A Day in Life

Check it out, I’ve got wiibbit! Was releasing a bunch of frogs at the 1Utama Central Park in the evening. They were joined by their turtle buddies in the lake. And that’s one for the Annual Animal Releasing!

Thanks to Nigel Lee for helping to secure these frogs, he’s the same guy who helped with last year’s batch of lucky survivors!

It has just been less than less than a month since I got my new BMW, and I am already day dreaming about my next and future car when I learned of the cutting edge BMW i8. (That’s the good thing about cars… they’re not girlfriends, lol)

Today I had to go see the BMW i8 in person at the Auto Bavaria show room at Jalan Tun Razak, KL.

This is truly a piece of technological marvel that has brought the future to the present!

Pros:

• Futuristic design that’s gonna be a showstopper for sure
• Marvelous RM90 road tax due to its 1.5L engine (lol)
• Packs a punch for a 1.5L engine cos it’s coupled with electric motors, making it an All Wheel Drive
• Being a hybrid sports car, lower CO2 emissions

Cons:

• I don’t know its direct competitors, but its top speed is kinda weak against other sports cars at its price or less (clocks in 250 km/h top speed)
• At RM 1.2 MILLION (~US$400K) it costs nearly 4X more than its American and European counterparts (around US$100K – US$130K)

Hmmm… Still I feel this is worth becoming a new goal for my early 30’s. The futuristic design is enough to win me over.

At present moment I am only 1/8th from truly earning this beauty. I need a new financial game plan to bag this in 3 years (but my overall strategy won’t change… it will always be Grow Business -> Buy Assets -> Assets Buy Liabilities)

 

Yesterday I visited a few auto dealerships in search for a second hand BMW 3 Series, and at the end of my search I found myself browsing the new cars and premium selections at Auto Bavaria, Glenmarie.

I’ve been driving the Toyota Vios for 6 years, and it’s high time to upgrade. When I get a new car, I will be passing on my current car to my mother for her errands and church activities in Johor.

Originally, I planned to purchase a second hand Beemer as for one, I am not a ‘car person’ and I know cars are liabilities; I would rather spend that difference on acquiring another asset, if not at least put a down payment for it.

After a day spent looking at cars, talking to the sales people and getting opinions from my friends who are knowledgeable with cars (and own luxury cars), I realize it’s probably better to buy a new one after all, or at least get a pre-owned car.

The frugal saver in me is screaming “this is out of my comfort zone!” and even though I can afford it, I cannot help but think if I should have bought a second Filipino property.

But what about the promise I made to myself when I was 23 years old? That I would have easily gotten a BMW while still in my 20’s. Today I have about a year left before I hit 30. Was I all talk?

In as much as I’d live frugally and do business guerrilla style, I can see that my current methods can only get me so far; if I want to graduate to the next level in business and make more profits than I am right now (I’m talking about DOUBLING and TRIPLING even) I will have to eventually forego my guerrilla methods and adapt and adopt a different style of playing the money game.

That means different thinking, and being less of a cheapskate.

Visiting Auto Bavaria and talking to my friends who own luxury cars opened my eyes to some of the things I didn’t realize or thought otherwise – that there are still crazy heck LOTS of rich people among us here. I would think with the GST implementation, weakening Ringgits, and Malaysia’s economy performing worse than ever, most people would have been forced to downgrade their lifestyle. I can see the truly rich are on top of things again.

And I definitely want to ascend to the levels of the mega rich. This shall be the start.

So my game plan right now: 30% to 40% down payment for a BMW 3 Series (I’m eyeing the 320i or 316i), monthly repayment financed by my monthly memberships. Will work to grow business BIGGER and acquire properties so by Year 3 to Year 4, liabilities like the BMW can be financed by assets instead.

I am going to get down  to it in the coming week, after I at least check out what Audi and Mercedes has to offer for completion sake (might change my mind).

Not long ago I donated a sum to a Buddhist organization that’s taking care of these 2 large tortoises among other animals they rescued in Bentong, Pahang.

It was a long drive and rainy day, and initially I had trouble looking for the place. The poor connection and signal hampered my arrival… but it didn’t stop me from coming over! Despite all the setbacks it was worth the trip to Bentong!

I got to meet the kuras I sponsored, and was given a tour around Kechara Forest Retreat. It’s 32 acres of beauty. Can consider this place for R&R and team building! Wrapped the day with planting a tree that will soon have my family name on it 🙂