While packing last night, iron-wife finally realized she had lost her HK ID card. Umm....Searching the entire apartment in Macau turned out nothing. Conclusion, the ID card must have fallen out of her unzipped inside pocket somewhere in Venetian.
Called and what a service. The next morning that was. Flight was to leave at 1:15pm. I called and spoke in Cantonese to explain our situation; 30 minutes later as promised, the lady from Venetian called back. Found! She did a best service sector employee could have done: coordinated and liaised between us and the police station. All told, 45 minutes were on our way to pick up the ID card.
The ID card was turned over to the police station next to Venetian and that was where the new Chinese border. We arrived shortly after 1045am. And we didn't leave until 1130am!!!!! That was all due to the waiting around for those silly police having their tea and their joking around with each other. Then iron-wife had to made a statement in Chinese, reviewed and signed.
Time to move! First big day of traveling back to China for most people (Iron-wife did that yesterday at Zhuhai; she was part of the statistic on the 180,000 people came from China from 8am to 5pm). We were only 10 minutes from the airport - not because of distance, but because of dumb road design! My uncle's car wouldn't start!! Low battery. With my new Nike Air boots (sales), I soared over the walkway bridge to the border entrance (a 100-meter dash up and down) and grabbed a taxi. Reloaded the bags, and off we went to the airport.
Checkin was fast as there weren't people there, at the counter that was. Most transit from Taiwan. Darn! The immigration was jammed pack! O... Dumb crowd control. Entrance too small to accommodate passengers. Go figure. I shout over to the guard saying I was a Macau resident. The "Red Sea" parted for us. We went into the security area. Not even a soul on the counter for the Macau resident line. 2 minutes passed. Stamp, stamp... Metal detectors... And we were thru. It was only 11:55am. We had time for curry ... Pretty good price for my Portuguese curry chicken. MOP$55. I got a huge pot full of chicken wings and breast meat in curry. What a busy morning!
1:00pm boarding time, stuff from early lunch....
3:30pm, landed on windy, cold, wet, foggy Shanghai.
5:30pm, home and greeted by our ayi saying one of the windows is broken. Someone thru a rock. 5 story up! Must be firework; and to hit ours and not others. Lottery, we must. Nice breeze.... Seal, seal, seal...
6:15pm, dinner at our usual place. Nice.... warm...
7:30pm, home, Brrr..... bloody cold! Seal up the room! Heater on.
8:00pm, tried to work remotely to fix a computer. This dumb ass, told not to touch computer... kept kicking me out. Too bad. Am heading to a warmer place.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Hurting....
Hurting, yes, not my Arthritis, it's a given. I was struggling big time.... ankles, back and chest... Even had problem taking deep breath. Last time was back in Regina. But compared to the economic downturn affecting the Casino, that's no comparison.
Was in Venetian at the Cotai Strip. First time there. Scary how money from the last 4 years really made an ugly monstrosity to a piece of land used to have nice environmental views, Oyster farms and the old days of life to totally huge buildings sucking up all the natural resources around the Pearl Delta in order for it to work. This strip used to the bridge road connecting the two outer islands of Macau; I could not even see any water or far away China but only saw the sky if I cranked my neck almost 90 degrees up. Scary!
As I stepped into the Venetian, I felt I was in Vegas. Same layout, grandeur and massive. 5 minutes in, I was ready to leave. We went there to see Zaia, the Cirque Du Soleil. The show was excellent. However, it was not packed at all. Only two sections were full. The rest of the theater was empty. The music was life. I could see music instrument played high up behind a glass room. Was talking to some Victor's friends during the mid-night get together. They said, it wasn't good. No techniques. Right... As if they know enough about the world and education to offer their valuable comments.
Walking toward the theater, we had to pass thru the casino part. Scary. So many empty tables, empty slot machines, empty.... No people. The economy and the Chinese Central Gov't restriction is really choking the revenue. Mom and dad said compared to after it was opened two years or so ago, night and day. They couldn't walk thru the place. Now, we like it! Pretty scary how many people are out of work with this lack of business.
Shops galore in Venetian. No one really buying. Some shops were offering 70% off. There was a small corridor connecting between two shopping areas. All expensive watches. Got HKD 100,000 ? That's the start. Keep dusting... I don't think anyone will be buying. Same with other shops, dust is more than people. And we found out most staff in the shops either Filipinos or mainland Chinese. We either spoke English or Mandarin. Forget about Cantonese. So, the biz model for Venetian definitely was geared toward Chinese mainlanders. The English speaking part is more for the US English-based Americans. All I could say, this place is hurting for revenue.
If this is any indication of one casino, what about the other super casinos in Macau. Will check out Wynn today.
PS. One redeeming quality of Venetian, it HAS a Mac store!!!! A Mac Store!!!! Too far though, taxi is about MOP55.00 one way.
Was in Venetian at the Cotai Strip. First time there. Scary how money from the last 4 years really made an ugly monstrosity to a piece of land used to have nice environmental views, Oyster farms and the old days of life to totally huge buildings sucking up all the natural resources around the Pearl Delta in order for it to work. This strip used to the bridge road connecting the two outer islands of Macau; I could not even see any water or far away China but only saw the sky if I cranked my neck almost 90 degrees up. Scary!
As I stepped into the Venetian, I felt I was in Vegas. Same layout, grandeur and massive. 5 minutes in, I was ready to leave. We went there to see Zaia, the Cirque Du Soleil. The show was excellent. However, it was not packed at all. Only two sections were full. The rest of the theater was empty. The music was life. I could see music instrument played high up behind a glass room. Was talking to some Victor's friends during the mid-night get together. They said, it wasn't good. No techniques. Right... As if they know enough about the world and education to offer their valuable comments.
Walking toward the theater, we had to pass thru the casino part. Scary. So many empty tables, empty slot machines, empty.... No people. The economy and the Chinese Central Gov't restriction is really choking the revenue. Mom and dad said compared to after it was opened two years or so ago, night and day. They couldn't walk thru the place. Now, we like it! Pretty scary how many people are out of work with this lack of business.
