Shen-Han Lee

The weirdest thing happened to me today. (yes, even amidst the near-monotony of Easter term!)

Fresh from a grueling Sunday morning workout at the Physical Ed. Department at Fenner’s, I was went to the local ‘supermart’, Sainsbury’s to get shop for groceries and buy my lunch (my college dining hall is unfortunately closed on Sunday lunchtimes). At the checkout, I was minding my own business while the cashier scanned the bar-codes of the items I bought and placed them in the plastic bag.

And then….

‘Sir, can I see some ID?’

I thought I heard wrongly. ‘I’m sorry, could you please come again?’

‘an ID, sir. You need an ID to buy this.’

Now, on a normal day, you would most likely encounter this phrase if you were trying to buy alcoholic beverages from the supermart. But, for those who know me, I abstain from alcohol.

Was I trying to surreptitiously buy some booze to relieve exam-induced stress?

Of course NOT! You didn’t think I’d go against my own principles, did you?

‘I think you’re mistaken. I’m not buying any alcohol…’

Holding the can of ‘Blue Bolt’, the cashier nonchalantly told me ‘You need an ID to buy this drink. It’s only for sale to those above 18’.

For those of you who don’t know, Blue Bolt is a type of energy drink, something akin to Red Bull (only cheaper, because it’s an in-store brand).

Now, this was not the first time I was buying such a drink. And NEVER in my wildest imagination have I thought that I would need an ID to prove I’m above 18, just so that I can buy ……..a can of Blue Bolt!

‘What? I didn’t know you need to be above 18 to buy that drink. There’s no alcohol in it!’

‘Well, rules are rules. You need an ID’

Fumbling my wallet for some form of ID, I tried to find something that showed my date of birth, but to no avail.
‘Do you have a driver’s license?’

‘Nope’

‘A passport?’

‘Nope. (who the heck brings a passport while shopping for groceries anyway? :D) Uhm.. do you accept my university student card? It has my date-of-birth’ written on it’

‘Sorry sir, only a valid driver’s license or a passport. Anything else won’t do. If you don’t have any ID to prove you’re over 18, I’m sorry but I can’t sell you this drink.’

Just then, in an ending befitting deux ex machina , another cashier turned back and told the Mr-I-Want-an-ID-for-this-can-of-BlueBolt that anyone above 16, not 18, can buy that drink. And since in the UK, all university students are above 16, I was free to buy it without needing to show any proof of my date of birth.

Mr-I-Want-an-ID-for-this-can-of-BlueBolt then grinned sheepishly at me, and proceeded to scan the BlueBolt.

After completing my payment, I walked out of the store feeling bewildered. Never can I imagine the UK government prohibiting under-16s from buying or consuming an energy drink. (maybe those kids are hyperactive enough and don’t need any BlueBolt or Red Bull anyway).

As I stepped out of the store, I looked at the can of Blue Bolt.

‘High Voltage Stimulation Drink’

‘Contains Taurine’

‘High in Caffeine content. 30 mg/100 ml’.

Then I knew why. 🙂

We’re now at the end of spring, and heralding the start of summer very soon. The weather  in Cambridge is nice (when it is sunny), but it can be cold and gloomy sometimes. But that’s a fantastic change from what it used to be before this. Oh yeah, and the day light is longer too – sunrise at about 5 am-ish, and sunset only around 8 pm. And it only gets longer…..

I’ve *finally* finished the dissertation for my research project and will be handing in the final draft later this evening. It sure feels great to have a heavy burden lifted off your back. Looking back, doing this dissertation was quite interesting and I am glad I managed to complete what I started off writing. Now, I’m just hoping that the department will approve my piece of work…

Now, I’m looking forward to Easter term 2007. 🙂 That’s all for now.

This is my first post of 2007! Yay!

I just got back to Cambridge five days ago. Much to my surprise, my spirits haven’t been dramatically dampened (yet) by the torrid English weather and bland food. Well, it’s not like I’m complaining….

On Friday night, during an engaging conversation with my friend from College, the topic somehow veered into ‘life and how it changes with time’, which brought me to conclude as per the title of this blog entry. 

Life is just a series of different phases with different faces. This is especially true for a person who moves around a lot, relocating from one place to another for pursuit of educational and/or career developement. It seems that nowadays, one seldom stay in a single place for too long. We all move on. And with each moving, we inadvertently create a new phase of life, and hence, justifying the first part of the entry title ‘Life is just a series of different phases…’

In doing so, we will definitely meet new people, and lose touch with most of the people from our previous ‘phases’ of life. Let’s face it: even at university, it very difficult to maintain that same level of closeness that we once shared with people from high school. What more do you expect once you move beyond the confines of your university life and venture out into the vast unknown that is the working life?

“Different faces” has two meanings to it: firstly, living life in a new phase definitely brings you to meet new people.

Secondly, but more importantly, the different experience you gain will rub on you. And at the end of one phase of life, you’re not the same person you used to be when you first started out. The change in you will happen. It’s inevitable. And I’ve learnt that it’s no use (and perhaps even counterproductive) to try to avoid change. We can only pray that the change is for the better.

So, does this mean that you’ll end up ‘losing’ all your friends in the future? I’m not putting my money on anything, but I believe in fate: if your paths are bound to cross in the future, then you’ll meet each other again. Likewise, if your not fated to cross paths again, then who knows that the last time you see your friend at graduation may be the last time you’ll ever see that person in your life!!! I know how scary this thought may seem to be.

For instance, during my prep school graduation, I told a friend “Hey, I’ll catch you later” before running off somewhere to do something. Little did I know that ‘later’ really meant THREE years later, when we finally got the opportunity to meet up after so long. Extrapolate three years to a lifetime and you’ll see what I mean. 

This term, I’ll be starting a new ‘life’ again. This time, I’ll be based at the British Heart Foundation Cardiovascular Research Centre at the Addenbrooke’s Centre for Clinical Investigation. New phase. New face.

End of entry.

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Now for something ‘lighter’, which type of medical student are you?

(Warning to the overtly-sensitive readers:  very very very mild and occasional use of the four letter word. Also, to the non-medical readers, apologies for the use of some medical jargons)