Nuclear First Strike on Iran? Israel's Options, Time is Running Out

Ethanol in Brazil

Documentary on bio-ethanol production in Brazil from sugarcane.

鬼束ちひろ - 流星群

One of my loved Japanese singer with a wonderful voice. This is Onitsuka Chihiro with her Ryuuseigun song, a romantic lyric with a very inspiring melody. You can get a better audio version in my Imeem Best 100 playlist.

Ungu feat. Rossa - Tercipta Untukku (HQ Audio/Video)

Best lagu nih... added to my Imeem Best 100 playlist yesterday, after watching the movie Ayat Ayat Cinta. Enjoy!

Akuan Bersumpah Penyiasat Persendirian Razak Baginda

Found an interesting story about Singapore...

Things that some Singaporeans Believe!

Do you know why New Changi Hospital (NCH) changed its name to Changi General Hospital (CGH)?
Because NCH stands for "Never Come Home". That's why business was very bad before it changed its name.

Now CGH stands for "Can Go Home". So business is picking up.

Business in Singapore General Hospital (SGH) is still going strong because SGH stands for "Sure Go Home"!

Now National University Hospital (NUH) is also considering a name change. It stands for "No Use Hospital"!

What about Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH). Not too good a name, no wonder so much problem.
It stands for "Tiam Tiam Si Hospital" and now 'Tan Teo SARs Hospital".

So, be careful of choosing which hospital to go if anyone is unwell.

Reporting from IMRC 2008 Chongqing (China): Day 4

Had breakfast with Sumathi at 8:00. We should had met Liang at her hotel at 9:00 but we seems a little late, so I called her to wait at the exhibition center. Before 10:00 we met at sesion D. We took taxi to Ciqikou Ancient Town... around RMB30 from the exhibition center. Very nice place... maybe they want to keep its image like Kyoto in Japan. But China is far more civilised than any other country in East-Asia, that makes an ancient town in China more valuable for a visit than any other places in East-Asia (in my opinion lah, other people may have different view).

Took countless number of pictures and videos... and bought many souvenirs. But... alas... you know... I'm a 'kedekut' (mean) guy... all those souvenirs are for my family members, and very close friends in Japan. Others... I MUST say NO! I bring just a small amount of money here... and I'm in a very tight budget. I spent too much before coming here... new bags, new digital camera, new suit, new neck-tie, new black shoe, ... but didn't made any new girlfriend. I like to be single... having a girlfrind is tiring... it's like keeping a hamster in your room. If you don't clean it properly, your room will smell weird. A girlfrind is the same i guess... so, to play safe... being alone is a million times better. I love my life. If I had a girlfriend, it must be very hard for me to go out with my other friends, etc... it might be hard to xplain when your girlfriend get jealous, right? To me, to play safe is not "use condom", but "don't do it"!

[Update: I think I might need a girlfriend right beside me right now... my life is too lonely...]

Ohh... back to my story lah... bought a flower vase (extremely beautiful!), some "gantung-gantung" (hanging) thingy for cars, some "gantung-gantung" things to get good luck ("福"), some foods (like biscuits lah... not sure its name)... etc. The vase is very nice. I would recommend you to go to the Ciqikou if you visit Chongqing, it's a MUST!

At 19:00, Sumathi, Gadkari and I went to the muslim restaurant I went with Songying last Sunday. This time, a little wiser. I ordered a mutton hot-plate (also has meat, but Sumathi and Gadkari is Hindu, so they don't eat meat). And I ordered a Dapanji also (dapanji is like a chicked curry... with potatoes, etc inside, just like Indian curry). We got rice and Nan bread also. You know how much is it? ONLY RMB72! And it feeds 3 person, with some foods left on the table! It's damn cheap! Averyone was so excited, because we spent around RMB100 just to get a plate of nasi goreng/ vegetable curry at our hotel. The food we ate at Ciqikou was also at nearly the same price... RMB78... so generally speaking, RMB60-90 could feed around 3 persons at a good restaurants in this city. Quite OK... just like Malaysia. At cheap places, you can even get a meal at around RMB5/person, but I cannot eat pork/meat so the price I paid for what I got is just nice for me... even though I'm a little bit picky when eating. I remember what Gadkari told me a couple nights ago, "Good people should stay at a good place, and eat good foods!" I agree with that... but for me, I'll try to "Take the best at the lowest cost!" That's my "kedekut" policy... everybody knows that already... haha!

