My Blog

At Irinaka subway station (near my apartment)

We miss one of my senior students here (brother Phalty, who took this photo for us). Thanks brother.

Wow… I am absolutely feel pleased to have such a great time having dinner with all my colleagues from Cambodia. Of course, they are all like my brother because not only the age, but also their experience working the governemntal institution, they are my senior too. This Sunday, after caming to join the extra curricular activity as sport event the Nagoya Symposium, they all came to visit us at our apartment and manage to have a nice food with some our Khmer stuff brought from Cambodia, esp Paoaok. haha It has been such long since I left Cambodia to Japan that I have never tasted it at all. Hence, this evening among my senior colleagues, there also has a lady who was at all the target for cooking nice food for us. Actually, they all are studying quite far away from my university called Aichi University of Education (愛知教育大学）, which took around 1 hour and a half by subway, train, and bus, if I am not forgetting went I last visit them a few times ago.

By the time of cooking, and preparing food, I took a while to go shopping for some soft drinks, cake and Sasami too, in a pretty big super market next to my apartment way.  During the cooking time, we all had nice chat together, and mocking at one another simply, just for man to chop the vegetable, and so forth. Then, time to have dinner, and we all start praising the nice food on the dishes, and tasting it nicely. :D  Of course, it was such a nice dinner that we had to bring more rice from each room to total up to 3 rice store. hahaha sound quite a big dinner, right?

After the dinner, time to pass on joke one by one. The jokes made me laughed to tears and everyone also laugh, and laugh, and laugh. There are a few people who are expert in telling those jokes including, brothers Sovanna, Heng, and Sophea. hahah I just cannot help laughing with every joke I heard, and I did try to save those joke too, so that next time I will have chance to show off the jokes…   hahaha  Of course, I did told a joke too, and it was about a bad student.

Guess what? It also funny somehow… just about a little pupil and a teacher in the class asked a question. He felt very glad to be the only pupil in the class to be able to answer the teacher’s question. After caming back from class, the boy came to meet his father. He felt very happy when he saw his father and started to boast to his father about that.

The boy said:

”Dad, today my teacher asked a question, and no one could answer it at all. Only me who raised the hand and answered bravely.”

Then the father said, ”Aer, this is deserved to be my son.” He then asked, ”What was the question?”

The boy said, the teacher just asked, ”Who got the zero mark?” then only him can answer.  :D  )))

Sound funny, right?

We all took some photos as nice souvenir for their precious visit to us.

After have a great dinner tegether they all went back to the subway to get back to there apartment. So, I and one of my friends here (Bong Phalty) went to see them off till the subway station. It was such a great souvenir we had for today.

The people in this photo are some of the international students coming to Japan on the same date as me, and are from various countries, including Australia, America, Korea, Ethopia, etc… Some are pursueing Ph.D course. You can notice me standing there too, I guess.

Just browsing in my photo folders, I notice this lovely shot under the Sakura tree. It provides me with thousands of unforgettable feelings and keepsakes. Most pensively, I took it just on the second day I arrived in Japan on the way back to my dormitory from joining a welcome party at YWCA, near the center of Nagoya city. Of course, this memorial photo was taken with a group of other international students as I mentioned above. They are from America, Australia, Korea, Pakistan, Ethiopia, German, and me from Cambodia. Let you see their faces and judge who should be from where among these countries.   To keep as souvenir, I also have some other photos during the party at the YWCA. The most insightful feeling I still feel up to now, and will last forever, is that I took it under this beautiful flower for my first time that I saw it in real. It really beautiful I people say, and it was what I used to hear many times, and just saw it through photo many times long before I have chance to come to Japan. Oh what a surprise and excited I had felt, and what a fortunate chance I get. I just cannot stand trying to do my best for completing more duties that people who gives me trust, encouragement, love and care, fame, and this chance to make them feel satisfied with what they have been always giving hopes in me. I can still always remember how many people who have been contributing their, trust, spirits and persistent encouragement to help me and to let me find the light of my deserving bright future as always. I have determined all my might to get what I set in my objectives and my ambitious goals.

Thank you so much to all my family members, my professors, my students, and all intellectuals in Cambodia who have always been supporting me. This deeds keep alerting and encouraging me forever, I believe.

My visit in Sakae (The central downtown of Nagoya City)

One evening I went to PARCO in Sakae by subway to contact with a company there. The views of the buildings as well the overall scenery, including parks, restaurants, shopping center/supermarkets, etc…. are so captivating that I had to take some photographs to post here.

The view of park and some flowers in the middle part.

The first impression I got surprised is that soon after I walk out of the subway up to the outside way, I noticed there is a restaurant over th road I was walking, and then I see a big park in frond of me. I walk up further I realize that the park is so big that it also last from the back the subway exit and continue to the far endless point I could see.

