Last night was a rare night of no rain during monsoon season. A perfect night to launch the coffee table book we recently published, guests mingling outside with wine and nibbles. The book contains 200 pages of photos, and related text, depicting the long history of the conflict in Sri Lanka.
After a really successful night with over 150 happy guests heading home from the wonderful location of the Barefoot cafe, Jeevan, Mumtaz and I headed back to my place in Wellawatte for some much needed food.
Whilst star gazing at the beautiful clear night, munching away and chatting on my balcony the whole city suddenly went into black out. All electricity gone, except the bright blue neon of the local Global Towers Hotel (generator powered).
Then the sky lit up with 5 or 6 batman-esque light beams searching the darkness of the night. These cones of light were shifting above our heads clearly panicking - they were searching for LTTE planes, like looking for a needle in a haystack! Confidently safe due to my living in the Tamil part of town we watched to see what would happen.
Suddenly the black sky was filled with the red dots of anti-aircraft fire. It was like fireworks on 5th November. These red flares were launched from strategic points across the city and from military boats in the sea. A few bright flashes in the distance also indicated that a possible bomb had been dropped - confirmed a few minutes later by the efficient text service from work telling us a power plant had been targeted.
The balcony last night became circle seats to the live theatre of war. I went to bed feeling so desperately sad that the citizens of the same country are doing this to each other.
Perhaps tonight we will all be hoping for those cloudy skies again with the monsoon rains and no more raids.
Black Out
Side splitting moments... and splitting up
Well, here it is, finally, the long awaited (?!) update to my somewhat inconsistent blog! Although the title is not the greatest juxtaposition of words, it has certainly been a roller coaster of a year so is an apt description. Time flies and I'm conscious I've not written anything much since February or posted any photo details since April. Since then rather a lot has happened. In brief:-
- Dad turned 70
- Al turned 40
- Bron and I split up
- Mum and Tony split up
- my stress levels did a melt down and I lost 1 stone
- I spent 3 weeks in freezing UK
- I spent 2 weeks in funky Japan (photos) (blog post)
- I'm off to Oz for Christmas :)
- I'm still in Sri Lanka!
Dad's 70th
Sadly none of us were there to cheer in Dad's 70th as, aside from us all living 1000s of mile apart, he was off on a 3 week cruise seeing Argentina, Chilli, and climbing up Machu Picchu in Peru. Honestly, he lives his seemingly quiet Canada life in style with all his trips abroad. I'd say a great way to see in 70...
Al at 40
What can I say? None of us has changed; we all look a little older but act just as foolishly. A lot of the old crowd from both Al and Helen's friends came to celebrate at a wonderful Crazy Bear evening. Much wine, beer, Thai food, wine, beer, and catching up were done. The photos tell all....
Bron and I
Sadly we split up while I was in the UK. There's not much I will say except obviously it was sad, upsetting and difficult, but there was no animosity.
Mum and Tony
Not for me to say except that they split up this year.
Stress levels high!
Well both of the above obviously contributed, plus working all hours as usual - though self inflicted of course, I can't imagine working any other way.... which is part of the problem!!
3 weeks in the UK
My UK trip this time around was really to be with family and to sort a few of my things out, so apologies to those of you I missed catching up with. A HUGE thank you to everyone for looking after me so well - dinners, lunches, beds for the night, comfort and care. It was much needed and very much appreciated. You know who you are! Though it was lovely to come home, drink copious amounts of much missed wine, and enjoy many a tasty pub meal I was not remotely impressed with the weather. It was bloody freezing and I spent most of the time trying to find bits of winter clothing in order to survive.
2 weeks in Japan
Japan was quirky, cool and fun and despite expecting an alien world, as I had always thought Japanese culture may be a little mad, I actually felt very much at home and enjoyed / understood the oddities. Amidst the seriousness there is also a tremendous sense of fun. There were a few side splitting moments - not least the musical toilet; my friend's curiosity resulting in an unexpected bidet face wash; the Japanese dog hairdressing salon; and the fun loving staff at the coolest restaurant in Tokyo. However, let me stop as Japan deserves its own blog section so please read the next blog update for the Japan experience...
