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They were on a family vacation in Los Angeles when Dr. Syed called with the test results. Priyanka P. was just 13 then, and had suffered for several years with the itchy, chronic skin rash that comes with eczema. But on this day — July 18, 2006 —the doctor had found something else in the girl's skin: traces of scabies and melanoma.
Scabies is a contagious skin disease caused by mites. Melanoma is the most deadly type of skin cancer.
Distraught, Priyanka's parents, Harish S. and Sarita P., cut short their vacation, got in their car, and headed for the doctor's home in San Francisco. Surely there had to be something he could do for the girl.
The family's nightmare had begun a week earlier, when Priyanka's parents accompanied her to an appointment with Dr. Timothy Syed Andersson.
"Dr. Syed," as everybody called him, had been recommended to them by a family friend. He had apparently been a professor at UCSF and Stanford, spoken at dermatology conferences, invented a green tea facial cream, and treated movie stars like Julia Roberts and Elizabeth Hurley.
On a visit to his Lakeside District home at 56 Springfield Dr., Priyanka's family was impressed by a wall of photographs showing the doctor posing alongside famous Bollywood actresses.
They followed Syed into his basement office and consulting room. He stuck a piece of tape on Priyanka's skin, peeled it off, and placed it in a plastic bag. He also swabbed the inside of her mouth, and took photos of her face, arms, and legs. He told the family that the images and DNA samples would be sent to a Stanford University imaging center for testing. In addition, Syed gave the girl a customized topical skin cream, for which he charged the family $520.
Cream wasn't all Priyanka would need.
A week later, her results arrived. According to a letter from the imaging center, the images and DNA strip had shown "serious symptoms" of "sub-acute to chronic nummular eczematous inflammation, seborrheic dermatitis, prurigo nodularis, with deep folliculitis, paraneoplastic pemphigus, and melanoma with traces of scabies."
The impenetrable letter was signed by Michael J. Palfskey, M.D., director of Stanford's Digital Image Scanning Center.
Not to worry, Syed told the family. He would be able to treat Priyanka with injections of what he called Interferon-alpha. He could give her the first shot right away, which would cost $1,320. She would need to come back for two more injections, which also cost $1,320 each.
Desperate to help their daughter, the family agreed.
Each time the girl received an injection, she complained of a severe burning sensation that lasted several days. Although Syed told Priyanka's parents that her skin problems would be gone within six months, after five months her condition had only deteriorated.
That's when the family decided to go for a second opinion at UC Davis Medical Center. In April 2007, after more than 10 months of believing their daughter had cancer, they received another set of test results. Priyanka suffered only from eczema.
Just recently, the family learned that nearly everything Syed had told them was a lie. Roberts and Hurley were never his patients. He had never been a professor at UCSF or Stanford, and he had never sent Priyanka's samples anywhere, because that lab at Stanford didn't exist, and Palfskey was a figment of Syed's imagination. And Syed wasn't even a real doctor.
Priyanka and her family weren't the only ones fooled. Dozens of vulnerable members of the South Indian immigrant community were treated by Syed, incorrectly diagnosed with cancer and other diseases, and given dangerous and improper treatments, according to the San Francisco District Attorney's arrest warrant affidavit.
Then there were the people who really should have known better.
Syed bamboozled many in his personal and professional life, including doctors, lawyers, professors, business partners, university admissions staff, and even the United States Information Agency, a now-defunct federal department that issued him a visiting scholar visa. In early 2007, Syed even duped a Medical Board of California (MBC) investigator initially assigned to his case, raising questions about the board's ability to protect the public from phony doctors.
Syed's deception spree came to an end in February, nearly four years after he had been brought to the attention of the MBC, when he was finally arrested and jailed. He refused to talk to SF Weekly for this article. But his former friends, victims, and one of his ex-wives (he has four) have plenty to say, as do the hundreds of pages of investigative documents in the D.A.'s file. They tell the story of a man whose genius wasn't for medicine but for fraud.
The man now calling himself Timothy Syed Andersson used to say his name was Tanweer Syed Ahmad. Sometimes he used a variation of that — Tanweer Syed — or flipped it to Syed Tanweer Ahmad or Syed Tanweer. At times he also went with a middle initial, as in Syed T. Ahmad or Tanweer A. Syed. Most people called him Dr. Syed, or simply Tim.
Syed had about as many names as he did stories regarding his education. He made frequent claims about earning various advanced degrees from universities all over the world — University of the Punjab, Pakistan; University of Tehran, Iran; University of Birmingham, England; and Lund University, Sweden.
Not one of those schools has any record of him, according to an investigation conducted by Jennifer Alderete, a special agent with the Department of Homeland Security.
Only once has Syed been questioned about his background under oath. That was in 2005, in a civil case involving thousands of dollars Syed allegedly stole from a friend, Nitin Shah. (Although the judge found in Shah's favor, Shah has yet to see a dime, and Syed is currently countersuing Shah.)
"I will tell the truth, the whole truth, so help me God," Syed told the court. He said he was born on January 22, 1944, in Karachi, and attended high school there. He earned a Ph.D. in chemistry and an M.D. from the University of Tehran, he said, completing the latter in 1970. Shah's attorney, Michael Heath, asked whether Syed had practiced medicine in Iran.
"Yes, of course," Syed said. "Dermatologist. Trained dermatologist ... I am well-known internationally. ... I am well-known with the Hollywood celebrities, okay?"
According to investigative documents, in February 1995 the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill accepted Ahmad Syed Tanweer as a researcher. In September 1996, the United States Information Agency issued a J-1 (visiting scholar) visa to Syed Tanweer Ahmad.
When Alderete subpoenaed Syed's paperwork from the university, she found that some of it was seemingly fraudulent. Other documents she reviewed indicated that, in October 1996, the university had finally figured this out.
"Terminate with cause," says a handwritten note on a document that raised questions about the authenticity of Syed's application.
"Would never work with him again," says another note by Jean C. Hughes, the alternate responsible officer for the university's J-1 Program. "He forged his signature ... and made up a person."
Another letter from Robert Locke, director of UNC's J-1 Program, states that Syed was terminated and that the Information Agency was notified. That document also indicated that the university refused Syed's request for a J-1 transfer to UCSF.
Apparently, Syed wasn't taking no for an answer. In 1996, he moved to Healdsburg, Calif., with his two sons from a former marriage, and began romancing Betty Amann, who was nearly 10 years his senior. "He pursued me like you wouldn't believe," Amann says.
The couple married on Valentine's Day of 1997; Syed and his sons moved into Amann's house. When he wasn't traveling abroad and lecturing at conferences, she remembers, Syed would be up all night on the computer. He'd sleep until about noon, then go to UCSF, supposedly to do lab work.
In his 2005 testimony, Syed said he was a faculty member, and handed Heath a copy of a UCSF badge identifying Tanweer Syed, M.D., as a "Visiting Assoc. Professor Dermatology."
He said he had worked at UCSF for five years, and stopped because the school was taking 65 percent of his earnings from sales of the skin cream he had invented. "But still today I'm helping the university."
According to UCSF spokeswoman Corinna Kaarlela, Syed briefly worked as an unpaid research assistant in the lab of dermatology professor Howard Maibach. When interviewed by investigators, Maibach claimed that Syed "didn't want to work," so he asked him to leave.
Nobody associated with the university could explain how Syed obtained an identification badge.
In 2001, Syed was listed on the American Academy of Dermatology's summer session program as an associate professor at UCSF. In 2002, he was able to obtain a university business card declaring him a UCSF professor.
Bruce Wintroub, the chairman of UCSF's dermatology department, wrote twice to Syed, asking him to stop claiming an affiliation with the university. Syed responded: There had been a "serious discrepancy," he wrote, and he hoped to work with Wintroub in the future.
According to UCSF dermatology professor Raza Aly, Syed was well respected in the department at first. Aly says many of the doctors — including Maibach — were impressed when Syed said he treated celebrities and sold his green-tea skin cream around the world. Aly even gave the cream to his wife.
As they became friends, Syed and Aly hung around together at dermatology functions, went on double dates with their wives, and wrote a scientific paper together. Aly says he once lent Syed $5,000; Syed paid him back eventually.
Syed applied to work part-time in Aly's lab, but Wintroub vetoed the request. "I wanted to hire him," Aly says. "Thank God I didn't."
In May 2005, the university reported Syed to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), but nothing came of it. Then in April 2006 — almost four years before Syed's arrest — UCSF reported him to the Medical Board of California and the AAD for practicing medicine without a license and falsely claiming he was affiliated with the school. "Can't the state of California or the AAD do something about a nonlicensed foreign physician practicing medicine?" wrote Tim Berger, a UCSF professor of clinical dermatology. "At some point the public must be protected from such frauds."
"Have asked our enforcement staff to open an investigation," Dave Thornton, then the executive director of the MBC, responded. "Thanks for the information."
Nearly six months later — on September 29, 2006 — a complaint about Syed landed on the desk of MBC senior investigator Charles McCort. The complaint pertained to Syed's usage of "M.D." after his name on Internet ads and his Web site, Syed Beauty.
In fact, the site promoted Syed as much more than just a doctor. "Syed is a well-known consulting dermatologist, clinician, cosmetic chemist, and Hoffman Distinguished Professor of Alternative Medicine (Sweden)," it said, "with more than 35 years of professional expertise in the field of extracting and synthesizing natural bioactive."
