Singapore: Day 61

If I were to summarize today in one sentence, I would say "Goodbyes are difficult."

I stayed up last night and this morning working on this blog, and ended up sleeping at 5:37 AM. I was hoping to wake up at 7 AM so that I could continue writing, but I think two month's lack of sleep has finally caught up with me and I can no longer handle not sleeping. I ended up waking up around 10:30 AM and spent the late morning packing for my Friday morning flight. In the afternoon, I made a trip to Deutsche Bank at Raffles Place to cash my check from NCCS (I received a stipend for my research with them.) Deutsche Bank is located in the South Tower, and it was very formal and high-end. Upon entering the tower, I had to receive a visitors pass that would allow me to proceed to the elevators. Once at the elevators, I had to key in my desired floor and the machine would tell me which elevator to take. The elevators themselves had buttons but I could not use them to maneuver among the levels; the entire process of moving between levels was too formal for my taste, but it was exciting to do. 

Raffles Place

After cashing my check, I checked out Watsons for their La Roche Posay products and grabbed a snack from La Pau Sat, which is across the street from the South Tower. I ordered the kueh pai ti, which is a Peranakan (Malay and Chinese) dish. I've seen it at NUH but never purchased it because I found it too pricy for only a few pieces. I'm leaving Singapore very soon, so I wanted to at least try the kueh pai ti before I leave. Most stalls sell both popiah and kueh pai ti, and today I understood why: both taste very similarly and use the same ingredients. However, the kueh pai ti is generally more expensive (I bought 5 pieces for $3.50), but more tasty. It has a delicious crunch yet the moist softness of popiah inside the crispy shells. The shrimp, cilantro, chili, and crispy shell were a combination made in heaven--- pure perfection!

Kueh pai ti

 After my short snack, I headed into lab. Raffles Place is only two stations away from Outram Park, which was convenient for me. On my way to the station, I bumped into my lab mate, Wei Wei, who was working out at the gym during her lunch break, and together we made our way to NCCS. I ran my last gel, and now I am finally done with my project! However, I still need to spend time analyzing the mountains of data I collected and organize it into coherent figures. I will be e-mailing the prof and Jianxiang when I am back in the states. At 5:30 PM, our lab assembled for a lab dinner at Jamie's Italian, a famous restaurant opened by the chef Jamie Oliver and featured internationally. Tina had previously called the restaurant about reservations only to find the restaurant booked; she even went in person to the restaurant during her lunch break to ask about it. Luckily, we were able to receive a table quickly despite the long queue.

Can you spot the prof?

Wonderful ambiance

We started our dinner with a couple of appetizers: Posh garlic mushrooms on toast, their famous polenta chips, and funky chips. All were delicious and definitely an indicator of the high quality of our dinner. We also had two bottles of wine, which paired well with the delicious meal.

Posh garlic mushrooms on toast

For the main dishes, we split into pairs so that one would order a pasta while the other a main dish. I paired with the prof, and we ordered the veal flash steak and seafood bucatini. The veal flash steak was perfect: the meat was thin and flavorful, and the lemon and tomato added a sweet sourness to the rich and savory meat. Who would've thought tomato and steak would go so well together?

Veal flash steak

The seafood bucatini was also highly delicious. According to the menu, it is "tubular spaghettini steamed in a bag with crab, mussels, clams, squid, scallops, capers, chilli, garlic, white wine, and juicy sweet tomatoes." If that doesn't sound delicious, then I don't know what does. The tubular spaghettini was wonderful; I don't know who invented it, but it is deliciously chewy and holds flavor very well. The seafood was also tasty. I found myself slowly tasting each one to capture the rich flavors. Even the sauce was delicious, because it was sweet and slightly savory, and complemented the seafood and flavored the spaghettini oh too well. The seafood bucatini was definitely the best pasta I've ever had!

Seafood bucatini

Fine dining w/ the lab. One of my best dinners in Singapore!

