Authorized Service Centre vs Your Favourite Mechanic

Service Centre (SC)
Please make an appointment, on weekdays only

Favourite Mechanic (FM)
You can come anytime abang.


SC
You need to change this part if not your car will have major damages

FM
Still good abang, no need to change yet, next service I change for you


SC
You can only use our motor oil or the waranty will voided

FM
You brought your own oil or you want to use ours?


SC
Hi sir, and you are (while opens a file in a computer) yes mr B, you want to service (open ups computer again), please wait for an hour

FM
Hi abg, your dad home? my dad wants to bring him out for minum2, my mum gives her regards to your mum


SC
Total cost will be RM 152.35.

FM:
Hmm RM 152.35, no prob, cincai jer, RM 150 only.

Service

This weekend I will service our 190e and Myvi. Oil change is the most common and frequent service that one will ever do to ones car. The oil or lubricant is the blood of the engine, and when the blood is dirty, we are just steps away of major repairs. So we must follow the service interval that our car recommend. Most people and workshops seemed to be following the cult of changing your oil at every 3000 miles or 5000km. This is the same oil interval when car was invented almost 100 years ago. I would think after all these years, the interval would be a lot longer. However it seems there is a conspiracy among all the workshop when they say, you should always change your oil at 5000km, because its the safest choice. However, I would recommend you check your car manual and see the real service interval. Most modern cars now, need only an oil change every 10,000km, or 6 months, which is double the lies that the workshop tell you (5000km, 3 months). One of the reason for this short oil change interval is the oil that they use. In the old days, mineral oil is used, now days, synthetic or synthetic blend is used. The synthetic oil last much longer than regular mineral oil and much more durable. Engine that uses 100% synthetic oil can run up to 20,000km per change or 2 years. All they need is a top up and oil filter change every 12 months. This depends on the car manual though.

Check their websites if they do show you how you have to pay for each service. Perodua shows a detailed price and parts that they replaced

Now days most car comes with an extended warranty. My Viva has a 6 years warranty, which brings a piece of mind for me because the installment for my car is 7 years. Its important to follow the service interval the manufacturer has set up upon your car in order to keep the warranty intact. Which means I have to line up or set up an almost incovinient appointment with the Service Centre to get my Viva serviced. This can be something of con/lie/extortion to an extent. For example, according to my dad's Accord manual, the car needs to have an oil change every 10,000km or 1 year, however the warranty that Honda Malaysia sets is that the car needs to have an oil change every 3 months or 5000km. Last time I sent the car for servicing I was somehow talked into choosing a fully synthetic oil change. This oil is expensive, it cost about RM 200 ++ per 4 litre bottle, and its going to be drained out after 3 months, 9 months early that it is supposed to be designed. For me its just one way Honda Malaysia to make more money by ensuring people come to their service centers. They have solex proof contract that you will have to service at their centre, using their oil, at their interval in order to keep your warranty void. Having a car is like gambling, sometime you will get a car that will give you no problem, sometimes it will give you hell, which is why we have to follow the interval.

Honda shows you the cost of each service they do. I find it unbelievable that they still performed oil change at every 5000km, they label it as preventive maintenance. I say its extortion, since we are forced to follow this service interval, you can lessen the blow to your wallet by using a semi synthetic oil.

Sleep

Sleep is my best friend and worst enemy. Sleep is my best friend, when I am tired, when I am sleepy and when I want to get away from the world. Its free, its fun, and I can do it almost anywhere. I will almost always sleep in the car, the motions in a vehicle feels just like the hand that rocks the cradle. My grandmother's house is another place that deserves some Zzz, even though its on the carpet with no pillow with a dozen people walking around me. The bed in my room is the default choice, whether with the aircond or with the fan. Both cools me down nicely. Sleep is my worst enemy when I have a lot of work to do, and when I have tons of journals to read. Journals make me sleepy, the rate to comprehend them tires me out, which is why I need a pen and paper beside the journals to get something out of it. Its frustrating that I could sleep when there is an important paper coming up or an important exam coming up. Its incredibly frustrating not to be able to develop imsonia like other people. It made me feel so jealous they have the extra time to sleep. Sleep, the best friend to have, the enemy to hate, excuse me while I take a short nap after my Sahur before going to class, if I do decide to get up to lab.

