Holiday in Japan : How to become a Japanese

I have been in Hiroshima since Friday and today (Monday) I am going to Osaka. In Hiroshima, I visited the Atomic peace park and the memorial museum. Hiroshima was the first city in human history to b hit by an atomic bomb on 6 Aug 1945. After that there wasn`t much else to see in Hiroshima. On Sunday morning I did run along a river. It was a rather freezing run because I had forgotten to bring along gloves. There was only about 6 other runners which was not surprisingly as it was probaly 2 deg C.

I have been wondering how the sales and store staff in Japan become so polite and corteous. Last night I found out how this happens on at least one version of it I think. In a TV program, new staff at at a hair salon underwent training on how to greet and what to say to their customers. Each staff was given a a file containing a script on the appropriate sentences. A trainer (5o`s lady) was going through some exercises with them. It was serious stuff. Later she hung around the salon to observe the staff and their interaction with their customers. The final scene was the best. Training was completed and all of the salon staff stood outside, bowed, said their thanks and other stuff in Japanese. The lady thanks and other stuff in Japanese. The lady trainer left in a taxi. It was too much for one of the guys. He burst out in tears and cried his heart out.

The 2nd part was how taxi drivers were training on how to smile and say the right things to their passengers.

So that is how it is done in Japan.

Holiday in Japan : Vending Machine Price War

In Japan，vending machines selling all kinds of things are everywhere. Most of the machines sell drinks which uniformly costs Y130 per drink. Even the hotels have a specific floor which has a room with vending machines (never at reception though). The is now a price war with machines selling drinks at cut rate prices Y100 or lower. Ｓｏ　ｆａｒ Ｉ　ｈａｖe only seen machines with the regularly priced drinks.

Japan is heading towards recession again. Today I dropped by a so called Y109 store. The goods which are not labelled with a price are sold at this store sells for a flat rate of Y100．　Ｔｈｅy store I went to was called Daiso. They sell a lot stuff unusual things that is only available in Japan. They had a entire rotating rack filled with Japanese folding fans. I am sure they are made in China. I will drop by again to ｃｈｅｃｋ　ｔｈｅｍ　ｏｕｔ　（Ｉ　ｈａve already bought 2 hand painted fans at Kyoto (Y3000 - USD 35 and Y1000 - USD 11).

Holiday in Japan : To Nara

My last day in Kyoto. I have visited 7 shrines/temples and 1 castle out of 17 sites listed by UNESCO as cultural\historical sites. My favourite is Nijo castle because it was large enough to wander around for 2 hours. Two other places I liked were Ten-ryuji with its Zen garden and bamboo groves (visited yesterday) and Kiyomizu-dera (visited on first day)

Today　I will　be　going　to　Nara，　an　hour　by　train．Nara　ｉs　overshadowed　by　its　more　famous　ｎｅｉｇｈｂｏｕｒ，Kyoto　but　I　thought　a　visit　to　Japan　would　be　incomplete　without　visiting　a　second　city　important　to　Japanese　history　and　ｃｕｌｔｕｒｅ．

I　will　be　staying　4　days　in　Nara　before　moving　on　to　Hiroshima　on　25　Ｄｅｃ．

Japan Holiday ： Report from Ｋｙｏｔｏ

I　have　been　in　Kyoto　since　arrｉving　here　on　Wednesday　from　Ｔｏｋｙｏ．Kyoto　 is　considered　a　cultural　centre　of　Japan　due　to　its　many　shrines／temples 　and　historical　ｐｌａｃｅｓ．There　are　１７　Unesco　heritａge　sites here. Up to Friday I have visited only 7 sites. Some of sites are surprisingly hard to visit without your own transport. You have to take a subway to Kyoto station and from there take a bus. The bus ride can take up to 30 to 45 minutes one way. Today I hope to visit two more places.

