What's next??

half of 2009 is almost gone!!
june is coming

and i hv nothing else to look fwd to until mid nov :(
driving test... not excited anyway, and dunno when's goin to happen
doesn't seem like i'm goin to the snow this winter.
my cousin is not coming to bne/melb anymore in sep/oct.

sien...

mayb i should look fwd to churning out results from my project, by increasing my work hours to include weekends, then i won't have time to think abt what to do during my spare time

being a 2nd yr phd student, i'm actually quite scared now.
i'm aiming to finish in 3.5 years the latest, which means around march 2011 i should finish all my experiments and be writing up my thesis
time is running short!!!

netbooks

thinking of getting a netbook
since i already hv a desktop at home, the extra one is for portability (is there such a word?)
every brands nowadays have a series of netbook.
eg Sony, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, Asus.

Sony Vaio P series looks good but doesn't hv the normal mousepad and is too expensive since i won't be using this new one as often, don't want to spend too much on it.
so Asus 1008HA (aka seashell) is currenly on the top of my list. it looks good (better than hp and dell and vaio?? but i don't like the look of the Eeepc logo >.<), and good enough for my need i guess. not sold in aus yet tho, but predicted to be around $900? (it's $429 in US). a similar netbook from HP costs $799, Dell $699

Restaurant city

i used to like Sims for a while, then Diner Dash (still love it).
and i recently 'discovered' that this game on facebook is actually quite fun :$
started playing this Restaurant City just few days ago... have been ignoring all the invitations i got from my facebook friends for so long.
was quite excited when i found out that by picking up rubbish in my own restaurant and other friends' restaurants can earn me a award/trophy. :$
then i got even more excited when i realise that by clicking on some of the trees nearby can earn me money!! woohoo!! XD

Dream dream dream

I dream a lot, almost every night
always wonder if those dreams will become true or not, coz obviously some are good ones and some aren't
i could even dream during my 30mins nap like just now >.<

During a typical lifespan, a human spends a total of about six years dreaming^[6] (which is about two hours each night^[7]). Most dreams last only 5 to 20 minutes.

The dream story itself in the last REM period is farthest from reality, containing more bizarre elements, and it is these properties, coupled with the increased likelihood of spontaneous arousals allowing waking review to take place, that heighten the chance of recall of the last dream. (so if this is true, it will explain why the dreams i remember usually won't come true) Reports from earlier dreams of the night, being more realistic, are often mistaken for waking thoughts.

Freud suggested that bad dreams let the brain learn to gain control over emotions resulting from distressing experiences. (wah... so dream is a practice ground har?!)

Ferenczi^[14] proposed that the dream, when told, may communicate something that is not being said outright. (means... what happened in the dream is what i really wanted in real life? well... true lar for some of them :P)

Negative emotions are much more common than positive ones

Up to 70% of females and 65% of males report recurrent dreams. (there used to be a repeating 'scene' of me free-falling /flying/floating which made me really scared in my dreams)

Content-analysis studies have identified common reported themes in dreams. These include: situations relating to school, being chased, running slowly in place, falling, arriving too late, a person now alive being dead, a person who is dead being alive, teeth falling out, flying, future events such as birthdays, anniversaries, etc. (with different scenarios), embarrassing moments, falling in love with random people, failing an examination, not being able to move, not being able to focus vision, car accidents, being accused of a crime you didn't commit, suddenly finding yourself naked, going to the toilet, and many more. (among this list, only 5 happened in mine as far as i can recall)

Twelve percent of people dream only in black and white.^[28] Studies from 1915 through to the 1950s maintained that the majority of dreams were in black and white, but these results began to change in the 1960s. Today, only 4.4% of the dreams of under-25 year-olds are in black and white^{[citation needed]}. Recent research has suggested that those changing results may be linked to the switch from black-and-white film and TV to color media. (was curious abt this at one time and i think mine is in colour)

Dreams are seen as projections of parts of the self that have been ignored, rejected, or suppressed.^[31] (think this is very true)

