Fully Utilize Banking Facilities (Serie 1 - Car Loan Reschedule)

Nowadays, with life expenses soared and skyrocketting days after days, many of us think of how to reduce the debts and increase our cash flow.., surely. There are many ways to work on it.. The principle is, managing the debts commitment and in the same time able to maximise saving. Rescheduling car repayment period is one of the option. But this is applicable to those who doesn't have an intention to sell and upgrade their car to new one. Example.., one guy had a 3 yrs old hire purchase loan with a full settlement value of 58k. He signed up that HP loan which needed him to repay RM1400 per month with an interest of 3% per annum for a period of 7 years. He planned to reschedule it to increase his cash flow. The bank offered him to prolong another 3 yrs with the same interest rate. He pays RM840 per month and save RM560 a month by doing so.
Now, lets do some calculation. If he maintain current HP agreement and pays RM1400 per month for another 4 yrs (48 months), it will cost him RM66672 to finish the repayment at the end of the tenure. If he rescheduled and pays RM840 per month for another 7 yrs (84 months), he needs to repay RM70560 to finish the repayment at the end of the tenure, which means will cost him about RM3888. And if he save the balance of RM560 in unit trust (ASB for instance) which he made from rescheduling and considering 48 months to finish the payment if he maintained current HP agreement, he will save a whopping RM26880. In reality, the reschedule option will cost him RM3888 but instead he will manage to save RM26880. Good option isn't..?

Milan and Bergamo, Italy, 1-3 August 2008

A great tour at Milana and Bergamo. Milan is the city of fashion designers, on par with Paris, Madrid, NY and London. You can find almost everything with regards to fashion, from Chanel, DKNY, CK, Guess etc etc.. Just prepare a money and you are in heaven... :)
For us, the only thing that we can afford is sight seeing.. Low budget.. Hey.. who cares, anyway, we applied smart traveler during this trip. We are able to book a flight for below 100 pound for a return of 2 departing from Liverpool. And we are able to book a 4 star Best Western hotel chain for below 150 euros consisted of 2 night stay.. Smile... Once in a life time experience.. ;-)
For just 28 euro, you are able to explore all important 'must visit' attraction sight at Milan.. named Museo di Stora Naturale, Piazza Fontana, Torre Velasca, Piazza D' Uomo ---> This is the highlight mates... Teatro Alla Scala, Castello Sforzesco ---> Another piece of highlight, S Ambrogio and Piazza Vetra.. and many more...





Trip to Bergamo is another breath taking experience.. Bergamo filled with so many fine architectures which can be seen at their buildings surrounding its town. Bergamo is just a 10 minutes bus ride from Oreo Del Serio International Airport, one of 3 international airport at Milan proximity..





Pizza, the famous Italian delicacies around the world.

The best way to explore Milan is to fly in via Ryan Air from any point of its hub.. Find a good deal online..

Mortgage Refinancing ~ Buying Additional Property

Buying a house is not to be a sole shelter anymore. It could be one of wise investment opportunities.. How about this.. Say 5 years ago someone bought a property at RM152k and now its value jumped to RM210k.. 5 years back, interest rate at 7% (6.75%+0.25%). 30 years 90% loan had cost him an installment of ~RM1k per month. Now many banks offered very good rate, for instance BLR minus up to 1.85%.. If he refinance the property with flexible home loan with an option of free moving cost (FMC), and he gets 90% loan of RM210k house value, his installment will be at ~RM900 a month. And he will get roughly RM60-70k nett considering his full settlement with previous bank at RM130k-140k. That is a handsome sum.. Forget about he will prolong his house repayment period at the flip side.. That is why he should look for flexible loan which will enable him to make pre-payment at any time.. Definitely his income will be increase in future. If he maintained his lifestyle or increase it by a lil bit only, he could channel all his salary increment into the home equity and lessen its repayment period.. Brilliant strategy rite..? Now, what he can do next..???? Precisely...., buying the next property... Say, buying a condo or service apartment in good location, he will need at most RM15-20k as a down payment.. And he still have a balance of RM40-50k which he could spare it as an additional fund to repay the new housing loan at least for 3-4 years... Again, his income will increase in conjunction of first 5 years... So, he should not worry of being unable to pay the installment... And that second property will increase in value in the next 5 years off course for another refinancing exercise.. :) Indeed, he can rent it out as well.. If fully furnished condo/ service apartment at prime location, someone will be able to rent it out up to 2k a month.. See, he is making money out of it...

