Sign Language: SOS box

Here's an call box in the Rotterdam metro station. It's sort of cute - I like how the speakers look like word bubbles coming out of the silhouetted guy's mouth. And of course the allusion to morse code. But overall the colors seem too recessive for an emergency call box.

Boijmans Coat Rack

I took a short little excursion to Rotterdam a couple weekends ago, and I visited the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen. This is a pretty large museum with an extensive collection of "decorative arts" / design throughout the ages. The highlight for me was actually the coat rack in the foyer.

Called the Merry-go-round coat rack, this was designed by Wieke Somers and Dylan van den Berg, this piece is nice to look at, and functional too: it is self-serve meaning no staff is needed to man the coat room, but it is secure at the same time because the coats lock in a position out of reach via pulley system.

Well, I can't say it's totally intuitive either. I thought "locking" the coat in place meant just moving the knot in the rope to the other side of the lock. Thankfully a guard (presumably) adjusted my coat with the master key - you actually have to pull the pulley all the way down until you can lock one of the metal pieces in place.

Still, a really delightful piece of work.

Macaron Flavors

Once I got the hang of the timing and temperament of macaron-making (tips in my last post here), I started to have fun making up new flavors. One of my favorites is espresso (add 2 Tbsp espresso powder to the dry ingredients instead of cocoa, and make a milk chocolate ganache and add some espresso powder to that). The other favorite was what I call "7-Up." It was basically because I'd made a ton of lemon curd from the first 8 egg yolks, and had an extra lime in the fridge. I put in the zest of one lime into the dry ingredients, and filled the macarons with the lemon curd. Great.

I also tried some more "out there" flavors like spicy paprika (spicy paprika in the meringue, and white chocolate paprika ganache filling). That's pictured below. I also made one with turmeric in the meringue and garam masala in the filling.

The chocolate macarons from the original recipe were my fifth flavor that I made. Here's a picture of a bunch of them in different flavor combinations! Garam masala and espresso turned out to be a cool combination which people liked.

Macaron-Making Tips

After my last post about making macarons (here), I made 5 more batches so 8 batches of macaroons in total. And each batch of batter meant 3 trips each to the toaster oven due to size. So, I've learned quite a lot about making macarons. Here are some tips:

1. First, I'd get your tools ready before starting to mix things, since beating the egg whites is all about timing. I used a circle tracer (which I bought for technical drawing class) to make 3 cm circles on the parchment paper. Remember to flip the parchment paper around so the pencil marks don't transfer to the macarons. Since I don't have a pastry bag, I used a plastic ziploc-type bag. Cut a 2 cm diagonal line across one of the corners. Standing the bag up in a cup helps with filling it.

2. Even if you bought almond meal vs. whole almonds, grind in a food processor to make them even more fine. I'm using the food processor attachment to my new Braun immersion blender (which I bought for myself as a New Year's present). I was a bit skeptical that the attachment would work well being an owner of a 12-cup KitchenAid food processor in the US; like without the really heavy base, would the work bowl start to spin around? Now that I've used it, I can safely say that this food processor works great - very smooth motor and lots of power esp with the "turbo" button. Plus, there's no annoying hole in the bottom of the work bowl where flour/sugar/stuff inevitably falls out of when you remove the blade. Do this step with the dry ingredients before starting on the eggs.

3. I've read recipes where the instructions tell you to beat egg whites until very stiff, even to the point that they won't fall on your head if you hold the bowl upside down above you. I didn't find that to be the case at all. Using David Lebovitz's recipe as a base (click here), I would first beat the egg whites until there are no pale yellow streaks anymore but totally foamy and white, then add the sugar gradually. After adding the sugar, I beat for 60-70 seconds more depending on how much dry ingredients I would fold in. With 3 tbsp of cocoa powder, I think 60 seconds is enough. With just a teaspoon of lime zest, 70 seconds is better.

4. The egg whites should be shiny and stream down from the whisk readily. I found that if I needed to use the spatula to release egg white from the beater, it meant that I beat too much.

5. To remove the meringue, I put water between the parchment paper and cookie sheet and let the water soak into the paper. That way they didn't stick.

