Close encounter with laboratory mishap

Research laboratories can be extremely dangerous workplaces if they are not monitored with caution. They’re home to toxic substances, chemicals, reactive compounds, infectious pathogens, radioactive isotopes, and numerous other materials that can be extremely harmful. Even with proper training and sound safety practices, accidents do happen if workers aren’t extremely diligent. There are many things in a laboratory that can cause accidents which is why scientists and students are often given induction training when they first begin to use the lab. This is extremely important to ensure the users are aware of all the potential hazards so they can avoid an accident. But it is also vital that everyone must know exactly where they exits are, where the fire extinguishers are located and what to do in the case of emergency.
There is always a risk of an accident, no matter how strictly a company adheres to stringent health and safety measures. The last thing you want to become is an example of what not to do. But that’s exactly what happen in my lab today. We were so close to a mishap that was curbed before it was too late. A fire could have sparked from the dryer oven in our lab if only we would have been negligent. It was close to mid-day when I and my colleague sense something amiss when we started getting a strong whiff of burnt plastics as we walk into the lab corridor. This is far than usual. Our hunch was right when my colleague much to her horror found several plastic tips boxes melted through the bottom rack of the dryer oven. What are left behind the rack were thread-like substances protruding inwards facing the heating element.
As immediate to respond in case of mishap, she quickly switched off the dryer and informed the other lab mates. We both dashed to the dryer to salvage the remaining boxes and also to scrape of the hardened plastic containers from the steel rack. But to no avail. Later on we got to know that this has never happened before as our colleague has dried her items in that bottom rack before and it was totally fine. She was shocked to know this actually happened! However, we should be relieved that we manage to curb the mishap beforehand. All we fear that if this happened during the night when no one was around, a fire would be the risk. We can’t blame the new mate since it was safe to dry their stuffs in the bottom rack. Logically, the bottom shelf is in direct contact to the heating element and inevitably this could explain why the temperature was higher than the above compartments. The manufacturer instructions didn’t state this in their booklet but somehow I never like drying things in the bottom rack due to high temperature and I never like the idea of squatting down to dry my items.
This scenario adds further momentum which calls for a stringent monitoring in safety regulations. A safety culture should be inculcated in the attitude of scientists to improve safety. Most of the labs' safety standards are too lax. A good laboratory practices in safety relies on far more than regular inspections. Each and everyone should have shared responsibility for the safety of everyone doing science in the laboratory. It is the matter of attitude and responsibilities.

I can’t run away from Murphy’s Law!

Nothing is certain in a life of a scientist. Being in this field for more than 7 years, I have experienced that things don’t go right all the time in a research. And Murphy’s Law is a lucid evidence of anything that can go wrong, will go always wrong. For the past couple of months, I have been experiencing the manifestation of Murphy’s Law in the following scenarios:

1. I will be running stacks of PCR plates, all of sudden there will be a power outage that screws up the whole set
2. Only on peak period, the samples that need to be centrifuged urgently, the centrifuge rotor will malfunction and locks the tubes inside
3. My master mix cocktail volume runs out low when it comes to the last few samples just prior to loading into the thermal cycler. It happens to any experienced researcher also.
4. I just take a few minutes of a busy day to check my email and read online paper, only to be walked in by the superior to ask about the current project updates
5. The laptop will be working fine throughout the day, not until the moment I am generating the final genomic analysis results dataset
6. If I have forgotten to switch off the instrument I was working on one particular day, that’s when the lab manager makes her inspection
7. Worst case will be precious samples collected from field comes to lab in browning condition and that will be the only samples available since the plant has been felled off.

I didn’t even know about Murphy’s Law until I got into this research career. Only when I first encountered this dilemma in my undergraduate project that I realize Murphy’s Law is certainly reflected more in a life of a scientist rather than any other profession.

Easter fête

Easter is a festival of overwhelming joy. The joy that celebrates life. Or, rather, the victory of life over death. Why is Easter celebrated for? Most important, why Jesus is so remembered on Easter? The simple reason behind this celebration is – Christ resurrection, the ultimate symbol of rebirth. The rise of Christ on this day brought the joy of life. His resurrection symbolizes the eternal life that is granted to all who believe in Him.
In short, I would say Easter is all about new life and hope. The beauty of this celebration lies in the colors of assorted candies, eggs and bunnies on this day. It brings so much of life! Easter is thought to be derived from the 8th century Anglo-Saxon fertility goddess Eostre, whose name may be from "eastre," meaning spring. Therefore, Easter is a celebration of the new life that is spring. It usually falls as early as March 22 and as late as April 25.
Easter is the sacred celebration of Christ's resurrection from the dead. Easter is the holiest holiday of the year for Christians around the world. As Christians believe, because the Bible says that Jesus rose from the dead three days after his crucifixion, Easter is celebrated by Western Christians on Sunday. As part of the Easter season, the death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion around 33 AD is commemorated on Good Friday, always the Friday just before Easter.