Pump Price Goes Up

Another bomb shell dropped by Abdullah administration.. A whopping 78 cent increase in fuel prices.. My goodness!! I am one of millions Malaysian who shocked, angry, piss off, cursing government for a steep incremental of pump price.. I am not defending myself as an excuse to suck government subsidy or as an excuse to deny what always been touted by corridor of power, Malaysian can't be always in circle of comfort zone.. Damning statement..
OK, simple as this.. Malaysian not stupid or brainless to think... Just make it gradually increase..!!! Simple... The reason is, off course, not only fuel price, but people are more concern of spiral effects as a result of steep pump price increase.. Consumer goods, transportation cost, vehicle maintenance, services are all expected to go up. Only stupid creatures will say and guarantee, there is no price hike. Obviously all this will lead to highest ever inflation.. That’s direct impact.. As far as indirect impact is concerned..., investors might think that Malaysia is not a good country to invest or expand their businesses anymore, especially manufacturing sectors. With high cost in fuels and electricity, raw materials cost will increase too, and no more competitiveness..
We cant compare with Thailand or Indonesia because they are not an oil exporter countries. We are... And please please... do not compare with Spore... or even UK..
This is because, their income is higher than us. Per capita income of course.. Or in laymen term, what they earned, can buy hundreds times more than what we are in Malaysia.. Or example like this.. Fresh grad in Malaysia earned RM2.5k, in Spore SGD2.5k, in UK, GBP2.5k. Some of the price comparison to open everybody’s eye;
1. In Malaysia
>> Petrol - RM2.72 per liter
>> A loaf of bread - RM2.10
>> 1 liter fresh milk - RM4.50

2. In Spore
>> Petrol - SGD2.2 per liter
>> A loaf of bread - SG0.90
>> 1 liter fresh milk - SGD1.8

3. In UK????
>> Petrol - GBP0.97
>> A loaf of bread - GBP0.40
>> 1 liter of fresh milk - GBP0.60

That was a simple comparison... See how powerful their purchasing power compared to Malaysian..
OK, now I talk a bit about the compensation or refund or channel back the subsidy to rakyat..???
RM625 a year for car owners of 2 liter and below.. Is that enough...?? Far cry from enough... Malaysian spent 25kkm in average a year. That translated into 2500 liters a year. 78 cent increment means RM1950 additional cost per annum.. Far far far cry from 625 per annum.. + 200 rebate of road tax, still 825.. and it’s not enough.. How about domino effect likes consumer good price increase and other services which definitely will increase too.. Government warned business people folks not to increase the price..? How dare..? Again, only stupid creatures will say that.. Are they in business for the sake of doing national services..? Selling things without profit.. Come on... Use brain when talk and provide facts...
All in all, it was not a wise move...

The Power of Compounded Interest

The power of compounding interest… always regarded as the best option to grow the retirement nest or children education funds but yet always neglected by younger folks.. Why many said so.. While I am in a unit trust industry, I always met older professional folks from every background which having a stash of money either in EPF or their own saving portfolios. They always quoted and saying I am lucky enough been surrounded with sound investment knowledge at younger age… :) Not like them which felt isolated with investment knowledge and options until reached middle age. Yes, how lucky but it’s not as easy as ABC.. Knowledge without application always lead to disruption.. and spoilt.. OK.. back to the topic.. The power of compounded interest can be like this – You keep investing a pre determined amount of money into investment vehicles (unit trust funds, ASB and fixed deposit) every month, reinvest the return at the end of financial year for a specific long term period.. The principle amount invested plus return every year will grow your money excessively in longer period.. So, the younger you start, will be better and more opportunity and visibility for your money to grow bigger.. Example, a young executive, at 25 yrs old who set aside RM100 every month at the beginning of every month at dividend growth of 10% per annum until age 65, his investment would have grown to RM638,000!, That is a huge money compare with only RM100 sacrifice every month. The key element to compounding is time. The longer the period of time, the greater the growth.. :)

