Home in March

I haven’t stepped inside an airport so far in March. My wife had to travel the first week, I was booked in jury duty the second week, and stayed in town, this third week, for my younger son’s birthday. As a result, I am all caught up – mail (no need to open any envelopes on planes), taxes (completely organized, mostly ready to go), music digitization (another 10GB went on my iPod), catch-up on recent movies (recommend Valkyrie, Dostana, Slumdog), kids schools, sports and life in general. We spent the weekend hosting some out of town relatives, I took this photograph of the Golden Gate Bridge on a clear blue Saturday afternoon in March from the Marin headlands.

Holi in Hillsborough !

We celebrated Holi in Hillsborough for the first time this year. This author enjoyed the sanctity of the living room look-see on an otherwise cold morning while local friends of Indian origin enjoyed (and shivered) in the festivities. The kids though, mostly, had a good time, and independent of whether they got into it or not, certainly got a feel for it, which in the end was the best part of it.

Home from above

Here is a view of our town from an airplane above.  Starting from the top you can see the Pacific Ocean, Half Moon Bay, the Coastal Ranges of San Andreas, the Crystal Springs Reservoir, the freeway from San Francisco to San Jose and then of course our town.  I took this from an A340-600 on an early approach into SFO last month.

Music in the Air

Heres my nephew and niece trying to wake me up with some morning music in Gurgaon last year - This is me, originally by Demi Lovato.  I happen to think these two will shake up the music world in due course.

In the meantime, at a dinner event this week at a close friends’, I heard a few recent Hindi songs I hadn’t heard before. Is this Love by Kunal Ganjawala, and Maula Maula by Roop Kumar Rathod. These songs along with earlier recent hearings of Woh Chali by Bombay Vikings and Allah Ke Bande by Kailesh Kher all evoke a richness and depth that I hadn’t, till now, experienced with Hindi, mostly Bollywood music. I think this genre is expanding in very creative and energetic ways at a pace I haven’t seen ever before, and one that probably stands out from others. Good for its fans - and I count myself in now as since then my iPod file size has increased significantly (Sufi Music, Recent Bollywood Hits, India-Pop).

US Passports in Singapore

Had a pretty messy travel experience in Singapore last weekend. Apparently they are pretty strict about US passports needing to have at least six months of validity remaining from the date you plan to exit the country. This wasn’t the case with mine (and this hadnt been an issue in recent trips in Europe and wont be, coming up in India), and caused me unnecessary grief. In the end though, everything worked out. Note to self, need to go visit the State Department. This photograph is of one of the thousands of orchids in full bloom at Changi.

Quick Stop in India

I made it in and out of India on a quick trip this last week in February. We had a launch in Mumbai and I had meetings in Mumbai and Delhi. Slumdog Millionaire had just grabbed eight Oscars the night before and Mumbai was on a high. I spoke with the flight attendants returning with me to Europe from the flight that had brought some of the Slumdog crew back from Los Angeles and I could feel their excitement from having personally met the cast and touched the Oscars on the flight the night before. Its amazing how pervasive and universal the Oscars have now become. What was also interesting for me is the change in some emotions around the movie once the Oscars were bagged. On previous discussions I had always found my friends elsewhere in the world to have really enjoyed the movie, whilst those in India mostly hadn’t enjoyed it – perhaps because of concerns that it reflected negatively on the environment that is home. Not any more, everyone I know in India now loves it, perhaps because emotions have shifted from denial to pride. All is well – as they say – that ends well. I took this photograph of blue pool and azure skies off my hotel - captures the peace in the chaos of Mumbai perfectly.

London after the storm

I missed the big storms last week. London, which is quite unaccustomed to snow, came to a complete halt for a day and half early last week, I was lucky enough to have left the Friday before and arrive back this week after life had returned to normal. Having lived in North America for the past twenty years (of which two years were in Minnesota – which deals with snow perhaps not unlike other cities deal with wind), its difficult to imagine a major economic capital not being able to deal with a few inches of snow. But London I guess never gets any snow. In any case, between the recent snow storms, and the overall economic meltdown (particularly noticeable in London compared to other cities I have recently traveled to) travel was smooth, easy and convenient – not to mention, cheaper. I stayed at a business hotel in Canary Wharf which was conveniently undersold and thus easier to get upgraded in, dined at fine, popular restaurants that were easy to get in and out of, and to top it all, paid for it all with a much stronger $ that I can remember in recent years !

