Tea with AK71: Tonkatsu, Saizen REIT, Mazda cars.

Many things happened in my life lately. Some good and some bad. Well, mostly bad, I feel. Anyway, all I can do is to soldier on and roll with the punches. Take the good with the bad.

Today, after going out in the morning for an extended family gathering, I detoured to Orchard Road to take in the sights and have lunch at a tonkatsu place in the basement of Ion Orchard which my sister brought me to once before. It is called Ginza Bairin. Very good and cheaper than Tonkichi. The generous portion really filled me up too.

Fillet Katsu Set. $16.90. 3 pieces of fillet katsu which I prefer to loin katsu as it has less fats.
Served with rice, miso soup, pickle, salad, a really generous slice of fresh lemon (not the dried up type) and two sauces for the salad and tonkatsu.

Then, I bought the latest issue of The EDGE and went to Scotts Square's UOB to rest my feet. Only my second time there after I discovered that they serve a very fragrant Osmanthus green tea a couple of months ago. I asked for the same tea again today.

The least expensive apartment at Scotts Square is 600+ sq ft in size and has a price tag of $2.2m. As much as I like the place, it is unlikely that I would ever be able to buy a unit there. So, I can only enjoy the view from UOB on the third floor. Hahaha...

The EDGE has a few interesting articles in this issue. For anyone interested in Saizen REIT, luxury condominiums or shoebox apartments in Singapore, go pick up a copy.

Saizen REIT's unit price has shown strength lately and it is revealed that the REIT is attracting buying interest from wealthy investors in Singapore. Mr. Raymond Wong, executive director and major shareholder of the REIT's manager, declines to identify them but says that they are "entrepreneurs the locals would have heard of".

Intriguing. I wonder who they are...

According to NRA Research, units in the REIT are trading at a much steeper discount to its book value than its peers listed in Japan, which are trading at 0.75x book value.

Saizen REIT's NAV/unit is about 30c. So, 0.75x book value would translate to 22.5c. Saizen REIT is currently trading at about 16c per unit. I wonder...

I also flipped through the many magazines at UOB and one of them was an auto magazine. The back of the magazine has the latest prices of all the major makes sold in Singapore. I took a photo of the price list for Mazda cars in Singapore.

Wow! Would you pay S$128,988 for a Mazda 2?

I have to go out in a while. Family dinner. Hope the weekend is a good one for everyone. :)

Related posts:
1. Saizen REIT: 2H FY2012.
2. Quick, buy a new car cheaper now!
3. Hainanese pork chop rice.