Chaos, caprice and contretemps

You know you work for a cool firm when�?�

2008-06-28T03:48:00.003+08:00

- everyone orders wine at the new hire welcome lunch
- working after 5 pm is considered over-time
- the office is practically empty by 5:05 pm
- the pantries house 16 varieties of tea, in addition to a fresh cappucino brewer
- the dress code = jeans and sneakers
- you get to present your ideas to the entire commercial team 5 days into your internship
- you actually receive useful feedback and offers of specific support after the above

... and you get to do strategy and marketing for a technology so bleeding-edge you can't begin to fathom the breadth of potential applications and significance to the world.

Ok so maybe the above only define my idea of a cool firm... who knew!

~~~~
A lot of my initial work comprises of market research. As we figure out the most useful ways to get candid feedback from users and decision-makers, we have to keep in mind:

A man is least himself when he talks in his own person; when given a mask he will tell the truth.
--Oscar Wilde

A new year, a new life

2008-06-25T11:33:00.005+08:00

This is awkward... not nearly the 1-year anniversary of non-blogging, and I have this yearning to share my random thoughts and passing fancies at this space again. More significantly, I finally have the time to do so - a summer internship in the bay area does that to ya!

I may have spoken too soon of course. After all, I'm only a little over a week into my cool new job, who knows how things will unfold? But it's true that this is more time than I've ever had through all my first year at business school.

How do I fit into a blog a near-lifetime's worth of highs and lows, an incredible learning experience and getting to know an amazing bunch of friends all in the span of 9 intense months? I can't really... it's partially documented in pictures (only the fun moments and only some of them) on one of those social networking spaces... so fast-forward to the present.

While I wouldn't trade what I have here - the weather, the workplace, the work-hours, my tiny but beautifully-done-up room-in-a-fab-townhome - I really miss school, the university town (where you can't find an open cafe past 11 pm), the Keg.. and the people the most. But it's just another 12 weeks before we're all back together, back in our overcommitted and sleep-deprived lives....

For now, it's all about SF and the bay... first up, Pride weekend! Check back here on Sunday!

Random updates

2007-07-04T11:00:00.000+08:00

Watch Hot Fuzz

It's easy to lose this gem amidst the slew of blockbusters now showing, but this is one Brit comedy you don't want to miss! It's a brilliant take on the buddy-cops action thrillers that I admit I relish too.

~~
Finally got my student visa. Ticket to Chicago is on hand. all I need now is to find and fix a darn apartment in Evanston, and this is looking so bleak I imagine I'll still be looking for housing when I land :\ That way, atleast I get to see what I'm signing up for, even if it's way over my measly budget.

~~
Pleased to report that our 'garage' sale is progressing well, now that our living room has morphed into a display+sale hall.
Currently available items include:

1) CD tower - holds 84 CDs

2) Wine rack - holds 8 bottles

3) Casio keyboard

4) Philips citrus juicer

5) Dumbbells - 1.5 kg, 3 kg and 6 kg pairs

Email for price and collection details
~~

Books for sale! (List 2)

2007-06-25T01:45:00.000+08:00

History
1 Terrorism and Counter Terrorism: Understanding the New Security Environment, Russell Howard and Reid Sawyer - $20
2 Iraq War 2003: Rise of the New Unilateralism by K Santhanam and IDSA Insight Team - $5
3 Modern World History by K C Khanna and Raghubir Dayal - $4
4 The Mughal Empire by John F. Richards - $3
5 Finest Hour by Tim Clayton and Phil Craig - $3
6 Watergate by Fred Emery - $3

Technical
1 E-Business, Roadmap for Success by Ravi Kalakota and Marcia Robinson - $30
2 MySQL and mSQL by Randy Jay Yarger, George Reese and Tim King, O'Reilly - $10
3 Project Management: A Managerial Approach, Jack Meredith and Samuel Mantel - $10
4 Statistical Methods by S.P.Gupta - $5
5 The Handbook of Project Management by Trevor Young - $5
6 the Executive Guide to Asia-Pacific Communications by David James - $2

Math and Biology
1 Bioinformatics: Sequence and Genome Analysis - David W. Mount - $15
2 Human Physiology by Stuart Ira Fox - $15
3 Biology: Bringing Science to Life by Joan Postlethwait, Janet Hopson, Ruth Veres $15
4 A Guide to the Flora and Fauna of Schools in Singapore $4

5 Wonder of Numbers by Clifford Pickover - $8
6 An Introduction to Probability Theory and its Applications I and II by William Feller - $6
7 Complex Variables and Applicationsby James Brown and Ruel Churchill (2 copies) - $5 each
8 Linear Algebra by Kenneth Hoffman - $5
9 Topology by James Munkres - $4
10 Graph Theory by Harary - $4
11 Mathematical Analysis by Apostol - $4
12 Topics in Algebra by I.N.Herstein - $4
13 Principles and Techniques in Combinatorics by Chen Chuan Chong and Koh Khee Meng - $3
14 Introduction to Mathematical Analysis by Parzynski and Zipse - $3
15 Principles of Mathematical Analysis by walter Rudin - $3
16 Elements of Functional Analysis by I.J.Maddox - $3
17 Introduction to Real Analysis by Robert Bartle and Donald Sherbert - $3
18 Modern Abstract Algebra by Shanti Narayan and Sat Pal - $2
19 Introduction to Analogy in Mathematics by G.Polya - $2
20 Special Functions - $2

-------------
Email me if you want one or more of the above. Payment and collection at Jurong East or City Hall MRT.

