MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A very Merry Christmas to all my readers, thank you for taking the time to visit my blog :) I'm heading north for Christmas for lunch and dinner with the family.

GRA Round 5 2008

It was a humid day but thank to the clouds for providing shade from the scorching sun. Never the less the event on the tarmac was hot and exciting. The day started off with Grass Class fighting it out, sweetie managed to get her car back in time for this event and did all she could to chase for the title of champion in Class A. Being the only Automatic car in her class, she managed to finish 3rd in the event and 2nd overall in the championship. Congratulations Sweetie.

William who pilots a Suzuki Swift was crowned champion in class AA and he has been consistent throughout the entire year.

In the afternoon the Pro Grass drivers started their machines and burnt rubber all over. I don't have the results at the moment, but I will post them up once I get a copy. Here's what I remembered from the event. I was fighting for top honors of being champion for 2008, had tough competition from Singapore with a monster Evo 8 that has about 500+ HP. Ivan shredded the rear left tire on his loan Renault Clio Gti, he then hopped in a Version 9 Subaru Impreza WRX to continue his chase, later on I loaned him my car for 1 run and he managed to destroy the left rear tire as well. In the end I managed to keep a small lead to take victory in the event this round and sealing the championship as Champion 2008.

Finally my dreams have been fufilled, after 5 years of AutoCrossing I manage to finish 1st overall :)

Photos will come shortly when I get them from friends.

Subaru pulls out of the WRC :(

This was shocking news to me, Subaru pulling out of the World Rally Championships is shocking. Due to the recent economic downturn everyone is looking to cut costs here and there, but it is really sad when your favorite car manufacturer decides to quit racing when they make cars based from a racing heritage.

Abstracted from www.wrc.com

Subaru pulls out of the WRC

Subaru has announced its decision to withdraw from the 2009 World Rally Championship.

Prodrive, the company which runs the team on behalf of Subaru, broke the news at 0900hrs this morning. It said the decision was sudden and had been

made in response to the economic downturn currently affecting the automotive industry.

Yesterday Suzuki confirmed it would not be back in 2009 for similar reasons.

The Subaru World Rally Team was established in 1989, when the Japanese manufacturer teamed up with British based motor sport specialists Prodrive. Since then the team has won six World Rally Championship titles - most recently the drivers’ title with Petter Solberg in 2003. In recent years, however, the team has struggled to find its previous rally winning form. It last won a rally on the stages in Mexico 2005.

“This is not only sad news for Subaru and the team, but also for millions of rallying fans around the world,” said Prodrive chairman David Richards.

“Subaru’s departure from the World Rally Championship is a great loss as it is one of the sport’s icons. The Subaru World Rally Team has created true champions such as Colin McRae and Richard Burns and its absence will be felt by many the world over. Although this decision closes a significant chapter in Prodrive’s history, our focus now turns to the future.”

While the Subaru World Rally Team historically represented a significant part of Prodrive’s business, today it accounts for no more than 20 per cent of turnover. Prodrive says it will look to redeploy as many of the rally team as possible in other areas of its business operations.

There is no news yet from Subaru about how the decision will affect Subaru’s driver Petter Solberg/Phil Mills and Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevot, or whether the company plans to return to the sport in the future.

Prodrive, however, is already lining up its own rally return saying “2010 will see the introduction of new World Rally Championship technical regulations, which provide Prodrive with an opportunity to prepare for re-entering the championship with a new team and build on its 24 years of World Rally Championship experience and success.”

Prodrive also pledged to support its own customer rally teams for 2009 and beyond. Over the past 15 years, Prodrive has sold close to 500 rally cars to more than 400 private competitors and independent rally teams in 47 countries.

R.I.P Harmony

...May you have a better life where ever you are...

When Sweetie and I took Harmony in from the pound we took her to the vet for a check-up and gave her medication for whatever she had. We also cared alot for her as we helped her adapt to her surroundings and provide her proper food.

