Malaysian General Election Voting Procedure

The sad truth about myself is that I've never actually voted in any of our nation's general elections. The March 2008 elections happened before I turned 21, so naturally I had to sit that out. In light of all these, I've never experienced an election, but I got this in the email today and thought "Whether is it true or not, the preventive step is really small and insignificant so there's no harm doing it". Do take a look.
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PLEASE bring along your own pencil ERASER. It is VITAL that we get this information across to as many people as possible. 1. As soon as you enter the polling station, you will be ushered to Kerani 1, who will check your personal identity against your NRIC. He/she will then read out your name, NRIC number and the Siri/Bilangan number in accordance to the List provided by the Election Commission (SPR).

2. Once all that is verified, Kerani 1 will pass your NRIC to the next officer, Kerani 2.

3. Here, Kerani 2 will hand you a ‘Kertas Undi,’ which is identified by its Serial Number. As a Voter, please know your rights. You have the constitutional right under our Election Laws to NOT accept the ‘Kertas Undi’ that the officer assigns to you. You CAN and should ask for a different ‘Kertas Undi’ from a different book. To do that, just say to the officer, “Encik (or Cik), saya minta Kertas Undi dari buku lain atau dari bawah.” Translated, that is, “Sir (or Madam), I like to request a different ballot paper from a different book or from below.” This must be done so that the Voter CANNOT be identified via the SPR’s Master List. It will take just ONE voter to upset the whole sequence, which will eventually affect the SPR’s Master List for that voting centre. The aim of doing this is to SAFEGUARD every Voter’s identity. No one has the right to know how you want to vote.

4. Once your ‘Kertas Undi’ is issued to you, just stand there and do NOT leave immediately.Instead please CHECK BOTH SIDES of the ballot paper in order to ensure that there are NO pencil markings or Any other form of suspicious markings on it. If there are, REJECT the ballot paper issued to you and instead request for these markings to be either erased to your satisfaction or for you to be issued with a new ‘Kertas Undi.’ Also do NOT accept any loose-lying ‘Kertas Undi,’ which may have been strewn about because it was rejected by someone else earlier. ALWAYS ask for a fresh ballot paper from the book. An alternative, as suggested by certain other people via email, is to Bring along your own eraser so that when you see any pencil marks, you can rub them off completely yourself.

5. Kerani 2 will then hand the ‘Kertas Undi’ to the next officer, Kerani 3. Kerani 3 carries a seal, which will be used to stamp your ‘Kertas Undi.’ PLEASE watch carefully that the officer stamps your ballot paper FULLY and CLEARLY. After that, see that it is folded into two before the ballot paper is handed over to you. Incomplete stamp mark can and will render your ballot paper as spoiled vote.

6. You can now proceed to the voting booth.

7. At the booth, please ensure that the ballot paper has only your ONE marking of a single X. If for whatever reason, suspicious or otherwise, you overlooked some pencil marks of numbers or markings on the front or back of the ballot paper (ie other than your own mark), please ERASE those markings completely. REMEMBER, these markings can and will render your ballot spoiled – so be Extra Cautious. The most careful approach is to check your ‘Kertas Undi’ thoroughly before you accept it from the officer.

REMEMBER to check it in front of the relevant officer so that if you have to reject it, he is right in front of you.

8. Do not be afraid or cower in fear when you have to express your objections because there are representatives from the various participating political parties who will be there to observe the whole voting process and they are there to assist you as and when you need. As mentioned earlier, It is this kind of information that GUILTY PARTY does not want others to know. They thrive on public ignorance so that they can do whatever they feel like brazenly. One way to stop them is to send this information to as many of your friends as possible so that everyone, on voting day, knows exactly what to do, knows his/her constitutional voting rights and is aware of Print this out and keep it safely. When Voting Day finally arrives, it will be handy for you to access and read again.

TL;DR: Bring an eraser, erase all pencil marks on your ballot paper.

