Different octane rating for petrol

The article in the Life! section of yesterday's Sunday Times should convince most car owners that 95 octane petrol is more than sufficient for their cars. I still do not understand why is it that many who pump 98 octane claim that their car performs 'better' as compared to 95 and 92. I tried all three grades of petrol on my previous Civic and I got the best fuel efficiency on 92 octane. If I were to be a little heavy-footed, 95 works best. My current Altis runs extremely well on 95 and since I already have the broquet fuel charger installed, technically speaking, I can use 92 octane. Perhaps I should switch over and end up saving 3c per litre?

Short week ahead

It is a short week ahead but to me it does not make any difference. As what I posted a few days ago, my holidays have begun but we are now 'full-time' stayhome parents. Other than me going for my runs and the occasional trip to the supermarket to purchase our groceries, we are practically home all day. We gave church a miss today as we wanted to wait out for another week for the HMFD cases to drop.

Just checked the NIE portal for our practical attachment information. There has been some delay and it is only on the 9th May which is about 10 days from now that they will release vital information on our school posting and other documents which we have to download and print. In the meantime, I have been attempting challenging questions relevant to what I will eventually teach. I must say that some of them are quite interesting. Sometimes I really feel for the students when they have to handle such questions under exam conditions but then again, these are the type of questions which separate the 'adults and children'.

Went for a 93min run

I went for a 93min run at around 5pm. In total, I covered 15km which I felt really good after that. Despite the fatigue and needless to say slight pain after the workout, nothing beats the sweating session. After each running session, I am soaked but it certainly feels great.

I found that there is only a week break between the Sentosa New Balance trail and the Army Half Marathon cum Sheares Bridge Run. The former is just 10km but this 10km consists of 6km on road, 1.6km on sand and the last 2.4km trail. The latter will take me from Esplanade Bridge through Shenton Way, onto Prince Edward Rd, ECP and up the Sheares Bridge towards Fort Road. It then follows the East Coast Park trail for a short distance before U-turning back to Mountbatten Road, onto Nicoll Highway and into Middle Road. It then follows up to Bencoolen Street, Orchard Rd, Merchant Road, Chinatown, Outram Rd, South Bridge before passing the Old Parliament House to finish at the Padang. In total it is 21.1km.

For the 1st time this year, I hope to take part in the Sg-Johore 2nd link run. This is quite straightforward as it is just 5km from Tuas Checkpoint to the M'sian side before make a turn to come back. No need for passports!!

But the highlight for this year will be the Stanchart Half Marathon. I reckon it will be pretty much similar to last year albeit my timing which I hope to improve. I still am working towards completing my full marathon by the end of Dec 08 when I intend to complete the full 42.195km Stanchart Sg Marathon.

Introduction of calculators in P5 & P6

I think this is something that is not new. It has already been announced before but the press release today gives greater details on the mechanics and format of the paper. Basically it is something like the 'O' level E Maths format where paper 1 restricts the use of calculators but for paper 2 it is permitted. However, there are some drawbacks. Over-reliance on calculators will have an effect on the portion of the paper where no calculators is allowed. Basically, paper 1 is a test of one's mental and speed skills which can be polished with constant practise and exposure.

holidays

With my final DSM paper out of the way 2 days ago, my holidays have begun. As for how I think I fared in the paper, I think it was managable. Compared to DSM 100 last semester, this time round it was much better. However, there were some portions which I was not very sure but by and large I could handle most of it.

Before I begin my 5 week practical teaching in term 3, it is just babysitting from now till then. Obviously, this will be a wonderful chance for me to do some extra challenging questions so that I can be more adquately prepared when I start school. Needless to say, I will also be putting in some mileage onto my shoes!

Perhaps it is a good time to give the blackaltis a nice good wash, vaccuum and a polish? Since we hardly go out and even if it rains, I will not feel so heartpain!

increase in HMFD

The news reported about a huge surge in Hand-Mouth-Foot Disease over the past couple of weeks. This puts the spotlight on pre-school, childcare and kindergartens. Needless to say, primary and above educational institutions are also on the list. Just hope that when Esther needs to go Just Kids, it will blow over.

I recall this time last year when staff at LPS were on alert to look-out for students who displayed symptoms of HMFD. We constantly reminded all students to uphold their basic hygeine practises and all unwell students were to seek medical attention and stay home until they were well.

