Adventure #1 - Getzy is Mine!

August 13, 2014. It was a busy day for me. There were so many defects that I had to fix in the application that we have created for our client.

Oh, by the way, I am a Software Engineer. We create websites and other applications using Java platform. I work at a business district about 6-7km away from my home. And on this day, I chose to commute to work because it was planned that I'll be bringing home my newly purchased car, Getzy.

I took the public transpo early in the morning, and that was the longest 6-7kms I've traveled ever. Well, at least ever since I started driving going to office.

My emotions were mixed-up the whole day: the stress I felt during my commute; the thought that the number of defects our team was fixing are endless; the excitement that I'm about to get my first car; the fear that I might not be able to handle it as I was only able to drive only four cars in my entire life, and so much other more things. I was even thinking about my teammates that we've been teasing to date each other.

At 3pm, I left our office with all of those emotions. I'm off to Mandaluyong to meet the husband of my girlfriend's boss, who owns the car.

Unfortunately, MRT, as usual, had technical problems. And so, again, that was the longest time it took me to go there, at least ever since I started driving to go wherever.

Luckily, I got there just in time. Few minutes later, the car seller arrived. We talked for a while, and even had photo ops by the mural at my girlfriend's office. He handed me the keys and the contract, and I sent him the money online.

We stayed there up until my girlfriend and her boss is ready to go home, probably around an hour. The only problem is that I was already hungry that time. A good thing though, her officemates were funny.

And so, it finally came down to the wire. We went to the parking, accompanied by my girlfriend's boss and her husband to take us to Getzy. We took some photos, and left us some final reminders.

My girlfriend and I stayed at the parking for a few more minutes in awe. This is in spite the fact that we were both hungry. We put on our seat belts, I started the engine, played with the clutch and the stick shift a little bit to feel the car, stepped on the gas while on neutral, then we checked the lights, the doors and even the papers of the car. Although of course we were able to check all of those before we bought the car.

It's a funny thing though that we had trouble turning the air-con on. At first it was blowing warm air. Fortunately we were able to figure things out before we were fried in our own sweat. Of course, we didn't forget to take the obligatory selfies inside the car.

Finally, we decided to go. I stepped on the clutch and the brakes, placed the stick to the first gear, released the handbrake then the brakes and slowly releasing the clutch while stepping on the gas. After the side mirrors of Getzy exceeded the car parked beside us, I slowly turned the wheel. Yatta! We were on the streets, and the next thing we know, we were on the road.

I must say, Getzy is in great shape. It looks good both inside and out. Although it has a few light scratches, but of course that's normal. The engine sounds good as well. Thanks to the previous owner for taking good care of it.

It really felt good driving my first car.

First photo inside Getzy

Adventure #2 - A Guide to Car Registration

Car registration is one thing that every car owner should give importance. Wikipedia says, the purpose of car registration is to establish clear ownership and to tax motorist or vehicle owners. Basically, it is the same as paying property tax for your house yearly.

When you buy a brand new car, most likely it is pre-registered for three years. Afterwards, you have to renew your registration yearly. I don't know if the 3-year pre-reg is a standard for brand new cars, but when I used to browse online for cars for sale, I always see that it is always part of the inclusions.

For new car owners, do you know how to determine when should you renew your car registration? Here in the Philippines, you can see it by looking at the last two digits of your car's plate number. The last digit corresponds to the month, while the second digit corresponds to the week you are scheduled.

For example, your plate number is ABC-123. You have to register on March because it's the 3rd month. If it ends with 0, you have to register on October.

To know which week of March you should go, take note of this:
1, 2, or 3 - 1st week
4, 5, or 6 - 2nd week
7or 8 - 3rd week
9 or 0 - 4th week

Therefore, based on the plate number above, you should register on the first week of March.

I also read online that you can renew your registration as early as one month ahead of your actual schedule. If you are always busy, however, you can still register after your schedule but you need to pay for late charges. Just don't let a year pass without registering because you still need to pay for the car's registration for the year you missed. So make sure to be have your car registered on schedule to avoid the hassle and the penalties.

Now that I have Getzy, I need to renew her registration. Here's the requirements for your reference:

First, bring original copies of Certificate of Registration (CR) and it's previous Official Receipt (OR). If you just bought a car, make sure to check these two documents and keep them in a safe place. If you are just applying for renewal, photocopies of the CR and OR will do.

Second, you need to pass an LTO accredited emission test center. My brother-in-law accompanied me to a test center along Mindanao Avenue for Getzy's emission testing. It cost us around Php450.

After the testing, we went to their auto shop to get Getzy's stencil. This step is part of the car registration form.

Finally, we had Getzy registered at LTO. It cost me Php 3800, for a total of Php4250. Thank God we didn't encounter any problems securing her registration. :)

Misadventure #1: Blurry Windshields

August 14, 2014. I was excited to ride Getzy on my way home. It rained earlier, so Getzy is soaking wet. I turned on the wiper to remove water from the windshield. Unfortunately, it the water doesn't seem to get off. So I grabbed a piece of cloth, wiped the windshield, and it got better. I also wiped the wiper blades, thinking it could just be dirty.

As I left the parking, it rained. Just enough to make Getzy's windshield wet again. I tried using the wiper, and it just made it worse. It forced me to stop by in a nearby gas station because the windshield was so blurry that I couldn't see anything anymore. I asked a gasoline boy to clean it and gave him a tip. Luckily, the rain did not continue so I was able to go home safely. It also did not rain the following day so I was safe.

