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Route for August 2009 - 2101.58 Miles Through India

2009-07-26T06:37:00.005-04:00

Ok, the distance is an estimate, but that's at least the destinations planned so far. Let's see where I will end up in reality then :-).

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An Ethiopian Baptism and Wedding

2009-07-16T10:03:00.004-04:00

So how happened to this fellow ....? Just read on and you will find out :-)

Finally the day came - after a few days of looking around 'Addis' the big day was coming, the baptism of Mathilde, Marco's and Hermela's daughter, Mathilde, was about to take place! It was a Christian Orthodox-style ceremony in church, followed by a proper celebration in a golf club in the countryside.

As always, one needs to dress appropriately for the occasion - so if you ever go to a baptism in Ethiopia this would be considered just fine:

And where it happened:

Actually, not just our baptism was taking place on this day (in a small room next to the main chapel), there was also a huge three-hour or so wedding going on in the main hall which looked pretty impressive. But what was actually going on on our end?

The officials prepared the bath and checked the temperature to make sure it's freezing cold... yes, just fine!

... a final kiss on the cross...

... and what will happen to you, my dear fellow ....

... by the hands of this man ...

... will make you scream, so happy are you, little Mathilde :-)!

So much for church, next day we went to the golf club to celebrate appropriately. Not just the baptism, also that Marco and Hermela got married just a short time before, but back in Berlin.

Everyone's joining the party...

... maybe 200 people or so attended in total, in a beautiful location as you can see.

Of course, the newlyweds have their special table (and are allowed to eat first)...

... while other couples with their children had to wait.

(Alternatively, beer was always available.)

These gentleman have been looking forward to the party, I can tell! The first bottle of Johnny Walker was done in 30 minutes.

Well, but the second one was open quite soon afterwards anyway, so noone got thirsty here.

This looks like raw meat. But it's actually kind of a vegetarian dish (I think).

The musicians on their way to the food...

... ah, and there our friend from above is again! But he's eating salad, probably hoping that vegetarians have a long, healthy life. So much for the plans you make!

A first dance...

... and the party continued in the house of Hermela's relatives. Quite an upscale place as you can see:

And after cutting the cake...

... and having a drink ...

it was time for a kiss :-)! (The careful observer can of course see the three layers of the pictures, as intended by this expert photographer - a friend of the bride in the foreground, the couple in the middle, and the father of the groom in the background. Happy? Embarassed? Impossible to say...)

That was it for today - looking forward to August 2009 in India, with two weddings coming up and about 10 cities in the whole country on the schedule it should be quite an adventerous trip indeed!

Trip to Addis Ababa - Merkato, the Largest Market of Africa

2009-07-16T09:51:00.003-04:00

Here in The Hague (where I am living now) we have what is supposed to be the biggest open air market of Europe. In Addis Ababa there is the biggest market of Africa. Obviously they are ... not quite identical.

So, on the first complete day of my stay in Ethiopia we made a trip to this market, called 'Merkato'. It was a pretty intense experience - I guess the average guy from the west, like me, is simply more accustomed to taking some cheese out of the fridge in a supermarket than to inspecting the eyes of a live quicken when he needs some food. Still, that's precisely the point of traveling, so it was a very enjoyable stay at this market. Some impressions:

One man's trash is another man's resource - recycling is one of the major businesses at the 'Merkato', not unlike similar places in for example India; also involving quite a lot of manual labor. I guess that's a pretty obvious consequence of the prevalent consumerism of 'the west', plus of course middle/upper class people in all countries - lots of everything gets bought, lots of everything gets thrown away, resources (metal, paper, etc.) become available cheaply from scrap, so it's worth doing recyling. Personally I even think that those recyling shops keep cities alive and (relatively) healthy - otherwise they would probably get smothered under all the rubbish they produce every day.

In the next picture: Marco negotiating the price for 100 tons of iron. He wants to build a ship by himself. I told him it's not such a good idea. He finally agreed (and bought aluminium instead).

Show us your knife ...

Women selling vegetables.

That's quite an amusing picture - delieveries from USAID (I guess it was canola oil) recycled into sieves.

The US, recycled.

She found a chicken that pleased her...

... but no worries, there are still some left for you and me:

Lots of impressions, I had a sound sleep that night!

Trip to Addis Ababa - the Trip, Impressions of the City

2009-02-26T13:42:00.013-05:00

Alright then, time for a new post I guess :-)! My next trip to India is coming up next month, so I though it might be a good idea to post some earlier travel pictures here before they gather too much dust laying around completely lazy on my hard disk...

So, what happened recently? Shortly after New Year my close friend Marco was celebrating his daughter's baptism in Addis Abeba since this is where his wife's family is from. So obviously a perfect reason to visit not only a new city, but also a continent entirely unknown to me until that stage. (Well - no comments here please, I was well aware of the existence of this continent of course; but having been only to Tunisia before which might be geographically part of Africa, but by no means culturally, I really was quite the dumbass European at least when you look at first-hand experience of the continent.) A trip of 7 days, taking Turkish Airlines via Istanbul to Addis Abeba. To set the stage a very formal picture: The Semien Hotel where I stayed for a week. Nothing spectecular you might say; but after getting familiar with the hotel staff after a few days ('a cold St. George's beer like every night?') a place that actually felt very warm and welcoming.

It's a very friendly atmosphere for a foreigner to come to Ethiopia - the country was never occupied by foreigners, so no grudges whatsoever against white people. (Okay, the Italians tried to colonize it but it failed quite quickly, so the funny thing left over is that you can still get terribly bad spaghetti and other pasta at lots of places in Addis Abeba even today.) One thing to learn though: The clock has a 6 hour offset - so what we call lunchtime, 12pm, is called 6 o'clock according to local time and the short hand of the clock really points downwards at that time. Takes a while to get used to - at the picture below it's actually 6am (European time) and we are having a good-night beer. We were simply convinced that it's just midnight so please don't blame us for it :-)!

After not-sleeping a single minute breakfast at the house of Marco's wife followed - we actually wanted to have some nice sheep's head, but it seems Berta (or whatever his/her name was) had different plans:

Everyone who knows me is aware that no trip for me is complete without meeting local academics, so in this case I visited Addis Abeba university, the oldest and most reputed university in Ethiopia. A welcome lunch by Professor Ariaya Hymete (to the left) was provided for me:

Well .. of course one has to sample local culture to the utmost extend - in particular in cases as appealing to a chemist as this one! In the test tube you see fermented honey, meant to be low in alcohol ... which quite obviously was not the case (in the background, St. George's Beer, quite a good brew and easy to drink also for the European/western palate). The typical bread ('injera') is shown on the table - to be eaten together with meat boiling in a small frying pan (looks like a stove) on your table. I have to say: The meat in Ethiopia was simply *fantastic*!

In the days during my stay I really enjoyed just walking the street next to our hotel up and down - while I have been traveling a decent number of times in my life, I am actually still most curious about 'street life', the average person walking down the road during daytime, and maybe even more so at 3am when decent people should be in bed to sleep.

The road next to our hotel:

So let's see who's around then...

Little Santa, sleeping on his mother's chest. (It was also Orthodox Christmas at the time which might be related to the dress of the little chap.)

