Tag Archives: academia

A walk in Tokyo

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Muravej

We woke up late and arrived at the restaurant for breakfast at 9:30 AM. “We will have a wedding party from 12 PM. The restaurant will be closed at 10 AM.”, they said at the entrance. So we rushed to the dishes for breakfast. It was a busy breakfast, although the view of Tokyo from the windows was good. After the breakfast, I bought presents for the anniversary and gave them to Katya. Tokyo Marathon was held today.  Katya and I watched the race. A Japanese runner, Arata Fujiwara, made a good race to win the silver medal. We then checked out and headed for the Imperial palace. I was thinking … Continue reading →

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Second presentation day and Valentine’s day

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Muravej

The second day of the presentation for the master’s degree started from 9 AM. Today is special; my student is presenting. At 10 AM, the student started a 20-min presentation followed by 10-min questions & answers. I chaired. He was very nervous and did not look confident. I became nervous, too. After the presentation, the professors of a wide range of field started to ask questions. I became more nervous. To my surprise, the student did not answer well; he did EXCELLENT. He understood what the professors were trying to ask and answered perfectly! I was thrilled. From 3:40 PM, there was the final oral examination. This time, two professors … Continue reading →

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Smart out of form, Dohshinboh dinner, Never-laugh hotel

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Muravej

Smart makes noise. I took it to Yanase Kofu. They said it could be because of bearings. I will take Smart on February 1; they will let us use an A-class during the repair. In the evening, we went to Dohshinboh Chinese restaurant for the first time this year. I took a glass of complementary Chinese rice wine. Appetizers.    Combos.    This Chinese restaurant is very good; prices are low but qualities are high. We will visit if often. In the evening, we watched a DVD comedy, “Never laugh in this hotel”. Katya is fond of this “Never-Laugh” series.

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Real estate meeting in Tokyo

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Muravej

In the evening, I went to Tokyo for an annual meeting of the Hongo apartment. Before the meeting, I went to the apartment in Shibakoen to check the bicycles.    They were not yet arranged in a proper way.  Moreover, more bicycles than registered.  I sent an e-mail to the real-estate managing company about the situation. Then I went to Shinjuku, and had a pork cutlet for dinner at Wako. . In the meeting for the Hongo apartment, there were four people. We talked about the schedules for the year. After the meeting, I went out of the building to find that Tokyo became much brighter than that after the … Continue reading →

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Plenary talk successful

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Muravej

My talk started at 11:25 AM.  I had to finish my talk in 35 minutes for the questions, and I had to shorted the last part.  Other than that, it was successful. I answered the questions with no problem. Everybody came to tell me he enjoyed my talk. So I became happy, although I was half asleep. I took lunch with an American professor, whose lab I worked at during the sabbatical.  It was more than 5 years ago.  He was healthy but I felt he became older. In the afternoon, I nodded during the conference.  I am sorry but I could not help it. In the evening, five professors … Continue reading →

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Business trip to Tokyo on Saturday

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Muravej

In the morning, I took a bus to Tokyo; there would be real estate and academic meetings. The bus left at 7:30 PM. I had a hamburger for breakfast in the bus. From Shinjuku, I took trains to Akabanebashi, Minato Ward. From the exit of the station, Tokyo Tower can be seen. Then, I walked to the apartment, in which I have a studio. I looked around, inside and outside. Bicyles were not properly parked.    I took photos to show to the managing company. On the way back to Akabane Station, I walked through Shiba Park.    It was a small but quiet park in a busy Tokyo area. … Continue reading →

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Tennis in Kiyosato for refreshing

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Muravej

We went to Kiyosato in the afternoon. In “Kiyosato no Mori“, Maya-san dug a hole, while Katya took pictures of her. There, we went to a restaurant “Hickory Farms“. We shared salad and Okonomi Yaki (for Okonomi Yaki, AdelaideBen posted a good article with a recipe). The salad was simply cut vegetables and dressings, but the taste of the vegetables was rich.    After finishing late lunch, we played tennis.  There were only two of us. It was a good exercise to refresh my body. On the way back home, Katya bought two cacti. Katya is planning to make a small “cactus farm” in the apartment.

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Jingisukan BBQ Party

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Muravej

An ex-PhD student of mine from Hokkaido was graduated from the university last March.  Fortunately, he found the job before the earthquake struck. His enrollment to the company was very fortunately not canceled.  And more (or the most) fortunately, he earns 70% of his salary without working for the company, because it was the company that asked him to wait for the recovery of the factories from the damage by the earthquake; beauty of a traditional Japanese company management. Anyway the ex-students, presently staying with his parents in Hokkaido, sent us 10 kg of meat for Jingisukan (check AdelaideBen’s site, whose post is more precise and practical about Jingisukan than … Continue reading →

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Recruiting a student

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Muravej

In Japan, university students normally look for jobs in the final year of their academia.  If they find ones, they start working in April.  If they can not find their jobs in the final year, they will be in trouble: normally they stay in school for one more year for the occasion next year. I am taking care of one Ph.D student, who is graduating next March.  Therefore, he is looking for a working position now. He wanted to work for a car company, but because of the earthquake, car companies stopped hiring new workers.  Moreover, the job situation in general became very bad. Director of our institute is a … Continue reading →

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School year is ending

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Muravej

School year ends in March in Japan.  We are getting ready for sending students out from academia. My PhD student did OK.  He finished with his thesis.  He is still carrying out his experiments for his last paper.  Katya and I will hold a farewell party for him. Master students and senior students do their graduation presentations, too, and we will help them. I am organizing a meeting in a conference with six Chinese and six Japanese.  One Japanese participant has not been decided and I have been sending e-mails and calling one by one. My ex-boss got a big prize in another scientific society, and I will try to … Continue reading →

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