Phew-sion X: P e r e g r i n a t i o n

Closure - Updates

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 08:37:00 +0000

Edit: Will turn private this Saturday, Feb 7th. Contact me personally for the new address if you're interested!

I'll be turning this blog private soon as I'll be moving to Wordpress in a couple of days/weeks. New address to be announced. If anyone would still like to have access to this 4 year old blog (which I won't be deleting), just drop me a message or email :)

Final PBL! :(

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:13:00 +0000

And we ended it with Alzheimer's Disease!

About our PBL tutor, Emeritus Professor CSH (from here. more here.):

Professor CHAN Soh Ha
Department of Microbiology
Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

�??Look on the bright side of life�??

Professor Chan is the Director of the WHO Immunology Centre at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. He has received many awards and accolades for his accomplishments in scientific research. Some examples would be the Asia Pacific Society of Medical Virology Excellence Award in 2006, the NUS Faculty Research Excellence Award in 2005, and the Singapore Society of Pathology Becton-Dickinson Award in Pathology in 1995.
Professor Chan has made major scientific contributions to the understanding of vaccination against Hepatitis; and the pathogenesis and host immune response to Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma. His accomplishments have made an impact both at national and international levels as seen in his authorship of 135 publications and the appointments and leadership positions he holds. He has been the Chairman of the Subcommittee of Quality Control and Biological Standards for Hepatitis at the Ministry of Health since 1984 and Member of the WHO Expert Advisory Panel on Immunology, World Health Organisation, Geneva since 1980.

Next stop: my pathologically doomed CA next Thursday :(

Some Breathtaking Ads

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:50:00 +0000

Wonder how much money was spent...

Sony Bravia "Domino City" from Film Construction on Vimeo.

Pub sony Bravia balles rebondissantes from Benjamin Fréva on Vimeo.

Pub Sony Mousse dans Miami from Benjamin Fréva on Vimeo.

PS: The Gallardo is a fuel guzzler.

Chrono-Shredder

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:04:00 +0000

I love this concept. From here.

A device to show the passing of time

The Chrono-Shredder is a device that reminds us of the preciousness of our lifetime. It represents the passing of time by shredding the days of the year �?? printed on a paper roll �?? at a slow constant rate. To shred one day takes 24 hours. There is no "off"-button. As the seconds pass by, the tattered remains of the past pile up under the device�?�

"Wasted" Time

Damn cool.

***
2009 T-Shirt!

T-shirt screenprint of the 2009 calendar. A pen is attached so that the owner can
fill in one box for each day that the shirt is being used. After one year the t-shirt
design is finished.

Visit the site to purchase :)

***

Tuts My Barreh - Funny!

***

Katie Melua - A singer that I recently discovered. I like! :)

GIANTmicrobes

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:46:00 +0000

Where to find one of the best gifts to give to people in the healthcare/science fields:

http://www.giantmicrobes.com/

Meet MRSA:

and Chicken Pox (Varicella Zoster Virus)

My Gut Has A Feeling...

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 02:28:00 +0000

The label at the bottom says "The Faster You Go The Bigger The Mess".

(It's actually from a Road Safety Campaign in New Zealand. The original poster can be found here.)

Anyway if you wanna see stuff like iPods, alarm clocks and many other random stuff getting destroyed in a blender: Will It Blend?

You Don't Mess With The Zhabo...

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 15:17:00 +0000

... from China, that is.

21 Mar my 21 birthday. Kelvin bought 1carat diamond ring for my birthday gift. We went to bar at Marriott Hotel basement, I was drunk by his friends Adam. We have first sex after he send me go home. After that he usually stays in my house. I don�??t know how he handles his marriage but I only know Pauline wants divorce.

....

Sep 2006 I have pregnancy but Kelvin give up his baby even he is Christian. He explained to me he is too busy of the work and money is not enough too, he promised to me we will have a lots baby in the future and he also promised to me he will never have any other women in his life otherwise he will go to hell! So I went to abortion after 3 month on Dec.

I didn't read the whole thing obviously but you can find it here if you're curious: chinagirl08

The guy's a Singaporean by the way. And his very personal information can be found on the page as well.

Pandemic: The Board Game

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 07:51:00 +0000

How fitting it is to chance upon this board game while dwelling on notes and a world filled with microbes.

This will make a great, great gift for medical students :)

Pandemic is published by Z-Man Games and though it's out of stock at that site, you can purchase Pandemic here. It's based on Risk.

Someone buy please. I wanna try my hands on it haha.

