1. Yeap. Selamat Hari Raya Haji to everyone.

2. The Alza is NOT an MPV. It’s just not. no. nehi.

3. Snapping a rat’s spine can be a bit traumatic… until it’s told on the internet. Then I realised I did a service to Subang Jaya.

4. I think I just rescued quite a number of old car owners. I left a comment on miti’s blog which went unpublished. And then next thing I know, they decided to cancel the regulation that required >15 y.o. car annual check.

5. I lol-ed:

My computer is broken since almost two weeks ago, the mobo was completely irrepairable. This has cut down the time I could go online significantly, as if it is already not troublesome enough for me to go online right now with my mom nagging on how I’m probably developing gay feelings to Anwar. To her, the internet = all things Anwar… and maybe cars and computer games, which will turn you into a being worse than mat rempit. Wargh…… I can’t facebook, lowyat, paultan, other blogs, etc. Terribly sorry if I appear “dead”, but it seems so until I can get a replacement.

Anyway, another issue with another different friend of mine. Back in March, this friend of mine have an option of getting Myvi, Savvy or Satria Neo Lite, all manual transmission. I advised him to go for Savvy as it is fuel efficient, the Myvi is just nonono, whereas the Satria Neo is pricier than the Savvy. But he prefers the Satria Neo cuz it’s THE Satria Neo. Well, if he insist, yes, it is better looking, it has 1.6 Campro, it is in a higher class than Savvy.

Besides, he used to buy a 2nd hand Satria year 2001 IIANM last December. Unfortunately, he was caught by JPJ for installing Xenon lights without adjusting, so he headed to puspakom. Then, he discovered his engine has duplicated serial number, in other words, he’s driving a stolen car. And so he had to wait for awhile for puspakom to compensate his the car, which was RM15k IIRC. I never had the chance to see it. It was gone as quickly as it appeared. Too soon before I could look at it. Tough luck…

Then he found this one 2nd hand satria year 2000 IIRC at puchong, going for RM10k, with about 70k++ mileage. Now that I think about it, just maybe, the mileage had been tempered, but whatever, at RM10k, it’s quite a bargain. The interior is a bit shabby, but the seller offers to clean it and make it in tip-top condition before giving it to him. My friend paid for its booking. It was blue in colour.

But alas, before he can settle it down, the next thing I know, he told me he booked another 2nd hand Satria, and it is his favourite colour, black. The interior is also as good as new. I remember the troubles of getting it back from the seller of the blue satria, and in the end, he couldn’t get the booking fee back in full, as the seller had used some of the money to re-advertise in a motoring ads again.

Then his father asked him to just get a brand new car. And so he burnt the booking fee for the third black satria with brand new-like interior. So that should give an idea of how Satria is a desireable car. Emm…… desire has a new name… Brilliant tagline indeed for Satria Neo.

And so it was decided. A black Satria Neo Lite it was, although I pestered him until the end to take iridescent white cuz I think that is a better colour.

But then, disaster comes.

No, the major problem is not quality, although he did experience two problems: his left headlight faded, and his hand brake couldn’t be engaged even after it was pulled up, but they were easily solved by the SC. He did have to wait for the headlight replacement for awhile. His power window still works as good as new. These two problems caused his dad to say “why not go for city or civic?” Pulak dah…… dah beli baru nak sanggup naikkan budget……

The major problem is fuel consumption. At first it was a nighmarishly bad at around 8-11km/L. I said it will improve after the 1,000km service, and adviced him some tips on how to save petrol: constant speed, 90km/h, get to top gear ASAP, check tyre pressure frequently blablabla. So he no longer do 180km/h, smoking C-class, or all sorts of nonsense. Subsequently, his f/c did improve, he did achieve 14-16km/L. Phew…

But as it is currently a long summer break, he is doing less trips to the highways (stays in Cheras, college in Subang Jaya), and most of the time driving around his neighborhood. With RM10, he can get less than 50km, which is around… above 20sen/km, or below 9km/L. And now his dad wants him to get a Myvi or Swift or Civic Hybrid. Maybe he can keep the Neo. Maaaaybe…… but more importantly…

JUST WHY IS HE ABLE TO INCREASE HIS BUDGET ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNLY AFTER PURCHASING THE SATRIA NEO?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!! WAAAAAARRRRGGGHHHHH~~~~~!!!!!!!!!

