bf

Wednesday 27 February 2019

Western Australia Perth : Airport Apartment by Aurum

Every year , I will bring my parents to one destination of their preferences for a trip.
This time round, we decide to be slightly more adventurous and try a non-Asia country, Perth.
My parents are more than 70 year old and quite conservative.

We took a flight that reach at around midnight.
It was not possible to rent a car at midnight. We decide to go visit Margaret River before Perth City.
We decided to book an apartment near the Airport.

We choose Airport Apartment by AURUM .
1.The apartment is it provide free transfer from Airport to the apartment to and back to the airport. We need to get back to the Airport in the morning to pick up our car.
It is safer for us to get  a good night sleep and set off tomorrow.

2. There are 2 toilets which make it much easier to get ready.

3. The price is quite reasonable as we are only staying for the night. 


Review of the place
1. The arrangement of the Airport transfer was easy. The driver was friendly and helped with our luggage. Good first impression.
2. The room was big and clean. There are two bedrooms, 2 toilet and a washing machine/dryer. The living room/kitchen is quite big with a sofa, bed, dining table and a fully equipped kitchen.
It is quite weird to see a bed right in the living room. There is also a balcony.
3. We did not get to try the kitchen nor the laundry facilities so we can't comment much. The shower is hot and not too weak. We had a good night sleep.
4. I am not sure if there is a lift or escalator. We took the stairs. Maybe email the apartment if you are need to know.


Overall, I am quite satisfied with the place and the free transfer. There is nothing around the apartment so breakfast will be at the airport or somewhere else. 





 The airport car which is a bit blur.. Sorry for the bad photo. 







The living room. I missed out the photo of the microwave. There is a microwave.




One of the double room.



One of the toilet with the laundry facilities.



  

outside view of my apartment

Saturday 8 December 2018

Box/Shelves rental

I been too busy to update this blog as I have trying to do some small business
I have working with a few box/shelves rental company. Let me share with you my experiences and maybe this will help people who are thinking whether to take the risk or join the fun. Let think about from merchants or sellers' perspective.


The companies I know are Cube sprout, Inbox, Hako, Toyoutpost, Box Boss, Box Societe, District 5, Ministry of Cube .. There should be more of them.


Let me do an analysis of renting a box or shelf.
1.  Different companies have different commission charged. It is usually between 8% to 10%. Most of the shelves rental still carry their own products which include toys or phone accessories. Therefore, do take note of the commission when marking the price of your items as for every $100 of sales, $10 is the profit.


2.  Different companies have different staff management. Some companies has a minimum of 2 or more staff daily. Some companies only 1 or 2 staff. The negative point of having 1 staff is not enough to serve the customers and the need to close for lunch break. People may just get tired of waiting and leave. 

However, the quality of staff is important. 
Some staff just sit behind the counter using their hp and chit chatting. They have no knowledge of the items in the shop and just use the excuse that they are just a consignment shop. Sometimes you are selling the item but the staff will just ask the customers to look for items themselves. People are turned off by the staff's attitude. I am not sure if the management does check on the service by the staff.
Some staff are always on their feet and helping out customers' questions. Some staff bothered to pack the shelf and some just tell you they are busy or it is too difficult. It is hard to have good sales in a messy shop

Some staff are just too preoccupied behind the counter to deter shoplifting. 

I will suggest dropping by the counter to double check on the quality of staff. Good staff will really help in the sales as they are friendly and willing to help. They also will help you pack your items and deter shoplifting by just being on their feet. On the other hand, do not expect the shelves to be always neat as priority is serving customers and not packing the shelf to pack .

3.  Price war. Most shops have a clause on not allowing price war. Not all shops actually take action when price war happens. They just say is competition. So someone can come along and sell something at a much lower price. Some will discourage the other sellers and inform you if this happens. If a price war starts, the only winners are the shelf rental shop and the customers. Having different promotion to entice customers is actually good, but having sellers price cutting each other will only results in sellers losing substantial income. Price cut is an irreversible process.  There is always the reasoning of the survival of the fittest or in other words, who have the most capital.

4. This kind of shop is attractive to a lot of people as it sells a variety of stuff. There are some shops that does not control the variety of items sold. It is getting boring. Nowadays, a lot of shops has not been controlling the items sold.  The main thing is handphone case and accessories, slime and kpop. 

5. There are some shops that allowed their staff to sell items in the shop. The advantage of that, it increase the variety of items sold. If you are doing well, they can always join in the game. They will know exactly what is selling well, how to display and more information than you or any new seller that is joining you. There are some rules and regulations to keep staff in check. 



Cost involved
If you are renting single shelf. The rent will be $150 to $200 plus. Let take the cost of $180. In order to cover the rent and commission, you will need a sales of $200. If your stock cost is around $100 for a month, then you will need around $300 for a single shelf and $500 for a double shelf to cover some of the operating cost.

