Graduate school, I'm in it!

Let's see, it's been... 3 months since I last posted! XD Oh boy, I procrastinate too much.

I've just started my journey as a graduate student, and now I'm 3 weeks into my course... but it felt 3 months already. Haha! Things were a bit rough during the start, but now I'm slowly settling down in the new lab and adjusting to my hectic school timetable.

Although I essentially had a 1-month break after I resigned from the old lab, I was also going for orientation talks, fighting for course modules for the semester, and of course, catching up with friends before I get really, really busy. So yeah, a month was barely enough for me to have a good rest. But nevertheless I matriculated on the last week of July, and reported to the new lab on the second week of August because my new Boss was out of town on the first week. XD

The module registration system at the new University was pretty much a culture shock, because I didn't run into that many problems at my undergraduate University. I guess I've been spoon-fed quite a bit during my undergraduate years, but now I really have to look into the courses offered by the various schools on my own and hope that they'd offer me a place in the class hahaha. I'm pretty lucky this semester... I've been offered 2 modules as planned. Each module has 2 lectures per week, so yeah, I've got classes on campus 4 days a week. The syllabus for both modules are more to the tedious side (lots of memorizing woot...), but yeah at least they are related to my major so I had some foundation already.

For me, the main draw of graduate school is the labwork. My new lab is in a hospital compound situated away from the University campus, and they just relocated to a new building within the compound. I'm actually working in the lab as a rotation student, but I really like it there so I guess I should be staying? Hahaha... The institute is still pretty young, so while there are many research fellows and assistants around, the number of graduate students can be counted by the fingers on both of your hands. XD I'm the first student that my Boss recruited in his team, so I guess I'll have to work extra hard! So far the assistants had been really helpful and the research fellows were friendly, and my new Boss is a really nice person, so I'm adapting to the new lab pretty well. I've just finished my first hands-on protocol in the lab this week, and the assistants were there whenever I needed help and the Boss even supervised me personally at one point, so it was really great. I still haven't got used to the traveling between the lab and campus 4 days a week though (omg so troublesome...), and yeah I've gotta get down to decorating my desk in the lab soon! XD

So that was the gist of what happened in my life during these couple of months. I would be posting more about my school and lab whenever I have the time and energy to. But yep, the baptism of fire has started, and omg I'm a student again!! XD

The Next Door

It is natural that in life, you close one door to end a chapter in your life, and open another to start afresh. I've decided to be brave and leave my comfortable environment to venture into another place to start from scratch. I'm not regretting my decision, but I do feel sad when I think that I'll be leaving friends whom I spend almost everyday with for the last two years.

Today is the day that I had to break the news. The reaction from my colleagues varied. Some just took it without any reaction, some were reluctant, some were outright shocked. It was tough breaking the news to my Boss. It was pretty obvious that he didn't really like my decision to leave, but he didn't stop me and wished me all the best.

I still have close to 2 months left before I leave to experience the research and academic culture in another institute as a graduate student. I see it as a great opportunity to learn more things and explore other fields that I've always wanted to try my hand at.

It's time to open the next door, step forward and not look back.

[Backlog] A Year in Cosplay - 2008

I had 16 new costumes and 5 photoshoots in 2008.



From top left, in chronological order:
Shimizu Keiichi (Kiniro no Corda), Liddell (Pop'n Music Best Hits!), Kinomoto Sakura (Cardcaptor Sakura), Kagamine Len (Vocaloid2), Todou Usaki (DOLLS), Mist (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance), Little Dracula (Princess Nightmare), Ookawa Utako (CLAMP School Detectives), Maka Albarn (Soul Eater), Hojo Satoko (Higurashi no naku koro ni), Kagura (Gintama), Alucard (Hellsing The Dawn), Hoshino Tetsuro (Galaxy Express 999), Takatsuki Yayoi (The Idolm@ster), Fumika (Shigofumi), Ciel Phantomhive (Kuroshitsuji)

Some were easy, some were really difficult. Some I tried my hand at prop-making, and some I just couldn't make it so I got my tailor to help me out. But all were equally memorable. I broke out my first tube of Uhu Glue for Vocaloid and haven't looked back since. I realized that I love doing characters who hold guns or sharp objects (the bigger the better!). I've also met more friends in the local and overseas cosplay circle and worked with them during photoshoots. Let's hope that there are many more to come!