Friday, July 31

Pure American Muscle - Dodge Challenger SRT


When I went down to the hotel suddenly saw an American muscle car. At first sight I thought it was a Chevy Camaro (watch too much of Transformer) but it is a Dodge Challenger SRT, which is an American muscle car powered with 425hp 6.1L V8 engine... man it is really beautiful and you really cannot see anyone of this in Malaysia. I quickly run to my room and grab my camera to take few pics of it, and you see it.
Sorry I didn't bring the tripod so it is a bit blur, but this is the clearest one.
She is really beautiful, and it is huge!
2o inch big wheel baby...
Hey, that's me!

Christiano Ronaldo - First Game and Last Game

Christiano Ronaldo, a boy from Madeira was bought by Manchester United for £12.24 million lightened Old Trafford at his debut with Bolton. I watched that match and I saw him. A young kid with talented skill, gotten the attention of whole stadium, and the whole world after few years. At that time, I knew he is going to win the world.

He shine like a star in season 07/08 with the title of FIFA World Player of the year, every single awards that he can win and the holy grail of Footballer - UEFA Champion's League after the penalty against Chelsea FC, I was watching him.
Until his rumour with Read Madrid, his last game with Manchester United in Champion's League final against Barcelona FC. We failed to defend the title this time, I was watching the game.
"Let me go, I will get you a good price."
"I will let you go if I can get the highest transfer fee ever."
"I will make this happen."
£80 million, Real Madrid FC.

Following the previous mignificant 7, David Beckham - he transfered to Real Madrid.

Good Luck!

Lunch at Joe's Crab Shack


My colleague John brought Eddie and myself out for lunch at Joe's Crab Shack, which is a very stylish seafood restaurant. Everything is big in US, especially food. I ordered Sunset Fire Grilled, which is a seafood pot with Alaska King Crab, prawns, sweetcorn and potatoes. It is really tasty and spicy, which made me full for that day.
Unique style of this restaurant.
Another view of this restaurant.
The sign with Texas's state.
Sunset Fire-Grilled ($ 25)
Apertizer - Fried Calamari Rings.
Statisfied after wracked all the seafoods.. phew!

Moscow > Houston > Get stucked!



After the long 10 hours flight we landed at Moscow airport. It is only 18C even it is summer, what a nice place. I did not spend much time there because the stopover was just about 2 hours. I am heading to Houston then.. very tiring journey.


The airport is not very big, just look like a domestic airport.


I was looking at my flight's schedule, where is English.....?

After get on the Boeing 777 big bird, sit in economic class seat for another 10 hours (nightmare), I arrived in Houston. Predictable, the national security officer stopped me at the entrance and asked for another screening, which took me 2 hours to complete the whole process.

First they placed me in a room with other unlucky foreigners, mostly from east Europe or third world country, until they called my name, then I need to fill up a form where the information has been filled up for more than 4 times - it is Special Registration where I have to declare for leaving United States. After some questionaires finally I entered U.S!
I reached SpringHill Suites by Taxi, I really exhausted to find another way of reaching the hotel. Guess how much it cost me? $60 which equal to RM 210 for 30 minutes drive.
It is summer, it is hot.
You won't think of other stuffs once you see this.. z Z Z!

Sunday, July 26

Departed from KLIA and transit at Changi Airport

As usual, checked in 2 hours earlier and the SIA staff passed me the boarding pass.
Walking here and there, take some pictures, grabbed McD (I'll be loving it in US)


There is an Aerotrain to bring me from departure hall to the Terminal in KLIA..
sorry if this is not something new to you because this is my first time boarding in KLIA.


My flight departed from KLIA at 8:30pm and arrived Singapore Changi Airport at 9:30pm. The next flight will be at 2:20am so I have to stay for couple of hours here. Thanks God I brought my laptop with me to pass time.


Phewssss... passing gate by gate via the walking machine...
Another 20 hours to reach Houston, why can't they build a warp portal? hehehehe...

