Goodbye Persona…not quite, it seems

Just as I thanked the stars for giving me a buyer for my much loved Persona, the whole transaction crumbled faster than I could say “zerotohundred”. Due to some complications with his loan and the transfer of the vehicle, my buyer backed out. Not impressed. Neither am I happy. Now I’d have to go through the process of reposting my ads + answering even more enquiries. All that time wasted. And effort.

So, it’s back in the market. Interested? Drop me a line.

Good riddance to Persona, hello Motion

Good riddance to Persona
After some shocking ‘valuation’ from a snaky 3rd party secondhand dealer appointed by Proton on Saturday, things looked brighter the next day after posting my car for sale on Zerotohundred. Bastard valued my car at RM24,000. RM24,000? I almost died. Didn’t know if I should have slapped him, kick him in the groin, cry, laugh or faint. All I could say was “What?”

Thankfully, I followed my gut feeling, got some advice from a friend working in Mayban Finance, then pursued to hunt for private buyers instead.

And my prayers were answered. Advertising my car for RM32,000 – pretty fair for a 1996/99 Proton Persona, I got a response almost straight away. FYI, my car is one of the rare manual transmission single-cam 1.8 litres out there. Most in the market are autos. Meeting the interested buyer on Sunday, he was pretty impressed at the performance – a pretty eager car with quite good low to mid-range poke. The buyer, called Alban drives a Mitsubishi Cordia single-cam 1.8 GSR Turbo. No slouch mind you!

Neeways, good news is that he cancelled his loan application for another single-cam 1.8 Wira (auto) and decided to commit to mine. So everything is in transition – all I can do is wait till the loan and documentation is ready. Glad that the car has been sold. Now I can look forward to the R3!

Motion’s in motion
Attended a demo cum launch of Apple’s latest software application – motion-graphics extraordinaire, Motion at TGV, KLCC yesterday. I have to say I’m pretty impressed with it. The integration with Final Cut Pro HD, DVD Studio Pro, Soundtrack, LiveType, Compressor and Cinema Tools is nice. (the bundle is called “Production Suite” by the way). Will have to see how it fares against the likes of After Effects, an industry heavyweight in motion graphics and video special effects.

Satria R3 – Booked! (but not without hassle!)

I’ve never been this excited or nervous about a car. Seriously wierd. It was much anticipated. In fact, I grew so impatient I was logging on to the ProtonEdar site at 2.00pm. Kiasu! Bookings for the race-bred Satria R3 began at 3.00pm sharp today. When the official R3 booking page came up at 3.00pm, I was number 2.

But much as I expected it, the credit card transaction did not go through. Fuck. This cannot be happening, I whined. After multiple attempts, the online transactions were still timing out. I gave Adian (Head of the R3 project a call), telling him about the problem. He checked with the credit card transaction provider and called me back later. 3.15pm and still no confirmation of the car.

Fuck.

Reloaded the page. 129 units left.

Shit.

Then 127 units.

According to Adian, Proton Edar has been getting numerous calls pertaining the payment gateway as well. I called my credit card company to check. They told me that my transaction actually already gone through, but for some reason, the Proton Edar web did not give me a summary or notice that it did. Called Adian again to tell him that my transaction was recorded.

After some checking, Adian informed me that my transaction did actually go through and all my info was captured. Phew! An R3 representative would be calling me tomorrow. Yippee! I’m so happy!

I know, I know, it’s just a car! And it’s not even a Beemer M3 or Porsche Carrera GT! Sometime I find it really puzzling myself. All this excitement and trouble because of a car!

