Sunday, February 28, 2010

Naoto

Naoto Kan?  The new Japanese Finance Minister?  No, no, I don't know him, neither do I have any encounter with him.  The Naoto that I am going to introduce here is a street performer at Ueno Park, Tokyo. 

I went to Ueno Park on a weekday afternoon.  The park was mostly empty with very few tourists.  The park is full of street performances on weekends, but on a weekday, no, hardly any, and Naoto was one of the two performers I saw that afternoon.

His Yoyo performance and some street dance performance was quite impressive to my untrained eyes.  A picture is worth a thousand words, so I will let you see his performance for yourself.

 
  
  
 
  
 
Even though it was a weekday afternoon, there was still a small crowd being attracted to his show.  At the end of the show, just like any other street performance, our Naoto-san asked the audience for donations, contributions to his work.  A Japanese grandmum was so impressed by Naoto that she couldn't even wait till Naoto finished his 'speech', she walked out of the crowded and went forward to put down a thousand yen into the collection box.  

Being a street performer is not an easy job.  Sometimes you have some audiences, sometimes you have to perform to nobody but thin air.  
 
Do you see here Naoto was sparing no efforts to perform but there wasn't a single supporter?  Being an entertainer means you will inevitably have to deal with both success and hardship, lots of it.
If you happen to visit Ueno Park in Tokyo, do give our Naoto-san your support.  

To get to Ueno Park, you can alight at Ueno station.  Ueno Park is just a stone's throw away from Ueno station. 

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Hirai Ken 平井堅

Hirai Ken, one of the famous male Japanese singers. He has a wonderful voice that you can't forget.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Sorry Sorry

The hottest boy band from South Korean for the moment and their famous song Sorry Sorry.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Nepal Trip: Guide Book, Costs, Misc

This is the final post of my 14-day trip to a wonderful country called Nepal.  In this post, I will share with you about our planning, the cost of airfare, trekking, etc. 

1. Airfare

There are limited choices when it comes to airlines flying to Kathmandu from Singapore.  One is Silk Air, the other is Thai Airways.  You may also choose Cathay, but you might have to transit at Hong Kong, which is not going to be very time-efficient if you origin from Singapore.

Silk Air offers direct flight, the cost is around S$1000, plus and minus a bit.  Thai Airways has no direct flight to Kathmandu, you have to transit in Bangkok.  The cost is also around S$1000.  However, if you are lucky and have sharp eyes, you can fish for some good deals at Zuji Singapore website.  For our case, we found that if we set off on 18 Dec, and return on 31 Dec, we could get the tickets at S$724/person, inclusive of taxes and surcharges.  If you just move the dates by one day, the price will be the normal S$1000 plus.  A little bit of research will save you quite a bit of money, and a S$200 saving will expand your spending power in Nepal quite a lot.

2. Accommodation

I will recommend that you book the very first night of your stay in Kathmandu in advance.  If you fly in, the numerous touts at the airport will make you feel dizzy.  If you make an advance reservation, most hotels and guest houses will offer you free airport transfer, as they don't want their guests to be snatched away by others.  It helps to have someone to pick you up if you are in a foreign country for the first time.

Guest houses in Nepal in general are quite ok by backpackers' standard.  No fancy furniture or interior deco, but with basic facilities and reasonably clean. 

3. Trekking

We engaged our trekking service at our guest house.  The total cost of our 10-day trek to Annapurna base camp is US$560, including the airfare from Kathmandu to Pokhara, trekking permits, guide cum porter, food and lodging along the trek, return tourist bus from Pokhara to Kathmandu, etc.  Basically everything is included, except personal expenses such as drinks, extra food, etc. 

We paid our guide cum porter US$100 at the end of the trip as tips.  I think it is considered as not too bad.  My Singaporeans friends told me for the guide, usually the tip is around S$80, while for the porter, it is around S$50-60.   As we combined with a Japanese tourist and his guide 2 days into our trip, so we also paid his guide US$50 for his good work.  That tip amount is above average.

4. Guide Book

I was using a 4th Edition of the Lonely Planet guide book on Nepal, while the current version is the 8th Edition.  Some things don't change, especially the cultural stuff.  The prices have gone up, the political system has changed, but the rest remains about the same.  If you can afford it, get the latest guide book.  However, I personally don't recommend Lonely Planet's guide book, it is confusing and making simple things difficult.  Our Japanese friend uses a simple guide book which is more clearly cut and focused. 

