Feeling sick again

feeling better tis morning but feels like shit now.

the aching is coming back and i seriously tink i'm coming dwn wif something...so gross.

shall work from home tomolo...hate being sick!

Aching body

had lunch wif karen den went hitachi to catch up wif some ppl.

got beli beli bad aching all over my body when i returned to office. my legs are aching from thigh to sole....my head feels like it's gonna drop off from my sore neck

tink i'm coming dwn wif something...mayb gastric flu?

anyway, i finally got some salonpas plasters at chinatown on sun so i slapped on 6 at a go. 1 on each side of my neck, 1 on each sole and 1 on each calf. my legs ache so badly tat i feel like plastering my entire leg....sigh

will turn in soon so my body can recover.

had a good day tdy and managed to catch up wif dear eric whom i haven't met in over a yr. he hasn't changed abit. such a sweet guy and wonderful fren.

he told us some exciting news...hope things work out for him and we get to catch up more often!

Big O Cafe

i would highly recommend Big O cafe for being a child friendly set-up.

the main reason i decided to dine there was becoz they haf a kids menu

and check out the activities to entertain the kiddos.



QQ still got a little bored waiting for the food










the food was beli good. i enjoyed my ravioli, while mum had fried rice wif lotsa duck meat.

the kiddos had spaghetti and fish & chips.











Ok, hush my little princess....QQ feeling sleepy after dinner.

but tis was before she discovered the gelato shop oppo...haha...nbr too tired for some dessert

Singapore Zoo undergoing change into a Rainforest Zoo

Keep the polars, pls!

Monday January 29, 4:17 PM

SINGAPORE: Change is in the wind for the Singapore Zoo.

It is currently undergoing a major makeover to get a lush rainforest look.

The Singapore Zoo, recognised as one of the finest in Asia, is home to more than 3,000 animals from 290 different species, ranging from gibbons and otters to tapirs and polar bears.

Since its official opening in 1973, it has been evolving - from an open viewing zoo, to a learning zoo providing an interactive and educational experience to its visitors.

Now, it wants to be the most beautiful rainforest zoo in the world.

"We're in the process of making ourselves the most beautiful rainforest zoo of the world. This entails three main elements including improving our education and training materials, our research and conservation materials and as well as providing an exceptional wildlife experience for our customers," said Fanny Lai, Executive Director, Singapore Zoo and Night Safari.

2006 saw the addition of a new Rainforest Walk, a landscaped pathway featuring waterfalls, tropical flora and free-ranging orang utans.

The zoo has also been re-zoned into eight different rainforests of the world, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Australasia, China and the Amazon.

With its rainforest positioning, comes plans to relocate the popular polar bear exhibit to another zoo.

"Just by changing ourselves in terms of our display, our animal collection to make ourselves into a rainforest zoo will certainly not attract a lot of people to come in, but it is a holistic approach that we're providing people with an exceptional wildlife experience.

That includes not just upgrading our display of the animals, our exhibits, but also to provide better customer touch points including providing a wider range of food & beverage selection with better quality, better value for money, also to be more family, handicap-friendly and at the same time, we also have to be more discerning in terms of our hospitality to the visitors," said Lai.

Coupled with recent improvements like Braille interpretive signboards and a Wildlife Healthcare and Research Centre, the zoo looks set in its promise to give all its visitors a truly exceptional wildlife experience.

Wal-Mart Launches China Credit Card

September 18, 2006

BEIJING -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer in terms of sales, announced the launch of its first credit card in China in conjunction with Bank of Communications, a major Chinese bank.

The venture is likely the first credit card issued by a foreign retailer, analysts say. It marks a milestone in China's evolving consumer market, where less than 5% of the population have credit cards, according to industry estimates.

The Bank of Communications Pacific Wal-Mart credit card marks "a completely new cooperation between the finance and retail industry," the bank said.

The card will initially be launched in six Wal-Mart stores in Shanghai, Nanjing and Fuzhou, and "soon spread over the country," said a bank official.

Wal-Mart officials in China said the card is a regular credit card that can be used anywhere, but that will provide users special discounts at its stores. It will be a dual-currency card that can also be used anywhere outside China.

In June, media reports said the Bentonville, Arkansas, company had been close to issuing a credit card with another Chinese bank. A Wal-Mart spokesman in China didn't rule out other credit-card announcements and said the company, which has about 60 stores in China, "will continue to introduce new services that can add benefits to the customers."

The Bank of Communications' credit-card unit is jointly run with HSBC Holdings PLC, which owns a 20% stake in Bank of Communications. In recent years, foreign banks have begun forming joint ventures with local banks to issue dual-currency credit cards, but none are profitable so far, analysts say.

"China's credit-card market is growing very fast and is beyond infancy stage now," said MasterCard International economist Yuwa Hedrick-Wong.

McKinsey & Co., estimates that credit-card profits in China could hit $1.6 billion by 2013.

India shifts rare rhino calves to spur breeding

Monday January 29, 12:21 AM

Two rare one-horned rhino calves made conservation history when they were moved from an overcrowded sanctuary in India's northeast Assam state to another sanctuary to spur breeding efforts.

