Merry Christmas!!
Although. I saw this thing on CNN about un-Christianing Christmas. Apparently, there's a movement to remove all Christian connotations about Christmas. Eg. calling the tree a "Holiday Tree". According to these people, Christmas has become such a widely recognised holiday that even non-Christians celebrate it. Hence, for these non-Christians, it's discriminatory and even offensive to be bombarded by all the Christian propaganda during the holiday. Afterall, the whole Santa thing isn't Christian, and that's the part that most people (even Christians) associate with Christmas.

Well... I'm not sure what to think about this. Seems pretty radical to me. If I were Christian I'd be really bemused. I guess these strange people can go around calling the tree and the holiday whatever they want. but don't tell Christians that they should no longer call it "Christmas".

Back to School/Lab

ah. stuck in lab on a saturday evening... how sad is that? well... I guess if I'm on campus during the weekend it's good to get something productive done vs just bum ard.... now that I'm NOT TAKING CLASSES (yay!) and have no homework to do.... *mwuahahahah*

at least I have JAMBA JUICE. excellent fruit smoothie. delicious yet seemingly healthy. I think my current flavor is Mango Mantra or something equally Zen-like.

have been trying to learn golf. It's not as easy as it looks. pretty frustrating actually. initially it's like trying to learn chinese. Damn bloody impossible. now that I'm actually hitting the ball correctly 1% of the time, it's still like squeezing mana from heaven. why on earth do people like the stupid game? geez. so i read somewhere that golf was invented by the Dutch. good thing I didn't go to St Andrews to study abroad. would have been damn cold, and not even the birthplace of golf. Although might have caught a glimpse of Prince William. *sigh*. what's this human obsession with royalty all about anyways? just perfectly normal people with some misplaced sense of superiority and the privilege of being sponsored by British taxpayers. hm.. well.... at least the UK doesn't have the socialist welfare problems of the rest of Europe. I wanna travel to Scandinavia. but heard that it's really expensive.

got to go. end of my incubation time.

business plans

um. am constantly thinking of new and interesting lobangs that will make me money..... so my latest idea is to get into the book review business. isn't it great? people send u books, u read and write a review, and get paid! good deal, and get free books too. unfortunately, I'm not sure who would actually pay for my opinion, important as it is... i've googled 'paid book review' and didn't get many hits.... a lot of sites actually wanna see a CV. which kinda sucks. so mebbe I won't act on this lobang afterall.

Mark said that we shd set up a business together. interesting, except all my business ideas involve illegal activity. and i've promised my dad to stay on the right side of the law. darn. shd change the law lah. and does two lefts make a right? as we all know in San Francisco, 3 right turns = 1 left turn.

hhmm. i think any business idea right now has to be web based, so that we can run the business and still go to school.... a previous idea was to provide a Green library DVD pickup service, to help ppl return their DVDs to the library in order to avoid the $5/day fine. but the logistics quite hard... how can i pick up DVDs frm the dorms without needing the ppl to be home? perhaps a central dropbox for each dorm?

how about an essay writing service? breaks the Stanford honor code, but not the law.... but that involves real hard work.... bad idea. a homework databank? also against the honor code, i guess. plus might not be too useful if the profs don't recycle hw questions.

i know. make little GPS trackers for ppl to put on their bikes! no fear, even if it gets stolen, just report to the police and track it down.... good for ppl who have $500 bikes... they prolly don't mind paying another $50 for peace of mind? how much are GPS trackers anyways? must go ask Tzewee if this is possible.

aiyah. i think i'll just stick to my karang guni business till autumn. but am open to any good suggestions...

day8
today is slacker day!!! spent the day at the beach, either on a tire out on the water, or on a deckchair on the sand.... *beam*... pity got bitten by sandflies.... the bites didn't seem bad. little raised bumps with red dot in centre..... but a scratch or two and they become big pus-filled things.... =(.... so. don't even think about touching sandfly bites.

found a 7/11 yesterday, but 7/11 prices are higher here....

