Stinky Lab + Meet-up
Friday, January 26, 2007
Yes! My blocked nose finally cleared, however, that also meant that I will be able to smell things (duh!). And, our dear Yumin spilled some thiols while doing some lab work. In case you don't know, thiol is the active ingredient in skunk mask that imparts the intolerable, persistent odor. And, we human, can smell thiol at a concentration of 1 part in a 1,000,000,000 (billion!). Whoa, imagine the smell that pervaded the lab. The persistence of thiol is incredible; the fume hood was on, we tried to react the thiol with hydrogen peroxide and sodium bicarbonate and the smell was still lingering after all the effort. At the end, Xiaofeng decided to give out her jasmine tea bags; she hanged them from the drawers so that the jasmine fragrance will mask the pungent smell. Wai Xiang diluted some Dove shower cream with hot water so that the steam from the soapy concoction will also help mask the terrible odor. The lab smelled pretty good after that. Everybody evacuated from the lab after the brief clean-up. Well, at least Yumin provided the excuse for letting us go home early :p The time was 1830.
The evening was spent at the USP Alumni Sharing Session. I think the session was more focused on the selection criteria of the companies. Benjamin, Jet and Ivan are from the civil service and the point I gathered from their presentations was that the quality of the first degree was really important in determining the initial posting and, of course, the salary. From then on, it's a pretty level playing field.
The private sector was represented by Beatrice (P&G Key Account Manager) and Jaclyn (Deloitte Consulting, Strategy & Operations Dept Consultant). These are big company names and according to Beatrice and Jaclyn, they went through like >= 20 rounds of interview to land themselves their job. The quality of the first degree is still relevant since it is the first key that qualifies you for an interview. It seems like one's performance during the interview is the most important factor that determines whether one gets a job. Comparatively, such super vigorous interviews aren't that prevalent in civil service.
After the session, a few of us from the 5th USC MC went to Wala Wala for a beer and the Wala Wings. The wings were not bad, YC highly recommended the wings and they were definitely not disappointing. At $10 for a large plate, I think the value-for-money factor is quite high. Later in the night, we were joined by Benjamin, Jet, a couple of admin stuff and other friends.
P.S. I'm so happy to know that Benjamin and Jet are together.
posted byWilliam at 11:57 PM
hee..so sorry abt e spill.. :p
but was glad that u all did not scold me and help me up!!
Thanks!!
it's been some time that i went to places like wala wala le..mayb we 8 honours ppl can go..hahahaha..but yet..another suggestion after many of our plans not fulfil yet!! :p
These are the interesting aspects of lab life. We'll forget about experimental but this is one story that I will never forget.
Ya loh, super lotz of plans not fulfilled. So many places to go...