..Which feels like last week when I just finished my first job interview.
On an unrelated note, I have not kart since like many moons ago. Must...kart... this... weekend
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Sell experience, not product! - Michelin Pilot Experience 2012
I had a wonderful experience with Michelin a fortnight ago, and the experience they gave us is second to none.
If driving a race car is not enough, they gave you several race cars to try. This alone made me really detached for a few days. Unreal. I have always wanted to drive a race car, and become a professional racing driver since my primary years. As I grow older (especially after I got meself trapped in a rat race), I just kinda let that thought seep away, thinking it is not possible anymore.
And then comes Michelin.
Yes, getting to drive a race car is a guaranteed must-try-to-believe experience, but the service Michelin had provided us prior to the main event is just a little bit too much. In a good way.
Put it like this;few days before the main event, a Michelin personnel calls me and asked me how am I doing. I was very surprised! It has been many moons since I heard "Jeff, how are you?"
The world gets colder and colder by the day (where my social anxiety disorder just make it worse), and to have a complete stranger calls you and asked you how are you is like receiving a cookie and a kiss from spongebob's grandma. It is just so warm.
We chat a bit, and the topic is basically just a mini interview, "what are you going to do", "calm down and enjoy the coming weekend".... that kind of stuff. Hung up and I spent my remainder working days like a cheeky child who got the toy he wanted for christmas.
And to add another cherry on the icing, Michelin booked us an expensive room for the stay. This is the most expensive room I have ever stayed in my entire life so far.
This room is very erotic in nature. You can perform naughty stuff inside the bathroom for your special one to see.
Now I won't describe what we did the entire next day, as I have a video to do the explaining.
What amazes me most is their hospitality, and it really shows as they are known for their Michelin Guide, where the top hotels and restaurants are dying to be featured in their annual guide books. You can read it more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelin_Guide
For the entire day you are treated like a spoilt princess. This is what they actually did to us:
1. They will put on your racing equipments for you (except the suit, because it is too awkward to strip infront of them.)
2. They will wipe your sweat off your face. You just have to stand still and close your eyes. Lols.
3. They fan you when they is no fan around the area.
4. They constantly asks you if you are comfortable.
5. They hired five star restaurant just to cook a lunch for you. Needless to say, the food was awesome! (where will you get a 4-inch tall burger that looks exactly the same as most commercial burgers that is advertised on the media).
6. They will shade you with an umbrella if they caught you wondering around under the sun.
7. The professional race car drivers were very down to earth, and willing to share and guide you. (Most race car drivers I have met have this "Don't touch me, I am a race car driver" aura around them. Interestingly, only Malaysian race car drivers. Not the foreign ones.)
8. You will get lots of photographers following you around. ( a nice way to psych you up, thinking you are famous or something)
9. Everyone is extremely friendly, as if they are your best friends from childhood.
10. And the souveniers they gave you is not those typical here-you-go types of souveniers. Check these out:
The scale model they gave is not a joke. It is very detailed, right down to the tiny words on the brake calipers. And they should cost a bomb too as this is a custom made model for Michelin, where a normal Renault model is already RM250+-!! Check it out here!: Renault Clio R.S Cup 2011 - SparkModels
10. To sum it all, they are dying to serve you, and give you the best experience you ever had for your entire life.
And they have succeeded. Even as of yesterday, my mum still said that she had the best time in her entire life during that day. Hearing this from a 54 year old is not a joke. Not even her wedding ceremony, or the birth of me can even top this. I am even thinking of selling my newly bought Bridgestones for a new set of Michelins.
This is how bloody good Michelin had did their job.
My point of all this is that if you could treat your customers as another fellow human being and not just a customer, you will have more success in business. Sell your experience and solutions to your customers, not your product!
A Million thanks to the very good people in Michelin!
If driving a race car is not enough, they gave you several race cars to try. This alone made me really detached for a few days. Unreal. I have always wanted to drive a race car, and become a professional racing driver since my primary years. As I grow older (especially after I got meself trapped in a rat race), I just kinda let that thought seep away, thinking it is not possible anymore.
And then comes Michelin.
