As if to remind me that my vocal folds are back in action if not fully recovered, The Voice on 21 January 2008 on BB4 presented by David Howard, Professor of Musicology at University of York shows us the wonder of this instrument inside us that many of us take for granted http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b008s99k.shtml

It also makes me very glad that I did not have my throat cancer say 20 years ago where a likely remedy would have been surgical removal of the whole voicebox. At present, the TV repeats via BBC website are only available for a week after showing, but one of my chums in Thailand mentions that in a few years time, we will basically be able to download just about any programme, film or whatever when we want and where we want.

Talking of doing things when we want, and prove the old saying, If you want something done, give it to a busy person, I discover author Tim Ferris’s blog http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/ which shows how easy life can be… if you get it right – he wrote the best-selling The 4 hour Work Week.

Surfing the net later in the week, I find myself looking for the source of the quote used by Nelson Mandela at his inaugural address in 1994:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

These moving words were actually written by Marianne Williamson who will be in London on 23rd February at Baden Powell House http://www.hayhouse.co.uk/event_details.php?event_id=330

More recently, falls in the Stock Market have destroyed the feel good factor and made life more difficult in two areas. Firstly, the total deficit of final salary pension funds (where the investment risk of providing the pension is borne by the employer) has widened again http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7188872.stm and people who have with-profits policies are going to be penalised if they want to take their money out. If they take it earlier than originally contracted, the payout is subject to an “adjustment” called an Market Value Adjuster or MVA and even taken at the contracted time, there will be little or no Terminal Bonus. The latter is a reward for good investment performance but unlike the Reversionary Bonuses, is not guaranteed, so when performance is bad, no Terminal Bonus.

When I first started in financial services in 1990, people came into my office with policies that were maturing with a value of say, £50,000 where the Terminal Bonus was over £25,000. Unsurprisingly, they were mightily happy with their investment. No complaints about endowment mis-selling in those days.

Now that the Stock Market has fallen, MVAs are returning and with-profits does not look a good place to be. For a previous rant on this subject look at http://www.georgeemsden.co.uk/?p=28

Staying with this cheerful theme, Damien Reece of the Daily Telegraph reminds us of the old City expression for diving into falling markets, falling knives whereby it is easy to get hurt: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml;jsessionid=ALMJWXSE4NL5VQFIQMGSFGGAVCBQWIV0?xml=/money/2008/01/22/ccom122.xml

Happily, the week finishes with my mind off business completely when I attend a very enjoyable Installation meeting of Piscator Lodge at The Old Sessions House on Clerkenwell Green http://www.sessionshouse.com/location.html From this old courthouse, thousands of people were transported to the colonies and downstairs one old cell is still preserved as it was. The other cells in the basement have been removed and this area converted into a huge dining room. Descendants of the felons now come from all over the globe to visit the place which is now a masonic centre and location for corporate events.

Perhaps we have a morbid sense of history in this country as another famous old prison The Clink http://www.clink.co.uk/ in Southwark, is now a museum and corporate event centre as well. As the above lodge name suggests, the Piscator Lodge (think of a horoscope and Pisces) was founded by some keen anglers 50 years ago. These guys had been fishing together for ages when one let slip that he was a mason and it turned out that they all were.

Like many lodges their meeting place has moved around over the years and recently, it was decided to move to Northampton and become a provincial lodge to reflect the location of most of the members. Although a small lodge, they raised a 5-figure sum for charity last year which was split among 5 charities including a couple of cancer ones and another that gave terminally-ill children the best holiday they would probably ever have. Lodges founded on a theme are not unusual and there are for example, plenty of golf and rugby lodges, not mention a SCUBA one.

For my third post-treatment visit for my throat cancer, I am back at UCH on a dull Wednesday afternoon. After my longest ever wait, it is time to decide again which nostril is going to be nasendoscoped and although it is a new year, I go for the left one as before. It turns out the doctor was in Thailand at the same time I was but as far as viewing my vocal cords is concerned, I have the shortest ever session and all looks well but they would like to see me after one month next time rather than two months as previously. The ability to hum or sing has also partially returned but readers can relax here, you won’t be seeing me on Pop Idol.