Reporting from IMRC 2008 Chongqing (China): Day 3

Listen to presentations at session D since morning. There's a talk at 12:45 about photovoltaics by US Energy ??? Department. After that, met Liang at session D, and met Sophia during evening tea. Sophia told us about where to go for a travel / souvenir bargain... we planned for Chiqikou Ancient Town next morning.

Went to see Liang's poster during her session. She's doing about XRD on GaN stress, bandgap, etc... had a very worthful discussion about method to measuer stress using RSM. It's something I wanted to know since a few month ago... she's working with a guy from Bede XRD maker... so she must have a good knowledge about XRD, must be far better than I am. A simple comment about her... she's just like Murakami-san, my colleague at Egawa Lab a few years ago...

We had dinner in the evening at 19:00. But, I was a little late because I helped Liang with her poster... I sat with researchers/students form Chinese Academy of Science... averybody spoke in Chinese, so I was the most clueless guy in that hall (I think lah...). Seram aku dibuatnyer!

Reporting from IMRC 2008 Chongqing (China): Day 2

Today, I joined the trip organized by Chongqing Science and Technology Co-operation (CSTC). The IMRC meeting itself is organized by CSTC in China, alogether with MRS in the USA. The trip started from Chongqing Exhibition and Convention Center at 13:30, when we're brought to Three Gorges Museum and Chongqing City Planning Museum. Today is my 2nd time at the Three Gorges Museum... already went there last Sunday with Songying. But this time, we make lot of jokes lah... especially among young students at the same age just like me (some are younger).

Today, I met with Sophia. Actually, she is a staff at CSTC... the one who send out the invitation letter for me a few weeks ago. How nice we can get face to face. I'm not sure one thing about Chinese girl... I think they're just too open to foreign guys like me. If they wanna took pictures, they just ask without hesitate. The opposite custome is with Japanese girls... the Japanese're more shy like Malays (in my opinion lah kan). Still wondering... maybe this only applies to Chongqing girls, because... hmmm... cannot explain too much here.

In the evening, I went out with Dr. Gadkari from Mumbai University and Sumathi from Universiti Sains Malaysia. All 3 of us bought a lot of souvenirs for our colleagues back home... maybe I bought the least because I don't want spend much on others... that's my "kedekut" policy. Nahh... normal lah, I'm a student... they're professor and lecturer. Actually, I just came back from dinner with Gadkari at Marriott Cafe downstairs. The cafe is quite good... I was charged RMB107 just for a plate of vegetable curry (with rice) and a cup of tea. Haha... dining outside is better, but most have closed when we came back from shopping. Terpaksa lahhh... (kedekut nyer aku...)

Reporting from IMRC 2008 Chongqing (China): Day 1

We have the opening ceremony of the IMRC in the morning. Chinese Minister of Science and Technology was also there and gave speech on Chinese focus on managing their energy needs. Then, we have talk from Prof. Alan Heager (nobel laurette) who gave talk on his flexible polymer solar cell research. I think, this is the direction we're moving on for the future, since it can be easily produced with roll-printing technology, at an extremely low cost! This would bring Si-based solar cell division in Sharp and Kyocera in Japan to bankrupcy!

I've great interest also on lighting for panel display. I went to E session on flat-panel display during the evening session, and heard talks from researchers at Samsung Electronics, Univ. of Florida, and others.

My poster session started at 17:30 and a researcher from LG Electronics was very interested in InGaN-based LED on Si. Actually, he was from LD group at LG, but they have abandoned the research on LD since Nichia's LD on GaN is becoming too cheap, and he said that they can get a 400 nm InGaN-based LD for Blu-ray just for 3 US dollars per piece! That's pretty cheap! He said that their group is now working on green LED, instead of blue... as the blue emitting devices is controlled by Nichia. Quite a nice information I get from him. My poster have attracted quite a number of people/companies working on III-Vs and compound materials growth and devices. The other one is from Micro Materials, a company from UK who're working on GaAs growth. The other one is a guy from Asylum Research working on Emcore MOCVD instrument. Hmmm.... I'm using instrument from Taiyo Nippon Sanso, though. Others are students from Chinese universities... wanting to know about temperature-dependence PL, HR-XRD, etc. Like to discuss with them better than those guys from companies, because they would share their problems, instead of try commercialize my solutions. Great experiences though...

