FOBISIA!!!

So what exactly is FOBISIA? Any guesses? Well, it's the Federation of British International Schools in SE Asia - over 30 schools from 13 different countries, including our very own Dulwich College Suzhou, are a part of this federation. Throughout the year, FOBISIA organizes a wide range of activities - music festivals, maths olympiads, short story and art competitions, model united nations - but the most popular and the most well-known are the FOBISIA Games!! An inter-school sports competition, the Junior FOBISIA Games require students to participate in 4 activities - athletics, swimming, football and T-ball. The schools take turns hosting the event - and this year it was the Discovery Bay International School (DBIS) in Hongkong!!

The tryouts were scheduled for January, and when Manasi made the U9 Girls squad, I was really excited but also a little apprehensive! Sure, she can run fast, and she's pretty decent in the pool - but football and T-ball??? In fact, the only time she's ever played football is 4 years ago in Chennai when I signed her up for lessons - and she spent the entire hour picking daisies by the side of the field!! Needless to say, the lessons stopped pretty quickly!! Anyway, the training sessions in school began - Wednesdays and Fridays after school for the field activities, and Saturday mornings, a gruelling 3 hours in the pool!!! The coaches were making these kids work really hard to get them in shape!!

I have never ever participated in any sports event - let alone one on this scale - so I was enjoying every moment! Manasi brought home all the different kits she was supposed to wear - singlet and shorts for athletics, football gear, T-ball gear - all emblazoned with the Suzhou Tigers logo!! That was my first 'Aha' moment - these FOBISIA games were a much bigger deal than I was thinking!! The schedule of the games was announced - there was to be a Gala dinner on the last night - so of course, Manasi had to go shopping for a new dress!! Not only did we find a cute peach dress, but also a headband and shoes to match!! Hey, my daughter is off to Hongkong - if she needs a smart dress, she's going to get one!!

Getting all her stuff into her suitcase was a bit tricky - all her kits, plus she had to bring a towel for swimming, regular clothes for the evenings and 4 - yes that's right - 4 pair of shoes!! Sneakers, football cleats, flip flops for the beach and her pretty evening shoes!! I think this was also the first time that she had to pack her own toiletries kit - usually her things just go with mine!! And I'm not ashamed to say it - I was so emotional, almost a nervous wreck, tears all over the place as I was packing - it finally took a chat with my parents to calm me down and put things in a little bit of perspective!! After all, they did send me off to the US all by myself - whereas I was going to be on Manasi's flight both ways, and see her every day...

Roarrrrr!!

U9 Girls - at the airport

Manasi drove to the airport with the rest of her team in a school bus - I caught up with them at the gate. All the kids were in great spirits - off to a grand adventure, as it were! The flight to Hongkong is just a little over 2 hours - and the day we flew out, there was an incredible amount of turbulence, a very bumpy flight!! All part of the fun, of course - lot of fake screaming and gasping - seriously, it's unimaginable how much noise 36 excited kids can generate!! At the HK airport, it was a little bittersweet - watching Manasi walk off with her group to their hotel, while I made my way to my hotel room!! Funny feeling - all 3 of us in different places at bedtime!!

Tuesday was 'acclimatization day' for the team. Translation - they all went to Disneyland!! I didn't go with them - I think it is safe to say that I'm all Disneyed out - 4 times should be enough for anyone, right!! The best part of this HK Disneyland outing was that I was able to wriggle out of taking Manasi to the Tokyo one!! So what did I do with my day of solitude - well, that's a story for another post!! The hotel I was staying at- the Novotel Citygate - is conveniently located right next to an outlet mall. Plenty of restaurants, plenty of shopping! The Tungchung MTR station is a 2 minute walk away - so getting to the city is really easy!! Ajey flew in that night as well, and his parents were to land in HK on Wednesday morning! Plenty of cheerleaders for Manasi!!

Before I get into the actual Games, let's get our bearing in Hongkong! HK can be mainly considered as 3 parts - Lantau island, Hongkong island and the Kowloon peninsula. The airport is located on Lantau, and so is the host school, DBIS. There's a couple of airport hotels on Lantau, including the Novotel I was at, the Regal Airport Hotel where the team was staying, and the Marriott, which we had booked for our last night's stay. DBIS is a fairly small school - and since they did not have athletic fields and a pool in-house, they had outsourced all the events to different venues - which meant that we spent a large amount of time traveling back and forth!! So the athletics were at Kwai Chung sports ground in Kowloon, the swimming at Tung Chung pool back in Lantau and the football and T-ball were to be played at King's Park Rugby pitch in Kowloon!! Whew!!

