Auto & Opinion: Cleaning My Tesla Model S With Turtle Wax ICE!!!

3 bottles for HK$233 at Wing On Store sales
Image from Locky's English Playground

Few days ago, Wing On Store at Tai Koo Shing was on the last day of final sale, shoppers rushed to the store to grab their goodies at bargain price and down at the car care section, all men were stuffing bottles after bottles of their favourite car cleaner and wax into their arms. Likewise, I did some research and pocketed 3 bottles of Turtle Wax at a total of HK$233!! Each has received at least HK$12 discount.

My research involved watching a lot of YouTube videos reviews on car cleaners and waxes. Among them, Acc0rd79 did many videos on a number of brands and products over a long period of time, so it is trustworthy.

I picked Turtle Wax over Armor All (two of the major car care products in Hong Kong) was mainly also because of his review.

Wait, does that car in that bottle look like a modified Tesla Model S?
Image from Locky's English Playground

Wait, does that car in that bottle look similar to my car? Cool!!!

Cleaned to the rims!
Image from Locky's English Playground

On the same day, I actually did a cleaning test on two cars: my sis's BMW and my own Tesla Model S. I did hers in the early afternoon and mine in the late afternoon. So hers got to see some daylight after cleaning while mine was early evening when the cleaning-and-waxing was done. Since my car was overly filthy having driven at a drizzling night about 5 days ago, it took me a whole hour to get every little part cleane, even the rims. I must say I am impressed with the thickness and bubbliness of the liquid, I think the difference between my feeling and Acc0rd79's is that I used a small bucket and about 100ml of the Turtle Wax liquid. I managed to get the whole car body cleaned up with lots of extras for the rims, which I did not intend to wash them using Wash & Wax in the first place. The rims were the dirtiest part but the dirt came out so easily!! I didn't even need to use the Turtle Wax Wheel Cleaner I bought!

Cleaned from roof to rims!!
Image from Locky's English Playground

After the foam wash, I rinsed it with two buckets of water and my car was looking good. I couldn't see the shine that evening on that street so I really couldn't say if this product was making any difference from the Turtle Wax Car Wash 2-in-1 that I have been using before.

Shiny side mirrors
Image from Locky's English Playground

But once I returned to my car park with the indoor lighting, I can really see the difference, probably not so much from the photo above, but from the photo below.

Real shiny!
Image from Locky's English Playground

That shine really stood out this time! Just look at that windshield, frunk hood cover and that nosecone! No Photoshop or retouching whatsoever with these photos. Looks brand new amazing, doesn't it? With just HK$87.3 and I am getting this shine every time I wash and wax, I am more than happy and impressed!


But, how do I know which wax is the one for me? Well, it depends on your budget, time and energy really. Here's a nice video telling you the differences between different types of wax.

PS: Oh, do I need to say I don't get paid for writing this article? Well, here it is! Just like I don't get paid for all articles from day 1. I thought this is a well-known fact for those who follow my blog.


Resources:
ICE Wash and Wax Turtle Wax Review and Test Results on my 2001 Honda Prelude @YouTube
http://youtu.be/D-AFG8b1OSs

What Wax Do I Use On My Car? Helpful Tips From Turtle Wax @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/AZnf-8g9m1A

Message: Troubles When Writing (Posting An Old Blog Entry Draft)

Dealing with writer's block
Image from 8dio.com

Do you ever look back how what happened in your past and see how you write? I was looking at my drafts of this blog and found this entry which I wrote dated 18th Jan 2012 before I was admitted to Master's Degree programme. It is funny now looking back at a time which made me feel uncertain about the future, I still feel that uncertainty now, just not about admission. Recently I have completed one 2000-word assignment in less than 5 days, and I was managed to do this because I know what I have to write and I am familiar with the topic. Here on this blog though, I am starting to have the writer's block I mentioned below. Academically, I am reading more, but  reading less about the world does make me less creative.

Anyway, I don't want to waste the following post so I insist on sharing it. Although it might not be relevant any more, it still serves as a nice timestamp.