Oz calling
Yes, again I return to Australia for 3 weeks at Christmas time in Adelaide. Suffice to say I can't wait! Family, friends, wine, beach and KI. Counting down the days....
Back in SL
Pointing out the blindingly obvious with this... but, yes, I'm back, and with some renewed enthusiasm after my break in Japan. Funding for me at work runs out in January (though I have said if more money comes in I'll stay until April) so I'm not sure what the future holds next year.
2009 is up for grabs and I have to come up with some ideas. exciting? scary? new chapter? who knows... currently going with the flow until something makes me decide what to do. But until then it's back to balcony beers and weekend jaunts to the beach in Hikkaduwa. Anyone wanting to visit should get their skates on before it's too late and I move somewhere even more inaccessible!!
two SL anecdotes....
The Post Office Experience
I went to collect a friend's parcel with the post office slip put through the door. I arrived and was sent upstairs to the 'foreign parcels' section. A room which stepped back in time where all data was entered into huge dickens style ledgers and 5 people were sitting around doing nothing while the only woman in the office was doing all the work. The men just sat and looked at my passport photo.
They wouldn't give me the parcel without my friend's ID, but he was long gone and in the UK. So we came to a deal and I sat in their office and wrote a letter from him giving me permission to pick up the parcel on his behalf.
An hour later... and I am sent downstairs to the collection point where I sit and twiddle my increasingly impatient thumbs while the staff sit and chat and do nothing. After another hour I get really impatient and ask what the delay is. One of them decides to shuffle to another room and finds the parcel. It then takes half an hour for them to open it. I discover I have been waiting for spices sent from India and useless bits and bobs that would have costs about 100 rupees here. Then, after another 20 minutes, I am sent to the finance guy who decides that I'm a rich foreigner so he tries to charge me Rs 3,500 for the privilege of collecting the parcel. By this time I am at boiling point and I shout the whole place down with extremities and storm out. Never to return again.
The Motorcycle Admirer
Many Sri Lankan men really have no clue about chatting people up and seem to think approaching you as a complete stranger is perfectly acceptable. I walk out of the office with some papers in an Odel bag. Odel is the department store here which I hadn't been to for at least a month. A boy pulls up on his motorbike and tells me he just saw me in Odels where he was with his parents. Although in the West admitting you are with your parents is a total loser thing to do, here it is respectful. Anyhow, I told him I've not been near the place for ages, though he still insists he just saw me there due to me having the bag, wants to take me for a drink and finds it odd that I won't give him all my contact details. Aside from the worst approach to a woman possible he was about 20 and clearly had no clue - somewhat sad! Though perhaps not as bad as the tuktuk driver who told me he was very much into foreign women and the fact I was married made me even more attractive to him. He was toothless and ugly and extremely untrustworthy, what on earth made him think I would be happily taking a journey down any road with him other than to get home and fast as possible?!
Japan Junky
I would never have got there if it hadn't been for a work trip. This was to an essential conference which would help us with ideas and contacts for our centre in Sri Lanka. Although that was the primary reason for my trip, I was of course excited to go to Japan and I had factored in a couple of days off in Tokyo at the end of the journey to see a bit of the country.
To be honest when I stepped on the plane heading East I knew nothing about Japan other than:- the handy tips my friends had given me; watching Lost in Translation; and growing up watching a lot of pretty terrible WW2 black and white films (old and biased). So I was surprised and satisfied to find a new land to add to my world travels and top the list of cool and interesting places to go.
But what had I expected?
Misconceptions: a land of raw fish and ultra healthy food (therefore weight loss); an obsession with Tamagotchi pets; a land of very short people; a suicidal and serious race; new technology everywhere; neon everywhere; people like ants in the streets pushing and shoving to get space; no English; complete chaos; the inevitable feeling of being very alien.
Reality:
• calm, not chaotic
• busy, not balmy
• peaceful, not pushy
• serene, polite, kind and thoughtful people
In summary: a land of sashimi, sushi, sake, yakatori and delicious deserts - AMAZING food (and no weight loss!); no weird pets other than tiny little dogs which seemed a Tokyo accessory; trendy cool people (not that short); a race with a feeling of wholeness, contentedness, kindness and a tremendous sense of fun as well as seriousness; no astoundingly new technology (at the conference it was appallingly out of date!); lots of neon; no chaos - a lot of people but with an aura of calm; feeling completely safe, at home, at ease and welcomed. Already missing it!
