RM41,000 car brakes

Before I begin with today's entry I'd want to express my condolences to MotoGP racer Marco Simoncelli's family and friends after he was killed in action at Sepang on Sunday when he lost control of his bike and was hit by Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi at full racing speed, even causing his helmet to come off. I do follow the MotoGP championship quite a bit and to have this young (he was only 24) and uprising talent's life taken away like that is nothing but tragic.

~RIP Marco~

So yeah, to start off my 1-week Deepavali break, yesterday my dad took me to visit some of his ex-colleagues who are working in service centers around Glenmarie. We started with Euromobil (that's Audi to the rest of you), but my dad's friend was no longer working there. What we did
find though....

... were 2 Audi R8 V10s still waiting for new homes. But with that RM1.27 million price tag, the wait might take a while. One thing that caught my attention was the options list (last picture, see the little white box by the side of the car), in particular the carbon ceramic brakes which cost RM41,000. OmFg.

Maximum power: 518bhp

Top speed: 317kph

0-100 kph time: 3.9 seconds

Next up was Nazim Auto, which is a branch for Peugeot. Dad met a few friends here, while I happened to find 2 of my college's students doing their training/internship at the service area. Small world...

After that we went to Federal Auto Cars (Volvo) and finally Toyotsu Motors (Toyota) which was a bit further away in Section 15.

After all that visiting we went to Klang where we had it's famous pork-ribs together with rice, super-peppery soup, Thai-style white taufu and some veggies.

and on the way back there was this:

Ferrari 360 Spider

Max power: 400bhp

Top speed: 299kph

0-100kph time: 4.3 seconds

Price: Apprx RM500,000 to RM700,000

Big Bad Wolf Book Sale 2011

If you're reading this, chances are you've already been to the BBWBS at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) and walked away with a hand/box/trolly/lorry/container ship load of books. Actually I'm not a bookworm myself but with discounts from 75%-95% off ALL books there, surely it's worth visiting; and since my dad wanted to go, why not~?

   

 So right after college my dad and I had lunch and headed straight to the sale. We reached the main gate of MAEPS, but it wasnt until another 5 (yes, FIVE) kilometers inside did we reach the big-ass-looking hall thanks to it's big-ass blue roof. But once we entered, it really REALLY was as big as it looks. 

Here's the view looking back from the counter.

So, what books did I get then?

Yeah, since I'm not a book lover so it's just a modest catch compared to the other hundreds and thousands of visitors. Kinda bummed that I couldn't find Kenny Dalglish, Steven Gerrard, or Michael Schumacher's biography. And also because there werent any good automotive books (except the one I got). Probably we were too late since we went on the 3rd-last day of the sale. Well at least I got Michael Jackson. TEEHEEE

Injured: Update #2

This muscle problem seems to be quite the stubborn bugger... Okay I admit I skipped a day or two of treatment, mopped the whole apartment floor and did some heavy pulling in college, which might have re-aggravated the injury. It's not as bad as pre-treatment anyway, so hopefully I can get this ironed out ASAP.

Injured: Update

Happy I am to report that my back injury is almost gone thanks to the heat rubbing cream. Should be back (no pun intention) and ready to play by next week.

On a sadder note, RIP Steve Jobs~

Spotted: Rosso Rubino F430

Or, Ruby Red. Damn that sounds so sexy. Awwwrrrrrrrrrrrr~

Ferrari F430

Maximum power: 490bhp

Top speed: 315km/h

0-100km/h time: 4.0 seconds

Price: Approximately RM800,000 to RM1million+

Volkswagen Bug-O-Rama 2011

So today was the 6th edition of the annual VW Bug-O-Rama fair at The Summit in USJ. My dad attends every year as a judge, this year I joined in (as a visitor la :p). There were some clowns, some games, but it was all about the Beetles (and Combi vans too). I not sure what's going on with Blogger and adding photos, I cant seem to add any in. Will try again another day; so in the meantime here's me taking a walk around the carnival:

Ferrari F430 Wedding Car

So on my way back from college yesterday I passed by this bridal house in SS2 and there was this red Ferrari F430 parked outside, nicely decorated with a teddy bear couple on the front bonnet. I shared this in my Facebook Spotted album and received 19 likes in one day. I barely get 5 from any other sports car sighting I put up! But since the driver was still inside, I didnt dare to get down and take up close photos, so I only managed one picture from in the car. Eventually he did get out, and gosh he looked so young! Must be only in his late 20s (and probably borrowed or rented the car)!

