비밀

지금 무슨말하고싶어?

나도 몰라요. 사실은 너랑함게 자주 행복해.때때로 무서워.

어제 내 손을 잡았어. 너무 깜짝놀랐어.

왜 작은것 때문에 화났어? 이유를 말해봐.

예기 많이 하고싶지만 할수없어요. 어떻게 말해?

Too tired to think of what to say in Korean, so English it is then.

And what would you have thought of me if I said that?

And I said things out of impulse, but it's too late to take them back. There were many things I wanted to ask, wanted to know, but I held myself back. For fear of seeming too concerned, overly concerned or seeming too eager. On hindsight, you shouldn't have judged me as well because you don't know much of me, and you don't know what I had been through. You don't even know the buckets of tears I shed in the past.

As much as I admit that I was wrong in the past to a large extent and I know that I was and certainly didn't need a reminder of the past or your analysis of what you think really happened. Really, did you think you knew me that well to judge me on what I did? I was really appalled at how you linked the things I told you, which wasn't even complete. Intentionally omitted some parts which I was not comfortable with saying and suddenly you just drew your own conclusions. If this was what you learnt then that's too bad. Don't think I'm what you think I am, but if you want to think that way based on what you heard in 5 minutes then good riddance. It's your loss (okay I sound a little arrogant here). I admit that I am judgemental at times but at least I know not to judge when I don't even know the entire story. Old wounds shouldn't have been dredged up. But it was, last night.

And you say you're disappointed. What do you want me to do now? I was 19 and immature. And I can't change the past. I'm no longer the 19 year old self I described myself as, yet you judged me as if I was still the 19 year old. You had expectations, so had I. And we both have been disappointed.

In actual fact, I have so much more to say, in defend of myself maybe, to change your opinion of me maybe, but they were left unsaid. I tried to explain but you refused to listen.

I can understand if you don't want to see me again or you think I'm a vermin or whatever it is. Just say it. Just say that word; goodbye.

The more I think of it, the more I feel like I wasted my time. Time built up my expectations and it all collapsed in a matter of a day. Can't help but feel a little cheated and disappointed. But that is how life is, right? What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. And I believe I have gotten stronger and learnt more things. I thought maybe this would change my opinion on some reservations I had, but no, it strengthened my convictions even more.

From yesterday's Girlfriends in God. So applicable to me for my situation yesterday. I actually read it before the incident happened and was already touched by it, but reading it again, I realise now what God was trying to tell me: 


'I know you don't understand why a loving God would allow so much pain to saturate this broken world and perpetuate such loss and hurt. I don't either. But God's ways are so much higher than my ways, and His thoughts are for my eternal good – not my temporary comfort. I am banking on eternity. I am counting on the character of God and His heart of unconditional, unmerited and undeserved love. God's forgiveness gives me the strength to get out of bed each morning, and His peace is my comfort in the dark, lonely night. Like you, I sometimes ask God why He has allowed a circumstance to exist. I have questioned His favor and allowed fear and worry to make me doubt His plan. And I have to tell you that I can now look back and see so many of the question marks yanked into exclamation points in my life. I am so thankful that He said "no" to so many of the prayers I desperately wanted Him to answer with "yes." He is God. He is able and He is more than enough.No matter where you are today, know He is with you and that His heart is for you. Don't quit. He is not angry with you. You are His daughter, the apple of His eye and His cherished child. Don't give up. Right now, surrender all of your pain to Him. Shed your tears, knowing He will collect them all and one day pour them back into your life as a refreshing rain of restoration and healing. Keep going. Ask your questions, knowing Heaven is not in a panic and that your God really is who He says He is and will do what He has promised to do. He simply waits for you to trust Him.' 


Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take" (NLT).


Still, thanks for the memories. I had a good time, and I experienced how it felt to have someone looking only at me, giving me the greatest attention I never had before, though I felt so shy most of the time I couldn't look back at all. While it lasted, it was good.

