Granada

"Who does not know and admire Granada even if they have never visited it?" - Pedro Antonio de Arlacon,19th century -
This is the last Muslim stronghold. Prior to the Muslims, the civilisations were the Iberians, Romans and Visigoths. The city fell to the Christians (Catholic Monarchs) in 1492, after months of beseiging from their camp in Santa Fe. The last of the Moorish kings who had to relinquish this cultural point of reference was Boabdil, the Small. His abandonment of the kingdom was met by a remark by his mother, "Cry like a woman for what you failed to defend like a man".
The city is beautiful .. intricate details everywhere you look. The walls, the stone & cobble roads, the roads patterned with interwoven dark and light colored stones creating an illusion of carpets. The roads are narrow - hence driving is not a thing I'd like to do here.
The Albaicin - Morisco Essence. The streets are narrow, houses white .. enjoy the flamenco guitar at San Nicolas. Have lunch at the Andalusia Teteria. It was like living in the past. View of Al Hambra from here is fantastic, so is Sierra Nevada.

Al Hambra

Bicara kapal ..

Cordoba

The Capital.

Seville

Beautiful City!

emone

Berasaaappp!! Just completed & sent off my M01 Assignment 2. Hope for the best!

London Rose on Thames

Its Saturday nite, the night that we are going for a cruise from Festival Pier (near Waterloo) to Greenich and back. After a stressful parking search around Festival Pier, we manage to arrive at the boat about 5 minutes to 1900. Probably the 3rd last family to arrive. The boat was quite pack,I think there are probably 60 - 80 pax on board. Food OK, a bit bland. Sang La Bamba & Here I Go Again. Sofina was fantastic, esp her rendition of Leona Lewis' latest. Yati (MISC) was on board too. Quite a fun cruise but the DJ system was hancusss.

Suisse

Ann arrived just b4 11 am. Gedebak-gedebuk .. checked out. Sent off Tan Sri & Puan Sri. Had lunch with RY & Ann at some pizz place. So so. The rushed to Pictet to see Urs Muller & Dr Phillipe Rohner. Continued off to Zurich .. kaw kaw kena CHF82 .. and that was after half price coupon (courtesy of Dell). Rendek2 Zurich sat (actually lost while looking for Hotel Krone). Krone = Crown. It was a simple hotel with only sink in the room. Shower & WC shared. Had that Kowloon feel.

Geneva

Rushed from Paris to Geneva but our flight was delayed by 1.5 hour. Missed Tan Sri by 5 minutes.

Paris in a Flash

Splash & Dash! That was the Paris trip this time. First, BA cancelled our flight (me & RY).. the next available flight was at 5.30pm (and our meeting was supposed to be at 4.30 pm!) So off we go to Waterloo to catch Eurostar (paying full fare of £154.50 each one way) Emm, so we were in time to freshen up & then meet up with Patricia (Donnelly) of BNP AM and Xavier Lafevre of EIM.

Halloween 2007

"What is Halloween?", I asked Rina. "its time for kids to go Trick or Treat and get candies & chocolates!" was the answer.
Heh heh! Well, the term Halloween (and its alternative rendering Hallowe'en) is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the eve of "All Hallows' Day", which is now also known as All Saints' Day. Some modern Halloween traditions developed out of older pagan traditions, especially surrounding the Irish holiday Samhain, a day associated both with the harvest and otherworldly spirits. Irish and Scottish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century.
"Trick or Treating" .. kids go round disguising themselves in costumes and go door-to-door in their neighborhoods, ringing each doorbell and yelling "trick or treat!" to solicit a gift of candy or similar items. You either give treats or get tricks/pranks played on you/your house.

When in Bath ..

"When in Bath, do as the Romans do"
Bath, a spectacular & beautiful city on the River Avon among the hills of England’s West Country. The city is compact and has striking architecture - Roman baths and sweeping Georgian terraces - combine to produce one of the most elegant sights in Europe. The ancient Celts, who first inhabited this area, believed that Bath’s hot springs were sacred, but it was the Romans who built the temple and the famous baths - now restored to their original grandeur.

