Back to letter writing

I immediately felt the difference upon coming home from the airport. The clutter was not in its usual place anymore, although that blue, puffy jacket was still hanging near the banister of my attic staircase (funny how in an instant I began referring to "our" attic as "my" attic). I went to the kitchen to help myself with a glass of OJ and stared at the leftover cookies on the dining table. I pitied them cookies, knowing that they would probably sit there for three more weeks rather than being appreciated for less than a day if the circumstance weren't so different. I went back to bed again hoping to just sleep through the somber experience, but stacking two pillows did not help at all. I then figured that perhaps it would help to recall my first few weeks here in Syracuse, when the best way of assuaging bouts of the blues was to rely on Blogger, Skype and the US postal service.

The realization came: It's back to letter writing, at least in the next six months.


Sometimes I wonder if we're taking this "letter writing" theme in our relationship too seriously. That our love for the postal system has inevitably created a world for us to constantly act the roles of a long distance couple. Nah, I seriously doubt it. I don't believe in The Secret crap anyway. Letter writing is always here to stay in our relationship, even if it's just a week of being apart. It's not a dismal reminder of our sad state, but a proof of our endurance to cope with dramatic changes in our relationship. Ten years from now we would proudly say to our kids, "We wrote a hundred letters when your dad entered the academic convent." One of those letters would say:

"Thanks for visiting, Yas. Now I know how it would be like when you unpack your suitcase for good in August. Love -- Marbs"

A Holiday We Deserved

After a stressful semester and being far apart from each other for more than 3 months, Yas and I finally got the vacation we deserved. It was a very eventful trip: last minute change in departure, whirlwind packing, delayed bus and train rides, and two snow storms. Nonethless, it was balanced by many days of just hanging out at home, chatting, playing video games, doing artsy stuff, eating, and eating, and eating again. I guess the highlight of the trip, really, was spending time with family and friends and being able to celebrate our anniversary just the way we imagined it to be.






Many thanks to our hosts, Uncle Edgar, Auntie Cynthia, Cece, Coco and Chris in Sparta, Jeff, Elaine and Annie in Cambridge, Tito Ricky, Tita Marissa, and Christina in Boston, Uncle Rene, Auntie Joan and Steph in Manalapan, and Ate Claire in New York City. This trip would not have been possible without you. We look forward to seeing you again in the future, and hopefully in Syracuse next time when you visit.

Please visit our flickr account for more photos of Boston (http://www.flickr.com/photos/marvjfm/sets/72157611905279621/) and New York City (http://www.flickr.com/photos/marvjfm/sets/72157611956944952/).

Happy New Year!!!

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.