[caption id="attachment_3167" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Volkswagen Scirocco 2.0 with a Rieger bodykit"][/caption]

Here is the continuation of photos that I took during the previous shoot which I organised with the Volkswagen Malaysia Club members. More photos are also available in my previous post.

[caption id="attachment_3166" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Volkswagen Scirocco 2.0 with a Rieger bodykit"][/caption]

The funny thing about the image below was that while I was busy snapping away, a couple of "mat rempits" decided to join in on the fun and I was pleasantly surprised that one of my frames managed to capture him in "action".

[caption id="attachment_3168" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Mysterious Trio"][/caption]

So can you guess the differences between the 3 cars above? Let's see if you can guess which of the models are on displayed in the image above. I will buy whoever (excluding those who attended the shoot) a "teh ais"  if they manage to guess them correctly and comments on it in the comment section below.

[caption id="attachment_3167" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Volkswagen Scirocco 2.0 with a Rieger Bodykit"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3169" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Comfort, Normal and Sports mode!"][/caption]

According to the owners of the cars above, they all agreed that the left one is on comfort mode, the middle one on normal mode and the white one on sports mode.

I definitely can't wait to plan for another shoot and this time to spend a little bit more time on a single car.

The shroud has finally been unveiled. Volkswagen Group Malaysia has finally unveiled the VW Passat, VW Jetta and the VW Cross Touran.

Price structures for these cars are as shown below.

• VW Jetta - RM149,888 (160ps, 240Nm, 1.4 TSI, 7-speed DSG gearbox)


• VW Passat - RM184,888 (160ps, 250Nm, 1.8 TSI, 7-speed DSG gearbox)


• VW Cross Touran - RM166,888 (140ps, 220Nm, 1.4 TSI, 7-speed DSG gearbox)

I am surprised that the Jetta prices are a lot higher than the earlier said rumours which priced the car to be within the RM138k range to compete against the Civics and Altis. At RM150k, the price is going to be very close to that of the Golf TSI.

All of the cars are CBU units as the Pekan plant hasn't started operations yet.

As with our Malaysian mentality, the market still doesn't really care about the various car segments and they mostly compare cars based on price.

At RM150k, that touches the Toyota Camry, Accords price range and the Jetta might have a tall order to challenge them. The Jetta wouldn't be spec as much as the other Japs but in terms of drivability, the Jetta should win hands down.

The Passat priced at RM184k should be within the range of the 2.4 Camry, Mazda 6 as well as the higher specced Accord. I should say the Passat would then be a better buy purely on the fact that the car has good power and the road tax for the Passat which falls within the <2000cc range should make it more attractive. Although, the Ford Mondeo comes at very close competitor offering 200ps and 300Nm at RM180k, I am quite surprised that I don't see that many Mondeo's on the road. Probably because of its looks that most people don't fancy.

Most discussions on the social network tend to show that most people think that the cars are a little overpriced but then again in Malaysia we tend to be buying cars at an overpriced price anyway.

What we haven't seen yet is the Polo Sedan even though the brochures are now available at the Service Centers. Also everyone is still expecting the Golf R's as well. I would definitely would love to own a Golf R personally, maybe someday when there are way too many on the road and the second-hand price of it goes down.

Now I have never owned a white car before and one of my biggest worry that I have is to see it turn mellow! Hence resulting in me scouring through the interweb to fine out ways to keep the car shiny and clean and nice. Initially I was introduced to various methods of waxing and various services provided but one recommendation I received was to try out Sierra Glow.



Located out in USJ1 in Subang, I decided to drive there early in the morning to drop off my car there. Met with the owner, Choong who was a very friendly guy who also gave me a lift to Summit because I didn't want to wait 6 hours for my car at the workshop nor was there any other shop in the industrial area.

What Sierra Glow preaches is not to use wax. They state that conventional waxes and other polishing products merely stay on top of your car paintwork without removing the dust and dirt that are trapped into the paintwork. In fact, rubbing the wax in only pushes the dirt deeper into the paint.



So what is Sierra Glow actually? It is basically a chemical which bonds microscopically with the paint and at 5 microns thick, it is stated as harder than steel. In layman terms, there is a small thin protective layer which sits on top of your car's paint thus keeping and maintaining it's shine intact. What sort of sold me to this is that it provides a 5 year guarantee as well as because there is a protective layer on top of your car now, you don't need to polish and wax it anymore. A simple wash would just be sufficient!

