a dream of the future and of the past

for the past two consecutive nights, i had weird dreams. first night, i dreamt of my convocation. no, not my undergrad, but of my PhD graduation... haha. talk about sick-of-studying-and-can't-wait-to-graduate syndrome..it was so surreal. the environment, the friends who came, the people, the lecturers and even the round mortar hat! and then **poof** i woke up and found myself, still stuck in the midst of my PhD... far away from graduating. sigh...















my undergrad convocation, and my proud mum =)

then last night, i was brought back to the times of when my granddad was still around, 8 years ago.. i could see his face so clearly, his soft white hair, his eyes looking deep into me, with those aging wrinkles on his face which only intensified more when he smiled.. we were chatting away in his room at the geriatric center.. and he was eating the jelly that i always made...plain jelly, minus the nata de coco coz it was too tough for him to chew on.. and it was those last words that was so clear to me that repeated again in that serene dream, those words that all grown ups will give to their younger generation.. to study hard and work well.. and his hope before his final breath, to pursue that PhD...

and then i wonder, if these two dreams had some link in them... maybe, this is what i needed to regain that motivation to move on and persevere..

strawberries galore

having plunged into the deepest of my life slump, a trip to cameron highlands over the weekend was a bliss.. the weather albeit a bit wet, was perfect. chilly. just the way i wanted to be in..















yes, there is Starbucks up there! =p

besides the usual things you do up there like enjoying the coolness with a cuppa coffee and steaming up the air with some homemade steamboat, the height of the trip was my strawberry moment...















steamboat fair..fit for a king

passing by the unmistakable huge road banner that says 80m ahead, we took a trip in..
















this is only the menu. wait til you see the actual thing...

and my, the amount of sweet savouries you can do with strawberries... i stood there stunned.
a couple of minutes passed and i could still not decide what to eat. practically everything there looks tempting...
















strawberry savouries

after much thoughts, and considering the distress of our already filled-to-the-brim stomachs, we decided to share a few..





















clockwise from top left: strawberry cuppucinno, strawberry honey crepe, chocolate strawberry crepe, strawberry strudel
















my parents-in-law having a couply moment with strawberries.. the fruit of love?

what more can i say to this havenly place?




















the aftermath.

my sweet tooth was obviously very satisfied that day...
and i'm evidently still craving for more as i write this blog..

**hug**

sometimes, all it takes is just a simple hug to cast those fears and worries aside..















my little mochi, asking to be hugged to bed..

"seniors" of the laboratory

since this past year, the uni has been taking in loads of new freshies... sometimes, we wonder where they get all those fundings, it no longer becomes the subject for new postgrad students...
being the long term lab inhabitants, we earmark our "territory" .. and respect each other's work space...

nonetheless, as more and more unfledged citizens dot the lab, the more "senior" people like us feel disturbed..threaten, at its worst case... its like someone moving into your land without a proper visa nor knowledge of unwritten rules, dismantling all the previous serenity that we used to savour so much...
daily consumables such as a simple thing like kitchen towel which used to be freely available, is nowhere to be seen the very next minute you put it down... why, do they lack this in their own home kitchen that they need to steal them?




















if i don't do this, even my unwanted contaminated tips box might be gone...

a few days ago, two summer internship students went bizzarred and grilled fish using the lab oven... yes, ridiculous to think about it... and the pungent smell of gore still remains til today.. what were they thinking?


















a very useful whiteboard, to "vent our anger"

yes, it is indeed hard when someone just tramps across your pathway when you have been comfortable leading it alone.. so please forgive us if we tend to be impatient with you "younger ones" at times as we have to bear through these crap.. every single day...




















sorry, PE... but i can't help taking this shot... those funnels have been there for almost a week!