Lo CT's Farewell - dinner at old Melaka Town

Morale's at the low end once again, with several key members of the company (who are also old friends) counting down the days....

Last week, a small group of us had a dinner for Lo CT, who had been an engineer with the company since the early days when we transferred the line down from Penang. Anyway, we had dinner at this small chinese restaurant at the intersection of Jalan Bunga Raya and Jalan Laksamana. This place was apparently famous for crab meat dishes.

One thing's for sure, the next day, we compared notes and found out that the general consensus was:-

1. The dishes were too small
2. The entire dinner was quite expensive

Ah, well. This is our treat, as we bid farewell to another colleague of ours.

She's not the first, and certainly not the last! Stay tuned for more farewell events soon.....

Toyota Vios Club Malaysia (TVCM) back online!

After being offline for over a month, the Toyota Vios Club Malaysia (TVCM) website is back online! Reason for being down in the first place was given as - database corrupted, fault of the web host, Cubematch. While the forum is back online once again, it seems that they've only managed to salvage data up to Dec 2007 only, so that means 5 months' worth of posts have been lost forever!

Well, we all know which webhosting service to avoid in the future, don't we...?

Refueling after the 5th June 2008 price increase

This morning, went to the nearest Petrol Station to refuel my Civic, with no bars left on the fuel gauge. The roads were surprisingly empty and traffic was thin.

At the pumps, did everything as normal. Usually, one full tank of RON97 at RM1.92 would cost ~RM80. Today, the petrol bill came up to RM112.13!

Now, that's high by anyone's standards. Noticed that the actual fuel price is RM2.704 per liter, and not RM2.70 as announced. Where did the extra 0.4 sen come from?

Heading out of the petrol station and onward to the office, the lack of cars on the road is really apparent. Even just now, went out for a meeting at Avillion Hotel, traffic was light and smooth flowing. Looks like everyone is now using their cars sparingly (one of the advantages of this fuel hike, is that now people know how to conserve petrol, and not waste it!).

There are talks now that fuel price would soon be unsubsidized and recalculated on a monthly basis, so who knows what will the future bring...?

1st ever convoy to Ulu Yam + Bentong Raub - Pt III

1st June 2008 Day trip - FR Part III

The calm before the storm

During our last stop, some more friendly and meaningful advice from our committee. Take care especially during the dark, rainy days and nights - these roads are not to be taken lightly. I keep their generous words of advice in mind and thank them for sharing.

Pushing off from Gohtong Jaya, needed to brake more since gravity was now aiding my K20Z2 in moving my car along the mostly-down hill journey. Good news is that I don't feel my brakes fading that badly. Maybe because I was traveling at a much slower speed to begin with

All the way down hill, gliding past non-civics on the straights, till finally arrived at the bottom, where the FD's were holed up a the rest area (the one with Petronas station and McDonald's. There was some deliberation as to whether some of them needed to refuel or not since. As for me, I was down 4 bars with 60km since refueling. That's 15km per bar. I usually get 25-30km per bar, so that's twice the standard FC. I think that if I keep driving up and down until I need to refuel, only then would I manage to get only 300km out of a full tank. Currently, I can't get less than 400km before refueling, so I reckon our K20Z2 is almost always very economical unless you are trying hard not to save fuel....

BTBR - don't try to be a hero

So, the next route, BTBR was a totally different experience from UY. The wide roads and scenic vistas were replaced by narrow paths and thick vegetation that formed an overhead canopy, shading us from the light of the afternoon sun. The road surface had evidently seen better days, with patches and potholes. The roads were new to me, and there were many blind corners so it was no surprise that soon, we were out of radio contact. There was a vehicle in front of me, my assessment of the situation is that overtaking was not an option. So, I put the transmission in D, and eased up on the throttle, following the guy in front of me. Might as well enjoy the ride, so we turned up the volume on my HU and continued along.

