Travel Time Advisory from PLUS

PLUS Expressways Berhad (PLUS) has issued its Travel Time Advisory (TTA) to ensure the public enjoy a safer, smoother and comfortable journey during the upcoming Chinese New Year.

According to the PLUS Managing Director, Dato’ Noorizah Hj Abdul Hamid, ”The TTA is being issued as we anticipate the traffic on the North-South Expressway during the Chinese New Year holidays will increase by 30 percent to 1.4 million vehicles per day as opposed to 1.1 million during normal days.”

She was quoted at the PLUS media briefing to highlight the company’s preparations to cope with the increase in traffic during the upcoming Chinese New Year at Persada PLUS today. Also present was the PLUS Chief Operating Officer, Tajul Azwa Bani Hashim.

According to Noorizah, the TTA is aimed at assisting the public in planning their journey for the upcoming Chinese New Year holidays.

The TTA consists of recommended staggered travel times for various destinations from the Klang Valley to major states and cities in Kedah, Perlis, Penang, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor and Singapore.

“It is aimed at distributing traffic and reducing congestion on the mainline, major toll plazas, rest areas and lay-bys during peak periods,” Noorizah said.

The TTA was introduced by PLUS in 2007 as a travel schedule based on studies of travel patterns during festive seasons over the past years. It is also a major factor that contributes to  smoother traffic on the highway during festive seasons.

For example, during the previous Hari Raya holidays, approximately 50 percent of the users followed the TTA issued by PLUS.

“As such, we urge the public to plan their journey based on the TTA as it has proven to be effective in facilitating traffic distribution thus, reducing congestion during peak periods,” Noorizah added.

During the briefing, Noorizah also highlighted other measures that will be taken and implemented by PLUS to facilitate smoother traffic flow which includes:-

Subject	Description
Reload Lane Closure	Reload lanes on toll plazas will be closed on 29 January until 6 February to facilitate smoother traffic flow at toll plazas.
Reload ’n Go Counter	Reload ’n Go counters will be opened from 29 January until 6 February at 10 Petronas stations at selected R&Rs along the PLUS highways to facilitate highway users to reload their Touch ’n Go or PLUSMiles cards.
Additional Personnel	25 percent increase in manpower at toll plazas. Approximately 3,000 personnel will be stationed at toll plazas this festive season.
Toll Counters	1,000 toll counters will be opened to facilitate smoother transactions at toll plazas.
Emergency Response Team	430 personnel from the Fire Department, Police, St. John Ambulance, Persatuan Bulan Sabit Merah and Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam will be stationed at 12 strategic locations, 24 hours a day.
Supporting Team	400 RELA members will be stationed at strategic locations along the highway, toll plazas and rest and service areas.
PLUSRonda Unit	PLUSRonda teams will be increased from 128 teams to 159 teams and conduct more patrolling along the highways thus, shorten their response time.
Latest Traffic Updates through SMS	Will be offered through the plusMA program.

”We also advice the public to plan their journey and contact our toll free PLUSLine at 1800 88 0000 or tune in to selected radio stations for the latest updates.”

Source 

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It's that time of the year again where everybody is celebrating each other race's holidays
:p

This time it;s Chinese New Year, the roads gonna be jammed up, so PLUS had issued a Travel Time Advisory (TTA).

I seriously urge all Malaysians to follow this TTA, don't simply go about driving without knowing what time is the best.
PLUS had done their research obviously.
After all, we humans need rules to operate smoothly. *wink at traffic lights*
:)

Just an example for my TTA:
1. From KL to Taiping: Advised should go around 11am-4pm
2. From Taiping to KL: Advised should go around 3pm-5pm

 Drive safe peeps..

Cuti Umum Vs Bekerja?

KUALA LUMPUR 30 Dis. - Semua majikan diminta memberi cuti bergaji kepada pekerja esok berikutan pengisytiharan cuti umum bagi meraikan kejayaan skuad bola sepak Malaysia menjuarai Piala Suzuki AFF 2010.

Menteri Sumber Manusia, Datuk Dr. S. Subramaniam berkata, majikan hendaklah memberi cuti kelepasan am sebagai cuti wajib tambahan kepada pekerjanya sebagaimana seperti yang diperuntukkan dalam seksyen 60D(1)(b) Akta Pekerjaan 1955.

"Namun jika majikan masih memerlukan pekerja untuk bekerja pada hari tersebut atas keperluan operasi maka pekerja berkenaan hendaklah dibayar gaji mengikut peruntukan Akta Pekerjaan 1955," katanya.

Beliau ditemui selepas menyaksikan percubaan dua adik-beradik mencatatkan nama dalam Malaysia Book of Records dengan melakukan tekan tubi paling banyak dan angkat berat kanak-kanak menggunakan jari di sini hari ini.

