IST (Indian Standard Time) no good in Tokyo ?

As much as I love the impeccable service at the Hilton Tokyo, I have one minor grouse
against them.

The day we landed here, we were exploring the hotel, and in the lobby we come across
this wall with a world map on it, and below each significant city/country they have a
clock indicating the current time at that city/country. It seems to be sponsored by the
Rolex watch company (or Rado, I forget).

So, I check out the times at different parts of the globe - UK, Singapore and so on. Then
my gaze shifts to the Indian sub-continent and I scan for either Bombay or Delhi. I don't
see a clock for them. I am surprised and think that maybe they have one for Calcutta or
Madras. But, no.

Hmmm. So they don't think we are worthy enough for a clock of our own inspite of being
such a big country and a growing economic power ? Actually, we should be having atleast
3 timezones for India, given our size. Those that have been to the Eastern tip of India
would understand - in Assam, the sun rises at like 4AM during certain times of the year.

But, then I see something that my eyes refuse to believe - one clock each for Karachi
and Colombo. Huh ? Now, this was not only surprising, but also hurt a bit, however
much I hate to admit it.

I don't know who designed the clock setup. But whoever it was, I would love to know
how come he found Pakistan and Sri lanka important enough to have their timezones
on the Hilton clock, but did not feel that their bigger and better known neighbour did
not deserve one.

Why is no one attending to us ?

The good thing about Tokyo is the variety of cuisine available here. And which suits all
kinds of pockets. This lets you try out a different type each time you go out for lunch or
dinner. The downside to it, is that the system works differently in each of theseplaces
and if you do not know how it works, you could end up surprised, like it happened to a
couple of my American colleagues.

Having seen a hole-in-the-wall restaurant which seemed to serve nice food (most restaurants display the food served in the window or have pictures displayed) they decide to give it a try. They enter the restaurant and see that the tables are laid out in a semi-circle with stools for sitting. The waiters are serving the patrons from within the semi-circle, which is connected to the kitchen.

So, our friends are sitting there waiting for someone to come take their order. 5 minutes pass, then 10, and even after 15 minutes of their sitting there, no one's even enquiring about them.
At the same time, they see the other patrons being served food. And since its Japanese fast
food (though healthy compared to burgers and stuff), patrons come, eat and go to be replaced
by others.

Our friends have had enough now and call a waiter and ask why they are not being served.
To be told that they have to go to the machine installed at one corner of the restaurant (see attached picture), select the dish they want, slot in the required yen and get a kind of small ticket.



Then you come to your place and keep the ticket in front of you. Now, a waiter will take the ticket, and get you the dish you ordered. Since they did not have any tickets in front of them, they were not being served.

We went there today for lunch. However, being in the know, we did not have to face the same scenario. Nice lunch - rice + curry - but not as good as at CoCo-Ichi, which is almost like having an Indian lunch of rice and chicken/beef curry.

The CoCo-Ichi system is different and interesting. Will cover it in another post.

Jay Leno, Bill Maher, Hillary et. al.

I love watching the US talk shows on TV. The ones I really enjoy are Jay Leno and Bill Maher. Those guys are good, real good. And apart from the humor in their shows, what impresses me
is how they are able to take on big names without any worry.

I have seen Bill Maher practically chew Dubya to trash - you know, in a real degrading way -
not that he is wrong in his assesment. Can't imagine someone doing that in India about even some small-time politician, forget the Prime Minister, and getting away with it.

Also, given the high incidence of law suits in the US for even trivial stuff, I am surprised these guys dont get sued left, right & centre for defamation or stuff. In India, we have had editors and newspapers being sued for defamation, all for just reporting news. Tamilnadu is a good example of where this happens most.

Anyway, I get to see Jay and Bill's shows only when in the US. So, when I got this email
forward from a friend, it sounded interesting enough to post here. More so, because it
concerned a person I like - Hillary Rodham Clinton. Kind of selfish (but who isn't), but a
strong lady.

I am not a US citizen and so have no real interest in knowing what she stands for as a
candidate to the next Presidency. But then, whats the big deal anyway in a country where
the person who loses the vote count could end up being the president ? And where someone
who is clearly known as incompetent for the post could end up getting a second term, just
by bombing some other poor country that happens to be a sitting duck.

Anyway, I digress and am back to presenting these Jay Leno gems.
I loved them and hope you would too :

Jay Leno gems :

1. Hillary Clinton said that her childhood dream was to be an Olympic athlete. But she was
not athletic enough. She said she wanted to be an astronaut, but at the time they didn't take women. She said she wanted to go into medicine, but hospitals made her woozy. Should she
be telling people this story? I mean she's basically saying she wants to be president because she can't do anything else."