Books for sale! (List 1)

2007-06-25T01:30:00.000+08:00

Novels
3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul - $5
The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler - $4
Lost Light by Michael Connelly - $4
The Bear and the Dragon by Tom Clancy - $3
P is for Peril by Sue Grafton - $3
Shockwave: A Dirk Pitt Novel by Clive Cussler - $2
Silent Witness by Richard North Patterson - $2
The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela - $1

Travel
Peru, Insight Guide - $8
India and Nepal, Let's Go - $4
Great Britain, Fodor's - $3
Europe from $50 a day, Frommers - $3
New Zealand, Let's Go - $2

Games
Your First Move - Chess for Beginners + Chess Traps, Pitfalls and Swindles + Domination in 2545 endgame studies - 3 books for $6
Sudoku Puzzle Book by The Sudoku Institute - $4
The Road to Chess Mastery and Techniques of Opening Game in Chess - 2 for $2
The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal - $2

Miscellaneous
The Complete Kamasutra, translated by Alain Danielou - $8
The Screenwriter's Problem Solver by Syd Field - $5
The Making of Casablanca by Aljean Harmetz - $5
The Making of the Wizard of Oz by Aljean Harmetz - $5
Breakthrough Italian: The Complete Introductory Course - $5
The Complete Rugby Jokes Omnibus - $3
Teach yourself Screen Writing by Raymond Frensham - $2
Bluff your way in series - racing, golf, whiskey, PR - 4 for $4
Jokes collection - Selected jokes, Politician jokes, Pocket book of funny jokes, People's party jokes, Still more people's party jokes - 5 for $5

----
Mail me if you'd like any of these. Payment and collection at Jurong East or City Hall MRT.

Furniture for sale!

2007-06-25T01:00:00.000+08:00

All items are from IKEA:

1. Showcase Shelf $40

2. Triangular Sidetable (2 tables) - $4 each

3. Rugs (4) - ~~2 beige and brown~~ Sold! 2 in beige - $7 each

4. Wardrobe - large open wardrobe with clothes rail, pull-out trouser hangers and 2 pull-out drawers

5. Clothes Stand with wheels - $10

6. Queen Size Mattress - $45

--
7. Folding chair sold!

8. Folding Table sold!

~~9. Sidetable 1-drawer set~~ sold!

10. Standing Storage Shelf sold!

11. Flat table sold!

12. Kitchen stool - $3 and Small lamp sold!

~~13. Wooden Shoe Rack - 3 pieces - $5 each~~ sold!

~~14. Revolving chair - $15~~ sold!

-----
Please email mitokondrion_AT_gmail.com if any of these interest you!

Moving sale... everything must go!

2007-06-24T23:45:00.000+08:00

3 months is a long time. Traveled to Thailand, visited the families in the States, took a cruise to nowhere, quit my job.... and still preparing for my return to the student life. Yes folks, come August I head to the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, IL.

It's going to be huge change, and not just the weather - of course I can't wait to feel the biting chill and dress in layers, as I sit here in this blistering 100% humidity. Ask me again next year if I miss this yet.

The hardest part (ok one of them) is clearing out our home... there's only so much I can bring to my tiny apartment in Evanston (which btw I'm yet to finalize, so make it tiny and hypothetical).

But now, you can help! Furniture, books, appliances, kitchenware...we have 'em all, in great condition too! It'll be a pity to just junk them so do take a look and email me your needs/wants (from the list that is).

Coming right up: furniture for sale!

The great gamble

2007-03-25T14:45:00.000+08:00

As rusgirl spilt the beans, the 5th school LBS has taken a chance on me!!

Rotman-Toronto and Tepper-CMU have made very tempting offers. Admits from Kellogg and LBS leave me in a pleasant dilemma, and the response from MIT Sloan next week might add to the fun.

I'm thrilled and grateful for the choices... while any of the options will change life as I know it, I owe it to the schools, my support network and myself to really research hard and think harder before I make the final choice that pretty much decides my foreseeable future.

Good things come in even numbers

2007-03-16T23:59:00.000+08:00

Two more admits in! As rusgirl warned, it's not easy weighing the choices, but I know I'm really lucky to even have that luxury. I thought it helped that my shortlist of 6 schools was in increasing order of preference and reputation... but all that research in choosing them several months ago wasn't in vain, they're all good schools that offer what I seek and are in great locations, so it's hard to casually drop any of them.

