The future is here!

Took my rear wiper and wiper motor off today for a cleaner look and less weight (lol).

Wiper before.

I went into MacGyver mode and used some lightweight bicycle bits to make the plug happen (spot the CF spacer + cf top cap!).

All done.

Spotted this car yesterday. Looks like someone went at it with a Hattori Hanzō sword!

Despite the poor weather outside. I had to break the seal on the GTI. Today I stripped 51.29kg off the car. Here’s the breakdown:

Weights:

Antenna: -20g
Golf Manual: -818g
Tool kit: -3.78kg
Parcel tray: -1.82kg
Rear floor: -1.62kg
Rear seat bottom: -4.96kg
Rear single seat back: -6.46kg
Rear double seat back: -17.48kg
Spare wheel: -14.34kg
———————————-
51.29kg

More images and commentary here.

Caramelised pork hock with five spice & chilli vinegar.

Tim and Amber.

Last night I caught up with an old friend Tim who runs Reactive (since 1997 and going strong!). I’ve known Tim for ages and it’s been years since I last saw him and his wife Amber so we had heaps of catching up to do.

Tim and Amber have been in Sydney for a few weeks now, working and house minding in Surry Hills. We were going to meet up at the Clock Hotel but Tim suggested we dine at Longgrain which I was more than happy to do (turns out they’re both foodies!).

Dinner was great (Amber did the ordering and we avoided the signature dishes which was nice for a change) catching up was even better.

Suga about to get that smile wiped off her face.

This morning I got to the bank, banked in my V35 cheque and drew a cheque for Barloworld. Suga just got her wisdom teeth taken out this morning but the guys insisted that she bring the car as a few more staff wanted to hear her exhaust (lol).

Sold to me!

Car was nice and clean, and apart from having only a 1/4 tank of fuel the experience was just like buying a new car :)

I’m super busy today and haven’t even got the time to put my new antenna on (lol). Will hopefully make some time tomorrow to play with the car.

$500 gets you a lot at Ikea.

In situ.

I try to avoid Ikea as much as possible but sometimes I just can’t help it.

When I first watched Fight Club I cracked up hard when Edward Norton orders Ikea products over the phone and the scene becomes an Ikea commercial (awesome scene actually, great typography style which is now commonly seen in advertising on TV).

I’ve always felt a bit like a sheep in Ikea. Everyone I know probably has, at some point in time, owned an Ikea product. The non-conformist in me (it’s dying, or died a long time ago) doesn’t feel comfortable buying Ikea goods but it’s cheap and some of it actually works OK.

We spent $500 on a lot of small things. They sell these huge coffee mugs which I’ve been using for over 2 years so I bought more of them. I bought a Japanese Sago Palm. Mr. Sago! He’s my new buddy. We also bought this round light, it’s simple, less is more, works great.

We hit the Easter Show again this year. I was braced for the crowds but to my surprise the show was empty, which made for a fun day/night out. Here are a few pics:

Axe man.

Lunch.

Kay and Suga and the Seafood and Wine bar.

Creamiest Oysters I’ve ever had, too good.

!

Seeing double.

Beast.

Horsey.

Love the pic top right of her lying on her horse.

Gee having a bat.

Kid shooting at the Cops.

Eye.

Gee + mate.

Shit.

Richie won Jamie a Scooby Doo. Unfortunately I failed to win Suga anything! :(

Gen and some random guy she pashed.

Suga and I caught up with Gen at the Fringe Bar on Saturday night. The Fringe Bar’s latest rebirth is all moulin rouge/shabby chic. I kinda hate it actually but once it’s packed out you can’t see the interior design anways.

I loved the last version because they had a tiny little kitchen that served up some fresh pasta (made on location) which was just too good to pass up.

At one point a fight broke out, yuppies getting into brawls on Oxford St. Paddington? Oh please! What’s the world come to? Even more amusing was Gen pashing 3 guys before even speaking a word to them. They do say: It’s all in the eyes!

I said goodbye to the Skyline (V35, not the GT-R!) yesterday and today I called Barloword to see if they were open, they were, so Christina and I dropped in to check out a MKV GTI I’ve had my eyes on for the last couple of days.

The car looked very tidy on the outside for a 2005 model, not so bad on the inside either. The gear knob had a bit of wear, the inner door handles and steering wheel controls did too but it was just general wear and tear. It had the non-leather interior (fine by me as I’ll most likely strip it anyways) and a sunroof (crap, extra weight) and Bi-Zenon headlights (I like).

The used car salesman was a little ordinary until he heard Christina’s exhaust (he wanted to hear it). Christina gave it 3 blats and his reaction was dead set hilarious. He literally had to shake the goosebumps out of his arms!

We took the MKV GTI for a test drive, car felt great, drove straight, not a single rattle to be heard inside and no suspension noises whatsoever. Engine felt strong and the DSG shift was lighting fast like the new MKVI was.

Everything just felt right. I’ve followed a fair few GTI sales from Barloworld lately. It seems like a LOT of people are trading in their MKV GTI’s for MKVI’s and Barloworld sell them off for as low and sometimes lower than people do in private sales (goes to show how powerful they are as a dealership). We got back to the dealership and went inside to cut a deal, 3 months warranty is all I could get for it (no extended warranty options). Everyone was in good spirits and I got the car down to $30k (perfect) without any hassles.

The sales guy was still excited about Christina’s exhaust “I love your car!”. He brought his store manager out to hear Christina’s exhaust (it was no longer about me wanting to pay for the GTI lol!). He freaked out hard when she told him it cost $7k, he was going on about that for a bit but once she hit it he changed his tone completely and said he’d buy one too! He then proceeded to notice all the modifications on the car and pay many complements.

We went in to pay a deposit on the car and on our way out the sales manager was still outside checking out Christina’s car, he had his camera out now and was taking pics of it. Made Christina’s day. I’m happy too, will be picking up the car on Tuesday when the banks open. :)