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รถไฟด่วน Sunrise Izumo

รถไฟด่วน Sunrise Izumo

ภรรยาญี่ปุ่นของผมได้วางแผนการเดินทางครั้งนี้เป็นเวลานานพอสมควรเราต้องการนำลูกชาย 2 คน ไป กับเพื่อนไทยคนหนึ่ง เพื่อสัมผัสกับประสบการณ์ในการขี่รถไฟนอน เที่ยวที่ประเทศญี่ปุ่น รถไฟนอน เที่ยวจะเริ่มลดลงอย่างต่อเนื่องตั้งแต่ปีพ. ศ. 2552 นอกจากนี้เรายังพาเพื่อนชาวไทยคนหนึ่งของเรา ชื่อของเธอคือคุณนุช คุณนุชเดินทางมาด้วยและเธอจำเป็นต้องมาร่วมกับเราในทัวร์นี้ ดังนั้นเราจึงมีทีมทัวร์ของเรามีทั้งหมดคือผู้ใหญ่ 3 คนและเด็ก 2 คนสำหรับการผจญภัยที่ใช้รถไฟไปทางตะวันตกของเกาะ Honshu มันเริ่มต้นกับภรรยาของผมที่มีความคิดถึงการเดินทางรถไฟนอนในประเทศญี่ปุ่นเป็นวิธีที่การท่องเที่ยวสนุกสำหรับนักท่องเที่ยวที่ต้องการประหยัดเงิน เธอพลาดเวลาในยุค 90 เมื่อตอนที่เธอยังเรียนอยู่ในแคลิฟอร์เนียนั่นคือยุคทองของการเดินทางโดยรถไฟด่วนในประเทศญี่ปุ่น ช่วงเวลานั้นการเดินทางทางอากาศของญี่ปุ่นยังค่อนข้างแพง สายการบินต้นทุนต่ำยังไม่ได้เริ่มสงครามการกับผู้ให้บริการสายการบินแห่งชาติ คนส่วนใหญ่สามารถจองตั๋วและได้รับในสถานีรถไฟใต้ดินในท้องถิ่นไปยังสถานีรถไฟใจกลางเมืองและเปลี่ยนรถอย่างรวดเร็ว รถไฟด่วนที่สามารถวีงได้ถึง 900 กม. ในเวลาเพียง 12 ชั่วโมง นี่คือการเดินทางที่สะดวกสบายมากกว่ารถยนต์หรือรถบัสและเพื่อเปรียบเทียบกับตัวเลือกทางอากาศ; จะชนะในแง่ของการที่จะต่องไปที่สนามบินที่หางจาก

วิธีการรับตั๋วรถไฟของเรา

ดังนั้นเมื่อไหร่ที่เราตัดสินใจจะไปผมจึงได้รับตั๋วเครื่องบินที่ดีที่สุดจาก Airasia จากสนามบินดอนเมือง (DMK) ไปยัง NRT (สนามบินนานาชาตินาริตะ) ภรรยาของฉัน (Sacha) และลูกชายคนโตของฉัน (ชินโต) อยู่ในโยโกฮาม่าแล้วชินโตไปโรงเรียนฤดูร้อนที่นั่น (Taito) นั่นเป็นส่วนที่ง่ายดังนั้นฉันจึงคิดว่าอุปสรรคแรกคือการได้ตั๋วที่เข้าใจยากสำหรับรถไฟ Sunrise Izumo จากการวิจัยภรรยาของฉันเกี่ยวกับเรื่องนี้เมื่อคืนนี้รถไฟด่วนที่จะออกจากโตเกียว ปรากฎว่าขบวนรถคืนนี้ได้รับความนิยมอย่างมากจากนักท่องเที่ยวชาวญี่ปุ่นในประเทศซึ่งเราไม่สามารถรับตั๋วผ่านทางเว็บไซต์ของ JR (Japan Rail) West ได้อีกต่อไป วิธีเดียวที่จะได้รับตั๋วในขณะนี้คือการเข้าไปในสถานี JR บางคนและจ่ายเงินสำหรับตั๋วในคนที่มีเงินสดในกรณีนี้คนที่จ่ายเงินจะไม่มาพร้อมสำหรับการนั่งเช่นกันเนื่องจากคุณต้องแสดง บัตรเครดิตที่จะได้รับ

การเดินทางของเราเริ่มต้น ...

เที่ยวบินออกจากกรุงเทพฯไปยังสนามบินนาริตะได้อย่างราบรื่น แต่เมื่อรถบัสลีมูซีนของสนามบินไปถึงพ่อตาซึ่งใช้เวลามากกว่า 2 ชั่วโมงจากสนามบินนาริตะ ได้หลับไปแล้วไม่กี่ครั้งและเมื่อฉันออกจากรถและพบกับภรรยาของฉันชินโตและพ่อตาตามที่สถานีรถประจำทางท้องถิ่นในพื้นที่ Aobabai ใกล้คอนโดมีเนียมของพ่อตาฉันเพิ่งรู้ว่าฉัน ลืมกระเป๋า messenger ของฉันบนรถบัสที่สนามบิน วันรุ่งขึ้นพ่อตาจบลงด้วยการเดินทางหลายครั้งเพื่อไปที่ออฟฟิศของพวกเขาเพื่อหาฉัน ซึ่งทำให้ฉันรู้สึกไม่ดีที่ต้องเดือดร้อนเขาด้วยการเดินทางที่ยาวนานเช่นนี้ในการหยิบกระเป๋าของฉันถึงแม้ว่าฉันไม่ได้มีอะไรที่สำคัญในกระเป๋า แต่สิ่งที่เกิดขึ้นทำให้ฉันตระหนักว่าญี่ปุ่นมีความปลอดภัยมากแค่ไหน แม้ว่าฉันจะใส่เงินหรือสิ่งของมีค่าไว้ในกระเป๋าแล้วก็ไม่มีใครเอามาใช้ ที่ไม่สามารถกล่าวได้กับหลายสถานที่ในโลกเช่นนี้

つづく..

