In Loving Memory: Madam Ooi Lian Chu (1935-2008)

It is with immense sadness I announce that my Mom passed away on June 8 (Sunday) at the age of 72. She succumbed to complications from pneumonia. It was all too sudden and it does not make any sense at all. I am sad and coping. I know she and Dad are now in a much better place, but I can't possibly tell you how much they will be dearly missed and constantly remembered. They are examples of humble parents who made ends meet for the children with unconditional love. I consider myself very lucky. Truly, the love of parents is boundless and there is no way one can repay. My regret, she didn't live to see the new house ready (in 1-2 more months).

I urge you to be kind to your living parents. On this note, I pay homage to all Mothers.

Saturday, June 21, 7:53PM

The waiting is finally over...

On Wednesday 4:15PM, the Chair of the School sent me an email that will change the whole course of my stay in Singapore. It is a sharp turning point, if you will. This was a two-line email, but it was definitely the one that would make me excited for many days. After almost 8 months of screening and debate, the university management has agreed to grant me the inaugural Nanyang Assistant Professorship. It is not about the title, but it is about the amount of start-up grant that comes with it. In principal the university can fund up to S$1M for my work, subject to approval of the final budget. Too bad I do not have more details on this as the time of writing, but it can only be better than now!

I have in the past lamented how slow my research was and was having a second thought about taking up an academic position. With this award, I am all ready to undertake this new endeavor.

Early this year I was turned down for the NRF Research Fellowship when I faced with a group of high caliber and accomplished young researchers who have a long string of credentials to their credit (we are talking about paper in Science/Nature, Patents, Nobel Laureate's advisee, etc). Naturally I was upset and uncertain. With this new support, I am in a more comfortable position to take my research to another height, and hopefully this is a first step towards more grants.

By the way my laptop is in bad condition, I will need to ask for a new one from the school.

Saturday, May 31, 11:34AM

Best of Luck to Shian Ling

I met Shian Ling yesterday at Jurong Point. In less than 3 months, she will be returning to Duke in Durham, NC, to pursue doctoral study. So in a way this is farewell lunch, though she did not seem to like the idea of being away for the next 5 years (actually she perfers to look at it as being away for 1 year as she plans to visit home everyday year). She asked why hadn't I been updating my blog. Well, these past months have really been dull and I really do not anything interesting to write. All funding proposals were turned down and I am not any different one year ago:(

I paid respect in a nearby Temple before heading home. I got off a few stops ahead thinking that I should walk instead of letting bus 199 making a big loop around the campus. Not a wise decision I must tell. It started pouring as soon as I got off and I took shelter at the information booth. It got worse and there was no way I can escape so I waited. Twenty minutes passed and this kind gentleman pulled his car over and asked if he can give me ride. YES was my answer! I did not ask for his name, but he told me he was a former NTU student and he was back to study for external exam. Thanks dude, you were a great help or less I might have to wait for 1 more hour and risking myself of getting cold. The message? Never stop hoping!

I have just returned from Japan one week early and you want to know my biggest impression? The moment I sat on their toilet bowl, I knew this is a truly technological country. If you have been there, you know what I mean!

My laptop has been stalling on me, waiting to get it back from the IT people.

Monday, May 26, 2008, 4:12PM

35 People, Places, & Things That Will Shape The Future

http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206901125

And item # 24 is 3-D with TSVs...

(Tuesday, 10:11PM)

US 7,307,003

United States Patent	7,307,003
Reif , et al.	December 11, 2007

---

Method of forming a multi-layer semiconductor structure incorporating a processing handle member

Abstract

A method of forming a multi-layer semiconductor structure includes attaching a handle-member to a top surface of a first structure using a first interface. At least one region of a bottom surface of the first structure is etched to form at least a first via-hole for exposing a portion of a first conductive member defined on the first structure. A conductive material is disposed in the first via-hole such that a first end of the conductive material is in electrical communication with the first conductive member and a second end of the conductive material is exposed at the bottom surface of the first structure. A second interface is disposed over at least the second end of the conductive material, which serves as a bonding and/or electrical interface between the first conductive member defined on the first structure and a second structure of the multi-layer semiconductor device structure.

