Ever since I was a small kid I was fascinated with Japan. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, Japan’s influence — especially its pop culture — was quite strong on me. Be it Macross/Robotech being the very first anime/cartoon I remember watching, to the ‘Made in Japan’ products we so revered in those days. Heck, even a pencil box I had with the bullet trains on the cover is still etched in my memory to this very day. And to think, nearly three decades later, I would actually ride the shinkansen this time!
I planned my journey around the sakura season, which in itself was a challenge. It’s hard to predict when the cherry blossoms would fully bloom. I went by this sakura calendar, and decided to travel late March. At the same time, I couldn’t afford to stay in Japan for too long. For the simple reason being… Japan is expensive! Yes, because of the value of yen right now, it’s cheaper, but it’s still a pretty damn expensive country compared to its neighbours.
None the less, this being my first time in Japan, I obviously wanted to spend more time in Tokyo. Outside of Japan’s capital, my initial plan was to go to Hiroshima, but everyone recommended Kyoto over it. So it was going to be Tokyo -> Kyoto -> Himeji -> Tokyo. I just hoped the sakura would bloom in full by the time I got back to Tokyo.
But I had to get to Tokyo first!
Date: March 21, 2015
My flight to Haneda airport was via Bangkok, which meant I was going to be flying Thai Airways.
I have taken enough photos of flights from Bangalore to Bangkok and at Suvarnabhumi Airport so don’t expect anymore photos from this route. But here’s what I ate on my flight to Bangkok.And on the flight from Bangkok to Haneda
I was okay with flying to Haneda because my return journey was going to be from Narita. This way, I would get to see both airports that service Tokyo. In a way I was happy I got Haneda for this flight due to the late arrival at Tokyo. Haneda Airport is located in Tokyo itself, unlike Narita which is quite far out.
I landed in Tokyo past 9PM
I didn’t spend too much time taking photos from inside Haneda airport as all I saw was halls and halls of travelators. Being the second largest airport serving Tokyo, Haneda is still pretty huge! Immigration had a queue but it moved fairly quickly, and they had English-speaking staff on hand to assist visitors. Continue reading “Japan: Landing in Tokyo… and using a communal bath for the first time” »
It was time for another Indiblogger meet in Bangalore! This time it was hosted by Flipkart, who was using the opportunity to introduce to bloggers their new Image Search functionality in their mobile app.
The venue was Hard Rock Cafe, on St. Marks roadAs usual, it was a packed house with many familiar faces/bloggersThe ‘show’ began with the Indiblogger guys coming together and jamming to covers of Beastie Boys’ “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right” and Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”
We then began with the usual blogger introductions and some laughs courtesy of Anoop Johnson from Indiblogger. I stood up to introduce myself and then answered when we were asked if we had posts that were more popular than what else we write about. It made people laugh when I told them how my post on how to roast chicken in a convection microwave is now my most popular post when everything I else I write about is my travels. And guess what, I won a Flipkart voucher worth Rs.1500 for my answer! 🙂
It was now time for the Flipkart guys to take over the show
They began by presenting a video and then demoed the image search functionality by taking photo of a guy who was wearing a black t-shirt and then using the Flipkart mobile app to find similar t-shirts. It’s a nifty idea based on the concept of “Point -> Shoot -> Buy” and an obvious one based on our real world shopping experience (in today’s times). As of now, the tech is still early and Flipkart is currently focusing on fashion, some accessories and shoes.
We were then asked to try it ourselves.
I tried it with a nearby blogger who was wearing a yellow polo neck t-shirt. As you can see, the search results aren’t perfect.I tried again and this is what I got. It’s not perfect and I guess the search results will vary based on what Flipkart has in stock to match the photo. Also, we were told lighting conditions matter — a lot!
After the demos, we were then given a chance to ask questions to the team at Flipkart behind the image search functionality. Very few stuck to image search-related questions and instead used this opportunity to ask about Flipkart’s recent announcement that they are going app-only! Judging by the tone of the bloggers, they didn’t seem to be be too happy about that move. Neither am I, but this was not the venue to discuss that. That said, there were some silly suggestions amidst some good ones. The Flipkart team assured us they are constantly working on adding improvements to the image search functionality.
After the Q&A session, we hit the bar to get some drinks and munch on the starters they were servingDuring the break, the Indiblogger guys introduced two authors who contributed to ’10 Love Stories,’ the first book published under Indiblogger’s Get Published initiativeWe then all re-grouped for a team activity. As usual, we were all divided into large teams and then asked to play game.
After we formed into large teams, two members from each team had to use the Flipkart mobile app’s image search to take photos of clothes, shoes and accessories of bloggers all around and get as many matching products in Flipkart. It was a challenge, but my team managed around 22-24 matches (it was validated by Flipkart staff). But we lost to other teams that managed over 30.
