Wakayama Wonders

As I mentioned previously, I am currently enrolled in a doctorate program after obtaining a master's degree in biotechnology. I belong to a laboratory in QBiC, RIKEN; a prestigious research institute in Japan. This means that I'm exposed to advanced researches and get to work with remarkable scientists. QBiC holds a retreat program every year, where all the researchers join and discuss about their work. Since, this is my first year in RIKEN, I got the opportunity to join as well. The participants are required to prepare a poster which explains their research work briefly. I spent all weekend preparing mine. The retreat was held in Wakayama this year,about three hours away from Osaka (by bus). I felt that the hotel where the retreat was held, Kishu Minabe Royal Hotel was in the middle of nowhere; we passed through orange and peach orchards to get there.

During the retreat, we sat and listened to researchers present their work all day. At night, they served buffet-styled dinner in the room where all the posters were hanged. So, participants can both enjoy dinner and visit the posters of their interest and ask questions. So, the only time for us to get out is at night after dinner. We decided to explore the place after all the presentation sessions ended and since the hotel is next to a beach, we went there hoping to spot turtle hatchlings (we were told that it was the highlight there). It was pitch dark and we had to walk quite far to get to the beach. The only light source was from our handphones. We reached the place and took precautions by walking carefully in the dark beach hoping not to step on any hatchlings. But of course, not a single hantchling was found. But we saw something glowed as the waves hit the sand. I suppose they were some bioluminescent plankton. Luckily, it was dark enough for us to observe this. It was quite spectacular and we just enjoyed the moment looking at it. Since, it was dark and the sky was clear, I gazed at the stars and to my utter bewilderment, I saw it: the milky way! I couldn't believe my eyes. Well, I always wanted to gaze at milky way but I never knew that I could do it here, this soon (One dream ticked off my bucket list). I imagined myself standing at the edge of the tiny earth in comparative to the huge universe upon me. To be honest, I only wanted to look at it after watching the television series, Wonders of the Solar System by Prof. Brian Cox; the series that changed my life and my views. I became more open minded and started to have a better understanding and perception of how the world really is after watching the series.

Whenever I visit beaches, I always imagine myself standing at the boundary of land and stepping on the sea/ocean that I was facing. I haven't got the opportunity to cross the Pacific Ocean (one of my dreams), but at Wakayama, I'd like to believe that I have dipped my feet in the Pacific Ocean. It was really exciting to be away from the daily hectic and mundane life. I was able to see some bugs and even fireflies which I last saw ages ago! Overall, it was a pleasant and surprisingly enjoyable trip.