Fuck

Just a day after my dive trip
I cant sleep at all
Kept thinking of how my indoor experiments are gonna work at this rate
When my technicians are not replying my emails
Not updating me with what i requested
& not helping me to get my procedures started!

ARGH!

I have 5 indoor experiments to conduct
& I need to acclimatise my snails before I can work on it!
Now
NO ACCLIMATION TANK!
Still dangling with the paperwork
Which is as easy as digging nostrils

You know how funny these people are?
Technician A is in charge of lab items
Technician B is in charge of funds processing
I already got the quotation from external engineers
Requested them to process for me
Tech A sent email tell me that he is asking that external engineer to change something in the quotation & then the set-up can be done
He also asked me to notify Tech B for the transaction
Ok I wait
Tech B then sent email ask me if it's under my Prof's fund
No, it's not
& I asked her to clarify with Tech A coz he was the one who tell me that I can get my tanks done under their funds
So I wait again

1 fucking bloody week
No one replied me
& Knn
Tech A & Tech B sit beside each other in their lab office
Need so long to get back to me?
& why must Tech A send email to ask me to send email to Tech B?
& why cant Tech B just ask Tech A?

I'm so having a deja vu of stupid office-politic people
Sending emails here & there the whole fucking day
Just to pass the working hours

I only have 1.5 years to complete
& I'm already stressing out already
Because my experiments are not easy, you know!

Just cant sleep....
Back to insomnia
Really what the fuck!

While I couldnt sleep
I was also thinking of this story that this Malay guy told me as we chatted on the ferry back Mersing from P. Dayang
He used to work on P. Sibu for the Sibu Resort
& he was introducing me the surrounding Mersing islands as the ferry sailed past

He told me about P. Pemanggil
How his friend & the family disappeared from the island one day while they returned there to collect bonsai for sale on mainland
No body was found on land nor in sea
But their boats remained
It had been 4 years that they're gone
& this Malay guy was still praying for them

His father who was chatting with me too
Said that there're invisible inhabitants on the islands
Defending their land from outsiders who keep returning to take things from them

The Malay guy then told me about another island which I couldnt catch the name
The same thing happened to his friends
& he told me that P. Pemanggil, that island & P. Aur
Make a Malaysian version of 'Bermuda Triangle' if joined up with an imaginary boundary

*gasp*

He then told me about Pulau Besar
It is the island where the Dutch came over to have their Dutch version of 'The Survivor'
But we never got to watch this on TV

P. Rawa is a private island owned by a pair of lawyer couple
Best place for honeymoon
But prices are high there

Of all my dive trips
This is the only return trip that i didn not sleep throughout the journey
& talked to strangers
But I'm glad they're good strangers
who told me about Malaysia & its islands

I wont mind visiting these other islands in Malaysia
That is if there're people interested to go with me

But before I drift off to these beautiful islands
I better get back & drill myself to my experiments

More frustrating emails to be sent

I'm back from Dayang

This trip isnt that nice from most of my previous trips
Didnt get to see new species
But I managed to see my bumphead parrotfish again
AFTER 4 YEARS!!!


& I also managed to take macro shots of tiny species
like this transparent anemone shrimp
& this triplefin on the rock surface

Christmas tree worms

=)
Was also particularly interested in cleaner wrasse after attending the seminar presented by Baha last Tuesday


Cleaner wrasse dances while it waits for its client
Open water divers doing their skills

My night dive almost turned into a nightmare
I nearly lost my camera during my descent
But luckily I signalled to Edwin & he got it for me
*phew*

Rayner's rock

Classic shot by Marianne
A titan triggerfish passed by behind me
As I happened to look back to check out Marianne

Safety stop

The group
Next dive trip in May @ Tunkul Abdul Rahman Marine Park =)

*More photos of Dayang trip at here & here

Finally a break
After all days rushing for my assignment & additional summary
I'm going diving at Dayang =)

See you guys on Monday

Geez
Kana nominated to do a round-up presentation of the topics for the whole class
One more chore to worry about over the weekend
Which I'm supposed to enjoy & have fun!

