THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD (Part 5): Bombay

The following continues the serialization of Chapter 6 from SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Humanity:

The Best and Worst of the World

 

I have flown 2 million miles, just on United Airlines. Certainly, I’ve used many tens of other airlines, and journeyed many hundreds of thousand miles on them. I have made, perhaps, ten around the world trips. My wife and I have spent a month on Amtrak around the U.S., throughout Japan on the Shinkansen and Europe on trains. We have driven from Stockholm to Milan and three times across the USA. Then there were those cruises across the Pacific, from Alaska through the Panama Canal and into the Caribbean, plus the Mediterranean. Here are some of my worst, well, make that, challenging, trips, indubitably eliminating them from those sites making any best list of places to live.

Bombay was Eye-opening

 

It was during the mid-70’s when my wife Pearl and I left on an around the world trip: Tokyo, Bangkok, Bombay, Frankfurt, England, Washington, D.C., then finally back to Honolulu. I have only two memories.

First, we flew into Bangkok during the monsoon, and it was in a state of flood. This means that sewers overflowed, and the whole city was a smelly mess.  At our first meal in the President Hotel, Pearl ordered a fruit salad, but a vegetable salad came. All the alarm bells rang. Avoid leafy salads in Bangkok, and certainly, oh my gosh, during these conditions. She ate it, anyway. Nothing happened.

Second, we went to Bombay, which still went by that name then. (However, Bombay is a corrupted western version of Mumbai, so, in 1995, the change was made to Mumbai. The power structure also attempted to eliminate the term Bollywood—a type of movie form initiated in this city, where frantic dancing intersperses a love story. That failed, as Bollywood films are now even shown in the U.S. I used to wear Madras shirts in college. Ever try looking for Madras on the Indian map? It is now called Chennai.) However, as we went through customs, the agent sent us to the back of the line because we had no visas. No one told us about that before the trip, but, sure, that was our fault.

At 2:30 in the morning, we were the final two in line. The temperature was in the 90’s (degrees Fahrenheit). That agent—and, sorry, he looked like a crook—said he had to keep our passports, and we could enter the country, but we should hire someone to get them back before we checked out of the country. What choice did we have? This is scam city, and a more active form than in Cairo, yet to come.

There was a very large sign behind him warning anyone not to exchange money with these officials. So he proceeded to ask us how many rupees we wanted. Oh, great, now what? Do we ignore him and walk out, invoking his rage to purposely lose our passports, or get thrown in jail for exchanging money? We got a few rupees. No problem.

The taxi ride was uneventful. We checked into the Holiday Inn, and got a room with the noisiest air conditioner I have ever experienced. But it worked. We specifically picked this hotel because it was a Holiday Inn. Certainly, it would be sterile.

The next morning, we went down to breakfast in their coffee shop, which was swarming with flies. Yes, this was a Holiday Inn.

Pearl walked just outside the hotel area to the beach, and came running back, as a whole mob of children was chasing her to sell rocks. Not gemstone quality, but plain old rocks. What a cultural shock.

We took an arranged tour of the city. I can still remember the utter poverty. People living in cardboard boxes…mothers with deformed children begging…carts hauling dead people to special areas for vultures to pick on…this was a totally different world. Bombay was shock to our senses.  If you've seen Slumdog Millionaire, the worst parts were close.

The tour guide was especially proud of a church basement where 8-10 year old children were sewing in semi-darkness, almost swollen with pride because at least they had shelter and food. The Hanging Gardens of Bombay approximated my hanging roof garden in Honolulu. The Gateway of India was swarming with a million people. People bumped into you at this tourist attraction because of crowd surges, but as far as I could determine, there were no pickpockets. Singapore has about 2,000 people/square mile…Bombay is almost ten times that density. 20 million people? I can go on, but a couple of days later we finally found ourselves back at the airport six hours before our flight, to retrieve our passports.

You can imagine our anxiety as we waited for 5 ½ hours with our baggage, waiting to check in. Through a major miracle, the youth we hired came running back…we barely were able to check through…just got on board, and the plane left India. That was our last trip to this country. Eliminate India, and, while you’re at it, Thailand, from the best places to live.

