reuters.com :

Gold prices hit record highs over $1,227 on 3 Dec 2009 as the precious metal continued to attract investors looking for an alternative to the dollar. Gold prices have risen by more than 7% since touching a low of $1,136.80 Friday on fears of a possible Dubai debt default. Analysts say worries about Dubai's debt payment problems still linger, though pushed to the backburner with USD weakness coming to the fore. Spot gold prices rose as high as $1,226.10. COMEX gold futures for Feb 2009 delivery touched an all-time record high of $1,227.50. Gold has risen 25% in the last 3 months.

Investors were also taking heart from moves by central banks to buy gold to diversify reserves, including India's purchase of about half the IMF's planned sales of 403.3 tonnes of gold. Researchers with China's ruling Communist Party have said the country should buy more gold to boost its holdings.

- I'm continuing to look out for a top after having exited some of both my personal *and* my fund's gold positions. Not to worry if gold prices do break the current $1227 record high and go on to $1300, we do still continue to hold precious metal-related funds and stocks for the longer haul. We're not into gold or oil futures trading though, just doing normal stock- and ETF-style transactions.

Like I say time and again, times like these when things go vertical make me nervous - and gold has been going nearly vertical for the past month or so - or at least what looks very much like a 70- to 80-degree angle. There are absolutely no historical resistance levels to talk about since we are pretty much well into unchartered territory. The contrarian community has been talking about *possible* resistance at $1200 since months back and lately there have been mumblings about a $1300 resistance and the crawl-out-on-a-limb folks say $1500. Myself, I'm playing contrarian to the contrarians and eyeing suppport levels instead. We'll see.

See also :

1. NYMEX crude oil prices hit $80, gold prices trade near $1070.80 record high
2. COMEX gold futures price hits new record high over $1111 as Dow rises 200 points
3. COMEX gold futures trading over $1152 as prices hit new record highs
4. Dubai debt default looms on $80 billion of loans, requests debt payment freeze
5. COMEX gold futures fall from $1195 record as commodity prices slump on Dubai debt default fears

Originally posted at :
COMEX gold futures prices hit record over $1227, USD weakness trumps Dubai debt payment fears

bloomberg.com :

Commodities prices slumped after Dubai sought to defer some debt payments, rattling investors and spurring a dollar rally. Gold for immediate delivery fell to $1,177.63 after touching a record $1,195.13 on 26 Nov 2009. Gold prices have advanced 33% in 2009, the best performance since 1979. Spot silver prices sank to $18.30 per ounce. NYMEX crude oil prices fell to $72.39 before paring losses. COMEX copper futures for Mar 2009 delivery fell to $3.1255 per pound. Nickel, zinc, tin and lead declined on the London Metal Exchange. Wheat prices fell $5.6975 a bushel on CBOT.

Commodities have gained 19% this year amid the deepest global recession since World War II. Copper and lead have more than doubled and oil prices are up 71% as Chinese demand expanded and producers curbed output. Dubai World's move to defer some payments on $59 billion of liabilities has raised debt default concerns. The global credit crisis has led to credit losses and writedowns of more than $1.7 trillion since June 2007, tipping the world into recession.

- It looks like gold prices, or rather, commodities prices in general, seem to be in correlation with the general equities markets these days. Just another whiff of the global credit crisis and global investors quickly stampede for the exits. As the Times Online reports :

The three foreign banks with the biggest exposure to the United Arab Emirates are British - Standard Chartered, SBC and Barclays. Standard Chartered, thought to have invested more than any other UK bank in the Middle East, dropped almost 6%, while HSBC lost 5%. "This is an important reminder that the credit crisis is forgotten but not gone," said Robert Rennie, strategist at Westpac Global Markets Group.

That's right. The global credit crisis may have been forgotten by most of the world but it certainly has not gone away. The looming Dubai debt default issue might just be the trigger event, a clear signal, that the contrarian community had been waiting for, leading to a potential second down-leg in the world economy and global markets. As is usual with these things, traders and investors alike would have to monitor the situation closely to see if there is just a one-off event, or the start of a series of converging events.

See also :

1. COMEX gold prices hit new record high of $1061.40 per ounce in third straight session
2. NYMEX crude oil prices hit $80, gold prices trade near $1070.80 record high
3. COMEX gold futures price hits new record high over $1111 as Dow rises 200 points
4. COMEX gold futures trading over $1152 as prices hit new record highs
5. Dubai debt default looms on $80 billion of loans, requests debt payment freeze

Originally posted at :
COMEX gold futures fall from $1195 record as commodity prices slump on Dubai debt default fears

edition.cnn.com :

Dubai has shocked investors by asking for a debt standstill at Dubai World, the government's flagship holding company that has developed some of the world's most extravagant real estate projects. The move raised the spectre of default in the Middle East's trading hub just as early signs of economic recovery have emerged. Dubai rode the wave of easy credit but was badly hit by the global credit crisis. Dubai's surprise move angered investors who had been reassured by local officials for months that the city would meet all obligations on its $80bn (?48bn) of gross debt in spite of the global recession and a real estate crash.

The government company has had to cancel plans for the world's tallest tower and a constellation of reclaimed islands, as collapsing cash flow left the developer on the brink. The government's announcement came after the local stock market had shut and on the eve of the Eid holidays, during which most offices will be shut until December 6. S&P and Moody's immediately downgraded the ratings of all 6 government-related issuers in Dubai. Moody's cut ratings on some Dubai government-related entities to junk status, while S&P cut ratings on some entities to one level above junk. S&P said the restructuring "may be considered a default under our default criteria".

