My boarding pass

Do I have invisible arrows and gate numbers in life too? Is there an invisible boarding pass stating which Gate is assigned for me? Am I sure that the possessions I checked in are going to take the same route as I will?

With a visibly printed boarding pass, with all these boards, with all the big systems working at the back end - at times we get confused. We get into hurry at the last minute. We get our baggage lost.

Lord, I am blind to all these invisible guidances in life. I am deaf to the announcements. I am dumb to ask any. A little of these, with thy blessings is all that I seek. Not putting myself in the auction for someone to call up a price for. Not any trust on the planning and calculations that my limited arithmetic can do.

Move?

All the best, Riyaz!!!
Our prayers always with you!

When you are on something, someone to be with you. Wishing you when you take up new things. Supporting you when you need something. Keeping a portion of prayers from their heart for you.

This message from Soorej moved me. I had a couple like this three years back too when I was confirming my move from Japan to Bangalore. Insha Allah, I am working on my next move. I never planned anything for me. Things happen as it happens. The way Lord decides it should. I only execute. Then He can have his axe anytime for my good.

Will keep posted, just started the official processes. May be a month - or two - as I see now. Let us see. Keeping prayers and trusting on them from around. Humble requests.. as always..

Pale blue is still blue...

Last minute delays actually used to be welcome surprise wished for. An exam postponed on the day before. A customer deadline canceled on the 11th hour. Man, how much ever wished for, never really got one. But now, here I am totally out of place with the three extra days I got at the (t-5)th hour.

Thank God with the max number of tylenols I ever had in my life I am now out of fever. But back home things were not so good as they were made to appear to me? Ian was on drip yesterday and Alhamdulillah getting fine now after his dehydration from vomiting.

And I am still playing around with my tickets. Till two days back it was go back. Then it was like extend for a week. Then go back and come again after 3 days. Costly, did you say? Well, there is a good travel expense control mechanism. They will go through your travel bills and check your individual receipts. What they will not do is to check why you did the travel in the first place.

Insha Allah I will anyway fly tomorrow. I mean I will go to airport and board the plane if they allow me:) Thanking AA for letting me sit somewhere. Do not blame them man, people do not expect service here either! There was a lady in front of me in the rebooking line at airport who was wondering

I dont know why they should be putting up the hotel bill when the problem is weather which is not in their control?

So you got it? I thought industry take these risk into accounts either directly or through the insurance companies and then charge it back to the passengers...

Blues

When I read the story of JetBlue passengers stranded in the plane for 8 hours, I could not believe it. How could they do it? Well, now AA taught me if Jet Blues, AA also can blue.

So my story goes after I boarded the AA flight back to Tokyo saturday morning. ETD 10:10 AM when the pilot announces he is going for some extra gas:) wonder why. Then he goes towards some runway, says the other runway is closed because of heavy wind in some direction. And after a long time he announces we are next in queue. So far, thanks to the two Tylenol tablets to suppress my fever, I was so drowsy and sleepy to have any concept of time. Nor to understand an hour is 60 minutes and two hour means 120 minutes. Good or bad..

Good news it was until he suddenly says there is an engine trouble that he wants to check up. So taxi back to the terminal, and in another half an hour or so, they fixed it. Passengers were allowed to use their phones, iPods, laptops and anything they want to. Thats when I found that my iMode mail can work in the US!! And now the happy crowd inches back to the long queue of planes to the runway. Good? not yet.

Does not look like any plane is moving.. so the pilot who is concerned about Kyoto protocol decides to switch off the engine. Comes the fourth hour and he says the new decision. Go back to terminal and then the agents will explain to us the next step. Back at the gate again and doors not open yet. They want the captives in the wagon while they take a decision. And announce it. That they have decided to cancel the flight.

Story does not end. Next one hour was queueing up at the counter for rebooking. When two ladies came up and handed over a hotel room for the night stay, a $10 food bill (hmmmm..)and a 1-800 number to call later for rebooking.

Back to my room, picked up the phone and tried the number with great expectations. Your current waiting time is approx. 69 minutes... Man... I decided to give me a good rest instead over another pair of tylenol. And with many tries in the next 24 hours finally I got through on Sunday evening.

