p.風中奇緣

風中奇緣 The last part is here:   Show - 兰陵王

It is so excellent. Yellowskins from the big island are so good. Of all her inadequacies, she has developed a true democracy. This show is so well done that although its story line is weak but very enjoyable to watch. It allows poor bastards like me to escape from the rigours of life, even if it is just for a brief moment.

True democracy allows true creativity. I wish the big island well.

I guess some people don't mind having blood in their hands and still always able to sleep well at night. To this, I hope that karma will find its true way.

Now people from the larger island are busy fighting their evil empire. I wish them well too. Blood has already spit. I just hope that freedom would not exact too high a price.

Although I had been moaning for the loss of my medium project, as long as I have not lost capital, I still have a chance.

Tengri is a fair guy. He will look after those who are fair and hard-working.

A friend of mine suggested that instead of keeping toy chicken, I should keep this:

 

  She is definitely evil. An evil mind for business.

I am not sad. Just feel that life is easier if there is someone to share it with.

b.Japan In Recession Again

The last part is here:   Philosophy - The Highest Form of Thinking

Japan has fallen victim to the Keynesian scam 

Michael Pento, president of Pento Portfolio Strategies Japan saw its economy shrink at an alarming 6.8 percent annualized rate in the second quarter, proving its greatest national disaster, Abenomics, has failed and the Japanese economy has fallen victim to the scam called Keynesian economics. (Defined as the belief that a country can tax, spend, devalue and inflate its way to prosperity.)

Since the popping of the BOJ-induced bubble in 1989, Japan has been the most faithful adherent of Keynesian principals. At the onset of the crisis, they immediately began on their misguided path with large doses of deficit spending. Instead of allowing the economy to rid itself of bad investments and heal, they continued to prop-up failed business models — creating Zombie banks and an equally Zombie-like economy.

As one lost decade turned into two, in the year 2000, they coupled their fruitless spending efforts with massive amounts of money printing. And despite two decades of low growth, the nation stubbornly held on to the popular Keynesian excuse of "if only" … If only our stimulus was larger, if only we weakened our currency more, if only we kept interest rates lower for longer; economic nirvana would be achieved. Keynesians love to use this counterfactual argument because they believe it cannot be proven wrong — that is until now!

In 2012, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had a master plan to pull the world's third-biggest economy out of its stagnation. His plan was to deploy, in massive and unprecedented fashion, the strategies of central bank credit creation, currency destruction and debt accumulation. The Japanese doubled down on the great Keynesian experiment, as if Paul Krugman himself was running the economy, they placed the economy on Keynesian steroids. Now, we are beginning to see what an economy looks like when the Keynesian playbook is utilized to its fullest extent.

With a first-half economic contraction in the books, many economists are now warning that Japan is poised for yet another recession. Back In June, I warned the reported 6.1-percent GDP growth in the first quarter would prove to be temporary because businesses front-loaded capital spending in a move to avoid April's well-anticipated and substantial increase in the consumption tax from 5 percent to 8 percent. And because of the asinine belief that growth comes from inflation, Japan's lethargic economy — whose inactivity had previously been blamed on falling prices — slowed dramatically right after prices went up.

Household consumption plummeted at an annualized pace of 19.2 percent from the previous quarter, while private investment sank 9.7 percent. And because of the Japanese battle against deflation, real wages dropped 3.8 percent year on year in May. Those mismanaging the Japanese economy believe consumption will surge if they can achieve a substantial increase in the CPI. The misguided logic being the Japanese consumer will only spend if they are running in perpetual fear of rising prices.

One of the cornerstones of Abenomics was destroying your currency with the hopes of boosting exports. Ironically, last week the central bank warned over a worsening export and factory output picture. In fact, June showed the worst trade deficit ever in Japan, and a 57 percent rise in the trade deficit for the first half of the year.

And today with a near 250 percent debt-to-GDP ratio, it's difficult to argue Japan didn't engage in enough deficit spending. Over the past three years, interest rates on the JGB 10-year note went from 1.5 percent to 0.52 percent. Under its own brand of quantitative easing policy put in place last April, the Bank of Japan now buys 70 percent of all new government bonds issued in markets, as well as other more risky assets. With the JGB market on virtual life support courtesy of the BOJ, it is impossible to argue rates aren't low enough or that the BOJ hasn't monetized enough. They spent, they printed, they taxed; but the Japanese economy is out of gas, and the Keynesians who own this plan are now out of excuses.

The truth is Japan is a perfect example to the counterfactual argument that anemic U.S. growth is the result of a Keynesian plan that was launched half-heartedly.

The United States should heed Japan's economic woes as a warning sign, and a reason to change course while we still have a chance. With U.S. debt-to-GDP at 105 percent and household debt at over 80 percent, the aggregate amount of our nation's debt is at an all-time high. But unlike Japan we have the overwhelming privilege and responsibility of holding the world's reserve currency.

Obliging other nations to trade and hold U.S. dollars is not written anywhere. These nations have, for the time being, decided to maintain a holding that is equal to 50 percent of our publicly traded Treasury debt. Losing their confidence in our credit and currency would be devastating to our economy. Japan has no such worries about keeping foreign investors happy because they finance 90 percent of their debt internally.

We have become a country that habitually over-consumes and under-produces. Debt levels have skyrocketed while our demographic and labor force participation conditions are quickly approaching critical mass.

We have to abandon these failed Keynesian policies while there is still time. We must boost our employment-to-population ratio, deregulate the economy, simplify the tax code, balance the budget, cut expenditures, end the Federal Reserve's runaway printing press and allow the free market to set interest rates and asset prices. Only by doing this do we stand a chance of not falling further into Japan's stagflationary nightmare. But if we persist in following the Keynesian counterfactual, our fate will be worse than that of Japan, as the deluge of debt being dumped by our foreign creditors causes the dollar to be dethroned, interest rates to soar and inflation to skyrocket.

My Comment:
Japan recorded a Government Debt to GDP of 227.20 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2013. Government Debt To GDP in Japan averaged 118.66 Percent from 1980 until 2013, reaching an all time high of 227.20 Percent in 2013 and a record low of 50.60 Percent in 1980. 

Japan like it or not is not going to come out of this ruins. The coloured paper printing press would never stop. There is no discipline.

Before I continued ...

My BIG Apology
Recently I have engaged in a big head project. In the end, I got nothing going. Although I didn't lose any capital, I wasted very valuable time. I wasted other people's time. I lost a good 1 year worth of time. She reminded me that all things beautiful must be small. Small things are beautiful because they are absolutely manageable.

In such an inflationary environment, bubbles are everywhere. Therefore, I cannot engage in bubbly projects. I am facing uncles and aunties that have just sold their restaurants and lands. I cannot engage them head-on thinking that I have ample resource. But, no. I don't. They have far deeper pockets. They smile all the time. I lost in all 20-30 deals in the year. Fuck them! They outwitted me in every single turn. They can't read English and they can't speak English and yet, they outwitted me in English. What an insult! I am humbled by the experience.

Now, my acquaintance retold a story about how small things can be a beauty. Suddenly, I felt the correct answer. I have been wrong all this year. By going for tiny projects, I am a relatively big fish in a small pond. I am a big fish in their eyes. With that, I can call the shots. The smaller fishes will move aside whenever I am in town. Nice feeling for a change. That way, I can shift my weight around and they would avoid direct contact.

She is truly intelligent. Fuck! I feel age is catching me up good.

All this idea about having a big head project is to show-off to the Jones that I have arrived. But, big head projects always carry a price called big risk. Now I have decided that there is no need to show-off to the Jones. I am already home. I must be comfortable in my own skin. That characteristics of a fucken is still too ingrained in me. Just a fucking disgusting characteristics to have.

p.劣根性

The last part is here:   Red Sorghum Wine

From what I observed no matter how much education one gets, it would never change the 劣根性 of chinaman.

