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

Ever since I moved out of my parent’s house, one of the pleasures of life that I have been missing is television, Astro in particular. So thanks to this situation, whenever I am outside, whether it may be at a pub or at the local mamak store, I tend to watch the television that is displayed on there. Most of the time it’s the usual advertisements but one particular advertisement did catch my eye. It was the Volkwagen’s Das Auto Show advertisement. Being a VW owner myself, I was excited about the event and thanks to a good friend of mine, I managed to catch a sneak preview of the event, live at the Bukit Jalil Stadium.

The main dome overseeing the rest of the structures under the moonlight

So instead of having the event at the usual convention center or a large open air space, Volkswagen instead have decided to build up a huge dome in the middle of the stadium car park area and have it surrounded by more domes. What you have here instead is an area completely dedicated to a full weekend of fun for the family.



At night these domes are lit up ever so beautifully.

A view of the smaller domes at night while workers complete the final touch ups

Upon entering the compound, I am greeted by Daniel who gave us the tour of the built up area. One of the first things that caught my eye was the Volkswagen signs that are located around the parking area.



At the main door we are greeted with a large entrance which leads everyone into the registration room.





After when guests register, they are then ushered into a reception area where there are merchandise stores set up as well as a simulator for you to try out your driving skills.

Upon entering the main dome where the main show is going to be held, the first thing that caught my eye was the incredibly large space. I really thought that the dome looked large from the outside but it is humongous on the inside.

The large VW logo is actually the top of the dome.

Guests will be ushered into the dome and seated down where they will be presented with a special show (I can’t reveal too much otherwise I might just spoil the surprise) for 30 minutes. During this time, there will be 13 Volkswagen models, which will be showcased. Yes, that’s right! 13 models, man, I can only think of the few models we have here such as the Golf, Golf GTI, Scirocco, Polo, Tiguan, Touareg, and the Passat CC. So it’s not going to be a surprise that the local CKD models will be showcased here as well such as the Jetta, Polo Sedan and the Passat. What are the remaining models that are going to be shown? Well, check them out this coming weekend.



 



Once the show is done, visitors are then brought into a showcase room where all the current cars available at the local VW dealers are showcased.



At the end of the tour, I was presented with a very very special preview. At first I thought that I had seen all of the models that were showcased until this baby arrived.



Specially transported on a flatbed truck, the secret is still safe until this weekend of course :) The only preview you can get is a small glimpse of the rims and the bodywork there.

Stay tuned as I reveal more sneak previews very soon!

For more information about the event, check out http://www.dasautoshow.com.my/ 

The event will be held at the Bukit Jalil Stadium on the 10th and 11th of September 2011.

Last week during the Raya holidays, I decided to go on an impromptu trip to Ipoh whilst halfway munching down McDonald's big breakfast set. The idea was that I would follow Alex, Grace, Ivan and Mi Ghent up to Ipoh by car and take a train back to KL as I needed to pick my wife up from Pavilion in the evening. This was on the 2nd day of Raya and after a quick check online, there was an electric train service which will leave Ipoh at 3pm later that day.



The first issue came up, after calling KTM's ETS's hotline number, there was no answer at all. Of course I was worried that the train services were not running but by faith I decided to follow them up to Ipoh anyway. So I parked my car at Centerpoint in front of Starbucks where I know there will be plenty of people sitting down drinking coffee, hence I guess a thief would be less likely to steal the car in front of so many people.

By the time I arrived in Ipoh, we went about checking out several places, and then decided to buy my train ticket back. Prices were reasonable, at RM35 per one way ticket, the ride would take 2 hours to reach KL Sentral. Note that the time taken was longer because it wasn't the express train and there were several stops in between Ipoh and KL.

At the train station, I was greeted with 3 ticket counters and a small machine outside dispensing numbers. I took a number and then saw which number was being served at the moment. My heart sank, there were like a 100 more numbers to go before mine came up and at the current rate that they are going, I would probably have to wait 2 hours for my turn and probably miss the train completely!

A quick look around and check and with Ivan's help and a very extremely nice gentleman who gave me his number which was only 20 more numbers after the current one, I learned that one of the reasons for this slow service was the system which the staff used to book and dispense tickets. Seriously, I can 100% say that it wasn't the staff who were lazy but the system was really holding them back. Each time they keyed in the customer's request, it would take the system a good 3-5 minutes to process the request. Multiply that with 10 customers then you manage to either serve 10 customers in more or less an hour.

Apparently queues were the theme of the day. As we left the train station and I had gotten my ticket (yay! although I waited 40 minutes in line), Ivan brought us to one of the local restaurants where there was a huge crowd waiting to be served. It was already close to 2pm and I realised that everyone there were tourists (meaning those KL fellas), and everyone was just standing about waiting to grab the next available tables.

Anyway back to the topic on public transportation. I was rather determined to try it out fully today utilizing all sorts of methods except for the bus service because I am totally out of sync with the bus service that I will probably get REALLY REALLY lost in KL.

On the train, it was rather comfortable, the seats were adequate and there was enough leg room but the beauty of trains is that I get to walk around. They even had a 17" screen showing a movie which had no sound so all I could do was read the subtitles. When I got bored, I would take a walk to the cafeteria carriage and order a couple of snacks.

2 hours went by and my phone battery was dying thanks to Bejeweled and Facebook. I was quite restless by this point and decided to do a very "smart" thing (note the air quotes). Instead of going off at KL Sentral, and then taking a monorail to Bukit Bintang, I decided to drop off at the old KL Station (where Heritage Hotel used to be) and take a cab to Pavilion instead.

Boy was that a big mistake, you see, the old KL station now was rather dead. Maybe because it could be the 2nd day of Raya and there were absolutely NO taxi's available. I walked to the main road, flagged down a taxi where the driver told me that it would cost me RM20 without the use of the meter to get to Pavilion. Talk about highway robbery (it was literally on the highway though!).

So I took out my phone, turned on Google Maps and started trying to path a way to Pavilion or to the nearest monorail station. This was what I found.



And you know what? That was the exact route I had to walk because there were very little pedestrian pathways and walkways. There wasn't even a pedestrian crossing at all so I had to walk through various weird routes to reach the monorail station. By the time I reached the station, I was completely drenched in sweat and the cool aircon in the monorail trains were a great sigh of relieve.

So the cost for the trip to Pavilion was RM1.60 and of course a bit of extra time it took me to get to the stations and to walk to Pavilion as well. Oh well, I did save a bit more cash on that.

As of right now, my cost to travel from Ipoh to Pavilion in Kuala Lumpur is RM35 + Rm1.60 which brings it to a grand total of RM36.60

On the way back home to PJ, I was running a little late so we decided to take a cab from Pavilion and this is where our image gets hurt very badly. Every taxi demanded their own fare WITHOUT the use of the meter. At the end, after negotiating with 6 taxi drivers, the fare was RM50.

Now that is really called highway robbery. I don't blame the taxi drivers, seriously. It's because they can't get individual taxi licenses that they have to go through taxi companies and then on top of that they have to pay for the LNG cost (liquefied natural gas) as well as the cost to rent the cars that on some days, they make a loss because they can't cover their daily costs.

So who are the people who give out these licenses?

Why can't taxi drivers get their own licenses?

Damn we are no where close to Singapore's public transportation.

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