Leap Frogging

I love Malaysian politics. Provides hours of entertainment, like how i used to enjoy playing 'leap frog' with my friends when i was about 5 years old. Gotta love the Perak situation now.

Politics aside, its gonna be a swamped month ahead as work piles up after the CNY hols and the missus leaving back to the land down under at the end of the month. Amidst all this chaos, i'm struggling to squeeze in some time for me to go get some new 19" shoes for the Odyssey. Driving a stock ride around is just not going to kick it. Speaking of the new ride, i'm taking it on a one-day crusade to Ipoh and Alor Setar tomorrow, see how she does on the open highways.
I've also discovered that trying to play with 2 cars at once is major taxing on the bank account - the Putra requiring some minor work for a few oil leaks and new shocks, the Odyssey needing major wheel upgrade and a lowering job. Not forgetting the BMW overheating a couple of days ago and needing a new thermostat... sigh. Thank god i stayed away from playing with european marques.

Truth be told, It is the unexplainable joy and satisfaction of mental modding that drives us enthusiasts to strive for unique distinction and improvement of profit-chasing factory production line vehicles. A passion driven hobby and sport that provides a learning challenge for us all. Stay tuned as i try to share some info on the man who influenced me into buying an odyssey. A mental modder armed with a souped up Saab turbo, a mean green mini cooperS... and a modded Odyssey equipped with the ultimate mod...... a baby seat. To the boring folks who think we should stop modding cars once you grow up or get married ---> STUFF YOU!! :P

have a great week everyone!!

Chinese New Year 2009

Chinese new year this year was plagued with horror robbery stories. Meet ups served as a forum to exchange stories. With the current economic downturn creating unemployment for thousands, the escalating crime rate isn't a surprise. But the brazen attitude of robbers nowadays can send shivers down the spines of even the most hardy of men. Robbers nowadays employ the "Shock & Awe" tactic, first championed by the Americans during the Iraq invasion - the knife/parang strikes first, even before assessing if there are any valuables. This leaves victims in a state of shock with almost zero possibility of retaliation. Sigh... if only they'd just stick out the knife and ASK, I'm pretty sure almost anyone would surrender their valuables. Unnecessary harm avoided. Even those living in gated/guarded communities and apartments aren't spared nowadays...from what i've been told, most of these bold and audacious crimes occur during the day! and are no longer gender biased!

Oh well, there's not much we can do but to take precautionary measures. Be constantly alert and observant of your surroundings, mentally make a quick note of possible criminal scenarios and have evasive action plans in mind, if in an accident - take note of the number plate of the vehicle and make-off to the nearest police station (do not step out of your car!), always ensure car doors are always locked, valuables are not visible even whilst driving, make use of Shopping mall parking security escort services (alot of malls are employing this service now since the Canny Ong murder), and most importantly... if all else fails, toss valuables at the robber and make like a banana and split in the opposite direction or to the nearest crowded area... Lost cars, cash and valuable can be re-purchased but life... life is non renewable. Retaliation is futile.

Take care everyone!!

Ironic as it may seem

Meeting up with friends or if you step into a coffee shop, you're bound to overhear people whining about the economy. If you look at the global economy on a whole and what economists are saying though, you can't deny that Malaysia is well protected from the effects of the economic meltdown affecting the developed nations. But the pessimism of the Malaysian people could set the stage for a self-fulfilling prophecy. (as mentioned by Mr.Soo Ewe Jin of The Star). Keep up the selfish negative nature and we're bound to head in the direction we constantly whine about. Here are excerpts from the article in the The Star by Mr.Soo that we should all think about.

"Our individual actions to spur on the economy cannot be underestimated.... we should do our part and not just whine all the time like Chicken Little that the sky is falling."

If you've studied some sort of basic economics, you'd understand that the smallest purchase of any goods or services has a domino effect in contributing to the economy on a larger scale. Domestic demand has to increase or be maintained to compensate for the decline in international demand to cushion the effects of the global economic meltdown. I think Malaysia is doing fairly well in these gloomy times, so quitting talking about the doom & gloom and LIVE YOUR LIFE.

"Sometimes we can be too obsessed about matters far away that do not affect us that we fail to act on matters closer to home that we have control over."

"Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what clearly lies at hand"
- Thomas Carlyle, British Historian & Essayist.

As Mr.Soo of The Star put it, CARPE DIEM! Just seize the day!

of sunsets and overworked souls...

To me, sunsets create a surreal sense of calm and serenity. Watching the perfect sunset invokes a feeling of pure tranquility and composure, soothing the soul and massaging the emotional glands. Troubles mystically fade into the cool glow of the sun's rays and for that few minutes... life is just perfect, nothing else matters. Occasionally a cool warm purple and orange-ish hue emanates through the clouds during sunset, creating the ultimate postcard picture. The sun setting between two mountains coupled with the reflection off a watery surface, grassy meadow or wide open padi field accolades the most tranquil atmosphere... the perfect sunset. I wish i could bottle up the feelings garnered whilst watching the sunset and open the bottle for a whiff of tranquility as when needed. Or maybe mass produce it and drop it over a war zone ala crop dusting to stop all the killing... wishful thinking.