I researched online on why it happened on Getzy. Here are some of the things that I found out:

1. The windshield itself is dirty. Chemicals from everyday use already formed build-ups that could not be wash away by water.

2. The wiper blades are dirty.

3. The wiper blades are already worn out.

4. The inside part of the windshield dirty.

Here now are the solutions that I've found:

1. Wash the windshield with mild soap and/or use a chemical which can be found in the market that is specifically formulated to clean the windshield.

2. Clean the wiper blades.

3. Replace the wiper blades.

4. Clean the windshield from the inside of the car.

On the third day, I decided to wash the windshield with soap, in the absence of specifically formulated chemicals. I was thinking that it could solve the problem as I had to bring Getzy to a long drive and it could rain.

I also tried washing the wiper blades. But is seems that the rubber in the wiper blades are already deteriorating. No matter how much I wipe it, there were still black marks left in the cloth. So I just tried my best effort to remove the dirt from the wiper blades.

After cleaning the windshield and the wiper blades, I tried using the wiper to remove the excess water. To my amusement and dismay, Getzy's windshield was still blurry. It seems that the wipers were not able to serve its purpose. That's when I finally decided to go to an auto shop and buy a new set of wiper blades.

I got the wiper blades at around Php 260 for the 14" blade; and Php 320 for the 22" blade. I replaced them as soon as I got back to the car. When I tried it on, they worked really well.

And as if I knew it would happen, rain poured later that day as I was driving with my friends from a wedding we attended in Cavite.

I guess that's one of the things I've learned from scouting: to be prepared always.

Here are Getzy's last words for this post:

"Goodbye, blurry windshields! Hello, happier and safer adventures!"

Genesis

I really wanted to have my own car when I was younger. I felt like it's a necessity for men to have one. Probably I was influenced by my father's passion for cars. And also because of the joy that I felt when I was just a kid and my father asked me to start the engine or step on the gas while he examined under the hood.

I was in 2nd year college when my mom decided to buy a second-hand car from my brother-in-law's friend. It was a 5-door hatchback Kia Pride with a manual transmission. Back then, I still don't know how to drive.

Using that car, my sister taught me how to drive. Months later, my maternal grandfather enrolled me in a driving school. My family is really supportive with the thought of me driving a car.

My mom was never comfortable with how I drive that she even had to get a family driver. As far as I can remember, there were only two instances that I drove the car with her. I admit though that I am a very terrible driver back then. However, she was very supportive and lets me use the car whenever I wanted. She even asked our driver to accompany me when I'm driving in case something goes wrong.

Fast forward to 2012, my mom went to the US and left the car to me. It was very old at that time and in a bad condition. I was already working during that time, but I didn't have enough money to have it fixed. Although I spent a little to revive it, later on, I gave up and sold it and used the money to pay my mom's credit card bills.

Two years later, our manager was selling a manual stepper at a very low price. It's a gym equipment, but I had to use a car to bring it home. Luckily, my girlfriend was looking for a gym equipment, so that she won't have to go to a gym or jog somewhere to burn calories.

Thanks for the stepper, Manager! It was a great deal!

So I decided to ask my father to borrow his 1995 Toyota Corolla so I can bring the stepper home. I was actually hesitant, even though I've been driving that car for several times already. That's because for almost a year, I never had a chance to drive. The last time was during the wake of my paternal grandfather, which was August last year. Thanks to my girlfriend for pushing me to borrow the car. I owe it to you big time!

Fortunately, my dad allowed me to borrow his car. And he was so funny to include this note along with the keys:

The sweetest way to tell someone to take care of something you lent them.

I am still keeping it in my wallet that's why it already looks bad.

Anyway, after I brought home the stepper, I kept the car with me for a while. I used it to go to work every day, and to go to my basketball games during weekends. I did this for a month. And I can say, I really enjoyed driving! I missed it so badly and loved it so much that I often find myself daydreaming that I was driving.

Then one day, the husband of my girlfriend's boss offered to sell his car to us. It's because he'll be going abroad. They wanted to sell it to someone they know because they are already attached to it. They even named it Blackie. They wanted to ensure that the car will be taken cared of. The price was good, and the terms were really great. So I've decided to check it out. I've asked my brother-in-law to accompany me in checking the car, as I really do not know what to check and that his car know-hows are far better than anybody I know.

One Sunday afternoon, we decided to check the car. And it turned out to be a very rare family day. We had dinner and watched a very nice movie afterwards. What's more memorable was that, I was assigned to drive them to the meeting place. It started out as a joke, and my sister and my girlfriend were just teasing me to drive. I guess my sister still thinks that I'm the same shitty driver that I was before, but I believe, or what I want to believe is that, my girlfriend believes now that I can do it already as she's been my regular passenger for the past month.

So I took the challenge. I thought I have already proven that I have improved my driving. It was just so weird because it was the very first time for me or probably for all of us to see my brother-in-law in the passenger seat. :))

_nicoleness photography

The family that takes a groufie together, stays together.

On August 13, 2014, we've finally agreed on a deal for the car. Blackie will now have a new home, a new family, and a new life. That's why my girlfriend and I decided to change the name and the gender of the car. Her new name is Getzy (Edit 20160216 Getzy Bear is her full name). She is a 2007 Hyundai Getz with a manual transmission. She is a dream come true for my girlfriend and I. We hope to post more of our adventures with Getzy soon.

Getzy 20140813