Thursday, July 24, 2008

40th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) - Photographs

I know I will not have much time to blog about this event so soon. Therefore, I decided to post some photographs so that readers can get some idea out of it.




Tuesday, July 22, 2008

40th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) - The Homecoming

Well, after some rest, I decided to just pen something short for the time being as I still need more rest. This is the outcome, Malaysian Team manage to win 2 Bronze medals and 1 Honorary Mention. This achievement though not very good when compared to past years thought us lessons the painful way. Now on, we know more about our weaknesses and hopefully this can help change the future. Anyway, stay tuned for more updates. For the time being, indulge in some of these websites:
Official Site of the 40th IChO
Official Photographer's Flickr Page
The US Team Journalist's Blog

Thursday, July 10, 2008

40th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO)

In 24 hours, we, the Malaysian team to Budapest, Hungary for the IChO will board MH 16 to Amsterdam where we transit. This would also mean that I'll not be able to blog for the next 10 days or more unless I can gain internet access somewhere. Anyway, I'll upload things about IChO as soon as I get connected to the internet. So, goodbye to all my friends and I'll be back soon.

Sunday, July 06, 2008

39th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) Part 5

19 July 2007
Today, we have a trip to Sergiev Posad or Sergiev's Monastery. There, we get to see the interior and exterior of the Russian Orthodox Church. Somewhere nearby, we had our Matroshka dolls painting session. Well, after that, I bought a set of 10 Matroshkas as my own "masterpiece" turned out beautifully.

20 July 2007
We had our theoretical exams. This also signifies the end of the seperation between us participants and our mentors. Indeed we had our reunion party on a boat with our mentors.

21 July 2007
We went to Kremlin today. It is so beautiful. After lunch, it is time to go to the zoo!

22 July 2007
We had paintball. Late night, we had disco too.

23 July 2007
Closing ceremony is in today's schedule. This means that we will know how badly we did. Of course, at least we manage to maintain the result of 3 bronzes. We also had our farewell banquet in the Russian Academy of Sciences. This building is powered by solar energy.

24 July 2007
Our flight was early today. So, we woke up early to pack up and bid farewell to Sasha, our guide. Soon, we left Olimpiets and hours later, we are back in Malaysia.

I know that readers will find that this psot is so brief. Why? This is because I need to prepare for the 40th IChO. So, there will be no post until I backdate the posts when I'm back. Hope to resume blogging soon.

Saturday, July 05, 2008

40th IChO Training and Orientation Week in UM

After staying for such a long time in University of Malaya, I am finally done with the IChO training. However, I still have my Bachelor's Degree to pursue in the same university. Well, for the IChO training, I get to know great professors, lecturers, tutors and peers. I would like to elaborate further on some of the characters I met during the training.

Professors
Professor Dr. Noorsaadah - A very good organic chemist which likes to say that, "Reaction mechanisms of organic compounds are very easy as long as you know what is an electrophile and what is a nucleophile.". Well, it is true but we need to get our electrophiles and nucleophiles right first.

Lecturers
Dr. Cheryl Cheng - A youthful lecturer that is admired by all of us especially my colleague, Gavin Cheah. She thought us a way to remember formulae. This is one of the example:
Gary hikes to school a.k.a. Gavin hikes to **'s for the formula G = H - TS

Tutors
Kak Quench - It is not her real name but we are more used to refer her as Kak Quench when we are talking about her. Why? Mainly because she went round scolding people and in one instance she shouted, "Quench! I said Quench!".

Abg Yean Kee - When everyone first heard his name, we thought that he is a she. Even Dr. Cheng thought so. Anyway, he is one passionate chemist doing research on serine protease.

Peers
Khor Shu Heng - One brilliant guy that likes reading. His passion towards reading is clearly portrayed when he knows more Biology knowledges that we Biology students do.

Gavin Cheah Jia Sheng - A pharmacist in future. One that knows my stories the most. I can say that he is one outstanding student as he still manage to get an A for his Biology despite being penalised in Biology Paper 3.

Chai Yi Kang - Another passionate reader. Read Tan Yin Toon's books even before completing lower six. However, this is often concealed by his jokes that will make people think he is just a normal student.

Well, I'm done with my lengthy descriptions. Now, I would like to proceed to the outcome of the training. It turns out to be very shocking when Shu Heng was not selected. Why am I shocked? Because I never thought that Yi Kang would make it as he did not put in much effort. The only thing I can say is great people does not show off his "greatness" until it is needed.

I think I'm quite done with the IChO training part. Now I'll briefly introduce my orientation week. I join my new family with other fellow fresh Secholions last Sunday. We were being orientated by senior Secholions which taught us a lot. Although there are some times that we felt like we are tortured but soon after the week is over, we felt that it was one of the most memorable moments in our life. After the end of this two events, I need to start to work hard so that I can achieve what I want in the coming IChO. However, this means that stress is also coming soon to visit me.