1st Eid ul Fitri with Qalif

Shukur to ALLAH, this year is the first year that I celebrate Eid Fitri with my boy Ahmad Qalif. 10 months old (in sept) and he is already a hand full. Constantly roaming his surroundings as everything is new and fun. It's really amazing watch him grow everyday and it made me realize that at one time I was just like him and surely my mother and father had a tough time looking after me.

We took time off from Kuantan to celebrate Eid with my parent and in laws. Everyone wants to see Qalif, the jewel of the Family. As a father, I am very proud.

I really felt sad, watching Qalif playing with my father. My father is losing his eye sight due to Glaucoma. I wonder how much of Qalif can he see........ but the smile on my fathers face tells me all I need to know.

Allahuakbar........

C&C FULL STOP!

Pada bulan Ogos yang lalu, segala urusan dengan C&C telah saya tamatkan. Full stop. Ternyata C&C (cina & cina) menjatuhkan orang Melayu. Saya hanya menuntut hak saya untuk ganti rugi dan ternyata istilah itu tidak ada dalam kamus mereka.

Apa yang saya minta ialah replacement bag media sebanyak 8000 sahaja dan saya akan bayar kos pengangkutannya. Tapi jawap mereka melalui wakilnya Mr Song, Saya harus membayar untuk bag baru mereka hanya memberikan harga yang istimewa. Logik ke??????

Saya dah keluar modal untuk membeli bag dan semuanya rosak. Patut ke saya bayar lagi.........

TENSIONYA.............................

Lamanya tak update blog

Nak buat camna, dah empat bulan sejak posting terakhir. Sibuk dengan urusan seharian dah juga masalah 'M' antara punca terbesar blog nie sepi sejak July. Entah mimpi apa, malam nie terasa sangat nak update. Rasanya saya akan duduk depan workstation dan cuba update sebanyak yang mungkin malam nie. Insyallah.........

Mother of all Golfs

Saya alihkan tumpuan dari cendawan ke cerita kereta sekejap. Saya test kereta nie pada tahun 2008. Bestnya susah nak cerita........

It feels great to have loads of power under you right foot. However having a heavy right foot means very frequent visits to the petrol stations and spending a bit more on speeding fines. This brings me to the story of my high speed date the mother of all Golfs, The VW Golf R32 way back in 2008.

My date was almost perfect if not for the RM2.80 petrol price at that time (gila man). The trip from Putrajaya to Tun Razak via MEX took me less than 20 minits with speeds slightly shy of 240km/h. Memang Gila.......

One look and you will notice very little difference from the Golf Gti. Bigger rims, chrome grill, twin exhaust pipes it about all that differs. But as you look closer at the R32 badge, then you will start to understand why I call it the mother of all golfs.

The R32 is powered by a 3.5 liter V6 engine which drives all 4 wheels via the unbelievably magical DSG gearbox. This Hitech auto gear box has a twin clutch system which selects a gear in advance during up shifts and vice versa. It is incredibly smooth and gear shifts becomes ultra fast.

Gear change is via paddle shift (F1 style) which is mounted on the steering wheel as well as the traditional gear stick. To make driving even more enjoyable, the R32 has 4 driving modes as well 3 different suspension settings. F1 style launch control is also a standard feature of the DSG gearbox. Talk about pure driving pleasure.

Press a button and the car changes handling character from a lazy cat to a tiger as the engine increases it horse power (close to 300), becomes more responsive and the ride become stiffer. Amazing!

Interior is all plush with leather and functionality. Space age seats which is comfy for on the limit driving. However the passenger may find the ride a little harsh but who cares as long as the person or devil behind the steering wheel get a jolly good time driving the R32 on the highways and the twisty black tarmac.

Driving it............ Hmmmmmm, its pure lust. I am very sure that it called to me and begged me to drive it fast and hard. Once you slip behind the wheel and turn the ignition key on you become a different person all together. As expected for a V6. the smooth and very instance power delivery makes you want to go even faster. Before you know it you are already touching 200km/h.

The ride and handling set up is very well engineered to handle the power of the R32. Firm and sure footed handling makes the R32 very much at home on the highways and twisty and tight trunk roads yet it is also at home in the traffic jams.

It is certainly a great car to own. If you love , aggressive looks, power and handling, you got it. If you want a practical family car, you got it. What more can you ask? Ohhhh yes, the price. RM200k for a car is really well beyond reach for most of us in our short life span. What to do? Just enjoy what you have lah.........

Aku dan C&C. Jauhi C&C

Itulah amaran keras dari saya kepada semua pengusaha cendawan yang berniat nak beli bag media C&C. Sebelum pergi lebih lanjut, biar saya terangkan serba sedikit sebanyak tentang operasi Kuantan Agro Enterprise yang telah beroperasi semenjak tahun 2005.

Operasi saya tidak melibatkan pembuatan bag-bag media seperti pengusaha lain. Kerana

beberapa faktor. Antaranya ialah kurangnya tenaga kerja. Kosnya tidaklah semahal mana dan masa yang diperlukan untuk mendapat 20k bag media kurang sebulan. Jika dikira 'Economics ofScale'nya ia lebih berbaloi. Oleh itu sejak awal lagi saya memilih untuk membeli bag-bag media yang telah siap dari C&C Mushroom Cultivation Sdn Bhd, Pagoh Johor. Jadi operasi KAE lebih khusus kepada menjaga, mengeluar dan memasarkan cendawan segar. 3M lah kononnya.

