tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77175969912946452482024-03-16T14:53:06.349-04:00Ratna writesThis blog started as a space for me to chronicle my gap year, and remains as an opportunity for me to slow down and focus on reflecting, one moment at a time. Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16770342018252323709noreply@blogger.comBlogger557125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-24731448060504569222024-01-29T10:15:00.008-05:002024-01-29T10:37:12.979-05:00A Half-Day Adventure in Macau<p>At 12:30 today, we boarded for Macau at the the TurboJet pier at Shun Tak Centre in Sheung Wan. Upon arriving in this charming special administrative region, we fumbled with a few casino buses before taking a cab to <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Senado+Square/@22.1909593,113.5368221,17z/data=!4m51!1m44!4m43!1m6!1m2!1s0x34017aef91952185:0xed972e8164d55bf7!2sSenado+Square,+Largo+do+Senado,+Macao!2m2!1d113.5397593!2d22.1935334!1m6!1m2!1s0x34017ae606889ab3:0xbd68c52f57abaa22!2zTWFjYW8gRGlvY2VzZSwg5Li75pWZ5YWs572yLCBDYXRoZWRyYWwsIExhcmdvIGRhIFNlLCBNYWNhbw!2m2!1d113.5415127!2d22.1937118!1m6!1m2!1s0x34017aefcc23d7b5:0x8336e19500e58515!2sTeatro+Dom+Pedro+V,+Largo+de+Santo+Agostinho,+Macao!2m2!1d113.538372!2d22.1918723!1m6!1m2!1s0x34017aefda7b1c5f:0x8a3847ff56980322!2sSir+Robert+Ho+Tung+Library,+3+Largo+de+Santo+Agostinho,+Macao!2m2!1d113.537724!2d22.1924228!1m6!1m2!1s0x34017ae450a35457:0xdc8561927697e871!2sSt.+Lawrence%E2%80%99s+Church,+Rua+de+S%C3%A3o+Louren%C3%A7o,+Macao!2m2!1d113.5366642!2d22.1905955!1m6!1m2!1s0x34017af2324ab863:0xe3f3090ba0b56706!2sMandarin's+House,+10+Travessa+deAntonio+da+Silva+Macao!2m2!1d113.5348894!2d22.1887088!3e2!3m5!1s0x34017aef91952185:0xed972e8164d55bf7!8m2!3d22.1935334!4d113.5397593!16s%2Fm%2F02qbzpg?entry=ttu">Senado Square</a>, a paved town square that was a meeting place for the Portuguese and Chinese in the 16th century, and comprises part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. The brilliantly colored St. Dominic's church lies at its north side, while the main road is to the south.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiM10IZv0Y6F6nb9KFVFk9XzoBrKQqX13WiCI9XrCd52Py3geNmniA6prTa13Br8lsq_9XNzsfek2n9pALHvHTugXLOkaAKMV09pH32wYbnzAKeMHquWCIzUR4QU-RaxosRwj4m7ht8S7rfZsks2E8gJnLYwqp02qwjcwZ3e7RX0LSc3iwsuhyjmLuh5EM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiM10IZv0Y6F6nb9KFVFk9XzoBrKQqX13WiCI9XrCd52Py3geNmniA6prTa13Br8lsq_9XNzsfek2n9pALHvHTugXLOkaAKMV09pH32wYbnzAKeMHquWCIzUR4QU-RaxosRwj4m7ht8S7rfZsks2E8gJnLYwqp02qwjcwZ3e7RX0LSc3iwsuhyjmLuh5EM=w288-h384" width="288" /></a></div></div><p>Mama and I only had about 4 hours in town until our 7:00pm ferry, so we used this <a href="https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/things-to-do/incredible-historical-landmarks-to-see-in-macao">super handy article</a> to prioritize our sightseeing. We walked about 5 minutes north to the <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Macao+Diocese/@22.1936185,113.5399576,19z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x34017ae606889ab3:0xbd68c52f57abaa22!8m2!3d22.1935741!4d113.5415658!16zL20vMGJzc2pq?entry=ttu">Paço Episcopal da Diocese de Macau</a>, situated in a very pleasant square next to the Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lady.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCkrFwzUcGtXncK5yfkoOIlOVphSSpZbghJ8Bg4IrZS5KWTvGR7W0o3THe4Jnv865PI2vlJuO6iynYMwdkfdW7OoWMfQDOSqFh6SkmLamuQVL8aKokqqT3PtDQdqj5iBKIZs2bh0grfqmDSaIvSw0-_EJyww0YIyyi4b2iFPqRPDWTvYCJv7U03M0L2rA/s2956/IMG_2229.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2956" data-original-width="2956" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCkrFwzUcGtXncK5yfkoOIlOVphSSpZbghJ8Bg4IrZS5KWTvGR7W0o3THe4Jnv865PI2vlJuO6iynYMwdkfdW7OoWMfQDOSqFh6SkmLamuQVL8aKokqqT3PtDQdqj5iBKIZs2bh0grfqmDSaIvSw0-_EJyww0YIyyi4b2iFPqRPDWTvYCJv7U03M0L2rA/w394-h394/IMG_2229.JPG" width="394" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Next, I was too keen to see the mint green Dom Pedro V Theatre, the inside of which we perused as I perched on an ancient chair and re-juiced my phone battery.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFgxLMHhYhRaKi2odRUdeWByuannpu9T6YfvUUki8f28adyROh0V8r_aZejkfDwt0jpFolZdr2PpiFVCOn0ADfgjxf28LORgTS29KDIpihROekD8hs4W6FgH2J3yWgXIczjcQKKF4q9kOXFI7hBUS7541elf-xBKflSLNSiBUWsj-rGTLG9OF6UIc4l0A/s4032/IMG_2251.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFgxLMHhYhRaKi2odRUdeWByuannpu9T6YfvUUki8f28adyROh0V8r_aZejkfDwt0jpFolZdr2PpiFVCOn0ADfgjxf28LORgTS29KDIpihROekD8hs4W6FgH2J3yWgXIczjcQKKF4q9kOXFI7hBUS7541elf-xBKflSLNSiBUWsj-rGTLG9OF6UIc4l0A/w640-h480/IMG_2251.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Around the back of the theater lies St. Augustine Square, a serene oasis in the middle of Macau island with the cheery <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sir+Robert+Ho+Tung+Library/@22.1924277,113.5351491,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x34017aefda7b1c5f:0x8a3847ff56980322!8m2!3d22.1924228!4d113.537724!16s%2Fm%2F02qzck4?entry=ttu">Biblioteca Sir Robert Ho Tung</a> providing a beautiful backdrop.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAlUi2euw9OCK-5TfHsaxe5yKvXLdmmpyA9IvSRIvkv0WdkfdewUu8AoUffMESv0V5bU-AFkpL5Ukjo6mpNe_J93TE21hCRfOUnFcA21og2IwxmzsfRfXtwV0VYf6MBNqskYOD6HKFfsxsCdb25_WvfSuHvxso-3CjmKWqUor-oMVhqHBTkWFoSWvpOZg/s4032/IMG_2257.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAlUi2euw9OCK-5TfHsaxe5yKvXLdmmpyA9IvSRIvkv0WdkfdewUu8AoUffMESv0V5bU-AFkpL5Ukjo6mpNe_J93TE21hCRfOUnFcA21og2IwxmzsfRfXtwV0VYf6MBNqskYOD6HKFfsxsCdb25_WvfSuHvxso-3CjmKWqUor-oMVhqHBTkWFoSWvpOZg/w300-h400/IMG_2257.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After an appropriate number of photographs and a stroll through the back garden, we picked up coffees at the <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+alley+cafe/@22.1921489,113.5379002,20z/data=!4m9!1m2!2m1!1scoffee!3m5!1s0x34017aefa18c0001:0x5807f87b901c0868!8m2!3d22.1921489!4d113.5382221!16s%2Fg%2F11f3wfp1_2?entry=ttu">Alley Cafe</a> and were back on our way to check out <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mandarin's+House/@22.1921489,113.5379002,20z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x34017af2324ab863:0xe3f3090ba0b56706!8m2!3d22.1887088!4d113.5348894!16s%2Fg%2F120svmk9?entry=ttu">Mandarin's House</a> when we stumbled upon <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/St.+Lawrence%E2%80%99s+Church/@22.1906235,113.5341898,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x34017ae450a35457:0xdc8561927697e871!8m2!3d22.1906186!4d113.5367647!16s%2Fg%2F1229qlvh?entry=ttu">St. Lawrence's Cathedral</a>, quite simply one of the most beautiful buildings I have seen.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmmJAX7moLqsb-2WddVr4jVM0JtLpsTkH2wzmv-dq1FGyxPJubmSOlaTyVq7frw8x1w8NxFs7jyLVfHJfSsOMwY5TjldiXalA1ZBVYVQAMhO3mnRB6DDH0r51YHQoz_KTvVvYww4Y9sh-YLyqNWPZuMKA2TV0Vpp9kFkWa6XvwJHyxqxOXGtu2oEdiHo/s935/WhatsApp%20Image%202024-01-29%20at%2011.22.27%20PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="935" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmmJAX7moLqsb-2WddVr4jVM0JtLpsTkH2wzmv-dq1FGyxPJubmSOlaTyVq7frw8x1w8NxFs7jyLVfHJfSsOMwY5TjldiXalA1ZBVYVQAMhO3mnRB6DDH0r51YHQoz_KTvVvYww4Y9sh-YLyqNWPZuMKA2TV0Vpp9kFkWa6XvwJHyxqxOXGtu2oEdiHo/w471-h366/WhatsApp%20Image%202024-01-29%20at%2011.22.27%20PM.jpeg" width="471" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When we arrived at Casa do Mandarim, a Chinese-style compound with Portuguese influences that housed the famous Chinese intellect Zheng Guanying, we were awed by the architecture, furniture, and upkeep and practically had to be ushered out as the property closed for the evening.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBGNPh7jvOgZAlK6Y9iekbfRJTWYy5TnzB8mWy5CB7SDnIWaTJ7hyNL-ypmfjZpOhtF9-iBWk-cXe2nA2IJq5lJspp6fqzTMUfYNqAalmbj3SY3ssSFGD-oGaY8bKXN9WfCqQfT-YjrlvHkq7SqQBytQDGV2AXTdPw8N1EoEaJW5RZlCfQSXPNrB9L75M/s4032/IMG_2280.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="453" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBGNPh7jvOgZAlK6Y9iekbfRJTWYy5TnzB8mWy5CB7SDnIWaTJ7hyNL-ypmfjZpOhtF9-iBWk-cXe2nA2IJq5lJspp6fqzTMUfYNqAalmbj3SY3ssSFGD-oGaY8bKXN9WfCqQfT-YjrlvHkq7SqQBytQDGV2AXTdPw8N1EoEaJW5RZlCfQSXPNrB9L75M/w340-h453/IMG_2280.JPG" width="340" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Around 6, we scrambled back to the ferry pier and made it by the skin of our teeth, these <a href="https://365gapdays.blogspot.com/p/portugal-23.html">Portugal enthusiasts</a> thoroughly tickled by the striking resemblance.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUNt2660pX2-5jRHf6MGjCCGTP-qA4vjqQOqTTzF0Q13qSh1ZHHeJNWcfUgzh6tspr5nvaZxdEYayIp0LcFD3U8GlwCcm3EKH2ZpN16jkivQVOlwpAjpYOTmMEElUTej4Thbq1CfxOcyHJBHu5vE6GiI9-A4zLBZnUQLN_B5e-iH_VXsijJLX9kSB48YM/s3088/IMG_2215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="401" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUNt2660pX2-5jRHf6MGjCCGTP-qA4vjqQOqTTzF0Q13qSh1ZHHeJNWcfUgzh6tspr5nvaZxdEYayIp0LcFD3U8GlwCcm3EKH2ZpN16jkivQVOlwpAjpYOTmMEElUTej4Thbq1CfxOcyHJBHu5vE6GiI9-A4zLBZnUQLN_B5e-iH_VXsijJLX9kSB48YM/w301-h401/IMG_2215.JPG" width="301" /></a></div>Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-9902205575323036912023-11-26T06:10:00.011-05:002023-11-28T00:18:20.121-05:00Sunset Peak Hike (Lantau Island)<p>This is the story of how Udai and I accidentally ended up scaling Sunset Peak in Lantau Island, ranked one of the top three <a href="https://www.tatlerasia.com/lifestyle/wellbeing/hong-kong-hikes-highest-peaks">hardest hikes</a> in Hong Kong. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaZeyuiGConGJ4qxgR30txUVHgqPa5cPTG3io2_ENjFK8IQSmeF0T07VmEvMLl9ShgOPqhQxMSGjqo64UW7wVk-7FYuE90L7O4gQxbrxGC9Sn2zqVHsOJNBD4cM5r927UUPlZxM5LT0tZxjV4jSq2CZZd066RwSbAQIp7lIdpCvz1oRqIcSdU1vPhCNk0/s4032/IMG_7963.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaZeyuiGConGJ4qxgR30txUVHgqPa5cPTG3io2_ENjFK8IQSmeF0T07VmEvMLl9ShgOPqhQxMSGjqo64UW7wVk-7FYuE90L7O4gQxbrxGC9Sn2zqVHsOJNBD4cM5r927UUPlZxM5LT0tZxjV4jSq2CZZd066RwSbAQIp7lIdpCvz1oRqIcSdU1vPhCNk0/w560-h420/IMG_7963.JPG" width="560" /></a></div><p>With an inflated feeling of accomplishment after <a href="https://365gapdays.blogspot.com/2023/11/maclehose-trail-section-2-sai-kung.html">last week's hike</a>, I was all too willing to believe my husband when he said "I remember Sunset Peak being even easier than MacLehose Section 2..." (If you intend to use your quad muscles again after this trek, I strongly suggest considering MacLehose over this peak.)</p><p>But I took him at his word and we arrived at the Tung Chung MTR Station Sunday morning, which we quickly realized is ludicrously busy because it connects to the Big Buddha. After spending 2 hours in the process of discovering that cab drivers waved us away rather than go to <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pak+Kung+Au/@22.248788,113.9396491,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x34015824b10a9d1f:0x11eb938432cca302!8m2!3d22.248788!4d113.942224!16s%2Fm%2F07s44x8?entry=ttu">Pak Kung Au</a> (the starting point for our hike), we almost turned back to go home when we saw the lines for the buses that go there. But we figured out that since bus 11A doesn't go to the Big Buddha, it's the most efficient route to take since the fewest passengers will be in line for that.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD9bSC92f2mYQzNA9jSkK6cK5AbRQAn_dOvLNx9W_HGtIS2zBi7fmp9wVm1uoGcvwoHglkJsF8LvxHncBJzmoBUBFaCRbCNwYSLHOtU4C8_wVvWJTB02ZKo2UOoKlvJFPuGmXp-3Fd2fQRX-_lvTFDjGLoIJPOxzyeH15_cRVWrMI9nqQcQFIsFdTB1ho/s4032/IMG_7889.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD9bSC92f2mYQzNA9jSkK6cK5AbRQAn_dOvLNx9W_HGtIS2zBi7fmp9wVm1uoGcvwoHglkJsF8LvxHncBJzmoBUBFaCRbCNwYSLHOtU4C8_wVvWJTB02ZKo2UOoKlvJFPuGmXp-3Fd2fQRX-_lvTFDjGLoIJPOxzyeH15_cRVWrMI9nqQcQFIsFdTB1ho/w423-h317/IMG_7889.JPG" width="423" /></a></div><p>Though we'd read the <a href="https://www.discoverhongkong.com/us/explore/great-outdoor/great-outdoors-hong-kong/sunset-peak.html">Hong Kong Tourism Board's review</a> of the hike and also took instructions from <a href="https://www.journeyera.com/sunset-peak-hike-lantau-island-hong-kong/">this blog</a>, figuring out how to minimize steepness and complete this before dark (despite its name, we wanted to be out of the wilderness before sunset to reduce the chances of further ankle twisting) was a challenge. We ended up taking the below route, partially because it was unclear how the terrain would be had we walked all the way to Mui Wo. An adventure for next time!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpLagWXEdxnQ4-CRu5iUvmSre9rLdSnhxyBCPC2wAg9ksLRTum10z-w4aF8Bw_BcdiOJu77JDVz2pjgd9h94RSvQkPwT3GKoNH5XW68_eRIQoMpK7mZk4kLgM03hblDaAhJ_XFpiKWlxhdKwEnkLrlSJj3PJUe1rCzMoXijlULJThrLGw6p_vXde72R_s/s1698/Screenshot%202023-11-26%20at%209.50.54%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="1698" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpLagWXEdxnQ4-CRu5iUvmSre9rLdSnhxyBCPC2wAg9ksLRTum10z-w4aF8Bw_BcdiOJu77JDVz2pjgd9h94RSvQkPwT3GKoNH5XW68_eRIQoMpK7mZk4kLgM03hblDaAhJ_XFpiKWlxhdKwEnkLrlSJj3PJUe1rCzMoXijlULJThrLGw6p_vXde72R_s/w512-h370/Screenshot%202023-11-26%20at%209.50.54%20PM.png" width="512" /></a></div><p>We were told that the hike started with a large number of stairs (after which there were flatter parts). We didn't know that "stairs" were large (but narrow) boulders stacked over each other, and last all the way up to the peak of the mountain. This is the whole hike to the top, and before we did it, 900m of elevation did not sound challenging. In actuality, since folks are coming down the same way, it's tough to keep your footing and I found it extremely physically challenging. The below photograph makes it look like a cakewalk compared to the reality.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQs9Hdv-rZTpUTJNDO-2D3nODqUDp5wCQB8a2yFDqOWiCoTuoMp06VaWTbM1fm9piZPRm02AqlhXJgMf3_u6ePZqlfsE4sI-16bU0xph5lCZFSPu3IFx_9RNprW_khP3kpbTnHKtAMDSb4cETTEC0cSO6XUTPHu2jNjg7gHaZknlDjMrn85CD4-eANxm8/s4032/IMG_7896.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQs9Hdv-rZTpUTJNDO-2D3nODqUDp5wCQB8a2yFDqOWiCoTuoMp06VaWTbM1fm9piZPRm02AqlhXJgMf3_u6ePZqlfsE4sI-16bU0xph5lCZFSPu3IFx_9RNprW_khP3kpbTnHKtAMDSb4cETTEC0cSO6XUTPHu2jNjg7gHaZknlDjMrn85CD4-eANxm8/w395-h296/IMG_7896.JPG" width="395" /></a></div><p>Halfway up the mountain, I was very confused that Udai thought this hike was on par with or easier than MacLehose 2. This is when he realized, "Sorry, I think I was thinking of a different mountain when I said that..."</p><p>He's lucky that the views from almost-at-the-top were stunning, and kept my grumbling somewhat at bay.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj84iG6a_jeSgr08qYvT48uoZq0u0G_1SqG79SrDBD6Y95vaDw7YBq_oXnnCY3mYngbWdvz703IaDoWbDuCEv_dtYzw8DLxiD3mlrRrviDsdaMbJ683YK5k7h2Xtqkl15xxzE7UcHFAsEQdVr7uwnjBSK0SXWe8CjGrajM86rQ2B1eHjeOsG0blo9j9G4A/s4032/IMG_7918.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj84iG6a_jeSgr08qYvT48uoZq0u0G_1SqG79SrDBD6Y95vaDw7YBq_oXnnCY3mYngbWdvz703IaDoWbDuCEv_dtYzw8DLxiD3mlrRrviDsdaMbJ683YK5k7h2Xtqkl15xxzE7UcHFAsEQdVr7uwnjBSK0SXWe8CjGrajM86rQ2B1eHjeOsG0blo9j9G4A/w537-h402/IMG_7918.JPG" width="537" /></a></div><p>When we arrived at the top of Sunset Peak around 2:30pm, relief came in the form of rolling grasslands we could laze through as we gathered our energy and pondered what to do about our quickly dwindling supply of water. Most visitors returned from the peak itself, which I would argue left the most beautiful part of the vista unseen. Just beyond Sunset Peak was a beautiful flat stretch full of seagrass and, in the distance, a hazy view of the Big Buddha statue.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvsym84PbWYTWLY9lyWZO3DLxV88lydZW79_4-h6U10JWTvEqL9m3Kx554cF6KAla03i9UYqbOFZMpT4b3Mz6_PZpG5jD1mk-eJZdI0nP091YIrsYnoVemPxNxNuCHxL0CaIqEKTaW6wJpQtKhr-IRc3w2Z5m7hdSWBalV2Ad1kFIWS3RJkiKcuUbQuMI/s4032/IMG_7956.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvsym84PbWYTWLY9lyWZO3DLxV88lydZW79_4-h6U10JWTvEqL9m3Kx554cF6KAla03i9UYqbOFZMpT4b3Mz6_PZpG5jD1mk-eJZdI0nP091YIrsYnoVemPxNxNuCHxL0CaIqEKTaW6wJpQtKhr-IRc3w2Z5m7hdSWBalV2Ad1kFIWS3RJkiKcuUbQuMI/w898-h674/IMG_7956.JPG" width="898" /></a></div><p>At the juncture atop the peak, we had a tough decision to make. Should we go back down the way we came or walk a much longer but potentially flatter route to Mui Wo, and run the risk of being in the dark and without water for the last leg of our hike? </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgom26y_ywBrQvUkKAK-hYVhBHhm2a3twndshGF8LjQ6KvVFQb2QsmfGqIef3gyhx1H-FGkJGAwgX81nML0DBEY7zUuWXFch_Vd82epFJp-iGjYISW1ou5RKxo5tiQgNuLWIpAx0Eh63aSrNcl79WmnoqLcrrRlEcZocFj0IwHaDj_K0QtLbdYld4ILyvE/s4032/IMG_7986.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgom26y_ywBrQvUkKAK-hYVhBHhm2a3twndshGF8LjQ6KvVFQb2QsmfGqIef3gyhx1H-FGkJGAwgX81nML0DBEY7zUuWXFch_Vd82epFJp-iGjYISW1ou5RKxo5tiQgNuLWIpAx0Eh63aSrNcl79WmnoqLcrrRlEcZocFj0IwHaDj_K0QtLbdYld4ILyvE/w374-h281/IMG_7986.JPG" width="374" /></a></div><p>After a heated disagreement, we chose a third route, part of the <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Wong+Lung+Hang+Country+Trail/@22.265041,113.9360834,15z/data=!4m23!1m16!4m15!1m6!1m2!1s0x34015824b10a9d1f:0x11eb938432cca302!2sPak+Kung+Au,+Lantau+Island,+Hong+Kong!2m2!1d113.942224!2d22.248788!1m6!1m2!1s0x340158017153b041:0xd65fe637d30f6a4c!2sWong+Lung+Hang+Picnic+Site,+Wong+Lung+Hang+Road,+Lantau+Island,+Hong+Kong!2m2!1d113.950286!2d22.271774!3e2!3m5!1s0x3401581d55ca0ff3:0xd1fd99acefe4fff0!8m2!3d22.2644073!4d113.9534809!16s%2Fg%2F11c6cd_84b?entry=ttu">Wong Lung Hang Country Trail</a>: a steep descent that we hoped would be slightly easier than our ascent, but shorter than the 4-5 km we'd have to traverse to get to Mui Wo. Whether it was the right choice or not is tough to say, but our next two hours featured stairs with 8 to 12 inches of steepness between them, on narrow forest paths where we at times we felt we had to balance our body weight to prevent getting blown off the hill.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWWkp8EgNrGUEDy8iWBi8KzmxJJRWY4excJeoM963gNxhaXWB6WqmitzF4GuPqAKlBJv7b6qPwiIRBF8Lr8vCZfBb1XBvpy73i64s1SCkiFq2n0_iHXUWW0LeRm7znApUH4HklFKK5q_8aCISIDzxuoJFWYqbT2eUf9PC-a0ZE91ww1RocY14SZEYbu4I/s4032/IMG_8004.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWWkp8EgNrGUEDy8iWBi8KzmxJJRWY4excJeoM963gNxhaXWB6WqmitzF4GuPqAKlBJv7b6qPwiIRBF8Lr8vCZfBb1XBvpy73i64s1SCkiFq2n0_iHXUWW0LeRm7znApUH4HklFKK5q_8aCISIDzxuoJFWYqbT2eUf9PC-a0ZE91ww1RocY14SZEYbu4I/w360-h480/IMG_8004.JPG" width="360" /></a></div><p>Udai sauntered down ahead and called out, "Careful!" whenever he stepped onto one of these "stairs" that was loose, as I did my best not to let my opinions of these warnings, proffered forth from someone who mistakenly took me on the wrong hike, be heard under my breath.</p><p>This stretch down honestly lasted forever, and even billy goat Udai had a few choice thoughts about the nature of this last sprint of stairs. But finally, mercifully, we arrived at <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Wong+Lung+Hang+Picnic+Site/@22.265041,113.9360834,15z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x340158017153b041:0xd65fe637d30f6a4c!8m2!3d22.271774!4d113.950286!16s%2Fg%2F11c58lwcqr?entry=ttu">Wong Lung Hang picnic site</a> in time to greet the moon peeping out from behind the Tung Chung greenery. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBGxT4rVqEyjeFpVoA7CoDkgYKBNdljyCjEFhNt6HVAO7gBfwIlcsijSqTiaHRX0YZy5azJ_XO8eHXdxnesY-LlZti4nI0YrN_8GqEQtB8IsyEXZtBF_6gcFDHiHqBOJkBaAQgcnKbyBliPj-Yr2lisX1De_WAU8BBfOdJ4lfGa3bJ2O4SlB-JHWEMCTM/s4032/IMG_8018.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="441" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBGxT4rVqEyjeFpVoA7CoDkgYKBNdljyCjEFhNt6HVAO7gBfwIlcsijSqTiaHRX0YZy5azJ_XO8eHXdxnesY-LlZti4nI0YrN_8GqEQtB8IsyEXZtBF_6gcFDHiHqBOJkBaAQgcnKbyBliPj-Yr2lisX1De_WAU8BBfOdJ4lfGa3bJ2O4SlB-JHWEMCTM/w588-h441/IMG_8018.JPG" width="588" /></a></div><p>We caught the 11 bus straight back to the station feeling fatigued and fulfilled from an eventful day out.