In addition, I highly suspect Lonely Planet has some hidden agenda, as some 'famous' sites mentioned in Lonely Planet are really not that great, and I have doubts on their motives.  One example is Devi's Falls.  It is nothing but just a hole in the ground, but it took up quite a bit of space in Lonely Planet's guide book. 

You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Nepal Trip: Day 14: Usher-in 2010 in A Blue Moon

Our flight from Kathmandu to Bangkok was smooth.  At Bangkok's new airport, we went through the same ordeal of walking for more than 1km to catch our transfer flight.  When I boarded the plane to Singapore, I picked up a copy of the Bangkok Post

There were articles on the review of 2009 and the vision for 2010 in the Bangkok Post, but one caught my attention.  In the article, it said tonight, 31 Dec 2009, we would see a blue moon!  I often hear the idiom of 'once in a blue moon', but never thought there really is a blue moon.  As I was reading the article, I couldn't help but to look out of the plane window.  It was a full moon, bright and peaceful.  I couldn't really tell its color, whether it was really blue, or just normal white.  20,000 feet down, the lights of Bangkok were bright, yet fading away. 

We flew past Malaysia, Indonesia.  You might wonder why Indonesia, because Singapore is too small, we had to fly to other countries to land :P

Along the east coast of Singapore, hundreds, maybe even thousands, of ships were stationery on the sea.  Their lights were on, making them look like a metropolitan.  Long have I heard some ship owners idle their unchartered ships in the international waters around Singapore to cut the over-supply in cargo ships, but now I could see them myself.

The lights from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia were spectacular.  Fireworks ushering in the new year could be seen here and there. 

In the music ushering in 2010, our plane landed safely at Changi Airport, just in time for me to welcome a new year, 2010 :)

You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Quest for Immortality

Taking advantage of free adimission to Singapore National Museum, I went for the Quest for Immortality - The World of Egypt exhibition.


It is still Chinese New Year, I didn't expect the museum would be this packed.  To get into the Quest for Immortality exhibition at Gallery 2, we waited for about 1 full hour.  While waiting, some MediaCorp reporter was there shooting news clips.  He interviewed a couple of people, asking them how they feel about the long waiting time. 

We got into the gallery at around 11.45am.  The size of the exhibition is small, comparing with what you can see in Louvre Museum or the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Italy.  The exhibits are mostly small in size, but quite intricate.  For someone who has never seen Egyptian artifacts before, this exhibition is really an eye-opener.  It also saves you the trouble to travel to Egypt or Europe to admire this great ancient civilization.


The highlight of the exhibition is none other than the mummies.  They have quite a number of colorful mummy coffins on display, and they have a real mummy at the exhibition too.  


Another interesting display is the ancient Egyptian picture characters.  They are so vivid.  Birds, humans, animals, they are words and they look so lively even after so many thousands of years.

This exhibition is worth a visit if you are a fan of ancient Egyptian culture.  You can find more details about the exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore website.

If you want to know more about the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Italy, you can check out my previous post here.

Nepal Day 14: Kathmandu Airport Security Check

31 Dec 2009

It has finally come to the last day of 2009, also the last day of our stay in Nepal, a poor country with nice people.

We arrived early at the Airport, just in case anything that might cause a delay somewhere.  Enough of power outage and strikes.

Our taxi was stopped when we came near the airport for a routine check, but the security guy just waved us through when he saw foreign tourists on board.

To enter the departure hall, we had to first queue up, showed our passport and air ticket.  I was not too used to this as ever since the introduction of e-tickets, I seldom have my tickets on hand.  After that, went through the first level of security check, which we put our check-in luggage through the x-ray machine.

Inside the departure hall, it was a bit chaotic, with no clear signs of which counter you should go to.    I asked an airport staff, he kindly pointed us to the Thai Airways counter, with very short queues.

It was great that at Kathmandu airport, they also issue our onward boarding pass from Bangkok to Singapore.  In contrast, Guangzhou's Baiyun airport still can't issue onward boarding pass till today.  They really need to improve, man.