Had a few good hours of catch-up talk with my fren just before leaving from Perth,
since came back, i've been thinking abt what i want to do with my life after i finish my phd...
can see myself working for a few years overseas, as in not aus not msia, mayb somewhere in Europe or Canada,
then try a few years in S'pore, and if i like it there, i can see myself settling down in s'pore.

won't say this is my decision since there're still 2 or 3 years before i need to decide on the first step, but i guess that first step is pretty much what i really want. that's a good way to build up one's track record in my field. so whether i want to come back to aus or go s'pore, it's still a good thing to do as long as i can get into a good lab o/seas.

the thought of working in s'pore came on Mother's Day.
last sunday, my parents and brother were in Penang for a mother's day dinner with my grandmother and all the relatives there.
since i came to study in melb, i've missed out a lot of family gatherings, grandma's 80th bday, cousins' weddings, and of course all the bdays and mother/father's day every year.
and plus ... since eldest bro is most likely to be settling down in aus, and i don't feel confident enough for my 2nd bro to take care of my parents,
i want to be 'easier to reach' for my parents.


anyhow... all of these are 'subject to change'

_______________

i've just submited 2 photos i took in Perth for a competition by Jetstar :P
never thought i'm good enough to do this kind of thing, but bro told me i should try, so i did
there's a 'people's prize'... not sure how other prizes work...
but my submission is still being processed before it's in the gallery for ppl to vote.
stay tuned :)

最后一次感动到哭？
昨天晚上...

i fell asleep in my room after 1130pm with my door closed when my washing machine was still running.
when i woke up at 1am something, my light still on, msn incoming msg blinking... from my flatmate.
she was asking if im still awake, and thought that i wasn't.
and she already took out my clothes from the washing machine and dry them on the rack for me.
i wasn't totally awake yet at that time, so i went to brush my teeth (which usually wake me up abit) coz i hvn't, walk staight pass the drying rack back to my room (didn't realise abt the rack when i was walking to the bathroom), replied her msg, turn off comp and lights, to bed.
then think think.... felt touched that she dried my clothes for me >.<
it's not a big thing to do, but... i suddenly felt that... she's so nice that she did me a favour.
well unless she was complaining while drying my cltohes lar :S

i've been frowning, killing my brain cells, nerve cells and muscle cells!! >.<
just tired...
stressed

had a bad dream... abt what the family matter is i mentioned before...
the first thing in my head after i woke up is the pics from my dream, what i'm goin to talk abt in the lab meeting later at 9am, and Daniel Powter's Bad day >.<>.<

it's been a little roller coaster for me .mentally.
getting better.
project is moving along, one experiment after another, one 'assignment' after another.

quite stressed .some family matter.
dunno how to help.
sigh... lessons learnt.
____________________

since nov last year, 2 mums been saying they want to intro their sons to me!! >.<

..find me a bf..
eh wait... but they are 'finding me one' but i dont like it that way...

i think it'll be quite dangerous if i own a car.
coz i'll be driving aimlessly whenever i dont feel like staying at home.
and from memory, driving without an aim is dangerous according to the vicroad watever handbook.

if i'm in sydney, i'll be taking the ferry from (or to? depending where i live) circular quey whenever i dont feel like being at home.

there are some things that you (or just I?) only feel like telling/blogging abt when they're 'fresh from the oven'. and once it's over, thinking back abt it, u'll think it's no big deal at all and not worth mentioning at all.

ups and downs recently... from work, family, friends to myself. that's almost all the 'categories' in my life yea? well my flatmate's been alright at least, which is a big relief.

i started to don't feel ok with my supervisor, as in there's a torn in me towards him ... since last wed's weekly meeting with him and my co-sup. it's a very very very bad feeling. and i really hate it!
since 2 years ago he's my supervisor and i always feel comfortable with him as my boss until last wed. when he asked wat's my (experiment) plan for the coming week. and i went completely absolutely blank! and actually said 'nothing' to him. >.<
i've been aware abt hving all these things/experiments piling up at the back of my brain since i had my confirmation. but at that moment, i couldn't think of a solid plan that i can tell him. after pausing for few secs (felt like more than 1 sec at that time), still said i hv nothing planned to him, then he said 'so how do you maximise ur productivity?' and i really went panic and felt tears in my eyes :( then suddenly remember abt all these things that're 'in the queue' from my other 2 projects. :S so at last i did tell him i hv all these things coming along.
but after that meeting, i really felt like shit!

