Wakayama Road Trip

Another road trip of the year. I think I told someone I'll try not to take any trip this year since I did quite some much last (academic) year already. But well... I still found my way to hit the road again. I guess it is in my instinct! haha.

This trip, I have to thank P'Taew, my really good friend here who organized everything for us. Also for the Senrioka House members to arrange transportation and P'Jung for our yummy food.

We crashed at Senrioka House for a night before taking off early morning on Saturday (6/25). After a few hours drive and got a bit lost, we made our way to Shirahama Beach, a white sand beach along the coast of Wakayama Prefecture. Someone said that the sand there is pure white because it's imported from Australia. How true is it? ;-) (I think it's probably true though.. hee hee) We spent I don't know how long at the beach swimming out there. It was actually my first time swimming with all those funky looking floating stuff. (It's obviously not the tube - how do you call that?!?!) We played some ball games and traced back to our childhood 'Balloon' game we meant to play at the Kansai Student Sport Day a few weeks back but unfortunately did not. It was pretty fun and yeah.. my team won too!! ;-)

After having enough of the sea water, we started moving our butts over to the hilly side of Wakayama. The drive we took was totally into the forrest and it took probably 2-3 hours for just a 40 kilo distance. But as you can see, there weren't that many cars around, so we had plenty of fun times taking pictures along the road. :)　The trees surrounding the area were SOOOO green. Really mind-refreshing! We ended up at 'Hyakugen Sankeidani Camp Jo' , our destination around 7 p.m. The place was super duper nice. We were so happy cuz it took us a really long time to get there, but it was in the middle of nowhere. So glad it turned out to be a very impressive camp ground. There were a few bangalows, but only 2 or 3 occupied when we arrived. The bangalow we rented was for 10-people use. The terrace was overlooking a beautiful stream with dining table enough to fit all 10 of us and the BBQ set. Actually there were BBQ area provided for us, but we prefered to stay at the back terrace and enjoyed ourselves more. It didn't take us that long to get settled down and started our long awaited dinner. P'Jung brought us raw papaya, so we had a REAL Som~ Tum (papaya salad). Just mention all the required ingredients - we had them all! :9

After filling up our stomach, you know what we did! ...
We also had an acoustic guitar session too. hee hee. Maybe that was how I lost my voice over the past week?!?! =P

The morning came... we got ready pretty fast in the morning and kept quite a good time control, meaning to leave early for our main dish 'rafting' at the border of Wakayama and Nara Prefecture. But well, unfortunately, we had to change our plan, so we ended up going to Marine City in Wakayama City instead. We stopped by this Fish Market nearby Marine City for lunch. The raw fish there was REALLY GOOD!!! You see it yourself! ;-)

After lunch we took a little walk around the fishing area, then enjoyed our soybean ice cream while resting for a while. On the way back, we stopped by Rinku Town for a little shopping. It was so interesting seeing how Japanese take care of the disables. Everywhere you go, there are always services for them. We got the wheelchairs for our injured Ae everywhere we stopped by that day, got the priority parking spot right by the entrance and so on. We jokingly said that the next time we go somewhere, we should make one of our friends the disable, so we could get all those priorities! nah.. nah.. it was just a joke. We aren't that cruel!! =P


We reached back to Senrioka pretty late that night, just right on time to return our rental car. I didn't get back home to Kyoto until nearly midnight. So exhausted, but yet a very fun and experienced trip. I think we got it all!

(Trip Details)
Destination: Shirahama Beach, Hyakugen Sankeidani Camp Ground, Marine City (Wakayama Prefecture) and Rinku Town Outlet Mall (Osaka)
Date: June 25-26, 2005
Trip members: pTaew, pTum, pJung, Ae, He, Taweii, Ple, Poy, Jill and me

หากันจนเจอ

Artist:　กบ ทรงสิทธิ์ + กบ เสาวนิตย์
Album:　Mars & Venus

สิ่งที่ฉันหวัง สิ่งที่ฉันคอย
อาจดูเหมือนเลื่อนลอย เกือบจะฝันไป
มองหาคนคนหนึ่ง ที่ไม่รู้เป็นใคร
และไม่รู้ว่าเมื่อไหร่ จะพบคนผู้นั้น

ส่วนชีวิตฉัน บอกเลยว่ามี
เจอะคนที่แสนดี อยู่ทุกๆวัน
เพียงแค่ไม่มีใคร ที่จะฝันตรงกัน
แต่ว่าฉันมั่นใจ จะพบในไม่ช้า

* อาจบางทีในเมืองกว้างใหญ่
หมอกและควันช่วยกันพรางตา
มีขอบรั้วขอบกำแพงสร้างมา
ตึกระฟ้าคอยบังเราอยู่

