1201 Cars

Lately I've been watching a good share of car reviews. These reviews are for cars that are sold locally here in the Philippines. I have to be honest, there are a lot of cars that are catching my attention for different reasons.

I'm talking about the EVs and hybrids. I've blogged about these recently because the preventive maintenance service costs and charging costs for hybrids seem way cheaper than what you would spend on a traditional internal combustion engine vehicle, Wigo included. I saw a video on youtube about how much a couple spent for their BYD Seagull's annual PMS and it was definitely less than PhP7000.00. Add to that the relatively cheaper costs of using EV chargers and you can see why I'm interested in them. Same with hybrids and plug-in hybrids. They both might be a bit more expensive then full EVs but you will definitely feel the savings one way or another. The biggest issue with these types of vehicles is how much the replacement battery will be when the time comes.

And speaking of hybrids, I'm really, really curious about the Toyota Zenix Hybrid and the BYD eMax 9 DM-i Premium. They both look like really practical hybrids, although they also both seem a bit too massive for mall parking. Specially the eMax 9. There's also the MG 3 Hybrid+ and the Toyota Ativ on the opposite side of the spectrum. Smaller city cars that are also hybrids.

I would really love to be able to try and test drive all these cars. We'll see.

Out.

1200 Jogging Update

A few weeks ago I switched my increased my interval jogging from 3:1 to 4:1. Honestly I don't know why I chose to do this, I guess I was looking for something to break the "monotony" of my workout.

It has been a challenge. At first I was wondering why my pace was almost the same as my 3:1 intervals, and I realized it could probably be due to many things. The theory I feel is most plausible is that my body is more tired during the four minutes of jogging that when I do my one minute walk I'm walking slower than my walking pace during my 3:1 intervals.

The past two jogs I've done I've been a bit mindful of my pace and so far I've been averaging less than 8 minutes per kilometer. I've also noticed in my Tozo S3 smart watch and Tozo Health app that my heart range does reach the red zone (max heart rate zone) during my recent jogs. I'm hoping this is good because I'm pushing myself a bit more and my body and heart are adjusting so that eventually I'll be spending more time in in the aerobic zone than the anaerobic and max zones.

For now I'll keep aiming for being consistent in doing at the minimum three three-lap jogs a week. And one day of this kettlebell workout a friend of mine sent.

Consistency.

Out.

1199 Powering Through

It's been a relatively rocky few weeks for me. I'm just thankful I'm able to power through these things that are happening to me.

I'm allowing myself to feel bad about myself a bit but at the same time I'm telling myself enough is enough and just go on. There's nothing else to do but keep moving forward.

Out.

1198 Christmas 2025

The (actual) holidays are just around the corner. I'm not writing about the Philippines' "Christmas Holidays" that starts from September 1 and ends on the Sunday Feast of the Three Kings.

We've started purchasing gifts for friends and family, and I've left this job to my wife. She's very qualified and willing to do it by herself since she's move shopping savvy and thoughtful than me. If it were me I'd probably give everyone rechargeable lights or a dry bag to act as a go bag.

Am I excited for the holidays? Yes and no. Excited because I'd love to have a short break and do things that aren't everyday things I do. It'll be a chance to rest, hopefully meet up with my friends and family, and just recharge so I can be ready for 2026.

Out.

1197 (Sort of) Dream Garage

I've blogged about dream garages for a long time, and now comes yet another blog about my current, sort of, dream garage.

This assumes money is no object, but at the same time I'm being practical and reasonable. This is also going to be a three car garage because that's how many cars we have right now. My folks drive one car to-and-from the province. Then there are two left here to be used as needed. One car gets more use since it's more fuel efficient and practical to use that, and the last one is our massive hauler, meaning it can carry all of us plus cargo. So I'm basing my dream garage on how we live currently. And here we go.

Two Toyota Yaris Cross 1.5 SE HEV CVT and one Toyota Zenix 2.0 Q HEV CVT. That's it. Two similar cars that are relatively small that you can use for city driving and take on road trips, and an MPV that can fit seven people max and have some cargo space. And all of them are hybrids.

Let's discuss the Zenix first. Given that it's not as big as our Super Grandia, some compromises will have to be made. Like (legally) adding a roof rack and cargo box for hauling more stuff on road trips. And maybe bringing along a stepladder to make reaching the roof a lot easier.

Then we have the Yaris Cross. I'm choosing this over the Corolla Cross because it is smaller in dimensions, meaning it'll be easier to park it in mall parking areas. You don't have to worry about space getting in and out of the car. I've experienced having difficulty getting in our old gen 3 Rav4 in a parking lot because a Fortuner was beside us. I did get in but with great difficulty.

And there it is. Three cars that all of us can drive. As for the "assignments," one of the Yaris Cross will be for my folks and their road trips. This is because they're basically doing this with their Raize now. So why not just keep the Raize? Space. Every time they go on their trips the Raize is fully loaded. No one can ride because the second row and trunk are full of stuff. Hopefully a slightly bigger vehicle will help.

And that's it. I honestly was considering the Toyota Ative 1.5 HEV CVT because it's also a hybrid, but according to websites it's actually longer than both the Yaris Cross and, surprisingly, the Avanza. Plus it has less cargo space.

Again, this is just a dream garage with money not being an object.

Out.

1196 The Wigo

I'm really thankful we got a Toyota Wigo. With the recent non-stop rising price of fuel per liter, the fuel-efficient Wigo is helping a lot.

At best we've been getting over 10km/L but the caveat there is that my daughter spent the past three or so weeks either online schooling or on a week long break. It's still a big help to spend a relatively smaller amount to fill up the Wigo.

At worst with all the traffic bring and fetching my family to and from their respective schools the Wigo can still give me around 8km/L. Bad yes, but still way more efficient than the Rav4. Don't go thinking driving style affects consumption, because I'm not the one driving most of the time.

So yeah, I've grown to like the Wigo even more than when we first got it. I set a budget, researched what cars fit that budget, and chose the Wigo. I do have some minor regrets but they're more nitpicks than anything. I would still pick the Wigo over the other options, which were basically the Suzuki S-Presso and the Mitsubishi Mirage hatchback.

Out.

1195 Thoughts

The year is almost over. Depending on the situation time seems to either move oh so fast, or oh so slow. A lot has changed this year for me, personally.

I've come to change my perspective, and I've been constantly mindful of how I think and react in the hope that my consistency will help me become a better person overall.

A lot of things have happened as well this year. Some good, some bad, everything a learning experience. I can only hope I can continue with my newfound perspective in life so that I don't go back to my old self. I guess I can allow myself some moments to fall back to my comfort zone, but only to release the negativity. Everything else must be done moving forward.

Out.