[1065] Summer Heat

This summer has been brutally hot, and it's only starting.

It does appear that every year the hot and dry season is hotter and dryer. Maybe climate change has something to do with it. Maybe it's the lack of trees in Metro Manila. I've seen plenty of social media posts about these things. Honestly I'm not sure if I 100% believe them, but there may be some truth to them. I just haven't verified.

Heat index temps are even worse elsewhere. I have no idea how to combat this, I just hope things get better.

Out.

[1064] Super Beetle

A Volkswagen Beetle is still my dream car. Specifically the flat windshield Super Beetle, mainly because I'm contrarian and the Supers don't get as much love as the 1969 and older Beetles. Super Beetles have better suspension and are more stable. I'll take (relatively) safer over higher value.

Also I have plans of retromodifying the car, which will maybe tank the car's value for others. Things like four-wheel disk brake upgrades, better speakers, Apple Car Play and Android Auto ready head units, an alternator instead of a generator, and other (possibly) questionable upgrades.

Twin carb is in play. I have no idea why, I'm just curious about the performance of the stock carb versus aftermarket carb and twin carb.

A new, modern wiring harness will also be installed. It'll be easier to find replacement fuses plus new wires will hopefully help prevent electrical fires for a fifty-year old car.

A roof rack will also be installed so that I can install a bike rack or a cargo box.

Out.

[1063] Journaling

I think I mentioned sometime ago here on this blog that I've started journaling again. A friend suggested it to help me cope with life, and so far it probably has been working.

So far it's been challenging to keep writing everyday, specially when I missed a week because we were out on vacation. If I don't get to write at night before I sleep I try to write the next morning.

There are so many things to be mindful of nowadays just to cope, and it's really been challenging.

Out.

[1062] Bike Thoughts

A friend of mine recently sent me this link of a locally made (?) gravel bike frame being sold as a fully built bike. The bike looks nice, but the page lacks a lot of info.

As of writing the Marbel Vibro gravel bike I linked above is still on sale for around PhP25k+ which is a pretty affordable price if you factor in what components are used. While it does offer two sizes, I have no idea what the geometry of each size is. I recently realized that stack and reach might be better metrics for measuring if I'll be good on a bike or not. Effective top tube might not be a good enough metric to see if I can ride comfortably on a bike.

I told my friend my crazy idea of purchasing one and then swapping components from my current bike to the gravel bike frame, then maybe upgrading my brifters to hydraulic ones so I can get some hydraulic brake calipers.

Good thing my friend is more sensible than me. He also researches stuff better and he basically told me I'd probably be downgrading the frame if I do get the bike. He does make a good point since we're both not sure how well the frame is made, what the frame is made of (though he did say it could be an alloy bike), and the geometry of the bike.

So after a couple of hours doing back and forth in our chat I decided to just stick to my original plan of trying to save up for my original upgrades, better wheelset, better branded cassette, and narrower tires. 

I am still targeting tubeless ready rims, and a better brand for my either 11-50 or 11-46 cassette. I'm sticking to either 32 or 35mm Panaracer Gravel Kings for my tires, or something of a similar width. Maybe if I save enough I can even change my chainring to either a 44T or 46T from my current 42T, though I have no idea why I want to get a bigger chainring. I have a weaker riding stamina now than before, though I can still cruise at around 20 kmh along the Service Road. I do feel my quads burning along the "false flat" section going back home but I was averaging around 18 kmh or so.

So yeah, a 35m wide, gravel ready tire on tubeless ready rims with an 11-50T cassette and a 46T chainring is probably going to be my next bike upgrade. Most likely along with a better bike saddle, if I'm being honest.

Out.

[1061] Wigo vs S-Presso

Once again in my fantasy car garage I'm torn between two different small, practical cars. The Toyota Wigo E CVT and the Suzuki S-Presso AGS. I chose these two cars because they're in the same price range. There is a more expensive, top-of-the-line Wigo but that's over PhP700k as of this blog.

