Had a pretty challenging Inorganic Midterm last Saturday. The duration was 2 hours and it was a lengthy paper. In a way, I enjoyed doing the paper as one of the questions really challenged my intellectual faculty and made me think from all angles.

Following that, I travelled to 深圳 for a short weekend getaway with Emily. It was a shopping cum sightseeing trip. The other time when I went with Yuin Yee, Daniel, 赵宇 and 书成, I mentioned that 世界之窗 was a disappointment. Initially, we wanted to visit 锦绣中华 and 中国民族文化村 as Emily told me that they'll be better than 世界之窗 and the 2 dances in 锦绣中华 at 1700 and 1930 were really good. However, we reached there at pretty late hours and we decided not to tour the place as it'll not worth the cost. I'll love to visit them one of these days, hopefully before I return back to Singapore.

Oh yah, I manage to fly a kite outside Singapore! We went to 莲花山公园's 风筝广场 to fly kite. The kites there are really cheap and of much better quality than those in Singapore. It's on RMB$10 and it's made of cloths, unlike those paper quality ones in Marina South.

Following that, we went up slope to look at the statue of 邓小平. Yes, we went all the way up just to take a look at his bronze statue. I was expecting a spectacular view of 深圳 from the hill top but to my disappointment, it's too misty (due to pollution?) and the photos didn't turn out well.

Other than that, we didn't see anything very exciting; on a final note, we did quite a bit of shopping over there and it was a pretty fruitful trip. Ah yes, if you happen to go there, the following is a must-try dish:

It's steamed chicken in some special leaf. Very fragrant and one of the finest dish in the Chinese cuisine.

Had an interesting "guest" lecture during my Intermediate Inorganic class today. For those die hard fans of HK serials, the law enforcement organization ICAC must have ring a bell right? ICAC stands for "Independent Commission Against Corruption" and its raison d'etre is to fight/prevent corruption in HK. Since its set-up in 1974, HK has grew to become one of the least corrupted cities in the world and the 2nd least corrupted city in Asia, with Singapore being the first.

The purpose of the lecture is to educate the graduating class in how to deal with bribery and how not to get into such sticky suspicious situation. It's interesting to listen to it from a foreigner's perspective as I get to see how ICAC works. In addition, I get to learn the many anti-corruption acts which may also help prevent me to place myself in those sticky situations. Finally, lame it may sound, it allows me to see ICAC in action live rather than from the TV :p

I got back my Inorganic assignment and found out about my mid-term marks for Biochemistry of Diseases today. I didn't fare as well as I've expected in the Inorganic assignment and a short calculation reveals that I am below the mean for the Biochemistry mid-term. Hmm I am not that worried for the Biochemistry course actually as firstly I am not a biology major and I am taking this year 3 course, despite lacking in knowing many of the medical and biological terms. I took up this challenge as I wanted to learn more about the chemistry behind diseases. Secondly, I don't usually fare well in tests/mid-terms for some unknown reasons. Finally, I was kinda distracted for the past few weeks due to some unresolved issues. Never mind about all those, I'll strike back eventually. For the Inorganic assignment, I loss marks in some silly calculation mistakes. I'll be having a mid-term for it this Sat and I'll do my best to get the top in class.

I'll be going for this confluence dinner tonight. It's a dinner that's compulsory for those who stayed in the hall (we paid for it anyway) and it's suppose to be an eye-opener since those from the coporate world will come and share their experience with us. We'll see about that then.

I read the following story from the web and I find it pretty touching.

This is a story about a boy who likes a gal. Let's just call them Calvin and Ester. Both of them are international students studying in University of Oregon, which is half an hour drive from Eugene, the capital city of Oregon, USA. They met through a language exchange program organized by the university with the objective of getting interested local students to learn a new language of their choice from the international students. It wasn't love at first sight between the both of them; they were just glad that they have finally met another person from the same country.

