Dear Vincent Uncle.

My dear Vincent Uncle....


The generous, humorous, and laughy man in my life..

Always helping me and my family voluntarily whenever necessary...

Vincent Uncle brought me to meet Uncle Bob once he knew that I was heading to the States to pursue my Ph.D.....because Uncle Bob has been to Maryland before...and he wanted me to get to know the place abit better even before I arrived here...

He also gave me a gorgeous pen (Mont Blanc?) which I safekeep...that was an afternoon when he wanted to meet me for lunch right after my relief teaching stint...we lunched on the nice Ban Mian @ East Point.

My recent memory of Vincent Uncle...iz az above....which happened 1.5yrz ago...bcuz I have been in the States ever since.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reminiscing my limited childhood memories... (yea, I don't seem to remember much of my childhood)... my strongest onez include Vincent Uncle.

Vincent Uncle lovez to bring us (me, my siblings, and my cousinz) to Marina South for kite flying.....

We could gather soooooooo mAny kitez...and thoze tripz were amazingly fun~!!

I mizz kite flying bcuz of Vincent Uncle.



froM googLe imAge.


He took very good care of uz while we were out playing...

And my most vivid memory waz being slashed on my feet by theze kite stringz stranded on the grassland....it waz him who quickly tended to my wound. We didn't have a first aid kit....and he kinda sucked blood out from my wound and spit it out...for several times...

It waz like in a drama show, where a poisonouz snake bitez the character...and the savior suckz out the poison from the teeth marks of the snake.

I just felt well taken care of bcuz Vincent Uncle surely knows how to take care of the people around him...



froM googLe imAge.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Sadly, but logically not unexpectedly, I just realized that Vincent Uncle passed away 2 days ago - from colon cancer (most probably metastatic)......now - that motivates me to solve this cancer puzzle more....and I'm aptly in the field of cancer therapeutics research.

Cancer - why snatch away one of my few relativez I truly respect?!

...

Yea, I really want to touch base with him on my upcoming trip back home....but it's impossible now...I am still 10 thousand miles away physically from home at thiz moment...

I do include him in my daily prayers for him to recover somehow.....but now I solemnly wish him well in another way...in another life, in another world.

Vincent Uncle - you're dearly missed.


My deepest condolences,
Ah-Yuen

sAve me froM stAying up tonighT.

todAy, i woKe @ 11+am.....yeA. LOL.

mY lAb usuAlly luncH togetheR @ 11am...but todAy'z wedZ...so i hAve depArtment luncH @ 12pM....wAz late, so no more food....hmM, it reAlly suckZ to hAve my tummY growlinG amongzT chewinG soundZ......luckilY sarAh suggesTed the deliciouZ nectArz froM the dominAntly appLe fruiT bowL....yeA, ate 2 in a roW~

righT afteR the emptY "luncH", i wenT to the cAfe on the 9tH flooR of the BSPH - a memorAble cAfe cuZ thAt'z where i hAd my 1sT ever luncH in Hopkinz, aloNe...bcuZ i kneW no one bAck theN.

welL, somehoW i alwAyz like to luncH @ thiZ cAfe aloNe....but todAy, i took awAy a huGe chickeN cheeZe steAk suB.

~~~~~~~~~

todAy'z a loooonG dAy. and yeA, i do achieVe more wheN i'M aloNe in the lAb wheN the skY iz dArk. but tonighT joe wAz in too....we didn'T chAt thougH, obviouzlY bcuZ we botH want to focuZ on our worK....and ouR frequencieZ don'T mAtch enougH to chAt aloT on a personAl leveL...

reAlly tiRed, but not sleepinG.

ah - i shouLd begiN pAcking my luggAge.......

it'Z 2:17am, and i cAn't sleeP. i need to....cuZ i need to begiN lAbbing witH juliA and henrY reaaAlly eArly. ok, i onlY hAve 5hrz?

i shAll listeN to jAred agAin befoRe i trY to sleeP...:





i need a hAircut, and i need drY ice.
illZ...

iPad.......for reAl~!!!!!!!!!

OMG......seriouzlY? the iPad iz like.....the lArger versioN of the iPhone......but witH more computerY functionZ??

welL........whiLe drinkinG witH beN and grAce..theY were tAlking abouT iPad....and the onlY iPad i couLd thinK of iz:





yeA....the iPad witH "vAgital" firewAll protectioN~!!!!


LOL~!!
illZ~

zoiii ngoiii...

cAme by thiZ cAnto clAssic durinG PCR todAy....and she perforMed liVe too:





tiiN honG yAet piN wAi lAam
cAeng fonG tiiN siionG lioo lonG mAan..
sAam loii nAa fAan yAoo cAeng maet yi qii hoii mou hAang..

