Geeky fun with Google Maps

Came across this website today:

http://www.mapofstrange.com

Allows users to submit strange things seen on google maps. Hit or miss, and a lot of crop circles and old planes, but some are really interesting.

Take, for example, these high resolution aerial photos in Africa that have been contributed to Google Maps from national Geographic:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=10.90385,19.935069&spn=0.000244,0.000429&t=h&z=22

There are a few other high res images - zoom out and scroll around. Look for others in the region from the map of strange website.

Wilson's Leather

Not quite in the tone of the rest of the blog, but wanted a space to "shout out", and what better place than my blog of random useless stuff?

Wilson's Leather had long been one of my favorite stores - great for not-too-expensive leather jackets and stuff, and lots of locations. Soma liked the purses from the store as well - and I liked the fact that we were buying purses from a leather manufacturer, and not a brand name that has little or no connection to leather. Or, for that matter, a very well reputed brand that did come up as a leather goods / upholstery store, right from the stagecoach days, but now sells a lot of their lower end products in nylon and cloth.

Anyway - we walk into the new Wilson's in the new Tanger that has opened close to us (Deer Park), and are shocked - what's 9 West, Kenneth Cole, etc doing as entire sections of the store? the store look more like a Sears in its cluttered interior?

We bought something that looked like a good deal, then noticed bad stitching all over the item, so wanted to return. Where, in today's competitive retail world, does it take 15 minutes and several handwritten / typed forms to perform a single return, for an item that has not even left the store since purchased? I'm not talking of waiting in line - it took us 15 minutes at the counter to complete the return. The salesperson kept pointing out how complicated that was, and she seemed to be the more experienced of the people working at the time.

Came home, a little disappointed and suspicious, and searched. Should have noticed the news earlier - apparently Wilson's sold its name, website and stores to a separate company back in July of last year:

"The Brooklyn Park-based retailer on Tuesday said it sold the Wilsons name, 116 outlet stores and its online retail assets to G-III Apparel Group Ltd. of New York for $22.3 million in cash. The fate of Wilsons' 100 remaining, mall-based stores and 14 airport stores remains unclear as the retailer moves to cut costs amid rapidly declining sales of its leather clothing and accessories."

(ref: http://www.startribune.com/business/24092414.html)

What's with the AC in New York City restaurants?

Soma and I chanced to land up in NYC over some chores today - we were dropping off our second car in West New York, and was making our way back by public transport. Since it has become rather rare for us to land up in the city, we though a bit on how to best use this opportunity - and decided on a IMAX movie and a non-chain restaurant.

The IMAX was easy - Lincoln Center was running The Dark Knight. All fun and games with no plot. Just the way I love it.

Now, the restaurant. We wanted to check out Tsampa, since it was way too long since we had a taste of Tibetan. We made out way from Lincoln center down to 9th and 2nd avenue.

Here we got the shock - Tsampa's doors were wide open, not a single customer in sight, the AC obviously off.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all in for anti-global warming steps and lowering the carbon footprint. We have wind power in our apartment, just sold off the second car, I have been taking the train to the City since 2000, we have the AC in our car set to 75, CFL lamps all around the house - you get the idea. Whatever I could, I did. But when I pay $40 a head for a dinner in the City, on a day as hot and as humid as today, I do expect the AC to be running.

We skipped Tsampa, and started walking down the East Village area. This was 5pm on a Saturday night. All of the restaurants that we came across had the doors and windows open - and very few people eating in (well, that makes sense, one leads to another).

I stuck to my (seemingly simple) demand - if the restaurant does not have the AC running, I don't want to eat in there. I assume they are not passing the energy savings to the consumer, so I don't see any reason for them to be on the receiving end of my money either.

We walked a long way - Khyber Pass down in St Marks was the same story, so were the few in the northern end of Chinatown. By this time, we were mentally prepared to go into our favorite Chinese restaurant in Chinatown - XO Cafe and Grill. I'm glad to say, XO had their AC running, and it was business as usual.

XO's "Salty Fish Mei Fun" is unparalleled - and their "Chinese sausage and rice wrapped in lotus leaf" and "Udon soup, wonton, extra spicy" were charming accompaniments. It felt like a dinner in the city - tastes right on the mark, fast service, not a chain restaurant, and the AC was running.

There you go. Satisfaction at last. I'm glad XO is not following whatever fancy hot and humid trend the others are catching on. At least I know one place that has great food, and their head in the right place.

Do you need a visa?

If this page is updated as regularly as it should be, then here's a great resource that consolidates visa requirements for a wide array of international travel:

http://www.qantas.com.au/info/flying/beforeYouTravel/visaHealth

Its not legal proof, but is a great starting point to read up on whether you need a visa or not!

Wintuk - a big disappointment!

Cirque Du Soleil shows have become a fond favorite for Soma and me - ever since we saw the 'O' at the Bellagio, Las Vegas, some 2 years back. The last Cirque show I had seen in New York was Allegria - playing at Randals Island a few years back, and had found it quite captivating. A few months back, on another visit to Vegas, we chanced upon $50 tickets to Ka - at the MGM Grand - and that was just as magical as the O.

If you've seen any of the Cirque shows in Vegas, you know what I'm talking about - huge, really huge stages, one changing into a swimming pool with mermaids leaping up to where the stage was, one going up in the air, turning to a vertical, and spinning freely. These shows are as magical as entertaining, and most people are too tranced-up to speak for a few minutes after.

In fact, after seeing the O, when we went for a Broadway performance of The Phantom of the Opera - which, in my personal opinion, is as good as Broadway shows get - we found it pretty lame, like watching a 70's action movie after having seen a current blockbuster.

So, as a result of all this, our hopes were really high for Wintuk. We had purchased tickets - all of 200 greenbacks for each seat - back in March, for a show in November. With the details coming out at a trickle, we were waiting eagerly for 8 months for the show date to arrive.

Meanwhile, in order to have fun while preserving the best for the last, we went for a performance of the Big Apple circus - at the Lincoln Center - a few weeks back. What's a little circus going to do, when the Broadway shows could not stand up to the O and the Ka?

Well, the date finally arrived, we went in to the Wintuk show - on our 3rd anniversary - with the highest of expectations. And then the show started. And we felt the $440 I spent on the tickets very, very dearly. Marginally better than the Big Apply circus, with practically the same shows - jugglers, hula hoop dancers, clowns. No magic stage. No magic at all, period. Can't say we didn't give them our best shot - we were seated in the second row, while we were some 20 rows deep in the O, and for Ka - the last minute purchase - we were stuck in a corner, with a partial view of the stage, and some 40 rows away from the action. For this, from the second row, the magic was completely missing. I was almost falling asleep at times, and when I was not, was looking at the watch to see how much is still to go.

What a disappointment. On our anniversary, too. Shame on you, Cirque Du Soleil, for ripping us so. For those of you who are thinking of parting with your money for this show - save it, and go for the Big Apple or the Ringling Brothers instead. At least that's $40 or so a ticket, for, say, 85% of the same.