For somebody who has never watched a live cricket match, never mind played it, it was a brave step to attempt my first cricketing appearance against a crack Indian outfit at the AITO conference in Cochin, Kerala, last Friday. All the more so when I saw how fast the first few deliveries whizzed by our opening batsmen.
It’s now a time-old tradition: an airline comes along and wows us gullible public with what it insists will be the interior of its shiny new A380/787/777 – bowling alleys, private bedrooms and casinos – yet the reality never matches the hype.
School children in Berlin individually designed and painted 1,000 dominoes – probably twice the size of the children themselves – and were arranged in curves and lines close to where the wall itself stood; a transient and see-through barrier to remind people that, just 20 years ago, East and West Germany were separate entities, with communism one side and capitalism the other – and, terrifyingly, death by shooting if one dared to try to cross the dividing wall
Much of Japanese culture revolves around the distinct seasons, and it is heavily influenced by Shinto beliefs, which emphasise harmony with, and an appreciation of nature. I love the peacefulness of Shinto shrines, which are made of wood and are usually near a sacred tree and flowing water.