So Day 1 of FOBISIA - athletics in the morning, swimming in the afternoon!! The weather was terrible - a steady downpour of rain! Due to a slight mix-up at the airport, by the time Ajey and I made it to Kwai Chung, Manasi had already run both her races - the 60m and 4x100m relay. Not only had she finished running - she also had medalled in both!!! Gold for the 60m, silver for the relay!!! You could have knocked me over with a feather!!! Seriously, my Manasi?? An hour into the event, and she has 2 medals??!!! Felt terrible about not being there to watch her - and felt worse when she burst into tears when she finally spotted us!! Her third event, the 3 springs jump, was cancelled because of the rain - so we didn't get to see her in action at all! In spite of the rain, it was great fun for us parents - cheering our team on, as we watched them win medal after medal! A good morning for the Tigers - they walked away with almost 50 athletics medals!!

The enthusiastic supporters!

After the athletics, Ajey and I went back to the Novotel - picked up Ajey's parents, a quick lunch, and then we headed to the Tung Chung pool. This was only about a 5 minute walk from the hotel. The weather had changed, and instead of the cooling rain, we had hot sun and unbearable humidity! Swimming has never been our school's forte - things have been better since we got our own pool this year - but still, we have a long way to go before we're serious contenders!! Manasi was again in 3 events - 25m breast stroke, 25m back stroke and 4x25m medley relay - backstroke is her weakest stroke, so I'm not sure why she was in that race, and as for the other strokes, while Manasi is technically perfect - a pleasure to watch in the pool - she has never been really fast. So, when she took off furiously in the breaststroke, leading almost to the very end, losing out the gold by a whisker - once again, me, feather, you get the picture!! As expected, she didn't do so well in the backstroke, and the medley relay was canceled because they ran out of time! 14 medals total for our school - the best haul ever!!

Happy with the silver!

Proud grandparents!

On the podium...

Day 2 - Kings' Park Rugby Pitch for a day of football! The morning was the round-robin, and after lunch, the playoffs. It was quite an exciting scene - 6 simultaneous matches, with parents and coaches cheering and shouting instructions! I think football is the one sport which touches a chord in everyone - it is very hard to stand on the sidelines peacefully - a little craziness is guaranteed!! The Friday before we left, Manasi found out that she was to be goalie for her team! Really?? Oh well, one more shopping trip to Decathlon to buy goalie gloves, and then a crash course in goal-keeping with Dad - more than enough training, right??!! Our team started off a bit slow - losing the first game 0-2. When Manasi let the first goal in, she dissolved in tears - and it was incredibly heartening to see her friends and coaches boosting her up! And she wiped off her tears, and stood tall once more - I think I've never been more proud of her!!

Our Tigers rallied remarkably well - the next game was a draw, and they actually won the third one, leaving them 2nd in their pool, with a good shot at a medal! Manasi had a couple of impressive saves - diving onto the ball, totally fearless!! The semi-final was against a team who had had decisive wins in all their previous games - but Manasi's team held their own, the game actually ended in a draw!! Which meant we're into a penalty shootout, and Manasi is the GOALIE!!!!! Stress levels were so high, I thought I couldn't even watch her!!! She did save one goal, but it still went on to be a heartbreaking loss!! One more chance - they fought hard for the bronze, and the victory was so very sweet!! What an awesome group of girls!!

Zen before the games!

Goalie

Go Tigers!!

Celebrations!

Bronze medalists!

After the football, the kids headed over to DBIS for a beach barbecue and some other fun stuff. We decided to go for some sightseeing instead of the beach - so it wasn't until next morning that I found the Manasi had picked up 2 more gold medals!! One for the 3 springs jump which had been cancelled the first day, and had been rescheduled to after the football, and the second for the shuttle relay, which had the entire U9 - boys and girls!! In case, you've lost count - that's 6 for Manasi now!!! After all this excitement, the T-ball was a bit of an anti-climax. First of all, there were so many weather delays - with the games proceeding in fits and starts. Secondly, our kids just hadn't had that much training. The school schedule is so jam-packed, these kids are already stretched thin - it really is hard to find the time to not only learn a whole new sport, but to also get in enough practise to get good at it! Notwithstanding the T-ball washout, Dulwich College Suzhou still ended doing pretty well! The U9s were third in athletics, and third overall as well. The school as a whole was 5th out of 8 schools! This is the best we've ever done in FOBISIA!!