Saturday, July 25

Ice Beer in Ipoh



Since I will leave Malaysia for 3 weeks, I'll need to taste the icy beer in Ipoh before I leave. As usual, called my buddy Simon and we have 4 bottles there. A big bottle of Tiger Beer is RM 12.
They not only serving beers but you can have some yummy foods there as well.



If you would like to maka a visit to the famous Ipoh ice beer, it is located at Ipoh Old town.

Wednesday, July 22

Complete Guideline for Satria Neo - part 5

This will be the last part for performance topic, most of the Satria Neo owners are not satisfied with the power output, it is just lack of power even the stock engine is 110hp. After some times, Satria Neo with performance engine slowly appears - the most common and "user friendly" engines for Proton cars are 4G92 MIVEC and 4G93T GSR Turbo. Unfortunately there is a restriction for local car where we cannot upgrade to 2.0L engine, so considering a 4G63T engine is illegal.

4G92 MIVEC
For our Neo you have to get the "reverse" version which is the MD version. This is a 1.6L N/A engine, with Variable Valve Timing technlogy which is similiar to VTEC engine. Due to high demand, the price for 4G92 halfcut is very high - RM 8000 - RM 9000 depends on the condition and mileage. The installation is straight forward - you are not required to change engine mounting.


Specs for 4G92 MIVEC
Capacity: 1597cc
Fuel System: (Mitsubishi) multi-point fuel injection
Valve train: dohc 16v with MIVEC
Compression Ratio: 11:1
Bore: 81.0
Stroke: 77.5
Maximum Output: 172HP at 7500rpm
Maximum Torque: 167Nm at 7000 rpm

4G93T GSR Turbo
This engine is for those who like turbo and the blow off sound. This is a 1.8L engine with turbo, and the torque of this engine is surperb. As usual, due to the high demand, this half cut is ranging from RM 8000 - RM 9000. Plug and play with our Satria Neo.



Specs for 4G93T:
Total Displacement: 1834cc
Mitsubishi electronic with port fuel injection (MPFI)
Turbocharger: Mitsubishi IHI TD04L-13G-5
Compression Ratio: 8.5:1
Bore: 81.0mm
Stroke: 89.0mm
Maximum Power: 190HP At 6,000rpm
Maximum Torque: 250Nm At 3,750rpm

4G63T
I have seen some Satria Neo having this monster engine, even it is illegal - if you get caught :D
This will be the ultimate engine for Satria Neo by looking at the power and torque. If you are interested, you may get the halfcut for Evolution series 5 onwards. Due to the restriction, the price is around RM 6000 - RM 8000.



Specs for 4G63T
Displacement: 1997 cc
Fuel System: ECI-MULTI
Bore: 85mm
Stroke: 88 mm
Maximum Power/Torque from base model
276 hp at 6500rpm and 373Nm at 3000rpm

Why they are all Mitsubishi engines? This is because of the history of Proton, the Proton wira series is actually a rebadge from Mitsubishi Lancer back to 90s and almost all Mitsubishi parts can be used for our National car, until Proton GEN2 where Proton started to design their own model. Till now, Mitsubishi engine is still a hot choice.

There are some other engines for your consideration also, for example the Toyota Silver top / Black top 20 valves 1.6L engine, or even Honda B series engine.

Rage Your Dream

This is the Japanese song that I like the most, it is the ending track of Initial D Stage 1. This anime has changed a lot of people, including me. Because of Initial D, I know about car. Let's enjoy the music!

I got my US Visa!


Started as an third party contractor in Shell, until I passed the assessment to become a Shell Staff, until Shell outsourced Shell IT to EDS, until EDS has been acquired by HP to become EDS, an HP company, I have never think about the possibility to go oversea for business trip - until I got my US visa. There will be at least 3 weeks in US for this trip - My work is to bring the service back to Malaysia. When my business manager offer this role to me, I have no hesitation to say yes. Not for the sake of having fun in oversea, what I am looking for is the challenge of this role. EDS Request Management - a growing team with a lot of opportunity, is recruiting. Please let me know if you are interested, I am sure you can demonstrate your talent here.

