24th May 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Today, i was asked to be the host for an annual forum organised by the Student, Technicians and Postdoc Association (STP) of IMB on "How to balance between work and life". We invited the institute director, and another three supportive PIs to share their experience. It was an wonderful event as we get to know how they managed to gain successful career and enjoy their work. Frankly speaking, i am very nervous along the way when hosting this forum. It is hard to control the situation and kill some intervals by popping out some comments and repeating the main points. After the talk, it rings a bell and we realised that actually such balance could be achieved. We just have to prioritize the tasks, making friends, fall in love to our work and enjoy our life. We have much to learn from them and get enlightened on how to pursue our future direction.
Recently there are too much things to handle in my life, if what i did lead me to all these consequences, i believe i would manage to go through it.
Please be happy, no one wanted to be hurt.
Labels: Institite of Molecular Biology, Laboratory, Random Crap, Teoh Pak Guan, teopag
posted by teopag @ 5:35 PM,
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Newton's Laws of Graduation
Monday, January 04, 2010
Just for laugh in conjunction with Sir Issac Newton's birthday today. Original comics is here, here and here by Jorge Cham.
Labels: Comics, Laboratory, Random Crap, Teoh Pak Guan, teopag
posted by teopag @ 11:39 PM,
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22nd December 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
I have been missing for a while here. Anyone there is following my blog? Perhaps we already see each other a lot in Facebook and Plurk.
I just finished my annual progress report today. So for the past few weeks, i have been busying organising all the data and repeating the experiments to make the data more conclusive and nice. Not have much progress this year compared to last year, probably too many incidents were happened to my life. They really affected me even though i thought i managed them well. What to do? Amyway, at least i have a clear direction now. Competitors out there, do not scoop my work again, please...
Labels: Laboratory, Random Crap, Teoh Pak Guan, teopag, TIGP
posted by teopag @ 5:10 PM,
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6th August 2009
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Today i met my old friend Koh Mee in Taipei. He came here for conference with his colleagues for a week. We had a simple lunch at Lane 30 near MRT Taipei City Hall Station. Ha, he didn't change much, exactly the same when i met him in Singapore three years ago.
Tomorrow there will be a holiday for people who works in Taipei City.
Why?
Typhoon is coming..., yeah! Most of us are waiting for this holiday. We still haven had any typhoon holiday yet so far. Haha...
SK supposed to take her Qualifying Exam today, but one of her examiners cannot make it and only informed during last minutes, so she will have to wait till end of August to take the exam. Oh, she would have to prolong her tension, or perhaps she can take this opportunity to read more for her exam. Tension, tension, and tension...
My another friend who is taking this exam today failed before even presenting his non-thesis proposal in front of the examiners. The reason is quite ridiculous, at least to me.
The examiners found out that he plagiarisized on the introduction part of his written proposal. Perhaps they found language style on the introduction part is not the same with the other parts of his proposal. But then, don't we should refer to papers for writing the introduction part? Perhaps my friend didn't change all the sentences.
Frankly, now i think i was lucky when taking this exam last year. At least i can answered most of the questions they asked. And perhaps none of the examiners are working on the field which i proposed. Hmmm...
I have no idea what would i feel if i failed.., leaving the course or read more to improve the non-thesis proposal. Similar pressure would prolong which might affecting your daily life and it is not good at all. I have heard enough how they fail the students all the while. Some is because of the student attitude or less preparation, some are merely because they "feel" we are not qualified... However, they are also nice examiners who really want to help us to pass the exam. Quite emotion huh?
The qualifying exam is not a game, the pressure we face when taking this exam is extremely high (at least to me), because once we failed for the first time, we would have to retake within 6 months (we have to work on our thesis work and this non-thesis proposal concurrently). And if we fail again, we will have to leave the course.
For those who intended to do PhD for the sake of earning the degree only, think wisely before you decide to pursue your PhD in Taiwan.
Labels: Food, Friends, Laboratory, Taipei, Taiwan, Teoh Pak Guan, teopag, TIGP
posted by teopag @ 6:30 PM,
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30th July 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Finally, homegirl is graduate. She just passed or oral presentation today. At last what you work hard these two years is being paid and you earn your degree.
阿宅畢業了
通過口試
真是辛苦了
你的努力已經得到回報, 妳拿到你的學位了
Mark came to looked for me for lunch. He called to lab and a summer student answered the call. He said her voice is like a child... She is elder than you, you should call her sister...
She just has childish voice (literally doll sound)...
