And So It Begins (Again)....

This morning, I registered the modules I'm gonna take for this semester.

Yes, the new semester had began. My first lecture will be on this Wednesday.

More than just the beginning of the semester, this Wednesday will also marks the beginning of my final year (at least that's my plan...)

And this year, on top of the usual coursework, I am doing my MSc project (more details on that next time)....

So this year, it will be al a bout balancing work, study and project... on top of everything else.

From this Wednesday onwards, this year is gonna be so fun...

Momentum

During term time, when time is really tight, I can keep my momentum and keep everything going.

However, during the semester break, I will just slow down and be more relax.

Of course this is understandable, but it is not a nice case. Because I still need to work, and there are many things for me to catch up.

So the end result of being more relaxed -or, in other words, losing my momentum- is that my work will become a bit disorganized and I won't be as productive (at least I think so) as compared to term time. Then it will take a while for things at work to be back to order again. This has been the pattern for the last couple of years.

As for the things that I needed to catch up, some of them had been bothering me for quite a while and I really wish to get them off my back as soon as possible. The backlog at work is one example. It has been dragging on for much too long. Seriously, I will be much happier if I can clear them off ASAP (and it's not something I can just sweep it away and pretend they don't exist...)

However, at the rate I am going, I doubt I can even clear a significant portion of it before the start of the new semester.

I badly need to switch on that term-time mode again and get back into momentum...

My First Mac....

This is the first ever post on this blog to be written using a Mac. Yes, I bought iMac; and yes, this is my first mac.

So how do I feel about it? I of course feel very good about it. It's quite cool actually: A big monitor, a compact (wireless) keyboard, and a sleek (also wireless) mouse. I really like it a lot.

There are still some features I need to get used to, and maybe some accessories I still need to buy, but it's really nice like this already.

Maybe I should start writing more blog entries from now on.

As The Dust Settle/ Slow Start

Ok, I think previously I mentioned that the exam results of this semester will determine my survival in the MSc. Well, the exam was just over and I do feel good about it... have to say its the semester I had so far.

But as for the results... I don't know. I really have no idea. I feel kinda 50/50 about it. So I'm not really worried at the moment, just had to wait for the end of the month to see whether I make the mark.

For the exam, I took two full weeks of leave from work. So just got back to work last Friday. One of the scientist remarked that I should take a few more days off just to relax, I replied "that's not like me". It's only partly true, cos the other parts are 1) I am running low on leave (need to save it for next sem's exam); 2) I am away for so long, if I don't get back asap, I might lose touch with my lab skill, lose touch with the lab in general, and might even lose my lab partner (those who knows, knows what I mean).

Anyway, when I left for exam, the team just started on a new project. Not much progress since then, still making the starting material (SM), so I am able to have a slow start upon my return, doing scale-up of the SM. Step 1 proceeded smoothly, step 2 I got stuck: it involves anhydrous condition at -78 degrees, a condition I never seem to master. So at the end of reaction, TLC indicated a big chunk of starting material not reacted, and a bit of product. Nevermind, worked it up and purified it. Got quite a sizable amount of the product, and it's a clear oil (always a good sign). Ran the LCMS and compared it to my partner's data: it doesn't match. Now I am a bit worried. Will run a NMR tomorrow and see what is this stuff I have. And I better be able to identify it.....

It's only Wednesday and already next Monday's meeting is not looking good.

Here I Go Again....

All right, so once again, a new semester had begun, and it's time for me to hit the books again.

(For those of you not updated, I am currently taking a part time MSc course in NUS. Already I had gone through one semester, and.... well, you can contact me if you wanna know more...)

A new semester always brings about a feeling of a new beginning, a new hope, and an opportunity to start afresh. There is always this belief (at least for me) that with all the experience gained and lesson learned in the previous semester, this will be a better semester where finally one can catch up with what one missed the last time round. (I seriously need this sem to be better, and I have lotsa catching up to do...)

If only life is like that.

But life is not. Life is rather repetitive for me right now (mostly due to work I guess). In fact, it is so repetitive, it erodes away a bit of the excitement of the beginning of a new semester. It only hit me yesterday that the semester had already begun, and my first lecture is tomorrow, and I am supposed to be gearing up for it and getting ready for the challenge a new semester brings (at lest mentally, I should be getting ready...).

It's past 10pm now, and I am still so unready for tomorrow: I had not get my stuff ready, and I had not get myself readying. Instead, I am down here writing this blog. Hmmmm... so I should stop writing this blog and go pack my bag. At the same time, I will get myself into the mood for the new semester.

The new semester had begun, and here I go again....

I Run Again

Less than 30 minutes ago, I just completed my first run in two months. All I can say is, I am happy, and.... WEAK!!!!!

After more than two months of inactivity, I finally decided today that I will go for a run. I am so glad that I did, for I had almost forget how good a mood regulator that running is. Also I had also forgot how running form a part of my life/ daily routine.

Maybe that is what is missing for the past two months, which is why I find it so hard to get life back to 'normal' after the disruption that is ICT and examination.

Yes, I was kinda struggling to put life back in order after my exams. It's been a month since my exams and I find it rather surprising; I was only away from work for one and a half month, and I didn't expect it will take so long to get re-accustomed to work again. (My boss might played a part, but that's for another day...)

So anyway, I came back home, immediately changed into my running gear and out I went running round the neighborhood. I didn't know how far I ran, but I ran for 45 min. I wasn't very fast, sometimes I was just jogging fast, but by the end of it, I was hot, sweaty, a bit light-headed and happy.

It feels so good to be running again after so long. I should do this more often. In fact, I will do it again tomorrow.

Once In A Blue Moon

OK, I had just gone for a run for a first time in quite a while (couple of weeks I guess...). All I can say is:

WEAK!!!!!

There used to be a time where I ran frequently. Even when I was in Basel, it's up and down the Rhein river (just behind the apartment where I stayed) 3 times a week. Now, for whatever reason, running had become something that I do once in a blue moon.

Of cos, I had been jogging with good buddy TH twice a week, but even that is a bit on and off. Also, it is just jogging; not quite the same as hard running.

There is really a need for me to run. Beside keeping me fit and healthy, there is the very pragmatic reason of getting in shape to pass IPPT. Talking about getting in shape, although round is a shape (yes, I had piled up quite some weight for the past year), I prefer to be in another shape that has more definition; so yes, that's another reason I very much need to run.

However, on top of it all, running is a very good and effective mood regulator. So running makes me happy, keeps my morale high and prevent depression from taking over (nope , I am not depression...). After all, sound body, sound mind right? So even if I don't become as fit as I like, I don't do well for my IPPT, or even I don't lost that much weight through running, I would still be running.

Of cos, now is the part where I would be saying something like "it's time to start running" or " I should have more discipline and less excuse", but talk it cheap, word is cheap. Thus, I would not say anything now. Only when I start running regularly again will I write about it.

The Day Before.....

Went blading with one of my blading kakis yesterday. It's been about a couple of months since I bladed and it felt good to be blading again.

Perhaps it's because I stayed indoor for too long and haven't been getting much sun, perhaps I haven't been in such a state of fast, fluid motion for too long, or perhaps it's both. I really don't know, but I really enjoyed myself blading yesterday. Up and down the ECP we bladed, alongside the beach, passing by all the active, happy people engaging their own leisure activities.

We started in the late afternoon until the evening. After kaki had left, I bladed by myself up to the Bedok jetty and stayed for a while to enjoy the sunset (yes, you can see sunset at the jetty, just that it's in the other direction instead at the sea). The evening, the sunset, being outdoor. Things I experienced a lot when I was a student and when I was in the army. Come to think of it, these are things I came to appreciate but seldom have time to enjoy it nowadays because of work.

So, yah, from now on, I will spend more time outdoor and enjoy the sun, the evening, and everything else. Shall lead a more active lifestyle instead of just lab and home. This way, it's more like... me, myself.

This way, I will definitely be happier.

Resumed.....

Oh no! I hadn't wrote anything for more than a month!

What happened? Had life became so routine that I am too uninspired to write anything?

Well, actually, not really. It's more like I am too drained and low-energy to write anything. Yes, life had became routine, but there's always new challenges at work - from the occasional fire that needs to be fought to the pile-up of backlog that is crawling under my skin and needs to be cleared - there's always something to tackle at work. Never a quiet day..... and oh, my boss took in a honors student, and guess who's mentoring him?

Everyday I start the day fresh and full of thoughts and ideas. Then when I reached the lab, the up-hill climb that is work began and by the end of the day, all I can think of is: "Brain dead. Go home. Stoned."

So that's how I stopped updating the blog for so long. Just can't gather enough energy (or is it motivation?) to put anything down. But surely this can't go on.

Yes, I must refuse to be drown by work. So it's time to resume all the blogging, reading, running, blading, swimming, etc.... in short, time to resume living again, and I shall start by writing this blog.

Let's hope it will last....

Clearing Leave

My mind is empty, I have no useless thoughts to write about, and I just posted a youtube video a few posts ago.

But having only one post this month just doesn't seem right. So for the sake of just putting something down, I am going to write about the things I wanna do while clearing my leave.

