How many of you heard that mantra from real~estate agents and 'concerned friends' who tried to get you to put down your hard earned dollars on an overpriced piece of property during the frenzy of the buying BUBBLE? It didn't matter if you were looking in Malibu, San Diego, San Francisco, Indian Wells or Palm Springs: 'This market is DIFFERENT'. Yes, every market is different. But, so what? The market forces are still the same. Supply and Demand. But there is another force in that equation and that is Affordability. When 2br 2ba sh*thole houses in Burbank are selling for a million dollars you have to ask yourself, 'Who can afford this'? Does everyone who paid a million dollars for a house make enough money to be able to AFFORD living there? Obviously not. The present day situation is a testament to that. Many people bought houses they could ill afford. Some of them bought them with Liar Loans others with Ninja Loans and a host of other lending programs that were set up to make everyone in America a Home 'Owner'. Home 'Debtor' is probably a more appropriate term, but then that is akin to looking at a glass being half~empty.
'Real estate NEVER goes down' people said. 'They aren't making ANY more land'. 'The people here are REALLY rich'. How many times did you hear some of these statements. It's as if the entire community had amnesia and forgot all about the last real~estate collapse of the early 90's. How did that happen? Real estate prices in Beverly Hills dropped by 50% from their highs of the mid to late 80's and we were able to buy a house in the city of Beverly Hills (NOT the 'post office') for $850K. A 3600 sq ft house on a third of an acre just 4 block from the Beverly Hills hotel. Bought it at the bottom of the market in '96 when we were seeing houses in Bev Hills selling for as little as 700K. And people forgot all about that collapse.
Out here in Palm Springs in 2005 to question the real estate market was to commit heresy. My partner and I got into verbal fisticuffs at parties if we ever began to publicly share our views. No one wanted to believe that a market that is predicated on second~home buyers could be exposed to complete and utter collapse. And the fact that people were buying houses with NO money down, and in some cases were even borrowing the closing costs as well, did not seem to faze anyone. Debt beyond means did not seem to spark fear in most people we spoke to. Yes, some people did see the picture as it truly was: a collapse waiting to happen~~~they didn't use their houses as ATM's and did not jump into the 'musical houses' game, instead they stayed put in their houses and watched the conspicuous consumption all around them. Staying out of the buying frenzy was hard work indeed. Out in Palm Springs the market was as hot as the temps.
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Hola Willy. Este es el primer restaurante japonés popular (izakaya) fundado en Chile en 1988. Maneja bien tanto la cocina fría como la caliente y su perfil es bastante apegado a la tradición japonesa (al menos de acuerdo a mis humildes conocimientos). Respecto a tu consulta sobre el queso crema, el boom de los restaurantes de sushi empezó a principios de los '90, no precisamente impulsada por los japoneses, sino por los sushibars estilo California. Al menos, tengo entendido que allá se emplea queso crema como parte importante de sus recetas. También la palta (aguacate), que a diferencia del queso, es parte fundamental de nuestra dieta. Ambos ingredientes son de sabores suaves y cremosos, algo que también forma parte de nuestras preferencias a la hora de comer.
ReplyDeleteRespectos a los restaurantes chinos, hice un reportaje el año pasado para una revista chilena llamada Wain. Cuando vuelvas a Chile, no dudes en comprarla para tener una gran referencia de lo que se come en las cocinas públicas santiaguinas. Ah, pronto subiré la nota a mi blog para que la mires.
Saludos
Cr
Que tal, Carlos~~~gracias por la informacion sobre el restorante Japones, Isakaya. Lo tendre que conocer lo mas pronto que llegue a Santiago. Hecho mucho de menos mis paseos por la bella ciudad y tambien mis muy frecuentes almuerzos en Liguria (el que queda en Pedro de Valdivia, y tambien un lugar que los chilenos refieren como una 'pica' "La Tinita" en el mercado de Providencia. Me encanta la comida casera de ese lugar y se come muy bien por muy poco dinero.
ReplyDeleteEn mi mas reciente viaje comi unos guisos muy ricos en un restaurante Koreano en el barrio de Patronato. La comida estaba muy autentica. Yo vivi un ano en Asia y me encantan los platos exoticos. He notado que en Chile estan llegando muchos Chinos y han abierto muchos mercados Chinos con fideos y toda clase de ingredientes y instrumentos de cocina China. Habiendo tantos Chinos y tantos mercados Chinos me indica que en muy poco tiempo los Chilenos se van a dar cuenta que el 'chap sui' y el 'diente de dragon' no son las unicas cosas que se ofrecen en la comida China. Yo compre toda clase de instrumento de cocina china hi prepare mis propios platos usando unas recetas que baje del internet.
Unos amigos chilenos me contaron que en el barrio de Patronato hay un restaurante Chino muy bueno, pero cada vez que trate de llegar a comer estaba cerrado por el dia o no habrian asta la cena, etc. Pero tendre que buscar tu articulo en 'Wain'
Sobre el tema del queso crema, en EeUu si se conoce el queso/crema en sushi pero solo en el roll llamado 'Philadelphia roll'. El queso crema mas popular aqui es Philadelphia Cream Cheese, y por eso se usa en ese plato, pero el uso es muy raro afuera de esta preparacion. La palta si se usa en California rolls y en algunas otras preparaciones. Claro, aqui en California la mayor parte de los restaurantes preparan cosas con un toque California, los autenticos restaurantes Japoneses que jamas usan ingredientes que no son del Japon si existen pero son cosas mas raras y muchos mas caros.
Saludos desde Palm Springs
WW