JackMunster

Jack has an update

2007-02-28T22:41:00.000-08:00

Ola!

It's about time for an update. Jack thanks his loyal readers who keep visiting the site the past five (gasp! 5!) months of no new update. The site visit trackers registered quite a number of loyal visitors, thanks again.

At first I stopped blogging because that was a period of decision and changes which I'd want to keep silent. A bit no manners to be broadcasting that you threw in your letter when you know your colleagues read your blog, no? That was a sad decision and I was not up to explaining the whys and etc etc until I was really sure.

So, I quit THAT job. Why?
1) I hate driving to KL.
2) I hate KL.
3) I dislike office with politics.
4) I had the chance to be 'inspired' by a talk by the big boss.

I've always said I'll have to sell Jack if I quit my job, so that's what I did next. We surveyed and he only fetches 32K in trade in, or 40k sell ourselves via MotorTrader. 20k+ depreciation in 1.5 years... ouch.

So, I sold Jack. Why?
1) Monthly payment is RM762, which is a bit high to go with my massive book-spending habits. I got him when I was a bachelor with no priorities in life. Now I'd rather keep the money and buy a nice house with a large-enough garden space. And library space tee-hee.

2) Petrol. Petrol. Petrol. Jack is a petrol-guzzler. Time to be smarter a bit and get a lower consumption car.

3) Jack is a bit of a no use. He was bought (prior to meeting car-man) to be a comfortable family vehicle to ferry around my parents when they come down. Now with car-man having nicer bigger faster more more more comfortable company car, Jack is almost always left behind to rot in the driveway. Makes sense to keep a smaller car that at least helps in the parking problem of our crowded neighbourhood.

4) Because I've said I'll sell him if I leave THAT company. What a motivator, but this sort of made up my mind.

So Jack is sold for 35K. To my mom. (Don't laugh. They sold me the house, didn't they? And yes my family is weird, you should know that already from knowing me). Now Jack is in the paint shop getting a full plastic surgery to repair the dents and scrapes before being shipped back to Sabah. In the meantime I'm having fun with his replacement:

I'll intro her in another post.
Do visit my other project at http://bookgila.blogspot.com

Jack Rack

2006-10-12T17:24:00.000-07:00

This is a repost.

Car-man requested to blank out key amounts. Seems Jack got a very very good discount - we owe it to the workshop not to publish the actual amounts.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack recently went for surgery to fix that annoying steering rack noise. The nosie has worsened so it was high time to do something about it before anything untowards happens.

used steering rack rm ###
wiper (front) rm 26
wiper (back) rm 16
power steering fluid top-up rm 8
alignment rm 20
labour rm ###

Total: RM ###
That is equals to roughly the price of 20 standard paperbacks.
Or 30 if you buy off Borders 3-for-price-of-2 promo. huhu

Booked Jack

2006-10-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

After the recent social over-exposure of pre + during + post wedding, I did what I've badly wanted to do for the past few months - retract from everything and everyone* and bury my head in the sand. And the best available sand to stick your head into is - books!

I went into crazy mode and dropped everything (including blogging, as you can tell) to recoup in September. My read list for September:

1 Misforture by Wesley Stace
2 Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck
3 Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists by Gideon Defoe
4 Call Me Elizabeth by Dawn Annandale
5 Pirates! In An Adventure With Ahab by Gideon Defoe
6 Identity by Milan Kundera
7 Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Impressive? Not as impressive as my book-buying binge(s!) for September. Which I will not list because no point making myself feel guilty. :-P

*everyone except delightful new hubby

Jack's Back!

2006-10-10T16:07:00.000-07:00

Mileage: 78046 km

Jack apologizes to his regular readers for the lack of activity for the past month. The tracker registered a surprising number of visitors although the content was never updated. Jack thanks you for the loyalty!

Jack wants this tattoo!

2006-09-15T04:00:00.000-07:00

With all the recent Jack-cidents I think Jack deserves a tattoo like this:

Jack-cident

2006-09-07T02:39:00.000-07:00

THE INCIDENT

One day before the wedding - Jack gets agitated with pre-wedding jitters and accidentally reverses full-speed into an unlucky Iswara. We braved into Jalan Masjid India, KL to grab a last minute item. In the melee of people and cars and more people and no parking and.. and... the combined effect was bad on my nerves already frayed from wedding stress and family stress. I took a wrong turn in a car park and reversed to get back from the exit gate and CRASH.

Oops. My first thought was 'Oh no I gonna get scolding from car-man'. I came down with my newly inai-ed hand and all and inspected Jack, while the other car's people did likewise. The was no dent on Jack's rear bumper, just a barely noticebale scratch. I breathed a relief that it wasn't a bad crash - then turned to inspect the other car. Double oops. The Iswara bumper was hanging of the car, sporting a nice big happy dent.

We traded phone numbers, I told the guy (pretty decent chap) to get it fixed and I'll pay him back the damage. I didn't pay him then and he didn't insist, I'm flattered that there still is trust in this ugly city. A quick call to car-man confirmed the bumper to be around RM150 max.

He called up few days later asking I had a prefered mechanic, but since I was in the midst of travelling around for the various reception I asked him to go ahead to his usual one and let me know. He called back a day later quoting his the mechanic's assement = RM750. Wah liao. He listed some items which I politely listened to but did not understand. I then sadly gave up the intent to settle this myself and got car-man to help settle the matter.

Car-man insisted to see the car to verify the claim. We met up with Iswara guy and car-man saw the damage, look at me, shook his head, and set up arrangements to fix the car at his friends workshop. The high position of Jack rear bumper (Jack's ass, if you will) hit the Iswara's front bumper at a beautiful spot that broke his front grill that in turn broke both his light brackets, and also smashed his bumper. Ouch.

The Iswara was fully repaired at cost-price RM 530 at CSK Auto - they left the labor cost up to us to give however much. So nice, Thank you CSK Auto. Recommended for you Auto needs

CSK Auto Service Centre
25, Jalan SM11, Taman Sri Manja
6 Mile, Off Jalan Klang Lama, PJ

Cousin Sha, who was with me at the time of incident, observed - "Wah. Now we know. Spectra very strong". Hahaha. That thought did cross my mind. Poor plastic-type new Iswara. The mechanic said that the new Iswara has a good reputation for touch-and-break.

Why did I blindly reverse full speed into a stationary car? Maybe my grandma's pantang larang took effect - the bride is not supposed to leave the house in the three days before the wedding. Or maybe it's the mirror I accidentally broke the previous day - 7 more years of such bad luck! Or maybe I just needed more sleep. The accumulated tiredness would explain the TRAFFIC LIGHT KISS and the PARKING MALL SIDE SCRAPE. :P

Mrs Jack

2006-09-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

Me and car-man on our wedding day - 20 August 2006. Thanks to all you guys who graced this wonderful day with your presence at our ceremony. =)

Notice Jack tumpang glamer in this pic.

3-Week Jack

2006-09-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

Jack gets a 3-week break from daily driving to KL hell with my 3-week work respite. I'm off to get/got married (pardon my tenses. I'm post-blogging and confusing myself).

What a hectic 3-weeks!

Week 1 - Pre-wedding mayhem
1.1 Jack makes multiple trips to LCCT (Low cost terminal. Now Everyone Can Fly!) for scattered relatives arrival.
1.2 Jack makes a cheap-booze dash to Seremban.
1.3 Jack zaps around running various wedding errands.
1.4 Jack makes very regular pilgrimage to saree-blouse man (the many trips is largely due to 1.1)
1.5 Jack ventures (once) into KL for a last-minute thing and meets THE INCIDENT.

Week 2 - Wedding & dinner & dinner
Sunday - Noon wedding at NUPW Hall in PJ
Sunday - Return home ceremonies for both houses in Subang
Monday - Off to Damai Laut Resort (Perak), one-night stay wedding gift from family friend
Tuesday - Wedding Dinner reception hosted by car-man's parents at home in Sitiawan, Perak
Wednesday - Back to Subang. Wade through wedding debris and pack for trip.
Thursday - Flight to Sandakan, Sabah.
Friday - Parents-in-law anniversary, dinner hosted by brother-in-law in Sandakan
Saturday - Wedding Dinner reception hosted by my parents at stilts-on-sea seafood restaurant in Sandakan.
Sunday - Flight home to Subang. Wade through leftover wedding debris and pack for long trip.
Monday - Drive to Kuantan (2 cars. Don't ask. I just feel I need my wheels.)

Week 3 - Rest in peace and quiet
Jack spent the final week in Kuantan. I brought Jack to Kuantan to aid in my mission to explore the town to decide if I would uproot my life (friends, job, routines, familiarity) in KL and restart here.

The decision? Still pending. I explored as much too know there's a good-enough Popular and a lot of decent Kopitiams. And that Kuantan is a very nice town. That's as far as I got, cos despite my many plans I ended up sleeping away the past weeks' fatigue instead.

