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September 24, 2016

Phnom Penh to Bangkok by Bus

Vuthy 2:47:00 PM How To , Review 2 Comments

There are a lot of options for travelers to choose when it comes to traveling from Phnom Penh to Bangkok. I myself experienced in travelling both by air and road to Bangkok. When it comes to travelling on the road, I have to be aware because different means will lead to high or low range of comfort and time spent for travelling. Now let’s say bus is your option, and here I am going to tell you one of the best bus options that you should consider.

Nattakan is a Thai bus company that cooperates with Rith Muny transportation company in Cambodia. Thus, when you choose this bus, you will have to buy its ticket at Rith Muny office which is nearby Gloria Jeans riverside. It costs $25 per ticket if you buy in Phnom Penh; and it costs 750 Baht when you buy 1 ticket at Mo Chit bus station.

PP to BKK:

06:00 to 09:30 – Leave Phnom Penh and arrive Pursat.
09:30 to 10:00 – Have breakfast at Pursat Cambodia-Japan friendship restaurant.
10:00 to 14:00 – Arrive Poi Pet
14:00 to 14:40 – Take 40 minutes at the immigration office
14:40 to 16:00 – Travelling on the road to Bangkok
16:00 to 16:30 – Thai bus driver stopped for dinner (It won’t happen all the time)
16:30 to 19:30 – Arrive Bangkok at Mo Chit bus station

BKK to PP

05:00 – Leave Mo Chit bus station
07:00 PM – Arrive Phnom Penh

Pros:
- 1 stop only at Pursat for brunch
- Only 1 direct bus, no transit
- There is a toilet in the bus. Pee pee poo poo is not a problem.
- Short distance to walk from immigration office to find this bus
- Save time (about 1 to 2 hours) and energy (not cramped) as you will arrive at 7:30.
- Comfortable to sleep
- It’s more spacious, easy to sit, and better behaved people prefer it, so eventually the feeling is better too.
- There is no need to walk and find another van at the border and pay extra 250 Baht.
- It provides free evening meal and drink on the bus. So, we could save lots of time without stop from Aranyaprathet to Bangkok.
- Free snack and beverage in the morning, packed fried rice (EzyGo) to be delivered in the afternoon. It is included when you pay the $25 bus ticket.
- Thai drivers tend not to stop for picking up passengers. They are ready to go at 06:00 even with 3 passengers.
- No need to wait for bus to be filled to go on from the border because only those who bought in Phnom Penh could continue going from the border.

Cons:
- Bad point is the bus stop is at Mo Chit Bus Station. You will have to take taxi or BTS to the central. It cost my family 130 Baht to get from Mo Chit Bus Station to Asoke area. Probably, you can take Uber for cheaper transport.
- On your way back, the bus leaves Bangkok at 05:00 in the morning. Not at 06:00 in the morning like when you travel from Phnom Penh to Bangkok.
- Khmer drivers tend to stop quite often to pick up more passengers, but it is not too bad. I managed to arrive Phnom Penh at 07:00 PM.
- Spend about 150 Baht more on taxi from Mo Chit to your hotel.
- Not easy to travel for some Khmer as they need to be dropped at DD House.

Below is some photos:

This is a picture of the Nattakan bus from Phnom Penh to Bangkok.

Cambodia-Japan Friendship restaurant in Pursat

After purchasing the ticket, you have to find Platform 106 and wait there.

Inside Nattakan bus on my way from Bangkok to Phnom Penh

Bus ticket bought at Mo Chit bus station

July 29, 2016

Translation Technique - Part 2

Vuthy 10:47:00 PM How To , 0 Comments

Here we we go again with translation technique. If you have not read my first post about this, you will have to read the Part 1 first: Translation Technique Part 1

Here I would like to address Google Translate since it's a bit mature now. Everybody knows about Google Translate, but this post is going to give you more confident in using Google Translate. In the event that we don't know the meanings of many words in a paragraph, we will have to spend a lot of time translating those words. With Google Translate, we save times. Since we copy and paste the whole paragraph, and double check if the translation is correct. It is important to stay cautious when we copy and paste from Google Translate.

After copy-paste from Google Translate, I list down the Translation under the English paragraph. I compare sentence by sentence to see the errors. After fixing all of the errors, I deleted the English paragraph, leaving only the Khmer paragraph.