Before the meeting ends, I went around the poster session and met a colleague from USM (Universiti Sains Malaysia). Haha... finally, I could find somebody to speak in Malay with! Co-incidently, she's also staying at my hotel. So, boleh la ajak jalan2 skali lepas nih... haha!

Reporting from IMRC 2008 Chongqing (China): Day 0

Now settling at JW Marriott Chongqing.

Met with Songying this morning at 9 AM (she come to my hotel), and went to People's Hall & Chongqing Museum (they're nearby). She found me the Muslim restaurant at Zhong Xing Lu (Lu means road in English), at Jiao Chang Kou. The restaurant name is Shin Jiang Tien Shan restaurant. You probably need a Chinese speaking person to understand the menu. There's a mosque just next to the restaurant. The foods're fabulous! But they're hot like crazy! We ordered 4 kinds of foods... but its too much for us to finish them all. We left almost half of them... mottinai!

Went to Chongqing Zoo afterward. Sonyging's cousin and grandfather are living just next to the zoo. She's quite familiar with the zoo, she even went there almost everyweek since her child age. We went to almost every corner of the zoo, and took many pictures too! One of the best attaction of the zoo is PANDA! But, this panda is very dirty... it's not black and white, but black and yellow in color! From that trip I also learned that Panda is a very lazy animal... especially when its get older. The younger one is very active in playing though... and they're cute!

The IMRC (International Material Research Conference) at Chongqing International Exhibition and Convention Center started at 17:00, and I went there by shuttle bus from Marriott prepared by the organizer. I met Dr. Gadkari from from Mumbai University in India, and talk a lot with him. I also met some post-graduate students from Chinese universities who're interested to know about Japan and its universities. The Chinese're shy... just like Japanese... maybe most Asian is like that, so do I. But we managed to know each other very closely... that's so great. When boarding the shuttle bus to return to the hotel, I met with Dr. Ashwaal from US Naval Research Laboratory... he talked a lot about the politics and administration in India and the US. From the language and perspective he had, I knew that he's a very capable person and brilliant. He even was at IIT (Indian Institute of Technology - said to be MIT of India).

Okay, that's all for the moment. I've to prepare for my presentation tomorrow. See ya!

How to install Windows Live Messenger/Mail/etc... when you have problems...

Actually, I have experienced this problem too. Except it was when I was REINSTALLING WLM 8.5

This is what you do:
Go to:
C:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data (in XP)
or
C:/ProgramData (in Vista)
and delete following folders: "WindowsLiveInstaller" and "WLInstaller".

Next, go to:
C:/Program Files/Windows Live (for XP and Vista)
and delete the "Installer" folder.

(remember to show hidden files before doing any of this)
Once you do that, you SHOULD be able to install WLM 8.5 with no problems.

Jejak Awang Goneng 1

Very nostalgic indeed...

Got my original invitation letter... Alhamdulillah

Alhamdulillah, semalam pukul 5 petang sampai jugak akhirnya invitation letter yg Paula Mahar dari Materials Research Society pos kat aku minggu lepas. Alhamdulillah... masa tu mmg pikiran dah berkecamuk... tgh tulih e-mail nak antar kat Paula (MRS) ngan Xuan (CSTC)... tp Alhamdulillah, kuasa Allah... tiba-tiba... Ms Watanabe dtg, "Shuhaimi-san, todokimasita (En. Shuhaimi, dah sampai)!". ... "Yatta (Cayalah)!"

Cepat2 lepas tu aku call Ms Hashimoto kat Aichi-Ka-Yuu Travel utk Chinese Visa application. Alhamdulillah, lepas tu gi office derang, apply, and boleh save JPY3,000 sbb takyah buat express application. Buat normal 4-days application jer, JPY8,000 semua skali (F-type visa).

