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Ending June .. on fuel

Written by Jason Loo

Monday, 30 June 2008

30th of June .. this is the last day of the month of June as well as marks the end of the first half of the year. In terms of personal achievements, I would say I have accomplished half of my objectives for the year. Lamenting the fact that oil prices are going up and up with no end in sight, it's put a dent to my plans. So, it means I will have to redefine the scope of my objectives and probably pre-empt them till next year. My wish of course is to have a large sack of cash dumped on to my lap (ya ..sweet dreams to me i know)..

On the home front, nothing much has happened except for the biggest news that the Malaysian consumers will start paying more for fuel and the rate will be adjusted according to the per barrel price onwards. The effect of this has not been felt significantly so far as major items are still undergoing revision of prices. The first such announcement has been made in the automotive industry where logistics is a major player. The cost of tyres and labour charges will rise to 10 - 30% higher. That means changing tyres will be more expensive. The same applies to 'mudguard' shops and vehicle paint shops.

The next as far as I see it are the rise in the cost of transportation, meaning travel. MAS has already announced 80% increase in surcharge for all international flights (except China). Next to come are probably public transports. All in all, I would expect a 15 - 30% increase in cost of goods and services in the coming 6 months (which would directly affect the Consumer Price Index). So, to dear friends who are reading my blog, take heed and be prepared.

On the world front, major summits and conferences have been held between world leaders to solve the issue of oil price increases. The typical answer has been "Yes, we know and we sympathize but it is out of our control". With this, a lot of initiatives have been focused on producing fuel-efficient vehicles leveraging on multiple energy sources including the following (no order of importance) :

1. Corn
2. Palm oil
3. Natural gas
4. Electric / Kinetic
5. Solar and etc

Two companies fronting this line is Toyota and Honda. They had have the visionary focus to research and develop their own type of vehicle, defying the conventional petrol-reliant vehicles. This has set them apart from other motor companies and it is no wonder that auto companies in Detroit are struggling to follow suit. As fuel prices rose to $142 per barrel last week, I would advocate more focus on eco-friendly and fuel-efficient (it's not just all about fuel). Remember, all of us live under one Earth and should try to make it a better place to live for future generations. Here are some samples from Autoindustrie on currently available options for such vehicles : http://autoindustrie.blogspot.com/2008/06/green-is-new-pink-celebrity-rides.html

On the topic of future generations, this reminded me of an anime I am watching. This anime series would be recognizable to all anime fans as it was a popular series back in the good old days. The name of the series is "Macross" (or Robotech in the US version). The current series is called Macross Frontier which highlights one of several colony of ships sent to space to explore the final frontier. The concept of colony in space has been potrayed in several shows in recent years, with the hottest being the current running of Battlestar Galactica. Back to the topic at hand, in the anime, the colony comprises of several ships, with the main one being a World-ship which simulates Earth conditions, even to details such as the Earth atmosphere. This brought me to thinking if such a possibility might exist in future.

macross

On the international front, world leaders have acknowledged that the continuing rise in cost of fuel will result in chaos in economies on almost every country. This will have heavy impacts on socio-economic factors e.g. rise in crime, social disorders e.g. protests etc. This is already evident in countries such as South Korea, Europe and our nearest neighbour, Thailand. How this end will ultimately come from how we solve the fuel factor. Let's hope there will be some good news in the coming months ...

Well, that ends the month of June for me. It has been a great first half of year and I like to convey my best wishes to my fellow friends and readers of my blog. Thanks for reading my constant blogs of nonsense. Stay tuned for more updates next month :)

Last Updated ( Monday, 30 June 2008 )

Sea, sand & sun in Phuket

Written by Jason Loo

Saturday, 03 May 2008

27th April to 30th April 2008

Phuket - I recently went to the island of Phuket for some relaxation under the sun. It was a stress-reliever and a paradise. Here's a chronicle of the trip and pictures taken :)

Day 1 - The girls and I arrived at the LCCT at around the same time. I met them at the check-in area and we proceeded to get our boarding passes. At first I wanted to bring my luggage along as hand-carry but after some moment of thought, decided to throw in the bag with the rest.