Sadly yesterday Harmony passed on, we don't really know what happened. With the help of our two neighbors we managed to bury her at a nearby field, just under a tree.

I just don't know what else to say or write....we are sad, very sad indeed.

A Quick Update

I've been busy work, since we're moving office I have to be on-site in the dusty environment making sure that everything is up and running before 12th December. Zoey's blog has some updates so head on over there to see what she has been up to. In the mean time I will squeeze whatever time I can to blog about what is going on in my life.

Thanks!

Yoga ban?!

What's up with this country? Seriously! There are other things that are way more important matters to look into other than Yoga! I personally don't do yoga but it is something that people enjoy doing. Yoga is considered an alternative medicine which includes meditation to escape the fast paced world we call work.

Usually I don't want to care but these people we allow to run the country is just plain silly, guess they really have nothing else better to do. Sweetie mentions that we're going backwards and I agree with her. Everything here seems to be one sided.

A good deed....

When sweetie started working at the new store, we noticed a really fat dog that was named Harmony. At that time she was under the care of the guard that the company hires. Recently there were complaints by the building management saying that other tenants don't like these stray dogs lying around. The fact is these stray dogs don't do anything except sleep and take shelter there from the rain. Other tenants don't even mind giving these dogs some leftovers.

A couple of weeks ago the management took action and hired lawyer to send a warning letter to the guard asking him to get rid of Harmony or further action will be taken. Poor Harmony was taken away to PAWS which is our local dog pound. I felt bad for Harmony and so did sweetie, so we discussed about taking her in and we decided to go ahead with doing just that.

Yesterday I managed to get her transported from the pound to our house, thank you to Ian for loaning his van. This girl is fat! and would be tough to transport her in a car. Anyways I'll upload more photos as soon as I can.

Here's the most recent photo of her

Dan Brown's Deception Point

This was an interesting book and it took me only 2 months to finish it! Yay! a new personal record broken.

Anyways the book has a lot of twists and turns and it definitely worth the read.

Update 2a : GRA Round 4 2008 Photos

It was hot, dusty and HOT!


Sweetie on the way to victory lane


Thanks to Alven for loaning his mighty Kelisa

Update 2 : GRA Round 4 2008

Yup it's that time once again. Round 4 of 5, the championship gets tighter and hotter. This time around it was back in Shah Alam car park and when I mentioned that it was hot it was really really HOT. The weather now a days seems to be getting worse day by day. On this day it was almost unbearable. Lucky us for bringing a Coleman icebox with lots of ice and a towel to drench it in.

So the day started as usual with briefing and a course walk, I helped sweetie through the course on what to do in a Manual Kelisa, yup..after accident I managed to get an old friend of mine Alven who loaned his car. The event started with the Grass Class.



Sweetie finished in 1st in her class, woohoo! This is her 1st win in her Autocrossing carrear. Later on in the afternoon the Pro Grass Class started, Sifu Ivan car didn't make it in time for this round so I loaned him Suby and we went on to pressure each other. Pressuring each other wasn't part of the deal but when you get in the zone, sometimes you tend to forget you're not under pressure. We went on with making mistakes untill our 2nd time run when we got to see the results, it wasn't untill then that we really got down to business and started to really do some driving.



I finished 2nd behind sifu Ivan who was faster. It was good to see that my car can preform as good as it is being much slower than his car.



Post event interview!



Suby in one of her runs



Yes cones were knocked and killed

Update 1 b : Photo's of an Arsehole driving

Here's a photo of the A$$h0le who caused the accident


Watch out for this Mofo, his driving licence should be revoked!


I was wishing his car had more damage than this

Update 1 a : Kelly down :(

...there aren't any words to express how I feel...

