2008-09-23

Bye bye diaryland

I've moved!!
I've had diaryland for so so long... since TKGS days. But it's time to move on... It's too hard to edit the html every time I want to post pictures, and I noticed the layout doesn't work on IE!
I should print all my old entries out because they are really beautiful memories that would otherwise just disappear.
Bye bye diaryland, hello blogger :) <<-- yes yes come visit me!

with love from deb at 12:31 p.m.



2008-08-18

Spring time!!! :)

I've been on a trip into the past, reading all my old emails in my hotmail account. The friendships I had back in Singapore that were established and nurtured... now we are all far apart it has been difficult to keep them going. But in the end, the ones that matter still remain. JADE is the only group of friends I can safely say still keeps in touch. Whether through email or short notes on diaryland... I still know that you all remember each other and still care for each other. How corny i know, but you all do matter to me and I am glad that we still remain JADE after all these years.
Winter is almost over and the weather is warming up to glorious spring days, sunshine and blue sky with a top of 21 deg :) perfect weather!
I am procrastinating because I don't want to get back into the lab (processing GC chromatograms, utterly boring work), thus the sudden stream of emails and diaryland updates ;)
My cousin jiajia is coming to visit from sg and I am very excited. I've been here close to 5 years and this is the first time she's visiting! She really has been like a big sister to me... we grew up together and naturally bonded, as did my sister with jia's younger sister wenwen. We were the 4 lim family girls, an awesome combination :) I still recall all the reunion dinners and christmases, and the weekly Saturday lim family gatherings. My late grandmother would cook the most wonderful dishes and we'd all sit together for dinner. Then the kids would go to the park to play, or up to the bedrooms to talk and play daidee. The grownups would stay downstairs to talk or watch tv. When grandma passed away she asked us to continue the weekly meetings. We did for a time, but it was only 2 or 3 years later that we moved to perth. Perhaps she would be glad to know that we still keep in touch and are as close as ever despite the distance. Even my male cousins, derek, jue ping and jue min... i never related to them better than i do now. perhaps it is a sign that we have grown older and wiser. When their father died, my daddy took them under his wing, and i guess they are more like brothers to us than anything else now.
Ok.. enough reminiscing. I will be taking some time off from my research to show her around. I'm sure she'll love sunny perth (not the most exciting place, but it definitely has its own charm!).

with love from deb at 11:46 a.m.



2008-07-03

cold in office

it's so cold :( i know it gets down to below freezing in canada, but i grew up in singapore and the cold does not suit me well. my office never gets any sun, and the heater in the room doesn't work.
the girl in the office next door was very nice and she let me have her heater. it's a funny, old, noisy fan heater. but it works and at least i don't have to sit on my hands all the time!


anyway, my whole family is in singapore right now... except for me. they are enjoying themselves with good food, shopping, no school and no cold weather. undergrads get university holidays in between semesters etc. but postgrads don't, and i've been coming in to school everyday. it's nice though cos the carparks are empty and there are no long queues during lunch time at the ref. i think i'm actually more productive now than i was before. fewer distractions.
oh anyway the good thing is that cos my mum, sister and brother are in sg, i get my grandparents all to myself :) now i know what it feels like to be an only child. it's really good! everything revolves around me and i feel so spoilt. i guess i understand now why this only child syndrome comes about... they really can't help themselves but feel like they are king/queen.
either way, siblings will be back next monday. and the honest truth is i really do miss them. especially rebekah. she's been doing farm practicals etc. so i haven't seen her for a month! i'm sure her boyfriend misses her too.
ok i'm going back to doing some work now...

with love from deb at 1:07 p.m.



2008-06-16

Life in general

Just a quick update, because I have nothing to do for a few minutes. I have samples in the freezer waiting to run through the machine, and I just need my supervisor to get out of his meeting so he can show me how to do it. It's been a busy few weeks, although I must say I enjoy working in the lab a lot more than in the field. Fighting through thorny acacia bush in the rain is not fun!
Anyway what I really wanted to say is that I'll be back in sg at the end of the year!! If all goes well, I'll be flying from Perth to sg on the 15th of dec, to India to visit my daddy on the 20th, back to sg 5th of jan and back home to perth on the 19th of jan. India will be great fun cos we'll be visiting the Taj Mahal and going on safari :) How exciting.
I miss singapore. miss the food and the shopping and the aliveness of it all. most of all i miss you all. if joy is in singapore at that time it'll be the first time the 4 of us will be together in something like 4 years?? that's just crazy!

with love from deb at 11:16 a.m.



2008-04-15

Convocation

3 years of hard work, $3000 per semester for 6 semesters... and I finally get that precious piece of paper!


