Eighth Dip In Indian Ocean, Maldives sojourn!

My 8th dip was destined to be in Indian Ocean at Maldives. The previous blog was prelude to our endeavor in Maldives.

 

Maldives is the smallest country in Asia situated in the heart of Indian Ocean, far from Africa on west and Indonesia on east. India is in its North east, flight taking nearly two and half hours from Mumbai. In geographical parlance it's known as Archipelagic Country means a nation formed by group of islands. There are nearly two thousand islands out of which only two hundred are inhabited. And it's not for those who go on foreign tours for either sight seeing or shopping or merry making. Being only 100% Islamic country[ Even Saudi is not!] Alcohol is absolutely No No. And there are hardly any sights for tourists' interest. It's a country for those who love sea in its all forms. Sports, Food and Scenery!

 

But before going to Indian ocean directly I would like to dwell on the seas where I could not have a dip which I regret till date!

The first one on the list is Mediterranean sea. Right from Spain to south of France to Italy I did have chance but somehow it did not materialize. Barcelona in Spain has beautiful beaches on Mediterranean but it was winter and temperatures lingered around 11* Celsius. The winds were bitingly cold, so it was out of question. South of France from Cannes to Nice to Monaco beaches are beautiful but the sands are rough, they are rather well rounded small stones. On the beach of Nice two elderly ladies in their 60s were playing badminton in bikinis with  the smallest lower piece but nothing on the top, totally topless! Naturally they attracted men, even in France there are, I won't call them perverts but onlookers with weird taste, and they were in dozens! . But the site was nothing sexy at all, at the most it was hilarious!![ Tongue firmly in cheek!, Just stretch your imagination !]. Italy, Mediterranean is at its best especially in and around Capri. The caves , Blue Grotto are out of this world. Rays of Sun refract through the absolute crystal clear waters to give it a bright fluorescent blue color added with shades of Silver! Once seen it, it just is there in your brain!

 

Busan in South Korea has two seas washing it shores. On the east is Sea of Japan and on the south Korea Strait. Again many beaches, the famous ones are 1. Gwangelli and 2.Haeundae. Third one Songdo is artificial, totally Man Made! Gwangelli beach is out of reach for swimmers while Haeundae is another Girgaon Chowpaty! So was absolutely No No for ! Plus the temperature at 11 O* clock in the morning was around 8 to 9* Celsius. I was in layers and to remove them was unthinkable! Even with the aura of Girgaon Chowpaty, Haeundae beach is clinically clean beyond any Indian's imagination! Beach at Tokyo bay is again out of reach for casual bathers.

 

Bondi Beach in Sydney, yet an another miss. Most famous for its Golden sands and family friendly environs! South China Sea at Hong Kong, Santa Monica and Zuma at Malibu again beaches on Pacific Ocean In Los Angeles, oh so many I still miss them! 

Indian Ocean , we call it our own , it being INDIAN ocean but except the name it does not have anything akin to India. First the waters are absolutely blue and Cyan [ Greenish Blue Hue]. They are crystal clear even in crowded places like Male' airport ferry wharf. No floating trash of any kind especially Pet Bottles.

Male' airport, known as Velana international airport is actually not  on Male' island , its on Hulhule island surrounded by sea on all the sides, of course! So you have to take speed boat or ferry to reach anywhere in Maldives, even to capital Male' which is just across the channel at stones throw away distance on an another island.

 

We were to ride in speed boat to our hotel on Thulusdhoo island. Pronunciation at speaker's risk. Like our south Indian Bros Maldivians too do not know how and where to put 'H'! Local language is Maldivian or Dhivehi . It's similar to Lankan language Sinhalese. Actually these are water taxies operated round the clock for basically locals  as well as tourists, on whom the basic and major economy of Maldives depends! Fishing and shipping being other two. Ride to Thulusdhoo was phenomenal. Rather all the rides there after were on par with rides 007 takes in all the Bond movies, super duper fast! A special cart had come to pick us up at marina at Thulusdhoo. Hotel was 3 star. Reef Edge. It was so true to its name. Standing just right across the sea but not exactly on the beach, it gave splendid view of blue waters from every room. Amongst all the islands of Maldives Thulusdhoo is the only one having waves.

White frothy silvery waves breaking continuously was so soothing to the eyes. So it's called surfers' paradise.

