New Year Holiday!!!

I'll be leaving for Phuket in less than 8 hours time...yippee...finally a holiday...LOB Similan :D

Will be away for 5 days...I'm so excited!!!
Just realized I'll be counting down to the new year in the middle of the sea!! Woohoo...

Gotta sleep soon...if I can...hehe :P

Have a great new year ahead!!! :D

Project Chelonia blog update

I have finally posted more photos...only til Day 6 so far though...

Check it out here...

Workaholic anonymous

Am I a workaholic?

I worked on X'mas eve...
I worked on X'mas day...
and I went to school to do my work on Boxing day...

Merry Christmas!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

It's a really really wet christmas this year...and a pretty busy one for me ;)

I think I can officially call myself a workaholic liao...worked yesterday full shift and today :P

Anyway, yesterday was a really fun-filled day...
Woke up early in the morning to join the Trifam sleigh run at esplanade...
Arrived at 7am at the Merlion...where only a few ppl were present...from both trifam and sgrunners...sotong (could identify him from far), gentle, DiverRunner, DO, tanf and more...
As more ppl arrive...tanf started giving out santa's hats and bells to us...we r supposed to run with them!!! haha...

Wat do u think of a penguin in Santa's hat and shades...running with a bell? hehe

At 7.30am, we started running...it was so noisy with the bells...haha...and we greeted everyone along the way...such a great way to start the day!! :D
We ran along the park connector till we reached Kim Seng Rd then U-turned back..

After the 7.5km run...which felt pretty short...we gathered outside fullerton hotel and sang "we wish u a merry x'mas" to whoever was there...mainly the hotel concierge :P
Then we gathered back at the Merlion...had some drink...took photo...chit chat...and there was even an auction for a polar HRM...then I had to go liao...






Got a lift from Mythos to his club for a shower, then we (Mythos, Jennifer and I) went to GWC where we had bfast then I headed off to work ;P

Workload was quite ok there...except for the persistent telepharmacy call from HPT...so irritating...esp when I was on the phone settling something else with another customer...oh well...

After work, I headed down to Jon's place for a X'mas party...got there at 10 plus...where I found my housemate Mei2 who had bought a 5L Heineken beer barrel!!! She was supposed to bring tigger out to shop...instead...she went to buy beer :P
Raymond (our JC mate/hostelmate) was there too...how did he end up there...haha...he was alone so ended up there with Mei2 ;)

The others were mainly the Jon's Vietnam YEP team mates...whom I hanged out a lot with too...Angel, Howard (comes with a Cupid..haha) and his Hao brother, Joyce and boi boi (Danny), Adam and ger ger (can't rem her name :P), Faith...and later Mabel and boi boi...

We watched Ocean's Eleven, eat, drink, chat, play cards etc...the usual things u do in a party...except that Angel seem to cook a lot...haha...even at 10 plus!!!
At 11 plus...the christmas carollers from Jon's church came...Larry (ex-KentRidgean) was there too!! wow...wat a small world...
Since it was their last stop...we count down to X'mas together...
Thanx to Jon's clock which was slow...and tv which we din know how to use the remote controller...we counted down something like 5 times!!!
The final time was based on the teletext timing...hehe...

I left the place at abt 3am...w/o Mei2...cos Xuanhao and Jon are trying to have a "direct" nite with her...asking her direct questions...I think they are all drunk liao lah...
Anyway, dunno wat time she got back last nite...

Today I got up at 9am...skipped the MR ultra-marathon...initially thought of gg there to run one round one...anyway, it was raining heavily :P

Now I'm at work at HBF...hehe...really peaceful morning...

Tomorrow I'm gg back to school...gotta try out a reaction b4 I go off for my diving trip at Phuket this Thur...LOB Similan...yoohoo!!!
But I'm gg to miss a BBQ at my boss's place on New Year's Eve...oh well...

Weekly update? or fortnightly update?

Haha...Oyster mentioned i seem to be posting weekly updates nowadays...but now it's more than 10 days since i last blogged!!!

Been too busy in school lah...I have finally begun synthesizing my compounds which eventually will be sent for testing to see their potential anticancer properties...
Been breathing in a lot of solvents lately...damn jialat...

Anyway, other than school...haven't really done much else

Exercise for the past 10 days?
Joined the trifam swimming training on Mon at SMU/old NIE...
Went for tennis training...with the guys...on Wed at NUS
That's all!!!....of course there's a lot of walking here and there :P

Nvm...more to come...this sat will go for Trifam's 7km sleigh run...then sun...maybe go kaypoh and run one round at MacRitchie b4 gg work?

Work?
Plenty...
TPY2...last Tue and Thur
TMA...last Fri
GWC...last Sat
AMK...Mon

More to come...tomorrow (TPY2), sat (GWC), sun/x'mas day!!! (HBF)

Funny thing happened last Thur...I arrived at toa payoh early...decided to go visit Yanting at her new shop...TP3...hmmm...she's not there...chatted with the PAs there for a while then headed down to TP1 (her old shop) where Yanting was settling some paperwork...
Then this poor customer came in to TP1 looking Difflam...she's just been to TPY2 and the pharmacist was not there (hehe...it's me...but I'm not due for work yet :P and the one b4 went off duty liao)...so TPY2 asked her to go TP3...where the pharmacist was not there too!! (hehe...it's Yanting)...so she ended up at TP1...but guess wat?? there are 2 pharmacists there but no Difflam...been moved to TP3 liao :P
Haha...in the end I brought her back to TPY2...get her Difflam...then go off for dinner...b4 starting work...can't believe she actually run ard toa payoh just to get that Difflam!!!

Others

Last fri was the most happening day of my week....
Went for pharmacist training at GWC in the morning...then headed down to donate blood at HSA at Outram campus...
After that, went to SGH to meet up with some ex-colleagues...
Found out Ting Ting just gave birth the night b4...wah so heng...din managed to see the baby...but got her to take some photos to show us...hehe :)
At night went to work...haha

Not really that happening lah hor...but it's the most happening day of my week leh :P

Sun...one of the rare few weekends I din work for this month...din do much except went for SGrunners committee meeting at renohtaram's place...had a super long discussion there...phew...

Yesterday...must be my happening day for this week...went to sch in the morning...did some work...then lunch time went to GWC to meet oyster...he was there to meet up with the Unity ppl 'cos they had management meeting!!...hehe...after that, dragged him along to NUS...met up with some of the lecturers/staff...but some are on leave...like A/Prof Chan Sui Yung, Napsiah...hehe...he'll have to come back again :P
Then we went to Engine to meet Jon...who just arrived and doesn't really know why he's in school...haha...in the end after hanging out at McDonald's for a chat...he left school with Oyster...alamak...he had free ride both ways...so it's not too bad...haha

That evening...I met up with my SOC gang from SGH...Lai Kuan, Pui Ling, Germaine, Fee Jean and Huifen...finally managed to catch up with them...everyone with their funny/interesting stories abt their current work place...Lai Kuan, Germaine and I are in Unity, Pui Ling still in SGH, Fee Jean in TTSH and Huifen in IMH :D

Action-packed weekend

Phew...wat a busy weekend I had...

It all started with a pretty boring week though :P

Mon was staying home all day with aches all over the legs and strain on both feet...oh ya...forgot abt work at TBR in the evening :P

Tue was wasting time in school...oh...and dinner with Angel at Cafe Cartel...yummy

Wed was my BIRTYHDAY!!! but guess wat I did...waste time again in school then went for tennis training in the evening :P
At night, had a surprised mini celebration with my housemates...with a mini log cake...and the most mini tigger I now own...now I got 3 tiggers ;)
Thanx, housemates :D

Big Tigger = Tigger, Medium Tigger = Mini-Me, Small Tigger = ???