Shops galore in Venetian. No one really buying. Some shops were offering 70% off. There was a small corridor connecting between two shopping areas. All expensive watches. Got HKD 100,000 ? That's the start. Keep dusting... I don't think anyone will be buying. Same with other shops, dust is more than people. And we found out most staff in the shops either Filipinos or mainland Chinese. We either spoke English or Mandarin. Forget about Cantonese. So, the biz model for Venetian definitely was geared toward Chinese mainlanders. The English speaking part is more for the US English-based Americans. All I could say, this place is hurting for revenue.
If this is any indication of one casino, what about the other super casinos in Macau. Will check out Wynn today.
PS. One redeeming quality of Venetian, it HAS a Mac store!!!! A Mac Store!!!! Too far though, taxi is about MOP55.00 one way.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Holly Batman
The cold front has finally arrived to the southern part of China from Siberia. The temperature dropped fast and furious. 9C with strong wind.
1) This morning on the ferry to HK from Macau, the sea was rough! The door just one row behind me got flung opened by the strong wind and some dumb ass didn't close it properly. So, the door was flapping while I can stair out to the rough sea. Remember that ferry accident that sunk a European ferry, it flashed in front of my eyes. Some staff, after a minute discovered and decided to close it.
2) On the way home to Macau from Hong Kong, the sea was rougher!!!!
3) The economy must be really bad. The ferry terminal was not busy at all. Just empty. On the ferry, the Super Class had about 10 people if that. The econo class was only half full. The passenger volume has been low for a long time. Wonder what will happen to the revenue during the Chinese New Year. Polls the last couple days have indicated most HK residents are staying home for Chinese New Year this time. Save some money.
4) Speaking of saving money, we were in an exclusive store in HK's Central District. Just next to Armani, there was a highend clothing store; name excepted me; some European one. Saw a really nice conservative coat that I was thinking of getting for iron-wife; hers is over 15 years now. So she tried on this new coat; the material was better than Cashmere and was from South America. Fitted her perfectly!!! Looked at the priced tag. Sitting down? HKD250,000.00!!!! Yes, I have the proper zeros. It was the only one in HK. If customer wants a different one, she will need to custom order. The sale lady was trying to get me to look at the man's section. Saying sales is only one time deal; should look. She did not know I have way too much stuff as it is. And HKD250,000.00. Yikes. That's someone's one year salary in North America - during good time. Unbelievable.
1) This morning on the ferry to HK from Macau, the sea was rough! The door just one row behind me got flung opened by the strong wind and some dumb ass didn't close it properly. So, the door was flapping while I can stair out to the rough sea. Remember that ferry accident that sunk a European ferry, it flashed in front of my eyes. Some staff, after a minute discovered and decided to close it.
2) On the way home to Macau from Hong Kong, the sea was rougher!!!!
3) The economy must be really bad. The ferry terminal was not busy at all. Just empty. On the ferry, the Super Class had about 10 people if that. The econo class was only half full. The passenger volume has been low for a long time. Wonder what will happen to the revenue during the Chinese New Year. Polls the last couple days have indicated most HK residents are staying home for Chinese New Year this time. Save some money.
4) Speaking of saving money, we were in an exclusive store in HK's Central District. Just next to Armani, there was a highend clothing store; name excepted me; some European one. Saw a really nice conservative coat that I was thinking of getting for iron-wife; hers is over 15 years now. So she tried on this new coat; the material was better than Cashmere and was from South America. Fitted her perfectly!!! Looked at the priced tag. Sitting down? HKD250,000.00!!!! Yes, I have the proper zeros. It was the only one in HK. If customer wants a different one, she will need to custom order. The sale lady was trying to get me to look at the man's section. Saying sales is only one time deal; should look. She did not know I have way too much stuff as it is. And HKD250,000.00. Yikes. That's someone's one year salary in North America - during good time. Unbelievable.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Discount
Bought tickets for Circuit Du Soleil on Chinese New Year Eve's afternoon performance. Good that we have connection there at the Venetian. As Macau ID holders, we enjoyed 50% off the price. Not so luck with iron-wife. But my cousin did an employee purchase instead, 15% off. The total came to MOP 1,810 (CAD 298) for four of us. We will sit on row 11 centre. Not bad.
Festive Macau downtown square
Here are pictures from Macau downtown square. People are getting ready for Chinese New Year. This means prices is up. A major Japanese department store here is selling everything at full price taking advantage of Chinese mainland tourists. And only Chinese mainlanders are buying. Men wearing everything LV, Gucci from head to toes and women with expensive matching everything are buying. Bags and bags... On the street close to the square, drug stores and make-up stores are all full of mainlanders with their purchases. In that little square, there was no recession, no economic downturn, just lots of economic stimulation.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Another round of news from here
1) Last year, do you know how much the central gov't spent on out-of-country training for officials? Apparently an astronomical number of RMB 900 billion. I cannot phantom this number. Wonder what they trained on. And how much foreign reserve actually is left and how much money there are to spend on the internal infrastructure projects.
*Note: When Chinese refers in "billion", the translation is: 1 "billion" is 100 million in unit of measure in the West.
2) Apparently 20% of the expats in my city has been sent back to their motherlands. US car manufacturers were the brunt of this.
3) The HK gov't has an official figure, 300 people, that are sleeping on the street. Wonder how it counts. According to the charity group, this number is only the tip of the iceberg. I can believe it.
4) Followed the Lehman Brothers mini-bonds effect, now the stock market downturn, the HK teacher's pension investment has been hammered again. First, it lost HK$130million, now another HK$120million. Good thing though, the HK gov't will provide interest free loan to the fund if it cannot support the guaranteed 5% interest payment to retired teachers. The big problem is the bank stocks being hammered, in particular HSBC stock price. It has gone from HK100+ to now HK60 or so due to the downgrade from a big name under the water US-based asking for Fed handouts bank's analyst.
5) HK people are getting less educated and less brain. One example: there is currently a forest fire at a frequently visited hiking trail. Fire department and the gov't have issued warning telling people to avoid the affected area. But there were still over 100 people refused to listen. They went. One soon to be married couple said, they will hike the opposite direction of the fire. Right. And other said, the weather is so nice, they shall not miss the opportunity. Right. All I can say, dumb asses. And if they were gotten trapped by the sudden shift, they expect the fire department to rescue them for free. Maybe, should do what some US cities are doing. Charge the dumb assess after rescue.
