window of opportunity...

wuqi256 said:

Sure, there was always a lingering stench whenever i walk around the Bart. Even on streets too whenever there are panhandlers. I sometimes saw those very young doing that, doing nothing and getting wasted on alcohol, etc.

Its quite true about the public toilets though, you can't even use most of the restaurants and even coffee places don't allow non customers to use it. Its something we take for granted in SG where its more accessible. Speaking of coffee, still a fan of Peets after all these years. There was a Working Ladies cafe near the Hotel Triton (right at the corner) nice sandwiches.

Osha (Thai restaurant) used to be my favourite but nowadays long queue and standards a bit iffy. They were able to allow us to bring in wine on some occasions and waived off the corkage fees.

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Nice postings.
I believe them homeless gather around the Civic Center to collect their social security checks.

Im considering relocating myself and moving my entire business operations to the states, Since most of my buyers are from the States. One place Im looking at is S.F(I always wanted to migrate to the states and live esp in S.F ), @EatshitDie, Sorry to bother but can you list a few pros/cons to doing business in S.F? I'm looking at relocating within a Year.

wuqi256 said:

Speaking of coffee, still a fan of Peets after all these years. There was a Working Ladies cafe near the Hotel Triton (right at the corner) nice sandwiches.

Osha (Thai restaurant) used to be my favourite but nowadays long queue and standards a bit iffy. They were able to allow us to bring in wine on some occasions and waived off the corkage fees.

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my favorite coffee place is philz. once you try philz, it's hard to go back to peets and starbucks. philz is local, and there are not too many around. in sf, it's at van ness near the civic center. there's one in palo alto and another in san jose. they use the turkish brewing technique, and now i know why turks swear by their coffee.

talking about osha, i was just there on saturday. quiet in the weekends, but packed on weekdays. was thinking of treating joetys there if he craves for thai. my favorite thai place is still the one in parc55, where sq crew hangs out.

Television said:

Im considering relocating myself and moving my entire business operations to the states, Since most of my buyers are from the States. One place Im looking at is S.F(I always wanted to migrate to the states and live esp in S.F ), @EatshitDie, Sorry to bother but can you list a few pros/cons to doing business in S.F? I'm looking at relocating within a Year.

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i'm sure you have a sizable business operation to apply for the b1 visa, which offers you 10 years with multiple entries. but if you like what you see and want to settle for good, go for the green card through investment program. you can find it on the uscis.gov site. within the sf bay area, you may need to invest usd1m and employ 10 locals to qualify. outside of the bay area, in more rural locations, the minimum investment is usd500k, which is really not much by today's standard. before you commit, it'll be better to do a recon mission. commercial rents in sf are high. so are rents for apartments. bargain rents can be had now in the south bay, where most manufacturing operations have moved to china, and there's a lot of empty commercial and industrial buildings, mostly equipped for high tech. many of these commercial properties have been converted to residential due to demand. high tech jobs are shifting to software and chip design. fpga fabs are being overtaken by network processor and asic fabs. it's a contantly changing environment.

eatshitndie said:

i'm sure you have a sizable business operation to apply for the b1 visa, which offers you 10 years with multiple entries. but if you like what you see and want to settle for good, go for the green card through investment program. you can find it on the uscis.gov site. within the sf bay area, you may need to invest usd1m and employ 10 locals to qualify. outside of the bay area, in more rural locations, the minimum investment is usd500k, which is really not much by today's standard. before you commit, it'll be better to do a recon mission. commercial rents in sf are high. so are rents for apartments. bargain rents can be had now in the south bay, where most manufacturing operations have moved to china, and there's a lot of empty commercial and industrial buildings, mostly equipped for high tech. many of these commercial properties have been converted to residential due to demand. high tech jobs are shifting to software and chip design. fpga fabs are being overtaken by network processor and asic fabs. it's a constantly changing environment.

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Yes i have a sizable business, I did a quick read but B1 visa is primarily for short term business activities. I am looking for something long term.(I have been doing a little research lately on rental and not surprisingly, Rent is cheaper there and ultimately close to 45% of my buyers are from the States and if I relocate, the supply chain would shorten which means More profits for me *Honestly speaking, The only benefit being in Singapore is Cheaper Labor and Lower tax. In 2 months time my biz will be turning 1 year, Then i can see clearly how much difference its going to be, But i believe with the shorting of the supply chain and Rent, It might balance out)

I am looking to close shop in Singapore and move the entire business there.(Im currently 26 turning 27 soon so I thought this will be the best timing to take the risk, since I have got no commitment and my parents are themselves migrating in a couple of months to Malaysia)

Television said:

I am looking to close shop in Singapore and move the entire business there.(Im currently 26 turning 27 soon so I thought this will be the best timing to take the risk, since I have got no commitment and my parents are themselves migrating in a couple of months to Malaysia)

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hope to see you here. and if there's a need to hire an immigration attorney, there's an ex sinkie lawyer who works out of fremont as a last resort. you're still young, and this is the best time to take risks. you won't regret it.

Will be in S.F for a week next month, Any "Must Go" places of interest?

Television said:

Will be in S.F for a week next month, Any "Must Go" places of interest?