6. I agree with David's assessment in that it isn't necessary to age the egg whites overnight, or let the unbaked meringue sit for an hour or two before putting in the oven. I did both on some batches and not at all on others, and there wasn't any difference. What was important for my oven was to leave the door ajar and use two baking sheets nested in each other vs. just one.

Good luck with your macarons!

Big Week for Product Announcements

I was eagerly anticipating the launch of Apple's tablet, which we now know is the iPad. Reloading the Engadget live blogging site covering the iPad launch every minute, I devoured the details as they came through. But, I can say that I'm in no rush to replace my Acer netbook (which I wrote about here) with the iPad as my "in between" computing device, as much as I love my MacBook Pro and iPod Touch. For me, the iPad is missing a key feature, which is a way to get pictures into the device directly from a camera. My Acer is my primary way to store and backup pictures on the road, and the only way I can blog with pictures without taking a full fledged laptop.

Actually the product announcement that really took my breath away was Air New Zealand's announcement of their new long haul product. You can actually lie flat in economy with their new "Skycouch" option. It's really more for couples who buy three seats between the two of them (the third seat is 50% off), or families where kids can actually use the bed as a play surface. And it boggles my mind how the airline will manage selling this area of economy class (can just one person book one seat in it?).

But kudos to Air NZ for designing this and trying it out. The way it works is that a side group of 3 seats each get their leg rests raised to a horizontal position, connecting it with the row in front. Oh yeah, and the seating arrangement is 3-4-3 on the Boeing 777, which means it's a bit more dense than, e.g. United which has 2-5-2 or Continental with 3-3-3.

Also really impressive is the new premium economy section, which looks like a scrunched up business class now. (see pics here) And interestingly, since there are so many different body positions capable with the new seating arrangement, your footrest is now a beanbag called "Otto." No, seriously. And the armrest between the middle pair of seats can actually move downwards, so a couple can...put their feet on each other? Air NZ is all about cuddling in economy and premium economy (and love, like I wrote here). Watch a short promo video showing this in action here.

Finally, there will be on-demand snacks even in economy, or so they say. I wonder how the flight attendants will coordinate this. Plus the ovens in the new aircraft will be able to cook meals from scratch vs. reheat, which means lots of new dining options are possible. Sounds great all around!

I Have Feet!

For a design project, I've started to make macarons. This is really the last thing that I would make for myself, since it requires precision and technique. But I do like how they can be made into multiple flavors and colors, so I decided to give it a try.

There are literally dozens of different macaron recipes on the internet. Of course, there are dozens of chocolate chip cookie recipes online as well, but there are many varieties of chocolate chip cookies. Chewy, crispy, crunchy, with nuts, without nuts, etc. Macaron recipes on the other hand, attempt to create the same platonic ideal of a macaron - flat top, shiny, and a little "foot" on the bottom. The little foot is a little hole-filled stripe right at the bottom of the macaron half. You can see a good example on David Lebovitz's blog here, the first recipe I tried.

To give an idea of how the world of macaron making is so crazy, there's this debate about what sort of egg whites to use.

- Some, like David Lebovitz, says that you can go ahead and use fresh egg whites.

- Others, like Serious Eats, says that you need to let the egg whites age overnight, up to three nights, at room temp.

- If you read the comments, some will say you should leave the eggs sit overnight and be sure not cover with plastic wrap.

Yikes. Honestly, a lot of it sounds more like superstition than technique.

I used David's recipe for my first try. I don't think I've actually made anything from his blog or books before, but I read his blog often and I guess trust him a bit more since I like the way he writes. My first attempt:

So may cracks and fissures! With the exact same batch of batter, I decided to try a few of the "superstitions" I'd read about both on his site and others. After piping the batter onto the parchment paper, let it sit for a while (some say up to 2 hours) to allow them to develop a "skin." Leave the oven door ajar. And use two cookie sheets instead of one to insulate the bottom.

The result? Not only did I avoid the fissures on top, I got tiny, microscopic little feet on the bottom!! (So tiny you probably have to click to enlarge, to see them.)

I'm not sure which of the three tricks did the trick, but from now on, I'll be using all three!

Lufthansa Design

Around Frankfurt Airport, there are signs promising a bunch of improvements you can expect with their current renovation and expansion. Among the bullet points are more space, more gates... and "Lufthansa design."

