Yesterday was lovely warm sunny day, so my friends and I decided to go punting down the river Cam. There’s not much to say with this post, so I will let the photos speak for themselves.
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It has been almost a month since my last post, for which I profusely apologize. I will endeavor to post more in the coming weeks, as I have less than 2 months left in England. However, this absence was not without event, so I am happy to share with you the fruits of my labor in that time. As you may recall my last knex creations were for an end of term party. Now that the final academic term has come to a close, it is time to put everything I have into my final creation here, a set of wings.
I have never made a knex piece that require moving parts, beyond the simple pinwheel or spinning axis. Most of my effort was spent just trying to figure out how to build the joints to enable me to flap and rotate these wings. Once that was done, I could build the full wingspan complete with handles. This used up almost all of my knex pieces, to the point where I had be clever in my design to converse what pieces I had left. The final challenge of actually wearing the wings proved to be the most difficult, but luckily the solution presented itself this morning, which is why I can finally share this creation with you. These wings (and the sunglasses) are part of an attempted costume for Falcon from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Really though, I just wanted to make something cool.
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A remarkably convenient aspect of Cambridge is the plethora of Chinese markets in town, giving me ample opportunities to practice cooking with similar resources to what I might find in Okinawa. One such experiment took the form of a dumpling making party/potluck. Although the best dumplings have their wrapping made from scratch, none of us were skilled enough to do this, so we used frozen premade wrappers instead. Unfortunately even with these premade wrappers we still managed to mess things up, but it was a very educational experience.
The major problem with the frozen wrappers was that we did not defrost them at room temperature ahead of time. Our efforts to expedite this process included microwaving a set of wrappers, dunking a sealed bag in warm water, and just trying to be patient as the wrappers dried out. In the end, the warm water method yielded the greatest number of useable wrappers, while the microwave method dried the wrappers out and made them brittle. Realizing we had too few wrappers to utilize all the filling that had been prepared, we decided to mix the rest of it into fried rice, while also making additional dishes on the side.
In the end we had plenty of food for everyone, and the dumplings we were able to make were delicious. However I think from now on I will stick to noodles and rice for my staple grains, but more on that later.
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Though my adventures in Japan do not start until September, I decided it would be wise to start preparing early with some language classes. Luckily my lab in Cambridge will pay for these classes since their use is professionally motivated, so bit by bit I am learning Japanese like I have always wanted. The class is quite small, only 6 students total, but that just means we spend more time practicing and less time reviewing. Already after 4 classes I’ve noticed a difference in my comprehension of the language while watching anime, and conversely watching so much anime has helped me develop decent pronunciation. I can imagine how much faster I will learn once I arrive in Okinawa.
Taking a break from my weekend travels, I spent the last few weeks slowly and methodically building another two Gundam model kits. Much like the machine shop device I built earlier, these kits did not leave me much room for creativity, but helped me hone my technique instead. Needless to say, I’m quite happy with the results, and I even managed to build simple stands for them which makes their display that much cooler. While each model has a unique background from the tv show they are based on, what’s more important is that they look awesome and very distinct.
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It must appear quite bizarre that after all this time in England, I haven’t made even one trip across the Channel to explore Europe. Unlike many of my fellow students who are using the term break to travel around, I do not have the luxury to leave lab as easily. Still, I put plans in motion to visit Paris for a concert all the way back in November, now finally coming to fruition.
In order to make my early train to Paris, I first had to get down to London. This required me to wake up at 3am so I could get the first train to London at 4:30. After a quick breakfast I boarded my second train which would whisk me away to France, just as the sun was rising. The ride itself was fairly uneventful, I mostly caught up on sleep. I awoke to find a bright sunny day awaiting me, as we zoomed past rolling green and yellow fields. These were not the deep green hills of England, but a drier lighter variant much like the Bay Area hills in springtime.
Upon arriving in Paris, I proceeded to find the quickest exit and get lost in the city. I had 2 hours before the concert began, so that would be enough time to explore a little while and pick up lunch. The first location I stumbled upon was the Church of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, which overlooked a busy intersection and a small park. I decided I should make my way to the Seine River, passing through alleyways and the theatre district where my concert would be held. It turned out the concert hall also doubled as a movie theatre, a rather amusing and encouraging sign of old establishments adapting to the times.
As I reached the river, I noticed out in the distance was the Eiffel tower, almost teasing me with just how much of Paris was left to explore. While that would have to wait for another time, I did find the Louvre was right around the corner. Of course there wasn’t enough time to even begin to explore that museum, so I simply looked around the estate before making my way back to Le Grand Rex for the concert.
The concert was for orchestrated music from the Japanese anime show One Piece, which has been airing for 15 years. It was an absolute treat to not only hear this music performed live, but to have the composer of the music himself conduct the orchestra. As overly passionate as anime fans can be, it does make for a wonderful experience to feel that emotion all around in a concert hall. We already have headphones and earbuds people to isolate themselves at work and on the street. If you’re going to join to a large group of people to listen to music projected from speakers, why would you want to isolate yourself within the music?
The concert ended around 5pm, which gave me just enough time to have a simple dinner of bread and cheese before taking my train back to London. I didn’t need to sleep anymore, but I made a substantial amount of progress on my reading. By the time I finally did get home, it was 11pm, 23 hours after I had gotten up. Not my longest day by far, but certainly a busy and fulfilling one.