Land Below the Wind - Sabah

Sabah, land with tranqulity.. rich of natural beauties.. Must go - Kota Kinabalu Park and off course, KK with pasar Filipina and its seafood.. :) The park HQ is 88 kilometers away from the city of KK. Highways and sealed roads made the Park easily accessible. It is situated on the southern boundary of Kinabalu Park, at an elevation of 1,563m (5,128 feet).

Benefits Investing in Unit Trust

Professional Investment Management
A unit trust combines the capital of many investors to employ experienced management in purchasing securities of many companies. The management of a unit trust provides diversification of investments and supervision which few investors could individually afford. Investment management is a full time job requiring specialised knowledge and training. It involves the study of a variety of factors.
Some of the factors which have to be examined are,
Comparisons of all industries in the economy
Relative studies of companies within a promising industry
Personal contact with management of promising corporations
Evaluating the effect of international events, both monetary and political
Determining the results of government policies on each industry
Professional management is also interested in studying less obvious factors such as wage rates, which might affect the economy or the profitability of certain companies or corporations. It requires careful study of individual companies within the industry to determine which of the many companies offer the best prospects for the investors. It requires comparing this company with the best companies in other promising industries. Since all this factors are constantly changing, re-evaluation and study have to be continuous.

Diversification
Diversification means spreading one's investments among many securities. It is an important method of reducing risk. It decreases the danger of damaging losses, which can occur through having all of one's eggs in one basket.
Diversification is difficult and expensive for a small investor because the cost of purchasing numbers of shares in many companies at the same time is disproportionately high.
Unit trusts with their resources are able to make widely diversified investments available to even the smallest investor. Diversification involves the ownership of many different securities. All the securities owned by an individual investor or unit trust fund are referred to as an investment portfolio.

Liquidity
An investor can sell his units, wholly or partially, at the following trading day's unit buying price. Units have a high liquidity, that is, they can be readily converted into cash.
It has to be remembered, however, that unit trust’s units will be redeemed at the prevailing buying price on the following day after receipt of the repurchase form. The unit price may be higher or lower than the price at which the investor started the plan. Unit trusts should be regarded as a long term, rather than short term investment.

Advantages of Compounding
Many unit trust funds provide facilities for investors to reinvest their distributions. For those who opted for distribution reinvestment, the fund will automatically credit the distributions into the account, rather than sending distribution warrants.
This process of reinvesting the income from the original investment and also of reinvesting the return on the total accumulating investments is called compounding.
As an illustration, if at 25, you invested RM100 at the beginning of every month at an interest growth of 10% per annum until age 65, your investment would have grown to RM638,000 ! The key element to compounding is time. The longer the period of time, the greater the growth.

Regularity of Investing
Many people do not have substantial sums of cash available to invest, but they can develop an investment account, investing smaller sums regularly in a unit trust.
Most unit trust funds have plans available to make it possible for smaller investors to invest relatively small amounts monthly. It is easy and inexpensive for an individual to acquire units through deposits of RM100 or more a month in a unit trust fund.

Fund Administration - The Convenient Factor
Few people have the experience, time or facility to properly set up an investment programme, much less to supervise it constantly. Unit trust managers have emerged as professional organisation devoted to solving the investment problems of people from all walks of life.
Unit trusts relieve their investors of the need to handle their own securities transactions. Investors in unit trust funds are not obliged to concern themselves with matters such as,
Obtaining quotations on securities being bought and sold
Delivery and payment for the securities involved in each transaction
Safekeeping of cash and securities
Accounting and bookkeeping procedures, etc
Investors of unit trust funds will receive semi annual and annual reports which describe
a. The portfolio of the funds
b. Investment changes made in the period
c. Distributions paid, if any
d. Fund manager's opinion on the economic and market outlook