Actually i was not quite used to the childish voice around the lab, There girls came to have their summer lab training in our lab during this summer holiday, two of them are having childish voice, whilst another one is very mature.
But then i was busy talking wth a Costa Rican friend during lunch.
And he left after that.
冰塊來找我吃飯
打電話來實驗室找我
結果一個暑期生接電話
他就說別人的聲音像小孩
他比你大, 要叫人家姐姐...
只是娃娃音比較重
當初也很不習慣, 有兩個暑期生有娃娃音, 另一個聲音就很man
結果吃飯時我就一直在跟一位哥斯大黎加家的同學聊天
吃晚飯他就走了
Today a summer student wanted to prepare a solution but do not know how to calculate the formulations, and empress noticed it...
"i already taught you how to calculate, from the first day you came here, bla bla bla..."
And her daughter said,
"Hey, it's enough, you talk too much..."
Wow,this is the first time we heard that...
So cool, she dare to said so to empress, why don't you join our lab...
今天有個暑期生學妹要配東西不會算, 結果被皇太后發現..
"教過你了, 就怎樣怎樣算..."
他的女兒聽到他說他同學, 說道:
"你也念太多了吧..."
第一次聽到這樣
真的很瀟灑,這樣嗆皇太后, 你快來我們實驗室啦...
Labels: 3517, Institite of Molecular Biology, Laboratory, Taipei, Taiwan, Teoh Pak Guan, teopag
posted by teopag @ 10:45 PM,
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17th July 2009 Empress gifts 皇太后御賜
Friday, July 17, 2009
Empress gifted everyone two honey peaches today and here is the evidence.
話說今天皇太后御賜又每人兩顆水蜜桃, 這就是證據.
CCW and i were so sampat, really took pictures for proof...
寵鈞跟我都很三八, 還拍照存證...
Yesterday, i got a pineapple cake from her too, just because i am CCW's neighbour.
昨晚, 又意外的得到一塊鳳梨酥, 為什麼意外, 因為我坐在寵鈞隔壁...
Labels: 3517, Academia Sinica, Institite of Molecular Biology, Laboratory, Taipei, Taiwan, Teoh Pak Guan, teopag
posted by teopag @ 10:58 PM,
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2009 3517 Group photos 實驗室團體照
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Some of them are summer students*. 有些是暑期生*.
Mars, CCW, CPJ, ZQ*, Chin, Lala, Weny, TPG, HZS, XJ*, NH*, Hsu, Empress, ING.
Let's take a look at he pictures. 先看照片拍得怎樣...
This one looked naive... Orz 這張有點清純 囧
Pretend to be serious 裝認真
Nathan said this looked professional, i was in a seminar.
耀華說這個看起來很專業, 人家是在聽講座.
Labels: 3517, Institite of Molecular Biology, Laboratory, Taipei, Taiwan, Teoh Pak Guan, teopag
posted by teopag @ 4:20 PM,
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Homegirl Birthday 阿宅生日
Friday, April 10, 2009
Today is Chin Huey's birthday.
今天是靜惠的生日.
Making a wish, spirit lamp as candle.
酒精燈代替蠟燭許願.
The lunch at McD which i treated her.
請她吃的麥當勞午餐.
Her simple birthday party by empress.
皇太后主張的簡單生日慶祝.
Labels: Academia Sinica, Institite of Molecular Biology, Laboratory, Taipei, Taiwan, Teoh Pak Guan, teopag
posted by teopag @ 8:42 PM,
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Hello... 喂...
Monday, September 15, 2008
what am i doing recently...?
what happened to me actually...?
what is in my mind actually...?
why can't i prioritise my work...?
it was so speechless and unknown...
only myself can help on this, do something..!!!
最近都在幹嘛..?
有發生什麼事嗎?
腦子裡到底在想些什麼?
為何不能把事情給予優先分配?
真是搞不懂自己,也很無奈...
自己看著辦吧, 要自救..!!!
Labels: Laboratory, Random Crap, Teoh Pak Guan, teopag, TIGP
posted by teopag @ 11:26 PM,
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8th August 2008
Friday, August 08, 2008
It was a conditional pass for my qualifying exam...meaning that i have to correct the proposal which i submited earlier. Due to time constrain and tension, most of us simply submited the written proposal before the dateline, and aiming for good presentation during the exam day. Actually presentation is more important than what you wrote, because they will not going to read your proposal, they will wait until the day you present your non-thesis proposal. They will only read on the spot when they have doubt on what you say. My flow of presentation was far more better than what is written in the proposal. I was asked to give a revised proposal in 2 weeks time.