Posing with the athletics cup!

SIX MEDALS!!!

What a wonderful opportunity this was for all our team members!! Yes, the winning is great - but beyond the medals are life experiences that are invaluable! For many of them, including Manasi, this was the first big solo trip outside of home!! Add to that the pressures of the sport, the drama of winning and losing, learning that disappointments and achievements always go hand-in-hand - and the more mundane things like going to bed on time, getting kits ready for the day, and yes - remembering to brush twice a day!! Just a week away, and I can see the growth in Manasi - the quiet confidence, the inner strength!! I am awed and humbled by this group of girls - Manasi and her friends - for showing the resilience of spirit and coping in situations which would have made adults give up!! Way to go girls - you have made your parents so proud!!

Last, but by no means the least - a round of applause for the PE staff and coaches who made this all possible!! Starting with giving up their Saturdays to coach the kids, and then shepherding them all the way to the end - a big thank you for all the hard work! I think coaches are always under-appreciated - parents are quick to blame them when kids don't do well, and stingy with credit when success does come our way! But after this whole week, I have a new-found appreciation for these dedicated teachers! Well done - our kids wouldn't be where they are without you!!

As I said before, it was really, really stressful watching Manasi on the field - I was going through so many mood swings!! Crossing fingers, hoping she would do well - elation, totally top-of-the-world when she did - and then wanting to cuddle her and wipe her tears when she didn't!! Seriously, I must have teared up at least a couple of time even when writing this!! My shy little Manasi - the determination to win, this competitiveness was a side of her I've never seen before!! What an absolutely wonderful achievement!!! Truly, the world is at her feet today!!!

Hiroshima and Miyajima

August 6, 1945 - the world's first atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima. An estimated 80,000 people died instantly, and a large portion of the city was reduced to rubble. The nuclear attack brought Japan to its knees, effectively ending World War II - a devastating end to a war which had its roots in the atrocities of the concentration camps. The history is well known - and visiting Hiroshima is like stepping back in time.

The Japanese are a remarkably resilient people - earthquakes, tsunamis, nuclear attacks, nothing seems to faze them. So, Hiroshima was rebuilt, and today is one of the largest cities in Japan. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is of course, a constant reminder - not only to Japan, but to the rest of the world - of the horrors of war, and the fallout of nuclear weapons. Now known as the City of Peace, Hiroshima should be on the itinerary of every visitor to Japan!

Getting to Hiroshima from Kobe is easy - by this time, we were veterans on the Japan Rail system - navigating stations, and finding trains with panache! A little longer ride, about 3 hours to get to Hiroshima! Hiroshima uses electric streetcars for public transport - a fancy name for trams! The tram station is right outside the train station, and a short ride on tram number 6 brought us to the entrance of the Peace Memorial Park.

This park is built around the Genbaku Dome - this building is a ruin of the Hiroshima Prefecture, and is the only surviving structure near the bomb's detonation center. It is an extremely somber sight - voices hushed instinctively, heads bowed respectfully. Framed by whispering trees, the Dome is both serene and full of emotions. A reproachful monument to the follies of mankind, and yet, it is also a beacon of hope and peace. Very few places have this electric atmosphere - a sense of living history!

The Motoyasu-gawa river flows right beside the Genbaku Dome, and through the Memorial Park. The park is very beautiful and peaceful - could have easily spend a day here! It is dotted with monuments - Children of World Peace Monument, Hiroshima City Zero monument, Peace Clock Tower, Statue of the Merciful Mother and many more. At the very center is the Flame of Peace and the Memorial Monument for Hiroshima - in my opinion, an eternal flame is one of the most beautiful, symbolic sights ever - the one here is no exception. I also loved how the Memorial Monument perfectly frames the Genbaku Dome - absolutely wonderful! At the end of the park is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum - we dithered at the entrance, deciding not to go in - would have been a little too much to handle.

Motoyasu-gawa river

Statue of a Prayer for Peace

Memorial Monument

Close to Hiroshima is located the Itsukushima Shrine in Miyajima - one of the oldest Shinto shrines in Japan. The shrine is located on an island - we were pleasantly surprised to find that the ferry is run by JR as well, which meant a wave of our magic JR passes got us right onto the boat! The shrine is designed to appear like it is floating on the water at high tide, and the striking red gates or torii are one of the most recognizable features in Japan! We didn't get to see this floating marvel - the tide was out - nevertheless, the excursion was quite enjoyable!

