The walk 2 work

              I'm back to obsessing about my retirement destination halfway around the world! This is a new series of posts about what I see into the future for “God's Own Country” - Kochi. Kochi’s future is intertwined with its role as a trade port. Kochi originated from Muziris, the legendary spice-trading port city, which led to the ‘Spice Route’. Kochi’s location gave it the name ‘Queen of the Arabian Sea’. The crown jewel of Kochi’s port (called Cochin Port) is Dubai Port World's Vallarpadam Transshipment Terminal. The government-owned Cochin Port is spread across two islands: Willingdon Island, which is India’s largest man-made island, and Vallarpadam Island, which houses Dubai Port World's Transshipment Terminal. Dubai Port World's Vallarpadam Transshipment Terminal (started in 2011) competes with Adani's new Vizhinjam port (started in 2025), which is just 180 nautical miles away. Like the Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports made Califo...

  Asia’s largest Christmas tree Kochi has a 25-year-old tradition of decorating Asia’s largest Christmas tree. This natural Christmas Tree is located in Veli Ground, in a locality called Fort Kochi in the older part of Kochi City in Kerala, India. The lighting of this Christmas tree draws huge crowds, with up to 50,000 visitors each evening during the Christmas period. This is a natural Christmas tree, an existing rain tree, estimated to be around 200 years old. The rain tree is decorated with lights and ornaments every year for Christmas celebrations. Every year, the Christmas tree is lit up in a different color, and it is yellow this year. The Christian population in Kochi (and the state of Kerala) traces its roots to St. Thomas the Apostle and can be considered among the oldest Christian communities in the world. The people here have a strong secular civic identity, often attributed to high literacy and long social reform movements, and you’ll find temples, churches, and m...

New hardware dominates the conversation, but older consoles aren’t done yet. From gaming PCs to Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and Steam Deck, last-generation favorites like the original Nintendo Switch continue to offer compelling reasons to play even alongside the Nintendo Switch 2, Steam Deck, and ROG Xbox Ally. However, I’m seeing a pronounced appetite for used, lightly used, and like-new gaming devices. The trend mirrors the early pandemic period, when perceived supply constraints fueled a similar rush toward secondary markets.  This might be due to the Nintendo Switch 2 being priced at $450-500, price increases on older Switch models, or even fears that tariffs could further increase prices. Or is there something more? Table 1 sets the tone for a closely examined, detail-oriented discussion about the various Nintendo Switch versions. Table 1. Nintendo Switch OLED vs Switch V2 vs Switch V1 Consoles Nintendo Switch OLED Nintendo Switch V2 ...