Buying a New LapTop

Our new HP with  Pre-loaded Windows 8.1

A few days ago (to be precise, last Wednesday-11 February 2014) my lap-top finally gave up the ghost.

Apart from a flat battery, the battery charger which had been given a short lease of life of something like two years by some handyman work of my son,also decided to call it a day. It was double jeopardy!

We bought that HP unit some 7 years ago when I was doing some project. Since then, except for some minor issues, it hasn't failed me at all.

So, we went to Plaza Low Yat last Thursday. Believe me, there are all kinds of smart-alec oil salesmen who will do their corniest best to influence you to buy from them.

For instance, there was this one Pakistani fellow who promised to take in my old set for RM 400 as a trade-in if we would buy a new HP laptop from him. He told us all we needed  to do was pay him  RM 1,700 for the new HP.

Today, after doing plenty of research, my son decided to give this Pakistani computer salesmen his business.

He went to Plaza Low Yat this morning again.

However, the Pakistani changed his tune. As far he was concerned, the price of a new HP unit has just gone up by RM 200 and the trade-in will now only be RM 100. What a crap!

So, we scouted around and bought it from another merchant. It cost me RM 2, 099 with up to date features and capacity. They also took in my old lap-top at RM 150.

I do hope the new lap-top will last us for another 7 years.

Another Hurdle Surmounted!

Praise The Lord!

It was certainly with the greatest trepidation that my son got up at the anxious hour of 7 a.m. this morning (8 Feb 2015).

He clicked on the lap-top and went onto the web to find out what was the outcome of the two ACCA papers he sat sometime in early December in 2014.

At 8.00 am or about, the results were flashed into his mail-box.

He whooped with joy, I hugged him in celebration.

With that, another hurdle has been crossed.

What remains is the final two option papers-Audit and Taxation.

As Timothy said, We must fight the good fight. We must have a good finish!

For my son, this is the home-stretch and with God on his side, he may yet excel.

Praise the Lord!

MOH Dinner on 7 February 2015

Nien Nien Yu Yee!

I must say this time it's really one small do as many could not attend.

Loi had to do a training stint in Alor Star while Cheng and Cindy could not turn up the last minute.

Similarly Francis has a church retreat.

Chee has a business appointment, so it seems!

See could not be located. Possibly outside the country.

As for Tew Swee Tong, despite his positive answer, he must have just just forgotten!

So, we chose an entry fare.

But things are really expensive these days.

Last year you could get a suckling pig on the selection for RM 500.

This year--Nada! You will get that delicacy only with a RM 600-RM 700 menu!

Whatever it was, we still had a nice time.

Joyce brought a red wine. We are obliged to her for her thoughtfulness.

Mostly, we thank Kooi Ming for playing host by footing the bill.

The attendees-

Joyce
Michael
Kooi Ming
Janet Chen
Peng Seng
Leana Goh
Yau Kok
Cheng Hong
Heng

Perhaps, we can arrange a bigger do sometime mid year.

Hopefully, more will be able to attend.

The Wingless Birdman of Imagination

Playing with Your Mind

This is definitely an art-house movie.

Directed by the famous Alejandro Innaritu, this is a movie of human aspirations and the 'daringness' to dream again.

Here a washed-out protagonist icon of a screen hero relives his life on the stage putting up a play titled, "What Do We Talk When We talk of Love?"

He fights with relationships with his ex-wife, his daughter and his alter-ego, the dark Birdman who taunts him to take chances to better himself.

The last part of the movie is surreal and leave much to the imagination.

This is one movie I would not want to revisit or to review.

Brilliant-Eclipsing Gravity and Even Space Odyssey 2001!

Breath-taking Fare

Interstellar is another masterpiece from master director,Christopher Nolan.

In this science-fiction movie, he explores complex ideas like like wormholes, relativity, time and the elusive five-dimensional thinking.

A Fantastic Visual Experience

It is both factually educational and thought-provoking.

The premise of the future Nolan world is overpopulated and in constant struggle to feed the masses. Though farming is the future, the crop blights seems to engender government investment in interstellar research to look for an alternative live-able world for humans.

Transcending the worm-hole

Continuing from partial information retrieved from earlier Lazarus missions, Matthew McConaughey's piloted the last Ranger into deep space after taking from a cue from his daughter's poltergeist premonitions. With the aid of two robots and 3 crew members, he transcended a wormhole just beyond Saturn, into a new galaxy.

Hathaway as Dr. Brand

The new world  through the lens of Nolan is nothing short of breathtaking. The visions of the black holes, the worm-hole, ice-planets and water planets are simply beautiful.

The Water Planet

As for the actors, McConaughey's character is well-developed. Hathaway and Caines' characters's are fairly developed but Damons's role as Mann, the baddie, is mostly minuscule and forgettable.

The Ice Planet

Totally unforgettable will be Mackenzie Foy, who plays the young sensitive Murphy. For her part, Jessica Chastain provides the melodramatic thread of an adult Murphy that connects both father and daughter  over time and space wherein springs the solution to the entire panning out of the Interstellar story.

McConaughey, Chastain and Hathaway

Almost stretching to  2 hours 47 minutes, this movie may win some Oscars this February.

The young Murphy

Superb storytelling and enjoyment of a movie but for its length!

Unsinkable LPI

It really punches through today!

After announcing a bonus of one share for every two shares held, London Pacific Insurance saw hyper-space action this morning ramping up its price to RM 20.68 for a RM 2.18 increase.

Tracing its share from the prior 13th GE period in 2013 to the effects of  oil slumping in mid 2014 till today, the price did have short-term weaknesses every now and then but every time there was positive news, it ran ahead of the pack.

I expect some price correction as we approached the ex-date.

Assuming someone has 1000 shares, would it mean that  he will be better off with an additional 500 shares at a new price?

His holding at current price is RM 20,000. If he sells it today, he will reap RM 20 K.

However, if he doesn't, then this will be his risk scenario.

If the theoretical ex-price is about RM 10.00 per share, then his holding of 1.5 K shares will be worth RM 15 K. He will then take on a paper loss of  RM 5 K.

However, in the event that it ends at yesterday's price of RM 18, then his 1.5 K holdings will translate to a cool RM 27 K.

If and when this comes true, then it will one super bonanza of RM 9 K for such a holder!

So can this one Teh Hong Piow stock be the one with the kapow effect?

Doldrum Oil Prices

Crude Gold No More?

It's approaching the end of January 2015 and yet there is no respite.

OPEC has met and refused to cut production and shale oil is still rattling the market.

The Saudi King has changed and King Salman is in charge.

So, what is the crude oil position today(29 January)?

As expected, oil prices opened up weak in Asia after record US stockpiles sent it tumbling to near six year lows in the previous session.

To most analysts, the outlook truly looks bleak.

On Wednesday, the US reported record high inventories elevating further anxieties in the market.

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), domestic crude oil stocks rose by almost 9 million barrels last week to reach nearly 407 million, their highest since the government began keeping records in 1982.

"The market expects stockpiles to keep rising, pushing front-month prices further down as refineries enter maintenance season and are likely run at lower utilisation rates," ANZ said in a morning note on Thursday.

Brent crude traded at US$48.60 (RM176) a barrel at 0131 GMT (9.31am Malaysian time) while US crude was at US$44.43 a barrel, both close to six year lows.

As a corollary, Swiss bank UBS said in a note on Thursday that cheap oil would not have a major boosting impact on Asian economic growth.

"Big, big drops in oil; small effects on economies... Cheap oil should give a small boost to Asian GDP, but not really enough to warrant major changes in growth forecasts," it said.

Researchers at Energy Aspects said in a note to expect a "a new normal  in the making for China-slower and less oil intensive growth".

They added that "oil consumption in China will become more efficient, leading to slower demand growth of around 0.2-0.3 mb/d (million barrels per day) compared to expectations of above 0.5 mb/d."

So, for the whole year of 2015, what can you see through the looking glass, Alice?"