side by side....

just 20 mins ago... while on the road, i saw a new volkswagen scirocco and a no-longer-new golf gti mk v, one after another....

somehow the scirocco manages to make the golf looks porky, obese and overweight.... haha....

such is the rate of progress that things we used to love no longer are beautiful as before....

==============================================

if everything goes to plan, i shd have a full set of steel braided brake lines for the car....

this evening we had to get one set of the stock rubber lines off the car for the workshop to custom make a replacement set.....

let's see if all could be done within 24 hours... haha....

only if one has the time....

some ppl do go the extra mile to make things look good..... and while i am also a sucker for good looking stuff, i am just too lazy to spend a few hours to take off the wheels and paint the calipers red.....

when money is no object, the easiest way out is to get a set of aftermarket big brake kits..... not only good in look but in performance too....

misleading you.....

let's be realistic, one cannot expect all advertisements to be 100% truthful....

and while some are geniunely informative, the rest lies between half-truths and true lies ... haha...

when the consumers are duped, most of the times we can only complain ......

but what else can we do.... ??

do a little research, find out more and verifying the "CLAIMS" are definitely the ways to reduce the likelihood of being conned......

so good luck to more and better shopping..!!

puma good deals....

if you are on the sidelines and been wanting to get shirts/bags/shoes from the puma-ferrari collection, you are in luck..!!

OG is having a storewide sale and even puma is having 20% discount....... and yes include ferrari merchandise....!!!

so what are you waiting for..???????

get your butt to OG now..!!

keep warm with ralliart.....

to keep warm at work, i have a generic and non-descript windbreaker in the office....... but it never hurts to be able to keep warm with a little style.... so i got myself a ralliart jacket at the ralliart pit warehouse sale on saturday......

there were a few models on offer..... some $30 and others $80..... as i browsed through the selection, i realised that the ralliart japan jackets are at $80..... but there's no substitute for quality right.....??

more force-fed engines......

since almost everyone is into turbo-charging, what could differentiate one engine from the next..???

to make things simple, many potential owners will be looking at the power output i.e. horsepower and torque...

with this in mind, we should all pay attention to what alfa romeo is doing...... by adding a turbo charger to their new direct injection 1.8 litre petrol engine, they squeezed out 200 hp (very good but not class-leading) and 320 Nm (which i think is amazing..!!)....

in the wake of relative competition, dun forget that the mk 6 golf gti (2.0) is only achieving 280 Nm.......

watch for out the new alfas...... they are going to be a real catch...!!

history in the making....

history was made last week when the prancing horse piloted by luca badoer qualified last.....

but this week at spa, all witnessed more history in the making as force india scored pole position... while luca badoer came in last ...AGAIN.....

to make matters worse, he spun off the track and was stuck in a gravel trap.... i hate to say this but this shd be the last time he's racing for ferrari, i am afraid so

nothing is perfect 2...

if anyone chooses to be a road hog, it is wiser to be in a less flashy car.....

going out in something striking (car and colour) and a easy-to-note registration number is not too cool when ppl remembers you as a road hog..... cos pottering around at 40 km/h on a 50 km/h road is unacceptable....

back to the past ....

are you ever amazed that how fast here in singapore we can lose our heritage and past.....???

perhaps that question has yet to cross your mind..... but after looking at this picture, can you remember when was the last time you took a lift (or elevator in US speak) with these olden-style controls.....???

while i was inside, i cant help but pressed the buttons a few more times .... in an attempt to recall those times when these were the norm...

cheers..!!

saturday's round-up....

on saturdays, i always wanna sleep more and wake up late into the day but i cant today......

what a pity.... but then i was the one who booked the car servicing today .... !! haha

after slightly over 6 months, the mileage is approx 10700 km and that makes this the 3rd service.... and with the change to synthetic oil, i'd expect the fuel mileage to improve a little, well hopefully for most times i cant resist prodding throttle more just for fun haha....... so that might negates any fuel savings synthetic oil can bring over mineral oil....