Anyway, yeah yeah... Three Sixty's event brigade is back on the road for the 2nd time. Touring entire Malaysia once again, from the South to the North of the Peninsula, and end to end of Borneo (Sabah & Sarawak). For the first time, the boys will be thinly spread out across all corners of Malaysia, doing what we always do... pulling off miracles.
By the time this post hits print, i'd probably be touring Malaysia for the 2nd time in 2-weeks, this time executing the event itself.

It was during my 4-day recce of Peninsula Malaysia (Ipoh - Butterworth - Penang - Sg.Petani - Alor Star - Kangar - JB - Batu Pahat - Muar - Melaka - Seremban - KL) that i discovered some amazing sunsets north of Malaysia.
Uluwatu-who? Try Alor Star and Kangar. I was impressed even after having experienced some amazing sunsets in Australia and Bali. So impressed was i that i'm hoping to influence enough of my mates to go on a road trip through the coastal and trunk roads of Peninsula Malaysia (again!), to check out sceneries and sights off the beaten path.

Here are some pictures taken during my long and arduous road trip across the peninsula.

Somewhere up north of the Peninsula
Empty CrossroadI love this "Reflection on Reflection" shot.Public cooked food market?I took a random pic of an old building, and this very eerie shot came out... grainy and green, took a 2nd pic and it was perfectly fine.
notice something in window? This is a real creepy picture. The lighting, old stuffs, and relfections in the old mirrors give it a real eerie feel. As if frozen in time.
Old skool barber shop still in operation... check out the barber chairs, mirrors, tools, and old school silver coloured cassette boom box in the reflection in the mirror!

It's over!... well, sorta.

You must be getting tired of hearing me whine about my "Trans-Peninsula tour", i think it should be aptly dubbed LE TOUR DE MALAYSIA from here on. Yes, i've just managed to bed my head in a familiar room with orange walls and to the scent of dirty laundry (aah..its good to be home!). I've just returned from my grueling east coast tour with the boys of ThreeSixty, where our sleeping patterns were turned inside out and budget hotel rooms were called home. I made a bad decision to drive myself to Kuala Terrengganu on Thursday evening (offer to ride with the crew was duly declined by yours truly), as it took me 7-hours of NON-STOP solo driving to get from PJ to KT Beach Resort in Kuala Terrengganu!! And trust me, yours truly does not drive like your nanny on the highways. To top of it all off, i had the rain dotted with sporadic torrential downpours as company throughout my arduous journey.

KL-KUANTAN highway is nice smooth, long, and quiet... boring. You're the only car on the road most of the time.

Couldn't get any pics of the stretch from Kuantan - Kuala Terrenganu as it was night and i was dodging trucks, cows, and idiotic drivers.

7-hours driving, torrential rain, excessive nicotine consumption, coupled with inadequate h2o intake, resulted in a massive fever and gut regurgitating cough as soon as i reached Kuala Terrengganu. Splendid!

As usual, crew worked almost 24-hrs, and as usual we were plagued with minor but annoying issues here and there. My fever and cough got worse on departure day, so Lim was my designated driver for the journey from Kuala Terrengganu to Kuantan. A couple of pit-stops along the way and we eventually reached Grand City Hotel Kuantan, our new home for the next couple of days. It was literally my home for the next 48hrs as i almost never left the hotel room, trying in vain to nurse my irritated throat.

2am Supper

It feels great to be back home... but i was hoping the work-related phone calls would stop too, but i was wrong. No time to fully recover and its back to work again. I've always proclaimed myself to be 21years old....for about the last 7 years or so. But reality check after this grueling 4-weeks, i now have to admit that though i may be 21 years old at heart and soul (and mind sometimes too..), my body is nearing the big 30.. and coping with such workload is beginning to take its toll. Tell tale signs aplenty. I'm now looking forward to Q4 of 2008 where i have a host of "happy-happy-joy-joy" things to look forward to, mainly EmilyT coming back from Oz in November, and my much anticipated new ride that'll hopefully grace my stables by September. PLUS! much needed R&R holidays in ChiangMai in September and a week long indo-escapade in Jakarta circa early November. i can't wait! woo-hoo! ok, Blog time over, back to work.

Kuantan...

Have a great week everyone!