day9
back to bangkok! yay, going home soon. got a hotel in bangkok, walk ard a bit, try again to find a club. we go to some place near suhumvit, supposed to be very happening. er.... still all bars, no clubs. quite disappointing. raining some more. in the end we give up and decide to eat instead. had a papaya salad that had mucho chilli padi... extremely spicy, Sumin n me were both in need of serious fire fighting...

day10
last day last day. need to maximise. spent the morning at Tops supermarket! buying instant mee, peanuts, random stuff. in the afternoon decided to we had to do our tourist duty and go to the Wats. went to the Grand Palace, but found that tickets were 200baht. too expensive, we were very very very low on cash.. just take pictures lah. Went to Wat Pho to try again. ah. this time tickets only 30baht, can do can do. there's this massage sch in Wat Pho, were we all got 1/2 hr massages... they were Excellent. best massage i've ever had. Thai massage is a mix of pressure point massage n assisted yoga.... felt relaxed for the rest of the day.... until we tried to get thru thai passport control and learnt that we needed to pay a 500baht airport tax. In Cash. Each. I think we had about 5mins to boarding and 200baht total between us. it was a mad dash to the atm, thru passport control and helterskelter thru the terminal to get to the gate... sigh. so boh-seh. but did finally get on the plane and back home!!! note about air asia... we like their uniforms, esp the guys'. slightly oriental, but got style....


thinking back on the trip, hmph. didn't think the travel diary would take so long. *grin*... definately felt good to be on holiday, loved it that thai food is oh-so-spicy. chilli flakes or chilli padi always provided on the side. very pleasant after the dearth of chilli in the US.... but i was very glad to be home. haven't been home in a while, shdn't go running about over SEA. =)

Little girl (NOT ME) in Hmong village

day5
hm. can't remember what happened beyond finally managing to wake up at 10am instead of some early ungodly hour. caught another sleeper train to Bangkok. we got bottom bunk beds this time. definately more spacious.

day6
Chatuchak market!!! wanted to get there early (9am) so that we can be first customers and be able to drive hard bargains etc etc. walking to sky train station when this cab said that he wld get us there for only 20baht, as long as we waited for him to get petrol.... or something like that. so we get on, n he drives us aimlessly ard b4 bringing us to this jewellery export centre. apparently taxi drivers get 5 free litres of petrol for bringing in tourists that stay for more than 15 mins or buy some jewellery.... definately a bad choice to bring us man.... perhaps seeing our jewel-less state the taxi driver surmised that we were def in the market for some? anyways. so we didn't stay long enuff so he didn't get his petrol. so he brought us to a different jeweller(!) and said he wld get us to chatuchak for free if we got him petrol. I guess gas prices being at ard 20baht/l, it's def a gd deal for him..... wah cor i didn't know this kind of scam existed in Bangkok.... although this has good milking potential.... we cld go ard offering ourselves as petrol-obtaining accomplices for free taxi rides....?

anyways. finally got to the market. wah it was HUGE. selling everything. was wandering ard when we noticed that all the shopowners were kneeling on the floor, facing towards the walkway. really weird. then all this commotion started and we realised that some Thai princess was visiting the market. A whole bunch of ppl walked by, accompanied by guards, soldiers, policemen etc.... caught a glimpse of the princess. very normal, wearing a blue suit. was a bit disappointed. but then again can't really expect her to go ard in traditional ceremonial dress, right?

so. she finally left the market, n all was back to normal. i got jeans, t-shirts, a backpack etc etc etc. completely depleted myself of the 2500baht i brought out. thank heavens i didn't bring out more money, else also sure gone. saw the cock fighting section. hhm. the fighting was ok i suppose. never seen cock fighting b4... but it seems pretty cruel to fight them for sport. saw other cocks in cages, most of them were nursing battle wounds... at least i kill mice for some obscure purpose that can be sort of rationalised. next we saw the puppy section. OMG they were SO CUTE!! *grin* really paiseh jostling with the little kids to pet n play with the puppies.... but Hey, cldn't resist.

