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My Roadtrip Journal 09

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Bad Data
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My Roadtrip Journal 09

Post by Bad Data » Sun Dec 20, 2009 2:40 am

Have planned for this road trip with my family since October. It was my first road trip on Xroad around West Malaysia, my previous trip was with Hyundai Matrix up to Kedah/Thai border. It was a long trip driving up north to Tanah Merah, Perak (Near Thai border too). For safety precaution, i brought along steering lock, torchlight, a jerry can filled with water, 6 men tent (just in case we are stranded somewhere), and loads of dry food. What worries me was, I did not bring along any spare tire. If any of the tires tear or burst, the liquid seal kit equipped on our xroad will be rendered useless. What follows are notes I journal-ed during the trip. Enjoy the ride.

13th Dec (Sun)
Left home around 7am for Woodlands Checkpoint, traffic was smooth towards Johor. Cleared the immigration within half hour and headed straight to NS Highway. It was a grueling 650 km distance, stopped for break 3 times, at Pagoh, Air Keroh and Sungkai.
Traffic was moderate. Traveled bet 120 – 150 km/h. managed to hit around 165km/h at one point when everybody was sleeping, no squeaking sound heard. The sun was shining and road condition was relatively gd. The hardest part of the highway was the hilly and winding road after Ipoh towards Tanah Merah. Lots of heavy vehicle traveled at snail speed. At last! Arrived at Tanah Merah Lakeview Apartment @4pm after 9hrs on the road. Lakes, forest and few residential areas surround the apartment. It was a relief to get out of city and finally surrounded by nature. We unpacked and headed straight to the poolside. That night we headed out to nearby entertainment outlet for dinner. It was about 1km drive. The roads were unlit. Luckily I had fog light and spot light installed and I on them both. That was the only time I managed to switch on the spot light.

Sunrise over Tanah Merah Lakeview
Image
View from our apartment
Image
Raincloud over the lake
Image
Carpark view from Apartment
Image
Poolside
Image

14th Dec (Mon)
Left the apartment for Lost World of Tambun @ 7am. Approximately 50km. The kids enjoyed the place very much. I feel Lost World is far much better than Sunway Lagoon. Surrounded with lush greeneries and mountains, very much like lost world indeed. Luckily were arrived very early. By noon the place had turned into pasar malam. We left the place and headed for nearby Giant Store for lunch and then roam around Ipoh Town for a while before departing for Tanah Merah Laketown. We headed for Laketown Recreation Center where the kids enjoyed some games and experienced 15 mins of fish spa for RM10. That night we had seafood dinner just outside Tanah Merah Laketown. We ordered 7 dishes for 4 people and paid only RM72!
Lost World sorrounding mountains
Image
Fish Spa
Image
15th Dec (Tue)

Time to leave Tanah Merah Laketown for KL. Calculated distance is about 250km. After breakfast @7am, we proceed to checkout and began the journey. Traffic was fine until we reached KL at around 12 noon. KL is a crazy place to drive. I have driven in KL many times, but each time I drive there I will get lost. The roads are always changing. After lunch, we headed to the Nomad Sucasa apartment at Ampang. We rented a two room apartment for rm$400 per day. Surprisingly, half of the cars parked at the basement were Singapore registered. There were even two Porsche parked there. So I don’t need to worry much. The car thief will definitely go for the Porsche…heheh. The apartment was nicely decorated and the bathroom is the biggest I’ve ever seen. We managed to drive and shop around KL. Tomorrow, we finally decided to drive up to Genting Highland to get away from the ever-busy KL.

