When Changing Money for Overseas Travel, choose money changer with smallest 'spread'

This might seem elementary for some, but whenever I travel overseas, and need to change a reasonable sum of money, it is better to change at a downtown money changer. The reason is that, they offer a smaller 'spread' between buying the S$ in exchange for (say) Thai Baht and when I return the remaining money can be sold back to the same exchange centre or similar for minimal loss.

For example, if I changed $1000 at today's rate, the Changi Bureau de Change gives me a rate of S$ 1 for BHT 20.8.  So for $1000 changed, I would receive BHT 20,800.

If after my short trip, and I used only credit cards and changed back the BHT 20,800. The rate they 'buy' from me is BHT 25 for S$ 1. Hence, that 20,800 would change back to S$ 832.

I would have lost $168 in the process or $18.80 for every $100 I changed to BHT and did not spend. That's 16.8 %.  A huge commission for the money exchanger.

The spread by the money changers in Changi is 25 - 20.8 or 4.2 ; 

Look at the Thai airport, for every S$ 1000 I changed, I would get BHT 21,350. So when I left Thailand and changed back, the 21,350 would change (sell BHT to get S$) 21,350 divide by 22.75 or I get back S$ 938. 

I would still lose S$ 62 per S$ 1,000 or S$ 6.2 per $100 changed. 

But the spread is less 22.75 - 21.35 or 1.4    

In this recent trip of mine, as I did not have the luxury of time (perhaps poor time management on my part), I bought Thai Baht at the Suvanabhum airport and sold Thai Baht on my return at the Suvanabhum airport before heading back. 

What's the Best Way to Save On the Exchange Rate ? 

Estimate as accurately how much I need tor the trip in cash. 

Before going on trips, if need to change money,  estimate as accurately how much you expect to spend in cash. If you spend up to 95% of the cash you convert, well then good for you. You needn't have to change back the money to your local currency. 

Go to any money changer in town 

(Chinatown People's Park Complex has many, little India too , as well as Harborfront).They should offer you a better exchange rate. That is more foreign currency to sell to you when you buy with your Singapore dollars)

Buy what you need for your trip 

They should offer you easily BHT 21.8 to BHT 22 per S$

Choose the One with the Smallest Spread

Normally they will not post the spread so clearly on the electronic board, but the spread normally is  way smaller than what the Bureau de Change or money changers offer to you at the Changi Airport terminals. Choose the Money Changer with the Smallest Spread.  They are all quite competitive, hence the downtown changers will not deviate much from each other. 

Return to the same money changer 

Change money back to your S$ currency with the same exchange which offers smallest spread. This way you can pare the loss if you need to change back to S$ currency.  

  

Bangkok Sukhumvit 63, 112 / 3 Best Soupy Bee Hoon : My Review

The exterior of this non discrepit shop is almost non existent for tourists 

I am a sucker for a nice bee hoon (while vermicelli) soup, and there has been none finer of late than this little coffee shop, located along Sukhumvit 63. I will post the actual address below.

The bee hoon bowls come in 2 sizes Small and Large. Fresh from a short trip to Thailand, I tried the small bowl for 60 Bath (or about S$ 2.80 or US$ 2.20). The vermicelli was very soft yet springy and the condiments were spring onions, some shallots,  minced pork and there was fried pork dumplings, pork balls and some fish cake. 

The soup pork bone broth was rich and very tasty.  with spring onions, pork bone stock, some minced pork  

The owners are a husband and wife team probably in their '40s.

Today, I ordered the large bowl of bee hoon t'ng (soup) and was very pleased at the offerings (see below). Some tau foo (bead curd), pork ball, fish cake, fish ball, a streamed dumpling, a fried dumpling, minced pork, shallots, spring onions - the works.

It was springy yet soft and very flavourful. The spring onions were freshly cut and the dumplings were all cooked very recently. There is some fish sauce added to the soup to make it an extremely tasty offering for breakfast or lunch. The large bowl costs Baht 70 or S$ 3.50 (US$ 2.80) but very satisfying to say the least. 

The Piece de Resistance 

My Review

Taste      : 4.8 / 5

Location :  Subjective

Price      :  4.5 / 5  (OK, I am biased but the large bowl can fill your lunch cravings)

Service   :  4 / 5  

Overall  Value :  4. 4 / 5  (Excellent)


Bee Hoon Soup (Sukhumvit 63 , Ekkamai district, nearest BTS Ekkamai station)

112 / 3 Sukhumvit 63 
Opposite Don Don : Donki BUilding.

Try it and see for yourself 

Jiminez to the rescue for Wolves against Arsenal

The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse. More and More like Fiction to Me.

"The four riders on white, red, black, and pale horses symbolizing pestilence, war, famine, and death, respectively."  Rev. 6:2–8.

