Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008
Feature general and designer toys, comics, animation, gaming, design, licensing and Cosplay from all over the world. With exciting free giveaways, competitions, meet-and-greet sessions with acclaimed artists from ard the world and much more..
Place: Suntec Convention Centre CH 603 (Level 6)
Day: 27 to 29 June 2008 (Fri to Sun)
Time: Fri 5pm to 9pm. Wkend 11am to 9pm
Spore Toy & Comic Convention
CosCon by Moviemania (Booth B13)
Onstage – Sat and Sun,
28 to 29 Jun from 2:00 to 4:00pm
Talented Cosplayers from all over the world to participate in CosCon @ Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008. Strive to feature costuming from both the East and West, with 2 main themed contests: (1) MOVIE and (2) ANIME.
& 11:28 pm
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Back dated to 10 May 2008
On the way back fr Alexandra to Cairo
Din want to slp when travelling on the desert route
To enjoy the last few precious moments
Calm, relaxing, quiet, happiness.. and recharged
See history, arts, architectural, cultural differences wif my own eyes
Totally forgot what day and date is it
Luxury, in mood to see the beautiful sunrise and sunset over River Nile/broad horizon everyday
Surprises tt may be a lifetime experience?
They bring laughter, joy, surprises, beautiful memories..
Want to visit the marine life at Red Sea before destruction or extinction
Hope my mind and heart has broaden and can see the big world
Living in the fond memories in Egypt
Hope this positivity, motivation will last till next long holiday or trip there
Want to experience it again with great companion at such lovely place again soon
Interested in this amazing journey?
"Sweet Dreams, Baby"
& 10:08 pm
Monday, June 09, 2008
Sights at Egypt [2.1]
Day 2 Luxor, west bank of the Nile - Valley of the Kings
Can't bring camera into the tombs!! Took these wif my lousy hp
Real holidays mean peaceful quiet.. With great companion. R and R time. No internet email call..
"Shld not and will never reveal Secret of the Desert""
& 10:30 pm
Budget Airlines Crisis, Today Online
WHAT a difference a few weeks can make. In Mar, the head of the International Association of Air Transport (Iata) had predicted a US$4.5b ($6.1b) profit for the industry.
A few days ago, Mr Giovanni Bisignani, Iata CEO and director-general, revised his est loss of US$6.8b. He even called on govts to intervene to ensure the survival of the airlines.
"We are entering unchartered territory," he said, adding tt "in the weakening global economy, this is yet anoth perfect storm". What a turnaround in the forecast and a departure fr the usual euphoric rhetoric of free enterprise and open skies!
The airline industry has once again flown into turbulence is evident fr a series of fairly-significant events recently.
1. USA, no fewer than 5 airlines have filed for bankruptcy in the past 2 mths and anoth, Champion Air, stopped flying from May 31.
US airline Delta Air Lines, having just come out of bankruptcy, agreed to merge with Northwest Airlines. Both operators had recorded losses in the 1st 3 mths of the yr,
bringing the 1st qtr deficit among major US carriers to US$1.38b.
2. Europe, 3 all-business class airlines — Max Jet, EOS and Silver Jet respectively ceased operations in Dec, Apr and last mth.
3. HK, Oasis Airlines, the long-haul low-cost airline also ended operations.
4. Indonesia, Adam Air, Jatayu and a few oth airlines remain grounded and are likely to fade away.
5. Aust's successful low-cost airline, Jet Blue has already warned of large losses.
6. Msia, the most profitable low-cost carrier in Asia, AirAsia's share price slipped below its initial public offering (IPO) price level, resulted fr downgrading of the airline due to failure of Oasis.
Dramatic events can be attributed to well-known developments:
1. Soaring oil and jet fuel prices
- Global avg price for refining aviation jet fuel = US$145.40 a barrel in the wk ended on Apr 18
— 78% yr on yr rise
2. Global credit crunch and fears abt decelerating economies and consumer spending
The "perfect storm" is also coming due to demand and supply factors. Iata predicts tt overall capacity in the AP region will rise 8.8% this year agst 6.4% demand growth
In other words, there will be more seats than passengers.
Effect on the airlines, esp budget carriers?
It appears that in a difficult envt. Low cost carrier (LCC) model would be far superior to a full-service carrier. But further examination shows this may not be the case.
British Airways CEO, Willie Walsh recently declared tt budget airlines are going to be in trouble.
Mr Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryan Air, one of the world's earliest and most
successful LCCs, was even more direct. He predicted tt in Europe, the fuel crisis will shut down "crappy competitors", with budget airlines, such as Sky Europe, Flybe and Jet2, which are likely to be grounded in coming mths.