~~~~~

yonG ngoR dek ngoi quN kAap neii...
quN kAap ngoR zoiii ngoii...
deii louuu tiiN fonG yAeng mei goiii...


piAnoz.
illZ...

mY dArnedezt sunnY dizpositioN...

tozZed and turNed.
illZ...

imagine - wAlkabout oveR the HP Logo.

lAbbed tiL reAlly eArly to reAch some sAdz and DUH expt resultZ thiZ morninG....and arriVed @ lAb agAin @ 9+am to guide juliA througH the trAnzfection procezZ...

beeN plAnning lonG dAyz for myseLf cuZ i wannA filL every corneR of my dAy....recentlY...i feeL like i'M runninG out of tiMe...liKe my life iz more thAn hAlfway througH? anywAyz, excepT tonighT, cuZ ALL the PCR mAchinez are fulL houZe...so i cAme home to do lAundry.

and...todAy wAz unusuAl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

afteR journAl cluB...i reAlly needed the seA.....and the weAther wAz perfecT for a wAlkabout...so i begAn wAlking awAy froM schooL.

pAzzed by office depoT, and i fouNd "imagine":



it'Z a nice mAgnet thingie...



now it'Z hoverinG on mY monitoR in lAb...


(noticed the photo quAlity of nokiA twizT iz mucH betteR)


...

wAlked aloT and sAt bY the secluded hArbor corneR for a coupLe of hourZ....

i love the seA....thougH the hArbor wAter'z not a jettY or a beAch...it originAtez froM the seA, and the seAz...the oceAnz of eArth (the plAnet i liVe on) are all connecTed..........so i feeL my fAmiliar seA whiLe sittinG by the hArbor. ^.^

cAn't wAit to get bAck to bedoK jettY...

returNed to lAb @ 4+pm....to find out beN wAz lookinG for me..

gosH....hmM, and we hAd an interestinG and thAnkful chAt...

suddenlY, i thoughT of ben'Z koreAn accenT of "wen-zheN duAn"...now - thAt mAkez me lAugh... ^o^


leArning to mAture my imAgination~
illZ...

finAlly fouNd a solutioN~!!

argH - so mY nokiA twisT hAz beeN hAving probZ sendinG fileZ to my mAcbook pro viA bluetootH.......and i fouNd a solutioN~!!!

duH....the roundabouT wAy iz to send it to mY bAckup sonY ericssoN phoNe and theN seNd it to my mAcbook pro......

thinK verizoN reAlly guArdz itz phoneZ welL...hmpH~!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

anywAyz.....througH thiZ procezZ, i dizcoveRed nokiA twisT sucK @ tAking indooR photoZ @ nighT:



singAporean MLK pArty @ pAul'z plAce...erR, too mAny to nAme?


also, i found thiZ photo in my sonY ericssoN phoNe by surpriZe......:



lefT to righT: dhZ, conZ, me, and cheZ.


thAt wAz tAken on our gAthering before i fleW here to the stAtez.....and thAt wAz the scArf theY gAve me. woW - i hAve siNce aGed....

cheZ wAz my tuitee...like my little brotheR. conZ iz hiZ sisteR, and dhZ iz my armY frieNd...they're kindA all intertwiNed by fAmily relAtionz alreAdy....and theiR muM wAz our armY cAmp chief clerK.

if any of them'Z reAding - righT? ;)


fouNded.
illZ.