5 more minutes, 5 more minutes...zzzzzzzzz

The Best

You know that time of the year again, the time to hunt for the best food for iftar (buka puasa) and the ramadan bazaar. These bazaar seem to pop out everywhere and creates massive traffic jams as part of its collateral damage. There are some who wants to earn extra cash by setting up a part time business while some its a welcoming way to attract more customers to their old business. One of the things I like to do now, which I learned from my parents is to hunt for the best food. My parents are on the hunt for the best Nasi Kerabu, a rice dish originated from the north eastern part of Malaysia, that is characterized by its distincitve taste of budu, and variety of raw veggies. Quite hard to find the one that is actually made to be enjoyed instead of made to be sold. For me, I am on the hunt for the best mutabak, so far I found one shop I particulalry liked, which made delicious mutabak. We also found a place that sells really good soy bean drink. The bazaar is an excellent way for us to try out new food, since we have around 27 fays of bazaar day (they tend to close up nearing Aidil Fitri). However one must remember to practice moderation when buying food from the bazaar as praticing in moderation is part of the duties in the holy month. Besides, how much food can you cram at one setting without skipping terawikh anyways :p

Freshlook Colorblends

Look at these boxes of contact lenses. Not just any contact lenses, but colour contact lenses. As the name states, its a color contact lenses for those who likes to have a different eye color to what they naturally have. These are FreshLook Colourblends, these contact lenses has 3 layer of colours that makes them incredibly natural looking. FreshLook Colourblends blends with your natural eye colour so that it will work with you instead of against you. My sister has been wearing them for more than 2 years now, and she loves them. They are the only contact lenses that is suitable for her, she tried clear ones, but her eyes reacted badly to them. It baffles the optician, but each person is different right.

Usually these are monthly lenses meaning you have to throw them away after 30 days, but her optician that recommends her FreshLook Colourblends said these lenses can last up to 90 days if you clean them well. She uses AMO Complete to clean her lenses. My sister makes sure she rub the lenses well to remove the protein from the lenses, because protein deposits makes the contact lenses uncomfortable to wear. She rubs the lenses gently between her fingers for 30 seconds and rinsing it with the solution before putting in its case. My sister repeats the same step before inserting it in her eyes. The lenses are made from a different material than those monthly contact lenses, which I guess makes them more durable. However, each person is different, so you adjust your wearing period accordingly. Different people has different protein deposit production. Those who produce a lot of protein deposit may need to use protein tablets or use those "one a day" daily disposable lenses. I used them before too, just for kicks

Brilliant Blue, a new more noticeable shade look nice. It kinda matches my skin well even though blue is very unnatural for a pure Malay.

Grey seemed like the default choice for many Malays.

I liked green because it blends in so well with my natural eyes, its almost unnoticeable

I like brown, because it make my eyes look amber, very Thai. This was supposedly to be a discreet colour but my eyes were dark brown naturally so this intensify my regular eyes.

I copied my sister and used amethyst. In this light in looks purple, but in normal light, people don't even noticed it unless they stare into my eyes

You must be wondering did I actually bought all the colours? Actually I did but not at the same time, and I never bought blue. This is actually a simulator at FreshLook Colourblends website.

Its a really cool website where you can view all the available contact lenses and you can even upload your pictures just like I did and view yourself wearing the lenses. Even though you have no sight problem, you can get the lenses without any power, my younger sister bought Sterling Grey for Raya and she does not need glasses. Or you can just fool around with upload photo feature of the website and play around with the colour of your eyes

