Since 2003, I have been hearing about this place called "Yiwu" from my business friends in Singapore. And Scott and I even got some cool stocks from this place back in 2005. I was told this is the world's wholesale capital. You can get almost anything here. Most of the things you see and buy in the retail shops originated from this place. (Of course, that item you bought could have passed through 2-3 middle-men's hands)

I was "warned" by Echo and Francis that 1 day isn't enough for Yiwu. Well, I have been to many wholesale centres in Beijing, Shenyang Hangzhou and Shanghai. How "big" can this place be, I thought. 

We (Tracy, Echo and myself) drove for 3 hours - passing Jiaxin and Hangzhou - before we reached Yiwu. The minute Echo's car entered the parking lot, I saw an endless stretch of trucks and cars. I cannot describe the size of this mega-wholesale center. It is almost like our Singapore Expo, Hall 1-6 AND 5 floors up! A local told us that there is an estimated of 25,000-30,000 shops in Yiwu. Guys, it is BIG!




We saw toys, lifestyle products, household items, electronics, car parts, accessories for women, gifts and premiums, craftworks, festive items (xmas, cny) and more! These wholesalers are nice, they welcome you to take photographs of those items that you are interested. Most wholesalers don't provide you with catalogues or samples that you can take home. So, it is important you have to snap those items you want. Pick up their namecards and record the prices. You may call them back anytime to find out more.

Now the $$$ - Things in Yiwu are generally 500% cheaper than those you see in the retail shops. For example, a 1-foot tall lava lamp will cost you about S$60 at Parkway Parade. It is only selling at S$6 here. (minimum quantity: 50 pcs). A foldable bicycle costs about RMB1,500 in Shanghai, the same model costs only RMB400 (no minimum order!).

Guess I am going to brainwash more friends to accompany me to Yiwu. Kalinda, Meijie, Felicia, Gareth, you guys should come along too! Next time, we should book a hotel room for 2-day stay. Time to book a few containers!

Duuk and Juliana gave me "Titan" (left) on my 30th birthday back in 2005. I took such great care of him. I even brought him to Shanghai to be my housemate. "Titan" is my first Robosapien and he does pretty cool moves. He even helped me to discipline Elkan when he was 18-month old. Elkan was so naughty back (he just master his walking) and he was exploring the whole house. In order to "block him", we put "Titan" at strategic spots. Elkan was terrified by the sounds and movements and he never dare to go near "Titan".

This worked for a couple of months. It is more effective than saying the traditional "you naughty, later policeman come and catch you!" (Cos' you can never find a policeman at home to frighten your kid.)

Anyway, Elkan kinda outgrown his fears for "Titan" this June. He realised that I am the evil mastermind behind "Titan". You see, "Titan" is a remote-control robot. And Elkan realised that the remote-controller is the cause for those frightening moves. And in reality, "Titan" is more like a kitten. And now, Elkan takes over the control and is abusing "Titan" (walk "Titan" to bang the wall, over the edge of the stairs etc).

I need a new robot. And here comes the new 2007 Robosapien "RS Media". I have to fly to Hong Kong to buy it (cos not many Asian cities are carrying this model). You can imagine how difficult for me to hand-carry it back.

"Autobot" (photo right)  is a smart robot. It has sensors and is able to roam freely on its own. It has eyes to avoid obstacles and ears to respond. It has a camera and can record video and sounds (with playback function). It can be programmed to guard your house (triggering alarm when distrubed). It has night and UV vision that can detect the slightest sound and movement. One of the best features is it can stand up on its own (automatically) - if you push it and it fell flat on the floor. And it has a woofer that can really yell and shout!

And looking at its size and brain, Elkan is going to have a nasty surprise this October. No remote controller, kid. See how you beat this one!This is going to be a heavy-weight baby sitter.

Haaa...monster kid and evil daddy. I am planning to get "Autobot" to guard my snacks, magazines and Xbox 360.

FACEBOOK.COM - Guess this is going to be the next biggest internet sale (other than YouTube) of this decade! Someone (Yahoo, MSN or Google) is going to buy over this entity. And people like us are going to be help the creator to achieve multi-billion sale. Imagine, every new Facebook account we setup and maintain is worth USD$50 and you have about 20 million users. Do the maths. (We provide the network and content for free and someone makes all that money! Smart!)

Beside the $$$-talk, Facebook offers more than Friendsters and it is super addictive. I was on my round inviting people to get on the Facebook and I got "ticked off" by Juliana. (Haaa..surprise, surprise). She snapped in disgust "no..no...not FACEBOOK again! It keeps people off their daily jobs!"

She is right. Facebook is as addictive and disruptive as MSN Messenger. Look around you, how much time we spent on MSN Messenger everyday at work (if your company hasn't ban them yet). It is a great communication, bonding, social networking, be-in-the-radar, be-popular and online dating tool. Like Friendster, it opens doors faster than you pick-up chicks at "Baby Face".

Nevertheless, it is a good community. Even old-timer conservatives like Jimmy, Meijie and myself are on this "bad wagon" (yah, it is bad). It is really fun and super-interactive. And it makes us realise how small our world is. (Scary...I just found out that my HK client is a friend of my Shanghai headhunter!)
  
See you at www.facebook.com. For Christ's sake, please register with a nice cover-shot of yourself.