How can I help you sir?
Ok, not possible to book you for today sir.
You mean an upgrade? Thats a good suggestion from you, but I cant do that.
The earliest I can give you is Wednesday morning, same flight.
Seat number? No aisle, no window seats. I am putting you in the middle.

So I will be flying out on wednesday and until then I should fight out my fever... insha allah..

"Snowballing"

dashing thru the snow.......

Valentines Day

Tulip
Originally uploaded by We ourselves Irene and Ian.

I never wished anyone for a Valentine day yet. So far. I still do not believe love has become something to be comemmorated once a year. That we need Landmark or Archies to express love. Nor scraps or mails. Love buds blooms and sheds throughout the year. In the hearts of people where there is space left for it.

For everyone who care about love, who value love, who love love, a budding tulip from me.

Happy Valentines day

Sappppppppppporo

oishiiiiiiiiiiiii

No grey roads. No dark rooftops. No green grass. White spread over like a sea on land.

All in little more than an hour. The flight time from Haneda to Shin-Chitose airport. Probably the first ever trip that I planned more than two months before and executed. Though till last day was wondering if my wind-cheaters would do the trick to keep me warm at Sapporo. Thank God I did buy proper jackets, gloves and water-proof shoes on the 11th hour. Or a little earlier than that.

Sapporo as a city does not look any different from an average Japan city. The JR announcements sound similar, ticket gates and displays look familiar. People have similar faces, they cross the road the same way and even the mini skirts and knee high boots keep presence unaware of the mercury around. Even in the sub zero temperature, high school girls still wrap wool only on the upper parts of their body.

Difference, a few too. Like the interesting road numbering. All roads are North-South and East-West. And from the center of the small city, the road numbers North 1, North 2, East1, East 2.. West 1, West 2 etc. So easy to locate. Our hotel was close to N2W2. Just look for Kita2 Nishi2. Good. And because of the one ways, road crossings become green for orthogonal crosses everytime. That means you can cross a road diagonally. At least practically.

Kids had the best time in life. Snow, snow, snow and snow and more snow and still more snow all around. Pickup, make a snow ball and throw. Do that again. Yet again and again. I have been warning them on the ice flakes on the sidewalks which could be dangerous. Until I actually lost grip and fell down myself. Well, it was not as dangerous as it could have been:) Thank God.

Satoland was real fun. The entire farmland covered in snow and a lot of activities for kids. Like huge slides. Like the snow-man workshops. Like the bamboo ski lessons. Rolling over the snow slopes. The snow sculptures at Satoland and Oodori and the ice ones at Susukino did not catch much attention and it looked very normal with so many around. But they really look superb in pictures. They say they bring in around 400 to 700 truck loads of good snow from other locations of Hokkaido for this festival.

And the sashimi and grilled crab - yummmmmmy.

No new Blogs?

asks Anoop.

Blogging improves when workload increases. A way to relieve and relax. Under low load, you have nothing to relax about.

Varicose has been keeping me bothered ever since. But I lost the habit of commuting by bus. These days I am on train. With a book in hand.

Just finished another of Toni Morrison's famous books. Beloved. A heavy reading. The same theme of black America. Story woven through the final days of slavery in power. To the beginning of the slavery-ghosts-in-power era. When the niggers realise they have a heart that actually beats. That they have a day that they could decide what to do with. Beloved. Symbol of the days that were to follow haunted by the hurts, better-hurts and the lowest yets. Of the mindset that still wants to think the hacksaw was less worse than the white man.

Now have an Economist in hand. Talks about the perils of globalisation. About the people who lose livelihoods. The contrast between bosses that get fired honorably vs the workers who lose out miserably. If you thought this is anything similar to what the Marxists say back in Kerala, you are mistaken. Nor this has to do anything with Veerendrakumar's GATTum Kaanaacharadukalum (GATT and the invisible strings). Though Economist has a box on dying cotton farmers of India, and how and why India lead a 3W team on Doha rounds to get American subsidies cut, the focus is more on the jobs US and other developed countries lose to Bangalores and Chinas. Interesting..

Tata went all the way up to 603 pence to proclaim their pride. Corus bosses will be happy for that huge a price. But for the Corus labour this would mean more imminent cuts. And Tata has announced that too. No guarantee on Corus jobs.

