Cape Yamu

Cape Yamu, Another Ambitious Project In Thailand

Another luxury project that bears the unique stamp of Philippe Starck is Cape Yamu on Phuket's East Coast in Thailand. The project includes both villa residences and a five-star boutique hotel, the Yamu. The project has some serious design clout, both Adrian Zecha of GHM Hotels and Aman Resorts and architect Jean-Michel Gathy are also involved. The Yamu will have 63 hotel rooms as well as a large swimming pool, spa and restaurants. There are also twelve villa estates and 15 club villas for sale. Just two estate lots are left for purchase. The style is Thai-modern, clean, spare and yet tropical. Starck adds his own touch of whimsy but seems to have gone for elegant over wacky in this particular design using a more muted color scheme. The Yuma complex includes a restaurant and five other "glass cubes" around the hotel grounds that are host to a wine room with a wine cave, a cigar lounge, a private kitchen, a chocolate room and a private boutique. There is also a play area with chess, a lounge and a bar. The Yamu is set to open in 2008.

The Macallen

No, that's not a misspelling of one of my favorite whiskeys, the mountain-like building shown here is The Macallen, a sloping new condo complex near the Broadway Red Line station in South Boston. The building's unique design helps it dominate the nearby railroad tracks on one side (and catch a view of the Boston skyline) while letting it fit in with the low-rise brick buildings on Dorchester Avenue on another side. The brick and bronze building is the work of architecture firm Office dA , a partnership of Nader Tehrani and Monica Ponce de Leon, one of whom teaches at Harvard, the other at MIT. This building is a series of dramatic angles offering a variety of differently shaped units. Standard condo amenities like a health club, a pool and indoor parking are included. The Macallen is also one of the greenest buildings in Boston and is expected to, according to the Boston Globe, achieve a gold LEEDS rating . The building is home to 150 condos ranging in price from $550,000 up to $2.1 million, with 30 units reserved for affordable housing.

Is It A Sin To Own A Ferrari?

Is it a sin to own a Ferrari?

It certainly seems like the Pope thinks so, at least according to a 'rules of the road' document issued by the Vatican that warns against using cars "as a means for outshining other people and arousing a feeling of envy." Ferrari doesn't seem too ruffled by this news, with the general manager addressing the issue with the response that most Ferrari owners buy the vehicles because they love to drive, not because they see it as a status symbol. And although I can't say I disagree with him (and I admit I do not and have not ever owned a Ferrari myself) I think it's fair to say that there's at least a little "status symbol" to be found in every Ferrari.

World's most expensive mobile number

World's most expensive mobile number is 666 6666

The world's most expensive phone number was auctioned for charity yesterday in Qatar.The number, 666 6666, sold for 10m Qatari riyals or £1.5m.The previous record holder was Chinese number 8888 8888, which sold for £270,000. The Cantonese word for eight sounds very similar to the word for rich. It was bought by Sichuan Airlines.

The previous record holder was Chinese number 8888 8888, which sold for £270,000. The Cantonese word for eight sounds very similar to the word for rich. It was bought by Sichuan Airlines.

The auction started at a million riyals and interest quickly narrowed from eight bidders to just two, according to Kuwaiti News Agency (KUNA).

The auction was organised by national telco Qtel, which has run two previous auctions and plans to run another in September. More details here. We tried phoning Qtel for more details, but they'd all gone home because it was 6pm...

Having seven sixes as your mobile number might seem devilish to some, but interpretations vary. A brief dip into the weird world of numerology shows 666 is seen as holy in Judaism because it represents six directions - up, down, north, south, east and west. Others equate it with the Arabic word "ellah" meaning God.

On a techy note, the first Apple Computer sold for $666.66, the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is w - so www. shows how evil the internet is. And finally, Viagra has a molecular weight of 666.7g/mol. More nuttiness here. ®

Most expensive work of art

Most expensive work of art: $104 million

A masterpiece by Pablo Picasso, painted in 1905 when he was just 24 years old, became the most expensive piece of art ever sold when it went under the hammer at Sotheby's in New York for $104m. The painting, Garcon a la Pipe (Boy with a Pipe) is one of the most important early works by the artist ever to appear on the market.

Most expensive pen: $265,000

Swiss company Caran d'Ache made 'La Modernista Diamonds' a pen that was sold in Harrods, London, for $265,000. Created in memory of architect Antonio Gaudi, the rhodium-coated solid silver pen has an 18-karat gold pen point and is pave-set with 5,072 diamonds and 96 half-cut rubies.

World's most expensive cities

Survey: Tokyo and Osaka take top spots, followed by London, Moscow and Seoul.
June 22, 2005: 2:40 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – It's hard to make New Yorkers feel good about the absurd amounts of money required to live comfortably in Gotham. But a survey out this week might at least make them feel a little better.

That's because Tokyo continues to earn the dubious distinction of being the world's most expensive city to live in, according to a survey released this week by Mercer Human Resources Consulting.

No. 2 on the list is Osaka, another major Japanese city, which moved up from its fourth place ranking last year.

Osaka's ascent pushed London to No. 3, and Moscow to No. 4.

Coming in fifth is Seoul, which ascended two spots from its position in last year's survey.

As for New York, it fell one spot in the rankings to No. 13 on a worldwide basis, tying it with Dublin.

But New York still ranks No. 1 in North America, followed by Los Angeles, which ranks No. 44 on a worldwide basis, White Plains, N.Y. which ranks No. 45, and San Francisco which ranks No. 50.

Mercer conducts the survey to help multinational companies and governments determine how much to pay their expatriate employees. The survey includes 144 cities across the world, and measures costs including housing, food, clothing, transportation and entertainment.

So, if your company is shipping you off to Tokyo and you're negotiating compensation, you might remind them that a luxury two-bedroom apartment unfurnished might cost you $4,595 a month.

And you also might remind them that with coffee running at over $4 a cup, there is some risk you'll be less productive due to loss of caffeine unless you're adequately paid.

If you're making a move domestically, and you're interested in finding the place where your dollar will go the farthest, try Winston Salem, N.C., which is the least expensive U.S. city surveyed and ranks No. 119 on a worldwide basis. Heading north, Ottawa will provide you with the most bang for your buck in North America.

If you head south to South America, you'll encounter some of the world's least expensive cities due to the lingering effects of the devaluation of the Argentine currency in 2002 and subsequent financial crisis, Mercer said. Asuncion, Paraguay, again ranks as the world's least expensive city, according to the survey. It is closely preceded by Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Caracas.

To see Mercer's full list of cities by rank, click on the graphic above.

Most expensive jeans

Most expensive jeans: Over $ 4,000

They wanted to be "the Mercedes-Benz, the Maybach of the denim industry". And APO jeans have done just that with a pair costing as much as $ 4,000 or more. They offeri mens and ladies jeans with Silver Buttons and Rivets at $1,000, 14k White or Yellow Gold Button and Rivets at $1,500, Platinum Button and Rivets at $3,250, and the Diamond Button and Rivets start at $4,000.
All Jeans will come with Authenticity Number as well as an Appraisal Sheet from a top Jeweler in the NY diamond district. Of course, you could buy the economy version: they run only $1,000 a pair. APO jeans are constructed from denim woven in India that costs $40 a yard, compared with the $2- to $3-per-yard cost of materials for most designer denim. Buttons and rivets are made with precious metals or, if a customer is willing to shell out $4,000 or more, up to a dozen white diamonds on the main button.