I Don't Want Nirvana! I Want Great Food, Always! -- Part XVII - Treats From Osaka...

The day that begins with an interesting breakfast is indeed a good day. Our day, today, began with a very healthy Asa Gohan - a traditional Japanese breakfast and that in a sense foretold us about the exciting day ahead.

Roaming around the southern parts of Osaka - Namba and Sumiyoshi Taisha left us with quite an appetite. On our way back from Sumiyoshi Taisha, while we were heading for Shitennoji Temple, we stopped by at a Japanese restaurant, near the Shin-Imamiya station for a quick lunch. 

The restaurant looked ordinary from the outside...

But the photos of the dishes tempted us to go in and sample Japanese curries. I must admit I had sample quite a bit of Koreanised-Japanese cuisine in Songdo, but this was the first time I would be trying authentic Japanese curries in Japan...

And Neeti agreed - off-late, she too is a willing accomplice in gastronomical escapades and is quite flexible with dietary preferences and that's prompted me call her a "flexitarian"! 

Technology is everywherewhere in Japan - these vending machines in the restaurant help you select your order, put in the money and there come your coupons...

And then you handover your coupons to the waiter, who walks in with your order within a few minutes - efficiency Japanese style! 

Iced green tea, pickles and Japanese condiments...

Vegetable curry for Neeti...

Chicken curry for me...

Mixing it all up with some pickles...

And voila - that was indeed an enjoyable meal!

A snack of stir-fry vegetable noodles at Osakajo...

That was completely giving in to temptation...

And I couldn't resist some matcha ice cream or green tea ice cream!

And some sinful chocolate and vanilla!

There couldn't be anything more delightful on a warm spring day!

On the way back from Umeda Sky, we stopped by at Cante Grande at the Grand Front, right across Umeda Sky...

Something looked Indian here...

The clothes look Rajasthani!

Yes, indeed - this is indeed Indian stuff!

And it turned out that Cante Grande is a fusion Indo-Japanese restaurant!

There is a metamorphosis you undergo as an expat. Back home in India, whenever we used to travel, we conciously avoided Indian food, opting to sample interesting local fare...

...but, it's different now, after shifting to Korea! We now enthusiastically tey out Indian food abroad - whether in Songdo, Seoul or in Koror... 

Here comes our meal - a fusion Indo-Japanese chicken curry and chapati! W were told that the owner of this chain who so impressed by Indian food and culture that he decided to venture into this business - and I go back to my thoughts on soft-power - India's irresistable soft-power has reached the Land of the Rising Sun!

These ladies were having an animated conversation over desi chai...

Indian stuff all over...

Rajasthani stuff on sale...

Spices on sale...

Wow! We were impressed by the way Indian cuisine is winning hearts the world over...

Our Interesting Visitor In Airai...

After the hearty meal at Koror's Taj, we drove back to our hotel in Airai to see unusally high excitement levels in the lobby. 

The lobby is the only place in the hotel that has wifi internet connectivity, which has been awfully slow all the time that we've been here. That is quite understandable given the remoteness of Palau and limited connectivity infrastructure with the outside world.

And the lobby always teems with guests in the desperate hope to hook on to the internet and connect with social media or check emails, no matter how poor the bandwidth is.

And then we discovered that a crab had somehow found its way 600 metres away from the sea into the lobby of the hotel and was frantically running around on the wooden flooring.

Not able to figure out its way bay, the crab was desperate. But then a hotel staff, a Filipino, came with a stick. The crab held on to the stick with its claws and was led out to the sea to its freedom!

The crab was indeed an interesting distraction for hotel guests and was indeed a welcome distraction from the awfully slow internet... 

Selamat Tinggal, Kuala Lumpur!

Finally, the time has come to say goodbye to the "Muddy Confluence" of chaos, modernity and tradition, of cultures and and everything else that falls in between, a confluence called Kuala Lumpur.

It was indeed a bit too much to expect that KL would stack up to the high standards that we had become so used to in our two visits to Singapore, but KL did, surprisingly, delight us in ways more than one. 

And that is what an intrepid traveller has to get used to, to always expect the unexpected and take it in your stride. That was the essence of the promotional video that played on our hotel's inhouse channel, which I recorded before we checked out of the hotel to head to the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport at Subang, a good 30 kilomtres from KL Sentral...