Why do I say so?

I noticed some students who were educated in the west; when they returned, they were amazingly eloquent and very smooth at getting to where they wanted to reach. Once they have reached those places, they became very arrogant and unfeeling towards other "lesser" beings' plights. What grow them such arrogance? God knows. Most of the early immigrants were labourers and menial workers. They all came from very humble beginnings, but, when the next generations came and stepped on their daddies' shoulders to reach new horizon, they totally forget that they were once from very humble beginnings. If not for their forebears' hard work, they wouldn't have reached what they have. Let alone, a rich meal on the plate.

This is not a plea for their change of superiority. The sight of them disgusts me totally.

But, one thing I truly enjoyed is that they like to buy very expensive dwellings to show their purchasing power. They all went into millions. Beautiful. They have to por lumpar all the way. The moment they stopped. Their income stopped. They would be dead. What a beautiful methodology. They all lived under constant stress and worry that they might be discovered as fake supporters of the white fucken regime, i.e., they must never be discovered as fakeys. LOL. So they would cry on national TV like our dear leader North Koreans. Even if they die their own father, die their own mother also not as sad as their dear leader illy dies.

Their commitment to the banks is so heavy that they have no choice but to fail.

Recessions or financial crises will come every 5 or 10 or 15 or 20 or 25 or 30 years. Each cycle more severe than the next. I love it deep deep because most of their loan periods are in the 30 years. If the 5-year cycle don't fuck you, the 10-year would. If the 10-year cycle don't fuck you, the 15-year would. If the 15-year cycle don't fuck you, the 20-year would. If the 20-year cycle don't fuck you, the 25-year would. If the 25-year cycle don't fuck you, the 30-year would. I am merely watching an extended serials.

Another thing I noticed - Anger. Some of them were so angry that I am not interested in joining their meals. They couldn't show off to me that they have arrived to places that were way better than mine. I was sad. I was just a mouse. I was a no-body. There was no need to compare. Yet, there were no true friendship. I am not a Jones. 劣根性?

My time to return is nigh. I would be burning away some of my candle to warm one or few people. I know I am just a poor fucker. But, I still have 40 years to go. If I finally managed to start this year, I just hope that I am not so late. I would never live my life in vain.

p.Hong Kong Protest 2014 - 苦中作乐

〈國情揭露〉

b.Every a Big Project falls

The last part is here:   Business Jinx

Sigh ... Sad, sad, sad ... One of my big projects is postponed indefinitely.

There is a damage hit and I am now licking my wound.

Keeping it in view lor. Painful.

Hope I can return to it fastest.

As Tengri is great, he will always open a small window for me. Love my Tengri deep deep.

The other small project of white rental property is also off. Can't trust the fuckers.

In white land, it is important to note than rental properties are not great assets. Only in Asian markets can one be more certain. The reason being that the white properties are normally made of paper. It is useless running them. It costs too much to maintain and pay taxes.

Working off the land is still the safest path for me. Love myself. In land, even if you don't have power or water, you can still depend on Tengri to supply the plants with water and sunshine. You only need to bring in the seeds and fertilizers. It is that simple. Without roads, no problem. The seeds are light. No power, no problem. Stay warm in town. The plants don't need warmth all the time. When it is time to grow, the plants will grow. You just need to own the land. Even planting trees is super lucrative. Ask any Malaysians, they will tell you. You can harvest teak in 7-8 years.

I am now in battle mode. In battle mode, I am not allowed to go into depression.

Even if I were to fall now, I don't really care. I build my own reality. A friend just told me that I am beginning to look like a scavenger. I asked really? She said in no uncertained term that I am looking more and more like her father. Every 5 years, changes to a smaller car and smaller house. Fuck her! She is so sharp.

b.Size of Houses

The last part is here:   Exploration - Town Planning

I just visited Malacca Jonker Walk. Inside there, there were many Peranakan houses. The houses were very long. Usually each house has at least 2 air wells. Two houses were linked back to back with a toilet separating them. I truly wondered how they can clear their shit during shit clearance. My estimate is that they are about 130 ft long and 25 ft wide. Their staircases are unique and rather decorative. At the top of the stairs, it was normally sealed by closing a hatch. In a few occasions, these houses are combined into 50 ft wide or even 100 ft wide.

I have a theory.

Each lot in the white land is usually 50 ft x 140 ft. It usually has a single dwelling house, built-up is usually 1,600 sf (one or two storey). Some have 2 lots side-by-side, i.e., 100 ft x 140 ft. So I guess the fucken definition of 15,000 sf as a good class bungalow is referring to these double lots.

When these single lots are divided into 2 x 25 ft x 140 ft. This becomes rather tiny. So they built them into linked houses. Peranakan houses fell into this class of dwelling.

It is extremely uncomfortable if the dwelling house is made up of 2 storeys. So it should be considered that a proper dwelling house must not have stairs.

When the double lots expand further into 200 ft x 140 ft. It is about slightly more than 1/2 acre in land size. I would consider this house as ordinary. A properly sized single-storey dwelling house can then be built.

I, on the other hand, am interesting in building - 四合院. I would like to emulate the great court of Trinity College, Cambridge.

The Great Court Run 
Great Court, with (from left to right) the dining hall, Master's Lodge, fountain, clock tower, chapel and Great Gate The Great Court Run is an attempt to run round the 400-yard perimeter of Great Court (approximately 367 m), in the 43 seconds of the clock striking twelve. Students traditionally attempt to complete the circuit on the day of the Matriculation Dinner. It is a rather difficult challenge: one needs to be a fine sprinter to achieve it, but it is by no means necessary to be of Olympic standard, despite assertions made in the press. 

It is widely believed that Sebastian Coe successfully completed the run when he beat Steve Cram in a charity race in October 1988. Sebastian Coe's time on 29 October 1988 was reported by Norris McWhirter to have been 45.52 seconds, but it was actually 46.0 seconds (confirmed by the video tape), while Cram's was 46.3 seconds. The clock on that day took 44.4 seconds (i.e. a "long" time, probably two days after the last winding) and the video film confirms that Coe was some 12 metres short of his finish line when the fateful final stroke occurred. The television commentators were more than a little disingenuous in suggesting that the dying sounds of the bell could be included in the striking time, thereby allowing Coe's run to be claimed as successful. 

One reason Olympic runners Cram and Coe found the challenge so tough is that they started at the middle of one side of the Court, thereby having to negotiate four right-angle turns. In the days when students started at the corner, only three turns were needed. 

Until the mid-1990s, the run was traditionally attempted by first-year students, at midnight following their Matriculation Dinner. Following a number of accidents to drunk undergraduates running on slippery cobbles, the college now organises a more formal Great Court Run, at 12 noon on the day of Matriculation Dinner: the challenge is only open to freshers, many of whom compete in fancy dress.

The lawn is about 2 acres in size. Very manageable.

A nice 四合院 has always been my dream.

b.Land - Another Worked Example

The last part is here:   Bank Lelong (Auction)

I had a very interesting conversation with Tiramisus Queen today. As mentioned before, she came to white land for a good 30 years. She now owns a nice little chain of stores and lives in a huge bungalow. She just bought 4 houses priced around $400k each last year, with down payments ranging from 20% to 35%. Her instalments are less than $1k monthly each but rented at $2.5k or more, giving her a net cashflow position of $1-$1.5k each each month all the time. Now she is intending to let go if needed at $500k or more to the right buyers. She already had the buyers. She said that with these positive cashflows, she can steam-roll for more.

A recent discussion with a blood relation yielded that she might go on doubling up, which will increase the risk much more. 