A wildlife official said Sunday the two female rhinos, aged about 42 months, were taken in separate trucks from the Kaziranga National Park in east Assam, home to the largest concentration of the one-horned rhinoceros in the world.

"The two rhinos from Kaziranga will join another five-year-old female at the Manas National Park in Assam by early Monday," a park warden said.

The two calves were rescued in 2004 during high floods at Kaziranga and were kept at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Care nearby.

The move is the first part of an effort to spread and increase the population through new births in other sanctuaries, wildlife officials said.

Around 1,855 of the world's estimated 2,700 endangered one-horned rhinos lumber around the wilds of Kaziranga making them a prime target for poachers who sell parts such as the horn for use in traditional Chinese medicine as well as to other parts of South Asia.

"A team of doctors and experts are accompanying the two rhinos in the 11-hour road journey from Kaziranga to Manas," Manideepa Ahluwalia, a senior Wildlife Trust of India official, told AFP by telephone from Kaziranga.

The Manas National Park is a World Heritage Site with only about six rhinos surviving at present.

"The three rhinos will eventually be released in the wilds of Manas. By next year we plan to capture a male rhino from Kaziranga and shift it to Manas to help the breeding process," Ahluwalia said.

The No. 2 Credit Card Issuer Is Banking On Big Expansion Plans

January 10, 2007

Call it the David and Goliath of the card payment industry.

No. 2 MasterCard holds half the market share of the industry giant, Visa. Yet the little guy beat its chief rival to the markets in going public in May at 39.

Since then, MasterCard's shares have risen to more than 100. They soared 15% Nov. 1 when the firm reported $1.42 a share in third quarter earnings, beating by 35 cents Wall Street estimates for its first full quarter as a public company.

Analysts expect MasterCard to log double-digit earnings growth through 2010, with 2007 earnings expected to rise 19% to $3.88 a share.

"We have a very leverable business," Chris McWilton, chief financial officer, said of the firm's $3 billion card business.

Still, MasterCard's share of the worldwide card market has barely budged. Visa still enjoys more than 60% of the market vs. less than 30% for MasterCard.

Visa To Go Public

This year, Visa plans to join MasterCard as a publicly traded company, eroding some of MasterCard's advantage in that aspect.

The field will probably get even more competitive with Morgan Stanley's planned spinoff of its Discover-card business, probably into a stand-alone public company.

Because it won the legal right in 2004 to sign on bank card issuers to its network, card issuer American Express has been encroaching on MasterCard's turf as well, not to mention Visa's.
"Competition is strong today and it will continue to get stronger," McWilton said.

When Visa does charge into the public market, MasterCard doesn't intend to let its house of cards fall.

"Our three- to five-year plan is to grow revenue 8% to 10% a year, improve operating margins by 2 percentage points and achieve return on equity of 20%-plus," McWilton said.

Founded in 1966 by a band of banks to compete with BankAmericard (now Visa), MasterCard makes most of its money from processing transactions made on its credit and debit card brands MasterCard, Maestro and Cirrus.

"The history of both companies is a history of two competitors who really didn't come out slugging, headed for a knockout, because the same banks owned both brands," said David Robertson, publisher of the Nilson Report.

When MasterCard went public, its bank owners dropped in ranking to minority investors.

When Visa joins MasterCard as a publicly traded company, it too will answer not to banks but to shareholders, and it too will come under closer regulatory scrutiny.

Meanwhile, MasterCard and Visa face the same dark clouds hovering in the distance: lawsuits. On one side: civil damages related to a long-running American Express and Discover antitrust case. On the other side: merchants' suits over interchange fees.

"It's still potentially a big issue," said analyst Robert Dodd of Morgan Keegan & Co. "But the timing on when these issues go to court and get settled is very much up in the air."

All has been quiet on the litigation front lately, but the first new noise is expected this spring when "fact discovery" papers are presented on the American Express-Discovery case. New information on the merchant interchange fight isn't likely to surface for at least another year.

"If you look at legal statistics, these cases rarely if ever go to trial," McWilton said. He says MasterCard will more than likely settle. "It boils down to the timing and amount," he said.

Analyst Sanjay Sakhrani of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods estimates MasterCard will incur damages of $7 per share, or about $1 billion, with $3 per share pegged to the American Express/Discover lawsuit and $4 for the merchants' lawsuit.

He figures that the first lawsuit will be settled at the end of this year and that the merchants' suit will be settled in 2010.

In the meantime, MasterCard plans to chase "profitable market share," McWilton said, by working with its many bank customers on new brand initiatives to prod card carriers to use MasterCard cards more often. MasterCard's largest bank customers include JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, HSBC and Bank of America.

A $1 billion ad and marketing budget probably won't hurt.

One MasterCard initiative that's had some success is its PayPass program. PayPass users can make "micro" purchases for such things as highway tolls and fast food.

Big Mac purchases at McDonald's might not sound like much. But it's all about volume.

Increased cardholder spending on a growing number of MasterCard cards drove worldwide purchase volume up 17.2% in the third quarter. Volume, after all, begets fees, which beget revenue and profit.

