Hi, welcome to this week’s blog update. Work this week has been quite different than my normal day-to-day. I spent Monday and Tuesday work hours doing last-minute preparations for my presentation for the continuing education session here at FNRI. The event itself was via zoom but that didn’t make me any less nervous since I was presenting to about thirty of my coworkers and supervisors.
My topic was chosen for me, I analyzed my findings from my earlier work with related reading literature. The bulk of my presentation was used to discuss the impact of technology transfer on job creation, where I examined the impact in three different countries, and the impact on income inequality. Both Sarah and I presented on topics chosen for us and we were later awarded a certificate of appreciation for sharing our knowledge.
Later that Wednesday (6th) our coworkers had us try some Marang fruit. I was a tad wary at first because the coworker who was encouraging Sarah and me to try the fruit was acting a little suspicious. It turned out that he doesn’t like the fruit and maybe he expected us to feel the same. But funny enough, I went back for seconds.
On Thursday (7th) and Friday (8th) all the IWU Freeman Asia interns at DOST-FNRI were invited to attend the 45th DOST-FNRI Seminar Series hosted at The Manila Hotel. There were a total of 6 technical sessions that presented completed research and development outputs and science and technology activities. We were served a breakfast snack, lunch, and afternoon snack each day. On both days they had a brief icebreaker activity after lunch. It was unexpectedly fun following a dance video and I know for sure it kept people from getting sleepy.
We took a grab to Manila Hotel for both days rather than staying a night in the hotel. On the way to the hotel, I saw the Rizal Monument, which was on my list of things I wanted to see in Metro Manila. Therefore after the session ended on Thursday, Sarah and I walked to Rizal Park. While there, we saw a cool building with this geometrical dome figure for a roof. That building turned out to be the National Museum of Natural History and we were able to explore the first, two levels before it closed.
After the Friday session, Sarah and I returned to Rizal Park to explore their Chinese garden which was closed the day before. We also revisited the National Museum of Natural History but we still weren’t able to see everything.
This weekend we decided to explore more of Manila, especially its museums. Sarah was interested in the National Museum of Anthropology, while I was interested in the National Museum of Fine Arts so we spent all Saturday morning exploring both museums. Our coworker friend, Dars, met up with us at the National Museum of Fine Arts, then we had lunch at this Korean Barbeque place. Afterward, we got to see the oldest university in the Philippines, Santo Tomas University, and a little bit of Intramuros before my exhaustion got the best of me.