Arrived around 12 noon, pretty easy to get there. Parked at the Podium Shopping Centre. Magnificent architecture! Spent around £39 for 3A, 2K to go in the Roman Bath. Cool audio tour.

The Royal Crescent - a notable residential road of 30 houses, laid out in a crescent, in the city of Bath, England. Designed by the architect John Wood the Younger and built between 1767 and 1774. It is amongst the greatest examples of Georgian architecture to be found in the United Kingdom and is a grade I listed building.

London is approximately one hour and a quarter from Bath by intercity train, and Bristol is about fifteen minutes away. For those seeking quieter retreats, Bath is surrounded by beautiful countryside, with the Cotswolds to the north, the Mendips to the south-west and, just across the Severn Bridge, the Wye Valley and the Forest of Dean. The coast at Weston-super-Mare or South Wales is also within easy reach.
(http://www.bath.ac.uk/bath)

Stratford Upon Avon - Home of Shakespeare

Mummy & Shasya along River Avon. Me at the mooring area of boats. Ada juga yg meniaga.
Stratford-upon-Avon - a market town in south Warwickshire, England in the United Kingdom. Lies on the River Avon some 38 km (24 m),south of Birmingham and 14 km (9 m)south-west of the county town, Warwick. Town's population around 24,000.
The birthplace and deathbed of the playwright and poet William Shakespeare, receiving about three million visitors a year from all over the world. The River Avon is nice - have a walk around the river. We had a go, went round the church graveyard, up on the small bridges, by the river - with people jogging and kids with bikes. Not to mention, shopping! The shops are quite extensive, I was told some people go to Stratford to shop! We didn't go in though. Thought we gonna save it for next time when we travel to and fro Egham - Birm, when Mama & the gang are here. Hope the visas go thru guys!

And the next time we go there, I'm definitely gonna have a go at the fantastic jacket potato at the fountain again. Sedap siot!!

Raya Raya Malaysia

Aidil Fitri - what's that? Ask Muslims on the street and you'll get many answers. Ada kat Hari Raya Fitrah, ada kata merayakan kemenangan. Menang amende? Umat Islam semua duduk dalam longkang sekarang ni. So camana nak menang? Kembalilah kepada fitrah .. Islam tu fitrah. Semua orang Muslim sejak dari dulu lagi .. camana nak Islam: balik lah pada Al Quran & Sunnah Rasul .. baru la boleh futur.

Anyway, cakap banyak pun tak guna, kalau tak buat. So apa yg kitorang buat kat London? Emph! Raya macam kat Mesia lah jugak .. wal hasil balik asal. Tak pe lah .. musafir. Ni gambo2 raya sket. Kat rumah lepas solat raya. Solat kat church hall, I think dorang belasah je kiblat .. cantik je square hala dinding (2:177). Kat High Commissioner's house, with Datuk Amirsham & wife Datuk Faizah.

Adeena ngan baju baru pos khas dari Mesia, thanx to Pak Yang.

Triple-Witching Weekend

The weekend has been volatile & full with adrenaline pumping moments. For England that is. I call this post Triple Witching Weekend due to the 3 most important events for England this year. Not to mention it taking the name of the Triple-witching Day of the investment world.

Definition: "Triple-witching" day is the third Friday of the month that ends each quarter. It marks the simultaneous expiration, at the close, of stock options, index options and index futures."

Implications: The impact of "triple witching" has been associated with increases in the volatility of the market. The increased volatility increases the uncertainty about prices of the underlying stocks.