I felt very depressed having to return to KL and its 3 lane roads choked with cars and noxious carbon emissions. Or maybe I'm just depressed having to return to work this Monday. Boo hoo.

Jack Tax

2006-08-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

Jack's legality was due to end on the day I was due to legally change my taraf perkahwinan. So off we went to visit the nice insurance lady and the banks again.

One year insurance : RM 1, 046.oo
One year road-tax: RM 126.50
Bank processing charges: RM 15.00

Pre-wedding Jack

2006-08-03T22:09:00.000-07:00

Mileage : 42712 km

What's with the silence? Jack not dead (yet), no worries.

He's alive and well and for the past weeks have been busy zooming around doing wedding-iy stuffs. Around KL and Seremban and Melaka hand-delivering wedding invitations. To the tailor(s). To the garland-makers. To the hall. To the food-tasting. To the planner's office. To the registrar uncle's house. To the wedding officiator meeting*. To the bridal shop. To the bridal house**.

There is yet more activity in store for Jack as we (eagerly) count the days towards D-Day. But there might not be much mentioned here. I've got enough wedding-iy stuff in my face and enough chorus of voices greeting me 'How's the wedding preparation?' everywhere I go to not want to blog about it. I believe you will understand. =)

So please come for my wedding ya***. I will be very pleased if you guys can attend and witness this exciting day of my life. If you haven't received an invitation yet buzz me (sorry hehe).

* Registrar - conduct marriage registration legally. Officiator - conduct ceremony according to custom.

**Got diffrence la. Bridal shop is that person who put powder on your face, knots your hair with flowers and ties your saree so it looks better than everyone elses. Bridal house is the one with lots of white wedding dresses displayed at the window.

*** Don't be like some persons (unfortunately blood-related) who is waiting for me to beg and plead for her to come and show her bitchy face and spoil my wedding. Hahaha. I would be pleased if you will come attend my wedding because you are genuinely pleased for me to have found my man whom I wish to spend the rest of my life with.

Jack on the Road

2006-07-17T20:08:00.000-07:00

Funky stuff you sometimes find on the road.

What's that? Let's go have a closer look.

Looks like its a spideman..

It's a poor spiderman all tied up and left to die!

Rude Jack

2006-07-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

Stat your Monday with ... rudeness & 'nice' people!

One of my top grouses is people who cut queues. Those damn farkers who cut a mile long of cars waiting patiently and selit in at the last minute. at the junction and contributes MORE towards the long wait. For Jack's daily commute this is especially annoying at the Jalan Kinabalu - Jalan Sultan Ismail turnoff.

Today, a very nicely maintained Honda cut in front of Jack right at the junction. This being my pet grouse + it's a bloody Monday and I don't wanna go to work so damn early but I have to cos traffic is a killer + traffic is already a killer with Jack having been on the road for close to an hour + a weekend of being heckled about wedding wedding wedding (xxxx - a lot of unsaid words here that I cannot put up for political reasons), I did the KL road-conduct manners thing - flashed the stupid bugger (sb) and waved a cute little finger.

At which the sb took offence (oh, he was so doing the correct thing all this while) and started staring cock at me through his rearview mirror. He slowed down and started crawling, which is extremely intelligent of him considering he cut queue to save his precious time and now he's spending it wisely by trying to annoy me. Hahaha.

Kereta cantik tapi tak pandai bawa. Kesian. Maybe not sb's fault also, maybe his mak bapak forgot to teach him manners.

Anyway he put up his staring game till I took of my sunglasses and stared back at him, at which sb dropped both his gaze and frown. Maybe he's a God-fearing Melayu man, cannot make eye contact with females. So pious. He unfortunately took the same route as I did (maybe he thought I was tailing him into the inner roads) but went further that me as I turned off to park. Which gives him the advantage of knowing where Jack is lepaking right now.

Let's hope Jack has all his wheels and has not acquired a brilliant new scratch by the time I go back today. Couldn't care less, though. I hope his balls get infested with maggots and his eyebrows catch fire in a hilarious freak accident. Happy Monday!

Guzzler Jack

2006-07-05T22:48:00.000-07:00

Mileage : 39894 km

I've been told countless times that a Spectra is an oil-guzzler.

I never paid much attention before as .. err.. well it was not much of a concern. But now that I'm sitting bored in Jack daily as I commute to work I've been noticing things more. Like, the odometer is quite interesting to watch. And it's quite fun to reset at every full tank to see how far Petronas Primax fuel can go (okay, so I've not made this a habit before. So?)

Jack clocks in barely 380km town-driving for a ful tank of ~RM75.
Wow. Time to re-do my finances.

Further Spectra fuel consumption discussion here

UPM Jack

2006-07-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

Jack visits Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (UPM) to get little bro registered last Sunday.
The resgistration process was quick and very well coordinated. I was impressed with the internal traffic management.

Step 1: Park car at designated 'Tempat Letak Kereta Ibu-Bapa'

Step 2: Take bus to Kolej Kelima. There are dedicated buses for the respective colleges, frequent enough not to be crowded even with the mountains of bags and pails and teddy bear (?).

Step 3: Register.

Step 4: Get hostel key and 'check-in'.

Rajin-rajin belajar, adik. Enjoy campus life!

Jack Stuck

2006-07-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

I woke up late this morning and Jack got stuck in traffic for 1 hour 10 mins.
With amazing luck I managed to replicate Jack's action - by getting stuck in the office lift with two just-as-lucky colleagues.

Have a bad day, folks.

Japan GT (no Jack)

2006-06-25T21:38:00.000-07:00

Jack gets car-napped to Seremban while I spend the day at Sepang ogling at people ogling at Japan GT babes.

GT cars lining up at the pit lane

On the starting grid

GT babes

Grid Activity

So cute. Michelin Man!

Alex Yoong after A1 demo run

Guys from work: does this Intergra Cup driver look familiar?

Decision Jack

2006-06-19T07:40:00.000-07:00

Mileage: 38806 km

This morning while getting off Jack after parking him I noticed my sunglasses lying limp on the dashboard. I realised it has been ages since I last used them... Jack reaches the office as the sun is just beginning to shine and leaves office when the sun has long retired.

This sad observation just adds another pebble to the decision scale. For the past 2 months I've caught myself frequently grousing about working in KL. Since Jack complaining week to week makes a boring read, and is making me a tediously boring person, I've decided to make a decision about doing something to solve this 'problem'.

Step 1: Decide to do something [DONE]
Step 2: Decide what it is that needs to be done.

I have on hand two possible solution. Either I change address of residence, which is not too easy considering I just bought the house, or I change address of working place, which is not easy because of.. of... I like the work *choke.

Between dismantling my Ikea shelves or dismantling two-and-a-half years of work history, the choice seems obviously obvious.

Sareed Jack

2006-06-11T22:32:00.000-07:00

Mileage: 38450 km

Jack makes a trip to Seremban for wedding saree(s) shopping.

A cousin of mine runs a home business selling selected sarees brought in direct from India. We spent 4 hours shifting through a roomful of choices, sitting comfortably on the floor enveloped in their kind hospitality.

We left happily with our purchase of 5 sarees and 5 punjabi suits, including a wedding saree.
* Wedding saree not shown. Pantang.

Jack Holidayed

2006-06-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

Mileage: 37962 km

I LOVE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS!
No jams! 45 mins to work - ON FEDERAL HIGHWAY!

Which means I'm at the office now at 7.45am. A bit too early :p

Subang-Kuantan Dash Jack

2006-06-04T23:18:00.000-07:00

Jack makes a spur-of-the-moment trip to Kuantan.

11.00 am - Leave Subang
Journey was pleasant, not much cars on the road. Had cousin Kesv keep me company and join me in sampling the food at Temerloh rest stop (not recommended, duh).

2.45 pm - reach Kuantan
Whee! Get to spend some time with car-man. Rindu.

6.17 pm - leave Kuantan
At car-man's insistence left before the day gets dark. He wanted me to clear the Kuantan-Karak stretch before night, at least. People say the highway got 'things', but actually is just so staright and boring that bad single-car crashes happens often. Plus a lot monkeys cross road without looking first. I saw two-and-half monkey corpse on the way back.

10.01 pm - reach Subang
Smooth journey, except for a slight (45 mins) crawl before the tunnel. On the clear streches of highway I noticed no one barely went over the 120km/h. (I didn't either, I promised I wouldn't and strained my neck keeping the speed. Try driving at a slower than normal speed - you'll feel your neck straining to get ahead. Inertia maybe.)

Anyways I was quite surprised, nice roads and no hell-speeding. Was it because the cars were mostly filled with families on holidays? Or was it just the laid-back style of driving that city people cannot understand? Or was it city people but driving slower cause it's ho-li-day? Hrm...

7.5 hours spent in the car to spend 3.5 hours with car-man.
Worth it? You bet.

Smarting Jack

2006-05-29T22:33:00.000-07:00

SMART: Build nice hotels in and around Putrajaya.

SMARTER: Build nice state-of-art convention centre in Putrajaya.

SMARTEST: Hold meeting in said convention centre. Host participants in hotels in KL and close major roads at peak hours so the most-honored participants can travel to meeting in time.

Jack Track

2006-05-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

Jack spends the weekend at the race track, for the Hong Kong Classic Car series. The boys got down and dirty while I sat amongst the towers of tyres doing what I always do on weekends - reading. =)

Crawl, Jack, crawl

2006-05-25T17:23:00.000-07:00

Mileage : 36777

Home - KL stats :

Home - NKVE - Jln Duta - Jln Parlimen - Jln Kinabalu - Office [30 km, RM2.60]
Office - Jln Kinabalu - Federal Highway - NPE - Home [22 km, RM3.60]
Office - Jln Kinabalu - Federal Highway - Home [21 km, RM0.00]
Office - Jln Parlimen - LDP - NKVE - Home [26 km, RM1.00]

When you spend so much time stuck in your car daily you'd come up with ways to pass the time too. I'm an avid mileage meter reader now. Sigh.

Jack Optimax

2006-05-19T23:28:00.000-07:00

Jack makes a few trips to Optimax at TTDI these past few days as I get my eyes fixed. I'm typing this post through newly lasered eyes, AND without any optical help. No glasses, no contact lenses. =D

This morning I woke up to my life long dream of waking up and SEEING without having to first reach for my glasses. =D

So how was it? The first visit to Optimax was for a 2 hour eye examination. I went through about 7 eye test machines as they tested for sight, cornea thickness, refractiveness, acuity, etc etc. After confirming on suitability (25% of patients get turned down for unsuitability, for example too thin corneas) and degree of short-sightness and astigmatism, I went back with blurred vision from the pupil-dilating drops they administered for the test.

Second trip...

Surgery day. Register, get pupils dilated for surgery and dressed in hospital gowns (very classy one, got cloth cuffs. Fuyoo). The nurse explained the after-care routine, then the doctor personally sat with each patient and talked about the upcoming procedure. I remember one line he said - "If you hear any zzz zzz sound ignore it, thats the laser doing its work. If you smell barbecue, ignore it, thats the laser..."

I was not nervous at all going into surgery, after all its a 30 minute procedure and I'm getting my eyesight (!!!). The three hours leading up to the actual surgery was a tad boring, especially with a fellow patient yapping away with anxiety beside me. Then it came my turn. Yeahoo, I thought..

The first thing the doctor does before we go into surgery is mark two dots in each eye, with a blue marker. That totally freaked me out. How come in the gazillions of counselling and information they provided they failed to mention this? Since I shrank back (come on, he's touching the eye with a marker!!) and the marks he made were not visible enough, he had to do it again and touched up the marks in my eyes twice. EEeeuuwwww.

Then we go into the surgery room and the procedure begins. During surgery a ring is fixed around the eye so you can't move it; then the cornea top is sliced open, lifted, the laser applied, and the cornea top put back in place, smoothed down and that it.

While the surgery is under way there is a lot of bright lights hovering over the eye, and the first instict is to blink, right? The ring over the eye prevents this, and although I was desperate to close my eyes agaisnt the lights invasion I can't. At that point of time I remember feeling extremely extremely horrified. That feeling I'm not keen on going through ever again.

Then the cornea slicing part. Haha the thing is you're awake throughout the procedure, and you have to maintian your eye looking at a given guiding light. So.. you get to SEE you cornea lifted, SEE it returned to position, SEE the doctor smooth it down with whatever instrument that is. Damn geli. Eeeee. My hands are going weak just typing this out. Eeeee...

If you're thinking to laser your eyes (Sorry Juon I hope this didn't scare you), go for it. The results are worth it. But be prepared lah, don't be hero like me. It's not a walk in the park, its shit scary actually. :p

* Thanks to the current wave of O% credit card installment that made this surgery possible.

KL KL KL Jack

2006-05-03T03:24:00.000-07:00

Mileage : 34875 km

Jack and me gets a lifestyle change. Earlier mornings, new routes, more walkings (me) and more sun (Jack). I'm now based in KL and currently surviving the change, with a LOT of complaints. Sigh.

Foiled!!

2006-04-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

Jack goes back late from office, waiting as we (my specially gifted colleagues and me) work into the night completing our very special project.

If you work in my office, it is not advisable to turn your back on your evil scheming colleagues; especially if it is your birthday. Otherwise you may get this:

Microsoft Jack

2006-04-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

Mileage: 34512 km

Jack goes to Sime Darby Convention Centre (huh? haha yes I didn't know this existed either) for Microsoft's ISV Summit 2006. It was the usual subtle Microsoft propaganda, well-done as usual.

Matthew Hardman presenting Windows Presentation Foundation

Special Note: Aaron Tan Dani is an exceptional speaker. If you attend any MS events in the future lookout and try a topic by him. He's got the experience + that special something that makes his talks extremely alive and interesting.

How is the seminar? many has asked. If you're a work-related person I'll give you the standard 'OK, some good presentations on new products' answer. On a more personal note I've achieved my main objectives in attending the event.

1) Meet people aka Build Bridges
I was a bit disappointed to discover my ex-company no longer runs the event, they lost the contract to another events suite. I was looking forward to meeting the old bunch, but another day/event then.

I met some ex-colleagues and some ex-schoolmates, so we traded stories and work-situations as usual. Completely bored waiting for the event to start, I struck up some conversation with some equally bored-looking persons. More stories and work-situations. Ha, now I have friend in the online banking system business.

2) Catch up aka Staying Current
Good to know the newest things around, since IT is a business that goes out of date very fast. Got a good look at Microsoft latest newest freshest developer tools.

I was quite curios about the Microsoft Team Systems, having come across this many times in stalking that blond-haired demigod of my past. (Hehehe. An obsession is hard to rid of). Now I know that Team Systems is the best integrated software development platform to build the mission-critical applications that businesses depend on. It combines powerful new role-based tools, customizable processes and guidance and an integrated server to help teams drive predictability, visibility, and control into their software development process.

3) Learn new things
I learnt... to make sure to remember the floor you parked your car at. I remembered the location but forgot to note the floor. Had a fun time visiting all 3 levels of car-park looking for Jack. Thank goodness there's only 3 floors overall!

Service Jack

2006-04-23T22:37:00.000-07:00

Jack spends the day at the mechanic while I mope at home nursing an inflamed eyeball writhing with conjuctivitis. (Sucks to be mc-able sick on Saturday AND Sunday)

I want new eyes!! Since these are not readily available on the market, I had to console myself by getting Jack new tyres instead. His back tyres were in pretty bad shape, exhausted on one side each. They were causing quite a racket (anyone riding in the back seat of Jack can tell) so its time to get some new wheels, figuratively. At RM194 per piece, Jack left me quite broke.

Service Bill
Engine Oil RM 85
Oil Filter RM 18
Labour Free (friend friend ma)
Filter and Complete Check RM 12
2 Tyres RM388
2 Tubeless Valves RM 10
Wheel Balancing RM 10
Alignment RM25

Total - a wallet-emptying RM548

Vacated Jack

2006-04-19T23:08:00.000-07:00

Jack stays at home while I go off for a 4-day vacation around Kota Kinabalu, with a choice bunch of colleagues. Bliss....
(We emptied half the office btw - teehee).

1) One day in gallivanting around KK town.

2) One day shivering in the mountains at Kinabalu National Park.
3) One day salting and burning in Pulau Manukan.

*natives will notice there is something really wrong with the first pic.

Jack?

2006-04-19T08:54:00.000-07:00

Mileage: 34005 km

What's this long awful silence??!! Either Jack (and me) is too busy enjoying life to have the time to blog, or having a no-life too dull to blog about.

KL commute Jack

2006-03-07T02:38:00.000-08:00

Jack experiments what working in and traveling to KL entails. Sooner or later (sooner, more likely) we're getting displaced to KL office, seeing that the benevolent company has bought a whole building, so this Monday we took a trial run exploring the option of taking Star LRT to work.

I'm pampered. I hardly ever take public transport (unless you count airplanes). The prospect of taking public transport daily to work is something new and not at all exciting. Much as I prefer driving (ah - the personal space), I'd rather keep my blood vessels intact than drive out of USJ in the mornings.

Trashycan has outlined the available options of getting to work in KL from Subang. This is the route Jack and me tried.

7.20am leave home
7.50 reach Star LRT Bukit Jalil. Actually I didn't realize until I was at the station platform that I was actually lost. I meant to reach Star LRT Sri Petaling station. =P.
8.02 Finish U-turn, leave Jack in open-air parking (RM 1.50 per day), walk across big drain to station, zap TouchNGo and wait at platform.
8.25 Reach station Sultan Ismail.
8.26 Got scared by the rush of people hurrying out of the station. What's the emergency? All the otherwise wonderfully dressed people were rushing head forward, legs trying to desperately catch up. Like chickens running across the street hahaha.
8.27 Finish gaping at the chickens running across the road. Begin walking to office. Getting acquainted with dirty diesel-ly KL air.
8.40-ish Reach office.

Not a bad daily commute. The traveling time can be cut down quite some, since I not that familiar yet.
Not bad, leave at 7.20am daily as opposed to currently leave at 8.20am...

Malacca Jack

2006-03-05T20:26:00.000-08:00

Jacks goes down to Malacca for the weekend, for Lou Peng's wedding.
We bunked in with Anah for this trip - Thanks Anah!

Having had a relatively tiring week, I had expected to be wasted and tired and moody by Sunday. With a KLIA trip on Friday evening, another KLIA trip on Saturday morning, after which I drove back to Subang then on to getting stuck in Sunway jam (construction, construction) in the ghastly afternoon heat and THEN drive down to Malacca... I was expecting to be tired and was a bit afraid of being bad company.

But the drive to Malacca is awesome. GRIN. Once past Seremban it is a pleasure to drive drive drive. Jack and me had a fun time cruising along on the nice road, taking in the beatiful scenery. I agree with Anah, once past Seremban the scenery turns very pretty. Having promised Car-man I won't take Jack pass 130 km/h, we kept a steady speed and it still was a beatiful beautiful drive.

Haha, plus we discovered Malacca is not that far after all.
Satay celup within reach. Woohoo.

I meantioned I expected a tiring weekend rite? I hadn't expected the place I was sleeping over at. I've been to Anah's house pre-renovation and during renovation, but the post-renovation home is - wahliao. I left the house and Malacca extremely calmed and rejuvenated - take a look at these pics to see why.

Once again, Thank you Anah!

Jack up the petrol price

2006-03-02T20:32:00.000-08:00

This blog is running for just a year and already there were two posts on petrol price increase, a 10 sen jump on May 5th '05 and another 10 sen jump on August 4th '05

Now we have a third jump at 30 sen to 1.92 sen.
30 sen.

There's not much to say that's not already been said, no?

Haha...

2006-02-28T19:00:00.000-08:00

Jack's colleague get's a sticky prank on his master's last day of service at my workplace.

Jack Around

2006-02-27T23:08:00.000-08:00

Jack's been out out out so there was not much time to blog. Here's the short excerpts on what he's been up to.

1) MPH Sale
Jack brings me and Anah (yippee I got her to come down from Malacca) to empty our wallets at the annual MPH Warehouse sale. Jack then had to lug back our stacks of purchases teeheehee.

2) Ikea
Jack visits Ikea with me and Anah. Then Jack had to lug back that absurd thing we both bought teeheehee.

3) NUPW Hall
Jack checks out NUPW Hall for wedding venue. Me and Car-man got a proper tour of the place and people running them, so this is where we're going to tie the knot. Yippee.

4) Bugs
Jack drives head-on, full-speed into a swarm of bugs and thwacked them all. Jack got a screen full of disgusting semi-liquid splotches. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck.

5) Kuantan
Jack takes a day-trip to Kuantan for the wedding dinner of Car-man's colleague. His colleague, an Aussie, got a duo of musicians performing folk tunes with guitar and banjo and accordion. Funky.

6) KLIA
Jack goes to that place again, this time to get my parents. Together! They were actually kind enough to come down in the same day and same flight this time. Hallelujah.

JACK TURNS ONE!!

2006-02-21T12:45:00.000-08:00

Mileage : 28088 km

Jack turns one today. Congrats! All four wheels intact, body slightly dented but still able. Cheers! Here to long life and health (please don't deteriorate into a write-off before I finish paying for you in the next four years). Cheers! Only 8000 km above the standard mileage average of 20k km a year!

Jack's in a bit of a spot though. I've collected his new road tax yesterday but forgot to paste in on.. Oops. Jack will be creeping around silently with his dead road-tax today. Ssssshhh...

Errand-Monday Jack

2006-02-20T17:16:00.000-08:00

Monday. Jack and me do what we usually do on Mondays - run around doing errands that can only be done during certain hours because everybody works the same days and times. Lunch-time errands is out for us Cyberians (there is nothing in Cyberjaya). This Monday, among other things Jack went to check out two more halls for wedding venue.

We have a hall booked but due to certain reasons we're looking at some alternatives. Don't ask, I won't answer. So this Monday Jack went to Thean Hou Temple at Jalan Syed Putra and MPPJ's D'Klana Hall.

The D'Klana Hall was abuzz with activity when Jack and me stopped for a viewing. They were setting up the place for the upcoming MPH warehouse sale. Boxes and boxes of books sprawled acroos the hall while the staff unpacked and got them on the shelves. Eeeeeee...... It was a lot of work ignoring the excitement buzzing in my pores (ok. yes. I'll never be a poet) and actually notice the hall.

What was more disturbing than the stacks of books was the atmosphere. Pre-event setup. So much activity, staff in t-shirts running about co-ordinating. Beyond that I saw the long-hours on the feet, the tapao lunches, the actual event day of people people people. The smile smile smile for the crowd and the 'can you believe this guy' at end-day. The teardown after event, demolish and pack and post-mortem back at office. Sigh...I miss doing events.

Different combinations of eyes nose mouths, different temperaments. Beats the different snippets of code code code I'm seeing daily now. But would I trade back? Haha.. the grass is always greener on the other side.

Anyway this Monday ends. This will be our next to last errand-Monday, I'm back to full-week work next week. Well that's a trade-off, and I hope it is a good choice.

Valentine Jack

2006-02-14T11:22:00.000-08:00

I love you too...

Taxing Jack

2006-02-13T21:35:00.000-08:00

Jack is approaching his birthday, so its time to cough up cash to keep him legally on the road.

Getting his insurance and road tax renewed was an unexpected adventure. Previously for Baby Knacil was a straight-forward process - on road-tax-die day go Kurnia renew insurance, then go Post office renew road tax. Done in 2 hours or less. Simple.

Jack just had to be difficult. For a start his birthcert is with the creditors, which means I can't renew his road tax directly. Usually insurance companies can liase with the banks to do this for you, so that one less headache BUT....

I renewed Jack's insurance at a branch of P&O Orient in Taipan. Service is excellent, the sole lady in the office is from a past generation of cheerfullness and politeness. It's like conversing with a teacher from those days. She regretfully informed me that since Jack's birthcert is with his creditors in another state therefore they will not be able to help liase with the bank on the road tax. Hai. She was very kindly, giving specific people and things to do to get things done at the creditors branch down the road.

Jack's extra-steps process - one week earlier go to P&O Orient renew insurance, tehn go to creditor branch get road tax renewed (remember to mention inter-branch transaction), then one week later go collect road tax. A bit less simple.

Jack just had to be extra difficult. It turns out the company who dealt with Baby Kancil/Jack trade-off botched some things. Jack's road tax expires on February, but his insurance expires in May (???. I also don't know. Tu lah, tak check). This mismatch is bad because your road tax and insurance MUST match, so the alternative was to extend Jack's insurance 3 months and renew road tax for 6 months so they both are due for renewal in August. Canggih.

Then in August there will be a repeatorama of this process, will less one hassle of mismatched documents. Hai. Another thing, after holding the insurance policy thus far, I just noticed that my address was recorded wrongly. House number 55 instead of 58. Goodness.. so folks, forget the fine print. Remember to read the whole bloody thing.

Ka-ching!
Insurance extension : RM 335.47
Road Tax : RM 63
Road Tax Processing Fee : RM 10
Road Tax Inter-branch courier : RM 5

Jack's Perak Tour

2006-02-11T11:31:00.000-08:00

Some photos from Jack's CNY dash across Perak.
All photos taken outside relatives's homes,
whom kindly hosted Jack and passengers.

Sitiawan

Taiping

Ipoh

Jack's Weekend

2006-02-05T20:25:00.000-08:00

Jack has a nice weekend running about.

He's gone scouring Subang area for a decent hall to hold a wedding.

He's gone for a little birthday party for a close friend of car-man. His friend's little boy's birthday, and we chill with car-man's associates of parents towing little kiddies. Did I feel a bit out of place in this crowd of grown-ups? =)

He's gone for our annual CNY lose-our-money gathering at InnSann's place. Nice catching up, bar that cracking whining incident. =) =)

Hehehehe. Come snigger with me if you get the joke.

