Day 16 (last day)
We rode into town for the last time to return the bikes :(
We went for last minute shopping. The kids were crazily shopping and skipped lunch despite repeated reminders that there is no catering on the flight becasue of the strike. Anyway, I have extra food with me just in case.
We left early for the airport (we saw the people on strike near the airport...so cool) but still, the queue was long and we had a mad rush collecting food. In the end, we had too much food. Anyhow....we began the dreadful long long flight home.
Day 15
Wei Jun, Karen and Xiang Loong stayed up to finish off the presentation for the literature review while Jonathan and Kah Mun finished theirs before that. They did quite good job and Kyra (the supervisor) was impressed with the critique given.
Today's practical was cool! We had so much fun making slime out of borax, PVC and cornflour. The materials could be easily obtained off the shelf from the supermarkets. They also tried to make small explosions from baking powder and cidar vinegar and Wei Jun's container exploded prematurely into my nose! Jonathan and Xiang Loong had the bottle exploding at them too. It was a big mess and the smell of vinegar smell was awful.
We had finger food for dinner and that was the last dinner we had at Girton. Quite sad.
Day 14
We woke up to a third consecutive morning with rain. Wei Jun, Jonathan and I were up by six plus to take a biology test at seven. What a way to start the morning!!!
Today is our free day. After breakfast, we went down to Grantchester Orchard with Jon. Since we were not able to pack into Jon’s car, some of us took a taxi down to Grantchester. The taxi fare was three times what taxi drivers charge in Singapore!!! We walked into a big open field, taking care not to tread on “organic land mines” (cow dung). We spotted the cows and went close to take photographs of them. The cows didn’t care that we were coming close. We walked up a small hill near River Cam and admired the view of Cambridge from there, seeing only the peaks of King’s College Chapel and the University Library.
We took a break at an open air café with apple trees around us, sampling cheesecakes, chocolate fudge and toffee fudge cakes whist drinking English tea. The place was so peaceful, a perfect place to read. We plucked some apples from the trees. I have not tried eating them, but Jonathan found a worm in his. Yuck!
We travelled back to Cambridge town centre, stopping in front of the Fiztwilliam Museum. The museum showcases pottery and paintings, a cultural centre at that. Most of us were not very interested in such stuff and decided to go shopping. That’s typical of Singaporeans.
We walked around the town centre, buying more presents/souvenirs before settling down at a restaurant to have lunch. We took a bus back to Girton, the bus fare three times that in Singapore!!! All of us started working on the research paper review that Kyra had set us. After dinner, Mr Se, Ms Teo, Karen and Xiang Loong went to the Junior Common Room for a Lord of the Rings movie marathon. The rest of us were not interested in that and went to our rooms to complete the research paper review.
Right now, we are waiting for 2 am to come and that’s when the video conferencing starts. Time is ticking by so slowly….
Done By: Kah Mun
Day 13
It was raining again in the morning and it continued for the rest of the day. We felt colder than yesterday. The weather here is definitely unpredictable. It could be bright and sunny one day and it could pour heavily another day.
The morning classes saw the first and only lesson on chemistry. We had Robert Clay Rivers and Tom Taverner, both PhD students in Chemistry Department here at Cambridge, teaching us. We discussed chemical bonding, energetic reactions and protein science. Chemistry wasn’t that complex to us then, but, after today’s session, we were truly amazed at the passion that these two teachers had for chemistry. There were more depth in the topics that we study at A-levels and we were exposed to the potential fields for research in chemistry.
Practical sessions were held in Girton during the afternoon. Despite the rain, we enjoyed the session tremendously. First we carried out experiments by burning solids to see that colour of flame that was produced. Solid copper chloride produced blue and green flame. Potassium chloride had purple flame. Strontium produced red flame. We learned that these solids were used in the making of fireworks. We played with the thin hollow glass rods by heating the middle and pulling it apart to make fine glass “needles”. We sort of had a little competition to see who could stretch the longest “needle”.