Our 3rd wedding anniversary a.k.a leather anniversary

24th Apr 2004. That was the date when a couple by the name of Tang Chee Weng (he/him) and Angela Tan (she/her) recited their marriage vows before God and man to spend the rest of their lives together as husband and wife. Today marks their 3rd year together. More importantly, they are blessed with an adorable little girl by the name Esther.

In the eyes of their mutual friends, he was the outgoing, jovial and the live wire. She was the slightly more reserved and introverted one. He is the kind who enjoys sports(to be precise, only 1 sport and that is running) while she likes what most ladies like: shopping! Something he does not really like. He loves cars and can tell the difference between a pre-facelift Altis and the current facelifted model while to her, as long as it is a set of wheels that can take them from point A to B, it's good enough. He is a very careless person and is not the very detailed kind but she is the kind who will constantly remind him about nitty gritty details which seem small but are essential.

Both of them have very different personalities. So it is no wonder the old saying "opposites attract" does apply to them. Indeed, both of them are the exact opposite of each other and this is why they complement each other so well. All said and done, they do share common interests. Both of them enjoy watching TV and this probably explains the reason of having 2 sets at home because more often than not they watch different channels at the same time. During their courtship days, they talked non-stop (he talked more!!!) about different albums they had ranging from christian music to jazz to soft-rock. Whenever they were together, they looked like a pair of chopsticks. Figuratively, it meant they worked very well together as they complemented each other. Literally, it meant two very tall and slim people walking together. No wonder their daughter is quite lengthy as well.

So they still have a long journey together. Having just embarked on parenthood, they are managing well and being educators themselves, they pray and hope that they will be able to teach and nurture their daughter to grow up to be a godly and upright person.

Road safety message: from the world champion himself

Over the past 12 hours, the news reported that there were 2 serious accidents on the roads. I saw on tv the footage of both incidents and it showed the wreckage of the accident vehicles. It is obvious that the vehicles were totalled.

As you can see from the article below, I think it is timely for me to post it. Serves as a reminder for myself also.

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Schumacher calls for action on road safety

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has joined the FIA, Formula One racing's governing body, in calling for a global policy on road safety. Schumacher endorsed the FIA's ‘Make Roads Safe’ campaign in London on Monday, as the UN's inaugural Global Road Safety Week got underway.

“Road crashes kill on the scale of malaria or tuberculosis, yet the international community has not woken up to this horrific waste of life,” said Schumacher. “That is why I strongly support the Make Roads Safe campaign and the proposal that the United Nations organise a first ever UN ministerial conference to tackle this preventable loss of life.”

The FIA’s ‘Make Roads Safe’ petition aims to persuade the UN to devise an international strategy for road injury prevention. The campaign hopes to secure at least 1.2 million signatures - the number of people killed on roads each year - by November, which is the month the UN plans to debate road safety.

“Road deaths are an ongoing tragedy that must be addressed,” added FIA president Max Mosley. “This is why the FIA has given its full support to the first UN Global Road Safety Week, a campaign which will initiate numerous road safety activities around the world. We must take strong action to deal with the growing epidemic of road deaths worldwide.”

With over 1,000 under 25 year-olds killed on roads each year, the week's events will focus predominantly on raising awareness amongst the younger generation.

Brought Esther to church today

After an absence of about 5 weeks, we were back in church today. Esther behaved very well throughout the service and despite the cry room (where all the toddlers & infants should be) being quite crowded, she hardly cried nor showed any signs of discomfort.

Needless to say, so many of our church friends were excited to see her especially the chorale members. Thankfully a few of them wanted to carry her so we could take a slight rest! One of the the chorale members jokingly said she can be a soprano next time because he heard Esther crying really loudly at the hospital a day after birth!

I cooked dinner just now and the vegetable was quite a wash-out. Although it tasted ok, it was way off what I had expected. Never mind, there are plenty of chances for me to try out. I managed to cook the hotel style omelette wit mushroom, tomatoes, green peas and carrot bits. The next additonal ingredient I intend to add in would be cheese. The most difficult part is when I want to fold the sides and then flip it. That needs quite a bit of skill. In case you are wondering, I used to cook for a group of 10 persons during my varsity days in Australia so preparing a meal for 2 persons is fairly straightforward. All said and done, I still prefer cleaning/washing to cooking.