Sudah lumrah alam setiap perkara yang dibuat ada baik dan buruknya. Apa-apa punlah. Cuma cara kita mengawal situasinya membezakan baik dan buruknya. Masalah utamanya ialah kadar rosak. Kadang-kadang sikit dan kadang-kadang tak boleh diterima akal langsung.

Peristiwa malang dengan C&C telah capai kemuncaknya akhir tahun lepas apabila, tak pernah dalam sejarah, pengeluaran cendawan berhenti selepas tuai ketiga. Bayangkan tengah sedap mengutip hasil 50kg sehari, masuk tuai keempat cuma 5kg sehari. Panas telinga melayan keluhan dan makian pelanggan. Aku cuma balik modal aje. Takkan tempat nie yang menjadi punca kut. Bila dibuat sikit kaji selidik rupanya pihak C&C telah mengurangkan kandungan bahan-bahan tertentu dalam bag-bag medianya. Oklah, saya terima episode tersebut sebagai dugaan. Belum serik dan sikap saya yang tak mengenal erti kalah, Saya order lagi 14k bag media pada bulan February yang lalu. Tapi......

Kali nie Hama pulak yang dihadiahkan oleh pihak C&C. Tindakan cepat mengasingkan 5600 bag dan dengan persetujuan pihak C&C saya memulangkan bag-bag tersebut. Dahlah kos transport ke tanggung, pihak C&C menyalahkan tempat saya dan mereka hanya pulangkan 4000 bag aje. 1600 bag burn.

Lebih kurang 3 minggu berlalu, yang di pulangkan pun rosak. Benih tak jalan dan sebagainya. Malang sungguh. Akhir sekali selepas di bongkar semua, cuma 1300 bag aje yang tinggal, itu masih dimakan hama. Bayangkan 12700 bag burn gitu aje. Bayangkan.

Di sekitar tempat saya, ada juga beberapa pengusaha lain yang membeli bag dari C&C. Mereka pun mengalami masalah yang sama dan juga projek kerajaan rakyat termiskin yang membeli 24000 bag, habis musnah semuanya. Jadi kesimpulannya, C&C membawa penyakit ke Kuantan.

Yang saya kesalkan ialah, setelah 5 tahun menjadi customer tetap mereka, pihak C&C cuma ambil sikap lepas tangan aje. Malah kita nie yang di salahkan.

Bila di kira-kira dalam RM, kerugian yang saya tanggung mencecah RM28000. Mati aku, hutang bank, kawan-kawan nak kena bayar. Inilah dugaan yang paling besar aku tanggung sejak 5 tahun aku mengusahakan business nie.

That's it. Goodbye C&C. Hope you burn in Hell.........

Welcome to my world

I started working on my own since 2003 and I have not looked back since. It can be very hard at times but I remain committed to my decision. I just couldn't find the pleasure working for people. Working 9 to 5 is just not my cup of tea

I test and write about cars for magazines. I write scripts and translate english to malay and vice versa. For a moment I really enjoyed it, but then I wanted an empire for my self and my family, some thing more challenging.

Then came the mushrooms. Thanks to my brother, I venture into the world of Mushrooms in 2005. I can tell you that it is difficult. But the challenge of growing the mushrooms and keeping up with demand is what drives me. I have a product that is high in demand but is short in supply. Anyone will tell you that it's a great position to be in.

Making Kuantan as my base, I have firmly establish myself as a mushroom farmer but with my parents and in laws in KL plus my commitment to rallying. It can be a really painful headache at times to be in two places at the same time.

But life goes on regardless. I hope I can share and learn a few things in this blog. Its a mixture of everything in my world. The adrenalin rush of rallying, the sensitive motion of testing and writing about cars and the turbulent world of mushrooms.........

Welcome to my world

Rally tahun 2010

Agak lewat juga musim rally tahun nie mula. Untuk tahun keduanya, saya di bersama pasukan Felda Rally Team dengan kereta Gen 2 4WD. Laju jangan cakaplah.

Serba sedikit tentang penglibatan saya dengan sukan rally. Penglibatan saya sudah masuk tahun ke 15 dan semenjak tahun 2005 saya menjadi seorang professional dalam sukan ini. Penglibatan saya sebagai juruarah atau navigator kepada pemandu Saladin Mazlan.

Tugas seorang juruarah adalah menyampaikan descripsi jalan kepada pemandu semasa perlumbaan bagi membolehkan pemandu memandu selaju yang boleh. Kadang-kadang scary jugak sukan nie sebab bayangkan memecut laju celah-celah ladang kelapa sawit. Adakalanya mencecah 120km/h. Memang kerja gila tapi berpandukan minat. Gila pun gilalah.

Pusingan pertama Rally sprint berlangsung pada 15 n 16 hb May yang lalu bersempena Hari belia kebangsaan. PM telah melepaskan para perserta. Grand gila rasanya. manakan tidak. Tulisan Felda sebesar-besarnya tepi kereta.

Agak malang kali nie, Masa tengah mendahului, Setereng shaft patah semasa mengambil selekoh. Bayangkan tengah laju nak corner stereng patah. Nasib baik tak kena pokok dan masuk longkang. Kereta bole baiki, orang nak cari spare part dimana.

Apa-apa pun, Pusingan kedua akan berlangsung di Kemaman, K. Terengganu pada akhir bulan July. Harap boleh menang.

Rally dah selesai, apa lagi balik Kuantanlah ke dunia cendawan pulak......