I love Singapore

I'm not out of my mind, I do love Singapore. I always have a great time in this city-state.





One of the reasons I love Singapore is because a pilates studio such as Sky Pilates can exist. Sky is trying to do for pilates what Pure Yoga has done for yoga. However, unlike yoga, the upfront investment in equipment is a lot higher, therefore class fees are higher, which means a more niche clientele than yoga. Sky is an extremely well-equiped, stylish and spacious pilates studio in the conveniently-located Liat Towers on Orchard Road. There's a room full of allegro machines for group classes, a curtained-off tower section, next to the reformer section with cadillac, barrel, chair as well as two gyrotonic machines. I met Teresa Woo, the studio owner, a few years back. She was working for a venture capital fund and getting her pilates instructor certification. Then she got married, got pregnant and started Sky Pilates in her last months of pregnancy. Teresa is really amazing. I know very few people who can juggle the birth of two babies at the same time -- an infant child and a brand-new business. I took a few classes with Ole during my stay and enjoyed them immensely.



I also love the fact that I can have a real brunch in Singapore. For me, a real brunches are not served in a five-star hotel; the atmosphere is all wrong. For some reason, a real brunch for me must be casual in a setting filled with sunshine and greenery, as well as a menu of staple breakfast foods (e.g. eggs any way you like them, sausages, bacon, hash browns, waffles, pancakes, salads, pastas, strawberries and Champagne) and great company. Hong Kong seems to be sorely lacking in such brunch places. I had Saturday brunch at P.S. Cafe (28B Harding Road; T: +65 6479 3343). The setting was perfect -- located in a pocket of seclusion off Dempsey Road, but still very close to Orchard Road/Botanical Garden area, the simple glass and brick building has one wall of glass that runs the full length of the building facing nothing but greenery. The cafe is opened by the same guys behind retail shop Blood Brothers. There's an emphasis on vintage chairs and lamps. The floor is rough, unfinished wooden planks. I had a delicious cheese and caramelized onion flan, followed by a banana chocolate cake. They have a very nice selection of teas.





For Sunday brunch, I went to graze (4 Rochester Park; T: +65 6775 9000) in a neighborhood of restaurants and bars in re-done colonial black-and-white bungalows near Holland Village. I stopped eating eggs benedict ever since I read about what Anthony Bourdain had to say about their preparation in Kitchen Confidential, but for some reason I decided to throw caution to the wind this Sunday and ordered myself an eggs marion (with smoked salmon and spinach instead of bacon). graze has a great garden and upstairs lounge bar, which is called mint. It's opened by the same woman who opened JIA in Hong Kong (and soon Shanghai and Krabi). It's a great place for people watching too. As GC pointed out, it seemed like everyone had given some thought to what they should wear to brunch.

Singapore 2: Scarlet Hotel

27 April -- Scarlet Hotel is on Erskine Road (a road that not too many taxi drivers are familiar with, but it's the next street over from the more widely-known Ann Siang Hill), within walking distance of New Majestic. Scarlet's design inspiration is lush bordello and makes me think of Jacques Garcia's hotels such as Hotel Costes and Hotel Bourg Tibourg. However, although the public areas are a bold scarlet, black, gold and crystal colour scheme, the rooms are a rich neutral tone.



Scarlet has been open for a while now. Service was as one would expect. It has 84 rooms and I booked online for a Executive double room at SGD200+++ (US$127/per night). The room was compact, but comfortable with desk, bed, tv, dvd player. The bathroom didn't meet the JR luxury hotel test though -- no bathtub. While there was no in-room wifi (there is wifi in the lobby and public areas), they did have free, in-room high-speed broadband access and supplied a cable long enough to allow you to move the laptop around the room.

Overall, I enjoyed my stay at Scarlet. It was comfortable and efficient -- speedy delivery of broadband cable, internet (no problems whatsoever connecting), laundry -- and drama-free. It's location is very convenient for shopping (there are a few nice shops just downstairs), eating and late-night drinks. Ann Siang Hill (a really cool shop is Asylum, which sells lots of art and design books and other knick-knacks) is the street behind, which leads to Club Street.

Singapore 1: New Majestic Hotel

26 April -- Arrived Singapore early morning after an overnight flight from Delhi, which is always a great respite from the chaos and madness that is Delhi airport. Got to New Majestic Hotel at around 8am. New Majestic's grand opening party is scheduled for next Friday, but they have been soft opened for at least 2 months now. It is the more luxe property for the owners of 1929.

