Matigo dot See, eh?

Believe it or not, the average amount of footage collected for each YouTube video that I have published to date consumes about 215GB of data. Some of the longer trips have exceeded 500GB while some of the shorter videos barely used 10% of that maximum. Of course, it goes without saying that the longer a trip is, the more footage there will be simply from the fact that a camera affixed to the windshield will be recording everything it sees while the car is in motion. However, it has become increasingly clear over the past couple of months that having cameras record things willy nilly is no way to make videos that people want to see. There needs to be a little more thought put into the effort.

Generally when I am exploring the map in search of destinations, I make use of satellite imagery and street-views to plan stops. Parking lots will be marked, photo locations will be tagged, and basic ideas will be considered. If there are not too many people and the location is far enough away from buildings and airports, I'll make some basic plans for the drone. If the weather is forecasted to be nice, I'll find places where the 360˚ camera might be mounted to the car for situational shots. Will the walking path be interesting? That's where a gimbal will be used to reduce any camera shake that might spoil an otherwise unrepeatable moment¹. The rough plan then sits in my head until we start reaching locations.

This has been semi-workable but, unfortunately, a number of shots tend to be completely forgotten about until after the opportunity has passed. This results in videos consisting mostly of dashboard footage, which is primarily used to convey a sense of distance and space to anyone watching on YouTube². Something better is required.

While investigating various ways to improve the stuff I share on YouTube, I started watching videos from people who work with video professionally. Each one of them says the same thing: make a shot list.

While I have been doing this mentally, they strongly suggest putting it down on paper and writing out a sequence. This allows a person to look over the shots to ensure a consistent flow. If there is a story being told, doing this will also allow a person to consider whether a particular scene should be shot one way or another … or both ways with the final decision being made in post-production. These are perfectly sensible suggestions. So, with all this said, one of my goals for this month will be to make shot lists for all YouTube videos going forward.

There are some considerations to take into account, though. The lists need to:

• aim for at least 5 minutes of video
• dashcam footage cannot exceed 1/5th the length of the video
• there must be "action shots" of Ayumi doing her thing at each destination
• if the drone can be used, there should be at least one shot that could not be done with another camera (not just something recorded from "on high")
• at least two cameras must be used

This list will likely get longer as I continue to hammer down the format of the episodes, but it's a good place to start. There have been a number of times where I have kicked myself during the post-production process because there was a particular shot that I had made a mental note for but completely missed while at the site, usually due to some sort of distraction. With a written down shot list, there will be less risk of missing an opportunity to record something interesting. If I can maintain this for the month of January, there's a high probability that I will continue to make lists for all future productions, improving the quality of the videos that are shared online.

At some point, I will need to also make a plan for how to get better shots while using extension poles, as there's a lot of interesting things that can be done when you have a camera on a stick.

1. It's hard enough asking a person to do something twice. Good luck asking a puppy to repeat an action!

2. A lot of the dashcam footage is sped up and sliced to make it more interesting, but there's only so much of it that can be used.

People have tried to make a lot of analogies for life over the years and so many of them fail to capture the entirety of the human experience. Despite what Tom Hanks might suggest, life is not like a box of chocolates. Nor is life a dance. Nor is it briefer than a ballad sung by legendary rocker Meatloaf. Life, if it can be compared to anything, is a giant domino effect.

This line of thinking ran through my mind today as I wondered what would have happened had I not moved to an apartment north of Tokyo.

• I would not have joined the church I attend, which means …
• I would probably not have met some remarkable people, which means …
• I would probably not have joined various Bible study groups, which means …
• I would probably not have had the opportunity to develop meaningful friendships with the people who I look forward to seeing several times each week.

The argument could be made that I could have met other people and joined other groups had I attended a different church, and that's certainly true. It would be a different domino chain, though. Because, had I not joined the church I attend, then …

• I would not have met Ayumi, as she was at a pet shop in Adachi, between the church and my apartment. Which means …
• I would not have learned that she dislikes public transit. Which means …
• I would probably not have invested the time and money at a driving school. Which means …
• I would probably not have earned a Japanese driver's license. Which means …
• I would almost certainly not have a bright yellow Daihatsu Copen.

Another argument could be made that I would have likely chosen to get a car if I had a different dog, as there are no vets around my house nor is it particularly easy to get around with public transit in that part of the country. This is a possibility, but it's not likely that I would have stumbled across the plethora of videos on YouTube featuring people driving their Daihatsu convertibles with a puppy in the passenger seat. Before settling on the Copen, I was seriously considering a Honda Fit or a Daihatsu Mira e:S as they are cheaper and easy to find at a dealership.