</p>Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-74197711182351504902023-11-19T21:50:00.001-05:002023-11-19T21:50:40.855-05:00MacLehose Trail Section 2 (Sai Kung)<p>We set off for Sai Kung this Sunday to check out Section 2 of the formidable <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacLehose_Trail">MacLehose Trail</a>, a 100-km network of stunning scenery. We chose our section because it's a 13-kilometer stretch that is relatively flat (though there are two major uphill sections that last 10-15 minutes). This was our route:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwOIqOtlnz6pL2cKEjgvoE4gkAmsnmz7hWQ49-33cHKkt4ijI9F2JNrQkkcFsgvHLXCnYAJnvn86osAGZ0KNH2G2-BYaWw_2PiDo9jQvhHfOgMHvPBS50bOukGC6YViwdQVssNJOTNC3zTKt_cK4DaEl4Ikf9rCSHFUJRODa9sdGf-mdWvDvfDyv4dmbY/s1632/Screenshot%202023-11-20%20at%209.29.34%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwOIqOtlnz6pL2cKEjgvoE4gkAmsnmz7hWQ49-33cHKkt4ijI9F2JNrQkkcFsgvHLXCnYAJnvn86osAGZ0KNH2G2-BYaWw_2PiDo9jQvhHfOgMHvPBS50bOukGC6YViwdQVssNJOTNC3zTKt_cK4DaEl4Ikf9rCSHFUJRODa9sdGf-mdWvDvfDyv4dmbY/s1632/Screenshot%202023-11-20%20at%209.29.34%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoDVRGzgaeByjgl0IyHrAP4w-U-Zfd9UPo6aw3oIBg1YUSOex7xT_-a4rooXGvxuuH4qWtbvuDwU5Ez1URYMdLgUqWOVa7pQw1ZsoxowtwtVPwKv89nYXG-YmFL_uYEuNq0OxHYsntXFV9J6Q3mKP97wCfa_40w22AsPZ-SBabWc7vNfJ4LceQEsOn2Mg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1004" data-original-width="1422" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoDVRGzgaeByjgl0IyHrAP4w-U-Zfd9UPo6aw3oIBg1YUSOex7xT_-a4rooXGvxuuH4qWtbvuDwU5Ez1URYMdLgUqWOVa7pQw1ZsoxowtwtVPwKv89nYXG-YmFL_uYEuNq0OxHYsntXFV9J6Q3mKP97wCfa_40w22AsPZ-SBabWc7vNfJ4LceQEsOn2Mg=w487-h344" width="487" /></a></div><br /></div><p>From Sai Kung, we got dropped off at <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sai+Wan+Pavilion/@22.3947978,114.3576039,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x340410748df1ad35:0x279439cdd2b1c016!8m2!3d22.3947978!4d114.3601788!16s%2Fg%2F155p_2sm?entry=ttu">Sai Wan Pavilion</a>, a good landmark to use for the start of Section 2! Although there's no signage for a good 20 minutes after this point, if you can follow other hikers or use GMaps to get started, you're soon rewarded with this view.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTns67th7U2ilmbsRRyIszg_MN5PjJ43UfezXoj_lOMjQsWecYBnWTxcMVCBGZLLESbKuWU9VtWteM7fH5ZTcdXwoqvaTSd5tW8jI7VVzXsesnZ7riJ4f0v1QMxykBN_w-RGnP3sIfDl4trkynPjp69RDSUPyougXZVxLAxRMNhtpG87a749M2plXFeFk/s4032/IMG_7694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTns67th7U2ilmbsRRyIszg_MN5PjJ43UfezXoj_lOMjQsWecYBnWTxcMVCBGZLLESbKuWU9VtWteM7fH5ZTcdXwoqvaTSd5tW8jI7VVzXsesnZ7riJ4f0v1QMxykBN_w-RGnP3sIfDl4trkynPjp69RDSUPyougXZVxLAxRMNhtpG87a749M2plXFeFk/w457-h343/IMG_7694.JPG" width="457" /></a></div><p>About 15 minutes later, you'll come upon a map of the whole MacLehose Trail that'll give you a good idea of where to go! The first major built landmark we came across was Sai Wan Village, which has a tourist information center, a couple of spots where you can grab a Pocari or something to eat, and a public toilet. Beyond the small booths was Sai Wan Beach, sprawling and scenic though slightly better suited to surfing than swimming (I guess, though I have a very low threshold for deeming a spot swim-worthy). </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM_g0qGJDxZKEjd-qErVCKpb2gJ24bzgdToGaaaJXHyuiSTDrGrklwk9SfW4ZqAZLse3fJhSHCzvMfSSZL_h3oAnnt70ab3m-nGRBus18T1Tz9omLPFIV9zedSiQttSfEUsD71QgUxBnzZqVhK5hER0ngaEG0i4GvkPDLX_grzGMDFjOKNA-PPB8nrmM0/s4032/IMG_7721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="405" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM_g0qGJDxZKEjd-qErVCKpb2gJ24bzgdToGaaaJXHyuiSTDrGrklwk9SfW4ZqAZLse3fJhSHCzvMfSSZL_h3oAnnt70ab3m-nGRBus18T1Tz9omLPFIV9zedSiQttSfEUsD71QgUxBnzZqVhK5hER0ngaEG0i4GvkPDLX_grzGMDFjOKNA-PPB8nrmM0/w539-h405/IMG_7721.JPG" width="539" /></a></div><p>After Sai Wan comes the first notable high-incline section, though very little requires walking on jagged rocks and the reward is Sai Wan Stargazing Site, a marked lookout that also features beautifully designed benches if you're in need of a rest. We forged ahead toward Ham Tin Beach, a full white sand beach that's worth a day trip and also accessible by speedboat. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNNlTmEJlQwZoSRr10X-xjePJT0fr5qP1URKCVdftzQLNLtYQdPSMoaOZr3MXNl6ZgfsYqnlwYriuwlSD25HaRMTYXAg-_mMNTa6aXB-V_Y1qRr9HdwBzOzCkZEjQsBpoUhotu4zjyhIQR4fbzI8hgdmzbe79sawrMGKNwmFEb7SPcDQzVEUJvNte2DaM/s4032/IMG_7734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNNlTmEJlQwZoSRr10X-xjePJT0fr5qP1URKCVdftzQLNLtYQdPSMoaOZr3MXNl6ZgfsYqnlwYriuwlSD25HaRMTYXAg-_mMNTa6aXB-V_Y1qRr9HdwBzOzCkZEjQsBpoUhotu4zjyhIQR4fbzI8hgdmzbe79sawrMGKNwmFEb7SPcDQzVEUJvNte2DaM/w460-h345/IMG_7734.JPG" width="460" /></a></div><p>We scarfed down a delicious bowl of fried rice here, that they made veg for us! (Only catch was that walking from the beach to the row of local restaurants in high tide required basically "walking the plank" over a very thin beam of wood that made my life flash before my eyes.)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_BtuDMDt7MDAK74e3g6ce89TBM1LxSpUO_jXqQve5PdGJbFpe-CDr1aeTwtLRVu46QLXvess0sjcLUwItepHjd_iUygjE7iiba7OqxvY1ONSHLY8j14wSAED9wlxT5zWXwzbHWfY0Hevsdf2lBTK8_qrscKdG8AP7Cnt4gmQvKmQiotih8xY4JVAsVk4/s4032/IMG_7739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_BtuDMDt7MDAK74e3g6ce89TBM1LxSpUO_jXqQve5PdGJbFpe-CDr1aeTwtLRVu46QLXvess0sjcLUwItepHjd_iUygjE7iiba7OqxvY1ONSHLY8j14wSAED9wlxT5zWXwzbHWfY0Hevsdf2lBTK8_qrscKdG8AP7Cnt4gmQvKmQiotih8xY4JVAsVk4/s320/IMG_7739.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p>Taking this route was also required to continue the rest of the hike (about 6.5km), those lacking in balance bewarned. It's good we fueled up because after Ham Tin Beach comes the longest contiguous uphill stretch that is a cardio challenge. The next stunning stretch of water that comes along is Chek Keng pebble beach, featuring a stretch of hike where you walk so close to the ombré ocean that it's practically like being inside.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6IC8UGfh628AlTtjwExHFxuT78ZNE-kv0alAp_HaDO1uNecleXFV8ZeXprWjAIJ8bXYhIbajhBjq1zPyJv7YVlqCwTtpSYMzF7M2WqU8XbEEmDTDA1ghRtpdyTmTZUfuIQvp6bPmqXPWJjZu21cC7FjYqDVnQ8hirLOfVGgIOS2JwffRhPKY4QQW8i6w/s1898/IMG_7786.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1170" data-original-width="1898" height="489" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6IC8UGfh628AlTtjwExHFxuT78ZNE-kv0alAp_HaDO1uNecleXFV8ZeXprWjAIJ8bXYhIbajhBjq1zPyJv7YVlqCwTtpSYMzF7M2WqU8XbEEmDTDA1ghRtpdyTmTZUfuIQvp6bPmqXPWJjZu21cC7FjYqDVnQ8hirLOfVGgIOS2JwffRhPKY4QQW8i6w/w792-h489/IMG_7786.jpg" width="792" /></a></div><div><br /></div>This 200-degree ocean vista was truly unique, and I'd go back to take a dip from the pier, that seemingly extends into nothing when there are no boats visible like yesterday.<div><br /></div><div>From Chek Keng, the trick is to navigate to Pak Tam Au, for which you'll see signs along the way. Another 3 kilometers and the hike ended as suddenly as it started, spitting us out a 15-minute drive from beautiful Sai Kung, where we stayed nearly till the sun had set.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><b>Notes:</b></p><p>Compared to other hikes we've done, this one doesn't have many amenities en route, so I'd strongly suggest packing water and snacks. We luckily did that, but didn't pack swimming gear, which would have come in handy at the 3 beaches on this route: <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sai+Wan+Beach/@22.3971785,114.3620886,16z/data=!4m15!1m8!3m7!1s0x340410748df1ad35:0x279439cdd2b1c016!2sSai+Wan+Pavilion!8m2!3d22.3947978!4d114.3601788!10e5!16s%2Fg%2F155p_2sm!3m5!1s0x3404107af4859ce5:0x5967a2aa58e7fe5a!8m2!3d22.3971969!4d114.3714349!16s%2Fm%2F0cm9vnb?entry=ttu">Sai Wan Beach</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ham+Tin+Beach/@22.4031896,114.3618954,16z/data=!4m15!1m8!3m7!1s0x340410748df1ad35:0x279439cdd2b1c016!2sSai+Wan+Pavilion!8m2!3d22.3947978!4d114.3601788!10e5!16s%2Fg%2F155p_2sm!3m5!1s0x34041060b2a08bc7:0x9de8f2c805cf31ff!8m2!3d22.4095849!4d114.3759254!16s%2Fg%2F11g6qldjml?entry=ttu">Ham Tin Beach</a>, and perhaps even <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chek+Keng+Hau+Rock+Beach/@22.4249472,114.3509891,17z/data=!4m14!1m7!3m6!1s0x340410376040c087:0x4f1fe12940efa66e!2sChek+Keng+Pier!8m2!3d22.4249472!4d114.353564!16s%2Fg%2F1ptw68n_3!3m5!1s0x340410399d83a7bb:0xe06adb1a4799ed2e!8m2!3d22.422175!4d114.3529143!16s%2Fg%2F11dxnlrs9q?entry=ttu">Chek Keng Hau</a>.</p></div>Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-12246537715481184552023-10-08T06:28:00.013-04:002023-10-08T11:57:17.017-04:00What I'd Do with 2 Days in Kyoto<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">So much of taking in this unassuming city is letting yourself stop and notice things in the in-between. Kyoto does not seem to seek to wow and amaze; it is simply being, and you are invited to join. The city is often sleepy; nights in downtown tend to wrap up by 9pm, but this introverted older sibling of Tokyo is a joy to discover, slowly.<br /><br />Rather than a checklist of things to tick off, let this serve as a general guide of areas to be in, and allow the place to befall you. You could use this guide and have a completely different experience from us, because there is hidden history in every corner, and you could visit the same neighborhood and discover completely different shrines and gardens from the ones that we saw.<br /></span></p><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJkjlQ0wmNd69qrWalwQI1b36bYB_gwiL1fK7u9p7AHZWDsPBDzcspFZmpYLmVMutIQqeGa_OClavwABFGkApJPYBtIxsmgPdPzLoYTm95fn0sr0G8gDomV277-a0bprfgu8iziqLoNhlrl84b64Tits1yuLgyriTvSP2HTpB9buK8nODrNvwIUoMBOgg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJkjlQ0wmNd69qrWalwQI1b36bYB_gwiL1fK7u9p7AHZWDsPBDzcspFZmpYLmVMutIQqeGa_OClavwABFGkApJPYBtIxsmgPdPzLoYTm95fn0sr0G8gDomV277-a0bprfgu8iziqLoNhlrl84b64Tits1yuLgyriTvSP2HTpB9buK8nODrNvwIUoMBOgg=w780-h586" width="780" /></span></a><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small; text-align: center;">Grounds of Ginkaku-ji</span></span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">That said, this is what Udai and I would do for two full but not-too-full days in Kyoto.</span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">Day 1</span></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-e68fa031-7fff-0788-df1b-0e76d296bb59"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Higashiyama+Jisho-ji/@35.0270213,135.7982058,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipN7PyJFN9RkEtvWYlvIBRQfzTBPH8yqOZSgYMZF!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipN7PyJFN9RkEtvWYlvIBRQfzTBPH8yqOZSgYMZF%3Dw114-h86-k-no!7i4032!8i3024!4m7!3m6!1s0x600109050b426fe1:0x258aca1ce888abc9!8m2!3d35.0270213!4d135.7982058!10e5!16zL20vMDJ5NG05?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">Ginkaku-jicho shrine</span></span></a></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Walk down </span><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Philosopher's+Path/@35.0214576,135.7917199,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x60010908ae94f057:0x917af331a75280f4!8m2!3d35.0214532!4d135.7942948!16s%2Fg%2F11n065ssgc?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Philosopher’s Path</span></a></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Lunch at </span><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Vegetarian+Cafe+Ren+Ginkakuji/@35.0286037,135.7848934,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x600109f89cc3b98b:0xff8a3173ad9a0436!8m2!3d35.0285993!4d135.7874683!16s%2Fg%2F11j0qh23nd?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Cafe Ren Ginkakuji</span></a></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Dinner at </span><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Vegan+Ramen+UZU+Kyoto/@35.0146687,135.7655439,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x6001092e180a58bf:0xb28269ad56198401!8m2!3d35.0146643!4d135.7681188!16s%2Fg%2F11j34610bt?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Vegan Ramen UZU</span></a></span></p></li></ul><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">Day 2</span></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tenryu-ji/@35.0165899,135.6720094,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x6001aa01b80f9e93:0xcd9c3edaff3348c0!8m2!3d35.0165855!4d135.6745843!16zL20vMGZwODUy?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">Tenryu-ji temple</span></span></a></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Wander </span><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Arashiyama/@35.0094534,135.6641981,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x6001075451efd3e3:0xabaad64f597b014c!8m2!3d35.009449!4d135.666773!16zL20vMDI4aDNs?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Arashiyama</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> for lunch</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">Visit <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Higashiyama+Ward,+Kyoto,+Japan/@34.9904183,135.7574573,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x600108cce225a887:0xc757bcddd50f90b1!8m2!3d34.9923961!4d135.7757965!16zL20vMDZ6a3Js?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Higashiyama Ward</span></a></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">Dinner & drinks along the <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Donguri+Bridge/@35.0002646,135.7676033,17z/data=!4m22!1m11!3m10!1s0x600108e457079b29:0x578668ecc6840c03!2sKamo+River!5m3!1s2023-10-26!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d34.9804985!4d135.7671783!16zL20vMDVxazNx!3m9!1s0x600109fa22bbe409:0xd432d468c041abbd!5m3!1s2023-10-26!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d35.0021971!4d135.7709007!16s%2Fg%2F11tj2tgjfx?entry=ttu">Kamo River</a></span></span></p></li></ul><div><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14.6667px; text-align: center; white-space: pre;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvvghrIhvAGMvByGrZBMT8w2ruXwL5us8FKEZfOSMi9EQzNXPxvOsE72qOgytzw8XeKHMnH6fkuTIZPKTvsf_nmf7vCQ_swX1m01fTkHeLjq9_ebJM0uSwCSWOBLnwcBOAtS0GM6zFCCF6dVpEA6xFsNiSdRLYy9zsCuBDae4Gkbm6DsZT01B5XzT_Hpc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvvghrIhvAGMvByGrZBMT8w2ruXwL5us8FKEZfOSMi9EQzNXPxvOsE72qOgytzw8XeKHMnH6fkuTIZPKTvsf_nmf7vCQ_swX1m01fTkHeLjq9_ebJM0uSwCSWOBLnwcBOAtS0GM6zFCCF6dVpEA6xFsNiSdRLYy9zsCuBDae4Gkbm6DsZT01B5XzT_Hpc=w495-h372" width="495" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center; white-space: pre;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Restaurants along the Takase River</span></div><p style="clear: both; white-space: pre;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Day 1</span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-3ccd9ff0-7fff-d576-00fc-b38a1369944c"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><ul style="font-size: 14.6667px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px; white-space: pre;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Higashiyama+Jisho-ji/@35.0270213,135.7982058,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipN7PyJFN9RkEtvWYlvIBRQfzTBPH8yqOZSgYMZF!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipN7PyJFN9RkEtvWYlvIBRQfzTBPH8yqOZSgYMZF%3Dw114-h86-k-no!7i4032!8i3024!4m7!3m6!1s0x600109050b426fe1:0x258aca1ce888abc9!8m2!3d35.0270213!4d135.7982058!10e5!16zL20vMDJ5NG05?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Ginkaku-jicho shrine</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">: This “silver pavilion” is nestled among breathtaking green grounds, and lies along the </span><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Philosopher's+Path/@35.0214576,135.7917199,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x60010908ae94f057:0x917af331a75280f4!8m2!3d35.0214532!4d135.7942948!16s%2Fg%2F11n065ssgc?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Philosopher’s Path</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">, one of the most scenic walking streets in Kyoto and one of the 100 most famous streets in Japan. I’d recommend starting your morning at the shrine (as it gets crowded after 11ish), then meander through the cute and small tourist street it’s on, and walk down Philosopher’s Path for a bit.</span></p></li></ul><div style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></div><div style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14.6667px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgfct0SdoU3JwfrAZcUQ4ZS32nURq1tq-K5vmoVwpKCf1gT-OVqxR_7-7cDJa7jxCZHp6nDdyVgqrxV0u5omldbIMy-AupS2TlG-m0qB0jJwnQyZ2SXNV77rV4J3nglTTDbyQ4FMaGF4GgCHQwzau-w0rLpJ7fZnsBlqsvtTN8Eb7qIF09XyltduOH_vVI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="405" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgfct0SdoU3JwfrAZcUQ4ZS32nURq1tq-K5vmoVwpKCf1gT-OVqxR_7-7cDJa7jxCZHp6nDdyVgqrxV0u5omldbIMy-AupS2TlG-m0qB0jJwnQyZ2SXNV77rV4J3nglTTDbyQ4FMaGF4GgCHQwzau-w0rLpJ7fZnsBlqsvtTN8Eb7qIF09XyltduOH_vVI=w541-h405" width="541" /></a></div><span style="text-align: center; white-space-collapse: collapse;"><div style="text-align: center; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Grounds of Ginkaku-ji, continued</span></div></span></div><div style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></div><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Grab a vegan lunch at </span><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Vegetarian+Cafe+Ren+Ginkakuji/@35.0286037,135.7848934,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x600109f89cc3b98b:0xff8a3173ad9a0436!8m2!3d35.0285993!4d135.7874683!16s%2Fg%2F11j0qh23nd?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Cafe Ren Ginkakuji</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">, not a well-known spot or anything but a 15-minute walk from Ginkakuji and a bit of a hidden gem for vegan takes on classic Asian meals.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Wander <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Shijo-dori,+Kyoto,+Japan/@35.0037736,135.7640829,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x6001064a90dcb149:0x57278fe62f8b68d4!8m2!3d35.0037693!4d135.7689538!16s%2Fm%2F025_10_?entry=ttu">Shijo-dori</a>: Because of where we were staying, we ended up passing this main street a number of times. It’s a regular shopping street with a mix of international brands and local souvenirs/food, and has a really charming lit-up awning that makes it look retro and inviting. We shopped for souvenirs here and wish we had more time to wander around it!</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Dinner at <a href="Vegan Ramen UZU">Vegan Ramen UZU</a>. Be sure to make a booking!! They have one 16-person seating per night, so this should be planned ahead. Inventive food in a quirky space. MUST get the vegan chocolate ice cream for dessert.</span></p></li></ul><div><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Day 2</span></b></span></div><div><ul><li><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Arashiyama/@35.0094534,135.6641981,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x6001075451efd3e3:0xabaad64f597b014c!8m2!3d35.009449!4d135.666773!16zL20vMDI4aDNs?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Arashiyama</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">: Do a half-day trip to this part of Kyoto that’s in the outskirts, along the Katsura River that winds along western Kyoto. Walk through the famous </span><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Arashiyama+Bamboo+Grove/@35.0168231,135.6687264,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x6001abebbf5c8bad:0xfb9ffc7bbdd67cdd!8m2!3d35.0168187!4d135.6713013!16s%2Fg%2F11bx1hnfm7?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">bamboo grove</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> and spend some time at </span><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tenryu-ji/@35.0165899,135.6720094,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x6001aa01b80f9e93:0xcd9c3edaff3348c0!8m2!3d35.0165855!4d135.6745843!16zL20vMGZwODUy?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Tenryu-ji temple</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, a World Heritage Site with a serene garden that’s been landscaped the same way since the 1400s.</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdIItbJMsfnjns41NRFN3t5Fp0E5oqxEPcw97A8I2SkpmWakSBdCTmq0Jxawzx4Xb5CrrKZihU7lERlWXDFqkJPWVfCR4EgK2xZBhTdEXHbs99MGpuyao2mpfhViJvTaYRE8TUzJOqf_1OkedSo2Xuh2pU4ZM1CIIPoVhpd7aIE_gxYNnrYgkFjjfaHm8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdIItbJMsfnjns41NRFN3t5Fp0E5oqxEPcw97A8I2SkpmWakSBdCTmq0Jxawzx4Xb5CrrKZihU7lERlWXDFqkJPWVfCR4EgK2xZBhTdEXHbs99MGpuyao2mpfhViJvTaYRE8TUzJOqf_1OkedSo2Xuh2pU4ZM1CIIPoVhpd7aIE_gxYNnrYgkFjjfaHm8=w589-h442" width="589" /></a></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Garden of the Tenryu-ji Temple</span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: center; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></div></span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-2ca7380d-7fff-1402-8eaa-0b384190385e"><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Spend lunch trying the various snacks available along the central street of Arashiyama, or grab something to go and eat it along the Katsura River!</span></p></li></ul><div><span id="docs-internal-guid-35a277ca-7fff-87d2-3ad8-4ed1fddca13f"><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Head back to the city, and explore <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Higashiyama+Ward,+Kyoto,+Japan/@34.9904183,135.7574573,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x600108cce225a887:0xc757bcddd50f90b1!8m2!3d34.9923961!4d135.7757965!16zL20vMDZ6a3Js?