Harrogate

My lab was shut down for a few days so that we can all go to attend the Society for General Microbiology Meeting in Harrogate, about 1.5 hours drive south of Newcastle.

From Harrogate

I guess it is not a popular town at all since there is no football club from Harrogate nor an University named after the town. Unlike Cambridge and Oxford, we all know that they are names of English dictionary. I have not much expectation for this town.

We stayed in Cairn Hotel throughout the conference.

From Harrogate

It was dark already when we reach Harrogate but my Cybershot W30 does the trick. Some people said Sony cameras are not good, mine have surely served me well since 3 years ago. Have I mentioned that it bears the rare 'Made in Japan' printed next to the serial number. Perhaps this was the last of the kind and superseded by the 'Made in China' D series (D=disposable).
This hotel is VERY classic, in another word it is very very OLD but well maintained. I like it.

From Harrogate

From Harrogate

The best thing of all is this ancient hotel provides FREE WiFi but the signal is limited to the main lobby and some rooms but surely not mine in the 2nd floor. I had a fair use of the rare FREE internet mainly to check emails and to video conference with my darlings back home.

Hah...the Royal Bath...I was expecting to find at least an old swimming pool inside but it is now a posh Chinese Restaurant.

From Harrogate

I love this town, there are not many hoodies around and I felt safe even when I walk out at night. An ideal place for retirement. With a quick walk around town, I think a day trip would be sufficient.

There is a huge park in the heart of Harrogate.

From Harrogate

From Harrogate

I took some time 'off' from the conference to tour around town. The conference was poorly organized and the number of participants were perhaps a quarter compared to last year's. What so bad about this conference.

1. FOOD
Come on. 4 dishes but can only pick 2 and there is no 2nd topping. It doesn't taste good either. Deserts are all gone by the time I finish my lunch but plenty of fruits available (not that ripe too). hello!!

While taking some cookies for tea, the waitress said you can only take 1 or else there won't be enough for the rest. WHAT KIND OF BUDGETING SYSTEM are you using???!!!!1 cookie per person ?!!.
Here is the picture of the one person can only take one cookies which I obviously took more than one.

From Harrogate

I think too many people complained about the lack of food for the first day and they come up with some bulking idea for the second day.

From Harrogate

Tasty huh? there were lots of rice and leaf for the second day.

2.COFFEE
This booster is essential to keep people alive during the whole day conference but the coffee is BAD both in the conference center and the hotel. Hmmm. I would describe the taste like a cup of hot water with 1 whole coffee bean in it. Of course with 1 sugar and milk. Who taught you morons to brew such a tasteless coffee anyway? I've even tried the 'freshly' brewed coffee from Starbuck there and it tasted as awful as the rest. Worse, it cost me GBP1.70 for the awful cuppa. Conclusion is there is no good coffee in Harrogate. Can sense my anger? Coffee is my good friend, brewing bad coffee is an insult to my good friend.

3. Conference Center

From Harrogate

This ancient conference center comes with ancient projector which flickers once in a while like the old black and while Charlie Chaplin film. The auditorium's chairs are old and I can tell by the look of the fabric. A handle came off when I pull it for some reason that I can't remember.
As parallel workshops and seminars were run simultaneously, some seminar rooms were so small that some participants were either sitting on the floor or peeping from the entrance. Some rooms were so big for such a small talk until less than 10% of the seats were occupied.

Back to the park. It was very nice.

From Harrogate

From Harrogate

An old water well which I initially thought was a tomb.

From Harrogate

Another well inside this chapel like house.

From Harrogate

I like this tree. So I have to step on the grass to take a picture with it.

From Harrogate

The park warden saw me and in my mind, if he scolded me for stepping on the grass, I'd speak mandarin to him and said Me China ni jiang se mek? and perhaps take a snap shot with him. But it was alright to step on the grass and he showed me to another 'nicer' tree which I don't really like.

