Happy Halloween :D

It's Halloween again, and time for a break! ;p Not that we care much about the tradition behind this festival. It's just a chance for us to let our hair down and have fun! ;) This year, i only found out about the party 3 days before the event because i am not on FB anymore, and have been spending most of my time these days doing labwork or checking FA results in the sequencing room :( But it turned out well in the end as i had a sudden spark of inspiration while taking the bus home:
Fortunately, i managed to find 2 other very sporting girls to join me (was already considering a Lara Croft outfit if i didn't manage to find members)! Here's our look:It might not be half as theatrical as the real thing but i think we pulled it off pretty well on a low budget ($2 x 3 tablecloths from Daiso and one pack of multi-coloured feathers from Spotlight. Most expensive thing was the lipstick!) ;) Good job girls! :D It was really fun coming up with ideas on how to make the costumes :))

Some other costumes of the night included Ben's "Coffeeshop Uncle" look which he pulled off pretty well:
The cutest outfit of the night had to be this cup of KOI bubble tea:Check out the super adorable koi hat on his head!! *eeps* Never seen such a cute hat!

And then there's the boy's new look :D Doesn't he look handsome??

Hehe actually the fringe was borrowed from Barbarella, who was looking for her ang moh boyfriend :p

Halfway during the night, a fight broke out between the knight and the cat, while the terrified pumpkin kid tried to flee from the chaos!

Another load off my chest

I finally did it. Not sure if things have been totally resolved, but I feel things should get better from now. The relationship between my supervisor and I have become so strained in the last year, so much so that I feel so stifled and super depressed. Always hiding from him, (very) often cursing him. Every time after talking to him I'd need to cry :( And so it happened again yesterday, but thankfully I went to seek help, and under the advice of dear Denise (thanks babe *muacks*) I mustered up enough courage to talk to him again. This time about the issues between us, and to let him know my concerns, my insecurities. Also to apologize to him for giving him such a rough time as a supervisor. Brave me, no? ="= Haha but of course this was between tears :p I think he took it pretty well, and kinda appreciated the gesture. Pray for me that it will get better!

Graduation Mania!

Yesterday was the commencement ceremony of many of my friends-the hons kids, and also several grad students as well!! Started off with some crazy picture taking frenzy in the lab, then some more after their ceremony. Am gonna miss u all! Especially all my 'kids', as i dearly call them..

Some crazy photos with dear Nicky (a very sweet boy, no doubt) who i really miss having around:
And then there's my sweetheart, Pammie :) Thanks for being my ISFJ!
And then Zee! Glad we kinda made up after the spawning fiasco.. :p
A very happening graduation event, cuz so many of them are graduating!! Especially so cuz the BioD group is small and are very close :) Wish I had such a fun and cosy graduation!!

Sigh, this is my 3rd batch of honours students already! Every year they come and go, breaking my heart each time! Perhaps i shouldn't get too close to them eh? :p

Redemption

"Prof Meier cares about his students... " I blurted out to Pete, my supervisor, and I made the mistake of stopping right there. Ever since then, Pete's finally realized is 'mistake' and been trying very hard to make up for it! Haha, I think he's been so hung up about the fact that his student is "in love" with another Prof; he is jealous (?) and been trying hard to up his popularity stakes. It's pretty scary actually, with ur boss constantly asking after you, trying to ask you out to lunch, treat you to lunch, chat with you - OMG he actually relented and showed me his dreadlock pictures (yes he was a wild youngster, and you really won't believe it was him in the pictures). Especially when at the back of my mind I am thinking "Hmmm, what's he up to.. There must be an agenda behind all this niceness.." This is bad! It's really not a healthy relationship is it, to have so much distrust between each other. Ha, I can just imagine this (ok it's not very well-drawn, but imagine holding daggers behind your back as you smile to each other):
I really hope he has realized that he should care (sincerely) for his students' welfare, and not just so that he gains the adoration of his students. And yea, I also do wish to be able to resolve this asap, cuz it's quite sad to be like this, don't you think? Will I be able to let my heart get past this?

