A Man's World

This is a man's world, this is a man's world
You see, man made the cars to take us over the road
Man made the trains to carry heavy loads
Man made electric light to take us out of the dark
Man made the boat for the water, like Noah made the ark

-James Brown-

**********
 Cat was having a problem with her car..again. Hmm, ever since the accident a few months ago, Cat's Viva has not been the same anymore. It;s still the same shiny silver coloured car..but there's a strange feel to it. There's also a slight off tune feeling when Cat turns sharply at the corner.

That's the biggest challenge for Cat: having a gut feeling that something is not right...but unable to express clearly what's wrong with it. And this being a man's world, you need to have the technical ability words in order not to be looked down (and not to be charged a bomb just because you do not speak the 'jargon').

As Cat parked her car at the tyre shop and step her foot in there, it feels like being out of this world , in a strange planet. There was the usual drilling and banging sounds that you would expect in a workshop. The difference is that everyone there acts as if you do not exist and just continue doing whatever they were doing. Trying to muster up her courage, Cat took a deep breath and with a so called air of confidence, went to the nearest guy, ' Excuse me..I do have this problem with my car...'

Not yet finished her sentences, the long haired guy pointed to another guy who was sweeping the floor. 'Ask him.' Cat was astonished..why does she need to refer to the cleaner..? Hmm.. well, here goes. Cat started again her explaination, 'Excuse me, ....'. He spoke with a loud voice. 'Seng, go and look at this lady's car. It need's aligment.'

Another guy came and asks for the car keys, started it and just went off with it! Gone all act of being the world wise Cat.. Eyes big as saucers, Cat looked up at the cleaner, but he just acted as if nothing is wrong and goes off whistling a happy tune. Okayyy.. Cat regains her composure ..and her car came back into view not so shortly. So, it was a test run to see what;s the problem.Can't they just say something in the first place..and avoid giving cat a heart attack..?

The next question was..where do you sit or stand while waiting for your car? And what do you do while waiting? There wasn't a chair in view..and the place is full of wires and tools. Act like a guy and talk about engines and cars? Hmm..Cat just wants them to repair the problem and makes an exit as fast as she can. Talking is  a problem when there's no one sociable around. Just guys whispering and seemingly laughing at this out of place person. But, Cat would do anything for her car.

Cat guesses that Cat is not the only woman who goes to a tyre shop on her own. However, it's really a man's place to be here or for those women that know and love all these men's toys and know the language. Not a place certainly for a soft spoken and unsure person. Maybe this is what a guy feels when they have to be alone at a lingerie shop buying something for their love ones. Out of place.

Lesson for today : Either you just act tough and bear all the embarassing comments or.. bring a guy with you when you go to a tyre shop. This is a man's world..

Lost In Melaka

Typically one of those days that Cat would have love to fast forward. :) Right.. dream on, Cat. It started badly with the alarm clock not functioning (or it did function but Cat was deeply engrossed in dream land.. grin). Rushing does not help at all but put you in a stress.

Luckily Cat can now drive a car. Speeding along the big road and leaning on the speed pedal, Cat took the right lane (for those who wants to overtake or for speeding. Just when Cat thought that her luck has changed (as all the traffic lights were green colored) Cat saw 3 policemen standing and guiding the traffic. Oppss.. Cat is in the wrong lane. Cat needs to choose the middle one if Cat wants to go straight. The right lane is to move to the right.

** Just for info, this Cat was born without any GPS or any sense of direction built into her mind. It took Cat 2 weeks to memorize the way to the workplace. She remember places and events very well but if anyone asks her to bring them from point A or point B, she would just show a blank face. Complicated short cuts and lots of turns would give her a migraine :p hehehe

So, here was Cat getting panic as the policeman was telling her that there was an accident up ahead and everyone has to make a detour to the right. Err..where does the right road leads to? No signboards and no where to make a U-turn. Now what did the driving instructor told Cat the last time 'If in doubt, follow the crowd'.

