Summer 2015 Shenanigans

Dear jumjum,

Less than a week until classes begin! Since I will be juggling lab and lectures in the coming semesters, I decided that this summer, I had to make time to do most of the things I intended to, but have yet to do. OK, I'll admit most of the things had to do with eating, but I think it has been a pretty interesting summer so far.

• Cycling

Mel is crazy about cycling- she went about 6 times this summer, and I tagged along twice. It was in Shatin, along the way to the HK-Shenzhen border, so it's away from the skyscrapers and also less congested.

The first time I went cycling, it was all good until this dude decided to make a sudden U-turn on the tracks and I managed to brake but did not put my feet down in time. Scraped my elbow and my knee (yes, the one already with the famous Eye of Sauron scar, which I scraped again 3 years ago at Permai. It is now a scar-upon-a-scar-upon-a-scar). While I was still sitting in shock on the ground, these two middle-aged ladies popped out from nowhere, exclaiming in Cantonese and producing antiseptic wipes and bandages. Thank goodness I wore long pants, otherwise the wound would have been worse- I ended up with a hole in my pants.

Saw a stall selling 豆腐花 on the way and we couldn't resist.

• Meg and Mark made their annual visit. Mark had more fun than us girls at Lush, charming the salesgirl with his rabbitty smile! She actually dropped a whole 'bath bomb' worth 50 HKD into water just to demonstrate to him how it worked..

• My crazy roommate got me hooked on The Big Bang Theory and I devoured all 8 seasons while bundled up in bed. I blame the unproductivity on you, Nikita! Also, she takes the weirdest pictures of me and sends them to me when she's bored at work, like the paparazzi.

  

•  Kuching

Kuching is always all about the food. I was desperate for durian when I landed so Mum told me to go get some myself. I went with Zac, and freaked out with the price the man charged me. Well, at least the durian was reaaaally good. I refused to tell Mum the price I paid and I never will! However, my parents would be proud that I learnt some of their price haggling skills. On my last day there, Dad went and got me a whole variety of durian! It was awesome. =)

The main reason my whole family went back was because Zac had a play, The Tempest by Shakespeare. My parents were not particularly impressed, saying that we've been seeing Zac act since he was a kid. But we were all very entertained, and it was so weird but so intriguing seeing Zac act as a protective dad!

Val and I were also in town for the annual Kuching Food Festival, and Freda and I attempted to eat 5 of the most attractive ice creams we could find (we managed four)!

Reunited with Smiaozers and Fluffy!

 

We put the light sabers to good use.

With 2 of the cast members after the play, having supper.

My Evil Twin and I went to karaoke singing. There, I posted your favourite picture- happy now?

And we DIY-ed a T-shirt for Ele's 21st.

 

My parents' 25th anniversary is coming up in October, but since we were all home we celebrated it early.

• We finally made use of the barbeque site on campus.

• Went on an adventure way out of town with a fellow editor after delivering high school science magazines which we write for. Really enjoyed going around HK in a van instead of the underground MTR for once.

• Splurged on good food with good company.

  

•  Summer Project 2015

This summer I joined the calcium imaging lab, which owns a zebrafish facility. As well as doing experiments, another undergrad and I had fun catching fish, changing baby fish water, 'harvesting' brine shrimp, cleaning fish tanks etc. One downside to working with fish is that if there was any unfortunate incidents, I go home smelling like a fish monger...

My lab mates were really nice and helpful, and since they were all much older than me, they were watching out for the baby of the lab. I also liked how much of a community they all were, usually gathering everyone and leaving for lunch breaks together. My supervisor was also super meticulous, checking my report with incredible care.

  

In the confocal room with my good friend Mr 90i.

The hardest part for me was all the waiting. Waiting for incubations, in between washings and worst still, confocal imaging! On average, it took me about three times of removing the dish, re-orientating and refocusing the microscope before I could take a decent image of each embryo. And then I had to sit in the dark for 20 minutes for the microscope to do its thing. Usually during a particularly long waiting duration, I would run down to iGEM lab and annoy Erica and Edwardo. =)

 

This little guy was my bench mate.

• Drinking

For some reason, this summer was full of these sessions. All I can say is that it's funny to see your friends tipsy. I also have videos of blackmail-worthy material on my phone now heh heh! Watch out, guys.

• 5 years after learning to play classical guitar, I finally played (half) an acoustic song on my guitar while singing. However, the video will forever remain for immediate family's eyes (and ears) only!

*atm*