Anyway, I still have an interview next week, results of which will hopefully follow a week later. And the 6th school's results should be out next week too. So I still have plenty of time to think about my final options... like, um, two weeks!

Once I settle on a place and the associated paperwork, I plan to document the strange path that got me there, considering I brought a non-traditional background of scientific research and public sector experience, definitely not your typical sources of b-school aspiration.

Serious thinking and tough decisions loom ahead... alongside frantic reading of pre-MBA microeconomics and accounting fundamentals.

I shouldn't complain, seeing as so many applicants are accomplishing so much during this waiting period... TJ is one of them... with a Kellogg admit on hand too *congrats* ...inspiring!

New Tokyo Spice

2007-03-16T23:00:00.000+08:00

Warm welcome to one of the latest victims bitten by the blog-bug... Masala Sushi!

Preethy writes of life and times in Tokyo, peppering her peppy prose with pretty pix [now that alliteration just wrote itself]

"Capturing Tokyo is like trying to catch a thousand different sensations in a bottle. New sights and sounds. A world like no other. Planet Japan. Since we moved here last July, from the easy predictability of Singapore, this place has never ceased to amaze me. "

Keep up with the continuing adventures of masala sushi (rss). I also await her funky fusion recipes at some stage *no pressure P!*

The longest days...

2007-03-11T23:28:00.000+08:00

...are the days leading up to your applied schools' decision dates. While some schools notify all the applicants on a single stated date, give or take 12 hours (LBS for one), others release it on rolling basis, bestowing every applicant who is yet to receive word with panic and stress as she hears of others' results. Either way, waiting for D-day many times over, um, really builds character at the very least!

With 2 of 6 results in, what is certain is that I will start b-school in a few months time. Where remains the million-dollar question.

Perhaps in a city where I can get my daily fix of Horton's hot chocolate again!

Mitsuye Yamada

2007-03-11T23:18:00.000+08:00

It has been absolute ages since I read poetry. English literature had been a major emphasis during my schooling at an Anglo-Indian convent school in India. I recall most vividly our attempts to understand and appreciate Shakespeare, Charlotte Bronte, Tagore, Kipling, Jane Austen, RL Stevenson, among others. The words that lingered on thru' my later very-scientific and non-arts years were those of Frost and Wordsworth, but I pretty much lost all touch with poetry. In what seems to be a month for revivals, I have recently become acquainted with Mitsuye Yamada, thanks to Pat @EiE.

Mitsuye Yamada, Japanese-American activist, feminist, essayist, poet, story writer, editor, and former professor of English, writes of gender, ethnicity, identity and peace, and the intersections of all of these. I am fascinated and moved by her poems, although I've only just begun... with this:

Looking Out
It must be odd
to be a minority
he was saying.
I looked around
and didn't see any.
So I said
Yeah
it must be.

Her quotes are as intense and perhaps some of us can relate to some of them:

"I have thought of myself as a feminist first, but my ethnicity cannot be separated from my feminism."

"I find myself, as I get older, assuming a more political stance in my writings. I have moved from writing intensely personal poetry to writing essays on social and political issues. The reason for this progression in my writings is that my identity as an Asian American and my identity as a woman is just beginning to merge within me as a singular identity and I am feeling a missionary zeal to let others know about it."

Need to get hold of her Camp Notes and Other Writings before I get bogged down by school prep reading.

Exploring ethnicity

2007-03-08T14:12:00.000+08:00

Over the last two weekends, we participated in Explorations in Ethnicity, a workshop on issues of ethnicity, race, diversity and the underlying beliefs, assumptions, attitudes and challenges. An intense, sobering and thought-provoking experience that 17 of us shared, led by eight fantastic facilitators, over at the beautiful National Community Leadership Institute overlooking Kentridge Park.

The workshop served to open (some, if not all of) our eyes, minds and hearts to diverse life experiences and perspectives. Talking about conventionally taboo topics of race, racialization, and associated 'isms' is already a big step towards understanding, and doing so in a safe environment as provided by the facilitators makes it meaningful and directed. The course was not too structured or lecture-driven. Instead, through a combination of activities, experiential learning, videos and open discussions, the group managed to explore race issues in a very real sense. Not for us the academic exposition, or the armchair debate. True stories, heartfelt reactions, strong views, candid confessions, hearty debates and many an emotional moment typified our workshop. In the process, we shattered stereotypes, challenged status quo and espoused very practical ways to making a difference.

The session also served to train us participants to be future facilitators of similar workshops for youth in the coming months. The workshop helped bring so many issues to the open, attitudes that are just accepted unhappily, notions that are perpetuated for want of a questioning voice, practices that go unnoticed or shoved under "what can I do? Anyway I'm not affected what".

It may be just 50 of us (including the first two batches of facilitators trained last year) from among Singapore's 4.3 million, but it is a start. As participants affected and influenced by the workshop, we go forth to plant the seeds in others, our family, our friends and the students at our future workshops. Seeds of awareness, seed of reflection, and seeds of change, towards a society that is not just tolerant of each other's race and culture, but one that appreciates multiculturalism for what it is, and actively works to stamp out racism in its different forms.

