jorge.cortell.net

On Monday we spent the whole day in Grouse Mountain.

Getting there is not difficult, but it could definitely be simpler. First we walked up Granville, where we passed a medical marihuana dispensary (“Victorian Pharmacy”), to Canada Place, where we bought the tickets at the tourist office assisted by a very nice old lady. From there we walked to Waterfront Station where we took the SeaBus to North Vancouver. Then the 236 bus at dock 8, that took us all the way up to Grouse Mountain, stopping at several cute residential streets, including Cortell street!

Once at the base of Grouse Mountain, we decided not to do the “grind” (walk up the mountain) so we rode the red SkyRise Gondola. Arriving at the chalet, we viewed a half an hour movie about the history of the mountain as a recreation center (let’s say it was “skippable”), and then ventured into the mountain, where we saw a lumberjack show (good for kids, of the little variety I guess), a bird explanation (owls, falcons and eagles flying by, domesticated ones mingling with wild ones), and saw two amazing grizzly bears eating grass, wrestling, napping, and just having fun… a couple feet from me!

The experience was sublime. Breathtaking nature and views. Trees everywhere, lakes, rivers, snow… Extremely beautiful.

To wrap the day off, we had dinner at Blue Water Cafe and Raw Bar.

When the oyster menu is longer than the wine or dinner menu, you know they know their oysters. So we decided to sample several we had not tried before: Kusshi, Black Pearl, Chefs, Royal Miyagi, Shigoku, and Raspberry. Except the last two, the rest were absolutely delicious. Buttery, soft, tender, smooth, velvety. And the lesson was clear: when in doubt, get your oysters from the Pacific Ocean. 

We also had delicious sturgeon, sablefish, and a yuzu cheesecake. One of the (if not the) best restaurants in the city without a doubt.

A very early flight allowed us to see the sunrise over Manhattan’s skyline, perfectly delineated as if drawn by an architect, from Newark Airport.

In Vancouver’s airport they take their indigenous art seriously, with large wood figures and totem poles all over. There you also realize how much of a cruise city it is: cruise lines have their own counters at the airport, to take passengers and luggage directly to their ship.

After a fast and easy immigration, the Canada Line subway took us from the airport directly across the street from our hotel, the Opus. A fancy and “hip” hotel, where we enjoyed an executive corner suite, with welcomed amenities like an iPad, a local cell phone (Samsung Galaxy S IV), home theater, kitchenette, robes…

But we were not to stay in the room, having Vancouver waiting for us. So we left, and walked to Chinatown. Vancouver is a great city to walk or use a bicycle. At least in the summer!

In Chinatown we enjoyed beautiful peace and quiet of the Dr. Sun-Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden, chosen by National Geographic as the best urban garden in the world.

Then we headed to Gastown, a very nice semi-pedestrian area with restaurants and shops, home of the famous Gastown Steam Clock (yes, a clock powered by steam), and from there we walked to Waterfront Station and Canada Place Way to see the Olympic Cauldron and the “Lego” whale. On the way we stop to try a street food delicacy (which we just learned that they have a store in New York): a Japadog! “Kurobuta Terimayo” “hot dog” (definitely something new and worth tasting, made with Kurobuta Pork, teriyaki sauce, fried onions, Japanese mayo and topped with seaweed), and listen to live music at the Fairmont hotel. We also had some business in the Four Seasons and the surprisingly nicer Georgia.

At night we had a very nice and early dinner at the terrace of “C Restaurant”, by the False Creek Yacht Club. Very fresh local and sustainable seafood. We enjoyed great dishes like Seared Scallops Appetizer with English pea ravioli, bone marrow croquettes, sauce verge, lemon ash; Line Caught Ling Cod with braised kale, smoked & pureed artichoke, fried clams, and romescu sauce; and Lemon Dessert (“lemon meringue pie” lemon mousse, lemon curd, shortbread).

Wonderful beginning of an awesome trip.

On May 13th, on my way to a friend’s apartment, we stumbled upon the set of Ben Stiller’s new movie right outside the 125th St. subway exit. They were filming in the middle of the street. What struck me the most was that one of the façades of the building had been completely redone (cast, cement, wood, paint… it looked absolutely real and solid) for the film.

Really? No building façade will do? They had to build a complete new one?

That is exactly what is wrong with the film industry. It’s an industry. Mr. Stiller is a star, and he does not have time to move around. Efficiency over cost. It doesn’t matter how much it costs, it must be done this way, on this day. The contract. The producers. Promotion. Deadlines…

Of course movies end up costing millions of dollars. And they could cost billions if there was such a return.

It’s a formula. An industry. Predictable (or so they like to think and try) returns. Which needs predictable environments. No unions. No imagination. No technology innovations. No criticism. No tendencies. No art. No nothing but block buster after block buster. 

Have you noticed how some “friends” make movie after movie together? Do you think it is because they have “chemistry”?

Then these people meet and splurge and demand that they be “defended” because they “create jobs”. Just like any criminal organization, or political party, or  any other group involved in monetary exchange.

We have to suffer copyright and DRM restrictions on our rights and access to culture so they can create mostly trash and force illegal distribution budling deals. We have to suffer fallacious ads in the subway saying “Film production generates $400 million in tax revenues for NY, with equals to the salary of thousands of firefighters” while they hide the fact that the film industry received $420 million tax “incentives” in New York.

And that is how the industry chokes (itself). Concentrating on money, revenue and return, and demanding “protection”, instead of offering innovation, access and quality.

After a work meeting (and seeing a colorful piano, being fine tuned, in a public space) 

Meeting at Columbia University Biomedical Research Center (@ Mary Woodward Lasker Center) 4sq.com/182ZNCw

— Jorge Cortell (@jorgecortell) June 5, 2013

I took the opportunity to visit Columbia University (it was about time).

