End of June - time for Minaduki!

June 30 marks the passage of exactly half of the year.

In Kyoto, a specially made sweet called "Minaduki" is eaten on this day to gain strength to go through Kyoto's hot and humid summer.  So... as a keen follower of Kyoto customs, I bought a pakage of Minaduki myself! 

I'm glad a local supermarket still sell it as a special product from a local Japanese sweets shop.  It feels like I need to actively support small and traditional businesses like Japanese sweets shops in order to preserve the long history and culture that makes Kyoto unique. Otherwise, they will not survive, and mass-produced goods with less flavor and less characteristics may dominate.  Why is it a probelm?  Actually I can't answer it well; it is after all a personal preference as to which is better - cheaper retort foods that last long or a slightly more expensive, perishable ones that  carry unique flavors that each maker put a lot of effort into..  I value the latter, that is all. 

    

Nodame Cantabile in English!

It's been quite interesting to read manga in English essentially for the first time.  It's easy to read because the text is written in normal style with lower case letters.  It helps a ton!

Though some of the original nuances are lost in translation, it's still enjoyable. And for this Nodame series, the translation is good because it keeps honorifics like "-san", "-senpai", "-sama" etc.. which convey a lot of meanings by themselves.  I explained the meanings of those honorifics and addressing someone without an honorific. It plays such an important part in understanding the relative social positions of the characters in manga, and of course, in daily lives. 

Also, when a Japanese story is translated into English, the nuances of different words for "I" and "You" are lost.  And the way those words are organized or omitted, could have a huge influence to the meaning of a sentence even though possible varieties can all carry the same core meaning. 

Plus, there are a ton of particles that can five different impressions, too.  There are some in English too, like "... isn't it.", "... , though."

”そう言う。”  We say so. 

”そう言うよ。”  We say so. (with more confidence, and could be emphasizing, or opposing someone who says otherwise)

"そう言うよね。"  We say so, don't we?

”そう言うんだ。”  We say so.

”そう言うんだよ。”  We say so. (kind of like teaching someone.)

”そう言うんだけど。”  We say so.  (Potentially annoyed, or providing that as new information that contradicts what was just said) 

”そう言うぜ。”  We say so.  (masculine speech, very casual)

”そう言うだろ。”  We say so, right? 

”そう言うってば。”  I'm saying, we say so. 

etc. etc....  OMG this is a lot!! There may be something like this in English and that I just don't know them, but the variety is pretty hard to translate with accuracy. 

Tacos at Que Pasa

A rare find!

A lot of writing and a few international activities this week

I wrote so much on two papers this week.. And yet I am organizing a Shut Up and Write event this Sunday.  I have run out of things to write, as I am waiting for my co-authors' feedback.  I guess I can just take it easy today. It's nice that three papers are coming out in total, right at about the same time.  My 1 year and 8 months have surely not been a waste! 

Another good news is that my advisor was willing to cover the cost of a conference registration for November.  It seems that I am going to SC this autumn!  I've been paying a lot for travels this year, but it's all necessary cost, as the conference is held only every other year, and it's a great way to be connected with bean researchers. 

Met some artists on Thursday and got to have a picnic with them at Kamo-river. It's so interesting to meet with new people with similar interests.  They all have different backgrounds, interests, and dreams, and so much so that it takes a long time to get to know them, which is a fun part. 

Maybe I should start tweeting inspiring and calming phrases every day, as a means to help others who are stressed and/or feeling stuck.

Another thing - I will probably help a friend to get a permanent residency in Japan.  It requires a guarantor, who must be a citizen or a PR.  But a guarantor is not legally responsible for theie guarantee's illegal acts or unpaid debts; it's more like a friend/advisor whom the guarantee can go to when they have questions or need assistance. Sure thing! I would love to do that. It's my way to thank my friends in the US that helped me with administrative stuff.  I'm glad that I can continue a virtuous cycle like this.   

Bday party!

Such a wonderful time to chat and eat.  Listened to a couple's business plan to open a restaurant/café.  Also, it was helpful and inspiring to listen to a business owner/freelanceer with overseas clients.  It was a good reminder that I need to have a business mindset.

It's such a hassle to obtain a visa to stay in Japan for many types of workers, except for researchers..  Japan's immigration system hugely favors researchers or high earners. Who would come? That's another question, but anyway, my friends are trying hard and trying every possible routes to make their lives easier away from their home country, hitting a language barrier, yet never gives up, and take whatever next steps that can be taken.  It's impressive and admirable.  I should take a leaf from their book, their determination and perseverance.  I hope every activity they plan to do will go well, and they will have a better and peaceful life in Japan..  I should improve with a business owner's mindset.  At least I don't have to worry about a visa to stay in Japan.

