Destination USA: San Francisco

I've arrived in the USA!! Safe and sound, probably to the disappointment of some of you, haha. Man it's feels gooooooooooood to wear a jacket in the cold autumn weather again!

Staying with Juliana's friend Ram in the graduate housing area; we've not actually seen the university....arrived on Sat night and on Sunday Jul and I went to San Francisco instead, which is a BEAUTIFUL city. Btw now I understand the concept of 'blocks', as in somewhere is 4 blocks straight and 2 blocks right...the cities here are built in a grid system, which makes navigation so much easier....compare that to KL, or some of the old European cities, where people just added streets whenever they felt like it...

Cable cars..no engines, rather they're dragged by moving cables underground. We rode on one, which goes uphill, downhill, uphill, downhill STEEPLY....great fun!

Downhill to the bay!




San Francisco bay...lotsa sun and sea....sun is sooooooo nice when it's not hot...







Hundreds of sealions sunbathing on Fisherman's Wharf....apparently a recent phenomenon, after the 1989 earthquake here....lots of them barking, rolling, some fighting, but most just doing what we do best, slacking.....







San Francisco is hilly! Notice the steepness of the hill...we came down that slope on a cable car....

















Jet lag then hit...both of us suddenly became zombified....

The Golden Gate bridge...notice zoned out look...fake smile...
Guidebook says that the bridge has enough wire holding it up to circle the equator 3 times.

Right today (Monday) we're supposed to go tour the university proper...but it's noon and Jul's still sleeping...ah well...oh and it's Halloween today, so we might hit the town and see what's up, as it's supposed to be the biggest party day of the USA...

Past and future times

Past:

Can you believe it? There was a Christ's College alumni gathering in Singapore yesterday! Didn't think they'd bother holding one halfway across the globe, but yeah!

It was organised by Neo Ying Hung, former Port of Singapore Authority chairman, at the pool terrace of Orchard Parade Hotel (high class!) And Dr Navaratnam and Dr Alan Monroe flew down to Singapore to attend, as well as conduct interviews for Singaporean applicants to Cambridge. As well as hold that entrance exam. Man, that was soooooo long ago for me, and Dr Navaratnam was my interviewer no less.

Poolside reception, waiters approaching anyone without a drink to offer some, and a GREAT spread of food...and lo and behold who do we meet? Prabin, Gail Aw, Dominic Soon...ppl I haven't seen in ages! To tell the truth I've even forgotten that some of them were from Christ's...haha...many others were there, like Daniel, Gareth, Juliana....seemed like a normal Christ's gathering again....no matter what, Christ's will always RULE!!!

And a few other alumni who graduated much earlier, including quite a few who did so before we were born....some interesting characters, like a half-English half-Arab guy who's staying in Ampang and lecturing in the International Islamic University, one person working in Apex Healthcare and his subordinate (who was constantly complaining about his company's stock price)....but most of all it was the old friends that made the evening....and the nice swedish meatballs as well....

Just before we left, the sky saw fit to rain pure hell onto the earth...it was one of the stronger rains I've experienced yet these few months, and the only one so far which I was caught outside in...Found out that whenever it rains heavily the main road outside my flat turns into a river....I think the water was half a tire deep....had to jump across from Gareth's car to the kerb (and felt somewhat like Indiana Jones....dun laugh) and dash across the waterlogged field leading to my place....

While drying at home my housemate Ming Jenn came back, bringing with him one of our long lost ACS hallmates....Ching Siang....aka Michael Wong....man...haven't seen HIM in almost 5 years now....apparently also an investment banker, but even worse off than Ming Jenn...usual off hours are 1am....ok...ppl.....dun go into investment banking not knowing what it entails....was good to see him again, despite the fact that he was a zombie....still the same guy, think we dun really change much after the teenage years...

