Valorous Halcyon

If there is a single word that can sum up what owning a turbocharged car for the past one and a half year has taught me, it will be this — humility . I have quite a number of people telling me my car is cool, fast and what not. But instead of getting all boasted up, I can't help but to be humble at my slow car. Slow car? You wondered. For a hot hatch making well above 234 horses on the wheel with 270Nm torque, this Neo turbo boosting 1-bar (14.5 psi) is producing more than double a stock Neo CPS is making. This is certainly not a slow car by any conventional family car standard. But with this comes a hefty price, in terms of time and money. The maintenance cost is not cheap, as it is the case with any other turbocharged car. Turbocharged vehicles are more prone to component failures just simply by the fact that there are a lot more things that can fail within the complex system, as compared to a much simpler naturally aspirated mode.  I have educated myself with how a

Day 3: Mui Ne, 23 December 2015.  I arrived Mui Ne at 4:10am on Futa Bus. I was promised by the bus company officer that I will be dropped right in front of my hostel in Mui Ne, so I was expecting it. As I seen some of the passengers being dropped in front of their respective hostels, I was pretty confident the bus driver will do the same. But after about 10 minutes, a few other passengers and I were dropped in front of the Futa Bus regional office. Almost instantly a guy approached me and asked about my hostel. I remained wishful, hoping the bus driver will somehow remember the promise made. So I was expecting it, and this guy seemed to be working for the bus company. Perhaps the bus driver had forgotten to drop me in front of my hostel, and he asked this guy to fetch me there. At least that was what I thought. The guy immediately recognized the hostel and said he can bring me there. He asked me to hop onto his motorbike and we rode off. Almost instantly after I hopped onto

I’ve been back from my Vietnam trip for two weeks now but the memory I had in Vietnam was still vivid. Each time my friends asked me how was Vietnam, I found it difficult to put my two-week experiences in words. There are so many things I have gone through, from overcoming my fear of crossing the bustling streets of Ho Chi Minh with motorcycles coming from literally all directions, to riding a crazy taxi in Hanoi rushing back to my hostel to catch my sleeper bus ride to Sapa rice terrace. I watched my new found Australian mate riding an ostrich in Mui Ne for VND100k (~RM20), and I myself dived into the freezing water of Halong Bay twice with a rather less gracious posture compared to my friend working for a startup at Silicon Valley (my first dives after all). The memories put into the back of my mind was simply priceless. I know I will remember this trip for an extended period of time. Over the course of two weeks travelling alone, I had penned down a detailed record of my advent

One full month! It’s been a month since my last post so you might be wondering where I have been. Just before the year 2015 ended, I have made the ONE decision that I never regretted making –booked the flight ticket to Vietnam for my first ever solo trip. I was having so much dilemma whether I should go out of my comfort zone and go for some exciting adventure. After two weeks spending time alone in Vietnam, it’s pretty safe to say there was never a moment I regretted making this bold decision, but rather I was filled with so much gladness and joy. I will leave that for the next post. Stay tuned! I spent my New Year’s Eve and New Year in Sapa (Vietnam), at one of the local farmer’s house. And then I remember making wishful New Year resolutions that most people will forget about after two months entering into the New Year. I don’t think I had written any New Year resolutions for 2014 and 2015, but along the way I still developed myself into a different person in relative to m

Okay I lied. The first part of the title is not exactly my headline, but a term I casually adopted from a venerable author James Altucher. He wrote the book Choose Yourself and albeit I have yet to get my hand on it, I reckon it’s going to be mind-blowing. I definitely can’t wait to get one! Imagine ourselves lying on the floor, barely able to lift our heads, unsure of where and when to turn. James has thrived in the past by starting up so many companies, but hit rock bottom multiple times too. Every year is challenging for him, but he still continued to live each day clasping his Daily Practices (reading, writing, doing podcasts and inspiring others with his unique experience and brutally honest and creative ideas, BEING THANKFUL).  Just this week alone I have been pondering on the idea of happiness. Even during Sunday Service in church 5 days ago, my pastor talked about choosing happiness. How much more coincident can it get because I have been pondering the same thought fo

I almost did it again. Bought into the sweet words of a property agent and book a unit at Kepong V Residences. I’m glad I did not. As you all know I have been looking around for a property. My main intention for this purchase is for INVESTMENT. And then this popped up. Kepong 5 / Kepong V / Kepong Square, by UOA. Yes UOA! UOA is quite a reputable property developer that has been building projects after projects even before I was born. So I have no doubt about the quality of the project. If you haven’t heard of UOA because you are just a newbie like me or you haven’t been actively looking around for property, the entire Bangsar South is the masterpiece of UOA. So far so good. Now here’s the deal: Currently it is still at the soft launch period, or pre-launch mode if you like. For a soft launch project initiated by such a reputable developer, nothing can go wrong, right? Let’s delve into it further, shall we? Here’s the background: The project site is located at Jalan Lang E