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The Dow Jones Industrials crept up 12 to 10538, while world markets mostly increased.  The Japan Nikkei soared 179 to 9675.   Gold fell $22/toz to $1161 and crude oil is at $77/barrel.

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HAWAII WILL SPEND BILLIONS

I started with Billions and Trillions,  and went on to Trillions and Quadrillions in my Huffingtpost series on large numbers.  This morning the Honolulu Star Advertiser tossed out a mere $32 billion as the tab for upcoming major construction projects and state liabilities in the state.  That's $26,000 per person, but less than $1000/person/year over thirty years.  In fact, Carl Bonham of the University of Hawaii indicated that all this was manageable.

The four big ticket items are:

  Honolulu Waste Treatment ($4.7 billion)

  Honolulu Rail Transit ($4.6 billion)

  Airport Modernization (2.3 billion)

  Undersea Power Cable ($1.5 billion)

The shocker is that this sum of $13.1 billion is less than the $17 billion for unfunded employees' retirement system liability (which the Legislature stole from to pay for other bills) and unfunded retirement health care liability.  I didn't know retirees were that big a problem.  Remember, this year the Legislature, as suggested by the Governor, purloined $67 million from the Hurricane Relief Fund to end the public school furlough.  This is eerily close to eating the seed corn.

 Of course, diversifying our economy should have been our highest priority, but every time we tried, something went haywire.  Thus, we are stuck with only one industry:  tourism.   However, since 1997, the number of visitors from Japan has been cut in half.  (See my blog of yesterday for the details.)  We've survived because Japanese tourists now represent only one-sixth of the total, and there is future hope about China and Korea.

While, yes, we are fixing the airport, the bigger problem is that skyrocketing oil costs are coming, and we should have already long ago initiated the quest for a substitute jet fuel and next generation airliner. We are way too dependent on tourism, and still want to continue to perpetuate this economy. 

My solution for this troubling state of affairs?

1.  Find a way to make Hawaii the symbol for renewable energy development.  This should be good for a $25 billion infusion of capital.

2.  Hawaii as the site of the Sustainable Expo for 2020.









Pearl's favorite time was sunset on our roof.  Here is one today, which I viewed over some o-toro sashimi, Niigata rice (rated #1), Hawaiian ogo (seaweed) and grated wasabi...with a junmai daijingo-shu sake.  Frankly, I prefer that tube version, which is largely artificial, but much hotter and a heck of a lot cheaper.

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The Dow Jones Industrials continued to rise, up 101 to 10,525, while world markets also all increased,  Gold fell $6/toz to $1183, while crude oil is at $79/barrel.


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*JAPAN, INCEPTION AND SALT

Yesterday, the recent First Ladies of Japan.  Today, an interesting economic comparison and the changing nature of tourism, plus two films, Inception and Salt.

In 1989, the Japan Nikkei attained an all time high of 38,916.  Today, 9431, a drop of a little more than 75%.  That same day in 1989 the Dow Jones Industrial Average rested at 2,753.  Today, 10,428, an increase of of 379%.  In this decade period the Gross Domestic Product of Japan increased from $2.9 trillion to $5.1 trillion, up a bit more than 200%, while the U.S. jumped from $5.4 trillion to $14.3 trillion, +265%.

Two observations.  If you subscribe to the theory that you should jump into the stock market when it bottoms, this is not quite the six and seven thousand range of both the Nikkei and DJIA of the late 2008 to March 2009 period.  However, the Nikkei surged into the 11,000 range 15 months ago, then fell, and has been languishing in the mid to low 9000's for a long time now. Second, yes, Japan's debt to GDP ratio is twice that of the U.S. (200% to 100%, approximately), but they owe most of this debt to their people and among its very own departments.  Somehow, I think the Nikkei is something worth watching if their exchange rate (87 yen to the dollar today) begins increasing.

