Emerging Metropolisses – The Future is Urbanisation

Macro

Good trip in Singapore. The City is a wonderful place which seems to strike that balance between relaxation and work very well. On Saturday we hopped across the bridge to the island of Sentosa – it’s practically a holiday resort, with bars, kid’s activities and a fake surf machine to boot! However, one cannot help feeling that, despite the infrastructure spending and development, Singapore is still on the periphery of the Asian industrial engine. It has a warm, yet isolated community feel about it – indeed, it feels more like an island than Hong Kong.

Back to the grindstone; I’m going to ease myself into it. A couple of articles which grabbed my attention.

Firstly, I’d like to highlight the following table, courtesy of PwC http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/press-room/2009/largest-city-economies-uk.jhtml which was highlighted in a good article by Seeking Alpha: The World’s Top 10 Cities in 2025.

Top 30 urban agglomeration GDP rankings in 2008 and illustrative projections to 2025 (using UN definitions and population estimates)
Rank in 2008	Cities ranked by estimated 2008 GDP at PPPs	Est. GDP in 2008 ($bn at PPPs)	Rank in 2025	Cities ranked by projected 2025 GDP at PPPs	Est. GDP in 2025 ($bn at 2008 PPPs)	Real GDP growth rate(% pa: 2009-2025)
1	Tokyo	1479	1	Tokyo	1981	1.7%
2	New York	1406	2	New York	1915	1.8%
3	Los Angeles	792	3	Los Angeles	1036	1.6%
4	Chicago	574	4	London	821	2.2%
5	London	565	5	Chicago	817	2.1%
6	Paris	564	6	Sao Paulo	782	4.2%
7	Osaka/Kobe	417	7	Mexico City	745	3.9%
8	Mexico City	390	8	Paris	741	1.6%
9	Philadelphia	388	9	Shanghai	692	6.6%
10	Sao Paulo	388	10	Buenos Aires	651	3.5%
11	Washington DC	375	11	Mumbai (Bombay)	594	6.3%
12	Boston	363	12	Moscow	546	3.2%
13	Buenos Aires	362	13	Philadelphia	518	1.7%
14	Dallas/Fort Worth	338	14	Hong Kong	506	2.7%
15	Moscow	321	15	Washington DC	504	1.8%
16	Hong Kong	320	16	Osaka/Kobe	500	1.1%
17	Atlanta	304	17	Beijing	499	6.7%
18	San Francisco/Oakland	301	18	Boston	488	1.8%
19	Houston	297	19	Delhi	482	6.4%
20	Miami	292	20	Dallas/Fort Worth	454	1.8%
21	Seoul	291	21	Guangzhou	438	6.8%
22	Toronto	253	22	Seoul	431	2.3%
23	Detroit	253	23	Atlanta	412	1.8%
24	Seattle	235	24	Rio de Janeiro	407	4.2%
25	Shanghai	233	25	San Francisco/Oakland	406	1.8%
26	Madrid	230	26	Houston	400	1.8%
27	Singapore	215	27	Miami	390	1.7%
28	Sydney	213	28	Istanbul	367	4.2%
29	Mumbai (Bombay)	209	29	Toronto	352	2.0%
30	Rio de Janeiro	201	30	Cairo	330	5.0%
Source: PwC estimates and projections using UN population data and definitions Growth rates in final column relate to the cities ranked by projected GDP in 2025 in the fifth column of the table. Cities rising by more than 3 places in the rankings between 2008 and 2025 are highlighted in bold in the table.

Notes to editor:

1. Distribution of top 50 and top 100 cities by country in 2008 and 2025 projections

Countries	Number of cities in 2008 in:		Number of cities in 2025 in:
	Global top 50	Global top 100	Global top 50	Global top 100
US	20	23	17	23
Japan	2	3	2	3
Germany	0	3	0	1
UK	1	4	1	3
France	1	2	1	1
Italy	2	3	0	2
Canada	2	3	1	3
Total: G7	28	41	22	36
Other advanced economies	8	20	8	16
Total: advanced	36	61	30	52
China	3	5	4	8
India	2	6	3	9
Brazil	2	5	2	5
Russia	1	2	1	2
Mexico	1	3	1	3
Indonesia	0	1	1	1
Turkey	1	2	1	2
Total: E7	10	24	13	30
Other emerging economies	4	15	7	18
Total: emerging economies	14	39	20	48
All countries	50	100	50

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers analysis 

It’s important that this table is based off GDP projections so Tokyo, the largest city in the World with a GDP approximately the size of Spain, is quite a hard one to dislodge. There are some glaring points to note: Why did London gain ground against Paris? Where did Sydney go? American cities like Detriot and Seattle simply drop off the map. Of course, standards of living are not necessarily falling in these cities, it’s just GDP projections and its just relative. If anything this is a measurement of political and economic global influence rather than pleasantness or affluence. Singapore (despite its “holiday resort ambiance”) really loses out to Hong Kong in the race to become the Asian Economic Financial Epicenter and they are both trumped by Shanghai and Mumbai! Shanghai rises from 25^th to 9^th and Mumbai from 29^th to 11^th. Beijing and even Guangzhou are right up there above European heart-throbs like Rome and Madrid. Right, that’s decided it, my kids are learning Chinese. 

