the payoff

Oh happy day!

My experiment finally worked! =D not perfect, but good enough. My supervisor said "good" TWICE- which meant a lot to me.

I hate band aids. No matter how sticky they claim to be, they never stick long enough to my injured palm :( Doing experiments require me to wear gloves and wash my hands very often, and the band aid fell off halfway through the experiments today. Which was really scary especially since I dealt with blood today (not human, SHEEP blood heh); don't want to contract any of the sheep diseases. An open wound + unknown microbes in sheep blood = scary stuff & a very careful me.

I can't exactly say what bacteria I'm going to work on soon, but they are scary enough as well. Let's just say the diseases they cause are not very treatable, which means I can't daydream or think about shopping/food that often anymore while pippeting.

helping Waszowski to be vain

Busy, busy weekend. I'm on roster to play the keyboards Friday night, Saturday morning, and Sunday morning. The 1st two times for Encounter, third for church. Wow I've been on duty every single week since I got back to Dunedin; it's nice having a week off next week during Easter =)

Sigh. I'm so in love with the colourful scarf I bought while (initially window-) shopping with Chyi today. Good deal, too. Who knew I could actually spend $45 for 3 items!

:/

1. Who is your best friend(s)?
It's amazing how I have heaps. Mr & Mrs Pancakes, Ms Chiu, Lenik, the Yeos. the list goes on

2. If someone were to tell you they like you right now, would you care?
I would, but wouldn't do anything I feel I SHOULD do to care enough. makes sense?

3. Do you still talk to the person you fell hardest for?
Every night ;) the Man above, of course.

4. Where did you last sleep other than your house?
My cousins' house at KK, Msia.

5. Do you have a best friend?
Nope. I have many best friends.

6. Do you smoke?
Nope.

7. Do you remember what you were like when you were a kid?
vaguely. I remember being very vain and pretending to be a teacher.

8. Can you vote for the next election?
yeap but I don't think I will

9. What are you listening to?
nothing

10. When will your next kiss be?
in my dreams ;)

11. Who do you want to see right now?
all of you not in dunedin now. but right now, the Lee sisters =)

12. Ever have a sleepover with the opposite sex?
hmm yup

13. When did your last hug take place?
monday night

14. Do you date smart people?
erm he would have to have at least above average IQ heh

15. Where were you at 2:02pm this afternoon?
at the lab @ 8th floor, micro building. busy pippeting/running experiments

16. What does the last text in your phone says?
"Thank you! :) Jo"

17. Do you use smiley faces on the computer a lot?
Yup :) :) :)

18. Have you ever changed clothes in a vehicle?
woo no

19. Who did you last eat with?
my lovely flatmates Sharon & Amy

20. Do you text alot?
average?

21. How old will you be in 13 months?
>_< OLD.

22. When is the last time you tattooed?
Never will.

23. If you like that person will you talk about your feelings or hide them?
Hide. but I'll blab all I want to my friends about it =P

24. Do you wear glasses?
Yeap. contact lenses most of the time

25. What are you looking forward to in the next month?
Completing my APPS499 report

26. Will you talk to the person you like tonight?
n/a

27. What color shirt are you wearing?
my blue cow pajamas & black jacket

28. Do you have a reason to smile right now?
Yeap I'm actually DOING this. this quiz thingy. that i hate a lot.

29. If you won a lot of money on the lottery, what would you buy first ?
air tickets!

30. Who was the last person of the opposite sex you had a conversation with? What was it about?
Anthony. Call of Duty 5 woohoo!