OR IT COULD BE A GIFT FOR MICROBIOLOGY/PUBLIC HEALTH LECTURERS. XD

Epidemic on Monday :(

dua kosong kosong sembilan

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:03:00 +0000

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

from Moleskinerie.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

buhbye 2008, hallo 2009

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:20:00 +0000

thank you 2008 for being such a promising but disappointing year.

hope 2009 will be better :)

yet another orbit around the Sun. whee.

2009 resolutions:

be happier and spread the happiness.
produce a good yearbook.
grow up?
learn more.
revamp this blog.
seek.

***

microb gonna fail liao.

at least i'm starting 2009 with a bang.

so sad it's not even funny :(

Spongy, Sour Bread

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 16:32:00 +0000

What made me laugh half an hour ago:

"The vah-jay-jay
Is undiscovered country.
It is the motherland.
You've never traveled there.
You don't know its customs and ways.
...
Just talk about the rules, uh, the expectations,
Figure out how to gracefully demure
If you find that you don't like the--the local cuisine.
In Ethiopia, they eat stew off of spongy, sour bread.
That's not for everyone."

--- Dr. Miranda Bailey, Grey's Anatomy Season 5 Episode 4

Great scriptwriters :)

2008: A Review

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 05:06:00 +0000

Lots of happened in 2008 for me but nothing life-changing I guess. I shall not comment on what happened to the world for 2008 as all the major newspapers are having pages dedicated to it. I shall attempt to run through my life in 2008 chronologically.

January 2008 I was still an M1 student, in his 2nd semester. Gosh, that sounded so far away right now. I think I was having lectures on renal, endocrine and reproductive(?) physiology. I'm too lazy to go and check Mednet for the exact timetable but anyway semester 2 was generally a better semester for me. That was the time when I picked up photography through KE's PhotoComm and got closer to the Hall M1s. Semester 1 back in 2007 seemed like a rush, not realising it was over till it was over. Then there was IHG (InterHall Games) and the busy schedule that came with it. Also, Hall Play and XQRJ.

February was busy as well. Chinese New Year was the highlight I guess. March came and most of my time was spent studying for CA2 (Continuous Assessment 2). Few weeks after CA2 was my first MBBS Professionals (PROs). Studying for 5 weeks in a row is no fun thing I must say and I'm gonna repeat that soon in February and March 2009 :( March 2008 was when a primary school friend re-established contact with me after 4 years. Was happy to know that she's doing well. March 2008 was also Malaysia's election month and it was fun indeed knowing the results though I was in a foreign country. Also, I did a lot of fun stuff with my Singaporean friends in March - K-Boxing, cycling at ECP, etc.

April 14th 2008 was my PROs. I am pretty satisfied with my results but I know I could have done better (like what I'm feeling right now for M2 as well). April was also the month I had my first food trails around Singapore, looking for good food (which is a rarity! Malaysia's food is DEFINITELY better!). I had lots of fun with the Hall M1s :) May 2008 was the beginning of the holidays for me. My Anatomy Group came over to KL for 3 days and it was great fun hanging out with them, showing them the beauty ~~and the dark side~~ of Kuala Lumpur.

My 3 months holiday was cut short to effectively 2 because of one of the most exciting committees that I've ever joined - the King Edward VII Hall Welcoming & Orientation Committee (KEWOC). I went back to Singapore on June 26th 2008 and that date marks the beginning of a period of packed schedules which ended on December 7th 2008, the day before I came back to Malaysia to finally slack. June 2008 also marked the month when I finally got to meet Josephine and Rachel in person. Both of them are 2 online friends that I've been keeping in active contact with since years ago. The meeting was awkward in the beginning but once we embraced our wacky side (that involved elephants and armpits -__-) everything turned out hilariously well in the end.

Beyond June 26th 2008 was the KEWOC period. July 2008 was basically KEWOC month for me. Sleeping at 3am everyday. Waking up for the daily 8.30am meetings. Designing an endless stream of materials - website, logo, t-shirts, banners, etc - for Orientation. Taking part in hilarious dry runs. Crapping with the crazy people that are the KEWOCs. Learning how to do mass dance and childishly dumb cheers (the ones that I made anyway haha). Not to forget, the internal and external conflicts that occur that have now resolved. Somewhat. It was a great period for me and I've wanted to blog about it but due to the abysmal Internet connection speed at home, I guess I'll have to postpone it for now. Anyway, that period was when I discovered graphics design which I grew to love as a hobby. I pursued my hobby all the way till now via KE Press/Publications Committee.

