Day 45: Beautiful views from Wadestown

Took a long stroll today. Lots in my mind. I spent some time during my walk saying my prayers for special intentions for family, friends, and myself. I also spent some time musing about where I am now, the situation in New Zealand, the situation in the world. And with just a tiny bit of optimism, I also thought a bit about the future. I pray for a brighter future for all of us.

My walk was beautiful, I saw the huge moon as the sun was setting.


And at the edge of the view from the Wadestown, I saw the snow-capped hills.

Day 44: Deliveries!

Today felt like Christmas, a few of the things I ordered a week ago came today! I got a box of fresh vegetables and fruits for a good price!



Another box of dry goods came (non-essential items) and it included this nifty laptop mount. One of the perks of level-3 lockdown is the delivery services of non-essential items.



It was a busy workday, really glad these arrived today. It brought my spirits up!

Day 43: Monday again

Another start of the workweek. I am getting the hang of working from home. I do have a routine and I am getting some work done. Probably still not as productive as pre-covid19 but I am progressing to get some good outputs.

I may quite like working from home. I do enjoy getting to cook and sleep more. Let's see how the next few weeks will pan out for New Zealand. We might be moving to level-2 quite quickly.

Days 40 - 42: First level-3 weekend

Level-3 is still pretty much level-4 lifestyle for me. Nothing has changed with how my day goes. In the periphery, I notice a lot more movement and activity. The local fish-and-chip shop opened on Thursday, and they had a few customers queuing up on Friday evening. The streets are a lot busier with cars, and there are fewer people walking about the neighbourhood during the day.

I still work from home Mondays to Fridays, from 9-5; taking my lunch break at 1pm in time for the daily COVID19 update from the government. I clock out around 5 to do my daily walk. I have started exploring home delivery options, I ordered a box of vegetables which will be delivered next week. And I ordered a few things from KMart too.

My weekend will be the same as the past weekends, I will spend most of the time on this chair:

Day 39: Pumpkin and spinach pasta

I made something new tonight! I had some pumpkin and spinach to work with. I've been eating rice for the past few days, so tried to make pasta instead. I made a creamy sauce base and put a bit of mustard and lemon juice for some twist. Topped the dish with cheese and baked it

Day 38: Acknowledging my PhD in Twitter

I attended a women's online session, a chit chat with mentors and peers on navigating academia with special focus on acknowledging out COVID19 situation. One of the common themes from this pandemic is that we have to forego some of the plans and celebrations we were anticipating this year.

Birthdays, planned trips, thesis submission, defence, graduations, weddings etc. Some of these have to be postponed or conducted within the premises of our homes. For me, I know there was no clear transition from being a student to working as a post-doc researcher. It just sort of happened as the levels of lockdown was changing while I was defending, submitting, and completing.

So to commemorate a personal acknowledgement of my accomplishment, last night I put "Dr" in front of my Twitter name. I had an overwhelming response online! Thank you twitterverse for being supportive and awesome.

Will #ImpostorSyndrome ever go away? There... I’ve done it. Put Dr in front of my name. It has taken a few weeks after I completed the PhD. But I need to acknowledge this for myself. #phdchat #AcademicChatter

— Dr Marion Lara Tan (@tan_marion) April 29, 2020

Day 37: A busy day

Yesterday was a busy day. I conducted a two-hour online session on innovative methods for a research and evaluation methods course. I am also trying to coordinate a webinar for next week. Plus meetings in between.

I was a bit flustered throughout my working hours. The end-of-day walk around the neighbourhood really helped me clear my head.

I am very lucky to have a job and to be able to continue working from home. But with the daily mundane routine of my everyday life, it also makes me think about the bigger questions. What's next for me? What will the next few months be like? We did not imagine in January that life would be like this in April. What would life be like 3 months from now?

For now, I am taking things one step at a time. Do my work and hope for the best.

Day 36: A family video call

My family keeps in touch quite frequently. We have an active family chatroom in messenger. We update each other on international and local news but also with the daily happenings of our lives. We share memories through photos, we share piano practices, we send photos of where we are, etc. But rarely do we have video or audio calls, it has never really been a thing for us. Today we finally got to do one!

It is a bit chaotic, just as any social video call. But it was really nice to see everyone together at the same time in a virtual environment.

