Thank God It's Friday...Not This Week For Me

People who work love Fridays. It marks the end of the workweek. Everyone's looking forward to spending quality time in the weekends doing something they enjoy doing. I was looking forward to have a nice time relaxing and chilling out after an exhausting work week, with the plant start up and all. Well, if it's not meant to be, it's not meant to be.

I was heading home from Ayer Keroh at about 6-ish. I was in the PLUS highway northbound to KL, when somewhere in Pedas, the rain starts to fall. Then it started to get really heavy (wiper no.2 la). I was doing around 90, 100kmh. Plus, the cars starting to pile up, you know, typical rush hour for the weekends. As I reach just after Seremban's R&R (km 275.5, according to what I wrote in my police report), the car in front of me suddenly braked. My quick reflexes triggered me to push the break hard enough, I managed to slow my car and avoid hitting the car in front. Unfortunately (hear comes the sad part), the car behind me could not brake on time and then, Bang! hits my rear bumper. I was shocked my mind just could not process what just happened. I drove my car for further 5 meters and then stopped. It was raining and I was like, damnnn..accident plak dah, and I put on the hazard lights and head out to check my car. Aiyoo, bumper sudah kemek. I grabbed my mobile phone and snapped the picture of my rear bumper, took photos of the car which banged me (btw, it's a white Proton Wira, registration no WMS 1467). Funny enough (although really it's not), there's 5 Series BMW got banged by another car (I think it's a Hyundai). The BMW, driven by a Chinese chap had minor bruises on his rear bumper, but his exhaust almost fell down! We then took our car to the side, chatted about what happened, what to do and all that, and this guy suddenly showed up to ask us to head to Seremban police station report about this. Later I found out that the dude was working for a workshop (kira macam runner la, siap ngan tow truck ready). Damn, they were quick to the scene (more about them later on).

So with my bruised bumper, not properly closed boot and with my hazard lights on, we headed to the nearest police station. Somehow I lost track of the convoy and took my own way to the nearest police station, which led me to IPD Sepang. There, upon asking me where the incident took place, they insist that the location is under Seremban's jurisdiction, so I need to head there to report. I was like 'Geez, takleh ke buat kat sini je?' I was hungry, soaking wet, so want to pee, not to mention fuckin' pissed! So I made my way, driving to Seremban at 60kmh (the last thing I want right now is to have my boot flying off my car, leaving me behind). At about 10:30 ish, I reached Seremban's police station. I parked my car outside the station, headed inside when a bunch of these runners I talked about earlier, starts asking me if 'abang dah ada workshop dah?', while at the same time handing over their business cards. I was like 'do they smell opportunity, do they have insider info of what's going on'? I head inside to find out they are about 20 people reporting of accidents! It was 10:45 when I took my queue number, and only called on at 12:30am! My god, this is just horrible! While sitting, standing, pacing around the station, I observed these so-called runners teaching victims how to write their report', explaining what to do next, bla3, even hanging around with a few of the officers. Haha, talked about networking for your business.

So then comes my number. I sat down, gave my IC and license number and the police lady took my statement. I waited for a while when another officer asked me to show my car, took some photos. The incident investigator then asked me to head home and wait for his call. By the time it all finished, it is already 2am. I head back to KL, doing 60, 80kmh and reach home at 2:45. I'm so starved and I can barely open my eyes....What..a...day it has been.

Some photos after this. I need some serious cheering up. I know! I'll get my 13.3" Macbook Pro today! Sighhh...

When it happened...
The banger...

The morning afterAnother view
My statement...

Honda City: Test Test...

My mum was heading back to Kelantan for the royal annual dinner via flight, so I sent her to the LCCT at about 6-ish this morning. I also took the opportunity to put my car on a performance test, just to see how did it behaved. Cruising speed wise (we're talking 100-120km/h), ride is such a breeze. The City has been very stable, noise insulation is also good for a sub 100K car, everything just feels good. I was on 120-140km/h throughout the 60km stretch to the LCCT.

On my way back, I decided to kick in another notch and pushed it harder. The iVTEC has been revving pleasantly at speeds of 100-120km/h; not much problems encountered. Going 120km/h onwards; that is another story. The engine feels a bit sluggish going to 140, and even more so to 160. Eventually I managed to hit 160, and suddenly i heard some squeaking sound. I'm not entirely sure where it came from. I've decided to slow down and try it again. Again at about 155, 160 the squeaking sound reappeared. Perhaps this is something to be brought up during the5K service. But all in all, I'm satisfied with the car's performance. It can go to 140 (which is the usual speed I drive in highways) which is OK, and the fact that it feels comfy at cruising speeds delights me even more. Pushing up to 160 is something I'll do on rare occassions (especially in a 1.5litre car!), but I think I'll need to get it checked later. I sort of have a feeling that I can push even more (given the power of VTEC), but unless I'm really sure what the problem is with the sound and it has been resolved, I'll put that on hold. Safety first people!

