Paku saves $24.95

The Mount Roberts Tramway is one of Juneau's most popular attractions. En route to Alaska, Paku learned that while a round trip ticket on the tram costs nearly $25, hikers who make it up Mount Roberts to the tram can ride down for free. In the current economic environment, Paku made the fiscally responsible decision to walk up and ride down.

Exhausted Paku eagerly awaiting bedtime

Paku arrived in Juneau, Alaska what seems to him like at least a day ago. Paku certainly feels quite tired and in need of some sleep. However, he is convinced that he must just be experiencing some jet lag because it is not night time yet. In fact, the light has changed very little since he arrived. Time must just move slower out here away from the office. In order to acclimate to the time change Paku would prefer to wait until the evening to go to bed but perhaps a short nap is in order...

Cherry blossoms live up to hype

Since arriving in the United States just over two years ago, Paku has heard a lot of talk about the cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C. Paku considers himself an expert in cherry blossoms and was skeptical that any cherry blossoms outside of Japan could meet his exacting standards. In order to give the blossoms their best opportunity to impress him, he timed his visit to the District with peak bloom, which came rather early this year.

As it turned out, the cool weather and overcast sky were perfect bloom viewing conditions. The blossoms were particularly vivid against the overcast sky and gray water of the tidal basin. By the end of his visit, Paku was telling anyone who would listen that these were the finest cherry blossoms he had ever seen. His declarations were amplified by a few cherry themed drinks at the historic Round Robin Bar.

Paku's exhaustive search for missing luggage ultimately in vain

Paku commemorated the recent long Easter weekend with a return trip to Amsterdam. Despite cold and wet weather conditions throughout the weekend, he had a thoroughly good time. By Sunday he was looking forward to an uneventful and relaxing return journey back to New York.

Unbeknown to Paku, while he was settling into his comfortable seat on KLM, his luggage's stay in the Netherlands was being involuntarily extended.

Upon his arrival back in New York, Paku quickly cleared immigration. He then began his vigil at baggage carousel #7. When it became painfully apparent that Paku's bag would never tumble down the carousel #7 conveyor belt, Paku took up the search for his missing bag in earnest.
Paku thought that perhaps his bag had fallen out of the plane when they opened up the cargo area to unload it. Despite a thorough inspection of the outside of the plane, Paku's luggage remained unfound.

Pointlessly, Paku sought the assistant of a KLM representative. As a result of that encounter, Paku has decided that he will never again seek the assistance of a KLM representative.

The exact location of Paku's luggage and the timing of its return to the United States remains a mystery more than 24 hours after Paku's arrival back in New York.

Saving Pandas, Millions at a Time

Instead of ivory towers, Johns Hopkins has a dome.

Paku treats himself to a treat

Today Paku stopped by his local Japanese pastry shop for a delicious treat.

Paku chose this special lucky New Year's selection to enjoy
while he watches the Super Bowl tomorrow.

Paku (belatedly) commemorates birthday of Edgar Allen Poe with visit to Baltimore

Sometimes when Paku is feeling excessively cheerful, he reaches for a the collected works of Edgar Allen Poe, selects a page at random, begins reading, and is instantaneously cured.

Paku has helpful information for visitors to Lower Manhattan

When Paku moved to Wall Street he was not prepared for the volume of tourists who visit his new neighborhood every day. Paku has discovered that many, if not all of these visitors share the common misconception that the famous Charging Bull statue is actually located on Wall Street. Paku has come across many a tourist wandering aimlessly along Wall Street looking for the bull statute. Many wisely ask Paku where they can find it. Paku wishes for everyone to know that the bull is located at Bowling Green on Broadway, south of Wall Street. Paku is prepared to endorse any candidate for Mayor of New York whose platform includes better signage indicating the location of the bull and / or moving the bull to Wall Street.

Paku a delighted recipient of miniature Dutch house

In the 6th hour of Paku's flight to Amsterdam earlier this week, Paku was unexpectedly presented with a tiny Delft replica dutch house filled with gin! Paku has since learned that this is a longstanding KLM tradition of which Paku strongly approves. With his first two houses, Paku is happily constructing a tiny Dutch village on his desk at work. Paku is hopeful that he will have the opportunity to make several more trips to The Netherlands in the near future so he can add to his collection.

Paku is of the opinion that January is not the optimal time to visit Amsterdam

Paku celebrated the new year with a quick and unexpected trip to Amsterdam. Paku found Amsterdam to be bitterly cold, dark pretty much all day and surprisingly crowded with tourists given the aforementioned coldness and darkness.