                         

Sunrise Izumo, Matsue, Okayama, Kobe

Sunrise Izumo Express Night Train

My wife and I has been planning this trip to Japan for a year now.  We wanted to bring our 2 sons along on this journey for the experience of riding the night express train in Japan.  This Sunrise Izumo Express Night Train and it’s sister train the Sunrise Seto which run on the same rail for half of it’s journey is the only night express that remind in service for the Japan commuting public.  All the other night have been only preserved for the tourists trade now.  The Sunrise Izumo and the other long distance night train in Japan has been on a steady decline since 2009.   Mostly due to the lack of time of the busy Japanese business and the switch to the Shinkansen or The Bullet Train.  I was thinking that the discount airline would have something to do with this decline in business as well, but according to my wife, the discount airline didn’t get into Japan way after the rest of the world had already tasted it’s effect.  She also mentioned that the Japan Railway system usually repair and maintain the railroad over night so to run a train at night it would conflicted with the night crews work schedule and the labor cost would go up for the train crew during the night.  We also asked one of our Thai friend (Nuch) to come along and very fortunate for us, she obliged to join us on this tour.  So, we had a total of 3 adults and 2 kids for this night-train adventure to the western part of the  Honshu Island.  It started out with my wife who have a nostalgia for sleeper train travel in Japan.  She missed the time in the 90’s when she was still studying in the California, that was the golden age of sleeper express train travel in Japan.  It was the time when Japanese air travel was still quite expensive.  Low cost airlines were still have not started their war of attrition on the national airline carrier yet.  One could book a ticket and pack and get on the local subway to the city center main train station and quickly switch to an express night train that can cover up to 900 km in just 12 hours.  This is a journey that is much more comfortable than car or bus, and to compare to an air option; would beat it in term of trying to get to the airport.

Maybe this graph have something to do with the decline of the Night Trains

How we were able to get our train tickets

So, once we decided to go I got the cheapest possible air ticket from Airasia direct from DMK (Don Mueang International Airport) to NRT.(Narita International Airport)  My wife (Sacha) and my oldest son (Shinto) were already in Yokohama to have Shinto go to summer school there.  So the plan was to fly in to meet her with Nuch and My second son.(Taito)  That was the easy part or so I thought, the first obstacle was to get the elusive ticket for the Sunrise Izumo night train.  From my wife research regarding this one of the last night express train to be board from Tokyo.  It turned out that the night express train have become so popular with Japanese domestic tourist to the point that we were unable to get a ticket online via the JR (Japan Rail) West website any more.  The only way to get the tickets now was to go into a certain JR station in person and pay for the ticket in person with cash in this case the person paying is not going to come along for the ride as well, since you have to show the physical credit card to get on.  Her plan was simple enough.  We just have to ask her father to go to get the ticket with cash in hand, and get the tickets in our names.

Our journey begin…

Every went smoothly from leaving Bangkok to Narita airport.  But by the time we got on the airport limousine bus to get to my father in law, which took more than 2 hours form Narita airport.  I have already fallen to sleep a few times and when I left the the bus and meet up with my wife, Shinto and my father in law at the local bus depot in Aobadai area near my father in law condominium, I had just realized that I forgot my messenger bag on the airport bus.  So the next day my father in law end up have to take multiple trains to get to their office to pick it up for me.  Which make me feel bad for having to trouble him with such a long journey to pick up my bag, even through I didn’t have anything important inside the bag.  But what happen also make me realized how safe Japan is.  Even if I have put money or valuables inside of the bag, no one would take it.  That can’t be said with most places in the world.

We were staying at my father in law place for just a night, and the next day we went to see Sachiko’s grandmother at her apartment.  She was already 82 years old when we met her.  She was still as sharp as a pen, with very good memory.  Kind of opposite of us, we always forget all the important things at the most inappropriate time.  Sachiko’s grandmother had already packed food for us to take with us on the this adventure which will last more than 13 hours journey until we get to our first destination.  Her grandmother was one of those people who are very thoughtful, and remember the right things to do at the right time.

Her apartment was just a stone throw from the Toritsu-Daigaku Station on the Tokyo Line which is only 20 minutes from the Shibuya Station.   Shibuya is a major Landmark where all the picture of the huge crosswalk, the famous one that is always on most travel magazine about Tokyo and Japan, the photo or the video that gave the impression of what life in Tokyo Megalopolis is like in a single moment is from.  Her apartment was a short 150 meters from the exit.  It was in an old renovated apartment building from the 60’s.

We got into the building very old elevator and waited 4 minutes before the door closed and it  started to move after a few minutes more.  By the time we got to her grandmother 6th floor, It has already took 10 minutes)

I mentioned to my wife, “I swear this is the slowest elevator I've ever been in, in my life.”

All the doors were made of steel with painted blue that would look like it was from a merchant marine ship paint.  If a squad of SWAT team was trying to break in they probably give up before the any of these doors give way.