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Now that the weather is finally moving into springtime, this weekend seemed like a good time to go hike again and see more of the natural side of England. My chosen hiking spot was near the town of Eastbourne, which lies in the south-east corner of England and borders a section of the South Downs National Trail. I plotted out a ten mile loop that would head from Eastbourne into the countryside, turn down toward the coast, and follow the coast back into town. Having loaded the map and plotted path on my phone, I set off.
Initially, I was only passing by farms, attracting the gaze of many a sheep. By lunch time I made it to the town of East Dean, so I sat in the village green to eat my packed lunch before continuing onwards. Upon reaching the coast and the South Downs Way, I was blown away with how sharp the cliffs met the sea. The rolling hills showed no signs of the approaching coast, and then suddenly just ended. These truncated hills would be my path for the next 5 miles, rising and falling as the wind pushed me forward.
Unlike my previous hike on the Pennine Way, I was never very far from other people. The trail followed a road fairly closely, and by the time I reached the South Downs Way, I was joined by an entire crew 10K runners. What was more variable was the weather, consisting of densely packed rain clouds that were slowly making their way across the sky. With a bit of good planning and luck I managed to dodge most of them, being caught for only 5 minutes at most in some light showers.
By the time Eastbourne was in sight again, I realized there was more to this town than simply an eastward view. The site of Beachy Head adjacent to Eastbourne was the launching point was many Royal Air Force (RAF) incursions into Nazi Occupied France. The monument for the men who lost their lives to this cause was set on the hill that would be their last sight of England before heading into battle. Unlike these men, I do know that I will return home again, even if it may take several years.
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The past few posts have been focused on things I have been building in my time at Cambridge, but these have all been simple playthings to amuse myself. Unfortunately, my research is still stuck within the realm of simulation, so to make better use of my time last week, I set up a massive set of simulation that would take many days to finish, and took a class on machining at the lab’s student workshop. Machining, unlike my previous forays into building shown here, is truly starting with a few blocks of material and shaping them into something amazing.
Over the course of the four day class I learned the finer points of use of the CNC mill (for complicated linear cuts and shaping), the manual mill (for simpler linear cuts), and the lathe (for radial cuts). While I have plenty of experience with all of these machines from my time in Berkeley, having proper instruction and guidance taught me a level of finesse I didn’t know I was capable of. I realized it is not enough to be able to design a piece on paper and just walk into the machine shop to make it, one must have a good understanding of how the machines operate to choose the best tools and work order.
Luckily I have been given simple tasks in my undergraduate career, but this class challenged me to create something with far more precision, as shown below. Of course all this focus can be exhausting, so I would leave the machine shop each day completely exhausted mentally and physically. Yet somehow I would find the energy each morning to bounce back to quickly get back to work. This flywheel may look like a simple useless trinket, and in all honesty it does serve no true purpose, but if I was imprecise on the dimensions of the axles or the holes by even a hundredth of a millimeter, it would not spin as easily and freely as it does on my desk. That is success enough in my books.
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For those who are unaware, today is Shivratri, a Hindu holiday celebrating the god of destruction Shiva, who is very important to my family. In the past I would celebrate this holiday with good food and reciting prayers with my family in front of our altar, but this time I will have make do with a proper Indian meal, as ordered by my mother. Tonight’s meal is more than just good food, it is a reminder to respect the culture that has defined my family for hundreds of years. In the end, it’s not so much the actual rituals we follow, but the intention we hold as we do them that matters.
This past weekend there was some discussion as to whether or not a very different occasion was upon us, the Norse event known as Ragnarok, where the world is destroyed and remade from scratch. In reality what actually occurred was the Norse festival of Jolablot, typically celebrated at the end of winter, yet winter in England has been so bizarre it has been compared to Fimbulvetr, the 3 year winter precedes Ragnarok and the end of all things.
Why am I mentioning all this? Well I’ve always been a fan of Norse myths, even when I was young I liked the Norse gods to the Greek ones. So when I heard of Jolablot and the rumors of Ragnarok, I decided to build something in celebration, Thor’s hammer Mjolnir and his helmet. Yes this means I took apart my costume for the end of term party, but building the helmet taught me a lot about how to design a piece of headgear with K’nex. Now that I have to rebuild the witch-king crown and sword, I know I will be able to build a more comfortable and study set of equipment.
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Continuing the theme of building, I present another example of my passion for construction, Gundam models, or Gunpla for short. Gundams are giant robotic suits from a popular Japanese cartoon series, which I’m quite fond of. These models are the main merchandise from the show, and are quite complex to assemble. I built a few models while at home, but in my travels I happened upon a store selling older Gunpla, so I decided to buy a cheap kit as a present to myself. The Gundam in question, Gundam Epyon, is famous for its ability to transform into a dragon flight mode and its massive energy sword and whip.
The photos below show most of the process, but to summarize, plastic pieces from each plate are cut out and snapped together. After assembling the limbs and body separating, the pieces are all put together, and the model is equipped with its characteristic weaponry. This kit was simple to make but due to its age there were some defect that I will need to fix at another point. For now, I hope you enjoy the final product, for I enjoyed putting it together.
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