Update 1 : Thank God

Ever thought that something bad won't happen to you? I'm sure everyone would think so, well until something bad does happen. This particular event occurred last week, as me and sweetie were driving our own cars and heading home, at a traffic just before home we stopped at a red light. We were side by side and I was hand signaling her that I would go fill my car up with gas as she acknowledge a car from behind rear ended her and both cars went forward and this caused a chain reaction which caused a 4 car pile up accident. It took me a full 3 seconds for me to register what happen right in front of my eyes as it happened! I then fumbled to look for my hazard lights and got out of the car heading for the car which hit sweetie's car, as I opened the car door I nearly reached in to pull him out so I could whack the heck out of him, but instead I made sure he wasan't going anywhere then ran over to sweetie's car. She was in a slight daze as she didn't know what just happened. The guy who hit her came over and I just went on a rage of words, cursing and giving him a piece of my mind for causing this mess. Neither Sweetie nor I heard any screeching sounds before impact, the guy was looking shocked and stunned and worried about his car, I gave him another piece of my mind followed by sweetie after she saw the damage that was caused to her car. All this had to happen 3 days before GRA Round 4! Just bad, bad luck.

Thanks to Ian for providing a contact for a tow truck. Alan the tow truck guy assisted us to get the car on his flat bed truck and we headed to the police station to make a report.

The following day I took sweetie to get some paperwork sorted out and also to take some photos of the car in day light. But I thank god that no one got hurt in this incident. But I wished the guy who caused this just went to Hell.

Check the other postings for photos.

Formula 1 : Youngest F1 Champion

There is no doubt that he has the talent. Being one of the youngest ever to be crowned Champion in Formula 1 and only his 2nd year driving in the sport, he definitely has talent.

Congratulations Lewis!

Lack of Updates

I know there have been lack of updates on my blog, I'd blame my work or other things that distract me but sometimes I just forget. Getting home after a long day in the office feels good and after a nice hot shower and just laying down watching the tube, one can't resist to just relax and fall asleep.

Anyways, there are a couple of updates I haven't completed yet and I will get to them as soon as I can.

Cheers!

Ethics? What ethics?

Here I am standing in line at the LRT in Kelana Jaya. It's a nice Thursday morning but for some reason the darn train seems to be late and the others are delayed. But that isn't really the issue, I am blogging from my Blackberry because I am annoyed by people who actually have the guts to jump the line and go straight for the train doors!

What the hell is up with that? Now this freaking woman standing in front of me just decided to stand in front of me when I was checking my email. Sure I could say something about it,but I decided not to waste my energy and tolerence to stress on someone who does not know the value of ethics or how to be polite.

I'm dissapointed, I really thought that most people knew what was right and what was wrong. Guess my assumptions were wrong.

Where is the darn train? I've been in line for 15 minutes and the next train didn't show up yet.

IRONMAN

I finally managed to catch this movie and I must say it is excellent. Good CG and action packed with a touch of comedy here and there made the movie a really enjoyable to watch. I wasn't much of an Iron Man fan but this certainly has changed my look at this comic hero.

Andy's Movie-O-Meter : 9/10

Fullhouse Cafe

Now here's any interesting place, a cafe/fashion store. They serve good food and drinks too, it has an interesting concept and a nice setting that makes one feel cozy. I didn't bring a camera along so I didn't take any photos. But if you want to try something different you might want to consider this Fullhouse @ NZX.

The Love Guru

If there was a comedy to watch this year this would be it! Lots of funny quotes and scenes, the character played by Mike Meyers was pure classic and the humor factor was excellent!

"Liquor Up Front, Poker In Back"

Good Stuff.

Andy's Movie-O-Meter : 9/10

Newspaper Cuttings from the past....

Mum was making me throw out some junk in the house and I found some interesting newspaper cuttings that I put away years ago. I was an avid gamer and when I had the chance to take part in competitions I jumped at the opportunity. Most of them were held in conjunction with a computer fair.

Ahh the memories...

1999 - Need For Speed 3

Finished 2nd


2000 - Star Wars : Pod Racer

Finished 1st


2001 - Formula 1

Finished 1st

Birthday Wishes for September

To my friends who celebrate their birthday on September.....

