Audi A3 Mechantronic Failure

Last Monday, while travelling on Central Tunnel Expressway (CTE), my Audi A3 suddenly had a 'pop' sound and there was immediately lost of power. The engine/motor was still running as I could see the tachometer was not at zero revolution. The lost of drive was extremely dangerous while the car was on an expressway, in the middle of the road with heavy traffic. If I was not careful, there would be accident.

Fortunately, I was able to maneuver the 'dead' car slowly to the side of the expressway. I tried to restart the car and it managed to restart but there was no gear engaged. There was an transmission error message on the display gauge. The car had to be towed to Audi service centre.

It was discovered that the gear controller had failed. The gear controller is also known as the mechatronic. It is part of the infamous DSG (Direkt-Schalt-Getriebe) on VW and Audi cars (S-tronic). The cost of replacing the gear controller amounts to approximately S$4000. What an exorbitant amount! The car was driven only for about 3 years and 9 months with mileage at less than 46,000 km.

I am not happy with Audi because:-

(1) Car should have certain reasonable quality and durability in its parts. Technology without quality is as good as beauty without substance.  My previous Honda Stream did not have any gear transmission issue when the car was driven for 9 years with more than 100,000 km mileage.

(2) VW / Audi should not continue to use this gear controller or DSG given its quality issue. Before I bought the A3, I had asked the salesperson whether Audi had resolved the issue on its gears. I was assured by the salesperson that it had as Audi product was superior than its VW counterpart. He was wrong and I had to pay for his misrepresentation.

(3) When the gear controller had failed, there was no power from its engine/motor. This is an extremely dangerous failure that can lead to accident and even death. How could Audi / VW put in their cars mechanism that has no back up factor of safety and gave consumers cars that could lead to potential accidents?

I am extremely disappointed by German cars in specifically Audi.

Super Robot Chogokin

Super Robot Chogkin

The Super Robot Chogokin toy from Ban Dai. The robot reminds me of a toy I used to play when I was a 9 to 10 years old kid. Back then I was a poor student and I had a friend who was rich enough to possess a robot toy. I guessed it was quite expensive because it was metallic, not plastic. It had also a fist that could fire away by depressing a button.  My friend was able to lend me his toy for a night and I could play with it, I was impressed with it but could not afford one.  The similarity between Super Robot Chogokin and my memorable toy was the round body. It was different from transformers toys which are rather rectangle with right angles legs and hands and body.

This current robot has a rather fearful face. I have not read the manga nor seen the cartoon series of this robot though.

Singapore Road Tax Disc

Singapore Vehicle Road Tax Disc

The Singapore Road Tax Disc is obsolete. No more a requirement to display Road Tax Disc on the windshield of a car. Many years later, this will be viewed as a heritage item. In driving a car since 1998, there was only one time when I was stopped by traffic police for inspection of the validity of the road tax. No major concern as I have been paying road tax promptly.

Quote of the Month

"So, you're still going to die one day. But as to when, that answer probably doesn't reside in what you eat nearly as much it does in what your DNA looks like."

Extracted from Gizomodo publication by Ryan F Mandelbaum titled 'Scientists find Genetic Mutation That Could Increase The Male Lifespan'
https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/06/scientists-find-genetic-mutation-that-could-increase-the-male-lifespan/

New York - Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Federal Reserve Bank of New York - Built between 1919 - 1924

Deep inside the Federal Reserve Bank of New York lies more than one quarter of the world's know reserves of gold bullion. These tens of billions of dollars worth of gold bars, each numbered and weighed, are stored five stories underground in 122 compartments in a vault closed with a steel door weighting 90 tons. Most of the gold at the Federal Reserve belongs to foreign governments and international organisations. They store their gold here for three reasons: first, the bank's location in the heart of the US financial center; second, its unrivaled security; and third, the ease of trading when many countries keep their gold in the same building. As countries originally made payments to each other, gold bars could simple be wheeled from one country's vault to the next - no need crate them for long ocean voyages, no fear of disaster at sea.
........ extracted from a street display showing information on the Federal Reserve Bank

Fisher Astronaut Space Pen

Fisher Astronaut Space Pen Specifications

I bought this pen because of its unique feature of pressurized sealed ink cartridge. It means that it can write on an inverted surface with its anti gravity technology. There are many myth and stories about this pen and how the Soviets had used a pencil to overcome weightless condition in space which prevented conventional ball point pen ink from flowing. It comes with a chrome finishes and it has a push mechanism for the cartridge to be pressed down for writing.

