Author: Akhil Nanda

I am Still Trying To Write ...

Revisiting The Japanese Break!

Japan is not just a country but a culture!

The moment had arrived when we were not just thinking about Japan! 

But, had actioned our vacation in 2018! 

The flights were getting booked! The hotel, Train Tickets and Visa process had begun. 

The countdown was inching closer! 

Japan was happening! 

The first stop of our Journey was Singapore! We travelled by Singapore Airlines which gave us the option of exploring Singapore City while we had a layover at Changi Airport. 

The flight landed at Haneda Airport. We Did not choose Narita. As Haneda was closer to the city! 

Tokyo! Huge! One of the largest cities in the world! With millions of people staying in MatchBox homes. 

We passed by the Tokyo Tower! And soon reached our hotel! The Prince Tower Hotel Tokyo! A centrally located hotel for major tourist attractions and landmarks neighbourhood. 

The first night we explored our surroundings the Roppongi a buzzing neighbourhood with nightlife and walked through the Meguro River a prominent river of Tokyo! 

Oh! We witnessed the city landscape from the rooftop bar at the hotel before we called it a night. 

Next, we explored the city’s sightseeing landmarks Meiji Jingu, Imperial Palace and Senso Ji temples and the Tsukiji market the largest fish market in the world.

They also have a tuna auction daily at 5:30 am. Since it’s limited seating you need to be there as early as 3 am to get in.

We explored the Akasaku neighbourhood which is traditional cultural side of Tokyo.

The neighbourhood had a very interesting hostel Bed & Books Tokyo! That was a cute little place filled with books and bunk beds! 

On another day we visited Harjaku & Shinjuku which was filled with restaurants and shopping stores! While going  Banana in Tokyo! I visited a Pokemon Store! Had relived those childhood moments. And little did I know I had entered the Animated  neighbourhood of Tokyo Akihabara

While exploring ourselves and the city we were sometimes naturally lost! When the locals not just helped us but held us through to our final destination. Ginza! Felt like the futuristic side of Japan with Nissan cars armed with robotic gizmos and Ginza is also known as the Haute couture neighbourhood of Tokyo.

Omestando another neighbourhood about the luxuries of Japan with Architectural buildings and interiors you wouldn’t get enough of. 

One of the stores worth visiting is Nicole Bergman’s Floral store in the neighbourhood. 

The other side of Tokyo that we witnessed was the industrial side where all hospitality-related goods were available and to spot that there is a life-size chef Cap that you need to watch out for. And so we crossed over to Shibuya the busiest crossing neighbourhood in Tokyo whose sight can be enjoyed from a Starbucks across from the crossing and Hachi statue a dog that waited for his owner to return at the same spot over the years until the Hachi had passed away. 

Before we left Tokyo we enjoyed the glimpses of Central Tokyo Station while it started to pour and we got ready for the next few journeys across the country. 

The long-awaited Bullet Train shin-shaken to Kyoto had sped away. 

Kyoto felt like a mystical small town in Japan that  preserved the Japan of the past with temples like the Golden Temple that was surrounded by trees. The day trip to Nara Deer Park was unbelievable getting clicked and witnessing so many Deers under one roof.

The evening we enjoyed at another temple that was surrounded by trees. 

Kobe! A destination that’s not on tourist Radar while visiting Japan! 

But, the city had one of the oldest traditional cafe Nishimura that’s popular for its setting and Coffee Jelly a dessert that’s made of coffee and is also known for Wayu Steak! A popular beef-style steak from Japan. 

Osaka! AKA The Food Capital of Japan!!

We got a taste of the Okonomiyaki traditional Japanese pancakes that are cooked live on your tables. 

Amerika- Mura a  neighbourhood in Japan that’s very youthful and inspired by American

Dotobori is the Shinjuku neighbourhood of Osaka that has a landmark icon of a runner. 

Shinabasi an entertainment hub of Osaka that that would remind you of Times Square. 

Tseutanku Tower which is sponsored by Hitachi is a sight that can be enjoyed from a rooftop space & Osaka Castle is the sightseeing to go for. 

Also, Osaka the city that has a Japanese Liquor store based allow only one miniature of Yamazaki to be bought and carried by a tourist. 

Important things:

  • Book your JR Pass at least two weeks before you travel. 
  • To travel within Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka buy metro/Subway tickets from the station or airport.
  • Download the Google Translate app. 

