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It finally happened...after years of refusing to put any money in properties and being extremely risk-averse, I've finally started looking at buying a place of my own.
I was looking around for a place in HK, an older place which I can renovate into a nice place to live in, done just the way I like it. Unfortunately we are rather high up on the property cycle, and thanks to the Fed we now have rather high interest rates. Monthly mortgage payments look a bit frightening, so maybe this is not to time to get that dream apartment done.
Lots of people have been going to Shanghai, and it still looks like a market with significant upside. But recent government measures bring uncertainty to the market, so we'll need to revisit next year.
That leaves Singapore. Lots of friends, colleagues and hedge funds have jumped into this market recently, pushing up prices on new developments. I should have got into this market 2 years ago as I was living there, but the general view is that market cycle is unlikely to dip until after 2009-10. So maybe there's still some opportunity here for leveraged exposure... Anyway, going down next week to check things out and we'll see what happens.
August 28, 2006
August 10, 2006
Krispy Kreme has landed!!
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OH - MY - GOD!! There is a Krispy Kreme outlet in Hong Kong!
I can't tell you how long I have waited for this... Now I no longer have to wait until my business trips to Seoul to get my fix - it's right here in Causeway Bay on Lee Garden Road, between (what else) Lee Garden and Lee Theatre Plaza. For those unfamiliar with Krispy Kreme, it is only the best doughnuts in the world, by far. Check out www.krispykreme.com.
Yesterday was the grand opening of the store, so we dropped by around 8ish to check out the lines. Fortunately the line wasn't too bad and was kept to the interior of the store. Apparently HKers haven't caught on to this, otherwise I'd be forced to line up for an hour or more (which I would never do).
We decided anyway to come back after dinner. Mistake. By the time we returned, all the other varieties have been sold and we were left with only the Original Glazed... It is still delicious, but I wanted my Chocolate Iced Custard Filled.
Apparently plans are in store to open another outlet on Elgin Street in Mid-Levels. Looks like I will be hanging out in SoHo a lot more in the future...
OH - MY - GOD!! There is a Krispy Kreme outlet in Hong Kong!
I can't tell you how long I have waited for this... Now I no longer have to wait until my business trips to Seoul to get my fix - it's right here in Causeway Bay on Lee Garden Road, between (what else) Lee Garden and Lee Theatre Plaza. For those unfamiliar with Krispy Kreme, it is only the best doughnuts in the world, by far. Check out www.krispykreme.com.
Yesterday was the grand opening of the store, so we dropped by around 8ish to check out the lines. Fortunately the line wasn't too bad and was kept to the interior of the store. Apparently HKers haven't caught on to this, otherwise I'd be forced to line up for an hour or more (which I would never do).
We decided anyway to come back after dinner. Mistake. By the time we returned, all the other varieties have been sold and we were left with only the Original Glazed... It is still delicious, but I wanted my Chocolate Iced Custard Filled.
Apparently plans are in store to open another outlet on Elgin Street in Mid-Levels. Looks like I will be hanging out in SoHo a lot more in the future...
July 17, 2006
Black Eyed Peas Rock Da House in Hong Kong
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Went to see the Black Eyed Peas in concert in Hong Kong today. I am not their biggest fan, but I do like some of their stuff. We had standing seats in front of the stage, and were probably about 20m or so from the stage.
One amazing moment that is likely to remain in my memories : towards the end of Where Is the Love?, they asked for all the lights to be turned off in the arena, then asked the audience to take out their cell phones so that the only light would be from the phones. The sight of 10,000+ cell phone lights swinging to the music in the darkened arena is pretty awesome.
The band played for a bit more than 2 hours, and closed with Let's Get Retarded which brought down the house.
Went to see the Black Eyed Peas in concert in Hong Kong today. I am not their biggest fan, but I do like some of their stuff. We had standing seats in front of the stage, and were probably about 20m or so from the stage.
One amazing moment that is likely to remain in my memories : towards the end of Where Is the Love?, they asked for all the lights to be turned off in the arena, then asked the audience to take out their cell phones so that the only light would be from the phones. The sight of 10,000+ cell phone lights swinging to the music in the darkened arena is pretty awesome.
The band played for a bit more than 2 hours, and closed with Let's Get Retarded which brought down the house.
July 4, 2006
Welcome to my first blog!
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I never thought I'd do a blog of my own...always thought it was for people who had too much time and too little to do. Well.... here I am starting my own! I felt the urge to share the latest news with my friends, and a personal blog is probably the easiest. Just came back from a fantastic vacation in Spain and Portugal. It was a 2-week gourmet tour. We were in Bilbao, San Sebastian, Barcelona, and Rioja in Spain, and also spent time in Lisbon, Porto and Pinhao on the other side of the Iberian Penninsula.
I never thought I'd do a blog of my own...always thought it was for people who had too much time and too little to do. Well.... here I am starting my own! I felt the urge to share the latest news with my friends, and a personal blog is probably the easiest. Just came back from a fantastic vacation in Spain and Portugal. It was a 2-week gourmet tour. We were in Bilbao, San Sebastian, Barcelona, and Rioja in Spain, and also spent time in Lisbon, Porto and Pinhao on the other side of the Iberian Penninsula.
- 3-star Michelin restaurants visited: 3 (El Bulli, Arzak, Martin Berasetagui)
- Total Michelin stars this trip: 11
- Total amount of food consumed: way too much
- Total weight gain: about 1 kg
Will write a more extensive review later. It's 5am and I'd better get some more sleep before going to work...
June 22, 2006
Dinner at elBulli
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Note: this post was composed in December 2010, a full four-and-a-half years after my dinner at elBulli. Somehow I never got around to writing about this evening, but it definitely deserves its own post...even though the dinner pre-dates me setting up the blog.
elBulli certainly needs no introduction. Back in 2005 when I came up with the idea of going there, it was the single hardest table to book, and I conservatively estimated that the 9,000 covers they do each year means the chance of getting a seat was about 0.2%. Things have surely gotten worse since then.
In the fall of 2005 I had asked my concierge service to get me a table. I didn't have high hopes of actually getting a table, never mind getting one on my birthday. In order to maximize my chances, I asked for a table of 6 instead of 8 as I originally wanted, given that the restaurant only seats 50. I was therefore elated when I received confirmation in December 2005, notifying me that I would be spending my birthday at elBulli the following year.
Note: this post was composed in December 2010, a full four-and-a-half years after my dinner at elBulli. Somehow I never got around to writing about this evening, but it definitely deserves its own post...even though the dinner pre-dates me setting up the blog.
elBulli certainly needs no introduction. Back in 2005 when I came up with the idea of going there, it was the single hardest table to book, and I conservatively estimated that the 9,000 covers they do each year means the chance of getting a seat was about 0.2%. Things have surely gotten worse since then.
In the fall of 2005 I had asked my concierge service to get me a table. I didn't have high hopes of actually getting a table, never mind getting one on my birthday. In order to maximize my chances, I asked for a table of 6 instead of 8 as I originally wanted, given that the restaurant only seats 50. I was therefore elated when I received confirmation in December 2005, notifying me that I would be spending my birthday at elBulli the following year.
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