Good-bye Taiwan, Hello Singapore again

Today I am leaving for Singapore. Staying overnight at my mom's place and flying back to New Zealand on Saturday night, reaching Auckland on Sunday morning. I am looking forward to going home after a long absence. It would be nice to see Hannah again, and also the puppies would have grown quite a fair bit :)

The trip to Taiwan was fruitful. I accomplished all the things I set out to do - location scouting, rough experimental design, learning lab protocols, establishing working relationships with Dr. Tang and his lab etc. I would probably be back again early next year for a longer period to start on my experiment. Hannah had already "booked" her schedule to be with me in Taiwan... obviously she would be enjoying her vacation while I would be working :).

Now that I have an idea what is in store for me in Taiwan, it's time to work on my PhD research proposal...

Dr Tang S L... WAIT! Do I have a small tummy?!... time to do crunches!

Taiwan Day 7

Today I learnt as much as I can about the lab protocol in DNA extraction, PCR preparation etc. Here is some pics of the facilities in the lab. It is a small lab, but it has all the necessary instruments. We will be conducting our wet-lab experiment in another building where there is a fresh ocean water flow-through.

Dr. Tang S L 's lab....every label is in Mandarin

Almost everyone's desk have a nano tank :)

Multi-directional electrophroresis

Flume hood... three of them for different experiments and chemicals

Packed but well organized working bench

One of the many freezer..this one is at 4deg Cel. and
the lab coats, wash once a week

Another working bench

High speed, temperature control centrifuge and
other equipments

Taipei Day 2

Got a really good night sleep at the Center of Academic Activities. There is nothing fancy about the room, but the bed is really comfortable and everything I need are provided for.

Tang's lab is located in the Institute of Biomedical Science,
Academia Sinica

Ticket for the MRT ride

I decided to take advantage of the weekend off and explore some parts of Taipei city. Academia Sinica is located at the rural part of Taipei city and it is about 25 minutes away from the city center. I took the MRT to City Hall and visited the newly built, famous Taipei 101. It is a very nice building which housed all the most expensive, exclusive brands. Singapore is famous for shopping and food, but I personally think that the title should go to Taiwan! If expensive brands is not your taste, head over to Xi Meng Tin. It is equivalent to New York Times Square, except that everything thing here is on SALE! SUPER CHEAP! Xi Meng Tin is an area that spans about 6 blocks, and it is closed to traffic during the night and whole day on the weekends. I never fancy shopping but I bought myself a delicious bubble call "Jasmine Fiery Rockets Tea" and just sat on the side bench. As I was watching the shoppers, I thought to myself - Hannah would love this place! There are enough shops here for her to shop a whole week!

Taipei 101

Xi Meng Tin map along every junction in the area

Xi Meng Tin

I was tired and headed back to the Center. Tomorrow I am going to explore the other love of Taiwan - Food at the famous Shilin Night Market.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shilin_Night_Market

Welcome to Taipei

Just touched down in Taipei 3 hours ago and Dr. Tang already brought me to have a local Taiwanese breakfast.We had fried pancake, fried egg, salad two bowls of soya bean milk and it cost Taiwan Dollar 80, which is equivalent to NZD4!... Enough food for two people and it cost NZD4...can you believe it!?

Dr. Tang also introduced me to the local convenience store. The convenience store here gave the word "convenience" a whole new meaning. Things you can get/ do at the local convenience store:

• buy all sorts of things from decorations to titbits to drinks
• coffee and tea
• pay utilities bills
• pay traffic fines
• buy train tickets
• order special food (eg. Southern Taiwan delicacies) and the restaurant will deliver it to the convenience store the next day!
• have your lunch, dinner, supper and even breakfast there as well
• order movie tickets

This is what I call a convenience store!