LAND TRANSPORTATION OFFICE

Have you ever tried to renew your automobile's registration? For the experienced people, well yes. They find it very easy to do that since they have been doing it for quite sometime. But for me, this is just my second time to do it. Early this morning, I went to the Land Transportation Office to renew my car's registration. It was quite easy if you know the things to do before going to the Land Transportation Office. Here are the steps to be done before registering your car:

1. Check the Official receipt and the Certificate of Registration. It would be better to photocopy these things for they are very important when you are going to process your car's registration.

2. Emission Test. Emission test is a kind of test that is done to your car to check whether your car is still worth driving based on car's exhaust.

3. Have your car stenciled. The chassis no. and the engine number. You have to fill up tha registration from.

4. Car Insurance. This is required by the registration office that your car must have an accident insurance. In my case, I just got the TPL type of insurance. It is cheaper compared to the comprehensive type of insurance. The difference is, your car and you is much safe and secured when you got the comprehensive type.

5. Attached your emission test result, photocopy of the Certificate of registration and the original copy of the official receipt of the previous year's payment and the insurance.

6. Submit in the Receiving area of the registration area. It would take around 1-2 hours before your car's papers be encoded. it would be advisable that you come to the Land Transportation Office early to avoid the crowd of people who are processing their car registrations also.

7. After the encoding of your papers, it will be released and you have to pay it in the cashier. ten proceed to the sticker and plate section for the stickers for your car.

The seven steps in car registration is very helpful for those first timers.

NEW CAR FOR THE NEWLY WEDS

I just got married and my wife and I are planning to acquire a car that we will be using for our daily travel needs. It is because commuting is very tiring. I have selected already from the list of new cars that are available in the market right now. My wife likes the brand new cars for it's fuel efficiency and I like the old ones because of their durability to serve our travel needs.

My personal choice would be the Honda because of it's elegance and class beyond the other brands that are in the market right now. But we really need to discuss what car to buy since this will be used everyday. My wife prefers the van type of vehicle so that it can carry more passengers on board.

we are still looking at the cars that are available right now. We are not rushing because we don't want to miss the details on acquiring the car. We don't want to regret the car that we will be buying. We want to be sure and we considering all the things that we want before we spend our money on the car that we want.

COLLECTING THE DAMAGES

I will be going to Davao Oriental tomorrow. It is driver of the motorcycle that bumped my Honda City will be paying me partially for the total damage. I have to be there before 12 noon and will just inform them when I arrive there. I asked my brother if he could come with me. But he told me that today is his schedule to Davao Oriental. It means that I have to go there own my own. I have to prepare some of the paper works for the payment. All I want is the car to be repair and that's it. I could have gained more from this event but I would rather make sure that my car is fix.

I have to leave early so that I will reach there early also. The auto shop where I took my car for repair told me this evening that I need to add 2,000 pesos more as advance for the car repair. The car repair will be complete by this week. This I learn from this incident. Defensive driving is very important when you are a driver. It would be better to give way than meet an accident. In this case, I was unaware of everything. I only know that I was bumped and the party that bumped me must pay the repair.

MY UNCLE'S HOME IS THE BEST

I went to my uncle's home this morning to check his new truck for the farm. It is my first time to go there because the property was new. He acquired it from an old friend. Upon entering the living room, I noticed this wood furniture that was very attractive to everyone who entered the house. I also checked the rooms and it was like my house that I always dream about every night. The property is around 2 hectares and surrounded with fruit bearing trees, like mango, apples and strawberries. I was more interested in the house than the truck. I scheduled the engine check up next week so that I can bring a long with me a camera for pictures. In fairness to the house, it was the best of all.

UNLEADED FUEL PRICES UP AGAIN

I was driving to shoe mart when I noticed that my car needs additional fuel. I always select Caltex fuel because of the cleaning power of techron, a chemical added to their fuel that helps clean the engine interiors while in motion. The last time I went to the station for fuel loading was last Saturday. When I prepared my car fuel tank for refilling, I noticed that the price was already 32++. Last Saturday it was only 30.25. There is an increase of 1.75 pesos. Before I never thought that I will get the feel of fuel price increase until now. But still my car needs the fuel, so I filled it up. According to the department of energy, there will be more fuel increases and the most affected are those people who rides gasoline cars. Diesel fueled cars are getting the benefit of the price roll back. I think it is just fare that transportation fares should also decrease.

WAITING FOR THE STUDENT DRIVER

This morning, my mother went to her first actual driving. She enrolled herself in a driving school so that she would learn how o drive the car in our garage. I taught her several times and she just can't stand my complains on her driving style. Last week, she attended the driving orientation and this morning the actual driving. I have to wait for 3 hours for her. I stayed inside the SM mall here in our city and watched the punisher movie. The driving seminar started at 3 pm and was through at 7 pm. According to the driving school, next Sunday, my mother will be driving in uphill areas. Based on my observation, my mother is very excited about her next driving challenge. The drvivng school is using a Toyota Vios and a Toyota Altis. The cars have decals all over it and the name of the school is always present A-1 driving school.

MY TRAVEL ROUTE

I just got back again from my field work. I went to Midsayap North Cotabato to settle some account problem with one of our customers. Going to Midsayap would take around 5 hours on bus and 4 hours on van ride. When riding a bus, the ticket man would charge you 284 pesos while on van, you would have to pay around 250 pesos. The only bus that runs to Cotabato City is the Weena Bus Line. No more. In the 80's, the route from Davao City to Cotabato City was very risky to travel. It is because of the rebels and the lefts that patrol the areas of North Cotabato. There were many encounters and countless lives were used to make the land fertile and dull. This area is heavily controlled by the MILF and MNLF. According to some past accounts, there were several times when the passengers of Weena Bus Line were held in the outer area of Pikit North Cotabato and these passengers were robbed and then killed, shot at gun point. There are also some reports about hold up and other petty crimes. Many people would avoid going to these areas because of the scenario. But that was in the past. Now the area is still highly critical

I would admit that when I first entered North Cotabato, I thought it was easy. Not all areas, particularly in North Cotabato are critical. This are the bus stop areas for air-con buses Digos City, Bansalan, Makilala, Kidapawan, Matalam, Kabacan, Pikit, Midsayap, Pigkawayan, Cotabato City. The first bus leaves at 4 am and the last bus leaves at 2 pm. if you are going to Coatabato City and other areas in North Cotabato, remember these bus stops for it can be very useful when going there.

SCHEDULED ENGINE OIL CHANGE

Last Sunday, I went to there car shop for a scheduled car check and oil change for my car. Changing of car oil and oil filter is just one of the things that could prevent future engine problem. Last engine oil change was last year. The car kilometer reading has already passed the 5000 kilometer run. For the engine oil, oil filter and installation labor cost me 1,395 pesos. For about 45 minutes the mechanic did all the change to my car and recorded the present kilometer reading and the next scheduled oil check. Before going to the car shop, I thought that the car's engine oil change should be after 10,000 kilometer run. Instead of making myself a mechanic, it would be better for the shop to determine the oil change. Now that the my car's engine oil is a new one, I really can feel the engine performance at it's best. When having a engine oil change, make sure that the oil that will be placed on your car is the exact oil, as specified in the car manual. The egine oil that was placed on my car was 15w-10 engine oil. This is the oil that is very ideal for sedans, just like my car. My Honda City 2003 is now in good and tough condition. I can travel again to the provinces using my car. I don't want any engine problem that might happen. It is because it is very costly to have a car repair.