My Hong Kong Trip - Preview

Shot taken at Causeway Bay (銅鑼灣), Hong Kong...

For high-resolution pictures, please check out my Flickr...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kamera-otoko

Cameras for Sale

I am a shutterbug, but I don’t always understand the mindset of my fellow photographers…

This guy bought a new Canon camera in September 2011 (with 2-year warranty). Barely one month had passed, he was already selling this camera in a forum…

Another guy was selling his 3-year old camera. He described it as LIKE NEW. He had already taken 25,000 pictures with this camera. That is like 8,000 shots per year?

Demise of Steve Jobs, and Apple’s Magic

teve Jobs, the visionary founder of Apple, died on Oct 5, 2011. His death, together with the announcement of iPhone 4S, seem to signal the beginning of Apple’s decline.

No doubt, iPhone 4S is a nice phone. Nonetheless, having been delayed by a few months, people were expecting a major upgrade. It turns out that the new phone’s screen is still 3.5-inch wide; it doesn’t work on 4G LTE networks, and doesn’t support NFC (Near Field Communication).

One theory says that Apple did plan to launch iPhone 5. For some unknown reason, however, iPhone 5 could not come to market in time. Not wanting to miss holidays season, Apple was forced to launch a more modest iPhone 4S instead.

In fact, the combined market of Android phones has already eclipsed iPhone’s. Apple still leads in the tablet computer market with its iPad, but I doubt its dominance will last long. Without Steve Jobs, will Apple be the same again?

P/S Look out for Samsung’s curved Nexus Prime, scheduled to be announced on Oct 11.

The Third Sex

In my recent trip to Bangkok, I went to watch Calypso Cabaret in Asia Hotel.

As some of you already know, Calypso Cabaret is a show by transvestites/transgender. (Though there are male performers too.) The most famous transvestites’ shows, as I understand it, can be found in Pattaya. The show I watched wasn’t top class, but I was satisfied with it.

Transvestites are known as kathoey in Thai. But among English-speaking communities, they are called ‘ladyboys’.

Some people ask, “Why are there so many transvestites in Thailand?” Well, I guess there are many such people in other countries too. In fact, I have come across quite a few in Kuala Lumpur. It is just that in the Land of Smile, transvestites are more visible.

The next question is, “Why are they more invisible in Thailand?” I believe this has to do with the fact that majority of Thais are Buddhists. Buddhism, unlike some other religions, does not view transvestites as sinners.

More on Acupuncture

In my earlier post, I mentioned that I was learning acupuncture, and had been attending a course. The instructor told us that acupuncture was particularly effective in treating the following illness (read: possibly better than Western medicine):

• Asthma
• Bronchitis
• Irregular heartbeat
• Coronary heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Gastritis
• Facial paralysis
• Headache/migraine
• Stroke

So, if you have been plagued by such illness, it’s time to look for an acupuncturist.

Of course, acupuncture is no panacea. You still need to complement it with other forms of medication or therapy.

The King

No, this is not a post about Elvis Presley...

I had a short trip to Bangkok with my parents in August.

One night, I was walking by King Rama I Road. I wanted to cross the road to get to Siam Discovery Center. But as I was approaching the pedestrian overpass, I was stopped by a police. I knew what was going to happen, as I had similar experience before…

As I had expected, a limousine carrying royal family members sped by shortly. You got the idea: we lowly people can’t be above the monarch in any way.

But I wonder why Buddhist monks do not enjoy the same level of privilege…

If you have been to Thailand, I am sure you notice that portraits of the royal family are ubiquitous in the Land of Smile. You see them at road junctions, on the wall of buildings, and in calenders. The state propaganda machine constantly reminds the people how King Bhumibol has sacrificed for his subjects, therefore all Thais must love his majesty.

The ‘Yellow Shirts’ certainly love the royal family. They ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whom they believed had shown disrespect to the King. (Thaksin denied this accusation.)

Well, I can’t write too much here. You know, I am wary of Thailand’s notorious lèse majesté law…

Learning Acupuncture

I have been learning acupuncture lately. I attended a short course in a local university. The course was conducted by a lecturer from the Faculty of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

I know some of you will ask, “Isn’t it dangerous to prick a needle in the body?” Well, to be sure I am not a daredevil too. I do it very cautiously. In particular, so far I only choose ‘acupuncture points’ on my arms and legs, which are considerably less risky to apply the needle.

Here are a few points I have used:

• Hegu (合谷) – alleviates fever
• Zusanli (足三里) – relieves stomach discomfort
• Sanyinjiao (三陰交) – relieves stomach discomfort; also relieves menstrual pain
• Xingjian (行間) – refreshes tired eyes

The High Flying AirAsia (Stock)

On July 21, 2011, AirAsia’s stock closed at RM3.67 in KL Stock Exchange. That was an increase of 17 sen, or about 4.8%, over the previous day. The intra-day high was RM3.70. When I noticed the price hike, I thought, “Are there some good news for AirAsia?” Then, on BBC news portal, I learned that the budget airline had just announced a joint venture with All Nippon Airways (ANA). That says it all…

AirAsia has had a 5-star performance in KLSE of late. I started to track its price since last April. On April 11, it closed at RM2.57. In just a few months, the price has increased by more than 40%! Sadly, I missed the boat and only purchased the stocks at RM3.22.

The budget airline group is expanding aggressively. This year alone, AirAsia has signed deals with Airbus to purchase 300 jets. But my concern is whether it will have money to pay dividend, given that it reinvest so much of its revenue into buying new jets. In fact, the company only declared dividend once, in 2010. AirAsia’s Debt/Equity Ratio was above 2.0 as of 1Q 2011, which was somewhat high.

As a stockholder, I hope AirAsia will do well. But as a potential flyer, I also hope that rivals such as Firefly will give it a run for its money. Kinda funny, isn’t it?