Spa Retreat

During our honeymoon stay at Bali, I and my hubby deliberately plan out for self-indulgence at Arum spa centre in Seminyak Sunset Road. After a long day out in the sun, we both seek for some pampering sessions for our tired souls. Bali Spa and wellness centre are famed for their assorted spa treatment, luxury rooms with calming music, friendly therapists, warm ambiance and also wide range of aromatherapy oils simply takes care of freshness in our mind and soul. We reached the spa centre at about 6 p.m. after our Tegalalang Rice Terrace visit. We pampered ourselves with aromatherapy foot massage and full body massage to rejuvenate ourselves. The scent of eucalyptus floats us into relaxation and it feels heavenly.

One hour Balinese full body massage cost about Rp 50k in a clean decent massage center. We couldn’t find this kind of price in any decent massage center in Kuta area. It easily costs Rp 75k for a full body massage in other places. So if you love massage, you may want to get it in less commercialized areas like Seminyak.

After the invigorating massage, we headed for our dinner in Kuta. My husband felt his muscle flexed and also revitalized. It is a good way to keep us zesty throughout the vacation. We were treated to a nice and delicious Chinese cuisine in Golden Restaurant. It didn’t have a Balinese ambiance and taste but it did tantalize our taste bud. For the first time we had non-Balinese food in Bali. Even then, we were quite satisfied with the food. Simple and fresh.

Tanah Lot: A paradise on earth

One of the places most visited in Bali is none other than Pura (Hindu temple) Tanah Lot which swept me off my feet when I first caught a glimpse of the breathtaking panorama. It was such a beautiful sight to behold. Tanah Lot is one of the best attractions in Bali till today. This Balinese Hindu temple stands majestically in the middle of the sea and constantly hit by gushing waves from the Indian Ocean. It’s located in Tabanan, about 20km from Denpasar. Pura Tanah Lot is famous for not only the sea shrine which is guardian gods of the sea but also the sacred snake said to be guarding the temple in a cave on the mainland. This temple has been part of Balinese mythology for centuries.

It was believed that Pura Tanah Lot was built in the 15th century by a priest named Nirartha. The priest was travelling along the south coast of the Indian Ocean when he caught a glimpse of the rock-island’s beautiful surroundings and decided to rest there. Some fishermen saw him, and brought him gifts that persuaded him to spend the night on the lovely island. Before he left the next day, he told the fishermen to build a shrine on the rock because he felt it to be a holy place to worship Balinese sea gods. Till today there is holy spring water that arises beneath the rocks which is deem to be sacred and guarded by priests. I and Raj got our blessings from the priest there sprinkling the holy water, some rice grains (Bija) pressed onto our foreheads with some Frangipani flowers.

The uniqueness of this temple compared to the rest is, the entire temple is surrounded by seawater during high tide. But on days of low tide, you can easily walk to temple. A giant snake purportedly protects the temple, which was created from Nirartha scarf when he established the island. The legacy of Tanah Lot believes that the snakes protect the temple from evil spirits. Therefore local people pay a great respect to the snakes. Even though this place has already been heavily flocked with tourists and shops, but its true beauty never ceases to amaze people from those who merely seek for pleasure to the ones who are searching for profound meaning of this very place.

We were told by our tourist guide that one of the best moments to go to Tanah Lot is during sunset. However that day we had plans to watch sunset at Jimbaran Bay with delicious seafood, so we did not stay longer. There were many stalls along the way from the entrance till the exit of the temple. Varieties of souvenirs, wood sculptures, stone art, batik attires, and food stalls were tempting as you know being a woman, it’s my natural flair to love to shop around but I had not much time for this and not much of a choice to overspent my cash. On the whole, I felt like I was in a paradise on earth.

Start each day with a grateful heart

Start Each Day with a grateful heart; it is something like a prayer to live my life by.

