southeast asia or bust

i dont actually understand that phrase... [somewhere] or bust! but i coudnt think of anything better to say. anyway, i'm off on a voyage to southeast asia! my trip starts off by presenting recent research at a conference in malaysia. it's always exciting to hear what other extragalactic astronomers are doing, to receive feedback on my own work, and participate in the dialog about the future directions of the field.

my adventures continue with journeys to thailand and cambodia!


needless to say, i'm incredibly excited! i've been preparing to enter food heaven by doing yoga and eating the spiciest food i can find... in england... which isnt very spicy! my blogging rate will, of course, slow while i am away. i've scheduled a couple posts to appear while i'm traveling, and i'm sure i will find time to make a couple updates here and there, but i'm looking forward to a break from my regularly computer-dominated universe.

many pictures to come... ciao!

miyajima: from one island to another

a true highlight of this epic trip around asia was a 26 hour stop on the japanese island of miyajima. when you take the ferry from hiroshima to the island, you are welcomed by an intriguing view of the itsukushima shrine.

a peak of the itsukushima shrine from the surrounding hills

part of the genius of this shrine is the beauty of how the design complements the tides completely. i arrived near low tide and could walk right out to this huge gate...

low tide at the gate, or torii, of the itsukushima shrine

a few hours later, the bottom of the structure is covered up with the rising water!

this is the major part of the itsukushima shrine and the high tide water rises right up to the platforms you walk along.

by sunset, the orange torii sits deeply in the water.

the torii at high tide

i love how the mountains in the background weave through the structure. this is ancient dynamic design, even though the structures dont actually move at all! gorgeous concept.

after this six week epic trip around asia, i'm now heading home to australia. one island to another.

a simple reminder

it's almost easy to forget where i am after a day of sitting at a desk with my laptop thinking about the same type of universe-related questions that i think about most days.

but then i get up to use the bathroom and find squatting toilets waiting for me. oh right, still in asia!

most toilets stalls dont provide handles...

many places offer both the squatting option and the western-style toilet... just remember not to flush the toilet paper!

so far this trip reminds me of something my good friend said recently about adjusting to having a new baby and a toddler in her family:

"it’s a question of managing all the moving parts and making sure everyone eats, sleeps and poops in the appropriate places."

only i just have to look after myself. props to all you parents!


ps. today i'm off to the western social media deadzone of mainland china, during their national holidays, which should be a sufficiently crazy time to visit beijing! talk to you from hong kong next week...

lunar eclipse on new years eve!

the last eclipse of 2009 will occur on new years eve! everyone around the world will see a full moon that night, and it will be a blue moon - the second full moon occurring in a month. look to the east, in the constellation gemini.

image from earth sky.

on new years eve, the earth will float almost directly between the sun and the moon, causing a partial lunar eclipse. the greatest eclipse occurs at 19:23 UT, when the edge of the moon passes thru the earth's shadow. this eclipse will be visible to people in europe, africa, asia, india, and some of australia - too bad americas! but you will have this view during the first few nights of 2010, as the moon passes close by mars on january 2nd!


the above map comes from sky and telescope, who state that "the Moon is plotted for North America; in Europe, move each Moon symbol a quarter for the way toward the one for the previous date."

ready for "halloween" in tokyo

in southeast and east asia, there are an amazing number of 7 elevens and KFCs. the 7 elevens in taiwan were the place to be as you could pay your bills, use free wi-fi, get stamps, have a snack, etc...

in tokyo, they have dressed up this colonel sanders in preparation for one of my favorite holidays of the year...

"halloween" ;) (it is always an annoying word to remember how to spell, isnt it?)

more images from malaysia

these trees do not like each other!


we walked under this detached canopy in the forest research institute malaysia (FRIM) near kuala lumpur.

a sweet pink drink called "sirup bandung". rose syrup with black jelly! it tastes a lot better than it sounds :)


a view of the petronas twin towers from the KL tower.


the steep entrance to batu caves.



fun fruit!



river town



rice from a cooler, dumped onto a big banana leaf!


eat with your hands!


please do not spit... on the bus.


storm a-comin'


white hot large-grain sand!


gigantic jellyfish! i didnt swim at this beach.


statue of an oddly-proportioned lady outside a temple.






the traditional toilet (toilet paper was not a regular feature):


which warranted some regular toilets to have signs like this posted behind them!