Japan is the safest country among the 22 or 23 I have visited so far. Yesterday I saw a small child wearing　a　black　school　uniform　ａｎｄ　ａ　ｂｌａｃｋ　ｈａｔ　ｗｉｔｈ　ａ　ｒｅｄ　ｓｔｒｉｐｅ　（he could only　be　ａｂｏｕｔ 6 or 7 years old) at a bus stop. You see lots of young children travelling to and from school by themselves．

Ｅｎｇｌｉｓｈ　ｉｓ　ｎｏｔ　ｗｉｄｅｌｙ　ｕｎｄｅｒｓｔｏｏｄ　ｉｎ　Ｊａｐａｎ，　Ｄｏｎ‘ｔ　ｃｏｕｎｔ　ｏｎ　ａｎｙｏｎｅ　ｏｖｅｒ　40　ｙｅａｒｓｏｌｄ　ｔｏ　ｂｅ　ａｂｌｅ　ｔｏ　ｕｎｄｅｒｓｔａｎｄ　Ｅｎｇｌｉｓｈ．　Ｗｈｅｎｅｖｅｒ　Ｉ　ｎｅｅｄ　ｔｏ　ａｓｋ　ｓｏｍｅｏｎｅ，Ｉ　ｐｏｐ　ｉｎｔｏ　ｏｎｅ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｅ　ｍａｎｙ　24　ｈｏｕｒｓ　ｃｏｎｖｅｎｉｅｎｃｅ　ｓｔｏｒｅ．　Ａｌｍｏｓｔ　ｅｖｅｒｙｏｎｅ　ｔｈｅｒｅ　is　below　25　years　and　can　understand　some　English．　My　Japanese　language　skills　ｈａｓ　ｇｏｎｅ　ｐａｓｔ　ｆｏｕｒ　ｐｈｒａｓｅｓ；Ｅｘｃｕｓｅ　ｍｅ，Ｔｈａｎｋ　ｙｏｕ，ｇｏｏｄ　ｍｏｒｎｉｎｇ　ａｎｄ　ｇｏｏｄ　ｎｉｇｈｔ．

Holiday in Japan ：Rｅｐｏｒｔ ｆｒｏｍ Ｔｏｋｙｏ

８．００　ｐｍ，１１　Ｄｅｃ．２００９　（Ｆｒｉｄａｙ）：
Ａｓ　Ｉ　ｗａｓ　ｗａｉｔｉｎｇ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　Ｎａｒｉｔａ　Ｅｘｐｒｅｓｓ　（ＮｅＸ）　ａｔ　Ｎａｒｉｔａ　ａｉｒｐｏｒｔ　ｔｈａｔ　ｗａｓ　ｇｏｉｎｇ　ｔｏ　ｔａｋｅ　ｍｅ　ｔｏ　ｍｙ　ｈｏｔｅｌ　ｉｎ　Ｓｈｉｎｊｕｋｕ、　Ⅰ　ｒｅａｌｉｓｅｄ　Ｉ　ｈａｄ　ｍａｄｅ　ａ　ｍｉｓｔａｋｅ　：　Ｉ　ｈａｄ　ｆｏｒｇｏｔｔｅｎ　ｔｏ　ｂｒｉｎｇ　ａｌｏｎｇ　ｍｙ　
ｃａｍｅｒａ．

Ｔｈｅ　ＮｅＸ　ｔｒａｉｎ　ａｒｒｉｖｅｓ　ａｔ　Ｓｈｉｎｊｕｋｕ　ｓｔａｔｉｏｎ．　Ｓｈｉｎｊｕｋｕ　ｓｔａｔｉｏｎ　ｈａｓ　ｂｅｅｎ　described　ａｓ　ｔｈｅ　ｂｕｓｉｅｓｔ　ｔｒａｉｎ／ｓｕｂｗａｙ　ｓｔａｔｉｏｎ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｗｏｒｌｄ　ｗｉｔｈ　４　ｍｉｌｌｉｏｎ　ｄａｉｌｙ　ｃｏｍｍｕｔｅｒｓ。Ｉ　ｗａｓ　ｓｕｐｐｏｓｅｄ　ｔｏ　ｔａｋｅ　ａ　ｓｕｂｗａｙ（ｃａｌｌｅｄ　ａ　ｍｅｔｒｏ　ｈｅｒｅ）　ｆｏｌｌｏｗｉｎｇ　ｄｉｒｅｃｔｉｏｎｓ　ｆｒｏｍ　ｔｈｅ　ｈｏｔｅｌ　ｗｅｂｓｉｔｅ　ｂｕｔ　ｇｏｔ　ｈｏｐｅｌｅｓｓｌｙ　ｌｏｓｔ　ｉｎｓｉｄｅ　ｔｈｅ　ｓｔａｔｉｏｎ．　Ｉｔ　ｗａｓ　ｒａｉｎｉｎｇ　ａｎｄ　ｔｏｏ　ｃｏｌｄ　ｔｏ　ｗａｌｋ　ｔｏ　ｔｈｅ　ｈｏｔｅｌ　（２ｋｍ　ａｗａｙ），ｓｏ　Ｉ　ｔｏｏｋ　ａ　ｔａｘｉ　ｔｈａｔ　ｃｏｓｔ　ｍｅ　￥８９０　（ＵＳＤ　１０）。

