Day 124: Fort Cochin & Allepey – the backwater country

The backwater region of Kerala has long been on the tourist track. According to the Lonely Planet, renting a houseboat out to the backwater canals is on the top-ten-things-to-do-before-you-die list. The price can range from Rs 5,000 for one bedroom to Rs 50,000 for a five-room double-decker with conference/dance hall, all with air-condition, hot meals and cold beer on board. But there has been reports of the boat ride getting boring after a few hours. So we opted for a shorter and cheaper ride – a public ferry from Kotayam to Allepey that costs Rs 11 each. The ride took three hours, which were enough to get a taste of the backwater scenery. There were plenty of houseboats on the canals.

little girl munching on KitKat that we shared with her

view from the canal

The center of Allepey was very busy despite the temporary power-cut in the evening. There were many jewelry shops selling gold – almost 1/3 of all the shops on the main street. Quite unusual for a backwater city. There was a huge mega gold shop (painted white with purple lighting) near by the bus station. It looked out of place in this laid-back watertown. Our guesthouse – Cherakura Nest (not sure about spelling) – where we stayed was really nice. Close to the canal and away from the center.

check out our power lunch

We also spent one night in Fort Cochin, which was sheltered from the busy traffic on the mainland. The streets were pleasant to walk on. Lots of western tourists (perhaps drawn by the UNESCO World Heritage designation). One afternoon, we took a taxi to the Jewish quarter. Unfortunately we weren't allowed inside the synagogue due to our shorts.

the Chinese fishing net at Fort Cochin

One thing we are still trying to get used to is how the locals say “yes” with their head. Instead of nodding, they would move their heads sideways without verbally saying “yes”. As you can imagine, this would easily cause confusion. It's especially funny and frustrating when ordering food at restaurant or asking the taxi drivers about destinations.

One thing that we have already gotten used to is that “hotel” means restaurant most of the time in India. If you want a real hotel (with a bed) in the western sense, the locals call it a “lodge”.

Day 123: Trichy

Trichy reminded us of Datong, China. To get to Datong, we boarded our first train ride in China - a “hard seat” class way overloaded with passengers. To get to Trichy, we boarded our first train ride in India – a very crowded “sleeper” class where it was impossible to lie down, not to even think about sleeping. Our hotel in Datong was next to the train station while our hotel in Trichy was next to a bus terminal. Unlike Datong, a major coal producing place, Trichy did not have any coal mines, but the air was as polluted as other Indian cities. There were plenty of beggars and homeless people. Strangely we actually enjoyed our stay in Trichy. The hotel was cheap (US$7.50), but it had HBO and hot water. The restaurants near the hotel served delicious Indian meals and fried chicken. The historical sites (Fort Temple and Ramanathaswamy Temple) were close by.

"let me out"

The Fort Temple looked more magnificent from a distance. The climb up to the temple on the summit was taxing, but the summit offered a fine view of the entire city. The bazaars near the temple were busy in the evening. We did not fear about our safety when walking at night at the bazaar because there were so many people. The locals were friendly and chatty, often mistaking us for Japanese or Koreans.

view from the Fort Temple

the bazaar near the Fort Temple

The Ramanathaswamy Temple was even more amazing. When we got off the bus, we were met with this gigantic fort entrance with hundreds of figures. There were six walls which foreigners were only allowed to the fourth wall. The carvings and the White Tower were equally amazing. There was even an elephant that bobbed it head like the dancers in Bollywood films. When you offered the elephant coins for good luck, its trunk would grab the coins and gently touched your head. Great business idea! Tax free and no inventory issue. Bus number one conveniently goes to both temples (Rs 4) and back to the train station and the bus terminal.

the entrance to Ramanathaswamy temple

white towertemple elephant

stone carving
special painted horse

From Trichy, we boarded our first night sleeper train (3AC class) in India. It was a comfortable ride. Noisy from the moving tracks, but comfortable. To buy these tickets, we had to go to the train stations ourselves because the travel agencies in Trichy did not offer train ticket service (maybe it was too easy for the locals to wait an hour in queue). So off we went. The queue was really long. Fortunately a man told us about a special “women queue”. Actually it was the handicap counter. :( And we did get out ticket bypassing the general queue.

