Another trip to mt fuji

I've been in Japan for two years now, and , while I 've had plenty of views of Mt fuji, or as good a view as can be had from Tokyo city, the cliched view of the icecap on the peak of Fuji san and a shinkansen running in front of it, has eluded me so far. In this quest of mine, I've been to Hakone and fuji city. So, when a few friends expressed a wish to go to Mt fuji, I jumped at the opportunity and suggested we go to Kawaguchiko.

And we're off. Or lets say we're on our way. A shot of the train that passed us by while we waited at the tracks for our connecting train .

And this shot was taken by Apy , while yours truely, tried to get some much needed 40 winks. Needless to say I could not grab those. And the whole day I tried to maintain a sunny disposition.

At Kawaguchi ko station 5. Our only view of fuji san. And we were able to enjoy it for all of approximately 3 minutes. The clouds took over , thereafter.

You can see them buggers close in here

And how? thats not the moon here. Its the sun at around 1 in the afternoon. joy! joy!

Can you believe that. Clouds and darker clouds. Wither the silver lining

But, all said and done, this cloudy day had its charms. For one, it wasn't way too hot. Second, we could see the clouds move and it felt like we were walking among them. As we said on the video we took, we were on station 5-cloud 9.

The returning trekkers. You'd think that at least on the mountain, you'd escape the crowds. No sirreee. You thought wrong. We chose the first day of the peak season to make our expedition and as a result, we got to jostle ( almost , not really) with some humanity.

The view , when we looked down.

And some more trekkers.

For all those who wondered about the lack of flowers in a post of mine, stop now! Its impossible for me to be out with a camera and not take pics of the flowers I see.

Since, I was unable to see the mountain, I was not about to miss the view of the nature around.

Even the bit of nature thats about to pick up its roots, pack up and go. I'd like to see it before it does.

And another pretty flower.

The view as we got back from our little bit of trekking. It had gotten really dark .

This old lady was playing and singing. And she was really good.

This was the view that awaited us in the souvenier shop we entered. The store actually sold icecream in the front. We'd grabbed our soft cones ( err, pun absolutely unintended) and ventured in. Right next to the postcards, was this tray filled with plastic boobs. I was like what the heck are those, and a look that said ,"she's finally lost it" was directed my way. Apparantly these are stress balls , though I must say using them would stress me out more . Oh well!

And here's another souvenier- A miracle towel.

Does one really need any more explanation on why miracle towel.

What really got to me was the fact that these were available in a store that sold icecreams and cookies. These were not in seperate corner, were displayed as any other normal thing and then the explanation for the towel was in english. I wish this kind of language support was available for more mundane things required for daily survival here in nippon.

Tum pukaar lo

Thats me crooning the number , or trying to .

Are you a lady?

You Are 92% Lady

No doubt about it, you are a lady with impeccable etiquette You know how to put others at ease, even if their manners aren't the greatest.

Are You A Lady?

Courtesy common ?

"We often feel that we don't have the time or energy to extend ourselves to others with the small gestures that compose what we call common courtesy. It sometimes seems that this kind of social awareness belongs to the past, to smaller towns and slower times. Yet, when someone extends this kind of courtesy to us, we always feel touched. Someone who lends a helping hand when we are struggling with our groceries makes an impression because many people just walk right by. Even someone who simply makes the effort to look us in the eye, smile, and greet us properly when entering a room stands out of the crowd. It seems these people carry with them the elegance and grace of another time, and we are always thankful for our contact with them. Common courtesy is a small gesture that makes a big difference.

An essential component of common courtesy is awareness and common sense-looking outside yourself to see when someone needs help or acknowledgment. As a courteous person, you are aware that you are walking into a room full of people or that your waiter has arrived to take your order. Then, awareness leads to action. It is usually quite clear what needs to be done-open the door for the woman holding the baby, move your car up two feet so another person can park behind you, acknowledge your sister's shy boyfriend with a smile and some conversation, apologize if you bump into someone. A third component is to give courtesy freely, without expecting anything in return. People may not even take notice, much less return the kindness, but you can take heart in the fact that you are creating the kind of world you want to live in with your actions.

