Singapore Motorshow 2008

The obligatory F1 car display of the moment

You’re still reeling from the excitement of the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix and you want to reminisce the adrenalin rush as the smell of burning rubber tickle your nose. You are reminded of the Singapore Motorshow 2008 exhibition that is happening till the end of this week.

Here’s my advice:
Save the trip and carry on reading. What you will see here is just about everything you will see there.

I was at the press preview of the bi-annual exhibition to sift out the exciting stuff like concept cars that may never ever hit the roads. But all they had on exhibition were cars that will be available by the end of this year. Many continental car manufacturers were missing along with the very apparent absence of industry giant, Toyota.

The Subaru Exiga

We started off at the Subaru Booth for a presentation of their pride and joy of their automobile research, the new MPV, the Exiga, a cleverly designed 7-seater with a spacious interior that lets the driver and passengers maintain connection with each other. An exceptionally large sunroof gives a great panoramic view for all passengers to experience the joy of a road trip. Next, we were treated to a performance by The Dey, followed by a photo taking session.

Performance by The Dey

Amidst the incessant snapping, the group was herded over to Honda’s booth. Michelle Chia’s presence at the Japanese manufacturer’s booth was probably one of the very few highlights of this outing. She was there to grace the launch of the new generation Honda City, a 1.5 litre car that can perform better than certain 1.6 litre class cars.

Michelle Chia with the updated Honda City

Before I could even catch a proper glimpse of the other cars by Honda, we were herded over to the next booth hosted by Isuzu which had many large trucks and buses on display. What was exciting here was the manufacturer’s adoption of cleaner fuels like biodiesel and compressed natural gas (CNG) in their vehicles as well as their research in collision avoidance technologies to contribute to safer roads for pedestrians and motorists alike.

A CNG Isuzu truck

Next, we were herded over to Polygon and Rodalink’s booth to see some really high end bicycles on display. Personally, bicycles are much, much cooler than cars. And probably the coolest thing on display there was this limited edition Ferrari bicycle by Colnago that is listed at over $16,000.

The limited edition Ferrari bicycle by Colnago, only 199 pieces available worldwide

Moving on, we were led to the Nissan booth to be introduced to an updated Murano as well as their iconic GT-R and 350Z Roadster.

The updated Nissan Murano

The Nissan GT-R, models not included

The Nissan 350Z Roadster

We were then treated to a quick tour at the Nissan Technology Square to catch a glimpse of cutting edge technologies like “Scratch Shield,” a coating that protects against small scratches, and the Around View Monitor, which makes it awfully easy for motorists to park their cars.

Demonstrating the “Scratch Shield”

Presenting the Around View Monitor

We were also introduced to Nissan’s concept vehicle, PIVO2. Unfortunately, only a model of the vehicle is on display.

The PIVO2 model

The last stop of the press tour was the SQuba car by Rinspeed which is the only working concept vehicle that is on display at this exhibition.

The SQuba by Rinspeed

Inspired by the 1977 James Bond movie, The Spy Who Loved Me, Rinspeed founder and CEO, Frank M. Rinderknecht created an updated version of the submarine car. True to the original modeled after the Lotus Esprit, the SQuba is modeled after the Lotus Elise. On top of that, it is a zero emission vehicle as it runs on electricity.

The SQuba in action

Being a concept car, I was curious if the technologies developed for the vehicle will be improved upon to make it even more viable for the roads and waters. According to the creator, Frank M. Rinderknecht, it is unlikely that the technologies developed will be improved upon for the SQuba itself as it is a novelty vehicle. However, the technologies have been adopted and improved upon in other vehicles by other manufacturers.

Frank M. Rinderknecht explains the SQuba

With the press tour over, we were treated to a stunt car show by Russ and Paul Swift, a father and son team of stunt drivers specially flown in for the event. Driving in the way they do is undoubtedly a skill. Children and adults alike should never try these stunts they do without proper training. You stand to ruin your car, not to mention risking your own life. The duo manoeuvred their cars with plenty of skidding (or drifting) as they sped around in the confines of the loading bay of Suntec City and showing the audience how they would speed park their cars if they were in a rush…

They also invited members of the audience to take a ride in the cars as they demonstrated how they would drive a car with punctured tires on one side…

As it turns out, these stunts put so much stress on the cars that they had to be replaced after every stunt. Some sounded as if the engines broke down, others seemed to have the tires busted.

Russ abandons a car as the mechanics race over to fix the problem

The opportunity was given to the audience to take a ride in the cars and I was lucky enough to be picked. Being the last stunt of the display, I sort of got the best ride of the show, which was the donut spin.

Paul and me in the car, moments before the insanity

As soon as I buckled up, Paul floored the accelerator and the speed pressed me into the seat. His handling of the car was confident and sure as he swerved coolly to the left and right before breaking into what was seemingly and endless medley of spinning around the premises. The dizzy spinning sensation kicked in the moment I took my eyes off the direction the car was heading. The smell of burning rubber from all the stress and friction on the tires seemed to make the spinning faster. Of course, I was then dumb enough to do this as the world spun around…

Yes, that’s me clicking away in the side view mirror. No, I don’t recommend anybody equaling such stupidity.

