Well, as the current one does not live forever I did some thinking on what I might choose as a future car. Due to reliability and personal experience I have a preference for Japanese cars. Had some issues with a Volkswagen which I owned a long time ago, on the other hand the one Honda which I owned wasn’t trouble free either. Which was kind of a surprise to me as it is not really known for having problems. The other cars didn’t give many issues and the only one that gave an issue was due to an error by a mechanic. Most others have been Mazda (with the exception of one Toyota) as well and none of them ever let me down, so I’ll think I will stick to the brand. As I usually buy second hand (2-4 year old), my future car is already on the road and there are only two which I will consider at this time. As family expansion also comes into view in these cars lifetime and the amount of kilometers might go down a lot in the near future as well, feul economy is not really a factor. No I am not looking for a car that will run 1:4 nor does Mazda make any. The two lucky ones are the Mazda 6 in either a nice Sportsbreak package or the MPS if I can get my hands on one, but preferably the RX-8. The latter might be considered risky by some over my choice of reliability, but I love the technology behind it. Although it’s a car that my brother cannot maintain as his wankel rotary engine skills are next to non-existing. The 6 still has a conventional otto or four stroke engine so that won’t be a problem, now I still have to figure out which of the two it might become in the next year or so. Phew, some choice…….. Also, will I keep the MX-5 for fun or should I trade it in. I’m a fan of topless driving, however it’s not my girlfriends favourite thing to do.
Monthly Archives: August 2007
Why Asians don’t like Dutch food
……. Well, did you ever tasted it after you’ve spend a month or longer eating the local dishes for most of your time. I normally like the food as it is prepared in my home country, except if I’ve spend a long time away from home somewhere in Asia.
Weird enough, I’ve never had any issues the other way around. Although I’m not a fish eater which was quite challenging in South Korea where I had to endure some dishes containing former residents of the Yellow sea. Did survive but it will never be my favourite. And yes, they do eat other things besides fish, as we do overhere. Fish is also popular in the Netherlands, I just don’t like it. Can’t help that.
But as the normal dutch dish usually consists of a piece of meat, boiled potatoes and veggies where in Asia the rice and veggies are of a much drier variety and the meat is usually integrated into the meal either being the main ingredient or somewhere in the background as added flavour. The only thing is our wet potatoes and veggies taste awful if you haven’t eaten them for a long time. And believe me I was longing for my favourite dish (cauliflower btw) when I got back in my country, and boy don’t you believe my disappointment when I took a bite from it……. Unbelievable. Imagine never eaten any dutch dishes before, like most Asians coming into our country, that must be a miserable experience. This also goes for my girlfriend who still misses Beijing food. On the other hand she has adapted to our western style food quite well. I personally don’t think it will ever be her favourite but she has no problems eating our boiled potatoes and veggies.
68 Days
We all know the number 42 is the answer to life, the universe and everything. However this has to do with the amount of days which it took to drive 5000 kilometers. So with only 131 days to go until the end of the year I’m not going to make the 300000 this year. If calculations are correct and I will not be travelling abroad the odometer should get stuck somewhere on the 295000 kilometers this year.
The spares mentioned the last post did their work flawlessly, however new items need replacement. Get the idea the exhaust manifold most likely has a leak, and the catalytic converter is getting noisy and besides that doesn’t work anymore so it needs replacement anyway. Again not something really surprising judging age and mileage. It is the first catalytic converter being replaced so this one is 15 years old and the current exhaust manifold is already 7 years old since the last one got replaced. And yet it might be repaired by just welding the leak, so it will last another year or so before it has to be replaced completely.
And what do 42 and 68 have in common? Nothing really but 4+2=6 and 4×2=8 maybe! Nor do I know if I run the highest mileage MX-5 in the country. Although it’s not a car that will be used as a daily driver throughout it’s life there must be some 300000+ km cars around. I’m pretty sure there are, however all cars I’ve seen for sale are below 250000km.