The new hotel is located in Chinatown, within walking distance of lots of happening shops, restaurants and clubs along Tanjong Pagar, Club Street and Ann Siang Hill. It has been totally gutted and revamped the site of the old Majestic Hotel, and the only reference to the old hotel (aside from the name) is the exposed lobby ceiling. The rest of the lobby is a pristine white, which showcases a well-curated collection of 20th century chairs designed by modern masters as well as a pair of more quirky dentist chairs by the front desk. Also in the lobby is one of Cai Zhisong's Ode to the Motherland copperplate scultures (it is a male nude kneeling on one knee), which sold at this month's Sotheby's Chinese Contemporary Art in Hong Kong for HK$900,000. There is another piece by Cai in the hotel's contemporary Cantonese restaurant. All the rooms in the hotel have been designed by a selection of artists. The art consultant for the project was Asian Art Options. I had met Audrey Phng, one of the directors of AAO at a dinner last time I was in Singapore and met her again in Hong Kong when she was in town for the Sotheby's auctions. She is incredibly fun to be with and has a great eye in addition to being extremely knowledgable about art (not just Asian art). It was while looking through her site that I came across Justin Lee's work and was drawn to his works' strong graphic statement and kitschy sense of humour. So when she told me that Justin Lee is one of the 9 artists that worked on the rooms at New Majestic Hotel, I made sure to request his rooms for my one-night stay.

I booked my room by email to the hotel. Three categories of Justin Lee rooms were available. I opted for the Premier Garden for S$250+++(US$160/night). When I arrived, the front desk told me it was too early to check in and my room was not ready yet. However, they had a Justin Lee suite (normally S$500+++/US$316/night) that I could use until my rooms was ready, but would have to charge me an extra half day based on my current room rate. The loft suite (room 403) was beautifully done by Justin. There were two main paintings on the wall. Both use the paper-cut, double happiness motif-- one is of the Singapore flag with the Singapore skyline worked in and another is of a Samsui Woman decked in barrister robe and traditional headgear again using the double happiness motif. The two paintings face each other. Directly in front of the Samsui Woman are two bathtubs in the bathroom area, which opens into the living area (the two areas are separated by a plasma TV on a swivel stand). Directly in front of the flag painting in the desk and the sitting area with a barber chair. The bed is in the loft just above the sitting area.





The Premier Garden room (room 201), while much smaller, was still very comfortable. There was a desk hidden behind closet doors so as not to clutter the look of the room. The highlight, however, was the outdoor tub, a real luxury in any city hotel!



All the facilities and room of New Majestic have been well designed and executed. Everything is very high quality from the ploh featherbeds to Bose stereos and free in-room wifi access. There is a pool (not exactly a lap pool though, but still a nice feature) and the gym was being completed. My only complaint, and hopefully this will iron itself out in a couple months, is that the service level is a bit rough at the moment. For example, on returning from dinner, there were no staff at the front desk or in the lobby. The lobby was shuttered and it was difficult to find the entrance, so a staff on hand would have been helpful. It took 20 minutes and an additional phone call to get a requested pair of scissors and the staff don't address guests by their names either when picking up the phone or in person (in a 30-room hotel, there is no excuse for this).

Once the service improves, New Majestic will be a well-priced hotel offering one of the best and most unique hotel experiences in Singapore as well as other majore cities around the world. A lot of heart and soul has gone into the concept and design of the hotel, the service staff just needs to translate more of that passion into their service.

Udaipur 2: Cricket & Kengo Kuma; leadership & creativity

25 April -- Am writing this post poolside. Got some spare time before the group checks out of Devi Garh this morning. The 2-day stay went pretty much without hitches – roof terrace formal dinner, cricket match against hotel team, treasure hunt, pool party and of course meetings.

Ahhh, this is the life. Got Black Eyed Peas’ “Where is the Love” playing right now as a cool breeze blows. Am sitting under a white canopy, but still baking under the sun. Finally, I just might get a tan.

The highlight from this trip was watching the group of executives, most of whom had never played cricket, play against a team of locals who pretty much grew up playing the sport. It sounds so clichéd, but sport does really build bonds and team spirit. But only if you have a great team captain. I’m always fascinated to watch people lead. There are many different styes of leadership, but in my experience and observataion, a leader is only credible and effective when there is mutual respect among all players. I have worked with this particular group for 3 years now. From an outsider’s point of view, the group works and plays well together. As with all multi-national groups, there is a diverse mixture of cultural backgrounds, personalities and interests. It’s not easy to get all the individual elements to gel and work together, let alone enjoy playing with each other. That this happens is very much a credit to the individuals, but also to the leader; as the leader sets the tone and the expectations. As in sport, managing an all-star team is never easy. Each person must be given an opportunity or area to shine.

That's why it was interesting to watch the cricket match. R, the team captain had to coax, support and encourage his team of players, some enthusiastic, some not so (but it's interesting to watch how the not-so-keen become more involved during the game. I guess when you're put in a situation where you will either win or lose, most people strive to win.), with different levels of cricket skills. In the end, he said, what was most important was that every person got a chance to bat. Sometimes winning the game isn't everything. Which reminds me of the interesting after-dinner discussion the night before on how different cultures viewed negotiations -- which ones always strove for win-win or win-lose. And sometimes, it's not so transparent. Some cultures (Americans were mentioned) think they are striving for win-win, but may be perceived by others as only going for win-lose outcomes. My observation was that Chinese don't really care about whether the outcome is win or lose as long as everyone perceives that they have won (the face factor). But thinking back to Prisoner's Dilemma, it seems like human nature to look out for self interest even though it may not be in one's own best interest.