Of course, the other selling factor was that I saw this car which was already there owned by another customer who had Sierra Glow applied on their car!



Here are some of the steps they take for the entire procedure,

1. Prepare the car by washing it and ensuring all grit and grime have been removed


2. Clay bar - basically removing oxidation and marks on your car's body


3. T.C Hard and T.C All which is their patented method which removes surface scratches, swirls and water marks


4. Polish - Ironically they do polish the car after what was explained to me but this is to polish the paint coat


5. Glassglow - Applying the 5-micron layer of GlassGlow.

After a LOOOOONG break in between (of course a big thanks to the owner for giving me a lift to Summit while they took 5.5 hours to complete the whole procedure), here was what I saw when I returned to the shop.







And I was very happy with the results! After 4 months, I am still very happy with the results of Sierra Glow.



Conclusion

Personally at the price I paid, it was totally worth it especially the 5-year guarantee. One of the key areas which sold me was the fact that I didn't need to polish my car and since I live in an apartment where there is no area to wash my car, Sierra Glow seemed like the perfect solution. Also with this, I can safely NOT renew my membership with CARs International because I feel that the amount I save (RM5 for each car wash) does not cover the entire cost of 1 year's membership which was in the range of RM400. Worse of all, some of their centers had really bad service hence I am glad that I am not renewing my membership.

Directions to get to the shop:



A final note:

Unfortunately while I was on my way back home from the Sierra Glow shop, I got caught in the jam at Subang and it poured heavily! The instructions I received was that I was not to was my car for 48 hours but thanks to our wonkey Malaysian weather, I was rather unlucky. When I reached back home, what came to my surprise was the formation of water beads on the car. This is definitely thanks to the protective layer which now protects the shine and colour of my car.

Last updated: 21st September 2011 - New map update from APR, results are looking good!


(Image source: Motortrader.com.my)

After all the hype about me posting up on the Golf on both my blog as well as on Facebook, Wearnes VW saw my post on their fan page and informed me on Friday (September 2010) that the car was available for a test drive. This is definitely thanks to the power of social media. Immediately I called Wearnes VW and made an appointment with them for a test drive on Saturday the moment the opened. Not that I was super kiasu or anything, it's just that I had a number of wedding meetings and errands I had to run hence I decided for an early test drive.

Both CW and BK as well as Ash followed me to the dealership for the test drive. Ash had already placed a booking for the Golf earlier but I just wanted to test drive the car first hand to see it. Of course there are plenty of pros and cons when I sat in the car and looked at it. Initially I did say I wanted the car to be red but after seeing the red colour in person, I felt as if it didn't have the same effect as the Golf MkV had with their tornado red paint jobs.



First Impressions

The unit that was available in the showroom was in Amaryllis Red and I didn't like it that much. Stepping into the car, the first thing I noticed was the lack of leather seats as well as manually adjustable seats (versus the electric seats you get with the GTI). Of course these luxuries have been taken away in order to bring the price of the car down. The dashboard looks decent as well as the number of knobs and gadgets are a plenty. Build quality was good as BK was trying to figure out how in the world did they make such a good solid feel for the compartments in the car especially on the side hand rest.

Although there were some comments on my Facebook which I totally agree with, was that the 16" rims and the fabric seats does give it a budget look and feel.

Visual differences compared to the Golf GTI

 

From the outside, there are quite a number of visual differences between the Golf TSI and the Golf GTI. First and foremost would be the front bumper where the GTI's front bumper is different and it also includes in a front lip as well. The GTI sits lower compared to the Golf TSI. The number of fingers I can fit between the gap of the tyres and the car is around 4 fingers on the TSI versus 3 on the GTI. The GTI has a simple side skirt (although I don't really think its a full skirt). The rear bumper as well is different as the GTI cater's for twin exhaust versus the double exhaust ports on the TSI. Another small but important difference is the rear spoiler, the TSI's one is a little short which seems a little short. Also the GTI's brake calipers are red in colour.

On the inside, the GTI car is wrapped in leather and the driver's seat has electronic seat functions. The steering wheel is wrapped in leather and red stitching and it's a flat bottom steering wheel which gives a better and sportier feel to it. The TSI uses the same one in the Passat CC. Also the GTI does have aluminium sports pedal versus the standard rubber ones on the TSI.