Perhaps the most significant thing is best displayed on the second table. Nearly 50% of the top 30 cities are in what we now call Emerging Markets (they won’t be “emerging” by 2025!).

Now let’s look at an article by Brigitte Posch of PIMCO: EM Infrastructure Spending: Rising Commitment and Growing Opportunity. In particular the following excerpt:

Building Cities, Supporting Rural Areas

According to the World Bank, in 1950 only 30% of the world’s population lived in cities. This year, for the first time in history, a majority of the world’s population lives in urban centers. By 2030, this figure is expected to reach 65%. Cities will need to absorb another 2 billion people over the coming 20 years, and 90% of this urban expansion is expected to take place in the emerging world.

 

This demographic challenge will give rise to unprecedented demands for investments in infrastructure in thousands of cities and towns.  Further, in order to limit the urban migration, infrastructure spending will need to create adequate growth and income opportunities in rural areas. These investments should improve the market linkages from the rural regions of the country to the urban areas, where the bulk of domestic consumption takes place. Further preventing the urban explosion will mean investing in manufacturing and service-delivery capacity in regions further removed from today’s urban core. 

 

If your horizon is long enough, there are some interesting trends in the Emerging Market World which astute investors would clearly do well to slipstream. It’s worth also noting that Warren Buffett’s largest investment (and, in my opinion, most ambitious investment) is effectively a US infrastructure play. Perhaps the trend is not limited to Emerging Market Economies?

Macro Data to Watch:

• Japanese Bank Holiday (Labour Thanksgiving Day)
• Taiwan Numbers:
  • Jobs
  • Exports
  • Industrial Production
• Thailand: GDP Numbers out today.
• US Employment numbers had a chance for initial jobless claims to dip below 500k for the first time in almost a year but just failed, coming out at 504k. All eyes on this US GDP number tomorrow – just don’t want any surprises on this. QoQ Q3 GDP Growth came out at 3.5% in October, if you remember. 

Markets

Quite surprised to see Gold continuing its surge, despite a lackluster week for stocks last week.

Lots of talk about the so-called US Dollar carry trade. The Dollar still languishes around the lows but an unwind of the carry trade, some say, (like Roubini Mother of All Carry Trades) could spark a simultaneous collapse in risky assets with a concurrent a sharp rally in the Dollar. Not sure about the correction just yet, as there may be some strong support into the end of the year, and as I mentioned in my comment on 11th November (Decoding the so-called Market Rally / Economic Outlook Contradiction) there is enough logic behind asset prices to support their absolute level. I use the word absolute because, in my mind, real prices (adjusted for potential pipeline inflation) are clearly at risk… for obvious reasons…

Global Stocks to Watch:

• Looks like those results at Dell didn’t go as well as planned – stock was off 10% on Friday. Keep and eye on the upstream Techs today.
• Earnings:
  • Fubon Financial
  • Campbell’s soup. BUY! If some of the doomsters are right we should all be stocking up on soup and living in caves!
  • Hewlett Packard – note the earnings from Dell!

Anime e Mangá. O que são?

Anime ou animê (アニメ, anime^?, japonês para desenho(s) animado(s)) é o nome usado para se referir a qualquer produto de animação produzido no Japão. A palavra anime tem significados diferentes para os japoneses e para os ocidentais. Para os japoneses, anime é tudo o que seja desenho animado, seja ele estrangeiro ou nacional. Para os ocidentais, anime é todo o desenho animado que venha do Japão.

O mangá ou manga (漫画, manga, literalmente história(s) em quadrinhos) é a palavra usada para designar as histórias em quadrinhos feitas no estilo japonês. No Japão, o termo designa quaisquer histórias em quadrinhos. Vários mangás dão origem a animes e filmes.

Retirado do Wikipédia.

Podemos concluir que:

Anime = Desenho Japonês.
Mangá = Gibi Japonês.

Então, sempre que você assistir um desenho e ver personagens com “olhos grandes”, pode ter certeza que se trata de um anime.

Eu sou uma doramóloga (?) de paixão! Você deve estar se perguntando (ou não), o que diabos é isto?

Dorama (ドラマ, Dorama), são novelas orientais, seja ela J-Drama (dramas japonês), K-Drama (dramas coreano ), C-Drama (dramas chineses) e é, até mesmo, como é classificado os Live-Actions que são, a grosso modo, mangás ou/e animes encenados por pessoas reais.

Diferentes das novelas Mexicanas e Brasileiras, os Doramas retratam o mais diversos temas desde romance, esportes, casos da vida, etc. Geralmente os J-Dramas possuem cerca de 9 ou 12 episódios, enquanto os T-Dramas e K-Dramas possuem cerca de 17 ou 25.

