Reality bites. Realizing that my Gen 2 was almost out of fuel today, I went to fill up at my neighborhood Shell station. I fill about 20 Liters of fuel and it costs me RM55! Filling up a full tank would now cost me around RM100 assuming that the fuel price won't go up anytime soon. TV Smith has a good one on the recent fuel price hike which you can see here.
I still remember that when I started using my car, a full tank was only around RM60 and now it's up by almost 40%. Now being used to filling up at market price back during my student days, I definitely understand the effect of the recent global fuel price crisis on the price of fuel over here. But what I don't understand is, what happened to all the money saved during the low oil price days?
The cheapest gasoline price I ever encountered was USD 0.78/US gallon in Florida back in winter 2001 which translate to around RM0.78/Liter using the previous USD 1 = 3.80 currency exchange that was still in effect that time and 1 US gallon = 3.78 liters. At that time, we were selling petrol for around RM1.30/Liter which is about the same price as the gas price I found in Texas. To make it even more perplexing would be the fact that the gasoline price in the States already included all the taxes that makes their roads free and their public transportation cheap.
OK now, enough politics as looking at the Malaysian political culture, transparency is at the bottom of the list and lets examine the fuel price hike effect on my life. Using the old fuel price, I spent close to 15% of my monthly salary just for transportation charges (fuel, parking, tolls and car maintenance). With the current hike, it's likely to break 20% and that does not include the expected food and services price increase. So in summary I'm getting poorer by the day as any salary increment that I get would be greatly offset by the fuel price hike.
I've put off diving for close to 3 months now since my Sipadan trip in March and looking at the current situation, I think it'll be put off even longer now. Now, I'm just hoping that I would be able to squeeze 1 dive trip before the end of the year and the only way to get as many dives as possible in a trip would be by going for an LOB trip (Kaleebso anyone?). Any unnecessary traveling also have to be put off for a while pending budget review.
So now, how to survive in this challenging time? 1st and foremost, I would need to reduce the usage of my car. However, since busses and LRTs are not an option unless I'm willing to go out to work at 6.30am to travel less than 9km to work, I would still need to use my car. Lucky me gafiL is moving back to KL for work so at least we can now car pool and she gets free parking, so at least now we can utilize only 1 car and thus saves on fuel and maintenance cost. 2nd, I would need to travel more as company traveling claims can be of substantial amount :). 3rd, I guess it's time to eat less and outside of KLCC. It's good for health, and cost less. A nasi lemak ayam in KLCC used to cost RM5.50, can't imagine what's the price after the hike. 4th, keep and eye on AirAsia and MAS free tickets promotion. "Balik Kampung" trip costs RM500-600 with the old fuel price. With AirAsia and MAS free tickets, I can get return tickets for only RM100/person and that's just 30% more than a bus ticket but saves traveling time by 80%.
Some long term solution would be to move somewhere closer to an LRT line (which is unlikely as I'm moving to my own place later this year), get a motorcycle (which gafiL strongly oppose) but seems to be a good option now, fit my car with NGV or buy a more fuel efficient vehicle. However, the last 2 options I think would have to wait as our government seems to change their mind constantly and like to implement new measures in a flash that might effect the feasibility of the options.
So there you go, some thoughts about the recent fuel price hike. Lucky me I'm no soccer nuts and I dont' have Astro to watch the NBA finals, so at least I'll be saving electricity bills from all those late night TVs :)
Monday, June 09, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
.....
Since I do actually have an SLR now, I guess I'll be posting pointless photos in my blog. I'm just too lazy to setup fotopages account.
As with the pictures of cats in the previous post, this picture is from my recent balik kampung trip...
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Things I Would Like to Do
I don't think I would be diving anytime soon due to many commitment that I need to attend to for the next few months (there goes my target to get my 100th dive this year).
