Happy New Year !!!

They always ask: How was your dinner sir?

In my mind, I am thinking do you really want to know?
And why do you always ask when I am about to kiss the date?


Well it was a direct reflection of the times. We had called in advance and they specifically mentioned that gluten-free was a priority. Guess what? The cauliflower soup was topped with a piece of fried dough (see above). Makes us wonder what was going on back there and it certainly gives us confidence in the 'gluten free' main course (Turbot with grilled fennel, fingerling pototoes, roasted grapes and topped with a balsamic vinegrette reduction) .

The main course was fine but the atmosphere for a five diamond restaurant is a scary reflection that yes, folks this is the last day of 2008 (a global financial tsunami has arrived).

Teresa and I kept our bearings as we looked forward to the countdown and smiled
for the camera.














There was no gluten-free pastries (although we've been promised these pastries for the countdown) and the creme brulee was not acceptable. Try it one time. To compare and tell the difference: Remove the sugar glazed topping and you'll be able to see/taste if there are any flaws. It is an experience worth having (pic from December 30th of the creme brulee bleh)














So we got our fruit plates. And we had mentioned make sure no pineapples, oranges, berries (this is because the berries were moldy from an earlier meal, pineapples didn't taste right etc). Well, they forgot and we ended our fruit plate with yet another mistake.

Raw & Uncut (dinner occupancy view #1)



Raw & Uncut (dinner occupancy view #2)



But despite all the gloom and doom. A few hugs, kisses, dances and soon everything will be forgotten. Our friends stayed up until the wee hours doing their jig hoping to do a money dance back into 'la-la' land and pretend that may things will be different when we all wake up in 2009. Sweet dreams! =D














Counting down with AnD's shout box!!

Financial Markets -Last trading day of 2008, Welcome 2009 -the year of solutions

According to one AnD reader: green is good! Well then, the last trading day is good! Another day of green.

Right before the countdown, there is talk of a massive zero percent financing package for vehicles where you don't need to pay interest for 60 months/5 yrs of freedom!! Under the current situation, this maybe the best option. The real truth will be seen when every American rushes to get their new cars. And for the manufactures, they get to remove/reduce their inventory without giving cashback. Zero percent financing is a tried and true method that works everytime. Pay attention to the advertisements and you should these popping up for Lincoln, Ford, Mercury deals!

Solving the glut in oversupply of new and used homes requires a similar methodology to the auto credit/borrowing extension. 30 year fixed mortgages will be a thing of the past and welcome the 40/50 year fixed mortgages. What does this really mean? It will take you 10/20 additional years to attain the same equity in your home. In essence, if a 30 year old individuals bought a home, their home loan would be paid off by the time they reached 70/80 yrs old. The loan would be guaranteed a certain rate and banks can choose to keep or phase out the program. For now, it will help solve the credit crunch, the oversupply of homes and allow lower monthly payments.

They say time heals everything. So if we give it more time, the healing will come. In 2009, we will give a warm welcome to the 40/50 yr mortgage.

December 31st 2008, The Night of the Countdown (The Hotel Saga)

Once again, I'm wearing the same clothing until I get my change of clothing. The haircut with Mayumi will be scheduled for January 2nd. Longer hair for now.

So far the following items have been problematic:

(1) Pineapples

(2) Pears

(3) Apples

(4) Blackberry -moldy top

(5) Pomegranate -rotten

(6) Pork dish #2-burnt

(7) Pork dish #1- undercooked, raw to the cut

(8) Crab meat -burnt/extremely salty -see earlier blog posting (both plates)

So far for today, the executive chef came out and the Food & Beverage manager explained that due to the collapse of various managerial empires, there has been a fallout in quality. As a Diamond Hotel, our food was specially managed today. I'll include photos of tonights New Year's Eve Dinner shortly (dinner is at 10pm -2hrs before 2009).