I purchased the pen from Amazon at a cost of USD$35.67 + USD$2.56 for import tax. Total: USD$38.23.

The pen writes very smoothly and it is one of the smoothest ball point pen I have written. According to the specification, it has ultra hard tungsten carbide ball. Impressive.

I just hope its chrome finishing will not tarnish over time.

Parker Sonnet Cisele Fountain Pen

Parker Sonnet Cisele

Parker Sonnet Cisele

I bought this Parker fountain pen from Amazon at a cost of USD $269.67 + USD$19.35 for import tax. Total: USD$289.02. In New York, this would cost USD$376, probably excluding city tax. I was planning to buy this in New York but when I saw the price over at Amazon, I stopped.  There are so much saving from purchasing over the Internet. This is the reason why retails shops are dying in US. The only thing is that a buyer can't feel and decide before purchase when it is bought over Internet. I have no issue given that I am familiar with fountain pen.

The Parker Sonnet Cisele has a medium gold plated nib. The body has also other gold plating parts. I was expecting the body to be heavy, but I am wrong. The body is slightly lighter than my China made Jinhao 163.  I am guessing that the body of the Parker pen is made from some resin that makes it light. The Jinhao 163 however has a metal core. The Parker writes just like any ordinary fountain pen. It is interesting to note that the pen is made in France. The gold finishing does looks good.  Being Parker premium pen, the Sonnet does come with a nicely designed box. The ink can be through the pump filler provided on purchase or through independent parker ink cartridge.

I bought this pen because the design reminds me of a mechanical ball point Pilot pen which I had when I was a Primary School boy.

Note: Mustafa Shopping in Singapore is selling the same pen at S$475 (equivalent of US$339.3) as at June 2017.

United States Observations 2017

Parking Rates at New York Midtown



Luggage lock that was plied open by TSA

What I like about United States?
(1) Automobile is probably one of the cheapest in the world.
(2) Freedom of Speech as guaranteed by the Constitution.
(3) Certain things are cheaper - Example Polo Ralph Lauren.
(4) Cool weather if is not too cold.
(5) Great online shopping - Amazon, Ebay etc. Offering free delivery to any part of main land United States. With the size of population, commercial companies target Americans with convenient solutions. Not so for international buyers. Example: Black Friday deals.
(6) Less dusty as compared to Singapore
(7) Respect for the dead for them to RIP.

What I am concern?
(1) Availability of guns. TV News have reports of murder and gun shots.
(2) Legalistic Society. Advertisement offering legal help against companies.
(3) Cost of Living. A meal at fast food costs about US$10 per person. More expensive if it is in proper restaurant with tips. Public transportation is also expensive considering Washington DC bus is about US$1.75 per trip. However, there are means for man on the street to survive, eg Walmart, K-mart (all offering reasonable priced items especially when purchased in bulk), self cook, use of private transport, coupons etc. For office workers, there are street food vendors offering reasonable priced variety food. Local produce is also value for money, eg 1 box of strawberries in New York Chinatown cost US$1 and they are fresh.
For ways to see how Americans survived in New York, please refer to this -> http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/24/i-saved-100k-on-30k-salary-here-are-my-money-saving-tips.html
(4) Tax - Income Tax, Sales Tax etc. All adds up to reducing the disposal Income.

Observations:-
(1) Society respect for military and unformed personnel, giving them priority in public facilities.
(2) Not so handicapped free access at subway.
(3) Slums where the whole community moved out leaving houses which are ransacked. Saw them when travelling along the Northeast Regional Amtrak.
(4) Multi cultural society - Hispanics, African Americans, Asians, Caucasians.
(5) Presence of emergency siren 24 hours each day. It can be from ambulances, fire engine, police.
(6) At the Airport, there are only 3 processes (a) check in by airlines counter staff (b) verification of tickets purchased against passport holders name and (c) security checks. The security checks are the most prominent ones having to remove laptops/tablets, shoes etc...  It appears that there is no immigration for exits. Passport has no exit stamp chop. Don't US authorities check on undocumented immigrant exit?
(7) A lady in New York actually gave way for me to step out. The lady was a modern and young person. I was pleasantly surprised.

According to report, in 2016, there are 10.8 million of Americans who are millionaires (not including primary residences).

Smithsonian National Gallery of Art - Interesting Painting

 

 

A continuation of paintings in Gallery / Museum which I could not understand. This time there are 3 of them in display at the Smithsonian National Gallery of Art.

