Dinner at Ikea

After my first weekend at work, I get to go to Ikea to have dinner with secondary school CCA friends. Ok. It's not that we rarely meet. Just not so frequently. I went Ikea for a few times with my family, just not with friends. Interesting change of people. Yup. Meatballs were nice as usual. Too bad we did not try the chicken wings. Those are very mouth watering also. Sigh...

Of the 5 people who went for dinner today (including me), 3 already have jobs (they graduated) and 1 has guaranteed job (he's a lawyer). Me? I do not know yet. Maybe try for doctorate? After all, I hope to work in CDC (local or in the US) or WHO. We'll see. First, must see through Project Final Fantasy. Perhaps, like Square Enix, I will have Project Final Fantasy II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII....

Project Final Fantasy Update 2

2.5 weeks since beginning of Project Final Fantasy. What I have done:

1. Bought materials.
2. Grew organism in mosquito cells.
3. Learnt cholesterol assay
3. Begin preparing for cells for plating to perform drug treatment
4. Harvesting organism
5. Assaying organism number

Seems a lot? Nah... It has been slow. Could have been faster, if not for the 2 consecutive stupid days. Like what the people around me says, I should try to slow down and think through more carefully and ask people around me for opinion/help. True, true and true.

I think I am intrinsically very competitive in things I believe I can do well. Ok. Practical work is not something I can do well at the moment. However, since I have a year of prior experience, I have expectations to live up to. Particularly since my previous experience tells me I am error-prone and so should work harder/faster than most people to avoid last minute scramble. Then again, "Haste makes Waste". I am attempting to find a good balance between speed and solid progress.

On another note, somehow after watching last week's Guess3, I am stuck to Rainie Yang's songs. Previously, after I watched a Taiwanese game show: A Million Star, I got stuck to Jay Chou's songs. A Million Star is a show similar to the American "Can you remember the lyrics", except it has artistes trying to continue songs instead of members of the public. In a way, this increases the standards of singing and makes it more interesting. The host and "principal" Harlem Yu and "class monitor" No-No provides very interesting interaction also. Very very good entertainment.

MRT woe

I admit. This are very oooold complaints. Still, people complain about it. Cramped MRT. MRT carriage has no seat.

Problem 1: Cramped MRT. I do observe that MRT is getting more cramped since 2 years ago. This is probably because the costs of driving and cabs are going up and so people are resorting to cheaper means of public transport: MRT and bus. Compared to bus, MRT is much faster. Therefore, people tend to take MRT. Problem is the MRT system (East-West and North-South lines) is about 24 years old. From what I read, the signaling system cannot handle train frequency of less than 2 minutes (Some people are demanding trains at a frequency of once every minute).

We can try the frequency of once every 2 minutes. However, I think the problem is with the passengers. There are more passengers. The train is more cramped. People need more time to get out of the carriage. Therefore, if we stipulate the frequency of 2 minutes, the trains will be held up between stations (Remember the times when the trains stopped between stations or halted at a station?). This is because the trains have anti-collision system that tracks the distance between trains. When trains are at a minimum distance apart, the system kicks in and stops the train behind to prevent collision for example. Therefore, even if the frequency is once every 2 minutes, eventually, it will stretch to 3.

Can you imagine how will your days be if they have to overhaul the entire line? Imagine days of MRT. Imagine you, getting from Pasir Ris to Boon Lay by bus. Imagine standing in traffic jam and on the road for 1 hour without seats. At least twice a day. How? I think they probably have to overhaul sooner or later. Let's hope they have a better plan.

In the meantime, I think we can address this "cramped" problem. Ever thought why it became cramped? More people taking MRT of course. But how about people refusing to move into the centre of the carriage? Ok. Some people with big bags (or big sizes) cannot squeeze into smaller spaces. This is not their fault (I remember someone suggesting SMRT ban backpacks on trains). The slimmer ones can move into these spaces. The carriage can actually hold 3 rows of standing passengers. But often, you will see only two rows. Why? People did not think to stand closer to the sitting passengers. Or the legs of sitting passengers went too far out, obstructing the standing passengers.

Problem 2: MRT carriage has no seat. Obviously, this is to accommodate more passengers. Logically, standing passengers take up less space than seating passengers. There are opinions that people actually take up more space when standing because of their need of more private space. Owners of these opinions, therefore, believes that SMRT should put the seats back because people expect to be seated since they paid the full fare or SMRT should charge less for standing passengers.

Somehow, when people give comments, they rarely realize that the problem can be solved by themselves. More private space? How private do you want? Should SMRT mark out square boxes in carriages and make sure people stand in their own squares? As long as no one gets molested or feel the hands of others on their bodies, have their pockets picked or have to sniff some bad body odour or perfume throughout their journey, it should suffice. Often, it is only a short journey. A little tolerance will go a long way. Besides, do you not feel guilty that because of your need for private space that others are late for appointments or to work? How about if you are at the receiving end? Even if there are seats, what are your chances of getting a seat in actual situation?