finally got back to the hotel, went out in search of a club. went to Khao Sun rd, suppose to have night life. yar i guess got lar, but it's all bars n ppl watching soccer. no dance floor. went to Suan Sorn(sp?), near the infamous PatPong area, to try again. Still no luck, cannot find dancing. only saw stuff like 'Pussyfoot club' or 'Go-go Bar', subheaders like 'our exciting hostesses will bring u to the moon' etc etc. all very enticing i suppose but ah... not what we were looking for.

day7
bus to Koh Samet, 124baht. quite high class bus, fare inclusive of biscuits n coke n water n pirated vcd screening of King Arthur in thai. 3 hrs later, catch ferry to NaDan, then Vong Duern beach. ferry cldn't land on beach, so this little floating thing ferried us over, 10baht/person. fine. we land on beach, this official sez we're in a national park. entry fee 200baht/person. WAH COR. qiao za!! esp to poor folks who spent all their money at chatuchak, really hurts! no mention AT ALL in the guidebooks. *grumble* *mumble* *rant* *complain*

explored the beaches, quite nice. sand very white, n fine. picked a place for seafood. not too bad, but somewhat far frm our lodgings. went to Tak's Bar. quite a happening place. many ang mohs. then had to get back. in the dark. no streetlights. was pretty nervous. 7th mth some more. got lost for a bit, didn't know how to get back without scrambling across rocks n potentially falling into ocean.... finally found a track through some undergrowth... Kelvin was leading, and used Sumin's camera for light. he wld occasionally take a picture, just to use the flash. Man Oh Man i always expected to see longhaired women in white standing just in front of us..... *shudder*. dat was the longest walk i ever took. Ever. finally made it back though. decided to switch accomodations to be closer to the night life, so we won't have to do that ever again.

day4
went on a day trip with this tour company. first stop was an elephant ride through the jungle! we had two baby elephants with us-- a male about 1 yr old, very independent, wanders ard by itself + a female a couple mths old, gets stopped by small branches, and very distracted by wayside leaves, needs much prodding by its mother.... we bought bananas to feed the elephants! the baby elephants needs the bananas to be peeled b4 they will graciously accept our humble offerings... elephants have very small eyes. 2 small dots on the sides of their heads.... no wonder their eyesight is so bad.

also went to a Karen village and saw a waterfall. not bad not bad, although the elephant wins, tusks down.

day3
The Queen's birthday!! National holiday and Thailand's mother's day. so i guess if u're printing the Thai calender u can't print too many yrs ahead.... in case Thailand gets new royalty.... then all the holidays gotta change? hhm.

Tom brought us ard to see
1) Wat Chiang Mun: very old temple, set up when some King decided to set up the city of Chiang Mai (New City) 700yrs ago. The Chedi's base is madeup of 15 stone elephants.... there are also 2 small buddhas.... 1 marble 1 crystal... apparently really old and sacred... so back in the days when Kings go ard conquering other Buddhist kingdoms, they take the most sacred Buddha statues and bring them over to their own kingdom.

2) umbrella making factory: not bad, the artists really skilled, no need to sketch anything, just paint incredibly intricate designs on umbrellas, or your jeans, caps, bags etc etc.

3) cave/temple: huge stalagmite and multiple Buddha statues.

4) hot springs: hhmm.... 5 mins of immersing ur feet in the hot water is Quite A Feat. (all puns intended). bought eggs in a little rattan basket to boil in the water. delicious with soy sauce.


day4 reports to follow....

*crack fingers*
ok, need to blog about my Thailand trip b4 I forget everything (which could happen Really Quickly).....

day1
arrive in Bangkok. bewildered cos everything in Thai. flight was filled with daiti and thinking about people.... (ok ok mainly about 1 person-- you know who u are).. thankfully Sumin n Kelvin seem to know what they're doing. took train to Lampong Station. got conned into taking 100baht tuktuk to Wat Phra Keow (Grand Palace). stupid place was closed, and anyways we weren't wearing shirts with sleeves and pants with legs, so couldn't have gone in. wandered the place looking for FOOD. thought that Bangkok streets shd be thronging with delicious edibles, but no where to be found. some local guy got us a tuktuk to this other temple (with a big buddha statue-- very National Geographic) and back to train station. Only 30 baht! next time will not get cheated.

day2
train arrives in Changmai. the top bunk of the sleeper train is somewhat cramped... good thing i don't take up much space.. we meet Tom, who is a friend of Kelvin's friend. he's some super high flyer who actually speaks decent english(!), has a BA in PoliSci, doing another BA in Law, working parttime at the U, volunteers as a DJ in this english radio show. he gets us a taxi up to the mountains, and we go to this Hmong village and to Wat Doi Suthrap (i think).