Dinner is Served (The Hotel Saga)

Plate #1 (Gordon)













Plate #2 (Teresa)

For two days has been filled with diarrhea after the each of the meals.

Lunch was an experience with very burnt pork.

Dinner is served:

Crab cake. Unsuccessfully put together. Promises were made that they could create crabcake without gluten. The chef came out and offered to make crab sauteed with asparagus. We agreed and tried to work with him. The result was severely burnt crab and an extremely salty dish. Are you kidding me? Can you believe this?!

After the complaint, we made some calls and learned from upper management, that our experience is only the tip of the iceberg. The complications stem from prior to the buyout and current budget constraints are preventing guests from obtaining quality in service and food. The story is not a simple one for the Blackstone purchase of the Hilton Group. According to the Wall Street Journal's February 2008 earlier analysis and our current experience, the problems could be very deep indeed.

Romance Package? (The Hotel Saga)

The diminishing amount of customers and people dining out has caused an abundance of food sitting out to dry. We literally put limes and lemons in our water that were over dried and not a drop of juice came out.

As you can see from the plaque on the wall: this is four diamond AAA awarded hotel.

What does the package: Romance Package mean? Well, we got these wonderful pink sheets that offered full breakfast/dinner entrees and bottles of champagne. Seems like a comforting way to enjoy the next two weeks.

We made sure that gluten free food could be accommodated and management gave us their promise. I also informed them that we cannot have sulfite containing champagne and we would take bottled water instead. The Hotel Saga is a showcase of the nightmare that begins with Poland Spring bottled water?! For a six star hotel and 4 diamond AAA rating, after management learned about our Poland Spring Water, the replacement with VOSS was provided.

Stay tuned ...

Post Christmas Breakfast (The Hotel Saga)

Here on the mainland (USA): The first meal of the day (breakfast) is filled with surprises! Stained silverware (hmmm ...) , poached eggs, and fresh pineapples. This was at a level six hotel (i.e. six star) and it was surprising how quiet things were. Occupancy has been extremely low. You'd think this would correlate to more focus on the remaining guests for service.

Ever since 2005 (been gluten-free), worked with chefs to create meals to optimize body weight but stained silverware has not been on the menu. I have a long stretch of stays at this hotel so the verdict is not totally out yet.

At $4/egg x 4eggs + $10 a plate of pineapples = $26 USD. It would seem that our stay is 'compensating' for the other empty rooms. At these prices, quality seems to be indirectly correlated.

Christmas Eve

After the Caribbean and pre-Christmas surprises

In many ways, I was really excited to be able to scoop things up at basement bargain prices. For example, at Circuit City, DVDs were so cheap that 29.99 prices rang up to be 1.99!!! This is amazing and extremely sad. Each time we leave for a few weeks and come back, the picture gets worse and worse. They were playing the song Silent Night at Linen & Things and it was downright depressing. The staff was completely depressed and when I asked them where they would be after the holidays, one of them replied, "we don't know, time for a loooong vacation".

Aftermath

Part 1:Lose everything in four hours

Here it is ... the live story. This is how close we were and right in the path of the disaster. Stay tuned for more.

Near Death Experience & Saving Lives ...

It was a nice day, research was going on (as usual). We lived in a house only ~20 feet from the ocean. And then, it happened.

How fragile is life?

This is a near death experience with possibilities of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for the four victims (The homeowner, his wife, Teresa and myself). Right now, we're all alive.

Recollections from yesterday:

(1) I heard a noise coming from outside the guest house, the time was around 3pm.

(2) When I walked outside, Teresa and I were hit by a blast of hot heat hotter than when you open the oven door (and it was a windy day so that will tell you how close we were to the fire).

(3) The homeowner (male, 76 y.o.) attempted to put out the small fire that started in the main house with a garden hose. The situation became really awful ... when the propane tank exploded and blasted him (that must have been the sound we heard in (1).

(4) The homeowner's wife took the car and rushed for help.

