Let me tell you a story about how I became a car crazy guy. I've always been into cars and how they work ever since I dropped by at mu uncle's work place where he works as a mechanic. I've always been the curios boy since I was small, I would take things apart just to figure out how they do what they did.

My curiosity has often ended up with me getting into trouble because I couldn't put them back together. When I got my first car, which was a Nissan Cefiro A31, which was given to me by my dad (he bought another car and the old one he gave to me). The car was equipped with a 2.0cc turbocharged engine with manual transmission. The car itself is a fuel guzzler and one trip from my house in Lutong to Bintang Plaza can easily drink up Rm10 worth of fuel. Being a student at that time, I didnt have much cash with me to do anything with the car. 

Because of that, after a few years driving that car, I talked to my dad and we sold of the car because i couldnt afford the maintenance of the car. After I sold of the car (that was back in 2008, I was aiming to buy a Satria GTi (every Malaysian men dream car back then), but it was too expensive and i couldnt afford it ( the Satria GTi cost roughly about RM40k second hand).

Not long after that, I came to know that Sarawak Shell Berhad was auctioning their company car. with the help of my dad, I managed to place a bid for an Proton Iswara Sedan 1.3cc for RM5k. the car was in terrible condition, the roof was rusted, 2 of the doors was having huge holes from the rust and the interior was all dirty. but what was important to me that time was, as long as the engine runs, I can make it work.The car was left at the yard for over a year before the bidding was opened for public. After that RM5K purchase, I spent another additional RM3k on fixing the rusted parts and a fresh coat of paint. From the original dark blue, I painted it silver and replaced the 13" steel rims with a set of wheels taken from the first generation of Proton Waja wheels. 

Slowly every month I started saving some money to "beautify" the car, adding bodykits, sound system, working up the interior, headlamp replacement at purchased 2nd hand seats taken out from a Mitsubishi FTO . The following year, I've ventured out with engine mods, and thanks to Google and forums, I slowly poisoned myself into modding the tiny 4G13 engine. Started off with Open Pods filter to short shifters until adjustable cam pulleys.

Sometime around year 2010, my thirst for power has reached its peak. I wanted more power but there's so little that the 1.3cc engine could do.. Again after I read a few forums and a lot of googling, I ended up with an engine swap. From a 1.3cc engine to a 1.6cc engine taken from a wira. The maximum i can go was 1.6cc as above that, I couldnt get the engine endorsed by JPJ. After the engine swap, more mods was done to the car and there's where i started doing a lot of DIYs on my car as I was modding my car on a tight budget. Alng the way i've upgraded the rims to a proper set of wheels and re-do the audio system to suit my preferences. 

The modding slowed down and after that it was more of a fixing what needed to be fixed.. Alright, im not gonna bore you more on explaining, im just going to put a slide show on what was done to the car.

Less then a month after I've installed new bodykits and resprayed the car, on May 23rd, 2012, I was involved in an accident on my way to work. I was about 5 minutes away from my office as I drove pass by a housing area, I saw a white Toyota Hilux stopping at a junction.. Seeing that, I proceed driving normally until i was about 50 meters from the junction, the Hilux just came out of the junction. I tried to avoid crashing to him, I stepped on my brakes and I swerved to the right side going into the incoming lane but it was too late. I crashed into him and basically my whole left side of the car was badly damaged. At first i was keeping my cool but when I got out of the car, I saw the damaged, my heart just broke into pieces..  

I was car-less for 6 months after the accident.. The insurance process was fast but the workshop that was appointed by the insurance company just took their sweet time fixing my car just because its an Proton Iswara what broke my already broken heart more was the way the handled my car. After calling the insurance company headquarters(I guess the claim manager said something to the workshop), they started to work on my car the next day and within one week, my car was done. Workmanship wise was terrible but all I wanted that time was to get back my car. The moment I got my car back, I didnt drove it straight home but instead to my own workshop and got it fixed there. 

