Perfect Days
Oct 06, 2024
In the movie Perfect Days, the main character Hirayama is on a bridge with his niece Niko somewhere in Tokyo. Niko asks something to which Hirayama says "Next time". Niko asks "And when's that exactly?".
Hirayama replies: Next time is next time. Now is now.
My sister Michelle recommended this movie and as soon I watched this clip, that phrase stayed with me. This is a movie I will watch again (watched it twice). The second time I watched it, I picked up something new, something I didn't notice the first time. It's a simple movie. No drama, no beginning, no end. Just a bit of life.
We had many visitors this summer (my father, brother, brother-in-law, cousins). We visited my wife's cousins in Vancouver*. There were hellos, then good-byes. We talked about next time, but no one knows when that will be. What we know is we had a good time together. There was a lot of eating out, some first-time activities (golf, casino), and a lot of "adda".
As we head into the fall season, it's become quieter, the days are shorter. We are heading to what feels like a long winter.
The kids are in the final years of high school and elementary school. According to this article, "75% of the time we spend with our kids in our lifetime will be spent by age 12". That feels true with my son, only time will tell how it goes with my daughter who will become a teen next year. They have their agenda (and they should), so there is less need for the parents in their lives. It will be the wife and me, and our bucket lists from here on.
I have work, chores, errands, and some hobbies. One new thing that may turn into a long-term hobby is chess. It started with my brother Robert sharing a YouTube video about India's rising chess stars. One thing led to another, and now I am reading three chess books, and playing with others online at lichess.org (lost: 6, won: 5). Many elements of chess makes for a good long-term hobby (self-study, challenge of memorising, calculating positions, stress and competitive rush playing online games). I try not to play more than a few games weekly to avoid getting too intense.
Besides chess, I am also following and watching more sports (hockey, F1, tennis, a bit of baseball). I have significantly reduced my movie and TV series watching.
I hope to write more.
*First time in Vancouver. I couldn't stop looking at the mountains. If I could turn back time, I would land in Vancouver, not Toronto. But that story is for another day.
Zoom Haiku
May 02, 2024
please stop the ding-ding someone said on a zoom call how (ding) do (ding) I? you will be muted I'll cover the agenda then end with questions hello, how do I..? wait till the end for questions but its a quick one do this, that, ok? check this, check that, very good! lets take the questions I have quick question blah-blah three minutes later sorry, please repeat I have quick question sorry, cannot hear you, bye we are out of time
On Health
Mar 10, 2024
(Written in very late December, 2023.)
During my school years (90s), I fell sick often. I remember being sick before exams (pressure?). I remember going to the pharmacy to get specific medicines for malaria because I had it many times before. Another problem I often had was a sore throat. In class 5, my sore throat problem (tonsilitis?) became so bad I had surgery to get it removed. I don't think it completely solved the problem because I continued to have a sore throat and avoided cold drinks/popsicles/ice cream. The funny thing is, after the tonsil removal, I got an ice cream to soothe the soreness from the surgery.
For reasons I still don't understand, when I moved to Canada, I didn't have the sore throat problem anymore (except when I got the flu). So, I no longer avoid cold drinks or ice.
During my school days, when I was sick, it was often a total rest situation. No school, no chores. Just bedrest. I guess the symptoms were severe, or maybe, mentally, I was unable to handle the symptoms.
It changed when I started to work in my 20s, or maybe even earlier during college when I had obligations (like giving tuition). I still fell sick, but it was no longer a do-nothing-else situation. I would still go about what I had to do. I guess that's what growing up means. I developed resilience and mental toughness, enabling me to overcome pain, weakness, and other symptoms.
For most of my working life, including the last 18 years in Canada, I have tended to take a sick day off as a rare exception. I continued to work through the symptoms. It helped that I worked from home.
I write this while being sick (flu-like symptoms) since Christmas day. So, the week between the 25th and the 1st was spent in bed watching Netflix or sleeping. Unfortunately, I had to cancel three dinner invitations.