Granted, people do not change immediately. They need some time. Therefore, people should work together and make the MRT rides a more efficient one and which is more comfortable for everyone is general. Instead of merely complaining to SMRT, we should also take a look at how we can help alleviate the problems.

Stupid for 2 Consecutive Days

Ok. I have done dumb things for 2 consecutive days. 1st day's problem is because I assumed certain things and did not thought to ask. 2nd day's problem is because brain lapsed (as usual) and my inept-ness in maths reared its ugly head again. Ok. It is not "inept-ness in maths", but rather, my inability to rationalize the procedure.

It seems like the more I try to rush, the more I stumble into errors (even though I spaced out my work throughout the day to prevent error from fatique). Time to put into place damage control - before the work piles up. This calls for planning!

3 Persons

The Taiwanese variety show, Guess3, had a segment in which they featured a celebrity and 3 persons (or people. Pardon my poor English)known by the celebrity at certain point of his/her life. Each of the "persons" was made to stand behind a curtain and only the silhouette was shown to the celebrity. The celebrity is then made to guess who this "person" is, based on the silhouette, what this "person" says about the celebrity (voice of "person" is altered so celebrity cannot identify the "person" by voice at this point of time) and an item which is supposed to link both of them together.

Failing which, the celebrity is made to shut his/her eyes and the "person" is allowed to come and and talk to the celebrity (in real voice now). Celebrity can feel the "person's" arms, face etc... Before guessing who that "person" is.

I think it is interesting (I have always wanted to play some of the games in these shows. Like the one where celebrities go "treasure hunt" in a house). Never mind the attention grabbing tag lines that were used to introduce the "person" -- like "XX celebrity once said she would marry me" or "XX celebrity rejected my confession". Then again, these lines indeed piqued my interest (I confess. I am a sucker for gossips when I have nothing better to do. BUT I do not gossip about others).

After watching the episode, I started to question. If it was me (I have never dreamt to be a celebrity and will never be able to be one), who would the three persons be (in no particular sequence)?

1. 
   
   Teacher who supervised us for a science project in junior college. I had formed my team of 4 guys back then. However, we slacked off (probably not thinking properly at that time) for half a year (ridiculous right?). Then the time drew near for a science fair where we have to present something. This teacher had another group of 2 girls. Unfortunately (or fortunately in this case), the maximum number of people in a group was 3. So I volunteered to transfer over since I knew at least one of the girls. We worked on plants, coconuts and strawberries and somehow, got a gold award at the fair. Unbelievable I tell you. 3-4 months work, really simple in experiment and write ups compared to all the real science going on. Somehow, we got the gold. I will always savour the moment. The process of preparing the poster and report was tortuous. New to the demands and norms of the scientific community, I questioned and was not very happy about why Teacher's insistence of certain things to be done a particular way (I realised this is the norm in scientific community only when I entered university). Wonder how Teacher is now. It has been 6 years already.
2. 
   
   Sister. OK. For those in the know, she is not biological sister nor adopted. I shall not waste your time explaining. Ever tried message 40 times a day to a single person about non-important stuff? (Very sorry about that) Or talking over the phone for 1-2 hours. I know. Some people are already doing this in primary or secondary school. I started late. Very interesting period of my life. We started out... shall I say... very differently from how we ended up. But I think this is probably the best ending. You cannot go wrong with having an additional sibling.
3. 
   
   TWM. Again, I shall not explain. It is very strange trying to introduce this person I have known for... let's see... 11 years. We started out being as different as heaven and earth. He is rich (dad drives a Jaguar), smart (got first in level several times), stronger in English than Chinese and has nice handwriting. I am... well... relatively poor, not so smart, probably having similar levels of command in English and Chinese (I do not claim to be good in them) and poor handwriting (I was writing with a ruler back then). Somehow, we stuck together. Never mind about wealth. I admire his intelligence and style in handling things. He would use nice coloured papers for project work reports etc and was accused of "spoiling the market" on several occasions I think. TWM went to study medicine while I went life science. He probably graduated. Somehow, he is slow on reply my SMSes. Probably busy. Doctors are very busy people. He should be doing quite well. In a profession which is always in demand, already driving a car, has a girlfriend.

Of course, there are several more important "non-family" people in my life. My tuition teacher in primary school, my primary 6 school teacher, this guy I know in my secondary school CCA (another very bright guy with considerable athletic prowess) and my research mentor. Then there are of course, important people in my social circle, in a more relaxing way (various classmates, CCA mates, module mates, people in lab, NS buddies).