Rochester Bochester

It's funny how Rochester became the first of our Northeast city tour. While my friends were packing their bags for NYC, Boston, Chicago, LA, and SF, we were making our way to this small city tucked away somewhere along the fringes of freezing lake Ontario. Don't get me wrong. It was all good and we're very proud of going there. Rochester is absolutely not the "place to be" if you are a tourist. The only reason why one would go up there is to either apply for a job at Kodak or to check out the university (which we did). But places near the university and around their ArtWalk district are absolutely nice to visit, not just for locals but for tourists as well.





They say fall and spring are the best seasons to take photos in Rochester. I agree, specially after seeing this photo taken from the admissions prospectus of UoR.


But here's another photo taken from the exact spot in the university, just in case you're curious how it looks like during winter. Well, it's not so bad...


Visit my flickr account (www.flickr.com/photos/marvjfm) for more photos of our Rochester trip. Yas and I are in New Jersey and will be traveling to Boston and New York city soon. So stay tuned for more photos :)

What Saturday afternoons have turned into ... (Guest blogging by the wife)

Life as a PhD student has become a little different for Marvin since his wife came to town.

Suddenly, he finds himself having to make space for her things, her habits, and required drug intake (sugar and caffeine).

Suddenly, he finds his sleek winter coat suffocated by her 4-year-old comforter-like monstrosity from a time when "thinsulate" wasn't invented yet.

He finds himself talking about Martha Stewart recipes because like any other culinary-challenged modern woman, she likes to plan lunch like she plans her homework.

He finds it harder to buy things like books from Amazon, a Warren Kimble cow mug, or a vegetable peeler because his wife is, how should we say it, kuripot.

He finds himself trekking to the local organic store to buy coffee in -9C weather. Wife goes through a severe withdrawal syndrome when the flow of caffeine is delayed.

However, he finds comfort in the fact that the store sells other cool stuff like organic lettuce. Bad thing is that they discourage customers from using plastic bags so he had to protect the lettuce all the way home.

So while the changes remain small, they are worrying symptoms of what the future may bring.

Trip to Charlie's Abode

Who would think that someone's house could be a destination for an Energy Class field trip? On the way back from the waste-to-energy plant, our professor insisted that we drop by his place to see "energy-efficiency in practice." It was a lovely home and we definitely enjoyed his russian furnace while snow was falling heavily outside.

A lesson on passive solar heating.



This reminds me of hollywood films, really. Could it be one of north pole's toy workshops disguised as a red barn?

Guest blogging by the wife

They say Thanksgiving is a time for families to be together so it seemed like a fun idea for Marbs and I celebrate this holiday after 3 months of being apart. Eating a whole turkey on our own was out of the question, but we made do with a menu of pumpkin soup (no butter or cream), artichoke pasta, grilled chicken with tomatoes, and pumpkin pie (only $3.99!). Thankfully, there were no crazy crowds at the supermarket and the whole town was strangely quiet given that all classes were cancelled for the holidays. Here are some life lessons we learned from this experience:
1. Walking to the supermarket in Syracuse is not like walking to the supermarket in Singapore. Especially when this means a temperature difference of more than 30 degrees.
2. Snot freezes if you don’t wipe it away quickly enough
3. Buy chopped butternut squash even if the fresh one is only 80 cents per kilo. It is not fun to peel this vegetable.
4. You can buy a readymade turkey with all the trimmings for just $57 (we hung out by the butcher’s counter and watched people come by to pick up their dinner).




We also invited Yaying, one of the other Pinoy phd students here, and had a nice dinner talking about student life and the dilemmas of moving across the world. We had a lot of fun – and it was easy to feel nostalgic about being together again. In a way, 3 months is really not that long a time to be apart. But for some reason, it was every bit as difficult as the time we first started our long distance relationship five years ago. There’s a lot to be thankful for this year. It was nice to sit down, have a nice meal, and appreciate everything.

Windmills of your mind

Our Energy Systems class drove to the northern areas of the finger lakes today to see a wind farm. Although I had seen countless of wind turbines in Germany, it was my first time to be near one and I got really impressed by its shear size. Would you believe its propellers' end-to-end span is as long as a typical intercontinental Airbus?



Our professor making faces ...


We learned a lot of things today, but mostly about the intricacies of politics and how such a wonderful technology would never dominate the energy market (at least in the next few decades). Will we see more of this in the future? It depends on how we quickly wean ourselves away from oil and coal. The idealistic side of me hopes for oil prices to continue soaring in order for cleaner substitutes to be developed. However, just like anybody else, the prospect of making oil and coal luxury goods scares the hell out of me. I still dream of traveling around the world, and I believe this is one of the few perks I get for choosing the not-so-lucrative career path of an academic. Of course, traveling around the world means burning oil and expensive oil means expensive airfares. It's conflicting really. I have two dissonant ambitions: ending our fossil fuel addiction and seeing the world.

Windmills won't be able to create cheaper flights. I just hope that when that time comes, when we cannot afford to pay for airfares anymore, Yas and I are already living together in one place.