From Harrogate

Tadaa..the wollen pine or something. This supposed to be one of the oldest species of pine tree which was discovered in South Australia. There are only a few hundred of them left on earth and the city council shipped one over and planted it in here in Harrogate. It was all gated to prevent people from stealing it. Hmmmm it happen here too. There is no sign or anything on this tree to protect it from human harm. So, if you fancy old almost extinct pine tree, you know where to look in the UK.

From Harrogate

From Harrogate

Medusa was here.

From Harrogate

Slim flats can be found along this park.

From Harrogate

From Harrogate

with Balinese style entrance.

From Harrogate

We went for tea on the second day in The Bettys.

From Harrogate

Bettys tea cost a fortune. a cup can buy you a large box of Yorkshire Tea. Maybe two boxes.

From Harrogate

From Harrogate

From Harrogate

And they do sell huge Easter Choc Eggs. The big one cost more than GBP20.

From Harrogate

Got pink Easter Pigs too.

From Harrogate

.
Seriously I don't think Bettys tea is any more special compared to normal tea bag brew.

The day after April fool

I just came back from Harrogate for the 2009 Society for General Microbiology Meeting yesterday and I slept from 8pm till 7am the next day. The conference really knocked me out.

Then after a cup of coffee, clean my teeth, empty my bowel and bladder, I went for my final hour driving test with David, my driving instructor.
Cikgu Tan have no license meh? Got...in fact Cikgu Tan have been driving for more than 10 years already. My Malaysian driving license is recognized in the UK for only a year since I arrived. Then, I'll need to get a provisional license (L license), and sit for both the theory and practical test all over again.
Getting the provisional license is the scariest part as I've to post my passport to the DVLA office in Swansea together with other documents. Seems like mailing passport here and there is norm in the UK but I couldn't sleep till I received it back by mail.

I tell you, UK driving test is not easy to pass. Many people have to sit for a few tests before they pass and learning to drive from scratch will cost a bombshell (only the shell, explosives not included).

With vast driving experience, it was not that easy to unlearn and relearn driving. Experience comes with many bad habits which is deeply rooted in my subconscious mind. Initially I was thinking of going for the driving test without any professional lesson but many friends told me British Driving test is very difficult to pass. Many decided to bypass it. So, what the heck, just get an hour or 2 from a local driving instructor just to get the British format right and I ended up with 5 or 6 hours. It's cost me GBP17 per hour but it's all worth it.

During the first lesson, my instructor said I'll surely fail if I go for a driving test just like that. Wai seh, step on the clutch and let the car coast to the red traffic light also cannot, step on the clutch during turning also cannot, after turning let the steering wheel spring back to center also cannot, hai yoh MUST look at the mirror first before signal leh. Eh, turn the steering using one hand also cannot, I thought its cool to turn using one hand. I spent quite some time to learn to use one hand to turn the steering leh, now you want me to use both hands.

Unlearning is surely not that difficult but I must drive with my conscious mind. After driving for more than half an hour or so and my subconscious mind will take over and I'm on the autopilot mode again.

I sat for the theory test on the 18th March which I passed with flying colours. The queue for the theory test was a long 3 weeks. There were 2 sections, 50 multiple choice questions (MCQ) followed by 14 hazard perception clips. The MCQs are straight forward and all the questions and answers can be found in the book but the hazard perception part is not that straight forward. I guess if you are a gamer, you should perform quite well in the hazard perception part, they show you driving clips and you just click the mouse when you see danger developing. It takes a bit of reflex like playing counter strike. I scored 49/50 for the first part and 66/75 for the second. Not bad huh but all the materials in the picture below are essential. Since everything is computerized, I get my results printed minutes after the test ended.

With the pass theory certificate, I quickly log on to the DVLA website and register for the earliest driving practical test which is today.

The examiner said today is a good day as the weather is fantastic. Fantastic in this context means bright and warm or will not die of hypothermia if standing naked in the open air. Not many fantastic days in a year tough. In this fantastic day I passed my driving test with grounded black and white colours. A good score of 13/16. This is not translated into 81%, the number 16 in the ratio is the maximum error that I can make. This is from an experienced driver. I tell you, not easy to pass for the first time.