The first building I enter is called “The Library at Columbia University”. But, alas, is not a library!

It ceased to be a library in the late 30s, and now happens to be the Administrative Offices. Across the lawn, where students and visitors were chilling out and enjoying the sunny day, I find one of the many libraries:

I’m at Butler Library – Columbia University (New York, NY) 4sq.com/10Z9fPf

— Jorge Cortell (@jorgecortell) June 5, 2013

After touring a few more buildings, I took the red line home. But I know I will be back.

Meaning to go to a Tibetan restaurant which happened to be closed Memorial Day, we ended up in Robataya NY (sister of the great Robatoya Roppongi Hills, Tokyo). Easily one of the finest Japanese restaurants in the city. Cute, fun and delicious.

May 21st (sorry that is taking me so long to write posts, but unlike what this blog seems to convey, I also do work. A lot) I was invited to a Council Of Protocol Executives event India House, New York.

It was a wonderful mix of C-level executives from all kinds of industries (healthcare, advertising, travel, banking…). A great networking opportunity, with delicious food (seafood risotto, truffle and porcini ricotta, fried oysters, choclate covered strawberries…).

The India House itself is a little run down, and not my style. But if you want an uncrowded cozy and cute little bar in the financial district, do not miss their Blue Bar.

(Photo of a Paella cooked by my friend Paul in his new apartment in the UWS, New York)

My friends and family in Valencia have serious doubts that one can eat in the USA as well as in Spain.

Granted, Spain is a foodie’s paradise (by the way, amazing how many of the top 50 restaurants in the world I have had the pleasure to try, the latest one being Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in London thanks to Stephanie). But this little post goes to show that in New York (not exactly “representative of the whole USA”) one can eat wonderfully well without the need to have a table at Eleven Madison Park, Per Se or Le Bernardin.

The availability of fresh food (thank you, Hawaiian Airlines for the awesome fish you bring to Chelsea Market daily) and ingredients from all over the world (Sunrise Mart, next to my office in SoHo is where I get my Japanese dashi, white miso, wakame seaweeds, furikake, mochi, calpico… but there are Korean, Indian, Puerto Rican, and all kinds of markets around) make it very easy to cook anything you or your partner wish and are capable of.

And then, of course, you have an endless take out and delivery service options from hundreds of restaurants (ethnic, vegan, macrobiotic… you name it, we have it and they will deliver it in half an hour or less for free). Even the online groceries services work pretty amazingly well. 

Friday May 17th I took the day to meet some of the interesting tech companies present in New York. There are over 1,200 tech companies in NY (including CodeAcademy, KickStarter, Foursquare, MakerBot, ZocDoc, Guilt, AppNexus, Tumblr, Etsy, KickStarter, Automatic… and mine!), most between the Flat Iron and SoHo areas of Manhattan (Silicon ALley). So I chose a few that, for one reason or another, I was interested in meeting and talk to their founders.

• First I went to Harvest. Had a sandwich and some water while Danny Wen told me how they are a self-funded company (finally someone who is not living out of “raised capital” while diluting their ownership). Interesting and successful, if one-product, company. Nice loft office, piano included. Not “too cool”, not “too cold”.
• Since I had a bit of extra time, I walked to Animoto. Talk about “too cool for school”. Some very nice touches, but, really 6 guitars, 2 keyboards, fussball, XBox… (then again, at our NY office we have ping-pong, basketball, and hammocks; and at our Spain office we have ping-pong, and a PlayStation). I use their very nice service, and their “themed meeting rooms” (particularly MarioLand) are great. But the need to prove goofiness, and indie, and gamify, and storify, and… you get the point. Too much. Forced. Not believable. Trying too hard (the PR story about this guy and his wedding was just unnecessary, absurd and unrelated).
• On my way to the next meeting I had to do a teleconference with Uruguay, and another one with Peru, so I walked again (when will we have cell coverage in the subway?).
• Second Market was next. Nice design for a financial services company. Strange the number of desks and computers without anyone using them. And a surprisingly high number of young Jewish males wearing their kipa working there. I thought it might be interesting but I realized neither the service nor the technology was of too much interest to me.
• Then I went to one I really wanted to see: Artsy (formerly Art.sy, now Artsy.net). The best views of all of the offices I visited. Such amazing views that somebody wrote in FourSquare “If I had those views I would not get any work done” and somebody else replied “I have those views and I don’t get any work done!”. I liked their office, their attitude, and their technology (Open Source). 
• My last stop (actually, I went back to Harvest to ask a question to their tech support director, but his answer is definitely not worth blogging about) was HookLoop, the $500 million Ny bet of Infor on app refresh. Huge company. Really huge. Awesome mentality (eyecandy like I like it). Had a nice conversation with Dan (PR Director) at the CEO’s desk. Found some synergies. Will continue the talk with one of their VPs hopefully next week.

26,605 steps later (according to the app in my phone that tracks my movements), I got back home. Exhausted, but exhilarated. I love Silicon Alley.

On Sunday, after returning to New York from the inaugural cruise, we went to Central Park to spend the afternoon and enjoy Japan Day!

Tents with huge lines to get free Japanese food (udon, okonomiyaki, gyozas, panda chocolate snacks, tea…), activities (calligraphy, kimonos, origami, yoyo-fishing…) and performances (karate, taiko…), all very well organized and full of mostly Japanese people in a very fun and nice event.

There were even so many cosplayers that it reminded me of Jing?bashi or Yoyogi park!!

Tanoshii!! ^_^