TEST DRIVEN: The New Mark VII Golf GTI

To me (and maybe to many people as well), Golf GTI has always been one of the most practical cars, a perfect all-rounder that money can buy in the market. Quite ashamed that I have only driven the Mark VI out of so many versions and I fell in love with her the moment I stepped on the pedal. Now, there’s a new one! And I could hear that she’s calling me to try her out!

Golf GTI is an easily likeable machine that only the car enthusiasts would appreciate as many people would probably go for other makes if they were to pay the same amount of money.

Why enthusiasts love Golf GTI so much?

There are many reasons to explain this and I will be discussing one by one now.

First of all, Golf GTI has always been a practical car since the Mark I. There’s always been a connection between the practicality and the philosophy of designing this car since day one and this connection has never been broken. Much about the same story with the new one- 5 doors hatch with decent space for up to 5 adults, rear folding seats (in case you need it to transport something big, like a cow maybe?), economical powertrain that produces decent amount of power and you get all the things that you possibly need in a car in term of safety and entertainment.

Secondly, the Golf GTI is a subtle looking thing- it’s practically a performance-oriented Golf with GTI badges everywhere inside and outside the car which remind you that you are driving a GTI! Despite the pumped up body kit, the signature red stripe (this time round, the red stripe has gone berserk, it is even conquering the head lamps), slightly lowered ride height and the set of wheels which is slightly bigger size and blink a bit, this car is not uncommon! From every single angle, it looks simple and timeless. I won’t get bored seeing it every day!

After appreciating the aesthetical aspect of it, it’s time for me to step into the car and have a roll with it. The moment I stepped inside, immediately I could spot a few differences and realized that the new GTI is not as well equipped as the previous one- The leather seat and Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC) don’t come as standard anymore, instead, this is a RM 10,000 optional extra (they called it a “Tech Pack”). Shame Oh Shame. VW is named as People car in Europe. The built quality is rather decent, not top notch, but the cabin is an easily likeable place to be in on a day-to-day basis despite losing some kits as standard. Also, you will be losing handbrake lever, what you get in return is an electronic button for you to push and pull, yobbos don’t get to do handbrake turn anymore! Despite a slightly revised power plant which churns out 10 more horsepower and a lot more torque, you’ll also be getting the stop-start system as standard.

In fact, the aforementioned changes are just minor changes/ dealer to strip away some of the least important kits to gain more profit. The major change of this new model is the chassis of it. This is something you won’t realize until you really have a go with it. It’s a Masterpiece. The Golf is actually one of the first few models that is being built based on the latest MQB platform. It’s slightly bigger that the previous model, but what amaze me is the weight they have shed- a whopping 40+kg (according to some websites). The amount of weight it loss and the amount of torque it gained are simply the recipe for us to go faster without visiting petrol station as frequent as other fast car.

The delivery of this thing is progressive and smooth. You won’t be getting the kind of surge (when you hit certain rev range) that you get from some big turbo cars. The stopping power is as good as the way it moves. The main selling point of all GTI- The handling, needless to say, it’s still exceptionally good, in fact it’s better than the previous generation, thanks to the new and more advanced XDS+ electronic differential lock and of course the chassis coming from the latest platform. The steering is nicely weighted, feeding all the information/ response that you need from roads. The stableness of this thing will directly/ indirectly boost your confidence to tackle every single corner at insane speed. The ride is very European- firm yet comfortable.

All in all, the Mark VII Golf GTI is still one of the best hot-hatch money can buy in the market. It may not be the fastest, but that’s not the whole point of having GTI, really. The people who will hit the dealer to get one are always practical type who have a slightly higher budget to get a proper front wheel drive hot-hatch without compromising any bit of practically. This is the kind of machine they can use to ferry their spouse or kids around and have fun with it alone at the end of the day.

