India: The Delhi Belly Tour Pt IV – Jaipur

Posted on July 10, 2007 by tokyofox

Took an early morning rickshaw just 11km out of Jaipur to see Amber Fort which looked quite impressive perched on top of a rocky hill but it did feel like walking around a building site at times. I resisted the temptation to ascend the climb to the fort on elephant as it was raining and I thought I may as well wait for a more glamorous setting for such a thing.

I was dropped off in Pink City after that when the regular downpour occurred as I made my way to the City Palace. I walked fairly aimlessly after that ignoring the many offers of rides and shop visits before I stumbled eventually upon Iswari Minar Swarga Sal, a tower offering 360 degree panoramic views of the old city.

Back on the street I met a British couple, Dan and Michelle and went to a Lonely Planet recommended restaurant with them which looked a right sh*thole from the outside but once inside ‘Steam’ it was ok and I indulged myself with another curry set. We then wandered through a couple of shopping bazaars before parting and meeting up again later for dinner on their hotel rooftop at Atithi Guest House.

On leaving a few hours later I met a fairly Westernized Indian guy who wanted to chat to me (or rather at me while he got his views on the world off his chest) and offered me a lift home to which I enquired “how much?” out of habit which he seemed quite offended by but its very difficult to trust anyone in the tourist areas. I guess there are some good people in these areas but most tourists never really meet any.

The next day I was at a bit of a loose end before my train back to Delhi at 4:35 pm. My expectations had been built up about Jaipur through word of mouth but the place didn’t really meet up to these so much. I’d had it with the tourist traps so I ambled round the neighbourhood near my hotel where I got involved in a bit of street cricket with the locals which attracted attention from all quarters whether it be street level or looking down from the upper floors of their apartments. My ability hadn’t changed as I bowled about three wides out of six and was bowled out first ball and a further two times in a solitary over!!

The only other thing of note was shaking hands with a dirty looking man (probably no dirtier in appearance than me at that time though!) who held a tight grip on my hand and then with his other hand pulled a live snake out of his bag waving it in my face. More strange than scary to be honest.

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India: The Delhi Belly Tour Pt III – Fatephur Sikri

Posted on July 8, 2007 by tokyofox

It was p*ssing it down all the way from Agra to Fatephur Sikri on my 7am bus ride. 80 minutes for RP22 (about 27 pence) on a rickety old bus with open windows and a leaking roof resulted in my backpack getting a bit of a soaking. Once I’d stored my bag at a hostel I walked up a hill to see another mosque called Jama Masjid. I couldn’t be bothered to go inside though as I was getting annoyed with all the touts trying to offer me guided tours or whatever and I felt I couldn’t trust anyone.

Instead I walked down the major lane just to generally observe the way of life but as I got to the bottom of this hill the heavens opened up and it absolutely pelted it down flooding the place within seconds and I had to wade through a river of piss, sh*t, litter and mud with a huge group of kids in tow of the only white boy in the village at that moment!

dancing in the rain!  India2007 181  India2007 190  India2007 184

I thought about giving up and moving on altogether when I got back to the hostel but luckily I didn’t and the rain cleared and I went sightseeing again. Not even sure of the name but the palace buildings were impressive due to a lack of visitors and me having no knowledge or expectation of the place. I met two Scottish girls and walked on over to Jama Masjid where this time i had a quick look around the place while trying to fight off unwanted guides.

 Fatephur Sikri  India2007 201  India2007 200  stone representation of elephant tusks at Hiran Minar  India2007 211  The bus that took me to Fatephur Sikri

After lunch on the hotel rooftop with a load of other travellers I went to find Hiran Minar – a 21 metre tower featuring many stone representations of elephant tusks – amid old ruins of a nice looking place away from crowds. Mid-afternoon I had to take a horse-drawn cart to the bus stand but not alone as about 10 others crammed on to it. I was dropped off roadside in an area which was supposed to be the bus stand but was just the usual chaos.

Eventually after a nervous hours wait I hopped on a packed mini-bus where I had to stand up with my backpack at my feet and my ruck-sac on my front as the bus jinked its way through the traffic beeping its horn constantly in true Indian fashion. About an hour down the road I finally got a seat at the back by the window which was necessary for me as there was no air-conditioning. Six of us were squeezed into the five spaces and the first few hours (six in total) were fine but the last couple really killed my backside! Still, I chose this cheap option (RP110 or £1.40) and am still very glad that I did as you get to see and experience a lot more travelling this way rather than going by express air-con train or whatever.

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India: The Delhi Belly Tour Pt II – The Taj Mahal

Posted on July 5, 2007 by tokyofox

Thoughtlessly I forgot to change my alarm clock to Indian time so I was woken up at 1.30am (5am in Japan) having struggled to get to sleep before that. A few hours later I took the 6.15am Shatabdi Express to Agra (home of the Taj Mahal) in the comfort of an air-conditioned carriage with free newspaper, water and a meal. Not bad for a two hour journey!