in terms of throttle response and the fun factor, the lancer GT is a right step ahead........ but when it comes to handling, my cs3 and coilover/struts combo is still a more confident and potent companion to deal with curves.....

since the appointment was at 0900 hrs, i had set the alarm to go off at 8 so that there was sufficient time to laze around and get ready....... in the end, i slept till 0830 and managed to reach the workshop only at 0910 hrs...... well, only 10 mins late so i was fine....

in the relatively quiet and secluded thomson neighbourhood there are only trees, petrol stations and traffic lights, there was nothing much to do except to wait..... i did walk over to the nearby hawker centre to have breakfast but i was not gonna stay there for a couple of hours huh.... so it was back to the air-conditioned waiting area.....

a 10,000 km service is not really a big or back-breaking job but in the end, i left the place only 3 hours later..!! didnt understand what took them so long but this seems to be normal at dealers' workshops.........

perhaps there is no incentive to work fast .. so they might as well take it easy....... sigh at least now i do not have to go back there until the next 10,000 km......

something did bring a smile to my face ..... and it felt good to not have to pay a single cent for car servicing haha.....

topless mas....

being a down-to-earth person, i will never sacrifice body rigidity for style.... which is why my choice is a coupe over a convertible.....

now this new mas 4-seater convertible is so handsome that i may have to consider my previously steadfast position ....haha.... moreover the owner get 4 seats, making it a car flexible for both weekday and weekend use.......

named the grandcabrio, the car has the potential to be a volume seller for maserati when the car is launched in the very near future.....

addidas new sneakers....

collected a pair of black addidas sneakers this afternoon........

look is only ok...... but functionally i think they are sound..... for running, i already have a pair of asics and brooks..... with the addidas, that will make it 3....

but i wont be running 3 times as hard right.... haha

i'll try to wear it on thursday..... see whether it fits....

not all black..??

this is an ALMOST ALL black watch......

so you have a treated black case and bracelet.......

but why is the logo in colour???????????????

*scratch head*....

did they mess it up somewhere..????

10++ and time ...

wowow.......

i clocked over 12 hours today..... when i walked in, it was pitch dark along the road..... and when i came out, it was ALSO pitch dark......

no wonder i am so tired.... sigh....

all because someone wanted to do change something..... YAWNNNNNN...!!

and i gonna have to wake up early tomorrow morning..... YAWWWWWWWNNN!!

tonight is monday.... and the music

tonight i played many cds..... and these 2 are out of the many many......

can any one remember mary black and no frontiers.....??? if you can, u must have been in the hobby for more than at least a decade....

this album was EVERYWHERE...... what hifi and every other conceivable audio magazines swear by it ..... and almost every audio store in singapore back then has a copy.....

we all wanna hear COLUMBUS ..... haha....

hmmmmm and all the sweet memories come floating back .....

up the firmware....

since the busy times began, i didnt have much chance to play around with the sony ps3 and the rest of the video system...... but last night i told myself i MUST update the firmware, which i did .... but that was only after i caught the european grand prix on tv.....

this afternoon i was able to make my way out on time and in the evening squeezed a little bit of time to play one blueray disc.... CASINO ROYALE.....

between the 2 craig bond movies, i like casino royale over the quantum of solace......

and that one name of the bad guy..... Le Chiffre and his blood-tearing eye...... is already a classic...... maybe we all are fans of poker deep inside.....

dun understand but it's ok....

i cant understand one word she's singing but i have no problem with that cos it's such a beautiful song....

and the crowd love her.....

which tote...?

when the damier graphite range was launched, everyone was so eager to see the range of offerings that the house of vuitton came up with.....

to date, i think LV considers the range a success, since men nowadays are seriously into BAGS.........

out of the many introductions, my fav is the tadao.......which is big enough to swallow all the things i could possibly wanna to carry...... fortunately it is still S$2160 today....

the good things i like about the tadao are:

zipper closure - allows you to seal in your stuff..... very private indeed.....

leather handles can be folded - very neat when you use the shoulder strap......

swivelling strap ends - all bags with straps should have this....

