Back in Taiwan

Back to my lab and field work in Taiwan. I have been here since Oct 27, but trying to catch up with what I left behind the last time, thus did not have much time to write until now. I will be here until end of January 2014, and then will be going to Singapore for a couple of weeks (for Chinese New Year) before heading back to Auckland.

The goals for this trip is :
- finish all the microbial DNA samples for experiment 1, and send it for sequencing
- conduct experiment 2 (lab manipulation flow-temperature) and part of experiment 3 (field manipulation flow-temperature)
- extract microbial DNA samples for experiment 2 and experiment 3, and send it for sequencing

Hannah is joining me in Taiwan on January 1st, 2004! We know that it is a luxury when our budget is so tight. However, I knew that it is going to be tough for both of us when I am going to be away for 3 months (especially through Christmas, New Year and our wedding anniversary!). Therefore, I convinced her that we should try to get her on this trip, and we would save more when the school starts next year. Also, we feel that it is a good time to visit my parents for Chinese New Year as well.

I am trying to get as much done as possible before Hannah reaches Taiwan. I was (secretly, hopefully) hoping that I can get the last week off from work so that I can tour around Taiwan with Hannah. Believe it or not, this is my third trip, and I have only been around the research institute and my field site! Not much touring around the rest of Taiwan.

This time I am staying in the hostel in Academia Sinica. The place is SO MUCH better than the last one (I will try to put up some photos soon) and the rent is cheap as well. Accommodation is paid using the research funds, but I need as much funds as possible for all the stuffs that I need to work on.

Busy, busy...

Life lately - Summer is coming!

With apologies to those who have already seen some of these pictures, and also for their iPhone quality, here is what we have been up to:

I made and then froze bags and bags of pumpkin puree. It was fun and a lot easier than I thought. I ended up trading one bag to a friend for eggs from his chickens and lemons from his tree. It was a neat feeling, I enjoy self-reliance.

Summer showed up last weekend, in the form of some perfect weather - sunny, warm, but not too warm. Sonny and I took a break from our marking to just sit on the porch and drink a beer and get some vitamin D. I even got a slight sunburn!

The dogs got to play hours and hours of fetch, their favorite pastime. Shortly after this was taken, Jet ripped a chunk off his pad on his front left paw. He then proceeded to run all over the deck tracking blood EVERYWHERE. We then had to clean it all up so it didn't stain the wood. Sonny commented that it felt like we were cleaning up after a murder. It sort of did! It wasn't a deep or serious injury, but it did bleed a lot and Jet is too dumb to know when to take a break, so lets just say it took some time to scrub it all away. Jet has spent the two days since limping around but still wants to play.

I've been cooking lots.

Enchiladas prep

French onion chicken

Steak with caramelized onions, gnocchi (thanks mom!) and "blue" salad

I spent part of this weekend helping our friend Corin to rip out an invasive weed called asparagus vine. Its quite voracious and takes over entire forests, similar to what kudzu is doing to the southern U.S. We then planted some native trees - kowhai - which have beautiful yellow blooms and are an important source of food for the tui. It was tiring but it felt good to be out in the sun. Corin let me borrow his garden tools, and I am starting up our veggie patch. Battle of Hannah vs. the clay will be detailed in a later post.

Out Of Our Own BackYards - Local, sustainable agriculture

So it all started with a Trademe (NZ eBay) purchase. As we are students, my clothing budget is pretty much non-existant so I tend to get all my stuff used. I had bought a pair of used boots and the seller asked me if I "received the Ooooby box" because if I did she would just throw the boots in. I had no idea what she was talking about and told her so. As I am curious however, I checked it out. Turns out Ooooby stands for "out of our own backyards" and is a home delivered local fruit and vegetable service. Since I am aware of the problems of industrial agriculture, I believed in what they were trying to do. Its a very small business - the founder happens to live on Waiheke and so he is the one who delivers me my box, always with a smile. I feel good giving my money to them.

Pete Russell, Founder and my delivery "boy"

Furthermore, cost-wise, it works out identical to the grocery store and since we are eating more vegetables and less meat and fast food, it has decreased our average monthly food budget. How it works is simple. They have various box types - family size, all organic, etc that you can choose from and various delivery schedules. We get a regular fruit and veggie box every two weeks. They drop it off at our door which is really nice since grocery stores close early here (no Walmart!) and if we are working long hours I literally cannot go grocery shopping until weekends. The contents of the box change every time, according to what is in season. All the produce comes from growers all around Auckland. We started during the winter and I was worried fresh stuff would be scarce. Luckily our winter is comparatively mild, so the winter boxes consisted of things like kale, squash and pumpkins, apples, citrus, carrots, potatoes (sweet, purple, all kinds!), and even brussels sprouts. As we move into summer I am excited to see what else we get.

The box from tonight. All that for NZ$30! 

An unexpected benefit and surprisingly my favorite part is being forced to learn to cook and eat all kinds of new vegetables. I am not a picky eater at all, but never really bought unfamiliar vegetables because I was unsure how to cook them. Now I have to learn so they don't go to waste. I have discovered that roasted brussels sprouts are amazing, what the heck Jerusalem artichokes are, that dino kale goes great with lentils, how to cook cabbage many different ways, that cauliflower mac and cheese is amazing, and that the Maori purple potatoes are so much better in a roast than their typical white counterparts. Sonny has been enjoying the experience thoroughly. I even taught him to enjoy grapefruit. He had never eaten them halved and sectioned with sugar sprinkled on top but boy did he like it! I think the Ooooby boxes have really forced me to expand my eating/cooking horizons and as such have made cooking dinner something I really enjoy. What luck I bought those boots...

(and yes, Dad, I did not have a pair like those, and yes I did need more shoes)