2. Well, the big story-Hillary Clinton will be running for president in 2008. You know why I think she's running? I think she finally wants to see what it's like to sleep in the president's bed.

3. In a fiery speech this weekend, Hillary Clinton wondered why President Bush can't find the tallest man in Afghanistan . Probably for the same reason she couldn't find the fattest intern under the desk.

4. A student from the University of Washington has sold his soul on eBay for $400. He's a law student, so he probably doesn't need it, but still, that's not very much. Today, Hillary Clinton said, 'Hey, at least I got some furniture and a Senate seat for mine.'

5. Hillary Clinton said today that she wants legislation to allow all ex-felons to vote. See, this way all the Clinton's former business partners can vote for her in 2008.

6. In Hillary Clinton's new book 'Living History,' Hillary details what it was like meeting Bill Clinton, falling in love with him, getting married, and living a passionate, wonderful life as husband and wife. Then on page two, the trouble starts.

7. Last night, Senator Hillary Clinton hosted her first party in her new home in Washington. People said it was a lot like the parties she used to host at the White House. In fact, even the furniture and china were the same.

8. CNN found that Hillary Clinton is the most admired woman in America. Women admire her because she's strong and successful. Men admire her because she allows her husband to cheat and get away with it.


Some from Craig Kilborn :

1. Senator Hillary Clinton is attacking President Bush for breaking his campaign promise to cut carbon dioxide emissions, saying a promise made, a promise broken. And then out of habit, she demanded that Bush spend the night on the couch.

2. Hillary Clinton's 506-page memoirs have come out. So much of her personality shines through, that in the end, you, too, will want to sleep with an intern.


And one from David Letterman :

Hillary Clinton is the junior senator from the state of New York. When they swore her in, she used the Clinton family Bible. The one with only seven commandments.

P.S. : Just taking a short break from Japan postings, though it will resume soon.

Strange Japanese birds that can be heard, but not seen.

My favourite pastime in any place that I visit is to walk around exploring the place
and get to know it better. Rushed tours do not do it for me - I need to take my time
and know the place better, rather than see it pass by from the bus window.

Europe was one place I loved to explore on foot, given the pedestrian-friendly roads
and road-users. You walk around and stumble across an old church from WW-II times,
with a legend of its own. The U.S. was the biggest pain, with people looking strangely
(from their cars) at pedestrians and the roads not as safe as in EU. Japan, is also a great
place to explore on foot, given the amount of pedestrian traffic and pavements all over.

The first few days I was here, I would take short walks in the vicinity of the hotel, being
careful to not go far, for fear of getting lost. Reason being that Tokyo looks the same everywhere, with high-rises all around. So, it's easy to get lost over the ground or in the
maze that they have under the ground (subways).

I would be walking along the pavement and would hear the constant calls of a bird. I would
pause to get an idea of where the chirping is coming from and try to locate the bird, without
any success. After a minute or so, the bird would go quiet and I would walk away only to
find another one chirping happily. Again the process of looking for the bird and the same
result of failure. Hmmm, this was getting spooky.

The mystery unravelled a couple of days later, when I was at a pedestrian signal waiting
for the signal to go green for me to cross the road, along with thousands of others (Yes, the
crowds here are more than I have seen anywhere in the world - even in India). My gaze is
on the signal, and the moment it turns green, I hear the chirping sound. I am surprised by
the coincidence, yet still rush to cross over to the other side. Once there, I wait to find the
bird, as usual. The signal flickers quickly for sometime and turns red. At the same instant,
the chirping stops. Hmm.

Now I need to confirm the relation between the signal and the bird chirping. So I wait there
till it turns green again and yes, the bird chirps again. Only to stop when it becomes red.
Eager to solve the mystery, I check with my colleague 'R' who can be said to be a Japanese expert from his on-off 3-4 years spent here.

He clarifies that its actually a recorded sound played when the pedestrian signal turns green
to guide blind pedestrians crossing the road, who cannot make sense of the visual cue provided by the traffic light. I am impressed, not only by the concern for the visually challenged, but for the attention to detail. I do not remember seeing such a system in the US or EU.

Such sensitivity to the visually challenged in Japan is not limited only to pedestrian crossings. You can see special pathways (made of bumpy yellow blocks) stretching all along their metro system, pavements and government facilities to enable the blind to know their way around.

