Good holiday, Good day ...

To Malaysians, To Muslim friends, Selamat Raya Aidil Adha. It's the Haj, the muslim pilgrimage fest today, and Malaysians like me enjoy a day off from work.

That's why I'm eternally grateful I live in this country, I get holidays - piles of them. And they're so diverse.

Anyways, I took delivery of my new Honda City 1.5 VTEC yesterday, which is cause for a small celebration and the start of a new era ... the previous car I had, the Proton Wira 1.5, served me (almost) perfectly thru the 7 years I've had it.

This is the last shot of the Wira I have ... it was ageing, and the time was right to sell it. Bye, dude. Thanks for the service.

It had it's fair share of problems, but by and large it served me well ... I've never had any problems that couldn't be fixed in the same day, and I've never had to pay more than RM 1500 for anything, such as replacement parts, etc. at one go. For a Malaysian made car, it is a minor miracle. In the end, fuel consumption, service cost and frequency and the potential for big problems all prompted me to sell it off. A 9 year old Malaysian car has EXPENSIVE TO MAINTAIN written all over it.

Ah ... booty-li-cious. The boot is so spacious it fit things from IKEA I had no idea could even fit a car ! And notice how much taller this car is compared to the Proton. It's marginally wider, but from the looks, you'd probably think it was narrower.

So, here's the new Honda City ... still shiny from the coat of wax they gave it before I got the car. The Honda folks at Kah Motor in Puchong did a reasonably good job for me in getting the car. From the day I paid the booking fee, I just waited 9 days to actually drive the car home.

I realised yesterday while waiting to collect the car how long it had been since I last dated anyone ... collecting a new car to me is like dating a really hot girl. You think about it all day long - just simply can't wait for it to happen, and you start day dreaming and all that ... and then you get all excited as the hour drew closer and closer, and then she calls you and tells you ... "I'll be late."

The interior is simple, but I like it's line and the colors. And the MP3/WMA player. And the Steermatic. And the leather. And the sporty lines.

Oops ... and already, I'm on my way ... but you act cool. "Oh, it's cool. I'm stuck in a meeting anyways ..."

Then she calls you .... "OK, you can come now ...". You get dressed, do a last minute full mirror check, get ready to lock up ... and your boss calls you !! And has a 30 minute chat with you. About your time sheets you've not been filling up.

Here's the VTEC powertrain. I really can't tell nuts from bolts, but this looks cleaner, neater and more organized than my old proton. Plus it's all color coded.

And you end up turning late, she's already pissed so she's gone for a pedicure .. etc. etc. ....

It really happened that way. I was supposed to collect the car at 3.30 pm, but thanks to my boss calling, I only made it at 4.30 ...

The car just invites you to hop on in. But then again, it might be just me. The VTEC has dark upholstery, while the I-DSI version has beige ones. Personally, I like the sportier VTEC.

But it's a beauty. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have this urge to touch the car there .... and maybe there ...

***

I'll write a review separately, since it's probably too soon to form any real opinion. But here's what I have to say so far ...

• Acceleration is good, much better than I expected it to be.
• Fuel economy so far is around 13 km/l, but I haven't really done enough mileage (only 99 so far). And I drive agressively, which normally means less fuel economy.
  
• Back suspension a tad bumpy for me, I'll get the service folks to tune that a bit.
• Very good overall impression for the price I'm paying (expensive by global standards, but it's really one of the best cars in terms of value for money).
• Real quiet. Can only hear the loudest Mat Motors. And lovely audio system.