Samples collection - Kenting

Last two days, I and Xue-Ping (research assistant at Academia Sinica) was out in Kenting, South Taiwan to collect my coral samples. I stayed in the new hostel at NMMBA (National Marine of Marine Biology and Aquarium). The place is very new and spacious! There are two levels, and each level has 8 double occupancy rooms. My room had two double beds, a nice flat-screen tv and a nice closet. Unfortunately, the internet here is VERY SLOW... well, you can't win all! :).. I guess the place is really for tourist because I rarely turn on the tv at all. Most of the time, I am either out in the lab preparing my tanks, or in the water collecting my samples.

Room

The new hostel

The purpose of this trip is to collect coral samples to acclimate for the next 2 weeks in the NMMBA tanks. Meanwhile, I would be back to Academia Sinica,Taipei to do some bench work. Besides collecting samples, I also scouted out 3 colonies outside the Nuclear Plant region for my field in-situ testing experiment. There will also be 3 other coral colonies, which I had already confirmed within the Nuclear Plant Inlet site. Therefore, I will be performing in-situ field testing on a total of 6 coral colonies at 2 different sites, which have different water flow characteristics and temperature differences. Wei-Jie, an experienced dive guide helped us with the coral samples collection and ID of the colonies. He is very experienced with helping scientific research, and he knows the area very well, making him a very important part of the experiment!

Acropora muricata colony 1

Acropora muricata colony 2

Acropora muricata colony 3

Wei-Jie busy collecting samples... I just need to stay out of his way

The plan was to be at NMMBA for 2 days for this trip. One day for samples collection and one day to prepare all the tanks ready for the experiment. I reckon there should be some fine tuning when we are back in December for the experiment. However, getting most of the tanks ready now means lesser work in December.

Tanks are ready

Coral nubbins are acclimating

Now... back to Taipei to do some more DNA extraction, and get ready to send the samples out for sequencing!...YAY! :)

Moving

Dr. Tang's lab is moving to a new building next week. So we have to stop all experiments this week, and start packing. There are boxes and boxes of flask, tubes, instruments etc. everywhere. It is a hiccup in my planned schedule because I was hoping to finish part of my work this week. However, it gives me more time to write my paper and I can continue my experiment next week.

It was the birthday of two lab members this week - Amber and Jin-Hong. There is huge thing in Taiwan now with huge rubber ducks! It seems that every province in Taiwan had borrowed/ bought this huge rubber duck (about 10m high) from Germany. They had placed it in the rivers and ponds of the respective province as tourist attractions. Due to weather and bad management, these ducks have "die" one after another (the rubber duck burst!)... back to the birthday... so for their birthday, their cake was the RUBBER DUCK!.... :)

Apartment in Taipei

As promised, here are some photos of the apartment I am staying in Taipei. It is located right in the institute, and the rent is about NZD300 per month! I have to pay additional NZD50 per month for the rental to exchange for new bed sheet and pillow case. Washing machines and dryer are located in the basement of the building, and it cost about NZD2 per 40mins wash (I think..haven't use it yet).

It is less than 5 mins walk to the lab, and the location is quiet as well. There are lots of shops around, and restaurants in the institute are not too expensive (about NZD3.5 for dinner) as well.

Excuse the poor quality of the photos. I am taking pictures using my iphone, which my sister gave to me...it is her older 3S version... even my nephews have 4S versions. However, I am very pleased with this phone, having been using a non-smart phone for years...this is a new experience :) The nicer, better quality photos will have to wait until Hannah comes with the better camera.

Living / dining room

Bedroom... single bed..so it will be slightly more cozy when
Hannah arrives :)

Refrigerator

Even has a microwave and water heater

Spotted crane hunting in the artificial pond / reserve
on the way to the lab