Hey, it's a vacation after all .. why carry so much baggage :P by the way, my luggage bag was the smallest of them all (and probably still the lightest when I went back) .. ekekeke

So then we proceeded to the departure hall and waited for our flight to take off. During the interval, we had some coffee and drinks in the cafe. I missed my dear so I gave her a call and chatted with her. Then our flight was called and it was on time so we boarded our plane on schedule.

Except for some minor turbulence and someone letting out their frustrations (into a paper bag), all was fine. After we arrived in the airport, we went to collect our baggage and took some group pics. I had lunch with the gals before sending them off to the hotel. I waited for Kelvin to arrive around 2 hours later. The gals called me beforehand to confirm the island trip for the nexxt day .. yippee .. we were headed for Phi Phi island :)

We arrived at the hotel with no incident and proceeded to check into our room. It was a bit of a disappointment for me and Kelvin as the room was quite basic. We looked around a bit and then proceeded to look for the gals. They were shopping already and so Kelvin & I went for a stroll on the beach. A SOS call arrived and we headed to the shopping area after which we were not of use :P .. Managed to buy a t-shirt though :)

Then it was dinner time and we had our first dinner in Phuket at a nearby cafe. Everyone was tired so we went to sleep early and that was it ... the end of the first day.

Day 2 - The Island hop. We booked our island hopping trip in Phuket itself when we arrived there. All 5 of us were placed in a small speed boat (10 - 20 perons) . The tour guide was a friendly & gayish chap named Lucy (yes, that's Lucy) who entertained us. There was an initial worry for the trip as the clouds were dark and heavy in the morning.

As soon as the boat started our journey to the islands, the heavens opened up on us and we were dripping wet due to the fierce rain and swelling seawater. Luckily it didn't turn into a storm and within an hour's time we reached our first island. Forgot the name, but everyone was relieved to jump out of the boat and snorkeled around. We saw plenty of fishes, Nemo type all over the boats (thanks to Karen for attracting the fishes)... I wonder if there are Garupa fishes around .. free fish spa, everyone :)

Anyway, we went on our way to land on the shore of the first island. The beach was wonderful, white sand and throngs of biknis and swimsuits around. Throughout the whole day, we went to a few islands and had lunch in one of the islands. In the evening, it was back to the hotel for us after a tiring rainy but inspiring day. At night we celebrated Karen's birthday where we had lobsters and various seafood.. yummy yum :)

Day 3 - We hopped onto a rented minivan (Avanza if i remember correctly) and proceeded on our excursion around Phuket island. We had a few stops namely, the Phuket shooting range where all of us had fun (costs quite a fair bit though, rm 94 per 10 shots). After that, we went to the cashew factory where we saw the workers peeling and packaging fresh cashew nuts for sale. It was an interesting experience. Since we had a rigorous day before, we decided to go for a relaxing 3 hour spa massage. It was a refreshing change from the hectic trips we had so far. After that, it was back to the hotel and later after rest where we went to Jung Ceylon, quite a large shopping mall in Phuket (all standard stuff, with Carrefour domininating the scene). Then it was back to the hotel for sleep and we had a fun final night before going back to Malaysia.

Day 4 - It was a relaxing morning when I woke up and decided to walk along the beach. Met karen and michelle sleeping on the beach chairs. Subsequentyly, I walked from one side of the beach to the other with my camera in hand. Managed to capture a few photos which made me think of the wonderful times I had at the beach. Do go and Read More to see the photo gallery :)

After the walk along the beach, it was breakfast time and the gals, me and kelvin had a hearty last meal before heading off to the airport for our flight back. On the way to the airport, we managed to stop at two temples in Phuket. Overall, it was a relaxing journey and made me a happy guy :)

P.S. At this point in time, you are probably bored by my journal so please do head on to my photo gallery (click on Read More) for pictures and sights of Phuket *

Last Updated ( Sunday, 08 June 2008 )