Jianin, Kenneth, Jordan

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Formula 1 : Vettel Makes History

Monza, home of the tifosi and Ferrari. Qualifying was definitely interesting when I saw Sebastian Vettel on Pole and the top 3 drivers Kimi, Massa and Hamilton below the 1st and 2nd row! Everyone was suddenly rooting for Vettel to win! someone other than the usual Ferrari and Mclaren camp was leading the race from the start and finished to make history. Toro Rosso once used to be called Minardi where our very own Alex Yoong was racing whom have never finished on the podium before now actually won a race last weekend.

Sebastian Vettel is now the youngest driver to be on Pole position and win a Gran Prix at the age of 21. He'd be one driver to lookout for in the near future. His driving was superb and was outpacing 2nd place Heikki Kovalainen in a Mclaren. When Vettel was on the podium, the German and Italian anthem was played and that is something that I haven't heard since Schumacher retired. Vettel will be moving to Red Bull next season and I hope to see this young german make it up the ranks.

Congratulations Vettel & Toro Rosso!

In Memory

September 15



Colin McRae
1968-2007

GRA Round 3

The venue Sepang F1 Circuit......car park. hahaha. Words that were spoken by Ian Khong founder of Grass Racing Autosports.

I've got to say this is the fastest ever GRA round ever organized. Thanks to the organizers for making this possible. Although it was a really HOT day in Sepang everyone was pumped up for this speed course, some of the competitors were seen riding bicycles in the 1.6km layout, including myself and sweetie. haha.

Sweetie was all out in Class A and finished 3rd in her Auto Kelisa and I finished 1st in class and overall with the absence of Sifu Ivan this time around.

Here's a report by rally legend YSKhong in Autoworld

I'll post photos when I collect them over the next week.

Happy Birthday Sweetie Pie!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Don't worry, dinner will be served.

Trips Up North

Oh my, this is way overdue, but I'll just blog away. 2 weekends in a row Sweetie, Zoey and myself made a trip up north to Alor Star and Penang, mainly because Sweetie's Lil' Sister was about to give birth to a baby girl. Her name Andrea, she's so tiny and oh so cute, Sweetie couldn't keep her eyes off her and spent alot of time trying to play with the little angel.

Baby Andrea smiling, isn't that just precious? :D

While we were out Zoey spent time with Uncle Edwin who brings his friends over to play with her, not a bad uncle huh?. When we were in Alor Star we left her with Momo and Rufus who kept her company

Hellians and ex-Hellians at Lunch

I also managed to have lunch and catch up with my ex-collegues from Hell. Thanks Gladys, Stan and Rosie sis for joining us for lunch at Manila Place Gurney Plaza.

I'm thirsty

We also dropped by Alor Star airport to test drive some BMWs and it was quite an experience for both Sweetie and Myself. In the car park there was a beast just sitting there, the all new Nissan GTR35 covered in mattblack stickers looked magnifico with titanium exhaust pipes, huge brembo brakes and 22 inch rims.

Beauty & The Beast?

Then there was the long drive home with quite a lot of traffic, just because it was a long weekend in conjunction with Independence Day.

Well that's all for now....Phew.

Digital Fortress

Now this is an interesting book. A true thriller from start to end, love the way the story flows and how it's described. I would suggest this as a good read for anyone.

A new record for me when I completed this book, 1 month! haha, am already on another book and we'll see if I can break another one of my personal reading records.

Happy Birthday - Zoey!

Zoey's now 1 human year old! Happy Birthday!

Oh it's time?

Do I look to serious? When can i have my cake?!

Zoey and Daddy

Zoey and Mummy

Wong Kok Char Chan Teng @ 1Utama

Service is very poor. Well, initially the people who sat us down and took our orders were okay, but when it came to paying the cashier was like a bi**h! As usual we asked for the bill and someone brought it over. The bill was RM32.65, we paid Rm35.65 and after 5 minutes there was no change. We waived the waiter and she checked with the cashier, sweetie could see that there were arguing. 2 minutes later the waiter came back and gave us the wrong change!

