Big Black Book

This is another love child spawned out of comments on hazardous blogging. Who's the father? I can proudly say it's tokmoh. Here's the link to the mother of this child. -Hazardous Blogging-

Saw? I used to debate with Chips Yap in motortrader's forum abt Honda Civic winning 2007's Car of the Year award, and how Ford Focus mk2 is sooooo underrated here. Come on, Ford Focus, for God's sake!! It may look boring and Toyota-ish at first sight, but park it in an Ikea store, you suddenly can see its elegant Swedish-ness in its design language. It's also very practical with a very spacious boot, spacious interior, and then there's the handling: it is the best in its class, it's German engineered!! Reliability? Well, Clarkson used to own a Focus mk1 for 7 years, and he said it never go wrong, not even once no matter how badly he thrashed it!! Best of all, it's cheaper than the Honda Civic, anytime, the Focus is much, much better than the Civic, at least in UK.

[sarcasm]But all those people ever thought in rewarding the CotY is "2nd hand value good ah?"[/sarcasm]

Some time later, I managed to meet with Denis Wong, Autocar Asean's editor, and you know what he said about Focus' quality? It's worse than the Civic. I wonder if he actually knew our Focus is made in Philippines, while our Civic is made in Melaka, which have earned a reputation as Proton's QC partner-in-crime. There's even an 11-page thread in lowyat abt how lousy Honda CKD's quality is. He also said the Focus isn't as powderful as Civic, and then there's the 4-speed auto 'box. I never remembered the Focus 2.0 is built to race, and what's wrong with 4-speed 'box? The latest Altis also have 4-speed 'box, and yet, they'd still shower it with praises bcuz "it's a Toyota."

~Tokmoh

You can blame Civic's overratedness on the ad campaign Honda went on. Remember the Rising Spirit ad? I still do. What did Ford do about marketing? Did not even see a single ad on tv. If they are serious about reviving the Ford brand which kinda 'died' years ago, they should have invested in marketing.

Civic 1.8s - RM 113,800
Focus 1.8Ghia - RM 110,888

Civic 2.0s - RM 128,800
Focus 2.0Sport - RM 121,388

For the same engine capacity, you actually save more. But savings is only one factor in determining the recipient for the COTY. And so is second hand value. But look at what marketing have done for the Civic? Everyone knows that Civic is a great car. Look at the console. Fuiyo! Damn gaya! From the apeks in the kopitiams to the yuppies in their Coffee Beans & Starbucks, everyone knows what a Civic is! Moreover, the Civic is backed up by its numerous service centres all over the country.




The last model before Ford re-entered Malaysia that I remember was the Laser. Excluding all those 4x4 trucks la of course.. People are worried about the brand. Where do I get my car serviced if it broke down? Can any workshop iron out my problems? How can I be sure they are using genuine parts? Will this problem occur again?

1.8 i-VTEC - 140PS/6,300rpm ; 174Nm/4,300rpm
1.8 Duratec - 131PS/6,000rpm ; 165Nm/4,000rpm

2.0 i-VTEC - 155PS/6,500rpm ; 188Nm/4,500rpm
2.0 Duratec - 146PS/6,000rpm ; 185Nm/4,500rpm

In terms of performance on paper, the Focus is not far behind from the Civic. But still the Civic inches ahead. Did not manage to get the 0-60mph times of both cars. About handling, I think both cars are equally good. Both are FF cars. So I think they should be evenly matched in the handling department. Did not manage to get their kerb weight either. Built to race or as a daily family car, people will still look at its performance specs. People will give comments like, "No power la!" or the opposite "Makan petrol la!". However, part of those comments hold true. Some people just want an ideal car which is both powerful and gentle on fuel economy. For those kind of people, I'd tell them to just buy an electric car. Go for the Tesla, stay away from the Focus or Civic. Let's get back to topic, savvy?



Both cars are on par when we're talking about performance. They might be side to side on the twisties but with the higher engine output, the Civic will eventually inch ahead of the Focus on the straights. (The only reason I still hold on to the Focus is because of the WRC. Marcus Gronholm rules!!! Eat my dust Evo!)


