Goodbye Xiao Lan, Hello Da Bai

 

 

After serving me and my loved ones faithfully for the past 7 years, I finally had to part with my workhorse Xiao Lan.

 

It was honestly not an easy decision. Even a pen if used for long, I will find it hard to throw it away.

However judging from the government's policy on cars, I think it's pretty clear EV is the future and if I don't cash in on the remaining value now, it would be pretty taxing for me in 3 years time when I have to change car. Who knows how much the COE will cost by then.

As a matter of fact, COE for my first car in 2009 was $4,000+.

 

COE for my second car which is Xiao Lan was $26,301.00.

COE for my new car which I got in February this year is $108,220.00.

I still remember I got Xiao Lan when my daughter was around 9 months old and since then she has ferried us around. She was also the one who fetched my son home after he was discharged from hospital after birth.

On a personal note, Xiao Lan has accompanied me through my many ups and downs and has never given me any major problem for the years I've been with her. She's robust.

 

She is such an easy drive. When I'm with her I understand the feeling of 车人合一.

I am still missing her after parting with her on 13/3/2026. So do our whole family. We took a family photo with her on the day of parting.

 

It is my good fortune to have you, Xiao Lan. Good bye and all the best. I hope to see you on the road one day.

 

Da Bai came into our family on the day Xiao Lan left. I have since driven her for slightly more than 2 weeks with slightly more than 1,000 km mileage.

 

It seems almost fated to have Da Bai. I visited the showroom because the agent for another brand was having his day off when I called. I then decided to visit Da Bai's showroom with the intention to just get a best deal for comparison.

However the agent who served me was so sincere and I managed to get almost whatever I asked for. In the end I put pen to paper and confirmed my relationship with Da Bai on the spot.

 

I am slowly getting used to Da Bai now. She has lot more functions than Xiao Lan, not least the voice command which the kids loved to play with.

 

"Hello Baby. Please open the sunshade."

 

"Hello Baby. Please turn on the aircon."

 

"Hello Baby. Please play some music."

 

I guess Da Bai is also a head turner. Recently a lady approached me to chat about the car. She said she has seen my car for 2 days already and was hoping to catch the owner.

 

Also unlike what others said, there is no range anxiety for me at all. I don't actually understand why would some people feel that.

 

EV chargers are everywhere now. Nowadays when I enter a carpark I just move into the EV charging lot, plug in and go run my errands. When I get back I just remove the plug and drive off. Just like juicing up your phone whenever you see a wall socket.

It doesn't matter how much it got juiced up. Just let the charging do the job in the time the car is idling in the parking lot while you do your stuff.

 

To me this is the premise of EV. To charge while you do your stuff. Not finding stuff to do while charging.

 

Couple of days ago I had this shiok experience. I was meeting a friend at Ang Mo Kio for lunch and the carpark was full with several cars waiting for parking lot.

 

I literally just drove into an EV charging lot, plug in and went off to meet my friend.

 

I will probably write a review on Da Bai, maybe with the running cost too, when I get to know her deeper.

 

For now I'll continue to tinkle and have fun with the different functions.

February 2026 Updates - Tale of 3 Purchases and 2 Sales

1st purchase

 

I've finally decided not to be held hostage by the oil companies anymore. These people hike up their pump price whenever there is justification but take ages to reduce when crude price comes down.

 

I took the plunge and bought an EV last Friday.

 

Have been thinking about this for some time because of the above but what firmed up my mind to make the move are three primary reasons:

 

Firstly, my current car is left with less than four years of COE. While there is still time to consider my choices, the trade-in value also correspondingly goes down with time.

 

Secondly, I saw a report recently which states that the number of COE to be released in the coming quarter will be reduced. This is in contrary to what I have thought.

Last but not least, the move by the government to reduce the PARF rebate recently shows that they are firm on their push towards EVs for the local roads.

 

I have actually narrowed my choice to two models recently - BYD Seal 6 and Aion V.

 

The plan is to compare both and take the one that offers the best deal.

 

So last Friday I have planned to go to the BYD showroom. However the sales contact that I had was on his off day. So I popped by the Aion showroom instead.

 

Long story short, what was supposed to be a chat to get the best package evolved into a purchase because the sales person managed to give me what I want.

 

I was impressed by the test drive too. So was wifey who sat as a rear passenger.

 

Honestly, it's hard to find another SUV in the market at this price point that comes close to the spaciousness, features and comfort that the Aion V offers.

 

2nd purchase

 

Second purchase also happened on the same day - Ascendas REIT.

 

This is an accumulation to existing holdings.

 

Have been queuing at $2.69 for couple of days and managed to get it on the last trading day on the month. Was pretty sure I would get it sooner or later since this price has been tested a few times over the week already.

 

As mentioned before for this counter, anything less than $2.70 is a buy.

 

3rd purchase and 1st sale

 

Tried the OCBC precious metals account. Bought my first tranche of paper silver and sold them slightly more than two weeks later for a profit of S$466.14.

 

2nd sale

 

This is for a put option that I wrote for a premium of US$2.80.

Big news

The strike by Israel and the US on Iran, and the subsequent retaliatory strikes by the latter on Israel and US bases around Middle East have a definite impact on various markets. However the magnitude and how long it stays on the temporal scale remains to be seen.

To me it all boils down to one person - Donald Trump, and how wide he wants this latest conflict to be.

Ultimately when this guy wage a war, it all boils down to one thing - oil. Same for Venezuela, same for Iran.

It's so delusionary that he feels he should be getting the Nobel Peace Prize.

So what's this means for me on the investment front?

On my main income portfolio, it probably means suddenly there would be more opportunities at least in the coming week to add new counters that I have been eyeing or accumulate to existing positions.

On the put option that I've just sold, I have to wait and see if the counter dives. Fundamentally the counter is pretty solid. However if I gets assigned I would take it up since the strike price is one which I am comfortable to pay for owning this counter.

On the precious metals side, it seems like they have already ran up and logically so since it's a flight to safety for investors. For me I would wait for the next opportunity to trade for this asset class.

On the more immediate front, I need to go top up petrol now before anything else.

Ciao!