Couple of locals (1)

Couple of locals (2)

Couple of locals (3)

I noticed that, overall, Ethiopians don't like getting photographed as much as for example Indians. (However, that didn't prevent me from trying of course.) Indians even beg you to take pictures of them and are fascinated by the result (of course, also due to my incredible abilities as a photographer). In Ethiopia it's different, kids liked being photographed - but adults not so much. No, but to be honest: I sincerely apologize for the kind of intrusion of course, but I simply cannot leave a place without taking some impressions home with me as a memory. Pictures like the above may seem trivial to most, but they mean a lot to me since they are part of my memory, and even a quite one intense in places so different from my own.

As I said I was walking around town a lot, and even the streets adjacent to the hotel were so lively that I spend several hours a day there, day and night. (Difficult to capture in the photos though... I apologize!) In particular one street fascinated me - since the street at day, and the street at night, looked like completely different parts of the 'street universe'. It's the same street as above (different part though):

During daytime it looked like a regular shopping street - people selling chicken, food, clothes. At nighttime though a few dozen 'bars' switched on their neonlight - places that during daytime are virtually invisible since the food/shopping stalls catch all of your attention. At nighttime, the stalls are gone, the lights are coming up ... and this shop...

... and this shop... (and a few dozen others)...

which are invisible at daytime are the source of reggae music and all the vices one can imagine. Fascinating street, really! At maybe 1am I went to a bar (not pictured, but looking virtually identical to the ones above) where only three locals were having beers - with live music though, one drummer and one person playing a string instrument. Two little girls, maybe 12 or 13, were dancing to the music in what must have been some traditional way. I ordered the ubiquitous St. George's for everyone in the room, listened to the music for an hour - I will certainly never forget that night.

Two more random pictures from this street:

Prefer meat?

Or vegetarian?

Chennai and back to Bangalore

2008-08-31T02:10:00.006-04:00

Finally some summer! After Singapore the IIT Madras and Madras University were on my schedule, where I enjoyed interaction with the faculty and talks in front of very engaged students - as I am in fact used to here in India. Just yesterday, after the presentations were over, I managed to take a day off to visit Marina Beach - the second longest beach in the world. It was good to have some proper sunshine and heat for a day - I like it if you really feel which time of the year it is; summer needs sunshine, winter needs snow. (The only problem with my theory is that in late August it's not exactly summer in Chennai, but for a guy like me from western Europe it certainly feels like a pretty decent summer also during that time of the year.)

Setting up shop on Marina Beach.

Having fun in front of the 'cameraman'.

Waiting for the big wave of visitors during the night - only tourists (like me) go to the beach during the day. Next time I am here I will visit in the evening as well to have a look around.

Bathing the cow.

Washing fish.

Playing.

Entrance close to Chennai Central train station.

Time to go back to Bangalore - taking the 'Bangalore Mail' overnight train.

A package for Babu in Calicut. Babu must be a very well-known person as it seems.

You have only been to India if ... well, there are many 'if's', but one of them is 'if your name has been on a train reservation chart'. See below - third in the list, now I have been to India.

Good night Chennai, good morning Bangalore ... and peaceful views of the Indian countryside at all times.

Singapore

2008-08-31T02:09:00.004-04:00

3 days in Singapore - mostly for work (visiting Novartis / NITD) but also to have a look around town. This city/state is quite different from what I have seen before. The number of people - fine, India is not sparsely populated either. Initially I was amazed by the diversity of Western and Asian influences which seem to merge - at first sight - into a colorful blend in this city. The problem: It's not really true. Well, to be precise: It's true on some levels, but it's far from true on others. While I was amazed at the flawlessness of construction and organization in every regard, I did not find the heart of the city during my stay. Certainly a challenging city to live in - so maybe I should take on that challenge in the future, let's see.

Ngee Ann City - prototypic shopping center close to my hotel (in the background).

On my way to Biopolis (or actually on the way back from there). Scientific / life science research in Singapore definitely has an interesting type of backing in industry and politics behind it.

Inside Biopolis - the Matrix.

Inside Biopolis - Helios and Nanos buildings.

After my business meetings a day remained to have a look around town a bit more. The Singapore Flyer is certainly one of the bigger wheels I have been on (150 meters in diameters) and it gave a nice view over the city.

Finally, dinner with friends - Shaillay and Philip - after a good stay in town. The view from the restaurant into the city ...

... and the view from the city into the restaurant. Exciting three days - I am very glad I went to Singapore, for the science, to meet friends, and to simply get a first-hand impression of this place. It's very different from what I have seen before, at some stage I still have to go to Hong Kong; visiting - in some regard - similar cities will likely sharpen my eye for their differences.

NCL Pune

2008-08-31T02:01:00.010-04:00

Of course a visit to India wouldn't be complete without seeing one man - Karthikeyan from NCL Pune. A short e-mail he wrote to get in touch, and a collaboration was established that lasted for years in the past, and certainly for many more years in the future. From what I recall he is my first cheminformatics colleague in India I was ever working with, so of course I was honored to spent a few days in Pune during my stay as well.

My welcome at the airport was particularly nice this time, including a flower bouqet.

While in Pune, Karthikeyan organized a cheminformatics workshop for about 30-40 participants which was held at NCL, where also the first Indian cheminformatics conference was taking place in 2007. This time the atmosphere was more informal and led to several interesting scientific contacts I will surely follow up in th

Some work...

... and a visit at a local store ...

... was followed by a Good-Night Dosa for dinner. Not the first time I came to Pune, and certainly not the last!

Mysore and Kabini Lake

2008-08-22T01:28:00.008-04:00

Now it's been a few days already - I was turning 32, and since Uli from Frankfurt is currently visiting me I exchanged my office for traveling for a couple of days. We had a very good stay in Mysore and at a small resort at Kabini Lake where we went on a safari - the first time for both of us.

While Mysore is well-known for its Palace and also a few sacred sites such as Chamundi Hills, personally my favorite was the market place: You hardly ever see such intense colors in other places of the world.

Reading the newspaper on Chamundi Hill.

We stayed in Mysore for one night and went on to take a cab to the Kabini Lake where we stayed at the Kabini Lake View - about 60km/90 mins drive from Mysore, situated directly at the lake itself. The 24 hours we stayed there we went on a safari as well as a nice boat trip - with delicious food throughout:

During the safari the first 30 minutes or so not much happened, so all animals we have seen were flies and butterflies at best. But then we came to a small village within the forest where indigenous people are living, and now it was elephants instead of flies:

We have also seen a couple of monkeys jumping from tree to tree:

So that was a very nice start of the day - and I have to admit that being confronted with people living so differently made me wonder about the kind of trivial worries I tend to have sometimes. Quite a good experience to have from time to time. A long journey was concluded with a campfire together with some local people...

The next morning it was time to get up early to go on a birdwatching trip on Kabini Lake. I noticed this boat and implicitly assumed that we would make use of it to travel across the lake. This illustrates the danger of implicit assumptions since when we came to the water...

this fine young lad was waiting for us to cruise the sea. While I was a tiny bit unease when entering the boat, after a while I was actually pretty impressed by both the speed as well as the complete flexibility in navigation the construction allowed for. I guess sometimes it's good to simply believe people that they know what they are doing, even if it's a bit different from what you are used to.

