Monday, June 27, 2011

Puyehue-Cordon Caulle Volcano in Chile

ash cloud|volcano|

Global cooling anyone?

Nigel Tapper
June 16, 2011






Once all the flight disruptions have stopped, the ash has been cleared from the South American highways, and human affairs appear to have returned to normal, the legacy of the ash and dust thrown up by the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano in Chile may well live on.

The longer-term effects of all this ash and dust could be of wider environmental concern than, say, a few hundred thousand stranded passengers, as difficult as it is for those people.

Volcanic eruptions are awesome spectacles. In part this is due to millions of tonnes of tiny ash and dust particles, known as volcanic aerosols, being blasted high into the air. We've all marvelled at the photographs.



Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/global-cooling-anyone-20110616-1g4st.html#ixzz1QTyPlKza

Friday, June 10, 2011

Chased by Butterflies

11 June 2011
0504H
In the laboratory fixing my stuff after finally printing my final report. 


I haven't slept yet but I'm quite happy and excited and a bit nervous because in about 4 hours, my class in Anam will start and we will be doing our final presentation of our individual term project. I have been having a great deal of trouble with this one because for weeks I have been trying to figure out how to go about some second order partial differential equation that unfortunately, only a good computer code can efficiently solve based on the lits I've read and it will have to take me a much longer time to develop a code to get the results for comparison. But good enough, I talked things out with my professor yesterday and I was advised to make a comparative analysis instead since time is already against me. WHEW. 


Earlier, or rather, yesterday while having coffee break with Hyunjoo and Junsik oppa at CBTL, a white butterfly fluttered and seemed to be dancing in front of me for several seconds. It seemed to have effectively kept my calm. The rest of the day was spent doing my homework and finishing my final report. 


I had dinner with Hyunjoo, Gwang, Junsik, Daehoon and Daesok at the 5th floor where our food was delivered. I have tasted the mandu ramyeon a few nights ago but I think the restaurant that delivered our food last night has a better mandu ramyeon for the same price of 3,000 won, there was about a dozen mandu with the noodles! Not bad! And it was ma-ssi-seo-yo!^^ Anyway, the dinner ended up with me eating the last kimbap. LOL. 


I went back to the lab, finally got the answers to the homework and decided to take a shower in the dormitory. I came back in the lab at 11:00pm bringing my Urban Hydrology book with me (I'm supposed to study for the quiz but I barely have time anymore so I might as well study during lunchbreak with Minjae oppa -- cram again LOL), my camera and the charger. By the time I got to the lab, I realized that I forgot to bring the adaptor of the charger's plug! Deeeyyym. So I might as well just leave the slr? Since the battery has only 1 bar left? But I'm also thinking that there just might be a good view or food to shoot even for just a few shots! I might miss it! Hmmmm... 


Anyway, I'm keeping the good vibes because just a while ago in the hwa-jang-sil, a green little butterfly also came flying to me and as I subtly chased it back, it landed for a few seconds on my palm. It looked like a four-leaf clover, only that it was flying! ^___^


In a few minutes, I'm going to walk to the bus station for my 6:20am trip to Seoul. 
"FILIPOS teams break a leg for the amazing race!" -- Too bad I can't come to physically cheer and support you guys cos I have class! I even want to be part of the team but darn. I'm fully-booked in Anam. May this be a good day and may the good vibes keep coming!!! ^____^

Meeting a Multi-Lingual Friend!

10 June 2011


I had lunch today with Hyunjoo and her friends because one of them was anxious to meet me. Jean is a Korean but has lived in the Philippines for 16 years and made it a point to set a lunch meeting with me through Hyunjoo. And what a cool gal! She can speak 6 languages well!


When Hyunjoo and I reached the restaurant, they have already ordered samgyeopsal and nengmyeon. At first I was hesitant to talk to Jean in Tagalog. Eventually I asked and we spoke in Taglish and mostly in English so that others could understand us too. She can speak Japanese, Chinese and Spanish! Hyunjoo and I somehow envied her cos Hyunjoo thinks Jean speaks English very well while I've always loved to learn Spanish. LOL. So Hyunjoo and I made a pact. This summer, we'll both practice with each other, language trade! I will practice Hangeul while Hyunjoo will practice her English with me. Yeah! Hopefully, by the end of summer, I'd be able to converse with more Korean friends in Hangeul and Hyunjoo can speak English more fluently and with more confidence. ^^


It's nice meeting a Korean friend who can speak in Tagalog. Jean and I are looking forward to our next meeting. c",)


After lunch, I treated Hyunjoo at CBTL. We both looked tired and needed coffee for energy boosters anyway. LOL. c",)