Once we got into her place there was already a huge tray of colorful sushi waiting for us.  It’s arrange very beautifully and look like a million bucks to me.  But according to Sachiko, it was about $50.  Still it was the best sushi I have ever tried, but that seems to be true of most of the sushi I tried in Japan at every shop.  Even if it doesn’t have raw fish in it, some time just pickle vegetables with a little bit of some sweet fish-roe.  From how they prepare the rice and the good quality seaweed, it is already more than satisfy my taste buds.  Trust me, I have tried a lot of sushi in California, but over there the thing that get are mostly seafood, without much of the wide variety of all the other ingredients in Japan.  And I have to credit the Japanese people for the careful selection of the ingredients and the meticulous preparation that can be encounter everywhere in Japan.

At 82 years old, she is still chatting up her friend on her pc and always ever so thoughtful.  She ordered deliver-sushi which is the norm in Japan, but hardly something one can do in California or anywhere else in the world.  This is one of those little thing you start to notice if you where staying in Japan for some good amount of time.  Small things that are really amazing once you have tasted or experienced them here in the Land of the Rising Sun.  And of cause everything tasted and the city is so neatly arrange and well taken care of for every square inch. 

After the visit during the day and all the food that will keep us full for the rest of the journey, we headed to board our at Shinagawa Station to board the Sunrise Izumo at 10:20pm.  We got the stretch seats which are called Novi-Novi.   The look like a little Japanese style room with carpet and a little privacy curtain and a little window for you to laid down and sleep in relative comfort.  We settled into our train, and the kids soon fall as sleep under the cover of blankets.  My wife and I was very curious about the token operated shower room, and went walking around to explore other trains’ compartments.  We were planning on showering together in the shower room and tried to get a token to operate the shower.  There was a tokens machine where we can put in Yen coin to exchange for the shower room tokens.  We got into the shower room locked the door and put our tokens into a slot right on top of a big red button, once it’s operational the red button light up and if you press it, hot shower come out, while a red lighted digital counter start to count down from a total of 6 minutes.  So that’s all the time you got for the hot water, and we had to rationed our water carefully.  I told my wife, “We got to do this the Navy style," which is by wetting ourselves first then stop the water while you leather up the soup.  Rinse at the end to get rid of the soup sud quickly and efficiently, this give us about 3 minutes each person.  By the time we got out of the shower it was already midnight.  So we were all soon fall as sleep.

Next morning, we woke up the loud sound of the train decoupling,  

Very loud, “Khaching,”  like the sound of heavy metal hitting on metal. 

This was exactly at 6:27 which was the schedule time for this decoupling of the Sunrise Seto and the Sunrise Izumo happen in Okayama.  It was all happened in 3 minutes, and then both trains split up and start heading their own way.  The one heading to Seto left at 6:31 and our train leave at 6:34 exactly on the dot.  The train operation in Japan is actually measure in centisecond, so a minute late was a serious consideration.

We arrived in Matsue at 9:30.

We head to see the famous castle which is one of the few original Samurai era wooden Fortress Castle of Matsue.  It was build in 1611 which was after the Sengoku period, where many castles were distroyed during that time.  It was nicknamed “the Black Castle.”  It is one of the very few Medieval castle left in Japan after the second world war.  We walked up from the town of Matsue that the castle was supposed to protect during time of war.  The first impression is of the stone wall by the moats and your imagination just tell you that it would be very difficult to get in side of the castle.  We walked up to the top of the keep and on the way you can see and feel the wooden quality of the castle.  It is something to marvel at how traditional wood construction technique using only joinery system.  We can see the vista from the top of the look out tower and see that it was a strategic place that one can survey the surrounding area 360 degree as far out to maybe more than 10-15 miles away.  Giving you plenty of time to prepare for an attack from any direction.  After looking around the castle we went down into the town of Matsue to see some of the preserved samurai house and garden.  It was informative and at every turn we can see the uniqueness of Japan handcrafted culture of the past with very careful attention to every small details.

After a full day of exploring Matsue old town we walked back to our Airbnb room.  The place we stayed at was just 3 minutes from the Matsue station and it was very convenience for us to get around town.   This is a great old town for a walking tour around the historical section.  You can see many old traditional houses and little family run shops all around town.  We walked around and tasted traditional fish cake called Kamaboko in Japanese, at one of these old shop house.  Obviously It was one of the best tasting fish cake we have ever tried.  We also drop by a beautifully kept traditional Japan garden.  When I wander around the garden, the image of Zen monk meditating came to mind right the way.  It has rock garden in with, the simplicity and dignified vibe make you contemplate the meaning of peace and tranquility.  In the garden there was a little cafe and traditional tea with hand crafted sweet place that we just have to sit back, relax, and enjoy our time in this garden.

By the time we started to walk back to our place my middle son, Taito needed to go to the toilet.  So as we walked on the street we stumble on a building that let us use the toilet, but it turn out to be a huge casino of source.  This was a small boat racing casino.  It was a huge building, from my guesstimate it would be at least 10,000 sqft.  Equipped with the latest big screen TV boardcasting live small boat race from the ocean to this hall.  People can place bet, and when we were there there was not that many people, mostly old people since it is a workday, but I would guess that it would not be too many during the weekend as well.  You just have to wonder how much money was being gamble here everyday.  We saw a small race boat being display in the hall and went right up to take a picture with my second son, Taito.  It make a good memory shot of this casino.