Raikkonen's determination

There was article in the ST today about the current F1 season being so exciting. Indeed it is. Over at Mclaren, both drivers like their Ferrari counterparts are going head-to-head not just in terms of team challenge but also their individual points. How much more thrilling can it get?

Raikkonen: we could have done better

Despite leaving Bahrain as joint leader of the drivers’ championship, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen believes he could have improved on his start to the 2007 season. Raikkonen, who came home third at Sakhir on Sunday, shares the top of the standings with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and world champion Fernando Alonso.

“We picked up a lot of points, but we could have done even better,” Raikkonen told Ferrari’s official website. “We were unable to get as much out of the car as we would have liked. The Bahrain weekend was difficult: the car was not quite the way I wanted and we did not do everything perfectly.”

Unlike team mate Felipe Massa - who scored his second pole of the season in Bahrain - Raikkonen struggled for qualifying pace, as he had done a week earlier in Malaysia. In each of the three qualifying phases he was over half a second down on Massa and the Finn believes he must improve his Saturday performance if his title hopes are to maintain momentum.

“I would say it can't be denied that the main problem is in qualifying,” he admitted. “Our race pace is good and we can go up against anyone but over the single lap we are not there yet. And if you are not up with the front runners right from the start then you can say goodbye to the chance of winning."

Indeed, Raikkonen is convinced that without his qualifying woes, he could have repeated his victory in the Australian season opener at both of the following two rounds. Now he is focused on improving things ahead of the start of the European campaign.

“Twenty two points are a good amount, as I said before, but I think I could have got all the available points. I am sure we can be stronger if we manage to optimise the performance of the car and I hope we start doing (that) at the next test session.”

Raikkonen, currently resting at home in Switzerland, will join Ferrari at the multi-team test session at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya at the end of the month, ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix on May 11-13.

Some updated pictures of Esther

Here are some pictures of Esther.....



Mum Angela and daughter Esther


"oooo...so ticklish!!"



"Whatcha all looking at?"

Check out those big eyes....

Horrible brand of diapers

H*gg*es U*t*a is a horrible brand of diapers. We tried using it and it simply pales in comparison to some others namely Ma*y P*k* and of course the best is still Pa**ers. Just last night I was checking Esther's diaper. At that crucial moment when I just opened to see if she had pooed, she let out this HUGE fart and needless to say some other stuff came out. It was just in the nick of time that I covered back the diaper so there was not any other 'damage' done! But then it was just as well because she was about to have her next feed. The risk of having to change after a feed would be it can cause vomitting. However, despite her cries which can be quite disturbing, seeing her smile whenever we are feeding her is more than enough to forget all the struggles.

Latest F1 news

Ferrari praise Massa’s attitude in Bahrain

Ferrari have paid tribute to Felipe Massa, after the Brazilian driver bounced back from his Malaysian disappointments to take a triumphant victory in last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix. Massa, who had been heavily criticised following his fifth-place finish in Sepang a week earlier, kept a cool head in Sakhir to win comfortably from pole.

“Felipe's weekend was fantastic and this was due to his capability - and to the car of course,” explained Ferrari's technical director Mario Almondo. “The success of today is linked to Felipe's mental attitude which I have to say was fantastic. The concentration is evident to everybody.”

Massa’s success in Sakhir after the trials and tribulations he experienced in Malaysia, saw the Brazilian strenthen his fourth place in the drivers' standings with a haul of 10 points. His quick start from pole no doubt laid the ghosts of his slow getaway in Sepang to rest, while his mature drive to the end of the race has, for the moment at least, silenced his critics.

“Felipe's strength was to react straightaway from one week ago in Malaysia,” explained sporting director Stefano Domenicali. “Everyone said that Felipe was no longer a driver. I think that he's grown a lot, because he wanted to show first to himself and also to all of us who he is. For sure, his strength is that he had a great reaction in terms of behaviour and approach to this race."

There was also praise from the Ferrari camp for Raikkonen, who came home third in Sakhir behind McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. The Finn is currently joint leader in the drivers’ championship, with 22 points, alongside Hamilton and Alonso.