To invest in Public Mutual unit trust fund, pls contact me, Fauzi (Public Mutual Agency Supervisor) at 012-7116707

What Is Unit Trust

A unit trust is a financial vehicle through which individuals may invest their money. The idea behind unit trust is better investment through collective investing. That is to say pooling the investments of many investors, individuals and institutions.
Investing in a unit trust offers investors numerous advantages, including :
a. Professional management at a low cost
b. Safety through the spreading of risk (diversification)
c. Liquidity
d. Ease of transaction
e. Capital appreciation/income stream
The operation of a unit trust may be best explained by outlining its similarities with the operation of a bank, with which most individuals are familiar.
Many individuals deposit money in the banks, for which they receive interest. These individuals expect complete liquidity where they must be able to withdraw their deposits in cash at any time. The banks employ professional managers to look after the deposits. The deposits are invested. These managers lend the deposits to other individuals requiring funds and a host of other profit generating facilities of the banks.
Similarly, unit trust holders wish to put their money to generate higher returns. The goal of all investments is to make money more productive, either through producing income or growth. Unit trust holders have liquidity because their units can be readily converted into cash at any time. By investing in unit trusts, it allows them to engage professional fund managers at a low cost to the individual investors. These managers diversifies the investible funds in many different securities and other approved channels to spread the risk.
The unit trust is constituted through a document known as a deed which brings together and binds the various parties to the deed :
· The trustee, who holds the assets of the trusts on behalf of the unitholders.
· The manager, who is the promoter of the scheme and provides investment and administrative expertise and markets units to the public
· The unitholders who provide the funds for investment and expect to receive the benefits derived from the investment. The effect of dividing the beneficiaries' interest in the trust into units is that their interest is quantified into discrete portions.
Particular advantages of unit trusts over the pooled investments include :
· The provision of an independent trustee to hold the trust's assets on behalf of unitholders and to watch over their interests on an on-going basis.
· The deed and prospectus are scrutinised by government authorities, prior to an offer of units being made to the general public. The managers and trustee are themselves approved by the regulators.
· A buy back provision or covenant in each deed which requires the manager to redeem an investor's units within specified time limits at a price determined in accordance with the deed.
Provisions in the deed under which the manager and trustee are in a fiduciary position in relation to the trust (i.e. they can only profit in ways laid down under the deed). The investor can determine in advance what costs and charges they will be required to pay to join and stay in the trust.

To invest, call me, Fauzi at 012-7116707. Public Mutual Agency Supervisor

Start Saving..

There are a thousand ways to live on less. But you don’t want to make your life a misery. Here are some of the most painless ways you can economize, without losing out on quality of life.

Never spend a windfall. Take your income-tax refund, the RM16.35 overpayment cheque from the telephone company, cash rewards from bosses, extra money from part time jobs, profits on petrol claim any other extras and save ‘em all..

Haggle. You’d be amazed at who will drop their prices, fees and interest rates: airlines, hotels, credit card companies. Examples, Air Asia always advertised their extreme low fare in the web.. Imagine instead of holidaying at high cost, you can opt for cheaper holiday at Bali for just a couple of hundred RM.. Credit card is another option. Some of financial institution offered 9% per annum on outstanding balance instead of whopping 18%. The choice is yours.. Go and search them around.

Re-evaluate. Re-evaluate. Re-evaluate. That dinner out cost more than you spend on groceries in a week. That pair of shoes is worth half a commuter pass. Learn what your money is worth, and you won’t be so quick to dispose of it.

Get your mortgage costs down. First, look at whether the rate is too high. If it is, look at refinancing -- if you’ll save money.. Second, pay ahead on your mortgage. If you can swing an extra RM100 per month, you will save thousands in interest costs over the long haul.

Toss the catalogs. The most insidious form of spending temptation known to man or woman. Chuck them straight in the trash.. Sorry, guys.