The village is interesting. it's pretty westernized (we see ppl wearing fake adidas trackpants on motorcycles lurking about), but there are all these other ppl wearing bright traditional costumes wandering the streets. we suspect they take turns to wear the costumes and walk ard for the tourists. the street is lined with shops selling handicrafts. saw a tiger penis for sale (the guy assured us it's real). it's pretty long. we wander further into the village to see this small waterfall cascade. the place looks like a Malaysian kampong. The temple is ok too. the 300 steps up weren't as bad as expected. got free samples of fried pork skin. crispy, crunchy, but very bad for horizontal over-acheivers. View of changmai frm the top is much touted. but come on. it just looks like a city. not too impressive. the gold-plated chedi (pagoda) is indeed very big. was more interested in the multiple-buddha-oil-offering-thinggy. so there are 7 different buddha statues, each with an oil lamp in front of them. u put some $$ into a donation box, and get to pour oil into the lamps. was wondering what the difference b/w the buddhas were, y do some get more oil than others? they are all the same buddha right? there was this 'museum' also at the temple, which also had the different statues, labelled monday-sunday. so the statues represent what Buddha does each day of the week? (one shows him meditating, one with animals knelt b4 him, one of him on a Naga throne etc) so u just pour oil on the one rep the correct day of the week? *shrug*.... mysterious. need to ask someone.... mebbe leonard will know....

went back to Changmai U (CMU)-- toilet has no toilet paper!-- Tom brings us to a guesthouse run by his fren. pretty good. only 200 baht/rm/night. got aircon but no toilet paper. apparently toilet paper is not a neccessity in Thailand. had to buy some frm 7/11.

Went to Warorot market, where Kelvin buys And Consumes some fried crickets and locusts. I refused to try any.... sometimes i regret not trying.. he sez they taste pretty good... but i remember the black oily things and am really thankful for my presence of mind. heh heh. many other stalls with all sorts of stuff. a lot of fried foods. most commonly fried banana and fried fish.

at night we visited the radio station!!! very exciting becos have never been in a recording studio b4. we got to go on air live and everything!! *beam*.... the show was to encourage Thais to speak english. people call in to request songs, and are forced to chat a little in English.

after the show we went to the night bazaar. the food court had free live Thai traditional dance performances. looks very Indonesian, except mebbe costumes and hand positions slightly different. ate 'sukiyaki'-- some chicken and kangkong and various ingredients fried with egg. pretty oily. not that good. we also had papaya salad and tom yum soup, both excellent. saw this guy selling flowers carved frm soap. really intricate, smelt good too =).... orchids were particularly beeyoutiful.

ok lah. break to sleep b4 continuing with this travel diary....

i'm coming home i'm coming home i'mcominghome!!! yay. jump for joy.

Shuzhen borrowed the entire series of BlackAdder frm the library. FIVE DVDs!! *rolls eyes* it's really funny... some of it Really Painful (like watching Jack Nicholson in 'anger management') but can't help laughing. some parts also crude.... loads of references to genitalia.

wah. don't play play man. think the British are all stiff upper lip and what not but erm.. hey... BBC showed the Teletubbies. proves that they're actually perverts who like to scare little children.......(!?!)

heh. no offense to any Britons. Oxford probably one of the best times in my life. But it rains far too much for one island.

ello, summer! goodnight, moon! there are chickens in the trees.

so i was thinking about fortune cookie msgs, and what I would write.... i figured that one can grp the msgs into a few categories:

1) random (a penny saved is a penny earned) sayings/advice:
- when it rains, expect to get wet.
- do not pick up random green glowing objects
- if an asteriod collision is imminent, leave earth
- frogs in wells are probably really hungry

2) good news:
- you will get the last cookie in the cookie pot
- the time is ripe for world domination
- it's time you learnt the truth, son. You have superpowers and are greater than any man. Oh yar, beware that kryptonite.
- (spin off frm Homer Simpson's cookie) you will make good love today.