Eat in Japan: 

  • Tokyo Banana 
  • Ramen from Ippudo 
  • Coffee Jelly Nishimura Kobe 
  • Tiger Gyoza in Tokyo for Japanese Raw Food 
  • Okonomiyaki in Osaka 
  • Wagyu Beef in Kobe 
  • Senbei Rice Crackers 
  • Seaweed Potato Chips 
  • Mochi 
  • Matcha Tea 
  • Cheese Tart from Secret Tokyo 
  • Japanese Cheesecake.
  • Shashimi 

Experience : 

  • Tokyo Hands departmental store 
  • Conveyor Belt Sushi 
  • Nerman Bergman Store 
  • Shibuya Crossing from Starbucks 
  • Cheese Garden Store 

Stay:

  • Prince Tower Hotel Tokyo
  • Westin Osaka. 

Sightseeing: 

  • Tokyo Tower & SkyTree 
  • Imperial Palace, Tokyo 
  • Osaka Castle 
  • Arashiyama bamboo grove, Kyoto 
  • Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto 
  • Kobe Port Tower
  • Deer Park, Nara 
  • Hachi Statue 

Cafes: 

  • Starbucks Reserve Tokyo 
  • Here cafe in Kyoto 
  • %Arabica Kyoto 
  • Nishimura Kobe.
  • Hoshino Cafe Tokyo 

Read: 

  • Haruki Murakami -Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki
  • Sayaka Murata – The Convenience Store 
  • Meiko Kawakami – All the lovers in the night 
  • Hiro Kawakami – Strange Weather in Tokyo 
  • Toshikazu Kawaguchi – Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. 
  • Banana Yoshimoto – Kitchen 
  • Natsuo Kirino – Out 
  • Ryu Murakami – In the Miso Soup 
  • Keigo Higashino – Malice, Salivation Saints
  • Yoko Ogawa – The Housekeeper and the Professor

Watch:

  • Hachiko 
  • Drive My Car 
  • The Tokyo Project 
  • Seven Samurai 
  • Spirited Away 

Darjeeling Tea Experience!

Darjeeling Tea Experience!
We were driving around on the spiral narrow roads for a while until we surfaced around a tea plantation estate and paused when we narrowed our eyes, we could notice a few ladies plucking the tea leaves which were now the first flush of the Darjeeling tea.

The First Flush leaves are tea leaves from late February onwards until mid-April is the time when most of the tea leaves are of the freshest quality and the tea leaves must be plucked every four or five days. “Slender leaves, lacquered green, the tea produces a pale-gold liquor that’s grassy with fresh cut field aromas, a floral bouquet with an intense fruitiness in the mouth says Koehler.

Darjeeling tea leaves are available through out the year, but the quality differs through the year. Tea in general is categorised into six variants black, oolong, green, yellow, white and pu-erh. 

The six type of tea comes from the same plant itself, it’s the processing that makes the difference. Very similar to coffee beans. They are all the same beans the altitude and processing makes them fruity, light or dark roast.

India is a country that generally, produces a lot of black tea which is withered and fermented. Whereas Green tea is produced through a process of steaming the leaves and a lot of is produced in Assam compared to Darjeeling tea.

oolong Tea is semi-fermented and though a lot of tea drinkers aren’t aware.

It provides the benefits of both Green & black tea and has higher antioxidants than green tea.

Pu-erh is another type of tea that’s a variety of dark, fermented and aged black tea.

As we settled into the tea estate and discussed the tea planation process the Pluckers also told us about the other tea flushes of the seasons.

The Second Flush 

Mid-April onwards until the Mid May the weather places an important role as sudden showers change the tea leaves and the heat makes the leaves drier and changes the colours to deeper amber and mahogany hues. The second flush tea is as high in price as the first flush for this reason.

The Monsoon Flush : 

July through September is the worst period for the tea plantation estate. As the plants are damaged with rainfalls. The flavours are lost and the a quality of tea is rarely sold in the market as Darjeeling tea.

The Autumn Flush: 

The period from October to November is the final flush of the season and although the

It has that body, amber colour, very defined favours, from malts to chocolates to fruity notes,

“It doesn’t offer the same quality of the first flush or the second flush.

  Koehler quotes Sanjay Sharma of Glenburn estate.

And the price the buyers pay for this makes them feel cheated.“

Did You Know?

Darjeeling is India’s only geographically indicated (GI) product, protected by a WTO patent And yet it’s not marketed as an activity for tourist or tourism.

it takes 22,000 selectively handpicked shoots to produce a single kilo of Darjeeling tea.

Tea was first mentioned as a beverage some 2,500 years ago in China and became a prized ceremonial drink at the royal court. Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism, called it ‘the elixir of life’.

There are only 87 tea gardens that produce Darjeeling Tea.

Makaibari is the estate known for the finest quality of Darjeeling tea.

They recently auctioned 1 kg white tea for about one lakh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted Darjeeling Tea to Queen Elizabeth II when she invited him to lunch in Buckingham Palace. The queen prefers Darjeeling and Earl Grey tea.

Darjeeling black tea is rich, fragrant and sophisticated, and serving it is a palace tradition.

