But truth be told, in today’s world right from your music to the way you organise your work or travel smart – you rely on apps…

This is probably the most interesting innovative way apps have affected people’s lives – I mean, an app to breathe???!!! How absurd can that be? Read on – here’s an interesting article with a whole new perspective for non believers like me… (in bits and pieces though)

“….The app stores certainly don’t think it’s unusual, which would explain why they are replete with apps that help you relax, stop worrying, meditate, breathe deeply and even sleep. The whole idea of using a phone or tablet for things that nature should be in charge of may be quite amusing, but many of these apps are very well thought through and created with inputs from scientists and health experts.”

“Breathing apps fit nicely on a phone because you can use them anywhere, anytime; such as before a presentation that’s making you jittery or just before you punch your boss in the nose, thereby ensuring a slight lack of employment and much breathlessness.” [I just loved this part!!!!] “Apps are often free or have a trial version for you to figure out whether you’ll get along with it or not. Most count on simple sounds and visuals to help you breathe evenly. Long Deep Breathing for the iPhone, available at $0.99, allows you to set inhale and exhale durations, get audio directions and change screen colours.”

“BellyBio Interactive Breathing tells you to place your iPhone or iPod Touch on your stomach and enjoy playing with your “inner balloon”. [seriously????] Soothing ocean waves start rolling in as you position the device, as directed, on your belly. The waves synchronise with your breathing and as the music rolls, the device turns into an “abdominal music player”. [LOL! what a coinage!!!] “You get bio-feedback with the ‘Calmitude Pitch’, which tells how stressed or calm you are, calculating the sound pitch during inhalation.” [not to miss, “bio-feedback”] “It also makes a graph of your breathing level.”[graphs just give me more stress L] “And if you feel lonely in breathing efforts, you can see a map of other BellyBio users on the planet. This charming app is free, but for additional music, it’s $0.99 per theme. Should you become calm enough to sleep off, BellyBio doesn’t work because abdominal breathing needs active participation from the owner of the belly.” [hahahahha is this funny, or what?!]

“There are others too! A digital health company has developed apps for iOS and Android based on pranayama. Using the app’s meditative glowing interface, you learn to relieve stress. Then there’s Universal Breathing and Health Through Breath that teach how to regulate breathing and get physiological benefits and clarity of thought. While a tad more expensive than some apps, at $9.99, Health Through Breath is obviously worth the money, going by the ratings. It has a free trial version too.” [jeepers…]

“If breathing isn’t enough for you, try meditation and mindfulness apps. These too are uncountable and sometimes feature gurus such as Deepak Chopra. The popular Simply Being for iOS, BlackBerry and Android guides you into a feeling of relaxation. Chakra Balancing and Energy Healing for the iPad ($4.99) narrate how to balance chakras and release energy. There are also self-hypnosis apps such as Relax and Sleep Well or Complete Hypnosis Pack for iOS.” [this is going way beyond my comprehension!]

“Combine deep breathing and meditation by writing an anxiety journal.” [what the heck is an anxiety journal????] “At Ease for iOS is not frivolous in the least. Let it all out in writing and even examine whether you are anxious about anxiety.” [hmmm I say my blog is more therapeutic than this stuff!]

“If none of this quite floats your boat, tackle your worries head-on with Worry Box.” [someone’s been paid a pretty dollar for the branding!!!] “This Android app lets you log worries into your phone and find which of them are in your control and which aren’t, before giving solutions to tackle them.” [wow! A shrink app!!!!]

“Insomniacs, just go to bed with your smart phone for a good night’s sleep. There’s Sleep Pillow for the iPad, at one end of the spectrum, it uses white noise to lull you off to la la land. A pretty, simple interface lets you choose a scene and ambient sounds. Nod off to a calming sound of rain, a crackling fire (wait till winter comes), waves lapping at the shore… Along with the sounds, the Sleeping Zone for the iPhone also emits a blue light in the room.” [jeepers!]  “If you want to make your own music, try iPad’s Sleep for $0.99 and choose from 100 ambient sounds. White Noise for BlackBerry also uses everything from chirping crickets to running streams to get you power-napping. Of course, everywhere there are apps for you to count sheep, if you have quite finished examining the ceiling”. [corny, or what?!]

For something with more features, try iHome Sleep for iOS. This app has, other than the usual sounds, many types of alarms, gentle wake-up options and sleep tracking statistics and logs, and it even gives you weather updates and news when you wake up. To top it all, your sleep status can be updated on Facebook and Twitter.” [wtf … since when did sleeping get so complicated? I mean, do people actually use this stuff ???]

