PR2101: Dosage form Design - Gels.

A gel is a colloidal system in which a porous network of interconnected nanoparticles spans the volume of a liquid medium. In general, gels are apparently solid, jelly-like materials. Both by weight and volume, gels are mostly liquid in composition and thus exhibit densities similar to liquids, however have the structural coherence of a solid. An example of a common gel is sodium alginate. Many gels display thixotropy - they become fluid when agitated, but resolidify when resting.

Thanks to constance for the idea!! =)

The Attack of the Evangelista Part II

ok, first, the disclaimer, i'm not really against christianity or catholicism or any other religion that evangelises i.e. have people coming to you spontaneously and say "let's be friends" or "lets play together at my church" or "have u heard the good news" or some other funny moniker.

yup, it is more the people who do this that i'm more disgusted with. they are very easy to spot, once they open their mouth. things like "church" and "Jesus" and "Christ" will tell u more or less that the guy's an evan. (Unless they scream something like, OH, JESUS CHRIST!!! i almost won the lottery!!)

then until recently, they have resorted to house visits, much like MPs. i think they are not very welcome. they visited my mum once but she said she wasn't free and so they came again. and this time i answered the door. what do two middle-aged woman want from me? i thought as i peered through the keyhole. they don't look like saleswomen.. who don't come on Sundays...

then they asked to see my mother. i asked for what. they were quite reluctant to say..
then i asked them where are they from. "oh we are from the church at and we're coming to discuss the bible with your mother and how people don't believe the bible and how we can make people believe in it (SMILE).

oh gosh, i din't knew mum was a bible freak. maybe not - nah, most unlikely. so i made up some excuse and ok, fine - it was all smiles all the way and i declined them politely, LYING saying that we had no time and we were going out somewhere and blah blah blah some rubbish. damn, i hate lying.

so they said, nvm its ok, we'll be back next time when you are free. @#$%... have to meet them again. i hope they won't be chased by my mother with the broom next time.

yup i think although evangelism may or may not be a part of my friends' lives, some whom are christian/catholic, they do it sparingly - even not at all - to me. which is fine. (well, if they are such fervent preachers, i probably don't contact them much either). they often invite me to their gatherings - christian in nature, especially during christmas. and sometimes, maybe that rare incident among a hundred invitations, i go (though not alone) and find out its a christmas party-cum-a normal session with all the prayings and stuff.. but i don't participate, it's ok. been to two catholic weddings, they're generally fine, as in they don't force u to participate in the singing and stuff if u don't wish to. it's a joyous occasion, anyway.

yup. main point - i am not against christians or catholics. well maybe evangelism. as long as you don't befriend me for the sole function of spreading religion. i am very happy with my religion, although i'm not a firm believer. but i don't want others to meddle in my affairs. imagine if i went up to someone just coming out from church and preach buddhism? or taoism?

hmm maybe next time they come i can put a loudspeaker outside my house and when those two dudes come by again, before i open the door, i'll play the "NAH-MO-AH-MI-TUO-FO" chant, put on saffron robes, open the door, "...right, let us talk about the Sutra of Eternal Bliss now?"

peranakan paradise

went with nuan to this place, Ivins, at 29 Binjai Park to eat dinner.

(29 Binjai Park? where the hell is that??)

it's a peranakan restaurant which serves quite authentic food. at cheap prices (relatively). its located off dunearn road. (hmm all njcians and hcjcians and whatever school-ians that ply that long stretch of road from jalan anak bukit to newton should know that.)

(reallY??? i've never heard of the place before, even after 2 years of my life taking buses there!)

well can't blame either, i've never heard of the place before . t'was till i went online and googled "top ten places to eat in singapore" or something like that when this restaruant came into mind.

anyway, the restaruant was crowded, but it was on a saturday, and it was dinnertime when we went. quite a family place with kids all over and families of all nationalities. business is brisk. but even though i had initially expected some looooooooong waiting like the infamous sharksfin soup restarurants, it turned out fine and the maitre'd just let us in like about 15 minutes.

ala-carte restaruant (there's a nice lunch set for $5.20 though) but portions are small. but sinfully good and authentic. the curry has a smell to it, prob that of coconut milk. everything has a smell, not like the chap chai rice stalls where the curry smells like processed. stale. portions are small. good for her, just enough for me, so it was enough (we ordered about 4 dishes).

total bill: $23 nett for two people.
rating: *** (good enough to impress without burning a hole in your pocket! )
food: ****
ambience: ***1/2

(how do we go there?)

u can take 151 and alight 3 stops after passing KAP macdonalds. then find binjai road and walk along it, you can find the restaruant by the roadside.

disappointed.

never wanted it to turn out like this.
never knew that all the effort that i put in could backfire.
felt really sien. stupid. for putting in so much time.
from now on i shall stay in my own dream world and not meddle elsewhere.

wtf.