Cruising the lake was impressive - in particular after spending the last weeks (or nearly months) in Bangalore most of the time. You could 'hear nature' on the water and you could also hear it at night which felt really good. While on the water we encountered some local fishermen with quite decent catch that day:

Two more weeks left in this country, staying in Bangalore and going to Singapore and Madras for a few days. I think although I was traveling quite a lot in recent years I never had as many impressions as during the two months I spent in India.

Impressions from India: Vehicles

2008-08-14T12:34:00.006-04:00

There is a surprising variety of different two-, three- and four-wheelers on the road in India, with combinations of 'packaging' (type of car/vehicle) and 'contents' (what's inside) handled much more flexibly than in Europe.

Impressions from India: Synchronicity

2008-08-14T12:33:00.002-04:00

It is surprising how many more events happen synchronous in India on the street. Partly this may be explained by a larger number of people present (and pure chance event), but maybe a larger emphasis on the family/social group as opposed to the individuum contributes as well.

Impressions from India: Street Scenes

2008-08-14T12:32:00.003-04:00

This latter street corner is a whole microcosmos of life. I was waiting at this street corner (Hope Farm) for 30 minutes each time I took the bus and every second of it it was an exciting place. The main functions are (from the left) a prayer room, a small corner shop (tea seems to be the best-selling item when I was there) and a bus stop. But apart from those obvious functions it was also a place of 'social life' - I had the impression that some people simply came there to read the newspaper and to 'be there', among people.

Impressions from India: People

2008-08-14T12:30:00.004-04:00

Impressions from India: Newspaper Reading (around 8am in the morning)

2008-08-14T12:15:00.005-04:00

Sufficient and necessary criteria, explained in everyday language

2008-08-14T12:13:00.006-04:00

If something is happening in India ...

... then people will be there to watch.

However, the reverse is not true - if people stand there and watch it does not imply that anything has happened.

The former is a sufficient criterion for the latter, however, the latter only is a necessary criterion for the former.

Chandigarh, certainly a place like no other in India

2008-08-14T11:19:00.015-04:00

It has been a while since the last post - the reason being that even I spend only 90% of my life in front of the computer, and, believe it or not, the last two weeks it was time for the remaining 10% : I was on the road again, traveling to Chandigarh and Pune.

Being quite naive when booking the trip to this city (I didn't actually look on the map at that stage and hoped that the airline would figure out the way to Chandigarh without my help) I was rather surprised when I realized the day before my flight that I would go pretty much across the whole country - about 6 hours flight each way, changing in Bombay or Delhi. To give you an impression of the area, that's it, close to the mountains:

What I did know before coming to Chandigarh though was it's well-planned street layout (in fact, the whole city has been well-planned) - after Lahore, the previous capital of Punjab, was given to Pakistan, this city was founded in 1953 to become the new state capital. (Things became more complicated thereafter, but at least this was the plan.) The city is really remarkable in its design - all sectors have a pre-defined purpose, so you will find vendors of a certain item only in one sector and so on. What I found very remarkable was how quiet the city was and how smoothly the traffic was flowing - certainly a difference from the other major cities in India.

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Despite the long trip I actually enjoyed it very much - the flight was with Kingfisher which I have never flown before. I remembered my flight with Jet through the country last year which was quite enjoyable, but to be honest - Kingfisher actually topped that experience by far and the prizes this airline has won so far are definitely well-deserved! Compared to European Easyjet/Ryanair standard I would even say that the Kingfisher economy (or 'Kingfisher') class would be somewhere in between business and first class compared to European and US airlines - even on national, economy class flightsmenues were handed out, food was tasty and cutlery was made of metal which I really value (those plastic forks don't really do it for me). The best part of it however was that customers were addressed by their names when food was handed out - next time I have a good reason to register as 'Dr Bender' then I guess.

My main reason to come to Chandigarh was to visit NIPER - one of the main and best institutions for pharmaceutical research. I had a very pleasant time there on a personal level as well as lots of stimulating discussions with the faculty as well as the students at the institute and while showing me around town.
I was staying on the NIPER campus which, as all the other guest houses of educational institutions of India where I stayed so far, is a really beautiful park to stay in. Also, nature is quite different in India - you even have peacocks running around:
After my visit to NIPER, we had a visit to the 'Stone Garden' - a huge garden set up in different sectors, where each part of the park is designed after a different theme. Sometimes this is closer to stone and water..
... and sometimes closer to scary figures.
A trip to a nearby lake...
with all the necessary tools on offer ...
concluded the trip.

I am really glad I went to Chandigarh - both to visit people at NIPER, as well as to visit this city that is much different from Bombay, Bangalore and Pune which I have seen so far. Thank you for welcoming me in this city!

Trips in August

2008-07-29T09:58:00.002-04:00

I just finalized my travel plans for August - and I must say that I am really looking forward to seeing a few new regions in Asia in the coming weeks. More pictures to come in the near future! Cheers - Andreas

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Tough times

2008-07-27T05:50:00.005-04:00

Two days ago Bangalore...

... and yesterday Ahmedabad. Locals told me that this was the first time Bangalore was under attack - usually religiously motivated attacks plague Mumbai or cities in the north of the country.

I was visiting a Bangalorian drug discovery company during the time of the bombs. My trip back home reminded me of a situation a few years back. I have just had an interview with an agrochemical company near London, at that time for a postdoctoral position. While having interviews and presentations all day the London bombings took place. When going to the train station by cab, which took several hours since the streets were jammed, a strange atmosphere lay upon the city. The drive back through Bangalore on Friday reminded me of that situation. Time stands still during those hours.

In particular after meeting so many welcoming locals during my time here I wish that this will not be a bad sign for the future. I absolutely love this country and want it to be as peaceful and prosperous as possible. (I am not expert enough regarding the internal political and religious structure of India so I will not voice any opinion other than this personal impression here.)

Gobi Manchuri

2008-07-20T03:20:00.005-04:00

After three weeks I am still actively exploring the Indian cuisine - and after going through nearly 10 Paneer variations (all beaten by the good old Paneer Hyderabadi by the way) I decided to branch out into new areas - meaning, the potato and cauliflower variations. And what a terrific idea it was! Below my new lunch favorite - Gobi Manchuri; cauliflower, fried, covered with a red chili/garlic paste. Now if that doesn't sound delicious! Very likely that this is not the traditional way to eat it, but I prefer it with a Roti and a good amount of pickle by the side instead of the red (Ketchup-like) and green sauce it is served with. On Sundays the restaurant is closed, but I already know what I will have for lunch tomorrow on Monday. Let's see what the chef is able to amaze me with next...

Traveling

2008-07-18T04:06:00.004-04:00

I wanted to keep this story separate from my trip to 'real' (downtown) Bangalore although it happened right in the middle of it. After crossing through Cubbon Park I was walking to MG Road, which I visited the past two times I was in Bangalore as well. I had a brief conversation with a then-unknown person and I think only fully realized what he was telling me when I got home again.

About 1,50m tall, very dark skin, grey hair, skinny, and clad in what must be farmer's clothes from the average village in the countryside; no shoes but a walking stick; he walked towards me while I was looking for the way to MG Road (I just figured out that it was about 20 minutes walk, just around the corner, after asking some locals for the way.)

