Mega Convoy for Super GT 2009 - Part 1

This is gonna be a wordy blog post. Pics will be uploaded in another post.

A week has passed since the Super GT 2009 event in Sepang. Our MLOC President organized a really huge convoy of Japanese sports cars to the Super GT. Kudos to the Club Presidents and the committee members of MLOC, Subaru Club, Silvia Club, Fairlady Club, Integra Type R Club and Caldina Club for the success of this convoy. Many thanks to PDRM, especially Ketua Polis from IPK Shah Alam who led our convoy with 2 PDRM Mitsubishi Evolution X and also the outriders who helped to control the traffic.

This was my first big convoy and it was really fun!!! I think there were about 180 cars that morning. MLOC KL members was to gather before the Seafield toll plaza at 7:30am to wait for members from Melaka and Johor. This meant that I had to drag my lazy ass off of my bed at 5:30am in the morning to meet Kepong/Damansara members for breakfast at SS2 Pelita at 6:30am. I looked like a zombie, needless to say when I reached SS2 for breakfast.

MI's car had a radiator leak which we couldn't identify where was the leak. He had already top up 2 bottles of 1.5 litre but the water seems to just disappear. Anyway, we all agreed to behave and drive slowly to Seafield to meet the others. We were there at 7:30am right on the dot and MI had to open his bonnet to top up the fluids in his radiator again. Of course, being the monkeys and assholes that we are, we all teased him for opening the bonnet and showing us his engine bay. LOL!!!

Other MLOC KL members started showing up followed by the southern members. As fate would have it, only ONE toll booth for ticket was open. Imagine the queue of about 40 of us, all waiting to take the ticket. Anyway, once we all cleared the toll, we headed towards the USJ rest area (near the USJ Go-Kart circuit) to meet up with the other car clubs.

After a safety briefing and also some "reminders" on the rules that many of us are breaking (fancy number plates, dark tinted windows, noisy exhausts), the weather decided to screw with us by pouring for... 10 minutes. Fuck!!! It always rains when I wash my car. Anyway, we were all lining up and getting ready to start the convoy. I'm not too sure which club went out first but we were the last car club to exit from the rest area right after the Subarus. There was even a photographer taking pics of every car that is rolling out into the Elite highway.

Then it came to my turn. I was pretty nervous as the Ketua Polis was right at the exit, flagging us off and due to my twin plate clutch, I had a hard time to feather the throttle lightly so I don't stall my engine and look like an idiot or look like I'm showing off by revving up right in front of him. Anyway, I couldn't afford to have my car jerking like it's gone berserk so I went heavy on the throttle and power out into the highway.

This is when it gets interesting. The Evo 5 in front of me probably had about 10 to 15 seconds head start max before I was out on the highway AND IT WAS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN. Wow!!! Bearing in mind that my turbo couldn't hold boost properly as my actuator seemed to be jammed, I had already set a lower boost warning to 1.1 bar so I don't blow my turbo and blast shrapnel from my exhaust into the car behind me.

I gave chase and shifted around 5k rpm, way below the redline of 7k rpm and in no time I was in 6th gear. I watched the speedo rise from 140 to 160 to 180 and right up to about 220 but THERE WERE STILL NO SIGN OF THE CAR!!! WTF??? How fast are those guys going? I figured I had held 210-220kmh for about 5 minutes or so before I could see those guys in front. These guys are really having a lot of fun flooring it!!! Ok, I had fun flooring it also. And then came the first chesticle experience.

Have you ever felt so much fear that your balls shrink like all the way up to your chest? I call that the chesticle experience. When I caught up with those guys in front, I had lifted off the throttle and we were probably cruising around 180kmh and I maintained around 10 car distance as I'm a bit paranoid and don't wish to merge my Voltex front into the Evo 5 rear ahead.