R&R along the journey
Image
Big Bathroom
Image
Into KL
Image
Nomad Sucasa toileteries
Image

16th Dec (Wed)
Yipee! We are driving up to Genting Highland. @0700hrs we left our apartment. I have no problem driving the car up, even the steepest slope. In fact, it performed better than what I thought. There are cars traveling at insane speed. I kept on repeating in my mind, drive safely, reach destination safely and everyone will be happy. So I just kept to 1st lane, wind down all the windows and enjoy the cool breeze and scenery. We arrived there within 2 hours and spent the whole day there. The kids enjoyed the most. By 3pm, we got very tired and decided to call a day. Downward journey was not a problem at all. However, halfway down, heavy rain started to pour. The visibility was quite poor. Slowed down to around 40 to 60 km/h all the way to KL. After dinner, we had early night.

Upwards journey
Image
Image
Above the Cloud
Image
Dino and friends
Image

17th Dec (Thurs)
After breakfast, we pack up and checkout from the apartment. We decided to visit Putrajaya and Malacca Town before we headed home. Putrajaya is a planned city located south of KL, that serves as the federal administrative centre of Malaysia. It have one of the most beautiful mosque in Malaysia, open to tourist. We spent about 3hrs there before we decided to drive to Malacca which is about 150km away. Arrived at Malacca after about 2 hours drive we reached Malacca town. Headed for Mahkota Parade Shopping Centre to have our lunch and do some shopping and finally, at last home sweet home.

Dataran Putrajaya
Image
Image
Putra Mosque
Image
Image
Crossroad is still a head turner in Malaysia. Countless of times. I noticed drivers or passengers taking a peek while driving pass. On 2 occasions my wife told me that the passengers of other car took photos of our ride, and I see with my own eyes along NS Highway a Malaysian registered peugeot driver sped up to overtake us holding a camera just to snap few pixs, a dangerous stunt indeed…heheh

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Post by play7r » Sun Dec 20, 2009 4:16 pm

maybe they thought you are from NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. HAHAHAHa :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Re: My Roadtrip Journal 09

Post by Humvee » Mon Dec 21, 2009 1:59 am

Hey Bro, What a wonderful trip you have there! May I ask what brand of spot lights you using? Does it come together with the black grills or you have to purchase additional? Do they fit to your roof Basket nicely too? Also where did you purchase your sidesteps from? Are they very secure and sturdy? Can PM me the infos please? Thanks Bro!:-)

Bad Data wrote:Have planned for this road trip with my family since October. It was my first road trip on Xroad around West Malaysia, my previous trip was with Hyundai Matrix up to Kedah/Thai border. It was a long trip driving up north to Tanah Merah, Perak (Near Thai border too). For safety precaution, i brought along steering lock, torchlight, a jerry can filled with water, 6 men tent (just in case we are stranded somewhere), and loads of dry food. What worries me was, I did not bring along any spare tire. If any of the tires tear or burst, the liquid seal kit equipped on our xroad will be rendered useless. What follows are notes I journal-ed during the trip. Enjoy the ride.

13th Dec (Sun)
Left home around 7am for Woodlands Checkpoint, traffic was smooth towards Johor. Cleared the immigration within half hour and headed straight to NS Highway. It was a grueling 650 km distance, stopped for break 3 times, at Pagoh, Air Keroh and Sungkai.
Traffic was moderate. Traveled bet 120 – 150 km/h. managed to hit around 165km/h at one point when everybody was sleeping, no squeaking sound heard. The sun was shining and road condition was relatively gd. The hardest part of the highway was the hilly and winding road after Ipoh towards Tanah Merah. Lots of heavy vehicle traveled at snail speed. At last! Arrived at Tanah Merah Lakeview Apartment @4pm after 9hrs on the road. Lakes, forest and few residential areas surround the apartment. It was a relief to get out of city and finally surrounded by nature. We unpacked and headed straight to the poolside. That night we headed out to nearby entertainment outlet for dinner. It was about 1km drive. The roads were unlit. Luckily I had fog light and spot light installed and I on them both. That was the only time I managed to switch on the spot light.