Jack is Back

2006-02-02T23:05:00.000-08:00

Mileage : 27002 km

Jack comes home! Yippie!

Bro brought him back nicely washed. He took some photos of Jack traipsing all over Sitiawan, Taiping and Ipoh, but he's yet to pass them to me. So for now I've got only one pic of Jack, outside my in-laws house in Sitiawan.

Oh.. don't look too puzzled. Car-man is the son of an old old family friend, so my grandma wanted to drop in say hello to his parents. My grandma and his grandma were chums waaaaay back then in this small little town.

Resolve Jack

2006-01-31T15:02:00.000-08:00

Jack is still off holidaying, at this moment in Taiping. Without me.

In a previous post I mentioned my resolve on curbing my book buying tendencies. Last Sunday (CNY Sunday) car-man took his sister and kids and me for a treat to Aquaria KLCC. And alas, KLCC means Kinokuniya beckoning in her sultry voice..

Aquaria KLCC was quite fun despite the crowds - do make a trip. The Living Oceans gigantic aquarium is worth a WOW. We went through it twice, it was pretty amazing. I'm not telling you more, go see for yourself.

Kinokuniya called, and unfortunately I answered. I got Khaled Hosseini's The Kita Runner and Salman Rushdie's The Moor's Last Sigh. Plus I nearly popped my eyes at the sheer variety of books on offer. Now I'm itching for another visit.

Technically, I didn't actually go back on the vow. It was, I quote, 'ban Jack from malls with MPH, Popular and Borders'. Hahaha.. I exploited the loophole in my own vow. Kinokuniya is not banned, and it wasn't Jack that took me there.

Hahaha. Or in other words I'm just no good at keeping resolves.

Holiday Jack

2006-01-29T11:08:00.000-08:00

Mileage : 26439 km

Happy Chinese New Year, Folks.

Jack goes to Sitiawan for the long holidays with Bro as Grandma's get-around. I stayed behind missing him (Jack, not Bro) terribly, but I am adamant I don't want to travel anywhere outside of Klang Valley. The nightmare of inching along KL-Seremban highway at 5km/h ALL THE WAY two cny's ago has left me a lasting phobia.

It's a weird feeling not having Jack around for so many days (he's back on Thursday). Without him I actually feel sort of crippled. Not that I'm totally without wheels, I have Bro's car for use, plus car-man's ride is around (plus driver, no less. teehee). It's just odd not having your own wheels at your instant disposal - takes a bit of your 'grab keys and go' freedom. I feel that tad bit restricted, but well I'll make do.

The city during CNY is one of my favourite scenes. Such measly traffic on any given road! wheeee.... You can actually pick and choose parking spots. wheeee... Zig zag like crazy across three lanes. wheeee.....

Jack Serviced

2006-01-28T20:45:00.000-08:00

Mileage : 26142 km

Jack goes in for his first independent service at CSK Auto Service Centre, Taman Sri Manja. This is a dependable workshop whom car-man refers his more-valued ex-customers to.

Engine Oil : 83.00
Oil Filter : 16.00
Labour : 12.00

Total : RM 111.00
(includes tuning to fix the annoying k-tak sound when the steering is turned full right).

Obsessive Jack

2006-01-22T22:24:00.000-08:00

Mileage: 25803 km

Jack spends the first half of Sunday at IOI Mall Puchong. He / We left soon in the afternoon, forced out by the nauseating last-week-before-CNY crowd. Gosh, people. Keep your kids (especially the ones still needing diapers) at home. I would have thought this common sense. I mean, would that baby in the pram actually be looking forward to a trip to the mall?

Shopping in any mall, must, MUST, as usual include at least an hour browing through the locale bookstore. After ages engrossed amongst the shelves of IOI Mall's newly facelifted Popular bookstore, I walked out empty-handed... amazing...

Actually what's amazing is that I'm still keeping to my 'vow' of not purchasing any new books until I've done with the previous batch I bought. I'm being lenient in applying this rule to only books bought this year on, cause I do still want to buy books (hand itchy).

Early this year I got three books from Borders Ikano in their buy-three-pay-for-two promotion. I've done Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore, am going through Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being and have Kazuo Ishiguro's When We Were Orphans to finish before I can get anymore books.

Wish me luck! In keeping my resolve to not get any new books before this batch is done. A tall order, but must.. keep.. resolve. (fingers crossed). I therefore ban Jack from any malls containing an MPH, Popular or Borders. Which is most malls, so I'll just have to keep home these holidays and work on my latest obsession.

Oh ya, in not getting any books I consoled myself by finnaly getting that needlework I've been eyeing since Uni days. It's a spectacular shades-of-brown potrait of the Hindu Lord Ganesha. This is my brand new, 180 x 220 stitch-count cross-stitch obsession. =)

Jack Limit

2006-01-15T22:12:00.000-08:00

Push yourself to the limit! (Sounds motivation-ish?)

Jack pushes to 150 km/h, his best yet.

This is on Jack's best acquainted road, the Subang - KLIA strech of the Elite highway. This time around its to send off car-man for his 4-day business trip (lucky bugger) to Delhi.

Wasn't me at the wheel though. I usually freak out at around 130 km/h. Amazing how effective images of my father crying over a senseless death is to that leg on the gas pedal. Hrm.. Amazing also such images are non-existent when capable people like car-man pushes the car past the usual speeds. Haha yeah it's my driving I don't trust, not Jack.

Now, let's try for 160!

Jack Raya Korban

2006-01-10T18:10:00.000-08:00

Hari Raya Korban is a day when Muslims reaffirm their faith in God, giving thanks for the many blessings that He has bequeathed to them. Excerpt from here.

Hari Raya Korban, Jack is crusing along the pleasantly empty highway when he notices the two motorcyclists in front riding a bit strangely, twisting about too playfully. Jack pulls along parallel to the mat motor and whoa..

Hari Raya Korban, and Mat Motor in baju melayu (baru balik dari masjid kot) ups and does that stupid superman both-legs-in-the-air thing.

Hari Raya Korban, pandai anak-anak ~~Setan~~ Malaysia meluangkan masa buat kerja-kerja berfaedah.

Hari Raya Korban, jom berkorban ramai-ramai kat jalan raya.

Con Jack

2006-01-08T23:01:00.000-08:00

Mileage : 24635 km

Jack takes part in an elaborate 'Con The Parents' project this weekend.

Cousin Sha and Kesv evil-ly plot to surprise their beloved parents. Sha is currently studying in Russia, and comes home only once a year during the summer holidays. This time around, with a month long winter break and an increased monthly allowance from JPA she decides to come home in January. And not tell the parents (this is more Kesv's idea, the Con part haha).

To give you a feel of things, the mom Amma is prone to waterworks about Sha being so far away and all that. Surprising Amma (and dad Acca too, of course) with a sudden appearance is quite a big thing. The naughty kids were plotting months in advance and were excitedly replaying various scenes of the 'surprise' meeting. We crossed our fingers hoping it doesn't end with Amma fainting hehe.

So Jack fetches Sha from the airport on Sat, and sneaks her back to Seremban on Sunday. The parents were down from Terengganu as Kesv managed to con them with some reason or other to make the trip here. Then... Surprise!

Hehehehe. The reactions and happenings unfortunately words cannot capture. Suffice to say project 'Con The Parents' was a huge success. A bit of happy tears and lots of smiles all around.

Bad, bad children...

Jack-cessory I

2006-01-06T18:26:00.000-08:00

As most of you are aware, Jack is named after Jack Skelington, the title character of the Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. In keeping with this, Jack (and previously Baby Kancil) is littered with accessories from the movie .

This is one, it's a slipcover for that flap at the head of the front passengers. The slipcover comes with lotsa pockets for stuff and a fat little Jack doll. This one is long-serving, it rode with Baby for some time before Jack.

**the above does not come included with the Monster beside it.

Jack-in-law(s)

2006-01-02T21:35:00.000-08:00

Mileage: 24140 km

Jack spends the new year in Ipoh, carting Bro and his other half home to meet his potential in-laws. Tee hee. I, meanwhile, spent the turn of new year like I always do; indoors, away from the crowd and noise, catching the coundown and fireworks on tv for the few crucial minutes then back to my favourite past-time - sleep.

Jack spends some days in Ipoh with Bro's potential in-laws (tee hee. I can't help repeating) while car-man and me takes a day trip to Sitiawan on New Year's Day to visit my (not potential anymore) in-laws. Pleasant weekend all around.

Jack Booked

2005-12-31T21:32:00.000-08:00

It's another year's end and another beginning. Jack not too excited, he wasn't around last New Year so there's not much 'reflect & renew' for him.

One common recurring theme of 2005 is that Jack gets lugged to frequent book-shopping trips. He's been to a number of various outlets of MPH, Popular, Borders and Times. Here's a list of books I've consumed for 2005.