Interesting Article on Chinese Immigrants to US

 

Source: Ellis Island, New York Immigration Museum

Source: Museum of Chinese in America, New York

Washington DC - White House

The White House, where the most powerful person in the world resides. Visitor can only see it from afar. It used to be a place where Americans could hold a demonstration to voice their displeasure. But now, it is fully secured with Police scanning activities of visitors and there are barricades everywhere.

It always amuse me to see commercial jets flying close to the National Mall which in turn is close to the White House. During my visit, I saw many commercial airliners landing their aircraft on Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. What will happen if a pilot has evil intention? There is a Hollywood movie depicting missiles which belong to Security Agency from White House firing at hostile aircraft. I wonder is there such missiles system within the White House. In Independence Day, the Alien had destroyed the White House.

The White House doesn't seem to be as white as I had expected. The colour is pale white. It is great to see this historical building where so many American Presidents have resided since 1800.

Rembrandt's Self Portrait

Rembrandt's (Dutch painter, 1606 to 1669) self portrait is an interesting piece of art. I was stuck looking at the artist nose for a long time. It was so well done to create the 3 dimensional looking nose on a 2 dimension piece of canvas. There was effort made in making the nose stand out relative to the eyes socket and the face. The skill and technique of Rembrandt was truly amazing. I am honor to have seen this portrait in real life from the Smithsonian National Gallery of Art.

Space Shuttle Discovery in Steven F Udvar Hazy Center

Discovery Space Shuttle is big. It is through a real life visit to the Center to see the interesting proportion of the space shuttle. The rear engines of the Space Shuttle consist of 3 big rockets and a few other smaller ones. Something not easily noticeable unless it is through an actual visit. The diameter of the rear engines is bigger than the height of a human being. It is also equally interesting to see the various vectoring boosters surrounding the Space Shuttle to control direction in space and the hinges that hold the Space Shuttle door with the fastening bolts.

According to the presenter of the tour, the Center wishes to maintain the original condition of the Space Shuttle, hence visitors would be able to see the stain, burn mark of the Shuttle during entry. Discovery is one of the longest serving Space Shuttle of the programme. It flew its last space mission in Feb of 2011.

To me, I enjoy looking at the proportion and details of the Space Shuttle. To American, it is probably a national achievement icon. Something to be proud of.  Fantastic piece of equipment.

New York Dow Jones Chart

Dow Jones Chart from 1900 to 2010

At the Museum of American Finance, there is a chart showing the Dow Jones Index growth from 1900 to 2010. There are events linked to the Dow Jones Index, most notably is the great depression of late 1920s. In 2017, the Dow Jones Index had exceeded 21,000 points. The Museum focused on 3 investment tools, namely equity, bonds and commodities futures.

The Museum had also other interesting facts of finance shown below:-

US National Debt as at 2 May 17

 

 

 

Smithsonian Messerschmitt ME 163 Komet



ME 163 Komet

Again this was my second time seeing the ME163. This aircraft is located at the Steven F Udvar Hazy Center. I realized that the wing of the ME 163 was made from wood to make it light weight. This is not a full jet engine and propulsion is derived from rocket which burnt a highly flammable fuel mixture. Hence weight is an important consideration.

Smithsonian Messerschmitt ME262

Messerschmitt ME262 in Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum

 

Cockpit of ME 262

This was the second time I had the pleasure to see a ME262. The first time was in Munich Deutsche Museum. The link to the first blog on ME 262 is --> http://e21s.blogspot.sg/2015/08/germany-part-18-messerschmitt-me-262.html

I found that the Smithsonian museums were generally poorly lit, probably due to protection of artifacts.  The photo for this ME262 was not so good, given that flash photography is generally prohibited in a museum.

The unique feature of this ME262 is the presence of Nazi sign at the rear vertical stabilizer. Unlike the Munich version which had the sign removed, this version in Smithsonian kept the original sign.

Secondly, the cockpit is clearly presented to visitors of the museum as a platform was erected next to the aircraft.

A beauty of its time.

Washington DC Food

Chipotle - A nice blend of rice, cheese, cream, beef steak grilled and seasoned in Mexican way. Not bad for a different taste. Chipotle is located throughout United States.

Fuddruckers - Claimed to be the world's greatest burger. Hmmm..... The one I ate has a Kobe Beef name on it and cost me US$11. It was no doubt tasty, but the taste came from salt and MSG. In fact, I found many American restaurants, except those high ends, have MSG.

