Ssanyong MPV

John LINDGREN

Stavic Supersized - Korean with Mercedes Wunder Kraft -

Remember the Korean cars in Bangkok pre-’97 Asian economic “Tomm Yam Kung” crisis – the Daewoos, the Hyundais, the KIA’s and the Ssanyong’s? The new Koreans were affordable and compact city cars, including a monster SUV, one of the first Sport Utility Vehicles in Thailand: Ssanyong Musso.

After the economic bubble burst Daewoo vanished from the Thai shores, and today three Korean brands are available: KIA, the Hyundai making a strong comeback and Ssangyong. The name Ssangyong means “twin dragons”; the initial S was doubled to correspond to the duality of the name. Currently, the Ssangyong model line-up in Thailand consists of the Actyon, the Kyron, the Rexton, and the Stavic all imported vehicles or CBU’s (completely built up in motoring babble). Ssangyong (Thailand) Co., Ltd boasts three showrooms, service centers in Bangkok, Chonburi and Phuket.
The demo unit provided for Pattaya Coast was the (metallic space black) Ssangyong Stavic, a premium MPV (Multi Purpose Vehicle), which is not only as a passenger car, but also as a super-sized MPV( Multi Purpose Vehicle) measuring an impressive 5.1 meters and powered by a German silky smooth Mercedes Benz six cylinder motor 3.2 liter engine.
The looks, or the body design of Stavic, maybe unorthodox and funky to some people but unique and stylish to others. Ssangyong, Korea’s fourth largest automaker, calls it Neo-Fusion design! The vehicle was designed by Ken Greenley, former head of the automotive design course at the Royal College of Art in London.

Stavic’s interior reveals an impressive passenger carrying capacity. Laid out like a miniature tour bus. There are four rows, three options: 7-, 9- or 11-passenger seating can be made available depending on the folding.

For longer journeys the 7-seater is the best option, as it offers room for luggage as well.

The cabin is luxuriously appointed in with porous high grade beige or grey leather, plush carpets, a mix of wood and alloy panels plus the essential ingredients: CD cases, sunglasses holder, one-touch pop-out cup holders, power out lets front and rear and grab handles. And a 180 degrees swivel seat in the second row. To cool you down there are separate air vents with individual controls for the second and third row passengers.

On-board entertainment consists Ssangyong premium audio video package with a one-touch CD/DVD Player, MP3 Tuner, with front and rear monitors (which automatically cuts as soon as the car starts moving). The DVD screen is also connected to a reverse parking camera. Handy when backing up into tight spaces.

All audio and video controls are steering-wheel mounted. Other cool features include a power sun roof or “moon-roof“ as we prefer to call it in here the tropical Thailand. And a fuel saving cruise control feature – for those long highway trips.

Under the bonnet, lurks a grey, black matte, state-of-the-art quiet and powerful Mercedes Benz 3,2 six-banger motor pumping out 220 horse power and mated to a silky smooth a 5-speed Mercedes Benz automatic box with a T-tronic (manual shift option, the same as in a Porsche ).

The engine performance was confirmed during a brief high-speed test when we managed to touch the 195 km/hour mark on the speedometer. Overtaking cars on the highway was safe and effortless, thanks to the powerful German engine. Stavic’s thirst for fuel was approximately 8-9 kilometer per liter during our test drive, normal for a V-6 petrol engine.

Our demo wagon came with the whole safety package: drivers and passenger airbags and front electronic brake force distribution (EDB), ABS and traction control system (TCS). Plus double wishbone suspension in front.

Since the Stavic carries up to 11 passengers, the import tax is only 40 percent while other 7-seater MPVs face 80 percent import duty plus excise duty. That’s why the Benz and the Volk vans are priced over three million TBH but the Stavic sells at TBT 1.9 and the Diesel version at TBH 1.7.

Our road test was conducted along the Bangkok - Chiang Mai north bound trunk road, also known as Asia Highway # 2.

Stavic’s independent 4-wheel suspension and the smooth V-6 propulsion worked wonders. And the kids: “no more “are we there yet”! The DVD player played on without any interruptions. No jumps. Crystal clear picture and stereo sound as we watched Disney’s Ratatouille and Surf’s Up. Driver and passengers were all happy campers on arrival at the green hills of Kong Lan National Park in Kampheng Pet Province.
Slavic is a shining star powered by another star the Stuttgart three-pointed Mercedes silky-six Wonder Motor. A five-star- 7-seater for the extended family traveling long distance, or a perfect fleet van for luxury (boutique) hotels.


