Blogs

local

Terra Cotta

This is a review of Terra Cotta in Koreatown. I went to Terra Cotta for my birthday dinner with my boyfriend on a Sunday night. They didn’t have uni (sea urchin) or toro (fatty tuna) when I went because it was a Sunday and the seafood wouldn’t be fresh since it was a Sunday. I assume the seafood markets selling uni and toro didn’t have them that Sunday (or maybe they usually don’t carry them on Sundays). Anyway, I would recommend going on a different day because I definitely wanted to try the uni dishes and you get more for your money on other days (you pay the same for the dishes that contain uni on Sundays).

By Kalyn May 11, 2017

culture

The Originalist Play + Discussion

This event counts a little as an on-campus and off-campus adventure. The Pasadena Playhouse, about a mile from campus, is currently running a play called “The Originalist,” about the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Scalia was a proponent of Originalism, a constitutional interpretation that rose in popularity while he was on the bench. The Caltech Center for Diversity (CCD) arranged 50 tickets for Caltech community members. Wouldn’t you know it, but the play on that night was followed by a discussion led by Caltech History professor Dr. Kousser, who is teaching the Supreme Court History class I am currently taking. What luck! :P

By Emily May 10, 2017

research

Dunk your math professor

In the spring, Caltech holds its annual Grad Fair for its graduating students.

By Ker Lee May 9, 2017

research

Peer through an architectural "telescope"

Right across the street from campus, on the way to the gym, there’s a distinct red building. It’s the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. It’s somewhat ironic that this building, which looks like it went through an earthquake, is the astronomy building. Across the street, there’s a building with a telescope dome on top, and it is for seismology. In fact, this dome is a solar dome that opens up and follows the sun throughout the day to project images of the sun inside and also to bring sunlight into basement.

By Ker Lee May 8, 2017

culture

Succulents at the Huntington Gardens

What type of plant is prickly and ugly—nothing but a nuisance? Not cacti, I’m now convinced after visiting the Huntington Gardens. Only a fifteen-minute walk from campus, Huntington contains twelve themed botanical gardens, one of which has a conservatory full of succulents both soft and spiny from deserts in Africa, Mexico, and more. Some were so adorable I wanted to pet them; others were whimsical, even fantastical, as if spawned in the imagination of Dr. Seuss. There were succulents with spines like silk and flowers like fire. Some were spherical, others were angular, and one was lumpy and tubular like a brain. Most plants were arrayed in little containers on long tables, but others dangled upside down from hanging pots. Here are a few of my favorite sights from the conservatory.

By Noelle May 6, 2017

research

Plants on Campus

When I was choosing a college, there was one aspect of Caltech which I could not get out my head. It wasn’t its rigorous academics, its world-renowned research, or even its number one rank by Times Higher Education. In fact, the strongest pull I felt from Caltech had nothing to do with education at all. I was in love with the plants.

By Noelle May 5, 2017

local

March for Science and other events

A few exciting things have happened on and around campus recently that I wanted to share with you :)

By Emily May 4, 2017

clubs

Dance Show 2017

Hi friends, I was pretty busy for the first week of term because I was still unpacking from my spring break trip and rehearsing for the dance show that weekend. My friend Suchita has been teaching us choreography that she put together since the beginning of second term way back in January. We danced to three songs, Beyoncé’s “I Slay,” Rihanna’s “Yeah I Said It,” and Iggy Azalea’s “Team.”

By Jenny May 4, 2017

research

Make free 3D prints

For E88: Critical Making, our class took a Techlab orientation in order to make 3D prints for homework. The orientation is open to all students and it’s basically a free 3D printing lesson, help with setting up the software on your laptop, and also opens up access to free 3D printing!

By Ker Lee May 3, 2017

culture

Denim Day and the PFW Club Fair

I hope you all enjoyed Prefrosh Weekend! We love having prefrosh on campus for PFW. One of the highlights for me is always the activities fair, where we get to meet prefrosh who might join our clubs and teamsnext year. This was the Feminist Club’s table:

By Emily May 3, 2017

culture

Prepare a silkscreen

Screen printing and silk painting is offered as a joint course at Caltech. Classes are once a week, 7-10 pm. Screen printing is an important skill because that’s how seniors make T shirts for Ditch Day and also fake Ditch Day stacks throughout the year. Various sports teams and clubs also use these screen printing facilities to make T shirts.