When you are out in the world, remember to be aware of others, lend your hand when one is needed, and give this help without an ulterior motive. Through these small actions, you make this world a better place in which to live."

Another nugget of common wisdom in my inbox courtesy daily om

I do feel that these little gestures are fast vanishing from my life. Maybe its the times I live in or the people I deal with , but when courtesy is shown, I appreciate it all the more, maybe because of its rarity. I do wish for the return of a better time. Amen

Much too Perfect

Was in lab today and as is usual, was browsing blogs and came across an awesome read.
Am not implying my own perfection here, but quiet a lot in this post struck close to home. Do read.

Home is...

For a few days now, I've been downloading books and then reading them on my comp. on the monorail. As I've mentioned earlier, the monorail has picture windows that afford a nice view of the neighbourhood we pass by, and, the neighbourhood is beautiful, each second of the commute and each view is a Patel Shot.
But , however beautiful a thing might be , if you see it twice a day, every day for 20 minutes, you can get bored of it. Hence the reading. And that brings me to the point of this post. Sometimes during my reading, when I lift my head, it takes me a while to catch my breath- the view can still take it away. After having caught the breath, the first thought in my head is, " this is home."
And thats surprising, considering my lack of proficiency in nihongo(japanese) and the resulting frustrations. I've been abroad for most of my life , and this is the first time I find myself feeling like a foreigner. Most day to day transactions here are in nihongo and I've been conducting them with a mix of my abyssmal to absent nihongo and body language and mime. A prime example is the lady at the community store at work. I get in, say ohaiyo(good morning) and then proceed to get my bottle of gatorade. Once I bring it to the register, the lady actually tries to make conversation. Through a lot of mime, she gets her point across and I too mime my response added with a lot of hai's and smiles. Totally and absolutely back to basics. Communication at its most primitive and heartfelt. The one time, I don't mind having a face that mirrors what I feel and the ability to smile easily.
Not saying, that there aren't any rude japanese. Some have totally driven me up a wall with the pride they feel for their language and the resultant lack of will to help me out. But for the most part, the people here are the nicest I've met anywhere else.
That makes me wonder, I can be hopping mad at one japanese and be totally ready to pull rank and show him his place but curb that instinct , remembering the 10-15 that have gone out of their way to help me out. For the most part I am comfortable , but, am I home yet?

An innocent hug

The T-tag

Burfi did the honors for this one. grrr. But, atleast he took the pain of coming up with one of his own :P .

Here goes nothing
1. Most desirable celebrity : Johnny Depp
why, jack sparrow any one?!!

2.Want to do this one day:roll my own sushi

I live in Japan for cryin out loud.

3. Want to visit this place: Shirakawa -go in the gifu prefecture

the houses with their unique roofs have been designated as Unesco's cultural heritage site. enuff said.

4. Random favourite : A tan gone awry


Dude, what were u upto, haan, haan ??

Would have put up a screen shot, of my screen where Burf tagged me, but for some reason, it aint working now. Will try again later.
For now, here it is. And am not tagging any one, but my two readers are free to pick this up. Arigato gozaimashita.

worked this time

5. where did I pick this tag up: in the comment section of my "I am back" post.

Thanks dude.

How do I write

You Should Be A Poet

You craft words well, in creative and unexpected ways. And you have a great talent for evoking beautiful imagery... Or describing the most intense heartbreak ever. You're already naturally a poet, even if you've never written a poem.

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

Well I do put on my pj bottoms before I start writing :P

A tag abt me

Whoever thought up of tags. Been tagged by Apy, for this one. Thankfully its a small one. So, here are a few things about me at this moment.

I am thinking about that besan laddu sitting next to the laptop. To eat or not to eat

I said what? I don't remember now.

I want to graduate.

I miss too many things to mention.

I wish to lose some baggage

I hear the waves. Living next to the bay has its
advantages

I wonder If I am doing all it takes or am I missing
Something

I regret nothing and everything. Hindsight is 20/20

I am a dreamer

I dance when the spirit (hic) moves me.