After passing the exam, Empress was away to Berlin for two weeks. I went to Hualien with lab mates, Lugang and Taipei tour with friends. Of course i did go to lab as usual doing cloning. So till the last three days, only really sit down to work on the proposal... so bad...
By closing one eyes, quickly do the correction according to what is in my presentation slides, and submited on the last day.
Dr.Tsay has read my proposal and commented i didn't get what they mean.
The evidence of my first hypothesis was weak, even though it sounds logic. She hopes i could write a better one, but then she said it's okay. So i don't have to do anything. Passed!!! Yeah!!!
Aiya.., passed already, the rest is not important anymore... ;p
I was elected as the student representative of MCB by Jessica, since no one has been nominated. I took this as a volunteery work to ease the burden of Jessica and Linda. It is indeed an honour to have this opportunity to learn and gain this extra-curricula experience during my stay in IMB. Perhaps it will sharpen my soft skill and personality which are essential in the future working environment. Hopefully it will not cause a lot of problem for me, the most important concern is that it will not affect the progress of my labwork. Just representing MCB, not the whole TIGP, that one will give way to others.
Today is the opening ceremony of 2008 Beijing Olmypic Games...
今天是北京2008奧運開幕典禮
2008-08-08 20:08:08
Labels: 3517, Academia Sinica, IMB, Institite of Molecular Biology, Laboratory, Taipei, Taiwan, Teoh Pak Guan, teopag, TIGP
posted by teopag @ 2:31 AM,
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Longshan Temple 龍山寺 龙山寺
Monday, February 11, 2008
Yesterday afternoon, Seok Kooi and i went to Longshan Temple 龍山寺 龙山寺 for praying. It was so crowded, however we still managed to took some pictures and did some spiritual blessing.
We shopped for some winter clothings at the streets nearby. Goods sold in Huaxi night market 華西街夜市 are cheap and bargainable, better than Shilin night market 士林夜市. There will be very cold in these two days, better keep warm...
We have to start working tomorrow, now finding the "abandoned" track around the bushes (due to holidays) to get back to the right path and right pace. =.=
Labels: Laboratory, night market, Taipei, Taiwan
posted by teopag @ 5:33 PM,
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RNA meeting 2008, Tainan
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Recently i was busy for preparing the poster for the RNA meeting. Then i realised that some of the datas are not perfect, have to repeat the experiments to make it more conclusive and presentable.
I went to Tainan with Taiwan High Speed Rail on Friday night with my boss, it was a great experience. The maximum speed is 299km/h, it took 1 hour and 40 minutes from Taipei to Tainan, wow...!
CC went to pick us at the station and sent our boss to the hotel room prepared by the organiser for invited speakers. I went to have a night stay at CC's house. His mother was so friendly preparing the room for us to stay, and even some simple supper to fill my hungry stomach. Weather in Tainan was very nice, not so cold compare to Taipei, very comfortable. And no rain!!! It has been raining in Taipei continuously for over one week...
These are the pictures taken on the meeting...
Eventually, CC went to his friend's wedding reception in the afternoon.., on the way back, he parked his car somewhere as the oil tank was empty. And i left Dr. Chen sent us to his car to take my luggage, but we went on the wrong way twice... (i should not sit on the passenger seat >.<, he has to show the way, and his sense of direction is poor even in his hometown...) Looked like the train schedule is approaching, so Dr. Chen sent me to the railway station first. And CC said his girlfriend will send my bag to Taipei on Monday as she has to travel there too... relieve...
Without the iPod, i felt bore in the train... 4 hours journey...
These were what i did...
I will go to Tainan again in the future, didn't have enough time to explore more on this historical city. I stopped at Songshan station and went to Raohe Night Market to buy some new clothes for Chinese New Year. Yeah, i like what i bought today... ^^ happy...
This is what i bought last week for my bed... ^^
Labels: Laboratory, Tainan, Taiwan, Teoh Pak Guan, TIGP
posted by teopag @ 12:16 AM,
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Hammerhead Ribozyme
Friday, January 25, 2008
Hammerhead ribozyme
...a small self-cleavage RNA with a conserved motif
...is not a true enzyme in its natural state (so it cannot catalyse multiple turnover)
...the cleavage is autocatalytic
...in the absence of protein enzymes
It works in our experimental design!!! Yeah! ...that's for empress's talk.
We came out with the idea during discussion and she was font to design the experiment and asked me to do it within a month. Luckily it works! ^^
I am still working my poster.
A big thank you to senior HZS for guiding me all the way doing the experiments. I was totally new in this area.
