End of Summer Term

Dear jumjum...

  I can't believe 3 months past me by just like that!!! Had the last full-day lab today before classes start next week. Kinda 舍不得, I'd rather work in the lab than attend lectures and take exams again...

  Ele arrived in HK last week! A little surreal having a Lenian here with me. It's kinda weird how normal and natural it feels to have her here though. We spent Sunday together, helping HJ move halls, then had late ramen lunch at this place I've wanted to go for ages. 

  After that we headed to Ikea (Ele has never been and I've never been to one in HK). So different from the one in KL. The place was really really small with low ceilings, and for some reason the locals here seem to hang out at Ikea like it's a recreational park. There were teenagers sitting in a ''bedroom'' chatting away, old men reading newspapers on the couches and girls just chilling out on the beds. We braved the long queue at the cafe and had some meatballs and chicken wings.

More food! Frozen yoghurt at Smile.

We hung out at Times Square and went back to Kowloon side on the Star Ferry. Brought her for reaaaally late Korean dinner at Tsim Sha Tsui.

  So I finally moved into the infamous Hall V! I was really upset about it but you know, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. As long as I have a roof over my head. I really don't like discolored/stained walls and peeling-off paint, so I covered most of my part of the room with colored paper. The most essential part was the bed frame which was once white but had since turned yellowish.  HJ knew that I find it hard to sleep the first night in a new place, so she very kindly came over and spent the night to keep me company since Melody (current roommate) wasn't going to come back until the 2nd night. 

  Slope up to Hall V. For some reason Google backup likes to automatically beautify some of the pictures I take...

My side of the room just looks super blue now xD

 

 View from the window.

So this is home for the next academic year!

*atm*

  

Another Weekend

Dear jumjum...

  Friday was Rinaldi's birthday, we celebrated at seafront then about 12 of us iGEMers went to watch Lucy. Ohmahdays. The front part was pretty cool, but at the end we were all sitting there like wth did we just watch?! I think I lost some brain cells by watching that movie. Throughout the rest of the night we were making Lucy puns and jokes...

  We hung out for a bit at the mall- went into this arcade place and was very surprised to see more old people than youngsters. They looked like arcade old timers too. I know the Jockey Club is prominent in HK but I didn't expect to see an electronic horse race betting machine in the arcade! Very interesting..

  Saturday was my alone time; after the morning meeting I headed to Langham Place in Mongkok. I've been thinking of starting to use eye creams; cause apparently the eye area shows wrinkles first and we should start caring for it early. Chose to go to Langham Place cause they have almost every skincare brand available in HK there. Decided to go with Clinique after doing some online research. 

  When I was young, my mum used to use Clinique products- I loved to go to the bathroom and just read all the labels and smell the products; to me using Clinique was always such a grown-up thing to do; so buying my first Clinique product was kind of a sentimental milestone! Love the packaging too. Simple and clean.

  I actually didn't buy anything from H&M for once! (About 50% of my wardrobe is H&M...) Wondered into this shop called Monki because they were on sale. Kinda funky place- the fitting room has mirrors on all sides. Tried on a denim jacket (have always wanted one but I don't see any suitable occasion to justify buying it). I did pick up a t-shirt that reminded me of my blog =)

  Also picked up some stuff for the new dorm room in the notorious Hall V I'll be moving into end of this month. It's depressing but I'm gonna do the best I can and make the best of it!

  These few days I've come to know different people's impression of me, both good and bad...not sure how to think or feel. Kinda accurate, I think? But I never knew I was so transparent. Also, I've had some good news over the weekend, was reflecting on it all in church today- my family, my friends, my direction in life- I feel like a very very blessed and lucky girl indeed! 

Say hello to Mr Iceman HJ and I built in the lab.

*atm*

 Dear jumjum...

  Cooked for dinner again yesterday! Went to Hang Hau for groceries alone- bad idea. Could barely carry the bags back alone and halfway back to the dorm one of the paper bags tore open =.= 

  Mixed vege, mapo toufu with minced pork and eggplant and chicken curry. Chicken curry was a disappointment, not sure what it was lacking but it was lacking something..

