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!