birthday...

My birthday this year......

...was really sad being away from my family and my Ga but a lot of surprises came and

ONE DAY AFTER MY BIRTHDAY,

I had 4 yummy Cakes

<(chocolate cake from alaine and neil; blueberry cheesecake,red bean cake and teramisu from our lab)THANK YOU!>

and now I'll share my birthday with you ONE MONTH AFTER

as I wait on what will happen exactly ONE YEAR AFTER MY BIRTHDAY.... ;) hehe!

my PROFESSOR

You might be curious who's this person responsible for the everyday UNITED NATIONS. The one who "inspires" us to come to the lab everyday.
hehe..He celebrated his birthday last May 25 and I made this video for him which we presented during our lab meeting.

yep..I had to put a little about Phantom of the Opera because my labmates requested it, they said that movie and that song are my prof's favorite..hihihi..

and the bird is ANTU, one of my Prof's bird. He also has Olang and Buru.

presenting LAB 820

ni hao, mabuhay, em hotep, selamat, chào!

These are the faces of Oil/Lipid Biotechnology Laboratory in E2-820 National Taiwan University of Science and Technology/"TAIWAN TECH" .

Everyday we have to go to the lab because our Professor would really look for us. He is often in our lab.....So we also have to be in the lab always and that means, everyday is

"UNITED NATIONS DAY".

Tom, John, Boki and Steven are Taiwanese.
Ahmed is from Egypt and Milkyas is from Ethiopia.
Elda, Siti, Gunawan, Novy are from Indonesia.
Huong is from Vietnam and of course me, representing Philippines!!!!

Its so nice to learn things from other country but everyday is also a big challenge for each of us.
Whew, staying in the lab....doing experiments is really tiring and even the mouse who dwells on the darkest corners of our lab feels as agitated as us with all the pressures, solvents, etc....

then, there are so many people with different culture and personalities......
One is just insensitive and selfish.

Another is too sensitive about his country...

hays, and many many more...........

when life is miserable, it can really get more miserable sometimes.

but good thing, PROUD to be PINOY po! Kayang-kaya makisama!!! still surviving....

On the other hand, with the occasional dinner and free vacation trips, life in the lab isn't really that miserable, I guess...

Manila Bay Sunset

Hello pips!

I managed to get into the bay side last Sunday afternoon to take once again a nice and warm view of the sceneries there. It's the so-called "Bay Walk" of Manila where expensive, colorful and vibrant street lights are installed to lit the kilometer-long sunset watch port in the city.

We just got there on time (around 5pm) yet the waves are already throwing some welcome splashes (be careful, it's from the bay, watch out!). Roxas boulevard (see photo below) is known as the only street with digital traffic lights and with the famous pedestrian sign "Ped Xing".

The Roxas Boulevard nowadays! (what do you think after 20 more years, hehe)

Well, I would not spoil the time and will just give u the shots I've taken of the bayside.

"Lover's Bench"

"Farewell"

"Towers of Fire"

"Dark and Light"

"Silhouette"

I hope you had fun! 'Til next time.:)

Dragon Boat Festival

When I arrived in the dorm this evening, I saw these things on my desk.

The chinese item is really cute!!! hihihihi...

Well, our dorm is celebrating the dragonboat festival tomorrow, June 4, 2008.

I checked with Mr. Google and I found this site: http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/DragonBoatFestival.htm

It says that the Dragon Boat Festival for this year will be on June 8, 2008...hmmnn..double 8.

Anyways, let me share with you what is written on the dorm's invitation.....

The Dragon Boat Festival is traditionally celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th month on the lunar calendar and is therefore, often called "Double Fifth Festival". In Chinese, "Duan Wu Jie".

The celebration commemorates the life and death of the Chinese scholar Qu Yuan (340 BC-278 BC or 343-290 B.C.). He was betrayed by the other officials of the court and the king sent him away.

While exiled, Qu Yuan met a fisherman, who never cared about the country.

He felt hopeless and he drowned himself in the Milo river.

Many fishermen tried to rescue him, but his body was never found.

The fishermen worried that the fish would eat his body. So they thought if the fishes were not hungry, they would not eat Qu Yuan's body. The people then threw zong zi, a food made from sticky rice and meat wrapped in bamboo leaves, into the river to feed the fishes.

(hehehe, I had my first zong zi for this year yesterday....hmmnn, I just miss the kakanin, like suman de latik in the Philippines,which tastes better that these sticky rice...hehehe..I still love my own!!!)

They also tried to scare the fishes away by splashing the water with their paddles and beating their drums on a long narrow boat.

Later on, some tales said that a fisherman saw a dragon in the river with one piece of Qu Yuan's clothing found in between its whisker. Thus, came the name, Dragon Boat Festival.

.....with the Dragon Boat race and the beat of the drums....

yep, they are from the Philippines who joined the race here in Taipei last June 19, 2007 and I watched them with my Ga..

That time, my Ga was also able to let an egg stand ....hihihi....

let a chicken egg stand on the floor.

They say since Dragon Boat Day is usually in June, which is a Horse month. Horse hour in astrology is from 11:00 AM to 13:00 PM. It is believed that you will be lucky for the coming year if you can make an egg stand during Horse hour on the Dragon Boat Day.

I guess my Ga has been lucky...