As quickly as the ride started, the car stopped. My head was still spinning and Paul had already stepped out of the car to wave at the audience. It took a while before the sensations settled before I got out of the car. But suffice to say, the spin in the car was awesome!

With the stunt driving coming to an end, the father and son team were greeted by the Subaru race queens…

Those lucky blokes…

Anyway, check out the rest of the exhibits here: http://kormmandos.multiply.com/photos/album/226/Singapore_Motorshow_2008

Zorbing!

Once upon a time, 2 guys in New Zealand had too much time decided they should come up with something fun to do. So the idea of a human hamster ball was conceived. Zorbing was born. Then they decided it was too fun an activity to keep to themselves and decided to franchise the experience so that people outside of New Zealand can have a dash of insanity in their lives too.

Is it dangerous?

Absolutely. Jackie Chan featured this insane activity in his 1991 movie, Operation Condor, so we can be assured of the unnecessary risk involved. It is a wonder how I managed to come out of that spinning ball of death alive, let alone unscathed.

Vitruvian Man impersonation – FAIL!

Ok, I kid. Zorbing is just about the safest thrill ride ever and it is now available in Singapore. So you don’t have to fly off to some other more fun loving country to live out that mandatory moment of insanity. Singapore has now got one more interesting and crazy thing to do!

The Experience

I got there a little earlier to check out how the guys operated this huge ball. So there were the guys inflating the 3 metre zorb ball. Ok, it is just slightly more interesting than watching paint dry. At least you see the ball grow from flat to round, firm and bouncy, right?

The Zorb guys inflating the Zorb ball

The giant spheres are intended for 2, so it is recommended to bring along an “unsuspecting victim.” First, the counter-balancing weight from both parties in the sphere makes for a better tumble down the slope. Second, it is great mutual entertainment watching each other’s expressions in the sphere, particularly if both are screamers.

"unsuspecting victim" and I strapped in the zorb ball

After jumping into the zorb through the little opening on either side, my “unsuspecting victim” and I were strapped against the insides of the ball. We found ourselves at the mercy of the zorb guys as they rolled the ball around with us in it. And the next thing we knew, they went “3… 2… 1…” and pushed us down the slope with all their might.

The sloping field at Old Holland Road is probably the best place Singapore has to offer for zorbing, but even then we needed a fair bit of pushing to get up to speed. So it turned out that the zorb guys’ main job there was to give the balls the extra push from start to finish, and to stop them at the end of the ride, which pretty much explains why they looked so much in shape. Talk about being “on the ball.”

The roll down pretty much feels like being in a spin drier. Both of us were pressed against the inside thanks to the centripetal force created from the rolling. It was pretty cool to see the horizon spinning before my eyes, almost like the view from a cockpit of a fighter jet. And I was having a ball of a time laughing as I watch my “unsuspecting victim” scream her lungs out, occasionally stopping to catch her breath for even more screaming. I liked the soft and cushy feeling as we bounced lightly down the slope.

Countless revolutions later, the zorb guys brought the sphere to a stop for us to get out of the harness. That marked the end of the first part of the ride. Then came the tiringly fun part – bringing the zorb ball back up the slope! I think it is best to just show you this picture…

Rolling the zorb ball back to the top of the slope

Yup, we made like hamsters and rolled the zorb ball back up to the top of the slope. Suffice to say, it was a darn tiring and rather disorientating process. Whenever one exerted a little more force to push, it caused the other to trip in the ball. The zorb ball hardly kept in a straight line as we pushed from inside, so the zorb guys were guiding it from the outside as they generously dispensed encouragement to keep us going. It definitely had me think twice about putting hamsters in those hamster balls and exercise wheels.

Taking a photo break from hamster role playing

It was a sigh of relief once we reached the top of the slope and we couldn’t wait to get out of the zorb ball. Thereafter, we needed a brief moment to readjust to walking on the ground thanks to the air-cushioned interior.

How safe is it?

Apart from a possibility of getting a sore throat from screaming, Zorbing is pretty safe. The sphere is made of a strong, high grade plastic which is about a centimetre thick and can withstand the surface abuse that occur during the roll down. No risk of knocking into each other inside since everyone will be strapped in harnesses. Also, the thick cushion of air softens the impact of any knocks and bounces during the ride.

Cool~! What else can I do in the zorb?

Try pouring 3 buckets of water in the zorb and riding it without the harness! Hydro-zorbing likens to being inside a front-loading washing machine. The water allows for the person inside to glide along as the sphere rolls. Unfortunately, interested parties need to bring their own water as there aren’t any public taps around Old Holland Road.