END TEXT

Wine, wine, wine Burgundy, Burgundy

John LINDGREN


A TOAST TO BEAUNE and BURGUNDY

“I started out on Burgundy – but soon hit the harder stuff”
Bob Dylan

Place Darcy, Dijon, Burgundy. It is my second day, first morning in Bourgogne located in the central eastern France between Paris and the Swiss alpine valleys.

It’s the end of September, 2007. The mid morning autumn temperature reads 18 degrees Celsius, dry, crisp weather, and a clear deep ultramarine sky. No wind blowing and no planes in the sky. A splendid European autumn day.

From my large oval 2nd floor balcony I can see the environmentally friendly almost silent green city buses and bikers in business attires and students carrying rucksacks gliding rapidly by on super light carbon fibre high-tech velocipedes.

After checking out from the posh Sofitel Hotel La Cloche - I am on the road again in Peugeot van joined by a group of South East Asian magazine / newspaper wine and travel hacks heading south, out of Dijon town.

Once past the roadside tractor showrooms and agricultural depots
and the Carrfour hypermarche you’ll suddenly find yourself in a Technicolor postcard wine country named Côte d' Or (golden slopes) with a panoramic vista of vineyards and vines covering the golden brown soil. The Vitis vinifera planted every where, even beside the tarmac and on every single slope of this old legendary Burgundian land.

The village road signs reads like a three star Michelin restaurant wine list: Aloxe-Corton, Chambolle-Musigny, Chassagne, Meursault, Nuits-St-Georges, Pommard, Richebourg, Romanee,Vosne Gevrey-Chambertin,Vougeot and Puligny-Montrachet.

Behind the prestigious names of the small villages you'll find sedate, dull, though exceedingly prosperous, orderly and ultra clean villages. We did not discover one single filter tipped cigarette butt, no empty PCV-maxi bottles or discarded dirty plastic bags during two days of village-vineyard hopping.
These quiet dwellings of solid gray stone houses are inhabited by well-heeled vignerons (wine growers), international negociants (wine merchants) some European and North American high-net worth emigres who have purchased a two hundred year old stone walled house next to a small two thousand year old vineyard.
In the 19th century the French law, the ‘Napoleonic Code’ dictated that land had to be divided equally upon inheritance, which split the vineyards into increasingly smaller plots ‘parcels’ of land explaining the many the many appellations. (An appellation is a geographical-based term used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown).
Unlike Bordeaux's 57 appellations and 9.000 wineries chateaux, producing 700 million bottles of wine Burgundy is composed of thousands of small-scale wine growers, domaine, and small vineyard owners each with tiny parcels of land on which they produce an astonishing variety of red and white wines.

Less than sixty kilometers from Dijon we arrive at the provincial town of Beaune pronounced (‘Bone’), Burgundy’s medieval wine-capital, with the iconic polychrome tiles of the Hospice of Beaune.The Hospice, which has been a working hospital since its founding, is actually two major buildings, the Hotel-Dieu and the Hospice de la Charite. The Hotel-Dieu is Beaune's most important attraction, with its perfectly preserved Burgundian-Flemish architecture and priceless art collection.

In November every year the Hospices de Beaune, the world's oldest charity wine auction takes place. The 2007 "Hospices" wine auction made a record UDS 6.million at the weekend.
The wine auction is held annually in Beaune and now in its 147th year, the auction sells Burgundy by the barrel from vineyards owned by the local Hospice, an ancient charitable hospital. Each barrel, locally known as a 'pièce', holds 228 litres or 288 bottles of wine. In central Beaune we find the The Wine School of Bourgundy” or L’Ecole des Vins de Bourgogne or Bureau Interprofessionel des Vins De Bourgogne (BIVB) a three story modern aluminum, glass building which like looked any Faculty of Organic Chemistry.
At the ‘Ecole’ the local wine expert, the wine lecturer Jean-Pierre Renard a born and bred Burgundian and a educator of the soil, the grapes, the vinification (the wine making process) and end product in the bottle.
“The Burgundians have always believed in the importance of le terroir. which refers to the combination of soil and sub-soil, climate and micro climate and position relative to the sun. The soil's composition of chalk, clay and flint can change dramatically within just a few metres, having a marked effect on the wine and the cost from 100 EUR – 100.000 EUR ” says Mr Renard.


Jean-Pierre Renard elaborates: “Burgundy is like a parent with two kids” says Renard, and explains the difference between the two grapes: “One is chardonnay, who we send out to explore the world and anywhere the happy Chardonnay seems to feel like home, especially in Australia and California. The other is Pinot Noir, who fussy and hard to please on her travels and only really feels at home in on the slopes in Burgundy."

