Totally clueless
I am such an idiot when it comes to fixing up things. Watched the demo on how to set up the bioreactor for the cell culture run but i still could not succeed in learning it. Looks like i dun have the gene for machine construction. Terrible. Felt embarrassed with the instructor eyeballing me and i was doing somethings stupid. First, i tried to unscrew the impeller. I was actually attempting to remove the shaft (which could not be removed). I started turning it clockwise and then anticlockwise. Erm, gal, the shaft is supposed to rotate remember? Obviously, it could not be dismantle with my turning it around and around. The instructor watched me battle with the bioreactor pathetically and eventually asked me what i was trying to do. I explained to him my predicament.
He walked away and came back.
*Da dah*
Instructor:Here is the spanner for loosening the impeller from the shaft.
Me: (speechless). Thank you.
Later, I proceeded to soaking the air exchange silicon tubing basket within the vessel of the bioreactor. Before i could do that, I needed to lift up the heavy lid. This lid was entangled with many probes. I forgot to remove the probes and ended up trying to balance the heavy lid and clearing the probes which were sticking out and inserting the basket. After several futile attempts, i asked my colleague to help me. Both of us girls were poking at the probes and trying to clear a path for the basket. In the end, i decided i should have removed the probes. That was when the instructor came over and removed the darn probes. Gosh, so embarrassing. I wondered how long he had been witnessing such a drama.
Settlers' Cafe
On Friday, my colleagues and I went to the Settlers' Cafe at North Canal Road, opposite the kreta ayer police post. This cafe allows the patrons to play board/card games. Sounds like a fun idea, right? It was fun, except for some unhappiness which occurred later on in the night.
The place was pricy. For four set dinners each priced at 13.90, the four gamers get 2 hours free gaming time. The rest of the people had to pay 2 bucks per hour per person. The food was not fantastic. The lamb chop I had tasted awful (the lamb had a very strong mutton stench). The finger food servings were small as well.
We started off by playing taboo. The gals vs the guys. I thought we were winning until the scores were tabulated and the guys had actually beaten us by 3 points. Guess they had managed to catch up later on in the game. Taboo has always been a fun game. Next, we tried apples to apples. Not exactly an enjoyable game. Ridiculous in fact. Each player took turns to be the judge and chose the winning card which was most apt. NO basis for the choice. You can choose anything.
Another game we tried was the villa paletti or sth like that. It was a construction game. The blocks were piled up and slowly removed. Interactive game as we pitted our skills against each other. The last two games we played caused some unhappiness. One of the games was elixir. Long long long game. We did not even conclude it. It was a magic wizardry game. Each player had to cast the spells on his hand by using the cards (called finds). One guy had to seductively removed an item from himself. He removed his belt. Then this guy was cast another spell-the comforter where he was put to sleep (miss a turn). Each round was like taking half an hour. Ten of us were playing. It took a long time before it reached my turn. I was the almost the last player. When this guy was goin to win, he kena another spell which prevented him from winning. All this time, the game keeper who taught us how to play the games hung around. She kept laughing at this guy, saying he was really put to sleep and so blur.
The final game was forced upon us. We had wanted to play taboo. The game keeper brought us another game. This game is like snap. If the same cards were opened, the players had to grab a totem in the middle of the table. Being newbies, we were slow to react. So the gamekeeper would shout to tell XX and YY to grab the totem. If we slow, she would say we very blur. This guy kena again. She kept saying he was goin to lose with all the cards piling up against him. This guy could no longer tolerate her bossy behaviour and told her to shut up. I was shocked. But I thought he sorta voiced our opinion to leave us alone after explaining the rules of the game. What was supposed to be an enjoyable evening turned out to be otherwise.
Happy birthday clarice!
Yup happie birthday my dear gal!
For the birthday celebration, we decided to try a new buffet restaurant, Sakura. Actually it is not new. It's the only branch in the west. All of the rest of the branches are in the east. So i did not have the chance to try this food outlet till now. The students interning at my company were there twice within two months and we telling me how value for money the place was.