How to Screw Up your Practical, Part Two

had my first pharmaceutical analysis lab today.

task: to do 2 limit tests on... whatever ion (i think sulphate) on some KMnO4.

let me see if i remember:

procedure:
1) standard soln: put 15 + 1.5 ml of standard sulphate soln + 1 ml of BaCl2 solution into big fat test tube. add 15 drops (5ml) of some strong acetic acid.
the test soln should not be more cloudy than this in order to meet BP stds..

2) test soln: weigh 0.75g of KMnO4 solid using weighing balance and add 25 ml of water and 3 ml of alcohol into the thing, stir. then put on hot surface until the thing boils and turns brown, then wait for about 2-3 minutes. then wait for the thing to cool down (aid cooling if necessary), then filter the shitlike mess, get 12ml of filtrate add 3 ml of water and to this 15ml:
add 1.5 ml of standard sulphate soln + 1 ml of BaCl2 solution into big fat test tube. add 15 drops (5ml) of some strong acetic acid.

sounds easy? haha.. then can someone explain to me why my water levels of both test and std solns were always different. stupid. redid one experiment because of that. so i did 3 expts in all, running out of time, with the 3rd one under the close scrutiny of Dr Koh and Dr Chan and all the lab techs. think they must have noticed i was in close time trouble, treating me like a VIP: "are you ok? can you manage? is everything all right? do u need help in cleaning up?" arrghh. not that i don't appreciate but it's really darn paiseh and shitty la. lang bei as they say in chinese. just feel like abandoning the whole darn thing but somehow, i just went on.

then as Dr Koh was explaining to me some stuff and asking me which test tube had the more opalescent solution and suddenly my carebears ringtone came on!!!! ARGGH!! immediately balls shrink!! then checked. nuan. omg. but think she (Dr Koh) smiled a bit too so nothing. lolz. so paiseh!!!! shit man. lesson: never to put corny ringtones on your phone. and silent the darn phone in practicals.

i'd said i'd screw up the first practical in every module:
ppda: went in half-asleep.
physical pharm: was doing with some girl. got alot of help along the way.
dispensing II: almost died.

shall sleep early today.

Tuesdays Are Tiring

Long Day today. morning: got caught in traffic jam. late. arrived in lt26 without breakfast and sitting to a very cold jingwen, who was also late. we sat 2nd row from bottom. damn cold, like fridge. i think i'm getting sick.

4 hour break. bought files, got jab and slacked with jason, eesang, and ch. talking about smoking and booze. new change of topics for once.

lab. major screw up. kept washing away the microorganisms from my slide with either too much water (because there were so few of them), or putting a whole swab of E. coli such that they cover each other and u can't see individual cells. how stupid. or a combination of both when doing the Gram staining. its like i have a whole colony of pink among certain dots of purple.

horrible la when putting my glass slide between the (what's that thing called?) two glass rods, i accidentally knocked the freaking glass slab over when i was doing washing! and it went into the sink with a piang! then i was wondering whether to salvage the slide. maybe can still see some microorganisms. ha.

ziehl-neelsen stain can't see anything. damn. the other staining procedure still can see something. haha. i think i'm darn lousy at practical. every practical - every first practical - from sec sch to JC to uni: PPDA, physical pharm, dispensing: i will screw it up. maybe it's the shaky hands, butterfingers. maybe it's no muscle memory. whatever. i will just screw the first practical in a module up.

then afterwards was meeting for pharm yep. quite fruitful! managed to obtain some contacts to jumpstart the project. ha. but returned home darn tired.

already thinking about next hols

this hols came and went... and i've just finished the first week of school... eventfully (well, not quite).

hmmm... lets see if i read this post 4.5 months later.. but who cares.

this weekend is boring... just kept on doing emed stuff to prepare for brown bagging. i'm taking on a very slack role compared to the others, but hell that's what publicity is, isn't it? got a bigger headache regarding the video, can't save. we've filled it with so much goodies (videos, pictures, effects, music) that my computer can't take it. according to my uncle it requires about 20GB of full space to save it!! wth. where am i gonna find that space man.

anyway, just thought of going to places, at the most cheapest (backpacker) rates, during summer vacation. here's some.

