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THE WEEK HERALD OUTLOOK Much ItaFageig Survey takes surprise out of travel costs 8830 FREE ESTIMATES 8730530 J TWISS FUELS 8786380 An E WATERPROOFING SPECIALISTS GORDS BASEMENT TBWOOffllG Lesumrty Construction LTD 451 0595 FARMHOUSE suite with shower The two additional bedrooms share a main bathroom with soaking tub Send lor Canadas plan book with over 300 designs only including shipping To build Plan No 891541 order an set blueprint package for or sals tor plus shipping Send payment to HOME OF THE WEEK The Halton Hills Herald Unit Drive Mississauga Ont 3T5 For fastest service use VIsalMastercard and call toll free am Eastern Time Monday to Satur day Metro Toronto residents please call 8265657 am 500 pm MOLLY MAID Light Suppllat Provided 8534720 HALTON PROP AFTER CALL HOME HARDWARE fflHome J J l v rKyp FOR ALL YOUR HARDWARE NEEDS Key Screen Window Repair Tone Paints Plumbing Supplies Housewares Appliances FRIENDLY COURTEOUS SERVICE S LTH STREET HENKS Lawn A Equipment AMD SMALL HUTMENT Winter hn Mm MwttttMMww Mwltaiuwaitf f J I mo ROOFING NEW CONSTRUCTION AND REROOF The Window and Door Centre supplying you with quality products factory service and installation Wilkinson Rd Brampton 4164545362 LIGHTING Vacuum Systems AW ABOUT OUR CONSULTAIIOH GEORGETOWN ST0YLES CARPENTRY DOORS DECKS HOME RENOVATIONS CUSTOM WOODWORK 8778950 G WOODWORKING wnv guarantee HANDCRAFTED GLASS OAK CEDAR solid vMnnnimws THE DOOR STOP Main Eut Milton Ontario Toronto 3329 COLONIAL TREE SERVICE EXPERIENCE TREE ft REMOVAL STUMPS REMOVED FULLV INSURED- 877859V PLUMBING SUPPLIES MA tpnPHnt VvWn 8772293 PLUMBING SHOWROOM am Peel Heating and Yd Air Conditioning LENNOX COMFORT PLUS CASH BACK Mr Dwl Mhfl Air Conditioning 111 iwwn Planning a big trip sometime this year Then one area of concern to you must surely be the cost the level of prices at your destination com pared with those here at home New light is thrown on prices in 52 of the worlds major cities by a survey just published by Union Bank of Switzerland Its the banks seventh such survey and the first In three years Its hardly a surprise that Tokyos prices are at or near the top in each of the several categories that UBS used in com paring conditions in the 52 cities Here are some of the ways of describing what the Japanese capital can do to a budget The overall cost of living in Tokyo is per cent higher than the average for all 52 cities surveyed A 39item food basket would cost the equivalent of in Tokyo compared with in Toronto and in Montreal A typical steak dinner with potatoes one vegetable dessert and tip but no drinks costs an average of per person in Tokyo as against a worldwide average of A SHORT STAY The Swiss bank took another tack to discover the combined price of the various elements of a typical short stay overnight ac commodation in a firstclass hotel two evening meals with wine km in a rental car color film movie ticket stamps and a telephone call Sure enough the Japanese capital at 766 was the most expen sive by a wide margin followed by London at At the other end of the scale was Lagos cheapest at 180 On the last previous UBS survey in the Nigerian metropolis had the dubious honor of being the most ex pensive city of all This time around African cities tend to be at the inexpensive end of the scale in the various UBS statistical surveys For example Johannesburg the commercial centre of South Africa noted for its many luxury hotels had the secondlowest average price for hotel accommodation at 107 with the steak dinner costing only The short stay described above as costing in Tokyo would cost about 193 in Johannesburg and no doubt much the same in Cape Town and Durban although their prices were not surveyed by UBS DEVELOPED WORLD Overall the latest UBS com parison confirms that the cost of living tends to be greater in the principal cities of the highly developed countries the Scandina vian capitals Paris Zurich and so on And in broad terms prices are often well below the world average in such as Bombay Bio de Janeiro and Mexico City places with lowwage economies depress ed foreignexchange rates and similar conditions Those factors can easily skew the real costs of living To il lustrate The survey compared the cost of a package of highticket consumer items autofocus camera color TV fridge electric sewing machine frying pan hair dryer steam iron In Toronto this shopping list would add up to 2738 in ma jor US cities But in Rio de Janeiro the cost of all these items would come to only which perhaps suggest that Brazils policy is to keep consumers happy by taxing such products lightly or not at all while the Brazilian government defaults on payment of principal and interest on its huge debt to foreign lenders BUYER BEWARE Granted a Canadian traveller would hardly buy a refrigerator in South America and bring it home But a certain kind of madness does occasionally grip the traveller whos far from home and suffering from temporary amnesia about prices and values That may explain the strange willingness to spend several hun dreds of dollars on trench coats itt certain shops in Londons Lower Regent- Street Britons themselves more attuned to local markets are more likely to shop in the lest ex clusive Marks and Spencer chain In Turkey and some other coun tries the sales pressure can be so intense as to become intimidating Its extremely risky to order mer chandise in an Istanbul bazaar on the promise of the merchant that it will be mailed to you later In contrast there would be no need for hesitation in placing such an order at Cape Towns Cape Union Mart famous for its broad range of safari wear arctic clothing and other outdoor equip ment Electronic homeentertainment goods are probably less expensive in Canadian cities than in most other countries even in dutyfree shops abroad Keen bargain- hunters might find lower prices in Hong Kong or in midManhattan but customs duties and access to afterpurchase service should be taken into account by the Canadian traveller TRAVEL NOTEBOOK Here are notes on news of cur rent interest to travellers Daily nonstop flights between Toronto and Louisville Ky will be operated by Air Toronto commenc ing Feb with the airlines new British Aerospace Jetstream Super 31 airplane At Piraeus port city of Athens and embarkation point for cruises of the Greek islands and the Aegean coast authorities have recently instituted airporttype security checks of baggage and passengers If you are sailing from Piraeus reached easily by com muter train from central Athens try to arrive several hours before the announced departure time the Belgian airline Is holding a seat sale with return fares TorontoBrussels as low as from April 1 Two passengers travelling together can have the use of an Avis car free for one week with unlimited mileage and tax included provided the depar ture is before June IS Support your community BLUE BOX PROGRAM Recycle this newspaper along with glass bottles and jars plastic soft drink containers aluminum and steel food and beverage cans RECYCLING It only works if we all do our part