Next stop is the Izumo shrine, famous place for Japanese girls to come and ask for a suitable life partner.  The Izumo Grand Shrine, officially called Izumo Ōyashiro, is one of the most ancient and important Shinto shrines in Japan.  We don’t really know exactly when it was first build.  Located in Shimane Prefecture, and one of the most popular tourist site for Japanese domestic tourists.  It is home to two major festivals.  It is dedicated to the god Okuninushi famous as the Shinto deity of marriage and to Kotoamatsukami, distinguishing heavenly kami. The shrine is believed by many to be the oldest Shinto shrine in Japan, even predating even the Ise Grand Shrine, in Mie Prefecture.

A style of architecture Taisha-Zukuri takes its name from the main hall of Izumo Grand Shrine. That hall, and the attached buildings, were designated National Treasures of Japan in 1952. According to the ancient tradition, the hall was originally much taller than at present.  The  discovery in the year 2000 of the remains of enormous pillars has given some credit to this.

Several other buildings in the shrine compound are on the list of Important Cultural Properties of Japan as well.

Good thing was that I was already happily married so, I was in no real need to ask for the god favor.  In case you are in dire need of a mate then here would be a good place to ask for a good match.

After we paid respect to the god, and wandering around the Shrine and the Museum we went to look for the famous Izumo Soba.  There were many shops and restaurant dotting the street leading up the shrine and it was easy to just stroll around and take a look at different places until we found one that we would like to try.  We just look at the place with lots of people already eating there.  The soba was delicious, and we just gobbled up so many small bowls that they were served in.  It was served with soup on the side with other ingredient on top.

After Izumo area is done we went onward to Okayama where it was Sachiko’s friend from college in Oxnard hometown.  They have not seen each other for a long time but it was just like seeing her brother.  He pick us up with his car and give us a tour of Okayama countryside.  But first we stop at a sushi restaurant.  He pick out a place that was reasonable priced, and the food was very good.  We were all full of sushi after lunch and ready for the long drive to the peach farm.  These are places in the country of Japan where you can go and “pick your own fruit” kind of place.  It was a big tourist thing to do in Japan, where people would head out of the city into the countryside and go fruit picking.  Mind you, we never really get to pick anything, we were just given the tour of the orchard and they let us climb a ladder that they prepared ahead of time for you to get some photos with your camera then you can sit down in a shaded area to enjoy your peach.  It was actually one peach per customer.

Okayama is very famous for the white peach, known in all over the country as the “best flavor in Japan,” Okayama’s white peaches are juicy and fresh with an elegant sweetness that unlike other area’s peaches.  Every summer visitors are invited into these peach orchard where they can pick their own peaches and eat them on the spot.  A variety of options is available, including the limited time all-you-can-eat plans or the plans that allow visitors to take the peaches they pick home as souvenirs.   Some place require a reservation ahead of time so make sure you call them first.

The next city on our little tour is Kobe. 

We got into Kobe with another train and we booked an Airbnb place, which was a 2 bedrooms condo.  We give one of the bedroom to our friend Nuch and the other bedroom to our 2 sons.  For ourselves we got to try the sofa which was able to fold out to be a nice bed for my wife and I.  The next day we planned to hike mount Rokko which was right next to the city.  It was an easy train ride to the base of the hill and we can easily proceed up by a cable car.  Nuch legs were not good enough to hike up the mountain so we have Nuch help us watch the 2 kids in the morning and my wife and I would be free to head up the mountain by ourselves.  It was very scenic from the cable car and also the station at the top of the mountain with spectacular view of the whole city of Kobe.  We found a trial map and routes that have clear marking for us to walk down back to the station.  It was a fairly good hike coming down, Sachiko was telling me that many older Japanese hiker would actually hike up all the way to the top.  This would be quite an extenuated exercise for anyone unless you have been practicing and doing these hike frequently.  To my surprise I did spotted many old people on the trails and some look like they were seriously would attempt to make it all the way up from the way they dressed and how they faces looked.  

After we made it back from the hills, we took everyone to the historic part of the city.  There were houses that have been preserved from the turn of the century that used to belong to some of the expatriates who have move to Kobe more than a 100 years ago and make an interesting walk with some pay houses that the city have turned into museums.  By night we met up with Sachiko’s Japanese friend who moved back to Japan after she had been living in Thailand for more than 7 years.  We met up and went out to eat the famous Kobe beef at a Japanese style steak restaurant.  The beef was really good in Kobe!

We walked around after dinner and went to shopping district by the waterfront of Kobe and missed an art museum that was closed on the day we visited it.  It was a nice warm summer time in Kobe city.  Which make traveling a much more enjoyable experience especially with kids.

Some of the information I got from wikipedia about this train.

The Sunrise Izumo runs daily between Tokyo and Izumoshi in Shimane Prefecture, taking approximately 12 hours for the 953.6 km (592.5 mi) journey. The service operates in conjunction with the Sunrise Seto service to Takamatsubetween Tokyo and Okayama.  From Tokyo, the combined 14-car train departs at 22:00, and stops at Yokohama, Atami, Numazu, Fuji, Shizuoka, Hamamatsu (final evening stop), Himeji (first morning stop), and arrives at Okayamaat 06:27, where the train splits.  Between Okayama and Izumoshi, the 7-car Sunrise Izumo train stops at Kurashiki, Niimi, Yonago, Yasugi, Matsue, and Shinji, before arriving in Izumoshi at 09:58.  The return working from Izumoshi departs at 18:55, and is coupled with the Sunrise Seto from Takamatsu at Okayama Station, departing together at 22:33, and arriving at Tokyo Station at 07:08

Trains are formed of dedicated 7-car 285 series Sunrise Express electric multiple units (EMUs) owned by both JR Central and JR West.  They are formed as shown below, with cars numbered 8 to 14 in the down (westbound) direction, with car 14 at the Tokyo end, and 1 to 7 in the up (Tokyo-bound) direction, with car 7 at the Tokyo end

• Car 2/9 has a wheelchair-accessible compartment

• Each car has toilet facilities at one end

• Smoking is permitted in car 6/13, and some compartments in car 4/11

The Sunrise Izumo consists of type "A" (Single Deluxe) and type "B" accommodation.  A flat fee is charged for all compartments, regardless of starting or ending point.  The other fares, the basic fare and limited express fare, are based on distance.  For tourists using the Japan Rail Pass, the basic fare does not have to be paid.  A shower is located in car 3/10.  Passengers using the type "A" Single Deluxe compartments can use the dedicated showers in their carriage for free.