Honestly at this moment I'm really leaning towards the S-Presso because the warranty is 5 years or 100,000 km plus one year free preventive maintenance service. There's also the fact that the Suzuki is about PhP24k cheaper.

Strong points of the Wigo though are the rear wiper and the fact that it's a Toyota. Parts may be more readily available, both in the dealers and aftermarket. There's also the reputation of "Toyota reliability" that's been around since maybe the 1990s here in the Philippines.

Either way both of these cars are hopefully both practical and useful for daily city driving here in Metro Manila.

Out.

[1060] Headlights

Yesterday I drove our 23-year old Rav4 in the evening and realized something. It needs new headlight assemblies.

No amount of headlight restoring will remove the yellowing, and the headlight was dim in the evening. I tried to drive without the fog lamps to test it out. I'm just glad we had street lights and it wasn't dark on the road, but I can imagine in the event I drive it in some dark are that the headlight won't be enough.

So yes, it might be time to get it some new headlight assemblies to replace the yellowed ones. We may rarely go out at night but I'd still rather have an extra level of safety just in case.

Out.

[1059] Random Bike Blog

I've recently started riding my bike again. While it may just be for a few kilometers inside the subdivision I still think it's a big deal that I've actually started to ride again.

Anyway my bike is seeing wear and tear, basically a "you get what you paid for" scenario. My saddle is cracking, but it's basically a budget padded saddle I got from an international "home and life improvement retailer" for less than USD10. It still works but there is cracking on the nose section of the saddle, and I think it's due for a replacement soon.

To be honest I still want to upgrade my bike. Nothing expensive or major, just upgrades that'll improve safety and quality of ride. The saddle is one of them, and to be honest I think I'd rather go to a bike shop and buy a saddle there than getting some budget saddle.

First things first though, I really want to upgrade my wheelset, cassette, and tires. I don't want carbon fiber rims but I do want tubeless ready rims. And a better brand 11-speed cassette. I don't even mind sticking to my current cassette configuration since based on how I've been riding I do need the really easy gears.

Tires, as I've written before, will be narrower but still for "gravel" even though I don't ride gravel. I don't want slicks, and I don't think the cyclocross tires I've seen online would be useful. I've thought about mountain bike tires but from what I've read they're all wide now and even now at 38mm my tire clearance is already pretty tight. 32 to 35 is what I think is the sweet spot.

I'm also seriously considering getting a bike computer with speed and cadence sensors. Maybe those would help me ride longer when I use the bike on the trainer.

Sadly all of these upgrades I want will just stay in my want list until some amazing things happen in life financially speaking. As it stands now I have more important things I can spend whatever small amount of money I can use for personal needs.

Out.

[1058] Thoughts

Yesterday, March 16, 2024, I gave an online presentation via Zoom a little past 8pm. The topic was an intro to Blender Video Editing.

I don't usually do this, probably never had done it before yesterday. I don't count teaching colleagues at work because that is with people I know. Yesterday was different since this was with people I don't know. Total strangers.

It was something a good friend of mine invited me to do. He was working with someone who has this goal of empowering Filipinos with skills they can use to do online freelance work. I thought it was a good idea so I volunteered my time.

I also chose Blender video editing because it was a) free and b) I don't think I can teach the basics of 3D in an hour. I think, and I hope, I was able to at least give the people who attended the call an idea of how to start out editing videos in Blender.

I do have my "issues" with Blender but I still think it is a very powerful tool that is also open source.

I do feel good about what I did. I guess sometimes I need to do things out of my comfort zone just so I can keep moving forward.

Out.

[1057] Two Car Garage

I've blogged about this countless times before but I need a filler blog post. Er, I mean I've made my decision now. As of this moment I'm choosing the Suzuki S-Presso AGS and the Toyota Veloz 1.5 V CVT Platinum White Pearl. Combined cost of both cars won't exceed PhP 2 million.