Second, we experimented with different types of metals to find out how fast reaction occurs. These experiments were dangerous and everyone was standing as far back as possible as the experiments were carried out. We mixed aluminium powder with iron (III) oxide and used a magnesium ribbon to ignite the mixture to produce pure iron. We mixed aluminium powder with copper oxide and used a magnesium ribbon to ignite the mixture to form pure copper. It was fun and an eye opener as we would never be able to see or carry out such explosive reactions in school.
At the end of experiments, we saw Wei Jun chasing the same group of mother duck and her ducklings that we spotted yesterday. He was trying to corner them to film them. It was a hilarious sight; Ms Teo and I were laughing our heads off.
After dinner, we headed back to our rooms to study and complete our homework, except Xiang Loong who had completed 90% of his homework. Argh….. I just realised that everyone, apart from me, needed to listen to music in order to concentrate on their work. They are able to multi-task, I can’t. Oh well, I guess everyone has their own study habits.
Done By: Kah Mun
Day 12
The morning started out with a light shower and everyone was feeling colder than usual. Wei Jun and Ms Teo carried out the trial run for video conferencing before breakfast and it was a success!!
In today’s lesson, we explored the science behind some of the discoveries made in the Cavendish Laboratory, a summary by Tobias and Kyra, paid a visit to the labs and toured the Veterinary school in the afternoon. The Cavendish Laboratory specialises in physics research and produced many discoveries such as electrons through electrical discharge in gases, neutrons and the all famous DNA structure. We viewed exhibits of early apparatus such as mass spectrometers, cloud chambers and electron microscopes.
After viewing the exhibits, we head off to a nearby cafeteria to have high tea and wait for Sophie who would bring us around the Veterinary School which is near the Labs. Sophie has just graduated and is now a qualified vet. We toured the school, got up close with horses and dogs and gain a better understanding of what goes on in a veterinary medicine course.
We cycled back to Girton College and had a barbeque for dinner. There wasn’t much variety for barbeque and we had beef burgers and hot dog buns only. We spotted a mother duck with her ducklings waddling near us and threw some bread to them. After dinner, the international students had a game of volleyball. We were either unsure of how to play the game or didn’t want to have bruised arms. Hence, we played Frisbee or badminton instead. Xiang Loong, Karen and Wei Jun turned out very good players unlike me. Sigh. Anyway, it was fun!!!
Done By: Kah Mun
Day 11
We had lessons conducted by tobasis today. He’s a physicists. Today was about rockets and calculating certain final velocity of the rocket. And the acceleration of the rocket. It was interesting Maths stuff, lol.
Wei Jun cooked lunch again. It was better today. I loved the chicken wings. We then went for our practical in the field. We built rockets. Competing to see whose rocket could fly the highest. It was so much fun. The buys were trying different types of rockets. Some with pointy end. Others which got stuck to a tree because it flew very high. Good work Kyra!
We also tried our paper rang. A type of gliding paper plane which can glide for a long time. It was great spending the whole afternoon trying to get our planes flying.
After dinner, we had a talk conducted on university admission. It was informative and gave us a broader knowledge on university life and stuff like that.
Whatever free time we had, we were in our rooms and each other rooms, completing homework. Before breakfast. After breakfast before lessons, after lessons lunch time, after practical, after talk. Well that's a life of a student.
Done By: Karen
Day 10
today, it was back to normal lessons again. lessons were on reviewing research papers. quite interesting. dun learn tt in sch. other than pw. but this was more scientific. we cooked lunch today. well no we, but wei jun n kah mun cooked for us(josh joseph kah mun n me.) pasta. it was ok. not a 5 course meal. but ya.
we headed into town on bikes. it was fun. all the way to the botanical gardens. we experienced a few lost sheep today. a few of us missed a turn n ended at the wrong place far away. while one of us for lost in the big garden while catching insects.
we were taught to catch insects. anything we could find in the garden. it was fun. bees, insects, beetles, n butterfly. then we went searching for our lost sheep. jonathan. he wandered off happily catching insects.
we learned how to identify the bugs we caught in the lab at the zoology department just down the road. we also learnt how to preserve insects. we even learned about a new discovery, gilding ants.
it was a great day but tied down by school work, we had to stay in the college in the evening to complete them.