Thur...finally did some work at home...then went for the S'pore International Chemistry Conference at Shangri-La Hotel for a short while...then met up with the Sgrunners for a post-marathon gathering at Esplanade...it was a great gathering with abt 30 ppl turning up!!!
Thanx to DO for the mini birthday cake, DreamRunner for the yummy Venezuala Bitter choc, tiwazz for the laksa (all the way from IMM!!), meteor and alvo for that cute little penguin (hmm...wat shall i name it? penguin jr jr??!!) and last but definitely not least...ultraman for the yummy main course of satay and sotong!! :D

Then the start of the action-packed weekend...

Went for the Waterfront tournament at S'pore American School (SAS)...all the way at Woodlands on Fri...but...wow...it's a really big school...damn cool place too...they have a Subway in there...and ppl there are really friendly :D
It rained when we arrived...so we all went for bfast at their cafeteria...met this chemistry teacher that actually invited us to attend his class if we were bored since we had to wait for the rain to stop...haha...damn funny :D
Anyway, we played against NTU in the morning...and SAS in the afternoon...I partnered Chen Mei for both match...hehe...Ms Liaw and Ms Leow :D
Overall we won both ties...
Sat we played against SMU and UWC...I wasn't there though...not sure how it went...but we probably won all the matches ;)

I left for work at AMK after the afternoon's match on Fri...wah...that branch is so out of the way from the bus-stop and MRT station...which happened to be great for me since I was pretty free the whole night...hehe...

Sat...woke up superbly early in the morning...AGAIN...how many times have I been doing that...wake up early on a weekend :P
This time it's to get to Changi Ferry Terminal...for the St Andrew Autism Center charity ride with the S'pore Women's Cycling Team....more on the ride here

I'll probably write more on the ride another day...but in summary...wat we did was...
Day 1 (Sat): cycled abt 160km...from Tg Belungkor Ferry Terminal to Sedili, then back to the Golden Beach Hotel at Desaru...with 2 makan break and 1 water break...and finally a yummy buffet bbq dinner and zzzz
Day 2 (Sun): slept late...had bfast at the hotel...had lunch at the golf club (yup it was just 2 hours apart)...zzz again...then cycled another 35km from the hotel to the ferry terminal...had Ramli burger...then it's back to S'pore

I din exactly cycled 160km on the first day though...but I was on the bike for 160km...hehe :P
Had a nice push from the boys on the support motorcycle a few times (totals up to at least 20-30km)...hehe...I went as fast as 5okm/h at times!!!

So for the 2 days I cycled at least 160km :D

Thanx to Nur and Jeannie for organizing such a great ride!!
Also special thanx to Nur for always riding with me even though I'm so SLOW :D Jeannie and Fida were also frequently there with me...thanx a million, gals!!!
And how can I forget the photographer (dun call hime cameraman, k :P)...Ryan for always there to take photo of us...and cheer us on ;)
Also gotta thank Athena and Raymond? (did I get the name right?) for helping me get a cab after we got to Changi Village :D
Finally...thanx to all for the company :D

SCSM results

Results of the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon is out...here

They do all the stats for u...like last year...

Stats for my run can be found here

My chip time was 4:54:44
Gun time was 4:56:13

I'm a 42.195km finisher

Alrite...I can now officially say I'm a 42.195km finisher...even got a very nice t-shirt..that fits me well too...to tell the world that...haha ;)

Finished the full marathon with a pretty good timing too...sub-5 hours...considering I dun really train much since I always think I can't afford to spend so much time running...and also I prefer to cross train doing other things like...swimming, cycling and playing tennis...and also partly because i'm a slacker...it was a damn GOOD timing ;)
Dun think I'll get any better though...haha...

So how much have I run since AHM? I pretty sure it's less than 100km...btw, kids, dun try this at home hor...I have been training a lot as a competitive tennis player since secondary school till ard JC time...always under the hot sun!!!
Even in uni I regularly trained a lot in IVP tennis, and various other sports in IHG :P
Anyway, I know a lot of ppl just dun think that's a smart thing to do...hehe...run so little...but I'm from this slacker grp of Evan, Jayce and Elaine...we all dun run that much...hehe

So wat happened today?

Woke up at 4am...after abt 5 hours sleep...had some porridge with those leftover steamed meat and mushroom in the fridge...and also a baked sweet potato...porridge and sweet potato prepared the night b4...yummy

Then at abt 4:45am I walked out to wait for kops21 to hijack me to Esplanade...thanx again kops21 ;)
When we reached there...I went to deposit my bags first...wah...my no. tag one got damn long queue...it was quite fast though...
After depositing the bags, went to toilet to pee first...did I mentioned I woke up so many times the night b4 'cos need to pee...so sleepy but the bladder kept waking me up :P

Wanted to go meet up with SGrunners after that...but they seem to have disappeared? I was past 5:45am liao lah...they shld be headed to starting line liao...so I just went there and kept walking towards the front...until finally I found Alvo...and someone else...totally can't recall who was it though :P

At 6am...the horn finally sounded...hmm...it was still at a standstill where we were...after a short while we finally started moving...I din really know who to pace or how fast to go initially...just follow ard and make sure my heart rate dun go too high ;)
After a while...I decided to pace according to my heart rate...maintain it at ard 160 beats per min...that was a good decision man!! I felt good all the way...even now...other than that achy legs...I feel great!!

The first 10km felt fast...din have that "when is the next distance marker coming up feeling"...can't rem wat was my timing for the first 10k...but it shld be 1hr-1hr10mins...'cos I kept checking my per km timings and it was bet 6min to 6min30sec...so dumb of me to forget to use the lap function...I was busy doing math in my head...maybe that's y that 10km felt fast...hehe

From 10km to 21km...it started to feel longer liao...my per km timings were 6min30sec to 7min...still din use the lap function...haha...did I used up too much brain cells today? Anyway, I started taking my hammergel from 10km onwards...just a bit at a time...took 10km to finish the whole pack...hehe ;)
Of course I always take my drink at all the water/isotonic drink points...i sure that helped a lot ;)

From 21km to 32km...all at ECP...I started to get sian...same thing...one pack of hammergel and plenty of water...but there was this Sgrunners 30km support grp ppl to look out for ;)
My per km timings were mostly ard 7min to 7min15sec...oh ya...this time I rem to use the lap function liao...but only used it every 2km 'cos keep forgetting...hehe...and btw, my heart rate has been kept at ard 160 all this while ;)
I took a powergel near the turning point..ard 26km?...carried all the way to 30km support grp...then passed to whr...said hi...then continued running liao...hmm...am i supposed to get something from them???
Anyway, thanx to the support grp ppl for cheering me on!! Can hear "PENGUIN" from far...hehe ;)

From 32km onwards...my timings were abt 7min15sec to 7min45sec all the way...except that last km...no idea how fast I went though...forgot to stop my stop-watch at the end...jialat hor me...anyway, I saw the clock was abt 4hr56mins...yoohoo...sub-5hrs!!!
Oh ya...there was another support grp at the 41.7km mark...hehe...thanx tiwazz for running along and cheering me on till the 42km mark!!!

My heart rate during the race

After I finished the race, immediately went to return championship chip, collect medals and finisher t-shirt...wow...they still have all the sizes...they even have XXS just for me ;)
Adidas should sponsor more frequently next time...their sizes are so much better!!! Not to mention the quality of the t-shirt are great too!!! *thumbs up*

From there I walked towards the baggage area...on the way detoured to Adidas booth where DO caught me..."wah after run still can go shopping ah...go collect ur stuff from the baggage area first lah...it's chaos there!!"...haha...I din want to walk back after collecting mah :P
Anyway, din buy anything...went on to baggage area...which was really in total chaos...they can't find anything!!!
I spent at least half an hour there making noise while waiting for them to find my bag...so irritating!!

After collecting my bag...I left for Harbourfront to meet some frens from Unity...it's Unity's Family and Friends Day...thought could get free lunch there...but reached there too late liao lah...all thanx to that lousy baggage retrieving :P

After that was thinking whether to go back and meet up with the Sgrunners...but was too lazy liao...came home instead...had lunch...watch some Friends...Season 9...until zzzzz...now I'm up...wonder how long my legs muscle will ache man :P

My feet were killing me just now...most likely my shoes are not very suitable for me...my archs are pretty high...can see it from my slippers...oh well...maybe go runners' lab one day and ask that guy ;)

SCSM tomorrow

So wat funny things did I do this week?

