Chevrolet Colorado Launch Party

This was totally unexpected. About a week ago, I stumbled across a contest online and submitted an entry without much thought. It was my first time joining a slogan competition and a few days ago, they called me and I was among the 15 finalists! It was the Chevrolet Colorado contest. To be honest, I cant even remember what I wrote for the slogan! haha

I received a call informing that they liked my slogan, and was invited to the Colorado Launch Party. However, I was a little sad as I could not join the Photography Contest which is only open to the top 15 finalists, and the grand prize was a trip to Bangkok. The contest was at 5pm and I could only get out of the office at 6.30pm. xpe la, ape nak buat..

Before and during the launch.

I rushed there anyway after work and managed to find my way to the KL PAC (Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre). The venue was seriously nice and and tastefully decorated all around. It was my first time being at a social event too, where all the lads were wearing expensive suits and the ladies in flashy dresses, making me feel super awkward.

So we were at the auditorium where the launch was held. As they launched the truck, the media rushed to the main stage to take pictures, and I was there to 'menyibuk' as well. :D

The 2.8 LTZ in white. The truck looks good and super clean in white! :D

This is Naza Quest's (the Chevrolet distributor in Malaysia) first attempt penetrating into the pick-up market in Malaysia and the new Colorado is fully imported from GM's plant in Rayong, Thailand.

A Royal Grey 2.5 LT manual in action!

Knowing that Naza is a super wealthy company, the event was simply amazing. There was live bands, cocktail refreshments, and a garden-themed buffet dinner after launch party. I had a long day that day so I didn't stay there until the event is over, but still, it was my first time and it was a great experience being at a car launch.

The interior was a very nice place to be in! Front and rear legroom are generous too.

The Colorado is available here in 2 trim levels (LT and LTZ) and 2 transmission choices (5-speed manual and 6-speed automatic). Starting from RM90,267.00, the base 2.5 litre LT only comes in manual, while the 2.8 variant comes in a manual LT spec, and a range topper 2.8 LTZ automatic. The 2.8 LTZ is definitely the one to get and it retails at RM106,008.00 OTR without insurance. The LTZ has all the goodies, which includes nice beige/white leather all around, 17-inch rims, projector headlamps, and the nicest feature (to me at least), a digital climate control.

A gorgeous Sizzle Red unit (it seriously looked better in flesh, pardon my photography skill)

The Colorado looks fresh and sets a new benchmark in the pick-up category in Malaysia. Now lets wait for the incoming 2012 Ford Ranger, which seriously looks good too! Come on Sime Darby, launch it already la, before its too late!!

Work sucks, I know

Working life seriously sucks. Work will never end, and the workload will never stop coming either. Sometimes I wonder, what is the point in living life? How I wish that 3-day weekends come more often so I can travel around. I need to take a long vacation!!

This couple of weeks I seriously lost the mood to work. Every morning feels slow, tired, and I even feel sleepy while driving, something which actually seldom happen to me! It all started when I fell sick 3 weeks ago. Sorethroat, flu, fever, coughing, phlegm - the whole package, you name it.

To add to the bad week, I fell sick again. The exact same package except with a very bad fever. I wonder why do I fall sick too often?

My car recently had to go through numerous troublesome procedures to get it changed from the old number to the new one. My big brother bought a new Fiesta, and since its a new car he wants his plate to be on his car (makes much sense since its his name anyway). And thanks to that, my car had to go through several Puspakom inspections and insurance transfer.

 

Final day having the AR15 plate on my ride. Red berry, meet your new brother!

Puspakom is a capital 'B'. They tore my tints in order for my car to pass the inspection because it was 'too dark'. But actually, I don't know its Puspakom's fault or the tinting company's fault. Does Puspakom even have a reliable machine to test the tints? When I installed the tint back in 2010, they promised that it'll be JPJ and Puspakom compliant. I've contacted a branch manager of the tint company, and he said that the company will replace the tint for me, provided there is proof. Yes, I have the original receipts, documents and the failed Puspakom certificate. Hopefully, they'll re-install the tints. Or else, Consumer Tribunal awaits them.. :)

Talking bout my car, last weekend I paid a visit to sh@rty 5's shop in Meru, Klang to add some little mods to my red berry. I added DRLs to my car, together with a module that will turn the lights off when my main headlights turn on (ala continental cars). It was reasonably priced, and Kelvin's workmanship is very clean and neat. Will definitely return again for other mods. I wanted to change my number plates next, or maybe upgrade ICE? :)

 

 

 Hello DRLs! It looks soo illegal here! haha

The Call

Last Monday while at work, I received a call from my mum. She told me that she received a text from my cousin saying that my grandma (on my dad's side) is very ill. My mum was very concerned about it and we decided that we have to drop by Ipoh this weekend to visit her.