In the book of Revelations in the Bible, the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalype namely 

a) pestilience
b) war
c) famine
d) death

would signal the end of time. As we enter bravely into the 3rd millennium after the birth of Jesus Christ (AD 2020), the 4 Horsemen look more and more like 4 fictional characters from the latest Pikachu or Cosplay movie.

War
With the multipolar world, the world has mitigated the threat of war. Yes, there are numerous countries with nuclear capability, however, that scenario in itself is a no-win game. If we go down that path, it is Mutually Assured Destruction. The probability of this happening is quite low, I would assume.

Wars are still fought on regional and sectoral levels. However, the art of diplomacy has replaced the threat war. The winner takes all the riches as in the Game of Thrones or in the past is no longer relevant nowadays. Wars are namely fought mainly for independence of the unique peoples and not to gain riches of the enemy as in the past.

Famine
The world is facing an obesity and diseases related to obesity are much more than compared to famine. Thanks to the efforts of many courageous NGOs and the United Nations, there are  more people dying from obesity and high blood pressure than from starvation. That is a fact now.

Pestilence  
The advancement of medicine and the swiftness of the frontline doctors and scientists in finding cures, for diseases such as the SARS, bird 'flu and others gives me confidence that another pandemic on the scale of the Black Death in Europe and parts of Asia is highly unlikely to occur.

Thanks to almost 200 years of genuine advances in medicine and science, most of these diseases caused by virues and bacteria are well under control.  

SUBNOTE : Today is 27th March 2020. The world is in the throes of a Global Pandemic called Covid 19. I admit I was too optimistic in saying that Pestilence is well under control. So, given time perhaps by the end of the year, we will have the vaccine. By that time, the world as we know it will have changed totally in the way people meet, entertain and communicate. 

So I am wrong on this count ! 

Death
Everyone succumbs to death. However, as the world is becoming more automated and the convergence of human and bioengineering. DNA and Genome sequencing are will become very mainstream as a result, we will have super or Alpha humans who will be living  much longer and healthier lives. People who are born today in developed societies with the advancement of medicine, proper nutrition and exercise, can expect to live well past 100 years of age.

Japan is one such rapidly aging society. 


The 4 Horsemen ? Well, its time they rode off into the sunset just all those comic characters whose time and relevance have gone. 

They wont be missed.  Really. 

14th March 2020 Addendum - Pestilience 

I was wrong on this count ; we are now in the midst of a global Pandemic called the Covid 19. While the mortality rate of this as a percentage of the infected remains low (about 2 - 3 %), the rate of transmission and the scale of escalation of this Coronavirus is unprecendeted in modern times. 

At the time of writing, there are over 140,000 cases and mortality globally of 3.2% of the infected. There are close to 80,000 who have recovered fully and this is indeed an encouraging sign. 

The only thing to fear is fear itself and we must keep calm, wash our hands often, don't touch our faces, practice common sense and social distancing  to keep our mental spirits up and wait for a vaccine which will surely come sooner rather than later.

Israel's Government Migal Galilee Research Institute is about to begin production of a coronavirus vaccine for the COVID 19, although the general population will only get one probably in 6 months earliest.

So, we had better learn to live with the risk of infection and stay as healthy and strong both physically and mentally possible.

Carpe Diem !! 

Sorry Just doesn't cut it. The divisions of 'class' is again being brought up on social media

I am taking a selfie and the bird gives me the bird. Crap !

The recent apology by the Whampoa condominium resident to the security officer has struck a raw nerve amongst many Singaporeans.He has struck a chord about the (perceived) differences about the difference in living in public and private housing estates. 

What I am writing reflects many Singaporeans' feelings about the issue. I think "sorry" just doesnt' cut it.This guy is beyond stupid. A moron of the highest order. 

He has in this few short minutes of a viral video, highlighted and made it painfully aware with his insensitive words and actions about "this is not HDB" and with the unspoken inferences which the ruling Government had tried so hard to do in the last few decades. 
Try to reduce the inequality of living in public housing, which in my opinion (especially for the new HDB flats), like BTO and the like are of very high quality. 

Maintenance by the housing Residents Committees are also of very high standard of responsiveness and upkeep. 

Living in HDB is as good as if not better (in some instances) than private housing. Let me name a few from my viewpoint where HDB is 'better' and I mean it sincerely.  

1. Good connectivity to public transport, and MRT lines. Most HDB housing estates are within a few minutes walk from either the feeder bus or from the main MRT or LRT lines. 

     Compare that with Balestier where this loser lives, he has the temerity and stupidity to  infer that condominium is 'better'. The nearest MRT is either at Novena or Race Course and you would Mr. Private Resident with the supersized ego and half witten brain probably need to walk 20 minutes to the MRT.Of course there is Grab and your car. 