Sunrise over Tanah Merah Lakeview
Image
View from our apartment
Image
Raincloud over the lake
Image
Carpark view from Apartment
Image
Poolside
Image

14th Dec (Mon)
Left the apartment for Lost World of Tambun @ 7am. Approximately 50km. The kids enjoyed the place very much. I feel Lost World is far much better than Sunway Lagoon. Surrounded with lush greeneries and mountains, very much like lost world indeed. Luckily were arrived very early. By noon the place had turned into pasar malam. We left the place and headed for nearby Giant Store for lunch and then roam around Ipoh Town for a while before departing for Tanah Merah Laketown. We headed for Laketown Recreation Center where the kids enjoyed some games and experienced 15 mins of fish spa for RM10. That night we had seafood dinner just outside Tanah Merah Laketown. We ordered 7 dishes for 4 people and paid only RM72!
Lost World sorrounding mountains
Image
Fish Spa
Image
15th Dec (Tue)

Time to leave Tanah Merah Laketown for KL. Calculated distance is about 250km. After breakfast @7am, we proceed to checkout and began the journey. Traffic was fine until we reached KL at around 12 noon. KL is a crazy place to drive. I have driven in KL many times, but each time I drive there I will get lost. The roads are always changing. After lunch, we headed to the Nomad Sucasa apartment at Ampang. We rented a two room apartment for rm$400 per day. Surprisingly, half of the cars parked at the basement were Singapore registered. There were even two Porsche parked there. So I don’t need to worry much. The car thief will definitely go for the Porsche…heheh. The apartment was nicely decorated and the bathroom is the biggest I’ve ever seen. We managed to drive and shop around KL. Tomorrow, we finally decided to drive up to Genting Highland to get away from the ever-busy KL.

R&R along the journey
Image
Big Bathroom
Image
Into KL
Image
Nomad Sucasa toileteries
Image

16th Dec (Wed)
Yipee! We are driving up to Genting Highland. @0700hrs we left our apartment. I have no problem driving the car up, even the steepest slope. In fact, it performed better than what I thought. There are cars traveling at insane speed. I kept on repeating in my mind, drive safely, reach destination safely and everyone will be happy. So I just kept to 1st lane, wind down all the windows and enjoy the cool breeze and scenery. We arrived there within 2 hours and spent the whole day there. The kids enjoyed the most. By 3pm, we got very tired and decided to call a day. Downward journey was not a problem at all. However, halfway down, heavy rain started to pour. The visibility was quite poor. Slowed down to around 40 to 60 km/h all the way to KL. After dinner, we had early night.

Upwards journey
Image
Image
Above the Cloud
Image
Dino and friends
Image

17th Dec (Thurs)
After breakfast, we pack up and checkout from the apartment. We decided to visit Putrajaya and Malacca Town before we headed home. Putrajaya is a planned city located south of KL, that serves as the federal administrative centre of Malaysia. It have one of the most beautiful mosque in Malaysia, open to tourist. We spent about 3hrs there before we decided to drive to Malacca which is about 150km away. Arrived at Malacca after about 2 hours drive we reached Malacca town. Headed for Mahkota Parade Shopping Centre to have our lunch and do some shopping and finally, at last home sweet home.

Dataran Putrajaya
Image
Image
Putra Mosque
Image
Image
Crossroad is still a head turner in Malaysia. Countless of times. I noticed drivers or passengers taking a peek while driving pass. On 2 occasions my wife told me that the passengers of other car took photos of our ride, and I see with my own eyes along NS Highway a Malaysian registered peugeot driver sped up to overtake us holding a camera just to snap few pixs, a dangerous stunt indeed…heheh
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :) :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

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Re: My Roadtrip Journal 09

Post by Bad Data » Mon Dec 21, 2009 11:26 am

[quote="Humvee"]Hey Bro, What a wonderful trip you have there! May I ask what brand of spot lights you using? Does it come together with the black grills or you have to purchase additional? Do they fit to your roof Basket nicely too? Also where did you purchase your sidesteps from? Are they very secure and sturdy? Can PM me the infos please? Thanks Bro!:-)


The spot lights I got it from here,
http://www.4x4accessories.com.sg/contactus.htm

Address and contact are at their webpage. Yes it comes with the grill. $60 per pair. They were fit into my roofbar using a metal plate and screws. I did the fixing and wiring myself, however there are shops which can do customise kit to suit your need.

