Saturday, May 23, 2009
Elementary, My dear Watson.
Just saw preview for upcoming Sherlock Holmes movie! Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Sherlock Holmes, can you think of a more alluring mix?!
Geographically Challenged
Snippet from a conversation between me and a Phd student from the University where the workshop in Nagasaki was hosted. The student was an observer during one of the sessions and this conversation eventuated during the break.
Formalities, blah blah blah
Her: So you are all from the Pacific (reps from most of the islands were present at the workshop)
Me: Yes, we are!
Her: Oh wow! So I was wondering...how come you all look so...different?
Me: {smile,giving a low humouring giggle} That's because we are all from different countries, the Pacific is a region, not a country.
/take girl to a map on the wall and point out Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia while giving examples of participants from the different countries present in the room.
Her: And so you all speak different languages?
Me: /facepalm
Formalities, blah blah blah
Her: So you are all from the Pacific (reps from most of the islands were present at the workshop)
Me: Yes, we are!
Her: Oh wow! So I was wondering...how come you all look so...different?
Me: {smile,giving a low humouring giggle} That's because we are all from different countries, the Pacific is a region, not a country.
/take girl to a map on the wall and point out Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia while giving examples of participants from the different countries present in the room.
Her: And so you all speak different languages?
Me: /facepalm
Shifting gears...
The last two weeks have sort of whizzed past with my re-emergence into the world of 8-5 work for a week while in Nagasaki and then the entry back into the world of scholarly pursuits after.
Nagasaki was bliss. EVERY Japanese person you meet in Tokyo keeps reminding you that Tokyo is NOT Japan and that one needs to get out of Tokyo to see Japan in its entirety. How so very true.
The trip started with a sighting of Mount Fuji from above. Fuji san is so iconic here with locals and foreigners alike that just a sliver of a sighting draws screams of joy...and then to finally be able to see it...all of it...well its a good thing the seat belt sign was still lit or I would have been jumping up and down on that plane!!
Nagasaki itself...rice fields, mountains (correction: hills) green all around, slightly bigger houses, people more smiley and strangers saying good-morning, prices were lower, transportation was cheaper, need I go on. Was put up in a place outside the main city center so would wake up to this view from my window each morning.
Hotel was also right next to the Atomic Bomb Memorial Museum...got to pay a visit just before closing time on my first day there and it was quite a humbling experience. The artifacts, stories, pictures and even remains of bombed buildings, bridges and remnants of scorched clothes were arranged in a way that makes you stick to the stomach just thinking back to what people in that area went through, during and years after the bombing.
What was beyond me was how Nagasaki and Hiroshima were the first places in the world to be bombed as such, the destruction caused was absolutely freaking clear...and yet, several places suffered the same fate since. Were the perpetrators so..thick? The next morning I took a walk through the peace park which has the epicenter of where the bomb landed and several monuments donated by countries as a prayer of peace and comfort to Nagasaki. You get goosebumps just approaching the place even though it has concrete all over it now and...yeah. well.
Here are some paper cranes from outside the museum (heaps of them all over the Peace Park making shrines at the foot of monuments)...Ancient Japanese legend has it that if you string a thousand of these together you will be granted one wish. These are all...wishing for peace.
The workshop itself was a success, was nice mingling with Islanders again after yonks, the crew from home brought over some stuff from Mum...BBC Dhal mix, vegemite, FMF Breakfast crackers and Pure Fiji Lotion. :)
Oh and this trip report concludes with...Obama Onsen (hotspring bath thingo) souvenir sighting at the airport on the way out. In disbelief, I actually asked the girl...is there really an 'Obama Onsen' in Nagasaki? She, of course, went to the trouble of explaining where exactly it was located mistaking my amusement...for interest.
Nagasaki was bliss. EVERY Japanese person you meet in Tokyo keeps reminding you that Tokyo is NOT Japan and that one needs to get out of Tokyo to see Japan in its entirety. How so very true.
The trip started with a sighting of Mount Fuji from above. Fuji san is so iconic here with locals and foreigners alike that just a sliver of a sighting draws screams of joy...and then to finally be able to see it...all of it...well its a good thing the seat belt sign was still lit or I would have been jumping up and down on that plane!!
Nagasaki itself...rice fields, mountains (correction: hills) green all around, slightly bigger houses, people more smiley and strangers saying good-morning, prices were lower, transportation was cheaper, need I go on. Was put up in a place outside the main city center so would wake up to this view from my window each morning.
Hotel was also right next to the Atomic Bomb Memorial Museum...got to pay a visit just before closing time on my first day there and it was quite a humbling experience. The artifacts, stories, pictures and even remains of bombed buildings, bridges and remnants of scorched clothes were arranged in a way that makes you stick to the stomach just thinking back to what people in that area went through, during and years after the bombing.
What was beyond me was how Nagasaki and Hiroshima were the first places in the world to be bombed as such, the destruction caused was absolutely freaking clear...and yet, several places suffered the same fate since. Were the perpetrators so..thick? The next morning I took a walk through the peace park which has the epicenter of where the bomb landed and several monuments donated by countries as a prayer of peace and comfort to Nagasaki. You get goosebumps just approaching the place even though it has concrete all over it now and...yeah. well.
