Busily Attached

I have no idea why or how I can be kept perpetually busy even after my examinations has ended. While I know I'm pretty notorious for not using MSN, it's preposterous that Windows XP is attesting to that fact.

For no reason, I miss the deep fried calamari Aglio Olio in Science canteen.

The few reasons why studying for Government and Politics of Singapore can be emotional...

Fine. I've digressed.

Anyway, I have finally completed two weeks of internship at Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, under the umbrella of A-Star.
During the one-day orientation, I met up with the fresh batch of 20 students under the Youth Research Programme. For some strange reason, there were only 2 guys (including me) and 2 from NTU. The gender and institution ratio was more balanced in the research labs though.

IBN is located in Nanos building at the still spanking new Biopolis.

This is the Level 6 labs which I'm working in. While it looks seemingly cluttered, I think the ones in NUS look disastrously messy in comparison.

For each drawer, there is a systematic labeling system.

Even if it is UNKNOWN.

My Permanent Workplace: (Biohazard!) Cell Culture Room

*cues in eerie music*

Serious, I actually find it quite cosy (read: small).

I turned on the lights to take these photos. Usually, they're off when there are light sensitive experiments taking place.
Because my supervisor is hardly around, this hood is almost exclusively mine mine MINE!
Ha. Not only do I have a personal hood, I have one CO2 incubator all to myself!

Check out my name on it!

While I was initially whining (in the first week) that I was the only one not doing cell culture in a cell culture room, my other lab mate recently taught me how to subculture.

He described likened the cells as "Neopets". Always in need of a constant supply of food in the form of a cell culture medium. But unlike Neopets, they really do die when not fed.

These were my fresh baby Neopets!

Awww... Don't they look cute? I haven't decided on all their names yet since I suspect there are thousands of them.

Of course, cultivating these Neopets come at a heavy cost to the environment. Look at how many serological pipettes I've wasted in less than an hour... All in the name of sterility.
Of course, after some serious lab work, there must always be time for tea break at the pantry.

Ah. The pantry with a bird's eye view...

I could literally sit here for hours, musing about life.

At 3PM from Monday to Thursday, there would be this auntie who would make hot lemon tea.
A brilliant creation I say!

So far, I think this attachment has been surprisingly interesting and a real eye-opener in more ways than one. I even had the privilege of tio-ing the annual safety inspection check.

Anyway, during a meeting last week, my mentors and lab mates were discussing about hPT cells. The conversation went something like that:

Shah: After over a week, Kang Wen found out that the cells had started to clump together. Jeremy suspect that it was starting to differentiate.

*everyone started to giggle*

Shah: He said maybe if you leave it long enough, it might actually start to form tubules.

*stifled giggles gave way to bursts of laughter*

You know what?
I'm kinda worried that my sense of humour is getting really skewed, barely half a month of internship.

Letter from India

My dear Jagjit,
I am in a well here and hoping you are also in a well there. I'm writing this letter slowly, because I know you cannot read fast.
We are not living where we did when you left home. Your dad read in the newspaper that most accidents happen 20 miles from home, so we moved 20 miles.
I am not able to send the address, as the last Sardar who stayed here took the house numbers with them for their new house so they would not have to change their address.
Hopefully by next week we will be able to take our earlier address plate here, and that our address will remain same too.
This place is really nice. It even has a washing machine, situated right above the toilet. But I'm not sure it works too well.
Last week I put in 3 shirts, pulled the chain, and haven't seen them since. The weather here isn't too bad. It rained only twice last week. The first time it rained for 3 days and second time for 4 days.
The coat you wanted me to send you, your Aunt said it would be a little too heavy to send in the mail with all the metal buttons, so we cut them off and put them in the pocket.
Your father has another job. He has 500 men under him. He is cutting the grass at the cemetery.
By the way, I took Bahu to our club's poolside. The manager is Badmash. He told her that two-piece swimming suit is not allowed in his club. We were confused as to which piece we should remove?
Your sister had a baby this morning. I haven't found out whether it is a girl or a boy, so I don't know whether you are an Aunt or Uncle.
Your uncle, Jetinder fell in the nearby well. Some men tried to pull him out, but he fought them off bravely and drowned.
We cremated him and he burned for three days. Your best friend, Balwinder, is no more. He died trying to fulfill his father's last wishes.
His father had wished to be buried in the sea after he died. And your friend died while in the process of digging a grave for his father.
There isn't much more news this time. Nothing much has happened.
Love,
Mom.
PS: Jagjit, I was going to send you some money but by the time I realised, I had already sealed off this letter.

