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FTOTW71 – best links of the week ending 3-February-2013

Filed in General Interest, February 3, 2013, 6:30 pm by Sukumar FTOTW

Prolog

Here are the best links shared on my tweet stream this week.

Best Links

RT @yarapavan How cheap 3D printers & open source sw built a replacement hand for a 5-year old boy http://t.co/nSSMGOmd ~ brilliant – Original Tweet
RT @deeaim sometimes negative feedback is best http://t.co/MpzJ5MW7 ~ vv insightful – Original Tweet
RT @purusothaman How to Deal with Crushing Feedback on Your Creative Work #creativity http://t.co/QxqFmhtb ~ vv insightful – Original Tweet
RT @sandygautam i’ll Pay You to Read My Book http://t.co/IiuyOMhY ~ vv interesting business model – Original Tweet
/Via @chowandchatter what folks do when caught in traffic jams in Moscow? http://t.co/VQ4OjzHo ~ vv interesting – Original Tweet
/Via @brainpicker Why you should try to be an “ambivert” and a “problem-finder” to be innovative http://t.co/OwuoLEm0 ~ vv insightful – Original Tweet
RT @sbkaufman The Evolutionary Need To Believe http://t.co/SWCwkcuY #TEDWeekends @abmarkman ~ vv insightful – Original Tweet

Epilog

Hope enjoyed the links? Did you come across any good links you want to share? Please share in the comments below.

References

I use a certain ratings scale for my annotations which are explained here.

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Thailand Trip – Part 6

Filed in Travel, January 29, 2013, 2:52 pm by Priya Raju

This is the 6th post in this series – see, its marked “Part 6” 😀 If you want to read the 5th post – that would be “Part 5“. You need to click the link, BTW 😉 Waving a wand doesn’t work. Yet.

One of the unusual sights in Thailand is the “Floating Market”. These are markets on paddleboats. One could either beckon a boat from the shore or traverse the waterways to buy the stuff they want. Our tour book assured us that the most authentic floating market near Bangkok was at Damnoen Saduak – authentic because the locals frequented it.

Nothing about Bangkok is ancient. Thai culture in Thailand is only about 800 years old – a mere wink, by Middle Eastern & South Asian standards of antiquity. Likewise, floating markets are not ancient. The boats ply on artificial canals cut across natural rivers. These canals are about 150 years old. The markets themselves took off only 60 years ago, primarily to sell local produce such as fruits, vegetables, meat and snacks. But these days, most boats sell touristy souvenirs (AKA “Junk”).

We got into a boat and floated along the muddy & extremely dirty water. I grimaced every time some droplets splashed on my face, my arms – and my mouth. Our guide ordered some Thai pancakes & declared them “Yummy!” We chickened out. We’re just not used to eating street food – unless we’re sure of the food’s cleanliness, provenance, the vendor’s hygiene etc. Go ahead. Call us “Fussy”.

In order to not break Thai hearts, we bought a bunch of stuff & permitted the vendors to rip us off. We saw it as our duty as tourists. We haggled like pros, but we had the lingering feeling that the vendors were laughing all the way to the bank.

While Damnoen Saduak was a unique experience, it is not as interesting as it is made out to be by the tour companies. For all the hype, all you do is – go around in boats & buy stuff – stuff that you could easily buy in Bangkok at half the price.

If you’re serious about shopping, you should buy silver at the wholesale shops in the Ratanakosin area. There are whole streets selling silver jewelry. Prices are reasonable if you buy wholesale. Since the pieces are beautifully crafted, they make great gifts for little and not-so-little girls.

One of the must-see attractions in Bangkok is the “Queen Saovabha Snake Farm”. It houses several local snakes, has a live demonstration, a museum about snakes – and if you’re lucky, you can see the snakes milked for venom. Even though the farm is smallish, it is managed very professionally and the museum is well curated.

A good museum poses questions and piques your curiosity. Like they say, the best teacher in the world is “Curiosity”. Ever wonder why snakes have no limbs? We learnt that snakes had to adapt to live in burrows/underground, where limbs were useless and a compact body offers an advantage. This is one of the theories proposed.