If you have been keeping an eye on the time that I have been updating my blog, I haven't been keeping up with the schedules lately. This is due to the fact that I am actually writing something else. When I write my blog, I can go on forever without stopping, and words come easily and quickly, straight from my head and my logic flows smooth like the flowing river, because I know very well that I am doing this not for myself, but for you guys. Like my student Godwin said in his email for me, I love what I do, I love to share. I know very well that I will write well. If you send me essays for corrections, I will know exactly how to make it sound better. The story is completely different when I have to do something for myself, which I hate, I get writer's block. I can't seem to think of anything! The more I care about it, the least I can write. I guess many of you have had the same experience as well. Apart from getting writer's block, another challenge is to think out of my own definition of "perfect". Last year, I spent almost a year writing my personal statement. I spent month after month preparing, self-reflecting, researching, writing, cooling, rethinking, rewriting, modifying... making them look perfect for submission. When I pulled them out from the folder two weeks ago and read them again, they looked like trash! This year, I only spent like a week to rewrite everything, which I think is a miracle, and I also think they look great (not perfect this time), but who knows, maybe after a year, they might too look like garbage? It is really difficult to break out from one's frame of thinking. Then shouldn't I have spent more time on cooling them down, think them over and make more changes to them before submitting? I can't, because I am afraid that the seats for the courses may be filled before I even submit my forms. You see, they begin interviewing in December and they may even finish the interview before the submission deadline. I had to hurry. But excuses or not, I think that "chop-chop, submit quick" in my head got me to overlook my errors in the application form -- now I have 2 full-time job instead of one because I forgot to put an end date on my ex-full-time. Nice going, Locky! I double- and even triple-checked my form of course, but sometimes, even making 100-tuple checks is simply not enough to spot the error, ask the computer programmers and they will agree. What's worse, the admission board might even regard me as not giving a damn about the application and filter me out at once. I started getting these dreams about me sitting on a chair in front of 3 interviewers with no face, who were asking me how I could possibly not take a blind bit of notice, and I had to explain why I made such stupid mistakes. So silly, right? I might not even get an interview. But guess I have to plan early, for either full-time or part-time mode will greatly affect my monthly income and I need to know how to arrange my life then. Master's degree classes are usually held in the evenings, which means I will need to relocate my working time to other days in order to keep my contract. If not, I will have to switch to part-time. And I suppose all of you will be comparing my salary with those Star Tutors on newspapers, well, the truth is, it will take about a hundred years for me to catch up with their annual salary. Life is only going to get tougher no matter what, but I will boldly face it. PS: Just one final complaint, why is it that the Trinity CertTESOL teaching certificate which is widely recognised around world not being seriously considered in Hong Kong?

Vocabulary:

to keep an eye on sth/sb -- to watch or look after something or someone

logic flows smooth like running river -- (simile) meaning quick and smooth

writer's block -- (n)[U] a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown

chop-chop --exclamation informal used to tell someone to hurry

overlook-- (vb)[T] to fail to notice or consider something

nice going -- (if sincere, means "good job"); (if sarcastic, means "bad job"), hereby the latter.

100-tuple -- (n) from n-tuple, means 100 times.

not give a damn about -- offensive used as a way of saying you do not care about something, especially the annoying things that someone else is doing or saying

not take a blind bit of notice -- UK informal  not to pay any attention

Resources:

Writer's Block @Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writers_block

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/keep-your-an-eye-on-sth-sb?q=keep+an+eye
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/chop-chop
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/overlook_2
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/not-give-a-shit
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/not-take-a-blind-bit-of-notice

Auto & Opinions: Best Tesla Model S-Friendly Car Park Map For Hong Kong

My map marking both good and bad car parks
Image from Locky's English Playground

Can't say I'm struggling with time, but I have place my research projects and assignments higher on my priority list than last semester, which is why I'm finding it difficult to keep up with 3 posts a week these days, but if there is anything interesting enough, I will always share it here.