Trick or treatin' with the holy man

In all honesty, this was my very first time to attend and dress-up for a halloween party. Of course, all my American friends were horrified to learn that. When you think hard about it, there's really no point celebrating this seemingly "ridiculous practice" (as one international student puts it). Yes, we do celebrate it to a certain extent in the Philippines, but it's all for the name of "all soul's day." Here, it's just halloween and nothing else. But when I saw those kids roaming around on their elaborate costumes, I then realized that it was all about them. One can argue, "why not do it on world children's day?" Come on, halloween is the ultimate time for kids to make their imagination and creativity run wild.

Well, admittedly, it's not just for the kids. It's equally for the adults as well.


I decided to dress-up as a monk for apparent lack of creativity (my brother did the same when he attended their company's dinner & dance party a year ago). It was funny because the first thing that came into people's mind was the Dalai Lama. Now seeing these photos, I kinda agree :) (Disclaimer: To all Tibetans out there, I have no intention of disrespecting the Dalai Lama)



The holy man mediates a battle between the Roman senator and a ninja.


What is a halloween party ... or life in general ... without these lovely creatures bringing joy in our hearts?

So why celebrate halloween? For lack of a profound explanation, it's simply all for fun!

Autumn colors at its peak

I love autumn and since this is my first time to experience it, I'm delighted to share with you some photos I took around my neighborhood that showcase the season's colors at its finest. I said to myself that the first thing I'll do when autumn comes is to turn on my mp3 player full blast and listen to Vivaldi's L'Autunno. I embedded a Youtube clip for you, so if you like please feel free to do the same. It's amazing how Vivaldi really captured the feel of autumn in his composition.









Somebody coaxed us to visit the cemetery behind ESF and experience a more surreal feel of autumn. Indeed, the first thing that welcomed us was this giant tree with brightly lit orange leaves that reflected the red sunset. I swear, the tree looked like it was burning from afar. So immediately I had this concept of taking a shot of a gravestone with the "burning trees" as background to convey a very eerie interpretation of death.

Bad start, great end

The worst way to start the day is coming late to an 8 am class soaking wet from an unexpected, freezing autumn shower with just 4 hours of sleep and a midterm exams to worry about. No other words, even those accentuated with the strongest superlatives, can describe how awful I felt the entire day. But, as the cliche goes, there's always light at the end of the tunnel. My day ended just like that, almost literally in fact: seeing the gorgeous sunset basking ESF with a golden glow, having dinner with my major professor and fellow advisees, hanging-out and having tomato-feta pizza at Varsity's, and ending the night with a brief chat with Yas. It's always wonderful to end a terrible day with a big sigh of relief.





Now, time to brace myself for another rough week ahead ...

Pinoy berday paty

We were invited to attend a pinoy birthday party yesterday and yes, as expected, it was all fun! I was happy having to taste some of our pinoy delicacies again, like pancit, sinigang, lumpiang shanghai (for the non-Filipinos, lumpiang shanghai is not from Shanghai, China. It's a Filipino adaptation of the Chinese fried spring rolls), biko, and chicken sopas. To top it all up, we spent the remainder of the night singing our hearts out with OPM and western classics in the ever reliable magic mic.


It was not only the Filipinos who got to demonstrate their singing prowess. A bunch of American kids caught the pinoy singing fever as well and at some point dominated the magic mic for a sizeable fraction of the night. What amazed me was that these kids were not singing the likes of Jonas bros, Miley Cyrus or Timbaland. They were going for classic songs like Thriller, Hound Dog, and (as for the photo below) Britney's Oops I Did It Again. Haha, I rember there's this kid who grabs the mic and shouts, "Ooops takeling!" in an attempt to read the song title "Ooops! Teka lang!" That was cute and hilarious. Kinda reminds me of the dragon katol ad in the Philippines.


Below is the birthday mom, Hydie, and her lovely daughter singing Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On. She couldn't read the words yet, but still got a grade of 100%! I think magic mics have built-in biometric sensors that detect their owner's finger prints. In fairness, she was really good and we all concur that her singing genes are 100% derived from Filipinos :)


This gathering made me realize one thing: Filipinos, no matter how far they are from home and how long they have been disconnected from their roots, could still find a way to uncover the "pinoy genes" in them. Initially, I felt a bit awkward being greeted by Filipinos with thick american accents and idiomatic expressions. But when they all start singing and dancing, that's when the true Filipino colors come out.

I couldn't think of a better way to end an awful week than this ... except probably if I could have the option not to go back studying again the following day. I definitely look forward to attending future pinoy gatherings in Syracuse just to remind myself how I always enjoy the company of our kababayan (fellow countrymen and women). Hydie, thanks for the fun party and happy birthday again!

The UN Apple Picking Mission

Even though I have tons of work to do this weekend, I did not pass up a chance to go for apple picking. You probably know how difficult it is to go around Syracuse without a car. So if a friend offers to drive to a place beyond the reach of public transport, accept it! And besides, I figure I should start savoring the remaining good weather before winter arrives.