I’m sure most of you know that snakes cannot hear. They can only sense vibrations. But, did you also know that snakes have very bad eyesight? They can only sense movement. So, if a snake confronts you, the best strategy would be to stand still and/or move away very slowly. The exceptions to this rule are the Pit Vipers, which have heat-sensing organs near their nostrils. Standing still when chased by a pit viper would be a very bad idea.

The earliest snakes were non-venomous and were related to pythons. Then came the “Elapids” which use a neurotoxin to kill their prey. Death is usually due to acute respiratory failure. The most popular Elapids are Cobras and Kraits. Vipers evolved next and use haemo-toxin to affect the circulatory system. In general, snake evolution is very hard to study, because snake bones are very fragile. It is very hard to find intact fossils.

The best part of the Snake Farm was the live snake handling show. Experienced snake handlers paraded extremely venomous snakes with intact fangs, with a running commentary by a herpetologist. The crowd fell silent when the magnificent Ophiophagus hannah – King Cobra – was brought in. The majestic snake looked at us imperiously – and we somehow felt we were in the presence of royalty.

At the end of the program, even the most chicken-hearted amongst us (read: Sana) petted a Burmese Python. I draped the sweet-looking snake around my neck wondered if I would be permitted to fondle the King Cobra. I can be extremely stupid about animals. Ever heard of the man who kissed his pet cobra – and died? My guess is, the snake tried to kiss him back, but the fangs got in the way. My family screams whenever I ask for a pet snake – with good reason, I suspect.

“What is the favorite sport of Thailand?” we asked our guide. “We love watching Soccer, but we suck at it. Its Thai Boxing we are good at”, he said. Once when we were on a taxi, the driver had the radio on. From the excitement in the commentator’s voice, we gathered it was a sports program. Whether it was soccer or boxing we couldn’t say, since the commentary was completely in Thai. The only 2 words we could understand were “Mohammed” and “Sulaiman”. But we were kept in the dark on whether Mohamed and Sulaiman were punching each other or scoring goals. “Why do they have to speak in Thai all the time?” I fumed. “Because this is Thailand”, said Sukumar with biting sarcasm. I sulked, since I couldn’t think of a fitting rejoinder.

I ended the previous post with a cliff-hanger – “How do you handle venomous snakes?”. Don’t you double-doggie-dare think I forgot that. Here’s my answer – Very, very carefully indeed.

Stay on for our posts on Ayutthaya & another photo blog from Sukumar.

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FTOTW70 – best links of the week ending 27-January-2013

Filed in General Interest, January 27, 2013, 6:31 pm by Sukumar FTOTW

Prolog

Here are the best links shared on my tweet stream this week.

Best Links

RT @KumarSachi: Why it is important to be on the #Twitter if you want to learn – http://t.co/0hmpM0i2 ~ Brilliant points. – Original Tweet
RT @gvaidees How Whole Foods Market Innovates in Employee Health Care http://t.co/K6sWGTp0 ~ brilliant – Original Tweet
RT @goodthing $200 make-up mirror uses LED lights, charges via USB, and built-in sensors http://t.co/YE4qNVOL ~ vv cool – Original Tweet
RT @jayasimhan Interesting take on Amazon’s intentionally low margins as a competitive advantage http://t.co/tfdvvUV2 ~ vv insightful – Original Tweet
RT @amanet Key to Happiness: Keeping Busy Without Feeling Rushed. (via @PacificStand) | http://t.co/6rugoJxt ~ vv interesting – Original Tweet
RT @yarapavan : MP3 files written as DNA with storage density of 2.2 petabytes per gram http://t.co/HnCL91H9 by @j_timmer ~ vv cool – Original Tweet

Epilog

Hope enjoyed the links? Did you come across any good links you want to share? Please share in the comments below.

References

I use a certain ratings scale for my annotations which are explained here.

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Thailand Trip – Part 5

Filed in Travel, January 22, 2013, 2:19 pm by Priya Raju

Did you see Sukumar’s Photo Blog of the Bangkok temples? If not, click here.