Stock options that are exercised, or the underlying stock bought/sold, creates large additional volume. With unwinding large volumes of stocks, there is an increase in index arbitrage (i.e., the simultaneous purchase of index futures and the sale of a basket of stocks, or vice versa, when the values of the index and the underlying stocks become "out of wack" with each other). Meanwhile, some investors are trying to unscramble whether to, say, buy/sell a position, in options or futures contracts, similar to their current ones (i.e., roll-over the existing contracts) or get into different ones.
(from http://www.morevalue.com/glossary)

Now back to the 3 events.
1. Football: England lost to Russia, 1 - 2
Implication: May result in England not qualifying for Euro 2008
2. Rugby World Cup: England lost the final to South Africa, 6 - 15
Implication: Did not retain the world cup won in 2003
3. F1: Lewis Hamilton finished 7th in Interlagos
Implication: World Championship went to Kimi (110 pts), 2nd Hamilton (109), 3rd Alonso (109)

I now wait for England jerseys to go on sale.

French Toast

Argentina opened table with amazing 17 - 12 scoreline against France. Now, in the 3rd/4th placing match, the Puma once again embarrassed the French. This time by a larger score line 34 - 10. It was sheer spirit and the will to win that has created history for this side.

Well, tomorrow - a different story. England, trounced by South Africa 36 - 0 (Note: the first England team not to score in a world cup match). And came back, bit by bit, each match almost a knock out match. They didn't have Wilko then. Robbo was about the only inspiration then, and tomorrow will be his last appearance. Tomorrow, Wilko will match kicking skills against Montgomery. SA with a tally of 33 tries in this World Cup, while England only 12. Habana needs 1 more try to delete Lomu's record of 8 tries in one tournament. Meanwhile Wilko needs 24 points to reach 1,000 points scored for England.

SA is brimming with confidence. England seems like a sufficiently improved team to avenge the blistering defeat. Papehal .. its the points that counts! So keep an eye on Wilko.

Fiji Through

Fiji 38 - Wales 34
Simply the most satisfying match I've watched for this world cup. In the last 10 minutes, my heart was racing, willing the Fijians to keep their composure & subsequently win the match. Wales must be devastated, playing at Cardiff, screwed by a southern nation while playing in the cold. It was also Gareth Thomas' 100th international cap. Too bad .. so .. balik kampung, tanam jagung. In the Quarter Finals, South Africa will have to watch this side, such physical & spirited bunch, not unlike the Tongans (which SA won so small a margin). Viva la South!

Global Trends

Global/macro trends we are currently experiencing (syahida them yourself):

o Mortgage and Credit Bubble
o Rise in Worldwide Commodity Prices
o High Oil Prices
o Alternative Energy
o Falling Dollar
o China
o Outsourcing to India
o Wireless (Phones, Laptops, Networking)
o Internet Advertising
o Navigation Devices
o Military Spending/Protecting the Troops

Stick to these themes & insyaallah, outperform. Our fund is currently participating in all these themes (including avoiding bank & finance stocks), with the exception of investing in military spending. HBF.

Bekonscot Model Village

Got free tickets to go to Bekonscot Model Village. About 20 min from home, towards Amersham. Much better than the one at Bourton on Waters. Check it out!
http://www.bekonscot.org.uk/

The girls at the entrance and a miniature wharf area. Cool!

360 & A Step Forward

I remember Faiz Ridzwan said, "AQ tu 360 degrees". Of course: I + H + J = Menang. We hit the big 360 today. And the kicker is, we finally beat the benchmark since inception. After 1 year, 2 months and 21 day, the line finally crossed.

Azman told me, a lot of people said they should open office in London, becoz PNB has proven to be successful. Without much hesitation, I said, "Well, its only been slightly over a year, but the numbers speak for themselves. So far we have beaten the benchmarks".

And today, we kinda celebrated with family iftar at Holiday Villa. Food was OK. RY bought some sort of a cream puff to celebrate the beating of the benchmark. But, ugh! Missed the France v Ireland game.