Speaking of leadership, I got some insight into what it takes to manage the creative process, which in some respects is even more difficult than managing a business process, because there is no absolute predictor or measure of success (profitability). I had a chance to sit-in on reknowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma’s talk on his work and creative process. His work is influenced by the aesthetic principles of Katsura Imperial Palace and architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright (minus the ego). He is innovative in working with unconventional building materials; for example, rice paper (Takayanagi Community Center), bamboo (Great (Bamboo) Wall at The Commune), shape-memory alloy (an installation for Krug Champagne). Kuma-san describes the aim of his buildings as “being able to disappear into the landscape”. And indeed they do. He recounted how one taxi driver, upon arriving at Kitakami Canal Museum said he couldn’t find the building. It is about architect that complements and respects the landscape rather than dominating it. In terms of process, because a lot of his work relies on finding new ways to work with materials, it involves a lot of collaboration and input from craftsmen. He recounted how local builders' first reaction to his idea for the house was that it was impossible. But eventually, with a lot of communication and persistence, Kuma-san was able to convince them that it was possible and persuade them to try. In the end, the project was successfully completed. But there were other instances where possibilities reveal themselves only after discussions with craftsmen more knowledgable about the material's properties.

Udaipur 1: Jet Airways delays, beautiful Devi Garh

23 April -- Got a bit of time to spare before cocktails start. Just finished checking set-up for cocktails and dinner; looks splendid. Tonight's theme is rose, so rose petals have been strewn everywhere. The setting at Devi Garh is simply stunning.

Woke up at 3:30am this morning (actually, didn't really sleep much since I was in the bar having drinks with the group till just after midnight and knew I had to wake up early). Got to the airport around 4:45am only to find out that flight to Udaipur would be delayed by 3 hours! So far, in my experience with Jet Airways domestic flights, they have a 100% late rate.

Once we got to Udaipur, everything was find. As always, the Devi Garh staff are very welcoming. The highlight of the day is a formal, sit-down dinner on the roof terrace with everyone dressed up in kurtas and kurtis (long tunics worn over trousers that taper at the bottom, women also get a scarf to accessorize the outfit). Should be a beautiful night under a clear, starry sky.

New Delhi 2: Three saga continues, The Manor, more shopping

Got a call from Three again this morning. They only got the cover sheet of my authorization letter fax, so have to re-fax. Finally got a call shortly thereafter from them telling me what the DHL airway bill no. for my sim card is. ETA in Singapore is Monday, in time for my Wednesday morning arrival. I will have to call them to activate it though.

Decided to walk around Janpath Market. On the way, I was approached by a young guy. "Watch out," he yelled, as I tried to cross the street. While we were waiting for cars to pass, he adds, "I'm a university student, just want to practice my English. Where are you going?" To check out Janpath market. "Oh, don't go there, you'll get lots of people hassling you. Why don't you go to Central." Sure, I'll check it out. Though, in the back of my mind, I thought it would be a time waster. I got into a tuk tuk and Mannu the driver asks, "Where are you from?" They all ask that. "Are you married?", "Do you have a boyfriend?". I get to Central and the shop is very well put-together and a pleasant shopping environment. However, I know it will be a total time waster. They sell carpets, pashmina shawls, jewellery and knick knacks, nothing that I'm looking for. A good-looking guy by the name of Sofi greets me and takes me down to the carpet room. "Have a seat," he says, motioning towards the leather sofa. He starts pulling out carpets. "I'll look, but I'm not interested in buying," I tell him. It's OK, he tells me and asks if I want anything to drink and offers Kashmir tea. The tea arrives and it's good, hints of cardamom and honey, "like you," he adds. What a salesman. He gives his pitch on how carpets are made, how long it takes, the craftsmanship etc., and it's a good pitch. But unfortunately, I'm not in the market for a carpet. He looks disappointed and then takes me up to look at pashminas. Still not interested. "It's my birthday. I can give you a special discount." Nope, thanks, but no thanks. As I'm about to get back into the tuk tuk, he runs out and says, "The card I gave you has my mobile number. My name is Sofi. Call me if you want to celebrate my birthday with me tonight." Thanks. But again, no thanks. Back in the tuk tuk, Mannu asks me what I'm doing tonight. Work, I tell him. "I'll be working."

I head back to Janpath Market, and I do get hassled by everyone -- shoes shiners (I was wearing sandals), people selling pipes, mother with child...I find what I need from several stalls and head back to the hotel. Next on the list was Salon de Ravi Bajaj (women's line) in Defence Colony. I found it in the ground floor of a residential compound. The designs highlighted beadwork and embroidery, but not in an OTT way. Good for more formal, glittery occasions, but not what I was looking for. Decided to look for this shop called Kaaya, an emporium of Indian designer fashions, in South Extension I, but the shop had moved. Was going to check out Haus Khas Village, but was getting a bit hungry by 2pm so headed to The Manor, a boutique hotel in residential Friend's Colony. The 10-suite hotel is Aman's Delhi outpost for guests who want/need to stopover until they get their own property up-and-running. It was very quiet when I arrived. There was a group of people in the private dining room in the restaurant, 77, but nobody else. Didn't see any guests in the lobby or lawn. The feel reminds me of Amansara -- very few rooms in a residential compound. The Manor is great if you don't want to be anywhere near the hustle and bustle of Delhi. The surroundings are peaceful and orderly. Decor is a bit Conran modern -- clean, simple, not likely to offend, but then again, not likely to excite either. Having said that, The Manor is the only hotel of this type in Delhi, which is interesting.

