Saying Goodbye to Eurostar Waterloo

A typical week for me would be as follows:
Starting Monday
a. Crawling outta bed at 5.30 am in the moring - it gets tougher in winter .. I am finding it harder and harder to leave the cosy bed, especially with my wife beside me ...
b. Leave the flat by 6.00 am to catch the tube to Waterloo station - it's bloody cold and dark at 6 in the morning in winter
c. Check into the Waterloo Eurostar station for the 7.09am train to Paris - on some days I barely make it
d. Reach Gard du Nord in Paris at 10.59 am Paris time and make my way to the office

And on Friday, I make the return trip home across the Atlantic, usually reaching home at about 9 or 10pm London time.

The interesting thing to note is the different way I am treated by the immigration officers. The French officers usually take less than 20 seconds to waive me through the checkpoint. They take a look at my passport, have a look at my unwashed face and let me through. At the british checkpoint, it usually takes me between 2 to 5 minutes, a barrage of questions unleased upon me; what am I doing in the UK, what is my wife doing, how long will I stay in the UK, what's my occupation, why do I make that many visits to Malaysia (cos I used to be working for a Malaysia client); I have grown smarter since and I now know that a BIG smile usually works wonder.



I was this close to missing the train at Waterloo .... The train departs at 7.09am ... That was the last time I departed from the Waterloo station.
Beginning 14th Nov, the Eurostar departs from the St Pancras Station, which I think is long overdue; the train travels on the normal rail lines from Waterloo to Ashford, UK, which means travelling at a speed no faster than 70km/h until it reaches Ashford.

Severe delays are reported ...

I thought that the delay today was due to the package found near central London. Looks like I was wrong - there is someone hiding under the train.

My postman is not delivering mails today

130,000 postal workers went on strike today - over pay and potential job cuts.
The postal workers union rejected a 2.5% pay increment and instead, wanted a pay increment pegged to the national average for the past 5 years - equivalent to a 27% increment. They are also against modernisation plans put forth which will reduce their headcount by a further 40,000.

There are rumors that Tube workers wanting similar pay increment and threatening to go on strike.

Think I also need to go on a holiday - let's hope our good workers in Singapore don't go on strike when I am back ...

There is something not quite right about the weather

It is late June in Paris and the weather feels like it's Spring. Was so lazy (and cold) to get out of the bed to go for a run this morning and ended up watching CNBC (the only English channel available) in the tiny hotel room in Trocadero. We had a really warm weather in April. Maybe Spring and Summer decided to switch places this year.

Property Investment

The property prices in the UK have risen to such an extent that first-time home owners are being priced out of the property market (the average asking price of a house in London has reached £387,898).

As a result, more and more young Brits are seeking to buy a property outside of the UK. Their searches have lead to Eastern European countries such as Romania, Bulgaria and Estonia.

I recently went on an inspection trip with a friend who has the intention of purchasing an off-plan ski resort in Pamporovo, Bulgaria. We flew into Sofia and spent about 3 hours on the road traveling to the ski resort. There was a slight delay at the immigration desks as the officers seem to take a great deal of interest in my passport - I am assuming that he is looking at a Singaporean passport for the first time and wondering if I have the necessary papers to enter - Singaporeans are issued a three month tourist visa on arrival. Had a great chat with the property consultant who also doubled up as our tour guide cum driver. We compared the economic, political situation in Singapore, Bulgaria and UK - talked about corruption in Bulgaria, government housing in Singapore and the cost of living in the UK.

Some interesting facts about Bulgaria:

• Bulgaria has a population size about twice Singapore but a land area which is approx 160 times bigger than Singapore
• Bulgaria embraced democracy in Nov 1989
  
• Bulgaria has just joined the European Union as of this year.
• The Bulgaria currency is called 'Lev' (pronounced 'Left')
• There has been a huge construction and property boom as a result of the overseas investments from the Russians, British, Irish, etc.
  
• Almost a quarter of Bulgaria's GDP is dependent on the property industry.

The ski resort in Pamporovo - construction in progress ...


The view from the ski apartments


A clearing, leading to the ski slopes

London Canary Wharf MotorExpo

Take a load of sexy cars, place them in the financial and commerical heart of Britain, and this is what you get. For a full week, London bankers, traders, financiers were treated to a bevy of motor vehicles ranging from the sexy Audi R8 to the environmentally conscious BMW Hydrogen 7 Series. Also not forgetting the extremely petit SMART cars.

Take a look at some of the pics taken:

Here's the heart-stopping Audi R8. Growl ... Bite your head off ...




Overheard between 2 bankers over an Audi A8...
Banker A: So what colour did you get?
Banker B: Got it in black.
wanker A: It's a real beauty isn't it? What are you going to do with your Beemer and the Lex?
wanker B: Yeah, looks like I have to get a bigger garage.