Don’t pay unnecessary fees. Like the RM1 you pay just because the ATM is right there, right now as opposed to walking two blocks to your bank, where you don’t get charged every time you use your ATM card. Or the late fees for paying the bills late. Discipline discipline discipline…

Bank your raise. You may find that measly 3% to 5% boost in the paycheck irritatingly tiny. So add that to your direct savings basket and live on your previous salary.. 

Pay less for long-distance. Evaluate your phone bill and see how much you're paying per minute. Some dial-around codes or cheap calling cards (one without a surcharge per call) may give you a better rate. Else, go for tech.. msn messenger, yahoo messenger… is another option..

No pet pampering. Does your dog need those pricey snacks? Does your cat need acupuncture? We didn’t think so.

Never pay full price. If you must shop, discover the online world of discount Web sites. Ebay, murah.com, etc etc… you will find everything you want at cheap cheap cheap price..

Tanjung Balau Family Gathering

This is a long long waited gathering which we have been talking for almost 4 years, with loads of places listed from Sibu Island to Cherating, but at last we settled with humbled Balau Bay Resort Desaru.

Saturday

Everybody assembled at Mc Donalds Bandar Putra with Fauzi Khalid's families was a first family to arrived.. Followed by me, Ali, Mansor and families, Noh and families, Reza, his fiancee and Azila. We convoyed towards Desaru and picked Ayup at Bandar Tenggara junction. We drove for about 1 hr and 15mins and drop by at Sg Mas RnR nearby to Desaru junction for a simple lunch.. Zairi and families as well as Fairul and families joint the crowd shortly after that. After a heavy lunch for Pak Ali (hehe), we continued to the resort to check in. The resort was quite OK, a lil bit secluded from Desaru, but still fine with basic beach resort facilities likes swimming pool, wading pool, simple but tidy room.

We checked in, let the kids settled down, took a quick nap for a few minutes, then start uploading BBQ stuff to the beach front. Fauzi K was amazing leader when it comes to foods.. The drumsticks and wings looked tempted with his special made marinated herbs, just made us can't wait.. The hardest part was to start burnt the charcoal.. With a great team work, we are able to get it done in less than 20 minutes... We begin the BBQ, with great setting - beach in front of us and very nice weather.. While waiting the BBQ, kids was enjoying themselves at beach and wading pool..

First person to enjoy succulent BBQ drumstick --> as usual our kheng!, Pak Ali.. Thumbs up for the great chicken wings and drumstick.. everybody had an enough portion each. Accopanied with black pepper sausages and tangy carbonated drinks.. Great job Fauzi K.. We... automatically, gave a consent for him to be a leader for BBQ preparation next time.. :-)

Ashar and families arrived on time while we are enjoying our BBQ session. Right after a good BBQ, we had a beach soccer match.. Slow tempo, but as per normal, few kaki cannot tahan to kick the ball with full strength.. Dang..!! Pak Ali, as usual, with his wide body range and 'menggrudul' characters, been a good defender.. Ashar injured his toe after hitted by Ayup..

6 pm sharp, we headed to swimming pool.. Sad.. the resort management decided to do maintenance at that time.. but who cares, Fauzi K and Ali just can't resist the temptation to terjun dugong neglecting the sign of 'closed pool' followed by the rest until got chased out by the resort worker.. The terjun tiruk session continued at the other part of the pool.. :-)

At night, we are heading to Sg Rengit about 30 minutes drive for a seafood dinner.. Pak Ali was blabbering along the way, complaining the place was too far.. huh..

It was when we arrived at Jade Seafood Restaurant, Pak Ali, Ashar and Noh looked confused.. hehe.. with tanglung and Buddha statue in the restaurant untill someone from the restaurant gave an assurance that the place was halal and showed a numbers of celebrities, famous and famed faces photos who had came and enjoyed the food there..

Well, we divided into 3 groups. First and second table ordered, seabass with nyonya spicy sauce, fried oat prawns, chili crab with scrumptuos montow, braised home made tofu, sotong goreng tepung, spicy kangkung belacan and a jug of tangy lime juice. Third table ordered less than both table.. While waiting the dishes, kids were enjoying live lobster in aquarium.. All dishes came within a space of less than 20 minutes.. And all of us enjoyed everything with full satisfaction...

