Oh man, that was good! The Sunday Times wasn't joking when they said that they liked this little Nordic deli, eh? (21 McCallum Street #01-01, 6634-0922) Anyway, it might be hard to tell from the photo, but that was an open-faced potato sandwich. And everything was done just right, from the quality bread underneath to the surprisingly the crunchy topping on top, all facilitated by a delicately seasoned sauce. I'm definitely coming back here for more, although I need to remember to come at off-peak hours...even at 2 PM, this place was packed today.

So here was the aforementioned salad, which was actually much more generous than I thought it would be given how paltry some fruit plates have been on SQ. Seriously, getting this meal seems to make the most sense, especially after eating tons of protein and carbs when on the ground.

Photo © Sarah Elliott-All Rights Reserved
Sarah Elliott interned for James Nachtwey and assisted Stanley Greene, and traveled extensively around the world pursuing social issues. Her work was opublished by The New York Times, The LA Times, IHT, The Guardian, Monocle, The Observer, Financial Times and the Red Cross and many more.

Sarah's galleries include images and essays from Rwanda, Kenya, Somali Pirates, New Orleans, Rajasthan, The Mormons, Tibet, Tonle Sap Lake and portraits of the Women of the Omo Valley. These are 26 frontal portraits of the tribal women, ranging from the Mursi to Karo. These are simple black & white portraits, quite different from the work of other photographers like Brent Stirton, who used strobes for his environmental portraits of the Omo tribes.

The Omo Valley has considerable resonance amongst those who've either been to the south of Ethiopia and those who want to go. It is currently believed that the area has been a crossroads for thousands of years as various cultures and ethnic groups migrated around the region, and it's been said that “If Africa was the mother of all humanity, then the Omo River was its main artery”. Having been there in 2004, I believe that.

The area is home to eight different tribes whose population is about 200,000 and it's been reported that a hydro-electric dam is under construction on the Omo river. When completed, it will destroy a fragile environment and the livelihoods of these tribes, which are closely linked to the river and its annual flood.

(Via Photojournalism Links)

The Entrance Hall of Ashbrook House

During our stay in the beautiful Faughan Valley County Derry we had the opportunity to take a tour of Ashbrook House. Situated in 30 acres of mature parkland, Ashbrook House has been the home of the Ash family since before the Plantations of Ulster. We were given a great tour by Melanie, whose family first built the house in the late-sixteenth century.


The Estate was said to be a gift from Queen Elizabeth I to General Thomas Ash for his services during the Nine Years War in Ireland. The war raged from 1594 – 1603, when the great Earls of Ulster Hugh O’Neill and Hugh O’Donnell rose in rebellion against the English control of Ireland. This war was to be the biggest conflict fought by England during Elizabeth’s reign with more than 18,000 troops engaged at the height of the conflict. Despite initial successes for the Irish forces at the Battle of the Yellow Ford, the war eventually came to an end following the Battle of Kinsale which was a decisive victory for the English forces, and led to the Flight of the Earls. Hugh O’Neill, Rory O’Donnell and about 90 other followers fled Ireland. This is seen as a pivotal moment in Irish history. The Earls believed that they were going to return at the head of a large continental army to secure Irish independence, however this was not to be the case. Hugh O’Neill died within a few short years of his exile, and Spain and England secured a peace treaty. Gradually the Gaelic order of life in Ireland began to disintegrate and the plantations of Ireland, particularly the Ulster plantations, continued unhindered.

The front of the house

The Ash family have been entwined in the history of the region. During the Siege of Derry in 1689 Ashbrook was partially burned by King James soldiers as the Ash family were loyal to King William and were besieged in the city. It was Captain Thomas Ash who wrote the most widely accepted diary of the events of the siege, and it was his sister Jane who married Captain Browning who commanded the fleet that famously relieved the starving city and broke the siege.

