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BMW EfficientDynamics – Day 1

I love driving. Fast. My personal record was doing a 3-hour from Johor Bahru to Petaling Jaya, and I stopped for a nice lunch & two big scoops of Baskin Robbins for dessert. I’ve been a passenger in a rally car in action, doing 90kmh at a 90 degree corner…man, I live for things like these. Being in a really fast car doesn’t scare me, but being in a slow car driven by a n00b scares me more.

So I was damn excited when I was invited to be a participant of BMW’s Eco Bloggers Diesel Drive. The core of the drive was BMW’s EfficientDynamics concept. It’s a continuous strategy by BMW to reduce fuel consumption & emission levels (the Efficient part), while at the same time enhancing the vehicle’s performance and driving pleasure (the Dynamics part). Although it’s already a 10 year old concept, it’s only introduced to Malaysia recently with the availability of advanced diesel engines in October 2009.

#1 – Eco Bloggers Diesel Drive
BMW EfficientDynamics

Most people think that diesel cars are a nuisance to road users and the environment, with their dirty and smelly emissions but those days are bygones. With the advancement of engine technology and better quality diesel, diesel cars are on par with petrol cars, if not even better. There are concerns about its performance though, like its lack of horsepower. But horsepower is urm, horseshit. Ultimately, it’s the torque that a driver feels and the massive torque certainly makes up for the diesel cars’ low RPM. 3 letters to sum it up, F.U.N!!!

#2 – Sashi a.k.a The Man.
BMW EfficientDynamics

The day started at Mandarin Oriental with Sashi the corporate communications manager a.k.a The Man giving us the lowdown on EfficientDynamics. I only had about 3 hours of sleep so I didn’t absorb much of it. Sorry, Sashi. All I wanted was to get into the car and drive. My partner was ShaolinTiger. Then we adjourned to Dewan Filharmonik where all the cars we’re going to drive were decked out like superstars. Man, I felt like a superstar!

#3 – In front of Dewan Filharmonik, KLCC.
BMW EfficientDynamics

We were assigned car Number 1, a 320d Sports. Why is it called Sports? Well, it’s got a pimping M3 bodykit & suspension but it’s not really an M3. Apparently the 320d would hover above the tarmac and is unstoppable if driven in its default shell, hence the heavyweight M3 accessories to weigh it down so to speak. So wild, right?

#4 – With the 320d Sports.
BMW EfficientDynamics

Lo and behold, we’ve got police escort from KLCC all the way to Petronas in Mutiara Damansara! Thank you Petronas Dynamic Diesel!

Ivan Khong was our convoy leader. He is awesome! More about Ivan later in this post.

#5 – Ivan Khong.
BMW EfficientDynamics

ST was the first driver and we were flagged off. To be honest, I really wish I was driving this leg because driving with a police escort means you could go really fast with underprivileged mortals eye-ing you with envy from their boring vehicles, nyahahahhaa. It was truly an extraordinary experience!

#6 – Flagging off.
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#7 – Police escort. I was in car Number 1, just behind the Lead.
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You know the massive jam at the turnoff to LDP in TTDI? We got out of the jam in exactly 2 minutes and 56 seconds. Can you say WTF again? It felt realllllllllllllllly good, man.

#8 – Video of police parting traffic for us in the middle of TTDI

We reached Petronas Mutiara Damansara in record time. Then we were each given a RM40 Mesra vouchers which we spent on junk food and water.

#9 – Ivan pumping anti-foaming Petronas Dynamic Diesel into the beemer.
BMW EfficientDynamics

After getting the car ceremoniously refueled for the first and last time of the journey, we made our way towards Belum Resort in Pulau Banding by the Temenggor Dam.

#10 – To North South Highway.
BMW EfficientDynamics

It was a really fun drive, namely because of Ivan. He has the funniest vocabulary but is very strict! He has no qualms reprimanding us over the walkie-talkie for driving like assholes hehehe. I supposed if it weren’t for him, some of us would not have made it out alive. Case in point, Suanie who was almost killed by Eyeris. “Tickle the throttle” will forever be etched in my mind.

We swapped drivers a couple of times. Stopped by Ipoh for lunch and then made the last leg of the journey to Belum Resort. I got to drive up the winding, bending roads uphill to Belum Resort. I haz adrenaline!!!