Ｉ　ｈａｖｅ　ｂｅｅｎ　ｓｔａｙｉｎｇ　ａｔ　ａ　ｓｏ　ｃａｌｌｅｄ　ｂｕｓｉｎｅｓｓ　ｃｌａｓｓ　ｈｏｔｅｌ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　Ｓｈｉｎｊｕｋｕ　ａｒｅａ　；　Ｓｕｎｒｏｕｔｅ　Ｈｉｇａｓｈｉ－Ｓｈｉｎｊｕｋｕ．　

A ｓｉｎｇｌｅ　ｒｏｏｍ　ｗｉｔｈ　ｂｒｅａｋｆａｓｔ　ｃｏｓｔｓ　￥８６００　（ａｐｐｒｏｘ．ＵＳＤ　１００）　
ｐｅｒ　ｎｉｇｈｔ．　Ｙｏｕ　ｄｏｎ‘ｔ　ｇｅｔ　ｍｕｃｈ　ｒｏｏｍ　ｆｏｒ　ＵＳＤ　１００　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｍｏｓｔ　ｅｘｐｅｎｓｉｖｅ　ｃｉｔｙ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　Ｗｏｒｌｄ　（ｓｅｅ　ｌｉｎｋ）．　Ｔｈｅ　ｓｉｚｅ　ｏｆ my room is
ａｂｏｕｔ　６ｍ（２０　ｆｅｅｔ）by　３ｍ(10 feet)．　Ｔｈｅｒｅ　ｉｓ　ａ　ｌａｒｇｅ　ｂｅｄ　ｗｉｔｈ　ａｂｏｕｔ　１　ｆｅｅｔ　ｓｐａｃｅ running along ｏｎ　ｔｗｏ　ｏｐｅｎ　ｓｉｄｅｓ　ｗｉｔｈ　ｏｎｅ　ｓｉｄｅ　ｔｏ　ｔｈｅ　ｄｏｏｒ ａｎｄ the other ａｔ　ｔｈｅ　ｆｏｏｔ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｅ　ｂｅｄ　ｔｏ　ａ　ｔａｂｌｅ　ｒｕｎｎｉｎｇ　ｗｉｄｔｈ　
ｗｉｓｅ.

９・２３　ｐｍ、１４　Ｄｅｃ．２００９　（Monday）：
I have been here for four days and can confirm Tokyo`s reputation as the most expensive city in the world.

Moving around Tokyo is easy using the metro and rail. The cost varies according to distance but on average I spend about ￥500 (USD 6 ) per day.

The cheapest meal at a hole in the wall restaurant (the equivalent of a warung `food stall` in Malaysia) is USD 10.

It`s hard to find anything cheap in Tokyo. Yesterday I was at Ueno, a suburb of Tokyo. There was a huge market with lots of shops which to me was probably the cheapest place to shop in Tokyo.

Tonight I went to Akihibara famed world wide for its electronic and anime based shops /services. There were lots of Japanese girls (some were cute) handing out fliers to maid cafes. However the cutest girls are the elevator girls at Tokyo Tower I visited this afternoon. There was also a guy bowing and saying polite things outside the elevator at the main observation deck. (this site describes the elevator girls at Tokyo` Odakyu Dept. store in terms of under employment in Japan).

It is still early days in my trip (Wednesday will be my last day in Tokyo) as I will be going to four more places after Tokyo: Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima and finally Osaka. BTW,Osaka is ranked as the 2nd most expensive city in the world after Tokyo. No doubt,I will burning through more Yen at Osaka before I leave Japan.

