Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Berkeley Foodie Trip!


So, I'm now house-sitting for one of my mom's best-friends. This last sunday, I decided that I really wanted to go on a trip to Berkeley to go visit Ici. More on Ici later... Anywho, I figured that getting there around 10am would probably be about right to hit up the shops around opening time. Ici is located near the intersection of Ashby and College Ave. or just south of the UC Berkeley campus. Well, I was way off the mark with 10am opening guess. Everything seemed to open at noon. Well, I ended up getting coffee and a lemon-blueberry scone at Beanery Coffee, which is across the street from my ultimate destination. I have to say that the taste of the scone was really good but the texture was different. I have heard of people using corn meal in scones but have never eaten one. Well, I think it is a good thought but in this case was poorly executed. The scone ended up being grainy. On the up side, I enjoyed their coffee, which I think was French Roast. Well after that, I headed down to A.G. Ferrari Foods. It's a pretty cool Italian food store that has mainly imports straight from Italy. Well, I got a bottle of Presecco, a loaf of sourdough bread, and bottled tomatoes. The tomatoesdecision was based solely on the recommendation of the cute girl who worked there. After leaving there, I realized it was only 10:45 (Ici doesn't open until noon on Sundays), and I decided to walk around the corner to Nabolom Bakery. After some research, I found out that it is a worker-owned collective. I'm not sure if it was because I was there too early or too late but their selection was lacking. The only things on most of the shelves was the labels indicating the past or future existence of baked goodness. Being a lover of Challah, I was delighted to see that they had two loaves left. I had it this morning as toast and made some of it into a peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich for lunch. It was one of the best loaves, I have ever had. The only one that compares is the plain Challah available from ACME Bread in San Francisco. I decided that I couldn't wait around for another hour, so I decided to take a drive over to the Scharffen-Berger chocolate factory on 6th St. I was able to fenagle my way into the 11:30 tour. It was a pretty boring tour with the highlight being you got three pieces of chocolate. If anyone hasn't heard of them, make sure you get your hands on some of their chocolatey delights. Make sure to try the 62% and 70% bars. Being so close to Pyramid Brewery, I decided to go grab lunch before returning to Ici. After reading all about Ici on other foodie blogs, I definitely believe that all the hype was warranted. This place was amazing. The interior was really plain and stark, but the flavors available seemed to make up for that small fact.

Well, I decided on the Stout and Creme-fraiche Hazelnut Praline ice creams. I can't tell you how awesome each flavor was. The Stout has hints of a malty chocolateyness. I didn't exact feel like I was drinking a double-chocolate stout but it was a really nice a mellow flavor that did indeed remind of a stout. The Creme-fraiche hazelnut praline was even more amazing, if that was possible. The creme-fraiche base was definitely tangy which contrasted the sweet praline and strong hazelnut flavor. The consistency of both ice creams was smooth and creamy. It was pleasant end to a great day!

Monday, July 23, 2007

LLNL Here I Come!!!

Well, after what seemed to by forever, I am finally at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to collaborate with their Biophysics group on the DARPA project. Today being my first day, I ended up leaving early to get other work done since they couldn't figure out what safety classes I need to take. Since this is a government facility, my training might possibly include how to wipe my nose. With that being said, I had a few really productive meetings to plan out the upcoming project. Since the project is part of a competition for funding, I can't really describe it much but suffice it to say that it is using the sensor we have been working with for sometime now. I'll try and post a picture here pretty soon. It's nice to be home again after such a long break. In fact, I'll be leaving again on Friday to house-sit for one of my mom's friends. They have this sweet house in the next city over, and I'll have it all to myself. :)

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Grad School Blogging

In honor of the 100 year anniversary of Einstein's 1905 papers, the United Nations classified 2005 as the "Year of Physics". In commemoration of this distinction, the American Physical Society set up blogs for over 20 physicists to talk about their daily lives throughout the year. I was particularly interested in the blogs by American graduate students. In that spirit, I thought I would start a line of blog entries that are particularly about my life as a graduate student in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering. I currently work on applying the latest in sensors technology to analyze the condensation collected from cooling human breath. Although this may seem obscure, it is one of the leading new areas of medical research. We are looking at analyzing breath to determine if the tested subject has been working with explosives in the past few weeks. Using our technique, we are hoping to implement this technology at ports or entry (airports, seaports, border crossings) to filter out potential people of interest. Instead of going after the bomber, we are looking for the bomb maker himself. I feel that this area of research will enable me to work in an area that will directly help people. With any luck, breath condensate analysis will lead to anti-terror techniques, new ways to diagnose the sick, stop the spread of infectious diseases, and ultimately raise the standard of living for people around the world. Ok, I know that's really optimistic but I really hope it happens.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Here's to a new beginning...

So, I have finally decided to become serious about blogging. I have always leaned back and forth between wanting to share my life with strangers. Having been really into reading other people's blogs for the past year, I finally decided that I should contribute my thoughts, opinions, and inner most feelings on a myriad of issues including restaurants, recipes, scientific findings, and a hodgepodge of other things. So here's to the beginning of a new chapter in my life.....