Miya's

It's mid-autumn festival. The moon is still round on the other side of the globe...

Last Saturday, I met up with a postdoc from AP's lab (a structural biology lab), DH. He is from China but he studied at NTU in Singapore, and before I came over Yale, he willingly helped me with some questions. Extremely helpful and friendly =). He even picked the tab for my lunch that day!! Thank you so much!! It was then I also realised he just arrived in May this year too!! Hmmm, I do not know what you guys think, doesn't DH look like a Japanese?

So, having not tried the famed Miya's restaurant, we decided to hop on down there for lunch. Miya's restaurant is a fusion sushi restaurant, that is supposedly the best in Connecticut and the third best in the whole of USA. But alas, I have come to doubt the subjectivity of the American taste in the face of Asian cuisine, so I have decided to try it myself, dragging DH along with me...

Miya's is located on Howe's Street in New Haven, sequestered away in a quiet neighborhood, just a stone's throw from Broadway. Fortunately, we came early for lunch, there was no queue. One side of the restaurant seemed to be booked for photoshoot though! Anyway, the waiters were all very nice and helpful and that particular one (in the pic) who served us had a good grasp of all the ingredients of the sushi. I was impressed indeed, because all the sushi, are fusion, and definitely not made up of minimal or the normal ingredients, like the ones in Singapore, or those authentic from Japan (which I haven't tried).


Pumpkin soup on the house

We couldn't make up our mind, so we ordered each a palette of sushis that showcase the different array of sushis they have: funkily called "a very hungry inch worm" and "bleu plate especial". BTW, they all have funky names which I couldn't remember LOLX. Taste-wise, not all tinkled my tastebuds the right way: there was the chocolate one which I thought should taste better without the soya-sauce-taste (I am not a big fan). I have tried the sweet potato one, which just isn't my cup of tea. But I am thrilled over the sushi with a tart crust surrounding the rice. It's not like the sushi is sitting in it, but the crust is part of the sushi. That tasted exquisite and exotic, for a sushi lover like me. One common thing I observed, was that they stuffed lots of things into each sushi; at least 3 or 4 ingredients in one single sushi, which is definitely something rare or even unheard of in Singapore. So the next time you guys come over to New Haven, and are looking for some taste-bud adventure, try Miya's sushi delight. You would be in for both surprises and disappointments, but that's how adventures work, isn't it?

Regan Lab & the New Haven Race

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http://expasy.org/prosite/PDOC50005 From PDB

As I try to do the balancing act of course-taking, lab rotation, my-own-time and XL-family-time, just thought it would be nice to update nice once in a while. Blogging kindda sets things in perspective I guess. So I have finally found myself a lab in my first rotation: Lynne Regan's lab. Prof Regan has some awesome projects, but most notably and what her lab is known for, is TPRs: tetratri-copeptide (short description); it's such a niche area of research that I can't even find it on Wikipedia!! LOLX.. landmark paper here...

Main et. al. (2003). (c) and (d) are TPR repeat proteins.



If you look at the diagram (number c), you can imagine each TPR as one module of the same color (red, yellow, blue). So you have there 3 and half (the green segment) stacked in a spiral manner. Each of these 3 TPRs are similar in length and sequence; so you can imagine LEGOs of similar size stacked up. The minimum binding unit is apparently a combination of 3 TPRs in tandem. So the Regan Lab has done much on TPRs: elucidating their structure, consensus sequence, their binding specificities and partners, functions and implications in certain diseases. One of the things they are moving into now is the applications of these TPRs.

As you can imagine, one of the most obvious applications, by virtue of the LEGO-like repeated motifs, is the synthesis of artificial peptides. Unlike most other proteins, which are globular, where you cannot easily just stack up parts of the proteins to form a larger one, TPRs can be synthetically engineered to have competitive functions to naturally occurring peptides, particularly antibodies, to aid in inhibiting pathways that lead to diseases, say HIV in AIDS or using the TPRs design as anticancer drugs. This could be my small step into the realm of synthetic biology that I am really trying to get a handle on...