Wifi connection used: Imperial Hotel, IRp900/24 hours (Around US$20)

New Delhi 1: Three saga continues with some redemption, Imperial Hotel, Shopping

I woke up the next morning and first thing I did was to get a brand new phone. The concierge had a driver take me to a nearby tuck shop-like store, where I picked up a Nokia 1100, a super basic phone with an IRp1,000+ sim. I had to get my photo taken and give them a passport copy for the service application. They had me sit on a stool in the middle of the shop, which is just an aisle really, while a guy held a red sheet behind me and another guy took my polaroid. It only took 15 minutes to sort out and one of the guys in the shop dropped me back at the hotel.


Imperial Hotel bills itself as "India's Museum Hotel", because it was in the hotel that Jawaharlal Nehru and others discussed the founding of modern India. The hotel has the feel of a Raffles in Singapore, Peninsula in Hong Kong and Claridges in London, that old, British colonial feel. I'm staying in a Heritage Room (published rate is US$400/night, but online you can get rates as low as US$220 depending on availability) and its nice and spacious with king bed, sitting area, desk with wifi, large-screen plasma TV, dressing room and bathroom. My only complaint is that it doesn't meet the JR rule of luxury hotels -- separate walk-in shower and tub and double sink. Decor is simple colonial, a few prints of India in colonial times. Otherwise, not very inspiring. They have an interesting pillow menu, but I have yet to test it. I like the public spaces and there's a signature Imperial scent which is very welcoming and uplifting after a dusty day around Delhi's markets. It's a comfortable hotel and service is as one would expect of a historic, five-star property -- friendly staff, willing to accommodate, but not quite at the level of anticipating need.


Back to my Three saga. I called Three to have them forward my HK no. to the new Indian no since I couldn't do it online (the online forwarding is only for HK no.s). Of course, the woman had to put me on hold to check whether it could be done. Eventually, she got it done. I im-ed a friend to test it out. It worked and I was happy once again. The Nokia 1100, while basic, has a nice feel to it. It's been a while since I've had such a small and light phone with a monochrome display and does little else aside from make/receive calls and smses. I set the clock to local time (to avoid having to reset my watch), so I guess that's another useful function.

Since my HK no. was forwarded, I didn't really wasn't in urgent need of my HK sim card, so I decided not to bother FY with having to pick it up and sending it to me. Just as I thought all was sorted, another Three customer service rep called me. Mr Wong, handles Supreme accounts and he was very friendly and tried hard to please. He was calling to follow-up on my situation and asked if everything was taken care of. I told him I had gotten my HK no. forwarded and he was surprised that was the case. He told me they don't usually do that after a card has been lost and that it involved a HK$11.50/minute charge. He asked whether I was going to have my friend pick up my sim card. I told him I wasn't, because I didn't really want to bother a friend when not absolutely necessary and emphasised again that I thought it should be their job to take care of something like this. Well, after a few more phone calls over the course of the morning, Mr Wong told me that they would DHL my new sim to Singapore. I would need to send me my HKID copy with an authorization letter authorizing them to forward my HK no. to an Indian no. and acknowledging the charges as well as authorizing my friend EO in Singapore to take delivery of my sim. Fine, whatever. I was in a rush to meet Sanjay from Reebok who was going to supply the guy's cricket gear.

In the afternoon, I headed out for some shopping. First stop was Santushti Shopping Complex, lots of cute, little high-end boutiques (frequented by well-heeled Delhites and expat wives) run by Air Force Wives in a nice garden setting. Next, the taxi driver insisted that I should check out Padma Arts & Crafts, which was a total dud of a tourist trap. So I decided that I would dictate the next stop, which would be FabIndia in N Block Market, Greater Kailash I. But as soon as I got out of the cab, I headed into Ravi Bajaj, a rather chic menswear shop. I must admit, it was the "Le Cafe Terrace" sign that attracted me. And the illy cappucino I got while waiting for the my purchases of men's kurtas to be rung up proved to be a welcome respite from the watery coffee at breakfast. The guy's kurta's were not cheap, but very stylish. The Kasa Gelato kiosk across the street also served up a tempting array of flavours. I opted for coffee.

