Familiarization

I am starting to see a pattern in what I do in lab everyday! Familiarization? Repetition? Boredom? =) For now, I think it is FAMILIARIZATION =) The Round Bottom Flash is a set up I do for EVERY experiment with varying substances! Cool eh! The Bubble Detector detects the flow of argon gas to ensure an inert environment for reactions. The “dropwise” funnel allows the addition of reactive substances in a dropwise fashion to prevent the sudden rise in temperature.

Separation Funnel(on the left) used in school has always been very primitive: the need to shake the funnel and releasing gas occasionally to prevent the build up of pressure. This set-up is easy and convenient! It stirs the aqueous and organic phase with a built-in stirrer. Allow the mixture to stand and separate the layers! Power eh.. I was quite amused when I first saw it!

Here is a picture of how the kitchen in my hostel is like. It amazes me. Nic: remember how I felt that the kitchens in NZ hostels are big and spacious? Mine is better now! You will see when you come=) I even have a shelf below the stove which can be locked. Every tenant in the hostel has their own PRIVATE stove. There is a huge kitchen at every level of the hostel!

Received the train ticket that I ordered on ebay which allows for 4 trips on the trains within Germany. Paid 111Euros. Approximately 27.8Euros per trip, a considerable amount cheaper than the ticket one buys from the DB website=) Will come in useful when I visit Thomas(a doctor who did his attachment at NUH and stayed at nic’s hse for a while. He just got married! Cant wait to see his pretty wife!), Renate(a gal nic and I met in NZ at Rainbow Lodge), Prof Hugl (visiting prof last sem at NUS for Petroleum and Industrial Organics, and my Guardian Angel who got me an Internship at Bayer. Vielen Dank!) and maybe a trip down to Munich end of Sept for OktoberFest(just wanna go there for the atmosphere. Totally not for the Bier). Travelling here requires meticulous planning because transport gets MORE expensive towards the date of travel especially for the trains.

I spoke to Arianna(my boss) today. She wanted to find out more about my background and what lab experiences I have had. All the work I do in lab revolves around Organic chemistry!! Horror!! I only did 1 module of Organic Chemistry! Whenever I am stuck with some organic stuff at work, the first person I think of is….. LILENG!! The lab technician whom I work with is really nice and helpful. Always seek SOS from him=)

If you know me, you will realize that I always ask endless questions. It is just me. And I like asking questions=). During my conversation with Arianna today, she said,” Please ask as much questions as you want. It doesn’t matter if it is a silly question! The more you ask, the more you learn!” I immediately grinned from ear to ear ;) All my life, no one has encouraged me to post as much questions as I want explicitly! At that juncture, it felt like I was in for a “Free Questioning Buffet” which was even more enticing than a “Free Japanese Cuisine Buffet”! It was really very nice and I like the learning environment that I am in. I am determined to be a teacher who encourages endless questions! Haha.. The next generation of kids will be one where everyone ask questions non-stop! Noise Pollution… hahah! I wonder what is the working environment for the rest of my fellow applied chemistry pals in Singapore like! Lileng, Alan, PK! Keep me posted eh….Thanks pals!