..:･yuka･:..

So long

2010-12-16T14:43:00.000+08:00

I have decided not to continue blogging on this platform anymore for personal reasons.

Thank you for being a faithful reader for these couple of years even though I have not been faithfully updating it.

I would probably start writing again soon. If you are interested in being part of my readership, do drop me an email to snowbiscuits@gmail.com.

autumn in london

2010-09-29T01:23:00.000+08:00

The start of fall in london.

It is getting colder here and i feel like a huge sausage roll, wrapped up with layers and layers of clothing. It wouldn't be long before i may end up rolling around with this heavy external shell.

Thankfully, the heaters in my room are somewhat working in the night to help me get through the cold chill that infiltrates through the poorly insulated infrastructure.

Will try to post some more about my adjustment to living in london.

not ready to go

2010-09-16T18:12:00.000+08:00

Will be flying off to london in eight hours. I have done most of my packing and the preparations but i am still struggling with making farewells with my loved ones. The idea of leaving my home and the people i have been living with didn't really sink in until i bade my grandma farewell yesterday. I can never really describe the feeling but it felt almost like tearing my heart up into pieces to say a goodbye to my grandma.

I can't imagine how i'm going to be like when i bid farewell to my dad and sister later at the airport.

I don't feel ready to go yet:(

Anyway, i will be leaving at the 140 am flight, transiting at dubai before heading off to heathrow. Till i get my internet connection over at UK, bye:)

with my family and close family friends

procrastination is fatal

2010-09-14T20:04:00.000+08:00

My long absence is all due to my habit of procrastinating. Meetups with friends and close relatives, last minute shopping trips and getting my paycheck in time...

And to think that i'm leaving this tiny sunny island that i have regarded as home:(

I will be leaving in two days' time and the newfound reality that my life is going to change is starting to sink in.

granny goes to starbucks

2010-09-08T00:43:00.000+08:00

Since i was told that i looked pretty granny with my cream coloured summer sweater today, hence the title.

Remember your first time at starbucks? When unfamiliar terms like "grande" and "frappuchino" were staring back at you from the menu board? and you scrunch up your nose trying to decide what they really meant and what you want to order and not sound like some clueless noob and get snickered at other customers? wheew, that was a mouthful.

Anyway, though i have been to starbucks a few times previously, i still get the same jittery feeling whenever i stand at the counter. i can never get the names right and the most ironic thing is, i don't drink coffee. so latte, cappuccino, espresso... they all mean coffee to me, simple as that. Try explaining to me the variations and my eyes will start to glaze over after 5 seconds.

So the only item i usually order would be anything that sounds vaguely non-caffeine. The next toughie is the sizes. Being used to macs, i always find myself in pretty awkward situations when i start ordering my passion fruit drink (i forgot the exact name) "medium" at starbucks. Alas, "medium" doesn't exist in the size categories. And this never fails to be accompanied by a weird stare from the guy at the counter. Oh boy.

Today i requested for an iced full-leaf tea and i was shown this huge array of different tea flavours. i think the only flavours that rang a bell were earl grey tea and chamomile tea. The guy looked pretty bored, staring at his nails as he waited for me to make my selection. In the end, i threw my hands up and asked him exasperated, "i don't know. What do you recommend?" By the time, i expected the bored guy to just roll his eyes and randomly stab a finger at the closest flavour on the tea rack.

Instead, he looked a little surprised and thoughtfully recommended his personal favourite - jasmine orange. He even added that it would taste heavenly with some xxx syrup (sorry i can never remember all these). Since it would take a while for it to fully soak up the flavour, he suggested me to wait at my seat and he would serve it to me later. My iced jasmine orange tea was served with a cheery smile from the no-longer-bored guy.

Wow, at least someone gives a s*** about my order this time. Feels pretty good actually, to be honest.

my tick list - four eyed monster

2010-09-07T23:51:00.001+08:00

Got two new pairs of glasses made since it seems expensive to get glasses made in the UK.

