crossing the milestone

the big "21". 3 months ago was the fake one, just to celebrate it back home in SG. this time, it's for real; a little girl has officially grown up!

21 years it has been, good times and bad times, shared with the people around me, my friends and family... this birthday has been really really special and a big thank you indeed, to everyone who made it a truly memorable one.

#1: 1st july, pasir ris chalet, Singapore

to my dearest family and friends back home, i love you all. thank you for such a memorable time early this summer at the chalet!
to my parents: although the celebration was super early, i'm sure u didn mind me stealing an extra 3 months of adulthood from you! -grinz-



to all my family and friends: thank you lots for coming to the chalet! i was certainly touched by the big turnout. i'm sure everyone had a good time, i certainly did! look forward to seeing ya next summer when i return!





#2: zhang lab
to my wonderful lab, you certainly made my day with that little celebration! to mariana, for the spread and crackers. and to my 2 bosses, thank you for the bottle of champagne and wine, to official mark the legal drinking! heh. and most importantly, special thanks to shudan, for especially getting down to baking a cake and bringing it to the lab for the first time ever! the strawberry shortcake was simply yummy (and looked super professional too!)

popping the champagne for the first time was certainly quite fun, and ended up going to class very slightly light-headed after the celebration. oops!





#3: SSA mooncake gathering
to my fellow dukies, especially dom, zy and sl, thank you for that little surprise celebration during the gathering, amidst all the mooncakes and lanterns!




and FINALLY and MOST importantly:

the biggest THANK YOU to my beloved darling, for everything u've done to make my 21st absolutely unforgettable...

1. although i've mentioned this before, all credit goes to my dear for initiating the idea of the chalet, for coming up with the idea for the "J" cake, for helping with the planning, running for the chalet that evening... wouldn have been a success without you, dear.

2. planning an amazing birthday weekend and spending the time with me during my fall break. nothing else better to say, except that i love you, and thank you for being with me and loving me.
and this is why he's such a darling...

1. drove all the way to miramar, where the nearest cheesecake factory shop was, to buy the whole original cheesecake back... (hmm... well, i take this back, apparently, he lied!!! he just went to Ralph's to get it... such a disappointment!!?!?!?! but....well.... he's still a darling. =*)
2. went to the supermarket and bought the variety of berries...
3. cut the strawberries into heart shapes and arranged the berries nicely on top of the cake. ain't he sweet?







of course, a trip to sd is never complete without a trip to the beach. enjoying the night with ur loved one on the beautiful beach, complete with a glass of champagne... simply heavenly... -sigh of contentment- =) (although a little funny thing happened. i screwed up with my golden opportunity to pop the champagne... tried loosening the cork a little too much, and it simply popped out unfascinatingly. *bl-lopp* with the cork in my hand. hmph. )

relived one of my little likings: kayaking! one of the top must-do activities in La Jolla! riding the huge waves in the ocean and kayaking in and out of a little narrow "alley" of the caves with the strong waves crashing by the sides and trying hard to steer u towards the insidious barnacles that line the rock sides... something that u would never find kayaking in the sheltered seas of Singapore! darling and i decided to take a plunge with the leopard sharks in the shallower waters near the shoreline too... =P we were caught in the strong crashing waves near the shore and were washed up towards the beach. a final huge wave flipped us over and landed up in the waters -----capsized! hehe. but hey, we got better after that!

Sunday: went to Julian, this quaint little town up in the mountains, about 1.5 hours drive from San Diego... for APPLE PICKING!


The main street of Julian, which was probably the only big street in the whole of tiny, but cosy town of Julian... numerous cafes and little shops line the street. there was a traffic jam driving into Julian... it was a busy weekend that day!

on to the apple farm!

the apple-picking season had just begun, and this particular farm was the first to open that weekend. there were hoards of people there, all ready to get some fresh juicy and sweet apples right off the trees!


they were pretty small apples, but definitely sweet and yummy!


picking the apples...


and munching them as we went along!


in the garden of apple trees...


all satisfied and happy, with bags filled with the yummy apples!



thank you dear, for making this fall break such a memorable one. i truly enjoyed myself and had a wonderful 21st birthday! Just being able to spend more cherished moments together with you, is the best birthday present ever. i love you.

a fainting spell, such an odd feeling...

i'm glad that i never had the slightest idea to become a surgeon.

my grad student's project has led her to some experiments requiring intra-thymic injection of the mice. so today, one of the faculty who is an M.D., and is THE person who knows how to perform the surgery to open up the chest cavity of a mouse, came down to our lab to show her how to go about doing it.

it was a "performance" in the lab, and everyone in the lab gathered to watch him, since no one in the lab has done this before. so after the prep, the show began...

WARNING: THIS IS NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED. DO NOT READ FURTHER IF U ARE NOT COMFORTABLE!
















1. IP injection of the mouse with anesthetic
2. after the mouse is asleep, pin the mouse down to a board.
3. cut open the skin at the neck, and push the muscles away.
4. cut the cervical bone to reach down to the location of the thymus.
5. tease the muscles apart further to reach the membrane above the thymus.
6. slit an opening in the membrane.
7. inject sample into thymus.
8. pull the skin together and stitch (using this stapler clip) the wound.
9. leave the mouse on 37 degrees heater "bed", covered with soft tissue until it wakes up.


so... attempt #1:

everything was fine, until... when trying to cut the cervical bone, the scissors was not dead center, slightly to the right. and blood start to ooze out. excessive loss of blood: the mouse was not gonna make it thru. since it was lost, the prof went on to open up the chest to show us the insides and the following steps anyways...

but as he was cutting, and more blood was coming out, i suddenly felt nauseous, and everything was turning white, i was losing my vision and the world was starting to spin. all this just hit me in a matter of milliseconds.

i pulled myself away from the bench immediately, and walked away. i could barely see my surroundings, it was a patch of white. but i knew my way around the lab, and made my way out of the lab with the extremely bleached vision i had.

amazingly, although my head was spinning, and my vision bleached out, i could still control myself. i walked over to the lounge area, got a cup of water. my vision was slowly returning, and i din feel like throwing up anymore.

in less than five minutes, i was fine again, except for a lingering headache. thank god i overcome that spell without freaking out, or fainting...... never had i experienced this before, strangely odd, strangely freaky......

---------------------

anyhow, i took a break off, and went back to look at the rest of the demonstration, taking care not to focus too much, but glancing away and looking around elsewhere periodically.

oh my gosh, fainting--- horrible but strange feeling indeed...