my shopping list

Kind of messy huh? But that's the point =)

Working on the lab rotations list... I gotta put in more effort for that one.

Matriculation Ceremony

Matriculation at Yale was simply splendid. It started off with a breakfast at HGS courtyard, where the chance to mingle was presented (always the case). So, I got to meet up with Roy and Ra, know a couple of more people, notably CT, another fellow Singaporean, from Oxford, studying East Asian studies. Apparently, he is also XL's teacher/sis friend. Talk about coincidence =) Then we proceeded to Sprague Hall at the School of Music, named after Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, supposedly one of the best music halls in North America. In any case, we were welcomed by a live band playing in the background, followed by the professors, deans coming in and giving a speech. President Levin gave a speech. Our new Graduate School dean is instated today as well: Sterling Professor Thomas D. Pollard, also a Biological and Biomedical Sciences professor. A graduate a capella group - The Citations - performed for us, showing the all-rounded development of Yale graduate students; they come from an ecletic range of faculties and concentrations. They sing really well. M says Yale has some of the best a capella groups in North America, and especially the undergraduate ones; forgot which. But the graduate one seemed good already. Then we had a tea reception at President Levin's non-residential house, more for important social events. They have a huge courtyard as well, and his wife and him and Prof Pollard and his wife were also there to shake our hands. The tea reception was in conjunction with the signing of a book, supposedly a tradition from the ancient days (150 years ago), ever since Yale conferred the first ever phD in North America... That is the original book, with the names of those that had already "gone down in history". Just one week in New Haven, I have come to realize that Yale holds very strong traditional and cultural values. While she prides herself as one of the most prestigious universities in the modern world, she anchors herself with these traditions to keep her feet on the ground. However, while I do like the geniality of the people at Yale and New Haven and their willingness to help and the extensive measures Yale have put in place for their students, faculties and employees, I do have reservations for the crime rate, bureacracy and inefficiency that seemed to plague here, and, I have heard, also to a lot of places in the US. Hailing from Singapore, where organization, security, efficiency and convenience are of the essence, I have a lot to adapt indeed...

International student orientation

Ok, I guess I haven't been up-to-date again. But I was so tired yesterday (probably due to jetlag), I wanted to take a nap at 7pm, but ended up sleeping till 6am in the morning. Right, the past few days have been a series of orientations. Let's start off with Wednesday - the international student orientation.

But I think the exhaustion is also contributed by the series of unfortunate events...

The day started off with the international student orientation at SSS Hall (Sterling Sheffield Strathcona), which was rather uplifting I guess. We actually did a Yale Fight Song (we did the "Bulldogs"), which was fun but kind of over our age, given that all of us are graduate students. Something, though, I felt was that they made me feel at ease and that they are really keen on helping us. This, IMO, is extremely appreciated and something definitely required by international students. The actual song with the band and cheers and craziness, that they let us watch was this; I think we were about 3/10 if this is 10/10 LOLX:

Ra, W and I decided to head down to the "Cityseed Farmers' Market" outside City Hall at Downtown to take a look at the groceries that they have. The tomatoes are huge!! Ra decided to buy some, although later he commented they are rather tasteless. Looks are deceiving indeed! That's when I realise HGS rooms do not have fridge and a common kitchen seems nonexistent too. Then we went for lunch at Au Bon Pain. There, we were joined with Elizabeth, an exchange doctoral student from UK (I think from one of Oxbridge), who will be with Yale until end of the year. I then left the company for an appointment at the Tax Office, who told me that I do not need to be there actually; the documents just arrived, showing that I do not need to be there... The lady was nice enough to explain to me that I need to pay 14% tax (federal and state taxes), of which part of it might be returned to me when I file for tax next year... Then I walked again, down to the Green to try to take a bus M3/M4 to DMV for my state ID... I waited ONE hour, and ended up not going because DMV would have closed by the time I reached there...

Take home message: inefficient transportation and bureacracy are both something I have to get used to...

