An encounter with the unpleasant kind

“Forgive, sounds good, Forget, I am not sure I could….” (inspired by a Dixie Chicks song)

I am not ready to forgive myself yet. Thus I am not ready to tell… I hate the whole “Reviving and Re-living of the incident” scenario over and over again each time I tell the story. But I guess I’d have to face the world and tell it once and for all to end the never ending repeats. Some are sincere caring queries while some merely inquisitive probes, and probably gloats. Nevertheless, here’s the short and simple police report I made to recall what happened to my Chevy’s left wing.

“Pada 28.1.2008. jam lebih kurang 10:30am, semasa saya sedang memandu kereta saya *** ****, jenis Chevrolet Optra 1.8 Automatik di Jalan *** menghala dari *** ke ***, tiba-tiba sebuah trailer biru dari kiri secara mengejut membelok ke kanan lalu menghempas kereta saya di sebelah kiri, (pintu belankang) tanpa memberi sebarang isyarat. Kereta say mengalami kerosakan di bahagian belakang pintu dan di tayar. Lain-lain kerosakan belum diketahui lagi. Sekian aduan saya.”

There are so many things running in my mind right now… i.e. all those positive things like, luckily b was not with you, luckily nothing happened to you, luckily this, luckily that… but obviously we all know that those are just excuses to make me feel better. Yeah, actually I think the whole incident could’ve been avoided if I was a little more alert. Cousin was nice and tells me that it cant be avoided when ppl hit you from the back. Well, yeah, I wasn’t aware I was hit until my car flew out of control (but I think due to the traction control, I regain control back quickly.) I gave a scream and looked at the rear mirror to see the gigantic truck turning down to the K* highway. I cant stop my car due to too much traffic,… so I turned into some housing estate and called B and made police report….. so it’s a hit and run coz I didn’t even see the number plate as I was already going straight while the trailer turned into K* highway…

I don’t really mind coz car can be fixed, money can be “installed” through insurance… Problem is…. It’s CNY and the workshops are closed and I have to wait till after CNY to fix my car. Mean while, I have to endure driving a junk to work (I love it but it’s still ugly looking)….

Anyway, yeah, I am sad and I wanna cry but there’s no tears…. And worse thing is... B is away at Penang till Friday and thus, I don’t even get a hug to go through this….

*I tried to go on like I used to,
I’m awake but my world is half asleep,
I pray for this heart to be unbroken,
As I am just incomplete….”
*inspired by the song “Incomplete”

GPS and Map King with Chevy Baby

Just so excited that my GPS works after Patrick configured it.

I was driving to section 17 but set the destination to another section of the town (pre-set destination), not expecting the GPS to work. Suddenly the GPS started talking to me! It asked me to slow down, keep right lane, keep left lane and exit in 1 km, slow down and go straight at the roundabout etc.

Oh, I need to emphasize on this one - I am truly amazed at one of the "auto reset" features..... While travelling, I suddenly decided to defy the instructions given by the GPS and detour to another road (not the one suggested by GPS) to head towards section 17. The GPS didn't panic nor shout at me for not following instructions. Instead, it just beeped, and then proceed to reset the starting position from my current position and directs me to my earlier pre-set destination from my current position.... Amazing!! Sure beats any human navigator who, more often than not, double up as a back-seat driver.

It's such a great toy.... Ah, I just love my PDA phone with GPS... It compliments my Chevy Baby... (*All smiles*)

Happy Endings

Something terrifying happened to me last Saturday … someone scratch my car!!!! Yeah my beautiful Chevy Baby was scarred!!! A very obvious scar on his right arm!!! (At the driver’s door near the handle.) What a heartbreaking scene.

You see, my sexy machine was parked right in front of my house as we needed to wash the porch. He was parked there around 8:30am, slightly earlier than usual but it was my front yard, so it should be safe to park there, right? (Ed: Gosh, what kind of neighbourhood do I live in!!) You cannot imagine my terror when I went out to get my car at around 1:30pm. I was so totally shocked when I saw the 6-inch scratch mark, that I didn’t realize my finger was in the gate’s way when I closed it. I also didn’t feel the pain even after my ring finger got caught in it. I just pulled my finger out and quickly ran to my car while shouting “Oh my Gawd!!!”. As I stroke the scratch mark on Chevy Baby, Little Bee couldn’t understand my fuss and proceeded to read his Spiderman book at the passenger seat, on and off showing off his Christmas present to other cars which passed by.

