What started the post-PC era

Whenever I read something that talks about the iPad ushering in the post-PC era, I can't help but think that it's wrong. It wasn't the iPad that kicked it off; it was the iPhone. And it's smartphones that will dominate it.

Tablet PCs, while very popular, will remain a form factor of the smart phone used primarily at home; a stopgap until smartphones improve to the necessary point.

Tablets provide a larger screen, better HW, and more power (in some cases), but ultimately most of these benefits will be available through smartphones at a level that satisfies most users' needs.

At that point we'll see the same thing that happened with laptops and desktop computers; most people will consolidate to one device. The mobility and portability offered by smartphones will more than offset the smaller screen size, which will be mitigated through docks or some other solution.

So what's missing for this to happen? Amongst other things, a blended operating system like Windows 8 that will allow people to use both mobile apps and desktop apps off of their phones.

PS I wrote this blog post on my phone using voice dictation (and some manual editing). Pretty freaking cool.

Consistent app icons...almost

I like the idea of using consistent branding on apps, especially for a company with a strong brand like Amazon. It can help the apps stand out in a crowded marketplace...and with so many apps available, it surely is a crowded marketplace.

But I wish that Amazon would go 100% of the way in making the icons consistent. There are 3 different icon styles above:

1. Student and Deals are using the same style - well done!
2. PriceCheck has a different amazon logo, a light outline around the bottom portion, and a different gradient
3. On the main app, the white portion is thicker and the amazon logo is much larger

Putting out consistent icons shouldn't be that challenging. With layers, it's just a matter of replacing the image.

Propped-up tech start-ups

My friend sent me a story a few weeks ago about Facebook buying Gowalla, a location-based check-in startup out of Austin. It's a good thing that they were acquired, because otherwise, I think the company would have died a slow death. Gowalla was competing head-to-head with Foursquare, even if they didn't care to admit it, and they lost badly. The eventually tried to pivot into social travel-guide-type service, but that didn't pick up much traction either.

I used Gowalla for a long time, and I wanted them to be successful, but I eventually realized I wasn't getting much value from it; I was using it purely out of habit.

From a broader perspective, Gowalla is one of many, many tech startups that I read about all the time that is based on a cool idea that no matter how cool or well-executed/well-designed it is, just isn't enough to build a sustainable business. The only reason the companies can survive is because they are propped up by VC funding. This lasts until:

• the company finds a sustainable business model (rarely seems to happen)
• the company is bought by another company, generally at the height of its hype or once its death is imminent
• the company goes out of business

Gowalla tried to build a business model off of custom stamps that other companies could buy for their "storefront" in the Gowallaverse. It was never clear to me what value these stamps brought to either users or companies. As a company, paying to have a custom stamp wasn't going to drive more traffic or purchases to your stores; there was no ROI. The traffic drivers on the app were proximity to stores, total check-ins for a store, and your friends' check-ins. How did a custom stamp fit in?

It seems like a lot of tech startups focus on building the cool idea first and then eventually try to figure out how to make money off of it (with advertising being the go-to solution). The business model is hacked on to the company at the end, without much forethought.

For all but the smallest handful of companies, this is a terrible approach. The business model deserves as much attention, care, and love as the idea if you want to build a sustainable business. That's why I'm surprised at the general disdain tech entrepreneurs hold towards MBAs and vice versa. Combining both disciplines should lead to a much stronger tech start-up than trying to go it alone. As any fan of horror/sci-fi movies knows, hybrids are always stronger.

Know your priorities

I've been pretty busy the past few weeks on a project for work, and during that time, I've had to make tradeoffs on how to use my time (obviously the blog has not come out too well with those tradeoffs...).

Although I've been busy, I've still been able to maintain a pretty good balance, putting time into my top priorities almost every day. That certainly wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't identified those priorities well in advance, a step that I think is essential to the whole life balance process. And it is a really straightforward step, but at the same time, I think it is easy to overlook.

The next step for me is to periodically reassess the list and make sure it is still accurate.

4 screens platform strategies

As I was building the slick graphic for my last post, I started thinking about the fact that Apple plays in 3 of the 4 categories - laptops, smartphones, and tablets - and it made me realize that there are 2 potential platform strategies that you can go with to gain an advantage (and a boost in sales):

1. Hardware - have offerings in multiple categories 
2. Software - have a way to deliver content in multiple categories (e.g. iTunes, Amazon.com, Google Music store, etc)

In the hardware platform scenario, the boost comes from capturing sales in one category based on experience with products in a different category. For example, if you have an iPhone, and you've been very happy with it, you would be more willing to consider an Apple laptop or iPad.

In the software platform scenario, the boost comes from capturing content sales in one category based on experience in a different category (very similar to HW). In this scenario, someone that has bought a song through iTunes on an iPhone and had a good experience with it is more likely to then buy a movie through iTunes to watch on their laptop, regardless of if it is an Apple laptop or not.

Although you should be able to realize benefits pursuing either strategy independently, there are positive interaction effects that favor building a HW and SW platform together, a la Apple (and to a less successful extent, Sony). If my theory from the last post that consumers go through the hierarchy from the ground up for each potential purchase holds, then having a HW platform, which again means offerings in the different categories built around a consistent brand, increases your chances of capturing a sale the next time around. Furthermore, if you have a SW platform that covers the 4 screens, it provides an additional reason for the consumer to purchase your product in the alternate category (because they are already familiar with the software, have a library of purchased items, are too lazy to switch over, etc). And I bet that every time a consumer chooses your company's products, their lifetime value increases as they get locked in to the platforms.

I did a quick scan of major consumer electronics companies to determine where they stand in terms of having a HW and/or SW platform, which is shown below in a 2-by-2 matrix, and there were 2 companies that stood out as having strong HW and SW platforms: Apple and Sony.


 Figure. Platform reach across major consumer electronics companies

Apples competes across 3 of the 4 screens with HW offerings (I know they have Apple TV, but that's not technically a TV), and they have a SW platform that enables them to deliver content to all 4 screens (via Apple TV for TV).

Sony competes across 4 of the 4 screens, and I think they also have a way to deliver content to all 4 (or are working on it).

The fact that Apple is doing so much better than Sony implies that it is not necessarily easy to capture the benefits of the platforms. My guess is that this has to do with the coherence of the strategy. Sony still hasn't built a very uniform experience on their platforms, and they may have trouble doing so given that they are traditionally more HW focused.

Looking at the matrix, I imagine that Google and Microsoft, who have strong SW platforms, will continue to partner with companies that have strong HW platforms but lack the SW/content-delivery side of the equation (like Dell and Samsung). Amazon is a wild card right now, but I have a feeling that Bezos will try his best to move to the top right, where the highest potential profit lies. Finally, it isn't surprising that there are rumors of Apple working on a TV right now, since that would allow them to leverage the strength of iTunes on the screen that probably captures the most eyeball-time.

Theory on 4 screens adoption process

Just want to lay out an idea on the consumer adoption process for the 4 screens that dominate our eyes: TV, laptop, smartphone, and tablet. It isn't based on any data outside of anecdotal evidence and my own thoughts, and it isn't fully baked, so thoughts and comments are very much appreciated.


Figure. Adoption Process for 4 Screens
Sources: None really

My hypothesis is that consumers move through a "hierarchy of needs" (à la Maslow's hierarchy) when considering the purchase of any one of the screens, and they won't move up to the higher levels until the ones below it have been addressed (either by purchasing or explicitly deciding not to purchase the associated device). Therefore, if you don't own a TV, you probably won't consider buying a tablet.

The TV sits at the bottom of the hierarchy as the first device that a consumer considers purchasing; tablet PCs sit at the top as the last "need" to be fulfilled. At each level in the hierarchy, the consumer also has some substitutes that they consider. For example, a person considering a smartphone might instead opt to buy an iPod Touch and stick with a feature phone.

This process is then repeated starting at the base level for each additional purchase.  That implies that someone that has purchased the first 3 levels would first consider upgrading those devices before purchasing a tablet. If there are no worthy upgrades available, then they'd go for the tablet. Or maybe someone considered a TV but then settled on a tablet; before upgrading the tablet, they would first consider buying a TV again.

168 Hours is back up in the app store

Check it out if you are interested in tracking how you spend your time. It took less than a week to go from submitted to approved and in the app store this time. That's a 1-day improvement from last April.

DST cost me 15 hours

On Sunday, I slept an extra hour because of daylight saving time. On Monday and Tuesday, I spent 15 hours debugging and rewriting my time tracking iOS app, 168 Hours, because of daylight saving time.

The fun began on Monday morning when I opened the app to log my meditation session and noticed that the dates and times were wrong. It didn't take long for me to realize that it was probably tied to going back an hour for DST. I opened up Xcode and quickly confirmed that DST was breaking all my logic before heading in to work.

I spent most of Monday evening familiarizing myself with the two main iOS date classes that I was using (NSDate and NSCalendar) and attempting to fix the bugs in my code. After 9 or so hours, I had made some progress, but I was still a long ways off from having it all sorted out. I decided to pull the app from the app store given the problem, and I toyed with just giving up on the app completely because of how frustrated I was at that point. Who knew that something as simple as a time tracker could be so complicated?

The next day, something inexplicably "clicked," and I felt motivated to tackle the problem again (in part because I love programming...). I upgraded my laptop to Lion, downloaded the newest version of Xcode, and started to systematically correct all of the issues, testing it on my laptop and phone (where I could easily change the date).

Although it took much longer than expected, I was able to submit a DST-friendly app update to the app store and update the code on GitHub before going to sleep. And I now understand why iOS separates out date functionality into NSDate and NSCalendar.

2011 BCG Ethnic Diversity Retreat

I got back last night from BCG's annual Ethnic Diversity Retreat (it's more like a mini-conference) in Chicago. The retreat is part of the firm's diversity initiatives - in particular the Black/African American Initiative and Hispanic/Latino Initiative - that in a nutshell are meant to improve diversity across a variety of dimensions within the firm.

It was great to see how important the initiatives are to BCG and that the firm is interested in doing more than just talking the talk. That much was obvious given the resources that went into the event, from a planning, execution, and participation standpoint. There were a number of senior leaders who attended and participated, including Rich Lesser, the Chairman of the Americas, and Hans-Paul Bürkner, the CEO. And it wasn't token participation...you could literally walk up to any of them and start up a conversation.

 A few of the highlights of the event for me were:

• The opportunity to build relationships with a lot of nice folks from different offices in the firm, informally and during the "team building" competition
• An externally-led workshop on developing your professional image and personal branding (a favorite topic of mine)
• The discussions that took place on how to build on and improve the diversity initiatives (that got me pumped to help out more)

I'm really glad that I got the opportunity to participate in the retreat and contribute some thoughts on how to move the initiatives forward. And I'm glad that the company is so committed to doing the same. That is just one in a long list of reasons that I'm grateful to be a part of Henderson and Friends.

Add features...but protect the core

When a new product gets released, it has a core set of functions that define the "experience" that the product delivers. Ideally, that core works flawlessly and intuitively, delivering the best possible experience to users. If you don't have a good core, you don't have a good product. It's as simple as that.

Over time, as you develop the product, you build new functionality on top of the core, and with each iteration, the product grows more complex (think of an inverted pyramid, with the core set of function being the narrowest segment at the bottom).

Eventually, you arrive at the point where most users only use 20% of the functionality (mostly in the core), and the remaining 80% is there for the power users and more adventurous folks. For example, I bet most people never touch a majority of the options on their iPhone. And heaven help it if my mom ever accidentally triple-clicks the home button on her iPod touch.

The challenge is how do you build on top of the core without ever compromising it, because as my friend Ben once said to me while I was working on a problem with my iPhone app, "you don't want to make the majority of users suffer on account of the minority" (paraphrased like crazy).

One common way to do so in software is to have a "Beginner" mode and an "Advanced" mode, which makes all of the advanced functionality more accessible. I think this is a dumb way to do it because you are giving your product developers a backdoor out of having to do good design while creating two divergent experiences. When a suboptimal option is considered for the "advanced" functionality, it is too easy to justify it by saying that it is in the "Advanced" mode.

Instead, developers should be forced to find a way to integrate the advanced functionality into the product without:

• Compromising the core experience
• Creating a separate "advanced" experience

Carless in Dallas 1

I've been in Dallas for 2 weeks without a car, and so far, so good. Obviously, it is a bit harder to manage without the convenience of a car, but Dallas' fledgling public transportation system (which is actually pretty well-developed for being in Texas) has successfully filled in the gaps when necessary.

The main price I pay for not having a car is time; the time I spend walking to places, planning out my trips in advance, and waiting for the bus/train to pick me up. The last one can be particularly bad given that the system doesn't run as frequently here as in cities where public transportation is essential. I don't mind spending that additional time because it provides a nice opportunity to slow down and unplug for a while, but I know it's not for everyone.

Fortunately, living without a car is basically just an operational challenge that can be designed against and alleviated. Some of the things that I rely on to do so include:

• Living within walking distance of the office, because there is probably nowhere else I go to as often every week
• Asking for rides. I try to do this sparingly, but when you have to bum a ride, there's not much you can do, so there is no point being shy about it
• Keeping a lot of dollar bills and change in the apartment. This is crucial for successfully navigating the bus system, since they don't take credit cards
• Buying non-perishables in bulk. The cost of taking a trip is much higher than the cost of holding a lot of "inventory" in my apartment, which is basically empty. So I have 16 boxes of granola, 20+ bars of soap, etc, tucked away all over the place
• Buying non-perishables online whenever possible. By online, I mean through Amazon, which continues to get an increasing share of my spending
• Limiting myself to businesses that I can easily reach via public transportation. This is actually a nice time saver, because it is like a quick form of curation. For example, instead of considering X number of places to eat, I only have to consider Y < X places
• Planning trips in advance and consolidating as much as possible. Less trips means less time spent waiting for the bus
• Renting a car if I absolutely have to. I rented an SUV to move my stuff from Houston to Dallas and pick up my first round of supplies
• Going everywhere with a backpack to hold the stuff I would have stuffed in my car trunk
• Having a comfortable pair of walking shoes

How Apple Benefits from Multiple Vectors of Differentiation

One of the concepts that we talked about in Prof. Sawhney's Tech Marketing class at Kellogg was a product's Vector of Differentiation (VoD), which is basically a specific benefit chosen to guide product development to help differentiate a product from its competition. Once set, a company should strive to deliver and improve on that benefit with each new product iteration, continuously pushing out what the marketplace considers "excellent" along that dimension. For example, you could pick "usability" as your VoD, and then focus on delivering the best usability in the market with each release.

Although a VoD can provide a competitive advantage, you can't ride it out forever. Eventually, competition will catch up along that dimension or you'll reach a point where additional improvements are no longer valued sufficiently, and then you have to pick a new VoD to stay ahead of the pack.

I think one of the reasons that Apple continues to do so well is that it has multiple VoDs¹ at its disposal:

1. Software
2. Hardware
3. Platform/Services
   

Major innovations along these dimensions can occur at the same time, but I suspect that it is more common for advances to be staggered and somewhat unpredictable -- a real bummer for companies given the short product cycles in consumer electronics.

By having direct control over all 3 areas, Apple has a lot of flexibility in how it will compete with each product release. So if there aren't any major hardware breakthroughs in the pipeline for the next release, it can focus on kicking butt along the other VoDs, like what it's done with the iPhone 4S and Siri. Or worse yet for competitors, Apple could make major advances along all VoDs in a given launch.

On the other hand, companies like HTC and Samsung can only compete on the hardware VoD, and they often have to do so with "off-the-shelf" components available to all competitors. If Apple makes a major software or platform improvement, then HTC/Samsung/etc. have to depend on Google to match it as soon as possible. This puts them at a big disadvantage in a market where Apple acts as the trendsetter.

This situation could change a bit in the near future given Google's potential acquisition of Motorola Mobility and Microsoft's partnership with Nokia, but even then, Google and Microsoft will still have to deal with integrating all of the pieces together into one shiny package.

¹ I'm considering the cumulative benefits delivered through each dimension as a single VoD

Backfill or cut costs?

Let's say that you are running a public company and an employee chooses to leave. The work they were doing is still important, and you have plenty of cash on hand, so you can easily backfill if you choose to do so. On the other hand, you can skip the backfill and instead reassign the work to the team, reducing costs and possibly improving the stock price in the process.

What do you do?

I'd always go with the backfill. Otherwise, you spread your team's time and attention across a larger set of responsibilities, put more stress on your team and lower the opportunity for serendipitous innovation.

Ultimately, this can lower your product quality, worsen morale and encourage more employees to leave, and cause you to miss out on the next billion-dollar idea that your employees were about to come up with during the coffee break they didn't have time to take. Worse yet, the short-term benefit of not backfilling could blind you to the long-term impact.

If foregoing the backfill works out well enough one time, what do you do the next time an employee leaves?

Beijing: The last and best stop

Of all the cities that I visited, Beijing is the one that I would most heartily recommend to someone visiting China. When I was planning my trip, I purposefully left Beijing for last, anticipating that it would be a great way to end the trip, and it did not disappoint. I was only able to see a fraction of the sights in and around the city, but the things that I saw could have easily justified the entire trip.

The city has a very well-developed public transit system that makes it a breeze to get around even if you don't speak Chinese, much like Shanghai. And better yet, a single subway trip only costs you 2 CNY (about $0.33), making it even cheaper than Shanghai, which charges different prices based on the destination.

Walking is also a great option for short trips since it allows you to see more of the city and get a better feel for it. The main downside is that you subject yourself to the pollution, which is as bad as people say. The city is pretty safe, even late at night. On one night, I got lost trying to find a nearby Walmart, and I found myself wandering down some random hutongs. I ran into one of many group dancing events before eventually making my way to Walmart (where I saw more foreigners gathered than anywhere else on the trip). Never once did I feel threatened or in any way unsafe.

The city seems to have a very vibrant expat scene that I was able to take part in one night. I met up with a friend that I met in Xi'an for dinner and drinks in the university area (NW of the Forbidden City). The restaurant we ate at was packed with people discussing all matters of topics -- politics, the US, traveling, etc -- and for some reason or other giving away free beer (Tsingtao) the whole time. We joined up with 2 expats from Guyana and 1 from France that have lived there for > 5 years, and proceeded to have a great time. All the while I was asking myself why I didn't start traveling sooner.

I had a little less than 4 days in the city and all of the accumulated fatigue from the prior 2 weeks, so I limited myself to visiting 4 sights: the Olympic Green, Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Summer Palace.

Olympic Green
The pollution was pretty bad on the day I visited the Olympic Green, so everything had a hazy look to it. Nonetheless, the area was full of tourists (mainly local sightseers). The buildings have not aged well over the years; they look pretty drab on the outside, but it is still hard not to be impressed when you see them. Bird's Nest is now home to a Segway track when it isn't hosting a local sporting event, and the Water Cube houses an indoor water park. There really isn't much to see inside either building, so I didn't spend too much time at the stadiums.

Jinshangling Great Wall

Breathtaking.

Forbidden City
I thought the imperial palace was a letdown. It's cool to see this walled-off city within a city, but most of the buildings inside are closed off. The ones that are open have some cool exhibits on display, especially the clock hall, but I felt like I had seen a lot of it already in the other cities.

Summer Palace

Bridge of Pastoral Poems at the Summer Palace

This was the last place on my agenda, and it was absolutely perfect. Maybe it's because I was exhausted by this point and the Summer Palace was so peaceful; maybe it's because it reminded me of a mini version of West Lake, which was beautiful; maybe it's because I knew I was at the end of a demanding trip; whatever the reason, I loved the time I spent here. There are quite a few things to see at the palace, like the Marble Boat and Bronze Pavilion, but I mainly just walked around Kunming Lake, stopping frequently to sit on a bench and let my mind wander. It was perfect.

Going carless in the Big D

I've decided to hold off on buying a car. Instead, I'm going to do my best to rely on walking, cycling, the DART, etc, in Dallas. I know that it won't be pleasant come summertime, but it'll be worth it to avoid owning a car.

I think that I can pull it off given where I intend to live. I'm applying for the same apartment building that I stayed in during my internship, and it is only a 3-minute walk from the office. On top of that, there is a grocery store, Urban Market, and DART stop less than a mile away.

The decision came after a bad negotiating session for a Ford Fiesta. The salesman wouldn't budge off of MSRP, instead insisting that the best she could do was not charge me for the $400 tint job on the car. I thought this was insane, especially since I had already gathered pricing information on all of the Fiestas in the area and researched typical out-the-door prices that people were getting on the latest model, so I left.

That night I started reconsidering the need for a car. It didn't take long to decide that the benefits of not owning one outweighed the drawbacks.

The next day when the salesman called back to talk about the "aggressive pricing" they were now willing to do, it was too late. I had already started studying the DART routes and looking at the current Bianchi Pistas.

A short stop in Pingyao

Pingyao city wall

I decided to make a short stop in Pingyao, spending less than 2 days in the city, before heading on to Beijing for the last leg of my trip.

Pingyao is renowned for its city walls, which are among the best preserved in the country, and it is also home to a large number of historic buildings, including the first branch of Rishengchang, the country's first bank. The walls may have once protected the city from invaders, but these days they seem to be more effective at keeping your favorite global chains out. You won't find a Starbucks or KFC there, though a small Dicos somehow managed to sneak in. The streets inside the walls are lined with small hole-in-the-wall shops and hotels, all of which are housed in buildings that are a holdover from another time.


South Road looking toward the City Tower

Unlike at the other cities I visited, all of the tourist spots within the walls were bundled together under one ticket, which costs around 150 CNY and is good for a few days. I thought it was a smart move on their part, because otherwise, I would have probably only visited 2 or 3 things, generating less money for the city. But even with the more expensive ticket and the resulting motivation to visit more things, I still found it hard to fill my time in the city because after a while, all of the historic houses started to look the same. Eventually, I resorted to just meandering through the streets and city walls.

Although there were some cool sights scattered throughout the historic buildings, nothing particularly stood out more than just walking around. Walking around the streets, especially at night, allowed me to inject myself into the bustling activity in that area. Walking around on the city walls on the other hand was a much more relaxed experience, detached from everything happening below.

I'm glad that I decided to visit the city, even if it did double my train time between Xi'an and Beijing, but honestly, if someone were trying to trim their China itinerary and Pingyao were on the list, I'd probably offer it up as something that can be skipped.

Xian Top 3

There are 3 things that stand out in my mind about my stay in Xi'an:

1. How great the hostel I stayed in was
2. How massive the Terracotta Army is
3. How cool it was to catch a ride back with some locals into the city

The Hostel

Han Tang Inn entrance

My hostel in Xi'an, Han Tang Inn, was by far the best one that I stayed at during my trip, not so much because of the facilities, which were OK but not the best, but rather because of the atmosphere. The two common areas in the hostel, one in the lobby and one on the roof, were always filled with travelers at night (and the lobby one was pretty active during the day), and they were all very friendly, making it an ideal place to connect with other people.

I spent one night chatting with a group from Switzerland that had been in a nasty car accident during a tour in another city, watched a RomCom with a group of Spanish travelers (Lindsay Lohan's Just My Luck...they picked it), joined up with 2 Belgium travelers for a day of sightseeing, and took party in an Israeli birthday tradition (lifting a girl sitting in a chair up and down 24 times for her birthday).

The Terracotta Army

Terracotta Army Pit 1

I had seen a lot of cool man-made stuff in China up to this point, but the Terracotta Army was the first thing that truly floored me, in large part because of how massive the army is. I thought I knew what to expect, but seeing it in person is something else.

We visited the excavated pits in reverse order, per the Lonely Planet guide's suggestion, and I'm glad that we did because it allowed us to build up to Pit 1, which is the largest and most impressive. When you first enter the pit, which is housed in a large, modern building that resembles an airplane hangar, you are immediately greeted with a big traffic jam of tourists all jostling to get the same killer picture in the front. Fortunately, the crowd thins out as you continue walking along the path on the periphery of the pit. There are several large rows in the pit in which the thousands of exposed statues are all neatly arranged. It takes a while to walk past the last exposed statue, and in the back of the hangar there is a staging area where it looks like they are repairing and cleaning some of the statues. It all seems a bit larger than life.

We spent a lot of time in tbe pits before finally heading off to the Tomb of Emperor Jingdi.

The hitchhiking

In the van on the way back to Xi'an

We didn't intend to hitch a ride back to Xi'an after wrapping up at Jingdi's tomb, but I'm glad that we were able to. The tomb is north of the city, and getting there is a hassle; you have to take 2 separate buses, and the one at the tomb only comes 3 times throughout the day. Even in the best case scenario, you are looking at 1-hour of travel time to get back to the city.

When we finished viewing the tomb, we walked around for a bit in the surrounding area before making our way back to the bus stop. We were pleasantly surprised to find the bus parked and waiting at the stop, but after asking around a bit, we found out that it would be an hour before it took off. We did the only thing we could do that that point: bought some ice cream, which has to be one of the most widely available snacks in all of China, and sat down.

We were settling in for the wait when one of the people we had asked about the bus came and told us that his group could give us a ride into town. When i say he told us, I actually mean that he told one of the Belgium guys, who spoke some Mandarin (on top of the 4 other languages he was fluent in). We jumped on the opportunity and were soon in a van chatting it up with parliament workers from Yinchuan.

I could tell that they were very excited to have the opportunity to speak with foreigners, even if they could only really communicate with one of us. As the middle man, he was busy the whole trip, translating the conversation both ways. I tried my best to chat with the person next to me, who I found out was the manager, but it was a lost cause. As I listened to the energetic conversation going on in the van, not understanding an iota of it, it really hit me how invaluable it is to be able to speak multiple languages.

Neat solution to a tax problem in China

When I was in Shanghai, I talked to my friend's GF a bit about a tax problem that the Chinese government was having and how they addressed it.

The issue was that a lot of small businesses weren't reporting their taxable income accurately. Since most transactions are carried out with cash, it is easy to avoid producing a paper trail, especially at places like small restaurants, which are everywhere. For example, I've rarely been given a formal receipt in any of the places that I've eaten while here. This was taking tax revenue away from the government.

In order to stop this, the government added a scratch-off-lottery component to receipts, with cash prizes of 50, 100, 500 yuan, etc, a few years ago. They effectively turned receipts into scratch-off lottery tickets. In order to play and win, people had to ask for their receipts at stores, generating a taxable paper trail in the process.

From what she told me, the the whole thing was pretty effective, and everywhere we went, she asked for the receipt to try her luck.

Train ride to Xi'an

I took a train from Hangzhou to Xi'an, and at 22 hours long, it was the first serious train ride I'd ever been on. The experience was extremely memorable, and I came away with an important lesson about traveling by train in China: avoid the top bunk in the hard-sleeper section.

When I bought the ticket in Hangzhou, I didn't pay much attention to the particulars. Instead, I was excited that I had found the ticket office (it took over an hour to do so) and successfully completed the transaction. It was a solid victory in my book. It wasn't until I got on the train that I realized I should have put more effort into specifying what I wanted when booking the train.

In the hard-sleeper section, there are 6 bunks arranged in each "hall" in the train car.


Hard-sleeper train car

The bottom and middle bunks have the most room, whereas the top bunk is like sleeping in a small coffin. You can't sit up in the bunk or really do much more than just lie there. The taller you are, the worse the situation is. Of course, I ended up getting the top bunk, which I have to admit is still better than having to sit through the entire ride (also an option).


Lying down in the top bunk

Since I didn't have much space in my bed, I ended up sitting in one of the folding chairs adjacent the bunks for most of the ride, looking out at the passing landscape. At times I would turn my attention to what the other passengers were doing in the car. I couldn't talk to anyone, so I tried to lose myself in my thoughts and observations.

Initially, there was a lot of energy in the car. People were coming and going (normally staring at me once they realized I was a foreigner), chatting, playing cards, prepping their instant noodles (their was free boiled water for noodles and tea), and getting situated in their bunks. As the hours passed, things quieted down considerably, though the silence was occasionally interrupted by one of the many cart sellers, announcing what they had to sell.

I noticed a few tricks of the trade for riding on the train. First, take out all of the stuff you might want to get at during the ride and put it on your bunk because it may become inaccessible when people put their bags up. There is a hook on the wall next to each bed where you can hang a bag, though it is near impossible to do it in the top bunk. Second, bring your own drinking water and whatever food you intend to eat on the train. They sell food/drinks on the train, but I'm guessing it is more expensive to do so. Finally, wear shoes that you can slip in and out of easily, as you'll want to avoid touching the floor whenever you climb in or out of your bunk.

You don't get much in the way of niceties on the train. There is a squatting toilet, shared by at least 2 train cars, that will get progressively dirtier throughout the train ride (bring your own toilet paper), a spout for getting boiled water, and a shared sink area for washing your teeth, face, etc. The beds have clean sheets and a pillow. That's pretty much it.

The train ride itself was uneventful. I wish that I had been able to speak to some of the other travelers, as that would have definitely helped me pass the time, but absent that, I was able to get by with an e-book.

I've since learned how to ask for a specific section (soft- or hard-sleeper) and bunk when buying train tickets. I was in a soft-sleeper from Xi'an to Pingyao, and that was a much nicer ride, and I'll be in a hard-sleeper (bottom bunk) on my train to Beijing tonight.

Hangzhou recap

West Lake in Hangzhou

Hangzhou is a beautiful city (more so than Suzhou in my opinion), largely in part because of West Lake. There are a number of other places to visit in and around the city, and lots of shopping possibilities in the streets east of the lake, but nothing compares to the lake, particularly at dusk.

After arriving at the long-distance bus station in Hangzhou, I hopped in one of the mainy waiting taxis to make my way to the hostel. I'm glad I did because the hostel, which was south of the lake, was quite a distance away from the station. At 62 yuan (about $10 USD), it still stands as the most expensive cab ride I've had in China.

Fortunately, just about everything was in walking distance of the hostel. It wasn't always a short walk, but it was always manageable. Most importantly, there was a train ticket station about 3 minutes away from the hostel, so I was able to make arrangements for the next leg of my trip fairly easily.

It was obvious from the stores in the area that the city was much more accustomed to getting (high-value) tourists than Suzhou. Pretty much every major expensive car company was accounted for, as were the top of the line clothing brands. The shopping area also seemed more developed than the main shopping  road in central Suzhou.

If you aren't looking to drop some serious cash in the area, you can always walk south a bit to get to the historic roads, which are lined with restaurants and souvenir shops and stalls. Walking through those was fun, but it does get repetitive after a while given that most of these places sell similar stuff across different cities. There were a lot more tea shops here though because the area is known for a high-quality green tea.
My favorite sights where West Lake, the Buddhist temples in the area, and a somewhat scary mountain path that runs north of the lake.

West Lake during the day is pretty nice, but I think it really shines in the evening as the sun is falling and the main buildings are lighting up. I imagine that it looks equally splendid in the morning, but I never made it out early enough to verify. There are walkways and parks all along the lake, so it is pretty active throughout the day (mainly with Chinese tourists), meaning you don't have to worry too much about being lost and alone.

There are 2 Buddhist temples in the area: one that you can walk to and one that you need to catch a bus to get to. The one that requires a bus is by far the better of the two; it is larger, has more statues and buildings, and is located at the end of a path that is filled with statues carved into a mountain.

It was my first time going to a Buddhist temple, and needless to say, I was very impressed. The statues in the buildings are amazing, both for their detail and their size (a few much have been 3 stories high). At the temple that is farther away, there is a massive wall (again, probably around 3-4 stories high) that is completely engraved with a story about a set of monks. I had never seen anything like it. Initially I was taking pictures of the statues in the buildings, but I was eventually told by a nice passerbyer that doing so is considered disrespectful, so I contented myself with just taking it all in sans camera.

Finally, although the mountain path suggested in the Lonely Planet guide provide some amazing panoramic views of the lake and city, that wasn't what made the trek so memorable. instead it was the fact that it was the only time I felt concerned for my safety on the trip. The mountain actually has a series of criss-crossing paths, occassionally marked by Mandarin signposts, and the guide's directions were less than stellar.

I found myself checking the guide often, stopping everyone I saw to ask which way to go, and just taking blind leaps of faith in deciding what paths to take. All the while I was thinking to myself that if anything happened to me on the mountain, it was unlikely anyone would find me for a long time. I'm glad that I decided to take the trail though, because ie provided the most memorable experience during my time there: watching a pretty cool flute/yoga performance next to a pagoda at the top of the mountain.

Flute performance at the Sunrise Pagoda

I was wondering around a popular hill in Hangzhou when I came across this guy playing the flute. Afterward, he got into a full lotus seated position and started to loosen up his body (I imagine to meditate).

Meeting the locals

Picture with two locals in front of the pagoda in Hangzhou

I tend to meet locals either when I'm lost and trying to get directions or when they come up and ask to take a picture with me. This was the latter (and the 1st time that I asked them to use my camera as well).

It's a lot of fun chatting with the ones that are eager to practice English. I normally take advantage of the opportunity to practice a little Mandarin as well.

Suzhou: My Lost City

Shang Tang Jie at night

I left Suzhou today, and although I might never have the opportunity to visit it again, I'll forever remember it as My Lost City in China. That's because I managed to get spectacularly lost a couple of times during my one full day there.

My main problem getting around was that instead of paying 10-30 yuan ($2-5 USD) for a taxi, I insisted on flexing my public transit muscle and riding the buses. Unfortunately, the buses are not easy to navigate if you don't 1) speak/understand Mandarin or 2) plan out your routes ahead of time. I had neither of these things working in my favor, so deciding when to get off of the bus was a crap shoot that I lost each time.

It took a lot of walking, luck, and comical conversations (they'd say something; I'd look puzzled; then I'd point at my map and say something; then they'd look puzzled, and so on and so on) with locals to find my way back each time. I managed to keep my cool throughout it all and enjoy the different views of the city that wandering aimlessly afforded. I even stumbled onto a nice park along the river north of city center.

Suzhou is renowned for its gardens, and they did not disappoint. The two that  I visited, the Humble Administrator's Garden and the Lingering Garden, were expansive (considering they are near the heart of the  city) and impressive. I spent at at least 2 hours at each one wandering through the many pathways, stopping to relax in the pagodas, and enjoying the scenery.

There were a lot of local tourists also taking in the gardens (~90% or more of the tourists were from China), and for the first time, I was approached by several asking to take pictures with me (a token foreigner). This normally happened in waves. Once one person in a group had successfully approached me for a picture, the others would follow suit. It was a lot of fun.

At night I walked through the two historical streets in the city: Pingjiang Liu and Shang Tang Jie. Both roads are next to canals and bustling with activity at night, mainly in the form of locals walking around, taking pictures, and shopping. Shang Tang Jie is away from the city center, but the taxi ride out to it is totally worth it. The road and surrounding area is illuminated at night with hundreds of red lanterns, and the architecture of the buildings looks like historic China (or at least the Hollywood version of historic China that I've been fed).

Other notable things about Suzhou:

• They love cute dogs in this city. 1 in 5 Suzhouans walks around with one
• It seems to be popular for girls to dress up in traditional, formal attire and do photo shoots on the historic roads
• Since there are canals all over the place, there are also a lot of mosquitos

Train ticket to Xi'an

This ticket is my prize after a hard battle that involved many allies and puzzled looks.

Goodbye Shanghai

Pudong from the Bund

I'm getting ready to leave Shanghai today after spending 2 full days in the city. That was more than enough time to check out the things I wanted to see and hang out with my friend that is on temporary assignment here for AMD. I'll be heading to Suzhou (pronounced more like "Sue Joe") for a day to check out its famous gardens.

