FEStival… Again…

Again… Another Festival in FES… like never ending only.

As usual, dance by Dance Club, band performance by Music Club and martial arts demonstration by Taekwondo club.

I like the following shot very much…

GTF, making the impossible, possible.

From some sources, this event took 19 days to plan and execute… that was amazing!

Well, things went well and they’re quite good.

 

P/S: Funny, why so arrogant? Just because you have more customers doesn’t mean that you’re doing better than other people, when you’re providing the service for free! Anyways, it’s not right to blame other people when you’re not doing a good job of contacting other people.

Tribute to the TE3 and other Foundation Friends

I know this comes a little late, but here are some memories of the past… some memories that we spent together in Foundation, no conflicts, no worries, no buggers, no nothing.

After browsing through all the photos we have together, I really miss the life in Foundation, where the lecturers were so much closer to us, and back then, we spent a lot of quality time together.

 

 

Now that I’m in degree life, I noticed something – It’s been a while since I take photos with my own classmates, my own friends. For those close friends, I’m sorry for not being able to make a video out of the photos, cause the number of photos are really little… too little to make a proper video.

I guess that’s what I call life. At some point, people stop going around with you, and you meet new friends along the way. Life’s like that. Either you cherish it, or you just let it slip. Go figure.

And I, found the real friends along the way. And these are the people I will cherish forever. Thank you for making my life a meaningful one. You know who you are.

 

Owh ya… I did notice that the photographs taken back then was… Real horrible, I know… haha. Thank goodness there are people around me to push me forward.

Final Year Project

I’ve been dealing with tetracycline for a while, and here’s a quick overview of what I’ve done.

Basically, I just check for the presence of tet(A) and tet(B) genes, which are involved in tetracycline antibiotics resistance.

Today, while testing out all the Expasy, RasMol, SwissProt etc, I found the structure to the protein encoded by the tet(A) gene.

The protein actually pumps in one hydrogen ion into the bacteria, and pumps out one tetracycline antibiotic molecule out into the environment (called the H+/Tetracycline antiporter). You can see the channel as circled lightly in red in the above photo. (Cross Section of the pump)

 

The image below shows the longitudinal section of the pump. You can see that the pump consist of many alpha-helix secondary protein structure.

 

Anyways, just to share with everyone about this.

Learnt something important today

The important message was learnt today. And it will always be in my mind. Will never be forgotten. Thanks to Ms. Kim Chow.

By the way, I think I need to go for shopping… I have to get a new set of clothing for my possible interviews…

Too busy to abandon blog…

I’ve been too busy … where got time to even consider abandon blog… just to inform you that I’m too busy, need some time away from blogging also so difficult already.

Anyways, next week is going to be worse. The only thing I can do now is…

I will try my very best to do whatever I can… By the way, would you like to see how busy is my schedule?

This Week:
Study Oncology, Virology Lab Test, Medical Genomics
Prepare for IPC Presentation.
Summarise Oncology Journal.
Complete virology assignment.
Prepare FYP presentation slides, confirm thesis printing price.
Head over to Putrajaya to complete my studies application.

Next week:
Monday: Might head over to Taiwan Embassy
Tuesday: MG Quiz 2
Wed: Viro Lab Test, IPC presentation
Thur: Pharmaco lab report, Onco journal summary submission
Fri: Onco test 2, Viro assign presentation, collection of thesis for printing.

A lot more haven’t included yet… the small small details are the time consuming ones…

All the best to everyone!

Pre-Convocation photo shoot

Had quite a bit of fun on last Monday, where the whole G1 class took photos together…

The Group 1 members…

If only I had more time… I’d have rearrange the people…

 

Lee Hui… you really know a lot about make up leh!!!

You even brought your own hair dressing tools to help out… wah!!!

Wearing the robe…

 

Happily happy people…

I’m sure everyone had fun during this session. But I think we didn’t get a good group 1 photo shoot… so this coming Monday, there would be another informal photo shoot… hopefully it’ll turn out better…

The ironic president

Yesterday was the day we met the president of UTAR – Professor Chua, and for me, it was the very first time.

He was happily talking with us about the future after UTAR, giving us guides on what should we do things in our interviews and job hunting etc. Then he said something I will remember forever.

When you guys build something, please make sure it is eco-friendly, it must be environmental friendly.

Right after his speech, all the students went out for a short tea break, and guess what, we were served with polystyrene cups and the desserts and kuih were served wrap in plastics. I still can understand if they wish to use plastic wrappings for food, but polystyrene cups?! come on! Can’t UTAR at least provide paper cups if not glass cups?

Up there, Prof Chua said that we need to be environmental friendly, but at the back, we are using non-environmental friendly polystyrene cups. I felt so sad, disappointed and frustrated at the same time. If you would like to promote students to be green, how are you suppose the students would follow suit if you do not do it yourself. By the way, the staff served you with glass cup just because you are the president of UTAR. Some of the students even used two polystyrene cups – one for the drink, while the other for putting food in it. So what’s the point of Community Service Society’s “No Polystyrene on Wednesdays” project?