Cabin Space and Boot Space

Let's face it, the car is small and it has less boot space then what I am used to. Well as a comparison, what I am used to is ferrying 3 friends to the golf course with 4 golf bags in the boot of my Honda Civic. I am definitely not going to be able to fit in 2 let a lone 3 golf bags unless I bring down the rear seats which in turn means I can't ferry the other people as well. Seating wise, it's still comfy but the fabric seats that come with the car are a little more on the hard side of things.

I am having slight difficulty fitting in a large-sized golf bag into the boot. In order for it to go in, I had to angle it in such a way that the bag is laid down diagonally. But other than my golf bag,  there hasn't been much of an issue getting other luggage in. It is rather ironic that the Golf has difficulty fitting a golf bag in its boot.

The Drive

The most important thing to me was the drive, I drive a lot. As in, I travel over 100km a day to and from work alone and this does not count in lunch runs and dinner runs or the occasional trip to the city center for meetings. But most of the driving time is limited to the highways where I feel fuel consumption comes into a very big effect here. The engine was beautiful, pickup was good, way better than what my 1.8 Civic can handle but there have been comments about it being a little bit of lag before the turbo kicks in. I guess I probably would need to have driving experience with a GTI first to have a good comparison.

Power (updated Sep 2011)

Now I have to be very frank, the power output between both the 1.4 TSi and the 2.0 TSi engines are really day and night. I have driven the GTI as well as the Roc 2.0 and the power difference can be easily felt. The amount of torque generated and the pull factor will leave you pressed back against the seat. So this is the true difference between the 1.4 TSi and the 2.0 TSi versions. To some, 160ps is enough for their usual day-to-day drive but I guess the power junkie in me seems to want to have more power!

I recently brought the Golf to GT Auto in Sunway (Sep 2011) again using the same dyno machine as the previous run below. The difference this time is that APR has released a version 2 of their 1.4 twincharger map and I wanted to see what is the difference on a proper dyno machine instead of relying mainly on my butt dyno. So using the same machine and also seeing the previous results (170whp and 267Nm torque), this time I came out with a smile! Latest figures is that I am running on 194whp (wheel horse power) with 307Nm of torque! That's more torque than a stock Golf GTI and the horse power is quite close to that of a Golf Mk6 GTI. Definitely a happier guy right now! Note that hardware wise, everything remained the same with the exception that I changed my drop-in filter to a K&N drop in filter.

I brought the TSI to GT Auto in Sunway and put it through a couple of runs on their dynometer. On paper the spec rated it at 160ps and that is achieved using Ron98 fuel. So with Ron95, based on other 1.4 TSI cars including the Roc as well, power on wheel was around 150-155whp when running on Ron95 fuel. After remapping the engine to a Stage 1 APR v1 map, I only managed to pull around 170whp on Ron95. I still think that is a little low and even the guys at APR has informed me that the reading was on the lower side. I definitely have to bring the car out for a datalog session to check out the readings and the boost levels.

The infamous DSG Gearbox

Gear change was quite smooth and the paddle shifter were fun to play with but as the shifter are in a fixed position, the weird part comes when you are turning on a winding road and you wanted to change hence you might have some difficulty changing gears quickly using the shifter. You have 3 different gear modes, the standard "D" mode for your every day-to-day driving, the manual mode where you have to change gears manually without the need of a clutch and the "S" mode where you usually red line your rev meter a lot more before it changes gear.

Braking powa!

The brakes were very sensitive as a little tap would send the car to a screeching halt almost immediately. That is quite good considering for a car that has 160hp.

Handling and suspension

Handling on the car wasn't too bad, although the salesperson didn't let try to slalom the car along Jalan Maarof so I can't give a good perspective on that. In my defence, there were plenty of potholes on the road which allowed me to snake my way in between them but I also wanted to try out the suspension comfort whilst going over the potholes. Compared to the Golf GTI and even the Sciroccos, the Golf TSI is a little wobbly especially after taking a high-speed corner. You definitely feel a lot more planted in the GTI and the Roc due to their stiffer setup.

Features

The car comes with plenty of features which include optical parking system(OPS) in front and at the back of your car. Whenever you park your car, you get a display on your head unit, which in my case is the RCD 510. Note that the original head unit you would receive with your cars would be the RCD 310.



Definitely comes in handy especially when you try to reverse into a tight parallel parking space.