After that, I tried slowly fixing it back to its original state but you know what they said, once broken, it will never be the same. More and more problems came after the accident, it spent most of its time in the workshop rather then being driven. 

So last year, I decided to get another car. Fix the Iswara and sell it off after that. So I got myself the car that I always wanted to get. Yes.. The Proton Satria Gti 1.8. An the whole modification process starts again on a new platform. Progress is slow as Im still paying for the car. In 10 months time, I'll be done with the car loan and we will see how it goes from there. Currently the Iswara is in the workshop, getting some loving before being sold off.

Well thats about my three cars. When I'm not doing my car, I'll be doing something else to my friends car. Painting rims, center console, installing foglights, bodykits and such. Over the years I've learnt a lot about cars and when you're modding a car under a strict budget, DIYs is the way to go. Its an effective way to learn new things as long as you are willing to try and believe in yourself.

Someone asked me before, "if you love cars so much, why did you took IT instead of automotive?". Well here is the story behind it. I did wanted to take up automotive after if finished high school but my parents didn't agree to it. They questioned me on my  reasons and eventually I told myself, "its okay, my parents always wanted the best for me. They know what's best for me." So yeah.. Until today, Im still doing IT as a profession and I have to thank my parents for that. I was never a "technically attached person"and  I've always enjoyed getting my hands dirty. If my parents didn't asked me to take up IT, I dont think I know anything about how much things and information I can find online. Im really grateful that my parents actually forced me to study Information Technology. With that IT knowledge, Im able to utilize it to feed more knowledge and fuel my passion for cars. Well, Im looking forward to more car projects soon, be it my own car or others. till then, cheers!

Day 1 was extremely fun and i was excited for day 2 of the Borneo Jazz Festival. It was an early start for day 2 as we attended the last press conference at the Lambir Hall. I also took the opportunity to take some pictures with Suchen, the official photographer.After that, Raihanah, Eileen and I took our new friend, Rayyan Harries on a personal city tour and to get some Mee Pok (was suppose to bring him for Mee Kolok but unfortunately they ran out of mee kolok. Poor Rayyan.

So after brunch, went to Bintang Megamall for a little shopping and around 230pm, we were back at the hotel for the official media city tour. The main reason i wanted to go for this city tour was to visit the two temples(Taoist and Buddhist temple located in Krokop). Mind you, I was born and raised in Miri and yet I've never been to any one of these temples. So We boarded the bus at 3pm together with local and international media guests. 

The 3rd stop was Miri Handicraft Center. This was my first time coming here too. Like any other people, we tend to ignore what's behind our backyard.. At this stop I was surprised when I saw Ryuta (journalist from Japan) picked up a Sape and start tuning it and eventually played it. At first I thought he picked it up out of curiosity and just to get the feel but when he started playing, he sounded like he's been playing that instrument as long as he had been consuming sake.

The fourth stop was The Grand Old Lady.. It was a perfect sunny day that day and we decided to loosen up a bit and have fun.The Sarawak Bloggers together with Air Asia Travel Blogger having some some in the sun. 

The last stop was the Luak Esplanade but we asked the bus driver to drop us off at the hotel as we promised Rayyan to get some Lalapan for dinner. Went for dinner and after that we prepared ourself for another awesome jazzy night.

First up on stage for Day 2 was the Asian Jazz All Stars Power Quartet. Asia's top jazzmen coming from Hong Kong, Philippines  Singapore and Thailand. A mixture of old school and new school jazz as the appetizers. 

The second band that was performing that night was Hazmat Modine from the United States Of America. Based in New York and has been touring internationally for the past six years at in over 30 countries worldwide.(excerpt from Borneo Jazz Booklet). Earlier in the show, Gavin Hope from The Nylons made a special appearance with this band which made the night more interesting. 