If you’re a tourist in Thailand, you’ll notice small, ornate structures – about the size of a doll’s house – in front of most buildings. Unless you’re blind as a bat – in which case you wouldn’t notice anything anyway. These miniature structures are “Spirit Houses”. Thais believe spirits flit about, inhabiting all kinds of locations. Many hotels, office complexes & even some residences have posh pads for the spirits. People offer milk, oranges, teak elephants etc to the spirits and burn Joss sticks. Such beliefs coexist with Buddhism in Thailand.

Now, we have to tell you about Phra Phrom – Or, Lord Brahma as he’s called in India. We Indians have forgotten Brahma, but he is a pampered God in Thailand. When the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel was under construction, the promoters faced many obstacles (it is said). So, their management called in “Spirit Experts” for advice. Rather like how a company in trouble would call consultants from McKinsey. The experts recommended building a shrine for Phra Phrom – and believe it or not, the god put an end to all the troubles immediately.

The shrine, located in the busiest, coolest & poshest part of Bangkok is humongously popular. Even on a weekday evening, the shrine was filled with devotees. Smoke from thousands of incense sticks stung our eyes. The 4-headed gilded idol offered a spot of serenity right in the middle of a sea of thundering traffic. People were offering marigold garlands to the god. Pious people of all ages could be seen kneeling and praying. When a devotee’s wish comes true, s/he thanks Brahma by commissioning classical Thai dancers with live music. We were lucky enough to see Brahma being regaled by dancers.

“I’m glad you found another home”, I told Brahma. Divinely aloof, the god completely ignored me.

“Eating Durian” – this is one of the items on our bucket list. Durian, the King of fruits. Due to its strong smell, it is prohibited in most places – hotels, restaurants, offices, malls, buses etc. Let me make it simple: Its banned everywhere except on the streets. Durian, the Skunk of fruits.

We did get a chance to taste Durian. Oh, my. We almost vomited when we smelt it – like an open sewer that hadn’t been cleaned for a month. But it did taste good, with a sweet, custard-like consistency. But “The King of Fruits”? Nah. That’s still out very own Alphonso mango, which offers a better culinary experience. For, not just the taste, but the color, texture and smell matter too.

Monks are revered in Thailand. Being a monk is really, really arduous. They have 227 rules to live by, starting with waking up at 4 AM and cleaning their toilet. They walk around in ochre robes, with a tonsured head, bare footed. They can’t cook their own food, so they beg for alms.

Interestingly enough, a man can be a short-term monk. Our guide’s brother – a married man with children – spent 2 weeks as a monk: and then returned to normal life. All pious Buddhist men have to be monks once in their lifetime, at least for a brief period. Even the current king Bhumibol Adulyadej did his duty to Buddhism by being a monk for a short period.

It is considered very inappropriate for a woman to even accidentally touch a monk. Thai women veer away from monks, bend low and join their hands in a “Sawatdi”. So, we were very irritated to see skimpily clad Eastern European (Russian, we were told) women brush against monks with blatant disregard. The monks were trying to move away, but there’s only so much wiggle room in a crowded ferry or a pavement. You know, if you can’t respect the culture of another country, we’d love to glue your butt to your seat – you simply shouldn’t be permitted to travel.

Saying “Toyota cars rule the roads of Bangkok” would be an understatement. Of the decade. Toyota dominates; Toyota owns the roads – that would be better. Almost every car we saw including taxis was a Toyota. Toyota and Honda are the most popular cars in Thailand, since they are cheaper, spare parts are easily available and are easy to repair. Mazda is the most coveted car, quoting our guide.

We spotted an interesting mode of transport in Bangkok – Motorbike Taxis. It can take a single pillion rider to his/her destination, quickly weaving through the permanently grid-locked Bangkok traffic. It reminded us of Majid Majidi’s “The Song of the Sparrows”, where the protagonist unwittingly becomes a motorbike taxi driver in Teheran.

How do you handle venomous snakes? What should you see in Ayutthaya? All this & more in the next post. Stay tuned.

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Thailand Trip – Part 4

Filed in Travel, January 20, 2013, 8:52 pm by Sukumar

Click here to read the previous post in this series.

As promised, here is my photo essay. I have covered only the temples and the grand palace. I will do one more to cover the rest of the spots we visited. Hope you like the photos. Please click on the photos to look at the full image.