Another thing to note is to be humble. It's easy to think like "Japan is popular, so many foreigners want to live here."  But it's not necessarily true.  Only a fraction of people is coming to Japan, and a fraction of them are willing to try to stay.  They are not the whole population of foreigners living outside Japan.  Some do not even know about Japan very much, and most of them have never even consider visiting, let alone staying.  This reality should always be in my mind, otherwise I'll end up being an annoying patriot in my little own world. That's not cool.

Anyway all the foods were delicious!  Another one brought a French cake "Far Breton", which is a cake that is similar to pudding, and it was delicious!  He's got an oven, so he can bake now!  Another one brought a takoyaki machine, a "must have" for a Kansai person, of course. We made takoyaki with beef, too. It was good.  And chicken satay that the Thai couple made. They made chrysanthemum and pandan tea, too.  They were all delicious.  The couple really seem to like cooking, and they do it really well. I wish them the very best!

 

Beans!!

 My staple food.. Would like to try making ratatuille with lentils, too. 

Curry and cafe Doppo

Nice, cozy cafe in the south of Kyoto.  There are max four types of curry to choose from. Their seafood dashi curry is really interesting and surprisingly tasty!  I would like to try their tapioca tea, too.  

Dashi curry in the back, squid curry in front, with a lot of side dishes pickles, and fried whole potato. 

Hydrangea

A nice Sunday afternoon to contemplate a lot of things... and to entertain some random ideas. 

Coconut and pandan bread!

Was able to have a baking session with a bread machine that one of my friends rented.  It does all the kneeding, proofing, shaping, and baking! It's amazing that we'll get a loaf of fresh bread 4 hours after putting in the ingredients.  All we have to do is to wait. Amazing. 

It's so green though! The color is really strong because of the synthetic color in the pandan paste we used.  We joked that it's a GFP-tagged bread, which glows in the dark!  The best biotechnologist joke ever!  GFP, green-fluorescent protein, is a useful protein in biochemistry research because you can add it to your protein of interst and its fluorescence enables you to track it in the cell.  Super nerdy baking pals!  

The texture was good, though it's slightly dense than a regular bread.  I suspect it's because of using coconut milk. A quick research - lauric acid in coconut milk could hinder yeast growth, and that may be why the bread did not rise as much.  Interesting. 

It's 30% whole wheat, so it's healthier.  No unnatural ingredients like margerine. It's really nice if I could bake fresh bread every day or every other day..   

Sherlock Holmes

 I'm hooked on listening to Sherlock Holmes audiobooks.. so I borrowed some related books. One was a ... rather a objective travel record of visiting many places related to SH, but not much personal..  it takes some skills to write a fun travel journal. 

"THE MAN WHO NEVER LIVED AND WILL NEVER DIE" is a witty title.  That's exactly him.  It had a copy of Strand magazine that had SH series.  As the literacy rate jumped, people wanted to read exciting stories for fun, and SH series was a perfect one as a captivating pastime.  Coincidentally, the first SH story was published in 1887, exactly 100 years before my birth year.  It makes me believe in a special link between me and the extraordinary defective. 

It was interesting also to know how London changed in the late 19th century.  There were horse-drawn carriages in the late 1890s, but taxis replaced them in a decade or so.  Also, revolutionary things emerged one after another, like telegram, electricity, express trains, deep chemistry knowledge.. the city was transforming so rapidly with new technologies that it became hard for Doyle to keep many of Holmes' methodologies to solve his client's problems.  That's why the era of SH is set in is rather short, although Doyle continued writing his stories quite some time. These kind of things... Intriguing. 

5 am meeting again!

I was able to get up at 4 30 am naturally because of it already being bright outside at that time in summer.  Summer solestice is approaching.  With two thick layers of curtains, one of which is light-proof, my sleep has been better than last year, I think.  And appetite loss isn't too bad, either.  I still eat less and get full easily because of humidity, but it is less severe than it was last year.  Seems like I got use to summer heat. 

The season is coming again~  the home buddy season! 

I'm looking forward to trying using a bread machine that a friend onf mine rented. It's a convenient system to be able to rent a home appliance, but when you buy one, it's actually more expensive.. Just like buy or rent home, you could have spent that rent for purchasing a bread machine.  Well, being a minimalist and just try out a bread machine is not a bad idea.  You don't know how much you are actually going to use it. 

Food Scientists' focus group discussion

I got to attend a focus group discussion with four other food researchers in Singapore, Switzerland, Chicago IL, and Guelph, ON.  It was really a nice meeting with professionals in different fields.

