Sleep

Sleep

Sleep bids me come hither,
Ever so subtly and demurely
The mind lulling itself to rest
Eyes, faintly bloodshot and teary
Endeavour to close and find relief
Upon soft fabric, tired I lay
The silence of the night
Like a coruscanting nuance
Envelopes my senses

Yet sleep eludes me,
Weary yet not being able to get rest
A fatigued body vainly wrestles to suppress
A fatigued mind running in overdrive
Serotonin coursing through the brain
Attempts to sedate every firing neuron
Writhing around in bed
The fabric rustling is all I hear
As I pursue this elusive thing called sleep
Yet maybe, If I dont pursue
To me, it would return
Then there I may truly find ......

Ken Chin (1987- )

17th June 2006

Date: 17th June 2006
Time: 1920hrs AEST

Its funny how I can so consistently wake up so early in the morning.. even after a late night.. I slept at about 3 last night.. lo and behold, I woke up at 9am this morning.. Maybe its the residual effect of exams.. but nevertheless, had a go at playing soccer.. well it was ok.. a fairly interesting match.. I did yell till my voice went abit hoarse.. nevertheless it was fun. I mean, playing with 2 of my old school mates.. well it does bring back memories of the good ol times in secondary school.. except maybe.. there was more fair play and diplomacy- u know.. the handshake after the game and "good game, you played well" kinda thing..

And I thought for a moment, actually all these things are important- not just for a display, but also as a form of diplomacy.. I dont know.. personally I'm not exactly crazy over soccer.. infact I dont even watch all the world cup matches.. only a select few.. nevertheless.. I think soccer brings people together..

I must admit it feels good when you ram the ball and people get out of the way instead of blocking the ball.. haha how sadistic of me eh.. Its funny how in a game, you establish yourself as an artillery piece and when the ball comes to you with your opponent infront, you draw back your leg and pretend you're going to deliver a far shot.. I remembered seeing one guy- he quickly ducked.. and I just tapped the ball lightly from him.. haha it was quite funny.. but well I guess.. there are times when I get rammed also..

The day's been pretty quiet.. I got bored so I made a whole set of my own name cards.. well.. at least its easier to pass on contact details.. yeah.. tho the cards are the least bit professional.. they're just printed on A4 paper.. yeah.. oh well.. sorry for this boring entry.. I've had quite a boring day

June 17th

Somehow the holidays dont seem so appealing anymore.. I mean I'm thankful that I'm goin back... but yet.. it doesnt seem like a holiday.. maybe its the singaporean buffet syndrome.. u heap everything onto ur plate.. only to realise that its too much ur stuffing on ur plate.. by that time.. you forsee that u'll get indigestion.. working from monday to friday 9-5 in a lab initially sounded like great fun.. i mean well cross talk between HER-2/neu cell to cell signalling and mitochondria sounds like some big thing.. I guess well.. you're joining the force of scientists working together to combat cancer.. and rid human kind of its worst disease.. yet.. what I want is a break from all the hustle and bustle.. I want a holiday break.. My holiday is almost non existant.. I know I shouldnt complain.. Its just the fact that.. what I really looked forward to is a restful period.. where I can just feel laid back.. to recharge my energy before I get back into the academic fight.. but yet.. this holiday eludes me.. I dont know what to feel.. 1- I only get weekends off 2-I have to work from 9-5 everyday.. what else is there to do after 5? when u gotta go back sleep early and get ready for work the next day? 3- I have to fly back on the 20th which is a thursday.. that means I'll also be working that day.. and I dont get the last weekend off.. I dont know what to do really.. somehow I'm tired of all this academic ambition..

Whats this all mean at the end of the day? you're some kind of biochem hero? I'm tired.. all I want is a good holiday... for all the hard work and effort u put in for an exam, you can be rewarded by.. more hardwork.. and I mean.. WHAT EVEN MAKES ME THINK AFTER 9-5 THATS THE END OF IT? I STILL HAVE TO WRITE A REPORT TO COVER WHAT WENT ON THAT DAY.. so much for a holiday.. this had better be worth it.. cos I am really starting to feel resentful of it.. I dont know.. it seems like bad news after bad news.. I've been really looking forward to this holiday this whole semester.. It has to turn out this way.. GOD HELP ME PLEASE..

June 14th 2006

Entry log: June 14th 2006
Time: 1844hrs AEST

Just one more day to go.. the feeling- tired yet a sense of happiness.. many days have come and past, some quicker than others.. day and night have flowed just like a continum.. just like an amorphous continum.. I really do wonder how it does pass by.. just weeks ago i felt like a soldier fighting outnumbered from a tiny foxhole.. mentally prepared for an impending death.. yet taking down as many as I can before i go down... today.. spent of energy and ammunition.. I fight the last wave.. with one last clip of ammo loaded.. tired but somehow relieved.. nevertheless.. lets make every shot count.. for the many days I've been in this academic foxholes, I cannot have claimed to have outfought without aid.. firstly I thank God for never letting me give up.. next I thank my friends.. my comrades who fight alongside me.. whom never cease not only to uplift, but lavishly to teach and to aid me.. I thank my aunt who's here.. every bit of food she cooks for me, every single piece of encouragement, are my extra ammunition magazines.. I think many of my friends should recieve special mention:

Kwek Fei-Ju"fat pig"[in canto](Kwek Yi Xian)
- When the going gets tough, the tough gets baking.. A tribute to a person whom I call my brother..A person with a heart bigger than the size of my ass..his care more numerous that the number of shoes he has(dont guess..its insane for the number of legs we have).. a friend that gives so selflessly of his time efforts and words.. I am grateful for a brother as such..

Beckysaurus(Rebeckah Heng)
- The little princess, bubble of joy and happy bringer who never fails to amuse me and provide me laughter in times of weariness.. for the many times she has cheered me up by saying really stupid stuff(*oops*) as well as the time where the stuff she says gives me that extra dose of strength to last thru the day..a person who keeps me in constant prayer and cares for my heart.. her warmth and smile brings warmth in the coldest winter.. Such is an angel from the heavens above.

Kat-Kat(Kathryn Lee)
- A medical student who not only can give u a bypass or angioplasty or open heart surgery.. many thanks to the times when she fixes the wounds in my heart, even though, time itself.. is not a luxury of hers- A true medical student,a great doctor to be, and a loyal friend. I am grateful

Caramelmie(Melissa Whye)
-The best things in life, sometimes comes in little packages! Melly has always been there to amuse me and so perseveringly taken my embelishments of making fun of her.. this is my tribute to her for all the times and the late nites she's spent encouraging me..and putting that smile on my face.Thanks melly

Debster/Debbi(Debbie Woo)
-A person who'll never fail to amuse u, listen to u blabber on abt DNA and ASK FOR MORE.. Its most uplifting to have friends like these.. even tho distance separates, the warmth she puts in my heart after a long day does bring comfort.. as well as a smile on my face! I SALUTE YOU

die Schwester(Jamie Chin-the sister)
-Contrary to what many elder brothers think of their little sisters, this little one is a jewel.. her quirkiness does drive you crazy and over the wall without even getting any traffic demerit points.. I pay tribute to a sister that has always aided me.. be it in german or backing me up infront of my parents.. to my little sister, danke schon.. Ich will fur dich aus Australia sehr viel Bier kaufen.. Das ist gut ja?

Milk

I thought I found these facts interesting:

Milk as a Sedative

Milk contains alot of the amino acid Tryptophan which is needed to produce serotonin- a neurotransmitter that induces sleep

Milk when warmed, forms diazepam compounds, which are sedative themself..

Wanting

=Wanting=

On the gravel path, walk I
With the fall of each footstep, my transit mark
Pastels of orange and red spray across the vast expense of sky
As the last fleeting rays of sunlight succumb to the subtle dark
The whorl of clouds are present ever so subtle
Sculpted and majestic they stand in the fading sun
In towering colums solid or blossoming flower petals
Standing adamant as the day comes close to done
The wind stirs the dry leaves into a dance
Spirited away by a force unseen
Rasping as they waltz as if in trance
A feeling calling my senses to convene

Thoughts,
Like the evening traffic passing me
Slowly some trundle past, while others race
Past,present and future I see
With questions that stare me in the face

Query,
What is it that I dream
What is it that I am lacking
Sated yet desiring, or so it seems
I searched my heart and I found it wanting...

I searched my heart.. and found it wanting...

