Aahh Singapore is getting expensive. Increasing automotive prices, increasing house prices; landed properties, condos and HDBs…Everything's increasing!

And when you've invested so much money into such assets, surely you'd want to protect and preserve it. I think that's how insurance companies make money. Well, some are mandatory while some are voluntary (but if anything bad happens, you're not covered).

Mandatory ones are like car insurance (It's kinda grey here, i know) and voluntary ones are like home insurance, like those form AIG insurance, where you pay a small premium of about $9 (yearly I think). Maybe some scrooges wouldn't want to pay for this, but you never know when disasters can happen. No one is ever safe, you know? And if it happens, who's gonna cover you? Or more importantly, where are you gonna recoup part of your losses from?

And one of the most important form of insurance that usually slips most minds: travel insurance. Yeah, shit happens you know…Like organised robberies on tourists or say you lose your luggage at an airport, or let's say you drive to a neighbouring country and your car gets stolen. Who's gonna cover this? Some car insurances do not cover accidents that occur non-locally, so this might be a huge problem. 

Always be on the safe side. Calculate the costs carefully and decide on your insurances. Best of luck! 

This is a sponsored post. 

No matter how much we think we can do without loans, we're wrong (Well, unless you're from a rich family). Everything needs loans, from the HDB apartment that you're buying to that next Ford convertible you're eyeing on.

I only know of two types of loans, one is secured loans and the other, personal loans. Yes they do sound similar, but the concepts are slightly different.

Secured loans are those which uses your assets as a security, kinda like a guarantee. I think it's called mortgaging. This method allows you to raise a large amount of money even if you have a poor credit history. Thus, it is easier to obtain such a loan as the interest rates are lower too.

Personal loans on the other hand, are those normal (unsecured) loans that you probably have heard of every other time. They are obtained for various reasons like paying for a holiday, clearing debts, purchasing a new vehicle, or even funding a wedding ceremony. However, to be successful in the application of these loans, you need to have excellent credit track record because these type of loans are unsecured and therefore the risks are higher.

From my experience, GE Money provides 100% (10 year) loan for cars while the other banks like Maybank and OUB (or issit UOB?) only provide up to 70% (10 year) loan. Yes, this means the reamining 30% is payable by you, IN CASH. Let's say you're buying a car that costs $100k. That means you gotta fork out $30k as downpayment. Now $30k is a very huge sum and some people may not want to fork out and use such an amount immediately.

So it all boils down to the situation and your preference. Scout all related information and make the right choices for your needs. Good luck!

Just an update.

I find it weird because when I topped up Caltex 95 full tank, the mileage actually decreased i.e.fuel consumption worsened to about 10.5-11.0km/l. I topped up Caltex 95 full tank for another 2 times just to make sure, and I confirm that mileage has deproved regardless of me and my mum's light-footed driving style!

Just an update, I managed to get a 13.0km/l for the previous full tank. I think it was 65% Highway driving, 35% City driving. Driving style was easy to moderate. The fuel hand gauge moves faster in the upper half (i.e. 50% tank and more), so it's better not to judge the fuel consumption of the car just by the first half of the tank alone.

Expect to see between 10-11km/l if you purely base your calculations as mentioned above. Remember, these figures will vary with different styles of driving. If you "ZHAM" the accelerator, sure will increase in consumption. I reiterate that these figures I've gotten, are through low-moderate ZHAMMING of accelerator pedal, cruising speeds of 80-90km/h, and 100km/h occasionally. Just for you to know that at 90km/h, the RPM is at 2k. At 80km/h, 1.8k.

I finally get the car after numerous trials and tribulations. This car is very heng. Got strike 4d first prize! I took exterior pictures of the car, and the control panel. To view the pictures, it's here: Honda Stream I am amazed by the technological advancement of new cars (as compared to the old Matrix). You can adjust the angle of your headlamps, retractable side mirrors (Yeah this ain't new, but still!) etc. But the most special thing about this car is it's integrated fuel consumption calculator. It appears int he small digital screen above your speedometer, so whenever you top up your tank, all you need to do is reset the meter and procees as per normal. No more finding out your tank capacity and needing to work out "total dist. travelled per full tank / full tank capacity". You're free of that! The touch-screen panel integrated dvd player is a free addon I got, as well as the sports rims (I chose them! Rimmiliiciousssss). I find the dvd-panel system very good, because it leaves future options for upgrade like a GPS navigator, TV and DVDCD (i don't know what that is either). DVD playback quality is good I guess, but only front passengers are able to view it. An additional screen would have to be installed for rear passengers. So far, I feel that the car runs silently, is powerful, and erm everything i dreamt of? The consumption right now is about 11.9km/l, and it's very good for me already compared to the old Matrix of 8-9km/l. Moreover, this engine still needs to be run in, so yeah. Look forward to part 2 of the review, where I'll deal with spaciousness.

So you've serviced your car already, changed the battery to a new set and then one fine day, just before you leave for work, you get in your car. You slot the car key in, and you jimmy it to start the engine. The engine makes the usual noise, but it DOES NOT ignite! You might think at this moment, "OMG did that serviceman fucker even do anything? I thought this battery is new?! Or did he just refurbish an old set and just sold it to me for a great profit?" I know that your problem could be attributed to many other circuitry problems, but it COULD be your crank sensor! Well, that was what happened to me. I happened to have a good mechanic living in the opposite block, so he come down with his L33T gadget, and immediately diagnosed the problem. The problem with servicing at places like SHELL Autoservs or whatever, is that they do not RESET the crank sensor chip. Hence, the data accumulates within it, and its lifespan shortens. Just like a computer registry. If you do not clean/clear/fix it, it gets clogged up and slows down every bloody thing in your computer! So please, whenever you service your car, do ask if they can reset your crank sensor data for you. If you need to know how it looks like, I've got pictures below. However, it's for Hyundai Matrix. Other makes of cars should have a similar look too (I guess). I hope this helps! cranksensor.jpg cranksensor1.jpg cranksensor2.jpg

No Honda Stream == I feeltotally useless.

What to do, out of luck. Sigh. Nvm.