Updating the Blog, Albeit a Little Reluctantly

It's almost 11 p.m. now and I'm getting a little sleepy. Eyes are feeling heavy and my head feels like it's stuck in a cloud and everything seems to move slowly :S

Yet, here I am, lying on my stomach on my oh-so-comfortable bed in front of my netbook and practically forcing myself to update my blog with this post! I should get an award for this tremendous effort. Like, an award called 'Most Determined to Update Blog' Award or something like that. Or maybe a 'Best Blog-Updating Effort' award. OK, never mind that. I crap a lot and get a little delirious when I'm tired but forced to stay awake.

**MELANIE ONG and ARNOLD WILLIAMSON (both of you are always pressing me for blog updates) and the REST OF YOU reading this, you guys had better leave some comments on this post once it's up or all my hard+bloodsweatandtears effort will seem like it was for nothing! Hehehe :P

 So, getting back to the title and the purpose of this post - updates in my life since my last post (which was 4 months ago!!! CANYOUBELIEVEIT.COM!??), nothing major/life-changing has actually happened.

Since then, I've applied for and was offered a Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) from my university (which is UPM btw, just in case you don't know which uni I'm enrolled in now but you should OK!) which I accepted so I've given up my part time job teaching home tuition. I'm now looking for a room somewhere within walking distance of my university so that I won't have to commute back and forth to my uni daily which can drain quite a lot of energy from me each day. As for my research, it's progressing, albeit slower than expected because the machines (GC, GC-MS and FPLC) I need to analyse my samples are not fully installed yet or the training for the machines haven't been conducted yet. At least now I have some samples ready to be analysed (wohoo!!~) because I've been busy (or should I say SUPER busy) collecting them.

GC-MS

FPLC

Hmmm, what else ah?

Ohhh! I'm not alone in the lab anymore! I finally have new lab mates, both undergrad (8 student) and postgrad (2 excluding me) students under the same supervisor as me, and they're really cool and very helpful people! Yay for me!

Errrr...I really can't think clearly anymore....I...*yawn*.....need.....*yawn*......to.......sle

*doze off and cannot finish the sentence LOL*

Guilty as Charged!

Finally!!! I finally have a 'free' day to myself!

Actually, I'm not that free today, hence the inverted commas haha :P

I'm supposed to be doing my Research Proposal as an assignment for my Research Methodology course but when I saw this...

From Melanie's blog (See Tansra K!!!) Last update was 4 freaking MONTHS ago wei! o.O

 and this...

Look @ Arnold's comment in my last blog post And that was in JUNE weii!!!!

 I felt soooo guilty to my blog readers (OK, maybe only to the 3 or 4 of you who actually look forward to my blog updates LOL).

Right, I know this post is supposed to be an update but it's practically impossible for me to actually include everything I wanna share in a single post (and I'm supposed to be doing my assignment!! Oh, the guilt!) So...I shall update this blog PROPERLY tonight after I've made some progress (hopefully), however small or big (hopefully big hahaha!), in writing my Research proposal and after I'm back from my relative's Hari Raya open house. I promise I WILL update! ;)

Concerning Hobbits*

*Oh, I didn't know abt that and I had given this post a title already. Anyway, alternative post title: Pirated Post.

Stolen from Joel's meme. He didn't tag anyone in particular so I self-tagged haha

Besides, I haven't updated in a looooooong time so at least this is something to help me update. Here goes.

.

Ramdom quiz with Shuffling of songs

RULES:

1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, ipod,etc. on shuffle.

2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.

3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.

4. Tag at least 10 friends (make me #11 so I can see your results).

5. Everyone tagged has to do the same thing.

6. Have Fun!

( i'll just skip 4 and 5 :)

IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY?

This is the Last Time - Keane

(like, stop asking me THAT already, 'this is the last time that I will say these words, u hear me!?)

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF

Slide - Goo Goo Dolls

('Don't suppose I'll ever know
What it means to be a man' hahaha)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

Better Days - Goo Goo Dolls

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

Name - Goo Goo Dolls

(huh? hmm, secretive maybe? as in, i won't tell no one your name)

WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?

Oh! Gravity - Switchfoot

(Keep your feet on the ground, Tansra!)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

No Reason to Hide - Hillsong

(Cuz I'm pretty, that's why!)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

Glow - Hillsong

(I'm an angel!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

Wonderful Maker - Jeremy Camp

(Wahahaha, I'm holy! I think about God very often!)

WHAT IS 2 + 2?

Breathing - Lifehouse

(Doesn't everyone know that 2+2 = Breathing!?)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?