One evening, Calvin was looking for a dinner companion and he thought of asking Ester. That was the beginning of their romance; not quite actually. Calvin felt very comfortable in talking to Ester as they can see eye to eye in majority of the issues. Ester was also a great listener and she reciprocated at the right moment. Following that, they had another dinner date the following day after Calvin went to hike with a local student at Boardman State Park. That night, both Calvin and Ester had a great chat after dinner. Calvin returned back to hostel that night with a strange feeling - slowly but surely, he realized that he has developed feelings for Ester. However, he tried to hide it since he already has a gf. Talking about his gf, he almost never had a major quarrel with her and there is just something amiss in their relationship which he can't identify. He confessed to his gf about this and to his astonishment, his gf also find the both of them incompatible as there are some major characteristics that she dislikes about him. They had a peaceful break-up following that.

Shortly after that, together with a group of friends, Calvin and Ester went to New York City to tour for a week. It was at that time that Calvin got to know Ester more and when he was pretty sure that Ester having a liking for him too, he confessed to her. It was mutual and they got together, at least, for a while.

The main problem is, Ester is a Christian but Calvin isn't; he's a free-thinker. Although Ester doesn't mind a non-Christian bf (and husband eventually), she's facing pressure from her church and friends. She has to make a decision between a man and God eventually. At the end of the day, she gave up the man because according to the Bible, it is not right to marry a non-Christian.

If you are the gal, will you do the same? If you are the guy, will you leave her so that she doesn't sin?

For me, if I am the gal, I'll ask myself whether he's a truly nice guy and eventually a responsible and caring husband/father (of course whether I truly like the guy and what I like about him, whether I can stand his flaws etc). I won't be limiting myself to select my spouse based on religion alone as I believe that, similar to sports, academic stuff and friendship, love is without borders, race, religion etc. I know that's kinda lame since many will argue that if both are in the same religion, they can share "spiritual" things, which is one level up from most tangible stuff. I do agree but it really depends on what one is looking for in life. Recalling what dear Weng Chun said once upon a time:

"...it is foolish to think that the world has that much of a significant in your world when it is your world that really matters... gee… going back to that same point. but perhaps i tried to mean that even when one considers the world, he sees it within his own world's perspective, hence one cannot escape from viewing things "outside of oneself" - hence we should recognise the fact that an individual is bound to his world... that everyday things he sees and touches and that is what is real to him. So instead of comparing his world to something which is non-existent (the omniscient view of the world being impossible for any man to experience) he should try to improve his own world and understand that, that is what he has contact and direct effect on..."

It's kinda meaningful; of course it's not without its flaws but in short, it really depends on what one is looking for in life.

If I am the guy, will I leave her so that she doesn't sin? It's the same scenario as the movie titled "英雄" which states that "...an individual's suffering is insignificant compared to that of the world..." Perhaps I can argue the reason why I leave her is because I love her; my individual sadness is nothing as compared to the greater world. But hey, how many of us can hold on to this perspective for long? Afterall, what we see in the greater world is still being viewed from our little paradise. I think there's no end to this.

At the end of the day, you'll not know the outcome until you try. Quoting from the legendary Canadian-American ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky: "I always go to where the hockey puck is going to be, not where it is; you miss 100% of the shots you never take."

That's my take in this issue.

I went to the UST bookstore a couple of minutes ago to enquire about a book. I saw one of my favourite book that's going for a 25% discount! "Asymmetric Organocatalysis: From Biomimetic Concepts to Applications in Asymmetric Synthesis" costs HK$1063 and after discount it's only HK$797.25. Converting back to Singapore dollars, it'll be around S$174. Amazon is selling this book for US$195 and Clementi bookstore is offering me for S$210. Hmm it's damn tempting to buy this book ... but if I buy it, then I'll be S$174 poorer. Ahh, difficult decision.

I finally stepped onto 西贡, a place which I always dream to visit after watching the movie Sausalito starring Maggie Chan and Leon Lai a couple of years back. The protagonists met in Sausalito, a small town near San Francisco and their love developed. It was mentioned in the movie that Sausalito resembles Sai Kung (西贡), a small town in HK. Ever since then, it has been my wish to visit 西贡 to see for myself the beauty of this small town and to experience the other side of HK.


