KLIMS 2010 Showgirl shots

HTC HD 2's new ROM update had been released!!!!

I've been waiting so long for this update:
http://www.htc.com/sea/supportdownload.aspx?p_id=297&cat=2&dl_id=854

This upgrades my HD2's  from ROM Version: 1.66.707.1 to the latest ROM version of 3.14.707.3 and the improvemets are as follow:

1.Keeping in touch has always been very important, and this update delivers fast and reliable SMS messaging.

2.Support for the new Extended Battery accessory.

Before you proceed, please confirm that this software upgrade is a newer version than what is currently installed on your device. If it is the same version and your device is operating normally, there is no need to reinstall the software.

To check what version is installed on your device, click Start > Settings > System tab > Device Information > Version tab, and note the ROM version, CPU, and Radio version.

I'm in the process of downloading the ROM and i shall update on the changes after testing it.

The new facelifted Toyota Alphard 2.4 review

This alphard is very similar to the toyota vellfire. The headlamp are the only changes

The huge Alphard compared side by side with my Murano



Nice meters, looks like sports watch with a rotating bezel to me. Oh..did i see a km/l meter on a VAN?




3rd row is also well pampered with a powerfull air conditioner and comfy bench



No seperate temperature control, this control module is located on the roof of the van

Beige coloured interior is beautifully built. Lost the gear knob though

Really huge doors close with a solid thud, and the rear doors are powered

This MPV is a couple of inch lower than the previous model, thus no problem in car parks.

Beautifull dash board is simple as well. I love how the aircond vents are sculpted which looks much like the ones from porsche panamera.

The roof comes equiped with railings for curtains

Did you said Knee room?

I was given the opportunity to test drive the new Toyota Alphard 2.4 courtesy of Iktikadraya. This Alphard here is the Alphard 09' model which comes with high equipment levels such as twin power door, front and rear camera, bluetooth handsfree, 17 inch wheels and etc. The price for this 09 van is at RM280,000.00, and i was told that the price can go up to RM340+ if you tick all the options in the list.

Ride quality

Upon driving this vehicle, i quickly noticed how quiet the ride is. At speeds of 160km/h, the ride feels very comfortable with a slight firmness, very quiet and serene and while going at that speed all that is heard is the engine noise. At 160kmh the noise from the engine is very buzzy, it sounds like running 'along' a heavily modified perodua kancil with huge exhaust at the back. The ride feels a little bit firmer than the toyota estima in comparison but it is still comfy, and the only thing that bother it is when going thru speed bumps which a 'thunk' sounds can be heard from the suspension.

Engine 

The engine feels a little down on power and when travelling at 120kmh, the engine is spinning at a low 2000 rpm, and the sounds it makes when spinning at 3k rpm sounds tinny.....sounds more like a 600cc K-car engine.

I kept telling myself that i'm in a 7 seater family van, and not a sports car, but the  shortfall from the engine is too much for me to ignore it.

The eco indicator in the dash board will light up when the vehicle senses that it is running in maximum efficiency mode. Quite frugal to drive when you keep the eco mode light on at all times.

My friend also reported that the fuel tank which can store up to RM120.00 worth of RON97 petrol can sustain long cruises from penang till K.L and this makes it

'quite' fuel efficient too.

The gearbox is a CVT unit and it has a virtual 7 speed, and its operation is buttery smooth.

Cabin

The cabin is finished in cloth and fabric, and its quality lives up to Toyota's reputation. The cream coloured cabin although light and airy gets dirty easily. The cabin is also very inviting and has all the creature comforts that you will find to be a godsend when going on long haul journeys. This 7 seater version has 2 captain chair in the middle row and it offers the best place in the cabin, while the powerful rear ceiling air conditioner keeps all the rear passengers cool.

While wafting along at high speed, a decent conversation can be had between the third row seat passenger and the driver. The seats are firm and supportive, and it feels very much like a sports/bucket seat rather than cosy armchair feel, but it is very comfortable to lay your bottom on.

The driver is perched up high as most MPV's do and controls are all focused on the driver, the seats are comfortable, dials are easy and clear to read and not to mention is the beautiful optitron meters.

Conclusion

This toyota alphard is the best cruiser van around, and luxury and the reliability it offers makes it the most popular choice among malaysian who looks in this category. The comfort, quietness and classiness of this MPV will more than attract you to drop a booking after test driving one of these, and if you have one of these in your garage i'm sure you'll be more than eager to drive all the way to penang to have some laksa then return home after that.