The site also said Syed gave 100 "scientific podium presentations" at national and international medical conferences. By appointment only, the site claimed, he saw patients at his "offices" in London, Paris, Stockholm, Milan, Mumbai, Dubai, Tokyo, and Hong Kong.
Another three months went by before McCort finally paid a visit to Syed at 56 Springfield Dr. — where Priyanka and dozens of others had been receiving diagnoses and injections.
When McCort confronted Syed about practicing medicine, Syed denied it, and said he was not licensed in California.
He explained he had been a visiting associate professor of dermatology at UCSF, and showed McCort his badge. McCort had Syed write a statement admitting he did not have a medical license. To that, Syed added, "I earned an M.D. from Sweden and a Ph.D. in chemistry from U.K. I have more than 60 research publications in medical journals." He signed the statement under penalty of perjury. McCort closed the case for lack of evidence.
In many ways, the Syed case highlights systemic problems within the Medical Board of California that have existed for years.
In 2004, the state Legislature hired a monitor to conduct an independent analysis of the board's disciplinary system. Julianne D'Angelo Fellmeth, the director of the University of San Diego's Center for Public Interest Law, found that processing the average complaint took an unacceptable two and a half years. Numerous causes included fiscal and staffing shortages, lax oversight, and recalcitrant doctors.
The board's most recent annual report shows that statistic has not improved. Over the two and a half years it is still taking the board to deal with complaints, the public is not being protected from potentially dangerous doctors and unlicensed practitioners.
There's also a larger issue specific to unlicensed practitioners. Unlike gross negligence, incompetence, and substance abuse, the unlicensed practice of medicine has not been deemed a priority of the MBC by the state Legislature, perhaps because there are comparatively few complaints about it. That doesn't mean unlicensed doctors don't exist.
Phony doctors primarily operate out of their homes, often targeting immigrants who don't speak English or have health insurance. People from marginalized communities often seek out discreet, affordable care, and may not be aware that they are being treated by an unlicensed doctor.
Those who do find out often don't know where to make a report. Others opt not to because they're ashamed, says Robert Baratz, one of the doctors who runs Quackwatch, a nonprofit Web site that combats medical misbehavior. When nobody complains, nobody investigates.
Even when fake doctors are reported, the investigations frequently go nowhere. Of the 146 complaints the MBC received last year about unlicensed practitioners, only 48 were referred for field investigation, and 23 of those were closed, mainly for lack of evidence. Just nine of the remaining cases were referred to district attorneys for criminal action, and only two have ended in convictions thus far.
The problem is that for fraudulent doctors to be convicted of practicing medicine without a license, investigators have to literally catch them in the act. In July 2000, the MBC came up with Operation Safe Medicine, essentially a sting involving undercover investigators acting as patients.
Although the operation was important in an immigrant-heavy state like California, in 2002 the MBC ran into financial problems and shut it down. The stings were reinstated only in 2009, after Syed had already treated dozens of patients.
Sapna M. first met Syed in 2005, when he came into the Inner Richmond bank where she worked as a branch manager. Syed presented her with a business card, said he was a UCSF doctor and professor, and told Sapna he could cure her varicose veins.
According to the story Sapna told investigators, in June 2006 she visited Syed's home basement "office," whose walls were lined with medical certificates.
Syed told Sapna that he could also perform breast augmentation on her. When she said she was interested, he explained that he would first need photographs of her breasts, but she refused. Instead, Wendy Wong, Syed's fourth wife, took the pictures.
Syed then took Sapna upstairs and instructed her to lie on her stomach on his living room couch for the varicose vein treatment. He told her he couldn't give her a local anesthetic, because if he did, the procedure wouldn't work. He assured her it would be painless.
Syed stuck Sapna's legs between 20 and 25 times with a needle attached to a syringe. After withdrawing her blood, he squirted it into cotton balls. The procedure took about an hour and a half. When it was over, Sapna felt unwell.
That's when Syed offered her a beer, she told investigators.
A month later, Sapna's spider veins were still bothering her. Syed advised her to see a liposuction specialist. The problem, he suggested, was that fat in her legs was messing up the procedure.
Sapna completed a four-page form, "University of California San Francisco Consent from Patient," for a plastic surgeon named John Reichle Jr. to perform her liposuction at UCSF. Syed told Sapna that Reichle would call her to set up an appointment, but she never received a call. Instead, she called UCSF and got some disturbing news. Reichle didn't exist.
Although Sapna says she authorized Syed to charge her only $2,500 for the injections, credit card records show that he billed her a total of $7,000. When her bank contacted Syed about the charges, he denied performing any procedures, and claimed the $7,000 was for cream she had purchased. Sapna then went to another doctor and explained what had happened; the doctor consulted the medical board's Web site and learned that Syed had no medical license.
On September 26, 2006, Sapna filed a police report involving Syed's unlicensed status, the treatments she received, and the fraudulent charges on her credit card. San Francisco police have not responded to SF Weekly's questions about why the medical board was not alerted.
Instead, a year went by, and Syed continued to see patients. During that time, the first medical board investigation (unrelated to Sapna's case) was opened and closed for lack of evidence.
A second, this one concerning Sapna's complaint, began in May 2007. Four months later, investigators had the information they needed to get a search warrant.
On September 13, 2007, investigators entered Syed's home and seized several computers, hard drives, CDs, and numerous chemicals, syringes, and needles. They also discovered 11 binders containing information about Syed's patients.
Syed had documented the conditions his patients supposedly suffered from, but also what they liked to do in their leisure time. He had noted their astrological signs. He had asked his female patients for their bra sizes. He told some that he was conducting a study on STDs, and asked them personal questions about their sex lives.
The investigators tracked down those patients. In interviews, every one said that Syed took photographs of their skin and claimed he would send it to an imaging lab at Stanford. Each received a typed letter signed by Palfskey, diagnosing cancer or serious skin problems. Some of the letters warned patients that their skin problems were spreading, and could eventually affect sensitive areas such as the face or genitals.Unsigned templates of those letters were later discovered in Syed's computer files.
No matter what the issue, Syed recommended his skin cream and injections of "Interferon-alpha." Investigators have been unable to determine what patients actually received, but nearly all of them reported that the shots were excruciating.
After Syed injected one 2-year-old child, his nails began falling out.
One adult male patient admitted he cried because the injections hurt so much.
Some patients went to Syed based on recommendations from friends or relatives. Others heard his advertisements on the radio station Saaz Aur Awaaz, which also has a program on KEST-AM (1450) from 2 to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. The channel bills itself as "The Voice of the South Asian Community." Still more patients had won free consultations from the preschool where their children and Syed's daughter attended. One had been referred by a woman who taught ballet to Syed's daughter.
One of the saddest cases was that of a woman named Wei Ling J., who suffered from rosacea. Over six months in 2006, she allowed Syed to inject her multiple times in her arms and buttocks. Her skin condition only got worse, and she became depressed and suicidal. Too embarrassed to go out in public, she eventually quit her job. She told investigators that when she finally saw another doctor, he said her skin condition was one of the worst he had ever seen. Wei Ling never suspected Syed wasn't a doctor. She says she paid him a total of $15,555.
Of his 27 victims, only a handful reported having doubts. Just one — Elizabeth W. — became confrontational. She wrote to Syed, complaining that he had charged her more than she expected, and challenged him about where he was allegedly sending her DNA tests. "I know the difference between a clinical test and a marketing tool," she wrote.
Syed's response merely reinforced his importance. "I am booked for the next five months," he wrote. "My cliental [sic] includes Julia Roberts, Jaclyn Smith, Hunter Tylo, Sela Ward, Elizabeth Hurley, Mel Gibson, Helen Hunt." Additionally, Syed claimed he had been the "director of operations" for Guerlain, Christian Dior, Max Factor, Helena Rubinstein, and Johnson & Johnson.
Pretending to be a licensed doctor wasn't the only scam Syed was running. He also claimed he could get people into Stanford Law School because he was a professor there.
One family told investigators they gave Syed a check for $5,000 as a donation to the school. They believed the money would help the university overlook the insufficient grades of their daughter, who was also a patient of Syed's.
Syed told them they needed to leave the top line of the donation check blank, because he had yet to determine the appropriate person to accept the money. According to bank records, he decided he was the correct recipient. The girl's application essay — which Syed wrote for her — falsely claimed she had familial ties to the university.
A few weeks later, in early 2005, Syed went back to the girl's parents and told them Stanford required another $5,000. Again, he said, they needed to leave the top line blank. They wrote the check, but their daughter did not get into the law school.
The family told investigators they were extremely embarrassed. In retrospect, it seemed so obvious that they were being taken. But Syed was so good at playing the well-connected, world-famous doctor that it's possible he even had himself convinced.
Without that pathological self-assuredness, it's hard to explain Syed's relentless cream-inventing, paper-writing, podium-presenting, and record-keeping. While he should have been hiding, he was telling everyone he met that he was a world-famous dermatologist.
You might think all of that would make him an easy target for the Medical Board of California. But all that bravado — paired with an international résumé that was hard to verify — seemingly worked in his favor. Few people suspected that somebody would lie so boldly and so often.
In addition to Syed's unyielding confidence and his claims about treating the rich and famous, he looked the part. He cultivated a distinguished appearance, and carried himself in a pleasant, professional manner. Whenever someone of importance approached a table where Syed was sitting, he would stand up as a gesture of respect. "He had excellent bedside and table manners," UCSF dermatologist Aly says.
"Oh my God, the charm," says Amann, Syed's ex-wife. "It was unreal. He made you feel like you were the only person in the world."
