The Siam Paragon

There was such hype at the previous track event about the Paragon in Siam that I'd decided to do a simple search on what all this talk is about.

Here's a simple write up of The Paragon in Siam (I'm not sure if this is what you guys meant).

"Siam Paragon is an upscale shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand. It is one of the biggest shopping centers in Asia. Opened on December 9, 2005, it includes a wide range of stores and restaurants as well as a multiplex movie theater (consisted of 15 large size theaters with one of the them having the biggest screen and seating capacity in Asia) and the Siam Ocean World aquarium (the largest aquarium in South East Asia) and an exhibition hall and also an opera concert hall. It also has a large bowling alley and karaoke center. It is a joint venture by Siam Piwat, the company that owns the adjacent Siam Center/Siam Discovery shopping malls, and The Mall Group, which also owns The Emporium. Siam Paragon has attracted large crowds since it opened, but financial results aren't reported by the privately held Siam Paragon Development.

History
Siam Paragon was built on the former location of the Siam Intercontinental Hotel, which was torn down in 2002 at the end of its lease. The site, leased for 30 years, is Bureau of the Crown Property land and at one time was the royal parkland of the Srapatum Palace. During the mall's construction, waiting passengers on the Bangkok Skytrain's Siam station platform could watch the building take shape. Now the Siam station platform has one of the best views of the mall's raised courtyard, where many expositions and events are held. Often people will purchase a one-station trip ticket (with which they can leave the same station from where they purchased the ticket) simply to watch performances or other happenings on the courtyard.

When the mall opened on December 9, 2005, workers were still putting on finishing touches. During the first few months of its opening, there were signs of a hurried finish throughout the building, with unpainted ceilings and cracked floor tiles.

It was built at a cost of about 15 billion baht and covers an area of 52 rai (8.3 ha, 21 acres).

Three days after the grand opening of the Siam Paragon, a 10-year-old girl fell five metres through a gap on the main floor to the floor below. Matarika Kijjapathoomsak, or Nong Meena has been playing around a water garden on the main floor when she slipped through a space between a water garden and an elevator, dropping to the ground floor. She later died of her injuries. A visit by the Bangkok Post to the accident scene found no warning signs had been put up to tell visitors of the possible danger posed by the gap in the floor that Nong Meena slipped through. Only a line of plant pots were placed there as a temporary barrier to prevent shoppers from slipping into the three-metre-wide gap." - adapted from Wikipedia

Here's the Siam Paragon's official website for your perusal http://paragonbangkok.tripod.com/

There's also news of a Paragon that will be built at Gurney Drive, Penang, sited where the Uplands School was situated. But there's no confirmation yet as the project is on hold, and pending further enquiries.

Prima donna? We don't need no stinkin' prima donnas.

歌剧中的主要女歌手

"prima donnas" were often regarded as egotistical,twist of facts person,un motivational, unreasonable and irritable, with a rather high opinion of themselves not shared by others.A person who takes adulation and privileged treatment as a right and reacts with petulance to criticism or inconvenience. A person who has no regards for members of its organisation,twist the fact to his personal mileage.More generally, it refers to someone who thinks they are "the greatest thing since sliced bread", i.e. they are vain, haughty, above having to deal with trifling concerns, and typically hold others to the same high ideals to which they hold themselves (which, of course, they think they meet and nobody else can so why should they even try).Overly sensitive person who is temperamental and difficult to work with.Although whether they are truly more vain or more hot-tempered than other singers (or than any other people in the opera houses) is not substantiated, the term often signifies a vain, obnoxious and temperamental person who, although irritating, cannot be done without.

Are you that...? A clear message to BC Machine guys. We still got a long way to go. Even zoggee feels that he needs to learn more.He is just merely sharing his motorsports knowledge and opened our mind towards driving.

so it's a point for us to ponder......Are you that!?

Backdated: Sean Khoo And his gang drifting

Sean Khoo driving E36 328i Manual with 3.15 Limited Slip Differential



Owner got a bit dizzy filming Sean Khoo



ScaVenGer was in the car. Yes!!! Sean Driving again.



More to come...

Mr.Nismo( Yoong) drifting his Toyota Caldina at a very highspeed. coming soon....

Jo-Han Drifting Zoggee's Kookkaburra. with ScAvengEr as passenger.


Zoggee practising his donuts around TougeKing.

March 16th Open Track Day

We had an open track day on the 16th of March since we were there anyway. Zoggee planned a Solo I style time attack and each of us got 1 warm up lap and 5 timed laps on track.

Here are the results in sequence :-

Zoggee driving Henry in his Subaru Leone. (+75kg)
1. 51.62 secs.
2. 51.19 secs.
3. 52.58 secs.
4. 50.47 secs.

Jay Kang driving his EvoII Perdana.
1. 46.07 secs.
2. 47.33 secs.
3. 47.53 secs.
4. 47.02 secs.
5. 47.14 secs.

