Principle of Uncertainty

People who have visited Hong Kong must be familiar with the show known as Symphony of Lights. The show is played at Victoria Habour at 8 o’clock every evening.

In conjunction with Lunar New Year 2012, Thien Hou Temple in Kuala Lumpur had staged a similar show. Though on a much smaller scale, the show was no less interesting…

The temple…

Playing with zoom…

Here you go, the show of lights…

As in the past years, Thien Hou Temple was decorated with large number of lanterns…

One thing I like about Thien Hou Temple is that devotees are told to burn just 4 joss sticks – one for the Deity of Haven, and one for each of the three in-house deities. Traditionally, Chinese burn 3 joss sticks for every deity. By burning fewer joss sticks, Thien Hou Temple is considerably less smoky. This is good for the health of the people and the environment…

The February 6, 2012 issue of Time Magazine features an article: The upside of being an Introvert. As I am an introvert, this article immediately caught my attention.

Our society has not been very kind to the introverts. People don’t pay so much attention to us; and we are less likely to be successful salespersons – that is, unless we sell online. However, according to the Time article, introversion is not all bad. Throughout history, there have been many great people who are introverts. See the list below:

Introverts

Extroverts

It is worth noting that America’s two richest men – Bill Gates and Warren Buffett – are both introverts. Among athletes, Joe DiMaggio (baseball player) was an introvert, while Muhammad Ali was an extrovert. Former President Bill Clinton is extroverted, but his wife Hillary is introverted.

The author also says that introverts often prefer to express themselves in writing. Maybe that’s why I am blogging here…

In one of my previous posts, I wrote about the investment strategy of Peter Lynch, an American fund manager. Some of you are probably interested in it, and want to learn more.

I recently bought the stocks of Padini, an apparel maker. I made the purchase based on the guidelines given by Lynch. Now I will tell you how I came up with this decision:

Of course, I am not an investment guru; I may be wrong. The picture is not all rosy. For one, Padini’s brands are relatively weak. Uniqlo, the Japan-based apparel maker, has a much stronger brand. Then again, Uniqlo may not pose a serious threat. Clothes sold by Uniqlo are often too warm for Malaysian climate.

Note:

P/E ratio is short for Price/Earning ratio. We compute P/E ratio by dividing the stock price with earning per share.

Recycling in Hong King

Recycle bins are common sight in Hong Kong. Here are some…

In Ocean Park…

In Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center, Wanchai…

Foreigners in Hong Kong

Before visiting Hong Kong, I already knew that there were many Filipino workers in the Chinese territory. It turned out that there were plenty of Indonesians too.

While Filipinos congregate in Central on Sunday, Indonesians do so in Causeway Bay, not far from my hotel. I later learned that Thais meet at Tsim Sha Tsui.

Indonesians in Causeway Bay…

Hong Kong Girls

I didn’t see many pretty girls in Hong Kong. Which came as a surprise, given that the SAR was an affluent and trendy city.

Occasionally I came across pretty girls. But chances were, they were Mandarin speakers…

No Clear Sky

As an avid photographer, I like to take landscape photos with blue sky. Unfortunately, during my 8-day trip to Hong Kong, the sky was almost always shrouded in haze. The wind had blown the polluted air from Mainland China to the SAR.

Colonial Era Place Names

Unlike Malaysian Government who wasted no time to rename most of the streets after independence, Hong Kong still retains many of the colonial era place names. We came across such names like Jordan, Nathan Rd, Wellington St, Shelter St...

I suspect Hongkongese miss the days when they were ruled by the Brits, especially when the two SAR chiefs, Tung Chee Hwa and Donald Tsang, disappoint them.

I am learning to invest in stock market, and I have just finished reading this book:

One Up on Wall Street, by Peter Lynch

Lynch is a former fund manager. He shares many similarities with Warren Buffet – both of them are long term investors who ignore short-term market fluctuation; both of them invest in companies, not in the market.

However, Lynch differs from Buffet in some other ways. Buffet likes to invest in companies with durable competitive advantages. Such companies would have very good track record; they would have been profitable for many years. The problem is: stocks of such companies won’t come cheap.

Lynch, on the other hand, groups companies into 6 categories – slow growers, stalwarts, fast growers, cyclicals, turnarounds, and asset plays. He has devised a strategy for each of these categories.

Lynch likens a potential fast grower to Harrison Ford. The Hollywood superstar was a carpenter before he joined the cast of Star Wars. A stalwart, on the other hand, is like a lawyer. A lawyer’s wagers, while high, don’t come close to Ford’s income.

In his book, Lynch guides on how to pick a winner, when to buy, when to sell etc…

After reading my post up to here, some of you are probably getting excited, and want to get a copy of this book. Those who have read this book may want to resign from your job and become a full-time investor. But let’s be realistic, can you become a millionaire by investing in stocks?

Let’s say your initial capital is RM10,000, and you invest in just one security. (Few people put all their eggs in one basket!) Within five years, the price of this stock rises by 10-fold. Your investment now values at RM100,000 – not bad at all! Even so, you’re still just a 0.1 millionaire.

I have invested in a few stocks, but I still can’t retire, yet…

Eating in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is foodies’ haven. During my visit to the SAR, we had a meal in the famous Yung Kee Restaurant (éžè¨˜é…’家).

Yung Kee is most famous for its roasted geese. Unfortunately, I haven’t got the picture to show here. I am not that kind of people who would say, “Don’t eat! Let me take some pictures and upload to Facebook.”

Anyway, I managed to snap a few pictures before we picked up our chopsticks…

Outside the kitchen…

Preserved eggs…

Roasted meat rice…

Yung Kee Restaurant is located at:

32-40 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong

Hong Kong is also famous for, what else, dim sum. And we also had a dim sum meal during our trip. Here is one picture…

But wait a minute… These are not real dim sum, but fridge magnets! We bought a few as souvenirs. I took picture after we returned to Singapore…

Blogger SK wrote about a promotion campaign of KFC in Malaysia. The fast food giant offered free Zinger burgers for a month. Within a few hours after the promotion started, however, KFC had to discontinue the offer ‘due to overwhelming response’.

Is it possible for a business to offer some free goods or service, and still make money?

Well, AirAsia, the budget airline, has been giving away ‘free seats’ from time to time. But the passengers have to pay for everything else, from ‘convenience fee’ to baggage free to check-in fee.

In Japan, there is this kind of eateries called tachi-soba, literally ‘standing soba’. Patrons of these eateries are required to stand while having their meal. No seats are provided. See pictures below…

Source

Now, combining the concepts of AirAsia and tachi-soba, I am thinking of starting a restaurant which serves free noodles, but with terms and conditions…

On the other hand, I would increase my revenue by selling ads space in the shop…

So, anybody want to join my new venture?

Ngong Ping Village

In my last post, I wrote about the cable car ride from Tung Chung to Ngong Ping.

After getting off the cable car, we arrived at Ngong Ping Village. This was a theme village with traditional Chinese architecture. There were shops selling souvenirs and eateries. Ngong Ping Village was very touristy, but I must say that it was quite interesting.

The square...

Bubbles!

Distances to the world, with the Giant Buddha at the background...

Po Lin Monastery

Next to Ngong Ping Village was Po Lin Monastery (寶蓮禪寺). The monastery was famous for the Giant Buddha, the world’s largest outdoor bronze statue. The Giant Buddha sat atop a hill. Surrounding the statue was several smaller statues in the shape of fairies (?) A stair of 268 steps led one to the complex. If you don’t feel like making the climb, you can still appreciate the view from below.

268 steps...

Fairies?

The Buddha & the flags...

Joss sticks...