So that's my life as of now, other than MATLAB, biological physics and biomedical informatics, taking up the bulk of my life...

But anyway, just to catch up on events. On Labor Day (US it's on Sept 6th), there was Stratton Faxon New Haven Race. Apparently, it's in its 31st year. Just 3 weeks here, and I embarked on my first ever running event at New Haven. Sweet =)

Prof Regan "invited" me to run (I had to pay on that day -_-|||, which is more expensive btw), but I got this great T-shirt that she made for her lab!! Thanks! And of course, I enjoyed the run very much. I ran 5km in 28 min. Think that's pretty decent =) And seriously, the weather was good, sunny yet cooling. It was pretty well-organized for its scale (not very big compared to those in Singapore). So I would say I would enter again next year. Just to keep myself in the keeping-fit mode. Photos as usual, on facebook =) A pity though, G and M didn't get to take pictures with us.

metaphysical parasite

What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? An idea. Resilient... highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it's almost impossible to eradicate. An idea that is fully formed - fully understood - that sticks; right in there somewhere.

-- 'Inception'

The eventful first week of September

As life propelled into the the school year full steam, I feel myself leaving lots of memories behind without really sorting them out and looking at them a second time. As D aptly put it, "discombobulation" =) I am heeding G's advice and putting DMV behind (at least until I got all the necessary stuff) and plunging head-first (bad position) into assignments, presentations and lab rotations (which I haven't really decided)... (For more pics, go facebook)

Fall semester officially started on the 1st Sept. Like NUS, they have a "shopping" period, but unlike NUS, you actually get to add the course information to your schedule (or an IVLE equivalent - classes*v2) first, then when you have finally decided, just drop those courses you do not want. The final decision has to be sent to your prof-in-charge via another enrolment webpage. So you have the status of a "shopper" for 2 weeks, till 15th Sept - hence my hectic shopping list. In the end, I ended up with 2.5 courses, and auditing for one more. The other difference is the idea of auditing, in which you are labeled an "auditor", appears in your transcript but not graded. So it depends on the lecturer how much she/he wants you to participate. I think this is a damn cool feature! But I don't like the fact you have to register on 2 sites instead of a combined one - it makes things very confusing sometimes, and somewhat lacks organization.

Our CBB seniors also gave us a treat at C's place. His place is gorgeous!! But probably pricey too... New Haven is said to be famous for its pizzas and hamburgers, Miya's Sushi. So we had pizzas during the senior-treat-junior session. And boy, our seniors can really talk... The whole discussion about profs, labs and courses were mainly dominated by them but it was REALLY informative =) and funny (especially those parts about some of the pet peeves and the behaviour of profs LOLX)... And I realised, all of them have a very strong rapport and camaraderie forged; no matter which year they are from. And... I do envy that... Hopefully, we will grow to become like that too.

Saturday afternoon was spent at touring New Haven and spending some time at balmy and green East Rock Park. It's called East Rock, literally because it is a park on a rock that is formed in the eastern side of New Haven... This is the first time I am there, and I took a liking for it immediately. From East Rock Park, you could see almost the whole of New Haven. People were picnicking and frolicking in the meadowlike greens. Nice weather too, despite Hurricane Earl.

Before my next appointment, I had some time in between. So I decided to sit down at some cafe and do people-watching (or being watched -_-|||). Blue State Coffee cafe's coffee machines ALL broke down... Win liaoz lo... So, I decided to try Ashley's ice cream, claimed to be the best in Connecticut. It wasn't too bad, just that I find the butterscotch too sweet for me. XL might like the ice cream though =)

Saturday evening was with the MASA (Malaysian And Singaporean Association) at Basil Restaurant, which is this Asian restaurant near Broadway. I didn't know there were so many Singaporeans and Malaysians at Yale!! Almost the entire restaurant was filled! Apparently this is the first time there is such a large turnout. Most of them, are undergrads and professional school students. I really like that fact that I get to speak Singlish again haha. Also what I like most about the interactions, is that there are really lots of interesting stories to listen to. So hopefully we will meet again =)

And that was the first time I took the night shuttle back to my apartment; they actually bring you straight back to your apartment from any point in campus. Refreshing experience.