Marketing is very important. Civic was sold as a stylish young executive car which could still afford a little weekend thrill at the local race track. How was the Focus marketed? Ads of 'Rising Spirit' were everywhere! You see them on the tv, in the newspapers and even here online! Where was the Focus?

Branding is also very important. Honda has been a very established brand here in Malaysia even before the 'Rising Spirit' campaign came up. The Civic already has a cult following here with its followers worshipping the VTEC technology. The sales of Honda vehicles was also increasing steadily. Look at the amount of Honda City on the road now. Those numbers would have been Proton Wiras' a few years back. No I'm not joking, the next time when you're on the road, do count the number of Honda City you see. People trust the brand, the brand will do anything to prevent their staff or their technology to go wrong. Where was Ford's campaign to beef up its name? Sadly they are no where to be found. Maybe a page or two in our local papers. Aaahh.. I remember now. The only commercial from Ford I saw on tv was the Ford Ranger. Built To Last. Is that it? Where was the one for the Focus? All the reasons why Civic should receive the COTY (Car of the year) Award.

What do you think? Did I miss out anything?
Do comment with an open mind.
~I can't find the Rising Spirit ad now, anyone willing to help me? I'm sure you'll remember it since it was everywhere when it came out.

Ok ok I've decided to start a brand new topic after comments on hazardous blogging branched off to motor journalist complaining about their jobs. Have a look here.

Sure enough every job does have its bane. Even rock stars get headaches once in a while. I mean come on which job is perfect? Which job won't require you to chase the deadlines or crank your brain on solving certain problems? Why are they complaining? Us mere mortals here wished that we can have your jobs. Oh how I wish I can get paid by testing out cars brand by brand? That would be paradise for me although I would have to write my article before a certain date. I wouldn't mind the sleepless nights. I wouldn't mind missing wandering in Spain to write my article. I wouldn't mind facing bashers if the car is really that good. I wouldn't mind because I would be doing something I like and getting PAID for it! Imagine blogging and getting paid for it. No I'm not talking about a pitiful amount of money for each unique blogger. I'm talking about big bucks for an article. Who in their right mind would mind?

My point here is you are getting paid for doing the things you like. Yea imagine getting paid to dig your nose, if you like that. But whining over trivial matters such as chasing deadlines and bashers are totally nonsensical!

Ever heard of the dominoes effect? Have you seen dominoes arranged in some complicated but beautiful pattern? Here is one good example.

You might have seen it through the TV or mayb the Internet but have you seen people arranging eggs? Treating them as though they are dominoes? Just got this through a forwarded email. Let me show them to you.

Ever wonder which car you look best with? In a coupe? A sedan? Perhaps a hatchback? Or maybe the family MPV? How bout the SUV? Which one would fit your image more? A CEO in a mini little compact wouldn't look too good. So would a pretty lass driving a 4 x 4 pick-up! In London, Chevrolet has begun to offer its customer the world's first car fitting room. Yes you heard right. Car fitting room!


The fitting room is even curtained off to give you more privacy. Who knows some 'monkeys' has weird fetishes for strange poses? Ever seen how do you look like when you're beneath your car? I wouldn't want to know.. The fitting room has three large mirrors so that you can admire yourself and the car too from every angle possible. No maybe not every angle, no mirrors on top.

To make it even better, the floor is a revolving platform. So you can have the three quarter angle shot of yourself and your potential car to be in the mirror. The revolving platform is controlled by you yourself by a remote control.


Hmm.. Marketing strategies keep getting better and better. I wonder what will we see in Malaysia in the future? Hope there's no more comic book styled ones where the car remains intacct even after being stepped on by a giant monster or after being hurled several mamak stalls away.

What do airports do with lost baggage if they fail to trace the owner? They sell if of course! Heathrow Airport made the news again recently by selling lost bags. How much is one of it worth? That would be around 20 Pound. What you might find inside is yours to keep. How nice! 20 Pounds for a bag full of surprises! Sometimes you might find a bag full of designer stuff while at times junk.

People do come for this baggage auction and they actually made a profit by reselling the stuff they got from the bag! Err.. Imagine some guy selling your dirty clothes on EBay! Or maybe buying back your own clothes from that guy through EBay. o.o"

KLIA could do the same thing when they fail to trace the owner. It will definately transform KLIA into a bigger cash cow although they might have to face quite a bashing from our professional, local bashers (Who has Proton and the Government in their list of to-bash).