The seafood was fresh from the catch.. Amazingly, everything cost each table max RM184.. cheap..

We headed back to the resort at 1030pm.. Supposed to have a teh tarik session but everybody just can't stand with heavy dinner and good BBQ. Continued with poker session at Reza/ Ayup's room with Noh as kepala.. Heard few occasion where everybody can't resist to laugh and make fun of adrenaline pack of Pak Ali.. one of them was JQ Kheng.. no need to explain much.. The rest should know.. ;-)

We all slept at 3am..

Sunday

We had bfast at 8am.. Most of us woke up late as Saturday aftnn activities made everybody tired...

Then, followed by individual free and easy session, like lazying at swimming pool's gazebo, until check out.. Good and successfull event, thanks to everybody who made this event happening.. Special thanks to Fauzi K, Zairi and Ayup and the rest of participants..

Car Boot Sale at Glasgow

My first experience in car boot sale at Glasgow. Very interesting. Something like bundle in Malaysia, but with way way off better quality. From toys, cookware, glass item, crystal, clothes, etc etc.. Good place to find branded stuff at cheapest price.. But it was a second hand. Hey.. who cares, if it means value for money. After all, the quality still as pristine as brand new. If you are lucky, you can get a yr old calvin klein jeans or prada hand bag for less than 10 pound... ;;)
The best item I bought at this place definitely books (50pence per pc) and Celtic jersy for my kid (1 pound)... and my wife off course her crystal.. a set of 6 nice crystal for a 5 pound.. What a bargain...

Circle of Friends - HP Office Mate

This is another my great circle of friends. From right, Pak Ali, used to be my relative.. Husband to my cousin. Surprisingly, I never know this fellar till his second week after joining HP.. What a bad urbane life nowadays.. Never keep in touch with relatives... :-( The second from right was Ayup, a plain bachelor who very determined.. But wait not determined to improvised but instead to craft a big hole in his pocket, dreaming for ah beng Perdana Turbo and keep nagging to get a personal loan.. Poor guy.. hahahaha (Jgn marah Ayup), followed by me, then Ashar (Left HP for greener pasteur at Seagate - Good Luck to you Ashar), Zairi, another my close 'talk cock' friend.. This guy was a real savvy, Hj Bakhil last time before he hooked at Toyota Wish recently after joining one of financial program. His Wira I can consider as reban ayam, with all sort of rattling noise came out from every angle and aircond which blasted your face with hot succulent air.. hahahahaha... Amran, my neigbourhood. Another guy with entrepeneur spirit. Owned and run a tuition center at night for fun (This is at least what he mentioned to me). Ali Buang, the most serious face on earth.. (Do you have a problem Ali..??? Are you problems still not solved..??? hehehehehehe)... And the last one Fauzi Khalid.. Happy go lucky guy.. His biggest project ever will blow Malaysian economy you know... hehehehehe...

This is my boss. Used to be my closest friend since I joint HP. The only sole survivor from HPM's first batch.. Can't say too much because he was my boss... hehehehehehe.. Anyway, kind of very detailed guy... That's all I can say.. hehehe

Too Much Politicking..

Politics - I hate this word... But like it or not, we have to live with it.. Honestly, I am not too sure if there are still genuine politicians out there who devoted their life in politics for the sake of people, race and religion. To me, genuine politicians are those borned in post world war 2, politicians who fought hard for Malaya independence, Tun Sambanthan, HS Lee, Tuanku Abd Rahman. And after post independence, the leader like Tun Razak to named a few. People indulged in politics nowadays with hidden agenda, for money and fame.. Anyway, that is the reality of modern politics... Not only in Malaysia, our neighbours and around the globe as well. But..., the sad thing was, unfortunately, we as Malay, playing politics around too much..., opps, I mean Malay politician. Post PRU 12 was a slice of proof. Bickering, finger pointing, backstabbing.. Yes, they are very much concerned about the only asset we had in this beloved country was political power... But.... Looked back what our leaders has done to us Malay..? Mindset changed..? Nope. Wealth equality..? Far from achieved. Produced more professionals among Malays..?? Yes, in certain extent but not at great numbers compared to what it suppose to be. We are still lacking.. Still under par compare to our fellow friends -Malaysian Chinese.. To me the only thing need to change.. really change are mindset of Malay folks and mindset of our politicians. Mindset of Malay folks in the sense of hard work, commitment to jobs no matter what profesion they are.. start accumulating wealth and to politicians, only one, serve with fully hearted..