Cheers!

Ops... not yet, haven't tell you guys how I got it. After the Interview in US embassy last week, the officer informed me that I am going to wait for a week. On last Friday, they gave me a call and ask me to hand my passport for the visa. So I went to the embassy again on Monday morning, then went to KL once again to collect my passport. The pickup point is in Wisma MCA, 19th Floor.

My last piece of advice, before you plan anything, go get your visa first!

Saturday, July 18

Do you know your tyre well?


I was shock when I saw my colleague's car tyres are nearly flat and she think it is ok...
In fact, most people are trying to get the cheapest tyre when they are changing tyres. Well I do agree that changing 4 tyres are quite costly because normally you gotta pay for like RM600 and above. Think about this, tyres are the only part in the car that is touching the ground. Good tyres can save your life!

I am going to discuss about tyres, and how should you choose a set of good tyres.

Brands
They are some famous tyre manufacturer such as Yokohama, Goodyear, Bridgestone, Michelin and our local brand: Silverstone. However, Brand does not matter - each brand has their lowest grand of tyres until the flagship tyres. So it is kind of stupid if you are comparing Goodyear NCT5 with Silversone FTZ, you must know the class of tyres first.

Normal driver will have economical tyres in their mind, such as NCT5, MY01 and so on, but this type of tyres are mean for daily drive - it's gonna risk your life if you are aggressive on the road.
So, know yourself before knowing the tyre.

They are standard daily drive tyres, performance tyres, luxury car tyres and the 4X4 tyres. Please remember, you need more grip on the road means the tyre won't last long because it will be soft. The harder it is, the longer it last, the lesser its grip.


This is the standard tyre, because you can see the tread compound is quite small - good to drain water while raining but less grip on dry road.


This is an example of a performance tyre, there are only 2 major drain in design and the compound is bigger comparing to the first one. More grip on dry road, good draining on wet road as well - so it is a choice for those who like to drive fast. High performance tyre where you can have normal drive on the road and also go racing on track.


This is a type of semi slick tyre, which is for competition purpose only. If you notice, the compound is bigger than the previous model, which will touch the ground more, but the handling will become nightmare if it is raining.


This is the ultra one, it is totally flat and it is a full slick performance tyre, where normally people will use for drag car to have maximum grip while launching. Don't think you can use it on a wet road.

Tyre Size
There are various size for tyres, for example 13 inches, 14 inches which are the diameters, 55%, 60% which is the thickness of the tyres as well as 195mm, 205mm which is the tyre width. For ease of reading normally it will be like this: 15/195/55 which is a 15inches tyres with 195mm width and 55% of thickness. Tyre go expensive when it become bigger, thinner or width size is bigger. For example, a standard tyre for 15inches will be 15/195/55, if it is 15/205/60 then it will be more expensive. Same goes to those like 17inches or 18inches tyres.

Tyre pressure
Some people tend to overlook this, and this is important for handling and fuel saving. You will have the desire tyre pressure for your car in the booklet or a sticker showing near your door. If your tyre is flat then more surface is touching the road and you will pay for your fuel. Normal tyre pressure for passenger car should range from 30psi to 34psi, depending on tyre size where more pressure on front tyres. For competition purpose sometimes it can go up to 40psi to minimize understeer when take corner.

Performance tyres that I have used:
Yokohama Advan Neova AD07 - my first high performance tyre, which has excellent control on dry but bad handling while the road is wet. Tyres went out of tread easily.
Goodyear Eagle F1 - The handling is good on wet road but the grip is out when dry.
Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin Re001 - The best I have ever used, excellent control on dry and good control on wet - the draining system is very well done. Very stable in high speed.


Enclosed with the explaination of each info for your tyre.

Remember: Good tyres come with price, and it is priceless if it can save your life.

Manchester United Training Session

Thanks to SK I got 4 admission passes for Manchester United Training Session on 17th July in Stadium Bukit Jalil which is our national stadium. If you don't know - I am a big fans of Manchester United since I was 16 :) This will be the first time I see them live in action besides watching them playing via TV.