I initially compared the S-Presso with the similarly prized Toyota Wigo 1.0 E CVT Yellow SE (because I really, really like high vis colors). I decided on the former for the simple reason that it is smaller overall while having a slightly taller ground clearance than the latter. This gives the S-Presso the advantage in city driving and parking because hopefully you'll have more free space when you park. They may just be around 10 to 20 centimeters but that's still a big deal. At least for me.

As for the Veloz, I compared it to the Toyota Avanza 1.5 G CVT and the Suzuki Ertiga 1.5 GLX AT Hybrid. I originally liked (and still do) the Avanza but checking the comparison I think it's worth the additional cost for a few features the Avanza doesn't have. Like the lane departure warning sensor and the roof rack.

Again, I'm picking these two from a practical standpoint. The S-Presso would be the daily driver and the Veloz would be the weekend getaway car and alternate ride on the day the S-Presso is coding. Or the Veloz can be used when the folks are here and we need a more spacious car.

Out.

[1056] Material Things

I'll be doing a "daydream" post where I'll be listing down some "small" material things I'd love to buy if I had the disposable income to actually get them. Technically I could probably afford some of these, but considering the price they're being sold here I'd rather look for a cheaper, more bang for the buck alternative.

• Uniqlo clothes. Don't get me wrong, I have a good amount of Uniqlo branded clothes, but I usually only buy them when they drop below a certain amount. The shorts I saw yesterday are way over that amount. I'd also love to get a few of their Airism and DRY-EX shirts as well as some athletic shorts.
• A mid-level mirrorless camera with two lenses. One would be a prime lens and the other would be a decent zoom lens. Most likely use the prime more often and maybe the zoom when needed. I honestly would be happy with a high end point-and-shoot camera, but when I saw how much the Fujifilm X100VI was being sold I think it would be more practical to get a good mirrorless camera. Something like the Fujifilm X-E4.
• A great pair of sneakers. Low cut basketball shoes that I can wear when I go out. I don't play basketball anymore but I still like the shoes. Who knows, maybe I'll try shooting if I get another pair.
• A new work table. I've been seeing those posts on reddit's battlestation subreddit and most of the nice work tables are just a few Ikea drawers and a heavy, wooden board as the table itself. One Alex drawer unit and another Alex storage unit as the "legs" and find a nice board for the table. Isn't Ikea supposed to be this budget brand in other countries? It's a luxury brand here in the Philippines.

That's it. I think I can actually buy these things but it would definitely take a long time since I'd need to save for a few months (or even years) before being able to purchase whatever it is I want to purchase.

Out.

[1055] Blender's Video Editor

I've recently started dabbling with Blender's video editor again, for personal stuff.

I think it's still not as easy to use as Adobe After Effects, but Blender's video editor does get the job done. I guess experience using it has helped me also figure some things out, as well as thinking outside the box.

One thing is for sure, if I do plan on heavily using this moving forward I do need more tools aside both in and out of Blender. A tool to make sure all source video and audio are at the same fps, for one thing. Another thing I need to learn is how to mask things in Blender.

So hopefully I get the motivation and the time to learn these things.

Out.

[1054] Another n+1 Bicycle Idea

I recently saw some videos on youtube about long tail cargo bikes, specifically the Surly Big Dummy. Now if you know me you know I'm not a fan of Surly for personal reasons I'd rather not tell you, but may include price.

Anyway I saw this video from Berm Peak about how he customized his Big Dummy and it got me thinking about it. A cargo bike would be a nice n+1 bike if you can ride to the grocery or market and safely park it somewhere. It got me thinking what I would do if I managed to get a long tail cargo bike frame.

I'll most likely stick to a 1x with low gearing since speed isn't a necessity for this. I'm guessing I'll need better gearing for climbs or heavy loads. So maybe an 11-speed 1x with a 36T chainring and 11-42 cassette would be a good compromise. Gear jumps would be a bit big but hopefully the ratios would be enough to handle said heavy loads and possible climbs.

Actually the only component I'm sure I want to place on this theoretical cargo bike would be the Velo Orange Klunker handlebars. Everything else I haven't given much thought.

So now my n+1 bike list consists of my main (gravel/cx) bike, a folding drop bar bicycle, and now this long tail cargo bike.

