mrbrown: L'infantile terrible of Singapore

Insing column: mrbrown and the new VW Polo 2

A post-rally recap of our 30-hour Non-Stop rally from 21st to 22nd November (Saturday and Sunday). Find out more about the new VW Polo and our rally at Polo.sg!

Latest weekly Insing column is "mrbrown and the new VW Polo 2"

Excerpt:

Having spent a reasonable amount of time with the car, Ryan and I found ourselves fairly conversant about its features. Instead of just standing near the Polo and looking pretty (like male Race Queens), we ended up chatting with people who wanted to know more about it.

"Yes, the leather seats and 15-inch alloy rims are standard. Which part of the cow is the leather from? Er, I'm not sure."

"Four disc brakes, yes. No, the ESP on that button stands for Electronic Stability Programme, not Extra Sensory Perception."

"No sir, I am not sure if they sell bigger spoilers than the one included."

One thing you discover about Singaporean car buyers is that not everyone is into engines and power. We got asked about cup holders a lot (there are four in the front alone, and in the back seat, one big enough for a 1.5-litre soft drink bottle). Singaporeans must drink a lot of soft drinks while driving. (cont'd)

VW Polo Non-Stop Weekend: East Coast Park

Our final video from the 30 Hour Non-Stop Weekend Rally. The East Coast Park crowd was great. There was a staring contest for the goodie bags premiums, and I also showed off my er, reverse parking skillz.

VW Polo 30-hour Non-Stop Weekend: Sunday at East Coast

We got a little less than two hours sleep before we setting off for the next leg of our rally. We did manage to catch a lovely sunrise at our cove. Sigh, such a nice luxury catamaran we were on but so little time. Here are a few shots to make you drool.

Our first stop for Sunday was East Coast Park. After some McD's for breakfast so we started our meet the people session (we WERE in white). The response at East Coast was great. People came up to chat with us, ask us about our drive so far, and to check out the Polo. I signed an autograph for Angus, a young fan, and we took a photograph with his family.

Ryan was most eloquent and helpful with folks who wanted to know about the car. I swear he can be a car salesman. I think his liking the car himself helped him to articulate what was neat about our Polo.

We made our way to Katong Village next, where we had lunch in Katong (delightful Marmite chicken and char siew there), then we were off to Bishan Park to give out goodie bags to joggers and folks walking their dogs. We made a stop at AMK Central too and could not resist queuing for the Bubble tea at Koi Cafe, near AMK Hub.

I think I got a little too ambitious with my order and asked for a large for Ryan and me. I ended up with enough pearls in my large Bubble Plum Green Tea to be a meal. Ryan had a large Bubble Milk Tea and also had trouble finishing it.

Benjamin Heng, Carolina and the rest of our rally team very quickly gave out our goodie bags to the shoppers at AMK Central.

With that done, we headed back the Volkswagen centre, our final checkpoint. It was a zoo there, with people waiting to test drive the Polo. Even our rally car was quickly pressed into service to help with the test drives.

I wanted to have some ice cream or three at the showroom but my brain was too tired to even think of asking for a scoop. And also, I was still burping bubble tea pearls.

Time to koonz. I will share more photos and video when I am sufficiently rested from our 30-hour adventure. I will probably be dreaming of 7-speed twin clutch gearboxes and bubble tea pearls.

VW Polo Non-Stop Weekend: Dempsey Hill, St James and Zouk

After a hearty dinner of Teochew porridge at Ye Shanghai (on Henderson Road, opposite Henderson Secondary School), Ryan, Benjamin Heng and I made our way to Dempsey Hill to show off the Polo to diners there.

Carolina was already there, preparing the goodie bags to give away. We also made stops at St James and Zouk. My wife did not believe me when I told her earlier that I was probably not going to have time to enter said clubs because I would be busy showing people the car. Sigh.

So many beautiful people at Zouk, man.

After our Zouk visit, we had a bit of supper at a little past midnight. By now, I would have been up for 19 hours already (I got up at 6am on Saturday). We had one more stop to make. Can you guess from the photos where we are?

It's 3.27am now. I think it is time to get an hour or two of shuteye before our second leg begins. Catch you guys after a few zzz's. Ok, just one or two z's.

VW Polo Non-Stop Weekend: Mount Faber and Sentosa

Ryan and I drive up Mount Faber and later drive into Sentosa where we give out VW Polo goodie bags.

I have an important job to do. Find out what at the end of the vid.

VW Polo Non-Stop Weekend: take a look at the boot

Meet my travel buddy Ryan and emcee Ben, who are part of our VW Polo Non-Stop Weekend rally. I will see their faces for 30 hours as we drive around Singapore.

I thought you might also like to see how a VW Polo boot looks like haha!

VW Polo Non-Stop Weekend: Mount Faber and Sentosa!

