Cycling

Hi friends!

I just want to let you know that I can now cycle. I can't believe this day finally came. I cycled to lab over the weekend from home, practiced from an hour, and today I cycled back home. Aren't you guys proud of me?

Sorry ye cam poyo skit, but I don't have much excitement in life. So I must share this with the world!!

Trip to Japan

I thought I'd have the chance to chat with the girls on our recent get together, but as always, the Gotfather is forever tormented by family members who can't seem to live without her for just a couple of hours.. (=_=)

Anyway, I actually wanted to have a discussion about Japan with you guys. I've been looking for more info on the trip, when I realized I need some info from you to make this work. I'll tell you right now, planning this one isn't easy. Japan is not the cheapest place to go for a holiday..

But it's a wonderful country worth visiting, and we have a good friend that side who's dying to show us off around! ^^

So, I need you guys to answer these few questions ya:


1. Hangpa interested nak pi dak?

2. Agak-agak bila nak pi tuh? - akak kasi choice..

a. Winter - Jan-March 2012 - maha sejuk, ada snow & festivals
b. Spring - April-Jun 2012 - banyak bunga, musim hujan, festivals (sakura, anyone?)
c. Summer - July-Aug 2012 - Paneh! personally not my favorite season.
d. Fall - Sept-Nov 2012 - Musim daun gugur, ala2 romantik autumn in my heart gitu.

3. Bape korang laghat nak bayar? - Be reasonable.. this is an overseas trip, people.

4. How long do you think we should stay? - takat 2 -3 hari tak berbaloi kut.

5. Air Asia, atau MAS/ANA/JAL/KOA/etc? - Ni ada pros and cons, tapi pilih je dulu..

6. Sebab kita ramai, korang rasa kita patut pakai travel agent tak? Korang kenal ke mana2 travel agent?


That's all for now.. kalau ada apa2 pertanyaan atau pandangan membina tentang trip ni, sila la kemukakan di ruang komen ya. Your participation in this little survey is very much appreciated, tengkiu!


Saya Yang Selalu Terganggu,
Gotfather

Happy Birthday Mun!

Mun, 

We hope you've had a wondrous 27 years and even more glorious years to come!

We are honoured to grow old together with you, my dearest friend!

Love,
BTB a.k.a F.Timber

PS: I'm off Facebook already, so I'm discontinuing my campaign for all of yous to join FB. :p

Tadaima!

Salam..

It's been two days since I got back from the Promised Land. I'm a little disoriented; I hope the feeling will go away soon..

To all those who've sent messages asking how I've been doing, thank you very much and I'm sorry for the non-reply.

My entire family has come down with a terrible case of the flu, but I've been told it's a typical occurrence after a trip to the Middle East, so no worries.

Lots of stories, experiences (and pics!) to share, I can't wait to see you guys! :)

Biotech-to-Be 2011 Reunion with Family & Friends

The reunion is three-pronged: to celebrate the return of our long missed friend from Japan and Scotland; Arshana and Isma, to officially welcome the newest members of our family, Hidayah & Azkiya of Pojan's brood, and to warm my new place and basically to cherish ourselves with good food and great conversations. 

Who: Everyone who studied biotechnology at UIA, and anyone else who you'd like to bring along. 

Time: BBQ starts at 2 p.m., but preparation begins in the morning.

Venue: My place, address as stated above. 

How do I get there?: Take Kajang Silk, after the Plaza Tol Sg. Ramal, take the first exit towards Jalan Wan Siew.

What's on the menu?: Chicken skewers with mushroom and onion, pasta & potato salad, and cheese & crackers and other lots of stuffs.

What can I expect?: Mind-blowing conversations and one hell of a good time. 

Pesanan Khas untuk Azhane Ahmad

PS: Yati tak ingat Ann suka siapa, but I thought this picture pretty sums it up. :p

Azhane Ahmad, 

Happy 27th Birthday and we wish you to be happy always! 

You're one of the strongest women we know and no matter what happen we know you'll make it through in whatever you do.

Untuk yang lain-lain, Yati nak menyambung kempen Pojan;

Bila korang nak join Facebook? Senang nak plan outing. :p

fenol; molecular weight 94.11

Total RNA extraction Lopez–Gomez & Gomez-Lim. Nak pahamkan method nye ajer dah naik pening belum sebut lagi nak prepare reagents. It’s a manual extraction to begin with and it took about 3 days to get the result. Terpikir dan terus bertanya; why don’t we use the extraction kits instead? Co-sv replied; you will never learn anything. Oh well, actually I don’t give a damn about learning anything. Really... really... wanna finish the labworks.

