Harley V-Rod: Now that's a manly motorcycle name. Or Honda Goldwing, or a Harley Dyna, Softtail, or Sportster. They aren't trying too hard. They are good, solid--even iconic--motorcycle names.
So why am I talking about motorcycle names? I hope to inspire the South Asian marketing and development departments of Honda and Yamaha. Driving in South Asia is extremely exciting. The roads are as narrow as sidewalks in the U.S. If there are rules, no one obeys them, and the greatest game played on the road is "how many vehicles can we fit into one lane." These are prime conditions for motorcycles, and because of this, they far outnumber cars.
So what's the problem? The newest motorcycle names coming out these days sound like great names for little girl bicycles, you know the ones with the pink tassels falling from the handlebars. So let me share some of these names with you. Honda has a few sporty new bikes out like the Glamour, the Splendor, the Passion, and the Karizma. I mean, seriously. Who wants to say "I ride a Glamour." These are all bikes marketed towards 20-30 year old men, and it works since there are thousands of these here. Yamaha isn't much better. They have the Alba (What like Jessica Alba?). They also have the Libero. Honda definitely takes the cake with the Honda Unicorn! Unicorn!?!
It sounds pretty manly to say, "Yeah, I think I am going to take the ol' V-Rod out for a ride." You sound like an eight-year-old girl to say, "I think I am going to take my Unicorn out for ride."
If you are listening to me, marketing departments, remember that if all else fails, keep it simple and follow Yamaha US's lead. Just name bikes things like the R1 and the R6; not amazing names, but at least they don't sound like you are riding off to a tea party with stuffed animals.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Double Knots, Please
After some prodding, I, Lizzy, have decided to share my most recent embarrassing moment with everyone.
The local dress here includes a pair of drawstring trousers that are made to fit nearly any female body type from a size 12 or so down to a 0. They're covered by a long dress-like top with slits on the side. After several incidents, I have discovered that these pants are not so great for people with children, for little fingers seem to find a way untie those pants at the worst possible moment. Three times now I have stood up after having Naomi on my lap only to find that my pants were very close to dropping in public. On Saturday, I had the closest, most embarrassing incident yet. I stood at the back of a bus to make my way to the front before we hopped off. What I didn't realize was that my pants had already fallen well below my rear and were only hanging on out of luck. This means that everyone on the left side of the bus had already seen my pants falling off before I did. In my very embarrassed state, I struggled to hold Naomi in one arm while clinging for dear life to the drawstring holding the rest of my pants up and while trying not to topple over in the moving bus. When I got off, I thought, "Boy, I'm really glad I will never see those people again!" and promptly reminded myself that in the future I must always double knot those pants.
The local dress here includes a pair of drawstring trousers that are made to fit nearly any female body type from a size 12 or so down to a 0. They're covered by a long dress-like top with slits on the side. After several incidents, I have discovered that these pants are not so great for people with children, for little fingers seem to find a way untie those pants at the worst possible moment. Three times now I have stood up after having Naomi on my lap only to find that my pants were very close to dropping in public. On Saturday, I had the closest, most embarrassing incident yet. I stood at the back of a bus to make my way to the front before we hopped off. What I didn't realize was that my pants had already fallen well below my rear and were only hanging on out of luck. This means that everyone on the left side of the bus had already seen my pants falling off before I did. In my very embarrassed state, I struggled to hold Naomi in one arm while clinging for dear life to the drawstring holding the rest of my pants up and while trying not to topple over in the moving bus. When I got off, I thought, "Boy, I'm really glad I will never see those people again!" and promptly reminded myself that in the future I must always double knot those pants.
A Trip Back "Home"
Yes, we are horrible bloggers we know... This is actually P.J. this time. Usually Lizzy writes most of the blogs (She is more gifted at it than I), but I have chosen to write one to hopefully inspire/shame Lizzy to write more often. Although it is a weak excuse, our new work has kept us quite busy the last few weeks.