This is one of the projects I have been working on since August 2014, called Best Model S-friendly Car Park Map. At that time, I was not yet a frequent driver, so I did not frequently visit car parks in Hong Kong. Due to the size of the Tesla Model S, its width in particular, and the smallness of parking spaces and entrances for most car parks in Hong Kong, I reckon newbies like me will need a little help in choosing the best car park around Hong Kong. Turns out, other Model S owners have had the same concern and my map has helped quite a number of people in finding the safest parking spot at unfamiliar districts.

Car parks are separated into 3 categories, charging Model S-friendly car parks (consists of red, blue and light green stars), non-charging Model S-friendly car parks (consists of purple circles), and blacklisted Model S-unfriendly car parks (consists of black diamonds).

Legends:

Red Star: Superchargers and Model S-friendly
Blue Star: 40A or 32A chargers and Model S-friendly
Light Green Star: 13A chargers and Model S-friendly
Purple Circle: Model S-friendly
Black Diamonds: Blacklisted for various reasons

Whether the car parks are considered Model S-friendly or unfriendly depends on the comments provided by fellow owners who have experience in that particular car parks, or internet sources such as YouTube and newspapers.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Say for example the Olympian City 1 car park, it has been given a light green star and thus it has a 13A charger available, by clicking on the star, additional information will be displayed, including YouTube videos of drivers entering and exiting the car parks, condition of the charging spots, discounts related to the car park, spending amount to enjoy free parking, as well as the official website of the car park.

Basically, it provides a quick glance of a particular car park and its key information at your finger tips.

Since this project is on-going, it will only get better and better with the increasing amount of sharing from fellow owners. It is recommended that you too share your comments with me and share this map with friends who owns big cars. All rights reserved though, particularly the concept of this map.




Resources:
Best Tesla Model S-Friendly Car Park Map For Hong Kong @Google My Maps
http://goo.gl/zT52ul

Cooking: How To Cook A Piece of Perfect Steak And Lamp Chop

Brilliantly well-cooked medium lamp chop
Image from Locky's English Playground

This may be a little late for Valentine's day, but it is never too late for to learn to cook a great meal for your love ones. Two years ago, I wrote Cooking: How To Cook Steaks with Sticky Wok and Clean Easily, I explained one method of cooking steaks, today I have another way to cook it, except that this one almost guarantee the perfect piece every single time! 

Meatloaf in plastic bag
Image from Locky's English Playground

I actually learned this method from watching one program on TVB Pearl of which its name I failed to remember. The question here is how to make sure the inner layer is cooked just right without burning the outer layer too much!

The basic principle behind this method is the use of a cooking bag.

Recycling a cooking bag
Image from Locky's English Playground

I recycled a cooking bag originally for Oden, placed the meatloaf inside, sealed it and put it into boiling water for about 5 minutes. The duration really depends on the thickness of the meat and the gradation of cooking preferred. For me, I prefer medium to medium well.

Steak ready for searing
Image from Locky's English Playground

After the cooking bag step, it is simply back to searing and browning.

Flip every 20 secs
Image from Locky's English Playground

The suggested browning time is one flip every 20 seconds.

After 1 flip
Image from Locky's English Playground

Since the meat has already been cooked to medium in the inner layer, browning the outer will seem quicker than usual.

After 6 flips or so
Image from Locky's English Playground

But as long as you keep an eye on it, your steak will be juicily prepared in no time!

Medium steak
Image from Locky's English Playground

Just look at the juice! Don't you just want to buy a piece and try out this method tonight?

Lamb chops
Image from Locky's English Playground

The same method works on lamb chops as well!

Crispy outer layer
Image from Locky's English Playground

Crispy outer, juicy inner!

Juicy medium lamb chop within
Image from Locky's English Playground

After one success, you will not want to try any other methods again because it is just so hard to not getting a piece of meat perfectly cooked with this!

Try it and leave a comment for me after your success!