Plenty of volume is up for grabs. While use of credit and debit cards in the U.S. is becoming ubiquitous, many places in the world are still largely cash-and-go societies.

Overseas Business

More than half MasterCard's gross dollar volume comes from overseas with the fastest growing regions being Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

The U.S. is far from a done deal. Industry watchers see card volume growth there rising from the high single digits to 12% annually over five years, with debit card growth outpacing credit card growth.

MasterCard has a small debit card business in the U.S., especially compared with Visa, which got into the debit card market earlier. But MasterCard scored a bit of a coup last year when it landed debit card business from Washington Mutual, which switched from Visa.

In Europe, the tables were turned. Enlisting German banks, Visa stole debit card business away from MasterCard's Maestro, with conversion set for later this year.

New opportunities loom on the Continent as the European Union spearheads a drive for a single, integrated euro-zone payment system.

Drinking recycled sewage way ahead for parched Australia: Howard

NEwater down under? y not?

Monday January 29, 4:59 PM


Australia's prime minister has hailed a move to force the citizens of a drought-parched region to drink recycled sewage as the way forward for the rest of the world's driest inhabited continent.

John Howard praised Queensland Premier Peter Beattie, who on Sunday announced that residents in the state's tinder-dry southeast would be drinking recycled waste water as early as next year, whether they liked it or not.

"I am very strongly in favour of recycling, and Mr. Beattie is right and I agree with him completely," Howard told commercial radio. "I've advocated recycling for a long time."

Beattie said record-low inflows to dams had left his government with no alternative but to dump plans for a public referendum on the issue intended for March.

"The reality is at the moment we have no choice, we have to provide people with water," he said.

"It's not like we are part of a freak show -- the rest of the world is doing this," he said, referring to residents in Singapore, London, Washington and southern California, whom he said drank recycled water.

Much of Australia is enduring what has been described as the worst drought in a century and most major cities already have water restrictions in place.

Beattie's move was greeted with resignation by anti-recycling campaigner Clive Berghofer, the former mayor of the drought-stricken southeastern town of Toowoomba, whose residents rejected recycled water in a referendum last July.

"Politicians are ducking for cover because they have neglected (water) infrastructure for years and are now panicking," he said.

Berghofer said the move would ruin the city's clean and green image, and the use of recycled water in agriculture would damage the region's economy.

"A lot of our food is exported, and the Japanese especially are particular about these things. People don't realise the implications of doing these things," he said.

Berghofer also questioned the safety of drinking treated sewage, saying there were many chemicals that could still not could not be detected.

Although state governments in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia have vowed not to follow Queensland, Beattie predicted all governments would eventually have to introduce the same measures.

"I think in the end, because of the drought, all of Australia is going to end up drinking recycled purified water," Beattie told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

US Companies See the Benefits of Gay-Friendly Policies

September 28, 2006

Corporate America is the latest battleground for one of the country's cultural clashes. Despite a host of anti-discriminatory measures for age, sex, disability, ethnic background and religion, no federal laws exist to prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

According to campaign group Out and Equal Workplace Advocates, 35 states allow companies to fire employees based on sexual orientation. Organisations must determine themselves if they need such policies.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) civil rights organisation ranks companies on gay-friendly efforts, ranging from written harassment policies to gay-targeted advertising. Some 81% of corporations reviewed offered health benefits to domestic partners, and many firms include language about "gender identity or expression" in their discrimination policies, covering transgender workers.

Defence giant Raytheon recently added such language to its already inclusive discrimination policies. While gay-friendly companies attract gay clients – annual American gay purchasing power is estimated at $641bn (£350bn) – the missile maker is safe from accusations of pandering.

Adding gender identity to equality policy at Raytheon was "matching the talk with the walk," said Raytheon's chief diversity officer Hayward Bell, in the HRC report. Regardless of its progressive and open tone however, Raytheon declined to comment – a reminder that the issue is a sensitive political one.

The Ford Motor Company recently encouraged shareholders to defeat a motion demanding removal of protections for gay workers, after a year-long scuffle with conservative groups that launched boycotts.

A similar resolution at American Express citing "illegal sex acts" met a comparable defeat. The company played no role in getting shareholders to trounce the motion, but the company's culture is widely known, said Bet Franzone, HR public affairs manager. "It's not a political thing; it's just a matter of creating an inclusive work environment. Of course, not everyone is going to be happy."

The company's individual treatment policy is "very broad and very, very explicit," said Franzone. "It includes sexual orientation and gender identity." The latter was recently added, although there was no clamouring for it.

The firm watches the market and organisations that track company policies. She adds that a new HR training module on "cultural nuances" will be rolled out worldwide to "bolster an extensive diversity-training environment".

The New York-based company led the financial services sector when it began offering same-sex partner benefits in 1997, after employee groups worked alongside senior management to come up with solid analysis and data to shore up the move to partner benefits.

"They demonstrated what the costs and benefits would be," said Franzone. "There could easily be a financial services company next door offering something better, so of course this is very important for employee retention."