Everything has been going great so far. Shanghai is like any other major developed city: lots of stores everywhere, people jaywalk like crazy, great public transportation system (I wish this last one was more common in the US). I've had to buy some items over here, and as promised, everything has been pretty darn cheap. Bottles of water are $0.16 USD; I got some fake Oakleys with a case for $8 USD; etc. The only bummer is that I lost my camera, with one day's pictures, last night when it slipped out of my pocket in a taxi. If I had asked for the receipt at the end of the ride I could have gotten it back, but I didn't. Not a big deal though; I replaced it within the hour.

My hostel, Mingtown Hiker Youth Hostel, is right next to the Bund, a very nice river walk area across from the Pudong area, and East Nanjing "Sexy Massage" Road. It is fairly busy 24/7, with travelers coming and going at all hours. There has been a mix of people passing by; from young college students to families and locals. Most international travelers seem to be from Europe (judging by accents). The hostel has everything I need: WiFi, boiling water, showers, big locker in the room, washing and drying machine. The beds are pretty stiff, but that's a minor issue. I hope that the hostel in Suzhou is as nice.

The highlights of Shanghai include:

• Visiting and going up to the observatory on the 100th floor of the World Financial Center. When I first saw a picture of it in my International Business Strategy class, I thought it was fake. Once I found out it was real, I decided I wanted to visit it
• Walking along the Bund in the morning and seeing lots of people out practicing Taichi and other martial arts
• Getting a 1-hour massage that had me on the verge of yelping in pain several times. I never imagined my back could be cracked so loudly, so many times, in so many ways

Grab life by the horns...

...but be ready to get thrown off from time to time.


Riding the mechanical bull at Trophy Room in Austin

Traveling light: China edition

 
Stratos 36L packed and ready to go

When I went to Europe last month, I brought along a small roller bag and laptop bag. Both were carry on items, allowing me to avoid any baggage headaches, and all things considered, they worked pretty well (in fact, that will be my standard travel setup when I start working). I had more than enough clothes to get me through the 2 weeks and all of the gadgets that I needed.

For my trip to China next week, I'm taking it up a notch (or is it down a notch?) and going with just a Stratos 36L. It feels like I now have substantially less space to pack stuff (I probably lost at least 10L), but since I'm taking fewer things, it is still more than what I need. I'm still probably packing a bit too much actually (a lot of people on travel forums swear by keeping it out when in doubt and just buying things you need along the way).

I've never had a serious travel pack before, but the rep at REI was extremely helpful in figuring out the sizing and everything. And she gave me a great tip on how to pack in order to alleviate any back pain; ideally, you want to pack the heaviest items as close to your back (center of gravity) as possible. This page on the Osprey website has a nice picture that shows how you should try to organize everything in your pack.

Stillseeker

I've been meditating on an almost daily basis for the past five months, and in that time, I've experienced some incredible moments of calm. I've come to really look forward to the time that I spend each day trying to be still.

I started meditating back in April after one of my friends at Kellogg sent out some articles on the benefits of meditation. I had seen one of the articles on how meditation may be able to change the structure of the brain for the better (here and here) a few weeks earlier, and although I thought it was kind of neat, I dismissed it as something that I didn't have time to explore any further.

I decided to give it a shot after reading through all of the other articles, which highlighted some potential benefits of meditation that I thought were too good to pass up on (especially as I eyed my return to the real world a few months later). In particular, some prior research has found that meditation may improve your ability to focus, reduce stress, and give you better control over your emotions. Since then, I've also seen it touted in several positive psychology books as a way to give you more control over your subconscious (explaining the emotions benefit) and increase your overall well-being.

I initially started meditating for just 5 minutes a day. I hadn't really come across any comprehensive instructions on how to do it, so I pieced together the stuff I had seen into my process. I'd sit cross-legged, close my eyes, silently recite to myself "May I find true happiness and be free from suffering," and then start counting my breaths.

I didn't really notice anything beyond occasionally getting light-headed (because I was getting more oxygen from breathing deeply), but I continued regardless. I wasn't really expecting to see amazing results early on. I slowly kept on raising the number that I'd count to until I was meditating for a solid 12 minutes. I was pretty proud of myself, and I continued to do it daily (out of habit by then) even though I hadn't had any notable experiences from it.

Fortunately, that changed after my trip to Europe. I made 2 significant changes to my meditation routine when I got back: 1) I increased the time from 12 or so minutes to 30 minutes and 2) I stopped counting and instead started using my phone as a timer. The first time I tried this out was a beast; it was very uncomfortable trying to sit still and clear my mind for 3x as long as what I had been doing up to that point. But the second and third times...now those were awesome.

At some point during both of those meditations, maybe 5-10 minutes into it, I felt a serene sensation wash over my entire body. It was almost as if my mind was a windshield wiper covered with water drops (thoughts), and all of a sudden, someone turned on the windshield wiper, clearing away all of the random thoughts in the process.

It became practically effortless to keep my mind clear, and I found myself just observing my body while feeling almost detached from it. An occasional thought would still find its way into my mind, but I was easily able to dismiss it. My entire body was relaxed and my breathing was very slow. To my surprise, the 30 minutes were up before I knew it. When I came out of it, I had an increased sense of awareness for a little while afterward.

I got really excited because I thought that I would now start experiencing that same sensation every time I meditated. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case. Instead, the quality of my experiences has ranged from awful to excellent. As a result, I've started to pay more attention to the details of each meditation session. I note what works and what doesn't and tweak things each time. I've learned several things along the way.

More sleep = better meditation
The less I sleep the night before, the harder it is to meditate. In particular, I find that it makes it much, much harder for me to clear my mind because there are all of these thoughts running around like hyperactive kids. And once I do start to gain control over my thoughts, I doze off a bit. When I return to full alertness, so do the hyperactive kids. I imagine that getting too much sleep could also be a problem, though I haven't run into that scenario yet.

Ripping yourself out of meditation stinks
Once I stopped counting my breaths, I had to start using a timer on my phone to know when I was done. That worked out pretty well except for one big problem: when the alarm went off, it was like getting ripped out of sleep. It should be no surprise that ending a period of relaxation/calm with a jolt of stress like that is by no means delightful. I was finally able to fix it by 1) turning off vibration when the alarm goes off 2) lowering the ringer volume to a very low setting and 3) using a soothing ring tone that starts quietly and builds up.

Having the right posture can make or break a session
I've recently been focusing a lot of my attention on improving my posture, especially now that I'm meditating for 40 minutes or so each time. There are two big issues that come up if I happen to not sit well: either my lower back starts to hurt or my legs start to fall asleep. Once that happens, my chances of being still go to nil because I end up fidgeting like crazy to try to fix my posture and relieve the pain (or lack of sensation). I've recently (just today!) taken a few steps to try to fix this. I have started using a pillow as a makeshift zafu and am now sitting in the Burmese position.

I'm a little bit worried about how easy it will be to keep up daily meditation once I start working, but I'm hoping to put in at least 10 minutes every morning regardless of how busy I am. I'll see how that goes soon enough.

For anyone interested in meditation, here is one of the better guides that I've found online to get you started.

GF won this round...

China: Go for launch

I got my passport back today with a shiny new China visa pasted onto one of the empty pages. That was the last thing that I needed for my upcoming trip, so I am now go for launch.

I almost didn't even get a visa for the trip because I didn't know that I needed one until a few weeks ago. I assumed that I didn't because I didn't need one for the trip to Hong Kong and Macau. And although I read a few things that mentioned needing a visa while researching the trip, I just glossed over that little detail. I would have been pretty bummed if I got deported the moment that I got there.