The sidestep was discontinued due to some circumstances. It was welded into the car. Very sturdy and strong. The thread is here.
http://www.shc-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=129771

Someone enquired me about the skid plate, I got it from Thian Seng at Waterloo St. More info here.
http://www.shc-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=181912
I fix it myself after learning from some bros here or there are shop which can do the fixing at a cost. There was a thread discussing abt this somewhere here but I can't locate it.

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Post by JIN » Mon Dec 21, 2009 11:53 am

Nice post. Thanks for sharing.

The furthest I drove to was Penang. You're right, the stretch after Ipoh was very tiring for me. Very windy and tight. Lots of uphills and downhills, not easy to cruise.

Yeah, people in Malaysia often take photos of our rides. I think they think its a Hummer or something like that.

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Re: My Roadtrip Journal 09

Post by Humvee » Mon Dec 21, 2009 2:57 pm

Thanks Bro! Will find time down to take a look! BTW, Do they do installation for the spot lights as well? If so, What are they charging? I actually had 2 spotlights done up at the bumper area already. So I am thinking whether to go back and install or do it at the shop that I purchase. Also, do you have any other recommendations regarding the side steps as well?:)

Bad Data wrote:
Humvee wrote:Hey Bro, What a wonderful trip you have there! May I ask what brand of spot lights you using? Does it come together with the black grills or you have to purchase additional? Do they fit to your roof Basket nicely too? Also where did you purchase your sidesteps from? Are they very secure and sturdy? Can PM me the infos please? Thanks Bro!:-)


The spot lights I got it from here,
http://www.4x4accessories.com.sg/contactus.htm

Address and contact are at their webpage. Yes it comes with the grill. $60 per pair. They were fit into my roofbar using a metal plate and screws. I did the fixing and wiring myself, however there are shops which can do customise kit to suit your need.

The sidestep was discontinued due to some circumstances. It was welded into the car. Very sturdy and strong. The thread is here.
http://www.shc-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=129771

Someone enquired me about the skid plate, I got it from Thian Seng at Waterloo St. More info here.
http://www.shc-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=181912
I fix it myself after learning from some bros here or there are shop which can do the fixing at a cost. There was a thread discussing abt this somewhere here but I can't locate it.
:D :D

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Re: My Roadtrip Journal 09

Post by Bad Data » Tue Dec 22, 2009 4:47 am

Humvee wrote:Thanks Bro! Will find time down to take a look! BTW, Do they do installation for the spot lights as well? If so, What are they charging? I actually had 2 spotlights done up at the bumper area already. So I am thinking whether to go back and install or do it at the shop that I purchase. Also, do you have any other recommendations regarding the side steps as well?:)
They only do retail. You have to look somewhere for installation. There are many workshops doing such installation. I suggest you ask around for price quote first. I was once quoted $75 for a pair to be installed at a workshop along Geylang where I fixed my car alarm.
As for sidesteps, my opinion, if you are going for aftermarket ones, make sure the are securely fitted and not flimsy when step on, unless if you are going for cosmetic only. Best, go for the original as the brackets that come along with it fit securely with our ride. As for the aftermarket sidesteps, I suggest you find a workshop that can weld it to your ride. I have no problem with my sidesteps if i stand on it for an extended period of time while doing car wash or uploading things into my rack.

