Don't Look Twice (Andrew Gross)

Hi Everyone,

I bought this book last year, Don't Look Twice written by Andrew Gross. Andrew Gross was co-author with James Patterson in some of James' books before writing on his own. This is his 3rd book. The paperback came out this year. I saw this at MPH 1 Utama where it is offering 20% discount to members and non-members (purchase of RM5 to quality for offer) until 31st July 2009. Because I am a MPH Readers' Club Member, I bought this at 20% off instantly without the need to buy at least RM5 of items for MPH. It is a savings of RM7.20. I bought this for only RM28.70 instead of the usual price at RM35.90.

It talks about a police detective, Ty Hauck who had a good life. He had a waterfront house, a new girlfriend and even a hero after unconvering a Wall Street scandal. Then during a day trip with his daughter, they encountered a shooting that an innocent man got killed. Now he has a new investigation to follow. It is just a normal shooting? Is it because of revenge? Ty suspects things go deeper and everyone, from the FBI to his own family wants him to stop finding out the answers. He could not turn away from the case for his estranged brother, Warren is also in danger. Here we will see how Ty continue to find out more about case despite the devastating consequences that he will be facing. I've finished reading this book.

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

A Good Day ... Zondervan

A Good Day ... Zondervan

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The Associate

The Associate is another impressive and great book by John Grisham. I bought this book around September last year.


Kyle McAvoy was studying to become at lawyer at Yale. His future is very bright and promising until some men approached him regarding his dark secret which would ruin his career and future. They have a compromising video that can be used against him unless he cooperates with them.


The deal is for Kyle to work at a law firm as a law associate. The catch is that he is not working for the law firm, but against it in a dispute between two powerful defense contractors worth billions.


Can Kyle outsmart the men and find his way out of this situation with his intellectual mind? Will he survive this? Find out by reading this book! 


John Grisham is superb at legal stories. The Associate is another example of why he is so good. His other books include The Last Juror, The Appeal, The King of Torts and The Firm. These are also very good books to read.


Next post: Outstanding apps for the IPhone. From to do list to games...

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

As Christians, we need to bear good fruit and live a life worthy of God. These are some of the qualities and virtues of Christians as in Galatians 5:22-23

Love
We should love one another. We are called to love our neighbours as ourselves and also to love our enemies. God so loved us that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins. His resurrection 3 days later symbolises the victory our sin and death. Our sins have been forgiven and we are made right with God as a result of the resurrection.

Mark 12:30-31
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no greater commandment than this.

Matthew 5:43-44

Love here means being Christians who forgives or ask for forgiveness when we hurt others, caring for one another and being accountable to one another. Another way to love is to pray for one another. It also means being warm and friendly to one another without discrimination.

1 John 4:19
We love because He first loved us. (NIV)

Joy
We should be happy for we received the gift of life from God.

Romans 6:23b
For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life. (NIV)

Everyone of us is a sinner. The penalty of sin is death. However Jesus has paid the price of sin for us ad gave us eternal life.

We should rejoice because of that. We should be happy because God is with us and he gave us the Holy Spirit.

Peace
We are feeling the peace from God in every situation. Can pray when we are having issues or troubles. God will be with us.

In Phillipians 4:7-8:
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

Patience
We should be patient in our daily life. Not getting angry for no reason. Just as God patiently loves us, we should also be patient.

In Colossians 3:8, it says:
But now you must rid yourselves of all such tings as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips (NIV)

Kindness and Goodness

We are called to be kind and good to others. This comes as a response of our love of God because of what he has done for us. He has forgave our sins. We need to show kindness to others in situations as Jesus did without discrimination. Anyone can receive our kindness no matter who we are or where we are from.

Gentleness
Gentle in speech. Not hurting and insulting each other. We do not speak vulgar and obscene languages. We also need to be humble in the way we conduct ourselves.

Faithfulness
We are faithful to our God. We will not succumb to sin and temptations. It is our faithfulness that brings us closer to God each day. We should have faith even we are facing challenges and difficulties in our lives. God is always here with us no matter where we are. As we walk with God closely in our lives, our faithfulness will also grow. Then we are facing the most difficult time even during serious illnesses, we still trust God is always with us and he is still in control of our lives. We will have faith in him no matter what happens in our lives.

Self Control
We will face a lot of temptations in our daily life. For Christians, we need to have self control so that we are not too obsessed with certain things. We need to have a balanced life. I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide our hearts and minds so that we do not fall into temptations easily. We also need to think of what we are doing before we do the things that we are supposed or called to do. Our conscience will tell us if it is right wrong. There are people who do the things they know it is wrong but they blinded the eyes for that.