On the Path to Permanent Head Damage

After weeks of panic and frantic preparation, I've finally officially cleared the qualifying examinations that allow me to proceed on the path of permanent head damage. Looking back, I can't believe the frustration I went through the 2 weeks just before the doomed presentation. It's just another public presentation, wasn't it? And to be honest, I think I was prolly more upset with myself and perhaps my boss more than I was worried about the presentation itself. Somewhere inside, I think it's got to do with the many many presentations I have had to give thus far. Guiding at Kusu, teaching the undergraduates, international conferences even, and as much as I hate to admit, I think the frequent presentations for this module I took this semester kinda made me numb to presenting - I have learnt to be thick-skinned!! ="=

Here are some photos that one of my colleagues took of me during the presentation:

That was me desperately trying to undo the format changes that the seminar room's computer had done to my ppt slides (Check out the ppt slide! I designed it myself, cuz I had no idea what picture to put)

Prof Tan, the Chair of my seminar, and also one of the examiners, introducing me to the audience

Me "ready" to field questions from the floor

The presentation went OK, though I got a question on Googgle Earth which I made no sense of, and one question from Richard Corlett that I wished I'd answered much better. It was a question I'd asked myself before over and over again, but I still did not have an answer to it. Then came the grilling session with my examiners, where everyone else was chased out. I got a mild shock, as I did not expect even my supervisors had to go! But thankfully, the examiners were really nice to me *muacks*. As Siva said, they were more trying to help than ruin me. And I really appreciated their concerns about the many risks of my project, my workload - all of which debunked the expectations my own supervisor imposed on me! Gosh you don't know how relieved I was to finally get this kinda affirmation. For my morale has been so badly battered by my supervisor's high expectations and demands. Thank you, Sirs. :)

During the past 2 dark weeks, I also experienced so much love and support from some wonderful people. Words alone can't express my gratitude to them. Karenne, for the immense support and tonnes of advice, lending me a listening ear when I needed to pour my heart out. Thank you so much, you have been so sweet =) Pamela, who was my nanny and forced me to write my proposal, something which I'd otherwise have too much inertia to really get down to doing. And to my "new friends" from the Evo Lab, who have been just the sweetest, supportive (& wacky) bunch of labmates. I love you guys already. This Christmas, I am going to be more broke, but more wealthy in other ways =)

Back in Singapore~

Hehe, sorry for the lack of updates.. though I have been back home for a week already! As you might have suspected, I was prolly enjoying myself too much in Australia after they started to like me that I got too comfy there to blog :p And in the past week back home, it was busy catching up with friends and work! Still have tonnes of work, but hehe, am taking a break from writing my essay (I've a very short attention span), so here I am...

Reflecting on the trip, it was a really awesome trip! Not only did I learn heaps, I also made a couple of new friends =) It's always great to meet new people and expose myself to new cultures. This trip was especially cool, 'cuz there were people from all over the world, but all brought together by their love for corals *aaww* :) Meeting people of such diverse backgrounds and life experiences has just increased my wanderlust by several folds :p I am now more determined to go on a long trip to experience life, should I manage to survive my PhD. What made it more valuable was the acceptance by the people who were initially resistant towards me.. And this is how it turned out! Just as eye-opening was the fact that the bigwigs in the field, such as Bette Willis & Andrew Baird (my 偶像s) actually went down to get involved in the field work themselves! Hehe I know, I'm such a nerd right, to get excited watching Bette Willis kneeling on the pontoon to get the corals from the divers. But it was really quite inspiring, 'cuz she's prolly been at this before I was born, yet she still has so much passion and drive! I can't imagine most other Profs in NUS actually up at 3+ am in the morning with her students, doing field work :D Hehe and i asked to take a picture with her at that ungodly hour, and she obliged!

Back in Singapore, some little surprises were left on my table.. Some of the hons kids had been leaving little notes and drawings on my table in my absence! Hehe it really warmed my heart to know that they were thinking of me in my absence ;) On Friday night, our lab had a simple Halloween party - bit of deco in the lab pantry, with tonnes of food! I am really impressed with the labbies, for being such good cooks! Really puts me to shame :p I need to learn how to cook too... I'm sure I can, hehe, just don't have the motivation to try. Perhaps someday someone will give me the motivation to cook ;p Anyway, back to the party, it was a really funny Halloween party cuz nobody was dressed for the occasion, and they were playing Indian music! Hehe, this must've been the tamest Halloween party, and really true to the Singaporean spirit cuz food dominated the party! :p What I prepared must've been the most Halloween-themed food. Check out my Eyeballs in Purple Blood: And my pumpkins!! Hehe, not bad for a first-timer eh? ;) PS: Can you spot the 'fake'??
Finally, here's a 'family portrait' of the huge marine lab family :) Though this is prolly only like half of the big family! Thanks to Pammie for organizing this great party =)