 

Just five minutes of walking from Reef Edge takes you to the actual sea. They have build few boulder walls in the sea to make the lagoons. And let me tell about my first experience of swimming in the REAL ocean. So far, in Atlantic or Pacific , it amounted to just wetting the feet in waters, metaphorically, but here in Maldives it was actual ocean, Indian ocean! I so far have prided  in being a good swimmer but that ego crashed in minutes! It turned out that they are poles apart, swimming in Kalpataru's pool and actual ocean.
In the pool the water is placid and do not have any movement or currents. And you can stand on the poolbed anytime if you are tired. In the ocean  water is never still, it pulls you in any direction it may want! Once it so happened that I was trying to reach the shores but the current was so strong that I was practically stationary , neither moving forward nor going backwards! And if you try to stand for taking a respite either the sea bed is too deep , unreachable or it's covered with stony corals, bruising your soles literarily. 

 

I did not use the snorkeling gear for my first dip and used my usual swimming goggles. Even then the marine life I could see was so vivid and vibrant. Umpteen number of  fishes, of variety whose names I hardly could ever remember, with the exception of  two types of eels, one plain and other striped, crested eel known as Honeycomb eel!. Was the normal one the  Morey eel , I am not sure. Corals again in different colors bright and vivid. In different shapes and types. After a while may be 45 minutes or so I swam back to the shore. Different experience awaited me there. After swimming in the sea waters, absolutely salty and leaving salty bitter taste in mouth, my body became so stiff that I was unable to stand, as if my knees were giving away. I have a steel rod in my right thigh due to previous surgery that added to the woo in form of pain though not excruciating but nonetheless bothersome.

 

All said and done swimming in actual ocean was tremendous experience worth having!

 

In the evening local fish Mahi Mahi was served . I definitely am not a fish lover, I can devour only limited types like, Pomphret, Basa, Bombay duck if well made. So any fish that smells 'Fishy' I can't stand it. Upbringing! But except me all the other family members proclaim that they are born to eat fish! So only I had to do away with veggie fodder! [In their view !]

 

The next day it was trip to Sand banks. It's a unique geographical phenomenon. The boatmen mostly are Maldivians and know their Ocean like  back of their palm We were seven, Me, my wife Shubha, Son Saket, his wife, my daughter in law Neha and their son, my grandson Arshu, and Neha's parents, Nitin and Sugandha. With the speed of lightening they traversed the ocean to a spot absolutely in the middle of nowhere. It was sea, sea and sea everywhere, with neither land nor humanity in the vicinity of miles and miles! What actually is ocean one realizes at such places! How do they navigate in these directionless environs they only know!

 

At certain times in 24 hours sea recedes during low tide leaving just a strip of land, not more than a meter in width and around 50 to 100 meters in length. That's Sand Bank. And  it goes under the water again within a very short period, say 45 to 50 minutes. We have to catch that period. We could, after getting up very early in the morning.

 

Golden white sand shines in the early Sun like glass  crystals spread all over. Turquoise blue water with different shades of blue cajoles the bank on all the sides. The ocean slopes here very gradually  up to a certain point and then suddenly dips to very great lengths. Very good situation for snorkeling. Here I wore snorkeling gear for the first time in Indian Ocean. Snorkeling gears are available in two types. One which covers the face entirely where you can breathe normally through the nose. While the other one has a mask with glasses that covers your eyes and nose. The ventilatory tube one has to hold in the mouth with the teeth and breathe through the mouth. Hear the piece over the eyes and nose has to be absolutely water tight otherwise if water sips in one might choke. The gadget which I wore was absolutely perfect and I could glide over the deep sea waters effortlessly for tens of minutes. Underwater valleys and trenches were sights to behold. Here the corals were different with totally different shape and color. One was  like a human brain with color and sulci and gyri exactly matching human brain. Others were like huge flowers spread over few feet with enchanting bright colors from pink, to green to at times brown. Fishes too were in myriads of shapes and color. Some were translucent while some fluorescent. Water leeches too were there. Boatman announced that it was time to leave. When we came back to Sand bank, water had already started engulfing it leaving only a faint reminisce of the Sand bank that was !

TeamLab: Planets Odaiba and so on

 teamLab: Planets Odaiba and so on

If you are in Tokyo or planning to visit Tokyo in near future, “Don’t Come back without visiting

teamLab. Planet!”  If you don’t’ you are missing out on “Out Of This World Experience!”

In their own words team says that, “It’s an Art museum making use of technological tools where ones’ senses merge with the space he is in, whether lights, water, gravity, and garden whatever!” Without bothering about the technical details too much, they prefer to accentuate the human senses while blending them with the space. Complicated? Eh? It is!

They want people to go barefoot to sense the newer senses and immerse their bodies in vast artworks of space surrounding them, merging themselves into it along with the others. The intricacy lies in the fact that environs change according to your as well as other peoples’ interaction with the space, in the end blurring the boundaries between self, art and others.

