The invite was like an early, a very early Christmas present. We were to have a chance to blast down the Sepang F1 Circuit in a BMW!! I did not have much information about the event. I did not know who are the organisers. I did not know what it is for. I do not know who are the other participants. But having a chance to drive the ultimate driving machine on an international race track is not something you turn down. So early Sunday morning, I got up much earlier than my other Sundays and headed down to YT’s house. YT is the friend who invited me along.

As it was many many moons since I dropped in at the pits, YT and I wondered along the roads of Sepang but finally found the entrance to the pits.

There was a generous number of ultimate driving machines made available to the participants. But most of them are the 3 series. There was a 5 series and an X1.

It was not a matter, driving along the tracks in a 3 series would be much more fun.

YT and I were assigned to one of these, the 320d Sports. It’s a turbo diesel. And no, i was actually  not disappointed at all. I have always wanted to try out of these mean turbo diesel machines after having a little taste of it’s immense torque earlier this year as a passenger.

After a short briefing on track etiquette as well as safety stuff like how to position yourself in the car, we directed to our cars. Each car is assigned two drivers.

And we have grid girls as well. hehe

This is YT after adjustment of driving position.

And we were off!! Since ALL of us, saved for a couple, had totally no experience whatsoever driving on the Sepang track, we were to ‘convoy’ around the track.

But make no mistake, it’s not a sight-seeing convoy.

We were going rather fast!!

Especially at the straight where we literally floored it.

The turbo diesel with it’s humongous 350nm of torque kicking in at just 1750 was of great help pushing the car out from corners. Making it possible for us to hit 180kmh before we had to hit the brakes. As we were all novice drivers, we had to give way to the faster cars who were also in the track as well. This meant we had to use the inside of outside line, which meant coming out of the corners at a low speed. The immense torque was useful in this situation. Pushing the car out into speed in a short time. I like!

The instructor whom we had to follow pushed a little harder after each lap. After a while, tyres were squealing and rubbers were burning! And the traction and stability controls were working extra hard to keep the cars driven by newbies in check.

but inside the BMW. It was just like your Sunday drive to the market.

Could not say much about the tryes tho. hehe.

It was definitely fun. It was definitedly informative. We now know how far we can push our BMWs when we buy one.

Thanks to YT for inviting me.

Thanks to Quill Automobile for organising the event.

Thanks to UOB for hosting us.

Jason and I were asked to cover Sunny and Patricia’s engagement last Saturday in Singapore. Since both Jason and I both do not know Singapore well, we decided to spend the night in Johor and then catch a cab into Singapore. Our initial plan was to head down south after work on Friday. Which was also why we decided again driving into Singapore, especially at night. Anyways, to cut the story short, it was a financial disaster. The next round, we will drive directly into Singapore.

Sunny and Patricia were great to work with. They had great friends who were also wonderful in front of the camera. I think it is important that subjects are comfortable in front of the camera. This paves the way to even greater photos. Of course a good photographer makes the subject feels comfortable, but only if you have the luxury of time. In our case, or rather in most actual day weddings or engagements, time is usually not a luxury that we have.

Here are some of the teaser photos taken during that Saturday. More will come later.

See.. friendly people. Very eager to be in front of the camera.

All photos were shot with the AF-S 50mm f1.4G lens wide open @ f1.4, except for the last one which was shot at f2.8.

After the registration, they headed off to a nice cruise in a yatch. Everything was completed by lunch time and the happy couple ensured that we had a full tummy before letting us off. How considerate of them.

Jason and I then wondered Singapore for a bit before deciding that we were a little too tired to wonder anymore and thus headed back to Johor in preparation of our long drive home. So that Saturday, I had my shower at 5am. The next shower I had was almost midnight. I was smelly, sticky and extremely tired. My nice comfortable bed never felt nicer.

But it’s all good…

Just that the sun was hitting down on us a little too hard. And both model and photographer were under the mercy of the sun.

And many of us had a hard time reviewing our photos on the camera’s LCD.

But.. dem… the sky..

very blue isn’t it?

As always, i do not have much photos of the model as i was merely facilitating the photoshoot. So i shot from the behind the photographers. But here are a couple of the photos of models..

Peggy…

Winx..

Anyways… the day started very early. I was out of the house before the sun rose over the horizon. And the hills were misty and all that as we were approaching the location. Sg. Congkak is about 45 minutes drive from the city. Quite a good get away.

at the car park..

jasonw suggesting poses..

and away the snapped..

and snapped…

The trees provided much shade.. which proved to be a welcome treat as it stayed cool through out the shoot

Some streaks of sun managed to sneaked in, which was still a good thing because if casted some illumination for the shoot

see the model ‘lighted’ up by beams of sunlight which managed to sneaked through the canopy of leaves

snipers..

and of course, a shoot in sg. congkak will not be complete without the model getting wet.. hehe..

And lastly… the group photo…

PS - the ‘gila’ group shot…

and…

last lastly….

probably the only nice shot I got from the whole trip. waahahaha….