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in s.f., you must check out the golden gate bridge. there's a viewing area on the south end of the bridge in the presidio. downtown, there's powell street where crazies hang out and the cable car stops. go up powell and there's union square. chinatown is not far away on grant and stockton. walk down to the embarcadero on market and you'll hit the ferry terminal. take the tram north and you'll be in pier 39. 15 mins walk away, and there's fisherman's wharf. take a ferry to alcatraz or to sausalito. alamo park is in the center of the city, and around it are beautiful victorian homes. the "painted ladies" are in one corner. haight ashbury is another quaint district with many large victorian homes. castro is a must if you're gay. the botanical gardens, zoo, de young museum, and the california academy of sciences are all in the golden gate park. it's a good jogging park adjoining the great highway and the pacific ocean. columbus avenue and north beach area are great for italian food. beach blanket babylon is in the area on green street.

outside of sf, there's muir woods in marin, sonoma and napa. grape harvest season may stretch to early october due to a mild summer. you may encounter art, wine and olive oil festivities in sonoma and napa up to mid october. it's a very enjoyable season. and to top it off, the america's cup will be back in the bay in october for international races.

Thanks for the info man. I have already slotted your Recommendation into my itinerary.

if you're here in sf this weekend, shiok!

this is perhaps the busiest and most fun weekend in sf history. fleet week starts today with blue angels flying between golden gate bridge and bay bridge when fog clears. navy ships are docked at the wharves for public access and viewing. america's cup continues its world series races in the bay today and tomorrow. the bluegrass festival opens in golden gate park. the giants are 1st place in the west in the playoffs, and thus get to host the 1st playoff game in the west at home. the ball park is on embarcadero. the niners are hosting the buffalo bills at candlestick tomorrow. the a's won the division and are hosting the playoffs in oakland. the japanese uniqlo clothing store just opened on friday, and it sits on powell, near union square. 1 million visitors from outside the bay area are expected this weekend. hotel occupancy is at 90%.

Everything is confirm, i will be in the states in 2 months time.

eatshitndie said:

outside of sf, there's muir woods in marin, sonoma and napa. grape harvest season may stretch to early october due to a mild summer. you may encounter art, wine and olive oil festivities in sonoma and napa up to mid october. it's a very enjoyable season. and to top it off, the america's cup will be back in the bay in october for international races.

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Agree, nothing like taking a limo to Sonoma. Muir woods wise is ok but it rained when we got there so didn't do so much. Point Reyes was always breathtaking though and we always like halfmoon bay. Was packed when we were there, there was some surfing competition going on but no one really saw anything as spectators were barred from viewing too closely (safety/legal reasons)

Took my kids around SF recently. Agree about Castro, North beach as well, plenty of LGBT action there. We saw the pride parade years back when we first went there. Very vibrant always, of late though seems a bit more crime although seems the whole area's real estate is getting red hot, even news were reporting it. Always lots to do there but things have gone up a bit, the cable car is now 6 bucks and is 18 bucks for 1 pax for whole day pass (applies to all muni vehicles though so streetcars, trolley buses, etc are included as well) Even streetcars are now 2 bucks, up from 1.50, Ghiradelli chocs are up now to be 4.99 and best place to buy is still Walgreens.

Took a ride on a boat out and a cheap one by the fishermen/bass guys out for 15 bucks each (used to be 10 bucks just a few years back) and saw many many sail boats, must be practicing. Really pretty though and saw some porpoises along with the standard sea lions. Went to see people fishing by the sea near the road to Fort Mason.

One of the best places to go to is Monterey and visit the aquarium there, the sea views are nice and coupled with the trip to Carmel and 17 mile drive, really nice. Can see the squirrels that lives amongst the rocks near the sea.

Wanted to go to south Tahoe over the MLK weekend but wife didn't like the idea of skiing, especially when we were all down with flu when we reached there. Unusually cold this year for a bit but it quickly cleared up. That said, its too expensive to live in SF unless one is really loaded. Most folks lives outside of SF, met with some friends in Sunnyvale and took the caltrain down.

Took a (stretched) towncar once to the airport and just paid 55 USD. Compare that to the cabs, i would rather take the towncar as its comfy and we tend to get better service.

wuqi,

glad to hear that you and family enjoyed the bay area. it's getting warmer, but it was freezing a week ago. the real estate market in sf has gone thru' the roof again, and i'm afraid it's overvalued due to many high tech workers and entrepreneurs seeking a home there. also included among buyers are cash rich foreigners from asia, namely china. the rental market is crazy. recently, there's a report on sfgate about tenants sharing bunk beds, living in the laundry room, sleeping in a closet. there's more value further south in san jose, but prices have climbed by about 15% and average number of bidders has gone up. the area between sf and sj is too expensive and becoming out of reach to most, especially menlo park where facebook is, mountain view and sunnyvale where google is, and cupertino where apple is. palo alto and los altos have traditionally been a stanford alumni haunt, so bargains are impossible to find. avoid pittsburg, antioch and brentwood in contra costa as these cities opened the floodgates to section 8 housing during the bust. now they are becoming trashy and crime ridden.

will be strolling around bedok reservoir when i'm in sg. hope to chat up soon.

Television said:

Everything is confirm, i will be in the states in 2 months time.

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perfect timing for spring, and allergies! hachoo!

Are you on greencard?

I am looking for a contractor to do painting and some minor electrical work, you got any good lobang?

Thanks Eatshitndie, yes it has and really seems red hot. Gosh, thats pretty bad. San Jose remains viable but IMHO, it becomes a bit too quiet after hours. Yes been to Menlo and Palo Alto to soak in the atmosphere. Really beautiful some of these places. I was in Mountain view as well and one of the partner offices, we could see the Nasa stuff from afar.

You are right on the money epecially for Antioch as one of my buddies was just talking about it, he is taking his family out, some areas are becoming unliveable. Let me know when you are back.

Television said:

Everything is confirm, i will be in the states in 2 months time.

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Hi brother, you plan to stay there permanently? Which state will you be in?

Television said:

Are you on greencard?

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nope. and the card is not really green. it's multi-colored with yellow, green and pink hues.

wuqi,

i'll be back in the bedok area around october.