Test rode a KHS Flite 500

I've always cycled throughout my life, to varying degrees of involvement. It typically includes cycling to childhood girlfriends' friends' houses, a ride around the neighbourhood; but nothing to the extend of what I've done. *** With the intention of adding a low-impact sport into my mix of every-now-and-then-also-get-injured sports, I bought a Raleigh Diablo Pro, on the recommendation of @KYSpeaks. At this point, my intention was to do the twice weekly 30min rides around the neighbourhood, and thus I did not consider getting a road bike.


It came with some low end Shimano shifters, which at this point is sufficient for me, but what appealed to me was that it had a pair of disc brakes. As someone who had previously owned a 15 year old bike, it was a nifty upgrade.

With luck, I let out to a few other friends that I bought a bike, and they brought me for a 34km ride at Putrajaya on the weekend I got the bike. At the end of the very rainy ride, I swore to swap out my no-brand knobbly tyres for a pair of slick tyres, and the transformation was instantaneous. With that I was sucked into putting in more distance on my bike.

*** After a couple of months of doing weekly rides at Setia Alam, I went for the Tour de Kuala Gandah, where I swapped my MTB with Ken Seong's KHS Flite 500 about halfway through, and the difference was apparent. Flying downhill was no longer limited by gravity (my MTB had really short gearing so I typically freewheeled downhill); and with a lighter bike and components with lower rolling resistance, it seemed effortless compared to riding my MTB.


My only beef with riding a road bike would be the rim brakes, and the position of the brake handles; as opposed to the disc brakes I've gotten used to on my MTB. There were several points where heavy traffic, combined with bad road conditions required me to swerve onto the road shoulder, risking a puncture on the very delicate road tyres, or worse: me becoming a statistic of biking fatalities. I genuinely felt scared at those times, but then its nothing that I won't get used to.

In spite of the borrowed bike being 3cm too large for me¹, riding it was generally easier though a lot more harsh due to the thinner tyres, and the lack of suspension. Going through the harsher bumps would result in a mild sting to my gonads, and a brief squeak from me.

TBH I can't really come up with a description between the differences between a road and a mountain bike, but I was sold, so... hello 2013 Flite 500...soon. Anyone willing to sponsor me a bike can give me a call at 1300-13-1300 wtf.



Notes: 1. From my limited experience, road bike's frame sizing seems a bit more discriminate compared to mountain bike frame sizing. Merely adjusting the seat height is insufficient, as the distance between the handlebar and seat is also determined by the frame size.

Penang Triathlon / Dualthon; Zombies, Run!

Heard about this Penang Triathlon (sold out) / Dualthlon which will be held 31st March next year.



While the triathlon has been sold out, the dualthlon still has slots available. Now this is a good thing for me because if I were to take part in the triathlon, the total body count would now be 1.

Distances for the dualthlon would be a 5.5km run, a 40km bike ride, and a final 10km run. Maps for the runs have not been released yet, but the route for the cycling leg is out, and it goes from the Teluk Bahang damn to Balik Pulau, and then back.


As a person who has driven along that road, I'll say that its not going to be easy as the amount of climbs are going to be ball-wrenching.***
My problem is that, in spite of participating in various sports, to various degrees of success, I have never been good at running. In fact my fear of running outweighs my fear of the 40km ride.

The reason behind this is simply because running is a horribly boring sport. Lift leg, kick front, put leg down, push back, repeat. Music doesn't really help either so I enlisted the help of 'Zombies, Run!', an app that, like most apps in recent times, gamifies even the most mundane activities.


The basic premise is that you plug in your earphones, listen to the story and run as you go alone. Breaks in the story will be filled with running music of your choice, in my case: music from my iPhone. The occasional need to sprint is optional with the zombie chases feature, this lends a bit of excitement to the whole experience.



Gamification
The synopsis of the story is that you're being dropped into this zombie infested town called Able Township. As you run, you get to pick up supplies which you can use to further develop the town. More supplies picked up = level up, which then further unlocks more missions.

Running, as earlier mentioned will bring you to the story mode where there'll be instructions to complete certain tasks (which you can just ignore, since its just part of the story and comes automatically), as you move along there'll be supplies which you'll pick up (again, no additional effort needed, a narration will just beep in).