---

Inventors:	Reif; Rafael (Newton, MA), Chen; Kuan-Neng (Cambridge, MA), Tan; Chuan Seng (Cambridge, MA), Fan; Andy (Cambridge, MA)
Assignee:	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)
Appl. No.:	10/749,103
Filed:	December 30, 2003

Seminar at ITRI, Taiwan

Wafer Level 3-D Integration技術研討會
前 言：
為了滿足消費者對電子產品輕薄短小、高效能與多功能的需求，IC構裝已朝三度空間(3 Dimension)之技術發展，而以晶圓級製程(Wafer Level Processing)為基礎的3D整合技術更是日益重要。工研院『先進微系統與構裝技術聯盟;AMPA』有鑑於此，特別邀請新加坡南洋技術大學之Dr. Chuan Seng Tan於2月26日來台，針對晶圓級3D技術平台、製程與應用作詳細報導，內容深入淺出，歡迎從事系統組裝(SMT)、電路板、IC構裝、光電等產業或對此課程有興趣者報名參加！
時 間：97年2月26日（星期2）9:00至11:30
地 點：工研院9館010會議室 (新竹縣竹東鎮中興路四段195號，電話︰03-5918062)
主辦單位：工業技術研究院電子與光電研究所
協辦單位：先進微系統與構裝技術聯盟
講 師： Dr. Chuan Seng Tan, Research Fellow, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
• Dr. Tan received his B.Eng. degree in electrical engineering from University of Malaya, Malaysia, in 1999. Subsequently, he completed his M.Eng. degree in advanced materials from the National University of Singapore under the Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA) program in 2001.
• In the fall of 2001, he began his doctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA, and was awarded a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering in 2006.
• Currently he is a research fellow in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, under the support of the Lee Kuan Yew Postdoctoral Fellowship.
• He is working on process technology of three-dimensional integrated circuits (3-D ICs). He co-edited a book entitled “Wafer Level 3-D ICs Process Technology,” scheduled to be published by Springer in June 2008.

參加對象：系統組裝(SMT)、電路板、IC構裝、光電等產業之工程師、主管與有興趣者
費 用：一般學員每人新台幣1,000元，微機電產業發展聯盟會員每人新台幣500元
先進微系統與構裝技術聯盟會員享有5名人員免費，第6人起每人新台幣500元(含稅、講義與茶點)。
報 名：請填妥報名表先傳真至報名處，費用請以下列方式支付。
‧付款方式：電匯／即期支票／匯票　抬頭：工業技術研究院（統編：02750963）
電匯銀行：戶名：財團法人工業技術研究院-電子所
帳號：土地銀行工研院分行156005000025（電匯方式請務必先傳真收執聯）
劃撥帳號：戶名：財團法人工業技術研究院-電子所
帳號：19614517（電匯方式請務必先傳真收執聯）
郵寄地址：新竹縣竹東鎮中興路四段195-4號11館334室 周惠珍 收
‧ 報名確認：將於會前傳真上課通知確認，發票現場發給。報名後不克參加者，請務必於會議前一日告知；未告知者，視同參加。
‧ 報 名 處：工研院電光所 周惠珍小姐 聯絡電話：03-5918062、傳真：03-5820221
e-mail:hui_chen@itri.org.tw

Edited Book... stay tuned (June 2008)

http://www.springer.com/east/home/engineering/electronics?SGWID=5-191-22-173781598-detailsPage=ppmmediaaboutThisBook

Wafer Level 3-D ICs Process Technology
Series: Series on Integrated Circuits and Systems
Tan, Chuan Seng; Gutmann, Ronald J.; Reif, L. Rafael (Eds.)
2008, Approx. 420 p. 105 illus., Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-387-76532-7
Due: June 2008

Table of contents
Overview of Wafer Level 3-D ICs.- Monolithic 3-D Integrated Circuits.- Stacked CMOS Technologies.- Wafer Bonding Technologies and Strategies for 3-D ICs.- Through Silicon Via Fabrication, Backgrind, and Handle Wafer Technologies.- Cu Wafer Bonding for 3-D ICs Applications.- Cu/Sn Solid-Liquid Interdiffusion Bonding.- An SOI-Based 3-D Circuit Integration Technology.- 3-D Fabrication Options for High Performance CMOS Technology.- 3-D Integration Based upon Dielectric Adhesive Bonding.- Direct Hybrid Bonding.- 3-D Memory.- Circuit Architectures for 3-D Integration.- Thermal Challenges of 3-D ICs.- Status and Outlook.

