I have been getting ready to return to Singapore for a while. Re-adjusting my mindset and keeping up to date with the happenings in Singapore. Worried about the crazy inflation in Asia, this headline caught my eye, in The Online Citizen:

The relentless rising cost of living in Singapore....

The article is found here, and i have made some comments.

20 Million People spending a weekend...

With 4.5million people in Singapore, most of us already feel the G.S.S(Great Singapore Squeeze)

Just check out 20million people in Shanghai.....




Transfer this amount of people onto Orchard Road....Unimaginable.

263m up on the Pearl Tower(东方明珠塔）

I was so busy with the videos that i had forgotten about a brief intro regarding the Geographical aspects of Shanghai..


Shanghai is mainly divided into 2 parts, Pudong(浦东) and Puxi(浦西) and are separated by the HuangPu river(黄浦江）. Amazing thing is, they actually managed to construct a tunnel beneath the river from Pudong to Puxi for vehicles, and the light rail.

As shown in the map, 外滩 is actually located in 浦西, and 东方明珠塔 is located just across 黄浦江 in 浦东。

Of course there is more to that. But i am too ignorant to explain further. I only know that Shanghai is further broken down into districts.

I prefer to feign ignorance and enjoy the view from above.....

In this video, you can see 浦西 on the left, and 浦东on the right. I have noticed that the structure of the buildings in 浦西 is a little more scattered and disorganized. 浦东, on the other hand, is more organized and orderly. Somewhat like dominoes. Probably because 浦东 is newer in development, and the government has learnt from previous lessons that a messy infrastructure can create tonnes of problems.

The Bund(外滩） & Pearl Tower(东方明珠塔）..

After going to Cheng Huang temple, we proceeded to 外滩. While the vids a few days ago shows the night scene, these vids are taken in the day. Here, we can really see what is so magnificent about the Pearl Tower(东方明珠塔）.




东方明珠塔 , as i was told, is actually owned by the TV station. Reason why it is built to such a great height, towering over most buildings in Shanghai, is because it is the source of TV signals throughout the whole of Shanghai. The top of the tower probably carries the signal boosters that emits all the TV signals. Video below shows a close-up of the Pearl Tower.

Darkness amidst the Light - Disparity between the rich & poor..

Managed to knock off a little early, and i headed down to 外滩（The Bund) for some sight-seeing. I chanced upon this little street off the famous, brightly-lit, 南京路(Nanjing road)

Very odd feel. 南京路 is brightly lit, with plenty of branded name shops. Poshly dressed gentlemen, and ladies throng the streets. But this small alley...appears to be at another end of the spectrum.




Notice how the dark alley emerges onto Nanjing road...

Crazy US Data

The recent US data is crazy.

On one hand, the Dow is breaking new heights.

On the contrary, housing sales has just dropped 18%, coupled with rising energy costs that has hit consumer confidence. People are also finding it difficult to find jobs. Additionally, the greenback is losing ground against major currencies all over the world.

While inflation is rising, the only consolation that i see is that US GDP is still in the black. But with the ever increasing focus on Iraq, will US's reserves ever recover? If GDP falls......it will be my 1st experience with stagflation.

Time to buy insurance.