Hokkaido Delights

Japan , as an Indian matriculate was supposed to know in my school days, is a group of four major and several other islands including very special Okinawa islands. Four major ones are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku. This event was organised to showcase the cuisine of Hokkaido --the northern most and extremely cold region of Japan. Since i am a vegetarian and the very special potato of Hokkaido were selling at whopping Rs./-145 per Kg. in terms of Indian Currency, i simply focused on drinks . Tried lots of beer and wine and one set of aloo tikki kind of item plus one corn stick-- Bhutta to be precise. Of all this Bhutta was outright winner ...ummm very delicious, like the one we never get to taste in India . Couldn't take the picture but it was damn good , the rest was also good but am neither Vinod Dua nor Vir Sangvi so can't give the serious graphic details , but you will enjoy the pics. i hope !

A Dispatch from China Town-1

There are many settlements by the name of China Town in many countries , but the one i visited today is in Yokohama City of Japan. A major tourist attraction with recurring theme of Giant Pandas, Dragons, Bruce Lee, Fortune Telling, Herbs, Spices , Eateries , Cheap stuff in Golden and Red hues ! A novel experience. ..altogether , but for a lover of open blue skies slightly tiring and boring as well. What do u say ?

A date with the warriors -2

Even though it was a demonstration and not an actual combat, the hall was packed to capacity and there was cheer and applause on each fall and counter attack.There were many foreigners like me among the spectators and the atmosphere was that of any big sporting event. Aikido is a relatively modern Japanese martial art practised in several countries .Hollywood star Steven Seagal is said to be an expert and has employed the techniques in combat scenes in his films like Under the Siege and Above the Law. Derived from traditional Ju-Jitsu its emphasis is on using the attacker's force against him using very little force of defender . Applying this basic principle even kids can make a grown up attacker run for his life . Unlike Karate, the use of kicks and punches is very minimal or restricted to an extent. Practitioners do not make any sounds like war-cries and they simply twist and turn the arm of the attacker using his energy against him. So enjoy the video and pics as i did the live performance and please answer a simple question . If you are the lucky first u can have a Japanese hand -held fan as a gift from me. The question is-- Name the Indian gentleman who introduced Ju-Jitsu or say Judo in India ? The clue is-- He had a long white beard !