As Christians, we need to know that it is wrong to do such things and therefore be able to refrain ourselves from doing it. If we are called to do what is wrong in our eyes, we should not do it. We should stand firm in our decision not to do it because it does not glorify God.

These temptations include drinking alcoholic drinks, pornography and other sins. By having self control, we will not fall into those tempations easily.

I may not cover everything here but this is my summary of the fruit of the Spirit. It is my current understanding of the fruit of the Spirit. I hope that as Christians, our character will be like that of Jesus who is perfect. I pray that we will bear the fruit of the Spirit thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times more than when we first believed him. This part of the sentence is extracted from Mark 4:20 (The Parable of the Sower):

Others like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it and produce a crop - thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown. (NIV)


Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Perodua Alza Advanced

The new Perodua Alza Advanced has just been launched. Perodua Alza has
received over 22,000 since it's launch a few months ago. Sales has
exceeded that of Proton Exora.
Proton Exora is also a successful MPV from Proton. Proton has been
revamping its brand and Exora is one of the models which receives a
good feedback. Other than that, Persona and the Saga also did very
well in their respective car segments.
The Perodua Alza Advanced comes with leather seats, reverse camera, in-
built GPS navigation system located in front of the driver, tinted
film and spoilers. It is priced around RM67K for the manual
transmission and RM70K for the auto. (Source: New Sunday Times - CARS,
BIKES, TRUCKS pullout, Page 12, March 28 2010)
With these advanced features, it will further boost the Perodua Alza
sales. I also expect that for families or people who want a larger
space, they would prefer the Proton Exora.
Proton Exora is having the Campro CPS engine and the Alza is getting
the same engine as Toyota Avanza. Whichever that anyone chooses, it
will be a good choice.
Both the Exora and Alza will face tough competition. Alza may have a
slight advantage over Exora because of people's perception on Perodua
cars. In general, people are more confident of the quality of Perodua
cars. At the same time, Proton has improved it's quality and
reputation with Exora, Persona and Saga models. I can see more Proton
cars on the road again. I am also driving a Persona.
Please feel free to comment on this. Thanks.
Cheers,
Rogerkoo

My Proton Persona

Hi,


I recently bought a Proton Persona H-Line last month. Collected the car on 11th February 2010. Mileage now is 2087 km in total. Before the Proton Persona Elegance was launched, I didn't know this facelift model is coming out this year. We were not informed about it until we saw it in the news few weeks ago. To me, my Proton Persona is good. Sometimes we can't catch it.


Specifications of Proton Persona H-Line:


Engine Capcacity: 1597cc
 
Engine Type: CAMPRO IAFM 1.6
 
Power: 82kW @ 6000rpm or 112 bhp
 
Radio: Blaupunkt 2-din Radio with 10 preset stations and a single CD player


Seating: 5


Safety Features: ABS, EBD, Front Driver and Passenger SRS Airbags


Security: Immobilizer


Transmission: 4 Speed Automatic


Extra Features:

• Power Auto Windows
• Electronically Controlled Side Mirrors
• Multi Information Display (Clock, Odometer, Tripmeter, Average Fuel Consumption, Distance to finish before refuelling and Engine Running Time)
• Steering Wheel with radio controls
• Remote Trunk Lid Opening
• Front Fog Lamps
• Proton Emergency First Aid Kit
• Lockatoo GPS (External)
• Proton Car Tools
• Vanity Mirror
• Cup holders

This car is definitely a good buy. With 82kW, the car moves forward when the accelearator is softly pressed. Engine is very smooth and with the Lotus handling, it provies a very good driving experience. It handles corners well too. The height of the car is also higher which provides a better rear view of the traffic. However, during reversing, you may not see the back clearly without the help of the reverse sensor. So far, the reverse sensor has provided me with quite accurate reverse distance. It beeps at the right time. I get used to it already. Been driving the car for nearly a month now. Overtaking is also easy as well. The engine repsonds with just a small tap on the accelerator.


Braking is also good. You'll need to press more though to stop completely. Other cars have differnt braking systems. Some with a gentle tap on the brake, it will stop quite fast, but for Proton Persona, it provides a gradual braking. Therefore, the brake need to be pressed more. It also brakes smoothly. However, it does have the braking sounds that automatic transmissions have for local cars. Hehe. Intially, when braking harder, I can hear a low screeching noise when pressed completely. After my first car service @ 1000km, there is no more sound unless I break in short distances (jam and carpark). But still it does not happen frequently now. I should brake further away and stop the car gradually. 