Something to ponder about. Guys, if you want to be environmental friendly, you have to CHANGE YOUR MINDSET.

P/S: I’m not trying to insult anyone here. But I just couldn’t stand here doing nothing. Someone has got to tell the president about this.

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making

This is the second UTAR softskills workshop I joined. It was fun, the trainer was fantastic and I definitely enjoyed my time there.

While waiting for the LRT… a sight to behold.

 

During the course, we were required to build a plane based on some of the guidelines given.

Test flight…

 

Pilots with the airplanes…

 

The “wobble-wobble” test to test the structural integrity of the aeroplane.

   

 

And finally, my team with the trainer, Captain Ariva.

 

 

Thanks to him, I now know the truth behind Bermuda Triangle… haha. Anyways, I hope to meet him again in the future for other courses.

A visit to Setapak FYP

So… I dropped by Setapak FYP labs for a visit… have a chat… and attempt to feel the hustle of getting things done in the Setapak FYP lab… no wonder everyone is under a lot of stress…

 

This lab has less students in it… or maybe they’re absent… not sure…

Cleaning the glasswares after PTC lab…

One of the best shots of the day…

 

And the cutest photo of all…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big headed Greg… haha… specially shot with wide angle lens… Give it a try!

Blue, blue sky…

It’s been a while since I updated my blog…

Last weekend was not a very enjoyable one… don’t want to talk about it. Let the past slip…

Today, another team of people requested me for another shoot. They’re (again), very easy to photograph… except for the personal portraits.

This one looked better as compared to the previous photo shoot… but there are still room for improvements…

The sky in this shoot is fantastic, but due to my lack of equipments, I do not have sufficient lighting to light up the subjects. So, I had no choice but to take 2 shots – 1 over exposed, and the other underexposed. Although I don’t really like heavy Photoshop edited photos, I made the choice to merge the 2 images together, to make it a better image.

I know that the 3 guys’ heads are literally ‘glowing’, but this is strictly no Photoshop! I only used to merge the sky… some sort like HDR.

Anyways, here’s a full panorama view of the blue blue sky…

Really fascinating…  do not hesitate to click on the panorama to enlarge it. See it for yourself…

Just follow law???

I was yelled at twice today and yesterday. Both times by the guards. Why? Good question.

1st yell – I cycled through the ‘OUT’ side of the gate to enter KTAR.

Their reason: I didn’t not follow the signboard. I should enter using the ‘IN’ side. I was cycling against traffic.

My reason: The cyclists and motorcyclist on the left side were cycling and riding at lower speed. I do not want to get knocked down or cause an accident as I was cycling at a higher speed.

2nd yell – I used the main road to cycle instead of the bicycle pathways.

Their reason: As stated above, they wanted me to use the bicycle pathway prepared for cyclist.

My reason: (i) There are over 8 speed bumps on the bicycle pathways. This is insane! How fast would the cyclist go? (ii) Some of the cyclist are riding in the middle of the pathway, obstructing traffic. I was cycling fast… so can these people be a bit more considerate, rather than happily yapping away in the middle of the road? (iii) Some of the cyclist are new riders. They can’t even control their steering well. Over taking is fine with me. I’m more afraid of scaring them with the sudden overtake and cause them to loose control and fall. (iv) With more considerations in thoughts, I’d rather use the main road, since there is also an additional special lane for cyclists.

The guards should cycle instead of riding motorbikes. They are terrorizing these places as if the building is theirs. They should be stern but considerate. They should get a feel of what cyclists feel when cycling at these roads.

Enough said. I’m more concern of my safety. I don’t want these people to affect my mood of the day.

Group Photos… Techniques

Group Photos are mostly easy to shoot… and I’ve come to notice that some group photos are meant for a different meaning, and some are for a more formal and professional shoots.

Here are some of the group photos I have taken… and you tell me which one you like most.

Simple group photo shots would involve this very common and basic shoot… Arrange everyone according to height and just shoot.

A more interesting shots, would be arranging people in a more different manner… and in a more relaxed form… still keeping the rule same : one row.

For an even better group photo, you can try layering the people, two or more rows… but most of the time, I stick to this very important rule : people in the picture should be big, not small small faces… but sometimes, this rule has to be broken, eg. Too many people…

Note: Thanks to Chun Nee for taking this shot.

Although the faces in the previous photo may look a bit small, but they are still reasonable… and is not as bad as this…

This is way way way too small… try to avoid this whenever possible… but in such circumstances, you can try multi-tier… the photo above has 8 tiers, and if possible, add more tiers. Reason behind it, try to increase in height, rather than width… this would enable you to move in closer to your subjects, and thus, increase in facial size… not to the stage of being able to see the pimples la…

You can also try to photograph people from high above… you can do this if there is a high rise building around you, that enables you to do that… I don’t have a shot of this type, but you can take a look at this poster shot…

Another interesting method you can try is, by combining some of the techniques together… I think you’ve seen these types of movie / drama posters before… for example…

Ugly Betty…

Grey’s Anatomy…

 