27 Nov, Sun

Worked at HBF...pretty quiet day...hehe ;)
Sgrunners went for a run at botanic gardens in the morning...i'm just wanted to sleep late :P
After work I went to Plaza Sing to get some stuff and dinner...got a baby pooh from carrefour to complete my baby pooh and frens collection...haha...all this while I had 2 tiggers (1 giant, 1 small), an eeyore and a piglet...no pooh!!! how ironic...haha :P

Check out their photo...oops tigger is eating penguin again ;P

Back: Tigger, Penguin (in tigger's mouth and not from the Pooh family :P)
Front: from left to right..Pooh, Piglet, Mini-Me (can't have 2 toys with the same name rite?), Eeyore

28 Nov, Mon

Nothing interesting...go school...do work...waste time..
Evening went for tennis training...Waterfront tournament coming next fri and sat...hehe...haven't played for a few weeks :P
Played doubles with Michelle, Chen Mei and Prem...

29 Nov, Tue

Another boring day? yup...supposed to run with Jayce at Sentosa in the morning...but it rained when we arrived at harbourfront...had bfast at Seah Im instead...haha :P

30 Nov, Wed

Did my work at home...
In the evening...ran to Toa Payoh to do some grocery shopping...not sure how far I ran..probably ard 5km?
At night, Nur came by to let me try out her mountain bike which I'll be using for next weekends cycling trip to Desaru ;)

1 Dec, Thur

Race pack collection day...for me it's not at the Sports expo though...I just went there to kaypoh...and also to learn from Mrs Nair how to use the telepharmacy since I'm working at TBR later...
Forgot that it's stock take day...oops...she was busy in the morning...
Went to meet up with the Sgrunners at suntec first...saw DO, tiwazz, YankeeII first...then later also saw Dreamrunner, BrokenRunner n kids (finally met her 2 monkeys...hehe...they r so cute), Wildcat, Ultraman, Meteor...they took an hour to collect their race packs man!!! But we had ice cream while waiting...thanx to wildcat n ultra...i think...hehe

This year's event singlet is damn nice!! hehe...fits me well too ;)

Carine n sis came quite late and were stuck in a very long queue...in the end they decided that they couldn't wait and left...Carine had to go buy a new pair of slippers 'cos hers broke on the way to the expo!! haha :P

After collecting the race packs...we went for lunch...ultra heard we gg to eat laksa....so quickly get a place in Sizzler's and got us all there...haha...
Had a yummy lunch...then I went back to RFC to look for Mrs Nair again...luckily she wasn't too busy then...but still gotta do all those calculation after stock take...need to upgrade their system man ;P ...manual calculation is shack...i'm sure using something simple like an excel spreadsheet would save them a lot of time!!!

AFter that decided to head home instead of gg school...skip tennis training :P
In the evening, I cycled back to City Hall to meet my fren, Siok Ying, to collect my race pack...finally got my event singlet...so nice and soft :D

In the evening...got an SMS from my tennis capt..."those who din turn up for training gotta make up on fri"....oh well :P

2 Dec, Fri

Another boring day in school...
Attended seminar by my boss...it's the part of the MCP (medicinal chemistry program) seminar series...wah she talk a lot man...haha
Evening went for tennis training...not a smart thing to do hor...2 days b4 a marathon go tennis training...but i'm siao...dun care...i have done other siao things b4...like...
Go sailing the day b4 my first S'pore biathlon...arm aching the day of the biathlon...hehe...
Then i also went for a sea sports camp on a wed, thur and fri...went sailing, wakeboarding and wind-surfing...hehe...then that Sun went for adventure race :P

I have done such crazy things before!!!

Anywy, I hit with Sharon...then played mixed doubles with the guys...partnered Dion against Sharon and Ray :D
After that, had a quick dinner at home...porridge with steamed meat and mushrooms (prepared the night b4)...yummy...make sure all my stuff are more or less prepared for the marathon...then zzzzz...

3 Dec, Sat

Wah...i drank so much water on fri...I kept waking up to pee...haha

Today working at BMC from 10am-2.30pm...then TBR from 3-9.30pm...
Am I supposed to aim to pee every hour today to hydrate myself?? haha...later the staff think I have some bladder problem...somemore I have not work at TBR before...hehe

Tomorrow is THE DAY liao...am I ready? probably not...but who cares...I'm a slacker...just run lah...after that if got time maybe go kaypoh at Unity's Friends and Family Day at Sentosa...hehe ;P

As busy as ever

Exam is over...but somehow...I'm as busy as ever...if not busier!!!

21 Nov, Mon

Just spent all day at home preparing for the exam...*yawnz*

22 Nov, Tue

Exam day...it was raining all day...sianz...left for school at abt 11 plus...got to there with abt 30 mins or so to spare...exam was tough man...luckily it's only 30% :P
Wanted to run home from school after my paper...but it had to be raining...sianz...ended up taking a bus to Beach Road to buy my backpack at the army market...got the Deuter Cross Air in the end ;D

23 Nov, Wed

Thought of running with Jayce at Sentosa in the morning...but due to lousy weather we had to cancel the run...sianz...again...
Went to school...do work...
At night I went to watch Harry Potter at Plaza Sing with some Sgrunners...Fd, tiwazz and wildcat...bee was supposed to join us but she fell ill...sighz...we were wondering is it the manifestation of "Shoutbox Withdrawal Syndrome"??!! Anyway, take care, bee!! SCSM coming up!!
The Goblet of Fire was great!!! So exciting...it was 2.5 hrs...but was totally exciting throughout!!! *thumbs up*
Gotta get a copy of the DVD when it's out...next I'll be waiting for the 5th show and 7th book!!!
Anyway, after the show, some wild character dragged a fellow sgrunner, tiwazz for makan as that wild fella had to go back to work...Fd and I managed to escape...haha :P

24 Nov, Thur

Finally it's a sunny day...a bit too sunny though...very bad weather...one day soooo cold....the other sooo hot!!!
Anyway, I finally went for a run with Jayce...did abt 5-6 km...we are slackers..so we dun run a lot unless it's a race...hehe :P
After that, go back to school and do work all day again...*yawnz*

25 Nov, Fri

Did work all morning till abt 2 plus...then I went for abt 15 km run to Lower Pierce reservoir...check out the route i took below...purposely took a longer route ;P
Join the unity nature walk...only 4 of us altogether..hehe...abt 2 km or so walk...

Then i walked/jogged my way to Thomson Plaza to visit my fren at the pharmacy...only Ai Lyn was there...Sinthu on leave...to watch Harry Potter...haha...interesting way of clearing leave ;) Heng Seng also not ard...
hehe...so many classmates working in Thomson Plaza...

After that...i walked/jogged to the nearest bus stop I know where I can take a direct bus back to Macpherson...where I bought dinner...and walked home...
Phew...spent more than 4 hours out there man!!

Blue line: the route i ran
Red line: nature walk route..agak agak one ;P
Purple line: the route i walked/jogged
Green line: the route i took bus

26 Nov, Sat

Woke up early to go cycling...finally I'm joining the SWCT training ride!!! After a couple of failed attempts...first time due to weather, second time due to illness...

Left at abt 7.20am...but after cycling abt 3km...I realized I have forgotten my lock...ahhh...gotta cycle back..gonna be late...and I thought I'll be early :P
Anyway, I arrived at Adam Road abt 10-15 mins late...we started off almost immediately after I arrived...

Our route...Farrer Rd, Holland Rd, Ulu Pandan Rd, Clementi Rd...U-turn at the junction at Bukit Timah Plaza...Clementi Rd, Ulu Pandan Rd, Holland Rd, Napier Rd, Grange Rd (I think..hehe), Irwell Bank Rd (I think), Kim Seng Rd (I think), Havelock Rd, Chin Swee Rd, and finally College Rd...where I had to stop to attend a very very boring briefing on CPE, a requirement to renew our pharmacist licence starting from Sept 2008...while Nur, Jeannie, Fidah (spelt correctly?) and Ivan had tea break at the Houseman canteen...hey...I thought they were supposed to tear down that building in July??!!