From my point of view, his problems are not outlandishly ridiculous like the granpa’s story that proton bashers in paultan/motortrader/lowyat/internet likes to tell. I have another friend whose dad bought a Mini Cooper S around the same month as his Neo too. Whenever the driver side’s door gets wet by rain or car wash, it will make very annoying noise when power window is used. That’s Mini Cooper S, yes, the turbocharged variant, less than a year old. This friend also has 320i E90, which had to be in the workshop for a year. ONE YEAR. Sitting in the Naza SC waiting for parts to fly in from Germany, only to break down again and again. So really, quality defect is not an exclusive problem in Proton, but then again, BMW is famous to be Banyak Masuk Workshop. Nak pakai, kene sanggup bayar la.

And I clearly remember talking about Savvy’s fuel efficiency, and he’s getting the manual if he was to go for it. Spare parts for it will be cheaper than AMT’s, and if he bothers to engage with savoc communities, he’ll know where he can save more too.

But alas, the damage has been done. His dad may not welcome another Proton at his home. And so he, the friend I was talking about in the last post and I went to showrooms last Wednesday. Here’s my verdict for all showrooms we went:

The good: Suzuki

The salesman was friendly, we were talking like buddies by the time we left. I was excited to know he used to own a Ford Focus mk2 pre-facelift, but sold it as he had an accident (he bought it 2nd hand in the first place, lol). Fearing bad omen (baaaaw… T_T), he now owns a Swift. Now that’s a good salesman, as he can give his experience of owning it, quoting his own f/c, cost of maintainance etc.

The bad: Honda and Toyota

At Honda, there was a saleswoman who approached us, but she was very quiet. Also, there is very little info about Civic Hybrid, even she don’t know where one can get a test drive of it. But according to the brochure, it can do 21km/L, and with 50L fuel tank, it theoretically can 1,000km per full tank. Also, I discovered new City’s rear headroom is pretty bad.

Toyota was even worse. The salesmen would look at us with a “if you don’t have the money, leave” face. Plus, their cars were just awful. I now found out the rear headroom in dugong is still too little. Altis was no better. Seriously, Persona and even Saga has better headroom than these two… and the City as well. The dugong J on display had centre console that turned all three of us off. 1 DIN radio, manual for a price that’s more expensive than the better-equipped Waja CPS, ptooih. They even put info nearby it on how it compares with another competitor, heh, must’ve been the City, which have already sold 10k units. The dugong, is getting the pressure to keep the sales up it seems. However, I managed to get info about the upcoming 3rd gen Prius. It will arrive next month (August) and it will be around RM175k. KNNCCB, mahal sangat lah!!!

The ugly: Perodua

Lying is ugly when it’s exposed. Saying most cars today still have 3-speed auto, while bragging Myvi has 4-speed is absolutely bullshit. I have to admit, it may have an edge with using timing chain, while most other cars use timing belt, but still, I believe that is a rather small advantage. Sure, the belt may snap, but hey, who knows, maybe chains can fail too. And I remember she was saying about Myvi being DOHC, whereas some Proton has SOHC. Oh puh-leez… the 1.8L Honda Civic is SOHC, is there any problem? And AFAIK, all Proton today is DOHC… from the Saga BLM to the Perdana V6. The saleswoman was also talking about Myvi is also japanese, why need to pay extra RM30k for swift? It just sell under perodua badge to get tax exemption, other it may have to sell RM70k, RM80k if under Toyota badge. Hmm… Sounds not bad, except that it kills the point of being a national car. Ok, maybe Proton used to do that in its early years, but does Perodua have an ambition like Proton to produce its own engine, platform etc with the profit they make? Or they’d rather just ship it to Japan without questioning? I asked her about Nautica too, criticising it for being fully-imported and she said they have to sell a lot to be locally assembled, and there might be issue with Toyota Indonesia (which brings in the Rush). They’ve not been getting APs, cuz no demand, but then again, they want to push sales for Myvi n Viva. Hah, Nautica fails. Annoyingly, I see them quite often in Subang Jaya. Grrr……

