2009年7月11日星期六

Central Australia here I comes - Part I

I don't know what struck me during the semester, probably a serious one, leading me to the decision of joining the 11 days Central Australia Camping Adventure organized by MUOSS (Melbourne University Overseas Students Service). It is a tough decision for me, ones that had never camp before, yes, correct, trust your eye>> I NEVER CAMP BEFORE, for the past 20 years of my life... Please do not ask me where my teenage life is, probably daydreaming all the time? Hmm..

Anyway, back to the story, I decided to join the trip and yes, I was amazed by my ability to tolerate a 26 hours bus drive to Alice Spring, MacDonnell Ranges Tourist Park. We passed through Port Augusta, Adelaide, Coober Pedy and more. It is the longest bus trip I ever had in my life! Not even my last bus trip in Taiwan. Guess what is the most exciting thing to hear after the bus journey that last for 26 hours? Yes, the magic word ALICE SPRING!! We finally make it there! Hmm, did you notice that there is not much greenery there? Of course, not! We are in the middle of nowhere, hmhm, desert. The only thing that wait for you there would be SAND and.. SAND and only.. SAND.., nah, maybe some ROCK? And guess what? Yes, water is VERY precious there, the price for 1L of fresh water can skyrocketed to AUD$5. And yea, I spent about AUD$10 on my water during the 26 hours bus journey, pain, it was such an expensive water to drink.. T_T Hoho, and here comes the question. Where on earth that I supposed to erect my tent? Tada, here it is, a better place than what I expected, at least there is some grass around. And, *cough cough*, I am definitely not the one who erected the tent, XD. There are humans around, I 'utilize' the people of opposite gender there during the trip, gentleman, of course, as I do not trust myself on setting up the tent. I believe that it would not be able to stand up straight, not even for an hour. So, better parasite on others' effort, XD. We have a whole day rest after the 26 hours bus journey, which I felt grateful of. T_T, finally I can lays down flat(ignoring the fact that I am in a tent, not in my room and cocoon inside a sleeping bag, not my warm, cozy bed). Overall, I like my first night there, warm although it was insanely windy there. I woke up a few times during the night, scared that my tent would collapsed due to the crazy strong wind, fortunately, it stayed strong!

Waking up 5:00am in the morning, T_T, is totally a different scenario, COLD!!! Yea, and I begin to regret, why I join this freaking tour??!! The first visit in Alice Spring was the Alice Spring Telegraph Station. It played a key role in Australia's development as it was midway along the Overland Telegraph Line from Darwin to Adelaide. Nothing much to say about it, in fact, it was quite bored back then. And here comes the interesting part, guess how the people living in the outback get medical care? What happen when there is in need of intensive medical care during emergency? Aha, people in the outback uses Royal Flying Doctor Service, where individuals in need of urgent medical care, surgery or labor that cannot be done or provide by local clinic are transported by aircraft to the nearest cities, such as Adelaide or Darwin to seek for better medical care in hospital. Sounds cool right? This is an example of the detailed schedule for pilots and nurses that on task. Of course, like most ambulance, the aircraft have been modified with built-in first aid equipments. Here, I salute for those working in the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, especially the pilots and the nurses. The day ends with a visit to Cultural Centre which provides some knowledge about Australia Aborigins and Territory Desert Park, which introduces relationships between the plants, animals and people of the desert. Oh, and there is one thing that I forgot to mention. I saw Milky Way for the first time in my life!!!! In the outback, there is no artificial light around, the night sky is totally different from the typical city night sky with 1 or 2 stars or probably even none at all. You can see stretches of Milky Way across the sky, which cannot be captured by my lousy camera, SADDD. We even tried to identified stars during the night and we were able to spot both South Cross and Centaurus, which are relatively easy, =)

And now the word ADVENTURE finally fit into the itinerary of the trip. We had a 2 hours walk at Ormiston Gorge that day. Hmhm, as shown in the map, it is quite a big place and our route is the red dotted circle at the bottom left corner of the photo, which only covers er.. 1/6 of it, PHEW! OK, now, it is time to depart to search for the water hole! As you can see from the photo, the route are well built and it was an easy walk. The Ormiston Gorge was probably the

GREEN-est place for us to hike during the whole trip. With patient + stamina + water, we finally found the water hole! Although not very clean, but this is where the food chains begin and where the life sustained. Haha, remember what I say about easy, aw.. here comes the hard part! We will need to walk on and across the rock in order to get out, T_T.. The one and only one way, ROCK scattered everywhere!
