** แต่เราก็หากันจนเจอ
มันนานแค่ไหนที่คอยเธอมา
รู้สึกไหมว่าชีวิตคุ้มค่า
เมื่อมีใครสักคนข้างกาย

*** เกิดมาเพื่อหาใครคนหนึ่ง
เป็นคนที่ฟ้าสร้างมาตรงใจ
เราต่างรู้โลกมันแสนกว้างใหญ่
แต่มันคงไม่ยากเกินไปที่ฉันจะพบเธอ

อาจมีสักครั้งที่เราสองคน
ผ่านทางที่วกวน อยู่ใกล้ๆกัน
ใบไม้เพียงใบหนึ่งหล่นตอนที่เดินผ่าน
ฉันคงจะมองมันเมื่อเธอเดินผ่านมา

* / ** / ***



(Courtersy of www.kapook.com)

losing my voice

And yeah... my cold never went away. I thought it kinda did. Or maybe it did, but because I went away over the weekend for a roadtrip making it come back?? Well... anyways... the result now is that I completely lost my voice! Someone said there are strange types of sickness out there recently. I think so too. I don't usually lose my voice catching a cold until a few years back. And imagine a talkative me ending up not being able to speak properly!!! It's kinda annoying in a way, don't you think? But I think the people surrounding me are more annoyed by my voice though. =P hee hee.

Watching the fireflies...

Have you ever heard any story about fireflies when you were young? I did when I was a kid. There is a famous Thai novel that has been turned into a big drama hit in my country and part of it talks about fireflies waiting for their soulmates. I always remember that story along with another song by the group called 'Cha Lieng' when I see them.

This time of the year is the time for fireflies watching in Japan. They only come out for a week or so right before summer starts. I went to see them with my friend's host family near their house on the way to Hiesan after a really good homemade yakiniku dinner yesterday. While the stories of fireflies ran through my mind, it striked me that it has been a year already that I saw fireflies the last time. (That time was with Eriko and her friends near Ginkakuji). It didn't seem that long ago at all. So two years, two times, with two groups of people, at two different places. I wonder where I will end up seeing fireflies again next year...

What do you do when your computer crashes?

So yeah.. I'm without my computer now. So sad a story to say...

I had a feeling my computer wasn't working properly. So I rescanned my harddisk, ran the spyware and all. Nothing seemed strange, but still fearing I would lost all data, I started backing up my files right away. So there goes from the picture folder -- figuring that other folders like music or movies I still can reload from somewhere. School works? Well, I have them kept some much in my mailbox. Other on the list would be something like address book, non-school work files and so on. But guess what?!?!?! The computer just crashed again during the back-up process!!! No matter how I tried to reboot the harddisk, nothing went right. I waited until this morning for the computer to cool down overnight, but nothing better happened. I called the service center, problems still remained. Last choice -- use the recovery disk. Really do I have to let go all the yet-to-be-backed-up files?? YESSSSSSS, went the answer. Left with no choices, I inserted the disk in my computer. Guess the harddisk was really a problem cuz it still didn't even booth with the given recovery disk and now I have my computer left with missing operation system! Gonna send to the shop tomorrow... and until I get my computer back, I have to cope with fact that I lost all the photos from my Canada trips I have yet to put on the online album.

So poor me....

Feel the Heat!

And who said Japan is not hot?

This year is my second year experiencing the heat in Japan. (Well, I cannot really say it that straight away though cuz I escaped back to a much cooler Bangkok at that time of the year last year.) The hottest month is supposed to be August. But even now, only June, the weather is getting super duper hot that it's getting to the point a lot of people can't bear anymore. The heavy use of aircon has already come into play.

A lot of people, especially Japanese, wonder why do Thais complain about being in the heat when Thailand is supposed to be hotter than Japan. The simple answer to that is 'Because under such heat, we find our ways to stay pretty much inside the air-conditioned buildings'. Those who have been to Thailand, Bangkok in particular, often ask why department stores and office buildings always put on too heavy air-con. That, I also don't know (not that I don't know why we need aircon, but I don't know why it has to be that strong - you need at least a cardigan to be comfortable in such temperature). I also am starting to question the same thing here in Kyoto though. The weather is super hot outside, but when I'm in my university or supermarkets, I feel a bit freezing! Guess there is no optimal balance to it. We've seen this in winter too - super cold outside, but super heater power indoors.

Speaking of winter, don't you think earth is amazing? The cold then was just unbelievable and it's funny to think that at the exact same place but different time of the year, it can be this unbelievable hot!

The heat is here, but the hottest is yet to come...

International Student Party at Department of Economics, Kyoto University

Last week, there was an international student party at my department and I was asked to perform something. The 3 Thais at my department (Pear, Wan and me) decided to perform some Thai Music. I was with my Khim, Pear was with Klui and Wan was our special singer for the night. :)


First Perfomance was 'Lao Duang Duean'.


