Mobissimo

It's bad enough you're stuck in a metal tube, in seats designed to replicate Medieval torture devices, eating food that you wouldn't feed your worst enemy. But the thought of adding a seat mate who spends the entire flight engaged in mindless jabbering on a cell phone is more than I can bear. Yet, Ryanair and now Emirates have both announced they are installing technology on their planes to allow passengers to yammer away to their heart's content mid-flight. If this truly becomes the future of air travel, I am scared. I just hope my headphone strategy, which works so well with seat talkers, will continue to work. If not, there are always cell phone jammers. Or an innocent stretch that knocks the cell phone loose. Or a cold, biting stare. Or smelly socks. I will call upon my full arsenal of deterrents to stop this infringement of my personal air space. It's an outrage I say. An outrage.

Traveling with a laptop is a requirement for a lot of people these days. Whether for business or pleasure, having a portable computer handy with all personal files, bookmarks, etc can be a boon. Despite all the new restrictions airlines installed for laptops (due to flaming batteries manufactured by Sony, etc), most of us cannot survive without satisfying our addiction to email, and the World Wide Web. How much is one willing to endure in order for the convenience of being able to surf the Internet? When does the inconvenience outweigh the convenience of having a laptop with you?

Here's an attempt to answer that question.

Mykonos, Corfu, and Ios have long been the big party islands in Greece. But if the NY Times is to be believed, Paros is quietly becoming a viable alternative to these for those looking for an alternative:

I was beginning to see how Paros was supposedly usurping Mykonos as the party capital of the Cyclades. Its position, smack in the middle of the archipelago — and the first stop for nearly all ferries leaving from the mainland — has always made Paros the perfect jumping-off point for island hoppers. In the last few years, however, day trippers have taken note of Paros’s stunning landscape and cheaper prices. In other words, the spillover from Mykonos and Santorini has turned Paros into a destination itself.

Obviously by writing about it, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. But who am I to question? Paros is a nice island. It's no Santorini, but it's nice. Give it try.

Seems the non-profit, Doctors of the World, gave away free tents to homeless people in Paris last December. As a result, tent cities sprouted up all across the city, especially along the Seine and evidently a citizenry that has no problem wading through mountains of doo poo on every corner has taken offense at the unsightly tents and have flooded city hall with complaints:

Tent camps have become a familiar sight in Paris since the aid group Doctors of the World, or Medecins du Monde, first distributed tents in December to shelter the homeless and make their plight less invisible.

But complaints about the tents have been pouring into City Hall, and four tents were burned this weekend in circumstances that are still unclear. With Paris sweltering in a heat wave, authorities say the tents are unsanitary and dangerous.

[snip]

France, with a population of nearly 63 million, has about 86,500 homeless people, according to a landmark 2001 study by the INSEE statistics agency. The Abbe Pierre Foundation, which works with the homeless, said this year that the figure is closer to 150,000.

The government fears the tents give people a reason to stay on the streets, expose them to sanitation problems and encourage them to live in groups -- a problem because it is harder to persuade them to get help.

"The government's objective in this affair is simple: no more tents," said Benoist Apparu, communications official for the Ministry of Social Cohesion. "Not because we don't like tents, but because the problem with them is that we have enough trouble as it is getting people off the street, persuading them to move to a shelter or a rehabilitation center."

Paris should do what cold states in the U.S. have been doing for years. Giving homeless one way bus tickets to California. But in this case, send them to Nice or better yet, Spain. Anyhoot, with hotel prices among the highest in the world, why not consider bringing a tent and pitching it along the others in a sign of solidarity with Paris's homeless and saving a few bucks in the process. Via Boston Globe.

I like the finality of that sentence. The definitive. There is none better. So say the folks over at TravelPost who have compiled an extensive list of hot spots in airports across the nation. Good work lads and lasses. Add a search box to make it easier to find the airports in your next version please.