I agree totally. I will give it five stars for the spread of food. International buffet. Chinese food like dim sum, fried rice, shark fin soup; japanese food like sashimi of all sorts (octopus, tuna, salmon-my fav!!, yellowtail, squid), teppanyaki; local food like satay; others like oysters (yummy! fresh!) and my favourite desserts. I love the desserts. The cheesecakes were very cheesy. I adore cheesy cheesecakes. The best one was the marble cheesecake. There were oreo cheesecake, new york cheesecake, mango cake, eclairs, konnyaku jelly. The selection of icecream was good too. 12 flavours: chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, mocha choc (the best), yam, mint choc (toothpasty), strawberry ripple, blueberry ripple, rum n raisin, mango, cookies n creme, choc chip. I tried everything except choc, strawberry n vanilla. Yay! There were plenty of fruits to choose from too: starfruit, peach, apple, orange, longan, honey dew, seacoconut etc. Pictures of some of the food:
The ebi. Takoyaki ball, oreocheesecake, marble cheesecake n blackforest.
Siewmai, oyster, mutton, mango chicken.
The food being great was good enuff for me. The price was 24 bucks for dinner. No service charge and gst. But the ambience not fantastic. Just three stars. We were sitting besides the cashier. Initially, they gave us an even worse seat. Near the entrance....We requested to shift. Thankfully.
Being photo crazy me, i decided to take some shots:
Cheesecake with coffee. So heavenly.
See how clarice enjoyed the cheesecake too. Yum.
Sun with moon
Met up with some seniors on friday. Initially, we wanted to try Nomoto at somerset. The place which is advertised on tv quite often. The BBQ place with japanese food. In the end, due to the bad reviews we had heard and read, we decided to go to a different place. It was fine since we were still goin to a new japanese place. The restaurant is called Sun with moon. It is located at Wheelock Place. So, we walked from somerset to Wheelock. Not a long distance. Anyway, I was not very hungry because I had a filling lunch and ben and jerry's. Slurp. Luckily, we were not having buffet. Sure cannot make it then.
This Sun with moon place has good ambience. There was one waitress who sounded japanese as well. Looks like an authentic japanese food place. The presentation of the food was artistic. But the serving was not large. It was a good idea since i would have space for dessert. I tried the salmon rice with tea soup. Interesting item. The rice was placed in a bowl with a slice of grilled salmon (only one slice!). You had to pour the tea from a pot into the rice before eating. Fun food. Then, i ordered banana rice dumpling with red bean. Guess how this dessert looked like. I thot it was banana flavoured rice with red bean. In the end, it was japanese mochi (sesame flavoured) served with pieces of banana. The red bean paste was covered by the mochi. Yummy! The most interesting presentation of food was buckies' tofu cheese cake. It came with a bird cage! Strange. Wonder wat was the connection. Overall, the place was fun. Would go again and try the rest of the desserts.
Romance is in the air
Yeah today is valentine's day aka frenship day for the singles out there. No hot date. Sigh. Just me, myself and my toshiba to entertain u pple reading this blog. Since it's v day, i shall list out some of the memorable scenes from romantic shows i have watched. They are not ranked though.
Korean drama first love of royal prince
1. Guy A was a workaholic. The gal wanted him to relax at the holiday resort. She helped him roll up his pants so that he could walk along the beach and play with water. Then he gave her the reply to her question, "wat do u think of me as a woman?" He kissed her. That was his answer.
2. Guy B and the gal were in a music store. Both were listening to music. Guy B removed his headphones and turned towards gal (gal not facing him) and said that there would no longer be more coincidental meetings along the street as he was leaving soon. After that, gal turned towards guy (guy was not facing her) and said she did not wanna live each day, hopin for a chance meeting.
Taiwan drama devil by my side
1. The guy and gal fell off the bicycle when they nearly got into an accident. They rolled along the road. Then guy told gal that being with him was very dangerous but he would do his best to protect her.
Korean drama a good man
1. Guy wanted to be a policeman. He handed a pocket watch to gal he liked and told her to keep it for him. He would look for her once he fulfilled his dream after one year. If he did not come back, she should just throw it away.
