Musings From New York

Three Guesses Why I'm So Happy Today?

Everybody sing along!

Touristy recommendations?

A colleague of mine is attending my wedding, and is spending about a week in all in Bangalore.
This is the first time he's traveling to Bangalore ... well, the first time he's traveling to India. I'd anticipate that he'd be on his own (or at least with a car & driver) for significant amounts of time.

Where would you, my patient, knowledgeable & exasperated readers (not necessarily in that order), recommend he visit as a tourist (in Bangalore only, he's not looking to do any day trips), and as a shopper? He loves photography, and would be looking to get some good pics of town.

To get you started, here are some places I thought of ...

• Vidhan Soudha
• Lal Bagh
• Commercial Street
• Brigade Road/ MG Road

Of Airports and Air Travel

Kansas City International Airport (MCI) is an interesting study of how to build an airport given virtually unlimited space (let's face it, another acre of corn isn't going to make *that* much of difference to the world). I actually like the design that every 5 gates have their own twin set of X-Ray machines. This really keeps the lines short, and fast moving. Too many times have I faced near panic in La Guardia by being stuck in the 5th row of a conga line of disgruntled travelers trying to make it past 2 scanners to a flight leaving in 20 minutes.

The downside to all that space is that there really aren't too many restaurants or stores in the terminals, either before or after security, thus forcing the traveler to finish eating and drinking before passing through ... and remember, one can't carry liquids through now, so one hopes like heck there's a small booth selling water after one has refastened one's shoes, one's belt, and put one's laptop in one's laptop case, put on one's jacket, and generally wonder why the world is such a screwed up place.

On the subject of air travel, I must say that Midwest is a very comfortable airline. Leather upholstered, double-wide seats with plenty of leg room. That come with a premium price. a LGA-MCI return purchased two weeks in advance costs about $350. On the plus side, that comes with fresh baked cookies on flights after 10am, so it's all good.

Toto, I've got a feeling ...

My next project's in Kansas. Yep. Tornado City. I want some red shoes so that before I fly back every week I can tap them three times and say "There's no place like home".

On the other hand, I wonder if I get the chance to drive around searching for Smallville.

Where In The World (Is Axe)?

I've been in London for the past couple of weeks, flying back last Friday. This last trip was good fun - got to spend a good amount of time with Kartik & Dad, eat at several great restaurants, and saw two excellent movies - "Hot Fuzz" and "300".

Will write more when I get a chance.

Blighty Bound

Yes, I'm London bound for all of 2 1/2 days - landing Tuesday morning, flying out Thursday evening. I'd barely have time to look Kartik up!

I'm not going to bother about getting over jetlag. I'll just be a bit sluggish in the morning, till about 1pm, and then prod buttock.

Update: This is so unfair. The day I travel is the day we get some snow. Bloody winter. I wanted to enjoy snow, not get trapped by it!

Hello from Heathrow

Well, this is an ... er, I'd say "auspicious" were I superstitious in any way, but I'm not ... but yeah, er an auspicious start to my journey to India.

My flight out of JFK was delayed by about 1.5 hours, and the connecting flight out of Heathrow, by about 3.5 hours. Blame was cast on the storms that have swept through the UK leaving a trail of death & destruction in its wake ... but I can safely say they seem to have all blown over. There was a bit of turbulence on the way in this morning, but the sky outside seems to be quite azure, with a few spotty white clouds hanging about.

You know, American terminals are boring almost to the point of tears, when compared to Heathrow ... terminal 7 at JFK had all of 3 stores including an Altitunes, a duty-free store, and one other unimaginative store. Heathrow's Terminal floor is a bloody mall by comparison ... Harrods, Pink, Borders, Swarovski, a ton of fashion boutiques, restaurants (horribly overpriced BTW - a breakfast and tea cost me £7+). Of course, the thing preventing me from buying anything is the insane exchange rate being offered by the Shylockian moneychangers ... including commission (£3), $40 netted me just under £16! I might buy something on the way back ... maybe some wine or other booze. The last time I tried to bring wine into India, I was deemed by customs to be over the allowable limit and was stiffed with a Rs. 3000 fine.

I did spend some time over aforesaid breakfast reading the Guardian (gotta love left-of-center liberal papers), and catching up with the latest Big Brother updates. Apparently both Shetty & Goody are up for a vote to be thrown out this Friday, with obvious favorite being Goody. And there was a lot of hand-wringing over the death of British civility. One commentator, who seemed to have a bit more sense than others, derided Big Brother-esque reality TV for being the real culprit.

10-hour trip to Chennai coming up. I swear, I'm going to sleep through Saturday at this rate!

Musings from Philadelphia

So ... very ... coooold!

I'm here in Philly this week on training; 4 days of classes followed by an exam on Friday. My hotel's a 5-7 minute walk from the training center, and I swear I could not feel my fingers or nose at the end of the walk this evening. Stud that I am, I forgot to bring gloves. Or a wooly hat.

Musings from Boston ... er ... Part Deux

Update: The wrong (i.e.: uneditted) version of some photos have been uploaded but I'm too tired to fix it now. Will do so tomorrow.

I took Mom up to New England this weekend ... specifically, Boston, with a side of New England. And lots of Diet Coke. The whole point about Mom coming down in the fall was ... well, the fall colors. And what better place to see the colors than Massachussets and New Hampshire? ... Well, probably Vernmont, Maine, and Conneticut, but sweeping that trivial fact aside ...