So I need to figure out what to do with my spare time and also where to waste my money :). I've already wasted a big sum of money getting my 1st ever dSLR to keep me occcupied. Anybody wanna go for photo outing?
Basketball should also do it as I currently trying to get into the EXPRO team and a friend of mine asked me today if I would like to play for his team in a basketball league that's going to start sometimes in June.
Other than that I guess it'll be work for me. Although the deadline is the end of the year but I'm already behind schedule and need to pick things up fast.
Also some great shows are coming up in the next few months that I think I would like to go and they are:
1. Beauty and The Beast The Musical @ KL Convention Center
2. Air Supply Tour @ Genting
3. High School Musical On Ice @ Bukit Jalil - I think I'm going to take my nieces for this one
I really wish they would stage Phantom of The Opera here (even though I had watch it before back in school) though I don't think it would be happening anytime soon.
Traveling is also something that I would love to do but hey, I've been out of the water since my Sipadan trip so I guess the next time I travel it would be for a diving trip :) .....
Anybody has any idea on what else can I do?
So I need to figure out what to do with my spare time and also where to waste my money :). I've already wasted a big sum of money getting my 1st ever dSLR to keep me occcupied. Anybody wanna go for photo outing?
Basketball should also do it as I currently trying to get into the EXPRO team and a friend of mine asked me today if I would like to play for his team in a basketball league that's going to start sometimes in June.
Other than that I guess it'll be work for me. Although the deadline is the end of the year but I'm already behind schedule and need to pick things up fast.
Also some great shows are coming up in the next few months that I think I would like to go and they are:
1. Beauty and The Beast The Musical @ KL Convention Center
2. Air Supply Tour @ Genting
3. High School Musical On Ice @ Bukit Jalil - I think I'm going to take my nieces for this one
I really wish they would stage Phantom of The Opera here (even though I had watch it before back in school) though I don't think it would be happening anytime soon.
Traveling is also something that I would love to do but hey, I've been out of the water since my Sipadan trip so I guess the next time I travel it would be for a diving trip :) .....
Anybody has any idea on what else can I do?
Monday, April 21, 2008
We did it!
Back in 2006, I played basketball for EXPRO in the East Coast Regional Games for my OPU where we got trashed by Oil Business by 30 points. I was attending a course the very same year that prevented me from playing for the KKP games held in KL where we also lost to Oil Business.
But on Saturday we finally got out taste of victory! We managed to beat an almost full strength (the exact same team that beat us by 30 points back in 06) Oil Business team in the KSRP mini games held at TTFC.
The road to victory wasn't easy though. Our team was first to play that morning with everybody still sleepy having to wake up early on Saturday morning and won the 1st game against another team also from KL by a miracle 3 point shot at the buzzer to avoid going into overtime (no the shot was not by me, I can't shoot 3s heh).
A really shaky start during the 1st half of the 2nd game saw us behind by double digits at the start of the 2nd half. We bucked up and held the EXPRO team from Kerteh (which I used to play for) to 7 points in the 2nd half but luck was not on our side as we lost by 1 point. I hold myself responsible for the loss as I kept on missing free throws and with 4.5 seconds left on the clock, I managed to grab a missed free throw by the opposing team but threw the ball too far that my team mates got no chance to catch it and try to take a shot for a win.
Despite losing the game, we was seeded no 1 in our group as the Kerteh EXPRO team lost their last game and was out of the running for the semi final games. We were up against the PGB team and managed to come out with a 4 point win and everybody was clearly tired at that point. Anyway the win set us up for a final game with Oil Business and me and Hussen were really pumped up for the game.
Everybody was on top of their game during the final and we were never behind during the 1st half. I took myself out of the game for a breather for the 2nd half as my body's aching all over but went back in just 2 minutes after. Just can't keep myself out of a game against a team I've been waiting to play for 2 years. Things got really close and heated up I would say; elbows were flying, shouts were exchanged and few technical fouls were called. They managed to equalized the game 3 minutes before the whistle but we managed to hold on. Despite a late technical foul when we were leading by just 4 points (they got 3 free throws, made 2 of 3, and also the possession) we kept it cool, got a steal, scored a basket and held on for the win!