Amann says she is now certain he used her for money and housing. She can recall some definite signs that Syed wasn't who claimed to be. One of his sons played soccer, and sprained his ankle during a game. To her surprise, Syed seemed at a loss for what to do. He didn't even know to suggest ice.
"A doctor would know that," she says.
On the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 2, investigators placed Dr. Syed — or whatever his real name was — under arrest.
Syed was charged with 51 felonies: 27 counts of practicing medicine without a license, 23 counts of grand theft by deception, and one count of perjury for lying to the medical board. Of the 27 victims Syed allegedly treated as patients, eight were minors. According to the district attorney's office, he had collected a total of more than $75,000 from the people he had defrauded.
Though Syed should have been stopped years before, his capture was still a proud moment for District Attorney Kamala Harris. She called a special press conference to announce the arrest alongside the medical board investigators. When asked what was in Syed's cream, she triumphantly told reporters: "A bunch of B.S."
There was no mention of the fact that the board had walked away from its first case involving Syed, or that Sapna had filed her police report nearly four years prior. The whole ordeal took so long, D.A. spokesman Brian Buckelew explained, because it was a complex, multiagency, document-intensive, victim-intensive case.
"There are privacy and trust concerns, language and cultural barriers, and multiple medical issues and agencies involved," he said. "Syed made many claims ... requiring a significant, multicountry international investigation in order to prove them false."
Because Syed denied throughout the investigation that he practiced medicine, no precautions were taken to ensure that he was not continuing to do so. Before the raid, there was simply no evidence — other than Sapna's claims — that Syed was treating patients, Buckelew said.
Despite the strikingly similar stories of the people who told investigators they believed Syed was a doctor and paid him to treat them, he has pleaded not guilty. "I think he's been wrongfully accused," says Syed's lawyer, George Lazarus.
Lazarus couldn't answer every question about his "warm and charismatic" client, as he had just recently taken the case. But he did say he believed Syed had a medical degree from the University of Tehran. He also pointed out that Syed had been a medical researcher who had published articles and lectured domestically and abroad.
Then there's the cream. "Customers of his are very upset at the fact that they're not able to get his cream at this point," Lazarus says.
That much is true. One woman who spoke on the condition of anonymity, who helped Syed advertise on Saaz Aur Awaaz, says the cream was the best she ever had. "It made the skin supple. It felt like I didn't need makeup," she says. "Believe me, if you tried that cream, you would love it, too."
Syed's arrest and exposure has left those who trusted him baffled at just how deep his deception went. Did he, they wonder, have any scientific or medical training at all?
During its investigation, the district attorney's office called upon a real doctor, Maryam Asgari, to review Syed's 22 published papers and his evaluations of his patients. She was highly skeptical of the papers and his patient records. In many cases, she wrote that Syed had deviated far from standard practices. But in other instances, she acknowledged, he seemingly performed commonly accepted treatments.
Aly, who had engaged in numerous scientific conversations with Syed, continues to believe his former friend could not have been an outright fraud. "No doubt about it," Aly said. "His science background was solid."
Article Source: SFWEEKLY


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Nora Beach Resort & Spa
222 Moo 2, Chaweng Beach, T.Bophut
Koh Samui, Suratthani 84320
Chaweng Beach
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Summary of 15 reviews :
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The Nora Beach Resort and Spa is a 4-star resort located in the north of Chaweng Beach and offers 113 rooms and villas in six different categories. The friendly staff and its unique atmosphere is evidence of the southern Thai Thai hospitality. Nora Beach Resort and Spa is named after the southern Thai traditional mystical dance. It is hoped that the resort's service and relaxed ambience will emulate the grace and charm of this ancient art of dance.
The luxurious villas and rooms are spacious and offer a magnificent view of the sea or the lush gardens. Traditional Thai silk and furnishings impart a Siamese flavor, while the modern details ensure that guests can expect every comfort.
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Travel reviews for Nora Beach Resort & Spa
Date of stay:
Oct 30, 2013
Accommodation and facilities:
Excellent Resort. We had a great time. The hotel service specially reception were very friendly, very efficient & fantastic!
Reservation service:
Nov 05, 2013
written by:
Rohan Prem Daryanani
Date of stay:
Feb 17, 2012
Accommodation and facilities:
Very nice setting on the beach although the hotel is at the end of the beach so it s a bit of a hike into town, the benefit being that the area is much quieter. It s also a bit of a walk from your room to the beach unless you re staying in one of the beach front rooms. Staff were OK but not exeptional.
Reservation service:
Mar 05, 2012
written by:
Ross Edwin Burnett
Date of stay:
Dec 22, 2011
Accommodation and facilities:
Booked 3 ocean view villa for my family of 7A+1C+1 infant. Plus. Nice room with very good view of pool and sea, beach. Room service and reception excellent. Spa was good. Minus. Need more facilities for kid. A distance away from nearby town. 15mins walk to nearest restaurant outside hotel. Hotel bus service to town is too less. Free internet service only at main lounge.
Reservation service:
Very good and response time is fast.
Dec 25, 2011
written by:
Ang Peng Seong
Date of stay:
Nov 20, 2011
Accommodation and facilities:
The crew at the hotel were very friendly and very helpfull. Can highly recommend the hotel.
Reservation service:
Nov 23, 2011
written by:
Dorte Bruun
Date of stay:
Oct 10, 2011
Accommodation and facilities:
It s really nice .Good view, beatiful swimming pool, very quiet, and not far from downtown.
Reservation service:
Nov 21, 2011
written by:
He Haoyu
Date of stay:
Jan 03, 2011
Accommodation and facilities:
Good location and nice rooms, buffet breakfast have much choises. Reception is very efficient and good. Housekeeping is very bad as they always forgot the Towels, cleaned up after 5.30pm and needed 30-45min to bring forgot towels to Room. Altogether very nice vacation and good hotel expect the Housekeeping Sercive.
Reservation service:
Jan 06, 2011
written by:
Mike Hofmann
Date of stay:
Sep 21, 2010
Accommodation and facilities:
very nice stay in your Establidhement anf your whole personnel contributed a lot it very warmly
Reservation service:
very good
Sep 30, 2010
written by:
VANKEIRSBILCK Jean-Claude
Date of stay:
Sep 14, 2010
Accommodation and facilities:
Our staying at Nora wasn t very pleasant. The photos of the hotel posted at its website don t meet reality. The hotel is very old. The swimming pool is too small for such a hotel and smells clorine. Also we didn t like staff. They weren t nice. And it is influence on the atmosphere around you. The restaurant at the hotel really bad but prices are higher than in the other hotels where we stayed. We even got poisoned there. There are only to things that were ok in the hotel: breakfast (quite wide range of dishes), sea (there are still some stones and algae but it is deep enough). If you are not planning to rent a motorbike or a car you d better choose another hotel (closer to the center of Chaweng or better on Lamai)
Reservation service:
Booking service was good. No complains.
Sep 17, 2010
written by:
Tatiana Voloshina
Date of stay:
Aug 21, 2010
Accommodation and facilities:
The quality of hotel service it s bad than tha last year.
Reservation service:
Very good
Sep 01, 2010
written by:
Date of stay:
Jul 26, 2010
Accommodation and facilities:
The hotel is nice, but is a little far from the downtown.
Reservation service:
very good
Aug 03, 2010
written by:
wang sheng
Date of stay:
Apr 08, 2010
Accommodation and facilities:
One big problem is lack of free wifi or at least wired Internet access in rooms. Another lesser problem is distance to Chaweng center and not much shuttles to and from there.
Reservation service:
Sawadee booking is promt and efficient, however, it is not very convinient to pay 100% in advance.
Apr 10, 2010
written by:
Nikolay Gorobets
Date of stay:
Feb 23, 2010
Accommodation and facilities:
Nora Beach pool Villa - лучшее, что есть на Чавенге со своим бассейном, видом на океан и близостью океана (мы объехали весь Чавенг). Песок на берегу, к сожалению, не Чавенговский, но до Чавега 2 минуты на байке. Другие виллы отеля нормальные, но сравнимое есть везде.
Reservation service:
Mar 02, 2010
written by:
zagrenchuk alexander
THB ฿ Thailand
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Nora Beach Resort & Spa...
New to this heaven is the Nora Beach Resort & Spa. Nora may just be starting off but friendly staff and its unique Southern Thai atmosphere is backed by hundreds of years of Thai hospitality. Nora is named after the traditional mystical dance of southern Thailand. It is hoped that the resort's service and relaxed ambience will emulate the grace and charm of this ancient art of dance.
The resort enjoys a spectacular hillside setting, overlooking a secluded bay just north of the world-famous Chaweng Beach. Although only few minutes from the island's boutique airport and a short drive from central Chaweng, Nora is secluded and private, a little village within lush gardens.
A Private Garden...
Guests of the Nora Beach Resort & Spa will feel transported back to the Siam of yesteryear. The architecture throughout the resort is a fusion of classical Thai style and contemporary luxuries. The resort magnificent lobby is open-sided and invites cool sea breezes, scented by the lively greens of the surrounding gardens.
One of the most charming features of the resort is the terraced stream, which runs from a pool in the lobby and gently flows through the grounds before plunging into a waterfall and mixing with the waters of the Thai gulf. As this lovely stream runs past your villa, the soothing sound of running water will gently lull you to sleep.
Culture and Comfort
The resort's luxurious villas and rooms are spacious and all offer wonderful views of the ocean or lush gardens. Traditional Thai silk and furnishings impart a Siamese flavor, while the modern fittings ensure that guests experience every possible comfort. The Nora has 113 rooms in Six different categories.