About this book
Wafer Level 3-D ICs Process Technology focuses on foundry-based process technology that enables the fabrication of 3-D ICs. The core of the book discusses alternative technology platforms for pre-packaging wafer level 3-D ICs, with an emphasis on wafer-to-wafer stacking. Driven by the need for improved performance, a number of companies, consortia and universities are researching methods to use short, monolithically-fabricated, vertical interconnections to replace the long interconnects found in 2-D ICs. Stacking disparate technologies to provide various combinations of densely-packed functions, such as logic, memory, MEMS, displays, RF, mixed-signal, sensors, and power delivery is potentially possible with 3-D heterogeneous integration, making this technology the "Holy Grail" of system integration.

Wafer Level 3-D ICs Process Technology is an edited book based on chapters contributed by various experts in the fields of wafer-level 3-D ICs process technology and applications enabled by 3-D integration.

Written for:
Professionals and engineers in the field of 3-D ICs

Keywords:
Applications enabled by 3-D integration
Three-dimensional (3-D) integration
Through Silicon vias (TSVs)
Wafer bonding
Wafer-Level 3-D Technology Platforms

Sunday, Jan 21, 2008, 2:38PM

Glad we made it to 2008 (and counting)

2007 was a pretty good year for me. Job was pretty good (not to mention my saving has gone up several folds and I can now afford many items on my wish list). Minor complaints? Of course, but I liked 2007 overall. The natural question to ask is so what are your new year resolutions?

I think like most people, I have a set of general resolutions: health comes in first, followed by harmony relationship with family/friends/colleagues, do well in research (a few journal articles, a few conference trip, new grants, etc, would not hurt), and of course material gain! More specific resolutions include:
(1) it is time to think about getting a car and driving again!
(2) learning how to swim... no more swimming at the edges;
(3) keep fit - it comes with dieting and work out;
(4) a relationship? (According to Chinese Horoscope, 2008 is a great year for romance for rabbits).

These are certainly not wishful thinking and are certainly achievable with the right effort. I am excited about 2008, I can feel a lot of positive changes are taking place this year.

I am only one more chapter short to the edited book on 3-D for Springer - very close now. Hope UCSB folks will cooperate and send it asap... It has been too long and I want to move on with my life!

Tuesday, Jan 8, 1:08AM

IEDM 2007, Washington, DC

Today is the last day of IEDM 2007 and I am waiting to check out from Club Ouarters and make my way to Atlanta, GA, for a visit to Georgia Tech. Though I saw Jim Meindl at IEDM, I didn't get a chance to talk to him. If you trace the lineage, he is at the very top of my academic family tree. It is:

JMeindl -> KSaraswat -> RReif -> CSTan

So I am certainly very honored to be part of this chain.

A few highlights:

- flight SQ26 was delayed for 1.5 hrs due to technical issues with the aircraft and a replacement was made. But we made it in JFK just on time nevertheless;
- at JFK I went through the special registration procedures again and was the last one to collect my baggage;

IEDM highlights:
- I took a shortcourse on Nanotech/Nanoelectronis - I liked the one given by del Alamo on 3-5 CS for logic applications, and enjoyed Lieber's talk on NWs (the assembly approaches he talked about were intriguing);
- I didn't really enjoy the rest of the 3 talks;
- The CMOS performance boosters course seemed interesting;
- There is true 3D paper to the best of my knowledge (and a few are related in some ways). Takafumi invited me to visit his lab in Tohoku if I made it to 3-D SIC (will see);
- There was a session on energy harvesting and a great talk on Si PV was given;
- met many big names and old faces (there is a strong MIT presence here, I think MTL must be empty during this week). MTL-ers include: DAA, JHoyt, JdelAlamo, Tayo, Duane (didn't talk to him), Gene, Vicky, Chang-Lee (LL), Ali, John, Liang, Niamh, DH Kim, Charles C, Tony, JFiorenza, etc;
- had a one-on-one with Tayo and he bought me wine (first time);
- The GOLD seminar was great so was the dinner. Was great to meet Janice and John Kymissys;
- NUS and IME did very well. How about NTU?
- at the panel session, DAA at the closing remark, based on show of hand (question: would FETs remain in gadgets in 2030?), concluded jokingly "FETs has a bright future, and there is plenty of room at the top to integrate on Si". I liked this line. I first used this line at my PhD thesis defense on Nov 14, 2005 based on a talk Feynman gave in 1984. Great, now it is official!

What happened in DC remain DC. I look forward to IEDM 2008 in Bay Area and hope to contribute in IEDM 2009 in DC. Hope this is an ahievable goal.

