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NOMAD: Mr Wang eats and sleeps on the back of his lorry with his wife, who is four months pregnant. They cook using a portable stove and sleep on cardboard that doubles as a bed. (PHOTO: LIANHE WANBAO)


A 44-year-old delivery man who has been living on his lorry with his pregnant wife hopes to rent a room in time for his baby.

For Wang Baohua, his lorry is both his means of living and his home, Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao reported yesterday.

He had split from his ex-wife seven years ago and sold his three-room flat before going to Vietnam to work.

He returned to Singapore in 2013 and stayed with an uncle for some time before moving into a rental apartment. However, his monthly salary of $1,000 was not enough to pay the rent of $600.

He started living on his lorry to save on costs and got his new Vietnamese wife, whom he married in August last year, to share in his nomadic life on wheels.

Wanbao visited Mr Wang at the Changi Beach Park on Tuesday and found that the pair's "furniture" included a portable stove, cooking utensils and cutlery, cardboard that doubled as a bed and laundry that was hung out to dry on the vehicle.

The couple sleep on the back of the lorry every night and wash up at a nearby public toilet.

Mr Wang starts his job delivering goods at 3am and his wife follows him on his journeys.

He said his boss is very understanding and lets him live on his lorry, even offering to lend him $10,000 to buy a house.

He is thankful to his boss and his colleagues who have been "very helpful".

As his wife is four months pregnant, Mr Wang hopes to rent a flat but has been unsuccessful so far.

He said some landlords do not let them cook in the house while others do not welcome pregnant women.

"So we decided to save the money and use it on gynaecologist fees," he added.

Mr Wang had also tried applying for a two-room or rental flat from the Housing Board but was rejected as his spouse is a foreigner and his $1,900 salary does not fit the rental-flat requirements.

"We can bear hardship but my wife is already four months pregnant and it's not very convenient for her to climb up and down. Now, we just hope that our baby will have a comfortable home when he's born," said Mr Wang.

His wife told Wanbao that she was already aware of his situation before she came here and that she "doesn't mind" because she loves him.

Mr Wang added: "Even though we do not have much, in terms of material things, we are satisfied as long as we have each other."


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Still thinking of coming to NZ?
Better think twice.

An English newspaper journalist has dubbed the idyllic Golden Bay region of the South Island "boring as hell", after he gave up the big cities of London and New Delhi for what he thought would be a "dream existence" in small town New Zealand.

The UK Telegraph's Peter Foster wrote the 2009 piece "Life in a New Zealand 'paradise' turned sour pretty swiftly" after he moved to Takaka in the scenic north-west corner of the South Island with his young family.

The piece was republished by the Telegraph last month in the wake of the Waikato job advert that got headlines around the world.

The sub-heading to the recent Telegraph story said: "A GP surgery in the rural New Zealand town of Tokoroa has failed to attract a junior doctor to work there despite a generous £190k salary. Peter Foster can understand why."

Dr Alan Kenny from Tokoroa posted an ad for a colleague - offering a startling $400,000 a year - and it went global after it was reported in the Herald last month.

Dr Kenny attributed the lack of interest in the job to a perception of rural general practice being a dead-end.

The job attracted applicants from all around the world and in New Zealand.

Foster, who is now the Telegraph's US Editor based in Washington DC, started his 2009 piece in a tone matching that perception.

"It was one morning during the school run that I finally realised that life in paradise wasn't for me. There are no traffic jams in heaven, just an undulating bike ride to the local kindergarten through fields of buttercups and vanilla fudge cows."

And it's not long before he builds on this feeling of apparent frustration.

"On the back of the bike the first-born yabbers away as only a soon-to-be-four-year-old can; bleating at the newborn lambs and pointing upwards into a firmament as blue as the gaze of the late Paul Newman.

"'Look Daddy,' he says, brimming with the joys of a New Zealand spring, 'It's a skylark? Can you hear him?'