Isn’t it true? We should be grateful to God for all that He’s blessed us with. All the little things and big things in our lives carry a meaning in our lives. Shouldn't we all? Looking back at the harsh reality of life, I begin to appreciate the gift of life and feel blessed. Thank the Lord for each day that I get to rise and shine!

Sometimes I just feel that we all get carried away in our daily chores and every other thing in life that we tend to forget what is the essence of life. Do you ever realize how beautiful the hues of twilight sky? Or the scent of dewdrops in the morning? Perhaps the love of your pet dog could be forgotten. All these does not seem important to everyone but it does. The post indicates that we should be grateful for the simple beauty around us. All the things around us have been here for ages and will be around for years to come. And trust me; it is far more important than our daily chores.

It always brings me back to the essence of living our lives with gratitude in our hearts. It has to be made as our life mantra. It opens up my eyes to be grateful in both heart and soul of the little things and beauty that surround us.
Lately there have been a whole lot of changes going on for me. Changes for the better or worse for which I have no idea. It’s easy to get caught up in these changes and get too absorbed into it. I took a leap of faith and pursue my journey. I have bring out the best of me that I have faith I can be. So why not start today? I’ve found that gratitude has this way of turning what we have into something positive. This is my life and each day that I am blessed with should be lived. I decided to kick my shoes and live my life.
I am grateful for all that I have and all that I am. It doesn’t get much better than that! Life is beautiful and take some time to savor the beauty that is everywhere around us. And it just makes life a little bit better.

A sluggish Monday to start with

When Monday comes, almost everybody will see things very. That’s why it is called Monday Blues, folks! So what does it take for us to smile all the way, keep our spirits up and have a dynamic personality throughout the weekdays? It just takes a simple attitude and a right focus to get things going.
There are days I loathe at the thought of Mondays. This is when the mere thought of Mondays brings me closer to bad mood. Sulky, quiet and prefer to sit at my cubicle all day long trying to tune myself to work mode. After having a leisure weekends with bits and pieces that I chose to do, now I end up at work and facing the reality of hectic schedule, datelines to meet, meetings to be attended, staffs to be supervised and journals to be read. I have a string of to-do list on my sticky note pasted on my cubicle. Arrgghhh. So many things to do but so little time.
Ohh and I just remembered that I have tax declaration to be completed by end of this month! (Thank God by friend reminded me).
What’s even worse of all the days, when I try to be happy today morning only to be awakened by a cold breeze and raindrops falling on my rooftop? It’s Monday and even worse it’s raining, man! What the heck? Right away, I sunk into my cozy bed and wishing it was a weekend. I had the sloppy feeling to start the day when the weather is conspiring against me.
I know I have to take some control back and make myself feel good. No, no, no. I’m not talking about eating chocolate strawberry fondue which I have been craving to have since Saturday! I’m talking about doing small things that can redirect energy and focus to what I am suppose to achieve this week at work. After having a sluggish work experience today, I am ready to say good bye to Monday soon. Hope the rest of you had a better start to your week than I did. Happy Monday, folks!

Going beyond earth hour

I have always reflected on how much energy the world would have and supply the mankind? What if the natural resources run out and what will we do without all the resources that we need to run our lives? Have you ever wondered how much energy the world would save if everyone shut off their lights for just one hour or everyday throughout the year? Well, this event is joint endeavor throughout the world one day a year, for just one hour to fulfill our social obligation as Earth habitants!

Last Saturday, March 31st at 8:30 pm marks the 6th consecutive year that we are pursuing WWF’s noble effort, Earth Hour. Earth Hour is an global collaborative effort where millions of people around the world show their support for climate change action by turning off their lights for one hour. It all started in year 2007 where Earth Hour was advocated as a noble act to get us being considerate of our planet and since then it has become a worldwide annual event in an aim of conserving our energies. But more than that, it’s a conscientious initiative to start an environmental pledge for this is not only about one hour in the dark; it’s about a brighter future in years to come. People from over 135 countries pledge to participate in Earth Hour in a community or individually. At the end of the day, a message is conveyed across and it reflects that each of our actions add up to one big change.

Switching off the lights and electronic appliances for one hour doesn’t mean I had to sit in dark and whining. Earth Hour can be made fun and entertaining by making your one hour completely off-grid. I went for a walk with my mom to check out the spirit of Earth Hour in my neighborhood. Sadly, there is a lot to do to create awareness of Earth Hour in the city. And it is about going beyond the earth hour!

March bade adieu with a noble thought till next year!