The cost of having a UK driving license:-
Provisional license GBP30 excluding about GBP10 of return postage
Theory test GBP30
Practical test GBP52? I think so
Practice DVD GBP6 (up to about GBP15)
Driving lessons GBP17 x no of lessons.
Expensive? The license is almost perpetual. Don't have to be renewed every few years except getting your photo changed when you are too old. Furthermore, it is recognized everywhere in the world (I guess).

A big thanks to my driving instructor.

How am I?

I'm not abandoning my blog. Just taking a holiday from blogging. In actual fact, I do not have much time allocated for blogging nowadays.

I'm officially in my 2nd year of study and schedule is getting more hectic. Seriously, doing a degree by research is quite scary. It's not like doing a secondary school experiment nor a guided undergrad laboratory experiments which one is to prove a given hypothesis right. This one....the hypothesis is just theoretical and the outcome is unknown.

On the other hand, little Tansaurus is mature enough to demand for continuous attention from both of us. If we sit in front of the computer, he will climb us to see what's going on. When I tried to lullaby him to sleep, I dozed off with him and the next thing that I know is it's time to go to school again. I'm smart enough not to bring work back anymore.

This year's winter have been very cold with snow measuring up to 3 inches high (big deal right but for me from a country with perpetual summer, a micrometer thick of snow is big deal). We had massive snow on two separate occasions but funnily almost all snow melted with the day-2 heavy rain. No snowman for me till now. First sight of snow is fun, first time experiencing heavy snow is great, falling down from bike due to black ice is no fun, more and more snow is so irritating, I want to go home.

Little Tansaurus is growing his molar now and he is a real fun for both of us. I'm very impressed with his development. Everyday he discover new skills

From Val09

and everyday we discover a smarter him. Yes, he dig just like daddy.
Kids are curious being. Trying all possibilities, testing all hypothesis, they are great scientists.

From butter baby

Looking at his reflection, he prepares for the experiment

From butter baby

Final check to see if mummy said no. Everything is clear and

From butter baby

he proved that big baby cannot fit into small Kjledsens container.

From butter baby

Due to the harsh weather conditions, we kept warm at home most of the time and we opts to shop in indoor shopping mall like Metrocenter (I think there is only one indoor shopping mall around here) and shying away from the openair city center. As Valentine's Day seems to be a rare warm fine day, we walked down to the city center to do some shopping. We need to buy Little Tansaurus new body suit as he is quite big now for his present one. So we dropped by Primark. While busy looking for a suitable body suit, I put Little tansaurus down so that I can make use of both my hand and he quickly went into hiding.

From Val09

From Val09

Then hoh, we proceed to Sports World which was on 'closing down sale' ever since we arrived in Newcastle. Very honest of them. I discover that their stocks actually increased a lot. How much is a lot?

From Val09

No space to walk ah. Not easy to chase after him in such a pack area. Did you notice he is not in his pram?
Suddenly he disappeared from visual and I caught him crawling on the floor to reach for a new found 'toy'. Perhaps it is much easier to crawl as there are plenty of space underneath.

From Val09

That's my son.

Stop it ah!

This is our gorgeous little boy who is more than 11 kg now. Don't mess with him, he bites! Well, he only bites us. You are safe I guess.

My little one is growing up FAST. He can now say a few words in Mandarin, Teochew and English. He understand which is nose, ear, mouth and EYE (ouch) by pointing (and pocking) his index finger after we say the word. Due to some technical difficulty to write in Mandarin and Teochew, I'll only mentioned some of the English words that he can say and I can remember clearly.

Thanks - This happens at least 5 months ago in Hexham where I handed him some toys in the car and he automatically said the word.

Bye - He will wave at me and sometimes utter bye before I go to school.

This - One of his toys were stuck in his toy box and he was whinning. I chickily ask him which one (that he wants) and he point to the musical rocket and say 'this'.

