odzer's blog

A nice day at the movies

I went for a fun evening with two of my friends today at the local Fun Republic movie theaters. We went to Mc Donalds just before the movie. All in all it was a normal day. I had a veg-surprise. The surprise in it being that you do not know what is in it. I also had a milk shake. We took the lift up to the 2nd floor to watch our movie. As is my habit I settled in to my favourite aisle seat and was happily looking forward to some funny antics of Brandon Frasier when it happened….

The National Anthem!

Ugh!

Now I have nothing against  national anthems, in fact I love them because they are so superficial. I can even sing at least 5 of them effortlessly. I give a stunning rendition of “Oh Canada!” in case I am drunk though I am known to change a few words here or there. Everyone stood up, I kept my tush firmly in the seat. I was shell shocked! National anthem at the movies? Do we live in a Nazi state now or have some ultra nationalists taken over the country this morning? What is next are they going to play it at Kitty parties? Birthday bashes? Circumcision ceremonies? I wrote some days ago my extreme dislike for the flag waving public at large. Why do you need to impose your nationalism on people who are not nationalists? I mean such a “show of love for your country” is meaningless if you stand up when you really do not want to? Why should I just do it to please anyone! So I did not and I will not in the future. I may not use the same cinema again as well. Of course it is their cinema and they can do whatever they want to do!

I am still recovering from the shock of this. I even hated this thing at school but at that time I had no choice because there was no seat .The national anthem is all well and good at the affairs of the state but I paid for 1 1/2 hours of cinematic experience not a dose of nationalistic re-education. So spare me please.

Today is the last post on various parts of Tokyo. One of the most exclusive and expensive areas of Tokyo is called Ginza. Its like one of those places where you can take a casual stroll and unless you are the wife of a very well salaried man you can not afford to do anything except breathe in the area. The place is also home to an Apple store, something that I definitely had to see since there are no Apple store’s in India. As you are well aware by now I love to hang around in electronic stores. There are also a lot of other decadent stores as you can see in the photos above. Tokyo although a very brightly lit city like most of the western or developed world can be errily quiet at night. What contrasts it with lets say Delhi or Calcutta is that you can hear the crows, the click clacks of women’s high heel shoes when they walk on the streets and even children in the neighbourhood. I guess that has more to do with no street noises or horns.

Ueno on the other hand is a complete contrast from Ginza. It is my favourite area in Tokyo. The huge Ueno park is not only beautiful to watch cherry blosoms in the spring time  but it is also a cultural area where you can find museums and the Tokyo zoo is just next to the park. What I love the most is the street market in Ueno. It is one of the finest places I have found to buy clothes and shoes! Just near the street market is a speciality market underground where you can find many ethnic food stores including Indian food. I could find all kinds of daal, spices and foods from other parts of Asia including Indonesia, Thailand, China etc. Ueno park is also home to a lot of cats and it seems that people like to feed them.

The Japanese imperial family is the oldest reigning house in the world. The imperial palace therefore is the seat of the imperial family and the surrounding area is full of Japanese government buildings. After the war there was a rapid transformation in the politics of Japan and the parliament became the real source of governmental power and control in that country. The Japanese parliament is called “Diet”. It comprises of a House of Councillors and a House of Representatives. I have seen a couple of national capitals and how they differ from each other is always interesting. One of the things that I love about Japanese governmental system is how approachable the organs of the government are in comparison with those in India. You can walk right up to the palace, you can even have a picnic in its exterior grounds!  I had a nice time moving around the grounds and looking at the surrounding area one fine afternoon. Apparently near the palace some people were also finishing a run and there was quite a sporting and jovial atmosphere.

I have also posted some pictures in the surrounding area just to give you some idea about how the area looks.The Diet building is situated at a walkable distance from the palace and tours for visiting inside the building are available on weekdays though I have not been inside because it was in the evening when I was there. Anyone who wants to know more about how Japan is run and how their institutions function should definitely benefit from visiting this area especially those interested in politics or public administration. There also seem to be some nice parks and public areas if you enjoy such settings. Tomorrow I shall be putting my last post on Tokyo in this series.

Asakusa is a famous area of Tokyo and it is very popular among tourists. It has a huge and very famous lantern at a temple called Senso-Ji. Near the temple is an equally colourful market that sells a lot of touristy things. You can buy japanese fans, japanese head bands with the sun disc on them, umbrellas, japanese snacks called senbei, japanese sweets and everything else that tourists love to buy whenever they have extra money to spend. One of the reasons why Asakusa may be popular with the tourists is that it has all what many people dream of Japan to be. The image of the country is mostly that of a place that is awash with Samurai’s and sword wielding men who shout at each other and grunt. Many westerners and may be some asians as well think of Japan to be still stuck in the age of ritual suicides and geishas!