The kids aren't allowed to skip school if they have mild symptoms (except when it's contagious). They don't like it. Often, I would make them go to school only to get a call from school that they are sick and need to go home. You can't win with kids. They will get their school to do what they can't. When she gets home, she is fine! I said "she" because, in recent memory, it's just been my daughter who's pulled this trick, not my son.
Fortunately, my kids are healthier than me.
In early 2020, when the COVID pandemic started, I fell sick again, and after a few days of trying Tylenol and not working, I finally went to the doctor's office. Dr. Raj, my family doctor, was fully clothed in quarantine attire with a face mask covered by a face shield! It was maybe March/April, we were in the first lockdown. COVID testing had just started. So Dr. Raj asked me to get it tested.
I went to a temporary portable office on the parking ground of a hospital for testing. All the nurses were similarly covered in extra layers, with masks, and face shields. The nurse inserted the swab down my nose beyond what I thought was possible. It was very uncomfortable. I was in tears. But she was gentle, calm, and friendly, and it helped. She had glasses, and I remember her telling me her glasses and face shield kept fogging all day. We don't deserve our doctors and nurses.
Days later, I got called and told that it was negative.
It was a relief, but at the same time, it was another push I needed towards getting healthier. I started doing cardio from YouTube videos from an Australian couple. Their channel is called Team Body Project, and their mantra: "Progress, not perfection" was the right message, at the right time for me. It helped me get started, and kept me doing cardio even today, some three years later.
What Happens After Death?
Jan 15, 2024
I have wondered.
As I get news of the death of another person in my father's generation, it tells me nature is slowly turning over the page for their generation, which means that my generation is next.
The most painful part is you don't get to meet them again. They are no longer part of your life, and you are no longer part of theirs.
My catholic faith tells me after death, the soul departs and stands in judgment. Depending on how we live our lives, we go to heaven, hell, or purgatory (pre-heaven). Hindus and Buddhists have different ideas of death and the existence of an afterlife.
We are all humans first, so I find it hard to believe there are different ways depending on your faith. If anyone actually came back from death and wrote a book or did a podcast, I would be happy to revise my thinking.
We have one life, and when it's over, it is over. We don't exist anymore. There is no soul, no consciousness, and we don't go anywhere. There is no "me" anymore. That's what I think.
Imagine billions of dead people hanging around in some "place"! I can't see God, who created day and night and seasons, keeping all of them around forever. It doesn't even include all other living things like dead dinosaurs.
When I think of life and death, I rewatch two videos.
First is Steve Jobs's Standford University Commencement speech, where he shared three stories from his life.
The second is Randy Pausch's Last Lecture. The ending makes me cry every time I watch it.
When its not winter, I go for walks, bicycling to the nearby cemetery. It is a pleasure to read the short stories and quotes on tombstones. I forgot the stories and the quotes, so it is time for another walk to the cemetery.
What is the meaning of life?
The Escape
Mar 22, 2023
This is a true story.
My brother shared two photos of a parrot that flew out of the cage. Ashok, the parrot's owner was watching, as Babai (another resident) was trying to make the parrot fly back.
I wrote a poem inspired by the parrot's daring escape attempt. My daughter Adele drew the picture from the original photos.
parrot wanted to explore the world
but babai brought out his merch
parrot watched babai's lungi unfurl
and it scared it off its perch
it wants to be free
it doesn't want the cage
but Ashok won't let it be
not at this stage
it tried through the dental window
but got lost inside
the screaming patient, though
got a short respite
now it's back in the cage
wondering when it will be
tired, but full of rage
when will it be free?
Podi
Mar 15, 2023
In 2004, I worked in Ernakumal, Kerala and made many train trips between my home in Kolkata and Ernakulam. I would take the Coromandel Express from Howrah (the closest train station to Kolkata) to Chennai, then switch trains to Ernakulam.