“Kimi's best characteristic is that he's always cool, he's always looking behind the fence,” added Domenicali. “He's not emotionally involved - at least, apparently not - because he's a thinker and you can see that. If you look at the numbers, Kimi's leading the championship with the others of course, but he's there, so that's his strength.”

Ferrari currently sit second in the constructors’ championship standings, just five points adrift of McLaren. The Italian team now plans to test at Vairano and Barcelona, ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place from May 11-13.

Esther is one month today

Esther crosses the one month today. Although it has been quite tough adjusting, whenever we see her cute and innocent face, it brings joy into our lives. This is especially when she stares hard at objects which are a mere 30cm from her vision. At this stage, she can recognise both our voices so whenever she cries, once we carry her and pacify her, she will calm down. I have been up nearly every night preparing formula milk for her and it is tiring. But these are part and parcel of parenthood.

Bahrain GP

The red scarlet cars are back. Seems that this is like a pendulum swing between the Ferraris and and Mclarens. In the Australia GP, the red cars were the favourites. However in Malaysia, the silver arrows took the victory. But over the weekend in Bahrain, the red cars did a spectacular job by claiming 1st and 3rd. Kudos must be mentioned to BMW who also displayed good results with one of their drivers keeping defending champion Alonso behind. With the next GP 4 weeks away in Spain, the top 3 driver's points are all tied at 22. Ferrari lags behind Mclaren by just 5 points in the constructors title. So it remains to be seen if it will boil down the the scarlets versus the silver arrows or some other teams must just catch up and add some more fun the the party.

It is Ferrari vs Mclaren again....

Well, it seems like the same thing has happened. Last week on the starting grid, it was Ferarri, Mclaren, Ferarri and Mclaren. This week it is the same thing. Read on the article taken from the F1 website.

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Massa beats Hamilton to pole

Felipe Massa took the fifth pole position of his career in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon, with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton splitting the two Ferraris.

Hamilton has led McLaren’s attack all weekend, and battled the red cars throughout the three qualifying sessions. Massa was fastest from Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen in the first, headed Hamilton, Raikkonen, Nick Heidfeld and Alonso in the second, and retained the initiative in the third with a lap of 1m 32.652s.

Hamilton’s response of 1m 32.935s was good enough for the other front-row slot, marking the first time he will start from that rank and the first time he has out-qualified his team mate, as Alonso managed only 1m 33.192s to trail Raikkonen’s 1m 33.131s. It remains to be seen whether the Finn and the Spaniard were running significantly greater fuel loads than their team mates.

The BMW Saubers occupy the third row, with Nick Heidfeld rising to the challenge of team mate Robert Kubica to lap his F1.07 in 1m 33.710s. With the fast starts both drivers have been making recently, they could be a threat on the long run down to the first corner tomorrow.

Giancarlo Fisichella pushed Renault back up towards the front with the seventh-fastest time of 1m 34.056s following a late gearbox change on his R27. Behind him was Mark Webber who got his Red Bull wound up for 1m 34.106s. The top 10 was completed by Jarno Trulli who lapped his Toyota in 1m 34.154s and Nico Rosberg, who buzzed his Williams to 1m 34.399s.

All of the quick times were set on Bridgestone’s medium tyre rather than the harder compound.

Williams’ Alex Wurz lines up 11th, just getting bumped from the final session after a lap of 1m 32.915s in Q2. Heikki Kovalainen joins him on the sixth row, after a lap of 1m 32.935s in his Renault. The Finn ran his race engine in the team's spare car after a suspected fuel pump problem in final practice.

Anthony Davidson was a star of Q1, setting the seventh best time then in his Super Aguri. His 1m 33.082s lap in Q2 leaves him 13th, with Ralf Schumacher for company after the Toyota driver recorded 1m 33.294s.

Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button were 15th and 16th, almost inseparable in their Hondas on 1m 33.624s and 1m 33.731s respectively. In 17th place was Takuma Sato, who took his Super Aguri round in 1m 33.984s. Toro Rosso’s Tonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed were next up, with laps of 1m 34.024s and 1m 34.333s. Adrian Sutil is 20th for Spyker with 1m 34.280s, followed by David Coulthard who didn’t get his Red Bull going better than 1m 34.341s after suspected gearbox problems. He will be joined at the back by Christijan Albers. The Dutchman ran off the road in Turn One in his Spyker, which he lapped in 1m 35.533s in Q1.