The house is a two-storey, bow fronted house and the oldest part of the house is thought to date to the late sixteenth century, you can notice the older parts of the structure by the low ceilings and much thicker walls. Entering through the grand entrance hallway you’ll quickly notice that the house is steeped in the families history and everywhere you look there are portraits, artefacts and mementos that tell a thousand stories and tales of the Beresford-Ash family. Melanie told us some of these tales and it was a fun and fascinating journey through her families history, it is no exaggeration to say that you could easily spend days just looking at all the different pieces of furniture, items or paintings that fill the house, it is an absolute feast for the eyes! We had the opportunity to see numerous rooms, each with its own character and stories – it was a truly fascinating way to spend a morning. If you are visiting Derry then do make an appointment to visit Ashbrook, this beautiful historical house makes a lovely counterbalance to the thriving and bustling city, I highly recommend a visit!

You can find out more about Ashbrook and book a tour by visiting their website http://www.ashbrookestate.com/ and they have great Facebook and Twitter accounts too that are well worth a follow to see great pictures and info about this beautiful house.

While you are visiting Ashbrook do drop in to the lovely Beech Hill Country House for a walk around their beautiful grounds to discover where the US Marines were based during WWII and you can enjoy some gorgeous food! For more information about the lovely Faughan Valley and to find accommodation please visit http://www.discoverfaughanvalley.com/

I hope you enjoy our blog, if anyone has any suggestions for places to visit I’d love to hear them. Please leave a comment below or find us on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.

If you’d like to consider supporting us you can do so by downloading one of our audioguides. They are narrated by professional actors, and contain original music by talented musician Enda Seery to help immerse you in the story. They generally run for around 45mins and can be downloaded from our website at www.abartaaudioguides.com. A number are available free of charge and others cost just €1.99, so if you’d like to hear the story of Glendalough, or what life in Dublin was like when it was a Viking Longphort please do try our guides.

Ashbrook House from the air

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The remains of the monastic site at Killeshin really is one of Ireland's best hidden gems. It was originally founded in the sixth century by St. Dermot, but it was St. Comhdan who became the patron of the site.

Killeshin had a turbulent history with many accounts of raids by warring Irish tribes, particularly in the 11th century. It was plundered and demolished in 1041, and it is recorded that Diarmuid, son of Mael na mBó, was responsible. He was lord of the tribe known as the Ui Ceinnsealaigh who were mortal enemies of the Ui Bairrche tribe that held the lands around Killeshin. It is reputed that Diarmuid tore down or ‘broke’ the oratory on the site, killed over one hundred people and took hundreds more as slaves. More desecration was recorded in 1077, when the monastery was again raided and several yew trees were burned. This was a clear act of defiance and desecration as yew trees were often planted by monks to mark the sacred boundaries of monasteries. 

The church that can be seen on the site today was built on the site of the broken oratory. It was built in the twelfth century, in the Romanesque architectural style. Killeshin is one of Ireland's finest examples of this style of architecture which features rounded arches and highly decorated doorways. At Killeshin, the doorway is absolutely magnificent. There are four arches around the doorway featuring carvings of chrevron, zig-zag, animal and foliage design. The capitals of the arches have human faces carved on them with different expressions and some even beards on their faces. Some suggest that use of shallow carvings and different colour stone indicates that this doorway was probably painted. There are also two inscriptions carved into the doorway. One inscription is for Cellachan - who may have been the master stone mason or artist on the site. The other inscription refers to Diarmuid Mac Murrough, the King of Leinster from around 1126 to 1171. He is the man that is credited with inviting the Normans into Ireland. It has been suggested that the boundary between the two warring tribes, the Ui Bairrche and Ui Chennselaigh, was incorporated into a new diocese in 1152, and this may have prompted Diarmuid as the King over the entire province to commission this masterpiece of Irish craftsmanship and continental design. 

The chancel of the church, where the altar would have stood, was probably built years after the nave and doorway. The windows that can be seen in the wall of the chancel are ogee headed and this style was used in around the 15th and 16th centuries. A round tower once stood to the north west of the church. This round tower was probably constructed in the tenth or eleventh century. Round Towers were important status symbols for monasteries and would have been used as bell towers and look outs. The round tower at Killeshin was unfortunately pulled down in 1703  by Captain Wolseley. It was said that a local farmer was afraid that masonry from the tower might fall on his cows. The stone from the round tower was used to build houses in the locality. A medieval baptismal font can still be seen outside the wonderful doorway. 

