My View on Portable Air conditioner for Homes

My friend called me up last evening. He told me that he was contemplating on buying a portable air conditioner unit for his small room in his home. This room is mainly for guests who dropped by and stay for one or two days in his home. He was asking for my opinion on this issue, as I have bought a portable air condition unit before.

Indeed I had bought a portable air conditioner unit also for the purpose of cooling a small room in my home.After using it for a few days, I exchanged it for a casement air conditioner unit. If you liked to read my review on the portable air conditioner unit, just follow the link below -


My Review on Portable Air Conditioner


And then if you liked to know why I am happy with the casement air conditioner unit which was recently installed in my small room, my review on the casement air conditioner is just below, just follow the link -


Happy with the Performance of Casement Air conditioner


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Getting the Best Home Insurance Policy

Our home is one of our most expensive asset that we owned in our lifetime, perhaps that is the reason why many of us are proud of our homes. We invest heavily in making our home beautiful, comfortable and secured. In order to secure our homes against perils such as fire, flood, theft, malicious acts, earthquake, etc, it is important for us to buy a home insurance policy.

So what makes a good home insurance policy? Is the criteria based on the strength of the insurance company, the amount of premium that we pay, or the type of coverage included in the policy? I have written a blog on what I see are important factors that will determine the best home insurance policy for my home. If you are keen to read, just follow the link below:-


Getting the Best Home Insurance Policy


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The Loaf - Advice from Dr. Mahathir Mohamad on Starting and Running a Business

I read the news on the advice given by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia to participants of a SME seminar held in Kuala Lumpur. Dr. Mahathir is the owner of The Loaf - which is a gourment bakery and pastry restaurant with 5 outlets in Malaysia. I will normally visit The Loaf whenever I am in Kuala Lumpur to buy some buns and pastries.There is one pastry that I enjoy eating and that is called The Moon. This bun is covered with almond and with crust of orange peel in it - very special taste. In my view the bread and pastry are expensive as compared to other bakery stores in Kuala Lumpur. But The Loaf produces good quality buns and pastry - this is one of their strength.

Dr. Mahathir had given some very good advice to the particpants of the SME; and they are as follows:-

1) don't assume that you know about business - there are many things that you may not be aware of on the business that you intend to set up or run.

2) when you start your business, it is better to start small.

3) expect to inject more capital into your business that what you thought it required. An example he gave was a business that initially requires RM1 million capital may quickly snowballed into RM3 million.

4) he will consider franchising his business only when it is profitable.

5) he does not like to borrow money from the bank for his business.

I think these are very sound advice for those entrepreneurs who intend to start a business. Maybe Dr. Mahathir could write a book on his experience in the setting up and running of The Loaf. If he does, then I would definitely want to buy his book with his signature (autograph) on it if possible.


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Money Changers in Johor Bahru

I noticed that the money changers in Johor Bahru and even in Kuala Lumpur have common rates unlike in other countries such as Singapore and Indonesia. For example when I visited Johor Bahru yesterday, the currency rate for Ringgit to Singapore dollars was quoted at RM241 to $100 Singapore dollars. All  the money changers there would followed the same rate. Whereas in Singapore, I would normally go to the Arcade Building in Raffles Place to change my money. Over there you will see different rates quoted by different money changers.

 

It is better to change your Singapore dollars into Ringgit in Singapore before visiting Malaysia. In Johor Bahru yesterday, the rate of exchange was RM241 to S$100. In Singapore the rate of exchange is RM243/4 to S$100.  So I would get more value for my Singapore dollars when I changed it in Singapore. I just wonder why is it that the money changers in Malaysia are unable to offer attractive rates of exchange unlike in Singapore? Is is because they conspired to squeeze higher profit margins from travelers especially those from Singapore?

Many of my friends had already advised me to change my money in Singapore than in Malaysia - you get more Ringgit for your money here. I will follow their good advice.

Tesco at KSL City Mall in Johor Bahru

I went to KSL City mall today and took the opportunity to see the new Tesco store over there. Frankly I am slightly disappointed with this Tesco store at KSL City Mall. The supermarket is relatively small in size and the range of merchandise were rather limited. The store simply looked liked many of the ordinary supermarkets that I have visited in Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur.

 

When the size of the store is limited, I felt that Tesco should try to be more specialized on its product mixed and focus on a niche market. I saw a small electrical section, a small clothing section, a small bread counter, etc. Why not simply focus its business in KSL City mall on food - be it fresh meat and seafood, fresh vegetables and fruits, dry food, canned food, a quality bakery counter, etc. Another section that should be expanded should be on non food items such as toiletries, detergents, tissue/toilet rolls, and other household essential items.

Anyway, I liked the vegetables that are sold there. There are many variety of local vegetables that seems to be very fresh; and certain types of vegetables are not even available at Cold Storage in Malaysia. I liked the Tesco house brand items, because the prices are very reasonable.

For more information on shopping at KSL City mall; and my reviews of hotels surrounding this mall, please visit my website by clicking the link below -

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