Let's face it...
No one ever left home to find the ordinary...
No one ever packed a bag and went off in search of the everyday...
...the commonplace.
Because the whole idea of travel is to find new experiences...
...to discover something different, exciting, special...
...in our world and in ourselves.
Explore a new city,
discover you're a photographer...
eat something you can't pronounce...
embrace the local custom...
[...PROMO...]
 ....we've hosted and witnessed...
...and been the setting for some of the most memorable moments of history.
And the best thing about history is that...
it never stops being written.
We all get a turn of the day.
And right now, somewhere...
there is a page waiting for you...
A journey that could lead to memories you have for ever...
At .... we know everyday, everything we do, it's setting the stage for you...
...Coz, what may be our stage, it's your story!

So profound. These golden words exactly summarize how I feel about life, travel and history!

KL is notorious for its cabbies who charge a bomb, so we went the app-way - we downloaded the MyTeksi app and booked a cab to take us to Subang. 

As we checked out, preparations were on in the lobby for the Lion Dance celebrations later in the day. We would be missing that.

The drive to Subang took about 30 minutes on a smooth highway that took us through Brookfields and Petaling Jaya. Thankfully, the cabbie was a decent guy - there was no negotiation on the fare, we were charged as per the meter reading. These apps have made our lives so much more easier, not only in India, but also in Malaysia.

Checkin at Subang Airport's Skypark Terminal was smooth. The airport resembled the old Terminal 1B of CSIA, Mumbai, before it was redeveloped. Compared to KLIA2, Subang is tiny. It is a hub for turboprops of low-cost carriers. Clearly Indian cities like Mumbai and Delhi need two airports, well-connected with the city centre, to decongest existing airports.

After check-in, we proceeded to the Peugeot Lounge where we had a Malay breakfast - Nasi Lemak and then we proceeded for a bit of plane-spotting...

A FireFly ATR72...

A Boeing BBJ, presumably a VIP aircraft taxiis in the background...

Finally boarded the Malindo Air ATR72 that will fly us down to Bayan Lebas airport on Penang Island...

Pushback time...

Malindo operates a fleet of ATRs and Boring 737s...

Refueling underway, by Petronas, as we say goodbye to KL - Selamat Tinggal!

Of Technology & Toothbrushes....

Today, on my way to work, as always, I was listening to RJ Hrishi Kay's morning show on 94.3 Radio One. Today's guest was Jagdish Mahapatra, McAfee's MD for India and SAARC and the topic of the day was internet security...

Jagdish started off the talk with an interesting observation - that there are only 2 billion toothbrushes in the world as compared to 5 billion smartphones...

Well... I found that a bit intriguing and it took me a while to rationalise these statistics. As of the last count, the world's population is a tad higher than 7 billion. So despite toothbrushes having been in use since the 1700s when William Addis of England is believed to have pioneered the first mass-produced toothbrush, it had taken over 200 years for this low tech, mass-produced "device" to reach a penetration of just about 2 billion.

Why?

Perhaps, the reason is that most of use only brush at a time, at least I would think its heresy to use more than one brush at a time. Also a lot of cultures, including our own, have their ingenious and traditional ways of maintaining oral hygiene. We have the datun in India, the Arabs have miswak. The ancient Romans and Greeks used toothpicks. The Chinese used horse-tail hair attached to an ox-bone handle. Africans used soot from the fire that was used to cook their meals. A lot of these cultures still maintain these traditions.

So while, we only have 2 billion toothbrushes, oral hygiene need not be all that abysmal.

On the contrary, technology has been a disruptive and an epochal event in human history. The first mobile phone was made in 1973 and in just about 40 years, this technology has literally flooded the world. The need to connect, this primal instinct, has probably been the reason for the explosive growth.

Also once we get hooked on to these devices, we end up with more than one - a basic phone would lead to a smart phone, which may later co-exist with, say, a tablet....

I have seen that happen around me, in my family.... the convenience of accessing the Net on a mobile device has made my family shift from using a PC to a mobile device! That, I suppose, would be a common trend across the world....

So, I concluded, 5 billion isn't too high afterall...

And then this interesting observation made for an animated lunchtime discussion at office....

I Love Apple!

Earlier this month, Steve Jobs unveiled the second generation iPad, the iPad 2.

I remember when our love affair with Apple started - that was when we bought out our first Apple product - an iPod Shuffle, way back in 2007. When Neeti opened the smart packaging, I recall her squealing with joy and amazement at the new gadget. Imagine 1GB, 260 odd songs, ain't that great!!!

Then, Apple moved into phones with the iPhone 2G. The first iPhone I saw was a 2G that a colleague had bought. The excitement that was generated that morning in office when he walked in with his iPhone 2G is indescribable and was something to be seen and experienced.

Apple turned me and Neeti into gadget freaks. The love affair was officially consummated when iPhone 3G "officially" came to India much later in late 2008 or early 2009.