Actually they had two enterprises by the names, planets and borderless [of your being]. TeamLab Borderless was in Odaiba but is presently closed due to total waterfront renovation-reorganization. So it is being shifted to Roppongi by Dec ’23, so check it. Present teamLab.com Planets is very easy to find, just opposite station Shin-Toyosu on Yurikamome line.

Team Lab

When I was standing in the queue, after checking my QR code on mobile, an attendant took me aside and escorted me to the special entrance that was not for the common people in queue! Wow, special treatment for somebody from QUOTA [For the first time in my life, pun intended!], I was extremely happy with myself. But that was that. Once inside everybody was treated equally!

As there is water in one of the art works, one has to wear either short pants or fold the trousers. Again, you cannot carry anything except your mobile or camera. I was sceptical to carry camcorder as I was not sure of my own balance because all the artworks are in dark halls and I fumble in dark spaces. And it turned out to be correct. Right from the beginning it’s dark and dark!

While walking in those dark allies, with only blue or red lights, [such type of lights in fact accentuate the darkness], along the floor illuminating area of not more than 9 inches around them, you just walk on endlessly only with tactile sensations of your soles! It too keeps on changing every few steps! Sometimes it’s sandy like beach, sometimes like soft velvet carpet sometimes like uneven stony walk! And then there is ascent and you start walking in a stream with cold water running under your feet. Within few steps and few minutes you get so many sensual feelings….. And that’s their goal! At the end of the ascent the first exhibit welcomes you. It’s a waterfall of light particles. The droplets of the water from the fall are illuminated by the source of bright light at the top. It looks like as if there are hundreds of crystals falling down and refracting the light by prismatic effect!

Water Fall of Light Particles

You are given towels to dry your feet for the next experience.

The hall is known as The Soft Black Hole. It was pitch dark, only source of light was the exit gate. The floor is made of satin cloth with beans [Like in a Bean Bag] or sand, underneath; it simply does not allow you to have foothold to walk, why, even to stand! Every effort sinks your feet further. To walk or to go forward, you have to push the terra firma behind, Newton’s third law. Here terra is just not ‘Firma.’  It not only changes with the weight of your body but with the weights of people around you thus changing the space with your every movement or of people around you. It may be mimicking walk in real Space in the sky! Your body becomes a space that influences another body, difficult to explain but worth an experience! To click photo in that unsteady ‘Space’ was next to impossible.

Soft Black Hole Archives

I was totally bowled. My every attempt was failure and in the end I was on all four! But even in that position you still require hard surface to push back to move forward! And it’s just not there! Everything is soft and mobile and does not offer any resistance at all! Young ones in the teens crossed the room in three steps because of their agility but clumsy people like me got stuck up as if in the quick sand! Volunteer at the exit gate offered help, but Shash Benurwar? No! After umpteen attempts, totally exhausted I made to the exit!

After a pitch dark small passage, you enter a chamber, rather a big hall where you are suddenly in the abundance of light!

Well, as my pen and the brain behind it, is unable to describe the experience I’ll have to use the terminologies from their pamphlet.

Pointillism is an art-form where myriads of coloured points are put together to create an illusion of an object. In simple words the way pixels when put together form a single cohesive picture. Here light source in form of LCD bulbs is used to create three dimensional objects. Many many, many I don’t know how many, zillions may be, LCD lamp strings are suspended from the ceiling in multi-angular hall. All the walls including floor and ceiling are covered with bright mirrors.

And when the lights went on…….. Well well well I was awestruck, dumbfounded, astonished….. Everything happened at the same time. I was gaping at the glitter open mouthed for how much time I don’t remember. Within minutes the lights started changing colours and patterns, in sequence depending on the people around. The speed of changing lights too mattered because at times it was very fast. Like all the exhibits it too is interactive!

Crystal Hall with mirrors

There is a square at the center to squat or to lie down facing the ceiling, along with lanes to pass through. As the mirrors are positioned at angles not only you see yourself in your hundred avatars but the people around you create a picture like the one in kaleidoscope, changing like it too every time. It keeps on evolving and changing from moment to moment depending on interaction of people in the space! Due to mirrors you absolutely lose your orientation in the space, as at sometimes you see yourself totally upside down! Tongue in cheek, though practical, Girls are advised not to wear skirts lest their under-wares are seen,[ Actual warning by the team]!

Like so many other I too lied on the glass floor and the picture was totally different. You feel as if you are in the eye of tornado of light!

How my eyes remained in the sockets, is still a puzzle to me! I may go on and on as I was so mesmerized but there are other exhibits too!

The next one too is mind boggling. At the end of the session I may fall short of adjectives!