Lost phone: great SQ service, crappy Three service

Just arrived in New Delhi. Managed to lose my phone on the HKG-SIN leg of the flight. I have to say the SQ stewardesses and stewards were wonderful. They practically turned the plane upside down, ripping up seat cushions, to help me find my phone. They took down all my details just in case it turns up. I was looking really dejected while desperately trying to look up the Three customer service number online when three of the SQ staff walked by and gave me a few comforting words. I really appreciate that about SQ, and this is not the first time that their staff have been so attentive. This was the exact opposite experience I got from Three (my mobile service provider). I needed to call them to cancel my phone line and then courier a new sim card to my hotel in Delhi. It took me five calls and at least S$50 of call time to get through to them without being put on hold and then subsequently cut off. In the end, they could not send me the new sim card. I have no idea why other than the fact that they're not willing to pay courier charges, but I would have been more than happy to pay for it. In the end, they suggested I fax them my ID copy and an authorization letter authorizing a friend to pick up my sim card from one of their shops and have the friend courier the sim card to me. So what customer service are they providing?? As soon as I get back, I'm going to switch providers. Fortunately, Imperial concierge is going to help me get a new phone in the morning (they tell me a simple Nokia handset costs the same as renting one for a few days) and local sim card (to which I can forward my calls).

It's weird; I feel so insecure without a mobile phone, especially when travelling. It's like walking around with no cash or credit cards. I am so dependent on mobile communication. Anyway, time to catch a few winks. It's been such a long day alreaady.

Google Calendar, Goytisolo, Gotan Project, Ana Forrest

Got a 4-day weekend here in Hong Kong, but having my own business means that weekends and public holidays don't mean much. I spent the day working on LCB: Golf in Starbucks. Didn't get far, only as far as Q (working backwards). As usual, I got side-tracked by quite a few interesting and fun things:

Google Calendar -- What can I say? Google never ceases to amaze me by coming up with new ways to organize and integrate every aspect of my life. I spent a couple hours setting up my calendar. But the real power of Google Calendar won't be realised until all my family, friends, colleagues, work associates are on it. The power of sharing aside, it was really easy to set up. I got iCal to synch with gCal, and then iCal transfers it all to my iPod video. Check it out!



The Anti-Orientalist -- One of the things I miss most about being in Hong Kong is Sundays with The New York Times Magazine (and the rest of the paper). Instead, I get previews to articles on Wednesday and read this rather interesting article on the Spanish writer Juan Goytisolo. Got me intrigued enough to want to read his memoirs, but also got me thinking about our love of the "authentic" in cultures -- usually the more chaotic, colourful side of developing countries. On the one hand, as tourists, we want to experience that aspect of "local culture", but at the same time, economic development and globalization leads to homogenization of cultures. And it's unfair for those of us visiting from economically privileged countries to expect those in developing countries to cling to traditions for our desire to experience something different or novel, not to mention that it helps maintain our higher spending power in those countries. Take wet markets in Hong Kong for example. Wet markets are a breeding ground for viruses (such as Avian flu) and diseases. Yet, they are also what add colour to the city; the juxtaposition of the sleek, gleaming international financial center that is Central with the wet market that is "local" life (never mind that the younger generation now shops at supermarkets such asCity'Super, Wellcome, Park-N-Shop).
Gotan Project -- Been listening to their new album Lunático (you can download tracks from iTunes).


Great stuff, as usual. It's great music for transporting you to a different time and place -- think late night in a smoky bar in Paris' Bastille or tango hall in Buenos Aires. Speaking of tunes that invoke destinations, BL tipped me onto Panjabi MC (which he heard while watching Inside Man), think it would be great for the pool party in India.
Ana Forrest -- By chance, I got to see an amazing and inspiring demonstration by the yogi Ana Forrest (there are links to videos of a similar performance held recently at a conference in Boston on her website). It had been a while since my last yoga class. BL managed to drag me to an hour long Hot Flow class at Pure Yoga and the demostration was right after class. I had no idea who Forrest was, but wandered in out of curiosity. It was truly inspiring to see the amazing control she had over each part of her body. It made me realize the power of breath in focusing the mind and controlling the body. Breathing seems like such a simple task that we don't really think about it. But it only takes one yoga class to figure out how difficult it is to master and how much power is behind such a simple task. Now, if only I could breathe and chew each bite of my food 20 times...

American Express Cardholders Beware! They charged me HK$2,100 for what was supposed to be a standard HK$200 fee!!

I am one of these people that hardly ever checks my statements. It just so happened that I had to check the exchange rates charged for several overseas charges that I noticed a 2 March 2006 HK$2,100 charge labelled "Membership Rewards Transfer fee". This first time I saw the charge, I remember thinking it was kind of high, but that perhaps they charged according to the number of points redeemed. I made a mental note to check, but didn't have time and forgot about it. Today, as I was about to transfer more points, I suddenly remembered the high fee and decided to check how the fee is charged. Now, finding this is no easy task in itself. It took me some searching, but you will find the charging scheme on the following pages of their website:
1. Note no. 3 on the Programme Information page in your online account under the Membership Rewards section.
2. When you select Transfer points under the Membership Rewards section within your account, there is a link to their program Terms & Conditions, you will find the charges under section 9.4
3. When you actually fill in the Transfer Points form, right before you submit, under the fourth and last bullet point, right before they make you check the box that says "Yes, I have read and understood the above notice.", it reads: "Administration fee applies. Please refer to the Terms & Conditions". Why can't they just tell you what the fees are right there??

