Pride London 2007

"Dear, see only hor, cannot touch okay"
Beloved wife and I went down to Regent's Street today to catch the Pride London Parade. It's been a while since we ventured out of our tiny flat in north London.

Thousands of people turned up for the event, dressed up in mostly pink and outrageous and wild costumes.

The skies did little to liven up the carnival, and the march nearly could not take place due to the suspected terror plots uncovered the day before.

The Pink Brigade


Teachers Union making a stand. They are just one of the many unions participating in the parade.


Bus Top dancing, anyone?
Favorite was the Superman costume followed next by Wonder women. No prizes for guessing the preferred choice for the ladies.



A member of the London Olympics 2012 swimming team

Inspiration for the dress definitely came from here


The message sent out was clear - End Homophobia. Love One, Love All.

Leveraged to the Tilt

This is getting a bit insane - the loose monetary policy in the US has created a monstrous surge in liquidity which has translated into an enormous appetite for assets ... varying from junk bonds to real estate to art pieces to commodities.

Check out the 'surge' in leveraged buyouts on the left.

This increase in demand for assets have also lead to inflationary pressures on prices. Which partly explains why central banks all over the world (Singapore excluded) are trying to tighten their monetary policy by raising rates. This increase in rates will have a dampening effect on the stock market. Worse still will be the credit markets - with each rate reset, the lenders are going to demand for more return on the risky assets which they are holding.

Hang on to your seats - it is going to be quite a wild ride for the next half of the year.

Severe delays are reported ...

I thought that the delay today was due to the package found near central London. Looks like I was wrong - there is someone hiding under the train.

My postman is not delivering mails today

130,000 postal workers went on strike today - over pay and potential job cuts.
The postal workers union rejected a 2.5% pay increment and instead, wanted a pay increment pegged to the national average for the past 5 years - equivalent to a 27% increment. They are also against modernisation plans put forth which will reduce their headcount by a further 40,000.

There are rumors that Tube workers wanting similar pay increment and threatening to go on strike.

Think I also need to go on a holiday - let's hope our good workers in Singapore don't go on strike when I am back ...

There is something not quite right about the weather

It is late June in Paris and the weather feels like it's Spring. Was so lazy (and cold) to get out of the bed to go for a run this morning and ended up watching CNBC (the only English channel available) in the tiny hotel room in Trocadero. We had a really warm weather in April. Maybe Spring and Summer decided to switch places this year.

Property Investment

The property prices in the UK have risen to such an extent that first-time home owners are being priced out of the property market (the average asking price of a house in London has reached £387,898).

As a result, more and more young Brits are seeking to buy a property outside of the UK. Their searches have lead to Eastern European countries such as Romania, Bulgaria and Estonia.

I recently went on an inspection trip with a friend who has the intention of purchasing an off-plan ski resort in Pamporovo, Bulgaria. We flew into Sofia and spent about 3 hours on the road traveling to the ski resort. There was a slight delay at the immigration desks as the officers seem to take a great deal of interest in my passport - I am assuming that he is looking at a Singaporean passport for the first time and wondering if I have the necessary papers to enter - Singaporeans are issued a three month tourist visa on arrival. Had a great chat with the property consultant who also doubled up as our tour guide cum driver. We compared the economic, political situation in Singapore, Bulgaria and UK - talked about corruption in Bulgaria, government housing in Singapore and the cost of living in the UK.

Some interesting facts about Bulgaria:

• Bulgaria has a population size about twice Singapore but a land area which is approx 160 times bigger than Singapore
• Bulgaria embraced democracy in Nov 1989
  
• Bulgaria has just joined the European Union as of this year.
• The Bulgaria currency is called 'Lev' (pronounced 'Left')
• There has been a huge construction and property boom as a result of the overseas investments from the Russians, British, Irish, etc.
  
• Almost a quarter of Bulgaria's GDP is dependent on the property industry.

The ski resort in Pamporovo - construction in progress ...


The view from the ski apartments


A clearing, leading to the ski slopes