The stage is thus set for another gripping confrontation between Ferrari and McLaren, with Hamilton aiming to go 3-2-1 on his results and to become the youngest-ever British winner of a Grand Prix.

Aware of the 22 year-old’s penchant for fast starts, poleman Massa said: “Our strategy for the first corner? Be more aggressive! We gave him the space last weekend; now we know what he can do we don’t give the space any more!”

Bt Batok to Pasir Panjang to Bt Merah to Chinatown to Bendeemer to Upper East Coast to Marine Parade to Clementi to Ghim Moh.....

It was a deja vu for me today as I delievered the "1st mth cakes" to friends and relatives. As the title suggests, I drove to all those places. This was something like my pizza delivery days when I made numerous deliveries to orders from customers. Tomorrow will be round 2.

Waiting for time to pass

I am now using the library computer to post this. Just handed in the GSP assignment and I still have up till 1730 hrs before the practicum briefing starts. You may wonder why I handed my assignment so early. All because my lecturer said he will be leaving at 1600 hrs and I do not wish to make another trip tomorrow which incidentally is the due date for the assignment. Rather than driving home and coming back again, I decided to post while waiting.

The briefing later is for our school attachment which will start at the begginning of term 3 and it lasts for 5 weeks. After that we have a week break before we begin our Year 2. Time really flies. My coursemates and I still felt as if we only started our course recently. I guess time sails by quickly when you are busy. It is only when you are idling that you find a day seems like a year.

Bought a fan from Giant Hypermart

I went to Giant Hypermart at IMM to check out if they have any special deals in their domestic electrical appliances section. I saw that there were 2 on offer and both prices differed by a mere 90cents. However both have similar features but I chose the one that was dearer as it was more sturdy and also it looked much better than the other one. Both come with the remote control function which is very useful especially when you need to adjust the fan speed. Don't you just hate it when you have to get up and press the desired button just to get the speed you want? Well, with the remote control it is so much easier! Spolit brat!!

Brought it home to assemble it myself and at the same time dismantled the old one. However, I kept some of the spare parts from the old fan just in case they come in useful. I kept the cover, blade, reinforcement cap and also the plug. I disposed the main frame after removing the base and keeping the screws as well. Some of you may think that I am so cheapskate to keep spare parts! In fact, those 'karang guni' will probably salvage the parts and perhaps find reconditioned motors at second hand shops and then resell it again. I have seen the case for old TV sets. If only I knew how to repair such stuff, I will probably scavange through old electrical appliances and then do swapping of parts to make a 'second-hand' set in perfect working order.

My standing fan broke down...

Angela told me last night that the standing fan in our room was not working right. She noticed that it was oscillating but the blade was not moving at all. In short, it appeared that something was wrong. I recall cleaning the fan over the weekend and it worked fine. So I removed the blade and re-installed it but it seems that the motor has packed up. Guess I have to hunt for a new fan.

Saw a few at some shops around the area but none of them come with the remote control option which the broken down one has! Spoilt brat!!! However, I think such extra features only come at an extra cost which is something we can leave without. Guess I will head to Giant tomorrow to check out what they have to offer.

DSE & DCE tests today

DSE was quite alright. I felt quite confident during and after the test. The reason is that I knew what was expected and basically there were very few doubts when I had completed the paper. The text 2 was the one where I really had to plan my answers because we could not use the same example more than once. That probably explained why I had to make some amendments.

DCE on the the other hand was very extreme as far as our answers were concerned. Many of us interpreted the question in quite a few ways and after the test was over, everyone was quite drained both physically and mentally. No wonder to have two major tests on a same day. The unit coordinator asked everyone to show some appreciation to the tutors but I think they should show us some mercy instead!

Left with DSM which is another fortnight from now. I feel more confident for DSM but then again, this module coordinator set a very tough paper last semester and many of us were stunned. I wonder what will he be up to this semester. As for those taking science this coming Friday, all the best. (thankfully I do not take science!)

