Category: California

If you’re curious about what I’m up to, I just posted a piece over at my Cloud Computing blog.

Readers of my twitterings will know that I’ve been trying to decide what kind of car to get when I move to California at the end of next month. I want to get all of my planning done in plenty of time, because I expect to be travelling in China right up to the time of the move. So I’ve been reading Edmunds, Consumer Reports, and Cars.com, prowling the dealers, and test-driving various cars. And of course my many net-buddies have been chiming in with recommendations.
My original plan was to go for a recent (possibly new) Prius, but a number of alternatives presented themselves. The new Honda Insight looked cool, the Mini Cooper S would be fun, and then I saw my first Hyundai Genesis Coupe, which looks like an amazing value.
We rented a Prius through Zipcar. Very nice, better handling than I expected.
I sat in a Honda Insight. I didn’t bother to drive it, because it was immediately apparent that there wasn’t enough legroom for driver or passenger.
I went to a Mini dealer intending to take a test drive, but the salesmen seemed indifferent. Screw ’em – I decided to use Zipcar again. This morning we reserved a Mini for a couple of hours. Sadly, the verdict was negative: uncomfortable seats, noisy cabin, and a choppy ride at highway speeds. (Bad pavement was OK: the oscillation emerged at 60+MPH.)
So right now the Prius is looking like the best choice, but I still have several weeks before business travel and relocation kick in. Stay tuned…

I’ve just signed on with Huawei, the telecommunications systems company headquartered in Shenzhen, China. I’m going to start by working from home in Seattle, until we relocate to Silicon Valley at the end of July. I can’t go into any detail about what I’m going to be doing, but I’m very excited about the company and the opportunity. I’m also looking forward to visiting Shenzhen to meet my colleagues.

Warning: this is pure food porn. But I can’t keep this to myself. I will conceal some of the names, to protect those involved…
After a very successful week of meetings here in the Valley (and more to come tomorrow, actually), I arranged to meet up with an old friend for dinner. I chose a restaurant that we had enjoyed before, the James Randall in Los Gatos, and we sat down to eat soon after 7.
The waiter gave us the menus, and listed the specials for the evening. At this particular restaurant they offer a prix fixe option on Tuesday through Thursday: appetiser, entree and dessert for $43. Add $30 to get the chef’s wine pairings with each course. I was feeling expansive, as was Adrian, so we went for the whole shebang. We had a feeling that we were in for a special treat.
I ordered the black bean soup and the duck breast; Adrian ordered the cheese special (involving panko and a flash in hot oil) and the duck. A few minutes later, the waiter returned. There was only one duck breast left. Would we be amenable to splitting a duck breast, and then splitting another entree – say, a New York steak. There would, of course, be a wine pairing for each entree. What a deal! Yes, of course…
At this restaurant, “wine pairing” is not what you might expect. It’s not just a glass of wine matched to the item: it’s two generous pours of different wines (or other beverages) that each complement some aspect of the dish. With my soup, I got a rose wine and also a pale ale. Sounds bizarre, but it worked a treat. I kept up quite well, tasting and demolishing each of the two half-glasses of wonderful red wines ((Adrian: do you remember where that Cabernet Sauvignon came from?)) that accompanied each of the demi-entrees, but Adrian fell behind, as shown in this picture.
At last we came to the dessert. I chose a chocolate torte; the portion was tiny but extraordinarily intense. It was paired with an excellent domestic port. Adrian opted for the classic strawberry shortcake (which looked almost perfect), which came with an orange muscat. (And at his insistence I actually finished most of Adrian’s muscat!)
Yes, it was an expensive meal. But it was wonderful entertainment, and if (as I suspect) I wind up living down in this part of the world, it’s nice to build some relationships and start some traditions. And that meal was almost perfect……