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Higashiyama Ward</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">: this neighborhood preserves the look and feel of feudal-era Japan, and its winding streets have Hōkan-ji Temple smiling over them. It’s a large area so if you’re looking for a good landmark to put into Uber, navigating to <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ninenzaka/@34.9981595,135.7783209,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m10!3m9!1s0x600108d018ab0c97:0xe6ae59775061be35!5m3!1s2023-10-26!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d34.9981595!4d135.7809012!16s%2Fg%2F11bw3d1ng5?entry=ttu">Ninenzaka</a> should </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">get you right to the part we liked.</span></p></li></ul><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Walk 15 minutes up to </span><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Kiyomizu-dera/@35.0004443,135.7757812,16z/data=!4m14!1m5!2m4!1spark+hyatt!5m2!5m1!1s2023-10-26!3m7!1s0x600108d385dcfb07:0x62af658650c434ba!5m1!1s2023-10-26!8m2!3d34.9948561!4d135.7850463!16zL20vMDJ5bjNn?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Kiyomizu-dera</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> from here if you have the time!</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Grab dinner by the Kamo River. We don’t have a strong rec but grabbed good </span><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Baan+Rim+Naam/@35.0035339,135.7677535,17z/data=!4m14!1m7!3m6!1s0x600108e457079b29:0x578668ecc6840c03!2sKamo+River!8m2!3d34.9804985!4d135.7671783!16zL20vMDVxazNx!3m5!1s0x600108bf94ffb54d:0x1222bf86413e2432!8m2!3d35.0026697!4d135.7706797!16s%2Fg%2F1thn5dq8?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">veggie Thai food</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> here a few times, and they have outdoor seating options. Anything along the river should have a great vibe!</span></p></li></ul><div><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14.6667px; text-align: center; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiC4_wkFd0WgCHunB1G_R7CMkeW8WfJSCXSP9WcRIHHCVMwLWOFcJuZklErarQNi3COFpMUyqU9UEUYlCOTLEIXIX0vwJzTGcrMSPCSYk_WfwCf1dWftpRvL2qc_4dI0bDCqck8JtkudENouAs66hnaPEc_Lr8dyU9DYjuueeRx9HLRJ3AcQxe6ZVUeU-U" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiC4_wkFd0WgCHunB1G_R7CMkeW8WfJSCXSP9WcRIHHCVMwLWOFcJuZklErarQNi3COFpMUyqU9UEUYlCOTLEIXIX0vwJzTGcrMSPCSYk_WfwCf1dWftpRvL2qc_4dI0bDCqck8JtkudENouAs66hnaPEc_Lr8dyU9DYjuueeRx9HLRJ3AcQxe6ZVUeU-U=w274-h365" width="274" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Path along the Takase River, just parallel to the Kamo</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li><span id="docs-internal-guid-35a277ca-7fff-87d2-3ad8-4ed1fddca13f"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">After dinner, try a Kyoto cocktail! Japanese cocktail-making is famous, and we had an intimate, personalized experience at </span><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bar+Indigo/@35.0042825,135.7702348,17z/data=!3m2!4b1!5s0x600108c028796719:0x948b0f1153416e59!4m6!3m5!1s0x600108c02bf90001:0x4754daf32fa96cac!8m2!3d35.0042825!4d135.7728151!16s%2Fg%2F11csqvpql7?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bar Indigo</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. You could put a nightcap on your Kyoto experience at other lovely places in Pontocho Alley and along the </span><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Takase+River/@34.9941562,135.7456736,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x60010f4f4a897ae9:0x3dac60116d9275da!8m2!3d34.994508!4d135.7667547!16zL20vMDl6MWc3?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Takase River</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (small “stream” that runs parallel to the Kamo) as well. </span></span></li></ul><div><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span></div></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14.6667px; text-align: center; white-space: pre;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhXElkf_t5MMsXfFCOt0gDHDFSIvqGGuy7xNDdlrq_zSwNMyG07HE4sSMFl4XT4k46W5udsTo81Fj7miGXZxEOzH4mvU56Po-0U7tCIkXF6tQ6aVrHRNEV_TDlsXGoigJ1KKzfc_Tvg1-QkVyNleIoQqOdGGvJQXn7GCW775h5-JTM24n6m8CcyFzbdEWc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhXElkf_t5MMsXfFCOt0gDHDFSIvqGGuy7xNDdlrq_zSwNMyG07HE4sSMFl4XT4k46W5udsTo81Fj7miGXZxEOzH4mvU56Po-0U7tCIkXF6tQ6aVrHRNEV_TDlsXGoigJ1KKzfc_Tvg1-QkVyNleIoQqOdGGvJQXn7GCW775h5-JTM24n6m8CcyFzbdEWc=w370-h278" width="370" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center; white-space: pre;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Bar Indigo, Gion District</span></div><div style="font-size: small; text-align: center; white-space: pre;"><br /></div></span>Lodging:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">We didn't love either of the places we stayed so wouldn't have specific recs, but we really appreciated the areas they were in. Both were within 5 blocks of the Kamo River (on the west side) which was convenient, especially for strolling the area in the evenings.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are some other places we heard were worth seeing, but ran out of time for:</span></div><div><span id="docs-internal-guid-ee7b75e8-7fff-43b1-9d3d-d5c7bd993a3e"><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Kiyomizu-dera/@35.0004443,135.7757812,16z/data=!4m14!1m5!2m4!1spark+hyatt!5m2!5m1!1s2023-10-26!3m7!1s0x600108d385dcfb07:0x62af658650c434ba!5m1!1s2023-10-26!8m2!3d34.9948561!4d135.7850463!16zL20vMDJ5bjNn?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Kiyomizu-dera</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">: repeatedly heard that this was many people’s #1 sight in Kyoto, but we were unable to do it because of a health thing that day. Very close to the touristy part of Higashiyama.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Kinkaku-ji/@35.0393744,135.7266682,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x6001a820c0eb46bd:0xee4272b1c22645f!8m2!3d35.03937!4d135.7292431!16zL20vMDFrbjR3?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Kinkaku-ji shrine</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">: literally the grandfather of Ginkaku-ji, our favorite spot. </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Onsens! Did not have the bandwidth to research a good public bath, but would definitely explore on a longer trip.</span></p></li></span></ul></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are a few other places we saw, worth visiting if you have more time:</span></div><div><span id="docs-internal-guid-88dfe4d3-7fff-ac1d-b680-620b25c83fe4"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Fushimi+Inari+Yotsuji/@34.9690447,135.7789179,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x60010f19c5f5b48d:0xcf6a2ada9d83c467!8m2!3d34.9690403!4d135.7814928!16s%2Fg%2F11c5bm_4zq?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Fushimi-Inari Yotsuji</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">: medium strenuous walk through 10,000 bright orange Torii gates, to a shrine on the peak that unfortunately doesn’t have a view overlooking the city. Would recommend seeing the shrines at the base after dark, as they’re quite stunning then. Climbing to the top took a lot of energy when we felt like we got the picture from the bottom!</span></p></li></ul><div><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14.6667px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGNEU7Kpcrg0RS42wvXIAfffHz7ZgSnfLKZpjhNI59U1V2gz_QjQGQmFY02ZnOv1gO8TYL-FVnTYHSiLYARSOjVIgkkPmRVHRwiyDoE9XaxpWlGIslOpjVdni-E8jMBgPXFlhrpSliN9gloaNfpcIgc15a2K_qAV2P6P98aEArBeEpTutJi96bnYAyiBU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGNEU7Kpcrg0RS42wvXIAfffHz7ZgSnfLKZpjhNI59U1V2gz_QjQGQmFY02ZnOv1gO8TYL-FVnTYHSiLYARSOjVIgkkPmRVHRwiyDoE9XaxpWlGIslOpjVdni-E8jMBgPXFlhrpSliN9gloaNfpcIgc15a2K_qAV2P6P98aEArBeEpTutJi96bnYAyiBU=w478-h358" width="478" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Fushimi Inari shrine, at dusk and from the base</span></div></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/ShinPuhKan/@35.0096926,135.759218,19z/data=!3m1!5s0x6001088509cd9e15:0xaa4db7e3e45c61ef!4m22!1m11!3m10!1s0x600108850dbbba6f:0x742dc2004b7f1e09!2sAce+Hotel+Kyoto!5m3!1s2023-10-26!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d35.009774!4d135.7599798!16s%2Fg%2F11f5bx3k4x!3m9!1s0x600108850bb3db31:0x2f03dbf8eca026a6!5m3!1s2023-10-26!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d35.0095827!4d135.7598315!16s%2Fg%2F122pkmky?entry=ttu" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">ShinPuhKan</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> shopping mall: we went to an event here and found the ultra-modern, half-indoor, half-outdoor Japanese design pretty cool. Beams is good for quirky (but a bit pricey) souvenirs, and the other spots are good for window shopping.</span></p></li></ul></span></span></div><div><span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">🌸 <span>Kyoto was a serene delight to the senses, and we're looking forward to being back. You can read about our trip as whole <a href="https://365gapdays.blogspot.com/p/tokyo-kyoto-23.html">here</a>, including a narrative of our 24 hours in Tokyo <a href="https://365gapdays.blogspot.com/2023/10/24-hours-in-tokyo.html">here</a>. For more details on our time in Arashiyama and at Fushimi-Inari, <a href="https://365gapdays.blogspot.com/2023/10/arashiyama-fushimi-inari-taisha.html">click here</a>. Happy travels!</span></span></div>Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-91178302819600334382023-10-08T05:01:00.006-04:002023-10-08T05:07:15.796-04:0024 Hours in Tokyo!!<p>5pm: We arrived early Friday evening at the <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hotel+Mets+Shibuya/@35.6557738,139.7013555,17z/data=!3m2!4b1!5s0x60188b59bf8b2233:0x89a02b53cfa11816!4m10!3m9!1s0x60188b5a33202953:0x645925513c4a7514!5m3!1s2023-10-26!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d35.6557695!4d139.7039304!16s%2Fg%2F1jmcw8snl?entry=ttu">Hotel Mets Shibuya</a>, which happens to be inside of Shibuya Station! Shibuya is the most “bustly” part of one of the most bustling cities in the world, and on our way out, we wanted to be in the center of the action. But staying inside the station itself was another level altogether, the lobby of our hotel just yards away from the ticket entrance to the Narita (Airport) express. We actually recommend <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hotel+Mets+Shibuya/@35.6557738,139.7013555,17z/data=!3m2!4b1!5s0x60188b59bf8b2233:0x89a02b53cfa11816!4m10!3m9!1s0x60188b5a33202953:0x645925513c4a7514!5m3!1s2023-10-26!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d35.6557695!4d139.7039304!16s%2Fg%2F1jmcw8snl?entry=ttu">this place</a> if you're pressed for time in Toyko, not fussed about how your room looks, and want to pop out to the center of Shibuya multiple times, while being on a street that's tucked away, near a convenience store, and not that chaotic.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">7pm: At night, we launched into Shibuya Scramble Crossing, thus known because the intersection is so long and so crowded that one actually has to line up on the side of the street she's on, queuing for a chance to make it to the other side within the time of just one traffic light! I found this extremely exciting and we scrambled back and forth before meeting our friends Asuka and Taishi for dinner.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEje4m0MrrTOdzo7rlxLiSnKc9zrn_wP0UJa_X6OE9mVbZRFJOYj8GjFydRjY0Oy1jQxbSpiOeR3Hsn7T7n_IHUPrKZN9A9xHf7tNPZESOKNxcSQw4LyA_4vpjVsSN3n7dzqmRqP1Kp7ONFI-SAAfeaJSjQiRB47IY5UIhS2Lr86jlv3kxDhFr6aF7PvwRg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2540" data-original-width="3386" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEje4m0MrrTOdzo7rlxLiSnKc9zrn_wP0UJa_X6OE9mVbZRFJOYj8GjFydRjY0Oy1jQxbSpiOeR3Hsn7T7n_IHUPrKZN9A9xHf7tNPZESOKNxcSQw4LyA_4vpjVsSN3n7dzqmRqP1Kp7ONFI-SAAfeaJSjQiRB47IY5UIhS2Lr86jlv3kxDhFr6aF7PvwRg=w491-h368" width="491" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">8pm: Our meal was at <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tofu+Cuisine+Sorano+Shibuya/@35.6548042,139.7012859,17z/data=!3m2!4b1!5s0x60188b5a4d5a02fb:0x8d974d64bc6acf9a!4m6!3m5!1s0x60188b5bb2beb491:0x3ca9e75cd11c88e!8m2!3d35.6547999!4d139.7038608!16s%2Fg%2F11b76lwjfv?entry=ttu">Tofu Cuisine Sorano</a>, a treehouse-like eatery with a floor made of stones interlaced with a small indoor stream in which koi fish went about their business as we enjoyed our meal.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">9am: We started the next morning cruising around Harajuku, winding between high fashion brand outlets and tucked-away cafes between trendy stores (<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/rag+%26+bone+coffee/@35.6667075,139.7045412,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m10!3m9!1s0x60188d6d0ec934f5:0x793d3fed453c88b3!5m3!1s2023-10-26!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d35.6667032!4d139.7071161!16s%2Fg%2F11k02c9v_1?entry=ttu">Rag & Bone’s coffee shop</a>, for example). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjCYQaDe2Bp7j5tSBg3XB62AVNQ6suWroHb7_qXvBS6HjAwakwBT0HRP4sZp-0GwKejhWCTHuS7bOvae2WVoj5A-SdQBEXEIEjer7h-3Gge_MRL8i7ADTD7zIvge3b9_lucpeR8NAm2txS7MqoVTs9fGOYPWJtRv8W5iCB7iYsNqygGmUqJ33FMJVDiI_g" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjCYQaDe2Bp7j5tSBg3XB62AVNQ6suWroHb7_qXvBS6HjAwakwBT0HRP4sZp-0GwKejhWCTHuS7bOvae2WVoj5A-SdQBEXEIEjer7h-3Gge_MRL8i7ADTD7zIvge3b9_lucpeR8NAm2txS7MqoVTs9fGOYPWJtRv8W5iCB7iYsNqygGmUqJ33FMJVDiI_g=w369-h492" width="369" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">10am: We made our way up to the perfect place to re-live our youth, <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Takeshita+St,+1-ch%C5%8Dme+Jing%C5%ABmae,+Shibuya+City,+Tokyo+150-0001,+Japan/@35.6557738,139.683331,14z/data=!4m10!3m9!1s0x60188cbaf1de5995:0xc2becc88ea4e7eb5!5m3!1s2023-10-26!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d35.6710335!4d139.7051821!16zL20vMDI5MzY2?entry=ttu">Takeshita Street</a>—the “teenager street” of Tokyo. Bubble waffles, spiralled potatoes on sticks, cotton candy, and crepes seemed to overflow into the streets, alternating with fashion options that I guess (?) are popular with teens these days? Well past my teens, I nevertheless found something suitable to buy, indulging in puppy socks and Nutella <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Crepes%E5%8E%9F%E5%AE%BF%E3%81%99%E3%81%BE%E3%81%84%E3%82%8B/@35.6708498,139.7034125,18z/data=!3m1!5s0x60188ca4a0b62c07:0xfe88e5b9cfea5285!4m9!1m2!2m1!1skebab!3m5!1s0x60188d2956bcbf8f:0x61c10ba89de8ca09!8m2!3d35.6704244!4d139.7063157!16s%2Fg%2F11kjljhltk?entry=ttu">crepes</a> under street lamps wafting Japanese pop hits down the street in synchronicity.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbbx6SZV1ZRnAop9cfzW0c-eQ8ihjRAtPh6nsHW18KwIz4NzpkHNSawj8JLwAKQweqHS-nS59Kw6hL5wlhtaCziGA214jRwtf7QMs9L6xKi1k1YT4UetC_2a-bjMc1zNawMid4Xqb8eOPBHm3HmEH8seIAlfe4vRJ2tNYS5XumaGcyveYDWWZw_qW1Wgs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbbx6SZV1ZRnAop9cfzW0c-eQ8ihjRAtPh6nsHW18KwIz4NzpkHNSawj8JLwAKQweqHS-nS59Kw6hL5wlhtaCziGA214jRwtf7QMs9L6xKi1k1YT4UetC_2a-bjMc1zNawMid4Xqb8eOPBHm3HmEH8seIAlfe4vRJ2tNYS5XumaGcyveYDWWZw_qW1Wgs=w296-h395" width="296" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdq-07-pEavtniWduRwlGzZLZz4yUB0gF9EYf77LkpedIa9uPg0qkVKhRcy2e6fv_eMEMFgxOVTBAdzcr9Mjb-oFDoD4dTQVRL_c6WNyHyEtjnkiNwCg3GvpM10WWLbSpE42_4j8IziGXcA4Oj7rcduEQGP37bCQbYlqYsfB66qrU8JHl1hL24HlS1Wd0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdq-07-pEavtniWduRwlGzZLZz4yUB0gF9EYf77LkpedIa9uPg0qkVKhRcy2e6fv_eMEMFgxOVTBAdzcr9Mjb-oFDoD4dTQVRL_c6WNyHyEtjnkiNwCg3GvpM10WWLbSpE42_4j8IziGXcA4Oj7rcduEQGP37bCQbYlqYsfB66qrU8JHl1hL24HlS1Wd0=w299-h398" width="299" /></a><br /><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Udai grabbed a falafel wrap from this <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Doner+Kebap/@35.6703617,139.7041903,18z/data=!3m1!5s0x60188ca35f9f76c7:0x9481655d7db04386!4m10!1m2!2m1!1skebab!3m6!1s0x60188ca35e2d4531:0xe29e3cfc57bb9d39!8m2!3d35.6702164!4d139.7065672!15sCgVrZWJhYloHIgVrZWJhYpIBCnJlc3RhdXJhbnSaASRDaGREU1VoTk1HOW5TMFZKUTBGblNVUnBNbTh6UVhaUlJSQULgAQA!16s%2Fg%2F11f3n9cxtw?entry=ttu">doner kebab place</a> that actually seems to be quite an institution. Your wrap will come with chopsticks.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">12pm: From here, it was off to a more age-appropriate place: <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Meiji+Jingu/@35.6764019,139.696751,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m10!3m9!1s0x60188cb79a4c26e5:0x8fca893849103f73!5m3!1s2023-10-26!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d35.6763976!4d139.6993259!16zL20vMDFxX2s5?entry=ttu">Meiji-jingu</a>, one of the most venerated shrines in Japan, and the site of some Shinto weddings in the city. We got to see three such processions as we wandered the grounds, under majestic trees and a pleasant early-fall breeze.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdisgkpaAYP4MN5aWxNdujHLNxzG-I3657xQ3JL3u0Zes5tRsRGVhYY7_08jC6-rjzw7VNro33MVZTykqYZTheWwhl-yGnKfZZ3n-a_zX-x4mS2gcjqCKfUS3RZTz591hmTyrzFlGH4ImJv2FA57t3HtvpBPCTBBnghWyhieRKEleDEN8ZAEsj5WWKWI0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1490" data-original-width="1200" height="571" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdisgkpaAYP4MN5aWxNdujHLNxzG-I3657xQ3JL3u0Zes5tRsRGVhYY7_08jC6-rjzw7VNro33MVZTykqYZTheWwhl-yGnKfZZ3n-a_zX-x4mS2gcjqCKfUS3RZTz591hmTyrzFlGH4ImJv2FA57t3HtvpBPCTBBnghWyhieRKEleDEN8ZAEsj5WWKWI0=w459-h571" width="459" /></a></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">2pm: In the afternoon, we retreated to the Tomigaya area for some sit-down time at <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cafe+ROSTRO/@35.6667075,139.7045412,17z/data=!4m10!3m9!1s0x60188cb2cffc0001:0xf287c206de25b5ea!5m3!1s2023-10-26!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d35.6670432!4d139.6917939!16s%2Fg%2F11hyqcr1_m?entry=ttu">Cafe Rostro</a>, a classic Japanese coffee shop that makes cups of coffee according to the drinker’s taste preferences. Udai’s nutty, bold, less-sour cup was comprised of three bean varieties, ground by hand, and meticulously poured through a filter. My iced fruit tea was left to steep in a cocktail shaker that was laid down in a bed of ice for 20 minutes, and then rapidly rotated until the inside chilled to an ideal temperature.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjeNd3mhn9phmuwFiDvqrEusIkM7PX2IrcWK_Ovb1_ltntCEuyjDdjuVUCHtpYA-OMBMxLh61PvDAS-La9LUwobw-jw7k8PdBN_4fqipZQa08SP5hfv_d81vLtzbeKb_9Uzf2ITDk7g7mCyp2ARrpOZIenBMpNP8-vhlS1vS_XKZy-PsT1OKe71qgMjYJ8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjeNd3mhn9phmuwFiDvqrEusIkM7PX2IrcWK_Ovb1_ltntCEuyjDdjuVUCHtpYA-OMBMxLh61PvDAS-La9LUwobw-jw7k8PdBN_4fqipZQa08SP5hfv_d81vLtzbeKb_9Uzf2ITDk7g7mCyp2ARrpOZIenBMpNP8-vhlS1vS_XKZy-PsT1OKe71qgMjYJ8" width="427" /></a></div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">3pm: I grabbed pho for a late lunch at <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/DADA%C3%8F+THAI+VIETNAMESE+DIM+SUM/@35.6607926,139.6629211,13z/data=!3m1!5s0x60188ca7da76342b:0xd7b0f73dd739a23b!4m10!1m2!2m1!1spho+dim+sum+thai!3m6!1s0x60188d4602683cf9:0x2c1365875cd7081b!8m2!3d35.6623369!4d139.7019021!15sChBwaG8gZGltIHN1bSB0aGFpWhIiEHBobyBkaW0gc3VtIHRoYWmSARV2aWV0bmFtZXNlX3Jlc3RhdXJhbnSaASNDaFpEU1VoTk1HOW5TMFZKUTBGblNVTkxkRjlUUTA5M0VBReABAA!16s%2Fg%2F11hf8qlcqb?entry=ttu">Dadaï Thai</a>, a combo Thai/Vietnamese/Chinese spot in Miyashita Park. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">5pm: We then walked back to Hotel Mets and walked literally outside our 3rd floor lobby onto the Narita Express back to the airport!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">また近いうちにお会いしましょう!</div></div>Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-62959871576240949762023-10-05T09:24:00.004-04:002023-10-07T22:45:20.051-04:00Arashiyama & Fushimi-Inari Taisha<p> We were up bright and early this morning to catch a ride to <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Arashiyama+Bamboo+Grove/@35.0169914,135.6717841,17z/data=!4m14!1m7!3m6!1s0x6001075451efd3e3:0xabaad64f597b014c!2sArashiyama!8m2!3d35.009449!4d135.666773!16zL20vMDI4aDNs!3m5!1s0x6001abebbf5c8bad:0xfb9ffc7bbdd67cdd!8m2!3d35.0168187!4d135.6713013!16s%2Fg%2F11bx1hnfm7?entry=ttu">Arashiyama</a>, an area on the outskirts of Kyoto known for a bamboo forest and some super scenic shrines. We first visited the <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tenryu-ji/@35.0164642,135.6715535,18z/data=!4m14!1m7!3m6!1s0x6001075451efd3e3:0xabaad64f597b014c!2sArashiyama!8m2!3d35.009449!4d135.666773!16zL20vMDI4aDNs!3m5!1s0x6001aa01b80f9e93:0xcd9c3edaff3348c0!8m2!3d35.0165855!4d135.6745843!16zL20vMGZwODUy?entry=ttu">Tenryu-ji</a> temple, the landscaping of whose lake hasn't changed since the 1400s.