Caltech

Illustrator? SURF Part 2

You have to make sure the bands are perpendicular first! It’s time for my second blog post about my Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) this summer. I’ve moved on from the Photoshop phase of my SURF and am now in a new phase: Adobe Illustrator. The general process of everything here is fairly simple. After flattening down the photoshop file from the last post, I ended up with a very nice picture of a coral. A very large one. But... Read more →

Trip to Enoshima

Between Kamakura and Fujisawa of Kanagawa prefecture is a tiny Island called Enoshima. It is part of a long stretch of the coast known as a beautiful summer vacation spot, especially for the beaches and the view of Mt Fuji on a clear day. That stretch of coast especially attractive in the hot summer for the cooler ocean temperatures, even though it’s bloody humid - because honestly, so is the rest of Japan. As you come from Kamakura, either by... Read more →

Syn Cells

So I have already posted about settling into Boston and some of my weekend adventures, but I realized I should probably talk about the main reason I am actually here in Boston... research! I am working in the Strano Research Group at MIT alongside a graduate student who is also a Caltech alum. The Strano group is in the chemical engineering department, but there are several subgroups within the group focusing on projects that involve everything from biomedical to nanotubes.... Read more →

A walk through history

Hello all, My first weekend here in Cambridge, I walked across the river to check out the north end of Boston. The north end is home to little Italy, the wharf area, and a large section of the Freedom Trail. Although I did not walk the whole length of the Freedom Trail, I did stop by the Paul Revere house, the Old State House, Faneuil hall, the current Massachusetts state house, and Mike's pastries. It was a bit of a... Read more →

Cann-ed Jokes

Ok. The title is again an anecdote. I went to Fort Canning Park. I have a bit of confession; I went to Fort Canning park to. Well. Play Pokémon Go. I mean, I went twice actually. The first time was to visit and explore. The second was to take pictures and catch Pokémon. Mostly for my dad, funny enough. He needed the extra support this weekend. So, what is a “Fort Canning Park”? It’s a former place of a palace.... Read more →

Man, I Really Hate Work!

Hey hey! This post is a bit delayed because I’ve been busy catching up on life (and sleep. Mostly sleep.) after possibly the best day of my entire summer! FIELDWORK DAY. So, by some small miracle, I just happened to end up in Singapore over the period where our group replaces tidal sensors on the island of Nikoi. This is a small resort island in the northeast(?) part of Indonesia. We got there by a ferry to Bintan, where we... Read more →

A Peek at Yokohama

I've been living in Yokohama while in Japan, a city I've never actually been to despite its proximity to Tokyo (a place I've been a fair number of times). Because it's by the bay, it has beautiful views of the sea. I'm also super lucky, as I am living only a kilometer from the famous island Minato Mirai, which is a premier tourist destination. On my brief walks around, I have really enjoyed being so close to the water. When... Read more →

Rain, rain, go away... jk please stay

Ever heard of the rainy season? I have heard that it’s very common in certain pa... Read more →

A Must Sea Experience

Ahoy! I just went to visit the New England Aquarium and of my Boston adventures thus far, it is definitely a highlight! Would highly recommend to anyone in the region or visiting the region, although it was kind of expensive (around $30 for a day pass). The aquarium sits right on the edge of the bay near Boston's north end and was fairly easy to get to using the redline. Getting back however was NOT fun because while I had... Read more →

Breaking Bread

Yesterday, I went to a Bread Making and Olive Oil Tasting workshop where I learned to make potato rolls and focaccia, and to taste different olive oils. There were around 40 students and two chefs in the workshop. While the student to instructor ration is quite high, we all learned a lot and went home with hearty loaves of bread. When the workshop started we had to make name tags with name puns. A lot of people used "rye", "bun"... Read more →