I somehow scratched my right eye last Tuesday morning, and couldn't go to work. My good eye specialist, Dr. Dunstan Fernandez wasn't in that day, so I could only make an appointment on Wednesday morning. Thank God I had some spare antibiotic ointment and 1 final eye patch. By Tuesday evening, the eye patch was out, but I'm not taking any chances, so visited the Doc the next morning. So last week I was on MC on Tuesday and Wednesday.
This Monday morning, I woke up to a call from work, and went back to snooze a little. But the pain came back. I thought sleeping it out would work, but by noon, it was still lingering, and I had to patch myself into a pirate again. Or as my mom calls it, a one-eyed-monster. My wife says its coz I was too tired from washing the car. Haha...
Its Monday night, I'm feeling much better, but everyone said to see the doctor tomorrow. Well, we'll see.
Saturday evening: Car wash. No time for polish & wax.
Sunday afternoon: Rinse + dry. Polish. Clay. Wax.
Total time spent: About 8 hours.
1. Car Wash - My car wash speed is improving. Managed to wash & dry within an hour.
2. Polish - Polished the entire car using a tiny sponge provided with the Soft99 metaclean. Wipe dry after 10 minutes.
3. Clay - Where normal washing/polishing fails, a clay bar removes particles that are stuck to the paint. You may not even see the particles, but you can feel little dots if you glide your hand on the paint. Here's an intro to the clay bar by Meguiar's Mike Phillips:
(a) Obviously Meguiar's clay detailing kit would cost a bomb, so I'm using Soft99 clay bar with Eneos car shampoo. According to Mr. Albert, the only clay bar factories are in Japan, so they're all the same.
(b) The clay bar is actually white in color, wrapped in a blue plastic.
(c) Tear and use only half. It feels like plasticine. Keep the other half in the fridge or an air tight container. Use again in 6 months.
(d) Flatten it out, around 4 inches in diameter, like in the picture.
(e) Wet surface and clay bar with shampoo and clay-away!
(f) The dirt always looks brown in color. Don't ask me why.
(g) I only clayed the grey area, to make a comparison for my own records.
4. Wax - I'm using "Super Hard Shell" Turtle Wax, which comes as a green color paste. Its very easy to apply, but I made a huge mistake. After applying, I came inside to blog and spent about 50 minutes before I wiped the wax off. The paste had already hardened and it was VERY TIRING to wipe the excess wax off. Lesson learned.
Because I was too tired, I only waxed the front half of the car :(
The result? I love to view water beading on the car after a good polish & wax. In the picture below, the right door panel has been polished and waxed, while the left door only has been polished. Is there a difference? :)
An international comment deserves its own posting: ----------------------------------- STP said: Hi I am kind of amazed at your enthusiasm over your Elantra (as well as your friends) I am in the US and also started a blog when I bought my Elantra...though I am not into pimping my ride or the car scene. The only thing I've bought for it was an iPod. I would love to get a spoiler, but rear visibility isn't that good already in my opinion. In San Francisco Bay Area there are very few Elantras that I see, maybe 2 or 3 a month, but in many parts of SF I can drive 4 blocks and see 8 Corollas(Altis). My Elantra is black too, and I haven't washed it in 4 months. I shall see how long I can resist. ----------------------------------- First of, thanks for visiting and posting! I love your blog, its easy reading and informative.
1. I'm not into "pimping my ride" too and I don't consider myself to be "in" the car scene. But am into little upgrades and minor improvements to the Elantra...
2. If visibility is an issue, go for the boot lip type. I'm still not convinced to get a spoiler yet.
3. Well, I just spotted 2 Elantra X20s yesterday, so I guess its more common here than San Francisco Bay Area. However, there are way more in Singapore. Its called Avante (1.6) in Singapore. Toyota Vios, Altis, Honda City, Civics are very common here too. Not to mention our own local cars (Proton and Perodua).
4. From the detailing workshop that I just went to, the detailing Guru, Mr. Albert said a car wash is compulsory, at once a week. I can imagine the condition of your car now (without a wash for 4 months!) Anyway, I'm washing my car right now... taking a break after a layer of wax. I'll post some pics soon!
I've been looking for a polish to get rid of stubborn dirt on car. Mr. Albert from Pro Detailers recommended the Soft 99 polish that comes in a chrome can. I'm familiar with the blue can, but I've never seen the chrome one:
Found it at Tesco, Mutiara D'sara today for RM 24.90. The blue one is RM 13.90.
Apparently, the chrome can is for metallic paint, and the blue can is for solid paint. (Source: BMW forums) Some also mentioned that the soft99 polish is very abrasive and can eat into our clear coat, so use sparingly and only when necessary (don't use for the whole car).
Also, their Japanese website only shows the blue can (here), while the English version only shows the chrome can (here). I think the chrome one is newer.
I'll have to wait till next weekend to test it out. Hopefully it DOESN'T RAIN AGAIN!
Did you know that black ppl have an obsession for sport rims? A black man will put bling bling rims on anything... including a toaster, if they can. They won't think twice in spending 2 months salary to buy a set of chrome-spinning-rims.
Now, for your average M'sian dude, its down to a few choices: - Local rims (JRD?) - Thailand rims (Lenso) - Taiwan rims (the Japanese alternative) - Japan rims (Ooooo...) - Italian rims (Yeah, baby!)
Most guys will go for local rims (heavy stuff) coz its cheap. The next budget imported rims are the taiwanese ones, which are not too bad stuff. The japanese rims are for the hardcore Jap fans, or another alternative is to buy 2nd hand Jap rims which are not too pricey. For me, Lenso impressed me with their designs, and I thought of getting a set. But they lack variety for the 5 or 10 hole designs.