Minggu pertama di lab baru dah mcm2 dugaan. Selain daripada postgrade students yang ‘berat mulut’ nak berkongsi, perangai undergrade students yang suka bergurau senda setiap masa wpun ketika bekerja ngan EtBr, tiada space untuk menulis apatah lagi untuk duduk rehat di bilik postgrade, makmal yang dibanggakan yuu key emm ini juga tergendala air-cond nya. Semua nya merimaskan!

Paling membuatkan rasa lebih cepat siap lebih baik insiden ketika sedang menyediakan larutan fenol (phenol solution). Puas membelek chemicals depan mata, yang terjumpa hanya phenol in white crystal form bukan dalam larutan seperti selalu. Emm..mcm mana yerk nak buat ni? Tertanya2 dalam hati sambil mata mencari postgrade student yang pernah melakukan method yang sama. Budak baru belajar lebih baik bertanya daripada buat kerja membabi buta. Macam mana yea nak wat solution phenol ni? Student Msc tersebut menjawab selamba; biasanya kitaorg timbang dulu pastu dissolve je la. Belum sempat bertanya lebih detail, dia dah blah meninggalkan.

Otak mula berkira2. Dissolve? Dalam solvent tertentu atau dlm air? Aiseh apsal tak ingat hah ms blaja organic chem. Takpe internet kan ada. Ahah..! Phenol dissolves in water moderately and form two layers. Dengan best nya, fenol berjaya dilarutkan. Timbul plak problem baru, nnt masa nak extract nak amik upper layer or bottom layer? Aduhh..ni yang wat tensen. Istilah budak baru belajar, mencari2 seseorang untuk diwawancara. Err..sorry eh. Lepas larutkan fenol nnt kena amik which layer for RNA extraction? Student phD memandang; lapisan atas. Owhh..thanks. Sedang berkira2 menuang kloroform, Student phD tersebut masuk ke lab. Ehh..you buat apa ni? Cepat je mulut berkata. Phenol solution. Kita tak buat phenol mcm ni maa...it’s equilibrated phenol. We used tris-HCL. Terkesima kejap. What?? Mahu jer mulut bercakap, **** tak kata ia equilibrated phenol, but then erm..tak pe lah, malas nak memanjangkan citer. Student phD tersebut memberi method equilibrated phenol. Agak banyak solution tris-HCl dengan molarity yg berbeza perlu dibuat.

Bekerjasama dengan student MSc yg baru, kebetulan menggunakan method isolasi yg sama membahagikan tugas. Dia sediakan tris dengan molarity berbeza manakala aku mencairkan fenol dlm waterbath. Hati ingin menduga students di makmal ini. Sekali lagi bertanya pada students MSc yang sama. Biasa nya kalo nak cairkan fenol, letak dalam apa? Dia menjawab. **** biasa nya timbang pastu letak dlm botol. Jangan campur dengan air. Lantas, schoot 1L menjadi pilihan di dlm waterbath sambil memasukkan fenol sedikit demi sedikit. Opps.. phenol can caused burn injury if they contacted with human skin. Student phD yang sama datang mendekati. Ehh..you buat apa ni? Ringkas menjawab. Larutkan fenol. Kenapa ehh you wat camni, bahaya maa kalo fenol kena kat kulit you nnt terbakar! Lantang suara nya semua students yang ada mendengar. Perasaan bengang bercampur malu. Annoyed pun ada skali. Bukan nya dilakukan sambil bergelak ketawa tanpa gloves and labcoat. Dalam fume hood lagi. Dah nak wat camne!?

Lantaran kebengangan, keputusan melarutkan fenol dilakukan dengan memasukkan sebotol chemical phenol sekali gus dlm waterbath. Huhh..amik sebijik!!..agaknya jelas terpamer kat muka, student Msc baru berkata. Kenapa diaorg tak bgtau awal2? Ni dah buat baru nak cakap. Hati berkira2 agaknya sebab diorg dah expert dan tak nak berkongsi tapi alhamdulillah, equilibrated phenol berjaya dihasilkan berkat kesabaran. Tapi selalu berdoa agar lebih sabar mengendali attitude students di makmal ini berbanding bebanan labwork itu sendiri.