So long.

Wednesday, Dec 12, 2007 10:51AM, Washington, DC

Deal or No Deal

Deal or No Deal sesson 2 is now playing on Mediacorp Channel 5 and I am addicted to show. Every Wed and Thu 8:30-9:30PM.

Last night the someone walked away with S$45,000 with a much much smaller amount in the case she picked. Tonight, for the first time, someone picked a S$250,000 case... only to walk away with S$40,000. I can understand why she burst out at the end...

Is playing DONO a pure luck determined game? How to win big? How do you know when to stop and to proceed? I don't have good answers that I find convincing.

I want to play too!!!!!!!!!!

Leaving for DC and Atlanta in a week!

TGIF, Nov 30, 0:35AM

Memories

Part of my intention of having this blog, besides to "report" my interesting (or boring) daily encounters, is also to bring back some of the past memories. I was skimming through my external hard-disk and was digging out some old files. I found this picture of three cutes boys (IJ's going to love this) by the port of P-Town. OK, if you do not know, P-Town is Province Town right at the tip of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. This is probably one of the most lively (and rather unique too) places in the US! I must have been there for some 3 times? It is an interesting place because it is a gay (and lesbian too) town! IJ used to have this dream to move to P-Town but gave up when I told him that this town is probably a dead town in the winter.

Anyhow, JH drove me and IJ in this trip. It is a nice 1 and 1/2 hr drive from Boston. I was the navigator as usual and I can't recall we made any serious mistakes. It was upon IJ request during one of his post-Harvard visit to Boston. It was a sunny morning/afternoon though it turned really chilly at night. I recalled we had brunch at this restaurant and we ordered a piece of cake to share. We cleaned the plate and the waiter jokingly told us "get another piece, don't eat the plate." On our way back we patronised this Thai restaurant, which wasn't not at all good by JH and my standards let alone IJ's. As charming as he was IJ starting talking to this waitress and found out her stories. Apparently she left her little daughther in Thailand to work here for a living and she was sick from some illness.... OK, it wasn't fun to hear this.

My memory of this trip is vague now, but this picture can possibly tell you we had a great time in P-town. (I can't recall who took us this picture though, someone random?)

CLieber of Harvard is in town at NTU this week and it created quite a sensation among us. The part I like most about him is that he is quite down to earth and unpretentious... but I think he should probably be more gentle come to hand shaking (it can hurt your wrist!).

Monday, Nov 5, 10:47PM

MIT Killian Court - Fall 2007

Go Mich, Go!

So Michelle complained that she did not deserve a compliment as JH did (recall previous post). I want to put it in record that I think she too will go very far, in fact she has come so far!!!!

Go Michelle, Go!

Blogs... just how many?

Have you ever wondered just how many blogs out there in the cyber space? Must be a lot isn't it. Here are some numbers I quoted from an October issue of IEEE Spectrum (pg 60):

- blog search engine Technorati tracks nearly 100 million blogs;
- nearly 200, 000 new ones added every day;
- according to market research firm Gartner (Stamford, CT), there are more than 200 millions abandoned blogs.

Some numbers for you to digest. Does anyone have similar numbers for social networking sites? I could remember e-group, yahoo group, hi5, friendster, MySpace, facebook and most recently OpenSocial (google's initiative)? How many are active and how many are abandoned?

Sunday, Nov 4, 12:10PM

food poisoning or was it me?

I have very low tolerance of stained food. Just not too long ago I suffered a terrible stomach upset and that put me to feeling extremely lousy for a few days. I still remember I lost a few pounds from that. I can traced that incident back to fish that was not properly coooked (OK my fault as I can't wait for my fish to cook). And this week similar, though less severe, incident re-occured.

I was at the ICA building Tuesday waiting to collect legal documents when I bumped into Jon and decided to have lunch together. I ordered fried noddles. It started to feel funny even before I finished my plate and it disturbed me the whole afternoon. It does not take an expert to tell that the noodle was stale... (but edible). That night, I vomitted and sat on toilet bowl a few times. Bad. The next day I felt so lousy that I cancelled dinner appointment with IJ and stayed at home doing absolutely nothing. Even now it is still feeling funny but my appetide has improved though not completely. Could it be because I picked it from hometown last weekend?

I noticed that I get sick easily from food. Like the Chinese proverb goes "you get illness from what you eat, you get into troubles from what you say," - I can testify to that. Do you have similar problem?