Check out my cycling route...

Blue line: riding with Nur, Jeannie, Fidah and Ivan...under the nice warm sun :D
Purple line: riding alone...under the rain :P

Anyway, I went to SP73 said hi to whoever was ard..which was only Ms Wan and Suzanna...also saw Cho and Huda on their way out to top up trolleys...changed up...went to Houseman canteen to grab some food and drink...then off to that boring briefing where I met some ex-colleagues I haven't met for sometime...all of us were so bored...haha :P

After the briefing...oooo...I saw dark skies...it seemed to have rained while I was indoor...anyway, I went back to SP73...say hi...more ppl are ard now...got aunties Seok Khoon, Wendy and Ting Ting, also saw Hong Ngee, Adeline and Mei Ling...then went down to Hemato to say hi to Donabel, Hong Yen and Ching Hui...Kar Wai was there too...hmm...my 2 interviewers...Kar Wai and Adeline are back from their study break...they were not ard the whole of my pre-reg training...

Then gotta go...changed back to shorts...then...oh no...it started drizzling again...anyway, dun care...going home anyway...as I cycle..the rain got heavier...I cycled to Beach Rd...to check out the triathlon gear sales at Base Camp...met Ian and many familiar faces there...from the many races I have participated in...also met...err...forgot her name...the gal from the IBP gym which kops21 goes to..hehe...
Got myself some hammergel and a cycling short ;)

Hmm..the rain kinda stopped when I was indoor...then when I was gg home it started raining again...damn...
Got home, showered...then it's time to head down to HLC for work!!
Today is not a bad day for locum...other than a few busy moments...I was pretty free...hehe..get to do some work ;P

Hmmm...today is my most exciting day for the whole week!! and I just realized I haven't been into the Sgrunners forum the whole day...hehe...

Tomorrow..it's work again at HBF...hopefully it's another slack day...hehe :P

Just saw my email...tennis training is starting again...looks like i'm only gg to get busier and busier!!!

Exam is over!!

Yay!! Exam is over!!
Damn difficult paper...but who cares...it's OVER!!
Besides 70% of the marks have been decided before I even took the paper today :P

Tomorrow is harry potter day...with Sgrunners...yay

So wat shld I do today?
Hmm...thought of running home from school today...but stupid rain *!@#$%^*
Maybe I can go Beach Rd and get the deuter bag I was planning to get...these days keep raining...dun think my old one can hold up well man...

I've gotta go for a run again one of these days...

Exam is coming!!

Exam is coming...note it's singular...yup...only one paper...
Well wat did u expect...it's graduate studies...think most other universities only need to take a couple of modules....
In NUS, we have to take 6 modules...for PhD candidates!!! So kiasu man...luckily at least 2 of the modules I have to take are just pass/fail ones...no exam ;)

Haven't done much the past week...worked on Mon and Wed nite, cycled down to Lower Pierce Reservoir Park for Unity's nature walk on Fri followed by teh tarik-cum-sotong kia session at Esplanade with the Sgrunners (maybe more on that another day ;P)...and an early morning (5am!) crazy run at Sengkang with some Trifam ppl on Sat...
The crazy run was meant to be a 20km run but ended up to be 5-6km only due to downpour...ended up spending an hour at a prata shop before we ran back to the starting point...where I got a ride from tanf to Hougang swimming complex to take a shower before heading for work at HLC...

Started feeling unwell at work...wonder was it the sotong kias I had the day before...or it's just coincidence..hehe

Skipped the training ride with SWCT on Sun morning since I was still unwell...and exam is coming up!!! :(
It was a nice sunny morning...and I had to stay home :(

The whole of this week was just study and doing some research work...and working at HLC on thur...
Oh ya...and gg for the Mizuno warehouse sales with Taz on Mon morning...hehe...got myself a couple of running singlets and shorts at $5 each!!!

Yesterday morning cycled down to Lower Pierce again for the Unity's nature walk...at least I did abt 20km of cycling this week ;)

Anyway, boring week huh?

Nvm...after my paper on Tue...I might (since date not confirm yet) go watch Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire wit the sgrunners...yippee...maybe go for a swim before that ;)

Oh ya...Stan Chart Marathon is coming up in two weeks...and the longest distance I have ran so far is 21km...that's for AHM!!! uh oh...

Glucosamine sulphate

How do u explain wat's the sulphate in glucosamine sulphate to a layman?

Questions they would ask...
Q: Is it the same as sulphur?
A: No. But I dunno how to explain how it's different...sulphur is S, sulphate is SO4?

Q: So if I'm allergic to sulphur drugs, can I take glucosamine sulphate?
A: Can lah. Unless u allergic to glucosamine also, or maybe if u allergic to seafood, u might wanna be careful. Sulphur drug allergy is usually allergy to the sulphonamide groups...present in drugs like Bactrim and Celebrex :P

So how to explain wat's sulphate?

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire

The movie is here...finally...but as usual...during exam times :P
Remembered watching the Chamber of Secrets few days b4 my last paper in my third year...i think...it was open book exam...and my fav...med chem :D So I figured I can afford to go relax for a couple of hours...hehe...
Well I definitely enjoyed myself...I'm quite sure that exam went quite well too :)

Anyway, this time round...another open book exam next tue...but...hmm...maybe i'll watch the show after my exam lah :P Organic synthesis isn't exactly my cup of tea...and the lecturer is too smart...he thinks everything is simple...oh man...

Oh well...here's a quiz on Harry Potter...Wat's ur Harry Potter alter ego?

You scored as Severus Snape. Well you're a tricky one aren't you? Nobody quite has you figured out and you'd probably prefer it stayed that way. That said you are a formidable force by anyone's reckoning, but there is certainly more to you than a frosty exterior and a bitter temper.

Severus Snape		75%
Hermione Granger		70%
Harry Potter		70%
Albus Dumbledore		70%
Ron Weasley		65%
Remus Lupin		65%
Lord Voldemort		60%
Sirius Black		60%
Ginny Weasley		60%
Draco Malfoy		55%

Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...?
created with QuizFarm.com

Backpacks

Which bag should I get...saw a few at Queensway this morning...

Features I'm looking for:
(1) volume: 20-25 liters
(2) deuter air comfort or equivalent
(3) integrated rain cover
(4) kiap kiap on the shoulder strap...i.e. sternum harness

Other features that are good to have:
(1) compatible to use with hydration system
(2) kiap kiap on the hip too...i.e. hip belt
(3) straps for helmet

Some samples below that have the 4 features...


Deuter's Cross Air 22 Litres
Pro: Has everything mentioned above
Con: Dunno how long the inner lining will last...although I noticed there r less of those type of degradable lining in this bag ;)


Vaude's Wizard Air 24+4 Litres
Pro: Heard that the lining is not a problem with this brand
Con: No place for helmet? not sure whether it's necessary or not also :P


Vaude's Bike Alpin Air 25+5 Litres
Just saw this at the Vaude's website...dunno this bag can be bought in S'pore or not though...

New router...

Did I mentioned my router died some time last week?

Yesterday...I brought the router for repair...
An hour later...I got a call from the engineer who was supposed to repair the router...hmm...some power surge resulted in my WAN point not working anymore...he mentioned something abt replaced and can collect already...WAT? so fast?? Ok...will go collect today...

Today I went...check with him abt securing my wireless...he showed me how to do it...simple lah...eh...but it's a different router...oh...that router is mine...can't replace the parts of the old one liao...so they replaced a new one for me...no wonder so fast...

Check out my new router...

Overheard

Overheard the following conversation on the bus this evening...

A: I slept too much till I have a headache...end up have to sleep somemore to get rid of the headache...after taking panadol
B: U take panadol..shldn't take too much u know?
A: Ya I know.
B: I dun take panadol for more than a year now...instead I take paracetamol...milder version of Panadol.