Southern Comfort
All rooms at the Nora Beach Resort & Spa combine old-world charm with 20th century comforts. Every room has its own flat screen TV with satellite access and the villas and suites even have their own DVD players, perfect for a lazy day in bed. Other amenities found in all rooms include, IDD telephone, in room safes, a fully stocked mini-bar, tea and coffee making facilities, hairdryers and luxury bathrobes.
:: Deluxe (39 sq.m.) - 14 Units ::
New Housed in the three - storey block, the view from these rooms are magnificent. The private balcony is a great place to take it all in a favorite evening drink.
:: Deluxe Seafacing (39 sq.m.) - 7 Units ::
With Partial Sea View. New Housed in the three - storey block, the view from these rooms are magnificent. The private balcony with a partial sea view is a great place to take it all in a favorite evening drink.
:: Nora Villa - 38 Units ::
Villa are specious 63 square meters. Surround yourself with nature by staying in one of our 38 spacious villas. A gurgling stream and lovely well-kept gardens creates a close to nature ambience. With interconnecting rooms, these villas are great for guests taking holidays with their families.
:: Nora Ocean Villa - 10 Units ::
Villa are specious 63 square meters. Wake up to an unparalleled view of the Thai Gulf from one of Nora's ten Ocean Villas; a perfect place to sit with a loved one and watch the setting sun.
:: Nora Tropical Suite - 6 Units ::
Room re specious 71 square meters. Feel like royalty as you stay in one of these six luxury suites. With a separate living room and a private Jacuzzi in a sensual bathroom, Nora's Tropical Suites are the ultimate place to pamper yourself. Surrounded with the tropical view, you'll never want to check out.
:: Pool Villa Suite - 7 Units ::
Villa area specious 123 square meters with one bedroom, one living room and private pool at size 3.5 x 6 meters. A class on its own, the Nora Pool Villa surpasses all your expectations with personalized service and assistance. "A deluxe resort within a resort", you will be waited on by hand and foot. Stay at the pool and you will experience a different kind of service beginning with being led straight to your room just as all VIPs should.
Child ages less than 12 years old is NOT ALLOW to stay in Pool Villa Suite and Beach Front Pool Villa Suitedue to safety reason.
:: Beach Front Pool Villa Suite - 10 Units ::
Specious 123 square meters with one bedroom, one living room and private pool at size 3.5 x 6 meters. Situated right on the beach front with all the privileges of the Nora Pool Villa plus an exclusive private pool and a view of Chaweng's almost secret beach that will leave you flabbergasted.Be at complete ease and let your personal assistant take care of your every whim. If you're looking to be pampered in style, then come to the Nora and be wooed to your hearts content.
Child ages less than 12 years old is NOT ALLOW to stay in Pool Villa Suite and Beach Front Pool Villa Suitedue to safety reason.
All Guest Room Features
21 & 25" flat screen TV satellite with 16 channels
DVD player (Villas & Suite rooms)
In-room safe deposit box
Fully stocked mini bar
Coffee and tea in room
IDD call
Full amenities
Pra-Suthon Restaurant / Lobby Lounge:
Thai food has transcended from street food to be hailed as one of the world's culinary masterpieces - at Nora Beach Resort you'll see why. As Nora's main restaurant, the Prasuthon offers Royal Thai dishes using ancient recipes that have been enjoyed by the upper crust of Thai society for generations.
There is also a wide variety of western dishes and fusion food to choose from. Nora's director of Food and Beverage Khun Mattawan has worked in five-star resorts around the region and prides himself on ingredients and many of the resort's herbs and vegetables are grown in the lush surrounding gardens.
A Great Start to the Day:
Each morning from seven till eleven, Nora hosts a buffet breakfast offering many different dishes from around the world. From bacon and eggs to fruit and freshly cooked breads, you're bound to find some comfort food when you eat breakfast at Nora.
The Fruit of the sea:
Koh Samui is a great place to sample some of the world's best and freshest seafood. So as the sun slowly sink over the horizon, get on down to the beach for the Prasuthon barbeque. Fish and other types of seafood, freshly caught from the Thai Gulf, can be cooked to perfection and enjoyed under the stars.
Room Service:
Of course, if you don't feel like dressing up for dinner, all the dishes at Nora Beach Resort & Spa can be enjoyed in the comfort of your room. Assistance is only a phone call away.
All Day Dining:
For those who fancy a bite to eat during the day, the pool bar boasts of its sandwiches, salads and other dishes. You don't even need to leave your sun lounger. Nora's staff is happy to bring you refreshment as you while the day away by the pool or under a palm tree.
The Lobby Bar:
If you are not yet ready for bed after your meal, the lobby bar is the perfect place for a nightcap. Here, classical Thai music mingles with the sounds of nature from the surrounding gardens and makes for a relaxing end to the day.
a sanctuary of pure bliss and tranquility when you visit The Anodas. The Anodas Spa offers a contemporary range of both East and West spa favorites. The secrets of the Asian beauty are unveiled in an exquisite range of spa delights that is supported by tradition and modern science. Our extensive range of spa treatments from both East and West traditions will ensure that your every need is catered to. Feel your stress and strain slip away. Your complete relaxation our only aim.
on centuries of Asian wisdom, Ytsara is an invitation to look at life afresh, from the perspective of Asian beauty secrets. Self - indulgence is the core of the Anodas Spa's. Our products provide answers to radiant skin with down-to-earth solutions for those who want to maintain purity, nurture their skin and rejuvenate their souls.
the selection of our products we commit to create a truly unique global spa experience for our guest with a discerning eye for beauty and excellence. Inspired by an Asian blend of healing and therapeutic remedies, Ytsara holistic spa programs and treatments offer an original and global approach to age-old rituals and native Asian holistic healing practices for modern use.
Nora Beach Resort offers a full range of services to ensure that guests are able to relax and take home only happy memories of their visit. Everything, from laundry and flight bookings to baby-sitting services and Wireless Internet access services, is available to all. Transportation is a breeze with limousine services and complimentary daily shuttle to Chaweng Beach. Nora also offers a venue for theme meetings, weddings and cocktail functions.
:: Hotel Facilities ::
Bar / Pub
Coffee Shop
Car parking
Conference / Meeting Room (140 PAXS)
DVD Library villa
Luggage store
Pool bar
Check in time 14.00hrs and check out time 11.00hrs
Public internet corner
Restaurant Thai / International
Wine Cellar
:: Hotel Services ::
Airport Transfer
Currency Exchange
Fax Service
Halal Food
Laundry Service
Room Service
Shuttle service to Town / Beach
Taxi service
Tour Desk
Wake up call
Wi-Fi Internet
:: Leisure & Sports at Hotel ::
Kayak for rent
Car for rent
Children's pool
Gym / Fitness Club
Motorbikes for rent
Snorkeling Equipment
Steam room
Swimming pool outdoor
Thai cooking class
:: Large Swimming Pool, Pool Bar and Fitness ::
It is down on the beachfront that Nora comes into its own as the ideal holiday destination for people of all ages. A stunning view of one of Samui's most charming beaches, restaurants and bars serving delicious food and drinks and the island's newest and most unique spas combine, to ensure that there is never a dull moment at Nora.
The pool has its own Jacuzzi as well as a swim-up bar. Why not lie around on a sun longer and read a favorite novel or simply take in the wonderful view of the Thai Gulf and the nearby island of Koh Pak Som. The pool area also stages many different activities and events so Nora's guests can enjoy anything from southern Thai dancing and cultural displays to even an on-site floating market.
More active holidaymakers might want to use Nora's fully-equipped and air-conditioned gym, where Nora's personal trainer helps guests to devise a work out program to suit them. Or why not take a swim in the warm waters or go snorkeling and admire some of the beautiful fish and colorful coral just offshore.
:: Conference Facilities ::
Fitted with fully meeting equipment and flexible seating arrangements with a maximum capacity of 140 seats.
Theme Meetings, Wedding and Cocktail Functions are available.
:: Transportation ::
Limousine service available.
Complimentary daily scheduled shuttle to Chaweng Beach.
:: Samui's style wedding ::
Nora is proud to be the leading wedding planner on the island. We cherish the unison of two hearts that have found each other and are looking forward to spend the rest of their lives together. Nora provides the perfect venue for you and your partner to begin forever at You can begin your walk together as one from Thai wedding ceremony or a tropical beach wedding.
The Thai wedding ceremony begins with a spiritual binding common to all Buddhist ceremonies and proceeds to the exchange of ring and prayers and blessings from monks. Experience the best day of your lives in the exotic paradise island. Sparkling wine, candle lit dinners and breath taking themes are bound to make this special day memorable and an experience of a lifetime.
The Nora Beach Resort & Spa
is located atop a magnificent slop along the world famous on the North of Chaweng Beach. Just 10 minutes drive from Samui Airport and only 5 minutes to Chaweng Beach.
:: Location / Transportation ::
Located on the north of Chaweng Beach
10 minutes drive from Samui Airport
and 5 minutes to Chaweng
Luxury limousine available
Daily shuttle service from Resort to Chaweng Beach.
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text:
Fifth Column
Amsterdam/Here On My Own
"So are there any plans to perform live soon Tom?"