"I could, and yet much as I wished to share in the boy's innocent enthusiasm for the birdlife, my own mood was decidedly unlarklike. In fact, if I'd had a gun, I'd have taken pleasure in blasting it from the sky."

So why, then, did he move to Golden Bay in the first place?

Well, he had been a journalist "scrumming it" in big cities for a decade - London for six and New Delhi for four - and so wanted to take his young family away from the noise and dirt of a big city.

So they settled in the small rural town of Takaka, in the southeastern end of Golden Bay.
In his own words: "The idea was to take our young family from a sooty suburb in New Delhi (pop. 20 million) to the tiny rural town of Takaka (pop. 1,182) on the South Island and prove there really was more to life than career ladders, commuting and dropping the kids at daycare. (I'm still haunted by the London friend who said he didn't know what his son liked to eat because he 'usually ate at nursery'.)..."

Throughout the article, Foster balances the qualities of his new home - "catching your red snapper at sunset and pounding the deserted windswept beaches" - with sentences supposedly outlining the drawbacks of living in Golden Bay and New Zealand.

"It is, quite literally, the end of the earth (which was the point) but at times during the past year, standing on the beautiful beach at the bottom of our garden, I did start to wonder if I might topple off without anybody actually noticing. Being awake while the rest of the world is asleep is not healthy for lifelong news junkies."

He also felt the need to apologise to his kids, who by the sounds of it were loving the freedom and open space of Takataka.

"So while it's wonderful for young children to have their father around all day, a father's not much use if he's become a lunatic lark-slayer.

"More seriously, I hope they will forgive me for taking them back to a high-rise city and they'll adjust again to the long hours ahead of dad disappearing into his office. No doubt there's a balance out there - somewhere - but this year I didn't find it," he wrote.

Foster and his family only lasted a year in New Zealand.

He spent three years in Beijing then moved to America in 2012. He has reported for the Telegraph for more than a decade, covering two Olympic Games, 9/11 in New York, the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, the post-conflict phases in Afghanistan and Iraq and the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.

He said he didn't regret "a single second" of the year spent in small town New Zealand, however.

"Life turned out exactly as billed, but in the end it just felt different from how I'd hoped it would. We've made good friends and grown stronger as a family, learning plenty of new things about each other - good and not so good - and gained a healthily broad perspective on life.

I'll never forget the daily walks on the beach, the afternoons foraging and exploring and the evenings fishing off the rocks. Each and every experience, even the skylarks on the school run, has been wonderful, magical - and yet...and yet.

"Whisper it softly, but bliss is, well - I'll say it straight out - boring as hell. Or should that be boring as heaven? After a year in the pristine seclusion of Golden Bay tending the veg plot, I crave the infernal stink of the big city and the juice-inducing competition of the rat race," he wrote.

- NZ Herald


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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

Still thinking of coming to NZ?
Better think twice.

An English newspaper journalist has dubbed the idyllic Golden Bay region of the South Island "boring as hell", after he gave up the big cities of London and New Delhi for what he thought would be a "dream existence" in small town New Zealand.

The UK Telegraph's Peter Foster wrote the 2009 piece "Life in a New Zealand 'paradise' turned sour pretty swiftly" after he moved to Takaka in the scenic north-west corner of the South Island with his young family.

The piece was republished by the Telegraph last month in the wake of the Waikato job advert that got headlines around the world.

The sub-heading to the recent Telegraph story said: "A GP surgery in the rural New Zealand town of Tokoroa has failed to attract a junior doctor to work there despite a generous £190k salary. Peter Foster can understand why."

Dr Alan Kenny from Tokoroa posted an ad for a colleague - offering a startling $400,000 a year - and it went global after it was reported in the Herald last month.

Dr Kenny attributed the lack of interest in the job to a perception of rural general practice being a dead-end.

The job attracted applicants from all around the world and in New Zealand.