Out.

[1053] Journaling

I recently spoke with a good friend of mine and he suggested to me, among other things, to start journaling. So I'm trying to.

This is not the same as blogging, at least not anymore. I'm keeping my thoughts private and whatever stuff I share here are things I don't mind letting out in public.

It's only been one day so hopefully I can make a habit out of it. Plus it gives my really old college notebooks a second lease in life. What will I do with the notebooks when they're filled up? Most likely throw them, to be honest. I just need an outlet for my private thoughts.

Out.

[1052] Leap Year Post

This will only happen once every four years, and I have no idea if this blog or myself will still be around in four years so let's do a random blog post on this day, the 29th of February. These are the hot topics in my head as of this moment, either because I'm talking about it with my friends or because I've been reading about it online.

• The Fujifilm X100VI that costs over PhP100k as a pre-order locally. I've been getting the photography itch lately and to be honest these high end P&S cameras are really something that might fit my needs. It's either that or a cheaper mirrorless camera body with a decent, all-around lens. Not that I have any money at the moment.
• Doozy UI for Unity. I've been tasked with helping out different art teams and so I'm trying to learn a few things about this to help our UI/UX artist to animate. It's pretty challenging because the only videos on youtube are from the actual team and the way they present isn't for me. I'm more a Brackey's guy with how he presents stuff. Also the online documentation isn't the same as the one I'm using in our version of Unity. Still, a fun challenge.
• Sensah SRX Pro 1x11 hydraulic brifters. It's relatively expensive for me, and I'm not really sure if it's worth replacing my brifters just to get hydraulic brakes or just get some Juin Tech R1 post mount hybrid calipers. I'm using some "cheap" hybrid calipers but I've read great things about Juin Tech, specifically that they're almost similar to Yokozuna brakes if not rebrands.
• Speaking of bicycles, I've been torn between going 1x or 2x and my last crazy idea was to get a 2x 10-speed Microshift sword with a 46/29T chainring and 11-34T cassette. This would go hand-in-hand with the Juin Tech brake caliper upgrade.
• I'm still torn between a heavily customized Japan surplus DA17V and a locally sold second-hand car. Not that I can afford either but both have pros and cons. What I can agree on is that both options should have great fuel economy, like 8 to 9 km/L consumption in city driving with heavy traffic and three to four passengers with cargo.
• I'm also starting to get curious about the hybrid and EV cars being sold here locally. The Toyota Yaris Cross HEV and the Jetour Ice Cream, to be more specific. The former is more expensive but is also more versatile, while the latter wouldn't work if you lived in a condominium where finding a power outlet would be a challenge.

Those are the things on my mind (that I don't mind blogging about, obviously). I do have more personal stuff I'd rather not let you know.

Out.

[1051] The Mitsubishi L100 Minicab EV

I recently read an article about the Mitsubishi Minicab L100 EV in Autoindustriya's website. The TL;DR is that a Mitsubishi factory in Indonesia has started manufacturing said L100 EV. The writer was wondering if the EV could be brought over here.

I'm sort of excited. First, based on the Minicab's Wikipedia article the non-EV ones being sold in Japan are just rebadged Suzuki Every Vans. So that means there's a chance that if they do bring it over here they may sell it with second row seats instead of just as panel vans.

Second, EV. I've always been curious how practical and economical owning an EV is. Yes your gasoline bill may go down, but are the savings enough to offset whatever increase you get in your electric bill? Also, how reliable is an EV and can it really achieve the ranges mentioned, which in the case of the Minicab L100 EV is around 180 kilometers.

Finally if it is based on a DA/DS17 Suzuki Every gone EV then it's a kei van and I've always wanted to own an Every Van.

Biggest concern of course is if it is indeed sold here "legally" and not from the gray market is the price. I have a feeling the price may reach a little close to PhP1 million (or more since it's an EV) so I have a feeling those Every Van enthusiasts expecting it will have a price point similar to the Japan surplus Everys will be very disappointed.

We shall see.