Drawings on the water surface created by Dance of Koi and YOU!

Kio Fish Lasers

Koi is a type of Japanese fish having red and white straps on it.  You enter the hall with knee deep water full with many many Koi fish. This hall too has mirrors on all the walls giving it the feel of infinity. The images of Koi fish are generated by lasers, and they move freely in the water. If you try to touch them they turn into flowers. Being interactive again with people, ample number of permutation and combinations occur, at times forming ribbon like rays illuminating the entire water in the surroundings. The entire show is impromptu and is not generated on computer or is run in loops. So the creation of light patterns is not only ever the same but never replicated anytime! Wow, Wow Wow! It really satiates all the aesthetic senses, only problem is to maintain your balance in water and in dark and not allowing your mobile to fall in the water!! The camouflage of infinity is so superb I could not find the exit door!

The rest of the techno-art exhibits too are extremely enchanting. For example “Floating in Falling Universe of Flowers.” You lie down on your back under the dome and it showers flowers on you from all the sides, in all their stages, from blooming to withering. The petals along with leaves in different stages of life fly randomly almost touching you. The flowers change according to season, and as it was season of Sakura the flowers were Cherry flowers. 

The next hall has big spheres  may be balloons filled with free floating lights. When you move between the two spheres you enter the space which resonates with colors practically bathing you in colors. Again you lie down and you enter a different space due to mirrors everywhere.

The real ‘Garden’ one is the latest one and entry is for limited period. May be within max 5 minutes they evacuate the batch. There are millions of creepers with flowers in vast number and different colors which move up and down in mirrored hall. It seems they really blend the spaces with the images in the mirrors but the end result is really relaxing and sends your mind in happy ‘space!’

I must have been there for more than 3 hours but never felt like leaving. I had my quota of endorphins so it was time to call it a day. I had planned to visit Odaiba, artificially created island which has everything that today’s youth like, malls, video arcades, gaming machines Michelin starred restaurants, Multiplexes, Five star hotels everything posh,posher and ultramod! The entire journey from Shin-Toyosu to Odaiba-Kaihinkoen is so soothing to the eyes, almost picturesque.

I had decided not to feel small but the entire area makes you small not from the Indian point of view but in general. Everything is gigantic, mammoth spic span clean and grandiose as everything is newly fresh!

I don’t know from where to start because it has everything that makes mind happy materialistically. Joy Polis by Sega is indoor amusement park for young adults as well as for children. For me it of course was out of question. A Giraffe statue made from Lego pieces welcomes you at the entrance.

I did go to Aqua city just next to it. But again except food court it’s no different than any other mall. It does serve good, one is Okonomiyaki, specialty of Hiroshima but the serving was so ample I did not dare, as I am a frugal eater though a gourmet. Hawaiian Restaurant is also equally popular.

There is this unique hosiery shop for men. Seeing in believing!

Does it require caption

Odaiba waterfront along with Rainbow Bridge is illuminated in the night so I wanted to pass the time till the evening. What better way than to watch a movie. ‘United Cinemas’ on the ground floor, a multiplex with 15 screens was the best choice. And to my surprise an Indian movie was running there. I was aware that South Indian movies are popular in Japan but to experience it first hand was a surprise. It was none other than “Natu Natu’ RRR! Of course with Japanese subtitles. So it was out. As such also I had not liked it when I had watched it in Mumbai, Fight of stuffed Tigers and Lions may be palatable to average Indian movie goer…..me, absolutely not!

To my surprise, Odaiba waterfront has ‘Statue of Liberty’ donated by none other than French Government itself, to strengthen the ties between the two countries! Of Course!! I may be lucky because I have seen the original one in New York, a smaller one on an island in River Seine Paris, which can be seen from Eiffel Tower and this was the third one in Tokyo.

Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo Bay

May be France has donated them to Japan at a whole sale rate because there are such two more in Shimoda and Osaka! Too much in Hurry to establish peace through ‘Liberty’!

It’s said the gifted actor takes tailor made role to enormous heights, similarly beautification of Tokyo Bay has taken it to astronomical heights. Topography of Tokyo Bay as such is amazing; addition of all these structures has made it stupendous! Entire region with a smallish beach in front, Sumida River meeting Tokyo Bay, promenades of Odaiba, Rainbow Bridge away but not far away multiple manicured small islands in the bay, ferries from Asakusa anchoring on jetties! What better architectural wonder one can achieve. Small tit-bits: Tokyo Bay Beach is totally man-made!