By Ker Lee May 2, 2017

local

LA Museum of Ice Cream

The LA Museum of Ice Cream is a pop-up in the LA Arts District. The 1 month long exhibit follows an extremely popular summer pop-up in NYC. The LA pop-up is much larger than the NY pop-up and the food samplesare different is well. The samples consisted of: a scoop of ice cream from a local ice cream shop (the shops rotate so samples from different dates have different flavors and brands), mint chip mochi ice cream, charcoal cookie dough, gummy bears, and a pink pancake ice cream sandwich with french toast flavored ice cream. The exhibit is sequential, meaning you start in one room and make your way through all the rooms in order. The only rule is that you can’t go backwards! My friends and I bought the tickets way in advance and went during opening weekend (April 22-23) - they are all sold out now, but they are supposed to reopen in June. *The pictures shown aren’t in any order and don’t show all the museum has to offer!

By Kalyn May 2, 2017

clubs

Unicorn Frappuccinos, The Grove, and Art Center Graduation

This past week was super eventful! I not only tried the (in)famous Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccinos, but also I went to The Grove in Beverly Hills for the first time and went to my friend’s graduation show at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

By Kalyn May 1, 2017

research

Visiting Grad Schools

Friday! It was starting to feel very familiar, this Thursday-Friday-Saturday pattern of grad school visits, so forgive me if I gloss over what happened at Northwestern more than I did at the University of Chicago. Of course, it is no less important…

By Anita April 30, 2017

clubs

Spring Break Part 2

I wanted to share the rest of my Spring break with you before I forget it all!

By Emily April 30, 2017

clubs

Eat art at Caltech's first art galleries

Caltech unveiled our (first?) art galleries! Works submitted to the Totem, Caltech’s literary magazine, as well the Art of Science contest, were put up. The Art of Science Gallery is located where Red Door Cafe used to be. Recent renovations have moved Red Door Cafe to the C-Store (convenience store). Art installations for the Caltech Art Gallery are also hung up in “Little Chandler”, the front indoor seating area.

By Ker Lee April 29, 2017

clubs

Cooking Class

Did you know that Caltech offers a cooking class? It’s called Cooking Basics and it’s taught by Caltech’s Director of Student Activities, Tom Mannion. Tom lives in a Caltech-owned house just off campus, and the class is held in a huge tent in his backyard. The class is only pass/fail, and it counts for credit towards your general institute requirements (but it doesn’t fill Core requirements).The class is held from 6:3opm-9:30pm on Thursday nights.

By Emily April 28, 2017

culture

ASCIT Formal -- "College Senior Prom"

As a rebellious teenager, I skipped all high school dances. Some of my friends and I had been thinking of an anti-prom party senior year, but I think we stayed home to study for the APs instead. Yeah, I know. Super boring. Not that the sole middle school dance I had attended, if it was any accurate indicator of the future, had been at all promising in terms of showing me what enjoyment I might milk out of an evening spent stuffed into a school venue like the gymnasium with a crowd of sweating, half-crazed teens or preteens.

By Anita April 27, 2017

culture

Art Gallery + Art of Science Exhibit

Last night was the grand opening of Caltech’s new Art Gallery and Art of Science Exhibit! To celebrate the occasion, free snacks and wine were provided, and student groups performed. Both exhibits showcase artwork submitted by members of the Caltech community. Check out the opening night pictures below!

By Kalyn April 27, 2017

research

Visit Grad Schools

For the last part of spring break, I headed off to Chicago again for my other grad school visit. I flew Southwest Airlines into Midway Airport, and so took the train for 2 hours from downtown Chicago into the suburbia of Evanston, IL. (The airport of O’Hare is closer to Evanston, but Southwest is not serviced there.) It was raining hard that day, the water being blown sideways in whippish long streaks and wetting my lower legs as I walked along the platform. A kind stranger gave me an extra train ticket he didn’t use. I sat on the train and watched the rain drip from the roof of the cart as the brick buildings passed me by. I had to make two transfers, Red Line to Orange and Orange Line to Purple, but luckily all of them were underground and safely out of the storm.

By Anita April 26, 2017

research

Senior Beer and Food Pairing

Note: Only students of legal drinking age were allowed to attend this event.

By Kalyn April 26, 2017

global

Make sand sing

I went hiking this weekend with a group of 10 other Techers to Kelso Dunes.These dunes are known for “singing sand”. It’s part of the Mojave Desert about 3 hours drive from Caltech. Hiking uphill was quite the workout, especially with our backpacks.