Ok.. let's just follow the blue car in front. Seems to be going the same way as Cat. Cat's brain agreed on that too. It's 8.05 am.. surely the majority of the cars were going to go to work. Off we go!

Then Kat saw a signboard with arrows which says 'Turn left to downtown' or 'Go straight' if you want to go to the beach. Guess which one did Cat choose? Grin..
To the beach? Buzz..nope..wrong guess. To work then? Buzz..wrong again. Cat took the road to nowhere. :D No one told Cat that signboards are put there to alert you that 'whatever was written on it is 500 meters ahead!

Kat saw the car in blue took the path to the left turn to town and happily followed it. Oo..the path keeps getting smaller. Kat started frowning. Where's the shop houses? There's nothing but the rice field on the right and a big stream on the left. There wasn't even enough space to U turn. Hmm... maybe this is a shortcut.

Suddenly the blue car turn on his signal and turn right. At last, a light at the end of the tunnel? No such luck.. the blue car turns and parked right in front of his house! And Kat followed him straight back to his home. Talk about being red in the face! Luckily the guy was kind enough to show Cat the way out of the padi fields..miles and miles of nowhere. A Malaccan girl getting lost in her own hometown.

Oh my.. Kat would never hear the end of this if boss gets a hint of this story. :p

Hmm.. A GPS, A GPS.. my kingdom for a GPS. :p hehehe.. luckily Kat still has her sense of humor and can laugh at herself for being silly. Well dear, no one is perfect. The same case applies to a Kat :)

At The Starting Line

Kat was watching the video clip "Quotations from Secrets: Law of Attraction" this morning. One of the clips was 'Set a goal on something big, that when it happens, it will blow away your mind. You become and attract what you think".

What can be so big that it can blow away my mind? Hmm..aha!: Learning to Drive. I know that it's not such a big thing for some..but it is a big step for me. I have this HUGE phobia of driving: each time I start the engine, my hands become cold as ice. The mind goes completely blank when I hear the sound of another car 'honking' at me. Imagine..Just thinking about it, makes the stomach ache and I feel like vomiting.

Okayyy.. Today, I promise myself to give it another try. I have registered at a driving school nearby..(you should see how the hands are shaking (grin)). There's no turning back. It's done. Just to look at the schedule and arrange a time for it.
God! am I really doing this..

Taking a deep breath..
I can do it? I can do it.. I Can do it!
Focusing hard on the end result..
Today registering, Tomorrow, starting the engine again.
Steady Kat.. God bless the me and all the other drivers.

Theory

Today, cat went to the theory Driving Class.
First, the registration part. We were asked to lined up and filled up our name, address, identity card number. This is at 8:15am. After scribbling all the details, cat was given a file and a piece of paper..oo..it;s the colour blind test. In the file, there's 25 photos, you know, with colourful dots against more colourful background.

At first, it was easy..mm..number, 5, number 6, number 3, number 1. Then odd shapes appear..it looks like number 4 but put in a reverse form. Is cat eyesight's really that bad? Then, cat heard a whisper near to cat's ear : "it's a boat. You need to draw a boat in your answer sheet". Was it a voice from heaven? No. It was one of the instructor hinting the answer to cat. "Quick. Draw a sailboat" he whispered again.

"We are supposed to draw too?" Cat looked up at him with astonished eyes. "Don't look at me." he hissed, "Just draw a sailboat".

Ok, you are the boss. So, cat just draw a simple sailboat. Then, odd shapes came into the picture. You are supposed to draw circles and squares and ovals.. isn't it easier if they just gave us an objective paper with the shapes printed on it and we just have to circle the answer only? And aren't instructors not supposed to give answer to us? Hmm.. Cat stop thinking. Use your eyes to see, and your fingers to draw. Not bad for a person who has stop drawing after leaving school. :) At least my square looks like a square.


to be continued....