I had a glimpse of a giant robot on the other side of road, it’s Unicorn Gundam. My children especially son even at this age is interested in machines that turn into giant cars, cars then turning into Robots or dinosaurs. I found that Gundam, whatever I could see of it, Grotesque. So walking down to Diver City Plaza to have closer look was ruled out, at least for me but it’s one of the greatest attractions of Odaiba!  

It was my last day in Japan and early morning reporting at Narita for 11 AM flight was ahead of me. So no late nights though I never sleep well prior to any such event. If at all I get few blinks, I get up with a start dreading that I have missed the flight.

So I had to forego illuminated auroras of Rainbow Bridge. But enough time was there to visit Emperor’s Palace in Central Tokyo.  It was little tricky [many transfers] to reach Nijubashimae [from Shimbashi,] station nearest to the Imperial Palace, but within 20 minutes I reached the station. On the contrary walk from the station to palace took more time! Station is in the basement of some commercial complex and it took me more than 10 minutes just to find the exit. Thereafter it was vast ground three times the size of Shiwaji Park, might be even more! Some part had plantations, our own Cherry Blossom, for me last of the tour, and rest was just vast empty space. A Mumbai thought: Big enough to accommodate at least 100,000 hutments! Such a wastage of space!!

Entry in the palace premises is restricted and there are only two batches of 20-30 people, one at 9.30 AM other 12.30 PM. And they were already booked for 15 days in advance so I visited only the outskirts. You do not get even the glimpse of real palace from outside. One has to be happy with a selfie having Seimon Ishibashi Bridge in the background! I was happy!!!

Taxi picked me up at 6 AM to catch a bus to Narita Air Port from Kasai the next metro station. In place of Y4000 I spent only Y 2700. And on the air port duty free I used all the remaining balance on SUICA! I did not long for homemade khana on return flight, on the contrary felt sad for missing out on my Ramens and Udons!

 

 

 

 

Shibuya, Central Tokyo

 

Shibuya, Central Tokyo

My ticket for Shibuya Sky was for 12.20 slots and being overcautious Punekar by nature I reached Shibuya at around 10 or 10.30 AM. How to pass a time in Shibuya, question does not exist! There are blogs and blogs on YouTube how to pass time in Shibuya.

Shibuya

In olden times Shibuya was on the western skirts of Tokyo proper but as the city expanded not only did it come in the city of Tokyo proper but became integral part of its culture. Along with Shinjuku, Ginza, Roppongi, Shinagawa, Nihombashi, Asakusa, Uneo it now forms the Tokyo proper. [No Wikipedia, I had been to all these places.]

To start with, in one of the corners of Shibuya Square Scramble, there is this statue of a dog Hachiko. As the story goes, this pet animal waited for his master every day without a break at the gate of railway station for 9 years after his death. There was queue to get photographed with him. I was happy to be with him from a distance. One of the walls of Shibuya station is entirely dedicated to him with his murals all over.

Hachiko Mural

Hachiko

China has used her population to her benefits; likewise here Tokyo crowds have been made a tourist attraction. Shibuya Scramble Crossing! 6 roads cross at one point just opposite Shibuya station on its Hachiko exit and the traffic on all the roads is stopped for pedestrians to cross. At one juncture, of 2 minutes of green signal, nearly 3000 people cross the square from all the sides. It is said that it’s the busiest pedestrian crossing all over the world. If trivia are to be stretched it is said that nearly 260,000 on week days and 390,000 on weekends, pedestrians cross it in 24 hours,[Wikipedia]. To be in that melee is altogether a different experience and for that feeling alone many tourists including Firangs cross it at least more than two times. It’s nothing short of jubilation after a mega win! Though not Firang I too crossed it three times.

Shibuya is just like Time square in New York or Piccadilly in London, personal experience! With shops, shops and shops adorning ‘N’ number of neon signs, buildings and malls with hoarding in LCD or lasers, advertisements at every corner blinking in fluorescent blizzard, it’s Diwali 24 into 7  all around the year. There are so many malls around Shibuya square it’s a difficult choice. Shibuya Scramble Square is important one as it has Shibuya Sky on its terrace. Equally popular ones are 109 Shibuya, Tokyo Plaza Shibuya oh so many. Our own mall IKEA [We have it just opposite our home in Mumbai] too stands out predominantly. The one on the corner of Meiji Dori, Magnet is five storied but each floor is not more than one BHK tenement! I was in search of ‘Anime’, what else! I was told that it is available in store named ‘Mandrake’, yes the same one from our childhood comic, Mandrake the magician! It’s in the basement occupying three floors for anime franchises but for the clothes…. One small obscure corner was demarcated, with hardly few Tees hanging on the stand that too, soiled!

Shibuya’s Star-Cafe with its vantage position is another joint famous amongst youngsters for their rendezvous. I had decided not to step in any of such franchises which are available in India.