Can't remember the last time victory tasted this sweet. Anyway, got home around 6.45pm that day (somebody was suppose to come by and take some pictures but she couldn't make it, so blame her for having no pictures to show heh) and just lie on the couch all night my body aching all over......
Anyway now I'm really looking forward for this year's KKP games and if this is how we play, mind you that we were missing some core players due to various reasons, things are looking great. Now I need to rest.....my feet's still hurting....
But on Saturday we finally got out taste of victory! We managed to beat an almost full strength (the exact same team that beat us by 30 points back in 06) Oil Business team in the KSRP mini games held at TTFC.
The road to victory wasn't easy though. Our team was first to play that morning with everybody still sleepy having to wake up early on Saturday morning and won the 1st game against another team also from KL by a miracle 3 point shot at the buzzer to avoid going into overtime (no the shot was not by me, I can't shoot 3s heh).
A really shaky start during the 1st half of the 2nd game saw us behind by double digits at the start of the 2nd half. We bucked up and held the EXPRO team from Kerteh (which I used to play for) to 7 points in the 2nd half but luck was not on our side as we lost by 1 point. I hold myself responsible for the loss as I kept on missing free throws and with 4.5 seconds left on the clock, I managed to grab a missed free throw by the opposing team but threw the ball too far that my team mates got no chance to catch it and try to take a shot for a win.
Despite losing the game, we was seeded no 1 in our group as the Kerteh EXPRO team lost their last game and was out of the running for the semi final games. We were up against the PGB team and managed to come out with a 4 point win and everybody was clearly tired at that point. Anyway the win set us up for a final game with Oil Business and me and Hussen were really pumped up for the game.
Everybody was on top of their game during the final and we were never behind during the 1st half. I took myself out of the game for a breather for the 2nd half as my body's aching all over but went back in just 2 minutes after. Just can't keep myself out of a game against a team I've been waiting to play for 2 years. Things got really close and heated up I would say; elbows were flying, shouts were exchanged and few technical fouls were called. They managed to equalized the game 3 minutes before the whistle but we managed to hold on. Despite a late technical foul when we were leading by just 4 points (they got 3 free throws, made 2 of 3, and also the possession) we kept it cool, got a steal, scored a basket and held on for the win!
Can't remember the last time victory tasted this sweet. Anyway, got home around 6.45pm that day (somebody was suppose to come by and take some pictures but she couldn't make it, so blame her for having no pictures to show heh) and just lie on the couch all night my body aching all over......
Anyway now I'm really looking forward for this year's KKP games and if this is how we play, mind you that we were missing some core players due to various reasons, things are looking great. Now I need to rest.....my feet's still hurting....
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Monday, April 07, 2008
Sipadan Part 4
More for you viewing pleasure...
Morey Eel
Nudi
Nudi Couple
Even more Nudi
And the highlight of the trip, Flamboyant Cuttlefish
Morey Eel
Nudi
Nudi Couple
Even more Nudi
And the highlight of the trip, Flamboyant CuttlefishWednesday, April 02, 2008
Sipadan Part 3
The journey continues again. Now the underwater part :)
Banded Pipe Fish
Frog Fish
Crocodile Fish
Err....
Ghost Pipe Fish
Banded Pipe Fish
Frog Fish
Crocodile Fish
Err....
Ghost Pipe Fish
More coming soon..
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sipadan Part 2
OK, now the journey continues :)
Everybody's busy sorting out seats on the boat
Hey, got rainbow
Finally we got to Mabul. Can't wait to get wet!
Everybody's busy pretending to listen to the briefing while they're actually thinking "can we go dive now..."