Indeed, with private healthcare and a benefit-crazed economy, such coverage is an inexpensive and simple means to reduce turnover.

More than half of gay American workers in a recent survey felt such policies were critical in deciding where to work. "This isn't a Democratic or Republican issue," said HRC president Joe Solmonese. "It's an issue of basic fairness and good business. An investment in equal benefits is minor to the employer but priceless to employees."

ExxonMobil shareholders have repeatedly shunned explicit protection for homosexual or transgender employees in company anti-discrimination policies. Spokesperson Russ Roberts said the oil giant already has "zero-tolerance discrimination and harassment policies that are comprehensive in nature, rigorously enforced, and applicable to all employees wherever the company operates in the world".

"These written policies prohibit discrimination or harassment for any reason, including sexual orientation," he said.

Rarely are such arguments based on profitability or fair division of entitlements: they are almost exclusively couched in terms of values and corporate image.

America's religious right has staked claim in all facets of American life, and workplace opposition groups are emboldened by the US government's "family values" mantra, while persistently promoting constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage.

But gay-rights proponents are optimistic: an Out and Equal study found a majority of heterosexual adults (61%) believe companies – not government – should decide what benefits to offer employees and their partners, and most feel that all employees are entitled to equal benefits.

"By removing barriers to employee success, corporate America is ultimately removing barriers to the success of companies across the nation," Solmonese said.

按这里， 按那里， 按摩全靠你

按这里， 按那里， 按摩全靠你
按这里， 按那里， 按摩全靠你

tis is the tune played during the osim advert wif louis ko.

the kiddos luv tis ad and we were shopping at marina square when they spotted an osim fair on the ground floor.

wifout missing a skip, QQ started singing tis tune as she strolled along.

wah! successful ad sia!

How to stay young

It's really sort of simple:

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height.
Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.

2. Keep only cheerful friends.
The grouches pull you down. (keep this in mind if you are one of those grouches;)

3. Keep learning:
Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever.
Never let the brain get idle.
"An idle mind is the devil's workshop."
And the devil's name is Alzheimer's!

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
And if you have a friend who makes you laugh, spend lots and lots of time with HIM/HER.

6. The tears happen:
Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. LIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love:
Whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever.
Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health:
If it is good, preserve it.
If it is unstable, improve it.
If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips.
Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

And if you don't send this to at least four people - who cares?
But do share this with someone.

Air China Cruising Ahead In 2007 as Budget Carriers Struggle

January 12, 2007

BEIJING -- Air China will continue to be the nation's strongest carrier this year as the other two major players, China Eastern and China Southern, struggle to reverse losses in a market set to become increasingly competitive with the arrival of more low cost and regional carriers, analysts said.

The battle for market share is likely to be fought on different fronts, with newly introduced budget airlines looking to gain a foothold on niche routes, while the state-owned "big three" look to make more efficient use of their hub and spoke systems.

Guotai Junan analyst Alan Lam added that all carriers will be keeping an eye on the price of jet fuel, which dogged airlines worldwide in recent years but has fallen back in the past few months.
In China the price of jet fuel is fixed by the state, and although the ex-refinery price was reduced by 180 yuan to 6,020 yuan per ton from January 1, fuel costs will still make up a high proportion of airlines' expenses.

Of the "big three" carriers, Air China will enjoy continued growth after consistently outperforming its two main rivals, thanks to its extensive international network and strong Beijing hub, which will see growing traffic numbers in the run up to the Olympics next year, Lam said.

"Air China will still outperform the market. It is the most profitable airline in China, and this trend will continue in 2007 and especially 2008," he told XFN-Asia.

The flag carrier announced that it carried 31.49 mln passengers in 2006, an increase of 13.7 pct from a year earlier.

The airline is already reaping the benefits from its tie-up with Cathay Pacific, with increased traffic on routes between Hong Kong and the mainland. Air China said its passenger load factor on Hong Kong and Macau routes rose to 70.2 pct in 2006 from 64.9 pct in 2005.

"Air China's alliance with Dragonair and Cathay Pacific is already showing positive effects, and we believe this situation will continue in 2007 and 2008," Lam said.
The carrier will also benefit from China's open sky policy, which will give it access to new international markets, he added.

"It is clearly the major beneficiary of the open skies policy, especially for international routes. Although more airline companies will be entering China, it is a bilateral policy so other countries also need to open their skies to China," he said, adding that Air China will have the opportunity to further explore both the US and European markets.

As for closer alliances among other airlines, there is speculation that Singapore Airlines will take a strategic 20 pct stake in China Eastern this year.

This would be a boost to China Eastern, which suffered heavy losses last year, but such a deal is unlikely to be as fruitful as Air China's cooperation with Cathay, not least because the route between Shanghai and Singapore is less significant than between Beijing and Hong Kong, Lam said.

"It would have some positive effect, but questions remain if this kind of strategy can be as effective as the cooperation between Air China and Cathay," he said.

With Hong Kong being a major hub in the Asia Pacific -- and a hub that is close to mainland China - it can expect much more traffic than the long haul Shanghai to Singapore link.
"It will be difficult for airline companies to duplicate the successful model of Air China," Lam said.

