Travelicious

Today I ran in the Tokyo YMCA charity Run , a total of 10 KM in relay format. There were 6 players in a team and each one of them had to run approx 1.5 each. Frankly I did prepare for it as I had never before taken part in a race. We finished 33rd out of the overall 90 team taking part in it. Almost all teams were sponsored by companies in Tokyo . I recently developed interest in running. Though I am still of the opinion that it is a very passive and boring sports compared to other like Cricket , football etc . I feel it is essential in my sedentary lifestyle. But overall it was lot of fun and yes at the end of the day I could say "It was all for charity " and go to a good night's sleep. :-)) Some pics from the run . Click

Went for Canyoning yesterday. It was an amazing experience. One might think it's same as a water rides in a theme park, but I would disagree. It's not at artificial as them. In natural surroundings , with minimum human intervention(yeah u need ropes and safety hooks) , it's totally different and more full filling experience. You need to have a kind of confidence and faith on the forces of nature. And indeed after it you will have respect for them.

F1 is almost in the middle of it's season with the London's silverstone circuit coming text this weekend. Should be fun to see how the team's fare. It has been a pretty mixed season for almost all the team , with no clear winner. BMW , Ferrari, Mac Laren all in the contention. Thought it's clear that Ferrari are way ahead in speed , but had some misfortunes all along. One thing that amazes me is the down slide of Hamilton since last season ended. He was a poster boy of media and now with all his arrogance he has fallen badly. I think the problem is not his driving , but everything other than that. He should be concentrating more on F! and less on popularity . It comes automatically. Kimi is a perfect example , he is very focused on his driving and F!.

Modi's Speech and Interview at the Hindustan Summit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYD3fgqcmIQ - Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg18zSr2PF8&feature=related - Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YauyALWBWnI&feature=related - Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V36f7w0EwHw&feature=related - Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMZjvplDtcA&NR=1 - Part 5 I am a BJP supporter , but I was embarrassed by the Gujarat riots of 2002. And i think , Riots were one of the main reasons for defeat in 2003 general elections. But 6 years have passed since then , and it seems that the media is still not willing to forget and leave that issue. Gujarat since that time has changed a lot and has undergone many changes(for good) and we can't ignore Modi's contribution in that. For one there has been no riots since last 6 years(A record of sorts in Gujarat's history). Large amount of investment is coming into the state etc. It has been written and said milli...

I find myself guilty of not being regular with my blogs. This is the longest period of dormancy . Well not much has happened in my life anyways during this time. I am still here in this beautiful country Japan. One thing that sill amazes me are the wonder full people of japan. The kind of mutual respect and courtesy they have for each other is totally amazing and teaches one or two things to people of other countries and traditions. There might be no religion , or i should say very less of that , these people are still more religious if we consider that ll religions teach and love and respect for there fellow humans. It's been almost a year and frankly I have not seen much of Japan other than Tokyo and my aim for the coming time , is to see as much of it as possible.

I am writing this almost a month after my trip to F1 held in Tokyo. But better late then never :-) . It was to be a once in a lifetime experience of going to the race but what it's made as to be a one big festival/ celebration blah blah is not actually that. Reality is totally different. The experience itself will not be good until and unless you understand the sport very well. The pit lanes , the overtakes , the safety cars, the machinery , tyres , Qualifying , etc , there is no end to the rules and regulations. Another thing is the track layout is such that person sitting at a point Will not be able to see the whole track because of the so many curves and bends. So it's like seesing the cars go through one same point nth times. How exciting can that be! Well the tickets are also damn expensive and if you really take my word it's better if you watch it from home. But none the less now as the season has come to an end, I am eagerly awaiting for the next season to start and ...

So we finally have a F1 team , that's great news. And the name Force India sounds ok, atleast better then something like Indian Star or Indian Lions etc. Let's see how this goes as the name and idea are good. Looking forward to see them atleast beat the Super Aguri and Toro Rosso next season. Being in F1 will definaltely give Mallaya a much needed global audience . And with strong 500 million avid followers it will give good visiblity to the India GP slated for 2010. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2007/10/7036.html