Future:

Tomorrow Juliana and I are off to the US of A!!! For those not yet updated it's ASTAR's idea to send scholars to the USA to visit universities and labs, talk to professors and thus choose a university/lab to work in. I'm deciding between stem cells, and RNA interference/micro RNA work, so will be visiting professors that work on these. Btw while browsing through the faculty lists, I noticed that most faculty in the USA are called professors, whereas the Biochem dept in Cambridge for example has 4 professors out of 30-40. USA students always call their profs 'profs', but I've always wondered what I should call the guy whose lab I'm working in.

Ok here's the game plan:

29th Oct till 1st Nov --> San Francisco. Visiting Stanford, maybe University of California San Francisco. P.S. UCSF has become one of the top choices for me, since it's got a Stem Cell centre with tons of people working on stem cells. Furthermore California's getting lots of state funds to support stem cell research.

2nd Nov till 4th Nov --> Los Angeles. Caltech, UCLA and Hollywood! Mostly Hollywood. Haven't drawn up any plans to go stargazing, would rather pop over to Yosemite, but hear that's some way away, and you need a day at least to appreciate it fully. Hmmm.

We're then flying to Boston, and...

5th Nov till 6th Nov --> New York! The Big Apple. The David Letterman Show calls it the greatest city on Earth. Bridget Jones had a scene where the sleazy guy comments "New York. Where Sex in the City isn't a TV show, it's a promise". Trump Tower (for this The Apprentice fan). Wall Street. The Statue of Liberty. Man! Purely pleasure, no business. My prof did ask me to pop by Rockefeller Institute though. Visiting Natalie here.

7th Nov till 9th Nov --> Boston, where the BIG TWO are. Harvard and MIT. Man. Getting into one of these would be....many dreams come true. =\ we'll see how things go. Visiting Leah here.

10th Nov flying back to San Francisco, 11th back to Singapore. And hope that some of the profs liked me.

Present:

Not yet packed. eeek. And tomorrow before I fly I've got to go back to the lab (in Singapore) to harvest RNA from my cell culture. 2 hours I think, better get it done FAST.

Fantasy

I changed my MSN pic about a week ago, and quite a few friends mentioned it....haha didn't realise THAT was something people actually noticed.... so I decided to just showcase some of the types of pictures that I like....

Some of you might know that I really like scenic pics, more so than say art or pics of buildings....thus my MSN or desktop wallpaper often has scenic pics...places that I think would be



My old MSN pic: Punch Bowl Falls in Oregan, USA (from webshots.com). Imagine how cool it would be to be on a boat on the river paddling up to the waterfall.....








I changed my MSN pic to this:


This pic is called 'Infinity', part of a series by Kagaya, who is a Japanese artist specialising in fantasy artwork. Sometimes I really yearn to be the guy in the pic, watching the Northern lights like that....would be nice to have that girl standing behind as well =P

More at
www.kagaya.com, but here a few more that I love










'Back into the palace' and 'Madonna Blue'















The clouds in 'Madonna Blue' especially appeal to me...lying in a field like that, looking up into the night sky........And imagine punting into a water palace like that...a change from the college backs huh.....

Scenic pics transport you to wherever they depict, and with some imagination you can take a short trip into somewhere magical for a while....that's why I love them.....

Met the PM!

I met Lee Hsien Long today!

Big event at Biopolis. The Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Long was scheduled to visit Biopolis, to tour the labs and meet some of the ppl here. Which included some scholars. Which included me!

Haha first thing we could think of: Good food! =P It was also my first ever time wearing formal office clothes to work....and everyone in the lab asked about it....since normal lab attire consists of T-shirts and sport shoes....bermudas too in the case of my supervisor...

And everyone in IMCB (my workplace) was talking about the visit, mainly cos the building was due to be sealed off while the PM is around....so from 4.30 till 6pm no one gets in or out, so the poor buggers can't go home early...haha.....and there were police all around....not the normal security guards we have, but actual policemen all over the place....

But we were arranged to meet the PM at one of the restaurants at Biopolis, and walking there at 4pm we...was it....yeap.....yeah it was....an airport-style metal detector! Security man!