North End in Boston

I think North End in Boston has lost its charm and gone from a quaint Boston neighborhood with amazing restaurants to an overly commercialized patch of tourist haunts. I used to enjoy it particularly coming off of flights from SFO into Logan and easily accessing the restaurants there, instead of dealing with the 128 traffic and getting late to a hotel only to find everything closed down (restaurants close early in Boston) while the body clock was just getting into West Coast dinner time. And most times I could find a nice Italian or seafood restaurant with character and a distinctive menu minutes off the airport. Alas no more, I was in Boston this week, and ended up instead eating at the hotel restaurant in Logan. This photo is from the Boston Harbor Hyatt looking East into Boston in the post dinner night light from a hand held SLR.

Skiing in Tahoe

We took the boys up to Tahoe this weekend. This was their first real ski experience and both took two lessons. K1 was managing tug-ups, turns and stops, albeit at controlled speeds down the bunny slopes. K2 managed to carpet up, and then ski down and stop. Amazing to see how fast they learn and how much they enjoyed. K1 is ready to go back, and K2 didn't want to leave the "ski-house" which was his affectionate label for our friends Tahoe home. And of course the fact that we were there with good friends in their home, allowed us amazing experiences, cooking together, high quality interactions and great fun for the five kids !

Budapest in Jan 09

I had a great visit to Budapest, Hungary this week.  One of the two non-business personal highlights of the trip for me was the night cruise on the Danube – very beautiful.  Despite having traveled around Europe over seventy-five times, I walked away with some original experiences, and new insights from this trip.  It is said that Budapest is perhaps  the new Prague - and for the most part I agree.  I think there is lots of history here (given Hungary's role in WW1 and then feels like relatively unscathed in WW2 bombings), the combination of architectural styles (Western European, Turkish and recently Russian), and a warm, open way of life.  Definitely worth a visit back with the family, once kids are older.  This photo is taken from a moving boat on the Danube looking up at the palace on the Buda side.

Thai in Atlanta

I wouldn’t have expected great Thai food in Atlanta of all places.  I was proven wrong when we ate at the insistence of a newly met colleague at this upscale Thai restaurant in downtown Atlanta (www.nanfinedining.com) earlier this week.  The chef is a Thai born, New  York (Tamarind, Manhattan) trained Thai-American of restaurateur parents.  She also trained under the Chef for the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay (I know this since he happened to be dining there the night I was there).  I am not a big fan of Thai normally, to the disappointment of many including my wife, but this was truly good food, a nice wine list, and a decent upscale setting - and in addition, very clever spa-esque restrooms !  Definitely worth a try if you are in town.

Dusk Storms at Narita

I flew back from Tokyo today. Japan typically gets Yellow Dust Storms in late winter - dust, sand and top soil from Central Asia blowing across the Korean peninsula and onto the Japanese islands. The color in this photograph has been accentuated to compensate for web viewing, but captures the evening light as clouds form on the horizon.

Singapore Spa-ing

On the infrequent occasions when I do treat myself to a massage, I prefer the deep tissue version closest to the Swedish method.  On rare occasions, particularly in Japan, I opt for Shiatsu.  I am fine with the Chinese style, I don’t have much of a preference for Thai style, I don’t really care for the fru-fru Aromatherapy style, and I absolutely completely avoid the common Indian style, though haven’t tried the more traditional Indian Aryuveda style.  So this time when I was in Singapore, I gave the Malay style a try and found it to be a good balance between the Swedish and Chinese methods – lots of deep tissue style massage but utilizing the thumbs, palms and elbows.  Singapore also is a good place to try it since its Asian and you are in a more predictable, clean and hygienic environment.  Sipping chilled coconut water in the coconut casing afterwards, I decided Malay comes after Shiatsu and before Thai on my preferential listing.

Kuala Lampur in January

I spent a few days in KL this week.  This was my first time in Malaysia (not counting the ex-eighth sultanate down-peninsula that is a frequent stop) and two things caught my attention. First the way the Malay language is written in English – exactly as it is pronounced.  Ekspress for Express as an example in the photo above.  And second, the greenery in the city, something I hadn’t expected going in for some reason, and was great to see in the developing world, see photo below taken from the top floor of the Meridien in City Center (Senter when written in Malay).  Also, noteworthy was the vegetarian Indian food here, though the Malay food here was great as well.  