Somewhere in the middle, the guy we were trailing turned off the road, and the road ahead was clear once again. Pulled over and called Benny for directions (got confused at the fork in the road - one way going to "Bentong" and one way going "KL"). After picking up the trail, we resumed the journey and headed off towards KL. It was confirmed that we were on the right trail, as we managed to catch up with a familiar sliver blue civic driven by Bro Ed. I think he was rolling down on gravity power alone, otherwise, how on earth could I catch up with him? Anyway, he must have waited just to see if I had gotten lost. Well, I guess when we saw me, his right foot swung into action, kicking out of "screen saver" mode as his FD once again disappeared around the bends. Hmm, home advantage, I guess. Eventually, I did catch up with the pack. We bid our farewells and parted company at to toll gate.

On the way, we chanced upon some familiar FD's which appeared to have run in to a flat time. I pulled up onto the road shoulder to see if I could be of any assistance. At that time, the tow-truck had just arrived on the scene too. The downed FD crew saw me, and waved to signal that they were ok and had the situation under control. I stuck my hand out and waved goodbye before catching up with the rest of the convoy, who apparently had made some headway by that time.

To KL and back home

Our Melaka Convoy now headed to Pavilion, KL, where we had lunch at some Japanese Restaurant (forgive my ignorance, but me from small town, can't recognize a single restaurant name in the food court - all sound very high class-lah).





After lunch, we walked around and did some windows shopping and even managed to catch a movie (latest Indiana Jones). By then, it was getting late, so Ah Wei and Benny continued shopping, while the rest decided to head home.

Being in the middle of unfamiliar territory (KL), I depended on my GPS to lead our two FD's out back on to the highway. Once Hanne recognized the roads, he performed his signature move - honk and overtake - to disengage and continue on the way. Wai Yee and I decided to take the scenic route through the trunk road, and only joined up on the PLUS highway at the Seremban interchange. Traffic to the south was bearable, traffic towards the north however, was crawling. Highway got four lanes, since no difference - still jam like always. Ironically, Bro Tankiasu was in Melaka for holidays, I hope he's not one of the cars stuck in the jam on the way back to KL....

Anyway, we arrived back in Melaka. I dropped Wai Yee off at her place and returned home. Don't know about the rest, but I was practically half-dead / battery-low mode until this morning....

Well, that's it for our day trip to UY, BTBR, KL. I'd like to thank Benny for organizing the trip, as well as to the committee and other members of 8GCC who turned up and supported this event. Look forward to seeing you guys again during the upcoming Annual Dinner!

1st ever convoy to Ulu Yam + Bentong Raub - Pt II

1st June 2008 Day trip - FR Part II

Gentlemen, start your engines....

Drove next to the petrol station to meeting up with the assembly and explaining my delay at the petrol station due to the uncontrollable gushing incident. Bro John was there, minus the iconic Chicken Wing rear spoiler that had become his trademark signature. There was another Type R there - apparently from Pentagon, so the url sticker says. There in the midst was the Evo that everyone was expecting too (sorry, I'm unfamiliar with Mitsubishi cars, so unable to give details on make and trim). Glancing around, I see the rest of the high-profile cast of 8GCC around, but I'm still a bit shaken by the refueling incident for words to start flowing. Besides, I had to finish my coffee from McDonald's before we began our run.

Shortly after that, we got into our rides and started out engines. I stowed away my GPS - I won't be needing that for this part of the trip.

I switched to S and engaged paddle shift mode. Tried to keep the revs high by holding the upshifts, don't know if that would help to burn off the fuel in my tank - at least so that it was not right up to the fuel cap....

Well, the trail began, a long string of FD's. I was somewhere in the middle of the line, two Type R's ahead of me. The FD's drove in an orderly fashion to and increasingly out-of-town surrounding. Somewhere along the line, the Evo had managed to glide pass me and position itself together with the Type R's - I think they will have their own evaluation run after this. Final last right turn and we were lined up at the foot of a gentle incline.

"Hmm, I wonder, are we there yet?" I asked out aloud.

"This should be it," replied Wai Yee next to me, "That sign over there says 'Ulu Yam' doesn't it?"

Suddenly, the definite answer to my question came clearly to us, as, with roaring engines and exhaust notes, one by one the cars in front started to shrink into the distance. The Type R's and Evo darted forward with and disappeared from sight at the first left bank. Sorry, that was the last I ever saw of them on the trail So who ever the whole thing, please write the FR about stock FD2R, modified FD2R and Evo.