Turns out, the fee is: HK$100 to transfer 120,000 points or below to your preferred mileage program, HK$150 to transfer 120,001 points to 180,000 points and HK$200 to transfer 180,001 points or above. I am already wondering why they charge this transfer fee when they already charge me a HK$240 annual fee to be in the Membership Rewards Triple Plus program on top of the annual fee for the credit card, which I could not actually find what the annual fee was on the website (although it does mention supplementary card fees). Why do they make it so hard to find out what are all the fees they charge you?

So I finally figured out that they overcharged me HK$1,900. The questions that come to mind are:
1. How could this happen when they have an automated system? It's not like there was an extra "0" to the charge. And this is a standard charging scale.
2. Have AMEX overcharged me before on this fee or other fees?
3. Will AMEX overcharge me again?
4. How much have AMEX profitted from overcharging other unsuspecting cardmembers?

So I called up the customer service hotline (2277 2338). I explain the situation to her. She acknowledges that there has been an overcharge and tells me that the difference will be credited to my account. Full stop. End of story. I should be satisfied.

But I'm not satisfied. Because all of my questions above have not been answered. Customer loyalty is based on trust, and I have been a loyal AMEX cardmember for 14 years (since I was in university). But when that trust is broken, as it was in this case, I need reassurance that my trust is not misplaced and that a similar situation will not and cannot happen again. I did not get it from the customer service officer. And, to be honest, I did not expect her to be able to give it to me. So I asked her for the customer service manager or director's name and contact. What she gave me was the name of the Call Centre Manager, a certain Catherine Leung. My problem was not with the Call Centre, so I decided this was not the person I was going to contact. I went through most of AMEX HK's website and could not find the name of a manager in HK. All I found were various hotline numbers, AMEX bank and travel service addresses. By this time, I was feeling a bit frustrated. I went to google and proceeded to google various keyword search combinations of: American Express, Hong Kong, manager, director, managing director, marketing, credit card, etc. About 30-45 minutes later, I found "Anthony Lee, Chief Executive, American Express Hong Kong" in various press reports. So I've written to Mr Anthony Lee and I've addressed the letter to their Cityplaza Four address, which I found on their website, hoping it is the right address. Let's see if he can offer me the answers to the above four questions.

I think what's made me most angry and frustrated in this case is really the fact that "customer service" has been non-existant. Firstly, the call centre employees attitude is that the overcharge fee is simply a harmless, technical glitch and that by refunding the difference, problem is solved and I, the cardmember, should be satisfied. No harm done. There was no acknowledgement that this problem would be raised up to the right person to be fixed. How can a problem be fixed if you don't acknowledge there is a problem in the first place? And then there is the issue that I had to make an effort to look up the fees to actually figure out how much I had been overcharged. On top of that, I had to spend even more time to try and figure out how to bring my case up to the powers that be, those who should know about such problems and are responsible for fixing them.

This last point is actually not unique to AMEX. Other major corporations who claim to offer "customer service" oftentimes just pay lip service. This includes all the major telephone and internet service providers in Hong Kong, airlines, other credit cards and banks. The worst is when they charge you for it and don't deliver. I have so many incompetant AMEX Centurian (Black) card stories, so many dishonest netvigator sales stories. I was actually so angry with Hutchison and Wharf T&T "customer service" (the latter phone service provider switched my phone service without my knowing and before our contract with Hutchision expired, causing us to suffer thousands of "early cancellation" charges), that I wrote to Consumer Council. Consumer Council did nothing. In the meantime, I wasted many months of irrate telephone conversations, never once able to get a manager's name.

I am sick of wasting my time just to make sure I am not cheated by large corporations that get away with things time and time again simply because they make it so difficult for any disgruntled consumer to make a case. And the government stands by and turns a blind eye to all its taxpayers getting cheated day in and day out, doing absolutely nothing.

It's time to end this insanity. I urge everyone not to overlook these things, simply because it wastes your time. Kick up a fuss! We all deserve real service, the service that was promised, the service we signed up and pay for!

Make Poverty History One Trip at a Time

I had picked up the the Live8 concert DVDs at the airport in January, but only got a chance to go through them yesterday. I had them playing on background most of the day while I was in the office. Seeing the crowds of people getting together on that one day, 2 July 2005, to appeal to 8 world leaders to take a meaningful step towards eradicating world poverty by committing to cancel the debts of some of the world's poorest countries as well as providing AIDS medication and education to children. I wondered what's happened since then? So I clicked onto the one.org site (This is the US campaign site, part of the global effort. The global site is: whiteband.org and the UK site is makepovertyhistory.org. As campaign names go, I think my favourite is "Make Poverty History". It's a clear call to action.). It just so happens that they just launched the new "Click Spot" on MTV ((the spot can be seen on the site's homepage as well), just a few hours ago in fact. It's a simple, yet powerful ad. A celebrity snaps his or her fingers every three seconds to highlight the fact that another child has just died somewhere in the world of extreme poverty.