I was there because I wanna pack lunch for Emily; I thought of packing something simple and yet special. 西贡 immediately came to my mind as it is a place well known for seafood. It was only 15mins bus ride away from HKUST and it was a really scenic journey. I witnessed hills, seasides and yachts along the Sai Kung Highway. 西贡 is a very different place from most places in HK; there's this magic embedded in this small town and I immediately grew in love with this place and I'll love to visit it again to take more photos. Ahh, by the way, my camera ran out of battery when I was about to take a very nice scenary!

Anyway, I received an email from Dr. Yao on Thursday and he asked me whether I'll be joining his group for my honours year project. Hmm felt quite honoured as I'm kinda "wanted" in a way; usually it's the other way round - students hunting for supervisors. I've made up my mind quite sometime ago and I gave him an affirmative reply. He was pretty enthusiastic about my reply and wrote me quite a long email reply. The gist of it is asking me to think of a suitable topic and also what I will really like to do. He gave me some papers to read as well and also asked for my date of return to Singapore (so that he can discuss with me the details).

For the remaining period of my exchange, I'll find time to read and plan for my honours year project. It'll be another one whole difficult year but I'm willing to work hard and stretch my limits. The courses that I'll be taking next semester are more or less confirmed as I've already planned for them before I embarked on my exchange. They are as follow:

CM4221 Chemistry of Natural Products
CM4211 Advanced Coordination Chemistry
CM4215 Bioinorganic Chemistry
CM3232 Physical Chemistry of the Solid State and Interfaces
CM5222 Bioorganic Chemistry

For my courses at HKUST thus far, the one that I enjoyed the most is still Advanced Organic Chemistry taught by Prof. Wu. He's a pretty good lecturer and I got to learn many fundamental stuff about Physical/ Mecahnistic Organic Chemistry from him. He made me appreciates Organic Chemistry at another level. I'll love to read more on my own and bug him more often :p The other 2 Chemistry modules are good as well. For Intermediate Inorganic Chemistry, Prof. Leung is good at explaining concepts and I've learnt many Inorganic stuff which were missed out in our syllabus. Prof. Xu taught me many NMR fundamentals which I didn't learn back in NUS. Kudos to the both of them. The remaining 3 courses were ok - Biochemistry of Dieases taught by Prof. Xia was quite decent, except that he's not very good in classroom management. Prof. Mi's Material Science course is not too bad either, a vast improvement from my perception at the beginning of the course. Prof. Chasnov's Introduction to Ordinary Differential Equation is a disappointment. This is because he was pretty slow in his teaching and didn't teach us many things. Thus far, what I've learnt are all the "C" and "F" Maths stuff that I learnt in "A" level 6 years ago.

Finally, if you are reading this, I wanted to say that you have been wonderful thus far and I've not regretted my decision. There's always uncertainties in the future - this is what make life interesting. If the future has already been laid out and well-planned, why live it. It is because of its uncertainties that makes life worth living. If I know that I'll be getting the Nobel Prize 10 years later, why will I bother to work hard now? It's lame but come to think of it, there's some truth in it. Fate arranged me to meet you and I will hold on to it.

I was checking for lecture notes in the WEBCT (equivalent to IVLE in NUS) and realized that my results for the organic structural elucidation mid-term dropped by 15 marks! That means I'm no longer the highest; it doesn't really matter actually as I never really fare very well in mid-terms. To my special friend, I'm sorry for letting you down by giving you a premature news.

I've many deadlines to rush and mid-terms are coming one after another. Life's pretty hectic now and I'm beginning to feel the stress of being a student here (an exchange student to be more precise). I've yet to revise for my biology test on Friday as I've an assignment and a tutorial to rush. Readings are piling up ...

I took a short break today by searching for journal articles for my Advanced Organic Chemistry project. I've decided to do on "Coarctate/Pseudocoarctate Reaction Mechanism" with particular reference to the work of Prof. Michael Haley of Univeristy of Oregon. I got inspired into doing this after attending his series of seminars 2 weeks ago. Following that, I went to discuss with Prof. Wu and he was pretty pleased with my choice of topic. He mentioned to me that he'll bring the project presentation forward to the period before exams; this means that I've to complete it before exams begin. Also he will most probably bring forward the exam date as well since he'll be going to Hawaii for a conference from 14 Dec.