Constructions

2 Jan 2011:

“ I am not a philosopher who is trying to make a system of thought. I am a mystic who is trying to convey the mysteries that have become available to me. I will confuse you. ”

I am stuck in the traffic jam! 20 minutes and nothing is moving.
Isn't it infuriating when there's no option but to wait in your car, while the clock is ticking away, happily reminding you that that you are going to be late?

It's not the construction workers' fault. Roads have to be enlarged, holes must be filled up and newly tarred road would benefit all of us. But can't the higher authority informed us earlier of their schedule? All the road construction works must have been planned much earlier (of course, you do not decide at the last minute that 'Let's just go and annoy that girl. Let's do a construction work right in the middle of Cheng area!' At least, do provide us with an alternative road, Mr In Charge.

Reached the office at 8.45am.. and I am still the first one to arrive. :p Unbelievable.

Waxed Tyres

The hardest thing in life would be trying to understand people's motives.
The 2nd hardest thing for Cat would be trying to understand her car.

Or maybe.. it's not a question of understanding. Cat guesses it's more to 'pride'. And as the proverb says: 'Pride goes before a fall'.

Boss and the guys at the office were always making remarks such as 'women only know how to drive but do not know how to take care of their cars'. Lack of something better to do, and taking it as a challenge, Cat decided to give it a try. Well, Cat was thinking ..how hard is it to take care of a small car?

Actually, Cat soon finds out that it's not that easy. Wanting to do and experience everything on her own, Cat kept doing silly mistakes. Enough to be in the same group as Mr Bean. Sigh.. at least Cat will remember what to do and what's not to do for the rest of her life. :)

Looking at a colleague's car, Cat was impress and envious with the sparkling tires and rims. After a half an hour of listening to the friend's instruction, off goes Cat happily to do her mission.

First step, getting the wax. That was the easiest part. There was a lot to choose from at the supermarket and all sorts of types: spray and wax. The spray looked a bit too liquid (:p Cat is looking at the substance and not at the ingredient). Not convinced that the spray will do the trick. Instead Cat chose a wax type of tire shine polish.

The instructions seems simple: Put a small amount of wax on a piece of cloth and wipe at the surface of the tire. Ok, here goes. After 2 hours of waxing, Cat was feeling pleased with the result. For 2 days the weather was sunny and Cat was happy with the tires. Cat has certainly forgotten the old idiom: 'Pride comes before A Fall'.

Today, it rains heavily. As you know, Cat loves to drive fast. At the 1st corner going out to the big road, Cat makes a fast turn as usual but the car skidded into the other lane a bit. Weird, as this was the first time it happens. Cat must have not been paying attention.

Then at the 1st traffic light, when Cat push at the brakes, the car did not stop completely. It went a bit more forward. That certainly make Cat's eyes grew bigger. Has Cat imagined what just happened. Cat decided to test the brakes again at the 2nd traffic light. Going fast and then brake. The same thing happened: the car went about 30 cm ahead before stopping.

Then Cat remembered. It must be the wax on the tires!
A call soon confirmed what Cat suspected. But, it was not entirely Cat's fault, isn't it?
'Surface', for Cat would mean : the outer face, outside, or exterior boundary of a thing.
The instruction on the box did say: to wax the surface of the tires. How would Cat know that it means only the part of the tire that can be seen. Cat has waxed the whole exterior of the 4 tires!

Nothing much to do now..except drive slowly and wait till the wax wears off (in a few days hopefully). Maybe Cat is just not made to understand instructions. :) Sigh..

Beetle Mania

I was going through a friend's blog and suddenly I saw this photo that made me grin

It brought back a childhood memory. Dad used to be an ardent fan of the beetle car.

He changed his car 3 times when I was little and each time he still chose a Volswagen! Only the color changed. Others may love to change curtains in their house or change the sofa when the Raya festival arrived. Dad didn't care much about 'trivial' things.


