Yesterday was the last day of my two-month long internship at IBN. In a way, I was really happy that I wouldn't have to go to work anymore, but another part of me knew I would miss the place terribly.. and the fun I had during my internship.. both at IBN and at NUS..
I'm going to miss sleeping after midnight, most often at 1-2 and then snoozing the alarm a hundred times in the morning! Taking the NUS shuttle bus and then waiting for the Biopolis one next to NUH.. Waking up late on weekends and having lots of fun! Coming back from work and going swimming, playing cards, going out for dinner or for a movie, or simply watching movies on the comp.. [I've lost count of how many I've watched this summer!]
I'll miss the fun times at IBN.. the friends I made there over the course of two months.. a couple of whom I got really close to.. I wonder if I'll ever see them again, coz one of them lives in the US. It's a strange feeling, when you see someone everyday for 2 months, discuss your everyday events with them.. only to realize that you might never see that person again.. :( The messages that I would get the moment the clock struck 12.. saying "Lunch!! I'm hungry!".. getting my non-Indian friends to eat at Annalakshmi with me.. explaining to them what each dish was.. deciding how much to pay! Frequent visits to the IBN pantry to make milo or just to have cold water and read the newspapers.. waiting for the blessed 6 o clock.. having one hour breaks while doing an experiment [You get loads of these in research :P].. wearing my lab-coat and gloves and getting the feeling of being a dentist or something.. getting irritated when I had to do certain irritating and repetitive procedures.. getting instructions from my mentor.. talking about general stuff with her [She's only 5 years older], cracking jokes with people around..
It was a truly memorable experience.. I learnt a lot, and had fun all the same. At IBN, they don't call it 'internship'.. they call it 'attachment'.. Need I say more?
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
The worth of weekends!
Ever since I've started interning, I've really looked forward to the weekend. I'm not implying that I get bored at work or I'm not liking it, it's just that after a 9-6 week, you look forward to: the Friday evening when you can go out, have fun and get back however late you want.. the Saturday and Sunday mornings when you can get up at noon if you wish.. the movies you can watch at the theater and not just on the comp.. the book you were half way through, you can now complete.. meet all your friends who are working too and whom you don't get to meet during the week..
I had this feeling after the very first week of work! And I know many of my friends felt the same way too.. Even during the week, I used to have fun after work - we would go swimming, have dinner and then play cards or watch a movie. It had become a sort of a routine. But still, weekends have their own charm.. During the semester whenever my dad used to ask me "So, what plans for the weekend? Or simply "What plans for Sunday?", I would go like "Nothing much, just usual, might go out for lunch or dinner".. and most often, since it would be mid-term time or exam time.. "What else but study?". I never realized the worth of weekends then. But now, after working 5 days I week, I really look forward to Friday evenings.. sometimes, I start longing for it from Wednesday itself, especially if plans had been made for the weekend in advance.
Somehow, even when I was in school, I never felt weekends were so very special. May be because school just wasn't as taxing in the lower classes, nor as long as an entire day or work at office.. And after Std.10, the weekend just meant more time to study! I can't believe it now! So I would actually look forward to the weekends in this case, but for a different reason! After having experienced a tiny bit of how work life is going to be, now I realize why my dad loves to laze around on Sundays at home. He really relaxes, in the true sense of the word. He doesn't mind if we don't go out or do anything special on Sundays, but the very fact that he gets and entire day to relax is enough. Sometimes, my mom tells me, we should go on a holiday soon, your dad hasn't had one in a while. I never realized how much my dad needed it, or the value of it, until I started working myself. The value of getting a day/week off. Of getting time alone, of getting time to relax, to spend with your family.
A short internship has taught me so much! And it's just an internship. What it is going to be like when I start working? I will just have to wait and watch! :)
I had this feeling after the very first week of work! And I know many of my friends felt the same way too.. Even during the week, I used to have fun after work - we would go swimming, have dinner and then play cards or watch a movie. It had become a sort of a routine. But still, weekends have their own charm.. During the semester whenever my dad used to ask me "So, what plans for the weekend? Or simply "What plans for Sunday?", I would go like "Nothing much, just usual, might go out for lunch or dinner".. and most often, since it would be mid-term time or exam time.. "What else but study?". I never realized the worth of weekends then. But now, after working 5 days I week, I really look forward to Friday evenings.. sometimes, I start longing for it from Wednesday itself, especially if plans had been made for the weekend in advance.
Somehow, even when I was in school, I never felt weekends were so very special. May be because school just wasn't as taxing in the lower classes, nor as long as an entire day or work at office.. And after Std.10, the weekend just meant more time to study! I can't believe it now! So I would actually look forward to the weekends in this case, but for a different reason! After having experienced a tiny bit of how work life is going to be, now I realize why my dad loves to laze around on Sundays at home. He really relaxes, in the true sense of the word. He doesn't mind if we don't go out or do anything special on Sundays, but the very fact that he gets and entire day to relax is enough. Sometimes, my mom tells me, we should go on a holiday soon, your dad hasn't had one in a while. I never realized how much my dad needed it, or the value of it, until I started working myself. The value of getting a day/week off. Of getting time alone, of getting time to relax, to spend with your family.
