Our New Car, February 2007

After lots of thought and some serious consideration, we decided to purchase our first car — a Nissan Tiida (it's known as a Nissan Versa in the United States). With a loan from my boss, Donal, we were able to make our downpayment and the car was delivered just yesterday evening. Nissan Leasing got us the rest of the funds and we'll own it 100% in about 36-months. We got ourselves a nice little black hatchback with a 1.8 liter engine and an automatic transmission. We still have the red car registration plates, but we should have the proper white plates in about a month or so.

Despite the fact that I am a firm believer in the power and control of a manual transmission, the traffic in Bangkok really is too brutal for driving around with a manual gear shift car. I've also been told that the resale value of an automatic is much better as well.

Our first big trip was a visit to the hospital early this morning. My wife's doctor was really very pleased to see us and assured us that everything was normal. Our son, Antonio, is probably the biggest reason we decided to purchase a vehicle. After the hospital we went to visit one of the big new malls in Bangkok. We usually avoid going there because the traffic can be quite bad around this area and catching a taxi cab can be extremely difficult.



Here we are parked at Central World Plaza, with my wife, Kanittha, and my mother-in-law, Khun Thiap. Purchasing the car has enabled us to create new possibilities filled with adventure. We're probably going to go to the park tomorrow to enjoy a bit of sunshine and fresh air. The only obstacle is that I don't really know my way around Bangkok too well. Like I said... "possibilities filled with adventure".