For me, one solid outcome of the workshop was reflected in my fellow-participant-turned-friend's remark to me at the end of the day:

"Getting to know you, my negative stereotype of Indians from India has been completely broken"

I end this post (one, I hope, of more to follow in similar vein) pointing you to a disquieting yet heartening video that we watched during the course.

Jane Elliott, internationally known teacher, lecturer and diversity trainer exposes prejudice and bigotry for what it is, an irrational class system based upon purely arbitrary factors. In response to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. over thirty years ago, Jane Elliott gave her third-grade students a first-hand experience in the meaning of discrimination, through the controversial and startling "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes". This is the story of what she taught the children, and the impact that lesson had on their lives.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/etc/view.html

The video deeply affected us. What about you?

Recrudescence!

2007-03-07T18:03:00.000+08:00

After a 8-month hiatus, this will definitely take some warm-up time. Awkward, silly, irrelevant piddling. I bet I've lost most or all of my readers by this time [ though mom, I know you keep checking ever so often :) love ya! ]. Re-cultivating ye olde faithful and new interest is going to be a challenge... and so it begins.

The break from blogging marked some significant decisions and directions in my life. Here's where the ubiquitous list makes its re-appearance:

- Those darn forever-work-in-progress papers of mine finally went out... and into decent sci journals.

- I studied and sat for the GMAT. Surprised myself with a 750 score and promptly began a very delayed research on suitable b-schools. Yes folks, another one bites the (gold) dust... another earnest 'youngster' seeking to bring fresh perspectives into science management. Honestly, the MBA was something I always wanted to do, it was more a matter of when.

- On hindsight, the GMAT was the easiest part of the entire phase, as your b-school veterans warned. The school research took months, and my shortlist whittled down from 15 to 6. Some schools were dropped for reasons ranging from insistence on TOEFL to seemingly cut-throat student body. Anyway, I remain happy with my choice of 6, conservative but necessary then given my non-traditional background.

- I underestimated the application process. Specifically the admission essays. I struggled with them, without really getting much writing done, for weeks. A Godsend came in the form of a long-lost friend from undergrad days. This amazing guy offered to read my essays and give suggestions on improvement based on his experience reading b-school essays. That was enough to push me to complete the horrendous drafts of one school's set of questions. Turned out they were quite far from the norm...as expected. Frantic revisions followed, and while I didn't have time (luckily for him) to get my friend to re-read through my revised versions and multiple essays, I used his initial suggestions to rephrase my roles, achievements, involvement in a much stronger and more direct mold.

- Missed all the round 1 deadlines and narrowly made it to the round 2 deadlines for my list of schools. The desire to drop some of them grew as the deadlines neared, especially those with dramatically different essay questions from the rest. But thanks to firm encouragement from H and others, I somehow churned them all out in time for the second deadlines.
H was a gem through it all... he has a knack for such essays (if he ever decides to pursue an MBA he's already all set), and given that he's heard all my work and other stories many times over, he was quick to remind me of incidents that fit various questions.

- As of yesterday, I have 5 completed interviews, the last interview from one of my dream schools in a week, and 2 solid offers on hand. I'm thrilled to know that my essays, naive and non-businesslike as they were, actually elicited enough interest from all the schools of my choice! Goes to show, you need not be a high-flying mgmt consultant, or from a top bank or IT firm to make the cut (although I'm sure it helps). Of course, I can't say much more about this, till I complete the last interview, and hear from the remaining schools. All results would be in by end of March. *bated breath*

- In the end, the waiting is definitely the hardest part. I lurk too frequently on the BusinessWeek forums, I obsessively check my email, I google my schools' names for updates and student blogs, I jump at every phone call, and my friends and family are, I am positive, extremely tired of hearing the B and M words [ but they've been so wonderful not to ever let me hear it for being such a pain! ].

- I have also met some fantastic people in the process. A fellow applicant who I was bumping into in every b-school event... now we exchange notes ~~and relentlessly bitch~~ about the process and prospects regularly. It'll be great if we actually make it into the same school, but who knows... all will be revealed in two weeks. Another applicant-turned-candidate of one of my dream schools... we're located in different continents now but perhaps, just perhaps we could be in the same school in a few months time *optimism overfloweth* A bunch of current students and alumni from various b-schools, including interviewers who are so highly placed I can't fathom how they make time (voluntarily!) to interview and help so many of us patiently.

- The process of explaining myself in the essays has been a fantastic way to crystallize my goals and dreams. Even if, God forbid, I don't end up in my dream school, I am at least clearer on where I want to go, while a little hazy on how I want to get there. Of course, b-school could make that happen, or change it all... one can't plan too far ahead anyway, seeing how my own life has turned out, despite the seeming stability promised by so many factors a decade ago. But the fact that I feel confident in the face of a not-a-straightforward future is itself a positive sign... time will tell where it all leads to!