And our slightly adventurous Day 4 concluded with a visit to Simpsons Gap, and yea.. lovely river bed, gum scenery and of course SAND again.. X|


=s, Day 5 commenced with a bus trip again, sob... We packed our stuff, fold the tent and I fold my tent without any helps, so proud of myself, lol... And this time, instead of heading North, we head South to Watarrka National Park for the Kings Canyon. Well, I would regards it as the most beautiful place during the trip. We had a walk along the canyon floor before climbing it the next day. The next day started with climb, straight up the hill, you will need to conquer this heartbreak hill first before you can observe the scenery at the top of the canyon rim. The walk after the heartbreak hill is all relatively easy. Of course, remember sunscreen + water + hat when you progressed through as this was not normal climb/hike that you usually do. It is situated in the middle of desert! Ones get dehydrated quick.

There are water hole in Kings Canyon, with role to support life as well.

I don't want to sound conceited, but I took 3 hours to conquer Kings Canyon out of average of 4 hours(standard), ^^, proud of myself again~ From my opinion, the difficulty level of this climb is moderate. Till now, I am still amazed by the power of nature, it can shape the same place differently, from red sandstone walls to lush vegetation and then to natural rock pools.


~To be Continued~

2009年2月4日星期三

天公诞

对于我这个‘一半的福建人’,天公诞对于我来说既熟悉又陌生,而今年的天公诞入往年一般,我家初八早上便如火如荼的准备天公诞需要的祭品.
这是我的任务之一, 给水果们一些装扮, 呵呵..

天公诞, 又称玉皇大帝圣诞之日。来源于女娲娘娘开天地,造万物。初一为鸡日,初二为狗日,初三为猪日,初四为羊日,初五为牛日,初六为马日,初七为人日,初八为谷日,初九为天日,初十为地日。在正月初九这一天,人们多斋戒沐浴,上香行礼,祭拜诵经,妇女多备清香花烛、斋碗,摆在天井巷口露天地方膜拜苍天,求天公赐福。

亦有民间傳說,在唐朝,黃巢的軍隊曾在新年間從北方到南方(也有人說是宋朝楊宗保,又有人說是唐代開漳聖王陳元光,總之,是傳說!),北方軍隊在遇到服飾與語言不同的福建居民時,由於聽到這些居民自稱是“狼”(閩南音“人”的讀音),而大開殺戒。面對北方強兵的福建居民,只好紛紛逃到甘蔗園內躲避。一直到北兵弄清楚是怎回事,停止了殺戳。南方的福建人才走出蔗園。據說,僥倖僅存的福建人便把走出蔗園的日子,即正月初九日,用來補過新年,形成了後來的風俗。所以说福建人拜天公,除了感恩外,也祈求天公在新的一年,赐福给全家人,让合家大小平安。

当鞭炮声响起时就是拜天公的时间, 既是农历正月初九凌晨子时(十一点至一点), 为了不忘蔗林藏身救命之恩, 甘蔗更是拜天公的必需品, 而且祭神的甘蔗须带叶,以征节节上升甜节节和开枝散叶.
而供桌较特别,需设顶桌和下桌(或前后桌),一般是以长板凳或矮凳将八仙桌垫高,八仙桌脚下分别置放四叠寿金(金纸头得朝门口,就像人敬神时的方向),此即為顶桌,下方前面再加放一张供桌,即為下桌, 顶桌前再繫上吉祥图案的桌围. 拜天公时, 设置地点可分两类:一是家中正厅有吊天公炉者,二是家中无天公炉者。若是家中有帛天公炉的话,可把供桌设於大公炉下向门外的方向,表示向天恭迎天不尊驾降临;若是家中无天公炉者,则可将神桌设於前门口或中庭向天的方向。