By Ker Lee April 25, 2017

culture

Tour of the Art House

I mentioned that I’m taking silkscreen and silk painting this term, which is held at the Caltech art house. Since I did a tour of the ceramics studio last term, I thought I would do one of the art house as well. Drawing and painting classes are also held at the art house. Enjoy!

By Kalyn April 24, 2017

research

Sweet as Sugar

It was a dark and stormy night, and I had a research proposal to write and two electronics projects to complete. The pileup of work was somewhat self-inflicted, but it seemed hopelessly heavy. On the way to dinner, I stopped at the mailroom to check if a book I’d ordered had arrived. Instead, there was a flexible, lumpy package. Confused, I tore it open, and out peeked the frosty gleam of a Ziploc bag over the caramel brown of… cookies?! Yes, chocolate-chip cookies! There was also an envelope holding a pink polka-dotted card crammed with handwriting I hadn’t seen in months: my sister’s. The sudden splash of sweetness over my sad state made me sappy. I felt ready to cry. That night, I slept five hours too few and ate five cookies too many.

By Noelle April 22, 2017

global

Wade into a Waterfall

The trail head is only 4 miles away from campus and I’ve heard of classmates who’ve biked there for the hike, and then biked back to campus. It’s a short hike - only about 3 miles round trip - but I started out at around 3 pm and got back around 6 pm because I took an extra leisurely pace…

By Ker Lee April 20, 2017

research

Lick an Agar Petri Dish

For Bi 10, a freshman biology lab class, students get to grow colonies of the microbiota found in everyday life. This includes samples from the hands, E. Coli strains and also saliva swabs! We are given 8 Petri dishes of agar mixed with growing medium, or “broth”. Agar is a yellowish clear jelly. For this first class, I got to rub my fingers all over one half of the hard, slippery surface of the jelly. On the other half of the dish, I used clean, freshly washed hands. This experiment was to see how effective hand washing with soap is.

By Ker Lee April 19, 2017

global

Prague - Spring Break Pt. 3

Hi all, this is the last post about my spring break adventures in Europe! Our last stop was Prague, Czech Republic. We took the train from Vienna to Prague and checked in to our Airbnb. We decided to take a nice walk through the city to Old Town Square and see the Astronomical Clock Tower. It is the third oldest astronomical clock, and the only one still in operation! We climbed to the top to get a gorgeous view of the cityscape. See pics below! The next day, we took yet another free walking tour (there are so many in Europe). We saw Kafka’s birthplace, the Rudolfinum, Prague Castle, the Jewish Quarter, the Pinkas Synagogue, the Jewish Cemetery, and Old New Synagogue, and a statue of Kafka. Sadly we had to leave the walking tour early to catch our train back to Budapest (in order to make our flight). We booked round trip flight tickets to/from Budapest because it was cheaper than buying two one way tickets to/from different cities.

By Kalyn April 17, 2017

culture

Spring Break part 1

Spring break was two weeks this year, and I packed a ton of sleeping and reading into those two weeks! I also got off of my butt in order to do a few fun things with my family, including visiting the Philadelphia Flower Show with my mom. We used to go every year when I was little (and I meanreally little- as in, I don’t actually remember ever having attended before). My great aunt even presented there once or twice (she used to be a flower farmer and artist, and is now retired).

By Emily April 15, 2017

academics

Food in LA

Before finals last term, I was able to squeeze in a few more off-campus adventures. My boyfriend came to visit (he attends another University), so we rented a Zipcar for two days and drove all over Los Angeles, eating as much food as we could, basically.

By Emily April 14, 2017

culture

International Women's Day

Happy belated International Women’s Day!

By Emily April 13, 2017

culture

Fun Home

A few weeks ago, my Aunt and Uncle brought me along on a trip to see Fun Home in Downtown LA. There is a huge complex of theaters at the Performing Arts Center inDTLA, and there were several productions there on the night that we went. There is a theater for dance and opera, one for musicals, and one for the orchestra (when it doesn’t perform at Walt Disney Concert Hall, which is across the street from the Performing Arts Center). All of the theaters are connected by a large concrete courtyard, which houses a “permanent taco truck,” which is where we grabbed dinner before the show.