Monsieur Renard says: “Burgundy is home to 100 of France's 467 Appellation Origine Contrôlée (AOC) vineyards.
The AOC being the prestigious sought after French government certification given to wines made only from grapes from a particular region.
The Burgundy AOC was established in 1935. A classification system, a labelling of regional, village, premier cru and grand cru wines was born - and the vintners had to stand by it.

Our press kit explains further:

Burgundy’s AOC’s are divided into four categories or levels:

Regional Appellations: Fifty-three percent of the total production.

Village Appellations: Thirty-five percent of the total production.

Premier Crus: Ten percent of the total production.

Grand Crus: Only two percent of the total production.

We have 26,550 of hectares of vineyards in production. And our annual production is approximately 200 million bottles wine per year based on only two grape varieties of the two legendary grapes: Pinot Noir (Pee-no Noa-aar) for the red wine and Chardonnay (Char- DONN-ee) for the white ” says Renard.

“ That makes 120 million bottles of white (Chardonnay) and 80 million bottles of (Pinot Noir) or 63 percent white and 37 percent red wine. The white wine wins. Voila!”

Our wines are considered among the best in the world thanks to our grape varieties, our climate, our soil “le terroir” and thousands of years of know how Burgundian “Savoir Faire”.

Next step on the agenda: Jean-Pierre Renard gives us a condensed wine tasters education:
J-P Renard says: “First of all wine Tasting is not a science. It is based on very subjective sensations and has nothing in common with scientific procedures. This is what makes it so interesting”
And he adds: “The aim is not to identify what is in the glass but to say if it is a quality wine or simply if we like it or not. Unfortunately, a large number of wine-tasters think that the ability to name, the grape, and the wine in the glass is absolutely necessary to be recognized by his peers. We must not forget that at present a list of over 3,000 grape varieties has been compiled and taking into consideration the number of wine makers, vintages, appellations and possible blending of wines, we have several hundreds of thousands different wines to taste.
Mon Dieu! Who can honestly say that they are capable of recognizing them all we recognize what we already know, so let us be modest".
“This is how we do it” J-P Renard says:
"So, anyone who is attentive to what he eats and drinks is a taster.In what manner you may ask, can we be attentive to what is on our plate or in our glass? By becoming aware of our senses. tasting is without a doubt the most sensual exercise there is.
First the visual inspection, then the nose and finally the mouth"
And the conclusion”
“Madame et Messieurs! This is how we do it”, says J-P Renard and shows:
"Introduce a draft of wine into your mouth, swill it across the tongue, roll it around the palate, churn it around, emitting the gargling sound so beloved of tasters, which is produced by slowly inhaling air through the centre of your mouth, and finally eject it. Voila!"
“ The ejection is what has to be learnt” adds J-P Renard as he spits out a mouth full of a very expensive Pommard 1er Cru Le Clos Micot 2003 Domaine du Chateau de Chassagne.

Equipped with laboratory size spittoons (vessels to eject the wine into) we listen to Jean Luis Renards as we start to go through three white wines and three red wines.

Pouilly-Fuissee 2004 Domaine Pascal Rollet
Chablis 1er cru Vaucoupin 2005
Domaine Alain et Cyril Gautheron
Puligny-Montrachet 2004
Domaine Vincent Giradin,
And the reds:
Mercurey 1er Cru Les Vasees 2005 Domaine Francois Raquillet.
Morey-Saint-Denis 2005 Domaine Alain Jenniard.
Pommard 1er Cru Le Clos Micot 2003/ Domaine Du Chateau de Chassagne.
After the exercise and notes ranging from crispy, fruity to full bodied with long aftertaste and with some getting a tad tipsy.

Mr Renard continues: “Let me tell your more about our wine and vines.” says Monsieur Renard in a charming French accent: “Vines are temperamental: frost on the wrong day, sun at the wrong time, too much water or poor drainage, and they won't come up with the goods. And they like a slope, which is why so many wines are called "Côte (hill, slope) de" somewhere. But not anywhere”.

Burgundy's best wines come from a narrow strip of hillside called the Cote d’Or (“golden slopes”) that runs southwest from Dijon Santenay in the south, and is divided into main two regions, Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune and further south Côte Chalonnaise and Maconnais (Makonn-nee).

