When barbarians knocked on your door…

$25 billion – that is how much it takes to secure the biggest prize in Wall Street in 1989.

‘Barbarian at the Gate’ is not a computer game as some had mistakenly assumed. It’s a book published in 1990 by investigative journalists Bryan Burrough and John Helyar which depict the leveraged buyout (LBO) of RJR Nabisco in 1989.

The story described the greed and the power hungry of men in the 1980s which followed through Ross Johnson – his origins up to his rise as the CEO of RJR Nabisco, an American conglomerate formed in 1985 as a result of the merger of Nabisco Brands and R.J. Reynolds Tabacco Company. By mid-1980s, RJR Nabisco was sitting on a $1 billion cash flow with a battered stocks performance on Wall Street (due to potential tobacco lawsuit liabilities). The cash pile that the company sitting on began to attract the attention of players in Wall Street – which later eventually became an epic battle.

Whilst the first part of the book described the history of the conglomerate and Johnson’s rise, the later half of the book centers on Johnson and his management’s team attempt to acquire RJR Nabisco. The management team together with Shearson Lehman Hutton announced their proposal to take RJR Nabisco private at $75 a share. The announcement was followed by the entry of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (‘KKR’) with their team of bankers and advisors at $90 a share, thus setting off a fierce battle for the control of RJR Nabisco.

For Wall Street a $25 billion deal would mean ‘fat’ advisory fees and a raised profile that differentiate themselves among other competitors. This represents a stake – too high to lose for anyone in Wall Street. As all the players circle around RJR Nabisco, an obscene amount of money was raised from junk bonds and PIK notes to fund the deal. As greed and power comes into play, the bidding war raised from ‘take shareholders a ride’ $75 dollar a share to the ultimate final bid from KKR of $109.

Despite the book being published since 1990 (I was never a bookworm during the early part of my life) it is nevertheless a good read for anyone with the appetite for corporate battles. My take - 8 out of 10 for this book.

It has finally arrived!

After Kay waited religiously for almost one month, our Photobook has finally arrived. It all began sometime during the Christmas holidays, when we were introduced to Photobook by our friends and we decided to give it a try by compiling our 2007 holiday photos into a magazine-like photo album.

Basically, Photobook is a high quality photo album that allows customer a free-hand to design the entire photo album. Whilst the customer design the photo album, the company will print the album using high quality digital printing and paper material. The final product is thereafter sent back to the customer. Everything is done online and is convenient.

Customers will be given the software (downloaded online) to design the Photobook album and are given the opportunity to choose your own cover (hard/ soft cover). I won’t say it’s easy to use because it took Kay somewhat 3 weekends to work on the Photobook before submitting online to the company in Malaysia for printing. There’s lots of work involved especially if you are particular with matching colour and the arrangement of the photos. (since Kay is good at what she does, I had left the production of the Photobook in good hands while I spend my time watching television and mastering the Nintendo Wii)

After three weekends of hard work, our draft Photobook was submitted via online to the printer. The company confirmed the receipt of our order and promise to deliver the final Photobook to us within 10 to 12 working days. Unfortunately, after 10 working days, nothing came. We called Photobook in Malaysia to enquire the delivery status and they’ve confirmed it has been dispatched and gave us a tracking number. Then we start to panic. The package could have gone missing along the way or it could have ended-up in someone else’s letter box. We tried speaking to the local post office and gave them the tracking number. No result.

So we waited for week after week and nothing was coming through. And just as our patience were running low and losing hope, Kay made a last attempt by calling the local post office again. This time some nice bloke referred her to Parcel Force (another courier agent). She got in touch with Parcel Force and surprise, surprise, the package was with them.

The reason for the delay; Photobook had got our address wrong. They’ve even got our e-mail address wrong and had failed to give Parcel Force our contact number. In fact, Parcel Force had attempted to contact us, but without our residential address, e-mail address and contact number, they didn't know what to do and left the package with them for almost a month!

Anyway, Kay made arrangement for the package to be delivered to our place (with the correct address this time). We had a look at it. The quality is good but the colours are darker than we’ve expected. Nevertheless, it’s bearable. They do use high quality materials to produce the book and we won't have to worry about the photos turning pale.

Best kept memories.

Save for the postal problem, I think for the price of RM200++ (inclusive of delivery charges) the Photobook is value for money and worth the investment. For that, we are giving 7 out of 10 points for this. To those of you considering to compile your own album, you can consider Photobook! Just make sure they've got your address correct.

Pictures are worth a thousand words.

Nintendo Wii

When I was 12 at the beginning of my puberty, my dad got me my first console game Sega Mega Drive (though this has nothing to do with my puberty). I immediately got addicted to it and realised that I am the kind of person who would be a sucker for computer games. As a 12 year old kid, I have lived through the jubilee years of Sonic the Hedgehog and contributed (as a sucker) to Sega’s successful win in the console wars against Nintendo.

As I grew older, technology improved. Then along came Sony’s great console success. The Playstation 2. Unlike the generation of Sega Mega Drive, games are not as simple as beat em’-up or shoot and run. Joy pad with multiple combinations of buttons would give your game character different moves. Graphic becomes more realistic which amongst others includes my favorite ‘tfk’ games, Ace Combat 5 and foot ball games.

And all this time, Nintendo’s Game Cube (same generation of PS2) presence has been rather insignificant in the console market. Then Microsoft launch the new X-Box 360 and Sony race to introduce the new Playstation 3, both boasting new cinematic experience with newly improve processors to support it. Nintendo, decides to take a step back to simple game console for everyone in the family, hence Nintendo Wii, which the production cost is less than X-Box 360 and PS3. Nintendo Wii games are simple and rely on motion movement rather than using complicated joypad in X-Box 360 and PS3 games (which only target at older users). Here is a video of it:

Kay love it for its simplicity compare to the complicated games offered by X-Box 360. Actually I preferred X-Box 360. But if I bought an X-Box 360, I would be the only one having fun. So to get Kay involve as well, I decided to buy her a Nintendo Wii as our wedding anniversary present.

However, getting a Nintendo Wii in London has been fairly difficult. It has been sold-out in everywhere. Demand outstripped supply. I have visited the shop twice but was unable to get my hands on the console. I went online and it sold-out as well. Nevertheless, my persistence pays off when I have managed to get it online and have it delivered to our flat right before the wedding anniversary.

Our wedding anniversary present

The price? £179.00 for the console and Wii Sports games comes with it. Did we enjoy it? Of course! It was great fun. Recommended for all ages, young or old. I have to give Nintendo the credit. The games are simple and Nintendo try to minimise the complexity of the accessories.

Conclusion? The price is much lower compare to X-Box 360 and PS3. The games are much simpler and enjoyable. Everyone can have fun. And I am giving 9 out of 10 points for this.