I became a little adventurous and decided to move away from my usual comfort colour, red, to more edgy (fierce?) colour like black and dark purple.

my black glasses

I always shy away from black when it comes to clothes because i look pretty frumpy in them. Which is why i usually stick to dark grey tones when i try to pull off a more classic look.

This time, i made a bold move on the choice of colour and gotten myself a black. Surprisingly, it didn't turn out so bad. In fact, i really liked how sharp and intellectual (haha) i looked.

Black is the next black.

eat, photo-taking, bye

2010-09-07T23:31:00.000+08:00

As the date draws near, i find myself struggling to meet dear friends within the limited period of time i am left with.

Although it was the usual eat - photo - bye routine, it was nice catching up with some whom i have not seen for months.

Happy happy ♥

pre-school jitters

2010-09-03T00:52:00.000+08:00

It's 1248am and i can't sleep right now because i'm getting the jitters.

The schedule for my masters course arrived in my inbox today and i decided to take a quick look at it initially. The insanely packed timetable is scaring me and i have no idea how i'm going to cope with this on top of living in london alone.

Okay, i know i will get through this but i'm feeling really anxious about the whole thing now. I guess this is the time when reality sinks in... and replaces the euphoria behind the good news of being accepted.

Oh boy:(

ted talk

2010-08-31T23:44:00.002+08:00

Wanted to blog a proper entry as a start of this new column of yuka and ted talks but i'm really tired now.

In the meantime, watch this entertaining but thought-provoking talk by Sir Ken Robinson, titled Bring on the Learning Revolution!

I promise to blog more about it when time permits me:)

my tick list - the eye bug

2010-08-29T00:43:00.000+08:00

Being a huge procrastinator, i still have pretty lots of stuff to do before i fly off. Which includes things i can buy cheaply here because things in london are twice the price here :(

So, i managed to tick one off my list today - my green little eye bug, the canon ixus 105.

Although it was slightly above my expected budget, i wanted to stick to canon with its reputable quality and specs. And the colour won my heart over when i laid my eyes upon it. On the whole i felt i got myself a pretty good deal because it came with the essential accessories and a cute tiny tripod (awww).

the paper chase- a myth?

2010-08-29T00:26:00.000+08:00

I am a huge hypocrite when it comes to my view on education and qualifications. Despite being against the rote learning style of the education system here, i got myself into a course that required an extensive degree of memorizing and i have to admit that i used to study my materials without fully comprehending them.

Likewise i would say that qualifications are not everything. Non-academic qualities are equally important in helping you clinch that job or degree you have been eyeing on. But frankly, if you think about it, qualifications are the first on our priority lists whereas non-academic ones are bonus brownie points that put us a level higher above the rest.

Now, if you are wondering where i am heading to in this entry, i will just bring up this talk i had with one of the HR staff from the company i am currently working at, the other day.

Apparently, they target fresh graduates from the top universities on the global scale (think Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge), in other words intellectuals of high calibre. During the interview, they are given scenario based questions to answer which exemplifies their abilities in crafting a solution to that certain unique situation. I would have to say that i was not surprised or doubtful about the qualifications of the people working in this company because you could tell that they were not only highly motivated about what they do but also very knowledgeable (and funny).

What surprised me is the plain fact that this company is looking for the best and only the best. They don't look at the second best (not even nus, sadly). All the pacifying talk about how the paper chase is not everything because it's merely a certificate, doesn't hold in this case. And i am starting to get this feeling that this company is not the only one that feels so.

If you come to think about it, going to a top school is not about knowing all your academic stuff so well that you can recite from the first to the last line readily. Imagine the other smart (or even smarter) people who are in your course, fighting for the honours. And that sets the ultimate challenge. I think it's more of the challenge and competition that raises us up one notch. The nature of the environment pushes us to be more on the edge and constantly searching for ways to reach the top. That also comes with the spirit to compete with the others too, which i believe is something many students share when they aim for a degree in a elite institution. It's the fighting spirit that makes the qualifications rather than the paper, the paper is just merely a symbol of that fighting spirit one possess in order to achieve a specific goal.

