Vacationing in Cancun

We vacationed in Cancun this week. Beautiful coast, white talcum sand, blue clear skies (with one exception cloudy afternoon that only made the other days even more special) and a nice resort. The kids had a great time. For them swimming, eating poolside, jacuzzi-ing, sleeping poolside, swimming, could be a full day routine. And then add sand ..... I managed to rent a motorboat and go out with my older son. It was the highlight of the trip for him and me. We moored on the bay and I snorkeled at one of the "top spots". On a separate note, the sad reality is that tourism is taking a toll on the reefs in that part of the world. The corals were all but gone, the fish too used to eating food from snorkelers. I hope to take both our sons back to Molokini or the Barrier Reefs one day, soon .....

Indian dining in London

I ate out in London last night. Despite the fact that it is frightfully expensive (for Americans anyway) these days to eat / lodge in London, the fact of the matter is that London remains an incredible value for money for the serious Indian diner. And that's because the quality of good Indian food here is unmatched around the world. Naturally India comes close (in quality/price if not in service/ambiance) but London is clearly in its own league. So ever changing as it may be, here is my current personal ranking of favorites, written in rank order of recommendation: Amaya, Veeraswamy, Benares, Chowki, and Bombay Brasserie. Enjoy and if you have an opinion please share .....

Wealth management in Geneva

This week I was in meetings in Geneva, the original home of the wealth management business. I am told 10% of the world's wealth is either resident in, or managed actively out of Geneva. That's an outstanding number for this small city on shores of Lac Geneva and the Rhone, sandwiched between the Alps and the Jura. But it makes sense, given past history and continuing trends. Past history is obvious. What's interesting are the two continuing trends. One, the government allows individuals moving in to negotiate and setup their own tax rates - driving wealth migration. Two, scale drives continuing growth - increasingly in a world that requires serious underlying technology infrastructure to deliver the right CRM solutions, the barriers to entry are up. Still other geopolitical/religious factors can transcend these barriers, case in point, Dubai - which I plan to visit sometime this year.

The Kyoto connection

I had a Keiseki lunch today. I am headed back home after a few days of meetings in Japan, and finally managed to get a lunch all by myself. The restaurant had an amazing, old, meticulously maintained Japanese garden in its courtyard. It was lightly snowing, the trees were dusted white and the stones around the koi pond black and wet with the melting snow. I was reminded of my stay at the Hiiragiya in Kyoto a few years ago. I consider the Hiiragiya a top ten stay in the world, and an almost magical retreat. The food, the setting and the memories - it was the perfect lunch, I am looking forward to the cherry blossoms on my next trip here.