Living with a telecom and devices aficionado, Neeti, who lives and breathes technology, discussions at our dinner table revolved around 3G, Android, Apple and all that stuff. Apple's iPad naturally found its way into our discussions. And gradually we veered around to the idea of waiting for the then to be released iPad 2 to be launched in India officially. News sites were rife with speculation that the new version would have - 2-way cameras, USB ports, retina display, so on and so forth. And we knew it that iPad 2 was the thing for us.

And so waited with bated breaths.

As the unveiling ceremony was on in San Francisco, we logged in, on to CNN's webcast of the event and sat through the entire event.

Wow, what a device!

But there is a certain stubbornness associated with Apple's devices. For instance, none of the Apple devices support Adobe Flash. The iPad 2 still does not have a USB port, as many expected. The battery is not replaceable by the user.

I recall our visit to Croma's store at High Street Phoenix, Lower Parel, where Neeti and I were checking out the first version of the iPad. Quite obviously, a Parsi girl, I would imagine between 10-12, tugged in her mother into the store to check out the device. The girl and her mom moved in next to us and the girl started "experiencing" the iPad like the way a duck would take to the water. Her mom called a store assistant and rattled off a number of questions.

"Isme Tata Photon lagega?"

"No ma'am, you will need a 3G SIM card or a Wi-Fi connection."

"Ohh, can I print files from this 'computer'?" -- as she called the Tab a computer, her daughter turned red with embarrassment and glanced at me slyly hoping I did not hear what her mom said!!!!

"No ma'am, you can't fire a print from here."

"Can I transfer photos from my digital camera directly to this computer?" -- now this freaked out the kid, she was almost in tears on her mom's ignorance.

"No, ma'am, you need a PC to sync data."

I looked at the mom and smiled. She looked at me, smiled and then turned to her daughter "What use is this thing, if we still need a PC?" and looked at me for approval..... That was the ultimate embarrassment for the cute little girl who had expectantly tugged her mom in to Croma to buy her the iPad. I bet, she would have protested by skipping dinner that night.

What impresses me about Apple is the way Steve jobs has inculcated a culture of defining the curve, before "me-too's" are able to get the plot. The secrecy surrounding their products is joked about as being stricter than that of the CIA itself! They know they have their aficionados, who will be there and they will never be disappointed. The news also had reports of people queuing up hours before store opening time to get their Apple first! In fact, one person sold her position at the head of the iPad 2 queue for over USD900 - she smartly recovered the cost of her Apple gadget twice over.

But what baffles me is perhaps Steve Jobs has not really understood the potential of the Indian market. How cheated do Indian Apple fans feel when they officially get the original version of the iPad, just about a month before iPad 2 was launched. So, is Apple dumping unsellable original fist generation iPads in India?

Also Apple chooses to remain silent on dubious employee practices at their manufacturer's end - Foxconn (HonHai), the Chinese contract manufacturer, gained notoriety for labour practices which pushed a lot of their employees to suicide.

Having said that, it is hard not to appreciate Steve Jobs for his spirit to fight back whatever odds come his way. Battling ill health - cancer and liver transplant, he steered Apple to invincible heights. And he came back from his indefinite medical leave to launch the iPad 2. Such is his passion. I can never forget seeing his 2005 commencement address at the Stanford University, where he talks of "finding what you love" and "staying hungry and staying foolish" - questioning the convention. The passionate speech would leave anyone spellbound.

The problem is that such leaders have an aura around them that it does indeed become difficult for the second rung to outshine the spiraling expectations of the environment.

Bu Apple has been a success for being on the cutting edge, defining the market and also for its investors. I recall a quote from the lovable movie, Forrest Gump, where Forrest says "Lieutenant Dan got me invested in some kind of fruit company. So then I got a call from him, saying we don't have to worry about money no more. And I said, that's good! One less thing."

The lesson here for the corporate world is that operational performance has to precede stellar stock performance, as Apple has shown when compared to the performance of US stocks.

So, everyone loves Apple, so do I!!!

Are the Berries Bitter?

Berries are sweet, so are the Blackberries!The Blackberry has been around in India since 2004 and they have evolved into ubiquitous business tools - let's call that democratisation of technology.

In 2008, India first raised security concerns on the encryption technology used by Research In Motion (RIM), Blackberry's manufacturer.

The concern was on whether security agencies would be able to monitor communication on Blackberries, which is encrypted and routed through Blackberry servers in Canada and the United Kingdom, making monitoring ineffective.

Somehow, RIM squeezed itself out of the tight spot it found itself in.

Then the 26/11 attacks happened in Bombay. It was reported that the Pakistani attackers used Thuraya satellite phones alongwith Blackberries.