A 3 weeks Holiday to Japan

I am going to Japan this Friday (11 Dec.) 2009 for a 3 weeks holiday.

Everything is expensive in Japan. In 2000, I was there for a 3 day business trip. The thing I remembered was the RM 20 cup of coffee.

I have booked all my hotels through the Internet. Even a business hotel which is rated 2 star costs USD 100 per night in Tokyo. The 5 star hotels cost USD 300 or more per night.

I plan to post some stories while I am traveling through Japan.

The only thing I had thought of buying of is runnin shoes and accessories.. ASICS have their own stores in several cities in Japan.

Peang Bridge Run International Marathon Report

My preparation for the PBR IM 2009 was never going to be optimum due to the ever present right knee problem. I did almost all of my training on a treadmill and limited each session to between 3 and 5 km. Long runs were out of the question. The farthest I ran was 6.5 km and it was the longest distance I ran in two and half years. Running on the treadmill allowed me to train but there is a price to be paid as I found later during the race. Going overseas (USA between 7 to 16 Nov.and Myanmar 18 to 21 Nov.) put paid to my plan for last minute training.

In previous years, I stayed at Sri Malaysia hotel at Bayan Baru. Since last year the race start had moved from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) to Queensbay Mall. I decided to stay at the newly opened (12 Nov.) Eastin hotel because it is located at walking distance to the starting point (200m).

The starting time of 3.30 am gave me about 3 hours sleep. I went to bed at 10.00 pm but the faint booming music from a nearby Karaoke establishment (O'Reilly KTV) at an adjacent shop lot reached my room on the 8th floor. I managed to doze off at about 11 pm. As a measure of my anxiety about this race, I set 3 alarm devices ; Hand phone, iPod and also my Timex wristwatch all set to alarm at 2.00 am.

My race plan was to run at least 16 km and finishing the remaining 5 km by walking and running. The goal was to finish within 3 hrs.

The race started on time accompanied with the beating of drums, a nice touch I think. I started to run gingerly amongst the slow pack of runners. The distance (3 km?) and time it took me to reach the bridge seemed to be forever. At this early stage, I hoped that I was able to keep running and not embarrass myself by walking so early.

Once I reacheed the bridge I felt more confident that I could keep going provided I maintained a sustainable pace. Was I running too slow or too fast for my own good? It was hard to tell at my unknown state of fitness to run 21 km. However I thought I was running quite well up the slope towards the bridge apex. Going down the slope, I sped up a bit and I saw some distance away the bridge turn mark.

I passed the turn mark (10km) and was able to check my time; 1 hr 14 minutes. I was running at a pace of 8.1 km/hr. I figured if I could maintained this pace, I should be able to complete the race in 2 hrs 35 minutes. I think I still had enough endurance to do it.

The price of training on a treadmill came at 12 km. My legs were becoming sore. The soles of my feet were the hurting the mostt. It felt as as though my soles were being pounded by rubber hose. A description of torture involving beating on the soles is give here. Training on on a treadmill was a necessity but it did not condition my legs for the impact of running on the road. I had to stop running and started walking.

I mostly walked the remaining 9 km to the finishing line. In the end I completed the race in 3 hrs 02 mi. 33 seconds.

If I run another half marathon, I still have to train on a treadmill out of necessity but I have to run the same or longer distance on the road at least once a week.

PS: There were lots of complaints last year about the race (shortage of water among them) but this year, they seemed to have fixed most of it. They were even handing out mineral bottle water instead of water in a plastic cup.

Friday's Energising Run

I could have out run the Energiser Bunny yesterday. After running 3 km on the treadmill, I was so into the "moment" that I decided to keep going. Finally stopped running after 6.0 km to minimise damage to my knee. Statistics from the treadmill:-

Distance : 6.0 km
Time : 42 min. 30 seconds
Speed : 8.5 km/hr
Calories : 252 kcal

2009 Klang Centro Community Run 11 Oct 2009 - Race report

My first race in two and half years is Klang Centro Community Run this Sunday morning. I decided to run it because the 6 km route partly goes through my "village" and to gauge my state (fitness and knee) for the Penang Bridge Run(PBR) in November 2009. There are lots of medals on offer for a first time event but I am not counting on getting one.

