Dublin: Weeks 6-7

Too many photos and so little time to want to upload and post. But I do have some time for now. 2 more weeks to go!

Dublin: Clean Room

Greetings! Do not fear, no harm we make to you. From out of this world we come from to inspect and make collection of your planet's particles!
 I am soooo short and surrounded by such very very tall and nice people! I hope you can find me in the sea of tall ones there. "I'm here everyone! Look down, it's meeeeeh!!! Right here, near the blue door!!!". Haha

L-R: Marisol, Marketa, Lenka, Ugis, Me and Zarah all suited up and ready to enter the Clean Room.  

Today Marisol and I and a couple of others from Mirek's µ-FAn group that we work with had a Clean Room appointment with Fernando. He showed us the process in fabricating the masters/masks used for microchips. We both know how to do that already, but it was a special treat because our clean room is definitely not like theirs where you have to put on a special space/cafeteria suit to maintain sterile conditions and sterile environment as much as possible. One should just practice these aseptic techniques at their home so that one can minimize that amount of cleaning *and* dusting!

One should also be good at balancing (yoga would definitely help, think tree pose) because the first thing you do is place a shoe cover on one foot and with that covered foot you are then allowed to cross into the clean zone area. So with the covered "clean" foot in the clean zone, one has to balance with that clean foot to lift up the "dirty" foot and cover that similarly and then finally bringing that clean foot to cross over. Now try and visualize what I just wrote if that makes any sense. 

Ready to go.

Amid all the aseptic craziness there is time for a "What Up/Word!"

Dublin: Day 3

NOTE: Happy Birthday to my Uncle Christopher! Thanks for being there and supporting us all the time and for being an awesome and cool uncle. I love you and hope you have a Happy Birthday!

We are still waiting on our school ID cards from the registry so that we are insured to handle chemicals and everything else so we continued on with reading the scientific literature and putting our presentation together for a 3-day workshop on PDMS chip making that we are going to instruct in a few weeks. Another problem is that we didn't bring our equipment or masks for the fabrication because we thought DCU would have everything so we are waiting on that care package to arrive and hopefully it will get to us before the workshop since one day will be presentation and the other days are going to be a hands-on training. Wish us luck! Mirek will be presenting an intro but a majority will be discussed and taught between Marisol, Fernando (DCU) and yours truly.

Flyer that Mirek put together for our workshop. He did an awesome job incorporating all logos and designing it.

Check out the Steve Urkel lab approved vintage safety goggles in our lab! I could've sworn I saw similar styles selling at Urban Outfitters. Wish we had them at our lab. Can you just imagine us saying, "Did I do that???" a la Steve Urkel.

Marisol's turn with the goggles.

You just know what he just said or is about to say. No, not "Laauuuraaa", but "Did iiii doooo that???"

Another beautiful, gloomy and gray morning.

Super cute bathroom at DCU's engineering building S. Its got personality and charm, not like our school's bathroom. (Why Why Why Why is this gray?!?! Annoying to see and don't have time to edit the html. Ugh.

My arms are going to be strong from all that toilet flushing because the pumps and handles require muscle to flush the dang thing properly. None of that using your feet to flush when you don't want to touch the icky handle. That's for wussies. You need collaboration of your biceps, triceps and deltoids (and maybe your pectoralis) to get the job done.

There is a stopper in case I need to have just the right temperature of warm water to wash my face at school. Remember! Only use hot water if absolutely necessary! Otherwise, save water heating energy! 

Another lovely view from my room, the bin area!

My cozy twin bed

A wardrobe I wish I had at home in addition to my closet. Would probably need at least 3-4 of these.

Sneak peek although I had not entirely unpacked all my things. All that extra room makes me want to go shopping soon, which I plan to do very soon. Also, please refrain from laughing at my Jonas brother hat. Thank you.

My lovely and stubborn timer controlled heater. Sometimes it works but not for long. Still trying to figure out the 2 set timer on the dial. I'm sure I'm doing it wrong.

My room was missing a wastebasket so I let the receptionist know and she said she had an extra one left and she pops back out of the room with this plastic bucket/pail all for lil' ol' me. Ain't I so lucky?!?! I must have the handsomest wastebasket in the entire complex. My roomies will be jealous. At least it's a dual action bucket/pail for trash and a bath or washing clothes. 