Something perked me up though, just because it reminded me of XL:

the start of something new

The HSM song is broadcasting in my new Creative Inspire T3030 speakers =) Well, actually, technically, it's a second-hand used product. But still in very good condition. I got a new wireless printer (it's new because the person who gave me has never used it before) and a rice cooker (second hand). Hoping to really cook something one of these days. Am malnourished I think, haha. But that happens when I get alot of things to do... It's something I cannot break out of haha.

Well, today went to another part of the campus - School of Medicine and the School of Public Health - which is a distance away from the downtown area, for safety training courses. This got me pretty excited because I haven't explored that part of town yet. So I took the Yale shuttle for the Red Line, which is just around the corner of my apartment, and brings me directly to the medical school. I missed the first bus, which usually is ok, but today, the temperature is 17 degree celsius and SUPER SUPER windy (I seriously felt an additional bounce when walking with my bag, which is filled with things), making it not a good weather to read newspapers or any materials or any form of waiting for that matter =( Anyway, I got through the training, which I thought was done pretty rushed, and weird, for my first EVER class at Yale. But lunch was amazing. They have these food carts that line the entire street to beyond! Hahah, got Thai food from this lady who thought I needed more food (i.e. skinny) so she gave me extras FOC =) The serving is humongous. That's when I realised, the sparrows are pretty huge here too HAHA. And eating out on a windy afternoon, with overcast sky (not raining) and great greenery, and amongst pre-med, med students, doctors, nurses and medicine-related personnel aren't such a bad thing haha. Sometimes, a change of scene is extremely refreshing and uplifting.I then headed down to HGS (I walked, for about 20 minutes, because I missed the bus again) for the New Haven Info Fair, which was a blast. Totally. There were so many discount deals and so many new things to discover: from zipcars just parked around my apartment (and the lady said nobody ever used those from that area), phone deals (cross my fingers), to theatre, books, travel, libraries, recycling, food and discount coupons. Expectedly, LOTS of people turned up. Who would miss such good deals? Only those that didn't know them in the first place I guess...

OISS organised a discussion group for "Winning strategies in studying" or something along that line LOLX. I met W there again (we met at the Info Fair too) and caught up a little. We actually started talking about pizzas and sushi. I got to know 2 more friends (hurray!), R, from Israel and doing phD in Applied Math and R, from France and doing phD in Applied Physics and is in the same PEB program as I am (double hurray!). We got into a really enjoyable discussion on our fields and academic lives thus far before we exchanged contacts and parted. Will catch up with you guys again!! =) And there are also 3 Taiwanese there. Probably because of XL, I got this fuzzy attachment to Taiwanese LOLX. Inexplicable indeed.

That marks the beginning of a series of orientation this week... Stay tune =)

Hamden

Hamden is a small town north of New Haven, in the Greater New Haven area. You would really need a car to be there, or to travel around the town. For me, there is a bus that runs from New Haven to Hamden (and IKEA) for 22nd, 28th and 29th for free. So I decided to hop down to Hamden Plaza today. No it's not ONE shopping center (like in Singapore), it's in fact a huge compound comprising of carparks and eateries (Chili's, Wendy's, Mac, TGIF...) and the hypersupermarkets (like Walmart) and big shopping centers (like Staples, Stop and Shop).

For dual purpose of going to the Walmart and also to see what's Hamden is like, I decided against IKEA ("i"-"k"-ya).

The whole place is huge, but I still think Munich's Walmart (the one that closed down) is much larger since it had 2 storeys and lots of groceries. So, unfortunately, I couldn't find most of the groceries I want in this Walmart but still ended up with lots of goods - most importantly my bedding set (full double bed, of 8 pieces, $34), which I thought was a nice color to spice up the dull-colored room =). I am still amazed by the milk (1 huge gallon @ $2.48). Later on I would realise, most of the items I bought (food and tupperware) are actually already in the house. I also went Staples (stationery mart) to get parts of my desktop accessories - a rotating desktop organizer ($5) and a 3-drawer paper organizer ($8). And just for the lame thrill of having Mac at the country of origin, I had lunch at Mac; the Angus burger is VERY good!! =)