Arrival in Tokyo
I travelled alone so had booked myself into some quite nice hotels doing cheap deals if booked early - prices equivalent to the less expensive hotels in town (the prices were 3 times more than I had paid upfront so I did well!). The reason for booking somewhere reasonable was to feel comfortable in a nice hotel in case I freaked out and couldn't cope in a strange new land. That way I could at least hide behind my laptop and do some work, or join the other sad unadventurous bastards in the hotel bar. Suffice to say that of course didn't happen, but caution seemed a must at the time of booking!
It wasn't the greatest start I have to say. I flew all night so was tired and grumpy when I arrived in the lobby of the Shibuya Excel Hotel. As I got off the airport bus at 10.30am my somewhat knackered old case, which has travelled all corners of the globe with me, decided to snap its handle. I dragged the broken bag in behind me, and with no handle and only one wheel it didn't look great next to all the smart guests with their deluxe designer cases. The hotel staff looked at me as though a tramp had walked in off the streets. What to do? To top that I was secretly hoping I would be able to check in early and was a little put out to discover I couldn't check in until 2pm.
No room, no sleep, no shower. Tired, smelly and disinclined to be even remotely adventurous I skulked to the hotel cafe to sulk and to decide what to do. However, very quickly the waiter realised I wasn't going to order so kicked me out as though I was vermin rather than a hotel guest! So I left my embarrassingly scruffy bag and took to my place on the streets negotiating my way to Tokyo Station to buy Shinkansen (bullet train) tickets to Kyoto the next day. This was a wise move as I started to realise this was a city that was easily negotiable and that I really wanted to explore.
Tokyo began to unravel itself to me as I travelled by metro gawping up at the sky scrapers and people watching all the cool folk sharing my carriage. I wandered the corridors of Tokyo train station wondering how many food outlets and vending machines the station managed to accommodate as they lined each corridor packed with eager customers. My mood had reversed and I was sad to have to return to the hotel and check into my room at 2pm to spend the rest of the day at my laptop working on my conference presentation. However, I could hardly complain as my room was on the 23rd floor with the most spectacular views looking down upon Shibuya Junction - the ultra famous 5-way busy pedestrian crossing in Tokyo.
I was also lucky when I returned to Tokyo a week later (staying in the deluxe Cerulean Towers Hotel again for a bargain price!) when I was upgraded to an enormous sky view room on the 26th floor. I felt somewhat lost as I staggered into the room with its walk-in shower and bath tub big enough for me to comfortably stretch out in. The greatest treat here was watching the Tokyo skyline light up as the sun set, or watch the city gradually reveal itself as the sun rose. A wonderful night time neon view of blue, red, green, orange, pink and white lighting up skyscrapers of all shapes and sizes including the Tokyo Tower (the Eiffel Tower replica) splendidly lit up in red. One of the buildings had a 5-aside footy pitch on the roof top constantly in use - what a cool way to play sport! This hotel also had a top floor bar. Viewing Tokyo from the 40th floor with a very nice glass of Riesling on my last night was something to be savoured and an enticement to return! However, it wasn't all plain sailing in this hotel either - they were also very snobby and jaws most definitely dropped when I asked where the nearest coin operated laundry was!
Fish Market
The top Tokyo score for me on this briefest of trips was the fish market. I believe the biggest in the world? The guidebook suggests getting there just after opening at 3am, but when I was in Tokyo the only day it was open was Tuesday and I wasn't staying up until late on Monday night to head fishwards with no sleep. So it was up at 6 arriving at the market 7.30 on Tuesday morning - the later time didn't matter in the least as it was still absolutely FULL of life and FULL of fish!
There are literally rows and rows of stalls, like mini streets, with men and women slicing, hacking, stabbing, dissecting and carefully packaging or displaying their fish. From giant grey coloured tuna with sharp yellow fins, to deep red octopus, spotty orange crabs, scarlet shrimp, large eyed slimy squid, and multicoloured fish of reds, yellows, greys, whites, and blacks, this was the most incredible collection of seafood I had ever seen. It was like an artwork to view and also to watch. The sellers meticulously crafted their fish slicing off the ugly and bad bits to perfection ready to sell or to be shipped off for someone to enjoy a sumptuous sushi supper.