I sing for myself

I cry sometimes, though I wish I didn’t

I am still a dreamer.

I make with my hands anything. I am good with my hands

I write with my heart.

I confuse used to. Loved confusing this dude at school. I’d start with the opposite of what he was saying, convince him and then tell him he was right. It got him each time.

I need a hug

I should get working on stuff

I start only what I intend to finish

I finish anything I’ve started.

I am back...

...from NAM. I was hoping to travel a lot for these 10 days but those plans went south. I got in HCM city , on saturday and the first touristy thing we did was on the next saturday. I had a whole wk to do nothing. I was climbing walls and my mom was pulling out , whats left of her hair. Since I had a new toy to play with, thats what I did. Took lots of pics around the house. Mom and dad have rented this huge place with a well kept garden. Photo ops galore. And it rained a lot , giving me an opportunity to play around with that too. Neighbour's banana tree overlooks the balcony outside the folks bedroom. My first time , so up close and personal with a banana tree. Loved it. Took a few pics of two sparrows on a wire. Bro's mac has some nifty things for photoediting. So tried those too.

Watch this space for more fun stuff I did.

Blogswara

Came across blogswara while browsing around at lil kath's place . I loved aisi bheegi. They've said a lot of what I sometimes wanna say but can't be coherent about it .

I am off

On a break that is. Heading to Vietnam for some family time and then to a conference when I get back . Hopefully I'll have loads to share once I get back. Cya in July.

Wither our souls?

An explorer, a white man, anxious to reach his destination in the heart of Africa , promised an extra payment to his bearers if they would make greater speed. For several days, the bearers moved along at a faster pace. One afternoon, though, they all suddenly put down their burden and sat on the ground. No matter how much money they were offered, they refused to move on. When the explorer finally asked why they were behaving as they were, he was given the following answer: “We have been moving along at such a fast pace that we no longer know what we are doing. Now we have to wait until our soul catches up with us.”

Excerpt from Paul Coelho's maktub.

Made me wonder, If we are leaving our souls behind ?

Iatrogenesis

Iatrogenesis etymologically refers to anything brought forward by a healer. It could be pain relief or further misery. However since ambiguity is generally abhorred , the word has commonly come down to mean negative effects. These could be unwanted side effects of a drug , malpractise by a physician and so and so forth. Essentially any negative effect one could associate with medical practise. I would like to concentrate on psychological iatrogenesis however. Now since I don't have a medical degree and my training so far has been in biochemistry, I can only talk about information culled from google searches. I read up about MPD sometime back. This was to do with some story I was planning to write. For the moment, its been shelved. Coming back to MPD, the essence of what I'd read up was this- its a psychiatrist created disorder. Patient comes in , starts talking and the psychiatrist, through and during his sessions starts teasing out different aspects of his personality and before you know, there are a few personalities present when there weren't any to begin with. Hence Iatrogenesis. Won't go more into this as I am out of my depth.

What I would like to throw into the mix next, is alcohol. Now this is something I've observed from personal experience. I am a better person drunk than sober. Not that I don't like myself sober, but, I do like myself better drunk. Reason being , I am much more relaxed, much less uptight and generally a more fun person to be around than when I am sober. Heck I even dance. Something, I am terrified of doing, when sober. But, mind you, the liquer is not making me a fun person. I am already a fun person. What it is doing then, is getting rid of the inhibitions that I find myself bound with when sober. So if I think of doing something while I am sober, I can stop myself from doing it before I actually do it. Liquer removes that step between thought of an action and actual action. Mind you again, I am not using liquer as an excuse for doing what I am doing, just analysing it to heck and back. Why, because while I like my drunk persona, I detest hangovers. So trying to be a more fun person while being stone sober.

Lets see, we got inhibitions and we got alcohol, how about sex. Lets add that too. Again , I feel , the same analogy applies. Alcohol may help us unwind but won't really make us sexual fiends if we aren't that way. Seen any painfully shy people ? The ones who don't have a clue about the dating jungle? They are just as painful even when drunk , in fact , worse, If that was actually possible. So where does that leave us.