Other features also include the ability to plug-in your USB thumb drive into the player as well as your iPhone/iPod via the MDI (media device in) connectors. Note that upon delivery of the car, only the MDI-to-USB cable was provided. I managed to source through eBay to get the MDI-to-iPod cable hence I am now able to plug my iPhone into the system and control it via my steering wheel (control meaning controlling the volume and switching of songs). All of this whilst the car also charges my iPhone at the same time.

Some interesting features which may seem standard for those of you who are used to drive a continental car but seem to be exciting for me because this is my first European car would be the auto rain sensor, auto lights, paddle shifters on the steering wheel, radio and MFD (multi function display) on the steering wheels and much more!

Fuel Consumption

Technical specs states that the car can travel up to 100km on 6 litres but I would be happy if it could go for 700km on a full tank of 55 litres.

At the end of the test drive, we were brought downstairs to the basement to have a look at the various other colour models available, reflex silver, a deep blue colour and another red was available. The test drive car was in white (candy white). Personally I would have chosen the blue but once you have driven on the highway everyday for the past 4 years, you would know that our highways are filled with stone and small pebbles which would eventually chip away at our front bonnet and bumpers. Hence going for a light colour is always preferable.

By the way, I also saw the Polo 1.2 in the basement. It's not the final one which will be launched as it is a manual version brought in here to pass the Puspakom test. From the outside, it looks exactly like a Golf, only smaller. Not mini-me small but just a little smaller.

Overall I would say it is a fantastic car, European built quality and the power is there. Two thumbs up from me :P

Some updates on the fuel consumption. I have also included in the Ron of the petrol I used to fill it up with. Personally I swapped over from Ron 97 to Ron 95 mainly because of the fuel hike but I can definitely notice the difference in terms of pickup and power. Overall power is slightly less but with Ron 95, the pickup feels as if it is a little more sluggish.

• 1st run - 520km (Ron 97)


• 2nd run - 520km (Ron 97)


• 3rd run - 500km (Ron 95 mixed with Ron 97)


• 4th run - 500km (Ron 95)


• 5th run - 520km (Ron 95)

As of right now, I am sticking to only using Ron 95 petrol as the prices of Ron 97 has increased.

4th Jan 2011 - I have driven almost 4,000km and my average fuel consumption is around 9.7km/L

11th March 2011 - I have driven almost 7,300km and my average fuel consumption is around 10.7km/L. I get about 550km average for a full tank of Ron95 petrol.

21st April 2011 - Trying out the new Petronas Ron95 Extra petrol, still see no difference in terms of mileage. I get the average 550km for a full tank of petrol

4th May 2011 - I just downloaded an app from the iTunes store for my phone. I need to fuel up my car for another 3-4 more times before getting a good set of data. Will post those up pretty soon.

Fuel preferences:

1. Caltex Ron95


2. Petronas Ron95 Extra


3. Esso Ron95


4. Shell Ron95


5. BHP Ron 95 - I get the worst fuel economy out of BHP

Car Maintenance:

This is my first hatchback car ever and I have never had a chance of maintaining one. Since the car is still relatively new, the service period hasn't popped up yet hence there aren't much information about it here. One of the things that I am rather anal about is how clean the car is and the colour I chose for my car was white. Personally I would have loved it in Tornado Red. Anyhow, no matter what the colour is, the car gets very dirty very easily especially the back. In rainy weather, mud, grime and dirt gets trapped at the lid of the 5th door so you will see that the back portion of the car is always dirty.

I have sent the car in recently to apply Sierra Glow on the body to maintain and sustain its white shine. You can read more about Sierra Glow in my review post here.

Car Services:

As I have recently passed my 7,500km mark, I have decided to send my car in for a simple service. Note that I did not send it in to the official VW service center as all I needed was a simple engine oil change and replace my fuel filter. I sent the car to Exquisite Marques over at Sunway Damansara and the 1st cost was RM380 in total of labour charges.

7,500 km - RM380 @ Exquisite Marques
15,000 km - RM525 @ Wearnes Service Center at Sg. Besi (total service time was about 6 hours)

Car Modifications:

When I first wrote this article, I would probably think that keeping this car stock would be very good already but once the modding bug hits you, it hits your hard, as well as your wallet. Here are some of the modifications you can do which may or may not void your warranty.

• Change your existing head unit (RCD 310). Alternatives around would be the RCD 510 as well as the RNS 510. Both the RCD and RNS 510 sport a touch screen LCD whilst the latter provides 20Gb of hard disk space and a built-in GPS navigation system.