then i had my presentation on monday, which i did real bad.
bad as in... eg i couldn't answer some of the things that my sup and one of the pediatricians asked when they're clearly written on the paper.
i started preparing for it on friday, and sunday whole day. so could only blame myself for that.
i wasn't presenting my work, it's our journal club day, once a month, 2 person will present 1 'interesting paper' each. so this ppr was suggested by my sup on that wed.
after the presentation, i went back to the lab to set up some experiments, then Sarah came to our lab to use the spec,
as usual, she'll say hi to me and ask how i am etc.
i told her i did bad for the journal club.
"was it the paper suck?"
"no, it was my presentation"
"it doesn't matter, does it?"
"well yea... sort of..." :S
but i still mind lor!
we don't have exams or assignments to assess our progress etc. and our work/experiments are never ending. it's how much u can do, how much can u get within that 'limited' amount of time, and when/where u draw the finish line.
so.... i mind because i take that as my assignment. so i must do well at least.
i mind abt how my supervisors think abt me, coz they're important to me and i care wat ppl think abt me.

and also recently i'm not happy with the fact that he's not anticipating positive results from this particular 'recent discovery' of mine. ever since i started my honours, i've never found any positive results like this one. eventhough there're quite a few things to follow up before i can 'declare' my positive results out loud, but from the start, he doesn't think it's going to be positive, and that's like a big bucket of cold water to me.
probably coz i hvn't been getting +ve results so this little(?) discovery means a lot a lot to me.
luckily i still hv my new co-supervisor who's more supportive on this.
sigh...

seems like there're only downs from my work recently

yes, i dont like to change plan once it's decided especially one that i'm looking fwd to and have made other arrangement in order to be available for it.

wont be too annoyed if it's decided monthssss ago i guess, coz it's too long to be sure abt things so far ahead. well unless it's a plan which if cancelled will hv very messy consequences.

so 'surprisingly' last nite, i wasn't disappointed or annoyed at all that our monthly gathering might be postponed. eventhough the postpone can be avoided, if everyone updates the organizer abt their plans which they knew abt from weeks or months ago. [ct, i know you tried but it's her that i'm disappointed abt when i think abt it today. i felt that she doesn't really care?]

today, we had to postpone a dinner plan with my past and present colleagues, which is supposed happen tmr. we had planned this for weeks and started among the 4 of us, then gradually, due to some reason, more and more ppl are involved so ended up 9 ppl are 'invited' in total. we wanted to keep it small, but... well. (and looks like we might need to invite another 2 ppl now coz some 白目的人!! talk abt this infront of someone who wasn't invited)
then all the while, noone said they can't do this week or they can't do this day until monday. ok fine. one is becoz of assignment due on thurs, well she said she doesn't mind a dinner break from her studies so that's fine.
then the other one dunno why, just said on monday that she's busy this whole week so can't make it this week and asked us to go ahead with the plan. thing is, this 2nd person is one of the main person we want to catch up with ar. the rest of us (except 2) are seeing each other almost every single day! >.<
then fine.... postpone lor... next wk.
ask anyday prefer/want to avoid... this 白目的人 said ok no prob.
when decided on tuesday, and i already ask around making sure ppl can do tuesday and most ppl can do tues but hvn't got reply from the 2 main ppl,
then she said tuesday cannot and the reason she had was something she knew far before i first asked her >.< wah lau!! really want to smack her lor.
plus she told me that in front of another person whom we din invite (not becoz we forgot) lor!

okok....
patient... patient....

just found out that another primary schl classmate is working as an air hostess. she's working for Cathay, the first one i heard of is in AirAsia. and then 2nd one is a high schl classmate (guy) working for SIA.
hmm.... interesting....