What is happening to the world? What is happening to its people? We even dare to call our ancestors barbarian but look at what are we doing today! What am I getting at here?

The five inter-locking rings. I'm talking about the Olympics. Why do I say that we are more barbaric by the day? Look up the history and how the Olympic games began.

The games began as a tribute to Zeus (The Greek Boss-Of-All-Gods). All the states in ancient Greece would send their best athlete to compete in the games. All disputes or wars between any states in Greece would stop for the games. Imagine that, they would stop fighting for a few days or weeks just for this game. It is such a grand event that fighting is not worth it.

Have you watched the news recently? The international torch relay for the games has already started. Do you realised how many protesters tried to extinguish the flame from the torch? Take a look at Paris when the torch passed by there. It had to be extinguished and brought on a bus with security to keep the protesters away.

The Dalai Lama is another idiot. His visit to the US during these critical time is not co-incidental. Knowing that Tibet wants its own Independence and the West is not happy with China's rise to power. He tried to exploit the games for his own good. Kononnya spiritual leader. He should bless the games as it is a world event which promotes peace. I'm no one to suggest something like that. But as a spiritual leader, shouldn't he?

The pressure for China has been immense to host such a gargantuan event. The pressure of keeping up with the world's expectations. The pressure of upgrading its citizens. The pressure of the approaching deadline. The games itself is a pressure-pot! And now they have pressure from the outside world. Some leaders have already boycotted the Olympics. Where does all this come from? From the big USA.. Day by day China's booming economy is scaring the West even more. They are the upcoming world superpower. China is not alone, India is another power house coming to the fore. After China, the West should be aiming for India.

Today we use all sorts of ways, even underhand tactics to overthrow our rival. Even the age old Olympic Games is not spared. Where did all these come from? Hmm.. Ancient people of Greece might fear being struck down by a lightning bolt from the Heavens. Our modern people are fearless, the only fear that strikes them is the lack of money. Money is now the worlds biggest religion. Everybody (Although you go to church, temple, mosque or other place of worship) is chasing the dollar bill.

I believe there is no turning back. There might be a few good souls left in our rotten world but they can do nothing significant enough to turn the world back up again. It's already too late. I shall stop prophesying like a mad prophet already as my words are insignificant.

001. Real name: Vincent Tan Lian Quan
002. Nickname: hmmm.. abu?
003. Married: No but not available
004. Male or female: Male
005. High school: PFS
006. College: UTAR soon..
007. Short or long hair: Erm.. Long for a guy, messy.. Need a hair cut!
008. Are you a healthy freak: Not really
009. Height: Hmm... 170+++cm, I think. I hope..
010. Do you have a crush on someone: No
011. Do you like yourself: Satisfied? Not yet. Obsessed? No.
012. Righty or lefty: Righty
013. Surgery: Does stitches count? Above my left eye.
014. Piercing : None
015. Person you see in the morning: My bro
016. Award : Not that I can remember any.
017. Sport you join : None so far
018. Pet : My dog barking at the postman outside
019. Vacation : Few states in Malaysia, Singapore, Hatyai, Beijing, Hong Kong
020. Concert : Some ciplak concert at QB outdoor parking last New Year
021. First crush : Hmmm..
022. Eating : Nth now. Economy rice just now.
023. Drinking : Water
024. I'm about to : Send that pesky fly to Hell!
025. Want kids : At the moment no
026. Want to get married : Of course.. one day..
027. Careers in mind : Race car driver. lol. Or mayb Clarkson's job!
028. Lips or eyes : Eyes. The are the windows to your soul.
029. Hugs or kisses : Hugs AND kisses!
030. Shorter or taller : Short........
031. Romantic or spontaneous : Romantically spontaneous
032. Sensitive or loud : Sensitive
033. Trouble maker or hesitant : Depends..
034. Kissed a stranger : No thank you.
035. Drank bubbles : Yes
036. Lost glasses/contacts : No glasses or contacts yet..
037. Ran away from home : Planned to but never..
038. Liked someone younger : Yes
039. Liked someone older : Don't think so..
040. Broken someone's heart : Yes.. I'm really sorry..
041. Been arrested : No
042. Cried when someone died : Yes, my grandparents..
043. Yourself : In certain things yes
044. Miracles : Yes it does happen but not always..
045. Heaven : This I can't tell..
046. Santa Claus : No. There's no chimneys or holes for one fat man to crawl thru in Malaysia. Plus it'll be too hot for him here.
047. Magics : Hmm.. Sleight of hand not magic.
048. Angels : Another one I can't tell..
049. Is there one person you want to be right now : Yes, she knows who she is..
050. Do you believe in God : Mr Big Man upstairs, please give me a sign!
051. Tag 5 people: Tok Moh, Ben, Jess, Zi Hao, Kevin