These supplies will be used to level-up Able Township, via individual structures.


Upon hitting a zombie horde, the voice will prompt you to run. This is where some ambiguity will come in as a first time user. You should only sprint when the computer-ish voice (similar to the one that narrates the item pick ups) asks you to run. It'll be accompanied by a radar beeps, where a faster beep means you should burn the roads.

Getting caught by zombies means either dropping some items, or losing the game if you've dropped all your items (assumed, since I only got caught once).

As you can see, I lost a sports bra because I started sprinting too early :(

Further improving this As a person who uses Endomondo as my primary fitness app, it'll be nice to be able to natively export the .gpx files for cross platform sharing (A 3rd party .gpx export option, which is 404 at time of writing.)

Also to improve on the gamification idea, if the game was an actual game which utilises runs as a way to level up your weapons, similar to buying virtual currencies, then the whole gamification process would vastly improve. Of course, you can't have it all so this is not a big deal.

Using this app for actual training might not work as you can't work with programs like intervals, but of course the whole idea is to go out and run so its definitely a big plus for people like me who find running too much of a mental challenge.

At USD3.99, its a bit of a pricey app considering that other apps like Endomondo, which can be had for free, and offer an in-depth analysis of your runs.



Endomondo's analysis.

Compared with Zombies, Run!'s analysis which only provides duration, distance and pace, with some additional fun stats, but doesn't really contribute to your workout analysis.


Update
My mistake: Zombie run actually provides analysis for the entire run, even with analysis for individual events (eg: for a particular song, for a zombie chase, or even during a song).



However, it still does not provide information such as best KM, best mile, and distance over a 12minute duration. I suppose one cannot have it all.

All in all, I think this is one of the better apps I've bought recently. Even before discovering the analysis, I'd say is a really great app because it actually gets you out running. So again, if you're like me and haven't found a way to get yourself running, this may be it for you because its fun. So go get it at the App Store, or Google Play!

Xpax #Whatchuwant MTV Pimp My Ride

Fans of MTV would be familiar with this phrase Pimp My Ride.

Basically what happens is the organizers (Xpax, in this case) will take a really beat up car (like my old Honda City), splash a little cash on it and turn it into a new pimpin' wonder machine.

Now before I head into talking about how Xpax can potentially change my car's life, they're also giving away RM10,000 of prizes daily. And mind you, these are not little T-shirts with inflated price tags, but real prizes that you can use. Things like Samsung 40" Full HD LED TVs, Pioneer Blu-Ray Home Theater systems, Samsung Galaxy S3s and Tab 2 7.0"s, and Nikon Cameras.


Seriously, look at this. Imagine if I were to win a TV everyday.

Here's how you can stick your hand in the proverbial cookie jar.



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Now that I've given you a little appetizer, lets head over to the main course. You non-Nuffnangers stay out.

Now a little intro to my car. Its a 1998 Honda City, which I talk about on Twitter under the tag #Citynurhaliza, because its a City, and I think Siti Nurhaliza is an awesome singer.

Like all drivers who actually enjoy driving, it has a proper manual gearbox, with a human actuated clutch that allows you to experiment with clutchless shifts, double-clutch heel-and-toe downshifts...and the list goes on.


When it comes to cars, old is gold.

The problem about its that its slightly old, so the little issues that show up every now-and-then, with age lends a little character to it. If Xpax were to Pimp My Ride, here are some things that I will do to this car.

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Engine


Old tired engine needs an overhaul. Also note, the RIY (remove it yourself) filter snorkel. It adds a bit of noise (which for me can be a bit tiresome) but gives me a significant power boost on the low end.

A good car needs a little bit of push to outrun all the annoyingly dangerous drivers. Here's the current condition of my car. Its stock, with only the snorkel removed.

To give my car a little more street cred, I'd like a really low-pressure turbo that would give my car a little more push while keeping it reliable. This shouldn't be too difficult, as my engine can reliably handle up to 160hp without having to break it open to fix the insides. Best part of this, it'll retain, or possibly improve my car's already ultra-low fuel economy.