It’s indeed a very good car, a perfect all-rounder for a small/ young family that has 4 to 5 members, but paying more for getting less will always be the reason that baffles me from getting it. I am a car enthusiast, but I am sane and logical too…

FIRST TASTED: Grill Bar Steak House

Every once in a while, I will ring a random friend to go out for a dinner at a random place or a place that I have never been or a place that I feel like trying out. This is one of the objectives why I started out this blog in the first place- C@li M@k@n, recommending good places and good food that I have tried to people around me…

This time round, my friend and I went to this place that I intended to go for a long time- Grill Bar Steak House. I always have this thought on my mind- Things happen for a reason. I tend to find a reason for everything. For the sake of eating, I have a really good one this time- To celebrate the birthday month of two September babies. Is it strong enough a reason? 🙂

Just like any other restaurant, Grill Bar Steak House looks extremely common from the outside. The moment the door swang open, the warmed smile and welcoming greeting from the waiters and waitresses gave me a rather good impression of that restaurant. Once we got seated, one of the waitresses brought forward the chalk board and showed us the recommended dishes of that day.

The atmosphere- The lighting is a bit dim, but I like the yellowish light! There are photos aplenty on the wall that represent America.

After we scanned through the menu, we couldn’t really decide what to order; as there are too many things on the menu we would like to try out. Not long later, the waitress came back to our table and started recommending. We ended up making our choices by ordering 3 appetizers and 2 mains.

The first appetizer was Lobster Bisque Soup. The waitress did warn us that this soup would have very strong seafood taste, not everyone likes it. But, we were daring enough to try it! Ended up, the waitress was right, we didn’t like it… If you have a light diet, like I do, my suggestion would be avoid it!

Second appetizer was Onion Blossom. What a name! It really is an onion that is blossomed. The simplicity of this appetizer and how it was beautifully served caught our eyes. It’s such a simple and nice appetizer. Eat it with the sauce in the middle of the onion (taste like tartar sauce) would balance its chokey taste a little (especially when finishing this dish).

Third appetizer was Fried Mushroom. There’s nothing special about this dish, just a deep fried fresh mushrooms, well cooked though. The blue cheese dip sauce is one of those things that makes people really like it or hate it, not a chance that anyone would feel OKAY with it. I personally don’t like it at all.

Here it comes, the first main dish- Seafood Aglio Olio- To me, ordering Aglio Olio is always a safe move, as you can’t really go wrong with it. This Seafood Aglio Olio was nicely done; the generous portion of seafood they gave made us ending up eating fried seafood with spices instead of spaghetti. I personally like the strong spices taste of it, but it’s a tad too dry to my liking though…

Next up would be the 11.5oz Angus Steak. Good thing doesn’t come cheap, RM12/ oz and hence 100+ for this plate of grill. First feeling out of the first bite was that this steak is extremely juicy and sweet, despite the bloody look of it (we ordered medium rare). Not long later, a caring waiter came to our table and asked if the steak was okay. He explained why the steak temperature was inconsistent (half medium rare and half medium well). It’s simply because half portion of the meat is ribeye (more fat, the medium rare portion), another portion is sirloin (leaner, the medium well portion). We didn’t bother, as none of us is the subject matter expert on this.

So is this a place I’d come back and patronage again?

Why not? Although the food they served here is not excellent (don’t get me wrong, it’s still pretty decent by JB standard), I would definitely come back to try out more dishes out of this restaurant. Sometimes, things other than the food taste might be the deciding factors whether I will come back to a restaurant or not. The good ambient, attentive service from the crews and decent quality of food (at slightly higher price) that they offer makes it a really good hangout place for a gang of friends and buddies, or even a good dating place for couples…

Some useful information…

Restaurant Name: Grill Bar Steak House

Address: 202, Jalan Sri Pelangi, Taman Pelangi, 80400 Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Tel: +607-3333400 (It was full house on that day, so if you don’t want to get disappointed, please call and reserve a table.)

Business Hours: Weekdays 5:30pm to 10:30pm / Weekends 12:00 noon to 10:30pm / Closed on Tuesday

Car Buying Tips..

If you have a feeling that it’s about time for you to get yourself a car, all I have to say is that you are now reading the right thing.