We went up to Boston on Thursday night, and stayed at the Marriott Long Wharf. Quite a nice little Marriott ... 7 floors long floors, with the whole building pointing into the sea. It apparently mimics the design of a ship, but I honestly think the architect was probably high. This unfortunately meant that none of the rooms, except the concierge lounge, had a view of the sea. Our room, for example, faced north, to Christopher Columbus Park, and North End. The two extemes of our view were downtown & the marina.

Anyway ...

Friday morning, we made our way down to Harvard. Spent the morning walking around the Square, and the grounds, taking in the sights. Following lunch at the Algiers Cafe (interesting decor, but extremley slow), we headed back in town, and the Prudential Center. We went up to the Skywalk, where on a clear, sunny afternoon, I fell in love with Boston. Continuing on, we took a ride on the Duck Tour, and were shown around the city by Major Tom Foolery. We stopped by The Cheesecake Fatory for a slice of heart disease before heading back to the hotel. We met up with Gowri for dinner ... I think it's been ten years since I last met her. Yeah, I think it was when I visited Vee and Malz in Mysore that I met Gowri for the first, and only other time! So here's hoping that another decade doesn't pass before the next encounter!

Andy very kindly (and after much emotional blackmail) agreed to join us on a drive into New Hampshire. Based on some frantic Googling, and hurried consultations with Gowri the prior evening, we'd decided to drive upto the lakes in Central New Hampshire. I must admit being pretty nervous about the trip ... it's been close to 18 months since I last drove (upto Scranton, PA as devoted readers <cough>Gowri<cough> recalled). Anyway, the trip passed without a hitch. We drove to Weir Beach, and around Lake Winnipesaukee. Halfway along the north coast of the lake (as an aside, do lakes have "coasts"?) we saw signs to the Castle in the Clouds, and decided to take a break from driving around, and stretch our legs a bit. As these photos go to show, it was definitely worth the break!

Andy has the bulk of photos of the trip, taken on his digital SLR. I was too busy praying I didnt crash doing 60mph around the blind turns.

Sunday was pretty tame in comparison. Had a late start, and headed up to the Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity (rolls off the toungue, doesn't it?) to look at the Mapparium. Its essentally a stained-glass globe depicting the political world as it was known in 1935. Which is to say Rhodesia is on the map, as was a combined Indo-Pakistani subcontinent. And the acoustics in the chamber are extraordinary. Because of the enclosed space, anything said in the center of the room is reflected back from all around you ... the ultimate surround-sound system, if you will! It's definitely worth the $6 admission fee!

After the quick trip to the Mapparium, Mom & I headed back to the hotel, stopping by Covent Gard .. er ... Quincy Market for a quick lunch at the food court. From there it was to South Station, Amrtrak and home!

Phew! That has to be the longest writeup in a while!

Musings from Boston

I spent Memorial Day weekend in Boston. Well ... I got there Saturday night, and left Monday afternoon, but packed a bit in the interim. The weather was gorgeously warm and sunny, with a cool breeze through the day, and that really was the icing on a very fine cake.

I love Boston. I am now torn between NYC and Boston as my favorite cities in the US. The city has such a ... young, European town feel to it. Not to mention that it has a bucketload of historical culture! For example, look at the photo of Faneiul Hall. Quincy Market. Does it not look like Covent Garden? There were even street performers! Is that why they named the area New England?!

So I got there Saturday night, and took the train to Harvard Square, and hooked up with Andy. He took me for a night time stroll around Harvard Yard, pointing out the dorms and some of the schools. We also visited a microbrewery - John Harvard's - where I can attest that the Provision Ale and the ... I forget the name (weirdly, neither beer are listed on the website!) ... are both amazing beers ... bitter with hints of dark chocolate and caramelized something or the other ... wow, what a brew.

Anyway, the next morning, we went around the Harvard campus once more. Andy showed off his school, the main campus, and the Law School & Library. Apparently, the Law School buildings are the only ones in Harvard to be connected by underground tunnels ... to spare the rich privileged future president sons of former presidents the hassle of walking through the cold like the other plebs. The chap I'm posing next to is supposed to be John Harvard but isn't. That's because when the statue was commissioned, there was no picture of the man lying around, and the sculptor made a then-current student pose instead. How delightfully quirky is that?!

We then went into Boston, and decided to follow the Red Brick Road, and took a most delightful walk around Boston. We saw houses of famous people, graves of famous people (well, the headstones, at least!), visited a public market/ food court, and ... well, in general, I further wore down my dilapidated shoes. Now answer me this ... I heard that Paul Revere was not the one who rode around shouting "The British are coming!", but it was some ... Isiah something? When the tale was writ some several decades later, Paul Revere happened to fit the rhyming scheme and was also well known for other deeds and so was made the courageous protagonist. Is that true?

Anyway, after a trip around Boston, we went over to MIT and wandered around to see some pretty cool buildings ... there's the "Infinite Corridor" (about a gajillion miles that makes you feel like you're experiencing The Shining!), and the Stata Building (on the right) is a pretty freaky piece of work too!

I think all in all ... we must've walked close to 5 miles on Saturday.

Monday was a relatively relaxed day. We leisurely sipped coffee at Peet's Cafe in Cambridge, where Andy called Pixie to say hello. I don't think I've spoken to her for ... oh, nearly 8 years now! She seemed the same :-) ... Andy & I went over to the JFK Library and spent a few hours walking around the exhibits. I quite enjoyed the Library archives of JFK's life ... in particular, the clips of his TV debates against Nixon, and other pieces of oratory.

Got back to NYC that night, and it's now business as usual!