First business flight of 2009

Happy New Year.  There is much hope around the world that the new year brings with it a turnaround and recovery from the global fnancial crisis.  Symbolically, enroute to Tokyo, high above the Aleutian Islands, a day changes over and the light of the new day is as calming as it is beautiful.  This is my first business flight of the year and I look forward to new wonders another years worth of travel brings.

New Years Celebrations in San Diego

We finished off the year in San Diego.  Celebrated twice.  First at the 6pm children’s countdown and fireworks at Logoland, and then when it actually closed in the Pacific time zone, four hours ahead of the International Date Line.  Looking back, we used 2008 well - spent a lot of time with our kids, kept to our promise of six plus vacations – Florida, Mexico, Hawaii, Yellowstone, Palm Springs, New Zealand and San Diego, and saw our parents and friends and family a lot throughout the year.  Here’s looking to 2009 !

Yet another new airline

We flew Virgin America to San Diego with the kids.  I have travelled extensively on Virgin Atlantic, and find them to be very strong on the SFO – LON route, great on meals, exceptional on their club rooms (particularly at Heathrow).  Conveniently, they partner with SQ for mileage credit, who are a great partner for them.  This was my first experience with Virgin America though.

In a nutshell, a very positive experience.  Cool (literally – see mood lighting on aircraft above), hip (very new century convenient – purchase, check-in, bags check etc is all self/internet enabled) and just right (no idiotic frills, and wide choice of options).   There were 50 plus programming options to choose from, which the kids promptly managed to get their Mom to figure out and order programming with her credit card.  There were some 10 menu items all orderable from your in seat console and delivered right away upon ordering.  In both cases we paid for what we wanted but got exactly what we needed –didn’t have to see our kids eat high sodium pretzels and get erroneously exposed to the Simpsons !

Mumbai, after 11/26

I just returned from Mumbai - my first visit after the recent events. Much has been written up on these events and one of the most common criticisms has been that this event compared to others from the past got a disproportionally higher level of media coverage since the targeted establishments were more frequented by the affluent section of the Indian society. I suspect this is true, and in its own way it is good. I find that the more affluent Indians didn't have much of a use for or daily interaction with the government. Sure you still need a passport to travel but most affluent Indian homes make their own basic or incremental arrangements for education, medical care, utilities and security. As such there wasn't a sense of real accountability of the elected officials and government bureaucrats - the educated and economically active Indians didn't ask and the economically deprived and uneducated Indians just accepted what they got. I see this starting to change as more and more affluent Indians are starting to ask the question. What have you done
for me recently ?

Eight years ago we were hiring software engineers in Delhi and I could see for the first time these men and women truly internalized the fact that the world is their oyster. This fundamental shift in the thinking of the youth to a "I can make it happen" mindset fundamentally changed the course of events from the previous fifty years and put India on a growth curve third to none. A similar paradigm shift is in the making - one hopes will result in a truly accountable democratic government, not just the largest.

South Island, NZ

Our vacation was, as it were, a years worth of pure, absolute, total and complete delight crammed into a week. The South Island of New Zealand is an breathtakingly beautiful part of the world. And its pristine, relatively uninhabited, and pure. And given the global economic environment, NZ was actually a great value. The interest rate arbitrage game is now over as their central government reduces rates to ease the credit crunch and as a result the currency has eroded significantly. If you are into the outdoors, NZ is probably the best value today. This photo of Fjorland was taken from a low altitude aircraft close to Queenstown.

Cruising in the Akaroa Harbor

We spent the day in the water with the Hector Dolphins.  The Hectors are the rarest dolphins in the world, they are smaller and have rounded dorsal fins.  Like most dolphins, they were extremely curious and playful – and came out and spent an hour with our boat and some other divers – checking us out.  We were in the Akaroa harbor – a shallow and rich expanse of water that was formed when the crater of the volcano got flooded by sea water.  And it was a sunny, beautiful day.  And we had a great time.  If you are ever in Christchurch, this is a definite recommendation, unique geology with a wonderful history and close to get to.