Semalam, Perdana Menteri mengisytiharkan esok cuti umum bertujuan memberi peluang kepada semua rakyat Malaysia merayakan kejayaan pasukan bola sepak negara menjuarai Piala Suzuki AFF 2010.

Tambah Subramaniam, jika majikan gagal memberi cuti umum atau membayar mengikut kadar cuti umum, para pekerja boleh membuat aduan kepada Jabatan Tenaga Kerja.

"Majikan boleh dikenakan tindakan jika didapati bersalah," katanya.

Utusan Online

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Tahniah sekali lagi atas skuad Harimau Malaya yang berjaya membaham Garuda!~
Adat permainan, kali ini kami pula yang berjaya!~
:D

Maka atas kejayaan itu, Perdana Menteri Dato' Sri Najib Razak mengumumkan hari ini (31 Disember 2010) sebagai cuti umum. Bukan selalu kita menang piala sukan ini yang dahulunya dipanggil Tiger Cup.

Tapi topik kali ini berkisar tentang kekecewaan mereka yang terpaksa bekerja pada hari cuti umum tersebut (pekerja swasta terutamanya)
Tapi jangan risau rakan sekalian, Datuk Subra dah mengumumkan dapat gaji double/triple ikut undang-undang. Kalau majikan tak bagi, boleh report & majikan didenda.

Kira dapat gaji double/triple ni okay la, dari tak dapat apa-apa kan?

That's life, realiti kepada pekerja swasta yang makan gaji

:D

Harimau Malaya Mengaum!!!!

It's a bit late but i would like to say CONGRATULATIONS to Harimau Malaya Squad for winning the AFF Suzuki Cup which was previously also known as Tiger Cup.. Coincidence perhaps?
hehe..

Me & mum screamed like mad people while watching both legs of the match. but it definitely was worth it.
All of you would probably read the match analysis, so i wouldn't need to touch that.



Unlike the Indonesians, we accepted defeat in the first game as professionals, so i would advice them to accept it like gentlemen also.
Be professionals, if you (Indonesians) think that Malaysians cheated, then please do a formal report to FIFA & AFF, simple!~


The issue about lasers & such, are childish as both squads suffered the same issue at both stadiums.
Plus, the condition of the pitch was not worthy to be at International level. It was more likely fit for a "kampung" match. No offence, but most of us saw how bad the pitch was.

At the end of the day, the best team won.

 We won, that's a fact.

But, i would like to sum the match with a favourite quote form Jose Mourinho, The Special One..
"I DON'T CARE, WE WIN"


:D

but one thing i would disagree is the Man of The Match award, it should have definitely been awarded to our Goalkeeper, Khairul Fahmi. He was outstanding!
Onslaught after onslaught, he kept his cool.. and to top it off, he's only 21years old!!! As most of the team!!

Again, no words would be enough to praise to describe the young & triumphant team!!

May they grow & prosper in the future,

make Malaysia proud guys!!!!

Credits to the original artist.. Memang garang, tapi itu hakikat!~

My Blood Red Inspira =)

Well,

After all the drama & torment of waiting due to Customs & JPJ, finally i got my car aka the Proton Inspira yesterday.
It's just a 1.8A, so nothing to shout about :)

But dear God, from the moment i took the car & going about filling the tank & such, i can't help but notice the amounts of heads turning. Even some guys approached me & asked about the car like:

"Is it really a Lancer?"
"How much is Proton stuffs?"
"How's the handling?"
"Is it using Campro?"
...
etc etc...

Kinda loving being the center of attention actually because I think i may be the 1st person in Ampang area to receive that car.
A friend even joked "You must be an UMNO guy!"
LOL!~~

Here's some pictures;

The 386th Car out of the Factory? yay!~

Mummy, I promise i won't bully them again.. *cross fingers* :)

For a test drive, it's relatively a short drive from Ampang to Putrajaya.
I can only realistically compare it to my previous car which is the Satria Neo.
Bear in mind, there are other better drivers out there, i'm just a plain normal driver,so my thoughts are based on that.

Everybody knows it's a great handling car, but it's nature is somewhat tail-happy. So when i drove the Inspira, it's really "different" & oh man, i really needed to adapt to this new creature
Ok handling wise compared to the Neo, it's a bit "soft" which was expected since they tuned it for comfort

But due to that also, when going through the really uneven Mex highway, it's a bit "twitchy" ..but it's not a flaw, just a characteristic

Here's the weird part, even with that softness & twitchy-ness, at one point i didn't even realize it was going at 160km/h!~
Minimal wind noise
But of course,i would be more confident with wider tires & stiffer suspensions, but then again, it defeats the purpose of being a comfort car

The best part is, on the way back from Putrajaya, stumbled with a black LGT!~
Awkward moment!~

so i just minded my own business & let him pass..