^_^

If your dreams turn to dust....vacuum.

Singapore National Day 2006

2006-08-11T00:25:00.000+08:00

Singapore celebrated National Day on August 9. This year marked her 41st... and my 11th on these shores. But this was the first time I got to see the Parade live! Ok, it was only the Preview, but if there's one place where the preview is nearly the same spectacular display as the actual event, it's in Singapore at the NDP!

My friend wondered at the lack of a ceremonial flag hoisting. Another was amused with the cheery mass renditions of 'Absolutely Everybody' pre-parade. Yet another was sad that the latest pop and dance-hits were played pre-parade, instead of local music. But Electrico took over soon with 'Hip City'. Our motivator did not insist too much on synchronized cheers...but the entire stadium crowd spiritedly took part in several 'waves'. Then the actual parade began.

My take on the red-and-white we were all "encouraged to wear".

Pre-parade entertainment

Parade paratrooping

And of course, the brilliant fireworks

More pictures

~~
I finished an exam...it went well, I think. I also finished two manuscripts (joint work makes all the difference). I now feel quite aimless. Time to register for the next, tougher exam, and begin computatations for the next paper.

Of food and heritage

2006-07-27T20:00:00.000+08:00

The Singapore Vegetarian Society's fund-raising gala dinner was held last weekend. We were there, and so were another 298 people, in the cozy premises of Greenland Vegetarian restaurant in Serangoon.
It was an eclectic bunch of supporters - other than the very-enthu society volunteers and members, there were people who had signed up after the local newspaper's mention of the event, folks bringing their elderly parents for a treat, families with little children, folks in the organic food business, vegetarians by-birth and the born-again vegans.

The society also raised funds with their very own funky 'go veg' t-shirts and the rich and colourful New Asian Traditions Vegetarian Cookbook, replete with fabulous shots of Asian and Singapore vegetarian dishes (it does exist!). All the copies at the event were grabbed, mainly by folks buying it as gifts for friends.

The dinner also marked the launch of Singapore Meatout Week.

Meatout is, simply, a time when people try to go without meat. This could be for one meal, one day, or longer. Meatout is an international observance to highlight the benefits of a plant-based diet, while promoting the availability of tasty vegetarian options in restaurants and stores. The first Meatout was held in the U.S. in 1985, and since then, the concept has gone global, with events held annually across Australia, Canada, Brazil, Germany, France, Belgium, Thailand, Romania and many more. This is the second year of Singapore's very own 'meatout' week.

To mark this week, a number of restaurants are offering special discounts and promotional items. Get the voucher and take your loved one for a nice meal this weekend at one of the many restaurants.

----
We were also at the Fun on Foot - Heartlands Singapore walk over the weekend.

Organised by the National Heritage Board and Central Singapore CDC as part of the Singapore HeritageFest 2006, the treasure hunt kicked off at 9 AM, amidst a sea of red �?? yes, we had to don the official uniform of bright-red t-shirts so that we could be spotted by the organizers (and the bemused public) a mile away and be disqualified if we so much as mentioned taxi!

The walk - more like 'run' since every team wanted to beat atleast some of the other groups in reaching each site - brought us through never-before-seen (by our team anyway) streets and lanes of Singapore�??s central district �?? specifically Jalan Besar and Balestier. Each marked site had a question on the history of that building or location, which we had to answer by scanning through a wordy history textbook extract next to it. Pretty much no thinking or general knowledge involved at all... so we just let our fastest members run the mile to reach the post, scrawl the answer down and get the requisite 'chop', while we pretended to peruse the street directory for the bus route to the next spot.

Having said that, I must admit the walk was very well organized (yeah I know, it's Singapore lah!) and I'd prefer to be part of the organizing team the next time round.

(photos flicked from mark - thanks ah!)

Updates: Live n Loud

2006-07-16T21:40:00.000+08:00

Thanks for the poke, vidya (fellow irregular blogger). I've been MiA without the requisite 'going offline' note since, well, I wasn't sure when I'd return... but I knew I wanted to.

Took the hiatus to deal with the real world that had become way too complicated. It still is, and the future is still nebulous, but I have managed to get my priorities in order, including plan B, C, D... that might be one of the problems, planning for way too many scenarios. But I figure life's going to spring those horrendous twists and obstacles anyway, so you can never plan too much.

So, I've been taking charge of my life, as much as possible in the current situ, govt and work policies aside:

- I no longer follow any TV shows fervently. Sure, I highlight (and then promptly forget) must-watch movies in the monthly cable guide; I can and do channel-surf like a pro.. but only when my brain is in torpor after one too many 12-hour research days.

- I'm learning to say 'NO' - to extra pointless work, to the telemarketeers with 'special offers', to the extra social and volunteer events, and to my spa consultant - she tried to coax me into renewing my spa package for 2K with an extra $1000 value thrown in. This, when I've only completed 10 of my 40+ existing paid-for treatments! I mean, come on... get me twice, shame on me!