April 1, 2015

One of the best Kuyteav in town

Vuthy 3:17:00 PM cambodia , food 0 Comments

Today I would like to introduce you to a special Kuyteav restaurant, located in the centre of Phnom Penh, and that is Kuyteav Psar Chas.

This street restaurant actually started long time ago and has been popular for decades. Normally, it is hard to find parking space if you happen to drive a car there.

This kuyteav restaurant is located on a corner opposite to Psar Chas (Old market).

What is special about this Kuyteav?

What comes to my mind when going to this kuyteav restaurant is the taste of its soup and also its meatball. Because its meatball was made by the restaurant itself. They did not buy it from the market. They made it perfect meatball and healthy soup.

I like kuyteav itself and plus, my girlfriend made the yummy sauce.

Have you ever seen such kuyteav elsewhere?

The cost of this kuyteav is quite reasonable.

March 29, 2015

My healthy Bonsai tree

Vuthy 11:14:00 PM How To , Recommendation 1 Comments

I have always loved Bonsai tree since my first time to see it on the internet. Unluckily, it is not easy to find in Cambodia. On the internet, I learned that I could find Bonsai tree in Vietnam. However, I never had a chance to go to Vietnam since I have become fond of Bonsai.

How it looks on the internet. Don't you love it?

In March 2015, I went to Bangkok and did not mean to go to Jatujak plant market. It was when I and my friends Mamiao and Chanutr did not know where to go at night around 9:00 PM. Then, we agreed to go to plant market.

If you wish to shop at the market. You may do so as well. Jatujak market is a weekend market where people come to sell many different kinds of products, creative products. On Wednesday evenings, they open shops to sell plants.

There, Chanutr shopped many small plants. She loved them. So did I, but I did not have a clue on how to deliver it home.

After walking for a while in the market, I saw my lovely Bonsai trees! They were so lovely. It was so hard for me to choose because there were varieties! And the price varied a lot too. I tended to choose the small one so that I could carry home.

I bought my first Bonsai tree for 400 Baht ($13). It came with a vase.

My Bonsai tree at hotel in Bangkok

Since I traveled back to Phnom Penh by plane, I requested for help from my colleague who return from Bangkok by van to help deliver my Bonsai to the office. Because after talking with AirAsia staff, they told me that I cannot bring any kinds of plants on plane.

However, all was done and my Bonsai tree is now safe at home in Phnom Penh. I forgot to tell you, my Bonsai tree will have red fruit too :D

My Bonsai tree at home and is healthy

Make less noisy car, apart from machine maintenance

Vuthy 11:00:00 PM How To , Review 0 Comments

I have noticed that my car's tires had been producing lots of noise even there was nothing seemed to be wrong. When I got home, I noticed that many small stones got stuck with tires, even a small battery was attached there too.

I did try to get most of them out of the tires with a sharp key. It did make less noise, and I guess when we remove these stones, we also make the tires last longer and the stones won't go too deep, and the stones won't at the same time with tires and there of course will be less noisy.

I'll probably start looking at this once in 1 or 2 months because Cambodia has a lot of roads under construction.

March 13, 2013

Massive Certificates Printing at Once

Vuthy 11:54:00 AM How To , 0 Comments

Technology has made things lot easier for us to perform tasks conveniently, but the thing is we do not know how to use them wisely. I had to print out name of participants with many mistakes on the name, and it is very time consuming if the participant number is up to more than one hundred.

In this post, I am going to guide you on how to print certificates on many papers without having to rename them one by one.

This probably does not benefit everyone as you may not have to use it, but if you do, you can do it smarter with the guidance you are about to read.

Requirements:

- Microsoft Publisher

- Typed Participant Name in Microsoft Excel

First, open the typed participant list in the Excel file. Edit what you have to edit. (Don't worry if you want to edit the names later because it will automatically apply to the Ms. Publisher)

Leave it there. Do not close it.

Next, open Microsoft Publisher and design your certificates. You may use the templates available in the publisher if you do not want to spend more time on that. Below is a sample certificate with name in English and in Khmer.

Say you have 40 names to retype. Without having to retype one by one, all you need to do is to merge the typed participants name in another excel file to the designed certificate in the publisher through:

1. Go to Tools > Mailings and Catalogs > Mail Merge

Then, it will guide you to select a Recipient List (that Excel file).

Click on Use an Existing List, and Click on Next: Create or connect to a recipient list

There will be a new window opens, Browse to find your Excel file.

