p h o t o s [ through your eyes ]: 01.09

23.01.09 (sat): one more day before chinese new year. been quite a rough week and thought "tgif" yesterday. next thing i know, i'm crippled without a car today.

had to stay over at my friends last night. well it was about 2:00 am when i got there. parked my car outside her condo. mind you, at a proper parking lot, in the box! and locked. next thing i know in the afternoon, the box was empty. the feeling was like losing someone close. no i'm not joking. my car is not just a car to me. it was like a family member. served me well for the past 6 years and still going strong despite the usual hiccups, peeling paints and scratches.

had to calm my friend down while i pull myself back together. we looked and asked around to no avail, as expected. i guess it happened while everyone was asleep including the condo security guards who would not give a damn about what happens outside the condo. couldn't blame them. who would have thought some assholes would eye on my old car. even cracked a joke of how i used to tell my friend that i would have a valid good reason to change my car if it's stolen...we took my friend's car to head to the nearest police station in the neighbourhood. and suddenly life wasn't that shitty... found my car by the roadside right outside a mosque. yeah, a mosque. crime right outside a holy place. and yeah, wtf???didn't want touch my car in case there could be anything that led to other crimes. we continued heading to the police station. had my report done and was told to drive my car to meet the sergeant assigned to my case at the main police station of the suburb. went back to my car and when i looked carefully again, the keyhole on my door had the "key" subtracted from "keyhole". and my car wouldn't start even after disabling my immobiliser.

rang back the police station and was told to get to the main station first. finally got there after beating the traffic in the hot weather. met up with the sergeant after waiting for a while. a second report was then filed. sergeant then told me to wait for him at my car for pictures to be taken. and i can then get someone to tow the car to wherever i want to. if you're thinking of some CSI work, fat chance. pictures and done, off you go. well, anyway, i think i have heard enough horrid stories of recovered vehicles with some accessories intact and gone the minute they were allowed to be returned to their owners... heard but not sure how true so please do not take me as the source of these stories.

back to mine. the guess was, the bastard thieves or thief only wanted to take off with my car but could not drive it far because my immobiliser kicked in. so they had to leave my car by the roadside and took off with whatever they could. cd/mp3 player with one of my mp3 collection CD and speakers for as expected. even my gear knob (my farewell gift from a great team of ex-colleagues), a pair of sunglasses and two old pair of sandals which a pair was my friend's. fark!

oh, so that was the end of the police story. anyone wondering why there are more and more crimes here?

relief was - my oakley, other CDs, highway toll tag + card, coins, parking access card and remote, tripod, wheels and coin pouch were still around. stupid bastards didn't even notice i had a red packet with money inside. lucky for me because that was a small token of appreciation from the folks of the couples i did some photography for.

the other not so lucky part from the recovery was - most if not all wires have been yanked, my alarm controller box on my passenger seat (chances of re-using it is currently unknown), dashboard panel ripped apart for my stereos, my ignition starter ripped.

couple of more pictures i took with my camera phone...

can't trust the insurance panel because i'm not even sure if these are covered and i highly doubt so... can't get it to any other car accessories shop because most are closed now for the festive season, for at least a week. i had it towed to my regular workshop. car still couldn't start after my mechanic tried a couple of things to get it alive in order for me to drive it home and later for other repairs because i simply can't lock the doors now. :'(

so damn "lucky" right before chinese new year ya? and yeah, i'm screwed for the next week or two without a car because i'm not sure how can i get to work and client meetings... i know there is no point bitching about it. what happened had already happened. and like what my mum said, just be glad that i was unharmed because i wasn't there.

not the end of the world yet as there are more sufferings on the other side of earth. and i need to move forward but except for the fact that it is really painful with the repair and replacement costs... : (

i really do not want to take up a loan from anyone or anywhere and add on more debts. so yeah, if you have anything coming up that i can earn some fast cash legally and decently, would really appreciate it if you let me know.

and hope this is the end of my lunar 2008. may the 2009 year of ox bring you and i happier, healthier and more properous lives ahead.