As we pulled out of New Delhi station the Indian way of going to the toilet was confirmed to me as there were many boys squatting on the other tracks doing their business and using their left hand to clean up. Compulsive viewing!!

It was raining heavily in Agra when I took an auto-rickshaw to Hotel Kamal where I paid RP250 (about 3 pounds) for a room and went on the rooftop for my first view of the famous Taj. First on my itinerary though was Agra Fort – a huge red sandstone palace and fort – from where I could also see the Taj Mahal. It was here that I had my first experience of Indian guys wanting their photo taken with me. The glare of their steely eyes for far too long on top of a mistrust of many Indians can be quite intimidating at first but its something I got very used to as it repeated itself constantly for the remainder of my trip.

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Next, I walked up behind the Taj Mahal where I was this time surrounded by a large group of kids begging for money and wanting a photo. I escaped them by paying RP750 to go inside and it was very nice but having seen it so many times already that day from other angles I didn’t get any special feeling but I guess anyone who has ever travelled with me knows that I’m often underwhelmed by these things!

India2007 139  India2007 162  India2007 151  India2007 157   India2007 171  My Hotel Kamal room

Temperatures that afternoon were at a peak of 42 degrees celsius and I posed for many photos with Indian men (never any women the whole time I was in the country!) and rarely got left alone from their interrogating questions in an english accent which at times was difficult to understand.

At night I finally thought it time to get stuck in to some local food which I did on the hotel rooftop where I had curry, naan and a chapati with two Dutch guys.

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India: The Delhi Belly Tour Pt I – Delhi

Posted on July 3, 2007 by tokyofox

With my 30th birthday soon approaching I fancied the challenge of India before I settle on a life holidaying in developed countries and staying in 5 star hotels and doing package tours including air-conditioned transport between the tourist traps!

So many horror stories beforehand but despite a 90 minute delay at Narita Airport I arrived at my first nights hotel in the backpacker area (Paharganj) of Delhi relatively easily. That is apart from the pre-paid taxi getting a puncture on the way!

After a few ‘Kingfisher’ beers that night I wasn’t in a rush to do much on my first full day other than adjust to the climate and new chaotic surroundings of New Delhi which is full of street shops, tricycles, rickshaws, travellers, litter, touts, more touts and the king of the streets – the holy cow!

a squirrel at Humayun's Tomb  India2007 012  Angle Tower view of Red Fort

I met an Irish guy at the station while filling out the excessive paperwork for my train to Agra the following day and went for breakfast with him before going solo and taking a pre-paid rickshaw to Humayun’s Tomb. After that was my first experience of being forced by the driver to visit a few shops. As much as I hate shopping I would have liked to look at a few things throughout the trip but its made difficult as you get pounced on as soon as you show the slightest interest.

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He eventually took me to Jama Masjid (India’s largest mosque) at a cheap price as he gets paid for each customer he takes to the shops. However I wasn’t allowed in as I had shorts on but I thought some guy was trying to scam me by charging me entry for a free place. I tried to just walk in but the guy ran after me and caused a bit of a scene resulting in everyone looking at me and this in a country where the people really do stare at you for a long time. Fortunately at the bottom of the steps leading to this mosque I met a kid who took me round to a side entrance where I  was given something to wrap around my lower half. It was quite impressive inside though painful at times as my bare feet burned on the floor (this despite them rolling out a carpet for walking) and the tower view did offer some great views of the area and beyond.

India2007 053  India2007 054  India2007 038  The Mosque at Jama Masjid

After that I walked for ages getting lost among the pandemonium of Chandni Chowk before i got scammed by some kid who rode me on his tricycle to Old Delhi station and not New Delhi!

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TV Review : Japanorama & Adam & Joe Go Tokyo

Posted on June 22, 2007 by tokyofox

Since I got my DivX player a few months back I have been going through some of my dvd downloads and I ended up watching two series’ about Japan. The first was Jonathan Ross’ Japanorama which was tucked away on the BBC3 schedule last year and the other was ‘Adam and Joe Go Tokyo’ which was on the same channel a few years back.

Both series were a bit different to the usual documentary or travel programme and delivered to the UK public in a humorous way which I guess is not too difficult to do given the contents which would be seen as being “bizarre’ by most Brits and that probably includes myself too even though i have been in among it for the last few years.

Many people may think Japan is a homogenous society where people remain on “the inside” not wanting to be “outsiders” or different so that it may upset social harmony. However, if you look beyond the generalisations there are different people as outlined particularly in the second series of Japanorama. Wossy ethusiastically focused on six different parts of Japanese culture (e.g. cool, cute, geeks etc) and he was like a big kid at times. He even used one of the Japanese toys in the last episode of the 2nd Extras series in which he played himself.