1) taiwan, taipei (tag along with ipsf-ers then pangseh them and tour the city while they have the boring talks. muhahhaha. evil.)

2) australia, perth - same like what leo and his tsb buddies went for. seems like fun and a good chance to wear windbreakers in the 10-20 C weather. or go swimming. haha.

3) malaysia - it's right next to us, but i dunno what exactly is inside after 22 years of my life. heck, that goes for johor bahru even. other than that the city is full of muggers targeting singaporeans as stated in new paper. better grab choon han or yeelian as tour guide if i choose this option. haha.
maybe i'll go a tour of western malaysia: tour buses from west coast up to alor star and down the east coast. or the beaches of langkawi or redang. or make a climb to kota kinabaloo. wooo!

4) phuket, thailand - it's not tsunami season, i reckon it's ok, i hope. leo went there too just before the tsunami struck, quite a nice place to let your hair down.

then if all else fails, there's still:

5) sentosa
6) aloha changi
7) ubin. haven't tried the southern islands yet...

who to go with? hmm... haven't decided yet. any takers?

and for this, i shall strive to put my preceptorship in the first slot!!

the 6 types of girls that you should avoid
(from funkygrad.com)

1. Miss Money-NOT-Penny
To her, it's all about dollars. She's a Material Girl living in a material world. She incurs extremely high maintenance costs, expecting a man to finance her entire life, from shopping at Gucci to drinks at One Rochester.

2. Miss Moonlight-Walks-On-The-Beach
She lives in a fantasy world of romantic movies and romance novels. She is waiting for her Prince Charming to sweep her off her feet and nothing will do except for the perfect fairy tale ending. She has absolutely no idea that real life consists of paying bills and cleaning toilets.

3. Miss Too-High-Expectations
She thinks that she is worth more than everything you can give her. Unless you're Brad Pitt, Bill Gates, Einstein and Frank Sinatra all rolled into one perfect package, you won't have enough good looks, money, intelligence, social skills, or [insert trait here] to date her.

4. Miss Center-of-The-University
Everything revolves around her. Brought up as a princess, she only cares about herself and nothing else. She has to win at all costs. If your car is new, hers is a little newer, if your grades are good, hers are a little better, if a guy in class steals a glance at her, she thinks he wants to sleep with her.

5. Miss Boyfriend-Addict
Within a day after a break up she's on the prowl. She has never been single for more than a week and within 10 minutes after your first date, she's already planning your wedding and naming your kids. Maybe all of her friends are attached so her biological clock is ticking. She doesn't care who the guy is, just as long as he is breathing.

6. Miss Needs-a-lot-of-attention
A close friend of Miss Boyfriend-Addict, this gal becomes an extension of you, and your buddies know to get you out on an outing, they've got to get her first. You will never need to call her because she's calls you 10 times a day "just to hear your voice." She's clingy, needy and so compulsively agonising that you are serously considering to leave her for "someone better."

8 types of guys that you should avoid
(from funkygrad.com)

1. Mr Dollar Bill Arsonist
A regular at upmarket waterholes like Winebar and Qbar, he may be young, but he's loaded and disillusioned with the value of money. Used to lighting cigarettes with lit up dollar bills and with a wallet full of titanium credit cards, he's thinks money can buy you everything.

You may find this familiar:
Girlfriend: Oh no....I'm really worried about my grades...
He: How much do you want?
Girlfriend: Do you think God exists?
He: Seriously, how much do you want?

Verdict: He does not take you seriously and assumes all relationships are developed on the basis of a monetary transaction. His so-called man-buddies are probably hangout out with him because he's loaded. When push comes to shove, you'll never know if he'll be around. However, unless you're a gold-digger whose sole life purpose can be fulfilled with material satisfaction, you go Girl!