After we finished our main dishes, we ordered desserts. I had the chocolate and vin santo pot, which is a cup of dark chocolate mousse topped with ice-cream. The dark chocolate was very thick and creamy, and it paired well with the sweet ice-cream. I found the ice-cream to have an interesting taste-- it was sweetened by a hint of alcohol, and because I'm not too fond of alcohol, I only had small bits of it alongside each scoop of dark chocolate. The biscotti was the perfect finish to the strong-tasting dessert.

Chocolate & vin santo pot

The meal was an expensive one ($792), but it was definitely one of the best I had in Singapore. Overall, it was a night spent in wonderful company and the perfect conclusion of my internship with them.

Group photo

I was particularly sad about leaving Jianxiang, the quirky postdoctoral fellow I work with. He has been very supportive and understanding throughout my entire internship: he would frequently urge me to take a rest and to not worry, and whenever I had to miss work due to illness, he understood and cared. He was definitely more than a professional supervisor and instead stepped in as a friend. I am saddened that I will not see him again in the coming years, but he suggested that I visit Singapore every year for two months so his English would become flawless (plus, he obviously wants to see me.) Goodbyes are difficult, especially when they span across continents. I will miss everyone dearly and treasure my experiences at NCCS.

Me and Jianxiang. I will miss you!

Goodbye Jianxiang. Goodbye Bek Chai Heah Laboratory of Cancer Genomics. Goodbye National Cancer Centre Singapore. And as of Friday morning, I will have to say goodbye Singapore.

Yes, goodbyes are definitely the most difficult.

Singapore: Day 60

Today, I missed my alarm and overslept until about 10:20 AM. Two months of sleep deprivation have definitey worn me down, and I can't wait to go home and finally hibernate. While I was walking to the Kent Ridge MRT station, I couldn't resist my craving for Mr. Bean; whoever put Mr. Bean next to the MRT station is very clever, because whenever I am near the Kent Ridge MRT I am always tempted to make a quick stop at this delicious soya dessert store. I ordered my usual warm 25% sugar soya milk and tried the cheese pancake. As usual, it was delicious! I don't know how I am going to survive in the U.S. without soya milk and pancakes, especially since I eat them so frequently in Singapore. 

Cheese pancake and soya milk

 I arrived into lab in the afternoon, and quickly picked up my project. I ran a gel for the two genes that I left in the PCR machine yesterday as well as ran PCR for two more genes. I only need to run one more gel tomorrow, and I will be done with my project at last! I worked efficiently and quickly, such that I finished all that I needed to do that day by 4 PM. As a result, I left work early to explore Tanjong Pagar. Ever since last night, I have been craving the Pad Thai Jessica had for dinner; the egg prata also did not fulfill my craving for murtabek, so I wanted to actually eat mutton murtabek. That is why, at 5 PM, I found myself at Amoy Street Food Centre eating another huge feast.

Amoy Street Food Centre during the day

Pad Thai and mutton murtabek

The meal was very delicious, because I was able to satisfy my craving for Thai food and Indian food simultaneously. It is rare that I have cravings for two very different foods, and I was immensely happy that I was able to fulfill both. I quickly ate the food and shortly began my explorations of Tanjong Pagar afterward. 

Tanjong Pagar was one of those places that just resonated with me. I am not sure why, but sometimes a place just feels like home and we can't explain it. I felt this way with Chinatown as well, but I had the chance to explore Chinatown and now was my opportunity to explore Tanjong Pagar. I first went to the Red Dot Museum only to find it closed until August 2 (the day I leave Singapore, sadly); however, the receptionist gave me a "Design Map" that pointed out many stores in the area that featured creativity and design. I made it my goal to find the Little Drom Store. Here are some shots from my journey to find the store. I was lost on multiple occasions, which gave me the perfect opportunity to explore the area.

Thian Hock Keng Temple

Statues detailing Chinese processions

Ann Siang Road

Finally found you!

The interior of the store. Such a cute find!

At the Little Drom Store, I purchased a pair of hand-made owl earrings as a commemoration of my journey. It was fun exploring Singapore with friends, but I wish I had more independent journeys like the one I had today. Perhaps I like being by myself, but there is nothing like getting lost with a map.