 The First and the Last - Hillsong

(I'm loyal)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

The Music of the Night - David Cook

(Like, when I was a young girl, my mum didn't kiss me enough coz I was ugly, and now I enjoy making chandeliers fall in opera houses and kidnapping young boys)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

We the Reedemed - Hillsong

(I wanna be redeemed!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Undone - Lifehouse

(I get undone when I see him)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

The Wonder of Your Love - Hillsong

(oooh, nice one!)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

Permanent - David Cook

(While my body is temporary, my presence is permanent)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

Somewhere Out There - Our Lady Peace

(I go into space once in a while)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?

I've Been Down - Hanson

(I've been down before, and believe me, down is a place you NEVER wanna be in!)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

Wonderwall - Oasis

(I KNOW where it is!)

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?

The Planets Bend Between Us - Snow Patrol

(magic powers to bend the planets, is what i want)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

The Time Has Come - Hillsong United

(OMG, sorry guys, but your time's up!)

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?

Concerning Hobbits - LOTR

                                                       (thus the tittle:D)*

Stressed (or not)?

I usually only give a title to a blog entry when I'm done writing but for this entry, I felt like I just wanted to pour out everything that has been going on in my life recently here hence the title: Stress (or not)? because I can't decide, for the life of me, whether I'm stressed out or not.

Read on, and you will know why I'm confused about the presence/absence of stress in my life right now. :P

Hmm, so many things to write about. Where should I begin?

Off the top of my mind, let me start with the Fundamental Science Congress 2010.

This Congress is organized by UPM's Faculty of Science and I received an e-mail from them about this event only after the registration deadline passed! And according to the e-mail, presentation during this Congress is COMPULSORY for all graduate students!! Dun believe me? I show you the e-mail:

Prof. Dr./Prof. Madya Dr./Dr./Tuan/Puan,

 

Pendaftaran di lanjutkan sehingga 14 Mac 2010 (Ahad)

dan hanya boleh dilakukan secara dalam talian (online)

 

Pendaftaran online  di  http://math.upm.edu.my/fsc2010

Senarai peserta      di  http://math.upm.edu.my/fsc2010/senaraip.php

 

 

Yuran penyertaan    

 

Bukan pelajar              : RM 300

Pelajar                        : RM 200

Tambahan kertas kerja : RM 100/(kertas @ poster)

 

Pembentangan adalah wajib ke atas pelajar siswazah (Master dan PhD) dan

kepada pensyarah yang mempunyai gran penyelidikan. Sila maklumkan

kepada pelajar di bawah seliaan anda.

 

What the!...Somemore must pay RM 200!

Anyway, they extended the deadline to March 14, so I could still register. But what if they didn't!? If it's compulsory for me to present in this Congress, but I received the e-mail informing me about this Congress only AFTER the registration deadline, WHY BOTHER SENDING ME THE E-MAIL, right!? Ugh, UPM's so bloody inefficient and slow!

So I'm already registered to present orally in this Congress. I still have to prepare an extended abstract (a 2-page abstract) and submit by 31st March. I'm presenting my undergraduate FYP so I could use my thesis' abstract, right? NO. They have their own format for the extended abstract I need to submit! :( 

More work...more work...Haih....

Then leh...let's move on to Item No. 2.

Which is...ah, my scholarship dilemma!

See, I'm a recipient of the government's 'bajet mini' scholarship for graduate students which only pays for my tuition fees directly to UPM every semester. No monthly allowance or any other form of allowance is provided by this scholarship.

On the other hand, UPM offers a scholarship called GRF (Graduate Research Fellowship) for graduate students which subsidizes the tuition fees and provides monthly allowance. The application for the GRF opens before each semester starts and I will only get to know the outcome of my application AFTER the semester begins. Which means that I will have to pay that particular semester's fees first. I missed the last application so I plan to apply for the upcoming one.

But if I'm already on another scholarship (the 'mini bajet' one), will they even consider to approve my GRF application? I don't dare cancel my current scholarship because of the uncertainty of my GRF application being approved. But if I don't cancel it, what are my chances of getting the GRF?

Oh, the dilemma!

Item No. 3 now...Errr, my experiments at uni.

This is an ongoing thing. It's keeping me very busy. There's so much to do in the lab...so much to read too, to prepare for my experiment. Haih...Read this, read that. Somemore not only read, must understand and extract information from all those articles and theses....@_@

 

Item No. 4. Tuition.

Right, I'm giving tuition from Mon to Thur night. Currently, my daily schedule's something like this:

7.30 a.m.   - Wake up

8.20 a.m.   - Go uni

10.00 a.m. - Reach uni

5.30 p.m.   - Go back

7.00 p.m.   - Reach home

8.20 p.m.   - Give tuition

10.40 p.m. - Reach home from tuition

11.30 p.m. - SLEEP.

 

I barely have time to do other things. When am I gonna read all those journal articles I have to? :(

 

STRESSED WEI!

But, actually, if I manage my time well, cut down on my leisure time, I will have enough time to do all these....

So it all boils down to time management and giving up my 'relax time'.

BUT I NEED TO RELAX LA...

:) i'm actually not that stressed. just lazy...