Yes, getting to drive a race car is a guaranteed must-try-to-believe experience, but the service Michelin had provided us prior to the main event is just a little bit too much. In a good way.
Put it like this;few days before the main event, a Michelin personnel calls me and asked me how am I doing. I was very surprised! It has been many moons since I heard "Jeff, how are you?"
The world gets colder and colder by the day (where my social anxiety disorder just make it worse), and to have a complete stranger calls you and asked you how are you is like receiving a cookie and a kiss from spongebob's grandma. It is just so warm.
We chat a bit, and the topic is basically just a mini interview, "what are you going to do", "calm down and enjoy the coming weekend".... that kind of stuff. Hung up and I spent my remainder working days like a cheeky child who got the toy he wanted for christmas.
And to add another cherry on the icing, Michelin booked us an expensive room for the stay. This is the most expensive room I have ever stayed in my entire life so far.
This room is very erotic in nature. You can perform naughty stuff inside the bathroom for your special one to see.
Now I won't describe what we did the entire next day, as I have a video to do the explaining.
What amazes me most is their hospitality, and it really shows as they are known for their Michelin Guide, where the top hotels and restaurants are dying to be featured in their annual guide books. You can read it more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelin_Guide
For the entire day you are treated like a spoilt princess. This is what they actually did to us:
1. They will put on your racing equipments for you (except the suit, because it is too awkward to strip infront of them.)
2. They will wipe your sweat off your face. You just have to stand still and close your eyes. Lols.
3. They fan you when they is no fan around the area.
4. They constantly asks you if you are comfortable.
5. They hired five star restaurant just to cook a lunch for you. Needless to say, the food was awesome! (where will you get a 4-inch tall burger that looks exactly the same as most commercial burgers that is advertised on the media).
6. They will shade you with an umbrella if they caught you wondering around under the sun.
7. The professional race car drivers were very down to earth, and willing to share and guide you. (Most race car drivers I have met have this "Don't touch me, I am a race car driver" aura around them. Interestingly, only Malaysian race car drivers. Not the foreign ones.)
8. You will get lots of photographers following you around. ( a nice way to psych you up, thinking you are famous or something)
9. Everyone is extremely friendly, as if they are your best friends from childhood.
10. And the souveniers they gave you is not those typical here-you-go types of souveniers. Check these out:
The scale model they gave is not a joke. It is very detailed, right down to the tiny words on the brake calipers. And they should cost a bomb too as this is a custom made model for Michelin, where a normal Renault model is already RM250+-!! Check it out here!: Renault Clio R.S Cup 2011 - SparkModels
10. To sum it all, they are dying to serve you, and give you the best experience you ever had for your entire life.
And they have succeeded. Even as of yesterday, my mum still said that she had the best time in her entire life during that day. Hearing this from a 54 year old is not a joke. Not even her wedding ceremony, or the birth of me can even top this. I am even thinking of selling my newly bought Bridgestones for a new set of Michelins.
This is how bloody good Michelin had did their job.
My point of all this is that if you could treat your customers as another fellow human being and not just a customer, you will have more success in business. Sell your experience and solutions to your customers, not your product!
A Million thanks to the very good people in Michelin!
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Plantar's Wart and Banana Peel
This entry will make you barf if your graphical tolerance is low.
What I thought was corn on my sole turns out to be plantar's wart. Now I wont show you the picture of the wart when it is still alive, because it is gross. Google is your friend but you have been forewarned.
It was hell for the first two months when the wart developed. It is tender and at the same time it is thickening itself with layers of skin quite rapidly. Trimming the skin is painful sometimes as they are fine veins developed within the wart. The wart have rooted itself deep into my sole. .
Over the counter salicylic acid does not seem to work and it got even worse as it seems to accelerate the skin formation. Up until the good people of the internet swore by banana peels.
The routine is simple. Cut a banana peel ( best to use young bananas) to the size of the wart, tape the peel (with its inside facing the wart) and leave it there for as long as possible. Change it when the peel turn black. I taped the peel before sleep and took it off before going to work.
The first few days I did not see any changes, apart from the banana peel turning very black. Then on the second week of the treatment, something happened.