Morgan Stanley analyst Edward Xu agreed that the potential investment would prove beneficial for China Eastern in terms of providing more capital, but to a far lesser extent than the relationship between Air China and Cathay.

"The synergies between Singapore Airlines and China Eastern might not be as significant...they do not have so many duplicated routes, whereas Cathay and Air China both have large volumes between Hong Kong and the mainland," Xu said.
"Also, unlike Air China and Cathay, Singapore Airlines and China Eastern do not have cross shareholdings," he added.

For 2006, China Eastern's figures are destined to remain firmly in the red after it posted a loss of 970.2 mln yuan in the first three quarters of the year.

"I expect the fourth quarter to also be lossmaking, which will exacerbate the airline's problems. It will remain in the red for 2006," Morgan Stanley's Xu said.

The carrier struggled on heightened competition and surging fuel costs, and although jet fuel prices have dropped from last year's highs, there will be no let-up in competition on key routes, not least from Air China which plans to expand its operations in Shanghai, China Eastern's base.
China Southern also faces problems.

The Guangzhou-based carrier last year carried 49.2 mln passengers, an increase of 11.5 pct from a year earlier, but its strong performance in the latter part of the year was weighed down by a loss of almost one bln yuan in the first half.

The company's parent is undergoing share reform, but financial difficulties have slowed the process. This does not bode well for China Southern ahead of its massive capital expansion plans for 2008 to 2010, when it will take delivery of 50 aircraft from Airbus with a catalog value of around 3.32 bln usd.

"China Southern cannot progress with its share reform plan...under the circumstances, it is unlikely foreign investors will buy a stake in the airline," Lam said.
"China Southern has a huge capital expansion plan for 2008 to 2010. Its gearing level will surge dramatically," he added.

China Southern could benefit though from government plans to promote internal routes, particularly to the poorer, western regions of the country, as it is the most domestically concentrated of the big three airlines.

The carrier has the potential to further carve out niche routes with its acquisition of Xinjiang Airlines improving its network in the less competitive western region, from where it can also serve Russia and other Central Asian countries.

It is actively expanding its international network, most recently opening a route to the Nigerian capital Lagos, but Xu warned that long-haul routes are not likely to be very profitable.

"Long-haul international routes are not very profitable, yields are usually pretty low. Also, for Chinese airlines, the customer base is not so good as they do not get so many high quality business travelers," Xu said.

This is especially true for China Southern, as many business travelers near its Guangzhou base fly out of Hong Kong, while there are also many smaller airports in nearby boom towns like Shenzhen and Zhuhai.

The airline has established a second hub in Beijing, but it may take around another 12 months to develop fully, Xu said.
"The two most important hubs on the mainland are Beijing and Shanghai. Beijing especially is very attractive for most airlines as it has high yield levels from the many officials and business travelers that use it," Xu said.

According to an American Express business travel survey, corporations in China spent 7.41 bln usd on air travel in 2005, making China the fourth-largest business travel market in the world.
Where the big three airlines are similar is their shared experience of state ownership, which has both benefits and limitations.

"The state shareholding is a double-edged sword for the big three," said an independent analyst who asked not to be named.
"On the one hand, they enjoy lots of host benefits in their three major hubs, while their affiliation with the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China means the regulator is always very supportive, for example in approving new routes," he said.

"But on the other hand, tariffs are tightly regulated and they cannot easily raise fares for high margin routes, and instead are under pressure to open new routes that are not economically justified," he added.

The carriers are also almost obliged to take on new aircraft orders made by the government, not necessarily prudently, the analyst said.
"My gut feeling is that the Chinese government makes orders without looking into the real needs. Most of these order will be absorbed by the big three as part of their 'national service'," he told XFN-Asia.

Morgan Stanley's Xu said that China is expected to take delivery of 155 new jets this year.
Many of these are likely to be single-aisle aircraft for use on regional routes, where competition is heating up among low cost and regional carriers clamoring to gain a foothold in the market.

But these carriers face enormous challenges. Rising disposable incomes in China will increase demand for air travel, but the main markets will still be Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, where the big three have established bases that smaller carrier will struggle to penetrate.

The ability of budget airlines to offer sharply discounted fares is also restricted, as proven by Spring Airlines, which was last month fined 150,000 yuan by a local price regulator in Shandong province for offering air tickets at prices lower than government-set levels.

"I do not expect the new entrants to the market to make the sort of material impact they have in the US, Europe or Malaysia," said the analyst who asked not to be named.
"In Western countries, budget airlines' success is built upon a fair regulatory system and financially weak big players who always have substantial pension and fixed cost burdens.

The big Chinese airlines have very inefficient cost structures but they have a growing market and easy access to capital to withstand competition and overcome market volatility," he said.

Morgan Stanley's Xu noted that the best way for low cost carriers to survive is to focus on key routes.

"Low cost carriers are based on almost the same cost structure as the big three...for them to succeed and make money, they need to focus on very key, attractive, smaller tourism routes and keep high load factors or else they will be facing very high cost pressure," Xu said.