Second Performace was with Pear and Wan. We did 'Loi Kratong' =)

lovely wedding of my beloved sister

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Being a Japanese

Today I had a short talk with my Japanese friend when we went for a short coffee/tea break after class. It has caught my attention for a while but never had I have a chance to ask anyone until today. 'Why do Japanese people don't talk about their lives?', there it went my question.

A lot of us who live in Japan probably feel it more or less that it's quite difficult to make close friends with the Japanese. They tend not to reveal who they really are in which makes it hard for you to guess what they have in mind. I personally have a lot of Japanese friends, but I have to admit that Japanese friends I made along the way are quite different from Japanese friends I met here in Kyoto.

So there went my question directed at my Japanese friend and the explanation I received was that...'Japanese (I'm not sure if I can generalize, but let's based that on what my friend said.) are educated at their young age that they shouldn't be showing any expression or saying anything according to their true feeling if it has a tendency to contradict what people in the group do. They close the chance of being discovered that they are different from the surrounding environment. It goes as detailed as what to order for drinks! If the whole group goes for coffee, you tend to go for coffee too (eventhought you hate it real bad!) They take time to look at who they tend to be able to share their feelings with. But it is easier for them to share it with someone who is not from the same group, believing that the chance of coming across being discrimated in that group is lessen...'

No wonder Japanese are so hard to read, I thought. The above example is probably an extreme one though, but it does exist. Though they are open to be friends with anyone, it takes time for them to buy into who they think they can share their true feelings with. To the extreme - whether they will? I wonder if they have to be this concerned in living their lives, won't they easily go insane? Or is that the reason why you see a lot of Japanese committing suicide?

I really wonder whether they ever wanted to be accepted as who they really are for at least once in their lives...

Thai prime minister faces graft scandal

By Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK: Four months after he was re-elected by an unprecedented majority, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra faces a corruption scandal the outcome of which could define the tone of his second term in office. The question this has given rise to is: will Thaksin and his party become absolute rulers? Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thai, TRT) party has sufficient seats in the 500-member parliament to avoid being subject to a censure motion by the opposition Democrat party. Such motions launched by the opposition have traditionally served as a pivotal mechanism to check the power of the government.

The current edge enjoyed by the TRT — it has 377 seats in the legislature — means that for the first time in this South-east Asian nation’s young democracy a governing party will be above this parliamentary form of accountability. “It is a very dangerous situation,” a professor of political science from Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University told IPS, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We have never experienced a government like this before, which is beyond censure.”

The smugness that such political security brings was evident all this week as Thaksin and a senior government minister declared that there was no trail of bribes paid during the purchase of expensive security equipment for the country’s new airport.

On Tuesday, Thaksin told reporters that a report by a government-appointed team to investigate the airport security-scanners scandal would exonerate government officials and politicians of the alleged corruption charge. And when the contents of that 800-page report were revealed on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Visanu Krue-ngarm supported its conclusions by making public a letter from the US Justice Department. The letter stated that there was no evidence of kickbacks to Thai officials during the sale of 26 CTX9000 explosive-detection scanners.

Yet critics of the government are not convinced, since a fundamental issue at the heart of this scandal remains unresolved: the discrepancies in the prices of the equipment offered by InVision, the US supplier of the equipment, and the amount officials at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport paid to Patriot Business Consultants Co. Ltd., a Thai firm that brokered the deal.

InVision had offered the 26 security machines for 35.8 million US dollars to Patriot, which resold the equipment to the new airport’s authorities for 46 million dollars. “There has been some price rigging. The government has still to provide answers why there is a difference in price,” Nirand Pithakwatchara, a ranking member on the Senate committee conducting an independent investigation into the scanner deal, told IPS.

“The US Justice Department may have no evidence of corruption on their side, but we have a lot of evidence about what happened in Thailand,” he added. “This case is far from over. Something went wrong and the system must be exposed.”

Such pressure from the Senate could help strengthen the only available alternative for the Thai public to hold the Thaksin administration accountable in this scandal. That is to launch a campaign to secure at least 50,000 signatures to introduce a motion in parliament aimed at impeaching Suriya Jungrungreankit, the minister of transport, whose name has been linked to this alleged corrupt deal.—Dawn/IPS News Service

ถ้าปล่อยให้เธอเดินผ่าน

วันนี้มาอารมณ์จิ๊กโก๋แซวสาว...