Kyle organized an apple picking trip with new friends at ESF. Interestingly, he made a good list of international students coming from all corners of the globe. So there we were, just like a UN diplomatic team, doing a mission in an apple orchard somewhere in the outskirts of Syracuse. We went to this place called Beak and Skiff Apple Farms in Lafayette, 20 minutes drive from Syracuse. As soon as we arrived, I instantly got excited upon seeing low lying trees with thousands of red spots. Before I always thought that apple trees were tall and broad. Remember we used to draw apple trees like that in primary school? Damn, those primary school teachers fooled us!




Anyway, I really enjoyed the trip even though I caught myself thinking of how to solve my economics homework several times throughout the day . I think it was time well spent and I always believe that we ought to unwind and relax from time to time.

If you want to see more apple picking photos, please go to my flickr account HERE.

Thanks Kyle and the UN Apple Picking team! 'Til our next mission!

Not quite like Europe

"Syracuse is a charming city", as described by our friend, Chris. True enough, it's a melange of various western architecture and imposing buildings, which kinda gives the place a feel of Europe ... more half-baked Europe though. It's blessed with well-maintained plazas, monuments, and churches, which unfortunately are under utilized. I was actually a bit dispirited because the streets and avenues were empty. I am not sure why, but it could be because it's a Saturday afternoon and there's a big football match (SU vs PennState) going on at carrier dome. It's a Saturday afternoon! Where else people go? And even if it's the world cup finals, I don't think plazas get empty on a weekend in Europe. There will always be old folks not interested in football who will find it more worthwhile to hang-out in the plazas.


Anyway, I still find it very charming though. There are places that I would definitely go back to and explore -- like Armory square and Salina St. There's also little Italy and the museums that are definitely worth seeing. For friends and family planning to visit me here, don't worry, I'm already familiarizing myself with good places to see. For one, I would definitely bring Yas to a craft store in Armory Square where they showcase real works of artists. Kinda expensive yet very original. Anyway, if you want to see more photos, please feel free to visit my flickr account HERE.

I disagree with friends who say there's nothing to see in downtown Syracuse. I know they would rather go to Carousel, the mega shopping mall here. Perhaps that's the reason why the city is not bustling enough -- people would rather go to shopping malls and save up for a drive to the Big Apple. Indeed, shopping malls and sprawl developments are ingredients to making a struggling city. I just see so much potential in this city and it shouldn't just be regarded as "the place you go to because you have no other better choices in upstate NY". I hope downtown Syracuse will make a rebound in the future.

Fish and Energy

This will be my last entry for the week. Whew!

How do you fancy spending a Saturday afternoon in a camp an hour away from the city in the middle of nowhere? Sounds relaxing, eh? Well, wait 'til you get there to realize that you have to wear giant waterproof boots, walk in 2-5 feet of water 1 km upstream, electrocute (alright, more of stun) fishes, record their mass and length on a waterproof logbook under lite rain, and calculate the energy flows through trophic zones. If you really wanna know, that's exactly how I spent my precious Saturday afternoon this week.


You're probably wondering what an environmental and energy policy major such as myself doing in a stream and catching fishes at Sandy Creeks. When Yas heard about this, her initial reaction was, "Woah! You're school really maintains its forestry roots!" (Of course she said it in tagalog. hehe. "maintains" is the closest word I could find for "panindigan") Yeah, that's what I thought so too, until I learned the rationale behind it.

Okay, so here's how it goes. How do you value natural resources? How much are you willing to pay to preserve a primary forest? Let's make it simpler. How much are you willing to pay for the life of a 1-kg salmon? Say 1000 pesos because that's what you would probably pay in a sushi bar. Maybe 300 pesos if you buy it from Farmer's market. Now, do you think that's the true value of a 1-kg salmon? How do you account for the salmon's services in preserving the ecological balance and integrity of the stream? I don't think 300, nor even 1000 pesos, would justify that. That's the sort of conundrum you get yourself into when you try to monetize the value of something that is hard to value in the first place -- like natural resources or a person's well being. You're probably wondering why there's a need for such valuation. Well, here's another example. How much do factories pay to dump carcinogens into our atmosphere? Nil! Governments don't know how much to charge these factories because we don't know what monetary value we can fairly assign for our atmosphere. Biophysical and ecological economists attempt to quantify everything in terms of energy flows in the hope that it would avoid some of the biases of monetized valuation. So again, what's the value of a 1-kg salmon? It may depend on how it affects (and utilizes) the flow of energy in an ecosystem. Cool huh?

I just wanna show this photo because I find it very interesting and fun. Well, the guy on the left most side is not wearing a ghostbusters proton pack. It's an electric stunner designed to temporarily incapacitate fishes that swim near the probe. Once they get stunned, the 2 other folks collect and put them in a temporary fish tank where another team takes them for physical examination. Unfortunately, some of them are randomly selected to be dissected by standby ichtyologists (fish experts). All for the name of environmental science! You gotta sacrifice some to save the world, I guess.