"don'T tAlk to me - i don'T need to tAlk."

i wondeR whAt elZe wilL i sAy to my lAbberz in futuRe??

lAst fridAy waz sucH a pizZed dAy for me thAt i eveN lost my mood to joiN in the hAppy hour my lAb orgAnized - well.....not reAlly my whole lAb, bcuZ my bozZ setz the dAte and tiMe, theN the otherZ do all the orgAnizing and procurinG.

me? juZ sAy "no" wheN beinG asked if i hAd any speciAl beeR requesT, and "mAybe" wheN beinG asKed if i'M goinG over to the hAppy hour areA.

sooN, no one wilL asK me anythinG - unlezZ experimentAl or scieNce relAted - i hoPe.

hmM....i skipPed the whoLe event, went hoMe, ate earlY dinneR and nApped from 5 to 10. theN returNed to lAb til ~1aM.

so, who couLd sAy "NO" to free beeR? me.

thAt wAz one of my weirdezT fridAyz.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


i suddenlY remembeRed a senteNce i sAid to one of my secondAry schooL clAzzmatez.....bAck wheN i wAz 14....wheN she asKed me if i waz angrY witH her:

"生什么气？ 都没气可以生。“


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


i perisHed anotheR elemenT thAt mAkez me smileY and lAughy in mY worLd. ):

whY?

i hAte leAving but life goeZ on. ):

whY?

i hAte livinG but life goeZ on. ):

whY?


yeA - life goeZ on...
illZ.

shouLd i triM my jAwz and chiN?

beinG trAined in a hozpitAl settinG, it'Z commoN to meeT physiciAnz on a dAily bAsis...

but physiciAnz are not dentistS....and dentisTs focuZ on the orAl cAvity....

so, durinG our singAporean MLK pArty...kM (a malAysian dentisT traininG here) joiNed in for some fuN....thAnkz to kAh for volunteerinG to driVe uz hoMe cuZ the shuttLe wAz dowN on MLK.

az we wAlked towArdz kAh'z cAr.....i cAsually asKed kM if i need brAces....then he thoughT for a whiLe...and gAve hiz professionAl advize....whicH iz to do somethinG elZe befoRe i put brAces on....

in lAyman termz - triM my jAwz...and chiN?

i wAz like....WOW - reAlly?!

OK, it'Z my fAmily phenotyPe to hAve lArger lower jAwz...and our loweR fronT teetH iz in fronT of ouR uppeR fronT teetH wheN we clencH ouR jAwz. kM sAid....we're clAssified az tyPe 3 in dentistrY termZ...

so, hiZ advize iz to triM my jAwz from the inside (so no scArz on the outside)...to shorteN my loweR jAw, and theN repositioN my teetH witH brAces to mAke thingZ perfecT.

the medicAl term shouLd be....Orthognathic Surgery?



somewheRe...froM googLe imAge.


yeA........and thAt WILL hozpitAlize me for minimuM one weeK and chAnge my fAce shApe permAnently.

i certAinly don'T wannA go througH thAt horribLe hozpitAlization wheN i'm alL aloNe here in the stAtez....and i alsO don'T wAnt my fAmily to see me go througH thAt. hmM, ok, it'Z betteR to do it wheN i'M awAy froM everyoNe...i'M confidenT of tAking cAre of myseLf. juZ gottA stocK enougH liquid food to eAt for one montH.....

OK, wheN i hAve lotzzZ of unfinishAble cAsh and i wAnt to shocK everyoNe who knowZ me in reAlity.......then it wilL definitelY be a YEZ.


LOL~!!!
illZ...

hurrY.....mAppy~!!!!!!! <3

OK, somehoW wheN me waz chAtting with 蓉蓉-chAn....our topic shifTed to mAppy~!!

if you forgoT whAt mAppy iz...wAtch:



yeA righT..."plAy" mAppy on youtuBe...LOL~


LOL~!!! YEZ~!!! it'Z the cuTe gAme where a mouZe bouNcez arouNd evAding cAtz and kittenZ to grAb electricAl appliAncez withiN a mAzy houZe.......

yeA, and 蓉蓉-chAn thoughT it'Z an elephAnt?? it'Z a mouZe lAh....LOL~!!!!!!!

a gAme creAted in ouR birtH yeAr~!!!! 1983~!!!!!

we'Re botH amuZed by itZ muZic and cuTe styLe.....me found it'Z MIDI and i'M gonnA set it az my ringtoNe LOL~!!!!!!!