So not fun =(

I forgot I have to hand in an assignment due next Tuesday
& I am actually going diving this weekend!
How stupid am I to have forgotten this....

I tried to start working on it
But my brain juice wasnt succulent
Gave up on half-page
& I still have 4.5 pages to go

Supposedly going gym
But apparently
It's just so cozy to sleep during rainy morning

Sigh
I think I'm getting lazy
I am so not disciplined!

This is not me
=(

I'm back home
Finally

Should never try to leave home during school holidays
80% chances of being stuck elsewhere

Watched 'Bride wars'
I cried
Ridiculously

Not coz of the storyline
But something else

Oh well
We'll just see how it goes...

I had an extremely painful headache yesterday
After I reached home from Ubin
& it hurt at every step I walked

My brain-expert friend, Jas, said it could be something affecting the vision or meningitis
Or could probably be dehydration
All 3 points taken

So I slept immediately I reached home from our Pho Hoa dinner at Holland Village
Celebrated Jas' birthday
& I woke up at 8am
All coz of a horrifying nightmare

That was really really fucking scary
So scary that I cried

I'm now waiting for DarDar to wake up
To return JB
Just damn hard to wake him up before alarm clock rings

This week has finally come to the end
Thank Dog

I'm so tired that I collapsed immediately when I reached home yesterday
& slept from 4pm to 530am the next day
But I'm still tired now

This week's data is good
As well as being fun

A good & beautiful morning to greet your day

Sun rays penetrating through the thick cloud

Yet another fallen tree while on way in Chek Jawa

Saw many different species of birds


I love my hornbill shot so much
My first clearest & nearest shot so far
If only I have a DSLR =(

Closest encounter with a fearless fiddler crab
Played with Cookie
While Cookie played with a monitor lizard
Trekked out of Chek Jawa for some exercises
Extremely muddy feet

Whatever it is
I'm gonna have my rest over the weekend, I hope

So much more things to do next week still

Back Hong Kong tentatively on 15th-21st June
& tickets are now soaring mad!

I only slept for 4 hours
I'm so gonna bite people who piss me off any moment

Beware

There're some cock-ups with my experiments now
Which is really frustrating me out of my mind
Losing my patience seriously

I am to detect heartbeat for my snails
& I'd done this in HK
Now that I need a replicate of that set-up here
My technicians cant help coz they dont do engineering stuffs
They only maintain lab equipments (inappropriate designation, i feel)
& my physicists doesnt wanna do for me but want me to do instead even though they know I have no electronics background (what the fucking fuck!)
I insisted them to do one for me so I know how it is
They did
But the set-up doesnt work despite following the exact diagram as given
Worse
They doubt my words if this really works!

HELLO??!?!?!
You think I so big-shot wanna 'diao nan' they all
It's obvious that I being an ecologist know shits about electronics
Since you physicists know electric circuits why cant you be helpful to do for me?
We're colleagues, in a sense, arent we?

If this doesnt work
Cant you help to think if there's anyway to make it work?
You know more than I do, yeah?

I asked the Italian Prof who helped me with it when we met in July
He's too an ecologist
How the fuck can he explain to me when he said that his engineers INDEED followed everything from a given diagram?

So when his circuit & my circuit are the same coz we both followed the same circuit diagram
Why is it that theirs work & mine cant?
& since both are the same
YOU CANNOT DOUBT ME?!
Why would I wanna lie about my own important stuffs?!

I AM SO ANGRY NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

I feel that people in school are damn NOT helpful
It's hopeless here
Getting sick & abandoned

Dont tell me being a PhD must know everything & do everything on their own
Comon
If I know every single fuck, I'm not a PhD geek
I'm a genius!
If I can do everything on my own
I'm not an ecologist
but God

Pray to me, fools!