"I once had to perform a poem at school when I was 5 years old, called 'Leaves' or 'The Leaves' or something. It had 5 verses. Not sure if it was famous or who it was by or anything. I haven't really done much performing since then."
u.n.p.o.c. is Tom Bauchop, an occasional player in the Fife-based Fence Collective, including James Yorkston, King Creosote and Pip Dylan among others. He is a visionary, with a mission: to visit mountains. A local pundit once said a track of his sounded like it was from Pet Sounds. "I had to go back and listen to the album in order to see what he was talking about.'
So there really is something of the unknowing pop genius about him then...


text:
Recent developments in executive compensation
Related Articles
- Salary levels in Eastern Europe increase rapidly. Keen, Suzanne // People Management;5/18/1995, Vol. 1 Issue 10, p13
Reports that managerial salaries in Central and Eastern Europe are catching up fast with Britain's pay according to Jasbir Singh of the Corporate Resources Group (CRG). Forecast for top managers' salaries in Poland and Hungary; Effect of fierce competition among local people; Attack on...
- Under-35 big-earners. // Black Enterprise;Aug84, Vol. 15 Issue 1, p35
Black income. The strong expansion of the American economy over the last two years has brought considerable improvement in the income of the Black community. However, Blacks as a group still receive little property income, and a significant segment of the population continues to depend...
- CEO pay. Blair, Margaret M. // Brookings Review;Winter94, Vol. 12 Issue 1, p22
Evaluates issues surrounding executive compensation in the corporate world. Size of compensation as key issue; Government sanctions on companies that pay their executives more than $1 million a year; Comparative annual compensations; Determination of how corporate executives should be paid;...
- Area's highest-paid executives. // Crain's Cleveland Business;12/27/93, Vol. 14 Issue 52, p16
Presents a list of executives in Cleveland, Ohio, ranked by annual cash compensation. Percent change; Number of shares held; Percentage of total company shares held; Net income in 1992; Net income percentage change from 1991; Contact information.
- Highest-paid non-CEOs. // Crain's Chicago Business;12/30/2002, Vol. 25 Issue 52, p77
Presents a list of highest paid non-chief executive officers (CEO) of public companies in Chicago, Illinois, with annual revenues of more than two million dollar and stock price above one million dollar as of December 31, 2001. Criteria for ranking non-CEO; Average compensation of top 25...
- Senior executive pay increases fall below five percent. // Corporate Board;Nov/Dec90, Vol. 11 Issue 65, p27
Reports that total compensation increases for senior executives in the United States decreased in 1989. Decrease in bonuses paid for 1989 performance; Percentage of total compensation increases for senior executives.
- Compensation issues raised at congressional hearing. // Corporate Board;Jul/Aug91, Vol. 12 Issue 69, p27
Cites criticisms of corporate compensation practices in the United States. Claims that the pay does not match performance; Proposal for complete disclosure of compensation by executives.
- Questions the compensation committee must ask. McMillan, John D. // Corporate Board;May/Jun92, Vol. 13 Issue 74, p7
Identifies several questions the compensation committee should ask companies concerning executive compensation. Company's overall strategy for compensation; Appropriateness of a company's competitive `peer group'; Determining the right time for a change in a company's compensation program;...
- Stock-based plans fuel outside director pay growth. // Corporate Board;Jul/Aug92, Vol. 13 Issue 75, p29
Presents study results indicating growth experienced by stock-based pay plans for directors as companies seek to align the interests of directors more closely to those of shareholders in the United States. Increased prevalence of equity-based plans; Impact of benefit practices.


text:
Moral Minority wrote:Dude, that shit is fucking scary! Faceless nurses trying to stab you with syringes and such (bonus scare points for me since I am deeply phobic of all things medical). I was shaking like crazy and smoked two packs of cigarettes that night, out of pure fear that faceless nurses would stab me with syringes.
On a lighter note, I just beat Civilisation IV with every victory condition possible on the hardest difficulty. That diplomatic victory sure is elusive.
That's it. I'm tired of having next to no games to play.
I'm gonna go out and buy a few next time I'm at the shops.


text:
Australia's hottest IRONMAN property, Cameron Wurf and now three time IRONMAN Australia champion Laura Siddall put on a show to be remembered for the world wide IRONMAN Now/Facebook Watch audience and the thousands of spectators, supporters and athletes assembled for the iconic event on the New South Wales mid north coast.
Wurf's childhood dreams of becoming an elite sportsman started in Port Macquarie and with every pedal stroke of the 180km ride and every step on the 42km run, he relived his childhood and drove himself on to victory, becoming the first "Port Mac resident" to win IRONMAN Australia.
"Today I went past where I started Little Athletics, I went past the pool I learned to swim in, I went past Lighthouse Beach where I did Nippers, I went past my school and Flynns Beach where we lived and the preschool just down the road from the McDonalds at Settlement City where I would get my Happy Meals when I got the encouragement awards at soccer. I remembered all that, on every single lap, and oh man it felt so good. Almost 30 years later I am back here and doing this."
"I was never a standout athlete when I was young but I loved sport, so if you could have told that kid back then that this was going to happen he wouldn't have believed it. I am just so grateful that my mum brought me here to grow up and have so many opportunities. No matter how bad I was, she told me I was a little champion. It is good that after all this time I have been able to prove her right," the delighted Wurf recalled.
To add icing to Wurf's IRONMAN Australia cake, with a stunning race time of 8:06:17 he also broke the bike record, set a new course and also eclipsed the event record set by IRONMAN legend Pauli Kiuru in 1992.
"The course record, wow. That is the first I have got and that is what I am here to get. The bike records don't mean as much really but the course record is what I want and obviously the big one I want is in Kona and that is what I am working for every single day. We have five more months now to work on things."
"The first half of the marathon was almost one of the quickest half marathons I have done and even through 30km I was still going pretty well. I fell apart a bit at the end, but when I fell apart I was still moving pretty well which is a good sign of the work I have done. It has been a big commitment by my team of coaches, trainers and training partners supporting me but when you get out there you remember it is all on you. You don't want to let anyone down, I really feel that and I love that pressure and it feels great when you deliver. I am really rapt and can't wait to go back to Europe and celebrate with everyone and focus on Kona," he said.
Both Wurf and woman's winner Laura Siddall have been embraced by the town of Port Macquarie, who urged them on at every turn.
"It was so exciting, the crowd out there was a constant wave of Cam, Cam, Cam, go Cam, go Wurfy and I knew there were heaps of kids I went to school with and people who knew me from back in those days or knew my mum and the family. Hopefully I have given the town something to be proud of, as they should be, because it is an amazing place for a kid to grow up. You get every opportunity you can dream of here and I hope there are some kids out there watching thinking one day maybe they could win this race."
"It is fantastic to be the first ever Port Macquarie resident to win IRONMAN Australia. It is one thing to say it but another thing to do it. I couldn't be more happy and I am going to go and celebrate it with the town. Go and say hello and thank as many people as I possibly can, because without their support today there is no way I would have been here. What a day. It couldn't have happened in a better way," Cam said.
Siddall's stunning three peat puts her in very illustrious company in the 34 year history of IRONMAN Australia.
"That is up there with the first win here. I am absolutely blown away and couldn't believe it. It means so much. I didn't have the start of the year that I wanted so to come back and have that performance, I am totally stoked."
"It has been a few up and down months since IRONMAN New Zealand and a lot of self reflection. I knew training was going well and that was the only thing that kept me going. It was a matter of keeping the belief and pulling things out on the day and delivering a race I could be proud of. To win three times is ridiculous and an amazing feeling. You see the name on the honour roll and the legends who have won this race twice and three times before and to know that my name is going to be with them pretty special," Laura said.
Second placed Tim Reed turned in an amazing performance and was unfortunate to find Wurf in exceptional shape. The former champion proved he still super competitive finishing in 8:09:50, almost seven minutes quicker than his 2016 win and under the old course record.
"I put a lot into this race and made no secret that it was my A race for the first half of the year. I am really stoked that everything fell into place apart from winning the race. It is something I can really build on. Some of my better races haven't been winning performances and objectively today was one of my better races for sure. For me it was about proving to myself that I could put down a world class performance and today is up there and far better than anything I have done. It was super pleasing."
"I think I stuck to my plan really well which is not normally my strength. When Cam went past a part of me said I should go with him for 5-10km, which Mark Bowstead did and it didn't pay off. I stuck to my guns and raced within myself. I thought Cam would have ten minutes off the bike and I thought eventually I would start whittling away but it just didn't whittle away quite as quick as I would have liked. I could say I ran out of road, but I couldn't have run much further," Reid said.