I just had a drink with my friend, and he told me his father planned to get him a brand new car below or around RM90k.

Unfortunately, having owned a Gen.2 before (which was abused very badly), his father is reluctant to get him another Proton (his current ride is a 2nd hand Honda Civic). There goes the Satria Neo CPS… or a Persona… or Gen.2 CPS… or Saga… Argh…

How about a Perodua Myvi? Nope, it’s underpowered, ugly, handling of a boat, thirsty, it’s just rubbish.

Toyota dugong? Nope, it’s too ugly I’d rather be gay with Mariya-san. <3

Honda City? Urgh, God it's bloody expensive and THAT UGLY GRILLE!! Besides, my friend wants to try avoid Hondas as its maintenance cost is killing him. Now who was it that said Japmobiles spare parts are cheap again?

Nissan Latio? Hmm… hmm… hmm….

Suzuki Swift? Sounds right. But there's the worry of second-hand value, maintenance cost and spare parts availability. And somehow there's a feeling you could've got something better. Like Satria Ne– Argh……

Maybe Korean– Err… right, that sounds like saying Malaysians drive as civilised as the British drivers…

Maybe the Peug 308, but his dad might refuse to get a conti…

How much was the cheapest Mazda3 again…

Zzzz……

Or maybe his father should buy himself a car and pass on the Ford Escape to him. Get a Ford Focus or something.

Hmm… that's the best option aside from buying a Proton, cuz all Japmobiles now feel like rip-offs. Though unlikely. Argh…

Somehow, Paul Tan made me want to post this too.

How hard can it be to park properly? “Emergency” excuse is sooo lame…

Responses from Paul’s Low Yat thread suggested these cars deserve scratches, even puncturing the radiator. Then the owner replied he/she wanted Paul to blur the plate number, I’d say I’LL SATSUGAI YOU FUCKING BITCH PIG!! YOU’LL BE KRAUSER-SAN’S SACRIFICE!!

Double parking is another annoyance. Thankfully, the one time a double parker blocked my friend’s car, the owner left his card on the dash, so I rang the owner. Bloody Myvi, it should be satsugai-ed too.

Ah, Malaysian drivers. They reckon they’re fucking good driving their Japmobile around. But,

1. They don’t drive like Japanese drivers.
2. They’re not honorific enough to seppuku for their sins, despite “Japanising” their ride.
3. It’s a model made to insult other Asians.
4. Somebody said City developed in Thailand, n praises Thailand for being open n blablabla. Yayayaya, just another excuse to say “Proton go close shop”. So Persona is a “Gen.2 with butt job” to them, but City ain’t “Jazz/Fit with butt job”?
5. Persona > City > Dugong
6. Malaysia > Thailand. There’s too many traps in Thailand. She’s haw– O shi– IT’S A TRAP!!
7. New City is just no. Nonono.

On side note, I wonder if I should go to Blood: The Last Vampire party… Free Kenny Roger’s n Starbucks sounds… hmm……

There seemed to be a slight increase in traffic to my blog on 15th, I suppose TJCC-ers are curious abt what I have to say abt Exora? Hehe

Well, I missed the launching event at KLCC, gotta prepare for a presentation on 16th. Nevertheless, I did catch up the live telecast on TV1. It started with a speech by their chairman, Datuk Nadzmi which was rather serious n “protocol-ish” if there’s such a word. Najib slept ala Pak Lah at one point, that I definitely saw ehehe. Next came his turn to give a speech which I just skipped. Finally, when DSZ came to stage, it’s beginning to get interesting. Others describe it as world-class, Steve Job-like, which I agree. He knows how to break the barrier between the men in ties n some random student multitasking his work n watching the tv to witness a historic moment. We feel connected. He’s showing charisma. He’s showing humility. He’s showing a true winner’s way of success. And here’s my reply: BRAVO!!!