Both programmes did overlap at times but thats not too surprising.

JapanoramaLogo images

Far too many things to mention here but highlights among other things included geek spotting in Akihabara, finger-phones, noodle slurping, robots, maid cafes, cos-play conventions, elvis dancers, loose socks, the yakuza, hard-gay man, fugu, hello kitty, beetle racing and work uniforms which are actually worn with pride, status and a sense of belonging to the company unlike in other countries.

The Adam and Joe show included many off these things too but they got a little more involved in creating situations such as trying to become famous in a city where “any washed up star” can do so! This included wearing strange costumes for the Matrix premier, trying to get stuff for free in a shop and a mock TV interview in Shibuya which saw them mobbed by actors which resulted in more people gathering around. The best part of this over the eight week show was the forming of a band named ‘Gaijin Invasion'(see the video here) who busked in the park in Kichijoji and even got on music station Space Shower TV.

They also went to a cos-play convention dressed as Harry Potter and Wizard, held a speed eating contest and looked at the other wierd and wonderful things in Tokyo like dog petting zoo’s, host bars, capsule hotels and a stack of useless gadgets and inventions. These included a nude bra, a cushion that looks like an arm for those lonely people and a device to let you know what you’re dog is saying called “Bowlingual”. I’m sure you agree that this is all essential stuff!!

One of my highlights from this series was seeing them play finger pointing game “Gets” with Dandy Sakano who is a Japanese comedian from yesteryear and can be seen here. Doing this action to illicit the word ‘get’ or ‘gets’ in class normally guarantees cheap laughs.

Posted in Japan Life, Japan Travel, Quirky Japan, TV Shows | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Dining Out: Curry On Regardless

Posted on June 15, 2007 by tokyofox

There are two weekly listings magazines for foreigners in Tokyo and they regularly review restaurants which I have always ignored. That was until last weekend when I went to an Indian cafe in Shinjuku which had been reviewed in ‘Notice Board’ magazine as I thought I should start trying a few Indian places to prepare me for my trip to Delhi at the end of this month. You see I’m always thinking one step ahead just like a carpenter making stairs!

The previous night I had had a staff party at work which involved a lot of drinking and the inevitable all-night karaoke where I threw up over the balcony on the stairwell area. Not sure what floor we were on (6th??) but chundering a few floors down and hearing the splat was certainly a new experience for me. I don’t think anyone got showered by my puke either! Anyway, nursing a bit of a hangover was maybe not the ideal preparation for Indian food given the effects it can sometimes have on my stomach.

Maharaja Cafe is a fairly basic but relaxed place selling South Indian grub which is supposedly more sweet than the more spicy north which is where I am heading on my short seven day trip. I remembered this place from the magazine as I heard about its desserts (mango pudding, kulfi indian ice cream, ras malai) and wanted to sample one or two but the previous nights excursion sadly took its toll on me and I could only manage a couple of lassi’s, sag chicken and cheese nan bread which I had never seen before let alone had. Delicious it was too.

Next stop: The real thing.

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Let Me Take You Down to the African Festa

Posted on June 10, 2007 by tokyofox

It’s fair to say that I have been quite ignorant of all things African related throughout my life and my knowledge amounts to not much more than Cameroon’s exploits at Italia ’90, Live Aid and Comic Relief.

That was re-addressed in some way on a lovely sunny day a few weeks ago when I went to the African Festa in Hibiya Park. There were stalls from all the African nations (some of which I’d never even heard of!) selling many arts and crafts as well as some national dishes. I plumped for some Ethiopian food; a dish called ‘Queens Set’ and a tapioca strawberry milkshake which you can see in the photo below and judge for yourself on its appearance. To be honest it was ok but nothing special and probably better than I thought it would be.

I wouldn’t say I really know much more about African culture now but it did open my eyes a bit and got me thinking that I shouldn’t leave the door to Africa completely closed to future travel possibilities. For now though I am concentrating on Asia but there aren’t too many more places I want to visit in this part of the world.

    

Also, this African Festa was sandwiched in between Thai and Sri Lankan festivals in Yoyogi Park. When I first hear about these types of events I usually think “Who the hell is going to go to that?” but am always amazed by the turnout of both foreigners and Japanese. It just goes to show that the Japanese do take quite an interest in other countries’ cultures. Not sure if that could be said for some other countries people.

