I am tired of chasing my blog haha and keeping up with my own activities. So, to piece my life together will be a combination of Facebook photos and blog posts!
I have mass-uploaded photos onto Facebook. Very up-to-date and I will caption them to interweave my thoughts with the pictures.
The best thing is everybody's on Facebook!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Exciting life
It actually might not be apparent from all my complaints, and talking about how busy life is now, but I really am feeling (unexpectedly) exhilarated about even the uncertainties of the future. Maybe, but despite the routine classes, I manage to find something that puts me into certain perspective and something that keeps me going. I wouldn't want to deny the fact that it gets difficult sometimes, but somehow, I begin to appreciate some small things around me, amidst rushing =)
Anyway, complaining actually lets off some steam, to keep balance LOLX. Self-justification ehz haha.
This is probably really way overdue. But we held on an impromptu birthday dinner for G, at this bar-restaurant down at East Rock, Archie Moore's. D, V, and a new friend De, were there to chill out after weeks of slogging, an evening of relaxation and mundane chatters. Hopefully we will have more chances for such chillouts in future, because I have come to understand the term "affinity" a little better now. So illogical, but so human...
人与人之间微妙的“关系”。。就像《翼》：“...（要改变命运）就要付出同等的代价。黑刚的宝剑，法尹的魔法。。接下来，我要的是你和她之间的关系。。。即使她醒过来，联系你们之间的关系已消失， 难道这样也无所谓吗？” 关系虽已不存在，但情感还在吧。关系不是因为情感的羁绊而存在吗？无所谓，能够看到她的笑容，才是最重要的。
Some people probably wouldn't believe if I said I actually find the "Twilight" trilogy an enjoyable read =)
The little bear that I wish good night every single night =)
This is probably really way overdue. But we held on an impromptu birthday dinner for G, at this bar-restaurant down at East Rock, Archie Moore's. D, V, and a new friend De, were there to chill out after weeks of slogging, an evening of relaxation and mundane chatters. Hopefully we will have more chances for such chillouts in future, because I have come to understand the term "affinity" a little better now. So illogical, but so human...
人与人之间微妙的“关系”。。就像《翼》：“...（要改变命运）就要付出同等的代价。黑刚的宝剑，法尹的魔法。。接下来，我要的是你和她之间的关系。。。即使她醒过来，联系你们之间的关系已消失， 难道这样也无所谓吗？” 关系虽已不存在，但情感还在吧。关系不是因为情感的羁绊而存在吗？无所谓，能够看到她的笑容，才是最重要的。
Some people probably wouldn't believe if I said I actually find the "Twilight" trilogy an enjoyable read =)
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Way behind
Wow, ok I am way behind my blog and I don't think I am doing a good job catching up. Oh well, I think the thing is to just keep writing. I reminded of classes where I am definitely way behind...
We did an interesting experiment for our Biological Physics class assignment, where we had to measure the relationship between the radius of a container and the time it takes to come to a complete stop when you stir the water in it. So Raph got 3 cylinders of high aspect ratio of the Physics building, some coffee powder and a screwdriver. We then proceeded to do that and found that the relationship is somewhat quadratic! Then the assignment proceeded to show us that this might be caused by the diffusion of the "zero" velocity from the outer rim of the cylinder in, using the diffusion equation... And we are looking at this only in 2D. And I think the idea of using a high aspect ratio seemed to be that the spinning can be perpetuated by the vortex generated, as compared to using a cup and the spinning will probably stop faster and we can't measure much. Then if we imagine a whirlpool or tornado, I guess that explains why things just keep spinning even after the forces or currents that are feeding the vortex stops, even after a considerable amount of time. Ok, that's just what I think... This sounds so undergrad suddenly haha...
Anyway, this entry is also about retreats (if you can catch the weak link between "way behind" and "retreating"; ok lame nvm) symposiums. So far I have gone to:
1) CBB retreat
2) MCDB retreat
3) MB&B retreat
4) Yale Systems Biology Institute Symposium
and there is a fifth one, Sackler's Institute Retreat coming up soon. There were always the great free food, great posters, good company, superb lineup of talks and some activities. After attending so many of them, I have come to a conclusion that I couldn't definitely be interested in so many of them and I possibly couldn't understand fully all of them, BUT, to be able to generate logic and form interesting questions by asking lots of basic "hows" and "whys" actually help in the thought process of doing research. And perhaps, that is what I should be learning out of these smorgasbord of presentations and posters: not entirely the context of the research, but the way these ideas were conceived and carried out. By talking to people, you generally are trying to tap into these mental wells. I think that is how and why communication is important in science.