This toyota alphard when compared to the slightly pricier toyota vellfire is identical in comparison, except for minor exterior changes such as the front and rear lights but if you're rich enough to buy the 3.5litre version, you might want to choose the Toyota vellfire which comes with mid-row pilot seats.

Handbags?????

Recently i've been on the lookout for sling bags or document bag to contain all my college stuffs, since its quite a free semester, i reckon that i don't need a big bag after all, thus i went shopping and there i stumbled upon a brown COACH Signature Messenger Bag paraded in one of the shops, went in, checked it out and paid for it.

A few days before buying this, i've reminded myself to get a louis vuitton sling bag and i've repeated it countless times enough that the word LV resonates in my ear even when entering the boutique, but UNFORTUNATELY i came out with a COACH.

This sling bag is Quite high in quality, and since its my first coach bag, i'd like to do a small review on it. You can typically summarise it in a few short word that is> Great value at low price. Don't get me wrong because it ain't cheap here in Malaysia as it retails at 2.3k, but with that much money, i'm getting a quality that is very NEAR to the ones of LV but priced lower. The primary reason i've bought this coach is because i can't afford the LV Damier sling which cost nearly 5k.

Now after months of using it, all i can say about it is it suck. The Varchetta leather on the cover is not waterproof and it will stain easily when exposed to water, thus i can't clean it with water. Also the light brown colour is susceptible to dirt, and any smudges on the bag can be easily seen.

I've seen the review in the web, and some of them treat this bag as a diaper bag!!!!. I'd like to keep it with me as long as i could, because i will like to use it as a diaper bag as well......This is not an excellent document bag.

Solid stuff here

So i've done it, I've designed out a cargo truck body which is made out of aluminium. I took me a some time to learn the basic of drawing this thing and it ain't easy doing it.

I'm happy that my design works perfectly and Solidworks is churning out some great figures that shows it is at least 2 times lighter than its wood and steel component brother.

Guess my thesis is all settled well before the dateline. Now where's my copy of STARCRAFT 2?????

Guess who's Ah-Bung F**king now?

Wind up Proton as it’s a failure, says Bung Mokhtar


BACKBENCHER’S Club deputy chairman Datuk Bung Moktar Radin has called for Proton to be wound up claiming that the national car maker had embarrassed the nation by trying to pass off a rebadged Mitsubishi Lancer as the Proton Inspira.


Bung Moktar (BN-Kinabatangan) said he could not accept Proton’s excuse that it was too costly to develop its own car to replace the Proton Waja.


“Proton said it would cost RM700mil to produce a new car. If it cannot afford (to design a new model), then just close down


“Do not embarrass the country. Proton has been doing research and development for years. Don’t tell me that there is no design that can make the people proud,” he said while debating the Budget 2011.
Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak) then pointed out that Proton made RM301.8mil in losses in 2009 and asked Bung Mokhtar for his opinion.

View the nex through this link below:-
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/10/19/parliament/7254133&sec=parliament
 
Le...ah bung mokhtar beri statement lagi ka?
 
Sometimes i laughed at how foolish our local politicians can be, saying things without filtering and directly from the heart without thinking about the consequences.
 
The statement that he gave about proton shows that as though he graduated from the university of hutan, cmon ah-bung, how can you just shelved PROTON just like that? Do you have any idea how many suppliers is working under it and shelving this gigantic company means  breaking the ricebowls of at least hundreds of small time suppliers.
 
I admit that i do hate proton, and they should have taken the offfer to merge with VW ages ago if not for their JUAL MAHAL attitude. Ah-bung even a street kid like me knows that proton is an important component to our artificialy balanced motoring industry, but shelving proton is not the answer, and if proton embarass you so much, why dont you find a strategic partner for them?
 
Ah-BUNG, why are you still active in politics when you should be making babies with your Oh-So-Young Zzzz....wife?

BMW 523i(e60) and Mercedes Benz E240(W211)

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 The BMW's 523i

This car here is a drivers car i would say chiefly because whenever it feels better when you're in the drivers seat rather than the passenger's. The best thing that in noticed about this car is when i turned the ignition key and revved the inline 6 all the way up till 6k rpm, and it feels damn smooth, infact alot smoother and silkier than i-vtec engine which i regard as the best engines i've ever sampled.