The next day, throughout the day at the college, the majority didn’t know abt Exora at all, let alone know that it was launched just yesterday, zzzz where’s the support? =.= One even said she thinks proton only knows how to copy toyota wish. Em, right, except that she can’t even tell what in the world is Campro CPS, Lotus handling, BCM, etc.

Doesn’t matter. The buyers aren’t student anyway. It’ll be for people with family on a budget without wanting to feel shortchanged. For what it offers, Exora is extremely value for money, so that’s a good start.

Today, I went to the SS14 showroom to check out the Exora with my friend (who recently bought a Satria Neo with WSL plate number). He was heartbroken on arrival to see a Saga with WSM plate number, ahahaha. Anyway, on to the Exora.

Wherever I sit in it, I feel comfortable and spacious. The plastics seems better than Gen2/Persona IMHO, well, I’m not really sure. I’ve heard stories of designers going to international motorshows (including Azlano ehehe) to study materials used by rivals’ car, so I suppose what is in Exora is the result of a lot of thoughts put into it. On to the seats, I can see from the pics there’s black strips among the greyness of the leather, and to my surprise, it feels like alcantara. Can anyone slap me please? The kinda materials used for Brabus and emm… a lot of exclusive cars are available in a Proton? How much cooler can it get?

Much have been said abt it being underpowered. Weighing 1420kg, bt powered by a 1.6L Campro CPS with 125hp. Yawn… the thing is, who cares? Ppl seem to be okay putting tens of thousands of their money on Beruktua Rusa, Toyotard Avanza, Chery what’s-that-name-edi, bt it’s suddenly a sin for Proton to do so. Heh.

Well, that’s all I can think of abt Exora. Will edit this post if say, I get to test drive it with Paul. Kalau jadi la.

Firstly, sorry for this slow follow-up post!! For the past two days, I had been hanging around with my friend who came all the way from Bota to KL just to repair his laptop, so less time on the internet

Anyway, moving on, and I am extremely happy to say that The Junk Car Club’s (TJCC) first Teh Tarik Session (TTS) was a success!! I consider it so thanks to Paul Tan’s and si-fu’s presence, and quite a number turned up to make it merry . The ones who attended:

Paul Tan : Looks like you’re still tired from the Exora test drive at Karak Gotta be thanked most for paying for everyone!!

Si-fu : Sure was hard to look for me when I’m facing from behind, eh? I had thought the planner in your hand with Proton logo gave you away hehe. As agreed, nothing specific on what we discussed will be posted, not by me at least. Nor will pics with ur face posted without first blurring you out. I respect your right to remain anonymous. Cheers!!

Karl : Get well soon!! I have to say, wifi-ing with Omnia looks inconvenient……

gattaca : Hope ur second child will be delivered safely Thanks for the ride back!!

fastcx : Hehe, sorry for the last-minute update, but thankfully I’m around nearby .

Red7 and friend : Sorry for not being able to reply, but thankfully u guys got the right person!! Switching to Xpax UOX was the smart choice indeed, I’m enjoying much cheaper rate now, plus, I got free RM10 credit for joining UOX, yeah!!

MisterBenjo : What a surprise, no text, no call, but you came!! Thank you so much for making the TTS merrier!!

I suppose from our first TTS, we learnt that Myvi is not just a toad. It’s a turtle too LOLOLOLOL!!!!