Hello to the new, farewell to the old…
By the way, I have a UK-spec Proton Persona 1.8 SEi sedan for sale. Specs as follows:

Engine
1996/99 Proton Persona 1.8 SEi sedan (UK-spec)
4G93P Single-cam MPI engine
1800cc
Mileage: 120,000 miles
Pipercross drop-in filter with cold-air intake
Mivec header with custom heat shield
Custom downpipe + 2″ stainless steel exhaust system
Apexi muffler
Lightweight cam pulley
MMC engine mounts (new)
MMC timing belt, bearings (new)
Bosch Super 4 plugs
Q8Oils SW10-50 FT fully-synthetic engine oil

Brakes + Suspension Kit
Front – EBC Blackstuff + stock disks
Rear – stock disks and pads
APM R-Tech short-stroke absorbers
Eibach Pro-Kit Springs

Rims + Rolling Stock
16″ 6-spoke JRD on Falken Ziex 512

Exterior
Stock 2K purple (newly repainted in Feb ‘04)
MIVEC/Mirage bumper, fender + lips
MMC Electronic flippable side-mirrors
Rare Daihatsu bee-sting antennae
Original GSR rear spoiler

Interior
Stock with GTi console
Sports pedals

ICE
Stock Blaupunkt cassette headunit
4 speakers

Car serviced every 5000-6000km, no major accidents.

Interested? Drop me a line. RM37,000 o.n.o

Selamat Berpuasa, my Muslim friends!

Ramadhan is here. Here’s wishing all my Muslim friends, acquaintances, relatives, business associates, fellow Malaysian and earthlings a Happy Fasting month! Selamat Berpuasa fellas!

Remember, fasting strengthens and not weakens your being

iMac G5 Launch : Where did the computer go?

MyMUG crew – Sean, Azul, me, Alvin, Chris (Azxel) + Juan (Qwerty)

The where-in-heaven’s-name-is-the-computer iMac G5 was officially launch with much fanfare and excitement last night at Velvet Underground : Zouk. Rudy of the Hitz.fm Morning Crew emceed and he was as entertaining as he was funny and spirited. I had attended the event with some of my colleagues, a couple who are Mac-heads, like yours truly.

I am not a biggie fan of the new iMac form factor, but I think simplicity has its advantages. It does look sleek and minimal, definitely saves plenty of desktop space. Plus the G5 processor brings it one level up from the previous G4 offering. Nice, nice quality display (choice of 17″ or 20″) I have to say.

The highlight of the day was definitely Jit Murad who did a 45-minute skit. He was hilarious as usual, with a quick swoosh, transforming into Renee Choi, world reknowned hair stylist and *fooooh* blowdry specialist from Sungai Wang! He was funny, as usual. Talented dude, and Mac user, no doubt!

Audience was also fed with games, giving participants chances to win Apple merchandise – mostly polo tees and ‘Book bags. Did I mention exclusive? Ok.

All in all, it was a fun event. In fact, I think it was one of the better, more happening ones ever organised by Apple. Well done! And btw, the picture you see up there are some of the MyMUG members who came to support the event. Cheers people! See ya online!

Satria R3 : Made by Enthusiasts For Enthusiasts

The announcement and release of the Satria R3 by Proton Motorsports has aroused plenty of interest amongst the local autoscene, judging by postings in popular forums such as Zerotohundred, Team Matrix Motorsports and Race Rally Research.

Generally speaking, there has been a lot of positive feedback, although some skeptics remain, well, skeptical. The ever popular remark – “it’s still a Proton” still proves naysayers are abound, which is good for Proton if feedback in constructive. I hope though, in time to come, that the negative mentality and mindset will change with the introduction of R3, and the efforts of Proton Motorsports.

I offer a rebuttal on some key points on a posting left by an anonymous reader (thanks for reading and commenting!) pertaining the R3 a couple of days ago.

Here goes nothing:

As published and announced, it will be priced the same as a normal GTi, as published in the Race Rally Research forums.

I am not sure if you’ve seen the R3 cars in action, but these cars are plenty fast and handles like they are on rails. Of course, these are the white ones seen at the Street Shootout (SSO/Proton Day) events, higher spec-ced no doubt.