Como vocês devem ter percebido, sou uma fanática, também, pela cultura oriental. hi hi

Crowded Japanese Wave Pool

This photo is from a Japanese WAVE pool (as opposed to a “swimming” pool). Apparently it is quite normal for wave pools in Japan to get this crowded because they aren’t meant for swimming. You are supposed to stand in one place and get moved up and down by the waves.

You can see a 30-second video of large waves moving through the pool, and the people moving up and down, HERE,  in Japan Trends Magazine.  From the discussion which follows the video I learned some interesting facts.

Some people who have been to this pool said that most likely it was one of the first days of summer to be this crowded, and that they have been on other days when it was less crowded.  On the day this video was filmed, the “wave” was apparently broken until 3 pm, when they finally got it working.  This may also account for why the pool was so crowded.

According to a  Japanese commenter, one reason so many people would get in to a pool is explained by the mentality in Japan.  He says that the Japanese prefer to have many people around them, doing the same thing, rather than being alone.  Japanese prefer to always act together, not alone, and to be part of the “mass.”  A second commenter pointed out that in Japan it is not at all uncommon for people to be in such close contact in a public place.  A third commenter seconded that sentiment by pointing out that if Americans were in such close contact, there would be fights, and that  being able to handle this kind of closeness is a testament to the manners in Japanese society.

My own thought while watching the wave moving through the pool was, “Why don’t these people go to the miles and miles of real beach surrounding Japan, and enjoy the REAL waves.”  This was addressed by another commenter who pointed out that there is actually very little coastline in Japan because it’s all built up with buildings.  Another person pointed out that “vacation halls” are common in Japan is that Japan is very crowded and there is such a lack of living space.

A lifeguard named Diana (probably American) commented,

“I am a lifeguard, and let me just say, that wave pool is a lifeguard’s worst nightmare! With that many people in the pool, it is very easy for someone to slip underwater and get crushed by the crowd. It’s like a solid wall of people between the water and air- a small child could never force his or her way back to the surface. Just as well, if someone suddenly had an asthma attack, or a heart attack, or some other sort of medical emergency, it would be nearly impossible for the lifeguard to get to the person in time, unless they just crawled all over the crowd, ha. They really should limit how many people they put into that thing …”

The final group of comments echoed my own worries.  My first thought upon seeing such a crowded pool is that people would be urinating in it.  I found several commenters, none of whom seemed to be Japanese, so I don’t know what the Japanese themselves think about it.  Comments ranged from explaining that after the waves, they clear everyone out of the pool, saying that people use the bathroom and not the pool, to pointing out that urine is not a problem because it is a sterile fluid, and that people’s sweat is much dirtier than urine.  There were a couple other comments about the possibility of “larger” problems occuring in the pool.  But as I said, I saw no Japanese comments about this problem, so I have no idea what they really think about it.

I don’t think I would get in this pool.  If I wanted to go there, I would try my best to go late in the season or on a weekday morning.

According to a recent post by American Expat in France, here are the latest estimated figures for non-military American expats living abroad.

2% in Africa

11.15% in the Middle East

14.3% in Asia and the Pacific

28.3% in Europe

42.3% in the Western Hemisphere

Total non-military American exapts abroad:  5,256,600

Para empezar a amenizar el trayecto de 12,5 h, que nos llevaría primero a Meiktila y luego a Kalaw, corrieron la televisión hasta el centro del parabrisas para que todo el mundo pudiera verla, y subieron el volumen para que todo el mundo se pudiera quedar sordo!!! sólo fueron un par o tres de horitas de caraoke… luego el primer aviso, campanas y luces de colores a los laterales de la cabina (todo muy kitsch), para bajar en un “pípi stop”. Esta rutina, se fue repitiendo a lo largo de la noche, paradas en casas de bambú o en la carretera y entre medio… película de kongfu, adelantamientos kamikaces en barrizales, pregarias y lectura en la radio, carbana frente a una crecida de río que saltaba la carretera, y el fuerte olor a Betel que impregnaba la tapicería… eso sí! siempre conducía el mismo tipo! El que bautizamos como… “el loco incansable”.

Llegamos a las 5:03 h de la mañana, estabamos prácticamente en el centro geográfico del país,  nadie en la avenida, debíamos llegar a la estación de autobuses y encontrar transporte para ir hasta Kalaw; anduvimos no más de 5 minutos, cargados como ívamos con medio ojo cerrado y medio abierto, y de repente estábamos en medio de un animado mercado rural, con vendedores chillones y compradores ajetreados y más cargados que nosotros! una o dos indicaciones más, y ya está, una calle de tierra roja y un  tumulto de minibuses (transporte local), llegó el merecido descanso en las diminutas mesitas de la teteria frente al espectáculo. 10 conductores nos querían llevar…

• Desayunar:  Té de Ejaqüi (un te Nepalí especiado con leche), con… ¿porras? o una pasta dulce muy parecida. También se puede tomar sopa o algo que no definiría exactamente como café…
• Comer:  Hay un pan al vapor, relleno de carne y cebolla cocida, bueníssimo; el Possi.

