Jumjum returns!

Dear jumjum...

  While waiting for 10 mins incubation to go by for an experiment, I had a conversation with David today about what we do in our free time. He brought up sports, I talked about reading and guitar and then we both talked about the Youtube genres that are our weaknesses. After finally submitting something I put off for awhile, I was mulling over whether to start a new book tonight since I did not feel like working anymore but it is a bit too early for bed. Then it suddenly occurred to me that blogging never crossed my mind during our chat this afternoon- and for good reasons.

  Before university, writing was always at the back of my mind. I'd have a fleeting thought or an interesting moment and I would immediately go, 'oh I should write that down'. It certainly isn't like that anymore and I actually feel demotivated to write: I have a ton of half-written posts floating around in draft-space, possibly forever!

  It also occurred to me tonight that if this blog was my child, it would be 10 this year and attending primary 4! I am aware that that is a crazy metric for how long a virtual thing has existed, but it still blows my mind. I also remember the joy that reading these blog posts bring me and so I am determined to write and not let this child die!

  Perhaps we should start with David. David is the second undergraduate student that I guide in the lab. Crazy, right?! The first was Sarah, a final year student. When she showed me her FYP poster for my feedback it felt funny. Funny because it was only last year that I was preparing my FYP poster and yet, I didn't feel totally unqualified to comment on hers. It is the 5th year that I have been in HK, yet it doesn't feel like so long ago when we were freshmen. I must agree, however, that I have changed, most significantly in the past year. 

  The first year of MPhil has been...uncomfortable. I am still adjusting to not having concrete deadlines for most of my work, and I am finding out that I am quite the procrastinator when left to my own devices. For the first few months, surrounded by bright minds and hardworking bodies, I questioned if I was good enough for this. It is also hard to be here without the familiar faces of my gang, and all those Chinese 名句s we learnt about the sorrows of 物是人非 comes back in waves. 

  Being a hall tutor has definitely made its mark on my character. Since socialising is now my job, it is less daunting than it used to be. I also learned to relax when hosting floor events because the stress oozes out of you like a bad smell. It is kinda nice to hang around the young undergraduate folks who worry over midterms and projects- they remind me of a young me and I like to call them 'the kids' (although people have repeatedly reminded me that I was a 'kid' just last year and one or two of those 'kids' are actually the same age as me ;) ). Hall tutor perks aside, I'm glad that I convinced myself to try for the position, because I knew that it would help me grow. 

  Here's to the postgrad life ahead and (hopefully) blogging on the regular!

*jnatm*

Opening the 'Letter to the Future Me'

Dear jumjum...

  Four years ago at the start of our first semester of uni- when our uni life was stretched out before us and graduation seemed so far away, my friends and I decided to write a letter to ourselves to be read upon graduation. 

http://jumjumjump.blogspot.hk/2013/09/letter-to-future-you.html

  My graduation ceremony was almost 2 weeks ago, but I only remembered to open it tonight. 

  You know how I always set up high expectations for events in my life? This was both a case of future- and retro-expectation. Four years ago, I was expecting myself to be a well-adjusted, confident (and thin!) woman with a clear path in life. Tonight, I was expecting the letter from young Jacq to be insightful, inspiring and well-written. Both Jacqs were disappointed! The letter sounded to me like it was written by a baby! Bleh. It still did make me cry though...but what else is new? ;)

"...yes I am"

I still question myself every single day!

*atm*

About Time

Dear jumjum...

The last time I landed at the HK airport, my mobile data wasn't working (I later found out that my phone bill was unpaid, thanks to bank account complications), and I was bored to tears waiting for the bus. I realised that I was waiting right under a take-off flight path, and became interested to see if the planes took off at regular intervals, since HK is such a busy airport. I used the position of a vehicle flyover relative to my position as a point to start timing once the plane flew past it. At the same time, I also tested my counting accuracy by counting the seconds and minutes in my head and comparing it with the timer on my phone.

The data recorded. The last one was way off because the bus had arrived and I was occupied with loading my luggage.

When I got on the bus, I started thinking about how I like to time everything. In my first year I timed how long it takes to go to church from the bus station, and how long it takes to get to the nearest town, Hang Hau- so that I can plan ahead and be exactly on time. Unfortunately, that sort of backfires whenever there is a long queue at the bus station. I also like to time the different routes I can take to a destination to figure out the most efficient path. However, I usually don't write it down and forget it before I can do the comparison.

Below are two routes from Hang Hau to my hall- the taxi drivers either take one or the other, and I could never decide which to ask them to take. The blue route seems longer but more direct since it's on the main road, the red one is more windy... And now I know!

*atm*

The Before Trilogy

Dear jumjum...

