It's hard to put into words the feelings I have experience the last week. It started off with a motivational cum effectiveness course I attended 2 weeks ago from Wed till the weekend. It was an enlightening 3 night, 2 days training. The aim was to make you self-aware, create more honesty and open relationship with others. The week night classes were an eye opener for me as I have not been to such a course before. It was also fun knowing new friends and interacting with them. It feels good to know there are other people out there and whom you can communicate with. The entire experience was filled with raw emotional moments and intriguing thoughts that prompted me to re-think who I am and what I want to be. Kudos to MB120 Basic comrades and hope to see everyone in good shape. Kudos to my small group "Long Legs" group for being there :)

Which brings me to this blog entry ... I guess it's been a year or two since I started blogging in friendster and moved to having a domain of my own. I enjoyed writing about my life and experiences. I guess not many people read my blog now since it's not updated all the time. Probably once a month now. I used to write more often in a month and read more books often in a week. Being an introvert helps me being a geeky nerd or so it seems :P

Anyway, on the professional side of my life, I recently went for a training on a software called K2 Blackpearl. It's a delightful software in that it allows the creation of a basic workflow system in a visual diagram format. This is achievable by using the Visual Studio with the latest .Net technology. The training was held in Microsoft Auditorium in KLCC and it was a insightful training.

Well, that's all for now .. it's been a great July so far and I am back in office.

30th of June .. this is the last day of the month of June as well as marks the end of the first half of the year. In terms of personal achievements, I would say I have accomplished half of my objectives for the year. Lamenting the fact that oil prices are going up and up with no end in sight, it's put a dent to my plans. So, it means I will have to redefine the scope of my objectives and probably pre-empt them till next year. My wish of course is to have a large sack of cash dumped on to my lap (ya ..sweet dreams to me i know)..

On the home front, nothing much has happened except for the biggest news that the Malaysian consumers will start paying more for fuel and the rate will be adjusted according to the per barrel price onwards. The effect of this has not been felt significantly so far as major items are still undergoing revision of prices. The first such announcement has been made in the automotive industry where logistics is a major player. The cost of tyres and labour charges will rise to 10 - 30% higher. That means changing tyres will be more expensive. The same applies to 'mudguard' shops and vehicle paint shops.

The next as far as I see it are the rise in the cost of transportation, meaning travel. MAS has already announced 80% increase in surcharge for all international flights (except China). Next to come are probably public transports. All in all, I would expect a 15 - 30% increase in cost of goods and services in the coming 6 months (which would directly affect the Consumer Price Index). So, to dear friends who are reading my blog, take heed and be prepared.

On the world front, major summits and conferences have been held between world leaders to solve the issue of oil price increases. The typical answer has been "Yes, we know and we sympathize but it is out of our control". With this, a lot of initiatives have been focused on producing fuel-efficient vehicles leveraging on multiple energy sources including the following (no order of importance) :

1. Corn 2. Palm oil 3. Natural gas 4. Electric / Kinetic 5. Solar and etc

Two companies fronting this line is Toyota and Honda. They had have the visionary focus to research and develop their own type of vehicle, defying the conventional petrol-reliant vehicles. This has set them apart from other motor companies and it is no wonder that auto companies in Detroit are struggling to follow suit. As fuel prices rose to $142 per barrel last week, I would advocate more focus on eco-friendly and fuel-efficient (it's not just all about fuel). Remember, all of us live under one Earth and should try to make it a better place to live for future generations. Here are some samples from Autoindustrie on currently available options for such vehicles : http://autoindustrie.blogspot.com/2008/06/green-is-new-pink-celebrity-rides.html

On the international front, world leaders have acknowledged that the continuing rise in cost of fuel will result in chaos in economies on almost every country. This will have heavy impacts on socio-economic factors e.g. rise in crime, social disorders e.g. protests etc. This is already evident in countries such as South Korea, Europe and our nearest neighbour, Thailand. How this end will ultimately come from how we solve the fuel factor. Let's hope there will be some good news in the coming months ...

Well, that ends the month of June for me. It has been a great first half of year and I like to convey my best wishes to my fellow friends and readers of my blog. Thanks for reading my constant blogs of nonsense. Stay tuned for more updates next month :)