Just One Of Those Days

Just on of those days, when you feel everything is wrong, and everything is not right. This is one of those days. I dunno where I place my things, I got bad news that my scholarship is not going to be renewed, my friend was kinda suspected with H1N1, but she said it was food poisoning, another felt demotivated for not being able to finish her thesis. I feel terrible for not saving up enough money, I save only enough to cover my school fees, even now, the thought of having to further extend scares and scars me deeply. So much for financial independent, I have done everything that you should not have when dealing with money. It made me think about, a house purchase in the future. It's like, I don't think I can do everything withing the next 5 years. A house, a PhD, a bigger car, a pure bred cat. My prof told me that he had to extend his Phd, and the government cut his salary in half, since his scholarship was only for 3 years. Right now, I have a little taste of what he is experiencing but lucky for me, I have no one depending on me right now. I mingle with those who are already working, and its hard not to feel jealous a bit, but who knows, all that stuff that they bought is charged on credit cards, and they are slowly building up debt. I don't know, maybe I am thinking too much about other things that is not important. I just want to finish now, and then go on to the next step of my life and bitch about that part.

.....

simply no title could be place on this post, its because i am writing in the middle of the night while laying on my stomach in my bed in the dark. i can't sleep or more precisely i am afraid to sleep, last night was terrible with my dreams going on full torque making over dramatic scenes of my regular life. as i was waiting for isyak prayer at the surau, i dozed off a bit only to find out i was day dreaming my nightmares. its feel so tiring, now i am hesistating to go to sleep, even my hearts pounds as i close my eyes, so many things happened at the same time, i am not sure anymore, whether i am over reacting over paranoid or just something else, perhaps is the former two.. well.. i do hope so.

Tough day today. So many things on my mind, that I can't even sleep peacefully because the problems manifested in dreams. Worse still when I shut my eyes my mind automatically starts to play out these problems, and I am still not even asleep. Its like daydreaming during the night, which is so weird. Sigh... I think its better to blurt it out here rather than having it floating around in my mind. I need a plain night of sleep, perhaps this is this years challenge for me

Shop

I started my Hari Raya shopping quite early. Actually, I have stuff for raya, that was bought months before fasting even started. It keeps the hassle away from shopping at the last minute. I now just need to buy a new songkok, and some buttons for my baju Melayu. Its kinda nice now, that I have a clue on what to buy, thanks to a dear friend who never fail to compliment or criticized what I ever wear around him (you would know this right if you are reading this :p), which is why around him I try my best to get something nice, and see his reaction. If its a good one, the compliments comes fast, but if its a bad one, it comes out a bit later, if I look average, I probably be ignored :)). Anyways, its good thing to have a friend like that, now I actually know what to buy. Now I don't look like a walking tent except when wearing some old clothes. Thanks also for my magazine which I recently followed again, Maskulin, the fashion guru gave me a great advice on choosing pants. Choose low rise, or pants that sits below the waist. This is because for those with larger waist, the pants will have a long inseam, which means I can pull my pants almost to my armpits if I choose normal pants that is sized 38-40. I also learn that each shirts and pants from different brands, have different cuts. Its kinda sad to learn about it now, but better late then never right. Well, I was kinda excited to know how to shop, and even better, most of the stuff that is available for my size, is on sale. My eyes wen't bewildered with all the 50% and above sales. There were to many to choose from :), now I know how my sister feels when she shops for great deals. Its feels euphoric

Fasting

I am not sure what is the problem, its only been two days of fasting and yet I feel its been two weeks. Have I been that weak?. It feels like I have experienced half of the fasting month experience. I went to Tarawikh prayer, including a day I felt like the world is spinning around me (headache), I break fasting and sahur with family, I did the same with friends, I did some shopping for Raya. In summary whatever the things I did for 15 days last year, I done it in 3 days. Now I just got work waiting for me on Monday with my prof calling on both Saturday and Sunday. That kinda sucked and spoiled my whole weekend, but that is a supervisors job to do right. Sigh. Anyways, in my family, we like to break our fasting with something that is not rice related, because we feel its a bit to heavy. Especially for my mother, youngest sister and I who always go for Tarawikh prayer, I try to go everyday if possible. We usually have fritters, "kuih", noodles, sandwiches, bread or any finger foods. This usually make my friends family dropped, since most of them take something heavy when breaking the fast. However during sahur, my family will have something heavy, usually rice with fish, chicken, beef or any other "lauk" along with veggies. Its quite heavy which is different with my friend who prefer to just drink water or have something light. I guess our family is total opposites. Anyways 28 days to go, and I am going to make some of the raya cookies, which is my infamous chocolate chip nut and raisin oatmeal cookies. Due stop by if you want some this raya then ;)

These are birds at the KL bird park that I went to a few weeks ago. They have a humongous parrot cage where you can feed the birds. The birds are quite friendly and they will happily perch on your hands to feed or drink. Due to the hot weather, most would prefer to drink up the milk. It cost only RM 2 to feed them, and its quite fun to do so.