While in Chennai, I would visit my cousin Peter Tseng, then a chef at The Park, Chennai. A restaurant near his place served vegetarian thali on a big steel plate with various vegetarian dishes in small bowls and rice in the middle. The waiter would deliver the thali to the table, then return to put ghee on the rice and dal powder.
I had vegetarian thali before, but not the dal powder. The combination of the ghee and dal powder was delicious. Years later, I would remember it whenever I had vegetarian dal rice at home in Scarborough, Canada. On one of our Masala Dosa dinners at The Nilgiris restaurant on Markham Road, I noticed they were selling dal powder at the counter! I finally found my old friend.
Every time I eat dal rice (typically Wednesdays), I add ghee and dal powder to my dal rice to recreate the joy I first enjoyed in Chennai. The bag of powder lasted me a few years, but it was finally finishing.
Luckily, I met Peter on my recent India trip, and he gave me a gift bag from Chennai that included a bag of dal powder! He called the dal power "Podi" (the Tamil word).
Iced Coffee With Aeropress
Dec 30, 2022
I enjoyed drinking iced coffee this summer. It was my goto brew method (there were a few hot coffees when I was lazy or it was cool and rainy).
While I have been home-brewing hot coffee for years with the Aeropress, I only tried iced coffee last year. The cold brew method requires a dedicated accessory, more effort, and a long (overnight) brew time, so I didn't try it. Then I watched James Hoffmann's video on iced filter coffee, tried it, and enjoyed the result. It follows the Aeropress philosophy of easy, quick, practical, and great-tasting coffee.
My method is different in three ways:
- Aeropress instead of V60
- Smaller, stronger cup
- Hot-water volume varies for precision
The James Hoffmann video uses a V60 brewer, but I use Aeropress. Aeropress is more effective for strong small cups because we can use the inverted method and steep the coffee longer for better extraction.
Instead of the 15g coffee:250g water ratio, I use 14g:200g from Tim Wendelboe's Aeropress recipe. He also has an iced coffee video that follows the same method as James Hoffmann, with additional commentary on coffee bean choices that work well.
My ice cubes don't weigh 70g. I watch the scale as I drop them in to get it between 70g to 75g. The hot water volume is then adjusted such that 200g is the total weight of ice, and hot water.
The more hot water we can brew coffee with, the more coffee we extract. James Hoffmann experimented with various ratios and arrived at 40% ice as a starting point. For me, 40% or 80g of ice was a bit more, as the ice didn't fully melt when I mixed in hot coffee. At 35% or 70g, it almost completely melts. I still have to stir it a bit.
Things we need:
- Aeropress
- Scale that can weigh at 1g or even better 0.1g increments
- Kettle
- Grinder
- Coffee beans (light roasted, fruity)
- Ice cubes
- Tumbler (whiskey glass types)
- Frothing Pitcher
- One chopstick
Steps:
- Boil water (to boiling point)
- Measure 14g of beans
- Grind medium-fine (Aeropress grind)
- Invert Aeropress (link to the inverted method)
- Pour in ground coffee
- Put ~70g of ice into the pitcher
The next step depends on the actual weight of the ice. If the ice cubes weigh 75g, I pour 125g boiling water into the inverted Aeropress. For 73g of ice, it is 127g of water. This goal is to get exactly 200g of ice and hot water.
I stir the ground coffee and hot water with a chopstick to maximise the coffee extraction, and then press the plunger in as far as needed such that the water level is close to the top. I found it makes less mess this way when we flip.
Put a paper filter into the cap and lock it tight over the Aeropress. Let the coffee grounds and boiling water steep inverted for 1 to 2 mins (no need to time it).
Add 4g of sugar to the 70g of ice.
After steeping, flip over the Aeropress onto the pitcher (which has ice and sugar). I gently stir the Aeropress to capture the coffee grounds stuck to the rubber and then press the coffee through.
