Ah, June is in the air. That means sunshine and a whole lot of gift shopping. People are getting married or graduating from high school or college left and right. A good number of birthdays in the summer too it seems. When you have a large family, it’s not uncommon to have to spend several hundred dollars on gifts this time of year. I’m glad I ordered my cheap checks from Costco.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. Giving is just part of life in this family. Heck, I was born, had 27 birthdays, graduated both high school and college, and got married. I’ve scored tons of loot. I just think it’s interesting how all this money just goes around in a circle. First you receive, then you give, and then your kids receive again. I can see how single, childless adults would get really annoyed after a while 😉

The 26th and 27th editions of the Carnival of Investing are up! Next week it’s being held at My Personal Finance Blog. Thanks for everyone who has volunteered to host future editions, I will line those up this week.

While also teaching me the same things as my mom, my dad specifically illustrated how doing hard work every single day, over time, can add up to great achievements in life. Always work towards your goals.

I’m back! Heavily jetlagged and with a mountain of snail mail and e-mail to sort through, of course the first thing I must do is upload my digital pictures. Here are a few I thought were worthy of sharing:

Scorpions and other critters on a stick

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Whew. I’m on my first guided tour and I don’t like it. I feel like sheep. Baaa. Back to independent travel from now on.

My wife and I (more her than me) couldn’t handle any more Chinese food, so we went to… Kentucky Fried Chicken! It is seriously huge here, I was told it’s the largest chain restaurant in China. I really don’t quite understand why. Is fried chicken destined to be the world’s official food? The Colonel was a true visionary.

With my stomach full of grease and my mind full of the beautiful scenery of Guilin, I am hanging out in another internet cafe. Hotel internet: 60 yuan an hour, or about $8 a hour. Internet cafe: 2 yuan an hour, or 25 cents an hour (+ a lot of looking stupid and hand gestures for communication).

• For a communist country, Beijing sure has a lot of SUVs, Audis, BMWs, and other luxury vehicles. The official federal vehicles seems to be black Audi A6s. New shiny luxury condominiums rise directly next to concrete slums. There are also a large number of (often aggressive) beggars on the streets. Interesting contrasts.
• How this – my tour guide owns his own condo (actually “leases for 70 years”) and also owns a commercial storefront (bought with cash) and leases that out. Mortgages only run to 20 years, but many people use much shorter lengths. Capitalism!
• Haggling is a pain in the butt, but makes a huge difference in the price you pay for stuff if you’re a tourist. It’s like picking a fight every time you want to buy a gift for somebody. In the end the vendor looks like you just said his mother was ugly, but you know in the end his profit margin was still astronomical.

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I want to also remind recent visitors that I have a category called Best of MyMoneyBlog which is a condensed version of past posts. I meant to do another highlight reel of recent happenings on this blog before leaving on my trip, but I spent that time instead searching for my old money belt. (It was in the safebox. Duh!)

• Carnival of Investing at Journey to Financial Freedom
• Carnival of Personal Finance at My Open Wallet
• Festival of Frugality at Mighty Bargain Hunter
• Carnival of Debt Reduction at Kirby on Finance

I’m off to Asia tomorrow for a family trip. I still have to pack and do a million other things beforehand, but it should be awesome!

Although I love to travel, I never buy souvenirs (except as gifts). I try to follow the “take only pictures, leave only footprints” policy, except for buying a postcard from each place. My ultimate goal is to have an entire wall covered with postcards. Right now I have only have about a 3′ x 3′ block, so I’ve got lots to go =)
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The new Carnival of Investing page is up. I’m excited to be the new home of the Carnival, as I really think investing is the next frontier that I need to learn about since I don’t have any debt anymore and am increasing our net worth regularly each month. Gotta put that money to good use!

Thanks to Consumerism Commentary, Canadian Capitalist, and AllFinancialMatters for offering to host the next few weeks. I’m still looking for new hosts! You don’t have to have hosted before, but it may get you a date preference or something. It’s a great way to bring new and different readers to your blog.

This week’s Carnival of Investing is up at Mighty Bargain Hunter. The Carnival has been a bit neglected recently, as work demands has put the founder RetireAt30 on the sidelines. I asked him a while back if I could help him out, and after some intermittent discussion I got his permission to take it over. I’ve been waiting patiently for some public acknowledgment of this on the original Carnival page, but since we are running out of future hosts I can’t wait any longer.
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Thanks for all the SF restaurant tips, here’s where I ended up eating:

Cheeseboard, Home, Swan Oyster Depot, A16, Brothers, Saigon (East Bay), Slanted Door, Dottie’s True Blue Cafe (Tenderloin), In-N-Out, Blue Fin Sushi (Marina), L&L Hawaiian BBQ (Kearny), House of Prime Rib, Naan N Curry (O’Farrell), and Sushi House (Alameda).