6) The HK restaurant association is worry that business post-Chinese New Year will see an expected total revenue drop of 15-20%; that translate to about HK$3.0 billion. Restaurants may close. This association has about 500 members. From CNY day onward for 3 days, the members are giving out HK$100 million worth of gift certificates to consumers.
7) Last year, Macau's tourism industry topped over HK for the first time. There were 30 millions visits. Hong Kong Chief secretary said he is not worry as tourism is only 3% of Hong Kong's GDP. It shows too when you have to wait in line at the HK international aiport immigration desk for over 45 minutes to get in. Worst than China welcoming tourists. On average, Shanghai immigration wants to process tourists at less than 30 seconds per passport.
8) Wow, this is huge. The People's congress conference is still going on in Shanghai; in a speech rebutting one of the Shanghai delegates (who happens to be a major real estate developers here), the party secretary basically said: "Shanghai's residential pricing should not continue to rise". He said 5-year experience in the workforce gets pay between RMB4,000 to RMB5,000. In seven years, there is No way these people can afford an apartment. So the policy is set... Expect prices to drop... Maybe.
9) Guandong province's labour department has cancel all administrative fees for local companies; this is to avoid burdens to them. The policy is one of many approaches to stimulate the economy.
More to come... that's it for now....
*Note: When Chinese refers in "billion", the translation is: 1 "billion" is 100 million in unit of measure in the West.
2) Apparently 20% of the expats in my city has been sent back to their motherlands. US car manufacturers were the brunt of this.
3) The HK gov't has an official figure, 300 people, that are sleeping on the street. Wonder how it counts. According to the charity group, this number is only the tip of the iceberg. I can believe it.
4) Followed the Lehman Brothers mini-bonds effect, now the stock market downturn, the HK teacher's pension investment has been hammered again. First, it lost HK$130million, now another HK$120million. Good thing though, the HK gov't will provide interest free loan to the fund if it cannot support the guaranteed 5% interest payment to retired teachers. The big problem is the bank stocks being hammered, in particular HSBC stock price. It has gone from HK100+ to now HK60 or so due to the downgrade from a big name under the water US-based asking for Fed handouts bank's analyst.
5) HK people are getting less educated and less brain. One example: there is currently a forest fire at a frequently visited hiking trail. Fire department and the gov't have issued warning telling people to avoid the affected area. But there were still over 100 people refused to listen. They went. One soon to be married couple said, they will hike the opposite direction of the fire. Right. And other said, the weather is so nice, they shall not miss the opportunity. Right. All I can say, dumb asses. And if they were gotten trapped by the sudden shift, they expect the fire department to rescue them for free. Maybe, should do what some US cities are doing. Charge the dumb assess after rescue.
6) The HK restaurant association is worry that business post-Chinese New Year will see an expected total revenue drop of 15-20%; that translate to about HK$3.0 billion. Restaurants may close. This association has about 500 members. From CNY day onward for 3 days, the members are giving out HK$100 million worth of gift certificates to consumers.
7) Last year, Macau's tourism industry topped over HK for the first time. There were 30 millions visits. Hong Kong Chief secretary said he is not worry as tourism is only 3% of Hong Kong's GDP. It shows too when you have to wait in line at the HK international aiport immigration desk for over 45 minutes to get in. Worst than China welcoming tourists. On average, Shanghai immigration wants to process tourists at less than 30 seconds per passport.
8) Wow, this is huge. The People's congress conference is still going on in Shanghai; in a speech rebutting one of the Shanghai delegates (who happens to be a major real estate developers here), the party secretary basically said: "Shanghai's residential pricing should not continue to rise". He said 5-year experience in the workforce gets pay between RMB4,000 to RMB5,000. In seven years, there is No way these people can afford an apartment. So the policy is set... Expect prices to drop... Maybe.
9) Guandong province's labour department has cancel all administrative fees for local companies; this is to avoid burdens to them. The policy is one of many approaches to stimulate the economy.
More to come... that's it for now....
Saturday, January 17, 2009
spoiled?
Am I really get spoiled in Shanghai living in a bubble when the rest of the world is suffering? Yesterday, iron-wife got both of us facials. Today, the Chinese steaming for my Arthritis and then a shoulder massage followed by a facial again. I was sweating so much all the tissues glued to my face. The lady decided to cleanse my face too; so extra pampering. With all the pampering, we proceeded to have our usual restaurant. Now, I am feeling a bit guilty. All these pampering. And on the way home in the subway, a 12 years old girl should be home or be in with her friends. But this one, with a coffee cup, hopped on at the back of the train. Then proceeded to get on her knees and kept bowing to every passengers. That was very "annoying"; annoying was NOT because of the kid. It was the social strata of China. The poor and the rich is getting too big. You want to help; but you know the kid will not get any of the money you give out. She is conditioned to act and collect and continue until a "quota" is met.
Chinese New Year. The "crew" is out. It is very sad to see. A big contrast; the most I have done today was sweat in a pampered Herbal steam and a massage. And have my desk delivered. And her, probably cruising all day and probably all night to beg and then hand the money over to some leader. She then get a bowl of something to eat.
The last couple weeks, I have seen enough of this. Mothers with young babies, Mothers with 3-4 year old kids, Ring leader with 8, 9 years old kids. All begging in major subways and on Foreign tourist locations. And where is the city planner? Too much attention to the World Expos development, padding each other's back saying a job well done.
I may need to fly away just so I feel a bit better of myself?
Chinese New Year. The "crew" is out. It is very sad to see. A big contrast; the most I have done today was sweat in a pampered Herbal steam and a massage. And have my desk delivered. And her, probably cruising all day and probably all night to beg and then hand the money over to some leader. She then get a bowl of something to eat.
The last couple weeks, I have seen enough of this. Mothers with young babies, Mothers with 3-4 year old kids, Ring leader with 8, 9 years old kids. All begging in major subways and on Foreign tourist locations. And where is the city planner? Too much attention to the World Expos development, padding each other's back saying a job well done.
I may need to fly away just so I feel a bit better of myself?
My desk is here!
