I presented my research and explored Shanghai

Hey, everyone! Did you miss me? I have been so caught up with work and thesis that I simply did not have the energy and time to write here as often as I would like. Since my last post here, I’ve also presented one of my research topics at our university and in China.

When my research abstract got accepted for the 16th FluSed Workshop

When an invitation to present our research in China first came out, I was hesitant to go. First off, it’s been a while since I last traveled outside of my country. Also, I wasn’t sure if one of my research topics was ready for the world. After a bit of convincing from our laboratory head and my thesis adviser, I prepared my abstract and submitted it to the committee in China. I got an acceptance letter shortly afterwards and was told that my trip would be fully funded by the host university, Tongji University. I prepared my documents for my visa application and got approved after 3 days.

The Workshop/Conference is called FluSed – which is short for Fluvial Sedimentology – a workshop that aims to unify and update the most recent researches on sedimentation and sedimentary rocks around South China Sea from participating neighbor countries. The workshop was attended by geologists, university researchers (like me), foresters, geophysicists, and geochemists from Bangladesh, China (the host country), the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam. There were four of us from the Philippines who participated in the said workshop, all of us presented our recent works. There were Q&A session afterwards where audience got to ask questions and suggest improvements or ideas for our research. It was a two-day workshop where scientific ideas were exchanged and possible collaborative works forged.

Day 1: Arrival and Tour Around Yuyuan Garden at Night Time

I looked out of the plane’s window when our pilot announced that we were approaching Shanghai. The photo above is a view of Huangpu River which I initially thought to be an embayment. The river’s size was close to our Manila Bay but mud flats surrounding it told me that it was a river rather than a bay. My initial impression upon approach is that Shanghai is extensive and flat. Even from the sky, it is beautiful!

The airport security was pretty tight – we had to scan our palms to their electronic terminals upon entry and had to go through the immigration also. We also had to fill-out a form that asks about where in Shanghai we would be staying. The airport crew were polite and kind in general. The four of us were picked-up by a Tongji University student who brought us to Tongji Kingswell hotel, where we would be staying which is a stone throw away from the university.

We rested for a bit since we had to wake up early for our flight. My fellow researchers and our professor (a former professor in my undergraduate Geology years) were all checked-in the same hotel. At 1 PM, we decided to head out to look for a bank to exchange our money for the local currency, yuan, and to find a place to have lunch. We decided to try Shanghai noodles and went to this small restaurant in a commercial square near the hotel. First impression – the food is savory and good, the price is cheap, and the serving size is good for two!

My former professor had set up a meeting with geology professors from another city and university. We joined in their meeting and we found out that they visited the Philippines just recently. They then invited us to tour around the city with them. We took the subway to get us to Huangpu and Yuyuan Garden and to cut the story short, it was a magical night for us. We didn’t know we were in for a treat!

Man, I’m so envious. The train station and the train themselves are better than what we have in the Philippines – they are fast, less crowded, efficient, and high-tech. The PA system has English version so you probably won’t get lost even if you don’t know the language. Here are snapshots of the city tour we did at Yuyuan Garden and Huangpu:

There were a lot of tourists during our visit but the beautiful architecture and lighting were just amazing so I wasn’t surprised. The garden turns outs to be a favorite tourist spot in the city. The ladies in our group were also enamored by the shops selling different kinds of goods – from silk scarves, artworks, silk fans, traditional clothing, to stationeries. It seems Shanghai has everything under the sun! Yuyuan Garden is lovely at night but we also saw it during the day and I can’t decide which time of day is best to visit it to be honest.

At Lao Zheng Xing (Huangpu), Shanghai – A Michelin Star-Rated Restaurant

Our new found friends from another China university invited us for dinner. We prepared our money so we could pay for our food. They brought us to a Michelin-star rated restaurant (photo below). I was personally a little worried as I did not bring a lot of money with me, what with my University salary and all. I did bring my credit card with me so I just swallowed my worry and thought, “it’s a rare opportunity to spend money in another country and a fully-funded trip at that!” Our new found friends turned out to be so generous that they paid for our dinner. Lucky us!

Below are snapshots of the food we had. There were a LOT and they were all so good! If you ever go to Shanghai, I do recommend you visit this place and have a fine dining experience. The staff in this restaurant were all accommodating and kind. I even had the blooper of entering their men’s toilet because I did not read the sign. While I peed inside I heard the attendant laughing outside the door and saying things in Chinese. I was sure she was telling the other attendant about me. Haha!

I’ll try to identify the food in the collage about from left to right and down: shrimp with sauce (haha, sorry), fried tofu lumpia, hot buns, crabs on rice cakes with sauce, and “bokchoy” stems. I forgot to add that we also had jellyfish salad, a first for me. It was rubbery and sorry, I was not able to get a snapshot of it.