structured construction - the bag is able to stand on its own...... doesnt look or feel flabby.....

now things are getting a little complicated with the coming of the new monogram macassar davis.......

and i think lv is making it tougher for everybody........ cos the price is also S$2160!!

so which one is the choice..????

now the davis has only a magnetic button closure and the handles cannot be folded..... what a pity right???

however, the monogram canvas is such a delight when paired with a dark brown leather trimmings...... and there's four sturdy metal studs to keep the smooth leather off the floor..... i kinda prefer the shape of the davis as compared to the tadao.....

hmmm in life there's no perfect solution....... and usually we can only choose one....

before and after...

before thaksin was forced out, no need for unity?

now thaksin is out, one sends out a call and reminder for unity?

what kinda nonsense is that....???

all crap......!!

close shave.....

it was here that i lost traction ....... ECP from tuas towards changi airport at exit 8b.....

as the road was damp, i braked a little more than usual (i.e. dry conditions) to reduce the entry speed..... (later i realised it wasnt THAT much)

but at the same time, i was curious about the limits of the federal 595.... and so i braked into the corner rather than before it....

true enough, the moment i lifted the brakes near the apex, the car drifted wide .... i was kinda surprised so i started to ease off the throttle gently...... but the car continued to drift towards the island..... fortunately it all sorted out by itself as the grip came back....

....... i think the car's handling is let down by the suspension......

who scratched my wheel .... again????

someone scratched my wheel .... again....!!!

i didnt remember having any contact with road kerbs ......... and i always keep a good distance from kerbs....

so who did it....???

sigh i am getting sick of this........ please stay away from kerbs.......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

exclusive 2 ....

i think the term in-house movement shd be used more exclusively......

and between using generic movements, there is a trend towards having in-group movements....

so what is in-group..???

now that many watch brands are owned by BIG business entities, their source of inspiration, design and manufacturing are no longer just hidden within the manufactures.... e.g. brands of the richemont group can look to Val Fleurier...

and i have now drawn a line between true in house movements e.g. rolex 3135.... and in-group movements e.g. panerai p9000..... last and least we have the outsourced movements.....

so beware when they tell u everything is in-house....

for more information, you may read this http://www.robbreport.com/Underground-Movements.aspx

bags on a budget.....

for ease of use and maintenance, sport bags are way ahead of ones in leather.....

these 2 look good enough for a weekend getaway... and also for the occasional leisure day out....

if i have time, i might pop by a puma store to check them out.....

one change.....

remember there's no more shunyata hydra? ... so there's one empty shelf on the left..... as the oyaide power outlet faces up, it's more convenient to let it sit on the floor..... anyway there are floor spikes for the mtb-6, so there's no issue with a floor placement.....

to make things neater the glass shelves adjacent of the loudspeaker on the left had been removed..... which led to a small but perceptible improvement to the soundstage.... maybe less diffraction i dunno....

the system still sounds very good..... so i am satisfied.......

cheers

more temptations......

found this in my mailbox when i returned from work.......

and there are so many new temptations this time round haha...........

which means more money dumped on shopping???

can anyone resist..???

i'll try....... to stick to one item..... haha

exclusive....

some will tell you their watches come with inhouse movements.... but never be too certain about marketing literature...... we all know a few outsource the manufacturing to specialist contractors....

there's nothing wrong with using outsourced contractors but pls be upfront about their origin....

and when one buys over the specialist contractor, suddenly one becomes a manufacture.... haha

it's so simple....

what gives.....

so what gives a building life...???

it's the people who work and live there......

once gone, the entire place becomes a empty shell.....

sounds of water dripping.... just emptiness....... and the rate of deterioration suddenly accelerates.....

it feels so weird to be almost alone in such a big place .....

hmmm...

just listen lah.....

when politicians talk.... just listen

and judge for yourself.....

have a mind of your own....

politics is a very big business on its own........ so dun be too serious about it and what these people say....