Hurray! My desk is here! Nice with a Chinese twist. Some one goofed on the drawer construction. It was 4 inches too low so my thighs are hitting the bottom. Haha... Good thing they can fix, after Chinese New Year. So once it is fixed will post here. The cost of my custom made desk, RMB3,300.00.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Expensive yet...
After the gym, I was ready to cook; but iron-wife wanted to go eat on the way home; and this new restaurant happened to be just across the street behind our gym. As soon as I saw the entrance, I said to myself silently "O sh!t". The price of the starter was a meal for two at our vegetarian restaurant with 2 dishes. And the main course was at least two meals at the vegetarian restaurant for two with 3 dishes. Tonight's total came to RMB580.00. Two starters, two entrees and one glass of red wine.
I have to say though, the food quality was exceptionally good. Worth the $ for the ambient and the food. Not too big a portion but enough. My lamb... wow... And iron-wife's risotto, manifique (with truffle oil). Too bad it wasn't for a romantic or a special event; we were there kinda under dressed, post gym workout stuff and causal wear. I was carrying three bags, two gym bags and iron-wife's roller bag.
The place has a weekend lunch with all you can eat food but retail price for wine for RMB248. Not sure what that means but it was the exact quote from the restaurant printout.
I have to say though, the food quality was exceptionally good. Worth the $ for the ambient and the food. Not too big a portion but enough. My lamb... wow... And iron-wife's risotto, manifique (with truffle oil). Too bad it wasn't for a romantic or a special event; we were there kinda under dressed, post gym workout stuff and causal wear. I was carrying three bags, two gym bags and iron-wife's roller bag.
The place has a weekend lunch with all you can eat food but retail price for wine for RMB248. Not sure what that means but it was the exact quote from the restaurant printout.
Have potential
Just got a call and a SMS from a realtor. There is a 134 sq m apartment for sale; the per sq m price is about RMB25,000 down from RMB28,000. The location is not far from where we are currently living. The asking price is RMB3.35 Million. Going to see it tomorrow. This is by a Singapore development built in 2002.
Take a look at this website; you may not understand the Chinese but take a look at the apartment pictures at the bottom of the page. Typical Chinese selling a house. Just messy. And once a Chinese has done a bathroom, you pretty have to gut it and start from scratch; not even bother trying to use it as is. http://shanghai.souwoo.com/house_view_4142424.html.
If you see a tab with "小区信息“, click on it. It shows the exterior surrounding areas.
Take a look at this website; you may not understand the Chinese but take a look at the apartment pictures at the bottom of the page. Typical Chinese selling a house. Just messy. And once a Chinese has done a bathroom, you pretty have to gut it and start from scratch; not even bother trying to use it as is. http://shanghai.souwoo.com/house_view_4142424.html.
If you see a tab with "小区信息“, click on it. It shows the exterior surrounding areas.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Cr@cK d0wn
Very interesting. The country is doing a crack down on "immoral" website portal. Obviously, you have heard; it even censored MSN, Google, Baidu for not doing enough. After last year's big O "restrictions", now what? Well, turns out this year is the 20th year of the June 4 pR0tE$t in the capital. So, things are getting tighter. Free search. Hee hee...
Today, I tried to watch some of my favorite TV shows online like: Top Gear, NCIS, CSI NY and CSI from that movie site I mentioned last year. Low and behold, none of those are available. It was fine two nights ago. I watched this nice F430 test drive; now, nothing. Bummer.
One good thing though, started last month up till late last week I notice some very racy pictures of women on some of the gov't owned news website. I was kinda shocked. Then, slowly I did not see them posted. By observing those little things, you can see the bigger policy push. Interesting.
Welcome to the new openness. It's free up till a certain point then have to be rein in. Too many h@rdl!ne f@cti0ns to be satisfied. Must be the Chinese herbal thing that they have been taking, hard to go away. Haha...
Today, I tried to watch some of my favorite TV shows online like: Top Gear, NCIS, CSI NY and CSI from that movie site I mentioned last year. Low and behold, none of those are available. It was fine two nights ago. I watched this nice F430 test drive; now, nothing. Bummer.
One good thing though, started last month up till late last week I notice some very racy pictures of women on some of the gov't owned news website. I was kinda shocked. Then, slowly I did not see them posted. By observing those little things, you can see the bigger policy push. Interesting.
Welcome to the new openness. It's free up till a certain point then have to be rein in. Too many h@rdl!ne f@cti0ns to be satisfied. Must be the Chinese herbal thing that they have been taking, hard to go away. Haha...
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Unbelievable!
Several news from Southern China all around Guangdong area:
1) 50 officials have been arrested over the last two days. The charge? Use public money for gambling in Macau and Hong Kong areas. One lost RMB 22 Millions. There were some prominent names. One was a deputy mayor turned anti-gambling, anti-porn head. He was charged spending RMB1.8 millions in gambling. If the central gov't cannot rely on officials to do the job, who will?
2) A day ago, the Guangzhou police broke open a gang buying sick pigs, slaughtered them and then sold them back to restaurants. On average, daily sale reached 3,000Kg. This is a pure for-profit organization with no regards of human health. The gang bought a sick pig for about RMB50 to RMB200 then turned around selling for about RMB1,000 per head (after slaughtered, of course); most of these sick pigs had the "Blue ear" disease. After slaughtered, a pig was cut in halves and then put in a big tank with agricultural chemical (dimethoate) to "remove" the smell. The meat was then cut up, shipped out frozen to restaurants, sausage factories and factory kitchens.
1) 50 officials have been arrested over the last two days. The charge? Use public money for gambling in Macau and Hong Kong areas. One lost RMB 22 Millions. There were some prominent names. One was a deputy mayor turned anti-gambling, anti-porn head. He was charged spending RMB1.8 millions in gambling. If the central gov't cannot rely on officials to do the job, who will?
2) A day ago, the Guangzhou police broke open a gang buying sick pigs, slaughtered them and then sold them back to restaurants. On average, daily sale reached 3,000Kg. This is a pure for-profit organization with no regards of human health. The gang bought a sick pig for about RMB50 to RMB200 then turned around selling for about RMB1,000 per head (after slaughtered, of course); most of these sick pigs had the "Blue ear" disease. After slaughtered, a pig was cut in halves and then put in a big tank with agricultural chemical (dimethoate) to "remove" the smell. The meat was then cut up, shipped out frozen to restaurants, sausage factories and factory kitchens.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Latest around Asia
It has been awhile posting the latest economic observations around Asia. Time again for an update.