By Emily April 12, 2017

global

Home Life

My parents bought a box of masala chai tea at the local Indian grocery store to try. This brand, Tea India, had more spices and less tea flavor than other chais I’d tried before. There was ginger, cinnamon, cardamom… We made a pot every night with hot milk and sugar, and the spices in the tea nursed my entire family back to health in just three days! I know what my next cold medicine is going to be.

By Anita April 10, 2017

global

Home Life

Unlike some of the other bloggers who are off gaining world experience traveling, I simply went home to Northern California for spring break. It was a calm Saturday morning at Burbank Bob Hope Airport as I waited for my flight to Oakland:

By Anita April 9, 2017

culture

Pictures from Venerable Interhouse 2017

As promised, here are some pictures of Venerable OPI 2017.

By Anita April 7, 2017

research

Vienna - Spring Break Pt. 2

Next stop: Vienna, Austria! We took the train in the morning from Budapest to Vienna. We had a pretty hard time because we couldn’t find the international ticket office, but once we located that everything was smooth sailing from there. Pro tip:Be careful about buying Eurail passes and make sure you are actually saving money. We did not buy passes beforehand, and saved about $100. We had no problem buying tickets on the day of, even for the next departing train.

By Kalyn April 6, 2017

global

Budapest - Spring Break Pt. 1

This year, Caltech gave us two weeks for spring break instead of one. My friend (also a Techer) and I decided to spend the first week abroad and the second week at home with our families. In one week, we went to three countries - Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic! I’m doing one blog post per country, so stay tuned for the rest. :) We flew from LAX -> BUD the Monday that spring break started. We landed in Budapest on Tuesday in the late afternoon. That day, we explored the area around our very affordable Airbnb and took some pictures with the Danube River in the background. I also tried kürtőskalács, which is Hungarian chimney cake. Imagine a round cylindrical loaf of sweet bread that was hollow in the middle, and you’ll have a rough idea of what chimney cakes are. Since we were tired from traveling, we decided to call it a day and rest up for the next day.

By Kalyn April 5, 2017

research

Visiting Grad Schools

Saturday morning!

By Anita April 4, 2017

research

Visiting Grad Schools

The Friday at UChicago continued! The dinner event, allowing for more mingling, would be a banquet on the 95th floor of one of the tallest buildings in Chicago, the John Hancock Center.

By Anita April 3, 2017

culture

Party at Chandler Interhouse

Each of Caltech’s eight houses hosts an interhouse party each year, but some would say that none of them compare to “Chandler Interhouse”. “Chandler Interhouse” is a nickname for Midnight Madness, where Caltech Dining Services (CDS) opens up Chandler Cafe around midnight for a few hours of breakfast foods during finals week. In recent years, the staff have gotten into coming up with different themes for this quarterly event. The decorations for Midnight Madness rival that of the interhouse parties: there was often loud music, large paintings, hanging papier mache decorations, and dimmed lights.

By Ker Lee April 2, 2017

research

Visiting Grad Schools

Fridaybegan with breakfast at the hotel, where I got to know some more prospective students over conversations about where to find the coffee (it was not located with the rest of the food) and which breakfast sandwiches were the most delicious. Then we bused over to the University. The day was divided into 40-minute chunks. I had meetings with five professors and one free period. Since this was my first visit weekend, I didn’t really know what to expect at these meetings, whether I should bring a notepad or not, etc. I decided to just wing it and use my ears and mouth.

By Anita April 1, 2017

research

Visiting Grad Schools

I flew out to the Midwest last week for the University of Chicago’s chemistry visit weekend. Grad school visits are organized by department, unlike undergrad visits where it is the entire admitted class. It’s really nice that in a STEM Ph. D. program, the institute reimburses all travel costs and puts you up in a good hotel for the entirety of your stay :) When I mentioned I was going on a grad school visit to my chamber music coach, Delores, she said incredulously, “Wow, they never flew us out or treated us to anything for music grad programs!”

By Anita March 31, 2017

clubs

The Not-So-Silly Goose

Geese are not silly. They are savage. Last weekend, my friend and I spotted some by a pond. One was curled up cozily on the ground, its velvety black head resting on its back. It looked so elegant that I had to get a picture. Squatting down, camera in hand, I inched toward it. Hesitantly, it began to lift its head and wings, but if I could just get a step closer without frightening it away, I could get a better picture… So I took the step and squeezed the button, my eye pressed up to my camera.

By Noelle March 30, 2017

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