@ Orchard: it's a squeeze here + Xmas lightings

If you was listening to Power 98 FM on sat, you would had heard about the "latest" competition in town -- the super squeeze. And yup, i happened to be at orchard with shufang, and it's pretty interesting.

For the benefit of those in doubt, "Super Squeeze" is another squeeze-as-much-people-you-can-into-the-car-and-you-win competition, and in this case it's a very huge family car (Ssangyong Stavic, 9-seater) and $10,000 cash.

The team which i "watched" is Team number 3.. No. 1 had just completed, and No.2 had given up...coz no.1 had already done 43. wow.

Anyway please enjoy the pictures. Really envy these youngsters... First they could gather soo much friends for one occassion (40 over of them ok) and did it with soo much spirit n enthusiasm.. hhaah... and it''s not a great time inside too mind you... as i could see from the film of moisture that was "foaming" up on the windscreen, due to all the heat and sweat...haha..what a sight.





When the team was done and trying to come out, the staff was even needed to help to carry them out...


looks like carrying a body out of a crash..hee. ^_^"

and...this team squeezed in 46 person, 2 more than the previous team. Impressive... Anyway, told you the car was huge, too... haha..

hmm...if this team won, each person could take home $217.39... not too bad for all the sweat.


By the way if you are curious, this is the car:




They set up a roadshow next to it too, to promote this new model. Although, yes, it's sort of ugly (as quoted from a UK magazine: "massively ugly") but it's a really big car. Interior was made up of 4 rows of seats, and they seem to me to be like sofa seats...you get the picture.

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As night comes in, the christmas lights on Orchard road lit up. And this year's is pretty nice.

hmmm... really been such a long time since i walked along Orchard road with the Christmas lightings at night.

And don't know why, i was quite happy and delighted to see all the lights. Guess there's a kid in me..?

cheers.

the surprising journey of the LCD screen purchase

...a purchase of one LCD monitor would gimmie soo much "surprises".... 0_0

As the plan to buy the screen was fixed on sunday, saturday night was the only time left for me to surf the net and do all the necessary "research" (my usual practise), especially when i do not know almost everything about this technology (my knowledge was outdated...) So, with a self conducted crash course done, armed with all specifications, the model was fixed : the Samsung 713N seems to be the best choice, on paper.

On the next day, to Funan Mall, with shufang. Finding that model was easy, 'cos it was one of the most available model around.
First surprise : Price discounted to $439 and giving away a free gamer mouse worth $60. A country wide promotion bought to you by samsung, only for 19th & 20th Nov. Sweet.

Ok, i shall look around to confirm my choice. Everywhere is having the same promotion. And as i was about to buy, this poster strikes me... It's comparsion chart, which (surprise) shows LG and Philps screens lifespan are both 50,000hrs, while Samsung's is only 20,000hrs.. A huge difference mind you...while the LG is cheaper and Philips cost slightly more but have in-built USB point and Speakers.. Only that both contrast and brightness are lesser than Samsung. Off i went, to look around for the Philips to find it's spec and sample...

Until we realised this simple sum..:
Assuming we use the screen for 8 hours everyday (which is alot),
8 X 365 = 2920 hours for a year.
Therefore 20,000 / 2920 = 6.85 years.

....That's a nearly 7 years! Even if the thing wouldnt break by the 6th year i guess we would have upgraded it by then.... So i was nearly tricked by marketing gimmick again.. haha....

Thus, i bought the Samsung.

I chose this particular shop 'cos it was the only one that is selling at $429 for the black coloured model. A $10 discount, but in return that uncle doesnt seem to know about the product, or even the free mouse promotion. Hence i was really feeling insecured when he gave me the warranty card separately after he got to know that i have to present the warranty card at the redemption shop to collect the mouse. So i thought "that's means i wouldnt get the card if i didnt ask la?" Luckily...

Now the mouse. As the funan's redemption shop is closed, we went over to the Sim Lim Square's. When we finally found the shop, i have to actually look twice to be sure... it's a Photo developing Shop (surprise surprise)....huh? Didnt see any mouses around....only until i saw the promotion flyers on the counter which tells me i got the right place. Was explained by the lady that the mouse would be delivered to my house within a week, and the warranty card would be collected then too. ....Hmm... sounds new. But anyway, i just pen down my name and address... Since it's something from Samsung and even Challenger store have this promotion, guess it's should be safe...

I have watched too many Channel U current affairs shows... Had gotten too cautious to commercial stuff, i guess.

+ = + = + = + = + = + = + + = + = + = + = + = + = +

Later at home.
As i unpacked the monitor, then i realised that the warranty card is, first, not exactly for my this LCD model, and, i'm supposed to register online. hahaha.... So i guess that uncle is really not sure and i'm been scaring myself perhaps? ^-^.