Ikan busy handing out keys
Everybody's busy sorting out seats on the boat
Hey, got rainbow
Finally we got to Mabul. Can't wait to get wet!
Everybody's busy pretending to listen to the briefing while they're actually thinking "can we go dive now..."
Ikan busy handing out keys
Next would be underwater pictures, in the next post that is....
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Sipadan Part 1
I know it's a week late but I've been really occupied with work since I took a whole week off during my Sipadan trip. So here goes my Sipadan Picture Trip Report :)
My trip started at 11pm March 17th. After some logistics arrangement I took the 1st bus out of KL Sentral to LCCT at around 3.15am.
This is part of the luggage that took us about 1.5 hrs to check in. Check in was a chaos as we had to 1st declare our extra luggage as sports equipment (to enjoy the RM30/15kg additional allowance) then check in the normal luggage, then bring the extra luggage to another check in counter to get in checked in, then to another counter to pay for it. 3 counters just to check in our extra luggage? I wonder why can't we just do everything at the check in counter.
I slept all the way in the plane and also all the way from Tawau airport to Semporna so no pictures there. Anyway, we reached Semporna near noon and checked in at Lee's Resthouse as our boat out to Mabul island is only the next morning.
Semporna town
My trip started at 11pm March 17th. After some logistics arrangement I took the 1st bus out of KL Sentral to LCCT at around 3.15am.
This is part of the luggage that took us about 1.5 hrs to check in. Check in was a chaos as we had to 1st declare our extra luggage as sports equipment (to enjoy the RM30/15kg additional allowance) then check in the normal luggage, then bring the extra luggage to another check in counter to get in checked in, then to another counter to pay for it. 3 counters just to check in our extra luggage? I wonder why can't we just do everything at the check in counter.
I slept all the way in the plane and also all the way from Tawau airport to Semporna so no pictures there. Anyway, we reached Semporna near noon and checked in at Lee's Resthouse as our boat out to Mabul island is only the next morning.
Semporna town
Lee's Resthouse
Another look at the variety of diving gear waiting to be loaded in the van to the jetty
More pictures coming up soon in part 2 :)
Monday, March 24, 2008
I'm Back!
I'm back and feeling tired and sleepy. I only got home around 2.30am this morning and still having the so called "Post Diving Syndrome". Mocha has been asking for pictures (sorry for you camera bro) and I'll try to upload them tonight should I finish unpacking and cleaning my diving gears. I'm sure they're smelling quite nice now at home as some are not so dry when I packed them and it was raining when we touched down at LCCT yesterday.
Anyway, overall it was a good trip. Sipadan was not as I expected due to unfavorable weather condition and bad timing. But I did have fun at the other dive sites namely Si Amil, Kapalai and around Mabul island. It was a long 1 week journey and now I think I'm hooked. I'm already looking at the calendar to see if I can slot in another trip this year (yes honey, I'm thinking about going back there but this time I'll take you along heh :) ) should I be able to come up with the money needed that is.
Pictures coming soon.....stay tuned
Anyway, overall it was a good trip. Sipadan was not as I expected due to unfavorable weather condition and bad timing. But I did have fun at the other dive sites namely Si Amil, Kapalai and around Mabul island. It was a long 1 week journey and now I think I'm hooked. I'm already looking at the calendar to see if I can slot in another trip this year (yes honey, I'm thinking about going back there but this time I'll take you along heh :) ) should I be able to come up with the money needed that is.
Pictures coming soon.....stay tuned
Monday, March 17, 2008
The Day is Tomorrow...
I've been keeping my diving equipment dry ever since I came back from the Kaleebso LOB trip last December. Yup, not a single dive since then, not even in the pool, although a miscommunication made me miss one of the pool session that I was planning to attend. So tomorrow I'll officially start my 2008 diving season diving in Sipadan until Sunday. It's my first time to Sipadan and I'm hoping for the best there. After all those stories and pictures, it's my time to personally experience it.