I managed to run continuously for the first 3.0 km but had to resort to running and walking for the next 3.0 km. I finished in 42 min, 30 seconds with an average speed of (8.5 km/hr). Out of this , I walked for about 12 minutes . Right knee was OK during the race and also afterwards. Based on this, I registered myself for the PBR (1/2 marathon).

My plan for PBR is to run continuously for 12 km in about 75 minutes. For the next 10 km, I may have to walk and run. The qualifying time is 3.5 hrs, so I should be able to finish it in 3 and 1/4 hrs even in the worst scenario of walking the last 10 km.

A short trip to Myanmar

I've had to reduce my running mileage over the past 2 weeks due to the knee problem again. On treadmill, I have reduced the distance from 4.0 km to 2.5 to 3.0km. I am hoping to bring up the distance to 4.0 or 5.0 km in the near future.

Tomorrow I am flying to Yangon in Myanmar for a 3 days visit. It has been almost ten years since my first trip to Myanmar in Dec 1999. Back then I was a tourist for two weeks managing to visit many of the major tourist places including Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan and Inle Lake. It was very poor country then despite its wealth in natural resources.

One afternoon I went for a stroll in Yangon. Along many streets and roads, there were people sitting on the pavement selling various items that were placed on mats or a piece of cloth. Later I found out that some of the sellers were civil servants such as teachers. Some of the things they were selling were their own household goods or family heirlooms.

Here is what Wikipedia said about Burma's economy:

The country is one of the poorest nations in southeastern Asia, suffering from decades of stagnation, mismanagement and isolation. Burma's GDP grows at an average rate of 2.9% annually – the lowest rate of economic growth in the Greater Mekong Subregion.

Under British administration and until the early 1960s, Burma was the wealthiest country in Southeast Asia. It was once the world's largest exporter of rice During British administration, Burma supplied oil through the Burmah Oil company. Burma also had a wealth of natural and labor resources. It produced 75% of the world's teak and had a highly literate population. The country was believed to be on the fast track to development.

That was nearly 50 years ago. The reason for the poverty and worst economic performance in South East Asia? Economic mismanagement, exploitation by the ruling military junta in power since 1962.

Such is the prevailing suspicion and paranoia of foreigners, I have been only be granted a three months business visa (single entry).

News about Myanmar can be found here.

Training Week - 19 to 25 Jan 2009

I had a reasonably good week of running. I do all of my weekday running on a treadmill.

Monday - 3.5 km, speed from 8.0 to 9.1 km/hr.

Wednesday - 5.0 km , speed from 8.8 to 9.1 km/hr. Running 5.0 km is a milestone if sorts for me. I think the last time, I ran more than 4.0 km was in June/July 2007.

Friday - only managed to complete 2.4km , speed from 8.8 to 9.1 km/hr. It was not a good running day as mentally I was out of it. Perhaps it was due to the forthcoming four day weekend

Saturday - rest day

Sunday - I was planning to run today but the heavens had other ideas. It started to rain heavily at 5.30 pm and this put a stop to my plan.

Tomorrow is Chinese New Year.

I wish a Happy,Prosperous and Healthy Chinese and Tet (Vietnam) new year to all of my friends.

A Runner's Wishful Thinking

I left the office later than normal today although it was my running day. Tt was already 6.40 pm when I switched off my PC but I decided to go to the gym. After changing and warming up, I started running on the treadmill at 6.55 pm. I was glad that I decided to run despite the late start. I managed to complete 3.5 km and best of all I could run at 9.0 km/hr with a moderate effort. I felt great after completing 3.5 km.

While doing my cooldown stretching, I thought to myself "If I was free of the chronic knee problem then I would be able to train consistently. It was possible that within one month, I would be able to run at 10.0 km/hr (min.) for at at least 5 to 6 km". It was wishful thinking on my part as it stands now. I would try to run as often as possible but it is unlikely I will be running any races this year.

Sri Lanka Trip = Post #6 (30 Dec 2008 to 2 Jan 2009)

This is my last posting about my trip to Sri Lanka.