• iPod MDI cable so you can control your song list using the steering wheel controls


• Change your rear lights to the Golf R LED lights. Shops which sell these babies include Ryou's Modshop (found on Facebook), Exotic Mods in Sunway Damansara, Exquisite Marques in Sunway Damansara and many more.

• Change your rims, let's face it. The stock 16" Atlanta rims just doesn't quite suite it especially since the advertisement features the Golf with 18" Atlanta rims. I fell in love with these Caractere rims!


• Upgrade your ECU with APR's tuning. Bring your car from 160bhp to 205bhp! Other tuning brands include MTM, ABT, DKTuning, Custom ones available at Exotic Mods as well.


• Change your pedals to aluminium racing pedals! Love these from OSIR.

• Add a bodykit, ABT has a showroom in Glenmarie. Get a copy of Hypertune and you can find loads of them available for the Golk Mk6.

• If you are thinking of increasing the power for your Golf TSI, I would also recommend that you change your brakes! Get the Golf R BBK (big brake kit) or 3rd party market brakes such as Brembo discs and brakes.

• Door sills scuff plates to protect your sides from scratches especially if you track on a lot of sand and dirt.

• For those of you who bought the 2010 Golf TSI, the latest mod you can do is get the front DRL Bi-Xenon lights. The 2011 Golf TSI and Golf GTI's will come with these lights as standards (damn Volkswagen! If only I had known!)

Places where I wash the car

• Waxsons in Aman Suria - Best place and very good cleaning job. A RM28 nano-wash and interior cleaning job really is worth it here! What I can notice is that even the dust on the air con vents have been cleaned up!


• Cars International - Expensive and don't really get many benefits by joining their membership.


• Susheteki in Tropicana City Mall - Don't like the staff's attitude, didn't really do a good job and must be a member to wash your car during the weekends

Conclusion

It would sound extremely biased especially if I said that this car is a very good car but with so many other choices within the price range, I can safely say that the ride and power on this little white rabbit is really amazing! Of course the next closest thing would be the Peugeot 308 Turbo which also offers similar power ratings (on paper) with the Golf but because it is a CKD model, the interior and ride quality doesn't come close to the Golf. But then again, you are paying a lot less for the Peugeot 308 Turbo. Overall I am very pleased with the Golf and even though I pump it with Ron 95, there is always power available especially when I want to overtake cars. The feel of the supercharger and the turbo kicking in is awesome. Only problem I have is that thanks to our wonderful Malaysian weather where it rains almost every other day, a Candy White car gets dirty very easily!

Discussion Groups and Forums

Do check out these forums where I participate together with other VW Golf TSI owners. Good source of information and a great place to hang out and learn from one another. A warning, you will get severely poisoned by some of the members there :)

• Lowyat.net VW Discussion Thread


• Autoworld VW Group Discussion Thread


• Volkswagen Golf Club Malaysia Forums

Do look out for me there in those threads. I am known as either "Mavik", "mavicarus" or "rendezvous".

Other Test Drive Reviews

• Check out Motortrader's more comprehensive test drive here.


• Check out ZerotoHundred's test drive review here.

After mentioning about the Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk VI in my older post here and the new upcoming Volkswagen Golf 1.4 TSI here, I managed to find some interesting videos on YouTube about the Volkswagen Golf 1.4.


Thought the advert above was very interesting.


Some reviews of the Golf VI on Fifth Gear


This video shows the acceleration speed of the Golf 1.4 TSI with a 160hp. Only difference is that it is fitted with 19" rims instead of it's stock 16" rims.


The Golf VI 1.4 in action, tornado red. I like that colour a lot.


And a video reviewing the Golf but in a different language! Anyone can translate this for me?

Way back in January, I wrote this post about my obsession with the Golf GTI. Frankly, that obsession is still here. But then Volkswagen announced the Golf 1.4 TSI and that got me a little bit excited as well.



Why is that? Well, the Golf 1.4 TSI, as it's name states, comes with a 1.4 Twin charged engine (both turbo and supercharged) and it produces about 158bhp and 240NM of torque. Pricing for this bad boy starts from RM148,888 onwards and from what they mentioned in their packages, the first batch would include the "Light & Sound" package and push the price to RM155,888.

