Retrieving the Silver Banana

I'd applied leave last Friday to go down to Ipoh to get the Silver Banana. I left Pg for Ipoh by 11a.m. along with Raj and Patrick in his Satria.

We enjoyed the ride down as Patrick has his suspension set to the softest setting and I'd brought along my laptop for on board entertainment.

We arrived shortly (around lunch time) and TK (tougeking) met up with us along with a member of Hillraiders from KL. Naturally, we went up the touge... After a short lunch session.

Great drink.. Kinda like a float with extra flavor.

The herbal duck noodles were superb! *smack lips*
We had some good rojak... But nothing like Penang.
There was also dried Chee Cheong Fun.
Once we'd devoured everything, refuelled, had a puff for the road and received Fujiwara (another friend). We then went up the touge with TK in the lead (me sitting in his Franken70), followed by Patrick and Steven of Hillraiders (I'm sorry bro, I can't seem to find your site. Leave me a comment and I'll post it up). We were halfway up the touge when it friekin' poured on us! Nonetheless, being the advent blogger that I am.. *ahem*ahem* I took pics standing in the rain :P
A logo of the hillraiders. Innovative use of the "r" 'innit?
We went down to visit what Ipoh is known for, it's caves and caverns, for a photo op! After which we finally went over to Han's shop to take a look at how things were going for the Silver Banana.
Work was not yet done. But night was upon us as Han kept laboring away.
As it was getting too late, Raj and Patrick went home to Pg after a short touge run. And I bunked with Han whom was a gracious host. I for one am always thankful for anywhere to sleep, and Han got me some sheets and a pillow to boot. Thanks bro!

I got a great amount of floor space to roll around in :P
Next morning as we were leaving for the workshop, I saw Han's bike.
Which had carbon fibre forks!
On route to the workshop, I saw this "interestingly" named restaurant. In Hokkien "Kam Ching" (literally translates to "suck gun") is a slang word to describe getting oral sex. I just had to take a pic of the signage! :P
Here's a pic of Han's place with a Kancil Turbo in the works. It'll be used for dragging and bragging.
We then went over to see a machine shop which catered only to the automotive industry. You can get work done from your location pins inserted to boring out your block.

Just look at the size of the workshop space!
We then visited a drift buddy of mine Jim (Ah Hei) at his workshop (ABT motorsport) to look for some parts and to have a short chat with him. I found out about his new project for the DCC RES'2 IBU A31 Drift car... Its new engine will be a monster. Just as comparison, he'd removed an RB25DET in exchange. Lookit his drift machine sitting just outside.

The final touches were done at Han's neighbouring shop as he had certain tools needed.
These fellas even had their name on the concrete ramp!
CT-4 (formerly known as GT-4) had completed the final work on my baby and we started up the engine to perform some tests before leaving for home sweet home! Thanks Lek for the work done.

Thank you all very much for the hospitality and ferrying me around. Much thanks to TK for the ride, thanks to Han for all the work done and a room to stay (very grateful), much thanks to Ah Boy the unsung hero as he accompanied me the entire night and brought me up the touge in his pristine EG6!

As for Raj and Patrick... The engine will be run in soon and you better be ready for my return to the touge!!!

Track day pics!

I'll leave this posting clean and simple... Words do little for an event like this.

First group of the convoy about to leave for Kg. Gajah.
An overview of the parking area from the grand stand. We had an AWESOME turn out.
Even the fields were full of cars.
Including the volleyball court side!
Some of the early arrivals waiting for our second convoy to arrive as well as local participants.
Under the palms... Looks exotic ler?
Just look at the amount of drivers attending the track briefing... Phew!
Even the local drifters were here to show us some tire burning action!
A beautiful A31
Just check out the camber all these drifters had on.. Exceeding 4deg. of slant!
Our first casualty of the day. His wheel had dug into the soft sand and got stuck. Thanks to Dennis for helping out with his winch equipped Ford Ranger.

