When the chance to visit the Manipal University Counseling and the MIT orientation was presented to Manipal fanatic Watanabe Takahashi, age 25, of Tokyo, Japan, he jumped at the chance.
“Manipal University is revered here in Japan,” said the rising computer whiz kid. “To get the chance to make the journey is very very special for me and my family.” ManipalBlog was tipped off about this story that was sure to tug at the heart-strings of you, our reader(s), so we tracked down Watanabe, known as “Wa” to friends.
What about the tremendous expense of traveling halfway around the world to attend a simple counselling? “Oh, it’s nothing,” said Wa with a polite bow and a dismissive wave of his hand. “Only about $8,000, I think, definitely less than $10,000, and most of that is paid for by my company.”
Oh, we said. We had heard that you spent millions to get here to Manipal. Wa’s eyes widened. “Millions? No way! Not millions. Only one million,” or as Wa actually put it, “onry one mirrion.” One million dollars! we asked, using an exclamation point instead of a question mark to show our surprise and amazement. That will be an amazing story for our readers, we said. “No, sirry American! One mirrion Japanese yen, sirry!” Wa patiently explained that 10,000 U.S. dollars equal roughly 1,023,000 Japanese yen.
Okay, so perhaps our insider news tipster got that minor detail slightly wrong. We were still left with the delicate issue of Mr. Takahashi’s precarious health situation. Tell us about this being your last Manipal visit, we began. “Final? It’s my first Manipal visit,” Wa told us, quickly adding, “I don’t imagine I’ll ever experience something this special again. I hope to return, but I don’t know.”
So you may never return?
“That’s correct,” he said.
So then this could indeed be your last Manipal visit?
“That’s true. Right,” said Wa.
Aha! we said.
“I would call it a once in a lifetime experience, definitely,” he added.
Our source said you’re a dying man, we told Wa.
“Well,” he said, “today we’re all one day closer, aren’t we? I mean, really?”
Good point, we admitted.
About the Author: The author wishes to remain anonymous and watch from the sidelines as ManipalBlog.com suffers the consequences of posting such a wonderful article.
P.S.: All facts mentioned in this article are Fiction. But we guess, you already knew that, didn't you?
really lame… i had enough of faking manipal….
This is a really bad article, its offensive and not the least bit funny. I don’t understand the point of Faking Manipal, there are plenty of real life events that happen in Manipal that are quite entertaining. Seems like laziness on the part of the editors who let articles like these get published on the blog.