And if you should find yourself getting too comfortable and snoring, well, there are apps for that too! Snore No More for Android will pick up on snoring and wake you, probably ensuring your spouse gets a better night’s sleep than you do. [haw haw haw]

There’s more but I’ve had enough apps for a day. And night. Goodnight people. I shall relax and sleep the old fashioned way

Linda seems to be in mourning. She has found a black turtleneck tee –and is furiously pretending to work but I can see, like me, it’s the Steve Jobs tributes that consume her…

So let me put down my 2 cents too… the first thing that comes to mind is what is the world going to do without a Steve Jobs? Who will teach us how to “think different”. Who will innovate products that change our life for the better…? Whole will ensure perfection in every little detail? My God, what a waste of life

I want to recap his life and post some of my fave bits and pieces I’ve been reading/hearing today… but I just realised most of you would be doing the same. But I just have to share his ever so famous “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish” 2005 Stanford Commencement Address. I thought I’d post only the parts I like the most  – but the WHOLE speech is ever so inspiring! Every word makes you feel like you’ve been wasting your life doing nothing productive … Makes you want to get up and start over, afresh … Makes you want to create something from nothing … Makes you want to become an entrepreneur!!! Omg! Reality check – the Rugby World Cup – something that keeps me grounded to my work and TV

This is Steve Jobs for you people…

“I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last-minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn’t know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down – that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the world’s first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960′s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.”

RIP Steve. The whole world mourns your loss.

Panipuri:
Golguppa in north India, puchka in Calcutta, but panipuri in the western parts. This is the most amazing “tomorrow my arse is gonna be on fire” street food man could EVER create!!!! This is a little dry round swollen “puri” – it’s broken into (by thumb) from the top and an interesting spicy mixture of potato & chana (black chick pea) is stuffed in it. A little sweet tamarind chutney is added. Then this stuffed puri is drowned in spicy tangy mint pani (water) and (this is the fun part) then you are expected to stuff this huge spicy water balloon like contraption into your mouth! Holy crapamoly! Firstly, to meet this challenge mentally by itself is a big deal – then to actually do it, is something else! When you shut your bursting mouth, the puri bursts and KaBoooooooooooooooom! It explodes in your mouth. And then, before you can breathe, the spicy-pungent tangy-mint flavoured water hits your senses! That’s when all hell breaks loose in your system!

Your nose waters. Your eyes water. You smack your lips. You wipe your nose and shove your disposable plate ahead to the Panipuriwala eager for the next one!!!! The bloke (who’s wearing gloves and insists he uses bottled mineral water only – shows you his supply too!) asks if “aal izz welllllll” in terms of the “chilly quotient”. I tell him, “I’ll know only tomorrow!!!”

I am a confirmed panipuri addict. Must be the Indian in me. Linda gave up after the very first one.J

Bhelpuri:
After consuming several mouth-on-fire panipuris, it is essential to turn to the relatively tame (depending on the lethal vs sweet chutneys it’s doused in). This is puffed rice crispies/flakes mixed with other savory stuff, flat puris, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, fresh coriander and assorted chutneys – sweet tamarind, chilly-garlic, green chilly. And lemon! It looks like a mess. Tastes divine! And yes you salivate even while the guy mixes your mess!!!

Sevpuri: not too different from bhel – except that they substitute the flat puris and mix everything into dry panipuris – also add yogurt if you please. Quite nice. But my loyalties are with panipuri J.

Vada pav:
The poor person’s veggie burger!!! [actually staple for people on the run – and believe me in this city, EVERYONE IS ON THE RUN!!!!] It’s a potato vada/pakora (deep fried patty battered in chick pea flour) placed inside a bun (pav). Dry or wet garlic (spicy) chutney is smeared on it which lights your senses up! Gobble a couple and that’s dinner!

[btw, they’ve improvised by adding cheese and other flavours – but I’ve been told to stick to the original. And that’s exactly what I do!]

Kacchi  dabeli:
Another form of a vada (to aliens like me) – except the stuffing isn’t a deep fried patty – it’s potato mash with lots of onions, tomatoes, garlic, tamarind, etc etc – the new entrants being peanuts and pomegranate (yes!). It’s heavenly despite being sweet and sour and spicy

Pav bhaji: is a mash-combo – basically veggies of ALL SORTS seasoned and served with butter on the top and toasty buns (pav) on the side. This dish is incomplete without raw onions and lemon slices. Served piping hot!!! You need to specify your spice-o-meter – non-spicy, medium spicy or spicy!!! As expected, we put in a special request for the first category and Linda still suffers. Need to look for a portable fire extinguisher…

Tender coconuts:
Should be called nectar – so very refreshing on a normal sultry Mumbai day. The vendor slices it just right from top – pokes the top and you can see the water upto the brim! A straw (or two for lovey-dovey couples) slides in and you sip your way to heaven! After you are through, he slices it from the middle and scoops out the young, soft, ever so yummy coconut “cream” for you!

Barf Gola:
This is nothing but the bloody Indianised Popsicle!!! Except for the fact that it doesn’t come in a packet!!! Some bloke grates the ice right in front of you – sticks a blob of ice onto a stick – dribbles bright coloured, crazy flavour syrup all over it and lo! Your ice candy is ready! Since the water and thereby ice are always a matter of suspect, we still haven’t licked one of these. Not yet, at least…

Linda’s been camera crazy. Everywhere she goes, she clicks. Click, click, click!!! The wonderful thing is that people everywhere – at marine drive, sipping coconuts, roadside hawkers, food stalls, fashion street…. have been really nice to my click crazy lady! Well, it’s Mumbai, not aggressive north India… but I’m hoping and praying our luck doesn’t run out. We’ve heard and read some horror stories. The news – tv, newspapers, itself is quite scary… but people just take everything in their stride…

Ryan & Rhea’s parents have an apt in Bandra (West) which is a lovely suburb full of interesting cafés at every corner, lots affordable fashion (Linda has already changed her entire wardrobe and looks like a uni grad!) and lots of branded stores too. I have never seen Linda so full of energy – she wakes up and has an agenda for the day before my morning cup …!