The return-on-investment (income over capital)  is $2.5k x 12 / $400k = 7.5% or 13.3 years to recover the full capital. Hehehe ... even my worst performing properties took only 8 years or less or 12.5% or more. The only difference I don't gear, hence, I have less flexibility in property types. Because I am so cheapo, my investments normally double in less than a year.

She was sad that at my age, I am still working on my primary businesses. Each of my businesses are uncertain and takes at least 10 years or more to fruit. It is too slow. She suggested instead why don't I be like her and join her to invest in properties in white land. She said it is easy and she trusts me. I smiled.

I am very happy for her.

Hehehe ... She didn't realise that for the better of 30 years she had slogged hard and quiet. She cried every single phone call she made to China. Now I felt that she needed to show to the world that she has indeed arrived. Well ... she did arrive. I am very happy for her.

My Comments (This is not meant to degrade her investment returns, but rather to debate the other side of the same coin):

• Gearing:   This is one very important lesson. In a booming market, all is well. But, once it fails, say 1986, 1997 or 2008, all must die. The rental will disappear. The fire sale by bank is 20% of its original value. Why I know, you asked? Well ... I was at the receiving end in a not-too-long-ago past.
• Margin:   Every time one trades, there are commissions and legal fees payable. That's why although I did made quite a killing in the stock-and-shares booming market, I lost much more on the way down (The house (brokerage) always wins).
• Buying New:   Almost all honkies, fuckies, mudlanders or chinamen love to buy new properties. The margin of error is very low indeed as compared to buying oldies. Only buying oldies can give a capital-return of 5 years or less.
• Bank Loan:   Banks are never our friend. They are vicious. As long as there are economic growth, notice they make record profits. How can a bank always make record profits from loans alone. These record profits must come from the loan repayments. Who? Us !!! How can we give record profits to the banks? If we give record profits to the banks, we must not be making record profits ourselves. It just can't. Some may argue unless we make record profits ourselves, else we can't give record profits to the banks. True. If we too make record profits, it must therefore comes from the tenants. If the tenants give us record profits, then they must not be making record profits themselves. What if the tenants make record profits too in order to give us, the landlords, record profits. It must then come from consumers. Somewhere somehow would not be making record profits in order that the others may make record profits. This is definitely not sustainable. Sad.
• Boom-and-bang:   Every boom must end with a bang and vice-versa.

Every investment strategy has its pros and cons. I, for one, am willing to fore-go super growth in portfolio with super safety in my porfolio. Very slow and steady as like a tortoise. A hare race is too much for my blood pressure and sleepless nights.

How about deploying a middle-of-the-road strategy? By gearing at 50% (i.e., loan from bank at 50% loan quantum)? No way, the recession bites normally at below 50%, the banks would force-sale at 20% of the original value. There is no escape. Better don't try.

b.Land - Rights

The last part is here:   Land - The Waterfall 

Each land has different rights. Learn to defeat each right.

Tenure
means you must get estate-in-fee-simple, i.e., freehold land. Leasehold is a joke and never fall for it no matter how cheap. You don't actually own the land but you have tenure in freehold. You are like a knight given control of land masses by the king and may collect taxes.

Surface rights 
are “every right in land other than mining rights.” It is quite normal for you when purchasing land to have surface rights. This is a powerful right.

Someone who owns surface rights to land owns not only the surface but also the air space above it (subject to the rights of others, such as airlines) and any sand, gravel, peat, clay or marl which can be excavated by surface operations.

However, surface rights do not include ownership of minerals. Someone who owns mineral rights to land may own one specific mineral, several specified minerals or all of the minerals (except gold and silver, which, with few exceptions, are the property of the country).

Mining rights
are “the right to minerals on, in, or under the land.” This right is normally not given to the land purchaser (90% of the land masses). You must learn to defeat this right.

Miners will try to stake the land by applying to the land office. Normally this right is granted to the miners for a fee per year. The fucking miner will dig here and there for minerals and the miner need not even give notice to the landowner for the activities. Most of the time, he don't even cover back the holes he drilled.

A mining claim cannot be staked out nor can prospecting be done on the part of the land if any of the following is done:

• house/residence/cottage/dwelling
• church 
• cemetery 
• public building 
• spring
• artificial reservoir
• dam or waterworks 
• outhouse 
• manufactory
• a garden, orchard, vineyard, nursery, plantation or pleasure ground or where crops can be damaged

The last exemption is the most important and the one used to defeat this mineral rights:

• Crop: Crop is given a broad interpretation and includes grass and hay fields. ‘Orchard’ can consist of several fruit trees on the land. You need at least 14 fruit trees to form an orchard.
• Vineyard: “Plots” that are managed in the usual agricultural sense for personal or commercial purposes.
• Nursery: “Nursery stock” are coniferous or hardwood seedlings, transplants, grafts, or trees propagated or grown in a nursery and with the roots attached, and includes cuttings with or without the roots attached. Nursery stock grown for sale as: 1. any place where fruit trees, fruit stock, or ornamental plants are propagated for sale; 2. a place where plants other than herbaceous plants are grown, for the purpose of marketing. 3 Plantation: A woodlot.
• Pleasure Ground: Grounds for recreation, including summer resort locations. 
• Waterworks: Any public, commercial or industrial works for the collection, production, treatment, storage, supply, and distribution of water or any part of any such waterworks.
• Waterworks system: Any system of plants, wells, structures, equipment, pipes, apparatus or other things for the obtaining, treating, purifying, disinfecting, distributing or supplying of water intended to be used for human consumption or in swimming pools and, without limitation, includes aqueducts , cisterns, culverts, cuts, flumes, m a ins, pumps, reservoirs, tanks, engines, and machinery used in connection with the system.

That is, start improving the land as soon as you have connected or not power into the land. The best is to plant hardwood seedlings. It cost only a couple of thousands of dollars to start and finish.

Timber rights
reserved means that all the timber (trees) standing on the property are not included with the property. These trees are reserved to the government- or to an individual. This includes all tree species except Pine trees.

Although the government owns the trees they do require the permission of the property owner to harvest those trees. If the property owner wishes to harvest the trees on the parcel, the owner must call the government. A stumpage fee is owed to the government when harvested. When timber rights are included, the property owner owns the trees- except the Pine- unless the deed states, “all pine rights are included”. Pine trees are reserved to the government- meaning that all Pine trees standing on the land are owned by the government. The property owner does not own these trees. To harvest Pine trees you must contact the government. The Pine rights can be purchased from the Government.

This right is not too biggie although timber rights should always be alienated.

My Comment

It is alright to buy land only with the surface rights. But, you must defeat the other rights immediately by doing something to it. Normally a simple improvement to the land would allow you to have the cake and eat it. But, if you are lazy, you are waiting to be fully defeated. A lazy guy has no place in town.

If ever possible, I would fully establish an alpaca farm on it. An alpaca farm is not very monied in nature but yield enough for full-time workers. You can then alienate a small part of the land to conduct high money items such as ginseng, truffles, fox, deer velvets or wine. 

The song is here:    白狐 (正式版) - 陳瑞

我是一隻 愛了千年的狐
千年愛戀 千年孤獨
長夜裡你可知 我的紅妝為誰補

紅塵中你可知 我的秀髮為誰梳

我是一隻守候千年的狐
千年守候 千年無助
情到深處 看我用美麗為你起舞
愛到痛時 聽我用歌聲為你傾訴

寒窗苦讀　你我海誓山盟銘心刻骨
金榜花燭　卻是天涯漫漫陌路殊途

能不能讓我為愛哭一哭
我還是千百年前愛你的白狐
多少春去 春來 朝朝暮暮
生生世世都是你的狐

能不能讓我為愛哭一哭

我還是千百年來不變的白狐
多少春去 春來 朝朝暮暮
來生來世還做你的狐

我是一隻守候千年的狐
千年守候 千年無助　
情到深處 看我用美麗為你起舞　
愛到痛時 聽我用歌聲為你傾訴

寒窗苦讀 你我海誓山盟銘心刻骨
金榜花燭 卻是天涯漫漫陌路殊途

能不能讓我為愛哭一哭
我還是千百年前愛你的白狐
多少春去 春來 朝朝暮暮
生生世世都是你的狐

能不能讓我為愛哭一哭
我還是千百年來不變的白狐

多少春去 春來 朝朝暮暮
來生來世還做你的狐

多少春去 春來 朝朝暮暮
來生來世還做你的狐

來生來世還做你的狐

Let's enjoy the song ...

