Jaden in his baby sleeping position :)
Here can actually see that he has put on some weight! He is bigger than Ryan at his age.
Ryan with his little Japanese suit bought from Japan in Nov 2005.
Had to put on his Eeyore bag before going to sleep :)
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Ryan and Jaden!
Ok - got some pictures. Especially for Tracy who hasn't seen them for a while.
Jaden in his baby sleeping position :)
Here can actually see that he has put on some weight! He is bigger than Ryan at his age.
Ryan with his little Japanese suit bought from Japan in Nov 2005.
Had to put on his Eeyore bag before going to sleep :)
Jaden in his baby sleeping position :)
Here can actually see that he has put on some weight! He is bigger than Ryan at his age.
Ryan with his little Japanese suit bought from Japan in Nov 2005.
Had to put on his Eeyore bag before going to sleep :)
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Alright, we did it!
Ok, went to C&C and did the booking for the Mazda. Here it is - platinum silver (although they had ready stock of a silver one - we decided to wait - since it's not like we buy a car every other day!!!).
Actually went to Naza over the weekend - Krystal's friend's suggestions since there was a newspaper ad promotion. At Naza, they actually had the Wish and the 5 side by side!!! Best opportunity to compare.
So what's the verdict? Well...
Looks - The 5 wins since we both agree that the design is pretty new and modern, while the Wish has been around for a while.
Space - Hard to say. Was expecting the Mazda to be better - but upon side-by-side comparison, the rear cabin in the Wish actually felt more spacious. Also the 3rd row seats in the back were actually more comfortable in the Wish!! Turns out the cool but slightly useless kara-kuri seats thingi has a big negative point - the box to hold the seat/compartment is almost as low as the floor and restricts your feet from sliding under the seats in front of you. i.e. if you sit in the last row... the 2nd row seats MUST be moved forward (unless your feet can turn 90 degrees!!! haha). In the Wish, this was not the case and the 2nd row seats didn't have to be moved forward as much.
Check out the cool but slightly useless feature here.
In the end, we decided that since neither of us are really going to sit in the 3rd row - it'll be mostly for the maid/kids, so we let it pass.
By the way, this pic always made me feel like the car was very spacious. However, upon sitting inside, it's not really possible to move from the 3rd row to the 2nd without some serious contortions.
1stly, the armrest (folding sideways) still takes up quite a bit of room. 2ndly, there isn't much room in between in the first place!!!! (But I consoled myself that without getting a full sized MPV such as an Estima or otherwise, this was just not possible anyways).
Drive - felt somehow that the Mazda has slightly smoother and had less engine noise from the test drive (even though the Toyota seemed to have better paper specs). Pretty even though.
Servicing - This is one factor as well - Toyota seems to have followed the crazy Proton philosphy of asking owners to service their vehicles every 5,000 km. Come on!! that's ridiculuous, not when my car can do 25,000 per service (although 20,000 seems a bit safer ;)) At least Mazda is a bit better with 10k mileage service intervals. Personally, I think 5k service intervals are just a con.... in the end, they cost you as much as/more than a BMW (RM2-300 x 4-5 per year). Of course, when the Beemer breaks down/gets problems (such as the case now!!) you can cry about major replacements lah.
Overall.... took the Mazda lah. Delivery expected in early August (pending salesman's typical overly optimistic timelines).
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
More decisions...
Have to book the car by this week although we haven't finalised which car to get. Took the Wish on a test drive last weekend. Not bad, but nothing special either. It seemed to have more engine noise than the Mazda, but then again, I'm not totally sure. Interior room seems ok. In fact, Krystal, Ryan and Jaden were all there!! haha
Personally, I'm keen on the Mazda, but a little worried about the resale value - since M'sia seems to have 'special' resale values for Hondas and Toyotas. Try buying a Ford or an Alfa Romeo :)
Probably take Krystal to see that Mazda and then finalise things.
Also now looking for a 2nd maid for the house to (hopefully) take care of the kids. Krystal will be taking some extra leave but plans to go back to work. Basically, it's a lot to give up (esp. in terms of $$$). Will use the time to evaluate whether the new maid can handle the job. If she can't then, I guess she will have to stop working...
We'll be going to Ipoh the following week to celebrate Krystal's Tai Pak's 70th birthday. Even though I have a church Leaders' Retreat that weekend, we decided to go Ipoh after much discussion. A bit bad in that sense as I think it (Leaders' Retreat) is a pretty important event - esp. with Pastor Daniel stressing that he wants EVERYONE to be there. Having said that, this will be the time when I wished I already had an MPV..... not sure how we're going to make it to Ipoh in my car. One idea is to let Ryan sit in the front seat (which is ok since he can now sit front-facing and so has no problems with the airbag) and let Krystal, Jaden and Mima sit at the back. Will see lah. Too bad you can't buy a car and have it instantly :P
Personally, I'm keen on the Mazda, but a little worried about the resale value - since M'sia seems to have 'special' resale values for Hondas and Toyotas. Try buying a Ford or an Alfa Romeo :)
Probably take Krystal to see that Mazda and then finalise things.
Also now looking for a 2nd maid for the house to (hopefully) take care of the kids. Krystal will be taking some extra leave but plans to go back to work. Basically, it's a lot to give up (esp. in terms of $$$). Will use the time to evaluate whether the new maid can handle the job. If she can't then, I guess she will have to stop working...