Surprisingly the smell was not too bad, I had of course anticipated only a limited endurance of fishy smell but the stuff was SO fresh most of it was still flapping, squirming or crawling in various shapes and sizes stored in boxes and bags, tanks and trays so there was no smell. However, there was water everywhere so the only danger would have been to slip in a pool of fresh fish blood which would not have been pleasant. I would say that for those of you who are remotely squeamish (or vegetarian) perhaps the market would not be a priority place to pick.
The market was full of chatter, laughter, shouts and screams creating a wonderful atmosphere to completely lose yourself in - except if you remotely lost concentration you would be run over by the hundreds of electric carts darting through the small market lanes. These were bizarre barrel shaped vehicles with a man at the controls standing up and skilfully manoeuvring his cart through the market stalls at incredible speed. They were like dodgems weaving through carrying cartons and boxes of fish from market stall to vehicle. They took no prisoners, so if you got in the way it would be your fault. Not easy so early in the morning to be completely alert so as not to be mowed down by highly sped fish. This was juxtaposed with the traditional trolleys slowly pulled along by wizened old men, or old mopeds with baskets on front and back full of fish.
All this gawping and wonder worked up an appetite and you would not be forgiven for avoiding a sushi breakfast. So dutifully I queued in the hour long line to get into one of the best and most famous sushi restaurants in the market. This was theatre in itself as we were bossed through the queue and into our seats by 2 women efficiently getting their customers in and out of the restaurant door in record time. In the meantime the men practiced the art of making and serving sushi with flamboyancy, fun and flair. By 9.30am I was indulging in ultra fresh tuna and red snapper sushi with miso soup and green tea.
Old versus new
Kyoto was a different kettle of fish - the old city compared to the new. This used to be the capital of Japan and has a completely different feel to it. Tokyo is modern, busy, very tall and very cool. Kyoto is old, full of temples and shrines, houses are tiny and compact, nothing is high rise, and it has a laid back arty feel to it with wide quiet streets. However, this is not the first impression you get on arrival - this is the feeling that is created after a few days there. The first impression was of chaos which stemmed from pulling into the HUGE train station with levels and levels of shops, restaurants, cafes and bars - it took me 20 minutes to negotiate my way to the subway and escape to my hotel!
Arrival was via the high speed and very smooth Shinkansen (bullet) train. Not remotely scary and very fast so looking out to the passing countryside was a little dizzying. A missed opportunity though as most of the journey was spent working on my plugged laptop so I didn't see much of what I was zooming past at a speed of 300 km/h (186 mph)!
Hiroshima (even newer!)
On a more sombre note part of our conference was spent in Hiroshima, hosted by the Peace Park, which included some thought provoking talks by the Mayor and survivors of the A-bomb. It is very hard to describe this place. A city that was completely destroyed by the atom bomb with no word nor warning. People literally melted from the heat and radiation and I still have nightmares from the few photos and the many horrific stories of human suffering. The city feels strange as it is only 60 years old and everywhere you go you are reminded of what happened as you pass by little memorials, statues and shrines. A determination for world peace prevails here and for nuclear weapons to be abolished worldwide.
Until I saw Hiroshima and the devastation caused by the bomb - a terrible weapon that should be in no human hands, I naively hadn't quite appreciated just how awful nuclear weapons are. Now I am with the ever growing movement that believes they should be eradicated so this can never happen to people again.
Museums for Peace conference: friends and fun!
The Hiroshima trip was on the last day of the conference, however most of it took place prior to that in Kyoto. A pretty much missed opportunity for any sight seeing as the 6 days spent there really were all about work. Not that I'm complaining as that's why I was there and I met some truly amazing people, learnt heaps and have a lot to disseminate. The organisers had us up at 7am, bussed us to the conference at 7.45am, only returning to the hotel at 8 or 9 at night. As usual, I managed to find a really nice group of people to hang out with for the week. A multicultural group we were too:-
Sajid and Hina from Pakistan: I think I can speak for the others in saying that we were all truly humbled and inspired by the inter faith work these guys are doing in Pakistan. Inspiring, courageous and lovely people to spend time with.