Third Band for that night was Mo' Blow From Germany with their "Gimme The Boots" release concert. A band which describe as one of the hottest club band(by Berliner Zeitung) with soul and funk element added into the music. No doubt their performance was brilliantly energetic which got the crowd up and dancing in the rain.(yes it was raining.. it started off with a slight drizzle but towards the end of the night, it was raining heavily) . And one more thing, from certain angles, the saxophonist looks like Adam Levine. Seriously!

 The last performance that night wasn by Jump4Joy from Sweden. Their performance kept the crowd dancing in the rain. A high energy performance i would say. I know it got me tapping my toes and swaying my body from left to right.

After the latt performance, the night didn't just end up like that, the crowd proceed to the Pavilion to the after party with DJ Uno  of PopShuvit on the decks for 2 hours together with Dj DoubleD freestylin MC on the mic. The beat was too hard to resist not to dance along to. So I put down my camera bag and started dancing with random people till 2am. I guess I partied too hard till i didnt realize my tongue stud went missing.(no, no kissing was involved. I guess I must have accidently swallowed it.)

Well, thats about it. I must say my first time attending Borneo Jazz Festival is truly amazing and definitely an eye opener. For someone who always thought that Jazz is a boring genre, boy I was proven wrong. Very wrong.. For those who thinks Jazz is boring, please do attend Borneo Jazz Festival and like me, you'll be surprised with what jazz have to offer. If I were ask to cover this event again next year, without hesitation, I would say Yes! For those who missed it this year, don't worry, Borneo Jazz will be back again next year.

And before I end this post, I would like to say Thank You to Sarawak Tourism Board and Sarawak Bloggers for giving me the chance to be part of the team. 

p/s: If you wish to see more pictures, click on the link below :D
~ Facebook ( Day 1)
~ Facebook ( Day 2)
~ Facebook ( Behind The Scene)
or you can check out them out here.

First of all, I wanna say,Borneo Jazz Festival 2013 was the BOMB! A gazillion thanks to Sarawak Tourism Board  for giving me the opportunity to cover the event under Sarawak Bloggers  and thanks to Abang Joe and  Ladybird Eileen for your guidance.

As I mentioned in my previous post, this was my first time attending the Borneo Jazz Festival and at the same time given the chance to cover the event, I was very excited and nervous at the same time. I seriously didn't know what to expect. But I'm glad I was selected as one of the blogger to cover this event as it changes my perception towards Jazz music. All this while, I just couldn't take in Jazz music. Those who thinks Jazz music is boring, you should go to this event. I kid you not, you will never think the same way again. The amount of "feel" the performers put in their music was indescribable. Here are some of the photos I took during the event. (just teasers, the full album will be uploaded soon in the "Photos" tab)

Attended the Press Conference at Meritz Hotel together with members of the Media(local and international) on Friday (10th May 2013). The second press conference for the Borneo Jazz. The first one was the day before at Parkcity Everly Hotel.

Members of the media given a tour of Meritz Hotel by the Executive Chairman, Dato' Lau  Siu Wai. Seen in the picture is Dato' Lau explaining the infrastructure of the M Ballroom (Equivalent to one football field) which can cater up to 1,400 person at any time making it the largest indoor banquet hall in Miri

After the press conference and a short Q&A session with Datuk Amar Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Johari Bin Tun Haji Openg,Minister Of Housing, Minister of Tourism and YBhg Dato' Rashid Khan, Chief Executive Office, Sarawak Tourism Board, members of the media was invited to attend the cocktail reception at the Sky Garden Outdoor Dining which is located at Level 17 of the Hotel.

After the press conference and  media cocktail reception, we headed back to the hotel and prepare for the Day 1 of Borneo Jazz Festival 2013. I managed to spot Dato Rashid Khan at the ticketing counter as seen in the picture.