I have a sudden selfish thought. What if that question was never asked? What if I didn't say what I did? What if you never judged me? So many 'what-if's. But I'm sure this is the best it can get. Because whatever happens is the only thing that could have. This is a quote I got from somewhere, and I find it really meaningful because I shouldn't be wishing for this and wishing for that.

'Sometimes you will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory'

'Don't judge me by my past. I don't live there anymore.'

'Have you ever wondered which hurts the most: Saying something and wishing you had not, or saying nothing, and wishing you had?'

On a random note, I know we can't always have happiness but if two people are willing to brave the bitterness and sadness they would eventually get the happiness. It can't always be smiles and rainbows all day. Rain does come eventually. So I feel what matters is the mindset. If one treats the rain as an reason to leave while the other treats the rain as an reason to play in together, these two will never work it out. I think two people must have the same mindset. 


So that's all, my little lesson from a very smart person. I will be okay tomorrow. I'm not okay now, but I will be tomorrow. 사만다 화이팅! 할수있게!

Day 2!

On day 2, the first place we went to was Sungkyunkwan University (Hyehwa Station exit 4 - Line 4). I was quite interested in visiting this place because of Micky's drama. Okay but they didn't film the drama there. It was actually filmed at some korean folk village. But I was still interested in looking at the oldest university, since the Joseon period? Haha I watch too many dramas. It was actually quite difficult to find it because there were no signs telling us which direction to go in. We relied on the map in the guide but was kind of walking aimlessly. I honestly was not even sure if we were in the right direction. All I had was the road name: Sungkyunkwan road. Throughout the entire trip I was always holding the 2 guidebooks, be it to look at the subway map or the road. Though the idea of free and easy sounded very attractive. No following tours and doing everything whenever you want. But it was really tiring, having to constantly look to check we weren't lost. Maybe I just have a bad sense of direction, so thankfully my brother had a good sense which helped. 

Typical tourist pose with my guidebook

Was really on the verge of giving up and walking back and going to somewhere else and then I stumbled upon this! So we reached the university. It looked really modern so I wondered where the old buildings were. 

Kept seeing the old buildings but the signs were all 'Do not enter'. So I got really bored and disappointed because I really wanted to look at the old buildings! Until we found the entrance to the 'conserved'(?) section. We really almost left because we felt so out of place with some of the students being in a rush to get to school. But thinking about it now, it was a Sunday.-.-

I think these were the rooms the students slept and studied in. Very much like hall. It was really really small. I think only one person can live in it, maybe at most two people. Nothing much to say about these photos, except that I really  like these old buildings. And I wonder how students learnt in the past, sitting on the floor and listening to the lecturer talk about the analects. Really can't imagine myself in those days when education was only for the males, at least that was true in Korea in the past. Haha then we wouldn't need to study! But what would I do all day? Learn embroidery, probably..

When they still used chinese characters

Very few photos with my face because they're mostly selcas and I didn't look nice): 

One of the rare nicer ones with my brother!

This massive tree is so huge

It needed stilts to hold its branches

Then it was time for some food! Spotted Jaws ddeokbokki so I bought it because my friend told me it was nice. Cute and hygienic packaging considering it was a streetside shop and I ordered take-out. This was not lunch, just a snack. Didn't actually want to eat so much because I didn't want to gain weight, but I still bought it in the end. Didn't have to finish the entire thing on my own because my mum and brother helped me to eat some of it. About S$3 for this portion. In Singapore you just get a small container with about 3 pieces of rice cakes and some kimchi for the same price. So I might not buy from the Dongdaemun shop anymore! I'll just make them myself!:D

Song Joong Ki and Yoo Ah In! 

Our next stop was Dongdaemun to do some shopping! We wanted to look for the Dongdaemun market but we couldn't find it! Followed the map and walked in the right direction but we really couldn't find it at all. Asked some people for directions but they didn't know as well. So we decided to have lunch first.

Passed by this really really long stream. 

This was cheonggyecheon stream. Apparently if you just walk along this stream you can get to many places, it's like the subway, just walking instead.