Soon, at lunch time, Adam and Tom from ZTH showed up with the official ZTH car. The M3 CSL. There was also a pretty girl and a camera man that came along to provide coverage (I'm very sorry, I'd forgotten your names) for this event.

I took Tom out for a brief drive through the track (in Raj's R3 GTi.. Thanks bro) to see the course while Adam was following behind in the M3.

*sorry guys no vid as its too long for youtube and the editor on my com went corrupt*

The mini race started around 4p.m. and Boy was leading the 1.6L group... Excessively I might add.
The more exciting and "interesting" >1.6L group was taking off.
Suhaimi took pole position.
While our very friendly Raj brought home a close 2nd place. (Thanks for the drive and sorry for the scratches, we go yam cha tonight.) Patrick Gun got a cheery 3rd placing and still in his full face helmet! We ended the journey with a hearty dinner at Tg. Tualang. I missed my lunch...
The prawns there were HUGE!

We parted ways and bid farewell to each other. We'll see you all at the next excursion! Cheers.

p.s. I blew my engine in the first half of the day... If anyone's got pics of it, pls drop a comment and I'll be in touch.

Courtesy of Dennis : Pics of the Silver Banana on tow.

TRACK DAY, May 18th - Confirmed participants

Organized by tougeking

The participants that have paid and are confirmed for the upcoming May 18th Track Day are:
1. Tan Kae Huang (Dennis) - CQ566
2. Tan Kae Hyeok (Danny) - PBT2851
3. Teh Chia Yong (McGyver) - PCF2586
4. Ha Wun Cheong (Panda) - WAY9068
5. KEOK CHIN CHEAN - PDS 9539
6. KEOK CHIN XIANG - ACY 6396
7. JEFFREY TANG WENG CHOW - WHY 4842
8. SUHAIMI B. MUHAMUD - PEC 9226
9. MOHD SHAHRUL ANUAR B. AKASAH - JDA 1283
10. SAM TAN - PHM 778
11. NG KIM CHIH - PGG 8220
12. SIEW WEI MENG - PFL 2351
13. M. JAYANTHARAAN - PDN 7598
14. TAN YU MING - WQE 7101
15. GOH CHEE HIN - PFP 8311
16. TAN KOK WEI - PFR 6565
17. Tee Ewe Jin - PEP 65
18. Ng Wui Leng - PET 7082
19. Lim Yee Xin - PDR 6892
20. Lim Jian Yi - PDV 8663
21. Lim Tiek Soon - KAK 8209
22. ScAvEnGeR - PDE 2185
23. Tommy Chan - PGC 1928
24. Teoh Chun Zhi - PFD 5107
25. Khoo Beng hai - PGY 9754
26. Kang Chor Eng - PDL 9693
27. Lian Kooi Thian - PGG 303
28. Ivan Leong Chit Hoow - ADU 8344
29. Goh Tze Wui - PDE 8802
30. Shazwan - WKF 3266
31. Denesh - MW 711
32. Mohanraj A/L Rengaraj - PGL8050

33. Steven Lai Kwan Keat - BGV8188
34. Ng Chun Hoe - PFA9361

35. Suhaimi - PCU 6181
36. Patrick Gun - PFJ9181

37. Edison Tan - PFD8924

Updated on May 16th, 2008, 6.26pm.

Thank you.

Touge for Friendship (Part 2)

Upon arrival at the Teluk Bahang Dam, we saw that there are too many "spectators" around and we'd decided to park a little further up the way. As with most driving activities, a post mortem was in order once everyone got outta their cars and lit-up :P (Still no pics due to super bad lighting)

After a short chit-chat session and a couple of ciggies, Tougeking wanted me to navigate him through the Teluk Bahang to Balik Pulau part of the touge. So off we went for Round 2 in the thick pillared Satria Neo with Tougeking at the helm.
*Please refer to Tougeking.blogspot.com for the video*

We arrived back at the dam to find that most of the crowd had moved off so we'd shifted to a better lit area next to the guardpost.