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Body


Note the horrible scratch, a Christmas gift from an inconsiderate motorcyclist. Heart pain :(


For a car that is 15 years old, I'd say that paint is in decent condition; but that doesn't mean that it can't be improved.


Check out this awesome City from the Philippines. And and and.... look at the awesome paintwork, the shine!


I'd also like to cover up the ugly spoiler holes on my boot. Backstory: I removed the spoiler in hopes of improving my fuel economy. Also note: watermarks on the body which cannot for the love of anything be removed.

No extreme bodykits that scream "LOOK AT ME!" as I'd like to go for that sleeper look. Also, less is more so my car will definitely look loads better!

Protip: Spoilers on our cars don't really work as we rarely drive fast enough to generate downforce. However, they cause a lot of drag, wasting precious fuel.

The good bit is that I've recently changed my headlights, which means more kaching can be put into things that matter, like...
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Suspension

Here's where some major work has to be done.

Look at the space between my wheels and the wheel arch!

As a person who cycles and often carries my bike on the back of my car, the space between the wheel and the wheel arch is too damn high!



There are 2 ways I can fix make loading my bike easier, grow more muscles or lower my car. Between the both of them, its easy to see which option is easier. Not to mention the easier option would give my car more street cred, as well as making it handle better. See? Win-win-win-win solution!

Being slightly in-the-know, I know of people who can get me a decent set of street-specced springs which will go under 3 grand. That's a good deal if you ask me, a deal that Xpax should know how to grab when they see it.


Wheels

I like my wheels, can't deny that. Have always been a fan of multi-spoke rims that don't show too much flesh. You know, got to cover up a little in our society hehe.



Not to mentioned that the wheels have stayed true (which means perfectly round with no wobbling) even after 15 years of use. Can't beat the Enkei stuff.

Unfortunately, you can't have it all. My rims are only at 14 inches in diameter, which seriously limits what kind of tyres I can put on my car.

I'd like to have some 15" rims like those in the picture I put above, except that they'll in matte black with a purple trim on the lip as a tribute to Xpax. Of course, I'd put on some really good tyres. Michelin Pilot Sport 3s would be a good choice for errr.. you know, safety and comfort.

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Brakes

Looking at the above picture will tell you that my car has drum brakes on the rear. Now what some people will say is "yeah you don't need that much braking force on the rear wheels..." which is true.

What they don't realise is that drum brakes lock up way easier compared to a proper set of disc brakes, despite their lack of power. That cost-saving nonsense will have to go.

No negotiations, for safety...and science.
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Interior
My interior's all good...so far, but again it doesn't mean it can't be improved. Here's what I'd fix.



Throw on a nice gearknob, for faster shifts and safety of course.

Put in some real speakers in place of the dead ones at the rear. Never got round to replacing them. Sigh.

The good bit is that my radio head unit's pretty good, so there's no need to put money into that!
Also, I listen to jazz, classics, oldies and some occasional sopranos, so no large subwoofers that annoy your fellow drivers. Imagine having a car that is easily identified as an Xpax-ed car, being hated on? Not going to be good for your brand, bro.


Also have some dead flappy door trim that I'd like to fix.
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Now dear Xpax, my car isn't special like this cool Fiat X1/9 (check it out btw, really nice looking car), but the good thing about pimping a 1998 Honda City is that, its slightly more common than the Fiat, so parts will be of easier access so you can get more done with my car! Also, its not as common as a Civic so #Citynurhaliza will really stand out.

Now remember that this is a Pimp My Ride Contest, not a repair my ride contest. Of course if you choose the X1/9 over my #Citynurhaliza, I'd say you've made a great choice even though I'll :(((((( a long long time.

So Xpax, do pretty please pimp my ride. My car will be the living proof that a great car doesn't have to be over the top. It will be driven by a person who loves driving, surrounded by peers who eat, live and breathe petrol daily.



Best bit of all, I'm sure my very reliable (touch wood) #Citynurhaliza will last the very least another 15 years.
I'll close up with some pictures of some very nice looking Honda Cities from our Pinoy and Thai neighbours so dear Xpax, you'll know how great this car will look.