The perimeter area around the wart start to get very itchy and no matter how much I scratch it, the itch is still there. Few more days of itch, the wart started to turn darker and skin formation seems to slow down.
Upon fourth week of banana peels the wart turned dark, and interstingly the banana peel will not turn bad anymore. So I stopped applying banana peel and left if for few more days.
Then one afternoon while checking the wart, I noticed an edge which I know I can lift the wart off. So I tried to 'dig' the wart out slowly, and when I do not feel any pain at all, I flipped the dead wart out! It feels like scraping the dead skin off your recovered wound and it feels awesome.
Look at how deep the crater is!
The dead wart. WARNING! You must dispose this very safely or else you might infect your loved ones. This contains HPV virus, which Im pretty sure I got it a few months back when using some shady public toilets back in my hometown, which I accidentally stepped on the wet dirty floor.
What the hell dude seriously if you read everything you are one sick person.
Otherwise banana peels for the win!
What I thought was corn on my sole turns out to be plantar's wart. Now I wont show you the picture of the wart when it is still alive, because it is gross. Google is your friend but you have been forewarned.
It was hell for the first two months when the wart developed. It is tender and at the same time it is thickening itself with layers of skin quite rapidly. Trimming the skin is painful sometimes as they are fine veins developed within the wart. The wart have rooted itself deep into my sole. .
Over the counter salicylic acid does not seem to work and it got even worse as it seems to accelerate the skin formation. Up until the good people of the internet swore by banana peels.
The routine is simple. Cut a banana peel ( best to use young bananas) to the size of the wart, tape the peel (with its inside facing the wart) and leave it there for as long as possible. Change it when the peel turn black. I taped the peel before sleep and took it off before going to work.
The first few days I did not see any changes, apart from the banana peel turning very black. Then on the second week of the treatment, something happened.
The perimeter area around the wart start to get very itchy and no matter how much I scratch it, the itch is still there. Few more days of itch, the wart started to turn darker and skin formation seems to slow down.
Upon fourth week of banana peels the wart turned dark, and interstingly the banana peel will not turn bad anymore. So I stopped applying banana peel and left if for few more days.
Then one afternoon while checking the wart, I noticed an edge which I know I can lift the wart off. So I tried to 'dig' the wart out slowly, and when I do not feel any pain at all, I flipped the dead wart out! It feels like scraping the dead skin off your recovered wound and it feels awesome.
Look at how deep the crater is!
What the hell dude seriously if you read everything you are one sick person.
Otherwise banana peels for the win!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
First (Minor Upgrade) For the Neo
Took the first step in making my car a little bit better for the time being. Engine conditioning!!
Shiny!
After the treatment the Neo is rather sluggish on the way back home, and it feels like something is choking its 'windpipe'. But what I notice is that engine noise is reduced significantly, and the engine is very responsive. After a few good driving days the choking sensation is gone, which I think there are some foam residues left inside, before being sucked out from the engine completely.
It doesn't stop there. Before the treatment, I can only travel to my workplace and back for three days with RM30. After treatment I get an additional day before refuel. My office is located some 24++ km away, to and fro means a total of 50+-km per day, and I get an extra 50km with a cleaner engine, how neat is that?!
But at the same time I found out that I have bought a car with an accident history, and from the looks of the weld inside the engine bay I can tell that it is quite a big one. Felt like a sucker for not checking it properly before signing the papers.
ARGGGHHHHHHHH EHHHHHHHHHHHH WUAWUAWUAUWHHHHHHH
Mother of fishes.
Yes the engine needs conditioning too, much like our hair. Especially second hand cars or cars that have clocked in more than 50000km, where layers of traffic residue can built up within the engine internals. Perhaps the pictures below can illustrate my point further.
What you see above is the throttle body (not mine, but I stole it from the seller's advertisement page) and as you can observe the area right after the valve is black, and it runs all the way into the internals.
The throttle body controls the amount of air that is fed into the engine, and a dirty throttle body means that the engine will have to burn more gas just to compensate for less air/interrupted air flow. Imagine you have to breathe twice as hard when you have a flu.
Not only that, in some cars there will be some sensors located beyond the throttle body, and when the sensors is coated with traffic residue, the ECU might receive inaccurate reading from the sensors and voila! You will have less power with even poorer fuel consumption.
What ThreeBond Engine Conditioner does is simple; it soaks into the the black residue and evaporates into find foamy particles, and the engine will burn it off into clouds of white smoke. This will indirectly clean the piston chambers as well. Shown below is a clean throttle body;
After the treatment the Neo is rather sluggish on the way back home, and it feels like something is choking its 'windpipe'. But what I notice is that engine noise is reduced significantly, and the engine is very responsive. After a few good driving days the choking sensation is gone, which I think there are some foam residues left inside, before being sucked out from the engine completely.
It doesn't stop there. Before the treatment, I can only travel to my workplace and back for three days with RM30. After treatment I get an additional day before refuel. My office is located some 24++ km away, to and fro means a total of 50+-km per day, and I get an extra 50km with a cleaner engine, how neat is that?!
But at the same time I found out that I have bought a car with an accident history, and from the looks of the weld inside the engine bay I can tell that it is quite a big one. Felt like a sucker for not checking it properly before signing the papers.
ARGGGHHHHHHHH EHHHHHHHHHHHH WUAWUAWUAUWHHHHHHH
Mother of fishes.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Satria Neo-- TaNaNaNaNa-- Sporin'
Meet the Neo, one of the rare breeds of our highways as no one will bother spending their money to buy a 2 door car nowadays, except for Ah Bengs and racer-boy wannabes (yours truly).
Now the Neo you see up there is different as it spends most of it time sucking in exhaust fumes, and spent its first 3 months of its life crawling along the LDP highway.
I have decided to give this car the proper treatment it deserves, and transform it into a proper street legal track car. But of course this will be done in a very long time span as the owner has no immediate cash to burn.
Before I go down the list of what I have in mind to mod this Neo, I will tell you the damage that is already done by the previous owner.
It is just sad that most of the drivers out there treat their cars as solely cars, some magical being that feeds on dinosaur liquid and can get them from point A to B. They forgot that cars, like humans, consists of 'internal organs' that drives it forward. If one component fails, it will no longer be a car. Take out the liver out from a human, he will no longer be a human.
Now below are the things I have discovered so far (hopefully no more):
1: The Neo started its life as a RED car. Well, I am okay with the color change but some of the interiors are not properly touched up and that is why I know it was a red car.
2: Previous owner fed the car with tap water instead of proper coolant, which caused the radiator to rust inside out. Things were not bad at first, but when we brought up the rusty water issue with the car dealer, they offered to do a radiator flush and things went downhill from there. The mechanic did a half-assed flushing job removed the thermostat and he insisted that it is useless. The next day, I have noticed the car took longer time to warm up and I ranged my uncle for his opinion, which he then said that the mechanic that took the thermostat out should not be a mechanic at all. To cut story short, I installed the thermostat back with a different mech, but another new problem arise. The radiator fan now runs constantly after reaching optimum temperature, but will not go overheat. Somehow the ECU thinks that the car is overheating and constantly instructing the fan to work overtime. BUT when I remove the thermostat again the fan behaves normally. What I suspect now is that the coolant are circulating too slow. Now this could mean: A CLOGGED RADIATOR due to BAD FLUSHING, or my water pump is going out.
3: Previous owner changed the alarm system. I mean what the hell. Why go for those fancy silent alarm system when the original one have immobilizer and all. I don't understand. Because of that I got a bootleg key which says "ITACO" on it. Apparently my car is the ITACO SATRIA NEO. Did I mentioned I only got A key? Yes, I only got a key. Just one. Previous owner sure have a bad habit of losing things.
4: Previous owner installed Ah Beng Exhaust, Rims, Stereo system, Steering. I can live with the exhaust and the rims were pushing the limits but I ripped the goddamn tweeters off and changed the steering to the 14 inch Nardi I had for quite some time.Trust me if I upload the old steering wheel your eyes will bleed bricks.
..and I changed the knob as you can see as the previous knob is damaged. There is an accidental discovery when I install the gear knob. Now, as you can see from the picture above, the shifter actually sits off-center in neutral position, so the black base plate will be off-centered by logic. But I found out that the base plate was installed backwards (which I suspect might be a installation error back at the factory) No wonder the gear change was spongy and stiff from 4 to 5th, the plate was limiting the movement of the shifter!!! Popped the plate back in place, and the shifter is now free to go wherever it wants to go. But from 1 to R only lah trololo.
5: Previous owner did not change lubricant, transmission oil, spark plugs, filter and all the vital consumables. I found out about this when I had the Neo serviced for the first time. The air filter is clogged and dirty as hell, and the lubricant is darker than black. The car was given a new lease of life when driven out from the workshop. How can one be this ignorant on basic car maintenance?? It is like feeding peanuts to a horse and expect it to run all the way to Siberia. And when the horse died of exhaustion, he will then curse the horse for being unreliable.
And so, starting from next month, I will give this car the proper treatment it deserves. Below are some of the things I think is enough for this year's satria neo track car project kick start.
1: ADVANTI 15 Inch Rim and 195/50/R15 RE001 Bridgestone Tires. I actually planned this to be the last upgrade for 2012, but my fellow colleague is letting go of his advanti rims and fresh tires at an unbeatable price. Can't say no when he agreed to accept my installment payment offer. HehHeh.
Heres a rough idea of the rims and the tire.
2: Grounding wires and Voltage Stabilizer. The Neo is famous for its pubertal hormonal imbalance so this might push the car faster towards adulthood. I am now eyeing at a particular DIY Voltage stabilizer and grounding wire over at the LowYatNetwork Forum.
3: Timing Belt Service, Bosch Platinum Spark Plugs with Cable. This is actually a mandatory service, and also an upgrade opportunity. But I'm still researching on what spark plug cables to go for but currently I have the R3 model in mind.
Lightened Crank and Water pump pulley. With this the engine will be relieved of parasitic drag, as these pulleys are a whopping 70%~90% lighter than the original pulleys. Less rotational mass, less effort needed to rev up. Will either go for Works Pulley or generic lightened pulley and R3 for the water pump pulley.
Torco Sr-1 lubricant and RedLine transmission oil. Torco lubricant is the jesus juice of all lubricants. The Neo is hungry for the juice. And the RedLine will keep the gears happy with all the years of abuse.
And last but not least a complete radiator upgrade to:
Forged Racing Aluminium Radiator. I am a little heat-phobic. I do not like my rice served hot. Therefore I want the Neo to be as cool as possible. Maybe the fan will be upgraded to a more durable one. We will see how it goes.
Goal is to make the car ready for a track day next year. With few more upgrade will try my luck in Saturday Night Fever series (fingers crossed).
Well, if you think the upgrades I've made above have better alternatives please let me know as well!
Mengenggam Sanubari Lahir Dalam Lara..............
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Lazy
Where is the PC build you've promised?
To date, I am actually too lazy to compile it together. It is just so tiring after a day of work facing the office computer , just to come home and face another computer.
Life is just so sluggish and uninspiring nowadays, with me waking up everyday repeating the same thing. I think my body can even repeat my daily task for me, even if you beat me unconscious. Muscle memory and thing. Bah.
What actually keeps me a little bit alive everyday is the expectation of something great is going to happen--- eventually.
Oh, if you happen to visit my blog from my YouTube account, I am actually working on a new music video, have a little sneak preview. Do shoot me with any opinions.
Jeff signing off for now.
To date, I am actually too lazy to compile it together. It is just so tiring after a day of work facing the office computer , just to come home and face another computer.
Life is just so sluggish and uninspiring nowadays, with me waking up everyday repeating the same thing. I think my body can even repeat my daily task for me, even if you beat me unconscious. Muscle memory and thing. Bah.
What actually keeps me a little bit alive everyday is the expectation of something great is going to happen--- eventually.
Oh, if you happen to visit my blog from my YouTube account, I am actually working on a new music video, have a little sneak preview. Do shoot me with any opinions.
Jeff signing off for now.
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