天时、地利、人和

Those three things sum up how I got my driving licence (yes, I passed!) today. =)

天时
The roads were pretty empty just past noon, so I didn't have much problems with lane changing, nor was I required to overtake or carry out any complicated manoeuvres. Weather was pretty good as well, not unbearably hot, and a slight drizzle began to fall towards the end but no biggie.

地利
I got the (I think) easiest test route! No U-turns, no slopes, and generally sparse traffic in the neighbourhood where I used to live - I was very familiar with the geography. The only things in abundance were humps and pedestrian crossings. LOL. The lack of buses helped as well.

人和
I'm using this word loosely as it's supposed to mean 'unity'. But I must say the tester was indeed with me, instead of against me. He was much nicer than I expected - not as stern or grumpy as my fixed group instructor, and I was able to relax even after committing some mistakes early on in the circuit because of that. And of course, he passed me! =)

Another person I have to thank is the instructor who took me for warm-up. He was very encouraging, and really psyched me up for the test. And not to forget the guy/gal who picked me for that particular test route and hence the tester.

__
And one more thing - the test vehicle isn't called the test vehicle for nothing! It's really in much better condition than those I used for normal lessons. The most apparent difference is in low speed control - I had such marvellous low speed control that I was inching along all the courses in the circuit. I guess the tester got abit fed-up, esp. when I screwed up the crank course although I was going so slow.

I really wasn't confident before the test, because my revision lessons didn't go too well. Ok actually I wasn't great at driving all along, and my experience during the first lesson didn't inspire confidence right from the beginning. But I'm so glad I passed on the first try!

I guess providence had a big role to play as well. I prayed at all the temples when I was in Taiwan, and I prayed again yesterday at the temple just beside BBDC. That was how badly I wanted to pass. Guess it paid off! Despite my idiotic fixed group instructor remarking "How can God help you if you make such mistakes?". I don't think he knew I prayed so much, but he just had to say that kind of thing. Bleh, luckily I'm not letting him earn anymore of my money. He'd be the first person I blame if I had failed because he spent more time chiding me for making mistakes than teaching me how to rectify them.

You might think I'm superstitious but I think passing your TP is just as much about luck as it is about technique. And overcoming your nerves. So good luck to all those taking their TP!

Block Leave Musings 2: Green & Driving

The weather nowadays is so unbearably hot, you can't even walk 20m without sweating. No wonder travel agencies are making brisk business selling tours to temperate countries. I was driving today and I could feel the scorching heat even in the comforts of the air-conditioned vehicle.

Anyway we all know the global climate system is screwed up because of global warming. So the environment has become a pet cause for many people and corporations alike. I reckon it's much cooler now to tell people that you are from the "Green Club", compared to during our time. LOL.

Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Even with questionable intents (such as it being "cool" to be associated with green-ness, PR ploys), at least people on the ground are being exposed to the issues and making some semblance of effort to do their part, such as by using less plastic bags.

It's certainly the issue of the moment, but it remains to be seen how much longer it will remain in the public eye, and whether there is political will to carry forth the efforts at, and commitment to reducing greenhouse emissions.

Well enough of green talk. The days seem to fly by without me doing much. I've had driving lessons for the past few days and that's about it. I haven't even found time to watch the Simpsons movie, Disturbia, or Knocked Up, even though I planned to. And tomorrow is National Day, so I'll probably be going on a food trip with the family and return home in time to watch the first ever NDP held at Marina Bay.

That's all the plans I have for now, so anyone's free to date me for most of the rest of the week (except this Sat) and next week until I manage to snag any more driving lesson slots. Anyway I've booked my TP slot for early December, but I'm not really sure I can complete all the lessons by then, having yet to discharge my NS obligations. ORD is so near yet so far... Have to pia now while I have the time, then hopefully I can have my dad's car for the weekends asap!

But driving isn't as fun as I thought - must concentrate, look here, see there, coordinate, etc. etc. I'm getting the hang of it, but still, it's made me reconsider a car as not only an expensive investment, but also a potentially tiring proposition as opposed to just letting the taxi uncle drive you along while you take a nap behind or simply enjoy the passing scenery. And if you go back to the environmental argument, it's definitely more green to go public, so yeah, there seems to be many reasons against getting a car, at least for now.

Zebra tells me many of his privileged faculty mates own cars, and I don't really see the point. They are just income-less students (most of them), and it's not like they need to zoom around for business, so why do they need a car? Even if I had the money, I think I won't get a car until I start working. But then again, of course I'd say that because I don't really have the money. LOL.

Block Leave Musings 1

The army, like the internet community, has a penchant for using abbreviations. Incidentally, I belong to both, so I am inclined to use them frequently. So for those clueless about all the army talk, this list might come in useful. Not that it's of any practical value, or anyone who doesn't serve NS will bother to know...

Today's driving lesson went pretty well, thanks in large part to a more patient instructor who bothers to explain stuff instead of just shooting off his mouth whenever I make a mistake. Btw I sent an email to BBDC requesting not to see the first instructor again, egged on by Louis and my dad. It wasn't meant as a complaint - I made an effort to explain that I was equally responsible for being such a terrible driver - but it appears that they are treating it as such, and I feel slightly guilty about it. But at the same time, I think such instructors should be reined in.

And sodagreen's coming to Singapore again on Thursday! They will be having a live showcase ($18) at a club/pub at Clarke Quay on National Day night, but since I'm already going for their concert at RP on Saturday, I think I will give that a miss. Unless aj, who has curiously become quite despo to go clubbing/pubbing decides to drag me along and pay for my ticket. LOL. Now that the smoking ban is in place, there's more reason to chiong, just that I totally cannot hold my liquor...

A good way to get into sodagreen if you don't dig alt/indie stuff is through 蓝眼睛. It's one of the band's more commercialised tracks, being a duet with the very mainstream Angela Chang. However, it's actually the best duet I've heard in ages - one that has meaningful lyrics, and isn't laden with saccharine sweet vocals - Angela does deserve some credit in this respect.

Cheer Chen's doing a concert in Singapore as well. I wanna go! But all these expenses, and I still need to save up for my overseas trip... I need a job!

Bleh

Had my first driving lesson today. Didn't go well coz I just couldn't concentrate on so many things - switch gears, depress/release the clutch, brake and accelerator pedals to various degrees, steer, and look where I'm going- all at once.

Didn't help that my instructor kept sarcastically telling me "what's the point of me teaching you when you aren't even listening?" (as if I wasn't trying hard enough) and "if you can't even see where you're going, how do you expect me to teach you where to turn?". Sigh. It just got on my nerves and made me more error-prone.

I must admit I'm quite slow and have some psychomotor problems, but hello, it's my first lesson, and steering is not like walking or cycling - a large part of your visual field is blocked and you can't really see where your wheels are moving... And it isn't exactly easy to find and maintain the biting point on the clutch pedal, and not over-depress the accelerator pedal for a smooth move off. I have no idea how bad my problem is, but I was under the impression that these problems are pretty common among new learners, so I was all the more surprised that my instructor had such little patience.

The worse thing is, I'm stuck with this instructor (and another whom I've yet to meet) under this fixed group scheme for the rest of my lessons. I wonder how I'm ever going to pass... Hopefully the other one is better.