Tammy NYP

I'm sorry for leading you here under false pretences.

Atlas Hi-Fi has just been praised by Bose for having one of the highest turnovers in the world (read profitable). It confirms that Singapore is full of non-thinkers who believe that more expensive = better. You can see that by how many people buy Mercs and BMs, where the dealer makes up to $100k in profits per car.

In this case, my photo of the Honda Accord Coupe is very apropos.

Xbox 360 Pre-Order

3 miniguns hooked up together? Whoa...

I've just paid for my pre-order of my Xbox 360 plus VIP pack (2 games and 1 controller) - $838. Can't wait.

Peak Oil

My series of car pics is very relevant to today's topic - peak oil. I've been reading up on it lately. In a nutshell, there is a growing feeling that global oil production is nearing a peak, and will begin to decline soon. That, coupled with increasing demand, is going to mean a world of pain for everyone. Most of our transportation (cars, planes, ships) and much of the goods we use daily (plastics, chemicals, fertilizer) depends on oil. There's a lot of talk about conservation and alternatives, like cellulosic ethanol.

Apparently, Brazil is already producing cane ethanol at about US$25 a barrel. I think that Singapore should start blending that into our petrol. All cars can run on petrol with 10% ethanol. In the future, the gahmen could require new cars to be flex-fuel, able to run on 85% ethanol.

Read more about peak oil - Google it. It's scary.

Elusive Sighting

Looking through my D&D photos, I nearly fainted when I realized who was standing next to me. What the...

Car Dealer Profits

This list of dealer profits is derived from LTA's website, OneMotoring. So don't sue me. This is for Dec 2005, COEs are about $13,000.

Car/ Cost with COE/ Dealer's Price/ Gross Profit

Nissan Sunny 1.6EXA/ $42,290/ $55,000/ $12,710
Proton Gen2/ $42,925/ -/ -
Kia Cerato 1.6A/ $44,400/ $48,999/ $4,599
Mitsubishi Lancer 1.6/ $44,664/ $52,488/ $7,824
Subaru Impreza/ $46,101/ -/ - (list was about $63,000)
Chevrolet Optra 1.6A/ $46,266/ $54,988/ $8,722
Kia Magentis/ $47,656/ $53,499/ $5,843
Hyundai Elantra/ $48,582/ $58,000/ $9,418
Mazda 3/ $49,514/ $64,988/ $15,474 - too much
Ford Focus/ $51,883/ $74,900/ $23,017 - obscene
Toyota Corolla 1.6/ $53,410/ $60,988/ $7,578
Hyundai Sonata 2.4/ $54,512/ $72,000/ $17,488 - obscene
Renault Megane/ $58,671/ $70,888/ $12,217
Opel Astra/ $58,949/ $69,888/ $10,939
Subaru WRX/ $59,171/ $86,000/ $26,829 - obscene
Mitsubishi Galant/ $61,616/ $75,988/ $14,372
Hyundai Coupe 2.0/ $61,672/ $72,000/ $10,328
Mazda 6 2.0/ $62,321/ $80,988/ $18,668 - obscene
Peugeot 307/ $62,579/ $75,900/ $13,321
Citroen C4/ $63,780/ $74,999/ $11,219
Subaru Legacy/ $65,297/ $84,000/ $18,703 - too much
Ford Mondeo 2.0/ $65,444/ $85,900/ $20,456 - obscene
Volkswagen Passat/ $66,609/ -/ -
Volkswagen Golf/ $67,367/ -/ -
Nissan Cefiro 2.0/ $71,643/ $89,000/ $17,357 - too much
Opel Vectra/ $74,596/ -/ -
Peugeot 407 2.0/ $76,491/ $94,900/ $18,409 - too much
Nissan Cefiro 2.3/ $76,531/ -/ -
Hyundai Azera/ $77,522/ $103,000/ $25,478 - obscene
Toyota Camry 2.0/ $79,858/ $92,488/ $12,630
Honda Accord 2.0/ $80,215/ $90,000/ $9,785
Saab 9-3/ $81,706/ $123,888/ $42,182 - murder
Fiat Stilo 2.4/ $81,862/ -/ -
Toyota Camry 2.4/ $82,695/ $97,488/ $14,793 - high
Citroen C5/ $86,153/ $99,000/ $12,847
Honda Accord 2.4/ $88,255/ $98,000/ $9,745
Subaru WRX STi/ $94,276/ $111,000/ $16,724 - high
Jaguar X-Type/ $94,566/ $150,000/ $55,434 - murder and necrophilia
Volvo S60/ $94,708/ $140,716/ $46,008 - murder
Chrysler 300C/ $105,646/ -/ -
Lexus ES300/ $106,050/ $150,888/ $44,838 - murder
BMW 320i/ $108,448/ -/ -
Lexus GS300/ $133,641/ $178,888/ 45,247 - murder
BMW 523i/ $133,707/ -/ -
Audi A6/ $134,223/ $188,000/ $53,777 - murder and necrophilia
Mercedes E200ML/ $149,323/ $190,888/ $41,565 - murder
BMW 630i/ $188,414/ $280,000/ $91,586 - murder, necrophilia and necrophagia
BMW 730i/ $197,693/ $282,000/ $84,307 - murder, necrophilia and necrophagia
Mercedes CLS350/ $197,797/ $288,888/ $91,091 - murder, necrophilia and necrophagia
Mercedes S280/ 218,001/ -/ -
Maserati Quattroporte/ $284,971/ -/ -
Mercedes SL350/ $295,843/ $395,888/ $100, 045 - murder, necrophilia and necrophagia
Bentley Continental FS/ $476,305/ -/ -
Ferrari F430 Spyder/ $$530,472/ -/ -

There's a selection of interesting cars. It's amazing how people who are smart enough to make that much money are stupid enough to be ripped-off like that. I'd like to own a car dealership. Sheesh.

Monster Speakers

Just installed these babies in my bedroom. The Enzer amplifier was crap but the speakers are ok. That small little plastic doodad on the table (next to the portable radio) is driving these 2 behemoths. Using 8 AA batteries! And the sound is more than decent. Amazing.

Anyone interested in my portable amp can read up about it. Sonic T-Amp.

CNY Sucks

Visiting during Chinese New Year is way more tiring than work. I made the mistake of drinking the night before, at reunion. No hangover, but really tired. That plus unrelated depression and a long day of visiting combined to form the perfect storm - I'm now down with a sorethroat. :(

Took lots of photos. Will use this one as my profile pic.