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Dawn at Royapuram Fishing Harbour
Dawn is the perfect time to visit the Royapuram Fishing Harbour. It is truly and exhilarating experience to see the action of the fishermen, the fish vendors, middlemen, the visitors and the mountains of fish being unloaded from the boats and canoes in the dark. It is noisy with all the bidding from the auction of the fish and people haggling. Bring a jacket along as the wind will be very cold and wear shoes.
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College Street – Mecca for Book Lovers
It is simply amazing! Hundreds of thousands of books of all sorts are sold at the College Street bookstores in Kolkata. I did not know where to start my walk and what to look at. When the giant bookstores are closing down in many countries, this place is having a roaring business. This street is on the same road as the famous Presidency University. My trip to College Street was even more interesting when I witnessed some rallies and protests!
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Streets of Kolkata
Kolkata, also known as City of Joy to many, is a highly polluted place and very dusty, busy and noisy! Cars, taxis, trams, men-pulled rickshaws and pedestrians make up the bulk of the road. I found it interesting that while there is so much of poverty and begging kids around, there are also the equally wealthy travelling comfortable in their air-conditioned cars or eating lavishly at some fine dining restaurants. Though, I swore never to go back to Kolkata again after a terrible lung infection of carbon monoxide, at the point of typing this, I think I will go back – it is indeed a love-hate relationship with this place.…
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The Golden City
It seems there are more than 10,000 Buddhist temples, monasteries and pagodas at one time. Today there are still about 2200 temples, pagodas and stupas. All these temples and pagodas can be freely explored inside and outside. The best time to see the temples is when the sun rises and falls. Inside the temples are faded remnants of murals and ceilings or some religious relics.
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Street foods of Yangon
Street food is the best in Yangon. Mohinga (noodles in a coconut gravy), Burmese Naan bread, boiled chickpeas, Burmese cat fish curry, Burmese rice and curry – these are the most popular daily dishes in Myanmar. I found most food oily and salty but they had a unique taste. It is almost like Thai but not at all and almost like Indian but never the same! From Briyanis to thosai, the Burmese have it but they taste different. Another popular dish is the pickled tea leaves salad – so soft, crispy, crunchy, tangy, salty and good enough for me to eat everyday while I was in Myanmar!
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The Market Place
Bogyoke Aung San Market, a 70-year-old market, also known as Scott Market spreads over two floors. It is certainly a place to go just for the sake of looking at the foodstuffs, jewellery, handicrafts, bags, lacquer ware and many other things. In fact, I enjoyed chatting with the local people and was just captivated by the way they bargain at each stall before buying something. Pay a visit to the Theingyi Zay market if possible too. This market was built in 1905 and has more than 1000 shops and stalls!
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Kamakura Farmers Market
Kamakura, former capital of Japan is about one hour train ride from Tokyo. It is a historical place with winding streets, temples, shrines, shops and markets. The farmers market, Rensokubaijo is opened throughout the week. The products in the market are from local farmers. I did not see any tourists on the day I went. However, the place was lively with customers chatting with the farmers who were there to sell their vegetables, fruits and pickles. I also had time to enjoy coffee and a piece of seed cake from a hippy coffee joint located within the market.
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Not Enough of Tokyo!!
I found Tokyo almost spotlessly clean. Surprisingly, I did not come across any signage exhorting the residents to keep the city clean. I hardly found any graffiti anywhere. There was no rubbish nor dustbins overflowing with garbage along pathways. Though I saw a number of people walking their dogs, there was no dog poop anywhere. After meals, the people clean their tables at most eating outlets. Hardly anyone eats on the go. Some well-dressed staff, probably at management levels, were seen cleaning signboards and glass doors in and outside their offices. Shop owners swept the sidewalks and streets outside their shops. I like Tokyo or rather Japan so much. If…
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Cool and Cute Harajuku
If you are in for “cool” and “cute” Japanese culture, head for Harajuku. This is north of Shibuya and a very fashionable, faddish and really crazy place for chilling out. On weekends, the place is so crowded – almost shoulder to shoulder with mostly youngsters. The most popular streets here are Takshita Street, Meiji Dori Avenue and Omotesando Dori Avenue. The shops sell a mix of American and English clothings and from Hello Kitty stuffs to hip hop. You get to see youngsters dressed in strange clothes with unique make-ups and many street performers. Some really high end restaurants and expensive restaurants line the Aoyama area.
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Samurai Temples
All the spirits and mind of “Samurai” were born from this ancient city of Kamakura. Samurai spirits have always be associated with temples and Buddhism in Japan. Though there are temples all over Japan, it is believed that the real Samurai spirits exists only in the temples in Kamakura! Some of the temples you should visit are Meigetsu-in, Zeniarai Benten, Kotoku-in（Kamakura’s Great Buddha) and Hase-dera.