Oh my dog
I am so nervous
I'm having a presentation for a course module
& I'm already freaking like this
How worse is it gonna be like when I have my confirmation?
The problem here is
Prof even SMS-ed me to tell me to do well
& this had caused my nerves to set fire on its own!

If I hadnt received that
I think I'm better off stress-free

Ah
I'm feel so dead now
But I'd glad that I can still feel my heart pounds (pun intended)

Look what we'd transformed our Huber's beef patty into...

A 'botak' burger look-alike!

We had our own recipe of coz
Salad veggie, white mushrooms, guacamole sauce & mustard sauce
& I did not lie about its thickness!

Left-over minced beef from last night to mix with french fries
Which in Kim Gary HK Cafe in Citysquare JB
They're selling this similar item at RM$5.95
Sorry it's not very presentable

Ah..
Another beefy night

Guess I'm gonna stop eating (so much) meat for this week

DarDar & I promised ourselves for a weekly trek at Bukit Timah Natural Reserve
Preparing for our Mt Kinabalu climb in May

Visited our usual secret pond
& we encountered a new species!

Found out that it's the Common Greenback Frog Rana erythraea

This ant here is as big as my pinkie!!!!

We exited Bukit Timah & headed to King's Albert Park

Along the way
We dropped by this new meat store - Huber's butchery to check out what they're selling
Another reason is to see if the boss' youngest handsome son is there or not *heehee*
Oh my dog
The meat they sell are soooooooooooooooooooooooooo fresh
Got beef, mutton, turkey, chicken & veal
Marinated or not
Other stuffs like wine, pasta, cheese, seafood, bread, etc
All imported from the Europe
The price is SURPRISINGLY affordable!

Oh next time
I'm so gonna bring Michelle there to shop for chops for our last-minute crazy BBQ meal

I bumped into Dr Vincent Yeow from my ex-work place
What a coincidence
& glad that he still remembers me =)

DarDar & I then had an idea of having Mexican food tonight
After we watched the 'Food Safari' on SCV #16 introducing Mexican food
LOL
So we bought 400g of minced beef
Which cost only $6.30
& 2 thick beef burger patty at $2.60 per piece
Just to satisfy his lust for Botak Jones' Botak burger (that with the extremely thick beef patty)

When we were to cook the minced beef for our burrito filling
It still looks damn red with some blood
Which is damn fucking fresh, according to DarDar

=D
I seriously do not mind the price for such fresh meat

Tortilla chips with guacamole sauce (I still prefer the fresh type)

Woooooooooooooo... yummy >_<

Consecutive nights of heavy meal
DarDar just love to spoil my diet plans
=(

Gastronomic Friday the 13th!

DarDar & I always have the weirdest habit of cooking dishes as introduced on TV
Tonight
We cooked 'Beer-ed crab'

It is a popular dish in one of the seafood restaurants at West Coast (opposite Haw Par Villa)
& the steps & ingredients are easy

We bought 3 huge mud crabs
1 tub of malt sugar (mai ya tang)
3 cans of beer

That's it!

My very own Chef Pang
who looks abit unpleased with me snapping him in his ugly 'Who has been naughty this year?' Woody Woodpecker T-shirt

Stir-fry crabs in garlic
Pour beer in & boil
About 70% cooked, add malt sugar
& then cover with lid to allow steaming
Serve when red

I tell you
This is totally yummy!
The beer taste was in the meat with the sweetness from the malt sugar
In fact I believe I was kinda drunk after 2 pincers
Coz I felt so sleepy after that

We then went to buy durians to ease mouth-itching
Wah
Crab + beer has always been the best combination
Now crab + beer + durian?
Even best-er!
I hope I wont fall sick with fever tomorrow

This dish is so worth it
Although the crabs are abit expensive
BUT
I bet it will still be cheaper than eating in that seafood restaurant

Let's see what is our next dish to try out...

Finally
I'm working on my slides for my confirmation
Darn lotsa things to put in!