Depressed I'd say. Bring on the prozac. Except, that most people on prozac can't really get it up. The only good thing that comes out of it is that they aren't bothered even. Most drugs for depression won't cause one to act out all their lustful fantasies. Really too bad. ( though I used the phrase "get it up", I do mean to include the females in this travesty)

By all this, I don't mean to pooh pooh iatrogenesis. As a phenomenon, it exists, and any concern in this regard is valid. However I do believe that educated decisions can and should be taken about personal health. Rhetoric about pharmaceutical industries creating new diseases should not sway a cardiac patient in need of his meds, against them. But, the said cardiac patient should think about lifestyle changes geared towards better cardiac health.

Similarly, drugs should not be blamed for any behavioral traits ( especially by non medical personnal- blame , not the behavior) and should definitely not be used as an excuse or scapegoat. Not by the consumer of those drugs and definitely not by people who have the knowledge of the consumption.

Iatrogenesis, in today's world is a demon in its own right. Lets not create more while trying to destroy it.

Woh kagaz ki kashti

Ye daulat bhi le lo
Ye shoharat bhi le lo
bhale chheen lo mujh se meri jawani,
magar mujh ko lauta do , wo bachpan ka sawan
magar mujh ko lauta do , wo bachpan ka sawan
wo kagaz ki kashti , wo baarish ka paani..

So goes a favourite ghazal of mine. It goes on to recollect a childhood spend listening to grandma's stories and planning the weddings of dolls. A childhood spent in playing around in the sun and not worrying about the SPF values.

Saturday evening, I was where I wanted to be, a friend and I had tickets to Da Vinci Code , we had time to kill , paper in our hands and to complete the picture, it was raining. I guess the childhood was needed. For all the enthusiasm I have , for all the efforts I make to keep that child in me alive, its becoming a losing battle. Yes, we thought of making paper boats and if I could find a puddle , I am sure, I'd have tried sailing them too. But, first things first, the boats needed to be made. While my friend went on in basanti mode, I did a Jai and Veeru. Veeru laughing at all the talk and Jai trying to make the boat. It took me quite a few attempts, a couple of the brochures, but finally I made the boat. Must be the memory of making it an era back. And the fact that I am an obstinate gal and cannot let anything beat me. If I want to do something , I have to keep at it till I can.

And I guess, now I am showing my age. First I could not make the boat for the longest time ever and then I analysed it to heck and back.

I want that bachpan ka sawan back now!!!

News

I've been drooling over the rebel ever since it came out. I finally got my hands on it last wk. My first reaction- Sheer fear. There are way too many buttons on this baby, an absolute contrast to my point and shoot. Not to mention that it is bigger and heavier. Finally got over the fear of dropping it and forced myself to read the manual. Sunday was a nice day and since I'd lazed around the whole day, I got off my behind in the evening and took some shots here and here.
I had fun doing this and am looking forward to exploring this baby's full potential

Everything I know , I learnt from calvin (almost)

Just sharing some cartoon goodness on a sunny sunday.

A Philosophy

" Everybody in the world, little and big, has one special friend, a friend that he is glad to favours to-not sour about it, but glad- glad clear to the marrow. And so, I don't care where you start, you can get at anybody's ear that you want to - I don't care how low you are, nor how high he is. And its so simple: you've only to find the first friend, that is all; that ends your part of the work. He finds the next friend himself, and that one finds the third, and so on , friend after friend, link after link, like a chain; and you can go up it or down it, as high as you like or as low as you like."

Taken from one of the short stories in the complete short stories of Mark Twain. I am reading this on the commute these days and something abt this quote struck home. Does it not boil down to just this, finding that one friend ?

A really enjoyable wkend

I’ve had an amazing wkend, so, I thought, I’ll share the details.