For the record, as of this trip, my car is basically fully Autofoamed (wherever got hole - pump!) and fully soundproofed (to keep noise out and keep the music in) as well. Bars, I have front strut bar, rear anti roll bar. Stock springs on Koni FSD shocks connect my chassis to my stock 16" rims and Yokohama dB501 tires. Brakes are stock, save for Goodridge SSBH's.

Anyway, I dropped to M1 and floored the throttle. My foot hit the floor and my dear FD2 moved forwards, picking up speed in an urgent yet controlled manner, nothing like what I experience while riding Ah Wei's FD2R. I remember at some point, Wai Yee had one hand up on the ceiling handle - didn't see where the other hand was, but I'm sure she had braced herself in anticipation for the upcoming ride. Somewhere between 6.5K and 6.8K, a flick of my right fingers and we're in gear 2. By then, we were on top the first significant corner - nearly a hairpin turn to the left. Now, I had no idea what to expect, so I generally braked to slow down, put my foot back on the accelerator and turned left. I maintained my heading with the wheel, slowly increasing the throttle through the turn. Ultimately, the laws of physics issued a reminder of the limitations of my comfort-based tires, with a gentle scraping sound that meant the tires were losing their grip. I modulated my right foot to keep my FD2 on the threshold of grip, noticing that there was no understeer (of course-lah, FF car what...) and also, no oversteer as well. Car turns, not too much and not too little, just starting to slide sideways, it seems. Peripheral vision did not see any flashing VSA light, as usual, which I think will only come out when we start to spin, not when ABS or sliding takes place.

Well, due to the sharpness of that maneuver, I was actually only traveling at low speed, but it didn't take much to start sliding. This more or less confirmed my experience immediately after Autofoaming and soundproofing my car - didn't realize how fast I was going, so took a 90 at 80....

By now, it was Benny in front of me with another unidentified FD. I tried my best to stay on Benny's tail - there was no intention to overtake him, as we were not racing. It took me some experimentation to find the optimum speed and steering angle to take corners without sliding. Wai Yee was helpful to provide feedback based on whether or not she detected any sliding in the last turn. I think that maybe I slid only 2 or 3 times total, so I was getting the hang of it already. Due to focus on control, I did hit the rev limiter a couple of times. Anyway, the nature of the road at Ulu Yam made it practical to shift only up to M3 (you will never hit redline in M3).

Before the start of the run, Bro Ed did issue a reminder to keep on our toes to watch out for debris and obstacles. He was right. There are the occasional road kill (unidentified species, too flat to tell) and some "Genting Sampah" (litter bugs even here). At some points, we did slow down to admire the scenery. Too bad I could not stop and take some pictures, otherwise the rest of the FD's would surely be wondering if something had happened to me or not. Next trip to Ulu Yam, I will surely stop at the scenic areas. Wai Yee had her hands full already, so no need to hold camera to add to the complication.

Now, I know I was in the middle, but there was no one tailgating me. Found out later that directly behind me was Bro Blackhawk - since there was no one "poking my rear", I could focus solely on driving. There were some stretches that allowed for overtaking, and overtake I did when necessary and safe, where the road was clearly in sight with no oncoming vehicles. The typical overtaking move - right signal, move to other lane, overtake, look until car is visible in rear view mirror, left signal, change back to original lane. Not the tailgate, swerve right, cut left Mat Rempit-style that we always receive from those two-wheel menace....

Anyway, back to the story. Before long, we pulled up along the road side along what appeared to be a kampung of some sort - some buildings and a bus stop here.



Short rest, where I managed to a word or two with Bro Ed, John, Blackhawk, Jacky. Before long, we were off again, and the next stop was somewhere underneath the cable car station to Genting.



















This was time we took lots of pictures, from our side Hanne and Ah Wei checked out the Central members rides (lots of new poison to see). One thing, here also got mosquitoes, so cannot remain still for too long....

Finally, we proceeded to Gohtong Jaya, for some breakfast, after which there is more checking out of rides:

hmm, what's everyone looking at?

After everyone's stomach is full ( for those who can't take it, I guess they don't eat too much.... ), we made a strategic decision - since we came all the way from Melaka, why not try out the legendary BTBR trail as well...?

I raised an eyebrow, but then, if we could get to KL in time for lunch, I'm game....

Continued in Part III....