The immigration hall is small, with only 2-3 counters for foreigners, so it is not unexpected to see long queues.

After the immigration, we had to go through a second security check.  Your hand-carry goes through the x-ray machine, you walk through the metal detector, as well as undergoing a manual body search.  There are two separate queues, one for men, one for women.

After that, it is still not over yet.  You have to carry your hand carry to one of the security officers and go through a manual check of your hand carry luggage.  Once the officer is satisfied, he will sign on the back of your boarding pass to say ok, you can board the plane.

After that, you have to show your boarding pass to another security officer before you can enter the waiting area.

Just when you thought all that security check is over, just before you board the airplane, you still have to go through one more time body search.

This is the most tedious security check I have ever experienced in airports across the world, however, its effectiveness is very much in doubt, in my humble opinion.


You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

The Little Tiger Band 小虎队2010年

Members of the long disbanded The Little Tiger Band (小虎队), a boy band popular in the last decade of the last century, got the chance to come together again in the celebration of the Year of the Tiger on Chinese Central TV's new year's eve program.



They were members of the boy band, but now all the little tigers have become mature tigers.  Out of the 3 members, Chen Zhi-peng (陈志朋) is almost unknown to the younger generation, no trace of him in the entertainment industry.  Wu Qi-long (吴奇隆) came out in newspaper headlines only for his unsuccessful marriage and a painful divorce.  The only one who is still well-known and popular is Su You-peng (苏有朋).  He starred in the most popular Qiong Yao TV drama Huan Zhu Ge-ge (还珠格格).  He is still active in many mainland Chinese TV dramas and motion pictures.

Their performance on stage was kind of heart-breaking.  30 something middle-aged men were still trying to act if they were teenagers.  Haiz...





And let's take a look at their old videos of the same song.





Silver Investment in Singapore

In Singapore, there are limited channels for Silver investment.  Here I would like to share with you some such investment avenues with you.

1. UOB Silver Account

This is one of the convenient ways to get your hands on silver, paper silver only though, not physical silver.  It works something like your savings account.  You decide on how much silver you want to buy or sell, then the amount will be credit/debit to/from your account.  You will never see any physical silver.  All is on paper. 

There is an administration fee of 0.2 ounce per month or 0.375% per year on your account.  If you are thinking of only small amount of silver investment, then this might not be suitable for you.

More details are available at UOB website.

2. Singapore Silver Bullion

If you are looking at owing physical silver, you may consider purchasing from Singapore Silver Bullion.  They have an office where you can go down to pick up the goods and make payments.  There are different types of silver available, from American eagles, Canadian Maple Leaves, to silver bars, & rounds. 

However, they have a minimum purchase amount, which is SGD2,000.  If you are thinking of less than that amount, you may have to go elsewhere.

More details are available at Singapore Silver Bullion website.

3. eBay

If you are looking at physical silver, but not as much as SGD2,000, you can consider buying from eBay.  Singapore's eBay has very little activities, so you have to buy from mostly US-based sellers.  Their prices are quite reasonable, including shipping and handling.  However, many sellers don't ship to Singapore, so you have to do quite a bit of searching.  In addition, buyer aware.  There is always some black sheep around.  Go for those with at least 100 positive feedbacks, and no neutral or negative feedback sellers.   It is less economically sensible to fake 1 ounce silver bullion, but who knows...

Another potential risk is the goods being lost on its way to you.  You must take all the potential risks into your consideration and make sure the worst case loss will not going to cause a limb. 

4. Silver ETF

Singapore investors have direct access to a gold ETF listed at Singapore stock exchange (SGX), but a silver ETF is still yet to appear in SGX, but it does not mean you can't invest in a silver ETF. 

You can open an investment account with a brokerage with access to US markets, such as DBS Vickers.  A silver ETF is listed in New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with ticker of SLV

You can trade the silver ETF the same as any other stocks with normal buy/sell commissions.  This is one convenient way to have participation into silver.  It is one step more advance than UOB silver account, which you still have to go to the bank.

5. GoldClubAsia

There is one more way of getting hold of physical silver for small investors.  There is this internet forum called www.goldclubasia.com where there is a buy & sell section.  Members can buy and sell their precious metal bullion or coins there.  I have not tried this before, although I am aware of their existence. 