text: Finding True Beauty in Myself at Farrell's 03/29/2018 Blog category: Testimonials Growing up in an environment in which your family is unjustifiably critical of all of your performances, appearances and lifestyle choices made it nearly impossible to enjoy all aspects of my childhood, and especially my adolescence. I was told I couldn't be too fat, too skinny, or too muscular and to always win in everything I did. You can imagine how difficult this was to hear and understand for a teenage girl as I was constantly striving to find my best look - not for my own happiness, but my families. This led me into a dark time of extreme workouts to insure I would be the best in all sports. I was also eating less than 500 calories a day. With all of the training and starving myself day-in and day-out, I felt I was making my family proud with every medal, award and trophy I would receive, but I knew something was missing. I was building up this fake confidence. As I began high school I began to no longer care what my family thought about how I looked, which led me to slowly become overweight. I was about 170 pounds at 5'4", and I would try to pretend I was happy with how I looked, but that wasn't the case. I didn't realize how upset I was about my weight until my dad passed away in 2015. He was one of the only people who would tell me I was beautiful at every stage in my life. Then in July of 2016 I discovered Farrell's eXtreme Bodyshaping, and I surely had no idea the impact it would have on my life. The first day walking in the doors I felt so at home because of the community that Cindi and Kerrie created, and because of my athletic and competitive nature. I fell in love with the kickboxing and strength training workouts. The weight began to fall off. Every pound I lost was building up my confidence again. At the end of our 10-week session I was the $1,000 winner but that didn't stop me. I was still driven by the environment I was surrounded in at Farrell's. Because of my love for Farrell's I couldn't leave the gym, so I became an instructor and coach, with the goal to ensure every member, new and old, has the best time in a supportive community. As I have continued my weight loss journey throughout the year I have now become a North American Natural Bodybuilding Federation (NANBF) bikini competitor and have placed in all competitions I have participated in thus far (including first place in some)! Never in a million years would I have believed that I would be doing that until Farrell's showed me that anything is possible when you are surrounded with a community who will support you no matter what. Farrell's has absolutely changed my life. It has made me truly find myself for the first time in my life, and I no longer care what anyone thinks about how I look because I feel absolutely beautiful. Thank you, Farrell's, for helping me not only lose weight and discover so many new friends, but for truly changing my life for the better. No words can describe how grateful I am for this program. All I know is joining Farrell's was the best decision I have made in my life. Taylor S. is a FIT Member and 2017 National Challenge participant from our Shoreview, Minnesota, Farrell's eXtreme Bodyshaping location. Back to Blog


text:
When a tearful Vladimir Putin accepted the Russian presidency in early March, his political opponents, who had endorsed the view that his victory was fraudulently won, were confident that the protests that began after a disputed parliamentary election in December were not a flash in the pan.
Russia and Russians were angry, they said, fed up of the allegedly undemocratic ways in which their politics have been run. They wanted change, they would fight for change, and they would continue to protest until they got the changes they sought.
Today, the anti-Putin protests are still raging. As in other countries—Tunisia and Egypt, to name a couple—the Internet is playing a keen role in spurring an angry population (or parts of it, anyway) to participate in protests across the country.
Is Russia another Arab Spring in the making? Despite the serious political awakening that the Russian population is experiencing, most pundits and analysts have said no. But there's no denying that political risk has become the No. 1 concern for anyone investing in Russia, undoubtedly leading some to cut back on their exposure to one of the largest emerging markets in the world.
At the same time, though, the allure of Russia is undeniable. This is a huge, vast nation with boundless growth prospects. Most importantly, it has a wealth of natural resources: That alone is enough to keep many investors committed and going back for more.
How do investors view Russia from here on? Politics aside, what do they consider the greatest challenges to investing in Russia? What are the greatest investment opportunities, and where do they lie? What sort of reforms would they want to see enacted to ensure stability in the long term?
Investment Advisor interviewed several Russia experts to get a sense of how they're answering these questions and how they're navigating the rough waters between politics, corruption, oil and other opportunities.
Tom Wilson, head of EMEA equities, Schroders:
"Compared to other emerging markets, particularly Asia and Latin America, Russia is starkly cheap."
Tom Wilson, head of EMEA equities at Schroders in London, is overweight Russia for the company's $500 million Emerging Europe fund (SEMVX).
Granted, Russia makes up 60% of the Emerging European index, but that aside, what's driving the overweight at Schroders is simply valuation: the fact that Russia appears cheap compared to the rest of emerging Europe.
"The current market multiple is 5.2 times price to earnings—notably cheap compared to other emerging markets, particularly Asia and Latin America," Wilson says.
That's too good to be true, but difficult to pass up for investors like Wilson. To boot, he believes that "Russia is also attractive from an economic perspective. The economy is well-supported by current crude prices, which have positively surprised investors in 2012. The demand picture in the United States has been somewhat weak, but limited spare capacity at [the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries] and geopolitical events in Iran, Nigeria and Sudan have been supportive."
Easing geopolitical tension and higher Saudi Arabian oil supply might reduce crude prices somewhat, but Wilson is nevertheless comfortable where things stand.
"My expectation is that we see oil prices average $110 per barrel in 2012," he says.
At the beginning of this year, Wilson and his team had counted on 3.5% GDP growth for Russia. But if crude oil prices remain at their current level of $125 per barrel, "there is a clear upside to that figure," he says. "If crude prices are sustained at current levels, then it is positive for Russia both fiscally and in terms of the current account. It is therefore positive for both the currency and domestic liquidity, and supportive of both corporate and consumer confidence. It is also positive for the government debt metrics, already notably low compared to other countries, with gross public debt to GDP at only 10%."
As a region, emerging Europe is currently out of favor from an allocation perspective given its links to the eurozone. Valuations are attractive across the region, but for Wilson, Russia stands out compared to both the emerging European region and particularly compared to global emerging market peers, as it is relatively cheap in almost all industrial sectors, except consumer staples.
Wilson likes a large number of Russian equities, particularly consumption-driven stocks. Media and food retail are two areas he likes, and he has a positive outlook on financials as well, while he finds oil and gas notably cheap. Contrary to other investors, though, Wilson is cautious on metals and mining, mainly because of the slowdown in demand from China.
When it comes to Russian politics, Wilson is less bearish than other investors. After the December parliamentary election and the questions about its legitimacy, there was a material sell-off in Russian equities (which made the market even more attractively valued), and protests in the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg dominated the headlines.
"The big question before Christmas was whether the protests would gain momentum and whether we'd have another Arab-Spring-type situation, but we took the view that we wouldn't and that the protests would not run out of control," he says. "The government addressed them in a pragmatic fashion. Furthermore, even though Putin's poll performance has been falling, he retains a high degree of popular support. The key question now is how the government responds to the concerns of the protestors. We have seen positive reform rhetoric on this front, but implementation will be key during the next presidential term."
The protests—which came mainly from the middle class—can be viewed as a testament to Russia's increasing political maturity, whereby the middle class has achieved relative prosperity and is increasingly concerned with issues like rule of law, civil liberties and freedom of expression. Nevertheless, the protests did and will continue to highlight corruption in Russia—a concern for Russians as well as for foreign investors.
Richard Segal, Emerging Markets Credit Strategist, Jefferies:
"Russia's oil and natural gas reserves are its greatest asset, but could be the country's undoing."
It goes without saying that investors will be attracted to any large market, no matter the challenges and risks it presents, if it is rich in natural resources.
This has been and continues to be the case for Russia, says Richard Segal, an emerging markets credit strategist at Jefferies International in London. Russia's oil and natural gas reserves are its greatest asset, but Segal—who has been covering Russia for many years—believes that this same wealth could also turn out to be the country's undoing. Russia, in his opinion, is far too oil- and gas-dependent, and that dependence seems only to be increasing. If ever the oil price trend were to reverse itself and head downward, things would become tough for Russia.
"Unfortunately, even if the country diversifies away from oil, it tends to be toward metals or other natural resources in general," Segal says. "It's been hard also in Russia to build industries that can compete with oil and natural gas for a number of reasons. Geographically, it's a huge country to manage, which makes diversification even tougher. Really, there's little incentive to diversify because whenever oil prices have been low, the government has gone into an effective crisis management mode and manages to keep things stable."
Diversification efforts—or lack thereof—aside, Russia doesn't have what the other BRICs have in terms of being able to produce consumer goods. It hasn't proven to be much of a service industry nation either, and it is affected by several inherent challenges, namely a falling population, a difficult geography and high levels of governance risk.
That said, there is no need to panic in the near term about the potential negative impact too much dependence on oil could have on the Russian economy. The price of oil appears to be constant and oil reserves will last a long time, Segal says. Besides oil, Russia is extremely rich in many other natural resources.
Russia is also close to Europe and China, which means it benefits from a strong demand for both oil and other natural resources from several quarters.
"Although demand from China could slow down if they have a hard landing, the Chinese will still need oil and copper, aluminum and other metals," Segal says.
The Russian growth dynamic also has a long way to go in playing itself out. The country is vast, and besides Moscow and St. Petersburg, there are several other large cities that are linked to gold, oil, petrochemicals and so on. Some scientific cities have also opened up, and cities along the Silk Route have good growth potential, too.
"As oil and natural resource revenue pour into the country, they do create a lot of inflation, but they result in increases in wages that help create a consumer boom across the country," Segal says. "It may not be real wage growth that stems from good economic policy, but on the other hand, if oil revenues are strong, I think things are all right, and the nation isn't going to fall apart."
Daniel Broby, CIO, Silk Invest:
"The trick is to avoid the banks and anything in which the state is involved—and that includes much of the large-cap and the oil and gas sector."
The best advice that Daniel Broby, CIO at investment firm Silk Invest in London, can give foreign investors putting money into Russia is to have all documents "double-signed in triplicate and drafted by competent lawyers."
In a country where corruption is rampant, Western investors often find that they're ripped off. While there is a legal framework designed to address corruption by due process, and the Russian authorities occasionally put their foot down against corruption, investors who want to be in Russia have to take upon themselves the onus of self-protection. Knowing what you're investing in and having first-hand knowledge of the companies to the greatest extent possible is key, Broby says, which is why he believes the best way to get the most out of investing in Russia is to do on-the-ground due diligence.
Of course, this isn't always possible for many foreign investors. Still, Broby urges investors not to go by their perceptions of Russia as a wild and crazy place where corruption rules and creates an impasse that's impossible to get around.
