I have been busy. It’s awfully obvious, isn’t it? :)

Truth be told, the second third of the year hasn’t been very smooth-sailing for me. In fact, it has been difficult at work, and I have to put in so much more effort to remain calm and patient at all times, regardless of the kind of shit that I have been dealt with.

The saddest thing is that a lot of the things that have happened to me recently are not bloggable. Gone are those days when I could write everything on my blog, unfortunately. These days, I just suck-it-in, put on a brave face and smile. Which, I think, helped me move forward, rather than allowing me to grief over matters that I have no control over :)

For the record, I was never an aggressive person to begin with. I never fought back when scolded or corrected. Fighting back wasn’t tolerated at home when I was younger, so I guess that was how I learned to be patient with a lot of things and people and matters. My friends would agree that I only participated in “cold wars” in school, not your kind of “bitch fights” where hair-pulling and name-calling were involved. My lecturers and supervisors in university would agree that I was always the “OK, this can be done” and “OK, no problem” kind of person.

So I guess that was why I seemed to be somebody you can dismiss very easily. Because I don’t fight back. That was why I was an easy target of your bad-mouthing. Because I don’t fight back. You can go ahead and tell all your colleagues and students and friends shit about me because I will not fight back. My Mum has taught me not to stoop that low.

And, like they say, “What goes around, comes around.” And I sure hope to still be alive when that day arrives, LOL.

I’m still loving it! :)

So, my car arrived on April 18th, but I was in Redang Island, so I only got to pick it up on the 20th, when I returned to the mainland. The Proton salesman picked me up at the jetty, drove me to the Proton Showroom and showed me my car :) I’ve seen many of these on the road, no doubt, but that was the first time I saw my own car, with my own registration number, and boy, I was *speechless*

Then he drove me to the nearest petrol station, and then drove me back to the showroom, and then he HANDED ME THE KEY. I was like, OMG. Like I was saying, I have never driven owned such a big car. I have driven only the faithful 850cc Kancil since the day I obtained my driving license some 11 years ago (gulps!).

So, I am finding driving very pleasant now because I can overtake without having to deliberately step on the accelerator and holding on to the steering wheel and at the same time hoping that the car I am overtaking would slow down a little to give me way. The car itself is quite high (unlike the Wira), just the way I like it :) But the best thing is that I now have 413L of boot space, which is, I don’t know, a few times that of the Kancil? Which simply means that I can pack and bring along whatever I want on trips instead of having to worry about whether my luggage could fit into the boot.

After 3 weeks of driving it, I am still trying to get used to the size of the car. I am still learning to parallel park my car without reversing into the car behind, and I am still learning to estimate how much space I have in front before I hit the curb. I am still adjusting to having to turn on the indicator lights on the left and the wiper blades on the right. I still need to remember that I do not have to place my left hand on the gear shift because my car automagically switches gears, sweet. LOL.

Overall, I would say that I am a satisfied customer! :)

For the benefit of my non-Malaysian friends:

• Proton is the first Malaysian national automobile manufacturer which was established in 1983. Malaysia’s second automobile manufacturer is Perodua, which was established in 1993.
• Check out some Proton-manufactured cars.

So, I signed the Hire-Purchase Agreement last week, and apparently, my new car will arrive in 2 weeks. TWO WEEKS! The car is ready for pick up, I guess, but I need to wait for the registration plate, a number I picked myself :)

Boy, I am excited about it! I am excited about the whole I-am-getting-my-own-car feeling, and I am excited about driving an automatic transmission car after driving a manual one for 11 years, and I am excited about owning a car bigger than the one I have been driving in the past 8 years. Seriously.

GOSH, did I tell you I am very excited about it all? :)