WAT? When did Panadol become stronger than paracetamol??!!!

A: No. Panadol is paracetamol. Paracetamol is just the generic name. It's the same thing.
B: Oh, is it?

Phew...Thank god A knows his meds better...

A: So why do u think we shouldn't take panadol too much?
B: (lost for words)
A: Anyway, I also think we shldn't take this meds too much 'cos we may develop 'resistance' to the med...
B: Oh ya lor...I think all meds also like that
A: No lah..not all lah...some like ultracarbon..(explained wat ultracarbon is)..u dun really get resistance to it 'cos there's no chemical rxn with ur body..
B: ahhh..

Hmm...interesting...wonder if our body will truly develop tolerance to panadol..but A's example of ultracarbon is good...the drug works by physical means i.e. adsorption of gas/toxin on the activated charcoal ;)

Anyway, heng B got a fren like A...otherwise jialat ;p

STRESSED...

Why m I stressed? The exam for the organic synthesis module is in 2 weeks time and I'm so lost at lecture today...die lah ;p gotta start panicking liao ;p

Wat did I do yesterday? Nothing constructive!!! Spent so much time in the forum while I was in school...thinking of doing some work while i'm at the pharmacy...but guess wat???

When I arrived at TPY at abt 5 to six...thinking I still have a bit of time to rush up and get my dinner..;but to my horror (haha...exaggerate a bit ;p)..there was no pharmacist ard but a lot of customers waiting!!
Germaine, where r u? Wat u worked morning shift when ur partner not ard?? Boss initially asked me to go at 7 or earlier if poosible...wat if I go at 7? No pharmacist for 2.5hrs? Ur norditropin customer is gg to complain lor...he came ard six leh ;p
I also wanna complain that there was no mention abt any norditropin customer coming ;p will write abt that later...

Let's go in chronological order wat happened when I stepped into the dispensary...
My first customer wanted 3 diff P only items...it's just my luck that those 3 had to be in 3 different locked cabinets!!! TPY cabinet damn hard to unlock one leh...jialat...took so long trying and trying..can't rem which key liao somemore...correct key also not necessarily can open the first time one leh ;p

At least after unlocking those...easier for me to serve the next 2 customers...
3rd customer came with a signed order...luckily wat she wanted was in one of the 3 opened cabinet..phew...

Then received some stock from supplier..had a very short break..when soon tat came by to ibt something..

Then the first prescription came...the Rx was for vastarel...hmm...gotta unlock another cabinet..nvm...customer wanted 3 months supply..sure no problem...4 full bottles and count another 30...sounds simple except that...the customer wanted me to check whether the 'full' bottles actually have 60 in all them...siao liao..
Luckily after I finished preparing label etc...she said she'll go home and count herself..if any shortage she'll come back...heng ah...she must have seen the queue behind her...initially she asked me to serve another customer first...shld be faster...but that other customer was my norditropin case!!! Luckily I decided to proceed with hers first...phew..

Then that norditropin case...luckily i remember Oyster telling that norditropin got some different procedure one...if not...i might have charged the customer twice the amt? unlikely..customer sure complain...i would just have wasted more time :P
Anyway, first thing..call Germaine...dunno wat to do lah..but guess wat...her phone is at home but she's not!!! Alamak...looks like gotta call Soon Tat liao...always bug him...so paiseh...somemore he's not working at TPY anymore and he's on leave for reservist!!! Sorry man, Soon Tat...
Anyway, thanks to Soon Tat I managed to settle that norditropin...but careless me...go and copy the wrong code...customer ended up paying slightly more...
Aiya...why PM one price, Easi-Pos one price...then when PA told me cashier side gave another price...i thought just follow cashier side...I was so busy then...and customer din make a big fuss somemore...so din double check...until customer's wife called back saying he got charged more than usual!!! Oops...sorry...Germaine u gotta handle the problem :P

After that...customer one by one keep me busy until almost 8pm!!!
In between...Nur appeared...queuing up along with the customers...just to pass me the pledge card for the "SWCT-Hearts...cycling for pleasure...cycling for charity" event which will be on 10,11 Dec...we r raising funds for St Andrew's Autism Center...anyone wants to donate? hehe :P
Anyway, I was so busy..din get to catch up with Nur...she's gg for bike trip to KL liao...won't be seeing her til 2 weeks later...sorry man, Nur...catch up with u another time, k :D

Finally at 8pm...I managed to get my dinner...after that..it was still rather busy..but not so bad liao...I even had an export sales...first time doing that at TPY...so today I had signed order, prescription and export sales...wow!
Anyway, managed to finish my dinner in slightly over one hour...haha :P
I was eating snake in the forum at the same time mah :P

Today...I finally did something more constructive...got to school at abt 10.30am..and spent the whole morning at the library...going through my CM5221 notes until abt 12.30...
After that..went back to the lab..then waste time again liao :P

Wasted plenty of time dunno doing wat...until time for lecture...
Lecturer tried to give us an idea wat to expect for the exams by giving us examples of synthetic steps with missing reagent/product...wah...jialat...dunno how to do anything...he go through...i also blur blur...panick!!
Looks like this 2 weeks gotta work harder liao...luckily it's open book...but still need to work hard man...otherwise open book also dunno where to find answer :P

Ok..gotta limit the time I spend surfing net...esp at the sgrunner's forum liao :P

Week of 1-6 Nov

1 Nov, Tue

After my morning cycling trip to ECP on Tue (Deepavali)...got back to do some work...
Guess wat? At 5pm, my boss...the research work one...called me to ask me to do something...repeat the QSAR thingy...wah!!! holiday also call me like that!!

2 Nov, Wed

Went back to school at 7am...sat in front of the computer til ard noon...not just one computer...but two...one is the linux one with the modelling software and the other one is my own laptop where i have all my data in an excel spreadsheet lah...wah...i was so stoned by the time i was done with the work...

Showed the results to my boss when she came at ard noon...since she's on leave...apparently she'll always be back in school...even if she's on leave...unless she's not in s'pore...siao liao...my boss so onz...I'm a slacker leh :P

Anyway, after lunch...stoned til 4.30pm when my other boss...angmoh one...came along with his wife...WAT??!! why his wife also come??!!...presented the results...hmm...need more inactive compound to make the QSAR study better...he'll send me the structures and IC50 once he can dig out those values :P
Meanwhile maybe I can start trying to synthesize one of the compounds..the compound which have been studied the most...then later on maybe can also try some new analogues!! So exciting...play with chemicals...expensive chemicals man...1g of one of my starting material is almost S$400...think that's abt 5mmol...hmm...gotta find a cheaper source man...if not maybe i have to synthesize that starting material liao :S

After that meeting, it was time to go to WORK...at HLC...so stoned liao...hopefully i dun give the wrong medicine at work??!!!
Hue Kian was superbly busy when I arrived...she's supposed to have left!! anyway, it was a busy nite for me there...sianz...why cannot slack??!!

3 Nov, Thur

It's Hari Raya Puasa!! Wat did I do? Went for this Salomon sample sales...met up with Jacq and Merey...whom I found out abt this sales from :D Eng Wan and Reef was there too...hehe...Reef...so cute as usual...
Bought a top and a pair of shorts...then had brunch with Merey and family..hehe..discussed a bit abt our upcoming diving trip we are planning to go for during the new year hols...then went to this rock climbing..can't rem the shop name...where Jacq is rock climbing with some of her frens...hang out there for a while..then supposed to go home liao...

But since I'm at Tanjong Pagar...decided to go Funan to check out the Running Lab...decided to walk there...I walked and walked and walked...anyhow walked...and finally I found Funan...haha...checked out some computer stuff too...maybe getting an extra AC adapter for my laptop...one for home..one for sch/work :D
Anyway, will check out the price in Sim Lim before I buy...
Running Lab is cool...so many things...but I shall resist the temptation to buy...esp when I dun think I need anything...I really like the "Life is Good" t-shirts they have there though ;) My birthday coming up next month...*hint hint* :P

AFter that, it's really time to go home...to finished up my lab rotation report...which I just found out was due on Thur...thought it was Sat all the while...oops...nvm lah...the lab rotation report quite easy to write lah ;)

Got home at abt 4...I finally finished the report at 11 plus...hehe..