With very little time and insufficient cold weather wear, Paku had to make the most of the brief amount of time he was able to spend out of doors in Amsterdam. Paku learned that the most of the collection at the Van Gogh Museum can never leave Holland so this was perhaps Paku's only opportunity to see the Van Gogh paintings. Paku stood outside in line for what seemed like ever waiting to get in. The wait was made all the more unpleasant by the fact that everyone around him in line was smoking. Paku really doesn't care for smoking.

Paku enjoyed the museum very much and recommends it highly to anyone visiting in the area. He also recommends getting their early in the day to avoid the large crowds which make viewing the paintings difficult.

Paku inexplicably under impression that Canada is a good place for a summer vacation

Paku, having completed the exhausting task of moving to New York City, was very much in need of a relaxing vacation. For reasons perhaps attributable to his continuing unfamiliarity with his recently adopted hemisphere, Paku found himself on holiday in Canada. Paku's first stop, Ottawa, was decidedly lacking the traditional vacation accoutrements of beaches and sun so Paku was forced to find more creative ways to occupy his time.

My Goodness, My Guinness

When the temperature soars into the upper 90s*, Paku and friend know to repair to the dark and cool confines of their favorite Irish pub in order to imbibe a few pints of Guinness Stout so as to restore their constitutions as well as overall demeanor.
Paku has long attempted to cultivate an appreciation for Scotch, but that quest so far remains unsuccessful. Given his enjoyment of the complexity and variety of flavors that are embodied by his favorite bamboo, its no real surprise that he would be unable to embrace a beverage which is often described as "peaty."

Pakus hoisted a few pints in order to congratulate one another on recent academic successes and achievements. The evening wore on and more pints were enjoyed, but Paku noticed that his photos of the later part of the night were strangely out of focus and ill-framed, not to mention difficult to appreciate the next day with a raging headache and queasy tummy.





*Upper 90s Fahrenheit that is. Paku has had to force himself to learn this archaic system of English measurement during his residence in the states. For those who adhere to the more rational metric system, this translates to the upper 30s Celsius

Summertime, Paku style

Paku finished off his first year in the PhD program in Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and found himself a rather exhausted shell of the panda he once was, prior to the breakneck pace of four six-week terms followed by the 2-day comprehensive exam.

Paku was able to finish by reminding himself of two things almost daily: 1) the school motto, "Saving pandas, millions at a time", and 2) the fantastic summer of leisure that awaited him.

But as it turns out, Paku is not entirely a panda of leisure. He is also a panda who enjoys freshly grown fruits and herbs, and he also fancies himself to have quite a green paw.

Paku will also not be confined by the small urban space he finds himself dwelling in, and set himself up a container garden on his roof deck that features stunning views of Baltimore's working port.

He planted 3 varieties of lettuce, tomatoes, squash, zuccinni, basil, mint and green bell peppers!

Paku especially loves getting up each morning and rushing up to the deck to check on the progress of the tomato vine which has climbed so high that it is becoming difficult for Paku to reach the top! (But, he manages through a little ingenuity)

All of his time on the roofdeck is not spent alone, however. Paku recently entertained a rather comical little fellow who stopped in to visit on his way through Baltimore: Mr. Peep!

Paku prepared Mr. Peep a delicious meal which they enjoyed in repose on the deck, while the harbor breezes stirred their respective plushy selves.

Mr. Peep regaled Paku with tails of his recent business trip to Ulan Bator in order to develop a new market opportunity for the marshmallowy sugary treats that simply won't be confined to the Easter season.

Paku caught Mr. Peep up on the comings and goings of his year in the ivory tower studying epidemiology, biostatistics and infectious disease.

As the afternoon wore on, Paku went down to the kitchen in order to uncork a second bottle of wine to share between the two old friends. When he came back up, he couldn't find Mr. Peep anywhere.

Turns out that rascally Mr. Peep was up to his old tricks, hiding in the yellow squash plant!


Paku can't wait for the summer ahead!

Paku to rejoin the workforce

Congtratulations Paku!

After two long years of a modest amount of effort, Paku has graduated from Wharton business school with an MBA.

Paku is now faced with the daunting prospect of rejoining the full-time workforce. And while this is indeed a horrifying prospect, of more immediate concern is Paku's impending move to New York, which is just over a week away.

Paku has found relatively little to recommend about Philadelphia but there is not doubt that it is significantly less expensive than New York City. As a result, Paku is moving from relatively spacious two bedroom, split level apartment in South Philly to a small windowless closet in Lower Manhattan.

But even with all he has to do, Paku can't help but take a few moments to reflect on his b-school experience. It's hard for Paku to believe that it has been nearly two years since he walked through the front door at the Wharton School to start pre-term.

Sometimes during his time at Wharton Paku would attend classes during which he occasionally stayed awake / learned something. Paku is still trying to comprehend the relevance to him of a detailed understanding of the process for moving cranberries from bog to bottle but he remains optimistic that it will become clear in time.