Dishes above are (from left to right, down): scallops on zucchini, pyramid-shaped sweet pork slices that one can put inside the hot buns to be eaten like siopao, pork ribs in sweet sauce, Dragonwell tea pudding, and the one at the bottom is sweet beef with chilis and misua noodles. All these names were not the official name of the dishes obviously but these were more of my personal descriptive terms, except for the Dragonwell tea pudding (center). This one was so yummy, we had to ask the waitress to tell us more about it.

To digest the sumptuous dinner we had, we went for a walk towards the Huangpu River, the biggest in Shanghai. As you can see in the night photos below, this area is surrounded by buildings with stunning architecture! The river reflecting the famous buildings of Shanghai is my favorite, swipe left to see.

Day 1 FluSed Workshop

I had an early breakfast the next day. I’m glad the hotel offers buffet breakfast as part of our perks. The food come in oriental and continental variants. I’m normally not a heavy breakfast eater – bread and coffee are my usual first meal of the day. But for this trip I made an exception. *winks*

The venue for our workshop is within the State Key Laboratory for Marine Geology in Tongji University which is just a 10-minute walk from the hotel. I noticed while going through the gate that the security is quite strict – everyone has to scan their ID’s upon entry. We were given ID laces prior to entry though so we didn’t have a problem going in. Below are snapshots of the first day workshop, the campus walkways, and inside the museum of the laboratory. It’s autumn now in Shanghai so the tree leaves are starting to show the warm autumn colors, while the other trees have already shed.

I was one of the first speakers of the day so I was pretty nervous. I did finish my presentation within the prescribed time and was asked a few questions. Here’s a collage I made of my moment as a presentor, along with a photo of fellow Pinay researchers from our university. 🙂

In case I haven’t told anyone out there, my research topic is about the application of machine learning algorithms in the classification of sedimentary rocks. Right now I’m doing my thesis along the same line but with potential application to the characterization of reservoir rocks in the geothermal industry. Maybe I’ll write another article about my thesis once I’m done with my paper. Right now I’m still in the process of collecting data.

After the whole day of workshop, our hosts hired a bus to take us to the tallest building in Shanghai, the Shanghai Tower, which happens to be the 3rd tallest in the world at 632 meters high. Watch this video on how fast the elevator brought us towards the top floor!

Since first day of the workshop was already done, the participants had the opportunity to get to know each other at the top of the Shanghai Tower while drinks went around. We had a simple dinner of fish, steak, soup, salad, and creme brûlée while looking down at Huangpu River and the buildings that surround it. As you probably realize now, I take a lot of pictures. If you’re curious, I used my Google Pixel 6A for these. 🙂

Day 2 of FluSed Workshop

I had the biggest breakfast during my stay in China on the 3rd day. Photo below:

I just had to share the photos of the view from my hotel room’s window. Just behind that tall building, the one with clusters of rounded trees, is Tongji University. It’s pretty close and the weather was cool so the walk towards it is actually my favorite experience during my stay. It’s my first time to experience autumn as we only have rainy and sunny weathers in the Philippines. Here’s a video of the trees inside Tongji University showing the familiar autumn colors that you are possibly familiar with. Can you guess what trees these are?

Delegates Visit Tongji University’s State Key Laboratory for Marine Geology

As part of the perks the delegates enjoyed, we were given a tour of the university’s State Key Laboratory for Marine Geology. If I were to summarize my impression about the facilities and equipment I saw – I’d say I’m highly impressed and envious. The equipments they have are advanced. It’s a haven for scientists like me, that’s for sure! All those equipments made my mouth water. Haha! China does spend a lot of money for their research and development endeavors, that as much is obvious. Here’s a collage of just some of the facilities and equipment they have.

Going Back to Yuyuan Garden at Huangpu for Shopping

One of the best things in Shanghai aside from it being a progressive city is that people were generally friendly and respectful. They leave you alone for the most part but would help if you ask for it especially for directions. I also like that the transport system is efficient and that they have English version for the announcement over their PA system. You won’t find any litter around the city roads which says about the discipline the people have in the city. I would wish that for our Metro Manila roads to be honest.

Finally, I came to love Coco Milk Tea there! We have one in the Philippines but it’s funny that I only learned to appreciate it in Shanghai and mainly because it is relatively cheaper there and they have what we coined “tabo-size” (dipper-size) milk tea for only 16 yuan. We could not finish the ones we bought! Haha!

Aside from Coco, they have the usual McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Family Mart around the city if you ever miss them. I also like that the landscape for the most part are well-trimmed and there are places with open parks. I saw one along Huangpu River where kids play safely and there was even a small group doing Tai-chi. There are dedicated bike lanes around the city too with enough barrier so it’s safe to cycle around. I fell in love with Shanghai, and I will definitely try to visit again, probably with my family when I get the chance!

xoxo