Light & Sound Package (optional additional features)

• Bi-xenon headlights for high and low beam with integrated turn signal indicator
• Cornering light system: static and dynamic bending
• Dynamic headlight-range adjustment
• Front fog lights
• Headlight cleaning system
• MEDIA-IN USB/iPod media interface

This is somewhat cheaper than the Golf GTI which is currently priced at RM211,063 (on the road price) and I would see a lot of people running to book this car (the Golf 1.4). A check with some of the local dealers, FA Wagen (Jln 222), Cergas (TTDI) and Wearnes (Bangsar) states that you would need to put a RM5,000 booking fee to be able to get yourself a batch of the first 70 cars (unconfirmed number) that will be brought in here late September.

Frankly, yes I might seem excited about this car but still its no GTI. The torque is insane but overall there are a number of differences which makes both these models different. Here are some of the differences.

• Engine displacement - 2.0L vs 1.4L (The 1.4 would have a cheaper road tax and be less painful on your wallet at the petrol station)


• Power - Of course the GTI has more power, duh! But the Golf 1.4 is no weakling with a rated power of 160PS and APR having an ECU remap mod which brings it to 190bhp.


• Torque - The Golf GTI produces 280Nm of torque from 1700RPM onwards and the Golf 1.4 produces 240Nm of torque but from 1500RPM onwards


• Leather seats - Our variant of the Golf 1.4 doesn't come with leather seats unlike our friendly neighbours down south who gets more accessories and model variants there (they have the 140PS Golf variant there)


• Gearbox - The GTI comes with a 6-speed DSG versus the Golf 1.4 which comes with a 7-speed DSG gearbox


• Weight - The GTI is about 30KG's heavier compared to the Golf 1.4 in terms of it's gross total weight


• Suspension - The GTI comes with Adaptive chassis control DCC (sets your suspension settings to either auto, sports or comfort) but the Golf 1.4 we are getting doesn't have this feature. I guess this is one of the few things removed to get the prices down.


• Rims - The GTI comes with 17" rims whilst the Golf 1.4 comes with 16" rims

You have a choice of 8 different colours (1 solid, 5 metallic and 2 pearl effect choices) to choose from. I am guessing the Candy White would be the most popular colour but I am leaning towards the Amaryllis Red or the United Grey. Here I go again, getting ahead of myself as if I am buying the car :P

Some additional points about the Golf 1.4 is that it won the 2009 World Car of the Year award and the 1.4 engine won the Green Engine of the Year Award in 2009.

At the moment, the cars aren't available for test drive yet. I have left my contacts with the 3 dealers and hope that they would follow up the moment the car is available for a test drive. Can't wait to test drive this new car and see if it can really get me off the hook with my obsession with the GTI. Quite a number of people have already booked the car and I guess the two awards I mentioned above seems to sell the car. Plus, the Golf is indeed a beautiful looking car.

Ok, I better stop drooling here. Anyway on top of the news as well is the recent MoU signed by our Malaysian government with VW on getting 3 variants to be locally assembled. Rumours states that it could be either of the following combinations (VW Jetta, Passat and a MPV, Polo, Golf & Passat). Note these are just rumours and no official confirmation on the models have been released.

Thanks to a little something called holiday in lieu, I managed to get a Friday off last week and spent the time on the golf course together with my high school friend, my colleague and another mutual friend. Tried out playing at the Monterez Golf and Country club for the first time and boy, was it a difficult course. Now I admit I am very much still a beginner at the game of golf so it was rather fun trying out the course but getting whooped by the rest wasn't that fun (thanks to my super competitive nature).

In total, I hit a 129 on the course and even had a 1.5 hour break between the two nine holes thanks to extreme weather such as heavy rain and lightning. So much for me trying to break a hundred by the end of this year but hey, I have about 7 more months to improve. For some reason, I kept hitting into every water hazard there was on the first 9 holes so I definitely have to head back to the driving range to practice my swing again. That was my Friday.

On Saturday, I helped Nick out for a quick shoot in the morning, went for brunch at Raju's off Jalan Gasing with an old uni mate and then headed over to Tropicana Grande to check out the new (and very expensive) condominiums which was opening up soon. After that, I headed to Carcosa Seri Negara for the first time to assist Grace for a maternity shoot which was totally fun!

After the shoot and several traffic jams later, Munz, Alex, Grace and I went for dinner at 1 Utama, trying out New York New York Deli which I thought was only mediocre. After dinner, we headed to GSC to catch Ironman 2 which was totally awesome.