Time literally flew and it was 12 noon. And I was asked to wait for twenty minutes as my slot was at 12.20 PM! Should I say more about Japanese discipline to stick to the rules!

You have to deposit all your belongings in a locker before entering the terrace, even cap is not allowed. Only mobile or camera! You can hire a vault at Y 100, but I did not have the coin! Two Africans came to my rescue and thus I was able to enter the Shibuya Sky!

At Rs 1151[$14] it was cheaper than Tokyo tower Rs 1817 [Y 3000] also the  height is less. But its difference lies in its Openness from all the sides. It’s a big terrace having huge glass panels on all the sides giving unhampered view of central Tokyo. Shrine of Meiji Jingu is just at a walk-able distance from Shibuya station towards North and you can appreciate its greenery from the heights. The green lungs of Central Tokyo Yoyogi Park look appealing from the top. Olympic National Sports complex is easily visible and it too is nearby. View is much different than that from the Tokyo Tower because it is in central Tokyo and Tokyo Bay is far away in south.

But what catches eyes the most is, Shibuya crossing from the top. Looking at that ant like human beings crossing the zebra lines in a hurry is quite a sight! Within seconds the entire square is filled with hundreds of people from all the sides without stampede is just worth an experience for senses! The terrace has hammocks to watch the stars in the night. What can be more relaxing than lying on your back and viewing the treasure of nature without bothering about the day to day mundane life!  

There are also sofas and chairs to view Tokyo in relaxed manner. You can have entire view of Roppongi Dori traversing the city from West to East; it is like Mumbai’s eastern free way, totally elevated. I felt probably most of the burden of transport is taken up by metros, so highways hardly have vehicles; maybe it was 1 PM, off rush hour!

Roppongi Dori Avenue

Green Lungs of Tokyo

Pre/Post Wedding Photo Shoot

A professional photography session was in progress, Pre- Post wedding I don’t know but the pair was enjoying it fully by giving almost ‘Filmy’ poses under the direction of Photography team! But they were ‘Professionals’ and were carrying out their duty with No Nonsense Business at all, though onlookers were in hundreds and it did look funny! There I realized that caste, class, religion, gender or even Nationality does not matter when it comes to stupidity! Everybody is equally stupid! [Strictly my opinion!]

Vantage Point

There are some vantage points for selfies or a photograph. Photographs taken with these in the background make you float in the air! As if!

Another gimmick just like Tokyo Tower, is many mirrors at strategic points. The reflections are really funny; I too could not help the temptation of taking selfies.

Me through Mirror

Wandered up and down on escalators till it was enough, or is it really enough, I would have loved to stay till night but allotted time on ticket was over and if everybody thought alike it would be crowded in no time!

Though Shrine of Meiji Jingu was very near, I did not feel like burdening my legs and took F line to get down on station with the same name. One of the stadia of Tokyo Olympics was on the Left side. Meiji Jingu is Shinto temple dedicated to the spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, so really it is not temple but could be termed as Mausoleum. It is situated in densely forested area like New York’s Central Park.

Torii from Single Teak Tree

It’s really cool, unlike hustle-bustle of Senso-ji shrine in Asakusa. It’s really quiet so serene! Crowds were thin. May be because one has to really walk walk and walk to reach the shrine. The significance of massive Torii gates at this shrine is that they are made from the single teak tree.

Emperor Meiji was the first emperor of Japan who brought modernity to feudal Japan. He had good ties with the vintners from France so they still send barrels of freshly brewed wines to the shrine in his memoriam. They are stacked near the entrance for everybody to have look.

Wine Barrels

Wine Barrels

May be because it was not crowded I got related to it in no time. Tranquil, quiet, serene, pious! The sanctum sanctorum too was simple so I really felt like being near the God. Before leaving, I earnestly bowed down to the deity in the Japanese tradition.

Meiji Shrine

The forestation of the shrine mingles with the trees of Yoyogi Park which is just next to it, making it a large forested area in the central Tokyo, Green Lungs of Tokyo! Yoyogi Park. Nothing much to write home about, as it is just like any other park anywhere in the world.

Entire area is known as Harajuku and GPS showed one shop for ‘Anime’ in the market.

Takeshita Street Harajuku

Many of the tourist attractions in Tokyo I found just luckily even without trying to find them. Anime shop was on Takeshita Street of Harajuku which is a hep street for the teenagers. It turned out that not for the teenagers alone but Firangs too thronged the street in uncountable numbers! Very popular destination for the tourists which I was not aware even! ‘What a crime’, my daughter!