JR ferry

View of the island from the ferry

The torii up close

The highest point on the island, Mt. Misen, can be reached either by cable car or a hiking trails - we had to pass on both, time restrictions as always. The island is home to a particular type of deer - they were quite tame, and in some cases, aggressive - reaching out for paper bags and food!! We did walk to the shrine, and then through a typical shopping area - plenty of souvenirs and even more eateries. Tried the fish cakes and a speciality of the Hiroshima region, okonomiyaki - this was actually quite interesting. It is made fresh on a hot griddle - fresh means you can customize the ingredients, make it vegetarian! - starts off with a thin pancake, then layered with cabbage, sprouts, vegetables, cheese, pork/seafood (if desired), fried noodles and topped with an egg, and then finished with a special sauce - Japanese food, at last!!

Okonomiyaki

Of course, like everywhere else in Japan - the sakura was in full bloom!! Only a couple of photos, I promise - so beautiful, so irresistible!!

Hiroshima wasn't on my initial itinerary, but I'm so glad we came! Truly one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities!!

Busy April weekends!

Whew, what a month this has been - non-stop activity, barely a second to catch my breath! We got back from Japan - an amazing but hectic, tiring vacation - and dived straight into a whirlwind! April is always special, 2 special birthdays - my mom and Ajey! This year even more so - Ajey hit the big 4-0 - but hold on, I'm getting ahead of myself, more on that in a little bit!

A day after we got back to Suzhou was the Shanghai Marathi Mandal's Gudhi Padwa celebrations. I usually steer clear of all these Marathi Mandals - too much politics and backbiting for my taste - but this program was too good to pass up on! Dilip Prabhawalkar, one of the greats of Marathi film and theatre, in person!! A 2 hour program followed by lunch at the Puxi Marriott. Mr. Prabhawalkar presented 'Chimanrao te Gandhi' - 'From Chimanrao to Gandhi' - a synopsis of his career bookended by the 2 characters he is most identified with. Both iconic roles - Chimanrao, warming the hearts of so many Maharashtrian families, and Gandhi, catapulting Mr. Prabhawalkar to national fame! A delightful couple of hours, as he shared anecdotes, and even acted out a few scenes - no props, no costumes, no makeup - but changing his personality through body language and accents! Simply amazing! Mr. Prabhawalkar also spent a day in Suzhou, and we had the opportunity to sit down to dinner with him - such a down-to-earth person, it almost felt like we were entertaining someone's favorite uncle rather than a famous celebrity!!

The biggest event of the month - well, not really an event, more of a landmark - Ajey's 40th!! After all the buildup, the day itself was kind of low-key. Started off with midnight ice cream cake from Coldstone, always a favorite!! Landmark birthday or no, Saturday mornings are always earmarked for Manasi's swimming - followed by rugby training! Rugby, where did that come from??!! Well, the annual Dulwich community rugby tournament was next weekend, and Ajey and Manasi had been both convinced to play - hence the much needed training! Predictably, watching from the sidelines, I was tempted to join in too - come on, it looked like so much fun - and before I knew it, I was officially part of the team!

Of course, Ajey was on the phone a lot - birthday wishes from friends and family pouring in - most mysterious was a call from a local florist - flower delivery for the birthday boy!! We didn't get home till 1pm, all the time wondering about the flowers - lucky for us the delivery person agreed to wait - and there it was, a big, beautiful bunch of roses sent by Ajey's parents! What a sweet gesture!! I love how roses smell, and as I walked in with the bouquet, I took a deep breath and inhaled the unmistakable aroma of - wait for it - cigarette smoke!!! Only in China!!! Quite a simple explanation, though - the delivery guy must have sat in his van with the roses, smoking like a chimney, waiting for us to get back - infusing the roses with the smoke!!!!

We were to have a dinner with our Suzhou friends, and they showed up at 6pm to pick us up - bearing with them an unique gift! A big box filled with 40 different kinds of beers - an awesome 40th birthday gift!! Dinner was at Amigos - our favorite Mexican restaurant in Suzhou! Sizzling fajitas and margaritas - the perfect combination! An evening to remember - thanks the H family and AM (SM, we missed you!) for sharing our special day and making it even more special!! To round of the evening, we headed over to Mahjong night with another group of friends - seems like it's been ages since I've played, I really miss playing regularly!! Sunday - another dinner - this time a farewell for DH - he'll be missed here in Suzhou, but I'm so glad he's going back to his family in Peoria!! Absolutely packed weekend - nothing like what I should have planned, but great fun, nevertheless!! Happy Birthday once more, Ajey!!