2. Guy told gal that he did not wanna repair the pocket watch cos the time stopped at the point where he met her.
Taiwan drama frog prince
1. Guy did not really wanna leave. He told gal that wherever he went, she was the only one he knew. Guy suffering from amnesia and she was the first person he knew.
2. Guy kissed gal forcibly to demostrate the difference between a real kiss and a resuscitation. Gal made him sign an IOU for this.
And many more....... to many liao.
toto-ed
the toto results are out. i did not strike anything. so sad. no money made. spent 5 bucks to try my luck. last year, i even queued for one plus hour at a lucky shop to buy toto. in the end, i did not win anything as well. so, initially i was reluctant to buy again since most probably i will end up empty handed. then someone said, "don't give up. must try. mabbe this time you are lucky?" Still i did not buy toto. Until today. i was on my way home. Passed by the singapore pool shop at seven plus and the queue was not that long. thus, i popped into the shop and bought my toto ticket. Bought 5 bucks worth of quick pick. that was the only thing i noe. when i was queueing, a lady walked up to me and asked if how to shade the toto form. its like a mcq answer sheet for you to indicate the nos u wan. I told her i did not know her to fill in the form. Then, she asked someone behind me. That someone also said no. I heard the lady mumble to herself: dunno then these pple how to buy? Can. Can still buy. Quick pick lor.
Stuck!
This was totally embarrassing. On my way to work, I was caught in a gap on the floor of the mrt station at buona vista. My not very sharp heel still managed to get me stuck. That was so unglamorous. I was walking briskly when this incident happened. I did not realise that I was stuck and attempted to continue walking. Alas, I could not move. In fact, I was pulled back by the gap. Reality sank in and I finally realised that my heel was caught in the gap. I tried wrigglin my foot to loosen the shoe. But it did not work. Sigh. I had to bend down and use my hand to free the shoe. To my horror, the strap had snapped. Never mind, I dropped the shoe on the floor, wore it and continued walking, as if nothing had happened. It was so embarrassing. I heard a gal asking her fren, "Did you see the gal with her heel stuck?". I kept my chin up and continued walkin. Luckily the shoe still allowed me to walk in it. Plus i had spare shoes in the lab.
i m in love with .....
Kim Nam Jin. Infatuated with him due to the korean drama show that i have been watchin lately. Bought first love of royal crown prince, starring this guy and the lead actor in my sassy gal and a pretty gal of course (to complete the love triangle).
Since the my sassy gal guy is more famous, the gal ended with him in the end. I was rooting for Kim from the beginning of the show. He is so cool. 187 cm!!! Height is oredi an attractive factor. Think guys who r tall exude a certain charm by itself. Anyway, this guy is not the typical good looking kind. But u will definitely love him in the show.
The successful but lonely kind of guy who had not truly fallen in love before till the cheery female lead came along. He wanted to give her up when he learnt of a shocking truth. Still he could not. Eventually, the female lead chose the other guy. Felt so sad for him. Awww....
Do you need to tell someone you love him/her? Does this prove tat it is true love just by saying "i love u"? This guy did not say these three words at all throughout the show. He indicated his love by his actions. He told the gal that all he had done so far was to make her blissful. If being with him made her sad, he would stop workin hard for her. Still he did not utter the words. Perhaps, we all need a certain confirmation that our love is reciprocated though such words are superficial?
Majong session
Had a game session with my colleagues on Fri. It was kinda spontaneous. Cos initially the host wanted to open two majong tables: one for serious gamblers who wanted to play money and one for kiddy players (like me) who did not wanna gamble. So on Thur, the host informed us tat the non-money table was closed cos not enough players.
On Friday, we decided we could play card games as well. In the end we still managed to have a game session at the host's place. Played a few rounds of non-money majong. Learnt to play the cheem majong, the one with tai and feng and etc. I have been playing the kiddy majong whereby anything goes. Learnt a new card game, jirami (or sth like tat). Similar to majong.
It was a fun session. Love to hang out with frens and relax and enjoy myself. Friends grow further and further apart with time if nobody takes the initiative to organise an outing. To all my frens out there, thanks for just being there. *hugs*
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