Kiss - This is one of our favourite. However, we will be covered with his saliva after his kisses. Don't mind though.

Stop it - He imitates us. We have now stop telling him 'stop it' as he imitates us very well. Once I scolded him and tell him 'Stop it ah', and he mumble lots of baby language back at me and end with a very clear Stop it ah.

Screaming! He learned to scream after a Hari Raya visit to a friends house last year where someone's daughter was screaming for fun and her parents just let her scream in other people's house. Bo ka si. Dan was playing with them and when we reach home, he started to scream for fun too. Not that simple to silent him....perhaps this is where the 'Stop it' comes in.

That's all about my talkative little lad for now.

Woolies no more

We had great fun hunting for bargain Easter Eggs this year but next year's Easter will definitely be different. Our good friend old Woolworths is closing down and some branches have already been closed. It's amazing how a 99 years old chain store in the UK can just call it a day.
Anyway, we had lots of fun with the good old Woolies as the local calls it. The closing down sale was genuine.

From Woolworths. Boxing Day 2008

Initially it started with 10% to 20% and ended with a 90% sale. I was there when the sale was 40% to 60% off but nothing much of Woolies were left.

From Woolworths. Boxing Day 2008

From Woolworths. Boxing Day 2008

Even the display racks were on sale.

From Woolworths. Boxing Day 2008

A friend of mine who went for the final 90% sale said people were basically stuffing 'left overs' into big black rubbish bag and emptied them on the cashier's counter. Perhaps they will be selling them in carboot sale later on.
Seriously, I was thinking of buying myself a Dalek. Cheap mah.

From Woolworths. Boxing Day 2008

We bought quite a lot of books for Dan Dan and he also found a steel bucket for himself.

From Woolworths. Boxing Day 2008

Kids just love buckets, storage boxes and anything that is not an orthodox toy. Bucket and Dan Dan...inseparable. By looking at his face and expression, I bought him the bucket. It's like he have found a great bargain too.

From Woolworths. Boxing Day 2008

Like the Woolies slogan, It's worth it!

All about Malaysia

Malaya used to be a sleepy British colony of rubber planters and misfits.

Like most colonies, it was a sunny refuge for shady people.

Then, in 1957, it became independent and went back to sleep.

Robert Gore-Langton, Daily Mail, 10^th December 2008

I came across an article in a British Daily and the very first paragraph caught my attention. I love the 3rd line. Initially it sounds like a negative article but read on and it's the slight opposite. Seems like the online version is not entirely the same as the printed version.

Daddy Tan

update:
I declare that 11th Dec 2008 is the falling down day as another 2 of my friends fell down from their bike too. Walkers were not spared from falling down.

My bike skidded on my way to school this morning. Shish! the ice on the slope was so slippery and while I was making a turn, my back wheels gave way. I landed on my side buttock but luckily I have many layers of winter padding to buffer the fall. Not a single scratch. A lady walked passed me pretending that she didn't see me. Hmmm. I picked up my bike and saw the lady crossing the main road and then she slipped with both her legs sticking up to the sky. She lie there for a while, stood up and turn back and look at me. I'm not alone.
There is a slight damage to the derailleur of my bike but it was OK. This year's winter is really bad, temperature is at a constant 4 degrees and below.

Little Tansaurus is very well now thanks to mummy Tansaurus's care and love. Little Tansaurus is very chatty. He can speak some words that we can make sense of and he is very responsive when I call his name.