</p><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJ7aGik1QSY1D4ujEgcxSuHEkxQMZnWwWPaOt9yiPJtDIC1V99YxiNqY70CVAhMzxL8voVgIk028R7RNr0kFM9mFdwUY4Xq_WzvlFZg6YcUDtjscPgYkzduKmwe9g0IYYzIXpwwPEyeXkp8MUNvw5IjguGgA14SoKxj38bc8aaD2nsYwP-Kpm7BxiUzkY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="539" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJ7aGik1QSY1D4ujEgcxSuHEkxQMZnWwWPaOt9yiPJtDIC1V99YxiNqY70CVAhMzxL8voVgIk028R7RNr0kFM9mFdwUY4Xq_WzvlFZg6YcUDtjscPgYkzduKmwe9g0IYYzIXpwwPEyeXkp8MUNvw5IjguGgA14SoKxj38bc8aaD2nsYwP-Kpm7BxiUzkY=w720-h539" width="720" /></a></div><br />We sat soaking in the serene surroundings until we had worked up an appetite (for coffee) and headed off to find the fabled original % Arabica shop. We walked along the beautiful Katsura River to get there, but found the line laughably long and ended up sitting on the wall along the river and eating jell-o from 7-Eleven. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPx5KWx2L3kGZ1N4Pd8V3Fhb13iZMPi8gogg9DojiqInUbx3jJeZEzdsyXWSkKKZj6Za7cuEUzroPQibS6L8wEqcklhF4fAlzdv4bRcYT1QCjA-P_1bg898zoIfPhW-1FWNxAlgh7WFik7pJNthKdEo6GSlE0fHqSeB2bCdswJfFbFsSe0izxVbLsXBM4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPx5KWx2L3kGZ1N4Pd8V3Fhb13iZMPi8gogg9DojiqInUbx3jJeZEzdsyXWSkKKZj6Za7cuEUzroPQibS6L8wEqcklhF4fAlzdv4bRcYT1QCjA-P_1bg898zoIfPhW-1FWNxAlgh7WFik7pJNthKdEo6GSlE0fHqSeB2bCdswJfFbFsSe0izxVbLsXBM4=w391-h294" width="391" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>We spent some time ambling through the adorable town of Arashiyama before heading back to the canal for lunch.</div><div><br /></div><div>On a roll, we decided to pay a visit to <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Fushimi+Inari+Taisha/@34.9670661,135.7711735,17z/data=!4m10!1m2!2m1!1sfushimi+inari!3m6!1s0x60010f153d2e6d21:0x7b1aca1c753ae2e9!8m2!3d34.9671402!4d135.7726717!15sCg1mdXNoaW1pIGluYXJpWg8iDWZ1c2hpbWkgaW5hcmmSAQ1zaGludG9fc2hyaW5l4AEA!16zL20vMDVsZHJt?entry=ttu">Fushimi Inari Taisha</a>, a mountainside shrine famous for featuring 10,000 bright orange torii gates in the side of the mountain!</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPSe0k_qHakGSjdTskNXHDWjRXKcykYoaP2MX3AreC_cYkp85ieD55htoUzttTEK0K4rqNp6AMQ5XgBuBfwrNWyBr5sxsNV7E3IY79d1zAWMZRL9uJyv5jzcf1GeuRLwWKH6hcmk47zXJUtM444leBPmTUCEd2eds3fo3sWx9C1V2ojy8Nrf-NLjw0h-E" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPSe0k_qHakGSjdTskNXHDWjRXKcykYoaP2MX3AreC_cYkp85ieD55htoUzttTEK0K4rqNp6AMQ5XgBuBfwrNWyBr5sxsNV7E3IY79d1zAWMZRL9uJyv5jzcf1GeuRLwWKH6hcmk47zXJUtM444leBPmTUCEd2eds3fo3sWx9C1V2ojy8Nrf-NLjw0h-E=w311-h412" width="311" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtg0JgnGMvF9YddA1tYhfWPIkBaE3KnwiQYUmJ56WPfwo0AE-FN6-Ku7Asaze4KDntzlQTSe3mugUAL3PZ5HW_HtJsVlM9-gzOPm7k1teUPtqJ0kuuBCYFNuX46Hjb--UlPGv3O-77vAbPfaDmWbby3z4kFSe_LWhRaP98I5XQCPozZTlJ7k2FRhA4tAI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtg0JgnGMvF9YddA1tYhfWPIkBaE3KnwiQYUmJ56WPfwo0AE-FN6-Ku7Asaze4KDntzlQTSe3mugUAL3PZ5HW_HtJsVlM9-gzOPm7k1teUPtqJ0kuuBCYFNuX46Hjb--UlPGv3O-77vAbPfaDmWbby3z4kFSe_LWhRaP98I5XQCPozZTlJ7k2FRhA4tAI=w309-h412" width="309" /></a></div></div><div><div><br /></div>The route features a number of resting points with shrines on the way, including Shin-ike Pond, Mitsu-tsuji, and Yotsu-tsuji, about 15 minutes apart each (depending on your walking speed). I picked the third of these (<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Fushimi+Inari+Yotsuji/@34.9676244,135.7692557,16z/data=!4m9!1m2!2m1!1sfushimi+inari!3m5!1s0x60010f19c5f5b48d:0xcf6a2ada9d83c467!8m2!3d34.9690403!4d135.7814928!16s%2Fg%2F11c5bm_4zq?entry=ttu">Yotsuji</a>) to park myself and take a meeting while Udai summited Mt. Inari! (This was only 10 minutes beyond the last resting top, to be clear.) During his descent, he perched himself on some large boulders at the viewpoint I had stayed at, and pulled out something to read. Half an hour later, a crowd of 30-40 folks had silently assembled on boulders around the one where I now joined Udai, sitting in silent expectation of the sunset over Kyoto. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTvxDVSCxR3lCdSRybSwzH816WUnJBqzPTilg6drj31ZavZu-6s73O0ZaybbicoHQF4ZsWsL_dTACoZ7qxhceV9NYXkOTaNS6rcV1LjSiJ8LwAqsW0cwPwk_bNWsTey69hO1-eCZzCOMj3IU-iu_5xwEZ7T7YwScFi79jZWXhG1SHs1gj74TU60wQ6Rto" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTvxDVSCxR3lCdSRybSwzH816WUnJBqzPTilg6drj31ZavZu-6s73O0ZaybbicoHQF4ZsWsL_dTACoZ7qxhceV9NYXkOTaNS6rcV1LjSiJ8LwAqsW0cwPwk_bNWsTey69hO1-eCZzCOMj3IU-iu_5xwEZ7T7YwScFi79jZWXhG1SHs1gj74TU60wQ6Rto=w485-h364" width="485" /></a></div><br /></div><div>We all sat between 4:30 and 5:30, as the sun finally set and we made our way back down. There, the main shrine greeted us, its upturned eaves now glowing magnificently in the dark.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqLLuRSOeXgyhFapyj6LIx2l0wJfrrOwQw9ChblzdYiQt-5zJFGqxTu-aDQmzJ7lnS04AucX-dxDJ5U28WaW5M_hmrgvi_ZbbJ5O_MXSab70FWg3u-KGCuuLRHH7h-6icGDHqIH6ZXWrMTE_dORuIBOGRhjBt9UtcFTBQwIXLQIjpGr6tS_KXqBEtc0ik" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqLLuRSOeXgyhFapyj6LIx2l0wJfrrOwQw9ChblzdYiQt-5zJFGqxTu-aDQmzJ7lnS04AucX-dxDJ5U28WaW5M_hmrgvi_ZbbJ5O_MXSab70FWg3u-KGCuuLRHH7h-6icGDHqIH6ZXWrMTE_dORuIBOGRhjBt9UtcFTBQwIXLQIjpGr6tS_KXqBEtc0ik=w641-h480" width="641" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>また近いうちにお会いしましょう!</div>Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-30715973818894599962023-09-16T17:38:00.007-04:002023-09-26T23:13:37.164-04:00Drenched in the Douro Valley<p>Today, Priya, Mama, and I ventured to the stunning <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douro_DOC">Douro Valley</a>, one of the protected designation of origins of wine, famous for port in particular. Despite the rain coming down for most of the day, views from the ride were too breathtaking to capture in single photographs, but here's one of Vila Real, a town on the water that we passed on the way.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiOt5UKJ7MuPqeqkrzZkEXAvDyGNMziEMJ5QVdH-UCPuycUJ2H7bmU1LPzYSbmIPpNn_S_PWNVYpWcSu-_Xre1_A-kJlUfIPmmZFUaAIf9UDcuhsZSuUiEozU3imscxEebHe9XVCucub_Pua5uE1LU4PDyo1cioVEs6BgGfquYmScgZzsyc0rjbMG3ycnI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2772" data-original-width="3652" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiOt5UKJ7MuPqeqkrzZkEXAvDyGNMziEMJ5QVdH-UCPuycUJ2H7bmU1LPzYSbmIPpNn_S_PWNVYpWcSu-_Xre1_A-kJlUfIPmmZFUaAIf9UDcuhsZSuUiEozU3imscxEebHe9XVCucub_Pua5uE1LU4PDyo1cioVEs6BgGfquYmScgZzsyc0rjbMG3ycnI" width="632" /></a></div><br />The journey took about an hour and a half by bus, through verdant undulating hills cut with terraces for the viticulture for which the region is famous.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1ADCSNi4nmImbzDXuXWuU5lCgiheJZr0i4NAeRV-dptkZyIP6lCeyKwd3qh233KzRXRNPYjHJ0ftWCLY2BWDqgLFLs4A7vV9kv-YthvJ1IsThWrksofmhn7_TS5qbHwFMizJ1dtEHUNZRKdey95cygAUaVT2nYEHK-jPE59MvSXtoIqNAXdybpoMxeUg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1ADCSNi4nmImbzDXuXWuU5lCgiheJZr0i4NAeRV-dptkZyIP6lCeyKwd3qh233KzRXRNPYjHJ0ftWCLY2BWDqgLFLs4A7vV9kv-YthvJ1IsThWrksofmhn7_TS5qbHwFMizJ1dtEHUNZRKdey95cygAUaVT2nYEHK-jPE59MvSXtoIqNAXdybpoMxeUg=w380-h253" width="380" /></a></div><br />Our first stop was the Régua train station, whence departs the fabled "<a href="https://trip.byway.travel/journey-template/19eb16ca-78c7-41ab-8f9c-a53ef6afe8c4?title=Portugal%27s%20Douro%20Line">Train to Nowhere</a>" that meanders through the Douro valley with no particular destination. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjo6ZHhgIjO0BDtRhVQpFQ0VJ_jNpsAyrTSg_tGeNWKSg0onNtWQDlmvM5rG-2cXiL3T_jDM50pSAViDNBbtvzNZP6G3_MSV6f1F5uLz81N3lfOG18Tx9-ErTLBwNcgsQ1TiJ-07heCHNZIGS595JWqIUxHmLWekbOEZrvrHF2FX2QpUgTvKUYbLE38ydk" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjo6ZHhgIjO0BDtRhVQpFQ0VJ_jNpsAyrTSg_tGeNWKSg0onNtWQDlmvM5rG-2cXiL3T_jDM50pSAViDNBbtvzNZP6G3_MSV6f1F5uLz81N3lfOG18Tx9-ErTLBwNcgsQ1TiJ-07heCHNZIGS595JWqIUxHmLWekbOEZrvrHF2FX2QpUgTvKUYbLE38ydk=w269-h358" width="269" /></a></div><br />Our carriage for the day, however, was decisive about its designated destinations. The first winery we visited was Quinta da Roêda, the farmstead on which the company Croft has its holdings. We learned that the word <i>quinta </i>("one-fifth")<i> </i>is used to refer to a farm in Portugal because one-fifth of the profits of such farms were reserved for the king, a fifth went to the owners of the estate, a fifth for the church, another fifth for the bishop of the church, and the last fifth to pay those who worked the land. I also learned that tawny port (my favorite) is called "tawny" because it has a golden-red color as it's fortified with brandy! Back in the day, 20% of the cask was filled with brandy so that it could stay on the shelf longer. No wonder it's so yum.<p></p><p>At the Croft vineyard, we sampled a rosé and a ruby port before wandering the property. My quickly wettening hair did not stop me from finding a few vantage points and dreaming about sitting there, glass in hand, on a sunnier day. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgg7wHtzhQueW-e-P0CW1VPnfdfbV3dGPbeAHw0JkTdB8hIIp48pibQmbIvJ7G0i8QsNadjRdUHyjd-8gNZRyR3cARPOjhaDttrIfr7UBlYbsJuI6370zVbG4m8oF2w1tLHIUXyxQb0nDVpvMf3AuZQR94OMtouiBTJBIr_KYYRLX8WfWq7H9A3HkUWj7A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgg7wHtzhQueW-e-P0CW1VPnfdfbV3dGPbeAHw0JkTdB8hIIp48pibQmbIvJ7G0i8QsNadjRdUHyjd-8gNZRyR3cARPOjhaDttrIfr7UBlYbsJuI6370zVbG4m8oF2w1tLHIUXyxQb0nDVpvMf3AuZQR94OMtouiBTJBIr_KYYRLX8WfWq7H9A3HkUWj7A=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br />For lunch, we stopped at <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Casa+dos+Barros/@41.2647694,-7.5749633,9z/data=!4m25!1m13!3m12!1s0xd3b45bfffffffff:0xd67f8b7f7f10b486!2sCasa+dos+Barros!5m4!1s2023-09-17!2i2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d41.2647546!4d-7.5753213!10e5!16s%2Fg%2F1tfbk0bc!3m10!1s0xd3b45bfffffffff:0xd67f8b7f7f10b486!5m4!1s2023-09-17!2i2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d41.2647546!4d-7.5753213!16s%2Fg%2F1tfbk0bc?entry=ttu">Casa Dos Barros</a>, a small family-run winery and lodge in the small town of Sabrosa. Somehow, Mama caught a whiff of the fact that this property neighbored the house in which Ferdinand Magellan was born! We peeped in at his birthplace in between courses of our traditional Portuguese meal, and sampling sessions of 20- and 30-year old aged tawny wines.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjaPSdD1zyKBN0_aKMUgL8V1-llKmWpYsXJ3mUkSRMdNB13KkaG5qY7iFWXX0PviwoCO9tpsgr9gO2wjwHEVxwYK4uXp4_2SLEGTq3P4B1sL27cENdtpjQWnQpk7wHN1ifoVtSTR5-kNhr8ehxvY-W1eOFFBbAz6vJw-4ED7tD9-YJPqYbqMGZYUlqCgCI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjaPSdD1zyKBN0_aKMUgL8V1-llKmWpYsXJ3mUkSRMdNB13KkaG5qY7iFWXX0PviwoCO9tpsgr9gO2wjwHEVxwYK4uXp4_2SLEGTq3P4B1sL27cENdtpjQWnQpk7wHN1ifoVtSTR5-kNhr8ehxvY-W1eOFFBbAz6vJw-4ED7tD9-YJPqYbqMGZYUlqCgCI=w536-h402" width="536" /></a></div><br />The third stop was our collective favorite, at the <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Quinta+dos+Castelares/@41.0745962,-6.8372091,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m11!3m10!1s0xd3c75fe22778c8d:0xed537ca28a32c6df!5m4!1s2023-09-17!2i2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d41.0745962!4d-6.8346342!16s%2Fg%2F11b70bbks6?entry=ttu">Quinta dos Castelares</a>, the only farmstead in Portugal to produce certified organic wines. The guide there, Armeliano, showed us the massive chestnut wood wine barrels used to make port here, some holding 12,000 liters of wine and costing $50,000 USD!<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8uyyge9J6kOnX8dCmY99dfvUT-d1k96W83DkmQoqvPTdFdt0_iylvbl7ewakwtpZPhZJ_ccF84_w8GR_S41labGznGj5sJemta0nLL3tiHTHWEWjEF4PO6MSVQNEkPThCOLCtkfonxrK-AwV_CU-RpUNz3l_rdMnBq7r6nITZcU2nT4oxqfjokowsr5c" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8uyyge9J6kOnX8dCmY99dfvUT-d1k96W83DkmQoqvPTdFdt0_iylvbl7ewakwtpZPhZJ_ccF84_w8GR_S41labGznGj5sJemta0nLL3tiHTHWEWjEF4PO6MSVQNEkPThCOLCtkfonxrK-AwV_CU-RpUNz3l_rdMnBq7r6nITZcU2nT4oxqfjokowsr5c=w438-h329" width="438" /></a></div><br />We sampled a series of chestnut-aged wines along with the best olive oil we've had and a medley of honeys—rosemary, chestnut, and heather. Rosemary was the clear winner, and we returned to Porto with soaking wet clothes, satisfied tummies, and jars of warm honey in our backpacks.<p></p>Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-90111165115543507312023-09-14T19:40:00.008-04:002023-09-15T17:46:29.770-04:00Pottering Around Porto<p>We started our Thursday with a drive through historic Porto and parked at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soares_dos_Reis_National_Museum">National Soares dos Reis Museum</a>, founded in 1833 to expose Portuguese students to the fine arts. With its well curated Portuguese paintings and sculpture and the gorgeous blue-and-white tiled walls, it was a dream come true (particularly given Mama's aesthetic preferences). We passed the hottest hours of the day there taking in Soares dos Reis and his contemporaries, through gallery after breathtaking gallery. We highly recommend their small and thoughtful collection!</p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAbd0yzeqHx_YGl5aXsPLT1UTg742KpjyiR5Iq-KIzVk3FLEtUhFKjOc53iKlZ9gVf53DtwQjDovzrMHGTlDG4HIdV59Xhnq5TswBcvR2vE72VCg-Qjdpu8rk7dZPVH-yDEZfe-erwZhn6H3IR_iYjQj1r0ACsiFp3e4tVdgSDCPSSpr78VbMV1723Ik8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="401" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAbd0yzeqHx_YGl5aXsPLT1UTg742KpjyiR5Iq-KIzVk3FLEtUhFKjOc53iKlZ9gVf53DtwQjDovzrMHGTlDG4HIdV59Xhnq5TswBcvR2vE72VCg-Qjdpu8rk7dZPVH-yDEZfe-erwZhn6H3IR_iYjQj1r0ACsiFp3e4tVdgSDCPSSpr78VbMV1723Ik8=w535-h401" width="535" /></a></div><br />When the hottest hours of the day had passed, we popped into <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livraria_Lello">Livraria Lello</a>, known for being "the most beautiful bookstore in the world." After a visit, we can confidently confirm that we agree with this assessment. A stained glass ceiling and window coverings suspend over a red staircase that looks like melting lava, like something out of Harry Potter.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjrITpROckTgisbBctbcUKCd54Gm-QIqRtM_Gr8KbLkkUMMfBoUu1vCW8hmJ1HIc-frEgV4A-TtC-KLx2NFpyTCPIqXFzIQSAlWqxxph5aF4pomEMNoi-3mGg2eV0XAdAKYrkHzNMpcSo51nztuyZ015GRPd9V-gAW6xvcJTIMgTGk0T4P3QwdQtiggSQo" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjrITpROckTgisbBctbcUKCd54Gm-QIqRtM_Gr8KbLkkUMMfBoUu1vCW8hmJ1HIc-frEgV4A-TtC-KLx2NFpyTCPIqXFzIQSAlWqxxph5aF4pomEMNoi-3mGg2eV0XAdAKYrkHzNMpcSo51nztuyZ015GRPd9V-gAW6xvcJTIMgTGk0T4P3QwdQtiggSQo=w640-h481" width="640" /></a></div><br />After the first tawny port of the day, we ventured out to the stunning teal Fonte dos Leões, Mama's new favorite fountain in the world! </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCs74ZPBoRjtt_43yazGER8uriQJgjAQeCbIzS6hClROpTcJZ2PjNwKoumjbsGd_Gb85vjfRhzLAmybNJlTYgEOv5O9snJJCw8tnVQ8YtH26WeJuC18Hwr-tHJ7vY_I7wobSjw3FDiS3yIB-qX8Fb1BDFmChzaHWWCjl4WTuQ_srZjMhVLqB_obbrmrDs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2888" data-original-width="3607" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCs74ZPBoRjtt_43yazGER8uriQJgjAQeCbIzS6hClROpTcJZ2PjNwKoumjbsGd_Gb85vjfRhzLAmybNJlTYgEOv5O9snJJCw8tnVQ8YtH26WeJuC18Hwr-tHJ7vY_I7wobSjw3FDiS3yIB-qX8Fb1BDFmChzaHWWCjl4WTuQ_srZjMhVLqB_obbrmrDs=w482-h385" width="482" /></a></div><br />After a visit to Igreja do Carmo, a cathedral smattered with striking tiles on the outside, we were eager to make our way to the river for sunset. We headed into the Ribeira neighborhood and soaked up some views before crossing the striking Ponte Luís I to the south side of the river, Cais de Gaia.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjph0HCaZkM6UdA0xkiUwlVFtnb0rD4U1Gl-1q7zwUYpRqQnw_XMKrRhJpvpoxmh0vIHhnKFyeG3sDTSFyenM0n-_qF9hgU5cpJBcCCJMxBIidnSeQxIF29B0ReK9tzT1uw-zbLxyXrtfTUamLapsGKSfO9WWz7n_asNNeiHVImU6t9yLt4sf32fQdy7J4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjph0HCaZkM6UdA0xkiUwlVFtnb0rD4U1Gl-1q7zwUYpRqQnw_XMKrRhJpvpoxmh0vIHhnKFyeG3sDTSFyenM0n-_qF9hgU5cpJBcCCJMxBIidnSeQxIF29B0ReK9tzT1uw-zbLxyXrtfTUamLapsGKSfO9WWz7n_asNNeiHVImU6t9yLt4sf32fQdy7J4=w727-h546" width="727" /></a></div><br />We let the sun's rays sink into us until the very last moments of its setting. Then we zoomed over to Via Catarina in search of new luggage, and came across a set of beautiful, wide streets and a historic local market, Mercado do Bolhão. We found a newly opened restaurant, <a href="https://mercadobolhao.pt/en/restaurants/129-herdade-1980/">Herdade 1980</a>, and enjoyed wonderfully prepared sweet potato and spinach dishes, alongside the tawniest of ports. Mama's sleek new suitcase in hand, we slid back to the north side to turn in for the day.</div><div><br /></div><div>On Friday we started at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porto_Cathedral">Sé Cathedral</a>, one of the city's most important Romanesque monuments. Built in the Gothic style, it has a continuous Azuelo mural interspersed between the walls of stone.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg6O55b2L_7yDMXEp2SMhP0A3mqJPXN2fqb1KRuzxsBV4n-2k3WcJrnHkJxTTDJtQXsjoc6JW-Q16toawb9McOpBSm_N-XJh83A0xsJL4OgXwrhAx0AooKqrIX_RY7hxrzTR46c2k4o3weUMXLG-X2QuYyB8HqrkxqxeME7fJWS1dBWK--uNw6Y_TJOfHA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg6O55b2L_7yDMXEp2SMhP0A3mqJPXN2fqb1KRuzxsBV4n-2k3WcJrnHkJxTTDJtQXsjoc6JW-Q16toawb9McOpBSm_N-XJh83A0xsJL4OgXwrhAx0AooKqrIX_RY7hxrzTR46c2k4o3weUMXLG-X2QuYyB8HqrkxqxeME7fJWS1dBWK--uNw6Y_TJOfHA=w462-h347" width="462" /></a></div><br />We headed back to the Livraria Lello area and met up with a wild Priya for lunch! As she got back to work, Mama and I then hopped on a bus to complete the route of the bus we'd been on yesterday. We explored Gaia, south of the river, and finished a complete loop before ending back in Ribeira Square.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRBepw7iQBTGGRoUJYNWAPnCmI8WUYFMOghcAjY02X_LE382kTKhkxisvHA_TB2P_bCSp9jtkXiiaXKtRadMVmmj15zbmPR1azrR6Rh9Fm82cxOfmi5NZDy-Dfrbvei5kOAJZVgQPJ1qFdqZkVQYEMQejNshForW5Ti2MmT809RmsdUKK4nZoSQCVVI7E" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1132" data-original-width="1600" height="453" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRBepw7iQBTGGRoUJYNWAPnCmI8WUYFMOghcAjY02X_LE382kTKhkxisvHA_TB2P_bCSp9jtkXiiaXKtRadMVmmj15zbmPR1azrR6Rh9Fm82cxOfmi5NZDy-Dfrbvei5kOAJZVgQPJ1qFdqZkVQYEMQejNshForW5Ti2MmT809RmsdUKK4nZoSQCVVI7E=w640-h453" width="640" /></a></div><br />From here, we were to catch our <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabelo_boat">rabelo</a></i> boat, used for centuries to transport people and wine down the Douro River. We took a cruise to see the 7 bridges that cross the Douro, including the Maria Pia Bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel!</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZvmVejHaqjEPXn6hM_BU3a87SiHFdR3ioJJ6JotPi2r31VQydosKVjcC8uHbInAhR-qPIZqZVEGO2aOxXTgOiJq6xkBIgcRYDrXogGrmBP339wIOmf4XUvYaglC-OeVYgg8ON092iFKbOzTp_GudAfuBEVoTuqWDRlgH-rAsHTYgQuf2U0DH02cnCXA0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZvmVejHaqjEPXn6hM_BU3a87SiHFdR3ioJJ6JotPi2r31VQydosKVjcC8uHbInAhR-qPIZqZVEGO2aOxXTgOiJq6xkBIgcRYDrXogGrmBP339wIOmf4XUvYaglC-OeVYgg8ON092iFKbOzTp_GudAfuBEVoTuqWDRlgH-rAsHTYgQuf2U0DH02cnCXA0=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></div><br />After the boat ride, we showed Priya around <a href="Praça_do_Infante_D._Henrique">Praça do Infante D. Henrique</a> before the sun went down.</div>Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-77887038490295744032023-09-12T19:01:00.009-04:002023-09-13T10:00:44.423-04:00Scintillating Sintra + Captivating Cascais<p>Mama and I woke at the crack of dawn today to board our bus to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra">Sintra</a>, a town about 14 miles from Lisbon, to the northwest. The town is home to at least five major palaces, and other small castles and royal chalets. We went in pursuit of Pena Palace, which our wonderful guide Bruno told us was constructed by King Ferdinand in 1838 for his wife, who tragically died in childbirth before she could ever lay eyes on it.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhemw9BrRgQbipBYdEB9ziW5U9tVnJxzyIG2O5DV6Mtv18dVlVvybdyDjWDgmr0YfImRI4GEPrvvp9Rp4aTvPzKadLEAN89ny-qDXbPbpgmRy-UyYBi7gM199eUmjM2wuGvXaHqQrC06KQcA58Hq640eRcg_-evaI5haummPRML7J6TVYHU6utk-qBu4Qw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhemw9BrRgQbipBYdEB9ziW5U9tVnJxzyIG2O5DV6Mtv18dVlVvybdyDjWDgmr0YfImRI4GEPrvvp9Rp4aTvPzKadLEAN89ny-qDXbPbpgmRy-UyYBi7gM199eUmjM2wuGvXaHqQrC06KQcA58Hq640eRcg_-evaI5haummPRML7J6TVYHU6utk-qBu4Qw=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br />What a sight it was to behold. We'd truly never seen anything like it in our lives, straight out of a Disney movie with the dreamy Portuguese countryside in the background. The vegetation around the approach of the castle was unique and evocative, transporting us to another time, in tandem with the petulant mist settling over the mountains as we ascended.