拜天公的供品,顶桌和下桌的特色也不同,顶桌是献给最尊贵的天公,以清素的斋品為主;下桌是献给天公的部属神明,因而是以五牲等荤食為主。顶桌得备鲜花一 对,点上一对蜡烛,并在净香炉前摆上三只茶杯,斟上清茶,而顶桌的清素供品,一盘為扎上红纸的麵线三束(亦可烫熟分装三碗,每一碗上再各置一颗黑砂糖)、 五果(如柑橘、苹果、香瓜、甘蔗、香蕉等水果)、六斋(如金针、木耳、香菇、冬粉、土豆、红枣,有金木水火土五行俱备之意),亦有在六斋外,再加菜心、豌 豆、绿豆、豆轮、麵筋、麻栳等乾料,组成十二碗、二十四碗或三十六碗的菜碗,以及糖塔、糖盏等。下桌的荤食供品為五牲(如全鸡、全鸭、全鱼、全猪、全羊, 亦有用鱼卵、猪肉或猪肚、猪烫熟即可;此外,还有红龟粿、甜料(如米枣、甜糕)等。嗯, 看来我妈把天公的部属神明给忘了...

龙香亦是拜天公所需要的供品之一.

狗狗也来拜天公, 祈求天公保佑, 长命百岁~ XD

2009年1月26日星期一

新年快乐

在除夕时经历了"鸡飞狗跳", 在家的院子里抓鸡赶(被鸡吓跑的和吓鸡的)狗, 身心疲惫, 度过了一生难忘的除夕, 不知是祸是福, 呵呵~~

好了, 不多扯废话, 在这里我祝大家在新的一年里心想事成,牛年行大运~


家里芳龄16岁的混血狗也想祝大家新年快乐, =)

2009年1月16日星期五

[上哈佛真正学到的事] 上

[佛哈上],[上哈佛]及[原来哈佛是harvard!]这些经典台词出至于某位同学的口中, 而觉得有纪念价值的偶决定放上来给大家会心一笑.

而为什么哈佛这个字眼会出现在本篇里, 是因为这一本名为[上哈佛真正学到的事]的书. 虽然这本书已与我相隔甚远, 不过它却的确启蒙我, 让我发现我在求学过程中所错过的许多许多.

那些到国外深造的朋友, 有没有觉得当地人都很热情地回答教授所发问的问题或勇于发问? 虽然有时那些问题令人汗颜, 不过我却如同作者一样羡慕他们的态度. 每次我都将之归纳于英文差或就算不懂也有朋友懂的态度在课堂上保持沉默, 结果虽然不至于不会应付考题但却少了融入班上的归属感. 回头想想如果教授是用母语向我发问, 那我是否也能畅所欲言地回答? 答案是--不能因为我缺乏信心而且太在意别人眼中的我, 或许这是因为自小就养成[他人指向文化], 委屈自己达到别人所订出来的标准. 就像书中所说的, 别人不会对自己负责任, 所以我想这次我能够更勇敢发言吗, 就算是跟教授讨论时被口吃所困扰?

当各位掩埋在资料中时有没有一些自己想做的事? 我有很多想做的事但甚少是被我圆满完成, 不是半途而废就是被遗忘在思绪的某个角落. 而这是为什么呢? 书中提到"因为每天过得太规律, 对日期感觉开始麻痹, 时间观念也慢慢钝", 是我所赞同的. 每天按时上课, 打理家务, 复习, 就这样规律地天天过日子, 等到察觉是已经是学期末了, 除了担心考试外, 也遗憾太多自己想做的事并没有被实现, 所以从这个时刻开始我会尽量完成我想做的事. -- 有人说: 想做的事一定要完成, 当我们会想做一件事的时候, 就代表我们有做那件事的能力-- 所以我想尽可能的不要浪费自己的能力, =).