I guess my Indonesia trip post will have to come after this Anyway, I have suggested a Teh Tarik Session (TTS) in Paul Tan’s blog, and I was thinking of:

Click to view larger image

Location: Darussalam SS15 Subang Jaya
Date: 13 March 2009, Friday
Time: 7.30 pm onwards
Dressing: casual
Guest of Honour: Paul Tan (si-fu malu lol )

Everyone is welcomed This is just my suggestion, so it’s bound to change if it’s too inconvenient for some. So far, other noted people interested to join are:

- RT
- Apen80
- gattaca
- fastcx
- red7
- Prismo
- Karl (from T’ganu )
- ManBelonPunya
- Paul Tan nak join tak? Theophilus Chin n Azlano sekali ke……

My contact:

E-mail: tokmoh(underscore)2000az(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk

Phone number: zelo wan tuu – nain tuu faiv faiv zelo forr zelo

Looking forward to meet everyone

EDIT: Added a few more names, and added map. Sorry I couldn’t find one that specifically shows Darussalam, but it’s located at the corner of the lane along that Moderno PC shop. It’s also located behind K3K Benta Kaya… and facing Global.net where I can possibly dota while waiting more ppl to come

In case anyone comes by Komuter, the KTM Subang Jaya Komuter stop is behind Carrefour.

I hope I’m not asking too much if anyone can offer me a ride home later that night. I stay at SS14, which is near enough to walk to college, in fact, I do walk to college everyday to save me the trouble with parking a car and save money on parking n petrol (plus, I can exercise lol).

Btw, I’ll be wearing a red cap with “Marlboro” written on it. So spot me this Friday

EDIT 2: I’ve decided to delay to 7.30pm,  6.30pm seemed too early for quite a number of u here. But as I said, I’ll be around SS15 anyway, so feel free to contact me if u arrived earlier.

11.161 L of RON97. Right…..

Was Putrajaya mourning the loss of Yang Di Pertuan Negeri of Negeri Sembilan? Or it really is not a place to spot fireworks during new year’s eve? It was disappointing that we assembled too late (around 10pm) to go to The Curve or OU or KL from Cyberjaya, so Putrajaya may not sound too bad, except that there aren’t anything to watch aside from rempits err, rempiting. Zzzz….

Anyway, a browse through some 2008 cherishable moments:

GACC 2008

Describe listening “BANKAI!! TENSA ZANGETSU!!” from the seiyuu himself, Masakazu Morita. Epic. A handshake with him? Epic. Unable to be among 100 to get his autograph? Phail… T_T

That’s Games, Anime, Comic Circle, held annually at MMU Melaka. It was kinda crowded, but that actually is a good indication that otaku-ism and gaming is quite popular here. Hopefully, next year will be held in a bigger place, and a female VIP guest perhaps? It’ll be seriously cool if they can get Rie Kugimiya coming this year *wishful thinking* [ ^_^ ].

8th March

YB Hannah Yeoh (Subang Jaya ADUN) and YB Loh Gwo Burne (Kelana Jaya Parliament) did the impossible. And YB Tony Pua. And YB Nik Nazmi. And more. Now, if any narrow-minded fools still ask me why I “support” DAP, well….. YB Hannah-chan kawaii desu nee~? <3

Anyway, fast forward to today, I believe most Subang Jayarians are rather satisfied with her.

Penang Trip

Epic nasi kandar Line Clear is epic.

The Dark Knight

Ya rly, y so srs? Well…..

Ironman’s hero drives an Audi. Sorry, but today, BMW is no longer the cock’s choice of automobile anymore. It’s Audi. And since batman drives a batmobile and a Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, he’s much, much cooler than that cocky….. tinman.

Code Geass R2

Most entertaining series of the year. Yeah!!!

The Tower of Druaga: Aegis of the Uruk

The dawn of a new era of watching anime: streaming on youtube, crunchyroll n another site I forgot, provided by the anime studio themselves. With pretty good subtitle.

As for the series itself, hmm….. rather average, but pretty enjoyable. Loved its OP, Swinging by Muramasa.

PD trip with family

There’s a twist: we stayed at The Avilion this time around. Very nice place. Spotted a Civic Type-R european version with Singaporean plate number.