Strut bars + Suspension
Anyone’s guess on the cost, but strut bars with a properly tuned suspension and re-inforced chassis (double-welded) does wonders to handling. I am pretty confident that the R3 team has got this covered. Tengku Djan, head of Proton Motorsports, is a chassis expert trained at Lotus, and has vast experience in racing. Adian, head of Special Projects, a skillful driver as seen with Team Matspeed previously, is also experience and knowledgeable. The R3 team are hardcore enthusiasts, and committed to performance cars. All I’m saying is that they know what they are doing, and have proven their input in putting together the R3 cars.

Wheels + Rubber
The 16″ are Advanti Racing lightweight alloys, not local crap like JRD, AAC, on the likes of other Proton models. I would think it would cost at least RM2K. The excellent Yokohama Neova AD07s are about RM400 each.

Bodykit
You are right about this, as this is mass produced, and brought over from the SGTi.

Ventilated Discs
I agree the ventilated discs on the rear is somewhat overkill, as it isn’t exactly a 300bhp powered vehicle. No specs on how large the front discs are, but the Mintex pads supplied are nice.

Engine
The post-Mitsu 4G93 is a pretty sturdy block, although it is quite disappointing that the Siemens ECU is being used (post 2000 SGTis use the same chip). Why? Tuning potential. Some say it isn’t as tuneable as the Mitsu-based chip. However, the engine has been given a ‘mechanical’ tune, squeezing an additional 10bhp, which is measly, but still an improvement no less. The Siemens along with a cat converter was used because it meets EURO2 emission standards, and the freeflow exhaust is no noisier than a Satria 1.6 – approved by JPJ (80db). At 140bhp with 168Nm of torque, the Satria R3 has a power-to-weight ratio of 140bhp/tonne, which is really no slouch! As a comparison my current 1.8 Persona lingers around 100bhp/tonne only. My butt dyno would tell me that is a significant difference.

Proton Motorsports has commented that the current offering has been given a Stage 1 performance treatment, and there will be Stage 2, 3 and so forth performance upgrades made available for the R3. So there is a clear-cut upgrade path, limited only by the amount of big ones in your bank account.

Accessories
There are R3 exclusive trimmings and accessories, but should not cost too much. I do still think quality is key here.

Race Ready
To a certain extent it is. Less soundproofing, tuned suspension, reinforced chassis, quality accessories. Yes, I think so. How light? How about 995kgs? Wow.
Goodies like the Momo Sports Steering (at least RM750), and Recaro SR4 (nice!) semi buckets (should be around RM2K each) are fine additions and has lots of street-cred.

R3 has included ICE and air-con, so this R3 offering is more like an RS version somewhat – performance-driven but still with some necessary comfort elements.

Not sure of a one-make R3 specific series in Malaysia, but Proton has been actively promoting and organising events recently, and I’m sure they have activities planned in the short/medium term. One thing for sure though, the Satria R3 is a road-legal track car. It’s for the enthusiast in you. For REAL drivers Sounds like a sales pitch!

Whatever it is, I’ll be in line to book one on the 17th October @ 12pm. Mutiara Damansara showroom. There are only 150 units in Malaysia, and available only at 3 selected outlets. Exclusive? Hell yeah. And I want one. NOW.

Racer-boys Take Notice : Proton Satria R3 Launched

Proton Motorsports soft-launched the much-anticipated Limited Edition Proton Satria R3 over the weekend at Pasir Gudang, Johor. The Satria R3 is set to be in the market on October 17 at 3 selected Proton Edar offices in the Northern, Southern and Central regions of the country.

This exclusive road-legal track car will only see 150 units in production, and I am sure will be snapped up in no time! A claimed 0-100km/h time of 8.6 secs and a top speed of 205kmh is plenty fast, although some may have anticipated better specs.

The goodie list is enough to impress – a reinforced chassis with front and rear tower brace bars, performance-tuned suspension system with bigger front roll bars, front and rear ventilated, cross-drilled and slotted disc brakes and Mintex pads, 16″ Advanti alloy rims with delicious Yokohama Advan Neova AD07 tyres, Momo Tuner steering, Recaro SR4 sport seats and other R3 exclusive goodies!