It was also interesting that my friend GS, who works in Kunming in China's Yunnan province for a UK-headquartered AIDS organization had wondered in his email to me: "I'm reading Laozi (in English) and wondering if his views on leadership can help the ego-centric NGOs in China." It got me thinking about leadership. We don't really need leadership when all we want is the status quo. We need leadership when we want to see things change, and the underlying assumption here is that they should change for the better. In my mind a leader must:
1. Have a clear vision of the outcome of change (i.e. eradicating poverty and AIDS deaths) and steps that need to be taken to accomplish this (i.e. cancel debt, provide free education, medication to those who cannot afford it)
2. Communicate clearly that vision and inspire people to take the necessary actions
3. Be humble enough to understand that there are many world views and many different interests at stake and see the issue from each person/party's perspective
4. Believe in the greatness within each person and not in his/her own individual greatness, because ultimately, if you convince people that they have the power to change the world, then they will change the world
5. Never give up. Always believe, always have passion and compassion.

Bono and Bill Gates are the two highest profile faces in this cause. But for each of them, there are thousands, even millions who are leaders in their own right and their work should be celebrated and supported. This is what inspired me to put together Goodwill. Every time a person travels elsewhere in the world is an opportunity to gain more understanding, an opportunity to reach out, an opportunity to creat change.




This was no more evident than on my visit to Kenya several years ago. I visited a school near Loisaba and a school in the Masai Mara. In the Masai Mara, which has benefitted from a lot more tourism than Loisaba, the school I visited was much more developed. There were even girls in the upper grades (even though they made up a small percentage of the class). The children received better medical attention, had better facilities, stayed in school longer. Tourists helped by bringing supplies, making donations after their visits and supporting tourism companies that created local employment and gave back to the community by building schools, providing fresh water to villages, providing medical attention. Of course, there is the issue that most of the owners of these lodges and camps and tour companies were foreigners (many Americans and British), which some lodges such as Loisaba address by helping the local community set up their own tourism operations (in their case, the Star Beds are operated by the local community). Real change can only happen when the poorest gain access to capital to empower them to realise their own dreams.

This is where microfinance comes in. It's not enough to educate the poor. They end up moving to urban centers seeking employment. Because supply of educated and skilled labour exceeds the rate of jobs created by the economy, false hope is created and there is a whole community of educated and disenchanted, disenfranchised people. There is nothing more dangerous or disruptive or wasteful to a society than a disenfranchised group of desperate youth. We should not teach people English just so they can look forward to serve American tourists at five-star resorts owned by multi-national companies. We should teach people English so that they can look forward to one day owning and operating their own bed & breakfast or even hotel chain, so that they can create websites to market their services to the global travel consumers.

America's strength is its ability to attract a talented pool of immigrants with the hope of citizenship, becoming American and living the American dream. For all of the US's inequities and imperfections, that dream still has a chance of becoming a reality for many. But any real chance to build stable democracies around the world has to be founded on creating economic opportunity for the people (not just those who govern and their cronies). This is where we as tourists can help change the world one person at a time -- each time we travel, we can ask someone how you can help the local community. Does the hotel we stay in do something great for the local community? Spread the word. Find out what kind of work grassroots organizations are doing and spread the word. Was the local guide or driver particularly helpful? Spread the word.

Informative links:
ashoka.org
gatesfoundation.org -- while I've never been a Microsoft fan, I do admire the work that the Gates' foundation does
schwabfound.org
skollfoundation.org
10-16 April 2006 Newsweek International Edition article on "Travelers Making a Difference"

Pandora's Box or The Perils of Google Video

I'm a bit late coming into this world of Google Video. When my friend GM sent me a link to this video at 5:23pm, little did I realize that I would be opening a whole new Pandora's Box by clicking onto it. Here's the video by Back Dormitory Boys, a couple of university students in China, that The Economist saw fit to devote print space to in its 6 April edition.



And just as I had gotten out of my procrastinating mood! Now, I've spent a little over an hour being entertained by rather silly video productions as well as interesting ones such as a landing at the now-defunct Kai Tak International Airport. To this day, it remains my most memorable approach and descent into an airport.



Anyway, I just find this all quite an amazing phenomenon. First of all, that people actually spend a good amount of their time to produce these videos and then people like me actually spend quite a bit of our time being entertained. Media companies need to take note.

Editor's Note added 19 November 2006: Of course, google.com just completed its acquisition of youtube.com, so expect a lot more exciting things in store in the online video space!

Publisher Economics -- Where's the Money? OR Rantings of a Procrastinating Editor

It's been a busy, hair-pulling kind of week. 15 April tax deadline is very near (Fortunately, living overseas, I get an extension, but my accountants are getting very impatient with me because my Hong Kong-registered businesses still haven't been audited yet. Yes, the IRS requires FULL disclosure and filing for foreign businesses where US citizens own more than 50% share. And then there are the bank account disclosure for all foreign bank accounts where a US citizen has signatory power. It's all just a lot of paperwork, generating lots of revenue for tax accountants! Lawyers, accountants, auditors -- they bleed a business dry!!). A 20-person executive retreat in India is 15 days away. I am so behind on the research for Golf, editing of Architecture (and here I am blogging because I'm procastinating yet again!) and not really sure how NL's coping with Romance. Of all the photos we've requested, we probably only had 40% come in. Release date is in 2 months' time!! We're still negotiating with the printer on costs. If we print more, unit cost comes down, but then we have to add on extra storage and separate delivery charges. Then we have to figure out how to deal with US deliveries and payment collection. The sales reps don't handle logistics, which makes sense, because they're in the business to sell, sell, sell! If we ship a batch over, we have to find someone to ship it to who will then help us store and fulfill orders. Of course, this costs money.