¿Quien dice que el tamaño no importa? cuando se trata de recorrer la National Highway 4 durante 5 horas, entiendes a la perfección, para qué debes conocer la altura media de la población… es imposible que las piernas te quepan en los 20 cm de espacio que queda entre los asientos del transporte local… rebentón, “pipi-stop”, cabezadita (… o cabezazos contra la ventanilla), contractura, y selva!!! el mini empezó a ascender por la pista de barro hasta lo alto, hasta el pueblo que presume de tener un clima privilegiado, una temperatura agradable en medio de una exheberante vegetación; que preciosidad!   

• La National Highway 4, es una carretera empedrada a mano (como hay muchas en Myanmar) y dónde, aún hoy en día, envían a gente, también jovenes, a realizar trabajos forzados (aunque, el govierno lo niega).

Después de una ducha caliente en el Golden Lilly Guest House, salimos a patear. Fuimos hasta el centro, hasta Aung Chang Tha Zedi, una stupa de mosaicos dorados, luego Myoma Kyaung, contratamos un treck de 4 días hasta el lago Inle, enviamos un par de mails desde el centro escolar y a las 6 de la tarde fuimos en busca de una suculenta cena en el Everest Nepali Restaurant.

Por la mañana, empezamos la ruta a pié por las montañas Shan hasta Viewpoint dónde pasaríamos la noche.

La ruta de 4 días: 

• de Kalaw a Viewpoint (visita a Tayaw, poblado de étnia Palaung).
• de Viewpoint a  La Mine; pasamos por Hin Kha Gone, la estación de tren de Myin Daik, y Ywapu.
• de La Mine al monasterio Hti Thein; visitamos la escuela de Pin New (de étnia Pa-o) y Kone Hla (de étnia Taung Yoo).
• de Hti Thein a Indein, en el Lago Inle; pasamos por Nan Yoke y ya en Indein recorrimos todos los rincones del mercado.  

Los paisajes, el espesor de las montañas, los empinados campos de te, las llanas extensiones de arroz,  la gente y su modus vivendi, en la próxima entrada!!!.

I chose to stay at Mövenpick – a nice looking 4 star hotel with several restaurants offering European cuisine. It’s not that there is something wrong with Chinese cuisine, but I discovered that there were many different types of Chinese cuisine depending on the region.

It appeared that the one known in Europe is not the same as the one in Beijing. In Beijing they use a different type of soya sauce which is quite sweet. Luckily, you can always find some Stella Artois to make your life easier.

night skyline across beijing city

There are many things to be seen around Beijing: The Temple of Heaven where the emperors used to prey;  many Buddhist temples; the Beihai park -  full of extraordinary flowers and plants; the Forbidden city, of course.

Do you remember “The Last Emperor”? The summer palace of empress Tz’u-hsi is very impressive. Tz’u-hsi was maybe the cruelest woman emperor in all times but also one of the most powerful. Her story is very intriguing.

Amongst the many places, undoubtedly the most spectacular is the Great Wall. Needless to say it is full of tourists. I was surprised to find out that it looked exactly like on the ancient paintings I’ve seen. It is winding along the mountain ridges, intangible, unthinkable, unending. Longer than you could imagine.

The Great Wall of China

It stays there as a monument of some clever defense plan or of some megalomaniac ambition. I don’t know which one of the two. The wall is something you must see at least once. I can’t help but remember that beautiful song of Bob Dylan:

“Then take me disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind,

Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves,

The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach,

Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.

…

Let me forget about today until tomorrow”

Pangu 7 Star Hotel, Beijing’s newest luxury accomodation address, has opened opposite the 2008 Beijing Olympic Park. Overlooking the ’Bird’s Nest’ National Stadium and ‘Water Cube’ National Aquatic Center, the hotel is part of the iconic dragon-shaped Pangu Plaza complex and enjoys convenient connections to Beijing Capital Airport and the city’s major attractions.

Designed by Taiwanese architect C. Y. Lee, whose portfolio includes the 508-meter Taipei 101 Tower, the hotel occupies a 21-storey tower incoporating a East-meets-West interior by Brazilian designer Ricardo Bello Dias. Marble embellished with traditional Chinese motifs engraved by local craftsmen can be found throughout the building, which also features lighting by Italian consultants Metis and Venini, while the lobby is adorned with solid granite dragon thrones and rosewood ceiling murals carved with scenes from the Chinese classic ‘A Dream of Red Mansions’.

The hotel’s 234 guestrooms, including 140 suites, range from the 45-square meter Grand Deluxe Rooms to the 488-square meter Pangu Presidential Suite. Each room is furnished with a luxury King-sized bed with 600-threadcount Egyptian cotton bedding by Frette, spacious bathroom with separate bathtub and monsoon rain shower accompanied by Ferre and Hermes bath products, heated towel rack and hand-sculpted dual washbasins, LCD televisions with Bose surround sound system, complimentary high-speed internet access, IP telephones, full-size executive workdesk with plug extensions, in-room safe and complimentary minibar.