Flogging Flags

It's been a long time since I've actually updated. So here's a corny website which NZ Herald recommended.

Josh Parsons, a lecturer in the Otago University obviously had too much time at hand and gave letter grades to existing flags in the world. Yes, he graded the aesthetic value based upon a list of arbitrary rules:

Rule 1: Do not write the name of your country on your flag.
Rule 1a: Do not write on your flag.
Rule 1b: Do not write some stupid slogan on your flag.
Rule 1c: If you must write a stupid slogan on your flag, do not do so in a living language!
Rule 2: Do not put a map of your country on your flag.
Rule 2a: Do not put a picture of anything on your flag.
Rule 3: Do not use a tricolour unless you are in Europe.

You can have a good laugh at how he reasoned his way through here.

Here are a sampling of the flags that achieved the rare A-grades:

Pakistan
A 88/100
Best use of the star and crescent. Unfortunately, it depicts something astronomically impossible, namely the eclipse of the moon by a star. But perhaps it's not a star but a nuclear satellite-weapon aimed at India?

Canada
A- 80/100
Hmm... that maple leaf? A difficult question, but I think not quite stylized enough.


And the B-graded flags are...

Liberia
B 74/100 Plagiarism, Too busy
Not very original, but at least an improvement on the US flag.



Libya
B 70/100
Did you even try?



Singapore
B- 65/100
Too many stars




Angola
B- 65/100 Weapons Corporate Logo
Machete on flag nicely depicted but not wise idea.




Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

B- 65/100
Good effort for a country whose name sounds like a 50s rock'n'roll group.



As you can probably guess, as the grade slips further, the description becomes more hilarious.

Greenland
C+ 60/100
Possibly most eyewatering flag in existence.




Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

C+ 60 / 100
Looks unfortunately like a target.


New Zealand
C 55/100
Colonial Nonsense



Mauritius
C- 50/100
"Hey, lots of countries have a tricolour, why don't we have a quadricolour?" Big mistake.



Unfortunately. there were many more failures. Haha.

Marshall Islands
D+ 45/100
Looks like an airline logo.



Montserrat
D 40/100
Features a picture of a woman crucifying a harp.



Paraguay
D 40/100
Name of country written on the flag. Perhaps they have the excuse that their citizens can't remember the difference between Paraguay and Uruguay either.


Zimbabwe
D 40/100
Features a hawk sitting on a toilet.



Falkland Islands
D- 38/100
Worst UK colonial flag. Has a sheep on it. Actually, if you look closely, you can see that the sheep is riding on top of an island, which is riding on top of a ship. Also the stupid slogan is in English, and is a platitude.

El Salvador
D- 36/100

Not only did they write the name of country on the flag, but its full mailing address, in a living language.


Guam
F 20/100
Name of country written on flag in ugly typeface. Notice that the M of Guam is larger than the other letters. I have given it this high a grade because it would actually make quite a nice tea towel.


Northern Mariana Islands
F 2/100
Appears to have been constructed from clip art. Truly awful.



Yet, the funniest and most cruel description was reserved for the Polynesian island nation of Tuvalu.

Tuvalu
D+ 49 / 100
Maps! Bad Colours, Too many stars, Too busy



Tuvalu was previously on 50. However, I didn't realise the horrible truth about their flag. Those stars aren't in a random arrangement at all... they're in the shape of the islands that make up the country. It's a map! On the other hand much of Tuvalu will soon be underwater owing global warming, and they'll have to remove some of those stars.


I bet you never knew flags could be of so much fun.
For more crap, visit Parson's website!