Alexis and Eleni from Cyprus: these guys were a bundle of European fun and they ran a fantastic sports management life skills project that I could totally relate to having run sports programmes in SL for 2 years.
Karen from Rwanda: on a German funded programme Norbert had recently told me about, Karen was doing some interesting and brave work in the rural areas of Rwanda, something I think I could learn a few lessons from.
Kunda from Nepal: a wonderfully inspiring man who had produced a coffee table book on the conflict in Nepal after running a successful travelling photo exhibition. He was now thinking of setting up a peace museum, he had also worked for the BBC, worked in SL and was from the media so we had a lot in common!
Erik from the Netherlands: a Dr in the field of war documentation (academia, therefore way over my head!) who worked on interesting projects and whose wife worked at the Anne Frank Museum.
We confused many with our locations: Faye from Sri Lanka (but really from the UK); Alexis from the USA (but really from Cyprus); Karen from Rwanda (but really from Germany)! A diverse and dynamic group of people! We also hung out with Maria from Guatemala, Tom and Joyce from the US, Peter, Clive, Julie and Eddie from the UK. I was also lucky to meet up with Alexis, Karen and Erik in Tokyo so we reunited over sashimi and sake before going our separate ways.
It was an honour and a privilege to meet and spend time with you all, a lot of fun too. I hope we will somehow manage to meet up again in the future. Take care and thank you!
Sushi, sashimi and sake
One thing our group seemed to share was a common appreciation of the food, and boy was it good. So here I go saving the best to last....
The Kyoto Experience: The night I arrived I was tired and a little crotchety mainly due to the fact that the conference organisers had demanded I give them my completed presentation the night I checked in. So after a long journey, and more suitcase dragging, there was no rest for me! I had to do a quick rehearsal to check on the length of the presentation, add some finishing touches, and hand it in without getting any rest. This was completed by 8.30pm, and after a brief search on the internet for good Kyoto food I headed out in the pouring rain to satisfy my rumbling tummy. I aimed for Torito Restaurant which sounded quite nice from good recommendations online...
As I walked on I realised that my map was not to scale and what seemed like a 5 minute stroll was in fact a 25 minute hike. This would not have mattered had it not been sheeting down with rain making me completely soaked despite rain-coat and umbrella. So I was wandering through very deserted streets and had no clue as to whether this Torito place would a) be any good, b) be affordable, or c) be open on a Sunday night! However, all was not lost as I arrived to an empty restaurant which at least seemed open. They asked if I had booked? I looked around at the empty seats and wondered what they were on about. Was this a polite Japanese way of telling me that I was not welcome and that they wanted to close? I indicated there was only one of me and that I didn't take up too much space, so they let me in. 10 minutes later the place was completely packed! I was soon to realise why...
Torito was very well designed - dark wooden bar and tables, charcoal grey bar stools and chairs, black slate and clear glass plates, shiny sharp wooden chop sticks, young cool chefs dressed in black with red and white headscarves. Like many places in Japan it was minute with a long breakfast bar overlooking a galley kitchen. At one end was a thin rectangular deep metal container full of burning charcoals with white smoke curling into the air and a wonderful BBQ smell drifting through the restaurant. This came from the grid sitting above the charcoals on which was a neat row of the famous Japanese 'yakatori' being cooked for us contented customers. Yakatori is meat on skewers to you and I, and mostly chicken where all parts of the bird are used. This was pure theatre to me - somewhere you could sit and watch the experts cook then order new delights from them through the evening. Yakatori washed down with a couple of cold and tasty Kirin beers was extremely satisfying stuff on a rainy Sunday night in a strange city. I had duck, chicken leg, and chicken wing yakatoris with a grilled rice ball and a watercress salad. I left a very happy and somewhat full bunny and took this as a good omen to the beginnings of the Kyoto trip. Naturally 2 days later I dragged the others there and the meat lovers amongst us shared my awe and wonder of the place.
The Tokyo Experience: There were many great places to eat in Tokyo, mostly tucked away down little streets and alleys - some stumbled upon, some discovered through the Lonely Planet Tokyo Encounters bible, and some which needed assistance from very friendly Japanese folk.