31. Who was driving the last car you were in?
Michelle!

32. Who was the last person that called you?
some random dude who got the wrong number

33. What are you craving right now?
May's cooking

34. What if you married the last person you kissed?
I'd be crazy and totally stupid to do that

35. What are you excited about?
Welly/Hawke's bay trip this Easter

36. Ever kissed your number 1 on facebook?
???

37. When was the last time you cried? And why?
hmm a few weeks ago? at Val's house feeling really sad about what's been happening to Lighthouse

39. Is there one person who can make you feel better no matter what?
YEAP!

40. Last person you hugged?
Hsiu Ping

41. What were you doing at 2:00 am last night?
sleeping

42. Have you cried today?
nope

43. What bed did you sleep in last night?
my own single bed? -__- that I bought at Union Street

44. Are you currently frustrated with a girl/guy?
more like frustrated with the microbes

45. Ever talked to someone that was high?
hmm. not sure

46. Does it snow where you live?
rarely. hopefully yes this year

47. When is the next time you will see your grandma?
in heaven

48. Have you kissed or hugged someone today?
no :(

49. Will you be married in the next two years ?
no, but I'm sure to attend some weddings in the next 2 years ;)

50. Have you ever wanted someone you thought that you couldn't have?
ooo yes

51. Are you in a relationship, single, complicated, married, or engaged?
very much single and happy that way

52. How have you felt today ?
anxious & hopeful

53. Do you like your name?
Most of the time, not when it's spelt or pronounced wrongly. Joceyln. SERIOUSLY?!

54. Are you happy at the moment?
:|

55. What were you doing at 10:00pm last night ?
researching

56. Last person who drove you somewhere (besides your parents) ?
Sarah, to music practice last Thurs

57. Ever kissed someone in a closet?
er no

58. Do you live alone ?
nope. with my flattie hunnies!

59. Do you have a friend of the opposite sex that you can talk to?
yeap

60. Are you crazy ?
don't think so

61. Who was the last person to call you Darling?
probably some checkout lady at New World or Sharon ;)

62. How has this past week been for you?
A week I'm eager to get over with

63. Last thing you drank ?
SO GOOD soya milk w/ chocolate flavour

64. Do you believe that every thing happens for a reason?
yeap definitely

65. Could you ever forgive a cheater?
I have already did

66. If you were reincarnated as a sea creature, what would you want to be?
Nemo!

67. What do you normally order when you're at McDonald's?
the yummy breakfast meals

68. Last book you read?
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

69. Describe your mood.
eager

70. Describe the last time you were injured?
i scraped my palm on the door knob of the bathroom coming out of shower gah. a 1cm gash.

71. Of all your friends, who would you want to be stuck in a well with?
the tallest one :)

72. Rock concert or symphony?
rock concert YEAH

73. Do you like taking the MRT?
Not after someone farted in a super crowded mrt ride

74. If you could only use a form of transportation, what would it be?
a personal driver heh :)

75. What's your favorite kind of cake?
All cheesy ones

76. Look 20 degrees to your left, what do you see?
TV & kitchen

77. Do you untie your shoes when you take it off?
depending on how tight it's tied

78. Do you buy your own groceries?
yeap. with my flatties

79. What's your favorite fruit?
mango!

80. Do you like running long distances?
never tried

81. Have you ever eaten snow?
yeap yeap! incredibly hard might i say (at least in dunedin)

82. What color are your bedsheet?
brown

83. Do you hate someone very badly at this moment?
nope

84. Do you watch Spongebob?
just the movie

85. What temperature is it outside right now?
5 degrees. my fingers are getting numb

86. Do you consider yourself smart?
nope

87. How many piercings do you have?
just the 1 pair

88. What language do you speak at home?
english & Hokkien

89. How do you feel about your family?
I thank God for them

90. What time did you go to bed yesterday?
12 ish

91. What CD is currently in your CD player?
don't have one

92. What do you want for Christmas this year?
a graduation trip & graduating with 1st class honours

93. Favorite ice-cream?
no particular flavour. natural fruity ones i guess

94. What's the way people most often mispronounce any part of your name?
JoYce-seh-lyn

95. Lastly, whats your favorite color?
purple is THE royal colour


95 questions. I'm so proud of myself. Now only if I would get good results for experiment #8...

i need positive results!

GAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

My experiments are not working, one way or another. The next run will be experiment number 8, with slight modifications. Frustration. making. me. wanna. pull. my. hair. out.

May, I'm glad you're blogging more often than me now. haha. 4th year isn't fun at all; I don't even have time to have lunch most days. Weekends aren't weekends anymore when every day is a day to go to the lab. Had a chat with a friend doing honours as well and she's much worse: going to the lab 6am and leaving at 9pm every day! O.o And it's only been 1 month doing this- yet I've already lost weight (including those I'd gained in Singapore/Malaysia). =(

Speaking of which, May's latest post reminded me again of the good times we had =) And will STILL have, of course! =D In exactly 12 days I'll be seeing you guys again!!!

Sien-ness. I spend $18 on the influenza vaccination last week; and found out THIS WEEK that the micro department is giving FREE vaccinations for postgrad students and staff. GAH. again. Could this be the disadvantage of always being too fast to grab hold of something?


I went to the Earth Hour mini-celebration with my flatties at the Octagon last Saturday night. Bumped into A&D there as well. Nothing grand- some Green MP lady gave a speech on the whole climate change issue, and there were some performances: dance + drums by the Pacific community & cool fire performance. I recognised one of the crazy fire performers as a fellow classmate doing biotech as well. Not all the lights went off though- the art gallery and railway station was still so brightly lit. The news even showed a guy who turned on ALL the lights in his house and even his car headlights -__-

Oh and do remember that daylight saving ends THIS Sunday. Turn your clock 1 hour backwards. ie we would have 1 extra hour of sleep! woohoo!

tickets, check!

Haha yes Chyi we do spend (quite) a lot.

Speaking of which, I just spent HEAPS on air tickets alone: my parents' fares when they come here during my graduation end of this year and my tickets to Wellington/Hawkes Bay trip during Easter. Feeling very broke aside, I'm excited!!! =D *waves to May & the Pancakes yesh I shall bug you guys very soon get ready* hehehhee yay for free accomodation!

Searching here and there for the cheapest air fares can be quite frustrating as well. No wonder ticketing agents charge so much at times. Thank God for budget airlines though, without them we'd be paying at least twice as much.

I've been stuck in the lab pretty much every day for the past few weeks. Running experiments, waiting for results, analysing them, researching blah blah very boring stuff. People are still trying to convince me to consider taking PHD next year -__- I usually just reply "not interested. more keen on working and earning money!" =P

I had my flu vaccination taken this afternoon. Costed me $18 at the student health. Highly recommended since I tend to get the flu at least twice a year especially during winter. Staying in bed and feeling sick is not what I want to be doing this year.

Oh for you guys who are not in Dunedin this year, the new mall (Wall Street) just opened earlier this week. Nothing much, seriously. I find it quite amusing that the stairs and walkway at the 2nd and 3rd floor is semi-transparent. Wouldn't be a good idea to be wearing skirts/dresses eeks.

Janice the lenik, if you're reading this, I was so touched when you sent me that text =) You reminded me of the crazy good times we had- from the 1st time we met at Cikgu Png's car to being neighbours for 3 years (technically).

My ipod was on shuffle and it started playing this song- Follow Love. It was the song I chose to go with the video I compiled for Lighthouse last year. GAHHHH it just brought back a lot of memories... I probably would have teared if I wasn't at the lab hehe. We all remember how much everyone cried that night, eh? ;)

I'm gonna miss the simple town full of memories
I'm gonna miss just hanging out with all my friends
The rainy days and summer nights
Skipping stones by the river side
But i know.. it's time to go

So here's goodbye here's so long
I must go and follow love
I feel my heart moving on
I must go and follow love
Carry on while I'm gone
This is what I've been dreaming of
I miss you so
But I must go, go and follow love

I've got a heart that's full of dreams
and a little bit of crazy
I can feel it pulling me to somewhere I have never been
I'm packing up and leaving home
To travel into the great unknown
Its time, I have to go

