小白 | choieevon♡

So most people who are friends with me on FB or follow me on Instagram would have known this but...

WE GOT A CAR!

I'm not the kind of person who gives an asset a name (well in the past I used to but let's not remember that part of me shall we? Lol) but somehow this car screams the word 小白 Xiao Bai (little white) to me. The name makes me cringe because it sounds very cheesy but it is the perfect description of what the car is: a little white car.

We got a 1.3cc Toyota Yaris Hatchback with 5 doors - size and performance wise I would say it's quite similar to a Myvi? But take my word with a grain of salt, I'm a woman wtf. Now if you're like me and you find it silly that they actually count the boot as a door, high 5! Lol.

Anyway, we picked this car because of its price and how low the finance interest rate (1%!) was. We were contemplating for a while whether to get a second hand or a brand new but with such a low interest rate, we'd be an idiot to not get a brand new car. You never know what sort of problems that come with second hand cars. At least with a new car you're assured with warranties and stuff.

We have been commuting with public transport for a while now (3 years for me and 7 years for Wk) and we have been pretty comfortable with it as we are currently leasing a property in a suburb 4 km from the city and it doesn't take too long for us to get to and fro our workplace. But obviously there are plenty of "How nice if we had a car", or "if we had a car..." moments that made us seriously consider getting one.

Taking public transport is not an issue. It's mainly the wait - the gap in between each scheduled train. It basically wastes a lot of time because there is absolutely nothing you can do about it but to wait for your only form of transport to take you home/to work.

For example, because there isn't a proper supermarket around my area, I had to take the train to the nearest supermarket. And to do that on a weekend, I will need at least 1.5-2 hours to get there, shop and be back. The journey takes 13 minutes tops, the shopping probably takes only half an hour. The rest of the time is spent walking to the station and waiting for the train. If there's a car I could have done everything in under an hour.

Another example is if I finish work at 9.30pm and when I get to the train station at 9.40pm, the train would have just left and I will have to wait for a 10pm train and only get home at 10.15pm. That's 45 minutes wasted in a day! If there's a car I could have been back at home even before 10pm.

But of course that wasn't the only reason. The other main reason was we are currently looking for a property to purchase. After paying for someone else's mortgage for years, we've finally decided, or rather, saved up enough to want to pay for our own mortgage. At first we were doing inspections by taking public transport and lots of walking of course.

Worst idea ever.

There is no way for us to expect our ideal property to be close to trains anymore if we're on a budget. So there was a lot of walking involved when we first looked at places. A WHOLE FREAKING LOT OF WALKING.

By the end of the day, after doing so much walking only to end up with disappointment that the property isn't what we wanted, we were tired, frustrated and demotivated all at the same time. And at our pace, we could only do a maximum of 3 a day and that's the maximum we could do in a week as we only have Saturdays to do it.

Ok lah cheong hei-ness aside, now that we have a car, problems solved! Things we have been doing A LOT with it are:

1. Inspect properties in other suburbs more efficiently.

With a car, on a Saturday we could inspect at least 5-6 properties. Not only that, we have the time to actually drive around the suburb and see what's there and get a feel of the neighborhood.

2. Having breakfast before starting our day :D

Whether on a Saturday before heading out to inspect properties, or before I start work on a Sunday. We live pretty close to some nice cafes but sometimes to think about having to wake up extra early because need to catch the right train and walk etc, forget it la just have cereal or toast at home.

Pulled pork and chorizo bagels at Manchester Press

3. Picking each other up from work!

So it mainly started with mostly Wk sending me to and picking me from work. Such a nice feeling ok knowing I don't have to wait for and take a train home after a long exhausting day at work. The thing is I haven't had my licence converted so technically I'm not supposed to drive. So poor Wk had to do all the driving haha, not that I like to drive anyway. But I have since started to pick him up after work form a train station nearby just so that I can start practicing before I go for the test to convert my licence!

Sibeh nervous lo the first time I drove by myself but I'm slowly getting used to the ever confusing and complicated Melbourne traffic. I have no problems driving in Malaysia even though I don't know where I'm going because the traffic is pretty straightforward. But over here especially in the city have to look at GPS and the unfamiliar signs and have to watch out for bike lanes la, pedestrians la, trams la. Omfg in future if I'm rich I will hire a driver wtf.

4. Buying groceries!

No need to lug home heavy shopping bags anymore, hooray! I hate it with a passion wtf. Before this we were doing online shopping and have them delivered but you can't shop online for everything! You need to pick your own fresh produce like fruits! What if they give you an apple that has dropped into a drain wtf.

One of the things that we love eating but never really used to buy was watermelon - because it's so freaking heavy even if it's just a cut of it! Now with a car, one whole watermelon also no problem hahaha. One whole watermelon for only 2 people walao, eat until lao sai lo wtf.