Injured =='

Three weeks ago I was playing badminton when I started having these short, sharp, stinging pains in my lower back when I bend in certain ways. I still went for the next week's game, but the problem only became worse. So then I took last week off to rest but unfortunately the pain is STILL there. I'm gonna try the heat treatment method using those heat rubbing creams

Hopefully (well BY RIGHT) they (SHOULD) work and I'll be back to playing again within this week or two. If this doesnt work then it's either I start buying bags of ice or a trip to the doctor...

Honk if you're proud to be Malaysian!

So this evening me and my dad were going to the MPSJ Stadium for our exercise. We came up to the traffic lights when for some reason cars started sounding their horns. I was quite puzzled since it was a red light anyway, so what's the point? Then we saw some students (probably Form 4 or Form 5) holding up a sign saying "Honk if you're proud to be Malaysian!" and walking along the divider past the line of cars as more cars went "beep beep!" and "pon pon!". 

What the heck, so I sounded my horn too, and then *cough cough* one of the girls holding the sign turned, gave a biiiiiiiiig smile and waved right at me. TEEHEEEE. There was a guy recording their little campaign too, so perhaps it'll be on Youtube sometime in the future.

2 weeks already? o__O

Aw man, it was just last Friday I left for balik kampung and like that, *POOF* it became Koko Krunch!! I'm already back in my apartment. Time flies so fast these days... T_T

Well it was a thoroughly rotting relaxing time at home, lazing on the couch and crashing on the bed after a bit over 2 months. The rainy season meant mostly nice cool weather throughout. Aaaahhh Sitiawan I missed you so~

Finally after over a month I got to play badminton again, although managed only one outing during my stay. Haih. Seriously cant wait to play more games again and de-rust myself... Speaking of badminton, I got my shoes mended for a mere RM6, which includes stitching all around both soles.

Maaaaaaaaaybe it's not the most beautiful of fixes but they should hold on for a good half a year, perhaps more hopefully.

And speaking of breaking-apart shoes, here's my pair of sports shoes:

This was a while back, but since we're on topic.....

Oh well.

I'm already starting to miss the good, cheap food at home. I had a frickin RM5 plate of konlou mee (or mi kicap) with nothing but a palm-sized amount of noodles and some char siew. Its not that it tastes bad, but the price instantly reminded me about the better-tasting-yet-much-cheaper claypot/curry/prawn mee/etc I had over the past week.

And here I am, counting down the last 3 days of college break before it's back to the old grind. *sighs*

Facebook = Take-away-all-my-privacy book

I bet all you Face Failbook users by now have realised that they've introduced a brand new 'Ticker' feature at the right side of your home page.

What this does is list/announce/reveal/publish/bocorkan every single comment, post and like on every single photo, status and whatever shit. What makes it worse is that it is not only limited to within your circle of contacts. 


So lets say I'm friends with Ah Chong, and he is friends with Ah Kit, but I am not friends with Ah Kit.


Every single comment, post and like by Ah Chong on any of Ah Kit's photos, statuses or wall will now appear in YOUR ticker.


So now in short, anything and everything you do will now be publish for all to see.


This idea is so full of fcukfail, I simply cannot write anything that displays my disgust for what is going on with Facebook. I thought the new chat bar is a rotten enough feature, but whoaaa get a load of this new Ticker. 


I am genuinely considering moving out of Facebook. Such infringement of privacy is beyond what I can tolerate. Google+? Twitter? Friendster? Choices choices.....


*Update!* It seems the Ticker's be taken off now. Jolly good thing they did.

Cuti-cuti bang bang

Woot woot 2 weeks holiday woot woot cant wait for badminton with my kaki lang woot woot cant wait to taste Sitiawan's good AND CHEAP food once again woot woot

Well actually it's been 5 (wtf FIVE already??) days since my holidays started (nevermind, still got over a week left xD), but I've been able to keep myself un-bored until today when I wasted spent wasted an hour or so walking aimlessly around The Summit USJ. But the highlight of my holidays so far was my return to Naza World and Naza Italia. This time around I was accompanied by my good online buddy Imran (who stays super near to Naza World) and we spent a good 2 hours walking around, looking and taking photos of the cars there. One thing that really ticked me off is that Naza World blocked off the exotics showroom area to visitors. I seriously could not understand the logic behind such a thing. Why call it a showroom if you dont let visitors near the cars?

So, thanks to this nonsensical rule, there are no close ups of the Aston Martin DBS, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, or Audi R8 V10 on display there. But to compensate, there are some other nice cars (and even some videos) which you can see further on down. Also, you can check out my previous visit to Naza World here and also here.

Goodbye Uncle Wong

I just got the news from my brother that my badminton coach of 10 years had passed away, although he doesnt know yet what was the cause.