(Another very quiet night for me ... It is so difficult to grind the nose alone) 

b.Contract - Roughing In

The last part is here:   Contract - The Art of Bargaining

I thought I am the yellowskin smart-ass. I am dead wrong. There are indeed people who go beyond logic and reason.

This person I know brought the art of bargaining to god level. He got 20 vehicles all in working conditions for FREE, while I paid thousands of dollars for just one. He bought 8 freehold housed properties for a total of a couple of thousands of dollars just few years back, while I paid several tens of times for just one. He's now my fucking neighbour, beside me. He paid $20 per full door (new) while I paid $300 per pop and still thought I got a devil's bargain. He paid $200 for 300 pieces of lumber, while I paid $5 per piece = $1,500. WTF! I really must remove my stench from that fucken little island. My lenses are now tinted by the high prices.

So being humble is important to learn from these great artistes. He is no con-man. He's deadly friendly and sincere in his dealings.

Now, because of his help, I managed to rent rooms while I travel for $200 per room per month with full speed internet, heating, cooking and washing.

Now the white agent has been touting me to do my passion business VI - rent-to-own. She said there are millions of renters waiting for my suggestion.

With this neighbour's help, I am sure this passion business vi will fruit.

There are earth-worms and there are more earth-worms. Seek them out. All things shall be given unto thee ... (for free)

b.Passion Business V - Land Preparation

The last part is here:   Passion Business V - Alpaca

A friend has sounded her support for the business-type. She felt that alpaca is a rare find and should be encouraged. She also mentioned that over time, the fleece market would be established. One thing she didn't suggest is the alpaca leather market. She is not a killer so maybe she missed this point. This is going to be very exciting for me too.

Next year, I would alienate land to accommodate this business-type. As my partner-in-crime had said this year is coming to an end and we probably have to look at next year to plan more things.

Below are some good stuff:

Thinking of raising alpacas? Not sure what it is going to cost, and the amount of work involved? Have you considered a commercial farm? 

We have one of the largest commercial alpaca farms in town. (possibly the only?) With our extremely high breeding standards, we have grown an incredible source for everything alpaca. 

What is a commercial alpaca farm? Basically all this means is we don't bother registering. Just like the yorkie puppy I bought a while back... I didn't care if he had a paper I'd probably misplace it anyway's. I just wanted a puppy for my daughter. By saving thousands on not registering we are able to produce fiber and sell for less. Our prices for our products as well as for our alpacas are much lower due to our business and lack of expenses we incur. Commercial alpaca farming is different from the alpaca farms who breed registered stock for the purpose of selling their registered alpacas at a premium price. 

The main difference is that we don't register the alpacas. It was costing us 3-4 thousand per year just to keep up with the registration of the offspring each year... with no return! The papers sat in a filing cabinet and collected dust. Years ago we got into a really bad deal with a farm in out-country. They were going to sell our animals for us and as they sold they would send the money and we would transfer the papers to the new owners. At that time there was no one interested in un-papered animals so holding the papers until payment was made was something lots of farms felt comfortable with. Unfortunately this particular farm was selling them and promising that the papers "were in the mail" meanwhile we were never notified that the sale had happened so both of us were left in the dark. The registry didn't do anything to help us with the enormous ordeal we were in and that really turned us off to the registry. There was NO point what so ever to having papers! So we haven't registered for years and I couldn't be happier.. I HATED doing the paperwork.. and Dad hated paying the bills :-) Of course we aren't able to sell breeding registered stock for premium dollars any longer.. which didn't make a difference cause we hadn't sold an alpaca for premium dollars in over 2 years anyway's. In fact we made more money selling cheap without papers to those who were interested in the animal for the fiber. 

Feeding We started off over a decade ago feeding what we were told to feed.. corn, oats, pellets and hay. After a few years of that we switched over to just pellets and then eventually stopped that as well. Grass and Hay is ALL they need to eat.. we haven't supplemented with anything else for over 5 years and we have a very happy healthy heard. It is a waste of money and unnatural to feed anything but hay or grass. We have saved thousands and reduced chore time.. and again our alpacas are very healthy! 

Injections There are some farms that give MONTHLY injections! We have proven that this is absolutely unnecessary, and probably not even good for them! We give 8-way, vitamins and ivomec (for worms and mites) in the Fall after a few hard frosts. Some of the cria need extra shots of ivomec throughout the Winter because they seem to be easily targeted by mites. In some areas selenium may be needed. 

Meat Alpaca meat is one of the healthiest meats available. It is very low in cholesterol and calories and high in protein. It is comparable to a very lean beef. As alpacas grow older their fiber becomes course and short. The animals that are no longer viable for the production of high quality fleece are used to provide a very healthy, grass fed, organic meat. (But only if they are fed grass and not given monthly injections!) This is a very sad part of any viable farm whether it be chickens, pigs, cows ... or alpacas. Many alpaca breeders frown upon eating alpaca which is something that we don't understand at all. 

Breeding When choosing our herdsires the main thing we consider is the fiber quality. Not who his great-gand-sire is.. or if he has one paper or dual registration.. NONE of that matters to us as a commercial farm. Obviously there are other important factors as well.. If they have undesirable hereditary traits like buck teeth, fast growing toe nails or a crooked tail or even a bad personality. Some males can be aggressive and that is something we won't breed into our herd no matter how fabulous his fiber is. When we started out we hand bred like most alpaca breeders still do now... we have found a MUCH better way.. the natural way! First I'll explain to you what "hand-breeding" means.. You gather up the herd and separate the 1 female and the 1 male and put them in a small pen. Then you let them do their thing.. which usually takes about 15 minutes. Then you separate them and after 10 days or so you do it again to check if she caught. If the dam is open still she will lay down and allow the male to breed her. If she is bred she will spit, kick and raise a huge fuss... sometimes they will raise a fuss just because they want to.. and this is why its so tricky. You should test them a couple times to be sure, otherwise you will go an entire season before trying again. This is a lot of work when you have as many animals as we do and would keep us really busy the entire breeding season. 

Our way.. pasture breeding. We decide on a herdsire and put him in with the herd of females.. and let them be! They know better than we do when they are ready and will do their thing when they want. Many times the breeding's happen in the middle of the night. As far as line breeding goes, we have had this happen many times.. some on purpose to try (my dad grew up raising cattle and they line breed a lot) and some on accident (we had one year where our fences were in need of some major maintenance!) .. and the result.. was... wait for it!.. an ALPACA!! Lol No 6 legged, two headed creatures, just normal alpacas. The one thing we noticed though is if there is for instance our old herdsire Cuzco would sometimes throw pintos (when the blanket fiber is one color- usually dark brown and the rest of the animal is white) and when we line bred his line we would end up with more of those.. or Valentino was a smaller built animal and all his line-bred offspring were smaller than average. We are at the point now that we have so many different bloodlines and a crew of amazing herdsires that we don't have to worry about line breeding. However if you don't have the luxury of choosing a new male every year then the best thing is to have two separate pastures (or more) and split up the girls according to who you want bred to who and then have two males.. one in each pasture. Alpacas are pregnant for almost an entire year. 11 - 11.5 months. We find when pasture breeding they basically have a baby almost exactly a year apart. So they usually have their baby, and within 10 days to 2 weeks they are ready to be bred again, so the following year they would have their baby around the same time the last baby was born. I actually find it more accurate now to predict when they are going to deliver than when we used to hand breed and had an actual bred date and due date. Our birth rate is really high.. usually between 87-98 % having babies each year. We used to have babies from Mid May all the way to September, but we shortened up the breeding period and now we put the herdsires in May 15 and they are taken out July 15th. Oh and one more thing to mention.. our herdsire this year bred 65 females in 2.5 months! We find that 10 days before the end of the breeding period if we switch him out and put a new male in we will find a few go down for him. I guess they are just like people some men just won't go for some girls no matter what! 

