Sepang Track Day

It's been a while since I've attended an open track day organized by the management of SIC. The last time I was there driving wasn't a plesant one. But anyhooo I wasn't driving this time and decided to jump into whatever cars that allowed a passenger.

There were about roughly 80 cars, I lost count at 11 after my attention was drawn away by some of the Scoobies that were there. I would say at least 1/2 of the GRA community were there, TEA, HCOC, Furtive were all there. I managed to ride in Akuma's car twice, thanks bro. His car was superbly set up for SIC and was super clean taking all the racing lines at near full throttle. Unker Champ was there too and managed to wear out his brakes in roughly 1 hour. Hamster Lai was there too and his car too had problems with the drive shaft.

Other cars there were Silvias, Evos, Wrxs and a whole lot of modified cars plus not forgetting several track cars that were running on SLICK tires!. The touge.com.my gang were also around this time.

Overall it was pretty much a fun outing day for everyone. Cheers!

Boleh Lah Malaysia

January 2008 marks the launch of the ALL NEW Proton "BLM" SAGA!

Being a car enthusiast I was suprised that I didn't know this was launching this month or year. Yes I've heard of the car sometime last year but didn't really bother. Well it's launched now and just look at it.....I would like to quote Jeremey Clark from Top Gear "it's rubbish" and I agree with him.

Since our local car manufacturer Proton decided to build their own ship and sail on their own and part ways from taking designs from Mitsubishi and Renault everything is just rubbish. Ever since the Savvy came out we had a taste of what kind of designs were to come. I'm not saying the car isn't good, of course it's just a normal car to get you from point A to point B. But as a customer I'd say that looks are equally as important apart from the performance and handling. Let's start with the design of the car it's like a hybrid of Korean, French & Japanese. Me thinks that putting all these kind of designs aren't a good mix. The Gen2 was an ok car on the exterior, then came the Pesona which is just an extension of the Gen2.

What I'm trying to point out is that the design of the car is what is more appealing to the customer who buy them, but everyone has their own opinion.

@#$% Andana Spa >:(

Here's what bad service is like, when the representative of a company talks rudely and in an unprofessional way. I came to learn about Andana Spa through Sweetie and we decided to enquire about the services and prices. As a tech geek I logged on and found their website : http://www.andanaspa.com which is a great and professional site. Shows how many awards they have won, like Best Spa in 2006 or something like that. I was quite amazed knowing that we in Malaysia had such quality of service in a Spa.

Looking through the website I noticed that apart from the normal Spa massage packaged, there a branch in Glenmarie KL which has a room that is avaliable for booking which is called the Selangor Suite. What's Special in that Suite? It can accomodate group of 5 people, has a Home Theater System, PS2 Gaming console and everything you would need for a meeting. Anyways after reading this "The Suite is now open for reservations. Standard and custom-made packages are available to cater for 1 – 5 persons. All Selangor Suite packages come with dedicated spa treatments designed to meet your individual needs." Sweetie decided to call up to see if we can make a reservation.

Here's how the conversation went:

*a nice lady answered the phone*

SW: Hi, I would like to make a resevation for the Selangor suite

Lady: Ma'am are you a member?

SW: No I'm not

Lady: Hold on Please

*was put on hold for about 30secs*

Mr.Ang: Hello? *now this sounded really unprofessional over the phone*

SW: Hi, I would like to make a resevation for the Selangor suite

Mr.Ang: Are you a member?

SW: No, do I have to be a member to book the Suite?

Mr.Ang: Well usually we reserve the Suite for Members lah

SW: Can non-members place a booking?

Mr.Ang: Can can, usually we give members priority la, so what date you want ar?

SW: Next weekend

Mr.Ang: Weekend ar, usually alot of members want the Suite, how many people ar?

SW: Two

Mr.Ang: Only 2 ar? *his voice started to sound as if he was disgusted*

SW: Is that a problem? *is now an agitated customer*

Mr.Ang: Ya lo, 2 people only, you're not a member and lots of members would want to book the room

Then Sweetie decided to ask for the manager and Mr.Ang said she isn't around and gave her Mobile Number.