Before Christmas while I was in KL and Singapore, on the surface people were just coming and going like busy bees working at office towers. One thing I did noticed though, the influence of KFC, Starbucks and MacDonald's were everywhere. KFC was visited by mostly locals with their kids. Maybe the cost was cheap. I did not venture into one as I am grease avert. Starbucks, it was just everywhere! One could hardly miss seeing one as each Starbucks seemed to be its own neighbour sometimes. It possessed some of the prominent spots and mostly visited by foreigners (by the Petronas Towers, not so much as in Signapore; locals and foreigners alike crowded the space). Maybe they have inkling of tasteless coffee and Westernized fat on the muffins and pastries. OK, I admit that I sometimes frequent Starbucks in Shanghai but because it serves as a convenience store for me when I am in a rush or my temporary meeting room. You see, Starbucks does not kick people out. OK, where am I going with this? KFC, Starbucks and MacDonald's are ingrained in the Asian culture. One just cannot get away not seeing one anywhere. I see fat unhealthy kids growing up like a football player, no not a slim trim receiver but a gigantic center or tackle - not muscles but fat. But then the balance sheet of those companies in Asia might perform well.
Residential buildings in KL and Singapore. In KL, I was basically "stuck" to the downtown core around the Petronas Towers. There were numerous residential buildings, fancy looking ones, 30+ stories high with best views of the towers. Empty! I counted at least 3 buildings empty. And some that were occupied, only a few unites. And in Singapore, going along the East Coast Highway to the airport. Empty residential buildings. Yet, both countries seem to continue to build on commercial and residential buildings. Where's the money coming from to finance these projects? Who will occupy these buildings when completed? I find it hard to accept that the gov'ts only using this type of strategy to keep people employ. "Build it they will come" strategy seems a bit over used. If people have no money, who will come? Singapore's Orchard Road now is a mess. Currently, right on top of the Orchard Road MRT sub-way station, a huge residential and commercial project is underway. By putting this new complex up, this corner will be the most congested in Singapore, probably even worse than the one in HK's Causeway Bay where Sogo is. So if one is to visit Singapore, stay away from visiting Orchard Road section from Orchard MRT station all the way to Dhoby Ghaut MRT station. You just cannot walk on that section. Traffic flow, pedestrians that is, moves along the shops. One side of the street is pack and the other side where there is a park, empty. I could count how many pedestrian walking two blocks in front of me.
Sales Sales Sales everywhere... At the initial US meltdown, I did not see any sale signs in stores, Singapore in particular. But all of a sudden, everything in KL and Singapore were over 50% off. 50% or more off! In Malls and on the street level shops, everything was on sale. From a men's store perspective, I found it odd that Zegna and Hugo Boss in KL were having anywhere from 30% to 50% off. And the stores were following the seasonal changes in North America. OK, how many people will want to buy a heavy jacket or winter suit when a tourist was wearing shorts and flip flop. Obviously, it was a flop to be selling winter clothing. Huge inventory build-up. Deep discount. Ouch!
The only place seems immune to luxury brand sales is here in Shanghai. From Citic Square to Plaza 66 to Portman, all the major luxury brands do not have sale signs. Sales? People walk in still pay full price. OK. Where is the money coming front? The other night, I saw two Bentley and a Porsche Cayenne cruising by all within 1 minute. Then F430, Lamborghini, come to think about it, have not seen any Maserati. Getting that rich in here needs connections. There are always connections or you get nothing. Unless you have something they want badly, then they will pay and give; otherwise, if you have something you want from them, you pay... suckers. And pay dearly. Basically, outsiders exploit the needy ones here; and the insiders exploit the needy outsiders.
The Expo is coming soon to this city. The enthusiasm is only locally. Outside of this town, the "what"? Just like the big O this Summer north of here, only major enthusiasm there; not here. China is too big to have everyone excited on one big thing, mainly because everyone needs to make a living. And with such International exposure, "control" is a major issue. The big "Propa--g@nd@" still play a big part. Lots of money is being spent on the upcoming Expo. The site, every time we passed by to the Pudong airport, slowing taking shape. All the steels, all the workers, all the concrete; there are also lots of highway infrastructure work, subway work. Shanghai will have about 14 lines crisscrossing the entire city with its surrounding areas. These areas used to be considered outside of Shanghai, now it's under Shanghai's jurisdiction. Just cannot see where all those money are coming from to build and build. Surely, there must be a finite amount. Or are we running a P0nzi scheme here with someone "cooking the book" at the Indian's Pr!cew@terh0use office. Maybe not far from the truth.
Now a summary around this place and the Pearl Delta:
- DLA Piper one of the largest law firms in the world with office here in Shanghai is offering graduated law students "work". It's a new hiring scheme; you get to work for experience, 4 hours a day, with no pay.
- Conflicting Chinese national analyst evaluations as to how the real estate market will go in China this year; some said the worst is still yet to come, some were optimistic that things will turn around on the 2nd half this year. Right... If no one has money to buy and developers have no money from the banks and with all those empty buildings and all those 5-star hotels/offices, we are expecting that many investors? Yeah, ah, ok.
- With Chinese New Year coming, lots of counterfeit paper money out there; they are so high quality bank machines have a hard time picking them out. There are people selling these counterfeit paper money on a Chinese-based e-bay type site. A RMB100 note is selling for RMB10 to RMB15.
- Have you heard the latest bridge building project? The one that will link up the Pearl Delta: Hong Kong, Macau area. No need to take a ferry; this is a very ambitious project. With the economy tanking in Hong Kong and Macau, the Chinese gov't as well as the SAR gov'ts are pushing for a fast track approval process. Yikes. I hate to see the feasibility study on this. With most islands along the coast lines being "excavated" for other mainland building projects, where does this project get all the basic "ingredients" for the building blocks? Also, the weather pattern changed so much along the coast what shelters will be provided during typhoon season as well as abrupt weather pattern like sudden hails and tornadoes? Yes, lots of those. And the workers, who will train them to ensure the building standards are followed? Not wanting to be on that bridge when it is ready.