Glad to know that everyone is staying put and keeping safe and healthy in our respective homes. Much love to everyone!

Day 35: Enjoying the sunny lounge

On workdays, I spend most of my time in my room. My room is probably the coldest part of the house because it gets the least sun. So on weekends, especially on sunny days, I tend to enjoy sitting in our lounge and basking in the warmth. Even though it is getting cooler now, the lounge can still get to a warm 20 degrees. Today I took this photo, while I was just taking time to relax with a cup of tea.

During these days, it may be hard for some to find joy or hope. Sitting in the lounge, in the quiet and feeling the sun on my skin gives me hope. There will be better days. But recognise that there are also good days or moments of blessings amidst this uncertain time.

Day 34: Still adjusting with the PhD title

I gave a short presentation this week to a group of PhD students. It's always a pleasure to be able to share a bit about my research. They asked me questions about my PhD journey and I had lots of insights to share from my experience. In all this, I think it is pretty surreal that I really have completed my PhD journey.

In the middle of this pandemic, and despite busying myself with work, I have accomplished what I had set out to do four years ago. I guess the strange thing with this there was no demarcation of the transition because my transition was superseded by the need to adapt to the lockdown situation because of COVID19. I am a PhD. I need to own it, even in small things. My supervisor even told me to put the title in my email signature!

Day 33: Pinakbet Recipe

This is not really an academic post! But so happy with how my pinakbet turned out, so sharing the recipe here. One good thing about the COVID19 lockdown is that I'm cooking a lot more! I definitely have tried a few new dishes.

I'm not very good at measuring stuff, so just eye the amount to your taste and needed yield. This recipe is based on the dish last night:

Ingredients:
3 cloves Garlic
1/2 Onion
1 Tomato
1 thumb Ginger
1 cup Pumpkin
1/2 cup Carrots
1 cup Eggplant
1/4 cup Green beans
1 handful Spinach
1-1/2 tbsp Fish sauce
1 tbsp Soy sauce
Salt
Pepper

Instructions:

• Mince onions and garlic, quarter tomatoes, thinly slice ginger, chop all other vegetables to relatively equal chunky size (1inch for me).
• Use mid-high heat, sautee minced onions and garlic until tender
• Add quartered tomatoes to the pan, season with a bit of salt and pepper. Stir fry until tomatoes are a bit soft.
• Set heat setting to low. Layer the vegetables on top of the sauteed mix: ginger, pumpkin, carrots, eggplant, and green beans. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan, let vegetables cook in its own steam for 10-12 mins. 
• If needed, add a bit of water to prevent the veggies burning. Don't add too much water, you don't want the dish to be too saucy.
• Shake the pan and add soy sauce and fish sauce. Cover the pan and let simmer/steam for another 10-12mins.
• Add a handful of spinach, gently stir into the vegetable mix until leaves wilt
• Add salt and pepper to taste.

All done! 

I think the dish is pretty versatile, you can include other vegetables into it. Traditionally, the vegetables included squash, bitter melon, and okra (but I didn't use any of them in mine). You can add meat into it too. I didn't use shrimp paste, as I'm allergic, but I'm sure it will add depth to the flavour!

Day 32: Blogging on EEW

I am trying to set-up a blog for our earthquake early warning (EEW) work. I wrote a short article yesterday to get some content in it:

New paper on practical limitations of EEW

A new paper has just been published on Earthquake Spectra. David Wald writes about the practical limitations of earthquake early warning. The paper outlines key points for strategic communication, taking into account EEW limitations and possibilities. Points include depicting expected alert times, setting warning expectations based on context (e.g. subduction zone environments, crustal quakes etc.), educating users on taking appropriate (or inappropriate) action when shaking is felt, communicating EEW is not the only mitigation to earthquake losses, offering broader context of other available earthquake hazard and risk information.

