Content

Content
Adjective.

1. satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else.

2. agreeing; assenting.

We are in no rush to see things in Tokyo anymore since there is not much more to see. We now spend more of our time getting to know each other than we do with getting to know Japan. In fact, I didn't take any pictures today. I didn't even bring my camera around. It was actually kind of nice to spend a day enjoying the experience rather than spending so much time taking pictures.

Day 8: July 11, 2011

Today was a pretty laid back day. We all met up for lunch at the co-op again and then went off to class. Today, our first lecture was probably the most interesting lecture that we have had yet. The topic was Mechano-bioengineering, specifically "Computer Aided Surgery and Surgical Robots." We learned about minimally invasive surgery techniques such as endoscopic surgery and some other new and developing biomedical devices. We were shown videos of the devices performing in surgeries. It seems as though our future is leading to a life where everything can be done with robots and humans will no longer be needed.

After class and lab tours, we went on a search for dinner and decided to take the train one stop to Ueno, where there are a lot more shops and restaurants. Walking around Ueno was a bit like walking around Berkeley in the sense that there were a lot of homeless people sleeping on the sides of the road. This was the first time I saw any homeless people in Tokyo. Dinner was "the usual." We've pretty much been eating noodles and rice for every meal and that's exactly what I had for dinner. I have yet to have some good sushi. 

We decided to walk around Ueno park for a little bit before heading home. There we saw more homeless people, but it wasn't as bad as "People's Park" in Berkeley. The homeless people are a lot quieter and they won't bug you at all. But anyway, it was a nice, peaceful walk around the park and lake. It would be the perfect place to go on a night run; however, I doubt I'm ever actually going to get a chance to run while I'm here. I gave up on that idea a while ago.

We ended the night with some group bonding time on the roof of our hotel and now I'm back in my room dozing off as I write this post. 

Day 9: July 12, 2011
The first lecture we had today was pretty exciting. It pretty much convinced me to look into biomaterials. It was all about the development of high-performance structural biomaterials, how such materials can be used for bone grafting in oral and maxillofacial surgery (what my dad does!), and how 3D printing can be used to create implants out of biomaterial. We also learned about the design of tetra bone and the homogeneous structure of polymer hydrogels. After class, we went on more lab tours and we each received our own souvenir sample of hydrogel material. 


We then caught the train to Roppongi for dinner and to catch a glimpse of the Tokyo Tower. We ended up taking the train to a station in Roppongi that wasn't the main station so we got a little lost, but we went exploring on our own adventure. Our designated "leader" of the group led us in the completely opposite direction of the main part of Roppongi so we ate dinner at some random ramen place and headed back towards Roppongi. The little adventure was fun while it lasted and we definitely had some quality group bonding time.


Once we got to Roppongi, we wandered around Roppongi hills, admired the Tokyo Tower taking pictures for a good 20 minutes, and then ended the night with some crepes and shots of liquid sugar (a random dare that we decided to revisit since the first day of the program). We were all on a sugar high for the rest of the night as we made our way back to the hotel.

I'm starting to run low on money, but I'm hoping it will make me to the end of this trip. Transportation seems to add up pretty fast. Only one more day of class, a study visit, and then I'm back on the plane to California. It's time to enjoy these next couple days while they last.

Roppongi!

Tokyo Tower