A short internship has taught me so much! And it's just an internship. What it is going to be like when I start working? I will just have to wait and watch! :)
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Whatever! :(
~ Three of my sandals/slippers have snapped in the last four days. Coincidence? Just plain bad luck? The first, while I was walking towards the library. I had no choice but to carry it in my hand and walk into the library. After borrowing the book I wanted to, I asked the librarian for some tape. My sandals were fine after that, for exactly ten seconds. So I walked from the library to the bus stop holding the sandals in my hand again! About 15 people stared at me, some of them more than once (!), and one old uncle walking towards me looked at me and started laughing! I joined him! The whole thing was pretty hilarious. I was as amused at their reactions as they were about me walking barefoot, sandals in hand. I was wondering why they were so amused.. When their slippers snap, is this not what they do? I feel it is better to walk barefoot with a pair of broken slippers in your hand, than just walking barefoot on the pavement!
Coming to the second pair of sandals, one of them snapped when I was crossing the road in Holland Village, and the other, half an hour later in Clarke Quay! But this time, they had snapped such that a little bit of tape kept the sandals in walkable condition till I got back to campus.
The third - well, my bathroom slippers. All three pairs are lying in some garbage can somewhere! I guess it's high time I went footwear shopping!
~ I've been swimming at SRC for the past few days.I meet Macho Girl at the bus stop outside MPSH and we go to the pool together. I usually take the A1 from PGP, but today I decided to take the A2 since I had to return the book I borrowed the other day from Hon Sui Sen Library. Since I didn't want to keep Macho Girl waiting, I decided to do this: Get off at the biz2 stop, run quickly to the lib, put the book into the 'book drop' machine, run to the Tamasek bus stop and catch the same A2, which would take time to get there coz it would have to go through the business loop, plus I saw it caught in some kind of a mini traffic jam opposite KR. It went off as I had planned, just that I reached the Tamasek stop huffing and puffing. Finally reached the pool, only to realize that I had forgotten my costume!! Everything else was there - goggles, cap, towel, sarong, only my costume was missing. Wonderful. So much for getting almost breathless to catch that A2 and not keep MG waiting! Going to keep her waiting for a day now!
~ We booked seats for HP5 online, and then site then directed us to the online payment section. But somehow, the transaction got cancelled. So we decided to start over. But to our dismay, the seats that we had planned to book (they were good seats) now showed the status 'blocked'!! Blocked by us! But we had received no confirmation ID or anything for us to go claim it again! We felt like such fools. But luckily for us, the site said that seats get blocked if a transaction stops midway, but after 15 minutes if it is still not completed, the seats become available again. Thank God! We finally got our seats back a little later!
~ This post seriously proves the fact that I am a confused soul, doesn't it? :P And when one is talking about me, how can lame jokes not come into the picture? Cookie Monster and me had gone to Macho girl's place for dinner on Sunday. But it started raining really heavily and we were kind of stranded at her place! Haha.. So Macho suggested we stay over at her place.. but both cookie monster and me had the same problem - both of us didn't have our lens solution and couldn't sleep with it on. Macho asked if water would do. We said yes. So she said, 'There you go! We found the solution to our problem!' And immediately I pointed out the lame joke in it, and so did cookie monster.. I guess I'm getting everyone around me to think just like me! :P
Coming to the second pair of sandals, one of them snapped when I was crossing the road in Holland Village, and the other, half an hour later in Clarke Quay! But this time, they had snapped such that a little bit of tape kept the sandals in walkable condition till I got back to campus.
The third - well, my bathroom slippers. All three pairs are lying in some garbage can somewhere! I guess it's high time I went footwear shopping!
~ I've been swimming at SRC for the past few days.I meet Macho Girl at the bus stop outside MPSH and we go to the pool together. I usually take the A1 from PGP, but today I decided to take the A2 since I had to return the book I borrowed the other day from Hon Sui Sen Library. Since I didn't want to keep Macho Girl waiting, I decided to do this: Get off at the biz2 stop, run quickly to the lib, put the book into the 'book drop' machine, run to the Tamasek bus stop and catch the same A2, which would take time to get there coz it would have to go through the business loop, plus I saw it caught in some kind of a mini traffic jam opposite KR. It went off as I had planned, just that I reached the Tamasek stop huffing and puffing. Finally reached the pool, only to realize that I had forgotten my costume!! Everything else was there - goggles, cap, towel, sarong, only my costume was missing. Wonderful. So much for getting almost breathless to catch that A2 and not keep MG waiting! Going to keep her waiting for a day now!
~ We booked seats for HP5 online, and then site then directed us to the online payment section. But somehow, the transaction got cancelled. So we decided to start over. But to our dismay, the seats that we had planned to book (they were good seats) now showed the status 'blocked'!! Blocked by us! But we had received no confirmation ID or anything for us to go claim it again! We felt like such fools. But luckily for us, the site said that seats get blocked if a transaction stops midway, but after 15 minutes if it is still not completed, the seats become available again. Thank God! We finally got our seats back a little later!