So till now, we’ve done most of the touristy stuff… the Gateway of India – a major landmark – every postcard from India has it! We visited Elephanta Caves – you basically catch a ferry from the Gateway – it’s an interesting kinda ferry with a totally mixed crowd – not for the weak hearted. Our well wishers warned us to take the swank catamaran, but we wanted to be desi . Thankfully neither of us lost our breakky…!

The caves were interesting; but a far cry from what you hear about the amazing Ajanta- Ellora and of course, Khajuraho. So much to do, so many places to see – I seriously wonder how long it would take..!

When we came back from the caves, I took Linda to the Taj Hotel – yes, the very one that was the centre of the horrible 26/11 terror attack. What an jaw-dropping place. They still have bullet marks in the restaurant windows.  Linda couldn’t take her eyes off the art on display and was grateful for all that survived. She soaked in the Taj property, the legacy and I have a feeling wherever we travel in India, she’ll make me take her to a Taj! [tough on the pocket, as expected, but we’ve been trading hard despite the marvelous distractions!]

So you visit Colaba and realise one could easily spend an entire life amidst Colaba’s charming cafés. You visit Café Leopold and never want to leave! It’s one of the few original Iranian cafés left. The terrorists attacked this place too

I could get used to Café Mondegar – totally my kind of haunt I hear it used to be patronised mostly by the advertising folk. It’s an awesome place to sip your chilled beer, especially in the afternoon when your tourist feet protest!

Linda’s current love would be Jehangir Art Gallery and of course it’s very own Café Samovar at Kala Ghoda. These all may be very touristy places but they are so very charming it would be criminal not to visit. Though Café Samovar serves beer, their mint tea forces you to forget alcohol!  Lunch there is a must – we read about the kheema parathas (mutton mince Indian bread – to die for in Linda’s words..), the chicken vindaloo roll was my pick and I could order that every day! The arty patronage, the intellectual banter, the atmos (the people who pop by are dressed distinctly different… stylish, yet tasteful and not garish), is what Linda relates to. She is falling in love with this part of India!

The Prince of Wales Museum right across is another hot spot for museum junkies like us!

The traffic and the plight of roads is the WORST you’d see in all of Asia, I bet. The less said the better… I would never ever venture to actually drive here. L.

While in Mumbai, a few evenings need to be blocked off for Marine Drive and Chowpatty – the street food extravaganza!  Marine Drive is the necklace-shaped seafront, one of the busiest and most important roads of South Mumbai. It’s looped between Nariman Point’s towers (Mumbai’s Manhattan) and the ritzy Malabar Hill. This is where people walk in the morning, jog in the evening, couples spend quality time, hawkers engage everyone… it is amazing to see people trying to make sense within their mad, mad, crazy mad world…

An India trip has been long overdue. This is Linda’s first. There is a family wedding in Mumbai/Goa in December. Our base is Mumbai from where we shall travel around. Yes, we are staying at Ryan & Rhea’s place – unacceptable not to stay with family

Linda has (and still is) religiously read all she could on India – the lonely planets and the conde nasts of the world, the rough guides, the smooth guides:). She has been really really excited about the idea of finally visiting India and wants to make the most of it… The real challenge will be able to blend in with the locals [India is like 25 countries in itself and people from each state are tourists in the other ]. I can’t stand the idea of being fleeced because we are “foreigners”…

Okay so you land in Mumbai. What hits you most? Probably the unattractive slums and shanties that dot the runway as you start landing. Not very attractive. But then, if you’re visiting India, you’ve mentally prepared yourself for the disparity…

Disparity is probably an understatement. Thankfully we had Ryan & Rhea waiting for us with marigold garlands (!!!!) – apparently everyone wants us to have the big fat Indian welcome/stay/experience and everyone we remotely know is going out of their way for us to get a taste of tradition!

Any new place greets you with strong foreign smells, sounds, sights… Mumbai is overwhelming. The number of people, the overbearing smells. The dirt. The poverty. The loud traffic. The smog. And the millions of people! As soon as we stepped out of the swank airport and hit reality, Linda did something she has never done. She quickly clutched my hand with her might. I don’t think strong, confident, independent, researcher Linda was in the mood to get lost and look for me in this mad mad, yet fascinating land…

We have some roller coaster crazy travel planned ahead – need to sort out the logistics – don’t be surprised if I next post from a different part of the world…!

Food has been on the forefront too – and my lovely lady Linda has really got a new exercise routine in place – she’s heavily into Zumba!!! My, my, my! You should see these people work out – especially on Snoop Dogg & David Guetta’s ‘Sweat’!!! I am actually jealous. But watching these Shakiras, in the making inspires me to run regularly!  Can’t have a beer belly amongst these belly dancers .