Look at that stance(which means how well the car sits on the wheels)! Loving it all, except for the horrible picture quality.


Loving the work done here, except the colour and the black coloured bumper lip.


Look at the shine on this little thing here! And of course the Integra DC-5 inspired rims!


Very good piece of work. Great paint, and clear headlamps which can't seem to be found here in Malaysia :(

Michelin Pilot Experience

Many, many years ago, I attended an open track day at Dato Sagor, Ipoh. The following is a recount of my experience, but before that, a short video!




Unfortunately, as it was a driving experience, taking photos was almost impossible, but do take my word that it was a lot of fun!

A healthy hiss and roar from the front told me that my tiny little inline-4 was working overtime, pushing the little car hard.

Clutch and an almost seamless upshift, and a right hander at 120 before squealing the brakes hard for a sharp series of hairpins. At times, the car shuddered and twitched while I locked the front wheels up.

“I need better tyres,” I reminded myself. But then again, the reason why I came here was to burn the old tyres off my new-old car before getting new ones.

But of course, anyone who knew me well enough would know burning off the old tyres was just an excuse, since petrol was something that flowed in my blood!

Accelerating hard out of the hairpin, my inner wheel lifts off and the acrid smell of burnt tyres hits me in the nostril. 5,000…6,000…6,500 and I stomp on the clutch and snap the short shift gears forward, before a quick blip of brakes to bring the car under control for a quick run through the chicane.

Unfortunately, on one of my many laps through the little track, some overenthusiastic driving resulted in some uncorrectable oversteer and a Satria that was sticking to my bumber went into the grass. Perhaps this may have been averted with better tyres? None of these GLC rubbish, never again!

Video of the near crash here!

Another brief jaunt to the upper limits of my engine’s rev range brings me to a series of high speed chicanes. The fun in this sector lies both in its approach and its high speed.

The blast out from the chicane means the car has yet to stabilize before another hard stomp on the brakes. Many a lap did my car jiggle left-and-right before some corrective steering input stabilizes my personal little rocket, and a quick right wrench of the steering wheel throws the car in the right direction before another series of left-right-left-rights.

I spotted a heavily modified Toyota Corolla SEG as I approach the hairpins. I catch up a little bit as I brake hard into the corner and open up my throttle body, sending reverberations of a symphony of simple yet acoustically pleasing inline-4 induction in the air. “This, definitely beats a loud exhaust pipe,” as I pointed the car towards the apex of the corner and further close-up the gap between myself and the Toyota.

It wasn’t a difficult task, considering how tail happy the car went through the corners. Like a cheetah put in a domestic cat’s climbing gym, too much power and too little grip. With the amount of corrective steering put in, it wasn’t long before I overtook him.

Honda, 1; Toyota, 0. Hehe

While taking a break a little later, I checked out the guy’s car. Turns out he was using some of the cheapest tyres money can buy. “A cheetah with bad feet”

Some of the important things I learnt that day was:
1. Cruise less, brake harder.
2. Only double-clutch for your final downshift.
3. Bad tyres are not only bad for your trackday experience, they are generally dangerous.


Case in point, see how badly torn up my tyres were. I believe buying tyres of better quality would have prevented this, though admittedly I was pushing the limits of my tyres.

What I did immediately after this was to get my tyres changed. Unfortunately, as it was a Sunday afternoon meant that many shops were not open. With limited choices, I could not buy the brand that my family has been relying on for so many years. I had to buy a competitor brand *cringe*

While they weren't as bad as my initial batch of tyres, they were definitely not as good as the Michelin Pilot Sport 3s that were on my dad's Merc.





*** So, what's going on here? Nuffnang together with Michelin is putting THE Ultimate Michelin Pilot Experience together!
Like minded drivers like myself can tear up the track with race-prepped cars; and more importantly, a whole lot safer than my first track day as these cars are shod with proper tyres!

Here's what's on offer:






Now that gets my motor running, because these are proper cars with proper engines and proper chassis work done!