Baptismal Font

When the Norman mercenaries came to Ireland to help Diarmuid Mac Murrough defeat his enemies, tracts of land throughout Leinster came into Norman ownership. When Diarmuid died shortly after the initial wave of Normans landed on the eastern shores of Ireland,  their leader, Richard de Clare, became the Lord of Leinster and he granted the lands around Killeshin to a loyal knight named de Clahull. He constructed a motte-and-bailey, and later a castle, in a field across the road from the monastery at Killeshin. Today there is no visible trace of that castle, but a flat mound can still be made out in the field where the castle would have once stood. The monastery at Killeshin became a parish church after the Norman conquest and it survived the Reformation, continuing in use up until the nineteenth century. 

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog, if you’d like to support us please consider downloading one of our acclaimed series of audioguides to Ireland’s heritage sites, they are packed with original music and sound effects and a really fun and immersive way of exploring Ireland’s past. They are available from abartaheritage.ie. Discover more about the story of Killeshin and the other incredibly atmospheric ancient churches and monasteries of County Laois by downloading the free audioguide The Laois Monastic Trail.

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I'd never been a huge fan of laksa in the past. The reason was because of that pungent green laksa leaf, which literally made my face clench up every time I tried it. And yet, a few months ago, I was at a party where a DIY laksa bar was set up, and these caterers were supposed to be well-known for making good laksa. Just as an experiment, I tried assembling a small bowl without any of that green leaf, and to my surprise, I absolutely loved it. It was spicy yet creamy from the coconut milk, and I even went back for at least a few more bowls. Man, had I been missing out!

So when I saw some stalls at Bukit Merah Central selling laksa this morning, I figured that I'd grab a bowl, asking them *not* to include any leaf in it. And yes, I liked it, with that rich and fishy coconut broth being one of the best parts of it. Indeed, I was about to go back for a second bowl until I realized that we had to leave. Well, I guess this cilantro-lover now better understands why some people just can't stand cilantro: laksa leaf (and Vietnamese fish mint) are presumably just as off-putting to me as cilantro is to them.

ThePoles.com also has an update today with news from the North Pole. It seems that a nasty storm hit the north-bound teams over the weekend causing them to drift off course, in some cases for miles, and forcing the ice to drift Eastward as well. But as of today, things seem to be improving.

Alain and Dixie were waylaid by the storm and spent the day in their tend. Ice drift pushed them to the South-East and caused them to lose as much as 5km distance.

Over on Lake Baikal the team is continuing to progress as they make the first expedition across that lake. The team reports that they are no longer counting the days on the ice nor the days they have left, but instead they dream of all the wonderful creature comforts they are missing, and think of warmer places.

Finally, two supported North Pole expeditions are also making progress. Rose Stancer is head North on a solo expedition was also caught in the storm, and reports that she lost distance thanks to negative drift, but is expected to be back on track today. Adrian Hayes is hoping for a resupply today, as long as the weather holds out.

Another Korean chicken place has opened up in Singapore (3 Pickering St #01-44/45, 6223-4545), but this one bakes its chicken rather than deep frying it. While that may make one's conscience feel better, it just wasn't as crispy as its less healthy counterpart. I wonder if some of that was because it had been sitting around waiting for the lunch hour rather than being freshly baked.

The good thing though was that these came out naked rather than being slathered in an excessively sweet sauce, the latter of which is the main reason why I don't get cravings for Korean fried chicken. Being undressed meant that I could actually taste the cinnamon (or was it anise?) in the batter. One could buy dipping sauces if one wanted to though, including a rather sweet yet spicy gochujang-like mixture.

The arm-chair warriors amongst us will like this post on NPR:

"Five times between June 2007 and June 2008 the writer Sebastian Junger traveled to a remote Army outpost in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan. Junger, a contributing editor for Vanity Fair, made the trip to embed with a company of soldiers from the Army's 173rd Airborne brigade as they fought to keep the Taliban from controlling a small, treacherous plot of land."

I have yet to read all of the article and listen to the excerpts, but I can easily predict that a book such as this one, and its supporting hoopla, glorifies war.

On my flight back to NYC, I tried to watch "The Hurt Locker"...5 minutes into the movie, I turned it off. Is it eyeball fatigue from all the war coverage since 2001 or is it moral disgust...or is it both?

