Sunday, November 26, 2006
I just posted some pictures from my trip to Cambodia. These pictures are from Sihanoukville, a beach resort town located by the Gulf of Thailand.
Recently, I finished reading Michael Lewis' "Liar's Poker" (please see below), widely considered to be one of the best books about Wall Street in the 1980s. Not only is the book very well written, it also provides good educational value and I learnt quite a few things about the bond market. It was a good thing that Michael Lewis, who obviously did not fit into the investment bank environment, was able to work there for a few years. Not only because he was good at it, but also since his book provides an excellent testament from a very interesting era.
Recently, I finished reading Michael Lewis' "Liar's Poker" (please see below), widely considered to be one of the best books about Wall Street in the 1980s. Not only is the book very well written, it also provides good educational value and I learnt quite a few things about the bond market. It was a good thing that Michael Lewis, who obviously did not fit into the investment bank environment, was able to work there for a few years. Not only because he was good at it, but also since his book provides an excellent testament from a very interesting era.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Visiting New Zealand And Its Beautiful Cities Queenstown and Christchurch
These pages are not quite finished, but the pictures from my very recent New Zealand trip are now online.
These pages are not quite finished, but the pictures from my very recent New Zealand trip are now online.
Monday, November 06, 2006
There was a complete passenger riot on yesterday's Korean Air flight from Auckland to Seoul. Soon after the plane had landed in Seoul, some Korean grandmothers got up from their seats and started pulling bags out from the overhead compartments. While they were quickly stopped by the Korean stewardesses and sat back down, the grandmothers did not give up that easily. Before the plane had come to a complete stop, the grandmothers were once again standing in the aisle. This time, the protests from the stewardesses were ignored, and more people got up from their seats - some were even laughing at the stewardesses. Granted, the seat belt sign was turned off soon after, but this still was a good example of the cultural divide between Japan and South-Korea. In Japan, it is almost unthinkable that anyone would get up from their seats before the seatbelt sign is turned off.
While situations like this may give the impression that Koreans are less civilized than Japanese, it should be noted that the number of Koreans getting up from their seats was fairly small. In addition, these were mainly elderly Korean women that hardly can be considered representative of the Korean population as a whole.
Actually, it is quite disappointing that South-Korea and Japan are not better aligned than what is currently the case. Both countries are developed both economically and politically, and culturally there should be more issues that unite than divide. If Japan could show a more humble attitude to its tainted past, and South-Korea stops acting like the hurt little brother, then the combined strenght of the two countries can play an important counterweight to China.
On a completely separate note, I was amused to see a new fashion trend at Incheon Airport. I noticed several Korean couples dressed exactly alike (sort of like twins in the West), and this seemed extremely silly to me. Hopefully I get to visit Seoul again in the near future to check this out more closely.
Finally, with regard to Korean Air, on our 12 hour flight from Auckland-Seoul there was no soap in the bathrooms. In addition, the plane had yet to be equipped with Korean Air's new entertainment system (ie, no personal TVs), so it was all fairly ghetto. The flight to Tokyo was much better, however, and I finally got to watch Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
While situations like this may give the impression that Koreans are less civilized than Japanese, it should be noted that the number of Koreans getting up from their seats was fairly small. In addition, these were mainly elderly Korean women that hardly can be considered representative of the Korean population as a whole.
Actually, it is quite disappointing that South-Korea and Japan are not better aligned than what is currently the case. Both countries are developed both economically and politically, and culturally there should be more issues that unite than divide. If Japan could show a more humble attitude to its tainted past, and South-Korea stops acting like the hurt little brother, then the combined strenght of the two countries can play an important counterweight to China.
On a completely separate note, I was amused to see a new fashion trend at Incheon Airport. I noticed several Korean couples dressed exactly alike (sort of like twins in the West), and this seemed extremely silly to me. Hopefully I get to visit Seoul again in the near future to check this out more closely.
Finally, with regard to Korean Air, on our 12 hour flight from Auckland-Seoul there was no soap in the bathrooms. In addition, the plane had yet to be equipped with Korean Air's new entertainment system (ie, no personal TVs), so it was all fairly ghetto. The flight to Tokyo was much better, however, and I finally got to watch Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
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