Ryan and I drove up to Mount Faber next. That was a nice test of the Polo's engine, I thought. The car took us up with no problem. And I am not that light, you know that, right?

Ryan also took the opportunity to try the Hill Hold feature. On a slope, if you stop and lift your foot off the brake pedal, the car is supposed to continue activating the brakes for 3 seconds as you transition over to the accelerator pedal, to keep the car firmly on the slope without rolling back.

Did it work? Yep. But I wished Ryan had chosen to try this without me in it.

I know what you're thinking, what are two grown men doing up in Mount Faber? Romantic as the view was, once again, I was with the wrong person (like our Ratatouille Paris trip). I would have preferred seeing the view here with my wife.

Our next stop was Sentosa, and we gave out lots of goodie bags at the the Imbiah Lookout, Beach Station, and Palawan Beach.

We drove past the big Merlion and it loomed over us.

We were a little worried about the weather but so far we've been very blessed. When we broke for lunch at 2pm, the rains came. Then when we finished lunch, the rain stopped.

Nice.

VW Polo Non-Stop Weekend: Checkpoint 1, Clementi Ave 3

Here we are at Clementi Ave 3, our first checkpoint. Lots of people here for breakfast so we parked the Polo and decided to join in.

I have my laptop open at the hawker centre, looking like an insurance agent waiting for his client to arrive.

Saturday mornings are such great times for a lazy morning breakfast. I will have a peanut pancake and think of you all.

VW Polo Non-Stop Weekend: And we're off!

I thought the red VW Polo was our rally car but in the end, the one we're driving today is a white one. I should have known lah. How to drive a car without a number plate, right?

VW Polo 30-hour Non-Stop Weekend: our Saturday schedule

Here are our checkpoints for today (Saturday, 21st Nov 2009):

• 10am: Volkswagen Centre Singapore, 247 Alexandra Road
• 11am: Clementi Ave 3 (Car park shared by Blk 442,444,443)
• 3pm: Sentosa Tanjung Beach
• 5pm: Sentosa Imbiah Station
• 8pm: Dempsey Hill (Carpark near Jumbo Restaurant)
• 10pm: St James Powerstation (Carpark)
• 12 midnight: Zouk (Carpark)

Come down and win some goodie bags and to say hi!

Do twitter us during the two days with suggestions for places to go and things to do! We will be monitoring the tweets and listening to your ideas! You can twitter me at @mrbrown!

Find out more at polo.sg!

Insing column: mrbrown and the new VW Polo

As part of our 30-hour Non-Stop rally from 21st to 22nd November (Saturday and Sunday), I thought I'd share some of the pre-trip preparations that Ryan and I had to make. Find out more about the new VW Polo, our rally and the contest at Polo.sg!

Latest weekly Insing column is "mrbrown and the new VW Polo"

Excerpt:

The second concern was the car itself. Will we like the new VW Polo? Will the car befit our dashing adventurer image? Will we be able to live with driving it around for two days?

We went for a test drive to find out for ourselves, and I am happy to report that we will be safe and comfortable in this car. I drove it in my usual Safe Uncle mode around the block, happily experiencing the acclaimed Volkswagen 7-speed dual clutch transmission known as DSG (Direct-Shift Gearbox).

The gears shift very fast and silently as a result of this technology and I strained to hear the gear changes. Quiet as a mouse. This kind of gearbox is rarely found in 1.4-litre cars, I am told.

A little annoyed with my rather safe driving style, Ryan took over for his turn and he drove in his Fierce Dude mode. He changed gears himself with the car's Tiptronic or manual mode and looked satisfied with the car's responsiveness. (cont'd)

The VW Polo Non-Stop Weekend

My travel-buddy-in-crime and videographer Ryan and I will be driving a new VW Polo all over Singapore for 30 hours this weekend, starting at 10am, Saturday 21st November, at the Volkswagen Centre, 247 Alexandra Road.

You can find out about our 30-hour Polo Non-Stop Rally at Polo.sg.

There is even a contest that lets you plan your own Polo Non-Stop Weekend and you can win some cool prizes.

You can see our route at the site and you can suggest places for us to go and things for us to do in our rally. If we like your suggestion, we will make it part of our route.

Some of our stops include Zouk, St James Power Station, East Coast Park, Katong Village, Clementi Avenue 3, Sentosa Tanjung Beach, and Sentosa Imbiah Station. Do visit us at our checkpoints and say hello. There will be games and prizes given away at those checkpoints too.

We will be blogging, tweeting, and video blogging during the whole Polo Non-Stop Weekend so do watch for updates on mrbrown.com, my twitter account (@mrbrown) and on Polo.sg. The Twitter hashtag we will be using is #vwsg.

Come down and see us this weekend, ok?