I was editing this photo to blur the temporary plate number when I realized we just entered another life transition: we purchased our second car! 🎉

We went the hybrid route and got the Toyota Innova Zenix, with lots of hope that it’ll save us significant money on fuel in the long run. 

Our first car—by first I mean the first car we paid for without parental assistance—is the Subaru Forester we got back in Nov 2019. It has its pros, like spacious leg room, smooth braking experience, and top-of-the-line safety features. We weren’t planning to get it a sibling until a few more years after. But with Jayson running the business all the way in Lapasan, it became time-consuming and costly to keep going back and forth from the office to the house.

Fuel costs with the Subaru were hard to keep up with. I think we were always averaging ₱8-10K a month when using the car ~8 hours or so a day. So, we mustered up the courage to get our “wish list” car earlier than planned. 

It’s crazy how smell triggers memories buried deep in your brain. The moment I slipped into the passenger’s seat, the leather, the buttons, the sound and weight of the car door as I swing it open brought me back to 2011-2012 when we had our first Toyota Innova. 

It was this ugly bronze wagon that fit seven people, had cloth covers that kept getting loose, and locked all doors automatically once you’re on the road. It also held many memories, like Holly’s first day at Kindergarten in Manila and bringing Cyrus home from the hospital. It carried my baby bag, stroller, the kids’ school bags, my goldfish tank, styrofoam boxes of Ranchus I invested in, and everything else we had and that I can’t remember to itemize. 

In many ways, the family car is integral to our growth as a unit. It’s a giant tin box where we keep our conversations, arguments, tears, screams, sobs, and memories sealed shut. It was the best place to hide the unmentionable, because not a single detail would ever seep through its windows. You can only guess based on our flailing arms, open mouths, squinting eyes, and turned heads what could possibly be going on. 

The family car is our way of keeping the kids close to us. With their seatbelts on and open bags of potato crisps nearby, we have opportunities to witness their behaviors, personalities, thoughts, feelings, and silence. We can hear their voices, see their facial expressions, listen to their stories, and see how they manage sibling conflict while on the road. 

I couldn’t help feeling sad when we drove the Zennix out of the Toyota showroom. We weren’t supposed to get it this soon. It wasn’t in the plans. I had a Kanban board for these kind of things! And because it wasn’t planned, I had to shell out a huge part of my personal savings to secure it. 

I told J this, and as always, he reminded me to look instead at the brighter side—more seats for the kids’ friends to hitch a ride with us, better air conditioning at the back, Apple CarPlay (finally), and driving on electricity. Thankfully, his examples eased my frustration, and my sadness swept away as gratitude and joy filled my heart. 

We’ve got one more “wish list” car left to aim for. Until that day comes, I look forward to creating more memories and planting more secrets in this new car. 🚗