Me: Aidan
Tansaurus: Daddy
Me: Aidan
Tansaurus: Daddy
Me: Aidan
Tansaurus: Daddy
Me: Aidan
Tansaurus: Daddy

Then I add our surname in
Me: Aidan Tan
Tansaurus: Daddy Tan
Me: Aidan Tan
Tansaurus: Daddy Tan
Me: Aidan Tan
Tansaurus: Daddy Tan
Me: Aidan Tan
Tansaurus: Daddy Tan
Me: Aidan Tan
Tansaurus: Daddy Tan

Strep throat

I was absent from the University for 3 days two weeks ago. My sore throat had developed into strep throat. It was bad, really really bad

From strep

so bad that I walked to the General Hospital at 10 pm wednesday night and waited at the emergency ward for nearly 3 hours for a pack of goodie Amoxillin. What really drives me to walk there in the middle of the winter night was my paranoia that my strep throat was developing into scarlet fever as both my hands was full of rashes.
It was raining on my way back and I wasn't prepared for the rain. Anyway, it wasn't heavy and my winter jacket can still handle it. My wife waited for me to reach home before she went to bed. Thanks. I really appreciate that.
I then stuff my dedicated cybershot lens into my mouth and tried to snap the best masterpiece of my throat ulcers (as displayed above). throat photography was a bit tricky. I've to open my mouth to the max and try to orientate the flash so that it doesn't get blocked by my teeth.

Initially I was thinking of going to my GP at Dilston Medical Center but my appointment was on Thursday and it was only tuesday. I can wait, it was only sore throat but.....
It was not the problem of Dilston that the appointment was scheduled 2 days after I walked in to make an appointment, it's the system. I'm lucky to get an appointment 2 days later, some friends get an appointment done a week later. Crazy huh. Fever today, recovered in few days time and then go and visit the doctor the following week and he asked you 'what's the problem?'. You say I was sick last week but OK already.
Anyway, the only thing that I don't like about Dilston is their health visitor never visits. Every family with children supposed to be allocated with one health visitor and they supposed to visit you (your child) at home to see if the house condition is healthy, if they are healthy, if ..... but I've never even seen the shadow of any one of them from Dilston. Blame it on the NHS system? or this center is just incapable of doing anything right. Our previous health visitor from Prospect Medical Center was good. Came to visit promptly, gave us a baby bouncing chair and some goodie toys for little Tansaurus.

With a peace of mind, i took a tablet of Amoxillin and went to bed and hope to get cured when I wake up the following day.

Nope, I didn't even get a good night sleep. Ibuprofen (aspirin) didn't help either. I can't swallow my saliva, every ingestion sent a sharp pain impulse to my brain. the signal was so strong that subconsciously my swallowing mechanism just shut itself. I was drooling in my sleep. Ewwww.
My saliva seems to have thicken itself to provide better lubrication for my throat. It was so thick that when I spit it out, it will leave a strand hanging on my lips all the way down to the sink. Something like the drooling aliens in the Alien stared by Sigourney Weaver.

It was a bit late to cancel my thursday appointment in Dilston since I have visited the hospital, so I just pay my GP a visit. After looking at my ulcers, he asked me to stop amoxillin and change it to penicillin. Actually I do feel that Amoxillin didn't help either. The infection was basically spreading to my ears now. I can feel the bugs clogging up my Eutaschian tube. Extra pain.

Well, the pain continues....I guess Sunday was the day that I woke up without having any sharp pain.

The sequel doesn't end there. I'm having some bad cough right now....a long bad cough.

Discovery Museum

We parked our car at the Newcastle College on Saturday (1/11/08) and walked to the Discovery Museum (DM).

From UK02.11.08

This place seems to be very far away from our place through the main road but it's is shockingly near when we used the small road. I can basically walked there from home.

From UK02.11.08

This is our very first visit to a museum in Newcastle. There is another museum near to Newcastle University called the Great North Museum which is scheduled to open next March or later. It was open but closed for renovation. The admission to DM is generously free. It's rare to find free admission places to visit in the UK, so the 'FREE' thing is heavily promoted here.

Once inside, we were greeted by a Turbinia, the first steam turbine powered steamship which was built in 1894 and boast to be the fastest ship during that time.

From UK02.11.08

The ground floor of the museum basically shows the chronological evolution of Newcastle from it's ancient time to the modern days. There are replicas of the roman soldiers checking on the lady's armpit hair,

From UK02.11.08

Ancient Cikgu Tan wearing a steel helmet. Gosh, it was heavy and the chain is obviously too short for an adult to try it on.