Mclaren 1-2 finish

Kudos to Mclaren who finally managed a 1-2 finish since the Brazillian GP in 2005. It also means that the drought they suffered throughout the whole of the 2006 season without winning a single race ended at Sepang today. Ferrari finished in 3rd and 6th place. Defending champions Renault are still struggling to be up to pace with the front runners. Honda too fared pretty badly. Toyota and BMW managed to score some points which is quite commendable.

2 exams tomorrow. DSE in the morning and DCE in the afternoon. I then have 2 weeks to revise for DSM.

Final Qualifying Results for the Malaysian GP

If you look at the final qualifying results for the Msian GP tomorrow, you will find that the top 4 drivers crossed the line within 1.002secs. Look carefully: 1.002sec. Needless to say, they are the 4 cars of the top 2 teams: Ferrari and Mclaren Mercedes. Defending champions Renaults are totally outclassed. Even the BMW-Saubers and Toyotas finished ahead of them.

Massa grabbed pole followed by defending champion Alonso. Raikkonen and rookie Hamilton took P3 and P4 respectively. I guess it will be a pretty exciting race tomorrow when the 22 cars line up at the grid to kick start yet another thrilling round 2 of the Petronas Malaysian GP.

Another highlight will be the decision on whether Sg will host a leg of the F1 next year. After tomorrow's race, an announcement will be made as to whether we will get to see Massa tearing down St Andrew's Rd at speeds above 250km/h, Raikkonen negotiating the Fountain of Wealth at Suntec and Alonso trying to overtake ex-teamate Fisichella along the Esplanade Bridge.

Exciting wkend ahead in Sepang....

There are a couple of articles in the F1 website that show "The Prancing Horse" confident to compete head-on with the Mclarens. Speculation has it that Raikkonen might need a new engine but not so anymore. However, with the scorching conditions up in Malaysia, will he come out tops again? Perhaps teamate Massa might be on the top step of the podium come sunday afternoon. Only time will tell.....

F1 weekend in Sepang

The following article is adapted from the Formula 1 website. I will still set my sights on the Ferarris and Mclarens.

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Will Ferrari maintain their dominance at Sepang, or can McLaren and Renault catch up? If you were to look at the times from the recent test at the Malaysian circuit, you might form the view that virtually everyone has a chance, for most teams put in competitive lap times at one stage or another. The difficult thing is knowing who was running what set-up or configuration when those times were done.

Put it another way, Ferrari, McLaren and Renault seem genuinely pleased about their performance, while BMW Sauber, Williams, Honda, Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Super Aguri and Toyota all believe they have made progress.

The fact that 10 of the teams tested here is likely to create the sort of situation we often see in Barcelona, where everyone has an early handle on set-up, and the true respective performances emerge as a result.

Kimi Raikkonen believes he is well placed to repeat his Melbourne performance, provided his Ferrari does not require an engine change following a water leak towards the end of that race. Team mate Felipe Massa will be going all-out to avoid the sort of problems he suffered in Australia, and to close the points gap to the Finn.

If his McLaren is again unable quite to get on terms with the red cars, world champion Fernando Alonso is determined to maximize his points score so that he remains in play until the silver arrows can compete with the Ferraris, but the team will have some new parts for the race. Team mate Lewis Hamilton is also keen to repeat, perhaps even better, his extraordinary debut in Australia.

"I thought Sepang looked like a great circuit and I was not disappointed,” he said. “Its layout means you can build up a great rhythm, with all the corners running into each other. It is also really wide, which I imagine will lead to exciting racing. The four days of testing were really useful on two counts. We had a number of developments to the car that we ran and will now bring to the race, and I was able to learn the track prior to the event. I am now looking forward to competitive action here. As I said at the time, it was a dream start for me in Australia, but I am realistic that motorsport is unpredictable and things don’t always go so well. We have all been working to reduce the gap to Ferrari and I will do my best with Fernando and the team towards this in Malaysia."

Last year’s winner, Giancarlo Fisichella, admits that Renault weren’t fast enough in Australia, but says: “Without a doubt, this is the toughest race of the season - not just physically, but mentally too. The high temperatures and humidity make things very tough for the drivers and the cars too. For me personally, though, there are very good memories from my win last year, and I am prepared for the race this time round. I trained hard over the winter, I am in peak condition - and ready to go.”