Indeed, anywhere you go, Lufthansa design is quite prominent. I was impressed that even armrests in economy class are branded with the brand's equity colors and simplicity.

Landing in a dark, winter morning at 6am, immediate the rational grid design of the terminal facade tells me I've arrived at a Lufthansa terminal.

The old brand design included this corrugated sheet metal pattern, with oval cutouts in doors.

The new lounge design ditches those elements, but goes even more simple, with a highly "plastic" feeling comprised of slightly rounded corners on otherwise strictly orthogonal lines and industrial colors.

Even the stirrers share this machined rationality. It's functional too - the small cutout at the ends of the stirrers create more turbulence in the liquid you're stirring, enhancing the mixing.

And for the holidays, each aircraft bulkhead was decorated with this Christmas wreath. Sticking to ornamentation with only shades of grey - very Lufthansa.

Sign Language: FRA airport

I like how the lady's legs are slightly more together than the man's.

And here we catch them in action, midway between floors. No up/down arrows needed on this sign.

Instead of "do not enter" signs, the staff entrance sign shows that some people can in fact go through the door. As long as they have a matching stick figure ID badge on them, that is.

Changes Afoot at United

For a while it was a bit sad being a loyal customer of United. The management seemed to have only one objective: to sell the airline to someone else. And so everything about the experience just got older and older. Being based in Cincinnati for a while, I got to fly Delta a lot. They seemed to come out with new services like seat-back screens in domestic economy, buy on board menus with Todd English menu items, and they even gave out eyeshades and earplugs on international flights. Overall, I also felt Delta staff on the ground and crew in the air were uniformly more professional-acting and courteous than United's.

Recently though, there seem to be a lot of changes at United. Some are big, like the horizontal flat beds in business class (here's a picture). Also, they're renovating a lot of the lounges. On my outbound connection in ORD I visited the Red Carpet Club by gate B18; I was really surprised by how nice and bright it looked inside.

On my return, I was able to go to the Red Carpet Club by gate B6, which just reopened a few days before. I was instantly struck again by how bright it looked inside! I think a lot of paint and new furniture made a big difference














The serving area looks consistent with the RCC by B18, and the snacks are now served unpackaged. The downside is that you have to be sure everyone uses the tongs, and you can't really sneak food out for a mid-flight snack. But the area looks a lot less cluttered now.














There are even smaller changes like new upholstery on some planes, and for the first time I noticed new headphones in first class (not sure if these are in economy). They aren't noise-cancelling, but the larger ear cup and cushion help block out a lot of noise. Big improvement over the old foam-covered ones!

Trip Report: SAN-ORD-FRA-AMS part III

We landed in Frankfurt in rather heavy snow. It was a surprisingly painless connection in FRA; go through a very fast passport control and go directly to the gate. Customs would be handled in Amsterdam. It was a long walk to the Lufthansa Lounges closest to my gate in the A concourse though.

I was invited into the Senator Lounge, but had to go to the Business Lounge first because all of the toilets and showers were there. There was quite a long waiting list for the shower suites (I think I was #12, and there are only three showers). But the attendant was very kind, and for whatever reason bumped me up so I only had to wait about 5 minutes.

The shower suite was clean and had a toilet and sink (sometimes they don't have these). But the ambience was definitely a 2-star hotel, complete with wall-mounted combination shampoo/body wash and combination face/body moisturizer. Compare to, say, the Red Carpet Club in Narita, where the shower suites are finished in marble and you get an amenity kit with body moisturizer, face moisturizer, toothpaste, toothbrush, shaving cream, razor, face wash, etc. Still, nothing beats a hot shower and change of clothes after about 15 hours on the road, with 6 more ahead.



















I went back to the Senator Lounge side where I can confirm the eating options are superior. Business Lounge had bread and rolls with cream cheese, and muesli. The Senator Lounge had the muesli and yogurt in individual cups, as well as cheese, those nice smoothies I had on my outbound, and what looked like an omelette bar from afar. When I got closer, it turned out to be a sandwich bar, but not like Subway. You had a choice of 5 different kinds of breads (arranged on slanted racks like a bakery), and like 5 different cream cheese spreads. I got tomato spread, and on top I got diced cucumber and tomato (chopped scallions was the only other topping). Tasted pretty nice. I thought it was amusing how the sandwich was served on a plate advertising the Business Lounge.