There above are all the avenues that I am aware of to invest in silver in Singapore.  I hope it helps in one way or other to your physical metal investment. 

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Gong Xi Fa Cai 恭喜发财

Year of the ox is coming to the end in a few hours' time, year of the tiger is to start its reign soon.  At such a festive occasion, I would like to wish everybody a Happy and Prosperous Year of the Tiger.



For those who are more unconventional and rebellion, you may like Name Wee's version of Lunar New Year celebration song :D

Nepal Day 13: Swayambhu Stupa

Swayambhu Stupa, more commonly known in the English world as the 'Monkey Temple', is another one of the 7 world heritage sites in Kathmandu.

Our road to Swayambhu was full of obstacles.  First, it was the heavy.  You could barely see what was 50m ahead.  We first headed to Durbar Square, from there, we walked west from Maru Tole of Durbar Square, down to a small bridge covered almost completely in fog.  Streets in Kathmandu have no names, except some really big ones.  I had originally hoped to be able to see the giant Stupa sitting atop of the hill from afar, so that we could just walk toward it.  However, in this heavy fog, I could see nothing but fog, and fog.  Luckily, Nepalis are friendly in general.  I asked people along the road for directions, they all happily pointed me to the right direction. 

We had our breakfast at a road side store, where the locals have their breakfast.  Well, the price is really hard to believe, breakfast for two, including 4 roti prata, plus curry, plus tea, was only Rs60+.

 
After quite a bit of struggling, we were led to the Stupa by a kind Nepali man.  The stupa, or temple to be more exact, was covered in fog too.  The fog gave the Buddha statues a sense of mystery.

 
Awaiting for us is another long flight of stairs, another uphill.  Haiz, after climbing all the way to Annapurna Base Camp, what is this man?  



After climbing up all that hundreds of steps, and paid Rs200 per person for admission, we were greeted by this Dorje, or giant thunderbolt, a symbol of power.  

I used Lonely Planet's 4th Edition of Nepal guide book, which says if you climb up the steps yourself, then you don't have to pay admission charges.  Well, bluff.  Ok, 4th Edition was published in 2000, now it is 2009.  Things may have changed :)

The stupa, disappointingly, was under renovation.  The spire was covered up.  Sigh.  But, by Buddha's blessing, the fog cleared a bit when we arrived at the stupa.  

In a clear day, you can see the entire Kathmandu valley right in front of the stupa, now, we could only see the entire Kathmandu valley masked under fog, with the stupa, which is on top of a hill, was clear under the bright sunshine.  

It is known as 'Monkey Temple', because of the many monkeys playing around in the temple ground, enjoying the offerings from us mere mortals to the gods.



As the stupa is under renovation, I can only look for the finer details.
 


  
  
  
 


You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Singapore Credit Bureau

Wondering whether you have any bad record in your past that may hurt you in your application for a loan or credit card?  You can check your own credit worthiness from the Singapore Credit Bureau.  It is essential to maintain a clean track record if you are thinking of making loans from banks for your business or house-purchase. 

I had recently had my credit card application rejected by HSBC(as mentioned in this post), which made me wonder what has been recorded by the credit bureau, especially I don't remember anything bad. 

Out of curiosity, I went to the Singapore Credit Bureau website, and paid S$5.35 to purchase a record of myself.  You will need to have your SingPass and a credit card ready for the purchase, as you can only purchase your own record for individuals.

After the payment was made, immediately I could access my own record online.  At the same time, they also sent me a copy in pdf format. 

There are many different sections in the report.  The first section is your personal details.

The second section is your account status history, which lists all your credit card and credit facilities such as EasiCredit, Creditline, etc, etc.  It shows your payment history, whether you have any outstanding bills, etc.

The 3rd section shows your history of balance transfer and cash advance, the 4th section shows your payment status, the 5th section shows overdue balances. 

The credit bureau sends you a copy in pdf format with password protection.  However, the problem is, they didn't tell me what that password is!  How am I supposed to open the file then?  You can email them to ask for the password.  :)

Ok, having looked at my own report.  Everything is pretty clean, nothing shows that I am not credit-worthy, the only thing is that I don't have any history of balance transfer, nor cash advance.  They should be pretty disappointed that I am not going to give them any business for their legal loan shark operation.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Zuji Photo Share

Travel portal Zuji.com is running a travel photo share contest at its facebook page.

