DAY 653

June 16th

1) It's been a while since my last blog post. And that's because my laptop has been out of commission; simply refusing to start. Anyway, I've been busy in the labs as usual, synthesising compounds and helping out where possible. At the same time, I've realised that I have not taken many photos of the surrounding campus, especially the building I work in, as well as the cafeterias that I visit every day.

2) So I spent the evening taking some nice pictures of the campus environment. In truth, Soochow University is huge, with seven cafeterias each having numerous stalls. It will take me a while before I finish sampling each stall, but I look forward to the challenge. Especially when the food tastes this good (just look at some of the pics). That's it for today's blog post (I know it's quite short), but do look out for future posts detailing more adventures! Thanks for tuning in, and have a nice weekend ahead. Cheers! :)

College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University

(I'm on the 5th floor of this building)

Suzhou University Dushu Lake No. 7 Student Cafeteria :)

On the 35 min walk to school (lovely row of trees everywhere)

One of the stores I really like

(cuz they have fried noodles/rice)

I got the 大排面 (Pork Chop Noodles)

The interior of the cafeteria (there's loads of shops - the choices are practically endless)

So many bicycles (and electric motorcycles)

Gold Mantis Business School (on my way to the Pharmaceutical Sciences building)

Japanese Style Fried Rice

(served with some mung bean soup)

Straight ahead (behind the white car) is the Golden Mantis Business School (which provides a nice shortcut to the Pharmaceutical Sciences Building)

Evening sun

That's Cafeteria No.5 and 6 right in front :)

Can't quite remember, but I think this building is the School of Architecture...

DAY 651 & 652

June 14th & 15th


1) These past two days, I've started retaking my cough mixture. Actually, since the Europe trip with my parents, I've been coughing. After seeing the doctor in Mercer Medical Centre, she gave me two types of medicine (an antibiotic and cough mixture) which was supposedly really good at relieving chesty coughs. Immediately after taking the cough mixture I felt totally different. My body felt incredibly lethargic - I could not takeaway food from the shopping centre barely 10 minutes' walk away; instead I had to eat there and recover my energy before coming back. In addition, I began to get chills in my fingers and toes, and would wear jackets in what was really quite hot summer weather. My head was heavy, and I slept for around 10 hours a day, only to wake up feeling sleepy as well.

2) I decided I could not go on like this, and only finished the antibiotics (which is a prerequisite). So I stopped the cough mixture completely, and have done so until today. I was still coughing a little on my way to Suzhou and in Suzhou, and today was especially bad. I woke up in the middle of the night with a coughing fit, and decided I would just finish the bottle of cough mixture (NOT in one go; that would be crazy!). So I took the medicine, went to sleep, and braced myself the next day for the horrible side effects. To my surprise, while I still felt more lethargic and sleepy, none of the other symptoms were there, suggesting that a) I had become more tolerant to the side effects; or b) since I was only on one medication (I have long finished the antibiotics), the effects were markedly less.

3) Either way, I'm now on the cough mixture, and it does work well. It essentially breaks down the viscous (thick) phlegm in my lungs so I can get rid of it more easily. I should finish the bottle in the next couple of days, and if really the cough does not go off, I'll be making an appointment to see a doctor. All that aside, these past two days were really fun too, as I met and made friends with the lab mates in Niamh's lab (on Level 3 of the building). I've gotten around to trying out the Chinese version of a hamburger, called rou jia mo (肉夹馍); and also a very popular dessert (in Malaysia and in China) called red bean soup (紅豆汤). The flavours are absolutely incredible - diverse and complex.

4) That is basically the update of the past two days. Thanks very much for tuning in, and see you soon in the next edition of my blog. Have a nice weekend, cheers! :D

Group photo with Niamh and her lab mates!

(sorry I haven't learnt each of their names yet)

Having lunch with my lab mates ^^

Spicy sour noodles with minced meat and long beans

Chinese hamburger - rou jia mo (肉夹馍)

Red bean soup (紅豆汤)

Their fried rice is very similar to ours, and tastes great too ^^

Niamh's plate of rice with meat and veggies :)

Simple vegetable fried noodles (served with a bowl of mung bean soup)

Day 650

June 13

1) Yet another fine day in the labs, and today I'm learning more about the equipment and techniques from Chris and the others. I've even started synthesising compounds to be used for further reactions. The routine is gradually starting to sink in - it's 8.30am in the labs, and then around 11.30am everyone makes a beeline for the cafeterias, and we're back in at around 1.30pm, after which we have dinner at 5.30pm.

