East Eats West

Zurich winter wonderland

Rusty heavy metal

 Picture: Rusty iron sculptures illuminated by Christmas lightings.

My interest in sculptures was reignited last year when I bought a small metal sculpture by the Swiss artist Eugen Häfelfinger. But I guess my interest in metal sculptures goes way back to my childhood days when I admired the amazing rambling machines by Swiss artist Jean Tinguely. Another Swiss sculptor, who is still alive, is James Licini. He produces strict, heavy and rectangular sculptures from metal profiles in various sizes. One intriguing aspect of his outdoor sculptures is that they rust in the most beautiful way, adding a finite touch to his works of arts. Until the 30th of November his man-sized sculptures can be seen in the garden of the Hotel Baur au Lac in Zurich.

http://www.bauraulac.ch/index.html

Mario Botta mountain spa

 Picture: A mountain spa best enjoyed in off-season.

Herzog & de Meuron are probably the most well-known Swiss architects as they built the famous ‘bird’s nest’ in Beijing. The other very famous Swiss architect with a very distinctive style is Mario Botta from Ticino. His most memorable building for me is the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco. I first saw the building in 1995 and was very impressed. Mr. Botta recently built a hotel spa in the Swiss mountains for the Hotel Tschuggen in Arosa. The spa by the name ‘Bergoase’ (mountain retreat) is a wonder of stone, light and wood. My most liked feature is the ‘mountain’ sauna with fire place and the charm of a wooden chalet. The best time to visit the hotel and spa is actually now, in the pre-season in November. The ski-season will start soon and the hotel will then fill up quickly. And besides a wonderful spa with high-tech gym and beauty parlour, it also has a superb cuisine and an astonishing view of the snow-covered mountains (we actually never left our suite). Tired of the financial crisis, rejuvenate in the mountains (and do not bring your Blackberry)! For more information about the hotel visit here: http://www.tschuggen.ch/en/23/tschuggen_bergoase.aspx

Picture: the view from our suite.

 

Real(ity) assets

Picture: No financial crisis out here!

I recently went to a presentation by a smallish Swiss bank that praises itself as being independent and responsible (and did not meddle in the credit crisis). One banker told us about investing not in nominal but real assets (no wonder after world share markets are down over 50% and back where they were 10 years ago). He did not specify what he meant by real assets (certainly no Porsches as sales worldwide are down 40%). The next day I thought about it again and it struck me: not real as in physical but real as non-imaginary and interpersonal! After years of mind-boggling growth, partying and spending people realize again that nothing compares to human-to-human contact, to mutual understanding, respect and love. No more partying and drinking out, stay home and play monopoly; enjoy nature and go for a walk; no more holidays in exotic countries, let’s go walking at the lakeside; no more driving around in sports-car, walk and enjoy nature. Let’s focus on reality!

Smart beats Mercedes

For the first time in its over-hyped history the Smart car is producing a profit while the famous Mercedes cars are shunned. What happened? According to an article in the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit one third of all inhabitants in Paris and Tokyo do not own a car anymore. With the German car industry grinding slowly to a halt and sales dropping fast, the oil-price peak and the financial crisis are bringing the ‘bigger, faster, better’ trend in car-manufacturing to a painful end. The newest buzz-word in car-manufacturing is downsizing, or small is beautiful. Car manufacturers worldwide are now hell-bent on producing small but homely cars that feature woollen and cotton interiors instead of leather and shiny wood.

Read more here: http://www.zeit.de/2008/46/DOS-Autos

The end of luxury

Picture: Boring luxury reading.

I had already (correctly) predicted the demise of the SUV and I shall try my luck again. This time I predict the end of luxury, or mass-luxury that is. One clear sign, besides the financial crisis coming across the big pond, is the proliferation of luxury magazines published by various newspapers. Last weekend for example I was able to count four different luxury publications (or product placement meagrely disguised as journalism). While browsing through them I felt deeply bored and I realized that my material cravings are weaning off. The financial crisis followed by a recession will affect our lifestyles. The emerging trend centres on modesty, authenticity and homeliness. With credit card loans being cut and car-leasing running out quick, people (formerly known as consumers) will stay home and enjoy the simple life. The home and with it relationships will become more important than shopping, dining-out and partying. In Switzerland having babies is popular again and maybe the financial crisis will create a baby-boom. Keeping items longer while ignoring fashion-trends will become mainstream again.

Singapore government wants more sex

Picture: Can we now have sex?

The small Asian city state Singapore is trying to reinvent itself in order to continue on its growth path. It is for example fostering arts with new theatres and museums; it is building two gigantic casinos and just hosted the first ever night-time Formula One race. Singapore has currently about 4.2 million inhabitants and it is the Singaporean government’s goal to grow this number to over 6m. Unfortunately the fertility rate with one child per woman is very low as Singaporeans probably prefer to work long hours than having kids (or sex). Therefore the government is trying to boost inhabitant numbers through immigration and the encouragement of coupling and mating. The government even put up an own agency with a dating website that tries to boost dating and all that comes with it. Quiet an explicit approach for a government that is very strict with its citizens.

Find a perfect Singaporean partner here: http://www.lovebyte.org.sg/web/ent_p_home.asp

Bankers in fear

Picture: Safer than public transport!

With the stock-markets in free fall and thousands of investors loosing money, bankers start to loathe their job. I was told by a colleague that some Swiss bankers in Zurich are afraid to wear a suit and a tie when they commute on the train: they are afraid of angry investors physically attacking them!

Road-to-riches

Picture: Maybe in the next bull-market you get one of those?

Have you ever wondered how you could earn so much in order to afford a red-hot Ferrari, a 100-feet yacht or a big mansion in London? Hard work, sweat, being cleverer than the rest? Maybe, but not very likely. I recently talked to a few people in the hedge-funds world who made their fortune in the last couple of years. Here is their secret. During the bull markets after 2002 up to last year many leveraged their investments in hedge-funds; leverage meaning taking credit in order to invest more than they actually owned. The banks happily did lend for a small interest up to four times the capital. This amplified the returns by four. Unfortunately this party is over but the next one is surely coming along. And if you want to party big next time, here is what you should remember: first, hard-work alone hardly ever makes you rich (ask any doctor working in a hospital). Secondly, in contrary to the common investment rule of diversification, one has to concentrate the bets in order to strike it big. And thirdly, riding the wave (bubble) is everything: being at the right time at the right spot counts more than hard work.