Tuesday, July 6, 2010
when does a person deserve a crime?
A Singapore student on an exchange program was gang-raped by 3 Nepalese when she went to lan Kawi Fong and got drunk alone in a bar where the rapists worked, and all 3 comments on Asiaone were "she asked for it"..how sad in this day and age, the vocal prevalent belief can be the victim deserve the crime...this is a crime of violence, a woman cannot be safe drinking alone in a Hong Kong bar..however careless or ill-advised or naive, the one thing for sure is she didn't asked for it..if a man got drunk and got robbed or raped, probably nobody would say such horrible things as he asked for it...
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Engelhert Humperdinck 2010 Legacy of Love World Tour
watched Engelhert Humperdinck 2010 Legacy of Love World Tour with Lisa 2 nights ago at Indoor Stadium (as usual) courtesy of Andrew Chee (good friend to have)...
really a relaxed wonderful evening down memory lane in the company of Release Me, The Last Waltz, Spanish Eyes, Quando Quando Quando (remix)..incredible vocals & a witty mind and very good refined classy entertainer, incredible energy at 74 years & great band too....love it..
really a relaxed wonderful evening down memory lane in the company of Release Me, The Last Waltz, Spanish Eyes, Quando Quando Quando (remix)..incredible vocals & a witty mind and very good refined classy entertainer, incredible energy at 74 years & great band too....love it..
Thursday, June 24, 2010
1 night in geylang...
great time out with the boys (chai seng, chong lee, chee hong, boon teck) last evening...
what I read when I googled Sek Wai Sin at Geylang (between Lor 13 & Lor 15) turned out to be accurate enough - pay a lot for wok hei, no price, no menu, no aircon, no service (the last cannot determine as chai seng seems to have one with the owners so the service we got is par excellence, also aircon part no issue as our table is indoor place is decent & quite cool)...
food is good and I want to go back again...we had prawn with kai lan and tofu prawn (signature), and beef kailan=all with fantatic wok hei! the prawn is huge and very fresh. also had steam song fish head (signature)=very good, black chicken soup=good and sweet sour pork=below average. read that bitter gourd pork rib is good, didn't ask as (maybe should ask because) chai seng is paying. damage was $148 for 5, not exactly cheap for daipaidong but then most dishes are better than some restaurants..problem with such places is food variety looks limited and w/o our friend chai seng probably service maybe sucks...
after that we stroll to sims avenue side for durian...$50 for 1 mao shan wan durian (3.5kgx$14/kg=about $2 per seed) not quite my idea of value for money, but then fun night out can't count every cent, just eat & be happy.. durian was nice but really not that great..chee hong also ordered a 1x$16/kg (forgot name sounds something like XO 666..)...that one actually had many tiny seeds, not bitter enough and maybe not bad afterall...
sad to hear from CH that BT's brother Boon Siong passed away from cancer (though I expected that having heard from BT >1month back that he was nearing the end). we are all at the age where transient makes a deeper impression, we get more philosophical & start to hear more of such news from amongst friends but I was playing my 1st majong game with BS just before CNY=that was just 4-5 months back..
what I read when I googled Sek Wai Sin at Geylang (between Lor 13 & Lor 15) turned out to be accurate enough - pay a lot for wok hei, no price, no menu, no aircon, no service (the last cannot determine as chai seng seems to have one with the owners so the service we got is par excellence, also aircon part no issue as our table is indoor place is decent & quite cool)...
food is good and I want to go back again...we had prawn with kai lan and tofu prawn (signature), and beef kailan=all with fantatic wok hei! the prawn is huge and very fresh. also had steam song fish head (signature)=very good, black chicken soup=good and sweet sour pork=below average. read that bitter gourd pork rib is good, didn't ask as (maybe should ask because) chai seng is paying. damage was $148 for 5, not exactly cheap for daipaidong but then most dishes are better than some restaurants..problem with such places is food variety looks limited and w/o our friend chai seng probably service maybe sucks...