As one of the hottest races of the season, the Malaysian Grand Prix will exact a heavy toll on drivers and machinery. Temperatures are expected to be around 34 degrees Celsius all weekend, and the humidity will take its own toll, making the cockpits feel like saunas. The most important thing for each driver will be to keep fully hydrated.

The tortuous circuit is tough on every element of the car. The high temperatures place heavy demands on cooling systems, brakes and tyres, and the mixture of corners makes it tricky to achieve an optimum set-up for the high and slow-speed corners. However, the temperature will be beneficial in one way since nobody should have any of the problems some experienced getting heat into their tyres in Melbourne. The weekend should thus paint a more accurate picture of precisely where everyone is in respect to each other.

Bridgestone will bring their medium and hard compounds (rather than the soft and medium used in Australia) and telling the difference between the two will be far easier than in Melbourne - on each of the medium tyres, one groove will be painted white, making it clearly visible whether the car is stationary or at speed.

New Toyota Vios

The new Vios is a huge leap from the outgoing model. Otherwise known as "a Yaris with a butt", this car will certainly be on the choice list of those looking for an entry level car packed with features, spacious interior, good engineering and responsive VVT-i engine and with that popular T oval badge.

Initial launch price may seem a little high at $53k but once you see it, you will find it is worth the price tag. Think back when the previous Vios was just launched. It was almost $70k. That still pales in comparison to the Soluna which cost another $10-$15k more back in the 90s when the COE prices were above the $30k mark.

So how will the new Corolla Altis look like when it makes it's grand appearance some time later this year or perhaps next year? My guess will be that it might be even more spacious than this just-launched Vios but not as huge as the Camry which is on my wish list!!! Initial pictures of the new Altis look like a 'shrunk Camry' which is not surprising. Carmakers nowadays make their complete line-up look similar to retain that coporate identity. Think of the BM 3 & 5 series, Merc C & E class, Volvo S80, S60 & S40. Even the Ford Mondeo & Focus do not differ much. Mazda 2,3 & 6 too. Honda Odyssey & Stream, Nissan Latio and Cefiro.....I could go on and on......

Let's get back to reality. The blackaltis is good enough!!

1 more week to go

After today, only DSM module is on till next week. I find it rather annoying just having to come to sch next week for 2 hrs on tue and 1 miserable hr on wed! To top it off, next mon is the final test for both DCE and DSE. I find DSE so much easier compared to DCE. I guess it is because of the nature of the module.

Still have not gotten back my test script for DSM. Lecturer said he will only return it to use next week at the last session. Some other groups have already gotten theirs back. Wonder what is keeping him. And one of my coursemates Jon had a bet with me. Knowing that he is good in maths, I had expected him to ace the test but he managed 75%. I told him that if he got above that score he owes me a treat. So that means I have to belanja (treat) him!

Insomnia

I could not get to sleep until 3am in the morning due to some herbal soup which we had for dinner last night. As such, I was too tired to go for a morning run. Nonetheless, I managed to put in a good 1 hour in the evening. For those of you who are not aware, if i were to consume any thing with caffeine in the afternoon, I will have big problems falling asleep. That means, no tea, coffee, red bull or coke from afternoon till bedtime. Things like ginseng or any herbal soups are out of the question also. There was once I could not resist the temptation on a nice piece of tiramisu cake and I paid the price. So much so for being greedy.

April Fool's Day

This is my quater of a thousand posts since I started blogging. Please may I stress that this is NOT an April Fool's joke. I noticed it just before I clicked on "newpost". Seems that I have another 115 posts before I hit the 365 mark which means I will have been blogging for almost a year now. And I am proud to say that I posted something almost everyday. If I do not recall wrongly, there were less than 3 days that I did not post anything. This is despite my busy schedule which will get even busier as the days go by.

Some asked me why did I decide to jump into the blogging bandwagon. Well, it is for a whole host of reasons. For those who exercised a huge influence on me to start a blog, you know who you all are!! Moreover, it also coincided in me getting a MSN account. You might think why only recently did I even start to blog, let along MSN. Guess it must have been a whole host of reasons.

This week will be fairly short as I only need to be in school on Tue and Wed. Other days I will be home baby-sitting while revising for my final exams. However, if the weather permits, I will run to NIE tomorrow morning. As for my car which badly needs a polish, anyone cares to help me??