Month: November 2009

Men will be boys.

My boyfriend has a weekly routine of playing badminton with his buddies. I don’t really fancy that because I’m just clingy & psychotic like that. So I always try to get him out of it, feigning tonnes of excuses to get him to spend time with me instead of his racquet and the shuddercock. Most times he accommodates but sometimes he blew me off.

These couple of weeks though, he’s been really good, spending all his time with me instead of hitting the court. I’ve been very pleased and thought he had finally come to his senses on how a majorly enjoyable company I am and how he loves me so much that he wants to spend every waking minute with me. I of course, took care not to ask him why he hadn’t been playing badminton lest it reminded him of how much he enjoys the game and decided to go back to leaving me alone for two hours and then coming home in perspiration soaked clothes that stink up the apartment.

Today, while on the way to dinner, he suddenly mentioned that he hadn’t been playing badminton for so long and he misses it. As the understanding girlfriend, of course I was forced to ask him in the most tender way, “How come you haven’t been playing, babber?”

“Cause I want to spend time with you lor”. My heart star burst into a million rays of pure love. Safe to say, I was in a great mood despite my tiring day at work.

A while later, we chatted about Charlie, our canine son. How his smell permeated his new car and all and how useful the car seat covers for pets are. I wholeheartedly agreed with him…..till he said, “Yeah, I’m planning to buy one for the driver’s seat too so that my sweat won’t get absorbed into it”.

F.M.L.

Car conundrum.

I’m about to make the biggest personal purchase of my life. A car. A freaking car that will depreciate by half in 5 years (yikes).

Here’s my problem. I can’t bring myself to buy just any car. One that I can actually afford. One that is reliable and have high resale value but oh so boring it makes me nauseous and my skin crawls. The boyfriend said I’m being overly dramatic. I’m not.

Can you imagine how I drive my Kelisa for 6 long years without getting sick all over the dashboard? I also don’t know how I managed. I guess it has to do with the fact that my parents bought it for me. I suppose not actually owning it makes me feel like it’s a temporary arrangement, me and my Kelisa. And soon, she will head into another temporary relationship with my little brother. Yes, it’s a she.

It doesn’t mean I never loved Kelisa, I did very much, still do. I remember the very first time I drove her, the smell of new plastic and the sheer pride in my stomach. I remember the comparisons I made between her and my very first car, the Kancil (which basic rims I sprayed white to match the car’s exterior, my gawd I’m such an Ah Beng) and how sad I felt when the handbrake felt loose after I lend her to my brother for a couple of weeks. I remember every accident I had been in with her. Bullying 4WDs on the road. Pushing 140kmh in Penchala Tunnel. Naughty things that happened inside her. Ah, memories.

I felt all these for her but yet I still long to drive a different car. And now that I finally can, I feel like I’m abandoning her. And I feel like she will be sad. I think it’s my hoarding complex. Maybe I’m just crazy. I hope my little brother will treat her well, because she treated me really well.

So I have been considering a lot about buying this new car. Age vs resale value. 2 door vs 4 door. Horsepower vs maintenance costs. 5 year loan to ensure reasonable equity for a better car in the future or 9 year loan driving a much sweeter car but face the risks of negative equity.

The biggest problem I face now though is I just can’t simply dump my hard-earned deposit onto a car I’m neutral about. I need to like it. I need to feel cool pulling out of a parking space. I need it to match my designer bags that I’ll be buying (which I haven’t because they don’t match poor Kelisa. There you go, another complex in the life of me :P). There’s only one thing I know, I want a used car because the mere mention of depreciation makes me grouchy, like you wouldn’t believe.

I’ve set an appointment to test drive a car this weekend. It’s European and it’s only 2 years old. It’s rare which I like but a bit too rare that I’m marginally nervous about the maintenance and spare parts. Not particularly striking looks but it’s got space. It’s going to cost me so much I won’t be able to afford designer bags to match it anymore :( But instead of 140kmh max, I could hit 180kmh and that’s by far the biggest draw.

I should probably just get an Accord but I’m choosing to go to hell.