So all in all, the paper chase is still important but it should be seen under a different light. It's not the paper that is precious but what comes with the paper that is the secret to success.

Truthfully i felt a little on the low side because i felt nowhere near this colleagues on the intellectual side but later it transformed into something more encouraging and motivating for me, like a reference point i can start from. I guess it is a good introduction or a short insight into what it means to plan your directions when it comes to a transition between graduating to working. And that there are so many paths branching out from a single point, that may take us to somewhere we would never have considered previously. As long as we are aware that these paths exist and how we can find them.

I am glad i had the time to write this post because it has been something i have been pondering over during my part-time stint at this company. It brought me a completely different view about work and very useful insights on how some of these people planned their futures. This would come into handy as i try to map out my very own path in these few years.

rollllll in!

2010-08-23T19:59:00.000+08:00

I have so much stuff that i want to share but time constraint and fatigue refuse to allow me to do so.

I usually make a mental note to blog about something that inspires me at that point of time. And now my brain is filled with all these mental sticky notes. Shall try to start posting them soon ♫

getting ready for london

2010-08-22T12:16:00.003+08:00

Before i fly off to london next month, i have been busy busy busy.

[tumblr]

I have to say my biggest worry was getting the student visa because it was the last obstacle that stood in between me and ucl. In all honesty, i would never ever want to queue up for my visa applications at the Singapore centre again if i had to because it was simply mentally torturous to wait for 5 hours just to get your visa application form submitted together with your biometrics taken.

Anyway, all i am left is going for a medical checkup and xray scans and of course, packing.

On top of this, my work has been pretty demanding too because i am expected to finish what i am told by the first week of september:( oh bother.

Spending time with my family and dear friends is also another note on my priority list. I'm not sure whether i'll come back to singapore any time soon, and that makes me feel sadder when everything is still uncertain.

I know it sounds a bit dramatic but having realized that i may not be coming back any time soon makes me feel even more appreciative about this sunny little island. I know i won't be leading such a comfortable life as i have been when i go over to the UK.

Whatever time that i am left with shall be spent with people i hold dear to.

guilinggao

2010-08-15T13:12:00.003+08:00

We headed to chinatown for a scrumptious meal of roast duck noodles, which i will sorely miss when i head over to london this september. Despite having lived in a humid climate for so long, i can never get used to the stifling heat in hawker centres, which would usually result me sweating away and huffing and puffing in an effort to dispel some of the heat away.

But we found this gem amongst the loud chinese vendors and money changers - a place that sells guilinggao, a cooling dessert eaten during the hot summers. It can be directly translated as 'turtle jelly' which got me worried initially because i did not want to eat a part of a turtle! Fortunately, it is nothing of that sort and is in fact, a herbal dessert. Having said that, guilinggao is a favourite among the women as it is good for the skin complexion. Being herbal, it is very bitter but one can always top it up with honey or sweet syrup to mask the bitterness.

I liked the oriental style of the place - the chinese paintings and wooden tables and stools with intricate designs. The air-conditioner was switched on and there were fans around to create a lovely cool ambience inside.

And you can read the effects of the dessert from the walls which were amounted to like a hundred approximately.

A couple of bites swiftly brought down the body temperature and i felt all cool and happy:)

a view of the yog run from above

2010-08-15T11:48:00.000+08:00

sorry for the lack of updates:( work has been zapping up all the energy that is left in me and i am usually all exhausted and grumpy when i get back.

This was taken from my office, where the YOG pre-opening ceremony race at the central business district was held. It's not very clear but there were people running along with the little red bus seen near the centre of the picture.

As you know, Singapore is the first to host the Youth Olympic Games and reports on last night's opening ceremony was splashed all over the front page today.