I picked up the plate and walked over, the cashier gave me a weird look and I explained that we gave earlier. She didn't smile or even acknowledge me she just opened the cashier and took out the RM2 change. With a face like that and service this bad, we won't go into the 1U branch anymore, we might not even visit this restaurant anymore.

So to those people who do run the Customer Service in Wong Kok Char Char Teng, please, please educate your employees on the importance of being nice.

Suby's New Fog Lamps!

Thanks to Sweetie for getting me these good looking fog lamps for Suby.

.
The original lamp met its end with a pillar

Looking good indeed

The Mummy : Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor

What can I say? 3rd movie from the popular series, although some actors have been replaced the show still lived up to its expectations. Storyline was definitely good and CG was excellent, there isn't much else to say, what's bad? Nothing. It's just a good action movie to watch.

Andy's Movie-O-Meter : 8.5/10

Jaguar XF

Uncle YS invited Sweetie and Me for coffee up in Genting.

When I was told that I was going to drive a Jaguar I thought that it was going to be one of those models which has the classic Jaguar shape and design that defines who they are. But I was really surprise when I first saw it. Standing at the front of the car felt intimidating, it was really quite a surprise. The new look from this XF is fit for the younger generation. I'm pretty sure you'd be able to see a CEO or a High Level Junior Executive driving it on the streets. Rear lights and design is similar to a Lexus, only the Jaguar logo made it identifiable.

Next the interior, everything that I expected from a luxury car was there. Leather seats, Touch Screen HUD, ambient door lights and the works. What really caught my attention was the gear knob which was really a dial which was similar to the BMW's but only to control the Automatic gearbox. On the steering wheel all the standard buttons were there, Cruise Control, Audio Control & Phone Answer. Talking about Audio, I didn't really test the sound system but managed to see what was available in that department. It had a CD changer, IPod connector, USB connector and an AUX connector. We were more interested in listening to the car which was really quiet, at idle there was hardly any sound coming from the engine. Once we got moving it felt as though I was really driving a sports car and not some luxury sedan.

The 3.0L V6 engine didn't really sound like we'd expect it to sound, it was missing the V6 grunt or rumble as we pushed the car. But overall the engine did feel okay, I expected more power from the car but it was just nice, leaving the gear in D felt normal, but the car was easy to drive. As we approached the winding roads, I turned the gear selector to S mode which allowed me to use the paddle shifters on the steering wheel and as I shifted down the car rev up to match the speed and I stepped on it. Power delivery was more aggressive and allowed me to rev all the way up to 7500 rpm before the electronics shifted the gear for me. Paddle shift mode had 6-speeds, but we noticed that 2nd gear was too short and 3rd gear was too long to have fun with, on these winding roads unfortunately.

So the uphill climb started as Uncle YS called out some pace notes which were really accurate, I was doing 150-160 on some short straights and going through the winding roads with ease! Now this I didn't expect, the car actually handles great. Body roll was not even noticable, there were of course some driving assist electronics that were left on but that was the whole experience, the car was so easy to drive, at one point I was turning and I braked a little to give the front a bit of weight to get the tail out but the electronics came on straightaway and assisted me to correct the error. Yes the car has all the electronics that you'd expect to compete with the other makes. This car not only took corners well, it felt comfy too. Sweetie who was the back seat passanger felt comfy all the way up and down. For that I was impressed.

We made it up for coffee and food. Uncle YS drove the downhill section and watching him in his element is one heck of an experience.

Overall the car is good looking on the outside and in the inside, but the 3.0L V6 failed to impress us, but we were definately impressed with the handling, ride comfort and ease of driving the XF.

Thanks to Uncle YS once again for inviting us up. Finally I've driven a million dollar car.

Agressive curves

Blue lit meters

Attacking the corners, wasn't an issue

Maltese Flower Arrangement

I stumbled across this photo in Flickr. So cute!