Buying car in Malaysia and Singapore is never an easy thing. Sad to say, our countries have been charging us highest tax on automobile purchase around the globe. Many other countries, like UK for instance, most of the teenagers can afford to buy a car by just working through their summer holiday, you could actually get a pretty decent secondhand car at just a couple of thousands quid; while for the same amount of money in Malaysia, you would probably get an old junk car, let alone in Singapore where a few thousand quid can’t even get the paper (COE), which is why we tend to think a lot while purchasing a car in either of the countries.

To do it right, I devise a “do & don’t” list and the things to consider/  take note while purchasing a car.

First of all, you need to ask yourself a question: “Why do you need a car?”

The answer can be varied, but the answer of this question would most probably be the deciding factor of what you are going to buy. If you are ordinary person like me, the next deciding factor would definitely be the budget. Everyone has a budget on certain thing, be it a high one or low one. With the budget set, it will definitely filter out some options for you to choose from.

Useful tip 1: Try to control the monthly car installment to be less than 20% of your monthly income. If you are a car lover/ petrolhead like me, you can pay a little bit extra to get something that you want.

With all the options you have on hand, it’s now your turn to further filter out more by the look, feature & equipment, size & type, used or new, brand, performance, fuel consumption and many other considerations that you might think of. After second round of filtering, I believe you don’t have much option left. It’s time for a test drive.

Useful tip 2: Do not buy a car without even testing it. I know people do that all the time, because they have no idea what to be tested. They buy the car purely because it aesthetically attracts them. I feel sad for those people. I will scold you for doing it if those people are a close friend of mine.

You might ask: “What should I do during the test drive?”

This is a tricky one, but I will try my best to explain, so that you could have a fruitful test drive experience. Test drive doesn’t mean pure test driving. Of course, the very first thing that gets to experience all this when you arrive to dealer is your eyes, you have to literally see the car and feel the real thing, as what you have seen before might just be what’s on the pamphlet or internet. Be reminded, you have to see the car from different angles, as some cars don’t look good at certain angle. Once finished seeing it, you should touch it, feel it, sit in it, sit on every single seats to feel the comfort and the room you get out of every single seats, and then adjust the seat to your driving position, feel the steering, the overall built quality, touch the buttons that you could find (I’m sure there are plenty), and some other things you might have interest in.

What’s next? It’s the actual test drive. Some people test drive a car as though they are having a driving test. Well, they are not wrong, but what they have done is rather incomplete. A complete test drive session shall consist of slow, cruising and spirited drive. Why? You might ask. Different driving mode is for you to test different things out of the car.

You have to get started slow speed every time you go for a test drive to get familiar/ get a feel of the car. What you need to feel out of this first session is:

1. The pickup/ acceleration of the car from standstill or slow speed. A car with very good pickup is really what we need mostly for daily driving.
2. The brake must give you at least a decent stopping power. It’s better to try out when you are not travelling very fast yet.
3. Gear change, if it’s an auto transmission car. The smoothness of the gear change is very important as I believe no one would like to drive a jerky car. Despite that, the speed of gear change is quite important as well. The faster the gear change, the lesser power you lose; the lower rpm the gear shifts up, the better fuel consumption you might get. The gear ratio is another thing that we should look into, will discuss more in future. 
4. Feel the overall size of the car if that’s the size you are comfortable with.

Next, you need to get the car up to cruising speed. This is the speed that we normally do on the highway/ when there is no traffic jam. Below is what you need to feel for this session:

1. The engine rev count at cruising speed. Standard modern car should rev to about 2.5k rpm at the speed of 110kph. The reason why this is important is because the higher the rev count, the more cycles the engine is running, the more the engine prone to damage. and more petrol will be burned normally.
2. Cabin noise should be considerably quiet, so that you can have a chat or enjoy the stereo in the cabin.
3. Steering feel and handling- good cars should normally be stable, handle well and give you sufficient feedback from the steering, as this is the only channel you can possibly get feedback from the ground. Good handling & good steering feel give you a sense of security, which will then boost your confident while driving; while poor handling car is dangerous, it might get you kill anytime. Avoid them anytime…