3) bad news/insults (which will never make money):
- you will be bitten by a venomous carnivorous plant and develop multiple open festering wounds.
- someone has discovered a way to turn shit into oil. Congrats! You're now worth a million bucks.
- there are few lifeforms lower than pond scum, but you've definately made it.


ah... ran out of inspiration. might think of other choice selections later... any additions are welcomed. just drop me an email.

Whoop! got a new template! have to learn some html.... can anyone recommend a good tutorial?

Raffles Cafe (damn zai s'porean restaurant in fremont) is gone.... *sob*.... quality of life here has definately gone down a notch.. good thing bubble tea is still around.

HAVE TO DO WORK. which is why i'm wasting time on my blog at this exact moment. am gradually sliding into a procrastination spiral of death. feels good. *grin*

have also decided that my current boss is the guy i wanna work for for the next (hopefully) 4 years... *happy dance*.. check out the lab webpage: http://www.stanford.edu/group/utzlab/ it's awesome.... this lab has loads of potential, the people there are incredible, and the PI is a fantastic person. but the lab is Really Short Of Space..... and PJ (da boss!) is putting me on hold for the moment.... =(... hopefully we get lab space in the near near future and I can finally have a permanent home on campus. all i need now is a thesis project, a valet and a personal trainer--- then time for Complete World Domination.

was irradiating mice the other day, got bored, so cut out a piece of tape, stuck it to the wall, wrote 'Happy Tape' and drew a smily =). after that was completely horrified because i had morphed into Lucinda. Luz: you'll probably never see this but I hope u're doing well n i miss u loads. disclaimer: miss everyone else too but luz especially at this time becos of the tape. oh n of course missing jomo is always a constant ache in my heart =)

mebbe more after i finish work.

*grinz*.... mark just sent me the link to gerri's live journal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/szelin107/ . The april 20 post is especially worth reading.... *beam*.... JC was fun.... must admit (grudgingly) that the class journal entry was one of mark's more inspired moments..

so... the roast chicken frm safeway is really good! *grin* enlightened discovery.... i wonder how they do it... mebbe i shd try......... ARGH. *shudder*... i'm turning into a housewife!! *horror*..... aiyah.... it's simply a survival mechanism, right? need to eat what.

se(4) diao(1) [return of the condor heroes] is on! have to go watch... till later.....

whoa. long time no blog. thought of a few brilliant excuses (eg. my cat ate my computer)... but figured no one will believe me because:

1) i don't have a cat
2) everyone knows that snakes eat computers, not cats.


am inspired to train harder for nanquan again.... can get much faster n smoother... but might end up with even more monster thighs.... hmm.... bad tradeoff?? aargh. need to run more.... lazy lah.. but after a tremendous struggle with my inner glutton, managed to stop myself frm buying icecream at safeway.

heard that they're cancelling the victoria secrets fashion show!! calamity!! cos of compliants after the whole janet jackson super bowl thing about sexuality on TV.... =(... what the F#$%!!! just show the fashion show later at night lah! i mean... it's pretty blatent sexuality, can censor frm kids if need be.... not like the sudden nipple thing that janet pulled.... sigh. the msn.com article has a comment frm some womens' grp that applauds the move, cos it's telling women that they have to be thin. i think the woman saying that has GOTTA be fat. if u're not fat but obsess about weight to the point of bulimia or some other condition it's probably because u have self-confidence issues already. either because of some horrible childhood influence or horrible boyfriend or something. if u're really fat then mebbe u Should Try to lose weight. definately not healthy to be obese. mebbe it'll inspire people to work out.