First up on the stage that night was West Jazz Band. Representing Malaysia! A local jazz band from Sarawak. One of my personal favourite that night. I just love how the present Jazz music with a Sarawakian twist to it. I never knew "liling" and "Semina Duduk Berimbai" by Anderson Ngalai can be Jazz-erzied (if there's such word). But nonetheless, I loved their performance. First band for that night to get an "encore" from the crowd.

The last band that performed for Day 1 was The Nylons from Canada. Another one of my personal favourite. This acapella group got the crowd dancing with their opening act "Spiderman! Spiderman!" in jazz and a pinch of reggae too. They also did a cover of "I'm Yours" By Jason Mraz which got the crowd singing together with them.. You can find a snippet of the vid from our fellow Blogger, Abang Joe, in his Youtube Channel here. They also did a cover of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", a famous soundtrack  from The Lion King. You can find the Youtube version of this song here but i guarantee you that if you were there to witness their performance that night, you had the time of you life.

The night didnt just end like that, after all the Jazz performance, the crowd went up to the Pavilion for an afterparty with DJ Uno  from PopShuvit spinning on the decks.

Thats all for my Day 1 Borneo Jazz Festival 2013 experience. Stay tuned for part 2 of the event. For now, gotta get back to editing the vids and pictures I took during that 2 days. Latersssss! :D

The long awaited Borneo Jazz Festival 2013 is just around the corner and I'm all excited! Its this weekend to be exact. Tonight I'm going to introduce to you more performers for Borneo Jazz Festival 2013! First up is Jump4Joy!

'Let’s literally jump for joy at Borneo Jazz 2013!. Yes there will be popular high-energy entertainment with a strong New Orleans flavour when Swedish band, Jump4Joy performs at the jazz festival this year.

There will be feel-good, energetic and toe-tapping sounds.Two of the musicians, UlfSandstrom and Bo Gustafsson, have both been nominated for their contributions to Swedish blues by the Scandinavian Blues Association with the Janne Rosenqvist Memorial Prize and in 2008,Bo received the Prize.

Ulf and Bo deliver a one hour round trip to New Orleans as a duo, mainly in a theatrical setting or at festivals like Borneo Jazz. Intimate and fun. They have performed over 3000 gigs, with standing ovations in Paris, Moscow, London, New Orleans, Berlin and Helsinki.

Jump4Joy is an extraordinary band and one that will keep you spellbound. Their concerts are always a sold out.

HAZMAT MODINE is a New York based band that has been touring internationally for the past six years in over 30 countries world wide. Malaysia is not new to them as they have been performing at Genting Highland Festival few years ago.

The band is a hard edged blues and jazz fusion driven by a pair of dueling harmonicas, backed by tuba, drums, guitars, and a horn section.  They recently completed their long-awaited follow-up to their first CD Bahamut. 

The CDtitled CICADA reached number one on the World Music Charts summer 2011 in Europe and was voted number 2 for all of 2011 out of over 800 nominees and 150 finalists.CICADA also received the Charles Cros Grand Prize  in France for Best Blues Record in 2011.  They are just one of the 8 award winning bands at Borneo Jazz next coming weekend.

Other than Malaysia, Hazmat Modine also visitedwell known festivals around the world such as the Berlin Jazz Festival, Pori and Tempari Festivals in Finland, Stockholm Jazz festival, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Sinnes Festival in Portugal, Womex in Spain, the Wings Festival in Moscow, the Sayan Ring Festival in Siberia, The Vienna Jazz Festival, Killkenny Arts Festival in Ireland, Trowbridge Festival in the UK, Chicago World Music Festival and the Montreal Jazz Festival.

Borneo Jazz 2013 is pleased to welcome another GRAMMY® Award winner, The Scott Martin Latin Soul Band from west coast of USA, in Miri, Sarawak next coming weekend. They will make their appearance at Borneo Jazz on the first night show, Friday (10 May), which scheduled at around 10pm.

