The Inherited Mini Cooper

Remember Aiden's yellow convertible Mini Cooper S?

If you don't, I wrote about it for the very first time here. It was Aiden's early present for his second birthday. Since Aiden is now five, he can no longer fit into the car. Wait, I stand corrected. He can sit in the car but his knees go above the steering wheel - so I told Aiden that it was time to pass the car down to Ian.

That afternoon, I nervously placed Ian into the car and strapped him in tightly with the seatbelt. It was going to be his first time in the moving car, and I was quite edgy about his reaction. Especially since he was just learning to balance himself in moving objects, such as shopping carts.

The first time the car jerked forward, both his hands flew up in surprise. But I was so glad that he didn't cry! After a few practice forward drives, he finally figured out that he had to hold the steering wheel to keep himself steady. And after that, everything was a breeze! I used the remote control to drive the car all around the neighbourhood, and I could see that he was having the time of his life. Meanwhile, Aiden escorted us with his 4-wheeler bicycle. It was a very fun walk!

Both hands on the steering wheel! 

One hand keeping himself steady (on the steering wheel or on the door of the car), and the other was busy exploring the features of the car.

Aiden probably lost interest in the car when he was about 4 years old. Hence for the past two years, it was just parked in our kitchen (parking cars in kitchens??!!) unused. Which explains why I completely forgot that the car had night lights!

Night lights!

So apart from having a fully functioning radio (fancy listening to Hitz.FM, Ian?), a loud honk, and a jack for you to connect your iPod so that you could play your own music using the car's speaker system - the car even has night lights! And, everything functions as well as when we bought it nearly 4 years ago!

And, unlike real cars, this car appreciates with time! Just like a Chanel handbag *grin*. We bought the Mini Cooper back in 2011 for RM599. Guess how much it is nowadays? RM740, no kidding!

It comes in red too!

Ian, if you're reading this in the future and you feel like complaining about always having to receive hand-me-downs from your Abang Aiden, don't feel bad because we're in the same boat. Mummy is now using Daddy's hand-me-down Mini Cooper, so at least we're driving the same car!

Ian's signature scrunched face, when he realized that Mummy drives the same car!

Our New Baby Beemer

Finally, after deliberating for soooooo long, we decided to sell my Baby Beemer for a new Baby Beemer. Truth to be told, after 6 years, the cost for maintaining the car was getting a bit too exorbitant; we were paying 4digits every few months. *sigh* First it was the jerking, which took 5 trips to the workshop (each costing about 4 digits!!) to fix. Well we were partly to blame as well cos we tried to use a second hand part (to reduce cost) and just my luck, the part became faulty just after the one month warranty. So then I had to fork out more money for original parts. Then the power window for the left back seat malfunctioned. Then one day, as Hubby was reversing out from a parking lot, the brake refused to work! He had to jam his foot down to force the brake to stop the car! Imagine, something as safety critical as brakes could malfunction without any indication of wear and tear! And the most recent was the radiator, so I had to keep topping up water to prevent overheating until we fixed it. Not to mention, the daily wear and tear - interior, exterior and ailing suspension. While we were fixing the radiator, I asked the mechanic to provide us a quotation for fixing everything, and I literally balked when I saw the price. It was about half the cost of a down payment for a new basic 3-series.

Despite everything, I definitely cherish my memories with Baby Beemer. Six years ago, I've always admired the 3-series but always assumed that it was too expensive for my reach. Then the Sakhalin opportunity came along and with my expat salary, I thought I could probably afford a Mercedes, even going as far as placing a deposit back then. Biasalah, shopaholics don't shop around, they simply buy! Then Hubby managed to convince me to check out Auto Bavaria. And we found out that since Hubby was working with Sime Engineering, we could get an 8% discount from the actual price, making it just a bit more expensive than the Mercedes! So I quickly cancelled my cheque deposit (but I felt so guilty to the guy who sold me the Mercedes, I met up with him separately to give him an angpow of RM200) and placed my order with Auto Bavaria. Of course, drama queens always attract drama - I was quite adamant that I wanted my car to be Graphite Grey in colour, but the sales associate kept telling me that if I wanted the SE (special edition) version, I would have to settle with any remaining colours they had because they were phasing out the SE for the basic (and cheaper) version. So I grudgingly agreed for black. By chance, (I don't remember exactly how), I found out that there were a few graphites but they were given to some other customers just because I had settled for black. I kicked up such a big fuss, even going to the extent of contacting the branch manager and insisted on changing to a different sales advisor (which was a blessing in disguise because the replacement, Ken, is such a god sent with fabulous PR skills and tip top service).