I was at Suntec earlier attending a SUSS roadshow. I cut it short after lunch - partly sick, partly because the topics didn't really interest me a whole lot.

This is TGIF and I have low appetide. Need some love here.

Oct 26, Friday, 10:41PM

Dr. CS Tan, finally!

This is going to be a rather long winded one considering that it was three weeks ago I posted in Cupertino CA, so please bear with me. So I have concluded my US trip and returned to Singapore about 1AM Monday morning (Oct 15). Some highligths:

Sept 22 - Sept 29 (Bay Area)

I decided to cut my stay at VMIC 2007 short and to skip Thursday lunch. I just did not feel I was in the right condition to join in. Ron told me later in email that I missed a very good talk by Eric Beyne of IMEC (damn!!!).

Noubar returned from his trip from China (he too decided to cut it short because he could not take it any longer there!) and he greeted me as soon as he arrived. I thought he was such a nice person - Mocha at Starbuck to kick off the session and later drove me north for Lebanese food (my first real experience, though I have tasted middle eastern food before).

Over the weekend, they showed me around coast area before heading to Stanford to meet George and Ming Lee (just married). I took a red eye for Boston - was very much looking forward to.

Sept 30 - Oct 10 (Cambrigde, MA)

I must have slept on the plane so well that the next thing I knew I was in Boston!!! (Welcome home). I cabbed it to MIT Edgerton Hall and JH was already there waiting for me. After lunch, he took me to Mass SPCA... the way I see it, he will go far, very far. He has a good heart down under him. He seemed stressed out juggling between school and job, but hey, he managed it well I thought. That Sunday night, I slept like I was deprived of it for ages.

The program in Boston began with lunch with Linda at Qingdao since the vegetarian place (Mass Ave) and House of Tibet were close. That evening, I met Andy in his new bio lab. He was having fun there although I can see that he was completely swamped. I always respect and enjoy talking to him - he has potentials, real ones. I would always credit him for Cu-Cu bonding. That night we dined at Koreana and he insisted on sharing and walked me home.

Tuesday was a very formal day. I met Carl in the morning and later Charles briefly. I headed to the State of the Institute. I could see Rafael from far. Lunch with CH after some photo shooting in the Killian Court. The real fun began when I went to the Office of the Provost. The happiest person in the office was none than Susan (oops... Susan K, not Susan H, if you know what I mean :P) - She gave me such a big huge!!! We could not wait for the Chairman of the Board to leave and there things just turned very casual. The agenda was photo taking with Rafael - a mock graduation ceremony. My regret was I never attended the commencement ceremony and a petition for postpone was denied (I still take it quite emotionally). Anyway, so finally Rafael handed the diploma to me and we were gowned very properly. I feel that I have finally graduated from MIT. Congratulations, you are now Dr. CS Tan, Class of 2006 (EE, PhD). This is a life time achievement. As Caijun (then at IME) said, you carry it with you your whole life. The sense of achievement was beyond words - It was a real sad thing that Dad did not live to see this. Thanks to Susan, I spent about 1h in the Provost Office.

I later visited Lieber's lab at Harvard and dined with Swee Peck at Wagamama (if you wanna know this is westernised Japanese food, very popular in London).

Wednesday was MTL day!!! It began with Gary who was kind enough to show me to the SiGe epi in Hoyt Lab. When I was a grad student in MTL, I passed by her lab many times but never bothered to take a closer look. Dennis, Leo, Dee, Acia, Debb, and Sam were glad to see me too. Dae-Hyun drove me to Koreana for lunch (thanks!!!). I met Dimitri briefly before Jae-Kyu came in for their weekly meeting. Finally Jesus remembered who was this person he had an appointment with.

The day ended with dinner at the Blue Room with Susan, Stephen, Andy, and Katie. They won't let me pay, so... I highly recommend Blue Room.

Thursday started with lunch with Sam. I met with Leslie briefly early, she could not leave her job. He shared with me his new invention of bio-fuel. Not everything got into my head, but I could make some sense out of it. The visit to Cambrigde Nanotech was great - I know the ALD system much better now. I met Liang-Yu in her office as soon as I saw her message.

The highlight of the evening was buka puasa at the Lin's. Alex walked me and Arafat from Harvard to Union Square. Lin has a cosy place!!! And the chicken rice was delicious! Alex offered to give me a ride back.