But, me being me, with food always on my mind – I just couldn’t resist posting bits of yet another great foodie list from an amazing article on “must visit food places before you kick the bucket…”
World’s longest lunch at Melbourne, Australia

What’s all the fuss about? Well the World’s Longest Lunch is a gathering of over 900 diners for a three-course al fresco lunch seated at a 400m-long table! This year it was a part of the Food and Wine Festival’s premiere event, with an Oriental (actually more Chinese) theme.

“We started off with a soft shell crab, Four Season’s Dumplings and a Chilli-spiced Duck Salad. For the main course it was a fan of braised lamb slices, simply soft and fall-apart tender, aromatic with soy, star anise and Shaoxing wine. A bed of sweet potato mash added the nuttiness and pale pink pomegranate seeds were refreshingly tart. We ended on dry ice shrouding a terracotta tea pot that held a scoop of coconut sorbet in its upturned lid.” [I can hear my stomach making noises of envy…]

Treetop Dining at Soneva Kiri, Koh Kood, Thailand

“Seeing is believing” works for me – especially in this case… “A novel dining experience 16 ft, or around 5m, off terra firma. The Dining Pod, a woven wooden basket with a tough frame, is like a cocoon with an open panoramic window. You board the pod, and are then elevated to the green treetop by a system of safety winches and hung there.

A flying waiter, who is harnessed to a zip line, serves you. As you sip a glass of Chateau Beaumont with oven roasted lamb rack it seems to be the best way to spend your adult time on a treetop…”

Sorell Fruit Farm at Tasmania, Australia

This place (near Hobart) should be renamed “Berry Berry”!!! It’s the “ideal place to indulge your craving for clean, tree-ripened fruits and luscious fruit liqueurs. Here, one gets to pick all sorts of stone and berry fruits in season – from classic favourite strawberries & raspberries to loganberries, Tay berries and silvanberries…”  The best time to visit is late October until late May.

Sky Dining at Singapore Flyer

Another high in the sky place! The Singapore Flyer stands 165m (541 ft) tall, a full 30m (90 ft) taller than the London Eye observation wheel. You get an unbeatable aerial view of Singapore’s Marina Bay.

“The pre-dinner drinks at the VIP lounge are enjoyable and getting on board the Flyer is an experience on its own. The Pan-seared Scallops with Yellow and Green Zucchini Carpaccio, topped with Baby Arugula Salad and Roasted Pine Nuts tossed with a Lemon Olive Oil Dressing is absolutely delicious.
Includes a welcome drink and a three-course meal. Price starts from SGD 199 per couple.”  [I know exactly what I want for dinner tonight!]

Champagne at Champagne, France

Reims is just 45 minutes from Paris. There are many champagne houses in the Reims and neighbouring Epernay than one can visit so plan for just the famous ones.

“Our first stop was Taittinger where we heard all about the art of champagne making. For dinner we headed to a two-star Michelin Star restaurant L’Assiette Champenoise, a charming turn-of-the-century restaurant. Here the champagne list alone is the size of a telephone directory and a visit to the magnificent wine cellar crowned the experience. Next day we followed the Rue de Champagne and headed to Epernay, 30 minutes away. It is home to the famed Moet & Chandon.” [my god, Linda is so going to drag me back to Paris!!!]

Dinner at Saffron, Banyan tree Bangkok, Thailand

“At Saffron you are welcomed with piano and trumpet playing Sinatra-era music. Handfuls of white orchid sprays are all over the place as is soft, mood lighting.”

“The restaurant has an a la carte menu, as well as a choice of set dinner. Signature dishes: Curry Marinated Grilled Chicken and Grilled Sea Bass with Turmeric. The menu has the works: from satay, which comes as a chunky meat on sticks to the som tam, a refreshing salad.” Sigh!

Bollywood at Barcelona, Spain

Dunno about Bollywood – but this sounds super Indian!!! In Spain to come across tawa rotis, bhindi and dal tadka is something! “The place is rife with traditional Bollywood paraphernalia which is quite interesting. Time-tested family recipes have been incorporated in the authentic fare doled out of the restaurant.

The fresh Mahi Tikkas, Chutneywale Aloo, Kadhi Pakodas and Mutton Roganjosh are to die for. Friday evening has Spanish girls dancing to the tunes of Bollywood music and the restaurant is almost always running full.” [and how did we miss this, exactly???]

Yum Cha breakfast at Hong Kong

Linda and I are total yum cha junkies and really really look forward to visiting Hong Kong one of these days – just to experiment with oriental food! “Luk Yu Tea House is Hong Kong’s most popular tea house, which has been around since 1933. Interestingly some elderly women staff walked around carrying a tray hanging from the neck to offer their goods. The dimsums, especially Chinese sausages and Fish Dumplings and Deep Fried Chestnut and Duck Meat Pie were decadent. The prawn dumplings are a staple to any yum cha meal, and these were the best dish of the day. The portions were served four pieces to a plate.”