Scott Martin is exploding on the scene as a leader of his own band, after more than fourteen years of playing with the GRAMMY® Award Winning Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band. He was an influential part of the Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band winning a Grammy with the band for 'Best Latin Jazz Performance'.

Hehas recorded with Ray Charles, Billy Preston, Sam Moore and many other soul greats.They also won 2 Billboard Music Awards, and embarked on countless World and Nationwide tours.

Scott’s numerous compositions have been featured on Poncho’s recordings, as well as on TV shows such as “Sex and the City”, “The Jimmy Kimmel Show”, “As The World Turns” and more.

The Scott Martin Latin Soul Band has performed at venues and festivals all over the world in the last couple of years. They performed two tours of Japan, a tour of Canada, they played at the Hawaii International Jazz Festival, Temecula International Jazz Festival, KSDS ‘Jazz Live’ from the Seville Theatre, Brea Jazz Festival, Oxnard Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival, MOCA Jazz Series and many more concerts, events, and jazz clubs.

Scott Martin Latin Soul Band are just one of the 8 award-winning bands at Borneo Jazz. So don’t miss the excitement. 

Have you gotten your tickets? 

Entry tickets to Borneo Jazz priced at RM60 per day and RM100 for 2 days for adult and RM30 per day and RM50 for 2 days per child aged between 3 and 12 and can be purchased online at www.jazzborneo.com.

Tickets also now available at all Visitors’ Information Centres in Kuching, Sibu & Miri. Call them at +6 082-410944 (VIC Kuching), +6 084-340980 (VIC Sibu) and +6 085-434180 (VIC Miri).

This year will be my first time attending the Borneo Jazz Festival although it has been around for quite a while. I know it's shameful call myself a true Mirian and yet I've failed to attend one of the biggest musical event in the calendar which is organized behind my backyard every year. *Rainforest Music Festival sanggup drive 13 hours to Kuching, benda belakang rumah sik mok attend*

So this year, I'm honoured to be selected as one of the bloggers to cover the event under Sarawak Bloggers and Sarawak Tourism Board.The event will take place on the 10-11th May 2013 at ParkCity Everly Hotel and a day before that, (9th May) there will be a tree planting ceremony at Curtin University.
 


Here's some sneak peak of the bands/groups that is going to perform in this upcoming Borneo Jazz.

Flown in from Canada, The Nylons, a four-member capella group are one of the most heralded vocal groups in the world with seven gold and platinum records and sales more than 2 million to their credit.

The Nylons are renowned for their vibrant live shows, featuring dazzling harmonies, smooth arrangements, tight choreography, and fabulous showmanship. Their rapport with their audiences makes them perennial favourites for all age groups. 

The group has performed over 1000 concerts in dozens of tours worldwide including Japan, Korea, China, Australia, Europe, Brazil, the US, and Canada.

The Nylons have received numerous awards and accolades including their gold and platinum records, a Tokyo Music Festival award, and a Canadian Juno nomination for BEST JAZZ VOCAL ALBUM 2011 for their 15th release SKIN TIGHT. This CD features an eclectic collection of jazz standards, original songs and well known classics.

 Germany is not exactly known as the home of soul and funk, but after you’ve heard Mo’Blow from Berlin you will change your mind.

The quartet, which the ‘Berliner Zeitung’ described as one of the hottest club bands, has the groove in their blood.They are refreshingly new, exciting and unconventional, with that certain something and an international calibre about them.

Mo’Blow is calling their show at Borneo Jazz in Sarawak the “Gimme The Boots” release concert.

Prefer to be known as an energetic spicy groovy funk group, they have a string of awards to their name, among them the Winner of Berliner Jazz & Blues Award 2008, Winner of Future Sounds Award 2011, Winner of “Jazz am see” Award for best concert of 2011 and Winner of Jazz Rock TV Miles Award for Cool and Groovy New Jazz.

