One hurdle passed

I went up on stage around 9.40am, and started my presentation in BM.
However ... I was stammering, jamming and pausing all the way. Even after a one-time practice session! By the time I reached the 4th Powerpoint slide, it was nearly 2 minutes into the 7 minutes alocated. And I had another 24 slides left to go!
So ... without much choice, I asked permission from my peers and lecturers to continue presenting in English, and was allowed. Immediately, I jumped into machine-gun mode and shot away, as the precious seconds slipped by. Still got stuck and jam here and there with my tied-up tongue, but generally went ok. By the time I reached the 7-minute mark (shown by the ringing of a bell), I had only my last 2 slides ... *wheeuh*
Thank God and all praises to Him - even though I was nervous and tongue-tied, yet I managed to finish quite alright. I hope.

Then came the questions.
Well the first comment was that I'd mis-pronounced the species name of my plant, Melaleuca cajuputi - - the "cajuputi" is supposed to be said more like 'kayuputih', which was the original word it was derived from. oops!
Next, a question was asked about why I was using a specific set of data for statistical comparison; I switched to a slide and gave what I hoped-to-be a satisfactory explanation.
Finally, my mentor asked me if I'd known of cold distillation, which would cause lesser destruction of the active compounds in the plant oil I was extracting than if I'd used steam distillation (temperature mah) ... which came up a complete blank. I had only read up on the type of distillation recommended by my lecturer!! I could only explain my lack of knowledge and say that I'd read up.
A few more tense seconds ... and the 10 minute mark bell ring sounded. I stepped down with my knees knocking together, but it was O-V-E-R !!!!

By God's grace it went rather smoothly. The switch to English is especially stunning as ALL the prepared slides was in BM, but I could automatically translate it in my head to spoken English. Wow - really an act of divine mercy. Otherwise I'd have only finished half of my slides at the rate I was speaking in BM!
Indeed, grace, grace, God's grace.

And so ... this Thursday, I'll know who is the Assistant Science Officer assigned to me. Then I can start to set up my laboratory section, breed the mosquito's and get the essential oil of the Gelam plant. For now, just take a break ... "take a Kit Kat"

After further discussions ...

9 500 - 10 000 mosquito larvae.
That's right; I need to breed a grand total of 10 000 larvae for my final year research thesis.
A-R-G-H !! !!
Tried to persuade my supervisor to reduce the number, but he insisted ... must stick to that. When my co-supervisor heard about that, she could only wish me all the best! How to finish on time and not go crazy ... ? So, starting August, I've to start breeding mosquito's to get sufficient eggs!

The first 500/1000 larvae is to estimate the duration of each stage of the larvae. Takes 10 - 15 days to complete counting.
Then, the 1st batch of 3000 to be tested on is composed of 3 groups of 1000 - 1000 for 1ppm (parts per million) cajuput oil, 1000 for 10ppm cajuput oil and 1000 for control (meaning nothing is put). This is repeated 2 TIMES - another 6 000 larvae! Which, if you add up, equals to 10 000 larvae!! **shivers**
It's not the rearing of them that's so difficult, it's the counting and seperation - you've to seperate each stage from each other. I can't imagine pipetting tens, if not hundreds, or larvae each time.

Also just as bad, I have to find the Gelam (Melaleuca cajuputi) tree on my own - the Professor ain't gonna help me out.
Nearest place is the PD area in N9; but I'll have to hire a botanist to follow me down (so that I collect from the real trees la) and that means $$!
Next possible plan would be to get the leaves from a family friend of a Master's student that I know ... but, I would have to travel up to Kedah/Seberang Perai with another friend, as I can't carry the 2 huge bags of leaves on my own!
I've also been suggested to find people in FRIM (Forest Research Institute of Malaysia) and to follow them outstation when they go to collect the plant for their own research - something like hitching a ride.

All that, and my thesis proposal presentation will be held this coming Tuesday (25.7) morning, 9.30 am. Am the 3rd person. Meaning that none of the lecturers will be sleepy, and all of my coursemates are wide awake enough to notice any slip ups. The questions are sure to fly. I'm going to ask permission to present in English, because my BM stinks!

"Oh God, You are my hope and my refuge; in You will I put my trust"

Till next time!

What is it between me and buses??

I seem to have some grudge with buses! First I dislocated my right ankle going down a bus last year, and just last Saturday I sprained my left ankle while going up another bus! The irony and coincidence of it is just so ... hilarious. And the timing ... both happened at around the same time of the day (8 - 9am), due to similar reasons (late, late late!) and at similar places (by the roadside).

I was walking down the road, and saw a bus approaching. I was wearing my back pack, carrying a luggage bag with my left arm and having a water container slung over my neck.
I stepped off a road curb to get on the bus when my left foot stepped right into those drain hole by the roadside. Just ... ah. It was terrifying at first - was is another dislocation??!! As I put my foot carefully back down, I was incredibly relieved to find that my ankle was still in its joint. Screaming with pain, yes, but still in one piece.
I managed to climb up the bus with all caution, and also managed to get onto the Monorail and PUTRA LRT on my way down to church. And even went hopping around for the day trip to Sunway Lagoon. On hindsight, I was crazy to go along ... but yea, that's that.

I can only thank God so much that it wasn't another dislocation, otherwise really susah - I wouldn't have known how to continue on in my thesis without being able to go to look for references! And by His grace, it's slowly healing ... still swollen, red and painful, but usable. Hopefully it'll be alright by the next weekend.

Finishing my Industrial training report - I plan to print it out later this afternoon and get it binded. Then will get down to my thesis proposal.

Strolling along

Well, I'm the class monitor/representative. Again. Is that a good thing or a bad thing ... ??

