Pulau Tioman

Tioman is off the east coast of Malaysia on the South China Sea. Having clear blue seas and white sands, it is ideal to spend 3 days there over a long weekend.

Driving from Causeway to Mersing ferry terminal takes no less than 2.5 hrs along highway No.3 heading south-east. Most of the 132Km journey is on a single-lane road so one can't drive fast as often beening blocked by slow-moving vehicles, especially at night. But the good thing is that it's toll-free all the way. When entering Mersing town, make a right turn at a round-about and you can't miss the ferry terminal. Monitored car park is available at only some RM7 per 24-hrs.

We took the Bluewater (Tel: 07-7994811) speed-ferry that is scheduled at 7am, 11am & 3pm in this non-peak season, at RM70 for a return ticket. However, the ferry is not punctural and likely delay due to tide (excuse?) and passenages (the real?). We experienced nearly a hour delay when heading to Tioman and as much as 2.5 hrs when coming back. It is always wise to call & check on the exact schedule & arrival of next ferry prior to going to the jetty.

Once starting off, it takes about 2 hrs to reach Tekek where most tourists stay. It's aircon'ed so the ferry riding is not too bad but one may need to prepare that it's very cold inside the cabin. Berjaya hotel is pretty good: we took the standard room at RM136 (weekday) / RM221 (weekend), excluding breakfast. It owns private beach area and golf, tennis etc. sport sites. Actually it is the only 5-star resort hotel offering chalets & rooms. It even operates a private daily air service between Seletar airport directly to the Berjaya beach, by 48-seater Dash 7 plane at about S$222++.

We purchased a round-island tour by speedboat at RM60 per head. It starts off at 9:30am and returns at 3:30pm, stopping in 6 places for snorkeling & beach activities. This is our main tour among the 3-day getaway (since we have to spend some 17 hrs on the two-way journey incl. waiting times).

What about the packing list? Well, sun block (>SPF100 for ladies) and mosquito repellent are important. Shorts, wet gears & a pair of slippers for the humid weather are necessary. We also pack with sun glasses, tiger balm (my favor :) and basic first aid kit. Toiletries and beach chairs & towels are easily available at the hotel. Oh, you may like to bring along some instant noodles for breakfast (they don't sell it there)...

Be alert when eating outside the hotel restaurant. I got minor food poisoned at Taman village during the day-tour, which had bothered me until we finally got home.

Execute Condominium

There have been 23 EC projects on the market since it was introduced (in 1996?). About half of them are more than 5 years old so their units may be seen in the resale market now.

Eligibility conditions to buy a new EC:

• A citizen with family uncleus comprising at least another SPR or citizen, at least 21 years old (or 35 years old under the Joint Singles Scheme)
• First-timer applicant, or second-timer who has not enjoyed other housing subsidy and has occupied his flat for at least 5 years
• Gross monthly household income not more than $10,000
• All listed occupiers must not own or dispose any other estate or interest within 30 months before the application
• First-timer may request the $30K CPF Housing Grant being used to pay for the remaining 10% downpayment

Eligibility conditions to buy a resale EC (from 6th to 10th year since TOP):

• Citizen or SPR above 21 years old but need NOT form a family uncleus as in the purchase of new EC. E.g. a single person above 21 can buy a resale EC.
• Buyers are NOT eligible for CPF Housing Grant but they need NOT pay the resale levy either if being owner of a flat directly from HDB
• Owners of direct-purchase HDB flats must have met the 5-year MOP

It surprised me that buyers of first-timer can not get the CPF Housing Grant for the resale EC. But it makes sense as the resale EC has to be treated as equivalent to "private housing" -- the remaining time before its 11th year when all restrictions will be lifted is usually less than 5 years to fulfill HDB's Mim. Occupation Period.

Policies for EC owners:

• must dispose any HDB flat within 6 months from TOP
• no longer qualify to buy a flat direct from HDB
• occupiers who are essential in the forming of a family nucleus will not be allowed for 5 years to make a separate applicaiton
• may sell the EC unit in the open market only after meeting the 5-year occupation period.
• It is not allowed to acquire a share in another residential property / HDB flat within the MOP.