Contrast this with how we go about it in India. Every year, we have one day to celebrate
World Disability Day, when our politicians and some Page3 personalities make their usual
noises about being sensitive to the disabled, blah, blah, blah. Instead, if only we took some concrete steps like these which would actually help them in going about their daily lives.

Yeah, I know, it's easier said than done.

Homeless in Tokyo.

While Tokyo is all about affluence and fun, if you look closely and at the right time,

you would see the other side of it too. Now, after more than a week here, I am yet

to see even a single pan-handler here.

But, a visit to the Karaoke bar on Saturday night, introduced me not only to the

awesome night life that they have here, but also to those that do not have a home

over their heads.

Its kind of sad to see people (mostly men, rarely a woman also) try to get some sleep

on the sidewalks, in a sort of shelter they create out of cardboard cartons. Some, like

the one in the picture above do not even have the shelter of the cardboard box.

Ofcourse, the Karaoke bar warrants a blog post of its own which I plan to do soon.

Smile. Take a deep bow. Then drop that damn bomb.

To say that the Japanese are courteous would be an understatement.
Each and every person you interact with either at work or at the hotel or on the
metro trains are amazingly courteous. On making eye contact, they smile and
almost simultaneously bow.

While I find this a good behavioural trait, I am surprised that it was these same
people who many decades ago (till the end of WW-II) were so aggressive that
they had invaded most of their neighbours. And even shocked the mighty
Americans by bombing the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbour.

How did they suddenly turn into such courteous people ? Or is it that they were
courteous then also, inspite of the activities they indulged in ? Maybe they invade
a country and then, you know, smile and take a deep bow before looting the place
or harassing the citizens ? And maybe the Jap kamikaze pilots took a deep bow
before lobbing bombs on the US navy. You know, keeping courtesy and business
separate.

Their old aggression on the battlefield has given way to aggression (in a good, positive
sense) in the market. They are usually at the top in anything they do (thanks to the
emphasis on quality and attention to detail), which results in dominating world trade
and giving the jitters to the competition.

And again, that is done with courtesy still intact. They do not forget to smile and bow
as they send the competition scurrying for cover.

Mad about anything American

One thing that the Japs seem to share is an affinity for all things American. They just
love American food for instance, which to most Americans and others, is basically junk
food. I am not even sure whether there is any such thing as pure American food other
than burgers and maybe hotdogs. Anyway, the fan following is incredible for such food here.

We were at the nearby mall which houses lots of different restaurants - Chinese, Japanese, Indian etc. But the real crowds were at the Burger King outlet in that complex. And this is
not your normal crowd - there was a line of some 300 people stretching all the way from
the cash counter to outside the outlet and continuing. Should have snapped a picture - it
was so damn funny seeing so many people lining up for a burger. Same goes for the Krispy Kreme donut outlets here.

Burger King recently did a 2nd entry into the Japan market. They were here like 5 years
ago, but could not compete with McDonalds (lost the price war) and left Japan. Now they
are trying to make a second coming, which they hope to be successful, unlike last time.

And if the long queues outside their outlet is any indication, I guess they should do just
fine this time around.

Thattukada a.k.a Kai-enthi-bhavan in Tokyo

Now, I knew that I would be seeing a lot of new stuff in Japan. But I never thought
I would chance upon a thattu-kadai or kai-enthi bhavan (roadside makeshift eatery).
But that was precisely what I came across, just outside Ogikubo Metro Station.

In the mornings when I crossed that place on my way to work, it was all covered up
and I did not really give it another look. Apparently, these eateries are active only
from evening, like in India.

But one day, was returning late from work and saw activity at the shop. A guy was
busy cleaning utensils and saw food stuff kept ready for cooking. Hmmm. Could not
help taking a snap - ofcourse the picture is not very clear as I did not use the flash
for fear of offending the guy manning the shop.

There were no customers around. Maybe because he was just starting up. But then
I wonder if at all any customers would really turn up at his place. Reason being that
his thattu-kadai is just near a public toilet, whose grey wall is what you see in the
left-most corner of the picture.

Looks like a nice initiative, but maybe wrong location. I could be wrong too - will find out

one of the days I return real late from work. Because this is Japan and cleanliness is even

above godliness. And the urinal is maintained (and used) so well, that when you walk past

it, there is no smell that you would associate with a urinal.

Still, a urinal is a urinal and having food standing beside one does not sound like a fun idea, atleast to me.