August 2008. Orientation, Rag, Flag. Hall Life resumed. And I was officially an M2. Orientation Week was a hell of a week but it was a great success - at least it seemed to me, the KEWOC, the NUS OSA and Hall Master. It was the week that we worked so hard for and we were so so happy and relieved that it was finally over. I miss those days man. Due to problems within the Hall, Rag & Flag Day weren't as exciting as I expected it to be. The story behind this can't be discussed here :)

Angel and I reluctantly volunteered to be co-heads of Publications Committee as there were no one else who wanted to take that job. I was reluctant due to reasons that shall not be mentioned here but I told myself heck since we're heading this committee, might as well make the committee a success. I infused my escalating interest in graphics design with this position of mine, focusing more on the aesthetics of the Hall Blog and the Yearbook. I hope the Yearbook will turn out well. We'll see it in Academic Year 2009/2010 :)

Also, I made the decision to join KE Voices - the KE Choir. Yes, I am in a choir. Yes, it's shocking. And no, I still can't sing. The horrifying karaoke sessions with me will testify to that. But "singing" was very fun for me. I attended every single practice session in Semester 1 and I'll be doing the same thing for Semester 2.

Naturally, due to the packed schedules (I still had some residual KEWOC stuff to do) my studies suffered. My CA results were quite unsatisfactory but I knew I could have done better if I had more time and I had put in more effort.

September 2008. I finally performed with KE Voices on stage to the hall audience during ICN :) Was really fun. October 2008. My 21st birthday was really fun with the Hall Malaysians (and a few Singaporeans) sabo-ing me at midnight with a brown concoction (refer to my Facebook display pic here) followed by the crazy masking tapes that greeted me in the morning thanks to the Hall M2s (aforementioned Hall M1s). Then, Lovelock had a mini song-singing, cake-cutting session in the morning. That was when all my 21st birthday celebrations ended. Fun yes, but eventful... hmm. Was pretty ordinary actually. Sigh.

November 2008 was a CA month. Filled with days trying to catch up. And I'm bound to to do that again come next Tuesday since I've basically spent my December 2008 holidays at home doing nothing. Other than going out with friends and shopping, that is. I'm going to pay for it dearly for the CA on January 5th and January 22nd. Hope I'll pass :(

Other things that I wanna mention for 2008:

Favourite:

Font: Futura, a font that I've used in the KEWOC designs and the Hall Blog.
PC Game: Portal (2007), the only full game that I played during this whole year actually haha.
Movie: The Dark Knight
Digicam (not SLR): the Fujifilm F100fd that I bought for KE Press.
Album: no prizes for guessing - ayaka's Sing to the Sky.
Non-ayaka album: Leona Lewis - Spirit (2007)
Purchase: the Edifier speaker in my room. Costs just $39.00.
McFlurry: the Cornetto McFlurry. I must try the Orange McFlurry in Malaysia before I leave!
Theoretical Book Title: How Taylor Stole Christmas (he's my MicroBiology lecturer)

That's all for now I guess. Will be going back to Singapore by this weekend :) To my dear Malaysian friends, I'll see you again around April/May 2009. Hopefully.

and a Happy New Year!

Backing Up GMail & Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 09:39:00 +0000

In the recent events that transpired in the senior classes' GMail accounts - where everything in the GMail account was gone. 0MB worth of data. - here's how to backup your GMail data to another place:

Backing Up GMail

The site recommends Thunderbird but if you're using Microsoft Outlook to backup, remember to backup your Outlook data as well. I've always exported my emails as .pst files whenever I format my computer. Learn to do it here.

Other Options:
GMail Backup Application

***

Backing up Blogger

Here.
For the "new" Blogger: Here.
Blogger Backup Application: Here. (Beta version)
Alternative: Using a WebCopier.

I have so much of my life's data with Google. It will be utter devastation should the day Google crashes come. So please remember to backup. Right now what I've always done is to have my NUS and Jaring email at 2 different locations. But I've never backed up my GMail emails. Will do so once I get back to Singapore where the speed's much faster :)

Mac vs PC - Transformers

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 08:05:00 +0000

Pretty cool.

Krispy Kreme

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 04:32:00 +0000

Old news to Malaysia but new news to me:

Krispy Kreme expands to Malaysia

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (NYSE: KKD - News) announced today that it has entered into a franchise agreement with Berjaya Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Sdn Bhd in Malaysia for the development of approximately 20 Krispy Kreme retail shops over the next five years.

I haven't tried them before.

Also, according to official statistics KFC has the most number of 'quick service' outlets in Malaysia - 430 of them, followed by McDonalds & Pizza Hut with 185 and 181 respectively.

Funny how unpopular KFC is in Singapore.

***

Malaysia - Truly Asia.
Uniquely Singapore.
Incredible India.
Amazing Thailand.
Korea Sparkling.

