DAY 667 & 668

June 30, July 1

1) Today has been another long day in the labs. If you look back at the date you'll find it's a Saturday,  which might seem a bit odd for me to be in school. However, it is important to note that the postgraduate students here (Masters and PhD students) work Saturdays as well, and very often until 10 or 11pm. Also, I'm practically free when not doing research, as there isn't much more to do on a lazy weekend other than waking up late. Hence the decision to come over to the labs, have a chit-chat with everyone while learning many new things etc.

2) As it happens, today was unusually cooler than the previous days. It has been blisteringly hot these past week, and now the rainy season has started. I have come to the conclusion that in these two months of summer (in Suzhou), there are only two types of weather - the very hot, and the very wet kind. When it is rainy it is also quite cool, while when it is not then the temperature soars. I feel this is good practice for when I actually do return home to Malaysia end of this year (keep on touching those planks).

3) I've taken the time to look around the campus, and found the time to walk around the Gold Mantis Business School. Located just beside the Gold Mantis School of Architecture, just one look is enough to distinguish it from the other buildings in the university - most notably its beautiful red brick layout and design. I've googled images of the inside of the building and they look achingly beautiful; almost as if you have been transported to another country.

4) That's basically all I have to write about in this edition of the blog. Thanks very much for visiting as always, and have yourselves a lovely weekend. Cheers! :)

Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases

(on 3F)

On the long road back to the Pharmaceutical Sciences Building (from Canteen No. 5/6)

Delicious Beef Soup Noodles :)

Fried Mee (with complimentary soup)

Mix and match your fruits, something I absolutely crave!! :)

Watermelon, grapes, lychee, mangoes, oranges, red beans, mung beans, taro balls - my mouth is watering already :)

The Gold Mantis Business School

(It's ten times more beautiful at night, with the lights illuminating it)

Front entrance

Japanese style fried rice ^^

The long main road to the research building 

(it's on the left, right beside the entrance to one of the many gates of the campus)

DAY 649

June 12

1) Today was another exciting day for me, as I helped out in the labs. Prof. Long has not returned yet, so I do not have my own research topic to focus on. As such, I'm helping out as best as I can with the others' experiments, while simultaneously learning the ropes. I'm very lucky to have undertaken a similar chemistry-based subject last year, so the concepts and ideas behind a lot of the things they do in the lab is not something new to me. Handy when everything down to the chemicals is written in Chinese :)

2) I've received my own log book, which is used to record all experiments. I've started my first experiment, which is to synthesise a compound which Chris needs for his experiments. It's a really long process, and a bit like watching paint dry, which means most of the time I'm just waiting for it to finish. Which gives me a lot of opportunity to chat with the others in the lab, and to find out what they are doing. Turns out many of them are doing their PhDs or Masters, and that they find it boring after doing the same experiments over and over again haha. At least 2 months for me will not be enough to dissuade me from liking the research that I'm undertaking.

3) In the afternoon, my friend Nina and I went for lunch together. I had asked her if she could help me with fixing my laptop, as for some strange reason the screen was flickering on and off. After lunch we went to the hardware shop, where the guy had a look at my laptop and couldn't find anything strange with it. He shut down the computer and after 5 minutes, they laptop was back to it's old self. He then asked me to bring it back should the problem arise again. Touchwood it's been three days now and no problem yet...

4) During one of our conversations, Chris had recommended for me to try out something called 烤鸭泡饭(roast duck with rice), which is one of his favourite dishes in the campus. So I went to Cafeteria No. 5, which sells this dish, to try it out for myself. The taste is really quite unique - it's roasted duck on a bed of rice, with three choices of vegetables, and all drenched in a rich soup broth. I absolutely love it! Took a slow stroll back to the apartment, and here I am, whiling away time till the next blog update. Thanks for visiting my blog, and have a lovely weekend ahead. Cheers! :D

Having lunch with Nina in Cafeteria No. 6 :)

My very own log book

(just like old times ^^)

The lounge room (for the researchers)

Curry chicken chop rice, with two choices of vegetables

(cauliflower and beansprouts)

Mixed fruits

(You pick as much or as little as you want, and pay up :)

Good enough for a food advert?

I definitely think so XD

(Roast duck with rice)