The PM came around 5.30pm....he looked looked like a kindly old grandfather....albeit much taller......and much more powerful.....so everyone in the group, we being timid ASTAR scholars, as opposed to them PSC ppl, kinda formed a semicircle around him, like there was a forcefield surrounding him, and gave mild answers as a group whenever the PM asked us something....everyone taking care not to be too loud in case the PM's attention fell on you, kinda like a herd of harmless cows....he asked fairly general questions, about our attachments, our universities and our PhD plans.....

Then I noticed 2 or 3 well built, serious looking men hanging around us....then I saw the earpieces they were wearing, those you see in the movies when the USA president appears......Secret Service-type bodyguards! Sans the cool shades though....but true to the movies they never smiled, and their eyes were always shifting, looking out for potential threats (think that's why the USA Secret Service wear shades, to conceal the fact that they're looking at you, if you're a potential threat).....one of the scholars thought one of them was cute....hmm a thought, these ppl would take a SERIOUS interest in you if any in the group were to walk up to the PM......

Well we only chatted for a few mins, then the PM left.... haha then the topic of conversation amongst the scholars turned towards the food, or lack thereof....it sat on a table between us and the PM and assorted VIPs....and no one was willing to cross over to get it....but the waiters brought some over, and everytime a plate was laid on one on the tables all the scholars swarmed over....REALLY like a flock of pigoens, when you throw bread at them.....fried banana puff pastries, BBQ chicken nibblets on lemongrass sticks, fried mushroom with mashed potato (served on spoons?), and salmon on toast.....haha.....

Then the ASTAR chairman (Philip Yeo) came over! Right everyone back at attention....though it was a fairly casual conversation....and now apparently Juliana is on track to replace him as chairman someday =P

Oh on that topic she's just curled her hair...and I imagine she'd be pleased if everyone goes and takes a look and praises it....muahahahahaha.......

Pause

I've realized one important thing....Choosing a graduate school should be done by choosing a lab which is studying a field you're interested in, unlike in undergrad where you choose the school mostly based on its prestige...some of the prestigious universities I'm applying to have few (or no!) labs I'm interested in T_T...spent 2 hours browsing their biology departments....taking a break to complain about it...haha....

I've gotten ONE response from a professor I've emailed....hopefully the others will reply soon else it'll be a wasted trip to the USA....and my personal statement is effectively in stasis right now.....

And I've started dabbling in investing....specifically mutual funds, don't dare to wade into stocks yet...it's interesting, now I find myself reading the money/finance section of the newspapers, and by tracking the prices of my investments I saw a small dip in the market last week....helps that my housemate is an investment banker, who comments on the economy every day...haha.....

Man it's 11.30pm....urgh got to go back to searching for labs.....the clock is ticking....

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO STUPID

ARGH!!!!!!

Decided to stay indoors on a Saturday to email professors in the USA about visiting their labs and possible PhD projects.

Wrote up this generic email to send to them. 1st one went well.

Then I copied and pasted, and sent the same email to another professor, with the 1st prof's name on it.

SHxT!!!! Couldn't believe what I did. Sent another email apologizing, saying I still want to visit them, would he forgive me please??

Then after a few more emails, sent a Harvard prof an email, but mentioning in the email that I was interested in applying to the University of California.

FxCK!!!! What the hell?!?!?!?! AGAIN!?!?!?!?!?!? This is almost like a B-grade, cliched, lame comedy plot device.

I need to get out and clear my head.

2nd month anniversary!

Of working! Haha....else what? =P Though today is Saturday, so no work....but I know my supervisor is at the lab.....he's there every single day, weekends and public holidays included....devotion man!

Realised this week that I had stopped getting the "Oh man today is Monday" blues...cos somehow in a blink of an eye it's Friday again....time is passing SOOOOO fast right now, faster than even in university.....it's feels like my life is sand draining through my fingers.......scary when you stop to think about it, though on the plus side I no longer mind Mondays....=)

Have made headway into my personal statement....written 140 words worth of bullet points....out of a 1000 word essay....and still no Ingredient X to make it stand out yet....On the other hand, I've sent out all my recommendation requests to my professors and supervisors....slowly but surely things are firming up.