The exam timetable was released today. My last paper will be on 21st Dec from 0830 - 1130. That's also the last day of examination. :( I'll most probably return to Singapore between 27th Dec to 30th Dec, depending on my holiday plans after that. Following that, I'll be embarking on my Honours Year Project. Loads of uncertainties lying ahead; not sure who I shall work with and what will the outcome be like. Right now, Dr. Yao SQ is the best choice.

I'm hoping that things will turn out fine. I'm holding on to Sister Hope that I'll be provern right by Father Time and Lady Love.

Many things happened for the past 1 week; in a way I'm too drained to include details here. A very good friend once remarked to me that "...that one day the merits you see will be but the demerits that I possess". At that point of time when I heard it, I felt it was crappy; for now I can appreciate its meaning, full if not most of it.

I'm back to singlehood again. All my good friends who read this must be really surprise - What? How? When? Why? Well, sometimes as much as we want things to work out, it's just not possible. The break-up is a peaceful one and there's no quarrel or hard feelings involved. Both of us were not very compatible and if the relationship continues, there won't be happiness or future.

Anyway, along the way, I think I have been a really bad bf. I doubt not many gals can stand a guy like me. I am sorry for not being a wonderful bf for the past 150+ days. I didn't know that I can be so unbearable at times. Also I never knew that some of my opinions will come across as being too stifling to be accepted. Indeed a person's character is analogous to that of a coin and depending on which side you look at, it'll appear as positive/negative.

For the special friend, the Guangzhou trip will be one which I remembered for life. The time spent with you represents the happiest time spent on exchange and it can easily be one of the happiest moment in my life. Whatever's gonna happen between us in the future, let nature takes its course. Only Father time will reveal the truth eventually.

Anyway here are some snippets of the happenings for the one week. From last Sat till Tue, I went to Guangzhou with 3 Singapore exchanged students; we had a great time shopping and eating. Don bought so much things that he has to buy a trolley to bring all the boxes (yes I mean boxes!) of ornaments he bought back to HK. The returning journey was tiring but fun (challenging in fact).

Nothing much happened after my return except that I've some school works and assignments to catch up. Had a Mid-Term on Organic Structural Elucidation on Thu. I was late for the test but I was the first to leave as I finished the paper pretty effortlessly. The result was out yesterday and I got the highest score in the class. Hmm I was joyous when I received the news; at least, it shows that I am able to excel outside Singapore and most importantly, I've not let a special friend down.

Back to do my work for now. So much things have happened that I need time to reflect and move on with my life. After this exchange, I still have one whole year of honours year project to do. I prognostigate that it'll be a tough but fulfilling final year. I believed this exchange has made me stronger, more independent and not to forget, give me a very strong foundation in organic chemistry.

Hmm I am typing on the keyboard. The keyboard which I am using is part of my Fujitsu laptop and it is manufactured in Japan. The city of Tokyo is in Japan. It is the capital city and I knew it from my Geography lessons back in ACS. ACS is in Singapore and I enjoyed my Geography lesson back then. My first Geography teacher was Ms. Pillay and she's a great teacher; the final one was Mr Chao whom many dislike. He is plump; pretty cute too. There are people of many sizes - thin, storky, muscular, lanky, athletic etc. Everyone have a definite body shape; err not really, snakes doesn't have because it doesn't have backbones. It's slimy, cold, long etc.

Anyway being away from home really made you fully understand this song (not only in terms of lyrics, which may be superficial, but in terms of the waves of feelings generated):

Whenever I am feeling low
I look around me and I know
There's a place that will stay within me
Wherever I may choose to go
I will always recall the city
Know every street and shore
Sail down the river which brings us life
Winding through my Singapore

This is home truly, where I know I must be
Where my dreams wait for me, where that river always flows
This is home surely, as my senses tell me
This is where I won't be alone, for this is where I know it's home

Loneliness is beyond descriptions; you may be in the middle of a crowd but that may not improve the situation much. I recalled this movie titled "英雄" that's being screened in early 2003. In the movie, one of the protagonist said that an individual's suffering is insignificant compared to that of the world. This phrase struck me pretty hard until one day Weng Chun told me the following:

"...it is foolish to think that the world has that much of a significant in your world when it is your world that really matters... gee… going back to that same point. but perhaps i tried to mean that even when one considers the world, he sees it within his own world's perspective, hence one cannot escape from viewing things "outside of oneself" - hence we should recognise the fact that an individual is bound to his world... that everyday things he sees and touches and that is what is real to him. So instead of comparing his world to something which is non-existent (the omniscient view of the world being impossible for any man to experience) he should try to improve his own world and understand that, that is what he has contact and direct effect on..."