This amazing 60 kilometer long “wine road” is only twenty minutes from the Burgundy's capital Dijon and 1 ½ hours from Paris.
“Anywhere in Burgundy, especially in Cote d’Or you can make a very good living on a patch of four or five hectares, the average-sized plot” says Jean-Pierre Renard. “The proof being that none is ever up for sale”.

Among wine aficionados, with few exceptions the reds of the Côte de Nuits are considered the best: they are richer, more elegant; they age better and cost more. Wines from Côte de Beaune are known particularly for their emblematic whites, the Meursault and the Montrachet which the US President Thomas Jefferson called the best white wine of Burgundy after having tasted it Beaune in 1787.

Jean-Pierre Renard: “The single most important factor determining the "character" of wines is the soil. In the Cote d’Or , the relative mixture of chalk, flint and clay varies over very short distances, making for an enormous variety of taste. Chalky soil makes a wine virile, masculine or corse, in other words "heady" – il y a de la mâche, they say, "something to bite on" – while clay makes it more feminine, elegant more agréable.

Our final stop on the “Route de Grands Crus”is Domaine Taupenot-Merme, a family owned winery in the heart of the small village of Morey-St-Denis. Morey does sport its fair share of great growth sites. In fact, over 50% of the acreage in Morey-St.-Denis is rated either Premier or Grand Cru, one of the highest concentrations of top sites in all of Burgundy.
Like a French medieval farm house with a setting fit a Gerald Depardieu movie. A grey cobble stone courtyard, with an old well standing in the middle. The still elegant three story main building must be at least a hundred years old.
The estate, domaine at 30 acres is rather large state by Burgundian standards.
The age of the vines is 50 years on average and all grapes are de-stemmed, and aged in medium or low toast barrels. 25 percent new French oak barrels are used for the village wines, 40 percent for grand and premier Cru, says Romain a forty something healthy and sportif looking French vigneron who works in the cellar with the vinification whilst sister Virginie looks after sales including export.

The Taupenot- Mermes and are typical of the new generation of Burgundian wine growers who are using the full potential of priceless family vineyard parcels by sensitive viticulture and thoughtful winemaking.

The roots of the family estate go back to the 1760 - eighteen years before Thomas Jefferson drank his first Montrachet in a nearby village.
Romain Taupenot-Merme explained that the cool nights during the 2005 vintage, and the end of the summer of beautifully warm days ensured that the acidity was retained. The grapes had developed thick skins, and sugars were high, so excellent extraction of flavours was possible.

Our tasting of the 2005 Taupenot-Merme vintages left a big smile on everybody’s face and many big empty wine glasses. Burgundy Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Beautifully structured, expressive wines! Very fine wines good to the last drop!
The 2005 Burgundy vintage has been called: “the perfect vintage, and the extraordinary vintage, especially for the reds” and the vintage of the (very young) century…”

However, unfortunately very limited bottles of the extraordinary 2005 Burgundy wines will reach the shelves of our wine stores in Thailand. If so - they will be sold at exorbitant prices.
“II think it is a great error to consider a heavy tax on wines as a tax on luxury. On the contrary, it is a tax on the health of our citizens.”
Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States of America
END TEXT

bangkok shakes

Sa-wa-de-eee bloggers, bliggers bluggers out there in the wide wide open cyberspace




Bangkok Shakes and Hanoi Rocks ....




"Hailing from Finland, Hanoi Rocks burst on the scene in the early '80s with their debut release, Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks". This was long before the NOKIA handphone. In those days we were using telefaxes and old black heavy telephones.


My BLOGG is called Bangkok Shakes... Since I have been in the Kingdom 20 plus years Bangkok does not shock me anymore. Shock me baby! Bangkok only tickles me occasionally. Like recently when I heard that a dog owner had named his dog "M 16" after the US made assault rifle. And the dog was a white poodle! This is Thailand. "TIT" the expression was coined by Bernard "The Nite Owl" Trink . Trink also
contributed with "TIB" This is Bangkok.

And sometimes I get the Bangkok Blues. Expats, emigres, internationals les farangs get the BB occasionally. My advice. Listen to Eddie Cochran's " Summertime Blues " .

Don't listen to "One Night in Bangkok" it will only make you more depressed and homesick.



I like clips klips, clipps and klipps. Mostly on verbal but also visual. Here are some verbal clops, sorry clips "quatations" I like:





Some prefer Keith Jarret - I prefer cocktail piano and salted peanuts.
Aldous Julaux; British adventure writer 1923 -1983





Jean Paul Gaultier the French fashion guru Monsieur Pret a Porter as he was being served wine: " Vin rouge or Vin Blanc? "Rose" says Gaulthier. The waiter, instantly pours red and white wine from the two bottles he is holding in to the large wine glass. " C'est tres bon" clips Gaulthier




One of my ol' favorites:

"Why is six afraid of seven? Because seven eight nine!"