Ken Chin (1987- )

536-201 Physiology 2005 End of Semester paper

Section C

Q9 Answer all 3 parts a),b) and c) (30marks)

At death, the muscles of the body become very stiff and inextensible, and the corpse is said to go into rigor or 'rigor mortis'. With the aid of labeled diagrams(where nescessary)

a) explain the basis of rigor. Where in the contraction cycle is the muscle arrested? why?

b) Would you be likely to go into rigor faster if you were to die running to class or while sitting at lecture? Explain your answer.

c) Wat effect would the addition of ATP have on muscles in rigor?




I think I'll drop physiology next semester.. as you can see, going to physiology lecture at 9am has severe pathogenic effects- and often lethal

Words

Words

Upon virginal white fibres, yield
Swiftly,gracefully and elegantly, dance
Uninhibited you waltz across the vast white field
With a trail like a shooting star, you mark your passing in a glance

On behalf of one's cognition, speak
Verily if 'ere urgent, haste
Paint the message of your picture beautiful or bleak
Let the mind at the recieving end, the emotions taste

Like a raging river or tears of subtle sadness, flow
Vivaciouly adorned with colour, saturate
Bathe the mind's senses with feelings you behold
Determine if the message you bear is love or hate

Words of my heart please, sing
To this world, my humble offering of expression, give
Emotions that render colour to my world you bring
Manifest yourself, while I still have breath.. and for as long as I live

Written by: Ken Chin (1987- )

Why

Why

Why does it hurt so bad?
In pain yet I harbour not hate
Is there nothing that can, this wound sate?
Pretense laced smiles
Cunningly designed to hide my wiles
Yet you know i'm not my original state

Why does it have to be?
Reminiscent of the past filled with pain
Like a spectre of the past, a waltz with nostalgia once again
Down this memory lane walk I,
Head bowed, from my dry lips escape a sigh
From the corner of my eye, tributaries of tears flow as the heavens above sends rain

Why does asking 'why' matter?
The shrapnel peppered heart feels weak
Yet "why?" a question it earnestly seeks
I'll ask as I remove those shards
Thirst I, not for vengance- even though my heart has been marred
Alas the silence your only answer you offer, as I dry the tears off my cheeks

Why?

By: Ken Chin (1987- )

A Song for the ECL and Parietal cells of the stomach

This song is written as a last ditch effort to study the digestive processes in the stomach about ECL (Enterochromaffin like cells) and Parietal cells (they secrete H+ and make the stomach acidic)

Its sung to the tune of " How do i live" by Leanne Rimes.. damm if she hears how I mutilated her song she'll kill my ass.. but well anything for science is JUSTIFIABLE

How do I secrete

How do I,
Get thru 1 meal without you
How could I eat without you
Cos you're my ECL cell

Oh why,
You're only activated by gastrin
You engage calmodulin
And secrete histamine
That will bind H2 receptors on Oxyntic cells

And tell me now,
How do I eat without you, I want to know
How do I cope without you, with that huge food flow
How do I ever secrete HCl
How do I.. How do I secrete...

With no acid,
There'd be bad bacteria in my gut
That would really make me fart
My friends would quickly depart

Oxyntic cell,
Ach binds to your M3
And ATP to AC
Gives cAMP
Goes from Adenyl cyclase onto Protein Kinase
And from the cell within, Calcium binds calmodulin
And drives the pump

And tell me now,
How do I eat without you, I want to know
How do I cope without you, with that huge food flow
How do I ever secrete HCl
How do I, oh how do I secrete..

Written by: Ken Chin the Bored

This song is also dedicated to 536-201 Principles of Physiology students:

For the sigh of relief we exhale after respiration lectures, for the facts we just cant stomach in digestion lectures, the times when we get pissed off at messy notes during Urinary excretion lectures..

Cold Day

The Senses

Hear,
The dry cold wind blows,
The leaves, dry, rasp as they flurry into dance
As if a spirit moved amongst

See,
Twilight falls as if to dampen the mood
As the last fleeting rays of daylight elude
The bustle of life fades,
As if to amplify the solitude

Feel,
The touch of bittersweet sorrow
A heart with a wound feels hollow
As night marks the passing of day,
On my knees, with clasping hands I pray
Rid this pain and give me hope for tomorrow

Smell,
Sadness so subtle that permeates the air
Why does my heart, this pain bear?
Wish it all away
Wish it'd never stay
It persists stubbornly, in your face it stares
Wishes, are just vanity because no matter what.. it is still there

Ken Chin (1987- )
2nd June 2006