DarDar & I were supposedly heading to gym in the morning
But we were too lazy to get up
& we only woke up around 11am

DarDar suggested we have lunch in JB
& there we went!

We headed to kim Gary HK Cafe in CitySquare
Ordered a hotplate steak set, baked spaghetti with beef steak & french fries with minced beef sauce
As we ate
We realised all our food is beef

We joined the Kim Gary membership as well
Given so many voucher
& we could use it on the spot
Our bill summed up to $54+
But we only paid $49 in the end

We were sooooooooo damn full after the meal
So much for my slim-down plan =(

Shopped around at the 4th level
Bought a pair of heeled wedge!
Had been looking for one everywhere but design was ugly
But I found one today finally!
Priced at $69.90
& after 20%
Only $59+

Hello
Please be reminded all prices are in Malaysian Ringgit

DarDar also bought a pair of slippers at $10
With cute little kangaroo prints on the sole

Mr Baoz finally opens!
& we bought 1 dozen of buns back
So nice ok!?

Had seen these on TV so many times in those Taiwan food shows
& I'm glad it's found somewhere near Singapore
It tastes very nice
What makes it special is that
The bun is not those usual bun we see in breadtalk/four leaves/xxx bread shops
It's made of those mantou or char siew bao bun!
The fillings are just right too
With the taste totally blended in with the sweet bun as you chew
Good!

Although it's abit over-priced (RM$39.90 for 12 buns, promotion at $29.95 now)
I think it's still worth a try
Given the popularity among most Taiwaneses

After a 3 hours lunch
We headed back SG
Traffic was so smooth that I think the time spent traveling is the same as traveling to Orchard

Same time spent
Different amount of money spent (due to currency exchange)

I enjoyed today

Nafe & I were chatting over MSN
Asking me where he can swim with dolphins
He rejected my simplest idea of heading to the Dolphin Lagoon in Sentosa
I found him this instead

I then told him I wanna go to Mantanani Island to swim with dugongs
Despite the fact that he is clueless what dugongs are

As we chatted further
I start to think
What are the purpose of us traveling this far to just 'play' with these animals in the wild?
What harm could we have cause by being there?

Eco-tourism had become very popular lately
With national parks mostly opened to the publics
Little does one actually understand the impacts that are present

With increased human traffic
Disturbances increases
Obviously, animals living in their serene environment would least love to listen to the consistent rustling sound of moving grass as everyone of us step on the ground
Neither do they wish to wake up in the middle of the night in fear of hungry predators, only to find curious humans looking at them with infra-red binoculars
Not forgetting that the tracks on the grassland expand
Leaving more boundaries across
Creating more edge effect

I then think
Would it be a good choice for me to visit the dugongs then?
Giving the fact that dugongs are so rare in the wild now
The more I should go & take a look at them
& also to swim with them

But
Have I think about the fact that if I'm one of the 1000 people to play with the dugongs
How much stress can that poor mammal take from all of us?
Assuming that everyone pet his head at least twice
Is it plenty enough to cause a brain concussion?
Would I be contributing to the human disturbances too?

One solution is
Do not go to Mantanani Island
& increase the headcount of visitors
It's like recycling
The less paper you use, the less trees being cut down

I'm not so sure about this
Being an ecologist analysing all these are sometimes not very happy
As much as I'd love to visit places with exotic animals
Just to see them in the wild before they go extinct
I'd be glad to exclaim that 'Hey, I'd seen that!'
However, sadly, I'd also be one of the millions causing the extinction

By then
All thanks to me

I think
Eco-tourism isnt a good thing to start off with
Provided that it's being very well-maintained with sustainability measures highly & strongly re-inforced
With absolutely no loop-holes

That
I will give it a try

Oh yeah
The show was this morning
The most slack show ever
Just sit there & no needa do cat-walks
Best!




Nice hair
But I clipped my fringe while back school
Luckily Prof said nothing about it
*Phew*