I am pleasantly surprised with the inclusion of ICE, air-conditioning and almost full trimmings as I thought they would have been excluded to further lighten the car.

I am disappointed though at the black exterior body colour – “Incognito Black”, as it isn’t the competition white adorned by the original R3 vehicles, as previously reported.

All in all, a good effort. I think I am tempted to get my hands on one, if I can! Yums!

MPSians Mini Reunion: The 18 Years

It’s amazing that 18 years have passed. I know, I’m old. And it’s amazing how little have changed – facial features I mean. We could almost recognise each other instantly, without introduction.

It was an informal gathering at Souled Out, Sri Hartamas for the 8 of us, class of ‘86 Methodist Primary School (MPS), P.J. Isn’t it wierd, primary schoolmates and classmates? I mean, how many of us actually do still keep in touch? It’s truly wonderful this took place. The infinite catching up to do.

So far in the 18 years since, I’ve only met or bumped into a few. The world is small and somehow has become smaller and more familiar, with the wonders of email, IMs and yes, Friendster. Some of my classmates have been in touch with each other but the unlucky me, being half-way across the South China Sea in Sarawak for a number of years, have missed out on the numerous reunions.

Tonight was good. There was Denzil and Kumaraj, organisers of the event; Poh Cheok, Alicia, Joanne M.; as well as Joanne S. and Ee Mei who I’ve met several times. A few of us were classmates and a few were in the next class, but we knew each other pretty well then. We had our laughs and Kumaraj entertained us with his history of ailments, multiple operations and baffling medical terms. Actually entertaining isn’t exactly appropriate a word to describe his stories. Perhaps engaging. The guy’s been through so much.

It will take a whole lot of blog space to write about the event, so I’d really cut it short. I wish someone had brought a camera though! Would have been nice to take snaps of 30-year olds (sorry Ee Mei and Alicia, you’re still 29!) complaining that the music was too loud to have a decent conversation!

How time flies when you’re having fun! We’re already planning the next do which would likely be next month to celebrate Ee Mei’s birthday cum reunion. Can’t wait. Was really lovely to see all of you. Take care and see ya! *Hugs*

I dedicate this song to all of you – “100 Years” by Five For Fighting

You Don’t Know My Name

Who has boatload of soul, oozes sex appeal, limitless talent, makes Richard Clayderman look like a whip on piano, sings like an angel and has a glass cabinet full of Grammys?

Pardon me, but I’ve been spending time with Alicia Keys. What I thought would last a moment became more like the whole afternoon blaring songs from her albums “Songs From A Minor” and “The Diary of Alicia Keys” – from “Fallin’” to “You Don’t Know My Name” to “If I Ain’t Got You”. Current favourite undeniably is “If I Ain’t Got You” with Usher. Beautiful.

This baby sure has soul! For those who are going for her concert tonight, I envy you! Enjoy it!

16 signs of an idiot

This is one of those emails you just have to publish to the world.

1) He spends twenty minutes looking at an orange juice box because it said, “concentrate”.

(2) He puts lipstick on the forehead because he wanted to makeup his mind.

(3) He gets stabbed in a shoot-out.

(4) He sends a fax with a stamp on it.

(5) He tries to drown a fish.

(6) If you gave them a penny for their intelligence, you’d get change.

(7)He trips over a cordless phone.

(8) He takes a ruler to bed to see how long he slept.

(9) At the bottom of the application where it says “Sign Here”, he puts
“Scorpio”.

(10) He takes 2 hours to watch “60 minutes”.

11) He invents a solar powered flashlight.

(12) He heard that 90% of all crimes occur around the home, so he moves.

(13) He misses the No. 14 Bus, and takes the 7 twice
instead.

(14) He takes you to the airport and sees a sign that says, “Airport left”, and he turns around and heads home.

(15) He got locked in a furniture shop but sleeps on the floor.

(16) He spends time reading thru the above 15 points and analyses if he is
an idiot!!!