Of course, if I had not picked up a Copen, then I could not have …

• learned how to edit video
• started a YouTube channel
• attended ウーパーワールド, a car show dedicated to Daihatsu Copens
• attended ワンコペン, a get-together involving people who drive Copens and have puppies
• and so many other things …

Again, some might say that I could have brought Ayumi – or a different dog – to different events in a different car, and that I could have started a YouTube channel irregardless of the vehicle … but there are a whole lot of IFs required to make it all fit together. Had any one of the dominoes that resulted in a decision above not fallen, then this year would look different.

Heck, had I taken my sister's advice and returned to Canada for a couple of months from February, then pretty much nothing that happened this year would have come to pass as it would not have made sense to move into an apartment so close to flying half a world away.

Life sure is interesting.

Nozomi passed away almost a year ago. Every so often I find it hard to believe how quickly the time has gone, but the feeling is always the same. She deserved a longer life and a better ending than what she received. I can only pray that all dogs truly go to heaven and she is at peace now. Every so often people will see my phone and remark that the dog they see is not Ayumi. I let them know that her name was Nozomi and that she was a very special friend.

The picture on the lock screen was taken on August 2nd, 2014 and it remains one of my most cherished photos. It was taken during a particularly difficult period, but it always brings a smile to my face. Nozomi's bright eyes and ever-present smile communicated everything I needed to hear. It still does. The photo on the main pages was taken six years later, on November 22nd, 2020. Nozomi was ten years old by this point and was quietly dealing with a medical condition that would not be diagnosed until four months later, when it almost killed her. For so much of her life, she was incredibly patient. She rarely put up a fuss and she looked forward to every opportunity to spend time with the people around her.

Her photos remain on the phone because I haven't yet been able to give her up to the past. Yes, Ayumi is also a special puppy with a special place in my heart, but she's not a replacement for Nozomi. Close friends cannot be replaced, nor should they be. But every so often I wonder if I should change the lock screen image for the first time since 2014, or the main image, which has been static since the day it was taken three years ago. Is it time to move on?

The answer is obvious, but the execution is difficult. Part of me knows that changing these images, which captured just a moment of tranquility with a good friend, would be akin to leaving much of the last 16 years in the past. Perhaps that's the thing I should be doing, but it's not the thing I want to be doing.

To say that Ayumi and I are spending a lot of time in the car would be an understatement as the odometer passed the 5,000km milestone this weekend as we made our way through Gifu Prefecture on our way to Fukui.

Doing some quick math, the car was driven off the lot just before 11:00am on October 19th and this milestone was hit at 10:19am on December 3rd. That works out to the car moving about 4.6339 kph for the duration that I've had it. Considering how much time the vehicle spends parked, this isn't bad at all.

This morning I took delivery of a very clean, very yellow Daihatsu Copen Cero and immediately went for a little drive to get a feel for the vehicle before picking up the puppy dog for our first non-enclosed road trip. This is the culmination of a remarkable amount of work and I could not be happier with the result. The car feels really good, is the right size, and will hopefully give the puppy the space she needs to move around while we're travelling across the country.

It's sometimes absurd to think that the initial reason for all this work has been to ensure the puppy wants to travel around the country.

After a quick trip to Autobacs¹ to pick up a few cleaning supplies, I went back to the apartment to get the puppy and depart for our very first road trip. Ayumi was a bit nervous at first, but she seemed to warm up to being in the car after 20 minutes. One of the silly goals that I have over the next few years is to visit every lighthouse in Japan. Some are interesting. Some are sitting alone on rocks 100 metres from shore. Some are neglected and broken. But, with 300+ of them spread across the country, it seems like a logical goal for someone who would like to visit every corner of Japan by car. So for this inaugural trip, Ayumi and I went to 犬吠埼灯台² on the eastern shores of Chiba Prefecture.

The plan was that we would arrive about an hour before sunset, walk around to explore and take pictures, then enjoy dusk with a light snack. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Google Maps was providing directions and made sure that we went down every little side street between the apartment and destination. It would have been comical if set to some Benny Hill music. Despite showing an initial ETA of 3:30pm when we left a little after noon, we arrived shortly after 5:30pm. The sun was gone and my attempts of night photography were abject failures.

Such is life, though. These sorts of challenges are to be expected when doing many new things all at once.