McDonald Big Mac - This is located at Steven F Udvar Hazy Center. It tasted like any other Big Mac but again I felt thirsty after consuming it(usually due to presence of MSG). Could be due to the sauce (barbecue and sweet & sour which are available in Singapore). Cost me about US$9 for the meal. Reminds me of Big Mac Index.

The Bakery Pie - This is the most value for money food I had. In fact for 3 breakfasts, I had this. I purchased this from Walmart in Washington DC. Guess how much? .......... US$0.50 per box. It tasted good with its pie filling deliciously made. There were a few flavors.  I tried the lemon and peach pies. Highly recommended.

Vietnamese Pork with Rice - Restaurant is located near Chinatown, I had the intention to eat Vietnames pho but I was too hungry and decided to eat rice. Again it is tasty. My taste bud told me that it has MSG. Cost me US$18 including tips.

This is a proper Restaurant within Smithsonian National Gallery of Art - Salmon with salad. The butter that came with the meal was very nice. I didn't taste MSG in this meal. Cost me US$30 including tips.

New York - Subway

Notice the trash box within the station

It is not easy to navigate New York subway even for experienced travelers. Its complex network of train is one of the most challenging ones I have seen. More difficult than Guangzhou, German, Singapore, Malaysia train network. Just look at the Subway map and one will understand why.

There are a few considerations for travelling in New York subway (from my limited 4 days experience in New York). It needs a lot of logical thinking and common sense:-

(1) Direction - Uptown v. Downtown. Sometimes the signage will just show Brooklyn or Queens and traveler must know the map of New York well to know the position of the end point against the train station one is heading.
(2) Express v. Local stops - Certain train station will have local and express train service and hopping on a local train may extend the travelling time. For example A, C, E lines may indicate different express or local line even though they may be heading to the same direction. How to differentiate? It is through the subway map, the train station signage and announcement made by train operator. This is the most challenging aspect of travelling on the subway.
(3) Exit location - Train stations may have many exits and getting on to the right exit needs experience. For example, 23rd Street/ Court Square has exit on 23rd Street and 21st street. Distance between exit can be 1 km apart. I ended at the wrong exit on the first day to the hotel and had to walk. Fortunately I have iPhone Map to guide.
(4) Different subway line within the same station - Going to the right one requires examination of signage. Especially important if traveler wants to change subway line. It may involve finding the right platform (which can be the same one or a different one).
(5) Train may be taken off the line as and when announcement is made by the operator. Traveler has to listen to the announcement which is typically in American slang. The other indication is when everyone gets off the train.

Apart from that, train can get delayed because of technical issues. I had the experience of slow train on the E line. 

In addition, there are strange people asking for money in the train.

New York - An Interesting Poster

An interesting poster being displayed at Ellis Island. It shows 4 gentlemen trying to stop an immigrant from coming on board (to USA). The gentlemen were all very well dressed showing that they were wealthy. Behind them were silhouette shadows of the gentlemen respectively. The shadows indicated that they were once poor who had come to America to look for wealth and opportunity. They succeeded and became wealthy. Their actions seems to show that they had forgotten their humble beginning of immigrants to the United States.

It is a reflection that shows the current situation the United States is facing: trying to stop immigrants from coming to United States. To make America great. But the proposition has forgotten the roots of their humble forefathers who had come to America to seek a better future and brighter prospects.  To live an American dream.

New York Porsche 911

I saw this 2 Porsche in dusty and being repaired condition in Brooklyn. My guess is the garage wanted to sell the Porsche and might include repair cost to the final bill. From the side mirror, it looks like it is a 912 Coupe model.  Being a classic Porsche, I don't think the price will be cheap.

Coincidently, Porsche has announced its 1 millionth production 911. To mark the event, Porsche has designed a modern rendition of the original 911 of 1964 (with its chrome rear mirror and its green body).



Copyright of AFPRelaxNews

Other than Porsche, I saw this beautiful Mercedes C43 with nice rims in New York:-

Also, I saw Tesla being sold in Washington DC. The advertisement behind shows that monthly installment is about US$1000/month. This model comes with autopilot.

New York Wall Street Charging Bulls

The number of visitors at Bowling Green for Charging Bull is enormous (see photo above). It is simply impossible to take a proper photo of it unless it is at weird timing. It becomes a symbol of New York Stock Exchange and Wall Street.

Fortunately, unknown to tourists, the original bulls and bear statue is located at the Museum of American Finance. There are few visitors and they can touch the bulls and bear as long as they like. The history of the bull and bear figures is also narrated below it. Of course, I rub it for luck.

Original Charging Bull and Bear



And Story behind the Charging Bull and Bear