From Chulalongkorn University to Kanda Lab, Tokyo Tech, Japan Sep 09 - March 10.
RatthachatChatpatanasiri, i.e. Jung.
Fig 1. Chulalongkorn University, the place where I worked before going
to Tokyo Tech. I hope you come here someday too!
Eri-chan asked me to write something for the lab's web page. Therefore, I write this article which is about my memorable moments staying with members of Kanda Lab. It is written in a semi-random order.
How could I and Kanda lab meet?
In May 2009, while I was waiting for journal publications in order to graduate from Chulalongkorn University, I saw an announcement of the JENESYS program which allows a graduate student to visit Japan to conduct a research related to environmental science. After deciding to apply the program, I then had to choose one of the IDE laboratories. Without any knowledge of any labs in IDE, my selection of Kanda lab is purely destiny. My trick was that I looked at the member page of every lab, and found that Kanda lab's members are cutest!!(everyone looks so happy). When looking back, I think my trick was success.
Fig 2. You can see that they look so happy! (at this time Alvin and I were
not in the page)
In July 2009, I received a piece of good news from Prof. Kumiko Yokoi that my application was passed and my life at Kanda lab would begin from September 2009. I was so grateful to know that!
A Search for Dinner
I had a little difficulty eating various kinds of Japanese food; this is because they are too plain for me as in Thailand I usually eat food with strong tastes. Realizing this fact, Inagaki-san, Rai-rai and Makoto often brought me to various restaurants so that I can try various different kinds of food. Alvin and Eri-chan usually joined me, and Cris-san and Ken-ken also joined me sometimes. Together with the companions, I felt like I had a dinner with my family almost everyday. Thank you!!
My top 5 favorite food (and drink) in Japan are Yakiniku, Hoikoro, Tantanmen, Okonomiyaki, and Yakitori. Of course, I cannot forget to mention about the "Sapporo beer" highly recommended by Inagaki-san and Rai-rai.
After dinner, Makoto and Eri-chan sometimes started a series of funny gossips about each member in the lab. Please ask them for details if you want to know!
Fig 3. Examples of my happy dinner.
The SET Course
The JENESYS program asked me to enroll the SET (Sustainable Engineering Technology) course. The course taught me a lot of new and exciting stuffs which previously unknown to me; more importantly, the course gave me a chance to meet a great number of friends. Specifically, three members of Kanda lab took the course: me, Alvin and Eri-chan. It was extremely fortunate that we were in the same group and responsible in the same project, the eco-house for Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. It was extremely funny working with Alvin and Eri-chan. At the end of the course, we had a 1-night trip to Nippon Steel, Chiba, which was truly impressive. This trip strengthened our relationship even greater than ever before.
Fig 4. Due to everyone's efforts, our team got the best presentation prize,
yeah!
Thesis Defend for B4 and M2 students
Min-min, Rai-rai, Ken-ken, Shimoju and Yamashita-san (or Yoshimi-chan) had a very hard time completing their theses. About 2 months before their thesis defends, they always came to the lab before me and went back to their homes after me (note that my usual lab time is about 11:00 - 21:30, and Min-min house is in Yokohama!); hence, it seemed to me that they didn't go back at all! At the end, due to intensive practice, they provided the audience their perfect performances. Congratulation to them all! Nevertheless, it is very unfortunate that I didn't stay in Tokyo on their graduation day. :__(
Fig 5. In the first picture, at Rai-rai presentation, there are five lab's
members, in this picture. Can you find them all?
Shopping @ Akihabara and Shibuya
The place I often visit the most in Tokyo are perhaps Akihabara and Shibuya. Makoto (Mackt or Macky) was the first who introduced me the "mysterious world" at Akihabara , and I copied his introduction for Min-min. There, with the helps of Mackt, Eri-chan and Min-min, I bought my G11 camera and my mom's hair curler+dryer. I also asked Mackt to brought me to the maid café; at first, he looked hesitated, but when we got inside, I think he had a lot of more fun compared to me. :p
I also enjoyed shopping at Shibuya. There, I bought my iPod nano, the Panasonic's GF-1 46mm filter and my gf's DHC stuffs. Shibuya was indeed the last resort for having dinner with any friends who came to visit me.
Fig 6. Akihabara and Shibuya!
Other Stories
I had many great times talking and hanging out with the lab's members. The memorable moments were too many to put here. For examples, my first IMAX experiences with Mackt, singing with Rai-rai and Alvin, discussing about stock markets with Ken-ken and Shimoju, talking about politics and religions with Mini-min, Takky and Onomin; Most importantly, gossiping about some members with some members (this is actually a secret ^___^). The welcome party, Christmas party and farewell party were so impressive as you can see in the Japanese pages.
In any cases, I will stop here with a single sentence, that is, I miss you all!