Today's Washington post, on one of the busiest flying days in history, has a story about the deadly impact of jet lag. The story is based on an academic study of mice which seems to point out that elderly mice have a great accelerated death rate from too much jet lag.

Back in 1969 and 1970 I drove from London to India and back over the course of two years. No jet lag that way, of course. But I always noted that tourists who had flown in-- especially to India-- were a mess. I chalked it up to being unable to cope with the sudden upending of their cultural universe. But, of course, the effects of jet lag can be very disconcerting.

I got home yesterday after two flights from Buenos Aires (around 10 hours) and Dallas (around 3 hours). I'm not jet lagged at all. That's because most of the trip was north-south, not east-west, which means I didn't crossed many time zones, the cause of jet lag. The Post article is worth reading and it talks about ways to ameliorate the problem (including wearing sunglasses when you arrive at your destination!).


When I had to travel to Europe on business frequently I got used to flying on an overnight British Air flight from Los Angeles to London, first class in a fully reclining flat bed. It didn't eliminate jet lag entirely but, at $10,000 a pop, it seemed to make it a lot less burdensome. I could usually be ready for a business meeting within hours of arriving. Before I found a corporation to pay for that I used to fly economy class-- my first trip to Europe (on Icelandic Air) was $99 to Luxembourg-- I was a walking disaster for at least a day or two before I could adjust.

That was much better than I thought it would be (11 South Bridge Road #01-004). Based on appearances, I had figured that the noodles would be too soft and everything else unremarkable. But to my surprise, the noodles were reasonably firm, the broth was rich, and the fatty pork was seared by hand. I nearly finished the bowl.

Still, I won't go back there. Yes, I could nitpick on both the broth (strangely liver-y) and pork (a bit dry), but the real reason is that I'm getting kinda sick of tonkotsu ramen. There's just way too much of it around here. Will Keisuke please please please please puuuulllleeeze bring back his wonderfully aromatic ebi ramen instead?? I guess that the Naked Finn's prawn beehoon will be my closest proxy for that for now.

Over the weekend a new episode of the Rest of Everest was released, continuing this season's expedition which has left Broad Peak for the slopes of K2. As is typical on these big mountain expeditions, weather dictates when the team can move and that is certainly the case here. The team, confined to its tent, waits for an opportunity to move up. This is a good example of what life is like on an expedition to the Himalaya or Karakoram where sometimes all you can do is sit in the tent and hope that a weather window will eventually open.

After my previous post about what an airborne cesspool Delta has become, Ken wrote a comment that I've heard voiced by many. It's about the whole frequent flyer conundrum, particularly the hope to be able to cash in with a big trip someday. Because I worked as president of a large company and traveled all over for years (in frequent flyer miles-producing first class), both domestically and internationally, I've acquired over a million miles-- and with all the carriers. And the bad news: Delta miles are the closest to worthless of any.

The Independent Traveler has done 2 interesting articles on how useless frequent flyer miles can be. "'I've had a Delta credit card for 10 years, and have never once been able to use the miles to travel,' says Misa Greenwood, who flies approximately once a month. 'They tell me I need to book six months in advance, or that a Saturday night stay is required, or that there are no seats left.' Even for upgrades, Greenwood has been stymied. 'I bought a ticket online, then called Delta to inquire about an upgrade,' she recalls. 'They told me the ticket was not eligible for an upgrade. No free flights, no upgrades; what's the point?'"

I've spent hours and hours and hours on the phone trying to book off-the-beaten path vacations with my Delta Miles. (Damn you, American Express!). I mean look at this blog; I'll go anywhere. And, more often than not-- like by a margin of 10 to 1 or 20 to 1 or more, there is nothing available. And I always plan months and months in advance; and, being retired and without a care in the world, I'm flexible as can be. Once I was on with a Delta agent for at least 2 hours trying to book a vacation-- total flexibility for leaving and returning and a wide number of places I'd be willing to go: Europe (anywhere), India, Thailand, Senegal. Frustrated and exasperated I finally just said to Ms. Robot on the other end of the line, "OK, I'll go anywhere, any class, any time in January or February for approximately one month. Any city. What's available?" Nothing was available.

