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2010-04-05T20:28:00.001+01:00

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Streetcar vs Zipcar

2010-04-05T19:35:00.005+01:00

I've done a bit of research comparing the two main car club in London, Streetcar vs Zipcar. The concept is the same, you can get, a car hopefully a stone throw away from where you live, and you pay by the hour. There's a daily charge that usually equal to the charge of 10 hour use and a certain mileage is included. Petrol is free but they do charge you by the mile.

I'd go with Streetcar first as they were the first major player in London,

Streetcar

Pros:

* Much higher availability in London compared to Zipcar. They've hit the critical mass first.

* Have higher variety of cars, including "premium cars" such as BMW 1 and 3. Mainly due to the first point I believe.

* Different charge scheme, hourly, daily, weekly and monthly. The longer you reserve the car the cheaper the daily cost is. Zipcar only has hourly and daily rates.

* Includes Streetvan membership.

* Higher free mileage for booking over 72 hours, 200 miles compared to Zipcar's 60.

* One way trip (albeit at a cost)

Cons:

* High cost to reduce excess to 0. £14.95/month equates to £179.4/year.

* Less mileage per day for booking under 72 hours. Streetcar has 30 miles free vs Zipcar's 60 miles.

Zipcar

Pros:

* Worldwide availability. Not just London, Zipcar is a global company and your Zipcard will work overseas.

* Much cheaper fee to reduce excess to 0. £60/year compared to Streetcar's £179.4/year

* Higher free mileage for booking under 72 hours, 60 mile compared to Streetcar's 30 (but Streetcar's have more mileage for booking over 72 hours).

* Different membership scheme, occasional (basic), EVP50, EVP100 etc.

* Cheaper to book during weekdays in general compared to Streetcar (Streetcar does not differentiate weekdays/weekend booking apart from Mon-Fri).

Cons:

* Less availability in London.

* Not a whole of different cars you can get. In London most of them are Golf.

* Less free mileage for long booking (60 vs Streetcar's 200).

Negligible differences

* Annual cost (Streetcar's £59 vs Zipcar's £50)

* Extra mileage (23p for both of them)

* Both pay London's congestion charge

Summary

So in summary, not a whole of differences between the two. They both target the similar demographic and priced accordingly. I'm sure one has better value than the other depending on your usage pattern.

I personally use Zipcar because they have decent enough availability near my area and they were doing £25/year membership promotion and also they are much cheaper in zeroing the insurance excess cost. Since my usage pattern is on the low end side I don't want to pay the extra cost that Streetcar charge to zero the insurance excess. However if you need higher availability then perhaps Streetcar is a better choice.

Disclaimer: I tried to make this comparison as accurate as possible on the 5th April 2010, but to err is human. I made no claim whatsoever that this comparison is 100% accurate or factual. If I'm wrong I'm more than happy to be corrected.

Festival (Gum)Boots

2009-12-06T12:36:00.001Z

T in the Park 2009

I'm in festival moods this weekend. Don't know why, maybe because I just bought Isle of Wight Festival tickets for 2010?

Another festival that got me interested is the Rewind Festival. A celebration of everything that is good in the 80's. How awesome is that With 2009 line-up like Belinda Carlisle, Rick Astley, Bananarama, Gloria Gaynor I'm keen to see what's on offer in 2010.

SW4 - 2009

2009-12-06T11:19:00.000Z

SW4 is a day dance music festival down in Clapham Common. Great line-up, great weather and awesome crowd. If you're in London, and reasonably like dance music you should at least try to give it a go.

Sparkasse

2009-11-30T23:27:00.001Z

In Berlin. Yeah .. juvenile I know :)

Please keep windows closed ...

2009-11-29T20:49:00.000Z

Sign on a hostel in Berlin, hmm ...

Christmas is here?

2009-11-29T20:45:00.001Z

Pretty much. All the X'mas decorations are already up. Including this Rudolph in front of the Covent Garden market.

Winter Morning at CW

2009-11-12T08:16:00.000Z

One of the rare beautiful, crips (you only use this word around this time of the year) winter morning in Canary Wharf. Winter is here and it's going to be cold, it's only the beginning of November but it's starting to get chilly.

Wimbledon (2008)

2009-08-22T13:33:00.001+01:00

Order of play - 24th June 2008

T in the Park

2009-08-04T08:30:00.000+01:00

View of T in the Park 2009. The left stage is the main stage, on the far right is the Radio 1/NME stage. Right in front is the tent city. Our tent of course is on the furthest point possible in the tent city. It took us about 30 minute to walk from the tent to the main ground.

Not as big as Glastonbury, but big enough for us :)

Yawn ....

2009-05-15T21:40:00.003+01:00

Lack of sleep, stressed and the ever presence worry that I won't finish reviewing all materials for the CFA exam. I long to the day that I can just simply chill out enjoying the sun ... well when the sun does come out in London.

- The cat is a permanent resident of Venice.