For example, after the conference I had a couple of days to spend in Tokyo as did a few of the others. So on the first night I arranged to meet Alexis and told him I'd look up a bar for us to head to before grabbing some food at a place I'd discovered the previous week. However, finding bars in Tokyo is quite a task. Some of them are at the top, bottom or middle of department store buildings, some at the top of hotels or towers, and some are discovered down winding streets not listed on maps. So when I suggested Insomnia Bar and headed in the right direction despite being near the place could I find it? No! So we had to ask a friendly group of trendy Japanese 30 somethings (who actually were not from Tokyo) to help us. They took the guide book from me and rang the bar. Within 3 minutes we had been booked in as Mr and Mrs Smith and they had escorted us to Insomnia's entrance to ensure we made it for our much needed drink!
This place was very cool! On arrival they took our shoes and we walked barefoot into this tiny bar with red carpet, red walls, contemporary art work and mirrors. The corridor you walked into had a wall on the left and a bar on the right with sunken seats which sat you opposite a mirrored wall with glass shelves full of all drink bottles imaginable. This corridor led to a small open room with floor level tables and seats full of trendy Japanese people. A very nice place for a swift G&T before heading to the best restaurant in the world.....
Kaikaya
I love this place for several reasons:-
1) it was kind to me on my first night alone in Tokyo. Despite not booking they squeezed me onto a table sitting me opposite 3 French blokes and by the end of the evening I was sharing stories, sushi and sake and very much looking forward to the rest of my Japan trip - intrepidation over and eagerly awaiting new experiences.
2) it's a popular Japanese pub and fish restaurant with a great atmosphere which prides itself in the quality of its food and service and this rings through - the staff are clearly expert in what they do and love working there. The camaraderie is genuine with shouts and cheers as dishes are ordered, served and satisfyingly consumed.
3) the food is simply incredible! Here's a taster:-
• Toro sashimi (the top quality tuna) which literally melts on your tongue as you place it in your mouth savouring the flavour and texture with a little soy sauce to add to the delight.
• Tuna spare rib - this is simply divine. Tuna slowly cooked which falls off the bone and slips off your chop sticks into your mouth in anticipation and appreciation at the delicious flavours landing on your tongue.
• Scallop risotto / omelette - a round fried dish with scallops encased in rice and egg, very tasty and more-ish.
• Sizzling mushrooms - arriving in a wooden tray with an inner black hot plate full of sumptuous, sizzling local mushrooms - a great accompaniment to the fish.
• Fried fish - whole and crispy little fish, crunchy and lip smackingly good!
• Steamed chicken salad - many light spicy flavours in this most cleansing of dishes.
• Sizzling slices of succulent beef (another hot plate dish) - the most tender beef you could imagine either take it off the hot dish as soon as you can to savour the unique flavours of the raw meat, or leave it cooking a little longer to your liking.
I could go on... stuffed squid, fish carpaccio, raw tuna and avocado salad, prawn patties. This all accompanied by SAKE.
Yes, I am a sake convert. I hadn't realised you could have so many different types. In Kaikaya, much like a good sommelier's advice, the sake menu gives you an accurate description of each sake - dry, sweet, medium - and what dish it would suit.
Sake is either drunk in medium sized shot glass which sit in a box so that when the sake is poured and the glass is full it overflows into the box. Hence at the end of the pouring you end up with 2 glasses worth - one you drink from the glass the other you drink from the box. The other way to drink sake is in tiny ceramic cups poured out of misshapen ceramic pots. Whichever way, it's tasty and fairly lethal in alcohol content!
All these delights were topped off with a tasty morsel of either green tea or raw sugar cheese cake expertly wrapped in small little rectangles and produced from the coolness of the fridge. A perfect way to end the most perfect of meals.
I went there 3 times!
In summary?
If you get a chance suss Japan out for yourself. It's not cheap but costs no more than London, Sydney or New York. The food is a treat. The place is safe. The people are friendly. If you book way ahead you can get a really nice hotel for a reasonable price!
Lose yourself in the Shibuya Lanes. People watch the Japanese fashion and the outrageous punk Harajuku girls. Check out the top floor hotel bars and their plummeting city views. Gorge on coffee and cake in the cool cafes. Visit the temples and shrines. Explore and enjoy!