Hard to believe, but the next weekend was even crazier! The fun started on Friday night with Quiz Night at Dulwich!! Our team this time was fairly mixed - 2 Americans, 1 Brit, 1 Japanese and 2 Indians - win-win all around!!! The questions are simply all over the place though - some fairly straightforward, some a little more tricky! My favorite of the evening - In which body of water can the Islets of Langerhans be found?? Hmm, Scandinavian sounding name, maybe somewhere in Norway, Denmark - has to be somewhere North - Arctic Sea, Bering Sea...??? What do you think, any guesses?? If you named any sea anywhere in the world - you would be absolutely wrong!!! Islets of Langerhans are part of the pancreas in the human body - high school biology, anyone!! It's one of those - you know that you knew it after you hear the answer!! Fun, fun, fun!! Needless to say, we did not win - we were nowhere close - but it's all in the playing, right?!! Too bad we didn't take any pictures!!

As forecast, Rugby Day dawned bright and sunny - not!! It was overcast, and grey and raining incessantly - I was hoping that they would announce a rain day and postpone the tournament - what I didn't know, rain apparently makes rugby even more fun, so no postponements! The morning was the kids tournaments, a total of 12 teams - few from Suzhou, some from Shanghai and even Nanjing. I was slowly beginning to understand that this was a serious tournament, and not just some friendly games - just what exactly have I signed up for?!! Manasi's team did really well - in fact, they remained unbeaten and went on to win the Gold!! A lion's share of the credit must go to the boys on her team who have been playing rugby regularly for the last couple of years - but still, a gold medal is a gold medal, and winning is sweet!! Go, Manasi!!

As the morning progressed - no sign of the rain letting up - the teams for the afternoon games started arriving. Real rugby teams - with real uniforms and real rugby players!! Seriously, just the sight of them was enough to turn my knees to jelly!! The first team that we played was from Shanghai - and they simply steam-rolled us! We had no idea what hit us - all our training (rolling eyes) flew out the window!! Not a pretty sight!! The only consolation we had was that this team went on to win the whole thing - so losing 8-0 was really not bad!! It got better though - no, no, we didn't win, that would have required a miracle - we just lost better! From 8-0, to 4-0, to 2-0 and then finally 2-1!! The grass was slippery from all the rain - the men all wore cleats, but us women with our sneakers kept sliding all over the place! Couple of nasty tumbles, but luckily no serious injuries!! To my surprise, I had a wonderful time - rain and all! Strange as it may sound, there's nothing like losing dismally to build team spirit and camaraderie!!

That's the weekends - but I should have had more than enough time to finish my Japan blogs, you would think! Well, I started a new project - any new project, I kind of go a little crazy in the beginning, spending every possible waking minute on it - and this one has been no exception! This blanket wasn't really planned, but I stumbled across this gorgeous design on a blog - and when a trip to Wuxi flea market was planned with my friends, why, it was almost like the universe wanted me to make my own rainbow blanket!! 100 rmb and 12 yarn colors later, I'm well on my way! Most of my other projects are in sober, muted colors - ok, ok, maybe even a bit boring - this explosion of color is a little hard to handle. Also, I've been obsessing about color combinations a bit too much - I'm sure a little randomness wouldn't hurt - but it's so hard to give up control!! Here's a picture of the progress so far...

And the other thing that has been consuming me? Yes, a new series of books - after all the hoopla surrounding the new season of Game of Thrones, I picked up the first book in the series from the library. Instant addiction. The series is called 'Song of Fire and Ice', and 'Game of Thrones' is actually the first book - I've gone through the first 4 in record time, and am almost done with the 5th - eagerly awaiting the release of the last two!! I'm utterly spell bound - it's been a long, long time since I've lost myself so completely in a book!! I'm almost sure I'll get around to posting my thoughts on the series sometime soon - so watch for it on 'Have blog, will write'!

So now that I'm almost done with 'Dance of Dragons' and my initial new project fervour has settled down into a more steady rhythm, I'm going to finish up my Japan blogs - quite a few stories left to be told! The month of May promises to be as exciting as April was, so lot more updates coming your way! Stay tuned!