Settled for lunch at a restaurant that served only chicken. In Korea there are no restaurants that serve everything that I like, since they specialise. Like some serve just meat, like the BBQ type, and some serve the cooked food like stews. So deciding what food to eat was actually quite a difficult decision every meal. Because I can't understand everything on the menu though I can read them, we usually need to ask the shopkeepers what they have, again in my limited Korean. We thought it would taste quite good because there were quite a few photos outside the shop which showed dramas being fimed there. So lunch was really one whole chicken in a metal basin. And the chicken was raw! The ajumma cut the chicken up just in front of us. I had my doubts about the taste initially. But it tasted really good! There were rice cakes and potatoes inside. And after we finished the chicken they added noodles in for us. I think they like their noodles soggy because the shopkeeper kept telling us to leave it in for a longer period of time when it was clearly already cooked. The sauce made by the shopkeeper was really awesome. Too bad I didn't notice what he used, because he mixed the sauce in front of us. I can only remember mustard was one of the ingredients. Really really awesome though!

The awesome sauce, wish I could have some right now

Kimchi!

Literally translates to "One chicken"

So after some shopping in Dongdaemun, we headed to Jongmyo shrine (Jongno-3-ga station, Exit 8). We were really lucky because we reached the shrine at about 15 minutes to 4, and the last guided tour in English was at 4. Imagine if we reached there past 4. Wouldn't be able to enter and would have made a wasted trip. It was quite educational because the guide explained quite a bit about why the shrine was built and all. Beats just entering and taking photos of the scenery and buildings.

Stuff used in the worship. 

All the doors to the tablets were closed. The doors open only once a year. But it's opening again in the last week of November this year. So you can catch it if you want(:

The area around Jongno-3-ga station. Saw many Koreans drinking soju at this hour (5 plus in the evening) and some even got drunk already. 

We left for Myeong-dong! Dinner at one of the 'tourist traps'? I say that because the workers there are Chinese, most likely from China. And when asked to recommend stuff, they had to recommend the most expensive item. Didn't really like their service but the food was quite good. Had our first meal of barbeque meat. We had one slice of pork and one slice of beef. And a beef set meal which was cheaper.

This piece of beef cost us 30,000 won. Most expensive piece of meat ever.
But I admit that the marbling was good!

The beef set which tasted really good as well.

At myeong dong, the only thing I bought was beauty products. Spent my entire time at Nature Republic and Tony Moly. Spent about a quarter of my money in those 2 shops combined omg. Haha so heart-pain to have spent so much. But I just kept telling myself that it's worth it because their products are good (at least for me) and are very overpriced here in Singapore. Just the Tony Moly tomatox cost $26 in Singapore, and in Korea it was selling for about $10. So you can tell how much they mark up the prices. Bought quite a few of the snail masks, which are quite the rage right now. Tried a piece this week and it was really good! Not regretting it at all.

With Jang Geun Suk (Oppa?). HAHA!

Baby steps

"난 더 가까이 갈수록 어쩐지 두려워져 네가 멀러질까


난 더 가까이 갈수록 어쩐지 두려워져"


이 노래가 너무 너무 좋아해요. 내가 말하고싶은 것을 다 있어요. 


요즘 너무 깜짝 놀랐고 많이 슬퍼요. 좀 이상하고 좋아해. 


제 마음이 지금 혼동해요. 


우리 지금 친구입니까? 무슨 친구?


내가 천천히 너에게 걷고싶지만 너 지금 저에게 빨리 멀게 걸어요. 


난 지금 어떻게?? 진짜 모르겠어. 


말해봐아아아아아아아아아아아아....


진심입니까? 
So many grammatical errors but since no one who knows how to read Korean reads my blog, it's okay I guess..

Faith, renewed

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28 (NIV)


My favourite book from the bible: Jeremiah: "'Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. And I will lead you back from captivity.'" (Jeremiah 29:13-14 NIV)


God is good.

So troubled lately and these timely reminders help me to tide through the difficult times.

If I can't lose what I never had, why am I so afraid?