Done By: Karen
Day 9
Stonehenge & The 5 kids lazing at Stonehenge
Stonehenge was great. Despite having to get up at 5 plus in the morning, (I got up at 6 plus. Hehe) the trip was worth it. The minibus drove us there on a 4-hour bus ride. Most of us were sleepy but all awoken to find the English heritage, Stonehenge. The site was terrific. There were loads of tourists here and there, all who have come from all over just to experience the stones.
We got to use audio sets, which were new to us. We use them by putting them against our ears to listen to a recorded voice telling us about the site. There’s a pathway created around the stones for tourists to walk along and listen to their audio sets at the same time.
The view was great. Before tourism was introduced, the stones would have been in the middle nowhere, just little hills. The stones were much bigger than I expected. I think it really represents how earlier civilisations have thrived. But, you probably wouldn’t appreciate my descriptions of the stones. So get down there if you have the chance!
Ancient Roman Bath
We took a 1-hour ride to Bath, a town beside Cambridge. We also visited the museum bath where the history of the roman baths were clearly explained and shown. I felt that the site was so historic.
We then spilt up to walk around the town. The 5 ‘kids’ followed their ‘mother’ around. We visited shops ranging from pharmacies to restaurants. We ended up having dinner at a corner bar cum restaurant. After that, we took the 3-hour ride back to Cambridge, and had a chemistry lecture by Ms Teo. We learnt ionic equilibium II in 40 minutes and finished the tutorial the next night.
Done By: Karen
Day 8
Punting
Karen, Kah Mun and the Mathematical Bridge
Punting behind King's College
Today is a FREE DAY!!!
Cycled down to town, then toured 3 colleges. After that, went shopping and bought new tennis racquet. Went punting (a boat thingy that u use a pole to push the boat along) next. It was fun but the pole was quite heavy, and the going was difficult.
“Highlight” of the day was a play at one of the other colleges (Macbeth). It was okay, but some parts were like Du Re Ru Nian, almost fell asleep.
Done By: Jonathan
Day 7
Fruit Fly Holding Unit
Yayyy… today we did Developmental Biology, and we learned about worms called Planariums. They can be cut into pieces 1/300 of their original size, and yet regenerate back into 300 new worms. Wonder where we can get them…..
After the usual Maggie noodle lunch (sigh…), it was off to the Zoology Department to see Kyra’s mutant Drosophila (fruit flies). Using a ¾ million pound microscope ( @_@ 2.25 million sing dollars), we looked at various stained fruit fly kidneys…
Done By: Jonathan
Day 6
Testing surface tension
Cracking their brains over Math
Ms Teo and Kyra (science coordinator)
Today was biophysics – the relation between the principles of physics in relation to biology.
Had a lot of fun blowing bubbles to study surface tension, and as usual, lunch was instant noodles to save money.
In the afternoon, we visited the engineering dept. A lot of weird dusty machines,
and we ended off with a bridge-building competition. Given only 60 straws and pins, it was the boys and Mr Se Vs the girls, Kyra (a biologist doing her PhD) and Tobias (a physicist doing his PhD). Needless to say, we (boys) gave them face and “let” them win…..