4 Nov, Fri

Back to school...got seminar by Dr Chui on his DHFR inhibitors...then followed by presentation of research work by the med chem program PIs...then we r supposed to choose our PI/boss for our research work...hmm...wonder why I bothered to attend...Garvin din even bother...we both on the same boat...got boss already one...although not exactly supposed to...hehe...we r NUS graduate lah...so we would have in mind who we want our boss to be before we came in lah :P

At night..go work again...this time at ESP..first time there!!..all the way at Simei!! not too bad...Joyce, pre-reg was there...not way too busy lah...quite ok...got home quite fast also..abt 30 mins only...not bad..hehe...
But dun think I wanna go there for the next 2 months man...some weirdo pre-reg will be there...dun wanna get stuck with him!!! :P

5 Nov, Sat

Work, run, work...work at WCC in the morning...quite cho bo one...then after work...went to ECP for a slow run...took more than an hour to travel from WCC to MPR!! dumped my big bag at the pharmacy first...then ran with my hydration pack...which also contains my work clothes...so can go run, bath, then come back...
Intended to run for 2 hrs but ended up with only an hours run...cos arrived to late liao lah...run some more sure late for work one...

Met up with some TriFam ppl who were there for the Ho Wai Piew memorial run...said hi..then bye...cos gotta rush of for work liao :P
After shower, got back to the pharmacy...dump my stuff...go back out to buy dinner...hehe...eat in the pharmacy :P
After dinner felt like drinking bubble tea...but where to buy...no time to go search lah...
But guess wat...kops21 is around the neighbourhood with my spoilt router...since he's a computer genius...he tried to help me figure out wat's wrong with it...but can't do anything abt it..gotta send it for repair...sighz...dun ask me how i'm connected to the internet now :P
kops21 helped me buy bubble tea...yay...THANKS A MILLION, KOPS21!!!

MPR wasn't too busy that night...spent lotsa time eating snake...at the sgrunners' forum...haha :P
Shhhh...dun tell my boss...

6 Nov, Sun

This morning supposed to go for training rides with the S'pore Women's Cycling Team...in preparation for an upcoming charity ride to Desaru in Dec...but guess wat...it had to rain and rain and rain...damn..
So I ended up at Raffles City...to go laugh at some ppl doing Vertical Marathon..haha :P
Met up with the sgrunners...had lunch with kops21 and sweetheart, tiwazz, taz, yankee, brokenrunner and meteor...also saw Laokayu, freddy, mythos and more...can't rem liao...also saw Alvo who just came from his MR35 run!!!...to pick up meteor..

After lunch...went to Suntec to buy food from Carrefour...and had a haircut at EC house...wah...that boy b4 me damn vain...hair must be like this like that...mother also making so much noise...so much request...go some other hair salon lah...this is EXPRESS CUT!! :P

Anyway, check out my hair cut...


Then it's time to head home...to study??!!
Haha...ended up surfing the net...chat in the forum...write this blog...until dinner time :P

Adopted penguin!!!

Scroll down and check out my adopted penguin...penguin...aiya...too lazy to come up with another name lah...anyway, I have chosen it's color to resemble my "Penguin" the cute little soft toy that's my avatar :D

U can play with penguin by clicking on it...hehe...scroll down and check it out!!!

U can also go adopt another pet at bunnyhero labs...

Or u can check out my fren's (Buckies) pet, Xiaozhu, at her blog...dun forget to clean and feed Xiaozhu after playing with it, k? hehe

Meanwhile I'm still waiting for Oyster to adopt a pet :P
Otherwise I'll just have to keep spamming his shoutbox when I'm stressed :P

Fd: Got spider leh...u must adopt it!!! :D

Kops21: Got tiger...u want to adopt??!! :P

Wat happend since 23 Oct (Sun)?

Last last Sun (23 Oct) after working at HBF...with Esther...hehe...she was working at Guardian...we had lunch together...then in the evening...we went for the PSS Centennial Dinner at Meritus Mandarin...separately...since she worked til 7pm while I only worked til 6pm...

Dinner was great...met up with my ex-colleague from SGH..."aunties" of SP73...hehe...we are all "aunties" in 73...aunty seok khoon, aunty ting ting (most suitable to be called aunty since she's the only one married among us :P), aunty wendy...who wasn't at the dinner 'cos she lost her voice...so sad :(...and many many more...some from other sections too like Soo Boon, Shyam, Kar Wai, and even Mun Moon :D

Unity also had one table...mainly made up of ppl from head office...like my boss, Wui Lee, Loo Yian, York Hun, Hue Kian etc etc...

I sat with my classmates...Shunyan, Pei San, Angel, Lynette, Pui Ching, Weiren, Woei Lee and Yee Heng...whom I'll see in school again soon ;)

Check out some photos I took...here

I look really really chao ta in most of the photos...esp this one...taken with Esther and Kaizhen...fellow KentRidgean!!!


Oh ya...I also met Doris there...long time no see man!!! Always had a lot of fun working with her when I was at retail and later outpatient in SGH :D Now she's at Outram Polyclinic...having good life huh? Hehe

Anyway, the rest of the week was mainly busy in school...
Doing the same few things...
1) MTT assay...did another 2...results were much better than the previous weeks one :D Better seeding techniques liao :)
2) Prepared for my CM5221 assignment presentation...just to find out on Mon nite...that the presentation has been postponed from Tue to either Thur/Fri..up to us which one we prefer...damn...oh well...
3) Finished up my CoMSIA...so that can prepare to present the results to my other supervisor, Dr Patrick J Casey...

I also went for a run with the Westside Sgrunners on Wed...miscomm a bit with Kops21...so they left without me :(...but luckliy Ironmandreamer came along and we ran together...till we met up with the rest then we turned back with them...most of them ran abt 12km...but Ironmandreamer and I ran abt 6km :D That's quite a lot for a slacker like me...who haven't run since...err...AHM!!!

Then Thur...went for tennis training...hit for an hour or so...quite fun...I seem to be happy running ard w/o getting too tired when I play tennis...wonder why...

Sat and Sun was all abt work :P
Worked from 9am to 9.30pm on Sat...at two places...HLC and HBF...nowadays I bring my laptop along...got quite a bit of work done...hehe...'cos the customers come in a swarm and leave as a swarm...I can get really really busy with 3-4 customers queueing up waiting for me...then after that, I'll cho bo for a while...this happened so many times and at both HLC and HBF...
Most jialat one was when I had this 3 foreign customers coming for export sales at the same time...only one of them was taking a ship that was leaving soon...the other 2 was supposed to fly off the next day...why all come together and stress me out like that? Somemore one of them was a Russian whom I had a bit of difficulty communicating with and her case was a bit problematic...oh man...*stressed*

Sun at MPR was much better...not so many swarms...hehe...only had lotsa parents coming to buy thermometer for their children...hehe...'cos the kids were asked to bring thermometer to school the next day :P

Mon...went to school pretty late...just to show face and confirm with Prof Go wat she wants me to present to Dr Casey...something abt CoMFA/CoMSIA...
Went for swimming training again...after a super long disappearance from the pool...not bad...swam 600m (warm up) + 8x100m (at 2 mins each...which I couldn't really follow :P) + 12x50m (kick)...then I warm down and left liao....

This morning...I cycled down to ECP...to meet up with some of the Eastside Sgrunners...I'm both a westside and eastside runner...hehe...so when i'm in school...can join the westside runners...when I'm at home...can join the eastside runners :D
I din run with them though...just cycled...total abt 30km...with a bfast break in between...hehe...

Now I'm back home...gotta finish up my presentation for my QSAR study asap :P

To do list

Wat do I have to do this week and next...