I often read about these million US dollar advances that authors get. I really wonder how these big publishers make any money. Of course, they manage. That's because they have economies of scale and can negotiate lower costs for such things as printing, distribution, fulfillment, marketing, publicity, sales, etc. and then you have to add publisher overheads (editors, management, designers etc.). After all of that, what's left for the author and profit to publisher?

Take our case:
Cover Price = US$18.95
Less 50% discount to Retailer = US$9.48 (They get this on credit as well!! One very large department store in Hong Kong has taken nearly 4 months and still they haven't paid, and that was supposedly on C.O.D. terms!! Meanwhile, we have already had to pay printers and whole host of other people first just to get the books done! )
Less 25% of net to Sales Reps & Manager = US$2.37
WHAT'S LEFT = US$7.10 has to go to storage, shipping, fulfillment, content providers, designers, printers, PR & marketing (like website design and hosting costs) BEFORE anything (if anything) is left for the editor (me) and publisher (my company).

No wonder one Thames & Hudson editor thought my initial proposal was utterly unrealistic. No wonder another big-name publisher publicist lamented to me that sometimes they have to pass on lots of great projects in favour of lesser projects simply because those projects are easier to push through the established sales & distribution channels of book store chains. When the margins are so thin, there's very little room for risk-taking.

Well, all that ranting just so I can make my sales pitch -- BUY FROM US ONLINE!! And now, I had better get on with the real work at hand; so it's back to golf...oops, actually it's time to meet AP for dinner at Bistro Manchu on Elgin Street for some yummy dumplings. She's in town from Singapore for the Sotheby's auctions, so hope to get her professional view on art market trends. Apparently, all the pieces on the block in the contemporary chinese art auction today went well above estimate!

Cool Destinations Update: U is for Udaipur

Photo: A view of Udaipur's City Palace on the boat ride to Lake Palace.

On a recent visit to the Lake Palace in Udaipur during a recce trip for a corporate client, the complacent front desk staff left me somewhat unimpressed. Although the hardware is every bit the stunning palace and I would still recommend it for people who want a memorable venue to mark an occasion -- imagine a marriage proposal at sunset on the roof terrace or after-dinner cocktails on their barge with firework overhead reflecting onto the still lake waters. Yet a stay there is not that tempting; as the clientele is mainly groups. For a property that has such a magical setting (it would make Disneyland jealous!) with well-appointed rooms and amazing lake views, it's a shame that it doesn't have the attentive, personalised service to match. Everyone there just seemed to be going through the motions, working by a formula, exhibiting little creativity. It's a shame really, because I can only imagine what a top rate luxury hotel mangement company could do for the place.

Phone Envy

I was having dinner at Xi Yan (which, by the way, is a great private kitchen!) on Saturday when my friend AW whipped out his latest acquisition with an envy-inducing grin. It was a dopod 838 (in the US, it's sold as the Cingular 8125). I have been lugging around an HP iPAQ 6365 for almost a year since I accidentally dropped my Treo into the loo (don't ask me how that happened). It is the most inelegant smartphone around, but it has saved my ass many a times. Take for instance the time I was stuck in Bangkok traffic in a taxi on New Year's Day when I get an urgent call from a client honeymooning in South Africa. He had missed the person with their domestic tickets, who was supposed to meet them in the arrivals hall and transfer them to the FedAir flight to Singita. What were they to do? I immediately got on GPRS (yes, connection in Bangkok is quite good!) and looked up the 24-hour emergency hotline for Singita, called them up and asked them to get in touch with my client. I then called client to also give them the emergency number. Crisis averted in a matter of 10-15 minutes and before I even got to my destination!

While the HP iPAQ hw6940 is already out here and costs under HK$5,000 (around US$640 without service plan), I want to switch to the dopod 838. It costs HK$5,830 (around US$750 without service plan), but it is just so much more compact that it actually looks like a regular phone. It has a decent screen and a slide-out keyboard with all the essentials (Quad Band GSM/GPRS/WiFi/Bluetooth among other things). The dopod 900 is just too big, although I do like its flip-top, swivel screen. It is billed as "the world's smallest notebook". While that may be true, it's not the most practical as a notebook. For that, I'd opt for the flybook, much more sexy, especially in red!

Smartphones have changed the way I work, allowing me much greater freedom to work anywhere, anytime. My office is no longer a physical address. Instead, I carry it with me wherever I go (I just have to remember to bring charger and the right adapter! Another gripe: Will someone please unify the world's electrical sockets and the plugs of charge cords for everything from digital cameras to laptops to mobile phones to iPods please??!!). I am now waiting for the day when free wifi connections will be prevalent enough or GPRS connections fast enough so that I can skype instead of pay exorbitant roaming charges on my mobile.