While our sleuths tracked down the sat phone communication, it appears they achieved little success with Blackberries. Again, the same concerns have been raised by the security agencies.Just as India was cracking down on RIM, it was reported that RIM maintains servers within the United States, to allay homeland security concerns. China too allowed Blackberries in only after a server was installed in Beijing.

Now the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are cracking down on RIM. Prudish Pakistan too wanted to block blasphemous content on Blackberries!!!

Some Indians have been voicing concerns on the intrusion into privacy, on sleuths snooping on private communications. But these are same very people who cry hoarse when a 26/11 happens.

We, in India, have a choice - do we allow unhindered privacy (which could have the unintended consequence of aiding terror) or we give up a bit of our liberty in the interest of national security.

I would happily accept the second option, for Blackberries can be bitter if there is another 26/11.

Cyber-wars for Pizza: It's no laughing matter....

Just a few moments back, I came across a news report on the internet, sourced from the Haaretz, a leading Israeli newspaper, that seemed innocuous and laughable.
The report was about Turkish hackers stealing personal information of 100,000 Israeli citizens from Pizza Hut's Israeli website.
This incident sparked off a humour fest on Facebook, with quips. A guy called Stephen Phillips remarked "Because of the number of Turks owning fast food businesses the Turkish Government may want to deal with this, it's very harmful to their reputation and people will stop buying from any business that involves Turk management or food."
Another comment on Facebook, from Michael Pratt said "They are just jealous because the don't have any pizza there..."
J. Kriss White commented "Wondering what the Israeli hackers will target in retaliation..."
In all probability, this hacking would have been in retaliation for the Israeli attack on the Turkish flotilla headed for Gaza, but it exposed chinks in Israel's e-security armour. Haaretz assuaged fears and reported that their customers have little to fear as credit card details are not stored on the web server.
This incident reminded me of The Economist's recent cover story "Cyberwar: War in the fifth domain", which spoke of how the US planted a bug in a Canadian software controller for gas pipelines, which was stolen by the Soviets and installed for a gas pipeline in Siberia. The result was predictable - the pipeline blew off with an intensity matching that of an atomic explosion.
Cyber war is not a joke, It can cripple trade, finance and the monetary systems. Imagine what would happen if you woke up one morning to find that your bank account has a zero balance. Years of savings have been swindled, wiped off from the bank's system.
Worse, when you get to the bank to figure out what happened, you realise you are not alone, there are thousands who are affected by the e-breakin. All hell can be expected to break loose, undoubtedly rioting and social unrest will follow.
This scenario can play out going forward.
The Economist spoke of Iran claiming to have the largest "cyber army". We know China maintains it regiments, that have have routinely targeting Indian diplomatic, bureaucratic and economic interests.
But what is critical is for India to evolve an e-security policy, enact legislation to make e-security mandatory at economic installations and proactively target all those who could target us in the future.
Hacking of pizza data may be laughable, but it could be much more serious. Are we ready?

Technology - The Holy Grail?

Today has been quite an odd day. Despite the enthusiasm the weekend normally brings, I am moving around the house like a zombie.
Why? I am facing some kind of withdrawal symptoms - of not being able to connect to the internet through the PC at home. The PC that we had acquired in 2007 is a passion for me, which I frequently used for creating a multimedia and digital experience at home, burning DVDs of family outings, ceremonies, etc., creating photo CDs, a kind of digital studio at home despite being a non-techie, besides the usual browsing and blogging.
Over the last few days, my internet connection had been quite erratic. While the recommended troubleshooting by the ISP did not yield results, the suspicion shifted to hardware issues. The irony was that the same connection, from the same ISP was working perfectly well on my laptop.
During the course of the last week, the manufacturer, Dell, shipped me a replacement motherboard to me, which was installed yesterday.
But nothing worked despite the replacement.
The Dell technician suggested it might be a Vista OS issue.
I got on to a technical support with a Microsoft engineer. That went on for 3 hours, and after 6-7 different different troubleshooting steps, the hapless chap was as clueless as I was. The chap directed back to the ISP.
The annoying part of the whole episode is that every technician passes the buck - the ISP to the manufacturer to OS vendor and back to the ISP. That's what you call going a full circle. And going a full circle is driving me nuts now.
One common thing that all these guys say is that "if ..... doesn't work, we may try to reinstall Vista." Fine, but what the hell is the problem? No one seems to have a clue.
It's like going to a doctor with a persistent urine infection and the doctor telling the patient to get a kidney transplant, it's as weird as that!
Is going all technology serving us any purpose if the techies themselves have no clue on what's brewing inside their concoction and when we still continue to bet on the laws of probability, on an OS reinstall being the ultimate panacea, the Holy Grail?