- And it wasn't that long ago, perhaps a couple of weeks or two, that I heard talk from some people around me, not peakoilers obviously, who had been saying that in Dubai the oil rushes from the ground. Of course, since they are not peakoilers, how could they have known that these famed oil gushers have not been seen for decades, or how Dubai, and possibly large swathes of the Middle East oil producers are quite possibly past the point of peak oil?

And since they are not members of this small but informed community, how could they have known about Dubai Dreams, the post made back in Jul 2005, where it was revealed that not all is as it seems over there? The contrarian community has also been monitoring developments in this area and it would not come as a surprise that the situation has come to this.

Rather, what *is* a little surprising to us is the timing and manner in which the announcement has been made. Releasing such a huge piece of news on the eve of a super-long holiday weekend? And, coincidentally, right before Thanksgiving on the American side of things? The Times Online reports :

Like over-leveraged companies that are being exposed by the recession, Dubai had borrowed beyond its means to fund its building boom. But, as shocked investors saw it, this was a government at risk of bankruptcy, not a corporation ... four lenders - HSBC, Standard Chartered, Barclays and RBS - are the most exposed. The trauma of Dubai's news was compounded by its lack of clarity. Having issued its statement the emirate shut up shop for the Eid holiday, saying no more ...

See also :

1. Dubai Dreams
2. Arab oil money
3. Gulf Arab states to invest surplus oil money in China and India
4. The construction site called Saudi Arabia
5. Slow Down For Peak Oil : Airplanes, ships, cars ease off throttle to save fuel

Originally posted at :
Dubai debt default looms on $80 billion of loans, requests debt payment freeze

photo to mark our 10th wedding anniversary..

Originally posted at :
10th wedding anniversary celebration..

Over the long weekend, we went for an overnite stay at my sis Hong's place.. sis Leng and her family came over too.. so, we had an somewhat gathering..

Ken and Wenn playing on the swing.. *weeeeee*

my sisters and I.. who do I resemble? We have same bunny teeth, agree?

a generation gap.. me and my niece XY.. seems like just yesterday i changed her diaper!

Steamboat session .. *yum*

Originally posted at :
Overnite stay at sis hong's place..

Bought this for Wenn last sat.. since on the box said "Water changes the color".. i've been letting the kids play in the bathroom with a cup of ice+water and cup of warm water running from the shower head.. of cos so mafan (troublesome) right.. so, when wenn asked me to get ice on the 2nd day (sunday), i told him, "later only play, now cannot".. and i put it off my mind.. thinking that next day it will be my maid's problem.. :P..

so when i got back, i asked my maid if they have requested for ice.. she told me, wenn just put his car into the fridge.. we were so surprised he thought of that..

Originally posted at :
Hot Wheels Color Shifters

Originally posted at :
2009 Wenn's Progress Report from Soka Kindergarten

See also:
1. 2008 Ken's Progress Report from Soka Kindergarten
2. 2007 Ken's Progress Report from Soka Kindergarten

Originally posted at :
2009 Ken's Progress Report from Soka Kindergarten

channelnewsasia.com :

Singapore's Energy Market Authority (EMA) is launching a 3-year pilot project aimed at helping households and businesses save more on electricity bills. The initiative comes on the back of higher consumption patterns and more diversified energy sources. Due to the current design of Singapore's electricity grid, users do not know how much electricity is used until the monthly power bill. The growing use of renewable/alternative energy like wind power and solar power will also create complications as power sources become intermittent and variable.

To address these challenges, EMA is rolling out the "Intelligent Energy System" project aimed at developing smart grid solutions. It includes deploying smart meters to more homes, which provide households with real-time information on their electricity usage, and help them shift demand away from peak periods. Having a smart electric grid will also ensure continued reliability in electricity supply, using renewable energy sources, and offer the ability to tap into electric cars as an energy storage system to feed power back to the grid during peak periods, also known as V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid). As technology takes off, there will be increasing demand for electricity charging by plug-in hybrid vehicles and electric cars.

- The Singapore government continues to execute on its long-term energy strategy. With the advent of Peak Oil, the era of cheap energy and certainly cheap electricity is over. The next best things to do, then, are to look into renewable/alternative energy sources, energy conservation, and certainly, energy management systems, such as grid tie solar systems, and intelligent electrical power distribution systems such as this "Intelligent Energy System".

The other notable point is the one about plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles acting as smart cars when plugged into the grid for recharging (or discharging, if that were the case) to act as a sort of distributed battery system. It would certainly be most interesting to see how this might work out seeing how it is quite likely that at night the cars would need recharging while the sun isn't shining. Which brings us back to the point that the peakoilers are making : "we need all of the above, and every bit helps" - to which the corollary might state : "but we still need reliable base-load power", though a smart power grid would certainly be useful to help even things out a bit.

See also :

1. Energy authority mulling over market for electricity futures
2. Singapore to trial EVS (Electricity Vending System) with 1000 users from Nov 2008
3. Singapore : Nuclear power not ruled out
4. Singapore electric vehicles : Government agencies EMA and LTA to study EV introduction
5. Singapore : First Zero Energy Building launched with largest solar power installation in Southeast Asia

Originally posted at :
Smart power grid : Singapore to introduce intelligent energy management system

While MSN-ing my niece today, i saw her avatar was so nicely done.. so, i asked her what software she used.. sigh.. i'm so out of touch.. this day and time who will install software?!? it's all done online, of cos.. meaning, no need to install any software.. u can just easily crop (cut) your photos.. just play around.. it's intuitive.. but for the fearful less savvy.. below is a quick step-by-step.. and remember, it's FREE..