Discerning guests can also choose to stay in Pangu Plaza’s 770-square meter Sky Courtyard. Priced at RMB 1 million a night, the residence situated on the 23rd floor with private lift access recreates traditional Chinese courtyard living. Built with antique carved wooden walls from southern China and featuring art-infused decor by fashion label Shanghai Tang’s Sir David Tang, the residence also features a rooftop garden, wading pool and a retractable electric glass roof.

Pangu 7 star Hotel boasts 3 signature restaurants and 2 elegant lounges. The 300-year old Kyoto kaiseki restaurant Minokichi opens its first international branch with Kaden Minokichi, while Pangu Wenqi Chinese restaurant offers Chiu Chow and Cantonese private dining in 26 individually styled dining suites. Auspicious Garden, the hotel’s all-day dining venue, serves a buffet spread of Asian and International specialties. Guests can enjoy high tea and evening aperitifs at the Karma Lounge, or proceed to the alfresco Happiness Lounge on the 21st floor for cocktails against views of the 2008 Olympic competition venues.

Business travellers and meeting planners have 2 floors of event space at their disposal, including 2 large, pillarless ballrooms that can accomodate up to 500 guests. The hotel also has 5 meeting rooms ranging in size from 68 to 176 square meters. All venues are equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual facilities and supported by a full-service Business Center. For recreation, the hotel currently offers a fitness center with Technogym facilities and will add a day spa with luxurious spa suites and an indoor swimming pool in 2010.

For more information, visit www.panguhotel.com.

Orientoll (or’ e en’ tol), n:  For making an Asian goodwill trip, the price paid in badwill.

My travelling interest is still strong! i am trying to find out about possibilities to travel across asia, most particularly, the south east asia during my summer holidays…

Satire by  Shawn Goodwin

One of the most common complaints about President Obama is that he spends more time apologizing for America than standing up for it. The man gives off the impression that America is no better, and in fact, somewhat worse than, the other countries of the world. The term “American exceptionalism” cannot be found in the president’s mental dictionary, because he believes in that about as much as he believes in unicorns, leprechauns, and tax-cutting Democrats. Besides, it is difficult to explain American exceptionalism when you are always face-to-waist with other world leaders, a position Barack Obama found himself in last weekend when he bowed to Japanese Emperor Akihito:

Obama on Monday was in China, having wrapped up the Japan leg of his Asia trip two days earlier. But Washington’s punditocracy was still weighing whether or not the US president had disgraced his country two days earlier by having taken a deep bow at the waist while meeting Japan’s Emperor Akihito.

Calling the calisthenics that President Obama performed, a “deep bow,” is like calling Jessica Simpson “a little dim.” The term just doesn’t even begin to cover it. Most casual observers figured the president was either going to clean Emperor Akihito’s shoes or pick up the shiny penny that must have been on the sidewalk. Of course, considering the vanity of Chairman Bow, he is probably just enjoying his own reflection in the newly-waxed floor. Nevertheless, the event has given comedians weeks of material, and has pundits on both sides of the aisle breaking out the face palm.

Political talk shows have played and replayed the moment from the second day of Obama’s week-long Asia tour, which set the blogosphere on fire and chat show tongues wagging.

“I don’t know why President Obama thought that was appropriate. Maybe he thought it would play well in Japan. But it’s not appropriate for an American president to bow to a foreign one,” said conservative pundit William Kristol speaking on the Fox News Sunday program, adding that the gesture bespoke a United States that has become weak and overly-deferential under Obama.

With all due respect to Mr. Kristol, that statement is incorrect. America passed “overly-deferential” about three exits back. Since January 20, the nation has been boldly going where no one in America has gone before. Welcome to Submissiveville. Population: Us.

You see, the president has a problem understanding protocol, and he has little to no desire to learn. Why else would he fold his hands above his belt during the Pledge of Allegiance? Heck, that is not even Obama’s worst offense. Some anonymous sources (read: Bill Clinton) claim that the president flushes tattered American flags down the toilet, puts on a hat during the National Anthem, and moons the Jefferson Memorial at every opportunity. A story like that has got to be true!

Part of this is President Obama’s fault and part of it is not. It is his fault because when he is at a cocktail party with Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking, and the guy who invented “Mr. Microphone,” Barack Obama believes he is the smartest man in the room. So, when some pimply-faced diplomatic geek with an “I (Heart) SecState” tie tells the president that he is not supposed to bow to a foreign leader, Obama ignores him. Global hilarity ensues. On the other hand, it is not his fault because he is so thoroughly unprepared for the job. Community organizing does not usually lend itself to state dinners with political giants, so Obama makes things up as he goes along.   Again, hilarity ensues.