Out.

[1050] Training Thoughts

I've been walking around 5am or so everyday since I can't remember anymore. Definitely early 2023. Maybe even 2022.

I think one of the reasons why I started walking earlier was as a "precaution" in case I need to suddenly drive someone to work or school. I wanted to get my walk in. I do remember a time when I would start my morning exercise routine after my wife and daughter left for work/school.

Though now that I'm writing about it, I think I switched to earlier times because my schedule changed from 10am to 6pm to 9am to 5pm. Knowing me and my "addiction" with my computer games I probably wanted more time to play games. It seems legit as well as I usually go straight to my computer, such as I am doing now.

Except today I didn't go out for my morning routine. Let's just say it was a bad day. However while I was bringing the car in to the garage I saw a neighbor wrapping up his morning walk, and he asked me if I was done with my walk. I told him not today, but then it hit me.

Why don't I start my routine again after my wife and daughter leave? There's nothing wrong that, and honestly I could do with less time on my computer.

So tomorrow I will go on my walk when my wife and daughter leave. That will be around 6am, so after getting back, washing my clothes, taking a bath, and having my coffee I should still have around one or so hours before 9am.

This may also give me more time to help my wife prep for the day before they leave. I'll still wake up at 3am to 4am, but rather than focusing on going out I'll make myself useful here.

Basically I'll try to allocate more time to being useful and less time to being "useless."

Out.

[1049] Photography

As a quick background I used to consider myself a hobbyist photographer. I even have a DSLR but I'm not really keen on keeping it anymore. It's too bulky for what I would rather own now. I also own a point-and-shoot camera, but it's old and the controls are not as responsive as before.

Anyway I was chatting with a friend of mine who wants to get back to photography as well. As I usually do during chats I suddenly started browsing google for point-and-shoot (let's just call them P&S) cameras and I stumbled upon the Panasonic Lumix DC-LX100 II.

Quick edit: Here is the Philippine website of the DC-LX100M2P and this is where I discovered that you can use the control ring on the lens as a manual focus ring. I've watched a youtube review and supposedly the manual focus is slow. That youtube review also had a few complaints about it's dustproofing.

It looks like an older model but I am intrigued by it. The biggest reason is there's supposedly a ring around the lens that you can customize what it controls, and it can supposedly be used as a manual focus ring. This intrigues me since my biggest complaint with my P&S Canon G16 was the lack of a manual focus ring.

As much as I want to get back to photography though, I don't have enough saved to consider getting one. Nor is it a priority to get me a nice P&S camera (or even a mirrorless camera).

Anyway I've come to realize that the Lumix LX100 II is a pretty old model, and I'm too lazy to look for newer alternatives. Plus considering how expensive it is, I'd rather not look. Or maybe I will.

Out.

[1048] Bags

I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine about bags. He had a 40L travel bag recommended to him on youtube. He sent me the link and I told him that I had seen a similar video about the same bag a few months ago. The backpack in question? The Tomtoc Navigator-T66 Travel Laptop bag.

It's way cheaper than some of the dream travel backpacks we used to talk about. Way cheaper. One of my dream backpacks was the Goruck GR2 which is five times more expensive. Yes, five times. The Tomtoc is being sold for around USD80.99, while in Goruck's backpack the GR2 is sold for USD405.00 and there you have it.

I'm not sure about the pros and cons of the Tomtoc. All I know is there is a local reseller of Tomtoc, but unfortunately the Navigator-T66 is (as of this writing) sold out. If that is the backpack. They changed the names here, and I have no idea why.

Anyway it's being sold here a bit more expensive than the USD80.99 price but it's still way cheaper than some of the bags I'm looking at locally. Some Timbuk2 and Pacsafe bags here sell for over PhP7000 which is way over USD100.