Darjeeling tea is one of the only few Indian luxury brands that are at the afternoon tea salons in London’s The Dorchester, Claridges, Langhams, The Ritz or the Orangery at Kensington Palace.

Sources: 

The Darjeeling tea book by Jeff Koehler.

Morocco 2023!

If you can travel to someplace once it’s a privilege and if you travel to the same place again, you should be lucky!

Five Years ago, when I visited Marrakesh for the 1st time, I wasn’t sure! How the place would be. But, today! It was different!

I could notice what had changed in the last few years. Some of the restaurants we dined at were no more, rather a fine dining restaurant and hotel had now opened at the same spot!

The hotel that was our wedding venue for the event, had now renovated its bar and the Classic vintage feel was replaced by the modern bar design that in some way lost the vibe of the place. The other rooftop space too had another modern bar that was set up in what looked like the banquet space the last time I visited.

The City otherwise hadn’t really changed much! It was the neighbourhood that had a few changes.

Morocco: 

A country in northern Africa, that’s very close to Spain. A country that you wouldn’t think about travelling to!

But, having explored most of Europe, America, India and Asia. Africa was something we had not explored.

A nearly seventeen hour journey to reach our destination. 

Marrakech: 

Driving through the mountains in shades of green to browns, and visiting the sight of black and white mosaic tiles to colourful pillars of the medrasa and detailed work on the walls and in the roofs. This was a city that’s seemed like the most popular tourist city with luxurious hotels. 

The most beautiful sights were the hotel’s La Mamounia & Royal Mansour the gardens with orange and olive trees and cactus and coconut trees on the sides.

Bacha Coffee shop. Right in the Bacha palace is a sight on it’s own, with over 200 varieties of coffee from around the world! This is a coffee heaven for all the coffee lovers with aesthetics you wouldn’t get enough of.

And if driving through the mountains is something you enjoy. You should drive the atlas mountains. An hour and a half journey from the city.

Tangier

A small town two hours away from Casablanca is worth a visit to catch the beauty of the two seas meeting each other Meditteran and Atlantic sea from the Kasbah view point where you would notice the two shades of blue. To be closer to the sea you can visit Cafe Hafa to enjoy the view with a glass of tangerine juice.

Visit salon Bleu for a Moroccan meal overlooking the Mediterranean sea. 

Casablanca

The film “Casablanca” made not just the city popular but the cafe Ricks too!

Which was recreated after the success of the Hollywood film in Casablanca and opened in 2004 by an American.

The film too was entirely shot in a Hollywood studio and released in 1940.

A film that was based on a play “Everybody goes to Ricks. “

The Hasan II Mosque is one of the largest and most beautiful mosque in the world.

The Granduer is visible from a distance, but only when you are at the mosques you can enjoy the detailing done in the early 1800s 

Fes 

An old city charm!

An old city with one of the oldest running library in the world  al-Qarawiyyinin thats part of a university Since 859 AD.

A city, that lies right in the centre of the Medina. With lanes reminding of the Grand bazaar of Turkey.

The luggage here is carried in a lorry between the hotels. 

Our hotel Riad Fes was right within the Medina, a palace setting overlooking the whole city of Fes.

Here the trains tracks require crossing over the bridge to go to the other sides of the tracks.

It’s here in Fes, you can visit the tannery’s and witness how the leather is soaked and dried that create your handbags, Wallets, Shoes and a lot more! 

Each of the cities that we visited in Morocco was different from one another.

While Marrakesh had the views of the atlas mountains, Fes had the old town charm. Tangier felt like Europe and Casablanca had the view and vibes of a modern city like LA.

Information:

Marrakech to Casablanca (2Hrs 30 Min by train and 3 Hrs by Road)
Casablanca to Fes ( 4 Hrs by train. It’s better to stay overnight at fes)
Casablanca to Tanger ( 2 Hrs by train. You can do a day trip)
Fly to Casablanca with @emirates @etihad and then drive to #marrakech

Visa: E- Visa within two days for the US Visa holders.

Marrakech:
Cafés: @bachacoffee #grandcafedelaposte
Stay: @essaadimarrakech
Visit: @royalmansour @lamamouniamarrakech @groupeladresse for medinaview #madrasayoussef

Casablanca
Stay: @fscasablanca
Eat: @rickscafe_Casablanca @lasqala
Cafe : @theespressolab @arabica.journal @arabicamorocco @lesquatrecerises
Visit: #hasaniimosque @rickscafe_casablanca

Tanger:
Eat: @salonbleu.tanger #moroccanfood
View: @cafehafa
Visit : #Kasabhsquare #tangerport

Fes:
Stay @riadfes
Eat @cinemacafefez
Visit #chouaratannery

Darjeeling & Gangtok 2023

We have been planning this for last two years! Ever since, we were frequently visiting Kolkata for my sister’s work!