After my explorations, I returned to PGP, took a quick shower, and headed to Holland Village for dinner with Luke, a graduate student I recently met. We ate at Cha Cha Cha Mexican Restaurant, and I ordered the Enchiladas de espinaca y papa. The food was pretty good, considering that it is Mexican food in Singapore. It was not comparable to the Mexican food in California, but it fulfilled my cravings for Latino food. 

Enchiladas de espinaca y papa (sorry for the poor image quality)

 Afterwards, we went for dessert at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, which is an Asian chain store similar to Starbucks. I ordered the raspberry cheesecake, which was overpriced at $5.80 and at best decent. As a baker of cheesecakes, I am quite critical about what a good cheesecake is, and this one was definitely too thick and dry. However, like the Mexican food, it satisfied my cravings for Western desserts.

Raspberry cheesecake

Looking into the distance

After our dessert stop, we made our way back to PGP and separated ways. It was an interesting encounter with Luke, to say the least. When I returned to my room, I showered and continued working on my blog until the AM.

Singapore: Day 59

Today, I stayed up working on my blog until 3 AM, and as a result, I missed my alarm. I originally planned to wake up at 7 AM so that I could prepare for my SASE West Regional call at 8 AM. Thankfully I woke up a few minutes before 8 AM and did not miss the call completely; however my laptop froze on me (I had too many tabs open for the blog) and I entered the call late, much to my chagrin. The call gathered the presidents from the SASE chapters of the West Region, and it was interesting to finally meet everyone. We discussed general updates, the National SASE Conference, expectations of us, etc. and the call ended shortly after 9 AM. I then had a call with Jesmin, our SASE Vice President, so that we could discuss the direction of our SASE chapter while filling out the transition survey from National SASE. Both of us are still inexperienced and have much to learn as SASE leaders, but I am sure that we will make an effective team and improve our Berkeley chapter. I ended up talking to Jesmin for more than 3 hours; it was a great bonding experience, and I look forward to getting to know her better. The SASE calls were the perfect way for me to return to reality and transition into the Berkeley environment. I have so much to return to (SASE, UCSF interview, Cal Camp, etc.) and I cannot afford to be weak right now.

I already contacted Jianxiang about coming into lab later because of the calls, so I made my way to lab after a quick shower. While waiting for the MRT, I scheduled appointments for a haircut and manicure/pedicure on Thursday. Laney and James received haircuts from Shunji Matsuo at Holland Village, and because I liked both their haircuts, I decided to schedule an appointment at the same venue. This haircut holds a certain significance to me: I am planning to chop off my long hair for a short cut. I've always wanted to try short hair, but have been too afraid to. However, my experiences in Singapore (I will talk about them in a concluding post) have changed me in that I am no longer afraid to make this leap.

In lab today, I was able to analyze the data with Jianxiang and determine which experiments I needed to repeat. I had six genes whose results were strange, so I repeated my experiments with those genes but with slight moderations to the temperature and the number of cycles (this was to support specific binding)  I ran PCR and a gel for two genes as well as completed PCR for two more genes. By this time, it was 7 PM and I was late to my dinner with Jessica. We had planned to meet at the Tajong Pagar MRT station and head to dinner at Amoy Street (a recommended hawker centre I found online.) After I arrived half an hour later and apologized for my lateness, we walked over to the two-story food centre.

Amoy Street Food Centre

 I ordered the ipoh hor fun ($3) and egg prata ($1.40) for dinner. I wanted to have mutton murtabek again before I left Singapore, but because the Muslim stall did not have it anymore, I settled for the egg prata. Jessica ordered a delicious looking Pad Thai from the Thai food stall. The meal was very delicious, especially the ipoh hor fun. I loved the rich flavors and the sweetness of the dish! The egg prata was a bit disappointing, but it satisfied some of my craving for Indian food.

Ipoh hor fun

My feast of a dinner!