    Man, he needs to take a big dose of humility and rub it in his face. Work for a month as a security guard and find out how some (a small minority(  of these pig headed residents treat them. 

    Walk in the Security Uncle's shoes for a month. You will realise how privileged you are (or not) 

2. Access to most amenities like polyclinics, food centres, playgrounds, and parks are just 'downstairs'. This is one big plus for elderly folk with mobility issues 

3. Public Swimming pools are nearby and only cost $1 ; no need to pay condo maintenance fees easily in excess of $500 and above per unit.

4. Gyms are at the town centres and again at very low costs.

    Several things which private estates have  which may be deemed as 'better' than HDB they are deemed 'private' are :

1. Security guards

2. Lap or feature pools

3. Gyms with state of the art equipment

4. Covered car parks (most new ones have those)

5. Ratio of units access by lifts are smaller compared with HDB, generally speaking.

Hence, by his inference that 'this is not HDB' he is inferring in your face, that he is of a higher standing than most other people. And the presumption that $1.5 Million he paid is a lot of money.

Sorry, you moron. 

YOU MAY HAVE MONEY, BUT YOU SURE DO NOT HAVE ANY CLASS OR STANDING IN MY EYES.

Why oh why is the G allowing the free flow of people into our country without the proper economics means testing and  allowing these people to undermine the social fabric of our society.

There is also the inference that the ordinary citizens are losing out to these highly paid 'experts' who come and behave poorly, give a very negative impression of their entire country as a whole and leave a bad taste in the mouth.

Something must be done to address this. Else there will be a price to pay. 

I am truly disappointed. 

Sheppard - Great Song

Entitlement

The recent fracas about the foreign resident who threw vulgarities at the elderly security guard at the condominium again throws up the same issues about the effects of globalization and the migration of talent to our shores. Lets recap :

1. Since the early 2000s, Singapore has opened up its talent search to bring in FT or 'foreign talents' to help restructure her economy and take advantage of sectors such as IT, digital banking, cybersecurity, wealth management and cryptocurrencies to name a few.

2. Many foreign people have come here to work, either on expatriate packages and in the last 10 years, on local packages. There are mutual bilateral country agreements such as CECA Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement to facilitate ease of movement for foreign professionals (in this case India) to come to work in Singapore in fields such as banking, nursing and others. Singapore on the other hand, will be able to export her goods into India with much reduced tariffs. 

As a result, there seems to be an imbalance of foreign nationals coming here seeking employment in hospitals, banks, asset management firms, IT and others since Singapore's general standard and quality of life is far higher than many of its Asian neighbours,such as India for example.

3. Since it is relatively easy for foreign investors to incorporate companies here, they invariably will assign their fellow countrymen and women to come and assist in managing the startup and growth of these companies. 

4. Additionally, many banks, advertising, trading platforms etc have also come in and brought in their expertise to help facilitate their business growth and development. 

5. Many local Singaporeans feel overlooked and shunned from these opportunities. They   may have been retrenched from their bricks and mortar jobs  (eg HR, Sales and Operations of for example multinational electronics and semiconductor companies and feel that the opportunities have passed them by. I personally know of several friends from primary school and elsewhere who have become private hire drivers,security guards and property agents.My friends are mainly in their late 40s to mid 50s with good health, many with perhaps post secondary education. 

They appear to be the most vulnerable to the wave of new migrants coming to our shores and taking over the jobs in the 'gig' economy. 

One aspect many of these foreign talents have overlooked when coming to Singapore is that the culture here is very different from where they once lived for 20,30,40 or more years. As a result the archaic rules of the working world may work in India (for example) but it will not be the same in Singapore. Add to that, the behaviors of some of these expatriates are indeed very callous and there has been a spike in the arrests and incarcerations of numerous Westerners as well as those from India and China, for crimes such as molest, fighting and acting like they were the rulers in the old imperial times.

Times, they are a changing (Bob Dylan), and the foreign people need to be mindful that they are guests in their host country. Treat the hosts with dignity, even if the host may be serving you in a junior capacity. Where is the grace to your fellow human being ? 

That is called basic manners, which seems to be lost (maybe never learned) with some of these (a small fraction I am sure) so called entitled professionals. Shame. 

When unsure of local norms and customs, tread carefully

For the Singaporeans, it is a sore point to lose one's job and one's self esteem goes with it. The disruption of our economy is going to continue unabated and we really need to move and upskill ourselves. We really have no choice. To pine for the good old days of brick and mortar jobs is natural but they aint ever coming back. 

For people in their 40s, and 50s, we are still young old. If we relearn and upskill ourselves, we can and be relevant in this new economy. There are many short courses in digital marketing, python programming, coding and numerous others for us to take advantage.

To sit back, and be a keyboard warrior and whinge for every wronged uncle being bullied by a foreigner is not going to change a thing.