Hopefully the camera work will become easier with time and practice. As silly as it may seem, I hope to start a YouTube channel featuring trips around the country with the puppy dog. While there won't be many who find it interesting, the primary goal will be to show people that Japan is an excellent place to explore (with a puppy) by car.

1. Autobacs is an auto-focussed chain store in Japan.

2. Inubosaki Lighthouse.

Ayumi and I made our first road trip in a car yesterday, driving just over 400km from our apartment in Chiba prefecture down to the house in Aichi. This happened to also be the first time that I have driven a car since obtaining a Japanese driver's license. The Daihatsu Copen that I've requested will not be ready until mid-October so, as I have a few appointments that cannot be postponed, we made the trip in a relatively new Toyota Yaris.

All in all, the drive went well. What stands out from the trip isn't the 9-hours of travel that was required, nor the heavy rain that dropped visibility down to 50 meters on a busy highway, nor the hundreds of bends and curves on the narrow mountain roads in Nagano while lightning flashed overhead. Instead the topic that comes to mind is the amount of distractions caused by all the technology in the vehicle, including the frustrating futility of using Google Maps for directions.

As this was to be not only the first long drive with the puppy, but the first drive, a plan was made to make the first half of the trip on the standard roads. This would mean hitting more red lights, navigating narrow roads, dealing with more trains, and watching for more pedestrians. However, this would also be a good way to get acquainted with the car while having the most flexibility to stop in the event that Ayumi or I needed a break. If we could make it from the apartment to Nagano's Lake Suwa in a reasonable amount of time, a decision could be made about whether to stay on the standard roads or switch to the toll highways.

Sadly, we didn't make it to Lake Suwa.

The route that Google Maps provided looked pretty good. It would have us circle the outside of Tokyo, going through Saitama and Gunma prefectures before reaching Nagano. The roads were not particularly busy and we made good time for the first hour and a half. There were a number of very narrow roads that we had to travel down, which was not much of a problem, but every time I crossed the white line at the edge of the road to make space for oncoming traffic the car would first try to nudge me back onto the road and start beeping. At first the reason for the beeps was a mystery, but several kilometres of narrow roads offered plenty of opportunity to trace the nature of the complaint down.

Another complaint that the car made during the trip started to appear after driving for more than two hours; it really wanted me to pull over and take a break. While I can see the benefit of these safety features, I found them to be more of a distraction than a helpful aid. Perhaps I am just not accustomed to cars telling drivers what to do.

Car-nudging aside, the primary issue with the journey was Google Maps on the iDevice. The GPS was not accurate enough, often showing the car as facing the wrong direction or being 50~100 metres behind its actual location. This made it difficult to know which road to turn onto at times and resulted in a few wrong turns. However, the failures that really pushed the app into the trash bin, though, happened while the puppy and I were going through Gunma.

The map and the spoken directions said to "turn left at the next light", which I did only to hear the equivalent of "Turn around, stupid. You turned one intersection too early." The first time this happened, I noticed there was a large park just down the road and followed it anyway so that Ayumi and I could stretch our legs. This turned out to be an excellent accident as Ayumi and I both enjoyed the green grass opportunity to interact with other puppies.

After leaving the park we followed Google Maps again to turn down the correct road and continue towards Lake Suwa. It was at this point the map stopped updating altogether. When it came back to life two kilometres later, I was told to turn around. Given that we were not yet in the deep mountains where one might offer a lack of sky as a reason for the failure, I pulled over and exited the application. The car does have a navigation system, but I was hoping to not use it as car manufacturers make some bizarre UI decisions. However, being in the middle of uncharted territory without a map, there was no other option. Ayumi was sleeping and the sun had almost completely set, making a trip to the park surrounding Lake Suwa illogical. Also, as we had just enjoyed a little walk a little earlier, there didn't seem to be any reason to travel to that place anymore. So I punched in the name of the neighbourhood where my house sits and hoped that Toyota's map would not fail me.

It didn't.

The navigation system offered a route that would get us to the house within four-and-a-half hours with the help of two toll highways. Again, as Ayumi was asleep next to me, I simply followed the directions for a non-stop drive from Gunma into Aichi. Along the way we encountered some incredible lightning storms, heavy rain that dropped visibility to 50 metres on a crowded toll highway, sleepy truck drivers, crazy-long tunnels through mountains, and sleepy villages. All in all, it was a pleasant drive; one that I look forward to making again in my own car a little later this year.

