Spare parts…

If you’re guessing that this post is going to be about all those innards, pork or whatever, then you are mistaken.

It’s about my ol’ faithful, the Proton Wira 1.3…

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…that has been with me for so many years, since 1994, 24 years to be exact.

I was kind of distressed when I read in the news the other day that they will cease producing the spare parts soon after the report about how it is the most popular target among car thefts not because of the car per se but for the parts. Good grief! Wouldn’t that make the situation worse, especially when the parts are no longer available?

Well, it so happened that my missus was reversing the car that day and I saw the reverse lights blink and go off almost instantly. Of course I took it to my regular workshop right away – I do that all  the time the instant I feel that something is not right so as to keep it in tiptop shape at all times…especially when I have to drive it 100 km X 2 or at times, 4, on the pothole-ridden Pain-Borneo Highway every week to my girl’s school in the jungle and back.

I often see cars breaking down along the deserted trunk road, some very new ones even and I certainly have no intention of having that happen to me. Touch wood!!! For one thing, I sure would not want to spend all that money to get a new car and subject it to all that abuse, driving on the kind of road we have here. Often has it been said that a car is a man’s wife and seeing how they drive their nice and new flashy cars so very recklessly and at neck-breaking speed and with no respect and consideration for the law and for other road-users, it makes me wonder if they treat their wives that same way. Tsk! Tsk!

While I was at the workshop, the boss said he was going for brunch at this coffee shop close by, right opposite, in fact…

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…and invited me to come along. That was almost lunchtime, around 11 already, and I did have breakfast that morning but I just tagged along to keep him company.

I had the pain sip, dry…

…and yes, it was very good and he had the kampua mee…

…that I had before, twice, but with pian sip instead of the thinly-sliced char siew wannabe (boiled meat coloured red), once tossed in chili sauce…

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…and another time, white…

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…and yes, I did like the noodles here, both times.

They traced the fault to the switch controlling the reverse lights and thankfully, they had no problem whatsoever in getting the spare part to replace it. In the meantime, I asked them to change the engine oil – I use the better quality one and they tell me I would only need to change after every 7,000 km but I would do so once I’ve gone past 5,000 like when using the regular one. My old car may not look all that nice on the outside but yes, it is still running perfectly well, praise the Lord…

UNCLE LAU CORNER (2.328131, 111.840397) is located back to back with Udak Kitchen which is to the left of Everwin, Sg Merah along Lorong Sungai Merah 2C, off Jalan Teng Chin Hua.