I spent 3 days in Hikkaduwa but I wished it could have been longer. For someone like me who constantly needs to do "something", spending 3 days on a beach quickly becomes boring. But I liked the slower pace in Hikkaduwa. There was not much to do except walk along the main road after breakfast. After that I read some books, go out to Lunch at the best restaurant (REFRESH) in the area. After lunch, continue reading and later take a nap. In the evenng at about 5.00 pm, I go running on the only road in the village where the guest house was located. But I had to return to Colombo on the 30 Dec. because I had reserved 31 Dec as my shopping day.

I took the train from Hikkaduwa to Colombo. It was not going to be a comfortable journey. The trip started badly with the train arriving 45 minutes late at noon. Secondly the train was full and there were no empty seats left for anyone boarding at Hikkaduwa. Here I have to explain that for all train classes except for the Observation Coach for the Colombo-Kandy-Colombo route, there are no eserved seats. Basically you have to scramble and hustle to get a seat after you board the coach. I had to stand up near the door for the entire 2 hour train trip to Colombo.

In Colombo, I only stayed one night at the same guest house (Mrs. Mendis) but I decided to move out the next day as more people were going to stay and I was taking up the whole room which had three beds.

The next day (31 Dec.) I moved to a hotel in Colombo city. This was my last and only day for shopping in Sri Lanka. Immediately after I had checked in and left my bags in the room, I went to two shops Barefoot and Odel to shop. I am not much of a shopper and in less than 2 hours I completed my shopping errand.

On 1 Jan 2009, the day of my return flight to Malaysia, there was one last surprise and inconvenience. My taxi had to stop near a military check point located 500m away from the airport terminal. It turns out that no public vehicles were allowed to drive to the terminal. Everyone get down from their vehicle, open their luggage for manual inspection and after every bag has been checked allowed to board a bus to the terminal.

After spending 3 weeks in Sri Lanka, I can conclude that it is a generally safe for tourists despite the ongoing war between the government and the Tamil Tigers. There are lots of things to see and do.

Sri Lanka Trip = Post #5 (29 Dec 2008)

I hereby list the top ten questions that Sri Lankans asked foreigners( in order of the most commonly asked)

1. Which country are you from ?
2. What is your job?
3. How much is your salary?
4. Are you married ?
5. How long have been in Sri Lanka?
   
6. Where are you going?
7. How old are you?
8. Where do you stay?
9. How much is the air ticket from xxx?
   
10. Sri Lanka, good ?

I have been asked one or more of the above ten questions, at least a dzoen times over the past 17 days. In my case,the locals also ask two more questions:-

1. Do you want to marry a Sri Lanka girl?
2. Are you from Japan ? (sometimes, replace Japan with Taiwan, Thailand)

I am now at Hikkaduwa near a beach and staying at El Dorado guest house, 150 m from the main road. The guest house is very good value at only Rupee 850 (USD 7.80 = RM 30) per night. Yesterday I did a quick 3 km run along the road in front of the guest house. The road runs besid4es many houses in the village butis a good running route with two to three undulating sections.

Sri Lanka Trip = Post #4 (24 to 25 Dec 2008

I am still at Nuwara Eliya (NE). I have been here for 3 days which is too long as I don't have much to do. The places to go are to tea plantation (been there). Single tree mountain (won't go climbing because of knee problem) Horton Plains national and World's End View (can't go as it is too costly, USD 60 for car and entrance fee, running out of money) and botanical gardens (been there).

The locals described Nuwara Eliya as "Little England". The cold climate (18 deg. C daytime temperature) certainly fits English weather in Spring or early Autumm. But sometimes, is a bit hard to view this place as being England when a passing bus or truck belches a copious amounts of black smoke. The black smoke is the result of a struggling engine to burn fuel in the 1850 m altitude.

I will be leaving NE tomorrow morning. At first I was planning to go direct to Galle on the ancient rust bucket bus non A/C (8 hour travel time). Fortunately I came to my senses yesterday and found out a better alternative. I will take a private minibus hopefully with a working A/C to Colombo (5 hours). From Colombo, I will take another bus to Galle which will take about two and half hours. I think I can survive a 2.5 hrs trip on a non A/C bus.

Sri Lanka Trip = Video Post #1

This video was taken during the performance of Kandyan dances at the Lake House, Kandy.