Fortunately, it finally clicked that I needed one, so after a little research, I stumbled upon mychinavisa.com. They act as a middleman for the whole process of getting a visa, since most people don't live near a Chinese embassy. After completing a fairly easy application, I sent off all of the materials and my passport to their Houston office, and two weeks later, I received the visa. It couldn't have been easier.

I now have a little less than 2 weeks until I take off, and I'll be using that time to continue reading about the cities I'd like to visit and practicing phrases in Mandarin. Although I've learned a few basic phrases, I've mainly been practicing the tones and pronunciation of pinyin vowels/consonants. Hopefully, that will make it easier for me to use the Chinese phrasebook when I'm over there.

Concerts in the park and at Stubb's

It's a challenge getting outside these days with the heat being what it is in Texas (100+, cooling down to mid-90s at 9 PM), but nonetheless, I managed to make it out to a few concerts the last couple of days.

Concerts in the Park

Austin Long Center

On Sunday, we went to the Long Center for this week's installment of Hartman Foundation Concerts in the Park. The Austin Symphony's string ensemble was performing a variety of pop hits, including Lady Gaga's Alejandro and MJ's We Are the World.

I was pleasantly surprised when they started playing Don't Start Believin' (video below), which immediately reminded me of Kellogg.

After the show ended, we stayed for a few more hours, lying on the grass as the sun set and the first few stars came out. It was uber relaxing and the perfect way to end the day.

The Decemberists @ Stubb's
Last night we went to Stubb's to watch The Decemberists. It was my first time catching them live, and they were absolutely fantastic. They are one of those bands that sound just as good, if not better, live as they do in their albums.

At the end of the show, they pulled a rare double-encore, coming back out a second time to play one last song after energizing the crowd with The Mariner's Revenge Song (below).

Random acts of kindness increase happiness

I've been reading through a few books on positive psychology during my vacation, and I came across an awesome bit of research that found that consciously performing acts of kindness increases happiness (as long as those acts aren't overwhelming to perform).

Experiments have actually demonstrated again and again that kindness toward others actually causes us to be happier, improves our health, and lengthens our lives.

It doesn't even have to be a big thing; it can be as simple as holding open the door for someone, helping someone carry a heavy bag, etc.

Pretty obvious in hindsight, and yet, awesome nonetheless.

Some lessons learned from the Eurotrip

The trip to Europe was a great way to test drive some techniques for traveling light that I plan on using on my upcoming trip to China. The traveling conditions may not be the same, but nonetheless, I learned some things that I think will be useful.

• Traveling with only carry-on luggage worked beautifully for me and my GF, who didn't think she could make do initially. I ended up hand washing my clothes in the hotel 3 times during the trip, but I wasn't always able to hang everything well on the hangers in the hotel room to dry. I now have a small clothesline in my pack.
• I had no problems with my roller luggage, but it was less than ideal in some situations trying to quickly pick it up to take stairs. Fortunately, that only really happened when arriving to or departing from a city, but I anticipate that it will be more common in China, so I've picked up an Osprey Stratos 36L pack for the trip. That should make me a bit more mobile.
• A day pack is essential. We only brought a camera bag that didn't have room for much, so I had to cram as much stuff as possible in my pants pockets while still foregoing a lot of nice-to-haves. That was a pain. At the very least, I'm going to be walking around in China with sunblock, a hat, my camera, a small memo book, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and an umbrella, so I'll be buying a small bag to carry around during the day.
• I really need to question the necessity of every item I take with me. I made the mistake of taking dress shoes just in case we went to any upscale restaurants or clubs. They took up a lot of space in my luggage, were heavy, and didn't get used a single time during the trip. I also need to stick with light clothing that dries quickly. I only used the jeans I packed on 2 of the 15 days because of how long it took for them to air dry.
• A small power strip would have been pretty helpful. We were always playing "musical chairs" with our electronics and the sole power adapter in each country. It also would come in handy at airports, where power plugs are in high demand.

ATM advantage

Money, money, money!

The general consensus for managing money abroad is that ATMs are the way to go. If you limit your withdrawals by taking out a large amount each time, you can keep your fees below the 3% transaction fee charged for using your card to buy stuff directly.

I went through the expenses for our trip, and sure enough, our fees came out to 1.1%.

Fortunately, I was able to mainly use ATMs in the Global ATM Alliance, avoiding the $5 transaction fee, so I didn't have to worry about taking out large amounts each time. And it doesn't look like I was charged any fees in France. Woot.

Copenhagen recap

St. Nicholas Church and Statue of Bishop Absalon

The last leg of our trip was also the most relaxed, thanks in large part to the fact that my brother and Danish sister-in-law guided us around. Doing the tourist thing took a back seat to spending time with my brother, whom I hadn't seen for years, and getting to know his wife, but we still got to check out some cool sites (when it wasn't raining).

I learned a little bit about the culture from my sister-in-law, and as far as I could tell, the two biggest departures from the culture here are that the people welcome a much bigger role for the government (more socialistic) and there is less of a rat race to get as much stuff as you can. It is considered more noble to be content with what you have. As a result, the average workweek is 36 hours, and like in France, you see a lot of people lounging around the city with friends. When I told her about my general desire to accomplish more, she found it strange to hear someone openly saying it.

Once again, our hotel was located right next to a major public transit station in the city. Copenhagen had the best system as far as I can tell. On top of the buses and trains, there was an automated underground rail system that runs 24/7, so you don't have to worry about being stranded late at night. It was a lot like the airport trains that you catch to get from terminal to terminal.

There were a lot of hotels in that part of the city, an area that also happens to be the city's red-light district. The walks back to our hotel at night were "interesting," but we always felt safe.

This was by far the most expensive city on our trip. I thought the hotel was relatively cheap until I saw how tiny the room was (this is normal from what I was told). The food was fantastic, but eating out isn't as common as in the US, so prices are higher. Even the food at 7-11s, which were everywhere, was pricey. At some point, I stopped converting prices from kroners to USD and just accepted that prices were going to be higher.

On the first day, we walked around downtown and did a river cruise, which took us by the city's most famous landmark: the Little Mermaid Statue.


Little Mermaid Statue

The next day we visited the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, which had a great iPad/iPhone art exhibit by David Hockney, and Kronborg Castle, which is where Hamlet takes place. The castle is grand on the outside but surprisingly simple in the inside. My favorite part of the castle was the Holger Danske statue in the crypt.


Kronborg Castle

On the 3rd day, we visited the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, which ended up being my favorite museum of the entire trip. The museum is filled with statues, reliefs, and paintings from various periods and regions that were originally collected by the Carlsberg beer founder from what I understand. Like Louisiana, the museum had a beautiful design that made full use of natural lighting.

At night we watched a movie, The Tree of Life. It was wonderfully shot and edited, but I still have no idea what the movie was about. A couple of things that surprised me about movies over there are that you get assigned seats and ticket prices are based on the length of the movie. I wonder if any small theaters in the US will ever do the same.

We spent the last day with my sister-in-law's parents. We walked through Christiana, the "hippie" part of Copenhagen, got to know each other over drinks, and went to Tivoli to watch a concert with Savage Rose.

Overall, Copenhagen was a wonderful way to end the trip, and now that my brother is moving back at the end of the year, it is likely that I'll be back there sometime in the future.