The Sunrise Izumo consists of type "A" (Single Deluxe) and type "B" accommodation.  A flat fee is charged for all compartments, regardless of starting or ending point.  The other fares, the basic fare and limited express fare, are based on distance.  For tourists using the Japan Rail Pass, the basic fare does not have to be paid.  A shower is located in car 3/10.  Passengers using the type "A" Single Deluxe compartments can use the dedicated showers in their carriage for free.

The Sunrise Izumo services were introduced together with the Sunrise Seto on 10 July 1998 Previously, the Izumo operated as a separate "Blue train" service connecting Tokyo with the Sanin region.  However, these trains were becoming less popular as equipment became outdated, and air and bus services attracted more passengers.  The Sunrise Izumo was intended to attract more passengers to train transportation by introducing newly designed trains and by reducing the journey time.

Following the introduction of the Sunrise Izumo, the original Izumo locomotive-hauled "Blue train" service was reduced from two return workings daily to one return working, serving the Sanin Main Line between Kyoto and Tottori Prefecture, most of which was not electrified and thus inaccessible by the electric Sunrise Express trains.  The Izumo was ultimately discontinued on 13 March 2006 due to continuing decline in ridership, leaving the Sunrise Izumo as the only overnight train service between the Sanin region and Tokyo.

Ridership on overnight trains in Japan continues to decline, and from March 2009, the Sunrise Izumo and Sunrise Seto became the only overnight sleeping car trains to operate west of Tokyo via the Tokaido Line.

List of Boarding Schools in India

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_boarding_schools_in_India

Our Quest for a Better School in India

Every-time my oldest son “Shinto” comes home from school, and as we usually talk about what he did in school.  I always ask if he has homework to do, and he usually answers that he does not have any homework, which to me is interesting that his school has so little homework.  Or if he answers in the positive, then I ask him when he will start, and his answer is usually “Later.”  Many times we find his notebook hidden in the back of the sofa or just in the trash, so that we never know if he has been given any homework from school.  I remember when I went to elementary school here in Thailand that there was always a lot of homework to do.  But I never remember not doing any of it. There is actually a notebook from his school that he needs to pass to us to let us know if he was assigned any homework.  He rarely shows us this notebook.  Also every-time we ask about what he has been doing at school he says “IDK” which is his acronym for “I Don’t Know.”  A typical evening when he gets home would goes something like this.

Shinto gets drop off by his school van, he opens our condo’s front door in to see us working and talking. The other kids are usually home by then, 

and I asked him, “So, you got any homework today?”

“Yeah”

I would then goes on to ask him, “What did you do in school today?”

Shinto would come back with, “IDK”

“Huh? What is IDK?”

“I don’t know…”

I would ask him “You don’t know what?  After about half a second, then I would get what he meant, 

“Okey… […]”

So, after a few exchange like this we decided to look for a better way for him to develop his sense of discipline and motivation, and maybe a love for learning in his future scholar life.  My wife and I came up with this idea when we first went to Darjeeling, India.  It’s a famous hill station from the British colonial period.  When the White Raj, which was the local Indian term form the British rulers would try to find a reprieve from the heat of the low land area and the extremely hot cities of India by heading for the high mountain of the Himalayas.  When we were there, we saw many heritage buildings that has been used by schools which were established during the colonial era, by the British rulers, to school their expat children as well as the children of the ruling class in India.  They look impressive and after reading about them.  They might be the answer we have been look for.  These schools seem to provide an excellent education at a relatively low price compare to the extra-orbital price of the international School in Bangkok; even with boarding, uniforms, books, they are still seemingly affordable for us.  We even know a preteen of our friend who was doing very badly in school.  His family decided to send him to a school in Chandigarh, India for his high school education.  After almost a year, and a visit by his mother, he seems to be doing much better.  As it turned out, after his experience being over there by himself in India for a year.  Now he is very focus on his study and acquired a new sense of discipline to his character.  He also joined in his school athletic team.  I his case the football team, which help him be healthy both in his mind and his body.  After hearing this positive improvement in our friend nephew, both of us started to think that it was a good idea to look for a good school for our son in India.  Sachiko, my wife, was very interested in a school called Isha Home School.  During this time she was listening to her iPod, it was an inspirational talk by Indian Guru who started the Isha Yoga Center on the foothill of a mountain near Coimbatore.

Due to my wife constant addiction to a certain “Sadhguru.”   This addiction pan out from my wife, Sachiko, who was usually listening to a few long youtube video before she goes to sleep at night.  During this time we were fighting a lot.  She got so exited about these life lessons right around the time I was just so lethargic and looking at her half asleep from my side of the bed.  She was really into listen to one of these Indian Gurus to help with her motivation.  Her most frequently play was “Sadhguru” who started the Isha Centre in Coimbatore, India.  Some of the titles of his videos would be such as: How do I transform myself?

or How do you get to know yourself fully?