1. go to http://www.picnik.com/




2. click on the below





3. click on the below




4. click on the "Create" tab




5. choose "Effect" and select an effect you want.. of cos, those tagged Premium, you need to sign up / pay a nominal fee..




6. click on the "Save Share" tab and click "Apply" on the Apply Effect




7. give your photo a file name, move the slider to get the HIGHEST JPG Compression Quality, and "Save Photo"




8. There you are.. how cool is that? I love it! And remember, you heard it from me.. :D



        
        

Originally posted at :
Free Online Easy Photo Editing tool, no registration needed..

channelnewsasia.com :

The EUR/USD forex exchange rate rose above 1.49 on Wed 18 Nov 2009 as the US dollar, plagued by poor investor sentiment, pushed COMEX gold futures to new record highs. Prices in COMEX gold futures trading hit record highs over $1152 after setting a series of new records in recent weeks.

Due to currency exchange rate differences, a weaker USD makes dollar-priced assets such as gold cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies. Traders said the dollar's overall weak tone remained intact owing to the prospect of US interest rates remaining low for some time yet, as the Federal Reserve maintains its benchmark interest rates near zero. The US currency is now used for carry trades where dollars are borrowed at low rates to invest in higher-yielding assets overseas, increasing pressure on the US dollar.

- Commodities futures markets are getting lively as trading shifts to gold futures and by extension silver futures as well receiving steady inflows of money from investors and institutions alike, driving prices higher. Like many in the contrarian community, I have been looking for gold futures to hit local maxima of between $1100-1200, we'll see if that remains to be on track. COMEX gold trading volumes and prices may slow down a little when gold prices start to hit resistance levels, but where exactly that may be remains to be seen as we are now literally in uncharted territory.

See also :

1. Gold prices rise above $1000 level on overwhelming momentum
2. COMEX gold prices hit all-time record high of $1045 per ounce
3. COMEX gold prices hit new record high of $1061.40 per ounce in third straight session
4. NYMEX crude oil prices hit $80, gold prices trade near $1070.80 record high
5. COMEX gold futures price hits new record high over $1111 as Dow rises 200 points

Originally posted at :
COMEX gold futures trading over $1152 as prices hit new record highs

Ken drew this for us for our wedding anniversary.. he thinks EM is Mr. Clever and I'm Miss Little Chatterbox.. how true.. :P

See also:
1. All I ask of You
2. 2 rings, 1 vow
3. To Love, To Cherish
4. Wedding Shoes
5. Timeless
6. All I ask Of You
7. Our Wedding Photos..

Originally posted at :
10th Wedding Anniversary.. a decade of being together..

A set of pages on the new m.post1.org mobile sub-domain has been created to display the mobile live forex rates for reference by market observers or individuals who are looking into trading currencies. As currency trading is typically highly leveraged, it is critical to choose among the many forex trading platforms available, and it is anticipated that companion tools such as the desktop live forex charts page and this new set of mobile live forex rates pages would come in useful.

When the forex market is open during trading hours which are 24/5, or 24 hours a day for the 5 working days of the working week, the real time forex quotes for both the desktop and mobile editions would be automatically updated. For the mobile edition, depending on your mobile browser, if it does not automatically reload, you could click on the refresh link to update the page manually.

The following free real-time forex charts are available :

US-Europe Currencies
EUR/USD | GBP/USD | USD/CHF | USD/CAD

Asia-Pacific Currencies
USD/JPY | AUD/USD | NZD/USD | USD/SGD

Is forex easy? While the basic concepts may be readily understandable, the first being that the market is a means of forex currency exchange, and the next is that the forex exchange rate transactions are done in pairs of one currency traded against another, in terms of increments called pips which are 1/100th fractions of a cent. If that were all that you needed to trade forex, plus an understanding of how the leverage mechanisms work, then that would be it. But the real trick is in deciding which forex pairs to trade and when to trade.

A description of the forex spot and futures market follows :

Forex spot and futures market

The foreign exchange market is the largest and most liquid financial market in the world, with daily turnover over US$3 trillion. The forex market (or currency/FX) lets banks and other institutions easily trade currencies, featuring large trading volumes, liquidity, geographic dispersion, long trading hours (24 hours except weekends), and use of leverage. Forex futures contracts are also actively traded. The US dollar is involved in 86.3% of transactions, the euro 37.0%, yen 17%, and sterling pound 15%. Volume percentages add up to 200% as each transaction involves two currencies.

See also :

1. Live spot gold price quotes chart on COMEX
2. Real-time live gold and silver price quotes chart on COMEX
3. Real-time live forex rates, quotes and charts

Originally posted at :
Real-time mobile live forex quotes/rates/charts for EUR/USD, USD/JPY, currency exchange pairs

channelnewsasia.com, tech.yahoo.com :

StarHub has announced that it will bring the Apple iPhone to its customers in Singapore in late 2009 after reaching an agreement with Apple. The telco said it looks forward to offering the iPhone to its customers. StarHub is the last of the three mobile phone service providers in Singapore to reach a deal with Apple in offering the iPhone. Last month, M1 said it would also sell the iPhone later this year. SingTel began offering the Apple iPhone 3G late last year. Since then, with the exclusive agreement, SingTel has sold more than 100,000 iPhones.

