Travelogue around Asia Pacific

There is a trend that GST (Good and Services Tax) or Value-Added Tax will be implemented throughout Asia Pacific. Tomorrow (1st July), Singapore businesses will switch from 5% to 7% GST, a 2% tax hike. Comparing Asia Pacific countries to European Union (EU), you will find that the majority of governments in the Asia Pacific region that impose GST or VAT do so at comparatively low rates between 5 to 12.5% (with the exception of China), and on average at a rate far below the norm in the EU where rates range from 15 to 25%. VAT and GST are the two of the fastest growing taxes globally with no less than 140 countries operating a VAT/GST system, reflecting a global trend by governments to focus on the certainty of revenues from indirect taxes. When Singapore first introduced GST in 1994, the tax was responsible for approximately 11% of government tax revenue, in the last financial year, that proportion had nearly double to around 20%. This trend is set to increase with the impending GST hik...

Singapore - Bak Chang is here finally. "Bak Chang" is the hokkien name for rice dumplings. The Mandarin name is called "Zong Zi" - this is also the only time when my mum-in-law makes hundreds of Bak Chang and give to our family in couple of tens. When I was in KL, I tried some rice dumplings from " YY Famous dumplings " @ Mid Valley Megamall - very tasty about RM4-5 each. They have Cantonese Chang, Nonya Chang, Hakka Chang, Chicken Chang and Golden Chang. I tried they Hakka Chang, Golden Chang and Chicken Chang. Now a days, you can buy Bak Chang every day, not only during Duan Wu Jie. My regular 'kuek' or cake stall sells Nonya chang (sweet and no soy sauce is used in the preparation so the skin is whiter) or Cantonese chang (salty with chestnut). Tradition Bak Chang or Zong Zi is traditionally eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival (Duan Wu Jie) which falls on the fifth day of the fifth moon of the Chinese calendar (approximately early- to mid-Jun...

You can feel the summer heat when you alight from the aircraft at Guangzhou International Airport. Unfortunately, there are no air-conditioning in the aero-bridge so you can feel the heat hitting your skin straight away. The Guangzhou airport is huge and modern. The taxi took about 45 minutes to reach The Garden Hotel (located at 368, Huanshi East Road) - a five star international hotel. The wall-to-wall panel at the reception area was impressive in gold colour of Chinese impressions. I was expecting a 'shoe-box' size room but surprisingly the rooms are spacious, clean, nicely decorated and comes with free internet access. The lobby is spaceous and gives a grandeur feeling to the hotel with the focal point being the water fall in the garden - with obvious reasons why it is called "The Garden Hotel". A very centrally located hotel with their staff ever willing to help. This is my second trip to Guangzhou - the last time was via a train from Hong Kong for a day meeting....

Singapore - Yes, it is - today's is Father's day. To me everyday is Father's day...the screaming, shouting and chasing my children to do their homework. To play an active part of their life is important but it is tough. My Dad made it a point to get me things which are practical whenever he goes shopping - I am 42 and he stills gives me shirts, shoes, and shorts on days when I visit him. The thought that he still thinks about me when he goes shopping made it special. My casual wardrobe are filled with my dad's practical gifts. On this special day, my youngest son gave me one month ago - a $1 - this is worth millions as that is all he had - it means so much to me. My second son, got me a can of deodrant and my eldest got me a packet of cuttlefish. It's the thought that counts. Today, I took them to the park and spend time playing with them. To my father - a Happy Father's day.

Kuala Lumpur Do you know where you can cruise inside a shopping mall? It is The Mines Shopping Fair and is the only shopping mall you can cruise via their water taxis. You can get from one point of the Lake to the other. Our partner, Zaki suggested that we go to the Mines Shopping Fair for lunch - it was interesting to have a small 'man-made' river in the middle of the shopping mall. Nando's Chicken - was the restaurant we had lunch and it's a spanish restaurant - the food is good and tasty. Looking from our table beside the river, we were surprised to find a large number of fishes within it. The restaurant uses the fishes as their 'automatic food disposal' - the waiter chuck everything off the completed diner's plate into the river - chicken bones, rice, potatoes - everything and the fishes just gobbled them up. It is no wonder they are so fat and huge. After the lunch - Zaki surprised me by booking a cruise around the Mines Resort - it was a cruise t...