In terms of engine performance, i think most of u already know how good it is right?
1.8 MIVEC!~


Another thing is about the tinted, i think it's just medium level,acceptable, but can be better..
Maybe i should go install another layer, v-kool perhaps ..but that's later

Oh and there's the WOW factor.. there seems to be some walkathon or sort at Putrajaya Mosque, and most of them were pointing at the Inspira



Even today when i go around having breakfast, people can't seem to stop talk about the car.. Marvelous!~

Proton Inspira or Naza Forte or Peugeot 207 or Proton Persona?

Well,
Due to some personal reasons, i had a choice of whether to refinance my trsuty ol' Satria Neo or buy a new car.
Been doing some reserch, with the current high interest of secondhand cars, refinancing would be quite costly.
So i decided to buy a new car, at least it's hassle free  that way because it'll still be under warranty :)

Initially, i was looking at a Proton Persona H-Line because at a mothly payment of 600++ for 9 years, it seems quite reasonable especially i get all the nice stuffs like leather seats :p
But the thing that got me turned off was that Proton already announced they're gonna build a replacement model for Persona, codenamed "Persona R" with R stands for "Replacement"
So if i buy a Persona now & a replacement model comes out next year, the resale value gonna drop like hell *urgh*

Then,most of you guys probably know what is the Kia, or rather Naza Forte is..

Did a little research on it then emailed Naza HQ for a test drive. Quite prompt reply i guess because in a few days i could already get an appointment. So i went to Naza Kia TTDI to test drive a Forte 1.6SX.

Damn, love at 1st sight!

I love the gadgets, the Push-Start buttons, everything!~

With a price of RM81,800 & 2.9% interest, damn that's affordable.

After that, apparently next to Naza Kia was also a Peugeot Dealer, and the 207 was already there to be driven. So i signed up!~

The car doors seemed a bit hollow, and not as wide as the Forte. But let me tell you straight, the gearbox & engine is very live! Acceleration was awesome! The designers in Peugeot really concentrated on safety with design later in mind! It has everything, ABS, EBD, Shiftronic gearbox, extra brake lights in case you jammed brake to alert the rear drivers.
In fact, one thing i liked was the boot design, near perfect square! in case u didn't notice, most cars have a little space to cover for the wheel arches of the rear wheels. But for this 207, awesome design to maximize space!
So much attention to safety details was put to the car.
Mind you, with a price of RM72,000+, it's definitely worth to consider. But the rear design really doesn't suit my taste.
But it's definitely a car that gets the job done!

Then, came along polly.. LOL, pun intended.. Finally Proton unveiled Proton Inspira.

Basically it;s a rebadged Mitsubishi Lancer. But in order to tackle some critics, Proton did what it excels in, handling!
They tuned the suspensions just nice to our famous Malaysian roads!
Everything for less than under RM100,000.. wow.. what a day indeed..


So what did i choose to buy in the end?


Jeng Jeng Jeng!~

I chose Proton Inspira!
Why you ask?

Well, i'll be honest. I was ready to give my documents to the Kia saleswoman, but i had a chat with a used car manager, he gave me some insights that really opened my mind.

He said something like this,"Ive been in this business for too long, if you decided to buy the Forte & come to me 4 years later to sell, i can't guarantee i would want it anyway."

Plus the thing is, Forte is still a new car, & all of the Fortes in Malaysia right now are CBU. So even though there are warranties, there are possibilities that whenever u need spare parts, u have to order & wait for it

*sweat*

Well, the reason i didn't want the Inspira is because of the waiting period, hence why i chose the Forte since it has ready stock!~
But as fate had destined me to meet this manager, he suddenly said if i'm serious to get the Inspira, he could help me out.
He called a friend of his who was apparently a Sales Director in Proton Edar & asked him to help "adjust" for me. Basically i', jumping queue, instead of 1.5months waiting, hopefully i'll just need 2weeks!

LOLLLLL!!!!

Then the next morning i straight away met the guy & paid my deposit!

Now i'm waiting & hopefully loan approved by the bank..

Yay!~

Can't wait..


Oh btw, i'm selling off my 2007 Neo at 31K, and full settlement of the loan is 22.5k, so i still have 8.5k, so i used that as my downpayment for the Inspira.

And if you booked before 15th November 2010, you're entitled for 2 years Free Service inclusive of labour & parts..

*woohoooo*

Now i just need to wait..

hehehehe

p/s: lots of other websites have reviews on all the cars i mentioned, just google :p