OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG
Before you think I am crazy, what do you think I witnessed just now? Any guesses? Haha. Before your imagination run too wild, let me give you a hint. It's something you don't find in Singapore. What's America culture like to you? Ah... so you guessed it?
I just witnessed...........................
A Nude Parade!!!!!!!!
Now, you understand my insanity? Haha. I am still engaged in disbelief what I just witnessed. Think I might not be able witness such an event again. Once in a lifetime man.
Some background information on the Nude parade. It's a tradition carried out by a group of Cal students who lived in Co-op, which is similar to the halls in NUS, just that it's not co-owned by the university and it's a smaller community style of living, a group of 30-50 people living in a big house with a common kitchen and dining room. So, every semester during the start of exam period, they will strip at the basement of Mofitt library, and run through every floor of the main stacks library , which is the underground library of Cal, a few rounds.
Guess what? I got the most shocking introduction before the actual nude parade. I was getting ready to go to the main stacks library via the elevator before I decided to take the stairways to save time, for I do not want to miss a single moment of the nude parade. And when I open the door to the stairways. POOF!!! A big bunch of half naked people greeted me, about 40-50 plus people. OH MY GOSH. Some of them got their boobs decorated with fanciful paints. I walked past them and asked them if they will run to the main stacks later. In response, they put their fingers on their mouth, "Sssssshhhhhhh." So, off I went to the main stacks in anticipation of their arrival.
When I arrived at the main stacks, the aisle was already full of people waiting to watch the parade. Wa seh man. So shiok. Most of them were ready with their cameras and some even got their SLRs. Wa kao. So I thought I should take a video of the parade too though I was initially against the idea. Hmm, at this point? I am thinking, should I continue with my description of the parade or would you rather I post the videos on my blog? Afterall, pictures speak a thousand words. But here's the issue of privacy versus excitement? Give me your feedback on my cbox. Majority wins. Polls ends on next Wednesday night, which is the last day of my exams. Haha. Create some suspense for you guys. Haha.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Trapped in Desolation
I almost couldn't make it home tonight.
Before you guys make any wild guesses what happened to me. Let me inform you guys I am safe and sound now. But what happened just now was enough to freak me out, if not to the extend of traumatizing.
Today, I did something different from my usual habit. Instead of studying in my usual hideout, the Bioscience or Mofitt Library, I decided to try out the main library to gain a new experience, since it is reputed to the 3rd largest library in US and Cal is famous for that library. This library is unique in the sense, it is built four underground storey deep and the lowest storey is connected to another neighboring library, Mofitt library via an underground passage. FYI, the 2 connecting libraries closes at 2am on weekdays and Sunday even prior to exam period and the library is scarily crowded even at 1am in the morning on normal school days. This very well explains the culture here in Cal.
So back to my main story. After studying till 1230am in the morning, I was too weary to continue my revision and decided to head back to the same main entrance door where I entered the library to exit. Little did I expect or suspect the following event to happen. I was TRAPPED. So how the hell did I stupidly get myself trapped? Can't believe I was the fool again!!!! ( CS the Great, sounds familiar?)
On my way to exit, I could sense something amiss, but I choose to ignore my sixth sense. The pathway towards the main entrance was eerily quiet and spooky, but my tired mind just continue dragging my legs towards that entrance. First, I have to open the door on the inner partition wall before I can move to the main entrance. Here's the moment where I felt my world started to sink. The main entrance was locked. Damn. I turned back and try to open the door on the inner partition wall but I couldn't. WTH. How could this happen? Double whammy. Holy shit. Apparently, the door on the inner partition can only be opened on one side. I went into a frenzy and knock on the glass door frantically in the hope I can capture somebody's attention. My efforts was futile for the first few minutes until a cleaner appear on the far corner of my visual field. I was crying out to her to open the door for me. But guess what? The most ridiculous thing happened. She choose to ignore my cries, shaking her head and waving her hands, signaling to me "I can't help you.". I was pleading to her I just wanted to get home and meant no harm. I wasn't even yelling at the top of my lungs for fear of scaring her off. But she heartlessly choose to vanish off my sight. How unlucky can you get? Just when you have some faint hope, fate cruelly take it off from your weak grasp. I stopped short of cursing her as I didn't think cursing would help my situation and I thought I can only blame myself for my own plight.
At that moment, I already resigned to my possible fate of sleeping on the cold floor in the space between the main entrance and inner partition. I wanted to try calling the campus police department to free me out of this misery, but I recalled I didn't store their number in my cellphone when I should had when the advisers for international students told us to do so during our first orientation briefing. Blame myself for being so arrogant and naive. I thought of using the laptop to search for the number online, but I didn't bring my laptop battery and there's no power point to be seen in my enclosed area. Arghhh.... Bad things do not come alone. Suddenly, by a stroke of genius, I recalled I might have placed the pocket brochure for campus safety in my bag and indeed, I found it. Finally, luck is favoring me. I can be saved!!! Haha.
