Hello China 2011

Once again, I will be in China, in 2011.

List of things I do not want to do:

1. Visit sight-seeing sites, such as the great wall, forbidden palace, all these temples, the famous statues, some ancient cave, and the likes.

2. Pose with famous sight-seeing sites, such as all the ones above.

List of things I want to do:

1. Visit local parks, local shops, local stalls, local public places.

2. Shopping, bargaining, laugh when someone tries to rip me off, dividing the number on the calculator by 10+.

3. Take photos of my portrayal of life in China. How do the people make a living? How do people interact with each other? What are the people thinking? (What was she thinking??)

--I WISH TO HAVE MANY PHOTOS--

Other thoughts

I hope I have good internet access in China, and that blogger is not blocked.

November 9 - December 14

Thank you for following!

Coming soon.

Capitalism 2

When playing computer game Trevor Chan's Capitalism 2 (fully legit game, check it out here), back a few years ago, I used one simple strategy to blow my competitors away.

What is Capitalism 2

Capitalism 2 is a simulation of the activities of companies, supply chains, and the stock market. The aim of the game is to build the largest corporation in the world. I start off as the CEO of a small small company and must build my way up.

The strategy

After a few years into the game play, when I have setup farms, manufacturing plants and retail chains, I sell all the shares I have in my own company, and pocket the cash. Then I turn off my farms, manufacturing plants and retail chains, so that they become inactive and non-revenue-generating.

At that point in time, my company share price tumbles from $200/share to $20/share. I use the cash in my pocket to buyback all my shares to fully own my company, and still have much cash left over. Then I turn on my farms, manufacturing plants and retail chains, and my stock value soars right up once again.

Moral of story

Do you think there's any deception going on in the world's governments? Quite possibly.

I believe the US are borrowing like there's no tomorrow, because there will probably be no tomorrow, at least for the USD.

If I was the US government in a game of Trevor Chan's Capitalism 2, I would borrow an extremely massive amount of money, build up my economy, attract investors, then turn off my economy for a while, watch the value of the dollar plummet and then pay back my debts at a few cents in the dollar.

Wouldn't you do the same?

Seems like very hard economic conditions leading up to October 2011.

Using Some Imagination

One day, at some place, I imagined my body, to be 'ripped'. (Half way to shirt busting muscle flexes)

Dwelt on that for a little while. BUT, (Takes a lot of work + maintenance)

It did not make me happy, nor did it make me smile. (All the hard work for this?)

Therefore I shall not pursue.

The Ombudsman

A few days ago, I was hit with a massive text which said: "Please call 1300786987 urgently to avoid a temporary suspension of your services. Current months spend is 622.03. Thank you."

I called up, and found that I had used 300mb on mobile when the lady at the shop mixed up the sim card transfer process . She did not put me on Internet and as a result I have a $622.03 bill for the month (long story short).

So, I called up THREE, and told them my issue.

After a long conversation, I said: "Is there anybody who can help me, or I can speak to??"

Indian guy: "No, absolutely not. Vodafone and THREE are completely different services. I cannot help you, even if you speak to my supervisor, he will tell you the same."

I said: "Oh you can't help me.... Okay, I'm going to have to call the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, okay?"

Indian guy: "Oh... can you hold on, let me talk to my supervisor." (Indian guy talks with supervisor)
Indian guy: "I have spoken to my supervisor, and I confirm that we can offer you $150 credit off your bill."

I: "Nup no good."

Indian guy: "Let me talk to my supervisor." (Indian guy talks with supervisor)

Indian guy: "How about $200 discount off your bill?"
I: "No good."

Indian guy: "How about $300 discount off your bill?" (like I was trying to purchase my bill, $300 off!)

I: "Absolutely not." And I hung up.

- Called up the Telecommunications Ombudsman (www.tio.com.au)

- Lodged my dispute.

- Immediately notified THREE of the dispute (and probably charged them for it)

- They immediately disallowed THREE to charge my account, which was due the next day.

- THREE called back the next day, to waive the debt + give me free 2GB data per month.

Conclusion:

For any type of complaint within Australia, there is always a certain type of Ombudsman ready and willing to take your dispute.

There's all types of ombudsmen.

Water Ombudsman, Energy Ombudsman, Insurance Ombudsman, Airline Ombudsman, Police Ombudsman, you name it, you got it.

Disputes lodged with an Ombudsman, will usually be resolved faster with better outcome, because the longer and unhappier the dispute process is between you and the service provider you are unhappy with, the more the Ombudsman will charge that service provider. +, the Ombudsman is always a free service.

Indians Taking Over Melbourne

Has anyone ever felt like they are in INDIA while waiting for a train at Southern Cross Station? Or at Flinders St Station? Or even at Melbourne Central?

I have. And it feels great.

Check out this sound clip talking about Indian culture:
Guy Talks About What Indians Say When They Are Excited

I agree with him that Indian culture is great, will likely find myself in India in a few years time, to check it out for myself.

Elderly and Disabled

You see the signs on top of certain seats on trains that tell you to give your seats to the Elderly and/or Disabled. You happen to be sitting down on one of these seats next to the train door.

And then you see this guy, who looks kinda old, because he has white hair, but he kinda doesn't look that old, as in he looks like he wouldn't mind standing up for a 20 minute train ride.

You're not looking directly at him, but you can feel his eyes skim towards your direction a few times, because all the other Elderly and/or Disabled seats nearby all have elderly and/or disabled people sitting in them.

What do you do?

Do you:

(A) Stand up and offer the man a seat, and offend him for telling him that he's old? OR

(B) Remain seated and act like you didn't see the guy, and offend him by not letting him sit?

Pictures of the Time Frames

My mailbox, on a rainy day.

Perceived to be a Chinese driver.

During a game of Hide and Seek (!) =]

I wish Boaz was the dad, and I was Boaz.

Naomi and Grace interested in cicadas at a young age.

Camera definitely used much less while in Australia, but getting used more and more.