For the past week I have been spending a lot of time on my own. I think it was contributed by the fact that I take 2 out of three of my classes alone. I mean, there are people I know in the class, but I never feel comfortable deliberately sitting next to mere acquaintances. In the third (Bio) class, the usual gang, save Eric, just isn't there- HJ is taking all Chem courses this semester, Chloe is on exchange, and Mel is recuperating. I've declined invitations to go out, probably because it was so busy back at home, and I just wanted to spend some time alone. As a result, I have caught up with all the series I follow, and have watched a significant amount of movies in between.

I came across Before Midnight from a list of top movies of all time. I only found out that it was the third movie in a trilogy while Wiki-ing it because I enjoyed the movie so much. All three movies follow a couple around as they stroll through different European cities and just talk...a lot. It sounds like a terrible idea for a movie but honestly, I have not enjoyed any movie this much since Pride and Prejudice (which, at last count, I have watched maybe 30 times. Honestly, and it never gets old). I enjoy their conversations about the most unconventional thoughts and opinions. I also like the verbal expression of feeling which I believe are common to most people. 

I found the script for one of the thoughts that resonate with me the most:

I will leave it there because I don't think my writing can do the movies justice. 

Patricia and I have come up with a silly movie idea about football matches in the mist. This, of course, started off because we were doing just that two weeks ago. It was a thriller about how one couldn't see what was happening at the other side of the field and suddenly out of the mist comes the shadow of a football that knocks one's face in slow motion, and their teeth flying out of one's mouth...

Anyway. Today, on the way to our last football match of the season, we were talking about how amazing the human mind is, how schizophreniacs can conjure and integrate their imagination with the real world (my reflection after watching A Beautiful Mind some time ago). We were toying with the idea of a movie about imagination-inception, and decided to combine it with our previous Misty Football Match idea, where when the mist clears, the person realises that there is actually no one there...

*atm*

Single Awareness Day 2016

Dear jumjum...

For the past 2 years, the Jji jjis have had special outings during the horrible celebration known as Valentine's Day. In 2014, we had dinner in Jordan, then went dessert-shop hopping. In 2015 we booked a karaoke room and went for a Vietnamese dinner afterwards.

This year, we're so single that we don't even bother anymore. Not one of us even attempted to suggest that we do something. Patricia and I had a football match in the afternoon, and after that we dragged our exhausted selves to the supermarket to stock up on junk, and proceeded to spend the day watching movies and binge eating on our beds.

*atm*

2015 In Review

Dear jumjum...

2015 has been a roller coaster ride and really, it has zoomed past. 

I experienced some most unexpected highs, for example giving my longest presentation ever relatively smoothly without any prior rehearsal (I was severely pressed for time) and not knowing if I even had enough material to even decently cover the allotted time; I reached the most tipsy state (was I drunk? I still can't decide) that I have ever been during summer break; and my proudest achievement would be that I boldly took my first, serious, 4-credit computer course, Introduction to Object-oriented programming. 

In the beginning of the semester, I was cautious but relatively confident with the course...and ended up being below the mean for midterm. Interspersed throughout the semester were periods of feeling utterly hopeless and panicked when my code wouldn't work for labs or assignments. I become a complete wreck when I'm in panic mode, and I think OOP has forced me into staying calm keeping my wits about me, simply because it is guaranteed that nothing will be solved if I'm running around like a headless chicken. It has also gave me a taste of being the underdog in class- my mouth wide open with confusion while the rest of the class nods with understanding. I guess I just needed some time and sufficient practice to adjust to their way of thinking and the language, because I did well in the finals, and I'm really really relieved because it's a testament that I learned and improved. 

In 2015, I also hit my lowest point ever, feeling like I'm not good enough for anything, and I think that it all stems from overthinking. Still working on that, and I've learned to just go for the things I want- because really, what do I have to lose if I fail? 

*atm*

Dad in HK 2015

Dear jumjum...

Dad was in HK again the past week for a meeting. It was the perfect time for him to come, since there were two public holidays anyway and midterm madness has yet to begin. 

When he first arrived on Monday, we had lunch with his colleagues, walked around Festival Walk (probably dad's favourite mall in HK), then we came back to campus to drop off the stuff mum got for me. Mum's care packages always come plus-sized- we had to drag it all in a small cabin bag. Dad insisted on transporting it all the way to my dorm for his little princess. =)  We then had an awesome zhu chah dinner at ‎坑口村, where I must bring Crazy Cat and Patricia to one day, seeing as the only chinese food they've had is campus food which is far from decent!