check out this special counter for women

Day 121: A quick stroll through Mamalapuram & Pondecherry

We were in Chennai for two nights and quickly moved on to Mamalapuram and Pondecherry, where we spent one night each. The pace was noticeably slower than Chennai. Mamalapuram has two nice small temples – Five Rathas and Shore Temple. You purchase a combination ticket (Rs 250) valid for both temples, but is only for that specific date. We bought our ticket at 4pm, and kind of rushed through both temples before the closing time at 6pm. According to the Lonely Planet, the elephant stone carving at the Five Rathas is the most realistic one in India in terms of size, color and sculpturing details. There is also a huge stone carving on the way to the Five Rathas. You get a fine view of the town from the top of the stone. There is no admission charge.

the elephant at Five Rathas

the Shore Temple

the free stone carving on the way to the Five Rathas

Pondecherry, on the other hand, does not have well-known temples, but people come here for the French colonial past and cheap wine (according to our taxi driver). It was interesting to see the street signs in the local language and French. Some of the buildings are very French – mustard yellow and lavender blue – just like the houses in Provence. The promenade along the beach was packed with locals taking the evening stroll.

Gandhi's statue by the beach

look at me eyeing at the local food stall

good pizza at Pondy

We decided to take a train, instead of a bus, to our next destination, Trichy. It was our first train ride in India, so we were a bit anxious. We checked with the ticket lady and double-checked with the chief ticket inspector about our platform number for boarding the train. We were patiently waiting on platform 1 as told. Strangely the train did not show up at the specified time. We checked with the chief again and were reassured to wait at platform 1. A short while later two men walked past us and asked where we were going. It turned out that our train was already waiting at platform 2. Thank God, the train was still there. Similar incident happened again in the following days. One lesson we learned in India - always need to triple-check about these kinds of things.

Day 119: Chennai – Welcome to India

According to the Lonely Planet, Chennai, the fourth largest city in India, is “muggy, polluted, hot as hell and difficult to get around”. And it was our first city in India. We thought we were mentally prepared after talking to several travellers who had been to India. But the culture shock was overwhelming. On our taxi ride from the airport to our hotel, we saw rusty old buses packed with people (keep in mind it was around midnight), cows and goats feeding/resting on the road, and people sleeping on the sidewalk. Welcome to India!

the street where our hotel (Paradise) was on

The next morning we had our first authentic Indian breakfast consisting of dosa and iddly – the staple food for the locals. It was actually delicious, and it cost around US$1 for two of us. In the afternoon we stumbled upon St. Thomas church, which we later learned was one of only three churches in the world built on the tombs of the original 12 apostles of Jesus Christ. As a Christian, Katy was deeply moved and took a long prayer in front of the tomb of St. Thomas.

After St. Thomas church, we strolled around the beach of Chennai to admire the Bay of Bengal. To our surprise, a good part of the promenade was taken up by slums. It really opened our eyes to the way these people lived. Some were washing their clothing. Some were cooking their dinner. Some were sleeping. Some were taking the toilet relief (usually no.1 for the men & no.2 for the kids). All these activities happened on the side of the road next to the beach. We were not prepared when several little kids surrounded us asking for money. We knew not to give them money, so I gave them the only edible thing in my bag – a red bean filled pastry from Singapore airport which I had been saving for later.

First breakfast in India

check out the size of this dosa

St. Thomas Church

One kilometer away from the slums, we entered a totally different world – the City Center mall. It felt just like a small size mall in North America. It had a movie cinema with four screens, a food court (including KFC and Pizza Hut), a supermarket and many international branded clothing stores. The locals in the malls looked well dressed with LV bags and Armani jeans. Nowhere in my life have I seen such drastic change in wealth only 15-minute walk apart. No photo was allowed of the mall, so I can show you only the slums.

the slums on the beach

Day 115: Taking it easy in Singapore

We had a fairly busy schedule in Japan, so we decided to take a break in Singapore to rest our tired legs and prepare for our next journey in India. Choy Fun was very kind to let us stay in her apartment while she was on a business trip in Japan. Although our stay in Japan overlapped with Choy Fun's for a few days, she had corporate dinners with her colleagues and we had Hide's wedding. Otherwise, it would have been funny to meet in Tokyo.