We arrived at our destination a little over 10:30pm, almost exactly nine hours after we left the apartment. The puppy was happy to get out of the car and have another walk in a nearby park. I was happy to get out and stretch my legs, too.

My car does not have a navigation system installed, nor does it even have a place for one¹ so, if the phone's GPS is going to be consistently this inaccurate, I'll need to invest in some paper map books².

All in all there were far more positives than negatives with this trip. The puppy was incredibly good in the car and she clearly prefers this mode of transportation over the busses and trains that we used to take. This was my biggest concern given the amount of work – and money – that went into earning a Japanese driver's license and buying a car. I did bring the camera mounting kits that I plan on using for the upcoming YouTube channel, but these won't be used until the personal car arrives. While I could certainly record in the rental, it's probably best not to do too much at once when getting back behind the wheel for the first time in 20+ years. It doesn't make sense to complain about the car itself being distracting when having camera equipment set up would be no different.

Onwards and upwards.

1. I would need to order the special mounting kit that includes a replacement dashboard insert … which I am not interested in doing.

2. Online support resources tend to suggest resetting the phone to factory in order to resolve this issue, but I'll be darned if I do this while driving. It's not a 5-second process to restore a phone, nor should it be a viable solution given the sophistication of modern software.

Over the past few months I've been out and about during the peak of the summertime heat. Thermometers are pushing beyond 36˚C by noon and there's no respite from the brilliance of the sun directly above our head. As a result, when I get home in the evening, it takes a good deal of willpower to bring Ayumi outside for her evening walk before I risk sitting on the sofa. More than once this summer I have passed out in the evening only to wake up after midnight and shuffle over to the bed for a proper night's rest.

A quarter century ago the heat was almost never an issue. Summertime temperatures in Southern Ontario in the 90s were not that different to the temperatures in this part of Japan today, though there was a lot less humidity to contend with. I would often play baseball all weekend without thinking much about the weather so long as the game wasn't rained out. Some days hit 38˚C without a cloud in the sky, and it was no problem at all.

This was before air conditioning was as prevalent as it is now, though. In the 90s, if my family wanted to enjoy some air conditioning we would have to visit a shopping mall. Even our cars did not have the luxury of an A/C unit. If rolling the windows down as insufficient, then all you could hope for was a long empty road with no cops so you could bury the needle to simulate a breeze … which was still too warm to feel refreshing.

For much of the following decade, air conditioning remained something that shopping malls had but I did not. In 2002 I left Ontario for British Colombia, where air conditioning might be needed for one or two weeks per year, making it an expense most people could not justify. This was fine for the most part, as I worked indoors and would commute during the cooler times of day. If the temperature in my apartment was too hot during the summer, there was always a coffee shop where I could sit for a few hours to read books and enjoy their climate controlled spaces.

Japan is different, though, where most people all over the country have at least one air conditioner in their home and another in their car. Despite what many newspapers might say, the highest temperatures reported in the well-populated parts of this country are not that different from what someone in the Niagara region of Ontario might experience¹. What is different is the humidity.

This morning I took Ayumi out for her walk just after 7:30am when the thermometer read 28˚C. Within five minutes of being outside, though, my shirts were soaked with sweat and sticking uncomfortably to my back. According to the phone's weather app, that 28-degree temperature "felt like" 37˚C. By noon, when the sun radiated heat from above while concrete radiated heat from below, the 36-degree reading "felt like" something closer to my age rather than a respectable summertime temperature.

Regardless of what the mercury might say, though, I wonder how much of the heat exhaustion that I succumb to is the result of being spoiled by air conditioning. People in Japan have long had issues in the summertime heat and there are reports of deaths from exposure going back over a thousand years. It's nothing new over here. The endless stretches of heat-reflecting concrete are new, though, as well as the luxury of air conditioning. I make great use of both and couldn't imagine life without either. All this said, I can't help but wonder if I might be making too much use of the A/C in a manner that makes it difficult for my body to naturally regulate its heat while I'm out and about.

1. Between 32˚C and 38˚C for the most part. When Western news organisations report temperatures in Japan exceeding 40˚C, they're not telling you that it's in the less-populated areas where one finds volcanic activity and plenty of hot springs.

A few days ago all signs were pointing to me picking up a used Daihatsu Mira e:S shortly after earning a Japanese driver's license. There are several thousand of these for sale in the area ranging in price from $2,500 for a 2013-year model up to $23,000 for a fully-loaded, mostly-new vehicle. However, while considering options, I started thinking about a different model of Daihatsu that has long caught my attention: the Copen.