The Japanese tourist rate to Hawaii and the USA is declining, and precipitously.  First, Hawaii historically draws more than twice the number of these visitors than any state, which is California.  In 1997, Japanese arrivals to Hawaii peaked at 2.2 million.  Last year, the number dropped in half to 1.1 million.  Our luxury stores are in deep trouble.  Fuel surcharge could be a factor, but many still go to Europe with almost twice the added cost.  Korea is a lot cheaper, and China is gaining.  Maybe Hawaii has become boring.  Take, for example, China Beach in Vietnam.  Can you imagine a beautiful sandy beach about 100 yards wide from Waikiki Beach to Wahiawa?  In case you don't know where Wahiawa is, it is twenty miles away from Waikiki.  Plus more casinos coming.  No, not Waikiki, Viet Nam.  Hawaii and Utah are the only two states banning gambling.  Or Korea?  From my blog of earlier this year:

6. Universal Studios will build a $2.7 billion theme park in Gyeonggi Province (37 miles southwest of Seoul). Paramount Pictures and MGM will also construct resort parks in Incheon. Eight such Seoul developments are expected to be in operation by 2012, and fourteen when you count the rest of the country. They hope to attract lots of visitors from China and Japan. HAWAII, WHAT ARE WE DOING?

The two biggest movies this weekend will be Inception and Salt.  Inception was #1 last week, and will continue so this week.  You can read the reviews, but you won't know what's happening in Inception throughout the movie, and even at the end.  In Salt, you think you know what is happening and you will be wrong, until the end.  The former will mystify you even after your third viewing, while the latter becomes obvious only at the very end. I might never quite understand Inception.

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WIVES OF JAPANESE PRIME MINISTERS

Japan will be the first stop on my fall around the world adventure.  I will be tracing the path the parents of Kenjiro (my father's father) took from Akita to Utashinai.  No doubt a boat ride from Honshu to Hokkaido, landing at Otaru, east to Sapporo, then far north to Utashinai.

As such, I thought I'd whimsically bring you up to date on Japan.  An appropriate subject is the wives of their two latest Prime Ministers.  First,  a quote from Time magazine on Yukio Hatoyama's spouse (maybe at Stanford University?):

— Married to Miyuki Hatoyama, a designer, cookbook author and former actress whom he met in California. The two have a son in his 30s who is studying engineering in Russia.

— His wife is an energetic and quirky figure who gives inspirational talks and calls herself a "life composer." In a book she wrote called Very Strange Things I've Encountered, she said her soul visited Venus on a triangular-shaped UFO. "It was a very beautiful place and it was really green," she wrote.

Miyuki was definitely kooky, but Prime Minister Naoto Kan's wife of 40 years is, well, refreshing.  Nobuko Kan just released a book entitled, What on Earth Will Change in Japan After You Become Prime Minister.  It's a spicy tell all about her husband's shortcomings.  He can't cook a simple meal, has trouble reading speeches, and a lot more.  She questions whether he is fit for the job and predicts a short tenure.  He just recently attained his position as PM, so the book must have been largely written over the past few years.  Said Naoto, "I'm afraid to read it."  He refers to Nobuko as "the opposition at home."  This photo from the recent Canadian G8 summit looks like Naoto beseeching Nobuko to stop waving.

They are not only husband and wife...they are cousins, a not uncommon relationship around the world.  Johann Sebastian Bach, Werner Von Braun, Albert Einstein, Rudy Giuliani,  Jesse James, Jerry Lee Lewis (when Myra Gale was 13),  Thomas Malthus, Edgar Allan Poe, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (okay, Eleanor was his 5th cousin),  Eisaku Sato (another PM), Toyotomi Hideyori (you need to know Japanese history), Queen Elizabeth II (Philip is a second cousin)....and a lot more fall in this group of cousins marrying each other.

Turns out the First Lady of Japan is said to be the PM's intellectual equal.  She provides advice on everything to him.  That does not mean he accedes anything.  The book within a month of publication is already into a third printing.  You need to understand the Japanese to appreciate that something like this could well save him from joining that conveyor belt of PM's.  This was not a trashy condemnation but a playful attempt at deprecating humor.  While a current First Lady has never in Japan, or anywhere else, resorted to this sort of ploy, married couples in Japan definitely identify with this attitude.

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Tropical Depression Bonnie has weakened, and ships are already heading back to the oil spill area.

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THE STATE OF PLANET EARTH AND HUMANITY ON 23JULY2010

1.  DAY 95 of the Gulf Oil Spill sees a scrambling to evacuate the impacted region, as Tropical Storm Bonnie is coming;


Bonnie will not attain hurricane strength and should quickly move through Louisiana.  Looks like that second storm behind her has lost momentum.