Tracking of property index

I did some research that extends an existing residential property index diagram with more recent data. It shows the current index is the second highest following the historical peak 11 years ago.

Punggol 21+

The prime minister announced the 'Punggol 21+' plan on this year's national day speech, together with a few impression pictures to promise a beautiful new town to come.

HDB will start in 2 yrs to build a 5.5Km artificial water-way linking Rangoon River & Punggol River. The water-way will be 20-50m wide and 3-9m deep expected completion in 2013. Started some 10 yrs ago, Punggol 21 won't be completed in the next 5 years, reported by NewsAsia today.

HuanShan, China

Day 1: ShangHai. Jinjiang Inn By The North Band 锦江之星（北外滩）, walk-in rate RMB 199. Tel: 021-65867555

Located at the cross of 大连路 and 长阳路, the hotel is pretty good for leisure trip and can be booked via Ctrip (RMB189). It is in short walking distance to subway (line 4) station and about 3Km to city centre.
银树restaurant at NanJing Rd is our favor especially for its vegi-won-ton. We really love it that we did not eat there once but twice.

It takes less than 1.5 hrs by (fast) train from ShangHai to HangZhou at RMB 30~50+. Pay attention that there are more than one train stations. ShangHai South station is new and quite modern.

Day 2-4: HangZhou. Overseas Chinese Hotel 杭州华侨饭店, 湖滨路39号. Tel: 0571-87685555

The hotel is at some 10 meters by the West Lake and very convenient. We booked it with Ctrip at RMB 348 incl. breakfast.

Other than the West Lake and its nearby, I would recommend 六合塔, 林彪行宫 & 胡雪岩故居 if you like to spend more time in HangZhou. Visiting WuZhen 乌镇 takes a full day by long-distance bus (RMB50 for return bus ticket & RMB100 for entry) -- the so-called eastern Venice is actually a small old town surrounded by artificial water-way. The people there are very attempting to sell goods to everyone who passes by.

The long-distance bus from HangZhou West to HuangShan city takes about 3.5 hrs at RMB 78. The aircon'ed bus ride is not bad at all.

Day 5-6: HuangShan. Hua Shan Hotel 华山宾馆，黄山市屯溪去延安路3号. Tel: 0559-2328888. Pai Yun Lou Hotel 排云楼宾馆，黄山风景区西海-丹霞峰下. Tel: 0559-5581558

Hua Shan Hotel is right at the entry to Lao street 老街, the famous night market in TunXi district. Its rooms are clean & comfortable at RMB 350 incl. breakfast, but we didn't spend much time in it other than sleep :) Pai Yun Lou Hotel is on top of the mountain so we shouldn't complain about its lack of service after dark. All bar & restaurant are closed after 8pm but anyway people usually sleep very early -- tired and also prepare to start off at dawn for seeing sun rise. We booked the room via Ctrip at RMB 790.
HuangShan entry ticket is sold at RMB 200. The cable car is at RMB 65 per segment and transfer bus costs RMB 13 for each single ride. Tourist must use the bus service to get in but the cable car is optional (climbing up takes 5-6 hrs?). The food being sold up there is quite reasonable, I think. For example, cucumber at 5 Yuan each, a cup of Nescafe at 20 and a meal costs 230 Yuan for five of us.

Besides the HuangShan main tour, I personally think 花山谜窟 worth of us spending the 2 hrs. The ancient man-made grottoes are of some 200m depth & several ten thousands sq.m area but the mysteries lie in when and why they were made and how many undiscovered grottoes underneath -- no documents have been found so far.

Hong village is at some 70Km away from HuangShan (entry ticket at RMB 80). Despite its picture-alike scene, it is kind of live specimens of the ancient villagers. BTW, I learnt the villagers, usually old now, receive a percentage of the ticketing income collected from us tourists. This at least gives me some justification after being there :)

We had also visited the arches 牌坊群 and Bao's garden 鲍家花园 near TunXi. They don't seem very interesting to me but the bonsai may be worth of spending some time...

An over-night train took us from HuangShan directly back to ShangHai (21:48 - 10:44), at RMB 94 with bed to sleep on.

