Black Tea at a Café in Cairo | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 0 (Part 5)

First Time at a Café in Cairo – Trying Egyptian Tea

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

In the last part, I talked about the Monastery and the largest churches in the Middle East. Today, I will write about the rest of my first day (Day 0) in Cairo, Egypt.

One we finished visiting all the churches, we were tired. That was a lot of walking uphill. I met an Australian couple with whom I got acquainted very well. The weird thing is they visited Canada in 2018, when I visited Australia.

Our tour guide took us to a café, which was on the 2nd floor.  This was my first time entering a café in Egypt. It looked a bit old and rundown, but that added charm to the place. The café was half full, but still noisy. I saw lots of ceiling fans running, as it was hot in winter in December.

The black tea with lots of sugar tasted unreal. I had black tea before in many places, but I was not sure why tea in Egypt tasted so good. 3 teas costed 10 LE (Egyptian Pounds), which was around $1 CAD. I also bought a beef shish kebab sandwich for 20 LE and a Dasani 750 ml water for 4 LE. So cheap!

Dinner at The Oasis Hotel Restaurant

After returning to my hotel, I had coffee in my room. I took a shower and then relaxed a little before heading out for dinner.

For dinner, I had a kebab and kofta skewer of lamb and grounded meat, Egyptian style. There was no water included and it costed 175 LE ($16 CAD), which I found expensive. The food quality was so-so and service was poor.

CI Launches Guaranteed Retirement Cash Flow Series start

CI Guaranteed Retirement Cash Flow G5/20 Series

First Published Date: July 16, 2013 ADawnJournal.com

As stock markets continue their rollercoaster ride and the once-considered safe haven gold loses it luster, baby boomers and regular investors continue to search for products that offer predictable, guaranteed income with peace of mind. To capture this segment of the market, CI has come up with a product called the G5/20 series. Let’s look at some features this product offers.

What Is CI G5/20 Series

You can think of it some sort of hybrid of an annuity and a mutual fund.  The G5/20 series is an actively-managed mutual fund consisting of global and Canadian equities alone with some fixed income securities to provide 20 years of guaranteed income. For example, let’s say you have 2 investments: A and B. Investment A is $100,000 invested in CI G5/20 series and Investment B is another $100,000 invested elsewhere such as stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, etc. In case of a global market meltdown, theoretically, Investment B could go down to $60,000 or even less. However, Investment A, CI G5/20 Series, are guaranteed and protected against any such loss.

Some CI G5/20 Series Features

– Each Series has a 25 years lifespan.

– Each Quarter Will Offer a new series

– The first five years is called accumulation phase. In this phase, the investor will invest and watch the growth. There will be no payments. The principal amount investor invested can not go down even if the market tanks due to its guarantee.

– The next twenty years is called distribution phase. Investors will get back 5% each year for twenty years based on their initial investment or investment + accumulated growth from five years, whichever is greater.

– The portfolio and active asset allocation are managed by CI.

– The income flow of G5/20 is guaranteed by the Bank of Montreal.

– The risk management segment (to reduce volatility and enhance growth) to the portfolio is managed by Chicago-based Nexus Risk Management.

Is the CI G5/20 Series For You?

This is suitable for those who are looking for an actively-managed, risk-adjusted product managed by those who have the expertise and guaranteed by a well-known bank to provide income for 20 years in exchange for 2.77% MER (before taxes).

Link: CI Retirement Cash Flow Series

Some Other Alternatives Providing Guaranteed Income

BMO LifeTime Cash Flow Product

Manulife Income Plus

How To Avoid Vacation Rental Scams

Holiday Rental Scams

First Published Date: July 23, 2013 ADawnJournal.com

As vacation rental bookings via the Internet take off, so are scammers’ and con artists’ innovative fake listings to steal money. The vacation rental scam is one of the easiest scams to make money and there are various techniques scammers use. For example, they will use pictures copied off the Internet or sometimes real pictures from real listings to create fake listings. Today, I will go through some tips you can use to avoid vacation rental scams.

1. Use Vacation Rental Sites – Avoid free ad sites like Kijiji or CraigsList and use specialized vacation rental sites such as VacationHomeRentals.com. Although it may not be guaranteed, you will have lesser chances of being scammed with a legitimate rental site. The above site guarantees up to $10,000 in case of misrepresentation.