2.  Every five years the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services publish Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  The 2010 version has yet to be published (but you can download the report) where the alcohol section confirms what Wine Spectator and all those lifestyle magazines have been saying:  drinking is good for your body.

Get this:  people who have a couple of drinks a day live longer than those who don't.  Also drinkers have a slower cognitive decline with age.  That is, if you're old like me, your teetotaler friends are not as sharp as you.  There is also something called attitude improvement that comes with most imbibers.  People just feel better.  No doubt a flood of rebuttals will be provided by the medical field, for the downsides of road accidents, addiction and liver damage can come from over consumption.

3.  100,000,000,000,000:  (100 trillion) number of bacteria living in your gastrointestinal tract.  This is ten times more than cells in your body.  Depending on the person, you could be living with two to nine pounds of bacteria.  During the Black Plague, the rat didn't kill you.  Neither did the flea on the rat.  It was the bacterium Yersinia pestes transmitted from the flea bite.  However, most bacteria are good, and we have been living in synergism since the beginning of our time.  Tracing our past, we came from bacteria.  Well, there is now known another microorganism called archaea.  Chances are, if you believe in evolution, we originated from this life form.  "2" and "3" are capsule tutorials.  Both are covered in Chapter 2 of SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Humanity.

4.  Here is something to further unnerve you this weekend.  The 17July2010 edition of The Economist has a special report on the Arab World.  Hosni Mubarak (left), ruler of Egypt since 1981, is 82 years old, ailing and fragile.  Shimon Peres, President of Israel, is 86, but he only has a figurehead role.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is 86, and he is soon to go, with his anointed successor, Crown Prince Sultan, 82, maybe even closer to death.  Our three closest allies in the the Middle East could experience some turmoil in the months to come.  Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamanei of Iran is only 70.  Situations such as these can trigger skyrocketing oil prices.

5.  Two months ago I wrote about The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo.  Number two in the series, The Girl Who Played with Fire, starts in Honolulu today.  It is rated okay, but not as good as Dragon Tatoo.  I think I'm captivated by the dragon (I was born in that year), but the actress, Noomi Rapace, is dangerously beguiling.  I have a dilemma.  I bought the book for my iPad (or you can wait for a $35 version from India), and wonder if I should read it first...or not.  There is a third, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, already showing in Europe and booked for New York City this month.  The films are in Swedish with subtitles.  Stieg Larsson's trilogy has been the #1 bestseller this summer, this past week rated #1, #2 and #4.  He died of a heart attack six years ago at the age of 50.

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The Dow Jones Industrials rose 103 to 10,425, just below the 10,428 of 1January2010.  It was 6,627 on 6March2009, 11,204 on 11April2010, and 14,165 on 9October2007.  World markets also mostly increased, with the Japan Nikkei up 210 to 9431.  Looks like I won't be buying.  Gold dropped $6/toz to $1189 and crude oil is just about at $79/barrel.  The Chicago Mercantile Exchange has petroleum at $92.68/barrel in December of 2018.

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HOW TO GAIN WORLD PEACE

My original article in the Huffington Post written on 29May2008 was entitled, "Well, Barack, We Have a Problem...  On 2August2008 I then said, "Why Do We Spend So Much on National Security?"  Earlier this month I repeated the above in "The 10% Simple Solution to Peace," which drew all of three comments...two of them were from me to myself.  Clearly, there is no interest in world peace, for my subsequent posting on Cloning and Immortality drew, at current count, 217 comments. 

If you're too lazy to click on those above postings, very simply, an intriguing way to gain world peace, forever, is for our Commander in Chief to, at the next G8 Summit, shock the world by stating:  the United States this year will reduce our military spending by 10%, and if you all also do this, next year we will repeat a 10% reduction of our defense budget.  I would hope that you all will also do the same.  In a decade, if the president following me continues this policy, world military spending will become relatively insignificant.  All these saved funds can then go into paying off our national debt, remediating global warming, initiating a crash program for commercializing the renewables and shoring up our basic infrastructure.  