Daihatsu's Copen is not nearly as common as one might expect them to be on the roads of Japan. I tend to keep my eyes open for interesting cars while out and about and see one of these maybe once or twice a week. It's a two-seater, which probably has something to do with its scarcity, but one will see a Mazda Roadster or BMW Z4 more frequently than a Copen despite their much higher price tags. Perhaps it has something to do with its perceived lack of power?

The Copen was introduced in 2002 and I first spotted one while on my first visit to Japan back in 2007. Being a Kei car, its engine is limited to a maximum of 660cc which will give it an effective maximum horsepower of somewhere around 75 horsepower if you're willing to install an aftermarket ECU. What really sets it apart from other modern vehicles, though, is its roundness. The only thing more round would be a VW Beetle yet, unlike Volkswagen's car, the Copen looks happy and ready for a marathon sprint up a mountain road. The newer models are much less round than the ones I first spotted more than a decade ago, but they're just as fun-looking.

How can anyone not want to take one of these for a spin?

That said, there is one little problem: they can be a little cramped for people who are tall by Japanese standards. I stand 183cm barefoot¹, which does afford the ability to see over the tops of many heads while riding on trains and walking from one place to another. Would I fit in this car?

Today I decided to pay a visit to a local Daihatsu dealership not too far from the apartment. They claimed to have a few of these for sale ranging from a silver 2016-model driven by a heavy smoker to a blue 2020-model that nobody could find. Given that I will not have a license until the latter-half of August, I figured that it would make sense to sit in the car and see whether it's something that would be comfortable enough without resulting in too many blind spots. If I am too tall, then the Mira e:S remains a viable option.

The dealership was not too busy despite being a Saturday and I was brought to the back lot where a sizeable collection of used cars waits to be claimed. The silver Copen was pulled out from the middle of the pack and I was given an opportunity to sit inside while asking questions about the car's history. While many people might drive these vehicles like a sports car, I am more interested in cruising. The salesman answered all of my questions and asked a few of his own to see whether I might be interested in the car.

My initial impressions from the outside were pretty positive. There were a couple of scratches on the bumper that appeared to be from pebbles bouncing off the car while on the highway as well as a clear scratch that looked to be the result of getting too close to a curb. However, nothing on the outside was so egregious that it could not be fixed with a bit of paint and a buffer. The inside, however …

First I will say that a 183cm-tall person can sit in the driver's seat and reasonably use the pedals when the seat is pushed all the way back. The steering wheel may block the legs from quickly moving, but this can be resolved with an aftermarket replacement. As this is a convertible, the pillars to the left and right of the seating area are thicker than with other cars. This will not result in egregious blindspots so long as a person remembers to move their head every once in a while. The rearview mirror takes up a good bit of the viewable area around the centre of the windshield, though, as does the centre console which contains the bump for a car navigation system. Both of these can be resolved with a minimal amount of effort.

What cannot be easily resolved, however, is the lingering odour of cigarettes. My goodness … there's just no way I could sit in this car on a rainy day because I would need the roof to be open any time I went somewhere.

Fortunately, this wasn't the only Copen available for sale.

Having confirmed that I would fit inside the car, the next question became: "Can you get one in yellow?" As one would expect, the answer was a happy one. Then the impulsive question: "Can I order one today even though I do not have a license yet?" Again, the answer was a happy one. The dealership would be more than happy to bring one in if I sign the paperwork and pay a deposit, but I cannot take it off the lot until after I am properly licensed and insured.

Naturally, and I wouldn't ask them to change either of those requirements.

Two hours later I left the dealership with an envelope full of promises, payment schedules, deadlines … and a big, happy smile. This autumn, the puppy and I will be cruising around the streets of Japan in a bright yellow Daihatsu Copen.

1. This is about 5'11" for people who prefer the older measurement system.

An interesting car popped up in the used market sites recently; one that I've long enjoyed looking at since I was in Canada: a 2010 Mazda Roadster.

When I was a lot younger, I enjoyed playing the Need for Speed racing games. The goal of every race, aside from winning, was to earn enough money to upgrade your cars and buy bigger, more powerful racers. In many versions of this game, there would be a Mazda Roadster. Because it's smaller than any muscle car and doesn't have as much horsepower as the bigger Japanese sports cars, it would often be available at the very start of the game. I would always choose this car, paint it yellow, and start racing around the streets of whatever Californian city the game happened to be based in. As the game progressed, the challengers would often become far too fast for the Roadster and people would be compelled to trade in their car for the larger RX-8 or something from another manufacturer. Because I enjoyed the shape of the Roadster so much, I would hold onto it for as long as possible.