Suddenly, the Evo 5 in front of me started to get real close. Either I'm suddenly gaining speed or the car in front of me is rapidly losing speed. I jammed on the brakes and in a frenzy, downshifted furiously to stop my car from turning into a halfcut. Thank God for ABS as I didn't lock up any of the wheels. At the same time, I was praying that the blue Evo behind me don't slam into my rear as well!!! I think I was probably an inch away from the Evo 5 when my car had fully stopped. The guy behind me must be pretty close to my rear bumper too, judging from the fact that I can see his wide eyes and his face clearly from my rear view mirror. A few Evos had to take evasive measures and they swerved to the middle lane for more braking room. I could feel the sweat on my palm and realized that I was breathing heavily. I had no idea why they suddenly braked so hard but it was a very close call.

Being a little more paranoid than ever, I made sure I was driving a little bit slower this time, below 180kmh and kept the same distance and like some D grade movie re-runs, it happened again. Suddenly everyone was braking hard and this time, I was better prepared and managed to stop with a safer distance of... a few inches. A few more Evos shot past on my left side, braking like crazy. I could hear them downshifting hard to cut the speed also. This time, it was due to road works. A 3 lane highway turned into a 2 lane and to make matters worse, a truck had overturned, turning it into a 1 lane road.

Godamnit!!! Are those guys for real? Its Super GT weekend and there will be A LOT of cars using that road. How could they close it off for road works? It even caused the accident and nearly caused a long pileup of Evos. Fuck the idiot who gave the order to do the road works on that day. Later on, I heard that there was a kid who was lying by the roadside covered with blood. The poor kid must have been in the truck, a victim of the stupidity of the idiot who gave the green light for road works.

The rest of the journey was uneventful and we all arrived safe and sound at SIC and all of us queued up to park our cars in the mall area near the grandstand. Apart from the chesticle experience, it was a really fun convoy and I'm really looking forward to the next big one and according to our Mr P, they are already planning the next big one!!!

Megan Fox is a man? OMFG!!!

I don't know if this is a sick joke but if it's really true, a lot of guys will be devastated. Why? Because they have been drooling at a tranny and waiting for the sequel to Transformers II for years... damn... I hope it's a sick joke.

OMFGHOLYSHITWTF???!!!

LOS ANGELES, CA – The internet has been abuzz since this Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony, where Megan Fox jokingly remarked that she looked like a man. When interviewed on the red carpet, she said “I look like Alan Alda in drag. I’m a tranny. I’m a man.” At the time, reporters passed it off as a jovial attempt to cover for her nerves. However, today she has cleared the air and officially reported: she’s really a man.

Megan Fox was born Mitchell Reed Fox in Rockwood, Tennessee. From an early age, Mitchell showed an interest in both performing and women’s clothing. When having a preacher lay hands on him did not ‘cure’ him of these interests, his parents simply put him on the pageant circuit.

By the age of 13, Mitchell had already started a career as a female child performer called ‘Megan Fox’. Making her debut on an Olsen Twins straight-to-video release, the twins have kept his secret all this time.

As a sweet 16 present, Fox’s parents offered him sexual reassignment surgery, which, given their child’s career, they’d hoped to write off as a business expense. Unfortunately laws prohibit such surgery to be done to minors.

Since then Megan has been working non-stop, and been included on many Hottest Women lists in publications around the world. Megan, as she goes by now exclusively, also noted this Sunday how much she wants Salma Hayek’s figure. She has even scheduled surgery later this month to get it. After the two met in New York this week, Hayek offered to have a cast made of her bust so doctors can match them exactly on Megan Fox’s chest. The internet is already speculating whether this news will be worked into the plot of the upcoming Transformers sequel.

Damn... the week just got a lot more worse... DAMN!!!

Love is blind... really?

People keep saying love is blind. What do they mean actually? What does it mean actually? Is it something like you will forgive whatever your lover does? Or does it mean accepting him/her as they are be it good or bad? What about giving them the best that you can? Or giving them more than you can afford to?

What is love? There are many interpretations of love out there. What is your version of love? To me, it doesn't matter what other people think. What is important is, that you and your lover have the same interpretation of love. This makes it easier for both to accept who they are and who their lovers are. Simply put, to be "on the same channel".