Power wise, its able, but you'll have to be a little aggressive on the throttle to see it go real fast.The NB25 engine produces 218Bhp at 6500rpm, and generates 250Nm of torque at a low 2750rpm, and it accelerates from 0-100kmh in 7.9 seconds.On paper it does look pretty damn mighty, but in real life it doesn't go as aggressively as the specification suggest. It is quite difficult to provoke a wheelspin, probably due to the large grippy wheels. Although more powerfull than the mercedes e240, the noise that it came from the exhaust still lacks the manly growl that came out from the double sided exhaust of the mercedes. 

Ride wise, as you would expect is sporty. The standard spring of this BMW is comparable to the Avantgarde mercedes with lowered sports suspension, which i think is a little bit bumpy. The cabin is quiet during highway and town runs.The steering is very sharp, responsive, accurate, and with every millimeter of steering inputs, the movements of the wheels can be felt. overly Aggressive Active Steering system perhaps?

The cabin is quite spacious, comfy, quiet and the seats are quite comfortable if you're a passenger, And if you're a driver, there's lots of toys that distract you from driving. The I-drive for example takes time to master, and the gearstick is gimicky and confusing. You push the gear lever down for up shifts and up for down shifts, and to enter P, you'll have to press a button. 

As for conclusion, if you're aged between 20-35, you can buy one for yourself, because this car will probably be one of the most expensive TOY you'll ever had.  With a sea of functions and gadgets for you to play with, and an engine that  revs so sweetly till its redline suggest that it can outrun ah bengs in between traffic lights.And if you don't mind the hard ride, go for the M-sport package, highly recommended.

The Mercedes Benz' 

This e240 has a 2600cc engine that is quite smooth too, but it still looses out to the BMW, in terms of power, its 205hp and 245NM torque is no challenge to the mighty BMW's engine. Where it looses in output, it gains in offering a growly induction noise when revved. When driving around town, this engines needs to be revved to get it to the next traffic lights ASAP, but it doesn't have the silky smoothness of the BMW, and the it feels lazy and relaxed.

The gearchange in this Merc is BADDDD, gearchanges at low speed is jerky, it doesn't matter if the transmissions selector is pressed to comfort, and if its in sporty its even jerkier, but if you drive it faster, these problems disappear. I usually drive it in sport settings, because it sharpens the throttle and gearchanges. The throttle is clasically mercedes like, requiring long travel before it will GO, tricky to modulate at low speed. 

The brakes on this mercedes is a SBC(sensotronic brake) and it doesn't give of much feel to the driver, in town drive the pedal feels is OK, but when you hit it when doing a 180kmh run, it'll scare you, because a slight travel will induce a hard brake, nonetheless the brakes are powerfull enough to stop this big exec.

The ride on lowered and harder avantgarde spec package is good, it betters the BMW, and its good in the corners too. Body roll is very minimal and the Continental premium contact tyre is excellent in holding the big exec on the road as well as offering a quiet ride.

The seats are comfy, but shoulders support is quite lacking, but generally these firm seats are good in holding you in place during spirited driving. 

The cabin is also a very nice place to be in, and personally, i think it is much more better than in the BMW. Rear aircond vents in the center console and B-pillar is a god sent, and they are powerful enough to quickly cool the cabin in the hot weather, and the BMW doesn't have that. Passenger at the back will also enjoy huge space and comfort on long journeys, and it felt less claustrophobic in the light coloured mercedes cabin rather than the darker BMW cabin.

One of the bugbears of this exec is the low ground clearance. The 15mm lowered suspension compared to the elegance version means that the avantgarde car will have to go really slow on speed bumps or poorly surfaced roads. The low front bumper is also susceptible to scratches from road divider, or other higher obstacles.

As a conclusion, If value comfort in your day to day drive to work or holiday, you'll certainly wanted to be wafted home/to your destination with a mercedes. This mercedes is a car that is easy to drive if you do not like to refer to the drivers manual, and if you're 35-50 get the elegance specification because it is much more comfortable and has a higher ground clearance, but if you're young, get one with the AMG bodykit and aggresive 19'inch rims.

  

A Trip to Broga Hill

6.20am on the first station point, picture taken with 3 second exposure

Oh Gosh, early in the morning and its this crowded already?

We were waiting for the sun to rise at 6.40am;You must be laughing!!!!

Hiking buddies, Yeah there's a girl in the picture, its to show that this track is not as difficult as it sounds.

Nice Carpet, but look closer and its all grass

The view around the valley at 7am

See the difference between the foreground and the background?

