Since our call for readers to send their unhappy credit-card stories, woeful tales of hiked rates and reduced limits have struck our inbox like The Blizzard of '09.
Forced to relocate from beside Hoan Kiem lake to this expat enclave because of hiked rent prices, the relaxed but refined dining room, with its red silk drapes and local art-adorned walls is still one of Hanoi's finest eating spots.
And it will not be the last story of its kind: we have another four and a half years' worth of fraud, rancour and scares over toxic dumps and Japanese knotweed to come before the sacred flame is lit, at which point an orgy of greed will make the stories of hiked hotel prices and taxi-driver scams presently coming out of Paris seem very insignificant indeed.
It will be offering compensation to those affected – but there are fears it will not be adequate for rangers to afford the hiked rents on their homes or, in some cases, the surrounding area.
But nothing in Julian Napier's "Carmen in 3D," a film of a Royal Opera House production directed by Francesca Zambello, makes a very strong case for donning a pair of Buddy Holly-style glasses and settling in with popcorn for a nearly three-hour swirl of hiked skirts and toreador thrusts.
Designed for utility, the style was embraced at the turn of the 20th century by legions of young women who preferred its hiked hemline and unfettered curves to the confining, street-sweeping dresses that had hobbled their mothers and aunts.
A number of designers have shown variations on the hiked skirt, including Marc Jacobs and Mr. Rodriguez.
Dressed in a black T-shirt, black shorts, black hiked-up socks and a black headband, Martínez saved the color for an entertaining 20-minute interview with reporters that he conducted while perched on a table outside the Mets' minor league clubhouse.
Despite hiked-up food and energy costs and the official rate of inflation hovering at just over 4%, the government is sticking to its 2% ceiling for public-sector pay rises, and the resultant cut in the standard of living of millions is now about to come and bite them.