Adage

Just wondering why people always tend to pick on me because of the things I don't do. It's not like I make mistakes very often or I display my character flaw everyday. But people only see the faults, or in particular, my faults and choose to amplify them such that it becomes a major character flaw like immature, don't know how to think. It makes me feel so upset that people closest to me think this bad of me. And this hurts the most. I know that these criticisms come because they want me to change, but it can never be pleasant to listen to them.

And why not focus on the things I do, and praise me for it? It's not that I do things for the sake of being praised, but just some encouragement. Is that too much to ask?

I think we need to give encouragement more often instead of criticism. No one is perfect and no one will ever be, so why should we not accept people for who they are? I don't think I'm that bad a person that I need to change drastically.

Korea!

So after much procrastination I'm here to blog about my Korea trip! Since I didn't write much in my diary because I was so busy and tired every night in Korea. This shall serve as a diary for myself too:D

Day 1: 26th May

After 2 flights, we finally reached Korea. We transited in Hong Kong because that way, the air tickets would be cheaper so that translates into more money to spend. But I was so tired after the flights though. Boarded the plane at 1:15am and couldn't sleep at all. The chair was quite uncomfortable and hard. Reached Hong Kong at about 5am and slept at the airport till about 7 or 8 before the flight at 9am. So I actually only slept 2 or 3 hours for the entire night. But! When I reached Korea I was so full of energy because I was just so excited! I didn't tell this to anyone, though I always assured my mum that we would be fine but actually I was really secretly scared of taking the subway, not really scared but afraid that we would get lost or something since we didn't know how to buy the tickets and all. It was quite scary, after I looked at the machine and there was no way to buy tickets to Hongdae (where my guesthouse was located). And because my Korean language skills was so lousy. Eventually we found the correct machine so it was all good. Upon reaching Hongdae, there were more challenges. Couldn't find the correct exit to get out from and then we panicked, trying to ask other people but obviously they didn't know where pencil guesthouse was located. But we took a chance and exited from a random exit and it was the right one. The next part was looking for the guesthouse. I watched the video that guided us to the guesthouse so it was quite okay! I think I would be able to remember if I were to stay there again.
The guesthouse was quite small, but self-sufficient I would say. There was a washing machine, stove, refrigerator, television. Like a house in we got married! Haha!

So by the time we reached the guesthouse and finished unpacking and changed into shorts because the weather was not as cold as I expected it to be, it was almost time for dinner. The weather was awesome by the way! Can't really remember the exact temperature, but it was like natural air con. And I didn't really wear my jacket. Settled for a small homely restaurant near the guesthouse. This was what I had! Spicy beef soup. It's called Yukgaejang, something I never tried before. The spiciest soup I had in Korea, but the soup was really really good! Was quite determined to eat a lot of beef in Korea since they're known for that and I did! Almost all my meals had beef in them, though I seldom eat beef in Singapore.

Copied the pose but my left hand was in the wrong position

Stealing their card

Then after dinner we headed to Trick Eye Museum (Hongdae station exit 9)! Found it with some help from the help centre. It was quite a small museum and the admission fees was quite expensive as well. I think about $17 per person. And we only stayed there for a short time because well, my family didn't really fancy taking photos. That explains why I have so few photos. It was still fun though! Although the photos didn't capture the sights I saw. Damn sad that the entire pictures/paintings weren't captured!! I would visit this museum again if I visit Korea again! Hehe. Didn't do much on the first night because we just walked around Hongdae. It was really crowded because it was a Saturday night. I liked observing how the Koreans dress because they put in quite a bit of effort into dressing up. I was the only one in slippers on the subway everywhere I went. Quite a different sight from what I see in Singapore.

Favourite!

Soju which I'm never ever drinking again. 

So I said I was going to eat all the food I blogged about in my earlier post. That's the first! Deokbokki! I always cannot finish it though it's a portion for one. The green bottles are bottles of soju. Omg I cannot imagine why people like drinking it. I guess it's just me, who has never had much alcohol before. Had just a little mouthful of it and I really disliked it. But I had to finish the entire bottle within 7 days. I think it was the first time I got dizzy from drinking alcohol.

