Hiroshima After the Atomic Bombing on 6th August 1945 - © Bernard Loke
I was working in a country wide project in Japan back in 2008. I was lucky enough that Hiroshima was one of the 4 stops I made. Tokyo, Sendai and Sapporo completes the list.
Hiroshima is synonymous with the 1945 atomic bomb .One of the main tourist attractions there is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
So I decided to give it visit one cloudy morning. It was not that far from downtown Hiroshima. Probably about 15 minutes tram ride.
The atomic bomb exploded right above this park. It was initially aimed at the Aioi-bashi bridge which is located at the northern tip of the park. Instead it exploded slightly towards the bridge’s east.
How did I know about it?
Visit the Peace Memorial Museum.
The Atomic Bomb Dome at Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park - © Bernard Loke
A Cenotaph At the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park - © Bernard Loke
There were a few significant sights at the park, but I headed straight to the museum so that I’ll know more about everything in the park when I get out later.
I learned so much about WW2 and the atomic bomb that morning.
All I knew before the visit was that the atomic bomb ended WW2 and it was dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the Americans back in 1945.
That’s as far as my history goes.
I learned the chronological order of the events lead to the bombing.
I saw pictures of the a flattened Hiroshima. Pictures of victims with their body badly burnt.
I saw stuffs like clothing, watches, hair and other personal items belonging to the victims being put on display.
There was also a scale model of Hiroshima before and after the bombing.
There were videos of the American B-29 bomber, Enola Gay heading towards Hiroshima from Guam on that fateful morning of August 6, 1945.
Enola Gay's Path Towards Hiroshima - © Bernard Loke
In fact, there were so many things on display that made my 50 yen worth every penny of it. It was such a good educational visit.
I have friends who asked me what I usually bring when I travel for business and holidays.
Do I bring a lot? Or the bare minimum?
Most of the time I usually hand carry 2 bags accompanied with 1 checked in luggage.
I would check in my Samsonite suitcase bought 3 years ago. After lots and lots of abuse by the airport luggage handlers, it’s still going very strong. And it comes with 10 years warranty.
So no worries.
I’ll have one laptop bag with two 12.1″ laptops inside. One for work and one personal use. No mix between work and personal stuffs.
And then I’ll bring another camera backpack. This is the most awesome bag I ever had. Great quality and good design. It still looks like a new one after 1.5 years of heavy abuse and having been to more than 10 countries.
It’s a Thinktank Glass Taxi.
I’ll have my SLR in it, a G10, 2 lenses and a flash gun. Sometimes I’ll have my tripod inside a Thinktank Bazooka if the destination is worth bringing my 2kg tripod.
But, there are certain trips which I carry only one carry on bag, especially on Air Asia flights. Usually this is where I go for vacation or scuba diving trips overseas.
Since it’s a vacation, there’s not going to be laptop for work.
The backpack I use is a Thinktank Streetwalker Harddrive. It’s a camera and laptop backpack combo.
I’ll put my 12.1″ personal laptop inside together with my camera, underwater Fisheye FIX housing, strobes, lenses, UCLS tray system, a whole loads of batteries, camera maintenance kits and some other stuffs..
All in all, it would weigh anywhere between 8-10kg.
The Thinktank Streetwalker Harddrive is another awesome bag. In fact, I love both my Thinktanks. However, the Streetwalker Harddriver is used less frequently because of it’s bulkyness.
I know Thinktanks are above the average bag prices. But trust me, once you get hold of any Thinktank bag, you’ll never want to change it for another brand. It’s that good.
I have specific bags for specific purposes. A bag for each purpose and what’s going to be in it.
Women buy lots of handbags but they are all the same.
Guys buy lots of bags too, but for SPECIFIC purpose.
Delayed MH704 on Airbus A330 - © Bernard Loke
MH704 : KUL – MNL on 10th April 2010.
It was supposed to be departing at 1015. But once I went past the immigration, I heard the announcement that it was going to be delayed to 1130. 1.5 hours of delay. Not too bad I thought.
I could just sit down, have a Starbucks, read some newspapers, play with my iPhone and time will pass quickly.
So come 1130, everyone was on the plane. Seat belts buckled and we were all waiting for the plane to be taxi-ed out to the runway.
Then comes the captain’s announcement.
Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Welcome on-board MH704. We’re currently facing some technical issues. Don’t worry. It will be fixed in the next 5 minutes.
5 minutes…YEAH RITE! More like 1.5 hours!
Salted Nuts with Juice - © Bernard Loke
I sat in the plane from 1115 to 1245 being served with kacang masin and guava juice. Then after 1.5 hours, the captain came again.
We have to disembark to plane while the technicians fix the problem. It would probably take AT LEAST 3 hours. We’re sorry for all the inconveniences caused.
Suddenly everything seems so familiar again. This is indeed MH in which through my own experience is a flight delay airline.
Previously, I sat in the plane (KUL – FRA) for 5 freaking hours before being asked to disembarked. My flight eventually took off some 26.5 hours later from the intended departure time.
That’s the worst experience I had with MH. Not forgetting too some other 3-6 hours flight delays experiences.
Thinking back, I really wonder why I chose to take MH to Manila this time. Why not SQ?
Back to the flight delay. Obviously everyone very pissed off. I am.
The captain said they needed 3 hours to fix the problem in which then the new departure time would be at least 1600. However, the ground crew said new departure time is 1500. In fact, the departure time of 1500 was shown on the screen. And it was only until 1445 that they announced the new departure time which was going to be 1630.
Lunch Voucher from MH - © Bernard Loke
It was now lunch time. Surely MH has to at least compensate our lunch. Everyone got a meal voucher. But here’s the caveat – it’s only worth RM20 and can be used at either Noodles, Delifrance and Burger King.
I chose Noodles. I didn’t want to have another round of fast food at Burger King after my McD breakfast meal.
The next thing I found out at Noodles is that there’s only 1 option of food to choose from. Wantan noodle + Chinese tea. That’s RM20 gone. Good food nevertheless.
So come 1630, again everyone was on the plane. And the captain came in,
Sorry to keep you waiting ladies and gentlemen. Our plane is currently refuelling. It will take 15 minutes.
And then it was followed by a loud BOoOOo from the front to the back of the plane.
Eventually, the flight took off and I arrived in Manila at 2030, more than 6 hours from the original time.
