Planetary Conference in Quy Nhon, Vietnam and What I learned from here

During the summer, I had a chance to participate in a planetary conference in Quy Nhon, Vietnam as it is my first conference participating as a speaker to talk about my research works. Previously, I had been to few different conferences, including ICIST at KAIST as a delegated speaker, APRIM in Chiang Mai as a liaison to help organize the conference, and an upcoming Asian Science Camp (ASC) as a liaison for leaders. Being the first time, there are so many things that I have no idea about, such as cloth for the conference (it seems like I am way overdressed for this summer conference - I guess it is better to be overdressed than underdressed). Of course, I also mange to find some time to travel in Ho Chi Minh before going to the conference. 

The conference is at a private conference hall next to the beach and far from everything else. The location is awesome as it is in the middle of nowhere and everyone at the conference is forced o to meet each other more than other conferences. The building is created only to support scientific conferences. This creates some problems regarding having enough conference and events to be self-sustained without other supports. Either more business conferences or having private investors are necessary for sustaining the building.  

ICISE, the venue for the planetary conference

Three days in Ho Chi Minh City

Even though I have only a short time of less than two months at home, I still manage to spend a week and a half at the Planetary Science conference at Quy Nhon, Vietnam. Of course, I will definitely find some time to travel in Vietnam. This time, I decide to visit Ho Chi Minh city for the first time before flying to Quy Nhon for the conference. 

Fortunately, I know a Vietnamese person (Chau) from University of Chicago (a bonus from going to school with lots of international students). She took me around the city for these two days that I spent here. I am so thankful that I had someone to show me around and help me communicate with local people. First thing that surprises me about Saigon (the previous name for Ho Chi Minh City) is how similar it is to Bangkok. The city is similar while the cost of living is also exactly the same. There are more cars in Bangkok while there are more motorcycle in Ho Chi Minh. One explanation that I heard from this difference is that there is a large amount of taxes for buying a car in Vietnam as the government is trying to control the number of cars on the street, leading an increase in the number of motorcycles instead. 

Starlight Bridge, Phu My Hung

The first place that I visited in Ho Chi Minh is Starlight Bridge which is in a neighborhood of Phu My Hung. The bridge is very similar to Banpo Bridge in Seoul, South Korea which I visited two years ago. However, it was much less crowded here as most people here are only local and I did not see any other tourists around. The bridge is a good place for hanging out at night with lots of restaurants and street food around the area. 

Financial Crisis: Enemy of Any Political Systems

It was my privilege to be able to listen some British people talking about their queen during her visit to Paris and Normandy for the D-day Celebration on June 6th, 2014.

After hearing them talking about how much they love their queen and how happy they are to be able to see a glimpse of her in Paris, I could not stop and think about our own king. Both British and us are all united with this kind of the head of the State. People feel a part of their country because of the love for their monarch. This is something that liberalism and democracy cannot replicate. In my opinion, the thing that hold American people together is the American dream, a kind of ideology or mythology that everyone can rise from rack to rich while the British people are hold together by the love for their queen.

Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

Charles Ray Exhibition at The Art Institute of Chicago

Two weeks ago, I had a chance to visit the Art Institute of Chicago and I found a new exhibition in the Modern wing, called "Charles Ray: Sculpture, 1997–2014." I was not too excited about the exhibition at first as I thought it will be a typical exhibition. However, this one was different. The whole room is almost empty with couple sculptures lying around in the middle of the room.

The first one that stunned me was a sculpture of a life-size car crash. It looks so real, except from the coloring of the sculpture. I found out later that he actually took an actual car crash and making the exact replica from it. This simply shows how detailed-orientated Charles Ray is in making this sculpture. And this is the beginning of my fascination toward Charles Ray.