Ynotoman ("Why not Oman", gettit?) is flying from London Gatwick to Muscat, Oman today, and reports on the tasty on-board food (lamb, tamarind sorbet).
Gatwick sounds like a better option for Oman than my usual choice, Heathrow. The BA flight from Heathrow to Muscat departs at 9:40am, which makes for a tight connection if you're arriving into Heathrow from somewhere else that morning, as I usually am.
Oman Air recently rebranded their planes (more rounded imagery, more green) and revamped their fleet. This coincides with Oman's rise as a tourist destination.
I've posted my own tourist tips for Muscat, Oman here:
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Erudite reading on the São Paulo metro
I photographed this collection of books in a book vending machine on the São Paulo metro in Brazil.
A somewhat odd mix of books on Nietsche, Plato, massage, driving, and Microsoft Excel.
A somewhat odd mix of books on Nietsche, Plato, massage, driving, and Microsoft Excel.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
"The best place to get crabs in Boston"
[ From Boston Irish ]
I think this slightly risqué sign for the Barking Crab is new, catching the eye of people (like me) exiting the Children's Museum.
But seriously, the Barking Crab is a great little informal seafood place situated between the Boston Children's Museum and the ICA.
I think this slightly risqué sign for the Barking Crab is new, catching the eye of people (like me) exiting the Children's Museum.
But seriously, the Barking Crab is a great little informal seafood place situated between the Boston Children's Museum and the ICA.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
What happens when a mother and three kids are bumped from an international flight (with onward connections)
This tale of travel woe in the Jerusalem Post is unusual since, as the author says, "Airline policy is to first ask for volunteers when a flight is overbooked. This was not done."
Quote:
In a firm voice, the Swiss Air supervisor told her they had taken the four of them off the flight to Zurich due to overbooking. It wasn't that she arrived late, nor the absence of the boarding passes, simply that El Al, which was operating the flight, needed four seats for its platinum frequent flier members, and Hana and her three kids matched the required number.
Quote:
In a firm voice, the Swiss Air supervisor told her they had taken the four of them off the flight to Zurich due to overbooking. It wasn't that she arrived late, nor the absence of the boarding passes, simply that El Al, which was operating the flight, needed four seats for its platinum frequent flier members, and Hana and her three kids matched the required number.
Pleading with the supervisor, she pointed out that she was not flying just to Zurich, but connecting to Chicago. Her pleas were to no avail.
"You've been bumped," she was told. "So let's discuss your compensation."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1220526724588&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Friday, September 5, 2008
What is this unusually tall building in Bristol, Connecticut?
This strange tall building in the town of Bristol, Connecticut stands out. It is the tallest building for miles around. What is it?
The answer is that it is the Otis Elevator Research Center. This is where Otis test elevators and research new ideas for elevators. Who knew such a building existed?
From http://utc.com/press/highlights/2003-08-27_tower.htm :
If you are in Bristol, check it out. Well, you can't miss it since it towers over everything else.
The answer is that it is the Otis Elevator Research Center. This is where Otis test elevators and research new ideas for elevators. Who knew such a building existed?
From http://utc.com/press/highlights/2003-08-27_tower.htm :
The Otis Research Center, featuring a 29-story test tower and Quality Assurance Center in Bristol, Conn., is one of Otis' worldwide facilities that test the company's elevators and escalators and their components in simulated real-world environments.
Otis tests the components to their limits, whether it's sending an elevator car up and down (and up and down and up and down) a 300-foot hoistway, or shaft, or deliberately corroding a microprocessor in a salt-fog chamber, a test that mimics conditions of a coastal environment.
...
While components are being tested at the Quality Assurance Center, elevator car (or cab) prototypes are actually dropped down the hoistway at the test tower in a free fall - just to make sure that the governor senses the car speed and initiates the car safety device to stop the elevator safely. Finally, specialists called ride-quality engineers ride the elevators to measure vibration, noise and acceleration.
If you are in Bristol, check it out. Well, you can't miss it since it towers over everything else.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Views of San Francisco from Nob Hill at night
One advantage of staying on Nob Hill in San Francisco is the view. Here are photos I took from the top of Nob Hill at night.
Looking towards Union Square, with the star on the front of The Mark hotel visible:
Looking towards the financial district:
Looking out towards Tenderloin, Civic Center, Mission, Castro, Haight Ashbury, and Twin Peaks:
Looking towards Union Square, with the star on the front of The Mark hotel visible:
Looking towards the financial district:
Looking out towards Tenderloin, Civic Center, Mission, Castro, Haight Ashbury, and Twin Peaks:
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
The Shannon Stopover
Sarah Palin was in the news recently on Politico where her spokesperson is quoted as saying she has visited Germany, Kuwait, and Ireland . The trip to Ireland was a "Shannon Stopover".