Just as I was about to call the campus police department, my fortune turned even better than I expected. A nice cleaner gentleman came up, opened the partition door and unlocked the main entrance door for me. Oh my god. I can't express my gratitude for letting me off the hook. Guess my Karma is not that low that I am destined for sufferings. Haha. Phew. Give praise to any lord in heaven though I am a free thinker.
What a unforgettable night or rather a night to forget.
Before you guys make any wild guesses what happened to me. Let me inform you guys I am safe and sound now. But what happened just now was enough to freak me out, if not to the extend of traumatizing.
Today, I did something different from my usual habit. Instead of studying in my usual hideout, the Bioscience or Mofitt Library, I decided to try out the main library to gain a new experience, since it is reputed to the 3rd largest library in US and Cal is famous for that library. This library is unique in the sense, it is built four underground storey deep and the lowest storey is connected to another neighboring library, Mofitt library via an underground passage. FYI, the 2 connecting libraries closes at 2am on weekdays and Sunday even prior to exam period and the library is scarily crowded even at 1am in the morning on normal school days. This very well explains the culture here in Cal.
So back to my main story. After studying till 1230am in the morning, I was too weary to continue my revision and decided to head back to the same main entrance door where I entered the library to exit. Little did I expect or suspect the following event to happen. I was TRAPPED. So how the hell did I stupidly get myself trapped? Can't believe I was the fool again!!!! ( CS the Great, sounds familiar?)
On my way to exit, I could sense something amiss, but I choose to ignore my sixth sense. The pathway towards the main entrance was eerily quiet and spooky, but my tired mind just continue dragging my legs towards that entrance. First, I have to open the door on the inner partition wall before I can move to the main entrance. Here's the moment where I felt my world started to sink. The main entrance was locked. Damn. I turned back and try to open the door on the inner partition wall but I couldn't. WTH. How could this happen? Double whammy. Holy shit. Apparently, the door on the inner partition can only be opened on one side. I went into a frenzy and knock on the glass door frantically in the hope I can capture somebody's attention. My efforts was futile for the first few minutes until a cleaner appear on the far corner of my visual field. I was crying out to her to open the door for me. But guess what? The most ridiculous thing happened. She choose to ignore my cries, shaking her head and waving her hands, signaling to me "I can't help you.". I was pleading to her I just wanted to get home and meant no harm. I wasn't even yelling at the top of my lungs for fear of scaring her off. But she heartlessly choose to vanish off my sight. How unlucky can you get? Just when you have some faint hope, fate cruelly take it off from your weak grasp. I stopped short of cursing her as I didn't think cursing would help my situation and I thought I can only blame myself for my own plight.
At that moment, I already resigned to my possible fate of sleeping on the cold floor in the space between the main entrance and inner partition. I wanted to try calling the campus police department to free me out of this misery, but I recalled I didn't store their number in my cellphone when I should had when the advisers for international students told us to do so during our first orientation briefing. Blame myself for being so arrogant and naive. I thought of using the laptop to search for the number online, but I didn't bring my laptop battery and there's no power point to be seen in my enclosed area. Arghhh.... Bad things do not come alone. Suddenly, by a stroke of genius, I recalled I might have placed the pocket brochure for campus safety in my bag and indeed, I found it. Finally, luck is favoring me. I can be saved!!! Haha.
Just as I was about to call the campus police department, my fortune turned even better than I expected. A nice cleaner gentleman came up, opened the partition door and unlocked the main entrance door for me. Oh my god. I can't express my gratitude for letting me off the hook. Guess my Karma is not that low that I am destined for sufferings. Haha. Phew. Give praise to any lord in heaven though I am a free thinker.
What a unforgettable night or rather a night to forget.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Inspiring Lecture
I thought I have to pen this down before I forget though I am racing against time to complete my revision for 18hours worth of upcoming exam papers starting next Monday. Never have I experienced such an inspiring lecture in my life. Though I have encountered lots of insightful and dedicated lecturers in NUS, however, they are no where near the passion or humor displayed by some of my lecturers here in Cal.
Today, during my General Endocrinology class, my Black lecturer, Hayes, a Harvard graduate was giving his first power point lecture on his research studies. His research topic was "The effects of pesticides on frog development." He started by saying he's a man of few heroes in his life and those heroes whom he dedicate his achievements to are his mum, grandmother, wife and children which was very heartwarming. He then moved on to share how he cultivated his interest and curiosity in frogs, his findings on his research studies and showed us majestic pictures of the different landscapes where he did his field research studies. Pictures from the sky, at ground level and all the different angles you can do with your camera. Didn't know research studies can be so fun and interesting as well. Get to explore and embark on amazing adventures while you conduct your studies. Cool.