This is how some movies would sound like in Hokkien. I'm sorry for those who do not speak the language. Nevertheless enjoy this post.

Link was provided by Kelvin Lim.

Hear ye hear ye... Ladies & gentlemen... Boys & girls of all ages... Step right up.. Step right up..

Ok ok, get to the point already. I was surfing the net while my brother was channel surfing opposite me. Then suddenly he stopped at Animal Planet. I couldn't be bothered bout it until I heard something.. Jessica the HIPPO!! Most of you would not get this but I have a friend who goes by the name Jessica, look out for her blog in my links section on the navigation bar to your right.

Hmmm.. This is revenge for all those DISTORTED and MANIPULATED images of me you put up there!

Shell V-Power petrol retails at $2.052 per litre instead of $2.165 per litre this weekend, thanks to a 1-2 finish by Filipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen in the Formula One Bahrain grand prix last weekend.

Source

No not in Bolehland but in Singapore. Yes your eyes are not deceiving you. Shell V-Power was sold at $2.052 per litre after Ferrari got a 1 -2 finish in Bahrain. When will we here in Bolehland get such benefits? Yea it's only for V-Power (Rich men's fuel?).

It's already over. The last day for this promotion is already over, the last day was on the 13th of April. That's not the point here. What I'm hinting at is in our country ruled by a very 'generous' Government (Subsidi sini sana dan minum kopi sini sana) will get such perks? Or are we enjoying too much subsidies already?

ABOUT 30 rich men in the country own between 100 and 700 cars each, reported China Press.

Quoting sources from the Road Transport Department (JPJ), the daily reported that these men registered the vehicles under their names for collection purposes.

One of the sources believes the owners had bought the cars to avoid paying income tax. Most of these cars were not used as some owners did not even renew their road tax.

WTF??? Are they nuts??? 700 cars?? That's MADNESS!! As crazy as it seems, they could very well be in the right frame of mind. Could an accountant explain to me how do I escape taxes by buying cars? I thought cars are a liability? Meaning you would lose money once they are bought. That would apply for most cars, not those limited edition or classics ones.

But 700 cars!! Where would I keep 700 cars? I don't think the warehouses in my area can even fit in 700 cars. I live in an area full of factories and warehouses if you don't know that by now. Well I think if he can own 700 cars, he could have own 70 warehouses or maybe a private multi-storey carpark, all for his 700 cars!

These past few days you made me felt really happy. It was just like the ol times although something was missing. You made that something felt insignificant when I was with you. I had so much fun with you. Thank you for expressing and telling me everything. The moment I was you was really sweet, it was magical. Thank you for the time. Thanx for the memories.

I wish I can have it all back. I know I've really disappointed you. I'm really sorry. No I'm not gonna pester you with the question again. I'll just wait for the answer here. Take your time. You have really been the best for me. I thank you again for everything. Do take care if you are reading this. I'll see you soon. Everything is gonna be ok.

It was another family trip for me yesterday.. A 2 1/2 hour one... The usual one where my mum sleeps and my dad is the driver. We went all the way down south to Kampar, Perak to register me n my bro at UTAR (Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman). Hope it doesn't go bankrupt half-way through my course since MCA is already out of the elections.

Kampar is quite a small town. You have the new town (Just outside of UTAR campus) and the old town there. The old town where the bus terminal is, is not that far from the new town. It's just a trip down a road, about 3 - 4 km. UTAR looks good but still incomplete as parts of the campus are still under construction.

Here's the journey there and back in photo.