Foster, who is now the Telegraph's US Editor based in Washington DC, started his 2009 piece in a tone matching that perception.

"It was one morning during the school run that I finally realised that life in paradise wasn't for me. There are no traffic jams in heaven, just an undulating bike ride to the local kindergarten through fields of buttercups and vanilla fudge cows."

And it's not long before he builds on this feeling of apparent frustration.

"On the back of the bike the first-born yabbers away as only a soon-to-be-four-year-old can; bleating at the newborn lambs and pointing upwards into a firmament as blue as the gaze of the late Paul Newman.

"'Look Daddy,' he says, brimming with the joys of a New Zealand spring, 'It's a skylark? Can you hear him?'

"I could, and yet much as I wished to share in the boy's innocent enthusiasm for the birdlife, my own mood was decidedly unlarklike. In fact, if I'd had a gun, I'd have taken pleasure in blasting it from the sky."

So why, then, did he move to Golden Bay in the first place?

Well, he had been a journalist "scrumming it" in big cities for a decade - London for six and New Delhi for four - and so wanted to take his young family away from the noise and dirt of a big city.

So they settled in the small rural town of Takaka, in the southeastern end of Golden Bay.
In his own words: "The idea was to take our young family from a sooty suburb in New Delhi (pop. 20 million) to the tiny rural town of Takaka (pop. 1,182) on the South Island and prove there really was more to life than career ladders, commuting and dropping the kids at daycare. (I'm still haunted by the London friend who said he didn't know what his son liked to eat because he 'usually ate at nursery'.)..."

Throughout the article, Foster balances the qualities of his new home - "catching your red snapper at sunset and pounding the deserted windswept beaches" - with sentences supposedly outlining the drawbacks of living in Golden Bay and New Zealand.

"It is, quite literally, the end of the earth (which was the point) but at times during the past year, standing on the beautiful beach at the bottom of our garden, I did start to wonder if I might topple off without anybody actually noticing. Being awake while the rest of the world is asleep is not healthy for lifelong news junkies."

He also felt the need to apologise to his kids, who by the sounds of it were loving the freedom and open space of Takataka.

"So while it's wonderful for young children to have their father around all day, a father's not much use if he's become a lunatic lark-slayer.

"More seriously, I hope they will forgive me for taking them back to a high-rise city and they'll adjust again to the long hours ahead of dad disappearing into his office. No doubt there's a balance out there - somewhere - but this year I didn't find it," he wrote.

Foster and his family only lasted a year in New Zealand.

He spent three years in Beijing then moved to America in 2012. He has reported for the Telegraph for more than a decade, covering two Olympic Games, 9/11 in New York, the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, the post-conflict phases in Afghanistan and Iraq and the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.

He said he didn't regret "a single second" of the year spent in small town New Zealand, however.

"Life turned out exactly as billed, but in the end it just felt different from how I'd hoped it would. We've made good friends and grown stronger as a family, learning plenty of new things about each other - good and not so good - and gained a healthily broad perspective on life.

I'll never forget the daily walks on the beach, the afternoons foraging and exploring and the evenings fishing off the rocks. Each and every experience, even the skylarks on the school run, has been wonderful, magical - and yet...and yet.

"Whisper it softly, but bliss is, well - I'll say it straight out - boring as hell. Or should that be boring as heaven? After a year in the pristine seclusion of Golden Bay tending the veg plot, I crave the infernal stink of the big city and the juice-inducing competition of the rat race," he wrote.

- NZ Herald


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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

He's a misinformation agent sent out by Mr Ho. He's the mouthpiece of Mr Ho in this forum to give us the impression that Mr Ho is the new Empress Dowager.

Why else would he ask God to bless the Old Fart? Would you give blessings to the Old Fart? Over my dead kar chng!


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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

He's a misinformation agent sent out by Mr Ho. He's the mouthpiece of Mr Ho in this forum to give us the impression that Mr Ho is the new Empress Dowager.