Friday I went lunch at Mulan (my 3rd time) with Albert, Charles and Ken. I then met Anantha at 2PM. Margerat was as sweet as before. Anantha brought in chances to MTL and he proudly presented to me the newly launched newsletters, the Micronote. Nice story about DAA...

I then went to Linda's house. She was almost done with cooking when I arrived. That nigth I met Lyssia and Hardy again. The last time I met her was at IEDM 2005 in DC. The are such a loving couple - they found an apartment in Andover now? WOW!!! The discussion centered around Myanmar, Singapore/Malaysia and human rigths. I didn't get to interact a lot of Phil, though. Again, I got a ride back and a big big huge!

I waked up Saturday morning not feeling like moving in with Arafat - pure lazy. JH was cool about it... so I camped there! I showed Arafat around Cambrigde Mall. I met Liz for dinner later. She broked her foot and had difficulties walking. She insisted on walking with me despite doctor's advice against adding weight to her foot. Nice dinner with lots of sushi/maki and catch-ups. Take care Liz - you are always strong.

On Sunday, Tony and his family bought me dim sum lunch in Chinatown. Then I met Suzan at Starbuck along Church St (Harvard Sq). She is so much happier now... good to know that. The highlight of the day? UNION OYSTER HOUSE of course. Four of us - JH, CH, Arafat and me dined at what was presumably the oldest restaurant in the United States! (Seriously the food was as great as it sounded, but the ambient was five star, a must-have Boston experience).

The Columbus Monday was spent in Wrentham factory outlet - met Peggy and George for the first time. TK drove and Mich was forever lovely.

Finally I get to spend almost one full day on my own on Tuesday. As promised, I got Irene little niece a bear she asked for. Hope she will like it. I had lunch at Fuo Guong Shan on Mass Ave. The Ven still remembered me and gave me a book as a gift. I had such a peaceful vegetarian lunch. Met DC later in Harvard Sq. The rest of the afternoon was spent in downtown Boston. I didn't know that Hardrock cafe has moved from Copley area to Quincy Market area.

The last night ended with dinner at Joel/Ari's place in Westgate and meeting Arafat for kopi.

I left for South Station at 10AM - thanks JH for being such a good host. I made a stop at Hardrock Cafe. The bus ride to Albany was a smooth one though it was raining. The leaves are preparing for Fall, I can see that.

Oct 10 - Oct 13 (Albany, NY)

I arrived on Wednesday about 3:30PM and cabbed it to Hampton Inn. The taxi driver was thrilled to know that I came from Singapore.

Thursday morning I visited Ron as planned (was delayed by 15 min as the cab driver picked up another guy). We discussed on plan to move forward with the book. Ron is helpful and very genuine. He showed me around RPI campus (small and neat) and brought me lunch. He insisted on driving me back to hotel (thanks!!!). That evening, I met some old faces and new faces in the 3-D world! The highlight was tour to Albany Nanotech - I seriously think this place is going to be very happening when it is running at full force. Any opportunity for me?? I met this group of people from Seagate, Air Product, Tessera and Stanford at Red Lobster for dinner - was very cohesive I thought!

Friday was very intense! I didn't quite catch most of the presentations on designs... but looks like university 3-D research is more towards design now. What is left for technologists like me? I presented my stuff, it was OK, not great.

I didn't sleep Friday night so that I can correct for jet lag when I get back to Singapore. The flight was early at 6AM and I bid Bob Patti farewell at Ohare. I arrived in SFO and I get all procedures done - the same officer who checked me in checked me out - he could not remember me, but he remembered his own writing! Good bye America, I will be back again soon.

I got a window seat all the way, so it was kinda of uncomfortable but I pulled it through. I think economy class is a torture for long distance flight. To my surprice, someone came up to me and call my name at Incheon during transist... Eric's wife, on her way back from assignment to Micron at Boise. Small world.

Now I am back in Singapore. It was indeed a very refreshing trip. Thanks RSO for supporting this trip.

I plan to go home Wed night. Pei Qi grandpa passed away and it would be helpful if I go back earlier to look after the house. And looks like we are one more step closer to our new house!

Oct 17 (Wednesday), 1:50AM

Sleepless in Cupertino, CA

I am now in Cupertino CA at the Zulina's. I left Singapore last Saturday for US. The first part of the flight from Singapore to Hong Kong was a breeze... a mere 3.5 hrs but the flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco was a disaster... and I will tell you why. You see, I was clamped between two men (it would difinitely a lot better if they were women :P) - one was definitely overweight and the other kept turning and scatching himself. Holden was right about this route of SQ flight... I watched "Just Follow Law" and I can definitely relate it to my current working enviroment. Mr. Bean entertained me too. I had such a hard time between HK-SFO, it was warm, dry, immobile, and the food were bad. Economy class seat can never beat Super VIP Bus seat.





I was greeted by immigration officers at SFO who were polite and felt bad that I needed to go through the special registration thingy - all Malaysian males must go through this regardless of ethnicity. Just follow the law I guess. I almost lost Arafat's racket while waiting for Zulina...





Zulina picked me from the airport and we headed south. Noubar is on overseas trip. She had nasi lemal ready for me! We spent Sunday around the area. I checked in the hotel early Monday morning and met Ron to discuss matters related to the book in the evening. It was a little cold for me... I miss Singapore heat! I had such a terrible dinner Monday night that Zulina decided to take to Chinese buffet Tuesday night.





My presentation was yesterday. It went OK, not great. I decided to cut it short and moved back with Zulina to prepare slides for Sematech workshop. Changed my flight to Boston a day earlier.





The following days I will meet Jason, CK, George, and possibly Sharon before heading to Boston. Am anticipating... hope those in Boston will save me some nice weather... I have low tolerence for nasty weather now.

My jet lag is not completely gone yet... I woke up at 4:30 this morning CA time :(

BTW, did I tell you I met Sirirat the Thursday before? We had such a sumptuous steamboat dinner... but didn't make it to the Ang Moh Dessert on Beach Road (Belgian waffle in hawker center). She remained lovely!



September 27, Thursday, 11:12AM, Cupertino CA

One year on...

Before I know it, it has already been one full year since I joined NTU. One year on, it is natural for me to write something here. I think it has been a great experience for the most part - great benefits and the work load is more than manageable. But things remain slow, I mean research work. As a friend used to put it, "running hard on a treadmill yet not going any where." I am excited for a fruitful year ahead... I think this past year I got all the ground work ready, so I that I can fly high in the following years. I am eyeing on one of the big grants... I know it is difficult but I keep my fingers crossed.

Bro has his by-pass surgery today, hope he is well and recover soon.

Tuesday, Sept 18, 2:05PM

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas

I was at Tanglin Club last Friday evening. DC, on her vacation in Singapore and club member, invited me over to rekindle good old time. I have not met her since she went to London to further her study in Imperial College. I was introduced to Han, as she preferred to be called, that evening. I arrived slightly ahead of time but was waiting at the wrong area only to find out later (I assure you this was not the first time). I joined them for a movie featuring Nicholas Cage, Next. "Quite intense," as DC put it. Apparently Cage can "see" future, but as he put it at the end, every time he looked at it, it changed and everything else changed. It reminded me of quantum teleportation - you destroy the information once you read it.

It was a lovely evening. I will meet DC again in Boston in Oct! She will spend a semester in Boston, on leave from IC. Maybe this time I will buy her a drink? As Cage quoted in the movie, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." I will put it as "What happens in Tanglin Club stays in Tanglin Club". :P

I should start preparing for my US trip today.

Sunday, Sept 16, 9:09AM

Feel l'm going back to Massachusetts

"Feel l'm going back to Massachusetts, something's telling me I must go home ..." This is a favorite song from Bee Gees. Indeed, I am going back sooner than December! Following VMIC in Fremont CA, I will head to Boston for a week till Columbus Day weekend before going to AMC in Albany NY. Susan has summoned folks to have dinner with me during my stay. Stephen, Nisha and Susan took me to Brown Sugar (a Thai restaurant) when I was there last year after Thanksgiving. I can't wait to meet them again soon! I will also get to meet many others. Some like JHO, CH, Zeke, Yangs, have offered to host me. I think a road trip and apples picking is being planned. And I am going to write to Liz that I might be walking for this year "5K Walk for Vision", she will be very thrilled. I am thrilled too. I feel good, but the pre-departure anxiety gets me a little bit.

Last evening I joined the Kulim gang at a Hakka restaurant in Tanjong Pagar celebrating Lily's birthday (one day earlier). These are newly found old friends! It is a pleasant surprise that Meiling is at NIE! She will be my new lunch partner :)

A full day of rest at home makes CS strong again. Let's go jog tomorrow morning, no morning rain please!

Saturday, September 8, 10:14PM - Happy Birthday, Lily!