Labels: 3517, Academia Sinica, IMB, Institite of Molecular Biology, Laboratory, Teoh Pak Guan, TIGP
posted by teopag @ 10:30 PM,
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IMB Year End Dinner
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Today is the annual Year-End Dinner 尾牙 for IMB. The food served in this year is better than last year, and the performance was really spectacular comparable to last year. Those PIs, assistants, staffs and students can really do good performance.., they can sing, dance, act and do research at the same time...
Jessica and Linda danced gracefully... ;p
Our lab members are really lucky, Chin Huey got a chocolate whereas Frank and I both won the cash prices of NT2000 and NT5000, respectively during the lucky draw!!! Yeah!!
The "secret" mentioned in "The Secret" really works!!!
Hmmm.., i got to continue with my lab work.
Labels: Academia Sinica, IMB, Institite of Molecular Biology, Laboratory, TIGP
posted by teopag @ 9:16 PM,
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The PCR Song by Scientists for Better PCR
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
The PCR Song by Scientists for Better PCR from Bio-Rad.
The PCR Song
There was a time when to amplify DNA,
You had to grow tons and tons of tiny cells.
Then along came a guy named Dr. Kary Mullis,
Said you can amplify in vitro just as well.
Just mix your template with a buffer and some primers,
Nucleotides and polymerases, too.
Denaturing, annealing, and extending.
Well it’s amazing what heating and cooling and heating will do.
PCR, when you need to detect mutations.
PCR, when you need to recombine.
PCR, when you need to find out who the daddy is.
PCR, when you need to solve a crime.
(repeat chorus)
Labels: Laboratory
posted by teopag @ 4:23 PM,
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Feeling on new year
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Happy New Year!
It's my turn to be a "maid" (scheduled duty roster actually :p) in the lab, for two years (from 2007 to 2008), haha...!
Today i was called to have a talk with our empress, she was calm, tender with good temper... What a surprise... ;p you are a bit "abnormal" today...
She told me to change my attitude (ops...),
be more serious and determine on everything (perhaps the degree of seriousness is according to your high standard...),
do not simply read and scribe out what is in the paper, must be clear in everything (but that was what is written in the paper, i make sure they described for some points before writing out actually...),
read the paper in detail and thoroughly (she wants in and out everything within the finger tips...),
do not read too fast, if not some important points will be missed out and only catching what is relevant to what i want (i agree to some extend, but reading too detail is tiring, and we need to read a lot, and time is limited at that time, anyway i did include those important points...)
I understand your courteous care, thank you for your patience, i will try my best to improve... We can celebrate after the proposal got approved!
We need to read more papers. To all the graduate students and research assistant, all the best ya! Of course Pak Guan knows his purpose and duty here, but i think job is just part of out life isn't it, we should not allocate too much time for working, everything must be in equilibrium...
Hehe, luckily i have friends to hang-out with to balance up.
新年快樂..!
輪到我做實驗室跨年值日生了, 沒有人比我更"久"吧, 一做就做兩年... 哈哈!
今天被皇太后叫去訓話, 可是她都心平氣和, 沒有發脾氣...有點驚訝... 不像平時的妳喔...
就說微臣要改變一下態度 (啊...),
要認真 (認真程度是要依照她的標準吧...),
不要隨隨便便念了就把它寫出來, 要確認清楚出處 (可是那是別人說的阿,我看了有講述一些才寫出來的...),
要把文獻念清楚 (她要求裡外都要非常清楚...),
不要看太快..不然就會漏掉重要資訊而只留意自己所要看的 (我同意, 可是看太仔細會很累的耶, 況且要看很多, 當時的時間有限, 重要的奏摺上都有提到阿...)
知道您的苦心, 謝謝您的耐心, 我會儘量改進... 等奏摺(企劃書)通過了再慶祝吧!
要多看文獻... 各位研究生助理們, 大家要加油喔! 阿源當然知道來這裡的目的啦, 只是我覺得工作只是生活的一部份, 生活不應該被工作佔去太多, 不然會作息不平衡...
呵呵, 還好我有朋友幫我保持平衡!
Labels: 3517, Laboratory, Teoh Pak Guan, TIGP
posted by teopag @ 11:48 PM,
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Message before new year
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Time flies and now is already end of the year.
What i have done for the whole year..?
Life had been occupied with the routine of doing experiments, studying, taking exams and writing reports... Of course i did spend my time hanging around with friends and traveling to some good places around this island.
See the pictures in the blog, looked like i am posting only the vacation and traveling pictures all the while.. everything is in its equilibrium actually, so.... ...