0.11 seconds....

in motorsports, a gap of 0.11 s can be hugely significant........ maybe between being the pole sitter and 3rd or 4th on the starting grid......

but when it comes to a distance of 100 metres, 0.11 s is really a MILE of a difference...... some might describe the acceleration as mind-blowing........

haha it looked like he has another 50 hp over his rivals.....

cheers..!!

miss da sun

it's been a few days since i last saw the afternoon sun........ and now only do i realise that how beautiful it can be....

anyway am hoping things will pick up soon.....

it's really tough waking up early .... haha and going without sleep.....

not free...

i wasnt lazy ...

it's just that i had no time for sleep for the past days....

so pls pardon for the no-update days haha....

cheers...!!

smooth friday....

work was busy.... but fortunately traffic was light and i had a clear run into changi flyover this evening....

thank you......!!

for more than 7 months i have sorely miss the chance to get through this old favourite flyover...... AHHHHH....

a diversion....

this afternoon i was hoodwinked...... by a diversion that wasnt THAT diversion......

i check rear view and side mirrors very frequently while on the road and ....when i saw this familiar shape appearing in my mirror i decided to slow down, just in case.......

and in time, this bugger managed to catch up and then i saw ...ALAMAK..... just a silver yamaha diversion 900....... AH CHEY...!!

i have no idea what these ppl are up to........ and who are these ppl? YeAH those that buy and ride diversion 900 motorcycles with side panniers and full fairings .....

WHAT ARE THEY UP TO...??

fast and not so fast

on my way back from work on the PIE towards changi airport .....

i was cruising and hovering around the highway speed limit and minding my own business in lane 2 when i saw a pair of headlights approaching at a FAST pace.....

and when the subaru legacy turbo passed me on the right, i think he was doing at least 140 to 150 km/h....... since the day was long and tiring so i thought let's see what this fellow can be up to so near to changi flyover towards ECP (city)........ immediately i downshifted and picked up speed....

there was a car that helped to block the legacy .... thank you very much.. if not, i dun think i could have caught up in time.... and i have no wish to break the speed limit just to have some fun.........

fortunately as we turned into changi flyover, the hogger shifted to the left and of cos the legacy tried to shake me off.......

but on changi flyover? no way ..... cos with his pace, he's not going to run away on changi flyover..... and he braked too early into the second apex...... TOO EARLY.......

but when the road straightened out, TURBO is KING...... so he accelerated away ..... and i wont be bothered to speed to follow a straightline KING.....

going the wrong way...

the moment i received the sms from shell about its national day promotion, i told myself i gonna stay away from ALL THE SHELL STATIONS from 4-5 pm on 090809.....

i dun understand why some ppl insist on going the wrong way........ and GOT STUCK for a good time....

so when there's a good deal, better stay away..... FAR FAR AWAY YAHHHH!!

sleep is gold...

the only thing i wanna do after work for today as well as the past few days is to take a NAP....... and i cant find anything significant and interesting to write about.......

so let's have a blogging vacation.....

wanna smell like mango and grapefruit....?

a few days ago, my friend sent me a msg to inform me that the body shop is having a promotion for their shower gels...... turned out that she's a fan just like me HAHA.....

so if the normal price is S$12.90, it's surely a SUPER STEAL when two of these are going for S$14.90..... !!

when we walked past the store, i persuaded lkk to buy also..... but he said NO NO..... so in the end, i bought 2 bottles.....

currently i am using the passion fruit shower gel and sometimes i like to mix and match ..... so i can smell like an orange on one night and a peach the next haha....

not myself...

when there are strangers or someone not so familiar, i always try to drive abit more gently than usual..... i dun wanna let them enjoy the ride TOO MUCH......

i remember those times when my some of my bosses were in my car..... oh my i really gotta keep my temper in check......

when i am alone or with close friends, i can be myself HAHA......

nothing is perfect...

nice ass? check..

nice car? check.........

nice number? check.......

but very slow in moving off....... check check check!!

a present..... for singapore

for this year's national day, our friendly neighbour indonesia has given us a BIG present....... which is THE HAZE.... haha

thank u for your kindness.... and ALL OF US really "APPRECIATE".....

