vijeyta's posterous http://vijeyta.posterous.com Most recent posts at vijeyta's posterous posterous.com Wed, 22 Aug 2012 21:50:00 -0700 Scenes from the subways in Japan http://vijeyta.posterous.com/scenes-from-the-subways-in-japan http://vijeyta.posterous.com/scenes-from-the-subways-in-japan

People watching in the subways of Japan is fascinating.  The Japanese are usually reading Manga, busy playing games or texting on thier phones or catching up on thier sleep. Interestingly you'll also notice is that almost all office going men dress the same :white or light colored shirt with dark trousers and an office bag. During rush hours, the subway in Tokyo is chock-a-block.Even during rush hours the subways were relatively quiet, making one realize how guarded the Japanese are. Don't forget to check the artwork in Tokyo subways as well as the shoe repair shop.

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Wed, 08 Aug 2012 23:07:00 -0700 Ryokan style living http://vijeyta.posterous.com/ryokan-style-living http://vijeyta.posterous.com/ryokan-style-living

At Takayama, we stayed at a Ryokan (a Japanese Inn) which offers tradition style living such as futon beds, tatami mats for tea time, onsen and a authentic local dining/breakfast experience. Although traditional they have modern touches such as attached Western style bathrooms that make the stay very comfortable. Our Inn was called Hotakaso Yamano Iori. Although a little surprised by our early arrival, we were given a very warm welcome by the Inn keeper. The entrance to the Ryokan was very Zen and right before the entrance door they had hand painted our names on the welcome sign. Our room was very tidy and they even kept a thermos with warm water for tea time.  We treated ourselves to a vegetarian local breakfast on day 2 (more on that later, it deserves an exclusive post). The staff at the Ryokan was very friendly, they went above and beyond especially the Inn Keeper.  This was by far the most memorable and charming accommodation. I highly recommend the Ryokan experience in Japan. 

 

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Tue, 07 Aug 2012 22:29:00 -0700 Exploring Harajuku in Tokyo http://vijeyta.posterous.com/harajuku-in-tokyo http://vijeyta.posterous.com/harajuku-in-tokyo

We explored Harajuku - a very colorful neigborhood in Tokyo on Day 2. This neighborhood features locals dressed in outlandish outfits most times as thier favorite manga characters. Takeshita Dori - a famous street in this neighborhood showcases Tokyo street fashion (check out the polka dotted moustache pants in the pics). In this neighborhood, we also came across young girls giving free hugs to keep people happy right outside Yoyogi Park. 

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Tue, 07 Aug 2012 07:52:00 -0700 Oh Lovely Japan! http://vijeyta.posterous.com/oh-lovely-japan http://vijeyta.posterous.com/oh-lovely-japan

Japan - "The Land of the Rising Sun" is a unique nation. Nishant and I got back from a 8 day trip to Japan and it was by far one of the most memorable trips (more on this later). Our 8 day itinerary was as follows:

Day 1,2,3 - Tokyo

Day 4,5 - Takayama

Day 6,7 - Kyoto

Day 8 - Tokyo

Posted above are some pics from the trip (more coming soon - really)!

 

 

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Wed, 28 Sep 2011 23:06:00 -0700 Our adventures in Portugal n Spain http://vijeyta.posterous.com/our-adventures-in-portugal-n-spain http://vijeyta.posterous.com/our-adventures-in-portugal-n-spain

This summer, Nishant & I took a 17 day holiday in Portugal in Spain. We spent 5 days in Portugal and the rest in Spain. We had a fabulous time & now that we are back I am going to experiment with writing a post for every day of the trip. So here is the first one...

Day 1 # LISBON

On our way "into" Lisboa

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Just purchased a "micro-SIM" at the Lisboa airport

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The nice thing about the Lisboa airport is that the minute you step out of the baggage claim area, you see the Vodaphone airport store. Being the phone geek that I am, I headed over to the store and purchased a pre-paid SIM with data plan. The plan cost me around 20 Euros for 30 minutes of talk time and unlimited messaging. The first 50MB of data was free and then I was charged per usage. Although expensive, it worked out just great especially since neither of us spoke no Portuguese. An additional bonus was Google maps (although the Google maps walking directions in Portugal are still in beta, they worked out pretty well for us)

Exploring the area around our apartment 

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The above picture gives a sense of the narrow lanes of Lisboa. Lisboa is notorious for some of the worst traffic in Europe. Nishant and I were glad about not driving here. The  lanes are super narrow and only someone with good knowledge of the alleys and lanes here should drive around. Also note the orange rooftops in the picture. We saw this sea of orange consistently in all of Portugal.

Bairro Alto

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The Bairro Alto area in Lisboa is full of bars, clubs and restaurants. You find the young, the old, tourists & locals. We spent the night at Grapes & Bites, a wine bar in the area. The lead vocalist was a charming energetic guy who ensured that the crowd was enjoying every beat. I kept thinking to myself.."this is a great start to the vacation"

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Mon, 04 Jul 2011 22:12:15 -0700 Gorgeous nails @ gorgeous nails http://vijeyta.posterous.com/gorgeous-nails-gorgeous-nails http://vijeyta.posterous.com/gorgeous-nails-gorgeous-nails

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Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:43:44 -0700 BBQ on a hot day with my running partner http://vijeyta.posterous.com/bbq-on-a-hot-day-with-my-running-partner http://vijeyta.posterous.com/bbq-on-a-hot-day-with-my-running-partner

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Sun, 19 Jun 2011 23:05:00 -0700 Uber Experience in San Francisco http://vijeyta.posterous.com/uber-experience http://vijeyta.posterous.com/uber-experience

I was in the city a couple of days ago & needed a ride to Caltrain station from Financial District. Turns out, it is hard to get a cab from one of the busiest parts of San Francisco city. So I scheduled a cab through Uber, this was an opportunistic move as well as I have been waiting for the right opportunity to use the Uber service.  Firstly, kudos to the Uber team for such a great experience - right from scheduling the service (via the application) to the the journey to the train station, the experience was very smooth.

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So let me describe my experience - I launched the app & used the push pin in the Uber mobile app to point to my "exact" location & called for a cab. I waited for about 2-3 minutes before the cab showed up (the arrival time of the driver is available in real time in the app...this is super COOL). Oly, the driver hailed from Brazil and he was a great guy - friendly, talkative and his town car was spotlessly clean. Due to traffic, the ride took about 15 minutes . Upon arrival at the train station, I realized that payments are processed within the app which means no exchange of cash. This is beautiful because cash can be another point of friction for the rider. So far so good. I hopped out of the cab and Oly informed me that I'd receive a receipt for the ride within the app. (SWEET!) I hoped off the town car, received a notification in the Uber app to rate Oly and then the receipt. (Nicely done)

The disappointment then set it in - It cost me $27 for the ride.  A cab ride that normally costs approximately $8-$9 was three times more expensive with Uber. I was not happy about this. Uber seems elite to me :(. I guess I should have seen this coming, after all I rode in a town car. Overall I had a great experience but I was just not prepared to spend twenty seven dollars for a ride to the train station.

I think Uber can do a better job setting the expectations of the user as to how much a cab ride would cost before actually scheduling the service, this is missing in the service today. Perhaps Uber has made this tradeoff for a crisp UX, but I think there is room for improvement here. In all, Uber - I love the product & the experience but please make it more affordable.

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Fri, 13 May 2011 00:29:00 -0700 "Meishi" - Japanese visiting card http://vijeyta.posterous.com/meishi-the-japanese-visiting-card http://vijeyta.posterous.com/meishi-the-japanese-visiting-card

I am currently reading "Bargaining for advantage" which has a mention of meishi (ie Japanese visitng card). It brought back memories of my exposure to the Japanese culture at Guidewire

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Japan, is the largest insurance market in the world just after USA. So its no surprise that it is strategically important to Guidewire. At Guidewire, I interacted with a number of Japanese and one of the first things you need to know about conducting business in Japan is the ceremonial exchange of meishi. 

The exchange of business cards in Japan is very formal. There is a proper etiquette to exchange and hold business cards. The presenter of 

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the card should hold the visiting card in the top corner, such that the company name and title do not get hidden from the receiver. It is considered extremely rude to sweep the visiting card in your back pocket. One needs to spend time reading the company, the designation and name of the card presenter. The Japanese often carry the meishi in a leather case, to protect it from creasing and fluctuating temperature. According to the book, the Japanese send their young executives out for days to collect as many meishis. The idea being once you have a meishi, you are then connected to a person and either side can call the other without any hesitation for future business.

If you'd like to see the exchange of meishi in action, see this fun video.