He had taught and coached me tirelessly since I joined his sessions at age 7. When I first joined (and even held a badminton racket) I was a chubby and lazy slob of a boy. Well actually I got slightly chubbier until about 10 years old. I never really joined because I wanted to learn, but just because my parents wanted me to get some exercise. So then every Sunday (okay maybe not ALL, I'll admit skipping quite a number of days), for two hours, I learned how to hold a racket properly, how to swing properly, how to move around the court properly. I remember how I used to run out of breath and get dizzy when we ran 4-5 rounds of the hall as warming up during my first few years. Later on he would teach us about techniques and deception, and on my own I started to learn how to "jump" smash (I use quotation marks because it's not really much of a jump).

 These memories however, are only made special because of Uncle Wong. When I was out of breath, he would calmly tell me to take a seat and rest. When training was about to start he would ask if I'm okay and ready to go. For a brief period when I had troubles with my service he gave me an entire box of used shuttles and asked me to practice against the wall. When we practiced techniques and did them well he'd say "Yaahh, good!" with that tone of encouragement, and if we didnt, he'd say "Nevermind, keep trying!". My favourite memories of him are when we played a match and we scrambled and ran all over the place and he would sportingly shout "Run run run!!", and if the point was long and tense enough or ended in some epic/funny way, he would laugh and/or clap at the end. He knew how to share the light moments with his students.

Likewise, if we were struggling, we wouldnt hesitate to give some on-court or off-court guidance, and always he did it softly but making sure he gets his point across. Work aside, Uncle Wong was a really friendly man; we would sit down between games, have casual chit-chat (although this only came towards the end of his training days), I used to see him talk with some of the other kids' parents. We even used to play a few games together, and despite being on the shorter and slightly plump side of the scale, this man could play.
 

Over the 10 years being under him, an unbreakable bond formed between the teacher and this loyal student. I started out playing badminton just for the sake of it, but the longer I was with Uncle Wong, the more I improved, the more I began to love the game. And I have to thank him (and not forgetting Aunty Wong) for his kind yet purposeful ways of training that kept me going back for more. He never deterred or criticised his students, but always helping and guiding them. I have undying respect and appreciation for this man and what he along with his training sessions have done for me.

I couldn't imagine my life today without badminton, without my almost-torn shoes or my favourite black Yonex shirt, diving and "jump" smashing on court and eagerly waiting for the next badminton outing with friends, or even gluing my eyes to the TV to watch Chong Wei and Co during competitions. Even if I dont have championship-winning capabilities, but learning badminton from him and knowing him in person has opened up my world and taught me so many positive values, especially his patience and gentleness in teaching. I owe it all to this man, but I can never repay him enough.

Thank You Mr Wong, for all your contributions and services, and for being such an amazing coach to all of us. I will always remember your most memorable and last words to me:

"You must master the basics, that is most important; before you can be good in anything"

"Whenever you want to have training again, just give us a call"

There will probably never be another like him

An hour ago the world watched as Lin Dan picked up his fourth World Badminton Champion title, the same time millions of Chong Wei supporters cringed, sadding-ed, slumped and so on. It was a damn close fight, Chong Wei winning the first set 22-20, dropped the second at 14-21, and was on the verge of becoming our country's first ever world champion at 20-19. Alas, Lin Dan made sure he wouldnt be finished off and turned the tables on Chong Wei to win 23-21.

I really do take my hat off to Chong Wei for the brilliant (although admittedly slightly imperfect) game he played tonight, and still managed to hold his nerve in the final set right up to the last points, but perhaps he just cracked a little too much and allowed Lin Dan to take advantage. Otherwise, he definitely deserved to win the title.

It wouldnt be so painful if Chong Wei still had a few years left in him, but now aged 29, at the peak of his fitness level, with news and speculations going around that he may retire after the Olympic Games next year, there may not be another great player that can fill in his place. Just look at the next generation of players, i.e Chan Kwong Beng, Liew Darren, and the mens-doubles-players-whom-I-have-no-idea-what-their-names-are, they've never made any sort of impact that says "Watch out world, we're still here to fight". Have you ever noticed almost every tournament is about depending on Chong Wei (and perhaps Kien Keat-Boon Heong), and nothing about rising youngsters?

There was once a time when Malaysia's football team was also a force to be reckoned with when the likes of Mokthar Dahari, R. Arumugam and Soh Chin Aun took to the field. What has happened since then?

The exact same thing may very well happen with badminton. We once had Wong Choon Han, the Sidek brothers, and now Chong Wei. Given the current condition of our back-up shuttlers, I cant help but wonder will the same fate befall badminton?