~ This post seriously proves the fact that I am a confused soul, doesn't it? :P And when one is talking about me, how can lame jokes not come into the picture? Cookie Monster and me had gone to Macho girl's place for dinner on Sunday. But it started raining really heavily and we were kind of stranded at her place! Haha.. So Macho suggested we stay over at her place.. but both cookie monster and me had the same problem - both of us didn't have our lens solution and couldn't sleep with it on. Macho asked if water would do. We said yes. So she said, 'There you go! We found the solution to our problem!' And immediately I pointed out the lame joke in it, and so did cookie monster.. I guess I'm getting everyone around me to think just like me! :P
Sunday, July 08, 2007
07.07.07
Back in school, I used to love writing such dates in my note books. I think the first one was 9.9.99 and then it came every year with 01.01.01, 02.02.02 and so on. It just looks so nice.. you can't tell the difference between the day, month or year, and it's like you're in a totally different world and time seems to have no bounds!
Anyway, this year there is something very special about this day. The new seven wonders of the world are going to be announced today - on 07.07.07 @ Lisbon, Portugal. After 2200 years of having had seven wonders of the 'ancient world', today we will have seven new wonders of the world! People from all over the world have voted for their favourite seven wonders. It has been unanimously decided that the Pyramids require no voting, and it is already one of the new seven wonders. So that leaves six more. You can see the nominees here. I voted too!There is a grand presentation ceremony which is going to happen tonight, and our very own Bipasha Basu is one of the few people presenting the awards! I so wish the Taj Mahal retains its place as a Wonder of the World! But only time will tell.. I can't wait to see the results! Well, I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed.. :)
**********************************************************************************
The resutls are out, the Taj Mahal is in! Yipee :D Congrats to India, thanks to all the people who voted for it! The Great Wall of China, Jordan's Petra, Brazil's statue of Christ the Redeemer, Peru's Machu Picchu, Rome's Colosseum and Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid and of course, the Pyramids of Giza are the other new wonders of the world.
Truly a wonder of the world.. Forever..
Anyway, this year there is something very special about this day. The new seven wonders of the world are going to be announced today - on 07.07.07 @ Lisbon, Portugal. After 2200 years of having had seven wonders of the 'ancient world', today we will have seven new wonders of the world! People from all over the world have voted for their favourite seven wonders. It has been unanimously decided that the Pyramids require no voting, and it is already one of the new seven wonders. So that leaves six more. You can see the nominees here. I voted too!There is a grand presentation ceremony which is going to happen tonight, and our very own Bipasha Basu is one of the few people presenting the awards! I so wish the Taj Mahal retains its place as a Wonder of the World! But only time will tell.. I can't wait to see the results! Well, I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed.. :)
**********************************************************************************
The resutls are out, the Taj Mahal is in! Yipee :D Congrats to India, thanks to all the people who voted for it! The Great Wall of China, Jordan's Petra, Brazil's statue of Christ the Redeemer, Peru's Machu Picchu, Rome's Colosseum and Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid and of course, the Pyramids of Giza are the other new wonders of the world.
Truly a wonder of the world.. Forever..Thursday, July 05, 2007
Why?
I realised only a few days ago that a chinese cluster mate of mine, living two rooms away from mine, is also interning where I am (IBN). I happened to see her in the Biopolis shuttle bus a few times and also in the lift at IBN. I'm pretty sure that by now, even she has realised the same thing. [Unless of course, she is totally oblivious to her surroundings! She actually helped me with a little problem I had with my lens one day just before I was leaving for work, so she's definitely seen me around!But at that time I didn't know she was interning at IBN too.]
We live in the same cluster, go to work at the same place and travel by the same bus everyday. And yet, we haven't said a 'hi' to each other or even smiled at each other! At one of our safety briefings, she was sitting in front of me, and when she turned around a couple of times and saw me, I thought I'd tell her that she was my cluster mate, but her face was totally expressionless and her body language seemed to indicate that she was not interested. So I decided against it. It's been a while now, and we still haven't spoken to each other.. I wonder why..
Is it because we are clannish and don't really like to mingle with other kinds of people?
Or is it because we have too many friends anyway and so we don't need another one?
Or we have our iPod's to keep us company on the way to work..who wants a person to talk to?
Or we just don't care about our neighbours, sometimes we don't even know who they are!
Or may be, we're just not the friendly-and-mingling-type anymore?
We live in the same cluster, go to work at the same place and travel by the same bus everyday. And yet, we haven't said a 'hi' to each other or even smiled at each other! At one of our safety briefings, she was sitting in front of me, and when she turned around a couple of times and saw me, I thought I'd tell her that she was my cluster mate, but her face was totally expressionless and her body language seemed to indicate that she was not interested. So I decided against it. It's been a while now, and we still haven't spoken to each other.. I wonder why..
Is it because we are clannish and don't really like to mingle with other kinds of people?
Or is it because we have too many friends anyway and so we don't need another one?
Or we have our iPod's to keep us company on the way to work..who wants a person to talk to?
Or we just don't care about our neighbours, sometimes we don't even know who they are!
Or may be, we're just not the friendly-and-mingling-type anymore?
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