I visited Shinjuku along with Shibuya next day, rather in night because they are ‘Neon’ capitals of Tokyo. They are very near to each other.

Well to describe the glitter, my pen will always fall short because it is to be seen and enjoyed with senses, vocabulary is not enough. At the most it would turn out to be glossy.

Shinjuku By Night

As soon as I got out of Shinjuku station, [I by the time had learned the tricks of the trade, how to get out of the station] I was practically engulfed by the deluge of brighter than bright lights, in all colours, in all designs in all forms and shapes. Big LCD hoarding flashing newer images every time. As I had not come across the warning then, inadvertently I entered red light area of Shinjuku, Kabuchiko. It has gambling dens, brothels, shops for the sex toys and everything that’s below the belt! One guy tried to obstruct me while taking a video but I just pushed him aside and went ahead. No untoward incidence thereafter.

Kabuchiko

Like 3D car advertisement in Seoul, Cat advertisement in Shinjuku is very popular. Unfortunately format of the video is somehow always rejected by either Microsoft world or blogger spot so I am not able to put them for show.

You never feel like leaving the good show ever but something superior was waiting for me at Shibuya crossing. By this time Shibuya became like my second home in Tokyo next to Nishi Kasai, I visited it so many times!

And the view was really awe inspiring. Many more brightly illuminated hoardings than Shinjuku, many more LCD screens flashing continuously. Sparkling lights and twinkling billboards, everywhere, nothing less than Glitz, Glitter and Glamour! No, I can’t describe more than this, one has to see it to believe it!

.

Mt Fujiyama

 Mount Fuji

I was aware that my 14 days’ JR pass was expiring 2 days prior to my return flight. So it was useless for return ride on Narita express to Narita air port. I had already covered the cities according to itinerary using the pass fully, Ekdum Paisa Vasool! I knew that it’s valid for train to Mt. Fuji so I had planned to visit Mt. Fuji on a day tour from Tokyo, before it expired.

There is a direct train especially for tourists, known as Fuji Excursion train, valid for JR Pass, but as expected it was fully booked for next 10 days, it being ‘Cherry Blossom’ season!

JR Pass was valid up to station Otsuki on JR line but from Otsuki to Kawaguchi as it was another private line so you have to buy separate ticket. That’s the idiosyncrasy of Japan railways.

Train to Otsuki leaves Tokyo from Shinjuku station in West Tokyo. Now Shinjuku station is another story altogether.

It’s the busiest station not in Tokyo alone but all over the world in commuter turnover. Nearly 3.9 million commuters use it every day! With such a home-work, I was half petrified even before I stepped on the station. And my fears were not totally unfounded.

It has so many lines, so many platforms and so many exits one really can get easily lost. I too made several wrong turns, took few wrong exits but in the end with help of English speaking attendant reached the ticket office that I am sure, I would not find again if left alone! The booking clerk had some Dictaphone like gadget which on speaking into it translated Japanese into English directly. Good lord it made communication so easy.

He was unable to issue ticket from Otsuki to Kawaguchi as it was different company but he issued me a reservation on Kaiji Express up to Otsuki. It was another task to find the correct platform. Shinjuku has more than 50. Luckily all outstation platforms are either on the ground level or on upper deck. Kaiji express was leaving from the platform on the upper deck. Again making many mistakes I reached the correct platform. For a change it was not Shinkansen but usual train on par with Deccan Queen or Rajdhani!

And I again got travelling companion, again a girl in her early or mid twenties. Very talkative again! Her friend was Indophile so knew many things about India. Through her talk I felt, average Japanese man though is workaholic pays equal attention to his family. Japanese men are good fathers, husbands I don’t know. I am saying so because I saw many men with their child in pram/children and wife commuting on metros taking full care of their family, like helping wife to manage the youngest child, taking care of older children. This was so unlike South Korea which I had visited recently.  

It was sheer luck that I met two travel companions who knew at least something about India. Otherwise to look at their blank faces would have been painful.

At Otsuki it was ocean of humanity, so many people! Tickets were available only on the vending machine, naturally it required cash. Fortunately I had exact change Y 1350.

Japanese! Though there were people in hundreds everything was going on in most methodical manner. Attendant hardly had any work except to stand there and guide people. Otsuki- Kawaguchi train was local train stopping at all the stations so it got full within no time. The boy sitting next to me was Chinese from Hong Kong. He spoke really good English and we had gala time. He was with his girl friend so I asked him,

‘Do her parents allow you to take her out?’

Both laughed heartily. He said mischievously,’They love me’ on which his fiancé nodded. She blushed a little on accepting it!

