Spring Snowman

{In which we discover how useful orange microcentrifuge tubes can be}

In case you didn't know, I work in a lab. We keep stuff like proteins and DNA and buffers cool by placing them on ice, which we get by putting ice cubes through a shaved ice machine. It's not a huge leap to imagine the hill of icy goodness with all sorts of delicious toppings — mochi, ripe mango chunks, condensed milk — but since the ice is made of tap water, I'm never tempted to dig in even though it's been getting hotter and hotter (besides, all the toppings would be imaginary anyway).

During spring cleaning we got a lot more ice, thanks to the -20C refrigerator; basically moisture freezes out of the air inside the refrigerator and attaches itself to whatever surface is available. That ends up being a lot of ice.

The ice got dumped into the sink by the bucketfuls so it could slowly melt away over the weekend. But it was Friday afternoon before a long weekend, and all that ice proved to be too tempting. So one of my brilliant coworkers (I forget who) decided there was only one thing to do. 

Bonus! March Food Post II

{In which there are even more food photos to salivate over — especially those adorable slices of cake!}

On February 25 (yes, the day before the wedding; it was quite a packed weekend) our company had a spring banquet at 饗食天堂. I knew it was a buffet, and my coworker showed me someone's blog entry about the place, which looked very nice, but I wasn't all that excited (typical apathetic Linda).

But once we arrived, my apathy melted away.

The buffet was awesome! The dessert table was right at the entrance and there were so many adorable little cakes, not to mention a chocolate fountain, panna cotta, brownies, jello, pudding, tarts, fresh fruit, etc. — a whole assortment of delightful desserts. I absolutely could not wait... to photograph them! I laughed and exclaimed to my coworkers how pretty everything was as I bounced all over the place with my camera. I don't think my coworkers had ever seen me muster up so much enthusiasm for food (and they probably won't again for quite a long time).

But of course, I wasn't really interested in the food because I wanted to eat it. No, I just thought they were pretty and looked photogenic. Haha.

First Working Day of the Lunar New Year

{In which the pyromaniac in me is happy}

The sixth day of the lunar new year is when everyone returns to work, and in order to invite good luck for the new year, many businesses in Taiwan will offer food, drink, incense, and paper money to the gods. I noticed many tables of food on my way to work, and then got to experience a new part of Taiwanese culture at work for myself. Many of the foods on the table have special meaning based on puns in Chinese. Others are there because someone likes to eat them. I had fun taking lots of photos while my coworkers bowed with incense and burned paper money. The fires were fascinating.

Taiwan Film Shoot Update

{In which the filmmakers return}

[Update to Taiwan Film Shoot]

Apparently, one day in the parking lot wasn't enough to get the shots they needed. The Monday after we saw the film set outside our lab window, they were back. They might have been there over the weekend too. This time, though, they seemed to be shooting a wedding scene. I wandered by the window occasionally to keep up with their progress.

Taiwan Film Shoot

{In which my coworkers and I spy on a film shoot}

As soon as I arrived in lab last Friday (late, I'm afraid), Pei said, "Linda, we need your camera!" I took out my camera and gave it to her, then followed her to the windows where everyone was looking out at something below.

Ok, there's only three of them in this photo, but the other 2/3 of them are just further down, I promise.

So, what was everyone looking at?

How I Got My Job (Part II)

{In which I give a virtual tour of my workplace}

This is Part II of the post. To read Part I, see How I Got My Job (Part I).

I woke up the morning after the interview feeling much better, and applied to a few more jobs, vowing to take any future interviews more seriously.  Then my phone rang again. It was the HR manager calling to ask when I could start working at the earliest, because she was processing my offer letter! I was in a cloud of disbelief. That was when I realized that I maybe should have taken better notes during the interview.

How I Got My Job (Part I)

{In which I describe my job-searching process in Taipei, Taiwan}

I finished teaching English as a TA at NTHU (a university in Hsinchu, Taiwan) in mid-August, and I spent the next two weeks enjoying myself and hanging out with people all over Taiwan. It was great, but my parents were worried about my plans for the future (well, more like the lack thereof). All I had was a vague idea that I wanted to try living in Taiwan for a bit (I'm sure many of you are wondering "WHY????" but that's not the point of this post. Maybe I'll write a "Why I Want to Live in Taiwan" post later or something.)  It was a step up from having absolutely no desire to do anything at all, so maybe that's why my parents didn't forbid it. Still, they weren't — and still aren't — fond of having their oldest daughter bumming around in Taiwan when, theoretically, she could be going to medical school.

I knew if I got a job in Taiwan I'd have a more legitimate reason to stay. My parents also insisted that I do something about finding employment. So one night near the beginning of September I created an account at 104.com.tw (a Taiwan job search site) on a whim and pasted in some information from my resume. I then applied to four openings, which made me feel productive enough to turn to other activities.

Fun with Microcentrifuge Tubes

This is what I do at work in between labeling rows and rows of tubes, pipetting various amounts of clear, colorless liquids into them, and then waiting as said liquids react mysteriously over a period of time:



Yes, I take pictures of stuff. Thankfully there is (some) variety to my work and I don't work with tons of tubes every day. And it's nice to have rainbow-colored tubes because that breaks up the monotony: