sunday july 29, 2007

Aloha and mahalo nui loa / San Francisco, CA / 10 months ago

For the past several weeks I have either been on vacation or juggling odds and ends at work while Michael, Toke and Phil are all enjoying their own vacations. Fortunately both Toke and Phil return later this week so things can get back to normal.

Just after the 4th of July and fireworks with Mads and Katherine, we left for Kauai to celebrate Dara's 30th birthday and our 1 year anniversary.

On our first trip to Kauai we made two mistakes. #1, we only stayed for three days and #2, we stayed mid-island in Lihue so that we could easily travel both north and south to figure out which part of the island we liked best. Mistake #1 is obvious, anytime you drop in on paradise you should make an effort to stay as long as possible and 3 days is nothing more than a painful teaser. Mistake #2 was less obvious until you actually see both parts of the island, and the north shore is far more beautiful than the south shore... for our interests anyway.

Once we arrived in Lihue and got to our rental car, we headed straight for the north shore with no intention of looking back until it was time to leave the island. As a matter of fact, between all of our wanderings in Kilauea, Hanalei and Princeville, we didn't return east or south of Kilauea for the entire week.

We quickly set out on what would become our week-long mission to find the best beach based on three different criteria... #1, ease of access. #2, privacy and #3 safety for swimming (in no particular order).

After hunting, parking and hiking our way around the north shore cliffs from Queens Bath all the way to Tunnels Beach, we settled in Kilihiwai Bay, the spot that was originally recommended to us by our hosts located just minutes from the cottage. This isn't to say that there aren't gorgeous hideaways everywhere on the north shore with spots like Lumahai Beach and Secret Beach, but for us the little corner of shade with our local crab friends and the calm bay was just right for us.

The highlights of the trip include the fourth day when we celebrated Dara's birthday with an incredible Hanalei Bay sunset followed by some champagne that I toted all the way from the mainland. Another was the morning and afternoon showers that blanketed our cottage on a daily basis. Whether right before sunrise or in the evening after returning from the beach, the 15-30 minute downpours were just enough to cool things down a bit while enticing new plants and flowers to bloom right under our noses. And finally, our rainy/sunny/rainy/sunny kayak trip up the Hanalei River was the perfect mix of exercise, scenery and adventure (which scared the hell out of Dara when we saw a wild buffalo grazing on the riverbank).
All in all it was an incredible trip and we can't wait to return... this time for even longer, we hope.

P.S. My iPhone is still incredible.

friday june 29, 2007

My iPhone / San Francisco, CA / 11 months ago

Is incredible.

friday june 29, 2007

Searching for the right headphones / San Francisco, CA / 11 months ago

For the past 6 years or so I have been searching for a great set of headphones that offer portability, noise cancellation and good sound. Here's a quick look at the products I tried and what I have settled with today.

At first I started with the Bose QuietComfort© headphones. These worked well and at the time there were very few noise canceling headphones available on the market. The main downside was that they were very bulky to carry around, they required batteries to operate and the construction of the headphone cups began to fall apart after a couple of years.

Next I tried the Sennheiser PXC 300 folding headphones on a recommendation from a friend. These were much easier to transport, the sound was great and the noise cancellation worked well. The main problem I had with the PXC 300 headphones was that they are worn "on-ear", which becomes a bit sore when wearing them for longer than 2 hours.

With an focus on portability, I next tried the Bang & Olufsen A8 earphones. These look great, sound fair and are quite small. The big problem I faced is that even with their fancy little ear braces they don't really hold their position on your ear very well. This means you are constantly adjusting and repositioning them.

Finally I bought a pair of V-MODA Vibe earbuds. Now, I have used the Apple earbuds that came with my iPods in the past, and these things do a poor job of staying in your ear unless you jam them in there, which makes your inner ear sore within 30 minutes.
The V-MODA earbuds have a soft rubber cushion that has a pocket of air between the cushion and the actual speaker housing. After testing them out for the past several weeks I can say that they are very comfortable, very tiny, they sound great and they offer a bit of noise cancellation that is definitely noticeable on airplanes as well as in the office. So far I have worn them in my ear for up to 8 consecutive hours with no irritation or discomfort.

And there you have it, that's my recommendation if you are looking for some small, portable, noise canceling headphones with good sound.

P.S. This was written just to distract myself from the sad reality that I might not get an iPhone today.

UPDATE: Post iPhone release I recommend the microphone-enabled V-Moda Vibe Duo headphones so you can take advantage of the phone and iPod features.

Future Travels / Dopplr

Chicago in June, São Paulo in August, Rio de Janeiro in August