Reached back at the apartment, and trying to figure out to how to actually make the bed... There's a comforter (self-explanatory, basically the blanket), the pillow cases and the pillow shams which I am just going to take them as replacement pillow cases and the problem arrives at the fitted sheet and the flat sheet. I do not have a flat bottom, so the bed skirt's just going to be stowed away. The fitted sheet is easy enough, since Singapore uses that all the time; it's the one with the elastic bands at the sides. But the flat sheet, I have no idea what in the world it is. So I youtubed the thing and managed to adapt what was in the video:


One of those things I thought they only do it in the hotel, but I have to try to adapt it here now... LOLX... Now doesn't that design liven up the place =)

Yale in end-summer

Ok, I think I will try to be a bit more up-to-date with my adventures at Yale.

Just came back from the Welcome Party for International Students. Didn't feel excited like I should have - there were lots of people, that's good but I went late, so kind of naturally got excluded. I mingled a bit, but didn't help much. Well, liked the trivia contest though. Allow me to know more about Yale and New Haven, like you can actually learn 50 languages at Yale!! (XL and SW would love it LOLX) and that George W. Bush was born in New Haven (not a fun fact).

A sad thing didn't manage to catch G there though, haha; we were actually MSN-ing about this in the morning. Was trying to search a face that matches the Facebook one LOLX. Because, have been talking to him since XH's introduction online but never really met in person. I always felt it was a pity. Hmm, wonder if he was there. Will ask him online later. And so I missed my dose of Singlish usage HAHA. But managed to talk to this Waldon (hope I got the name right) guy from Canada, Vancouver, studying Evolutionary Biology. He did Cell Biology in Vancouver and he said he took 15 hours to get to New Haven... Wow, even when Canada is so near.

Anyway, I have been wondering around the place for the past 2 days and trying to familiarize myself with the area. I definitely like Yale's buildings - the architecture is primarily gothic. I felt like I was walking through Hogwarts corridors when I was walking in Hall of Graduate Studies (HGS) to get my package and Yale ID! It was supposed to be where I would be staying, but the size of the room, compulsory in-house dining plan and nearby construction tilted the scales against it... I am really glad I got my current apartment =)

Then I snooped around at the Payne Wayne Gymnasium, supposedly the second largest indoor sports complex IN THE WORLD... A gym with a gothic style is just cool. It's under construction now, sorry the best pic would be from Wiki. It houses 11 squash courts, a fitness center, lots of studios, olympic-sized swimming pools, a rowers' pool and more!! Unbelievable... Gotta go try out the gym one day. It's free for students btw, and I can bring guests, though each will cost $10... There's the Peabody Museum, Yale's very own Paleontology and Archaelogy Museum, free for students as well =) Also, I am impressed by the Beinecke Library for Rare books and Manuscripts, the largest building in the world built exclusively for preservation of book and manuscripts. Supposedly the windows are translucent, so that less sunlight is allowed in, giving it a light yellow glow; I didn't notice that shimmer...Then there're many many more gothic and/or just archaic buildings, like the Law School and also especially in the old campus. I am just overwhelmed by the idea that I would be sitting down in a room (McDougal Center in HGS) with hanging chandeliers, latin-worded wallpaper and intricately carved gargoyles, sipping my coke and typing away on my laptop (which I did by the way), or even more foudroyant by the fact that Yale undergraduates would be divided into colleges behind fortress walls and castle towers (which I did see btw) and playing orientation games... And also, I like the roads of some of the places, like Hillhouse Avenue - serene and tranquil with nice shades and fantastic hues from the trees, and I am always amused by scurrying squirrels.
Surprisingly, the idea of putting a (Grove St) cemetery, smacked right in middle of town didn't spook the hell out of the local residents, or invoke any protests from the students. Perhaps it's because the Presidents of Yale were buried there. But the entrance "The Dead shall be raised" has an enthralling sense of foreboding - like some prophecy or some chosen one is going to resurrect the dead - reminds me of the morbid "Arbeit macht frei" and Nico in the Percy Jackson book series.

I haven't been inside most of the buildings... More photos will come when i do =) Looking forward...

Anyway, more photos on Facebook soon =) I am putting up some here. C made some Greek salad and said I looked I haven't eaten in days... LOLX... Thanks C! It's good that your roommate's a great cook! Hmm, now thinking about getting that rice cooker...

Maiden trip to the U.S.!

Hallo ALL!! Greetings from New Haven once again (for those of you who didn't catch the first one on Facebook)!!

And if you haven't noticed already, whether it's on Facebook or my blog title, yup, I am currently at Yale in the US, pursuing my phD at Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS). And if you are interested, my major is Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (CBB) under the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Department (BBS) and am in a relatively new program Integrated Graduate Program in Physical and Engineering Biology (IGPPEB). Quite a mouthful, isn't it? Pardon me for the excessive use of acronyms and jargons (LOLX!). If you can't catch entirely, and they (do) appear in my entries hereafter, just know that they are just affiliations that I might be associated with for the next 5 years or so... Just a brief introduction, and since I have not started school yet, there isn't much of what I am doing that is pertaining to my graduate studies per se, so those would come later, in due time.

What I was excited about as well, was my maiden trip to the US. Yes, my first EVER setting-foot on American grounds! But well, there's always a first time for anything, isn't it? Took China Eastern Airlines (because that's the cheapest one-way ticket I could find on cheapoair) at Changi Airport T3, transited at Shanghai Pu Dong International Airport after 5 hours from Singapore (same time zone), then the last leg of 13 hours flight from Shanghai to John F. Kennedy International Airport at New York City! Yeah, the ever infamous Big Apple, which I unfortunately could only catch a glimpse of, be sure I will be back to soak it all in LOLX!

I wanna thank CS, J and Owl for insisting to send me off despite you guys needing to work the next day, R, my best buddy, and K, despite R having to go endure post-operation trauma (hope you are feeling much better) for sending me off!! I am really happy to see you guys there before I fly off. Thank god though, I manage to "shake off" those of you who had wanted to come, haha. No hard feelings, just thought that it was really an unearthly timing to make a trip to the eastern tip of Singapore on a midweek night. But I do appreciate the thought nonetheless =) And all those that called and messaged =) To all the weddings and housewarmings I would miss, just know that I would be giving you guys my wellwishes all the way from US!! hehe. To my family, XL and her family (who came in the end despite having dinnered only the day before), I have only gratitude and more gratitude. Gonna miss you all. I will take care of myself and call as often as I can =)

China Eastern Airlines flight experience was pretty much so-so, for me. Without any individual flight entertainment systems (except the sound system), it has got most of the other things above average - meals, services, minimal delays. I got bumped up to Business class from Singapore to Shanghai - no significant difference though from the economy class. So if you are into cheap tickets but do not mind the absence of in-flight entertainment systems, then this is fine. But the 13+5+waiting+5 (transit)+4(shuttle to new haven)=29-hour travelling was horrendous!! I mean, seriously, I should start thinking about teleportation as my new form of transport, or else just KILL me LOLX. On the hindsight, it wasn't that much of a thing after I touched down, but I think I wouldn't want to do that again in the very near future...

Pu Dong Airport was a little disappointing, despite all the Expo 2010 hype. I found it messy, despite knowing the language and all. They had put up counters solely for the purpose of the Expo and ended up confusing most of the travellers, because they were mostly closed already. Very sparse shopping district, with the shops having very minimal international outlook. The flight from Pu Dong saw a very different demographics of passengers - a lot of American-born Chinese kids (ABC) returning to US from vacation in China, with their very Chinese parents and some in-betweens (like myself), and some US citizens. So the whole plane was filled with a hodgepodge of English and Mandarin accents, kids with American accent but zilch Mandarin, parents with Chinese English accents but local Mandarin accents, visiting Chinese zero/minimal English but full of local dialects (Shanghainese, Cantonese etc.), total Americans - just pure acoustic disaster... The entire flight was filled with babies crying, little ABCs screaming to English pop songs, kids jumping around, mums scolding the kids, mums scolding each other, dads laughing and standing up and blocking everybody's view of the TV (I had to get some to sit down)... As if sleeping on a badly-positioned economy class seat wasn't bad enough... And you could see the somewhat belligerence (albeit stifled) of the Chinese at the Airport and on-flight. And note to self, bring a converter on the carry-on luggage... BTW, though, the plane has a power socket for charging!!