May be not so productive in some aspect, but at least i gained something useful.
Recently was busy for writing a proposal for my thesis and our lab direction in the next few years.., so i have to discuss and discuss a lot with our curriculum coordinator to come out with a proposal which suits her requirement. Hmmm..., hopefully we'll get a multi-billion dollar grant.., my life depends on the grant as well after my scholarship terminate by autumn 2009.
Forget the past, and welcome the future with open arms! ^^
Labels: 3517, Laboratory, New Year, Teoh Pak Guan, TIGP
posted by teopag @ 2:09 AM,
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Thesis Supervisor Advisor Meanings Joke
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Thesis Supervisor Advisor Meanings Joke from Molecular Station...
Just for laugh... Hahaha...
LANGUAGE USED BY THESIS ADVISORS - Made Simple For Graduate Students ^^
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: Look at this as a learning experience....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: You're going to suffer...
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: Let me explain the format of the defense.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: Let me make you even more nervous.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: I'm here to lend you support.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: I'm here to destroy you so you won't look smarter than me.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: I found the overall concept interesting.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: This is my token compliment before ripping your idea to shreds....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: I would like to have had more time to study this.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: I didn't read it.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: I have some concerns about the theory upon which your study is based.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: I hate the theory, but I can't insult the author so I'll insult your work instead.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: There are some aspects of the study that I would like to hear more about.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: I read it but I just don't remember anything about it.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: There are some aspects of the study that I would like to hear more about.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: I read it but I just don't remember anything about it.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: Your hypotheses are not strongly enough linked to the existing literature.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: You came up with an innovative idea and I want to make sure you never do it again.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: Your research is an interesting extension of my own work.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: Why didn't I think of this before you did?
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: You have failed to take into account some of the more relevant literature.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: You failed to cite me.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: I would like you to explain......
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: I don't know anything about this stuff so you'll have to explain it to me.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: Your statistical results don't seem to support your hypothesis.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: I don't understand statistics.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: Your selection of statistical tests is rather simplistic.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: I'm the only one here that understands statistics and I wanted to rub it in.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: How did you ensure that you had drawn a random sample? ....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR MEANS: I had to come up with at least one question and this one always works.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: This is a great topic for your thesis....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: This is some grunge work that will help me get tenure.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: Your funding is secure.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: Maybe.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: Your funding is probably OK.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: Start worrying.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: I'll see what we can do about funding.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: Start looking for another advisor.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: Let's wrap this up.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: I'm hungry.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: Write another chapter.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR MEANS: Write another chapter.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: Think of this as an investment in skills that will be useful to you in your later career.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: We're going to exploit you to the gills.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: Don't listen to XYZ, just listen to me.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: Both XYZ and I are fools, but I'm funding you.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: You will be ready to write up soon, but need to do just one more experiment/program/chip.....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: You have now become a useful slave, and I am not about to let you graduate without doing more footwork for me.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: Could you step out of the room while the committee comes to a decision?....
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: We decided beforehand to give you your degree, but we still want to make you sweat some more.
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR SAYS: Its been a pleasure having you........
WHAT YOUR ADVISOR REALLY MEANS: I loved the free Peon work you did, however you are no longer an asset. Get your stuff off your bench ASAP. Next...
This is just for laugh, if there is any identicalness, is merely coincidence.., it does not referring you...
純粹搞笑, 如有雷同,純屬巧合, 請勿對號入座...
Labels: Joke, Laboratory
posted by teopag @ 3:34 PM,
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14th November 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Our training coordinator came out with another training curriculum..., we have to read few related papers on a particular topic and discuss with her in detail after reading them. After that, we have to summarise from what we have read and present it during the lab meeting.
That's what i just did this morning..., so i am very sleepy now..., = = just slept for 2 hours last night.
Now no mood in doing experiments, thought of going to watch free movie "Transformers" at Activity Centre later.
Labels: 3517, Laboratory, TIGP
posted by teopag @ 3:58 PM,
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1st November 2007
Friday, November 02, 2007
Today after discuss the paper with my training coordinator, i knew what to do next for my work... Haha.., so many unknowns are yet to be revealed and answered.
It's good to have discussion sometimes, then only you will know what is in your mind so far, and speaking it out can help us to process those informations and knowledge we gained so far and sorting them accordingly.
Got to proceed to do some lab work, if not next Monday would not have anything concrete to present during the meeting.
Labels: 3517, Laboratory, TIGP
posted by teopag @ 12:35 AM,
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