Neither StarHub or M1 has yet revealed price plans for the iPhone. SingTel's plans range from a monthly charge of S$39 (US$28) to S$205, and offer from 500MB to 3GB of data per month. For SingTel's cheapest iPhone plan, users pay from S$398 for an iPhone 3G 8GB to S$678 for an iPhone 3GS 32GB. Users that sign up for more expensive plans get the handsets for free.

- If you're looking for a mobile phone in Singapore, you now have the option of getting the Apple iPhone 3GS and later, from any of the 3 service providers here, now that Starhub Mobile has finally joined the other operators M1 Mobile and Singtel in offering bundled iPhone deals. In Asia, Singapore is usually considered one of the rather more high-tech cities, so one might wonder what took them this long. But with the announcement out, all that remains to be seen is the exact handset and pricing plans and then it's probably time for some good old-fashioned price maneuvering especially with the holiday season coming up. And of course if you already have one, you could check out the accessories here.

See also :

1. SingTel to launch Apple iPhone in Singapore
2. Samsung Jet S8000 review and technical specifications
3. M1 reaches deal to start selling Apple iPhone in Singapore

Originally posted at :
Asia/Singapore : Starhub Mobile joins M1, Singtel in selling Apple iPhone

bloomberg.com :

HP, the world's biggest personal-computer maker, plans to buy 3Com for $2.7 billion, stepping up competition with Cisco in the computer-networking market. Both 3Com and Cisco make network routers and switches. 3Com shareholders will receive $7.90 a share in cash, 39% more than today's closing price. Hewlett-Packard selected 3Com partly because of its presence in China. 3Com has 2,400 engineers in China who will join HP to work on research and product development.

HP CEO Mark Hurd is seeking to add to HP's $118 billion in annual sales, expanding into markets that offer higher profit margins than printers or personal computers. HP bought more than 30 companies since he took over as CEO in 2005. HP already expanded its computer-services business last year with the $13.2 billion takeover of Electronic Data Systems.

- You step into my turf, I step into yours. That looks like HP's new strategy. With Cisco making moves into HP's server territory, HP's response is to move into Cisco's network territory. All very interesting, but it might take a while for customer perceptions to shift. After all, as a individual consumer, I might buy HP printers, HP PC's, or HP laptops, but would I, as an *enterprise* customer, specify HP network equipment intead of Cisco's, for an upcoming project or tender/bid? For now, I am not quite sure about that at all. Unless they are able to deliver compelling price/performance figures and even then enterprise customers might want to wait until it has been, how shall I put it, "combat proven" out in the field. Which, of course, creates a classic chicken-and-egg problem.

See also :

1. Quenching your printer's exotic thirst
2. More on Carly Fiorina
3. HP to slash 15000 jobs
4. HP starts plan to cut real estate costs

Originally posted at :
HP network strategy : $2.7 billion acquisition of 3Com steps up Cisco competition

nbr.co.nz :

Wall Street continued its rally, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a 13-month high, as investors sought resource and financial shares. Gold futures again reached record levels, as the US dollar sank. Crude oil futures also went higher. The Dow closed 203.52 points up at 10,226.94, the highest finish since 3 Oct 2008. NYMEX crude oil prices for Dec 2009 delivery climbed for the first time in three days, rising to $US79.10. The rise came as oil and natural gas companies in the Gulf of Mexico evacuated workers and halted some output as Tropical Storm Ida blew through the region.

Gold futures climbed to a record for the second straight session as the slumping dollar spurred demand. COMEX gold futures for Dec 2009 delivery rose $US12.40 to $US1108.10 an ounce in New York. Earlier, gold prices reached a record high of $US1111.70. The dollar weakened to a 15-month low against the currencies of major trading partners after G20 nations agreed to maintain economic stimulus measures, encouraging investors to buy higher-yielding assets. The dollar depreciated in the biggest decline in four days. The EUR/USD forex rate touched $US1.5020, the weakest level since October 26.

- While gold futures have been setting record highs, silver futures have been holding their own as well above the $17 level. As a commodity, gold price movements seem arbitrary but if you treat it as a currency versus other currencies a clearer picture emerges, hence some of the online discussions re: gold commodity or currency? And if you are into gold trading, it is not really necessary that you go into the futures or options markets. Pick a gold ETF which will serve you well - and of course there's no doubt that GLD, the SPDR Gold Trust, is the proverbial $37 billion elephant in the room.

As for the current COMEX gold price, I would say that it may be heading into short-term overbought territory in the $1100 to $1200 range. Personally I am lightening up a little but regular readers know that I'm of course a long term gold, energy and general resource bull, hence the title of this blog : "Inflation, Investing and Everything". In the grand scheme of things, $1000 or $1100 gold prices are quite possibly just milestones on the way to greater heights. And with USDX, the US Dollar Index, doing its falling-below-76 thing, the gold-as-an-investment crowd will only get larger over time.