- Hong Kong's hospital management seems to be getting dumber and dumber by the days. The last while have seen: piling two to three bodies in a fridge in the morgues, confused record keeping making people cremated other people's relatives, a person was injected with the wrong chemos straight up the spine and killed, a woman had the wrong breast removed from cancer, a cart full of blood samples were shoved into a room because of Saturday and Sunday, a man died of heart attacks in front of a hospital because management refused to help and tell the patient's relative to call 999 instead and the latest again, using garbage bags to store bodies in a hospital. The latest, a hospital lost a dead baby because it was wrapped in garbage bag and placed in the same storage unit as another excessive huge person. The police suspected that the baby's body has been dumped to the landfill. Monday, they will go to the landfill to look. And this happened over 2 weeks ago now. All this goof ups, no one got fired. Just verbal warning or no promotion for 3 years. Can you believe that?
- This city's policy is trying to pop-up the residential real estate market. It is beginning to relax how much you can borrow from your retirement money; apparently you can borrow as much as RMB800,000 to buy a second home. More debt. Yikes.
Before Christmas while I was in KL and Singapore, on the surface people were just coming and going like busy bees working at office towers. One thing I did noticed though, the influence of KFC, Starbucks and MacDonald's were everywhere. KFC was visited by mostly locals with their kids. Maybe the cost was cheap. I did not venture into one as I am grease avert. Starbucks, it was just everywhere! One could hardly miss seeing one as each Starbucks seemed to be its own neighbour sometimes. It possessed some of the prominent spots and mostly visited by foreigners (by the Petronas Towers, not so much as in Signapore; locals and foreigners alike crowded the space). Maybe they have inkling of tasteless coffee and Westernized fat on the muffins and pastries. OK, I admit that I sometimes frequent Starbucks in Shanghai but because it serves as a convenience store for me when I am in a rush or my temporary meeting room. You see, Starbucks does not kick people out. OK, where am I going with this? KFC, Starbucks and MacDonald's are ingrained in the Asian culture. One just cannot get away not seeing one anywhere. I see fat unhealthy kids growing up like a football player, no not a slim trim receiver but a gigantic center or tackle - not muscles but fat. But then the balance sheet of those companies in Asia might perform well.
Residential buildings in KL and Singapore. In KL, I was basically "stuck" to the downtown core around the Petronas Towers. There were numerous residential buildings, fancy looking ones, 30+ stories high with best views of the towers. Empty! I counted at least 3 buildings empty. And some that were occupied, only a few unites. And in Singapore, going along the East Coast Highway to the airport. Empty residential buildings. Yet, both countries seem to continue to build on commercial and residential buildings. Where's the money coming from to finance these projects? Who will occupy these buildings when completed? I find it hard to accept that the gov'ts only using this type of strategy to keep people employ. "Build it they will come" strategy seems a bit over used. If people have no money, who will come? Singapore's Orchard Road now is a mess. Currently, right on top of the Orchard Road MRT sub-way station, a huge residential and commercial project is underway. By putting this new complex up, this corner will be the most congested in Singapore, probably even worse than the one in HK's Causeway Bay where Sogo is. So if one is to visit Singapore, stay away from visiting Orchard Road section from Orchard MRT station all the way to Dhoby Ghaut MRT station. You just cannot walk on that section. Traffic flow, pedestrians that is, moves along the shops. One side of the street is pack and the other side where there is a park, empty. I could count how many pedestrian walking two blocks in front of me.
Sales Sales Sales everywhere... At the initial US meltdown, I did not see any sale signs in stores, Singapore in particular. But all of a sudden, everything in KL and Singapore were over 50% off. 50% or more off! In Malls and on the street level shops, everything was on sale. From a men's store perspective, I found it odd that Zegna and Hugo Boss in KL were having anywhere from 30% to 50% off. And the stores were following the seasonal changes in North America. OK, how many people will want to buy a heavy jacket or winter suit when a tourist was wearing shorts and flip flop. Obviously, it was a flop to be selling winter clothing. Huge inventory build-up. Deep discount. Ouch!
The only place seems immune to luxury brand sales is here in Shanghai. From Citic Square to Plaza 66 to Portman, all the major luxury brands do not have sale signs. Sales? People walk in still pay full price. OK. Where is the money coming front? The other night, I saw two Bentley and a Porsche Cayenne cruising by all within 1 minute. Then F430, Lamborghini, come to think about it, have not seen any Maserati. Getting that rich in here needs connections. There are always connections or you get nothing. Unless you have something they want badly, then they will pay and give; otherwise, if you have something you want from them, you pay... suckers. And pay dearly. Basically, outsiders exploit the needy ones here; and the insiders exploit the needy outsiders.
The Expo is coming soon to this city. The enthusiasm is only locally. Outside of this town, the "what"? Just like the big O this Summer north of here, only major enthusiasm there; not here. China is too big to have everyone excited on one big thing, mainly because everyone needs to make a living. And with such International exposure, "control" is a major issue. The big "Propa--g@nd@" still play a big part. Lots of money is being spent on the upcoming Expo. The site, every time we passed by to the Pudong airport, slowing taking shape. All the steels, all the workers, all the concrete; there are also lots of highway infrastructure work, subway work. Shanghai will have about 14 lines crisscrossing the entire city with its surrounding areas. These areas used to be considered outside of Shanghai, now it's under Shanghai's jurisdiction. Just cannot see where all those money are coming from to build and build. Surely, there must be a finite amount. Or are we running a P0nzi scheme here with someone "cooking the book" at the Indian's Pr!cew@terh0use office. Maybe not far from the truth.
Now a summary around this place and the Pearl Delta:
- DLA Piper one of the largest law firms in the world with office here in Shanghai is offering graduated law students "work". It's a new hiring scheme; you get to work for experience, 4 hours a day, with no pay.
- Conflicting Chinese national analyst evaluations as to how the real estate market will go in China this year; some said the worst is still yet to come, some were optimistic that things will turn around on the 2nd half this year. Right... If no one has money to buy and developers have no money from the banks and with all those empty buildings and all those 5-star hotels/offices, we are expecting that many investors? Yeah, ah, ok.