Soon-to-be “Datuk” Aya Hirano

Well, it fits her, agree?

See, wearing tudung CAN be cute.

Lucky mak cik.

Pictars sauce: her blog.

Aya Hirano (Suzumiya Haruhi – The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, Konata – Lucky Star, Misa – Death Note), has never been to anywhere outside Japan, US, and Bali (Indonesia) from what I heard. For appreciative enough to visit us for her 3rd DVD and photoshoot for a February issue of a magazine she’ll be featured, we might next hear Datuk Bandar KL recommending her to be given Datukship just like Datuk Shah Rukh Khan. Think I’m joking? She’s an otaku’s Goddess, just look at this, this, and this. I just gotta take it from linkinstreet:

“Jesus fucking christ, if the USA were THIS motivated they would have captured Saddam 5 years ago, and Osama 3 days after 9-11.”
- Epic comment by DmonHiro, presumably an American.

Phew, this has been delayed too much even if I first drafted it on 1st Jan, so sorry that this post seemed rubbish as it goes… not even beyond halfway. I’ll perhaps update it eventually with more pictars n events that I missed here, but I’d thought I just have to publish it now before it gets too stale.

Anyway, what’s in for 2009? Well, for a start, this 28th-31st Jan, I’ll be heading to Jakarta with Fariq, Aida, and Aida’s mom….and hopefully Alif and Fawwaz (aka Tomok)!!! Aida wants to look for some nice clothes, we’ll also be heading to Bandung as well. I’m so excited as this’ll be my first time riding a plane since 2001 to London, and this’ll also be my first time ever to ride an Air Asia plane. Immediately however, I’m facing a problem: I have just returned from Subang Terminal to try n renew my passport only to see the system is down, and according to a phone call to Shah Alam’s Immigration, the whole country’s system is down too. They’d better get it up hopefully by the end of this day, I WANT to make it for the return all-inclusive rate of just RM422!! A check to MAS showed a ridiculous RM1,221 for a similar flight 0_o But oh well, 5-star service n rather last-minute booking, so it’s kinda understandable. I experimented with a date 2 months in advance, MAS rate is three hundred something, so MAS do have cheap flights too. Well, it’s not like I’m goin 2 months later, but it’s just that I know it is possible for MAS to be cheap too. Yeap.

Air stewardess ja nai, Ka been At ten dan to da.

Attention Please is about a slighty tomboyish and rather bullheaded heroine who starts on a journey to become a Cabin Attendant. Everyone around her seems to think that she’s not suited to the job and will ultimately fail. But to what limits is she willing to push herself?

Title: アテンションプリーズ
English: Attention Please
Episodes: 11

Broadcast network: Fuji TV
Broadcast period: 2006-Apr-18 to 2006-June-27
Theme song: “OH PRETTY WOMAN” by Kaela Kimura

CAST

– Ueto Aya as Misaki Yoko
– Nishikido Ryo as Nakahara Shota
– Maya Miki as Mikami Tamaki
– Aibu Saki as Wakamura Yayoi
– Uehara Misa as Hirota Saori
– Koizumi Koutaro as Tsutsumi Shuusuke
– Kohinata Fumiyo as Sakurada Shinya
– Otsuka Chihiro as Sekiyama Yuki
– Nanase Natsumi as Kinoshita Asami
– Ootomo Minami as Higashino Haruka
– Yoo Min (Fueki Yuko) as Asou Kaoru
– Takahashi Mariko as Kagawa Reiko
– Koichi Mantaro as Watanabe Makoto
– Asano Kazuyuki as Wakamura Shozo
– Inoue Jun as Dazai Shinichiro
– Mano Yuuko as Murayama Mizuho
– Hoshino Natsuko as Takemoto Rie