Porter's five forces and Marrakech's souk (err ... some kind of food) shops

2009-05-04T17:15:00.004+01:00

A bit of downtime musing from the CFA study. Porter's Five Forces analysis:

1. Buyers bargaining power. High, the same stuff everywhere.

2. Suppliers bargaining power. Unknown, I wouldn't have a clue about the suppliers details for these guys.

3. The threat of substitutes. Medium ... I guess. Not entirely sure if substitutes are available or if buyers are even going to be bothered to look for substitutes.

4. Threat for new entry to the competition. Fairly low I'd imagine. The souk is probably 100% occupied so setting up a new stall is the biggest barrier of entry to compete.

5. Intensity of competitive rivalry. Again fairly low. These guys are probably know each other and have some kind of cartel going on :)

So should you enter the (err again not sure what is that thing they are selling there, it's obvious that I can't cook ... let me call them stuff) stuff industry in Marrakech's souk?

- Photo taken from the my travel back in 2006.

At the Snowcross

2009-05-02T12:52:00.001+01:00

The Snowcross at Avoriaz (Portes du Soleil) is a great idea. It is a "regulated off-piste" area. So it is off-piste, but they do mark where the cliffs are and do regular avalanche blasting. Your ski insurance should still be valid (but please don't quote me on this). Of course there are always the inherent danger venturing beyond the piste but blasting through this area is an amazing experience. Not to be missed!

Disclaimer: a certain level of ski/boarding is required, go at your own risk, I would never condone or encourage going off-piste without a guide, you should have off-piste insurance when you do go off-piste.

- Photo courtesy of Heng.

Stuck in Avoriaz

2009-04-26T11:05:00.001+01:00

Took a wrong turn at the Snowcross, went through the foresty kind of run and it ran out of snow.

- Photo courtery of Heng

London - Hyde Park

2009-04-19T18:30:00.001+01:00

The Broadwalk at Hyde Park. I haven't hang around the park for a while now, I didn't do much skating in 2008, hoping to rectify that in 2009.

My Canary Wharf - Recycle That!

2009-04-04T18:42:00.001+01:00

The bins in Canary Wharf shopping mall.

Hot water problem ... again!

2009-03-10T22:10:00.002Z

I'm having hot water issue ... again. I don't get this, every single house that I've lived in London has had hot water issue. I must have offended the hot water God ... darn it.

I've lived in Sydney for over 10 years and had 1 issue with hot water, what is it with hot water installation in London? Or do I carry that much antipodean radiation that has damaging effect on hot water boilers in London?

Spotted in London - Haymarket

2009-03-09T07:30:00.001Z

No it's not Chinatown in London and there's no flea market there either.

My Canary Wharf - Can't be too careful

2009-03-03T20:52:00.001Z

All five signs to an obviously private room.

- Canary Wharf, Early 2009

My Canary Wharf - Inside the Shopping Mall

2009-03-01T22:30:00.001Z

Wednesday night and the shopping mall is almost deserted. Waitrose is at the end of this stretch of the mall. On that Wednesday evening, after a long day at work, it felt like an empty capitalism cave, with Waitrose at the end of the tunnel. Fitting tribute to the current economic downturn.

Spotted in London - London Eye

2009-02-28T12:28:00.001Z

London Eye & Westminster taken from London Bridge.

- Late 2008

Spotted in London - Canary Wharf

2009-02-25T22:27:00.002Z

Despite so many people pooh-poohing living in Canary Wharf, I actually enjoy it here. It's close to work, we have a proper Waitrose, mini John Lewis, Tesco Direct, M & S Food and the shopping centre. A multi-screen cinema, various bars & restaurants, a few gyms, and if you're willing to travel out from the estate, there are a number of quaint bars and restaurants.

Yes you do pay the price of travelling out to West End on the weekend to socialise, but I've made my decision that I'd rather travel out to socialise and stay close to work so I don't have to deal with the commute.

Belive it or not, it's actually can be quite fun just staying in on the weekend here in Canary Wharf. I certainly do enjoy the occasional lazy Sunday going to the nearby Cafe Brera, then off to the bookshops (we have 2 major ones here), continued to HMV or Game to browse the latest DVDs and CDs and then just bumming around the shops.

Canary Wharf ... pretty it ain't, but it's home to me :)

The photo is taken inside Canary Wharf Tube Station.

Spotted in London - Warwick Avenue

2009-02-22T23:47:00.001Z

When I get to Warwick Avenue
Meet me by the entrance of the tube
We can talk things over little time
But promise me you wont stand by the light

- Duffy

Spotted in London - Ring 'N' Ride

2009-02-21T10:02:00.002Z

Great concept and idea, just I haven't seen a single bike being used in London. London, being mostly flat, is a prime candidate for biking around. Unfortunately whoever had this idea forgot that it rains almost constantly in London. Cycling (in London) is for the die-hard
only.

Spotted in London - Baker Street Tube Station

2009-02-18T22:36:00.001Z

It's a shame really, that I haven't found the time to visit one of the famous addresses in the world, 221b Baker Street.