Saving...???

Savings. When you hear that word, do you feel a clutching sense of guilt and inadequacy? If somebody told you that 75% of 100 respondents interviewed said they knew that their savings, specifically for retirement, were insufficient, do you believe it? That’s shocking, but not as remarkable as their discovery that how much you save has very little to do with how rich you are. But hooooow, you whine? How can you save a cent when you just barely live on what you earn? Well, since this is a question, so.., this is its answer : Saving is a two-step process. First you retrain your brain, and then you find all kinds of clever ways to live on less Step 1: Retrain your brain.. Saving money is a state of mind. Before you can start, you have to renounce the spending...., and stop believing you actually need all the stuff you’ve been spending money on. Just don’t. Spend, that is. Sure you want it, but that’s no excuse for buying it. The next time you want to buy something, take the 50 bugs or 100 bugs out of your wallet, and stash it somewhere. See? That's second step already.. and that’s called saving. You don’t end up with stuff; you end up with MONEY..

MyStream

This mid range MPV club members are among my best circle of friends I ever had.. Not only just a plain car club associates. We are not talking about cars, modification, after market accessories, but beyond that, friendship was the one we appreciated most. I am quite closed with some of them, Jag (Cabin Crew leader), Dee (big head in one of manufacturing co in Klang), Hj Irlan (Biz owner), Captain Apandi (HTO futsal owner and VW lover - This guy owned VW GTI and newest VW EOS), Mie (my closest associate in JB), Pak Den (Apek Ganu who owned a laundry), Azlan (The Photoshooter)...

Jakarta? Batavia? Djakarta? Sunda Kelapa

Well, forget about which name is correct. My first time at Jakarta. Jakarta was a nice metropolis. Considerably on par with other metropolis like Shanghai, Tokyo and London to name a few cities around the globe which I had visited. Owh, much much bigger than KL. But bigger in the sense of people density, not high rise building and gleaming statures.. except many squatters sandwiched by the megastores, bungalows and high rise towers. Disparity among richest and poorest was sooo huge.. I was in a perception that, the disparity of standard of living in ASEAN countries still very much a concern. Not so much in Kiasuland, Bolehland and Thailand, but obviously in Indonesia, IndoChina and Philipines.

Anyway, Jakarta was a nice city. It was known as Sunda Kelapa among old folks, Batavia in imperialism period as well as Djakarta..
Moving around Jakarta for a day with chauffer driven will cost you from 350k rupiah. That was considered reasonable. Started with famous Indonesian Miniature Park.

It has an area of about 250 acres. The park is a synopsis of Indonesian culture, with virtually all aspects of daily life in Indonesia's 26 provinces encapsulated in separate pavilions with the collections of housing architecture, clothing, dances and traditions are all depicted impeccably. Apart from that, there is a lake, cable cars, museums, a theater called the Theatre of My Nation (Theater Tanah Airku)

Another great spot was Ancol Theme Park. It was very very big indeed. Much much bigger than Genting Highlands. Jakarta's own theme park with over forty main rides and attractions. The theme park is divided into eight regions, Indonesia, Jakarta, Asia, Eropa (Europe), Amerika (America), Yunani (Greece), Hikayat (Fantasy) and Balada Kera (Monkey Parody). There were a seaworld, gondola rides etc etc.. Seaworld was just like our own Aquaria. Our trip ends at Monas, Monumen Nasional.

Shopping and entertainment are plenty there.. I managed to hang around at Mangga 2 and Plaza Indonesia.