Kim's little patch of space...

The title of this blog is the reason for its existance. Its a nice sunny patch of garden with a nice big tree with a swing to sit under and lots of sunflowers... As for its creator, she is a postgrad student who has a tendency to take life a bit too seriously. Currently she is on a journey of self discovery and has no idea where it will take her...she may well find the meaning of life.

Monday, July 31, 2006

There's nothing like karaoke - it allows you to express yourself and let your inhibitions go. Well, sort of. But most of all, it gives you the chance to sing badly, and to be applauded for it.

So the five of us (Maria, Mariam, Mirijana, Despina and myself) went a-karaoke-ing. Because we forgot to book a room beforehand, we had to make do hiring a room for only a hour. But that didn't stop us to sing the following:

The inspirational song...."Eye of the tiger" - (Maria)
The song everyone knows..."lean on me" (Mariam)
The song with the hidden message/relevance to real life..."Material Girl" (Mirijana)
The song with classic dance movements..."Like a virgin" (Despina)
The romantic rock ballad...which was completely destroyed....Jon Bon Jovi, "Bed of Roses" (Me)
Group favourite (well, to me anyway)..."Uptown Girl"

Of course, after having a blast singing for an hour, you try to find another place to go. So we ended up being at a karaoke bar, which works by the system that you buy a drink, which gives you a chance to sing on stage. As it was a Saturday night, we had to wait a while before we got our 5 minutes on stage. I know I nearly died of passive smoking. But we had our moment, with Belinda Carlise's "Heaven is a place on earth" which was a hit both with us and the crowd. Though it was more the alcohol at that point - we could've sung happy birthday and they wouldn't have minded. It was worth the wait :)

Note for future karaoke endevours - book a private room beforehand. And drink plenty of water.

Movie review double bill: The Lakehouse and Superman Returns

Its a double bill today folks, with two movies on offer: The Lakehouse and Superman Returns. First up, The Lakehouse.

Movie Review: The Lakehouse

Is your typical romantic drama, starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. Before I start, if you don't like these two actors, I'd strongly advice that you don't see this movie, simply because they are the movie, and what give it its charm.

Anyway, imagine that you wanted to find a place away from your everyday life, a place where you truly can be yourself. For Kate (Sandra Bullock) and Alex (Keanu Reeves) they find it in a house near the lake, aka the lakehouse. Through a magic letterbox, they get to know each other but find out they are living 2 years apart from one another. The film then follows the typical romantic film storyline - will they or won't they meet? And how will it happen?

I think the key to this film is how you approach it. Don't question how you can meet someone 2 years previously/in the future and just enjoy the film. I have to admit, I was drawn in, until it got to the point where I was thinking, I hope they get together, I hope they find a way. And :P felt teary at the end, so I guess the film did its job. *sigh* and to think there was a time where I could watch a romantic movie and not cry...


Movie Review: Superman Returns

First things first. You don't need to see the previous movies to understand this one, although there are some references to the other ones. Second, is that this movie is slow. The story progresses slowly, and is basically Clark Kent/Superman finding out the world hasn't really changed since he left it five years ago. Except that Lois Lane, the love of his life is married with a son, and that Lex Luthor is out and about to do whatever he wants. So you know that the film is basically going to focus on a) how does he deal with a married Lois Lane, and b) how does he stop Lex Luthor. And it takes two hours to do it (well sort of).

It did have its moments however, along the lines of "how will Superman actually save the day??" or "what will Lex Luthor do next" or "isn't that Ian Roberts from Dancing with the Stars? (it was)" Plus Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor was pretty good. I left the movie dissatisfied, as I felt basically after the two hours, the film hadn't gone anywhere.

The final verdict: The Lakehouse was definetely a better movie experience, but must be someone who enjoys watching romantic movies with the what if factor. If you like explosions and heroics, Superman Returns would be better for you.

Monday, July 17, 2006

Its strange, but I would've thought that by now, 6 months into a PhD, that I would've settled into some kind of routine. For example, I thought my days would follow this kind of pattern:

Get up after sleeping through my alarm
Go to the lab
Do experiments
Those experiments would work, and get meaningful results
Take up mediation
Have lower stress levels (I discovered my ability to stress out during honours...)

Instead, its been hectic, stressful (its been scholarship applications at the moment, amongst other things) and I've been more reactive to what's been happening around me rather than proactive ie. being able to plan ahead. That's strange to me, as I'm used to being able to plan things, and expecting them to turn out the way I'd expect them to. However, despite all that, I'm having a heap of fun, and I wouldn't change anything. I think, hmmm except the fact my experiments are working the way I want to :P

That reminds me of a conversation I was having with Caroline and Mariam. We talked about many things, but one of the things that stuck in my mind was that you never know what's going to happen in life, and when things are lousy, you think you won't get through it, but nine times out of ten, you do, and it actually turns out better than you think :) I remember thinking to myself, that's so true. Its all part of that journey.

But there are some things that don't change, and you treasure them because they're there, and offer comfort when you're having those lousy moments. One perfect example of this was dinner with my family tonight. A typical dinner with my family has the following elements:

My dad making a dish with unknown ingredients. Today was quite nice, a lotus and water chestnut soup. One that sticks in my mind was an omelet with chicken tendons. None of us realised until we had finished it...

My mum complaining that we never finish what is on the table. It happens without fail. And the number of times where we have actually finished everything on the table (its single figures), she complains that she doesn't cook enough...there HAS to be a happy medium somewhere...