This list, hoever, does not represent the amount of actual book buying I did (and Jack carted) in 2005. To not scare myself and my wallet I refuse to list them down and put a value to them. Happy New Year!

Office Jack

2005-12-28T21:42:00.000-08:00

Jack's been busy with some office functions lately:

1) Annual Dinner @ Sunway Hotel

2) Christmas Gift Exchange

3) Christmas BBQ @ WK's pretty place

Holiday Jack

2005-12-27T21:56:00.000-08:00

Mileage : 23401 km

Jack's got a busy busy busy Christmas week, with multiple trips to KLIA (twice in a same day, even), countless countless trips to countless different malls and a gathering at home with beloved family members both from Sabah and around town.

I was going to chronicle Jack's journeys for the past week, but I've lost count of his travels. Jack would like to give an (obvious) advice though - DON'T ATTEMPT SHOPPPING MALLS ON PUBLIC HOLIDAYS.

Mileage Jack

2005-12-14T21:42:00.000-08:00

Mileage : 22446 km

Just a milage update. Jack is racking up the mileage this holidays / engagment / wedding season.
Actually I'm testing out Jack's online mileage (sic hits) tracker. Take a look at the sidebar, below the mass of links.

Engaging Jack

2005-12-10T08:47:00.000-08:00

Last night.

Jack milling with the crowd outside my Uncle's place in Cheras.
Inside, car-man and me has just got engaged.

more photos...

Beer Jack

2005-12-06T23:14:00.000-08:00

Mileage : 21428 km

Jack goes snuffling around the back alleys of Brickfields to get hold of some cheap beer and alcohol for the upcoming engagement. (legal? Illegal? No comment..)

An amusing outing, considering the way the guys at the doorway jumped nervously when my two favourites botaks approached the place. After much wary questions and furtive glances they finally led car-man and my bro to the 'shop' proper, with its stash of drinks and drunks. There were stacks of drinks and quite some drunks glazed out in the shop, so I'm told. I didn't get to see these as I was kept in Jack for safekeeping.

With a few RM70-a-crate Tigers and some other extras, Jack then heads home to Subang.

Jack Probed

2005-12-04T23:41:00.000-08:00

Annoyed with the 'THACK' sound Jack does everytime you turn his steering full to the left (or right, I can't tell), car-man takes him apart to check what's wrong with in Jack.

(no that's not our son)

Investigations didn't yield anything, unfortunately.
The annoying sound is still there.

move-your-steering-after-kill-engine Jack

2005-11-28T20:57:00.000-08:00

Mileage : 21237 km

Did you know there exists such things as move-your-steering-after-kill-engine lock?

I didn't, not even after 9 months of Jack driving. Luckily sampahman was around when Jack refused to start after being move-your-steering-after-kill-engine locked, thus saving me a semi-panic attack and a semi-hysterical phonecall

Thanks for the how to unlock a move-your-steering-after-kill-engine lock tip! Owe you one.

Jack Serviced

2005-11-21T21:24:00.000-08:00

Mileage : 20712 km

Jack goes to that unpleasant place, Kia Service Centre (Puchong) for his third and last service with these noxious people.

Oil filler 13.70
Washer 1.50
Bass Rmq 5.00 (dunno. writing on receipt horrible)
Eng. Oil 165.00
ATF 57.90
Service FOC
Total 243.10

Counter lady did not bother to get me to sign the service book as before, probably because they know nobody ever comes back for service with them once the warranty is up. What a contrast from Perodua service. Up to the day I sold off Baby she's only serviced in Perodua Service, and I've some friends who do they same for their Peroduas.

I can list an account of all Kia Service shortcomings, but nevermind... I'm just glad that now the warranty is settled I can take Jack to more trustworthy service people.

Jack wasn't here

2005-11-13T23:55:00.000-08:00

Mileage: 20211 km

Jack gets left behind at home while I go off on a day trip to Kuantan with car-man, in his ride. Sorry Jack, we couldn't take you cos your auto gear box is not too suited for the taxing drive up the winding roads of Karak highway. Taxing for an auto car, meaning. Damn I'm still wishing you're a manual drive...

The drive was pleasant enough. The highway cut through a lot of jungle and the green expanse was soothing to the eye. We stopped by Pekan to have a look see, and passed by Jack's (possible) birth place, the AMM assembly plant. There were a few naked Jack siblings out in the yard of that huge complex. Then we went on to Kuantan for lunch and spent some time chilling at the pretty beach at Teluk Chempedak before heading home.

Trip cost:
Petrol ~ RM40 one way
Toll ~ RM 25 one way
Bayar anak babi - RM50

Anti-rasuah badges.
What a joke.

Jack Overdrive

2005-11-09T13:03:00.000-08:00

Mileage: 20,051 km

3rd service at 20, 000 km or 12 months, whichever comes first.

Jack is 8 and 1/2 months old.
Oh.... Too active.

Jack takes a Bath

2005-11-06T21:32:00.000-08:00

After ages driving around in an inch-thick dust sweater, Jack takes a nice long scrub.
Pictures and wash courtesy of Bro.

Jack wishes..

2005-11-01T09:40:00.000-08:00

Mileage: 19688 km

Jack wishes everyone HAPPY DEEPAVALI and SELAMAT HARI RAYA.

He's down at Port Dickson. Hope he's missing me as much as I'm missing him.

Left-Behind Jack

2005-10-30T09:52:00.000-08:00

Mileage: 19267 km

Jack gets left behind while I go home to the Land Below the Wind for the festives season. See you in a week, Jack. I trust bro will take good care of you while I'm gone. I trust. *Hint *Hint.

Klang Jack

2005-10-24T23:09:00.000-07:00

Mileage: 18921 km

Jack bravely ventures to the land of crows for some engagement attire shopping. On a Sunday. A week plus away from Deepavali / Raya celebrations. Very brave indeed.

As expected it was a challenge getting a parking space for Jack, but otherwise it was surprisingly un-busy considering the circumstances. I had envisioned a mad press of bodies. too much people, too much noise, too much smells and too less space. Surprisingly there were none of these. There were many shoppers but none of the suffocating scene of pushes, shoves and jostles I so dreaded.

It was a pleasant few hours. It was a bit challenging getting clothes that fit for a small sized, no-bum no-asset person (before you snigger imagine a full-bodied Indian beauty and then imagine me. I'm small. Everywhere.) but we managed it under 3 hours. We got the Punjabi suit (for tray exchange) and Lengga suit (for me to wear) that we came for, before all parties in attendance got tired. Not bad.

Jack then headed home with it's cargo of clothes and people - *FS, FSIL, FNIL and me.

* Future spouse, sister-in-law and nieces-in-law respectively

Interest-free Jack

2005-10-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

Off to bank to fork out Jack's 8th loan installment.

There. Just settled the interest on Jack's 5 year loan. Now we can start paying the bank on the loan amount proper. 40K to go!

Jack-napped

2005-10-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

Jack spends yesterday in captivity. Bro takes him off to work while car-man takes bro's ride for a service in Axis Garage while I'm left with Eddy the AD Resort for the day.

It was weird. First time I've been without Jack and it honestly felt incomplete. It was weird being at the wheels of another. (Especially so when you feel really tiny in that other vehicle :p). It was just weird weird weird without Jack.

Quite a joyful moment when Jack came home later that day.

Jack-venture: What-The-F...

2005-10-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

ish.

Jack spent the afternoon driving around looking for the much-touted aquarium shop "What The Fish". With blur me at the wheel and blur Eric navigating with an outdated 3rd edition KL road map (which didn't include the area we were getting at because at the time of print the area was not yet in existence!), Jack had a fun time getting lost and exploring new places in the attempt to get un-lost.

After a lot of wrong turnings and uncontrollable laughter, we managed to (accidentally) find the place. The place was all it promised it was... not. Blank dismal tanks, hardly a handful of fishes and a non-variety of plants. It was utter, utter disappointment. I think I glimpsed tears in Eric's eyes after we finished our under-10-minutes browsing.

Kianyang and his Other Half was surprised to find us lounging at the sidewalk waiting for them when they arrived few minutes later (thanks to our wonderful direction-giving, I must add). After a quick survey Kianyang came to the same conclusion....

Place: What The Fish
Address: 7-1, Jln PJU 1/3F Sunwaymas Commercial Centre 47300 PJ
Consensus: What the F...

Jack then left to other fish places and was proud to be the transport vehicle of 30 small tetras later that day.

Jack featuring..

2005-10-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

... other people's car stories.

Mileage: 18277 km

Jack is fine and dandy, but others were not so lucky. HotShot, Obsius's-yet-un-named baby and SampahMan's ride had each a close call recently.

On a happier note Nairud is getting a new baby. Congrats!

Post-Edit

HotShot's owner has pointed out that HotShot actually has two incidents recently.
This is the other one

Penang Bridge Jack

2005-10-11T22:03:00.000-07:00

Jack crossing Penang bridge, 26 Sep.
Photo courtesy of Joan.

Missing Jack

2005-10-10T23:55:00.000-07:00

Mileage : 18089km

There has been no recent blog activity on Jack. But Jack has hardly been sitting quietly at home. Here's a summary of what Jack has been up to, in the past month while I was 'out' sorting my minorly-depressed, lack-of-interest-in-anything head.

1) Bukit Beruntung Jack
Jack goes down to Bukit Beruntung for cousin J's marriage registration dinner/drink fest. Congrats, Cousin J and New Cousin May. Toast to a wonderful married life together.

There were a lot of inevitable 'so how's your engagement preparations coming along?' questions directed to me and car-man from the multitude of family members. We don't know, folks. We're waiting for the Suns and Moons and Jupiter to align first. Due to some annoyingly kepoh aunties raising concerns to an ailing grandma while she was lying in Cardiac Care Intensive Ward (for God's sakes, how crude are you to use a sick old lady like that), our chosen-for-convenience and agreed-upon-by-ALL date was forced to be called off. Date unsuitable because bad month, with a big fat snake sitting on the date, if you consult the 'correct' calendar... Am I making sense? No? That's what I thought.

2) KLIA Jack
Jack makes two trips to KLIA to fetch and return Daddy dearest. Dad down to visit ill Grandma. She's out of the hospital now, bless her.

3) Penang Jack
Penang is... beautiful. Jack goes down for a weekend in Penang, officially for company teambuilding exercise but managing to sneak in a charming tour of Penang and catching up sessions with dear old friends.

Penang is... beautiful. Jack was a bit alarmed by the aggressive drivers (what they say about Penang drivers is True!), but otherwise it was a pleasant weekend. There were plenty of pretty buildings to drool on and plenty of yummy food to feast on.

Penang is... beautiful. Thank you company for the (sponsored) trip, thank you Fung for the time and tour, thank you Ailee for everything (HUG) and sorry YS/WM didn't get to catch up with you guys much.

Did I mention, Penang is... beautiful?

4) Football Jack
Jack was on Kesas highway on the way to Cheras when he saw an amazing sight - hordes of cars, van, motorbikes proudly trailing full-sized Selangor flags. The drivers and passengers were clothed and wrapped in yellow red jerseys, bandanas and what nots.

The sight was overwhelming. Not the flags waving proudly out of the cars, but the grinning eager faces in the cars, the thumbs up each Selangor-clad car gives another it passes. Stranger-to-stranger but united with a common passion. PASSION.

Here was I struggling internally a silly minorly-depressed head (what with amazing display of human not-so-wonderful characters in the community I call family) and there outside was plain passion. Strangers smiling at each other. Passion. People happy. Passion. People doing things they enjoy, people laughing grinning joking. Passion.

So there was hope in human character. There are people out there capable of smiling grinning joking with strangers. Passion.

Honest-to-goodness my lame depression broke that day. Where's my passion? Let's ignore the annoying not-so-wonderful characters out there and reclaim some passion. Let's just get on with life.

Passion cures.

Ouch

2005-09-10T22:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Jack was overtaking a lorry on the highway. Unfortunately, a small stone from the lorry hit Jack in the screen. Jack got a tiny lekuk the face, in the center of his wind screen. Ouch.

Yesterday, I was rocking in the chair in the office. Unfortunately, I (embarrassingly) fell down face forward, head first. I got a bloody nose and nice swollen face, on the whole left-side of it. Ouch.

Jack-vertisement

2005-09-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

Car service due? Car in need of a fix-up?
Recommended trusted automotive services. (Recommended mechanic lah)

Axis Garage
6 Jalan SM10
Taman Sri Manja, PJ
Call 019 281 8787 for appointments.

Quote "Jack's Friend" for a friendly discount.

Streaker Jack

2005-09-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

Mileage: 15415 km

Jack is streaked all over with ugly brown mud trails. That's what you get for tailing a lorry on a dirty drizzly day. Yuck.

Time for a wash, Jack darling.

Jack wishes...

2005-09-06T06:34:00.000-07:00

Mileage: 15223 km

Jack wants to wish number one fan Anah a great big fat happy birthday.
Happy 18th Birthday Anah!
hik hik hik hik hik hik hik

Jack Scrapes

2005-09-04T23:54:00.000-07:00

Nothing new. Just felt like showing off old scars. The scars are still there on the back right bumper. Still waiting to reach my quota of ten dents/scrapes before I go fix Jack up. Five and counting...

Jack waves a goodbye

2005-08-29T22:18:00.000-07:00

Jack spends the day in Seremban, for me to spend some quality time catching up with cousin Sha before she goes back to campus life. After lotsa fun and laughter we both waved her goodbye.

Have fun in Russia, though we know you hate the cold there. Lotsa luck and love, lovely cousin. Muaks.

Jack ERL

2005-08-25T23:43:00.000-07:00

Jack sits obediently waiting for me in Putrajaya ERL station while I pay a one-day working visit to Singapore.

Singapore... wah! Got trees! Got so many flats and apartments! Got normal non-kiasu looking people! I'm amazed! So clean! So neat! People so law-abiding! Must put seat belt in taxi back seat! No dirt on roadside! No grass growing beyond kerb outline! People queuing properly!

Even the road and cars seems so neat and tidy. It took me some time to realise it looked so nice and neat because of the unusual (to me) absence of dented protons and peroduas.

What, my first trip to Singapore you say? How on earth did you guess?

Tired Jack

2005-08-24T23:42:00.000-07:00

Mileage: 14399 km

Jack is drop dead tired. So is the person driving him around.

Our day today
Subang [jam jam jam jam]
- Terminal 2 Subang Airport [Immigration, collect passport]
- Cyberjaya [work]
- Dengkil [lunch]
- Cyberjaya [work]
- Bangsar [attempt get tickets]
- Subang [home. finally]

It's not the distance thats tiring, but the congestion and broken traffic lights and peak hour traffic and dirty smelly smoke from lorries and swarming motorcyclists and ...

Jack Housed

2005-08-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, good-boy Jack stayed at home while I did the rounds at the local banks nearby.

Visited four local banks banks with the same enquiries and the same results - I am currently not qualified to a housing loan (of my asking price lah) after taking into account my substantial hire-purchase loan amount. Translated: no, we cannot loan you the amount you want, based on your salary, because you are paying too much for your car loan already.

For the xxx-th time I am wondering if Jack was a good buy after all. Granted, when I got him I didn't yet plan on getting a house in the near future.

All the good-buy-or-not doubts simply vanish when I am driving Jack though. The sheer driving pleasure is worth it. I love you, Jack.

Note: This post and actions taken are inspired partly by WK. Thank you, this post is a testament that you are changing lives yourself.

Jack Duties III

2005-08-14T09:36:00.000-07:00

Mileage: 13512 km

Jack just back from the last of his KLIA duties. House back to bachelor pad.

If you didn't notice, dear readers, each HAZE word in the previous post is a haze related blog link. Happy clicking.

Jack Dazed in Haze

2005-08-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

What did you do today, Jack?

2005-08-08T23:30:00.000-07:00

Subang #Mileage 12790 km
→ KL General Hospital
visit grandma, under observation in cardiac care
→ Subang
back for lunch and driver change
→ Seremban
chauffer dad for his errand
→ Putrajaya
visit aunt in Putrajaya Hospital, recovering from heart attack
→ IOI Mall Puchong
satisfy mom's bloodlust for shopping
→ Subang
back. #Mileage 13012 km

Jack Affair

2005-08-07T21:02:00.000-07:00

Mileage: 12789 km

Jack goes to Grandma's in Cheras for my "parents-of-both-parties official-meeting to discuss-and-arrange-matters" affair (more widely known as meminang) .

Since the blog is about Jack, this is about as much of a public announcement there is going to be. Who? What? When? How? you ask? If you don't already know and you reeaalllly need to know ask me.

Jack Duties II

2005-08-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

Mileage: 12497 km

Jack just back from the second of his KLIA duties. Full house, for once all members of the family under one roof.

Jack Shorts

2005-08-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

Some goings-on recently

1) Petrol price up again
Barely two months since it last went up, petrol prices got raised another 10 sens to RM1.62 per litre. Jack becomes more of a liability, but he is still fun to drive.

2) 45 mins from USJ 5 junction to SS15 junction in a Monday 7.30am jam
I was able to actually read a book in the jam, and it wasn't a standstill jam(!). It was crawling so slow you couldn't feel it. I swear I'm never working in KL while staying in Subang.

