summer could kill - the guardian

2019 was the second hottest year on record with 48 degrees. i am listening and watching to the guardian video on inequality and climate apartheid in india on my iphone while writing this note - the past five years had been the hottest in 150 years, and it brings nothing but excruciating pain and discomfort to those living at margin, struggling to get by. to address inequality, one need to acknowledge the grim economic and political situation in the country. despite modi's citizenship law, the gap between the rich and poor, environmental issues etc, i find hope in india's younger generation

https://www.france24.com/en/20200127-385-mile-human-chain-indians-line-up-to-protest-citizenship-law

global warming and climate change is inseparable from carbon dioxide and methane emission, green house effect from human activities. i applaud the move by the guardian to stop advertising fossil fuel companies in its outlet by making small contribution in support of their plight against climate change. it is difficult to completely give up fossil fuel, for germany it is 18 years and 44 billions. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/16/climate/germany-coal-climate-change.html i don't know if it is worth it? i still drive 130 km to and from work everyday, burning fuels equivalent to almost 750 km every week. i tried public transportation from erl to putra lrt and buses - it adds another one and half hour to work, from 45 to 60 minutes one way by driving. i would walk or cycle if i could, just like during my student days but i can't afford living nearby.  of all places i lived before, boston/cambridge was not a nice place for cyclists - london has better road but US' complicated, designed not to be understood hospital fees and insurance payment are some of the factors that worried me the most during my time over there https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/08/us/hospitals-lawsuits-medical-debt.html i did not have much choice. the public transportation was unreliable or risked myself late to appointments and classes. 

america obsession with fossil fuel and motor industries kill the public transportation in the country. in 2018 i attended a transportation conference at school and listened to prof. daniel sperling of uc davis and institute of transportation studies where he brought up the idea of three revolutions in transportation -  hailing services by driverless electric car. it may be a brilliant idea for 5g or in an urban setting but not when it risks security, using too much energy and require unnecessary technological infrastructure unless the entire city was built on vibranium heaven. i don't want to be negative and discouraging, but what is wrong with lng or bio fuel public buses and trams. the future of transportation does not have to be flying cars but enough with safer, cleaner, efficient and inclusive to people from walks of life.  

what choice do we have as commuters in malaysia? i can't wait for the mrt2 and ecrl to complete. i wish the gombak terminal will be extended to my school, so i can sleep all the way from putrajaya  without having to miss the stop because it will be the last one. i am thankful that i don't have to ride a motorcycle - it may be faster but it doesn't shield one from heat and rain. plus, i got to listen to coldplay while slightly moving in a traffic jam. 

climate change poses unprecedented challenge to humanities and the threat to environmental sustainability, with no one will be spared out of misery. while i spend time working on engineering process for tissue regenerative template in laboratory, climate change risk of sabotaging my entire work in microscopic scale with high humidity, temperature higher than the melting point (20oC) and intermittent flows of electricity. my entire collection of cancer cells had been dead due to evaporation of liquid nitrogen that went faster than usual. there was no use of using the -80 freezer because sometimes we had blackout on weekend for more than 10 hours. 

when i spoke to my mentor in the US before the christmas, i told him that i will do my best with my best abilities and trainings to stay afloat in academia. for that too, i initiated a study on iium urban heat island effect as part of the university's climate action plan which i will share soon. it didn't get any reaction or response from the "above" despite huge sponsorship and promotion on SDG efforts. 

i never thought that 2020 will be boring, insecure (look out at fb offline tracking policy), orwellian and without a mom. teaching saves me. i am thankful to friends and family who always helping me with my studies and enriching me with knowledge and wisdom. maybe i will never get back into the lab, i am ok where i am today. 

of many walks - in reyklavic

the road to vik (the only place in iceland that i know how to pronounce)

nocturnal - trying to save the world with food technology

dear daisy,

listening to: all acoustic from 30 seconds to mars.

i spent the time looking at the heartbreaking photographs of migrants crossing bosnia for europe to seek better lives in the post, and was appalled to read the comments from readers. why must the white thinks that it is their burden, not fault to the current economic situation and hegemony. sometimes, news is much better without the comment section, or how many likes. maybe this need to be banned. feedback is no longer important if it serves hatred, prejudices and biases. i read in the guardian today  from a journalist who reported on 30 korean celebrity suicides - the blame game never changes and we should ban the comment section because vicious and insidious comments fuel hatred, anxiety, angry and frustration. we know now that mass opinion and consent can be manufactured and designed to serve horrible purposes, thanks to revelation from the cambridge analytica case. if people want to give their say about certain things, they should form their journal clubs and start from there.

we have two stray kittens at home now and my little nephews had been so kind taking care of them, with cat food and milk. the kittens stay in my rattan bicycle basket, which covered with a flowery cloth and old, used towel from the household. they are too young and fragile to be left elsewhere, and although uncomfortable, because i have to wash the floor everyday to reduce flies and smell, it is an obligation and sense of duty to care for the weak. i hope someday my nieces and nephews will take this duty and live their lives with responsibilities and kindness.

i am not comparing the plight and escape by the immigrants to the stray kittens at home. there are definitely two different subjects, but the context to be kind and responsible is the same.

i am sure i was raised differently and lived at different time from my parents. i was much a headache like my youngest brother, we both had been trouble makers at school. later i learned that mom was cool too. she played hockey and used to get punished to stand on the table during the class time due to mischief. strokes were too common. she said she didn't care much at the time as it was a girl's school.

i want to write about colorful lives, dealing with children's antic which sometimes boiling my nerves and wrecked my patience. travel the world, experience the best in humanities (i am afraid of the worst, may God forbid) and learn more as i go along the line. maybe the universe hold the secret why i am still not a parent but a cool aunty - to let me overthink about the world and make fun of rhetoric to save the world because all road to hell can be paved with good intentions, like carbon neutrality and sustainable development goal.

reading newspaper and listening to bbc or npr made me feel trapped in orwellian dystopian nightmare. my trip to london was nonetheless feeling like walking through the dickensian era while dubai seemed like panem in the hunger games.

i am staying up because of the afternoon nap, not jet lag.

i am also working on a new subject for the semester, which is not my forte and will be my first time teaching. i accepted because i like the name, the subject and the things i can deliver like the story of ramen to alleviate malnutrition among the japanese after the world war, how kellogs, coca-cola and canned food benefited from the world war to become multinationals and big, ice-cream was made commercial and produced in mass scale due to world war, for it was included at first ration and important morale boost support to the troops to help cope with loss, suffering and depression.

i spent the morning reading h.g. wells, the food of God - looking for inspiration to design this course. maybe i will start with the victorian holocaust - the great famine (what was so great about it?) and coca cola - how it started and expand its business to fruit juices, mineral water and coffee (costa at 4 billion).

i really don't know when i will be starting my tissue engineering and organ regeneration work. often the villain in marvel or bond movies were angry and frustrated scientists and academicians. maybe i should learn to be incredible hulk to stay low and work with the avengers. till then, hello food tech. engineering.