Saturday 31 October 2009

McDonald's in Japan..

As I wake up in the early morning getting ready for a very long day of continuous heavy work, I made a new discovery. McDonald's sells the very best coffee I have ever tasted. Not only that, it contains an amount of caffeine enough to keep me awake throughout the whole day.

In addition to that discovery, there is another one. McDonald's in Japan is not a fast food restaurant, but a restaurant where you sit and spend a long time eating and doing your own activities, including sleeping!

For example, inside McDonald's there is a free WiFi connection for those who wish to play Nintendo DS. So you can find lots of people who finish their meals then sit there playing DS for a long time. Also, if you visit McDonald's in the very early morning you will notice people sleeping inside. Those people are the ones who most probably had a long night partying then missed the last train, so they go to McDonald's instead of staying in the street and sleep there! They spend the whole night sleeping and then take the first train early in the morning back home (or back to work!).


The picture is from boingboing.net

Note: As far as my knowledge goes, McDonalds in Japan is not considered halal so basically I do not eat any meat there. I buy only coffee or ice cream.

Sunday 25 October 2009

الصين: الهبوط من الجنة الى الارض


اعذروني فما سأتحدث فيه اليوم لا يصلح الا ان اتحدث به بالعربية. ففعلا ما شاهدت و رأيت و أحسست جعلني ادرك انني عشت تجربة لا أقدر على وصفها الا كالهبوط من الجنة الى الارض.

فقد هبطت من جنة تعيش فيها كل حقوق الانسان الى مكان تشك ان ساكنه انسان. هبطت من من جنة تزخر بالامان الى ارض القانون فيها شريعة الحيوان. اصبت بصدمة ثقافية ايجابية حينما رايت و شاهدت اليابان بابداعاتها و نظامها و شعبها ، و ها أنا اليوم أصاب بصدمة ثقافية سلبية حينما غادرت اليابان و انتقلت لاسبوع واحد الى الصين.

الصين. تلك الامبراطورية العملاقة التي طالما هابها و ما يزال العالم. الصين ، التي علمونا انها قاب قوسين او ادنى من ان تحكم الارض. أقول فأطمئنكم، ما زال امامها شوط طويل كي تلحق او حتى كي تقارن باليابان او بدول اقل مرتبة من اليابان و غيرها. لم يحتج الامر سوى نصف ساعة على ارض الصين كي ادرك انني هبطت من الجنة الى الارض. فكما احتاج الامر الى نصف ساعة كي ادرك ان اليابان هي جنة الكرة الأرضية ، أيضاً احتاج الامر نصف ساعة او اقل لأدرك ما أدركته عن الصين تعرضت خلالها الى محاولة اختطاف و محاولة نصب و احتيال. نعم في نصف ساعة حدث كل هذا على الرغم من انه لو لم يحدث لما تغير رأيي قيد أنملة لما رأيته من الصين كدولة.

Saturday 17 October 2009

A kotatsu is your weapon to face winter in Japan!

In Japan houses are made of wood. Even buildings in Tokyo, they are still made of wood. Wooden houses mean lots of holes, and incapability to preserve heat inside the house, and a very cold house in winter.

As winter is approaching fast, we have to think of a way to preserve heat inside the house, you know to save the environment, and more importantly -honestly!!- to save our pockets!

A Kotatsu is an ideal solution for this problem. Let me now introduce you to a kotatsu.


Sunday 4 October 2009

Acknowledgement...




In the name of Allah, the all mighty god, the one and only one, I hereby start my thesis.

Praises to Allah, for his mercy upon me. For his generous gifts of health and brain which allowed me to proceed higher studies at one of the best universities in the world, University of Tokyo.

Praises to Allah, for gifting me with a perfect wife, my supporter through this journey. Thank you Randa for all your support and your cheers through the difficult times of research. Thank you, for your acceptance to accompany me in Japan, while you knew I will always be busy, away from you, working in my laboratory. You went through a hard time, spending most of your time alone while I progressed in my research connecting days with nights, but you only greet me with a smile and a welcoming heart, when I knock your door. Thank you, for making your house, my home.

I deeply thank and raise the hat for my supervising professor, Prof. Ikeda for his continuous teaching and support. Each time I sit with him, I gain a huge amount of knowledge not only in my research field but also in life. His welcoming helped me to settle in Japan and feel it like home, while His teaching provided me with solid knowledge and helped me to become a better Electrical Engineer. This work could have never been achieved except for the guidance I received from him.

I also thank Prof. Asada for his guidance and support throughout the research, and his fatherly advices to help me become a better researcher. All the thanks for Prof. Nakura for his help during my experimental research and measurement. He was always open for any questions, and his words were fulfilling answers.

My appreciation and respect for Dr. Abbas, for his support. He tended to calm me down during rough times, and his experience in our field could help me through complicated situations by providing me his suggestions. He is like an older brother, always there when you need him. I also thank Dr. James Tandon for his support during the start my Masters, and for his precious advices.

I send my thanks to Jordan, for Dr. Khamis, for his fatherly support and help in any matter I need, and for Dr. Yaser for helping me when I got married and supporting me like his son.

I thank all my lab members and research-mates for the friendly environment and healthy atmosphere that makes research and creativity easier.

In addition, I can never forget the trust of Yamashita-san, or the faith of Kobayashi-sensei in me. I can never forget how Taymour-sensei helped choose my desired field, or how Saqf-san helped me through the difficult transition of starting a new life in Japan.

Finally, no words can describe my appreciation for my father, god bless his soul, who wished before he died to see me holding a higher education degree. And my mother, who provided me with everything I needed since I was a child until I left the house coming to Japan. Without her, getting a professional degree would have been impossible. I thank her for all the prayers she has made to help me through my research.


I feel so proud of that picture above..
But now is not the time to stand still...
Let me go back to research my way into PhD..