All the talk videos were just coming into my left ear and then exit out through my right ear without registering anything much in my mind.  It was quite funny that in the end, I and my son would be the ones who get to go to the Isha ashram without my wife, who actually wanted to go there so bad.  And while I was at this ashram, me and my son, always felt a sense of entrapment which seems to be the main vibe we get from these type of “spiritual” organizations.  I usually felt just like a rat trap in a giant rat trap in these kind of place anyway.  But this listening session doesn't completely stop our discussion of one of our main concern during this time, which is the subject of son “Shinto”.  Whom we both believe that his current environment in Bangkok and the overall attitude in Thailand is not conductive to his education progress.  We think he really doesn’t have the proper motivation to be successful in his college years.  We have been discussing sending him to school in other country outside of Thailand, and we came up with a plan of sending him to India.  The formation of this plan came after our trip to Darjeeling without knowing that it was a place where many parents send their children for boarding school up in the Himalayas’ foothills to soak in the cold air and study in an environment of the old British hill-stations which just maybe would help Shinto as well, to become more motivated to do higher level of school work that will give him a better education future than the one available in Thailand. 

So she got our air tickets for the 3 of us to go on this discovery journey. Her plan was to include Ooty hill station into this trip as there were many good boarding schools up in Ooty as well.  I was not really keen on going to a religious yoga ashram, but thought of it as an opportunities to travel to India again.  You can’t really say no to any chance of escape the sweltering heat of summer in Bangkok.

A week before we were going to be on the plane to Kochi airport which was the cheapest way to get from Bangkok to Coimbatore.  A phone call from Sachiko’s father.

My wife picked up the phone and started normal enough, she greeted, “Mushi Mushi.” 

However, I can overheard her father voice on the phone was much more anxious than his usual tone, and I can figure from my wife’s face that just turn very pale with surprise and sadness after hearing her father words.  

Then Sachiko told me, “My grandma just passed away,”

It was something we did not expect at all just 2 weeks before this trip to India.  But right the way, it was crystal clear to me that Shinto and I were going on this adventure to India without my wife.  Since one of the school we discussed was the Isha Home School which was located in foothills in the vicinity of Coimbatore.  So we came up with a plan to go visit this spiritual ashram as well as being one of the choices for a good boarding school for our son.  To make the trip worth while we also came up with several choice of schools up in the old hills station of Ooty, this name is actually a British’s nickname for the city of Udagamandalam.  We were to travel there to check out some of the boarding schools in this area to come up with the best possible choice for our son.  We got air-tickets for all three of us to fly into Kochin and once we landed we planed to take the bus to Coimbatore and Ooty.  During the month of March the weather can be intensely hot in this southern part of India.  We booked a hotel room for the first night right by the currently renovating Kochi airport.  Less than 2 weeks before the start of our journey trip, Sacha’s grandmother passed away, so she has to book an immediate flight to Japan for the funeral.  My son and me were left with the mission of scouting for his future school on our own.  So as time come, my 10 years old son and me pack our bags and headed to India.  Mind you, I have done 2 trips to India before and understand how traveling in India would feel like.  The only mistake I did this trip was only to take the local public bus to go all the way up the hills to Ooty, which was a really cheap way to go up the mountain but not the most comfortable or the safest and we did got into a minor accident on the way up, I will tell you more on that story later.

The first thing we did once we landed in Kochi International airport was to walk out of the airport to our hotel, which was a walking distance from the small airport.  On the way out I saw many hotels that was even closer to the airport and thought that pre-booking a place was not really necessary at all.  The photos that the hotel people put up on booking site was usually very different than the reality by far, which was the case here as well.  And if we would just walk in and negotiate the price and shop area a little bit we would have a better place or cheaper place to stay for the night. That was another lesson we learned from traveling on a budget in the low season.  One should just go to where there is a concentration of small hostel and just take a look at the room first before making any decision and way before you pay for your room.  In India just like in Thailand most small hostel or guesthouse require you to pay first.  India accommodation usually have a 24 hours check out policy, which is good if you arrive really late in the day. We have done 2 tours of India previously.  The first trip was back in 2009 when we landed in Calcutta, Darjeeling, Patna, Varanasi, then back to Calcutta for our flight back.  I still remember after the plane landed the ground crews rush on to the plane and sprayed insecticide, and the whole jet smelled like Indian spices and samosas, we knew right the way that this was going to be very interesting trip.

This time 8 years later, Kochi International airport now have a new Terminal that look like it will be finish and ready for passenger traffic in a few weeks.  It looked modern and clean.  I remember Fort Kochin to be the cleanest and nicest city to visit 8 years ago.  This time we are not really interested in seeing the city, so we got on a bus that was headed into the city but we only will stop to get a bus to Coimbatore to visit the Isha Home School the next morning.  That night we walked out and follow my phone maps the hotel we had already booked.  It was actually more expensive to book it online, then to just walk into places and ask for the price.  But for our first night we didn't want to take any chance of not getting a good night sleep.  In the morning after a night near the airport we got up walk down the road back to the airport to look for transport.  The taxi desk tell us a price which I did not want to pay to get into the City of Kochi or just to go to Coimbatore.