#11 – Passing a bridge.
BMW EfficientDynamics

#12 – My lansi driving mug. I drive with one hand like Ah Beng one.
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So the drive up the winding roads was awesome. I was determined to follow Ivan (lead car) and KY who was by now, in front of me. I was steady….till I reached this sharpass bend where I was going 140kmh and I was turning so much that my arse began sliding to the left and I was like eff this shit, I’m just gonna floor it. I made it and when I come into a straight road, I began to pussy out for the rest of the journey haha. Apparently the beemer’s Dynamic Traction Control (DTC) lights were blinking :P

And then we reached paradise….alive & kicking. They fed us with champagne.

#13 – Bubblies.
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#14 – Belum Resort.
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#15 – Obligatory camho picture.
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#16 – Obligatory hotel camho picture.
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#17 – The beautiful room.
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#18 – Another obligatory hotel camho picture.
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We showered, rested for a bit and then it was dinner time.

#19 – The outdoor dinner area was so beautiful…
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Huai Bin managed to find a jenga set and we proceeded to play drunken Jenga.

#20 – The Evil Jenga. That’s KY on the left before passing out.
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#21 – Robb‘s lost count on his number of glasses.
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As for myself, I don’t remember much of the night….

Stay tuned for Day 2!

Other bloggers:

Suanie
Eyeris
ShaolinTiger
KY
Huai Bin
Tey Cindy
Ringo
3iling
SaiMatKong

Photo excursion to Sekinchan.

On Saturday, we popped up early in the morning to join Shutter Asia‘s photography trip to Sekinchan, a rice producing and fisherman town in Selangor. It’s about a 100km to the north from Damansara.

The weather was super gorgeous (for photography that is) with blue skies and fluffy clouds. But it was scorching hot; I was totally roasting under the sun.

I haven’t touched my old faithful, the D70s for a while and was worried about how the pictures might turn out. Thank goodness, they weren’t too bad. I could use most of the shots without having to process them heavily. In fact, the pictures below were only slightly edited for blowouts and watermark. Otherwise they came out straight from the camera.

#1 – Irrigation system for the paddy fields.

#2 – Apparently, most of the locally produced rice are exported while we eat Thai imported rice.

#3 – No. 59

#4 – Banana leaves.

#5 – More paddy.

#6 – A mator that has seen its better days.

#7 – Low tide, slow day at the jetty.

#8 – Making dumplings.

#9 – Packing up the fishballs.

#10 – This is where your fishballs originated.

#11 – PS3 and Wii? Kids still play catapults here.

Nice to go to a place like that on the weekends. So idyllic and relaxing.

Chiang Mai – Part 2

This is a continuation of my last post on Thailand.

The elephant park is really cool! It’s also a resort cum school for learning how to train elephants. I think it’s a such a novel way to spend your holidays, learning how to train elephants.

#1 – Elephants bathing in the river with the student trainers.

You don’t see any elephant locked up in a cages like Malaysia. The area is free for the elephants to wander about but they’re never without a master (mahout) so you don’t have to be afraid about getting trampled into a pulp :P

#2 – Posing with baby of the herd.

There’s also an elephant show where they get to show off their talents. It’s pretty amazing what these bigass animals can do. Balancing on one leg on a tree trunk, moving stuff around etc. The baby elephant even knew how to help a person put a hat on!

#3 – Baby elephant putting a hat over the girl’s head.

And they can paint! You can buy an elephant’s painting from 500 baht and above.

#4 – Elephant paintings gallery.

The sanctuary’s got a blog here, you can see much better pictures of the elephants and the activities there.

We left the elephant sanctuary for Wat Phra That Lampang Luang. The sky was glorious, just perfect for pictures.

#5 – Temple entrance.

There weren’t many people so it felt really serene and peaceful. I could hang out there for a while.

#6 – Prayers in progress.

#7 – Under the bell.

#8 – Another one at the entrance before leaving.

Next, we went to a ceramics factory, nothing much to shout about. It’s huge and filled with high quality ceramic stuff for sale. I got a couple of ceramic magnets as souveniers and a mug. I thought of buying more stuff but the moment I put something into my shopping basket, my brain screamed LOGISTIC NIGHTMARE.

Dinner time was at this restaurant called Khum Khan Tok. We were treated to a cultural show and authentic Thai food presented specially for very honoured guests.

#9 – Thai food platter.

Speaking of this food platter, it’s basically a few bowls of different food with dips. My favourite part of the platter is definitely the bowl of pork cracklings. Hmmm hmmm. Best thing about it? It’s refillable, babeh.

#10 – Pork cracklings.

After dinner, we even got to light up these lanterns, not unlike the traditional chinese flying lanterns. Lighting those lanterns was a hot affair, literally.

#11 – Lighting up the lantern. Can you spot my me?