So is my loneliness insignificant as compared to the whole world? Perhaps, but at the end of the day, the one that matters most is my world right (since I am the one experiencing such feeling head on)? From another angle, I can look at it in terms of the world where there are people who are much worse off. In that case, I'll feel better? There's always 2 sides to a coin, it's damn irritating.

The past 2 weeks of lecture on Biochemistry of Diseases was on Schizophrenia, Autism and Depression. A quick glanced through at the symtoms of these disease made me realized that I possessed some of these symptoms... hmm...

It's been one week since I last blog; was really busy in rushing deadlines.

This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Grubbs, Schrock and Chauvin for their contribution in olefin metathesis in the area of organometallic chemistry. I received the news from Alice yesterday night and I called Zhijie immediately to tell him the news. I was really happy that they receive this year's Nobel Prize as olefin metathesis is really an important reaction in chemistry. Without it, many elegant total syntheses wouldn't have been accomplished. The more exciting thing is, 2 of my chemistry modules will be teaching it in the lectures - Intermediate Inorganic Chemistry and Advanced Organic Chemistry. I've learnt some of it from the Advanced Organometallic Chemistry I took last semester and I hope to learn more here.

Last Saturday, I went to hike with 赵宇; we walked on the HK trail and we had a really good time. We went on for about 17km and could have gone for a longer distance if not for the fact that he couldn't take it anymore. Hmm I shall try to complete it one of these days (HK trail is 50km). The hiking experience is simply great and it's beyond the description of words. We witnessed many breath taking scenaries along the way. That night, I dine with Emily, an NUS engineering student whom I got to know through some Language Exchange Program organized by UST. Finally I met another Singaporean! Haha. We dine at 北角 and walked to Quarry Bay Park after that to chat and enjoy the scenaries. Over at Quarry Bay Park, we can see the skyline of Kowloon from another angle. It would have been better if we went there during daytime.

On Sunday, Emily, another Singaporean exchange student named Don and I went with 书成's parents for dim sum at my all time favourite federal palance restaurant at Jordan. They were in town as it was China's National Day. From Monday to Wednesday, I attended seminars by Prof. Michael Haley from University of Oregon at Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Hong Kong and UST respectively. He's another wonderful speaker and I've learnt a lot from him for the past 3 days. Basically he spoke on a different topics each day and after 3 days, you'll basically get to know the all the research that his group does.

Had an inorganic quiz on Tue and it's all MCQ. I guess Prof. Andy Hor really "trains" us well as I could kinda see what the Q are driving at. Gotten 6 out of 8 in which I think it's pretty decent since most people scored around 4 marks. Gotten back my Material Science Mid-Term today and I could have gotten full marks if not for the fact that I wrote the direction representation wrongly. All my explanation questions were correct, although my answers were really short. I guess at the end of the day, if you can explain something concisely in minimal words, why use more (I saw people writing 2 pages for one 25 marks Q and didn't get any marks)? I wrote for half a page, including diagrams.

I was kinda upset today as Frankie and his friends commented that I appeared aggressive and arrogant when I asked questions during the organic structural elucidation class today. In a way, they felt that I am challenging him; adding more salt to the wound, Alice added that she felt the same way too when I asked Q during the Advanced Organic Chemistry lecture. o_O Err, I don't think I am aggressive or what; I think I'm mild already as friends Teck Loon and Zhijie are far "better", right? :p Anyway, maybe I shouldn't ask any questions in class; I'll probably continue asking though since that's me. Ahh contradicting...

Finally, to the special friend whom I chat with for the past few days, thanks for everything. It's really nice chatting with you and I felt better after each chat. My apologies for taking up your time. It's nice to know someone who can see eye to eye with you in many issues. Such friendship are hard to come by and I'll treasure it.