After we ate, we went onto the MRT and separated ways. It was a lonely train ride back home, because for the first time, I felt truly alone in this foreign country. These past few days have allowed me to question what "home" means as well as question myself about what home means to me. I will share my conclusions soon! At the Kent Ridge station, I stopped by Mr. Bean and bought a mocha red bean cake. You would think that I'd be full, but I made room in my stomach to try this lovely dessert. I've been meaning to try the cakes at Mr. Bean, and this was the perfect opportunity to. The cake was an interesting one; it was a mix of the West and the East. The cake was prepared in a Western style, but the layers of red bean and the green tea flavor made it Eastern. The first few bites tasted a bit strange, but eventually the cake tasted delicious.

Perhaps I should have noted that I ate this cake at the PGP lounge, because I planned to continue working on my blog in the lounge. I moved in between rooms in search for a quiet space. Eventually I found one next to the laundry room. During this time, I met the other student in the study room (I randomly asked her where I could buy food at 11 PM, after seeing her with two boxes of pizza); apparently she attends university in Canada and has been working in a lab on campus for the past three months. It's very interesting the diverse people you meet while abroad and how kind they are, as she gave me a slice of her pizza and even offered me more. After conversing for a while, we returned to our respective workloads: I went back to working on my blog and catching up on the 30+ posts I must update, while she worked on her lab presentation the next day. I want to completely update my blog by the time I leave Singapore so that I can analyze my experiences, reach a conclusion, and move on. Hopefully I can do so!

Singapore: Day 58

On Sunday, I tried to sleep in but was unsuccessful. Perhaps it is because of the move to the new room. I woke up around 10 AM and ate the black sesame bun I purchased last night as well as finished my box of longan. This was enough to fuel me through my morning of blogging. I resolved to finish my blog as soon as possible, and spent the day creating first drafts for over 30 entries. Eventually, I became hungry and decided to move to the PGP canteen to do work and eat. I am quite fond of the Vietnamese stall in the canteen, because I have cravings for Vietnamese food often and their stall does not scar me. I ordered pho, which was thankfully almost similar to the pho back home.

Pho

After working in the PGP lounge for a few hours, Nelson texted me about dinner. He was eating in the other canteen, and I went to join him. I ordered the pickled shredded pork noodle from Taipei Delights. I am also very fond of this stall, because they have delicious soup noodles.

Pickled shredded pork noodle

 Nelson and I talked about how strange it was that the Berkeley group was no longer at PGP among many things. Eventually we separated ways, he to badminton while I to my blog. It was going to be a long night, but I was determined.

Singapore: Day 57

I spent most of early morning talking and packing with James, so by the time we separated ways it was 6:45 AM. I woke up again at around 8:30 AM to shower and pack. We had to check out of our current rooms by 10 AM, and in my case, I needed to check out and move into my new room. Because I extended my stay in Singapore for a week past the end of the program, I needed a room to stay in and the best I could find was a non-air conditioned single room for $20 SGD per night. While I was packing, I lost track of time and missed my goodbyes with Emily, Angelo and James. I was only two minutes late, which greatly saddened me. I said my farewell to James earlier this morning, but I did so nonchalantly because I thought I would see him again in a few hours and give him a real goodbye then. What truly saddened me was not being able to see Emily and Angelo, because they both graduated and I will not see them around the Berkeley campus. Emily will be working at UCSD for two years, while Angelo will be searching for employment and working as well. I hope that I did not miss my last chance to see them and that I will see them again in the states.

I went downstairs to the Fire Command Centre to receive my new set of keys. Because I was a bit down, I wandered into the lounge and spent time with Michael, Kate and Annette. It was sad seeing people trickle in and out and saying our goodbyes. Michael, Grace, and Allison left for Bangkok around the afternoon, and that left me, Kate, and Annette in the lounge. Eventually, I returned to packing and moving my luggages into my new room. It was a strenuous process because I had so much to carry (I can't imagine how terrible it'll be when I finish packing for my flight) and my new room was quite a distance away from my current one. Before I left, I took a couple of shots of my room at Block 5, Level 5, Room N as well as the general block.