Planning a trip works differently in different countries, so not everyone is so afraid of getting lost as I am (I am printing the bus schedule, a local map or two, but still get lost regularly). This person obviously wouldn't be afraid to get lost on a trip to any location on this planet. He was standing there on the street, told me that he was coming from Tamil Nadu (the neighbouring state of Bangalore's Karnataka towards the Southeast) and showed me a sheet of paper with an address in Pune (about 700km north of Bangalore). He told me that he was a farmer, 'a typical farmer' as he emphasized, but I guess he wasn't so typical as he spoke surprisingly good English (which, he said, he learned from his daughter when she went to school - I think in India more parents learn English from their children than the other way round, as in most other parts of the world).

He waived the sheet of paper with the address on it and, as he explained, he was on the way to Pune to look for work; a relative wrote down the address of a person he should see. He moved his right hand down to a level about 10 inches above the ground to illustrate the lack of ground water for irrigating his crops, he said those problems became serious over the last years while trying to keep his farming business going. And so he went and gave it a try.

Some people in Europe complain if they have to walk 20 minutes from the bus station to get somewhere. It obviously sometimes works different here: The 20 hours before our random encounter my farmer spent on the street, walking from Mysore to Bangalore (which is around 100km). He obviously didn't really know the medium of transport he would use to get to Pune, but that didn't prevent him from leaving home in the first place. I pointed him to the bus station (right Kempe Gowda, one of the handful of places I whose location I knew in Bangalore by then), gave him some money since he said he was hungry and thirsty after his walk (which seemed quite obvious to me) and wished him a good trip.

I didn't think too much about this situation until I came home later in the evening, exhausted from the noise and the dust of the city. I was quite amazed what some people complain about in life - for others walking for 20 hours, traveling without a penny on the pocket, but still being confident that 'things will work out' is a normal thing to do if looking for a job in a different place. Of course, it's not by choice and most people - including me - would prefer a bus to walking. But it's a preference - not the feeling of being entitled to it. I guess this makes a difference.

Bangalore and Traveling in India

2008-07-14T09:20:00.008-04:00

Last Sunday - yesterday - I decided that after two weeks in Bangalore it would be time to leave my much loved technology park, at least for a couple of hours, to venture into downtown Bangalore. Yes, of course, I have been there before, but all I knew was basically the area around MG Road - and that was it. I decided to give it a start with some of the best-known sights in Bangalore, namely the Vidhana Soudha and its neighbouring building, the Vikasa Soudha which house the state parliament. I took the bus to Kempe Gowda bus station (for those of you ignorant of the history of Bangalore: Kempe Gowda is widely claimed to be the guy who 'officially' founded the city) and had a good walk to finally reach my destination. (In India it always looks so easy on the map, 'ok, the big road to the left and after half a mile at the next corner to the right and I am there', but in practice it is quite a task to navigate between new buildings and temporary road layouts, to cross six lanes without a traffic light in sight. All this combined with my marginal sense of orientation, I am now planning my travel at the speed of 1 kilometer per hour if I am trying to get somewhere. Seriously. But since I enjoy the process of traveling itself this is actually something I am quite happy with.)

But now let's see where I actually went:

The Vikasa Soudha - as I understand a kind of auxiliary building in support of the legislative body, the Vidhana Soudha. Located close to MG road and generally the center of Bengaluru.

The Vidhana Soudha (i.e., the actual parliament building) - from far away ...

... and from a bit closer. My definite favorite is the 'Government work is God's work' inscription at the top - you gotta trust your government, so please read this again and again until you believe it.

Selling sweetcorn in front of Cubbon Park, right next to the government building. Quite a nice park indeed - and popular with the people of Bangalore, too.

Having a smoke while selling ice-cream. (Or to be precise: Currently not selling ice-cream, therefore having a smoke.)

Having no smoke while selling no ice-cream.

Crossing the street.

Religion and business.

An art gallery, next to Cubbon Park. It is difficult to see from the picture, but in real life the colors in this situation were just incredibly powerful.

Not running out of fruit anytime soon...

If your head hangs low sometime - you can get cured.

After walking through Cubbon Park I attempted to get back to the place I knew in Bangalore: MG Road (yes, again at my conventional speed of about 1 kilometer per hour, after taking the wrong turn a couple of times, crossing some military planes as statues on the street etc.) And finally I was there and back at MG Road again (here at the western end of it)! It was, surprisingly, emotionally touching to be back again. I think not in particular because I connect any memories with this place, but I have the feeling that I understand India now better than I did before - say, it used to be 1%, and now it is 2%. But still. It gets boring if there is nothing left to discover.

On my way back to Kempe Gowda bus station I passed the Bangalore Horse Racing Club - I should come back next time to watch a race and do some betting. It was amazing to see people who didn't get admitted to the race sitting everywhere on the street, following the outcome of every race on the radio or on TV screens.

Evening is coming, time to pack your things and go home.

Which one is my bus? Thank God it's Sunday, that's why it was so empty at the bus stand.

Back at the ITPB. It really felt like coming home this day and it was good to venture into downtown Bangalore.

What's recommended after having a nice meal?

2008-07-10T23:07:00.004-04:00

Indeed, while writing in detail about the food I am having here I nearly forgot what I usually do after having lunch or dinner. Is it a cigarette? Is it a walk to stimulate blood flow into the brain? Well, not quite ... it's a good, freshly-squeezed juice of which dozens of varieties exist here. (Basically, imagine any combination of fruits and you will get a nice juice out of that within a minute).

Below is only one of the 'juice bars' at the technology park - I like the picture, seeing all those fruits you can really imagine a nice juice in front of you...

One day in Bangalore in pictures ...

2008-07-07T11:35:00.011-04:00

... from the most important point of view, that is: food-wise! So after experimenting with the different varieties a bit here comes my now-typical breakfast and dinner dish:

a) Breakfast Winner: Onion Dosa

It might sound unusual to someone from Europe, but a healthy portion of onion never hurts - and this is also true for breakfast. Made from rice and skinned lentils, served with coconut and some kind of spicy chutney. Of course, for breakfast only the spicy one will do!

The genesis of precisely the dosa shown above:

The batter above, the onions below. Batter on the hot plate, and a handful of onions on top. Fry for about a minute. Turn, fry for 2 minutes from the onion side.

Checking the state of the dosa (still frying the bottom part).

The guys from the kitchen having fun with the chef. As you can see in the background, now two round entities are getting ready to feed someone hungry for breakfast. The expert knows: The right one will be an onion dosa, the left one a plain dosa that will stand upright, looking like a cone, a bit more crispy than the (my!) onion dosa on the right.

b) Dinner Winner: Paneer Hyderabadi

Certainly my winner when it comes to dinner! Served with (who could have guessed!) onions - but they, so to speak, have a different 'purpose' than at breakfast. While prepared as Onion Dosa they are quite mild (since fried), the dinner onions are a bit more spicy. Though with the juice of the lemon-like fruit they are served with (which one is that actually) they become quite 'juciy' and sweet - so overall the onions are quite useful to 'refresh your mouth' during after dinner. Quite a lucky coincidence that I really like onions.