Vet Bills The last time we spoke with a vet about anything is when our beloved Zen got ill and passed away :-( Other than that we haven't had a vet bill in years! We have administered penicillin on our own when needed. If someone is showing any signs of infection we give them a shot and watch for a few days.. if they need another shot we give it to them and most of the time that's all it takes. Alpacas are very hardy animals and very rarely get sick. If they are fed properly and have access to fresh water at all times, get sufficient exercise and aren't under any undue stress there isn't a whole lot to worry about. 

Day to Day Chores Alpacas are the EASIEST livestock in the world to care for... well I guess I shouldn't speak for every alpaca breeder, because if you hand breed, register, give monthly shots and weigh each animal each day it would be incredibly time consuming. But the way we do it.. it is pretty easy. In the summer months, they graze, drink water, play around and sleep. Well.. I guess that's not all they do.. they come into the yard to mow our grass each night and will leave a bucket of "fertilizer" for my dad to pick up! LOL Their manure makes AWESOME fertilizer, my Opa swore that was why his garden was always so good! So other than checking them a couple times a day we don't have "chores" in the summer time, if we wanted to take off for a week we totally could. In the Fall and Winter we set up a big square bale of hay in the feeder and that lasts about a week. 

The Spring is the funnest, most exciting time, with all the new babies arriving and shearing. Honestly.. Kayla's chickens, bunnies, cat and dog are more work than the 300 alpacas! Marketing on the other hand takes lots of time. making products, photographing, listing on facebook, and website... but its all work I really enjoy. This is my dream job and wouldn't give it up for anything!

There are approximately 3.5 million Alpacas in the world today. The largest population of these animals - 3 million - lives in Peru at 10,000 feet above sea level. With regards to the other Andean countries, reports indicate that Bolivia has approximately 500,000 Alpacas while Chile and Argentina have a bit over 50,000 Alpacas between them.

The Alpacas tolerate harsh climatic conditions that include temperature variations of more than forty degrees in a single day. Alpacas have a high resistance and can go without food or water for days.

So almost all alpacas are stucked in Peru and south America. It would be great opportunity for other countries to have a go at these nice and exotic animals. If all farm things are prepared, I hope to buy these animals at $50 a pop. Transportation may cost more. LOL. I might consider leather too. Forget about pure breeding. A pure waste of time.

b.Exploration - Town Planning (II)

The last part is here:   Exploration - Town Planning

Question:   How to survive a small town?

The internet is your friend. Internet has transcended all dimensions. In the past, magazines are the only sources of selling. You get very thick magazines with plenty of goodies in between the pages. Magazine shopping was the order of the day. Due to distances, it is way easier to find what you need amongst the pages. Now, with the internet, everything's changed. The internet is not just a catalogue, but it can react back. It can give advice, reply to questions and provide bargaining ability.

In that fucken little island, the catalogue marts are everywhere. Gals embrace the internet way faster than guys. They are now shopping and getting their stocks from the weekly snail-mails. The national post is a cheap way to deliver things. The superstores are now fucked. It is only a matter of time that they will give way to smaller shops.

So start an internet shop and start making things that are demanded. Deliver them using the national post. With a bit of patience, you will get somewhere. The best way to gain attention is to blog. Do controversial blog. Get notice. The approach of your blog must not be in the same style as this blog. This blog aims to kill traffic, not encourage.

After about 10 years, you are well on the way to some profit. Of course, you can do the same for all other town / city types. But, your game is never to get by. Your aim is to get to know the real pulse of the farm land. The only way is to be very close to the very people that play the games. For example, some of the small town listings are not on the internet. You thought you must be kidding me? Yes. It is true. Not all listings are on the internet. Why? Because the owner wanted only to be known only within the local list. Funny. Stupid. But, true. It is very interesting indeed. If you look closer, these unlisted listings are so cheap that you wonder how to not be too eager.

Just received my tax bill for one of the land, it was valued at 33% of my purchase price, i.e., I bought at 3 times the actual valuation of the land. That means with my money, the previous owner can now look to buy 3 pieces of similar sized land and restart the sucker cycle to trap more of these fat-cat yellowskins. See how stupid I was. Well, I was never wiser as I would never receive any tax information until I actual own some of them. Not all my purchases are wrong. Some I paid only 10-20% of the land valuations. So, I win some, I lose some. The whites are never stupid. Overall, I won quite big. That's good enough for me. Further, I am not selling any of the purchases, in time, the valuations will catch up.

Learn to play some online interactive games. You would soon realize that you lose most of the online games. You simply can't win big. The cunning birds out there are so many. Many of them were intentionally under-ranked. So if you game with them, they will whip your ass clean. None of them are true-ful to their true ranks. They under-rank to whip you. So, there is no honesty in the internet. You learn to survive. In fact, after a while, your rank stops improving. As your game improves, but your rank stayed. You slowly, like them, become rather under-ranked. Subsequently, like any other cunning players on the internet, any player that plays with you got their ass whipped. You start to collect simple points and goodies, but your rank never ever improve. There are still others who will create multiple nicks to be truly under-ranked. Never mind the game, it is alright to lose, by losing the games, you gain in experience and game skills. So never use anger to determine your life.

b.Exploration - Town Planning

The last part is here:   Philosophy - The highest form of Thinking 

I used to know a friend. She was into town planning. Her town planning skill was so good that she was perpetually employed by the town planners from that fucken little island.

During my engagement with her, I didn't bother to ask her anything about town planning. What a waste? I will ask her when I next go to meet her.

The white land ultra-grand chieftain just told me yesterday that my application to convert my farm to residential use is approved. I am now allowed to build 980 multi-storey buildings on that one site. Fuck ... I am finally allowed to build that fucking forbidden city. But, I shall resist. White crane just told me that it would have been better to just build my botanic garden first, then use the indian land i just gotten for my forbidden city and tiananmen together. Her father, grey hawk said I better don't play with him. The promise was to leave the indian land untouched for 10 years when the willows are being prepared. With the hot spring coming my way, white crane said, "You must follow the sayings of the stars. Do not succumb to one's poor fancy." Fuck them ... All noise, no action.

Town Planning

Town planning is very important. Understand town planning, all things will be put in place. I will build the concept of town planning in the reverse. Only then, will you understand the concept of town planning completely. I will only deal with freehold land.

Farm
In the beginning, there are only forested land. So the chieftains gave free land to the locals to convert to farm land. They would do so by cultivating the forests into farm land. Some are so god-damn far. It is really a true challenge to would-be farmers. No power, no water, no road, no flat land, i.e., no "三通一平" （通水、通电、通路、平整土地）. The grand chieftains then try to build train tracks all over the place (I will use West Malaysia as an example as it is easier to understand, West Malaysia is organized linearly). If power option exist, internet connectivity is not an issue.