See also :

1. Gold hits $1000 an ounce for the first time in history
2. Gold prices rise above $1000 level on overwhelming momentum
3. COMEX gold prices hit all-time record high of $1045 per ounce
4. COMEX gold prices hit new record high of $1061.40 per ounce in third straight session
5. NYMEX crude oil prices hit $80, gold prices trade near $1070.80 record high

Originally posted at :
COMEX gold futures price hits new record high over $1111 as Dow rises 200 points

channelnewsasia.com, manilatimes.net :

The inaugural Singapore Green Building week started with the launch of Singapore's first "Zero Energy Building". The Zero Energy Building along Braddell Road, a three-storey office building, cost S$11 million [USD $7.9 million] to retrofit and is expected to generate as much electricity as it consumes. It has various green features which act as a test bed for clean energy technologies before being introduced into the industry. The visitor's centre has plants on its walls which help reduce external wall temperatures by up to 12 degC while a solar chimney sucks out the warm air from the room. Panels help shade the building from the sun and bounce natural light into the interiors.

A massive array of solar panels of 1,300 sq metres [14,000 square feet] - almost half a football field and the biggest such installation in Southeast Asia - covers the roof. The solar photovoltaic power panels can generate about 207,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually. Three hours of sunlight would be enough to supply the building's energy requirement for a day. At night and when there is no available sunlight, the building can tap energy from the grid. While it might cost 5% more to retrofit existing buildings with green design and technologies, experts said the payback is not as long as some might expect. Cash incentives are already in place under the Green Mark certification scheme to encourage buildings to go green. The Singapore government aims to get 80% of all buildings on Green Mark certification by 2030.

- Another good eco/green initiative from the Singapore government, which, post-Kyoto, has been making quite a bit of progress in the area of renewable energy and other pro-environmental issues, from various tax incentives for green vehicles such as hybrid cars, to setting up a waste-to-energy power plant, water-recycling plants, and ongoing clean green campaigns.

The Zero Energy Building will be a landmark Singapore development, and will pave the way to building green homes and other office buildings in line with the government's move towards Green Mark certification of all new buildings as green buildings and ongoing retrofitting of existing ones.

In Asia, Singapore aims to be one of the pioneers in building green homes, with the development of the Treetops@Punggol public housing project being a prime example. Though there is not quite enough land in Singapore for a full-scale solar or wind power project to provide grid power, as alluded to in my earlier post, ongoing developments will still tackle the issues of energy efficiency, and for eco-homes, solar power would still feature prominently with the existing power grid providing supplemental power.

Hopefully, the Singapore experience will show that the world needs a systems approach to tackling energy and environmental issues from many different angles, as opposed to slogans such as a "carbon zero building" or a "zero energy home". For homes, the cost of residential solar panels is still high though it has been coming down significantly, and of course it ought to be recognized that "eco-" or "green"-ness entails much more than putting up solar panels - we need a total systems solution that, as the peakoiler community is saying nowadays, necessarily includes "all of the above", whether it be energy efficiency, renewable/alternative energy sources, nuclear power, hybrid/electric cars, vehicle-to-grid (V2G), green building design, intelligent grids, cooling/heating system design, water and materials recycling, and more. The works, in short. The future of solar energy is bright, but what we really need, is truly "all of the above".

See also :

1. Singapore company converts Waste2Energy
2. Energy security: a look at other fuel sources
3. Singapore : Nuclear power not ruled out
4. Singapore electric vehicles : Government agencies EMA and LTA to study EV introduction
5. Singapore opens largest CNG refuelling station in the world

Originally posted at :
Singapore : First Zero Energy Building launched with largest solar power installation in Southeast Asia

heh.. he's one rebellious boy in the making..

Originally posted at :
Overheard..

This article belongs to the Singapore inflation watch story arc.

channelnewsasia.com :

Singapore's inflation rate as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) fell for the 6th consecutive month in Sep 2009. Data from the Statistics Department showed that consumer prices fell 0.4% from a year ago, mainly due to lower costs of housing, recreation and transport. Housing costs went down 2.5% due to lower electricity and gas tariffs, as well as cheaper liquefied petroleum gas. For the 9 months to Sep 2009, consumer prices rose 0.4% compared to a year earlier.

- Enjoy the current rate of inflation while it lasts. I said pretty much the same thing a while back. Now, with the Singapore property market apparently doing its recovery thing, and crude oil prices having bounced off the lows of $32.40 to test the $80 level currently, look out for the average rate of inflation to start picking up again in the near future.

As usual, it's a confluence of various factors. An obvious driver is the economic recovery factor, with money supply being a less obvious but equally important factor. If we're talking about real inflation, it does take two to clap : the money supply growth rate as compared to the economic growth rate. Or, vice versa, rate of decline, if that were the case. For now the current inflation rate is in negative territory, but with the torrent of money now starting to work its way into the economy, don't expect that to last too long. The inflation current may well come in and sweep people away by surprise. Watch for it.

See also :

1. Singapore CPI inflation rate hits 6.7% for Mar 2008, fastest in 26 years
2. Singapore CPI inflation rate for May 2008 continues at 26-year high of 7.5%
3. Singapore economy in recession, GDP contracts 6.3% in Q3 2008, MAS ends currency gain policy
4. Singapore inflation rate slows to 2.9% amidst recession and falling demand

Originally posted at :
Singapore inflation rate negative for 6 months as CPI falls to -0.4% in Sep 2009

news.yahoo.com [1] [2] :

Shell, Europe's largest oil company by market value, said it was cutting 5,000 jobs to tackle the tough economic environment. Shell said 2009 Q3 net profits fell 73%, hit by falling oil and gas prices and refining margins, and Shell CEO Peter Voser warned of a slow recovery, amidst renewed fears the global economic recovery may be more protracted than thought, which could weigh on crude oil prices. Excluding one-off and non-cash items, Shell's 2009 Q3 profits came to $2.62 billion. Voser said his restructuring program was yielding results with operating costs lowered by $1 billion in the first nine months of 2009. Oil and gas production for the quarter was 2.93 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), flat on the same quarter of 2008.