:Update:

“I may have lost the opportunity to become the country’s first champion but I am coming back. I will be back in 2013 to get it right,”


Lets hope he does~

Free electricity

So I went to check my mailbox yesterday morning and I saw an enclosed envelope from TNB (I think the rest of you should be getting yours about now). Interesting, I thought that now they mail your bills to you. But what's more interesting was the bill itself:

My first thought was "omgwtfbbq FREE ELECTRICITY! XD", but after some online searching it turns out the government will cover all electric bills worth RM20 or less, and apparently this has been in effect for a few years already. o_O

But looking back at the bill again, sharing the apartment with my brother, how did the bill reach such a ridiculously low level? Our past two bills were RM22 and RM24, and also our daily electric usage wasnt abnormally low. Meter rosak? Hmm......

New updates are available for this blog~

Yehhh I know it's been almost 1 solid month since I last blogged... Couldnt really find much to write about these days. =/

So... after some much needed adjusting to college life and no longer overly thinking about all the rubbish before this, I suppose I've managed to properly settle down here in Subang. 

College life seems to have stabilized I guess, after passing 4 exams already. But still I wont let slack even a little bit; there's a very strong reminder telling me not to do so. Still having to wake up at 6.30 in the morning is still quite the a**e thing for college life though.

Remember when I said I found this group of badminton players that play on Sundays near my place? Well for some unknown reason that session is temporarily unavailable... haih~ But how come their sessions suddenly stopped just when I joined in? Face problem? ><"

My friends gave me some tips about looking for a Buddhist association for my social life-upgrading, and just so happens I found the Subang Jaya Buddhist Youth Association which is near Taylors Subang in SS15. But looking at the website and seeing how extremely out of date it is, I wonder whats the status of the association now... Should go have a walk in during my upcoming sem break soon...

In light of the many expensive exotic and sports cars I've seen running around KL, I'm considering hauling my Spotted™ photos over to my blog and perhaps share some basic information about them (or it can also be because I want to syok sendiri :P).

I've begun to notice I'm having a sharp rise in short-term memory loss... The cases so far involved placing something, somewhere, and then quickly forgetting about said something. Some of the time I manage to remember to retrive them before it's too late, and other times not quite. Once I left my notes in the library before going back, luckily the staff kept it and returned it the next day. Is my brain really beginning to rot? o.<

*End of updates*

Ferrari Dino 246 GT

http://www.motortrend.com/classic/c12_0509_top_ferraris/index8.html

"The most elegant and graceful of all Ferraris--performance that required skill and finesse, rather than the wielding of a sledgehammer." 

The Dino is a car that defines the term "beautifully balanced"--the right amount of horsepower, a superb suspension, tight gearbox, lithe handling, and a shape that ranks it as one of the most beautiful automobiles ever made.

"Placing the engine in the center of the chassis created an interesting direction and also a great effort to design the engine and new transmission for a production car of this type," remarks noted designer Tom Tjaarda. "This car represents the attempt to satisfy the vast number of clients who'd like to own a Ferrari; to produce a special car in elevated numbers without sacrificing that exclusive factor so necessary for an automobile of this type."

Thank Sergio Pininfarina for the Dino's creation. The coachbuilder considers it the second quantum design leap with Ferrari and led a chorus inside the Ferrari organization to make a mid-engine car; Ferrari responded that he felt the configuration was too dangerous for non-racing drivers to use.

When "The Old Man" finally relented in 1965, "He said, 'Okay, you make it not with a Ferrari, but with a Dino,'" Pininfarina remembers. This meant the car would have a less-powerful six-cylinder engine, so "in his mind less powerful meant less danger for the customers. And therefore I had the permission to develop the Dino."

The prototype made its debut at 1965's Paris Show and was subsequently refined over the following two years. It went on sale in 1968, with a transversally mounted 2.0-liter V-6, independent suspension front and rear, disc brakes at each corner, and a price tag far below its V-12 brethren. In 1969, the engine's displacement grew 400 cc, and in 1972 the targa-topped 246 GTS went on sale.

What's most appealing about the Dino is the way it feels and drives "small." All the corners are right there--not way out. This makes brisk driving an absolute blast, its quick steering and lack of bulk helping the car respond as you place it right where you want. And the V-6's howl as it surges toward 8000 rpm is hair raising, the sucking of air and trumpeting exhaust reminiscent of the 512 blasting down Mulsanne in the movie "Le Mans."