Small Town (15 - 25 km apart)
No farmers can tahan a solitary life-style. They need to hundle together to get some form of social interactions and some services. So at every 10 -15 km radius, there would be a small town developed. In the small town, they will have postal services (snail mails are not sent to the farm itself, the farmer needs to get a postbox at the small town to receive snail mails.) The small town will have "七通一平"（通水、排水、通电、通路、通讯、通暖气、通天燃气或煤气、平整土地）. Shops are rare, but they do have churches. Internet is not an issue.

Medium Town (30 - 50 km)
The medium town is born out of tertiary needs. The medium town will have banks, auto repair shops, restaurants, motels, insurance companies, real estate agents, schools, co-ops and most conveniences.

Major Town (100 - 120 km, e.g., Muar, Yong Peng, Kluang)
The major town has almost every thing, including some government services. It might even have hyper-marts or cinemas.

City (150 - 200 km apart, e.g., Segamat, Seremban, Malacca, Ipoh)
The city has almost every thing, including all government services. It will have adult entertainment.

Capital City (250 - 300 km apart, e.g., Kalau Lumpur, Penang, Johore Baharu, Kuantan)
Some capital cities are even bigger than the Capital itself. It will have a regional airport.

Investment Opportunity

If you are not rich, start a least-risk option. Buy something at the small town level. The property prices are super reasonable. Save enough for a typical property and then lie-in-wait. Wait for that desperate owner who just died a closed relation. He will throw out like a used tampon. Eat it up and do a bit of repair. Rent it out if you like or use it for your small-time business. You will definitely be able to make a simple living. If your kids are in schooling age, then you have no choice but to fight at the medium town level. The property price level is higher, but you have a double-barrel income stream.

After you have played this game. You are now stronger. Play with the farms then. They are more pricey but way more fun. Don't buy anything that has buildings on them. Build your own buildings.

b.Resource - Planning

The last part is here:   Land - The Waterfall

In yellowskin's land, the land are classified in the following versions:
"三通一平" （通水、通电、通路、平整土地）、
"五通一平" （通水、通电、通路、通气、通讯、平整土地）、
"七通一平"（通水、排水、通电、通路、通讯、通暖气、通天燃气或煤气、平整土地）

Water 通水
If you have a stream or lake or waterfall within your compound, you are free to suck these water for your own use. But, the surface water is normally not as clean. You will probably need to filter and soften-treat it. Sometimes, the water is salted too. Digging a well is a much better choice for a water resource. The underground water is a lot cleaner and requires less filtration and treatment. Digging wells interestingly is not as complicated an affair. You just need to get a few quotes and normally, they are relatively cheap to do. Hence, if you buy a piece of land that has no ready water resource, it is never a serious deal-breaker.

The bare land cost after accounting for water well digging is still way cheaper than those land that already have wells or town water and a fairly good chance you don't even need to pay for its use, i.e., free water. If you are in luck, you might can even hope for a hot spring in your area.

Power 通电
This requirement might be a deal-breaker if you seriously want to stay in it. One possibly option is to stay nearby in a small town and travel daily to the land for your needs. Most applications such as digging or working can be solved using diesel tanks. Without power, the lifestyle is greatly limited. Owners exact very high price for this requirement. The land cost without power and land cost with power on its curb side is almost double or triple.

Some yellowskins solved this requirement by starting a power farm by providing solar panels on his own land. These power generators can then provide power to surrounding grid. But, this cunning-ness is not clever enough for most use.

If power is so important, buy a small diesel generator. It can supply enough power for most uses. The diesel tanks are refilled on a fixed period from existing truckers.

The worst option is to pull the power lines to your land. Just pay lor.

Gas 通天燃气或煤气
This requirement is totally not critical if the power requirement is handled. Heating using natural gas and using electrical power only cause marginal cost differentials. Using gas requires venting. Else, if breathe in too much carbon monoxide over a long extended period will cause massive brain damage. Hence, gas requirement is normally not critical, hence, never consider a deal-breaker.

Heat 通暖气
In established industries, they even have area-wide supply of stream as an option. But, this is hardly a requirement, if the power option is already addressed.

Sewerage 排水
This is also not a deal-breaker. Common portable sewerage treatment plant is available by just buy and put in place. The usage is for 10 years and renewable by removing the shit. The cost is also not extensive. You just have to buy and put.

Internet 通讯
Surprisingly, this requires power. So you must first settle the power requirement. Else, you can only rely on your mobile cell phone. There is always another option - an expensive option - connect through satellite internet or raise a tall tower for line-of-sight connection. OR work without internet at the land and use internet only after you return to your small town to sleep. As long as you don't watch movies, you can still skype with little problem.

Road 通路
If your land is large enough, it is not unusual for roads to have reach the land curb side. Just wait long enough, you will get your power requirement by the wire. But, if your land is in say, Malaysia, you might encounter some problem in access. Freehold land prices in Malaysia is still quite reasonable. So buy cautiously, with patience, you can get them at about RM$2,000-5,000 per acre. This is not a deal-breaker.

Post 通邮
This is a rather inconvenient option. It is not unusual for postal service to refuse sending snail mails to your land. You will need to rent a post box in a small town to receive your snail mails. This is not a deal-breaker.

Land 平整土地
This is just a treatment issue. If you want it to be a farm land, you will need to pay for the levelling. If not, you just have to bear with the landscape. Prepared land and unprepared land is 100% difference in prices. This is not a deal-breaker.

House
Just go and buy a cheap second-hand mobile home (very cheap anyway) and move it to the land. This is a simple plug-and-play. This is not a deal-breaker.

Zoning
Only that fucken little island has zoning. It is easy in most places to change the zone, i.e., the land use type.

To sum, only power is the only tricky requirement. Play with it long enough. You will find a way out.

When buying land, do consider the above issues, the key guiding principle is not to be overwhelmed by these factors. Every factor can be resolved using money. The question is always about balance. Buy anything within the city/major town limits, you will get everything, but the price you pay would be surprising too high. It can't be that these land owners are going to give you a nice break. Not a chance in the century. They make sure they punish you for being lazy.

b.xox - The White Snub

The last part is here:   Matters fo the Heart

Sigh ... So many things happened over the past one year.

Same pen, different llama.

I asked the grand white chieftain for a piece of land. She replied how big do I want it? I replied in the humility. She snubbed me by saying the smallest they have for a horse ranch is 2,000 acres. Did I mention that I wish to keep horses? Sigh ... I only want to exact my dream a year ago for a llama farm. She then waved me on.

The beautiful thing is that the chieftains only want to maintain their stranglehold on their agricultural land. But, what can they do now against the yellowskin invasion and for how long? Farmers are now suffering from poor conditions and prices. Traditionally, the farmers are the worst treated ones amongst their kinship.

The grand chieftain has forgotten that I, the yellowskin, is not without help. My yellowskin partner-in-crime is a historian and a damn good one. He argued that about a hundred years ago, the whites were told to buy land at $5.00 per acre. Now the same land is worth about 85 times the original purchase price, making an internal rate of return to be 4.5%, i.e., if you buy a land and as long as it appreciates at say, 4.5% per year, you have no issue in buying it at a later date. You will still gain the same return. Therefore, put investment into businesses that give a better rate than 4.5%. You will accelerate against the growth rate of land prices. Buying the land later if you are a poor bastard. If not, buy as soon as possible, using cash.

I smiled.

She didn't know that another grand chieftain has loved me deep deep.

I love the challenge.

b.Land - A Loss

The last part is here:   Land - Vintage

Just lost a purchase of a land. It was such a beauty. Sigh ... The wise crane asked me to wait till winter and then I lost her. Shit!

Life has many misses. Sometimes we lose them all. Sometimes we catch them all.

Maybe the wise crane is correct. I have not learned the value of patience. Patience means I have to learn to let go before fate wins me back. I have to give up my love ones before I can get them back and treasuring them even more. Life is full of sad things. I just hope that my heart can beat even harder telling me I am still very much alive.