Why else would he ask God to bless the Old Fart? Would you give blessings to the Old Fart? Over my dead kar chng!


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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

I guess all of us, at one point or another, will lose some self-awareness, and our voices are probably louder than necessary in the environment where we are in.

When I am in a good mood, I reckon, I have a tendency to to talk louder than usual, but I quickly become aware of the environment, calm my voice down, and back to my original introspective self in a matter of seconds.

Last evening, I was at Guardian Pharmacy, getting some prescription drugs for my parents. There were two Ah Lians in their late 30s going by the “glorious” varicose veins ~ most likely Singaporeans judging by their rudimentary spoken English, coupled with Singlish accent ~ nattering loudly arguing whether SK2, Kose, or Laneige is a better product for face care. It went on for a while as if Donald Trump has spent a night with Hilary Clinton and announced to his injudicious supporters that she has dry, wrinkled and craggy skin 

The other day at the MRT underground walkway at NEX, an “aunty looking” woman was screaming at the top of her voice, with much rancour and toxic salivating venom droplets towards her son (probably around 8 to 10 years old), vilifying him for a "crime" he had committed. It turned out that her son had forgotten to bring out his Transit Link concession pass.

Many times in the train, I see folks of all ages, colour, gender and nationality screaming into their mobile phone oblivious to the excruciating reverberations that their dreadful voice is causing to my ears and the auricles of other sane commuters.

These “Loud Speakers” seem to have a natural immunity to stares and gawks as well. Sometimes, I hope that a drunk malaria-phobic schizophrenic after consuming excessive Gin & Tonic, throws his/her shoes at them and start a hullabaloo on board the train. I will coolly whip out my handheld, film the whole bout and circulate proudly on their behalf on social media.

Then, there will be some passengers, usually those dark skinned PMETs, who will treat the MRT like a mobile phone walkabout zone. They would scream deafeningly towards their handheld and pacing round the exit areas of the train like some sort of circus animals. I am sure they must have felt an excruciating urge to feel important, needing the affirmation from strangers ~ that they are a bigwig discussing some multibillion deal on the handheld in an MRT train.

I have been observing these public “Loud Speakers” for some time now and thought I share this on a sunny and superhot TGIF Friday, inking this piece before I start my real work.

Well, I guess these “Croaking Amplifiers” have poor upbringing. Their grandparents probably shouted at their parents and the parents shouted at them, and they continue this heinous shouting at their children. It then goes on down their DNA cycle, synthesising and photosynthesising their genetic character and temperament for future generations ~ with a higher propensity to talk loudly in public.

‘Nuff bitching for now, I need to get back to work. Have an awesome Friday, guys. TGIF :)


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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

I guess all of us, at one point or another, will lose some self-awareness, and our voices are probably louder than necessary in the environment where we are in.

When I am in a good mood, I reckon, I have a tendency to to talk louder than usual, but I quickly become aware of the environment, calm my voice down, and back to my original introspective self in a matter of seconds.

Last evening, I was at Guardian Pharmacy, getting some prescription drugs for my parents. There were two Ah Lians in their late 30s going by the “glorious” varicose veins ~ most likely Singaporeans judging by their rudimentary spoken English, coupled with Singlish accent ~ nattering loudly arguing whether SK2, Kose, or Laneige is a better product for face care. It went on for a while as if Donald Trump has spent a night with Hilary Clinton and announced to his injudicious supporters that she has dry, wrinkled and craggy skin 

The other day at the MRT underground walkway at NEX, an “aunty looking” woman was screaming at the top of her voice, with much rancour and toxic salivating venom droplets towards her son (probably around 8 to 10 years old), vilifying him for a "crime" he had committed. It turned out that her son had forgotten to bring out his Transit Link concession pass.

Many times in the train, I see folks of all ages, colour, gender and nationality screaming into their mobile phone oblivious to the excruciating reverberations that their dreadful voice is causing to my ears and the auricles of other sane commuters.

