Saturday, September 23, 2006

UQ: These were the people in my neighborhood

The lair of JJ's Secret Squad

Despite what you may infer from this blog, I actually spent the a fair portion of my time in Australia in the lab at UQ. So you may be wondering, "Just who were these shady people you were hanging out with?"

Well, these were none other than JJCW's Secret Assassins Squad.

Above is a picture of the doorway to their lair, or at least it used to be. If you go there now, there won't be anybody there! This is how shifty those guys are.

Now that I am safely back in Berkeley, I can reveal true identities of JJ's secret squad without fear of retribution:

Below is Elisabeth, a French national trained in the deadly art of slide-tackling. Don't call her "crazy" if you value your legs.

Elisabeth says "Helloooooo!" to her little droplets

Below, on the left next to Elisabeth, is Meilani. Meilani is a Indonesian student at UQ who is actually studying abroad at Berkeley, but was working at UQ for the summer. That's right, I went all the way to Oz to share an office with someone who went to Oz then Berkeley then Oz (and back to Berkeley). Confused yet?

Meilani and Elisabeth plotting their next victim

Below are the tag team duo of Lien and Mike. Mike is a Canadian assassin who can throw around lethal Canadianisms like "hoser" and "eh" with nary a guilty conscience. Lien is Mike's henchwoman. Her secret power is her paralyzing "Hand of Chau," which she practices on innocent Australian males.


Below is shiny Shiny, an Indian assassin trained in the art of deconstructing the egos of Indian men.

Below is Lucy a.k.a. Lucy Lawless, St. Lucia, Lucifer, or "the Pride of Townsville." Lucy was my mentor for all things microfluidic. I first met Lucy at a conference a few years ago, where Lucy announced that she had used her secret powers to trick fluids into violating the No Slip condition.
Lucy flashes her evil smile

The rest of these pictures are from a going away dinner on my last day in lab (Aug. 10).
Below on the left is Michael, the Australian man-child that can conjure fume hoods out of thin air. In the middle is the big Boss himself, Justin J. Cooper-White. While his minions do his bidding at home, Justin travels the world expanding his evil empire. On the right is Vanessa, my fellow Brisbane EAPSI-ite. She was not working at UQ, so she has no idea of what kind of scoundrels she's surrounded by.


Below on the left is Jenny, also an Australia. Jenny's secret power is a flying Cassowary kick, which she learned while living in Cairns. On the side, she builds torture contraptions for cells.

Below are Tristan and Yang, partners in crime. Joung-Sook lurks behind, waiting to use her lethal "Two-Point Exploding Bunny Ears" technique.


As much fun as it was being a member of JJ's Secret Squad, the life of crime was not meant for me. I escaped with Vanessa in tow (below), and three weeks later, I slipped out of the Australia undetected. If you don't hear from me, you know who got to me...

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Tuesday, September 05, 2006

9/5 - Back in Berkeley

So I'm back in California, safe and sound, with some major jet lag after a whole day of travelling. I'm slowly piecing together all of my pictures, and I will be gradually updating this blog when I have the time.

Here are some links to some more pictures...

Pictures of my Dutton Park house, Brisbane going away dinner, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Melbourne, and the Great Ocean Road
http://flickr.com/photos/46491939@N00/

Sydney Pictures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50722538@N00/
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Saturday, September 02, 2006

9/2 - Sydney: Goodbye, Australia


The sun sets on my Australian adventures...


Hi from Sydney -


Tomorrow, I head home to California after two and a half months in beautiful Australia (and New Zealand). I'm actually looking forward to going home, even though I'm very sad to leave Australia and its good times behind.
I flew into Sydney on Wednesday night, after visiting Melbourne's Immigration Museum and the old Melbourn Gaol (Jail). I'm staying at the Sydney Central YHA, which is pretty much a luxury hostel (and priced like one, too). It's right next to Chinatown, which is interesting because my grandfather was born in Sydney a little more than 100 years ago. I don't know where he lived, but I can't imagine where else he would have been.
Thursday, I hit the big Sydney sights: the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. I took a cruise of Sydney Harbor so that I could see these two landmarks from every possible angle, and then some.
Friday, I took the a two hour train ride to the Blue Mountains, where I took a surprisingly difficult hike at Wentworth Falls. Note to the kiddies: when the Aussies say a hike is "Hard" and for "Experienced Hikers Only," they ain't messing around.

Wentworth Falls


Saturday, I then saw what Sydney is really all about: the beaches. I took a bus to Coogee Beach, then walked up the coast to Bondi Beach. I made it back downtown in time to see the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge at sunset from the Botanical Gardens.

The Harbour Bridge at Night


Then I headed back to Chinatown to celebrate my last night in Australia at the Golden Century, which is supposedly Sydney's best Chinese restaurant.
Anyway, that's it for me from Australia. I'll update pictures and fill in the gaps when I get back home. It's been a one of the best experiences of my life, and I'll definitely be back.

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