  The star of the dinner was the last-minute apple slice cake! Melody asked me what she could do with the all-purpose flour her roommate left her, so I told her I'd try and make a cake with the rice cooker. Didn't have any measuring cylinder or mixer, so I just eyeballed everything and hoped for the best. Man it was goooood. A bit too much flour though. HJ and I improvised and added orange-flavored chocolate to the batter- a touch of genius! =)

*atm*

Rainy Saturday

Dear jumjum...

  Went for Journal Wiki Club meeting as usual today; when we came out it was very dark outside and raining cats and dogs. My local friend Chloe suggested that we go for fish and chips at Sai Kung. The last time we were there for Thai food we passed by the fish and chips shop and it seemed rather interesting and I've always wanted to go.

  It is a tiny shop by the sidewalk, the fish fillet was rather small but fresh and tasty. Had a green tea latte and it wasn't too sweet. The BEST PART was the FRIED OREOs! Initially when we saw it on the menu we were like whaaat!?, but Chloe bought two and insisted that we try it. It was da bomb! It's basically oreos deep fried in batter- I expected it to be hard and crunchy inside, but it was so soft and sweet and chocolatey! HJ and I immediately bought two more each xD

  After lunch the weather cleared up nicely, so we spent half an hour or so walking around Sai Kung and buying more food as we went along! After that it was time to head back to campus and hide in the library.

Guess what I found xD I was ecstatic!

  Am in the Wiki team for iGEM, so basically we have to code for our webpage using html and css. I joined the Wiki team only because I can't do graphic design and I hate human practice work... Spent the whole afternoon Googling and trial-and-error-ing with html. Quite satisfied because I actually managed to finish the (very very) basic layout for the page assigned! I know I kinda don't have to force myself to learn to code, because there are two coders in the team who will most probably end up coding everything while the rest of us edit the content, but I know I should- any opportunity to learn should be embraced! Who knows, I might learn enough to edit my blog layout by the end of the summer! =)

*atm*

Long-overdue Update

Dear jumjum...

  I have shamelessly, shamelessly neglected my blog for most of this summer. Where do I start? Err. I am staying back in HK to join iGEM. Initially I was going to take a summer course too but (thankfully!) decided against it so I can focus all my energy and time on iGEM. 

  The initial plan was also to not go back home at all (because I'm kiasu like that), but Mummy missed me and started sending me weird texts so I felt obliged to go home. I booked a last-minute flight back and only informed Dad, Val and Suki of my return. That night Mum came back from prayer meeting and I opened the front door, with Dad and Zac ready with their cameras. Mum smiled at me as if as a stranger at first, then upon realising that it was her daughter her face was priceless-ly shocked! xD

  It was really nice spending time with the fambam. I overdosed on durian and all kinds of mee. Also got to meet and catch up with friends who were home. The night before V and I left, Z went a little mental and took out a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle and demanded that we solve it with him! 

 

  It's been 9-5 working in the lab since coming back. Generally, I really do enjoy doing labwork; but lately after failing this and that and repeating stuff over and over again, I'm feeling a bit disheartened and down. I finally understand how some people skip lunch because of work- it's like you have so much to do that you hardly notice it's lunchtime and you don't even feel hungry. I've been skipping lunch for the past week and yes, I know it's very unhealthy and I'm gonna change that starting today.

Waiting for the library to open on the weekend

  Last Saturday HJ and I went to Kyoto Matcha Teahouse (you know I love me some matcha!):
(photos from HJ)

   HJ has been craving nachos for a long time, so last weekend she decided to prepare some and invited some of our friends over too. I offered to help out with the salad. We went to the Aeon supermarket in Tseung Kwan O and mannnnn, I really like that place! Lots of veggies to buy and I finally, finally found some okra in HK! Mum used to blanch them plain and I really like it like that. They also sold salad-in-a-cup! So these were my solutions to my lunch problem: I prepare the veggies during the weekends so I can just pack them to the lab and take 5 minutes standing outside the lab to eat. Eating cheap & clean!

Lunch plan.

Nachos dinner haul

This was almost 7pm- I still can't really get used to how bright the evenings remain in the summer..

  HJ outdid herself with her nachos dinner. We ate so much that we both felt a bit sick the next day... Left: Nachos with guacamole, cheese and salsa; right: plain old salad.

  Ideally, we plan to take turns and cook something fancy each weekend, so we'll see how it goes =) Ok time to sleep bai!

*atm*