Wouldn't it be wonderful if, instead of building yet another aircraft carrier--which, by the way, will be known as the Gerald R. Ford class, and will cost $14 billion each--these funds can instead be used to embark on a national high speed rail system to ease the jam on our national highways.  We can build a next generation national smart grid system to wheel wind and solar power electricity. Let me add that the reason why the price is only $14 billion for the next one is because we are committed to build three.  We taxpayers got bargain rates for volume.  We now have 11 aircraft carriers, with the U.S.S. Enterprise scheduled to be decommissioned in 2013 after 51 years of continuous military service.  

You say, nah, our general population is so afraid of China, Russia, North Korea and Iran that, supported by the military-industrial complex, this will be impossible to do.  Yes, that lobbying group is formidable, but I was surprised to learn of a poll reported in the 26July2010 issue of Time magazine:

If Congress and the President had to reduce spending, in which areas would you want them to cut?

Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (55%)

Other defense spending (46%)

Unemployment compensation (34%)

Medicaid (20%)

Education (17%)

Medicare (16%)

Social Security (12%)

The fact of the matter, actually, is that there is no place to cut, but the military budget is the largest (more than half the annual Federal expenditure)...and we have no enemy to fear into the foreseeable future.  I can't see any justification for increasing our military budget for a rag-tag bunch of several hundred dangerous terrorists, an Iran which is soon to implode and a North Korea on the verge of collapse.

President Barack Obama hosts the G8 meeting in 2012.  He thus has less than two years to get his staff working on convincing the G8 to consider this monumental step.  From my first HuffPo, where a 10% solution was deemed neat, but crazy...today, who knows, maybe.  It's not as idiotic as it sounded just two years ago.

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The Dow Jones Industrials surged 202 to 10,322, with world markets also all up, except for the Japan Nikkei, down 57 to 9221.  Maybe I should buy some Japanese stocks.  Yayoi, any recommendations (I was set to purchase some American stocks when the Dow fell below 9,000, but this appears not to be happening, so, maybe, why not Japanese stocks)?  Gold increased $9/toz to $1195 and crude oil is at $79/barrel.

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All of a sudden, there are now three storms affecting the Gulf.  First that disturbance mentioned over the weekend is now a tropical depression, and headed for the oil spill area:

However, right behind is yet another disturbance, also heading in the general direction of the spill:

But that is not all, for a storm popped up in the western Gulf, but is project to move straight into Mexico.

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SOME GOOD NEWS

A great start to a gorgeous day.  Last year I had a $60 breakfast at the Four Seasons Hualalai.  This morning, the meal was a Japanese bento with steak and eggs, a price closer to a $100...but FREE, for it came with the room, I hope.  Birds chirping, the Pacific Ocean in front...and more.  Off to a NELHA lunch.

The Obama White House is on a roll.  He just signed that Wall Street Reform package, will soon do the same for unemployment extension ($34 billion, good for those on this roll, not favored by Republicans) and should see a Senate approval for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan early in August.  Plus, that leaking well in the Gulf has been capped.  The energy/climate warming bill will not move this session, but it is so wishy washy, nothing might be better than mediocrity.

By the way, did you notice that Amazon.com is now selling more electronic books than the traditional hardcover version?  I have a couple of them in my iPad, but haven't had a chance to look at them.

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The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 109 to 10,121, but I want it to fall below 9,000 before buying, so, I guess this also is good news.  World markets, though, were all up, except for the Japan Nikkei, which fell 22 to 9,279.  Gold was down $5/toz to $1185 and crude oil is at $76/barrel.

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Tropical Storm Chanthu is almost a typhoon and will soon make landfall in China, while that Caribbean disturbance is still projected to enter the Gulf of Mexico.

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SUNSET AT HUALALAI

Last year I spread Pearl's ashes during sunset at the Four Seasons Hualalai.  Tonight I went to the beach with a Keller Estate Pinor Noir and a Baccarat cigar.

At sunset I then had a private ceremony tossing her ashes into the ocean.  Above the scene before sunset.

Here is a timed sequence over the next half an hour.  Best sunset I've experienced in years.

I then had my dinner:  ahi sashimi, sauteed spinach and something called chuka soba noodles with a St. Pauli Girl beer and the remainder of the red wine.  I found the fried noodles disappointing.  That traditional Zaru soba would have been ideal.