Now Michelin, let me tell you why would I be the right person to choose:
1. I can drive a manual, properly. This includes shifting really fast, double-clutch-heel-and-toe downshifts.
2. If the cars Michelin will be letting us drive are SMGs, I can left foot brake, great for those on-the-limit moments when your car is understeering. : )
3. For all you know, I can set a Sepang virgin, amateur track record yay!
4. I'm one of the very few people who places a lot of emphasis on FF (front engine front drive) cars. With this special knowledge, I would be able to enjoy the experience more. 5. I’ve always been a long term Michelin fan. Dad’s Merc has always shod with Michelin, with PS3s being the most recent fitting; mom’s Toyota has Michelin XM1s. These tyres never seem to skid even while driving in the rain.

My car, well my car doesn’t have them because.. I couldn’t find stocks earlier and I recognize how dangerous it was driving on dead tyres.

So if you're interested in learning how Michelin can up your safety, head over to Nuffnang's blog post for more information!

Sony XBA-3 Review

I bought a pair of Westone UM-1's about 2 years back, but never got down to writing anything about them. However, it was then when I found out that there were more than dynamic drivers when I discovered balanced armature (BAs) drivers. Good god I loved them. According to Yu Heng from Jaben (I got my UM-1s from them. They're really great people, go and support them!) I tend to prefer the sound signature from balanced armatures.



When I found out that Sony had a range of BA headphones out, I just had to give them a go.


The XBA-3 is a set of in-ears, which are supposed to cater to people like me who enjoy a little more trebles and mids. With 3 drivers per side which is supposed to deliver better audio clarity as each driver is optimised to deliver a range of frequencies.

The cabling is somewhat flat-ish like what you would see on a pair of Beats and Jays, but not as flat. Its susceptible to some mild microphonics (contact with your clothing creating a kruk kruk kruk sound in your ears), but not as bad as the more common round and hard cables. The good thing about flat cables are that they're supposed to be less likely to create knot-babies.

The cable is at the right length for me, as I can walk around with my iPod in my pant pocket. I'm 171cm tall.

It also comes with a volume control, which works not only on the iPod, but also on my MacBook! Honestly I don't really care for it, not because its bad, but because I have other ways of controlling my volume and I prefer my cables to be cleaner.







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The buds are somewhat larger than its equivalent at Westone (the UM-3x, which I didn't one bit enjoy) due to its driver arrangement. The main body is flat-ish, but perpendicular to your head so it sticks out quite a bit. You can't really go to bed in these, but it won't make you look funny.



The actual bits that sit in your ear are moulded from a mix of silicone and rubber which is quite hard and can be uncomfortable over the long run. Walking around also introduces a wee bit of microphonics. No luck at Comply yet, but I'm guessing they'll be releasing Foamies once the XBA range gets a little more popular.

As I'm a bit of a jazz and classical person, my test list consists of the following, with a bit of loud stuffs thrown in to test other aspects of the earphones.

1. Chantal Kreviazuk - Leaving on a Jet Plane (YouTube)
2. Inessa Galante - Ave Maria (Youtube)
3. Johann Pachelbel - Canon (YouTube)
4. Katie Melua - I'd Love to Kill You (YouTube)
5. Kenny G - Jasmine Flower (YouTube)
6. Krysler & Kompany - To Love You More (YouTube)
7. Pink Martini - The Gardens of Sampson & Beasley (YouTube)
8. The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody (YouTube)
9. Safri Duo - Crazy Benny (YouTube)
10. 3 Doors Down - Kryptonite (YouTube)

Crazy Benny is just perfect for testing bass clarity. Does help that its a nice piece to head-bang to while I'm feeling stressed out at work.

Bass

With 3 drivers, the XBA is supposed to kick my UM-1's ass in all departments (ignoring personal preference for sound signatures). With Safri Duo's Crazy Benny, the bass was a lot louder, and not as clean as my UM-1. Clean bass is supposed to sound like dum dum dum dum instead of drooooommmmooooommmooooomoooo. Not exactly dirty, but not crystal clear as well.