<div><div><br /></div><div>Mama and I made our way through a tour of the inside of the palace, and when I constantly got separated from the tour group I found myself scampering through other groups whispering "excuse me, pardon, <i>obrigada</i>, sorry," and squeezing through already narrow passages made narrower by tourists, trying to get by. (Apparently, this behavior made me quite well known among the visitors of the day: as we left the property I heard a tour guide point at me and say, "Look, it's the girl in black who was always running late!" An apt description of me at most times, to be sure.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Sintra</i></div><div><p>For lunch, we retreated to the charming town of Sintra itself, to have a bite at Cafe Paris, browse Portuguese-made lace stores, and sample <i>ginja </i>served in dark chocolate cups (it tastes <u>delightful</u> and I hope I'm able to have it again).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMqf6iETK1ATUjZCNjmEjqHDWizzDSkA1We2lhx6NUDPGg2DbD-TIg4cma4YyFmpRsZqoTI4CjS8LOhZ-Gkp77FmoaeMeQke50uOeEguvC80GH8JY0aAJkXSWM8m6oKfQnfiPnjLBdmCndl37pS0JjRAPqHQ6apqHcNc1XirmqWhgH7FGUOwjGE52HW-A/s4032/IMG_3549.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMqf6iETK1ATUjZCNjmEjqHDWizzDSkA1We2lhx6NUDPGg2DbD-TIg4cma4YyFmpRsZqoTI4CjS8LOhZ-Gkp77FmoaeMeQke50uOeEguvC80GH8JY0aAJkXSWM8m6oKfQnfiPnjLBdmCndl37pS0JjRAPqHQ6apqHcNc1XirmqWhgH7FGUOwjGE52HW-A/w300-h400/IMG_3549.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><p><i>Cabo da Roca</i></p><p>After lunch, we zoomed to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabo_da_Roca">Cabo da Roca</a>, which forms the westernmost part of continental Europe! What could be more American than going as close as possible to New York while still being on the Eurasian landmass? You tell me. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgWdoUwpqwV_vOOIr66AIrMHHAyUwOKPWIiGzx6uLXjpv7rhNA-EOKq4U_lKI9IcnFd39u1HSidQZsm1_C02N6DqFU7Did9yhjFlYf4CTDm1EBpU-FZVcwuZWaa972uolqVXM-O9i4PtHhgp06WnEVRGNy7qgNim9jBu4WXOMqw0XLjHGrVAq-BSfPJHTQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgWdoUwpqwV_vOOIr66AIrMHHAyUwOKPWIiGzx6uLXjpv7rhNA-EOKq4U_lKI9IcnFd39u1HSidQZsm1_C02N6DqFU7Did9yhjFlYf4CTDm1EBpU-FZVcwuZWaa972uolqVXM-O9i4PtHhgp06WnEVRGNy7qgNim9jBu4WXOMqw0XLjHGrVAq-BSfPJHTQ=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><i><div><i><br /></i></div>Cascais</i><div><br /></div><div>Next, we drove to Cascais, a cute municipality with a population of 200,000 where Portuguese nobility used to build their summer homes. Cristiano Ronaldo is continuing the tradition by building his 20 million-Euro house there too! We surprisingly didn't run into him as we perused a local museum and popped some<i> pão de queijo </i>into our mouths over the marina.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7x4lJhCaCx7sSAfWnnplemgJWfHYqKJQRDlQXd3mLi1tdZyaQ8ox_6tQPBSTzZ2LD7tRMv26bsMOFNYbh2f5kSo6SD6K9stFbYufoKxIs26USeKgoW-p8PDObElOQsc7-cv2Da6qDh3VgZUHr6Iu9Lc1oXl5-nCiriZIGsIFJrJnnf6sY5wX43jEnRZk" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7x4lJhCaCx7sSAfWnnplemgJWfHYqKJQRDlQXd3mLi1tdZyaQ8ox_6tQPBSTzZ2LD7tRMv26bsMOFNYbh2f5kSo6SD6K9stFbYufoKxIs26USeKgoW-p8PDObElOQsc7-cv2Da6qDh3VgZUHr6Iu9Lc1oXl5-nCiriZIGsIFJrJnnf6sY5wX43jEnRZk=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The day's route is well illustrated by this cute lil treasure map I found online: what a privilege to spend so much of the day on the coast!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjF9au4opk6G6n0lgEKSCr5eMwTUgscxmdvOZl0PMKhyqPP6Jecw-ipGs2wC9PuYDzd8PCr9UKbMYpWjhp-myfoxKQnPV9jXq7RwJOsVslKd9YXAV70-pPzqqH6vgAhsVJ_e4Qv7TlPur12No53cHrczwn15zlHXp4Jf3tiE42DXueFgKmzWie7jxYzXPU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="594" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjF9au4opk6G6n0lgEKSCr5eMwTUgscxmdvOZl0PMKhyqPP6Jecw-ipGs2wC9PuYDzd8PCr9UKbMYpWjhp-myfoxKQnPV9jXq7RwJOsVslKd9YXAV70-pPzqqH6vgAhsVJ_e4Qv7TlPur12No53cHrczwn15zlHXp4Jf3tiE42DXueFgKmzWie7jxYzXPU=w256-h320" width="256" /></a></div><br /><i>o fim.</i></div><p></p></div></div></div>Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-81958545080521234562023-05-19T05:48:00.016-04:002023-05-31T00:06:07.301-04:00Hong Kong Adventures, Ankles, & Active RecoveryAnyone who’s spoken to me in the last 4 years likely knows that I have quite a serious chronic ankle injury. I fell while on a work trip in Rajasthan in 2019, and torn ligaments unfortunately never fully heal. As an aspirationally active person, it’s something I think about every day. <br /><br />Since moving to Hong Kong, I’ve made remarkable progress on the injury because, to be honest, there’s been no other choice! Streets here are steep as staircases and walking is the mode of transit that makes the most sense for the majority of routes. At the end of grad school last June, I struggled with walking more than a mile a day, and now, I can walk 6 miles in a day once or twice a week with ease! My overall fitness level (cardio) is much higher, and I’ve built routines that allow me to strengthen, push, grow, and recover. My physiotherapist and I have a weekly rhythm for this, where my exercises progress each week (I’m now doing single-leg squats and lifting weights while standing on one leg 3x a week, which is not an easy workout, even for the uninjured!).<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXnUcbFK0fr-lSStbceYETDxRT_sQT_ZGpTHPSdkWgsST-J4ZF2_ze4DRsIhLU_C4tDBTVC1MivMKPTkg0PjwJ7rVtBGySTR53QfsHNK5z5nunOvZHd3U8Fk9bhtwKUmUakcbE_UMfBeFcNKXLUI21r3Lns0Ab_fZ8y_Ohn0-qj_5bUDOI9Re9vM2C/s3462/IMG_1633.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3462" data-original-width="2957" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXnUcbFK0fr-lSStbceYETDxRT_sQT_ZGpTHPSdkWgsST-J4ZF2_ze4DRsIhLU_C4tDBTVC1MivMKPTkg0PjwJ7rVtBGySTR53QfsHNK5z5nunOvZHd3U8Fk9bhtwKUmUakcbE_UMfBeFcNKXLUI21r3Lns0Ab_fZ8y_Ohn0-qj_5bUDOI9Re9vM2C/w341-h400/IMG_1633.jpg" width="341" /></a></div>Having family and friends visit us is absolutely the highlight of our year, and when they are here I have host-fomo where I’m not able to take a break from walking because I want to show our guests absolutely everything! <div><br /></div><div>At the end of April, our marathon month of sister visitz & high school friend reunions in Hong Kong, my leg and hip muscles fatigued to the point where I was instructed not to walk at all (at ALL!) for a week or two, and focus on some crucial things that I had forgotten are quintessential for “active recovery”:</div><div><br /></div><div>1. Sleep<br />2. Protein intake<br />3. Other forms of rest</div><div><br /></div><div>I’d quite literally forgotten that when we’re sleeping is when muscles rebuild, had neglected protein count when I had to abandon eating FODMAPs for <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3099351/#:~:text=Small%20intestinal%20bacterial%20overgrowth%20(SIBO)%20is%20defined%20as%20the%20presence,%2C%20nutritional%20deficiencies%2C%20and%20osteoporosis.">another health thing</a> that’s been going on, and just wasn’t resting.<div><br />A little bit of a setback with my ankle has historically been cause for anxiety and despondency on my part in the past, because I always think about how long it will take to be fine again. But this week, lying on the mat during a hip/neck/shoulder-opening class, I was overwhelmed with thoughts of <b>how lucky I am to be able to invest so wholly in active recovery</b>. <br /><br />I am blessed to have a world-class physical therapist, time and space to stretch in my apartment, access to classes that prioritize recovery over other factors like calorie-burn. I am surrounded by a wellness ecosystem that gets me. (I also have a therapist I trust, with whom I’ve worked for half a decade; a weekly dry needling routine; a TRE provider among one of my favorite friends; access to a breathing and pranayama specialist; and friends who generally understand that <i>all of these things are connected, and important</i>.)</div><div><br /></div><div>[I sometimes hear jokes like, "If your ankle hurts so much, how come you're always the first one on the dance floor??" The point isn't to rest forever. The point is to rest intentionally so I can be fully present when it comes time for celebrations, or just comes time to be a Punjabi in daily life. It is a delicate balance, and it's one I'm carefully choreographing at all times.]</div><div><br /></div><div>Making the "effort to rest" seems counterintuitive, but for many of us, it is an effort: remembering that our bodies are at the base of all the productive things we do. Remembering we have to be well to perform well. We heal to get stronger.<br /><br />I love the framing of “active recovery” because it’s not about waiting for things to get better—it’s about what I can do for myself, by myself and with others, to support myself to heal. It’s putting your socks back on after savasana. It's grabbing the ice pack before you sit down. It’s allowing yourself to eat until you’re full. It's stretching every morning before you look at your phone. It’s about making a plan to rest, and having trusted loved ones who hold you accountable to doing the work of resting.<br /><br />I wonder, whatever it is that you’re “recovering” from in this moment, how can you make your recovery more intentional and “active”?<br /></div></div></div>Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-62290844040492848032023-03-13T21:11:00.006-04:002023-03-13T21:21:39.931-04:00Navigating the Joys of Cross-Continental Friendships“So who are your friends here?” I asked as we cruised down the Magnificent Mile, my older sister figure Tierney at the wheel. She mentioned a few great folks she’d met in the last few years living in Chicago, and then a familiar refrain: “But my best friends are scattered all over.”<br /><br />We talked about how great a privilege it is that our world is so connected that being from anywhere, we can live anywhere. We can be digital nomads and work remotely while we globe-trot and FaceTime. But also: how there were some lovely perks of a different time and space when all the threads of one’s social fabric lived in the same village. Some younger folks would venture out to acquire more knowledge/education/wealth and then return to re-join and edify the same neighborhood.<br /><br />I am a 29-year-old Indian-American living in Hong Kong with my husband. I grew up in Washington, D.C. and he grew up in Jaipur. My three best friends from college, who know me better than anyone is likely to know me again, live in New York, Cleveland, and Nairobi. The last time I saw one of them, my “hermano” who calls my mother “Mama,” was during an 8-hour layover in Kenya four years ago. The two closest friends I’ve made as an adult are in Amsterdam and Mumbai, and my sister, my favorite person in the world, is studying in London.<div><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7bnEyLSslvBd5Na0WeDbqLghsb9hdl4B5TD2B2Hs1O5FGOo75BW_w4W_830Wo7U0ct_7dJyMUGuN0vzBgyC23Inu42RPbRjr0ye0X8p86RaymNRRF5l9vzbGw-kqNgkxSRqPqAWI2uR7Yhp1npRy0w5a1GnUmj41yNCWENM3AJxZlT2KdCifzh_Q-/s640/IMG_0584.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7bnEyLSslvBd5Na0WeDbqLghsb9hdl4B5TD2B2Hs1O5FGOo75BW_w4W_830Wo7U0ct_7dJyMUGuN0vzBgyC23Inu42RPbRjr0ye0X8p86RaymNRRF5l9vzbGw-kqNgkxSRqPqAWI2uR7Yhp1npRy0w5a1GnUmj41yNCWENM3AJxZlT2KdCifzh_Q-/w176-h176/IMG_0584.JPG" width="176" /></a></div></div><div>This makes for some really fun visits! Traveling is a privilege and exploring new places is a privilege and reunions are a privilege. But there is an inevitable in-between: in between the weddings or the one-week trips, the wondering, “When is the next time we are going to be in the same place?” As soon as we are out of one another’s orbits and the party is over and we’ve slept in and woken up, returning to the reality that we don’t really know when we’ll meet next. My solution so far has been to hush the question, push it deep down because if I think about it too hard, I will cry.<br /><br />Video calls are quite a luxury, but you can’t just call up a group of your friends and say you wanna sit quietly in a circle and sink into the couch carefree and watch something brainless and take breaks to roast whoever “that friend” is in the group. You can’t recreate that over-caffeinated excited catchup full of updates and interrupting each other and going on tangents and always (mostly) bringing it back, and at the end just giving each other a hug. It’s hard to make me laugh until tears are streaming down my face on a Zoom call. This one’s on me, but I don’t always video call you because although it makes me so happy to chat with you again, it also makes me painfully aware that we are not in the same room. Time zones are hard and selfishly and illogically, I want being with you to feel as easy as it always has.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg07AR5xaroZKBmgo8JGfFBr6UcsZiMibaMyp4QvTezZ-sOsplI087o2bjrs9SbNVgC8X4GNl_OOc7m6KSCn4e-L9hq0LzECGHG61hSUBf_6cMlmPqU84HWUCf0EH7lpPu_cQBOh8aQsoq0nGw7efy22JZj5g6GktuR_100Q45SbK6T_amIigW23gMJ/s958/IMG_3111.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="958" data-original-width="958" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg07AR5xaroZKBmgo8JGfFBr6UcsZiMibaMyp4QvTezZ-sOsplI087o2bjrs9SbNVgC8X4GNl_OOc7m6KSCn4e-L9hq0LzECGHG61hSUBf_6cMlmPqU84HWUCf0EH7lpPu_cQBOh8aQsoq0nGw7efy22JZj5g6GktuR_100Q45SbK6T_amIigW23gMJ/w244-h244/IMG_3111.JPG" width="244" /></a></div><div>But my favorite people, I hope you know who you are. I really truly hope you know I’m a tightly wound ball of emotions and I think about you every day, even if I’m too tired to text you. That when I do message you saying “thinking about you,” I’ve spent the past 15 minutes re-living a lovely memory we shared. That I love you even when you haven’t texted back for weeks (seriously, I get it). I’m not any less excited that you exist than the time we got a tub of Ben & Jerry’s at the pharmacy and ate it with plastic spoons in the middle of the night, or the day you dared me to do something embarrassing in public and I (as always) did it, or the day I met your mom (shoutout Auntie). I am just as happy that you are in this world as when we jammed over a piano, when you mentored me though you didn’t have to, when you complimented the gardenia-scented candles in my apartment, when you showed me around your city. You hold just the same place in my heart and maybe that means that each time I make a new friend I’m scared to move away from, my heart is expanding.<br /><br />I am also so deeply grateful for the people who share their amazing friends with others: who have introduced me to new cities and coffee shops and ways of being, with generosity and selflessness. Maybe that’s why I love introducing my friends who live in close proximity to each other — if I cannot share physical space with you, here, have a piece of my heart. Take good care of each other.<br /><br />I’ve noticed two small shifts since the global-ness of my community has started to become more apparent to me. First, I appreciate the hell out of every moment I get with any one pocket of my friends. I’ll be the most excited person at your wedding. If we’re in the same city, I’ll move mountains to see you, even if only for a few minutes. Second, I’ve become a better friend to myself. Because having little pieces of yourself sprinkled across the world can become exhausting, it requires some serious self-regulation and energy-giving practices. I am working on this for my wellbeing, and so I’m ready to be in full form as a best friend whenever we reunite.<br /><br />The last time I caught up with Dashell, my dear friend from high school who has always had the wisdom of an elder and the texting ability of a toddler, over a three-hour dinner in Harvard Square, I was quizzical when we said goodbye. The conversation had been soul-nourishing and real, the kind of “how are you?” that people ask when they actually care. The last thing I said to him was, “See you…?” And he interjected, “next time. That’s all, Ratna. I’ll see you the next time. We always do.”</div></div></div>Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-69858353825476520072022-08-03T02:35:00.002-04:002023-03-13T21:22:54.379-04:00Week 3 WonderingsAs I continue to acquaint myself with what Hong Kong looks and feels like, I've been curious about the uber-efficient uses of space I see around me, how walkable the city is, and how every nook and cranny that could be turned into something useful seems already to have been.<div><br /></div><div>I started this Sunday morning by reading the Hong Kong Urban Planning Department's "Urban Design Guidelines" to try to start to understand why this city looks the way it does. Some notable excerpts included:<br /><br /><i>"The Hong Kong Island has a magnificent natural setting with the spectacular Victoria Peak overlooking Victoria Harbour and Kowloon Peninsula. Developments in the north shore of Hong Kong Island should respect the dominance of Victoria Peak and other ridgelines / peaks when viewing from Kowloon side, in particular from the West Kowloon Cultural District; Cultural Complex at Tsim Sha Tsui; and the waterfront promenade at Kai Tak Development (Figure 3). Uncontrolled building height for developments within the view corridors which may breach the building free zone should be avoided."</i><br /><br />I found especially amusing this objective selection of the "most beautiful harbor cities in the world" included in the document:<br /><br /><i>"The fascinating juxtaposition of the mountains, sky and sea combines to form everlasting images. Being one of the five most beautiful harbour cities in the world: Sydney, Vancouver, San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro and Hong Kong, panoramic view from Victoria Peak to Victoria Harbour should be preserved."<br /></i><br />And notes like this provided some explanation for how much of the space is a recreational paradise, with areas to be active or just take a breather and sit down so easily accessible.<br /><br /><i>"Where practicable, continuous waterfront promenade should be provided for public enjoyment such as strolling, jogging, cycling, fishing, sitting where appropriate. Points of interest or nodes such as landscaping areas, sitting out areas, lookout areas, boardwalks, and small piers which strengthen the vitality of the waterfront should be encouraged."</i><br /><br />My favorite line, though, had to be, "Lack of land in Hong Kong makes it difficult to respect human scale..." Aptly put, as the buildings tower over us in front of the formidable sea.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1icMML6cetmwIUfawkFFtA4SqlroTm6EmpV-jmwkJ2Erfk1pMNprLxmUSZ2wngdhaLVPBTVwWnNSdOvcqhZLYV3gm1w0qWHNPdrbT23nEWnEy3ycaTrS4JKuVbxesv3sqRmb40YZjmKJPv_5uXnxG-Pi2DMT41aXvlzClz268L8DVvudPfPKEo5er/s4032/IMG_9797.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1icMML6cetmwIUfawkFFtA4SqlroTm6EmpV-jmwkJ2Erfk1pMNprLxmUSZ2wngdhaLVPBTVwWnNSdOvcqhZLYV3gm1w0qWHNPdrbT23nEWnEy3ycaTrS4JKuVbxesv3sqRmb40YZjmKJPv_5uXnxG-Pi2DMT41aXvlzClz268L8DVvudPfPKEo5er/w400-h300/IMG_9797.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-32969978712430830902022-07-17T21:16:00.001-04:002022-07-17T21:16:15.428-04:00Weekend 1 Wanderings<p>Udai and I just wrapped up our first weekend together in Hong Kong! So far it's been culture shock to the MAXIMUM. With the exception of a short conference in Seoul in 2015, this is my first time since I was 19 visiting a country I haven’t been to before...and I guess I live here now! Hong Kong is unlike any place I have been, and also different from what I expected. I was prepared for towering buildings and high population density, but it also has a certain coziness and walkability to it that I wasn’t expecting. Between the tall buildings boasting (bougie) international brands there is a local any-type-of-establishment-could-pop-out-of-here energy to the streets that reminds me of Mumbai, but everything is SO clean. The sense of anonymity (the good kind, like no one is gonna get in your business) reminds me of New York. And the rest, I’ll have to keep getting to know better and better!</p><p>We started Saturday with breakfast at Elephant Grounds and a tour from Udai of his neighborhood (Hollywood Road), including the beautiful and historic Man Mo temple, which we basically just stumbled upon! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4oCwrZEyUjkKt-kJjihbrleZnb8RC_iW87NwtY5ct7j1-AXIDpHrRSLyNU4NpqcwzAkaUKaX_rbuc427S-l_MznhfUx0xlLeXQDopUxDg7IZltL5zUbO-OYzL8Yb14zcGzhaHYm7X5My2uwiI-CqOwWjuJg8P5NQZHejkEz_Qk2ePvn3Qmd4nb7s/s4032/IMG_9323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4oCwrZEyUjkKt-kJjihbrleZnb8RC_iW87NwtY5ct7j1-AXIDpHrRSLyNU4NpqcwzAkaUKaX_rbuc427S-l_MznhfUx0xlLeXQDopUxDg7IZltL5zUbO-OYzL8Yb14zcGzhaHYm7X5My2uwiI-CqOwWjuJg8P5NQZHejkEz_Qk2ePvn3Qmd4nb7s/w640-h480/IMG_9323.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p>After winding in and out of the streets we strolled to Central where I needed to visit an optical shop to get my glasses adjusted. In the process we explored the network of malls in Central, sampling (delicious) coffee at a few choice spots.