Paris recap

View from atop the Arc de Triomphe

Although all of the cities that we visited on our trip were amazing, I'm glad that we spent the most time in Paris because of everything there was to see and do there. The city was vibrant, and yet, more relaxed than London. There were people walking around everywhere, but they didn't seem to have the same sense of urgency. The Seine river was always littered with folks walking, picnicking, and just paying attention to life. Beyond all of the major tourist attractions, I really enjoyed walking through the streets and watching everything that was going on around us.

The biggest surprise for us about the city was the daylight hours. The sun was out every day until around 11 PM, if not later. If you want to see the city at night, you have to stay up pretty late, but it is worth it, if anything, to see the Eiffel Tower's dazzling nighttime light show.

On top of the long daylight hours, there were a lot of restaurants open for dinner until at least 11 P, so we ended up eating a lot of very late meals. Ultimately, our internal clocks were all sorts of confused during our time in Paris.

Once again, we got really lucky that our hotel was conveniently located right next to a major public transit station (Châtelet - Les Halles, which is also a mall) in the heart of Paris. There were a lot of things to see within walking distance, such as the Louvre, Centre Pompidou, and Notre Dame, and the couple of times we couldn't walk somewhere, we hopped on the RER or Metro. The only time public transportation failed us was when we were leaving for Copenhagen early in the morning. The first RER trip to the airport was too late, so we had to take a cab instead.

The food did not disappoint. The standard fare from street vendors, which are plentiful, is crepes and sandwiches. The food quality was consistently average across the vendors (at least for the vegetarian options), but the vendors were the cheapest and fastest meal option when on the go.

The restaurants and boulangeries (bakeries) were much better (unless you are a vegetarian/vegan).


One of the boulangeries we stopped at

I'm a big bread fan, and the bread everywhere was amazing. Fortunately, all of our meals were served with baguettes. The vegetarian meal options weren't all that impressive, though I did run into one of the best margarita pizzas I've ever had (thanks to the crust). Everything that my GF got on the other hand looked and tasted amazing. My favorite meal ended up being at Aki, an authentic Japanese restaurant near the Louvre. I tried okonomiyaki (a pancake-type meal) for the first time, and it was absolutely delicious.

Our sightseeing was limited to the standard tourist attractions, and that was more than enough to fill up our 6 days. At most of the major sites you can climb to the top to see amazing panoramas of the city. We opted to do so whenever possible, and while breathtaking, it does get a bit stale after seeing it for the 3rd or 4th time. I think that the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe provided the best views.

The sites were all extremely crowded, but that rarely prevented us from seeing or doing whatever we wanted, except at Versailles, where we had to skip the palace because it would have been closing by the time we got through the lines. It was a blessing in disguise though, because we instead ended up taking a very relaxing stroll through the gardens behind the palace, where we came across some very cool fountains, like this one and this one, and the fountain show below.



More than anything, our time in Paris was marked by walking. We walked all over the place, occasionally spicing things up with a long climb up stairs. It was exhausting. I wish we had spent more time just lounging and taking it all in, but it is hard to not want to see as much of the city as possible because of how interesting it is.

Fortunately, we did spend a good portion of one night sitting on a pedestrian bridge in front of the Bibliothèque Mazarine watching the sun slowly set. All around us there were people talking, laughing, and enjoying the moment. We even had some live music from a few Chinese se performers to help set the mood. It was one of those moments in life that I won't soon forget.

London recap

Parliament Square

Of the 3 cities that we visited, I thought that London resembled a typical, large US city the most. The pace in the city was much faster than the others, with people hurriedly going to wherever their feet (and the Tube) would carry them. Furthermore, there seemed to be more chain stores, both US and local companies, all over the place. More importantly, the menu at McDonald's was almost identical.


Piccadilly Circus

Although we saw a lot of people that were in a rush, we also saw a lot of people that were just planted at various spots enjoying the nice weather and scenery. The most popular lounging spots that we came across were Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, and in front of the Tate Modern. I'm not used to seeing this, particularly in Texas, where the summer heat makes it hard to do anything outside, so we joined in whenever possible.

I wasn't particularly impressed with the food, though I blame myself for not putting in any effort beforehand to try to identify good restaurants. We did eat at one very nice (and expensive) restaurant, Simpson's in the Strand. The food was good, but like other fancy restaurants I've been too, I didn't think it justified the price (guess I'm not a foodie). In the end, my favorite place was Pret A Manger, a chain that serves up homemade, natural stuff, like sandwiches and soups.

Getting around wasn't a problem at all thanks to the Tube and our hotel's convenient location right next to the King's Cross St. Pancras tube station. I can't say enough how much I love a good public transit system. It takes a little effort to figure out the lines and how to get to where you are going, but it is well worth it to avoid the hassle of driving and owning a car. I know Dallas has a small light rail system and buses, but it is years away from making it viable to forgo a car.


Doing my part to improve international relations at Buckingham Palace

We visited a pretty good set of tourist attractions without killing ourselves in the process. On most days, we didn't even get out of the hotel room until 11 AM or so (hooray for sleeping in). The We Will Rock You musical was a lot of fun, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting the city, even if they aren't Queen fans. I really enjoyed walking along the River Walk and attending a service at Westminster Abbey. I'm not even particularly religious, but the service and accompanying boys choir were nonetheless an experience.


B crossing Abbey Road

Abbey Road was pretty cool, but I don't think it warrants the trip out unless you are a big Beatles fan, which B is. The road was really busy, so I had to carefully time running out into the middle of the street to take pictures without getting hit by anything.

We missed out on a lot of good stuff, but I don't mind. It gives me an excuse to eventually make my way back.

I have a few more pics from London on Flickr.


This is completely unrelated, but I knew that our trip was off to a good start when Jason Mraz (one of my favorite musicians) and his band (Grooveline Horns, Toca, etc) sat across from us at the airport in Austin before our first flight. When I mentioned to B that I thought it was him, we looked over and got caught like deer in headlights.


Jason Mraz at the airport in Austin

Montmartre...and aggressive street vendors

Basilique Sacre due Coeur @ Montmartre

Today we visited the Basilique Sacre due Coeur at Montmartre.

The inside of the church was similar to the inside of Notre Dame, though scaled down. I've been disappointed to find in all of these beautiful churches tacky souvenir medallion vending machines. I'm sure they pull in some decent revenue for the churches, but they really take away from the sanctity/mood in my opinion.

We also paid to view the Crypt and Panorama (climbing to the top). The crypt was a bit underwhelming, and although the panorama provided some nice views of Paris and other landmarks, it was very similar to the view at the top of Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and the Arc de Triomphe. The path to the top was very narrow and short; it would not be a comfortable trip for someone that is big and/or tall.

The most memorable part of the day was our experience with the street vendors in front of the church. They were by far the most aggressive ones we've run into. The vendors at the foot of the stairs got our attention, grabbed our hands, and then tried to tie strings to them. I kept trying to pull my hand away, but the vendor would not let go. I was starting to get upset when they finally let us go.

I also watched some street gamblers during lunch for an hour and confirmed they had accomplices. Three people were dressed as tourists and "gambling" with them the entire time. The 3 would walk off and then come back and cheer on real tourists that got sucked into the scam.

Tomorrow morning we take off for the last leg of our trip in Copenhagen.