Love is very fluid and involves many emotions. It cannot be dissected and researched to yield a definitive answer. It cannot be fathomed or understood by a 3rd party. It cannot be measured with the same yardstick so... who are we to say that love is blind?

Some are willing to die for their lovers while there are some who prefers to live. Some are willing to sacrifice while some only care about how much they are getting. We all get worked up when we see lopsided love but who are we to judge them and say that it is a lopsided love?

I have no idea why i wrote this piece. It just erm... came to my mind and... I just babbled here. Oh well, who cares about what I think. Most importantly, what do you think? What is your version of love? Does your lover share the same thoughts on love that you do?

It seems a lil bit depressing to write about this topic on a Friday. We all want a good relationship that has a fairy tale ending to it. It'll be nice won't it. Just like Taylor Swift's version of Romeo and Juliet.



I love the song btw...

Gee by Girl's Generation

They're cute...

Unbelievable

I like Marketing. I studied marketing... but unlike others who are lucky, I didn't get to work in a company that places a very strong emphasis on marketing. Which is why I'm so pissed at seeing this.

Baby Formula & Nutritional Products are placed DIRECTLY opposite detergents.

Oh look, there's more detergents nearby...

I fail to comprehend the reasoning for such merchandising strategies. How the hell can you place food stuff SO DAMN CLOSE to things that are poisonous?

Rewind 10 minutes. I just had dinner with my parents, my bro, sis-in-law and baby Matthew at Kenny Roger's outlet, located at the Ground Floor of Giant, Kota Damansara. We were going to get some groceries so we went upstairs for some shopping. As we were walking along the aisles, I noticed that there were a few items on promotions and they were placed along the aisles so you can see them and therefore be tempted to buy them.

I saw a huge mountain of instant noodles placed directly opposite cleaning detergents. At first I thought to myself that "Maybe those places were already bought and paid for so the hypermarket can't really adjust the sequence and the placement of the products on display" (FMCG companies normally pay a lot for shelf space, especially for strategic locations like along the main aisles). Such things do happen, which is why sometimes when you shop at hypermarts, some products who are not related can be placed together. Its all about how much you pay that determines where you get to place your products.

When I reached the milk powder section, I was really appaled to see that AGAIN, detergents were placed so near food stuffs. I don't really know what is the rationale (if there is one) here but seriously, the merchandiser should be hanged for this. I guess I will be very careful about the food stuff I purchase from Giant at KD now.

Happy Birthday Matthew!!!

My bro was blessed by a very cute baby boy last year and time really flies... Matthew is 1 year old now!!! My nephew is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO cute... like his uncle (ME!!!) lolz... Anyway, we had a great time as we could celebrate Baby Matthew's birthday and also Father's Day for my dad and also my bro's father-in-law.

Baby Matthew

We had hi-tea at Eastin Hotel's Swez Brasserie and to be frank, the food this time was a let down. We had been there before and I could remember that the food was much tastier a year ago. Oh well, maybe they changed chefs.

My first helping consisted of fried rice, roast lamb, mutton rendang with potatoes, chicken rendang, chicken satay and also brinjals fried with belacan.

I'm on a diet so you don't see a mountain here... :P

Interestingly, I think my diet plan and also my self control over over eating is yielding results. I could only eat 2 helpings, compared to 4 or 5 in the past. I don't know if this is good news (for my health) or bad news (for paying so much but eating so little)... Sigh... I just took a little bit of wan tan mee, roast lamb (i have a soft spot for roast lamb), mixed vege and also the brinjals again.

My 2nd feeble attempt at the buffet line...

As for all chinese birthdays, there's the customary red egg... although i have absolutely no idea how this tradition started. I had my egg, which was pretty dry as there was nothing to go with it. The waiter took my plate that had some gravy left on it... crap -___-"

Only the shells survived the onslaught of my erm... appetite

Vanilla ice cream... my fav flavour... 2 scoops only though...

The cake!!!