*lightbulb* mayb i should be a dentist



but it's too late :(

i'm looking for an easier career.
but after u read wat i call an easier career, it should be a job, instead of career.

is there such job where
i dont need much memory, as in like dont hv to rmb every single things i've come across in the field?

that's my main concern of my current 'job'.
i hv to remember and be updated abt everything related to my specific field/topic.
dont mind the doing experiment or thinking a solution to solve some questions or problem part but i just dont hv enough memory space to store everything i need to know.

mayb a job like...

taxi driver will suit me. just drive ur customer wherever he/she wants to go following GPS.
or even a tram inspector sounds pretty easy. get on a tram with ur colleagues (they dont usually work alone right?), check tix check tix, if someone din hv valid tix, give fine ticket following the protocol (see... hv protocol, just hv to rmb the procedure), get off tram and mayb at the end of the day need to write a report for the day?
or a chef/baker? just cook/bake lor, once u find the right recipe, just cook lor. once in a while, invent new recipe, see how customers react to it, then, just cook lor, follow the same recipe. see... hv recipe, only need to rmb and practice.
or a piano teacher? teach student teach student, if they dont get it, basically practice + some talent will do for basic piano playing. then mayb once in a while need to attend those course to update with new exam syllabus etc. well to teach them, u need to hv the knowledge/skills right? to me, for now lar, i think practical side of it is really not that hard to teach ba, since the basics are pretty basic, after so many years of learning, what i still rmb should be it right? but of course with my qualification now, i can't teach properly lar, still need to take up piano teaching stuff. but hey i'm just saying IF lar. it still sound easier than my 'default' career path lor.
or a hairdresser? learn how to cut lor, takes few months only for the course right? then 'practice' while u're working as a hairdresser. then just cut lor, should be able to rmb how to cut u're doin it everyday right?

basically those are things that come and go from day-to-day and eventhough u get slightly diffr job everytime, but they're pretty much the same thing.

career that i would say need more memory:
lawyer and medical doctor: no need to explain right? need to remember every single case from years and years ago before u're even born.
Engineer: er... correct me if i'm wrong... need to rmb details from previous projects, previous problems encountered etc. even basic theory you learned from high school/uni also need to be able to apply right?
Highschool teacher/uni lecturers/tutors: have to be on top of the stuff u're teaching. have to know more than what u're teaching since there're some students out there who will make ur life harder by asking diffc questions outside the syllabus. actually, mayb highschool standard still can manage ba. and once u're in it, every year should be abt the same right? hmm... sounds slightly better than those previous ones.

not sure abt accountants etc from the non-science sector.

i guess, the easy jobs are those at the lower end of the hierarchy.
eg in my field, if u're a research assistant (not saying RAs are at the bottom of the hierarchy ok!! there're still honours or undergrad student etc etc out there :P), things that you need to worry is much less. most of them only do what they're told (i do know some RAs who are very keen and active in their projects). and if hv any problems encountered, all you need to do is go to your boss/supervisor and ask for help (tho it's what i'm doin now). of course must try a few solutions before asking for help lar. and if still doesn't work, it's not YOUR project, so you won't have as much pressure as your boss/supervisor who is the one in charge of the project. diffr is... if there's anything you're not sure when being questioned, there's always the boss there to help u. well my supervisor is also helpful lar but he expects me to know my project better than he does lor, and he really mean it! >.<

am i complaining too much?

okok... back to my reading...

I should and need to read more

my confirmation on coming thursday,
first practice talk on monday. >.<
handed in my progress report on thursday after my supervisor gave me back my 'draft' on that same morning.

I'm starting to worry abt my short-term memory.
i've been reading papers since 2 years ago, but now if you ask me to tell you abt the paper, i can't! i can't tell you more than 1 sentence abt the paper. i'm pretty sure i understood that paper when i read it.
well, some papers i read i dont really understand at the end of it, but some i do understand lar.
woke up at 7am to continue another paper (from last nite) which i've read few years ago
and then went back to read this other paper, which i first heard abt it when my supervisor presented it in our lab meeting, which i'm suppose to read it before the meeting but honestly i didn't. so i read it after the meeting coz only found out it's actually very related to my project :S
then now i hv to read it again carefully in detail coz i dont rememebr anything from it!! eventhough there're highlights and notes scribbled on that printed paper!! i even forgot to mention abt that topic in my Introduction of my progress report (that's how i realised i really hv to read that ppr again)

after reading it very carefully, more careful than last time (coz i think i figured out something that i didn't understand last time), i have this conclusion:
reading papers is actually quite fun. :$ i can learn/know what other ppl are doing in my field which is important to keep urself updated, and learn new knowledge/facts that ppl discover from their research.
i know it sounds nerdy but surprisingly that was my first thought after finishing that paper!!!