Ships and vessels. "Never refer to a ship as it. A ship is feminine; she and the men who spend their time in her onboard her never forget it".



Spasiba. Spa-siba... Thank you in Russian. Russian names: Boris, Igor, Oleg and Yuri. Yuri Gagarin was the first kosmonaut but the Americans prefer austronaut. I like "The Man on the Moon" with Jim Carrey. Check it out on http://www.youtube.com/



SUV's are sometimes called urban assauls vehicles. I like SUV's
these fuel guzzling steel monsters on wheels . I saw a black Mmmer H2 heading for the Bangkok Rama IX express way today. Black tinted windows and 8888 number plate.



Arnold Schwarzenegger used to have one. Now being the governor of
Hollywood California I sure he drives a hybrid petrol/electri vehicle.

Psychological make-up is not about the DNA. Arnold S was born in a small Austrian hamlet. I like the work hamlet. It's so Sheakespeare.

"I'll take the breakfast" ABC? " No make it continental".

Champagne breakfast or "Breakfast at Tiffany's"

If you wan't to see the ethereal Audrey Hepurn go http://www.youtube.com/


Interviews: " says, notes, concludes, clips etc. "He says", "he notes".




In the afternoon I'll have Glenfiddich. Pronounced Glen-fiddik! You pronounce: Glen-fiddICH! You're dead.

Alcohol in the afternoon is it good for you? No more five-martini-lucnheons. Now it's carrot juice for lunch. But no added sugar.

Talking about sugar. WARNING!!! No not buy the 3/1 "THREE IN ONE ready mix "coffe-sugar-whitener" packages . They contain 62 percent SUGAR!!! and 30 percent whitener BUT less than 10 percent coffee!!!

Fool the consumer...

and

Starbucks sucks! But the WiFi is good. But it will cost you a iminimum of 89 TBH and a laptop (notebook) 39.000 TBH. And the pastry is dry and stale. Nobody ever talks about how good the Starbucks patisserie is!

Has Bangkok hit the 100 benchmark Starbucks yet?

Let me know. I wanna be in the know.

Knowledge is google-google is wikipedia. Google and Wikipedia for the Nobel prize.

There are fashionistas and culinaristas in Bangkok.

Last year they had a ball at the dome up in the sky by the bangkok river. A cool 1.000.000 TBH dinner. It was over the top - or over the dome.

Breakfast memories: That sandwich looks a little bit limp. May I re-toast it for you? I also have limp because of my dodgy knee.

But I still like potatoes. Idaho potatoes. Can't get them in Bangkok.

Once tasted never forgotten: Potato Skins Baked Idaho skins with derby cheese, real bacon, sour cream and chives. I am drooling! With a bottle of stick, chewy Aussie Shiraz: 14 percent alcohol. Skip the Diet Coke!

Verboten! Not allowed in German.




Mashed potatoes in French: Puree de Pommes terres. I like the word pu-ree. Definetely sounds beytter than mashed potatoes. The Brits like Bangers and Mash. Who is Banger and who is Mash? British MP's?


And in Newzealand the kiwis call the pick-up utitility car "ute"

And the mailbox is private bag. Down under. The most famous Kiwi ever
passed away last week. Sir Edmond "We kicked the Bugger Off" Hillary.
Montaineer environmentalist, par excellence.


How to spell Chicago? Chicken in a car and the car can't go.

Why is six afraid of seven.

I am so GLOBAL: Finland DNA



Alma Mater: Sweden, Germany and France



Residence: Thailand, Bangkok suburbia 9 minutes from the nearest

Starbucks at the Crystal Park Mall.



And I like German words: Achtung Baby!



Kaputt! We have broken kaputt TV at home.



I call my new TV the Internet Google-YouTube-My Space. High speed (broadband) internet that's TVTVTVTVTV for you.



Ersatz! the "Three In Oner Coffee" is so totally Erasatz Coffee.



Diesel: Never call a Diesel powered car an oil burner! It's Diesel and spelled in upper case. Rudolph not Valentine - but Diesel.



Doppelganger. My double he's name is also John LINDGREN

But my name in my passport is actually ( I don't like the word actually) but sometimes I have to use it! JOHANNES LINDGREN



Now ya know. Sawa-dee...