.: October 2007

Asian International Motorcycle Expo 2007 (AIME '07) is held in conjunction with the "Visit Malaysia 2007". It is going to be an annual affair taking place around the dates of Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang. This year's AIME is held from Oct 18-21 at Hall 1 of KL Convention Centre (KLCC).

The entrance fee is RM10.00 for adults, and if you bring along a camera, you'll be charged an extra RM5.00. But was I disappointed! RM15.00 is a total rip off! It takes less than 30mins to view all the motorcycles in the hall. There weren't many, I don't think there were 50 bikes being displayed!

The catchy adverts say you could meet personalities like Matt Hotch (USA Custom Bike Champion), Kenji Nagai (2006 AMD All Japan Custom Bike Champion), Takeshi Shigematsu (AHDRA Top Fuel Champion), Brett SMith (S&S President), Chicara Nagata (2006 World AMD Custom Bike Champion), Chica (USA Custom Bike Champion), Russell Mitchell (President of Exile Cycles), and Keiji Kawakita (2007 AMD World Custom Bike Finalist) in person. But I didn't see any of them on the first day of expo!

I could have gone to Naza's showroom or Welly for better bike ogling experience for FREE and best of all, there are no barricades around the bike and you could straddle as many bikes as you want! So in retaliation, I went to Naza and MSC after AIME and felt much better.

AIME '07 is essentially all about custom-built choppers. And stepping into the exhibition hall felt like visiting Orange County Chopper's garage (watch American Choppers on Discovery Channel if you don't dig me).

The choppers are built by people from Japan, Indonesia, US, Thailand etc etc. I didn't really find out the country of origin of every choppers shown. The nearest one can get to the exhibits were 1 metre away from the front tyres. There were repeated announcements in Malay that claims the choppers are freaking darn expensive and one should not cross the barricades and get too near the machines.

This green beast is from Japan, I think. Look at the HUGE FAT rear tyre!

This mean yellow beast is named Hot Docks, and he is from the US.

There was also a Malaysian entry, called the "Angkasawan". This silver chopper with a red-topped V-twin engine is built by a local businessman, costing him RM250,000. The owner, Datuk Wan Adlil said he chose the name to signify Malaysia's success in launching our first "space tourist" at cost of RM1bil of tax-payer's money into space (both the money and tourist)! He should have named his creation "Pelawat Angkasa".

The name "Angkasawan", or Astronaut, is more apt for the rocket-like bike in the following two photos:

Here are the rest of the choppers on display. They are all here, save your RM10.00 and scroll on!

See, belt-driven! No chain! Wuaaahhh...

This, in my opinion, this is the purist's chopper - the way a proper chopper should be. Spool front hub sans front brake, unencumbered by such eyesores as a big ol' effective drum and its attendant cables mucking up the aesthetics. Riding it would cause sores elsewhere though - ballsore and arsesore. Notice the champion's cup next to the front tyre?

What the heck is this bike doing in the area dominated by mean chopper beasts?!! So out of place!

This looks like the new Suzuki Boulevard

Besides the ultra-expensive custom-built choppers, other companies like Naza, and a few other bike distributors also took part in AIME '07.

Naza, being the Ducati distributor, showcased the new 1098S (voted the sexiest bike on Earth in 2007) and the Hypermotard (next to 1098S in the pict above).

1098S (there are currently about 30-40 units of the base model 1098 being displayed at Naza)

Ducati Monster S4R Testastretta

Ducati Paul Smart 1000

KTM Prestige

KTM Super Duke 990

KTM Super Duke 990R - costing RM10K+ more than the base non-R model!

The gigantic tyres for choppers on display:

A gang of morons hired by AIME to do some moronic sequences of breakdance on stage! They were screaming and yapping and warming up in the photo below:

And there goes my RM15.00...

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

[+/-]

Tony Roma's @ The Pavilion

AAAhhh... am finally done with all my reports! No more deadlines for the next two weeks, hopefully! Made a trip back to KL last weekend, and here goes my long overdue post:

Has anyone been to The Pavilion yet?

Built to match the shopping experiences of New Yorks's 5th Avenue, Tokyo's Ginza, Milan, and Paris, Pavilion KL is built across 1.3 million square feet, comprising a 7-level shopping complex, 2 luxury residential towers, a corporate office block, and a 6-star boutique hotel.

It is located directly opposite the current KL Plaza and Starhill. As of last week, it is roughly 70% operational with the top floor being relatively empty. Golden Screen Cinema and True Fitness gym are yet to open. Pavilion is set to be a shopping heaven for rich aunties and spoilt brats! The whole shopping complex is filled up with retail boutiques of various brands! Rachel's first impression was: "Wuuuuaaaahhhhh... got Forever21 here!!!"

The main anchor is Parkson, while Tangs serves as the specialty anchor. Supermarket is catered by Mercato at Level 1, where all the good food are located. We found Tony Roma's!

Tony Roma's is an American chain restaurant famous for its ribs. The restaurant's slogan is "Famous for Ribs". Being a rib-fanatic, I've been longing to wallop Tony Roma's ribs again for a long long time. Exam commitments and moving further south to Batu Pahat didn't help! Was I elated when I found Tony Roma's in Pavilion amidst a famished tummy last Saturday!

We were introduced to their signature barbeque sauces: Original, Blue Ridge Smokies, Carolina Honey, and Red Hots. Loved the Blue Ridge Smokies the best, it's rather similar to TGIF's Jack Daniel's. Original came in second. The remaining two are yucky!

Appetiser - bread with garlic butter

Malaysian Tony Roma's outlets are pork-free (halal), so unlike our southern Singaporean neighbours who gets to enjoy porky baby back ribs, we get only beef ribs. Life's so un-fun without pork... sighhh... LOL! Will definitely chomp down on some TR's pork ribs when I get to Singkapula in December! Here goes the main dishes...

TR Onion Loaf

The Onion Loaf is TR's signature starter dish, which is essentially giant onions, breaded, deep fried and served with BBQ dipping sauce. This is gooood! Comes in sizes of half or full. We ordered half - RM12.90.

The gigantic onions (Onion Loaf)

Grilled Butter Codfish

My sis ordered this Grilled Butter Codfish. You can choose from the many preparations listed, but the "blackened" style with the slightly spicy "kickin' sauce" is highly recommended! Fantastico! RM29.90.

Rib Combo: Ribs with ¼ BBQ Chicken

I shared the Rib Combo set with Rachel. Nandos beat the BBQ chicken hands down. And frankly, the ribs are a bit of a let down. I find myself yearning for TGIF's Jack Daniel's Glazed Ribs while munching TR's slightly burnt beef ribs. Will try the stand-alone rib set next time before giving TGIF the upper hand. RM46.90.

And being a mummy's boy, we were treated to dinner by mom at some small time restaurant which serves great food in Taman Putra, Ampang. Here are the pics. No need to elaborate lah, drool on!