Top 10 List | Top Ten Lists

Ever wondered which are the costliest cities in the world to live in? Following is a list of the top 10 cities in the world where it was most expensive to live in early 2009 as defined by the Economist.

1. Tokyo
The Japanese capital city of Tokyo is the most expensive city in the world to live in. Tokyo is also the hub of the world’s biggest metropolitan area in terms of both economy and population. The Tokyo stock exchange is one of the world’s largest, and is the largest one in Japan. Many international companies and some of their regional offices are based in Tokyo. The large size of the population has also led to a huge demand for space. All these factors combine to make Tokyo the most expensive city in the world in which to live.

2. Osaka-Kobe
The second costliest cities are the two linked cities in Japan – Osaka and Kobe. Housing is expensive due to the extremely high population density, and there are other costs as well. The increased land cost coupled with high wages has made the Osaka-Kobe region the second most expensive region in the world to live.

3. Paris
Paris, the capital city of France, is third on the list of costliest cities in the world. The city is extremely famous for its tourist appeal, which generates a large amount of money for the local economy. The economy of Paris is quite strong, which has led to an increased cost of living.

4. Copenhagen
The fourth costliest city in the world, Copenhagen, is also the capital city of a Scandinavian country namely Denmark. This city is not only an important political capital city but the dominant city economically and culturally. Many regional and international offices have their bases in Copenhagen. Recently Copenhagen and Denmark as a whole have witnessed rapid growth, both domestically and internationally.

5. Oslo
The city with the fifth highest cost of living is the Norwegian capital city of Oslo. Oslo is Norway’s biggest city in terms of population and economy. It is also a well developed city with income derived from various sources. These sources include maritime engineering, tourism, offshore oil, and gas reserves.

Making this list turned out to be more difficult and complicated than it was originally expected. However, we were able to come up with a fairly good list of top 10 most expensive food items. The list was formulated based largely on the tag prices and to a certain extent, the degree of opulence that is associated with these luxury foods.

1. Beluga Caviar

Beluga caviar holds the distinction as the being the world’s most expensive food stuff. The caviar is actually the fish roe of the Beluga Sturgeon which are normally found in the Caspian Sea. Beluga caviar could cost you over $1,000 for a 16 ounce tin.

2. Saffron

Saffron is considered as the costliest among all food spices with prices easily breaching $2,000 for every pound of saffron. Saffron is from the three styles and stigmas of the flower crocus. The style and stigma are individually handpicked and it is quite a task to collect thousands in order to make an ounce of this very expensive spice.

3. White Truffles

These truffles come from underground tubers and are popular for their stiff prices. It has a distinct odor which is somewhat similar to walnuts that were deep fried. The truffles are the most expensive among those that belong to the ascomycetes family.

4. Kobe Beef

Kobe beef comes from the Wagyu cattle that are reared and raised in Japan’s Hyogo Prefecture. The breeding is done following a secret and traditional Japanese practice. The Wagyu cattles are fed with a combination of grain and beer. This feeding method leads to a more tender type of beef that can rival any other kind of beef products that are available in the market.

5. Bird’s Nest

The bird’s nest is a very popular delicacy in China and is considered as the most expensive food that comes from animal products. It is commonly served as a soup although it can also be prepared as sweets.

As cutting edge technology makes its way through music video production, the price tag of a short music video is even surpassing that of a full length movie project. Let us take a look at the top 10 costliest music videos which are considered concrete examples of extravagant indulgence.

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1. Scream; $7 million+; Michael & Janet Jackson
As with most of the music videos of Michael Jackson, this one went overboard with a whopping $7 million in total bill and this cost is easily twice the amount spent of the video material that took second spot.

2. Victory; 2.7 million; Puff Daddy
Victory is to rap video that tops among 5 music videos of this genre which in our top 10 list. It has all the requisite imagery and effects of an expensive video. It is complete with all the explosions, breathtaking jumps, shootouts and a lot more dramatic scenes not normally seen in a typical music video.

3. Heartbreaker; 2.5 million; Mariah Carey
If there is one video that practically makes no sense, then this has got to be it. You will find yourself at a loss at what the video is trying to convey and you feel a totally bewildered as it has got be this expensive just to create an MTV that is cluttered and unorganized.

4. What’s It Gonna Be; 2.4 million; Busta Rhymes with Janet Jackson
This is one hip video that really deserves to be in the top 10 list. It has all the seamless quality of graphics that we can associate with Terminator 2 and The Abyss.

5. Larger Than Life; $2.1 million; Backstreet Boys
The Backstreet Boys did a pretty good job in this music video project. Hence, we can say that it is money well spent. The B-Boys are amazingly cute as space robots fighting in a bizarre cyberworld.