So what is a "Shannon Stopover"? As a seasoned traveler between Ireland and the US, I am all too familiar with the "Shannon Stopover". Shannon was Ireland's first airport serving transatlantic flights, for the simple reason that it's closest to North America. Shannon used to do very well from this traffic. It also, interestingly, was in the 1980s a refuelling pitstop for Aeroflot flights from the USSR to Cuba. But, then flights started to go directly to Dublin. For a long time, airlines were forced by law to go through Shannon, in order to keep business coming to Shannon Airport. Now, that stipulation is largely gone, and I often now fly directly from Boston to Dublin. Shannon does, of course, still serve people who actually want to land in the beautiful West of Ireland, especially tourists and business travelers visiting companies such as Dell there.
However, the declining usage of Shannon Airport meant that it had to look for more business. Partly as a result, it now serves as a re-fueling spot for US military flights. In many ways, Shannon is ideal for that job. It's a quiet airport, away from a large city, with free WiFi, and features a Duty Free shop and the "Clare Cafe" (a bar which is festooned with US Army, Air Force, and Marines stickers). Last year I went through Shannon Airport on an Aer Lingus flight and saw a booth for BMW Military there. So, it has become in some ways a weird mix of civilian and military airport. It is amusing to see how the Aer Rianta Duty Free shop cashes in on the military traffic, selling "Genuine Irish Surname Crests" for names like Rodriguez and Sanchez, as well as desert hats alongside the Aran sweaters and Irish crystal. Poignantly, the bathroom grafitti at the airport often includes the names of soldiers who didn't make it onto the flights back.
Here is a photo I took at Shannon Airport of a rainbow beaming down onto one of the US military's distintive "North American" branded planes, carrying a load of soldiers off to the Gulf (or back home to the US) along with their new Aran sweaters, Irish crystal, and desert hats.
So what is a "Shannon Stopover"? As a seasoned traveler between Ireland and the US, I am all too familiar with the "Shannon Stopover". Shannon was Ireland's first airport serving transatlantic flights, for the simple reason that it's closest to North America. Shannon used to do very well from this traffic. It also, interestingly, was in the 1980s a refuelling pitstop for Aeroflot flights from the USSR to Cuba. But, then flights started to go directly to Dublin. For a long time, airlines were forced by law to go through Shannon, in order to keep business coming to Shannon Airport. Now, that stipulation is largely gone, and I often now fly directly from Boston to Dublin. Shannon does, of course, still serve people who actually want to land in the beautiful West of Ireland, especially tourists and business travelers visiting companies such as Dell there.
However, the declining usage of Shannon Airport meant that it had to look for more business. Partly as a result, it now serves as a re-fueling spot for US military flights. In many ways, Shannon is ideal for that job. It's a quiet airport, away from a large city, with free WiFi, and features a Duty Free shop and the "Clare Cafe" (a bar which is festooned with US Army, Air Force, and Marines stickers). Last year I went through Shannon Airport on an Aer Lingus flight and saw a booth for BMW Military there. So, it has become in some ways a weird mix of civilian and military airport. It is amusing to see how the Aer Rianta Duty Free shop cashes in on the military traffic, selling "Genuine Irish Surname Crests" for names like Rodriguez and Sanchez, as well as desert hats alongside the Aran sweaters and Irish crystal. Poignantly, the bathroom grafitti at the airport often includes the names of soldiers who didn't make it onto the flights back.
Here is a photo I took at Shannon Airport of a rainbow beaming down onto one of the US military's distintive "North American" branded planes, carrying a load of soldiers off to the Gulf (or back home to the US) along with their new Aran sweaters, Irish crystal, and desert hats.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
The US J1 visa rite of passage
The Irish Times today features a piece written by a 61-year-old who traveled to the US this summer on a J1 visa. Now, usually J1 visas are used by considerably younger people, as it's designed for students who want to spend a summer working in the US. But, you can be a student at 61, so you can of course work in the US in the summer on a J1.
"Doing a J1" used to be a rite of passage for Irish students, and indeed still is. The popularity of the J1 visa took a bit of a hit post 9/11 when the US gained a reputation for heavy-handedness when issuing visas, but it's rebounded somewhat. Australia stepped in to become a favoured destination for Irish students. And, there is always the European mainland (a friend spent a memorable summer in Germany, in sweltering heat, cleaning the tin roofs of a former concentration camp under the watchful eye of a very conscientious foreman).
I "did the J1" in the summer of 1994, when I worked for a traveling carnival on the US East Coast. I spent time in Amish Country, on Cape May in New Jersey, Atlantic City, New York State, and rural Virginia and West Virginia. I have fond memories of meeting Oliver North (whose family is from Cork), calming down co-workers who had Vietnam flashbacks, and one night making an elaborate crop circle. After saving up money at the carnival, I hitched a ride to New York City on the back of a pick-up truck, then flew to San Francisco. From there I took a went down to Southern California and Arizona (Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino, like in the Route 66 song). Then Flagstaff for the Grand Canyon. Then up to the Mid-West where I met my friend John who'd spent his J1 on Cape Cod, and together we travelled to Chicago and then down to New Orleans for the jazz (John is a big jazz fan). After that, we headed to Washington DC, and spent some time there, staying in Georgetown. Then New York, and then back to Ireland to start college again.