Also, the impression of mine to the site is that there are very modern business section appear to me with tall modern buildings, and there is no guard at all. The front of those shops are very clean, that there is no even a single trash nearby. All the operating systems in front of and inside those shops are automated and equipped with high tech equipments. In here, it is common to enter any buildings, without touching the door or seeing anyone waiting to open to door for. The doors are automatically open when people approach. Hence, video camera a equipped every corner of the buildings.

Another thing interesting is that there appear a nice large park with surrounded woods and wildlife birds playing by. This mainly, equipped with many bench for visitors to sit and especially clear space for wind to blow. People usually have romantic chat there, as well as some do exercise there.

The water polling, near the center part of the park. It is interesting that when people approach it start to poll strongly and last for a long time.

This is one of the east exit of the subway, that I just walk out and start to see the restaurant on the roof of it.

The road under across the park, I was stading on the bridge accross this road so that I can shot this picture.

My Shopping day at a weekend!

Just to prepare for the Autumn and the coming Winter I and my friend, managed to buy some new clothes downtown, as well as to see whether there have nice discount available to enjoy for shopping. It was great day that we went to see various shops, especially, clothing shop with variety of fashion available. Just around several minutes we approach the destination sites, seeing lots of people, especially, young people walking hand in hands, some with their friends, playing, laughing, and talking as they walk around those highly commercialized areas. I enjoy seeing the new interesting modern culture of rich in fashion, and feel so much amazed to see such views and highly modernized scenery. After walking around for a while we manage to enter one popular shop called ‘GAP’, and see different styles of up to date clothes. The shop is quite big that consisted of several floors. Of course, the price is so expensive in comparison to our country, especially the fully popular one. I could not help my feeling surprise to see those tagged price, which some even $USD 400 or 500 just for one jeans. In addition, many type of coats and Jackets too that look so expensive. Fortunately, I manage to find some that are with reasonable price, as well as some with the good discount one. We, could buy some from those discount one and of course the style is so cool.

Next, we went to another famous clothing shop called Zara. Of course, this shop is even more expensive than the previous one because all the items there are imported from Europe, as well as Western, including those from Italy and German. I and my friend, just enjoy seeing the fashion, and seeing some customers buying and trying with their partners. I wanted to buy there too, but not only the price that I did not like to buy, the style also, because I somehow like to cool fashion similar to cool Asian popular styles. We also hang around to see various shops and restaurants, concerts, and park, which I managed to take some cool photo as souvenir too. On the way back to our each other home, we also did some shopping for daily cooking stuff, and commodities, especially we went to a Thai market (a small shop) to buy some soy source, chilly, and other ingredient source for my cooking. Of course, I usually do some nice cooking for myself, even though I sometimes eat out when I find in busy time.

Let enjoy some cool pictures I have posted here.

What is Gassho-zukuri?

Gassho-zukuri is a house built of wooden beams combined to form a steep thatched roof that resembles two hands together. You can see houses such as these in other parts of the country. In Shirakawa, they are called ‘’Kiritsuma-Gassho-zukuri,’’ and the roof can be looked triangular just like a standing book open. It is the characteristic of these houses in this country. The structure is built to suit the environment in Shirakawa. It is made to with stand heavy snowfall. The house face north and south, to minimize wind resistance. They are also built for be comfort in both summer and winter. The houses stand in a certain direction to adjust the amount of sun in order to keep the room cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

(Shirakawa-go Gassho-zukuri village, in winter)

(Shirakawa-go Gassho-zukuri village, in autumn during a festival)

(Shirakawa-go Gassho-zukuri village, in summer)

(Shirakawa-go Gassho-zukuri village, in spring)

There are lots of fun, surprise and excitement, I had for all the way, both to and return back to my University. The most impression I made was on the way we went to the site, there are lots of wonderful views that I had never ever seen before. The road varied in types, including subway, super highway, channels, tunnel, and all the bridge across the sea. Since
Japan is number 2 for technology in the world, there are very common to see super highways here, especially for the long way from the central city to the country side or the suburban areas. Since, we took bus (2 buses) to the site, I can see as much views as I can which, therefore, I can take some photos of them to be shown here.

In addition to super highway, there are many tunnel and passageway across the mountains, and connecting by large and long concrete bridge from one mountain to another. The most wonderful road I notice is that, they try to maintain the road straight, or not so many turn around, by just building the roads across the sea. I guess, this will make not only me, but also all others visitors who was traveling on those bridges and roads cannot help admiring and smiling to see the mountainside and the sea below when look out of the window of the modern bus. Of course, it is not just simple height that the roads were built to connect from one mountain to another; it is about 800 meter and 900 meters’ height from the mountain sides. Hence, the color of the sea underway also looks so green and makes the viewers being able to feel instantly how cold it is by just seeing it from the surface.