On Sunday, I was out sick with a flu so I slept in and tried to rest until lunch time where I had to run a couple of errands at The Curve and then later in the evening out to USJ to check out more developments and finally at night, dinner at Pantai Seafood with the rest of the gang. Managed to order the "deep fried soft shell crabs with salted egg yolk" which was awesome and compared to the last time, we managed to finish it all up (the last time my colleagues ordered 49 crabs in total which was a bit of an overkill).

So that was my rather packed but interesting weekend. I am still struggling with a bit of the flu and thanks to Munz for providing me with some clarinase. I definitely need more rest and drink more fluids.

How was your weekend?

Yup, been totally poisoned by this car lately and I have been doing tonnes of research on the car as well as check out some of the cars that have been offered at some of the dealers nearby. I am actually not even sure why I suddenly got hooked on this car but the fact that I keep seeing it more often on the road (perhaps I am just a little more observant nowadays) reminds me that I really like how sporty it looks as well as the amount of horsepower and crazy widgetry it has.

I guess it can be due to the test drive I went for last month at the FA Wagen outlet at Jalan 222 where I drove the Golf GTI Mk6 (just launched in Nov 2009) around and I fell absolutely in love with the car. The smooth handling and drive as well as the super quick DSG gearbox (the salesman kept on emphasising that the DSG gearbox changes gears faster than a Ferrari Enzo), the car totally blew me away. One of my favourite novelties about this new version (compared to the older Mk5), is the variable suspension setting, and by variable I mean the ability to switch from sports mode to comfort mode or set it in auto mode.



One of the key differences between the Mk5 and the Mk6 is the steering wheel, I prefer the newer more sportier look of the Mk6 steering wheel design compared to the Mk5.

Even with this obsession, I decided to go about and check the current prices of the 2nd hand market of the Golf GTI Mk5 and found quite a fair number of them on the market. Prices are still a little steep especially since when Naza Italia sold quite a bunch of Golf GTI Mk5 previously after the Tour De Langkawi at a lower price but price ranges are around in the RM150k-175k range depending on the year of the car (05, 07 and 08 models) and the mileage. I checked out a couple of our local forums and found several members there selling their cars there as well, prices are a lot more competitive compared to car dealers.

Anyway this car will still be a dream for me, still pretty much have other priorities I have to take care off (mainly paying for my wedding this year and buying furniture before moving into my new place) hence this car will not be a priority yet. At the moment, I heard there will be new models coming in soon from Volkswagen so who knows the price might drop even further.

p.s. I also heard that a couple of guys are waiting till end March for their Mk6 to be delivered as well

If you are looking for a 2nd hand Golf GTI Mk5, do contact me as I have a friend who is selling off his Mk5 (2007 model at 51k milleage) at a good and reasonable price.

Image source: Volkswagen Malaysia Website

Woah, I just realised that lots of things have occurred since my last post which contained words. And not just anything but major important things which might make an impact in the very environment that I am most active in.

Anwar Wins in Permatang Pauh

Of course the biggest news is that Anwar is back as a MP in our parliament after his huge win in Permatang Pauh. That is by now old news and everyone is kept in suspense as they await the exciting day of the 16th of September. Pretty interesting articles have floated about mentioning about this particular date and since it is only 2 weeks away, I will too be kept in suspense on the outcome. What does it really matter to me? Well for one thing, if rumours are true then Malaysia might see a new government. Else, I pray that reforms will take place and our country focuses on helping the people and gaining back the trust of foreign investors.

Malaysia Today Blocked by MCMC

Our local blog/news site has been blocked by the folks at MCMC with the claim that the content is against article blah blah and MCMC has requested that all ISPs block this particular website to the Malaysian people. Alternate mirror sites have since surfaced but everyone is just waiting to see if anything will be done. Local politicians has already disagreed on the move to block this site. My thoughts on this? To be frank, both sides have a point and we can argue the same way when MCMC blocked those phishing sites. The reason why I am on the fence in this matter is because no matter how much it is being blocked, the alternative sites are up and still accessible.

Mobile Number Portability

This has been long awaited as previously a lot of people are "lazy" to switch over to another network even though the deals are cheaper and better is because they are just too "malas" to update their contacts that they have switched numbers. With this, price wars between our telcos can be a real benefit to the people. I am still awaiting for that iPhone 3G to arrive in Malaysia, only then can I make an even more informed decision then.