"Russia is a very dynamic and big place," he says, "and there are a handful of entrepreneurs who are carving out a niche and [offering] many investment opportunities in an inefficiently priced environment."
In the Russian equity space, many of the mid caps are now trading on extremely low valuations, Broby says, because they are priced "off the main market, which suffers from a state and commodity discount."
The best examples he has are Synergy, a distiller that's currently trading on seven times earnings; Acron, a mineral fertilizer company, trading on a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.6; and Irkutskenego, a hydroelectric company, which is trading at valuations of 6.7 times earnings.
Unlike other investors who believe that corruption and governance are perhaps less of an issue in the large, state-sponsored companies, Broby prefers to invest in the mid-cap space and is particularly bullish on pharmaceuticals, media and service companies.
"Many of the mid caps have had to tap the capital markets, so they are better governed and more transparent than the large-cap companies that have enjoyed state patronage," he says.
In fact, he's of the opinion that the greatest opportunities are to be found outside the realm of the state. "The trick is to avoid the banks and anything in which the state is involved—and that includes much of the large-cap and the oil and gas sector," Broby says.
Traditionally, Russia has always priced and continues to price at the bottom end of the BRICs because of all the risks they present, namely overdependence on oil, acute corruption, and, of course, political risk—the greatest concern for foreign investors in Broby's book. Yet these risks are also what attract the more adventurous investors who do allocate there, he says, because they result in low prices for potentially great investments.
But while he's definitely got Russia high on his list, Broby would nevertheless choose to err on the side of caution, and he would rather favor a basket of frontier market exposure over a strong overweight in Russia.
Vlad Milev, Emerging Market Strategist, Payden & Rygel:
"For the medium- to long-term, I am watching Putin's first steps. I want to see if the new government has a reformer bent or whether it's just going to be more of the same."
In a tense environment fraught with geopolitical challenges, where the uncertainties in countries like Egypt, Syria and Iran remain unresolved, it's a wonder that the price of oil has not been more deeply affected.
Oil prices may not experience any significant upside, but it's probably safe to wager that they're not likely to plunge dramatically in the other direction either. And in a range-bound oil price environment, Russia does just fine, says Vladimir Milev, emerging market strategist for Payden & Rygel.
"Here is a country with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 10%," Milev says. "Russia's foreign exchange reserves are far higher than its indebtedness, and its metrics, from a fixed income side, look great."
So long as oil prices remain range-bound, then the Russian picture is still favorable, if not extremely attractive, especially when it's stacked up against the rest of Europe.
But what happens to that picture in the medium- to long-term? That's what concerns Milev. Russia has built this dependency on oil revenues that is central to its economy and growth, he says, but should its ability to do that change in any way, then the colors of the Russian picture could tarnish quite quickly.
"If you have built this dependency and then it's gone, you will have a deficit, and you will no longer have a current account surplus," he says.
Of course, this isn't something that's going to happen any time soon, and Milev is still overweight Russia for the global emerging market fixed income strategy that he manages for all the same reasons that investors are generally attracted to the country.
As a fixed income investor, corruption is not such an issue for Milev, and even on the political risk side, he does not have any major concerns.
But Milev is focusing on the need for reform aimed at reducing Russia's oil dependency and has put it high on his list of expectations going forward.
"There's been a lot of talk about reforms and what seem to be a lot of good intentions, but I would really want to see serious moves by the government to reduce the dependence on oil revenues and encourage other industries," Milev says. "Russia has enormous potential—it has commodities, a very well-educated population and much more. It would be good to see the government encouraging other industries by, say, offering them preferential tax treatment or inviting [foreign direct] investment into different sectors."
The problem is that Russia has never had any incentive to do real reform. With oil prices at $120 a barrel, there's been no sense of urgency and even now, there really isn't.
"For the medium- to long-term, I am watching Putin's first steps. I want to see if the new government has a reformer bent or whether it's just going to be more of the same," Milev says. "Putin has made some promises along the way, but over the years, I've seen other leaders make promises along the way. So what's important to me now is to see whether Putin will really deliver and what the deliverables will be."


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A mysterious object at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, which bares a resemblance to the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, is now being linked to a possible Nazi device according to the Russian newspaper Pravada . An artist's (see above screen shot photo) rendition shows how similar the object is to the ship from Star Wars.
Retired Swedish submarine officer Anders Autellus said that concrete structures were built as underwater traps by Germany to block radar from Soviet submarines to navigate in the Gulf of Finland during the war , the Swedish newspaper Expressen reported.
Peter Lindberg, captain of the Ocean Explorer, and his co-researcher Dennis Asberg found the object in June of 2011. After the video went viral, the object was speculated to be possibly of alien origin, cropped stone or a sunken Russian ship. The two returned to the site in June to get a closer look according to the Huffington Post and samples were collected. Volker Bruchert, an associate professor of geology at Stockholm University, hypothesized that the object came from the Ice Age, reports lifeslittlemysteries.com .
Now the Baltic Sea anomaly will be the subject of an upcoming documentary, "The Mystery Beneath."


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Expat Insider: The Top 6 major Expat communities in Paris and how they help Parisian Expatriates.
Leaving your hometown and all that's familiar is hard enough. But moving to another country? That's a whole different ballgame. There's the airport, the flirtatious taxi driver, and the slightly giddy feeling that you're in over your head and maybe you're not quite cut out for your new adventure. Adjusting might take a long time, or just a few minutes, depending on how much wine you need to drink as fortification. It's a new culture and language, and you may wonder, "How will I survive here?"
Expatriate communities are the key to helping newcomers acclimate to their new environment. Long-term residents have been where you are, and know the difficulties inherent in being the fresh-faced foreigner without a clue where to start. I was one, too, and still feel grateful for the connections I made and the help I received upon arrival in Paris so many years ago. Below is a list of six major expatriate communities in Paris and how they can help.
AngloInfo Paris Homepage screen grab
This community is truly global. There are franchises all over the world, dedicated to working with English-speakers wherever they've chosen to call home as an expat. AngloInfo Paris helps users find information specific to Paris and Ile-De-France, in English, whether it's a car dealership; where to take the family for outings; sports events; restaurants, among other things. AngloInfo began in the year 2000 and has a large franchisee network worldwide made up of 56 regions.
InterNations Paris Community Landing page screen grab
Branding itself as a "trusted network & guide for expats in Paris," InterNations Paris's goal is "making life easier for expats." Malte Zeeck, Philipp von Plato and Christian Leifeld founded this community back in 2007. It claims to be the largest global expat network, with over 2 million members in over 380 cities. Membership used to be by approval only. InterNations is one of the communities that help build important contacts in the expat community. The organization shares lots of helpful information about life in Paris. Their Community managers (known as Ambassadors) organize close to 3,500 monthly events to help expats meet other people like them and feel more at home. InterNations is a safe environment where you can get advice from others like yourself and learn from the "veterans" of Paris.
Expats Paris Homepage screen grab
The Expats Paris community has been growing since last past 3 years. We're trying to make a name for ourselves, winning an Expat Star Award in 2014. Our members are not only able to participate in high quality fun and educational events, but also have opportunities to network with the international community living in or visiting Paris. This could be anyone from students, or the newly arrived to well-established residents, visitors passing through, or people here on business.
We founded Expats Paris back in 2014 a few years after arriving in Paris and falling in love with all things French. I arrived in Paris in 2009 and immediately fell head over heels for the city and all it has to offer. I have experienced French bureaucracy—the good and the least good—first hand and perhaps it is out of this that the desire to help others like myself grew to fruition. Expats Paris is a labor of love, aimed at helping first-timers and long-term residents feel at home in Paris.
Expats Paris strives to meet the needs of the expat community and has strong ties with local residents. Our blog gives up-to-date information about everything you need to know about your adopted city. You can find a rental or a roommate through the classifieds or forum. Our members have free access to service providers and eGuides that are a must for the expat just off the plane in the city of lights.
Fusac Homepage screengrab
FUSAC started out as print magazine with various forms of advertising. Then came the website in 1998. Now, everything is done online and the focus is English-speaking communities of Paris and the surrounding area (whether native speakers or as a second language). To date, FUSAC has issued over 20 million copies. There is a popular newsletter called FUSAC Selections, too. FUSAC posts ads for employment, childcare and housing, and has articles about everything from music and dance to courses in other languages. FUSAC is a great resource to have in the English-speaking community of Paris.
Expatriates Magazine Front page of a recent issue
This magazine is well-known for its innovative articles, interviews and insights into French culture, something that is appreciated by the expatriate community, at which it is aimed. A variety of information is offered in categories such as living, workplace, education, language and culture, family and health. Hardcopies are available, but you can also download an e-copy of the magazine.
Lepetitjournal.com's homepage screen grab
This is a French-language site that was created by Herve Heyraud in 2001. It has an intriguing mix of local and international news in 46 cities around the globe delivered daily. It's free, and has tips, a calendar, listing of local events and classified ads, among other things. The daily newsletter has around 125,000 subscribers. Both the French and Francophiles use this resource on a regular basis. Many of the topics covered address expat issues most especially French Expats going abroad or returning back home. It's definitely a way to keep up with what is going on in all things French, whether local or not.
Whichever expatriate community or resource you end up utilizing on a regular basis, you will find warm, caring individuals who are there to help you find your way. Don't be shy. We've all been where you are, and the goal of these organizations is to help you settle in Paris to the best of your ability. Send an email; post questions in a forum; place a classified ad; read a magazine; make friends; take a course and learn the language.