So, Ken, Helen, everyone else... don't count on a big Delta SkyMiles score. One radio talk show host who does travel talk once said that over 85% of Delta requests are turned down and that although Delta was the worst, the other big U.S. airlines were nearly as bad. Take a look at Consumer Affairs if you're brave enough to hear the bad news about Delta's SkyMiles program. The stories are pretty miserable and when you experience them in real time, they're worse than miserable. And they are standard Delta fare. Flyer Talk ran an interesting piece on the 2005 "evolution" of Delta's SkyMiles program entitled "Are Delta's Frequent Flyer Changes Their Death Knell?"


The most recent Zagat's Guide airline surveyjust came out and it does not paint a pretty picture. The bullet points: "Ratings and Reviews Worst Since Survey Began in 1990; Mid-size and International Carriers Fare Best With Traveling Public; Continental Best Among Disappointing Major U.S. Carriers, JetBlue Up and Coming." They call it "an industry in steep decline" and point out that the U.S. airlines' "relations with customers are so poor, they're fortunate that passengers have few other places to turn."

Perhaps you'd like to see the Full Text of Class-Action Complaint Filed Against Delta class action suit passengers took out against Delta? Even if all the legalese makes your eyes glaze over, the constant stream of Delta flyers' complaints that you can find online always gives the best taste of what you can expect from these not very friendly skies.

Add Adidas to the growing list of sports apparel companies that are entering the GPS fitness watch market. Yesterday the new device was unveiled at a technology conference in San Francisco where the watch's specs showed that it will be packing some serious technology when it hits store shelves on November 1.

As you would probably expect, the watch will have integrated GPS for tracking speed, movement, change in altitude, etc. It also has a built-in heart rate monitor and can create a custom workout program based on performance, displaying prompts on its large, bright and colorful touch screen to indicate what is expected of the person wearing it. It also sports onboard storage for carrying a workout playlist of music and Bluetooth connectivity allows you to pair it with wireless headphones to listen to your tunes while on a run. The device will also be able to provide audio cues to the wearer over those same headphones, serving up information on their performance as they go. The Bluetooth functionality will not allow the watch to connect with a smartphone however and all fitness apps will be baked into the device itself.

The new sports watch, which apparently doesn't have a name yet, also has on board WiFi, allowing it to share your workout data with Adidas' miCoach fitness cloud. As you would expect, it is also water resistant and built to withstand plenty of punishment that comes along with regular exercise.

Battery life is said to vary by activity and features that are turned on. With GPS activated and streaming music it'll last approximately 8 hours, but in "watch mode" it'll last about a week. That's about standard for a watch like this one however and not all that surprising.

As mentioned, the watch is due out November 1 and will carry a price tag of $399. I'm looking forward to hearing more about this entry into the fitness watch line-up. It seems we're going to see a lot of these devices over the next few years and it'll be interesting to watch them evolve.

Alan has published several briefs on his Everest 2007 page to help keep us up to date on what's happening over there.

On the North Side, Alex Abramov's 7 Summits Club has arrived in Kathmandu and have met with Russel Brice's Himex team to discuss fixing ropes up the mountain. As reported, the Himex Sherpa's will go up the mountain to put down the fixed ropes for the other teams, with every climber putting $100 into Brice's coffers. Himex will also, as is the norm, set the climbing schedule for the other teams using their ropes.

Over on the South side, the report is that the Sherpas have been building tent platforms for all the teams that will be arriving soon at Base Camp. Alan also explains the politics of BC a bit, with teams sending their Sherpas in early to mark out a preferred spot. He notes that some teams like to be close to the Khumbu Icefalls to shorten their climb some, while others prefer to be further away to prevent traffic from going through their camp.

Also, check out the short introduction to the "Teahouses" in the area that act as hostels for the climbers trekking up the Khumbu Valley to BC. It's a nice read and offers insights into the climbing exerpience that you don't always find somewhere else. Great stuf Alan!