Here are some paper cranes from outside the museum (heaps of them all over the Peace Park making shrines at the foot of monuments)...Ancient Japanese legend has it that if you string a thousand of these together you will be granted one wish. These are all...wishing for peace.
The workshop itself was a success, was nice mingling with Islanders again after yonks, the crew from home brought over some stuff from Mum...BBC Dhal mix, vegemite, FMF Breakfast crackers and Pure Fiji Lotion. :)
Oh and this trip report concludes with...Obama Onsen (hotspring bath thingo) souvenir sighting at the airport on the way out. In disbelief, I actually asked the girl...is there really an 'Obama Onsen' in Nagasaki? She, of course, went to the trouble of explaining where exactly it was located mistaking my amusement...for interest.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
...jaded chicken
In a Woody Allen phase so downloaded Annie Hall and Manhattan. Digested Annie Hall through some spare time this week and still cracking up over the wit. Was stuck on the closing quotes though while doing some soul spring cleaning.
Alvy Singer: this guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, "Doc, uh, my brother's crazy; he thinks he's a chicken." And, uh, the doctor says, "Well, why don't you turn him in?" The guy says, "I would, but I need the eggs." Well, I guess that's pretty much now how I feel about relationships; y'know, they're totally irrational, and crazy, and absurd, and... but, uh, I guess we keep goin' through it because, uh, most of us... need the eggs.
I haven't had a single boyfriend (in the truest sense of the word) in the last TWO years...and the best thing (or worst depending on how you look at it) about it is that it doesn't really bother me. I have become incredibly comfortable in my own skin.
So is my chicken jaded, cynical and sceptical to the point of non-existence?
Yeah, I'll just push this down to the bottom of the 'things to mull over' list and deal with it another time.
In other news, am off to Nagasaki shortly, my first major trip out of Tokyo...and off Honshu (well, i did go to Nagano in Winter but that was still on the same island!) So yeah, its going to be da bomb! to see that side of Japan (pun intended...bad joke, i know, but bad jokes are my trademark)
Working Monday to Friday but trying to squeeze some exploration time into the trip so flying out of Haneda at 6am!
tres excited!
Alvy Singer: this guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, "Doc, uh, my brother's crazy; he thinks he's a chicken." And, uh, the doctor says, "Well, why don't you turn him in?" The guy says, "I would, but I need the eggs." Well, I guess that's pretty much now how I feel about relationships; y'know, they're totally irrational, and crazy, and absurd, and... but, uh, I guess we keep goin' through it because, uh, most of us... need the eggs.
I haven't had a single boyfriend (in the truest sense of the word) in the last TWO years...and the best thing (or worst depending on how you look at it) about it is that it doesn't really bother me. I have become incredibly comfortable in my own skin.
So is my chicken jaded, cynical and sceptical to the point of non-existence?
Yeah, I'll just push this down to the bottom of the 'things to mull over' list and deal with it another time.
In other news, am off to Nagasaki shortly, my first major trip out of Tokyo...and off Honshu (well, i did go to Nagano in Winter but that was still on the same island!) So yeah, its going to be da bomb! to see that side of Japan (pun intended...bad joke, i know, but bad jokes are my trademark)
Working Monday to Friday but trying to squeeze some exploration time into the trip so flying out of Haneda at 6am!
tres excited!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Sarika's Travels
Feel like I am on Lilliput Island some days.
Went around looking for shoes, shorts and other basic necessities today but was greeted by the same problem every.bloody.where. They didn't have the item in my size.
I need to start binding my feet (amongst other things) to reduce size and restrict any further growth.
Otherwise, still on holiday and absolutely loving it!
Went for a hike up (down, around and about) Mt Takao on Saturday and ended up walking even further to a nearby town called Sagami-ono...was nice to be out of the city!
Then went back to civilization with a blast...dinner at a cheap and awesome yakiniku (fried meat) place in Kichijoji, several rounds of several different drinking games (the japanese ones ranged from cow tongue to ninja!) then some karaoke, a few more drinks at Hub (a chain of 'british' pubs in Tokyo) and then a final dash for the last train....good times, good times.
pic taken on the way to the dam in Sagami
Went around looking for shoes, shorts and other basic necessities today but was greeted by the same problem every.bloody.where. They didn't have the item in my size.
I need to start binding my feet (amongst other things) to reduce size and restrict any further growth.
Otherwise, still on holiday and absolutely loving it!
Went for a hike up (down, around and about) Mt Takao on Saturday and ended up walking even further to a nearby town called Sagami-ono...was nice to be out of the city!
Then went back to civilization with a blast...dinner at a cheap and awesome yakiniku (fried meat) place in Kichijoji, several rounds of several different drinking games (the japanese ones ranged from cow tongue to ninja!) then some karaoke, a few more drinks at Hub (a chain of 'british' pubs in Tokyo) and then a final dash for the last train....good times, good times.
pic taken on the way to the dam in Sagami
Sunday, May 3, 2009
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