Two controversies dominated the hallways during Paku's tenure at Wharton. The grade nondisclosure issue has been well covered elsewhere so Paku will refrain from a lengthy discussion on that topic here. Of more relevance to Paku on a day-to-day basis was the Au Bon Pain monopoly on the Wharton campus. Paku appreciates the convenience of not having to leave the building for a snack (especially in the rain) but he really doesn't appreciate paying $6 for a soda and chocolate croissant. What happened to free market competition?

But Paku digresses...

We managed to capture a few more of Paku's final moments at Wharton.

Sausage links and.....other links (in which Paku is downright humiliated)

Wary from his last "culinary" experience in Philadelphia, Paku was assured that he could enjoy a delicious and hearty breakfast at the Melrose Diner. His dining companions urged him to fill up, as they had a surprise planned for him later in the day, which they assured him would require some energy!
Wondering what lay ahead of him, Paku bellied up to the counter at the Melrose and found himself in the company of several wizened residents of Philadelphia. He ordered 2 eggs over easy with pork sausage and a side of bamboo. The waitress behind the counter thought she had heard everything!!! She informed Paku in the kind but terse way that is characteristic of this city's denizens that if Paku wanted a side of bamboo he was going to have to try his luck at a different establishment.

Thus rebuffed, Paku declined to change venues, and found that although his meal wasn't his first choice, it was a delicious enough substitute.

After breakfast, Paku and pals piled into the Honda Accord and sped off for locales unknown (to Paku, at least). In order to build suspense, Paku's human pals kept offering him hints as to the activity of the day.

"How far is it?" asked Paku, innocently.

"Oh, its a long drive!" said his human companion, mysteriously.

"Are we going to the beach? Are we going fishing?" queried Paku.

"Nooo...but it does involve hooks!" replied the driver of the Accord.

"Is this something I've done before?" wondered Paku.

"Don't worry, we think this will fit you to a tee!" said the rather quizzical companion in the passenger seat.

Paku's interest was piqued, but he also felt an uneasy sense of impending doom as the Accord sped towards the mysterious destination.

Paku would really rather not talk about how the day turned out.

Paku discovers Washington Monument bears little, if any, resemblance to Washington

When Paku emerged from his metro stop in DC this weekend he immediately asked a passerby for directions to the Washington Monument, one of the capitol's most famous landmarks. Paku was informed "it's just over there, you can't miss it." Unfortunately for Paku, he was unclear as to exactly what he was looking for and he spent a good portion of his afternoon closely examine an endless succession of marble and copper statues in search of one with a likeness to the portrait on his dollar bills. Fortunately a hot dog vendor on the Mall noticed the confused and frustrated (but not hungry (see prior post)) Paku and directed him to the massive white obelisk that Paku did have to admit was impossible to miss.

Even from far away, Paku doesn't think it really looks like Washington!

Paku overwhelmed by Sunday Brunch buffet

Ever eager to experience the traditions of his adopted country, this weekend Paku partook in his first Sunday Brunch at Georgia Brown's in Washington, DC. Paku's inaugural brunch got off to an inauspicious start when he was informed by the omlette chef that it would not be possible for Paku to have a bamboo and feta omlette.

Paku had heard that DC was a panda friendly city so this revelation came as a particular shock. However, after a brief period of sulking, Paku turned his attention to the all-paku-can-eat buffet and found more than enough brunch items to over stuff his not readily apparent stomach.

SnowPaku

Finally, the snowfall Paku has been waiting to hit his adopted homeland arrived in late February. Paku didn't waste any time in enjoying the precious flakes-- he made do with the 3 or so inches that fell on Baltimore and quickly made a friend to pal around with in the snow.

Oh, Paku-- think back to the winter vacations of your youth-- shooshing down the hills at Hakuba Goryu and Kurumayama Kogen in Nagano Prefecture....

Paku in Peru

Paku visited Lima for the first time just after Thanksgiving, and happily basked in summer for the entire month of December. When Mom cruelly insisted on leaving Peru for the bitter cold of barren Wisconsin just before Christmas, Paku put his foot down and refused to return. Grandma was very, very displeased with Paku's decision, but was unable to guilt him into leaving South America. He made friends with a black labrador, and shared his apartment until Mom's return in mid-January. Who knows what he got up to when she was back in the States...when the cat is away, the mice will play!

You can see why Paku was so resolute; here he is happily sunning himself (as he did nearly every day) on a balcony overlooking the lovely Parque El Olivar (the park of olives, though Paku was never able to actually find an olive anywhere in the park). It is perhaps a bit surprising that Paku remains so pristinely white after so much sunning, but this was taken on one of his first days; so we shall see how well the delicate Paku complexion stands up over time to the intense Peruvian sun.....

Happy Valentine's Day!!!