To be honest, i was not all that hyped up about the YOG. But i was very impressed by the opening ceremony yesterday and realized how creative the setup was.

concrete jungle

2010-08-05T23:57:00.000+08:00

Despite being grateful of the full-blown airconditioned buildings in the central business district where i am temporarily working at, walking along this area can be totally unbearable at times.

There are hardly any greenery. And with all the buildings sandwiched together, heat gets trapped within the pockets of air spaces in between and it literally feels like i am in a sauna room at times. Which resulted in a severe headache that had me sprawling on the bed after panadol pills and water.

I should probably get clothings with ice packs attached to the insides or something.

[weheartit]

wednesday finds

2010-08-04T23:57:00.002+08:00

[icanread/oneinamillion/leilockheart]

whoopie

2010-08-02T14:45:00.002+08:00

This arrived at my mailbox this afternoon.

It is the official confirmation letter stating that i have been accepted by University College London for my postgraduate school application:)

I have resisted the idea of blogging about this before everything was confirmed because it would have looked pretty bad if i somehow got rejected later. Besides, it felt like a dream that i could hardly believe because i always thought that ucl was way out of my league.

I know i haven't shared much about my graduate school applications previously. I applied to six schools in total, two from nus (dbs and yll school of medicine) whereas the other four were british universities. No response came from nus by the time i got replies from all four UK universities. Out of the four, one came with a rejection letter whereas the rest came with conditional offers. So i took ucl's offer straight away.

I am thankful that i decided to give a go for ucl when i was about to submit my applications for the other schools. I had to knock myself a few times for the news to sink in when i read the offer letter.

If everything else, including visa applications, goes smoothly, i will probably be heading there in the beginning of fall.

at home with yon-sama

2010-07-31T19:04:00.009+08:00

We usually have our favourite hainanese chicken rice for saturday lunches because we happen to be chicken rice fanatics. Sadly, we are hardly faithful and we are guilty of chicken rice-hopping several times.

In singapore, you can mostly find the best local food at hawker centres mostly run by the locals, and as the saying goes, the dirtier the place the better the food tastes. Well, i can't find anything concrete to back this up, but i have to admit the food somehow tastes yummier at places strewn with rubbish on the floor and dirty tables.

My sister and i are usually the ones who make the order at the stall which involves a one sentence long order that states the nature of the dish, the quantity and the price, in mandarin. But ever since saturdays became reserved for chores (which means that all the women in the house have to get down with the housework), the only man in our family was entrusted the duty of bringing the chicken back home.

Naturally, our dad cannot maintain a conversation longer than a sentence in mandarin. Which means english and some occasional hand gestures.

Anyway, my sister, for some reason, went to buy back chicken rice recently, and she found out something interesting from the chicken rice lady. Apparently, the lady had thought my dad was korean because he looked foreign-ish despite being Asian, and he always spoke in english. And she was very curious about my sister when she saw my dad and sister together one day. That led to the whole table erupting into laughter when my sister recalled the story.

So that's where my dad got his nickname from me - Yon sama. Yon-sama is an affectionate term coined by japanese aunties who are crazy over the korean auntie-killer bae yong jun. Urgh, this guy is barely a heartthrob!

Oh my yon-sama~

Now knowing that my dad is japanese, he has been getting megawatt smiles and even a word of arigatou from the chicken rice stall sellers.

I have to admit my dad usually gets admiring stares by these ladies whenever we are doing our grocery shopping at the neighbourhood supermarket. My dad is completely oblivious though. And my mom? She seems to love it.

gone baby gone

2010-07-30T10:58:00.000+08:00

Apart from the dennis lehane-inspired title, i actually had this phrase stuck in my mind after my visit to the doctor yesterday.

I probably have not mentioned this before, but i had a close/potential brush with cancer about seven years ago. A small benign cyst was found growing at the isthmus between my thyroid glands and we had to keep it under constant monitoring to check if it grew. So it started with a six-month regular checkup with ultrasound scans and consultations, and i was constantly terrified to think that i might have needed to go through a surgical procedure to get the cyst removed if it became malignant.