To modify a famous movie quote, “Scrawny, arrogant, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.” For all of President Obama’s alleged smarts, the man is just not that bright. He tells the world that America is a bad place filled with bad people, but forgets that his remarks are seen and heard by Americans immediately afterward. He tells America that he is tough on terrorism, and then dishonors the memories of those who died on September 11th by bringing the architect of the attacks to New York City for a civilian trial. He cheats at Scrabble, and then expects to get a triple word score with a made-up word. No one is dumb enough to believe that “ZQAJ” is an acceptable word. The problem arises when Obama believes we are stupid, and sadly, he believes this every waking moment.

In the grand scheme of things, President Obama’s bow is pretty small potatoes. However, when combined with his other miscues – including a bow to the king of Saudi Arabia in April – they add up to a big pile of lima beans. Unfortunately for us, our current president treats America like leftovers.

FamilySecurityMatters.org’s official satirist, Shawn Goodwin, is a blogger and police detective from Philly.

Read more excellent articles from Family Security Matters

Went to the above event yesterday (21st), it was so crowded, had hard time walk around.
Contestant are “camping” at Boat Quay UOB Plaza 1 & 2

Begin to warm up, coaches are busy giving instruction when the competition resume after the bad weather.

Below are some action photos

This sport is boring to me, could be due to I’m not into it

Below are my dream lens lol

Excellent video from BoycottIslamUK showing how Labour are “helping” African and Asian deprivation.  Labour’s immigration policies (and the West in general) encourage a brain-drain from developing countries creating foreign aid dependent, thus exploitable, Nations.

And we all know the Fabian/Marxist/Fascist inspired NuGov love to make us peasants beg, so I’ll presume that having a whole country on their knees is a bit of a love-fest for them.  With Labour’s open door policy in the last dozen years, the chances of famines, pandemics and genocide in the developing world and the more displacement here on the Western world.

A constant inequality perpetuated by the very people who profit from such an arrangement.  Government departments, Law firms, Travel firms, organised gangs, employers and all at some point need translators.  The system that serves the immigration industry is the same system that encourages it.


N Seoul Tower
Seoul, South Korea
September 2009

After our GAP tour we allowed ourselves one day in the city and another for a day trip to Kanchanburi before heading to Cambodia on Tuesday morning.

We took the overnight train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, arriving very early. So when we turned up at our hotel it was still too early to check in. We left our bags and headed to town to have breakfast. Our tour leader, who is Thai, knew somewhere to go so that was nice. We were told to only go into places that had people in already to gauge how nice the food is. Similar story in most places around the world. There are so many restaurants, you could walk past maybe 3 in a row without anybody in and then come across loads more.

The city is massive and we have only covered a tiny amount of it. A river runs through the centre of the city and everything we’ve seen is near the river so it’s pretty busy. Tuk tuk & metred taxi drivers keep asking if we want a lift everywhere! There’s a main street called Khao San Road. This is a bit like Covent Garden in London or Las Ramblas in Barcelona. More like Las Ramblas though with street vendors, street entertainers, resturants & bars in a long street. It looks pedestrianised as people are everywhere but motorbikes and tuk tuks travel down it frequently.

We relaxed by the hotel pool for a little bit before heading to dinner. This was near Khao San road, so after eating we went to an Irish bar, called Shamrock, that had a live band playing and also showing Premier League football on tv. Seeing Arsenal lose & Liverpool draw was a pleasure to watch for Richard.

Today we changed hotels for the next 2 nights. The hotel that GAP used is a ‘little’ over budget for us. So we’ve moved into a room that only costs 5 pounds each. This hotel is at the end of Khao San so very handy for street shopping and eating.

We headed to the Grand Palace for the afternoon. This is a very very grand palace, mosaics aplenty on all buildings. And we were lucky enough to see some peacock feathers being transported from the palace to somewhere else. There were loads of guards, the army & a van with red carpet to transport them. It did look a bit over the top but we haven’t found out what the feathers are about to justify that.

We have said goodbye to most of the people in our group now We spend tonight in a triple with Renee, an Ozzie, before she heads to Cambodia. We’ll be soon behind her and are likely to be in the same hotel on Wednesday night. Tonight we need to catch up on our sleep before a full-day tour tomorrow. We’ll be seeing more waterfalls, elephants and the Bridge over the River Kwai – maybe some bamboo rafting too. We’ll fill you in on the details when we can.

We have covered quite a lot of ground in the last 10 days, through Laos. The first day was a gruelling 12 hour drive from Hanoi in Vietnam to the Laos border. The driver was keen to get us there before the border closes and so was driving like a mad man. We could all see the moped with a haystack on the back and that braking would be necessary, but the driver seemed not to see until the last second. So we were all glad to have arrived in Laos, where the pace of life is much slower!

The scenery was fairly similar to Vietnam: limestone karsts jutting out of the ground in dramatic fashion and lots of lush green vegetation. We stopped for the night in Lak Sao. This is just a few guesthouses along one road accommodating the tourists who have made the border crossing just before dark. There is just the one restaurant, aptly named ‘The Only One’. Another 4 hour drive the following morning got us to Vientiane.

