A couple of weeks ago, a bunch of us from the Volkswagen Malaysia Club embarked on a weekend holiday at Cameron Highlands. We managed to book a bungalow at Tanah Rata which was located very close to the bus station. In total there were about 30 of us but not all of us squeezed into the bungalow.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, I missed the convoy heading up to Camerons on Friday afternoon so I decided to take a drive up at night. Thanks to heavy rain, the journey was not an easy one. Besides having to avoid heavy traffic coming out of the Klang Valley, I am really thankful for the Guthrie highway which provided me an easy avenue out of the NKVE and straight towards Rawang. I initially wanted to stop at the Rawang rest area to fuel up and grab a quick dinner but thanks to the hordes of people camping there waiting for the rain to subside, I decided to continue on ahead.

By the time I reached Tapah, the rain had already subsided. After a quick bite at KFC, we then departed onwards to Simpang Pulai. I decided to try out the new route up to Camerons, instead of taking the usual route through Tapah, there has been a lot of reported landslides on the old route through Ringlet.



The new route via Simpang Pulai is a much safer route especially if you are travelling at night. The roads are newer and the uphill roads have dual lanes at quite a fair bit of points. Do note that the route is very winding so if you are going on a spirited drive especially at night, make sure you use your high beam lights throughout the drive. There are a number of very misleading sharp corners. Traffic up this route wasn't that heavy, I think I only encountered like 4 trucks on the way up.

This route will bring you through Brinchang and then towards Tanah Rata.

Upon reaching at our destination at Tanah Rata, a quick shower and a quick change and I was ready to join the gang for some "games", which involved cards, and lots of yawning away. Heck it was already 3am at night!

The next day we went out for scones and tea at the Lord's Cafe. Now if anyone asks where are the best scones in Cameron Highlands, I would definitely say, "The Lord's Cafe" at Tanah Rata. The jam that came with the scones were heavenly and I can definitely say that we all enjoyed ourselves at the place and even some of us brought back a huge number of scones for loved ones.

After scones we had more food by sipping tea at the Cameronian Valley and enjoying the view. None of us wanted to drive towards the Boh Tea plantation especially since we had so many owners with lowered rides and none of us brought a Touareg!

When night came, we started it all off with a barbecue and chit-chat which went on all the way till late at night.

The one thing I never did like about Camerons is that the traffic there is really crazy, because of the one way in and one way out, whenever we did pass Brinchang, we would get stuck in insane traffic. Heck on the way back, I was stuck for 40 minutes and over that 40 minutes I probably drove about 100m. I made a quick u-turn and then used the older Tanah Rata route back home. Overall it was a fun trip up Camerons and definitely would love to do it again when I have the time!

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Back in May this year, I attempted my first night shoot on the Volkswagen Golf. Only recently did I attempt my second shoot. This time it was done within 45 minutes and the location was extremely impromptu. Let's just say that I was driving back from Putrajaya and I made a detour towards an industrial area.

Here are the results of the shoot. Shot completely in natural light mainly because it was an impromptu shoot and I didn't have anyone to help me to carry my speed-lights.

[caption id="attachment_3197" align="alignnone" width="540" caption="Volkswagen Golf 1.4 TSI"][/caption]

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[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.

It was a bright sunny day when a group of VW enthusiasts all decided to meet up at Putrajaya on a Sunday morning. Well, we didn't really all decided together but more towards an opportunity for me to be able to photograph some VW cars, talk to some of the other members and get to know them better. This is all part of my procrastinated project where I wanted to take the effort to shoot more cars and build up my automotive photography portfolio.

Although this was my first time but I also learned quite a lot of things to take into consideration. Here are some of the results.



Group shot of all the cars which participated in the shoot that morning.



A Volkswagen Scirocco 1.4 TSI with the Scirocco R bumper and custom Euro license plate.



A white VW Scirocco 2.0 TSI with a full Rieger Bodykit











Next up is a series of photos of a Volkswagen Scirocco 1.4 TSI which is not black but rather in the colour, Dark Maroon. But yeah, it looks black in the photos. This car sports a Supersprint exhaust system, Caractere 18" Rims, a Scirocco R bumper and Rieger side skirts.

















Overall I learned that when it comes to photographing cars, a lot of factors come into play. The more I look at my photos, the more that I know I can do better and the mistakes that I have made along the way.

Stay tuned for more photos!

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.

With the VW Das Auto Show happening over the weekend, the Bukit Jalil Stadium has been transformed, well not the actual stadium itself but if you happened to drive by it you would definitely notice a huge white dome right in the parking lot. I was quite lucky to get invited together with a bunch of Nuffnang bloggers to attend the media opening of the VW Das Auto Show.



Upon entering the car park, because I was driving a Golf, the guards were nice to lead me towards the Volkswagen Vehicles only parking. At the end of the event I did find out that the sign actually meant that it was for Volkswagen Group Malaysia’s staff but of course my ignorance did get the better of me and I just proceeded to park amongst the other VW marques. There was plenty of parking space available and over the weekend, parking will be free.



