World Oceans Day

Today is World Oceans Day. Is there anyone does not care about our oceans? They cover about 71% of our planet. They house hundred thousands of species... and that is only the ones we humans found. There are always new species to be found in the ocean. The ocean also provide us with (obviously) water, food source, and the oxygen that we need... of course, that is only the basic needs, but the ocean gives us much much more. So do think about the ocean today, and how we can preserve/improve it for our future.

Mos Cooks: Coffee Agar dessert - and my birthday.

Felt like making agar dessert today. So I opened that sachet of powder agar. It's the first time using this and I have to say the instruction of 10g per liter of liquid makes the jelly too firm for my liking. I think I'm going for 0.5% agar next time... it works for my electrophoresis gel, so should be ok for making jellies too, no?

So here is it my first coffee and cream agar dessert.

In big blocks...

In fingers...

It was my birthday a couple days back. Had a small gathering of friends in London for dinner. We had a good time chatting and enjoying the food and cracking lame jokes. My friend A baked me some whoopie pies to my surprise (okay, it was actually baked for a cookbook photoshoot, but it's the thought that counts). It's the first time I've ever had them.

A and R got a little sugary sign on one of the whoopies. Oh, the weather that day was superbly warm, but that was bad news for the whoopies...

Box number 2: more whoopie pies!

Sigh, another year older... good news thought that my thesis has finally got the OK!

Mos Bakes: Lemon sponge cake with vanilla whipped cream and strawberries

In between the thesis and job hunting and paper writing, the tendency to bake increases...
Summertime (although the weather has been really rubbish until recently) makes me feel like baking something light and with strawberries. So this is what I made!



A light and airy lemon sponge with vanilla infused whipped cream and fresh strawberries. You can see the black specks of vanilla seed in the cream. It is from the Balinese vanilla pod I picked up while on holiday there like 2 years ago. The vanilla pod was a bit stiff, but the fragrance is all there still.



A slice of the cake. Love it, although I think I should be more generous with the cream next time. :)

Mossie News: Smell you later!

So it was reported that a team has successfully isolated some chemicals that could be used to deter mosquito from biting, theBBC reported. This was a Nature paper, but too bad I don't have excess to free journals anymore so I can't read this article in full. The BBC has not a lot of info as well, but from what I can gather from Nature, 2,3-butandione is one of the "smelly chemicals" that can disrupt the mosquito's excellent carbon dioxide detection to locate a host.
Hmmm, a new type of deterrent? interesting! I wonder if these can be made into personal repellents?

Holiday in Italy

So did I do in May? I went to Italy, and visited a good friend that lives in Cosenza. There was plenty of fun.

My friend works at the University of Calabria. Check out this bridge that suspends five stories above and between buildings. There is a bus that moves on here to bring you from one end of the campus to the other.


Beautiful landscape of Maratea, Italy.


Deers in the woods of Sila National Park, Calabria, Italy.

After a brief tour of the South, I went on Tuscany.

Florence. Too many tourist.

Lied down on the lawn at Pisa. I was pretty exhausted that day.

Is this year going to be a year of travels? I hope so. :P

Oh, it's June already?

Ale is well

Well, almost. I'm still fixing a few more bugs in my dreaded thesis. Seriously, its so hard to please everyone and I feel like sometimes this thesis is not my own, but to write it as how other people want it. I'm not gonna argue too much now, because I'm really tired of correcting and re-correcting the corrections. I just hope that the re-re-corrections are something that all can agree on!

At least I got a break up in the Yorkshire Dales. Walking makes you really happy. Also, some lovely ales to cheer you up.

Settle Up. A local Yorkshire beer that is light in colour. Lovely fruity taste.


I love Innis and Gunns. Not local (made in Scotland). Is an IPA and I love it! lovely oaky taste makes it almost like chocolate.



The dark Moonraker ale. I think it was local... and tasted lighter than it looks.


A view of Yorkshire from Pen-Y-Ghent Mountain. Lovely!

Back where is oh so cold... freezing our butts off by the Thames.