Manchester United, 3 times Premier League in a row and this coming season defending champion, has chosen Malaysia as their first location for Asia Tour. Unfortunately they have cancelled their visit to Indonesia because of the terrorist attack.

I went together with Harsh, Dinesh for the training session. Not to mention how jam the traffic was when we reached the stadium, but it is all well worth when I got to see all the big guns in the field. Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Darren Flecther, Dimitiar Berbatov, Patrick Evra all showing up, plus the new signing Micheal Owen, who has just been assigned with the magnificent number 7.

The stadium was 50% full, which I think there were more than 5o,000 people inside and the atmosphere was really fantastic. We spent about an hour there and left at 7pm, stuck in jam for 1 hour just inside the stadium, and reach office at 9pm.

It was tiring but hey, you gotta feel this at least once!

More football coverage in my blog as soon as EPL kick off!


Harsh and Dinesh both came to support MU!


This is the closest scene I can get!


Another view in the stadium.


Hey, what is the Arsenal fans doing here?


leaving the stadium with a smile on my face :)

Wednesday, July 15

Visit to US Embassy + How to apply US visa



I will have a business trip all the way to United States on this weekend, but it has been posponed due to I don't know what reason. Let's check out the entire process then you will know how hard it is going to apply an US visa.

Process to apply a non-immigrant visa (For vacation or business visit):
1. Go to any of the Alliance Bank branch and pay RM 532 (non-refundable) for processing fee.
2. Once you got the resit, wait till the next day and go to VFS where you'll need to:
Schedule an appointment with the embassy
Fill up at least 1 form (DS-156) and DS-157 if you are males between age 16 and 45
3. Snap a US Visa standard photo and attached to DS-156
4. You are right to go, with below items:
- Appointment letter
- Passport (carry all your previous expired passports)
- DS-156 / DS-157 form
- Receipt of Alliance bank payment

then it depends on your trip, for mine is a business trip so I have the supporting document from my company, and a payslip indicates that you are working there.

For holiday purpose, make sure your bank statement is there and have shown a good amount of money flowing in consistently, and some others where you'll need to refer to the website given.

My case is straight forward, but the officer told me to wait for a week to have my VISA ready, even it has been approved. According to him, it is pretty routine for such arrangement - so I have to wait for another week and I need to re-schedule my flight.

Lesson? Don't do such thing in last minute, assuming it can be done in a day.

Cheers.

Tuesday, July 14

Perak Drift Show 2009


It was a 2 days events where they have time attack (Autocross) on Saturday and Drift challenge on Sunday. I joined the time attack competition and surprisingly grabbed the champion for Class D (Open Class)! It was my first trophy of my journey in motorsports. I am really happy with it.

As usual, we went for the course walk after the registration and soon after we have 2 rounds of practice sessions. After the practice session, then we have 3 heats to get the best timing.

I managed to clock 41:09s for my first run in Class B, which is the best timing for heat 1. It is really unbelievable when I found out my timing! The second fast timing is 2 secs slower than my timing - how can you believe man!

Furthermore, I clocked 43:03s for my heat in Class D, which is again the fastest in that class, until we completed the second heat - I was leading in Class C and was second in Class D, including the best timing for that day.

Things become more interesting after the lunch, I was not able to renew my record in class B, but I did the best run in Class D where I managed to reduce my timing to 40:93s - the best timing so far in all class, until Azmie made a strong strike back to grab the best timing for that dau - 40:00s! Congrat to Azmie and the powerful Civic EG VTEC :)

So the final result - I won in Class D and was second in Class B.
It is really my day because I just want to participate and learn more from the others, maybe my pet - Satria Neo wanted to challenge them.. lol

I hope can do better in the coming event!
Special thanks to Timothy Ketit for supporting me and my sponsor: Red Line Oil

Another look for the Redline sponsored Satria Neo:


The overall results for the time attack challenge:


My dream car - AE86


Happy mummy with the trophies: