Dubai Motor Show Experience

I would have given many things to be in my brother's shoes, including my pants. He went to Dubai, while I went to Tronoh. He attended the Dubai Motor Show, in Dubai, while I went hungry in the middle of the night at Tronoh.

No, no, I'm not complaining about Tronoh. I had a good time there. I would not have given up the opportunity to visit the Petronas campus and attend the interview for anything. but, to give up a chance to attend a motor show in Dubai is , to me, feels a little bit like being hit hard in the head; pain, anger sadness, and confusion.

Anyways, before he went to Dubai, I bestowed a mission upon my brother. I asked him to create an opportunity to go to the Motor Show; maybe skip a few things on the tour schedule, and if he gets the green light to attend the Motor Show, I asked him to snap as many pics as possible of what he deemed worthy and significant.

Everything at the Dubai Motor Show is worthy and significant.

My brother attended the Motor Show, and brought to me live pics from the Motor Show. It was awesome. God bless my brother for his efforts.
What I can say my brother saw at the Dubai Motor Show is a representation of the international automotive scene. There was almost every new car recently launched at the show. A few examples would be the Mercedes SLS AMG, the Aston Martin Rapide, the Ford Mustang GT, the Audi TT RS, BMW 5-GT, and many more. There was even a unique display of not 1, but 3 special editions of the Bugatti Veyron for viewing pleasure.

My brother is a lucky man. He had viewed a collection of the world's latest and greatest cars; sports cars and GTs of the highest degree. God knows when the SLS, or Rapide, or whatever, will reach Malaysian shores.

Right above is just a few of the moments that my brother captured during the Dubai Motor Show; enjoy. Thank him for the shots, but don't punish him for the picture quality...

Wednesday, 23rd December 2009; A Journey

night journey...

23rd December 2009; I spent a whole day on the highway. The family was traveling from KL back to Alor Setar. I always enjoy long drives on the highway. I can't explain it. There's a thrill inside of me, a thrill that comes with the journey.

We started from Cyberjaya in the afternoon, and only reached Alor Setar by nearly eleven at night. It was a long trip, its been a satisfying week. The family was back from Dubai, and I was back from Petronas, Perak. Now, we're all together in the car, cruising along the highway. It was fun. It was one of the best days I ever had.

We stopped at Taiping, got some rest, and ate my aunt's birthday cake. She turned 55, on the same day I turned 17. It was good chocolate cake.

Running along the highway from Taiping, I looked up. I saw the darkest sky, lit up by the most magnificent display of stars; the most amount of stars I had ever seen on a single night. I cannot remember observing such a stunning starry night before.

The view of the night sky in the middle of the highway is above all else.

It made me wonder in awe how insignificant the Earth is, and how meaningless the existence of man is on this insignificant Earth.

And yet, man is blessed with breathtaking star-lit skys, lush greeneries, and everything he could ever need on this Earth. Man is given the power to choose what is best for him by God.

The starry night also reminded me of another thing; my grandfather's deep words which he said to me at noon, when we were just leaving KL...

Michael Schumacher Back in F1, Racing with Mercedes GP Petronas 2010

You cannot seperate a man from his true callling. The legend, Michael Schumacher, after retiring to F1 in 2006, must have gotten bored of being Ferrari's road car advisor. Perhaps he finds his achievement as Ferrari's single greatest walking advertisement as 'not enough'. No, this man is not ready to retire just yet. He lives in the fast lane. He needs a new challenge. And what better way to achieve immortality than to return back to F1 glory, piloting a Mercedes F1 machine next year. I reckon he can achieve great things in his second venture into Formula 1. Driving a Mercedes racer, there should be a more nationalistic spirit burning in his heart, since all thats important is Germany next year, compared back then when he was with Ferrari, driving a 'foreign' car. Perhaps he can fork out 3 more world titles? Who knows. There's much doubt, but hey, hoping for the best is more exciting than looking at the down side.

The best part is, Mercedes will have Petronas as its title sponsor starting 2010, giving the right to the official team name 'Mercedes GP Petronas'. Petronas, and Malaysia, will ride along Mercedes and Schumacher in the waves of glory and publicity next season. Pretty exciting stuff.

The Axiom wishes our 2 favourite Formula 1 teams, Lotus F1 Racing and Mercedes F1 GP the best of achievements in the years to come.

One Night at UTP

1. I came back yesterday from UTP's EDUCAMP interview programme, December edition.

2. I'll be honest. This 2-day EDUCAMP thing demands hard work.

3. The schedule is jam-packed along the way, seeing the morning of the first day entirely filled with talks from various Petronas Education Division and UTP personnel.

4. After 5 hours of talk, we were all given merely 45 mins to rest and eat, before English, Math and Science tests commence, which lasted around 3 hours.

5. For the English test, 50 multiple-choice questions were given. For the M&Sc test, 30 multiple-choice questions were given. All are of SPM standard.

6. After these tests, we got a few hours of valuable rest. Then, another motivational talk from a 27- year old UTP alumni who is currently generating a five figure salary from the oil&gas industry was arranged for us.

7. We went back to our rooms at nearly 11 that night. We relaxed, talked a bit about next day's interview, until we got bored and hungry. Fuzai decided to go out for food, and we followed.

8. UTP at midnight is such a peaceful place. Unfortunately, not one cafe` or canteen were open at this hour. We were too late. Giving up on the search for food, we took a stroll towards UTP's an-Nur mosque, which is lit up at night. You can't miss it. It's a very modern mosque, surrounded by a lake. We helped ourselves to a tour. We also played with the masjid's doors:) You need to press a button to open the doors, something like opening the doors of a LRT or monorail. Very cool.
We slept reasonably late that night.

9. Next day was the core business of the programme; the interview. Myself and Fuzai were placed in Group E of the 5-group interview that day. Group E started at 2p.m, and finished interview at 5.30p.m. The interview ran smoothly for me. Alhamdulillah. I was in a group of four, and we had to discuss our given topic in front of two UTP lecturers, in a business meeting kind of style. My colleagues were two 20-something-year olds from Johor & N9, and a 17-year old Chinese girl, also from Johor.

10.The end of our interview marked the end of our 2-day EDUCAMP experience.

11. Much effort and hard work was required for this EDUCAMP, but at the end it is a very rewarding and self-enriching experince. You gain more than what you lose. Yes, it's a very busy 2 days for me, but I thrived in the rush of it all. Honestly, you can learn a lot from EDUCAMP.

12. I went back with my father. He said, "Nampak letih ja. Tak tidok ka?"
"Tak tidok sangat," I replied. "Keras."


" Ha? Keras? Ada...nampak..."


" Dak, dak. Bukan. Bantal keras:)"

13. That ends my EDUCAMP experience. How was yours? Chancellor Hall Masjid an-Nur...

Trulli, Kovalainen Piloting Lotus Machine Next Year

We have a team, we have a car, and now, we finally have drivers! Today, our wise PM, Mr. Najib, announced the people who would be racing in our Lotus F1 Racing Machine in next year's Formula 1 season. Main pilot would be Jarno Trulli, former Toyota F1 main man, and Heikki Kovalainen, former McLaren Mercedes driver will be his co-racing buddy. In the test department, we have our own favourite rookie, Fairuz Fauzy, as Lotus F1 Racing's third and test driver. Team principal Tony Fernandes said that the chosen drivers for our national F1 team, is a complete package, combining valuable experience (represented by Trulli), youthful ambition (represented by Kovalainen), and national pride (Fairuz Fauzy, of course).

The new Lotus F1 Racing Logo was also unvieled today. I think the new logo signifies past and future glory, as the dark green and yellow colour of Lotus is proudly worn by the logo. Its nice. I like it very much.

From my point of view, Malaysians would have no problem whatsoever in embracing our very on F1 team in next year's season. Although its hard to let go of Ferrari or Brawn or whatever, we must all agree that we now have a form of pride and a sense of achievement, in the form of a Lotus F1 racer, racing around tracks all over the world next year.

We can win this thing. We have it in us. Especially with talented drivers combined with a proper racing machine, Lotus F1 Racing, and Malaysia's chances of obtaining F1 success are high.

So let's all support Lotus F1 Racing next year, no matter what we think of Mr. Najib's idea to form a national Formula 1 team. This is what 1Malaysia is all about.

More info on Lotus F1 Racing, links provided;
http://paultan.org/2009/12/14/breaking-news-lotus-f1-reveals-driver-line-up/
http://www.lotusf1racing.my/ (official Lotus F1 Racing fansite, newly unvieled)