« May 2005 | Main | July 2005 »
June 27, 2005
flying tight
While traveling to the east coast for a wedding, I had a chance to experience firsthand the financial troubles our major airlines must be having.
I knew their budget was tight. But it still felt vaguely upsetting to be subjected to the non-frills, feck-you-we're-having-a-rough-time (non)service. The unsmiling air hostess sped past by me with a once-only doling out of water in plastic cups, while in the first-class section two trollies full of drinks went back and forth at a leisurely pace. Sure, it was a red-eye deal, at a modest $250 coast-to-coast, but it did leave somewhat of a bad (not to mention dry) taste in my mouth.
Oh, and did I mention they were two-hour late departing? When we finally left the airport, as the plane inched along to a runway, a high-nosed air hostess declared: "Alright, we'd be more than happy to stop this aircraft RIGHT NOW if you want to keep moving around!"
Needless to say, our flight back was also delayed for a few hours, forcing us to take a cab home from the airport, but that's another story.
By the way, an Irish startup Ryanair, which operates pan-European low-fare flights from Ireland and UK, just got rated as the most punctual airline by the US Dept of Transport. Ryanair was said to have been modelled after the US low-fare airlines such as Southwestern. Ouch!
Posted by Akira at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)
June 26, 2005
Beach
Yesterday I learned about videoblogging, or "vlogging." I wonder if anyone would want to see some of these images in moving digital format? This trip to the beach the other day could easily have been a video.
*Soundtrack*
Hey, what do you see in that cloud?
Which one?
That one.
Um, I don't know. A deer.
Really?
*
Hey, don't let sand get in the bag.
What else is in here. Oh, hey, sunscreen?
'Kay. Are my sunglasses in there? Oh, wait. They're lost. But they might be in those boxes. Can we unpack those sometime?
We have to get a shelf first, to put the stuff.
No we don't.
*
This beach towel Mom gave me finally came in handy.
*
Hey, those sailboats are cool. I wish I had one.
When you make it big, we can.
*
Should we extend the Flexcar?
Posted by Dipika at 7:27 PM | Comments (0)
June 25, 2005
Talking Heads
So my better half is attending this thing called Gnomedex in downtown Seattle and sent this picture home. What are these guys doing, listening or typing? I asked. She says they are "back channeling." Sounds like an occult film, RPG sorcery or some Self Help Tip. Supposed to be about the future of blogging. Yeah.
Blogging is so 2002, isn't it? Now everyone has a blog, like everyone had a hotmail account in 1996. It seems impossible that high-tech people like Microsoft still have something to say about it, and all the more surprising that people attend such a conference.
But then, I guess there's a point where the critical mass is reached, and something not so new in its concept becomes a breakthrough product through sheer good luck and good design. The way iPod and iTunes 'revolutionalized ' the music industry. After all, MP3 had been around since like 1995, right? So maybe, there'll be a 'blog revolution' that transforms the publishing industry yet.
Anyways, if there's news out there, Dipika will surely be reporting back here soon. In the meantime, I think I will go for a walk and enjoy the weather!
Posted by Akira at 12:36 AM | Comments (0)
June 24, 2005
Squares
When we were in Times Square at the exact moment this picture was taken, I'm quite sure we were the only visitors within a half-mile who were just not impressed.
Tons of people show up every day here from Europe, Japan, Utah or wherever, to gawk at the skyscrapers and voltage. Why not, they're in the throbbing heart of the city. But maybe not. Isn't Times Square just a big weird space where no real people live? Are the artists and writers and tinkerers in the little enclaves, say, behind Chinatown?
People in Europe might hate Americans, I've heard this opinion expressed several dozen times in a sampling* of bars on that continent, but they sure do rave about New York City. What is the deal, though? I'm not dazzled by it anymore. But boy, do they have a lot of color.
*Note: Sample was not random or statistically significant in any way. Bars just looked good, so I checked them out.
Posted by Dipika at 7:05 AM | Comments (0)
June 22, 2005
"Bug-free"
Since the latter half of May I’ve gotten four e-mails from people writing from their backyards.
Their authors describe the sun, flowers and birds. They imply summer is happening everywhere, yet I, catching e-mail in our backyard-less urban office, can’t partake of it.
I would say that’s not quite true.
Dropping into Volunteer Park for a walk after work, Akira and I got facefuls of those little irritating bugs that are kind of invisible until AARGH!, they fly into your eyes.
These aren’t as bad as other insects we've seen. A spider, the size of my outstretched hand, nearly made me faint when I woke up to find it grinning at me, calm and vertical on my wall in a hotel room in Ghana.
Yesterday a much tinier spider walked into our kitchen.
“Wow," I said. "That’s the first time I’ve seen a bug in our apartment.”
Akira cleared it with a napkin, in a much more confident motion than the time I asked him to remove a North Carolinian roach 11 years ago from my dorm room.
“I like the Northwest," he said flatly, as if reading my mind. "For being mostly bug-free.”
Posted by Dipika at 7:00 AM | Comments (0)
June 21, 2005
Solstice possibilities
It’s the solstice today. It will be light until late into the evening, and I will be either in Capitol Hill finishing my library book at some café or in Fremont watching soccer at some bar. Yet to be determined, by a mix of today’s alignment of stars and karma.
Just found out I’m going to be at this blogging conference this weekend. Blogs are neat, aren't they? I wonder who is making the best of them. What do they like to do with their spare time when not writing comments and uploading them for the world to see? I'll find out.
Posted by Dipika at 6:08 PM | Comments (0)
June 17, 2005
Post
I am really starting to get into this idea of reading more, but not just classics or newspapers. The other day I found this mini-dialogue on a blog.