So many birds, just eager to be fed. They are colorful and very tame, although I won't tempt them to bite my hands though.

Chilli

This is the proud chilli plant my parents planted outside right next to my bedroom. While I was typing thesis my mother suddenly call me out. She said "quick take a photo of our chilli plant". I thought it was kinda weird, its not like they never seen chilli plant before.

My mother told me, that this is the first time her chilli plant matured on the tree, if not the fungus will have attacked the chilli and the chilli is lost, so they have to pluck the cherry from the tree and let it ripe outside.

Great Fit

Fit? My health or my clothes. Quite flattering and funny when people said I have been loosing weight or gaining weight within just a few days. My mom is worse, within few hours she will say I gained or loose weight. I guess its all about the perfect fitting clothes and correct length of trousers. However no reason to object what they said, even though I did not run on the treadmill for the past 2 weeks, I did have my dinner much2 earlier. 6pm is usually the time I get home, and the time I have dinner in front of the TV watching reruns of The Nanny with my youngest sister. My trainer when I was still at the gym did tell me, if you really want to slim down, control your diet, which I did not so I did not really loose weight but I did fit into some smaller clothes, and some how I think most of the smaller clothes still fit. Fuh!!!! :D

Shopalot

I like going grocery shopping, I like it far more than shopping for clothes, shoes, gadgets or anything else. This is why I failed miserably when shopping for clothes, shoes, gadgets or anything else, and how I could sense which section sells a car perfume and which section sells room perfume (car perfume near the DIY section usually, while room perfume is near the detergent section). I guess it could be the works of my mother, who often take me to the grocery shops when we were in the US. Buy for Less, Target, Lion, Walmart, etc, I knew each of the stores well and I could tell you where anything is. We also were advert coupon cutter and contantly seeking out coupons. My dad was doing his degree at that time, so we had to save here and there. My mother even sneaked out a coupon booklet from the newspaper without even buying the newspaper :p. Anyways, I enjoyed the sight and smell of the grocery stores. I even enjoy looking at the stuff people buy in the supermarket. It kinda tells you a bit about their life, that new rice cooker, pots and basic ingredients probably show that Nepalnese worker has just arrived here, that pack of Durex the middle eastern couple bought is probably because they are not financially ready to have children while they are studying here, or that unsually large amount of leafy vegetable, cooking oil and rice shows that they might run catering or food business. Its fascinating really, to see how parents raise the children. You can see some well behave (or scared as hell) children who quitely follow their parents while shopping, while some are just whiney brats. I can only blame the parents because children are a blank piece of paper, I don't remember being loud and obnoxious when I was little.

Weak

I have to admit, my biggest weakness at the moment right now, is sleeping. Some how lately, sleeping has been much more interesting than anything else, its not really the time of sleep, but more to the time I wake up. I refuse to wake up, because dreamland seemed much more interesting. I would get up, take a shower, put on some fresh clothes, pray and then go right back to sleep in those fresh clothes. Dreams that appear when you sleep after you wake up is so much better. I refuse to wake up just because I want to know what will happened next or what choices do the characters in the dream are going to make.