blame fast food companies, not fashion shows. i think my awareness about my weight is healthy and not self destructive.


so anyways. current lab rotation doesn't involve any mice! (yay) am making a humanized antibody. anyone with experience and advice, do drop me an email.

craving bubble tea.......

hey! found a new thing to do while procrastinating.... i was wondering about what one of my classmates did while at college, so i did a search on her on her sch's webpage. nothing. tried google. nothing. got bored so i did a search on myself on google.... it was pretty cool, i'm on 5 of the top 6 hits... =).... slight ego boost there. i guess that comes from having a pretty unique name.... *grin*.... but i like to think that of all the Pearline Teo's in the world, i probably have the most web presence..... didn't manage to google my blog though..... hhrmph.... mebbe i need more hits.... now my new goal in life is to get more google pages while searching for myself.......

back to work.

eerm.. saw this TV commercial by Clorox saying that they DO remove dirt. am very confused. am also convinced that if it really does clean, it definately has more than just bleach.

anyways. lack of blog postings is due to actually having work to do this quarter, being disgusted that all i can talk or think about is killing mice, and my general apathy with life, school and now even wushu. gotta get myself out of this rut.... i know. i'll get myself a new life. swap bodies n life with someone else for the day..... this is why having a twin will be useful.... on the bright side, i have seaweed. yummy seaweed. went kayaking and saw giant kelp. they were HUGE. MASSIVE. scary. i hope my seaweed isn't made of those.

had lab meeting today, where food was provided by this japanese post doc. we had those small fish-shaped salted cracker thinggys that i really really liked when I was a kid.. not goldfish. shaped like different fish, also got starfish and cuttlefish shapes.. =).. *grin*. second childhood.

so apparently i can take this 'medical mandarin' class, then work as an interpreter in the Stanford Hospital.... so cool right?? not only will i be able to say 'chronic obstructive pulmonary disease' in chinese, i get paid to do it.... but now i have no time... perhaps next year.

i miss my 'yi3 tian1 tu2 long2 ji4' on TV....

so. read Jason's blog about using Clorox to do laundry and it's miracle houdini stain thing. this made me decide to immediately post here to clarify one thing about bleach. IT DOES NOT CLEAN CLOTHES. it just makes everything look white/colourless, giving the False Impression of cleanliness.

it's true. those bed sheets and socks and shirts that look spotless actually have hidden residual dirt!! so. i object to bleach on moral grounds. if i'm gonna wear residual dirt around, i wanna know it. *grin*... heh... isn't this great? a moral justification for my laziness.

so. next time you put on 'clean' white socks, Think Again.

School Again. mebbe I'm getting too old for sch. F*** that life-long learning shit.

Went for one of those brain scan psych experiments! the MRI was very loud, n got to stay still while biting on this mouth-bit thing n trying not to salivate all over myself. but the money is Good. instant cash too. will def do this again when I feel poor. =)

Was just wondering if Fe2+/Fe3+ is ferromagnetic.... how did Magneto do the sucking-all-the-iron-out thing in Xmen2? where's a periodic table when u need one? all I have are coffee tables and dining tables.....

I miss my holidays. can't wait for spring break.

was filling out the form for the expt, and realised that i've been in school for 15 years! wow! obviously I haven't learnt anything because I'M STILL HERE. was watching 'Mona Lisa Smile' where Julia Roberts is one of those challenge-your-perceptions teachers who (surprise!) inspires and opens the minds of her students etc etc. geez. in my next life I wanna be a art history prof. all u have to do (apparently) is look at art n say why u like/dislike it. plus u get to look like julia roberts. what a deal.

hm. was sidetracked. wanted to say that perhaps real and useful education is about becoming more self n world-aware etc etc... but i'm sure they survived pretty well back in those cavemen days w/o sch... why did we have to build all these complex layers of society so that ppl have to spend so much time in school.... but then I guess engineering n medicine n nuclear physics etc needs some time to learn... oh BLAH. can't find a good reason to destroy all schools. *sulk*... mebbe tomorrow.