1st ever convoy to Ulu Yam + Bentong Raub - Pt I

1st June 2008 Day trip - FR Part I

Intro

Ulu Yam. Bentong Raub BTBR. Just the mention of these names causes a stir amongst motoring enthusiasts. Known for their twisting roads, it's not a wonder that these stretches have been unofficially voted as the best real-world test of car and driver.

Hailing from Melaka, none of us were familiar with these parts. Benny nonetheless organized a road-trip and with much luck, we received a good response from the Central members, who came along and joined the event. It was a good opportunity for us to meet up - as we'd rarely chance upon each other, besides the occasional meetings at merchant's venue like GC, Quicksave and KLAuto.

The journey begins here....



5.00am - Petronas Station @ Cheng. That's when and where we decided to assemble. Had to get up early - 4.00am to be precise. With a good nights' sleep and a good alarm clock beside me, I managed to get up and make it to the scene "reasonably close" to the stipulated time.

On my way, stopped by to pick up my navigator, Wai Yee, who would be riding shotgun with me for the entire trip. Besides being busy with the GPS, she also held the role of communications officer (walkie talkie), providing language translation whenever necessary.

Once our ranks were filled, we headed off, Benny taking point and Hanne assuming the role of sweeper (something that he's accustomed to, having played the role in several previous convoys).

We headed down through the trunk roads towards Simpang Ampat, staying off the highway for as long as we could. The gentle curves in the road did their job of warming us up, as well as fully awakening those of us who are still groggy from sleep...!

Even in the wee hours of the morning, we encountered a cocky Vios, who insisted on us clearing the right lane for him/her, instead of driving past us through the clear, left lane. We ignored that fellow, and let the Vios pass (no point wasting petrol so soon). In any case, my experience with the members of the currently offline Toyota Vios Club Malaysia have confirmed that in a straight line, Vios wins on acceleration, Civic wins on top speed (but I guess you all know that already....).

We got to the highway, and cruised towards KL. I was second in line, so I noticed Benny's ride bouncing up and down with the undulating terrain like a mexican jumping bean. Must be those coilovers that were a tad harder than stock - good for the smooth unblemished tracks like the Sepang F1 circuit, but then again, we're on stock Malaysian roads here....

Reaching the Sungai Besi toll gate, we stopped by the 24hour McDonald's at the Petronas station, to answer the call of our stomachs. For me, I took a breakfast meal - the burger ("muffin" actually, Wai Yee kept correcting me) looked deceptively large on the overhead display at the counter. The actual thing was slightly smaller than my clenched fist. Ah, well - it'll have to do....

A short while into our breakfast, Benny received a call from one of the central bros - already at Batu Caves! So, finishing off our food, we made it to our rides and hit the road once again.

Took a left towards Cheras and followed the MRR2 towards Batu Caves. Traffic was light so we made it to the Shell Petrol Station where a battalion of FD's and a REAL Evo was waiting in reception.

Damn fuel pump....

Now, I had 4 bars of fuel left. Ordinarily, that would take me ~100km or so. However, I had no idea where exactly we were heading, how long was the trail, and whether there'd be another petrol station within range. I didn't want to be caught dead with no fuel, like going up a creek without a paddle, so I decided to fill up. Now, here is what I found out. The stupid fuel pump did not auto stop!!! Standing next to my car, I could here the change in the sound as the fuel tank was almost full (like when you try to fill up a bottle at the faucet, you can hear a similar change in sound too). Suddenly, I saw raw fuel start to gush out of my car like a waterfall after heavy rain. Reflex action kicked in, and I instinctively squeezed the pump and stopped the flow of fuel (luckily it took me about 1 second to react). I was stunned for a few seconds after the fact, before my mind rebooted. I closed the fuel cap, noting that the petrol was just at the brim of the fuel tank (and thinking to my self - hmm, Vpower is not actually blue-lah). The sad thing is that there was no petrol attendant coming to help or to even look at what was going on. These people, when got nothing, come and ask you if you want to wipe the windscreen, now when need their help, no one in sight....

There were 2 indian guys on motorcycle looking at me in amazement. I laughed at them and told them exactly what happened (otherwise it looked like I was trying to wash my car with petrol). They laughed along with me and talked about it in their language as they rode off.

