Namaste!

News Thank you for your patience! 

• As you may have heard, I got the 'Delhi belly' in India, which lasted 2 weeks, from which I've now 99% recovered (although alcohol still doesn't go down well ). So now I have the energy to sort through my piccies and videos and put them up :)
• I passed the N4 Level JLPT Japanese Proficiency exam, which I took back in December, with an A grade. So next up is the N3 level in July. I'm currently taking 4 hours of lessons a week!
• I'm into my last 3 weeks at Aeon (finish on March 26th) and 2 weeks remaining at my flat (March 21st), and as such I'm a walking ball of stress as I haven't secured a job or apartment yet.. Even my birthday has been set aside. Let's hope that sorts itself out soon!!!!
  Edit: I have accepted the job offer I received and have put in a request for a lovely (though a little expensive) tatami-style room in a suburban area- approx 25 mins commute door-to-door.

Okay, so here's all about my trip!!

India

I flew out to India for only 5 days, to which everyone seemed to comment that it was such a short vacation, but perhaps I'm not one of those people who can take long vacations. I'm satisfied that I saw what I wanted to see, though of course it would have been nice to have spent more time hanging out with the lovely Kartik (my University friend with whom I stayed and travelled).

I left snowy Tokyo to be met with a HOT India. It was just like Japan in July, and just like the UK in urm, never mind.

I spent my first day in Hyderabad, India's sixth most populous city located in pretty much the centre of the country.

We ventured out into the city in the window-less and equally air-con-less Auto rickshaws, whose livelyhoods involve constantly weaving and dodging in and out of danger's path. No lanes, rules,or sense of fear makes for a crazy commute!

On the first afternoon in Hyderabad we had some yummy northen Indian food, complete with a 'finger bowl',  and picked up some Punjabi-style clothes for me (pictures later), then we ventured back at night to face the markets in the centre. Being pretty much the only foreigner in sight, and as such being assumed to be rich (which to be fair in comparison I am), I was bombarded with people selling the same merchandise all along the street. I never want to hear the word "madam" ever again!


After Kartik and I got some nice bracelets at a bargain price (Kartik likes breaking out his haggling powers), we went to the train station to begin our overnight journey to the National Heritage site of Hampi, south-East India.
The journey began by walking down the platform itself, I'd never seen such a long train, it took us several minutes to find our car!

What better way to pass the time than playing cards?!

10 hours and some sleep later, we arrived in Hampi..

We hopped into an Auto and traveled through the village to our hotel.

Paradise!

Hampi was a thriving city of the Vijayanagar Empire with possibly as many as 500,000 inhabitants until the middle of the16th Century. It was unfortunately pillaged and abandoned in 1565, leaving the fantastic  ruins of a once bustling metropolis. Hampi is a cluster or several villages all nestled between both lush paddy fields and huge boulders on the desert-like plateau.

I think photos will do better justice than words..

Rice field workers, on Monkey Mountain and riding a coracle (which come from Wales!)

Animals!

Virupaksha Temple

A statue of Narasimha, the Lotus Palace and the Elephant Stables

(Centre) Hampi's most famous feature, the Stone Chariot of Vishnu

(Centre) Thai flashback: Being asked to have a picture taken with Indian tourists..

Watching the beautiful second sunset from atop Malyavanta Hill

Delhi belly.. In stark contrast to these photos of beauty and majesty, the following night on a 12 hour train journey accompanied by a crying baby, included endless waves of nausea, little-to-no-sleep and dashes to the not so-lovely-loo on the train. I regret to report that the following day was wasted with naps and a bit of socialising with Kartik's friends, which took all my energy..

Singapore

I made it to Singapore and survived the flight with nothing in my stomach due to the only meal choice being curry, which was what had made me so ill. Thanks for that, Silk Air.

Anyway, Changi Airport is SO COOL. Free movies, sweets, 3D gaming, free internet access, a giant tv, a butterfly garden, and apparently a free massage (which I didn't indulge in, sorry).

It also offered a free City Tour, so once I cleared Immigration, I headed out into the city on the earliest tour.

Singapore is a beautiful country. "From poverty to paradise in one generation" to quote our charismatic tour guide. It is crazily compact, and has very low unemployment and homelessness.

It boasts the world's tallest London Eye-type ferris wheel, the world's tallest swimming pool and, well, one of the world's three most disappointing landmarks, the Merlion fountain (the other two apparently being The LittleMermaid statue of Denmark and Brussels's Manneken Pis).

The world's tallest swimming pool (right)
and a snap of the audience stands of the Formula 1 race course from the bus window (left)

Japan

A few hours and several movies later and back in Japan,  I was hit by snow, which caused my plane to be delayed and I only just made it on the last train home!

Sick and cold, I took this picture in the snow.

Despite getting sick, it was really awesome to see Kartik again, and I'd never been anywhere like Hampi before, it was SO beautiful, and I watched my first ever sunset from a breathtaking place. I had a great time in such a short vacation, happy times!

Thanks for reading, and love to you all xxxxxxx

India holiday

Update: Thursday morning: I've made it to India safe-and-sound! Got picked up from the airport successfully by Kartik, and I got some sleep at his house. 