But, the more we were trying to club our darjeeling trip with the kolkata trip!

It wasn’t making sense!

And then we searched and found a direct flight to Bagdora airport! Which was the closest to darjeeling city. But few hour’s drive from the airport!

Well! If we needed to travel to darjeeling.It had to happen soon!!

So we planned this three days trip earlier!!And realised gangtok is another few hours away, so why don’t we do that too!

And so we braved both!

Through the mountains round and round!

We travelled on roads so narrow! It seemed it was made for one way, but they were cars coming from both ways!

The drive itself was so exhausting! We couldn’t think of another road journey for our destinations!

The hotels were our most beautiful parts of the journey apart from the road journey we drove around.

The closest hotel from Darjeeling is Taj Chia Kutir!! Where we stayed For a night.Before we took off for our flight.

There have been quite a few cafes! We visited for coffee and bakes!

But, surprisingly the bakes had no taste! It was disappointing! We only had coffee most of the time there!

The Cafe Fiction, Rachna Books! Was the highlight of our gangtok experience!

They had amazing coffee! And the book collection they had was very impressive! They had a frame of all the Murakami book covers too! The asian and indian regional books they had were unbelievable! I had most of them on my Amazon cart and here they all are under one roof!

Meeting Hilton the pet at the gangtok Elgin! Was our entertainment for our stay with Sikimmese and Tibetan food we tried during our stay.

The drive-through tea estate and staying around one was another experience we experienced.

The darjeeling city mall road was a nice stroll! Bakes at Glenary we’re not that good! But the vibe and the setting of the cafe were an experience you need to experience.

Darjeeling & Gangtok 2023… 

Closest Airport : 

#bagdograairport 

#pakyongairport is another option. Major Flights start soon from this airport. 

Stay : 

@elgingangtok @elgindarjeeling @tajchiakutir 

Tea Experience: 

@mayukh.tea 

Coffee: 

Himalayan Cafe #Darjeeling 

@thelocalcafe.in #Gangtok 

@cafe.fiction #Gangtok #darjeelingaltura 

Eat: 

@dekevas_darjeeling_siliguri 

Momos & Ramen 

@glenarys @glenarysdarjeeling 

@tashidelek #gangtok 

Fried Momos, Pork Belly and Thukpa 

 Bookstore: 

@nerdvana_books_and_coffee #Darjeeling 

#Bibliothéque Cafe #gangtok 

@rachnabooks #Gangtok 

The Relationship’s Today!

I worked on a Wedding show for television.
And learnt something that would make me teach how things worked in the years to come. “Storytelling” and “stories” are the two things that connect us the most. A good story, Told beautifully or interestingly would hook us on immediately. That was the foundation of marriage: Make someone believe they are in love with you over and over again until the “Drama” and “Nonsense” won’t be tolerated or “You are exposed” and can’t hide the truth behind the “affair” or sudden suspicion that you are dealing with. Going over hundreds of stories and looking for the right one was “Essential” The one that should be telecasted and would bring the eyeballs to keep the audience interested. “The Love” “The second marriage” The divorce, The triangle and the backgrounds were all some of the criteria. While this you would believe is just a real story. The Reel Story is made to be believed and looked more real in many ways.


When I look around people who have either been married for too long or haven’t got married at all. All I see is that they are trying to make it work, have made a deal to make it work or are too afraid to leave the marriage to start all over again. Many reasons ( Family Pressure, Society Pressure, Confidence, Pain of going through loneliness and afraid they might fall into the trap with somebody else)(At this moment a known devil is better than the unknown. )
Marriage/Relationship: Shouldn’t be something we fall under “Peer or Family” Pressure. The post-marriage, if it doesn’t work out can be hard to deal with psychologically
Coming back to the question, how do we choose the one?


Well, Today there are many factors to consider when getting into a relationship besides of course Compatibility and how can this transition become more successful rather than getting declined.
Environmental factors, Geographical factors, and others are very critical of the political factors (If we follow the ideology of the same political party) if we are tolerant with humour, Sarcasm and Freedom.
Considering so many filters that one has to consider when looking for a relationship/marriage to last or vice versa for a relationship first to last until marriage and marriage to last until one becomes intolerant of each other.
It has only made it more difficult to find the right one rather than believing too many filters would help us in giving more clarity to the choices.


And now imagine the worst of the lot: You suddenly notice people moving from smaller towns to bigger cities and this brings its own set of challenges and problems. While trust issues aren’t the real issues. It’s the how will one settle when one goes back home or how will they take the changes of all the bigger city? Wouldn’t one definition, meaning and expectation of love, relationships and marriage change from this exposure?
Will Love, relationships and words that are associated with bonding, friendship and companionship just remain words in the dictionary like a glossary used for historical references?