(5) Help arrived only 30-40 minutes later (concerned locals only, there is no fire department on the island).

(6) By this time, the fire had grown and was blazing 30 feet into the air.

(7) The homeowner came over to see me and his face was grey, he had second degree burns on all four extremities and injuries to the abdomen from the flash.

(8) He sat down only 15 feet from the fire in front of our guest house and fainted.

(9) Within minutes of fainting, he was incontinent (loss of urinary control) and had urinated onto the floor.

(10) The fire was unmanageable and 50 persons arrived to attempt to put out the flames.

(11) The entire housing burned down even though we were only 20 feet from the ocean.

I would like to tell everyone more. Eventually, I am sure I will think about how Teresa and I could have died in the fire. Right now saving lives is #1, heroes and heroines are needed and there is no time to think about anything else. The situation is unfolding ... please send your best wishes for all involved.

Caribbean Car Troubles? Solutions Tend to Evolve with Time ...

Question #1: Does the salt water in the air cause damages to your laptop or computers?

Dr. Chiu's Answer: No, this is not a problem. Laptop & computers age fast enough themselves and begin to slow for unknown reasons making replacement within 3-4 years. On the island, computers and workstations from 1998 are still operational. If you're looking for durability, Fujitsu makes the hardest and most durable laptop shells: http://www.fujitsu.com/global/services/computing/

Question #2: How about the vehicles? How do they do in this environment?

Dr. Chiu's Answer: This is not a straightforward answer. Paved roads definitely affect the lifespan on the vehicle, most vehicle problems are created by driving off-road with a regular vehicle. In the Caribbean, an honest dealership is only part of the 'other' problem. The main cause is the distribution and sales of problematic vehicles even before they are driven or arrive on the island. The following attachments are problems coming directly from the Mitsubishi line of cars. Only after multitude/decade of consumer losses is a trend identified and a case study observed.

Question #3: What should the consumer do?

Dr. Chiu's Answer: With the internet revolution, talking about your problems has always empowered the consumer to keep businesses honest. Consumers don't deserve the short end of the stick. In modern society, trust online communities of information creates alternative solutions that are here to stay. One solution that arises from a decade of dishonesty is that saavy consumers will just buy direct via online auctions (i.e. importing your own). In the link provided, for a rough & easy conversion, just knock off the two zeros and you've got US dollars (actual:daily rate). As of today, you can get a 2005 used Honda Accord with 50,000 miles, good 4.0/6.0 rating at 200,000 yen = 2239.51 USD!! You ask why? In today's economy, sometimes people just want to get some cash for emergency purposes and these kinds of deals happen all the time. And how much is the import tax for used cars ? (~30+% and the price then is 3,000 USD ... it really makes one wonder about the prices of vehicles). Is the international bailout of the US & UK auto industry happening because `perhaps` smarter consumers are no longer willing to overpay thousands of dollars for their vehicle(s)? The new cars in the auto industry will not work with small customers buying direct but in the used market ... there are no such rules. And as long as you avoid certain toxic brands, you're home free!

Caribbean Living & The Extinction of the Seeded Watermelon

Yes, it is true that the original seeded watermelon is becoming extinct very fast. Even places that you can find seeds have hybrized flaws. The valuation of a seeded watermelon is set to skyrocket by 10-20 fold with current valuation already at $10-12 USD for a single watermelon REGARDLESS of weight. These original seeds are not terminator seeds (Genetic Use Restriction Technology) . Most consumers will never understand or hear about SUICIDE SEED technology and prevention of unauthorized seed saving. This is a very complex issue but it concerns you and will concern everyone very shortly.

And if you've never tasted "the original seeded watermelons", you're in for a surprise. It tastes substantially more satisfying and is "an experience" beyond your typical terminator seeds or seedless kinds.

Should this right be restricted because there is a greedy farmer looking to sabotage the corporations?