Basically it is a kind of photo contest.  You upload your travel photo to the facebook fan photo page.  If Zuji likes it, you get some credits.  If other visitors to the Zuji facebook page also like your photo, you get more credits.  When the contest period ends in March, the top 10 photos will get a $100 travel voucher from Zuji, isn't it great?

But, a very large but, the catch is, if you want to get the $100 voucher, you have to give up all your rights to your winning photo.  Zuji then can use your photo at their website, promotional materials, and whatever form and channel they deem fit.  You just kiss good bye to your photo.  It is not yours anymore. 

It is a very cheap way of buying photos from the public, exploiting to be more exact.  Such practice should not be encouraged, and the public shall not support such demeaning gimmicks!

Nepal Day 13: Boudhanath Stupa

 
Boudhanath Stupa is the largest Buddhist Stupa in Kathmandu Valley as well as Nepal.  It is also one of the 7 world heritage sites in Kathmandu.  
The stupa has a very broad base, which signifies earth; the round dome represents water; the spire is the embodiment of  fire; the umbrella is the symbol of air; and finally, the pinnacle is ether.  The five elements that form the entire world are all included: earth, water, fire, air & ether.  

There are many different names of Boudhanath Stupa in English.  There are many different spellings, too.  The admission ticket to the stupa calls it BOUDHANANTH, Lonely Planets calls it BODHNATH, while there is one more name or variation of its spelling.   

Surrounding the stupa, there is a wall with 147 niches, each niche houses 4-5 Tibetan prayer wheels.  You will see lots of Tibetans, young and old, walking in clock-wise direction, praying, rolling the prayer wheels.  


The outer ring of the stupa is basically all kinds of shops and restaurants, cafes catering mainly to the tourists.  There are some Tibetan temples too, which they call 'gompa'.  


There is a temple that is directly facing Boudhanath stupa, and it seemed to me they are forever having some praying ceremonies.  The music, or noise from their drums, bolts, bells, can be heard all over the stupa compound.  The lamas there speak Tibetan and English. 


Young Tibetan lamas maybe are also receiving their education at one of the many Tibetan temples in the area. 

Boudhanath Stupa is a very popular place for tourists from all over the world, including those from India.  Local Nepali students seem to come here too.  So you can expect quite a bit of shoulder rubbing.  
Kathmandu's weather is very bad in December.  It gets very cloudy and foggy after 2-3pm, but to have a good view point of the stupa,  you need to wait for the sun to go west.  However, by the time the sun does go west, the fog will ruin your photo by adding too much mystery.  It is not an easy subject to shoot.  If you have the time, try to search for a vintage point at one of those building encircling the stupa.  That might give you some nice shots.

Admission to Boudhanath is Rs200 (~USD3.00).  The taxi fare to Boudhanath Stupa from Thamel is around Rs200 too.  



You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Nepal Day 12: Kathmandu Durbar Square

Kathmandu's Durbar Square is one of the 7 world heritage sites in Kathmandu.  It is famous for the elegant architecture and wood carvings decorations.  Durbar Square basically means 'royal square'.  It is right outside of the old royal palace of Kathmandu.  There are many 'temples' around Durbar Square.  I said 'temples', but Nepalis definition of  a 'temple' is very different from that of Chinese.  When we say 'temple', we would expect a couple of big or small halls with Buddha statues.  In Nepali context, a temple can be just a single structure with any Buddha statue or image. 

Durbar Square is also a big market place for both the tourists and the locals.  The tourists come for the souvenirs, while the locals use another part of the square in the early morning as their flower market as well as vegetable market.  The above is the Basantapur Square, which is part of the Durbar Square, in the afternoon, filled with souvenir stalls.  
   
Lohan Chowk is one beautiful structure at one corner of the Durbar Square, with two elegant towers.  As usual, everything is covered with a thick layer of dust.  


Near the entrance to the old Royal Palace, stands a 3-story brick building, with magnificent windows and a long bronze ribbon hanging down from the roof, signifying this is a residence of a living goddess.  Here is Kumari Bahal, the official residence of the most powerful, & most respected living goddess of Nepal.  