Even though my dad lives in Ipoh, I seldom go there and I am very much a stranger to the town. I had to use the GPS (thanks to that) to get to places around there and we spent the night at Impiana hotel which was previously known as Casuarina hotel when I was little. Ipoh is a nice and calm town. The food was great, and we even found the famous char kuay teow on Leech Street (now known as Jalan Bandar Timah, if i'm not mistaken). The kuay teow was not as good as last time, according to my mum, but still I had 2 plates of it. :D Places like these made me remember my childhood times, when my family was still a whole and we had trips during raya down to Ipoh.

I must admit that I have not been very close to my grandma on my dad's side as opposed grandma on my mum's side. Its sad and I wish I had known her better. I blame my dad for this. In fact during my visit there, my dad wasn't even in Ipoh. He would rather go to KL for some Bar Council annual dinner rather than visiting his own mother. Sometimes, I question his logic sense.

It had been easily a number of years since I last saw my grandma and now, she looks very old and frail. She does not look like what I remembered how she looked like before. I felt her hand and all I feel are her bones. I felt sad. She had not been awake for a week and had not been eating. I felt helpless, and what I could do is to pray for miracles to happen and hope for the best for her.

Whenever I pray, I pray for good things to happen to the people I care. Hopefully. Amin.

Dear February

For 3 tiring weekends, I had to attend the Bar Council Training Course course held at the KL Bar Council auditorium. I got the February intake which is the 3rd session because I registered myself late for it. I'm glad its finally over because I finally have weekends to look forward to! I was unlucky to get the 3rd session of the course, which means that if i fail any of the 3 papers, i will have to re-sit it with my juniors at a much later date, resulting in a much later long call (or not able to get into the service). :(

The course is a requisite for UUM & MMU law graduates to pass in order to be called to the Bar or even to join the service. For the February session, there were only less than 10 of us from UUM, and the hall was mostly filled with MMU law graduates. Most of my friends had taken the earlier sessions. Sad to say that MMU students looks kinda arrogant, maybe its because our numbers are small there?

The first week was pleadings and was taught by Mr Ravi Nekoo and Mr Dipendra. Then on the second week, we had opinion writing taught by Ms Mariette Peters. Her lecture was seriously fun where she kept making jokes while maintaining her serious face. The third week we had conveyancing practice with Mr Jeremiah and Mr Roger Tan. Both of them are really good conveyancing lawyers but conveyancing can be soooo dull and boring!! I felt that the 3rd week was the toughest out of all 3 papers.

I just HOPE I'll pass everything.. Hopefully. Amin..

CNY 2012

GONG XI GONG XI! GONG HEI FATT CHOY PEOPLE!!

Another lunar year passed by, and another lunar year came in. Its that time of the year again; say hello to the year of the water dragon! Talking about dragons, I was supposed to be a dragon baby, but I was born just before the Chinese New Year in 1988, thus I'm a fire rabbit! :)

CNY this year was pretty much quiet, thanks to my lil' brother who had just underwent a minor surgery at IJN last week, and due to go for a major surgery in this coming weeks. I expected this new year to be a little sober, but my mum was a good host and everything went well as usual. I am so proud of my mum. Despite all the stress, pain and worries, she still gave it a good show.

Family gatherings are always about reuniting, having fun and eating up a storm!
Also playing Monopoly cards. :D

We celebrated this year a little earlier than usual, where my relatives from Singapore came down 2 days prior to the new year. They went back on the first day of new year itself, in order to beat the causeway jam!

We had our big reunion lunch at Pearl Oriental, Bukit Kiara Equestrian Park. We had a reunion dinner there a couple of years before, and also my cousin's wedding there, so its a familiar place for us. Its one of the few places which serves good Chinese food and can accommodate big families during festive seasons, and of course its halal!