Anyway if you are at Asakusa you can try eating some street food near the temple. Not all of the street food is traditional mind you! You can even find banana pancakes. I tried eating Takoyaki and Yakisoba while I was there. Street food in Japan though is not cheap, be warned. You can also take a jinrikisha(man pulled rickshaw) ride if you like though I suppose it will not be cheap either but if you are a girl or guy that fancies cute looking Rickshaw drivers I guess it is worth the price. I have heard that this is the only place in Japan where you can get a Rickshaw ride and for those of you that did not know, Rickshaw is a Japanese word. I prefer my Rickshaw rides in India though or Nepal.

Another place of interest, at least for me was the Asahi beer building which is also located in Asakusa they have this giant statue of a flame or something but they have managed to make it look like a giant turd! I wanted to look at this architectural marvel. You can buy the wonderful Asahi beer in India though so if you want a quick and refreshing taste of Japan do have a try. I prefer Sapporo beer however, which is still not available here in India yet. Japanese beer is interesting, although it is lighter by Indian standards it is still stronger than European beer and tastes far more refreshing and gets you drunk faster.

I would recommend going to Asakusa if you are only on a visit to Tokyo because it gives you a chance to look at some traditional Japanese architecture and also enjoy the carnival like atmosphere, however if you can you should really try to escape Tokyo and see more of the country.

I have decided to do some blogs on Tokyo since I did some blogs last week on Chandigarh. I am going to start with Akihabara. Akihabara is famous for its electronics products and its video gaming and otaku culture. I  am not a very big video gaming fan though I admit I own a PSP but I am really fond of electronics and I can spend hours in electronics stores. I like looking at various nifty things from kitchen appliances to big screen TV’s and even things as boring as paper shredders. What I love about Tokyo is that the city is so alive and so full of life. People dress well and they are not afraid to exhibit their sexuality. Akihabara has its own culture and one of the things that hit you immediately as you walk out of the station is the presence of a lot of young girls in “maid” costumes. Apparently Akihabara has a lot of “maid café’s” which cater to Otaku men which seem to form the majority of the people that hang around Akihabara. 

In Japan as elsewhere Touristy areas are not cheap. Akihabara unfortunately happens to be one of those places which is expensive, at least in my opinion. I would not really recommend people that do not know about the area to buy electronics there. However just near the station is a big store called Labi which seems to be a nice and a decent hang around for surfing various electronic products. Another cool place seems to be the Akiba-Ichi which is basically a collection of various restaurants and other places, something similar to the Indian mall. It has some nice cafés and restaurants etc. I would definitely suggest a visit to Akihabara if for nothing else to soak in the very colourful atmosphere. I hope you will all enjoy the pictures.

If you ever have a chance you really must try to eat sushi and sashimi. I have had the good fortune of trying some very nice sushi and sashimi. A lot of people tend to be very squeamish about what they eat and very judgmental about what others eat. I even own an excellent illustrated book about the topic  and it is called “Squeamish about sushi“. Sashimi is basically fresh raw fish served with a dipping sauce. In some cases the fish is so fresh that when the fish is served at your table it is still quivering.

The fish in the picture above is called Aji in Japanese or Horse Mackerel in English. Here you see it served at an izakaya bar. It was served with some wasabi, daikon, sudachi and a shiso leaf. I have also had a chance to try horse sashimi, but they did not bring a living horse to the table! Which might have been fun!

Sushi is fish, vegetables, eggs, etc. with vinegered rice. I have had the opportunity to try both Japanese and Korean sushi. I really enjoy eating sushi but the quality of the ingredients is very important and whom you eat it with as well. It is really fun to have “make your own sushi” night with your close friends and family while you all sit around a table.

This is so far my favourite type of sushi

The sushi you see in the above picture has the following type of fish and ingredients. Starting from the left you see here Tamagoyaki (Egg), Maguro (Tuna), Ika (Squid), Tai (Porgy), Sake (Salmon), Hamachi (Yellow Tail) and Hotategai (Scallops). The dipping sauce is soy sauce and you only always dip the fish end in to the sauce, never the rice end otherwise you will have a mini disaster at your hands!

Sushi wrapped in persimmon leaves

The type of sushi you see above is called Kakinohazushi, and it comes wrapped in persimmon leaves. Persimmon leaves are known to kill bacteria. There were two kinds of sushi in the above plate but, you can’t really see it because it is wrapped. One was Saba (Mackerel), and the other was Masu (Trout). A lot of foreigners do not know this, but Japanese table manners allow you to eat sushi with your hands, though I am skilled enough to use my chopsticks to eat them. In case you are ever at a Japanese restaurant, do use your hands instead because making a mess is far less acceptable though Japanese culture is such that “foreign devils” are allowed to get away with many things that the ordinary Japanese may not be able to get away with including bad manners! Actually even many Japanese use their hands to eat Sushi!

In the end I would like to thank Khelljuhg for helping me put together today’s post, especially with regards to names of some fish and some other interesting information!

One of my favourite cakes!

I was sitting blissfully after dinner when a friend of mine and a regular commentator on this blog mentioned cake. Well though she wanted to order it I have no such luxury so I ended up making my own. I have made a Maccha (Japanese Powdered Green Tea) Cake. I love the flavour of Maccha and I may be actually addicted.

I did not wait for the cake to cool down because I wanted to have it immediately. This resulted in the slices being well not “perfect” but who cares at 11 pm at night! Since it has been raining here since the last 3 days and it has not stopped even for a minute the whole day today I am stuck at home so I am sure that I can use it instead of bread for the mornings breakfast as well too.

Cooks Corner : SCO 16, Sector 10, Chandigarh. Phone :- +91-172-467-4774. Email : sanjayjoshe@gmail.com

A few weeks ago one of my friends, Bikerbaba to be precise told me about a new culinary supplies store in Sector 10. This store is called Cooks Corner and is located in the market opposite of Hotel Mountview. This is fast becoming my favourite place to shop for food. It’s a bit tricky to find though because it’s on the backside of the market. It is approachable from both the ends of the block and you cannot miss the sign if you just walk a bit around the backside. Now you may ask why am I writing about a culinary supply store? The reason should be rather obvious to the people who live in Chandigarh. Although we have some nice stores that sell a wide variety of products from India and abroad they all seem to have one problem. You need to visit at least four stores to prepare a meal at times.

I spent some time talking with the co-owner of the store who told me a bit more about his new venture. His name is Mr.  Sanjay Joshi. The idea to put together a place where you could find snacks and ingredients from a lot of places from world over is therefore quite exciting for me as you can imagine from the contents of this blog. Mr. Joshi graduated from IIM Ahemdabad and has over 15 years of experience in marketing. He told me that since the store opened in Mid-July he has been having a steady flow of customers. Most of the people who shop in the store seem to be women. One of the most selling products seems to be Doritos! London Dairy Ice Cream and Hershey’s Chocolates are equally popular.

If you like cheese you will find a lot of variety and they also carry some good meat products. Sausages, Salmon and even the run of the mill Chicken products are all part of their excellent selection. I really like the fact that they carry cream cheeses like Ricotta and Mascarpone.

What I really find delightful about this little store is the ability to order stuff that they do not carry, the day when I visited them I was there to pick a bottle of Mirin which is basically a sort of Japanese sweet cooking wine and they had especially got me a bottle because I had requested them. They have some nice promotional schemes as well. I really do not know the details but you can find out for yourself. So if you are bored shopping for your food supplies at the stores in Chandigarh you should definitely have a look at Cooks Corner. I certainly have always enjoyed shopping there especially because of all the personal attention they always give me.

Every city has pretty much has its own symbol, the open hand is ours. Chandigarh over the years has developed its own multicultural society. The open hand was conceived as a symbol of free give and take and the openess of the city to new ideas. If you look at the surrounding cities of Chandigarh in both Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh that diversity is lacking. This is probably the final frontier of diversity in North India. We have people from South India, Punjab, Haryana, Bengal, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Western India, Himachal, Ladakh and even around a dozen Chinese-Indians. Although the benefits of diversity here are not that apparent because people can lead pretty much self-contained lives.

I visited the open hand monument on Sunday afternoon and I took some photos. I hope that you will enjoy the monument. We are used to looking at it on our “official papers” and on various signs so its translated in to a government logo for most of us. I am also posting some distant pictures of the Punjab and Haryana Vidhan Sabha (Local State Assembly) pictures which was designed like this city by the famous Swiss- French architecht Le Corbusier.

On Sunday afternoon I went to the Rock garden, Chandigarh. Rock garden was officially opened in 1976, it is completely built out of industrial refuse and other things that are mostly considered to be garbage. Some people may of course find beauty in garbage but I am not in that category of people.It can be best described as kitsch. I find the place dull, dreary and very grey. Although the same can be said for the city by itself so the garden does fit in quite nicely. In the middle of my visit there it started raining and the rocks below my feet got quite slippery. 

The figures in the garden are scary as well as monotonous. The walls are lined with broken sinks and old WC’s. The idea of starring at something that may have once contained the remnants of someone’s stomach is quite disgusting. The one thing where the rock garden does shine is that it is an attraction for people who live in surrounding small towns and cities. I noticed that most people who visit the place are from such places. There are some foreign tourists as well. There are a lot of artificial streams and two waterfalls in the garden as well. Most of the water in the garden is stagnant though and it smells very bad. It is also covered with algae. 

As with other major tourist attractions in India, they are all scribbled with “love messages of people”. Some people also seem to have pee’d on the walls of the garden which makes it smell really bad. Although I think the lack of clearly marked bathrooms may be a factor here. I also noticed since I came to the garden after many years that they have built some wire mesh grills around some sculptures to prevent further vandalism. This has lead to a very ghastly appearance as well. Overall I do not plan to return to this place for a while now. The only reason I went today was to accompany a friend who had never seen it.