Since our last blog in April so much has happened. We made a trip "home" to the last city we lived. A place that we grew very fond of and have people we consider family living in it. It was much anticipated and enjoyed greatly, but at the end of two weeks, we were ready to return to our new home. That is a good sign of our adjustment.
Our old home had many benefits like fairly constant electricity, fast internet connections, good water supply, and wonderful tastes of home like McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and KFC, not to mention some truly world class restaurants. Our new home tends not to have things like electricity, fast internet (or internet at all sometimes), water, or anything at all resembling KFC (We do have good Mexican food though... something we couldn't find before). All those things aside there are benefits to our new home. The population here is much smaller, which means life here is much quieter, more friendly, and generally nicer to live in. It is much cooler here with temperatures peaking in the low 90's and generally never leaving the 80's as opposed to months spent in the upper 90's or even crossing that dreaded 100 degree mark. If you have ever laid eyes on me, you will know my body was not meant for temperatures such as those. The natural beauty here is incredible. We have extremely noisy screech owls, little green parrots, and real cuckoo birds sharing the tree outside our living room window! The city has climbing vines covering many of its walls that blossom with many different colored flowers. All this is framed by the gorgeous, snow-covered mountains we can see on clear days.
So we love our new home, as we have loved this country for the past 9 years. There are definitely many unlovable things about it, but we love it anyway. Living in a different country is always a challenge, but we try our best to focus on the positive aspects of our new country, and there are many. Of course, if asked what is the best part about living here, we would answer "the people." They are among some of the most warm-hearted, loving people we've ever met, and that's saying a lot!
Since our last blog in April so much has happened. We made a trip "home" to the last city we lived. A place that we grew very fond of and have people we consider family living in it. It was much anticipated and enjoyed greatly, but at the end of two weeks, we were ready to return to our new home. That is a good sign of our adjustment.
Our old home had many benefits like fairly constant electricity, fast internet connections, good water supply, and wonderful tastes of home like McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and KFC, not to mention some truly world class restaurants. Our new home tends not to have things like electricity, fast internet (or internet at all sometimes), water, or anything at all resembling KFC (We do have good Mexican food though... something we couldn't find before). All those things aside there are benefits to our new home. The population here is much smaller, which means life here is much quieter, more friendly, and generally nicer to live in. It is much cooler here with temperatures peaking in the low 90's and generally never leaving the 80's as opposed to months spent in the upper 90's or even crossing that dreaded 100 degree mark. If you have ever laid eyes on me, you will know my body was not meant for temperatures such as those. The natural beauty here is incredible. We have extremely noisy screech owls, little green parrots, and real cuckoo birds sharing the tree outside our living room window! The city has climbing vines covering many of its walls that blossom with many different colored flowers. All this is framed by the gorgeous, snow-covered mountains we can see on clear days.
So we love our new home, as we have loved this country for the past 9 years. There are definitely many unlovable things about it, but we love it anyway. Living in a different country is always a challenge, but we try our best to focus on the positive aspects of our new country, and there are many. Of course, if asked what is the best part about living here, we would answer "the people." They are among some of the most warm-hearted, loving people we've ever met, and that's saying a lot!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Things in the Pool
I sincerely apologize for the lack of content on this blog recently. It's not that we haven't had content because we have. We've just been struggling to make time to record things. Tonight's entry is a must, though, just so that we do not forget it.
Those of you who know our daughter well know that she LOVES bath time. Two nights ago when I was giving her a bath, she leaned back in her ducky tub nice and relaxed, and what pops up? A little baby log. Yep! Her first experience dropping kids off at the pool. Then, the next night...a few more logs for Dad. Then, the next night...you guessed it...more logs at the permission of her father when the official bathing process was over. All this is strangely reminiscent of a little boy, formerly known as Scooter, whose mother kept a Cool Whip bowl beside the tub to quickly grab the floaters before they contaminated her other children. Scooter, this little gal must have some of your genes!