Resources:

http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/08/cooking-how-to-cook-steaks-with-stick.html

Temperature (Meat) @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperature_(meat)

Food & Opinion: Prime Taste Singapore Laksa feat. Chilli Crab La Mian

Instant Laksa!!
Image from Locky's English Playground

I have a friend who is a big fan of laksa, so much that he will carry bags of laksa soup and noodles separately from Singapore to be shared and served in Hong Kong. Now there is a solution, cheap(er) without a sacrificing quality.

Prima Taste series!!!
Image from Locky's English Playground

Prima Taste instant laksa from Singapore packs some rare excellence you find in instant noodles and in my humble opinions beats restaurants in many sense. First, it just costs $20-ish, as compared to $50-ish from Singaporean restaurants in Hong Kong.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Second, it is convenient, as you can take them anywhere you want.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Third, it is clean and well-packaged.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Instructions are simple and clear, everyone can cook a decent bowl of laksa easily.

Shrimp paste
Image from Locky's English Playground

It comes with a packet of rich-flavoured, generous portion of shrimp paste,

Coconut powder
Image from Locky's English Playground

and lots of coconut powder adding that tropical punch to it.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Here you can see all the ingredients,

Image from Locky's English Playground

but for me, what matters most is surely the taste and texture of the noodles.

Boiling noodles in soup
Image from Locky's English Playground

The cooking is as simple as adding 500ml of water to all the soup base and then throw in the noodles to cook for 7 minutes,

Clams and shrimps added
Image from Locky's English Playground

Then in the last minute, throw in your choice of meat or vegetables. I love bean products but unfortunately I couldn't find any on the day of cooking.

Uniqueness in every bowl!
Image from Locky's English Playground

Even leaving the noodles for 30 minutes after cooking, the noodles still remain as the most chewy and real laksa-like, which is quite remarkable as this is the kind of quality you might not even find in restaurants. And the soup! Oh!! The soup!!!! Tastes unbelievably original than anything I have tried! And it just tastes better as you add more ingredients in the process of cooking.

Image from Locky's English Playground

On the other hand, there are several more choices from Prime Taste apart from Laksa, say this Chilli Crab La Mian,

Chilli crab paste
Image from Locky's English Playground

The cooking procedures are kind of similar to those of the laksa,

Image from Locky's English Playground

except that this time round you don't cook noodles in soup, you add sauce after the noodles have been cooked.

Slightly red noodles
Image from Locky's English Playground

Maybe it was just me, but it seems that the noodles didn't turn out to be as colourful as that on the packet,

Added beef beside it
Image from Locky's English Playground

and for me, it wasn't spicy enough. But hey, my level of tolerance for spiciness is really high. My wife cannot stand even a little bit of this, so...

Overall, I still think the Laksa is the best bargain, and if you are a laksa fan, you have got to try this!

Resources:
Prime Taste Official Website.
www.primetaste.com

Living: New Goodway Garment Steamer

Goodway's latest garment steamer
Image from Locky's English Playground

Turns out that no only was the previous garment steamer recommended by the Consumer Council was no good after 2 years. Guess it was good in practicality but not in durability. With leakage of water and electricity, it was time to find a decent successor.

Turns out, I have discovered a pretty good deal!

It comes with a stand
Image from Locky's English Playground

Goodway is definitely a Made-in-Hong Kong brand that has captured many many mid-aged housewives' fans, and frankly speaking, I have never thought about getting a Goodway ever in my life, but this G-SQ1 has proven me wrong.

Soft brushes
Image from Locky's English Playground

For like HK$500, it comes with the steamer, a stand, two soft brushes, and two extra soft brushes in another box.

Brush detached from iron
Image from Locky's English Playground

Oh, forgot to mention that this garment steamer is in fact an iron in disguise, but this iron doesn't flatten creases on cotton, because it maxes at low-temp for silk.

So, how well does it work?

Have you got a good garment steamer? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.


Vocabulary:
crease -- (c)[N] a line on cloth or paper where it has been folded or crushed



Resources:
Living: How To Clean Your Garment Steamer? @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2014/04/living-how-to-clean-your-garment-steamer.html

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/crease_1