A couple weeks ago I swapped my bike for a new Satria Neo CPS from Proton Center of Excellence for a 3-day test drive.
The Satria Neo is arguably one of the best looking hatch backs out on the road, and the CPS version has a few improvements that makes this even more so. The unit I came in a shiny black coat with the bigger rear spoiler, body kit, and the new 16″ rims that looks quite a lot better on the car compared to the original Neo’s “blink blink” rims.
Proton Satria Neo CPS
On the inside, the improvement in workmanship can be clearly seen compared to some previous models. The dashboard is clean and minimalistic while sporting blue and yellow illumination that makes reading the speedometer and tachometer very easy in low light condition.
I particularly like the two-tone semi-bucket leather seats for the driver and front passenger. They are not only visually rather stunning, but strikes a balance between comfort and seat position rigidness when you need to keep yourself from sliding off the seat around a fast corner.
Interior of the Satria Neo
The in-car entertainment unit scrolls out a “PROTON SYMPHONY” text whenever it is turned on, and while the sound system isn’t particularly high end, it does carry itself pretty well. No upgrades shall be necessary if you’re not an audiophile.
The one possible downside of the interior, depending on your body height, is the relatively low headroom for driver and front passenger. At 5’6 I am still quite comfortable with it, but I reckon those who are over 6′ tall would have a harder time especially if you are those who likes to sit closer to the steering wheel.
the 16″ Sports Rims with 195 50 R16 tyres
Other than styling and slight interior changes, the Satria Neo CPS differs from the regular Satria Neo in another crucial item, the engine. While the regular 1.6 Satria gets 110hp (112ps), the 1.6 liter Campro CPS engine in this car gets 125ps at 6500 rpm and 150 Nm of torque at 4500 rpm. That’s a good 10% increment achieved by a variable valve lift system in the new motor which Proton refers to as Cam Profile Switching, hence the acronym CPS. This is similar to DVVT, VTTI, VTEC and other technologies.
Rear shot, Proton Satria Neo CPS
3 days and some 200 km later, I must say that the car did not disappoint. Handling, especially around the bends was very good, the car felt steady and there is minimal body roll. Sound insulation is another aspect that I really like about this car, while you can hear the engine roar above 4-5k rpm, outside traffic noise is rather muted (view video taken in the Smart Tunnel below).
Fuel consumption also seems to be pretty good for this car. I collected this car with the gauge pointing at half tank, and returned it with slightly less than 1/4 tank after closed to 200km of mixed highway and city driving.
more photos at flickr set
The Satria Neo CPS goes for RM 57,763 (Manual) and RM 60,763 (Automatic Transmission), that is a lot of car for the money. Price quoted from Proton Edar.
Anyone who hasn’t been living in a cave (cos you probably don’t use any currency in the cave) for the past year or so knows that we are in a massive economy slow down. The scary part is, most analysts agree that things will get worse before it gets better.
At times like this, it is usually advised that over spending isn’t such a good idea. So, take the bus/LRT to work, hold yourself off buying that sparkly new toys, not getting a new car, and of course, don’t spend too much for lunch.
But this does not necessarily means that you are confined to roti canai or mixed rice at Wisma Sentral if you work at KLCC, there’s the McValue Lunch! I’m sure most of you already know by now that McDonald’s is the first fast food restaurant to push out the RM 5.95 McValue lunch meals a couple months back.
The news is, there is now two other McValue Lunch line ups that had been in my wish list eve since I found out about this whole McValue promotion - Spicy Chicken McDeluxe (from RM10.55 to RM 7.95), and Big Mac (from RM 10.20 to RM 7.95).
I’ve been a fan of Spicy Chicken McDeluxe for quite a while now, the juicy spicy chicken is really one of the bests and actually quite unique to McDonald’s in our country, catering perfectly to our preference in hot food. It’s good to see this burger joining the McValue promotion.
Here’s the line up from 27th April onwards:
The McValue Lunch runs from 12pm to 3pm EVERYDAY and is valid for Dine-in, Drive Through, and even Delivery. I think a lot of people wrongly assumed that this promotion this promotion only runs on weekdays.
So I went to McDonald’s at KLCC’s 2nd floor food court with a buddy of mine the other day to try this for myself. We got ourselves 2 Spicy Chicken McDeluxe sets. (I do notice that the queue at McD in KLCC food court became quite a bit longer these days, not surprising since they offer the cheapest full lunch these days)
2x Spicy Chicken McDeluxe sets – RM 16.70 including tax
The best thing about the McValue Meal is that you still get the normal medium size drinks and fries to go with the burger. It was the same set, nothing reduced other than the price, a very very good value. Of course, it is still the great taste (I seriously think the spicy chicken is one of the best burgers out there) that I crave for every so often.
In conjunction with the McValue lunch, there’s also a contest that gives out an Apple iPhone for blogger!
The contest tagline is “Have you McValue LUNCH-ed this week?”, you can use the logo on your blog during the contest period (April 27 to May 31, 2009), and create a video or photos to express your experiences with McValue LUNCH in a creative way. Winner gets the iPhone 3G!