I think the first time I figured out that, generally speaking, renting a place was better than staying in a hotel was 1970. I rented a house for a couple of months on the beach in Goa. Once I figured out the function of the herd of pigs on the property, everything was smooth as silk and I settled in for a nice leisurely stay in my very first post-college home-of-my-own. It took me about 3 days to convince myself that I was actually a Goan and start, relatively speaking, integrating myself into the pulse of the community. I don't recall ever seeing a hotel in Goa although I'd hear from the hippies and other travelers who came to our beach-- the one that was 30 steps from my front door-- that there were hotels.

When you're staying in a place for less than a month, renting a place is tough. After my 10th trip to Thailand I finally figured out that a secluded villa on Phuket was way more what I was looking for than a berth at even the nicest of hotels. I don't think I ever put on any clothes for weeks at a time. And then a couple years ago I rented a villa overlooking the Ayung River in central Bali. Except to go pick up a friend who was staying at the Ritz, I never even visited the tourist ghetto on the island and, as far as I could tell from my vantage over the Ayung, I was indeed the only non-Balinese on the entire island.

These days, whenever I can, I always rent an apartment or a house rather than stay in a hotel. So, when planning my trip to Argentina a few months ago I was delighted when Lieber, an Argentine waiter at my favorite raw foods restaurant, told me that renting apartments was a very normal thing to do in Buenos Aires for anyone staying at least a week. Perfect! I found what looked like a reputable rental agency that specializes in dealing with foreigners and quickly found an apartment in the part of town (Recoleta) everybody was telling me was the safest and best located.

The apartment was perfect, right on Posadas, across the street from the Four Seasons Hotel-- a light, airy, well-kept one bedroom, with a living room, dining area and kitchenette, fully supplied with everything from sheets and silverware to a free phone for local calls, Wi-FI, a doorman and daily maid service. And the price? Prices vary based on location, size, all that stuff, but generally it costs for a week what you would pay for a night in a comparable hotel.

The agency I used was BytArgentina and I couldn't find anything online about them being unscrupulous or anything like that. My experience with the agents I used on Bali, BaliVillas, was superb and I just assumed-- uh oh-- that BytArgentina would be as good. They weren't-- and I mentioned what went wrong in a story I did a couple weeks ago about safety and scams in Buenos Aires.

In this case, the company (or perhaps the owner of the apartment, more likely), shrewdly not accepting credit cards, only cash, managed to separate me from $500. I had no recourse other than to suck it up. Something similar had happened to me in Tangier decades ago at the El Minzah Hotel (best in town), a $100 travelers check having been removed from the safe behind the reception desk! Left me with a bad taste in my mouth, but, after trying a couple of less grand hotels, I wound up back at the El Minzah a few times since. I know for sure I'd never rent an apartment through BytArgentina again (nor from Graciela Ujaque, the owner of the apartment). Would I rent an apartment in Buenos AIres again? 100% yes. Let me tell you why.

Aside from getting a sense of belonging to a culture that most hotel guests can never experience, there are some tangible reasons I like to get my own place. I don't eat junk food and I take breakfast seriously. Even in NYC, where I do stay in a hotel, I always get one with a kitchenette. That way I can stock up on healthy goodies (fruits, nuts, etc) and on breakfast goods (blueberries, melons, papayas, lemons...) and have a place to store them and prepare them conveniently. It is virtually always much less expensive to rent your own place than to stay in a hotel. And it's far more personal.

Not everyone agrees, of course. One of my friends found my luxurious villa (with 4 servants-- including the best cook on the island of Bali-- and a swimming pool) akin to camping out. She was eager to move to the more... sterile environment of the Ritz. (I talked about that syndrome a little when I discussed the Park Hyatt in Buenos Aires a few weeks ago.) Some people, maybe most, would prefer to be pampered and to have everything done for them, something more likely in a hotel. Me, I like going to the local markets and shopping for day to day stuff. You start to feel the rhythm of the town's life. Last time I stayed in Marrakesh, I gave up on the Mamounia and stayed in a riad instead, sort of halfway between a hotel and an apartment; well, not halfway, but we definitely had the feeling of being part of the neighborhood.