Having said that, I must admit that the facials and bodycare therapies are very relaxing, and the later compliments are good to hear... but not enough to make me a spa sybarite!

- I've become a big fan of the neighbourhood wet-market. I get my weekly supply of 5-6 differen fresh veggies for under $5, and they last well beyond those from the cold-section of supermarkets. And much to some cashiers' surprise and annoyance, I still carry my own cloth bags to the market and stores, although I'm yet to see anyone else doing so, which could explain why some of the checkout clerks still want to bag my purchases before placing it in my bag!

Dickson presents some of the plastic facts.

So, do you carry your own bag to the grocery store yet?

- I've taken to exercising assertiveness in various contexts, bordering on aggressive in certain cases. Take being audible, for one. I was chided last week for being too loud in a group. Later, I raised a question to the speaker at a 300-attendee seminar, without a microphone, and didn't have to repeat or clarify - and yes, wise guy, the speaker's answer was appropriate, so he must've heard me... or he lip-read. Anyway, for those who've ever heard me, you'll know we're talking sea change here.

- I still go the gym, I still cook, I still read - if word-lists, math and grad school prep notes count. But my glass-painting, Mandarin lessons, dancing and gaming have taken a long break. Then again, I have signed up to be on three different committees, but my tasks therein are clear-cut. Sure, I'll need to work on the discipline to keep all these afloat while churning out decent research in the lab. But I'm getting there.

For a start, on both Saturday and Sunday, I've woken up by 7 AM and remained wakeful and active then on. Who says you can't have a long weekend every weekend? :)

Events: an update

2006-06-02T13:10:00.000+08:00

Happy birthday to periappa on turning 80 this week! He prefers to be called periappa i.e. dad's elder brother by all of us in the family even though he is my grandpa's elder brother thus technically only my dad's periappa. Our family is complicated like that...

Congrats to my little sis for getting what she desired and deserved - a place at National Institute of Design!

Congrats and all the best to our dear pal Vipul for getting into grad school at UCSD... even if it is La Jolla beach rather than the coursework that he's looking forward to right now :P Can't blame him!

^_^

As for my life in the past several weeks, it's easily summarized :

- Spent 6 hrs on my feet, continously blending and selling juices for charity. It was all the fruit I've never blended at home all these years. I don't want to see, let alone make another honeydew-papaya soy-shake for a long time to come...

- On the road for virtually 26 continuous hours, participating in an education fair, then on to a holistic fair, then bunking in with a friend and chatting the hours away to keep each other awake so we could be on time for a 4 AM intertidal ReefWalking adventure; back to the holistic fair to retrieve misplaced goods worth $100... finally to an 8-hour snooze at noon, a quick dinner followed by another 8 hours of dreamless sleep.

- Explored Singapore's intertidal reefs at Kusu Island in pitch dark pre-dawn hours, with the Blue Water Volunteers. Ashwin_N describes it in detail, so I'll just add some photos to his already cool collection!

Ashwin also says some nice things about Singapurathisweek - thanks, great to know of folks finding it useful... now I gotta pay more attention to keeping it alive and fresh!

- Re-adjusting to an all-female lunch and work group, after more than a year of hanging out in an all male friends' circle. More shopping (lots more), more personal grooming, less alcohol, less debates on women, and about the same amount of gossip and fun-lovin'...

- Yielded to peer (and the stylist's) pressure and acquired copper highlights. Loved the cut and the colour - highly recommend the salon Icon by Shunji Matsuo!

- Went for a free posture checkup which, unsurprisingly, revealed major stresses on my neck and back, so of course they didn't have to convince me much to sign up for the full chiroprac consultation.

- Several farewell dinners and drinking sessions, as old colleagues move on to grad studies / better prospects.

- More drinking sessions in the name of networking and information gathering

- Catching a cold or flu every few weeks. My doc insists that I ought to build up my immune system and avoid stress instead of popping antibiotics... he's generous with the medical leave certificates though so I shouldn't complain.

- running experiments for yet another MD simulation paper, this time with a nice tight deadline

- Preparing (not rigorously) for couple of competitive examinations. It's time to fix the dates - registering and paying will hopefully instill the fear to progress to intensive prep mode... H is already in that mode, so CSI and Formula One commercial breaks are our only talk times. Ok I exaggerate, my monologues continue beyond those breaks... but I dread the the World Cup season.

An afternoon at the Presidential Palace

2006-05-15T13:40:00.000+08:00

The Istana (Malay for palace) is the official residence of the President of Singapore. Located on Orchard Road, it occupies over 100 acres, sprawling lawn, State Rooms and all. The grounds are open to the public on certain public holidays in the year. After a decade in Singapore, I finally made my way to the Istana Open House on May 1 this year. Some of the moments captured below.

Sights of such vast stretches of green are rare and welcome!

We also visited the Staterooms, where state guests are received and entertained, and got an eyeful of the displayed gifts presented to the President and the Prime Minister from various countries. We found the crystal bowl from USA quite ho-hum, the tea-sets from Turkey and some of the Middle-Eastern countries exquisite, and the showcased gifts from India, Malaysia and Morocco, among others, stunningly beautiful. Unfortunately, photography isn't permitted within the building so you'll have to make a trip down to the Istana to view them for yourself.