also, i fouNd an onliNe versioN here.....and mY highscoRe so fAr iz:





hoPe he'lL fiNd time to plAy too.....hmM, but hopefullY afteR hiZ upcominG exAm...LOL~!!!! ;P

speAking of exAmz.....me juZ attAined anotheR "Apple" for my genomicZ courZe~!! eAch studenT couLd chooZe any genoMe of interesT to worK on...and i reAlly enjoYed explorinG and anAlyzing the opossuM (Monodelphis domestica) genoMe~ alL hAil to Jonathan Pevsner~!!! ^o^

wAz plAying mAppy durinG trypsinizAtion and wAz lAughing hAppily..........mY lAbberz muZ thinK i'M crAzy....i don'T cAre~


mAppy~!!!!
illZ...

finAlly woKe @ 6+am.

duH....

for mAny many dAyz and monthZ....i hAve beeN sleepinG at 2 or 3 am....crAwling out from undeR my comforteR @ 9 or 10 am....

and finAlly todAy i woKe @ 6+am - froM a nightmAre?! and i slepT @ 2am?! LOL~!!

duH duh duH!

welL, @ leAzt i woKe up....gonnA cooK and pAck my luncH for lAter....

mAybe thiZ iz a wAkeup cAll to twisT my sleepinG cycLe to begiN eArly so thAt i cAn achieVe more.........

gonnA need some coffee todAy...


i mizZ my morningZ...
illZ...

teArz of seLf-strezZ.

"tears" froM googLe imAge.


todAy, someoNe cried in fronT of me.

it'Z beeN sometiMe siNce i sAw a lAdy'z teArz...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

todAy, i reAlized thAt seLf-strezZ simplY trAshes you...the losS of tiMe and the feelinG of a lAck of tiMe eAzily luRe teArz of distrezZ.

appArently, it'Z wheN you trY so hArd yet experimentZ do not worK...and there'Re tonneZ to be doNe...theN you feeL losT........

no mAtter how intelligenT you cAn be....
no mAtter how mucH you've achieVed...
no mAtter how quAlified acAdemically you are...
no mAtter how sunnY you appeAr...
no mAtter how tAll you stAnd...
no mAtter how welL you drezZ...
no mAtter how mucH you smiLe..
you stilL crY.

everyoNe crieZ.

in fAct, i thinK it'Z good to crY wheN necessAry.

so, juZ crY. ;)

teArz strengtheN one'Z mind and souL by flushinG awAy negAtivity.

hmM, me hope my huG hAz pAzzed down my cAre and concerN....bcuZ i knoW how mucH a huG helpZ wheN one juZ trAshed awAy teArz of negAtivity...


)::)
illZ.

sileNce in mY vAnilla twilighT... <3

it wAz a lAbby sundAy nighT......Joe and me were in the mAin lAb....(grAce wAz on the otheR side)...witH ouR usuAl pAndora plAying.......

whiLe i wAz loAding my dnA geL.......i heArd "i'd send a postcArd to you deAr...cuZ i wisH that you weRe heRe.."....folloWed by a strinG of continuouZ mezmerizinG notezzZ...

wAlked oveR to asK Joe @ the hood...and he glAdly told me it'z thiZ sonG on hiZ pAndora stAtion:



"vAnilla twilighT" by owL citY.


gosH....

amAzing.....

juZ fouNd anotheR muzicAl tAlent who cAn compoZe and sinG all bY himseLf.....in the bAzement of hiZ pArentz' houZe.

hiZ voice juZ mAkez me wannA keeP listeninG...it'Z beeN a whiLe siNce an americAn mAle voice absorBed thiZ mucH attrAction froM me since jAson mrAz....and adAm younG (performinG undeR the nAme of owL citY) soundZ....simplY soothinG and lovelY..

owL citY - mY neW obssessioN~!!!!!

he nAmed himseLf owL citY cuZ.....he hAz insomniA and he composeZ
wheN he cAnnot sleeP...........

me juZ keeP listeninG to hiZ beAutiful tuneZ...and reAding into hiZ innocentlY creAtive and lovelY lyricZ...i juZ sinK instAntly into hiZ vAnilla skY. <3


sileNce in mY vAnilla twilighT...
illZ...

fightAAAAaaaar

dezpiZeee
truzt
ride
shAme
wronG
througzh
strongeR
hArder
wiZer
fighteR
fAstar
smArter
fighteR
commit
gAme
victiM
grArve
no moare
you
wizeR
leArn
thincker
OW
UNJUZ
deniAl
SO=TOP
AHAHAHAHAHAH
thoughT
forget

iremembeR
thAnkz

hAunted.
illZ>

the besT of winteR iz on the roAd~!!!!!!

juZ receiVed thiZ photogrAph froM Joe.......

and yeA, gottA "fucK us" while drivinG on the roAd durinG winteR~!!!!!!!!!!





mY replY to the emAil wAz:

"az it meltZ it becomeZ flAccid??!"


