Google !! ..See streets of America ..Street view

Google maps has a new view now, apart from earlier available like ..Satellite(shows you  view from top a s if you are in a plane), Traffic(shows you traffic situation in USA), Map(Map with street  information for most of the cities, Hybrid(combination of Map+Satellite).



So the new view is : Street View. Its amazing to see how they have done it.Street View lets you navigate down the streets of big cities like New York, Denver, Miami, Las Vegas and San Francisco.



I checked out the SFO street view & was amazed with it !!. Its an excellent use of information. Its like visiting that place in real. Its amazing to see the use of technology in such a way, I wonder how much information Google has like this & how they will put together in future :) ...



That brings me to a blog entry by : Steven Feuerstein, Google's goal to organise your daily life



So be ready for the future :)

Blogging at Singapore Metroblogging

Hello everyone I have started blogging for Singapore Metroblogs. This will help me to write more about Singapore !!

Checkout : http://singapore.metblogs.com/

This blog will continue to get new posts about useful stuff & travel & recently personal finance as earlier !! ..so keep checking ...

btw Bangalore folks there is : http://bangalore.metblogs.com

Some more on Credit Card Debt

Its a sad story I see everywhere in Internet about Credit Card debt, not sure how much they are true as I personally do not understand how people managed to get into so much of debt, is it lifestyle need or habit.



Here is the story : Couple Learn the High Price of Easy Credit



I am reading the book : The Riches Man in Babylon



I am still reading it. But its very interesting to read a 1926 published book. Its a series of financial parables. The first message the book gives by a story is "A Part of All You Earn Is Yours To Keep"



I guess this is the most important & simple thing in order to stay away from debt which is not good for you. Some debt like Home Loan is always there which appreciates(hopefully).

Calling ICICI Phone banking : Home Loan

This post will make lot of people happy who are frustrated after calling ICICI phone banking several times, but not able to speak to the operator for their queries. Specially for Home Loan account queries, when you call & even after correct following their instructions on the phone IVR(Interactive Voice Response) system, you still cannot access your account.

Here is the trick ...

1) Call ICICI Phone Banking Number
2) After listening to the initial annoucements
3) Press : 1 - 1 - 5 - 2 - 1
4) Then you will be asked to enter your Loan Account Number(The numeric part only) ..
5) Enter any 10-11 digit number
6) The IVR will say "Sorry that was an Invalid Entry, please try again"
7) Again enter some other 10-11 digit number  - The Step 6) will be repeated
8) Again enter some other 10-11 digit number - The Step 6) will be repeated
9) Then it will say "You have exceeded maximum tries, transferring the call the phone banking officer " !!

You made it to the operator in less than 5 minutes(depending upon call volume)

Try this !!!

Happy calling ...."Hum Hai Na..."

Calling ICICI Phone banking : Home Loan

This post will make lot of people happy who are frustrated after calling ICICI phone banking several times, but not able to speak to the operator for their queries. Specially for Home Loan account queries, when you call & even after correct following their instructions on the phone IVR(Interactive Voice Response) system, you still cannot access your account.

Here is the trick ...



1) Call ICICI Phone Banking Number

2) After listening to the initial annoucements

3) Press : 1 - 1 - 5 - 2 - 1

4) Then you will be asked to enter your Loan Account Number(The numeric part only) ..

5) Enter any 10-11 digits

6) The IVR will say "Sorry that was an Invalid Entry, please try again"

7) Again enter some other 10-11 digits   - The Step 6) will be repeated

8) Again enter some other 10-11 digit number - The Step 6) will be repeated

9) Then it will say "You have exceeded maximum tries, transferring the call the phone banking officer " !!



You made it to the operator in less than 5 minutes(depending upon call volume)



Try this !!!



Happy calling ...."Hum Hai Na..."

Singapore : Rain City !!

Being coming here from Bangalore, India. I see lot of rain in Singapore since last 4 months I came here. Its good cooling effect when it rains. In Bangalore it used to rain only in a rainy season which is during june-july or sept ..



So when I first came to Singapore, I was asking this question about rainy season here & people laughed, it rains most of the time :)..So there is nothing like rainy season here ...



To checkout weather for Singapore : http://intranet.mssinet.gov.sg/nowcast/ ..pretty good forecast !!