Eventful 2009

mid march
confirmation
hazard test :$

april
parents visiting

early may
perth conference + short holiday

june
......

july
....... (go ski?? or mayb can fit driving test here? >.<)

early august
giving my first 'public' talk, outside my lab and it's not accessed. it's during what we called the 'cross group meeting', once every month for our theme (the whole MCRI is divided into 8 themes, where each themes has a number of individual labs.
(or put ski here? can't decide myself anyhow)

end sep/early oct
cousin visiting

nov
bro's wedding + my short holiday :)

dec
............


Looks like a pretty busy year.
can sort of 'see' myself until the end of the year, which is kind of bad i think...
coz it'll feel like this year is going to pass very quickly.
just like this coming long weekend, thou hv some plans already, hv been looking fwd to it since monday and it's (only) thursday today, but i can see myself feeling it's tuesday and back to work again. so dont really want the weekend to arrive yet.
it's just weird. dunno how to explain

suppose to clean toilet and do the vacuuming, it's my turn this week

suppose to read the paper i've just printed out, for lab meeting tmr

suppose to read over my progress report before sending it to my supervisor tmr

but i am

drinking the new black label apple rockmelon honeydew juice... tastes bit strange and has the thick saliva feeling at the end which i dont like.

feel like going to the city... to buy a clock for the living room and i spotted dress on friday which i might like :P am paying attention to dresses nowadays, for november :)

singing with liangjingru (since housemate not in, can sing out louder :P) and manage to convince myself that my computer speaker is still good :)

I think i'm back to the days where my curiosity is what 'dragging' me to my next day.
was still on holiday mood yday, but now i hv that little feeling of "can't wait to find out tmr the results of my experiment i did today!"

A senior postdoc said to me before... wat makes her enjoy staying in science is the happiness and satisfaction of discovering and learning new things through doing experiments or reading journal papers, and helping her students. But she doesn't like writing grants and all the paperwork.
so yea... that's basically the major part of the work as a researcher in science.

not thinking too long yet... just want to finish my phd asap for now and not suffer too much :P

It's Melbourne again...

I'm back in Melbourne.... aih....

on thurs morning...
we actually touched down on time but were stuck on the plane for an hour becoz a Qantas was still in our bay for some reason. and there were no other suitable bay available at that time.

thurs nite...
new flatmate moved in.
was quite looking fwd to it but hope we get along well.
at least she's not a total stranger to me. our mums knew each other since high school.

fri morning...
went back to work for the first day.
already have cells to harvest at 10am! thought i won't need to see them when i come back, but too bad that they are super-slow-growers, they still need me to take care of them.

sat morning...
it's valentine's day! but nothing exciting for me.
woke up, went market, catch up with all the kangxi i've missed since i went back, well not every single one i watched lar... skipped one or 2 which doesn't seem interesting to me... learned that a person can actually watch kangxi until feel sick de :P had instant noodles for dinner... the 2nd packet of inst noodles since i came back :S

sunday...
did nothing.
woke up, had lunch, chatted with my flatmate for quite a while... luckily she's a 'talk-able' person coz i dont really talk much. :$
long time didn't have ppl to talk to at home d (except when my family was here lar).
dinner time... we cooked tgt and ate in front of the tv.
long time didn't hv ppl to eat with at home d (except when my family was here lar).

and now... it's midnite already, and then it's monday again :S
still on holiday mood. but somehow look fwd to doin my experiments tomorrow.
but not look fwd to writing up my progress report etc for my confirmation which is on 19th march :(

should be sleeping now...
nite...