I don't know how many dives would I be doing there, but I'll try to slot in as much as possible. I do by all means plan to break the 100 dives barrier this year (so far I have no luck breaking 100 in golf so maybe I'll try it in diving) and I'm planning to do the bulk of the dives earlier in the year this year.
I'll definitely be posting lots of pictures for this trip that I'll be taking 2 cameras with me for trip (thanks to gafiL for lending me her camera) so that I can capture every single step of the journey. So stay tuned for reports soon.... :)
I don't know how many dives would I be doing there, but I'll try to slot in as much as possible. I do by all means plan to break the 100 dives barrier this year (so far I have no luck breaking 100 in golf so maybe I'll try it in diving) and I'm planning to do the bulk of the dives earlier in the year this year.
I'll definitely be posting lots of pictures for this trip that I'll be taking 2 cameras with me for trip (thanks to gafiL for lending me her camera) so that I can capture every single step of the journey. So stay tuned for reports soon.... :)
Friday, March 14, 2008
I've been Tagged by Ardy & Bakawali
The Linking Tag Rules
1. List out five favourite links - the links can be of business sites, affiliate links or whatever that suits the blogger.
2. Tag five more people to share their links, so hopefully, at the end of the tag, we would be able to share good links with each other.
3. The links MUST be clean. No X-rated sites.
4. List out only FIVE links.
5. You MUST tell the FIVE people you chose.
6. Provide the link back to the person who tagged you.
7. Obviously, it should be an active link.
Well then, my five links would be:
1. ESPN.com - My official sports website except during summer
2. Gizmodo - The gadget/tech site I love most. Thanks to Ass-rif for introducing it to me way back then
3. Google News - I just love the way they put news from many different sources in 1 site. And not to mention that they update it frequently too
4. MalaysianUnderWater.com (MUW) - Without them, my diving gear would just be gathering dust
5. Wikipedia - I'm always hungry for information, history and facts, this site provide them all
Now let see, who should I tag?
1. Judd
2. Ass-rif
3. Nurhi
4. Maya
5. Don't have a no 5. All the people I know had been tagged :)
1. List out five favourite links - the links can be of business sites, affiliate links or whatever that suits the blogger.
2. Tag five more people to share their links, so hopefully, at the end of the tag, we would be able to share good links with each other.
3. The links MUST be clean. No X-rated sites.
4. List out only FIVE links.
5. You MUST tell the FIVE people you chose.
6. Provide the link back to the person who tagged you.
7. Obviously, it should be an active link.
Well then, my five links would be:
1. ESPN.com - My official sports website except during summer
2. Gizmodo - The gadget/tech site I love most. Thanks to Ass-rif for introducing it to me way back then
3. Google News - I just love the way they put news from many different sources in 1 site. And not to mention that they update it frequently too
4. MalaysianUnderWater.com (MUW) - Without them, my diving gear would just be gathering dust
5. Wikipedia - I'm always hungry for information, history and facts, this site provide them all
Now let see, who should I tag?
1. Judd
2. Ass-rif
3. Nurhi
4. Maya
5. Don't have a no 5. All the people I know had been tagged :)
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Keep On Winning and Climbing Rockets!
Yup, the streak officially reached 16 games today. A new record for the Houston Rockets and they've been winning 4 straight without Yao. Anyway tomorrow they're playing Dallas (without Dirk that is who's serving a 1 game suspension) and the Hornets is coming by the weekend.
The Rockets had already beaten the Hornets before but not the Mavs but I hope the streak would continue. Anyway, the way they're playing right now, I have no regrets even if the streak ended. I know what the Rockets can do now and they'll just be stronger next season. Go Rockets!
The Rockets had already beaten the Hornets before but not the Mavs but I hope the streak would continue. Anyway, the way they're playing right now, I have no regrets even if the streak ended. I know what the Rockets can do now and they'll just be stronger next season. Go Rockets!
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