Arriving at JFK did not evoke the mirth that I was expecting (of myself), but more of a sigh of relief (haha). It made me miss the comfort, convenience and efficiency of Changi Airport (well it has been consistently the best airport in the world ya know) even more. Surprisingly, I encountered little extraordinary hiccups; the queue was just plain long and slow, with people crowding at a few counters (and blatantly jumping queue, though I think this experience has something to do with the demographics of the flight than anything else) and with many other counters not opened until much later.

I was happy I managed to make two new acquaintances even through this flight: J and A. J's from IMCB haha, if yy is reading this, he's from your lab!! He's going to Columbia University to pursue phD in neuroscience. All the best, I will try to find you on Facebook. And A's a Turkish and a second-year student from Bioengineering from Yale. He was so helpful and taking the extra miles with explanations and trying to give me recommendations for admin matters (since he is also an international student) and even gave me his email and phone number!! Grateful eternally, and will probably catch you for lunch soon =) And I am glad the taxi driver was nice too, knowing this is my first time to US and Yale for that matter; he stayed and made sure I was safe before driving off. And boy, am I overjoyed when I saw C haha!! And so, the story starts now...

Packing

Taking a break from packing. Packing is seriously a pain in the ass LOLX... Plus I am allergic to tropical dust mites... cowz... I was sneezing, blowing my nose and dripping (from my nose, ewwww).

Generally, I have to vacate my bedroom, so that either my aunt or HL or a new tenant can take this place when I go US - meaning, I will not have a room when I come back for vacation. Not that I object vehemently, just that the thought of "diminishing presence" doesn't bode well. LOLX... I have things from work - 1 pile of literature, books and stationeries, and accoutrement. I have to decide between throwing, keeping and bringing. The first 2 shouldn't be hard I guess, it just takes a lot of time. The hardest to pack are the things to bring to US... I have never exactly experienced winters, so the "winter wear" section will be tough. Should I bring my books over? I am thinking maybe not... The library there should have most of the things I need, at least the library at TUM allowed me to hold on to a book for the entire semester LOLX... We will see if I need to ship my books over. For now, they're not coming with me. Any suggestions for packing?

I have found a substantial number of CDs, comics, books (fiction and non-fiction), biology books, German textbooks, computer programming textbooks etc. etc that I can give away... If anybody's interested, just drop me a line.

Ok, got to head back to packing; I need to pick up some things later and do some purchase. Then, maybe I can start doing some packing of my luggage and see if I really need to send over anything (hopefully not). Maybe I should get down to writing that list my X wanted me to write.

O well, get to work!

Last Day @ GIS

2nd August 2010 was my last day at GIS. Took me a while to finally settle down to writing this. Well, my dearest got sick and I was caught up in a series of administrative stuff, so... Here's an entry nonetheless.

I didn't think my last day at the institute was going to be anything heartbreaking. Well, for one, the turnover rate there is so high (defiintely not because of the "gruelling" working environment LOLX, but that's another story for another day I guess) that it seems quite like a norm for people to be leaving anyway. As it turned out, while it wasn't downright emotional with sobbing goodbyes and heartwrenching farewells, it still felt kind of nostalgic.

CS was especially earnest in helping me keep memories of my last moments at GIS, helping me take photos. We went for my last gym session at the NTU Alumni Club, where I had spent weekly more socialising with colleagues and friends than actual fitness training LOLX. Thanks CS!! =) And, there was my last RCG weekly meeting. It was CS turn that day and after that, CS and I went to have a tea break at the Rockymaster. J would have joined, if he wasn't on course. Hope you are enjoying yourself there haha.