I was told at the connection counter that boarding would take place an hour before departure, so I went to the gate quite early. Of course, boarding didn't start until 30 minutes before, but the extra time gave me a chance to have a cup of tea at the coffee/tea/newspaper station that Lufthansa has on all of the European flights. A really nice touch! Plus, I could find pure green tea here, which I couldn't find in the Senator Lounge.














It was snowing quite hard now, so we were a bit delayed getting off the ground (first had to wait in the shuttle bus at the foot of the boarding stairs, and then had to wait for deicing). But I was surprised we were able to take off at all; it turns out that later in the morning many flights were diverted coming in, or significantly delayed since FRA closed its runways due to weather.

On board there was a beverage and sandwich service (cheese and seed bread with cheese, butter, and diced bell peppers inside).














We landed in a surprisingly snow-free and sunny Amsterdam! Only a train and bus ride come between me and home.

Trip Report: SAN-ORD-FRA-AMS part II

ORD-FRA was on a Boeing 777, and the whole fleet of 777s still have the old recliner style seats. While the new horizontal beds are much nicer on the 747s and 767s, these seats do have the advantage of being able to store baggage in front of you, and I also prefer them to angled lie-flat seats which tend to be hard and easy to slide down when sleeping.

Appetizer was a salad and smoked salmon. Wow, the appetizer plate has gotten a lot smaller over the years; before there would always be several items on the plate, and "crudite" wouldn't mean a lone broccoli head. On the other hand, the gourd-shaped yellow tomatoes in the salad were really cute and actually tasty (I usually don't like raw tomatoes).














Since I just had peppercorn beef at a Chinese restaurant the night before, I forwent what would have been my usual choice of steak with peppercorn sauce. I went for the Charlie Trotter menu item with slight trepidation (didn't have a great experience last time), and I'd stopped ordering chicken breast at all after eating them to death 5 years ago in the college cafeteria. This was a "mustard thyme scented chicken with warm horseradish potato salad." While the whole thing was shockingly sweet at first, it turned out to be pretty good, and a refreshing change from the usual.














Dessert was tiramisu. What's not to love? (And the chocolate comes on the tray with your appetizer; don't forget to save that.)














Breakfast was a strictly continental affair with croissant, fruit plate, and yogurt which I always make the mistake of getting (it has gelling agents to thicken it, plus corn syrup). I guess continental breakfasts are standard for Europe flights, and I did appreciate that they didn't start serving until an hour before landing. But I did miss the elaborate breakfasts on my Turkish Airlines flights (link to report here), which you would order on a menu card before you went to bed. I really crave salty things in the morning, so even a deli plate would have been welcome.

Trip Report: SAN-ORD-FRA-AMS part I

The day started very early checking in just a little after 5am. The Economy Class line was already out the door far onto the sidewalk. The security line reached to the outside door. Thank goodness for the First Class / Premier Executive line; I will miss this a lot this year when my card expires this month.

I like the San Diego Red Carpet Club a lot. It has views of airplanes, and while small, it is never crowded. Also, they have all of the food for the day in the refrigerators like cheese and vegetables, so you can have those for breakfast.














I had a toasted croissant, some strawberries, cheese, and "gunpowder green tea" which had actual pearls of tea leaves inside. All made a nice breakfast.














On board, I had an omelette filled with ricotta (?) and tiny bits of spinach, potatoes, and 2 sausages, with a side of fruit. The flight attendant skipped my row with the bread, but it was okay. I found it odd that the main course had no sauce or garnish at all (looked a bit naked). But the taste was fine.














In Chicago, I visited the newly renovated Red Carpet Club by gate B6 (will post about it more later). Had some snacks and used the wifi to send emails. Unfortunately no gunpowder green tea; had to settle for decaf ginger green tea.

Didn't get the memo?

This picture was taken Sunday, January 3 at Amsterdam Schiphol airport. Unfortunately there's nothing in the picture that gives scale - this ad covers the wall of a HUGE corridor. Maybe these big things take a long time to print, but I would have thought that this would have already been replaced two weeks after Accenture severed ties with Tiger.