Happy New Years
M@Blog has been fairly quiet, but at least a New Year’s greeting is in order. Had a wonderful time visiting family and friends in NYC, as well as attending a friend’s wedding in France. Unfortunately didn’t get to spend as much relaxing time as I’d hoped, but that’s what retirement is for, right?
In other news, the chomping sound continues with a report on Ripplewood Holdings’ Seagaia success. Interesting to note how “…10% of the golfers are from South Korea.” With a push to make Haneda an international airport, Japan is on a trend to becoming an ‘amusement hub’ of sorts. Already, North Koreans are sneaking in for day trips to Disneyland, and I think Japan has the highest “Disney density”, with its ‘land’ and ’sea’ parks. Universal Studios may not be doing as well, but is an option. And now people are flying in just for a round of golf. It will be interesting to see how Japan handles its waning power as the gateway to Asia. Looks like for the moment it’s taking foreign assistance, not exactly an encouraging sign…
January 12th, 2004 at 2:45 am
Good to see the positive ink on Seagaia, which was one of the most negatively-viewed of Ripplewood’s investments, as in “what do they think they’re doing.” Who knows when they’ll actually make money, but buy something cheap enough, and with a few factors in your favor (Asian recovery, increasing leisure time, wealthy retired folk) and it’s hard to lose.