after that we stroll to sims avenue side for durian...$50 for 1 mao shan wan durian (3.5kgx$14/kg=about $2 per seed) not quite my idea of value for money, but then fun night out can't count every cent, just eat & be happy.. durian was nice but really not that great..chee hong also ordered a 1x$16/kg (forgot name sounds something like XO 666..)...that one actually had many tiny seeds, not bitter enough and maybe not bad afterall...
sad to hear from CH that BT's brother Boon Siong passed away from cancer (though I expected that having heard from BT >1month back that he was nearing the end). we are all at the age where transient makes a deeper impression, we get more philosophical & start to hear more of such news from amongst friends but I was playing my 1st majong game with BS just before CNY=that was just 4-5 months back..
Thursday, June 10, 2010
lifestyle runner
had my LSD run (long slow distance run, NOT of the euphoric out-of-body I am god kind) this morning. managed 10km@9.02kmh just below 1hr6mins. this after a week w/o exercise and piling on sinful (meaning heavenly) food in Seoul..heartbeat really a bit high at 160bpm average with last lap at 165bpm (still for my recent 1/2 marathon my heartbeat was higher at 161bpm average running for 2hr 33 mins over 21km at just 8kmh)..I know I can get it down as did 14km before at 154bpm average at 9.1kmh...
didn't use my compression apparel. put on the cheaper Adidas tights instead, recovery was good and now 5 hrs after running no DOMS (delayed onset muscle sore) so I must be doing things right!
the chirunning by Danny Dreyer is really good. every serious runner should just go borrow from library and read it (http://catalogue.nlb.gov.sg/cgi-bin/cw_cgi?resultsScreen+26285+1+5+0)
anyway it teaches you the key principles of effortless running-
(1)slight lean (not bent) forward head-body-feet aligned so that your footfall will NOT be ahead of the head position. this helps to avoid heelstriking which creates impact resistance at every step, thus promotes midstriking..
(2)relax knee, calf, ankles, let feet fall back on every step (your feet just skimming the road surface..) instead of lifting & heelstrike (which happens if your footfall is ahead of your head position). this lets core muscles hold up the body weight put less effort on leg muscles, hip swing like pendulum thighs propel run aided by gravity & momentum from slight leaning forward lower leg hang loose - ie as little effort and weight on lower leg as possible makes a more efficient pendulum (don't you know nigerian runners have really hugh thighs and thin calf)..
normal hardcore power running relies on training leg muscles and lapping up miles. with chirunning apparently you can soak up less miles in training. important thing is form focus ie posture and principles of using core muscles to hold body and thigh muscles to propel run, slight forward lean & midstriking to avoid impact resistance (and impact on knee) and as little effort and weight on lower leg as possible for efficient pendulum swing and you (sort of) can run forever...
think I am starting to get it a little bit...my target lifestyle running=2x10km, 1x14km per week..
didn't use my compression apparel. put on the cheaper Adidas tights instead, recovery was good and now 5 hrs after running no DOMS (delayed onset muscle sore) so I must be doing things right!
the chirunning by Danny Dreyer is really good. every serious runner should just go borrow from library and read it (http://catalogue.nlb.gov.sg/cgi-bin/cw_cgi?resultsScreen+26285+1+5+0)
anyway it teaches you the key principles of effortless running-
(1)slight lean (not bent) forward head-body-feet aligned so that your footfall will NOT be ahead of the head position. this helps to avoid heelstriking which creates impact resistance at every step, thus promotes midstriking..
(2)relax knee, calf, ankles, let feet fall back on every step (your feet just skimming the road surface..) instead of lifting & heelstrike (which happens if your footfall is ahead of your head position). this lets core muscles hold up the body weight put less effort on leg muscles, hip swing like pendulum thighs propel run aided by gravity & momentum from slight leaning forward lower leg hang loose - ie as little effort and weight on lower leg as possible makes a more efficient pendulum (don't you know nigerian runners have really hugh thighs and thin calf)..
normal hardcore power running relies on training leg muscles and lapping up miles. with chirunning apparently you can soak up less miles in training. important thing is form focus ie posture and principles of using core muscles to hold body and thigh muscles to propel run, slight forward lean & midstriking to avoid impact resistance (and impact on knee) and as little effort and weight on lower leg as possible for efficient pendulum swing and you (sort of) can run forever...
think I am starting to get it a little bit...my target lifestyle running=2x10km, 1x14km per week..