But, I guess, first some background needs to be provided. Lately, I’ve been having a lot of fun wkends. And I can squarely lay that blame on the doors of my partners in crime. Apy, and shu. Shu is my lab mate and has made an appearance on this blog earlier and Apy is threatening to be a regular. I guess a happy mind leads to better productivity and I’ve been having some good days at lab with all my stuff working. That just lets me enjoy some good wkends guilt free leading to some more good days at work. I am in a positive cycle. And it's a dramatic change because just a short while back, I was telling a friend that I am in a negative spiral and it can only end badly.

Last to last wkend, Shu and Apy had come over to my place. I’d cooked and apy had had some warning to stay away from my cooking. Brave of him to come! (I guess he must be thinking of getting back at me, since he invited me over for the wkend that just went by). We also watched swordfish and reservoir dogs and then went for an awesome walk on the beach.

So I was all set for getting some good food on Saturday. (We had decided on a menu earlier: P), when on Friday morning, I get a call. Turns out, a colleague of dad’s, wants to have me over for dinner. Bilbo is suddenly very popular. It feels nice, but is going to involve a lot of commute. Not to mention decisions on outfits and yada yada. Yep, sometimes I can be a typical gal and bore a person to tears talking about clothes and make up and shoes. Before I forget, we also had plans for Sunday evening and tentative plans for dinner. This was a shindig at the Indian embassy. I am guessing soon, the embassy would be the Tokyo chapter of Indian bloggers J

So, on Friday, between my experiments, I RSVPd for my two invites and thought about what to wear and all that girly stuff. Finally, I decided to go to the dinner directly from Apy’s place instead of going back to my place and then proceeding to it. Now, while it saved me half a commute, it presented the additional problem of carrying my outfit, and then changing into it. But, I guess one step at a time. So, when I got home on Friday, the first thing I tackled was the outfit. I had to find one, that was formal enough, was light enough to carry, would not get soiled or crumpled in the commute and holy of all holies, should still fit me. (I gain weight with each breath I take, my last trip to India was a good 4 yrs back and that's the average age of most of my Indian outfits. So when I fit into one, I feel pretty triumphant. Needless to say it isn’t a given and is very rare. If I am not mistaken Haley’s comet is more frequent)

Will wonders ever cease? I actually found one that fitted the bill and off course me, and, hold your breath people, I’ve had it for the last 5 yrs. Smartass (that's my bro), brought the material for me on his trip to lucknow and I got it stitched before I left for New York. If my mom had a say in it, the material would still be languishing in some trunk some where, cuz mommy dearest for all her love, is suspended in the belief that I should have my life on hold till I get married. That includes getting outfits that I am dying to have, this one included. Yeah mom, sure. (That’s an entirely different post, coming soon to a page near you. Meanwhile, watch this space).

So outfit done, err almost. Got to pick out the footwear. The devil is in the details and from the looks of it; I am on a spree and would be providing each one of em. Since my outfit was a dreamy thing in pink chikan, I decided to wear my kolhapuri chappals. My good friend Nupur hails from Kolhapur and was kind enough to bring over two pairs for me on one of her India trips. Needless to say, I am overtly in love with them. Since I did not want to carry too much stuff, I decided to go with the chappals and decided to wear a white shirt in chikan with my jeans for the lunch. Great. Done with the outfits for the day.

So, along with my handbag (which had my outfit), I had one bag containing the dessert I’d picked up and another bag containing the little plant I’d picked up for the wife of my dad’s colleague (they will hereafter be referred to as aunty and uncle). If you ask me, that's way too much stuff to be carrying around. But, a gal’s got to do what a gal's got to do. I called up Apy and let him know that I'd be carrying that much and warned him not to ask me If I was moving in. That took care of another detail.

Come Saturday morning, Bilbo gets up, gets showered and picks up her bags and is out. Guess what? It’s raining. Not cats and dogs, not atomizer rain but rain nonetheless. And Bilbo is wearing her priceless chappals and alternatively muttering under her breath and praying. (Muttering, “darn it, I should have checked the forecast before I picked out the clothes and the shoes, don't have the time to do it now.” And praying, “ Hope the chappals last the day.”). And the first moment, I got indoors, out of the rain, out came the tissues and I set to wiping the chappals. I mean I am anal, but did not know I was that anal.