Lao Heah behind the wheel of his H22A Accord.
1. 48.85 secs.
2. 48.14 secs.
3. 48.13 secs.
4. 48.67 secs.
5. 47.10 secs.

Fasso piloting his Supercharged Corolla SE.
1. 50.42 secs.
2. 49.29 secs.
3. 48.47 secs.
4. 48.45 secs.
5. 49.16 secs.

Andrew Chew (003) driving EG6 B16A.
1. 49.47 secs.
2. 49.68 secs.
3. 47.30 secs.
4. 47.62 secs.
5. 47.09 secs.

Zoggee driving Lao San in his Toyota Vios. (+75kg)
1. 49.84 secs.
2. 50.29 secs.
3. 50.12 secs.
4. 50.24 secs.
5. 51.06 secs.

Andrew Chew (Snappy) in his Perdana SOHC.
1. 47.24 secs.
2. 48.35 secs.
3. 47.92 secs.
4. 47.89 secs.
5. 47.02 secs.

Tommy of Tommax stickers driving his WiraSE.
1. 50.92 secs.
2. 50.94 secs.
3. 52.25 secs.
4. 50.55 secs.
5. 50.58 secs.

Lao San piloting his Toyota Vios.
1. 49.18 secs.
2. 48.52 secs.
3. 48.15 secs.
4. 48.67 secs.
5. 48.35 secs.

Zoggee masterfully reining in his Kookaburra (KP61).
1. 46.17 secs.
2. 45.18 secs.
3. 45.12 secs.
4. 44.87 secs.
5. 44.36 secs.

Ah Teng crafting the track in his Saga VR4 turbo.
1. 47.20 secs.
2. 47.52 secs.
3. 47.55 secs.
4. 47.33 secs.
5. 48.59 secs.

Last but not least, Henry driving his pristine Subaru Leone.
1. 51.51 secs.
2. 51.14 secs.
3. 51.32 secs.
4. 50.57 secs.
5. 50.71 secs.

*All cars are manual (that's right, including the Vios!)*

Saturday's 15th March Defensive Driving

Last weekend, Team BC Machine had attended a Defensive Driving Course with Lead Instructor Sean Khoo (aka Ah Sien), and assisstant instructors Joe-Han and Yoong (aka MrNismo).

This course was basically an introduction to car control with very basic maneouvers, emphasizing on weight balance and car control. We were introduced to the slalom, staggered gate and finally an obstacle evasion exercise. It was a real eye-opener to a large majority of the participants on driving which we all take so much for granted.

Breakfast with the instructors before leaving for the Dato Sagor Track for a day of fun and learning.

The instructors' table:

Team BC Machine table, where everyone was proudly attired in their sponsor shirts. Thanks to Maxxis tires for their generous support.
Briefing by Sean Khoo (Lead instructor), with Yoong (aka MrNismo) and Joe-Han in the foreground listening on and adding comments, while all the participants listen intently.Sean pointing out to all the participants how NOT to feed the crocodiles in Sg. Perak.Sean's briefing of seating and steering work as all the participants look on.

Yoong was used as the puppet for demo purposes.
Sit up straight with wrists over the 12 o'clock position on the steering wheel.Yoong demonstrating steering gripping positions.

2 o'clock and 10 o'clock position.3 o'clock and 9 o'clock position.

All participants were warned not to drive "kung-fu style" as shown in the pic below because this prevents evasive steering work if emergencies do occur.

No "forklift" steering work as well as this will allow slip and eventual loss of control.

Yoong demonstrating the "push-pull" steering work where each hand only covers 180deg. of the steering wheel and there are no overlaps/crossing of arms.

Demo of pedal work where most importantly, the left foot should always be on the dead pedal except for de-clutching and re-engagement. This also helps you steady your upper body when turning.

Yoong was the marshall that day, directing traffic as everyone was ready to go for the slalom exercise.

First up was Jay Kang and his Perdana.

Next was Lao San and his super white Vios.

Ah Seow doing well with his Ford Sampan TX3 through the slalom.

Ah Aun and his E36 Bimmer had a good exercise through the slalom being a rear wheel drive.

Andre (003) with his lean, mean EG6 showed everyone it's handling prowess.

Andrew (Snappy) with the Silver Banana (Perdana) rolling from cone to cone, accompanied by the sounds of screeching tires.

Daniel's Civic SOHC did great despite a lack in power. But it's all about balance and driving finesse.

Ah Seow's Ford at it again. He couldn't get enough of the slalom. Look at the Sampan roll, yet Ah Seow handled it superbly.

Lao Heah and his powerful Accord. He handled it with much dexterity although the car was nose heavy. Great effort!
Participants were stopped as it was about lunch time and to respect the locals as its prayer time.

A few participants doing routine checks on their arsenal. Bert with his Mazda Interplay (as shown in pic with bonnet open).

After lunch, the instructors went to work straight away to set the track up for a low speed slalom which was to be done in forward then in reverse continuously. Yikes!

The Perdana's initiated the event while the instructors took timing.

Snappy's Perdana had an appetite for cones as it ate up at least 3 of them... In reverse!!!

The Civic had a smooth drive with no taste for cones. What can I say, it's an acquired taste! :)

The heavens clouded up and decided to favor us with some rain. It drizzled initially and soon started pouring cats & dogs. Naturally, we were quite pleased with the slippy surface and the E36 was taken out for a wringing in the wet.

Sean was requested to teach Lao Heah oversteer control but sadly, the rear brakes were not locking up. So another candidate car was chosen, Andrew's (Snappy's) Perdana, and Sean took it out to show us all oversteer control, handbrake turn, 360deg. flick, and j-turn in a single lane (no cones were harmed in this video!).

Not one to be left out, Yoong set off in his Caldina GT-four with both Andrews (003 & snappy) and Tougeking as passenger. They had a blast to be in a drifting SUV.

Not about to be outdone, Tougeking also joined in the slipping fun with his Touge Machine.
A picturesque view from the grand-stand as a majestic eagle flew by.
Lao Heah's application to get into Yoong's (MrNismo's) "over-the-drain" club.

Club president agrees that it's all good. *shows thumbs-up*

Sean looks on, "I heard tires, then throttle kau kau, then tires again. I told myself gone liao!"

Top row (standing) : Daniel, Ah Khoon, Lao Heah, Tan, 003, Henry, Ah Aun, Fasso.

Middle row (leaning over) : Jay, Tommy, Snappy, Kang, Lao San, Ah Seow.

Front row (squatting) : Botak, Yoong (aka MrNismo), Sean (aka Ah Sien), Joe-Han, Ah Bert.

That night at the chalet, the participants were cooling off in the beautiful pool, with permission from the staff for night use of course. All sorts of fun were had as you can view from the video.

As we were going to check out of the chalet the next morning, the hotel staff requested for a team picture to be taken. Naturally, being the nice chaps we were, obliged with the request in turn that our cameras be included :P

It was a great event and all participants had a fantastic time with a lot learnt. We at Team BC Machine would just like to wish the event organizers a HUGE thank you for all the times had. A successful event in totality.

Stay tuned to this blog for updates on future events!

A weekend at the Dato Sagor Track

Team BC-Machine had a track day to offer an introduction to track driving with the aid of Zoggee and Tougeking.
Tougeking was also the events manager and VIP driver of this event. This event was held at the Dato Sagor track in Kampung Gajah.

Part of the team had already arrived at Dato Sagor track on Friday to clean up and prep for the weekend activities. Kudos guys!

The second group of fellas due to arrive on Saturday morning met up at the Bukit Merah R&R for breakfast and pushed off at 5.00a.m. sharp for the journey to Kg. Gajah, led by Steven in a yellow Bimmer. They decided to go off the highway for some touge action.

A convoy of 13 cars going through old route touge.

Everyone arrived at the track in time for setup and registration.
Then we proceeded with the driver andhepers/marshall briefing. After which everyone went through scrutineering of their vehicles as a safety precaution.

In the midst of briefing, BCM 003 yelled out that he'd seen buffalo. Naturally, no one paid him any mind thinking that he was joking as always. But seeing the "serious-ness" in his eyes (or the lack of it), we turned around to see that a herd of buffalo had actually came on track. I guess they were looking for some action too eh... Boo-yah!

Tougeking was busy changing his tires under the tent as he was the most anxious person to get on track! First round and BCM Snappy had flagged him down for sliding :)In the midst of all the excitement, BCM 003 had missed out on his lunch. So he went and bought himself some fried noodles only to forget the utensils, so he had to eat it doggy style! (No! Fasso, it's not part of your nocturnal agenda)

The team had decided to change the layout of the track a little for the afternoon, turning the right sweeper after the grandstands to a hairpin S-turns. This change in course layout of course warranted another briefing which Zoggee had dutifully carried out. Cheers mate!
Everyone of course listened intently (because Zoggee's one fierce mutha!), even the helpers!

Even the touge.com fellas had some drifting fun courtesy of Zoggee during lunch time, but only 15 mins was allowed and only in parts of the track not utilized at other times of the day. This rule is so that everyone else has safe runs without worry of debris on the track surface.

Here's a preview of the White Starlet,which belongs to Mikextreme from TCM forum.Zoggee was testing the Starlet and misbehave in track as well. Zoggee...No drifting.....!!!

At the end of the event, we had a simple photo session with our contributors and sponsors which were of grreat help and support to this event. We wouldn't have done it without them.. *hip-hip-hooray*clap*clap*clap*

Maxxis Tires boss standing between Zoggee and Tougeking, all smiles. Tougeking also tested the Maxxis Victra i-Pro on track, with boss-man riding shotgun, and had nothing but praise for it!!! It provides good traction in dry, built with a stiff sidewall to provide great steering feedback, and it has a very linear loss of grip so that safety levels are always kept in check. Look out for it at a launch near you!

Tougeking standing in between Exhaust sifu Chien and TKA absorber's Dennis! they had a great experience being on track.