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
in support of Obama's Nobel Peace Prize
I think Obama more than deserved the Nobel Peace Prize..the silent majority maybe no match for the vocal media minority including BT's Vikram Kanna who shared my admiration for Obama..it is easy to jump on the media conventional wisdom bandwagon instead of appreciating Nobel award panel's insight and vision, and its true that there are many hard toiling deserving winners w/o Obama's charm and clout..but hey there is only 1 Nobel Peach Prize a year and Obama's impact and contribution is more than deserving...maybe Martin Luther King (1964) or even Nelson Mandela (1993) is more transformative...but can you imagine what USA and the world would be like if George Bush or John McCain (decent genuine folk he maybe) were US president..
Obama's impact is if anything no less than Mohammed Yunus (2006) and Medecins sans Frontier ('doctors without borders')(1999) and most certainly far more than Al Gore (2007)..
Obama team have accomplished in 9+ months no recent US or world leader have done in decades..Geithner, working without senate confirmed assistant secretaries and staffers, turn around Wall Street, saved the world financial market from unseemly collapse and the livelihood of millions...got GM & Chrysler in and out of bankruptcy saving millions of jobs...more importantly Obama got a whole leaderless generation in USA and worldwide to believe again "yes, I can"...his election and inauguration moved the entire world...conservatives who attacked Obama team on every solution that have proven to work beautifully and branded TARP, stimulus, healthcare, consumer protection as socialist, big government, nationalisation etc are simply living in the past (where George Bush surrounded by crooks and cronies ruled by lies, corruption and ineptitude) and so faithless..but Obama generation can believe again, are motivated and know the difference between talk and action...no drama Obama never claims he can solve all the problems (having inherited 2 wars, a planet in peril and financial collapse) in 1 year or even one term, but looking at the intelligent, pragmatic, problem solving doer team he gathered who solve the financial crisis as volunteers while awaiting senate confirmation, we have confidence he is getting there - climate change, Afghanistan, Iraq, ME, Iran, North Korea..these are not the same incompetent above the law fat cats (Bush cronies) who still defends torture, waterboarding, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Graib (Cheney), who attacked Iraq based on lies and brought untold miseries for generations to those american and Iraqi families who suffer losses of loved ones for no reasons (Rumsfeld) etc...
we can criticise the Nobel Peace prize as too early if it is awarded for lifetime devotion rather than size of impact (and so Obama and his advisors are themselves surprised), but while Obama team will need maybe 1 or 2 terms to bring the planet in peril from the brink of self destruction, he can be credited with triggering the process (like Colin Powell said Obama is transformative and game changing and a product of the times - without the disastrous and divisive Bush years there maybe no Obama phenomenon) and so in my humble opinion the Nobel Peace Prize has no more deserving recepient...and Mohamed Yunus, doctors without borders and Al Gore (despite their more than magnificient contributions) are of no comparison...
Obama's impact is if anything no less than Mohammed Yunus (2006) and Medecins sans Frontier ('doctors without borders')(1999) and most certainly far more than Al Gore (2007)..
Obama team have accomplished in 9+ months no recent US or world leader have done in decades..Geithner, working without senate confirmed assistant secretaries and staffers, turn around Wall Street, saved the world financial market from unseemly collapse and the livelihood of millions...got GM & Chrysler in and out of bankruptcy saving millions of jobs...more importantly Obama got a whole leaderless generation in USA and worldwide to believe again "yes, I can"...his election and inauguration moved the entire world...conservatives who attacked Obama team on every solution that have proven to work beautifully and branded TARP, stimulus, healthcare, consumer protection as socialist, big government, nationalisation etc are simply living in the past (where George Bush surrounded by crooks and cronies ruled by lies, corruption and ineptitude) and so faithless..but Obama generation can believe again, are motivated and know the difference between talk and action...no drama Obama never claims he can solve all the problems (having inherited 2 wars, a planet in peril and financial collapse) in 1 year or even one term, but looking at the intelligent, pragmatic, problem solving doer team he gathered who solve the financial crisis as volunteers while awaiting senate confirmation, we have confidence he is getting there - climate change, Afghanistan, Iraq, ME, Iran, North Korea..these are not the same incompetent above the law fat cats (Bush cronies) who still defends torture, waterboarding, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Graib (Cheney), who attacked Iraq based on lies and brought untold miseries for generations to those american and Iraqi families who suffer losses of loved ones for no reasons (Rumsfeld) etc...