You can see Ricky Gervais’ hilarious ‘Comic Relief 07’ video sketch here
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I’m The Invisible Man

Posted on June 8, 2007 by tokyofox

Two examples yesterday of the frustration at times of being a foreigner in Japan. Of course there are many times when being an ‘alien’ works in my favour but its annoying when you’re trying to just go about simple things and you have to endure problems. First of all I went in to the post office (a place which has p*ssed me off before with its anal rules although I guess in some way that is what makes this country operate smoothly) and gave the clerk two cards and said I wanted to send them to Igirisu (England) but moments later I see him pointing at England and asking his colleague which country that is in Japanese. “Excuse me, but I just told you in Japanese what it is” I think to myself.

Next, I meet my friend Shinji and after some ramen we go to ‘Dennys’ to just sit and relax over a dessert and a few soft drinks. Ready to order another drink I call over the waiter. “Excuse me, one of these please” I say to him in Japanese and he replies “chotto matei kudasai” (just a moment please) which I thought just meant he was busy and would take my order soon but then seconds later a waitress comes to the table and asks for my order which Shinji gives this time.

It seems that as often happens the Japanese get flustered when someone obviously foreign speaks to them and right from the start they are not gonna even try and understand anything I say even though it’s in their language. Sure, my pronunciation is terrible at times but they switch off as soon as I open my mouth and panic and don’t listen to anything I say. Shinji said he thought that the waiter probably just assumed I was speaking in English and didn’t listen to me at all.

A couple of years ago I was out with my ex-girlfriend and as always the waiter goes over to her when it comes to ordering which is fair enough and maybe the same would happen in England but it did irk me somewhat when they always wanted confirmation and reassurance from her for the order. I guess most of the time everything goes well and of course they don’t mean anything intentionally bad but every now and again things like this happen and make me feel like I am invisible and don’t exist.

Posted in Japan Life | 2 Comments

My Trusted Old Bag Is Head-ing For The Bin

Posted on June 8, 2007 by tokyofox

For my birthday in 1992 I was given a black ‘Head’ ruck-sack by one of my sisters and almost everywhere I’ve been since then that bag has been with me. However, last months trip to the Philippines may well have been its last stand as one of the straps broke. Luckily for me it came apart when I was back on dry land but only just. If it had happened a few minutes earlier some of my most important possessions would have got soaked and without doubt would have been useless thereafter.

Back in 1992 I was a high school student and at some point in the following year I thought it cool to scrawl the name U2 in the bottom corner in tip-ex as they were my favourite band of the time. 15 years later and that graffiti still remains on the bag and I guess I should be thankful that I still really like them. When I think of the other bands that I liked back in the early 90s i feel lucky that I didn’t write any of them on it.

As the years have passed the bag has inevitably suffered wear and tear but for my next trip i will now have a new companion. Will I miss the old one and the memories (I will resisit the temptation to namedrop the countries I’ve been to with that bag) that go with it? I doubt it as after all its just a bag isn’t it?

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Lessons To Be Learned

Posted on June 1, 2007 by tokyofox

Had some feedback a couple of weeks ago from my observation lesson at the start of May. This should have been the day after that but I asked for it to be postponed as I didn’t want to get up early that day as there was a big football match in the early hours of that morning. A justified reason I thought!

My ADOS (assistant director of studies) observed one of my KG lessons where I had to get the kids to identify a few stationery items such as a ruler/pen/pencil/pencil case etc as well as asking the question ‘What is it?’ and recognising when we use ‘a’ or ‘an’. Of course this sounds very easy to you but for 6 and 7 year old kids its not such plain sailing.

You can speculate among yourselves about the negative thoughts on my teaching but what he did like was my enthusiasm, use of space and realia and also music!

A month or two ago I decided to glam-up my lessons a bit by a quite simple method. I made a couple of compilation CD’s and introduced my classes to intro and outro music for each lesson which started off with the students walking into the classroom to the sound of the Star Wars theme and leaving to that of ‘Matsuken Samba’ which is a famous cheesey Japanese song.

Since then the Rocky theme and famous classical music pieces by Prokofiev and Carl Orff have been used at the start of lessons and ‘The Exorcist‘, ‘Terminator‘ and ‘Back To The Future‘ themes playing lightly in the background while they’re doing the boring bookwork bits is an idea resurrected from my training course in London a couple of years ago. I guess all this is bringing out the frustrated radio DJ in me!

Also, I photocopied my page on Keikotomanabu.net and placed it on my desk for the students to blatantly see. In this game you have to amuse yourself how you can so it made me smile when i could practise my David Brent (of ‘The Office’ fame) impersonation by asking the students “is that in your way?”. Ah, how little things can amuse but I figure if I’m cheerful then that will hopefully transmit its way to the students who will also be happy.

In the world of teaching you tend to steal ideas from whoever you can. This doesn’t just include other teachers where I’m concerned but also includes knicking radio features such as ‘Guess the intro’, ‘Guess Who?’ and ‘Defend The Indefensible’ from BBC Radio Five Live’s excellent Fighting Talk which I play in my TOEFL lesson.

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