I never liked Barney so I had no problems gobling him up.

I was actually very surprised by my (lack of) appetite. I guess my stomach is really shrinking, which is good. Now I just need to get off my lazy ass and start working out again. Diet only works if you exercise. Yeah... I'm soooooooooooo motivated... lolz...

Turbo gone bonkers

I think there's something wrong with my turbo, or rather, the actuator... can't seem to hold boost. Feels like it's jammed. Going out for a test run now. Let's hope there's no compressor surge or its bye bye turbo, manifold, exhaust and whoever is behind me as turbo fins might be blasting out... fuck...

There is definitely something wrong with my turbo after a test run. Damnit... I don't have much choices that is within my budget at the moment...

Cheap options
1. Repair/swap with similar turbo and reflash ecu
2. Change to E9 turbo (titanium... hohoho...) and reflash ecu

Sell my ass options
1. GT2835R + Tonka manifold + Turbosmart w/g + Injectors + Power FC/V Pro
2. GT30R + Tonka manifold + Turbosmart w/g + Injectors + Power FC/V Pro
3. GT35R + Tonka manifold + Turbosmart w/g + Injectors + Power FC/V Pro (if I consider to stroke up to 2.3L in the future)

Obviously, I'm gonna consider the cheap options as I'm so damn broke now... sigh...

What if your parents joined facebook?

I came across this and I couldn't stop laughing.

I wonder what happens if your parents joined facebook? I wonder what will happen if my parents joined facebook? Kantoi la for sure!!!

Imagine if your dad took a quiz and this was the result?

Now I'm gonna make sure I don't tell my parents about facebook... LOL

Formula Drift Singapore Pro Am 2009

Formula Drift Singapore is back again!!! Although I can't get media pass for this event, I'm still going there to shoot from the Grandstands and give our local drifters full support!!! Let's hope a Malaysian will win this year. Last year's FDSG was great and I don't expect any less this year as well.

Anyone familiar with Singapore and knows where to jalan-jalan cari makan? I'm planning to go on Friday and then coming back on Monday. Appreciate if you all could share places to stay, eat and chill out.

Formula Drift Singapore 2008

Visit my Flickr site for the pics of FDSG 2008.

See you all this July!!!

Mine's GTR vs Amuse Supra

Found this classic video on youtube where even Tsuchiya was scared by the acceleration of the 2 monsters.

Diet... that doesn't seem to be working?

Ever since my dad had a heart attack back in early May, I have been watching my diet because

i) i am an honest person in that i realize that my waistline is getting bigger... sigh...
ii) i don't wish to upgrade my current spare tire from motor vehicle class to commercial vehicle class (read : from car sized spare tire to lorry sized spare tire)...
iii) all those mean jokes about fatso, fatty, fathead, fei hai, etc is coming back to erm... haunt me... yeah, karma's a bitch... ops... i shouldn't say that, karma might hit me harder...
iv) i don't wish to spend more money from buying new pants once every 2 years to once every year...
v) i am alarmed at the way i've been so addicted to sinful food like nasi lemak and bakuteh...
vi) i am alarmed at the way that i've been eating too much meat of any kind and eating less greens and fruits...
vii) i am afraid that i need to get more horses under the hood of my evo so i can still have the same power-to-weight ratio... this would also mean a very huge hole in my bank account, my pocket, my wallet, my erm... whatever...

Anyway, i had been eating oats for breakfast with some simple sandwiches to make sure it lasts till lunch time and i don't start chewing on my laptop and swallowing it. it has been 5 weeks now and generally, my breakfast looks something like this...

plain oats with cherry tomatoes (somehow i like this combo a lot... i dunno why)

sandwich of some kind - tuna, scrambled egg, bacon, cheese, sausage... no no no... not all at the same time... its more like a "rotation" of those from monday to friday. sometimes it can be 2, like today...

today's sandwich - gardenia's butterscotch (with raisins) with tuna and scrambled egg

I was pleasantly surprised with the Gardenia's Butterscotch (with raisins) bread. It costs RM 4.00 for a loaf (yeah... freaking expensive) but the taste makes up for it, i guess... the butter taste is just nice and the raisins add a nice touch to it. I had 2 slices of it, both with tuna and scrambled egg... and guess what?