Anyway, today is the start of another season of Formula 1. There's a new kid on the block; Brawn GP, and at the moment, they have been performing well. Scored the pole and 2nd spot, this team is definitely worth checking out. Will it become the dark horse against the favourites of Ferrari, McLaren and Sauber? We'll see about that. I also found out about this KERS system implemented by some cars which allows extra boost power during pressing situations. Will it be practical to be used in this race, given the consideration for weight and so on? All this answers should be answered as the race kicks off. Till then , roger and out!

Random Rants On A Saturday Morning

Hope you are guys are enjoying your weekends. I hope I am. My morning starts with me going for my rides first service. Technically speaking it's not service. it's just a routine inspection done to ensure that my car is running as it should be. As for the fuel consumption, apparently I'm not the only one with a problem; other customers have been talking about the same issue as well. The service advisor advised to wait for the 5000km service and the oil change, where it should improve the FC. We'll see then. Other than that, I think I'm ready to take my car for a bit of a stretch somewhere in the highway.

Well, today's is the day; Sunburst KL is finally here. Expect some fun time rocking your socks off with performances from local and international acts. I only found out recently that Erykah Badu has canceled her appearance here. Not sure why, but hope that would not really affect the quality of this years fest.

I'm also looking forward to checking out the hot air balloons at Putrajaya. Probably I'll check it out tomorrow then. Till then, stay tune for my posts. Again, have a good weekend!

So Who Said Anything About Economic Crisis?

Well apparently if that is true, it certainly does not look that way here in Malaysia. I have spent my weekends in KL, watching TV, going to shopping malls and all, and I'm intrigued to share my observations.

First, I've been watching the primetime news on Saturday (just before catching the Man Utd - Liverpool showdown, which btw, Liverpool totally deserved to win, based on last night's performance...anyway, this is not about the match), and there's this report on the MATTA fair (MATTA stands for Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents) in PWTC. What surprises me is the reception; extremely well i must say. Thousands of people and holidaymakers swarmed the booths, looking for interesting deals for their dream vacation. People are getting retrenched from their jobs in some countries and these people looked into where they want to go for holiday? Wow, hebat! Malaysians surely know how to spend their hard earned moolah. It is true then; Malaysia Boleh! When every country in this world are facing gloomy days, nothing seemed affected in this bolehland.

Next, I went to KLCC with my mum and Yaya on Sunday. Not surprising, the famous shopping centre is jam-packed with humans; local and foreign. Two interesting observations made during my visit. First, inside Prada boutique; this Chinese fella, a hip and trendy kinda guy with his friend, looking at some of the manbags displayed. Yaya and I can't help it but to overhear their conversation, 'I have something similar to this one, limited edition I bought earlier one...'People are having no problems spending their money, so is there really an economic crisis? Really got meh?

Then, we went inside Tod's (we're just doing what we do best, window shopping, haha..) and there's this family of four. Looking at things, they are seemed to be a modern type of family. The husband is trying on some shoes (I think). The wife is looking into handbags, and their oldest son was running around the shop like it's his fathers'. What surprises me (and it kinda gets into my nerves too; nerves of envy that is) is that suddenly that kid said to his mum 'Mummy mummy, I want the blue one (refering to the shoe colour). Yaya and I was like, ' Perghhh, kecik2 dah pandai pakai Tod's. Pilih2 colour macam kat kedai kasut Bata je...'As for me, there's nothing that I could afford at the moment, so I head to have a nice Chocolixir from Godiva. Chocolicious, and it comes at a price tag of RM22...

So, is there really an economic crisis? Go figure...Anyway, I have a more important issue to thing about (for me, at least). My new car has been showing some unsatisfactory fuel consumption. I've pumped full tank into my car, and the range that I could get is only about 400km-ish (supposedly 500, some have claimed to reach up 600-ish). That is rather disappointing for a name which is synonymous with efficient fuel consumption. But then, I think it's not just me who are having this issue. I've been reading a few comments from disappointing new owners of the Honda City of the below average FC. Is it because the engine has not properly break in yet? If so, when will the FC improve? 1K? 5K? 10K? Haiyaaa, what to do la?

Till then, jaane!