On our second day in Singapore, we took the metro to visit Little India and Chinatown. Since we were going to see the real India in two days, we took a quick stroll at Little India and had lunch at Chinatown. To beat the afternoon heat, I took a dip at the pool at Choy Fun's place. I believe I was the only adult in the pool along with 20 other kids. :)

a temple in Little India

the main street in Little India
chowing down in Chinatown
check out the sign - pretty serious

chilling out at Choy Fun's place

Day 111: Surprise, surprise

It was supposed to be a farewell dinner with Hide and Noko in Tokyo as four of us were flying out the next day. Hide and Noko were going to Hawaii for their honeymoon while Katy and I were going to Singapore to continue our backpacker journey.

Hide picked us up from the hotel and drove us to a nice brewery restaurant by the water. Inside it feels like west coast decor with heater patio on the outside. Everything was great – the pale ale, the crab cake, the pizza, the fish and the ribs. Towards the end of the meal, Katy and Noko had to use the lady's room. It took longer than usual. Just as I dived into my plate to finish the last rib, out came the candle and the cake. It was my birthday next week. Katy even prepared a PowerPoint presentation. There were videos of my nephews and niece playing piano, a letter from Roberto and ecards from my brother and sisters. Katy had been secretly preparing for this since we were in Indonesia (with help from Hide and Noko to put the last piece together).

meet the accomplices

meet the mastermind and the surprise target
mission accomplished

It really touched my heart. Thank you, Katy. And Hide and Noko, thank you for your generous hospitality for making our stay in Japan so wonderful.

Day 110: the day we have been waiting for

October 25th, 2008. The weather was cool and dry in Tokyo. The metro was not crowded since it was a Saturday. There were curious looks at our attire from some of the passengers. We were wearing suit and dress tailored in Shanghai two months ago for this special occasion – Hide's and Noko's wedding.

The wedding started off with a cozy ceremony in the hotel chapel. We sang a few songs, or rather hummed along because the lyrics were in Japanese. :) When Hide kissed Noko, there were countless camera flashes and applause, expressing our sincere joy for the newlywed.

the chapel

THE moment we have been waiting for

The wedding banquet was like a Michelin 3-star meal. From the starter to the main course to the dessert, every dish was carefully chosen to play with our taste buds. If you have watched the TV show "Iron Chef", you would know the reaction from the tasting panel when they taste the creative dishes from the contestants. It was the same reaction from our table. "Oishii-ne" (delicious in Japanese) echoed all around us. It was a meal to die for. Just as we were enjoying the heavenly meal, the MC announced our names. I thought we were up for a surprise speech. Fortunately Hide and Noko wanted to give us her bridal flowers to thank us for coming to the wedding. We were deeply touched by their gesture.

caught a glimpse from Hide and Noko from the head table

Hide and Noko offering us the bridal flower
Katy with the bridal flowerThe banquet was accompanied by speeches and presentations. Hide's ex-colleagues from Mitsubishi gave an excellent presentation on Hide's past performance and future projection. It was hilarious. Not the stereotypical Mitsubishi men in suits. Hide and Noko also prepared their own presentations detailing significant events in their lives and how they met. Noko's "thank-you" letter to her parents was very moving. There were tears and sniffing (even from the Mitsubishi table – all men in their 30's and 40's). Katy was no exception. All puffy eyes by the end of the banquet.

Noko offering her grandmother a bouquet of flowers

Noko's last class of kindergarten students offering their congratulations by songs and rosestwo handsome chaps - the fathers of Hide (left) and Noko (right) Noko's father toasted with Coca-cola bottles (he is chairman of Coca-cola Japan). Very cool

Katy and Hide's mom

We were very happy for Hide and Noko, and were honored to be at their wedding. Now we pronounce them: Mr. And Mrs. Amita!

at the evening party

another intimate moment - check out Hide's smile