I remove the cap to push out the left-over coffee grounds with the filter into the waste bin, then rinse the Aeropress.
Stir the coffee in the pitcher with the chopstick to make the sugar dissolve properly (some sugar will be left).
I add 4 or 5 ice cubes into the glass tumbler to chill the coffee. These will melt a bit and dilute the coffee making the last sips weaker, but it is OK. I did think about getting one of those larger ice cube trays.
Pour out the cold coffee from the pitcher into the tumbler. By now, almost all the ice should have melted. There will still be some sugar left in the pitcher. I ignore it most of the time, but sometimes, I can't let it go, and add a bit of hot water, swirl it, and then pour that into the tumbler.
Clean up, and enjoy!
Foods of New York City
Aug 21, 2022
We went on a week-long road trip to New York City (NYC) from our home in Scarborough, Ontario. For the kids and wife, this was the first time in NYC. I had been there a few times for work.
Around spring this year, when we felt optimistic about travelling, there were many destinations on the list: Chill out at a beach resort in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, or Mexico; multi-purpose visit to Vancouver (wife has relatives there) along with a road trip to Seattle; and some others that I don't remember now. NYC wasn't even in consideration.
Vancouver-Seattle came out on top and I started looking at flights, ferry rides, car rental options from Vancouver to Seattle etc. Then we started worrying about the unpredictable COVID restrictions and if we would be able to freely travel etc. NYC entered the picture as a more flexible closer alternative, and that is what we ended up with.
There are different aspects to travel and food is one of them (for me) so I started making a list of things to eat. NYC is a popular place and there is plenty of food ideas from YouTube (including Mark Wiens), and Netflix shows (Somebody Feed Phil).
Here is the list I made:
Must try
- Ivan Ramen
- Xi'an Famous Foods (hand-pulled noodles)
- Kat'z Delicatessen
- The Halal Guys - Gyro and Chicken
- All'antico Vinaio (sandwich from Florence, Italy)
- Mercado Little Spain
Burger places
- Clinton Hall
- 7th Street Burger
- Bronsons Burgers
- Peter Luger
Pizza
- Di Fara
- Lucali
- Scarr's
- Kesté Pizza & Vino
- Angelo’s Coal Oven Pizzeria
Bakery
- Ferrara (Italian bakery in Little Italy)
- Domninique Ansel Bakery
We got to four of them (Clinton Hall, Kat'z Deli, The Halal Guys, Xi'an Famous Foods). So we have to come back to NYC for the rest.
Clinton Hall chain of restaurants is famous for their Double Smashed burgers. After watching Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island ferry (twice), we walked to their Financial District restaurant. There was plenty of outdoor seating with games available to play (like big blocks of Jenga). It was hot and humid so we went into the sportsbar-styled indoor restaurant for the AC. The burgers were good and we enjoyed them. The fries were ordinary and disappointing. Unlike the happy-with-Maggi me, the wife's tastebuds have a wider range. She liked the burgers and enjoyed them too but she thought it was overpriced at $19.
Kat'z Deli is a legend that was featured in many YouTube videos and Somebody Feed Phil's Netflix show. There was a lineup of maybe 15 people outside but it moved fast. As you enter, they gave us two tickets and directed us to a specific counter (they are called cutters). It was busy inside but we got a table without waiting long. We got two sandwiches: pastrami, and beef brisket. The beef brisket was a bit dry but the pastrami was delicious. We loved it. Wow! Now I understand why Kat'z is so popular. At $25 per sandwich, it's on the higher side but for a good-sized, loaded sandwich, and that juicy flavourful pastrami, it was worth it. Two sandwiches were enough for the four of us.
The Halal Guys is one of many halal chicken and rice food carts popular in NYC. At $10 for a rice combo, it was inexpensive but filling and tasty. They gave us packets of white sauce to add to the rice. That sauce was the secret magical ingredient. We got two rice and one wrap and ate it at the hotel's dining area. While we were eating, someone passed us by and he said it looked yummy. It was. Their hot sauce was very hot but I added a little. While it was filling and enough, we regretted not getting one more rice combo. If we stayed in NYC longer, this would have been a repeat item for sure.