No photo of my desk because it is always full of crap and would like to take a photo when it is nice and tidy. It's where I spend a lot of time since the stupid short phone cord has to be attached to my laptop or else no internet for this baby. Le sigh... I miss the days when I can have the laptop on my chest surfing the internet while I lie with my back against a wall or headboard or my favorite, lying down with my head on a pillow with the pillow slightly propped up. For the laziest indeed! Everyone with their blinds open is usually at their desk facing their laptop as well. I'm sure a majority of the people here spend most, if not all their time at their desk. I will have to take a pic soon so you will understand what the hell i am talking about. I miss my wi-fi. 

 Boo hoo boo hoo boo hoo.

Dublin: Day 2

Note: Day 2 is a few days late so bear with me since a lot of sad and shocking things has happened and I wasn't in the mood to update. I'll try to post Day 3 soon when I have more energy and hopefully I will catch up with my updates. 

 Day 2 was the first day of work at DCU lab. The walk from our apartments was only about a 5 minute walk into the university and then we have to maneuver our way around buildings to get to the last building, the Chemical Sciences X building which is another 1.5 minutes. Not bad, huh? Its great to be able to do that and not worry about parking or waking up early to beat traffic. 

We met everyone else in Mirek's lab and ran around the campus with Tom doing administrative stuff. Of course the registry was situated opposite to our building so there was a lot of walking back and forth going on. We then had an informal meeting with another professor, Dr. Nolan and a few other postdocs to discuss having a PDMS Chips for Beginners workshop led by Mirek, me, Marisol and Fernando (who is familiar with PDMS and suggested the idea). They seemed pretty excited about having a 3-day workshop with the first day going over theory and the other 2 days consisting of hands-on training. 

Good thing I brought my presentation slides from my lab so I can add onto them since it seems like it's going to be a long discussion. Since the labs are much smaller compared to our labs back home, our desks will be in Dr. Nolan's organic chem lab for the next 2 months.

Marisol in Dr. Nolan's lab filling out registry forms.

They have very clean and *working* fume hoods compared to ours back home that warranted a photo.

After work, we walked to the Omni shopping center nearby our apartments. Mind you, we are staying in a residential neighborhood and we were the only minorities in that shopping center. People often stare whether in a good, bad or very curious way.We were starving so had lunch at Pizza Hut. When I was in London many years back I also had Pizza Hut a couple of times since it was down the street from the hotel I stayed at in Earl's Court. Well, the Pizza Hut here is a dine-in restaurant with a buffet so I guess it's like that everywhere else. We should have a dine-in Pizza Hut in L.A. too! I'm sure there would be tons of people. I wish we weren't so tired and jet lagged because they had tons of cute stores with brands I love but are not carried in the US like Kookai, Miss Selfridge, Warehouse, and Morgan de toi (there used to be one at the Santa Anita many years back though) that I wanted to check out but was too beat to do. What I did get to purchase was a Vodafone prepaid SIM card so all I need to do is call T-mobile so they can unlock my phone. From the information I gathered, T-mobile will happily unlock your phone for free as long as you have had the phone for at least 90 days. 

Afterwards, we went to Tesco to buy some groceries. What I have observed here in Ireland is how very green they are. For one, at our local convenience store next door, they charge you for plastic bags. So I opted for the free paper bag instead since I need to be a penny pincher here since things are so expensive and the bag was roughly half the size of a Trader Joe's bag, which might as well be a sandwich bag! My necessities like paper towels, hand soap, bread, toilet paper, etc. and all my other purchases were overflowing! Luckily I only had a few feet to walk! At Tesco, we were given one little flimsy plastic bag (we were even lucky to get one!) for groceries for 2 people! We were just dumping things into our "trolley" (aka shopping cart) and then noticed everyone putting in all their groceries into their 3-4 bags (tote bags, recycled shopping bags, purses, backpacks, you name it) they carry around like mad at the register. It was hilarious and downright LOL. At least we know what to do now from here on, like save EVERY plastic bag and paper bag given to us and carry extra bags just in case we may buy something. Americans are so wasteful. Maybe these people are forced to be appear green since they limit plastic bags for one.