Lastly, it’s time for some spirited driving. The spirited driving here doesn’t mean hitting top speed or anything. I personally don’t recommend anyone to do that. Spirited drive, to me, means drive the car as fast as it possibly can without having any sense of dangerous. The sense of dangerous here means whether you’re in control even though you are travelling at very high speed (says, 150kph-180kph).  Of course, different cars give you different feel, hence you have to feel it yourself. Things to test out in this session:

1. Try to keep the engine rev as high as you can, best if you manage to upshift right before it gets to red line. Why doing that? You might wonder. This is so called a “power band” test. Every engine has its very own characteristic. You most probably will get some information out of it while driving it spiritually. You would know at what rpm you will be getting most power and at what rpm the power will start to drop.
2. While you are doing spirited driving, one of so many things that a car enthusiast would care about is the exhaust note. Good exhaust note gives them more “mental” horsepower!
3. To test how fast the car can go and how it gets to very high speed.

Reminder: Don’t do anything silly while test driving car. Get familiarized with the car and get to know where is the safety limit of the car is utmost important before doing any high speed driving.

After seeing, feeling and test driving the car, it’s your call to judge whether the car is worth buying. No one can help you on that one as this decision would normally bog down to the first question I requested you to ask yourself.

Useful tip 3: Before you make any decision, if budget is an issue, it is your due diligent to check the running cost of the machine, in particular, the engine type and capacity (which has a close relationship with maintenance cost and road tax that you are paying every year), insurance per year, fuel consumption, tyre size, cost for regular oil change maintenance, maintenance interval, warranty duration (which gives you peace of mind over this duration) and many more that you could possibly think of. Buying secondhand car is a completely different story, it’s all about luck. Try to get as much maintenance history of the car as you possibly could from previous owner is one way to cut down the risk involved. Stay away if you have no fundamental knowledge about it or try to get a professional/ friends who know about it to do it for you. Find me if you will… 🙂

Getting a car that you love is very important, because car is a thing that will definitely be depreciated anyway (except for those classic or vintage). Get something that makes you feel happy to drive it every single day and never get bored with it!

Well, buying car is somewhat similar to falling for somebody, don’t you think? 

Something about Bangkok, Thailand

I always have a habit to have afterthoughts or some kind after visiting any country. Recently, I took a couple of days off for a short and relaxing trip- Bangkok, Thailand.

Thailand is a place that I have never been until about a week ago. To me, it is a strange place for one very reason- This is one of the countries that is literally “connected” to ours (without the need of a bridge, like what Singapore does), but the language that we speak are totally different! I know this is normal to many, but still, I find weird when it’s actually happening to me. It left us no other choice, but to use what we know best to communicate to each other- Malay-ish VS Thai-ish. The entire process was fun, despite the fact that I wasn’t really sure what they were on about most of the time; likewise, I believe they didn’t really catch what we said either.

Bangkok is, without a doubt, a paradise to many. As the capital of Thailand, it has anything that we might possibly need. There’s good and reasonably priced food, good massage, cheap drinks, great night life (heard from others, but didn’t get the chance to have a look this time), and endless shopping experience which staggered me quite a bit.

Despite the goodness, under the busy and flourishing camouflage, the gap between “rich and poor” is quite bad. That’s something that I’m not really comfortable with, because I know the bigger the gap, the bigger problem it might lead to. Bangkok is a busy city (just like any other cities) whereby traffic congestion has become a routine to the locals. It makes this relaxing trip rather not relaxing. Also, I realized that there’s no such thing called traffic rules in this country. One of the best examples would be the TUTU car, this is one of my greatest experiences on the roads thus far. This thing simply makes many seemingly impossible routes very possible. A gentle reminder though, ones have to be prepared, mentally and physically, before getting on to the ride, because it is quite dangerous. The driver of the TUTU car that I was in, had violated every single traffic rules that we could possibly imagine, which makes me wondering if they have attended any traffic course at all. Despite the wonderful experience of TUTU car, I personally do not like the taxi service here in Bangkok. It’s somewhat similar to that of in Malaysia, whereby it’s clearly stated “meter-taxi” on top of the taxis, but they don’t use it whenever we hop in. Somehow, I feel that this kind of tiny little cultures may well be the spoiler that ruins the image of a particular city.