At this stage make sure that you have a proper typed Excel file

Untick those that you do not want them to appear on the certificates. Just tick those rows that you want to appear (Names). Then, click Ok

Notice the left hand side column (F2, F3, F4, F5, F6)

One of them contain the Khmer name.

Select Mao Sopheak and click on F2 (for example, if it contains Khmer names). Then, it will apply the names.

There, you go. Do the same thing to the name in English if you have one.

Then click on Next. It will take you to Step 3.

In this stage, you may print the document automatically. All of the certificates will come out consecutively.

Cheers!

January 1, 2013

How to Prepare a Job Application

Vuthy 11:16:00 AM How To , 9 Comments

Before you reach this stage, I expect that you have already known how to write a good CV and a Cover Letter. If you still don't, you may contact me directly, I would be more than happy to help.

Anyway, let's start with this. Assume that your CV and Cover Letter are ready; and the example that I demonstrate below are from the the job application that I have recently applied to World Vision Cambodia.

The model could be different from organisation to organisation. Thus, do not wholly depend on my way to apply for a job. It could be used for new job seekers and also to give some ideas that you might have never heard of. I would welcome all of the suggestions in the comment box below.

Here is my CV, I clipped it together

World Vision Cambodia requires applicants to use their official application form attached with applicant's CV and Cover Letter. It is important for us to know that International NGOs normally require us to write another application form, while the other companies only require CV and Cover Letter.

Here are the certificates attached to the CV and Cover Letter; however, I pinned them together which include Certificates, Volunteer Certificates, Recommendation Letter, and my Identity Card.

As I said earlier, I pin the certificates together, and I will also pin the CV, Cover Letter, and World Vision's Application Form as well. All in all, there are two sets (One set of Certificates, and another set composed of CV, Cover Letter, and WV Application)

Here you could see two sets and it is important to notice how we place it in the carbon envelope. Remember that this is the side that you need to insert your sets. Set CV first, and Set certificates second. Also, the face must face as shown in the picture below.

Now you already placed your CV and Cover Letter inside the envelope. It's time to write the Cover for the Envelope. You need to include your Address, and the Company's address. Cut it with knife as you may not get it trimmed correctly with scissors.

After you get the cover, glue it on the envelope, and there you are ready to apply for a job!

It is important to follow such ways before you apply for a job in hard copy. However, these days it's getting better as companies and NGOs accept soft copy as we could simply send via email.

Some companies require us to send CV, Cover Letter, and the Certificates via email. Thus, you should scan your certificates and store it in your computer.

August 22, 2012

Becoming a Cambodian Ambassador Stationed in Foreign Capital on Behalf of Cambodia

Vuthy 8:55:00 PM How To , Review 7 Comments

Many students decide to study International Relations and speak with pride "I want to become an ambassador". It's pretty amazed to hear the statement repeatedly, but I doubt whether they know what to do to get the position, when they will get it, or the fact that they may not be able to get it.

Ambassador William E. Todd

Teens choose to study International Relation (IR) at many universities in Cambodia such as at Pannasastra University of Cambodia (PUC), or at Institute of Foreign Languages, Department of International Studies and hope that they will become an ambassador in the near future, but the dream is long to be realized, not all ambassadors graduated from IR. Many would end up working for NGOs or for a private company as it is impossible to achieve right after they graduate from a bachelor degree. The following description is based on what I have talked with my friends who is a graduate from Royal School of Administration, a student at Institute of Foreign Language, Department of International Studies, and a government official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Since many teens are interested in International Relation, let's see the curriculum that IFL's got to offer for year one and year two in the Department of International Studies:

" - Macro- Research- International Organization- International Laws- IPE: International Political Eco- World History- Southeast Asia Study- ASEAN in Regional context- ASEAN Summit Model Study- International Reations- Micro-Eco- Academis Writing- United Nations "

Credit to: Siekhouy Hout

- One convenient way which might help a personnel to become an ambassador is to apply for a study at Royal School of Administration; there are three departments for government officials to choose - Economics, International Relation, and Administration. If you wish to become a prospective ambassador, you shall apply for International Relations; most of the government officials graduated from RSA shall be offered a particular position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, the process of becoming an ambassador is still a blur to me.