From UK02.11.08

someone having a heart attack

From UK02.11.08

actually I think this guy was supposed to be stabbed but I took this picture because his face really looks like a cousin of mine in Kuching.

Look at what barbers during the ancient time can do.

From UK02.11.08

These are their gadgets

From UK02.11.08

Cool isn't it.

Hair too long, go and see the barber,
Toothache, go and see the barber,
Gangrenous leg, go and see the barber,
Get shot, go and see the barber,
Deep cut, go and see the barber.

This sounds like the one stop solution center but soon their business was soon taken over by Medics and Dentists.
Can you imagine that you entered a barber shop for a hair cut. While getting your hair cut, the customer next to you is screaming like mad because he is having his leg cut off, another customer waiting for your hair to be done before his bullet can be extracted from his wound. WORSE, the shaving knife that was used to cut the fellow's leg was used for your sideburn. Welcome to Newcastle.
Why not ask your family doctor or dentist to give you a hair cut?

Enough! lets proceed to something else.

From UK02.11.08

The very first version of the double deck tram. I don't think it is a bus....there were too many information here i read none of them except the barber's one just now and the following.

This piece of equipment is very meaningful to my academic life. I find this a privilege to see the actual iron lung which was used to help the bulbar poliomyelitis (respiratory poliomyelitis) patients to breath.

From UK02.11.08

From UK02.11.08

Everyone should be thankful that we have a very good vaccine against polio and it is almost eradicated from most of the face of the earth.
If you are interested to know more about polio, wiki it as it contains lecture quality information.
By the way, the Royal Victoria Infirmary is located adjacent/linked to the Medical School, Newcastle University.

We finished off in a hall dedicated for the mental health. If not mistaken, stats shows that 1 out of 4 people here suffers from some sort of mental illness.
Hah! here is my little Tansaurus kepo trying to read.

From UK02.11.08

We proceed up to the 1st floor by lift and suddenly some mild siren sound was heard. there was a message. Initially we just ignore it because there are many buttons here that you can press to listen to some stories rather than reading them but seems like people started to leave. Aham...the message behind the siren says 'please leave the building immediately, fire have been reported in the building'. Hey! we just reached 1st floor leh. how to bring the pram down the stairs when we can't use the lift anymore. Anyway, I just push the pram down the stairs, of course mummy is holding little Tansaurus.
The people in the UK view fire alarm seriously. Evacuation was smooth. Everybody walked calmly, no running, no pushing, no stampede, no screaming and gathered outside in the assembly area (car park)

From UK02.11.08

People responded differently to the fire alarm, the couple in the middle of the picture was turned on I guess.
Rather than waiting outside, we decided to go to Wing Hong, a chinese grocery shop which sells many familiar food. However among 3 large chinese shops in Newcastle, this one doesn't offer any student discounts. Cash and Carry near to St James Park offers 10% and Tsang offers 5% when student card is produced. I guess Wing Hong is more chinese minded.
Just before we walked away, I can't seems to notice these evacuees.

From UK02.11.08

a closer look.

From UK02.11.08

Wai seh, champion woh, pharoah and the other ancient people also take the chance to come out for some sun shine. See, people here view the fire alarm seriously.

Daddy Tansaurus is ill

Now I know exactly why little Tansaurus was crying non-stop, rejecting any fluid or solid and not sleeping well at night. Daddy Tansaurus is experiencing the same illness too. Headache, tonsillitis (so bad that swallowing saliva is too painful to describe. I can't recall myself having tonsillitis. I guess this is my very first tonsillitis) hypersensitized pain receptors which a gentle touch on my shoulder is painful. Worse was shivering with fever. I was basically wearing 5 layers of shirts, hiding under the duvet but not a single drop of sweat being secreted.
Now my fever is gone, headache gone, but tonsil getting more painful. Arrrrgh.

This is the common winter disease.