2. Obtain Contact Information – Gather as much information as you can about the advertiser. Talk to the owner and ask for the property management office phone number, copy of a utility bill, references, etc. to verify. Ask questions about the vicinity and what’s available nearby such as restaurants, malls, tourist attractions, and so on.

3. Search Engine and Email – Do not communicate via email. Use search engines to search for the email address, properly listing, and name of the owner to check for fraudulent activities. Use an online map to see if the property really exists. 

4. Do Not Wire Money – Do not send money using anonymous wire transfers such as Western Union, bank wire transfer, etc. Do not pay using cheques, as this way scammers will have your banking information to scam you even further later on. Use only credit cards and PayPal, which have some sort of protection against fraudulent activities.

5. Use Common Sense and Vigilance – Your best defence is your own common sense and vigilance. Look for suspicious behaviour and other elements from the property owner such as a foreign phone number, bad grammar or heavy foreign accent, unable to describe anything nearby, unable to provide any verification, and so on.

Learn how Internet and investment scams work by reading some articles here: Internet & Investment Scams. If you ever believe you have been a victim of fraud and scams, contact your local law enforcement authority and any other agencies that deal with online scams in your respective country.

How Productive Are Canadians?

Canada’s Productivity

First Published Date: July 31, 2013 ADawnJournal.com

A recent report “The Future of Productivity” published by professional services firm Deloitte looked at productivity in Canada compared some other parts of the world. Today, I will go over some highlights from that report.

How does Canada compare to other parts of the world? We are productive and growing fast, but not as fast as some other nations. For example, from 2001 to 2009 Canada’s productivity growth was far below Australia’s and even from small countries like Austria and Israel. An average American worker generates $13 more per hour than a Canadian worker, a Norwegian worker generates $29 more, and an Australian worker generates $2 more. Countries like Korea and Russia sit on top of productivity growth, while countries like Switzerland and Denmark sit at the bottom.

When it comes to launching new start-ups, Canada has one of the highest levels of launching fast-growing companies by entrepreneurs. However, in terms of holding onto those start-ups, Canada is lagging behind. Canadian firms are not investing enough in R&D (Research and Development), which is essential to sustain growth and expansion. The top five OECD countries to invest in R&D are Israel, Korea, Finland, Japan, and Korea. The bottom five countries are Turkey, Slovak Republic, Poland, Mexico, and Chile. Canada sits somewhere in the middle and ranks below OECD average.

One interesting fact is that one in three Canadian companies do not know or understand that they are underinvesting in research and development, and in machinery and equipment that are vital for sustainability and growth. The full report The Future of Productivity – A wake-up call for Canadian companies can be accessed on Deloitte Canada website.

$3.30 Per Month Home Phone Plan?

VOIP Home Phone Offers Incredible Savings

Published Date : August 14, 2013

Is it possible to have a home phone service from $3.30 to $4.95 per month in Canada? If you think of a home phone literally connected by wire to the phone companies such Bell or Rogers, it is impossible to have a phone service that cheap. Actually, a basic home phone service from Bell or Rogers with almost no features will cost you around $30 to $40 per month. However, if you consider VOIP home phone just like a regular home phone, then yes, it is possible to have a home phone service with lots of features at the price I mentioned above.

VOIP home phone uses your existing Internet connection to offer you cheap home phone with the same voice quality and much more features than a traditional home phone at a fraction of the cost. There are many VOIP home phone service providers in Canada these days. However, these three providers are worth considering in terms of value, quality, and abundant features.

Nettalk – Basic plan costs only $3.30 per month with many features and 3000 minutes per month. First year is free with purchase of the VOIP device, also known as the adaptor.

Ooma – Basic plan costs only $3.98 per month and comes with 21 features and 5000 minutes. Want 44 features that you never thought even existed? It will cost you $9.99 per month.

Fongo – Unlimited minutes and 11 premium features cost $4.95 per month.

For any VOIP home phone services, initially you need to purchase an adaptor that would cost somewhere between $50 to $150 depending on the provider. And also, you need to have Internet service at home. Nowadays, I have seen many homes without a home phone, but I haven’t any homes without Internet. It is time to get more out of your Internet by having a VOIP home phone and stop paying unnecessarily for a traditional home phone.