I also remember tendering for the plate number 1221 and failing the first time. Tendered a larger sum the second time and finally got the news while I was in Russia that I scored the plate and the car was ready for collection. Then conniving me decided to surprise Hubby with the car. I deliberately told him that my trip home was postponed and tricked him into believing that our area was going through a communications black out for a day due to some server upgrading works. How he believed that, is still a mystery to me now! So I boarded the plane home and during transit in Korea, texted Ken to inform him  that I was on route home to pick up the car. Landed in KLIA and took a taxi directly to Auto Bavaria, luggage and all. Ken gave me a short briefing of the car, and then... I drove the car on the road for the very first time! Terkumat kamit baca Bismillah and segala surah whilst driving to Hubby's office. Got to his office just after lunch time, and called him. Imagine his shock when I told him that I was downstairs, with the new car!!! (Then on the way back to his office that afternoon, I nearly got into an accident, stupid car in front of me made an emergency brake and I had to do the same, screeching tyres and all. Well, at least I got to test the brakes!)

Anyway, Baby Beemer has been through all of our ups and downs. It has Aiden's milk spots all over its back seat (which we would dutifully wipe clean), scratches in its interior due to Aiden's curious prying fingers, brought both Aiden and Ian home for the very first time, witnessed us signing the S&P to our new house, lovingly carted our possessions when we moved house, put up with the minor accidents and dents we caused (I was once in an accident where I was sandwiched between a Honda and a lorry - Honda's boot was dented in and the lorry's fender broke but our car suffered no dents at all, just minor scratches) and of course, drove us everywhere we needed to go.

10th February 2014, we finally surrendered Baby Beemer to be traded in.

Farewell Baby Beemer - you have served us well for 6 years.

So, why another Beemer? Honestly, Hubby was swayed by the Audi. We test drove the Audi twice, and both times I sulked. After driving a Beemer for 6 years, I do not want any other car! Despite the faults I listed earlier, really - what more can you expect from a six year old car? And, why another 3-series? Well, that was Hubby's decision in entirety. He claimed he is too young for a 5-series *ppffttt* and also he fell in love with the 328 M Sport, the highest spec in the 3-series line. Something about performance or torque or speed of the car - whatever! I, on the other hand couldn't care less; as long as he decided on another Beemer.

19th February 2014, say hello to our new Baby Beemer.

Waiting to be picked up at the showroom.

20th February 2014, we went to pick up the car. Check out that smile!

See the blue line across the dashboard of the car? That's a signature to show that the car is an M Sport. The 328 also comes with a bigger iDrive screen complete with map navigation. Please don't ask me about the features under the hood!

Using the back seat seatbelt for the first time.

Similar to when I picked up our first Baby Beemer, before you can drive the car out of the showroom, Auto Bavaria would conduct a one-to-one briefing about the car, its features and answer any questions you may have. This is Hubby listening intently to Ken's explanation.

Aiden all excited!

That weekend, we brought (the new) Baby Beemer for its first long distance maiden drive. Balik kampung for my brother's engagement. We were given strict instructions not to use the Sports mode or go above a certain RPM during the run-in period, but even with all those restrictions, the car's performance was an absolute dream. On the highway it took Hubby every ounce of his self restraint to not push the pedal all the way down!

Our car in the convoy of cars heading to my brother's fiance's house.

Can you spot Baby Beemer?

My favourite dish bila balik kampung!

Poor Aiden - he didn't get into this picture.

All of us.

Selfie with my sister.

Now that Hubby has proclaimed that Baby Beemer is his car (some excuse about how I can't handle the performance of the car *scoff* or was it because he paid the downpayment?), I guess I am now saddled with driving his car to work daily. Takpelah, smaller car, easier to park, and the best part is - Aiden has the same car too! *grin*

Hello Mini Cooper! We're going to have a lot of adventures together!

Aiden's car is so cute, I wish I have the courage to spray paint his car red to match mine!

A Recap of January

To continue the previous post, what happened in January?

1) We went up and down, in and out various hospitals. After Prince Court, we went to get a second opinion at SJMC and a third opinion at IJN. Did a bit of research, used my connections (two friends referred us to two different cardiologists in IJN while a relative referred us to an anesthesiologist who used to work in IJN) to get more information and finally we narrowed our choices down to only two hospitals. Since Hubby's condition is so unique, we found out that only two doctors are able to work his case in the whole of Malaysia, and they are in IJN and Gleneagles respectively.