I've often mentioned that Delta is the worst of all the awful domestic carriers. I try to avoid flying that airline when there is an alternative going to the same destination. I even stopped using my American Express card and using my Master Card instead, the former hooked up to Delta and the latter to the less venal American. It seems like all the news we get from the airline industry these days is bad news. Earlier in the week I wrote about the heinous, anti-democratic rich-people-to-the-front-of-the-line-please Fly Clear program. And we've all been experiencing how the airlines are nickeling and diming us all to death with fees for everything. I'm certain pay toilets on board are next-- and I'll bet Delta leads the way.

Still, to be fair, Delta is actually leading the way on something awesome for a change-- albeit a new way of squeezing more money out of travelers. According to today's Washington Post wireless Internet starts this fall! Actually it'll only be on 133 MD88/90 planes this fall. The rest of the fleet won't be ready 'til next summer. "The service will be available to customers for a flat fee of $9.95 on flights of three hours or less and $12.95 on flights of more than three hours."


UPDATE: Meanwhile, JetBlue Is Charging For A Pillow

I just saw a Jet Blue executive, CEO Jeff Barger, making the unique, if twisted, case that his company's decision to start charging $7 for a pillow and a blanket was a great bargain. Apparently those pillows and blankets we've all been using on planes were filthy and germ-ridden and only laundered every few weeks. The $7 ones are fresh and clean and you get to take it with you... if you have room in your costly checked luggage.

The new issue of Time points out that Southwest is the "one major airline that is bucking the trend of increasing fees... [and] still doesn't charge for checked bags (up to two), nonalcoholic drinks, blankets or making a change to your flight." On the other end of the spectrum, USAirways "broke new ground last week by starting to charge for all beverages: $2 for a soft drink (or even a bottle of water); $1 for coffee or tea. Checked bags cost $15 and $25; flight changes are $150."

I needed a quick bite before getting on the plane at Changi T3 today, so I stopped at Itacho again, figuring that I could order a few a la carte pieces without getting too full. They had some special yellowtail menu with a range of toppings including yuzukosho and black truffles, the latter of which was in the foreground (one of the others without a topping was actually dotted with truffle oil). It tasted like one would imagine it would taste: clichéd and nothing to get overly excited about, but at least it was better than what I would have expected of a place that places tubs of powdered wasabi paste on the counter. I think I've been spoiled too much by Sasa, Mitsuya, and Mizutani.

To be honest, I not a big beach person. I'm afraid of sharks, not a huge sunburn fan and I've read so much about sewage being dumped into the oceans, that I tend to prefer a nice saltwater (non-chlorine) swimming pool. HOWEVER, I do make some exceptions-- and the beaches of Sri Lanka (and Phuket) are way high up on that list of exceptions. But after a week or so of relaxing on the south coast beaches of Sri Lanka, we were ready for the cultural heartland. Sri Lanka is a tropical country; it's always hot. We were there in December/January and that's probably slightly cooler-- though not noticeably so-- but it is in the midst of the West and East coasts' dry season. The hill country is always a bit cooler, very pleasantly so and a bit wetter.

I was eager to get to Kandy because I had such fond memories of the place from 1970. But our first stop was Nuwara Eliya in the beautiful, hilly tea-growing area. Basically it is green, green, green-- lush and gorgeous-- kind of manicured jungle-- and you're up in the clouds. We stayed at a grand old colonial hotel, St. Andrew's, which had the ambiance of a lodge or a gentleman's club. The service was impeccable-- and never uptight; just right. And whoever was preparing the food, obviously cared about pleasing, even titillating, the people being fed. And the place was embarrassingly inexpensive, probably because it is so off the beaten path. A little further off the path I saw an ayurvedic "day spa" and decided to avail myself of its services. What a treat; again, the prices were astoundingly low and the service... well, it couldn't possibly be any better. If I was as much of a naturalist health freak then as I am now, I probably would have stayed for a few days. But we pushed on to Kandy.