These “Loud Speakers” seem to have a natural immunity to stares and gawks as well. Sometimes, I hope that a drunk malaria-phobic schizophrenic after consuming excessive Gin & Tonic, throws his/her shoes at them and start a hullabaloo on board the train. I will coolly whip out my handheld, film the whole bout and circulate proudly on their behalf on social media.

Then, there will be some passengers, usually those dark skinned PMETs, who will treat the MRT like a mobile phone walkabout zone. They would scream deafeningly towards their handheld and pacing round the exit areas of the train like some sort of circus animals. I am sure they must have felt an excruciating urge to feel important, needing the affirmation from strangers ~ that they are a bigwig discussing some multibillion deal on the handheld in an MRT train.

I have been observing these public “Loud Speakers” for some time now and thought I share this on a sunny and superhot TGIF Friday, inking this piece before I start my real work.

Well, I guess these “Croaking Amplifiers” have poor upbringing. Their grandparents probably shouted at their parents and the parents shouted at them, and they continue this heinous shouting at their children. It then goes on down their DNA cycle, synthesising and photosynthesising their genetic character and temperament for future generations ~ with a higher propensity to talk loudly in public.

‘Nuff bitching for now, I need to get back to work. Have an awesome Friday, guys. TGIF :)


Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com.

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

He's a misinformation agent sent out by Mr Ho. He's the mouthpiece of Mr Ho in this forum to give us the impression that Mr Ho is the new Empress Dowager.

Why else would he ask God to bless the Old Fart? Would you give blessings to the Old Fart? Over my dead kar chng!


Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com.

[Sammyboy RSS Feed]

An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

I guess all of us, at one point or another, will lose some self-awareness, and our voices are probably louder than necessary in the environment where we are in.

When I am in a good mood, I reckon, I have a tendency to to talk louder than usual, but I quickly become aware of the environment, calm my voice down, and back to my original introspective self in a matter of seconds.

Last evening, I was at Guardian Pharmacy, getting some prescription drugs for my parents. There were two Ah Lians in their late 30s going by the “glorious” varicose veins ~ most likely Singaporeans judging by their rudimentary spoken English, coupled with Singlish accent ~ nattering loudly arguing whether SK2, Kose, or Laneige is a better product for face care. It went on for a while as if Donald Trump has spent a night with Hilary Clinton and announced to his injudicious supporters that she has dry, wrinkled and craggy skin 

The other day at the MRT underground walkway at NEX, an “aunty looking” woman was screaming at the top of her voice, with much rancour and toxic salivating venom droplets towards her son (probably around 8 to 10 years old), vilifying him for a "crime" he had committed. It turned out that her son had forgotten to bring out his Transit Link concession pass.

Many times in the train, I see folks of all ages, colour, gender and nationality screaming into their mobile phone oblivious to the excruciating reverberations that their dreadful voice is causing to my ears and the auricles of other sane commuters.

These “Loud Speakers” seem to have a natural immunity to stares and gawks as well. Sometimes, I hope that a drunk malaria-phobic schizophrenic after consuming excessive Gin & Tonic, throws his/her shoes at them and start a hullabaloo on board the train. I will coolly whip out my handheld, film the whole bout and circulate proudly on their behalf on social media.

Then, there will be some passengers, usually those dark skinned PMETs, who will treat the MRT like a mobile phone walkabout zone. They would scream deafeningly towards their handheld and pacing round the exit areas of the train like some sort of circus animals. I am sure they must have felt an excruciating urge to feel important, needing the affirmation from strangers ~ that they are a bigwig discussing some multibillion deal on the handheld in an MRT train.

I have been observing these public “Loud Speakers” for some time now and thought I share this on a sunny and superhot TGIF Friday, inking this piece before I start my real work.