Kuala Lumpur SMART and smarter... Do you know what SMART stands for? Becuase of the severe flooding in Klang valley on Sunday - it rained continuously for 6 hours which burst the banks the Klang and Gombak rivers; and flooded most of Klang valley at heights of 1-2 metres - the SMART project will be completed one week ahead of schedule. SMART means "Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel" Construction began in 2003 for SMART – the longest and most technologically advanced tunnel in Malaysia to date. The 13.2m diameter tunnel consists of a 9.7km stormwater bypass tunnel, with a 4km dual-deck motorway within the stormwater tunnel. The main purpose of SMART is to solve the problem of flash flooding in Kuala Lumpur and also to reduce traffic jams during the daily rush hour. I rode once into the tunnel with Donny and it was impressive and it has three modes before converting the motorway into stormwater tunnel - it would not be pleasant to be caught at the conversion....LOL. The SMA...

Kuala Lumpur - Arrived on SQ with Phill to KL - and we quickly zipped past the 'taxi touts' on KLIA express straight into Sentral station. We were booked into Boulevard Hotel - a new hotel part of the IGB Corporation Group . A Malaysian conglomorate that includes many hotels including the Midvalley Megamall. The location of Mid Valley is strategically located between KL and PJ (Petaling Jaya). Boulevard hotel - a four star hotel located just 2 minutes walk to the MidValley Megamall on the Ground floor. The rooms are neat and clean, has good internet access and the rates includes breakfast -at RM260 for deluxe room - I think it is a good rate. At the Megamall, there are so many restaurants and shops on 5 floors - and I heard the megamall is developing to make this even bigger. The Equire Kitchen (located on the ground floor of the mall) - $$ - Popular among locals for its homestyle Chinese food. The decor is fuss-free, clean and bright. Reasonably priced - tried their famous c...

Seoul - After going through 5 meetings in a day - it is time to relax in a traditonal Korean environment. Today was a very busy day..... Oops...what is Sam Gyub Sal ? It means "Three layers Pork or pork belly" and is one of the delicacies in Korea. Tonight, I had Sam-gyub-sal so instead of Beef on BBQ - this is pork on BBQ and it is very delicious. The Koreans have made eating BBQ an art - the metal plate for BBQ-ing the pork is tilted so that the fatty oil can drip slowly into a container at the end of it. At the end of 2 dishes of BBQ pork - looking at the container, it was amazing to find so much fatty oil. This dish consists of thin slices of pork belly meat served in the same fashion as galbi - the pork is cooked on a grill at the table. The custom here is to pick up the cooked pork and placed inside a lettuce or any green leafy vegetables provided, add a slice of garlic diped into chilli paste. Wrapped it up and put it into your mouth...ooh so delicious. Soju, a Korean ...

Seoul - This will be my fifity-third trip to Seoul since 1993. The arrival into Seoul was as expected, when the plane landed and was taxing on the runway - many Koreans start to stand and open the overhead compartment. This happens every time I come to Seoul. Today, I rented a phone from LG Mobile and it is cheap @ KW3,000 (about US$3/day) with all incoming calls free. The weather is cool and nice at about 22 degrees Celsius. This time around I am staying at a different hotel from my usual , and my first stay at Grand Hilton Seoul @ 201-1 Hongeun-dong, Seodaemun-Ku. It is about 1hr from the Incheon airport via Limousine bus. I paid KW8,000 for the ride to the hotel - it is different route and located quite a distance away from the Seoul city centre. I had to be vigilant otherwise I will miss my stop - also I let the bus driver know that I am stopping at Grand Hilton Seoul. Fortunately, he understood - when the bus arrived at the destination, I got down and the hotel was just opposite ...

Do you know where the largest Mall in the World is? Clue...somewhere in Asia. I think Malls are finding it hard to be distinct - there are so many malls in Asia that a "Unique Selling Point" is important. Most of the Malls today, have customer service and their level of services are very high - some distinct themselves by call it "Concierge" but basically means the same thing. To attract customers back over and over again is tough - there must a certain awe to going shopping, dinning or be entertained there. Asian countries are touted to house many of the world's most unique malls and the largest in the World. The malls are known to provide "shoppertainment" with a variety of popular retailers to an array of in-house entertainment such as indoor skiing to theme parks. Asia is also home to some of the top shopping destinations in the world - Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok. Other countries like Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur are working hard to be in that s...