we can criticise the Nobel Peace prize as too early if it is awarded for lifetime devotion rather than size of impact (and so Obama and his advisors are themselves surprised), but while Obama team will need maybe 1 or 2 terms to bring the planet in peril from the brink of self destruction, he can be credited with triggering the process (like Colin Powell said Obama is transformative and game changing and a product of the times - without the disastrous and divisive Bush years there maybe no Obama phenomenon) and so in my humble opinion the Nobel Peace Prize has no more deserving recepient...and Mohamed Yunus, doctors without borders and Al Gore (despite their more than magnificient contributions) are of no comparison...
Thursday, October 8, 2009
The Two Sides of Dual-Class Shares
........Hollinger International presents a good example of the negative effects of dual-class shares. Former CEO Conrad Black controlled all of the company's class-B shares, which gave him 30% of the equity and 73% of the voting power. He ran the company as if he were the sole owner, exacting huge management fees, consulting payments, and personal dividends. Hollinger's board of directors was filled with Black's friends who were unlikely to forcefully oppose his authority. Holders of publicly traded shares of Hollinger had almost no power to make any decisions in terms of executive compensation, mergers and acquisitions, board construction poison pills, or anything else for that matter. Hollinger's financial and share performance suffered under Black's control.
Academic research offers strong evidence that dual-class share structures hinder corporate performance. A Wharton School and Harvard Business School study shows that while large ownership stakes in managers' hands tend to improve corporate performance, heavy voting control by insiders weakens it. Shareholders with super-voting rights are reluctant to raise cash by selling additional shares--that could dilute these shareholders' influence. The study also shows that dual-class companies tend to be burdened with more debt than single-class companies. Even worse, dual-class stocks tend to under-perform the stock market.
Conclusion
Not every dual-class company is destined to perform poorly--Berkshire Hathaway, for one, has consistently delivered great fundamentals and shareholder value. Controlling shareholders normally have an interest in maintaining a good reputation with investors. Insofar as family members wield voting power, they have an emotional incentive to vote in a manner that enhances performance. All the same, investors should keep in mind the effects of dual-class ownership on company fundamentals.
by Ben McClure
Academic research offers strong evidence that dual-class share structures hinder corporate performance. A Wharton School and Harvard Business School study shows that while large ownership stakes in managers' hands tend to improve corporate performance, heavy voting control by insiders weakens it. Shareholders with super-voting rights are reluctant to raise cash by selling additional shares--that could dilute these shareholders' influence. The study also shows that dual-class companies tend to be burdened with more debt than single-class companies. Even worse, dual-class stocks tend to under-perform the stock market.
Conclusion
Not every dual-class company is destined to perform poorly--Berkshire Hathaway, for one, has consistently delivered great fundamentals and shareholder value. Controlling shareholders normally have an interest in maintaining a good reputation with investors. Insofar as family members wield voting power, they have an emotional incentive to vote in a manner that enhances performance. All the same, investors should keep in mind the effects of dual-class ownership on company fundamentals.
by Ben McClure
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The pork barrel tussle in USA today is this:
great piece from a friend Goh Chung Meng to my earlier rantings-
The pork barrel tussle in USA today is this:
No enough money to go around, so help me but do not help him. Help only the Wall Street guys. Helping the rest of America is simply wrong. It is easier to say the word “wrong” by branding. Every night they have paid talkers on the TVs telling people why helping to get healthcare to every Americans is wrong. Helping autos and airlines and housing is wrong because it is for the common people and that is communism according to them, the Wall Street idiots. Helping the capitalists is capitalism – why have we not learnt this in schools?