DAMN!

mean ppl

to those who cant express themselves clearly...... especially those who cant say or write:

hi or excuse me

may i....

i wish to..

and/or end with a thank you.....

then u deserve, at best, a curt reply......

so pls wake up to reality...

tag red....is rolex chronometer......

when i was a little boy, i yearned to have one of this plastic tag .... which i wanted as a TOY TOY....

it's only when i got to know more about rolex watches that i realised each rolex chronometer comes with a plastic red seal.........

so remember to pick yours up from the authorised dealer when you purchase your new rolex chronometer timpiece.....

you may give it to your children if they too wished for one as their TOY TOY ...haha

also very important is the green swimpruf tag........... which is even more precious than the red tag....

why so?

well the red tag is a generic item...... and all red tags are the same........

but for every rolex watch, the green tag comes along with a sticker which displays the model number, serial number and bracelet number....... so every rolex watch has a unique green tag/sticker.....

do ensure you are getting the correct tag by comparing the watch serial number and the warranty card....

sometimes the dealer might make a mistake...... so pls check....

oldie boxes.....

after these recent years of new boxes, can anyone still remember the previous range of rolex boxes...???

this picture is dedicated to all rolex fans..... new and old alike....

cheers....

it's the month....

it's been quite a whirlwind ride for the first half of this year .....

and i received that letter last week, which is the notice to renew road tax.....

seems like it was yesterday that i'd collected the car and now it's time to pay the road tax...... so 6 months has gone like it was a flash.....

that reminded me i need to book for the 10,000 km servicing soon....

trouble little

this little ulcer on my upper lips is giving some discomfort....... and what else can i do but to PUT SALT on IT..!!

a few seconds of pain makes the discomfort goes away.... haha

so what is your favourite remedy for mouth ulcers?

dental gel? salt? or sugar?

hate the drip 2.....

yeah the aircon man was here this afternoon.....

and of cos the problem is resolved...... but that is until the next servicing .....OOPSS...

due to poor installation, the drainage pipe gets choked very often.... which led to the many leaking incidents....

ok... at least i can have a good sleep tonight....

back to basics

i've been telling myself to find that little bit of time to listen to music.......

in recent months i was so tired out after work and on many occasions, i would fall asleep on the sofa and couch while watching tv.... that was how hopeless i became..... haha

on monday i said i would..... and today i must do it.....

AHHHH it sure feels so good to go the room and fire up the system.... YEAH CRANK IT UP..!!....

and i can sense this feeling .... as if i am back to embrace my CAL delta tranport, MSB DAC, adcom pre-amp, CIA power amp and polk audio speakers........ OH what a reunion we are having right now haha.....

i feel so glad i did what i have been wanting to do......

and if you have been messing around with hifi and audio stuff for many years, you surely have seen and heard of the ebony wood pieces in the picture....

HA..... did it bring back any fond memories...???? especially places like hifi corner at the adelphi and people like joe lee...???

a more a dent.....

HAAAA....

i spotted another dent on the left front door this evening....... but this time, i am not going to do anything about it....

deep down inside i know this will never end....... dents will continue to come cos many people just do not care when they open car doors......

to these people who give others dents, i hope dents appear on their faces.... :)

cheersssssss!!

begone with scratches...

although i was nursing a headache, i didnt waste any time to wanna get my alloy wheel back from the shop...... when i called him up, the shop owner was kinda excited over the phone .... he said the wheel is ready for collection and when i reached the shop, he came over and asked me to see the wheel immediately........ ha i can tell he's pretty proud of his good work..... and so i followed him to the back alley......

considering the damage done to the wheel, it now looks almost as new, ALMOST... cos there were still some minor defects that cant be removed totally...... but i would say it's close to 95% of the original condition...... well i am more than satisfied, what more can i say ... if only you have seen the DAMAGEEEEEEE!!!

i also took the chance to rotate the tyres...... which at that point i saw a fearsome reflection from a metallic piece embedded in one of the tyre............. pls dun tell me that's a NAIL..!!!??????? OOHH NOOOO!!! it really is..... well this time i kinda resigned to the fact that nails are aplenty on the roads...... and so i opted for the simple patch-from-outside method..... SIGHHHHHH.....