OFF THE ROAD

Finally! i'm back to the comfort of my queen sized bed, orange walls and internet access after almost a week on the road. My 5-day trans-Peninsula tour started at 1am on Wednesday as Gav and i headed to JUUP (kiss in thai..) CLUB Johor Bahru to setup for a cancer stick event, then back to KL and i was off to Penang (ALONE!) after spending less than 20hrs in KL... of which 16 were spent in the office or carrying out work related tasks. From Penang it was off to Seberang Prai at 11pm. Here's where it gets real bad.. due to the St.Anne's Festival in Bukit Mertajam, it was impossible for me to get a hotel room (even in the smallest of motels..). So, i made the decision at 4am to head straight to Taiping and the rest of the crew can meet me there the following afternoon after they check out from Prai. Reaching Taiping at around 5am, i only managed to put my head down on a hotel pillow at 9.45am. 9.45am!! Who would've guessed that all the hotels including cheapo motels to the Taiping Golf and Country Club Resort would be fully booked for that night!! Unable to keep my eyes open any longer, i decided to head back out to the North South Expressway where i noticed a hotel attached to the Bukit Merah R&R stop. I'm a fuss pot when it comes to hotels... my team at 360 would gladly tell the world about it... this GRAND PARADISE HOTEL (located along the north-south expressway at selected rest areas) takes the cake for being the worst hotel ever! GRAND PARADISE? oh my.... it was a good thing i was dead tired, as i hit the bed fully clothed and fell asleep in a blink of an eye. The facade and clean lobby of the hotel hides its dark seedy truth... the room not only smelled like a week old wet t-shirt wrapped around a giant ashtray, but the carpet was sticky and stained and mini fly-like bugs hovered around the shower stall.... utterly revolting! My life was saved by the rest of the crew as they had managed to secure the last 4-rooms at Panorama Hotel Taiping. i checked out as fast as i could and made haste back towards Taiping town once again. Panorama isn't the Bvlgari Bali but it sure felt like it after spending a few hours at the previous dodgy dump...

Taiping is a really nice scenic place to visit, with rolling green hills and home to Maxwell Hill and the oldest Lake Garden in Malaysia. Little did we know that a concert (organized by ThreeSixty) in this quiet serene town would attract close to over 20 plus thousand people!! where in the world did they come from??
Continuing with the road tour... after packing up in Taiping, we headed off to Ipoh to resolve some major issues with regards to next week's scheduled concert in GIANT, Sunway City Ipoh. And now... i'm finally off the road, back in Petaling Jaya for the next few days... whew...

Tak erti kaum cina, melayu ataupun india, hanya erti Kaum Malaysia.

Spread the love. Racial Unity. Malaysians.

Malaysian Artiste For Unity

Take a minute and look back to your high school/primary school days.... Didn't you have a whole lot more friends from other races?
For the Chinese: Didn't you have more Malay friends back then?
For the Malays: Where is that Chinese good friend of yours?
Does the racial divide get greater as we age? Does our different cultural backgrounds become more prominent as we get wiser?

Many a time i've been commended for my command of our national language... and i have my group of very close (once) Malay friends to thank. People always ask why i speak the language so well, and my automated response every time is "I have many Malay friends..." then comes the next question; "When ah?, during School or what?"... and it takes me a few seconds to recollect and i sadly reply..."yeah, during school...". Everytime i'm asked that question, i can't help but wonder why we've lost touch with one another. Only a handful of friends (of another race) still keep in touch.
I guess back in school, everyone was equal and everyone had common interests. When we step out of school, social circles change, activities change, people start to discover their own unique interests and i guess if nobody puts in an effort to maintain the friendship, friends start to drift apart... and its only natural for humans to seek and foster new friendships with people of similar backgrounds, i.e: cultural, language, income, etc etc.

It doesn't take a whole lot of effort to stay in touch, a phone call every now and then, a 'mamak-session' once a week or so to catch up would easily contribute to fostering closer relations and rekindle old friendships.

I miss my old friends from high school and all the great times we had together.. we should all put in that little extra effort to forge the friendship that once was.

Bridge the racial divide. Malaysia.. One Race.

disgust

It was an utter disgusting sight last night. Malaysian's clearly reflecting their intellectual level when the fuel price hike was made public. Ridiculous gridlocks nationwide caused by the typical kiasu malaysian. Queing for hours to fill ONE tank of petrol before the midnight price increase... lacking in grey-matter, they didnt stop to think that the hours wasted in the jam, the inconvenience caused to the more sensible Malaysians, and the amount of fuel wasted while queing to fill up cost more than the tiny amount they save on that ONE tank of petrol!! if the fuel could last them a month or more, than i'd understand their need to go stock up prior to price hike... but it doesn't! these idiots will have to visit the petrol station in the next few days to fill up again.... urgh!.

I don't have a problem with the fuel price hike honestly.. but i have a feeling that its going to affect the lower income group quite badly... let us all monitor the statistics of snatch thefts, robberies, break-ins etc etc to see if there's an increase in the next few months. the domino effect...

oh well.... thats it for today. i'm off to Bangkok with the Missus tomorrow for 4-days of shopping, back again on the 9th of June 2008.. have a great weekend everyone!!