Ranganathan street, oops Takeshita Street, Tokyo

For those that don't know, the Ranganathan Street in T.Nagar, Chennai (INDIA),
could easily qualify as one of the most crowded places in Chennai. It gets worse
during festival season when all Chennai-ites descend on T.Nagar to shop as if there
are no shops anywhere else in Chennai. For precisely the same reason, I avoid
shopping at T.Nagar - I hate crowds. Actually I avoid the T.Nagar area itself.

On most days, you could stand at either the Usman Road end or the Mambalam
station end of Ranganathan street and see just a sea of human heads when you look
down Ranganathan street. I am amazed people want to still jostle among themselves
in this crowd all for getting stuff a little cheaper. But then, that's just me.

I knew that Japan was a densely populated country and that Tokyo was like real
crowded. But was still not expecting something on the scale of India. I landed in Japan
early morning, feeling sleepy and the normal thing to do would have been to hog the
awesome spread of continental breakfast they serve at the Hilton and go to sleep.

But that would not help me get over the jet lag. The best way to beat jet lag is to try to
sync into the local time zone as best as you can. Even when all you want to do is sleep
during the day, try staying awake and hit the bed at the time you would normally do
back home.

So, braving the tiredness and temptation to sleep, I opted for a round of shopping with
a local colleague (Indian, but almost like a local, having worked here on and off for some
3 years now), while the rest of the guys who came with me, hit the sack. My friend,
lets call him 'R', took me to Harajuku, where he wanted to buy some traditional Japanese
handicraft stuff for people back home.

I tagged along with him as I also had a long list of stuff to buy, including mainly small
kimonos for my nieces, that I had promised them. So, we take the ultra-efficient Tokyo
Metro system and pop up at Harajuku. One look at the street and the only thing that
came to mind was Ranganathan street.

Have a look for yourselves.

In the land of the rising sun

Am in Japan on work for 2 weeks - my first ever visit to Japan.

In short, I love the place, the friendly, courteous and always ready-to-help people,
the awesome public transportation system, the cleanliness prevalent everywhere etc.

My next few posts will be on Japan. And I hope it will make up for the lack of posts
in the last week or so due to being busy at work and in preparing for this trip.

Why do we need to be forced to do even what's beneficial to us ?

Today, the traffic-scape of Chennai looked so different from what it was till yesterday.
It was a sea of helmets, with almost 99% 2-wheeler riders wearing helmets. Thanks to
the law enacted by the Tamilnadu Government, which requires that both rider and
person seated on the pillion wear helmet.

It is so surprising to hear about people and organisations that were protesting against
this rule, which is for the benefit of the people using 2-wheelers. It is a well documented
fact that in accidents, death and serious injuries could havebeen averted if the bikers
were wearing helmets. Anyway, I am glad that the courts did not allow a stay on this law,
as requested by some people/organisations.

The most common complaints that people have against helmets are :

1. Reduces visibility at the sides.
2. Reduced audibility (of the traffic around).
3. Sweating
4. Hair loss.
5. Having to lug it around.

Having been using a helmet religiously since I bought my bike 12 years ago, I guess I am qualified enough to address the above mentioned complaints.

1. I do not feel any reduction in visibility. But even if there is any reduction, you have the
side rear-view mirrors to help you see both sides, right ?

2. I guess this is true to an extent. But then I dont think the reduction is high enough to be paranoid. A good analogy would be the case of a person who has been driving a non-a/c
car for years. Due to lack of a/c, he is used to driving with the windows down always (atleast
in Chennai). When he moves to an a/c car, and drives with windows closed, the audibility
level goes down. Initially this will feel uncomfortable, but you get used to this soon (from my personal experience on shifting to driving with windows closed after 20 years of open window driving).

3. Sweating could happen. But then think of having a protection on your head from the hot sun.
I wear a helmet not just for protection in accidents, but to keep the sun away and also to avoid the dust/dirt from entering my eyes and dirtying the face. Get a helmet with a good vizor.

4. The hair loss due to wearing helmets claim is pure bunkum. If that were the case, I should
be bald now after 12 years of using helmets.

5. Why lug it around ? Most auto-geared scooters nowadays have enough storage below the
seat for atleast one helmet. For bikers, you get these helmet locks which can securely lock atleast 2 helmets.

Another law that came into force from today requires motor vehicle drivers and front seat passengers to wear the seat belt while driving. While I understand the benefits of wearing
the seat belt, I used it only on highway drives. Had been thinking of using it in the city also,
but somehow it did not happen. I am thankful that there is a law requiring me to wear it
and now I can make sure I make it a habit.

So, when are we making helmets and seat belts compulsory across India ?
Waiting for that day.