Tips on buying a flat

1. Get armed -- read up on the facts. Go online to HDB website & study the market statistics and find out the median resale prices and cash-over-value for flats in your targeted area. Visit the location at different times of the day to get a feel of what it's like to live there.

2. Set the rules of the game -- decide if you want to hire a housing agent to help you. If you're doing it yourself, check out the HDB website to find out the procedures involved or attend its monthly resale seminar. Most agents representing sellers charge buyers the 1% fee if they're not represented by another broker. Some agents turn down requests from independent buyers to view the flats. Whatever you decide, it's best to make it clear upfront by stating clearly when first contact with the brokers marketing the flats.

3. Act the Sherlock -- living in high-rise, densely packed public apartments has its own quirks. You never know, for example, if an owner is selling the flat because he has been harassed for repayment by loansharks at his home. If you buy this flat, you may end up being harassed yourself even if you had nothing to do with the debt. Take a walk down the staircase closest to that flat and pay attention to the flat door. If graffiti is found or the door is damaged, it could indicate that the flat is being targeted.

Another problem, more common in older resale flats, is leaky ceilings. This happens when shoddy renovation upstairs or age creates kinks in the water-proofing layer in your ceiling. To spare yourself the hassle of living with this or trying to fix the leak, look out for watermarks on the ceiling when viewing flats.

4. Be shameless -- don't give up if one agent turns down the price you offer for a flat. You may get lucky with another agent marketing the same flat. Some flat owners do not give exclusive marketing rights to one agent, prefer to pay a commission to whoever gets them a deal. Agents are unlikely to disclose that they are marketing a flat which they have no exclusive rights over. If agent A thinks that your offer is too low, agent B might find it a worthy offer to discuss with the owner.

5. Keep your cool -- it is common for agents to arrange viewings for an many as 10 interested parties within a half-hour slot, to heighten the sense of competition among buyers. Some agents will tell you they already have offers for the flat - when they don't - just to get you interested. If an agent tells you that someone has already offered $480K for a flat, make him an offer of, say, $460K on the spot. If he tries to negotiate with you, that $480K offer is most likely a fake.

6. Watch out for upgrades -- if a flat you are interested in is being upgraded, find out who is paying for the work. HDB fills owners for upgrading after the work is done, and the owner at the point of billing is responsible for payment. Ask for a receipt to show that he has paid the upgrading bill or check with the relevant HDB office if the seller wants to factor the upgrading cost in the price.

7. Take your time -- buyers & sellers of HDB flats must use the standard HDB Option to Purchase form. Under this arrangement, the buyer gets 14 days to consider his purchase after paying a non-refundable option fee. Don't rush to sign the option on the spot.

8. Don't' even think about it! -- don't go under the table practice, either cashback (artificially inflate the purchase price to get a bigger housing loan) or cash-down (underdeclare the full purchase price). Avoid getting entangled in such illegal arrangement; you may be fined up to %5,000 and jailed up to 6 months for giving such false information.

9. Be a busybody -- don't' be afraid to ask all the questions you have.

The Parc condo

The Parc condo in West Coast Walk got exceptional good response and was snapped up in less than a fortnight early this month. The 659-unit FH project consists of seven 24-storey buildings and were sold at $880 psf on average, rising from about $820 initially. There are a lot of complaints and public anger for its selling out without proper public launch (heard that 70% are sold to its employees & business associates -- not sure how true it is though). I hate to admit that CES and its marketing agent (Savills) have done a great job in selling such a project at record-high price in the area, though I think they're unethical in their encouraging flippers that the developer offered the most favorable deferred payment scheme to-date (only 10% net before TOP) and agents informally guarantee for ready buyers to take over their loads.

Well, with the current uncertainty of the US subprime impacting financial markets, these flippers take very high risks this time and are real fools in my opinion. The Parc is sandwiched between express way and HDB buildings around it. Though a little closer to town area and facilities (by at most 1km), it is priced $100 to $200 psf higher than the nearly condos which are quieter and of significantly lower density. Let's see, I bet the flippers will get burnt soon.