</p><p>Then we settled in for a Thai lunch at Mak Mak, which we both concluded was "not bad but not good." After quarantine eats, anything tastes like a Michelin to me. </p><p>We followed lunch with a post-prandial stroll back through a (now very sunny) Central. In the evening, I got my nails done, which felt more like a tooth extraction than a beauty service (actually, I had a tooth extraction last week and it was pretty uneventful and comfy; check out <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Virginia+Oral+Surgery+Specialists:+Dr.+Akbar+Dawood/@38.9118479,-77.228244,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x89b64bb0ca24e605:0x475d218149b47e8f!8m2!3d38.9118437!4d-77.2260553">my oral surgeon</a>). But back to the manicure: as she clawed at my cuticles, taking literal centimeters of skin off, I felt like I had wronged her in some way and she was getting back at me…when she took out the foot-razor and started switching the blade I almost ran out of the parlor. After an hour of suspense (horror movie style), my nails do look admittedly great. </p><p>Udai and I both had a pit in our stomach by 6:30 and were STARVING so I grabbed Indian groceries quickly and limped home. On the way something SNAPPED in my right leg (the one with the ankle injury) behind the knee and I felt like my leg was gonna snap in two! Still, dinner at Bedu was a 6-minute walk away and I figured I could brave it. But when we got there and they had no bookings, we continued to walk…and walk…until we were halfway to Central and I was convinced that my husband is a billy goat and I am 82 instead of 28. But we made it to Amalfitana and the vibes and the carbs were WORTH IT! Over aperol spritzes we chatted about some of our favorite cities in the world and tried to guess the ages of various (ahem, Gen-Z) people in the restaurant. After an episode of Alchemy of Souls and catching up on some hydration, I legit passed out for the evening, my body utterly shocked at the jump from an average of 745 steps a day (in quarantine) to yesterday’s 17,000. (Seeking orthopedists now.)</p><p>The highlight of my Sunday was when Joshi ji, who cooks Indian food for Udai once a week, came by and made us lunch!! In the time it took me to unpack one of my suitcases he had made <i>daal</i>, <i>bhindi</i>, <i>aloo gobi</i>, and <i>lauki</i> that I told Udai was so delicious that it comprised the highlight of my time in HK so far.</p><p>We spent the bulk of the day checking out new apartments, since we'll be looking to move out of Udai's studio soon. It was a cool way to check out different parts of the city, from Mid-Levels to Sheung Wan.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtukSKl6kJp59Nbb3pVegB3-uhAIemZroR9-OmU1QI7lu-9iU-CnQZkGP9ilUJrgstV1Cm5zmy-Hf-X5gbEgoP4_pYE7PcGNdVNXbS7sBO2ELCM_ac5btueMCK7oQB9IYXkMwoH5pcvMGCQxRJW9Ad_rKvAMlwV4TZbU9p9brkCt5HsT2lMqsvJl6n/s4032/IMG_9360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtukSKl6kJp59Nbb3pVegB3-uhAIemZroR9-OmU1QI7lu-9iU-CnQZkGP9ilUJrgstV1Cm5zmy-Hf-X5gbEgoP4_pYE7PcGNdVNXbS7sBO2ELCM_ac5btueMCK7oQB9IYXkMwoH5pcvMGCQxRJW9Ad_rKvAMlwV4TZbU9p9brkCt5HsT2lMqsvJl6n/w400-h300/IMG_9360.JPG" width="400" /></a></b></div><p>After 3 hours of apartment-hunting we celebrated at a rooftop called Popinjays where we watched the sun go down. I'm looking forward to my first day of in-person work tomorrow, and to meet the rest of the team at PathFinders!</p>Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-84586047587402909212022-07-13T23:03:00.007-04:002022-07-13T23:05:54.181-04:00Hello from Hong Kong!<p>Greetings from Hong Kong, where I just moved last week to join Udai, who has been working here for the past two years! </p><p>It's day 6 of my 7-day government-mandated hotel quarantine and I started my job with <a href="https://www.pathfinders.org.hk/en/">PathFinders Hong Kong</a> this Monday. I am working on a research report to prepare for a roundtable in November -- outlining the experiences of migrant domestic workers who come to Hong Kong for work, usually from Indonesia and the Philippines. These women have multiple, complex caretaking relationships with the children they leave behind with fathers and caretakers in their origin countries, the children they look after on behalf of the employers who hire them, and the children they may get pregnant with during their time in Hong Kong. I am tasked with figuring out how to most succinctly present the challenges faced by all three kinds of children as they navigate their relationships with these migrant mothers, as well as the questions of home, identity, safety, and economic security with which these women grapple.</p><p>Studying the city from this vantage point is fascinating as we will no doubt juggle our own questions of home, identity, and belonging. I am filled with gratitude that we have the opportunity to do so together.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdI9Fz7OcBRu-hjx9MtMwh_qZb_ii7ha53C59Y3HDjEvCRxn9MqWvG7PdmzIoyX9finqGlztnORmQsMZt1o2YJTlqeezJsUJUGLH0_NzuZA94KedwqwSESnGMPP2NXlVCaJITj04nREqASWAjdWuwmrT4rfgMW3wtcEeKiLOBUap955PUP8HYzeK7/s3840/788FF9DA-6AEF-4E39-8145-FF017E7090CB.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdI9Fz7OcBRu-hjx9MtMwh_qZb_ii7ha53C59Y3HDjEvCRxn9MqWvG7PdmzIoyX9finqGlztnORmQsMZt1o2YJTlqeezJsUJUGLH0_NzuZA94KedwqwSESnGMPP2NXlVCaJITj04nREqASWAjdWuwmrT4rfgMW3wtcEeKiLOBUap955PUP8HYzeK7/w400-h225/788FF9DA-6AEF-4E39-8145-FF017E7090CB.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My view from quarantine!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-23236364604467563552020-09-14T20:06:00.000-04:002020-09-14T20:06:13.138-04:00A Brief Update in a Strange Time<p>The last few months have been rather eventful on my end as I spent my first four months of the lockdown in India, wrapped up my job in Mumbai, and packed up my apartment in a frenzied 24-hour period, to relocate back to the States! I have news about an exciting transition to share, which is that I'll be starting my Masters in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School this fall! </p><p>I am excited about this next step to further my ability to advocate for the world's most silenced communities. My two years at <a href="www.aanganindia.org">Aangan India</a> were everything I could ever ask for in a job. I had the chance to work up close and personal with policymakers around the country to protect children at risk of trafficking and abuse, surrounded by colleagues who empowered young people to lead in a way that allowed me to grow professionally and personally beyond what I thought was possible. </p><p>The organization's founder Suparna and I recently published <a href="https://idronline.org/disrupting-violence-at-home/">this piece</a> on the increased risk of domestic violence as countries around the world "locked down," and Aangan was able to provide immediate relief to about 11,000 families across the country in the wake of the pandemic. I look forward to staying in touch with the organization and allowing the lessons I learned there to guide my time in policy school.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI2clniu-82u-5vZb07yyobDjT3gxqgOHK2iLiNNcWgFRRIgjxj_yY5HNfgSvjRGb178TTWqAs_DvMbD6o0V2DSw6tyRV4jgnNBGZIilZ3zOjt1s_1sSsHR0mvFIaPl7k6Eh_tXkuFuCY/s2048/IMG_1355.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="469" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI2clniu-82u-5vZb07yyobDjT3gxqgOHK2iLiNNcWgFRRIgjxj_yY5HNfgSvjRGb178TTWqAs_DvMbD6o0V2DSw6tyRV4jgnNBGZIilZ3zOjt1s_1sSsHR0mvFIaPl7k6Eh_tXkuFuCY/w625-h469/IMG_1355.jpg" width="625" /></a></div><br /><p>For now, I've moved back to D.C. and we're all feeling very grateful to be living under the same roof again. Priya will be starting her junior year online as well, so we've got a full house!</p><p>I hope you and all those you care about are safe during these confusing times. </p>Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-22780385688232946422019-08-23T10:26:00.000-04:002019-08-25T08:32:48.429-04:00My Move to Mumbai: A Year In Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Imagine having a job where every day, you do something you've never done before.<br />
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I can say without exaggeration that this is what working at Aangan has been. I knew that working for an organization that engages deeply with community in an international context would be an important learning experience, but I truly couldn't have pictured how challenging, exhilarating, and transformative it would be.<br />
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Literally my first month on the job I met with the Director General of Police for the state of Rajasthan to present our child safety work to him and work to create buy-in with his department (as part of a project we run to increase trust between communities and police in child harm hotspots in India). Engaging with Indian bureaucracy has been so fascinating and for all we hear about corruption in government systems, I have met so many passionate civil servants and government officials grateful for good work being done and keen to support us.<br />
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I'm lucky enough to have transitioned from focusing on just Rajasthan to leading our team working on government advocacy for all 7 states we work in across the country. (Oops...I'm staying here a year longer than <a href="https://365gapdays.blogspot.com/2018/08/frequently-asked-questions-move-to.html">the original plan</a>!) The new role means I've been able to travel to Varanasi, Patna, and Bharatpur so far this year to engage with government stakeholders -- and my goal is to spend time in all of our cities before the year is through.<br />
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And since I choose opportunities based on the people I'll get to work with, I should add: I've had an absolute blast working alongside our founder Suparna Gupta every day. I had a strong hunch that this would be the case based on <a href="http://bit.ly/AanganFounderConvo">the conversation that convinced me to move to India</a>, and it's been eye-opening to observe the way she constantly models efficiency, candidness, and treating her employees as peers in a way I sometimes find hard to fathom. Whoever said "never meet your heroes" hasn't met my boss.<br />
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I've also been able to push my boundaries as a writer and communications nerd this year. I've published lessons learned from <a href="http://bit.ly/JharkhandBridgeClasses">our work in Jharkhand</a> in <i>Outlook</i>, and shared insights from Aangan's work with the UN Foundation for a 3D Program report called "<a href="http://bit.ly/VAWGPublicSpaces">Working Together for Girls' and Women's Safety in Public Spaces: Lessons from India</a>." (The biggest rush was seeing my name in the list of contributors!) In between writing, of course, I've been geeking out over Aangan's viral #<a href="http://bit.ly/WW4Wnoms">WomenWorking4Women</a> and #<a href="http://bit.ly/ETTcampaign">EndTraffickingTogether</a> campaigns.<br />
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On a personal level, the move to Mumbai was...rough. Like solidly rough. I've had months of on and off minor sickness, a couple tiny little surgeries, only one mini concussion, and an overall hard time adjusting to the climate, distance from my college community, identity questions about myself as an Indian-American, etc. etc. I miss New York fiercely pretty much all the time. My fitness is the textbook definition of abysmal, as I've developed something I call "NGO bod" -- living in a country where consuming raw produce isn't the best idea and I spend ~3 hours a day in a car has quite dilapidated the healthy streak I'd had going these past few years...but I'm definitely working on it!<br />
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All of this was expected, and despite these baby hiccups I stand by the fact that moving to India was probably the best decision of my life. Almost everything I do started off as a challenge, from figuring out how to give rickshaw directions to remembering how to make friends again. It's been genuinely frustrating and isolating, and also the learning opportunity of a lifetime. I hope to work on international development and making life better for the world's most vulnerable people throughout my life, and I can think of no better way to have dived in than this past year.</div>
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Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-67827422138576149682019-08-05T10:27:00.002-04:002019-08-23T10:48:01.816-04:00Why the Gill Sisters Are Big Fans of the "Gap Year"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As an ever-fervent proponent of the gap year, I am proud to say that my little sister Priya just finished up an awesome year off from college! We thought we'd take some time sharing our experiences, in case they are helpful for other students thinking of doing the same. </div>
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I took my gap year before college and Priya took hers between her sophomore and junior years of college, so our answers to these four frequently asked questions may have some answers for those considering taking time off at any stage. We also want to acknowledge that the decision to take a gap year comes with a great deal of privilege, and we are lucky to have had the support of our families and friends as we traveled and explored opportunities around the world.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>Q1: Why did you decide to take a gap year?</i></span></h3>
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Ratna:</span></b> I was honestly pretty burnt out from high school. I remembering having a moment one day in the middle of cramming for AP exams and applying to colleges when it dawned on me that as far as I could foresee, the next four years would look very similar to the last...12 years. I was fortunate to have started school a year early, so I graduated at age 17 and felt like there was nothing to "lose" in terms of time -- so at that moment, I promised myself that I would find a way to take some significant time off before starting college. (That said, even if I had been 18, I don't think it really would have made a big difference whether I went to college at 18 or 19 -- the extra year of maturity and outside-of-school experience would have helped, if anything.) I also had very little idea about what I wanted to study in college, and I thought that exploring working in a number of different fields within the social and environmental impact spaces might be a good way to get some exposure to different issue areas and potential work trajectories. It helped that my college strongly encouraged this decision when I shared my proposal.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Priya:</span> </b>I realized that I was not nearly as inspired or fulfilled in college as I wanted to be. I initially tried to remedy this over the summer after freshman year, and again several times in the midst of my semesters. While I was sometimes able to temporarily revitalize this inspiration and fulfillment, it never lasted. I decided finally during the second semester of my sophomore year that it was time for me to do what my peers who have felt similarly encouraged me to do — take time off. My initial plan was to take one semester off, but I extended my time off to one year as I wanted to continue to contribute to and grow through my work.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>Q2: What did you go on your gap year?</i></span></b></h3>
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Priya:</span></b> I spent my year working for <a href="https://flocolive.com/">FLO</a>, a co-living startup in Pune, India. As one of the four pillars of this venture, I had a short-lived stint as an intern and soon became Head of Communications. While my focus was marketing and communications, I played a role in strategy, operations, and even interior design. Prior to my gap year, I was pretty conflicted about what I could foresee myself doing after graduation, but <span id="goog_184591582"></span>my experience at FLO<span id="goog_184591583"></span> was crucial in informing my goals for the future. I realized that I want to work in an <a href="https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/others/sunday-read/co-live-and-let-grow/articleshow/70311178.cms">environment like FLO</a>, where I can think both critically and creatively, where my ideas and thoughts are valued, and where I feel constantly supported by my team. I am super excited to continue to be engaged with FLO. Work aside, I spent the year playing squash, practicing yoga, gymming religiously, reading, traveling to Dubai and Italy, and chasing all stray dogs in sight.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Ratna:</span></b> I worked for <a href="https://www.sashabruce.org/">Sasha Bruce Youthwork</a>, a network of shelters for homeless youth in DC, from September to December; then spent a few months in India shadowing the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra in <a href="http://365gapdays.blogspot.com/p/mumbai-mar-2012.html">Mumbai</a> and working at <a href="https://twitter.com/GyaanGhar">Gyaan Ghar</a>; stayed at home in Virginia for a few months teaching in the Latin department (and learning ceramics!) at Flint Hill; and ended the year with just over a month in <a href="http://365gapdays.blogspot.com/p/colombia-june.html">Colombia</a> interning with The Nature Conservancy. There are pages and pages detailing every day of my gap year on this blog because I wanted to document every day and make sure I was being productive and making time to reflect -- so keeping this blog was also one of the things I did!<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>Q3: How was your gap year different from what you expected?</i></span></b></h3>
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Priya:</span></b> My gap year was WILDLY different from my expectations! My initial time off plan was to take one semester off and spend a month working a service job in Virginia (my hometown), two months backpacking in Europe, and the remainder of the time working in Pune, India. My biggest fear upon embarking on my time off was that I’d be lonely away from school and my friends -- that in Virginia I’d get stir crazy with no similarly aged peers in town, in Europe I’d have few fleeting interactions with strangers, and that in India I’d be completely on my own, barring colleagues toward whom I assumed I’d be apathetic. What ended up happening was that while I was visiting family in India in August, I decided to rearrange my gap year plans and first spend some time working in India so as to avoid circuitous travel. I absolutely loved my work and life so much so that I canned my remaining plans and extended my time off. Regarding the anticipated loneliness, while I made a conscious effort to be comfortable alone and to grow through this independence, I simultaneously and serendipitously ended up forming the most meaningful relationships imaginable. While I was confident that time off would be transformative, I never would have predicted that it would be the happiest and least lonely phase of my life.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Ratna:</span></b> I think my gap year ended up being a lot lonelier than I expected. One of the hardest parts for me was when all of my friends from high school moved to college and were starting to settle in, take new classes, and meet new people, and I felt like I was very much in the same place. One of the best ways to mitigate that was to make a plan. I knew that roughly, I wanted to spend part of the year learning more about environmental issues and urban development and part of the year working with children. I wanted to spend part of it closer to my family in India and part of it exploring a new part of the world. Once I had those goals in place, I started looking for opportunities in the sectors I was interested in, in the places I wanted to visit. (And once I started traveling, I met a host of new people who made my year incredible!) I kept my plans pretty flexible throughout, which was important for me because I think a huge part of the beauty of taking a gap year is to kind of be able to pick up and do whatever you want, without too much prior planning. For example, in the middle of my time in Mumbai, a family friend suggested that I do a 10-day silent meditation retreat. My first thought was, "No! That will upset my plans to spend time with my family!" But then I figured it would be very hard to find another time that I could pick up and meditate under a pagoda for a week and a half, and it ended up being one of the best experiences I had during my year, that is still very applicable and powerful for me today.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>Q4: What was your biggest takeaway from your gap year?</i></span></b></h3>