From the tropical paradise like this...
Back to the cold crowded Boat Race.


After a relaxing holiday, I'm back in Londonium. Boo, didn't want the vacation to end. I had a good time diving with Ping and co. Had someone who actually looked at my shoulder problem and fixed it somewhat. I'm beginning to feel that perhaps if I were to work in Kuala Lumpur, it wouldn't be such a bad idea. Well, except for the traffic. I think I could have a heart attack if I were to drive there. No wonder everyone seemed so stressed on the road.

So back in London in time to witness the Oxbridge annual boat race in the freezing temperature by Putney Bridge. Can't believe the amount of people that turned up for this event. Damn I should have gone to the betting shop and put some money down for Oxford. Yeah, surprised that Oxford finally killed their losing streak. I did actually feel proud. Go Dark Blues!

Patience running out

GAH! How long does it take to type up a medical report????

The consultant I saw here promised me that the medical report will be ready before the 17th, yet I haven't received it. I called so many times and all I got was "Oh, it isn't ready yet. I'll remind the doctor..." IT HAS BEEN OVER A MONTH! HELLO???

How in the world do you get people to expedite your request... or more like keep their promises? I feel like being rude to them but I can't...

So far in 2011...

Having a big break in Kuala Lumpur staying with the Ping. Since medical care in general is cheaper here, I've done a consultation. Three MRIs and numerous X-rays later, I'm told that my rotator cuff is partially torn... my shoulder is so full of scar tissues it looks like streaky bacon. Good thing is my cervical spine is still ok and the wrist has minimal damage. Now if the consultant would just quickly send me that darn medical report...

So all that I'm back with physio, but their approach here isn't how physio were in the UK. My therapist said that in order for me to stretch out and build my muscles, I've got to break down all that scar tissues that keeps the muscles tightly bound. Also been seeing an osteopath recommended by the Ping who stomps on my shoulder and yanks my spine. So my days are just filled with treatments and surprisingly I'm left with little time to do anything else. Well, there is also the fact that I'm kinda exhausted too from the treatments and the heat.

So that's what's been happening for me in the year 2011 so far... a time for me to fix myself from the aftermath of a traffic collision and thesising. Then, we'll see what it is I'll be moving on to.

The year that was 2010

The year that was 2010 for me:

1. The coldest winter I've witnessed yet in the UK. -15 celsius!
2.a. someone I met before died way before his time. makes me feel so sad even though I didn't really know him. But just the thought of someone so young had to go is just unfair.
2.b. Also another family friend passed away.
2.c. And John Clarke, a senior fellow in Oxford's Zoology. He was such a friendly guy. Kinda missed him walking around Darwin's cafe, talking to anyone there over coffee.
3. Grandad passed away. May he be at peace. Love you, Grandad.
4. finished writing my monster of a thesis. yay.
5. Still suing someone for my accident.
6. gone to Barcelona. Again.
7. Gone to Paris to watch the greatest britpop band ever: Suede!
8. Ate a macaron for the first time in Paris. Oo la la!
9. Moved back to London... sort of.
10. Passed my viva. hoping now that my corrections were good enough to put the doctoral in the bag for sure. Argh, the pressure.

It's been a bit of a rollercoaster year for me. Mostly due to studies... am glad the worst of it is over. I think there were some highlights in the year, but I feel it's been a tough year overall.

Happy 2011! Here's to the new year. May it be a better, peaceful, and successful year for us all.

Winter holiday prep

Oh the joy of going to a warm country for the winter holidays. Hopefully Heathrow will be opened for my flight. I can't wait to get out of here! But now, time to the holiday prep frenzy.

Annoying thing #2

The clocks go back this weekend. Daylight savings time only makes me (and other people too I'm sure) confused of the time. Does putting the hour back makes any difference really other than making people mess up their clocks? No!