I'm full... very full, in fact. I guess this is why my weight doesn't seem to come down. I'm still at 68kg now, the same as 5 weeks ago. Damn... I guess I'm still eating too much for lunch and dinner and I need to start exercising again. Health and fitness doesn't only mean eating right, it also means living right - which includes workouts, sports... basically getting off of my lazy bum and sweating it out... Guess its time to reactivate my Celebrity Fitness membership...

Good service is a must.....

I went to service my Evo at Cruise Power Garage yesterday morning. It was time to change the engine oil for my car and where else to go except MLOC's recommended workshop for Evos? I didn't realize that it was a public holiday (DYMM's birthday) and I reached there about 10:20am and was surprised to find that it was closed. Shit... I called Ah Kit and fortunately, he told me that his workshop is open that day but he is just running a little late. Phew...

Anyway, he opened up the workshop and asked me to drive my car in and so I did. As he was trying to find a "place" to jack up my car, we both found out that my car is a little too low. The only place for the jack to go in was from the driver side but when he jacked it up, it was pressing against my side skirts, threatening to crack it. Shit!!!

The only solution was to use wood and so I reversed my car and then he laid a piece of wood for my front right tire to "elevate" it a little higher. I drove my car in again and my right tire was now 1 inch higher. Guess what? It's still too low... Crap...

Front right tire on a piece of wood

Fortunately, there were a few more pieces of wood so Ah Kit placed one piece of wood which is about 1.5 inches thick on top of the jack before jacking my car up. This time it worked.

A jack stand was also used for additional support. You can also see the piece of wood also.

It was wierd to see my car tilted to one side. I was silently praying it doesn't erm... flip... yeah... i got crazy imaginations...

Wow... the engine oil is... sooooooooo black and thick. Guess I made the right call to change it else I'd be killing my engine internals...

As I wasn't gonna track the car, I didn't have to use the 300V so 6100 Synergie 15w-50 is sufficient to keep my engine internals healthy. Lucky me as the price difference between the 2 oils is at least RM 160 and above...

Making sure gravity does its job of draining every single drop of the Motul oil into my engine block.

My Evo's heart, the mighty 4G63T... has got new blood in it... or should I say oil... lol... The previous owner did a great job here, using a lot of goodies and also colour coding the engine bay... I like... ^^

Lest you think that this workshop only works on Evos, it doesn't as there are other cars in his workshop. His other worker was working on a perdana while there is a Vios also and jack stands further inside the garage. Ah Kit, the owner is a very friendly guy and is very forthcoming with ideas on car care. Its pretty hard to find a workshop owner who gives advice freely and doesn't rush/force you into changing this and that in order to make more money from you.

If you stay near kuchai lama/happy garden/sri petaling area and wants to find a reputable workshop to fix/maintain your car, you can call Ah Kit at 012-610-7616.

Asian Festival Of Speed

It was a VERY hot day at SIC. It was almost noon by the time we had finish parking our cars at the Grandstand area. Took some time cooling down in the air conditioned paddock before going for the pitwalk. There weren't any race queens for the teams, which according to my friends, weren't really that surprising as there were none last year as well. Anyway, I took some pics during the GT3 class race.










For more pics, go to my Flickr site.

MLOC @ AFOS 2009

Mitsubishi Lancer Owner's Club (MLOC) was invited by Asian Festival Of Speed (AFOS) to display our cars on race day (31st May, Sunday). Our Club President had asked us all to meet at the Petronas station just opposite the Sepang International Circuit (SIC). Here are some pics for that day.

Morning Rendezvous

The Queue (into SIC)

MLOC @ AFOS

Many of our members couldn't make it for AFOS but rest assured, when Super GT comes, there will be a LOT of monsters heading for SIC. Till then... go to my Flickr site for more pics.