And here I sit with nothing much to blog on. Though I keep visiting my Google reader for updates. And gets surprised by Anoop talking money, stocks, investments, mutual funds. I moved a little ahead and registered for ICICI Direct. The application form has come on mail. Not decided to download or not. Depends on what Anoop writes next!

Irene during Onigiri classes

Travel Log

Anoops post about his travel diary did not really initiate me to flip through my passport and log mine too. But last week I got a mail from the tax people asking if I should be considered for permanent resident taxation in Japan. As per rules, if one stays in Japan 5 years out of last 10 years, you will be considered permanent resident for taxation. Well, for PR, you will need to apply separately I guess!

So I flipped through my passport pages and created the log for Japan.

Japan Arr Japan Dep Japan Days
11-Feb-97 8-Mar-97 25 First trip to take up Yamaha project
27-Mar-97 14-Jun-97 79
24-Aug-97 20-Dec-97 118
5-Jan-98 2-Feb-98 28
8-Feb-98 3-Mar-98 23
7-Mar-98 21-Mar-98 14 G'bye Yamaha. I am getting married

8-Jun-02 27-Jul-02 49 The new Japan role. Nihon NeST
24-Aug-02 Moved in with family.
4-Sep-03 376 First Japan vacation.
5-Oct-03 11-Jan-04 98 Jan 04. When I attended TI India interviews
17-Jan-04 13-Mar-04 56 G'bye NeST. Me moving back to Blore
18-May-04 23-May-04 5 TI India does not mean be in India
22-Jul-04 27-Jul-04 5
5-Sep-04 11-Sep-04 6
12-Oct-04 20-Oct-04 8
5-Dec-04 13-Feb-05 70 The extended intl biz trip. 3GSM Cannes in Feb
19-Feb-05 2-Apr-05 42 I will be back soon for a longer stay!
25-Apr-05 29-Apr-05 4
15-May-05 9-Jun-05 25 Setting up school etc.
5-Jul-05 13-Sep-06 435 Second stint with family
21-Sep-06 8-Dec-06 78 Only one short break for a Dallas trip

So I have clocked 241 days less to be a permanent resident of Japan!

Fun days back home

The coconut grove vacation. To realise the beauty of the coconut trees, the kalpavriksham of which no part goes wasted, you need to stay away from these. And then once in a while come back and they will steal your gaze.

Irene and Ian at Madayippara. Pazahyangadippuzha flowing in the background. Down the hill is the angadi. On top of hill, once should have been a small fort. Only some stones are seen. Then there are still the vadukunna shiva kshetram, the madayikkaavu, and the vadukunnippuzha, a pond that holds water round the year. And a school. And a college.

The view from the top of Fazl-e-Omar school is also breath-taking. On one side, is the shy Chemmallikundu puzha flows tucked in the deep green and the naked beauty still fast asleep under a blanket of fog on the other.

iPhone rolls out....

http://glorify.blogspot.com/2007/01/job-well-done-or-magic-jobs.html

Back into reality

It was colours all over. Now I am back into the black and white world. The dotted lines. Solid spaces.

A month of slowdown. yukkiri shimashita.

The soil, the greenery, the warmth.. reminds me where I belong. And a longer stay and returns to ATM counters reminds me about controlling emotions. So I am back. Into the cold says of winter. Into the mechanical life of trains and buses. Of mails and phone calls. Of watches that run fast.

A month passed on so quickly. Saw rain and shine. Experienced laughter and tears. Despair and joy. Fights and set-them-rights. Met far and near. Those who are so near but not met for nearly a decade! People joining and separating. Birth and death. Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi...

Kids enjoyed a lot. Morning till evening of fun. Exploring relationships. Understanding the meaning of cousins.. New games, new rules.

And a month of almost no emails. No gmails. No office calls. No blogs. No scraps. No craps. No ppts. A huge break. First time in life.

Back into the black and white world of realities. Let me restore my formatted brain with the latest backups and updates.....

Break

Taking a break. It has been very long since I took a vacation. Tomorrow, God Willing, I am leaving to India. Madras - Payangadi - Bangalore plans alive on my google calendar.

First time in last years I am to miss new year in Japan. Will be missing the freezing Dec vacation when even ATMs will be locked indoors....

See you all in 2007. A very happy new year