Here we are - refreshing my mouth with a good slice of onion while having the good Panner Hyderabadi. Let's see what the kitchen will surprise me with next time - I will keep you posted! Take care - Andreas

First Impressions of Returning to Bangalore

2008-07-05T07:35:00.014-04:00

OK, so it’s been India for a while now – a week in Bangalore, and overall it has been much more easy-going and productive than I expected. My local friends at IBAB organized things very well, from the hotel where I stayed first to the local accommodation within the International Technology Park Bangalore (ITPB) everything was working smoothly. I have to admit: I was working quite hard the last week, both preparing lectures for the local courses as well as finishing publications that have been on my desk for ages, but whether you actively seek it or not: a trip to India is always a very colorful experience which has in fact just started for me.

When I arrived in Bangalore I was staying in a local hotel first – and it was a hotel not really frequented by tourists (I didn’t see a single western person during the two nights I stayed there). But since I also called this hotel my home for a few days on my last trip in 2007 it was a kind of ‘coming back’ experience which was interesting: I am going to a place far away from home, a place I would never ever have visited by myself (since I would never have heard of that hotel without arrangements made by locals), but I was partly feeling again at home there. I explored whether the places I have known from last year where still around during my first day. And the place changed a bit – construction work in the street was finished, so the street was certainly more quiet than last time. (But still twice as chaotic as the most chaotic street in the whole of the

Netherlands

.) A few impressions from the area:

A soon-to-be bride picking a good yarn for her dress. (That's at least my interpretation as a naive tourist. But given it was a bridal/wedding store this lends at least some credibility to my interpretation.)

The local cinema, opposite my hotel. I wanted to watch a good Bollywood movie my first night in Bangalore – but we ‘unfortunately’ went for dinner that night (It was delicious dinner, but somehow I really got into the idea of watching a movie that day.) The whole street was packed shortly before the movie started – something big just came out (though I don’t remember the name of the movie). I will certainly come back later for a movie th

My local liquor store, still alive and kicking! As usual, perfectly able to provide me with a bottle of ice cold Kingfisher.

School kids on the street. Somehow I really like pictures which show trivialities of everyday life – no clue why. To me it means something, maybe just because I was there at the same the picture was taken.

Time for new ads. Vodafone was yesterday, today it's time for Orange.

Corner shop with chicken.

School kid.

Welcome dinner with Prof Yathindra at the Grand Ashok in Bangalore. Delicious buffet!

At work.

Local cocktail bar within the Tech Park. (There are about 10 restaurants, a few shops etc., and this cocktail bar in the technology park so if I don't want to leave the park I don't have to.) Went there once on my first day but not again – somehow I prefer the local food to this 'westernized' place.

My apartment from the outside. I am living on the left hand side (‘behind the tree’), 4^th floor. About 50 meters walk from work (which is probably the closest commute of all people in Bangalore.)

Entrance hall of my apartment. Yes, a photo taken against the sun – my apologies, but I have other things to do than to take a second photo of the entrance hall of my apartment (such as writing this blog). A very bright place, with a well-equipped kitchen. I like it.

View from the balcony. Forest straight ahead, biotech park to the left.

View from my balcony, on the biotech park. I know, it’s easy to impress me with ‘bigger-better-faster’ - but pictures like this looks like pure power to me. I like being where things happen – in the middle of it all.

The place to have a good night's rest.

A local self-help column from the newspaper. Makes quite a lot of sense to me - I recommend a read.

Entrance to the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, IBAB; my workplace. Very motivated students, I like that. I am entering this door about 25 times per day, leaving for things like a freshly squeezed mango juice or a delicious lunch or dinner.

The local gym I still need to join…

A local food store…

Supermarket in the Tech Park Mall

Coffee with love...

Someone grinning in front of the Tech Park.

A little more local food - though not the restaurant where I usually eat.

Last Friday a colleague from IBAB, Gayatri, invited me to join her for her talk at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Bangalore, one of the best management schools in the country. Well, not only that – they also have a terrific campus that looks more like a botanical garden to me! The atmosphere was really difficult to capture, so here are some attempts only…

The IIMB Garden.

Everyone needs a good sleep once in a while.

A goodbye-picture after the talk, with our host at IIMB and Gayatri who was just giving her talk.

So much for now ... more exciting stories to come later when the traveling season starts for me! Pune, Chandigarh, Mysore, ... are still on the program - check back for updates! Take care - Andreas

Blog reactivated - reason: stay in India during summer 08

2008-06-22T10:10:00.011-04:00

After months without news from my side another trip is coming up - and I took that as a good reason to reactivate this website to let you, my dear reader, take part in my adventures in India during summer 2008. I will teach at the Institute for Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB) in Bangalore, and also travel the country a bit to get to know a new side of the world. Usually those trips are work-related as well, I will e.g. visit the NCL Pune, NIPER and IISc as well as other high-class institutes, but travel always has a personal side to it as well and I am in fact quite enjoying the combination of doing something 'reasonable' as well as experiencing a whole new country at the same time.

This is country number 6 I will live in and by now I think I can describe why both traveling, and to a even more significant way living in different countries for a longer period of time, is worth a lot for myself personally.

While growing up most people live in a single country (as I did as well), everyone is taught certain 'values' which, since everyone agrees on them, are taken for granted. This is not only true for living in the same country, but also living in the same social class etc. On the positive side, those values bring a feeling of 'home' and of belonging to a certain group of people. In my opinion these are mostly archaic reasons though, such as that survival in the group as opposed to individuals is easier to achieve since people can specialize to be hunters, rear offspring etc. This is not the problem I have with accepting implicit norms though, it is more the fact that by belonging to one group, to some extent this defines that you can not belong to another group as well. (E.g. if you are Christian you are unlikely to treat other religions with the same respect as your own religion - which I somehow don't see as the attitude of someone I would describe as educated and tolerant. Other religions such as the Bahai seem to be an exception here, but since my religion is mostly 'science' I cannot comment in detail on those questions. Note that I do not condemn any religion or belief system - not at all. I am just stating that, for myself, I see tolerance and universal human values as the best religion-like belief system.)

However, what moving countries taught me, and which is a very valuable experience to have while being (ok, relatively :-) ) young, is that different countries make different implicit assumptions - and that those often unwritten rules can even be equally valid. Now, this might seem like an obvious remark to the reader - but being confronted with your own implicit assumptions about what is right and wrong, and thereby being confronted with the exclusion of the group in society whose values you share, is a deep experience since it fundamentally questions your identity, the identity you are likely to take for granted if extreme experiences like moving countries never applied to you.

Since we are 90%+ animals in our ways of thinking and living, it is easy to see why moving from one country to another is an extreme experience for one's psyche. This is true in particular if your plan is not to simply return to your home country after one or few years but if there is an 'open end' to it, so if a return to your group with shared values is nowhere close. Moving to foreign countries confronts you with (a) yourself, in the form of (at least initially) complete loneliness and (b) it removes the shield of shared implicit societal values which would give you the feeling of 'home' and being protected otherwise. This influence should not be underestimated - but it is only the combination of those two points that enables you to make a conscious choice which kind of person you want to be, how to structure your very personal belief system.

I didn't realize it the first time I moved abroad, to Ireland, that living abroad is something I would call crucial for developing a sense of your (and not simply your societies') true self. If you never did it before, go ahead, pick a country you like (or maybe one you don't understand at all, then the effect will be even more profound). Pack your stuff and move. It's worth it. I am looking forward to going to India!

Bye, bye Boston...