7.15am

Its getting crowded

7.24am

7.24.30.00am, that's how fast the sun rises. I quickly grab my camera just as i saw the sun rays rising from behind the hill, and then in a split second *kapoof* the sun is up there.

The sun is happily blasting us with UV's at around 7.30am.

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Bukit Broga is just a 49KM drive away from my place in Ampang via the grand saga highway. This is my first time here, so i've prep myself up with a bag full of stuffs as i would normally do in long hikes. Started my journey at 5am and reached there at 5.40am which is still too dark to hike, so it is important to bring along your LED/XENON/halogen lights along for early morning hike.

It was raining heavily when we started our journey from my home, and when we reached it was still drizzling with rain and mist. Armed only with 2 xenon torches, 5 of us continued our walk into the unknown when it was still dark, wet and slippery.

The trails leading all the way up this hill is unchallenging, safe and i think that kids from age 12 onwards could possibly scale up this hill without difficulties, and on my way down i saw many seniors grannies too. Muddy trails and small sharp rocks are the only difficulties that one encounters during this hike, so it is vital to have a good pair of hiking shoes to protect your feet.

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Coordinates :  N 02 56.345 , E 101 54.088

Equipments to pack :

 -A backpack, don't have to be big because it is a short hike.

-1 bottle of water

-A chocolate bar/snack bar/biscuits and etc.

-Camera

-Vicks/Tea tree oil/ or any ointment that could soothe itchiness and mosquito bites

Attire:

-Wear a long sleeve shirt because, contact between the tall grass and your skin will cause terrible itch

-Wear Tracks,Jeans,Long pants, again this is to prevent mosquito bites and grass contact on the skin.

-A big hat, when tracking on midday, be sure to bring this, as there is no trees and natural shades up here.

-During rainy season, the mud trails can become slippery, thus a good pair of hiking shoes is essential, but my Nike Court shuttle seems to work fine!!!

King Long CAM Placer 15 seater Van review

Engine : Isuzu sourced 4JB1-T (engine also used in hicom perkasa MTB150T, and isuzu trooper 4x4).
Engine type: 4cyl,8 valve, euro 2, turbocharged diesel engine
Transmission: 5 speed manual , full synchro with single plate clutch

Drive type:  front engine , rear wheel drive,
front suspension: independat suspension
rear suspension: Torsion beam with leaf spring
Brakes: front disc and rear drum type

This King Long CAM Placer commercial van is the latest 15 seater van from China Auto Manufacturers group, priced at an affordable RM83,837.60 for private registration and RM84,201.71 for company registration, it represents great value if you compare it againts other chinese competition such as Jinbei. This van offers huge amount of headroom, and small people could easily stand up in the cabin without bobbing his head.

The engine

As expected from every diesel engine, it is noisy and clattery, but thats all that is sacrificed. The engine is powerful, torquey and very economical. Because of my work that involves commercial trucks, i dont find any problems with the engine, and i think that Kinglong has made a wise decision in fitting the world's most popular diesel engine into the worlds most undesirable brand, as it balances it.

The cabin

The cabin is a great place to be in, although the rear seat are a bit upright,hard and covered with canvas and cloth, but i do get a powerful air conditioner, and the ride is quite comfy too. I might scare you when i say the engine is a bit loud, but the quietness and the comfort level of the ride is more than make up for that inadequacies. And a expected too are its quality level which is typically low, although i do noticed that the plastics on the door of this van is less rough and inferior to the Proton Exora's, and the doors close with solid thud'."not so Tinny as expected", and i also liked the LED lights on the wing mirrors of the van.

The drive

The van is powerful and effortless enough to cruise along highways  at a fairly high speed straights, but DO watch out for the corners as it isn't very good there. At speeds of 80-100kmh, the ride is still comfy, but as it goes higher it deteriorates.The supplied onboard computer is a gimmicky device...sure its got reverse camera,trip, info and etc function, but it is difficult to see under a bright day due to poor LCD screen, and its difficult to judge the distance when reversing, even with a reverse camera.

Conclusion

All this while, i've never been in a chinese made van before, and i actually thought that these vans are inferior and prone to breakdowns, but guess what, My perception is wrong with this van. And i'll suggest this product to those who wants to ferry 15 people, drives around town, wants cheap and good value van.

I maybe selling this product,but i try not to be bias in my reviews, anyway i can be contacted through e-mail to arrange for a test drive.