Okay, now I know. Got to Apy’s place around 11 AM. And the first order of the day, get the outfit out where it wont get any more crumpled. Now, apts in Tokyo are amazingly small. Apy’s is no exception to that. It is just one small studio apt. So, he knew he’d have to step out when I changed. When I took out the outfit to put it aside, his question was, is that a sari (translation, man I am going to be out in the rain and cold for ever)?

Food, where’s the food in this blog about a lunch and dinner, one may ask. Well, Apy had made dal makhani. With, one call to India to dad to get the recipe and then one trip to the store to get the ingredients, he was all set to exact his revenge. Death by overfeeding it seems. He added milk and butter and cream to the dal, and it turned out to be amazingly good. We ended up taking second helpings. Of course there were other things too, like chapattis that puffed up (okie, one definitely did), but the dal took the cake literally.

Satiated, we set to watching Man on Fire. One word for this one – SLOW.
We’d planned a walk to the Tamagawa River nearby, but since it was raining, we had no other option, but to sit and watch the movie.

Oh well, by the time the movie ended, it was time for Bilbo to change and head out. Am glad I’d let uncle know that I might get delayed. Time again, for me to step out in the rain with the chappals. Some more prayers were sent up. I finally made it to uncle’s half an hour late. Good way to make an entry though, since every one was already there. Some more food, rich and yummy. When I moved away from the dining table after helping myself to all the goodies, a fellow guest complimented me on my plate. Turns out it was looking pretty. That's when it hit me. I am so thoroughly bitten by the foodblog bug that I even plate my own food photogenic ally. Wondering if there’s a foodie anonymous in Tokyo. Though, I am not really looking forward to getting up in front of strangers and going, “Hi, I am Ed, I have a problem.”

The Dinner was a farewell for another colleague of dad’s. He is highly talented and has tried to encourage other members of the embassy to follow their passions. He was asked to sing and instead of breaking out in one of his melodious numbers, he started calling up random guests to come and join in. Bilbo was called too. None of us having a clue to what we’d be singing. Finally we sang the Satte pe Satta number pyar hamein kis mode pe le aya. That song brought back some memories.

Some more songs later, it was too late for Bilbo to be heading back home. So while the other guests took their leave, aunty showed me the guest room.

Sunday morning, I was up bright and early. Talked to uncle and aunty over coffee and then headed out. And as soon as I got out of their place, I called Apy. I was up and he was sleeping and I was jealous so woke him up too.

I got home and brought my groceries (a tonne of fruits), made some palak pancakes and had a late brunch. Nap time. Not really, since my washer dryer creates a racket while it is on and I cant really step out. So, while it was on I tried to catch mah 40 winks.

Got up, showered and time to head out again. Am sure people are glad there are no outfit dilemmas for this day. Off late, the club at the Indian embassy has been making their own movies and screening them. They screened a spoof on sholay some time back and I’d missed it. I ‘d heard a lot of good things about it so did not want to miss the screening of their latest venture.

Apy had joined me for the screening. While we waited for it to start, we hung around the place. Bilbo smiling to random people and bursting out into hi how are you(s) and big smiles and the folded hand namaste(s) and also making random introductions that went like so and so meet apy. Note to myself, I need to pick up some people skills.

Finally, after every one settled down and all the speeches were made, the screening started. Not much to write home about but definitely not bad for an amateur effort.

Next stop, the dinner after the screening. Another farewell dinner, this time, a joint effort in hosting. We were both uncomfortable when we got there. I was uncomfortable because I did not know all the people and we were sitting with strangers and Apy, because hell, he did not know anybody. We grabbed for the spirits being served and feeling slightly fortified, began interacting with our dining partners. It wasn’t a bad experience in hindsight. We actually ended up enjoying ourselves and the food wasn't bad either.

And that brings me to the end of this great wkend. Am looking forward to some more like these. And yes, I am a greedy gal.