deflation, inflation which one is worse?

物價不斷的飆漲，米、小麥、油價，幾乎所有的民生必需品都一一看漲 (已經不是 "悄悄"在漲了)

今年的光是泡麵就漲了兩次，食用油 (因為本人不太煮菜，不是很清楚漲的次數，不過，相信食用油價錢的漲幅絕對不輸給泡麵) 奶粉、乳製品等也一同共襄盛舉的漲。物價不斷的攀升所會造成最明顯也最迅速會反映的結果就是---貨幣的流量變小，民眾花錢變保守，企業低價速銷 (最後導致售價低於成本)，這樣的情形就是一個經濟學常聽到的字「通貨緊縮」(deflation)所在形容的。如果放任不管的話，經濟最終就是變成一灘死水~~~

各國央行為了挽救經濟，均將短期利率壓低至零 (或近零) 水準，但是這樣的處理，倘若處理不當，他的結果有可能就是轉變成不可逆轉的通膨(inflation)壓力。

通膨、通縮 不管是哪一個過多時，都會對經濟帶來極大的衝擊。要如何在兩者之間取得平衡，正是現在各國政府要煩惱的難題。

The WORST 5 star hotel I have ever stayed----Pullman Bangkok King Power

Days before our 11-day suntan honeymoon trip, I told myself, I SO have to write something about this trip~~~ especially about the awful service attitude and inefficiency of PULLMAN, this "FIVE STAR" hotel.

We chose to spend our first 4 days holiday in 「Pullman Bangkok King Power」. You may notice 「King Power」 this name, CORRECT!! this hotel is associated company of King Power and just located next to the so-called biggest DFS in the South East Asia-- King Power!!

1, Service Attitude: Just within 10-15 mins checkin, we had 「eye wild shut」by their receptionists' 「EFFICIENT」and 「UNIQUE」 service attitude . Why would I say so?! During the 10-15 mins checkin neither of the two receptionists looked up to talk with us, they just HAD FUN with their paper form or keyboard, doing the muttering all the time, God knows whether they were talking to us or just for their own pleasure?! Also, these two receptionists always said NO to all my questions. Ex: me: may we stay in the room which can receive more sunshine in the morning? receptionist: NO!! FULLY BOOKED!! THIS IS THE ONLY ROOM WE HAVE!!; me: How much discount we will have if we have meal or drink in the restaurant/ bar inside the hotel? receptionist: NO! NO DISCOUNT!! (you may check their Restaurant Promotions it clearly stats: 10-20% discount for the in house guest, simply want to confirm this with the receptionist...however, the answer i got is always negative) Well, in some ways, always say NO to the guest should be an alternative SUPER EFFICIENT (cus they customer would stop asking more questions) and easy (cus all they need is to say NO) way for the receptionist. (well, maybe always SAYING NO TO GUEST is Pullman's SOP?!)

2. English ability: As a staff working in five star hotel, the basic english conversation shall not be an impossible or harsh request. But, based on our 4-day staying in Pullman, we found no matter you go to talk with the front desk in person, face to face or make call to the room service, most of the time, it's very unlikely you would get what exactly you ask for. Ex: one night, i called the front desk, said we would need 1 bottle of 「bath gel」 mins after...they gave us 2 bottles of 「shampoo」 (well, i bet their bath gel is out of stock )

tired of those hotel which provide "Standard" service? tired of seeing those "Standard" smile face in the front desk? Want to experience lazy and CREATIVE service which would provide you lots of unexpected surprise?! If so, Pullman Bangkok King Power shall be the BEST choice!!

one more time, Pullman Bangkok King Power link: Pullman Bangkok King Power

Add two slices of tomato in your burger doesn't mean you have healthy diet

除了金融危機外，美國也同時的面臨著「肥胖危機」。肥胖帶來的不僅帶來外觀的困擾，更帶來疾病 (高血壓、糖尿病等慢性疾病)、醫療資源浪費、健康保險費用超支等等問題。

上星期一美國公佈的健康飲食guideline清楚的寫到「EAT LESS」。相較以前各種的飲食指南所寫的 (ex: 多吃蔬菜水果，多喝水少喝飲料，少糖少鹽)，這次公布的健康飲食guideline就很 "直接" 的告訴消費者，每餐的食物中，"至少"要有一半是蔬菜或是水果 (因為總是會有速食店主張吃他們的食物也是可以攝取到均衡的飲食。因為在cheese burger 裡總是有著稀疏的蔬菜和薄薄兩片蕃茄) 這樣的行銷手法，在這次新公佈的健康飲食guideline中就不攻自破了。

除了直接將蔬菜水果的攝取量清楚告訴消費者外，這次的guideline中已清楚的強調有關: 全麥、糙米、鈉的攝取量。(當然，前兩項請多吃，後面那個....少吃點) (尤其針對鈉的攝取量，報告就直接寫出了數字來告訴大家，每人每天應該只攝取1,500 毫克的量，不過大多數的人都有攝取到2,300毫克的鈉。但是最厲害的還是山姆大叔的子民們，每天都有攝取到3,400毫克!!)