My first pension surgery is great fun but only two candidates, so I have an extra half-day in the office to plan my tax-season campaign. My ability to see or maybe attract the funny side of serious situations does not fail me when I hear about an Inheritance Tax planning meeting by another adviser. The client concerned with an estate of just under £1 million, was able to avoid the Inheritance Tax (IHT) liability and get the valuable inter-spouse IHT exemption (whereby spouses can basically pass assets to each other willy-nilly) by marrying a relative! In same gender “marriages” like this one, there is no need for consummation of the relationship for example, and is a wonderful example of the law of unintended effect – I wonder if this sort of thing will catch on?

As the property market unwinds – summed up beautifully in a headline From hero to zero in 12 months, we get letters and announcements that people wishing to sell units in property funds may not get their money for up to six months or whatever, as property is an illiquid asset. This sort of thing was quite common in the 1990s when I first became a Financial Adviser, but had gradually been forgotten during the long period when property was a good investment. It still is, but as far as risk and return is concerned all one can say is that with a good property, in a good area that is well looked after, it is hard to lose money in the long term.

There is still time to save tax and use allowances before 5th April but accountants for example, are up to their eyes submitting tax returns making me glad I did mine in September. However one did call me yesterday regarding a SSAS pension query, which for the uninitiated, is a kind of pension sometimes used by private or family businesses.

The client’s pension arrangement had owned property which had been sold and then some money withdrawn from the scheme. But a couple of other issues made the accountant question the wisdom of this before the accountants were finalised, so he called me. Fortunately, I was able to refer him to a SSAS specialist who did not bat an eyelid when I explained the situation to him. On the subject of businesses avoiding fines and penalties generally, the fine for not having a Designated Stakeholder Pension Scheme which an employer needs if there are 5 employees or more is now £50,000 rather than the £20,000 I previously mentioned.

At my first BRX Bond Street www.brebondstreet.co.uk meeting of the year, the 10 minute presentation is by Alexis, a founder member of our group and owner of the thriving The Happiness Centre in Shepherd’s Bush www.thehappinesscentre.com Employee wellness, stress management etc is now part of Health & Safety regulation and many employers are seeing the benefits of investing in the health of their staff. One City law firm wanted 70 ergonomic studies done quickly and were very pleased with the result.

Still on a health theme, one of my children informs me that the father of one of their friends has been diagnosed with the big C and his RT due to start soon – would I be willing to talk to him? Considering the love and support that I have had in the last year, the answer is a very definite yes, and I hope my words will provide some help.

So on an unusually serious note, have a good weekend.

Gaps between my dental appointments leave me time to rest, catch up on my work reading and wonder what I have not seen in Thailand yet. A couple of idle evenings are spent at the Suan Lum night bazaar with its floor show, variety of German and Thai beers and huge selection of shops. Some of the prices leave me too embarrassed to bargain.

Ordering food is very easy as the menus are more pictorial than written. The very pretty waitresses in their mini-skirted uniforms are a welcome distraction, if the song being performed is not your favourite or if your football team is losing in any of the live games bradcast on the huge screens at either end of the beerhall. Groups of people order 5 litres of beer at a time served via a huge beer cooler plonked in the middle of the table. A foot massage gives a very good night’s sleep afterwards.

Another day and it is time to get this barbequed rat thing out of the way. These are only found where there are paddy fields and none were noticed on visits to Pattaya and Hua Hin. A drive to a previous capital city Ayuthya gets us lost in the middle of town and after passing the elephant rides twice, we decide to have lunch at a restaurant by the river. In Thailand, I much prefer to let Thai friends choose the food as for one thing they can tell me which sauces go with what, so she orders: river prawn, squid and fried frog which I am told goes well with beer. Previous meals of frog have been the whole animal but this time the little creatures have been chopped up before being deep-fried. Some of the bones are not chewable so while the flavour is OK, it is slightly annoying to have to spend time picking out the bones from one’s teeth.