2. Mr I-Need-You-24/7
Easily noticeable, he exudes a minion-like behaviour around girlfriends. Recall the guy who calls his girlfriend 5 times in an hour (that's basically once every 10mins), he has developed an arched-back from carrying too many shopping bags, and is seemingly lacking his own social circle.

You may find this familiar:
Girlfriend: Why do you keep calling me! I'm doing my project!
He: Where are you? Why can't you tell me? Why can't I be there with you?
Girlfriend: Don't disturb me, I'm having menstrual cramps
He: I wanna be with you 24/7. You need tampons? I can run out to 7-11 and be back in 2 minutes.

Verdict: Well, if you're willing to tolerate a second 'shadow' in the form of the male species, and enjoy having a quasi-Nazi track your every move in exchange for a self-devoted serf, I salute you.

3. Mr Work Drone
Every girl wants a man with ambition and the drive to succeed. But the line is oh-so-easily crossed. Especially when he disappears for 6 months, only to say 'sorry baby, I was busy with work'. You were worried sick for weeks because you could not contact him while he voluntarily withdraws into uninformed isolation.

You may find this familiar:
Girlfriend: Honey, have you eaten yet? Shall we go for dinner?
He: Nah...I don't have time. One minute spent on trivialities equals the opportunity cost of $10,000.
Girlfriend: Honey, my Dad got into an accident and may not live to see tomorrow. He really wants to see you.
He: Baby, you know that means I have to work harder to support your extended family. I need to work extra hard to strategise how to take over the position of CEO in a month's time. And after that, the world.

Verdict: Yes he is driven; he's probably working for a better future for the both of you. However, a good relationship requires equal input from 2 well-balanced people. If he's such an Ace at work, juggling a work-life balance shouldn't be a problem. This behaviour is reflective of intrinsic characteristics. If you're hoping to change him, FORGET IT. Career will always be number one for him.
*another point to note, be wary of guys who continually harp on 'opportunity costs', it's absurdly cold-blooded to quantify human relations.

4. Mr Smooth Operator
He's absolutely fantastic at 'the game', a wonderkid in PR and can effortlessly make a girl go weak in the knees with a spontaneous haiku on genital warts. Some say he's 'smooth', others say he's 'the player'. You probably never have the chance to have a decent conversation with him since he spens 90% of the time serenading you with his glib tongue.

You may find this familiar:
He: Excuse me, could I borrow your mobile phone? It's an emergency. My mum told me to give her a call the first time I fell in love.
She: I... (He interrupts)
He: Shh...If I could arrange the alphabets, I'd put U and I together
She: But... (He interrupts again)
(It goes on endlessly)

Verdict: If he can 'smooth' his way into your heart (one with which you thought was already cold, hard and indifferent), it'll be no surprise if women have been welcoming him with legs wide open. It's one thing to whisper sweet nothings to you, but it's another if he doesn't put a lid on that exuding charm around others. If he gives everyone the 'special treatment', he's probably just not that into you (pardon the pun). It's not a female jealousy gene embedded in chromosome X. You don't want to suffer an anxiety attack one day when his 3 other girlfriends call you up - just when you think you're his only one.

5. Mr 'Frags-a-lot'
Hidden in the extreme corners of dimly-lit LAN gaming shops, he spends all his money on comic books and LAN sessions, and mutters barely 10 words a day. If he does talk, the keywords in the conversation would more oft contain 'LAN', 'frags' and 'DOTA'.

You may find this familiar:
Girlfriend: Dearie, shall we catch a movie later?
He: (nods head) (but disappears from scene unnoticed) (to be found at nearest LAN shop)Girlfriend: I'm going to frag your mother
He: (stares angrily at girlfriend for 10 seconds) (proceeds to disappear from scene unnoticed) (to be found at nearest LAN shop)

Verdict: Firstly, gamers rarely have the time, interest or social skills to land themselves a girlfriend. If they do, their girlfriends are either she-gamers or she-males (he probably lost the ability to discern). Just like other passions that become ill habits when one becomes demonically obsessed, he probably does not know your purpose in his life right now. You're better off buying a mannequin, naming him Tom and telling your friends about your new squeeze - Tom, from Mauritius, 1.8m tall, sculpted jaw line with super 6-packed abs.