Mt Fuji! Rather Fujisan for Japan. It’s the tallest mountain in Japan and is active volcano, which though erupted few centuries ago; to be precise in 1707-8 it is expected to erupt any time. It is cultural icon of Japan and is treated as Holy Mountain by both Buddhists and Shinto followers.

Its perfect conical shape which is exceptional with cap of snow that’s there at least for five months a year, has many followers from esthetic point of view. It has been icon of interest for many photographers, artists and sightseers.

Once you are in Kawaguchi it can be seen from anywhere even from the station itself. And like you say, ‘Ah…aaa Taj!’ on seeing ‘The’ Taj-mahal for the first time, here too it escapes your lips without your brain knowing about it. It’s from the heart!

It’s said that you are lucky if you see Fujisan without any hindrance of clouds. And I was one of those lucky few. Sky was extremely clear without any cloud whatsoever and Mt Fuji was there in all its glory shining in lukewarm sun! Through the maze of electric overhead wires the age old icon of Japan looked absolutely serene, what a contrast between eternity and modernity!

The town of Kawaguchi is small and is inhabited around the lake Kawaguchi, one of five lakes that surround Mt. Fuji. It has service of Hop on Hop off bus for measly sum and it takes you around the town visiting many picturesque points. There are many vantage points to take ‘Darshan’ of Mt.Fuji Panorama-Rope-way Kawaguchiko is one of them. There was mile long queue for the rope-way. My most of the time in Kawaguchi was eaten up by standing in the queue. But it was worth it.

The rope-way takes you to the other side of mountain to a plateau from where the view of Mt.Fuji is most clear. And yes, it fulfilled the promise. You on the plateau, a huge valley in between and then Mt.Fuji standing majestically in front of you in its full glory satiating all your aesthetic senses!

I stood speechless for how many minutes I do not recollect but the view was so mesmerizing I did not feel like blinking the eyes even for a minute! The sky was absolutely blue, crystal clear without even a single naughty cloud obscuring the picture perfect! There is a Torii, few Cherry blossom trees and a huge bell mounted on ornamental stand to accentuate the picture perfect! Mt Fuji looked many times more gorgeous when it had the canopy of cherry blossom or Torii or when seen through the bell mount.

And then I suddenly realized why Fujisan is holy to Japan. It’s the only peak among-st the surrounding Dwarf Mountains, that stands erect like a victorious Samurai who has won his furiously fought last battle with flying colors!

It was very difficult to say adieu to Fujisan even after spending two hours on the top. But if the things have to be done, they have to be done.

As soon as I got down from the gondola I was engulfed by the aroma of freshly baked cookies that was buoyant on the air like mischievous mist playing hide and seek in the valley of flowers.

My legs drew me in the direction of smell without mind knowing about it. It was emanating from ‘Fujiyama Cookies’ famous for its Fuji shaped cookies for years together. I am of opinion that it’s always a marketing gimmick to sell this type of franchise but those cookies…... They were out of this world. So delicious, so soft just melting in the mouth I could not resist though they were steeply priced, very steeply! Rs 180 per cookie, approximately! But the crowd was unending and cookies were vanishing from the tray as if it was the last drop of oxygen ! And I went for that last drop of oxygen!

The pamphlet said that there is another vantage point somewhere on the banks of the lake from where you can take good picture of Mt Fuji. Unfortunately even after going around the lake in the bus I could not see the point. May be I missed it; it is on the northern shores of lake near Music Forest Museum [Photo from Archives, to increase value of blog!]

In Japan everything is commercialized so even the smaller station like Kawaguchi has good medium sized mall. They were offering locally made Plum Wine at a discount; I purchased two bottles at a bargain, Rs 1200 !

Another two places to have good look of Mt Fuji are Mt.Fuji station and Shimo-Yoshida station. Both are exactly opposite in direction. I preferred Fuji as it was on the return line while Shimo-Yoshida was further up. Shimo-Yoshida has beautiful pagoda Chureito but requires walk of 15 minutes from the station to reach it.

I was misguided by the guide at Mt Fuji station information center. Though the shrine, Kitaguchi Hongi etc etc was beautiful but it was far away from the station and did not offer any spectacular view of Mt. Fuji. I came out and roamed about and found a spot from where Mt. Fuji could be captured from a close range and the snaps came out really beautiful. Now after seeing the photographs of the pagoda I feel I took the wrong decision! It happens!

The return train to Tokyo was like usual local and I was confused. But it turned out, it was the correct one. One tongue in cheek trivia, the station just prior to Tokyo on main line is named KANDA!

It was quite late and it was time to face ‘The Mobs’ of Nishi Kasai local train. But now I was prepared so with the vigor of lad in his twenties I successfully got in the train!