Both men may have a valid point: Budget airlines, due to their biz model, are already operating w/o much fat, so there is little left for them to trim.
Most Asian budget carriers started several years ago in an almost perfect
envt of low cost for everything: labour, fuel, airport charges and so on. Many are already operating fuel-efficient jets and it is going to be difficult to squeeze anything more as statistics indicate tt fuel efficiency in the airline business has improved nearly 20% in the last 6 yrs.
Some airlines have said tt they can save abt 10% in fuel if they fly a little slower. Full-service airlines by virtue of their spread-out schedules, longer routes and turnaround times probably can do so.
For LCCs, flying slower means tt their aircraft utilisation will decrease as they thrive on having the aircraft fly as many sectors as possible every day and these tend to be shorter sectors.
Traditional full-service airlines have the upper hand to weather this storm.
With falling demand and excess capacity, a no of full-service airlines are also able to shed routes and change aircraft types.
Qantas is taking more seats out of the air.
Air New Zealand will switch to more fuel-efficient planes on some major long routes. Cathay Pacific has announced plans to drop loss-making routes.
None of the Asian LCCs have responded in a similar way as they do not have the same flexibility that full-service carriers have. Most budget carriers have the same aircraft type, so switching is not an option. They cannot just drop routes since that will result in idle aircraft and an underutilised fleet. They also cannot raise their fares and surcharge too much lest they drive their customers away.
With the possible exception of AirAsia, Jetstar Asia and Jet Blue can depend on passenger feed via their extensive regional network or parent airline's extensive international network — the rest are likely to run into some serious problems soon.
Some, such as Tiger Airways of Spore and Lion Air of Indonesia, have spread themselves too thin by overexpanding geographically and with too many aircraft purchases on their order bks.
Oth fledgling LCCs will soon need to make difficult decisions if they want to save themselves.
If Ryan Air can say tt, it will at best break even if the price of oil stayed at US$130, then it is really bad news for its Asian counterparts.
The latter, esp those based out of Hong Kong and Spore, are already at a cost disadvantage compared to those operating out of Msia and Thailand, which enjoy enormous cost advantages such as lower labour costs and cheaper landing and parking fees.
But among all the uncertainties, the issue of fuel cost mgt — how to pass on some of the irrational hikes in fuel cost to passengers w/o smothering demand — will be the one tt will make or break these budget carriers.
In an era when fuel charges sometimes exceed the cost of the ticket, the LCCs in Asia are facing their biggest challenge yet. And with more competition-ready, full-service carriers also fighting for survival, many of these budget carriers, sadly, will not survive.
As Iata's Mr Bisignani said recently: "This is an extraordinary crisis with the potential to reshape the industry". I believe that we will see this reshaping in the next 6 to 8 mths.
The writer is a pilot and an aviation, tourism, travel and hospitality veteran.
& 9:55 pm
Disney restaurant @ Anchorpoint opp Ikea Alexandra
Disney Naturally (Halal Certified)
Anchorpoint
370 Alexandra Road
#01-05/06 Singapore 159953 [map]
(65) 6479 2823
Open: 10:30 am to 10 pm (weekdays); 10 am to 10 pm (weekends)
The 1st Disney-themed restaurant outside of disneyland!
LIfe-sized statues of mickey, donald and goofy greet visitors at the entrance. Wash ur hands at the giant mickey's hand wash basin before dining! Baby blue seats shaped like mickey's head.
1. Mickey-shaped pizzas $15.90 + 7% GST
2. Icy fruit blends $5.50 each + 7% GST:
- goofy's favorite = red-colored blend of apple, orange, blueberry and cranberry
- prince charming's kiss = pink-colored blend of strawberry and mango
3. Movie screening there include titles like Finding Nemo and even Ratatouille.
& 9:42 pm
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Conclusion fr Shannon's frend's story: HOPELESS!!!
Pls ask Shannon for the story's details
The Freemale of Our Species
Shelagh Fogarty, BBC presenter and journalist
Weekend Today 7 Jun 2008
Conclusion fr above article: High possibility of me becoming a Freemale??
Due to these:
- Want to spend her time and money as she wishes
- Not finding love
- Childfree
- Think r/s increasingly irrelevant, emotionally high risk and high maintenance
& 10:22 pm
uni ranking - program available in Spore
Conclusion:
- Shld i consider taking a MBA?
- Do it overseas or local?
- Which country & sch to go?
- Waiting for oth MBA ranking
- Do I have the money, time and oppunity?
- What is the opportunity cost?
- What will be the future like aft attending MBA?
- Currently interested in UK, USA, HK City Uni, Uni of Cairo [exotic], NUS, SMU, NTU
& 6:45 am