Every few minutes, a James Bond boat with its car engine open at the back and long propellor shaft zooms past sending spray into the air while some monster barges plod upstream pulled by what seem very small tug boats. More rice arrives and by now my friend is giggling. One of the waiters has the face and shoulders of a guy but the chest seems definitely feminine. The penny finally drops after noticing the long finger nails, fluttering eyelashes and little curtseys I receive when ordering something – it is one of Thailand’s katoeys or lady boys. On previous restaurant visits, I don’t recall any waitresses having had surgical enhancement, but this is the first time I have been served by a man with implants.

On the drive back to Bangkok we finally stop at some stalls selling cooked rat and birds but seeing them up close and being told that they are only partly cooked, makes me lose my appetite.

The chance of a guided visit to Ayuthya comes up and a limo from World Travel Service http://www.wts-thailand.com/ picks me up from the hotel at 7 a.m. and the first stop is the beautifully-restored Bang Pa-In Summer Palace where we are given an hour to wander. It is quite hot by now so after looking at one previous private royal residence where there is a 5 foot camel bone carving presented by some Chinese businessmen (ivory is no longer available) I end up buying some bread to feed some huge fish in the lake which turns out to be quite theraputic. The turtles are too lazy to take any food chucked at them, a metre-long lizard swims past and the smallest fish seem to miss out completely. When I walk away, some doves and sparrows drop in to eat up the crumbs from the stand.

Just outside, a brave member of a group of school children in cute blue and white uniforms asks me, “Please sir, can you help me with my English?” She has a questionnaire. “What is your name?” I spell George slowly. A couple of her friends misunderstand my pronounciation so rubbers are used feverishly and I spell it again. Where are you from? No problems spelling London. Is this your first visit to Thailand? No, it is my third visit. A couple of teachers join me and while I could have spent hours there, it is time to get back to the coach and I am given a bookmark as a souvenir.

Later in the centre of Ayuthya, I get my family and friend shopping done and the two and half hour return journey is on an air-conditioned boat down the Chao Phrya river. The excellent buffet is complemented by very interesting company – an Argentine couple working their way round the world in different US Government health projects and a retired film lighting guy from Hollywood. He as just come back from Laos which seems to be the most laid back place on the planet being easily reached from Bangkok with an overnight train to Luang Prabang….Something for my next visit perhaps.

My Thai mobile rings and the caller who has just returned from Chiang Mai has a present for me – 3 barbequed rats. I politely point out that I had given this up as I felt asking his servants to cook these for me would be too presumptuous, but I am not going to be let off so easily. Cooking them will be no problem he says, as his female staff are quite partial to this dish and would be happy to oblige - Am I free that evening? Three hours later the dish is brought in and is very enjoyable, much nicer than the above-mentioned frog. Best way to describe it is a well-seasoned pork and it does go very well with beer. I have the photos in .jpg format, before and after cooking if anyone is interested.

Just to round things off and perhaps to keep my hormones in balance after the roast udder of the first week, I am told that bull’s pen*s is available at a number of restaurants in Bangkok. I express a mild curiosity but on my penultimate evening at a Chinese fish restaurant, I am given a small bowl of soup. The herbs seem familiar, tastes much like other beef stews I have eaten and has several pieces of meat in it – some more chewy than others, and is perfectly edible. Had no one told me that I was eating bull’s pen*s, I would not have guessed. This sort of cuisine seems to be an Asian (male) thing as this BBC item shows http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/5371500.stm

After eating rodent and pen*s the same day, it only remains for me to ask what else I might have missed in Thailand’s fascinating food menu and am told that there is still: crocodile, grasshopper, wasp pupae and ant larvae available for a future visit. No doubt once these are added to my list there will be others for me to get my teeth into. On the plane, my airline seat seems smaller than when I arrived but at least I have avoided putting on as many pounds as last time.

Back in Blighty, it is time for business plans etc and we are due for an interesting and busy tax season with a fourth pension bill in three years for starters – Happy New Year.