- With the latest crude oil prices testing the $80 support/resistance level, and the Peak Oil factor that is usually left out of most discussions, it would be a challenge for oil majors like Shell to grow their oil and gas production volume which would in turn lead to the record-breaking profits of yesteryear. Sure, falling gas prices are welcome by most consumers but the flipside of the argument is that oil gas companies have even less incentive to go out and search for new fields, which, as the peakoilers have been arguing, will lead to an even bigger crisis just as we are hitting the downside of the Hubbert Curve.

The crude oil price today may be $80 or thereabouts, but what society needs right now, believe it or not, are *rising oil prices*, in order to accomplish two things : a. to encourage consumers to move towards efficiency and alternative energy sources (such as the trio of solar, wind and nuclear), and b. to encourage producers to continue to put in the necessary investment to explore for new oil and gas reserves in order to tide us over the peak oil transition period.

See also :

1. Shell 2Q2006 profit rises 36% to $6.3 billion, but production falls
2. Shell posts record $25.4 billion profit
3. NYMEX crude oil falls more than $100 from Jul 2008 record on US recession, OPEC production cut delay
4. NYMEX crude oil recovers from $32.40 low after 2.2 mbpd OPEC production cut announced
5. NYMEX crude oil prices hit $80, gold prices trade near $1070.80 record high

Originally posted at :
Shell cuts 5000 jobs as 2009 Q3 profits down 73%, hit by falling oil prices

Originally posted at :
Tampines 1

Our friendship is kinda special.. we met in Desa Kembara in USM in Jun-1996.. then, i was feeling at the top of the world for finally managed to enter local uni to pursue a degree.. we had a week of orientation.. and naturally the chinese will flock together.. so, i met her while we were queuing some Q during orientation.. i can't remember what was it.. anyway, i guess we must have chatted.. and there and then, a friendship formed.. special cos she was way "older".. she was doing her degree after her stint at maktab perguruan and after teaching for some years.. so, she was like "adult" learner.. well, when i was in USM i already felt old cos i was 2 years senior than my coursemates.. (i re-took my STPM, equivalent of A-levels, story for another day).. so, i can't imagine how she felt..

anyway, being the social butterfly that i am.. i went to her room often.. to yak and gossip.. i remembered she lived upstairs of me somewhere.. even after we moved out of hostel and stayed outside campus in rented rooms, i still went to visit her to yak and gossip.. don't ask me we talk about what.. probably she patiently listen to all my complaints!!.. i'm such a complain queen.. so, i guess must be one of my endless complaints.. heh..

10 years on (last we saw each other was 1999).. she arranged to meet with me when she visited singapore.. i don't think we took any photos together before.. so, i can't do a before and after.. but here we are, 10 years on..

Originally posted at :
after 10 years..

As it is raining with thunder and lightning, we try not to on any PC.. hence,

1. i snap the grad photo using my Samsung Omnia II..
2. send the photo via Bluetooth to EM's Nokia E51 Non Camera handphone.. cos his mobile phone cannot take picture..
3. upload to http://pages.google.com via his mobile surfing plan
4. access to the above using our notebook via Singtel Broadband on Mobile (BBOM)
5. download to our notebook
6. upload to photobucket.com (biow's account)
7. and post here.. :)

so, we managed to do everything wirelessly.. and why oh why i didn't plug a wire straight to my Samsung Omnia II in the first place??!?!.. my brain think too complicatedly, that's why.. or rather, i'm lazy to walk to the living room to pull out the wire.. as oppose to doing all the above within the comfort of the bedroom.. :D.. macam our house very big like that.. i'm just plain lazy to walk la.. can bo?!? also, quality of photo not so good.. some glare as the photo was inside a clear plastic bag which i'm even too lazy to remove.. :P

Originally posted at :
Ken's Kindergarten Graduation Photo

For the longest time, i had wanted a random banner generator.. however i had been prosticanating.. always there are some other more interesting thing to do.. today, suddenly decided to do something about it.. if you notice, my banner now display 12 random pictures from the time i started having this template.. i have abt 120 images to rotate.. i referred to this Banner Rotator Generator site for idea.. changed it to suit my template.. however, i still need to tweak further to check that when an image was selected, it will not be repeated.. will further fine tune the script later.. my coding skills is rusty.. can't do it so fast anymore.. will ask EM to help me later.. he's zzz liao.. *hint: you need to refresh to see the change of photos*..

Originally posted at :
rotating banner or random banner generator

softsailor.com :

The largest solar power plant in the United States may soon go live in Florida. The Desoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center will be able to convert sunlight into 25 MW of renewable solar electric power, twice the second-largest solar power system in the US. It is scheduled to go live on Tuesday [27 Oct 2009] and President Barack Obama will visit the facility on the launch day. The plant is located 80 miles southeast from Tampa and it covers 180 acres of land. It cost $150 million and took over 400 employees to build, though only a few employees will run it.

- Great effort at renewable energy in the US. 180 acres works out to 7.84 million square feet. That kind of land might be a little hard to find back here in tiny Singapore. Now, peakoilers are well-versed with the basic advantages and disadvantages of solar power, including the cost of the solar panels themselves, load capacity and the baseload power issue, and sometimes EROEI is brought up as well.