Annoying thing #1

Right now, the most annoying thing to me is the neighbour playing loud music. I'm currently living in an apartment building, and so I haven't a clue which neighbour is playing this loud music because it sounds like it's in my living room...
What is it with these people being so inconsiderate? Sure, sometimes you are a bit too loud without intentionally too, but on a regular basis? Booming their stereo at deafening volume and often in the wee hours of the morning? How are they not deaf yet? How can they also ignore the rest of the neighbours who complained? Seriously, I'd wish I was as big as The Terminator and bash them in the head.
But it isn't just neighbours that are loud. Only a couple of days ago in a bus a guy had his handphone radio on to some hip-hop music at full speaker volume, probably thinking he was some cool underwear-showing-becauseIcan'tputmytrousersoright gangsta. What makes them think they had the right to annoy everyone (or most people? maybe someone in the packed but enjoyed having some beat going in a cramped bus who knows) in a public transport.

OK. Rant over. back to work.

Limbo

Well, I'm almost done... but no quite a doctor yet... I'm in post-graduate limbo land! Things at work is not good, but I'll soon be gone and can't wait to start the next leg in my life. Just hoping my limbo status will not last too long.

Positive, eh?

Holiday?

I'm bored. I'm supposed to take a break now that I'm kinda done with my writing. But a weekend alone (yeah, most of my friends have gone on holiday, and those still around are not the ones I really want to hang out with) is making me crawling up the walls with boredom. Why is it that when one who was so busy desired so much to have all the free time, and yet when the time comes there desire to work comes back? Irony? Or maybe because I haven't settled my future plan yet. I'm still undecided on what to do with my life. yes, I'm an not that young a person who should still be struggling with this question... or so it seems.

I used to think this is what I would like to do, but lately I feel that I've gone a little bit off course. Since young I've always like to go into conservation. Sometime in my undergrad I've decided that evolution was a better choice, since I did well in those subjects than ecology. I do tend to do better in medical-related subjects too, thus ended up with medical entomology. It is still an interesting subject, but I wonder if it is really worth a day job for?

Well, not just in medical entomology, but scientific research positions in general. After years of studies, honing your skills for such specialities, what kind of job do you end up with? Working as a postdoc, if you intend to stay on with research. The pay is terrible (it really is terrible), the benefits near none, working hours are long... At least if you were to study medicine, with the same amount of years put in, you would have been a senior doctor by now or a surgeon.

And the BBC reports that kids nowadays are losing interest in science. Less scientist are being churned out and will affect our ability to be at the cutting edge of scientific discovery. Well, how about pay us scientist to work huh? the average train driver gets paid more than researchers.

I say, maybe, just maybe, the kids are smart.

Anyway, digression over.
Back to the subject. Bored. So I came into lab, to the surprise of some people. Look at my babies in the insectary to make sure they have food and water. Talked to the boss, demanding we write a paper ASAP. He agreed. Now I have something to do, write a scientific paper. Hours later, pondering on my unwritten paper, I decided that I should take a holiday.

I've finally submitted

There it sat my two copies of my thesis... nearly 300 pages long... on the old wooden bench of the examination school... and off it went tucked in two ginormous envelopes, ready to be sent to my examiners. It may be a relief, but years of my life was basically summarised in The Thesis. I'm exhausted, and feeling strangely empty.

The next leg awaits... the oral exam and meantime, the hunt for a real job. *sob*.

Goodbye, Grandpa.

As of today, I no longer have living grandparents. The only granddad that I'd ever known (my other granddad died when I was just born) had passed away. He was 88 years old, I think.
I still remember when I used to visit him as a kid, he would make sure there were plenty of kit-kats and yakults in his fridge...

I'm gonna miss him.

Panic, panic, panic!

I've given in my forms for thesis submission. Deadline is next month.

PANIC!! PANIC!!!

Coffee miss

I keep missing coffee during the lab's morning caffeine round. Nearly everytime that I do, someone puts a note on my desk.

Cute.

State of mind

No more jury duty, yay. But more work in the lab. I'm so ready to finish this work and find a real job! I'm so tired right now, and as one of my friends put it:

Doing a PhD is like having your life on hold, but it ages you like 10 years.

I've been stuck with this song for the past week. check it out if you are a star wars fan: Here