I was stuck. It took me a while but I started chipping away at the things I must do to get through this week. I’m almost done…

To get back my mojo and extricate myself from this rut, I started making bookmarks.

I bought various beef cuts to vary our menu for this week. I’m now slow cooking this Chinese style braised beef for 10 hrs. On Saturday I plan to make bibimbap (with sukiyaki cut beef) because my daughters started liking it. Yes, with gochuchang-based bibimbap sauce.

I’m cheering myself up today by cooking and painting because I’m PHP 52k poorer. I picked up my car from Ishimoto this afternoon and it felt like I was hit by a football on my diaphragm (you have no idea how painful it is to be winded out by a flying football). That amount is already equivalent to my trip to Seoul. 😑

But then, my car is running smoothly now, better than ever. The diesel mechanic said he overhauled my engine fuel system. He saw that my engine’s settings were high so he brought it down to standard levels. No wonder fuel consumption was so bad. He replaced a lot of parts because they were broken since gunk corrodes fuel injectors, etc.

Why the gunk? Well, he said that I may have unknowingly loaded my car with diesel from fuel stations that are prone to flooding. Flood = fuel contamination. That causes gunk, destroys your engine’s fuel system.

Now I have zero black smoke. The mechanic said my engine feels like it’s good as new.

True.

He also said my car’s engine is very dependable that’s why it’s still running well despite the age. CRDi diesel engines today are not as tough and long-lasting as the one that I have, which is a turbo diesel (TDI). CRDi, however, are more fuel efficient than TDI.

But basically, diesel engines last longer than gasoline counterparts, whether CRDi or TDI, because there is less wear. Diesel is a slow burning fuel; the acceleration is slower but that keeps the engine from wearing down quickly. These are engines for hauling and for long distance drives–things that I use my car for.