What is less commonly discussed is land - or the lack thereof. There are quite a number of places especially in Asia where it is a big factor. Besides Singapore, you might also think about places like Hong Kong or Tokyo where there simply isn't any space to build due to geographical constraints - be it factors like being surrounded by the ocean, or being located in between the ocean and mountains inland.

Green energy is laudable but it is clear that built-up city areas without a huge hinterland will find it rather difficult to implement solar power installations on an industrial scale. Plus, 80% of the population here lives in tall apartment buildings for which, even if technological breakthroughs like nano-solar paint (which have been talked about since 2005 - and earlier) were to appear, makes for yet another set of challenges. We need to recognize that not everyone lives in a country with a huge landmass, and not everyone lives in houses with roofs and gardens and are able to put up a bank of solar cells any time they wish.

One more thing about the land factor over here in Singapore : the prices are steep and with the recovering Singapore property market, it's certainly not getting any cheaper nowadys. Something that takes up over 7 million square feet might run into the billions of dollars in terms of land costs and development charges payable to the government. Throw in another two orders of magnitude to the 25MW, the 180 acres, and the cost, and you can see the kind of challenges that built-up Asian cities are facing. It's great for places where large solar power plants are feasible, land is cheap and plentiful and nearby the area where the power will be utilized, but for the rest of us in other parts of the world, we'll probably have to think of something else.

See also :

1. World's largest solar photovoltaic project to be built in Nevada
2. Solar thermal starts to shine in world's deserts
3. Portugal to build 11MW solar power plant
4. World's biggest solar electric plant opens in Germany
5. Construction starts on world's largest solar array

Originally posted at :
Largest solar power plant in US to go online in Florida

Ken wanted to give Yu Jia, his classmate, his drawing of Little Miss Trouble.. asked me to spell her name.. so I wrote on the paper on the Ikea easel.. the following day, i saw this.. really smiley madness these days for ken.. not that i'm complaining.. very cute, i find.. heh

Originally posted at :
drawing smiley alphabets..

Of course, I may be eyeing that 2010/2011 Honda Civic Hybrid right now, but what of my current one, the 2008 edition? Mind you that although hybrids have gained a much wider level of acceptance than say, 5 years ago, there are still misconceptions abound, especially with regard to things like gas mileage, highway vs city/urban fuel economy, and even the technology itself is sometimes misunderstood. I still get the odd questions like "do hybrid cars run on natural gas?" or "do you still need petrol/gasoline?" from time to time.

I have been diligently noting down the fuel mileage figures for my 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid for over a year now, and Biow had been asking me what I intended to do with all these numbers. Well I had been intending to publish my detailed fuel consumption figures for a while now and I admit it took me till two cars and three years later, but here it is for the current one (click here if you have problems viewing the iframe) :

The above are "live figures" in the sense that whenever I update my Google spreadsheet after pumping up a full tank, these figures will also be updated - according to Google the table should be updated within 5 minutes of that. A quick explanation of the data columns shown above :

km/l - kilometers per liter, which the Asians and European community would be more familiar with
mpg - miles per gallon, for our American friends
SGD cts/km - amount it costs to travel each km in Singapore currency (Singapore Dollar/SGD terms)
USD cts/mi - amount it costs to travel each mile in US currency (US Dollar/USD terms)
SGD $/liter - average cost of petrol in SGD dollars per liter
USD $/gal - what it would cost in gasoline, converted into US dollars per gallon

If you wish to be pedantic about it, you might want to note that the USD/SGD forex rate is converted in near real-time using my (rather popular may I say) currency conversion formula for Google spreadsheets. Also, though European folks are used to such things, do note that there is a significant amount of government tax involved in the petrol prices over here in Singapore (read the link for a detailed explanation).

As of today's writing, my Honda Civic Hybrid sedan has achieved an average lifetime, *real world* fuel consumption of 17.68 km/l or 41.60 mpg. While not the most fuel efficient car in the world, it is still better than my earlier conventional Civic of the same model platform (which itself is a story for another day) which had managed around 13 km/l (30 mpg).

I would say it's a mix of around 60-40 highway vs city/urban driving, and of course with the 3-stage VTEC, CVT and all, highway fuel economy with the Civic Hybrid is quite good, reaching into the 25 km/l (58 mpg) range during sustained highway cruising. It's the traffic jams that don't help at all, and this is where the inevitable "Honda Civic Hybrid vs Toyota Prius Hybrid" fuel economy debates have raged all over the Internet. And if you are talking about the new EPA gas mileage figures, I would say I'm pretty darn close, with the 2006-2008 Civic Hybrid models being essentially similar, the new EPA fuel economy rating is 42 mpg, which is very close to my (current) 41.6 mpg.

It would also be useful to note that my figures are for a single sample size of *one* car, based on *my* driving patterns (or rather Biow's since she drives more often these days). If you are in the market for fuel efficient vehicles, or looking for hybrid car comparison figures, you may also want to look at GreenHybrid's Fuel Economy Comparison table, where as of this writing, the Toyota Prius is at a median mpg of 48.21 mpg and the Honda Civic Hybrid is at 47.16 mpg, both with sample sizes of over 1000 each. As always, be aware that these are more American-centric numbers probably with more highway usage and given the nature of that website there are probably more than a couple of expert hypermilers included in the statistics.

Fuel consumption figures are subject to any number of factors, from make, model and technology, to driving patterns, traffic, temperature, climate and weather conditions and more, but I hope that for my current model, these figures are of some help toward whatever research you may be doing. You may also bookmark this page and come back from time to time to see how things are going.