Helping capitalist is right – it is capitalism. A country of capitalists created by capitalists for capitalists. The defence of capitalism is as natural as breathing.
Helping the common people is wrong – what the hell is that? Kindness as an ideology? Well, it is not capitalism and so it must be wrong. Only one state sponsored theory can dominate in America.
The sad truth is that there is not enough money to help all in America. If you are not pro-capitalists you have no money to run expensive campaigns. Can’t run, can’t win. But if you do not promised to help the average Joe, you are not getting the votes.
The people who are the problem are attacking the solutions because it is cannibalising on their own blood supply. You have a picture of a rich patient in an intensive care unit harping the virtue of blood donations only in front of their ICU rooms. They cannot attack blood donation itself because they need it but they can attack blood donation drives elsewhere by “branding”. They have the cheek to do it. Their survival is correct evolution. Others’ survival is an evolutionary mistake. Instead of the fittest survive, we have the most well fed survive.
===
You summed up the root of American financial trouble today which is that greed is being rewarded on the upside while the pain of risks is not inflicted directly on those who created those risks. The “moral hazards” thing. All kinds of risks are embedded in transactions and not accounted for. The art of detaching the risks from the benefits is the purpose of financial engineering. The more complicated and globalised the products, the better. No ownership of risks is ever intended. For Alan Greenspan to say that financial bubbles cannot be known or determined until it happens is precisely to deny any ownership of risks until risks appeared and by that time it is most likely a tax payers’ risks because it would be too big for anyone else to shoulder. It is the US system and policies which allowed risks to build up undetected. American still preached “risks management” as a formal subject to the rest of the world but is blind to the risks in their own system.
The pork barrel tussle in USA today is this:
No enough money to go around, so help me but do not help him. Help only the Wall Street guys. Helping the rest of America is simply wrong. It is easier to say the word “wrong” by branding. Every night they have paid talkers on the TVs telling people why helping to get healthcare to every Americans is wrong. Helping autos and airlines and housing is wrong because it is for the common people and that is communism according to them, the Wall Street idiots. Helping the capitalists is capitalism – why have we not learnt this in schools?
Helping capitalist is right – it is capitalism. A country of capitalists created by capitalists for capitalists. The defence of capitalism is as natural as breathing.
Helping the common people is wrong – what the hell is that? Kindness as an ideology? Well, it is not capitalism and so it must be wrong. Only one state sponsored theory can dominate in America.
The sad truth is that there is not enough money to help all in America. If you are not pro-capitalists you have no money to run expensive campaigns. Can’t run, can’t win. But if you do not promised to help the average Joe, you are not getting the votes.
The people who are the problem are attacking the solutions because it is cannibalising on their own blood supply. You have a picture of a rich patient in an intensive care unit harping the virtue of blood donations only in front of their ICU rooms. They cannot attack blood donation itself because they need it but they can attack blood donation drives elsewhere by “branding”. They have the cheek to do it. Their survival is correct evolution. Others’ survival is an evolutionary mistake. Instead of the fittest survive, we have the most well fed survive.
===
You summed up the root of American financial trouble today which is that greed is being rewarded on the upside while the pain of risks is not inflicted directly on those who created those risks. The “moral hazards” thing. All kinds of risks are embedded in transactions and not accounted for. The art of detaching the risks from the benefits is the purpose of financial engineering. The more complicated and globalised the products, the better. No ownership of risks is ever intended. For Alan Greenspan to say that financial bubbles cannot be known or determined until it happens is precisely to deny any ownership of risks until risks appeared and by that time it is most likely a tax payers’ risks because it would be too big for anyone else to shoulder. It is the US system and policies which allowed risks to build up undetected. American still preached “risks management” as a formal subject to the rest of the world but is blind to the risks in their own system.