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Re: My Roadtrip Journal 09

Post by inbetweener » Tue Dec 22, 2009 11:11 am

Humvee wrote:Thanks Bro! Will find time down to take a look! BTW, Do they do installation for the spot lights as well? If so, What are they charging? I actually had 2 spotlights done up at the bumper area already. So I am thinking whether to go back and install or do it at the shop that I purchase. Also, do you have any other recommendations regarding the side steps as well?:)
bro, to share, I got my fog lamps and sidesteps (original) installed at Yihing. Mr Wong's (the owner) worksmanship is fantastic.

The chap's expertise is in audio but he does installation upon request and only if he is confident of doing a good job. It may be slightly more expensive but nothing beats peace of mind knowing that someone is taking good care of your ride.

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Re: My Roadtrip Journal 09

Post by Humvee » Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:48 pm

Thanks Bro! Will keep that in mind! I find the original side steps too expensive, so going for the aftermarket ones! :)

inbetweener wrote:
Humvee wrote:Thanks Bro! Will find time down to take a look! BTW, Do they do installation for the spot lights as well? If so, What are they charging? I actually had 2 spotlights done up at the bumper area already. So I am thinking whether to go back and install or do it at the shop that I purchase. Also, do you have any other recommendations regarding the side steps as well?:)
bro, to share, I got my fog lamps and sidesteps (original) installed at Yihing. Mr Wong's (the owner) worksmanship is fantastic.

The chap's expertise is in audio but he does installation upon request and only if he is confident of doing a good job. It may be slightly more expensive but nothing beats peace of mind knowing that someone is taking good care of your ride.

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Post by snowmanyee » Thu Dec 24, 2009 10:19 am

I ever considered getting the grilled fog lights more than a year ago but held back cos wondering if its legal. From my knowledge, any non-orginal fog lights must be covered at all times. I am not sure whether if the grille considered covered up or not.

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Post by Bad Data » Thu Dec 24, 2009 11:06 am

snowmanyee wrote:I ever considered getting the grilled fog lights more than a year ago but held back cos wondering if its legal. From my knowledge, any non-orginal fog lights must be covered at all times. I am not sure whether if the grille considered covered up or not.
Bro, the fog lights comes with the cover. I took it out once I crossover to Malaysia.

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Post by von » Fri Dec 25, 2009 12:21 pm

hi bro,

can crossroad cruise comfortably/stable at 160-180km/hr?

thanks.

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Post by Bad Data » Sat Dec 26, 2009 2:43 pm

von wrote:hi bro,

can crossroad cruise comfortably/stable at 160-180km/hr?

thanks.
I must say at 160 to 180 is high speed cruising. Max I hit was 165. At that speed, I find the car still very stable, steering was reeasonably stiff, engine noise was bearable and most impportantly, none of my accessories flew off...heheh. However, the quality of the NSH plays important part too, there are potholes, patches and uneven roads which cause a considerable amount of vibrations to the vehicle which in turn causes all loose stuff inside the vehicle to vibrate too. It can be irritating at times. Its not easy to cruise above 160 either, often you need to slow down for slower vehicles. I heard feedback from a bro that he managed to achieve very close to max speed after prolonged acceleration.
There are some bros here who experienced some weird noise at above 160, which i think not a major issue. My opinion, redlining or stressing the engine for a constant period of time is not healty for the engine. Drive safely :wink:

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Post by dunamis » Sat Dec 26, 2009 7:52 pm

Very nice photos. Thanks for sharing.

Your rides definitely looks very adventurous with the Nat Geo Stickers, roof rack and all. It's no wonder pple take pictures of your car on the highway.

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Post by Humvee » Sun Dec 27, 2009 1:22 am

Hi Bro,

I checked with the shop about the spotlights and they have no more in stock and no more coming too. May I know what is the size of the spotlight for reference? Thanks!:)

Bad Data wrote:
snowmanyee wrote:I ever considered getting the grilled fog lights more than a year ago but held back cos wondering if its legal. From my knowledge, any non-orginal fog lights must be covered at all times. I am not sure whether if the grille considered covered up or not.
Bro, the fog lights comes with the cover. I took it out once I crossover to Malaysia.

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