 Tossing yee sang wishing for a prosperous year ahead! :D

Meet the Tee family: Aris and Chin Jin

 Chin Jin and his girlfriend

Christine, Benjamin and Carolyn

Carolyn and Auntie Swee Bee

Uncle CH and Adnan

My mum with grandma

Uncle YO and Auntie Serene

And lastly, Chin Leong

Our small family potrait. :)

I'll be going down to Ipoh on Wednesday with my lil' brother for a checkup on his health condition, which co-insides with my birthday! I took 3 days leave from work this week, partly because I refuse to work on my birthday (haha!) as plan to just be lazy for the week. On Wednesday morning I'll be going down my my lil' brother and I guess its a little sacrifice for him. He is due to undergo a major surgery involving his hip joints, and he currently needs crutches to walk. Kesian sangat. There's a long story to that. We just hope and pray that everything will go well for him, InsyaAllah.

Dear January;

January has always been my favourite month of the year. Why? I actually don't know why. But one thing for sure its because its my birthday month! :)

But this January started on a bad note for me. Everything wasn't right, and i had all the possible bad luck. I had several bad weeks at work, and also after work. Bosses mengamuk occasionally and my car broke down. While driving our family's spare car, it broke down as well in the same week. 4 hours wasted just like that waiting for the tow truck to come and I was really tired that day as it happened after work. Ape la ni... :(

Family van got towed after 4 hours of waiting...

Not only that, Puspakom also tore down my car tint when it was sent for inspection. The inspection is needed in order for ownership transfers and so on. Now my car's exposed to the bare heat and elements. Cool World said that their tints are JPJ and Puspakom compliant, so will definitely get back to their management and make noise. I'll get the tint re-done once the number is transferred to my brother's car, but its taking soo long. He is in the process of getting his new Fiesta and the procedure involved is soo melecehkan!!!

My tint-less car. Poor red berry..

But there's always a cure for everything, right? The PERFECT CURE to bad days at work:

 

 Rockzone babeh!

Also got their official t-shirt merchandise! Expensive but worth the price tag!

Its been awhile since last I pampered myself, so it was totally worth it. Since the concert, I have been on Simple Plan songs for the past couple of weeks. Currently my favourite is Astronaut. :)

Also not to forget that Chinese New Year is coming soon and I'm soo looking forward to it. Another reason why January is my favourite month. :D

CNY mood is definitely in the air!

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

Sometimes the most fun we can have is when things are unplanned and they fall right into place. It was the trip I had with my besties up to Bukit Tinggi. It was short, spontaneous and a well deserved escapade from the working world!

Our little group, consisting of Pei Ling, Julian, Amar and Aznah were supposed to plan and have a bachelor night for Amar since he's going to tie the knot with his fiance, Aznah this coming February 1st. But then Aznah wanted to come along, so it wasn't that of a bachelor night outing, but more of a little escape. We went up to Bukit Tinggi and spent the night there gossiping, playing monopoly cards, cracking jokes and roaming aimlessly around.

It was my first time being at a new year countdown celebration, so it was something new and rather interesting to me. So jakun me. We went to Colmar Tropicale for the countdown, and man, there were thousands of people there that night. As the clock strike 12, fireworks showered the sky for minutes, then people began to dance around to noisy beats and all we did was just stood there and watched them. We were lame.. hahaha!

It was my chance to test my new camera too. :)

 Before the countdown.

 Let the fireworks begin!

The night view of Colmar is breathtaking!

The next morning, we went further up to Bentong in hope to find the hot spring that place is famous for. After a rather long drive, we found it but it was closed for maintenance, they say la. But the place looks more like abandoned to us. Then on our way back, by co-incident we found a durian orchard and was given a tour around the farm. The tauke was talkative and friendly, where he gave us some sample of his tasty durians before we head towards the small town for lunch. We stopped by and had the Bentong's famous durian ice cream cendol. Man, it was simply delicious!

The durian orchard and the talkative uncle.

It was a short trip and we surely had fun. Hoping and definitely looking forward to this kind of trips in the near future. Sometimes, we don't need to plan things to make it fun. All we need is just to do things spontaneously and life is best enjoyed that way..

Lastly, cheers to the couple that's gonna tie the knot this Feb! :)

 

Semoga sampai ke anak cucu ye.. :D