1 million Malaysians reject the proposed 100-storey Merdeka Tower.

Any Malaysian with a facebook account has probably come across this Facebook page with the same title.

Malaysia was once a young, new nation eager to prove its worth. Malaysia gains respect in the international arena in the 80's, buoyed by an economic boom, under its ambitious leader Dr. Mahathir. He urged Malaysians to "Look East" (post-war rise of Japan as an example to follow) and oppose western-style globalization. The leader embarks on mega projects-at first, infrastructure developments, then commercial developments. In the 90's, it became obvious some projects moved from ambitious to ridiculous. Many of these projects were handed over to companies owned by political cronies. But that's another story.


The 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers had supposedly "put Malaysia on the map" in the mid 90's, just before the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. Malaysia had the tallest building in the world- lasted all of a year before the next few buildings like Taipei 101 and Shanghai World Trade Centre took over.... etc- you get the picture.



Nations in economic boom tend to produce phallic symbols of their supremacy in the form of these skyscrapers. This is true for China and Dubai UAE, both nations which experienced huge amounts of growth in every sector in every financial quarter in the last few years.



Now, just as the Burj al Khalifa in Dubai has finished, Malaysia announces in a fit of kiasu-ness plans to commence building the 100 storey Merdeka Tower next year. Read more about it here and here.
This tower will cost RM $ 5 billion or roughly just over US $ 1.6 billion. Who ultimately pays for it? The problem is: Malaysia is NOT experiencing growth rates like that of China or the United Arab Emirates.

A popular hypothesis is that skyscrapers are often seen as economic indicators for a financial downturn-
"Of course economic booms tend to coincide with real estate booms, if not bubbles. I think that the moment project developers start planning a new "tallest skyscraper" the beginning of the end is at least not far. It means that hubris has become a factor again and that money has become too easy."Ivar Hagendoorn writes about the correlation between architecture and finance here.

And, looking at the price tag, it's enough to send Malaysia into recession.
Beware.


The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel. (1563)

Problems in the suburbs.

Not everyone has a garage or a garage large enough to accomodate all their cars on my street here in North Shore suburbia. People love to park their cars on the kerb over here- maybe because there isn't enough car theft to deter them from parking on public property......

So that makes life difficult for those of us who park our cars in our garages. It's so hard to negotiate your way around these gas guzzling monster 4WD's (the vehicle of choice in these neck of the woods) on my street. See diagram below for a hypothetical street plan (Not to scale):

People are usually sensible and park their cars to allow for oncoming traffic, but sometimes you get idiots who like to park their horses right in front of their castle (illustrated in red).

To further illustrate the problem, click here for something similar. Except I'm in favour of these people getting fined.
This is such a granny rant, I'm almost embarrassed.

Sunday morning pondering

Husband is away for meetings overseas.
Probably to go over the head count during the next round of job-axing here in the colonies.
All the bankers here are shaking in their Florsheim shoes, I tell ya.

So here I am updating the blog again.
Wee hours of Sunday morning. Reading the non-news sections of the weekend paper.
Spotted these little ditties.

The SMH's Domain: "Concrete Castle" about an off-form concrete dream home in Lane Cove...... looks like this was an enjoyable process for all involved: it took a year to design and two years to build.

As an ex-project manager and architect, I say PIG'S ARSE.
What is this, a university student's project?
This is a real world. This concrete castle was probably built before the recession. Who wants their project to run over budget and over time? No joints and lines? Hello. What about using render-on blockwork???? Like I said. Pig's arse.



If I ever moved back to an apartment again, I wouldn't go back to The Rocks, I'd look to North Bondi- where Bondi Icebergs is.
That's out next goal. An uninterrupted view of the water.
We are currently near water but don't see any. WTF. What's the point?
Like a mantra that I tell myself over and over again. Renovate. Add value. Wait for the prices to go up again. Then sell.

Ok- that aside, I'm going to make breakfast now. It's miserable and rainy outside.
I'm gonna try this:

Has anyone out there tried this?
How does one get pancakes that thick?
Hmmm.

I wish I could cook like Karen Martini in the Sun Herald's Sunday Life magazine:
"Filo egg tarts with cured ocean trout, caviar, chives and dill"


Dream on.

Real estate hunt. part 2

We are true blue real estate opportunists. Thanks to the economic downturn, the price of real estate has plummeted somewhat and we're on the hunt for property in Mosman again. Buyers are staying away from the AUD$ 1.5-2 million price range and yes, beautifully designed and renovated water-view bargains are to be found in this area. Check out Mosman's listings on domain.com.au

Cue vintage Duran Duran please.
"In touch with the ground,
I'm on the hunt, I'm after you
Scent and a sound, I'm lost and I'm found
And I'm hungry like the wolf"


We won't be able to afford waterfront property where you can park a boat (if we had one, we'd have buy a place to park it!) for another x years, so we are settling for glimpses of water views instead.
WHY is the Lower North Shore our suburb of choice?

View Larger Map
W-ELLL.... it has great private and public schools, it's near beaches, it's leafy and quiet.

In the afternoon, we spend some time on Balmoral Beach.


I love cool sand between my toes. I could get used to living here. My little girl loves the beach.

Even later on in the afternoon, we end up in the Inner West suburb of Haberfield, the Italian suburb that still considers itself authentic, after Leichardt became all commercialised as THE Little Italy of Sydney. We have coffee and sweets at famous Pasticceria Sulfaro on Ramsay Street. It's a family business that has been there for more than 50 years.

I'm no foodie like Helen of GrabYourFork, BUT I had to take a picture because I thought the china was so kitsch and the Southern Italian sweets were too pretty for words. The food was heavenly. Our baby was content to sit on my lap gurgling and playing. Yes. Carry a bag full of little toys that keep little people busy.

At the end of the day we did find a few bargains- we registered our interest in those properties, will view them again, get the finances in order etc. Very excited and anxiously keeping tabs on domain.com.au. In the meantime, we're also buying furniture for the new home, fun weekends in Surry Hills looking and browsing.

Real estate hunt

When I got back to Sydney, the first thing we did was a spot of house hunting.
Not for a new place to live, but for an investment property.
We parked the car and went around on foot and doing the real estate rounds in Mosman.
On the hunt for capital gains!




I feel a Duran Duran quote coming on.

"Burning the ground, I break from the crowd
I'm on the hunt, I'm after you
I smell like I sound, I'm lost and I'm found
And I'm hungry like the wolf"




Just like typical Sydneysiders, we're hydrophilic and we NEED to be near water and have views of water. The properties we're looking at are a few streets away from boutique giftshops, lifestyle shops and patisseries.

And I'm so happy to say there's very good coffee to be found here. None of that Starbucks cat's piss. But at AUD3.20 per pop (inclusive of the ever present Aussie GST), it better be good.











A decent Sydney property with at least 3 bedrooms in a suburb that's nowhere near water, hills, cafes/shopping or train line will still cost you around AUD 650-800K. It's craziness.
In Mosman, you're looking at a teeth-gnashing AUD 650K-800K for a ONE bedroom apartment. And for houses..... it's around 3 million for an old one storey brick home.
*Sigh. Welcome back to Sydney, Implosion*