After the team activity, we all got to eating lunchThe buffet menu wasn’t vast, but at this point, I was okay with a light lunch. Garlic bread with mash potato, roast chicken and pasta. For dessert, it was brownie and ice cream.The staff at Hard Rock Cafe then came together to perform their signature “YMCA” dance
And that was it. By 3pm, the bloggers slowly started to disperse. We said our goodbyes, and after I wished the team behind the image search functionality “all the best,” I left too. This was another successful, fun and engaging Indiblogger meet, so thanks to Flipkart and Hard Rock Cafe Bangalore for hosting it!
After having lunch from Sur, we were now driving back to Muscat.
The skies were still greyThe earlier rains had flooded the roadsPassed through a few local neighbourhoods before hitting the highwayWe were now on the Muscat–Sur coastal road, also known as the Quriyat-Sur highway
It was awesome cruising along the coast line, but it was hard to capture the feeling when you are travelling at 100+ kms/hr.
We stopped on the side for a bit, just to take in the sea breezeSome seaside town along the wayIt rained a bit along the wayWe got off the main highway to get to Fins beachBut we didn’t have any time to visit the actual beachErm… so here are photos of waves crashing into rocksDon’t know how far these rocks wentBut it seemed like this for milesSadly, there was a lot of trash out hereWe left Fins beach and drove through a few smaller roads to get to our next — and final — destinationWe had a 30-minute stop at Hawiyat Najm park. What’s the big attraction here?This!Hawiyat Najm is a natural sinkhole, now turned into a tourist attractionIt’s pretty bigWe walked over and decided to go downThe water looked so tempting but alas…no time
They were having a ballI wanted to see if the water was flowing out anywhere or into a caveBut it doesn’t
Here’s a brief video I took on my phone:
We went back up as it was time to leave.
One final shotAnd that was it, the official end of our Oman tour!Goodbye mountains!
It’s funny, on the day we arrived, I wasn’t very excited seeing Muscat city. It all felt similar, but compared to Manama and Dubai, Muscat felt a bit dull in comparison. It got better on the second day, when we went dolphin watching, and a visit to Sultan Qaboos mosque just before leaving Muscat. But where Oman’s beauty really shines is once you get out of Muscat. The wadis, the desert sands, the remote villages, Jebel Shams — they really do make you go “Wow!”. Oman is far from boring, but you need to get out of Muscat to realize that.
What really stood out for me from this tour was realizing just how nice and laid back Omanis were. Growing up in Bahrain, I’ve seen my share of Arabs who will do their best to leave a poor impression about them (especially the Saudis that frequented Bahrain). But Omanis are not like the rest. Much calmer, less shout-y, they seem to smile a lot more and far less materialistic compared to their Emirati and Saudi neighbours. Omanis are probably the friendliest Arabs I have ever encountered!
I guess some appreciation must be given to the rulers too. After all, they decided against turning Muscat into Dubai or Doha of the past decade. The rat race is far less visible here. No skyscrapers allowed in Muscat apparently, because the sultan didn’t want to cover the mountains, which he felt was Oman’s true beauty. And he is right! Unlike the other Gulf states, Oman’s natural beauty is what makes it so special!
Anyway, once back in Muscat, we still had a few hours left until we had to all leave for the airport. Majjid dropped us off at the Haffa House Hotel before ending his day. Poor guy hadn’t slept the previous night.
We took one final group selfie before bidding Majjid goodbyeIt was disappointing I couldn’t spend the night in this bed… because it was really comfortable!This is Haffa House hotelMyself, Aseem and Manjulika stepped out to do some last minute shoppingAlthough I did manage to pick some sweets and nuts from the small shops we went to, I wanted to go to Lulu mall to buy many other items I had in my list. So I took a taxi and to the nearby Lulu supermarket.
With a carton fulls of Chips Oman and other stuff, I returned to the hotel and re-packed my bags. After bath, I went downstairs to have dinner.
I made the most of my last meal in Oman and took in as much of the local flavours as I couldFinished off with some not-so-local desserts 🙂Once we were all ready to check out, we headed for Muscat airport
The present airport is nothing fancy. It’s quite old actually, but they are building a newer and much bigger one.
Even the duty free shops seemed limited compared to other airports. But I’m sure the new airport will solve all that.What’s a Gulf airport duty free without a luxury car raffle, right? 🙂
I’d love to return to Oman when the new airport opens. Aside from that, there was much more I didn’t get to see. Salalah was on my wish-list but given how far it is, there was no way we were driving there. The waters of Musandam still remain untouched for me. Then there’s turtle watching, but that’s a seasonal event. I’m sure there’s much more to see and do in Oman. You can find all the details on the Oman Tourism website.
For now, I was just happy that I got to be one of the lucky few to be selected for this tour. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and as always, I hope my readers enjoyed it too!
