Tiki-Tiki Shinjuku

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A Hawaiian-themed restaurant in Shinjuku 3chome, complete with fake crocodile, a magician who comes to your table to perform card tricks (on certain days) and dancing hula girls (who sometimes wear coconut bras, but unfortunately not on the day I was there). It’s probably a bit more expensive than your regular restaurant (guess who didn’t pay the bill), but most people come here to celebrate something. As it was, all the tables on that day were for birthday and farewell celebrations. I don’t quite remember the food, but the dancing girls, now that’s something you don’t see everyday. I love Tokyo.

Dabbawallas

Managed to catch sight of the dabbawallas while I was in Mumbai.

The famous dabbawallas are known for their efficiency in delivering lunch boxes to millions of people without any mistakes despite using only low-tech methods. And they have ISO 9001 certification to prove it. Apparently, since their timing is so precise, even Prince Charles had to adjust to their schedule when he wanted to meet them. Although, I guess, a break for gossip is allowed, as seen in the picture below.

Read more from wikipedia

India

17/11/2011

The Taj Mahal. The most beautiful monument in the world. A building so exquisitely built, so symmetrical, that a 2-year old with a camera can take a photo with his toe and it will still come out looking like a picture postcard. There I was, looking at this most magnificent of buildings and the only thought in my mind was that now that I’ve seen it, I can get the hell out of this fucking country and never go back again in this lifetime or the next two. Even if I got reincarnated as a cow.

Yeah, I hated India.

Guide eats tourist

Being a tour guide myself, I thought that it’s fair to let you know in advance the things that we do in our spare time.

Sourced from Daily Chilli

Tourist guide Henri Haiti is believed to be a cannibal. Pic from www.thesun.co.uk

This first picture of suspected cannibal Henri Haiti has emerged — as teeth found on a fire were confirmed to be those of a missing tourist.

Guide Haiti is on the run after German round-the-world sailor Stefan Ramin, 40, vanished on the remote Pacific island of Nuku Hiva.

French special forces were preparing to join the hunt last night.

Investigators discovered body parts scattered in a 35ft circle around ashes from a cooking fire.

Dental records from Germany were sent to nearby Papeete, where the teeth were found to match. Other charred bones and clothes have also gone for DNA tests, due to be completed in a week.

Island prosecutor Jose Thurel said: “It is almost certain the remains we found in the fire are those of Stefan Ramin.”

Germany’s biggest newspaper Bild reported: “It is the suspicion of authorities the hunter carved its victim up, ate parts of the body and burned the remainder.” Stefan, from Haselau, was on a five-year voyage with girlfriend Heike Dorsch, 37.

They anchored their catamaran Baju off the island last month.

Ex-business adviser Stefan went on a traditional goat hunt with Haiti, 31 — and never returned.

Police said Haiti then tried to lure Heike into the jungle, claiming Stefan was injured. She was suspicious and refused, so he tied her to a tree and assaulted her.

Hours later she managed to free herself and raise the alarm.

Stefan’s family were preparing to travel to the island yesterday.

His mum, who was not named, said: “We are hoping for the best. I hope the scientific analysis will be competent and up to European standards. We have no idea what really happened.”
Island mayor Benoit Kautai said: “We are all in a state of shock. We all know Henri Haiti and cannot believe things that are said.”

Cannibalism was thought to have died out on the island decades ago.

One of Haiti’s relatives reportedly said: “We want to know why he did this. Was this the act of a crazy man?” – www.thesun.co.uk

When profit doesn’t matter

I think I might have just discovered the cheapest coffee in Malaysia. It’s a typical kopitiam in a small town near to where I live. My friend and I stopped there today on our way back from an inspection of a new tourist attraction. He had been there a few years back and he said that the coffee comes in a very cool glass bottle.

It’s one of those bottles that they used to sell sarsi and orange in, like F&N. The company is since long gone, but the owner of the kopitiam was smart enough to keep the bottles and re-use it to store his “kopi O”.

The price of this bottle of coffee? 30 cents (as in RM0.30)

That’s right. 30 cents. Even a glass of Chinese tea now costs more than this. It’s just unbelievable. The price has remained the same as it was 30 years ago and has never been raised. When interviewed, the owner said that the people who live here are not that well-off, so he has not raised the price. A look at the menu on the wall shows that the rest of the drinks are much cheaper than in a normal kopitiam as well. Hot drinks cost about 80 cents, and even the soft drinks from his dispensing machine only costs 50 cents for a small cup and RM1 for a big cup.

I asked him if anyone has ever done any write-ups on this place, and he said no. Would he want to? He smiled, and shook his head.

In a world where profit often counts more than anything else, here is a simple man who dreams not of making it rich, but in living a simple life in a simple town. We all could learn a thing or two here. My guess is he probably doesn’t want people making a beeline to his shop and stressing him out, so I’ll leave out the name of this lovely place. In the words of my friend, he’s a saint.

because everyone eats shit at some point in their life

The seat’s a toilet, the table’s a sink and the food looks like shit (literally).

Welcome to the Modern Toilet Restaurant!

A toilet-themed restaurant that started in Taiwan in 2004, it was originally known as the Marton Restaurant (Marton is Chinese for the traditional toilet bowl) and only served chocolate ice cream that looked like turd. (Something like McDonald’s ice cream). The name has since been changed to Modern Toilet and the menu has expanded beyond ice cream to food that looks nothing like your average shit. (Curry, anyone? Or maybe black sausage?) The smell of success (pun intended) must have been encouraging because this successful chain now has more than 10 stores all over Taiwan and even in Hong Kong.