2) It's a routine that is new to me, as I am not used to having lunch or dinner this early. But according to my friends, it is important to go early or the food in the cafeteria will run out, leaving less variety if you go late. So this afternoon, I went with Linda and her boyfriend to have lunch. In addition to the rice with three sides, I got some cold "mung bean soup" (綠豆汤) which made a very nice dessert in the hot weather. 

3) While chatting about our hobbies, I found out that many of them enjoyed playing badminton (in addition to table tennis) and they actually invited me for a round of badminton that evening! While I wasn't entirely dressed for the occasion, I wasn't about to miss an opportunity to play badminton, while at the same time getting to know each other better. So after our light dinner (just simple noodles with egg and tomatoes), we walked to the campus gymnasium. Turns out they only charge after 7.00pm, and that too a very reasonable 5 yuan per hour. 

4) We played doubles for the most part due to the lack of available courts and because there was so many of us. It was so fun playing badminton after more than a year of not picking up a racquet (my racquet string broke during a particularly intense game of badminton in Ireland last year and I have yet to replace it). We ended up playing almost three hours (from 6-9pm) and after that I was completely done! The long walk back home (around 35-40 min) felt even longer as my muscles ached from the vigorous activity. But it was a heck of a nice time that I had, and I'm looking forward to our meeting again next week. Until then, thanks very much for visiting my blog, and have a nice day. Cheers! :)

The Pharmaceutical Sciences Building

(I'm on the top floor :))

Rice with two meats and one veggie, accompanied by a nice cold dessert :)

Having lunch with Linda and her boyfriend

Noodles with egg and tomato - my dinner! ^^

My lab buddies (soon to be badminton buddies too ^^)

Unfortunately, I don't have pics of the gymnasium or the badminton courts, but I will in the future. :)

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)

DAY 648

June 11

1) Today marks the first day of our work in the labs. We were told to wait for someone to pick us up at 8.00am at our apartment, and sure enough, Dr. Wang introduced himself to us and gave us a lift to the college campus. We were taken into the pharmaceutical building and given a tour of all five floors. I was informed that Prof. Long (who is my Principal Investigator for this research project) was not in and would not be back until around next week. Niamh's lab would be on the third floor, while mine would be on the fifth.

2) I was shown around the labs and introduced to all the lab members who were mostly PhD students and post-doc researchers. A PhD student, Chris, would be supervising my project and helping me settle in to the new environment. The first thing to get used to was all the chemical names were in Mandarin! Imagine re-learning the Periodic Table in Chinese. Thankfully, most of the bottles had an English translation as well, presumably for people like me haha.

3) Chris showed me around the labs and where all the equipment and apparatus were kept. He also showed me the chemical techniques that they used in the lab, and helped me understand these techniques better. Finally, he gave me some published articles regarding my project (which coincidentally, is also his thesis) to read and digest. Predictably, the papers were above my understanding, but it provided that bit of context needed to understand my research project better.

4) I found out that lunch is quite long here in the labs, and early too! (from 11.30am - 1.30pm). According to my lab mates, this is the time to have a nice meal and a quick nap, before resuming work till late at night! Yes, these poor researchers work till around 10.30pm each day. They most definitely deserved a long lunch to compensate. Anyway, for lunch, Dr. Hu and some research students went with me to the teacher's cafeteria, as I did not have a student card to eat at the school cafeteria.

5) For lunch (in the teacher's cafeteria at least), you get to choose a number of side dishes, which is served with steamed rice and a bowl of soup. You can also add beverages like soft drinks and yogurt. The rest of the day consisted of me observing Chris carry out his reactions (as I didn't have any of my own yet) and experiments. In the evening, Niamh and I went with another one of our Soochow friends, Ming Mei, who brought us to collect our student cards. Niamh then went home to have dinner while I had dinner with Mei. Then she helped me buy a SIM card for my phone, so I would have access to Wi-Fi in my room.

6) That is the gist of my day today, and hopefully you enjoyed reading about it. Thanks as always for visiting, and have a great day. Cheers! :)

Group photo with everyone :)

Introduction to Soochow University, in the meeting room

Having lunch with Dr. Hu and other lab mates

Finally got my student card! ^^

铁板饭 (hot plate rice with sausage and poached egg)

Dinner with Ming Mei

There's a StarBucks right here, just beside my accommodation