6. Mr "Knows-too-damn-much-for-his-own-good'
I'm not advocating discrimination against the hyper-intelligents. If you're really THAT smart, your achievements will be outstanding, why bother bragging? Worse still, he's the kind that revels in being condescending to one and all with his razor sharp wit and ruthless sarcasm.

You may find this familiar:
Girlfriend: I really want to get a marketing position in the cosmetics industry
He: I agree, I think you'll make a great makeup counter girl

Verdict: No one should allow themselves to be surrounded by negativity; it will only stifle individual ambitions. You're too important to let someone else squash your own dreams. Check with the family, we bet you his mum hates him too. A maniac that feeds off other people's insecurity to boost his own ego should be locked away in Wacko Jacko's basement, with handcuffs, chained to the drainpipes - for good.

7. Mr 'I'm-too-sexy-for-this-shirt'
A common fixture near most public reflective surfaces, the 'Male Model' is easy to distinguish. Usually more well-dressed than you, he checks himself out in reflective surfaces, touches his hair, and talks more crap than you do (even when you're the undisputed reigning Queen Airhead in your social circle).

You may find this familiar:
Girlfriend: I think we might be late for the movie.
He: Movie? We're watching a movie? I don't want to crease my new Armani shirt
Girlfriend: Do you think I look fat?
He: Yea you do. Don't walk too near me, I don't want my casting agents to spot me hanging out with 'Miss Gargantuan Cow' in public.

Verdict: If you want a gay best friend, you'd be hanging out at Tanjong Pagar, not dating a wannabe drag queen or pea-brained pretty face. There can only be one vain-pot in a relationship, and society has rendered it perfectly fine for females to claim that right. What's actually more important is that he respects you and does not put you down.

8. The Cheap Date
The perennial peeve whom most girls chanced upon at least once in their lifetime. He isn't short on cash, he just doesn't think you're worth spending money on - he even annoys you into paying for everything, and you do it just so he could shut up.

You may find this familiar:
Girlfriend: Do you think I should order the baked salmon?
He: sure, as long as you pay for it yourself
Girlfriend: So where are we heading to on our anniversary?
He: The nearby Kopitiam serves good enough meepok to satisfy the both of us. I didn't bring my wallet, I hope you did.

Verdict:If you have no qualms about putting up with this kind of behaviour, let me suggest a splendid alternative: gigolos. They're not as blatant about money, and at least, they treat you with respect and will do as you please.

Labels: guys

yep project.

finally, a step further on the yep project; found our first source of information from project sangkhim. this comes in the form of a kind lady living in cambodia (but singaporean). hopefully she'll agree to help us.

next step: get our NGO to help us... then get nyc to sponsor us. sounds really easy. in reality is hard. but doable.

quite sien diao at the decisions that nusps made. they're abandoning the yep project. sighs. maybe i shouldn't have shot the idea too early. but yet.. when you're one of those people who came back freshly from yep and everyone's catching on the fever... u feel an inclination to organise one.

i know it's hard. but it's certainly doable. if everyone has more faith in themselves. funds are there, the interest is there. i've seen classmates who still ask me "hey when is the yep trip?" and "where are we going?". still goes to show that people want the trip to go on.

but, no one wants to do all the shit work. i still believe that it's a good project. it's a first. how many things you do can be considered a first? yet it was abandoned for more mundane stuff. like studying. living out the years conforming. sigh. double sigh.

ha. maybe this project can't even take off the ground, maybe our contact refuses to help, maybe our good doctor refuses to take part in the project. maybe the cambodian govt doesn't allow. maybe.

who cares. i've tried, and i take great pride in that. =)

Labels: yep

Nuannuan District...

hmmm.. there really exists a place called nuannuan, as shown in the intro in liang jing ru's song of the same name!

check out the map here:

http://www.nhitb.gov.tw/english/map/english/NuannuanK.htm

it shows the town on the railway track, which probably coincides with the place where they shot the mtv... shows a list of hospitals. weirdddd.... tot doctors can't advertise their services..?

a history of the district:

http://www.nuann-house.gov.tw/English/Condition.htm

This district, located in the south of Keelung City, is adjoined to Juifang Town, Taipei County, in the east; Chitu District of this city, in the west; Shihfenliao, Pinghsi Hsiang, in the south; and Jenai District of this city, in the north. As of Sept., 2004, the number of Li was increased to 13, with the district covers an area of 22.8283 square kilometers, and a population of 38,494, including 19,770 male and 18,724 female.

hmm.... small town...

aha! the wikipedia page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keelung_City

next hols... taiwan! =)

Labels: nuan nuan

Slacker!!