Google Releases Chrome

A new browser is in the market and its made by Google. To find out more about the browser, do check out this article here where a good comparitive is made against IE7, FireFox and Safari. The review includes benchmarks and performance tests so its a good baseline for now. I haven't installed it on my home PC at home nor can I install it on my work PC so I can't really give a good review on the new software.

Mark starts golf

Actually I am rather new in this whole sport of golf and since it has been rather quiet lately, I managed to squeeze in my first session of golf on the green at UPM. Frankly, I sucked at the game and hit 171 over 18 holes. Being very honest, we counted every hit hence the extremely high score. The next round showed some slight improvement with me hitting 73 for the first 9 holes but I couldn't finish the last 9 holes because we got rained out. Tips I learned would be to bring at least 3 sets of clothes to change a big towel.

Other than all of these, its work work work and more work for me. The busy period of shooting is coming soon so I need to be prepared for that. Till the next post!

Yes thats right, I am burning, literally that is. I was stuck under the sun for the past couple of weekends and I have gotten rather tanned. The first occasion was when I went for my first round of golf on the green at UPM. Being the complete newbie or n00b, I went there without getting anything prepared. Yes, that means no water, no cap, no extra change of clothes and worse of all, no sunblock. But it was cool, because the sun was just blazing hot and I endured all of that through the 18 holes.

Many years ago I always had this thought that I would never enjoyed the game golf. When the opportunity arose whereby my friends started to pick up the sport and went for lessons, I have to frankly say that at times I was rather reluctant because I thought it was rather boring just swinging your club at 100+ balls at the range. It was until I set foot on the UPM golf course and hit my first ball right 5 metres in front of me did I only realise that the competitive spirit in me wanted to do better.

To cut the long story short, I am eager to play my next round of golf next weekend at UPM again and this time I can't wait to get to the range to practice some of my shots and get used to my new set of golf clubs. Yes, thats right! Unlike the others who basically inherited most of their sets from their parents who plays golf, I had to invest some hard earned cash into the sport which makes me want to make sure that I make full use of my investments.

Another interesting fact was that I got sunburned again in Lumut. This time I stole some sunblock (SPF 30) but after spending the entire Saturday morning under the sun playing funny games, I could see patches of my skin which I missed applying sunblock on. There was a very nice looking golf course at Damai Laut as well and that was where my company's golf tournament was held. Of course being overly enthusiastic, I was chatting with one of the senior managers about golf and mentioned to him that I will be participating next year! That means I definitely have to brush up and improve my game within the next 12 months!

Thats right, I have to head back to the driving range again to practice on my swing and get used to my new clubs. Can't wait for that once I get back from Singapore!

Lately I have been busy either attending my usual training courses which require me to stay over as well as band practice for my upcoming company trip. Those two activities really took a toll on me over the past week and I have been facing more internet connection problems at home, hence the lack of updates on this blog.

Now that I am back at work, I feel that the urge to blog might be a little lot less. Maybe its because I am quite worn out and I have two more band practice sessions coming up tomorrow night and on Wednesday night which I desperately need to practice my part or else the rest will hang me up to dry. There is this huge list of songs which I desperately need to get the chords and songs to practice with.

What was enjoyable last week was to be able to network with potential technology architects from around the world and if you see my Facebook account, you would notice that I have been adding friends from Columbia, South Africa, Netherlands, Australia and Singapore.

Other than that, I truly enjoyed playing back together with the "Accidentals" or was it "Accentrix"? I could never tell and it was really fun picking up a guitar again and jamming with the rest of the band. Of course it was blatantly obvious that I am completely out of touch with the whole jamming and guitaring scene but nevertheless, it was really fun!

The final bit of fun which I enjoyed over the period of last week was my very first experience on the golf course. Playing the first time on a full 18-hole course was a mind blowing experience especially seing all the wonder obstacles which stole 19 balls away from me (OB and water traps!). Next session is in 3 weeks time and I can't wait to actually go to the golf shop to purchase my first set of golf clubs and then test it out on the driving range.

Finally, the next two weekends I will be away from KL, travelling to Damai Laut for my company trip and then to Singapore next weekend to attend a wedding.

And lastly, the Nikon D700 has been launched here in Malaysia and forums have been shouting with people getting some of them priced at RM8700 for the unit. Shashinki currently has a promotion for the D700 at RM8888 as well. I doubt that I can afford one anytime soon as recession is about to hit this country so cash savings is the better way to go.