urban myths...

Apparently.... you CAN buy Rolex Daytonas. The catch is, you must know people in the watch industry. Here's the thing, these things as brand new generally have a waiting list as long as your granny's shopping list and you can expect to wait at least 2 years or so before you even get to see the thing. NOT ANYMORE.

I caught a glimpse of these babies over the weekend and it's a beauty. List price of this is stainless steel Daytona is SGD$9000+++ but I was quoted SGD$19K. Yes, a mark-up of almost $10K !!! Just to show how much you can flip the watch for. Assuming.. a BIG assuming that you manage to get the watch at list price, you can easily walk over to a 2nd hand watch retailer and you can easily sell it off at $16K and make an instant $6K profit.. just like that! The demand for these babies is HUGE and it will always be there.

Good thing I don't really like the look of the Daytona. I mean.. who actaully uses these watches for their "capabilities". Even if I do get it, it's for the sake of selling it of one day for a HUGE profit.

Anyone has got $19K to spare?

Show me the new Honda engine!!!

Here's the link to the flash video --> http://world.honda.com/HDTV/news/2005-4050705a/

If you can't be bother to check out the 10min long video, here's the "brief" outline.

Specifications for the 1.8l i-VTEC engine
Engine type and number Water-cooled in-line 4-cylinder
of cylinders
Displacement (cc) 1,799
Bore x Stroke (mm) 81.0 x 87.3
Max. Output (kW [PS]/rpm) 103 [140]/6,300
Max. Torque (Nm [kgm]/rpm) 174 [17.7]/4,300
Compression Ratio 10.5

Tokyo, Japan, July. 05, 2005 - Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (TSE: 7267)(NYSE: HMC)(LSE: 7267q) today announced that it has developed a new 1.8l i-VTEC engine to be introduced this fall in the new Civic that achieves both more powerful performance and improved fuel economy. The engine employs an intelligent VTEC system that switches the valve timing for maximum efficiency during startup and acceleration to achieve powerful, torquey performance, then delays intake valve closure timing during cruising and other low-load conditions for improved fuel economy. Use of the valve timing control system results in off-the-line acceleration performance equivalent to a 2.0-liter engine, fuel economy approximately 6% better than the current 1.7-liter Civic engine, making it one of the world's most efficient 1.8-liter engine designs. During cruising, the new engine achieves particularly high fuel economy, on a par with that of a 1.5-liter engine.

Under low-load conditions on conventional engine, the throttle valve is normally partly closed to control the intake volume of the fuel-air mixture. During this time, pumping losses are incurred due to intake resistance, and this is one factor that leads to reduced engine efficiency. With the i-VTEC engine, however, intake valve closure timing is delayed to control the intake volume of the air-fuel mixture, allowing the throttle valve to remain wide open even under low-load conditions for a major reduction in pumping losses of up to 16%. Combined with comprehensive friction-reducing measures, this results in a significant increase in fuel efficiency for the engine itself.

A DBW (Drive By Wire) system provides high-precision control over the throttle valve while the valve timing is being changed over, ensuring smooth driving performance that leaves the driver unaware of any torque fluctuations. Other innovations include a variable-length intake manifold that delivers optimum inertia effect to further improve intake efficiency and piston oil jets that cool the pistons to suppress engine knock, for powerful torque even at rpm ranges typical in normal driving. The new engine delivers a high level of performance, with maximum output of 103kW (140PS) and maximum torque of 174Nom (17.7kgom). It also delivers cleaner emission performance, employing a 2-bed catalytic converter positioned immediately after the manifold and high-precision air-fuel ratio control to achieve emission levels 75% below 2005 Japanese government standards (based on Honda in-house testing).

In addition, lower block construction resulting in a more rigid engine frame, aluminum rocker arms, high-strength cracked connecting rods, a narrow, silent cam chain, and other innovations make the engine more compact and lightweight. It is both lighter and shorter overall than the current Civic 1.7l engine, and quieter as well.

the old and the new!

I guess this was a matter of time. Got a couple of watch related things done over this week. First of, I serviced my Classic Tag Heuer 3000 series at the Hour Glass. What should have been a simple $20 battery replacement tuned out to be a $180 repair. Apparently, the Tag had a faulty "electrical coil" which needed replacement. Oh well, considering a new tag costs almost $1000 and you can't get another 3000 series, it's a price I had to pay to keep it ticking.

On a slightly cheaper note, my Casio that followed me thru my NS days finally gave up on me. Even when I went on my holidays, I will always wear my Casio (who would want to steal a Casio???) out and in the nite, I could always depend on my the illuminator to brighten up my face. The watch pretty much lost alot of the "protection" via the rubber casing around the watch itself. As you can see, the watch is in it's naked state with the band strap also dying on me hence the rubber-band. Rugged!!! I paid about S$56 for it at Bugis Junction back in the late 90s . Things started going downhill when the LCD display started fading away. After another 1 year, the display was not really working and reading it was getting difficult. I did bring it to a local watch retailer to seek their "professional" opinion and they said repairing it was not worth the $ since getting a new one would be only cost slightly more. Having said that, I decided to get meself the replacement.

The replacement had to be another "do-it-all" watch and the hunt was on. Looked at the current offerings of G-shocks and the majority was more fashion bias. There were some rugged ones but the design and the price was not in my "willing to pay" zone. I was on the lookout for a G-shock that had illuminator, buttons that are of the plastic sortand had to be priced between $50 - $100. After about 1 month of window shopping, I finally chanced upon the classic. Here's it it. This is the a revamp of the first G-shock that was made (the DW-5600). This version features the blue light illuminator minus the Dual-Time feature that was on the Original. Price for this, $75. I'm a happy man!