When Mazda refreshed their Roadsters a few years ago for the newer manta-ray-like stylings, I was disappointed that the sleek look and rounded curves I had (virtually) driven in my youth were gone. However, when looking at a used car market, old dreams can become new realities:

A dealership about 30 minutes away has a 2010-model for sale in the colour that I seek and with a ridiculously low odometer count at just 4,884km. Thinking this was a typo, I got in touch with the seller who confirmed that this car has been sitting around in a garage for most of its 13 years just waiting for someone, anyone, to drive it. The engine has been given a thorough check with seals and gaskets being replaced, lubricants being flushed and replenished, and ignition coils replaced. It has never been raced, modified, or in an accident.

Unfortunately, the dealer doesn't know why the car was sitting around for so long. Given how much these vehicles cost off the lot, it's unlikely someone left it alone by choice.

Not wanting to rush into anything I would probably regret later, I thanked the dealer for his time and have let the idea simmer for a couple of days. Would I really want to buy a 13 year old sports car as my first car in 20+ years? How much would insurance cost? How about gas? Machines do not like being idle for too long, as seals and components begin to fail, so would this turn out to be a lemon as the body colour might imply?

Time can be a wonderful thing, as it offers us an opportunity to look at questions from many different angles.

Would I really want to buy a 13 year old sports car as my first car? So long as the insurance isn't too crazy, why not? Looking online, I would likely spend about 30% more for this car than the tamer Daihatsu Mira e:S I am also considering.

How about gas? This might be a problem. The Roadster requires premium gasoline, which is currently selling for about 180円 per litre and is expected to rise to about 200円 later this summer. The car gets an average of 11km/L, which means I could wind up spending more in gas than the cost of a train ticket if I travel more than 25km.

Am I able to take care of a lemon? I have a lot of family members who are mechanics by trade. They can fix just about anything. The problem is that they live on the other side of the planet from me, which makes weekend visitations darn near impossible. I would either need to learn a lot about cars very quickly to perform my own repairs, or I would need to bring it into a shop regularly, which can lead to some hefty costs if there's anything wrong with the engine or transmission.

This is a gorgeous car and in really great shape for its age … but its not something that I can realistically invest in. Maybe if I were 20 years younger, then this would make sense. However, right now it looks like the puppy and I will be sitting in a more modest vehicle come the autumn.

While it's probably a bit premature to be looking at cars, I've been looking through Goo-Net and CarSensor to see what sort of vehicles might be available for a decent price. I'm quite interested in having a bright yellow car made within the last decade for Ayumi and I to travel around in, and these sites allow people to filter on these important elements. Even when limiting results to these criteria, there are quite a number of possible options.

Option 1: Honda Fit

The Fit is a good-sized car with decent mileage. The back seats can be folded down to give Ayumi a lot of space to walk around in if we travel somewhere far. Prices are a bit higher than I am comfortable with, but deals can often be found for cars that have more than 100,000km on them.

Option 2: Honda N-Box

This is another Honda, but one with a much smaller engine. The N-Box is a Kei car, meaning it's powered by a 3-cylinder 660cc engine that puts out a maximum of 58 horsepower. While this may not sound like a lot, it's more than adequate for one human and one dog. Prices are more inline with expectations and, because it's a smaller vehicle, insurance may be a little cheaper at the same time.

Option 3: Daihatsu Mira e:S

Daihatsu makes some pretty reasonable Kei cars and, because they are affiliated with Toyota, replacement parts are generally available anywhere in the country. Bruce Willis used to be in the silly TV commercials promoting this car, too. What stands out about the Mira e:S, though, is the shade of yellow. It's not just yellow, but bright yellow. There would be no mistaking this vehicle in a parking lot for something else. Honda has a nice yellow, but it's a bit darker than what Daihatsu offers.

A five year old Mira is very reasonably priced and often comes with some decent features like a backup camera and sensors that warn you when too close to something. Given that I've not driven a car for quite some time, this could come in handy while getting reacquainted with the roads. Just like the N-Box, the rear seats can be folded down to give Ayumi a bunch of space to walk around while we're driving, too, which should help with her desire to not be in a little case while travelling. I'm sure she'd enjoy looking out the large windows, too.

There are a number of used car dealerships in the area so, if the weather is not too hot this weekend, the puppy and I may enjoy a longer-than-usual walk while considering the size and colours of vehicles.