How the fuel price increase affects our business
As far as our catering business is concerned, we are expecting prices from our suppliers to shoot up this week. An estimate of 40% increase is not out of the question. The question is how do we act responsibly and increase our price without chasing away our customers. We've come up with an approach that might work.

From day one of starting our home catering biz to 31 December 2007, we maintained our price at RM200 per pax per month. Expecting a fuel increase this year, we increased our price to RM220 for new customers who joined us from 01 January 2008 onwards. We maintained our old price for old customers (those who joined before 01 Jan 2007).

Now it looks like our new price of RM220 may not be sufficient to cover the huge increase in fuel price. So, we've decided to increase out price to RM240 per pax per month. This is for 3 dishes (one meat, one veggie and one side dish). However, this increase may be too drastic for some of our fixed income customers, so we've also decided to offer a budget package from July 01 onwards which will consist of one meat, one veggie and one soup at RM200 per pax per month. In effect, this means that if customers choose to pay the old price, they will have to settle for less. We're still not soo sure if our new pricing will work out, because it might take about one month for suppliers to increase their prices.

How the fuel price increase affects our family budget
Obviously, there is going to be cost cutting. Thankfully, since my wife and I work full time at home, we have full control over household expenses. The fuel price increase should see our petrol bill go up RM150 per month and our electricity bill by about RM50. We haven't taken into account other stuff that will obviously be affected by the fuel price increase. So what we've decided to do :

• Pay off our remaining credit card debt of about RM4K as soon as possible. Thankfully, if all goes according to the government's plan, I should be one of the first to receive my fuel subsidy because my road tax is up for renewal on 02 July 2008. I also have a motorbike that has been sitting and collecting dust for about 3 years now that I will sell. This should bring in an additional RM1K - RM1.5K. We'll then bite the bullet and increase our monthly credit card payment to around RM700 per month. If all goes according to plan, we will clear this our credit card debt in about 4 months.
• Repair, service or clean all our electrical equipment. Clogged fans and refrigerators that aren't running at optimum performance will be power-guzzlers that eat into our family budget.
• Cut our weekend trips to KL/PJ malls to once per week instead of the current 2-3 times. This should save us around RM100 - RM150 per month in petrol, toll and parking fees.
• Spend more of our evenings doing family things instead of going to the mall. I like enjoying the free aircond at the mall, but this is going to cost more from now on, so better to strip half naked and enjoy a noisy game of badminton with my kids from now on. Or jump into the kiddie pool with them or maybe finally start jogging to lose weight. All in all, those nightly trips to the mall always end up with us spending more on snacks and impulse buying.
• More meals at home. Making sure the family fills up our stomachs at dinner time instead of half-full and then having an excuse to go for supper. Thank God we are in the food business so there is ALWAYS left over from catering that is more than enough to feed us.
• Cut all unnecessary expenses like newspapers (can read it online), weekly trips to the arcade for the kids and soft drinks when we eat out.

There are lots more ways we can cut costs. No we don't need to go drastic, but we figured it's a good way to get to grips with the crazy increases we will soon experience all around us. It's time to "ikat perut" guys. I hope all goes well for you.

Tags: Fuel price, petrol increase, fuel hike, home budget, family budget

So, what's a girl to do with all that nail polish and no more nails to paint after she's done hers? Why, look for other "victims" of course!

Yesterday, she asked in her sweetest voice (that she knows always gets her into Papa's soft spot), "Papa, would you like to try my nail polish?". Next thing I know, I'm lying on the floor, spread eagle and my junior manicurist is deep in concentration painting my nails.

My very own personal manicurist in action

Notice the steady hands required in the art of painting nails?

Ten minutes later, my nails are shining with a beautiful array of glittery colors. Please excuse the photos... it's quite, quite difficult trying to get good photos when your nail polish is drying...

My favorite - my left hand finger nails are now coated with glitter

My right hand fingers are now a trendy shade of purple

Look how pretty my toes are now - in blue glitter and pink!

No, I did not wash off the nail polish after that.

Yes, I did go to to the mall with my finger nails all decked out in their finest.

No, I was not shy about it.

Yes, a couple of ladies noticed my nails and gave me that "look".

No, no guys noticed and gave me that "look" - thank God.

And Yes, I highly recommend every Dad have your nails painted by your daughter. It's truly an enriching experience!

It's all in good fun. I quite enjoy being Sara's test subject. I wonder what I'll have to do when she's a teenager!

Tags: Nail polish, Manicure, Makeup

Sara, Mummy and Sam

I remember when I was a wee little lad, the journey to the zoo was a long and winding journey that was free except for the petrol in your car. Today, it is a leisurely one-hour drive from Klang using the Kesas Highway and costs RM13 in toll (to and fro). The entrance fee is RM15 for adults and RM6 for children.