- With Chinese New Year coming, lots of counterfeit paper money out there; they are so high quality bank machines have a hard time picking them out. There are people selling these counterfeit paper money on a Chinese-based e-bay type site. A RMB100 note is selling for RMB10 to RMB15.
- Have you heard the latest bridge building project? The one that will link up the Pearl Delta: Hong Kong, Macau area. No need to take a ferry; this is a very ambitious project. With the economy tanking in Hong Kong and Macau, the Chinese gov't as well as the SAR gov'ts are pushing for a fast track approval process. Yikes. I hate to see the feasibility study on this. With most islands along the coast lines being "excavated" for other mainland building projects, where does this project get all the basic "ingredients" for the building blocks? Also, the weather pattern changed so much along the coast what shelters will be provided during typhoon season as well as abrupt weather pattern like sudden hails and tornadoes? Yes, lots of those. And the workers, who will train them to ensure the building standards are followed? Not wanting to be on that bridge when it is ready.
- Hong Kong's hospital management seems to be getting dumber and dumber by the days. The last while have seen: piling two to three bodies in a fridge in the morgues, confused record keeping making people cremated other people's relatives, a person was injected with the wrong chemos straight up the spine and killed, a woman had the wrong breast removed from cancer, a cart full of blood samples were shoved into a room because of Saturday and Sunday, a man died of heart attacks in front of a hospital because management refused to help and tell the patient's relative to call 999 instead and the latest again, using garbage bags to store bodies in a hospital. The latest, a hospital lost a dead baby because it was wrapped in garbage bag and placed in the same storage unit as another excessive huge person. The police suspected that the baby's body has been dumped to the landfill. Monday, they will go to the landfill to look. And this happened over 2 weeks ago now. All this goof ups, no one got fired. Just verbal warning or no promotion for 3 years. Can you believe that?
- This city's policy is trying to pop-up the residential real estate market. It is beginning to relax how much you can borrow from your retirement money; apparently you can borrow as much as RMB800,000 to buy a second home. More debt. Yikes.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Ah....
I had the meeting today on the website proposal after working for two days non-stop getting things ready. The group that I met with if you are ready was:
Phew... done typing. I was surprised to see the the department name in both languages (E & C) fixed on the name card presented to me.
Anyway after six months of negotiation back and forth in writings and translations, I got involved. Only One week of real work for me really. The end result was pretty much as I expected. Based on my biz associate's briefing from before, the department was ready to doe out money and approved the website proposal. Nah.... Once this latest proposal was presented, the format, the requirements and the content were asked to be changed yet again. And now, the "ownership" (both physical and content-wise) of the eventual website is to be owned by the gov't. It will dictate and manage. In essence, it will not be an international website; but a Chxxxxx gov't website hosting International material. Right. The reason why is: you receive the funding and therefore it is the property of "you know who". I wasn't gullible. I kept wondering about the ownership structure since day 1 I got involved. The answer back then was "free rein" by us. Ummm....
Then there was the budgetary thing. I asked for 1.4M in local currency. In the budget, I placed some indicators to test the reviewers' reaction. True to form, the responses were conflicting - from the same person. On one hand, said too high; but on the other hand, suggested our wage estimate was too low. Then there was this little suggestion of paying us about 10% of the request money; the other 90%, not sure where it goes. And when there is some real issues, both reviewers switched to Shanghainese dialect; to me, that was not professional. But then again, we have been dicked around for six months.
I spent a day getting a site mocked up; when I asked the reviewers what they want to see - the website or the budget, they chose the latter; not even interested in what everyone had initially agreed on doing for this project; that is to create an eco-city web portal to provide green and eco-friendly information and align partnerships from all over the globe with a focus on this country. That was my other test.
So what is up on their sleeves?
Only been involved for about 2 weeks, elapse time. So did not lose that much time nor energy. Actually, enjoyed the little show today. Give me an idea on how gov't biz works (slightly) and practice on my Chinese comprehension.
Tomorrow, need to re-evaluate, 730am, Starbucks. Yuck, bad coffee, expensive, tasteless.
Phew... done typing. I was surprised to see the the department name in both languages (E & C) fixed on the name card presented to me.
Anyway after six months of negotiation back and forth in writings and translations, I got involved. Only One week of real work for me really. The end result was pretty much as I expected. Based on my biz associate's briefing from before, the department was ready to doe out money and approved the website proposal. Nah.... Once this latest proposal was presented, the format, the requirements and the content were asked to be changed yet again. And now, the "ownership" (both physical and content-wise) of the eventual website is to be owned by the gov't. It will dictate and manage. In essence, it will not be an international website; but a Chxxxxx gov't website hosting International material. Right. The reason why is: you receive the funding and therefore it is the property of "you know who". I wasn't gullible. I kept wondering about the ownership structure since day 1 I got involved. The answer back then was "free rein" by us. Ummm....
Then there was the budgetary thing. I asked for 1.4M in local currency. In the budget, I placed some indicators to test the reviewers' reaction. True to form, the responses were conflicting - from the same person. On one hand, said too high; but on the other hand, suggested our wage estimate was too low. Then there was this little suggestion of paying us about 10% of the request money; the other 90%, not sure where it goes. And when there is some real issues, both reviewers switched to Shanghainese dialect; to me, that was not professional. But then again, we have been dicked around for six months.
I spent a day getting a site mocked up; when I asked the reviewers what they want to see - the website or the budget, they chose the latter; not even interested in what everyone had initially agreed on doing for this project; that is to create an eco-city web portal to provide green and eco-friendly information and align partnerships from all over the globe with a focus on this country. That was my other test.
So what is up on their sleeves?
Only been involved for about 2 weeks, elapse time. So did not lose that much time nor energy. Actually, enjoyed the little show today. Give me an idea on how gov't biz works (slightly) and practice on my Chinese comprehension.
Tomorrow, need to re-evaluate, 730am, Starbucks. Yuck, bad coffee, expensive, tasteless.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
What's up...
I was a bit quiet the last while. Wasn't because I was tired of writing but have been busy involving with various things:
1) I got the old iPhone 3G (bought it two months ago for Audrey) unlocked last night. So we are a iPhone family. Took me several tries on and off for since Jan 2. Persistent paid off. Last night at around 9pm, success! Iron-wife commented that I must be a mad scientist in my previous life.