The process of picking a travel guide usually comes down to deciding between the publishing oligarchy of Lonely Planet, Fodors, Michelin and a few of the other majors. You've got them, and then you've got the others which for any city or country can number in the dozens. So how to chose? Difficult question, and I have no easy answer my faithful readers. I'm sure someone has blogged about all the different nuances of each guide. Lonely Planet for the more budget conscious, self planning, backpacker type. Fodors and Michelin for the older, monied traveler. Let's Go for students. But other than blind brand loyalty, Amazon comments or recommendations from friends, it's a crapshoot. Especially city guides. Most city guides, in my opinion, are poor value for the money because they're usually outdated, boring, or in general, tell you nothing more than you could find out on the internet or a copy of Time Out. That being said, I'm going to give a plug for this Tel Aviv city guide (buy on Amazon). Though I've never read it, one of the contributors to the guide, Lisa Grossman, writes a pretty good blog from Israel called On The Face and so in true blog solidarity, I'm giving it a plug. Now I'm sure visiting Israel to dodge katushyas is not high on everybody's list of vacations, but in case you go, pick up a copy. Support bloggers that can actually write and make a living at it. Or maybe she's a writer that actually blogs. 

Traveling this summer? Here's a list of from World Hum of their picks for the top travel books of all time:

No. 1: “Arabian Sands” by Wilfred Thesiger

No. 2: “The Road to Oxiana” by Robert Byron

No. 3: “The Great Railway Bazaar” by Paul Theroux

No. 4: “The Soccer War” by Ryszard Kapuściński

No. 5: “No Mercy” by Redmond O’Hanlon

No. 6: “North of South” by Shiva Naipaul

No. 7: “Golden Earth” by Norman Lewis

No. 8: “Video Night in Kathmandu” by Pico Iyer

No. 9: “The Innocents Abroad” by Mark Twain

No. 10: “In A Sunburned Country” by Bill Bryson

No. 11: “The Snow Leopard” by Peter Matthiessen

No. 12: “The Songlines” by Bruce Chatwin

No. 13: “Travels with Charley” by John Steinbeck

No. 14: “Riding to the Tigris” by Freya Stark

No. 15: “Europe, Europe” by Hans Magnus Enzensberger

No. 16: “City of Djinns” by William Dalrymple

No. 17: “A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush” by Eric Newby

No. 18: “All the Wrong Places” by James Fenton

No. 19: “Hunting Mister Heartbreak” by Jonathan Raban

No. 20: “River Town” by Peter Hessler

No. 21: “Road Fever” by Tim Cahill

No. 22: “When the Going was Good” by Evelyn Waugh

No. 23: “Behind the Wall” by Colin Thubron

No. 24: “Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere” by Jan Morris

No. 25: “A Time of Gifts” by Patrick Leigh Fermor

No. 26: “Baghdad Without a Map” by Tony Horwitz

No. 27: “The Size of the World” by Jeff Greenwald

No. 28: “Facing the Congo” by Jeffrey Tayler

No. 29: “Venture to the Interior” by Laurens van der Post

No. 30: “A Turn in the South” by V.S. Naipaul

Via Jaunted.

Perhaps the stupidest idea I've ever heard for an airline. But it just might work. Smokers are addicts after all and will probably scramble for the chance to sit in a metal tube at 30,000 feet breathing other people's second hand smoke. Why waste time waiting for lung cancer when you can go out and grab it by the horns. Yeah boy. From BBC News:

A German entrepreneur plans to launch the world's first smokers' airline next year, promising a return to the times before planes became smoke-free zones. Alexander Schoppmann, a former stockbroker, is seeking the start-up cash for Smintair - Smoker's International Airways. On its website Smintair promises to "bring back the exclusivity in flying encountered in the 1960s". The plan is to fly two leased Boeing 747s on the Duesseldorf-Tokyo route. Old-fashioned luxuries The airline will not offer economy-class tickets, but will target business people who enjoy smoking - and who are willing to pay for some extra pampering. Smoking will be allowed in all 138 seats on board - and there will be extra leg room, because jumbo jets normally accommodate more passengers. "The upper deck will be the passengers' lounge and not be jammed with seats, as you can sadly find everywhere, nowadays," the website says. "Allergics against tobacco smoke or militant anti-smokers are asked to not apply," Smintair says on its jobs page.

UPDATE: In case you were holding out that second hand smoke was innocuous, here is the latest from a report in the SF Chronicle:

"The health effects of secondhand smoke exposure are more pervasive than we previously thought," Carmona said. "The scientific evidence is now indisputable: secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance. It is a serious health hazard that can lead to disease and premature death in children and nonsmoking adults."

Forget KFC in Vietnam, it's all about the KFQuail in Ho Chi Minh City. For under a buck you can eat like a king. From Time Asia:

The birds are served with a warm Vietnamese baguette, slices of cucumber, fresh rau ram (a herb that tastes like a cross between coriander and hot mint), a salt, pepper and lemon dip, and a side of fiery chili sauce. The combination of flavors and textures is exquisite.