Midrange

For another reason unknown, the XBA-3 really fell slightly short compared to the UM-1 as it sounded quite tinny as if there was a blanket thrown over the entire driver. The vocals from Kryptonite sounded like any typical earphone that gets thrown in for free with your music player.

Treble

Holy mother of all IEMs, this is where the XBA-3 really shone, all the way at the top. Like a Honda engine tuned for track duty, it gives you its best way at the top. With Ave Maria, there were so many times when I got a healthy dose of goosebumps. Unfortunately (perhaps being a demo unit, perhaps slightly damaged) there were some crackles when her voice was at the highest. Can't fault it until I get a brand new pair burnt in and tested to verify it.

Details

While the bass and mid-range wasn't exactly great, the details the XBA-3 rendered while listening to most pieces were superb. Listening to Garden of Sampson and Beasley made me pay attention to the shaking maracas in the background. Nice.

I also noticed a lot of background instruments in Jasmine Flower which just added up to a more orchestral feel.

Soundstage

With the exception of the horrible bass, the soundstaging of the XBA is marginally wider compared to my UM-1, as I could better imagine where the musicians were seated with Canon. Can't really fault it as you don't really buy IEMs to get wide soundstages. For that, you probably need a nice (and very expensive) pair of over-ears.

Comfort

Not something I'd wear on the long run as the rubber-silicone buds are too hard. I'll probably consider the probability of owning a pair if Comply ever releases foamies for them.

***

At RM899 (MSRP), it is a whole lot cheaper than the Westone UM-3x which goes for about RM1590 and sounds a whole lot better. Its slightly more expensive compared to my pair of UM-1s which cost me a rather dear RM490, but delivers quite a bit more.

The truth about the UM-3x is that I didn't like it as it didn't sound very musical at all, something that the XBA-3 does. It doesn't sound as warm as I would like it to be, then again my UM-1s aren'y exactly the warmest earbuds around. I'm sure it'll perform better if pair up with a decent tube-amp like the HiFiMAN EF-5.

Should you really get one? Yes, if you mainly listen to operas, sopranos or instrumentals then it rewards you in ways you've never thought of. If you're more of a pop music, or listen to Dubsteb then you're better of putting your money in something more accessible.

Kenny G - Heart & Soul Concert

Spent the last weekend in Genting with Joanna. Now it wasn't for any ordinary weekend getaway, but it was to attend Kenny G's concert.


Once again, the concert poster.


Before you read any further, just load up this video and listen to him play while you read.

With the weather in KL being such a royal pain, having Kenny G play in Genting was just godsent. We left KL on Saturday at about noon when it was the hottest, and by the time we stepped out of the car right at the top of the hill... wah so relaxing. It so happened that it was on the verge of raining so it was nice and misty. My favourite part of Genting.


Concert started about 8pm. Hung around a little bit before heading in. After getting our tickets checked and whatnot, we found that Kenny (first name basis ok?) was signing autographs for his die-hard fans. It was also then when Joanna and myself Googled him up to confirm his age. Turns out he's 55, but still looks exactly like when they were printing his face all over cassette boxes.

The concert was opened by this local guy called something Valentine who is supposed to be multi-talented, being able to play the piano, harmonica and a few other instruments. Admittedly I was playing with a game on my iPhone. I only looked up and paid attention when he warmed everyone up with a rendition of one of those quite-popular-songs (really, I'm horrible with song names) on the harmonica and I gave the ObamaFace.jpg


A little while after that Valentine guy got off the stage, Kenny G made his entrance, not on the stage, but all the way from the back.

I envy the people sitting there.

Kenny (my bro) played some of the more recognisable pieces that I listen to all the time like Forever in Love, Songbird. Let me tell you a secret, I don't actually know if he played Songbird. Like I said, I'm bad with song names and it honestly gets harder with instrumental pieces.

All I know was that he played the pieces which I loved, and that's all that matters.

We later found out that there was a lucky draw for the people who purchased his album on that night itself, and they'd be winning a saxophone from his own line of saxophones called "Kenny G saxophones". This guy got the chance to sit on stage while Kenny played to him. One of his newer pieces that I'm not too familiar with. I need to get myself up to date with his newest album, really.