The auto transmission has a smooth gear change. It is the smoothest compared with other Proton models with the exception of maybe the Proton Perdana. I almost can't feel the usual jerk when shifting from P to R. The orange dashboard lights at night has a very cool effect and does not strain the eyes.


Aircond is functioning well and exceeds expectations. It is very cold. Probably the car is still new. Without low fan speed, the aircond can fills the entire car well. Mid temperature is around 25 degrees. I normally put it between 21 to 25 degrees.


Generally, the Blaupunkt 2 din radio provides me with a reasonable sound quality with CD. Radio controls can be adjusted at the steering wheel. The only thing missing now is the USB / MP3 support for the radio. This is provided in the new Persona Elegance.


It has now a fuel consumption of 7.6l per 100km. At my last refuel, I pumped RM64 after travelling a total distance of 331.1 km. Last week, I was caught in the jam at East West Link for about 1  1/2 hours. Usually, the jam is 30 minutes to 1 hour on the way to work. With that in mind, a fuel efficiency of 9.31 km/l is considered alright. Please let me know if you agree or disagree with this. The week before, the fuel effiency was 9.95km/l. I think if the traffic is good, the fuel efficiency can be improved with around 11km/l. Honda City is better than this with around 12.5km/l to 14km/l. From the NST Cars, Bikes and Trucks pullout, Toyota Vios has the best fuel efficiency in this class.


The exterior of the car and the interior of the car are nice. The interior sits 5 people comfortably withouht any issues. Leg space may not be the best but it's ample after hearing the feedback from some of my family and colleagues. Honda City, Vios and the Sentra may have a larger space there. The cushion is also comfortable and soft. The quality of the interior has improved. It is not hard compared to the ones in the Proton Wira Aeroback that my mother drives. Exterior is the same as the Gen2 except that this is a sedan instead of a hatchback. The way to differentiate the Gen2 with the Persona is the the silver decorative piece in the rear on the Persona.


It doesn't come with a seat belt indicator. My colleague told me about it and I verified it myself. Anyway, I have no problems wearing my seatbelt. It is what I normally do after I before I reverse or drive the car.


It has a very big boot too. Over 421 litres.


Here are some photos of my car (Car number has been taken out to protect privacy) :

The New Proton Persona H-Line (Full Spec). Comes with a 1.6L Campro IAFM engine generating 82KW of power, 2 front air bags, GPS, ABS, EBD, electronically controlled side mirrors and power steering among others. Big and spacious boot too.

Proton Persona was voted the 2008 Best Model of the Year by Frost and Sullivan

Right side view of the car

Front grille and teardrop lamps. Once again, the number plate also comes with the 2008 Best Model of the Year by Frost and Sullivan caption at the bottom.

The dashboard. It will be illuminated with orange colour (same as the colour that you see P and the multi function display) at night when I turn on the lights

Front of the car. Steering wheel comes with radio controls. Can adjust the volume (louder, softer, mute) and go to the next / previous tracks when playing CDs while driving

Closer view of the middle of the front of the car.

The automatic gear (P,R,N,D,3,2,L) and the fan and aircond controls

 Back seats

Side door controls

The Lockatoo A903 GPS given by Proton for H-Line and Special Edition models. Brand is Lockatoo. Powered by TM. Accurate but voice output is not so great.

The Lockatoo GPS also comes with this casing to carry around or leave at home when the GPS is not in used (to prevent theft).

For those who know me, please don't hesitate to contact me to share the photo album

So far I have no problems with the car with the exception of the brake sounds earlier but it has now been resolved. May ask them to check again @ my 5000km service. I can control the car well now. I would recommend to buy a Proton Persona Elegance now. The H-Line in the Persona Elegance variant is now RM59,999 (similar to the Proton Persona SE specifications) which comes with leather seats, cruise controls and body kit as standard. Proton has change the lineup of its Persona models a few weeks ago. I am satisfied with this car. The cost of this car is a few thousand less than the Persona Elegance H-Line.

Rating: 8/10

Cheers,


Rogerkoo

New Post Coming Soon

Hi All,


A new post would be coming soon. A review on the Proton Persona 1.6 H-Line that I bought recently. It has been two months since the last update on 1st January 2010. Been busy.


Cheers,


Teng Joon