We met E on the way there!! Speaking of coincidence =) He joined us for a while. We really had a great time reminiscing and chilling and of course, somehow it always comes back to genomics research - the one thing that bound us in the first place. Incidentally as well, M and T wanted to return money to CS for my farewell lunch last week and I was glad I get to meet my Thai friends for the last time before I fly off. We go a long way back manz, back when we were just interns... Send my regards to K in Thailand ya =) I am sure with T and K's diligence, your phDs will be simply splendid. Take care!!
Just 10 minutes before I was due to leave for HR department to return my security pass, I decided to say my last parting farewells to people I know... That's when I realised, I had to start combing from Level 4, 7, 8 and then finally back to Level 3. I had wanted to meet alot more people... But alas, there wasn't really enough time. So I left a farewell email to everybody at GIS. At this juncture, I really want to make a full version of "thank you"s (that I wasn't able to on the blanket email) of all the people at GIS that have made my 2 years there extremely exciting, memorable, fruitful and rewarding:
1) Andr, Pad, Kelv, Ch Tin and Alv, for always expediting my IT requests, alot of times as personal favors and on top of their already heavy schedule. Extremely thankful though I am sure you guys would say those are tremendously trivial tasks, still, thank you. To Gare, don't run too much ya... addiction (of any kind) is seldom a good thing =) Keep up the camaraderie and trips to the gym though! Thumbs up for healthy lifestyle haha!

2) Ch Wei, H'en, for your occasional chats
3) Ken and JiaN, for your ready approachability when I asked for advice.
4) my RCG team mates! Like I mentioned in my farewell speech, I love how the group, despite having different portfolios, would patiently help each other with no reservations. Take care people! To Atif, thanks for granting me almost total freedom in my work, and all your care and concern, really appreciate that. To KS, sorry you have to handle the full brunt of all the sh** that is coming now. JIAYOU! To CS, Owl, 小Paul, J - my best lunch and gym buddies - hope you guys like the parting gifts I made. Keep in touch on FB or MSN ya and may the force with you =) I am going to miss all the jive and chaff and mirth. To J, in particular, thanks for being my friend right from the very beginnning and stuck by me despite my whinings and complaints and what-nots, dishing out your insights and advice to a naive me that just started out in the working world as a fresh grad =) We will all keep in touch!
5) Vik, Mark, JJ and YY for your advice, help, guidance and have always felt I owe much of my current achievements todate to you guys. And also, Ed, despite not having met you in person, thank you for your emails.

6) XueL, R, E and A, all the best for your phDs and work!! We might meet in US one day (definitely FB though) =) It's always entertaining, a great pleasure and learning experience to work or have lazy chats with you guys at the pantry, or online.

7) Rec Club, for making my first DnD a blast in the first year (haha!)
8) Cynt, for giving me ample opportunites and your advice and help!! Thank you!!
9) Chang H, it's always entertaining talking to you haha. Get married soon!!
10) Soni, Yang, KK, Eil for all the help in my projects. Congrats on your promotion too, Soni!

11) Mich, Shar for giving me a great impression of HR!! LOLX
12) HuiQ, Astr, for all our chats online and good luck!
13) Dev, for simply being such a great friend!!
14) 大Paul, better late than never =)

Ok, that was quite a feat, trying to remember people... lolx

GIS was a place of serendipity for me. It started off with a serendipitous interview, followed by (odd) fatalistic forces that propelled me into the realm of research (although my job scope does not entail "research" per se) and subsequently graduate school. Somehow, retrospectively now, it feels like I have just alighted from a roller coaster ride. You went in not knowing how the ride would be, then you get to experience an adrenaline rush and a high that leaves you wanting more. Touching down from the mad ride thereafter, gives you a discombobulated sense of simultaneous surreality and satisfaction - it's like you have just crawled out of the rabbit hole after slaying an evil fire-breathing dragon called Jabberwocky. You grew confident of what you want now, at the same time, you grew jitters of what the future holds for you. But you take that step forward all the same.

Thank you GIS, for creating such a genial environment, and all my friends and colleagues at GIS, for allowing me to laugh and whine, to err and grow. It is you guys that made the difference =) A final thank you. Take care all and keep smiling!! And because the world is round (*laughs stupidly*), we might meet again somehow, someday, somewhere, sometime in some future. So keep in touch!! (the power of technology indeed). =)