Guy requested his girlfriend join him up on stage too.

The lucky guy who won the saxophone, with his girlfriend (R). I'm hoping they actually learn how to play that instrument, rather than just putting it up somewhere. Image courtesy @joelsmom (L)

Sidenote: Heard from a friend that guys MUST be wearing their underwear while playing the saxophone or risk getting testicular hernia. Not sure how true is that, but here's a piece of trivia for you.


The concert went on for something like 2 hours, which I think is really really great because there are times where you attend concerts that end too soon. Halfway through and you'll probably go "WTF that was it already?" Props to them for keeping the concert going. I was slightly disappointed that he didn't play Jasmine Flower, but then again the pieces from his new album were great so it made up for it.

At the end he even responded to calls for encore, twice!

The first piece was My Heart Will Go On, and the second one...well you know the drill.

Joanna isn't so much of a Kenny G fan simply because of the way it sounds over the radio and whatever. It lacks soul. Now she said she likes Kenny G. So easy to convert hehehe.


***

Ok now I'm done with the good, here's a small piece of ugly. We were all seated at the last row of the hall, not that it really mattered. What mattered was the staff working at the event could not shut the fuck up, while leaning against the railing right behind me.

Do you know how annoying is it to hear people mumbling away while you're trying to enjoy something. A few "shhhs" kept them quiet for a while before they decided they should continue talking. Also, the family sitting next to me decided that a concert will be a best place to discuss....whatever.

Genting, please do something about the staff thanks. And then everything will be perfect.


***

All in all it was a great experience. Decent rooms (not the typical closet First World rooms, but a slightly larger one that was really comfy), not having to queue up for our breakfast table was a big plus point.


Once again, thanks Genting and Nuffnang for the really memorable performance.

Bare Your Heart & Soul With Kenny G

OMGOMG did you know that Kenny G is coming to Malaysia? Truth is, I didn't know that until I read about it from Genting. This is what happens when you don't read the papers sigh.

Anyway, anyone who knows me well will know that I am a very big fan of jazz (among many other genres I love). Influences come from early days when my parents would be listening to the great classics (jazz and non-jazz)like Rod Stewart, The Carpenters and Kenny G on cassettes.

 
Cassettes, they remember where you last left off!

The fun thing about jazz is that there are a lot of covers, which means you'll get to listen to interpretations of great pieces by different artists. The downside of this is that it may be a bit tough to erm... source for softcopies of such pieces heh heh heh. Ok back to Kenny G. I believe that he is a phenomenal star because he is one of the few people who has managed to create albums with a very high acceptance rate, as judged by myself of course :)

Where most artists would only have a couple of good pieces within an album with the rest of the pieces being somewhat filler, I can safely say that Kenny G is one of the few artists that I've never found a reason to click 'next' to skip a particular song. The expression, grace and beauty of music that oozes from his saxaphone is just... wonderful. Perfect for long drives, getting stuck in the jam, or even before heading to bed, the versatility in most of his pieces are just great. Here are some of my favourite pieces:

Jasmine Flower
 


Forever In Love


And one of my all-time favourite piece, Girl From Ipanema. Its almost impossible to find a version that I dislike!
 


So, Kenny G is a phenomenal superstar because he embodies what all great musicians should be like: great pieces, clean personality that doesn't appear on dodgy sites like Gutterpost (hehe), collaborations with other artists that doesn't suck, and a dedication to his art. In an age where electrofunk and trash music rule the ears of the masses, having a great saxophonist survive (and also be appreciated by some of these mainstream listeners) is testament enough that he is a great artist well worthy of his fame.

The best thing about Kenny G coming to Genting is that you stand a chance to win not only 2 tickets worth RM170, but you also get accomodation, all of this thanks to Genting!

Head on to Genting's Evangelist page for more details which will feed your envy monster... because I am going there!

p/s: Kenny G holds the world record for the longest note, which is at 45 minutes 47 seconds. I can't even hold my breath for 2 minutes sigh.