"The important work of moving the world forward does not wait to be done by perfect men." (George Eliot)

England Teloq

As predicted, England reeled to the supremacy of South Africa. Worst World Cup defeat: 0 - 36. They had no answer to the side that rarely went into overdrive. SA played simple, yet effective rugby - planning and implementing them with ruthless efficiency. Fourie Du Preez found space & eploited them effectively. Meanwhile, Butch James and Percy Montgomerie kept England in their half most of the time with their fantastic kicking game. Imagine if SA's on Nox 60% of the time - mampuih England. Harap jersey je lah lawa.

Ireland - m'Meppeh vs Georgia. Scoreline - an embarassing 14 - 10. Fantastic spirit by the Georgians.

As of now, top 3 contenders to win: NZ, SA, OZ

Ramadhan in the City

Its Ramadhan again. 2nd time fasting in the Square Mile. Went to Deutsche Bank 11th Technology Conference with Dell & Hisham. I like ARM, SAP & Software AG. Tired coz stayed up til 0100 + last nite. And the Drain was suspended again this morning. Had to take Jubilee & switched to Northern at London Bridge. RY is sick, Jai came 1/2 day. So Marian manned the office, or should I say womanned the office.

Berbuka - Coffee/Karipap/Briyani Tepek .. OK lah .. not that guilty, coz I did about 700 crunches today. But imagine if there is puluk dughiye!!

Newcastle

Kota Bharu in UK. We went up North during the long weekend of Bank Holiday. Along the way, checked out Sheffield (Dr Bode's alma meter I think).
This is the Winter Garden - sort of a glass house.

Next stop - Leeds. Kinda industrial .. sure ramai Melayu. Checked out Leeds Mkt & bought a carpet.

Then Newcastle. Lepak at Faez/Ita's. Had the luxury of going to the beach. And uh .. I now know where Cullercoats & Whitley Bay are (check out Tunnel of Love - Direstraits). This is ruins of a castle at the beach .. ironic .. Oldcastle at Newcastle?
The Kidz: Azura, Aida & Anuar - goofing at their conservatory.

Sangita, Faez & Ita at MELA - makan time! Cantik kau Mela..

England on da Roll

England 3 Russia 0

Thanks to Michael Owen with 2 skillfully finished goals & guess who? Rio Ferdinand!
Pleasant game with flair from the English. Now lets see if the brothers in Paris can do the same against South Africa on Friday. I think not. Any No. 10 in the house? Huh!?

9:11 Same Nationality

Its 9/11 again. Papers splashing with photos & stories. TV are running everything with 9/11 as a prefix inc. Fahrenheit 9/11. Its a memorable day for the Argentines though - they just beat Georgia 33 - 3 in RWC, their 2nd match. Can't wait to see England v South Africa this Friday.

I spent the day shopping - in the stock market that is. Bought more Fiat, which is gonna JV with Severstal of Russia (looks like they are positioning themselves in BRIC) .. also SGO - can't stand looking at the RSI!! Same thing with SU. Also bot EZJ and took some off the table for Nokia. The fund is almost kissing the benchmark .. soon .. insyaallah.

"Lack of money is no obstacle. Lack of an idea is an obstacle." (Ken Hakuta)

Merdeka kah?

With Karen & Lilis (donning MAS uniform - current & the 80's)
@ Merdeka Carnival at Brickendonbury (Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre http://www.tarrc.co.uk/).
Check it out at:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/3/nation/18763128&sec=nation

And the kids loved Punch & Judy (TARCC sponsored this show) I was amazed - here we are, celebrating our independence from them, and what do we do? We reminisce by showing our kids about their culture .. odd.