Credit to: Chanty Piseth

- There are many institutions that can appoint one as an ambassador. However, I would like to limit the scope to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Once you become a department director, when you are nominated to work at Cambodian embassy, you will be granted the ambassador title. Of course, the IR degree also count.

From Department Director up (under-secretary of state, secretary of state, etc). Some high ranking officials from the Council of Ministers are also appointed as Ambassador.

Credit to: Lim Hok Seng

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The information above will never be detail enough, I do hope that someone from the government could hold a seminar on how to become an ambassador for the next generation in the near future ...

August 16, 2012

Better Way to Submit Your CV and Cover Letter

Vuthy 12:31:00 AM How To , 2 Comments

If you ever searched on how to write a CV and a Cover Letter before, you may have found many links guiding you how to write an awesome CV and a charming Cover Letter. However, none of the link mentioned the importance of using PDF rather than Ms. Word when you submit your application to an employer or to a school.

My post here is to focus on the idea of sending out PDF rather than in Ms. Word document. To me, it is better to send out your CV and Cover Letter in PDF form for two main reasons. First, people could see how professional you are as you could prove that you are a computer literate. Second, no one could ever blame you on the wrong format that might appear on your recipient's computer screen. If you type in Ms. Word, for example, the texts might appear disorder as you and your peer use different version of Ms. Word. That is not the only problem. There are many more that I could not think of for now. In short, it is better to send out in PDF if it is not necessary for your peer to edit your document.

Here I am going to show you just how.

1. In my Microsoft Word 2007, I installed Adobe Acrobat Plug-in so I could convert all of my document into PDF with this plug-in.

Adobe Acrobat Plug-in (Click to Enlarge)

2. If you do not have this plug-in, there is another way and it is to print in Adobe PDF, the computer will convert your document and save it in PDF.

Choose Adobe PDF when you select a printer

3. Above mentioned are to do with your CV. How about a Cover Letter in which you will have to sign? For Cover Letter, after typing, you will have to print it out. Sign where you have to sign, and then, you will have to scan your Cover Letter in PDF, not in JPG form. In this way, you will have both CV and Cover Letter in PDF forms; and you are ready to send out!

These are all the tools that I use before I send my application out. If you have any comments or suggestions, I would be very happy to learn from you.

July 7, 2012

Translation Techniques

Vuthy 10:34:00 PM How To , 0 Comments

This is simply to share what I have experienced regarding translation work. This note is upon my translation experience, if you find this post to be in contrary to what you have experienced or learned at translation school, please excuse me and I welcome all constructive feedback.

In general,
I use many web-based resources like:
http://thefreedictionary.com

From this dictionary, you may search for any words with clear explanations and you may search for antonym or even more specifically, for example in legal field, you may search in http://thefreedictionary.com/laws
You will need to spend a couple of minutes to hang out in there.

Moreover, I also use : http://dictionary.reference.com
For English to Khmer, I normally use: http://dict.ant.com.kh and http://english-khmer.com

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If you cannot find the word you’re wishing for, you may go to google and type :
eg, "define: coenzyme” – from the first link, you may find the definition of the word. If not, you will have to read for general understanding of the word itself. Wikipedia.org might help. That's not it! You may also try to google for its image if you cannot find it anywhere on the web.

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If you are trying to translate a phrase, and you are not sure if your phrase is the right phrase which is being used officially, you may confirm with google by typing your phrase both in Khmer and in English. Try to confirm with several link before you decide to use it.

See the picture below for further understanding.

Translating Technical Document:
Let's say you are translating Legal Document.
The resource you might need here is Law in both English and Khmer. For example, “Traffice Law [En] and Traffic Law [KH]“,
Look for Article 1 in the English version and compare with the Article 1 in the Khmer version; then, you may find the word you want to use.
It’s pretty easy to do so, since those files are in PDF files, you only need to type the word in the Search box at the up right inside the Adobe Reader.

Last but not least, you may use Khmer Dictionary by Samdech. Juon Nart.

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Recommendation:

Translation work is not hard as long as you don't give up at the first place. You may be unfamiliar with the type of a document when you first start translating, don't give up just yet. That's how everyone started. When you get used to a type of document, you will be able to go faster. It only means that you don't understand the context much at first. What you should feel is to enjoy learning new vocabulary and content. :D Moreover, if you need any help, do not hesitate to drop your comments below.

I also have some economic dictionary, legal terminology, IT related words in PDF files. You may drop your e-mail here. I'll send right up to your e-mail.

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