Anyway, after a few minutes, I recomposed myself and got over the panic. I thought I couldn’t do anything about it and proceeded to lunch with Little Bee and Mom. Only during lunch when I reiterated the incident to Mom that I realized my finger was swollen with a red blister due to the incident at the gate. Ah well, I thought, my finger could heal but my car door would now… Boo Hoo Hoo… Yeah, I was actually more worried about my car door than my own finger…

Well, all’s well ends well. When Big B saw the scratch mark on Sunday, he took Chevy Baby for a bath and subsequently polished it and viola, the scratch mark is gone!!!! Yahhhoooooo!!! Didn’t know Chevy Baby was like Wolverine, who possessed magical healing powers ahahahhah… Luckily the scratch wasn’t too deep and can be removed. I guess one layer of paint have gone off with the polish but hey, who would mine if it could get rid of an ugly obvious scar. Would you rather have a scar than lose a layer of skin to look like your original self again? I guess most girls would opt for the latter option - we being slaves to beauty. Hahhahaa…

So Happy New Year to all…. Hope that the new year brings plenty of pleasant surprises and happy endings for you too … :P

My cheeky colleagues uses my table to compare girls... look at their new and improved table.. hahahaha

Forgot to mention that my colleagues had a side bet when I started my quest for my new car.



Without telling me, they said that I'd choose from either of the 3 options below:

1) Waja
2) Myvi
3) Don't change car

Well, now that I have changed my car, I can say loudly, Tak Nak to Proton! hehehehehe

Sentra Vs Optra

On the day the chevy went to see the doctor (1000Km service), I drove the Sentra, I could really feel the difference…

Here's a summary of my Personal Comparison

Comfort level:
1) Sentras fabric seats were hot and uncomfortable compared to Optras cool and comfy leather seats. In fact, the carpet texture of the seats felt pokey compared to the smooth leather seats

2) Air cond of the sentra is too cold… I have to manually turn it on and off as the blower is not auto climate control like the Optra… The optra gives an very comfortable overall cool feeling when driving

3) Leg room, Sentra has a very low seat, making me feel very cramp. Optra’s seat is higher, making it a more pleasant and comfortable drive as the seating is more ergonomic to my legs.

Sound system:
1) Sentra has good 2 Din 4 speakers surround sound system but there’s no disc changer. And there are no remote controls at the steering wheel. I had to reach out to the player to select/change songs.

Noise Level and "Pick-Up" Power:
1) Sound isolation - Sentra does seem to have more pick up power with each depression of the fuel pedal but it could be because of the noise from the engine and gear that I am hearing each time I rev the car. With the optra, I don’t hear much of the engine and outside sound. Accoridng to my colleague LWee, japanese cars are designed with lower torque power. Also the sound isolation is bad compared to the euro class automobiles. He even mentioned that the sound isolation of the Civic 1.8 is pitiful as it's made from lighter materials. (However, lighter materials equals to less petrol consumption and better acceleration).

2) Engine "pick-up" - Sentra is a lighter car, and have better pick up power. Optra doesn’t feel like it has that much pick up despite higher capacity (1.8 compared to 1.6). However, this could be the quiet surrounding of an Optra which makes the feel of going 80km/h different from going 80km/h with a Sentra (very noisy and windy sound).

Scarred beauty and scared beauty

Something happened to my dear Chevy last Saturday... was driving along the North- South highway from Mines back to KL on a quiet Saturday morning around 10:30am and all of a sudden, a big rock the size of my fist came out of nowhere and flew onto my windscreen. I didn't see any construction along that stretch.

Before the rock hit, there was a silver waja trailing very near my back which forced me to switch from the rightmost lane to the middle lane. After moving to the middle lane, I noticed a strange old grey vannette, driven by a man with the window open, on my left. The reason I found it strange was because it was driving halfway between the middle lane and the leftmost slow lane. It seems to be trying get onto the middle lane but keep going halfway between the slowest lane and middle lane even though I drove at a constant speed behind the vannette to let it cut into the middle land. I drove on, minding my own business and suddenly the white rock hit in front of me. I was shocked... but I kept driving. I thought my windscreen have cracked but I didn't stop and just kept driving and didn't think much about the van nor the waja.

When I finally reach home, I checked my car for any damage and luckily the windscreen survived with only a scratch on the surface. The car bonnet, however, suffered a scar.... a scratch about 1.5cm long and 1 mm wide. Yeah, no doubt I was heartbroken (oh, how do you fix the scar?) but after hearing my colleagues told me later, I felt really really scared.

She told me that there are some syndicates out there who purposely create accidents like breaking your windscreen and then later rob and rape the car owners. Additionally, if the rock had fell or flew from somewhere, my windscreen would have been smashed due to the mere impact as I was travelling around 80km on the highway. However, if it came from the vanette, the impact is less since the rock was travelling around the same speed of my car. So the possibility of the rock coming from the vanette is very high.

I am really thankful that the chevy's windscreen didn't break... and that I have kept on driving.... I wasn't alert about the 2 cars then until now when I think back about the whole incident. I still feel very very scared now.

To all drivers out there, please be very very alert and careful when driving along lonely and quiet highways, and try not to stop at deserted areas.