Visited Tony Moly as well, my favourite beauty brand. Didn't buy much on the first day except for the stuff my friend told me to get for her.

So that's all for day one. I'll do day two soon!

Just a little, okay a little would be an understatement. Rather annoyed that some people don't know how to take a hint. In this case I'm referring to people I have never talked to in person or people I know from modules. If I take very long to reply you, or when I don't even reply you, you should know that I don't wish to talk to you! Why do you keep on texting me!My mistake was giving you my number which I regret very much!
I'm so frustrated! It would be rude of me to ignore you but it annoys me even more if I reply you. Sheesh what am I to do??


And you, why do you keep giving me surprises when I least expect it? And then you disappear, only to appear again with another surprise. I don't know what to expect and I don't know how to respond to you. I don't know how important I am to you. How did you and who are you to affect me this much. If these are just tricks under your sleeve, don't waste my time. In a very big state of confusion now. If you're going to appear before me again, I hope you don't disappear once more.But if you're not going to, then oh well. It was just meant to be like this.

어떻게?

How does anyone feel when they receive compliments? I mean I definitely feel flattered and secretly happy inside. But how should I react to it? Smile and thank them for it? Or ignore them and feign ignorance? Something to think about since I rarely receive compliments and I really don't know how to react to them. I guess I'll just end up secretly happy and then look awkward. It's a good thing not all of them are told to me face to face.

Module reviews part 2

So I shall do my last 2 reviews on LSM 3224 and LSM3212. Funny how I preferred Cardio but ended up doing better for Molecular basis of human diseases. But oh well, things just don't go the way we want them to, right?

LSM3224: Molecular Basis of human diseases

Hmm this module really started off very badly, because of the change in lecturer and the order of the lectures as well, so the first part was covered by Dr Wong BS. He covered atherosclerosis, diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome. So he kind of expects us to know everything like things from immunology such as flow cytometry, blotting (western/southern/northern) because they are used in experimental procedures, and a lot more things that he will say 'I assume all of you know..', which we clearly do not know at all. So I guess I didn't learn much from the lectures. Instead I read the lecture notes many times but guess it didn't really help as well, since he tends to test application based questions like data analysis. So better to just know the concepts. Not much need to memorise. 

Prof Sharma covered muscle diseases. Well I guess she's rather good but I was confused reading the notes because almost all the diseases involved ROS and myostatin. She also tends to test some application questions so better to know the concepts. Both these profs' questions were short essay questions so it was quite difficult to study. 

And the last part of the module was my favourite! Guess what it is... It's cancer! Hahaha okay I sound so full of nonsense and a sadist. So yes, it was covered by Prof Yeong FM, my favourite lecturer, because she is really good. I won't go into detail about how good she is, but her notes were the easiest to study and her explanation was really clear and she really takes the effort to make sure that you understand. Okay and my liking for this part was partially fuelled by LSM4243 since it is all about tumor biology. Didn't study much for this part of the module because I already knew the basics like tumor suppressors such as P53 and oncogenes such as myc/bcr-abl. And Prof Yeong's questions was just 5 MCQs, true false type with negative marking. Quite tricky, I would say. But she gave us an assignment as well, and that was quite difficult because it involved reading papers and coming up with your own conclusion. 

Assessment was 25% lab reports, 15% assignment and 60% final exam. I really spent a lot of time doing the lab reports, considering the high percentage of 10% each for 2 reports and 5% for the last. And I guess everyone does well for the reports so better to put in more effort for them. Lab sessions were quite enjoyable for me because I had funny bench mates so they made the incubation times less boring. 

Overall, I would recommend this module because it's rather interesting, now that it's over and I'm no longer stuck studying about sarcopenia, obesity and everything else. 