I teared again not so much on the land loss but on things seen through the looking glass. I hope I am still valued by those who care.

Encouragement from them are now so few and far apart.

人情似纸张张薄，世事如棋局局新。

g.弃我去者，昨日之日不可留。 乱我心者，今日之日多烦忧！

The last part is here:   Fate is Strange

宣州谢朓楼饯别校书叔云   唐·李白

弃我去者，昨日之日不可留。
乱我心者，今日之日多烦忧！
长风万里送秋雁，对此可以酣高楼。
蓬莱文章建安骨，中间小谢又清发。
俱怀逸兴壮思飞，欲上青天览明月。
抽刀断水水更流，举杯销愁愁更愁。
人生在世不称意，明朝散发弄扁舟。

这首诗是李白于天宝十二年（公元753年）游宣城时所作。在诗中诗人借送别盛赞李云文章如蓬莱幽藏，刚健遒劲，有建安风骨，又以谢朓清新俊逸的诗风自比， 表达了对高洁理想的追求，抒发了自己年华虚度、怀才不遇、理想和抱负不能实现的抑郁苦闷。全诗感情沉郁奔放，波澜迭起，结构腾挪跌宕，语言豪放自然，音律 和谐统一，是李白的代表作之一。

“弃我去者，昨日之日不可留；乱我心者，今日之日多烦忧。”弃我而去的昔日时光已不可挽留，扰乱我心绪不得安宁的，是眼前诸多的烦恼和忧愁。

“长风万里送秋雁，对此可以酣高楼。”万里长风送走了一群群的秋雁，面对这壮丽的景象，怎能不开怀畅饮，醉卧在这高高的谢朓楼。

“蓬莱文章建安骨，中间小谢又清发。”校书郎（李云）的文章就像蓬莱仙山上储藏的图书那样，风格刚健清新，具有建安风骨。而我的诗风，也像谢朓那样清新秀丽、飘逸豪放。

“俱怀逸兴壮思飞，欲上青天揽明月。”我们都具有超群的凌云壮志，满怀着无限的豪情，准备登上高高的青天，去摘取那皎洁的明月。 “抽刀断水水更流，举杯消愁愁更愁。

”抽出利刀去断绝水流，水反而流得更加湍急，举起酒杯本想借酒排遣烦忧，结果反倒愁上加愁。

“人生在世不称意，明朝散发弄扁舟。”啊！人生坎坷竟然如此不称心如意，还不如明天就不戴冠簪，舒展着头发，乘上一只小船，在江湖上自由自在地漂流。

注释： ①宣州：今安徽省宣城县。谢眺楼：南北朝齐代诗人谢朓任宣城太守时，在宣城外陵阳山上所建的一座楼，人称谢眺楼，也称北楼。校书：官名，校书郎的简称。云：李云楼。校书：官名，校书郎的简称。云：李云，李白族叔，官秘书省校书郎。②弃：抛弃。③酣高楼：在谢眺楼上畅饮。④蓬莱文章：东汉朝廷藏书东观，所藏均是经典秘录，故以蓬莱仙山称之。这里代指李云所写的文章。建安：东汉献帝年号（196—214）。建安骨：建安时期，曹操父子、孔融、陈琳等人的诗作，反映了当时动乱时代的社会现实，诗作风格刚健清新，后人称为“建安风骨”。⑤小谢：指谢朓。世称刘宋时代的诗人谢灵运为大谢，称谢朓为小谢。清发：指清新俊逸的诗风。这两句借赞美建安诸子和谢朓，暗喻李云和自己的诗文风格。⑥散发：不戴冠和簪，指自由无拘束。⑦扁舟：小船。弄扁舟，指归隐江湖。

This is a very poisonous poem. If not careful, one can get killed by it. Caused a strong guy to wallow in his own shit. No many guys realized that sentimental feelings are always abound. Gals will screw the guy's up using these sentimental feelings. How many alpha guys were beta-rized by this instrument? Whether a guy is alpha or beta, it is just a temporary state of mind. For a guy to stay alpha, he will feel strong in hunting power, but dry in emotions. For a guy to stay beta, he will feel weak in hunting power, but rich in emotions. For gals, they prefer guys who are alpha all the time, i.e., always able to bring home the bacon. If they can't find it in the current guy, they will screw outside. That's when all hell breaks loose.

At the end of the day, it is always about balance. A simple balance between what's needed to be stable person. I just read a story about a gal who studied in Harvard and got a phD, didn't get married and finally went cuckoo (一生何求，十年后会是怎样。。) (too many of such stories for both guys and gals). She over-spent her time studying so much so that she missed her marrying time, she went crazy after that. She just simply didn't realize that she also needed love to survive. Her genes now of course will be unceremoniously removed from the gene pool. Even if she tried to reach nirvana in intellectual arena, she went cuckoo after that as she simply couldn't take the pressure. It is almost like learning wushu (武术), too much concentration, 入魔; too little, waste time.

If you are learning to do business, take the path that is least trodden by man. It is longer, it is more tedious, but yet, it is also the shortest way.

Just as I am writing, a just-retired baby boomer just wants me to have his piece of land at 50% discount. He is desperate for the deal. But, my crane told me to wait for the winter chills. There is simply no need for haste. The deal is extremely juicy, but my crane is no foolish advisor. She said it is never about the discount rate per deal, she knows this is already the lowest and the best deal in town. Even if I were to buy it during the winter chills, it may not be cheaper then. But, every thing has its own timing, i.e., one cannot over-stretch his muscles, there is always harmony in the movements - The mating dance of Business.

b.Land - Vintage

The last part is here:   Land - Waterfall

Over one's lifetime, there will be opportunity for you to own or inherit very old buildings. In my case, I do have buildings that are more than 100 years old. Although you may not like the shape or the government-of-the-day have yet to gazette it, you may be wise if you consider carefully before tearing it down for reconstruction. You might lose the support of your local community.

I used to work for a boss who has a 16-apartment block constructed in 1910s. The whole building is almost collapsing, since he doesn't have much dole to repair it. It was considered a danger working at the building. In fact, he should seriously work on improving his infrastructure before it is too late. Anyway, just a story about a troubled old building. This building has been a historical site for many tourists. My boss should have considered making some money out of these wondering tourist snoopers.

What I am highlighting is:

Old buildings are important communal landmarks for the local folks. They grew up looking at that building day-in-day-out. If you can still preserve the look-and-feel, you will definitely be accepted as one of them. This way, any evil schemes that you might have, would be easily over-looked.

To modernise the use of these old buildings, try to build around it. Never try to demolish them. You would have lost big good-will. This is local branding at its best. Repairing them may burn a big hole in the pocket, but destroying them may cost you your life. Do exercise caution!

b.Capital - Investment Style

The last past is here:   Capital - Generations Game 

A friend once asked me that not every one is interested in land, some might prefer the more modest property investment. But, she saw problem in property investing. For each property, marked at say, $100, the place could usually be fairly rented at say, $5 per year (or 5%) or $0.42 per month ($5/12). With this gross rental, it will take approximately 20 years ($5 x 20 = $100) to recover the investment. This is a very long time. But, compared to bank deposit rate (at 1-2%). This is still superior. And compared to stocks & shares (15% returns), it is slightly inferior. But, stocks & shares have higher risk. The good news is property investment does bring about capital appreciation which she felt that is a good compensation. So in order to bridge this low returns, one usually tries to gear the investment by borrowing from the bank. Say, based on 10% down-payment and if there is a capital appreciation of 5% that year, one would have gained 50% investment return! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Many people has forgotten that borrowing incurs cost. That interest cost could be as high as 6-8%. Based on the borrowing of 90%, the net interest cost could be anything from 5.4%-7.2% (90%x6%, 90%x8%) which is way above that of the 5% appreciation. There is therefore a net loss of 0.4%-2.2%, even with 5% capital appreciation. What if there is no capital appreciation for some years?  The longer one borrows, the more negativity one gets. so how?

