Saturday, June 16, 2007

i got Ferrari-ed

*clicks on the pause button on windows media player.*

Pindrop....

...Silence.

Ah thats so much better.

These 2 days only me and my bro at home. Both parents went to KL. Mum accompnying dad for eyes check-up. Decision whether to undergo operation isnt finalised until everything is confirmed first. It isnt anything serious though. Naturally I had to stay back because bro had classes, tuitions and also guitar exam. The whole house is filled with an air of emptiness these few days. Seconds seem like minutes and days seem like months. Watched all on Youtube. Watched most of the shows on TV (no more Premier League anymore makes boredom an active monster). Watched V for Vendetta on DVD. Watched 3 movies at MBO cinema already. Countless yamcha sessions.

This holiday is starting to get stale.

Watched a documentary of the Ferrari factory in Maranello which shot the whole process of making a Ferrari 599 GTB, the newest model to hit the market, which IMO one of the most gorgeous cars. Apparently they use all the best stuff for the car. The paintwork is simply fab. The metal frame of the car is sprayed on by a special paint sprayer which sprays paint at very very fine particles. After that, a layer of ceramic coating is applied on the frame, also by spraying. CERAMIC! On your cars' body! Imagine that. After that,the paintwork is checked by an electronic detector that swoops over every inch of the exterior, detecting defects of 1/10 of an mm! If any defects are found, the frame is sent back for respraying. My favourite colour is of course, the signature Ferrari chilli red. Other colors looks damn cool too. That goes without saying. Because that car proudly wears the prancing horse badge.

The interior is handcrafted by seamstresses specially trained by Ferrari. Yes, every piece of leather in the cockpit is stitched together by hand, including the dashboard, seats and side panels. Ferrari can meet the customers' demand for leather in every colour imaginable; they dye premium quality leather (used in European furniture) specially mixed to the clients' liking. They also do colour combinations for the interior. This also means that...in a Ferrari, there can be unlimited number of customisations..just for the interior alone. I personally prefer white leather. I must admit..natural brown and grey looks good too.

The suspension is also sophisticated, albeit very. Instead of normal oil used in shock absorbers, electronically charged fluids are used in thie Ferrari's absorbers. Even the slightest bumpiness is detected by a computer connected to the suspension and it readjusts itself suit the situation. These absorbers are specially developed in the USA for Ferrari; no other car company comes close to matching it. I suppose at well over 200k Euros for a car, customers demand the very best...and thus a lot of RND is needed.

The car is fixed together by hand...imagine the man hours poured into making one car. I shall skip this...

To the track. Every Ferrari rolled out of the assembly line is tested by Ferrari's own test drivers at their racetrack. Any discrepancies from the claimed performance figures are detected by computer. Any defects are quickly put right so that every car is the same performance wise. The car is later driven in Maranello (a small tiwn the birthplace of Ferrari) so that it undergoes the same procedure in real life conditions. Again, feedback is transmitted via computers for the car to be improved,so that Ferrari's customers get nothing but the best.

The Italins really love their cars. The styling is simply amazing, breathtaking and wonderful. All thanks to their artsy creativity and aesthetic sense. They take great pride and slog to produce Ferraris. I have utmost respect for them all the while, but even more so after this episode.

After watching this documentary I feel that if I had the money, a Ferrari is definitely well worth every penny spent on it. The detail, man power, handcraft, expertise, technology, beauty are incorporated into one lean, mean machine.

Simply stunning.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

random Ryan motion

-sprained toe hasnt completely healed yet. cannot go futsalling, jogging or jungle trekking yet. so boring at home. might try swimming tomorrow morning (swimming puts less pressure on the joints) and get a tan. the colour of my skin is like steamed chicken. zzz

-had kfc and steamed chicken for dinner yesterday. so much protein, the colour of my urine was a deep yellowish. at least it wasnt orange, which is still not too bad.

-have been dieting a lot with my main meals recently. the serving of the rice i am currently having is less than the size of my fist after flattening the rice out. it gets so sien when you cant eat the food you like. rewards? a scant 1 kilogram decrease in my weight. 1KG ONLY! i am wondering is this all worthwhile. =.=

-been feeling lazy these days..always sleep during the afternoon but sleep very late at night. never seem to wake up early also.

-watched oceans thirteen with frens just now. the cinema was damn cold. regretted that i didnt bring my sweater along. took some candid shots in the toilet. it is in my friendster for all to see now.

-left eye itchy, dunno why, might be eyelashes fallen into my eyes. cant seem to shrug the itchiness off. how to sleep lidat?

*leaves blog*