I arrived a little earlier and was greeted with the registration counter amidst a huge room.



While waiting for the other bloggers to arrive, I managed to catch up with Nicholas and also meet Tian Chad and Huai Bin. After registering at the counter and receiving our own personal goody packs, we were ushered into a hall right next to the registration counter where light refreshments were served.



After a couple of orange juices, catching with some of my sales advisors from the Wearnes VW branch and also talking to some of the other bloggers, I went about checking out several booths which were selling VW merchandises such as key chains, caps, polo shirts and more.



If you get bored waiting about or are feeling a little bit restless, there are a number of racing simulators available to try out.



This is definitely how Gran Turismo 5 is meant to be played and not using the usual PS3 joystick. I wonder how much would a set up like this cost if I were to get it right in my living room.

After munching through several tidbits which were rather tasty, the group were then ushered into the main dome. I reckon there were about 200+ participants this morning.



We were then seated at the center of the dome while surrounded by large screens.



Elaine Daly took to the center stage as the emcee for the show.



The first speaker, Petra Schreiber, Marketing Director at Volkswagen Group Malaysia,   then presented about the Volkswagen brand and what Das Auto meant. Volkswagen is committed to create high-end cars for every segment hence the true meaning of Das Auto which translate to the The Car.



Then as the speeches continued, the first 3 cars were showcased in a very unique manner, words can hardly describe the event as you really need to be there to fully experience it, the dome, the music, the projections and the cars themselves. 3 guesses on which were the first 3 cars.



The Volkswagen Golf has been around and it truly is an iconic model which truly represents what a hot hatchback should be. Frankly, I think I am in love with the 3-door version of the Golf R. Seriously, a nice sun-roof, 260 horses under that hood, the beautiful Talladega rims and that wicked AWD system, this is the car for me. Now I wonder how long it would take for me to even save up for the down-payment for this car.

After the Golf came the showcase of the Cross Touran and the Sharan. Both of these are MPV’s and as explained, try driving one and you wouldn’t feel as if you were driving an MPV but rather a sporty vehicle.



The moment the MPV’s were driven off, then came the VW Passat. Now this car has been on the radar of the Malaysian public ever since the announcement that this is one of the models which will be assembled here in Malaysia.



And as the Passat arrived at the front, Daniel Tan, the director for Volkswagen Group Malaysia alighted from the car to give the next speech.





The Passat shouldn’t be a real surprise for you all here as I did post previously about the Superbowl advertisement which I thought was extremely hilarious and creative! See the advertisement here.



Petra then returned with an electric scooter which was completely silent and wowed the crowd. There was a huge applause as she then continued to talk about how Volkswagen Blue is the next green. In case you aren’t too familiar with the Blue Motion versions of the VW vehicles, you can check it out here.

Then as she continued with her speech, the main show began as the Volkswagen models started rolling in.



The awesome Scirocco R!



The two Polos, the Polo Sedan will also be assembled here in Malaysia.



The VW Amarok! Definitely very rare in our country.



The new VW EOS with the top down, this car is definitely a babe magnet. Trust me and I can prove it later.



The VW Jetta, the last of the 3 models which will be assembled here in Malaysia

In total there will be 13 VW models that will be rolling in the dome and the finale was a surprise. It was the new VW Beetle!



Decked out in red, this baby really does look like a mini Porsche 911.

And as the event started to close off, we were greeted with a choir of children singing together with a guest appearance by Ella!



At the end of the event, me being the ever curious person decided to go and capture a couple more photos of the Beetle because my earlier shot were blocked by the folks in front.



A full frontal of the Beetle!



The interior really did look sexy, covered in the same red as the car, the styling is really awesome.



A flat bottom steering wheel with red finishing.



Looks very much like the RNS510 to me.



Manual shifters for a bit of fun!



Beautiful looking rims



Ample space in the boot, surprisingly!



Sound system by the guys who brought the world, the Stratocaster, yes, Fender, baybeh!

As we were ushered out of the dome, the display isn’t over yet! We were then brought into a huge area where all of the existing models currently sold at the dealers were on display. At the same time the sales advisors were also there to explain about each model and give you a personal tour of the cars.



Of course I took the opportunity to molest the latest model which was launched a couple of weeks ago, the Polo GTI.





Earlier I mentioned that the EOS was a babe magnet and believe me, it really was.



Non-stop, ladies were climbing into the car, checking it out, having their photos taken! Believe me, I couldn’t even get a photo of the car without anyone in it. I guess the colour of this particular one did help as well.



At the end of the tour, I managed to quickly grabbed a quick photo of some of us who were just around the area. A big thanks to Volkswagen for inviting me to be one of the participants for this fantastic event.



As I walked out to the exit, I noticed a strange and rare sight indeed, a tiger driving through the streets of the Sepang Track.

The Volkswagen Das Auto Show will be going on throughout the weekend, so do swing by
and check it out at:

Bukit Jalil National Stadium
September 10 – 11 (10am – 10pm)
http://www.dasautoshow.com.my