Global Problemo

Poverty 2:177
Ignorance 17:36
Intolerance 49:13

"...when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

VIX Gone Mad

On Aug 16, 2007 VIX Index shot up to 37.5 level intraday. It's now hovering around 25. What a week! Since right now Cash is King again, we are about 22+% in cash. Fed's move to lower the discount rate by 50 bp has resulted in a relief rally. Well, at least the markets' kinda stabilized at the moment. So, what to do? Here's some tips from citi sb - courtesy of Boon Heng:

Back to Basics: Ten Rules of Thumb for a Volatile Market

1. Focus on Organic Growth - companies with ability to increase their earnings at rates well in excess of the index through organic (i.e. non-acquisitive) growth. Check out those with early stages of new product cycles or brand-line extensions of popular products.
2. Focus on Companies that Make Other Companies More Productive - those with products and services offering a “value proposition” or enhanced ROI. Eg. producers of software and products that collect, measure, or analyze data to reduce labor costs (estimated to represent approximately 70% of U.S. corporations’ expenses) are poised to generate above-average growth.
3. Identify Long-Term Growth Trends - Shifting demographic patterns or new legislation can often lead to critical behavioral changes that influence the products and services consumers and corporations purchase.
4. Emphasis on Companies that Have Financial Flexibility - with financial strength to fund internal or external growth opportunities through strong and rising free cash flow (and low debt-service costs) tend to exhibit lower volatility and more stable returns. Check out: interest coverage, working capital efficiency and FCF.
5. Look for Strong Balance Sheets - low debt to total capital will be rewarded by investors, particularly when access to financing is perceived as becoming more limited. This “margin of safety” may provide a valuation floor.
6. Pay Attention to the Quality of Earnings - A good measure of a corporation’s quality of earnings is how closely its free cash flow (net income + depreciation and amortization +/- changes in working capital – capital expenditures) matches its net income.
7. Scrutinize Free Cash Flow - FCF: the clearest measure of a company’s financial flexibility. Companies generating excess free cash flow may choose to reward shareholders through the payment of a dividend or a share repurchase program. A large increase in receivables or inventories can be an indication of potential trouble ahead.
   
8. Avoid Value Traps - focus on forward earnings projections coz many economically sensitive companies, particularly at or near cyclical peaks, tend to appear attractively valued based on trailing earnings. Consensus earnings estimate revisions can provide investors with some insight into near-term operating momentum. Often, particularly during a period of slowing economic growth, the first earnings shortfall may act as a harbinger of future earnings disappointments.
9. M&A Selection Criteria Shouldn’t Be Dismissed - strong free cash flow, low leverage, and solid profit margins remain in place today, although in many cases at lower valuations. Check out companies with free cash flow yields well in excess of prevailing bond yields.
10. Focus on the Long Term, and Keep Emotions in Check - willingness to act quickly on investor misperceptions that frequently occur due to “panic” selling or “group-think.” Mkt = greed & fear vs careful analysis of fundamentals. Have a disciplined investment process, emphasize on strong or rising FCF, expanding profit margin, attractive valuation, positive changing internal dynamics, incremental market share opportunities, and strong management. These help maintain clarity in volatile markets.
    

What's Cooking

Went to the kitchen about 1400 & tried to cook Briani Tepek (recipe courtesy of Faez - Newcastle). Quite okay except that I accidently added too much chilly paste .. as a result the girls stopped eating halfway. Now, I've got cucumbers inside the rice cooker - may be that could absorb the heat .. donno .. may be it'll work.

Umm, just completed Episode 13 of The Riches .. that's the last episode I got. So far, okay .. so so. Will probably watch Psych by this week. Hope its a better series. And I'm still trying to figure out how to get my online satellite TV working. If it works, that means I dont have to go to White Lion or Roger's anymore to catch up on the games. May be I should just subscribe to £10 a month - Setanta Sports. Saves me all the trouble, not bad .. all games of the top 4 teams will be aired. But with Rooney out for 2-3 months and Ronaldo out for 3 more games, Man U could well fall out from the top of the table. But what the heck. By the way, Man U's new jersey's about £35 at Sport's World. A bit weird design though, but I like the Starsky & Hutch car stripe at the back. Ciao.