Sri Lanka Trip = Photos Post #1

Photo 1 : Dambulla caves Exterior

Photo 2: Sigiriya rock (the palace in on top of the 20om high rock)
Photo 3: Then murals inside Dambulla caves

Photo 4: View of Kandy city from elevation

Sri Lanka Trip = Post #3 (21 to 23 Dec 2008)

Continuing from post #2,

Tourism
Tourism is one of Sri Lanka's major income earners industry with 300,000 people directly or indirectly involved in the trade. December is usually the busiest season with package tourists from European countries especially Germany, France and the Scandinavian countries. However global economic turmoil turned recession has dealt a devastating blow to the industry. Hotels that are normall fully booked are empty with the hoteliers counting on local tourists to fill their rooms (Dec is the school holiday in Sri Lanka). Not all of supply can be met by local tourism:-

• The company that I booked my tour had laid off 10 out of 13 drivers. My driver returned to his village to farm his relative's rice fields since April 2008. In December he was called back to drive me around for one week
  .
• The tour guide who showed me around Sirigaya rock said now has 3 to 4 tourists (foreigners) per week. In previous years, in a typical day there were 30 to 40 buses (1500 foreign tourists) arriving at Sirigaya per week. The situation has become so dire that the 120 licensed guides now to take turns to provide their services. Since working as a tour guide at Sirigaya 10 years ago, this year was the worst in terms of the number of foreign tourists.
• Last week it was reported that hoteliers at Hikkaduwa, a seaside area popular with package tourists appealed to the government to give them loans due to poor business.

Getting a supply of petrol has become a serious problem in Sri Lanka since last week. Three people sued the goverrment to reduce the petrol price. The supreme court ordered the goverment to reduce the petrol price from RP 12o (USD 1.1 = RM 4.00/litre) to RP 100 per litre (USD 0.9 = RM 3.3o/litre). Of of two companies, one company run by a joint venture between Indian Oil Corporation and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation agreed to comply and dropped their petrol prices to RP 100/litre immediately. A second company owned by the government did not and was waiting for goverment orders. The outcome was predictable with everyone going to the first company to fill up their tanks. There is now an artificial shortage of petrol in Sri Lanka. In the mean time, the government postponed the decision on whether to comply to the court decision or not. They have indicated their reluctance to reduce the price due to the need to fund the ongoing war with the Tamil Tigers and a potential hedging loss at USD 130 per barrel. Comparison of current petrol prices :-

• USA (USD 0.35 per litre)
  
  
• Malaysia (USD 0.50 per litre)
  
  
• Vietnam (USD 0.70 per litre)
  
  
• Sri Lanka (USD 1.10 per litre)
  

It looks like government profiteering to me.

Sri Lanka Trip = Post #2 (16 to 20 Dec 2008)

I am sitting in the Giritale hotel's room (Giritale town) to access the Internet. 5 days after I left Colomobo on a train journey to Kandy, I have visited several places I has planned to visit and learnt a few things about Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka, I found out has many UNESCO world herigate sites ( Iwas told there are seven sites altogether). I hope to visit most of them by 30 Dec 2008. Outide of CoombSo far I have visited Dambulla cave paintings, Sirigaya - a fortress located atop a 220 m high rock, several ancient sites in Anandaphura city. Tomorrow I will be visiting Pollonaruwa, located 15km from Giritale. I won't write in detail about these places due to the limited Internet speed here here but I write about what have I discovered so far:

Safety
Yesterday, I was asked to hand over my passport at army check point for the first time. Tbis happened on the road approaching Anandhaphura city. A stern and suspicious sargeant asked the driver some questions irst and asked him where we were going. Then he turned his attention to me and asked several questions:-

Where I am from ? My answer : Malaysia
Where I came from ? My answer : Sirigaya
Where I was going to ? My answer : Anandhapura and a few other places.
How long have I been in Sri Lanka ? My answer : One week
What I am doing in Sri Lanka ? Tourism

At the end of the questions, he asked for my passport. I observed he took particular interest at the various visa stamps in my passport. Lastly he checked for my entry visa to Sri Lanka. Satisfied that I was a bona fide tourist/traveller, he nodded and we were permitted to continue our journey.

BTW, Anandaphura city is only 50 km from the Notherm Tamil dominated regio where the government is waging a war agansnt the Tamil Tigers

Tip : If you are stopped at military check point and being asked some questions, it is best that your give answers that arare short and precise. What you don't want to do is to give a rambling answer. Look at the questioner in the eye when you answer.