I went to stay with dad at my aunt's on Thursday, and in all my hurry-scurry, I left my aunt's house key behind and only realised it when I was already on the train. =.= It was kind of embarrassing to call my dad and tell him what happened and that I was going to be super late. We then spent the following three days alternating between walking and eating. I don't think I've explored HK this much since my first year and I made dad walk so much that his calves were aching =D 


Dad was stoked to chance upon Joe Bananas, a bar he used to go to with his old boss 15 years ago. Other than stuffing our mouths with food, we went drinking, played pool, sat on a park bench and watched some teenagers play basketball, and watched the new Transporters movie. On the last day we were feeling cultural so we went to the heritage museum and walked through a park. Oh, dad also got to experience his first typhoon.

I'm glad that dad got to meet my HK friends (of whom I talk about a lot to my family) over a dim sum breakfast. We also attended mass at the tiny old church that I usually go to. Dad and I got to talk a lot, and I finally got the complete story of how he started out as a seminarian, then sold cell phones, worked in a bank, worked in warehousing apparel and finally ended up selling shoes! On the last night, we were chilling and talking at a restaurant-bar where there was some live singing. Dad requested a song, then made me go up there to sing! =.= I'm such a pushover. But then again, I wasn't going to defy orders from the one paying the bills to keep me alive and educated! xD 

It has been a blissful three days where I got absolutely no work done, and now I'm so reluctant to get back into the grind...gahhhhhh

*atm*

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*

The iGEM Experience (part I)

Dear jumjum...

I have been starting every post with an apology lately. It has been a year since I joined iGEM- another cycle has since begun and I am still reluctant to blog about it. However, we had a general meeting last night and because they are actually starting lab work now, it reminded me so much of my own experience.

I heard about iGEM from Hojeong aka Crazy Cat, so we attended the introductory talk given by Prof. Chow. My first impression was that it was too incredible. Undergrad students manipulating DNA?! I had to give this a shot. The meetings and tutorials were...intimidating. Hojeong and I felt like two dumbasses in a room of smart kids. We were desperate to learn and terrified of being kicked out of the team (a totally baseless fear). I remember the two of us sitting in my room back to back, trying to come up with a project proposal. We came up with something to do with thirdhand smoke degradation but it went to a dead end. It was good though, I believe that was my first exposure to searching and reading research papers.

On the first day of lab training, we had plans for dinner with the other Jji jjis since the lab closes at 5.30pm. Our lab trainer, Cruellar; let us off early since there was not much we could do that day and scheduled a meeting late in the afternoon. While we were waiting in the learning commons, he informed us that he was being held up in the lab and that the meeting had to be delayed. And so we were forced to cancel our dinner plans. That was when I realised how our summer was going to be- and from then on I never dared to confirm any plans with anyone.

I surprised myself with my enthusiasm for lab work (where does that spirit go when I need to study??!). I never procrastinate if I have an experiment to do, and I can only wish the same can be said for the other areas of my life. It is way more satisfying to me to work on an actual project where you get physical results compared to studying for a test and getting a mere grade. I derive a weird sense of satisfaction working in the lab. Time seems to fly by and I finally understood how people could possibly skip meals for work. I believe that summer was the most enjoyable period for me since coming to HKUST. After the summer term, attending classes was so dull and such a pain, especially since we were running from the lab to lectures and vice versa.

The unfulfilled plan.

I was initially in Group 5, which was basically a redundant group because we were working on the lysis module, which we can never do experimentally in the lab due to biological safety concerns. Once we confirmed the proposal for that module, the group was disbanded and I was allocated to Group 1. By the end of summer we had to prioritize our time and so we were put into another group to help. And so there was this running joke that whichever group I joined would eventually be disbanded. =.=


The day before wiki freeze, most people were only just done with midterms so there was a lot of last-minute uploading, proofreading, tweaking... We pulled 16 hours in the library overnight and were smelly and so disorientated that morning. The last few of us who survived up to the deadline were freaking out so bad because I was proofreading the last last-minute page (which no one else thought was worth doing, which in hindsight, may have been true), and we were trying and failing to log onto the site for half an hour just before the deadline. I had the best sleep of my life that day- Melody said I was happily snoring away in broad daylight. 

As Chloe put it, 'The Six Survivors'

Our wiki:
http://2014.igem.org/Team:Hong_Kong_HKUST

iGEM took up a whole lot of time and a lot of sweat and some tears were shed over it; but it was the best experience for an inexperienced dumbdumb like me. To be able to work with peers semi-independently and with all the freedom in performing experiments made it worth it. Also, like I mentioned before, it was nice getting to know weirdos similar to oneself. After being cramped up together in the MBMS lab for months, you start to know your teammates much more than you ever want.... 

I miss all the chaos, the funky LB smell that greets you as you enter, the daily battle of booking machines and gel tanks, fighting with the Side Project Mafia, and yelling in different languages that is iGEM lab.

 

*atm*