Getting lazy so I'll do Cardiopulmonary system another day(:

Module reviews for final semester

So before I start on my Korea posts, I shall do reviews for the modules I did in Year 3 sem 2 (Year 2011/2012) ! I did surprisingly okay especially when I had no confidence for so many of my papers. Shall not ramble on about how horrible they were and begin.

PL1101e: Introduction to psychology

Though I did pretty well for this module, I still wouldn't recommend anyone to take this module because it's a lot of memorising. Spent a lot of time on this module when I could have spent it on my core modules. Basically, if you still want to take this module, readings are at least 30-40 pages a week. One chapter to read and try to remember each week. And I would say reading once is not enough. For the entire semester, I think I read each chapter at least twice or trice. Don't think you can remember much if you just read it once.

And for the exams, the CA was 100 MCQs, and the CA was quite easy for a life science student like me because they tested quite a lot on biological psychology and I already knew about the autonomic and parasympathetic nervous system and the various hormones and neurotransmitters. Those parts were actually quite boring. Saw many year ones taking this module, probably because their level 1 modules were not that heavy. Hmm and I don't think lectures are necessary because they don't cover everything in that 2 hours and you are expected to know everything that are in the chapters anyway, not just stuff mentioned in the lectures. But! I think the lectures (some lecturers only) served to reinforce some concepts so I guess I didn't waste my time in going for them. Final exam was 100 MCQs and 5 essay questions. The MCQs in the final exams were more difficult compared to the CA. But no negative marking so I just guessed those I was unsure of. And essay questions are more concept based so be sure to know the theories and stuff.

Content wise, 5 aspects of psychology was covered, Biological, Social, Developmental, Abnormal and something else I can't remember. I basically only found abnormal psychology interesting. Oh and I felt that the tutorials were quite a waste of time because it is not graded at all and nothing much is covered as well. And you need to complete 6 hours of research participation, which for me was 12 psychology experiments. Again a waste of time but since I had no other module to take, I can't complain much.

Grade components: 50% final exam, 20% CA and 30% term paper. I didn't score well for the term paper which had quite a high percentage. Think I got a B which was below average. So in my opinion it didn't really matter though I was indeed quite worried that I wouldn't be able to pass it. So my advice is if you are interested in psychology, just buy the textbook and read. You will be much happier, really.

Okay and now for my other elective, FST2201

FST2201: Human nutrition

I strongly recommend this module because it was quite slack! Haha! Okay but be prepared to pay and throw all your points into this because the vacancies are very little and many people especially life sciences people will bid for it since well, food science is kind of related to life sciences. So I paid about 1700+ points for this. And indeed, it was quite worth it for the points I paid.

Content: There is only 13 sets of lecture notes and 2 lectures a week. And basically human nutrition is quite common sense, like what my friend says. She only brought her common sense into the exam. Okay I kid, you still need to read the lecture notes. But the lecture notes are very easy to understand so yes I'm really glad I took this module despite the clash in lab. Meaning that I had to miss the lecture when I have lab sessions for another module. But nothing much to be lost because I think the lecturer tests mostly what he prints in the notes and not what he says. The lecturer (Prof David Glen) was really nice because we couldn't make it for the CA (when it was during the lecture slot) but he allowed us to take it earlier. Which other lecturer will allow this! Okay I haven't met any other lecturer so I wouldn't know. But one thing to note is that the CA and final exam questions (all MCQs) were kind of weird, as in the questions were not really from the lecture notes but common sense or outside of the notes. For example, which cell cannot be regenerated when damaged. And the options were 'Brain, muscle, skin and something else'. This clearly was not taught and how is this related to nutrition??

Grade components: 60% final exam, 20% CA, 2 assignments which are 10% each. The assignments were easy like diet analysis and making of a poster.Sounds so secondary school like Home economics but quite time consuming as well.

So in conclusion, I recommend this module if you have points to spare(:

And now, for the most searched module that people come to my blog for. Okay not that many but I'll just review because I didn't see much reviews when I googled before I bid for it.

