Ho Chi Minh City

Why Ho Chi Minh City? It's nearby, it's not in Malaysia, and it's not Bangkok.

So, how about the airfare? Searching Skyscanner for return flights in April shows $122 per person on Tigerair. Cheap.

For hotels, I use Agoda. Searching for the cheapest 5 star hotel, I get Windsor Plaza Hotel (rated 8.0) for $83 per night.

America Faces The Music

Fareed Zakaria, 20 Oct 2008 - "Two decades of easy money and innovative financial products meant that virtually anyone could borrow any amount of money for any purpose. If we wanted a bigger house, a better TV or a faster car, and we didn't actually have the money to pay for it, no problem. We put it on a credit card, took out a massive mortgage and financed our fantasies. As the fantasies grew, so did household debt, from $680 billion in 1974 to $14 trillion today. The total has doubled in just the past seven years. The average household owns 13 credit cards, and 40 percent of them carry a balance, up from 6 percent in 1970."

America's Credit Card Bubble

Looks like the next thing to burst will be America's credit card bubble. With the combination of unprecedented levels of credit extended by banks (freely given without verification) and the average Joe's inability to live within his means, another perfect storm is brewing. It takes two hands to clap (a cliche, but too true in this case). The greedy banks give out credit lines and credit cards like candy, probably assuming a government bailout if things go belly-up. And there's the American consumer, who only knows how to consume. What happened to buying a car with cash (too few Americans do that)?

Mumbai Attack

If we consider the worst outcome imaginable for this terrorist attack, we may yet deny them satisfaction. I would say that the worst-case scenario is war between India and Pakistan, involving nuclear weapons. I have a suspicion this is what the terrorists were aiming for. For that very reason, Pakistan has to go all out to cooperate with India. War must be avoided at all costs. These terrorists have lost touch with humanity and think nothing of the millions of innocent lives that would be lost.

Storm Clouds

This was the terrifying appearance of the sky as I was taking the ferry to work last Saturday. Fortunately Mother Nature lacks bite in Singapore. Another reason to be grateful for the multiple blessings of living here.

Work Of Fiction

The little fracker upstairs must have been autistic. But his parents were equally to blame, allowing him to stomp around the house the whole day. David had never seen a child this hyperactive. All day long, the bastard would be running up and down, here and there. It sounded as if the prick was trying to make as much noise as possible. Sometimes, he would throw heavy objects (heaven knows what) around. Other times, marbles (or maybe coins). To boot, the fracking mother would help out by clomping around in her high heels. David kept praying for the idiot to fall and break his head and/ or his legs (both of them).

One day (night, actually), David cracked. He waited till 0300 hours, slipped on his balaclava, gloves, and night vision goggles. Climbed up to the frackers' balcony and slipped into their apartment. He knew exactly where the little prick would be. Gliding silently through their kitchen, and picking up a ceramic knife (poetic justice, that), David slipped into the Tango's room. Poising the knife just below the ribcage, angled towards the heart, David grinned in the dark. 'Take that, you fracker', he whispered. Thrusting the very sharp blade in, and clamping his left hand over the little devil's mouth simultaneously, David carried out the execution.

Just as quietly, he ghosted out, and down, back to his apartment. He gloated at the screams, which woke him up the next morning from the soundest sleep he'd had in months.

The End

Venezuela

Probably only educated Americans care about this issue, but here's my 2-cents' worth. Let's encourage Hugo Chavez to keep doing what he does best - screwing his country. By nationalizing Cemex's plants in Venezuela, he's sending a strong signal to businesses not to invest in Venezuela. It's clear as day, unless you're blind (no offense to the visually impaired). Eventually, the economy will go to hell and the people will kick him out. Then another idiot will replace him. Ad infinitum.

On a related note, the miracle of Singapore was only possible because of serendipity - Lee Kuan Yew. He's not perfect, but he was the right man at the right time. Question is, can we maintain the miracle. I hope so.

Obama

I don't think there's any great danger if Obama gets elected president. He's really more white than black.
I found it strange that they have a black entertainment awards. I've never heard of a white entertainment awards. That's racism for you.
And then all these black entertainers tell people to vote for Obama. It's ok for them but any whites speaking for McCain would instantly be branded racists. That's why USA is going down the drain.
I think that if Americans are honest with themselves, they'll vote along racial lines. Afterall, if most blacks are going to vote for Obama, whites should vote for McCain. I'm sure a majority of asians (namely Chinese) are going to vote for McCain.

Landed Vs Condo/ HDB

I've often said that there is virtually no difference between living in landed property and high-rise apartments. Now I've changed my mind a bit.
To the frackers living above me, and that fracking baby elephant of yours, and whoever is walking around in fracking high heels, FRACK YOU! I keep hoping the fracking elephant trips and falls and breaks his head or legs.
Objectively, this is a minor point. Unless you have that problem.

Obama

1. Props to Obama. He's not so black after all. I've been criticizing the whites for pretending to be colour-blind, refusing to admit that race was an issue. Now he's an elitist. He's being criticized for telling the truth. That makes things harder. Is he black, or not?
   Who to vote for?!?