Sweet life

After coming here, my eye field on the sweet has been dramatically improved. Compared to the astonishment when first see putting chocolate, marshmallow and sugar on the pancake at the very beginning, right now I have been able to deal with this as easy as possible.

For instance, the pancake night in our lab was a lot of fun, also a big sweet test to me. The flour had already been added with sugar, milk, butter, chocolate as well as all sorts of berries. However, when serving, they would still go with cream, jam, maple serum and ice-cream.

Well, can it be sweeter?

At first I thought my sweet knowledge has peaked that night. However, after the international communication, now the top sweet level would be peanut butter plus honey. OMGGGG!!

BTW: I always wanted to put up some pics to show Edinburgh’s spring is coming. Well, those daffodils are much prettier when closer look.

Recently

Often hearing that it’s not easy to be a Phd student, now I am gradually touching the essence of this comment. Now one main approach of my project came across the bottle neck. During not a short period, 8 out of 11 tests failed. The underlying meaning behind these numbers is scaring, which I would rather not go any further negative assumption at all. Let’s talk about the following story instead.

I have suspected the fish for quite a long time. Just a few days ago, my colleague failed to repeat this test either, which pushed us to my suspect a little bit closer. But I didn’t realize that to get a better pair of fish with more transgenic copies is so troublesome. I have to test the current fish one by one. Doing the work is easy, but how pair the right fish could be more like a luck thing. Well, now I can understand why some scientists would say doing research needs intelligence, patience and courage.

So, no matter what results I could get, award myself a big smile first. A good start can make the success faster.

Sunny, sunny, sunny

Sunny, sunny, sunny, OMG, cannot believe these days' good weather even made me hear the tunes from the sky. Or, wait a minute, maybe it's actually due to my approaching journey back home. Anyway, the past few days are extremely busy but also full of joys. Although still slightly worried about whether I could get my visa on time, as well as other chores, my entire body is cheered up inevitably. Having left for over one year, really curious to see how's everything going on with them. What it gonna look like if we meet at the first glance? A kiss? A hug? Or a handshake? Na, none of them fit my style. Maybe just stand still with a big smile, " Hey, I am back, how are you doing?"

Really looking forward to that moment's coming~~~

Christmas~~~

Last Christmas season, the all empty streets in London impressed me a lot. How about Edinburgh exactly on Christmas day? The answer looks so appealing to me. Besides, I am also quite curious about how it feels when working on Christmas.

Would say, when catching the only early bus in the morning, people I saw on streets are more than my expectation. None of them looked anxious to home, which is quite different from our situation. Some dressed like tourists, but others, difficult to figure out, coming out for fresh air maybe.

Fish care was carried on smoothly, however, going back home became the biggest problem due to the so called SPECIAL SERVICE. Luckily I was not alone. It feels very intimate when seeing people also waiting there at the same time. This is better than none! Their comments sparkled in my mind. So instead of worrying about how to go back, I tended to focus on chatting. Our own work, hobbies and hometown all became very nice topics.

Although eventually the bus only took me to princess street so that I had to walk back, I still felt full of energy. Two sentences kept refreshing my mind, Edinburgh never sleeps and there is always good you have something to choose from.

Becker lab lunch

Have you ever imagined this amazing view that a group of while coat people holding flasks on one hand while swinging a pot on the other?

Well, although it looks funny, it's has been proved in our lab a good scientist will also be a qualified cook if he wants to.

Have you thought about trying different food all over the world without any travelling?

Well, come and join our lab lunch. Every Friday, you will have chance to taste international home-made food and absorb new recipes. Of course, the internationalized extent is depend on how many international colleagues you have.

But it is an interesting platform indeed. We ever tried Hiro, a Japanese classmate's first "experiment". Though he told us he had never cooked before, the feedback shows it's a masterpiece. See, we succeeded again to explore people's talents. We also have very experienced chef whose dishes can always surprise us. And the topic on the dining table could be various too. From politics to contaminated cucumber, from peanut butter to world history, what you get afterwards is not only a full-filled  stomach, also intellectual enrichment as well as joys and relaxation.

Perhaps, at the end of my Phd, there will be a thick book with pics and recipes called BECKER LAB LUNCH. But right now, regarding environmentally friendly, they only exist on line:

http://beckerlablunch.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

lab lunch

It’s the first week since I came back to start my Phd study. I did not imagine my first big event is to prepare the Friday lunch for the whole lab, which is one of our popular traditions.

This time I chose to do one cold dish and another kind of braised meat concerning what Yujie cooked last time is extremely popular. As an experiment, I also baked some Chinese savory leek bread with an electronic pan. Hope the results don’t look so terribleJ

Personally I preferred sour and spicy. So in the cold dish, using carrots and onions as main ingredients , a lot of Chinese vinegar (Chencu) and chilly oil, plus a little bit soy sauce were mixed into this flavor, typical my style. It would be perfect if some grated spring onions are added. But again, the key is the vinegar and chilly.

红烧肉(Hongshaorou, braised meat) is one of my favorite because it’s very delicious but still easy to cook. Fresh pork belly is cut into dices, so it is with those potatoes. When the oil is heated, put the pork dices together with ginger and garlic into the wok. After a few stirrings, when the meat changes colour, add light soy sauce and a whole bag of Five Spice Powder. Then add half wok of water to leave the meat braised. Potatoes are optional. I chose it because I know many people love its flavor. One hour later, add potato dices into the wok and leave until they are cooked. When serving, no matter when you open the lid, the aromatic smell will give you a fantastic appetite. Even the sauce is superb for rice.

I quite enjoyed the process to prepare food for others. Hope you could also like this simple recipe.

Days with parents

How time flies~~~Since my parents came out of the airport with a big smile, almost one month has already passed. Now when recalling those joyful days, each scene is as vivid as happened yesterday.

We ever went around highland using public transport system. Though most of our days are quite wet, laughters and high spirits are shining in our meories all the time. When it comes to our trip to london, almost everyday there was some unexpected emergency going on stage, booking the wrong tickets, mobile phones out of battery and delayed train. Each story starts in shock but always falls down the curtain with endless joys.

Be honest, as a tourist guide, I came across the most picky and naughty "clients" that seem would continue to be my biggest headache in the future. However, as a daughter, I would like to express my gratitude here. Thank you for accompanying me around always in my way. Thank you very much!!!