Done By: Jonathan
Day 5
Sedgwick Museum
Today we had a lesson on Hox genes and Evolution. We found out that Hox genes kind of controlled the development of an organism, and if the Hox genes are displaced, then stuff will grow out from other parts of your body (like legs on your head or something), and you get a mutant. We learnt a lot more stuff, too many to put them all down in words. We paid a visit to the Museum of Zoology and we saw a lot of fossils of dinosaurs and other ancient organisms. There was a huge skeleton of a Finback Whale on display, absolutely awesome. You won’t find it in Singapore. :D We also visited the Sedgwick Museum and like the Museum of Zoology, it also has lots of fossils, and at the entrance was the skeleton of a huge Iguanodon (dinosaur duh). Oh we also had a chance to touch the fossilized pooh of a dinosaur (gross X.x)
Done By: Xiang Loong
Day 4
Morning lessons started at 9.30am. We had a discussion on some of the latest trends in the biological world. The focus was on the stem cell research and we discussed ethical issues and the extent of benefit stem cell research will bring to mankind. We stopped for lunch at about 12.30pm, and we had instant noodles for lunch, just to save money. We had a practical session with Kyra in the afternoon. It was a very interesting practical on extracting DNA from the Kiwi fruit. We had a lot of fun mashing up the kiwi into a disgusting pile. (I don’t know about the others but I know I had fun :D) After that, we just added salt and detergent to the disgusting pile and heated it up a bit. After a while, we just poured ethanol into the mess and watched the DNA precipitate out. I took some of it just for keeping and its really nice. That shows how something beautiful can come out of something disgusting (hmmmm…..?)
Done By: Xiang Loong
Day 3
We woke up in the morning and had a super delicious breakfast consisting of sausages, bacon, eggs, baked beans and mushrooms. After breakfast, we started our first lesson for this program. It was an introduction to Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) by our teacher; Kyra and we watched a movie on how the structure of DNA was discovered. Lunch in Girton was next. Very expensive lunch if you see it from a Singaporean point of view. In the afternoon, we went to the Cambridge City Centre and had another lecture by Dr.Torsten Krude, a lecturer from the Cambridge University Zoology Department. We learnt quite a lot on DNA replication. All those proteins and stuff. Lots of terms to remember, very little memory space, how sad. :P We walked around the market square for a little bit, and we saw a Chinese restaurant called “The Ugly Duckling”. And right here below is the price of the food on the menu (spot the £5 bean sprouts).
Please everyone, say “WOAH”Done by: Xiang Loong
Pictures of the next few days (par t2)
This is Girton College
Jonathan (left) and Wei Jun (right)
Girton College
Breakfast at Dining Hall
Pictures of the next few days (Part 1)
Demonstrating surface tension
Musuem of Zoology (really cool!)
Daily intake of heavy English breakfast!
Skeletal structure hanging over Museum of Zoology
Back lane behind Cavendish Lab (where DNA was discovered)
Day 2 (03/08/05)
The first lesson begin!
The morning was freaking cold and guess what? Xiang Loong and Mr Se went for a morning jog in the cold and dry morning. Most of us woke up at around 5 am because we couldn't sleep anymore. Guess our biological clock has gone haywire.
The breakfast was good and we sat at the front of the dining hall. The dining hall is like the one that you see in Harry Porter's movie with painting and high ceilings. All of us had a good breakfast and proceeded to out first lesson of the day. It was a introductory course on DNA and the we watched a really impactful movie of the discovery of DNA. In the afternoon, we actually went to Eagle Pub where Watson and Crick (who discovered DNA) ran in to announce that they had discovered the 'mystery of life'. I thought that it was really cool to be able to trace the path of these great scientists. The afternoon session with a university lecturer was really an enriching one
Day 1 (02/08/05)
It was a smooth flight but my back really ache after the 13++ hours of flight. Economy class syndrome....Good thing it was smooth and practically slept for 8 hours (amazing!). Xiang Loong watched 4 movies and Jonathan read his novel most of them time. I would probably puke if I did that!
Girton College used to be a woman's college and accepted the first male students only in 1979 (the year I was born) and so it is situated further away from the city centre as compared to some other Colleges. The buildings are archaic and really really ..... cool.
We had one of the most expensive lunch in school ever! The most was £8.24 (about S$24)! After lunch, we had a tour of the College and the city centre on the first day and we find the city centre bustling with life. We bought loads of cheeries and strawberries from the market and I think it had a minor laxative effect on some of us, which is somewhat good.
By the end of the day, we were really zonked out!