Update:  Wednesday 10:55am GMT: I'm at Singapore airport safely, just a few hours to go! I'm so excited!! :D I'll re-post to say I got there safely tonight :)

Hello to my family!! I'm so, so sorry I've continued with my procrastination and laziness and have yet to send out Christmas/New Years postcards. Let's hope they find themselves in your letterboxes sometime before March.. ;_;

Let's have some News: 

As you may or may not know, I'm going to India!! Here's the itinerary so that you know what I'm doing:

• Wednesday 9th: Tokyo Narita- Singapore leaving at11.30am (2.30am GMT)
  Singapore - Hyderabad, India leaving at 21.25 (12.25pm GMT)
  Kartik, my University buddy, will pick me up from the airport, we'll stay at his.
  For info on Hyderabad click here.
• Thursday 10th: Kartik and I'll make our way by train to Hampi to stay overnight and see the ruined city. I have received vaccinations and have stong mosquito repellent so don't worry!
• Monday 14th Hyderabad - Singapore depart at 00.20 (Sunday 15.20 GMT). During my transit at Singapore, will take a free city tour as my transit is for 9 hours :D
  Depart for Tokyo Haneda airport at 15.40 (00.40GMT)
• Tuesday 15th If I miss my last train as I get into Tokyo so late, I've arranged for a super-kind student to pick me up.

My next update will be to confirm my arrival in India, and my next post should bring you the Letter G in my 'A to Z of Japan series.' It's been a while, sorry.

Snowboarding and Matsumoto

Snowboarding with Aeon staff Kaoru, Aki and Simon

 

 Such a beautiful view!

I'm getting better at snowboarding, but never has my bum hurt sooo much from falling down!!! And the muscle pain which lasted about 3 days left me practically paralyzed in the mornings. Maybe I need to improve my warm-up stretching routine..

Sightseeing in Matsumoto - 松本旅行

Since Jen and I visited Nagano city last Winter holiday and saw the Snow Monkeys (click here to re-read) we've decided to make it an annual destination. This time we visited Matsumoto in Nagano Prefecture as a day-trip. 

The 500-year old castle is considered a National Treasure of Japan. Although during the 1500s several hundred castles were built in Japan, only 12 survive intact to this day due to earthquake or fire. Unlike European medieval castles, Japanese castles were built mainly of wood.

Unfortunately, on the day Jen and I visited, the interior wasn't open to the public, so we just walked around the grounds and admired it.

 

Drinking warm amazake, sweet rice wine

 We wandered along the traditional-styled streets, populated with stalls, shrines and frog statues.

2011年！

Happy New Year! Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! 明けましておめでとう！

On New Years Eve, I learned it is customary to eat long soba noodles, which represent longevity.

Next, we sang some songs at karaoke (the first of two trips today)

 

After having dinner as a group of 12 at an izakaya , we all got split up in the crowds andd ended up as a group of 5 at Meiji Jingu, the most popular shrine to spend the countdown in Tokyo.

It was SO crowded!!

It was just under an hour before we made it to the front. We were very cold by now!

People were praying in droves, and as it wasn't feasible for people to pray one at a time, as is usual, so we just had to throw our coins towards the shrine and pray on the spot.

I had a go!

Finally, in the huge crowd, my group was down to two, we got lost, it was very cold, but after finding Jen another hour later, we ended up at all-night karaoke. Good times!

Happy New Year!! I hope 2011 brings you whatever you want!

-

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! Gobeithio neuth 2011 ddod â beth bynnag y'chi'n dymuno am!

'Twas Christmas Eve..

Yoko and Richard learn about advent calendars..



December 22nd For all you astronomy fans out there, this year's Winter Solstice (冬至) coincided with a rare lunar eclipse (月食). Regrettably, Tokyo was being treated to pouring rain at the time, so I was unable to see the moon :'( But to celebrate the Winter Solstice, I had pumpkin salad for lunch with Fumiko, my student, and that night, I took a yuzu bath (an orange citrus fruit)- a combination which is said to prevent one from catching a cold the following year!

December 23rd National holiday- fake-early-Christmas day!!!

The itinerary was:

Watching Tron Legacy  ..

Listening to the Salvation Army play ..

Christmas Karaoke ..

 Christmas dinner..

and ..

Christmas Dinner Posing with Illuminations

A lovely day with lovely people :D

 

December 24th Merry Christmas Eve!

Quote of the day: 

Me: What will you be eating for Christmas tomorrow?

10 year old student: Hamburger!

A Christmas message and an apology..

 

December 25th I worked a full day at AEON..

..followed by meeting Branwen (my school friend) and her friends at a British pub.

 Dipping nachos into cranberry sauce!

The night ended at a club, where I got to speak to my favourite Japanese DJ, Shinichi Osawa. Christmas magic!

It's a Saturday night, but there are no cocktails in sight!
I'm keeping warm under my kotatsu (table heater) while studying for my JLPT Japanese exam tomorrow (on Sunday 5th) requiring listening, reading, grammar and kanji knowledge.
Wish me luck!

Edit: I'm confident I did well enough to pass :) Yay! Wow, it felt just like being at school again. A Japanese-speaking school, that is.