Of course the fact that I am back at uni the next day trying to finish off my research proposal dampens my enthusiasm. Either way I was really happy that my daddy flew over from India to be there. My siblings and Jamie drove all the way to UWA to take pictures with me (because I wanted them to), and Eda came to pass me her perfect black mary-jane shoes.
The ceremony was full of pomp, but with enough light heartedness to keep it from becoming boring. A good way to wrap up my 3 years of study at UWA... One more year to go!!

with love from deb at 1:52 p.m.



2008-03-14

Back to school 2008

Back to school again! It's my 4th year at UWA and my first year as a post graduate. The quirks: I get an office :)



My desk is on the left, and I share the room with another girl working at the same minesite as me. I love having my own space to read and think. And having a microwave is so helpful. My research is on carbon cycling and microbial communities in a succession/rehabilitation chronosequence. Very Interesting and I am very excited to get started.
And something special for you all... pictures of Jamie's cute Akita puppy!!!


Isn't he adorable? He's about 3 months old, very naughty, very intelligent, and everyone loves him to bits!

with love from deb at 8:40 p.m.



2008-02-19

End of Vac Work!!

Things I have been doing recently:

  1. Finished vac work.

    It was such a great experience working full time with a company that has so much to teach me. The atmosphere was great and I miss having 3 girls in one office... all under the age of 30 and all interested in chemistry. Unfortunately that also meant lowered productivities because we could talk for hours!!!

  2. Chinese New Year!!!
    We went all out with the decorations this year :) My mama and my sis went to chinatown in singapore and came back with lots of things to paste up on the walls and on the doors. We also made lots of decorations to hang up on our christmas tree (or the CNY tree!) Jamie's mum made pineapple tarts and other munchies, and Rebekah's boyfriend got us those mini spicy prawn spring rolls. Mmmm yummy!! It was also wonderful to have my daddy and auntie june over for reunion dinner. It is all about family after all!

  3. Explosions in the Sky!!!
    I had been waiting for weeks to see them live and it was so amazing! They were one of the performers for the Perth International Arts Festival so Jamie went ahead and bought tickets. It was held outdoors, on the foreshore in between the city and the river. The weather was perfect and the music was beautiful. And of course I'd take any opportunity to spend the evening with Jamie :)

  4. Akita puppies :) Ever since Hero died of cancer 4 months ago, the Lee family has never been the same. They really need a dog! They like the Akita breed, but they want something different from Hero. They don't want to feel as if they are replacing him... He was a huge grey-brown Akita and he was very much a brother to the kids and a son to the parents. We went to a breeder on sunday and they chose a beautiful white Akita puppy! It is so lovely with a cute patch on it's back and a "mask". Very cute! Lovely temperament and I am sure he will be part of the family very soon. Can't wait to pick him up next sunday!

That is all from me for now. I promise more pictures next time. Especially of cute little Akita puppy!

with love from deb at 3:45 p.m.



2008-01-27

Happy Australia Day :)

After spending 3 australia day's in perth, i have never actually gone down to watch the fireworks. how shocking is that? every year lotterywest puts on a firework extravaganza over perth city. the whole thing lasts 30 minutes and is probably the biggest celebration of the year.
anyway Jamie is over in melbourne and all my friends are overseas, and it was just too depressing to stay alone at home. so i decided to go down to heathcote and finally see the fireworks. luckily for me my grandparents wanted to go as well so the 3 of us jumped into the car and went for a little ride.

when we got there the atmosphere was just fantastic! it wasn't too crowded, and lots of families doing normal 'australian' things, i.e. cricket, taking liberties with face paint and the australian flag, barbeques and picnics and just generally enjoying the weather and the lovely sunset.

we found ourselves a good spot with a bench and we sat down and got ourselves some overpriced icecream. but they stuck a cute little australian flag in it so i guess it's worth it!

and when the fireworks began my grandperents loved it :) i'm so glad they enjoyed it.

grandma is determined to come back next year with a picnic basket and everything. she was making comments throughout the skyworks, e.g. "that's so beautiful" or "i like that one". now they are telling all their friends that they went to watch the fireworks. very cute.

can't wait for next year. it'll be sooo much fun :)

with love from deb at 3:01 p.m.



2008-01-18

In remembrance of Eric

I would like to talk about something sad. sometimes things happen which make you question your life and what makes it meaningful. Now is one of those times. My friend eric passed away yesterday morning. He was my classmate in Willo during year 12. he sat behind me in English, and I remember he had this line he always said to me: "you're so smart deborah, you're so smart" in his funny HK accent. He asked me to go to the ball with him - the ball is such a big overrated thing, and everyone feels like they have to go with someone. I promised eda I'd be her date so I rejected eric. I think he went with someone else but I can't remember who. At the ball I danced with him... and I was so embarrassed by that at the time. But now that I think of it, he was a nice guy, and there was nothing to be embarrassed about, and I should have just enjoyed myself.

