Full Circle

Okay, coming so close to shelling out S$250 for a damn CD really woke me up and I decided that it would be really far more cost-effective to just buy a turntable and take all my records out of cold storage. So that's exactly what I did this past week.

Of course I had to first go and look for a turntable. And in this digital day and age, you're really not sure where to start. You think you saw one or two models in the corner somewhere of the stores you visited in The Adelphi, but you're not sure. So I went to the place where I always go when in doubt about such things: super-atas hi-fi magazines. And one brand kept getting recommended in all of them -- Pro-ject.

Now, I had always grown up with very entry-level turntables. My dad's old Lenco was a fully-automatic machine with speed control. Then when I went to the UK to study, I bought an even cheaper plasticky set but it worked fine. But it never really hit me what an absolute turntable philistine I was until I went to Norman Audio, the agent for Pro-ject turntables here. Because when I said that I wanted a turntable with switchable speed control between 33 and 45, the guy looked at me like I was mad.

"No, no, no..." he smiled gently, "Anything electronic like that will spoil the sound. That's why we only have one model in the entire range with the speed control."
"So how you change the speed?" I asked. And was truly aghast when he said: "By removing the platter and adjusting the belt lor."

REMOVE THE PLATTER?? I was to learn lots more that afternoon -- it's important what material the platter is made of, and also the tonearm. You want a heavy platter that will stabilise the spinning record, and a carbon fibre tonearm vibrates very little so the sound picked up by the stylus isn't distorted.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I decided in the end to go for a thing with far-too-many-model-numbers-and-funky abbreviations -- the "Pro-Ject 1 Xpression Mk II". At S$850, it is the probably the least electronic electrical appliance I have. Only the motor is electric and everything else is manual ("handmade in Czech Republic by 5,000 worker", said the guy at the shop). There is an on-off switch to get the platter going. It doesn't start automatically when you cue the record, and no, the tonearm doesn't auto-return when the record ends.




Then when I went home to finally plug the thing in, I realised that my new amplifier is so modern it doesn't have a phono input. That meant I had to buy an amplifier just for the turntable (another $220!!). AND then of course, the phono amp didn't have RCA red-and-white cables of its own. Having invested more than $1,000 already, I couldn't very well use old 50-cent cables, so I shelled out another $80 for high-end cables.

In the end, though, it was all worth it. When the first bars of Deacon Blue's "Are You There With Another Girl?" belted out of the hi-fi, I was floored. And I continue to be floored listening to extended versions of songs like Furniture's "Brilliant Mind" and OMD's "Secret" at top volume. I had long forgotten how good records sound, but I have also never, since I bought them, heard my own records sound like that.

So it's back to the good old days. Kneeling and freezing your butt off on the cold marble floor putting on one record after another. Not being able to walk away and do something else because you know you have to be back to stop the record and put on another in exactly four minutes, give or take a remixed minute or two. Sitting there like a doddering idiot while the record is spinning, having nothing else to do but stare into space or re-read every word on the sleeve. Getting high on the toxic anti-static spray fumes as you clean the next single you're about to put on. Congratulating yourself needlessly again and again on your prescient purchase of the oh-so-beautiful Tears For Fears picture discs. This is all about the circles we've found. Through the ups and downs, it goes round.

A snipe in time...

At long last! After years of waiting!!
Thanks to F., who introduced me to AuctionSniper.com, I'm the proud owner of a CD copy of The Colourfield's "Deception".



Ok, it did cost me almost an arm and a leg. GBP36 is about S$105, which eclipses my previous record for most expensive single CD - "The Misadventures of Saint Etienne". Of course, both are Japan-only releases, which accounts for the massive holes they burnt in my pocket. My only consolation is that they would have cost more than S$50 brand new from Japanese stores, so I only paid double (or so).

In the meantime, AuctionSniper is awesome!! I'm using it again to try and win what is possibly my most desired CD in the world - Red Box's "The Circle & The Square", which was only ever released on CD in Japan (in 1986 and 1998). I'm prepared to pay S$200 for it, but that, it seems, may not be enough. I'm currently winning at GBP48.99, but another copy on eBay just went for GBP62.



The reason why I want them so much (other than the fact that they are utterly unavailable) is that both CDs are integral pieces of my teenhood that have been missing for more than a decade now, and which I require in order to psychologically make myself a whole and well-balanced person again. I know the lyrics to every song, and even the mention of the song titles "Miss Texas 1967", "Billy's Line", "Saskatchewan"... bring out the goosepimples in me.

Wish me luck!!