Guotai Junan's Lam added that more companies are likely to enter the market before a consolidation occurs.

"At the moment we are at the start of the line, not the merger and acquisition stage. That may happen after the Olympics, when the market realizes there are too many carriers and when demand may drop," he said.
(1 usd = 7.8 yuan)

Backpackers on the run

tat's LJ & HQ back from their eastern europe backpacking days. wah! the backpacks are so huge! i tink i'll topple over backwards wif one of these on my back.

















and the first stop is to mkt 85 for a sumptous meal of local delights.

the shack looking gers after the long flight. and our yummy food !

Infineon back in the black in first quarter

nice to hear tat joc & richard's company is in the black again.

Monday January 29, 9:16 PM

Infineon, the German semi-conductors giant, says it finally returned to profit in the three months to December after seven consecutive quarters of losses, thanks largely to its Qimonda memory chip unit.

Infineon, which runs its business year from October to September, said in a statement it booked net profit of 120 million euros (155 million dollars) in the first quarter to December.

The company had booked net loss of 36 million euros in the preceding three months and net loss of 183 million euros a year earlier.

In the semi-conductors sector, where prices a highly volatile, analysts attach more importance to a quarter-on-quarter comparison in earnings.

Underlying profit, as measured by earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose to 216 million euros in the October-December period from 30 million euros in the preceding three months.
Sales were down seven percent quarter-on-quarter at 2.131 billion euros.

Infineon said that the positive development in first-quarter earnings was largely due to its memory chip unit Qimonda, without which it would have booked operating loss of nine million euros in October-December.

Infineon floated 14 percent of Qimonda on the New York Stock Exchange in August.

Shanghai stages 4G telephony rollout, claims a world first

Monday January 29, 2:19 PM
China has launched a trial run of home-grown fourth-generation mobile technology in Shanghai in what it called the world's first rollout of the wireless application, state press reported.

"It testifies that the technology we've developed is feasible and brings us one step closer to put it into commercial use," the China Daily quoted You Xiaohu, a leading expert involved in China's 4G development programme, as saying of Sunday's trial.

4G technology provides wireless services at much faster speeds, sharply improving high-quality images and data services, and potentially allowing for such features as multi-channel high-definition TV broadcasting.

Third-generation (3G) telephony is still not available in China due to repeated government delays. In a bid to crack a potentially lucrative market, engineers here have moved directly to developing the ultra-fast 4G technology.

China has developed a 3G technology of its own but has not yet issued any licenses to operators.

The 4G trial in Shanghai cost 150 million yuan (19 million dollars) and was billed by the government as the world's first rollout of the technology, the newspaper said.

However, South Korea's high-tech giant Samsung Electronics last August unveiled the world's first fourth-generation (4G) mobile technology with a demonstration on a moving bus.

Samsung has said it plans to put the technology into commercial use by 2010 if the spectrums for 4G technology are decided next year.

For its part, China has set a goal of conducting more field tests of the 4G system and putting it into trial commercial sometime before 2010, the China Daily said.

"The Shanghai system shows that we have entered the final phase of our project," said You.

Maple or not to Maple

YY has been bugging mi to d/l maple but mi is not tempted at all.

firstly, i m more den happy wif neopets. secondly i tink asiasoft's dumb coz after signing up, i had problems logging in.

i couldn't find any way to contact asiasoft except for tis section which advises mi to ue the Q-box. tat's a secured mailbox AFTER i log in wif my asiasoft passport.

how dumb can it get? u haf to log in in order to get help for logging in....worse den chicken or egg first lor...lol

Getting up early

mi washed and waxed the car tonite...so satisfying to haf a clean car again.

will do the armorall and leathercare tomolo.

mi decided tat sleeping early doesn't help wif being an early riser so i'll focus on the waking up hrs instead.

and i'm going to office early tomolo, and it has got nuthing to do wif the training tomolo.

mi still got the new yr resolution to haf bfast wif YY to work hard at. and he's even keen on morning exercise...wah! mi can't make it leh. but for him, i'll keep on trying.

Waiting

i like going to the airport, to send ppl off or to fetch ppl back. and my family's tradition has always been to send family off and welcome family back each time.

tis was when i went to fetch HQ & LJ back from their eastern europe trip.

their flight was delayed for more den an hr.

at 1638hrs, their flight was still confirmed to arrive at 1638hrs

at 1641hrs, their flight was still confirmed to arrive at 1638hrs....hmmm....

at 1644hrs, their flight from istanbul has finally landed! yea! my wait is finally over

the crowd waiting for their luggage at the same belt long before the gers appear

LJ waiting for luggage.

she gestured to mi excitedly to call her hp coz kym ng was on the same flight as them.