2007-12-22T11:36:00.000-05:00

If someone had told me before coming to Boston that I would find a Girl I love, publish a paper in the Nature journal series, and return to Europe calling another place my home I would have been surprised by so much optimism. Now all of that has become true and I enjoyed my last 2 years in the US. Bye bye, Boston. You have treated me very well. I will be back, I promise.

Santiago de Chile, Valparaiso, Buenos Aires - my last trip while in the US and my first time to South America

2007-11-28T21:18:00.000-05:00

OK, it was about time - to travel again, to see some sun, and also to put my feet onto South American soil for the very first time. Santiago de Chile, Valparaiso (a lovely coast town close to Santiago) and Buenos Aires were the destinations of my 10 days of leisurely travel (a thing I haven't done in a veeeeery long time). My last major trip being to India I was expecting at least some degree of chaos during the trip - and I was disappointed in this sense, journeys and pleasure transitioned smoothly into each other.

After arriving in Chile, Gaby - who I was visiting - and myself swung ourselves to Valparaiso, 90 minutes away from Santiago. A local specialty is Chorrillana - difficult to describe, but clearly depicted below:

Now, it might look a little ... different maybe (did you notice those red ... sausages maybe ... on top?) but it is actually quite a delicious dish. Not artificially composed with rare herbs picked by 9-year old virgins or some stuff like that - no, just a healthy base of french fries, a central layer of fried onions "with a hint of egg", topped by a decent amount of grilled beef. Served with spicy sauce - and good for either breakfast, lunch or dinner. Makes everyone happy, no doubt about it! Shown below is the breakfast version. (Not that those for lunch or dinner look any different though.)

You can't live on Chorrillana all day though, so after wandering the city it was time for dinner again - fish at a beach restaurant seemed appropriate after so much walking.

Valparaiso was only on for a weekend, so a few impressions of Santiago de Chile will try to amuse the reader for the next couple of pictures. As we all know implicit assumptions are dangerous - who says that Christmas trees are only happy in a cold environment?

Random street graffiti in central Santiago. I quite liked that one.

Many of the valued visitors of this site may be aware of "Christ the Redeemer" in Rio de Janeiro. Now, Santiago has a similar statue up the hill on offer, it's just not Christ himself but Virgin Mary instead. But what the heck, the views up the mountain were great - I won't show you the pictures of my scared face during the passage about 300ft above ground though. (Believe me - that *was* a scary ride.)

And here they are - the Three Virgins of Santiago:

Well well ... that was Santiago, but every nice time finds its end sooner or later. A different day, a different city, and Buenos Aires for a long weekend followed.

What do you do in Argentina? Right - eat steak. One of the best places, well-known to my local expert Gaby, is probably Del Nivel - crowded during weekends, luckily we have been there during the week. Quite stylish as well, and no one ever left this place hungry since it opened.

Someone happy with his steak. The obvious choice was beef, but in order not to make the mistake of undersampling space that was supplemented by some pork (and salad and desert etc.), too.

And a steak happy just to be. Knowing quite well that in a few minutes, it won't be anymore.

Buenos Aires has a well-functioning subway system - even (or maybe in particular) when compared to those in big western cities such as NYC or London :-). It's cheap (10p or so) and it works.

Being the religious city Argentina (sometimes) is, this is also clearly visible in the subway entrance.
(The McD cup holding the flowers is just *that* slight imperfection the picture needed, don't you think so ... maybe?)

Sunday, sun, and walking around town.

Going out in Palermo. If you ever come to Buenos Aires and fancy a stroll through some of the bars - the area around Plaza J. Cortazar can be highly recommended by this traveller. Also good for dinner (and possibly breakfast the next day.)

While I didn't travel as much from Logan airport as I did from Stansted when I lived in the UK, I still spent enough time there to know the location quite well - and I must say, I started to like the place after a while. The randomly distributed wooden airmchairs in the international terminal, and the morning sun falling into the terminal at just the right angle ... buy a cup of tea and the NY Times, and dawn has never felt better than that.

Ubiquitous American Airlines at JFK in the morning...

... and at my arrival at Logan. I am looking forward to my next time arriving here already.

Have a good day - and hope to see you again next time :-)! A.

Oxford, Amsterdam, Uli's Visit, Chapel Hill/North Carolina, NYC, Albuquerque/New Mexico...

2007-11-02T23:40:00.000-04:00

Dear Reader of This One and Only True Source of Wisdom: It's been a while since updating this blog so I thought it's about time to revive this spot again. Apart from the usual work (of which I will spare you details) the last few months gave rise to some very pleasant trips I would like to document for my children and grandchildren (both still to appear on this planet, no worries).

Oxford: Yes, I finally made it to this place as well! Of course I had my doubts - will now the devil get hold of my soul, do people know how to behave in this spot, etc. But I was very pleasantly surprised: Scenic in many places; I like England and its people anyway; the city was just a little larger than I expected and what I was used to from having lived in Cambridge. Well well, I am looking forward to traveling to the country the next time! Shown here: The Camera / Christ Church College in the back.

And one of the most weird looking houses I found in the whole city: Unfortunately it is barely visible in the picture, but the whole house is leaning so much forward and to the left that it really didn't feel *that* safe a place to be in:

Next came a visit to Amsterdam with my sister, just for a day. Since pictures of buildings etc. get boring quite easily and food intake is critical to extend your lifespan here a picture of us eating at a nice seafood restaurant:

This one could be King Andreas I. on his throne:

(OK, it was just at the 'American Cafe' where we had some broodjes for lunch. Check it out when you are in Amsterdam, nice food at decent prices in a relaxed and 'stylish' atmosphere. Exactly what a stylish person like myself needs from time to time.)

Now THE day finally arrived - the biggest fan of the US that ever existed and ever will exist on this planet finally visited his favorite country! My friend Uli from Frankfurt visited me in Boston for a couple of days and we went to NYC together as well. First action - first win: A lottery ticket made Uli a rich man! Well, ok, we won $2 and the two tickets cost us ... ehm, $2 I think, but it was still a decent start on the way to the second million. (Wait, we might be making the second step before the first here...)

We decided to do some traveling together, and North Carolina / Chapel Hill was our first destination - a very nice place, late summer, still pleasantly warm. Also it was the first time I was breathing some 'southern' atmosphere, a stay in the US would be incomplete without it. Karthikeyan, an old friend from Pune, was also currently visiting Chapel Hill so three of the best men this planet has went for dinner together that night:

Chapel Hill is nice but there is only one 'Capital of the World' - NYC! Since I have never been up either the Empire State Building nor the Rockefeller Center now the time has come - my humble self, in the background the Central Park:

Definitely one of my favorite places in the world - and I'll miss it much when finally leaving town.

The last place on the list of today's travel journal: Albuquerque, New Mexico. Possibly not the first place to consider when going on a trip, but I have to say: It was very much worth seeing this quite different location, which is certainly different from most places I have been to as the 'average' European/Boston-raised guy. A visit in Tudor's group at the University of New Mexico brought me there and some pictures of the scenic environment on Sandia Peak will suffice to leave the reader in a relaxed mood when leaving this location...

Official Graduation Picture...

2007-08-12T11:37:00.001-04:00

So here we go - on my knees in front of the vice-chancellor, begging to receive my PhD ... (she was indeed kind enough to award it to me).

Thank you, England, I had a very good time with you.