view the full set of malaysia photos.

view the previous installment of southeast asia photos.

speak in english, measure in metric

when people from all parts of the world work together on projects of any topic, at some point it just makes efforts way more efficient to speak the same language! for a long time, the language of science was latin, but it switched to english sometime during the seventeenth century. this fact has made it very convenient for me to travel around the world doing astronomy because any astronomer can understand technical talks i give in english (assuming i do a good job at explaining my science, of course!). i admit, i'm spoiled in this respect and i'm very impressed by the number of people who receive PhD's in topics that they study in a non-native language!! while traveling, i've been able to learn a fair bit of the languages of the places i've lived, but i'm still confused about one thing regarding the US....

why oh WHY have we not switched to the metric system?? there are only 3 countries in the world who have not switched to the intuitive base-10, international system of units: the US, liberia (in western africa) and burma (also known as myanmar, in southeast asia).


i'm finally starting to gain my intuition to measure mountain heights in meters and kilometers. i can finally understand the feeling of the day when it's 10 degrees celsius outside!! i wish the US would just get rid of fahrenheit already!! as a simple example, it makes perfect sense to think that water boils at 100 degrees and freezes at zero degrees.... celsius!! it only seems familiar to say that water freezes at 32 degrees (fahrenheit) because thats what i learned as a kid.... but it doesnt make any sense!! why waste brain space memorizing a pointless fact like water freezes at 32 degrees fahrenheit when zero degrees celsium actually *makes sense*??

ok, i'm finished now.

annular solar eclipse, 20th may 2012

if you are in asia or north america, check the map below to see if you can witness the annular solar eclipse this sunday, may 20th!

if you are along the path of visibility, make sure you use eye protection or some other clever trick for viewing the eclipse!!   since it won't be a total solar eclipse, the sun won't be entirely blocked by the moon and a small bright ring (or annulus, hence the name "annular eclipse") of sunlight will still be visible.

photo link

if you are not along the path of visibility, there are several options to watch online: click HERE!

link

enjoy!

asian research trip

tomorrow i start another extended research tour - this time around asia! i'm giving 9 talks at nine different institutions in 5 countries. in my experience asian countries are exhausting to travel in, mostly because i have no intuition whatsoever for the languages and outside of big cities, there is not much english spoken or written.

so i've been getting myself mentally ready for this trip by doing some research about the different cultures i will be visiting: taiwan, china (beijing), hong kong, south korea, japan.

i went from feeling very excited a few weeks ago, to being a bit anxious over the last week. now my talks are ready, my research is at a relatively settled state, i have ideas to discuss, and i'm *really* excited again! i cant wait... to eat...! :)

but i still have to pack :( i want to travel, but i dont want to pack. i want it to be that moment where i sit on the plane and wonder what movie i will watch.

anyway, i should get on with the packing. hopefully i'll be able to post regularly over the next 5 weeks and fill you in with stories and photos.

more soon!

sneak peak of southeast asia

here's a teaser of photos from my adventures so far... some from malaysia and some from cambodia. enjoy!

the petronas towers of kuala lumpur.


i have endless pictures of food.


my new favorite shoes. luckily, she removed them when she entered the temple so i didnt have to keep suspiciously following her to get a photo!


monkey beach.... where the monkeys out smarted us and stole our juice.


view of penang from the largest buddist temple in malaysia.


with my traveling companions, eating with our fingers :)


cambodia...


i love the written script, even though its hard to look beyond the amazing motorcyclists!




i have no idea what the black things are...

tokyo nightscape

today i gave the final lecture of this rather epic tour of east asia. tonight is my last night in tokyo. i like this scene of tokyo at night and can say i've seen at least three of those massive sea creatures, with limbs moving up and down, attached to buildings above restaurants.

tumblr tells me (for once!) that this image comes from a video game called "power slave."

i'm off for the weekend to visit hiroshima and then kyoto, before heading back to australia, next week.

total lunar eclipse - december 2011

there is a total lunar eclipse this saturday, december 10th, 2011!

as opposed to last year's total lunar eclipse which was only visible to me in australia as the red moon rose above the horizon (i watched from sydney's harbour bridge), this event will be fully visible from australia and asia!

parts of the lunar eclipse will be visible in the early morning from northwest north america and as the moon rises (evening) in some of europe.

happy viewing!