So I'll be keeping an eye out for this Tomtoc backpack. It seems like a good option for a multi-day travel backpack. Hopefully once I'm done decluttering I hope to have the following lineup of bags:

• Timbuk2 Rogue 25L backpack for overnighters
• Pacsafe Metrosafe 300 sling bag for day trips
• Nike Elite basketball backpack/duffell bag for multi-night trips (this is the bag I'm thinking of replacing with a 40L backpack)
• A small yellow dry bag I have for beach trips
• A versatile tote bag for shopping and groceries
• Whatever laptop bag comes with whatever laptop I'm using at the moment

And I think that's all I need. I have too many bags in my cabinet and I honestly think I should try to sell some of them We'll see.

Out.

[1047] First February 2024 Blog Post

I honestly felt January was moving too slow. Maybe February will be different.

I have a feeling it won't be that different considering it's a leap year so February will have 29 days, which is basically just one day short of a "typical" month.

The past month was interesting with a lot of wins and new challenges I will face. I just hope I have the strength to actually push through with these.

Out. 

[1046] German Look Super Beetle

I haven't written a Super Beetle post in a while, and as times change so do my styling tastes. I now would prefer to have a Super Beetle build that's similar to a German look Super Beetle.

So what is a German look? This website seems to cover most of the details. Styling is simple, but performance and handling seem to be priorities. 

The only thing I probably would change with a German look Super Beetle are the rims and the side mirrors. I do like me either a set of 15 or 16-inch RS Watanabe F8 rims. The other thing I would change would be the side mirrors. I'm leaning towards the JDM look bullet side mirrors at the moment because it would hopefully complement the JDM look RS Watanabe F8s.

Aside from those I'll definitely be adding a Kamei Beetle front lip spoiler and a rear windshield spoiler. A roof rack is also something I would love to add just to add extra carrying capacity.

For the performance side, well that's something I know very little about. The usual important things for me would be front disc brake conversion for added safety, a modern wiring harness with modern fuses, modern LED projector headlamps again for added safety, and modern seatbelts for all possible seats.

And as always I would paint the Super Beetle in a modified tribute to the Salzburg Rallye Beetle. I'm going with either orange or yellow for the paint with matte black for the hood and rear decklids. Even better if they were actually changed to carbon fiber.

I'd love to do a longer post about this but I'm pressed for time.

Out.

[1045] Productive Tired

I have been feeling tired these past few days. It is the kind of tired that I do not mind feeling, in fact it is the kind of tired I like.

I call it productive tired. It happens when you have been busy the whole day and have been making a lot of progress on whatever it is you want to make progress on. I honestly wish this would happen everyday, but there will be days when there is nothing to do to feel productive.

So these productive tired days I will savor and look forward to when the next one will happen.

Out.

[1044] I Found It (Yet Another Every Van Post)

I was watching Surplus Pinas' youtube channel when I noticed that most, if not all, his DA-17 Every Vans had keyholes in the left front door, the driver side. Here's one example, their latest video as of today.

It does seem a bit pricey though. The base model they featured was sold for around PhP280k, and shipping isn't included yet. So I'm guessing with the add-ons I want it'll be north of PhP350k minus shipping.

Still, I found a seller who actually adds a keyhole on the left side after conversion. Interesting.

Out.

[1043] Two-Car Garage

I have no idea when I did the last two-car garage post, nor do I want to search my blog. So here I am again, blogging about it.

As always, biggest consideration is that these cars would be driven here in Metro Manila. Hybrids and electric vehicles have also been considered but since they're relatively new-ish tech I'd rather go for the internal combustion engine cars. So without further ado here are some combos I have for a two-car garage.

