Easy Way to Save Your Electricity Bill
I just grabbed some letter from my mailbox, and find out there is another electricity Bill from EnergyAustralia. It looks like how much it cost me this quarter is pretty much the same with last bill. Which is a bit weird, because i have tried to do some energy saving including changing same light bulbs, which for sure will reduce my electricity usage this quarter.
After checking more from the bill detail, i find out that there is actually 3 kinds of energy rate: Off peak, Shoulder, and Peak time rate.
So here is simple tips to save your electricity bill by understanding how EnergyAustralia charge us: Try to reduce your energy usage from peak time because the rate is very expensive.
| Time ( For Residential NSW) | Rate ( Excluding GST) |
| Peak (2pm-8pm working weekdays) (cents/kWh) : | 27.50 |
| Shoulder (7am-2pm and 8pm-10pm working weekdays and 7am-10pm on weekends and public holidays) (cents/kWh) | 9.9 |
| Off Peak (All other times) (cents/kWh) | 5.5 |
You can see from the electricity cost table above, the rate for peak time is around 3 times more expensive than shoulder rate and 5 times more expensive than the of peak time. So if you can reduce your electricity appliances during this peak time, for sure you can expect lot of reduction in your next electricity bill.
Japanese Kokeshi Dolls
I was walking around in some art shops, and i found this cute wood japanese dolls. Apparently its called Kokeshi dolls. Because its very cute, my wife decided to buy one of them, so we can put it in our living room. Curious about the kokeshi dolls, i did some googling, and find some history about japan kokeshi doll.
History of Kokeshi
Traditional Japanese Kokeshi began to be made approximately two hundred years ago sometime in the middle of the Edo period(1603-1867). The kokeshi dolls emerged out of local life and culture and were first produced in the north east area of Japan known as the Tohoku region. It is commonly thought that woodwork artisans of the time know as Kijiya, (which means woodworker in Japanese) originally specialized in wooden household utensils such as trays and bowls. Then they began to make small dolls in the winter to sell to the tourists who came to bathe in the many onsens (hot springs) near their villages. The few people who could afford the luxury of such a pastime bought the Kokeshi dolls as a souvenir and took the dolls back to their own areas where they were often passed on to the children. This, they thought, would promise a good harvest, as it was believed that it would create a positive impression on the gods if children played with the dolls.
There are 11 Type of traditional kokeshi dolls. Traditional dolls made today can be classified under eleven types : Tsuchiyu, Togatta, Yajiro, Naruko, Sakunami, Yamagata, Kijiyama, Nanbu, Tsugaru, Zao takayu, and Hijioro.
The kokeshi dolls now is sitting besides my TV in my living room, and it looks very charming. I think i might get another one because its so unique and cute.
How to get Ten HD TV Program
Yesterday, i was playing around with my Samsung plasma TV PS42C91HDX. I tried to find out how to get the channel 10 HD TV program. It is just not really clear for me the instruction given by channel Ten regarding how to get this HD program. At the beginning I thought that if i got HD TV , i will just be able to watch the program directly, but apparently there gonna be another channel 10 HD. So basically, you will get 2 different channel. One is for normal channel 10 , and the other one is channel 10 HD program.
I tried to find out how to get the channel 10 HD TV program. It is just not really clear for me the instruction given by channel Ten regarding how to get this HD program. At the beginning I thought that if i got HD TV , i will just be able to watch the program directly, but apparently there gonna be another channel 10 HD. So basically, you will get 2 different channel. One is for normal channel 10 , and the other one is channel 10 HD program.To be able to view TEN HD program, You must have either a HD capable integrated digital TV or a HD capable set top box. And You may need to retune your integrated digital TV or set-top-box to receive TEN HD.
So here is what i do with my samsung Plasma HD TV to get the Ten HD Channel:
- Set the plug and play setting ON ( not sure this is compulsory or not, because at the first time i didn’t turn it on, and i still can’t find the HD channel)
- Retune my Samsung plasma TV channel program
- Once its finish finding the Hd channel and setting up the channel, you will be able to view the HD Program.( If you own samsung plasma TV, you can switch to HD channel by clicking on TV/DTV button on your remote control.
Exetel ADSL2+ Internet Connection
Finally i move in to my new place already in Hornsby. I actually planned to sign up with TPG for my internet connection as i wrote before on the other posting “TPG or Westnet”, but then i changed my mind. After comparing the price and bandwidth, i decided to sign up with exetel. I took the ADSL2 bundled With Telephone as well. Its actually almost the same price if i take the telstra (for my home phoneline)+ TPG (for the ADSL2+) but exetel offer cheaper price for the local phone call, where telstra plan cost me 30cents per call, whereas exetel only charge me 18cents. Its gonna takes around 2 weeks until i can get the ADSL2+ connection, so meanwhile i’m using prepaid hello dial up for my internet connection, which is a pain in my ass, very very slow. Hopefully exetel can finish the process faster and i don’t have to wait too long. From what i read in whirpool forum, exetel got pretty good feedback so far, and its one of the reason i sign up with them. If you are using exetel, please give me some feedback here.
Costco is coming to Australia
One of my favourite tv show is the “Current Affair” which is shown at 6.30 pm monday to friday. On Current Affair yesterday show, they mention about the Big Discount supermarket Costco which will soon open their shop in australia. First opened in the 1970s in San Diego as a price club, this retail giant has grown from a warehouse style outlet store for members only to a hugely-popular cost-saving brand. To see how much you can save if you shop in Costco here are just a few sample item from the US store, converted into Australian dollars.