Universal Studios, Osaka

Universal Studios

Right from Day 1 - since we started planning for Japan - Universal Studios was firmly on the list!! Ajey and I had been to the one in LA many, many years ago - but he really wanted to take Manasi, she's old enough to go on all the rides now! As for me, I was so glad to have dodged the Tokyo Disney bullet, that I would have agreed to anything! Besides, with my itinerary chock-a-block with all the things I wanted to see, I guess Ajey and Manasi deserved a day of fun! So Universal it was!!

Getting there wasn't a problem - remember our magic key, the JR Pass? Working out the logistics - from the Shin-Kobe station where we were staying, we could only get to the Shin-Osaka station. The Metro line for Universal was from Osaka station - so we walked from our hotel to the Sannomiya station and then took a JR train to Osaka, and then the Metro to Universal. Of course, we could have saved ourselves the walk, gone to Shin-Osaka, then a train to Osaka and then Universal - which is what we ended up doing on the way back! That morning, however, we still hadn't discovered how awesome the train network really was!

It was a Monday - so we weren't too worried about the crowds. Although, when we bought our tickets, the FastPasses were all sold out - that should have been enough to warn us!! The biggest attraction was the Amazing Spiderman ride - we figured we should get that one off the list, before exploring the rest of the park. The boards outside said the waiting time was 2 hours - but all the other rides we had passed also had similar waiting times - so we decided to go for it. And then we were in line...waiting, waiting, waiting.... oh, look, we're entering the building now....and then back to the waiting!!! 4 hours - I kid you not - 4 hours we stood in line for this 'Amazing' ride!!

Amazing Spiderman....

...even more amazing was the line!

It wasn't too bad when the line was outdoors - but once inside the building, it had been decorated to look the Daily Mail offices - which meant narrow stifling corridors winding through and TV screens with snippets of the Spiderman cartoons - too bad they were in Japanese! As if the wait wasn't bad enough, the corridors really got to me - at one point, we were single file, no windows and low ceilings - deep breaths, push that claustrophobia down!! Seriously, someone needs to check the fire codes for this building!! Was the ride finally worth it?? Well, yes and no - it really was awesome, the effects are amazing (cliche, much?) - the best part is the freefall from a New York skyscraper at the end, with Spidey's web to the rescue at the last minute - but I kept thinking, 4 hours, I waited 4 hours for this??!!

Just 1 ride in, and we were all kind of exhausted! At this rate, we would be lucky to even get couple more rides done before closing time! It did get a little better - we didn't have to wait more than 90 minutes for any other ride! And surprisingly, we checked off most of the ones we wanted to go on!! The best ones, of course, are the 4D - Terminator and Shrek were the next on the list after Spiderman! Seriously, how awesome would it be to watch full length movies in 4D? Amazing what can be done with puffs of air, water droplets and moving seats! Those spiders scurrying along the floor in Shrek? - even I pulled my feet up for a second!!

The Jaws ride is more for laughs, and so is Backdraft - although, Manasi was a bit scared by the pyrotechnics! I begged off Jurassic Park - 15 years later, I still remember getting drenched, and then having to walk around in wet jeans for the rest of the day - instead I enjoyed a nice quiet hour with a cup of coffee and a book, while Ajey took Manasi to see the giant T-Rex before plunging 30m down a water slide! Shivers!! Of course, we skipped the whole Snoopy-Hello Kitty-Sesame Street part of the park!! The evening ended with the Magical Starlight Parade - in my opinion, this is easily the best part of the day! The floats are really so magical, fun for kids and adults alike!!

 In a million years, I would have never imagined I would go to Universal Studios in Japan!! Seriously, I could go to Universal Studios any time - no reason to add that to Japan! Also, most of the shows are in Japanese - of course, we've seen all the movies, and we don't really need to understand the dialogue, but still - it would be nice to know what the entire room is laughing at!! And a strange thing - there didn't seem to be too many tourists around - most of the crowd was Japanese, no Caucasian faces, no SE Asians (apart from us, of course)! The food turned out to be another surprise - for the last 4 days, we had managed to eat like kings - so it was a bit of damper to be faced with a choice of hot dogs, hamburgers or pepperoni pizza!!