Also, we always need to turn on a switch before plugging in our electrical appliances. Kind of annoying but I just leave it on. I know,  I know... I am wasteful, capitalist American pig, no? But I honestly do forget to turn it off when you have so many switches to turn off before leaving the apartment. The annoying part is that I have to get a chair to stand on to turn on my bathroom fan when I take a shower. Why would they put those switches over the door?! Maybe they expected an average height of 6'2" or 5'8" with long limbs to be renting here. 

Must remind myself: "Don't forget to turn on the swtich first!"

Well, we are still learning since it has only been day 2 of our trip. I'm sure I will get used to all this and probably come back home and take these habits home with me. Umm... I don't think so! 

Dublin: Day 1

Marisol and I arrived in Dublin, Ireland yesterday at about 8 AM. We flew on Aer Lingus and I must say, it was a very cozy and pleasant flight. From Chicago it was about a 7 hour flight and I was able to watch 'The Reader' (pretty good) and 'He's Not That Into You' while fully extending my legs since Marisol and I were able to sit together at the exit seats (we had to agree to help in case of an emergency). I wanted to watch 'The Wrestler' and 'Watchmen', but there was no room to squeeze in all those movies so I opted for a drama and comedy-drama for our evening flight to suit my tired and mellow mood. The lavatory was right in front of us which was great since I was able to fully consume as much beverages and not worry about bothering my neighbor(s) to make way for me when I get stuck sitting in the middle or window seat like I normally do.

We were served 2 meals and lots of tea. For dinner I chose the roast beef with potatoes and veggies. My entree came with salad with italian dressing, a slice of cheddar cheese, crackers, french bread with butter, cheesecake and chocolate mint (or as my niece would call it, pillow mint). For breakfast we were served a ham and cheese croissant sandwich with orange juice and tea.

The immigration line moved quickly and then we waited for Tom (from the DCU lab we will be working in for the next 8 weeks) to pick up two exhausted and jet lag girls (it was about 2:30 AM West Coast time) to get to our apartments and help us finally settle in with internet connection (modem!) being our top priority. I wish there was a TV though but they do have televisions available for rent. 

I'll be residing at Shanowen Square Apartments for the next 3 weeks and moving over to Shanowen Hall where the rent is much cheaper after that time. I've also planned on opening up an irish bank account to help alleviate ATM/credit card/exchange fees which can add up since I'll be here for 8 weeks and then traveling to London and Paris for another 1-2 weeks.

Entrance to Shanowen Square Apartments

Shanowen Square Apartment Courtyard  

View from my room. Unfortunately, no sight of a leprechaun yet :(

My bathroom. Not pictured is my lovely blue toilet water. The narrow shower is something I will have to get used to, but overall, it's good enough for what I need.  There is a timer inside the door of the utility press at the end of our flat's corridor. When the switch is set to 'timer' water will be heated during the night and will remain hot for most of the day. We are sharing the apartment with 2 other girls and my 1st shower was pretty damn hot! So hopefully there shouldn't be a problem, but ahh... the luxury we have at home of not worrying to set the timer for hot water. Added feature of our hot water timer: A 'boost' facility on the unit will allow the heater to work an extra 2 hours as required! Yipee!

A couple of things I bought at SPAR (convenience store next door) to add to my junk food provisions. Will be going to Tesco to buy groceries after our first day in lab later on.

Didn't take pics of my cozy bed or room just yet since I still have some unpacking to do and it was a mess when I decided to snap these few shots. 

Forecast for today: Cold and cloudy with a lot of wind. No surprise, right? I sure didn't come here for the sun! I'm glad I brought some wooly socks!

Ta ta for now. I'll be on way to start my 1st day in the lab. Woke up early for obvious jet lag reasons, but most importantly, to refresh my mind on the project proposal. It was a fairly long read, but you do what you have to do! Man... I'm going to want to burn out probably by mid-afternoon at this rate. 

A big thank you Dr. Gomez for working to get the funds through to make this possible for us.

xoxo from Dublin