Yorkshire pudding at Alice Hawthorn, Yorkshire, UK

According to the article “the reason Yorkshire pudding was served before the main course was that during the World War II when there was food rationing, this dish was filling and inexpensive. This meant serving less portions of meat.”

“A great place to find it is at Alice Hawthorn; a quintessentially English pub in a green village called Nun Monkton. We had two portions each of the absolutely delicious pudding with onion gravy.” [ohh that sounds wicked!]

Cajun & Creole cuisine AT Thibodaux, USA

Okay, this is not something we crave for but it’s on the list!

“Creole and Cajun cuisines are often based on celery, onions and bell peppers, a combination known as the Holy Trinity.

The style, created in New Orleans, is a blend of French, Spanish, Caribbean, African and American influences. Interestingly outside Louisiana, the terms Creole and Cajun are largely interchangeable in describing jambalaya, red beans and rice, blackened fish, gumbo and similar dishes.”

Hey… what’s for chow?!

Day Two: Art, Art and more Art!!!

Sao Paulo’s gallery scene deserves nothing less than a complete tour and your undivided attention. Mapa das Artes come highly recommended so you can never go wrong with them by your side

So according to the plan, you start at the funky Choque Cultural – this is a crumbling old house that promises to always surprise. It did…! Then you walk to the antithesis of this – the spanking new Zipper Galeria where the works were astounding. Linda was mesmerized. And I think I gaped a lot L. These kind of places not only give you goosebumps. They remind you how artistically rich and talented people all around the world are…

Nara Roesler is next on the list and you are even more awestruck. I find myself telling Linda this is turning out to be one bloody awesome Art Pilgrimage!

A taxi ride takes us across the Pinheiros River to Galeria Leme – this is contemporary architecture for you – Ar. Paulo Mendes da Rocha given the world a visual delight! The art housed inside is equally enchanting. But the most colourful part is the prostitutes hanging around at a nearby corner which are not an art installation and have nothing to do with the place at all [though I must say, they really do add to the artistic aura ]

Day Two: Feijoado time!!!

So Saturdays in Brazil are traditional food days and we prepare ourselves to dip (rather soak) into Feijoado – black bean stew with every part of the pig floating in it! The best place to sample this is Feijoada da Bia – you might not be able to find this place easily as it is a home-like eatery tucked in the Barra Funda neighbourhood – keep asking around – people will point you to the correct house J . It’s 62 reais for “all the pig you can eat!!!” The article said we could look forward to easygoing chorinho band, and possibly even free booze… yes indeed!!!

Day Two: Theatre Evening…

Knowing us – we can never resist theatre! And if you are actually told to do so – it’s like a stamped approval!  There is something like the “hip alternative theatre scene around Praca Roose” where one can mingle with pre/post theatre crowd at nearby bars. Which is exactly what we did! We put on our best “theatre-look” and hit Rose Velt – an awesome cozy, yet quirky looking bar. Drank some lazy beer and rubbed shoulders with the local crowd. Met some genuinely interesting people…

Day Three: Fair Affair

While in Sao Paulo make sure you are there over the weekend. For Sundays are meant to be about fairs! One of the best ones start at 8am at Praca Dom Orione in an Italian neighbourhood. Linda went bananas! I mean it’s a place for all – old, young, families, non families, straight, gay… there was something for everyone. We had an awesome time going through the piles and piles of buried treasures – antique cameras, walking canes, posters, LPs and fancy dress kinda clothes…!

Day three: Sinful lunch

Lunch options post the fair affair are plenty. But we stick to the one suggested by our travel guru… Capim Santo, that is known for Chef Morena Leite, is not only famous for haute Brazilian cuisine but has an art connection to it as well! It’s practically at the Instituto Tomie Ohtake, which has awesome art at any point of time. So we feel blessed as we look at the lunch buffet of gorgeous salads and cold dishes (exotic stuff like tuna tartare mixed with tapioca pearls), main courses (wild duck in blackberry sauce, the Brazilian classic dried beef with abóbora squash) and desserts like crepe-kind of thingies filled with a cocoa-milky dessert called brigadeiro. The buffet doesn’t come cheap, but since the art is free, you don’t really mind J.

And before you know it, we finished our speed tourism, as suggested by a travel writer. Speed tourism rocks! But Sao Paulo rocks even harder…!

So this is your guide as to how to pack the most punch in a brief stay in Sao Paulo. [we are staying longer, but it was super fun pretending we were in the city for a mere 3 days – that way we got to do a lot more than we usually set out to…]. It’s like playing a game – an action packed james bond game…!

Day one: Art Fill

A visit to the city means first checking out the most beautiful Art Museum – Pinacoteca. This is housed in a former high school. For Linda, as you can imagine, it was love at first sight!

Funny thing is, this marvelous wonder appears to be a well kept secret as it is set amidst the historic center which is where government employees and other office workers earn their daily bread. Seems drab at first, but is quite an eye opener once you spot it…

So once you take it in and go around you end up spending an entire afternoon marveling the works. You cannot skip the sculpture garden that’s right next to the museum. It is a total delight!