Of course, there is also freeform zorbing or what I like to call the hamster experience where you can mess around in games involving the sphere. Zorb sumo wrestling, maybe?

How much does it cost?

2 rolls down the slope will set you back by $50 per person, $35 if you are below 16 years of age. It is significantly cheaper compared to doing it in other countries. Not mention the manual labour the zorb guys do by pushing the ball from outside. Plus, you get that additional hamster experience, which is quite a fun work out.

An advance booking is required and you can contact the zorb guys at their website to have a go.

You don’t mess with the Krav Maga!

I have been aching all over for the last two days after one introductory session of Krav Maga. Never felt the muscles from those parts in that way for a long time…

What is Krav Maga?

Krav Maga is a self-defense and fighting system developed in Israel that emphasizes on quick and effective threat neutralization in a “real life” context. It is also easy to learn and retain.

Unlike martial arts, Krav Maga is not a sport. There are no hard and fast rules in getting oneself out of a life threatening situation. The main idea of this system is to exploit your body’s kinetics and even aggression to inflict maximum damage on the attacker’s weak points quickly to neutralize him for your escape.

The training session started out with the standard warm up and stretching for the participants.

Following the warm up was an exercise that focuses on improving situational awareness. Particpants play a free for all game of tag within the cage. Our instructor, Edwin announces a target body part and the participants will need to avoid getting tagged while they attempt to tag others. It simulated the threat of being surrounded by hostility. Everyone literally had to keep his guard up as he moved around the enclosed area.

Attacking

Next, we moved on to attacks. But before that, Edwin shares about the body’s weak points available literally from head to toe, back to front, emphasizing the principle of neutralizing the attacker efficiently by striking vulnerable points on the body.

Edwin first introduces the palm strike. This is primarily aimed at the chin. To prove the effectiveness of this attack, he invited us to gently tap our own chin with our palms. The vibration of the light impact travels through to the back of the skull. Edwin also demonstrates the other advantages of the palm strike: the top of the palm lands on the nose while the index and fourth finger conveniently lands on the eyes.

Next, a quick lesson on body kinetics and how we would exploit it. A powerful and effective strike comes from the hips and the heel. Not only does it improves the reach of a strike, it also generates a huge additional amount of force to the strike.

After the palm strike practice, we were (re)introduced to punching. Executing a punch would be identical to a palm strike, with the exception of the clenched fists and some additional advice on how to clench the fists and the knuckles that the punch should land with.

The hammer-fists was next. The action is similar to that of pounding of the drums or door. This attack exploits the whiplash effect that can be generated from the arms and elbows. The result is a rapid successive pounding capable of pinning opponents down.

Elbow strikes exploit the strong, tough bone structures to inflict damage at close range. The hip and heel turning action is essential to executing an effective elbow strike.

The participants then move on to kicks. Being an introductory session, the instructor taught just two types of kicks. One is a normal front kick that is primarily aimed at the groin area. The other is a stomping kick which uses the body weight to push a would-be assailant away.

Having picked up the basics of attacking, the participants were told to put on gloves and a groin guards. We would be shadow sparring. Edwin had half of us play the target for the others to aim their attacks at. Somehow, it seemed like a game of “Chicken” where the attacker role tries to make the target flinch by landing strikes just centimetres away before pulling back. At the same time, it was a revision of the weak points of the body.

Next up, we were introduced to the punching bag. Edwin gave a quick demonstration how to correctly hold the apparatus before we proceeded to practise with the practice session. This is undoubtedly the best part of the whole training session. The sound and impact of the blows landing on the punching bag was absolutely gratifying. I could feel stress unwind with every blow I land. The fact that the apparatus was meant for abuse made me want to strike it harder and faster. It wasn’t long that my t-shirt was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. But I must have been fueled by adrenaline to be pushing my limits as I continued pounding on the punching bag. It was almost morbid fun.

Afterthoughts

After this 90-minute introduction, I have to say that Krav Maga has been easy to learn. It is an effective self-defense system thanks its simplicity in principle and the exploitation of the body kinetics and weak points.
To be proficient and effective in this self-defense system, it is still necessary to go through a process of training to achieve muscle memory, where an individual is hardwired to execute the necessary moves through repetition.
The training session is undoubtedly a great work out that improves the body’s finesse, not to mention that it is also a great way to unwind and destress.
Edwin, the instructor for the session, was very encouraging to the participants of varied levels of  fitness and experience, allowing the individuals to train at their own pace.

Of course, this training session is but one small aspect of Krav Maga. There is much much more to learn.

My introductory Krav Maga session was at:
Fight Works Asia
Macpherson Road, Number 565. #04-00
Singapore (368234)

Training sessions: Weeknights at 8pm and 11.30am on Saturdays
Duration: 1 – 1.5 hours depending on the drills conducted
Class fees: $200 per month (unlimited training sessions) or $30 per session

Got burning questions about Krav Maga? Check out Fight Works Asia’s Frequently asked Questions About Martial arts & Krav Maga