People
I have found the people here to be friendly and helpful. The touts. tuk-tuk drivers and vendors are less a hasslem than those in India. Here if you say no once (OK - in some cases, seversl times), they will leave you along. In India, they will follow you around even you say no in several different languages.

Cost
The costs have been higher than what I expected. To move around the places I mentioned, I booked a tour with a driver. The whole package (beb and breakfast) excluding entrance fees was USD 470 for 7 days or roughly USD 67/day. A local man I met in the Colombo to Kandy train said I had been charged too much. He said the cost should be about USD 240 which was unlikely considering it costs USD 35 to 50 per day to hire a driver inclusive of his accomodation and meal costs. I estimated the hotel and guest houses that have I stayed to date cost about USD 20 per night minimum.

He described the guys at the tour ageny "Rail Tours" run by JF Tours in the Fort Railway station as bunch of crooks having come across similar cases of overcharging.

I will check out his claim of prices later. (It is is too late for me to anything as I have fully paid for the tour).

To be continued........

Sri Lanka Trip = Post #1 (12 to 15 Dec 2008)

It has been three days since I arrived in Sri Lanka on Saturday afternoon. The trip from the airport to the guest house where I was staying took almost 1 and 1/4 hours although the distance was only 30km. The van passed through heavy traffic in Colombo and several towns lying at the outskirts of Colombo. There was a heavy army presence at Colombo (capital city) in the form of numerous check points manned by armed soldiers armed with AK-47 semi automatic rifles. At each check point, there is post with a soldier surrounding by a pile of sand bags.

I will be staying at Mt. Lavinia located 10 km south of Colombo, Mt. Lavinia is the closest beach to Colombo and has lots of budget accommodation. I was staying at Mrs Mendiz guest house run by a family with same namesake. The cost per night is RP 2,000 (USD 18) including breakfast. There are only two rooms in the first floor with the family staying on the ground floor. Mr Mendiz, an elderly man of 80 years of greeted me when I arrived.

In the evening, I took a stroll along the beach which was only 50m walk from the guest house. To get there, I had to cross two railways tracks which serve trains running to several towns to and from Colombo. Being a Saturday there were a lots of people on the beach. If you are expecting a classic beach vacation, Mt Lavinia is n0t the place to be. There were no palm trees swaying gently in the wind but there were plenty of restaurants or fishing nets to trip over.

One thing I discovered near the beach was a monstrous hotel "The Berjaya Mount Royal Beach Hotel" owned by the same Berjaya group from Malaysia. Experience the exotic charm of Sri Lanka at the 95-room Berjaya Mount Royal Beach Hotel. The hotel website describes the hotel as such "The hotel faces the stunning beach front on one side and is bordered by lush tropical vegetation on the other, makes it a perfect setting ideal for both business and pleasure. The beach front hotel combines harmony and tradition in which you will feel right at home. "

The reality was two railway lines run along side the hotel with trains running every 10 minutes or so (the website doesn't mention this of course). If you can call a a huge functional rectangular building (it was easily the largest building here) as combining "harmomy and tradition", your are either be blind or dumb. I guess the "Royal" in the name is just a marketing gimmick. The hotel cost USD 60 if you are so inclined to stay there.

On Sunday I went to my first tour in Sri Lanka. I booked a three wheeler (Tuk-tuk) for a day to bring me around various sights in Colombo. The cost was Rupee 3,500 (USD 33).

The first place I visited was Galle Face Hotel built in 1864. In its heyday, the 19 and early 20th century,this hotel was a favourite of visiting royalty from Europe. It is still a fine place to stay if you willing to pay USD 90 per night.

The other places I visited were Peetah market, fish market (it stank of fish), a Hindu temple Gangaramaya temple, Queen Victoria park and National Museum. The Gangaramaya temple contained a mish mash of deity statues from Buddha, various Hindu gods and even a Chinese deity. The national museum contained a vast collection of varios historical ariticats from the 3rd B.C onwards.

Today I will be going to Kandy by train, a town 110km north of Colombo. I will travel in this region for about 10 days before hitting the beaches in the South. I plan to retun to Colombo ohn 31 Dec, stay for two nights before taking my return flight on 2 Jan. 2009.