Vientiane is the capital of Laos and has lots of reminders of its French colonial history. They even have their own Arc de Triomphe! It is not quite as ornate as the Parisian one. It was built from concrete that was supposed to be used for developing the airport! We visited two Wats – Buddhist temples. They are beautiful with lots of gold and glittery mosaics and Buddha statues. We also visited the Buddha Park and Friendship bridge. The park was a huge sculpture garden with hundreds of statues of mythical creatures and Buddhas. The Friendship Bridge is so-called because it was built by the Thais and Laotians together. It crosses the Mekong River bisecting the two countries. We couldn’t believe it when the tuk-tuk stopped for the bridge. It was concrete and not disimilar from a motorway flyover! Perhaps the best find in Ventiane was Joma – a cafe doing a fantastic selection of fresh salads, sandwiches, bagels and tasty milkshakes. Yum yum.

It was a fairly short drive to Vang Vieng. This was probably once a very quiet riverside town, but is now full of tourists. Masses and masses of guest houses, restaurants and stalls selling fake Billabong shorts and Haviana flip-flops. We booked for a full day’s kayaking and were picked up in a tuk-tuk at 8am the following morning. After being driven to the office, round the block a couple of times and eventually to the river, we were told that the river is not high enough at this time of year for a full day’s kayaking. Surely they knew this the day before, when we booked?! After spending 20 minutes in a cave with Buddha statues being told a story that was supposed to have a hidden meaning about conning tourists we were getting pretty irritated. The next activity before lunch was tubing and we were not supposed to do this, as GAP cannot endorse the activity for safety reasons. Once we arrived at the cave mouth, we could see the water level was low and ‘tubing’ actually involved sitting in a rubber ring and pulling yourself along a rope through the cave. So no fast water and we felt it was safe to go ahead – on our own heads be it! It was really cool seeing the rock formations in the cave. After a bbq lunch we finally made it to the deep water where we could kayak. It had a few little rapids, just enough to be exciting. We were gobsmacked when we turned a corner and saw 30 or so bars on wooden stilts on the riverbanks. Some had dancefloors, others zipwires and some with ropeswings into the water. One even had mudpit volleyball! You’ll have to check out the photos to see G taking the plunge (in the water, not mud). It was a gentle paddle back to our hotel, letting the current take us most of the way.

Next we headed to Luang Prabang, the old capital of Laos and now a UNESCO world heritage site. The whole of the historic centre is a cultural area, so we had to cover our shoulders and thighs for religious reasons. We spent the first afternoon visiting some waterfalls. We considered trekking up to the top for a view, but the path was slippery and several people coming down told us the trek was not worth it. The best view of the falls was from the bottom. We also went swimming in the turquoise water and had a back massage from the gushing water. It was quite cool water, but not as bad as St Joseph’s pool when the boiler is broken! The park also had a bear sanctuary, so we saw a few black bears.

On our full day in Luang Prabang we planned to see the sites – temples etc. For the first 5 minutes walking from our hotel it felt the hottest we had experienced for days. But the wind soon picked up and the rain moved in. We managed to dodge the strongest downpours and wandered around town between showers. The Wat Xien Thong was another beautiful temple with lovely pink mosaics. We had a great night celebrating Apple’s birthday with 2 for 1 cocktails in a garden restaurant. (Thankfully they had big umbrellas to keep off the drizzle).

The next two days were spent on a long boat to Thailand. We travelled along the Mekong River spotting elephants and villages on the banks. We visited some Khmer people in one village, who live a very simple life. The women were crushing rice husks to separate out the rice. We were fawning over the little puppies and were quite disturbed to be told that they’ll be dinner when they’re big enough! The boat was quite simple with open sides, so it was chilly first thing in the morning. But we soon warmed up and enjoyed passing the time by playing cards. I think everyone learnt a new game. We had to spend the night at Pak Beng as it’s too dangerous to be on the river at night. Finally we arrived at the Thai border and got the 11th stamp in our passport.

We stayed close to the border and then set out early the next morning for Chiang Mai. We had a breakfast stop at Chiang Rai where they have a beautiful white and sparkly temple. It looks like the Ice Queen from Narnia might live there. Once in Chiang Mai we went rafting. We thought we would be paddling ourselves, but it was a bit more like being on a chauffered punt on the river in Cambridge. It was fun nonetheless and we all had a go at ‘punting’ with varying degrees of sucess. The raft was long and thin – bamboo canes tied together. We just had time to buy some takeaway salads and sandwiches before heading for the overnight train. We left Chiang Mai at 5:55pm and got to Bangkok at around 7am the next morning. We passed the time playing more cards before bed. It’s quite an operation turning the seats into an upper and lower bunk, but they have it down to a fine art. One guy is designated to each carriage and can convert and make the beds in a matter of minutes – on request any time before 10pm. It was surprisingly comfy and they use clean sheets and soft pillows. Now we need to gear up for the change in pace. Bangkok is seriously busy compared to Laos.

