Miami Day 1

Last time I flew out of Toronto was a complete debacle. See my post La Floride...this time was not so hectic. U.S. Customs did not even blink at my overly Muslim looks.

Got into Miami at 9 a.m. and took shuttle to the hotel amidst all the humid-hot-chaos of Miami Airport. Something to be avoided. The hotel is everything promised on Trip Advisor (pictures to follow).

After settling-in I made a call to rent a scooter for two days with Roam Rides. This outfit had good reviews on Yelp South Beach and is the only place which rents Vespas instead of plastic scooters from China. To get to the rental location I had to take the local buses to downtown Miami and change over to another bus (the 119). No one seemed to know anything about the bus heading into South Beach. Apparently, the 119 is actually known as the "S" bus. The driver on the first bus I hopped was surly and seemed to have no clue as to what the 119 heading into South Beach was. Similarly, no one on the bus, filled with low wage working types, seemed to know what I was talking about.

Downtown Miami was filled with heart-breaking signs of the homeless and those suffering from mental illness, some nattily dressed professionals heading home and many Hispanics (recent arrivals?) who did not speak much English. Finally, a young Black woman sporting a Best Buy polo shirt explained about the 119. Another half hour on an over crowded bus brought me to Miami Beach -- a world away from Miami.

By the time I got the scooter, had a coffee at Starbucks and consulted my iPad for the best and safest route to my dinner destination, it was fully dark. I scootered my way from the Beach across the Venetian Causeway (the quietest of all the causeways bridging to Miami) and through some pretty sketchy areas of downtown Miami. Areas with no street lighting, homeless people living beneath overpasses and dead end streets. Eventually, I made my way south to Coconut Grove: An extremely well kept, brightly lit area filled with chichi stores and white tourists.

It was about 8 p.m. by this time and I was very tired, wearing shorts and t-shirt in an area with scrubbed-clean tourists on walks from their hotels to shop and dine. I stopped in on a jewellery store to ask for directions and ended up meeting a Yemeni-Jew named, Avi. More on him later. Once again, Yelp did not let me down as the Indian restaurant--Bombay Darbar--was elegant, not too pricey, the food was great and the service was excellent. I chowed down without a care in the world.

I went back to the Yemeni Jeweler (get it...Jew-eler...a play on words but not anti-semitic in nature whatsoever). Avi is a man with a lined face but not aged looking. He has a full head of greying hair and a vivacity for life which even his recent personal setbacks have not dulled. Avi had talked to me for 20 minutes, when I had asked for directions previously and had asked me to come back to the store after eating. It was Avi that made the connection from the minute I walked in....he asked, "Are you Arab?" I explained to him that my father was born in Yemen but was culturally an Indian...and so on and so forth. He specializes in make Yemeni-like jewelry and we meandered through our thoughts on Arabs, Jews, Yemenites, Iraqis, women (he was very recently divorced), Indians among other topics. I bought some silver from him as a gift for my wife and he gave me a couple of trinkets to take to the kids. And then, after consulting my ipad, I headed back to the hotel at 10 p.m.

I am unable to add pictures to the blog through my ipad, but will do so on my facebook account. I haven't edited the above...so apologies or any errors.

Plans for Miami

I'm going to Miami for 4 days of R & R on November 17th. Anyone have any ideas about what to do, see...where to eat.

Here are The places I have looked at:

Scuba diving with South Beach Divers.. This will chew up a whole day and going for the whole day with a bunch of strangers could turn out to be a bore. Plus, I only have 3 full days to RELAX.  Scuba is fun but it's not lying on the beach like a whale.

Rent scooter with Roam Rides.. They have good reviews on Yelp and considering the state of public transit from Miami to Miami Beach, might be a good investment and cheap way to get around to....the Dolphin Mall!. If you've been to this place, drop me a line.

I've also found a few well reviewed restaurants, but if you have any suggestions I'd be happy to hear from you.

And, of course, the daily trip to the beach.

Get Together with Zap

This is for Terri, Pam, Russell...I'm polling people on Facebook to see when they can meet up.
Here r the options:
November 26, December 3rd, 4th, 10th
At either 10 a.m. Or 1 p.m.
For brunch or lunch?
So far suggested only Sunset Grill by Kelsey's in Whitby....suggestions are welcome.

If I'm forgetting anyone invite them too, please.

You can reply here by leaving a comment or e-mail me.

Keep an Open Mind

Just came across an essay by Paul Graham. One of the best pieces of writing I've come across in a long time. Definitely worth a 9th or 10th reading! Here's one sentence which I've always thought was true but have never been able to put quite so succinctly: "To launch a taboo, a group has to be poised halfway between weakness and power." within the context of the article, the statement is truly eye-opening.