Then detach yourself and quickly head to the subway to Sao Bento – the street bustle on Rua 25 de Marco will keep you completely occupied – stay on the pedestrian only streets. Do visit the old bank building – you can’t miss it – it’s turned into an exhibition space that attracts interesting exhibitions every time…

Day One: Drink up! Time

Hey a tourist couple need to hydrate at some point of time . So the article tells us to “make our way past the grand old Teatro Municipal… toward one of the classic works by Brazil’s best-known architect, Oscar Niemeyer: the 38 storey Copan apt building – Avenida Ipiranga, 200” Awesome is the only word to describe this building!

Since your throat is begging for something to quench your thirst, you better hurry! Choose between caffeine or cocktails for there is this fantastic Café Floresta on the ground floor which happens to be a traditional café where you order, slurp while standing, and out you go… But if you’re looking at something stronger, hit Bar da Dona Onca a classy joint there and ask for nothing but the Caipirinha cocktail. It just hits the spot!!!  So while Linda inhaled and savoured her creamy espresso, I enjoy the other C-kick and set in the mood for an amazing evening…

Day One: Dinner Plans

It’s show time! Look out for a ponto de taxi (taxi stand) and tell the driver to take you to haute Vila Olimpia where your eyes should seek no place but Kaá – the place the rich & famous break bread. Our “web guide” describes it perfectly… “Stepping through the barely marked entrance into the Arthur Casas-designed restaurant is like entering an alternative universe. The showstopper is the 4,300-square-foot vertical garden, a wall draped in plant species from the Mata Atlântica — the rapidly disappearing rain forest São Paulo used to be a part of. The contemporary menu — Brie tortellini with fig jam in sage butter, squid stuffed with crayfish and black risotto — is worth the steep price….”

We went – we flew into the alternate universe – we dined with angels (the food is beyond description) and very reluctantly came back to mother earth. At times, reality sucks!

Anyway, Kaá qualifies to be on the bucket list for every foodie…!!!

Day One: The night is still young!

You’d think after the ‘alternate universe’ experience we would be happy to call it a day. No siree! We were not about to chicken out – our guide had it all chalked out for us! In any case, we happened to be in the most posh areas where nightclubs change with the season! So we stuck to the plan and instead of succumbing to the fancy watering holes in the vicinity – we head to a newish nightspot called Casa 92. At first sight, you’d think it was a friend’s grandma’s house. You walk in and shamelessly take a tour of it – peep in every room you come about – you might wander into someone’s b’day bash. Everyone seems to be high on Caipirinha and coochie cooing!!! I have very little recollection of tumbling back into our temporary beds…

Day Two: Breakfast or Hangover Remedy!!!

Depending how hard you partied throughout the night – this could be at 4am or 9am!!! Either way, you have to head to the nearest padoca (bakery for the required goods or goodies!). The recommended ones are Bella Paulista – night crawlers’ fav hub for pastries, to oversize hot sandwiches to salads to pizza. The pastries are supposed to be the best but we did dip into almost everything – we were famished after our night out, especially becoz we opted to wait for the conventional breakky time .

[Btw, it’s not a big deal to feast at such padocas in the wee hours of the morning – kind of tradition here in Sao Paulo for people really know how to party hard…] Starting at 7 a.m., there’s also a real breakfast buffet, with breads and pastries, fruit, eggs and cold cuts.  Regular party crawlers who want to stick to the basics, normally go to the neighbourhood padoca and order fresh orange juice and a pão na chapa, a roll buttered and grilled until crisp….

#26. Fajitas, Mexico
Especially for DIY enthusiasts!

Step 1: Behold the meat sizzling on a fiery griddle. Step 2: Along with the meat, throw side servings of capsicum, onion, guacamole, sour cream and salsa into a warm, flour tortilla. Step 3: Promise all within hearing range that you’ll have “just one more.” Step 4: Repeat.

#25. Butter garlic crab, India
Yes. Yes. Yes!!!!! Though why it says India, beats me!

This delicious, simple dish is made by drowning a large crab in a gallon of butter-garlic sauce, which seeps into every nook and cranny and coats every inch of flesh.

#24. Champ, Ireland
Irish national dish roughly translated – Mashed potato with spring onions, butter, salt and pepper – the perfect side with any meat or fish. Aye, aye!!

#23. Lasagna, Italy
Second only to pizza in the list of famed Italian foods! Is there anyone on the planet who doesn’t dig this pasta-layered, tomato-sauce-infused, minced-meaty creation? It just works!

#22. Brownie and vanilla ice cream, global
Does this even qualify as food? I always thought it’s nectar from the heavens! The perfect dessert – any time, any day, any place .

#21. Croissant, France
Sweet sinkings! Flaky pastry smothered in butter, a pile of raspberry jam smeared over the top – the ah! moment arrives as soon as your teeth sink in! Must be married to a cup of strong coffee Hits the spot immediately!