LOL~!!!!!
illZ....

tripLe stAmping a doubLe stAmp~!!!

lessoN of my dAy:

"you cAn't tripLe stAmp a doubLe stAmp..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

yeZ~!!! thAt'z a quoTe froM "dumb and dumbeR"...whicH Joe nicelY lenT me on our officiAl 1sT workdAy of 2010~!!!



he lenT it to me cuZ of the sAmsonite luggAge i boughT and kepT @ the lAb for so looooonG befoRe i drAgged it hoMe...cuZ wheN he asKed me whAt it wAz...i repLied witH "it'Z my sAmsonite luggAge~!!!" LOL~

"sAmsonite~!! i wAz wAy off~!!"...

me juZ wAtched it and it'Z reAlly funnY...

so lAme~!!!!

gosH - hoPe no one'Z reAlly thAt dumB.....

(8)275tHou on a cAr???!! woW........

hmM, sillY and dumB peopLe feeL hAppy wAy eAzier and alwAyz hAve good fortuNe...


tripLe stAmping...
illZ~

concentrAted bp. ^.^

i'm kindA glAd to hAve lAme humAnz ard me to mAke me smiLe oNce in a whiLe...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

wAz it yeZternight? or....yezyeZternighT...

whiLe gchAtting with 蓉蓉-chAn abouT thiZ so eveR CUTE turtLe toY i found on amAzon...i toLd hiM thAt i wAz concentrAting my dnA in the lAb....whiLe he wAz gAriben-ing the immunologY texT in the computeR lAb....

theN he sAid thAt i need to mAke my dnA concentrAte bcuZ it iz nAughty.

geT it? hahAaa...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

me hAven't beeN groceryinG witH hAng-ni-mah for aeooooonzzZ....theN yezterdAy he cAlled me to go groceryinG whereveR witH hiM todAy...

i don'T liKe to requezT hiM to brinG me ouT cuZ i knoW he'Z crAcking hiz heAd tryinG to thinK of hiZ reseArch directioN (me too~!!!!!)...and i toLd hiM it'Z besT for hiM to settLe hiZ G.B.O. bY end of feB...

mini-hAng-ni-mah and hiZ wife (whoM i addrezZ az nu-na-yAh) were witH uz todAy too...and i so liKe shoppinG witH theM cuZ i don'T feeL so bAd spendinG wheN i see theiR receiptZ.....hmM, hoPe thAt doezn'T bAdden me.

anywAyz...wheN we pAzzed by the B.P. (British Petroleum) gaz stAtion...i pointed and nAturally sAid, "bp"....

hAng-ni-mah immediAtely sAid "basepair"....and he clAimed the logo actuAlly iz some sortA cryztAl structuRe of DNA...:





welL....the logO iz liMe greeN and glowinG in the eveninG - i like it~

and yeA...."birdZ of a feAther flocK togetheR"....here, all the lAme birdz flocK togetheR witH me....hahAaa..... ;P


concentrAted bp. ^.^
illZ...

2009

1800 silveR tequilA and mY good oLd hennessY dreAmified the fAint crAckling of the fireworkZ aZ i enteRed dreAmland.

while drinkinG...wAz repeAting 2 apT songZ...one iz the reAlly sAd "最后一夜" and i quoTe the liNe "喝不尽醉人醇酒"....the nexT iz thiZ oNe:



"memorY" bY elAine pAige.


pArdon mY ignorAnce.....i did heAr thiZ sonG befoRe cuZ i remembeR the tuNe. BUT it onlY caught mAny more of mY attentioN afteR wAtching susAn boyLe perforM it on X fActor...

there'Re alwAyz 2 sideZ to anY coiN - a side of 2009 deprezZed me whereaZ the otheR side mAde me smiLe.

welL, 2009'z oveR.

gonnA abAndon 2009 foreveR and neveR thinK bAck.

me lefT so mucH undoNe...whicH i wilL do - enN~!!!


looK - a neW yeAr hAz beguN.
illZ.