Step outside your comfort zone and take a walk on the wild side. This is to your benefit in the long run, and you'll be happy you did. In a year's time, you'll likely look back on your arrival in the city and wonder how you did it all. But this time, you'll be sipping wine and laughing with friends while you help another intrepid wanderer discover that wonder that is Paris.
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text: Piano Adoption is a free site where you can find a home for your unused piano. Give the gift of music to a family in search of a starter piano or an institution such as a church, school or retirement home in need of a piano. For every piano that is unwanted or no longer used, there may be dozens of potential recipients in your area. Piano Adoption is dedicated to finding a new home for all serviceable pianos before they end up in the local landfill.


text: The Soyuz TMA-15 crew, ESA astronaut Frank De Winne, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk (left to right), take part in a tree-planting ceremony in the grounds of the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on 25 May 2009. This is just one of the many traditions the crew participates in during the build-up to their launch with the Soyuz from Baikonur Cosmodrome. The Soyuz TMA-15 is scheduled for launch to the International Space Station (ISS) on 27 May 2009 at 12:34 CEST. Their arrival at the ISS two days later will increase the size of the resident Expedition crew from three to six for the first time ever. The launch marks the start of De Winne's OasISS mission which sees him spend six months on the Station, initially as a Flight Engineer for Expedition 20. With a crew rotation due in October, he later takes over as ISS Commander for Expedition 21 - he will be the first European to take on this role.


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BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- North Dakota officials are urging anyone who spots a wild pig to report it immediately, after recent sightings in neighboring states.
Wild pigs -- also known as feral swine -- can carry diseases that threaten domestic pigs and other livestock, State Veterinarian Susan Keller said. They also compete with native wildlife for food and destroy habitat, according to Jeb Williams, assistant wildlife chief for the state Game and Fish Department.
Wild pigs have been found in the southern U.S. for years, and have been extending their range north and west, now numbering more than 5 million in at least 39 states, Keller said. They are occasionally reported in North Dakota.
"We are asking farmers, ranchers, hunters, hikers, campers and others to report any sightings of feral swine," Keller said in a statement.
One was spotted near the northeastern South Dakota town of Britton in late October.
Kyle Siebels and Cody Packard were helping a farmer harvest corn when a wild pig ran out of the cornfield. They killed it with four bullets from a deer rifle, then reported it to Marshall County conservation officer Casey Dowler.
"I didn't really even know what to think," Dowler told the American News. "I just thought, 'That's one of the strangest calls I've had as a game warden in South Dakota.'"
"They're bad news," he said of wild pigs. "We don't want these animals in South Dakota, any way, shape or form."


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Gretna sees future plans for outlet mall
Nebraska Crossing set to reopen in October
Completion for the new outlet mall in Gretna is less than a year away, and the architect said it comes with new technology to lure in shoppers.
Architect Larry Smith said the new 350,000 square foot mall will be twice the size of the old one.
"This one we're trying to design so it has more local vernacular to it," Smith said.
Once the buildings are down, construction will begin. Smith expects the mall to reopen in October with all-new technology.
"From your cellphone you're driving by, it's going to say, 'Hey, you bought this. You were here. It's on sale. You want to stop in?'" Smith said.
Smith presented his ideas to the Gretna City Council and residents Tuesday night. Owners of the nearby Pump and Pantry said they have concerns about access.
"We're very concerned about that because we're a convenience store," said a store employee.
Resident Brandy Bosselman said she wants a stoplight, but the decision needs to come from the state since it's on Highway 31.
"It would be nice to have a light there but that's the state's call. Obviously, we back it because that's another entrance into the mall," said Gretna Mayor Jim Timmerman.
Timmerman said he is pleased with the new developments and said the delay in completion will be worth the wait.
"There are going to be tenants and retail venues here that aren't available in the market or in Nebraska," Smith said.
Smith said developers will apply for their building permits this week. Tenants in the mall have until the end of the year to pack up their stores.


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Who better to have birthed the gorgeous but neurotic Whitney Cummings than "The O.C.'s" super-cool, swordfish-steak-grilling überdad Sandy Cohen and "Malcolm in the Middle's" frazzled, emotional tripwire mom Lois Wilkerson?
On Thursday night's holiday-themed episode of the freshman NBC comedy "Whitney," TV vets Peter Gallagher and Jane Kaczmarek will be making a special guest appearance as Whitney's combative parents.
"I play Whitney's father, Vince," explains Gallagher, who takes a break from his USA series "Covert Affairs" to stretch his comedy muscles in the episode titled "Christmas is Cummings." "In Whitney's world view, all of the difficulties she has with men and with life in general stem from her terrible father –who I don't think is as terrible as she remembers, but certainly not reliable, a bit of a con man, sort of a day late and a dollar short kind of guy, always with an angle. And it was an enormous amount of fun."
U.S. & World
"We have quite an antagonistic relationship," adds Kaczmarek. "Whitney blames both of her parents for a lot of her colorful ways, let's say. And as Candy, her mother, I have quite a bit of hostility towards [Vince]. Whitney is determined to keep her parents apart, because she doesn't want to have a destroyed Christmas the way she had growing up when her parents were together, and mayhem ensues."
Kaczmarek says that the sitcom incarnations of Whitney's parents apparently aren't far from Cummings' real-life family. "They're rather colorful sorts, as I understand," she chuckles. "Her references to them are pretty bleak! Very funny, but as she says: she had this family and she's gotten a television series out of it. She pretty much decided at a very early age that she was going to persevere and make lemonade out of the lemons that she was kind of born into. So Peter and I were very happy to be asked to portray them."
For Gallagher, dropping into Whitney's Christmas special places a lot of burden on the young sitcom - it has to live up to the iconic hybrid holiday he helped usher into the lexicon during his time in Orange County.
"I like the Chrismukkah episode from 'The O.C.," says Gallagher, noting that fans reference it to him "all the time, especially on Twitter and Facebook and on the street and things like that. That sort of captured people's fancy, I think. And I love the whole notion too of the togetherness that Chrismukkah suggests. Christmas and Hanukkah, together into one super-holiday gave people some delight. That was cool."
Kaczmarek's TV Christmas memories are decidedly less hopeful, and much more chaotic.
"Christmas on 'Malcolm in the Middle' was always just that the disaster was bigger, always even more horrible than what daily life was," she laughs. "I always remember the boys having fights with the ornaments. They were throwing Christmas ornaments like snowballs at each other and they were shattering. And there is a Christmas episode where it starts with Lois and another woman getting into a fight in the parking lot with their cars. And they start ramming each other's cars until both of the cars are completely disabled."
In other words, Whitney had better be prepared for anything.
"Whitney" airs Thursday nights at 9:30 PM ET on NBC


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The Station House, located at 106-11 71st Ave., is what many of the neighborhood's newer residents have been waiting for: a bar/eatery that serves as a hip hangout.
Featuring handmade furniture and locally inspired décor (the beer-on-tap menu is designed to look like the Long Island Railroad arrival-departure boards), The Station House offers customers more than 40 different types of craft beer and a whiskey selection that would rival most liquor stores.
They are also one of the few bars in the city that offers a cask ale, which is described as the truest form of beer but, be warned, it is an acquired taste.
"We want to turn people on to things they haven't tried before," said co-owner Drew Dvorkin, who has been in the bar/restaurant business for 23 years. "The beer experience is so different than it was five years ago. There was almost a stigma associated with drinking beer before. It was considered unsophisticated, whereas now people are stepping out of their comfort zone and are willing to try new and different things."
Dvorkin says that he considers the place a bar first, and a restaurant second.
"I never wanted to be in the restaurant business," said Dvorkin. "We look at the beer and whiskey the same way a restaurateur would look at their food list."
That said, the food served at The Station House would rival some of the city's most creative restaurants, including dishes like chicken-and-apple sausage, fried chicken livers with lemon zest, short rib-and-kimchi empanadas, and truffle pecorino fries, to name a few.
The most expensive item is the $14 decadent burger, a bestseller according to Chef James Moran.
"The food menu is a fusion between comfort food and bar usuals," Dvorkin said. "The menu is crafted to complement the beer experience. Our food is not food you would expect at a regular bar."
On a recent weeknight, The Station House was packed.
"They love us," said bartender and manager Vince. "The neighborhood really needed something like this."
"Business has been problematic because the response has been better than expected," says Dvorkin. "We didn't expect it to be this good so soon."
The Station House is attracting young professionals in their 20's and 30's.
"When we scouted the neighborhood, we saw that something was missing," said Dvorkin. "When one of the other co-owners showed us the neighborhood and you see a sign for yoga and pilates, you know something is changing."
The feedback has also been very strong, and Dvorkin said one patron told him "you guys are going to save Austin Street."
"I like that the food isn't your ordinary bar food," said local resident Ben Famiglietti. "You can tell a lot of effort has been put into it. This is a place I would bring friends from other boroughs to."


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What happens when Lucy Heartfilia founds seven kittens...
Right now *-*23971516
- by Cutiie <3
- Rating:
- Published: 28 Feb 2014
- Updated: 3 May 2014
- Status: In Progress
Hi, I'm Lidia, my friends call me Lilo. I'm 20 years old and I live in Ireland. Yes thats where Niall Horan lived. Yeeey... -.- I mean he's great and all but I just can't stand that every girl wanted to sleep with him, why? It's quite simple, I loved Niall Horan since I met him but i never told him that. Ever since he applied for X-factor, we kinda went our separated ways.
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