What’s the postal code at our department? Good enough for pesto to find us?

NUS postal codes have never been aligned with the correct building for years. I have used a variety of codes to bring delivery men to the vicinity Science Drive 4 and then to call me to get zeroed in. This is very important for pizza but sometimes pesto too.

Last Thursday night, I emailed my LSM1303 animal behaviour students about their exam next Wednesday. I insert a map link just in case there are location-challenged students and checked a few online maps just in case. I liked how streetdirectory.com highlighted the MPSH5 building in red and with a caption pointed to the building with a “Right Here”.

How satisfying!

As I clicked on buildings, I saw that an address complete with postal code was suggested.

On Friday we had a pot luck for our very first end of semester/farewell party. FTTA Amanda Tan picked pesto from Spizza as my contribution and since their deliverymen might be whonew to our part of campus, I decided to check the 117543 postal code I’ve been using for the past few years. To my surprise it points to Block S16 at Science Drive 1!

So I turned to Street Directory.com and looked for Block S2. After trying a series of six-digit numbers, it was 117557 which was closes and indicate it to be 14 Science Drive 4 which we put on out letter heads. That location actually plots onto the S2 backyard, facing the ridge, but I figured an enterprising delivery man would be able to find me at Level 4 of Block S2.

And lo and behold, the delivery man did indeed turn up at my table!

Well he was slightly flustered after some apparently hopeless wandering. But he turned up at my table! Having fed years of Coastal Cleanup Zone Captains with pizza after our annual cleanups in August and September, I can attest to the fact this has never happened before! He sure did earn his tip.

So the 117557 postal code might not be accurate enough for a drone strike, but it is good enough for pesto!

P.S. Sing Post has a postal code finder (on smart phone too) which validates this address and points it at our backyard. As long as the pesto gets to us.

Seeing the sign at the X-Science Symposium 2014

The Science Communication MW5202 class were serious about time discipline this year. So we the audience were comfortable at the X-Science Symposium over four sessions with clear breaks and time to stretch our legs. Visitors were able to sign up for specific sessions to come and support their friends or family with times indicated in the programme.

Still, everyone can do with a reminder., especially if an audience is egging you on and you might get comfortable instead of moving on. Well, positioned at the back of the Mendel Auditorium at the Singapore Science Centre this year were appropriately threatening messages.

These were being flagged at the speaker at suitable times, and this one below is my favourite.

Did the audience know? Well, they might have missed the signs, intent as they were on the speaker. As their examiner, I was watching and listening to them intently, and sometimes caught a fleeting but startled expression on their faces. This was followed by a hurried delivery to th finish.

They had seen the sign!

The Science Minion means business!

This year’s theme was superheroes

Last year’s pioneer session at the Singapore Science Centre was called Bucket Science by the Wizards of Science.

The evening kill

The cats need an outlet after being cooped up all day. They are very active before their evening meal and mildly active after. After a day of snoozing, it’s to be expected.

Here is Xylo the cat in ecstasy as he takes down a kill, before midnight.

I can feel his canines clamp into position and gently apply enough pressure to pin the hand but not enough to tear the skin.

He is skillful, this one.

The cats get drowsy midway through the night sometimes and then become active once again at dawn – by sitting on my chest, unblinkingly, and vocally demand for food.