********Rentetan Kisah Visa************

• Pegi Chinese Consulate Nagoya, diorang bg tau kena apply throughtravel agent yg dilantik, dan dpt list utk agen kat Nagoya.
• Sbb derang nak original invitation letter, aku call Ms Xuan kat Chongqing Science and Technology Commission, China supaya hantar original invitation letter tu kat address aku. Sebelum tu dah dapat yg scanned version Paula Mahar dari MRS hantar through e-mail.
• Xuan hantar kat aku on Friday, 3 hari lepas tu on Isnin, gempa bumi besar berlaku kat Shichuan (dekat jer ngan Chongqing nih)
  
• Seminggu lebih lepas tu, Paula bg tau through e-mail MRS dah terima invitation letter. Aku bg address Egawa Lab utk hantar surat tu.
• Should sampai last Wednesday... tp tunggu2 tak sampai gak.
• Call JTB Sakae Nagoya on Thursday tanya pasal Chinese Visa application, sbb syarikat yg jumpa masa kat Chinese Consulate tu cakap kena buktikan ada JPY500,000 dlm akaun utk apply visa. JTB tak sure, tp die tak buat visa application utk org yg tak beli tiket ngan derang. Tp Ms Yamamoto tu banyak bg tau maklumat tentang visa application. TERUTAMANYA, FOREIGNERS YG BERADA DI JEPUN DENGAN STATUS VISA "COLLEGE STUDENT" (aku lah tu) TAK BOLEH APPLY VISA KE CHINA GUNA TRAVEL VISA (C) STATUS. Dia cakap kalau nak buat travel visa buat dari negara asal, means Malaysia lah.
• Called Chinese Consulate Nagoya tentang status visa yg patut aku apply. Die bg tau, kalau utk international conference, tak boleh buat travel visa, kena buat VISIT VISA (F). Dan original invitation letter issued by Chinese Government kena ada utk diorang issue travel visa. Aku ada yg scanned copy jer, so takleh buat apa2. Nak apply utk visit visa (C) pun takleh. So kenalah tunggu utk original invitation letter tu sampai. Chinese consulate pun bg tau takde syarat utk buktikan miliki JPY500,000 dlm akaun utk buat visa ke China, kalau Hong Kong barulah ada syarat... tp utk Chongqing (tanah besar) takde syarat.
  
• Called Aichi-Ka-Un Travel (Chinese travel company) utk tanya pasal visa application. They're so helpful, dan banyak tolong. Diorang pun ada kaitan rapat dgn Chinese Consulate Nagoya. Diorang bg tau harga JPY8,000 utk normal, JPY11,000 utk express.
• Faxed scanned copy of the invitation letter to Chinese Consulate, and they called me immediately afterward saying OK... but they need original during application. Paling lewat apply boleh on Tuesday necxt week katanya (xpress application)... bergantung kpd agent jugak lah.
• Pagi Jumaat semalam bg tau Ms Watanabe (secretary Research Center for Nano-Device and System, Nagoya Inst of Tech) pasal surat dari MRS that I should receive this week... but she said till today x de surat lg.
• Lepas semayang Jumaat, sambung buat kerja, dah dekat pukul 5 ptg (abis waktu kerja, Watanabe san balik, means no letter will arrive anymore this week), wrote e-mail to Paula and Xuan pasal invitation letter tu. Kalau tak sampai by Monday next week aku nak suruh Xuan (CSTC) fax direct ke Chinese Consulate Nagoya.
• Alhamdulillah, sebelum sempat tekan butang "Send", Watanabe-san dtg bilik aku bg surat tu, bersama dgn borang utk diisi utk claim duit travel dan elaum makan & hotel ke China tu semua.
• Kuwar duit kat ATM, pergi print "zaigaku-syoumeisyo (certificate of existence at school/university)", terus pg Aichi-Ka-Yuu Travel utk apply.

Thanks everybody :) Love Allah :)

Parlimen Malaysia : Isu Ranking Universiti | Adik Najib

Mahathir Makan Hati Hingga Ke Negara Penjajah , Jepun

Wow! It's so high!

This is the first time I book a flight pricing more than JPY100,000. And, it's just to go to a neighbouring country!

A**M*D ******* さま

本日はご依頼ありがとうございます、重慶行きの回答です

6/7　名古屋(14:55)-重慶(20:10)

6/13　重慶(7:30)-名古屋(13:55)

料金は￥81500+tax(約20000円）　です。
5/26にチケッティングです。

上記の便にて手配できますが、予約は入れてみないとOKか
どうかわかりません、お早めにご予約くださいませ。

ありがとうございました。

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　名古屋工業大学生活協同組合　CamPla店
　旅行サービス担当　　**　**　
　TEL　052-7*1-1*4*　　FAX　052-7*3-3*1*　　大学内線　5*3*

　JR券、宿泊、国内・海外航空券等の手配はメールでも承っております
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Got my room reserved... Alhamdulillah...

