who ever wonder why the painting of Mona Lisa has been so famous?

i came across this video when i was about to find out about Mona Lisa. i think it is good for u who also have some interest in the painting. let's see what u will think. Does the painting deserve the fame? for me, YES.



n this one too. i'm sure u'll be really amazed at Davinci's works. he got a really...talent. i'm sorry i cannot put it into words.



spend some time for this clip too.



if u wanna find out more about Leonardo da vinci, here r the links.
http://www.leonardo.net/main.html#start
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/leonardo_da_vinci.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/3044/index.html
http://www.drawingsofleonardo.org/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/leonardo/

Uninteresting. No need to waste ur time reading.

oh u have come at last though u knew that it's gonna be uninteresting. if u've decided to do so, y not spent some time to go until the end then?

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Tiny Things Here
walking along the sidewalk around the school was a very nice feeling when i first came here in april. n of course it still feels the same now bcos it hasn't been, what we call, "a long time" yet. the view everywhere was really heart-warming with flowers blooming, birds flying n lots of greenery.

however, this was what i expected b4 i came here, so nothing interesting about that. what interested me more was not that beautiful nature, but the YELLOW lines along the sidewalk. some seniors who offered to come to guide me around gave different ideas to what purpose the lines were meant to serve. n at last the most logical n trustworthy claim was that they were made for blind or partially sighted people to step on. n of course it sounds really reasonable since on each line which is about 30 cm in width there r two kinds of embossed patterns, n u can feel them with ur soles. one pattern is a long bar shaped with round ends. this tells u that it is a straight line, n u can go forward. n the other pattern is round. this can tell u that it is a crossroad, or a turning point, or a stop at the traffic lights. seeing this n knowing it's purpose, i was really amazed at how thoughtful n kind japanese people were to those pitiful disabled people. n i wish we have that in our country too. with the help of these lines they can enjoy walking around taking fresh air, even though they cannot see beautiful things around. imagine if there were no these lines, how can they be able to walk alone without anyone's company? it may be hard, if possible. here in TUFS, there is a man who is visually impaired, but he can walk everywhere on his own. n he is taking classes here like other students. what is more, i've heard that he is even outstanding in his study. i really appreciate him. n he deserves to have good life as others. n to him i think the yellow lines r important to a large extent.

another thing that also interested me was that japanese people do strictly obey the rules n laws. u can see it at the traffic lights n in shops or stores or even the canteen on school campus. in my first week here, one night i happened to go out to buy sth to eat for breakfast. it was a bit late n no one was on the road except a car which was stopping at the red traffic light. it was clear that there were no other cars from the other three directions of the crossroad, but the driver didn't drive on b4 the green light appeared. on another day, i saw a car on another crossroad, but this time without traffic lights. this time too, it was clear that there were no people walking or riding bicycle or car driving pass, but the driver made his car to a complete stop b4 he drove on. i admit that if i had been him, i would have driven on without any fear of accident. but there is sth wrong with this behaviour. this may be one of the reasons that cause lots of accidents in our country. if we all help obey the traffic laws, there may be fewer accidents, n fewer people may die meaninglessly on the road. i do wish that we will change our habits from time to time. moreover, i think i really love the "Queueing" culture in the crowded place here, like in supermarkets or school canteen. at first i was a bit surprised when i first saw the line of people waiting to get into the canteen to eat their lunch. there really were lots of people but it took only a little time to get the food to eat. imagine if they hadn't queued n challenged to go first, some of them wouldn't have had anything to eat that day. so they were lucky cos they had this good habit of Queueing.

not to make u tired, i'll finish my text with this last notice. it's the frequency of saying the words "thank you" n "sorry". i really cannot count how many times i hear these two words per day. i think this is a good habit. n we should say them more often. back home, i have witnessed a lot of cases which involved these 2 simple words. but among the two, there were more cases with the word "sorry" than the word "thank you". in some cases, the word "sorry"

should have been said, so that no problem would have happened. n in some others, the word "sorry" was politely said, but problems still happened. what does this mean? what can we learn from this? for me, i learnt that some people will get satisfied with the word "sorry" n forgive us no matter how big or small our mistake to them is. or we can say this group of people r willing to forgive us, but they can do it only with a reason. n the reason is that we say "sorry" to them already. but some other people still get angry though we say "sorry" bcos they may think that with this word, the normal conditions of sth cannot be regained. n i think it is wrong to have this attitude. what i am trying to say here is that "whenever we make a mistake to people, we should always say 'sorry' . n whenever we hear a proper 'sorry', we should always forgive" after all, it is good to learn how to forgive n forget. right?

but some people may argue that "what if a person kill sb u really love, n then say 'sorry' in a very polite way, what will u do? will u forgive him?" my answer is "this is too big a mistake. n it is not the mistake i was talking about earlier. so what kind of mistake, or how big is it that we can forgive? it is up to ur common sense. n i don think it is impossible for u to judge. right? :-) "

tHis n ThaT arOund mY pLacE

Privacy to the Public

below is my private room n the views around my school. Mom n Dad, plz don worry about me. this is a very nice place, n i think i cannot find a more satisfying place than this one. n the surrounding is so refreshing. there r lots of trees n flowers everywhere. there is no time to get stress. n the people too r very nice n friendly. so there is nothing u should worry about.

my Room from the Outside In

this is my private verranda where i can hang my clothes to dry. n sometimes i enjoy looking at the views outside.

these r the views from my verranda. when i first came, there were lots of Sakura out there. very nice.

now from the Inside Out

this is my fridge. mom n dad, plz don worry about my diet. i think i have a good balance of diet. in my meal each time, there r some meat some vegetable, not either one alone. so plz don worry.