Thankfully, it shrank in size five years ago and seemed to disappear three years back. But to be on the safe side, i had my annual checkups to check on the progress.

Yesterday marked my last appointment because there was no trace of the cyst at all and i was immensely relieved. The doctor assured me that it would be fine and i did not need to worry at all.

Gone, baby gone.

ultimate stress buster

2010-07-27T21:56:00.006+08:00

This song is a great stress buster for me whenever i am feeling all down and grouchy. And it has been a loyal companion during my angsty teenage period, and i loved the take-home message of it - Get Over It - which i think is something we all tend to find it difficult to accept.

The lyrics are so painfully direct, they literally spank a great deal of sense into the listener, which is me. So instead of moping about and sulking, i would tell myself to just get over it and move on.

So get over it.

Get over it - The Eagles

I turn on the tube and what do I see

A whole lotta people cryin’ ’don’t blame me’
They point their crooked little fingers at everybody else
Spend all their time feelin’ sorry for themselves
Victim of this, victim of that
Your momma’s too thin; your daddy’s too fat

Get over it
Get over it
All this whinin’ and cryin’ and pitchin’ a fit
Get over it, get over it

You say you haven’t been the same since you had your little crash
But you might feel better if I gave you some cash
The more I think about it, old billy was right
Let’s kill all the lawyers, kill ’em tonight
You don’t want to work, you want to live like a king
But the big, bad world doesn’t owe you a thing

Get over it
Get over it
If you don’t want to play, then you might as well split
Get over it, get over it

It’s like going to confession every time I hear you speak
You’re makin’ the most of your losin’ streak
Some call it sick, but I call it weak

You drag it around like a ball and chain
You wallow in the guilt; you wallow in the pain
You wave it like a flag, you wear it like a crown
Got your mind in the gutter, bringin’ everybody down
Complain about the present and blame it on the past
I’d like to find your inner child and kick it’s little ass

Get over it
Get over it
All this bitchin’ and moanin’ and pitchin’ a fit
Get over it, get over it

Get over it
Get over it
It’s gotta stop sometime, so why don’t you quit
Get over it, get over it

confessions of a self-learnt geek

2010-07-25T22:14:00.002+08:00

[http://earlymourning.tumblr.com/]

Apart from constantly burying myself into mountains of books, both textbooks and fiction novels, i have a tendency to explore new functions in the limited number of electronic gadgets that i have. That is why i never read manuals when i have a new gadget.

What's the fun when you have to agonize over the small prints in the manuals and click here and there? The surprise factor is there when you discover new functions on your own. It is like starting with a blank canvas not knowing what the end result is like, but once one starts working on it, new ideas pop up along the way.

I have to say that exploring my mac is the most fun amongst all the gadgets that i have. Personalizing my own mac, from my previous posts here and here, was definitely million times more fun than that on a normal pc, and i was constantly ooh-ing and aah-ing as i clicked fervently as i attempted to delve deeper into the world of mac.

Which is why i am leaving much of the exploration to my parents as they have just gotten themselves a mac. Though they might get a little confused with the functions since they have been pc users all the while...

Do you read the manual before trying a new gadget?

rain disasters

2010-07-22T19:11:00.000+08:00

A big hit to central singapore

Singapore has recently been inflicted with a weather problem - the rain. We all know that we have been praying for rain to come during the hot humid season a few months back, but the numbers related to the daily rainfall amount is simply jaw-dropping. Can you imagine 100mm rainfall within an hour? That exceeds 60% of the amount that fell in june, according to asiaone's report dated june 25th.

Tree felling is another problem that has raised even more concerns among the people here, especially after the death of a 32-year old man who died when a tree fell onto the front of his car.

Fingers are pointing at many directions, on who is to blame and what should have been done. Instead of playing the blame game here, why not start on devising prompt strategies to fight this problem since it seems like it will not be going anywhere soon?