I really can't remember how much has changed in the zoo from the time I visited it as a boy, but the excitement and look of amazement on the faces of children is still the same. However, today, I noticed that there are just as many monkeys OUTSIDE of the cages as there are IN them (if you know what I mean).

Our last visit to the zoo was about a year ago and I must say that there are many pleasant changes :

• The train trips are now more informational with each train having a trainee guide who would brief visitors on the interesting aspects of the animals and zoo as we trundled along.
• The multi animal show is still entertaining, with the addition of a new sea lion named Dawbi (if I heard the host pronounced his name correctly).
• The aquarium has received a nice new facelift.
• The zoo's website looks great now with lots of information.
• Zoo Negara by Night is open on Saturday, Sunday and Malaysian Public Holidays from 9.00am – 10.30pm which must be really thrilling although we have not made a trip there at night.
• More food pitstops which is important to us.
• The toilets are cleaner and seem to be well maintained.
• Zoo Negara seems to be more brand conscious. They've started branding some souvenier items with their logo. More revenue can only mean a better zoo. I say "Yay" to that!.

Some things have not changed though :

• The smell of poo and wee is really overwhelming in some areas and my city kids need their emergency "hong eui" (minyak angin) handy when we go into these areas.
• The host of the multi-animal show still spoke only in Bahasa Malaysia although I noticed that they proclaim to be one of the more popular zoos in the world and I notice foreigners at EVERY animal show that I have attended. Surely the Zoo realizes this is a weak point.
• There are many animal shelters and walkways that could do with a major sprucing. I can't blame the zoo for this though because I'm sure the zoo is not running with a fat budget.
• The main waiting area for the train ride needs a shelter really badly. I wonder why they don't see it?
• I think they could help themselves a whole lot by including a small souvenier goodie pack for every visitor. Perhaps a button badge, bird whistle or stickers would make a great keepsake for the kids and help market themselves.

Sam and Sara have a couple of friends that they simply MUST visit every time they come to the Zoo. There's Wizard and Hobbit, the 2 miniature ponies at the petting zoo, Ottie (we gave him that name), who lives in the otter enclosure, and Manja and Bud, the orangutan and aging (but lovable) sea lion at the multi animal show.

My favorite thing in Zoo Negara is the train ride. It was a busy weekend, and there were many school groups plus Petronas organized a function for hundreds so kids, so we could only go the train ride 3 times. Dang...

The other thing I really like about the zoo is it's natural surroundings. After over 40 years of existence, the trees and foliage give you an almost jungle like feeling - somehow, very calming for me. Perhaps my inner self longs to go back to my hairy roots and live in the trees?

All in all, Zoo Negara is a great place to bring your family for a day-trip. A couple of pics follow below. Some are a bit grainy because I screen captured them from the videos I took.

Sara loves Hobbit, the miniature horsie

Wizard's more affectionate though - likes to snuggle close to you

Manja - the orangutan at the multianimal show. People say I look a lot like her...

The new seal Dawbi. Really lovable fellow. He's set to replace the aging Bart

Bart is the star of the animal show but he's due for retirement pretty soon

Sam was really hoping the parrot wouldnt poop on him. I was hoping he would!

Sam and Sara always look forward to visiting Ottie.

Tags: Zoo Negara, National Zoo Malaysia

We're now into Transformers jokes, some of which I'd like to share with you. First, some I found on the web :

Question: What do you call the female sibling of a Transformer?
Answer: Tran-sistor

Question: What do you called a screwed up Transformers?
Answer: Trans-vestite

Now, jokes we made up while driving to the mall :

Question : What do you call the leader of Kangaroo Autobots?
Answer : HOP-timus Prime

Question : What do you call an Autobot leader that squeeks?
Answer : Opti-MOUSE Prime

Question : What do you call an itchy Autobot?
Answer : Rash-chet (if you don't catch this one, you're not a Transformers fan

Question : What do you call an Autobot that goes muzzz... mzzz... mzzm?
Answer : Mumble Bee

Question : What do you call a clumsy Autobot that flies?
Answer : Fumble Bee

Question : What is Megatron's favorite snack?
Answer : Decepti-CORN

Question : Why is Megatron so strong?
Answer : Because he always has Decepti-CORN FLAKES for breakfast

Question : What is IronHide's favorite game?
Answer : I-RUN-HIDE and seek...

Happy a happy Sunday!

Tags: Transformers, Transformers DVD, Transformers Home Video

And if you happen to be hanging out at Ikano or OneUtama this weekend, and you see an overweight 40ish dude doing the Cockatoo Jiggy, it might very well be me!

Have a happy one!

Tags: Dance, Funny, Funny dance