Left - Right : TK's Neo, ScAv's Silver Banana, and Tan's V6.

Sorry not many pics as I was already called in for the 3rd round of touge.

Tougeking had so much fun through the super twisty touge that Ah Boy also wanted to get in on the action, I for one did not want to miss the workout so I took lead in my Silver Banana. Tougeking rode with Boy in his EG B16B and Raj and Patrick rode with me in my Silver Banana 4G63 SOHC (I'll just call it torque for now due to its charachteristics)

Round 3 touge : We had a little Torque vs VTEC battle up the touge! Boy and I were having a fun drive and we hit the touge super fast with Boy's EG giving chase with much effort put in but still trailing. I had to wait a bit, just to be sure nothing happened while Boy tried to catch up (I had home course advantage). I'd arrived a little ahead of Boy, so Patrick, Raj and I decided to come out for a ciggie whilst we wait. When Boy eventually arrived at the checkpoint, everyone talked as if we'd known each other for ages even though we had not chatted before. Touge for friendship!!!

My Silver Banana in front with the yellow spotlights with Ah Boy's Civic EG Type-R at the Balik Pulau checkpoint. Ah Boy's "Primo" example of a beaut EG.
Tougeking as usual being the drama queen that he is, did not want to see the arse of another car through the touge and decided to sit in on my drive back to the dam gates. No worries this round as Patrick (also a local) rode back with Boy. So we took the touge super fast this time and I scratched my front passenger side rim on a low curb as a consequence. Haiz... But thankfully, nothing went awry and check-ups were made upon arrival at the dam gates.

It was a super hard workout due to the fast driving, I was sweating profusely! We cooled down, chatted a bit and parted ways as it was already 4.30a.m.

I went home a happy man.. Delighted to see a stock Perdana could handle the touge averagely well on stock suspension and all the touge excitement had been vented outta me. Phew! What a night!!!

Sat night touge with Tougeking : Touge for friendship (Part 1)

I crawled into bed (my sofa rather) around 4a.m. Sat morning due to some tire testing earlier that morning. I was dreaming of gunning it (the touge) much faster and screech.... brrr-iiing~! My phone rang to abruptly woke me from my record breaking dream :P

It was Tougeking on the other side of the line at 8+ a.m.~!!! Friekin' hell... I had just got some shut eye. Anyhow, good news followed, Tougeking was coming up to Penang for the Teluk Bahang touge! I jumped outta bed and started to get my car prepped.

I went over and waited around 5 hrs at Chuan Ghee tire shop to get my balancing and alignment done. I removed the stupid HID units from my headlamps (by the road side) in the mean time. Stupid thing is bloody well glaring, but as bright as a dim bulb! I installed my original Koito halogen H4's and off to the Smart Tint (friend's accessory shop) to get some spotlights installed.

The spotlight install was stopped short to do the wheel balancing and alignment. With tremendous amounts of chit-chat and smokes in between, I had completed the spotlight install at 10.30p.m. As I wanted a quality install, I was willing to wait until I had undivided attention from the installer. Yesterday night proves that he did not dissapoint.

I rushed home for a bath and a quick nap then off to meet the entire gang at Tommax stickers in wait for Tougeking's arrival which he cordially did to the sound of a 5Zigen Pro-Racer! We sat down for some drinks at Fantasi Nasi Kandar and waited for Raj & Patrick's contingent to arrive. Then off we went to the Relau Shell station for fill-ups and air pressure check. Everyone regrouped and off we went at around 1.30a.m. We were joined by Ah Han (Tougeking's mech & buddy), Ah Boy in his EG B16B, BC Machine Tan and Lao San, MyviC fellows (super friendly bunch), Chean Exhaust group from Parit Buntar and Raj & Patrick along with their friends. We'd split the group up into 2 groups, one group will be driving "enthusiastically" whilst the other will cruise.

This pic of the huge TT was taken with MyviC outside having a puff and still missing Raj & Patricks group.