這樣的低糖、低脂、低鈉的飲食觀念不僅僅需要媒體不斷的推廣以及消費者對飲食品質的要求，最重要的還是政府大力的推廣，Michelle Obama在她先生努力推廣health insurance policy的同時，則是大力的推廣健康飲食的觀念。她不斷的呼籲主要食品廠商，使用低糖、低脂、少鹽等更健康的配方，並應減少對兒童行銷不利健康的食品。Kraft Foods(美國最大的食品製造商)和Wal-Market 則先後的回應Michelle Obama的主張。紛紛提出了5年內生產低糖、低鹽、低油脂產品的生產計畫。

除了食品製造商的回應，蔬菜、水果的初始業: 農業。也必須一同響應。(EX: 政府提供相對的補助，用以刺激農人多種植蔬菜、水果) 讓蔬菜、水果的產量提高並降低其售價。讓消費者可以以低廉的價格買到並吃到健康的食品。

農曆年機將到來，過年期間瓜子、開心果、餅乾等零食以及從除夕就要開始吃的大餐 (又來到一年一度的堆脂肪假期)。前面這些健康飲食指南，我想….還是等過年後在慢慢來執行吧!

Happy Lunar New Year to everyone, wish you all a great joy & happiness in the Year of Rabbit.

related news: Government’s Dietary Advice: Eat Less

回教世界的騷動

突尼西亞一個攤販的自焚抗議，透過網路的便利及廣播，導致了革命並且造成總統流亡。這樣的社會反動在相對保守低調的回教社會中是難以想像的。中東的部落客們說著: it's time for us to speak out!!　

低迷的經濟，不斷攀升的物價。當人民吃不保穿不暖，卻又看到迂腐貪婪的政府時，其實網路扮演的角色僅是臨門一腳。

反動的風氣現在轉到了埃及，旅客和有能力暫時離開開羅的人，大多都在機場等待著來接他們離開的飛機。那，那些無法離開開羅的人們呢?

"至今，已經有4天沒有裝貨櫃離開Alexandria港(埃及最大的港口)了。埃及現在有許多的商業活動都呈現暫停的狀態"一位在碼頭工作的工人這樣的說著 (For four days now, containers arriving on ships have been stacking up at Egypt’s largest port, shipping company employees and truck drivers here said. With distribution networks barely functioning and the Internet down since Thursday night, much of business in Egypt has nearly ground to a halt.)

民生物價開始飆漲，洋蔥、蕃茄無一不漲，天然氣也無法運輸了。"已經4天了，基於安全的原因，貨物留在原地無法運輸出去" Egyptian Navigation Company的協理: "我們也不知道，這樣的情況還會維持多久。畢竟，決定權並不在我們的手上。"

因為這樣的動亂，各國對埃及紛紛開出旅遊警示。遊客少了，這對靠觀光旅遊生存的埃及無疑是一大打擊。外人投資，因為這樣的動盪不安，勢必是會降低的。

Salah Medin，一位在在精鍊廠工作的人，告訴記者: "前幾天，我才接到電話得知我們公司的經理在抗議活動中被殺了。"

Medin: "這!!是我們為自由付出的代價"

但是，這樣的代價還要付出多久，如果到時真的推翻了政府，埃及需要幾個月或是幾年的時間回復安穩的日子? 相信，無論是在家裡數著還有多少米飯可以吃的家庭主婦或是在外抗爭的人群相同的疑問。

read more: Political Crisis Starts to Be Felt Economically

Do we get a lesson?! Apparently NO!!

The financial storm started from 2008 to 20XX (believe most of us feel we're now in the storm STILL) great recession is the phrase ppl love to use to describe the situation we're facing. "Subprime Mortgage", "Foreclosure" "Merrill Lynch" and "leman brother" have become THE phrases represent for year 2008-2010.

Economist, financial experts, government are all trying to fix what have happened while rest experts are trying to find out why is this happen?! Could we stop it if we did anything in advance?!

Have a look at the 576-page report released on last Thursday, you will be piss of cus those ppl who should be responsible for what had happened but now they moved to other department do the same job and some of them even moved to a better position, all in all they're unscathed!!

Bank left only a few capital for the potential losses. "By one measure, for about every $40 in assets, the nation’s five largest investment banks had only $1 in capital to cover losses, meaning that a 3 percent drop in asset values could have wiped out the firm." (quoted from the report)

So...whose fault?! The government who failed oversee this or those greedy banker with amazing gut?! Most important of all~~~ do we learn a lesson from this?! Based on what had happened and what are happening now.... i will say...apparently NO!! (yea yea~~~~ i know, the government is trying to fix it....but not good enough.. i must say~~~)

related new: Financial Crisis Was Avoidable, Inquiry Finds