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THE STORY OF FOUR SEASONS: THE HOTEL

I have stayed at various Four Seasons, with the Chiang Mai and Hualalai properties being my two favorite.  The latter ranks as #1 in celebrity honeymoons.  Gayot and Travel + Leisure rate Haulalai as #1 in Hawaii.  There was a period 14 years ago when the hotel just opened when my staff and I discussed the possibility of drilling for warm water and providing cold deep ocean water for a unique spa providing full range of "natural" temperatures.  Hualalai is a volcano which shows potential for geothermal energy.  I guess there is a negative connotation to this too.

The hotel chain started as a Canadian company in 1960, but was bought out by Bill Gates (yes of Microsoft) and Prince Al-Waleed  in Talal of Saudi Arabia (who is only worth around $10 billion) in 2007.  There are 82 Four Seasons in 35 countries, all  featuring terrific service.

Their signature restaurants are good.  The Japanese steak I had (twice) in Chiang Mai was the best I ever had anywhere.

They also are very expensive, although the current downturn in business opened up Kamaaina rates in Hawaii.  Effectively, almost half price, plus a certificate for $250 covering food, services, etc.   Parking is $20/night and a rental golf set costs $70/day.

The Jack Nicklaus designed golf course at Hualalai is better than Mauna Kea Beach's, but still, lacking.  Too many volcanic rocks.  I lost a dozen golf  balls today, but, that was over 36 holes.  However, no problem, for they were providing Titleist Pro-V-1 practice golf  balls at their driving range.  So I  surreptitiously borrowed a bunch and conveniently returned them every three holes or so.

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The Dow Jones Industrials surged 76 to 10,230, while world markets were mixed.  Gold went up $7/toz to $1190 and crude oil is at $77/barrel.

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That disturbance in the Caribbean remains projected to enter the Gulf of Mexico and begin affecting the oil spill area.


Tropical Storm Chanthu will attain typhoon strength around the time it begins to affect eastern Hainan Island.

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MAUNA KEA

I woke up this morning and saw what Pearl might have seen every day when she grew up.

This is why we chose to settle her ashes on Mauna Kea, where we today repeated the ceremony of last year.

A year ago when I returned home from Kuakini Hospital after her passing away, I wrote and submitted "Gratitude, Not Grief" to the Huffington Post.  As this posting was too, too clinical, I must also share with you some of our happier moments in Pearl Yukie Takahashi.

Following the Mauna Kea ceremony, I drove to Jill Wagner's Future Forests Nursery, where I purchased two Cybistax donnell-smithii, Pearl's yellow tree.  Unfortunately, I drove away without paying for them, so will need mail in my check.  Depending on how many are purchased, the price ranges from $5-$7/sapling.  Under ideal growth conditions, they can flower in a couple of years.  This happens in the Spring, so that yellow tree I saw yesterday across from Hilo High School must not be the right variety.

My current plans are to give SIMPLE SOLUTION Essays, my third book, which is dedicated to Pearl and will be published in September, and a Cybistax donnell-smithii sapling, to everyone who contributed, and anyone else who wants one or both.  According to Jill, this tree grows well in Hilo and Honolulu.  There is still a possibility that the City and County of Honolulu might plant a bank of these trees on the Mauka side of the Ala Wai Canal.  Councilman Nestor Garcia is looking into this matter with Big Island Councilman Dennis Onishi serving as cheerleader.  Dennis is Pearl's cousin.

The day ended at Pahuia at the Four Seasons Hualalai.  Donald Okahara and I are golfing tomorrow at this golf course, and we need to wake up at 6AM to eat the Japanese breakfast before golfing 27 holes.  Never had a Japanese breakfast at the Four Seasons Hualalai?  Then you need to read my blog of last year on this extravagance.

The sunset was particularly exquisite from our table.  A great end to a solemn and enriching day.

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The Dow Jones Industrials went up 57 to 10154, with Europe down and the Japan Nikkei minus 100 to 9308.  Gold dropped $9/toz to $1183, while crude oil is just under $77/barrel.

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Tropical Storm Chanthu is heading for a China landfall, while a new disturbance appeared in the Caribbean, and models predict entry into the Gulf of Mexico.


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