The room was a mess because I was packing

The kitchen

The hallway. My and Emily's rooms are on the right.

The view from the 5th floor. We usually walked down that hill on our way home.

View from the elevator area

I spent two months in this room, so I was a bit sad to leave (I was more sad that I was leaving my precious air-conditioner and private bathroom.) After I finished moving into my new room, I webcammed with Emmie. I definitely miss her so much, and I can't wait to see her again when I go back to the states!

At 5 PM, I met up with Richard, who had arrived in Singapore earlier in the day. I became acquainted with Richard through the 2013 SASE West Regional Conference at UCSD, and he is studying abroad in Singapore for a year! After finding out that he had recently landed in Singapore, I messaged him so that we could spend time together before I had to leave. He wanted to go to Maxwell Food Centre for dinner and explore the Marina Bay Sands, so we did exactly that. At Maxwell, I ordered sliced fish bee hoon from Jin Hua. I have had fish soup before at Chinese restaurants in the states, but I never had it with noodles. It was sweet and rich in flavor, and very delicious. Maxwell definitely has the most amazing Chinese food! For dessert, I ordered a soya bean curd. Ever since I tried Michael's strawberry bean-curd on Thursday, I've been wanting to order one of my own. I chose the mango flavor, and it was good but the mango and soya flavors were not too compatible.

Sliced fish bee hoon

Mango flavored soya bean curd

Afterwards, we headed to the Marina Bay area. We were surprised by the fireworks showcase and the water and light show. Across the bay was something like a concert, because the arena was filled with people and cheering; I suspect that it is a celebration for Singapore's National Day, which is coming up on August 8. The fireworks were beautiful (sorry that my pictures do not capture the beauty of it, I was too busy gawking at them) because of the design and colors. It was not powerful, like how Americans would blast a large number a fireworks, but instead it was well-designed and elegant. Shortly after the fireworks, Marina Bay Sands had their light and water show. I have been meaning to see the show, because I missed it when I had my Gilman dinner and the others explored the Marina Bay without me. I'm definitely glad that I was able to see it before I left Singapore.

Fireworks!

Light & water show from Marina Bay Sands

Richard and I in front of the beautiful view

 After the light shows, we explored the mall a bit and finally headed outside to walk on the Helix Bridge and venture into Gardens by the Bay. I have to admit that it felt strange exploring Singapore without the Balongongs, because after all they have a strong presence in my Singapore experiences. However I have a few days to myself so I will be able to independently explore this country and not have experiences defined by others.

The Helix Bridge

Gardens by the Bay

Marina Bay Sands

By the time we got back to PGP, it was midnight. I was extremely tired at this point, because I only had little more than an hour of sleep last night. I showered and then went to bed at 2 AM.

Singapore: Day 56

Our time is winding down. Laney left tonight, and Emily, James, and Angelo are leaving on Saturday morning. We met in the afternoon for Korean BBQ in Chinatown. It was only $16 for an all-you-can-eat buffet. The restaurant had many kinds of meats and various Korean dishes (kimchi, japchae, etc.) The food wasn't authentically Korean, but it satisfied my craving for spicy rice cakes and kimchi.

Buffet style KBBQ

Our table of food

After eating, we walked around in search of a herb store. James needed to buy ointments for his mother, and Laney and I followed along by buying the same ointment. We also visited Fairprice to buy last-minute souvenirs. I purchased kaya, bak kut teh spices, laksa spices, dragonfruit, and longan. A kind Singaporean picked out dragonfruit for me when I asked her how to pick our dragonfruit (you'd expect me to know this after eating a dozen of them.) I thanked her, and left for the spice aisle. About 5 minutes later, I saw her walking toward me with another dragonfruit; apparently she had found a better one and wanted to give it to me. I was extremely touched by her kindness.

When we were finished shopping at Fairprice, we split ways. Laney and Emily wanted to continue shopping, while Nelson, James, Angelo, and I returned to PGP. We were all quite tired at this point (the fact that we stayed up to share affirmations only made it worse), and James and Angelo fell asleep on the MRT ride.