We'll be going to Ipoh the following week to celebrate Krystal's Tai Pak's 70th birthday. Even though I have a church Leaders' Retreat that weekend, we decided to go Ipoh after much discussion. A bit bad in that sense as I think it (Leaders' Retreat) is a pretty important event - esp. with Pastor Daniel stressing that he wants EVERYONE to be there. Having said that, this will be the time when I wished I already had an MPV..... not sure how we're going to make it to Ipoh in my car. One idea is to let Ryan sit in the front seat (which is ok since he can now sit front-facing and so has no problems with the airbag) and let Krystal, Jaden and Mima sit at the back. Will see lah. Too bad you can't buy a car and have it instantly :P
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Alright! 1st Post
Ok... been finally convinced to set this up. Actually... partially setup here and there. No time aka too lazy aka just not bothered.
Anyways, still learning the ropes. Times are getting tough, very tiring having 2 kids around. Thank God mom was around last week - although she's planning to go back today.
My current dilemna (not really - but something that needs settling this week) is on choosing a new car for Krystal. Impossible to fit 2 baby car seats (or even 1 baby car seat + 1 infant carrier) in either one of our cars (esp. Krystal's!! haha). Need a car with 3 rows of seats definitely so planning on going for one of those sporty MPVs.
Current considerations:
1) Mazda 5 - took a test drive, not bad. Pretty impressed with the seats as well as the sliding doors. They open REALLY wide - claimed to be wider than an ESTIMA. Only concern is that interior seems plasticky... worried about hearing too many squeeks after a short time. (even my current car is squeeking a bit too much and my mechanic keeps telling me I need to change the control arm bushing to improve the 'bumpiness' I'm currently getting - TAHAN 1st lah!!! save money)
2) Toyota Wish - apparently so popular that it's fully sold out and there aren't enough stocks to even display in the showroom? crazy eh! anyways, have sat in Steven's as well as Steven's (2 different guys) Wish. Seems ok .... but want to check out the latest model.
3) Honda Stream - seemed a bit cramped, especially getting in from the back. Not sure if the seats have the LATCH system for baby seats - sales girl seemed to not understand (big minus points there). Leather seats standard all round though. Boot space seems a bit poor.
Overall... seem to prefer the Mazda - although the resale value of Mazda here is pretty sad. Need to check out the Wish in real life (latest model) first. Other thought of course is Odyssey lah!! hahaha... but too expensive lah. And Krystal not keen on driving such a big car anyways. Although the Odyssey seems to be less bulky and more car like compared to the Estima (which I still remember banging into the pillar at 1 Utama and getting blacklisted by in-laws... haha... another story!)
Oh well... need to make decision soon as Mazda's waiting period is 1-2 months, Toyota 3-4 months. Honda claims that we can get the Stream within a week though.... but I guess that's also telling you something right!!!
No real pics to put up - since all on my home pc. But let me put one up of my fav little boy and my current desktop background (ok now that have 2, need to be a bit careful - one of my 2 fav little boys)
Anyways, still learning the ropes. Times are getting tough, very tiring having 2 kids around. Thank God mom was around last week - although she's planning to go back today.
My current dilemna (not really - but something that needs settling this week) is on choosing a new car for Krystal. Impossible to fit 2 baby car seats (or even 1 baby car seat + 1 infant carrier) in either one of our cars (esp. Krystal's!! haha). Need a car with 3 rows of seats definitely so planning on going for one of those sporty MPVs.
Current considerations:
1) Mazda 5 - took a test drive, not bad. Pretty impressed with the seats as well as the sliding doors. They open REALLY wide - claimed to be wider than an ESTIMA. Only concern is that interior seems plasticky... worried about hearing too many squeeks after a short time. (even my current car is squeeking a bit too much and my mechanic keeps telling me I need to change the control arm bushing to improve the 'bumpiness' I'm currently getting - TAHAN 1st lah!!! save money)
2) Toyota Wish - apparently so popular that it's fully sold out and there aren't enough stocks to even display in the showroom? crazy eh! anyways, have sat in Steven's as well as Steven's (2 different guys) Wish. Seems ok .... but want to check out the latest model.
3) Honda Stream - seemed a bit cramped, especially getting in from the back. Not sure if the seats have the LATCH system for baby seats - sales girl seemed to not understand (big minus points there). Leather seats standard all round though. Boot space seems a bit poor.
Overall... seem to prefer the Mazda - although the resale value of Mazda here is pretty sad. Need to check out the Wish in real life (latest model) first. Other thought of course is Odyssey lah!! hahaha... but too expensive lah. And Krystal not keen on driving such a big car anyways. Although the Odyssey seems to be less bulky and more car like compared to the Estima (which I still remember banging into the pillar at 1 Utama and getting blacklisted by in-laws... haha... another story!)
Oh well... need to make decision soon as Mazda's waiting period is 1-2 months, Toyota 3-4 months. Honda claims that we can get the Stream within a week though.... but I guess that's also telling you something right!!!
No real pics to put up - since all on my home pc. But let me put one up of my fav little boy and my current desktop background (ok now that have 2, need to be a bit careful - one of my 2 fav little boys)
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