One of these A8 cost about 80k pounds. I bet these guys get like an annual bonus which could easily buy them 10 of these.

The Ford GT - Only 500 of these are manufactured in the world:

The environmentally conscious BMW Hydrogen 7 series. It sprouts out water instead of fumes. How's that for a car?


My kind of car - tells alot about me and my wife - both pretty SMART ;-)


The breath taking Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster. They were only uncovered for interested buyers - most of the time they are all covered beneath a black sheath.


The LandRover FreeLander2. You will never fail the park-on-the-steep-slope driving test with this fuel guzzler.


This may cost up to a fifth of the bankers' annual bonus ... hmmm ... Should we have this in pink my dear?


Back to reality ... Back to work ...

Costly Engineering Mistakes - The Airbus A380

A blogger's perspective, not necessarily the most factual one, on the causes of delivery delays of the Airbus A30 and the costs of these mistakes.

The Airbus A380 is the world's largest commercial aircraft to be ever built. It could accommodate a total of 853 passengers in the full economy seat configuration and has a 15200km flight range. To build an aircraft this size, technical and technology boundaries were undoubtedly redefined. The aircraft mammoth wings, a case in point, is the first to be built with a wing cross-section that is smoothly contoured, instead of wings that are partitioned in sections. This design feature increases aerodynamic flow and reduces drag, thereby boosting fuel efficiency.

The airbus A380 will also be remembered for its delivery delays amounting to no less than two years. Airbus attributed the delays to the 530km of wiring in each aircraft as the primary reason. Initial analysis by airbus engineers and independent consultants reported that the wiring problems can be resolved by having more resources on the deck and can be rectified in six months. However, a second more in-depth analysis conducted after the first six months of delay reveals a different picture - the use of different incompatible versions of computer 3D software and poorly managed change control and change management procedures were the actual causes . There were also other engineering defects unveiled during the battery of tests conducted, such as landing gear problems and weight issues which lead to another delay.

In total, the airbus A380 project saw a change of 3 Aribus CEOs, an EADS (parent company of Aribus) CEO, a A380 progam manager and spiraling costs which is now estimated at a cost of 12 bn euros, a cost overrun of 1.5 bn euros. Not to mention the loss of goodwill amongst clients due to the long delays. The airbus A380 is due to deliver the first plane to Singapore airlines in Oct 2007.

Cooling the London Underground

Plans to install giant chillers in London Tube stations Oxford Circus, Waterloo and Euston in order to save commuters from the merciless heat in summer were unveiled yesterday by the London Transport Authority. Other measures include pumping air, cooled by the water in River Thames, into the Victoria Station, and installing fans across 50 other stations. This measures are part of a £150 million scheme to cool the century old London underground.

Last summer, temperatures reached as high as 47 degrees Celsius and the mercury is expected to set new highs, judging by the mild winter this year.

I have came up with a couple of ideas to see me through summer as I commute in the London underground:

* Use the DLR whenever possible - it is more spacious and there are windows in the cabins which can be opened
* Travel earlier so as to allow the morning rush hour. Evenings should be fine when the temperature drops
* Carry a bottle of water with me
* Sit near the ventilation vents (usually the middle seats on the Northern Line)
* Stand near the end/start of each cabins - there are windows there pray hard that they can be opened

Am taking 2 weeks off in Singapore during August, so I should at least be able to escape 2 weeks of sticky London commute and enjoy the air-conditioning in the SMRT trains. Phew!

Clash of railway civilisations

Finally,the high-speed rail linking France and Germany will soon be a reality. This project had spent almost 10 years in the sidings because of Franco-German quarrels about coffee cups, braking systems, on-board handcuffs and little red flags.

So exactly what was their disagreement about?

High Speed Trains - German Left, French Right

The French had to meet German standards: stronger brakes because Germany insists on shorter braking times, drinkable water in the lavatories and real porcelain rather than plastic crockery in the dining car. This was almost akin to telling the French how they should eat and the French countered with their own standards:

French trains have a special seat with metal rings to hold any criminal detained on board; the German trains did not. Each French train has, under rules drawn up in the steam age, an emergency kit that includes red flags and flares – pointless, say the Germans, when travelling at these kinds of speeds. The new German trains, in order to meet French specifications, now have three wiring systems and five different fuses.

But before the French were wholly satisfied, the Germany trains had to complete 120,000km of tests and more than 30 drivers had to pass an exam in the French language. But the biggest non-technical sticking point was the refusal of French ticket inspectors to serve coffee and meals to first-class customers. This is a normal part of the service for German ICE trains but was a step too far for the proud controlleurs. German inspectors will now double as waiters for the whole journey to Paris.

Now, for as for the planned railway link between Singapore and Malaysia, I wonder what would be their sticking points?