Some of the best purveyors can be found on To Hien Thanh Street and Cach Mang Thang Tam Street in District 3. Eaten curbside or taken back to your hotel, your purchase will cost the princely sum of 9,000 dong, or about 55 cents. For a complete meal, add a steamed corncob from one of the many vendors nearby for around 12 cents, before concluding with che dau van, a sweetened-coconut and green-bean confection, for 6 cents

If you're not familiar with the Mission style burrito, let me give you the run down. Start with a tortilla the size of a small dog, grill or steam it, fill it with meat (pork, beef, tongue, chicken, animal part of your choice, etc. ), rice, beans, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, etc. then get two strong burley men to help you lift and eat it, because these things are huge. Gigantic. Bigger than Dolly' Parton's hair on a Friday at the Honkey Tonk (where do I get this stuff?). They've been known to roll down hills and take out entire city blocks when left unattended. In my opinion, there is no better weight to price to taste ratio in the world when it comes to the Mission burrito. I'm willing to bet on that. Now, I'm not sure if they were actually invented in the Mission, the oh-so-trendy used-to-be-hispanic -now-gentrifying-with-culture-stomping-yuppies San Francisco neighborhood., But if they weren't, they should have been. I my not have eaten at as many Taquerias as the Burritoeater, but I've had my fair share. Enough to form opinions on the best places to eat these gastronomic mammoths. Keep in mind, there is no one "best" burrito place in The City. It depends on your price point and individual burrito preferences. For example, if you're vegetarian and like your tortilla heated on the grill rather than steamed, then Taqueria Cancun is the place you want. Excellent guacamole, fresh ingredients, and at $3.25 a pop last time I checked, the best taste/value anywhere. Read the reviews on Tribe.net. If you don't mind paying a little more and like mouth watering pieces of steak or chicken, fresh avocado, and salsa from God, La Taqueria (read reviews on Yelp.com) is your place. The burritos are tops, but they also serve one of the most amazing chicken quesadillas you'll have in your life. Ask for avocado and believe me, your life will be complete. So there you have it. Yet another front-line review, from the world's favorite's food reviewer. Well, maybe not the world's, but my mom says I'm the best writer she's ever read. Thanks mom.

Taqueria Cancun
2288 Mission St
San Francisco, CA 94110-1812
(415) 252-9560
Cross Street: 19th Street

La Taqueria
2889 Mission St
San Francisco, CA 94110-3907
(415) 285-7117
Cross Street: 25th Street

Holy jumping curries folks. I've been hankering for South Indian since I came back from India and unfortunately San Francisco despite all its fine cuisine has always been light on south Indian. That is until Dosa powered on to the scene in January. Occupying a location on Valencia street that has seen more faces than Paris Hilton's bed, Dosa landed with a bang in January and hasn't looked back since. The place is full every night of the week and is as busy as a Bombay samosa stand.

We had the Tamil lamb curry and a Masala Dosa, take out, so I can't comment on the service, but the people who helped us were amazingly friendly, so we expect service will be top notch. The curry was piquant without burning the roof of your mouth off, with just the right amount of spices. I tasted a bit of almond that reminded me of the Punjabi dish I wrote about last week. But what do I know? The dish is described as having "Niman Ranch Lamb steeped in a sauce of fennel, tomatoes, poppy seeds, caramelized onions and a blend of other spices." It was delicious, take my word for it. Because, as my faithful readers know, my word is GOLD.

Now the Dosa. That reminded me of breakfast in Bombay. But it was dinner and I was sitting home with my boy running circles around the table, yelling something about airplanes and coconuts. If you're never had a Dosa, think of it as the Indian version of a pancake or crepe. Or think of the crepe and pancake as American and French versions of the Dosa. Either way, it's a crispy thin flour (I think) "crepe" fried with a filling like potato, vegetable, mineral. Most anything I guess, as long as it's Indian. It comes with coconut and tomato chutney which you layer on top like edible massage oil on ... Wait, right this is a food review, sorry. The chutneys had just the right amount of spice to give the Dosa a nice kick. If you want to get authentic, dip the Dosa in your Sambor, the spicy soup that comes with the chutneys. The Sambor could have used a bit more umpfh, but it did the job fine.

So there you have it, another culinary review masterpiece by Mobissimo's resident food critic. Another reason to go is you'll find yourself in one of the hottest neighborhoods in the country, as voted by a publication that will remain nameless so as to not promote this fact too much. You can hit Amnesia or MakeOutRoom, or Lone Palm or Elbo Room or any of the dozen or so more bars that are scattered within a short walking distance. But, shh, don't tell anyone. It's our little secret.

