An Unforgettable Birthday

Last Thursday it was hb's birthday. Usually it's just another normal day for us, as we very much stick to our routine. Nonetheless, I intended to bake a cake for hb as surprise. (Later I found out that hb actually knew I was going to bake a cake for him, as he saw the eggs and butter that I put out on the table.) As I did not really have the chance to bake something fancy for him. So I just baked an orange cake and simply decorated with some Kiss me chocolate than any toppings. In the morning, I get the kids to carry the cake to him and we sang the Happy birthday song while he was still getting ready to work. :D

In the evening, after picking up the kids, I called hb to check if it's possible for him to have dinner together with us. I was so happy hb said he would leave the office earlier so that we could eat together. I even suggested to go the new Korean restaurant opened not too long ago near the shops in our neighborhood. So I was driving home with the kids as usual. I even told them papa was going to have dinner with us together.

Just few km before reaching the home, while I was approaching the traffic light, I saw it was turning yellow from far and obviously I started to slow down the car preparing for the car to stop for the red light. I was still some distant away and by the time I reach the there it would turn red. And I was right, the traffic light turn to red before I stopped my car totally. And naturally I watched to the car behind from the mirror. I saw it was coming to me quite fast and thus I released the brake to go before the white line, to give more space for it to stop. But unfortunately, it could not stop in time. I heard a loud "bang" along with some broken glass sound. The damage to my car? I let the pictures do the talking....

And what happened to the car that hit me?

The lady driver is around 40 I think. She told me she was on the way to pick up her children from tuition. She claimed that the brake of her car was not working accordingly and thus the car hit into my car. I actually did not quite believe her. There are 3 traffic lights within about 500m of that stretch of the road. And the road is going downhill, where the traffic light that my car get hit was at the bottom of the slope. How could she manage to stop at the other 2 traffic lights but not the last one? My guess was she was not paying attention, whether talking on the phone or whatever. Or she thought I was going to drive through the red light? Though we were already within the housing areas, but that road is a very busy road. Roads from the neighborhood are connected to this road. 

Anyway, whatever happened is already happen. I'm just glad that all of us are not hurt. Kids are not shocked too. The car has done a good job on absorbing all the impact. In fact, my car was jerked to few meters away but luckily not far enough to hit the car from the opposite direction that was turning into the other road. All of us had our safety belt fasten even though the kids were sitting at the back. Yup we enforce the kids to always fasten the seat belt all the time. Without the seat belt, it could be possible that the kids might hit the back of the driver and passenger's seats when my car got hit. And I'm also glad that I was not driving some small car like Kancil or Kelisa. With such bad damage, I could not imagine what will happen to the kids who were sitting at the back of a Kancil or Kelisa when this happen. Will blog about the part on making police report on a separate post.

Btw after the accident, we had no mood to go eat something nice to celebrate hb's birthday already. But we still manage to have dinner together.

A big lesson learn

Just about 2 months ago, my car was being hit by someone from the back. It was not our fault at all (all cars were waiting in the roundabout). We got the name and mobile number from the lady who hit us. At first the lady told us report to the police. Then she called up hubby and requested us not to report to the police, as she did not want to claim the insurance. She said the car that she used was her friend's car. She asked to send the car for repair, tell her how much it cost and she will pay us back.

I think probably only me and hubby, that we are kind person will believe what she said. We decided to trust her. Thus we did not make any police report. Few weeks later when I was able to take some time off from work, I sent my car to the workshop for quotation. The whole thing was quoted at around RM2k. We told her the price. It actually took us quite a while to get her on the phone. I was worried that she will not agree to pay. After knowing the cost of repair, she said it was equivalent to her 2 months salary (can you believe this? ) and she requested to pay us in 4 installments, that is RM500 per month. She also requested to start paying in subsequent month as she just paid her friend who lend her the car. We had chosen to trust her again. Later we sms her our bank account number (as she had requested so that she can directly bank in the money into our account). Everything looks good.

Last month, we called her up asking when she will make the payment. She said she will pay it later and sms us after she had banked in the money into our account. However after 1 week, there was still no news from her. We tried to call her on her mobile. And this time, for few weeks, we did not manage to get her. We always get "the person that you have called is unavailable" from her mobile.

Now we regretted to have trust her. If she did not agree to pay, I may not proceed with the repair. RM2k is not a small amount. Especially at this time, we need money to purchase some insurance for Hao. Moreover CNY is coming soon. All require money to spend. Well, this is an expensive price to pay for something that was done in good intention. Both me and hubby were too soft-hearted. :(

Oh my car

I was so bad luck. My new car was being knocked down by a lady end of last month. We were heading for lunch with the family after visiting the child care center. We were on the queue waiting to make a u-turn in Jalan Cheras. As usual, the traffic was quite heavy due to it was Saturday afternoon. I was drinking my soup inside the car while the 2 kids were taking their nap. Suddenly a "bang" and I was thrown up a bit and the soup were all over my pants and the seats. I quickly check out the baby and the girl. Luckily both were fine and continue sleeping. Not to be bothered by what had just happened.

We drove in to the furniture mall nearby to take a look at the car. Well, it was quite badly hit. The MyVi car that hit us was not that bad, just some minor scratches. I felt very "sum tong" to see my new car being smashed and become out of shape. *cry*

Due to the busy work schedule, I managed to send the car for quotation and repair 2 weeks later in mid of October. Guess how much price I get quoted to fix the car? It was more than RM2000 ! I got shocked over the price. According to the person in-charge, the bumper and the back light need to be replaced (as the part that was holding it was broken). Just the parts itself already cost slightly more than 1k. Then the workmanship for the painting etc cost anothern 1k. So in total when I pay the bil it was closed to RM2100.

I pity the lady who hit my car. She was driving her friend's car. So she has to pay her friend as well as us. And she does not earn much. She proposed to pay by 4 installments to us. Me and hubby had to trust her and agreed on that. My brother and his wife think that we were too kind.