Just as we were absorbed in his adventures of his research, he threw us a surprise out of the blue. He showed us a blank slide with just a line in the middle of the screen. He asked the class what's the thing on the screen. Somebody answered "a line" and here's where the excitement starts to buildup. "This is not just a line, but "the" line. The reason I show you guys this is because I have just crossed the line and I have good reason for it." He moved on to express his displeasure on not being able to get his papers published despite the concrete evidences he had gathered and favorable peer review he got from his fellow colleagues because of political reasons. He made a statement I still remembered, "They tell you as researchers, you just focus on your research and let the management make the decisions." Next up, he showed us the hierarchical structure in getting journal papers published for scientists, all the organizations and committees involved. Here is the stunning part. He plastered photos of the same person who was chairing in several of those organizations and committee and expressed he was the reason why he could not get his papers published. He moved on to debunk the arguments made by this person and his team of research scientists in verification of his findings on his research and contest on each of their reasons for rejection, which were very convincing. How courageous can you go. Well, this is America. Land of the free. Freedom of speech. Individual rights above anything else. But, I respect him not just because of his courage but the charisma he displayed while fighting for his cause. He wasn't degoratory or sarcastic in his rebuttal but he was a real gentleman who expressed his unhappiness in an amicable, persuasive manner.
In rounding up his lecture, he showed us why we should fight or even care about such things. He fights because he knows his research findings, which revolves around pesticide has a great impact on our environment and people. He fully utilizes the images of people and mother nature to capture the soft spot in our heart and empathize with him. And guess what happened at the end of his lecture. No prizes for the right guess. The whole class just stood up to give him a standing ovation which lasted close to a few minutes. Just amazing. You could hardly find such charismatic lecturer in NUS.
One key difference I observed between the lecturers in NUS and Cal is that Cal lecturers know how to mix fun with their work and are more eloquent or "animated" in sharing their passion, thus inspiring more students to pursue their fields of studies. Some food for thought. Hmm.
I leave you guys off with an quote I got from Hayes, "Each of us should remember that we are writing our eulogies everyday of our life."
Today, during my General Endocrinology class, my Black lecturer, Hayes, a Harvard graduate was giving his first power point lecture on his research studies. His research topic was "The effects of pesticides on frog development." He started by saying he's a man of few heroes in his life and those heroes whom he dedicate his achievements to are his mum, grandmother, wife and children which was very heartwarming. He then moved on to share how he cultivated his interest and curiosity in frogs, his findings on his research studies and showed us majestic pictures of the different landscapes where he did his field research studies. Pictures from the sky, at ground level and all the different angles you can do with your camera. Didn't know research studies can be so fun and interesting as well. Get to explore and embark on amazing adventures while you conduct your studies. Cool.
Just as we were absorbed in his adventures of his research, he threw us a surprise out of the blue. He showed us a blank slide with just a line in the middle of the screen. He asked the class what's the thing on the screen. Somebody answered "a line" and here's where the excitement starts to buildup. "This is not just a line, but "the" line. The reason I show you guys this is because I have just crossed the line and I have good reason for it." He moved on to express his displeasure on not being able to get his papers published despite the concrete evidences he had gathered and favorable peer review he got from his fellow colleagues because of political reasons. He made a statement I still remembered, "They tell you as researchers, you just focus on your research and let the management make the decisions." Next up, he showed us the hierarchical structure in getting journal papers published for scientists, all the organizations and committees involved. Here is the stunning part. He plastered photos of the same person who was chairing in several of those organizations and committee and expressed he was the reason why he could not get his papers published. He moved on to debunk the arguments made by this person and his team of research scientists in verification of his findings on his research and contest on each of their reasons for rejection, which were very convincing. How courageous can you go. Well, this is America. Land of the free. Freedom of speech. Individual rights above anything else. But, I respect him not just because of his courage but the charisma he displayed while fighting for his cause. He wasn't degoratory or sarcastic in his rebuttal but he was a real gentleman who expressed his unhappiness in an amicable, persuasive manner.
In rounding up his lecture, he showed us why we should fight or even care about such things. He fights because he knows his research findings, which revolves around pesticide has a great impact on our environment and people. He fully utilizes the images of people and mother nature to capture the soft spot in our heart and empathize with him. And guess what happened at the end of his lecture. No prizes for the right guess. The whole class just stood up to give him a standing ovation which lasted close to a few minutes. Just amazing. You could hardly find such charismatic lecturer in NUS.
One key difference I observed between the lecturers in NUS and Cal is that Cal lecturers know how to mix fun with their work and are more eloquent or "animated" in sharing their passion, thus inspiring more students to pursue their fields of studies. Some food for thought. Hmm.
I leave you guys off with an quote I got from Hayes, "Each of us should remember that we are writing our eulogies everyday of our life."
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