VIVA-licious car

The idea of getting myself a car has always been jumping around in my head since the day I was officially employed. Each time I decided to pay the showroom a visit, I brushed the intention off with the excuse that it was not the right time to do so.

To be frank, Penang is a pretty small island and I am not the type to enjoy travelling across the bridge to the mainland. The only person that I constantly fetch around would be my girlfriend and for the past 4 years, she was away in Serdang pursuing her academic degree. Approximately 70% of the time I spent on the road would be for work-related purpose and before I forget, 1/5 of my monthly salary was used to repay my PTPTN loan. With all these facts taken into consideration, a motorcycle is definitely a much better and wiser choice compared to a car.

Well a few months ago, those reasons might still be applicable. Things are very much different now. My girlfriend has already completed her degree and back in Penang. She has also found a job somewhere across the sea and need a transportation to move around. On the other hand, this country's fuel price was so screwed up that it resembled Wacoal's bra advertisement with the catch phrase of Up Up! If I did not get a car any sooner, I might have to pay even more than the current RM2.70 for a litre of petrol in the coming future.

All the rantings aside, allow me to introduce OUR very own first car, Perodua Viva EZ.


Front view.

I am not the type to keep myself up-to-date with all the car jargons hence you might get much more information about our car from the official Perodua homepage.

I know some of you out there find my choice of car and the timing of purchase questionable but let me assure you that I have no regret about it so far. The fuel consumption rate is one of the lowest and a week after the purchase, the bank interest rate for car loan actually increased from 3.75% to 4.1%. Phew!


This is 乌龟, co-owner of the car.

Initially, 乌龟 drove very slow, averaging at 40 km/h on a straight stretch and 20 km/h while navigating a turn. However, recently I found out that she has improved by leaps and bounds to the extent that I find it a challenge to keep up with her speed while we were on the highway.


乌龟 loves the Pearl Jade colour very much.

乌龟, just remember to drive safely, okie? :)

Sichuan earthquake

A moment of silence as a gesture of respect to all the victims of the Sichuan earthquake.

For the past month, my house's bathroom and toilet looked like it has just survived the infamous earthquake.


My father standing on what used to be the toilet bowl.

The renovator promised my brother to completely overhaul the bathroom and toilet in a short duration of 3 weeks.


Progress after 2 weeks.

Without a bathroom, I have to:

• put on multiple layers of baby powder before going to work without any bath
• brush my teeth and wash my face in company toilet every morning
• drop by at friends' house to bath after work and basketball game
• remind myself not to drink too much water before going back home

At the same time, I also have to visit the company toilet everyday before leaving to ensure that I did not bring home any unfinished business... if you know what I mean.

Thank God, the renovation is now 100% completed and these are what they looked like:


Raised platform for washing machine.


Door into washroom.


No more wall separating the bathroom from the toilet.

I like the bi-fold door a lot. It saves space and exudes contemporary feeling which differentiate it away from those overused panel door that you see everywhere.


Bi-fold door.

Now, you must be wondering whether I have encountered any scenario of experiencing stomachache or full bladder while I was at home during the renovation period.

The answer is a bolded Yes! How do I resolve it? Well, I can safely tell you that preparing a few plastic bags in my bedroom do come in handy. ;)