Graduation Ceremony in Cambridge, 21 July 2007

2007-07-28T09:23:00.001-04:00

OK, it was raining "cats and dogs" in England this month but fortunately only at "the other place" so our graduation ceremony in Cambridge was actually pretty fun. Here only a couple of pictures that can be shown to the general public, according to decency and political correctness. Here we go, in chronological order:
On the way to the ceremony - well, to be honest, firstly we had a rehearsal in College. It sounds a little funny, but your college person (the Praelector, to be precise) really holds up her hand and points her four fingers to a row of four graduands, each of which holds one finger of her while she says something like "those guys really deserve their degrees although you've seen them more down the pub than in the office" (ok, that's pretty damn close, but you can find the official version here: http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/degrees/ceremony/). Then you go forward to kneel down in front of the Vice-Chancellor of the university, and she says basically "ok, if you think so, then so be it" (see link above for the precise wording). Not quite as impressive as the Harvard graduation I attended a few months back when a housemate graduated (and where also Bill Gates finally got his degree), but still nice and so amazingly historic...

In front of the Senate House (where the degree was conferred), right after the ceremony - with my sister, Florian, myself in the middle, and Alex and Sania to the right. Glad they were allowed to get into the ceremony without a ticket, but the insider knows: Sania is wearing a gown from Trinity College (i.e., the richest, most famous, and the best college anyway) which gets you anywhere in Cambridge (might also have been her hair which bedazzeled the guy checking the tickets, but we will never find out).

A more or less official looking picture with my degree...

And punting the next day up and down the Cam. This was a really, really nice weekend back in Cambridge and I was glad I went there for the graduation. Thank you to everyone visiting me and spending time with me there, you made it a really good time for me!

India, the second trip

2007-03-03T23:36:00.000-05:00

Ok, ok ... actually I have already been back for a couple of weeks by now but I have to admit - I was a bit lazy posting pictures of the trip here. But finally - here we go!

That was actually before the trip - for some reason there were a couple of really comfortable chairs at Boston Logan where you could watch the sun rise:

We have been to Pune first but also spent a couple of days in Mumbai. That's a park in downtown Mumbai, close to Victoria Terminus. Quite interesting architecture around the park!

The proof we really went to India for a conference: Karthikeyan from NCL Pune, the conference organizer, in the middle, with a lot of young and old cheminformaticians around him.

Conference lunch - brings not only impeccable food but also sunshine and a good scientific discussion!

Yes, a little difficult to see, but - that's the preparations for the conference dinner, in the form of a nice garden party at still around 85F (close to 30 degrees Celsius)! Lots of food in the background, waiting to be eaten after a long conference day.

And the garden party in action - intercultural exchange, the stupid tourist can easily be identified by the base cap he's wearing ... ahem ...

I have to admit - I wasn't here in person, that's a place in southern India. Thank you to Anamika for the pictures, I should definitely go there next time I visit India!

Read the tourist guide, and you can be sure to meet just tourists in the places you visit .. that's at Cafe Leopold, downtown Mumbai. Don't ask me why they mention it as a "must see!", I definitely prefer our favorite restaurant, the Gaylord, a million times over!

Bye bye India, see you next time ... not precisely the right order, actually this was the first night at the guest house of the National Chemical Laboratory, sampling the 16 year old cold distilled Glenlivet ...

Travel Pics

2006-10-20T18:47:00.000-04:00

Sunset on deck 9.

Deck 11. Two swimming pools and an open air bar.

Deck 11 again - on the day we arrived. First time travelling the sea.

Someone on his balcony. Background: Geneva.

Midnight snacks. (Don't ask - not a single dish got finished!)

Malta. And: Sania.

Shop in Malta.

Relaxing in Valencia with our perfect tour guide: Paz. Having some local refreshment. (Well, Vodka/Orange it seems.)

Welcome to Tunisia. They seem to have a different language down there.

The nerdcrew. (Still in Tunisia.)

Overwhelmed by meaning. God almighty, stand by me!

"Captain's Dinner", last night of the cruise. "He" came down and had dinner with us. What's not shown is the Asian guy throw*ng up right next to our table. Well - it was a cruise!

London now. A night down the pub with "the boys".

Cambridge/England. Scenic street.

Visiting a proper English pub. Cheers!

Showing off my birthday presents. Nice, I must say.

8 Countries on 3 Continents Come Next

2006-09-02T19:33:00.000-04:00

Yes, extended travelling time ahead which will bring me to a couple of countries (8) and continents (3) within three weeks. The plan is outlined above ("theory") - check back for pictures and stories to be told ("practice"). - Andreas

India Pictures Online

2006-08-22T19:24:00.000-04:00

Well well, I made it to India and back ... I've seen more people than ever before in my life, survived the Monsoon in Bombay and made my way through Bangalore. Some pictures can now be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32772510@N00/

Only minor problems with my digestive system to report - never listen to those damn tourist guides, it's all rubbish in there...

Take care and enjoy the pictures,
Andreas

Trip to India - Mumbai/Pune/Bangalore are coming

2006-07-16T09:45:00.000-04:00

The first two weeks of August will bring me to India - several reasons, among them work-related and world-related ones. Watch this space for news, photos and information on how long it takes to mess up my digestive system.

Take care,
Andreas

Venice and all the rest

2006-07-16T09:31:00.000-04:00

Well well ... summer arrived, the first travel season of the year is over and for now just the proof that I have been away. A couple of impressions of Venice - our hotel (allegedly the one where "Tod in Venedig" by Mann was shot), the Des Bains:

Not bad at all. A nice balcony where Indian cigarettes and Scotch were consumed around midnight in summer nights still warm.

And a little closer:
As you can (or can't) see - situated directly at the beach. Every morning the difficult (or not so difficult) decision: Conference or swimming?

Since I am a useless romantic also an equally useless picture to demonstrate it:

And ... with Zhan (my colleague I am sharing the room at work with) at the waterfront:

We had a two-hour tour showing us St Mark's Square. Since we literally stayed _on the square_ we had enough time to shoot pictures, so, I have indeed been there:

The official section is closed now. There are lots more pictures I have, but ... too intimate, my friends, for this public space ...

Take care,
Andreas

Spring is travel time ...

2006-06-08T22:27:00.000-04:00

It's been some time since last telling the whole world here about my good and bad deeds at this esteemed Internet location - but trust me, even if tempted I won't start waffling about that now.

Just a short update: The next days will start this year's travel season, bringing me to West Haven, CT, and afterwards to Venice and, finally, to good old Berlin for a couple of days. A new mobile is waiting for me with an integrated camera, so hopefully I will be able to illustrate lots of illustrious moments thereafter... at least something to look forward to after weeks and weeks without much happening here (shame on me!).

Enjoy yourself - and talk to you soon!
Andy

New York

2006-04-09T10:42:00.000-04:00

Two weeks ago we (Paz and I) also went to New York for the weekend. Quite unusal not to go to work for a few days, but I got used to it - and I was very grateful actually!! NY is a great place (don't beat me, but I would probably even prefer it over London). Some pictures if you desire:

At Times Square

Quite far up north (around 70th street or so)

Washington Square. Now, isn't that a real man?!

Ground Zero today.

