Merry Christmas!!!

 

Merry Christmas!!

(my little deco at home)

Count the Cats

Lets see who can accurately count the cats here. Winner will win a souvenir from my next trip!

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

The Blue City

Jodhpur is in the state of Rajasthan, India. A very pretty little city in India - away from the hustle and bustle of Delhi. It is in the middle of the desert, but the fort in the middle of the city stands on a hill. Other parts of the city is very flat.

I'll let the pictures speak for itself (hhmm... seems to be something I do quite a lot lately)

Protest in Bangkok Airports

As you should know by know, anti-government protestors took over the airports in Bangkok (see the CNN news here). The scary thing is how easy all the protestors got into the airport's control tower. And they now have access to the planes, if they want to. Speaks of terrorism all over...

Anyway, the airport have been closed since last Tuesday. Unfortunately, I'm due to fly back into Bangkok on Friday, but the protestors show no signs of leaving the airport.

So, I had to change my flights - and now I'm coming back to KL for a couple of days until the airport in Bangkok returns to normal.

Crazy India

You know you've landed in a crazy place when the first thing you see at the airport are exit signs such as these (at opposite ends):

What the....?? How do you know where to get out? Are you considered a commoner or do you want premium?

Then you see things such as this on the road:

What the..?? Is this some sort of cheap public transport?

 

And you see signs such as this:

What the...??? Are the people there not matured enough until they reach 25 years of age??

 

Things like this is a common sight:

What the..?? Rubbish everywhere (actually picture on top is considered "clean"), and lots of stray animals of every kind (cows, cats, dogs, donkeys, camels, crows, ponies, monkeys, squirrels, rats, pigeons, buffaloes, goats, chickens, ducks - you name it, its there).

 

And look at the shops here:

What the..?? Is that a cloth shop? Would you buy those from the floor? 

 

Well, even if you buy seemingly clean ones, chances are they were once like this:

What the..?? Are they drying cloth on the road side? And its beside the patches where they were drying cow dung (not pictured here)!! 

 

Ahh... India is unique indeed...

Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal in India was majestic alright.... IF you can see it!!

As they say here... the air is just very "foggy". So foggy in fact, that inside the airport you cant see clearly at the other end of the walkway! Oh, I miss all the polluted air in Bangkok already.

But going back to the Taj, its fantastic! Going there early in the morning was worth it... sun was a brilliant orange with all the pollution around.

No shoes allowed. Shoe cover is included in the price of your ticket.

The mosque beside the Taj Mahal. 

 

The Taj Mahal with orangey skies and sun (thanks to "foggy" air).

The view of the Taj from my rooftop terrace... (that's the Oberoi, Taj is in the distance).

Harvest Time in Kathmandu

Although a city, Kathmandu and its surrounding are still very much a rice-planting society. This is harvest time... (I'll let the pictures speak for itself)

 

Kathmandu @ Swayambhu Temple

Swayambhu Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal - at about sunrise (yes, I did wake up for sunrise!)

View of Kathmandu Valley.

View of the mountains from top of the temple (too bad its not Everest, or a snow-capped mountain. In fact, Nepalese just call it "hills").

Lots of pigeons at the temple

Prayer flags all around the temple

 

View of the temple from below.

Preview of Nepal

I'm in Nepal now, where things are inconsistant - such as electricity, mobile phone service, and Wi-Fi. And since the Wi-Fi is good today, I'm giving you a snapshot of Nepal.

This was taken while visiting a village (for work). The mountains!

Its not Everest, but its still so pretty.

Japan's Land Problem

Land is so limited in Japan. Particularly in Tokyo city.

They had to protect whatever little bits of nature left...

Even recycling is a complex issue...

Categories of rubbish - plastic, bottles, tin, paper... burnable and unburnable rubbish.

Bullet Train in Japan

I took the bullet train!!

It was from central Tokyo to Osaka. A journey of over 500km in just 2.5 hours on the Nozomi train on the Tokaido line. Bullet trains are called Shinkansen in Japan. This one goes up to a maximum of 300 km/h. A return trip costs JPY 27,700 (USD 275).

Oh yeah, you bet I got excited about it. This is a day trip I'm taking (for work though), so to maximise my time, I had to go there early. I took the 8am train (means I had to wake up and leave the hotel pretty early). My Dad says I'll be passing Mount Fuji on the way. Yay!

I had my little breakfast (bought the night before) on the train. The train was really smooth. At one point, you can feel it accelerating as it gets out of Tokyo city. But other than that, you don't feel a thing. You never realise how fast the train is going, until an opposite train by pass us - and you realise you cant even focus on any window or see anyone else on the other train, everything is just a white and blue fuzz.

Ah... it was a really comfortable ride. So comfortable, in fact, that I easily fell into a deep sleep (factor in the early morning and nice breakfast). Until I woke up mid way... and freaked out!

DID I MISS MOUNT FUJI?!?!?!

This is the only 'mountain' I managed to see until I fell asleep again.

Dancing on Sundays

You can go dancing on Sundays!

Located just beside Yoyogi Park entrance (actually, very close to the cosplay area).

You can do the whole rock concert thing - head shaking, fist pumping action. Its really cute...

 

Or you can do the sweet little 60s dance

Or the more aggressive dance by leather-clad bikers with dubious hairdos.

You asked for it...

(there's a little surprise halfway...)

Cosplay in Japan

If you have a Sunday free in Tokyo - head to Harajuku. Interesting stuff awaits you there!

Head towards the entrance of Meiji Jinggu Shrine (just beside the Harajuku station).

You may see a sign for "No Photo!" - but then, everybody takes photos! So, don't bother about the sign.

This is COSPLAY in action! Everyone dress up as they fancy (but usually following some character in their favourite mangga comic)

 

There's even a make up artist cum hair stylist on standby.

But most of the time, they're really posing just for themselves. They are camwhores!

   

Don't ask me what character they are - how would I know?!