1) Prepare to present my QSAR findings to my supervisors...meeting on 2nd Nov

2) Write report for my 3rd and last lab rotation on MTT assay...due 5th Nov

3) Finish up my written review of my advanced organic synthesis assignment...due 7th Nov

4) Work, work, work, work, work, work...on 29 Oct (morning - HLC, afternoon - HBF), 30 Oct (MPR), 2 Nov (HLC), 4 Nov (ESP), 5 Nov (morning - WCC, night - MPR)...wow my boss so desperate...give me so many assignments!!!

5) Run, swim, cycle or play tennis...hmm...

What's up lately?

What have I been doing lately...hmmm...

First day I got back from Sri Lanka...I just slept and attended a lecture...hehe *oink*

Then it was working, working and working....3 different type of work
Firstly, doing my lab rotation at Prof Go's lab...doing MTT assay...a bioassay to determine whether a drug is cytotoxic i.e. able to kill the cells or not...or even to determine whether the drug is antiproliferative i.e. able to stop cell growth...
Each assay needs 3 days to carry out...first day to seed the cells, second day to add the drug and third day to add MTT and analyse the result...I have done 3 so far...the last one definitely has horrible results...one plate shows exactly the oppposite result of the other...when both are supposed to be the same drug!!! oops...I suspect lousy seeding techniques...hehe

The other thing I have been busy with is the QSAR study of some potential anticancer drug...a isoprenylcysteine carboxyl methyltransferase (ICMT) inhibitor...sound chim huh? hehe...
Been sitting in front of the Linux OS comp a lot...trying to do ComFA and ComSIA...but first I have to understand all this QSAR thingy first...haha...we din get taught by Prof Go in our final year...otherwise she would have covered all this in the Med Chem module...damn...now have to read up myself...luckily got Kaizhen's note :D

Finally, my work as locum pharmacist...been working last Thur, Fri, Sat and this week Sat and Sun...worked at my usual places...HLC, HBF...and JRP..not exactly my usual :P
Next week working on Sat and Sun again...HLC and HBF on Sat...and a new place...MPR (Marine Parade)...on Sun...who's running at ECP next Sun?? I can go look for u b4 work...or u come look for me after ur run...hehe
Now, boss even ask me whether I can work on Christmas day...wat??!!! I know I dun usually celebrate Christmas lah...but so sad lah..work on Christmas day :P

Oh ya...and I have also been working on my assignment for the organic synthesis module...at least I'm doing something relevant to the ICMT inhibitor that I'm already working on :D
Just finished the slides few days ago...now preparing for the presentation on Tue...modifying the slides somemore :P

So it sounds like work, work, work and work only...no exercise?
Got lah...last Sat...after work at HLC, rushed down to S'pore Swimming Club for interclub doubles match...played under the hot sun for more than 2 hrs...see lah...go and win the first set, then lose second set...so have to play rubber set...and lose the match :P
All that sun, not good for my mosquito bitten skin man...but...oh well...

Then Tue...I went for tennis training again...
Yesterday, I went for Unity's nature walk at Bukit Batok Nature Park...
That's all the exercise I had since I came back from Sri Lanka...hehe :P

Dun think I'll be swimming yet...until I stop itching and scratching away...hehe...all the chlorine in the pool tend to make my skin dry and itchy...very bad!!!
Running leh...I lazy lah...cycling...hmm...no time....EXCUSES!! Haha :P

Last Sun, team Chelonia met up again....to consolidate photos and settle some stuff...hehe...we had lunch at Marche...Reef was there!! hehe...kept bringing us to see the tiger prawns and fish in the tank...he even said bye to the prawns and fish!! And one prawn jumped out of the tank...haha...gave him a shock...he was so cute...we just kept laughing and laughing!!!
Our meeting was at Wilson's bus...the double decker at the Youth Park...it suddenly rained heavily when we were walking to the bus...got wet a bit...luckily Jacq brought an umbrella :D
The bus is really cool...it's Wilson's home...he stays there most of the time...so anytime we r in Orchard...can go visit him...haha ;)

Oh ya...and Thur I went for reef walk training at Labrador Park...haven't been for reef walk for a long long time...always either working or participating in some race :P
Anyway, we saw a small octopus...so cute...a nudibranch...also so cute...a scorpion fish...besides plenty of crabs, snails, anemones, corals, seaweeds, seagrass....and heard lotsa snapping shrimps...din see many though...

That's all that happened since I came back from Sri Lanka...work, work, work, work...play tennis, meeting up with the team again, reef walk and nature walk are my highlights :D

Project Chelonia blog

Finally found the time to upload my blog from the PDA...but no time to add photos yet...too many to sieve through...think there are at least 1000 photos!!!
Shall choose and add another day ;P


Team Chelonia...taken at home

Team Chelonia...taken at the beach
...we r surrounding the nest of the turtle we just saw the night b4 :D
Jacq and Wilson are missing as they have left for Colombo :(

Chelonia - Day 1 (28 Sept) Arrival

Woke up early again at 6am after sleeping late the night b4... Siowfeei's fault lah... Decided to wear her dnd dress at midnight and parade ard... Haha ;p

Anyway, had to go to sch to do some work on the comp... used sybyl to work on the compounds I created yest... Then I also went down to the x-ray crystallography lab to search for crystal structures of my compounds... But guess wat I found? Nothing! There's not a single organic compound with phenyl bonded to indole! Oh man...
Anyway, I tried with other aromatic structures instead of indole... Took quite long to search... But still hardly any results...
Halfway through searching I went to collect my laptop... IBM thinkpad T43... Yay... So excited but no time to play with it :(

After collecting the laptop, went back to work... Discussed with prof go wat to do... Then it's time for me to leave! Otherwise i'm gg to be late to get to the airport!
Decided to take mrt 'cos it looked like it's gg to rain.. Not gg to make the same stupid mistake of getting stuck in a rainy day jam... Ended up getting lunch from harbourfront... Even went into sentosa to get my islander card.. Hehe ;p

Got home.. Shower, do laundry, eat lunch, check mail...alamak dr lear still haven't sent me my corrected lab report for the lab rotation at his lab...dun care liao...he said he'll make the necessary changes and help me hand it in ;p
Some last minute packing, hanged my laundry... Then it's time to go kovan to meet jacqueline...getting a ride from her fren, chris, to the airport :)

Got to the airport at almost 5 and met up with jasmine, ryal, siew kwan, san san, merey and little reef! Hang chong, swee yin, wilson and zul were late ;p
We took really long to check in man... we had so many things.. Even a fishing rod requested by a sri lankan...another one even requested for a fridge! WAT??!!! Siao ah.. Of course we din get the fridge lah ;p
After that, we went to ntuc to buy some food... Plenty of canned tuna and instant noodle... Hehe :D
Then it's time to go to the transit area... Mei2 waiting for me! we had a drink from coffeebean... Then it's almost time for me to board the plane... Bye, Mei2... Take care of tigger and frens, ya ;)

On the plane, we made so much noise... haha...always fun to travel in a grp... Reef was quite a good boy on the plane...hehe...apparently he's quite a frequent flyer for his age...
I sat with swee yin and siew kwan...wah..we damn funny...like collecting souvenirs on the plane...we took their disposable cups and utensils...haha...can use in sri lanka :p

On the plane...San San, Jas, Swee Yin, Siew Kwan and me!

Zul n Reef

On the plane I was watching this documentary on MRSA and antibiotic use..this guy went into pharmacies in Europe trying to buy antibiotic for a cold..sometimes he even specified it's viral and asked the pharmacist whether there's any pt to take antibiotic...yet the pharmacist sold the antibiotic, amoxicillin to him...that's in belgium and can't rem which other countries...xuanhao...wat can FIP do abt this?! Actually i'm not sure when was this filmed...
Anyway, there were some positive examples in Holland...must be 'cos FIP HQ is there..hehe...and Spain too..the pharmacist insisted on a prescription or they call it recipe...if I din hear wrongly ;p
And in an ER..I think holland...the nurse who attended this guy, spoke to some doc and adviced that guy to go home and rest first...and he shld get better..only if he doesn't get better, then he come back and maybe will be prescribed antibiotic :)

Anyway, we arrived at sri lanka at abt 9..had to take a shuttle bus to the arrival hall...went through custom etc...and found Eng Wan, Merey's husband who's based in Sri Lanka waiting for us ;D
Oh did I mentioned Reef suddenly fell asleep ard the time we landed...he was just wailing when we were landing! And he was totally unconscious after that!