"You're as close to being a racer as you'll get this side of an international competition license," notes a December 1972 Motor Trend GTS road test. "Every curve seems ironed out and the pace of life gets faster. From the point of view of the onlooker it must look suicidal, but from the inside it's almost a matter of course or, at most, just a bit of brisk motoring."

So why all this too long; didn't read hullabaloo then? Simple. I had one right in front of me.....

....and the first two paragraphs sums up why this specimen has made its way onto my supposed-not-to-be-about-cars themed blog.

My shoes have only a few months to live...

Sad, but true. It's been a good 2 and a half years I've been wearing these Apacs Air-Repulsion 360s for my badminton games, and now they're showing signs of their impending demise...

Front sole starting to come off





 here too

Rear sole starting to peel..... 

 .... and detach entirely

as you can see here

 

 and also here

"Sir, your shoes only have a few months left to live"

Whether it's going to be an epic RRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIPPPPPPP or a slow and progressive cancer-style death, at least I'll be prepared for it... Tissue boxes on standby please~

  

In related news:

Today was the first time *everrrrrr* I played badminton on my own in KL. I found this group of badminton kakis at http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/90-Malaysia who happened to be regularly playing near my place here in USJ. I cant join my big brother since he and his friends play on weekdays, across the opposite end of the state, and are like, 10 levels higher than me, I decided to look around the forum for a more suitable time, place and group to play with. And find one I did. TeeHEE.

Well okay they're all about the same age as my brother (yesh, I'm the youngest one there. Awkward much?), but hey if we all play on roughly the same skill level (as I found out today, I'm a BEGINNER), then nothing else really matters right? Still I had just as good a session as I used to have with my Sitiawan kakis. Finally a chunk of my life has been restored. ~Phew~

Anybody wanna join me? :)

My black, rusty 'pet'

OKay, it isnt actually mine, but it's my dad's 1980-something Datsun 120Y. He's given me the responsibility of maintaining the car in proper running condition and keeping it clean. So every 3-4 days I'll have to start the car and drive it around for a while so that the battery doesnt go flat and let the parts work a bit and keep them lubricated. So 2 Fridays ago (3rd June) I went to start the car after 6 days of not using it (30th May was the last time I ran the car). So I pumped the accelerator pedal twice to get some petrol into the carburetor (so that it can actually start), turned the ignition, and the engine just gave a few chugs before dying off. It isnt unusual since its so old, so I just pumped and turned the key again, but the engine just cuts off shortly after starting. After that it wouldnt start at all.

At first I thought I had pumped too much petrol into the carburetor (which does prevent the car from starting), but leaving it for a good 24 hours to dry up the petrol in the carburetor didnt do anything. By this time the starter motor (the thing that actually makes your engine start) had become weaker; not turning as fast as it should. So then dad came the next Monday (June 6th), had a look and tried starting it, also unsuccessfully. Based on the weakening starter motor he first suspected the battery had reached its end; but no, it isnt even 1 year old! So we both figured the weak starter was because the battery had lost its charge after over 1 week of not being used. 

Then last Friday he came over again and we both went under the hood to look for the problem. By this time we needed to jump start the Datsun (using dad's Myvi) because the starter motor was effectively useless and the battery was almost completely drained. Still unable to start. The lethargic chug---ugg--ugg--ugg...ugg of the starter motor was just pitiful. Dad takes out a spark plug and we could see it was awfully worn out.

Here's an example:

So perhaps this was the problem? Nope. Yesterday after changing to a new set of plugs it still would not start. What next? He pulls out the hose connecting the fuel pump and the engine. He cranks the engine, and that's when our light bulbs lit up.... there was no fuel flowing out of the pump into the engine. The fuel pump had failed. Off we went to get a new fuel pump....

 Behold!!






After some hassle to put the new one on, we found another problem; the fuel hose was severely cracked. So badly cracked, the petrol was splurting out from the hose. So we went about changing that too. Alright, new spark plugs, new fuel pump, new fuel hose. With the jumper cables connected, we tried again...

Chuug-ug-ug-ug-ug-ug-ug-ug.....

Chug-ug-ug-ug-ug-ug-ug-ug.....

Chug-ug-ug-ug-krrk-krrk-krrkrrr-krkkrr-Vrruuummmmm

 It lives!!!

After a day of getting our hands blackened, standing under a mildly-hot sun from 12pm-ish until about 4, sweating like pigs, running about getting the parts, the Datsun was brought back to life~ And to celebrate, we went to get our haircuts. xD

The cycle continues

3 weeks go by very fast doesnt it? Yep, a second round of exams, the same feel-like-shit after effects, the same psychological mashing from the invigilator, and everything repeats every 3 weeks. Great life this is, isnt it~