Hello everyone, I deeply apologize for the lack of activity this month.  Sometimes real life cuts into blogging and for that I am sorry.  Anyways, back to work!

First, according to this Reuters article, it looks as though Turkey and Armenia might finally be making progress in their diplomatic relations with one another.  Armenia became a country in 1991 but relations between the two nations have been strained from nearly the start.

The Armenian genocide in the early 1900s doesn’t help things either.  Although I often do not trust wikipedia for research, this link appears to be relatively accurate, in case you’d like to gain a little more background between the two nations.

Second, it looks like tensions between India and Iran are increasing over trade negotiations.  This is important because of China and Russia’s insistence of supporting Iranian nuclear plans in the face of Western opposition.  Because of India’s geographical location to China and Russia, tensions between Iran and India may have broader implications in the Asian continent:

Iran launched a domestically made satellite for the first time early this year. Since the long-range ballistic technology it used to hurl a satellite into space can be used to launch nuclear warheads as well, the launch triggered a barrage of criticism from the West, although Tehran insisted that the technology was for peaceful uses only.

India has launched satellites for several countries, including Israel. The launch of Israel’s satellite from the Sriharikota space station in southern India was hailed in the Israeli media as a boost to Israel’s intelligence gathering capability with regard to Iran.

But India is not keen to launch a satellite for the Iranians.

“India does not want to get entangled in Iran’s problems over its nuclear and missile programs; hence its reluctance to launch satellites that could assist its missile capability,” the MEA official explained.

It does not want to anger the Americans.

Continue reading…

ANI | Sun, Nov 22 | 10:45 AM

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, is likely to use his four-day visit to Washington commencing from today, to firmly and emphatically reiterate and re-emphasise to the American leadership, that New Delhi does not see a role for China in South Asia, nor will it tolerate attempted third party guardianship initiatives in the region by Beijing. Placing its strong objection to the reference made to South Asia in the joint statement issued by Presidents Barack Obama and Hu Jintao in Beijing this week, the Indian Government has ensured that both the United States and China retreat from their proposed mediating efforts on ties between India and Pakistan. According to sources, China has indicated its appreciation and respect for the Indian position for only having bilateral and direct talks with Pakistan and brooking no interference from outside. “On China, we have a bilateral relationship with countries and we are not interested in a guardianship role with any, and nor will we accept a guardianship role by any country,” said a source. Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao has said: “The Chinese have said that they respect our position and support direct talks between India and Pakistan.” The Chinese establishment seems to have been told that India will not accept any “guardianship role” by any country.                

During President Barack Obama’s November 15-18 visit to China, a joint statement on regional and global challenges said: “The two sides welcomed all efforts conducive to peace, stability and development in South Asia. They support the efforts of Afghanistan and Pakistan to fight terrorism, maintain domestic stability and achieve sustainable economic and social development, and support the improvement and growth of relations between India and Pakistan. The two sides are ready to strengthen communication, dialogue and cooperation on issues related to South Asia and work together to promote peace, stability and development in that region.” India responded aggressively to the purported US-China intent when it made clear that a third party role was not necessary. Sticking to its stand that no “meaningful dialogue” can take place unless there was a terror-free environment, an External Affairs Ministry spokesperson said: “The Government of India is committed to resolving all outstanding issues with Pakistan through a peaceful bilateral dialogue in accordance with the Simla Agreement.” “A third country role cannot be envisaged nor is it necessary. We also believe that a meaningful dialogue with Pakistan can take place only in an environment free from terror or the threat of terror.”

US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, William Burns, said in Washington that while his country is interested in building better relations with China, it would not be at the cost of India. When asked about President Obama not mentioning India in a major speech about Asia”s role in world affairs, Burns said, “The clearest indication of this was the fact that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh”s visit to Washington next week would be the first hosted by the Obama administration.” “On matters of common international concern, the US looked to China and many other countries,” said Burns, who is among the top US officials giving finishing touches to a strategic dialogue framework with India to take their relationship to the next level during the visit. “We look forward to the completion of the remaining steps on both sides,” he said, pointing out that US companies stand to benefit a great deal with the implementation of the nuclear deal. US Ambassador to India Timothy Roemer told a press conference this week that it was not Washington’s intention to suggest that China could play a role in South Asia.

For the moment, it seems the latest US-China joint statement has proved to be as dead as the India-Pakistan joint statement issued after the Prime Ministers of the two countries – Manmohan Singh and Yusuf Raza Gilani met in the Egyptian resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh in July this year, a non-starter at least with regard to South Asia which will not tolerate Chinese hegemony.

[BANGLADESH] The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of Bangladesh, with the assistance of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), has held a session on ‘Performance Audit and Information Technology’. The session was part of the five-year, CAD$15 million (AUD15.3) ‘Strengthening Comptrollership and Oversight of Public Expenditure’ project. The project also involves establishing modern financial management and computer systems in the office for audits to be carried out in accordance with international standards and best practices.