Tips for people who are new to this city :

• Carry a small Umbrella always
• Book Taxi in advance when it is rainy day !..As there are more people looking for Taxi that day !!
• Plan more time for travel when it rains as sometimes there is heavy traffic on highways & busy lanes.
• go home early to avoid traffic :)

Some photos taken just now :

Singapore : Indian Restaurants

Singapore is generally good for Indian good for Indian Restaurant as there are plenty in all the areas. Mainly some are catering to the needs to the office people & others are in the areas where Indian people hang out more !! ..like Mustafa, Little India etc ..



But it is very common to see Singaporeans also eating Indian food a lot & they like it !



There is a chain of restaurants called Komala's. Which gets lot of business as it is located in very strategic locations where lot of people go for office or shopping.



You can get a partial list of Indian Restaurants from here



But at the same time the food quality varies. So many people who are expecting good food at the price they pay may not be true always. So be prepared for the surprise always !!



Specially for Vegetarian people who do not eat meat or fish, it is tough sometimes to get good Indian vege food. So if you are living in Singapore, you really need to research before you step out in good mood to eat outside.



There are fake meat vegetarian food joints are also there, but  the taste may not be liked by many Indians. I have only tried few of them & it was ok ...



On an average in a restaurants the dishes are around $8-12 depends on the restaurant again.



I plan to put my reviews about some of the restaurants I have visited till date, probably it will help others !!

Finding Train Route in India

Ever trying to find a train route in India with all the options with multi-station, multi-train options !! ? Here is the way ..



There is a website http://www.indiagroove.com which offers you excellent way to find a train from one place to another in India ..e.g. you give Pune to Bangalore & It will provide you all the options of trains(direct or with stops or train change). Its a fastest way to find a train for planning your journey in India ...



btw .this website is still beta ..but works !!



Also see the website : http://www.seat61.com if you want to travel by train in any country ..even from one country to another country using train as means of transportation ..excellent website !!

Reading : The Net Worth Workout: A Powerful Program for a Lifetime of Financial Fitness

Reading the Book : The Net Worth Workout: A Powerful Program for a Lifetime of Financial Fitness.



Very interesting book to understand personal finances, without too many complex words ti understand. I always like simple reading !!



This book uses personal fitness analogy to make you understand your finances & how to keep them fit.



I will post the review about it soon !! 

Tracking Expenses : Using Buxfer

I have been tracking our expenses using Buxfer effectively & it is just great way to manage this stuff. It uses Google Authentication so no more new accounts too ...

This website also recently added a "budgeting" feature. Which I am yet to use it much. I will try to compile the "Cost of living Singapore" again with few more items added to the list !!

Take a tour of Buxfer here : http://www.buxfer.com/tour.php

Casual Medical Expenses : Singapore - 2007

Yesterday first time we went to a Dr. here in Singapore, as my daughter was having mild fever since early morning. But it was a good experience to understand how one needs to react to the medical situation like this.

The visit to the Dr.( Paediatrician ) cost us $85.00(Dr. fees + medicine) ..She did checked the way normal normal Dr. does. The medicine given was normal paracetamol & cough syrup. But the clinic was in a private hospital, which was known to charge higher than normal rates(this is something we got to know when the Taxi driver mentioned to us !!).

This is very high cost compared to what other clinics charge. Which is around $20-30 range.

Also most of the times, unless the child is very sick, the medication given for normal fever, cough, cold is very common one(I am not advising we should do self-medication here). But we also need to think about the cost which generally offers nothing other than the same medicine which we normally give.

Overall Singapore is expensive for all medical expenses specially when done in private hospitals/clinics. Which is in-line with the economy. Infact in India too, the medical expenses are rising very high Year after Year.

I would try to update more on the "Cost of Living in Singapore" this weekend.

Paying Credit Card dues with Credit Card :)

It was a quite a funny & good experience today for me. As always I pay my Credit Card Dues before they become due. so when I went to pay my dues using my Bank(DBS) website. While paying the dues, in the To Pay From Account it included the Credit Card Account as well :) ..So that means I can pay my credit card dues using my credit card itself !! ..Great idea by these credit card companies to facilitate people to clear their dues( or get more deep into debt) !!..

I know this Credit Card debt thing is more in Developed countries(as I heard & read on websites). But it is soon catching in India too ..Lot of people use lot of credit card & pay fine till they realize that its not good for them in long term

Recently i have been following a good blog on Personal Finance & it really gives good insight about managing money in a better way ... http://www.thesimpledollar.com/

Birla Sunlife : Funny Error !!

I was trying to access the Birla Sunlife Insurance website & this is what I got :)..Isn't it strange to see error like on website ...this could have been handled in better way !! "We are maintaining our website, please login later!" ;)