Have you McValue LUNCHed this week? 
p/s : Check out their facebook fan page
Everyone who has been anywhere near a TV, connected PC, newspaper, or the office water cooler must surely have been pretty familiar with this whole Swine Flu (H1N1 A Influenza) business already.
There are a great deal of suggestions and various measures being undertaken to avoid the great flu coming here. The heat sensors being set up at the airports (at least in Penang), newspapers telling us what we should do to avoid getting the flu, and our government is assuring the people that every measure is taken to keep us safe.
Yesterday’s news – Temporary freeze on permits for pork imports
Today’s news – 1.7 million pigs to be vaccinated against flu mutation
As far as I know (from the various news source and wiki entries), the current H1N1 A Influenza is a new strain of virus that consists of genetic materials from similar virus that infects human, birds, and pigs.
The nickname swine flu was rather unfortunate for there is no evidence that the current strain was originated from pigs. H1N1 A is trasmitted from human to human, not pigs/birds to human, though there is also a newly identified case of farmer transmitting the virus to his pigs recently. (Pigs are unique in a way that they can get flu from birds and human, in addition to their fellow piggy friends) /pig.
Many are afraid, but few has the right reasons to.
Yes this is “new” disease that we don’t know alot about, and it is potentially lethal. But lets put things into perspective, H1N1 A (stop calling it swine flu already) has 23 confirmed cases so far, all in Mexico except one. One the other hand, malaria is killing 1 to 3 million people every year.
The danger of overreaction is very real. Hospitals swarmed with people who are afraid that they might die as soon as they exhibit a little bit of symptoms might be denying other legitimate patients.
There is also a history on these things, the US incorrectly declared a pandemic on swine flu in 1976 and ordered the whole nation to go through inocullation. The result was 1 death from flu, and 20 others from inocullation itself.
Of course, closer to home, I still wanna eat my damn pork!
Before I go to Melbourne, I received quite a few suggestions on restaurants and eateries that should visit from friends and blog readers alike. Among all the suggestions, the one place that I was pestered to visit over and over again by Jessica was MART 130.
“You must go to MART 130, they serve the best breakfast!”
“If you don’t go there, I will kill you!”
“Take a taxi, take tram, take whatever, just get yourself there!”
MART 130, Zehan & Mell
So on the 2nd to the last day at Melbourne, Mell, Zehan, and I took the 96 St. Kilda tram to MART 130 after stopping by the city early to buy the tickets for Wicked the musical (which was very awesome and worth every penny of the $85 ticket.)
MART 130 is actually a reverse anagram of TRAM 130, which is only apt because the restaurant is converted from an old tram stop. Which also means that getting there is a short 20 minute ride and you don’t actually have to walk more than a few stops after getting off the tram.
flat white & latte, ham hock and cannellini beans
The restaurant is busy but relaxing, old but clean, and simple but sophisticated. Furniture consists of well maintained old wooden chairs and tables, with most diners seated at the semi alfresco area on the side not facing the track. Whole side of the wall is made up of transparent plastic that can be reeled up when the weather cooperates.
Mell ordered a glass of flat white and while I asked for latte (apparently they are basically the same except that flat whites have a slightly higher caffeine content.). The coffee arrived in a very aesthetically pleasing form that is well in line with the great taste. Now why can’t our local baristas do that too?
Zehan with her french toast, Mell’s scrambled egg and Portobello mushroom
After much deliberation, we ordered 3 breakfast from different category in order to have a bit of variety. I asked for the Ham Hock and Cannellini Beans since there’s pork in the ham, of course. Mell ordered Scrambled Eggs and Portobello Mushroom, while it’s the French Toast with Orange Syrup for Zehan.
The ham hock and Cannellini beans ($15.9) came with organic sourdough toast with crumbled goat’s cheese, I’m normally not a very big bean person, but this was very tasty and wholesome. The sourdough toast fresh and very delicious too.
Mellissa and the friendly owner
The other two sets were, in some ways, even better than what I had since they provide a slightly more varied ingredients. The scrambled eggs ($9.9) were done to perfection, with spinach, mushrooms, and fetta cheese (add $3). You can also have grilled bacon, goat’s cheese, and sausages (add $4)
Zehan’s French toast ($15.9) was pretty interesting, the mixture of orange syrup, with organic brioche and pistachio mascarpone (I didn’t know this is yet another type of cheese) was very delicious, according to the eccentric girl.
MART 130 is at tram stop number 130 on 96 St. Kilda line
Over all it was a very good breakfast experience and certainly a place I wish to visit again. The prices might seem a little high (for Malaysian standard anyway,) but the ambiance was very good, quality of food excellent (organic & free range), and above all, it tasted great.
The place is opened from 7:30 to 4pm everyday, so you don’t even really have to wake up that early to enjoy their breakfast.
Address:
107A Canterbury Road,
Middle Park 3206,
Melbourne, Australia
GPS: -37.850103, 144.965608
Tel: 03-9690 8831