It’s 7.30am then. I thought to myself.. good.. ample time. Able to take a nice leisurely drive to the breakfast meeting point. Just as I opened the front door, my tummy rumbled. Darn it!! So I rushed back to the toilet. After that I rush out and got into the car, drove off and found out that I left my wallet. Darn it!!

I arrived for breakfast 40 minutes late. *sigh*

We arrived at the park sharp at 9am. The humidity was unbearable. And I was sweating like a pig just standing there. And to make matters worse, they had sometime kind of a marathon in the city and a lot of roads were closed. So some participants were late. But’s its all good. We proceeded to make full use of the remaining time available to us.

Tommy putting some mozzie repellent, then our model for the day.. Andrea came running asking for some. hahaha

Preparing to shoot…

Some of the participants

Second location..

Then those fellas left for a couple more location which I did not follow.. it was extremely humid.

The final location.. Jason posing the model.

Then he struck a pose .. wahaha… poser!!

and finally…

The mandatory group photo

Anyways, they held a New Year food tasting in conjunction with ThreeSixty Degree. Very fashionable. And they invited some bloggers to go along

Amuleto introduced to use their Chinese New Year dish… the very fresh Western Style Lou Sang dish..

Everything fresh.. carrots… erm.. and some other stuff which I am not able to remember…

Some garnishing..

And the fresh orange sauce. Very refreshing.

And this is Keith… the boss….

.. he delicately explains how to prepare the Western Style Lou Sang.

And then he demonstrates..

ok.. wait..

take picture…

Can you see the delicious sauce?

.. and the crunchy stuff..

And most important…

.. the fresh salmon…
And then…..

It’s ready!!!

And … apparently.. I-Mae was also ready…

And.. here we go!!!!

LOU AR!!!!

LOU ARRRR!!!!

Now that’s the lou sang part… after which they served my favourite..

Rosti!!!.. with..

Mushroom sauce..

And here’s the best of the best that night…

Lamb Shank..

Fuah.. I tell you.. it was simply mouth watering. Really… It was tender.. and the sauce superb! Definitely a must try.

They too have a special Valentine menu..

Here’s the soup..

The Benito Chicken Consomme.. check out the heart-shaped carrots…

And this one…

.. Tango Prawns… nothing special.. until you see it from another angle..

Woot!! Heart shaped.. hahaha.. cool eh..??

Anyways, there were many more dishes but I missed out on them. Let’s see, there was …. oh.. wait..

.. HAh!! the green tea tiramisu. Interesting..

Oh.. now comes the fashion show. Well.. not the ones you see from Versace or Dolce. Just a simple fashion show from ThreeSixtyDegree\

.. and here comes the barrage of photos…

Wait… ‘chup’…

Check out the blogger photogaphers.. fuah…

ok.. continue fashion show..

*phew*

Sorry about the long loading time.. blame it that company which has monopoly on internet access. WAHAHAHA

Anyways.. let’s continue… random shots…

Wokie.. that’s all for now

Till the next time… cheerio!

We were bored… so we had a photoshoot

So a small group of us went for a sumptuous buffet at Jogoya Jap Buffet. Quite pricey @ RM88++ per head for dinner. But, if you had tried Jogoya, you would know that it is worth it. If you compare to some other jap buffet restaurants, this is still the best place to go. If you are thinking, that Shogun is more worth it because it costs about RM30-40 less, you owe it to yourself to check out Jogoya at least once. Despite being warned that Shogun is horrible, I went ahead and tried it out. And yes, it was horrible. Like I said to many, that it is like… Japanese Buffet Chap Fan. Seriously. Anyways, without getting into details… as usual.. here are the photos to do the talking.

This is one of my favourite dishes…

Prawn tempura? I dunno… dipped into their wasabi mayo.. fuah… nice!!

The rest went straight for fresh oysters.

Big HUGE ones…

This is Alan… and a sequence of how he enjoyed his HUGE oysters…

Squeeze some lime…

Make sure you squeeze em dry..

Pick it up..

Scoop it loose..

Then put them into your mouth…

But dun forget to pose for the camera first…

Then you try to take em all in one shot…

But HUGE oyster too big…

So let’s try with some.. err.. wasabi?

This is Khai… also enjoying the oysters..

Unfortunately, I am not much a fan of oysters. Sad right? Wahaha… I am more for cooked or grilled food.. like this..

Lamb…

… Jason… enjoying a piece of lamb

And if one day you go try Jogoya.. must not forget to try their coconuts.

They have quite nice vegetables as well..

This one best! Long beans stirfried with garlic.. yum!!

I dunno what this is.. mushrooms?

Erm… this is… beef?

And not forgetting Haagen Daz icecream!!!

And the camwhoring begins..

Kim

Jess

Hmmm..

Khai

My girl…

Sherry

Panda

Khai : Eih.. u curi my food ar?

Jason : Har? What food? No ah.. I no curi ah…

Errr…

And last but not least… my ‘be-earlied’ birthday cake Thanks guys.. hehe… din expect it..keke

So anyways… that’s about it… did not manage to take any more photos, was busy eating.. hahaha

As usual, had dinner with family… at brother’s place…