Cool Cars

C Ooooh the Renault Megane CC. CC stands for coupe and cabriolet. Yes, this is exactly like the Mercedes SLK, Peugeot 207 CC, BMW convertible, and Volvo C70. Its a 2 door coupe and a hardtop convertible. The roof will fold and stow itself in the boot. Watching these car with its origami like fold that stows the roof into the boot in less than 30 seconds is astonishing. However the boot space is cut into half once the roof is stowed in the boot. Majoriy of the people working in my University, drives regular cars, as usual Myvi dominates the parking lot with an equal mixture of Viva, Wira, and Saga. Although some cars stands out in the lot, such as the Mazda 6, Suzuki Swift Sport and the Estima. However sometimes if I am lucky other rare gems such as the Megana CC or the BMW 6 series will be parked in the lot. It makes you wonder if the people working their bought the cars or their spouses did. Anyhow, it makes great eye candy for me.

Workshop

It seem workshop and myself cannot be replaced. Right now our silver MPV windshield is crack so we need to change it. Luckily we have insurance for the cracked windshield, so no problem there. As I look at the insurance documents, I found out the value of the Naza Ria and Myvi. The Naza Ria is worth only RM40k, after 4 years, which means it only retains 40% of it original value, while the Myvi is worth RM33k after 4 years, but remember our Myvi cost only RM54 instead of the RM90k of the Ria, so it still retains 60% of the orignal value. This resale value is comparable to Japanese cars. It helps that after 4 years since its debute, its still the best selling car in Malaysia.

Thoughts 2

I been neglecting this blog for a while. Sometimes I have so many things to write but usually its something that I think on the spot. If I waited till nighttime or till I am free, the idea will be gone already. Maybe I should write it on something first, so I can rewrite it yah? I have a Blackberry now, which I absolutely adore. I thought flip phones was my ideal phone but the QWERTY keypad on the Blackberry and other similar devices (Nokia E71/E61) is very addictive but then when I checked online, there is a phone called Blackberry Pearl, which is a fli phone T_T .....now that is my ideal phone which combines two things I like about Blacberry's. Anyhow, I need a data plan or internet plan to really make use of my Blackberry, but I am grateful with what I got now. Anyhow, this Sunday feels very hot in the evening, I thought it was the Cambodian tea, that I gotten as a gift from my blogger friend (could be a diet tea :D) but it was the weather. I tried to resist from turning on the aircond, but I failed. At least I set the temperature at 25 degrees Celcius, so it's not that bad.

Anyways, I been having gas, more often than I should. I must admit that I have been neglecting to do run/walk on the treadmill for 2 weeks. When I mean gas, its more to burping that passing wind, exercise really help to get the"wind" out. Perhaps I should chew more during meal time..

My -20 Celcius freezer has to much frost, so the all of the "mysterious" packages from my Advisor is still in it. Little do I know, that my horrific experience with the dead animals, was not over. There were still other carcases in the bag. How do I know? When I defrost the fridge, it smell rotten. Now I am worried either with the stench or that I am used to it. Dettol is my friend for this week and I can mop better now to wipe all that run off from the freezer. The freezer was built with a bad design from my point of view, since the liquid that melted from defrosting the fridge goes all over the floor. You can't put anything to contained it because the tube is directly floor level. At least I did a lot of defrosting action today, I even got to remove chunks of ice from the freezer. Handling carcasses is something I wish to never do again in the future. The smell linger for days even though I use gloves to handle them. This is a experience and a reminder that I should finish up.

I have no waist. No waist at all, just a belly and a thigh. How do people normally wear their pants anyway. Normal as in those with out a belly. If they measure it at the tailors, my waist is around 40 but if I do wear a size 40 trousers, it will fall down. If I do wear a belt, there will be this ugly fold because it seems that the pants are too big. 38 feels tight as if the buttons will pop out but that is the one that seem to fit me better, as painfully as it is. At this age, I have learned to dress properly, which kinda embarrassing, now I know the exact length of my trousers if I had them shorten (37 inches, exactly), the width of my shoulders when buying a shirt (16 1/2), waist size? it depends on the trousers (38-42), shoe size (8 or 9, or 42 depending on which country the size is) and the stitching of the sleeve that connects to the shirt should be on your shoulder. Now I know why some people seem to be wearing some so perfectly fitting and I look lost in my clothes. Now I feel like window shopping and trying on clothes. My mother told me I am not as big as I used to be? I don't really believe her, but then when checking out my old clothes, everything seem to big. Perhaps during my school days, I could recount the many time my inseams of my trouser rips open, and the buttons pop out. It was terrible, which made me decide to buy every piece of clothing with the biggest size possible (What is your largest size?) Now I know why it takes some people hours just to buy a shirt, a pants and a shoe.