记得书中也说到'很多人只会说自己在哪家公司担任什么职务, 却无法具体详术自己做了什么, 能做什么. 重要的并不是你待过的[位置], 而是你[在那个位置担负什么样的责任和义务]. 仔细细嚼, 自己何尝不是呢? 要举例的话, 在中学, 学院甚至大学, 我有的职位不多也不见得少, 可是当问到通过这些职位所学到值得让别人聘请你的价值是什么时, 我也只能哑口无言. 所以我想现在我知道在自己的CV中我应该加入什么了.

综合上述的要点和书中所提到的, 哈佛提供给的最好教育确实是大幅度提升自信的机会. 如果更有自信一点, 是否就会有不一样的结果? 结果是如何我并不知道, 不过现在我确定如果我有那信心及勇气去试的话, 先不论结果好坏或许会得到不一样的经验, =)


2009年1月11日星期日

Scientist can be creative and yet hilarious

Since someone complaining about I haven't updated my blog, so here I am writing, sharing my learning experience.

I have been browsing through last year Biochemistry lecture note and I found funny yet nerdy and yet stupid "creative arts" produced by scientist which I don't want to admit that it does help me through exam, XD

PCR Song(Polymerase Chain Reaction)


All you need is annealing and extending
And it's amazing what heating and cooling and what heating can do, =)
(It is amazing that these are the answer what lecturer always look for, o(^^)o)

Glucose Song


This video clip reminds me of my lecturer funny facial expression when he sang it the first time in front of us, and yes, i admit the song sounds so stupid and nerdy but yet it again help, unbelievable right?

And a BIG yes, from this song I know that Glucose is aldehyde sugar and monosaccharide sugar that acts as primary fuel in our body for glycolysis, and muscle take it in by upregulate GLUT4 in response to insulin stimulation to make ATP via anaerobic glycolysis. This leads to acidosis(muscle cramp) which is accumlation of lactate in muscle, and when glucose is used up, fat is the next prefer fuel.

Hope this gonna help those taking Biochemistry in near future~~
And for those not taking Biochemistry or Sciences, hope this can be a good laugh to all of you, =)

2008年12月31日星期三

闲扯

不知道是在办公室太闲了还是看了朋友们的部落格后引发出来的笔瘾,难以置信现在的我又再次执笔畅写,么,算了,既来之就则安之吧~

在这么具纪念性的2008年12月31日开张了这个部落格那就写关于这一年来的点点滴滴:
在炎热的夏日里进入大学第二年,从热恋中到单身,在堆积如山的报告中奋战,首次挑战舞动出了名不协调的身体,首次勇敢地报上名担任课程代表,首次踏上舞台的焦点为众起舞,首次与朋友乘机出外旅行在短短的几天中玩遍主题公园的云霄飞车,穿上
礼服首次狂欢跳salsa(说真的还挺难为情,>o<),首次悲哀到怨恨老天爷为何考试期间还得冒着考
的心理与被冰雹砸伤或因此感冒的烦恼到处找寻明年的落脚处等等..(哇,其实还真的是挺多首次的)

不谈国际,不谈经济,不谈体坛,其实在我萎缩的脑细胞中我今年经历的风风雨雨也还是真的多,不知道各位看官是否发现到我所做的疯狂举动都发生于失恋后?哈哈,开个玩笑,都是在父母亲不在场所以干的好事特别多,不然哪能玩得那么疯,是不,相信这都是大多孩子们的心声。
其实还有很多趣事与疯狂举动不过带过就好,相信各位也不想知道这些事迹背后的经过而且对我这个患有青年痴呆的人来说我也不太能回忆种种详细的经过。

那么就让我们来期待新一年的来临吧~

人们常说新的一年就应对自己检讨与要求才能更进步,那么本人对于明年自己的某些要求如下:让思想更矛盾吧,让旁人更囧于我的行为,让自己更疯狂!! 万岁!

先预祝大家新的一年快快乐乐~