It starts at a previously arranged time...which actually worked today as we were all there. If we are not planning to be present at that particular time, we must inform the others and make alternative arrangements...

The lame joke. The serial offenders are my brother and my mum. Usually a disgusting one that shouldn't really be spoken when eating. Although I think my brother needs some new material - he's been on vacation for too long.

The left over discussion. At the moment, its no contest, any left over are mine. However, when both my brother and I are going to uni, tense negociations are carried out to determine who gets them. Tonight we avoided this, but the problem was that we ran out of rice, so I added pasta instead. Hmmm, chinese and italian, this will taste interesting...but the great thing about leftovers is that there's no rules.

Who exactly is going to clean up and wash the dishes. Now, we have a schedule for this, but often due to alternative arrangements, people (usually me) are not present to wash the dishes. And with the dishes, only one rule applies - it must be done within 15 minutes of the conclusion of the meal, or my mum will begin to show clear signs of agitation, which may well progress to a very vocal outburst (or a nervous breakdown, we've never found out). This often involves sneaky negociation and blackmail.

That's a typical dinner. Different dinners will have different elements, but that's basically it. And today had a bonus - strawberries! Yum....with cream as well :)

Thursday, July 13, 2006


lol, a freaky occurance happened yesterday...we all came into the lab yesterday wearing pink! what kind of unknown forces are out there...*cue dramatic, spooky music*




And just found this in my inbox...its a nice surprise to start the day with :)


From: "Christopher Morton"
Subject: THANKS !!!
Date: Wed, July 12, 2006 6:45 pm
To: "Kim Lau"

Kim,
Its Chris here! remember me? :)
I PASSED MICROBIOLOGY! :) 50 percent, how about that huh!
Anyway, this is just an email to say Thanks so much for all your help over
the semester, I can say with confidence sure that without your tutes i
would not have passed this subject.
Thanks again Kim, and good luck with the rest of your pHD :)
Cheers
Chris

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest

:) Went and saw Pirates of the caribbean - Dead Man's Chest last night...which was a lot of fun despite the ever present threat of rain.

A first happened - I managed to finish all my experiments ON TIME and even managed to go to the departmental afternoon tea celebrating the promotion of one of the lab heads to professor. There's always food at those things, and the speeches are often very informative. You get a life history (and different perspective) of the 'important' people in the department.

Anyways, after that, the five of us set out - Jess, Roza, Geordie, Dhana and myself on the quest to find snacks we could munch on during the movie. We found chocolate, nuts and chocolate chip cookies easily enough, but for some bizarre reason, we couldn't find any pretzels. Maybe they're just harder to find, but we kept walking up and down the supermarket aisles without any luck...but we got to the cinema with plenty of time to spare, so we could watch the previews.

About the movie, well, I hoping for a fun, entertaining movie as the first movie is one of my favourites. The banter, the fight scenes, basically anything with Captain Jack Sparrow was what made the film fun to watch. And I wasn't disappointed! Movie number 2 was just as good as the first! The only criticism was that the story was a blatant set up for the third movie, but having said that, there were twists in the movie that I didn't see coming.

It starts with Will and Elisabeth finding out that they are both under arrest for helping Jack in the previous movie (and ruining their wedding day). From there, it leads to various people getting blackmailed and a reunion between Jack, Will and Elisabeth. Along the way is being held captive by a crazy island tribe, Captain Davy Jones' unusual crew, a father/son reunion, a lot of sword fights and a lot of water. I either laughed/sat on the edge of my seat throughout the movie. I know if I write anymore I'll ruin it, but I can't wait until the third one!

Afterwards, we grabbed a bite to eat, at a small Indian cafe. It was here I found out I can actually eat spicy food! (I accidently ordered the wrong dish) Well, ok, I was struggling a bit, but I got through it. And if I had a choice, I probably won't order anything spicy. But its nice to know if my life depended on it, I can eat spicy-ish food :)

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

It's times like this I wish I live in Parkville, nice and close to the university and the lab, because if I want to come to the lab early like today, I have to drive in early (bout 6:30am) so I can get one of those car parking spots that pretty much lets me park there all day (11 hours).

But there's some kind of sneaky scheme, because the number of car parking spots that lets you park near the uni all day are mysteriously disappearing...as I found out this morning *grrrrrr*. The good thing was though that I managed to find another one (yay!) because its currently semester break.

But apart from that, there's no other reason for me to move out (well, not yet anyway) so I'll enjoy the comfort of living at home for a bit longer!

But woo hoo! The reason I came in early was to repeat an experiment that just has been annoying me, because I haven't been able to get it working. Its irritating because it takes, in total, 8 hours to perform, but I've just finished it, and it looks like it worked! Well, I can see something this time, whereas before, I couldn't see anything because there just wasn't enough protein there.

However, I really don't want to go back to the lab at the moment because it STINKS. My lab is right next door to the autoclaves and someone, who shall remain nameless decided to autoclave cow lens and fat. Basically, you expose it to high pressure steam. :P If only the door had remained closed...although I wonder now if that would have really stopped the smell. We have barred all the doors shut with the hope the smell will be circulated out of the lab...*fingers crossed*

Ok, Lesson for today: don't reach a conclusion about an experiment until you've analysed it properly. After examining the gel I got for my experiment, I realised I jumped to conclusions and that actually, it didn't work after all :( I can see something, but all the samples were the same and the proteins haven't separated. *sigh* back to the drawing board again, but at least I know now that its the amount of protein that matters, I just need to find out the right amount of protein for optimal separation...