Thank god for full coverage with the Dutch Oil Company (which also means I probably can never stop working)!!

2) My (only) eldest brother (whom I last met in Los Angeles back in 2008) came home for a short visit. And we met up with him over dinner at Fatty Crab in Petaling Jaya.

Nothing can beat this, yet.

The one on the right is my sister in law. When I was visiting them, she brought me shopping to all the best factory outlets! She even coaxed me into buying my dream Lady Dior and also another small Dior tote which ultimately consumed half of my Sakhalin paycheque back then. She taught me that when shopping in the US, if you see something just buy it as you can always go home, think about it and return it the next day if you don't like it! So don't mess with this petite lady, she is definitely a sifu in shopping-tology!

My brother is home!

After dinner, we went to visit Abang Ramli at his 'room' in my Dad's hotel. Abang Ramli (or should I say Datuk Haji Ramli MS?) and my brother go back a long way - they once produced an album together for a band who's name escapes me (that's how unpopular the band was) in the 90s.

Saw this lying on his room floor, must be the scores for AJL. Still can't believe Hafiz won Best Vocal!

Aiden exploring Abang Ramli's washing machine and dryer. Can you believe he has these and a microwave and a mini studio all cramped in a hotel room? Good to know he's moving into a house he built soon. Saw the 3D pictures of his new home and I was drooling over the concept. It even comes equipped with a humongous studio! (What else to expect, that is his bread and butter.)

3) Aiden starts to show interest in donning a kepiah and standing beside Daddy to pray! Although his attention starts to waiver as soon as Daddy starts to rukuk.

He even has his own sejadah okay!

4) Finally found the time to make my claims for the recent Houston trip. See below to see how much of the company's money I spent:

5) *sigh* How I wish the reimbursement amount does not show RM 0.00 as I could really use the money for one of these babies:

My dream car.

We went car hunting for Hubby (not for me, unfortunately), and I instantly fell in love with the soft top cabriole Eos. Althought Hubby was leaning towards the GTI or the Scirocco.

Aiden was all over the car, even demanding for the car keys!

6) Since we could not agree on our dream car, we decided to grant Aiden his own dream car!

A Mini Cooper S. Happy early birthday Baby!

His Cooper is so cool, it can be controlled via remote or via pedal. It even has a radio (yes a radio which gets Hitz.FM etc.) and also an audio jack inlet so that I can plug in my iPhone and play his favourite videos while he cruises around the neighbourhood!

7) Apart from the early birthday present, I was clearing the attic and found a whole boxful of presents from Aiden's first birthday which I had refrained from opening as Aiden was a bit too young for them back then. So since Aiden has outgrown most of his toys, Hubby and I decided to unpack the Thomas sets (all 3 of them) and assemble them together.

Look at the elaborate track we made for him! He was so happy with his new toy, especially since the battery operated Thomas runs on his own round and round the track. And for the next few days, he would just sit still and watch Thomas go round. Even if he was preoccupied with something else, he would insist for Thomas to be turned on. If we turn it off, he would immediately realise that the familliar whirring was gone and would whip his head around in the direction of Thomas. In a nutshell, we went through at least 8AA batteries during this phase!

8) The BBGS gang organized a birthday shower for Iza's second baby.

It's a boy! Which makes it a pair for Iza. Congratulations girl!

Theme was yellow and white.

And guess what? I agreed to make a diaper cake for the occasion! You should be very amazed that for a person who still draws orang lidi (which never fails to draw peals of laughter from dear Hubby), I actually managed to create an 'acceptable' looking diaper cake. Okay fine, with a bit of help from Bibik, of course. *grin*

9) We raided Ikea a total of 3 times this month! But the purchase that we enjoyed most was Aiden's first table and chair.

Initially, Hubby was against the idea as he thought Aiden would be too young for it. But I insisted, and we were pleasantly surprised when he actually liked it! He would sit in his chair and start colouring (or scribling) on a piece of paper, and this kept him quite occupied, which is quite an achievement for Aiden.

Look at him using multiple crayons and colour pencils to draw.

So cute, his legs couldn't even reach the floor.

His learning corner.

My son's first masterpiece - on an Ikea assembly instruction.

10) And last but not least, we have Unifi! Which was our first major achievement towards the big house move, followed by the kitchen cabinets, wardrobes, landscaping, curtains and touch ups.

Aiden testing the phone line while supervising the TM employee.

Well that's a recap of the past two months. It is definitely good to be back!