Things to get off my chest

mi was in damn low spirits on fri evening coz i stumbled upon something at work.

i was shocked tat a fellow worker and my leader has not been entirely honest wif mi. if there's anything i can't stand, it's hypocrisy.

i treat everyone wif utmost sincerity so i felt a strong sense of betrayal tat someone i call a fren would do such a thing.

i would nbr trade nor compromise my integrity for 3,000 bucks!

i was told tat i had 'big shoes to fill' when i took on tis job. and i haf filled the shoes accordingly to my appraisal. however, there is something tat i wana tell my leader. i forgot to mention tat he has 'exceptionally big shoes to fill' too, as my leader. and in my eyes, he has not met the bar. i m honest to a fault but i will not mince my words even if it sounds brutal.

and so, it is wif tis stunning discovery, tat i decided on my next course of action.

i believe strongly in and live by tis saying 'people don't leave becoz of their jobs, they leave becoz of their leaders'

despite my determination not to let something at work affect mi over the wkend, i was still upset on sat morning.

luckily, i m again in high spirits after eating my fav rochor beancurd and seeing all my close frens yest. there is nuthing like being wif good frens to lift my spirits. not tat we even need to b toking abt the issue, juz chatting and having a good time works miracles!

and once again, i count my blessings tat i haf close frens wif mi, always.

and the verdict for wat happened at work, though i m disappointed in the behaviour of some ppl, my conviction to my company has not changed. and i hope to b making a much more significant contribution to my company.

Diver in Australia survives shark attack

Tue Jan 23, 3:26 PM ET

SYDNEY, Australia - A diver escaped a 10-foot shark's attack by poking the animal in its eye after it had already chomped on his head once and was preparing for another bite, witnesses and officials said Tuesday.

Eric Nerhus, 41, was flown to a hospital with serious injuries to his head, body and left arm after the attack Tuesday off Cape Howe, about 250 miles south of Sydney.

The shark grabbed Nerhus by the head, crushing his face mask and breaking his nose, said Dennis Luobikis, a fellow diver who witnessed the attack.

"He was actually bitten by the head down — the shark swallowed his head," Luobikis said.

The shark, believed to be a great white, came back for a second bite, clenching its jaws around Nerhus' torso and leaving deep lacerations in his side, said Luobikis.

Nerhus wrestled free of the shark's jaws, and later told rescue workers he had poked the shark in the eye, an unidentified worker from the Snowy Hydro Rescue Helicopter service told local media.

Nerhus was pulled from the water by his 25-year-old son and rushed to a hospital, suffering blood loss and shock.

"Eric is a tough boy. He's super fit," said Luobikis. "But I would say that would test anyone's resolve, being a fish lunch."

Shark attacks are relatively common in Australian waters, home to some of the world's deadliest sea life. Scientists say there are an average of 15 shark attacks a year in Australia — one of the highest rates in the world — and just over 1 per year are fatal.

Rose Shower Gel from The Body Shop

tis is my all time fav shower gel from body shop and yes, it's Rose!!

i luv the lingering scent after using tis.

unfortunately, it has been discontinued.

to make matters worse, nobody at body shop seems to haf heard/seen tis range. i get told so many times tat they dun haf any rose range tat i decided to pose tis as evidence!!

wish they still carry tis...sigh

Ros & Cliff's Wedding

highlights of the morning and the video montage from the wedding dinner.










i happened to stop besides and drive past the bridal car on the way to Cliff's place.

LJ has the shot wif the couple in the car.
*hint*

some shots from the wedding dinner below





















finally, a shot of the couple.

my seat got good view sia coz we were rite behind the couple.

as they did the second march in.

first match in was wif flower gers, holding flowers.

the little flower boy was sprinkling flower petals...hehe....simply adorable

the game played during the dinner. y does ros look so happy? hehe....and i've captured it on video too.

















there's a hair in my spinach!! no joke!

Put the Hot in Hot Chocolate

Those packets of hot cocoa you fix your kids may be okay for, well, kids -- and we'll admit the mini marshmallows are exceptionally cute. But you deserve better. We've got a recipe for hot chocolate that is pure indulgence... because it's almost pure chocolate, just as in the best cafes in Paris.

This flexible recipe takes about as much time to make as it does for the kettle to boil for hot cocoa from a package. The taste, however, is incomparable. You won't look back.

Parisian Hot Chocolate

You'll Need:
1 1/2 ounces of the best quality dark chocolate (62 percent cacao or above), grated
1 cup of milk

You'll Do:
Heat the milk in a small saucepan until bubbles just begin to form at the edge of the pan.
Add the chocolate shavings and whisk until all the chocolate has melted.
Pour into a mug, crawl under a snug blanket and enjoy.

This recipe yields one cup but can be multiplied easily to serve as many as you wish. Now, doctor it up anyway you like or compare it to another recipe, such as our Skating-on-Thin-Ice hot chocolate.

And do the right thing and let your kids have some. Teach them what hot chocolate is really all about.

Kiddos Swimming

The kids at Tampines Swimming Pool. The weather was beautiful and they enjoyed the slides immersely.

The Power to Walk Away

How do you deal with potentially explosive situations?

Where tempers are beginning to flare, tensions are steadily escalating, and sufficient buttons have been pushed?

What happens with many people is that they remain in the situation, either hoping to talk things over calmly or to make their point emphatically clear.

But this can only work if the other party is willing to collaborate.

But sometimes, the other party can be willfully difficult. They can be persons who get off on pushing your hot buttons.