Dr. Goh meets Dr. Goh at Touge for Friendship (Pg Edition)
I'd led the "enthusiastic" group whilst Tommy of Tommax led the cruisers.

Our route was through Jalan Tun Sardon to Balik Pulau, then cruise through the township and head to Teluk Bahang past Titi Kerawang and eventually all arrived at the Teluk Bahang Dam with (thankfully) no occurences or mishaps.

*Not many pics as I was eager to drive. Hope I can steal a few pictures from Tougeking's or Patrick's blog :P *

Tougeking stickers!

I've just got and installed my Tougeking stickers. Sweet!

Check them out:-

Our expert sticker man. Tommy from Tommax No. Plate and Sticker Workshop.

"ScAvEnGeR" labelled Tougeking sticker installed in inner windscreen. Sweet eh?

16th open track day at Dato Sagor

We had an open track day after the defensive driving course since we were staying over at the chalet anyways. Plus, we had to rent the track for both days (owner's requirements).


Zoggee organised something similar to Solo and took out timed runs as benchmark for future improvement. I didn't get any pics because all the participants and I were too busy being nosey. Sitting near the timekeeper and watching for others' lap times.


One interesting participant was the Saga from Hell, which I first saw at Sepang's open track on the 27th of Jan 08. This fella ran coil over shocks suspension in the rear and a 4G63T resides as its heart. Heavily modified and torque steers like mad. Enjoy the view :-

*Picture adapted from tougeking.blogspot.com

I had a blast of a time and I finally got Tougeking to drive my car. Despite being and FF layout, balding yr 2003 tires and his first time driving my car, his time was :-

1. 44.78 secs.

2. 44.94 secs.

3. 44.45 secs.

As compared to my own time of :-

1. 47.24 secs.

2. 48.35 secs.

3. 47.92 secs.

4. 47.89 secs.

5. 47.02 secs.

I tried entering the chicane on third gear and missed the following apex slightly on my second run, I didn't think it'd cost me so much. Haiz...

Now I know what I'm aiming for :) Thanks TK for the taxi ride and for the benchmark timing. Thanks also for showing me how to take the chicane, I shall return soon with vengeance and new tires :P

I just gotta say this. IT'S ALL ABOUT BALANCE!!!

Tougeking visits TB!

Tougeking was visiting Pg last Sunday and he'd gave me a holler that beautiful morning.

We met up at Queensbay mall for some chit-chat and "bird-watching" as his girlfriend did some shopping (naturally). We caught a glimpse of some "interesting" pillars near the information counter (where we were at for the good part of an hour), and being the neanderthals all men are, we decided to take some pics.

Mock pic of me peeping!

After which, hunger reared its ugly head and we had to go get some din-din. TK suggested deep fried fish bones at Double Dragon Restaurant (situated next to Waterfall hotel) which is incidentally my friends place. So I called up for a booking and off we went. On our way to the carpark, we saw an interesting shop themed as a toilet!!!
We were the first to arrive and luckily I had made a booking as it was teeming in an hour!


During dinner, it rained and damped our spirits but everything looked well after our hearty meal as the skies had cleared and naturally, the Touge came to mind!

I brought TK through Chui Di Lor, Batu Feringghi (full of traffic 'tho), then Teluk Bahang (up to the dam). TK was chasing me in Tommy's car. Here are some pics at the dam, along with Dennis from TKA Motorsports, BCM Tan and his GF, and Dennis' awesome 4 x 4!
From then on, TK rode shotgun with me through the Teluk Bahang-Balik Pulau route in the super wet road full of debris. We decided to have a "careful" drive up, but being the little voices kept asking me to push it... Bwahahaha... A few close encounters with MPPP's (city council) well made concrete barriers, but it was all good.

After that we took Jalan Tun Sardon from Balik Pulau back to Relau and TK immediately felt more at home there as it was a high speed touge. The idiot laughed all the way through the high speed corners, contemplating his move to Penang for residence! Hahaha...

We stopped at the Relau Shell station and waited for all to arrive before parting ways and going home for some well deserved rest :)