At Colombo airport...

We took a long van ride from the airport to our hotel in colombo..Hotel Juliana...



We stayed 3 gals/4 guys to a room...I stayed with Jasmine and Swee Yin ;)
My bag took sometime to come 'cos the ppl on the other van din unload all our bags :p and the driver went for a drink! At least he locked the door ;)
After some waiting, we the driver was finally back...but guess wat? My bag was not in the van...I din check lah..Jacq said she saw 3 bags mah...but one was Merey's bag meant to be left in the van ;p
In the end...guess where I found my bag? The guys room! Wah..they din even say anything abt an extra unidentified bag...looks like all those advert on calling the police when u see an unidentified bag...din work...heh :p

Some snacks and toys we brought...hehe

Some of us had supper at the chinese restaurant downstairs...and it's time for bed...zzzzz

Chelonia - Day 2 (29 Sept) Transfer from Colombo to Kosgoda

Woke up at 7am in darkness..hehe..'cos our room had no window ;p
Oh ya...sri lanka is 2 hrs behind s'pore/m'sia...so that's 9am back home liao..first time I woke up so "late" since dunno when...

Had a shower, packed up, then we took the van out for bfast and grocery shopping...supposed to have bfast at KFC which is next to the supermarket...but KFC opens at 1030 :P



So we bought our approx 100 sing dollars worth of grocery which shld be enough for at least 2 days meals...and oh ya..we had a tub of Mars ice-cream for pre-bfast...haha




There's a little pharmacy there too...hehe...took a photo of it...just couldn't help it man...but the pharmacist there was rather reluctant to be included in the photo...hmm…wonder why…



From there we took a pretty long ride..abt 1 hr plus to our bfast place...most of us dozed off during the ride...hehe ;p
Our bfast consisted of an assortment of fried spicy stuff...hehe...must find out wat they r called...actually some of them can be found in our indian food stalls ;)



Then we continued our journey to kosgoda...we were along the beach most of the time...could see some ships stranded on the beach...most likely from the boxing day tsunami...



The house we r staying in is very nice..



We dump our stuff in the house...checked out wat we need to buy...then ryal, jacq, engwan, zul and I went out to buy the stuff...cooking utensils, pails and even a gas stove!



Meanwhile, the rest stayed back to clean up the place ;)

Today, we had our first fear factor challenge of trying the woodapple juice....eew...it's very sour...Reef seemed to enjoy it after the weird expression he gave after the first sip...hehe..so cute..

Later in the afternoon, we walked to the TCP (turtle conservation project) office...that's the only turtle grp that's officially recognised here...
We took more than half an hour to walk the 1km plus...hehe...'cos we kept stopping to take photos...tourist lah..haha ;p
We met Lal at the TCP office...who gave us a nice presentation on TCP...using his Toshiba laptop ;)




There have been quite a no. of green turtles laying eggs here recently...and next month we'll probably see a lot olive ridley turtles...woohoo!!!
The nest watchers...which r ppl who used to be poachers and are now trained to patrol the beach at night...works in 2 shifts...4pm to 12 midnight...and 12 to 8am...
We'll probably join them in the patrolling soon...not tonight lah ;p
We'll start with the library tomorrow...it's somewhere btw our house and TCP office...

After the mtg, we're all very hungry liao...last meal was like 8 hrs ago!
We still have to walk back home ;(
This time we walked back via the beach...wow...the beach is very very beautiful...and the wave's quite strong! There're a lot of nice seashells too ;D



We also saw a pretty big hermit crab...hehe...everyone suddenly crowded ard the crab to attempt to take a photo of it...haha..paparazzi attack!

Photo of the hermit crab taken by one of the paparazzi...unfortunately i dun have photo of the paparazzi surrounding the poor little hermit crab

When we finally reached home, we scrambled to cook...haha...hungry mah ;p
It was quite a mess in the kitchen...our chef were jasmine and ryal...who cooked us tomato n shallot omellete, sambal kangkong and spicy garlic eggplant...yummy...for dessert, merey whipped up a dish of papaya n avocado salad...yummy!!!

After dinner, we showered, played dai di, chilled out...then zzzzzz

Chelonia - Day 3 (30 Sept) Library clean up and Turtle watch

Woke up at 7am...hmm...dunno why also...we r supposed to set off at 9am...wake up so early for wat? ;p
Had bread with tuna or cheese spread, peanut butter and nutella for bfast...yumyum...then we cleaned up...

Oh ya...our water ran out all of a sudden last nite...hmm...where does the water come from? Found out today that there's a pump to fill the tank we get our water from...haha...aunty kalyani, the landlord, was surprised we din asked abt the water earlier...hehe

After a short meeting to brief us on today and the next few days proposed activities...we set off to the telecommunications tower to meet Lal who'll bring us to the library...
The library is a pretty small but tidy building...it's very dusty though...haven't been used for more than a month...a lot of weeds outside too....

So our first task was to help them clean up the place...with the help of a couple of kids...
We displaced a lot of the ecosystem there...hehe...spiders, millipedes, snails etc...we removed a lot of weeds too!!! Suddenly it looks more bare ard the library ;)



After the cleanup, we had a rest in the library...then when we're abt to leave for TCP for lunch...our lunch arrived at the library...goodie ;D
The lunch was pretty good...but spicy!

After lunch, we headed back home via the beach rd...hehe...but b4 we headed towards the beach...we stopped by some coconut trees at a Capt Mendis's house while zul tried to climb the tree to pluck the coconut...haha...but failed...oops




Walked passed the train station on the way back...cool station...hehe

Can u see me in the phone booth?

We walked along the beach near the water until hang chong spotted a turtle nesting site...btw section 5 and 6...after that, we saw more nesting sites and some body pits from the false crawl...




Then suddenly, wilson noticed dark clouds over the horizon and...hmm...it seems to be raining there liao...SPEED UP! Could see the dark clouds moving towards us but it din reached us...hmm...wonder where it went...



Actually later I found out it did rain…’cos the guys that went to buy bottled water had to take shelter somewhere…but it rained for a very short while only…prob that’s y I din notice the rain :p

Back at home we just nua...trying to come up with the perfect arrangement for sleeping tonite...such that everyone gets the fan...hehe



After an afternoon's nap...we had dinner prepared by aunty kalyani ...curry chicken, long beans and mixed vege containing carrots, celery and shallots...eew...celery...yuck :p but dinner was good in general ;)
We added tomato omellete as the tomatoes were turning bad...hehe...

After dinner, we prepared to set off to the beach for turtle watch...
Before we go to the beach, we stopped by at Capt Mendis's house again..hmm..they r having some ceremony there...inviting the spirits over...it's for prosperity...
Anyway, after a cup of tea, we left for the beach...


Everyone dressed up in black..as adviced by Dr Diong previously..hehe...dun wanna scare away the turtles ;)

We headed to the central hut where the TCP nest watchers meet-up...where we were briefed on wat the nest watchers do each day...
Then we splitted into 2 grps...and followed the separate pair of nest watchers...
We walked to the end of the TCP area...then sat down and waited for more than an hour...occasionally, the nest watchers will go for a short patrol....

Then we met up again at the central hut...stoned, looked at stars, dozed off...then we went for another round of patrol in the opposite direction...both grps switched directions...
Din see any turtles today...but we saw this guy with a sack...catching crabs...we saw a very big one!! But it's been killed by that guy...how long can that crab last?



At almost 3am...we started heading home...in darkness...guided with our torch...hehe...
Some showered...I didn't..just tied my hammock, lighted the mosquito coil...then zzzzz...