Car #2

Since hubby passed, what I most wanted to settle was his car.  It was a huge thing and I'd never driven it.  Well no choice but to keep it active.  It was my weekend job to 'exercise' the car.  The probate arrangements took about half a year so for all that time, I would drive round and round the neighbourhood, tears streaming down my face at the memories and the familiar smell of its interior.  I would talk to hubby mentally and also out loud as I drove.  Oh how I miss him.  The air-conditioning had gone kaput so it would be a hot drive.

The insurance and road tax expired while waiting for probate approval.  So when it finally came through, I had to get the mobile inspection unit to come (inspection being a necessary step before selling) - not cheap at RM500 a car.  Luckily his nephew in the car industry helped to arrange.

1. First visit:  Failed as the car couldn't start and the bonnet couldn't be opened to check the chassis number.  (What?! I was driving it just the weekend before!!)  RM500 gone.

2. Second visit a month later: Failed as his nephew had incorrectly informed there was no need to remove the window tinting film.  Another RM500 gone.

3.  Third visit after another month:  PASS. Phew.  I got the car transferred to my name and bought insurance/road tax. It was a 4-litre car and road tax was over 2k for just 6 months! 

4.  Next, the nephew arranged a runner to drive it for inspection, this time to sell.  The tyres were too bald to pass.  Never mind, the runner got the tyres changed so it could pass.  The engine overheated.  Never mind, the runner sprayed water on it.  Eventually, PASS.

5.  On the drive home, the engine overheated every 20 mins. Oh dear oh dear! 

6.  Next problem, no 2nd-dealer would take it as it was considered a 'high-risk' car which might be difficult to sell.  Hubby's nephew kept trying.

7.  Last problem, the engine temperature shot up the moment the engine was started.  I really didn't know how this car could be sold when it couldn't even be started.

Throughout all this, my anxiety levels were sky-high.  The car rapidly produced new problems.  I got the battery jump-started, but it went kaput and I had to replace it for RM800.  New fault messages kept appearing.  Engine oil leaked.  Leather inside peeled.  The plastic lever to open the bonnet broke.  Fortunately the boss of our nearby car workshop was super helpful.  He advised not to fix things as far as possible. He arranged for towing to his workshop when the battery died, he let me use his hydraulic jack without charge for the mobile inspection people to look at the chassis number under the car.  Of course I made sure to promptly pay for necessary repairs without question.

And finally, there was a buyer for the car.  They were dealers and knew what to do.  It was at a bargain price but I was happy to get rid of the problem.   

Goodbye hubby's car

Ah Mah's Birthday 2026

We celebrated my mother's birthday at Hao Xiang Chi, Setia Alam.  Food was good!  Portions, presentation and prices too!

The feast begins

After that no photos worth sharing because busy eating and chatting. :)

  

Messing around with the karaoke

Many candles to blow out!

As usual, a photo with the grandkids. Minus one who has gone off to university.

Grandparents and grandkids

And a photo with everyone. My sister's MIL joined us as well hence 3 'older' people.

Happy birthday to Ah Ma!

Here's to many more wonderful celebrations!

Oyster trouble

SE had been wanting to try raw oysters.  Finally ordered a half dozen.

Now to find out what this tastes like

JE had oysters before in Japan with hubby - super premium ones topped with uni/sea urchin.  Me and SE had gone back to the hotel earlier.

 

Oysters again

These oysters were fine but we confirmed none of us are big fans.

The following night, I had the worst vomiting-plus-diarrhoea episode in my life!  JE and SE had some stomach issues as well (fortunately far milder) so we narrowed down the cause to these oysters.  I'm surprised at the impact of just 2 oysters 1.5 days after consumption, on a stomach which is normally pretty tough.  

I'm going to be very wary of raw oysters from now on!

Car #1

At the same time the ceiling board crashed down, my 17yo car decided to spring a leak.  Of all the no-good times... sigh.  We were heading out when SE, who was sitting at the back, asked why there was a puddle of water in the car.  I looked back at the next traffic light and GOSH it was a veritable LAKE  with gentle waves!  I hadn't planned on changing this car.  It had been reliable as a spare car when my/hubby's cars had to go into a workshop, and hubby also used it to reserve the parking spot opposite our gate so our neighbour couldn't take it heh.  JE isn't of age to drive yet.  

Following chatGPT's instructions, I tried to find the leak so I could take it to be patched.  An exercise which only succeeded in scaring me that I could be having major problem on my hands.  Later that same day.... I thought why not change this car?  At 17 years, more problems were likely to crop up.  I was getting averse to encountering problems at this point.  And hubby HAD considered upgrading this car some years back (I had replied no need... since I wasn't the one maintaining it!).  So the next day we went to the car showroom.  :)

 

Fortunately there was a 16k rebate on this model going on while waiting for the facelift one.  