So cheesy.

The Big Ask

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 02:00:00 +0000

An impressive and well-executed ad I must say. Please watch.

http://www.thebigask.eu/

Umbuster 2008

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:50:00 +0000

Cool item for defence against rain, shine and crooks.

Can be purchased here for 225 Euros if you wanna.

***

And I saw Moleskine being sold at Borders (the Gardens MV branch) today!

Go get one and unleash your creativity! Wiki article here.

Of Home & Studying

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:06:00 +0000

Ever since December 2006, I couldn't force myself to study at home no matter how hard I try.

Makes me very sad.

I came back on December 8th. But only managed to start studying today. How la liddat.

Microbiology and Pathology.

DIE.

Hope I can differentiate Bartonella from Brucella from Burkholderia from Bordetella from Borrelia from Bacteroides from ....

Freaking low-life Bacteria! (hope the pun worked)

***

On the other hand, I've enjoyed myself immensely at home and the joy continues tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday. From another perspective, that equals 3 days of non-studying. Which means that I have roughly... umm 7 days to study 23 out of 26 - I forgot to bring 1 back - :( lecture notes on Bacteria. How fun.

Shall return to Singapore by January 3rd. And CA's on January 5th.

Yay. (sorta in a risus sardonicus way).

***

Also I'm back to my favourite habit of reading the papers everyday. Malaysia's governance is as poor as always. The politicians are making things more and more complicated just for political mileage. English, Malay, native tongue, English, Malay, native tongue. Choose English please. The literature for Science & Maths are mostly found in that language. So stop wasting resources by translating the English literature to Malay just to have them placed in textbooks. Try translating Robbins/Netter's/Guyton. What are the students going to do when they need to refer to the original source of information (i.e. the Bibliography/References section)? Google Translate?

Nevertheless, what's most important is to have competent teachers conducting Science & Maths classes, especially in rural areas where most parents don't know much about the language. No point arguing over the medium of communication when the content is poor. Provide good textbooks and train the teachers well. That should help alleviate the perennial problem.

Anyway, I shall wait for the report by the people who have discussed about this matter.

***

Gatherings tomorrow and on Christmas Eve! Woohoo!

PS: The Internet connection speed in Malaysia is abysmal to say the least. Feels like I'm back in the dialup era :( And yes I still remember very well how dialup feels like. But for the sake of torrenting...

Books 'R Love <3

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:10:00 +0000

A little promo for my friend's effort in making more space for new books!

As the blog's deck mentioned - "Too many books, way too little shelf space!" - my friend is selling off some of her books at a fraction of the original price.

Do check Books 'R Love out!

Who knows, you might make someone much more happier with the gift of books this Christmas! ;)

TIME's Top 10 Everything of 2008

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 07:01:00 +0000

Here.

There were definitely some interesting bits of news :)

gadgets. (i definitely want the Optoma Pico PK-101)
movies.
underreported news.
fiction.
non-fiction.
quotes.

and many many more lists.

do you hypermile?

Kyle Cooper

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 03:55:00 +0000

Kyle Cooper's the guy behind some of the coolest opening titles you've laid your eyes on.

Click on the link above and you'll see the list of movies he's worked on - Iron Man, Speed Racer, Spider-Man 1 & 2, Superman Returns, etc.

An article on Wired about this genius here.

Indeed, the word in Hollywood is that some filmmakers have refused to work with Cooper, says Dawn of the Dead director Zach Snyder, because he's "the guy who makes title sequences better than the movie."

Lub-Dub, Lub-Dub, AORTA!

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:54:00 +0000

Quite an amusing video lol.

Hard 'N Phirm - "El Corazón"

Primer (2004)

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 06:42:00 +0000

Watched this 1:13:54 science fiction film just now. And it ended up with me totally lost. But according to Wikipedia:

Primer is of note for its extremely low budget, experimental plot structure and complex technical dialogue, which Carruth chose not to dumb-down for the sake of his audience. One reviewer said that "anybody who claims [to] fully understand what's going on in Primer after seeing it just once is either a savant or a liar." The film collected the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2004 before securing a limited release in cinemas, and has since gained a cult following.

Now I feel better.

I'll be rewatching it someday.

For more technical discussions (which I couldn't comprehend right now):

http://www.primermovie.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=1

Cool Skull Watch!

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 07:22:00 +0000

Here.

USD 200 though.

Run

noreply@blogger.com (KP Chen) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:26:00 +0000

This is the song that I've been playing on loop on my mp3 player for the past 2 weeks:

Leona Lewis's Run.

I haven't heard the Snow Patrol version though...