Apps
Contact
Seminars
RSS FeedJune 28th, 2010
My first 100$ burger (or first time flying)
Fiorentino’s over at Lancaster airport doesn’t really serve burgers, but they do have excellent Eggplant Parmigiana, which I ordered from their “light” menu, and my friend Mike (standing next to the plane) quickly pointed out the oxymoron in the making. It is very popular destination for fliers, as it is located right in the airport.
I have obviously forgotten the difficulty in making the car drive in a straight line, but that was exactly my problem in helping Steve fly the plane, with the added difficulty of the additional z dimension. So, as soon as I would get the plane to go straight, Steve would point out that we are climbing at 500ft/minute.
I have heard more than once that flying is like a drug, and since I am on it now, I am actively looking for flying lessons, but may settle for paragliding or hanggliding. Got suggestions?
February 9th, 2010
Beautiful Kiev!
With 30 inches of snow outside, I am really missing thinking about some summer days. I spent beautiful 2 days in Kiev this past summer, and I can honestly say that Kiev is one of the hidden gems of Europe, if it is hidden at all. From my very short stay there, I felt that the number of things to see there exceeds that from many other cities, and thus Kiev should really be on most tourists’ plans.
Here are some of the sites in Kiev that I enjoyed the most.
1. St. Andrew’s Church
This absolutely beautiful church from the middle 18th century is located on top of a steep hill on a lane bustling with hundreds of souvenir shops and thousands of tourists. As you walk up the hill, you are treated to this absolute gem.
The church was designed by Rastrelli.
The inside of the church is very beautiful as well, although my camera didn’t take as nice a pictures in the dark as it takes outside.
2. Kiev Pechersk Lavra and Sv. Sophia Cathedral
This must be the largest set of churches, perhaps outside of the Vatican. The original cave church was built in 1015, so one thousand years of this breath taking building must be coming up.
3. Just hanging out in the city center
The Kiev city center is a very nice area as well. Really pretty, and absolutely
perfect for people watching. If you have weeks in Kiev, you can spend days in the center. This area is around the Khreshchatyk and Maidan Nezalezhnosti metro stops. There are many cafes and restaurants up and down. There is an underground shopping area as well, which for no good reason really reminded me of Shanghai. 
January 24th, 2010
Tips on dealing with jet lag
By now, I have become a self-proclaimed expert on dealing with jet lag. As I just return on a trip, once again somehow I have no jet lag, traveling from time zone 10 hrs away. While no one has yet asked me for my expert advice, that won’t stop me from giving some tips here:
- Change your wrist watch/cell phone/ computer clock to your destination time zone as soon as you start your flight.
- Do not think about the time zone that you came from. That is, do not think to yourself, wow it is 3 AM in the place where I came from, so I should really be tired. Rather think to yourself in the new timezone – it is 8 PM (here).
- Set yourself reasonable goal. For example, say you normally are awake from 7 AM to 11 PM midnight. Suppose you travel between Central European time (say Berlin) and US Central time (say Chicago). These time zones are 7 hrs apart. 4 PM in Chicago is same as 11 PM in Berlin. It will be pretty darn difficult for you to stay up till 11 PM in Chicago, your usual sleeping time. It will also be pretty darn silly for you to fall asleep at 4 PM in Chicago (no adjustment). Rather, plan to sleep at 8 PM in Chicago which will be a bit early by Chicago time, and a bit late as per your usual unadjusted body, but doable both ways. Similarly, plan to get up at 5 AM in Chicago. This will give you good rest period as well, and a good start on your day.
- Similarly when you travel eastbound, set yourself a reasonable goal, say if you go to bed at 11 PM in Chicago, go to bed at 1 AM in Berlin, and plan to get up at 9 AM, and ask for meetings to start at 10 AM if you can. If you are traveling for a big conference where other people are traveling too, you obviously can’t request that, but it is also likely that there will be no meetings before 9 AM.
- Sleep in the flights early. If you are in an 8 hr flight, do not waste a couple of ho
urs watching movies in flight. If you plan to sleep, sleep right away. Then, you can get up, and prepare in terms of your landing. If you are on a long red eye, sleep through out your flight, and wake up 40 minutes or so before the flight landing. - In general, avoid watching a lot of movies or TV in flight, since that is tiring to the eyes, and removes your focus on travel.
- Don’t forget to enjoy your travels!! Happy people adjust easier to changes. Don’t let some minor inconveniences such as a secondary screening or a rude stewardess distract you from your travel joy.
Hope these tips are helpful. I look forward to YOUR tips and suggestions as well.
December 29th, 2009
3 best sites in Sofia
I hardly see myself visiting the same country multiple times (with so many countries being in the world), but I must admit I had an AWESOME time in Sofia and Varna last year. Here are my recollections of 3 best sites in Sofia:
1. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
2. St. Nicholas Russian Church
3. St. Nedelya Church
All in all, I had a great time in Sofia and would love to return there.
December 21st, 2009
Air Travel: 3 hr limit on tarmac strandings
Air Travel: D
OT imposes 3-hour limit on tarmac strandings: This has been a long time coming. I have long maintained that such stupid behavior on the part of the airlines is simply due to maintain some metrics (like on time departure rate) that have become industry norms.