There is another halal street food cart that had a long line up but we didn't try it. It is called Adel's Famous Halal Street Food at West 50th & 6th Avenue. The line was at least 20 people long and didn't shorten for the 20 mins or so I was observing it. Something for the next time.
Xi'an Famous Foods is a Chinese chain restaurant famous for their hand-pulled noodles in spicy sauce. Since the kids didn't eat spicy food, we only got two. I have eaten many varieties of noodles in Toronto but I had never eaten this style. It was a different kind of spicy (cumin). The fresh hand-pulled was chewy and the only regret I had was not eating it at the restaurant right away. That would have been even better. Now I have to look for Xi'an styled Chinese food in Toronto.
Besides the ones on my list, we had other interesting and satisfying meals including a stone-baked pizza on the street near Watkins Glen State Park, Shake Shack burgers and their curly fries (under Brooklyn bridge), Union Street Pizza near Union Street station in Brooklyn (this was near our hotel), Whole Foods deli at Columbus Circle, and many sub-sandwiches from the deli close to our hotel.
Out of the ones that we didn't go to, Ivan Ramen was the one I was looking forward to and it is the one that's been on my list for NYC for years (I went through a ramen phase). I hope to visit NYC again for work or pleasure and will put Ivan Ramen at the top the next time.
Happened Today
May 21, 2022
These things happened today.
Adele
Adele: Dad, now my knee hurts.
Me: What about your thigh? Is it better?
Adele: Thigh doesn’t hurt anymore.
Me: At least it’s going down.
Parking
I stopped the car right in front of the busy Costco entrance to load things. I thought it would be a 2 seconds pit stop, but it took longer.
Dumb idea. All cars behind me had to go around.
One dude in a Mercedes Benz SUV yelled at me as he made the pass: What The F@&$ Man!
Returns
I dreaded returning the swimsuit at Costco on a Saturday morning. Instead of a 20 people queue, I was surprised to see only one person in front of me!
I asked the Costco guy walking by: "What happened? No lines?"
He said: "They knew you were coming."
Camera: Shutter Priority
Jan 15, 2022
Six years ago, I made a fundamental mistake and got 80 underexposed or blurry photos for my friendly neighbour Arun's birthday party. Last November, I was at the same house, with similar lighting conditions, and the same camera (his Canon DSLR), but this time for his wife Mangala's birthday party.
I did a better job this time. Very few photos were underexposed. I am writing these down if I ever get to do it again.
Settings I used:
- External YongNuo flash was pointed at the ceiling, slightly angled forward
- The white card on the flash was raised to reflect light to the faces
- Flash was in automatic TTL exposure mode (I regret this)
- Camera on Shutter Priority (Tv in the dial)
- Shutter set to 1/100th
- ISO set to Auto (it picked 400 for all the photos)
- Aperture was Auto
- Autofocus (9-points covered most of the view)
I made 117 photos on birthday eve when they set up the decorations. Then, another 200 pictures for the birthday party dinner.
The photos were first reviewed in FastRawViewer to decide which ones to reject. Photography Life has a good article on using FastRawViewer. I use a simplified culling process.
FastRawViewer is keyboard friendly:
- Left/Right arrows navigate
- x for Reject (moves into a _Rejected folder)
- z for Zoom
- p to show edges, fine details (indicates in-focus area)
The selected photos were then copied to an SD card and imported into the iPhone, where basic edits were applied in Darkroom app (something I learnt recently from Sean Tucker's YouTube video). From Darkroom, the edited photos were exported into Google Drive and shared.
Things to try next time:
- iPad would be better than iPhone for Darkroom
- Manual power mode in flash
- ISO from 400 to 640 (half stop brighter)?
- Fuji + 18 f2 + Flash?