Here's another tidbit: "When there's something we can't say, it's often because some group doesn't want us to."

The article is about taboos in our society and how to try and truly think outside the box. Check it out.

"Small Keypad, Old Hands"

ME: Mom you can just go to the app store and get the app for you iPad
MOM:  It’s too late here
ME: What do you mean?
MOM: It’s 9pm
ME: and…
MOM: It’s 9pm SOO I will have to wait until the morning to go to the apple store!!

Source: When Parents Text

Traveling on the T.T.C. Is Killing You

Just came across a study which states that "People with a lengthy commute show an increased amount of stress, get worse sleep, and experience decreased social interaction. A commute of 45 minutes carries such a cost to well-being that economists have found you have to earn 20 percent more to make the trip worth it. Length alone isn't the source of the problem: stress rises with a commute's variability, and for transit riders it rises with the unpredictability and overcrowding of a bus or train."
The study comes at a serendipitous time: I have decided to stop using the T.T.C. Starting next month. I hate the idea of driving the car downtown with just one person traveling, but it actually ends up being cheaper than buying a monthly pass. Add the frustrations of the daily delays through mechanical failures, sick passengers, over crowding, rude T.T.C drivers and commuters, and it becomes a no-brainer.
I have signed with car-pool services online but my schedule is too unpredictable to allow me to hop in a car with somebody who would most probably want to meet up at the same time each day.
Feeling a little guilty about this, environmentally speaking, but here I am anyways.

You da Man, Reece!

Just came across a picture Seth's friend.  Ain't he a picture of happiness.

Test 2 from my iPad for pics

Why doesn't blogger have a way to post pics via iPad? More importantly, why doesn't blogger have an iPad app for posting to blogger? Just downloaded diigo, to see if I posting pics from a different browser would work any better...no luck! Very frustrating!

Test post from iPad

Just a quick test to see if this works from my iPad. First with text.

Poem by Shiv Kumar Batalvi

Mainu tera shabab lai baitha

Mainu tera shabab lai baitha,
Rang gora gulab lai baitha,
Mainu tera shabab lai baitha,
Mainu tera shabab lai baitha
Kini Piti te kini baaki eh,
Kini Piti te kini baaki eh,
Mainu eho hisaab lai baitha,
Mainu tera shabab lai baitha

Wel jad vi mili hai farza taun,

Wel jad vi mili hai farza taun,

Tere mukh di kitaab lai baitha,

Tere mukh di kitaab lai baitha

Mainu jad vi tusi ho yaad aye,

Mainu jad vi tusi ho yaad aye,

Din dihaade sharab lai baitha,

Din dihaade sharab lai baitha

Changa hunda je sawaal na poochda,
Changa hunda je sawaal na poochda,
Mainu tera jawaab lai baitha,
Mainu tera shabab lai baitha

Mainu tera shabab lai baitha,

Mainu tera shabab lai baitha.

~  Shiv Kumar Batalvi

You can hear this sung by Jagjit Singh here.

Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

Ik Shikra Yaar

Jagjit Singh R.I.P.

 

I have long loved the ghazals sung by the venerable Jagjit Singh.  I've never missed an opportunity to see him when he was in town.  I had been looking forward to hearing him in concert again.  Today, while listening to Maye Ni Maye, Main Ek Shikra Yaar Banaya, to assuage my own sadness, I came across a comment: "RIP, Jagjit Singh ji" below the video.  I quickly searched Google News and found the reports of the Maestro's death.  Here's a piece written by Neha Thirani for the New York Times:

Delhi “turned some of us lonelier by the day. We fell in love, suffered in love, lost our near and dear ones, made careers, or what is perceived to be a career. Our hair went gray. Emotions lost their edge.
But on some balmy night, when there was no one else to go to, we would seek refuge in Jagjit Singh’s voice. Long ago, he sang these lines of Ghalib’s: “Maut se pehle aadmi, gam se nijaat paaye kyun…” (Before death, why does man want relief from sorrow). Sitting in a metro train, when I learnt about his death, I hoped that in death my friend would be rid of life’s sorrows.”
-- NY TIMES

Do you like it or LOVE it?

"So are our smartphones addictive, medically speaking? Some psychologists suggest that using our iPhones and BlackBerrys may tap into the same associative learning pathways in the brain that make other compulsive behaviors — like gambling — so addictive. As with addiction to drugs or cigarettes or food, the chemical driver of this process is the feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine."

Source:NY Times.com

Alligators and Polo Players

"It turns out that wearing designer labels is an effective social strategy. It makes people think you have high status, and probably gives you access to better jobs and more money."

read the original article here, or the quick and free version quoted above.