Those of you who know our daughter well know that she LOVES bath time. Two nights ago when I was giving her a bath, she leaned back in her ducky tub nice and relaxed, and what pops up? A little baby log. Yep! Her first experience dropping kids off at the pool. Then, the next night...a few more logs for Dad. Then, the next night...you guessed it...more logs at the permission of her father when the official bathing process was over. All this is strangely reminiscent of a little boy, formerly known as Scooter, whose mother kept a Cool Whip bowl beside the tub to quickly grab the floaters before they contaminated her other children. Scooter, this little gal must have some of your genes!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Bites and Sound Bites
So I woke up on Saturday morning with a crazy looking mosquito bite on my collarbone. It was itchy, but it wasn't a big deal. A few hours later, the mosquito bit looked like the size of one of those smashed pennies you make at tourist places and had a small tail coming off. The next day, it had an even longer, more wiggly tail coming off and was bright red...not to mention itchy as all get out. Then, it had a pink line all the way to my arm pit. At that point, we decided to put a pen mark where the line stopped and watch it. When I woke up the next morning, the line was still there, but had gone no further. Today it Wednesday, and it looks like someone slapped my collarbone. I have no idea what bit me, but apparently, it wasn't a mosquito.
As for the sound bites, I just wanted to tell you a few things that I read from the packaging of the pillows we bought the other day:
1) They are good for: "Pillows Cushions Blosters" (What's a bloster?)
2) They are very "heigenic"
3) They are made with "100% holo fiver filled cotton" (They're filled with $5 bills!)
Okay...now you can have your laugh.
As for the sound bites, I just wanted to tell you a few things that I read from the packaging of the pillows we bought the other day:
1) They are good for: "Pillows Cushions Blosters" (What's a bloster?)
2) They are very "heigenic"
3) They are made with "100% holo fiver filled cotton" (They're filled with $5 bills!)
Okay...now you can have your laugh.
Speedy Delivery
Last week we had the very exciting experience of purchasing a fridge. The one that came with the apartment had some annoying problems so we couldn't wait to purchase one that actually worked for us, especially one that could retain cool for quite a long time with the power cuts. We found the perfect two-door model that stands about 4 feet tall! How's that for super size? Oh, but wait, it gets better.
Since we have no vehicle, we asked the store to deliver it to our home after about an hour. We were still shopping on our way home when this random little man came up to us in a store saying, "Freeez." We thought he was a beggar saying, "Please," so we acted like we weren't interested. Again, he said, "Freeez," and handed P.J. a paper. Again, we said, "No," when we realized he was actually saying, "Fridge!" He was very early for his delivery, but he spotted us on the side of the road. Still, it gets better.
Lizzy walked with him to where the fridge was sitting on the side of the road, and then the guy proceeded to put the fridge on his back using a head strap. He walked behind Lizzy the rest of the way to our house and up three flights of stairs with a fridge suspended from his head! It was absolutely amazing and ended a very exciting day in an exciting way.
Since we have no vehicle, we asked the store to deliver it to our home after about an hour. We were still shopping on our way home when this random little man came up to us in a store saying, "Freeez." We thought he was a beggar saying, "Please," so we acted like we weren't interested. Again, he said, "Freeez," and handed P.J. a paper. Again, we said, "No," when we realized he was actually saying, "Fridge!" He was very early for his delivery, but he spotted us on the side of the road. Still, it gets better.
Lizzy walked with him to where the fridge was sitting on the side of the road, and then the guy proceeded to put the fridge on his back using a head strap. He walked behind Lizzy the rest of the way to our house and up three flights of stairs with a fridge suspended from his head! It was absolutely amazing and ended a very exciting day in an exciting way.
Green Yogurt
Just thought you might like to know what it's like to buy yogurt here... At the corner store where we do most of our staple food purchases, we kept seeing these shallow clay pots with white paper over the top of them. I wondered, "What are they growing in there?!" A few days later, I sent P.J. out for some yogurt to go with our dinner, and he returned with one of those small potted plants. Little did I know the plants were actually terra cotta pots filled with yogurt. Somehow the pot keeps the yogurt cool and also helps it not get too watery since it is somewhat porous. It tastes great and leaves us with perfect little planters for our personal use later. Their yogurt really is "green!"
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