I stumbled onto this branch near the Shilin night market in Taipei about three years ago. The ice cream was so-so, but I don’t think the customers are here for the food.

http://www.moderntoilet.com.tw/en/about.asp

This Christmas, I found human skulls

People usually spend Christmas Eve with their loved ones in a nice restaurant. Me, I climb mountains and discover human skulls. How’s that for romantic? Not that I’m complaining. Kind of makes my life seem exciting. Maybe discover is not the right word to use. After all, I didn’t dig it up. Anyway…

A few weeks ago around Christmas, I accepted an assignment to accompany a Japanese writer and a photographer to Kundasang, a famous hill resort located in the shadows of Mount Kinabalu in Borneo. They were here to do research and take photos for an article for a Japanese magazine. An entire issue will be dedicated to the World Heritage sites in Malaysia, and Kinabalu Park, being Malaysia’s first UNESCO World Heritage, of course had to be there. The writer was Ms Akiko, a freelance travel writer who has written a lot about Malaysia. I had already met her before about a month back, when we went to the Turtle Islands together, and it was good to see her again. The photographer was Mr Yokotsuka, a famous nature photographer in Japan, and he too has been to Borneo many times, including to some places that I have never been before like Imbak Valley and Maliau Basin. It was an honor to work with them. My job was to facilitate their every need and to liaise with the local people. In other words, I carry their bags.

22^nd December 2008 22:20

Met up with Ms Akiko and Mr Yokotsuka at the airport and discovered what it was exactly that I was supposed to do. They wanted to do a story with a different perspective. Instead of the usual Mount Kinabalu travel story, they wanted to go into the villages at the foothill of the mountain and interview the local people to find out what they think about Mount Kinabalu having attained World Heritage status and how it has affected their life. Instead of the usual views of Mount Kinabalu that can be found on post cards and which every Tom, Dick and Jason with a camera has taken, they wanted a unique photo of the mountain. One that has never been captured before, or at least never been published before. And we had 3 days to do so. Sounds like fun.

23^rd December 2008 6:30am

We left early this morning as views of the mountain are best in the morning. But the conditions weren’t very good today. The mountain was already covered by the clouds even at this early hour. Stopped for a photo at the bridge across Mengkabong River, one of the most scenic spots in Sabah. Then, we had breakfast before proceeding to Tuaran town for photos at the open-air tamu (market). Akiko had her first taste of the betel nut that is still common among the elderly people here. One and a half hours later, we were at the Kinabalu Park Headquarters. It was too late for photography today, so we changed plans and decided to do the interview first.

Mengkabong River

It was probably best not to just barge into a village and grab the first person we meet. Friendly as the local Dusun people are, they are very shy and might not open up to strangers. We went to the Kinabalu Park Headquarters hoping to find a mountain guide or porter to take us into the village instead. Like the sherpas of Nepal, a mountain guide accompanies people who want to climb up the 4,095m high mountain. A 2-day climb that would leave me with a limp for a week after, it is literally a walk in the park for the mountain guides and porters. I have seen 12-year olds carrying luggage for fit men twice their size and age. Living on the slopes of the mountain has given the Dusun people incredible stamina and power.

It was a bit late by the time we reached the Park, but luckily for us, there was still one mountain guide who has not gone up the mountain yet. Her name was Doina, one of the very few women in this tough job. A 44-year old mother of 4 children aged between 18 and 25, Doina is also one of the best in the business. She has taken part in the Mount Kinabalu Climbathon (a tough 21-km race to the peak of the mountain and back) 7 times! Even better, she lived near Bundu Tuhan, one of the villages closest to the Park Headquarters. She was willing to take us to her house and village. And she offered a bonus as well. She asked us if we wanted to see human skulls. She said that in a matter-of-fact way. The way a woman would ask you if you want to see photos of her grandchildren.

And so we went to Bundu Tuhan. The name of this place evokes fear itself. In Malay, Tuhan translates as God. But that is not the real meaning. The Dusun people have their own language, and Bundu is the name of a kind of tree with fruits, while Tuhan means landslide. The turning to the village is on the right side of the road just before reaching the Kinabalu Park Headquarters. It is a road with lots of uphill and downhill slopes, and the entire valley is just the sort of place that you would imagine a mountain village to be like. The houses are scattered across the valley, with each cluster of houses having their own name. Bundu Tuhan is the biggest village here and is usually used to refer to the entire valley. Doina lived in a place called Gondohon.

Finally, we reached the place where the skulls were located. There were six skulls all together and they were put in a post-box like wooden container in a clearing by the side of the road. In case you didn’t know, the people of Borneo were famous for being headhunters a few centuries ago. You take my head, I take yours. You want to marry me, give me a skull as proof of your bravery. That sort of thing. But according to Doina, the skulls here were not that ancient. She said that they were about 80 years old and that the skulls belonged to the Japanese who had their heads chopped off because they did bad things to the local people. Considering that I was bringing Japanese guests, it was not exactly the sort of thing that you want to tell them. But I have always treated history as history and gave the facts straight. It was not like Doina sprang this on me. She had already told me this from the beginning.

After taking photos of the skulls, we proceeded to Doina’s house where Akiko asked Doina questions about the myths and legends of the mountain. We then went to her neighbour’s house for an interview with an older person to get more stories. Unfortunately, I have forgotten the neighbour’s name. The neighbour was a former mountain guide as well. He didn’t know his exact age because they didn’t have birth certificates when he was born. He could not speak Malay, and Doina had to translate for him. It was strange to meet someone from my own country who can’t speak my language. But these people were born in a time before Malaysia existed.

Doina introduced her daughters to Akiko

Doina's neighbour

I had a headache that night and went to sleep early. I had never experienced such pain before. I was still recovering from a cold, and that could be the cause of the headache. Or it could be the curse of the skulls…