Speaking of shoes, maybe I should take picture of my sisters shoe closet, it will probably make women glee or excitement or green with envy. Shoes for all occasions, all in closets (yes, there is more than one closet) that is the same size as as my clothes closet.

This Is The Way

This is the way you left me, I'm not pretending, no hope, no love, no glory, no happy endings. This is the way that we love, like its forever. The live the rest of our lives, but not together

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I love a good hearbreak song, it reminds of what happends if you let go of a relationship, but sometimes for the sake of yourself, you need to let go and move on to something better. If anything happends at least I have a song to drown my sorrows in.

Happy Ending - Mika



This is the way you left me,

I'm not pretending.

No hope, no love, no glory,

No Happy Ending.



This is the way that we love,

Like it's forever.

Then live the rest of our life,

But not together.



Wake up in the morning,

stumble on my life

Can't get no love without sacrifice

If anything should happen,

I guess I wish you well

A little bit of heaven,

but a little bit of hell



This is the hardest story that I've ever told

No hope, or love, or glory

Happy endings gone forever more

I feel as if I'm wasted

And I'm wastin' every day



This is the way you left me,

I'm not pretending.

No hope, no love, no glory,

No Happy Ending.

This is the way that we love,

Like it's forever.

Then live the rest of our life,

But not together.



2 o'clock in the morning,

something's on my mind

Can't get no rest keep walkin' around

If I pretend that nothin' ever went wrong,

I can get to my sleep

I can think that we just carried on

This is the hardest story that I've ever told

No hope, or love, or glory

Happy endings gone forever more

I feel as if I'm wasted

And I'm wastin' every day



This is the way you left me,

I'm not pretending.

No hope, no love, no glory,

No Happy Ending.

This is the way that we love,

Like it's forever.

Then live the rest of our life,

But not together.



A Little bit of love, little bit of love

Little bit of love, little bit of love[repeat]

I feel as if I'm wasted

And I waste everyday



This is the way you left me,

I'm not pretending.

No hope, no love, no glory,

No Happy Ending.



This is the way that we love,

Like it's forever.

To live the rest of our life,

But not together

Indecisive

Indecisive.. hmm I been spelling it with Un in front, all day long. Oh well.. Anyways procrastination is bad since you are putting of work tomorrow that you can do today which means double the work tomorrow. However be in indecisive is worse from my point of view. You are literally stuck at a fork road when doing something. You have to measure up the pros and cons of each path that you take, which results in a lot of idling time. I hate that, just idling with a reason. I like my idling time doing nothing, at least that is a choice, instead of just idling and thinking which is better. This makes a terrible shopper or a good one since I could spend hours just looking a products that I need to buy. However if it results trying to choose between two brands of butter at Tesco. I think I may have gotten overboard now. Right now I wish I could make up my decision in the least time possible, so I can get more work done. Reminders that I should have finished with my research are popping out every where. I need to choose now.

Days Go By

Past rants, written but not uploaded...





My two old phones are aging, I bought them two years ago after I first got my research assistant allowance. After 5 years of using a Nokia 3310 and borrowing various phones from family members, I finally got my own flip phone. It was kinda silly that I finally gotten a phone with a color screen and a camera, albeit a VGA, but still, it’s a camera. Plus a customable ring tone instead of the mono ring tones. I am not the type of person who would go and change phones a few months but I am the type who would repair his phones, despite people saying that I should just buy a new phone, if the repairs are more than RM50. What the hacks? I have to fork out at least 300 to get a phone similar to what I have now, do they expect me to downgrade to the predecessor of the 3310, with the same black and white screen but with built in phonebook and flashlight…
















Gosh I wanna write so many things, but I ended up forgetting about it. Notice how sometime you would plan to have the perfect night to yourself and studying but only to have people ruining it for you because they are being an ass of themselves..

An African Wild Ass