NUS Life Sciences Modules - Level 4000

2010-07-21T13:33:00.001+08:00

When i was in my freshman year, i never envisioned myself to be taking on any module with a code number that starts with a number 4. I always thought i would graduate happily after my third year because honours year seemed like something unattainable to me at that point of time.

So it feels funny and a little surreal that i am typing here my review on modules i have never dreamt of trying out.

What i have to say about level 4000 modules is that they are probably the most enjoyable batch that i have enjoyed during my study career as a life sciences/ biomedical sciences undergraduate. Oh and as i am typing this really late, my memory has gone a bit fuzzy, and hence miss out on certain details. But i promise to add them on if they come back to me later.

1. LSM4211 Toxicology

I was so adamant about taking this module i sacrificed a huge sum of bidding points to bid for this module during the module selection round because everyone shared the same level of interest in this module.

What i liked about this module is the content especially environmental toxicology whereby we learnt how occupational hazards may arise from human activities such as construction work. Problem-based learning assignments replaced the midterm which were good or bad news, depending on the individual. But personally, i like pbls because they allowed more opportunities for us to exchange our ideas and views on the topic.

But like most LSM modules, this module requires a lot of memorizing. Which i believe most of us would be seasoned by the time we reached year 4. another non-academic point to note about toxicology is that we usually end lessons in one hour, which leaves an extra hour for lunchtime:) Be prepared to be extra diligent with your revision if you want to score because the module is relatively easy which means that the competition is up by a few notches.

My ratings: ★★★☆☆

2. LSM4212 Pharmacogenetics and Drug Response

This module was the complete opposite of toxicology, despite it being a pharmacology module too. It is more on concepts, logical reasoning and further reading up will be pretty beneficial. Every individual has variable degree of response to a drug due to both genetic and environmental factors. Pharmacogenetics take the genetic factors into account when drug dosages have to be calibrated for patients from a certain ethnic group.

If you are prefer something with solid facts given to you, i will probably not recommend this module to you.

My ratings:★★☆☆☆

3. LSM4232 Advanced Cell Biology

I took this module because i could not really decide what non-bms module to take. Deciding to be the rare bms souls to bravely take on it, i later found out that i did not regret my choice despite hearing negative feedbacks about the module from seniors. The topics were not solely on molecular biology, but the lectures made several references to the biomedical area such as cancer. I also enjoyed listening to the professors sharing with us their findings in their research areas.

There is an essay-based midterm together with a journal group presentation and the finals was all mcqs. Surprisingly, i did pretty well for it.

My ratings: ★★★★☆

4. LSM4221 Drug Discovery and Clinical Trials

Being only offered in the second semester, the drug trial module is well known for causing an intense battle among the bidders during cors period. I counted myself lucky because i did not bid for this module at all. How i got hold of it was out of pure luck because i decided i hated another module that i had gotten and made an appeal to the office to grant me the clinical drug trial module.

This was one of my favourite modules because it covered the entire process, starting from the formulation of a prospective drug product, followed by doing testings for possible adverse effects in various levels (from animals to a few humans to thousands). Manufacturing with a strict adherence to good manufacturing practice and lastly, drug registration and regulation. The teaching coordinator in charge, Professor Tan, is extremely passionate in what she teaches, and that probably ignited a spark of interest in most of us.

The midterm is based on mcqs (thinking questions again) and a journal presentation whereas the final exam was essay-based. It would be good to do further reading up on your own because it is another highly competitive module where people fight to score well.

My ratings: ★★★☆☆

5. LSM4224 Free Radicals and Antioxidant Biology

I took this module, knowing that it was difficult. This owed much to my stubbornness and perhaps the fact that i wanted to learn more about free radicals. A highly insightful module coupled with a formidable team of scientists as lecturers, this module would have been perfect if we had more time to study it. The content is densely packed with information, mostly coming from recent research findings because controversies still exist in this area. What i took home from this module is the ability to think critically and extract important information to formulate an opinion of my own since this is highly necessary in this field where not all research papers agree on the same point.