Kandy is in the center of the island and about 1600 feet above sea level. The setting is beautiful and the vibe is pretty laid back. It was the capital of the country before the Brits took over early in the 19th century and was and is the cultural capital of the Sri Lankans, or at least of the Sinhalese. We stayed at an old (and perhaps once grand) hotel called The Suisse Hotel across the lake, more of less, from the Temple of the Tooth. The hotel was delightful in a charmingly run-down sort of way. I remember big, stately public rooms and wide, shady, comfortable verandahs. The individual accommodations were nothing to write home about except to say that it was so inexpensive that it was mind-boggling. And the food was excellent; they were serious about the service. If you're fussy and anal this might not be the hotel for you-- but in 1997 there probably wasn't a hotel in Kandy for you. I don't know if they've put up a Best Western or Hilton in now, although I would doubt it. With virtually no business and no beach, wealthy Westerners probably aren't as drawn to Kandy as they should be. We didn't do much of anything except live the Kandy life as much as we could, meeting people, hanging around the Temple of the Tooth, that kind of thing. (Steve is on his way to start his new job at Shambhala in Colorado today-- driving across the U.S.-- and I just called him on his cell and asked him what he remembers of our trip, 10 years ago, to Kandy and the Lankan cultural triangle. He didn't remember a lot more than I did but he says we were the only tourists in town. He had a great run-in with an elephant near the Temple of the Tooth and Roland claims to have a copy and I'll try to post it if I can.)

After a 3 relaxing, blissful days in mellow, languid, very friendly, very Buddhist Kandy, we headed north to where all the ancient sites are. Somehow we wound up driving down a windy, bumpy dirt road in the middle of nowhere that brought us to our hotel in Dambulla, the Kandalama. This is the kind of place people must helicopter in to and just have their whole holiday in the hotel. It's a "green hotel," meaning at one with the natural environment. And it was sort of carved into the cliffs of a mountain, overlooking a spectacular lake/wildlife preserve. All three of us remember having showers and looking out a floor to ceiling window that overlooked the lake and watching the elephants shower themselves while the monkeys watching us showering ourselves. There is nothing like the Kandalama in Sri Lanka. We kept asking ourselves how it had gotten there. It was incredibly modern and beautiful and pretty much the opposite of funky. The memory of the infinity pool that looked down on the lake was something that I have never gotten out of my mind.

Dambulla and nearby Sigirya were the places we visited from the Kandalama; I remember a lot of climbing around in the hot sun. Dambulla have this huge incredible ancient cave with so many Buddha images it made my head spin. It was really beautiful and well worth the strenuous schlepp up the mountain. Nearby Sigirya is this big flat-topped rock that was transformed into an impregnable fortress over a thousand years ago. What you see now is the ruins of a gigantic citadel. One day isn't enough time, nor is only one day in slightly more further afield Polannaruwa, another place with really impressive ruins. Our last day in the cultural triangle, and the furthest north we ventured in Sri Lanka was Anuradhapura, the largest and the oldest of the ancient towns. And, at least when we were there, the most dangerous. It wasn't crocs or sharks or snakes this time, but Tamil rebels we had to fear. In fact I don't remember much about Anuradhapura because of how uptight all the security was. It was really the only time we were in Sri Lanka-- other than when we passed the wreck of a recently blown-up building in Colombo-- that we could feel we were in the midst of a civil war. I remember visiting the scared bodhi tree and some monk telling us that in the very spot where we were doing some prayers some Tamil rebels has shot and killed a bunch of pilgrims a few days before. I think we saw some remnants of blood. And then we decided to go to Thailand.

We stopped at Negombo first. After the glorious wonders of the southern beaches, this village north of Colombo was a big turn off. It was filled with package tour holidayers from Europe and there wasn't really much charming about it. The hotel sucked. When we went back to Colombo to catch the plane to Thailand we stayed at the big modern hotel, the Hilton. It was pretty luxurious compared to what we had gotten used to-- and still just around $100 for a double. The airport security was a nightmare, but not all that different from what security has turned into in the U.S. lately-- but, of course, they were in a real war, not a war on terror invented by Karl Rove to prop up George Bush's calamitous presidency and to excuse his illegal excesses.

No, I didn't come all of the way to Colorado to get Jamaican food. But the sausage stand that I was trying to get to had just closed for the day, and I needed food. So I walked further down the 16th Street Mall to Stout Street and came across this food cart, and fortunately, they served half orders.

So I got this jerk chicken in the hopes that it would be nice and spicy, but it wasn't. Maybe my perception of this dish is warped by a particularly hot one that I had back in school, but this one was tame. I still ate all of the delicious rice underneath, but I passed on the chicken. I wonder how the rest of their food is though.