Phew, I haven’t watch an enjoyable Jdrama, let alone a new one, for quite awhile since The Last Lawyer, which admittedly is kind of a disappoinment. I was attracted to it solely because of Abe Hiroshi, which has gotta be the best Jdrama actor ever!! Well, the good news is, his acting is brilliant as a poor lawyer (he’s always more suitable as a poor or very pitiable clownish character, doesn’t he?), but the plot kinda lacked variety aside from solving cases, I mean like, I was expecting to see more than that (it’s Abe Hiroshi goddamit!! Why can’t they explore more of his character outside his career?), and then the bloody sub!! OMFG, it’s the most rubbish subbing ever, I ended up hardly understanding half of the the series, as if it’s not made hard enough with almost every actor/actresses speaking 93656234 words/sec. Fansub, really is the way for subbing, while official ones deserve to make losses for their lackadaisical attitude towards helping non-Japanese speaker like me to understand it (I bought a pirated one btw since downloading it is painstakingly hopeless, which is ripped from official DVD).

Anyway, moving on, I encountered this great series at 8tv on one Sunday afternoon. Thank God, I’m absolutely an Ueto Aya fan now!!! Aya-chan kawaii~~!!!

Beyond Misaki Yoko, this series is a great look into the way Japan Airline (JAL) run about their business Japanese style. The cabin attendant training, strict to miniscule details like how to bow, hand positions when serving passangers etc; the maintenance technicians, a single pen lost in the hangar means no work at all continues to prioritise safety. Uncountable apology bows and “mosyiaki gozaimasen” is as routine as breathing to them. One has to wonder…… all looks very strict and efficient, just how greater other airlines are to be able to outwit the Japanese? That includes us, Malaysian (MAS is ranked 6th best airline 2008)!! For this brief moment, it does make me proud to be Malaysian!! Malaysia boleh~!! I mean it, I’m seriously not being sarcastic there!!

Whenever there’s a motoring discussion, the Japanese’s achievement would be attributed to their culture of excellence and hard work. It pisses me off sometimes that some people chose to conveniently lay the blame on culture. While there may be truth to it, culture can be flexible and changable. They want change, they got it. Proton has never got any better than today since a man from Daihatsu proxy in Malaysia came and “Japanise” it. But when it does happen, they refused to acknowledge it at all.

Perhaps then, Proton can learn something from MAS. Manufacturing-wise, they should continue the Japanisation process, but service-wise, MAS demonstrate that we can put the Japanese to shame. Proton can go beyond the Japanese car manufacturers then theoretically, yohohoho. Hang on, actually…..it maybe can lol!! Gambatte Proton!!

MAS certainly puzzled me. Back in 2005, they posted RM1.25billion in losses, but last year they made their greatest profits ever at RM852million. That said, the losses still left them severely affected 3 years ago, well, any company would. It takes someone very crazy and stupid to dare go and save it. Somebody with a can-do personality like Misaki Yoko perhaps? Erm….more like Malaysia Boleh spirit I reckon yohohoho. Kudos to Datuk Idris Jala, your ability to turn it around is certainly a feat recognised as world standard, even awarded. That certainly made me respect him to a level of how much I respect Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin, the current Proton MD, who is probably the man I respect most in Malaysian corporate world. Today, MAS is ranked world’s 6th best airliner by Skytrax for 2 years in a row. Interestingly, back in 2005 when they had their worst financial year, they were still able to be ranked world’s 6th best airliner. MAS is still among the only 6 airliners which have 5-star airliner ranking alongside Singapore Airline (SIA), Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong-based), Asiana (Korea-based), Kingfisher (India-based), and Qatar Airways. Attention Please is like a JAL advertising to the world of how efficient they are and all when the Japanese do it their way. MAS went billions in losses, then went to even awarded the Phoenix award for the world’s best airline-turnaround story in 2007 by Penton Media’s Air Transport World, and all along throughout, consistently maintained to be among the elite 5-star airliner and in top 10 world’s best airliner. MAS’s achievement made JAL look very, veeeery average. Amazingly stunning.