Q: What’s your favorite piece of furniture?
A: My computer.
Posted by Dipika at 7:30 AM
June 15, 2005
DKNY
When I was 23 I had a postcard of New York pinned to my wall. It’s only flaw was a stray pen mark, but I liked the arbitrary line. It made me want to draw. That was then.
Last weekend I took Akira to my favorite parts of the city: Jackson
Heights for Indian buffet, Canal Street, and the park next to the library. He took me to the Village.
Being at Times Square for no reason late on Sunday night taking
pictures of each other wasn’t corny. It was nice. The best part was knowing we were going home soon.
I brushed my teeth when the plane stopped in Minneapolis. I got three seats to myself on the flight to Sea-Tac, so I got some sleep. And was awake enough to chit-chat with the taxi driver who brought us home. Dimpy (“I know it’s a girlish name”) wants to start an Indian garment import business.
No postcards of anywhere on my wall now, but yesterday at the post office I bought four of Seattle.
Posted by Dipika at 7:00 AM | Comments (0)
June 8, 2005
Mariners update
We have been frequenting certain insurance-company-christened ballpark these days, almost learning the names of the players beside Ichiro, and root, root, rooting for the Mariners. It's a nice way to spend the long summer nights, when it's nice out (mind, even in the rain they have those retractable roofs to keep us dry and cozy). This time around, I was treated a free ticket by my friend Bruce, who runs an excellent blog and his friend Steve. With the three rounds of beer and a heap of garlic fries, I am sure we stunk to high heavens when we went home to our respective wives, but that's what boys are wired to do - getting ourselves in a mess;)
Anyways, Mariners are doing a-okay. So far in our collective four viewings, they are going 1-3.
Posted by Akira at 2:51 PM | Comments (0)
Kawasaki sisters' Seattle trip
Last week, we hosted three ladies from Japan, all visiting here for the first time in Seattle. My mom and her two sisters Hisako and Eiko seemed very impressed by the vibrant city and greenery of the surroundings. We showed them bare minimum of the downtown sightseeing points, and in no time they were exploring the Pike Place Market and getting bread for their breakfast all on their own. We took a side trip to Victoria together and visited Butchart Gardens. Here's a picture of my mom, giddy from rickety ferry ride over.
I have an album of the trip on Flickr. If you are interested, drop me a line...
Posted by Akira at 2:50 PM | Comments (0)
June 6, 2005
日曜日。公園にて。
夢みるものたち：
大根おろし。
おでんのコンニャク。
ごま和え。
ビールとお酒。
さばの塩焼き。
しろまぐろのタタキ。
あげだし豆腐。
なすの田楽。
みそ汁。
ハマチのかま焼き。
Posted by Dipika at 10:58 PM | Comments (0)
June 5, 2005
Safety Tips
Some of Akira's family was just in town, so we went to Victoria, British Columbia. A brisk ferry delivered us to the lavish gardens and tea rooms of this part of Canada, where we lounged for three sun-sprinkled afternoons.
Guys in kilts manned the floors at our hotel.
They must have all been about 22, with pressed shirts and nice smiles. Both nights we got to hear their bagpipes in the lawn outside our window. (What is the deal with the bagpipes, lads? We heard them in Edinburgh, too, but wasn't that in a cheeky, check-out-our-culture, lassies kind of way?)
Not to dig on the Scotland-themed hotel. Great service, and helpful. In a green three-ring binder on our desk was a foldout page with safety tips. Do not invite strangers into your room, for example. Do not display large amounts of cash or jewelry. And remember, do not enter a room that is ajar.
Posted by Dipika at 9:40 PM | Comments (0)
June 4, 2005
Spicy Naan
Just got back from Maharaja, the King of Capitol Hill. They had samosas and mango lassi, naan bread of the sort you'd get somewhere north of Delhi. Chandigarh, for one, had similar food and atmosphere as the King. Bars with low lights and candles on the tables. The kind of place you could bring a date to, though those in India who frown on anything so sordid would only tell you about the city's "superb planning" (thanks to Le Corbusier, who didn't have a clue about rickshaws) and a garden of roses.
I have to admit I didn't think I'd go for any of these Indian food joints around Seattle. Some have been okay, but nothing's very exciting. I just figured I'd make better food than these guys. But I've never made anything really difficult, so samosas are a treat. The King's chai was a little flat, though. Two-ruppee bus stand chai in India is a million times better, but I guess you'd have to fork out $1,200 for airfare.
But Vijay, the Maharaja himself, seems to be trying. Free appetizers at happy hours and $2 well drinks? Yup. Indians sure know how to wheel 'em in. Punjabi bhangra nights on Thursdays, I learned. Well. Let's see how we get on with that.
Posted by Dipika at 9:25 PM | Comments (0)
June 2, 2005
Family in Town
Akira's mom and two of his aunts are in Seattle for the first time, a place they picked cause we're here. Just got back from Victoria, but also hung out here downtown, hitting Pike Place Market and this pub, Virginia Inn. This pic was from a dinner at this Spanish tappas place called Harvest Vine that Akira'd been wanting to try.
Posted by Dipika at 1:18 AM | Comments (0)
June 1, 2005
Sunday afternoon
Akira and I hung out Sunday at what my brother Robin calls "the place with the tall bookcases." It had been some time since we went to the downtown store of Top Pot, mostly because we never hang out around 5th Avenue but also because they keep weird hours. As in not open when it's late and you're wondering where to go.
Akira noticed right away that five of the six laptops people had on their tables were Macs. "That's so not representative of Apple's market share," he remarked, as astute as ever.
Posted by Dipika at 1:11 AM | Comments (0)