I looked around - not a can of water in sight. So, I grabbed the nearest equivalent - the sponge that they used to wipe windows, and repeatedly washed my car body, tired and rims, trying to splash as much water on my brake rotor as possible ( luckily, we drive normally. If I had been braking hard, I assume my rotor would be hot enough to cause combustion of the fuel with dire consequences.... ).

The rest of the team apparently did not know what was going on, and were wondering why I was taking so long to refuel....

Well, when I was satisfied that I had splashed enough water on my car to wash away all traces of fuel (and hopefully, the remaining fuel evaporates), I drove over to the assembly of Civics (and Evo), noting that I am now driving an FD fully laden with fuel (sorta like a fat petrol bomb). So, I would be able to test out if this would have any significant impact on performance (although the primary concern is whether or not anything would spill when I cornered and get on the rotors again). So, my navigator / comms officer now had the additional task of checking my six in the rear view mirror to see if there was any trail of smoke or fire due to petrol leaking onto my rotors.


Continued in Part II....

ESD training in Singapore

I was recently in Singapore for two days. As luck would have it, I managed to get approval from my GM to attend some training on Advanced ESD design (it’s an engineering thing that only fellow engineers seem to understand). On my way in, the second link to Singapore was empty, as the massive traffic jam was on the other side of the road (people who apparently worked in Singapore but resided in Johor). Though I think that on my way back, I will be stuck like them.

Stayed at the Holiday Inn Park View, where the training was to be held. A decent establishment, in my humble opinion, having come here last year for training also.

I was a little under the weather, having a runny nose and a dry throat. Fortunately, it didn’t cause too much distractions, though I had to go to the bathroom to blow my nose many, many times.

My hotel’s just off Orchard Road. There was nothing going on here, though. If it were November / December, this is the time they’ll have their annual Christmas Light-up. Well, I’m not pushing my luck – just being here is already something to give thanks too.

My short time here, coupled with my lack of mobility due to less-than-optimal health, meant that I’m basically facing the walls of my hotel room whenever I’m not out at the training session. Hah, speaking of my hotel room. Due to some strange reason, the hotel was quite heavily booked. So, I got a room very, very far from the elevator. In fact, it’s the same distance whether I walked from the left or from the right of the elevator.

Well, at least I was very near the fire escape route, in case a quick evacuation is required….

Broadband does not come with the room, but is a added extra (chargeable). So, I actually typing this out first, for editing and posting later when I get back to Melaka. Not using any fancy offline blogging tool like w.bloggar or Windows Live Writer. Typing all this out in plain old MS Word (2003 version, not the confusing 2007 version).

Speaking of MS Word 2007, I’ve actually had a taste of it recently – never thought I’d see something rival Vista (I hope you know what I mean). I’m hoping that the interface is only confusing because I’m not used to it, since our IT may carry out a plant-wide migration if Corporate Policy decrees it.

Don’t feel too hungry on the second night – had my fill during lunch. The food here is expensive (the numbers are the same, though the currency different). Since the conversion rate from RM to SGD is now 2.5 or so, that means RM20 for a meal at Burger Kings! Sigh, our poor, poor Ringgit….

Though my company’s paying for this trip (food included), I just don’t feel that hungry….

The greatest increase in Petrol Pricing ever!

In 19 minutes time, the price of petrol at our pumps will be revised as follows:-

RON97 - RM2.70 per liter from RM1.92 per liter
RON92 - RM2.62 per liter from RM1.88 per liter
Diesel - RM2.58 per liter from RM1.58 per liter

Came as a surprise as the announcement was made just this afternoon.

I was caught off guard. My Civic was dangerously low on fuel. Yet, unfortunately, it was not possible to refuel as all fuel stations were packed with long queues of cars lining up to fill their tanks - like it was going to make any difference....

End up they waste time and waste fuel waiting in line. While those of us who genuinely needed to refuel could not afford to do so.

I drove my wife and little baby girl back home from my mother-in-law's place, keeping an eye on the fuel gauge all the time. Just arrived. Fuel tank - zero bars left, but thankfully, we made it home. Tomorrow, need to go and fill up at the nearest petrol station. I guess it'll be empty, since everyone's busy filling their tanks tonight!

Sigh, doesn't look good for us....