Here are some Lenso rims: 1. Gold rims will sit nicely on a BLACK X20! Yummy...
I was determined to wash my car every week. But last weekend, my wife took the X20 to Genting, so had to wait till next weekend.
I'm on leave today, so I started washing around 4.00pm. This time, it took less time to soap and dry. I took my time to clean up the rims of tar and grime. But as the week before, the sky became very cloudy. As I'm typing this, there's a thunderstorm outside. I guess polish and wax will have to wait till tomorrow.
At the clinic near office, temperature was 37.9, now its at 38.1. These are my symptoms doctor: - tired. Yawning alot today, even though had 7 hours sleep - pain in the headm especially when I cough/any action that impacts the head - gassy tummy... my wife had to endure this one. I drank some super KAU ginger juice and ate prunes yesterday. *poot*poot* - loss of appetite. ate very little lunch today - joints pain - muscle pain - Intermittant running nose. NEVER prolonged. - Loss of focus on using the laptop.Thats strange, coz I still can type this blog post out! Maybe its only for work related matters =D
The extra-ordinarily nice and professional lady doctor checked my temperature, tummy and blood pressure. The usual viral fever with active gas in the tummy. No anti-biotics, but a return visit is scheduled on Wednesday morning, coz of the rising cases in DENGUE. I won't be surprised, as mosquitoes have been busy invading our house for the last few weeks. Btw, I had a friedn who died of DENGUE when we were only 15. A moment of silence for Maurice Kok. You are fondly remembered.
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of
*silence* ---------
Driving home was more difficult than normal. Engine died at the traffic light once (don't worry, this is the Kancil). Anyway, i'm home safe, and waiting for my wife to pamper me tonight.
Mr. Albert imparting alot of knowledge to the THM club members yesterday. Behind him are his tools of the detailling trade. Pic courtesy of Haremeow:
Today I was determined to wash, clay and polish/wax. However, the rain only stopped at 6pm, so only managed to wash. Here are some pics, courtesy of my wife:
The hand mit is such an amazing tool for car washes:
One of my PIAA H7 extreme (4700k) bulbs blew. The filamen "sudah pecah", as described by the Eneos mechanic. I blew RM 280 on a Phillips Crystal Vision. Now I have ONE working PIAA bulb for spare.
At least the crystal vision comes with the mini lamp. So I can retire my single Mini LEDs, as they are too "white". It went well with my old HIDs, but did not suit the white light from the PIAA or phillips bulbs.
All I need now is to: - get white lamps for the fogs / projector HIDs?! - white high beams? maybe not... - smoke head lamps with angel eyes... mmm...
On the way home, I spotted an X20 with angel eyes outside 1utama. It was DrD, who coincidentally is my 'A'-levels coursemate. Coincidence?
UPDATE: - I ordered 2 drying cloths from Pro D here. - While waiting for the drying cloth, I bought a microfibre chamois towel for drying. - Got a blue microfibre glass towel, with cheap windscreen washer - Dug up ol' rain-x and sonax tire shine foam spray
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I had a friend with a white civic (resprayed) who sent his car for detailling last year. He invested a bomb, and was initially very pleased with the results. The car came back with squeaky clean exterior, interior and engine bay. However, he wasn't good in maintaining its squeaky clean car. That was the closest I've ever got to detailling.
Yesterday evening, Team Hyundai Malaysia club member haremeow organized a TT at Pro Detailers, at Sunway D'sara. It was an informal workshop from 4.30 pm till 7.00pm of TRAINING on "Car wash 101" to "Hyundai vs. Honda paint compounds" with insider knowledge sharing and Q&A sessions. Our host was Mr. Albert Low (the owner of Pro Detailers), who has an outstanding portfolio, with too many years of experience (his hairline kinda gave it away...)
In summary, what I learned and caught today was worth paying a full day's fees in a training course. I think, if Meguiars were to have TRAININGS like these and selling their car wash packages after the event, they will be making EVEN more money in M'sia.
I've sent my car for VPS, but sadly, didn't have the discipline to continue keeping it clean with regular washes. But now, I'm inspired to start washing my car regularly.
These are some spoils from Eneos. Now all I need is the drying cloth... where am I gonna get that from? hmmm...
Pro Detailer 45-1, Jalan PJU 5/11, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara, 47391 Petaling Jaya
Albert Low <- This guy is a "detailing professional & professor"
Was going for lunch at Paris, SS2 on a Sunday afternoon, when my friends in another spotted two X20s at a SS2 traffic light. They commented that the X20 is a beautiful car. I'm not exaggerating.
- I started another blog about a month ago regarding some work related stuff. Initially, I was quite excited to get it going coz I envisioned that the blog would help educate Malaysians on my line of work. But some where along the lines, I just lost steam. Its true that you should blog about something you're passionate about. Am I still passionate about X20?
- There are no announced job cuts where I work. I don't think bonus or increment will be anything to look forward to. Although our industry should be relatively safe from the global economic slowdown, no one, especially the management are taking any chances. Cost saving and operational cuts are the buzz words now. I bet training funds will be slashed.
- I must admit, I've thought about selling the car if push comes to shove during the economic downturn. Especially if I have to stop working (resign, or get fired). However, that would be a move out of desperation, and a terribly sad decision.
- Petrol prices have been hovering below USD $40 per barrel. However, there are some 'reasons' why the pump prices will not be lowered. Paul Tan has a good write up on the Automatic Pricing Mechanism (APM), and this is the summary:
Some simple calculations for petrol prices in Peninsula M'sia:
Therefore, assuming crude oil price is USD$40, and the Mean Of Platts Singapore is at RM 1.00 (10% higher than crude oil), with the current pump pricing, our government is getting a sales tax of RM 0.48 per liter. So, should petrol price come down? Maybe...
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