Monday, September 28, 2009
New York New York
made a trip to NYC to use up my 100k expiry Krisflyer miles. turns out that I quite like NYC.
22hrs journey was a drag=12hrs S'pore to Frankfurt+2hrs transit+8hrs to JFK airport..business saver on SIA 747-400 europe/usa flights are getting extremely limited, now only LA/NYC with latter transit at Frankfurt.
got hold of the 7-day New York pass for USD155 online. this is really worthwhile=I got to visit Metropolitan Museum of Art, Solomon & Guggenheim Museum (love it!), American Museum of Natural History, MOMA aka Museum of Modern Art (Love it!), Empire State Building, the pre-historic Skyride (simulation ride) from 1995 at the Empire State Building piloted by Kevin Baker, Top of the Rocks (Rockefeller Tower), Madame Tussauds (found out who Miley Cyrus is=no consequence!), went for 2 really good walking tours =Alexandra Hamilton Financial District Tour (the guy was George Washington's Finance Secretary) which ended with Trinity church, St Paul's church where volunteer rescue effort was based for 8 months post 911, and ending at One World Trade Centre (former Ground Zero); and the George Cohan Theatre District Tour. also went for behind the scene tours of NBC studio (SNL=saturday night live & Tonight with Conan o'Brien=who?; Radio City Music Hall (where Grammy & Tony awards were held and the recent MVA 2009=music video awards where kayne West grab the award from Taylor Swift, were held; and the Madison Square Gardens (where Marilyn Monroe sang Happy Birthday to the President JFK=well that was a different MSG location)..and the awesome St John the Divine=truly the largest cathedral in the world..all these for free with the NY pass.
also got the 7-day subway pass for USD27=really good deal. Day 1 was a breeze as I called (as intructed) and gotten a free airport pickup from Pan-American Hotel(about USD117/night all-in inclusive taxes etc) which is only 20mins from JFK. stayed 2 nights and remaining 6 nights at Howard Johnson Expess Inn- Queens slightly cheaper at USD 108/night all-in which is a newer hotel albeit smaller room breakfast included+more important for me broadband & wifi in room..got the 7-day subway pass from Grand Ave station (4blocks about 15mins walk from hotel) and went to Times Square Planet Holywood to collect the NY Pass. decided to activate the NY Pass only next day so after walking round Times Square, nice lunch at Le Rivage (USD22+3 for USDA ribeye=USD32 inclusive tax+gratuity for nice lobster bisque, ribeye, NY cheesecake and coffee), walk round Rockefeller Plaza, went to Chinatown & Little Italy (1 street in Chinatown) at Canal Street station. had a USD5.50 roast duck+roast pork early dinner (huge portion but only finish 1/2=decided that really cannot take any chinese food as w/o proper chilli these things are just not to my apetite)..
had really nice time trying out the various restaurants. the 2 best turned out to be Ichi Umi (of all things a buffet restaurant!) and a brit restaurant Maze (The London NYC Restaurant by Gordon Ramsey)..Ichi Umi USD28.95 dinner buffet is fantastic in the spread (so many types of fish sashimi but really not worth taking except for the 2 shell fish mirugai=geoduck & hokkigai=orange atlantic surf clam), sushi also not worth taking. why? cause the uni, ikura, teppanyaki lobster (not so the cold snow crab leg which is just about Kuishinbo standard), the wafu(Jap-styled) strip steak, the kabli steak and the 8 kinds of whole fish (flounder best, chilean seabass super, giant garupa good etc) are no less than fine dining...went Ichi Umi twice for buffet lunch (USD18.95) and dinner..and twice lunch at the fine dining Maze (the 2 course lobster bisque, aged ribeye ADD USD5=USD41 include tax+gratuity is superb worth taking everytime)...also went for Peter Luger's USD39.95 (USD51 include tax+gratuity) 1.5lb (680g) ribeye, Sea Grill @Rockefeller Plaza's USD55 (USD70 include tax+gratuity) 3 course lobster tasting menu, twice lunch and dinner at McCormick & Schmicks' Seafood restaurant.
all in all a rather satisfying trip...only the 22hr flight is a deterent to future visits...