Address:
995 Valencia (@ 21st Street)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Website

Hours of Operation Starting June 6, 2006
Tuesday to Thursday & Sunday 5:30 pm to 10:00 pm
Friday & Saturday 5:30 pm to 11:00 pm

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The Mobi team was over in India for the launch of .In and had the chance to get out and enjoy New Delhi for an hour or two. If you've ever asked for recommendations for restaurants in India, you'll know people often recommend hotel resataurants. Well we got tired of hotel dining and mingling with other tourists and searched out one of the local restaurants. Punjabi By Nature came highly recommended and after dining at this North Indian restaurant, we concur. It make be a bit of a drive from your hotels, bu it's worth the trip. Here are a few dishes we had:

• Spicy Lam Korma: Delicious stewed lamb in an onion, yogurt base.
• Meat By Punjabi by Nature: This was by far the most amazing dish and the taste was unlike any we'd ever experienced eating North Indian. After chatting with the waiter the magic ingredient was uncovered. The distinctive taste came from almond mixed with chickpeas also in an onion gravy base.
• Paneer Makhani: This was probably the weakest of the dishes we had. The tomato and cream base lacked spice and character and the large chunks of cheese were too big in our opinion. A smaller size would have allowed us to enjoy the tomato based more

Overall, this was some of the best North Indian we've had anywhere in the world. Stop by and you won't be disappointed.

Cuisine	Punjabi
Hours	Daily 12:30-11:30pm
Address	11 Basant Lok, Vasant Vihar
Phone	011/2851-6665, 011/2851-6666, 011/2851-6667, 011/2851-6668, 011/2851-6669
Prices	Main courses Rs 150-Rs 395 ($3.15-$8.70); prawns Rs 435 ($9.50); lobster Rs 750 ($16)
Credit Cards	AE, DC, MC, V

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Not content with packing us in like sardines, the airlines are looking at new seat designs that will let them pack 'em in like, well, chickens? Anchovies? Bunnies? I'm at a loss for metaphor here. Help. Please. From today's NY Times:

Airbus has been quietly pitching the standing-room-only option to Asian carriers, though none have agreed to it yet. Passengers in the standing section would be propped against a padded backboard, held in place with a harness, according to experts who have seen a proposal.

But even short of that option, carriers have been slipping another row or two of seats into coach by exploiting stronger, lighter materials developed by seat manufacturers that allow for slimmer seatbacks. The thinner seats theoretically could be used to give passengers more legroom but, in practice, the airlines have been keeping the amount of space between rows the same, to accommodate additional rows

Want to sample the world's best airline lounges? Skytrax ranks the world's best. Of course, you'll have to travel abroad since no lounges in the United States made either list:

	FIRST CLASS LOUNGE RANKING		BUSINESS CLASS LOUNGE RANKING
	1 Cathay Pacific - HKG 2 Thai Airways - BKK 3 South African Airways - JNB 4 Asiana Airlines - ICN 5 Malaysia Airlines (KUL) 6 Lufthansa (FRA) 7 Singapore Airlines (SIN) 8 Qatar Airways (DOH) 9 Gulf Air (BAH) 10 Swiss (ZRH)		1 Cathay Pacific- HKG 2 Virgin Atlantic - LHR 3 Gulf Air - BAH 4 Asiana Airlines - ICN 5 Swiss - ZRH 6 Singapore Airlines - SIN 7 SAS Scandinavian - CPH 8 Malaysia Airlines - KUL 9 China Airlines - TPE 10 Qantas Airways - SYD

File this one under irony:

State and county tourism officials hoped to launch a nationwide public relations campaign this week promoting Hawaii's sunny skies, but their plans were postponed for a week because of the rainy weather.

State tourism liaison Marsha Wienert said Tuesday that up to $100,000 will be spent on "a very aggressive" effort to reassure visitors that "Hawaii is the most beautiful place in the world and is open for business."

"We're getting word out that our regular tradewinds and our balmy weather are back," she said. "Hopefully, we've seen the last of the rains for awhile."

It has been raining continuously in Hawaii since Feb. 19. Tourism officials are trying to counter newspapers' headlines and TV images of the deadly dam break on Kauai that flooded roads and homes, a shark bite in murky waters off Oahu and a major sewage spill in Waikiki.

Read the whole article here.