Heroes…

This technique is not hard actually, just that… you need to spend more time to arrange the people. and if you are close to the people or you know them very well, you’re most definitely going to spend a hell lot of time to arrange them…

Reason behind it is that your friends would not take your work seriously, so they tend to play around or shift in position once you arranged them… so ended up, more time required. This is the time where you take charge, tell them what YOU want, or else you’re going no where…

The concept is that you put space in between people, regardless of height, order, or position… but at the same time, make sure they are in order.

so here are some of my work… not much, but at least something…

One of my long time favourite…

I posted this in February’s entry… they’re quite close friends, and again, it took me some time to arrange them. Simple, chaos in order…

The irony of the playground really brings out the shot… professionals at a playground… go figure…

and here is my work today…

I personally like this shot, because it incorporates the small “business hall” at the back, giving the impression of professionals working in concrete jungle. Also, this shot shows a lot of ‘oomph’ that these people are real professional in their work…

But due to the usage of the photo, I have no choice but to crop the photo to suit the printing purposes…

Still it looked real nice, and these people are real fantastic to work with… easy going, cooperative (as expected, haha!)…

Anyways, I don’t think these few shots I took today is not good enough… the people arrangement is still not chaotic enough… haha… and some of them overlapped with each other. Must space them out even more…

You can try to put the most important person of the group of people in the middle. But sometimes, it doesn’t work and rules are meant to be broken…

Also, here’s another technique you guys can try… arrange them at the staircase… something like this…

So… I hope you learn something from this post… next time, take a different approach when photographing people, especially group photos…

Yes! tet Genes…

Yes… I got my genes right… Transform!!!

Science Students…

The ironic story of (some) science students…

1. Consume Mamee frequently when mothers say that junk food is bad for you…

2. Cut electrophoresis gel with the use of UV light, by looking straight at the UV with naked eyes…

3. Wear short pants when in the labs…

4. Eat Choki-Choki (chocolate strip) like nobody’s business – up to 10 a day…

5. Overdosed consumption of paracetamol (Panadol®).

6. Play poker cards in the lab while waiting for the lab results…

7. Sleep on the work bench used for bacteria culture etc.

8. Eat and drink in the lab when students are prohibited from eating in the lab.

9. Instead of preparing / pipetting harmful chemicals in the fume hood, they do it in the open air.

10. Cam-whore in the lab like no body’s business.

If you’re one of them… do be very aware of all these mistakes, try to *ahem* reduce them as much as possible. Also, if you’ve more to add, you’re welcome to send your suggestions to me =P

 

 

 

By the way, to the Setapak friends… I’ve always wanted to show you guys this…

CABINET FULL OF PIPETTE TIPS FOR OUR DISPOSALS!!!! WAHLAO…!!!

P/S: Please don’t be jealous ar… =P

Life is short… Cherish it.

This evening, I witness the tribute of friends to the 3 drowned victims of the Batu Berangkai tragedy. It was definitely a moment of sorrow…

Many friends, and those who are not, dropped by to say their prayers to the 3 beloved pal.

I’ll let the photos do the talking…

 

 

 

 

Life is short… just like these candles…

Cherish your life… Life is just too short… you would never know whether tomorrow would come first, or you might have lost your life first… Take good care of yourself…

 

The news from The Star - Three UTAR students drown at waterfall, a fourth rescued

Mooncake Festival in UTAR Kampar

Although it’s a bit late, but the Chinese Language society and the other 3 societies did this Mooncake Festival grandly. Real complements to them for making this event so successful… Even the case of heavy raining in the evening did not deter students from coming into campus to enjoy the festival.

The place was basically packed with people… I guess the students are extremely bored at home… so they opt to come over to this event…

There were some stall selling food and the earnings will proceed to charity.

Some games for students to participate in…

 

This friend, together with his gang, was trying to cheat his way through… Instead of one person blowing the candle, the other 3 friends were helping him to blow the candle.

Later about 8.15 pm, the performances started…

Love this shot very much… the lines on the floor was stunning…

Mongolian Dance… Well done!!!

Another cool performance of dance…

The Chinese Fan Dance…

Another Hip Hop…

Then this one was interesting… Jai Ho… The dance…

Another interesting slow shutter shot…

 

This one with multiple lighting is very cool… slow shutter, and the photographer on the opposite fired his flash… stunning…

Korean Dance… hmm…

The MCs for the evening… 

The group photo of crew members and organizing committee members…

Here are a few things I discovered along the way…

i) UTAR students really rich la… I did a quick count and there were more than 10 people with DSLR…

ii) It’s been a while since I shoot events like this… kinda fun to do it again… definitely love the energy. How I hope that I can have an AF 50 mm…

iii) Over-exposed photos can be converted to Black and White… and looked even better!!!

iv) Very hard to shoot dances with lots of moves… the AF points may be out… ended up missing some potential shots…

v) Comparing this shoot and the shoot when I first got the camera, this is a 90% reduction in the number of photos shot!!! Which means that the shots are much better… and thought are put in before composing…

Anyways, UTAR HAS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE USE OF POLYSTYRENE IN THE UNIVERSITY!!!!