2) Been involving with this project: creating a proposal to build a Green awareness web portal for the Shanghai science promotion branch; this is a new policy from the Central gov't. Two more days and we will submit; apparently it has been approved but now just have to see our presentation of the $ amount. If things work according to plan, will be for the World Expo and beyond.
3) Over New Year's Eve dinner with friends who are "connected" some what, this is what is happening around...
- Biomedical field is booming. Shortage of experts and staff.
- Corporate income tax paid, a portion is a bonus to the tax officer in charge of your file. This friend showed a lost but the tax officer changed the official tax rules so the company must pay! That way someone's bonus is collected. However, with the connection, this tax officer will now get a phone call from some higher up. Be careful doing biz here! This is common.
- Another experience: another friend's office was "raided" closer to the end of the year. Reason: it was close to the end of the year and the tax collection quota was not met. So a group of tax officers stormed in and demand all the "books" to be collected. If handed over, the company just could not work. So my friend stared them down. They left. But there were some "difficulties" afterward. Just could not "paid" as you will become a continual target: "You have demonstrated that you have something to hide".
- The billions being spent on infrastructure, beware, none will actually get to the multi-nationals revenue streams. RFPs were issued and closed two days later. If due diligent was to be met, RFP would have taken 3 to 4 months to submit. This was geared toward just handing out $ to make local companies going. So most just submit couple pages with couple things checked off. Approved. $ transferred. After that, where is the money gone? Well, I saw lots of 4-door Bentley (top of the line), Porche Cayenne SUVs, BMW 7series, Ferrari Spyders, Aston convertible Vantage, LV bags, Cartier. There you have it! Seems connected are getting richer, the white-collars are getting poorer.
That's about it for now; got to get back to work.
1) I got the old iPhone 3G (bought it two months ago for Audrey) unlocked last night. So we are a iPhone family. Took me several tries on and off for since Jan 2. Persistent paid off. Last night at around 9pm, success! Iron-wife commented that I must be a mad scientist in my previous life.
2) Been involving with this project: creating a proposal to build a Green awareness web portal for the Shanghai science promotion branch; this is a new policy from the Central gov't. Two more days and we will submit; apparently it has been approved but now just have to see our presentation of the $ amount. If things work according to plan, will be for the World Expo and beyond.
3) Over New Year's Eve dinner with friends who are "connected" some what, this is what is happening around...
- Biomedical field is booming. Shortage of experts and staff.
- Corporate income tax paid, a portion is a bonus to the tax officer in charge of your file. This friend showed a lost but the tax officer changed the official tax rules so the company must pay! That way someone's bonus is collected. However, with the connection, this tax officer will now get a phone call from some higher up. Be careful doing biz here! This is common.
- Another experience: another friend's office was "raided" closer to the end of the year. Reason: it was close to the end of the year and the tax collection quota was not met. So a group of tax officers stormed in and demand all the "books" to be collected. If handed over, the company just could not work. So my friend stared them down. They left. But there were some "difficulties" afterward. Just could not "paid" as you will become a continual target: "You have demonstrated that you have something to hide".
- The billions being spent on infrastructure, beware, none will actually get to the multi-nationals revenue streams. RFPs were issued and closed two days later. If due diligent was to be met, RFP would have taken 3 to 4 months to submit. This was geared toward just handing out $ to make local companies going. So most just submit couple pages with couple things checked off. Approved. $ transferred. After that, where is the money gone? Well, I saw lots of 4-door Bentley (top of the line), Porche Cayenne SUVs, BMW 7series, Ferrari Spyders, Aston convertible Vantage, LV bags, Cartier. There you have it! Seems connected are getting richer, the white-collars are getting poorer.
That's about it for now; got to get back to work.
Friday, January 2, 2009
It really Pi**es me OFF
Every time I saw adult beggars training little 3 year old children bagging for money. That just made me furious and sad at the same time. Sad that adults would have go so low and sad was the innocents being "groomed" to this life style. Granted, I do not know the background nor the whole story behind. But we know there are gangs of beggars, they are professionals; some have homes and houses back in their villages. You just don't know. So to give or not to give to the children.
Two incidents yesterday.
1) A 3 year old, same age as Enzo. Asking for money right on Nanjing Road West next to the JW Marriott. The mother had the head down. And the kid, one hand with a make-shift toy and one hand with a cup. Bagging. And then the innocent came thru for a brief moment - a true 3 year old jumping and smiling and playing with his little toy yelling "Jia You". The moment was so close to what I saw Enzo playing with a make-shift laser gun with a stick. Two lifes two separate locations. One, playing on the street and begging; one, playing in an American dream house with all the comforts.
2) After supper, we stepped out of a restaurants with friends. A 4 year old girl dressed cleanly with a cup in her hand. She looked very smart; but just 10 feet away was a shaddy and dirty man with a cigarette watching her with a shifty eyes. He was controlling her to beg. To target Westerners.... The girl smiled and handed us the cup and kept following us until one of us relented. She did not know that was wrong. But she was only trained to do so. This girl on the street somewhere in Shanghai. The life to be a beggar forever; another girl, the one that sung in the Beijing O, a different life.
Two incidents yesterday.
1) A 3 year old, same age as Enzo. Asking for money right on Nanjing Road West next to the JW Marriott. The mother had the head down. And the kid, one hand with a make-shift toy and one hand with a cup. Bagging. And then the innocent came thru for a brief moment - a true 3 year old jumping and smiling and playing with his little toy yelling "Jia You". The moment was so close to what I saw Enzo playing with a make-shift laser gun with a stick. Two lifes two separate locations. One, playing on the street and begging; one, playing in an American dream house with all the comforts.
2) After supper, we stepped out of a restaurants with friends. A 4 year old girl dressed cleanly with a cup in her hand. She looked very smart; but just 10 feet away was a shaddy and dirty man with a cigarette watching her with a shifty eyes. He was controlling her to beg. To target Westerners.... The girl smiled and handed us the cup and kept following us until one of us relented. She did not know that was wrong. But she was only trained to do so. This girl on the street somewhere in Shanghai. The life to be a beggar forever; another girl, the one that sung in the Beijing O, a different life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)