Well, I guess these “Croaking Amplifiers” have poor upbringing. Their grandparents probably shouted at their parents and the parents shouted at them, and they continue this heinous shouting at their children. It then goes on down their DNA cycle, synthesising and photosynthesising their genetic character and temperament for future generations ~ with a higher propensity to talk loudly in public.

‘Nuff bitching for now, I need to get back to work. Have an awesome Friday, guys. TGIF :)


Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com.

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

Bobby Chervenov4 weeks ago (edited)
Trump is such a reasonable guy! Wants friendship and cooperation with Russia! Wow.. how can you not vote for him!!!


Anthony Capelle

+Bobby Chervenov

People in Russia love him for that too. Trump/Putin bromance in the making


How does this word being created in the first place??? bromance sounds like gaymance..or is this a term created by gays???


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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

Rate this gal on a scale of 1 to 10. 10 being the best.


Attached Images



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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

Bobby Chervenov4 weeks ago (edited)
Trump is such a reasonable guy! Wants friendship and cooperation with Russia! Wow.. how can you not vote for him!!!


Anthony Capelle

+Bobby Chervenov

People in Russia love him for that too. Trump/Putin bromance in the making


How does this word being created in the first place??? bromance sounds like gaymance..or is this a term created by gays???


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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

Airplane Drops Frozen Sewage On Indian Woman
Many children grow up hearing the story of Henny Penny, usually called Chicken Little in the United States. A recurring phrase in the story is ‘The sky is falling!’ The moral of the tale is that you shouldn’t be worried that disaster is imminent. That is all well and good, but for a woman in India, the sky did fall, and it was disgusting.

Blue Ice Frozen Human Sewage

Rajrani Gaud, a 60-year-old from the district of Sagar, in Madhya Pradesh, was going about her daily routine. For the widowed mother of three, her life mainly consists of keeping up the house and visiting with her neighbors. She was in the midst of cleaning when a football-size chunk of ice tore through her roof and slammed into her shoulder. She was knocked to the ground and immediately began screaming due to the pain.

Rajrani’s neighbors were less than thirty feet from where the ice ball entered her roof and quickly ran to her aid. She was taken to a local hospital and received treatment for a dislocated shoulder. According to eyewitnesses, right before the ice hit Gaud’s roof, it caught the edge of a neighboring terrace, which changed its flight path. Doctors suggested that without this last second deflection, the frozen block would likely have hit the elderly woman in the head and killed her.

A Delhi-based aviation expert, who specializes in ‘blue ice,’ alerted the Director Generals of Civil Aviation and the India Meteorological Department after hearing about the incident from friends. Bimal Kumar Srivastava, the aviation expert, believes that the ice chunk was the result of a commercial airplane releasing human waste during a flight. The feces and urine subsequently froze due to the combination of high altitude and cold temperatures. The blue-tint of the water in an airplane toilet gives the frozen sewage its name. While such globs of excrement usually thaw before reaching the ground, there have been multiple confirmed incidents of ‘blue ice’ striking unsuspecting people in India. While the government agencies are still conducting their investigation, if a commercial airline was responsible for the ice chunk, Gaud will receive compensation. This is the second case so far in 2016 of an Indian citizen behind hit by a falling object. In February, a bus driver was struck and killed by a meteorite.

(source)


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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

No matter who else is in charged.

People are always screwed!

Tan Cheng Bock says he will contest next Presidential Election
Channel NewsAsia Singapore NewsToday

The former presidential candidate garnered about 738,300 votes in the last Presidential Election in 2011, losing to incumbent President Tony Tan Keng Yam by just 0.35 percentage points.