Performances by various school artistic groups are also held during the Open Houses, and on this day, we were on time for Deyi Secondary School's Indian Cultural Dance shows.

My cam zoom came in useful for this shot of the President of Singapore, Mr. SR Nathan and First Lady Mrs. Nathan enjoying the dance performances!

Enthusiastic displays all, though rain put paid to the final dance-drama by another school's all-boys ensemble...

The next Istana Open House is on 6 Aug, Sunday, to celebrate Singapore's National Day, followed by one on 24 Oct, for Deepavali & Hari Raya Puasa. Details at Istana

Vesak Day

2006-05-11T00:58:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow millions of Buddhists around the world, including Singapore, celebrate Vesak Day, or Buddha Purnima. Vesak Day commemorates the birth, enlightenment and final Nirvana of the Buddha. This year marks 2550 years of Buddhism. Among other things, the day is marked by visits and offerings at temples, communal ceremonies and processions, and for some, by going vegetarian on the day.

This year, I have a chance to volunteer at a Vegetarian Food Fair in a Buddhist temple. This is at the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery (KMSPKS), the largest Buddhist temple in Singapore. It'll be my first time co-running a food stall... excited and very nervous!

The food fair is only one of the many Vesak Day celebrations at the temple this weekend - there's plenty more! Check it out, and do stop by and get a healthy fruit juice or snack - I'll be helping out at the Vegetarian Society's stall between 9 AM and 1 PM :)

Vesak Day Celebrations
Fri 12 May, 9am - 5 pm
Pagoda of the Thousand Buddhas, Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Temple
88 Bright Hill Road (Bus 410 from Bishan interchange / MRT)
Event poster

Cross-posted at singapurathisweek

Tamil New Year greetings

2006-04-14T09:57:00.000+08:00

The hiatus was good - I've learnt I can live without email for a week atleast, and I've recovered from my feed addiction. Getting back to blogging is going to be a slow and shaky process... not that I was too prolific before the break.

Beautiful Vancouver was another great learning experience. First time I spent my birthday away from home too. Whistler gave me my first encounter with snow(ok mom, since I was three anyway)... beautiful though a tad disappointing as I was expecting powdery white stuff that snowballs and snowmen are supposed to be made of - being the start of spring, it was more icy crystals... but that was good enough for (attempting) skiing and snow-mobiling.

The photos, coming soon, will say much more, I hope.

Happy New Year to my fellow Tamilians... and best wishes for Easter.

Life - an update

2006-03-15T01:13:00.000+08:00

Life has a funny way...
of sneaking up on you when you think everything's okay and everything's going right
-Alanis Morisette, Ironic

Well, actually everything wasn't really ok, work was still crazy, decisions pending, deadlines colliding... but on the home front, we thought we had it covered. Our rented apartment's owners agreed to renew our lease, we have to raise the rent though, they said. Alright, we said, sounds good...

Too good to be. As it turned out, market and agent pressures got the owner re-thinking... and mid-week, we got the bombshell - we're very sorry but we've signed the apartment over to a relative, you've got 2 weeks to move out, they said.

Shock, anger, frustration, even legal recourse was considered... but there was no time for drama, we had to find a shelter, and fast. And so the house-hunting began.

A few dozen calls and couple of house-visits later, we've found a nice little pad (choosy we ain't), more expensive, less accessible, but newer, prettier, hipper... yup, I'm all sold on the new place, so I come up with new pluses everyday!

I'm hearing of many similar incidents of owners playing out the tenants in recent times... with the property markets on the upswing, they can afford to hike the price and still find desperate tenants or buyers... well, we've enjoyed the previous low lasting several years, so I know it works both ways.

But it was certainly a wakeup call, a nasty pre-dawn siren at that. A reminder that word of honour, personal trust, even the official-looking Letter of Intent by default don't mean a thing from nearly anyone unless proven otherwise.

And that it's time I work towards being at the other end of the deal, someday, as a more understanding owner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's amazing the amount of junk (and useful stuff) one can accumulate in a few years. It's too rushed for a garage sale, maybe after we move in to the new place! 15 carton boxes packed and the house still looks like before, and I'm yet to find myself hunting desperately for anything already packed.

Half the boxes are filled with books and CDs; many contain kitchenware (that's the only way I'd stop cooking); one for the glass paintings of past and future; one for all them accessories - I believe one should be allowed to collect this much only if one remembers to accessorize every single day; another box filled to the brim with shoes of all kinds - documenting this should remind me (or H) to kick myself when I start coveting another must-have pair.

And I'm not even thinking about the clothes, stationery, art, glassware, and the clothes...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's all about perspective. At work, we have our Big Scientific meeting end of this week... we still don't know if we'll be presenting our work but we're told to just play by ear, the big cheeses may or may not want to see your faces, ask tough questions, judge your research and your presentation skills... prepare for it anyway.