To be honest, I would have preferred spending the day actually in Osaka - but Manasi was so happy, that it made up for missing the sights of Osaka! Another sign our little girl is growing up - an entire day at Universal Studios, and she did not ask to buy a single souvenir! The last couple of times at Disney were a nightmare - with her asking for anything and everything that she could see, and then pitching a fit when she didn't get it! This time it was all about the rides - and that made Mom and Dad really, really happy! So, not a bad day at all!! Now if only I can find the time to squeeze in a visit to Osaka Castle...oh well, another one for the 'Next-time' list!!

Shinkansen to Kobe...

Shinkansen

High speed trains - G trains in China, TGV in France - almost a been there, done that feel for us! The shinkansen, however is special - it is after all, the pioneer in this field, and right up to 2011, Japan's shinkansen network boasted of the highest number of passengers annually! What happened in 2011 - why, China caught up, of course! We have all heard about how punctual these trains are, and how comfortable - what strikes me as the most incredible is the shinkansen's safety records - 50 years of service, 2 derailments (one due to an earthquake, one due to a blizzard) and zero passenger fatalities! Yes, that's right - zero fatalities! I'll take these stats over air travel any day!!

Of course, this paragon of virtue does not come cheap! Good news for tourists, though - the Japan Rail Pass, which can only be bought outside of Japan, and is available in 7 day, 14 day and 21 day durations - an absolute must-have to travel in Japan! With our vouchers in hand, we headed to Tokyo Station - the rest of the process was easy as pie! The JR office has a separate counter to redeem JR Passes, and after looking at our passports, the very nice JR agent handed us our key to the magical kingdom of train travel in Japan! At this point, I still wasn't completely convinced about the benefit of the JR Pass, but over the next few days, as we blithely flitted to different cities - well, it truly is the key to train travel in Japan!!

Waiting on the platform for our train to Kobe - seriously, I had never thought that the words 'railway platform' and 'quiet' could ever go together - but like in the other places we had been to, the noise level was at a minimum. The train arrived, the cleaning crew got in before we could board - again very efficient - really delightful was the discovery that all the seats were on pivots and could be turned to face the direction of the travel!! My mom would especially love this here - she always hates to sit with her back to the engine in Indian trains!! Takes about 3 hours to get to Kobe from Tokyo - and the landscape didn't vary much! Buildings, buildings and then some more buildings! I wonder how they keep track of city limits?!! Mount Fuji eluded us once again - the day was rainy and overcast - I guess I just have to put that on my list for 'next time'!!

View from our room

In Kobe, our hotel, ANA Crowne Plaza, was located right across from the Shin-Kobe station - couldn't be any more convenient!! Surprisingly, here too, we had to wait an inordinately long time for our room - what is with these hotels?!! In the end, we did get a get a room with a gorgeous view of the Osaka Bay - and the hotel staff were genuinely sorry for the delay!! After freshening up, we set out to explore Kobe - and we had our very own 'personal guide' to show us around! A really good friend of ours, AD - we go way back, right to our first years in Peoria - was in Kobe on a business trip, at the same time, in the same hotel! Well, AD and his family lived in Kobe for 5 years while we were in France -  and this is almost a second home to him! He graciously showed us the 'sights' - and we were able to get a local's view of Kobe that no tourist guide would have been able to provide! As much as I love and depend on wikitravel.org, it does have its limitations!

We took the Metro to a place called Harborland - a mall with awesome views of the Kobe Tower and Kobe Maritime Museum, and then we made our way back to the hotel on foot. After getting in our typical tourist photos with the Kobe Tower - the 'no-going-up-towers' rule is still in effect - and the Maritime Museum was closed for the day, so moving on! There's another museum here - more of a memorial, actually - 1996, the Great Hanshin earthquake, magnitude 7.3. Kobe was the worst hit, a large number of its ports destroyed, a section of the elevated Hanshin expressway literally toppled over. The memorial has actually preserved some of the original damage to the port - horrifying to see the concrete blocks sheared away, lampposts twisted, and metal railings completely bent out of shape - even more horrifying to imagine this devastation multiplied a hundred-fold! The outdoor exhibit also displays images taken right after the earthquake - that Hanshin expressway just lying on its side, as easily overturned as a child's Lego bridge - seriously unbelievable! Even more unbelievable - the amazing spirit of the Japanese - in just a few years, they have completely restored and rebuilt the city! Absolute respect!!

