It's now been made into a backpackers :P
we walked around the beach: rocky, not sandy!
then went up to Bluff Hill lookout just in time to catch the last of sunset Had a great dinner (again, paid by mr pancake) at a restaurant called "the Thirsty Whale"- interesting name indeed. Had one of the best carbonaras I'd tasted ever + awesome customer service + great company
I'm thinking of doing skydiving. The prices are insane though. $249 for 9000 feet, $299 for 12000 feet, and $399 for 15000 feet. I'm wondering if a few thousand feet will make that much of a different once you're so high up on the plane waiting to jump. A few more seconds maybe? Do I have the guts to actually do it, though? =P I want to though; hoping that there's another person who'll want to skydive as well.