Sadly, with fyp dominating most of my time and attention, i barely had ample time to do a proper revision for the final exams. And i felt i could do better if i had more time. Another point to note about this module is that the midterm is in the form of a journal presentation (20%) whereas the finals is *gasp* 80%.

My ratings:★★☆☆☆

6. LSM4199 Honours Project in Life Sciences

The Honours project, or otherwise fondly known as fyp (final year project), something most of us would have a love-hate relationship with. Apart from squeezing every ounce of energy that has been left in you, fyp takes you on a turbulent ride of emotions when it comes to generating results worth looking at.

Character building is another aspect because fyp really tests on your perseverance and the ability to work with others and on your own. Although some of my friends may have felt that this year of research has killed their passion in research, i felt that it toughened me up and made me even more driven to study on something i have zero knowledge of. And i did have my share of unpleasant encounters with ugly people. But on a more positive note, i got to know even more wonderful individuals who were willing to help me along the way.

Personally, i don't think your fyp grade is mainly based on the quality of your results, but more of the quality of your experience in that one year. The presentation and the thesis are reflective of the amount of effort you put in and the lessons you gained from the experiments. Although my results were not fantastic, i had so much stories to share with the examiners - my failures and how i moved on.

My ratings: ★★★★☆

So here is probably my last entry on my guide to nus modules. I hope this has been insightful for those who are planning to choose some of the modules i have mentioned here. If you do have any enquiries, do not feel shy to drop me a mail:)

book bites

2010-07-18T18:19:00.002+08:00

In an effort to curb myself from getting my brain fried into bits by the evil television, i made an attempt to do some serious reading. It was when i was trying to get through the first line of robb walsh's are you really going to eat that despite thinking about the next episode of csi ny, when my sister grabbed the book away from my grasp and started reading the first line aloud. As if she was storytelling and i was looking up, listening attentively to her like a child.

And i remembered how i first got hooked onto reading.

I started reading classes when i was about six where books played the central role in teaching. Each level was represented by the difficulty of the books and we were encouraged to read out a chapter of the books we had read and discuss what we liked or disliked about the book. Writing compositions and word games were other components but my most favourite part was the storytelling session where our teacher would pick a book and read to us a chapter every session.

The first book my teacher story-told was roald dahls' fantastic mr fox.

The storyline was so exciting it kept me on my toes every storytelling session and i would imagine the possible events in the next chapter after i went back home. Listening to my teacher read out every line felt like savouring the moment of unwrapping the tin foil around my favourite chocolate bar, because every second of it was deliciously captivating.

Since then, i became a complete dahl fan, and went on a buying rampage at the kids' books section at the bookstores. To date, i have a pretty extensive collection of dahl's books, including my top one favourite Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Rereading dahl's books made me remember why i loved him so much in the first place - his wittiness, dry humour and most of all, his talent in painting an unimaginable world with words and crazy story plots.

I have to admit that as i grew older, my hectic study schedule had given me very little room to sit down and read a good book at hand. Speed reading had taken over as i had to extract important information from wordy textbooks in order to save time. And sadly, my patience in reading every single line, much less savouring them, had dwindled substantially. I am trying to cultivate back that kind of patience which i have lost, even though it is not always easy. My eyes tend to wander and attempt to catch seemingly important details here and there, only to realize that i have missed out vital details along the way.

..:*･yuka･*:..

So long

autumn in london

not ready to go

procrastination is fatal

granny goes to starbucks

my tick list - four eyed monster

eat, photo-taking, bye

pre-school jitters

ted talk

my tick list - the eye bug

the paper chase- a myth?

rollllll in!

getting ready for london

guilinggao

a view of the yog run from above

concrete jungle

wednesday finds

whoopie

at home with yon-sama

gone baby gone

ultimate stress buster

confessions of a self-learnt geek

rain disasters

NUS Life Sciences Modules - Level 4000

book bites

..:･yuka･:..