Reading that last paragraph, I wonder how I managed to do all that in the days before I had a mobile phone, a US bank account, a credit card, or ready access to email. I wonder now "how did I book that flight from New York to San Francisco" (the answer, thinking back, is that I simply walked into a travel agency next door to the youth hostel near Columbia University in New York City, and paid cash).
I encourage any student in Ireland thinking of a J1 to take advantage of it. Although working for a traveling carnival was insane at times, it was a better experience than flipping burgers on the coast somewhere.
It is a little known fact that the J1 arrangement between Ireland and the US goes the other way too. US students can work in Ireland legally for a summer. We don't have traveling carnivals over there, or a Grand Canyon, but even with an economic downturn there is plenty of casual summer work to go around.
[ Cross-posted to Boston Irish ]
"Doing a J1" used to be a rite of passage for Irish students, and indeed still is. The popularity of the J1 visa took a bit of a hit post 9/11 when the US gained a reputation for heavy-handedness when issuing visas, but it's rebounded somewhat. Australia stepped in to become a favoured destination for Irish students. And, there is always the European mainland (a friend spent a memorable summer in Germany, in sweltering heat, cleaning the tin roofs of a former concentration camp under the watchful eye of a very conscientious foreman).
I "did the J1" in the summer of 1994, when I worked for a traveling carnival on the US East Coast. I spent time in Amish Country, on Cape May in New Jersey, Atlantic City, New York State, and rural Virginia and West Virginia. I have fond memories of meeting Oliver North (whose family is from Cork), calming down co-workers who had Vietnam flashbacks, and one night making an elaborate crop circle. After saving up money at the carnival, I hitched a ride to New York City on the back of a pick-up truck, then flew to San Francisco. From there I took a went down to Southern California and Arizona (Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino, like in the Route 66 song). Then Flagstaff for the Grand Canyon. Then up to the Mid-West where I met my friend John who'd spent his J1 on Cape Cod, and together we travelled to Chicago and then down to New Orleans for the jazz (John is a big jazz fan). After that, we headed to Washington DC, and spent some time there, staying in Georgetown. Then New York, and then back to Ireland to start college again.
Reading that last paragraph, I wonder how I managed to do all that in the days before I had a mobile phone, a US bank account, a credit card, or ready access to email. I wonder now "how did I book that flight from New York to San Francisco" (the answer, thinking back, is that I simply walked into a travel agency next door to the youth hostel near Columbia University in New York City, and paid cash).
I encourage any student in Ireland thinking of a J1 to take advantage of it. Although working for a traveling carnival was insane at times, it was a better experience than flipping burgers on the coast somewhere.
It is a little known fact that the J1 arrangement between Ireland and the US goes the other way too. US students can work in Ireland legally for a summer. We don't have traveling carnivals over there, or a Grand Canyon, but even with an economic downturn there is plenty of casual summer work to go around.
[ Cross-posted to Boston Irish ]
Monday, September 1, 2008
Exploring Banksy Street Art in London
I see there is now a book of Banksy Locations and Tours. This looks like an excellent way to create your own walking tour of Banksy graffiti in London (and the rest of England). One of Amazon reviewers says:
"A really brilliant book, sod jack the ripper tours. Given me Banksy Location Tours any day of the week me old china plate!"
I haven't read the book, but it would help me find more Banksy graffiti. To date, I've only seen Banksy pieces by randomly stumbling across them. I photographed this Banksy piece in Clerkenwell, London. For more on Banksy, including Banksy's bio, over 250 of his works, exclusive articles, and up-to-date Banksy exhibition listings, check out the Banksy page on Artsy.
"A really brilliant book, sod jack the ripper tours. Given me Banksy Location Tours any day of the week me old china plate!"
I haven't read the book, but it would help me find more Banksy graffiti. To date, I've only seen Banksy pieces by randomly stumbling across them. I photographed this Banksy piece in Clerkenwell, London. For more on Banksy, including Banksy's bio, over 250 of his works, exclusive articles, and up-to-date Banksy exhibition listings, check out the Banksy page on Artsy.
Pu-Pu Chinese Restaurant in West Roxbury, Boston
Back in January, the Guardian ran a feature on questionable restaurant names, such as the Phat Phuc noodle bar in Central London (name translates as "Happy Buddha" apparently). Now that Dorchester's"El Coli" food market is renamed, West Roxbury leads the Boston in the restaurant naming stakes with the Pu-Pu Chinese Restaurant.
Footnote: When I lived in Dublin, the most amusing restaurant name was the "Fragrant River" Chinese restaurant located beside a particularly stinky part of the Royal Canal.
[Cross-posted to Boston Irish]
Footnote: When I lived in Dublin, the most amusing restaurant name was the "Fragrant River" Chinese restaurant located beside a particularly stinky part of the Royal Canal.
[Cross-posted to Boston Irish]
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