Impressions of Boston

2006-04-09T10:24:00.000-04:00

For the last two weeks (ok, now it's already two weeks ago again) Paz was visiting me - she was so kind to send me some of the photos she's taken so here we go (Thanks, Paz!! Not only for that of course):
View across river Charles, towards Boston

View from the Prudential Tower / Restaurant on the 52nd (?) floor

A random (but pretty typical) corner somewhere in Boston

Beacon Hill - Boston's cosy neighbourhood

If A ...
... then B

Hmm, maybe it was a little too much coffee that day?!

And finally: My new home

2006-03-22T20:32:00.000-05:00

Okay, so now it's reality - I am living here:

Don't ask me why this house looks so tilted on the picture, actually it feels quite safe to be here.

What else happened? I had a lovely visitor from Berlin, so I was also tempted to go out a little more than usual. I forgot my keycard for getting into work and promptly received a call about it - that's what being married must be like! So thanks to you my dear visitor, it was a really good time with you.

Work is going fine, somehow I got the flu over the last couple of days. Nothing too dramatic, apples each day should help me survive this difficult situation.

A new home, a new life ...

2006-03-22T19:22:00.000-05:00

So finally it happened: I left my top-floor apartment for a new place. And to assure proper documentation of the hotel this is the view out of the window (to the north unfortunately, so not over the river towards Boston, but still some nice impressions of the industrial area):

(view to the left and ...)

view to the right

There was a TV which captured my attention.. eh, only from time to time, very rarely of course... and please watch the painting on the wall (not sure about the artist though)

And unavoidable - Mr Nerd in front of the computer. (Well visible is the twisted spine due to hours sitting in exactly this position.)

Saying goodbye ...

2006-02-22T20:49:00.000-05:00

... well I found a new room to stay so I'm going to leave my top floor apartment in the next couple of weeks (no haste please!). No more scrambled egg for breakfast (no roast potatoes either - still didn't try them, but should I start now?!), noone washing my towels. Will I die as a bum? Only time will tell.

Funny coincidence when I had a look at my room ronight: My very friendly roomate Cheh (name slightly changed for safety reasons - Cheh, huhu if you are reading this :-) told me that another future flatmate was around as well and was just studying the contract ... well, then I had a closer look at this guy and noticed that I've known him from dinner at a colleagues' place a couple of weeks ago! Increadible how small this world is, or at least the housing market in a place like this ... but trust me, I found a very nice and bright room which is just lacking some decent furniture (actually any furniture at all). Future adventures to be read at this place - where else!

How do you know that you've been staying at your hotel for too long?

2006-02-22T20:46:00.000-05:00

Q: How do you know that you've been staying at your hotel far too long?

A: It makes you really happy in the morning that "we" have a new toaster for the bagles.

"If you don't like the weather in Boston - just wait a minute" OR: Surviving the First Blizzard

2006-02-12T22:40:00.000-05:00

I already realized it some time ago: The weather over here in New England is pretty volatile. When I arrived it was 10 degrees plus (Celsius; 50 F) and now it's a few degrees below zero again (25 F or thereabouts).

As a colleague at work told me people over here even coined a phrase for it: "If you don't like the weather in Boston, just wait a minute" - well, the question is only if it gets better or even worse!

Today I had the pleasure to experience one of the extreme weather conditions up here in the northeast of the US, the first Blizzard of 2006. I heard about it in the news, "severe weather alert", but didn't think much of it - I just stuck to the zeroth-order approximation of tomorrow's weather: It's most likely to be just like today! Definitely not true this time though ... not the slightest snow yesterday, but as impartial evidence a picture taken from my hotel room earlier today is shown below:

Wide-angle live stereo view from my hotel room, 12 Feb 2006, 1:12pm EST. Pretty much snow, uh?

So what do we learn from that? Listen to those weather people, sometimes they even get it right!!

Settling in and becoming a good American

2006-01-28T13:57:00.000-05:00

Well well - getting up this morning (a bit late as usual) I came to the unavoidable conclusion: I am settling in in the US, slowly but surely, whether I want it or not. Simply due to formal developments (I am now the proud owner of a US BANK ACCOUNT with the Bank of America - but they didn't trust me enough to give me a credit card as well, since I don't have a credit history here ... umpf) but also since I am getting to know my environment better. I accept that there's no New York Times left if I arrive too late for breakfast in the morning, and that there are no sausages for breakfast but just potatoes. (If someone from good ol' Britain is reading this - PLEASE SEND ME SOME BREAKFAST SAUSAGES!! The ones they sold at the Regal would be ideal, but others will do as well.) I know that you microwave bacon before you eat it - my first shot at it was a complete desaster, the bacon was more like chewing gum in my mouth and it took me half an hour to swallow it. (And yes, language is also different, I had a shot at it and I didn't just give it a good old try.)

I am still doing my regular workout (going running at the Charles River) every second day, actually I even got into a certain routine here - leaving work around 6, running, and dinner around seven. Friday night is reserved for pub nights, so not much difference to Britain in this department. Looks like a healthy lifestyle, doesn't it? And trust me - it actually is.

Andy Goes US ... FROM BERLIN TO BOSTON

2006-01-18T20:13:00.000-05:00

OK ok, a bit late ... actually I already arrived in the US a couple of days ago, so a quick update on what happened so far ...

Friday, 13 Jan 06

It's time to leave!! Of course I still had to pack my stuff after I got up in the middle of the night, took the flight at 8:20, Berlin-Tegel to Boston-Logan, via Frankfurt.

The nice Novartis people booked a flight in business class of course, but, quite appropriately, the even nicer Lufthansa folks upgraded that even to FIRST CLASS. Means there was someone hanging up my coat when I entered the plane ... they addressed me by my name (but noone told them I am DR Bender ... well, at least nearly ...) and I had some CAVIAR and a nice BED during my flight. In any case: I MADE IT TO BOSTON!!

Saturday / Sunday, 14/15 Jan 06

Time to relax a bit, explore Cambridge. Quite a nice hotel where I am staying - please have a look at this web site for pictures (still need a camera! sorry!): http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/BOSCM

I am staying on the top floor (16th floor) with quite a nice view over Cambridge (to the north)!

The hotel is quite a pleasant place to be - they have the New York Times and nice breakfast and dinner every day. Since I am not exactly the master of all chefs it was quite a good idea to put me up here ...

(I always wondered why the elevator is so quick until I realized there is no 13th floor ... 12th floor and the next one is the 14th floor. Probably like everywhere here, but in the beginning I was really amused by that.)

Tuesday, 17 Jan 2006

Being a good American I went jogging - of course! Quite a nice path along the river (River Charles) that separates Cambridge from Boston, a skyline of skyscrapers at night ... somehow it looked like this: http://massroads.com/gallery.php?page=boston_at_night.

When I came back I had a shower ... wearing a nice warm and soft BATHROBE I realized that I actually liked it this way. Still, it was dinner time ... so I had dinner in the hotel restaurant in my bright red bathrobe :-). Anyway, noone killed me, after all we are still in America!

Wednesday, 18 Jan 2006

I just got invited to a cruise on the Mediterranean Sea! - Well ... that's supposed to be a conference but actually a nice cruise along Italy, Spain and Tunisia :-). Just have to find out whether I have time for that as well, but I was quite happy to receive the invitation. If you are also one of those fancy "cheminformaticians" this is the direct link to the cruise website: http://www.euro-qsar2006.org/cruise.php
- buy a ticket and listen to my groundbreaking talk there (hopefully).