Added later:

I sniped... and failed! Apparently GBP68 wasn't enough and the Red Box CD went for GBP70. That would have meant forking out about S$250 in all, including postage. People are mad! Including me! That bitch!!

Poofy Ball

Found this tonight going through some of my old emails. This is an actual conversation between a friend (who shall of course remain nameless) and his friend on MSN:

(bling blird says) ka poof!
(bling blird says) poofy ball!
(JT says) whee
(JT says) who is the poofy ball?
(JT says) u ah
(bling blird) u!!!
(bling blird says) u the poofy ball!
(JT says)im not poofy
(bling blird says) u pang sai..that is poo
(bling blird says) and you always poofy
(bling blird says) not pang sai..lao sai
(JT says)SIOW!!!
(JT says)piak
(JT says) i know why u tokking like tt
(bling blird says) and u lao sai sho much dat the toilet bowl filled with your lao sai till touch your balls
(JT says) *censored* again i bet
(JT says)u are DISHGUSTING!!!
(bling blird says) sho u are a poofy ball!
(bling blird says) u is!!!!!!!!!!!!
(bling blird says)eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!


minutes later after pooing and poring

(JT says) so sexciting .. .keep calling me poofy ball
(JT says) i hard on now
(bling blird says) i blogging this on my lj
(bling blird says) u cham!
(JT says) eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
(JT says) DON!!!
(JT says) u evil person u

My 2007 Investment Strategy

Despite stock markets in the region being at record highs, and some sort of global correction looming, I've decided to put some money in unit trusts. It's forced saving, as I told F. today. If I lose money, I'll have to hold on to the investment longer, which means I postpone cashing out and spending the money -- which is (voila!) saving.

The problem is: What funds should I buy? After careful and serious consideration, I've decided to go with the countries at the top of my Beari Index -- a ranking of regional countries according to how cute the bear-chubs there are. I selected the funds for each country with expert advice (well, from Fundsupermart.com, a great site everyone). Over the months, I'll be tracking the returns to show that you can, indeed, construct an investment strategy based purely on boyish looks and BMI.

My "Beari Index" Portfolio

1. JAPAN (Henderson Japanese Equity - $1,500)
The Henderson Japanese Equity fund has beaten its benchmark index, which is the MSCI Japan Index, for every calendar year from 1999 to 2004 (except for the year 2000). It is one of the top five performing funds for the year 2004 and enjoyed consistency in terms of performance for the past 4 years. The performance of the fund tends to be less volatile as a substantial portion is invested into large Japanese companies.
Valuations of the Japanese companies still remain relatively attractive in comparison to historical valuations. The valuation for Japan tends to be higher than other regions such as the US and Europe due to lower interest rates in Japan. As over 65% of Japan’s economy relies on domestic consumption, the solid recovery in consumer confidence since last year may constitute further upside potential. Nevertheless, exports could still be affected by a possible slowdown in global demand and strengthening of the yen. We would recommend investors to include a Japanese fund in their portfolio to remain globally diversified.

2. TAIWAN (Lion Capital Taiwan - $1,500)
We expect the Taiwan market to experience short-term volatility due to the increased inflow and outflow of foreign funds. However, we like Taiwan due to its relatively low valuation, and also because it has a strong exposure to tech-heavy stocks, such as the semi-conductor foundries (UMC and TSMC). With the increase in global demand for technology products, Taiwan's electronic exports are expected to continue seeing strong growth.

3. HONGKONG (HSBC Chinese Growth - $1,000)
The HSBC Chinese Growth fund is the best performing fund in the past 4-year, 5-year and 6-year periods ended April 2006. The annualized performance of the fund for the past 3 years was 35.5% as at April 2006. In 2003, when the Chinese market experienced a run up, the fund delivered a 100% return, placing it as the best performing fund in the China equity fund category. Last year, the fund outperformed many of its competitors delivering a 38.64% returns as at end of April 2006.
This fund mainly invests in companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with underlying business in China. With further market liberalization in next few years, the quality of companies is expected to continuously improve.

4. SINGAPORE (Aberdeen Singapore Equity - $1,000)
The Aberdeen Singapore Equity fund has been consistently ranked among the top three Singapore equity funds over the last few years. It has outperformed its benchmark every year since its inception in December 1997. From April 2003 to April 2006, the fund gained an annualized return of 27.8%, demonstrating strong consistency in performance. In addition, the fund outperformed its peers during periods of market slump. In particular, from March 2002 to March 2003, the fund fell by 21% as compared to other Singapore equity funds that fell by 29% on average. The market capitalization of the Singapore stock market is relatively small compared to that of other global stock markets and can be volatile.