Yes, I am clearing my leave now, expending all 4.5 days of my leave carried forward from last year before they expire on 1st of May. What this means is that for more than a week, I don't need to go to the lab (and face the sometimes-I-just-wanna-scream-at-you Z) . So during this free time, initially I wanted to:

- Read a book. Anyway book. Actually I had some books in pdf version in my laptop, but reading from a screen is different from reading an actual book. I had picked up a couple if titles from the library (ah! visiting the library, something I had wanted to do for a long time. Now I did it, I should do it more often....)

- Kick-start my fitness plan. Battling an ever-expanding waistline, a ballooning weight, plus the need to (at least) pass the IPPT, this is a must-do. There is no try....

- Skate at ECP. Just did it! Met up with some nice ppl from the net, skate for the whole afternoon last Sat. Nice experience. I can really write a post about this, so maybe I will do it after the next session this coming Sat...

- Swim. Yes, I want to swim. I had not swim for ages. I want to dip in a pool of water and move around in it, while my mind is fill with calm.. or simply, nothing.

- Kayaking. (Might take a bit of work.....)

- Finish my 10-years-in-the-making cross stitch project!

- Finish the third part of my Epic!

There's another one about tidying up my room and another about reading up on organic chemistry and spectroscopy (for my work...). There's also one about going shopping and another one about meeting up with friends.

Then suddenly, it just struck me: I only have a week, I can't possibly accomplish all the things I listed above. So what this means is that most likely, some of the stuff above will get left out, and I will feel a bit disappointed about that.

Oh well, that's life. So many things to do, but so little time.....

So Unhappy...

Today marks the end of a far-from-good week at work.

I am so unhappy, and everything can be trace to this great pile-up of reactions that started more than two weeks ago.

I called it a pile-up when I'm running so many reactions in such a short time that I'm lagging behind in everything and things just starts to fall apart.

It's a long story how I even came to this state, but the end-situation is that the backlog of work includes lagging 20-reactions behind in lab notebook recording, at least 5 reactions on hold (some for more than 2 weeks, which is an eternity by lab-time) and, most important of all, the huge amount of glassware laying around inside my fumehood due to the all the uncompleted reactions.

All the above are already making me crawl under my skin. But then, my boss, Z, had to come and comment on how messy my fumehood is and how it reflects one's personality.

Yes, my boss, the one who gave me so much reactions and the one who knows why I am piling up so much stuff in my fumehood at the moment, decided that this week, when my fumehood is so unusually messy, is the perfect time to judge my personality based on my fumehood. If there is anything I hate more about people judging people, it is people wrongly judging people based on unfair situation. This is totally unfair.

Then couple with some other frustrating situation, a rush of blood shot through my head and I decided to let off a bit of steam in a very public way. There wasn't any screaming, shouting and nobody was hurt (physically, at least). It wasn't over-the-top, but it's enough to upset quite a few of the colleagues. So now I am paying the price for it. I deserve it, so it's ok. It's never a good thing to show anger. I should had known better.

Then you all might ask, why don't I confront Z instead? Well, I could. He's not even a quarter as scary as K (my boss in Basel) and I stared back at him before. I'm quite sure I can chew off his head if I really want to. But it serve no purpose. He's the boss anyway, and more importantly, he's knowledgeable and I am ignorance. There is still a lot I can learn from him. There is also a better time and/or a better way to get back at him. There always is.

So anyway, before I get anymore dark and evil, the reactions are coming in slower (partly due to Z now believing that it's better to slow down a bit), and so there'll be some time next week for me to clear the backlog, although it might take a few extra hours at work. But it's fine, as long as I get them off my back, I'm happy.

This Holiday Mood Will Wear Off

Going back to work after a very long weekend/holiday was not easy.

Especially that the holiday was CNY.

Especially that the lab was still very quiet cos some of the colleagues were still on holiday.

Especially that everyone else in the lab were also in the holiday mood and everything was going at 60% (at the most).

It also didn't help that I only had two reactions to run. Each of them needs to stir for 3 days and I can't proceed until they are done. So most of the time I was stuck at my desk doing experimental write up for the patent.

This is not nice situation. Have to start picking up fast, so that I can get back into the normal working mode soon.

Good thing is, one of the reaction will be done tmrw and I can start churning out analogs. I will also get to play with this machine for optical rotation. It will be a busier day tmrw, hope that it will help really help me wear off the holiday mood.

Company Annual D'n'D

Just came back from my first ever company dinner-and-dance.

The company is small, so the scale of the D'n'D was small (only 10 table!). This actually makes the D'n'D more fun as everyone was more involved. What was also nice was to see everyone being so 'on'; the theme was pirates, and a number of people were really dressed up for the occassion (even people in management level). Even big boss (yes, he dressed up a bit) gave his speech according to the theme (e.g."we set out hunting for treasures such as CSP and SPoCC....").