We instead look a public bus which was maybe a big money saver, but not very comfortable in South Indian very hot weather.  The only good thing in India is that the heat is dry not like in Thailand and make it a little more tolerable for us.  But after a long bus ride which took a little less than 8 hours we got into the Northern Bus Terminal in Coimbatore then another bus onward to the Isha Yoga Center which my wife had already made prior arrangement with the Center for us to stay there.  After the whole day of long bus journey we got to this gigantic wall of the entrance to the Isha Center. We walked into the welcome center which operated kind of like a hotel check in for a resort.  Actually this whole place feel in a religion resort on the way in we even walk pass a giant stone building that have swimming pool for worshiper to take a ritual dip in, of cause no camera is allow inside the gate of the center.  The guy at the check in bungalow told me we booked for a non A/C room.  If we wanted A/C we had to pay a little more.  So I told him non A/C is fine with us, we were really trying to save money on this trip. But once we got our keys we went to look for our room which is located in a nice courtyard with flowering big trees and nice garden.  We got a room upstair which feel pretty much like a new apartment in California, I was pleasantly surprised to actually discovered a working A/C unit in the room.  That was really help us to stay cooled during our stay there. Coimbatore was very hot during the month of July.  It reminded you of the desert dry heat which is slightly better than you would feel walking on the street of Bangkok due to low humidity, but not by much.  As we explore this spiritual and religious resort, it was can be quite uncomfortable by mid afternoon.  And when I say spiritual/religious resort, it really feel like a resort.

We took a few more public buses in order to get from Coimbatore to get to the city of Ooty.  Ooty is Located in the mountainous range called the Nilgiris or the "Blue Mountains”.  The weather is quite pleasant at a mean of 15-20°C around the whole year, dropping to just above freezing during winter.  The landscape is marked by rolling hills covered with dense vegetation, smaller hills and plateaus covered with tea gardens, and eucalyptus trees.  Most of the hills around this area are still cover in big trees.  You can see alpine trees though out the area which is a big contrast coming up the hills.  Ooty, is not really the destination in of itself, as much as it is the focal point of attractions.  Automobile touring the surrounding country side is certainly a must do.  Unfortunately, the hill town suffers from overcrowding and erosion of natural resources. Smog from road vehicles can get to be noxious if you are walking in town by the side of the road.  You can feel that tourism has placed an enormous strain on the natural resources resulting in pollution, water shortage and roads.  The hilly region also houses smaller towns like Coonoor and Kotagiri.  These smaller towns are a better choice to visit and spend time in, since they are off the beaten path, yet less than 1 hour away from Ooty.  They enjoy the same natural climes and prices are a lot cheaper than Ooty proper.

So, first order of this trip was for us to go check out some school in this area.  The first school we went to see was J.S.S International School.  This school was located high up on the hills of Ooty.  It is located in a nicely forested area away from the city of Ooty itself.  Pulling into empty parking lot, we walked up to the office of Admission and we were waiting to meet with one of the staff who would show us around the campus.  We met up this admission lady and she showed us around the campus.  The campus is not too big, we went to see the cafeteria which looked rather nondescript but with a stunning view of the mountains, the school building itself doesn’t look very old with concrete brick walls that was maybe less than 15 years old.  The walls should be painted soon. The Lady was very friendly and we talked about how there was a big group of Thai students whose are just graduating from the school.  I thought that it was too bad, since Shinto will be without any Thai schoolmate if he was to stay here for boarding School.  Thai friends would likely help him remember his Thai language at least in the spoken form.

I only saw an Indian student with her parents there in the office while we were waiting there.  The only impression I really got from this school was that the fees sound very reasonable and it is a good option if money is the main concern.

I asked Shinto, “So, Shinto, how do you like this school?”

Shinto answered, “It’s alright…”

Hm… […}

School number 2 was a very prestigious Good Shepherd International School.  When we got to the school, there is a security check point and it was not easy for us to just walk in.  We notified the security that we have appointment and we needed to show my passport for ID to get in.  The campus was a huge land area on top of the hill on the outskirt of town.  Many buildings look brand new and all look modern and expensive. The first thing we took notice was the hundred upon hundred of trophies and award shields that the school put up at the admission office hall.  Obviously they want anyone who came to the office to know that this is a place that have a great track record of winning many academic award, and maybe just maybe, their child would have a chance at winning if only they would pay up the fees and make sure their child come to study in this school.  Of cause when we talk to the office people, the tuitions are way out of reach for us.  It just got too many zeros at the end, even-though the price is in rupees, this school was clearly out of our reach financially.  As we come out form the admission office, we were looking for a restroom and walked around the campus looking for it, but the security personnels ran up to us and prevent us from getting into any other building.  I guess that some of the students here might be from important family in India and they did not want stranger to just wander around on their campus.  For the whole time we were there, we did not get to see any student or a class room.