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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

The most expensive cities in the world revealed: London is now the sixth most costly place to live, with New York seventh… and Singapore the priciest on the planet

• UK capital rose from 11th to 6th, a position held by Melbourne last year
• Strong US dollar has pushed New York and Los Angeles into top ten
• Singapore named the priciest city for third year, especially for transport
• Brexit fears have kept euro zone cities - except Paris - out of the top 10
• Bangalore, Mumbai, Karachi and New Delhi among cheapest cities to live

By JESSICA WARE FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 21:38 GMT, 10 March 2016 | UPDATED: 23:18 GMT, 10 March 2016


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London is rarely referred to as a budget-friendly city and it's becoming even less so after being named the sixth most expensive city in the world to live in.
The British capital has climbed five places from being ranked 11th in last year's Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) twice-yearly worldwide cost of living survey.
Singapore took the top spot for the third year in a row and is followed by Zurich, Hong Kong, Geneva and then Paris.


+7


London is now the sixth most expensive city in the world to live in, according to the most recent Economist Intelligence Unit's worldwide cost of living survey



+7


The British capital climbed up from the 11th most expensive city in the last edition of the survey, knocking Melbourne from the sixth spot

The rest of the top ten were New York, Copenhagen, Seoul and Los Angeles, knocking off Oslo, Sydney, and Melbourne - which have slid down the ranks due to the Australian dollar weakening, meaning good news for Brits travelling down under.
The study compares prices in shops for more than 160 basic goods and services, including food, toiletries, clothing, domestic help, utility bills, cigarettes and wine.
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New York, which is used as base for comparison in the survey, is at its highest rank since 2002 and has climbed by an impressive 42 places since 2011.
But interestingly neither Los Angeles nor the Big Apple have seen the price of bread, or average rent suddenly shoot up over the past year - instead, the climb is gradual.
Since the price of oil is falling and the US dollar strengthening, inflation has been low across the States and, according to the EIU, local prices haven't raced up.


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New York was in the 7th spot out of 133 cities across the world while Paris was the only euro zone city to make the top 10 this time round in the EIU's rankings



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Up in the top three spots, Singapore may well be holding its title as the most expensive place to live, but the gap between there and its competitors, Zurich and Hong Kong, is narrowing fast.
Cities varied in price in different areas, however. For instance, pricey Singapore was found to have better value for money when it came to groceries.
Buying day-to-day food was priced on a par with New York, while cities generally ranked as cheaper than Singapore had higher food costs.
Korean capital Seoul was 33 per cent more expensive than Singapore for groceries, Tokyo 26 per cent more expensive and Hong Kong 28 per cent more.


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Singapore has been at the top of the list for three years in a row. While it remained at the top of the list, the financial gap between there, Hong Kong and Zurich was narrowing



+7


Singapore is particularly expensive for car owners and for public transport, but has good value for money in comparison to the expensive cities of Tokyo and Hong Kong

Yet, owning a car was particularly more expensive for Singapore's residents, due in part to Singapore’s complex Certificate of Entitlement system.
Even those who think they might bypass the extra expense by jumping on the bus would find themselves out-of-pocket as public transport around the city is 2.7 times higher than in New York.
Right at the bottom of the 133-strong list was the Zambian city of Lusaka, which was preceded by Bangalore, and Mumbai - both in India - Almaty, Kazakhstan and Algiers, in Algeria.


+7


At the other end of the scale, the Indian city of Mumbai was the third cheapest for living expenses in the world. Other Indian cities in the bottom 10 were Chennai and New Dehli

The war-torn city of Damascus, Syria, had the 9th cheapest costs of living in the world.
Caracas, Venezuela, was in the top 10 a decade ago but has since plummeted down to the bottom ten.
'If the cost of living was calculated using the official rate, Caracas would be more than four times more expensive than New York. Conversely, if black market rates applied then it would be almost ten times cheaper than New York,' the EIU report said.
TEN MOST EXPENSIVE CITIES 2016

• Singapore
• Zurich
• Hong Kong
• Geneva
• Paris
• London
• New York
• Copenhagen, Los Angeles, Seoul

... AND THE TEN CHEAPEST

• Lusaka
• Bangalore
• Mumbai
• Almaty
• Algiers
• Chennai
• Karachi
• New Delhi
• Damascus
• Caracas

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz42YvOV7o7
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