Watching Wheel of Fortune does come in handy; I've always liked those Before and After questions and if you're observant, you may have noticed that today's title is something like one of those Before and After's.

A new car, that's what I want. But, it may have just gotten a little farther from my reach what with the government announcing that it'll be phasing out subsidies for petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The price for petrol remains for now but without the subsidies, we'll have to pay much higher prices to tank up. Oh darn, another reason for Papa not to get me a car to take a spin in around town.

With the eventual price hike in petrol, isn't it high time that we start looking into buying Hybrids like the Toyota Prius? Silly me; we can't because it's not available here in Malaysia! Until our "infant" national car industry comes up with something similar, I guess we still have to resort to fuel hogs that happen to be nigh every single car on Malaysian road to get from A to B. Papa's 4-year-old Perdana guzzles gas like crazy, to pass on a not-so-subtle finger-pointing.

BMW, though not that great either when it comes to mileage, has at least something to boast about: Seamless connection to iPod! It's not as elegant as Volkswagen's version, but it works nontheless. The Ultimate Driving Machine + The Ultimate Music Companion = Bliss. Now, who's the idiot who says that money can't buy happiness?