And today at office.
My colleague heard from this wife (who works for Singtel Marketing dept) that for the upcoming Singtel roadshow at Orchard, they are using BLACK Samsung 713N LCDs too....and after this 2 days roadshow, they would be selling them off at $330.....arrggh.....that's $110 off! Totally surprised.....and, by the way, now she's tempted to buy one too.

+ = + = + = + = + = + = + + = + = + = + = + = + = +

Nevertheless, i'm enjoying the benefit of a LCD now ^-^
Easy on the eye, saving electricity, nice colour outputs, resolution of 1280x1024 gives me such a big windows desktop space, 8ms reaction speed gives me smooth and clear DVD videos..

and, of cos, the reduce on mess and increase of space on my table!!

yea...

how coincident can stuff gets? ;)

history:
My previous NEC 17" monitor had gave me a loyal service of 5 years, before it burnt out and call it a day, last year. As the ideal replacement was a LCD and un-ideally i'm short of cash, we got a 2nd hand monitor to pull on first.

fact:
and, Wednesday, after few months of usage, this monitor burnt out (again)

Grr...

So now, i really have to go to buy a LCD monitor.


So if you are wondering now: "then how am i typing this blog now?",

Coincidently, last sunday i helped shufang to drive her laptop back, 'cos on tuesday after her test, she would be moving back to sengkang for the holiday.

Now, plugging in my USB modem, her laptop became me and my sister's access to internet, temporarily.

This is really so conincident and lucky...heez. Especially right at the time when my sister's online orders are coming in, requiring her to do some online transactions..

and conveniently too, for me to do the mini research on LCDs on the web now.

Thanks ah, shufang ;)

motoring = marketing?

One night as me and my dad drove down ubi and passed by the Chevrolet showroom, he asked "ai? the brand came back? It was very common in singapore when i was young (1960s) ..! " Only after i told him that they were re-faced Daewoos, then he realise that they are not the chevys he used to know. In fact, most of them didnt even came from the US soil.

If you need a lesson on Marketing, General Motors (GM) would be a good company to learn from. After Daewoo folded and the president ran off, it was bought over by GM, the whole largest car maker. Brands under GM are: Chevrolet, Saab, Opel, Vauxhall, Holden, Buick, Cadillac, GMC, hummer, Pontiac, Saturn, and a certain percentage of Subaru, Isuzu and suzuki. Immediately, GM rebadged all Daewoos in the world to be Chevrolets (except for Korea and Vietnam) and made chevolet to "re-enter" the asian pacific markets again.

This certainly had made the cars more "branded" immediately and got more comsumers interested. But despite all the advertising works and promotions, the cars still look so korean. In fact, most of them are still made in Korea. Better still, for the Optra sedan: Designed in Italy and made in Thailand. Doubt u could feel any Americian from it at all... So much for talking so much about the heritage, when the product itself was done totally by some one else.


Aveo was one of the cars that were made in Korea and shipped to US. Optra on the right

Anyway, this wasnt the first time. We have the Opel Astra for the entire Europe and Asia, but it was known as the Vauxhall Astra in UK and Holden Astra in Australia and New Zealand. Applies for other cars in the Opel range too. And when they lack this certain type of vehicle in the range, they took some other's and simply rebadged it... For instance, in UK, the city car Vauxhall Agila was actually the Suzuki Wagon R.. And at US, the Saab 9-2X is a Subaru Impreza Wagon. Saab, which was always famous for their safe cars and scored no less than full 5 stars for NCAP crash tests, scored 3 stars for the 9-2X. They really need a good reason to answer the press.


Critics favourite name for this car: Saabaru

It's not impossible to prevent all these, just that more time are needed, perhaps? Volkswagen Group, another major car company, have 2 brand groups under it : the Audi brand group, comprises the Audi, SEAT and Lamborghini brands, and the Volkswagen brand group, having Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Škoda, Bentley and Bugatti brands. They shared all the major components, including engines and chassis, but the cars never looks or feels alike to each other. For instance, the VW Golf actually gives birth to the Audi A3, Skoda Octivia, and Seat Altea. The Audi is accepted as the luxury hatchback, while the Altea attracts people looking for a car with a more striking design (at a lower price), and the Golf is still the car for everyone (at least in Europe).


they are all brothers...Clockwise: Golf, Octivia, Altea, A3

On the other hand, i must admit this. Althought the chassis is done up, it still takes time and money to develop the rest of the car. Hence to re-badge a car could be one of the most cost efficient and quick method. Especially for the case of Daewoo, when it's important to turn around the company whose name was already in the drain. At least many jobs are saved, and the factory escaped from being closed down. Time was indeed important for Rover, one of the last surviving brand from UK. It's bread-and-butter car, 45, is ageing, and it's replacement model had been repeatedly delayed. The company was losing money, and in the end, with some other factors, it collasped on April this year. Their Longbridge factory, which used to be the biggest in Europe, closed it's gates to their thousands of workers.

Alright, just for the start. But if this is still been practised in the long run, the soul of the brand and heritage will be lost. And by then, what that was done would really just be some business-marketing tactics, only. Buy a car, any car. They would be all the same.

Nissan Road show + My p-plate

Yesterday, me derrick and iz met up at suntec/marina square for a quick dinner.. As recommended by derrick, we tried the Changing Appetites (CA).. Quite not bad, a pretty cozy cafe with their sofa seats and settings... and interesting menu too. And the drinks are huge! IZ seems so full after finish his cup.. haa..

Anyway, we went to the Nissan Road show too, at Suntec Tower 4.. Well, as u guys know by now, me and derrick always like to go to roadshows to try out the interior of cars...but for this Nissan's this time, it felt more special..,Maybe coz there are too much KIA's roadshow around always, or maybe coz the "super" car is there... Introducing the 350z fairlady.



*drool....*

Even better, we are allowed to take a seat inside


*double drool....*

What else can i say? The supportive (and fully electronic adjustable) sports seat, the sports steering, white dials, BOZE sound system, metal pedals, Punchy but firm gearshift and nice clutch... sadly the some plastic parts make it feels cheap, and the rear-view is quite bad...but oh well, despite that, if i get to hear the engine my heart will still melt... haaha.

Meanwhile, there are 2 guys from this certain JC who are talking to the Sale exec (SE) next to the car... As they seem pretty interested, i thought initially that they are some rich kids.. until i was told later that one of them was actually telling the SE his dad have 25 rolls royces.....according to LTA, there's only 5 RR registed in 2004, and none from 1998 til 2003. Wonder what does the SE thinks.


Back to topic. Not forgetting derrick favourite Cefiro too.. In fact, i think that car have one of the most unique (and nicest) cabin around.. Inspirated by furniture designs, the wood on the dashboard certainly looks as if it came from ikea. And nice cozy seats behind too ;)


Mr executive derrick

We spent some time in the Lasfesta and Presage MPV too...exploring the Auto-sliding door...haa. Not only from the handles on the door, u can control via a button on the grip and from the dashboard... cool. Great for school-runs (lots of kids) and when your hands are full of bags. Finally a competitor to the Toyota Estima.

ah.. after trying all the other cars (and SUVs), guess we had spent around 1.5 hours? paisei ah iz, hope u wasnt too bored.. heez ;p

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And... On 1st Nov, finally my driving licence Probation period is over! Less scary now, since i had 24 penalty points now instead of the risky 12 points during P-plate. And... no more "plaster" (that triangle sign) on the windscreen!


doesnt it looks cleaner now?

it's initial purpose is to allow other drivers to know and give way... but well, since most of the time we always had not been given way...guess also no difference la, with or without the "plaster"? haha...

accident on paya lebar road

(New model mazda MX 5 crashed onto a BMW during test drive, sales exec killed, driver survived)

Another accident again, this time this seems to be causing alot of discussion, as from what i saw from Sgforum (Cars)... 2 threads headings and more than 13000 views in juz around 2 days. While many was angry at the driver, many felt sad for the poor sales girl.

Until this moment, people are still arguing online... While many pushed to blame to driver and refer him as reckless and speeding, there's also his friend who posted that his lane was been cut by a car, hence forcing he to serwe and lost control. Also some other people commented everyone was jumping into conclusion and it could not be the driver fault...and all the cursing and arguement continues..

actually to me, as very much i'm pretty concerned with this news, but i sort of dont understand why some of the forum readers online could get "agitated" over it, such that they are actually arguing about whether the guy was speeding....

What if the families read all these? would they gotten more sad? the girl is dead, and that is a sure fact. And that young guy is living in guilt too...gods know would he ever be able to have the courage to drive again in future.

Anyway, this also shows how much the responsibiltiy one have, while behind the wheel. Anything wrong it would cause lives, especially when perhaps his skills wasnt that "matured" yet, and the road was slippery with the metal plate instead of tarmac (LTA construction going on), and the speed.

What i learnt came into my mind : always anticipate the dangers on the road...

and talking about skills, what we all have might not be enough... so i really hope for a track to be built in SG, so Defensive driving courses could be conducted locally... The feeling of cornering at 40kmh during L-plates days is totally different when you did it at 70,80kmh...and what to do when grip is lost? Even me could not master that right after my short advance course... Need a proper one again in future...

For now, bless those affected.

(p/s: for me as a petrol-head, i was also quite "sad" too to see the first local pictures of the new MX 5 in a disfigured form, before the launch.... wasted for such a great car. Hope it doesnt affect the sales (....but it certainly will.) )