Of course, another objective would be to know where I want to be heading. Haha. I am still wavering, though. But I do realize some things (seriously after so much exposure, you wonder if you are desensitized to all these already sometimes) and I am working on them, so hopefully I will come to a conclusion and I will be getting what I want; or the former can also work if the latter fails to fruit...
Anyway, enough of ramblings, here are some pics from CBB retreat. Since I am from CBB, L said she will be expecting us to come up with something good for the entertainment segment in next year's CBB retreat AND every year has been good. Well, thanks for the pressure haha. Maybe this coming one would be an exception haha. But anyway, this year D and C made (yes handmade!) a pop-up book of the "Chronicles of the Burgeoning Bullfrog" (C.B.B.) LOLX and E was made the protagonist (i.e. bullfrog) and tell the story to everyone. It's an obvious choice, really (he is so vivacious!) =) That was nice. Cosy and warm, reminded me of the time when I was in lower primary and the teachers would read these big books in front of the class. Those were the carefree days...
Anyway, this entry is also about retreats (if you can catch the weak link between "way behind" and "retreating"; ok lame nvm) symposiums. So far I have gone to:
1) CBB retreat
2) MCDB retreat
3) MB&B retreat
4) Yale Systems Biology Institute Symposium
and there is a fifth one, Sackler's Institute Retreat coming up soon. There were always the great free food, great posters, good company, superb lineup of talks and some activities. After attending so many of them, I have come to a conclusion that I couldn't definitely be interested in so many of them and I possibly couldn't understand fully all of them, BUT, to be able to generate logic and form interesting questions by asking lots of basic "hows" and "whys" actually help in the thought process of doing research. And perhaps, that is what I should be learning out of these smorgasbord of presentations and posters: not entirely the context of the research, but the way these ideas were conceived and carried out. By talking to people, you generally are trying to tap into these mental wells. I think that is how and why communication is important in science.
Of course, another objective would be to know where I want to be heading. Haha. I am still wavering, though. But I do realize some things (seriously after so much exposure, you wonder if you are desensitized to all these already sometimes) and I am working on them, so hopefully I will come to a conclusion and I will be getting what I want; or the former can also work if the latter fails to fruit...
Anyway, enough of ramblings, here are some pics from CBB retreat. Since I am from CBB, L said she will be expecting us to come up with something good for the entertainment segment in next year's CBB retreat AND every year has been good. Well, thanks for the pressure haha. Maybe this coming one would be an exception haha. But anyway, this year D and C made (yes handmade!) a pop-up book of the "Chronicles of the Burgeoning Bullfrog" (C.B.B.) LOLX and E was made the protagonist (i.e. bullfrog) and tell the story to everyone. It's an obvious choice, really (he is so vivacious!) =) That was nice. Cosy and warm, reminded me of the time when I was in lower primary and the teachers would read these big books in front of the class. Those were the carefree days...
Oh, and there's the Dean's Fall reception for graduate students at HGS. I always liked the courtyard at HGS, it's so lovely in fall. Anyway, just to let you guys have sense of how hungry but well-fed the grad students are:
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Singapore and Yale (and Singlish)
Sorry people, kind of hectic down here. So, I am writing this in the middle of cooking dinner haha. But rest assured, though I am all over the place, I am still surviving (barely).
This is kind of way overdue but well, some related stuff are sitting on (and clogging up) my desktop, so I might as well, just write it here anyway. The Yale-NUS college saga is still kind of ongoing, though the climax has probably blown over. So there was this period of time, where Yale admin asked some of the Singaporeans here at Yale (apparently we made up the 8th largest of the country demographics here) to give our opinions on the Yale-NUS college issue. Well, most that turned up were mostly undergrads, a couple of graduates, a law assistant prof and some "friends" of Singapore who had studied in Singapore before. It was a pretty informal meeting, unlike what I expected. But nonetheless, there was quite a rigorous discussion perpetuated mostly by the undergrads who were here for quite some time already; it wasn't probably surprising to find they were all from either Raffles and Hwa Chong.