It was a good opportunity to think about what I value about doing research at a public university, rather than at a private company.  The research process at public universities are collaborative, and we are going towards the same goal hand in hand, rather than competing for profit.  It's much more noble and meaningful way of making money, to me. 

The way English speakers talk.. I feel there is something fundamentally different than me.  Or is it personality trait, also?  They just talk and talk and never end.  Do they expect me to interject?  Isn't it rude to do so?  There is value in being concise, though.  We were running out of time towards the end of the 1.5 hour session, but some people just kept talking and talking.  And when they digress and the modertor tried to intervene, they raise their volume to overpower the moderator and went on.  OMG..  It's plain rude, and not professional, and they are just making a bad impression, not getting their points across.  A good speech is a skill to have.  

Yes, that is what inter-human relationships truly are in real life.  There aren't too many people who can communicate efficiently, effectively, and courteously.

Presentation finished!!!

This time, I was able to make a presentation well in advance, make necessary edits, practice a lot of times, and presented it with peace of mind.  It was a rare (? but hopefully will be a usual) case of me preparing and giving a presentatioin, so I will write it down for record. 

My goal was to finish making my slides before the fellowship program starts, which was May 28.  With the fellowship going through 2 weeks, I was origianlly scheduled to present on June 8. But there was a rescheduling, and my presentation date was moved two days earlier. I knew that kind of things will happen!  So it's critical to be ready well in advance, in order to avoid overtime and presenting with less confidence. 

THE IDEAL SCHEDULE

1. [> 1 month before] Set a target date that you will finish and be ready for the presentation.  2-7 days earlier than the actual D-day.
2. [> 1 month before] IF you haven't made almost all figures (materials) ready, do so by 1 month before the target date. 
3. [Week 4 - 2] Organize all your materials on slides. 
4. [Week 3] Schedule a practice session halfway of step 3, so that you will have at least 2 weeks to make edits before the target date.
5. [Week 2] Receive feedback in a practice session. 
6. [Week 2 - 1] Make edits, do some extra research as necessary and put them on slides. 
7. [Week 1] Slides done!  Rehearse at least 3 times. 
8. [Target date] You are ready well in advance!  

Case study: the market trends. This was a light topic, not so much about research, so if it were reseaerch, it would have taken more time!  

May 1 ... Started thinking about making a presentation. IF I didn't have organized and visualized data, even earlier!  This time I alrady had a report in place, and I just needed to put my figures in the report to my slides, but still, there was some formatting done, and took me 2-3 weeks.  Plus, I had something extra to add, just for the presentation.  Expect something more to do. 

May 24 ... Practice presentation with labmates. This needs to be done before the fellowship program starts and everyone gets busy!  Initially, my practice talk lasted for 30 min, but later with some additions, it became 40 min just as scheduled.  And I got feedback, ideas to edit and add, so the next week was doing some extra research and putting things together in a good flow. Needed to practice too. 

June 2 ... Presentation done. Printed out, and rehearsed 3 times.  By the third time, I was confident and remembered everything I needed to say.  Some small extra edits were made, too. 

June 6 ... Presentation done and well-received!

ねこ砂ドーム Cat litter 'snowglobe'

誕生日に猫砂ドームもらった。

かわゆ。泡すごいが…。

今週末は子猫との戯れが待ってるーー！

A good friend of mine gave me a cat snowglobe.. It's so cute.  I couldn't totally get the bubble out.. but it's okay... I'm excited to play with kittens at the animal shelter this weekend!! 

目はたいせつに

目の間（眉間？）がムズムズ、かゆいという現象が生じてしまった…！ つい夜まで残業してプレゼンを仕上げてしまったのがいけなかった、しかもそのあとに漫画まで電子で読んでしまったのがいけなかった！  二日間のデジタルデトックス。図書館から本借りててよかった。目を大事にしないと。

アナログ絵を練習する気にもなったので結果オーライなのかも。

今日プレゼンすれば一息つける〜〜

食に関する研究者のフォーカスグループディスカッションなるものもある。どんな感じだろ。

The area between my eyes got super itchy last week and I just couldn't stare at my computer monitor anymore.  So I had to take a Friday off. It'd be really bad if I became allergic to screen.  I made the weekend as 'digital detox' day with minimized use of electronic devices by visiting a cafe and bookstores, reading, writing, and drawing on paper.  It worked well , and I feel much better after that.  It was a relief, but it was a reminder that I need to take good care of my eyes, never stay up late working with my computer followed by binge-reading on screen!!  

It had a bright side too, however; it forced me to draw with a pen and paper.  Haven't done it for a while.  Now it's time to spur myself on and get working.  I want to be able to draw for other researchers helping them visualize complex concept.