July 4 and 5th

Well, catching up yesterday didn’t turn out as well as I’d planned. I got in a discussion about the physics of my microfluidic design and then was tired and headed home to bed. So I’ll try to remember the 4^th and the 5^th in this entry.

On the 4^th, I did a lot of designing on my own, and I have a number of different ideas that should work very effectively if I can make one key feature of my microfluidic circuit work correctly. So figuring out a way to build the first part is my project, at least for now. To that end, I’ll have to learn not only autoCAD (which shouldn’t be terrible) but also what exactly I need to do to design masks for the PDMS lithography.

Today (the fifth) was lots of fun. It was mostly a day off, so I ended up coming to the office anyway, but doing nothing of note productively. In my own room, however, I made great strides; I embarked on a massive cleaning project to detoxify my room. To that end, I put in a great deal of chemicals, bought a new mattress cover, some sheets, and dusted like crazy using disinfectant spray. Then I sprayed Raid like crazy to control either mosquitoes or bedbugs (if I have them, might explain the 30 or so bites I have across my whole body, and left for the day.

I went to Hong Hao with an escort, and there I bought the sheet, towel, and mattress cover that should (I hope) make sleep much more bearable. The mall was like most malls; a little large and crowded for my taste, but enjoyable to see for a short time. The mall had a similar feel to ones I’d encountered in Japan (Toyama in particular), but on the whole, it was a mall where I could buy things I needed. If I chance to return, I do have a few non-critical items to buy; namely an amazing looking green-tea and anko slushy from a tea station.

At 5, all the men in the lab boarded the green minibus, headed to the Choi Hung station (where I bought a mini-bus/everything pass), and headed to Tsim Sha Tsui, the business center of Kowloon. We met Among at an amazing dumpling restaurant called Din Tai Fung (http://www.dintaifung.com.tw/en/index.asp) where we celebrated Jinbo’s work, and him preparing to head to Indiana in September. Afterward, we headed on foot to Victoria Harbour raising and lowering our umbrellas frequently due to the binary nature of the downpour. At the harbor, we watched a light show that played out on the largest buildings of Hong Kong island, where their façades changed color, played light patterns, and blazed some extremely strong green lasers in time to semi-traditional Chinese music. I enjoyed the spectacle greatly, and I may return at some point in the trip.

We wandered down the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars, akin to Hollywood’s Walk of Fame where we saw famous Hong Kong actors’ names imbedded in the walkway along the wharf. I only recognized a few names (Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, among others) but also saw Bai Guang, who I think might have been the singer in one of the songs from the 2007 Acadec CD (Liang Shang Ho anyone)? Hong Kong has a lovely downtown; it is remarkably clean, but is also civilized and well designed, for the most part. Hong Kong Island also has a stunning skyline. Perhaps I can upload the group photo we took at some point.

On the way back, I discussed the American political system with Chih-kuan/Richard (he studied at Princeton for his undergraduate work) and some amusing stories about newsworthy events in Taiwan (apparently, the police lost a cash-carrying armored car when it was towed for parking illegally, and then refused to believe that a tow truck had merely come and taken the car away).

Now it’s time for bed; hopefully the 3 hours my room has had to air out will have been enough for the Raid to dissipate.

Bai-bai

Update: I'm not dead, so I guess everything worked out well. And my room is CLEAN!

Images: My room before the purge (note the matress)