Inside the building, the corridors are dark, the courtyard is small and depressing.  Behind the intricately carved windows, I could see nothing but darkness.  

Kumari Bahal is a place where touts are abundant.  When I entered the Kumari Bahal, a guy waved to me as if he were my long time friend, then he tried to explained to me about Kumari Bahal.  My interest was totally turned off, as I knew he was one of those 'guides'.  

 

Durbar Square was the center of Kathmandu, and it still is.  A political debate was hosted right at the Durbar Square.  

I visited Durbar Square 3 times during my stay, but I was stopped and asked to buy admission ticket only once.  The time when I was stopped, I had my camera hanging on my neck, a Lonely Planet guide book on hand, planning to spend some leisure time in the square and admire its architecture excellence.  Out of no where, a lady came to greet me in Nepali.  At first, I thought the people here were so nice, then she continued to ask me to buy admission ticket.  I was totally turned off, turned my back immediately, and left.  

I quickly stuffed my camera and guide book into my bag, made another turn and entered Durbar Square from another place.  Nobody stopped me for admission ticket!  If Durbar Square is properly maintained, then I will be more than happy to pay my dues, but it is not.  The whole Durbar Square is in an appalling state, going to look more like ruins than anything.  Well, that's a bit out of topic.


The image of Kala Bhairava in Kathmandu Durbar Square is often seen in travel books.  

You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Uniqlo Global Recruitment

Attended Uniqlo's global recruitment talk this afternoon at Concorde Hotel.  The talk was just normal, nothing very special, but the package they offered is really not bad, for fresh graduates.

They offer monthly salary of ~S$3000, plus transportation, overtime, & housing allowance, but you have to spend about 4 years in Japan. 

This kind of package is really attractive to me, if I were a fresh graduate.  Your career basically is planned out for the next ten years to the top executive level.  The only variable is your own capability. 

However, they obviously have some kind of age bias, they are only interested in fresh graduates, a little bit of allowance for people who had graduated for 2-3 years, and max 5 years.  More than that, you are not really welcomed.  Ok, at least that is the message from their HR head. 

For those who might be interested, you can visit their recruitment website to apply:
 http://www.uniqlo.com/jp/recruit/global/en/

Friday, February 5, 2010

Silver

It has been bad days for silver recently.  Looking at the daily chart, a head-and-shoulder pattern has been formed.  This pattern has been confirmed by yesterday's price action.  The price has gone below its 200d MA and invalidates the assumptions that it is in a consolidation phase.

Based on the projection of the neck line, it is expected to see the price to go down from $16 plus to $13 thereabouts.  This coincides well with the support level that we observe from the chart.  If $13 breaks, next level is $12 thereabout.  It is less likely it will break $12. 

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Nepal Day 7: Snow Storm

Thanks to Y who managed to capture the snow storm we experienced on the way from MBC to ABC, I can share with you how bad it was.  Well, actually it was not that bad.  Just another snow storm which is pretty common in countries such as Japan or Switzerland or Denmark, etc.

I was lucky to have put on my raincoat before I got myself wet and cold. 
 
In that vast open space, with a gray sky, snow flakes dancing around, and a boringly gray footpath, that was me walking alone, bravely :P


Our guide, Abi, also had to brave the strong wind and the heavy snow, and the heavy burden on his shoulders and walked with joy and courage...

You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Nepal Day 6: Himalaya - Y's Perspective

As I had expected, I did have some photos of myself in Y's camera, with me walking through the heavy fog.  Courtesy of Mr Yamaguchi, I got the chance to show you how heavy the fog was, and how steep the path that we walked on was.  WJ looks like a solder who just lost a battle, walking with his head down.  I was looking up for a bright future :P
 
This was when we were about 50m before we reached our guest house in Himalaya.  Can you see the visibility was so bad.  I didn't experience such poor visibility even when I did my scuba dive in the sea.  


This photo was taken after we finished our coldest ever shower.  I was wrapping myself with my dear down jacket, and yet I was trembling.  It was only around 5.30pm but it was already completely dark, dark with heavy fog.  Air had such smell that irritated my throat.  


You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.