Durian season again at Jackson's Plantation

I got a call from my generous old friend and ex-colleague, Jackson Goh, to drop by one fine weekend. Yes, once again, it was durian season. Jackson retired recently, and from the looks of things, seems a much happier and stress-free person! :)

Though much of the land in Jackson's plantation was now occupied by palm oil trees, he still maintained a small orchard of durian trees which, though small, still managed to yield a sizable amount of fruits to treat friends to.

Getting to the right spot required a short drive off the main road, down a gentle slope. There was just a simple open gate along the road - easy to miss and overshoot if I weren't paying attention. Though Jackson got around in his 4x4 (he was the Secretary of the Puma 4x4 Club, after all), most normal road-going sedans did not have difficulty traversing the unpaved path that led to the clearing where we gathered.

With two kids, getting anywhere on time proved to be a challenge in its own right, so by the time me and my small family arrived, there was already a small group of my colleagues on the scene.

While Charmaine liked the taste of durians, in stark contrast, Christopher seemed to avoid it (much like most of my European acquaintances). Ah well, I guess there will be variations even between siblings. Anyway, my two kids seemed more excited about running around this big natural area of trees and grass. My other colleague, Goh NK, brought his kids too, but they were a little older, so it was just my two kids running and jumping around while we started to dig in to the pile of spiky fruits.

Well, it was good to see Jackson once again. Till next durian season!

KT Kong offering some durians from an opened shell

Jackson has no doubt mastered the fine art of safely splitting open a durian

Jackson's trusty 4x4, able to go where no ordinary car (especially my FD2) can even dare to dream of going

Charmaine with "dessert" after having her fill of durians

Christopher in the fine company of Lo CT and Sim BL

A new Sinfoni 45.2 amplifier for my Honda Civic FD2

Some time recently, upon starting my Honda Civic FD2, the speakers greeted me with a loud "POP", instead of the sweet melodious voice of Teresa Teng. Instinctively, I immediately turned off the ignition and checked my audio amplifier under the passenger seat. A little hair-raising to see a bit of smoke coming out from the side of the Epsilon ESQ-215 amplifier, that I have had for a couple of years now. Well, fortunately, a puff of smoke and the smell of solder was all there was to it. I pulled out the fuses and cut off the power supply to the amp - I wasn't going to take any chances.

A quick call to Desmond of KL Auto, and an appointment was set up. I have not met up with him for more than a year, more over, he did not attend the recent 8GCC Annual Dinner at Saloma Bistro earlier this year.

Out with the old....

And in with the new!

With my emphasis on sound quality over volume, I was braced for the gargantuan task of finding a substitute amp to replace my poor Epsilon. Desmond saved me the trouble and recommended a Sinfoni AMPLItude 45.2, that had been laying dormant on his shelf for the past couple of years. As it turns out, the improvement in clarity and sound definition was already apparent in the initial set up phase - even with just 1 left-side speaker connected!

Installation and tuning was a painstaking affair, and when it comes to taking apart the delicate panels to work on the innards of your car, you'd better have chosen a team of trusted and skillful worksmen. The team at KL Auto, specially trained and supervised by Desmond himself, delivered excellent work as usual, so there was nothing to worry about. They were really careful with my car, so that's why I especially trust them to perform such delicate tasks. Before I could snap a some decent photos, the amp was in and powered up.... :)

A little tweaking to the soundproofing was done to complement the new set up. As I'm not an acoustic engineer, I'm not the right person to describe accurately and in detail the mechanics of the modifications. Only as one who appreciates good sound and music, I'll let me ears be the judge. Additionally, the new amp nicely complemented the Blaupunkt ODsb8000A active subwoofer that sits in my boot, neither system overpowering the other, but both working together in harmony.

My new Sinfoni amp has a lower wattage rating compared to the retired Epsilon, but the sound quality is much, much improved. Just as there is no co-relation between "megapixels and image quality", there is no reason to assume that having a higher power amp automatically means better sounding music.

Another job well done by the Desmond and the team of KL Auto. Yes, pricing might be relatively higher compared to others, but to me it is fair and justified, in return for good quality of products and services.