There are other cost like buying racks and containers, damaged and stolen stock and also labour cost. If you put in 5 hours into the shelf, you should expect at least $50 for labour cost. Labour cost include travelling time, packing of items for sale and packing of shelf.  The remaining then is your actual profit. It is advisable to drop by once a week or fornightly, to restock and get comments on how to improve sales and display. The hours put in should be more than 5 hours.

A lot of people do not count in all the cost, especially their own labour cost so they think they are making a big profit. There are also cost like damaged goods and shoplifting. 
I heard of a lot of people commenting it is good profit because an item can make like $5 profit. In order to cover cost of $550, 110 of the items need to be sold which is like 4 items per day to cover cost. And this, we are only talking about covering cost and not making profit

If you stand around and watch, there are sales but not a lot of items are sold per shelf That are some people who believe making a $1 profit per item is already enough. We need to sell 550 items which is almost 20 pieces a day. If you are selling hair clips or phone case, you will realise very few shelfs sells 20 pieces a day. Maybe more than 50 phone cases are sold, but divide by the large number of shelves selling phone cases. It will be not as much. Selling what everyone is selling is not going to beneficial unless you have something different. The profit margin must be higher to cover rental, commission, labour, stock and theft. Do your accounts first, a lot of people just end up paying rent to the shop and not making profit. Or believing they are making a profit by ignoring some costs. 

Tips

1. Visit the shop a few times to not just check out the traffic flow. The quality of the staff which is are the staff packing the shelves, helping the customers and walking around.
2. Try to keep the same price as others. There is no point starting a price war as others will follow suit or reduce the price even more. and it will just benefit the customers. Decreasing price will not bring the same increase in sales. Unless you are intending to use a lot of money to kill off all competitors.
3. Count your cost and expenses properly. Sales is not the same as profit. Remember you are not free labour.
4. Look at how other vendor arrange their items. Learn how to present in a neat and orderly manner. It will be more attractive.
5. The rent of shelf is usually is higher at eye level. If you are selling small items, it is better to get an eye level shelf. If you are selling big items, it is better to save cost by getting lower but bigger shelf so more items can be put in.
6. Closed and open locker depends on the items you are selling. There are a lot of shoplifting nowadays. Some occurred when the staff are just too busy and some when they are too lazy. Open locker allowed easy access to the stuff you selling, even when the staff is busy. There are some people who walk away because the staff is busy. Open locker are have more damaged goods and shoplifting.

It is a good way to start small business, there are people who started at the shelf business and managed to start their own shop. There are people who worked at this shop and learn enough to use these shops to making their living. However, more people actually just pay rent to learn a lesson. Think carefully about the costs and how much sales you can expect. 


Friday 31 March 2017

Tokyo free and easy : Meiji Shrine


We decided to take a bus down  instead of the train. Firstly, it is only like 3-4 stops from our apartment and the busstop is just 3 mins walk away. Secondly, it was the first time that we are taking a bus in Japan. We followed Google map instructions and have no problem for our little bus ride.
You can also use your Suica car for the bus ride.

We were quite happy that we actually took a bus. We got off at Kitasando Entrance.There were beautiful ginko trees along the road on the way to Meiji Shrine. Such a beautiful sight. Autumn is a good season to travel as there are lot of vibrant colours and the weather is not too cold and not too hot. It was easy to navigate to Meiji shrine as we just followed the google map. After the entrance, we still need to walk around 5-10 minutes  to the shrines.






We did not know the day we went on the day of Harvest festival at Meiji Shrine. It was a pleasant surprise. There are a lot of decorations by fruits and vegetables. It is held at the around late November.



There is english fortune telling poetry costing 100yen.


Traditional Japanese wedding






There are a lot of locals dressed up for the event especially children. It is so cute to see them walking around. 






After watching the display at Meiji Shrine, we make our way to Harajuku. 
There was a Chrysanthemum exhibit. Not a very bit display but it was beautiful nonetheless. 
There are a lot of Chrysanthemum display in Japan during the month of November. 
If you are into nature, November is month of the vibrant autumn leaves, the Chrysanthemum flowers and yellow ginkgo leaves.





It is quite easy to navigate from Meiji Shrine to HArajuku. It is not that far but walking will take around 10-15 minutes depending on your speed.
It is good to plan both location together. 
After a walk and exploring Meiji Shrine, it will be time to feast and shop at Harajuku.


There is a museum at Meiji Shrine that displays a lot of historial items including items being the Emperor and Empress. Entrance fee is 500yen. I never been there so I can give a review on it


Meiji Shrine: From Harajuku Station on the JR Yamanote Line 
 Meiji-jingu-mae Station on the Chiyoda 
Or you can take a bus like what I did. 
It depends on where you are starting your journey from.

