Friday, December 31, 2010
It never fails to amaze me how fast a year can fly by so quickly. And I would definitely have to say, especially this year! It was a year filled with thrills, spills and loads of action. Almost every single moment of the year.
Of course, this was the year where I went halfway around the globe for half the year! Had an amazing time in the USA where I had my exchange programme in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York. Great people, great education, great exchange mates! Got to know some awesome peeps from NTU through this exchange and this exchange has definitely enhanced my university life by at least 50%. Really, without this exchange programme, which seriously opened my eyes and brought me out of my cave, I wouldn't have known how much I am missing out on things, on the world! Truly grateful for this opportunity! Treaded on the grounds of several American cities and states: New York City, Albany and Troy in New York State, Boston in Massachusetts, Daytona, Miami and Orlando in Florida, Seattle in Washington, San Francisco, Santa Rosa and Los Angeles in California, Las Vegas in Nevada and last but not least, Grand Canyon in Arizona! Amazing and awesome places, my memories will remain!
My first time experiencing snow! This was taken on a snowstorm day, just outside one of the RPI buildings.
My favourite city San Francisco. At the Golden Gate Bridge!
A day in the Los Angeles Universal Studios!
Was offered the opportunity to go to Shanghai for my 22 weeks internship, but I turned it down in the end after some considerations. And then it was back to Singapore. The fun did not stop there. I had my internship in Health Sciences Authority along with 4 other NTU students and 4 NUS students. The 9 of us probably caused some 'havoc' there and we had a lot of our own fun. Due to the fact that I had already given much insight into our HSA lives throughout the 5 months plus, I shall spare you guys the agony of having to go through the same stories!
I must say God really has his ways of working things out. He placed the exchange for the first half of the year, then my internship. I would say that he's trying to slow things down for me, so that I can experience another side of life [ ;) ] which I have never had the time to do so before. And that is the third thing this year which I am truly thankful for. Thinking back, I have really hardly had time to breathe from 2007 to 2009. And when I say hardly, I really mean HARDLY! Even till the day which I was leaving for the USA (wee morning of 18th Jan 2010), I was helping to coordinate stuff in CJC on 17th Jan 2010 evening! Not that I am complaining, I am really really happy to be able to help out. But God has really slowed me down to take time to reflect and focus on other things which are important in our lives as well. Relationship building, with family, friends, all around you. Now, when my friends ask me out, I rarely have to say, no, I have something on on that day, let's change it to another date. It is a paradigm shift in my life, and I have come to appreciate so much more things! I sincerely hope that 2011 will be an even better year! Cheers to everyone! :)
- A great year it has been!
by snoopy_lim @ 7:48 PM
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Just two days ago, I ended my first ever internship at Health Sciences Authority. It has been a pretty awesome experience and I have learnt quite a few stuff, despite it being slack at the same time. :) Thanks to my supervisor, LOs and of course, my fellow interns from NUS and NTU. The internship would be very very different with even one of them missing from the equation. Here's some pictures to sum up last day at work:
Gift for my supervisor
Our favourite drawer game (literally) in the lab!
My favourite GC X GC MS machine, with the dual screens!
Two of the LOs in the lab, Shea Mei and Jessie with us interns!
My sup and me with GC columns, all in a day's work
My intern pass which I will miss
And so, 24th Dec arrived. I must say, it was a pretty magical and fun night. :) Went for a Christmas Party at the other end of Singapore in Jalan Kayu. I really love these kinds of family type gatherings, albeit not my own family. A place where 3 generations gather in the same house and just enjoy each other's company. Went for midnight Mass at St. Francis Xavier church after that. As I would say to my intern friends, Awesome people, Awesome times!
This year was the year where I truly did some Christmas shopping and I really had fun buying stuff for people. I really felt the joy of giving, despite burning a big hole of $100+ in my pocket. But the feeling was fantastic. Really looking forward to doing it again next year! :)
Merry Christmas everyone!!
- Merry Christmas everyone!
by snoopy_lim @ 2:02 PM
Friday, December 10, 2010
Today was a day full of perceptions. And a day in which I discovered more about myself.
I got a comment that I am actually very 'jiak kentang' (which means very ang moh-fied, to put it in simpler terms). The person said that I kind of sound like I have an accent whenever I talk. Well, I have to emphasize that the lab I am working in is indeed very chinese. People always speak in chinese, other than the non-chinese and we interns. It was pretty amusing to me. I mean, yes, I've been told by a small number of people that I am 'jiak kentang', but today, it felt like a bomb exploded in front of me. I never ever thought that I give people such impressions. Interesting, very interesting. Haha, at that point in time, I was feeling a little flattered, because did she mean that my english is good, or what? Hmmmmm. But thinking back, this characteristic of mine might have pulled me away from some people. Maybe if I were to speak more chinese at work, I would have gotten to know some of the perm staff better.
Anyway, she also mentioned that she actually had a very bad impression of me at the beginning. Apparently, I did something which she edited and found that there were a lot of mistakes (BUT I totally cannot remember doing the thing that she mentioned at all). This was another funny incident to me as she formed a perception of me without having spoken to me at all before (at least for the first 18 weeks of my internship, currently, I'm at week 20). Wow, so there could be a lot of people whom I've met in my life, but may not have spoken to before, who have really got a bad impression of me. Talk about First Impressions.... It's kinda upsetting huh?!
But oh wells, we can't please everyone! If we want to do that, life would be really miserable.
Oh and then there's the situation where someone-has-totally-done-nothing-to-you-but-you-just-hate-her. This has definitely happened to be whereby I've been in both positions. The person whom people hate, and the person who hates. I'm sure this has probably happened to some of you out there as well. This is really another social interaction which continues to puzzle me till this very day. Dang. Heck it. Just live life the way you want to!!
- Social interactions
by snoopy_lim @ 10:56 PM