My reservation for J. W. Marriott at Chongqing (China) for IMRC next month has been confirmed, with special rate offered by MRS. The staff at Chongqing even faxed me the confirmation receipt. Very warm welcome indeed.

The staff also told me that transit between airport and the hotel is around RMB100~150, more than half the limousine rate advertised by Marriott. There'll be daily transit between the hotel and Chongqing International Convention Center during the conference, so I could save some bucks there too. Alhamdulillah...

Date : May 02, 2008
Subject : Reservation Confirmation

Greetings from JW Marriott Hotel Chongqing!

May we take this opportunity to say “Thank you very much” for choosing the JW Marriott hotel Chongqing for your forthcoming visit to Chongqing.We are pleased to confirm the following reservations for you and your company:

Name of Guest : ** ** ** ** **
Arr Date/Flight : 07 Jun 08
Dep Date/Flight : 1* Jun 08
Rooms/Room Type : 1 Deluxe King
Rate Per Room : RMB600.00 including one breakfast per room per night
Confirmation No. : 88*0*0**

If we can be of any further assistance, please let us know.
All of us look forward to welcoming you to the JW Marriott Hotel Chongqing soon.

Yours sincerely from Chongqing!

Reservation Dept.

GUARANTEE & CANCELLATION POLICY
Kindly be advised that your reservation is guaranteed. Any cancellation after Apr 01, 2008 or no show, there will be one night room rate charge.
Reservation Hotline (86 23) 63001700
Reservation Fax No. (86 23) 63815217

Parlimen Malaysia = Tolong Duduk , Tolong Diam

Persidangan parlimen Malaysia yang berlangsung di "Sabah"...

Summary from NHK The Professionals

Got many good points from a programme called The Professionals aired on NHK just now. These're the tips from Mogi Kenichiro (Ph. D), to get our brain fully activated. Mogi Kenichiro is a researcher at Sony Computer System Laboratory (also teching at Tokyo Institute of Technology, and others).

How to memorize easily:
-Don't just read silently. SAY it with your mouth, and WRITE it. You can memorize easier when your body parts work for it. As what shown in the programme, both left and right brains get blood when a person memorize a word by READING, SAYING and WRITING. When he memorize by just reading the word, only A (very very) FEW PART of his right brain filled with blood. (Brain cells will get more blood when thinking / working for something).

How to get shuchuryoku at work:
-Use each short time / minute you have wisely. For example, check/correct your journal while walking / waiting for elevator, write journal while in taxi / wait. Make sure you do it in a manner that any part of your body could MOVE. The most difficult level (don't do it this way lah) is by doing it with your mind alone, such as thinking about your schedule while walking / printing. Simply spoken, let your body DO / WORK for something all the time. The more you body works, more neurons will get activated, which could finally give you more shuuchu-ryoku.

What a good instructor do?
- Homeru koto. homeru koto ni yotte, gakusei ni yaru ki wo dasu. Something (I forgot the name) will be released in the brain which give your student / partner "minat" when you "homeru" him / her. The best thing is "puji" him / her right just after he/ she did it. As an instructor, find the chance to "puji" your student!

What a good leader do when he was appointed a new uncertain project:
- Never show / tell your "buka" what you actually feel (risky / uncertain / yuragiru kimochi).

Mode-swithing. How to switch from working mode to family mode when returning home from work:
- Get relaxed, or do something than can give you relaxation, eg. get into bath-tub, change your clothes, go for a walk or play with your dog, etc.

In long-term relationship, how to avoid from getting bored with your partner:
- It's natural for a human to find / experience new thing in our life. That what makes us different than other creatures, so that human develops from time to time. We're looking / finding / researching new thing that we don't know / understand. When we get used to it, we'll change / develop so that a new thing will be built / created. However, in relationship, it's hard to change somebody or get him / her changed. Therefore, the best thing to do is by changing / developing ourself. By doing this, we'll find something that we've never found before in our partner, that finally could prevent us from getting bored with him / her. What a good answer!

Maybe I should search for his books on Amazon.jp... really interesting!