The band is led by saxophonist Felix F. Falk, bass player Tobias Fleischer, drummer André Seidel and pianist Matti Klein. They have worked hard to earn their reputation as a first-class live act through tours of Germany, England, Belgium, Russia, Croatia, Austria, Poland, Denmark and France and have appeared at festivals like the Jazz Festival Kaliningrad (Russia), Jazz Festival Liburnia (Croatia) or Jazzopen Hamburg (Germany). 

– From Down Under, comes Lisa Young Quartet at this year’s Borneo Jazz. The award winning Lisa Young Quartet is well known to Jazz and World Music listeners as an ensemble of creative improvisers incorporating Indian and African elements in their work.

Renown as an exceptionally creative vocal stylist and improviser, Lisa specialises in ‘konnakol’ – South Indian vocal percussion. The result is unusual and extremely appealing compositions.

The quartet features the intuitive musicality of Ben Robertson (Double Bass), Steve Magnusson (Guitar) and Dave Beck (Drums). They bring to the Borneo Jazz their most recent work ‘The Eternal Pulse’, a song cycle which layers Indian elements, rhythmic textures and ensemble dialogue using varieties of meter and subdivision.

The new album The Eternal Pulse received a nomination in the ‘BELL AWARDS’ finals, for ‘Best Australian Jazz Vocal Album 2012, the same award which won her'Best Australian Jazz Vocal Album 2007 for her album ‘Grace’ in 2007.

So have u gotten your tickets? No? Dont worry..Tickets are now on sale Visitors Information Centres in Kuching, Sibu and Miri, Sarawak. 


 Tickets priced at RM60for single entry and RM100 for a two-day pass. Children under the age of 12 years will enjoy 50% discount on each purchase. Borneo Jazz tickets are also available online at www.ticketcharge.com.my .



What else would be there apart from Jazz Music?


Complementing the festival will be the fringe events comprising of food and village mart where more than 30 booths will feature exhibition and sale of handicraft made by the local craftsmen and artisan.

If you have any enquiries, contact STB Leisure & Property at leisure@sarawaktourism.com (email) or +6 082-239171 (office hours only, 8:00AM – 5:00PM).


Hope to see you there.

Revisited the old blog on blogspot.com, been off the old blog for almost 2 years already. Well, I still blog once in a while but its more of a diary now. In the end I decided to make the blog private and start a new chapter here. With hopes of being more positive this time. Mind you, the old blog was a little to emotional and very unhealthy (banyak anok orang.)αSo I'll guess I'll be blogging here from now on. This little website of mine has been up since June 2011 mainly posting pictures taken using my trusty Sony Alpha α200 bought 2nd hand from one of my colleague, Flynn (Click HERE to see his works). 

After serving me well for 2 years, thousand of photos and memories later,the beloved Sony Alpha @200 decided to gave up on me. On 27th September 2012, got myself another camera, the Sony Alpha α57 with the Sony 18 - 135mm lens. Opted to stick with Sony because I've bought a few lenses for my previous camera and changing to another brand would be a waste of my investments. So far I'm very happy with the performance of this camera and the HD1080P video recording capabilities comes quite handy sometimes. Do visit my Photos tab and videos as well.

Why did I opened a new blog you ask? 

It was my colleague proposal that got me back to blogging. She's one of the active bloggers in Miri known as LadyBird (Click link to know more about her). We had one of this random conversation in the office the other day and ask me if I'm interested to cover one of the upcoming events in Miri which was previously known as Miri International Jazz Festival and now known as Borneo Jazz! 

Took me a while to respond to that as I haven't been publicly blogging for a while. But since attending the Borneo Jazz is in my To-Do list, so here I am. Posting this first post under the Blog tab. I've a few other plans coming my way and i thought it would be nice to share my experience with everyone else. 

First event to be covered in this blog will be Brunei Bike Week which is going to be held on the 1st till the 3rd March 2013 at Jerudong Park Amphitheater. Stay tuned!