Antonio D'souza

I accidentally visited the tank on a day when there was an elementary school field trip to it and came away with more appreciation for the poor teachers than for the marine life. Everywhere I went there were kids crowding around the glass windows, shoving each other, yelling and often banging on the glass. At the aquatic petting exhibit, there was a large sign that read “do not remove fish from water” but it only served to highlight the poor job that US schools do with respect to literacy. The aquarium itself is quite good though and, had I not been to the bigger one in Monterey just last year, it would have been an amazing experience despite being overrun by hordes of kids.

I visited NYC this weekend for the first time in my life. While it was cool in a generic big-city way, I didn’t experience anything unique about it aside from Central Park, which I liked a lot. I did notice that more people smoke there than in SF and the air-quality was significantly worse on the streets of Manhattan than it is in SF. On the plus side, Manhattan pedestrians are awesome because they know how to cross the street with maximum efficiency.

The only good thing I came across in this town was a lovely Nepalese restaurant called Himal Chuli.

Sydney reminded me a lot of both Vancouver and San Francisco.

My family moved to Toronto in 1996 and it was my permanent address for the next 9 years until I left Canada.

Vancouver may not have skyscrapers like Toronto but the buildings are more interesting and look nicer. It also boasts the 3rd-largest park in North America: Stanley Park.

Montreal is amazing! The cuisine is as cheap as it is delicious and the people are all delightfully crazy :-)

Ottawa is a nice clean city, although it’s not quite as exciting as I’d like.

Karachi is a cosmopolitan concrete jungle, bounded on the South by the Arabian sea, with a dangerously turbulent political climate that is almost redeemed by the perennial balmy weather and the delectable food available there in abundance.

San Francisco is one of the most atypical cities in the US.