Kobe Tower

View of Harborland from Kobe Tower

Earthquake memorial

Earthquake memorial

Sannomiya - our last stop on the Kobe Walk - is kind of like the heart of the city, the most happening, in place in Kobe! Tons of restauarnts, bars and nightclubs - all kinds of fun to be had here! Our dinner options ranged from the famous Kobe beef (yeah, right!) to sushi - and of course, we ending up eating at an Indian restaurant, Sona-Rupa! Yes, we're totally predictable when it comes to food!! Back at the hotel - AD was not only in the same hotel, but on the same floor as us - and was a big help in planning for the next few days. Kobe was going to be our base - and we got plenty of advice on what to do, where to go! Tomorrow - by popular demand - Universal Studios, Osaka! Coming up soon...

Konichiwa, Tokyo! - Part II

Spring in Japan is not to be missed - the cherry blossoms are of course the biggest draw! The blossoming of the sakura is monitored closely and newspapers report the best places for viewing every day! A picnic under these beautiful trees is a must for the Japanese people every spring! The sakura hold an important place in Japanese culture - the intensely beautiful blossoms, and the short-lived flowering period - a celebration of the ephemeral, transient nature of life!

There are a number of great places to view sakura in Tokyo - to be honest, the entire city is covered with these cherry trees - the distinctive white flowers are kind of hard to miss - but to get the full impact, a visit to one of the many parks is a must! Our concierge recommended going to the Yasukuni Shrine, and then walking over to the Imperial Palace - so that's where we headed! This Shinto shrine seems innocuous enough, but has been the center of controversy a number of times - it is dedicated to those who lost their lives in service of Japan, unfortunately, these include some war criminals from WWII! One curious thing I noticed - after paying their respects at the altar, people would step back and clap their hands a couple of times - maybe similar to the ringing bells in  our Hindu temples?

Yasukuni Shrine

Admiring the cherry blossoms, we started walking in the general direction of the Imperial Palace - actually we didn't know it, but we were walking in the outer gardens of the Palace! This area is home to embassies and consulates of a number of countries - including India - it was a pleasant surprise to the 'Incredible India' posters and of course, the Indian flag! A very picturesque walk - a wide canal lined with cherry blossoms on either bank. Have I mentioned how quiet the Japanese are? There were so many people out to admire the sakura, but there were no raised voices, no hustle-bustle, no pushing or shoving and absolutely no littering! Very serene, very soothing - almost soporific! We must have walked for over an hour here - by the time we finally reached the entrance to the Imperial Palace, we had had our fill - both of the cherry blossoms and the walking! Besides, I had also promised Manasi that we would go souvenir shopping, and a 10 year old's patience with sight-seeing can only go so far - so no Imperial Palace! In any case, the sakura were heavenly - take a look at the pictures!

I did go a little crazy with the pictures!! Since we had walked so much yesterday, today was planned to be a little easier - Senso-ji Temple, and then we were done! On the way there, we accidentally missed our stop - and got off instead at the entrance of the Tokyo Skytree Mall. It seemed a shame to just walk away - so decided to explore a bit. This was a pretty cool mall - had both an aquarium and a planetarium - what really delighted Ajey was the World Beer Museum! This place, literally, sold beers from all over the world - they even had a world map showing where all the beers came from! We would have liked to watch a show in the planetarium - too bad they were all in Japanese!! We were almost ready to leave, when again by accident (got on the Up elevator instead of Down) we found ourselves on the 8th floor roof garden - and an absolutely incredible view of Tokyo Skytree Tower!!! This going-with-the-flow thing seems to be working better than my detailed itinerary!!

Tokyo Skytree

Senso-ji Temple is one of the oldest and most significant Buddhist shrines in Tokyo. Between the giant outer gate - "Thunder Gate"- and the inner temple gates is the Nakamise-dori, almost as famous as the temple itself! Nakamise-dori is lined with stalls with all kinds of souvenirs and of course, food! From kimonos to scarves, Japanese dolls to Hello Kitty merchandise, fake samurai swords to umbrellas, magnets to key chains - every possible Japan souvenir can be found here! Truly, the best place to get all the shopping done!! Unlike China, there's no bargaining - and what a relief that was! We did not go inside the temple, instead spent a few quite moments in a nice little pavilion in the courtyard - again very peaceful, very serene!

"Thunder Gate"

Nakamise-dori

Senso-ji

That was our 2 days in Tokyo - what I saw, I liked! Yes, it's another big city - but it has little pockets of peace, and it is charming in it's own quiet way. Time to move on, though, to our next city in Japan - Kobe! Coming up soon!