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.