Life is so fragile. He died because of a tumour in his brain that they tried to fix but the treatment didn't work. He didn't tell anybody about it... Only his family knew. So it was a bit of a shock to our entire year group. This is the year of the 21sts… my whole group is turning 21, and everyone is going to have a big party in celebration of lives well lived and a life to look forward to. It is so strange that he will not be sending out any invitations, or attending any parties.

Sometimes I really feel that life is just a bridge... imagine building a mansion on a bridge. How crazy is that? And yet, that is what most people do. They put all their efforts into things that do not last: fame and fortune, power and beauty.

What is the purpose of your life? Do you feel like you are leading a meaningful existence… as if everything you do has an impact on the people around you?? Would people care if you died? Would you be afraid in those final moments, not knowing what lies beyond this life? Or would you be calm and at peace, knowing that you have a special place in heaven to be with Jesus. I have started thinking about these things alot recently, what with the passing of Si Qiu and now Eric. Young men with so much more to offer in life.

...
My prayers go out for Eric and his family, and Si Qiu as well. Although it's been a few months, I am sure his family still mourns his absence.

with love from deb at 6:51 p.m.



2008-01-13

BP Kwinana


One thing i can say about work is that despite it being stressful and crazy, i feel so much more in control of my free time whenever i do get any. That means I have more time to write on my diary which I know I have been neglecting! That is unfortunate because I actually do like to record the many small uneventful things in my life. Will try to keep it up in the future.
Now... I have many projects running that i constantly think about when i'm in the office. just a few of the things i'm doing at work right now:
  1. trying to get an EDXRF instrument to work. It measures concentrations of various elements using X-rays. but its not working and nobody knows why!

  2. an alternative to the valve freeze. so we can measure moisture in LPG quantitatively via a Karl Fischer titration... which is so fiddly! But I'm sure i can develop the method for that.

  3. measuring total aromatics in jet fuel via HPLC as compared to FIA. and seeing which method is better, and if it is worth it implementing the new HPLC method. I have the method up and running... it's a matter of weighing up pros and cons and making the decision.
And a special treat for all of you: Learn more about the refining process at BP Kwinana :)

I know that it's a lot of jargon there... but i want to put it up just for the record so i can remember it.
also, the new graduate chemist, Jessie Walsh, has started and she's in my office along with Elizabeth (the systems and modeling specialist)! So we have 3 girls in an office, in a company which has a serious lack of females! It's heaps of fun and we talk so much. And also cos jess is the same age as me its easy to go out on a friday night as friends and not just colleagues. And it is funny that she looks just like me from the back! we have the same build, same hair, everything... and when you wear the lab coats you seriously can't tell us apart. very funny and everyone keeps telling us that.


ok besides work...
i have a friend's wedding this saturday. the dinner is formal and its gonna be at a nice hotel and everything. how exciting :) fred and wendy have actually been married legally for about a year or 2... but they never had the church ceremony or the wedding dinner. they had a nice little engagement party but that was it. so it'll be nice to celebrate with them... a marriage is worth celebrating, no matter how far into it you've gone!
also jamie is trying to get us a night at the hilton :) one of the perks of being a hilton employee. just because we hardly see each other. i still enjoy his company so much and i look forward to seeing him. it'll be good to spend time away from our families... we always go to each other's houses and sleep or watch tv... so now we can do all that... but by ourselves... and with room service!! hehehe :)

with love from deb at 10:43 a.m.



2007-12-29

portraits

Merry Christmas, and a happy new year from the Lim Family!



And this is the first family portrait we have taken since we moved to Perth. 4 whole years! That's ridiculous.
Either way... it inspired me to dig up some old portrait photos from those good old days! like these ones:

taken when i was 12 or 13 i think. i remember that it was so much fun cos mum decided to do it on a whim. and she dragged all her 3 kids there and we got all dressed up! It's like a little girl's dream!

And then there was this one... (I can't find the files! urgh. will try to look for them one day. these will do for now!)

this was a fun one because I won it as part of the TKGS prom princess deal. and I can't believe I won it, but the photoshoot came at a good time. It was the crossroads - just weeks before we were leaving for Perth. We all knew it would be a while before the family would be together again... so we did it with lots of enthusiasm. In the end we printed a big one up and it hung in our dining room. A reminder of our family the way it should be. And i particularly like this photo right here... daddy's girls :D

It is pretty interesting to see how I've changed physically over the years! Losing the baby fat, then getting really skinny, and then finally filling out and being pretty happy with the way I look.

Also - mental note to self: take family portraits of my own family when i grow up. it doesn't have to be every year... they can get a bit pricey. But it's so cool to see how we grow. And it's more than the pictures... it's a reminder of the stage of life that we were in, or the stories that happened on that particular day.

Another note - must dig up the cd with all the portrait pictures!!!

with love from deb at 12:22 a.m.



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