I'm yet to progress on my conference poster prep, beyond dumping in all the text and plots I've generated in the past 6 months... now to see if all or any of that makes sense together.

Our office Dinner & Dance party happens this weekend... and, not a single pretty dress in sight! :
Perspective, is all it is...

Cooking with carbo-love

2006-03-01T19:19:00.000+08:00

A few recent discoveries:

- I can actually cook meals for more than two people (but just enough for 8, barely)

- People other than the two of us can also eat and seemingly relish the food I cook

- Rice dressed up in four different ways can make for ~~wholesome~~ enjoyable multi-course meal, when accompanied by lots of chips... and plenty of spirit(s).

- Putting together two grad students towards the fag end of their Phd, two enthu new students just starting their Phd, two wannabe researchers still on the fence about grad school, and two others considering Masters, makes for a heck of an entertaining evening :)

- Getting ashwink to capture the dishes was a good idea... guess we'll be inviting him to cover (and eat) more cooking @home experiments :)

Notes from a first-time Citizen Partner

2006-02-28T18:45:00.000+08:00

Over the weekend, I volunteered at the Community Resilience Carnival 2006 @SouthWest. It marked the first Community Engagement Programme, towards building a network of community leaders to tackle terrorism. The carnival itself was held to promote awareness among the public of basic civil defence and security measures, emergency preparedness and so on.

"Thank you for your willingness to help out, please report on site at 8 AM on Sunday" I had been told. Now I'm not exactly a morning person especially after saturday late-nights, but it was to be my first activity as a Citizen Partner, so I was quite excited and curious. Also, the venue was a 5 min walk from home, so I could just slip into jeans and the official tee - a bright-red Polo to make sure we're instantly recognizable - and saunter over.

So there we were, a handful of reds, munching on the provided four seasons breakfast sets, as the CDC and partner organizers set up the tentage and booths around us and assigned us to different tasks. I was assigned to the Goodie Bags counter, along with the fun and friendly Hani who speaks Mandarin, Malay, Hokkien, Cantonese and English with equal ease. We also met several teenagers from other voluntary organizations at the same and nearby booths.

Ours soon became a popular corner, what with people's fascination with goodie bags. Never mind that they didn't know what it contained, and never mind that all it did contain was Newater, a torch and a few colourful brochures... they just had to get their hands on one, preferably more. But of course, they were orderly about it and queued up patiently. And the pleased smiles and thank yous upon getting the handouts - simply priceless! They were mostly the elderly, on their morning walks with friends or grandkids, or armed with tiny coupons for the bag collection from their community centres. Those without coupons had to complete a simple quiz on emergency preparedness to get the bag and a gift - a mini first-aid kit. The youth volunteers were ever ready to help the old folks and the kids with the correct answers.

While it was a very fun and interesting experience interacting with the different folks, I realized the importance of being able to converse in basic Malay and Mandarin... it'll certainly be worth the effort, to direct the aunty to the correct booth, to ask the uncle to return at noon, or simply to joke around and interact better with the fellow-helpers.

While our arms received a week's worth of toning by carrying and transporting multiple bags, we also got a nice eyeful of smart young men in uniforms from the Home Team. Other highlights were the multicutural percussion and dance performance, skits on anti-narcotics and civil defence, emergency drills, tele-match and plenty of carnival games. We got to meet a few of the GRC grassroot leaders and MPs. Hani and I gushed like teens at the (distant) sight of celebrity guest Aaron Aziz, even as we continued with queue management and bag handling.

The event drew to a close around 3 pm, and we packed up, after exchanging contacts and promising to catch up at the next event, the Family Fun-nival at Southwest 2006 on 12 March.

It was, for me, certainly a very different and very enriching way to spend a Sunday. Exhausted yet happy, I walked back home, carrying my goodie bags!

Research rewards

2006-02-18T00:50:00.000+08:00

I'm very excited, and more than a bit apprehensive, about being accepted to participate in the Keystone Symposium on Structure-based Drug Discovery! It will my first visit to Canada, and the venue being Whistler in British Columbia, I hope to also experience the beautiful city that topped the EIU liveability rankings.

The first time I presented my beginner's meanderings into antimicrobials was at a Gordon Research Conference last year - very interesting experience. Most of the participants were hardcore biologists and immunologists, with a couple of structure experts, but hardly any biocomputing reps. So curiosity and novelty had me covered.

This time, however, will be very different. Many of the big cheeses in computational biology and structure, some of the gurus of our field are going to be there... excellent opportunity to hear from the heroes, pick their brains and test our fledgling hypotheses' (de-)merits. But also, highly intimidating and generating a crazy urgency to get a grip on the basics of structure, electrostatics, simulations, docking, the works....

Or at the very least, a handle on my own research project, if I can find in the next few weeks some tiny clearing in the miasma.

And then, once I'm more prepared, I could, like philip over at biocurious, perhaps think about conference blogging, with some travel stories thrown in!