Access the article: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F8755293020911388  

The abstract of the article:

Earthquake early warning (EEW) entails detection of initial earthquake shaking and rapid estimation and notification to users prior to imminent, stronger shaking. EEW (ShakeAlert Phase 1, version 2.0) went operational in California in October 2019 and is coming to the rest of the U.S. West Coast. But what are the technical and social challenges to delivering actionable information on earthquake shaking before it arrives? Although there will be tangible benefits, there are also limitations. Basic seismological principles, alert communication challenges, and potential response actions, as well as substantial lessons learned from the use of EEW in Japan, point to more limited opportunities to warn and protect than perhaps many expect. This is in part because potential warning times vary by region and are influenced by tectonic environment, hypocentral depth, and the fault’s proximity to the alert user. For the U.S. West Coast, particularly for crustal earthquakes, warning times are shorter—and possible mitigation actions are likely to be less effective—than often maintained. Nevertheless, EEW is an additional arrow in the quiver of earthquake information tools available in the service of earthquake risk reduction. What is called for, then, is transparency and balance in the EEW discussion: along with its potential, the acknowledgment of EEW’s inherent and practical limitations is needed. Recognizing these limitations could, in fact, make EEW implementation more successful as part of a holistic earthquake mitigation strategy, where its role among other earthquake information tools is quite natural.

Day 31: Visa granted!

Just tonight, I received an email from Immigration New Zealand. My heart skipped a beat, it was an automated email saying that a file has been uploaded related to my application. I thought they might need extra documentation, or that I missed providing pertinent information. But when I logged in to the website and clicked on the new document, it showed that my post-study open work visa was approved! They granted me three years.

I didn't expect that they would process my application so quickly, given the COVID19 situation. Expiring temporary visa holders were given a blanket extension until September. So technically there was no pressure on my end to quickly apply for the post-study work visa. But I lodged my application as soon as I got confirmation that I completed the requirements for the PhD. I did not want to get stuck in any backlog.

Thank God for all the blessings. I am very happy that the visa was processed and approved so quickly.

Day 30: Teaching online

Today we had the first online session for our 'Research and Evaluations' course. I didn't teach today, my colleague Gerard took the lead. Online teaching is a new thing for me.

The challenge is keeping the students engaged. It is easy for students to multi-task while the class is ongoing. Have to think of ways to keep students actively participating. One technique for my colleague was using the chatbox. He had quick and easy questions where he gets the students to type in their questions in the chat. Then builds a discussion from there.

It is good in our digital age that we can migrate our face-to-face meetings and classes online. But I think there is still something missing with the actual interaction. Next week is my turn to deliver the online module. It will be a two-hour session on 'innovative methods'. Wish me luck!

Day 29: People-centric technology

I’m glad that people-centric technology is part of the COVID-19 conversation in Aotearoa New Zealand. This clip is taken from the 19 April daily update all-government response press conference. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern highlighted that citizens' uptake is one of the challenges in implementing a successful contact tracing app. Technology should be supplementary. People first then technology.

I see that my PhD research is becoming more and more relevant. I want to highlight some key insights from my published work:

• Research on the public's use of mobile technologies for crisis communication is fairly young. More research is needed on the public's motivation behind downloading, adapting, and the use of technology is critical to ensure the full realisation of the crisis apps' purpose. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2017.06.009 
• For example, a user’s perspectives on the usability of an app will affect their intention to continue or abandon an app. http://idl.iscram.org/files/marionlaratan/2018/1643_MarionLaraTan_etal2018.pdf 
• Users’ can give insights to crisis app design. Consider familiarity and comfort. From one of my inquiries, a participant mentioned: “I appreciate that it looks like an app that I am familiar with. […] It’s what I’m used to. Which make me comfortable.” http://idl.iscram.org/files/marionlaratan/2019/1946_MarionLaraTan_etal2019.pdf

There are many research questions with COVID-19 and apps. Topics could be on trust, acceptability, usability, usage, ethics, etc. Definitely keen to pursue research in enhancing resilience through understanding the intersection between human behaviour and technology during disasters.

Day 28: What's cooking?

I think my life currently revolves around what I will eat next. My Sunday project was making cheese muffins:



I wanted to make something savoury instead of the usual sweet pastries. The problem was I only had one egg! So I needed to look for a recipe that called for one egg and ingredients I already had in my pantry. This recipe calls for baking powder, salt, sugar, egg, cheese and milk. I think it was a success!

Day 27: This comic resonates!

Lazy post today. But saw this comic on my feed, and it resonates! Definitely feeling like I should be working harder, and also feeling bad for not being as productive, hence not fully relaxing 😆

Day 26: COVID19 Dreams

I am a vivid dreamer if I remember them. During this four week lockdown, I have had COVID19 related dreams. Here are three short ones.

