I needed to go to the local bank in the morning with my Mum to get some paperwork updated. Ben came along and we spent about an hour at the branch. I even tasked Ben with queuing up for a teller to submit a cheque – which was a bit interesting with the language barrier. On the walk back we listed the top 5 things … Continue reading Food, Friends and … Shopping
With Bron and Ben still recovering from their long trip yesterday, we decided to go for a walk after breakfast to help them acclimatise. I took everyone past the house I used to live in (HA Block) when we first moved to Kolkata in the early 90s. The house doesn’t look maintained at all with overgrowth all around. It used to have an impressive atrium … Continue reading Sweets, Treats and Hitting the Streets
The weather had cleared up and the sun was out so we decided to visit the Old Alipore Jail which has been turned into a museum. We left mid morning and the drive took us through the city and the level of pollution and haze was quite stifling. After a couple of days of respite, presumably due to the rains, the smog gave the city … Continue reading Jailbirds
The rain had subsided today and the temperature had dropped quite a lot making it a very pleasant day. We pottered around the house for most of the morning playing board games and reading books. I accompanied my dad to the local hospital to get his Echocardiogram done which went quite smoothly. In the afternoon Matthew and I went to get a haircut and partake … Continue reading A Hairy Experience
After a few days of really hot and humid weather, the heavens opened today and the temperature dropped by almost 10 degrees. So much so that we all wore full sleeve shirts all day. The morning was spent playing in the house where Thomas built the space ship that he bought yesterday while Matthew caught up on his reading. Emily went with Dida to get … Continue reading Bowling, Travelling and Raining
After a long day out and about yesterday, we decided to have a quiet one at home today. Emily and Thomas went with Dida first thing in the morning to get freshly made kachoris for breakfast. They were really looking forward to the Auto Rickshaw ride and were also able to convince Dida to get them some more ice cream for dessert. The vegetable curry … Continue reading Special Meals and Treats
The first thing Thomas said when he bounded out of bed this morning was “When are we going to Science City?” – so to say that he was excited would be an understatement. I came across the review I wrote for Science City when we last visited 12 years ago and it wasn’t pleasant reading and all I could hope for was that it had … Continue reading Science City
It seems to be taking longer for everyone to get over their jet lag this time around and the little ones are still waking up before 5 in the morning and pottering around the house. Hopefully in another day they will be sleeping in better. The weather is still incredibly hot with the maximum predicted to be 31 degrees today – which is hard to … Continue reading Teas, Meals and Rickshaws
We had a much better nights sleep but were all still up by 5 in the morning. We have gotten into the habit of having WeetBix first thing in the morning followed by writing our daily journal. Emily has been creating a pictorial comic book of her travels while Thomas has been keeping a diary with stickers and notes. Even Matthew has been diligently writing … Continue reading Lazing Around
Even with only about 4 hours sleep the kids were all up and ready for the day. The excitement of being in India and spending the day with Dadu and Dida had them bouncing off the walls. They also got to accompany them to the shops while I unpacked and was able to convince them to buy them some treats along the way. Most of … Continue reading A Birthday Celebration
It was an early start at the hotel in Sydney where we were down at the breakfast buffet by 6 in the morning. Everyone seems to have slept quite well and were super-excited for the day ahead. The hotel has the most impressive Nespresso machine with multiple levers and milk frothers. Emily and Thomas had a successful interaction with the pancake maker (for once) and … Continue reading A Day of Travelling
Matthew, Emily, Thomas and I took the bus this afternoon to head to Sydney. It was a mid afternoon trip and was reasonably uneventful. The kids read, watched and entertained themselves. Bron had packed some treats for the drive which was consumed non-stop. On arrival in Sydney it was Matthews job to direct us from the airport to the hotel. I had had a previous … Continue reading Day 1 – Off to Sydney
For our final night we stayed at probably the “kitschist” and pinkest hotel in Japan. It is a popular wedding destination and had pink lights and decorations all around. They even had a princess theme with Cinderella’s chariot and glass slipper on display. The breakfast restaurant had a sea of bright flowers with a white piano set in the middle. For a final day, I … Continue reading Day 7 – Final tour
It’s our last full day in Japan – and the week seems to have flown. We had another 8 am start and we checked out of our hotel in Kyoto and headed to Nara. Nara is the sister city to Canberra, however it appears it’s not that big of a deal here. Nara is best known for its deer population and we walked through the … Continue reading Day 6 – Deers, Castles and Shopping
Our luck with the weather finally ran out today. As we awoke and looked out the winter the heavens had opened and it was pouring down. For most of the morning (till about midday) there was a steady stream of rain – enough that we needed umbrellas – which made trekking around the different locations difficult. Our first stop was at the Kiyomizu Temple which … Continue reading Day 5 – Day in Kyoto
For the first time this week the weather was cloudy and it looked like rain. We left our hotel at 8 and spent a couple of hours driving to Koka Ninja Village. It was a mini “theme park” that was located in a town that used to be inhabited by Ninjas. They had a house that used to be resided in by ninja, equipped with … Continue reading Day 4 – Ninjas, Towers and Rain
We had an early start today and needed to be down at breakfast by 6.30. Unfortunately it was too early for even our preferred coffee shop to be open. So I enlisted the help of Google Translate to try and order a proper coffee to our liking at the hotel. Fortunately it worked. We spent a couple of hours on the bus heading out to … Continue reading Day 3 – Mt Fuji and a very Japanese Experience
We got picked up from the hotel at 9 by our tour guide. Our first stop was the Imperial Palace, which is the official residence of the Emperor of Japan. The previous emperor was the first ruler in the history of Japan to abdicate his throne, which is now occupied by his son. The palace, in itself, is not visible from the road or any … Continue reading Day 2 – Tour Around Tokyo
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