5. KOREA (Lion Capital Korea - $1,000)
Lion Capital Korea has been among the best performing single country equity funds over the last year due to the appreciation of the Korean Won and capital gains of the underlying stocks. The fund returned 64.0% last year as at April 28, 2006. This fund has also shown strong and consistent performance against its peers over the years. Over a three-year period as at 28 April 2006, the fund delivered an annualized return of 38.7%. Samsung Electronics, one of the top 10 holdings in the fund, has delivered strong performance over a number of years and the outlook is bright given the global demand for electronic products. Valuations of Korean stocks are still attractive as compared with historical levels. Domestic spending in Korea has also strengthened, which is another factor that would push up corporate earnings.

Double Trouble

I HATE it when I buy doubles. Especially when you pay full-price for them. Sometimes you think: it's ok, it just means that you were right two times about buying a CD. Most times, it's just stupid.

Current doubles (if anyone wants a copy, let me know):

1. Nothing Like The Sun (Remastered) - Sting
2. Adapt Or Die (10 years of Remixes) - Everything But The Girl

All I Need Is Everything

When I was a teenager mad about records, I used to have this recurring dream. I would be in a small record store somewhere and as I flipped through the racks, my heart will start to race. That's because the racks would be filled with every imagineable 12" or LP that I had been looking all over Singapore for. In the dream I am invariably alone, so there would be no one to hear my exclamations of delight. I remember having to bottle up my excitement inside and feeling, in my rapture, the slight need to shit.

Anyway, that was the feeling I got flipping through the racks at this chain of music stores in Bangkok called Music One. I first chanced upon their new branch on the 7th floor on the Zen department store in Central World Plaza. It seemed like your normal half-hearted CD counter sandwiched between a bookstore, stationery shelves etc. But the minute I started browsing through the racks, I knew instantly that I had to go through every single one of those titles so that I don't miss anything. The next day, I took a half-hour train ride to some cineplex in the boondogs (Ekamai station) so that I could visit their main branch. It's one of those CD collections that's been carefully curated. It has trendy indie bands, dance mix CDs, and a lot of 80s CDs you never thought you'd ever see again (think The Call, All About Eve, Adam & The Ant Peel Sessions).

The full damage, after much restraint, costing about 7,000 baht:

1. Pet Grief - The Radio Dept (2006)
2. Lullaby - Book Of Love (1988)
3. Flaunt The Imperfection - China Crisis (1985)
4. Knife - Aztec Camera (1984)
5. New Live And Rare (Japan only) - Aztec Camera (1988)
6. OMD (Remastered) - OMD (1980)
7. Floating Into The Night (Japan press) - Julee Cruise (1986)
8. Pipes Of Peace (Remastered) - Paul McCartney (1983)
9. Compendium The Fontana Trinity - The Lilac Time (2001)
10. Spin Dazzle - Boy George/Culture Club (1992)

I'm going back to visit the other 2 branches!

Louder Than Bombs

So my 34th birthday - and the first I've spent overseas since my UK university days - turned out to be a lot more exciting than I bargained for. Six bombs went off in Bangkok at about 6pm, and then another three at around midnight. I was out when the first batch of bombs went off. We had just finished shopping at the new Central World Plaza and were on our way to Hero Athletic Men's Club. Traffic was unusually heavy but we thought that was just because of the road closures around the Pathumwan area where the major malls were (they were going to have a countdown street party).

We stole a cab from some locals outside some department store and merrily went off to Hero, which is in Sukhumvit. I think one of those bombs might have gone off one skytrain station away further up the road about the time we were at Hero. At the club, where one looks through giant glass windows at a roomful of muscle guys before deciding which one you would choose to give you a "massage", we all noticed all the Thai guys were glued to the TV. But the sound was off and the images of blood on the floor at a night market implied some sort of street fight, not a bomb.

Later, when we left at about 8pm, one of my friends got an SMS from his Thai friends telling him to be careful - that there would be "some bombing tonight". It was only when we got back to the hotel and I switched on the TV that I had realised what happened. We cancelled our plans to go to DJ Station that night - I couldn't imagine everyone trying to rush out of such a crowded place should anything happen there. The rest of the night was spent watching TV and fielding SMSes from concerned friends in Singapore. At midnight, there was a lot of scattered fireworks, but amid the explosions three more bombs went off (even as I was remarking to E. that you can't tell the sound of one from the other).

Apparently, many people still went out and DJ Station was packed (all of E.'s friends went after midnight). Which sums up, really, what I learnt this trip about the devil-may-care party spirit that's Bangkok.