See also :

1. 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid first drive
2. Peakoiler buys 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid FD3
3. 2010 Honda Civic Hybrid preliminary specifications released
4. 2010 Honda CR-Z hybrid, 2010 Honda Fit/Jazz hybrid models confirmed

Originally posted at :
2008 Honda Civic Hybrid FD3 real world fuel consumption gas mileage figures

marketwire.com :

Harvest Energy Trust ("Harvest") (TSX:HTE.UN) (NYSE:HTE) today announces that it has entered into an agreement (the "Arrangement Agreement") with Korea National Oil Corporation ("KNOC") for the purchase of all the issued and outstanding trust units (the "Units") at a price of C$10.00 per Unit for a total cash consideration of approximately C$1.8 billion plus the assumption of C$2.3 billion of debt ... the Arrangement represents a 47% premium over the 30-day weighted average trading price of the Units on the Toronto Stock Exchange up to and including October 20, 2009 ... Harvest will suspend its distribution and Premium Distribution, Distribution Reinvestment and Optional Trust Unit Purchase Plan ("DRIP") effective immediately ...

- Puns about "Harvest gets harvested" aside, this move by the Korean national oil company in my opinion highlights a number of points :

1. The Asians need a lot of energy for their economic development and they need it fast.
2. The Asians have a lot of falling USD and they want to trade them in for tangible goods fast.
3. Canadian energy royalty trusts are undervalued and make for easy pickings.

Harvest was the energy trust I referred to earlier when I referred to it as my third-favourite energy trust, and it really was yielding over 40% at that point. Of course that couldn't be true for very long. Now that it is going to be bought over and de-listed from the TSX exchange, I am looking out for candidates to replace that part of my asset allocation.

With the multi-hundred-billion-dollar sovereign wealth funds, government investment companies and such now operating in this area, I fear it may be hard to be a buy-and-hold investor in this area going forward. There is going to be no participation for the individual retail investor if the big whales come into the room and simply buy up the whole place.

The timing of this purchase is also pretty curious from my point of view. It frustrates me no end to now have to scramble and re-deploy my capital toward another energy trust of equivalent size and enterprise value, just when the tidal wave of money supply is making its way into the economy and just as oil prices are being driven upwards in this wave of momentum. This tells me that the governments are now literally buying into the whole peak oil and resource depletion theme that the old-time peakoilers picked up on years ago. Oil prices are going up. Way up. Hold on for the ride!

See also :

1. Peak Gas, Canada ... ?
2. Canada tar sands boom hits a sticky patch
3. Canada publishes first comprehensive atlas, maps geological riches of Arctic mineral resources

Originally posted at :
Canada : Harvest Energy Trust in C$4.1 billion sale to Korea National Oil Corporation

My NavFone operates in silence.. how can a GPS has no audio?!.. some googling and found the answer..

NAVFone/Settings/Audio
And, nothing is found in the drop down of Language

You gotta install the software to you Storage Card. It has the files for the audio. The installation cab file doesn't install the audio files. Alternatively, you can copy the below data folders over from Storage Card/agisNavi/ to wherever you installed your Navfone. Storage Card/agisNavi/DATA Storage Card/agisNavi/ICON Storage Card/agisNavi/WAVE

See also:
1. Samsung Omnia II - my early birthday present
2. I so *heart* my Omnia 2

Originally posted at :
Agis Navfone GPS software on Samsung Omnia II audio setting

So, we filled in some forms.. "Pupil Data Form", "Dental form", "GIRO form to deduct school fees", etc.. probably we don't write with pen much.. so kayu (stiff) our writing.. and i filled up two items wrongly.. "what language regularly spoken at home"..i blacked out 1 language only, ie English.. EM gave me an earful.. i doubt my kids speak Mandarin regularly leh.. REGULARLY u know.. heck.. i don't understand that word.. we probably speak 5% mandarin with ken.. consider regular meh?.. anyway, too bad, it's ink.. i can't erase.. heh

then we proceed to tryout unifom to buy.. we bot 3 sets of uniforms, 2 sets of exercise attires (polo t, shorts).. i wonder why i buy so many? i have a maid AND a dryer at home!!.. i used to own only 2 sets of unifom and 1 set of PE attire for my ENTIRE primary school.. it helps i din't grow much AND my mom folded inches of extra cloth in the hem of my skirt.. so, she let some go as i grew.. doesn't matter that my uniform have different tone around the hem.. what matters is to make my uniform last.. and here we are, "spoiling" my kid.. damages on uniform $71

nametags.. sold in 4 pieces or 8 pieces.. we used to have one the pin type.. now is iron on cloth!.. 8pcs for $8!!

exercise books and misc come next.. collected from the bookstore.. $43.90

textbooks i purchased from popular as it's cheaper!!.. $82.78

Total spent = $71 + $8 + $43.90 + $82.78 = $205.68.. and this not yet calculate the school shoes and school socks..

my parents used to drag until dec.. until cannot drag anymore before giving us money to buy books.. and here we are, more than 2mths before school starts and we are ready!!.. gosh..

And finally photo!! ken was so bored waiting for us.. see his bored face?.. and the sales aunty was so impatient that i did not attempt to take a better picture.. the lighting all wrong.. ah well.. and i wore over his clothes.. so the beige part was not part of the uniform la.. heh..

Originally posted at :
Primary School Admission Day for Ken