3) Traveller Jack goes Ampang
Jack takes a drive on the MR2 to Ampang and back, to send my handsome cousin back. Sorry for the scares, cuzzies, but Jack's nice to highway-drive that I sometimes forget to brake decently. =P

Jack Duties I

2005-07-30T02:47:00.000-07:00

Mileage: 12146 km

Jack just back from the first of his KLIA duties. Full house, with both brothers here and hogging the ps2!

Fishy Jack

2005-07-26T18:20:00.000-07:00

Mileage : 11763 km

Jack went to lunch in Dengkil for the specific purpose of stopping by in the fish-shop after lunch to get me my blue chiclids. (fishes, btw).

I'm a convert to the most recent office mania, thanks to collagues such as this, this and this.

I'm a convert! I'm a convert! I'm a convert!
And Jack might start smelling like a fish soon.

Kenny Jack-ed

2005-07-22T03:19:00.000-07:00

Mileage : 11467 km

Kenny drove Jack to lunch and back. I was feeling a bit lazy to drive and Kenny didn't mind to, so it went. That brings to a grad total of 4 person excluding me who has ever driven Jack. (Ok, excluding all Kia sales and service people too, you politically correct readers you).

Big difference from Baby. Everyone and anyone had driven her. She was almost public property, plus she lived during the university days when not everybody owns their own wheels and car-borrowing is common. By one week old already at least a dozen people had driven her, mainly because at that time I couldn't drive and all those people were teaching me how to keep the car on the road properly.

Even with the small number 4, the occasion where Jack is driven by someone else apart from me is very few. Of the 4 'other' people, here's how the list goes
1) My brother
- he drove after I got my second scratch and was too pissed to drive back from wherever we were. And very few times after, mainly for family occasions
2) Car-man
- of course. If you date me I'd expect you to drive me around. Even when we take Jack instead of Eddy
3) Uncle
- down to Sitiawan and around there. I didn't know the way plus it was night and my night-sight is terrible
4) Kenny!
- to lunch and back. He says driving Jack is fun. Kenny likes riding Jack. (sick perv)

Bobble-Jack

2005-07-20T14:57:00.000-07:00

Jack got little bobble-heads figures on his dashboard. A handsome Jack in the dashboard middle and Lock and Barrel at the driver's end. I'd post up pics of them, but.. well.. my camera's gone.

Rephrase from last post : back-stabbing freeloader bitches.
Apologies for the erratum.

No Mood Jack

2005-07-20T02:50:00.000-07:00

Mileage : 11345 km

No mood to blog. Lost my 4 month old, RM 1.6K camera. There goes future photo-blogs. :(

I specifically bought the camera to chart Jack's journey. Now that's gone. So is a lot of my good mood, what with the discovery I'm living with back-stabbing bitches who unfortunately are blood-related to me. Damn.

:(

Jack Serviced

2005-07-08T21:19:00.000-07:00

Mileage: 10 677 km

Jack goes in to Kia Service Centre, Puchong for service no. 2.

Labor Free 0.00
Material
Filter Assy - Oil 11.70
Washer, Drain Plug 1.50
Sytm 3000 SL/CF 5/40-4L 150.00
Total 163.20

Jack in Sitiawan

2005-07-07T16:32:00.000-07:00

Jack outside the Kg. Dralek house in Sitiawan, Perak.
My dad and a whole spawn of relatives grew up in this house.

Open Up, Jack

2005-06-29T16:06:00.000-07:00

This is an embarrassing but true story.

After 4 months of gallivanting around in Jack, I (finally) attempted to open his hood. Needed to check water level before making long trip to Sitiawan.

I took 15 minutes trying to work the mechanism to open the hood. Pull lever in car - 1 second. Find the latch to unhook catch at the hood - 14 minutes 59 second. Very embarrassing considering I've been driving Jack around for 4 months. FOUR months, and I never opened the hood before. I felt like a prize idiot by the time I got it open.

Jack KLIA

2005-06-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

Mileage: 9109 km

Last week Jack made an impromptu trip to KLIA. Eric missed the train, and Jack gave him a lift to the airport to avoid him missing his flight also.

Good practice for Jack. AirAsia is having a good promotion for Sandakan flights, so my parents decided they'd come down. Jack's driver duties in conjuction with the cheap airfares:
30 Jul - Arrival, brother
4 Aug - Arrival, parents
10 Aug - Departure, father
13 Aug - Departure, brother
14 Aug - Departure, mother

Don't ask. I (still) don't know why either. Maybe they pantang travel together.

Jack tyre story - the other version

2005-06-15T19:25:00.000-07:00

The below narrative on Jack blown tyre is lacking some details.
Here's some the left-out parts:

A friend commented that luckily the blown-tyre incident took place in a gas station, with help close on hand. Unfortunately quite the opposite took place.

The counter staff were extremely unhelpful. The guys on night shift looked particularly shifty, they had that mat malas look about them. It didn't help that car-man wasn't a particularly pleasing person to deal with - his shaved head with its scars prominently showing plus a pissed-foul expression scared them some maybe.

Service was pitiful. No offer of help, not even a bother to have a look. One mat malas replied rudely 'Encik cakap lain macam saya tak mau tolong'. Hahaha. Other laughable snippets of conservation:

'Tak tau siapa boss'
'Manager not on duty. Tak tau macam mana nak contact'
'Tak tau nombor telefon station. Saya baru kerja sini satu bulan'
'Baru kerja satu bulan. Tak tau apa-apa' [yes, this from a different guy]

Even if you were only mildly annoyed before, after the sullen faces, the original rude guy disappearing into office and refusing to come out, the buat-donno replacement guy at the counter you'd feel quite pissed too. Just like dining out at a restaurant, regardless of the food quality, bad service can make an exteremly bad day. The blown tyre ceased to be the issue (after all I had my car-man on hand hehe). The bad service was unforgivable.

There was one guy working at the pumps who had some service sense, thankfully. There was some drama of long faces and Mr.have-some-sense telling off his colleagues. Car-man wasn't too pleased about the incident, and knowing Shell high expectation standard on companies/station/dealers carrying their logo, he logged a formal complaint to Shell.

Shell dealt with the complaint very well, with impressive follow ups. Two days later car-man dropped by the station again, to collect a cheque of RM160 from the station owner as reimbursement for the tyre.

Now this is the real story of what actually happened.

Postscript:
Another laughable conversation for your entertainement. Upon collecting cheque from station:

'Encik, kenapa tukar sendiri. Bawa sini saya ada orang, ada workshop. Ini mahal.'
said with not too pleasant face and tone.
'Puan. Ini card saya, saya ada workshop sendiri. Ini harga dealer. Bukan mau buat duit dari puan, tapi servis staff puan banyak teruk.'
'Oh...'

Jack Blows a Tyre

2005-06-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

Jack blew a tyre recently, at a Shell station no less.

There was an evil piece of metal rod sticking out of a broken concrete road slab. You know that thick sort used as the spine of concrete blocks. Jack ter-drove over it (hey, it was at night and a dark corner!). Metal rod went in nice and proper and left a nice and proper tear.

Jack's spare tyre got a chance to smell some fresh air. I got a chance to see my car-man in action. Yummy.

It took all of 10 minutes to get the tire changed. I, of course, was a useless spectator, hardly lifting a finger. Having someone reliable on hand to fix it up and take care of things is nice - surprisingly I wasn't pissed at anything (not the rod, not the station, not Jack, not the person driving Jack at that time). Just a mild 'Oh I blew my tyre' reaction.

Amazing. Me, whose get worked up easily just driving around.
Hehe. Yup, everything in my world is rose-tinted at the moment.

Supir Jack

2005-05-25T08:10:00.000-07:00

Mileage: 7026 km

Today Jack begins his regular chauffer duty. Off to KLIA later to pick up Mum & Dad (Jack's luck - they're actually on the same flight this time!).

10-days of driving duties, with a massive family wedding in between. Let's see Jack's mileage climb!
Check-in - 7026 km.
Check-out - ???? km.

I'm betting 9216 km. Any bets?
* btw, supir is a slang word for driver

Mileage update
May 26, 9.00 am : 7174 km
May 27, 9.00 am : 7253 km
May 29, 3.00 pm : 7437 km
May 31, 8.00 am : 7592 km
June 2, 1.00 pm : 7840 km

Where did Jack go?

2005-05-19T00:04:00.000-07:00

Mileage: 6582 km

There were quite some comments on the mileage jump between the last two posts. Nearly 1K in 10 days, where did Jack go?

Can't quite answer the question the first time it was posed. Not too sure either. Jack didn't go out-station, nor did he do his duty multiple KLIA trips (that's coming soon). Jack was just around, I guess. Between Subang-Cyberjaya-Cheras-OKR in all combinations, Jack managed to rack up some miles.

Glad to see he's turning out much like his driver - restless and cannot sit down quietly one place long. Kaki gatal haha. Or rather tayar gatal.