Artist: Groove Riders
Album: Love is Vol.1
Label: Love is Music

ดีไหม หากเราลองรู้จักกัน
พูดและคุยในช่วงเวลาสั้นๆ
ไม่ต้องผูกมัดอะไร แค่รู้จักกันเท่านั้น

ฟังแล้ว อาจดูเจ้าชู้หลอกลวง
อยากจะรับรองว่าเธอไม่ต้องเป็นห่วง
ฉันไม่ได้หวังอะไร อยากบอกให้เธอมั่นใจ

* ถ้าไม่ทำอย่างนี้ แล้วปล่อยให้เธอเดินผ่าน
ฉันไม่รู้ว่าอนาคตจะเสียใจแค่ไหน ช้ำใจเท่าไหร่
ถ้ารู้ว่าฉันได้พลาดความรักที่แท้

รู้ไหมฉันไม่ทำแบบนี้กับใคร
ฉันต้องรวบรวมสะสมความกล้าสักเท่าไหร่
ขอล่ะ ขอคนดี อย่าเดินจากเดินหนีไป

* ถ้าไม่ทำอย่างนี้ แล้วปล่อยให้เธอเดินผ่าน
ฉันก็ไม่รู้ว่าจะได้พบเจอเธออีกหรือไม่
ช้ำใจเท่าไหร่ หากรู้ว่าฉันได้พลาดความรักที่แท้

ดีไหม หากเราลองรู้จักกัน
คงจะดีนะ ถ้าเธอได้รู้จักฉัน
ดีไหม เราได้รู้จักกัน
ดีนะ หากเธอได้รู้จักฉัน

Self-Discipline: Acceptance

Here’s a list of challenges to get you thinking about where you stand right now (in no particular order):

* Do you shower/bathe every day?
* Do you get up at the same time every morning? Including weekends?
* Are you overweight?
* Do you have any addictions (caffeine, nicotine, sugar, etc.) you’d like to break but haven’t?
* Is your email inbox empty right now?
* Is your office neat and well organized?
* Is your home neat and well organized?
* How much time do you waste in a typical day? On a weekend?
* If you make a promise to someone, what’s the percentage chance you’ll keep it?
* If you make a promise to yourself, what’s the percentage chance you’ll keep it?
* Could you fast for one day?
* How well organized is your computer’s hard drive?
* How often do you exercise?
* What’s the greatest physical challenge you’ve ever faced, and how long ago was it?
* How many hours of focused work do you complete in a typical workday?
* How many items on your to do list are older than 90 days?
* Do you have clear, written goals? Do you have written plans to achieve them?
* If you lost your job, how much time would you spend each day looking for a new one, and how long would you maintain that level of effort?
* How much TV do you currently watch? Could you give up TV for 30 days?
* How do you look right now? What does your appearance say about your level of discipline (clothes, grooming, etc)?
* Do you primarily select foods to eat based on health considerations or on taste/satiety?
* When was the last time you consciously adopted a positive new habit? Discontinued a bad habit?
* Are you in debt? Do you consider this debt an investment or a mistake?
* Did you decide in advance to be reading this blog right now, or did it just happen?
* Can you tell me what you’ll be doing tomorrow? Next weekend?
* On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your overall level of self-discipline?
* What more could you accomplish if you could answer that last question with a 9 or 10?

====================================================
'Discipline', a word all students in upper education should be familiar with. Somebody once told me...

'It (discipline) is all you need to graduate with!'

Agree or Disagree?
====================================================

something to remind ourselves...

Kyoto style Kabuki experience

I got a chance to go see a traditional kabuki performance with Trang, my Vietnamese friend the other day. I thought I might have fallen asleep judging from what I heard a Kabuki is like, but it turned out to be magnificantly fabulous. One great expereience here!

Kabuki performance by 'Kamogawa Odori', a traditional Kyoto style by geisha. This one was the story of 'Monogusa Soushi' (lazy man).


beautiful dress, but probably hard to move, huh?


kabuki live music


The performance came in 2 acts. The 2nd Act was a set of traditional dances under the theme of 'Enjoying Kyoto Spring'

Thanks Trang for inviting me along!! ;-)
(Performance was held at PontoCho Kabuki theater - 05/23/05)

Mai meeting Maiko

Some says you come to Kyoto to see Maiko-san. Some comes and isn't lucky enough to see them. I live in Kyoto, so I don't have to find my way here. but if I see a maiko-san, meaning I'm lucky? That.... I don't really know. But having a chance to see them upclose for this long, I think that was something =)


tea ceremony by Maiko-san

'Kirameki no Mai'

'Kirameki no Mai' is an annual presentation of students from 'Nataleela Thai cultural center' based in Osaka. This year was the 6th and event was held at Purera Building, Nishinomiya Kitaguchi, Kobe on May 22, 2005


I was seated behind the scene, narrating the story of a girl who went and experienced thai culture, music and dance in Thailand. This was my very very first time to do something with my voice (aside from singing) in public =P (good or bad??)


All performers for 'the 6th Kirameki no Mai'. very colorful!