So here's goodbye here's so long
I must go and follow love
I feel my heart moving on
I must go and follow love
Carry on while I'm gone
This is what I've been dreaming of
I miss you so
But I must go, go and follow love

Were not guaranteed tomorrow
So we must just keep on living for the day
and make the most of every moment
every step along the way...oh

So here's goodbye here's so long
I must go and follow love
I feel my heart moving on
I must go and follow love
Carry on while I'm gone
This is what I've been dreaming of
I miss you so
But I must go, go and follow love

I must go, go and follow love

~Follow love by FFH


and it's probably a few more months to go, but I've already been thinking of what it'll be like actually leaving Dunedin after graduating end of this year. *gasp* It's a scary thought, leaving this place I've called home for 4 years, and settling down in another town again, God only knows where.

Anyway.
18 days to go WOOOOOOOOO~!

lost in wonder

Back to Kota Kinabalu trip posting: day at the Tanjung Aru beach, white water rafting, and the famous Sunday morning Gaya Street market.

I was SOOOO glad we had time to go to Tanjung Aru beach. Sunset there was amazingbeathtakingsuperawesomely WOW. I was so happy and content with my camera the whole time- approx 30 minutes, just clicking away every minute or so and gasping at how beautiful creation can be at times when we really just pause, look, and admire.

I prefer sunrises over sunsets. But I never wake up early enough to take photos of sunrises =P

6.06pm. still blocked by clouds
still lovely

6.19pm. move away, clouds!

6.20pm. zoomed in on the rays
gah i need antiglare lens. but I'll need a new dslr first ;)

6.23pm. I love how the sea glistens in the sunlight

6.24pm. and then, this dude just blocked my view! I think he was taking a photo too
but I decided to take a photo anyway

6.25pm. SO. PRETTY!!!

6.26pm. sunset over the horizon!
*happy sigh* now I can tick off 1 more item from my "to-do-before-i-turn-25" list

6.27pm. happy, contented me

Kiulu river white water rafting: the day before we went back to Kuching- Valentine's day!
RM150 per person if I remember correctly. We probably got cheaper prices as my cousin's friend works as a freelance tourguide and was able to get *ahem* special deals for us.

The guides were so funny and sporting! We set off in 2 rafts, 8 in each raft. The main instructor in our raft, a funny-as Filipino dude who can speak so many Chinese dialects even dragged me into the river while I wasn't noticing. Then I got pushed into the river once again when he "saved" me by pulling me over the other side of the raft. Good fun, though. He tried to overthrow our raft on purpose many times but we were just too pro in rafting haha. Crazy dude even jumped off a suspended bridge over the river, and I spotted him smoking while swimming after that. I secretly envy his job.

the beautiful Kiulu river. It's graded level 1&2, the more challenging rafting course is at Padas River. The weather was beautiful that day, so we took 2 short breaks, went swimming, and took photos. To me, it was the highlight of the KK trip. Highly recommended for anyone travelling to KK.

spotted: girl fanning the cute baby @ Gaya street Sunday market

I found this quite... amusing.

It means "hit also cannot die" when directly translated from Mandarin. Apparently it's a traditional herbal medicine thing (they even sell the tree there at the market) mixed with wine- the uncle who was selling it said it can cure pain aches. Sounds magical and totally illogical to me anyway. But mum bought it anyway to test it out -_-

The yummy Hainanese Mee, recommended by my cousin

BIG as billboard at a traffic junction.
Super rich couple or just an ad for a bridal studio? I doubt the latter since there was no visible sign of any company logo/number on it.

This week has been a LOOOOOONG one. I'm glad that tomorrow's Friday. No wait, I do have to go back to the lab even on weekends now =( Looking forward to the "got talent" night at Southside tomorrow! I was supposed to play the keys for Jo who was performing a song, but change of plans. I'm now turning the pages for Michelle (keys) and Emily (viola) for their duet! Yup, that's an important role.