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Ratna:</span></b> That said, I think the loneliness at different points during the year made me more independent. Being able to look back and be like, "Oh, I did <i>that </i>on my own at age 18," has been a major source of solace during other challenging times in college and beyond. One of my other goals for the year was to learn to give less value to scores, rankings, awards, and other external validators as benchmarks of my self-worth. I would say the year helped a ton with that (perhaps a little too much!) and changed the perspective with which I approached college. The people I choose to surround myself with has been my biggest focus since my gap year in 2012, and I don't think there could be a better learning! In terms of what I learned about my career goals, I think the experience showed me that I could see myself working almost anywhere in the nonprofit space. The most impactful experiences were the ones I had working directly with people (at Sasha Bruce in DC, at my school in India, and getting to work with <a href="http://bit.ly/MagisterChang">one of my favorite teachers</a> in Virginia), and I think that has definitely influenced <a href="http://365gapdays.blogspot.com/2018/08/frequently-asked-questions-move-to.html">the work</a> I've chosen to do after college.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><b>Priya:</b> </span>The most important lessons I learned on my gap year were:<br />
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<li>It’s important to surround yourself only with people you absolutely adore — you don’t owe anyone else your time. </li>
<li>Keep things simple and eliminate from your life clutter in the form of things, people, and pastimes. </li>
<li>Do things because you derive genuine fulfillment from them. </li>
<li>Real happiness comes from what you actively do — not from who people think you are. </li>
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It has been a year of discovering and putting these principles into practice every day, and I hope to take these lessons back with me to college!<br />
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<i>Did you take a gap year too? Are you thinking of taking one and unsure where to start? Share your thoughts and questions here!</i><br />
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Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-55472856678570632862018-08-09T06:04:00.001-04:002018-11-15T00:36:45.876-05:00My Move to Mumbai: Frequently Asked Questions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hello, dear readers!<br />
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By now, you've probably heard the news: in Ratna's-gap-year fashion, I've taken a leap and moved to Mumbai for a one-year consultancy with <a href="http://www.aanganindia.org/" target="_blank">Aangan Trust</a>, a nonprofit that works to make sure that even the most vulnerable child has the right to a childhood free from trafficking, child marriage, child labor, and abuse.<br />
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Transitions are tough, and it turns out that this one is no different, even though it's one that I've chosen for myself and been very excited about for a while. It's one thing to pack up your bags from New York and move to a new place in Mumbai; it's quite another to adjust to the daily reminders of the little things you don't yet understand about where you live, and the small ways in which you don't fit in.<br />
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Part of what has made the transition tricky is a stream of (well-intentioned) questions that sometimes make me feel like I have to justify why I made the choice to be here. These can be hard for me because sometimes, the answer is that I just don't know! But I've taken a few moments to lay down the answers to some of the questions I've received, for anyone who is interested.<br />
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<b>Why did you decide to move to India?</b><br />
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I've always thought about working in India in the long run, because it has all the development challenges and opportunities of a swiftly growing economy and I feel a lot of promise in terms of what I can contribute here. In the shorter term, I visited in February and had such a blast with my grandparents that I felt I just had to be back!<br />
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<b>Why would someone who grew up in America want to move to India for a job?</b><br />
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I want to work on international development in the long run, and it's irresponsible to do so without experience working internationally. The issues I’m passionate about (human rights, poverty alleviation, environmental conservation, etc.) are very pressing in India, so having the opportunity to work on these issues on the ground in a place like this is a dream come true.<br />
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<b>What will you be working on?</b><br />
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My time will be split approximately 80 percent on Aangan's <i><a href="http://aanganindia.org/building-bharosa-through-government-partnerships/" target="_blank">Bharosa</a> </i>initiative (working with local government officials to advocate for promising practices in child protection based on community input) and 20 percent on working with <a href="https://medium.com/@ratnaruidosa/my-conversation-with-aangan-india-founder-suparna-gupta-661675f70171" target="_blank">Suparna Gupta</a>, the Founder/CEO of Aangan, on research and writing.<br />
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<b>How did you become interested in this work?</b><br />
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I have always cared deeply about children's rights, because I think if we can improve the experiences that little humans have, we can ensure a lot more happy, fulfilled, and stable adults running around this world. The barrage of #MeToo news lately has been sickening to me and kept me up at night, and it's even more heartbreaking to think about instances of abuse and assault affecting children, who often have even fewer outlets to advocate for themselves than other survivors. While it will be extremely difficult, this is an area I am passionate about learning about to be able to make a difference to people's lives, however small.<br />
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<b>How has your education prepared you for this work?</b><br />
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Throughout our time at Harvard, the administration and professors stressed that our college experience was supposed to build leaders who would contribute to bettering society. If I feel that I am not taking enough risk in my work and properly using my privilege to fight on behalf of those who have not been born into as much luck as I have, I think I am doing an injustice to my education. So in a way, "social work" is the only work I have ever considered doing, and what I learned through my study of Development Economics certainly applies to the challenges I'm looking to work on, every day.<br />
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<b>How long will you be here?</b><br />
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My contract right now is for 11 months, but I also want to be open to where this new experience takes me. Uncertainty is one of the things that causes me the most anxiety (so it would be easiest to know for sure that I'm leaving in a year), but I don't want to limit my life experiences with a rigid plan or based on anyone else's construct of what the timeline of a life should look like. I also believe that the age I'm at now is a perfect one to jump into new and "risky" career experiences before having to settle into a career and other responsibilities.<br />
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I hope these answers are helpful! I am equal parts excited and nervous, and I can't wait to look back on this transition phase and think, "Look how much I've learned since then."</div>
Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-29400794088313085442017-06-25T23:34:00.000-04:002017-06-28T12:43:10.445-04:00Kenny John<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Transferring from the 7 to the 6 under Grand Central I was transported to a different time. I heard his smoky strains as I passed him and smiled without seeing his face. My personal rule is that if someone can make me instinctively, unthinkingly smile with their music then I only owe them the change I have saved from the last time I was stingy. In one motion I walked past and instantly turned right around to add a tip to his hat and before he could say it I said, “thank you.” Thank <i>you</i> for slowing time down in this terminal, for transforming what it feels like to be alive in this station right now. The air felt full of mist and more serious somehow under the influence of his song.<br />
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I climbed the stairs and it wasn’t enough. I felt like a woman with dark hair and a red dress in a jazz club and maybe I was all of those things, except the dress was a <i>salwar kameez</i> and I was on my way back from an Eid celebration. I stood at the top and wished I had a partner with me because I would have taken him or her down in some kind of serious slowdance. I settled at taking my phone out to record the moment when to the next man who stopped to notice his music, he handed a white piece of paper and pointed in front of him, some twenty thirty feet away in the direction I stood. The musician took my breath away as I thought that maybe it could be me the note was for. His messenger seemed like he was about to pass me as he walked under the staircase, but he stopped and passed the card up through the rails.<br />
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<b>Kenny John</b><br />
<b><i>Trumpeter / Drummer</i></b><br />
<b><i>Director of the Kenny J. Orchestra</i></b><br />
<b><i>PLAY SKILLFULLY UNTO THE LORD</i></b><br />
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His name is Kenny John and he plays skillfully unto the Lord and if his trumpet can transform a terminal like that, then we can do anything.<br />
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I was happy to be alone on my next escalator, up, so I could shift my weight from side to side in slow dance with self, curls bunched in one hand, feeling more beautiful just by his presence, until he was out of earshot.</div>
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Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-18110358677399365772017-06-20T08:18:00.000-04:002019-08-24T08:37:41.931-04:00Five Things I Learned in My First Year of Work<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--h4-strong"><i style="font-weight: normal;">On the one-year anniversary of my first day at Living Cities, I'm sharing the five most powerful things I've learned at my workplace this year:</i></strong></h4>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--h4-strong">1. The mark of a great leader is to amplify the leader in everyone. </strong></h3>
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I have been surrounded by leaders from the moment I joined <a class="markup--user markup--p-user" data-action-type="hover" data-action-value="de495a6823e5" data-action="show-user-card" data-anchor-type="2" data-href="https://medium.com/u/de495a6823e5" data-user-id="de495a6823e5" href="https://www.livingcities.org/" target="_blank">Living Cities</a> who have pushed me to believe in the inherent value in what I bring to the table, and to couple my curiosity with a self-assured faith in my ability to offer unique insights to our work. From Ty scolding me for sitting mute on a conference call and not introducing myself as an intern (“people need to meet all of the wonderful people we have working at Living Cities!”) to JaNay challenging me to speak out in TII meetings (“don’t think of yourself as young, because you don’t show up as young or inexperienced in a room”) to Jeff empowering me as a young staff member (“don’t ask me if you can go to the event — <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">tell </em>me you are going to the event!”) to Brittany reminding me again and again that there is power in my voice (“I have watched you transform an entire room with your questions”), I have been surrounded by colleagues and leaders who have empowered me to make my voice heard, and to believe in the value of my opinion.</div>
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As a young woman of color entering the full-time workforce from a competitive college setting, I honestly have battled some pretty serious internalized inferiority and self-doubt this year. But the constant nudging from strong leaders around me has reminded me how small and simple it may seem, but how powerful it is to amplify the voices of staff of every rank, gender, race, and so on.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--h4-strong">2. The world is hungry for real-time learning. </strong></h3>
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In conversations about the work that Living Cities does with other organizations in the field, the piece that often stands out as most innovative and unique is our commitment to learning in public and producing knowledge in real time. There is so much momentum to do good in this country, and cities are eager to learn about promising practices from one another. Living Cities has built an incredible platform to empower staff to share timely insights around both the successes and failures of our work to uplift low-income people in U.S. cities. This ability to accelerate learning through our evidence-building process will continue to be of crucial importance to our ability to effect results.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--h4-strong">3. There is more than one way to talk about race. </strong></h3>
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When I entered the organization, I was nervous about being educated and equipped enough to say the “right” things when we talked about race. I believe this racial anxiety — whether it stems from pain for people of color, or often from guilt for non-POC — is what hinders us from co-creating solutions and moving forward to action. How to convey oppression and trauma to people who have no firsthand experience with either remains a deep and pressing question in my mind, but what I am learning, through the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://www.antiracistalliance.com/ARA-training.html" href="http://www.antiracistalliance.com/ARA-training.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">training</a> and <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://conference.otheringandbelonging.org/" href="http://conference.otheringandbelonging.org/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">conferences</a> I have been fortunate enough to attend this year (and under the patient mentorship of Hafizah and Nadia), is that there is more than one way to discuss the issue in a way that is authentic to you and your experience with race and racism. It’s just crucial that you have a genuine desire to embrace the mindset of a humble student and commit yourself to the process. </div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--h4-strong">4. Genuinely engaging community is crucial. </strong></h3>
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Whatever community looks like — whether it be residents of the cities you work in or the staff of your organization — engaging the community you serve, who is impacted by your decisions, at every stage of your work and with fidelity is the only way to determine that the work you do accomplishes not just what <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">you</em> believe is best for people, but what is actually most powerful for transforming the lives of people on the ground. This is particularly important from our balcony-view perspective in the philanthropic field.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--h4-strong">5. Changing hearts and minds takes time. </strong></h3>
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I have faith in the collective action approach because it <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">just makes sense </em>that large-scale change cannot be achieved by one sector alone, and we need data to track the outcomes we care about. And I am also learning that shifting entire sectors and systems takes time, patience, and dedicated leaders who are constantly driving the work forward.</div>
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With these insights and the countless others I have gained this year, I hope to be one of those leaders.</div>
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Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-65711087303149209182017-05-25T19:13:00.000-04:002017-05-25T19:16:41.133-04:00My Interview With Four Brilliant Feminist Leaders<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Earlier this month, I had the privilege of attending the Othering & Belonging conference hosted by the <a href="http://haasinstitute.berkeley.edu/">Haas Institute</a> at UC Berkeley, and I can say without exaggeration that its content was some of the best content I have ever consumed in any form. The conference was on the obstacle of "othering," the process through which we are conditioned in society to discriminate based on any kind of difference -- and how to strive toward "belonging," or inclusion, across all sorts of fields -- from philanthropy to public health.<br />
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I think I never knew what it meant to be in a "safe space" until I experienced what it felt like to be present here. To know that everyone in the room (about 2,000 people) were all striving, aching for utmost acceptance and uplifting of ALL persons regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ability, etc. was freeing in a way I cannot articulate. I wore things I wouldn't wear elsewhere, I said things I wouldn't say elsewhere, and I felt so fully empowered to speak my mind. I am eager to share some of that spirit with you all.<br />
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I attended a breakout session called "Building a Transformational Women's Movement: Feminism at a Crossroads" where four feminist activists shared their vision and wisdom on how to forge a powerful women's movement for our time, as well as how to be kind and loving toward ourselves and others. Their words blew me away, and after the conference, I had the opportunity to interview each of them. Please <a href="https://medium.com/@ratnaruidosa/heres-what-these-feminist-activists-would-say-to-their-younger-selves-9be13e55e48a">check out my piece</a> to learn from the beauty and brilliance of Malika Redmond, Vanessa Daniel, Kathleen Gutierrez, and Kim Tran.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://medium.com/@ratnaruidosa/heres-what-these-feminist-activists-would-say-to-their-younger-selves-9be13e55e48a" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="603" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEispFPSdsUPFc8AcxynGwroi-NXwZVdJB1aQiMRc1un72hmO4ap0KTHQXlsHkmYN4O2ZdGbp3DB1xpEDgqkpw7LopDZp8PO2SQuUxXzuECyWkRq7Qdz1rL5_Aluzc-X7BIBWuV94yv9eXg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-05-25+at+7.07.29+PM.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="https://medium.com/@ratnaruidosa/heres-what-these-feminist-activists-would-say-to-their-younger-selves-9be13e55e48a">Click here to read the post on Medium</a>.</b></span></td></tr>
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Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-5093810020156761192017-05-05T17:17:00.000-04:002017-05-05T17:17:00.265-04:00My Other Writing Life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Dear Readers,<br />
<br />
The year (!) that has passed since graduation has been for me very much a time for self-care -- a time to spend time with self, listen to self, live with self, and reflect and decompress after a stimulating and challenging college career.<br />
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As many of you know, one of my <a href="https://www.livingcities.org/people/ratna-gill">responsibilities</a> at Living Cities is to write about what we are learning in our work with cities, and about ourselves as an organization. In this vein, I have written a few pieces for work recently that I would like to share with all of you.<br />