Right right, now here comes the cynics, yes, I know, many would disagree of MAS’s recognition because they’ve eaten cold meals with little variety to choose from, too much cost-cutting here and there, etcetc and the fact that AirAsia pwned them domestic-wise and that if AirAsia to run all the international flights MAS do, MAS can be completely written off. But think about it: if even with all those issues in MAS makes them 6th best, ironing the problems out woud definitely get MAS ranked better, maybe even beating the 2008 world’s best airline, SIA perhaps? It needs better governance then, which means to ask the invisible hands of federal govt and their cronies to completely GTFO and allow MAS to run purely business-like befitting of its premium 5-star airliner recognition, not cutting corners which affected their service due to the need to cover their “leakages” caused by those invisible hands, which have also messed up our currency value against USD. Tony Fernandes sees that in SIA, so DSAI, this is definitely what you must attain as the soon-to-be 6th Malaysian Prime Minister: Competitive, Accountability, Transparency (CAT) government. You’ve promised to be a good, non-hypocritical muslim, right?

All hail DSAI!!
All hail DSAI!!
All hail DSAI!!

Wow, I’ve gone that far analyzing the aviation industry after watching Attention Please…..and able to discover that Malaysia do have quite something, yaay *clap*clap*. Definitely a much needed positive morale boost, what’s more at times when the current govt is getting stupider by the millisecond.

Attention Please is subbed by Kioku fansub, or you may watch it at crunchyroll subbed by Killar. It has 11 episodes plus 2 specials where they went to Hawaii and Australia. Some screenshots from Australian Special:

Misaki-chan, nice shirt there. She was first introduced as a lead singer of her band group which eventually disbanded in the first episode, and to my surprise, Ueto Aya is a singer in the real world too -she has sold over 800,000 copies of all her albums and singles combined!!

Tsutsumi-kun, the playboy co-pilot played by Koizumi Koutaro. Can you actually believe he’s the ex-Japanese PM, Junichiro Koizumi’s son?

Sekiyama-chan banzai!! Wow, I’d really wish I can be like her……doing that to our PM’s son-in-law…..except maybe with a sledgehammer + chainsaw + lightsaber.

So he’s not been flirting around actually since being together with Sekiyama-chan. All he did, is so that he can be a captain when facing Sekiyama-chan’s father, a captain himself. Bravo, Tsutsumi-kun!!

Sekiyama-chan proposed <3<3<3 …well, sort of. Gotta wait for Tsutsumi-kun to become a captain, desyo?

Misaki-chan, you’ll need to defeat Asiana Airways then, the current world’s best cabin staff. Your company meanwhile, needs to surpass us first before going against SIA. Are you up for it? Bwahahahaha. Quite nice uniform they have though, gotta love their scarf especially…..but hey, MAS’s kebaya uniforms are great too

Singapore’s there!! Where’s Malaysia?!?! Boohuhu… and… do Saudi Arabian and Chinese cabin attendants really wear like that in airplanes?

Now I want to make it absolutely plain that I was overall quite disappointed with Ironman. Prior to watching it, reviews everywhere claim “it’s the movie of the year”, “better than Transformers”, etc. I’m sorry, I reckon if you ask a 3-year-old “Which is cooler? A truck which can transform into a giant talking robot and fight to protect humanity or a hero inspired by tinman in Alice in Wonderland?”, he/she’ll tell you the former. The Ironman was considered great by many becuz the hero drives an Audi R8.

Big deal. Batman drives the batmobile and Lamborghini Murcielago LP640. NOW we have THE movie of the year, ok? And of course, there’s The Joker, played brilliantly by the late Heath Ledger. Honestly, Ledger wasn’t in the movie at all. I could only see The Joker in the movie. Borrowing his quote, why so serious? Now we have a serious contender to Darth Vader as “movies’ best villain ever” poll, agree?

I’ve been addicted to the soundtrack lately. The dark theme brought by Christopher Nolan is just fitting at dark times like now with excessive politicking in Malaysia and I see many despair surrounds me.