Thursday 9 March 2017

Tokyo Free and Easy : Tokyo Tower

Can see the Tokyo Tower from the station exit. You can definitely find you way there.


Directions

There are a few stationS available to reach Tokyo STation. Definitely will choose the one with the least walking time unless you have a day pass to make use of.
I got off at Akanebashi Station and follow signs and exits and definitely my Google map. Navigation is not hard. Just follow the crowd.

There are 2 paths leading to Tokyo Tower, the closer one is a steep slope and the path further down is flat. If you with eldery or not one who like slope, walk further down and take the shorter and flat path







My favourite shot.






JCB card members will have complimentary tickets for Tokyo Tower. That is why mine is 0 yen


Tickets for Main Observatory:
Adult 900 yen and child is 500 yen.
Tickets for One Piece Tower and Main Observatory Set Ticket:
3900 yen for adult
2000 yen to 3600 yen for students/child

Main Observatory Business  Hours are 9am - 11 pm ( Final Entry at 1030pm)

Tokyo on piece Tower Business Hours ar 10am - 10 pm ( Final Entry at 9pm)



For any tourist who did to do their snack shopping.
MOst snacks are available at airport unless some more unique ones.
However, airport has quite a long queue and a big crowd so go to DFS early if you intend to purchase souvenirs at the airport.


  We did not go to the Tokyo One Piece Tower. However, there are some images which you can take photos with.







Tips :
1. If you are exiting at the same station as me, choose the right path to the Tokyo Tower unless you don't mind slopes.
2. Apply for the JCB card, you save $10
3. Go around 1 to 1 .5 hour before sunset. Google sunset at Tokyo. It will give you ample time to take photos of the Tokyo tower in daylight and also a clear view of the buildings and landmarks. It will be hard to spot Mount Fuji and other significant landmarks.
4. Choose a clear and bright day. The views will be better and clearer and the sunset will be beautiful. I did not manage to catch any sunset as it was too cloudy. I was quite disappointed. 
5. If you are into night scenery, a tripod will be good.
6. Do not plan to have your dinner at Tokyo Tower, the food choices was very limited. The food court food was just average. Not really worth my time and money.

I never been to other observatory towers in Tokyo so I can't give my comparison.
It is definitely worth going for me as I did not pay for the tickets. 


The other 2 Obversatory Tower.








Wednesday 1 March 2017

How to travel around Tokyo Metro Subway Jr Keio Line Suica Map




Tokyo train lines maybe complicated but with Google Maps. Things has become much much easily.


Suica/PAsmo Card

If you are doing a free and easy in Tokyo, you can buy a Suica / Pasmo card at the airport. For theThe card will cost 2000 yen, a deposit of 500 yen is automatically included in the price. The deposit can be claimed back ONLY in Tokyo, at by JR East stations for Suica, and participating private railway and subway stations for Pasmo. You can purchase both cards at the airport. There is no significant difference in price most of the time. Mainly is for the convenience of checking out the fare and queuing up to buy tickets and having to take out your money every now and then. However, it can't be used for shinkansen, limited express tickets and airport bus.



For me, I bought the Suica card, it can be used in some other parts of Japan which include Osaka and Kyoto which I also visited.


MOre information on Suica Card and where to get it

More information on Pasmo card and where to get it

Good read on both cards http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_003.html


One-day Pass

There are more than 1 type of one-day pass available.

If you do want to save some money, you can buy the pass only on days that you travel extensively.


1. Metro one day pass Adult 600 yen Child 300yen

At trip on the metro cost around 170-310 yen. If you make more than 3 trips, this is a good deal to get. However, not all places are accessible by the metro. Do your research and plan those metro trips together, it will help you save quite a significant amount of money. This is valid for 24 hours.


2. Toei Subway and Tokyo Metro One day pass. Adult 1000 yen child 500 yen

This is valid for Toei Subway and Tokyo. However, this is only valid for the day of purchase


3. Tokyo Combination ticket (Tokyo Furii Kippu) Adult 1590 yen Child 800yen

This allow unlimited rides on Tokyo Metro, Toei Subway, Toei Streetcar (Toden), Toei Bus (except for buses with fixed seats, etc.), all sections of Nippori-Toneri Liner as well as all JR lines within the Tokyo metropolitan area. This is only valid on the day of purchase

4. Tokunai PAss Adult 730 yen child 360 yen

This is for JR trains (except JR express trains) running within the 23 wards of Tokyo as many times as you want.

This is valid on day of purchase.


5. Toei One- Day Economy pass Adult 700 yen Child 350yen kyotso ichinichi Josha-ken


This is available on Toei streetcars, buses and from ticket vending machines at Toei Subway stations. This is avilable on day of purchase



6. Yurikamome One-day Open ticket Ichiniichi JOshu-ken Adult 800 yen Child 400 yen

Availble for Odaiba (Tokyo Bay area)


The one day pass is available at the train station itself. The Metro pass will be available at the metro station.