Processing took a few weeks.  Two 2nd-hand dealers came to look at the car.  The car had to be sent for inspection ahead of any sale.  I kept praying it wouldn't rain while all this was going on!  This car became a precious princess which had to be parked under shelter.  Once it rained unexpectedly and I ran out to drive it in.  Requested my maid to dry it out.  My dad recommended using a hair-dryer so Precious Princess received blow-dry service.  Finally the deal was struck and the dealer came to take the car.

Goodbye my car

A little sad seeing it leave the house for the last time.  Asked JE to stand beside the car for a photo - found this old post of me carrying baby JE next to this very car (I had cropped the photo and can't find the original).

And now she's a teenager

 

It rained heavily later that evening.  And my thought was, oh no is the car ok?  Both worrying that the dealer would call to complain about a big leak and also... after the weeks of caring for the car, I was genuinely concerned about its welfare!  It had served us well.

The Ceiling and the Water

One day I returned home to find the sky had fallen.  Heh ok ok it was the ceiling board.  JE said she'd informed me ages ago but I had mumbled something about how hubby used to handle repairs and I never had to trouble myself, then I entered the house and promptly forgot about it.  Well apparently it didn't repair itself and this happened.  Fortunately I had a number to call by now from my earlier wall repair.

Before

All fixed for RM3k.

After

Within the same month (August actually), my water bill suddenly shot up to about 30 times the usual.  I was in and out trying o check the problem using chatGPT, didn't work.  :)  Eventually googled for a plumber to come check and got some minor repairs in as well.  No issue was found, must have been a tap was left on while we were away for a week.  Tried to request a discount from the Water department but no luck.   

Fixing

Oh well.  At least the problems were settled.

Melaka Days 3 and 4

Even though 4d3n seemed quite long, it doesn't translate to all that many meals!  We aren't able to eat that much - well *I* can, but I gain weight fast nowadays.  JE and SE have appetites way smaller than mine.

Laksa kahwin (mixed curry and assam broth) and cendol at Jonker88 for is a must-do for me at Melaka.  We shared just one bowl of each...

Finishing off the laksa

... to reserve stomach space for The Stolen Cup cafe.  Coffee was good and also the combo of blueberries, walnut and ricotta drizzled with balsamic vinegar and honey on a bagel.  I was already thinking how to replicate this at home!  The Jamon ham dutch baby also did well though the ham did get progressively salty.  

Blueberry ricotta on a bagel

We returned to this cafe the next day - SE had the green shakshuka which she liked.  My spaghetti vongole was so-so (noting this down for the future)

Same cafe, second trip

For dinner, tried out this place called 'Sua.suana at Bunga Raya'.  We had fish&chips, the udang lemak nenas (prawn and pineapple in spicy curry) pizza and the lava cheesecake.  Not bad but would try other places next time. 

Prawn curry pizza

OK that's all the food I have to document.  I enjoyed this trip, though I was tired after and took a day to recover!  And that was with smooth traffic going home, at slightly over 2 hours.

Melaka Days 1 and 2

Since this was a foodie trip... 

First some freshly-baked pastries 

Daily Fix for dinner:  My fav sweet/savoury pancakes with bacon, sausage and caramelised banana was good as usual.  SE tried the risotto which was decent.  

Happy diners

JE's smoked duck was tasty but way too salty.  They should have served salad with this or halved the duck.

 

Smoked super-salty duck

The next day, tried Wild Coriander since my sis raved about it.  Hmm all the signature dishes were only average.  Concluded my sis doesn't have very good judgement haha.  Messaged her (she happened to have gone to Melaka as well a couple of days earlier) and she complained the standard had gone down.  Oh ok then.

Pie tee

Beef rendang platter and Nyonya laksa

JE perked up after getting a drink.  Tried the new blue drink from Zus.

Velvet Blue Smoothie 

What I like about Melaka is I could book accommodation near the happening Jonker Street, park upon arrival and not need to drive out anywhere. Traffic in Melaka is usually heavy and parking isn't easy to come by.  JE did want satay celup though which was not quite within walking distance.  Taking Grab to Ban Lee Siang cost only RM5, perfect!  The timing of our trip was great - since it was just after the Merdeka PH, the crowds had thinned out considerably.  It was only a short wait before we got our table.

We happily picked out sticks of food to dip into the peanut sauce to boil.  Hey but where were my favourite cockles?!  Sigh.  Probably they were not in season.  Cockles are getting rare these days.  As for the sauce, confirmed I prefer it compared to McQuek's.  Enjoyed our dinner which was cheap at below RM50 (would have been more if there had been cockles for me to pig out on!).

Yum yum

JE tried out the new matcha flavour from Mixue while waiting for our Grab back.

Quite good

So glad we took Grab, worth it as a fuss-free, stress-free solution.