from now i just gotta monitor the tyre pressures closely......... i hope the patch staysssssssssss..... and DAMN THE NAILS...!!

hate the drip.....

sometimes i dun understand why the aircon unit keeps leaking ........ even though i have been doing regular maintenance.....

what a sucky feeling when water starts dripping all over the place........ and compounded by the headache, i really feel like smashing the aircon haha......

idiot!

scorched....

it must be the midday sun..... which was scorching and unbearable......

and now i am having a headache..........

how i wish we can have cooler weather all year round........ 33 to 35 degree C is just terrible.....

not a torch....

it's a well known fact that luminova in modern watches glow intensively when exposed to the sun .......

what is not commonly known is that the intensity decreases rapidly indoors........ very very rapidly indeed..... to those ppl who expect the watch to lume for HOURS, well you gonna be disappointed.....

however, the lume will still be there over a period of time......... and that is obvious in dark surroundings (i.e. little ambient light).......

machine or watch or what ...??

retailing for S$114,900, MB&F no 3 the starcruiser is surely a timepiece that invokes a strong feeling within those that have seen it upclose and personal..... for you either love it or hate it....

indeed a strange feeling overcame me when i put it on my wrist........ because i have no idea how to tell the time on this strange creature!!

only when u tilt the watch away from yourself will you discover the red indicators that display the hours and minutes...... and suddenly you realise OOOHHHHH I SEEEEEE.......

although the watch is quite an engineering feat, the plastic case that MB&F uses to ship the watch is the true gem, which was brilliant; simple and effective without the need for space-age materials or special boxes....... only a 2 pc plastic container with dual layers of plastic film...

if your dealer is willing to show you, i have no doubt you will be impressed......

the richard mille rm023

this is my first sighting of the very new richard mille rm023............

and i was struck by the finishing of the rose gold bezel........ as smooth as butter and as reflective as a mirror.......

be very careful if you buy this cos it's going to be tough to keep scratches away haha.....

brave men...

i have to salute the brave men who were at downtown kuala lumpur.... they fought bravely despite all the odds stacked against them.....

although the gathering was illegal, they have a common cause.... i.e. all of them believe that the ISA is obsolete and redundant........

now there is a fine line between an illegal protest and a people's movement........ so let's not jump to conclusions at this point..... one can be a jail-bird today and become a president in time to come...... while there were former presidents who became jail-birds......

ahhhh politics, it's an evil we cant do without.....

the old and the new gmt master II.......

before we all forget the colourful instruction booklets we used to get...... let's have a comparison of the covers between the old and the new.....

list or premium?... for the milgauss GV....

for almost every item you buy in singapore, the government just smiles on the sidelines as they collect the big monies from the GST charged...... so in this case, where the list price for the rolex milgauss 116400GV is S$9,012, i noticed that the government is pocketing $589.57....... HHMMMMMMM

i'd heard of people who paid above S$20,000 for a milgauss GV, good gracious!! .... and recently i also saw a tourist who bought one for S$10,500 from an AD........

on my last visit to ADs in the chinatown area, they told me the selling price is around S$9,500.... which is quite reasonable compared to the huge premiums they used to ask for.....

so if you can wait, getting one at list price no longer is impossible........

hand made....

sometimes we wonder why are factory-original leather straps so expensive.....

to make things palatable for their customers, bell & ross tells you that their straps are hand made.......

too bad they didnt say whose hands....

august....

finally august is here .....

and i can guarantee that it's going to be a busy month haha but on hindsight, was there a month of lull and rest? not that i can recall.........

anyway work is still work and life simply has to go on...... the only possible intervention is that i become the winner of a big lottery haha, then perhaps i can think of quitting and become a ASK....

i love saturdays only when they are non-working days....... so that i can sleep late and wake up late...... hmmmm it always feels good when one getta long rest .....

wish you have a great weekend ahead....... and happy shopping..!!