Nelson posing with the sleeping beauty

A sleeping James

When we got back to PGP, we rested a bit and then prepared for the Annual Dinner with the Berkeley Club of Singapore. The dinner was held at the Four Seasons, a high-end hotel in Orchard. A group of us met at 6:30 PM to take the taxi there, and thankfully we bumped into Laney and had a chance to say goodbye before her flight. We separated into two taxis, and after a bit of traffic, we finally arrived at the Four Seasons an hour later.

The dinner started at 8, so we mingled with the alumni in the lobby. It was definitely an interesting experience, because we were connecting with other Cal students in a location far away from Cal. It was also interesting learning about why the alumni were in Singapore and whether or not they liked living in Singapore.

We started off the night with a brief game. The president of the Berkeley Club called all the current Cal students onto the stage for a trivia about Singlish; the prize was an iPad. The president named several words which none of us knew (shameful, I know, considering that we lived in Singapore for two months). Some of us took painful guesses, but Kate took home the prize when she made a couple of lucky and clever guesses. However, the boxed Apple product turned out to be a hoax: inside was literally an apple!

The game was very fun, and afterwards, we returned to our respective seats and began our dinner. The dinner was definitely a new experience, because I never had such an elegant meal before. The portions were very small, and surprisingly the food wasn't that distinctive.

Beef Carpaccio with Tomato Basil Fondue, Arugula, and Pecorino Cheese

Cosmopolitan Granite

Pan Roasted Cod Fish Mediterranean with Charred Vegetables, Herb Oil

Warm Chocolate Cake with Spiced Ice Cream and Orange Tuiles

I sat with two couples and their children. I spoke the most with Eric, who graduated as a rhetoric major from Cal and is now an investment analyst at Fidelity Investments. I asked him questions about relocating to Asia, because after my study abroad experience I was interested in living and working abroad. Towards the end of the dinner, he connected me with Alice, who is a Health Economics and Market Access Manager at Johnson & Johnson. I spoke with Alice for a long time about science in Asia, and she suggested that I stay in the United States for graduate school and research. Asian R&D are focused on making affordable products for the Asian markets, while the U.S. houses the original R&D headquarters and thus produce more competitive research and goods. Alice also said the name of an American university will carry me further than an Asian university, so I should stay in the U.S. for graduate school. This conversation disappointed me, because I was hoping to return to Asia in a nearer future, but I directed the conversation toward research after my PhD and Singapore's health care system (after all, I may be pursing a MD/PhD route). Alice couldn't help me with these topics and suggested that I speak with two of her colleagues, Julian and another manager in the health care field. From these two men, I learned that Singapore's healthcare system is very well-off and that doctors earn very high salaries. This is hopeful in the case that I return to Asia as a MD/PhD; I can either become a doctor or start my own research lab. The possibilities are endless with an American degree, but I do worry that the research won't be cutting-edge research. I asked for the cards of those I spoke with so I could contact them with additional questions. The dinner was definitely a great learning experience.

Group table photo

After the dinner and profuse networking, the alumni brought us to Walbar, a Korean bar in Tanjong Pagar. Emily, James, and Jessica had dinner with Laney earlier to send her off, and joined us at the bar. The alumni purchased several bottles of soju as well as dishes of food. The night was actually quite fun, probably because I drank the most I've ever had. I don't remember the exact number of soju shots I had, but I do remember being inebriated to the point of falling asleep on Michael's and James' shoulders. The alumni were quite adamant about us drinking, and I found that amusing because I would expect working professionals to be more responsible. At the end of the night, the bill came out to be $3600! Thankfully we didn't have to pay for this immense bill.

Group photo!

 We returned to PGP around 3:30 AM, and I quickly showered and changed into more comfortable clothes. James had to do his laundry before his afternoon flight to Hong Kong, so I spent time with him in the lounge while he waited for his laundry. We ended up talking until almost 7 AM (don't worry, we were productive and packed whilst conversing). It was an interesting bonding experience and possibly one of the best conversations I've had in Singapore.