First Car Accessories

The first two things I bought for my car are:

(1) Wheel lock

My husband advised that before I should prioritize getting a wheel lock for my car. A few days before my Hyundai Getz was delivered I went to Blade and Handyman to check what they had. Blade had cheaper wheel locks, but they were only good for wheel-to-pedal locking. I decided to get the one at Handyman which cost about PhP500, but was good for several locking features -- wheel to pedal, wheel lock, wheel to clutch, and clutch to break. I read though in an Inquirer.net article that the best way to protect your car is to place the lock on the wheel, so that's what I've been doing.

(2) Car shade

It could get really hot in Manila, so I got a car shade at Blade. I had a hard time choosing. I was torn between Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse and Hello Kitty! I decided to get the one with Mickey Mouse because I felt it had the least "kiddie-look".

Cost:

Wheel lock - PhP500 (Handy Man)
Car shade - PhP250 (Blade)

Driving Minnie at Night

It's been almost a year since I've last driven a car. Driving a brand new car without much practice is nerve wracking especially when all your "practice plans" never pan out. I had planned to take Minnie for a spin around our village and then the nearby mall last Saturday afternoon. Afternoon. I wanted to build my driving skills again minus the stress.

But things have so far not played to my cards. When I got out of our village to buy some cake for my aunt I was greeted by bumper to bumper traffic! My knees started to get wobbly, but good thing hubby's a good driver and he helped me get around. My second dilemma was parking Minnie. I wanted to buy at the mall because it was easier to park there, but we didn't have enough time so we just went to the nearby Red Ribbon. Rolling down the window helped a lot because drivers usually give way to female drivers. Haha.


And then we ended up going to the mall to get some groceries after my aunt's party. Getting there was easy even though it was evening. I thought it would be the same going home. I was wrong because when we got out traffic was bumper to bumper again and nobody wanted to give way. Hubby had to coach me all the way home. Haha. Take note though that I've been driving the same route for more than ten years now. It's just really scary when you're driving a new car.

Anyway, it's a huge milestone for me and Minnie and she played along beautifully. It was my first time to check out the headlights and all the little nice lights inside the car. Call me old-style, but I wish the radio lights weren't red.

Next up, my first "long" drive with Minnie.

Ways to Keep Your Car Safe from Carnappers

Thought I'd make a running list of references for this one. Here are some links:

8 Ways to Keep Your Vehicle Safe from Carnappers (article from Inquirer.net) - essentially says it's imperative to put  a wheel lock

*will update as I encounter some references

Minnie's First Day Out

Gio advised that I should work on completing my first 1,000 kilometers as soon as I can since that would determine the car's health for the rest of its life. I had meetings the day after Minnie was delivered so I thought it would be a good chance to break her in a bit. I couldn't imagine myself driving Minnie to Quezon City so I enlisted the help of my Mom's driver.

As I learned from my husband when he got his car I made sure I had the documents on hand in the car in case we get flagged down by a policeman since Minnie doesn't have a plate number yet. The vehicle invoice and purchase agreement is good to go only for a week, so I'll have to get an extension letter from Hyundai to be safe.

Anyway, we were lucky on our first day out. We got some gas from Shell and a full tank cost around PhP1,830 (meep!). We had to travel from south to north for my meeting, so we took the Skyway up to Magallanes.

And then traversed EDSA then N. Domingo to get to Quezon City.

On the way home we were supposed to go the same way, but got confused with the turns and ended up in EDSA. The buses were quite horrifying, good thing I had someone drive for me hehe. Anyway, Minnie got home safe and sound and covered around 40 kilometers the whole day. Not bad at all.

And the whole trip didn't make a dent on the gas. Hooray!