I smiled. Once you borrow from the bank, you would be doomed. I have been there, done that. There was no happiness. There is no quarrel. See the car that the banker drives and the car that the borrower drives would tell you its true story. If all are earning normal profits, there should be no difference in being a banker or a borrower, all are earning fair value, the fact is the banker drives a much better car implies that there is trickery up the banker's sleeve. So it is a zero-sum game, the winner is the banker and the loser, the borrower. So don't borrow, regardless. You will see the wisdom many years down the road.

But faced with the grim prospect of buying a property cash and renting it out to try to recover its capital is real long and painful, there must be a better legal way.

If you must invest in boring property such as houses and buildings, then you must exercise cunning. Most residential properties have terrible tenant records, i.e., the tenant will not pay on time, the tenant is very well-protected by the authorities, the owner can't evict the tenant without an eviction order, which can take up to 3 months to get. There are hearings and complaints from the tenant to slow the eviction process down. By the time the property is vacated, i.e., rental-free for 6 months, you may find cement powder poured down the sewerage before they leave. The repair bill (or rebuilding cost) is going to be extremely high.

You have no choice and must therefore employ cunning, if you must buy a residential property, find out if you could rent it out to businesses like the old-folks homes, child-care centres, corner grocery stores, churches, display houses and etc. The key is you will receive a much higher return for your property and hence, it is now worth its while to purchase. Having a business residing in the residential property provides stability in rental income and general state of repair. These businesses hope to gain in the long haul and so is less likely to play tricks. For other property types, you will have to think further.

There is however one more joke. The capital appreciation is not real. Why? Well, if you were to sell the property, can you buy back the same property with less cash. The answer is a big fat NO. So what have you gained? Nothing. The so-called capital is nothing more than the state's printing press having gone on overdrive to print more coloured papers in exchange for your real estate. Paper money is not real estate, it is just a medium of exchange for goods and services. It has no intrinsic value. By the time you wish to sell, your plate of chicken rice would have been $50 per pop.

So even with boring residential property investment, you have to employ cunning to win the race. Anyway, I rather prefer not to. Learn to put the land on duty, that's what my partner-in-crime used to say.

g.What is meant to be Financially Free?

The last part is here:   Pants Chasing 

This is so fun. A friend just gave me her most disapproving and scorching comment on my last essay. She said what I have written was so revolting and degrading to the general woman-folks out there that the essay mustn't see the light of the day. How apt. That essay was written based on my observation and it may not have any scientific basis, although I tried my best to be philosophical at the very least. By the way, seeking populous votes is never my idea of this blog. I am only trying to keep my sanity. But, I do stand by my own point of view. I have re-read my own entry and realised that the key reason is that woman-folks found the essay too truthful. It produces a truth mirror that is so brilliant that it only reflects their worst characteristics was way too much for these "ladies" to swallow. The "ladies" expect the opinion of guys of them to be one of kindness, generosity, modesty and beauty. Sorry, if we guy-folks don't take our woman-folks seriously and learn how to manage them properly, misery and cuckoo-ness would be our only comeuppance. If the gals I date ever give me a cuckoo hat to wear, good luck to me if she is never found out, I will just throw them out. Of course, the tub, baby and water all in one.

Chinese Dinner

Just finished dinner with a group of friends from another little island. The table topic was skirt-chasing. I was inquiring why throughout all my good years, I never manage to get any gals from the twin island. The gals at the table again loved to engage me spiritedly to counter any attacks on woman-folks. A gal replied that I didn't spend enough. I smiled. Well, where should I have spent then? She happily suggested dinning at half-hill-estate, the highest revolving restaurant or the shallow-water-bay. I said OK, not that I have not tried. Next time whenever I meet a gal I will just suggest immediately dinning at these places. She said no, no, no. I must never suggest dinning at such places on the first date. It would be too much pressure. I must be subtle. I sighed. I replied god is you, devil is you (神又是你，鬼又是你。) You see:  The problem is it is already so difficult dating the gal out for the first time. During this first date, if I bring her to road-side store, she will squeal and instruct that I shall never ever date or call her again. Since you have suggested that my class (级数) is not high enough, I must act quickly and suggest those places to prove that I have arrived (够级数), since I only always have only one chance to show-case. Not able to counter my logical argument, she laughed heartily.

During the convo, the gals also asked me about the update of the three mormon gals that I was trying to meet. I replied no luck. Then, one cheeky gal asked that what if the cute one suddenly appears at my door step? I replied then better quick-hand-quick-leg open my room liao (快手快脚，开房啦。) She was shocked. She said since I am from that fucken little island, I must not have known mandarin that well, do I therefore know what I have just said? I replied of course, I know what I am talking about. I said since fate has brought us together again, it must also be fate that we will be together from now on, you adult I adult, so let's get it going lor. Two of the gals laughed until they teared.

We had a good dinner. 

Financial Freedom

Lots of guys don't understand the meaning of financial freedom. The gals are only interested in financially-free guys. It doesn't matter if the guy brings her to dine in a road-side-store, she wouldn't complain as she knows full well that the choice of the guy is super flexible. The reason why the guy brings her to a road-side-store is that the food there is the best one can find. The guy simply knows what is its true value. He would bring her to dine at the half-hill-estate if he feels the quality there is great. Money was never in his consideration, only quality of services/products are.

(Wiki:)    For financially independent people, their assets generate income that is greater than their expenses. For example, a person's quarterly expenses may total $4000. They receive dividends from stocks they have previously purchased totalling $5,000 quarterly, while also having more money in other assets. Under these circumstances, a person is financially independent. A person's assets and liabilities are an important factor in determining if they have achieved financial independence. An asset is anything of value that can be liquidated if a person has debt, whereas a liability is related to debt, in that it is the responsibility of one possessing it to provide compensation. (Homes and automobiles with no liens or mortgages are common assets.)

Based on the wiki's definition, roughly it means personal assets are more than liabilities. But, I simply don't agree with this standard definition. I can almost guarantee that poor people are financially quite free as long as they don't gamble. They have poor credibility in the eyes of the banks, they simply can't borrow any money from banks, the poor can only spend what they possessed. In the strict definition, these poor people would have been way more financially free than most modern middle-class debtors.

Financial Freedom to me is the ability of having a continuous and consistent excess cash-flow, without much work to be done to get it, and having all the time in the world to spend these cash-flows at places where even most woman-folks would also be pleased to join or possess.

How can the guy get there?

(1)   Work hard on the first passion business and produce real excess cash-flow.

(2)   Use the excess cash-flow to buy land (as many as possible).

(3)   Develop the land for use,  collect cash-flows from them. I call these cash-flows rental.

(4)   Use these rentals to spend on luxuries. Never sell your land to spend on luxury.

(5)* Buy even more land. The cycle repeats.

If you have not gotten enough gals by then, trust me, there would be too many.

Guys' Greatest Mistake

A guy will start in his 20s and he will then buy the best car and house he can afford with full bank loans. He pays to the hilt of his loans. After about 5-10 years, he got promoted to a new position, he starts to think about buying his next property. Again, he borrows to the hilt from the bank. By 40s, he will get retrenched and become extremely miserable. He starts to blame his government-of-the-day for allowing too many foreign trash in, his friends of sponging drinks and food off him, his relatives for borrowing large sums of money and not repaying him, etc. Within 20 years, he will face a financial tsunami (this is guaranteed) and once again, he is back to the same place as he first started working, as penniless as ever. But, unfortunately for him, he still have another 50 years of living to go.