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Tue, 26 Apr 2011 19:18:58 -0700 Us at Georgetown Square, what a gorgeous day! http://vijeyta.posterous.com/us-at-georgetown-square-what-a-gorgeous-day http://vijeyta.posterous.com/us-at-georgetown-square-what-a-gorgeous-day

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Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:16:00 -0700 There's something special about "chocolate chip cookies" http://vijeyta.posterous.com/theres-something-special-about-chocolate-chip http://vijeyta.posterous.com/theres-something-special-about-chocolate-chip

Since the last couple of days, I have been on the lookout for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. So I treated myself to this enormous chocolate chunk cookie from Starbucks after a sumptuous dinner. 

This got me thinking about my best experiences with this sinful treat. Turns out some of best experiences with cookies have been when I received these free. Back in 2009, while checking into Doubletree San Diego I received a "warm welcome" with a perfect chocolate chip cookie. This was my first experience with the hotel and I kept thinking to myself "Wow what a great hotel, what hospitality! What a fabulous treat!". Since then, every time I make a hotel reservation I look out for a Doubletree. A few fun facts - Doubletree serves 30,000 chocolate chip cookies everyday. They started the tradition of serving cookies back in the 1980's when hotels reserved this treat for VIP customers. The Doubletree cookie recipe has been a trade secret for many years now. Checkout some cool Doubletree cookie facts.

I had a similar experience with Frontier airlines. As we all know almost all domestic airlines within USA are frugal, extracting every dime they can. Frontier air is probably no different, but boy the only reason I remember this airline is for the wonderful chocolate chip cookie that they serve mid-flight.  Originally this tradition was started by Midwest Airlines and the tradition was carried forward when Republic Airways acquired the company.

Clearly both these brands have done a great job using cookies as a marketing tool. These brands understand that creating a great first experience is critical and they nail it by treating visitors to a warm and delicious chocolate chip cookie. Now once a customer has received the "GREAT COOKIE EXPERIENCE" they are transformed to a repeat customer who craves for this experience. They have managed to differentiate themselves, created brand loyalty and sweet memories.

 

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Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:13:00 -0700 Life Long Learning http://vijeyta.posterous.com/life-long-learning http://vijeyta.posterous.com/life-long-learning

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Last night was an interesting revelation. I realized that some of the happiest phases of my life have been associated with learning &

discovering. Of late, I am the happiest when I am learning the nitty gritties of the iPhone SDK (mostly at the Dojo). Other notable phases include - solving the rubik's cube, learning about Insurance at Guidewire, profiling the oDesk community in South America, Mobile & Pervasive computing at CMU, my first bike riding lesson (yes I took a bike riding lesson when I was 25).

To ensure continued happiness, I have made a commitment to life long learning. You - with me on this?

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Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:13:00 -0700 Solving Rubik's Cube http://vijeyta.posterous.com/50064824 http://vijeyta.posterous.com/50064824

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I solved the rubik's cube this weekend. Thanks to Nico who gave me a mini beginner's tutorial. I managed to crack the remaining code from some very helpful videos available on Youtube.

This was a real fun exercise and made me realize more so than ever before as to how the Internet is revolutionizing education. We no longer need to rely on tomes or giant manuals to learn anything new. We no longer need to rely on one person or one expert to answer a question for us or to teach us. The Internet has made it really easy to reach out to communities of experts and these experts have a desire to help others. The future of education and learning is interactive, its online and its here.

 

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Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:05:00 -0700 Lower Friction http://vijeyta.posterous.com/lower-friction http://vijeyta.posterous.com/lower-friction

It seems a ton of successful products and technologies have gained widespread popularity because they lowered friction for the user in some form or other. 

Consider the following:
1. Instagram - Eases the friction around making a picture  (taken through a mobile phone) visually more aesthetic. No longer do you need to connect your mobile phone to a computer, run Photoshop filters to make the pic look more appealing. 

2. Amazon 1 click Ordering :
Did you know that 41% of shopping carts get abandoned because the checkout process is too long. Amazon's genius idea of one click ordering  - a streamlined checkout process with almost one click addresses this consumer pain. Net benefit - consumers are happy resulting in more sales which in turn keeps amazon's business roaring.

3. Online Bill Pay:
How many times have you loathed paying a bill using a physical check because of the number of steps involved in the process - write the check, find an envelope, affix the adequate postage on the envelope and mail. Online Bill Pay has reduce this friction tremendously and speeded up the bill payment process. 

These are just examples of products and trends in the online world, but the same can be said for the offline world. Ever thought why mixers, juicers and food processors are so popular? They simply lowered the friction in preparing food. Same can be said for fast food chains..The list goes on and on.  Want to share your favorite product that has lowered friction?

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