next to the fridge is the small kitchen area. i often cook by myself. i don use much oil, n my food is usually not too sweet or too salty. so nothing to worry about it.

this is my lunch today. it is not in my room. i cooked one dish n i took it to my friend's room, n we ate together there. we usually do like this, esp. in the evening.

n here is my private bathroom. lucky that i have it. in the other dorm, dorm 2, people there have to share bathroom. that's a bit inconvenient.

here is a short view from the Outside to the Inside of my room.

now Out of my room, but in the Building

a view from the dorm.

the building looks like this inside. n i m living on the 4th floor.

this is a place for laundry. i'm lazy to do the washing so i often use this machine. it's easier. n it's cheap, only 100 yen per time.

it's time to go Out of the Dorm

this building is the dorm where i live.

i'm on the way to the other buildings, like the library the JLC n the main building. look a bit sleepy here cos i've just got up from a short nap.

there r lots of trees in the school campus.

this is where i study japanese language. it's called JLC. it's the nearest building to the dorm.

this is infront of the JLC.

after JLC, we can find the canteen. the food there is delicious. i often eat my lunch there.

this is the main building where i study. lots of room there. n we have to move each session. sometimes it's a bit hard to find the room cos it's too big.

n here is the gate to the library. i m now in this 4-floor building.

GreedY GreatY SchedulE

"it's a long holiday" i thought to myself on May 1st. but today, May 7th, i said "What a short holiday!". i am now back to the normal world with no more excitement, n no more holiday planning. but still i can feel the joy left from the so-called Golden Week.

it had a good start on Saturday May 2nd, when i enjoyed my day at TACHIGAWA with Tan and Bunnarith. Tan wanted to buy an electronic dictionary, so Bunnarith suggested Big Camera at Tachigawa. after the SHOPPING was done, lunch time came. i was thankful that in this modern n expensive foreign world there was still such a nice n inexpensive shop to eat. Bunnarith called it by a bit negative-meaning word, but i thought it deserved a better name. next we spent the rest of the afternoon in a CINEMA watching a nice animation. the joyful day ended after a DINNER gathering which Pheara n Lyda also came to join. we had a professional cook there. it was Bunnarith. i was a bit surprised at how delicious his food was. maybe i've got to learn more from him.

the next morning, May 3rd, we were expecting that it was gonna be a very nice day, cos we'd planned to go to ASAKUSA n TOKYO TOWER. n of course it really was a great day as expected. i'm really grateful that some kind japanese students spent their time guiding us around.
Asakusa was a really crowded place, esp on such vacation. u'll have a strange feeling when u get there. among lots of high rise modern buildings, Asakusa shrine was so old that i felt that i entered an ancient world within just a minute. n when leaving there i felt again that i came back to the present world within a blink.
Tokyo Tower too was a great place one should visit while staying here. it's 333 m tall, n looks similar to that tower in Paris. i was a bit sursprised for the first time when i saw the tower from the train station. i hadn't expected that it was that near.

May 4th, i found myself at KICHIJOUJI doing shopping with some cambodian friends. thanks to Lyda who took us there. it was a nice view with lots of interesting-looking people, n there were lots of sales for clothing n shoes. in the late afternoon, we continued our journey to SHINJUKU where i enjoyed my window shopping. i was a bit tired with walking then, but it was nice seeing lots of strange people with various fashions. in the evening we ended up in Gut' Soul at NAKANO. this was my second time in a yakiniku (grilled meat) restautant within just a few weeks. but it was a nice n joyful dinner, so we can think about our diet later. :-)

May 5th was a resting day with the rain. i didn't go anywhere. i had planned to do lots of reading but i couldn't cos of laziness. hope i can overcome this procrastination soon. :-(

May 6th was the last day of the Golden Week. i went to eat khmer food again at MACHIDA, but this time not with my friends. i went there with my boss's wife who used to live in cambodia. there, at the restaurant, i met some japanese n khmer friends, but i didn't join them. after that i went to visit my relatives at YABE. i met them at the khmer new year party at Sagamihara n asked for their address. i spent the whole afternoon with their two lovely sons. they were cute, but so sad that they couldn't speak khmer. the only word they knew how to say was "Chumreab sour". but it's better than nothing.

The Golden Week really went fast. i wonder if such holiday will come again soon. it really is a good change when everyday what we can think of is study n homework.

wHen U BeliEvE

Many nights we pray With no proof anyone could hear. In our hearts a hopeful song We barely understood.
Now we are not afraid, Although we know there's much to fear. We were moving mountains long Before we knew we could.

There can be miracles When you believe. Though hope is frail, It's hard to kill.
Who knows what miracle You can achieve? When you believe, Somehow you will. You will when you believe.

In this time of fear, When prayer so often proves in vain, Hope seems like the summer birds Too swiftly flown away.
And now I am standing here. My heart's so full, I can't explain. Seeking faith and speaking words, I never thought I'd say

There can be miracles When you believe (When you believe). Though hope is frail, It's hard to kill.
Who knows what miracle You can achieve? (You can achieve) When you believe, Somehow you will. You will when you believe.

They don't always happen when you ask
And it's easy to give in to your fear
But when you're blinded by your pain
Can't see you way safe through the rain
Thought of a still resilient voice
Says love is very near

There can be miracles (miracles)
When you believe (When you believe)
Though hope is frail
It's hard to kill

Who know what miracles
You can achieve (You can achieve)
When you believe
Somehow you will
You will when you believe
You will when you believe
You will when you believe
Just believe
You will when you believe