Raya festival would meant that the VW gets a new coat of paint. From white to red and to orange. Don't play play :). A speck of dirt means washing the car again from top to bottom. I remember one thing especially about the car : all VW has the engine at the back instead of in front.

The VW beetle was first introduced in 1938 and the last of this model was fabricated in 2003. After 2003, there's no more 'beetles' mostly because there were so much competition from Japanese car manufactures which came out with cheaper types equipped with the latest technology in the automobile market. The VW were hit rather hard as next came the Americans into the car business in the 1970s. In an effort to attract a high-tech and more demanding clientele, VW next came out with the "Rabbit". So cute but also so expensive:

Now, it's hard to see the older 'beetle' except when there's a VW road tour/competition or the VW Malaysian Club decided to do a fan's club gathering. Sure miss the old days :) and..sure miss Dad a lot.

The VW Story

It's the return of the Bug/Beetle mania!
Yes, this is about the Volkswagon or VW Summit that was held in Subang Jaya recently. The 'Bug O Rama Summit was jointly organised by The Summit Subang USJ and Kelab Volkswagen Beetle Malaysia (KVBM). Lots of Volkswagen enthusiasts from various club all over the states and also from Thailand as well as Singapore attended the said event on Sunday, 25th July 2010.

We were certain that there were more than 300 Volkswagen (including vans), each uniquely added with various accessories as well as colorfully painted designs. Some even modified their VW's engines, decorated the interiors and put their own personal touches. But my preference falls on those beetles with solid and not so bright color (florescence & pink... ewww... just so not good for the eyes).

Below are some of the beetles that managed to attract attention:

This one is the bug van :) ... owned by a Thailand participant. The van looks small from the outside but was surprisingly very large inside. A bit like those vans during the 'flower power' era or the one in 'Scooby Doo' cartoon. It can hold a minibar, cabinets and a bed in it! Very convenient!


This one reminds me of 'Herbie' :)


Looks like a flying beetle:) An unusual sight for a beetle to have doors that open upwards. Still, it looks cute.

See the hub cab in the photo? They say that the rounder and fuller the hub cap is, older the model of the beetle. The older it gets, the more expensive it will be.

A VW with a moving fan inside. :) Just how many of these can you see nowadays? :)


The star ornament functions not only as a deco but it serves also as an emergency light. They told me that the star has to be imported from Germany as you can't get it from any accessory shop here, in Malaysia.



Last and not least.. my favorite choice of VY. Well, if you can't afford to buy a real beetle, a mini VW would serve the same purpose! Just fit in nicely beside the teddy bear on my work table.

You can view more bugs and beetles at http://vwclubselangor.webs.com/

Signing off,
Hana with her small mini bug :)

P/S : Do you know that a VW does not use water any water in it's engine compartment? The engine actually has a kind of fan that keeps it from overheating. Am learning a lot :)

The Bugs Are Back

What a way to start the new year. :)
Sneezing, coughing and fever. Yet, a promise is a promise. The handphone was full with missed calls and messages from Jaja reminding Cat to meet her at 8am for breakfast and then on to the Bug Fest. Come on, Cat. 2 of those Hurix's pills and a big spoonful of the yucky and sticky cough syrup and you'll be ok.



We were at the Bug Fest in Dataran Ayer Keroh at 9.30am. The hot sun might have been one of the factor that there were only few vw beetles at that time. Around 20 vw vehicles only, a small number compare to the number of policemen on standby. (Might be because of the New Year's countdown the night before, people are not awake yet).



The hot sun did nothing to relieve Cat's burning head, but it was certainly worth it. The VW on exhibition were impeccably polished and a delight to look at.



The beetle is actually holding the record for the longest single car production run with more than 21 million units being fabricated since it's creation in 1938. The red car on top is a 1963 VW Beetle Ragtop. The rooftop is made of leather than can last for years. However, the sport rims on the wheels are from a different year as those from 1963 has rounded hubcaps. Still, it's a beauty.