1. 2023 Toyota Wigo G CVT and Toyota Avanza 1.5 G CVT. The Wigo would be the daily driver while the Avanza would be used during the Wigo's coding day and as a weekender car. Both cars are pretty fuel efficient and both can go on long road trips. The Wigo is small and would be ideal for just going around Metro Manila. The Avanza can carry more luggage or more people.
2. Suzuki S-Presso AGS and Suzuki XL7 AT. Same argument as the Toyotas. I'm picking the XL7 over the Suzuki Ertiga Hybrid simply because the XL7 has a higher ground clearance. That's it. I like it because it's 2cm higher off the ground than the Ertiga. And it looks better and more rugged to me as well. The reason I'd rather have the Toyota is because both Toyotas have CVTs while the S-Presso has the impressive AGS (auto gear shift) but the Ertiga and XL7 have traditional automatic transmissions.
3. Any small and big combination of the five cars mentioned above. Honestly combining one of the smaller cars with one of the bigger cars will still cost you probably less than PhP2M so that would be a very solid bargain.
4. You can probably bring in the Mitsubishi Mirage CVT and Xpanders into the discussion but I'm not a big fan of the Xpander's looks. The Mirage hatchback though is a yes for me.
5. BYD Dolphin and either of the Avanza, XL7, or Ertiga. Wait, an EV? Yes. I've seen a BYD Dolphin and I like how it looks. I have no idea how reliable it is or how much added costs to the electric bill it is to own one, but that's why I'm pairing it with one of the bigger cars I wrote above. This combo is more expensive but at least I'll have a reliable car and a high tech car. We have Teslas being sold here but I'm not really a fan of the brand nor the tech.

And that's it. Mostly boring and practical choices (but still cars I cannot afford hahahuhuhu) but hey, it's my blog and it's my two-car garage. If you want a relatively out of the box answer then how about this. The 1.5 Avanza G CVT and the Subaru WRX Wagon. The Avanza would become the daily driven practical car and the WRX Wagon would become the coding car. Also weird because according to autodeal's website the WRX is wider and longer than the Avanza but can only seat five.

Out.

[1042] Another DA17 Post

I just recently noticed a glaring quality of life detail I never noticed before in Japan surplus left-hand drive converted DA17 Suzuki Every Van / Wagon. It's pretty major.

There is no left side keyhole for the front door.

I've seen a few videos of DA17 Every Vans from my favorite Japan surplus dealer and most, if not all, DA17V models I saw only had a keyhole on the front right door, or the OG driver side. And this is an issue for me. I find it pretty redundant, and possibly dangerous, to go to the right side of the car to unlock the car then go back to the left side to get in.

It would also be pretty uncomfortable to go in the right and slide into the left, specifically for a person my size and girth.

All is not lost however because I've seen one (only one I'm sure I saw because I paused the video and checked it multiple times) video from another surplus seller that had a DA17V (yes, the Every Van) that had a left front door keyhole. So either some models have then and some don't, or you have to pay extra to have another keyhole placed in our standard position. If that's what it takes for a quality of life improve, then why not. I still think the DA17V non-turbo R06A AGS Every Van is still a nice ride to have.

However it just means I'll need to have a few crucial upgrades/accessories in the event I lose my mind and blow my hard-earned savings on a DA17V Suzuki Every Van.

• Seat upgrades to use DA17W front seats and the second row split folding "captain's chairs" as well as working seatbelts for both the left and right side front and second row seats. Sorry middle row, not sure if there are lap belts for you either.
• 7-inch Android Auto ready head unit with reverse camera and front and rear dash cams. I don't mind getting whatever they can install, upgrading these and adding additional speakers can come some other time. What's important is that I can use Waze or Google maps and I have additional cameras for security and safety.
• Top load carrier roof rack. At least they'll register the Every Van with the top load option so I can use it just in case.

I didn't even bother adding front fog lamps as an important modification since I rarely drive at night and we can probably add that in the future along with the better sound system.

Out.

[1041] New Year Musings

2023 is gone, at least here in the Philippines. It's a new year and with that comes new hope, new goals, new stuff basically.

I am not a fan of resolutions, so I would rather try to set stuff I need to try to achieve. And honestly the biggest one I want to set and learn is a healthier attitude of gratitude.

Let's face the facts, I bitch a lot. There are also times I do think in a very entitled way, which is basically not a great thing. I have been doing my best to counter any really negative thoughts and I have been trying to be more aware so I can catch myself earlier.

Yet gratitude is my biggest weakness so far, there are things I still take for granted or forget to realize.

So this year I will hopefully try to be more aware and be more grateful for things I have.

Out.