LSM4243: Tumor Biology

Okay so I bidded for this module because I was originally going to go on to Year 4 and do honours but halfway through the semester I kind of saw the light and realised that I couldn't see myself in a lab for the entire year. So I regretted taking LSM4243 for half a sem because it is going to be my elective. And who takes a level 4 module as an elective?! But I thank God for everything that He has done and who has been watching over me so that I did pretty well for it! I got a B+ for it, which was more than I could ask for.

Content: Hmm, this module was taught by 4 lecturers who I felt were pretty good, most of them at least. But do expect a lot of overlap in content because this is a tumor biology module and what the lectures cover will be just the apoptosis pathway, both intrinsic and extrinsic, the BCl2 family of pro-apoptosis and anti-apoptosis members, telomeres, telomerase, metastasis, genome instability, chromosomal translocations, caspases, tumor suppressor genes p53 and oncogenes. That's about it. No webcasts except for the last lecturer Dr Ong Siew Hwa, who webcasted her lectures so that people can re-watch them. I actually enjoyed the lectures because they were really interesting for some, and they really triggered me to think. Think: Would inhibition of telomerase be okay to cure cancer? But at the expense of shortening the lives of their future offspring. And also the effectiveness of chemotherapy drug in terms of curing cancer in the long term. Really interesting to me that I even considered doing honours project in cancer. But obviously the frightening thought of lab won the interest in cancer.

And it's a module that you can take alone (at least for my sem) because there is no group project or whatever that requires you to form groups or anything. So the foreveralones can take this module and not feel so ostracised. Okay just a joke because I was alone in the lectures as well.

No CAs for this module, but there were 3 written assignments which are given really early in the semester but you can't actually start on them early because it was on metastasis which was only taught in the last 4 weeks of the semester. At least I couldn't. The assignments are actually based on scientific papers. In a sense it's like comprehension, but at a much higher level. You need to use content from what you learn in the lectures and apply them to the questions. I did pretty well for them judging from how lousy I am at understanding the papers. I got about 70/100 for the assignment, which is good in my very humble opinion since I wasn't expecting much. Final exam was do-able because they really tested very general questions. Prof Reshma Taneja, Prof Shazib Pervaiz and Prof Ong Siew Hwa all tested very general stuff. Questions from the first 2 lecturers were quite easy but Prof Ong Siew Hwa's require you to pull everything about metastasis together, she already gave hints on what she expects and how we should answer her question, so I made mindmaps on the seed and soil hypothesis, metastasis in general and a whole load of other stuff. Her part was really quite heavy with a lot of things to remember.

Really need to comment on Prof Hande's question. I really scrapped through with some luck. Because he tested on this obscure 4 slides which he decided to add in, in addition to his last set of lecture notes. While studying, I decided to memorise those 4 slides just for fun and just in case. Not that I'm complaining, but I found it really really redundant, that he talked so much about telomerase, genomic instability only to test that last 4 weird slides. So the bottom line is to try to remember everything. I'm sure some stuff will get into your head and you'll be able to do well too. I'm not the type who can memorise word for word (find that really stupid actually) and really almost died studying for this module and cried so much because of stress but looking back now, I can say for sure that I don't regret taking it because I learnt so much from this and though I don't intend to do anything science related, I finally know why cancer occurs and how cancer spreads, something I have been thinking about since I was 17 or 18. And I'm glad, because I won't be left wondering why and how cancer spreads anymore.

I realise my reviews are peppered with personal opinions and sidetracking, but I just want to let these readers know that I'm no genius so if I can do it, so can they, especially if they're smarter than me:D

I have 2 more reviews but I shall save them for another day. So yes, I hope these reviews help. If you wish to know more you can leave a comment and I'll try to answer them if I can(:

Whatsapp grumbles

Sometimes, or rather most of the time, I dislike the whatsapp function where you can see the 'last seen at __:__'. I always get very bothered by it because you know that someone has read your message but decided not to reply you. Well I do that sometimes but I do reply eventually. Okay just trying to grumble about this aspect of technology that I don't like. Apart from that I really like whatsapp. But I think this could actually do more harm than good, in the aspect of the 'last seen'.