Only had one LSM lecture in the morning. Slept quite late yesterday so feeling darn sleepy in the morning.. literally dragged myself awake, feeling very sluggish.

LSM was held in the ulu-ated LT26 where the seats were individual wooden boards and folded down like cinema seats of old. Each had a spring catch so when you left the seat it would spring back with a squeaky sound. All along the lecture i kept shifting my weight around the damn seat, creating alot of squeaking sounds... yar i'm darn heavy too, which accounts for it. Gonna spoil a seat real soon.

The whole place was crowded, think there were Life Science students which made up the majority (about 150-200?), Pharmacy students (about 50 of us stragglers), and perhaps some aliens from Mars, who knows, sitting in that cramped LT. All weren't particularly impressed by the first lecture (and the darn seats).

Firstly, it was boring. Well the first lecture is basically a recap from LSM 1401 which i took two sems ago. Which was boring. Basically LSM is just a matter of brain memorizing power, just stuff it all in, puke it all out during exams, and wait for results. Which, well, could be similarly applied to the rest of my modules. Which, explains why i'm not doing so well.

And the LT is darn cold. Freezing. Drat i didn't bring my windbreaker along.

The perhaps consolation i can get is that i met Yaoming, a friend from NJC and my band major during those halcyon days of old, and maybe Andy, a buddy of mine from secondary school...

Boring.

After that, went home and slept. For four hours till 6pm.

First day, sem 4

Headed back to school!!!

Agenda: 3 emed briefings, 2 lectures...
1 movie...
endless rounds of bridge... haha. Life is good. for today.

yr 4 briefing at 10am, LT20. didn't ask dr chui who was lecturing so just barged in and i think he wasn't very happy. lolz. but he's still very kind and still allowed us to present.
chop chop 15 min finish.
next was pharm microB lect by Prof Chan. not full power yet. but still... lots to copy.
break. watched some movie about smoking. brought by junice. cooL!
then lecture by this lecturer Dr Koh hwee ling. seems quite nice. hmmz. we shall see.

modules taking this sem:

PR2104: Pharmaceutical Analysis I
PR2105: Pharmaceutical Microbiology
PP2106: Pharmacology I
LSM 2101: Metabolism and Regulation
PR3107: Pharmacy Practice II

Labels: school

December Dream Come Alive

december passes ever so quickly... it's school starting soon again.

had children's society camp in the first week. nothing much, except waiting for her to come back and praying that she's safe and sound. went to receive her from airport. would she get angry, after telling me so many times to stay at home? she didn't...

second week was xperience pharmacy camp. had to stay in, so can't meet her at night even though she's in singapore. but met her to buy stuff. and she agreed to help me fill the cans with sand, even though it's a total waste of time... and we both had an extra hand each...

third week in thailand, bangkok. new-found bliss. it was like an adventure, the most fulfilling tour of my life. the relish of freedom without parents on a tour, having people of your age instead is a fresh change. i love walking at night on bangkok that time. covering the markets. getting on the ferry, filling in the pots with coins at the Temple of the Gigantic Buddha.

fourth week. still a whirlwind, i still don't know how it started. numerous attempts to go out, christmas. didn't feel well on xmas, drats... went to jurong hill (at last!) for dinner then went mount faber for countdown on new year's eve. the fireworks lit the sky with magic, signalling the dawn of a new chapter. then came bidding. work. i still want more holidays...

next sem is tough. only one four-hour break per week... starved. and our lessons clash. badly. i shall be resilient, as much as i wanna meet i shall not. i shall do well in my studies and the work assigned to me... and i shall continue to appreciate the beauty of the big picture, no matter how ugly things can get.

for 21 years i have been valiantly searching, in vain. who could have known that, what seems so far, was once so close? for two years, she turned right, i turned left...

until now.

life is good.

p.s. advice for freshies: don't stay in hall or pgp. it's useless! haha. unless u are some hot bod.