*Call ended by hanging up on Mr.Ang*

Believe me when I say it's unprofessional, it really is. No doubt the Spa has a good reputation but with employees like that..well I'll leave it to your opinion. So obviously I was a little mad as well, so I decided to leave a Feedback on the website but when I clicked Submit there was an error!

Here's what I wrote:

Your Spa might have won awards for the services. But my experience when I called up the Glenmarie branch was awful. My call was answered by a nice lady that was helpful enough but all of a sudden she pass me to a guy named Mr. Ang when I wanted to place a booking for the Selangor Room. Mr. Ang was definitely rude by the way he was speaking over the phone. For a Spa that has won various awards, as stated over the website and newspapers I am disgusted by the way I was treated by Mr. Ang. Just because I'm not a member doesn't give him the right to be RUDE. He kept stressing on the fact that I'm not a member and therefore am not really welcome to make use of the private rooms. After reluctantly agreeing to check the availability of the private rooms, he then proceeded to ask the number of people in my party and when he learned it was only two he very obviously expressed his disgust and said that it posed a problem therefore he refused to book me in. I have visited the spa before and I must say I was impressed by it. However, if this is the way you treat people I have second thoughts of being a member there. I will also make sure that this incident is known by friends of mine who are members there as well as those who have expressed their wish to be one.

Guess what happened when I clicked on the Submit button:

Overall it was just a terrible experience. I hope someone takes action regarding the way we were treated over the phone and I won't be going to a Spa where the employees treats non-members like we were poor.

Birthday Shoutout - Edwin Kow

Happy Birthday! Ed.

..no recent photos of you but have a good one..

Crocks = Crocs

This is the most expensive pair of slippers I've ever worn and owned. Thanks to lovely Sweetie for getting them for me and yes to those who are superstitious I did pay her back some money. LoL.

What can I say? At first I thought that these were just some normal slippers that look like plastic and are easy to wash. But after trying them on a couple of months back, they actually feel darn comfy. So I decided to get them later when I have some extra cash to spend, the only downside is that they aren't cheap. Well apart from the comfort of they give, there are small little bumps on the base area which acts as a muscle relaxer, it's like those stone foot massages.

The brand comes with a variety of types for all ages, best part is they are easy to wash and maintain. I've only worn them a couple of times cause I leave them in KL cause I'm dress more casual there and I also walk more too :) thanks sweetie.

*thanks Ken for the correction

Birthday Shoutout - Gladda

Happy Birthday! Gladda!

The Year Ahead

It's 2008, what is instored for this new year. Seems that alot of my friends celebrate their birthday on January, talk about overkill. Making frequent trips to see my 2 gals isn't something new but I cherish all the moments we can have together. I hope that this year I'd be doing someting more constructive with my life and make it more meaningful. But it's alot of hard work and thinking which is something that I lack sometimes haha.

Anyways, work is getting a little boring. Having to do repetitive stuff isn't my cup of tea. I want something different, maybe consulting or something like that. Although I would like to be a full time test driver for any car company in the world *wishful thinking*. heh. Looking back at the past year, I noticed that time just zipped by just like that. I'm glad that I have moved up a step in the corporate ladder but I just don't see any future in what I do. Ho well, I'll keep my eyes open and my ears on for other opportunities that come this year.

Suby is fixed and I've been running her in with frequent trips up and down the North South Highway. Till date I should have already made 4000km, only 1k left to get my next upgrade which is the Piggyback and a Dyno tuning run. That'll set me back a few $$, but I'll have to do it to be competitive in GRA this year as it would be getting more and more competitive in my class. Guess if you have unlimited $$ it would be good to upgrade anything and everything to have the edge.

Well that's all for now.....I wish the best to everyone this year. Cheers.

Birthday Shoutout - Samantha

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

**Sammie**

:)

Photos - GRA Annual Dinner 2007

Happy New Year!

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2008

--wishing all my readers a great year ahead and thanks for reading my blog--