I am pretty impressed with the extent and depth of research the Yale administrators did on Singapore: from its history right to the future directions, schooling systems, current status of the education system etc. I am totally intrigued to listen to how Singapore is viewed from an outsider point of view and the fact that the undergrads (probably more attached here than the rest) have to grapple with taking a stand for both their college and home country.
Probably one of the main things Yale administrators wouldn't know (first-hand) is the culture and mentality of the local Singaporeans. Skeptical and pragmatic as we are, Singaporeans are still mostly conservative and most (especially the parents) have a somewhat ingrained mindset that college is meant for professional training, career preparation and subsequently income generation. A liberal arts college somehow might not fit into that description very much. Here are some of the issues discussed:
1) what is the proportion of international students and local students that the college would want; what kind of variety are we talking about? Knowing the system in Singapore, if cream of the crop were to be picked, then wouldn't most of the students be from Raffles or Hwa Chong or the top schools?
2) is the quota fixed? such that the quality would be compromised?
3) is Yale going for the long haul? since Singapore is the only side forking out the cash... IMO, it seems like an experiment that Yale is doing to try to create some utopian educational institution from scratch. Although Yale is not totally free of the woes of contributing resources (in terms of expertise), this is something I feel, Singapore is giving them a 'blank check'. Yale's side backed up with some insider which I thought sounded sincere enough, and made me realize this could very much be actually be a win-win situation: that Yale has an extremely strong tradition of shaping schools of higher education in the US especially liberal arts system. And they recognize the inevitable shift of the world's focus from the west to the east, so to them, this is the golden opportunity to have a stake in the East's cultivation of their future leaders - Yale becomes relevant moving forward.
4) brand dilution in borrowing the brand (this is for Yale naturally)
5) curriculum - how to make it such that it's truly a 'east meets west'? definitely, a carbon copy of Yale in Singapore is not feasible and in any case, not desirable. The school should be a stand-alone college of prestige and distinction.
6) is the 'Yale' name essential in the naming of the college? yes - because the name would provide a reputation for a new school for employers. everybody would be looking at the first batch of graduates; no - brand dilution, "2nd yale", shadow of yale, no graduates would want that.
In his Sept. 10 column, “The Queen’s Singlish,” Sam Lasman ’12 comments on Singapore’s “Speak Good English Movement” that has been intensified this year.
As co-president of the Yale University Malaysian and Singaporean Association, and in light of the recent announcement about a Yale-affiliated university in Singapore, I wish to provide additional commentary on the social context behind the Movement and offer another perspective on this topic.
For much of its history, Singapore has relied on its strategic position as a major trading post to fuel economic expansion. The practical concerns of business made it important (even necessary) for the multi-racial populace to learn English not only in order to communicate with the international community, but also to become mutually intelligible among themselves. English is, for the most part, the language of instruction across the education system. Likewise, English has also been the predominant language in mainstream media and arts. The central issue has always been — and remains — how a country of less than five million, with few natural resources, could flourish in the global marketplace. Language skills rank among the most crucial for the accumulation and deployment of human capital.
With this in mind, it is not hard to understand why the government of Singapore actively promotes the use of correct, idiomatic English in its citizens. The concern, then, is what defines “correct”?
Lasman rightly points out that the concept of correctness in language is perhaps too vague in itself, since “there isn’t actually anyone with complete authority to say what is, or isn’t, grammatical.” I agree with this statement — English does, after all, evolve with time, and that which conforms to the commonly-defined standard in one period may not in another. But the purpose of Singapore’s “Speak Good English Movement” is less about having people speak like antiquated robots than it is about encouraging them to speak in a way such that someone of similar English proficiency from New York, Paris or Tokyo would easily understand the conversation. It’s about phrasing what one has to say in an elegant and cosmopolitan way, so that even any English-speaking listener can grasp the varied nuances of that particular exchange without having prior knowledge of Chinese, Malay, or Tamil (the other ethnic languages of Singapore).
I appreciate Lasman’s decision to explore the quirky intricacies of Singlish in his column — not many people are aware of this fairly obscure version of Southeast Asian creole, and fewer follow Singapore’s domestic policy towards it. I take pleasure in knowing that a fellow Yalie is well-traveled — and erudite — enough to be able discuss the dialect and allude to common instances of its usage verbatim.
Janice Chen
Sept. 13
The writer is the co-president of MASA and a junior in Branford College.
This is kind of way overdue but well, some related stuff are sitting on (and clogging up) my desktop, so I might as well, just write it here anyway. The Yale-NUS college saga is still kind of ongoing, though the climax has probably blown over. So there was this period of time, where Yale admin asked some of the Singaporeans here at Yale (apparently we made up the 8th largest of the country demographics here) to give our opinions on the Yale-NUS college issue. Well, most that turned up were mostly undergrads, a couple of graduates, a law assistant prof and some "friends" of Singapore who had studied in Singapore before. It was a pretty informal meeting, unlike what I expected. But nonetheless, there was quite a rigorous discussion perpetuated mostly by the undergrads who were here for quite some time already; it wasn't probably surprising to find they were all from either Raffles and Hwa Chong.
I am pretty impressed with the extent and depth of research the Yale administrators did on Singapore: from its history right to the future directions, schooling systems, current status of the education system etc. I am totally intrigued to listen to how Singapore is viewed from an outsider point of view and the fact that the undergrads (probably more attached here than the rest) have to grapple with taking a stand for both their college and home country.
Probably one of the main things Yale administrators wouldn't know (first-hand) is the culture and mentality of the local Singaporeans. Skeptical and pragmatic as we are, Singaporeans are still mostly conservative and most (especially the parents) have a somewhat ingrained mindset that college is meant for professional training, career preparation and subsequently income generation. A liberal arts college somehow might not fit into that description very much. Here are some of the issues discussed:
1) what is the proportion of international students and local students that the college would want; what kind of variety are we talking about? Knowing the system in Singapore, if cream of the crop were to be picked, then wouldn't most of the students be from Raffles or Hwa Chong or the top schools?
2) is the quota fixed? such that the quality would be compromised?
3) is Yale going for the long haul? since Singapore is the only side forking out the cash... IMO, it seems like an experiment that Yale is doing to try to create some utopian educational institution from scratch. Although Yale is not totally free of the woes of contributing resources (in terms of expertise), this is something I feel, Singapore is giving them a 'blank check'. Yale's side backed up with some insider which I thought sounded sincere enough, and made me realize this could very much be actually be a win-win situation: that Yale has an extremely strong tradition of shaping schools of higher education in the US especially liberal arts system. And they recognize the inevitable shift of the world's focus from the west to the east, so to them, this is the golden opportunity to have a stake in the East's cultivation of their future leaders - Yale becomes relevant moving forward.
4) brand dilution in borrowing the brand (this is for Yale naturally)
5) curriculum - how to make it such that it's truly a 'east meets west'? definitely, a carbon copy of Yale in Singapore is not feasible and in any case, not desirable. The school should be a stand-alone college of prestige and distinction.
6) is the 'Yale' name essential in the naming of the college? yes - because the name would provide a reputation for a new school for employers. everybody would be looking at the first batch of graduates; no - brand dilution, "2nd yale", shadow of yale, no graduates would want that.
7) Singapore stands to gain, because they do realize that Singapore has one of the best secondary school systems in the world such that there are a lot of students are extremely sufficiently equipped for college - but have nowhere to go! This new college would set up a new avenue for these students (or just more competition in my opinion)...
Well having said all these, the discussion was done in this cool-looking room, totally what I imagined in a Victorian typical New England style; you will never find this in Singapore LOLX.
And during the height of these, a couple of articles on Singlish (!!!) came up on Yale Daily News. I am also putting up some other interesting articles here. If you guys are interested, you guys are google Yale Daily News and these articles =) Enjoy.
________________________________________________________________________________
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Another perspective on SinglishIn his Sept. 10 column, “The Queen’s Singlish,” Sam Lasman ’12 comments on Singapore’s “Speak Good English Movement” that has been intensified this year.
As co-president of the Yale University Malaysian and Singaporean Association, and in light of the recent announcement about a Yale-affiliated university in Singapore, I wish to provide additional commentary on the social context behind the Movement and offer another perspective on this topic.
For much of its history, Singapore has relied on its strategic position as a major trading post to fuel economic expansion. The practical concerns of business made it important (even necessary) for the multi-racial populace to learn English not only in order to communicate with the international community, but also to become mutually intelligible among themselves. English is, for the most part, the language of instruction across the education system. Likewise, English has also been the predominant language in mainstream media and arts. The central issue has always been — and remains — how a country of less than five million, with few natural resources, could flourish in the global marketplace. Language skills rank among the most crucial for the accumulation and deployment of human capital.
With this in mind, it is not hard to understand why the government of Singapore actively promotes the use of correct, idiomatic English in its citizens. The concern, then, is what defines “correct”?
Lasman rightly points out that the concept of correctness in language is perhaps too vague in itself, since “there isn’t actually anyone with complete authority to say what is, or isn’t, grammatical.” I agree with this statement — English does, after all, evolve with time, and that which conforms to the commonly-defined standard in one period may not in another. But the purpose of Singapore’s “Speak Good English Movement” is less about having people speak like antiquated robots than it is about encouraging them to speak in a way such that someone of similar English proficiency from New York, Paris or Tokyo would easily understand the conversation. It’s about phrasing what one has to say in an elegant and cosmopolitan way, so that even any English-speaking listener can grasp the varied nuances of that particular exchange without having prior knowledge of Chinese, Malay, or Tamil (the other ethnic languages of Singapore).
I appreciate Lasman’s decision to explore the quirky intricacies of Singlish in his column — not many people are aware of this fairly obscure version of Southeast Asian creole, and fewer follow Singapore’s domestic policy towards it. I take pleasure in knowing that a fellow Yalie is well-traveled — and erudite — enough to be able discuss the dialect and allude to common instances of its usage verbatim.
Janice Chen
Sept. 13
The writer is the co-president of MASA and a junior in Branford College.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Studying at Yale
It's been more than a month. Studying at Yale has gotten more or less in into a routine of some sort.Everyday, I will pass by some streets. This is nearing end of summer, where the trees are green and lush. Now it's redder, and the ground littered with dead leaves. But if weather and time permits, you can get your spirits up really by just walking down these picturesque streets...
Physics undergraduate lounge is one of my favorite haunts now. Physics, the bane of my life, is what I mean partly studying now - what an irony huh. Well the lounge when I first saw it, makes me wonder how come I wasn't really attracted to those lounges in NUS... LOLX... They weren't that bad la, but this was different. You have a lounge that overlooks the city, coffeemaker (not free), blackboard and armchairs for relaxing and intellectual discussions on homework and assignments (many people use them really), FREE textbooks to browse through (they probably won't survive the onslaught of NUS students)
Then there's the physics graduate lounge. I kindda like the idea of having blackboards for discussions.
This is one of the chemistry buildings with interesting plaques, with the elements such as Ag, Hg, Au etc engraved on them.
My lunch carts. I couldn't survive without them! Great source of food.
One of my favorite haunts: the medical library. Though it's pretty far off, it's one of the most splendid places to study in. It's like studying in a museum, exhilarating feeling at first, but wears off after you found out you still can't solve that bloody assignment problem. They even have exhibits on display... On retrospect, it kindda looks like the library I saw in Prague.
The Battle of the E in biology and physics
Today's biological physics class is extremely exhilarating, despite the fact that I was probably lost half the time, but I could stilll follow some of the equations and treatments that Prof D went. He was extremely fast, so was J, our TA, when he mentioned something and he rattled on like water.
Basically, class today was talking about the contention between entropy and (internal) energy of a system, in order to achieve minimal free energy of a system.
Entropy is loosely defined as the quantification of consistency of certain (micro)states with its meso/macrostates; so by the law of thermodynamics, it increases, OR simply, a measure of the system that you did not know about (ignorance). I shan't go into the treatment of entropy. But here, let me tease apart the energy components that we are defining here. So, free energy here, typically refers to Gibbs' free energy - remember the enzyme energy curve that we always draw in JC, where we are always trying to achieve as negative a delta G as possible, in order for the forward reaction to be driven forward. Loosely put, the resultant products are of lower (internal) energy = more stability than the reactants. In nature generally, things aim to minimize free energy to achieve equilibrium state. In order to do that, we have to apply energy to the system, for the system to do work, in this case, to minimise free energy. You can also see free energy as the amount of energy available to do work (by the system). But free energy is also dependent on entropy as well. To keep things short,
free energy = (internal) energy - temperature * entropy of the system,
So, contextualising the above physics in a familiar biological scenario: osmotic pressure. Typically, in biology, we name that phenomenon based on the fact that there is a pressure exerted (on a semipermeable membrane) by the solutes in a solution against the inward flow of water/solvent, due to osmosis. Imagine we have our standard osmotic pressure experiment, where we have a box, divided into 2 sections by a semi-permeable membrane. In one section of V volume, you place N molecules in it. To keep this concentration of solutes in place, work has to be done by the system to keep the solutes from moving out too and this corresponds to the amount of free energy available to do work. And using the free energy equation above, if we assume all the solutes to be ideal solutes (which is like ideal gas assumption, where each particle is pointlike, totally random and non-interacting), the "internal energy" of the system as a whole can be ignored. Work done is also defined by the pressure * volume, so to counteract the water moving in, work done by the solute = the osmotic pressure * volume occupied by each solute. If you can imagine, then the amount of work done which is dependent on your free energy (to do work) per unit volume would correspond to your osmotic potential, which after a semi-long mathematical treatment, would give you:
osmotic potential = n * K (Boltzmann constant) * T
Prof D ended the class with an analogy from amoeba being placed in pure water. In high-school biology, we often viewed that as a proof of osmosis in hypotonic solution, where the amoeba eventually burgeons (and explodes if left too long) when the cell semipermeable membrane cannot withstand the rapid increase in volume. But if you look at it in the physical point of view, the law of thermodynamics in entropy is STILL a universal governing law! In fact, the solutes is trying to get out of the amoeba, IN ADDITION TO, the water getting into the amoeba!
I couldn't find a good "bursting" experiment video, this is the best I could find on YouTube for RBC: not that great IMO LOLX
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| http://www.chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/ |
Entropy is loosely defined as the quantification of consistency of certain (micro)states with its meso/macrostates; so by the law of thermodynamics, it increases, OR simply, a measure of the system that you did not know about (ignorance). I shan't go into the treatment of entropy. But here, let me tease apart the energy components that we are defining here. So, free energy here, typically refers to Gibbs' free energy - remember the enzyme energy curve that we always draw in JC, where we are always trying to achieve as negative a delta G as possible, in order for the forward reaction to be driven forward. Loosely put, the resultant products are of lower (internal) energy = more stability than the reactants. In nature generally, things aim to minimize free energy to achieve equilibrium state. In order to do that, we have to apply energy to the system, for the system to do work, in this case, to minimise free energy. You can also see free energy as the amount of energy available to do work (by the system). But free energy is also dependent on entropy as well. To keep things short,
free energy = (internal) energy - temperature * entropy of the system,
where temperature is kept constant
osmotic potential = n * K (Boltzmann constant) * T
I do not know about you, but when I saw that, the IMMEDIATE thing that came to mind, was the equation of the ideal gas, pV = nRT (and I am surprised myself how fast that came, considering the last time I used that was, like 10 years ago!!)! And it turns out, it IS the ideal gas equation, since n in the ideal gas refers to number in moles!
SO, long story short, the conclusion was that osmotic pressure AND ideal gas pressure are really forces that a system exerts in its attempt to increase its entropy (2nd law of thermodynamics). Contrast these mechanical systems (where no energy assumed due to idealized particles) with a simple mechanical system, of a spring, where no entropy is involved, only aim was to reduce the free energy, you end up with a entropy-energy spectrum representing all situations, where in real-life situations, systems are really in the intermediates, a competition between minimizing energy and maximising entropy to obtain an optimal minimum free energy state.
Prof D ended the class with an analogy from amoeba being placed in pure water. In high-school biology, we often viewed that as a proof of osmosis in hypotonic solution, where the amoeba eventually burgeons (and explodes if left too long) when the cell semipermeable membrane cannot withstand the rapid increase in volume. But if you look at it in the physical point of view, the law of thermodynamics in entropy is STILL a universal governing law! In fact, the solutes is trying to get out of the amoeba, IN ADDITION TO, the water getting into the amoeba!
I couldn't find a good "bursting" experiment video, this is the best I could find on YouTube for RBC: not that great IMO LOLX
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Miya's
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).
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| Pumpkin soup on the house |
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