Though, this also reinforces one point I heard Carly Fiorina make a few years back – “You can never have enough regulations”. It is a shame that the government has to make such regulations – shouldn’t airlines be worrying about end customer satisfaction anyway?
December 12th, 2009
Cornelis de man
One of the first rooms that you see as you enter Rijkmuseum contains paintings and other objects of art about the 17th century trade in the Netherlands. One of the paintings “cornelis de man” is quite interesting. Whaling, even as far as the arctic, had been perfected 400 years back. Also, interestingly, the flag in that painting looks very much like the modern Indian flag. Top horizontal color appears more orange than red, and the the bottom bar more green than blue. In the center of the white bar, there seems to be an object, not entirely clear.
Digression in vexillology aside, certainly the kitchen maid, the little street and the n
ight watch are some of the best paintings in this museum. About the kitchen maid (sometimes also called the Milkmaid): this is really a fascinating painting. Just about everyone (like myself) may have seen the painting in print, but once again, the original painting seems to be way beyond any of the high resolution images.
December 10th, 2009
When one is two and two is one
Today, both of my flights are running 3-4 hrs late, allowing me to make my connection, thus reaching my final destination (1 times) 4 hrs late. If however, only my first flight was running 4 hrs late, then I would have to take another connection, getting to Amsterdam 8 hrs later instead.
Xkcd could probably make funny cartoon from it.
September 22nd, 2009
Los Angeles and the birds of paradise
One of the best things that I like about Los Angeles? That’s easy – the birds of paradise. These flowers are so exotic that back in DC, you can find them in the endangered species section in the national botanical garden. In LA, you can find them on the sidewalks and in the wild bushes.
Sure, people are very f
riendly and happy as well, and that really makes the activity of looking at these beauties even more enjoyable. I nearly caused an accident when I stopped in the middle of the road to appreciate them, but the guy who rear ended me (nearly, uhmmm) was agreeable enough to take a couple of shots with my Nikon Coolpix.
August 22nd, 2009
A day in Prague (cont.)
Travelogue, June 18th, 2009, Prague
I am hopelessly behind in my travelogues, so let me go back to A day in Prague. After I had a chance go to some of the suburbs and had found my way back, I ran into the Krishna devotees. Awesome, fun stuff, people dancing, singing and in general having fun. Entirely unexpected – and entirely awesome. I must have some secret admiration for people who can dance in public, how else can I explain that I followed this crowd for 3 blocks on Zitna from Stepanska to Krakovska.
Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, and definitely Prague castle is one of the landmarks. In the downpour, people did not mind s
tanding with ponchos to get entry into the castle. Not to be missed in the castle is the change of the guard. You can see the prim soldiers in blue doing the change of guard, and the feeling of general joy is present through out the castle at the time. It may be argued that the change of guard is a meaningless exercise, but that is exactly the point. Joy cannot come from very meaningful and philosophical exercises.
And what beaut
iful way to have a wedding than having it in the castle? This lucky couple was surrounded by dozens of people, most of whom I suspect were not the guests, but simply visitors to the castle. The wedding songs were on, and the couple must have been or at least felt like a royal couple.
July 25th, 2009
A day in Prague
Travelogue, June 18th, 2009, Prague
On June 18th, I took the train to Prague from Dresden, so I will 
not tell anything about air travel, air ports etc. But, I must say
that the train journey from Dresden to Prague is awesome. Train meanders along the Elbe river, and gets from Dresden to Prague in about 2 hrs. I had an advanced reservation, and cost about 20 Euros. There are some stupendous bridges on the way.
Once in the city, there is a 100 Kc (about 6 $) 24 hr ticket available, that lets you travel on all metro, trams (there are a lot of trams in the city) and all metrobuses. These things are specially designed for travelers like me who would rather not sort out individual trips.
One of the first things that I try to do when I get to a city, any city, is to get away from all the touristy spots (we will come back to them, for sure). So, I took the Prague metro (Line B/Yellow) to Nové Butovice. It is a away from the center, and there are n
o tourist attractions that at least I am aware of in that area. I walked around the area, there are some apartment complexes, where regular people live, and go about their lives away from the tourist center. The fate always brings us to the people we really want to meet. When I met a boy and his grand father, little did I know I was going to learn so much about a person who had lived in a small city in Czechoslovakia, left it to go to Poland, then to the United States, and then gone back in recent years. His story is fascinating, like most true stories are. I do not know the person’s name, and isn’t it true that the camaraderie that one feels with a nameless stranger is often not matched by that with a named stranger? Perhaps it is a liberating thought that there are other 
people who find this interesting, and they could not have any material reason for doing so.
Back into the wild: The National Museum
National museum (Národní muzeum) (this awesome image on WikiTravel shows the beauty much better than anything I write) is located right in the heart of the city, in Nove Mesto (new town). New town, is incidentally called new town, because it was built as an extension to the old town in 14th century. I paid an extra Kc (cant remember how many) to be able to take pictures inside. One of the most fascinating things that I saw inside the museum was the map that Germany, France, and other nations agreed on in 1938, that allowed and explained how portions of Cze
choslovakia would be turned to German occupation. This map, may be the one of the most prized possessions of this museum. Here is the map, in its entirety.
So long, until I come back and tell a little more about Prague, including the awesome astronomical clock, and the awesome hostels.