For our third school, this was the Goldilocks of a school.  It was call Hebron International. At first the Google maps pin was on the side of the Ooty Botanical Garden.  So I rode up on the rented scooter to the outside wall of the Garden.  The road up the hill was full of potholes, and I didn’t expect to see a high standard school by the look of it. But there was no school there only houses, then asked someone if this is the location of the School and he point to the other side of the wall which is inside the Botanical Garden.  So, we realized that the school was actually inside the Botanical Garden, which was a wonderful thing.  We actually came here just yesterday without knowing that the school is right on the same ground, This garden truly a rush green temperate garden with giant trees of eucalyptus, oak, and pine trees that is unusual for the Southern part of India, but due to the high elevation the weather permit them to be thriving, some look like a few hundred years old by the size of their trunks.  The Botanical Garden was a remnant from British East Indian Company time when it was the norm for the British to cultivate wonderful European garden that look like it could be an exact copy of the one in England.  Where they can keep many of the different plants both native and non-native in order to learn about them and to see what would grow well in different location.  As we are wandering the garden we see cactus garden, which was around a greenhouse that must have been full of wonderful cactus from around the world but now only house some flower shrub, that is not considered cactus in any sense, but by being from Southern California, once can grow to missed the beauty of cactus type of plants. We even see a sigh for a Japanese garden but didn’t really went all the way up to see it.  So as for the environment this school as perfect.  When we rode up to the office, which look like an old English victorian house, it was very well kept and clean.  The wooden floor in the main building was of amazing quality and is of the most beautiful pattern that I have never seen anything as nice as this before in any victorian style house in California.  We were warmly welcome into the waiting room with one of the small office that look very cozy, an administrative women was waiting for our appointment.  An East Asian student was usher in and appointed to be our guide to see their small campus, and to show us around the school ground.  After the tuition and the application process was explained in details. We got to see all the classrooms, with the art department being the most interesting with wonderfully expressive brightly colored painting shown all around, while the children of different ages were doing their work.  We also get to walk by a 8 feet tall geodesic dome that was being build by older student as their school science project.  It was to be a replace for the old and tree house that we saw on one of the giant tree when we were walking into the school in the parking lot.  We saw many kids and teens whose look to be from many different places. The student body seems to be a mix of some White European and East Asia kids as well as a majority of Indians and many that looked like Tibetans, Bhutanese and Nepalese, so the school seems to be a good mix of children from around the world.

I remember telling Shinto. “Hey, I think this is the best one!”

Shinto: “I think so….”

As Shinto and me was going around town looking at different schools. There are big sign of Chocolate Factory up all around the winding roads on the side of the hills around this mountain town.  It is obviously aim at the domestic Indian tourists.

We kept riding by a few advertisement for these “Chocolate Factory.”

Shinto would ask me, “Can we go to the Chocolate Factory.”

I would say, “OK, let me google it up on the map.”

Turn out there were a few Chocolate Factories/Tea Factories.”

So I set a pin for the nearest one and ride there to check it out.

I was just thinking that chocolate in India, is it any good at all? Tea seems to be famous especially up in the hill station like this.

But upon insisting by Shinto to Visit a Chocolate Factory, I google maps it to see if there is any around, and it turned out to be many factories, not just one.  So we off to one on the map and find out that it is a Tea and Chocolate Factory.  We rode the scooter into the parking lot and got up to go inside which was free at this place.

They were hungry and looking for recommendation for restaurant to eat. After renting a scooter from a guy on the street.

Rode to get gas at the gas station and ask the station attendant where we is good to eat.  He recommend a non-Vegetarian place.  Called Hotel Blue Hills.  We went to look for it at the center of town. We found it and walked down into a cave like restaurant where many local Indian are eating which meant, must be a really popular place.  We ordered Lamb Biryani and Chicken Tandoori. Both came out very spicy for me, but Shinto really thought it taste great and eat a lot of the chicken.  After about 15 minutes of eating both dishes.  His skin on the upper and lower lips started to turn very red. I told him and he just look at the selfie video on my phone.  

But he told me “It’s ok, it’s fine, it is not painful or anything.”

I said, “Ok, but it looks scary to me.”

We went to first the sweet and chocolate place which they let us taste for free. But the quality of the chocolate was not really any good for me. But for Shinto it was very good since it was so sweet. I just didn’t taste any chocolatey. But then again I preferred dark better chocolate over milk chocolate.  We also get to see the tea plantation working in full swing and get to taste some tea.  They set up a little tasting area where the tea ladies were passing out a very small plastic cups. Which we tasted but after the first taste, I went back for a few more time for the white tea which was really good.  But after the third time the tea lady was angry with me, and told me to move on and don’t come back for more tea, which I complied.  Then we got to the stockroom to many people where many people were buying tea to bring back as souvenir.  So I got many black and white tea to bring back to Bangkok.  Then we got on the scooter and when out to the road again, but we took a turn around the mountain and ran into another Tea and Chocolate Factory right next to the one we just went in earlier. And it was exactly the same setup except you have to pay for the entrance fee to get in before you can try the tea.  I said to Shinto that the long wait was just a waste of time and we decide it was as I would says, “Same Same but Diffident,” which is a common corrupted English phrase we usually use in South East Asia for these kind of thing, Where many completing businesses are set up right next to each other selling exactly the same things.

I asked Shinto, “Why there are so many Chocolate factories?

Shinto answered, “Chocolate is good!”

I replied,  “I am not sure if too much of anything is good for you…”

By the end of our journey in Ooty, Coimbatore and Kochi, we had really found ourselves to really enjoy our stay and the food in South India, mostly vegetarian with only the Blue Mountain Hotel as only only break for some meat.  The strangely hypnotic and diverse religion of many gods of hinduism feel appropriate to the multitudes of spices and herbs that are used in all the South Indian cuisine which is quite delectable to us.  At the same time the transformation of old religions and old empire to fit the uses of modern people in India.  We felt India is heading fast forward into industrialization just like many other countries in Asia, yet trying to cope with the growing pains, such as pollution, too quick urbanization and rapidly increasing population.  As for my son’s future, I think of his opportunities to learn 4 languages, Thai from me, Japanese from his mother, English from the both of us, and Arabic from this school.  After we came back to Bangkok, Shinto red lips stayed with him for many days until he came back to Bangkok and his mom asked him about it.  We just say the food was really good in Ooty.  So as the story goes, currently we are still on our quest for a better school for our children.