2 August 2026

From the bartender’s corner: Kilted Dragon

I had to think a bit before making today’s cocktail. I moved away a little from the Indian theme because I have managed to give myself some acid reflux after all the Indian food. So I was looking for something a little gentler on the stomach.

I went with red dragon fruit juice and Hendrick’s gin, then added a little sugar syrup and tonic water.

The name of the cocktail is a nod to its Chinese (only the dragon part, the fruit itself is from Central America, I think) Scottish (this particular gin) roots.

Category: Cocktails | LEAVE A COMMENT
2 August 2026

My study table’s exchange program

Under the glass on my study table, I have 70 paper currencies, plus one coin that is not shown here. Six of those currencies no longer exist, either because the country itself no longer exists, like Yugoslavia, or because the country later switched to another currency, like the euro. The remaining 64 currencies span 107 countries, since a few of them, like the euro, the U.S. dollar, and the East Caribbean dollar, are used in multiple countries.

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7 July 2026

I am finally hanging up my boots with this game

Many moons back, my friend Mita Basu had introduced me to this game – travle.earth. The whole idea is to travel from Country A to Country B by crossing only land borders. There are some quirks in the game – It thinks of Siachen Glacier as a country, it does not think you can cross from Morocco to Western Sahara by land, and for some reason, it will not let me go from Poland to Russia directly, although I have been to their land border myself (exclave of Kaliningrad).

But I have now reached the 1000 game mark without failing once. And I am ready to move on to my next geography game. First, I have to dig through my messages from Mita. About a month ago, she sent me another game that I haven’t opened yet!

If you want to learn about country boundaries, this is a great game to try.

Category: Puzzles | LEAVE A COMMENT
28 June 2026

Sunday morning puzzle

Which of the following statements – if any – is/are true? How do you logically work it out?

1. Exactly one statement in this list is false.
2. Exactly two statements in this list are false.
3. Exactly three statements in this list are false.
4. Exactly four statements in this list are false.
5 Exactly five statements in this list are false.
6. Exactly six statements in this list are false.
7. Exactly seven statements in this list are false.
8. Exactly eight statements in this list are false.
9. Exactly nine statements in this list are false.
10. Exactly ten statements in this list are false.

Category: Puzzles | LEAVE A COMMENT