XL is COMING OVER!!

Ok, I gotta blog about this: XL IS COMING OVER!!!! Haha, it's like Santa is coming, only this time, it's MUCH^infinity better than Santa coming over.

It's just such a joyous news that I think, suddenly, I am not tired anymore =)

DMV = pain in the a**

Second time I was turned away from DMV but the three and a half times I have been. Please do not ask me about the half time.

Just for record purposes, and for those of you intending to come to US for studies or work or are here but haven't tasted DMV yet, the following documents are required at DMV:

Primary ID documents (more like a package)
1) Passport with correct VISA
2) with I94
(one of THE most important things to identify you as a LEGAL resident in the US, an entry card from the Homeland Security, you must write this when you are on the plane flying here...)

3) I20
(official University acceptance, issued by the International Office)

4) University International Office letter, preferably with an embossed seal, or any form of identification that you are working/studying here and signed in a color other than black (haha, this is from G. She had this incident when she was sent back because the letter was signed in black and the DMV person thought it was photocopied *faint* and she had L signed in RED LOLX)

5)  Social security denial letter, evidently from the Social Security Office, stating that even though you were denied number, it does not mean you are ineligible for it; the SSO people also lambasted DMV...

6) A letter postmarked, meaning it has to be from the US post office; the letter that was sent to your place by the bank with your debit/credit card doesn't count but surprisingly, the bank statements count. And the DMV peeps actually found that sending postcards/letters to yourself seemed more credible than a mail sent from the bank with your debit/credit card in it.

Secondary form of ID (to further verify you are REALLY you *pinch yourself*)
7) Transcript. Since you will probably just arrive in US, the school will not have a transcript for you or if you are working, you won't have one anyway. I didn't bring mine from NUS. But thankfully it will be in English anyway, otherwise, you would need a LOCAL VERIFIED US translator (UK, where English originated from or Australian not allowed apparently) to convert the transcript language to English.

So, well please be prepared to be sent back a few times.

And to complete this record, something not related to DMV, but the US immigration has imposed a new ruling when I flew from Singapore. Some online electronic system for travel authorization. Even for countries like Singapore, under the Visa Waiver Program. Now even when you travel to the US for a short period of time, you will still need this since it will give you a number that they will verify. A Very trivial, but sure scared the shit out of me when I was at T3. Nobody told me anything about that until this.

I thought German bureacracy was bad....

So much for McChrystal

I think they did this on purpose. It wasn't even specified hat we need to APPLY for the class. Ok, not that I did ask for the venue when it wasn't posted online... *bleah* So hopefully he is still teaching in the coming semesters..

Other interesting reports on this issue:
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/mcchrystal-yale-081710
"Leadership 703
International Leadership Strategies in a Complex Geopolitical Context.

Conceptualizing obstacles and opportunities in international relations with an emphasis on the strategic utilization of military and diplomatic resources. Through a series of lectures and interactive forums, students will be encouraged to learn how to keep their freakin' mouths shut."

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/08/20/2010-08-20_mother_of_pat_tillman_michael_moore_speak_out_about_gen_mcchrystals_appointment_.html
"Mother of Pat Tillman, Michael Moore, speak out about Gen. McChrystal's appointment to teach at Yale"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/16/stanley-mcchrystal-yale_n_682960.html
"At Yale, McChrystal will possibly join the ranks of other high-profile faculty at the institute, including former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and former Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte. According to the Yale Daily News, Yale President Richard Levin said that "bringing more people with experience in international affairs" was a "priority" of the center."