train

, , , , , , , , , ,

Tokyo Day 5- Ueno park

, , , , , , , , , ,

The previous post in this series is here..

After Senso-Ji temple, we took a cab that dropped us off at Ueno Park. We walked in expecting some Cherry Blossoms. There were none on the path. Then we (I) heard someone talking about a walk path to the left. No one was going there. So we turned right and down to the lake area and saw another temple from the outside and took photos.

By the time we climbed back up, it was cold and chilly. The sun had also set. So we walked back to the entrance. I was going through a temporary brain fade and thinking we should come back to see that road in day light. So the group tried to calm me down from my man-opause and said “okay okay.. we will try to make time and visit this place again during the day tomorrow”.

We also assumed that given it was late evening, we could go back by train. Our memories of doing this in Osaka were nice. Tokyo was different. We saw the first train and got spooked. We had to take the second one having come down to the station. So we crammed ourselves into the next one with the kids being in the middle.

Once out on the other side, we walked back to the Monday Apart hotel.

We made Chai, cooked up Poha, semiya upma and other instant food packets and sat together and ate it !

It was a meal that will stay with me for a long time. It is not like we have not had food together as families before at each others place. This was special. The rest of the families, especially the ladies who would otherwise not eat that much were finishing things off.. for us.. so we could buy stuff of equal weight at Uniqlo ..

that sacrifice is sincerely appreciated!

The first photo below was taken in a cramped elevator in the Akasukabashi train station when we were coming out..

A video highlight including the train after we got off it. It was two stops but we literally had to squeeze ourselves in. Office train traffic in Tokyo was something else!

We did go back to Ueno park again.. Will write about it later.. for now the blog will take a break as we are back to work days. Will pick this up later this week..

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Japan Trip- Day 4 Kyoto to Todaiji Temple in Nara

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The previous post in this series is here..

While on the bus from Osaka to Kyoto, we had already decided to go back to Nara to see the Todaiji temple and the giant Buddha. It meant having to get up the very next day and take an early train.

There was no breakfast included in our hotel in Kyoto. Also, my BFF and me decided that there will be more Uniqlo shopping. That meant, every food item we had got from the US in case we could not find veggie food had to be consumed to make way for clothes.

We got up early, folks got stuff at a 7-11 outside the train station and we got on the train to Nara.

We walked literally past the deer park that we had visited the previous day and went on for another 20 minutes through quiet streets and parking lots to the Todaiji temple. This temple has a very very large Buddha statue and the entire temple complex is huge and amazing. It was built in the mid 700’s out of wood and metal nails. It is massive. Then the deer are everywhere. They smelled the energy bars in my bag and kept going for it!

The temple had a small hole in a pillar through which folks were trying to squeeze themselves. A few kids made it but adults tried and failed. I did a corkscrew maneuver through that tiny hole and my friend pulled me out a bit! Everyone there clapped for me. Apparently folks who can go through that hole in the pillar are in for good times. That certainly has been true. (you can see it in the video). It was a nice experience.

Do NOT miss this temple when in Nara. It will take at least a few hours to see the temple and the museum which is fantastic (sadly, no photos allowed inside museum) but you get to see the artifacts from 700 AD of wooden Saraswathi and Lakshmi that are even more impressive than the Bronze statues we see in Tanjavur museum that came 200 years later. Two photo galleries..

A few photos in landscape format..

It started drizzling when we came out of the temple. The photos we got were gorgeous with the rain clouds being all dramatic. We stopped for some ice cream on the way out. We were in two minds to eat something in Nara or go back to Kyoto and eat. Decided to stop at the 7-11 opposite the deer park for a short break (the restrooms are there) and we made our way back to Kyoto. By the time we had finished the temple the restaurants weren’t open.

Jr. wanted to eat in this famous Raman place in Nara, but it wasn’t meant to be.

A longer video highlight reel.. especially the train ride. Trains crossing each other every 3rd minute at that speed. 6 year old kids just traveling on their own for 30 minutes by train to go to school. A very different country and a very different culture.

We caught the next train back and were in Kyoto station. Our next location was bittersweet.. that in the next post.

, , , , , , , , , , ,

A day and a half in Chennai

, , , , , , , , , , ,

The last post on this trip is here...

Have to start becoming a live blogger to catch up on travels these days. New sights, new people.. 

So tend to forget things with a photo/video overload.

We landed in Chennai late on Thursday night and left Chennai Saturday afternoon. 

Within that time frame, we managed to spend a few hours with my parents, San's 95 year old grandma, visit three temples, eat out twice and meet a lot of relatives (leaving out the blog shy ones in the post)

The most special relative we met was the latest addition to the extended family. It has been a long time since I held a baby in my hands. We showed the picture to someone later in the trip and were asked why we decided to have a baby so late.

My father who is not his usual self saw us fall at his feet for blessings and wished us a boy child. We said something about our 25th wedding anniversary and maybe he heard things partly and automatically blessed. Somehow in his mind, us not having a boy is still a "lacking" thing, at least he used to keep telling me that according to my horoscope I am supposed to have female and male children. He would keep asking me how that horoscope could be wrong? We know the time and age he is from where male children are considered the representation of the gene pool. He always means well. 

My dad turned 85 that morning and he was not aware of his birthday. I seem to be the best at playing dumb charades with him and sadly am not close by. We both realized that, in the hour we communicated. He said bye to me as though he was losing his translator or least that was my perception. My only thought was "If by some karma, I end up in this same state with parkinson's, need to train San and some folks around me to play dumb charades regularly, starting now!"

If only Tantra shastra was spread to the masses, things would be different on this boy child business.. that is multiple topics all colliding in my head right now. So that discussion will be sidebared. When my dad finished his blessing in bits and pieces, we just thanked him for it. Told my mom that we are almost ready to have grandkids in a few years.. one topic led to another and we fished out the kids horoscope which my mom had saved all these years! 

Given the short time in Chennai, did I mention how my mom told me to go sit and do parayanam at the local Saradhambaal temple? She prioritized my praying for two out of the three hours! In any case, the goal was to make her happy, so I just went and met with all the familiar folks in the recitation group. They were all happy to see me. Many of them have seen me as a teenager. One thing I miss is this recitation group. Seriously thinking of starting one in Cupertino every Saturday morning. One of the folks even took a photo and sent it to my mom! The mama's are better insta bloggers than me.. and my mom was beaming with happiness that they had good things to say about me. Mamas happy, Mom happy, me happy..

e

The nights food at Geetham was still backed up with Upma my mom made me in the morning and still had to eat at Kamakshi mess... India trips are an exercise in stretching your stomach muscles way past what you think you can. 

then there was the first train ride of the trip.. on Rameshwaram express.. brought back so many memories of long train journeys in India.

"Kamalahasanukku porai eri irukkum!" was the thought as we saw this while standing at the door

we were going to see Ramanadhaswamy.. One picture from my aunt's place that stayed with me.. loved this .. all the stores in Mylapore which did framing were still not open when we went to the area.. so could not find it. Maybe on the next trip, will get a print of this!

Will continue the write up of Rameshwaram in a day, the next chance I get..

Copyright © 2012, Sundar Narayanan. All rights reserved.