More information on one day pass


GOOGLE MAP: How to navigate your way around Tokyo



As I mentioned, Google maps work very well in Tokyo and other parts of Japan.

Before you set off, you can plan your route. Google map will show you the different options available. If you have the metro pass, you will try to choose the one that suggest metro rides. And if you are someone on a budget, you can choose the one that is the cheapest or walk. If you are with elderly, choose the least complicated and the one with least walking.


Key in the place you are going. You can choose my location. As I am back in Singapore, I can't choose my location. Walking is the cheapest. Jr line seems to the cheapest but takes the longest time and the walking time is almost the same as walking straight to the location.

Fakutoshin line will be the metro line. The bus caught my interest the most as I have never taken the bus in Tokyo before and the walking time is shorter. I asked the hotel about the bus route, but they do not know anything about it.I went during autumn so the weather was good for walking. If you are going during summer/cold winter, maybe walking is not a good choice. The bus is good if you are not good with stairs but bus stop is not as clearly marked as train station. The good thing about walking is sometimes you catch some beautiful sights that you clearly don't expect to see.


I am a bit paranoid about getting lost so I will be check whether the walking route is complicated as sometimes we missed a turn and we end up walking a much longer distance. I will keep my GPS on till I reach the destination to ensure that I don't missed out anything











1. Taking the bus to Meiji Shrine









Click on the options for more details like walking distance. The number of stops. Fairly close by bus stop.



Bus stop is near to the shrine which means I can take a nice walk around the gardeb before I reach the Shrine.

2. For the walking part, I will definitely recommend you keep the GPS. They will tell you when to turn at every little junction. Will get there safe and sound and shortest possible time. Zoom in to see the important landmarks to make sure you are on the right track. And there is a little arrow when you are walking. Make sure your arrow is pointing to the direction of the road you are supposed to talk. I sometimes do a 360 turn to make sure I am starting on the correction direction.

Below is the preview. You can analyse the route to decide if it worth the walk. However, when you are walking and the GPS is on, you can instant update of your location so you will not be lost.






3. Going by Metro. They will show you the stops and time so if it is a long ride. Can just space out and play with you hp. press the individual options for more information.




I am not an expert on Japan transport but I hope this helps.



Thursday 16 February 2017

Tokyo free and easy : Ameyoko Market




Ameyoko market.The name "Ameyoko" is a short form for "Ameya Yokocho" (candy store alley), as candies were traditionally sold there.

Take the Jr to Ueno (Hirokoji Exit and cross the road and walk alone the right lane) or Okachimachi (North exit and cross the road and walk alone the left side) station. Ameyoko is a long stretch of shops so both stations are fine.


I visit Ueno park before walking to Ameyoko Market. Hence, I got down from Ueno Station.



Reason why I love Ameyoko MArket

1. Food


Sashimi by the roadside.  Price range from around 800 yen to 100 yen. 
It is situated near the snack store. Place your order, find a seat and enjoy your food.
When I first visited Japan 8 years ago, lot of locals dine there. I think because of the influx of the tourist, most people who eat here are tourists and the food serving did become smaller. However, it is still sashimi at reasonable price and it is an interesting to try eating by the roadside. There are also a lot of similar small eateries serving this for people. There are eateries selling sushi and other food. No worries if you don't take raw food. There are also small shops selling takoyaki and other snacks. A great place for lunch and there are food to snack on while you shop.





2. Big supermarket with snacks and cuttlefish



I cant really pinpoint the exact location of the shop. But it is just beside the shrine. There is this big supermarket selling all sort of Japanese snack at reasonable price. You can cart home a lot of snacks at reasonable price and the best of all, the packaging are simple. You are not bringing back air and cardboards. The best part of all is you spent 10 000 yen( please check with the staff whether it is 5000 yen or 10000 yen as I can't remember), you get tax refund.  
I love cuttlefish and this is the place to get them at reasonable price.


3. Fresh seafood. 


You can either just take a look at them and just enjoy seeing the locals peddling their seafood. Or buy some and enjoy it in the hotel if your apartment has a kitchenette or microwave.
It is an interesting sight.
Avoid new year eve as it can get really crowded.



4. Shopping




 There are sport apparels, anello bags, luggage, clothes, spectacles shops. Some of the sport apparel are having quite good deals.  Be ready to shop.
There is a 100 yen shop located near the snack shop too. The selection may not be as good as daiso but there still some interesting finds.


Ameyoko has changed since I last visited 8 years ago. Now, it cater slightly more to tourists. However, it is still an interesting place to be at, with delicious food, shopping, snacks and fresh seafood. And it is conveniently located near the train station.