#20. Arepas, Venezuela
Thought Venezuela is only about pretty legs! This is a corn-dough savory patty with sumptuous toppings: cheese, shredded chicken, crisped pork skin, perico, beef, tomato, avocado …

#19. Nam tok moo, Thailand
Grilled pork combined with lemon juice, green onions, chili, mint sprigs, fish sauce and toasted rice. Good chow man!

#18. Kebab, Iran
Be it the doner kebab  or the shish kebab – kebabs simply rock!!!  Pick your meat, shove a stick through it, grill. As simple as that!

#17. Lobster, global
Forget all the fancy recipes show off chefs throw in your face on tv. The best way to enjoy lobster is simply to boil it and serve with a side of melted butter and slice of lemon. And be sure to lick your fingers as well as the plate!

#16. Egg tart, Hong Kong
Yet to sample. “Like many classic dishes, the Hong Kong egg tart marries two contrasting textures: crusty, flaky pastry and jiggly, trembling custard. It’s sweet, it’s delicious and it’s best eaten hot from the oven on the street while queuing up to get just one more.”

#15. Kalua pig, United States
Only commercially available in Hawaii – an event of some sorts with a whole pig roasted in an underground sand pit for six or seven hours.

#14. Donuts, United States
The Americans again?!  The most basic, yet fulfilling breakfast experience!

#13. Corn on the cob, global
Anytime food. With or without the butter .

#12. Shepherd’s pie, Britain
Ah yes, we have something else to be proud of! Nothing beats minced lamb topped with mashed potato – comfort food!!!

#11. Rendang, Indonesia
“Beef is slowly simmered with coconut milk and a mixture of lemongrass, galangal, garlic, turmeric, ginger and chilies, then left to stew for a few hours to create this dish of tender, flavorful bovine goodness.” I think I’ll skip this one…

#10. Chicken muamba, Gabon
“The proper recipe calls for chicken, hot chili, garlic, tomato, pepper, salt, okra and palm butter, an artery-clogging African butter ..” Hmm… I’m thinking death by cals L.

#9. Ice cream, United States
Ice cream too by the bloody yanks?!

#8. Tom yum goong, Thailand
“This Thai masterpiece teems with shrimp, mushrooms, tomatoes, lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves. Usually loaded with coconut milk and cream, the hearty soup unifies a host of favorite Thai tastes: sour, salty, spicy and sweet.”

#7. Penang assam laksa, Malaysia
“Poached, flaked mackerel, tamarind, chili, mint, lemongrass, onion, pineapple … one of Malaysia’s most popular dishes is an addictive spicy-sour fish broth with noodles.”  Not for the weak at stomach!

#6. Hamburger, Germany
Someone once said, “the best cows come minced in a bun!”  staple food for every American, and I can’t believe the germans invented it!

#5. Peking duck, China
The only kinda duck you’ll ever want! “Slow roasted in an oven, the crispy, syrup-coated skin is so good that authentic eateries will serve more skin than meat, and bring it with pancakes, onions and hoisin or sweet bean sauce.”

#4. Sushi, Japan
Probably the healthiest food on earth – raw fish and rice! But it’s the wasabi sauce you have to be careful about – serious shit man!!!

#3. Chocolate, Mexico
Wow the less said the better – the only food that spells truce . Am sure we could end wars with chocolate…

#2. Neapolitan pizza, Italy
Slice of life – I’m sure the phrase originates from here! The bestest pizza on earth. With just a few ingredients — dough, tomatoes, olive oil, salt and basil — the Neapolitans created a food with universal appeal…

#1. Massaman curry, Thailand
I am a little surprised here. I thought first spot belonged to good ole chips – you know, French fries!!! But I guess everyone doesn’t think like me .

So what do we have – Spicy, coconutty, sweet and savory curry. Always have with rice!

Enough food for thought? Thought so!

So foodies, here’s the 50 most delicious food list. Brace yourselves, have your fav snack handy – this list is loaded!!! [I’ve avoided the pix on purpose – looking at them itself is so criminal ]. Also ppl, I’m breaking this post up as it’s super lengthy and too much stress on the salivary glands!!!

#50. Buttered Popcorn, United States
Movies’ best friend – be it at home or at the multiplex – no movie is complete without buttered popcorn.

#49. Masala Dosa, India
A south Indian invention – this rice batter crepe comes with an interesting potato filling and has to be dipped into a coconut chutney and sambhar (spicy-tangy lentil soup). Addictive, filling and super healthy …

#48. Potato Chips, United States [what we brits call crisps!]
Dunno how true this is – but it is a great story – trust the Americans to steal the thunder…! “Potato chips were invented in New York when a chef tried to play a trick on a fussy diner. Now they’re one of the world’s most child-friendly foods. But think of them this way — if a single chip cost, say, US$5, it’d be a far greater (and more popular) delicacy than caviar, a prize worth fighting wars over.”

#47. Seafood Paella, Spain
Fresh shrimp, lobster, mussels and cuttlefish married with white rice and various herbs, oil and salt in this Valencian dish. Hits the spot and screams everything that means being on a holiday!