Dream 1: The first dream I remember was from one night leading up to Easter. In my dream, I decided that I wanted to go to church on Easter (despite knowing all church services were cancelled). I made an argument in my mind, that no one will be there and that it would be safe! So I went to St. Mary's of the Angels (the church I go to in Wellington). When I arrived there, people were preparing for mass! The priests were on the entrance wearing their robes etc. I was befuddled! In my head, I was frustrated. Why wasn't I informed that a mass was going to take place? Everyone else seemed to act like it was normal. But I was still afraid of catching the virus, so I went up to the second floor to view the activities from afar. Suddenly, everyone had the same idea, and people started crowding to get up to where I was. And I just was afraid to be in contact with people. I found an escape, squeezed through small pathways out of the church, and ran! Then I woke up.

Dream 2: In my dream, I was on an airplane. I was on a 'mercy flight' to the Philippines. But because the flights were so scarce, I needed to transit somewhere else to catch my flight back to the Philippines. While on the plane, I didn't know where we will land and transit. Finally, the plane landed and I disembarked and was informed that we were in London. I never transitted or flew out of London Heathrow (so I don't really know what the airport looks like). The airport was busy, everyone was trying to catch their mercy flights back to their home countries. I was looking for my transit gate, it was supposed to be on the ground floor (I was on the second). I looked at the signs, and for some reason, my gate was nowhere to be seen. I went to various ground floor gates, taking escalators and had a hard time finding my gate. Finally, I found my gate, but no one was there. I was informed by the ground crew that the last flight out to the Philippines just left. Then I woke up.

Dream 3: I dreamt that I was back in our room in Manila. I remember the yellow walls and the two single beds. On the floor were Settlers of Catan tiles and tokens. Martha and Emil were sitting on the floor, and we just finished a game. We were laughing. It was time to have lunch, so we started packing up, putting the tokens in small ziplock bags. Then I asked myself, why am I in the Philippines? 'I know I'm in New Zealand, this must be a dream.' But I felt like I'm really there with them. The layout of the room looked like the way I remembered it. I could see what my siblings were wearing, I was touching the tiles and putting them back in the box. Then I convinced myself I was back in Manila, then I started thinking, 'If I'm here, then I can't go back to New Zealand because of the lockdown'. Then I woke up.

I don't really put much meaning to my dreams. I think they simply reflect some of the experiences and worries we have during the day.

Day 25: Meetings and writing

Today is an okay day. I got a decent one hour of reading and writing in the morning. One hour does not equate to much, but it's still something. Had a couple of meetings spread out between late morning and late afternoon. In between, I did some mundane work like writing meeting minutes and sending out emails.  My list of things to do is still way longer than the things I have accomplished. But still, it was okay. I got some work done.

Day 24: Missing Aikido

Practising aikido is one of the things that I miss doing during this lockdown. I was very fortunate to have been able to participate in the 50th Anniversary Gasshuku of Shinryukan Aikido early this March!

We were very lucky in many ways.

First, the timing was just right. The event pushed through only a few days after New Zealand had its first confirmed COVID19 case. Had the event been scheduled one week later, a lot of the international delegates would not have been able to come because of border restrictions. If it had been two weeks later, the event would have been cancelled because of the restrictions on large gatherings.

Second, I think it is also very fortunate that no one got sick. I guess, at that time, COVID19 had just entered New Zealand and was not yet spreading in the communities. I would imagine that an aikido event, given that aikido is a close contact martial art, would be a hotspot for spreading the virus.

Easily 300 people on the mat! © Christian Kleiman / Aikido Shinryukan

Third, it was the last international event of waka sensei - Moriteru Ueshiba before international border closures and restrictions happened because of COVID19. He is the son of the current doshu (head of aikido). We were very fortunate to train with him! He moves really beautifully.

I want to give credit to the organisers for making sure the event had good health and safety standards. They did a great job in organising the gasshuku.

Here are some photos from the event of me and my mates. All photos in this blog are credit to Christian Kleiman and Aikido Shinryukan. More incredible photos from Christian's website.

© Christian Kleiman / Aikido Shinryukan

© Christian Kleiman / Aikido Shinryukan

© Christian Kleiman / Aikido Shinryukan

© Christian Kleiman / Aikido Shinryukan