Anywayz, for the new subject, 'Case Study', I'm supposed to take care of the attendance (if miss more than 3, then you're out of exams! wow - I hope no one will test me on dat!) and passing up the typed report (wat if i misplace it ... ??). Responsibility, responsibility.

Had a good chat with my supervisors, Prof Sallehudin and Dr Hida. Cleared many of my questions and helped push me along my research. Easy-sounding title, but getting everything together is going to be a headache ... ok, not as teruk as others, but still teruk.

And once again, it's the IO - Informal Orientation week of University students. Where we Chinese seniors would orientate the freshies. The main stuff are like greeting seniors, getting signatures and personal details. But the more 'interesting' part is when they go to a 'special' place and orientate them by forcing them to do stupid and embaressing stuff in front of many of the 2nd year seniors and their fellow 1st years.
Worse is when they split the guys and the girls and each gender orientates their own ... since the other gender ain't there, you know that anything's possible. I can't understand how someone can get pleasure by watching others humiliate themselves and crushing their self-esteem. And when they themselves went through it the previous year (perhaps it's revenge?). It's not ragging, true, but it's still not good either.
I simply can't stand such degradation, so I didn't go to see it last year or now. Some things aren't worth watching.

The Streamyx connection is rather rocky lately - which is why I'm posting this now instead of 10 pm.
Can't they keep the standard up?

The beginning of my LAST YEAR

Well, now I am officially A 3RD YEAR STUDENT - FINAL YEAR UNDERGRADUATE!! Ouch. Time waits for no man and never slows.

I am going to be BUSY!
First, I must finish my long delayed Industrial Training report (that's more than two-thirds done) by the end of this week, get it printed, binded and passed up.
Then, I must start researching my topic in earnest, and also type up my research proposal by next Monday. All 10 - 15 pages of it! Besides meeting my supervisor and co-supervisors, finding references and etc. Wow.
And I've also to prepare a Powerpoint Presentation with 15 - 20 slides on my thesis proposal, which is to be presented before my coursemates and lecturers somewhere around the 24 - 28 July. Oh, the terror of it ...

To be more detailed about my thesis, 'gelam' is a type of white tea tree, with the scientific name, Melaleuca cajuputi and is native to Malaysia (of course, otherwise why study it?). It has been used for aromateraphy, as an antiseptic, and even as an insecticide of sorts.
So, now, it's time to get specific - what will happen if it is exposed to the Aedes aegypti, both larvae and adult? The 'lifetable' refers to the maturation rate of the larvae - so it can describe both the lethality and possible stunting effect of cajuput oil.
At least that's a start ...

Looks like I ain't going to be as free as I thought I would be.
Till next time ...

Back in KL

So, I am back in KL. Alone in my condo as I'm the only cutie who booked the flight back too EARLY! Ah well . . .
Landed at 3.15pm, took the Skyline Bus at 4pm, reached KL Sentral at 5.05pm, took a taxi and arrived at Setapak Ria around 5.30pm.
Am typing this in my campus after meeting my supervisor. He was in when I went to his place around 10am. He gave me my topic and a few stuff to read up. My topic is:

"The impact of 'gelam' extract on the 'life table' of Aedes aegypti in the laboratory"

First questions: What is GELAM? Never heard of it before! And what's a 'life table'? Heard of a life cycle, but a 'life table'??
And so ... have to start on my proposal which will be presented next next week! All my objectives, hypothesises, methodology, basis of research and etc. And in front of all my coursemates and most of my lecturers. OUCH!

I'm planning to be more active in my CF and church this year. Since this could be my last year here, I'd better serve all I can before I leave. Sad if I leave a legacy of caring only about graduating with first class honours (which is a goner by now anyway).

Till next time . . .

Another trip to the airport

Well, it's that time again - packing up and getting ready to fly off back to KL.
Time passed so quickly . . . too quickly! It was a great industrial training and I'll not forget it for a long time.
And so . . . I hope I reach KL in time to miss the 5pm jam!
The next one will be from my condo ...

And it's over . . . time to pack

Sorry for the 2 week noiselessness . . . it was a final whirlwind of activity and get-togethers.

I've officially FINISHED with my industrial training. The 2nd last week was spent in the Biochemistry Unit, where you see lots and lots of machines . . . those huge, bulky things. Basically, you label the blood/plasma/urine, run it through the machine, and print out the result - which is why they can handle 300 - 400 samples a day!
The last week was in the histopathology and cytology lab. (Histo - tissues & organs, cyto - cells ) It's just the making of slides for the pathologist to see.
And this was the most interesting part. The 1st section is where they get all the samples from the operation rooms - all those lumps, sections, aspirates and etc. They classify it according to its size, colour and etc . . . then cut it up into pieces. (We cringed at stomachs, intestines, reproductive organs and etc ... pity them) Next, they put it into wax and solidify it . . . then cut it thin enough to be placed onto a slide. Lastly, it goes through a complicated staining process where it is colourised properly. And the pathologist receives all the slides to determine if it was diseased or not, and the stage of the problem.

It's been a great time. Most of the staff at the Pathology Department are nice people who are ready to help and guide at any time. There are one or two per section which we got to know better - those we'll not forget for a long time. And my own group mates - sheesh, we're laughing all day long, if not into deep chats over stuff. I hope that my future collegues would be something like them - made the 8 weeks fly by like a breeze! Time flies when you're enjoying yourself . . .

I'll be returning to KL later this week. It's sad to leave Kuching so soon, but it's going to be the start of a new year - which is also my FINAL year! Upon my return, I've to pass up my report, prepare my thesis proposal and all sorts of other stuff. Wow. Better start packing then!

Till next time . . .