Despite all the shortfalls, I personally think that Bangkok is a good place to have a short trip, as there’s good massage, good food and cheap drink around, not so much on shopping though.

I would come back to experience more out of this city.

25th

Before I get started, may I ask: “What does birthday mean to any of you?”

Of course I have to answer this question myself first. To me, it’s just another day, an ordinary day… My family doesn’t really have the habit to celebrate this kind of so called “special occasions” to many. But this year, it was kind of special, chiefly because this was the first time I had my birthday in the country outside Singapore and Malaysia. Well again, it was still another day (maybe a slightly special one), but that’s not something which I would get too excited about, really…

Having been living in this world for quarter of a century is something I really should proud of… You might ask: “how hard can it be to be able to live more than quarter of a century? It’s not really a challenge even if it’s half a century, many has just done it without realizing it!”

Well, let me explain why…

First of all, I personally don’t think I have a very healthy lifestyle… I eat, as long as the foods that I am eating taste nice. Cholesterol, fat and whatever indexes come along with those foods are just numbers to me. As you all know, good foods normally come with very high side of these indexes; I drink without a limit sometimes, until I couldn’t take it, but I’m quitting now (trying hard); I used to drink four to five cups of coffee until one of my friends scolded me nuts for doing that (you know who you are!), now I am controlling my caffeine intake to maximum of 2 cups a day. Is that the reason why I am pretty much alive, sitting down here and crapping with you all now? 🙂

Other than things that are going into my mouth, things that are coming out from mouth could be deathly too. I can be extremely straightforward and vicious (or evil, I think this is a much appropriate word to describe it) when I am in the mood to do so. I hurt people sometimes, be it intentionally or unintentionally. I am quite pleased that I haven’t met any real bad guy that might bash me in my face yet. Also, I am quite surprised that my super hot temper hasn’t gotten me into something real big yet. I am working real hard to control it and those who know me well should know my temper is not quite explosive as I used to be anymore. I believe when ones grow older, their management skill tends to get better somehow…

In addition to mouth, hands and feet could cause problems too… Those who used to be sitting in my car before should know my driving is no slouch compare to many others on any roads and I drive quite dangerously sometimes (but still not match to tutu cars in Thailand), if I am honest. There are a couple of reasons why I am doing so- I cannot really drive slow, as I cannot maintain the car straight when I drive slow (weird, but it’s proven, to my mum); driving dangerously somehow makes me feel alive, I have a pretty dull five-boring-working-days-a-week life, this is one way to bring some thrills to my life and I enjoy doing it. Of course, I know where the limit is and I will never go beyond that; Also, nowadays many road users tend to forget the basic theory (that they have learned during driving course), violate rules and regulations or even not bringing their common sense while using the public roads, which causes me have to be delinquent sometimes just to stay away from them. They are simply too dangerous… I am glad to not getting involved in any major accident yet… To double the happiness, our dearest PM had just made a little announcement to increase the RON 95 price by 20 cents, effective the midnight of my Bday. While many people are complaining, I, on the other hand, thank him for doing that. I am now very optimistic and always look at the positive side of the issue. Since fuel price hikes is something that I cannot control, I’ll have to control my right foot. That simply means I won’t be driving at dangerous speed, and this prolongs my life indirectly. I thank him for that, truthfully! God bless him!

It seems like I have met many criteria that might make this “Living more than quarter of a century” thingy looks a bit of a challenge, but somehow somebody just came into my life and balanced it. Anyway, I think it’s about time to be mature and forgo the silly things that I have been doing in the past…

I suppose I have pretty much completed the first milestone of my life in flying color- I have completed my first degree, I have a job that I don’t hate, I have my own car called “wirari” (Proton Wira in red), I have a bunch of people whom I care and also care about me. Albeit many bad things happened along the way, I will take them as motivations for me to move forward, since I cannot rewrite the history or change things that had already happened anyway. The only part that I am still lacking of now, I guess, is a life partner, which I wish I could find “the one” real soon…

All in all, I’m blessed and I know it! 🙂