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The first is called <a href="http://bit.ly/2oKm83D">Radical Self-Care: Four Lessons from Our Meeting with City Leaders in Albuquerque</a> and it describes a wonderful trip that my team took to New Mexico with the seven cities that my project works with most closely. In between group discussion, we re-connected with our work on social change through art and culture.<br />
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The next four pieces describe lessons that I learned through searching for a job in the social sector last spring, that I think can be valuable for other students and professionals as well. In one post, I share <a href="http://bit.ly/2oRtNyx">my process for searching for jobs</a> to apply to and provide advice for young people interested in entering the social change space. In another, I describe the experience I had during <a href="http://bit.ly/2qb4UfW">my interview process</a>, and follow up with <a href="http://bit.ly/2p3eMXd">tips for interviewers</a> to make sure they are reflecting their organizational culture positively, as well as <a href="http://bit.ly/2qpZ3X6">interview advice for students</a> to use discussions with potential employers as opportunities to determine whether a firm would be a good fit for them.<br />
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All of my posts on the job application process are also available as part of this series called <a href="http://bit.ly/2q79iwq">Hiring in the Social Sector</a>.<br />
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I hope you all enjoy the fruits of "my other writing life," and I look forward to sharing more soon!<br />
<br />
Ratna</div>
Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-71591188486532001872017-04-12T09:13:00.001-04:002017-04-12T09:13:18.128-04:00Ratna's Reflections on Gyaan Ghar, Spring 2017I was lucky to be able to visit our learning center this week, even if just for a few days. Though I wasn't there long, I wanted to share briefly my thoughts on where we came from, where we are, and where we're going. Click to read <a href="http://gyaanghar.blogspot.com/2017/04/ratnas-reflections-on-gyaan-ghar-spring.html?spref=bl">Ratna's Reflections on Gyaan Ghar, Spring 2017</a>.Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-51565128958854096532017-04-02T21:47:00.002-04:002017-04-03T07:06:41.912-04:00Grandparents<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>You can hear it when you call them</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>The slight tone of surprise and expected expectation</i></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-c597ca31-3128-2d47-e82e-839ea696281e"><span style="font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>They birthed those who birthed you</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The best part, by far, of my trip to India these past two weeks was how much quality time I got to spend with my grandparents (or "the grandies" as I quite enjoy calling them). I've realized I have this subconscious fear that as I get older, I'm going to become too </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">something </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">-- too modern, too "American," too progressive, too aloof -- to be able to relate to my grandparents anymore. This trip was such beautiful proof that </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">absolutely </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">the opposite is true. Graduating college and living in the working world (albeit for very short a time) has filled me with nothing but admiration and respect for the inspiring careers and lives of strength and courage these incredible humans are living.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdugV6PCedFXzYcQ8em5c6DIrjkfGCULXWlblcAyhI6F5RVJy5R-2vZbod7O1JrHZS-AQsh82N6vUFOZZbhcC3bX4omQz0wZUfB3vpDXI8sEXYwH8_U-EDNhg8PxZwVji2Paw71dR7VEY/s1600/IMG_3542.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdugV6PCedFXzYcQ8em5c6DIrjkfGCULXWlblcAyhI6F5RVJy5R-2vZbod7O1JrHZS-AQsh82N6vUFOZZbhcC3bX4omQz0wZUfB3vpDXI8sEXYwH8_U-EDNhg8PxZwVji2Paw71dR7VEY/s400/IMG_3542.jpg" width="231" /></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">Let's start with my Nanaji. He won't approve, but the word that constantly comes to my mind for him and his career is "badass." (Since I know he will look this up and don't want him walking away with the wrong definition, I'm going to say I define that as "distinctively tough or powerful; <b>so exceptional as to be intimidating</b>" (Random House, Inc.)).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nanaji decided to tinker with a college career in engineering, and ended up retiring as the Chief Engineer of the Punjab Irrigation Department, shortly after I was born. Then, he decided to benefit from the irrigation and drainage systems he himself had built throughout his career, and retired to his ancestral land in Abohar to run a citrus orchard.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">He literally just does this for fun; so he has something to do. I asked him how he learned about farming and he said he had just been exposed to an agricultural lifestyle from a young age and that's how he picked up the vocabulary of the farm...and the technical stuff he learned on the internet. His fancy new sprinkler system for the fields arrived in Abohar the same day I arrived in India -- so I was honored and pleasantly surprised that between the two of us, he chose to receive me!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nanaji and I got to chat on the long drives from Chandigarh to Ludhiana and between Amritsar and Chandigarh, and I had the privilege of getting to see a few of the sites at which he was stationed at various points in his career. I absolutely adore these drives, and deeply cherish the assorted advice Nanaji always gives me about personal finances, moderation, and trusting in the universe to do its thing.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-QadEkz7ipdKGVsB9GdnEmgBqx0RslJPmc0HMbznRiLDOirFcKu8rfw89P8uvnKb67-Hriux7u7Di54iSENE6WSr6p6q45DQnii5qrkM3ijlOj1j86XsT5_QmUP4-OBNfBvA-Pg5nIvM/s1600/IMG_3571.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-QadEkz7ipdKGVsB9GdnEmgBqx0RslJPmc0HMbznRiLDOirFcKu8rfw89P8uvnKb67-Hriux7u7Di54iSENE6WSr6p6q45DQnii5qrkM3ijlOj1j86XsT5_QmUP4-OBNfBvA-Pg5nIvM/s320/IMG_3571.jpg" width="180" /></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">My Nani is genuinely one of my closest friends. I can't think of anyone else, fluent in the same English-Hindi-Punjabi melange we speak, who so wholeheartedly accepts and appreciates my antics. Whether we are spontaneously breaking into bedroom Bhangra routines, rudely spitting out citrus seeds at the farm, or muttering genuinely irreverent Punjabi commentary about strangers who irk us, we never stop laughing together.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I keep thinking that one of these days I am going to be a good granddaughter and give this queen the pampering she so deserves -- but she never gives me a chance as every morning she wakes me up with my favorite Nescafe drink and a pile of my laundry from the day before that she has decided to wash by hand. <i>Every</i> day. Who even does laundry every day?!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After my adventures in Ludhiana and Amritsar, I returned to Chandigarh and just debriefed with Nani for two hours. I kept trying to flag topics in my head that maybe I couldn't discuss with her or feelings of mine that she wouldn't be able to relate to, but as I continued to run my mouth, I was disproven time and time again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite a knee injury (can relate), Nani carted me around running my frivolous errands until the last hour of my trip, and when I was leaving she said, "I'll miss you so much...starting tomorrow I won't have anyone to do things for!"</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmBZ7BtE2g_V0k_sMI7Zjth-FF3UhJQERMl9EoLlNVgR5HCx1RVk_CSoKTm8iuOL64QMRiDR_sngJNZzwM7vFgMCy8ZlE-NVNy9dQWgUQUbevbVFNs5Ag_xXynKglx1d4UNfKLiqcJMWg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-04-02+at+9.20.09+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmBZ7BtE2g_V0k_sMI7Zjth-FF3UhJQERMl9EoLlNVgR5HCx1RVk_CSoKTm8iuOL64QMRiDR_sngJNZzwM7vFgMCy8ZlE-NVNy9dQWgUQUbevbVFNs5Ag_xXynKglx1d4UNfKLiqcJMWg/s400/Screen+Shot+2017-04-02+at+9.20.09+PM.jpg" width="257" /></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">My Dadi is a stunning exemplar of strength and independence. She never graduated high school but started from the age of 16 to support my Dadaji in his long and celebrated career as a college professor (whence my passion for education and literature come). Her dream was to one day be the Principal of a primary school. I didn't know of this aspiration until after I asked her to be the President of <a href="http://gyaanghar.blogspot.com/">Gyaan Ghar</a> in 2008, at which point we discovered that coincidentally, this dream had become a reality!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In addition to overseeing the daily operations of this learning center home to 65 students from low-income families, Dadi also serves as Vice President for the local Senior Citizen Welfare Association (advocating for the rights and dignity of the city's senior citizens) and runs the Park Club Society (through which she has been working on transforming junkyards in the region into green urban spaces for upwards of 15 years). So although she lives alone at the age of 77, she is never without something to do, and constantly frequented by adoring community members seeking her counsel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I skirted around trying to explain what I do at Living Cities with most people on my trip, but with Dadi I decided to go ahead and try it -- within three sentences (clumsily uttered in Hindi, no less) she had grasped our model more quickly than probably anyone I've tried to explain the organization to, including in English. She asked brilliant questions and then started talking about how we need to do more to bridge the intergenerational wealth gap between blacks and whites in America...at which point I was just too blown away to hear anything else she said.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I spent time at the dinner table last week asking Dadi to recite her story and Dadaji's, including all the places they have lived over their lives, which I audio recorded so I can go back and look each place up to document as much of the history and wisdom of my elders as I can.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">One of my favorite quotes (by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar) begins: </span>“Play with a small child as you played when you were a child. Talk with an elderly person remembering that one day, you will be like them.” In the case of my grandies, all I can do is hope that this is true.</div>
Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7717596991294645248.post-2513785084842919532017-03-21T13:05:00.000-04:002019-08-31T08:15:29.176-04:00A Conversation with Suparna Gupta, Founder of Aangan India<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://365gapdays.blogspot.in/2016/01/the-perfect-break_35.html">Last January</a>, I had the opportunity to moderate a panel at the annual <a href="http://www.harvardusindiainitiative.com/">Harvard US-India Initiative</a> conference about the Indian juvenile justice system and the Juvenile Justice Act of 2009. The panel featured some human rights rockstars, including Harvard Law School Professor Jacqueline Bhabha and the Founder and Director of Aangan India, Ms. Suparna Gupta.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdHJosr4IdGOJCvQuBxCYY3bjhcbHd7xGn3iLCB2DojCpZSY93eJ3Y6qie5M1fTV3903nF-hsB_5hqv7ogmUbzLofXmGMtFmvOoej56RRQFRNVvq3cy5KropOMvqQ9K1DN8eZeAeVfAtM/s1600/Suparna+Gupta%252C+Meera+Gandhi%252C+student%252C+Jacqueline+Bhabha+on+the+panel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdHJosr4IdGOJCvQuBxCYY3bjhcbHd7xGn3iLCB2DojCpZSY93eJ3Y6qie5M1fTV3903nF-hsB_5hqv7ogmUbzLofXmGMtFmvOoej56RRQFRNVvq3cy5KropOMvqQ9K1DN8eZeAeVfAtM/s400/Suparna+Gupta%252C+Meera+Gandhi%252C+student%252C+Jacqueline+Bhabha+on+the+panel.jpg" width="400" /></a>Our conversation last winter went by way too quickly, and I've since been eager to pick both of their brains further about this topic near and dear to my heart. Having just touched down in India last week, I was lucky enough to be able to meet with <a href="https://www.ashoka.org/en/fellow/suparna-gupta">Suparna Gupta</a> to learn more about <a href="http://aanganindia.org/">Aangan</a> and their systemic approach to child protection.<br />
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A number of themes stood out to me in our conversation, particularly as areas that we at <a href="http://livingcities.org/">Living Cities</a> are trying to figure out in the context of job creation in U.S. cities. Connections across sectors and disciplines whirred through my mind as Suparna compared their work and ours, cutting across continents and cultures.<br />
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<b>Learning from All Levels</b></h3>
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The first thing that struck me was how <b>empowering and encouraging Suparna was as a listener </b>while we spoke. She is a giant in a field that I know admittedly little about, and yet she asked more questions than she gave answers, interrupting occasionally with the excited respect one affords an intellectual peer. I thought about it later and realized that this unequivocal <i>respect </i>is a cornerstone of Aangan's approach -- to listen to voices that come from all places and consider them of equal weight and validity. The communities we aim to serve in the social sector are too often excluded from the dialogue about how best to help them; thus consultation with children affected by issues like abuse and neglect is a key piece of Aangan's model.<br />
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<b>Sharing Knowledge in Real Time</b></h3>
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So of course Suparna opened by asking me, "What are you doing these days?" and when I mentioned that I work on writing to share real-time learnings across the cities we work with, she paused me to say, "Wait -- real-time learning -- what is that phrase? That's what we need."<br />
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Our philosophy toward learning at Living Cities is that if we wait to publish until research is "conclusive" in an academic sense, the window for when that knowledge could be useful to another city will likely have passed. Hence we encourage our cities not to be afraid to "fail fast" -- regardless of whether they achieve a success or a failure, to <b>share lessons learned with the world in real-time so that other cities can replicate promising practices</b> and avoid reinventing the wheel.<br />
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Aangan is a pioneer in collecting data at the grassroots level and then <b>giving the data back to communities</b> so they can implement change on the ground in a way that is culturally sensitive and appropriate. The team recently launched an app through which areas that are hotspots for child trafficking can self-report community data -- this data is then shared back to the community, and also reported to the state government. Thus change can take place at multiple levels: community members can use signs of high-risk situations to better equip them to protect children in the region based on trends that emerge for them, and the state can roll out policies and programs to protect children. (One such program has police officers spending a few hours a week with women and girls in the community to build trust, so that they be seen as advocates who can aid in prevention, rather than authorities dealing in punishment.)<br />
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<b>Seeking Systemic Solutions & Cross-Sector Collaboration</b></h3>
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Another piece that came alive for me in our conversation was Suparna's (indirect and conversational) description of what it truly means to <b>look at a problem from the systems level</b>. "I started off being really interested in education, and then realized I was more concerned about the students who <i>weren't</i> in the classroom. What was keeping these kids out of school?" This simple rhetorical question sent me reeling down a mental journey about why I always feel like there's something missing in the level of support we can provide at <a href="http://gyaanghar.blogspot.in/">Gyaan Ghar</a>, why I wish I could go home with each and every student and observe what their relationship with their parents looks like and whether they fight with their siblings or not, and on and on all the way to the root cause of why they are where they are. Suparna drew the connection between lack of familial financial security and risk of being trafficked for me simply and vividly, again hearteningly striking a connection between our focus on wealth creation for low-income people at Living Cities and Aangan's work on child protection and well-being. To consider and engage with an entire system on an issue like child protection is both comfortingly tangible and dizzyingly complex.<br />
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We bemoaned the fact that more students don't say they study "systems science" because "political science" brings to mind something easier to understand -- but we ranted about the need to <b>reform entire systems</b> surrounding elected officials<b> to embed change that persists beyond each new administration</b> eager to make its own uniquely innovative mark. I got to spend a bit of time here talking about how the cross-sector tables in each of our Integration Initiative cities originated, and also how we continue to iterate to make sure the right people are at the table to make sure that change is sustainable and sustained.<br />
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<b>Personal Reflections</b></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbvCjdSva1jwyCbk3Qkw9XM_1hvnzUnZqDRJ3HPVjMCWXlymKc7wsYL_iYDbBHgP1WnZORoJNPabfkHpVG-EwVF-i2-hDZjXk4Mr1zh4OkjJ5cioIARFLq2t9RQE4BHGKO1GPQdr4p_vo/s1600/Headshot_Suparna+Gupta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbvCjdSva1jwyCbk3Qkw9XM_1hvnzUnZqDRJ3HPVjMCWXlymKc7wsYL_iYDbBHgP1WnZORoJNPabfkHpVG-EwVF-i2-hDZjXk4Mr1zh4OkjJ5cioIARFLq2t9RQE4BHGKO1GPQdr4p_vo/s400/Headshot_Suparna+Gupta.jpg" width="266" /></a>Influenced by my time working at <a href="http://www.sashabruce.org/">Sasha Bruce Youthwork</a> and proud of my certification in their "competency-based counseling" approach, I was quick to jump in and ask how counseling fits into Aangan's work with women and children. Suparna challenged my assumptions by asking "what exactly do you mean by 'counseling'?" (Her background is in psychology and communications, so the question was meant purely didactically, and caught me accordingly off-guard.) I stumbled to get out the words "clinical talk therapy" (as technical as it gets when you are as out of your depth as I was) and she pushed me to think about what counseling would mean for the communities that Aangan works in. "If you mean talking, everything we do with these kids is talking. In fact, it's the only tool we have. If you mean sitting in an office talking to a 'professional,' I encourage you to think about the vocabulary it takes to describe the risks these children are facing, even as an adult. Now picture a child trying to describe those experiences in a clinical setting." Once again, I was pushed out of my comfort zone to think about the inherent privilege and potential for alienation involved when we tout tools that are not culturally appropriate. Suparna then drew the link to artistic expression (trauma-informed informal "art therapy") as a tool that Aangan uses to work with children (when appropriate). Implicitly: <i>art is a language we all have access to</i>. My jaw dropped to the floor as another tool whose application I've grappled with emerged from our conversation, drawing connections across multiple fields I'm extremely passionate about.<br />
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I left our conversation with a <i>deep</i> sense of optimism. I was extremely heartened to find the field I currently work in so relevant and "easily" applicable to a different social issue in a country with an entirely different set of cultural norms and political forces. Suparna's words about overcoming systems as engrained as child marriage, or even the caste system -- through words, the only tool we have -- gave me so much hope, and re-instilled my commitment to continuing to push and grapple with these issues, one piece at a time. </div>
Ratna Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01557619844289695041noreply@blogger.com2