The day we went there was such a fine day, that there had no rain or dark cloud at all. In contrast, we can see the white cloud sky and feel the fresh breath of the countryside which we find it is rarely for us to breathe and smell this kind of mountain breeze since departing from our each lovely home country. Why do I mention that the white cloudy sky is good? You will soon start to comprehend that in such a village that is full of mountain range dense with forest and adjusting decorated view by the channel and the water fall, will look like it is located next to the sky because of the mass of cloud spraying on (not over) the top of those mountains. At first, I naturally started to miss my lovely country since the first time I see these mountain ranges dense with forest, and especially, the cloud on the top of the mountains that looks so cool and green. I miss the time, I, my family, and my siblings altogether when to Kampong Cham, Kampot, Kampong Som, Siem Reap (with tones of unforgettable souvenir) L, and especially to Kampong Thom, where we climbed Sontok mountain altogether, and throwing some coin and money as lucky draw. Since the time have gone by constantly, we all have managed more sophisticatedly and even one of my sisters is now living in USA, I do believe I will visit her once a time, and later on we all will have chance to come to visit Cambodia together again. I cannot keep my mind from thinking of all these things because I frequently saw these images in Cambodia, especially theBokou Mountain (Phnom Bokou Poporkvil), in Kampot province. It is those views of cloud gathering on the mountain top during this visit that make visitors feel even more thoughtful, joyful, and memorable.

In addition, there are some ponds on the mountain which inhabited by school of preserved fish and natural plant therein, namely water lily. It is different from what I expected about those fish since, the fish here always approach to the people expecting people will give them food, not like in
Cambodia that fish usually disappear when seeing people approaching by. Rice field is a lovely view as well, because it is in the time of giving the production. The grain/cereal looks same color as those in our country, except the field itself is not as large as those in our country. However, there seems to have more production, in terms of harvesting during the year because here they can harvest (by machine) at least four or five times a year.

As we arrive at 11 am right there, it is a good time to a walk peeping for nice restaurant to enjoy lunch. We managed to get into a really Japanese style restaurant there, and enjoyed the nice food over there. Then, after relaxing for a couple of minutes chatting, we start to visit various museums, shops, and sites there, enjoying taking photographs and buying some souvenirs things.

The most attractive views from the buildings themselves are unique and with the same style. They are roofed by thick dense thatch-like roof, but it is not really the thatch roof. There are explanation about way to build these buildings and the roofs. It is co-work by many workers and in many steps. Please see the link to find out more regarding to the process of making them.

More photo gallery.

Hearing much is not enough, so I have posted some nice views from the sites here too. Let’s enjoy viewing them. J

In the bus (this is my bus, and I seat in the front so that I can see the tourist guide clearly as well as the nice views through the windows), there are many International students and some Japanese teacher. He is the head teacher, and is giving instruction on what we are going to see soon. Of course, He will let the guide to explain in detail soon. On the way, to the tourist spot, we stop at every 30 minutes, so that anyone can get some drinks, taking views of various places along the way, as well as getting to the rest room.

This is the fantastic view of the sea stream surrounded by the forest, that make me feel that it is really cold as it is still, and especially, would feel the extreme dept it has, I guess. Finally, after about 2 hours we managed to arrive at the spot. We had to walk across this bridge to get to the tourist central spot. From the brigde, those building would look like the open book standing, as what the tourist guide had mentioned. This is a stream of water flowing under the bridge we passed to the village. The road on the top of the mountain ranges as other visitors drives through to see various places in the village. I feel lucky that I did travel through these ways. :D  Of course, there is a well-known for the view from the top of the mountain in this area too, as the road look like some figure, you can guess. Here is the water lily that makes me feel like in Cambodia. It is the first time, since I arrive in Japan that I see them here. 

Soon, the school of fish swimming around came gathering showing there pretty color or expecting some food, I guess. However, it is not allowed to spray food here because it is preserved as tourist spot, I guess, since no visitor would  throw food into the water. Also, I am always  alert for the dustbin, whenever I have a bit of trash around, as you can imagine that Japan is very strict with throwing trash. To go a little detail, in Japan we have different days to throw different trash, and we have to separate them into different colors of plastic bag on the specified day with different kinds of trash. I can still remember seeing a few foreign students would get some reinstruction for throwing out trash when they are staying at the dormitory. Fortunately, I have never been noticed in such any case because I feel it is always good to be well-followed the dormitory rule.  We then went to dine our lunch in a restaurant nearby. Some of us would bring food from home because they afraid some kinds of food they don’t eat such as pork etc. because of vegetarian or religion.

The lovely view of restaurants and dishes with variety of food that are available for tourists visiting Shirakawa village to taste and enjoy.

Here are some pictures of the food and deserts. Then, after a short relax, we started to se various places, museums, shrines, temples, and some shops around.