What happens then? A likely scenario is that like a fish to the bait, you continue to engage in the conversation, the other party continues to gall you, and *snap!*, the last straw breaks your back.

At this point, when self-control is lost, you may utter threats, make scathing remarks, or throw pot-shots that you immediately regret.

In a social setting, you may end up looking rash and petty.
In a business or corporate setting, you may appear to be antagonistic and hot-tempered.
In a personal context, you may end up really hurting a loved one.
In the long term, angry outbursts will sour any relationship.

If you find yourself quite unintentionally getting yourself into potentially-explosive situations, how can you avoid actually exploding?

Well, you can walk away.

A seemingly simple thing to do, but something that can be extremely difficult to do in practice, especially when you feel you've been grossly misunderstood. You'd want to stake it out and explain yourself until the other person gets it, right?

That's what keeps you there.
That's what makes you reiterate your arguments again and again until they begin to sound meaningless.

In these instances, you're at the losing end; it's simply more sensible to walk away.

Do you have the power to walk away from potentially-explosive situations?
Are you able to postpone defending yourself to another more appropriate time?
Can you conserve your cool and avoid saying or doing something you'll regret later?

Because when you care too much about winning in such situations, you lose.

You're the one who feels the pressure, you're the one who seems antagonistic and defensive.

It will be hard initially, but practice walking away and you'll understand just how powerful it can be in defusing explosive situations and even persuade others to see things your way.

Starting 2007 right

we woke up @ 6am to catch the first sunrise of 2007.

i didn't intend to bring QQ but she woke up as well so both the kids came along.

it was too overcast for a 'proper' sunrise so the sky juz kinda got brighter gradually.

wat was apalling, was the amt of rubbish on the pathetic bit of beach @ east coast. the result of the countdown celebrations was litter everywhere.

the cleaners were hard at work before 7, to clear up after us singaporeans. how anyone could litter so freely on their own beaches, or anywhere else, for tat matter, is beyond mi....tsk tsk..,wat a disgrace.

the few dustbins tat were ard were filled and overflowing wif litter. surely national parks board will haf the good sense to provide adequate dustbin facilities to meet the surge in crowds on new year's eve in future??

Black Card: Don't Ask, Won't Tell

January 18, 2007

Q: The other night, a friend paid for dinner with a black card from American Express. Some other people at the table were oohing and aahing over it, but I had never heard of the card. What's the deal?

A: You know the old saying, "If you have to ask how much it is, you can't afford it"? Well, with the black card, even if you can afford it, you can't ask for it. If you go to the American Express Web site that offers consumer cards, there are a variety of choices -- the traditional green, the newer blue, etc. -- but no black.

There is more lore than hard data about the card.

One story says it initially was an urban legend sort of thing -- the card with no limit, available only to a select very few. After getting lots of calls about the phantom card, American Express decided to make it real.

True story? Perhaps, said Desiree Fish, vice president of public affairs and communications at American Express.

She explained that when the card was introduced in 1999, the company was "freer in giving out information about that product." Since then, American Express has been far more discreet in publicizing details of a card that the vast majority of us cannot have.

Also, mystery is a big part of the card's considerable aura.

For instance, on the Internet, there is talk that the card comes in a velvet-lined box delivered by a security guard. Probably not.

We do know this. The card cannot be requested, only offered.

If you have charged $250,000 or more the previous year to American Express cards, the fabled card might just show up at your mansion. Celebrity seems to help lower the financial bars.
The annual fee now for what American Express calls the Centurion card is $2,500, up from the initial $1,000.

Recently the card has been issued in titanium -- not the color like gold or platinum but the metal itself. The card is heavy. If the edges were sharpened, it could be used as a weapon like Oddjob's bowler hat in "Goldfinger."

Speaking of James Bond films, there's a scene in the new "Casino Royale" in which Bond, with no reservation, goes to an exclusive Bahamian hotel and shows a black card to the concierge. He's given a suite at once. In an episode of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," when a cast member is thrown in jail and bail is set at $1 million, the network president says to charge it to his black card.

A Kanye West lyric says: "She was like, `Oh, my God, is that a black card?' / I turned around and replied, `Why yes, but I prefer the term "African American Express."" Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous Girl" remix notes: "I smoke purple, my car white / credit card black, girl I'm alright."

Right on.

Black card holders get free accompanying tickets on trans-Atlantic flights, access to private clubs at airports, after-hours shopping at exclusive stores, a personal concierge to do one's bidding whether it be to track down and buy Kevin Kostner's horse in "Dances With Wolves" or procure sand from the shore of the Dead Sea for a child's school project.

"We can't confirm those stories," Fish said. "But I can tell you that the card is for the ultrarich and the annual spending is unlimited, so there probably are some interesting tales."

So, we asked, is the black card division in a secret subterranean room reached through a door accessed only with a combination of passwords and retinal scans?

"I definitely can't comment on that," Fish said.

YY the fotographer

YY taking a shot from the car.
















YY went "财神爷，我要拍你" before snapping tis foto.







some shots of kerri

our storeroom, still packed to tis day. so much stuff to sort out.