So yah, I took part in one of the games (nothing more then poking balloon) and got a voucher ($5 Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf) for that; had some 'newbie luck' and won another voucher ($50 Taka) in the lucky draw. There's also another $50 Taka vocher in the door gift. So it's been quite a voucher-ful night for me.

Oh, and there was the dance before the lucky draw. Almost everyone got down to the dance floor and let their hair loose. It's really like prom. Then some funny thoughts went through my mind (I wonder how she looks like when she dances....maybe this would be what happened if she's here now dancing to this song....), but oh well, it's not the time for those, so I quickly brushed them aside and enjoyed the night.

So now I am back at home, ready to go to bed. Tomorrow will just be another Saturday and most likely I will be back in the lab, doing some final preparation for my presentation next week.

It's back to the grind.

Moment of The Week

Two more days for the week to be over, but dun think anything can top this...

Scenario: Set up 2 reactions on Wed, 2 hours apart from each other. Stopped the reaction yesterday, an hour apart from each other. After stopping reactions, Z came over.

Z : （pointing to the first reaction set up) 这个反应跑了多久？

Me: 二十个小时。

Z: 另外一个呢？

Me: 十九个小时。

Z: 屁！两个反应相差两个小时开始，怎么可能一个十九，一个二十？

Me: 我又不是一起停的。

Z: 哦。。。

Me: 屁什么啦？

Z:。。。

New Work, New Challenge

It was simpler working in Basel: from the reaction to the starting material, everything was provided. All that was needed was to show up for work, turn up the stirrer and repeat the same reaction with different starting material over and over again until all analogues were done (or the scaffold was no longer interesting, whichever came first). If the reaction was not working, there was nothing to worry. Just tell K about it, have a simple discussion maybe, then a new reaction condition will pop up and everything was back to order.

In Basel, managing multiple reactions (alongside other lad chores) where the skill most needed and that was what I mastered.

Now in the current job, things are a bit different. There was only one reaction. It worked once, maybe twice, but then it never worked again. So I had been at it for the past few weeks. So a disappointed Z sat down with me today and we had a chat to straighten some issues out. So now I realize I am suppose to come up with the reaction scheme, set up my own reactions and provide all the deductions and conclusion. In short, I am suppose to do my own research. Fpr myself. Instead of just doing "work" for Z.

So it's a new set of requirement, needing more than what I learned in Basel. So I'll have to learn more. And fast. I will have to know more about the theory, the mechanism, and a load others about chemicals, lab skill, etc. I am so glad that Z finally spelled out the requirement today. If would had been better if he said so about a month ago when I started work. But then again, I could had asked... oh well.

Whatever the case, it's a new ball game, a new challenge, and it's exciting. Let's start from here. Now.

I Needed A Good Day......

I slept early last night and had a good breakfast today. I even wrote down a schedule for my work today (1st time I'm doing this since coming back) before I knocked off yesterday. I took a shower in the morning as usual and took the train as usual.

Work hadn't been good. It's been disastrously slow. I spent the past two weeks purifying a compound. Yes, two weeks. Nobody spends two weeks doing that. It's disgusting.

Hadn't really got on the right foot with my boss (let's call him Z from now on). Communication is a problem. Expectation is another. Attitude (this part solely on me) is the third. Things are different now - it's like I'm no longer a student or an apprentice, make a mistake (I dun intend to) and I get fired. So, must be a good employee, behave and perform (in more ways than one).

Like some teams at the start of the new season suffering a slow start and had patchy form, and really needed some good result, I needed a good day today. I needed a good day to believe that things can be better; I needed a good day to know that things can improve; I needed a good day to know I can put things in order and turns thing around.

So now at the end of the day, I can say today had been quite OK. Finally put up the compound on the dry freezer for the last time; interaction with Z is as good as it can get, for now; started a new reaction scheme which proceeded quite well. There is finally some order and organization. Overall, it's been a good day.

And it can get better.

First Week Of Work

Ok, let me get this post out before it becomes outdated.

So, 1st week of work, how was it? Generally, it went very well. Colleagues were nice, friendly and helpful. Most of them were around my age, so there was no problem in interacting with them. The environment was also pretty nice.

The only issue was that quite a lot of adjusting and adapting were needed as the working style and system here were quite different from that in Basel. Still trying to achieve some understanding with the boss and to get used to his working style. However these are just teething problems and it will pass after a while.

I can say I am off to a good start. Tomorrow will be the start of a brand new week and there will be more adjusting and adapting that needs to be done, but I am sure it can only get better.