#46. Som tam, Thailand
Okay strangely, I haven’t sampled this – but this is what it is: “To prepare Thailand’s most famous salad, pound garlic and chilies with a mortar and pestle. Toss in tamarind juice, fish sauce, peanuts, dried shrimp, tomatoes, lime juice, sugar cane paste, string beans and a handful of grated green papaya. Grab a side of sticky rice.”

#45. Chicken rice, Singapore
this makes me want to run to china town and grab some chopsticks and gorge gorge gorge!!!!!! “This steamed is served atop fragrant oily rice, with sliced cucumber as the token vegetable. Variants include roasted chicken or soy sauce chicken.

The dipping sauces – premium dark soy sauce, chili with garlic and pounded ginger – give it that little extra oomph to ensure whenever you’re not actually in Singapore eating chicken rice, you’re thinking of it….” You bet!

#44. Poutine, Canada
This has to be the most popular hangover food there – “French fries smothered in cheese curds and brown gravy”. I mean you can only chow something as disgusting as this when you’re drunk!

#43. Tacos, Mexico
A fresh, handmade tortilla stuffed with small chunks of grilled beef, chicken or whatever rubbed in oil and sea salt then covered with guacamole, salsa, onions, cilantro or anything else you want . Perfect for absolutely ANY time of the day J.

#42. Buttered toast with Marmite, Britain
Really, as a nation, one would think our contribution to food would be more impressive…

#41. Stinky tofu, Southeast Asia
Why this appears on this list, beats me – but I guess people must really love their fermented food – for the word is “the legendarily divine taste really worth the effort”

#40. Marzipan, Germany
Don’t be fooled by cheap imitations, which use soy paste or almond essence. The real stuff, which uses nothing but ground almonds with sugar, is so good, you’ll eat a whole bar of it, feel sick, and still find yourself toying with the wrapper on bar number two.

#39. Ketchup, United States
Aha! And the bloody Americans have to take credit for the tomato sauce too, aye?!  One of man’s greatest inventions I’d say!

#38. French toast, Hong Kong
Noooo. I like my regular French toast – this is “like a deep-fried hug”. Two pieces of toast are soaked with peanut butter or kaya jam, dipped in egg batter, fried in butter and served with still more butter and lots of syrup. They should rename it – Peaking Cholesterol L.

#37. Chicken parm, Australia
The Italian migrants introduced the aussies to their Melted Parmesan and mozzarella cheese with a peppery, garlicky tomato sauce drizzled over the top of a chicken fillet.

#36. Texas barbecue pork, United States
Say Texas and you automatically think a saucy mash of chili, tomatoes, onions, pepper and various herbs on a heap of pork! And thinking of it is torture!!! Yum for the tum! 

#35. Chili crab, Singapore
No trip to S’pore is complete without  the ever so spicy, sloppy, meaty specialty. People may argue that Black pepper is the actual specialty.  I love both J.

#34. Maple syrup, Canada
Canada’s gift to pancakes and the world!!!  The best ever description I’ve come across – “Ever tried eating a pancake without maple syrup? It’s like eating a slice of cardboard. Pass the cardboard, please…”

#33. Fish ‘n’ chips, Britain
Yeah! Now you’re talking! The staple of the Victorian British working class is a crunchy-outside, soft-inside dish. It’s simple, no nonsensical and without frills (tartar sauce can’t be a frill – it’s basic!). AND IT ROCKS!

#32. Ankimo, Japan
Sushi!!! Meet one of the greatest kinds – ankimo! It’s a chunk of monkfish liver with a little grated daikon on the side! Sounds appetizing? Not really. But the taste is exquisite…

#31. Parma ham, Italy
This is awesomely written – “You see it folded around melon, wrapped around grissini, placed over pizza, heaped over salad.

There’s good reason for that: these salty, paper-thin slices of air-dried ham lift the taste of everything they accompany to a higher level, following the same theory as the Italian guy who thinks carrying around a copy of “Candide” makes up for the tiny Speedos.”

#30. Goi cuon (summer roll), Vietnam
This snack made from pork, shrimp, herbs, rice vermicelli and other ingredients wrapped in rice paper is served at room temperature. Dipped in a slightly sweet Vietnamese sauce laced with ground peanuts, it’s wholesome and easy to fall in love with…

#29. Ohmi-gyu beef steak, Japan
Called the “Rolls-Royce” of beef, it’s best eaten sashimi style, with a drizzle of kaffir lime and green tea sea salt.(I have no idea what these are!)

#28. Pho, Vietnam
This oft-mispronounced national dish (“fuh” is correct) is just broth, fresh rice noodles, a few herbs and usually chicken or beef. So I’m wondering, what’s all the fuss or should I say phoss???

#27. Montreal-style smoked meat, Canada
When in Montreal, head for one destination – Schwartz’s – Montreal’s best Hebrew delicatessen and Canada’s oldest – and you will get to sample the best smoked meat in North America!

They follow a 1928 recipe, the meat is cured for 10 days. Order your smoked beef sandwich medium-lean, heavy on the mustard, three pickles and with extra pommes frites – exactly  the way the Rolling Stones would!

And on this smoky note I leave you – simply becoz I’m starving!!! Watch this space tomorrow!