22hrs journey was a drag=12hrs S'pore to Frankfurt+2hrs transit+8hrs to JFK airport..business saver on SIA 747-400 europe/usa flights are getting extremely limited, now only LA/NYC with latter transit at Frankfurt.
got hold of the 7-day New York pass for USD155 online. this is really worthwhile=I got to visit Metropolitan Museum of Art, Solomon & Guggenheim Museum (love it!), American Museum of Natural History, MOMA aka Museum of Modern Art (Love it!), Empire State Building, the pre-historic Skyride (simulation ride) from 1995 at the Empire State Building piloted by Kevin Baker, Top of the Rocks (Rockefeller Tower), Madame Tussauds (found out who Miley Cyrus is=no consequence!), went for 2 really good walking tours =Alexandra Hamilton Financial District Tour (the guy was George Washington's Finance Secretary) which ended with Trinity church, St Paul's church where volunteer rescue effort was based for 8 months post 911, and ending at One World Trade Centre (former Ground Zero); and the George Cohan Theatre District Tour. also went for behind the scene tours of NBC studio (SNL=saturday night live & Tonight with Conan o'Brien=who?; Radio City Music Hall (where Grammy & Tony awards were held and the recent MVA 2009=music video awards where kayne West grab the award from Taylor Swift, were held; and the Madison Square Gardens (where Marilyn Monroe sang Happy Birthday to the President JFK=well that was a different MSG location)..and the awesome St John the Divine=truly the largest cathedral in the world..all these for free with the NY pass.
also got the 7-day subway pass for USD27=really good deal. Day 1 was a breeze as I called (as intructed) and gotten a free airport pickup from Pan-American Hotel(about USD117/night all-in inclusive taxes etc) which is only 20mins from JFK. stayed 2 nights and remaining 6 nights at Howard Johnson Expess Inn- Queens slightly cheaper at USD 108/night all-in which is a newer hotel albeit smaller room breakfast included+more important for me broadband & wifi in room..got the 7-day subway pass from Grand Ave station (4blocks about 15mins walk from hotel) and went to Times Square Planet Holywood to collect the NY Pass. decided to activate the NY Pass only next day so after walking round Times Square, nice lunch at Le Rivage (USD22+3 for USDA ribeye=USD32 inclusive tax+gratuity for nice lobster bisque, ribeye, NY cheesecake and coffee), walk round Rockefeller Plaza, went to Chinatown & Little Italy (1 street in Chinatown) at Canal Street station. had a USD5.50 roast duck+roast pork early dinner (huge portion but only finish 1/2=decided that really cannot take any chinese food as w/o proper chilli these things are just not to my apetite)..
had really nice time trying out the various restaurants. the 2 best turned out to be Ichi Umi (of all things a buffet restaurant!) and a brit restaurant Maze (The London NYC Restaurant by Gordon Ramsey)..Ichi Umi USD28.95 dinner buffet is fantastic in the spread (so many types of fish sashimi but really not worth taking except for the 2 shell fish mirugai=geoduck & hokkigai=orange atlantic surf clam), sushi also not worth taking. why? cause the uni, ikura, teppanyaki lobster (not so the cold snow crab leg which is just about Kuishinbo standard), the wafu(Jap-styled) strip steak, the kabli steak and the 8 kinds of whole fish (flounder best, chilean seabass super, giant garupa good etc) are no less than fine dining...went Ichi Umi twice for buffet lunch (USD18.95) and dinner..and twice lunch at the fine dining Maze (the 2 course lobster bisque, aged ribeye ADD USD5=USD41 include tax+gratuity is superb worth taking everytime)...also went for Peter Luger's USD39.95 (USD51 include tax+gratuity) 1.5lb (680g) ribeye, Sea Grill @Rockefeller Plaza's USD55 (USD70 include tax+gratuity) 3 course lobster tasting menu, twice lunch and dinner at McCormick & Schmicks' Seafood restaurant.
all in all a rather satisfying trip...only the 22hr flight is a deterent to future visits...
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