Driving Diaries 3

Lesson 6
2/1/2010 (Sat)
0800-0940

It’s been almost two weeks since I last touched the steering wheel. During my short break, I’ve been practicing the checking of side mirrors and blind spots when making a turn, my gear changing, etc.

During the last lesson, I was unable to clear two subjects in a go due to time constraints (and probably due to the instructor as well). This time, I really hope I’ll clear my 1.10 and 1.11 so I can proceed on to the next stage.

Anyway, this lesson’s about safety routine and reviewing all that I’m supposed to know for stage one. We went out straight away this time, no practice rounds in the circuit. I guess that’s partially because I was late for the lesson.

I put my skills immediately to test. And… I arrived at the conclusion that my form’s pretty bad today. My first problem was not changing to 1st gear when moving off. Not once or twice, but many, many times. >.<

Not only that, I did stupid things as well. I signalled right when the instructor told me to turn left. Twice. Don’t ask me why. And for those who don’t know, failure to obey instructions constitutes an immediate failure in a test.

I forgot to cancel signal quite a few times after I change lane. Then immediately after changing to the right lane, I was supposed to keep left again but I didn’t. Too many thoughts running through my mind already.

And there was once I had my eyes fixated on a taxi for some unknown reason and I followed the taxi’s left turn when I was supposed to go straight. That one quite jialat. >.<

When the lesson ended, the instructor simply told me I can go now. There and then, I thought I'd actually failed both subjects which I aimed to pass today. But luckily for me…

Subjects Completed: 1.10, 1.11

Stage One cleared! =)



Lesson 7
2/1/2010 (Sat)
1220-1400

After a near-fail experience, I've decided to be on my 100% alert mode this time. And guess what, I got the same instructor who taught me for my second lesson! Yep, the one who treated me rather coldly but became friendly in the end. I got her name this time. She's Angeline. She greeted me with a smile so I think she recognizes me ba. Haha.

So anyway, I was allowed to drive out of BBDC by myself for the first time. Shows that she has confidence in me! And if I can say so myself, I drove pretty well. I improved on my overtaking, safety routine and I made sure always to start on the first gear. The only comment was that my brake was still a bit harsh. There's still a jerk when the car brakes.

And everything went fine, with the exception of one incident. I almost turned into the wrong lane when I made a right turn. When I was moving out for the right turn, she made a comment about how I'll be making a wide turn if I don't steer more later. For some reason, my subconsciousness processed that comment and thought that I was supposed to make a sharp turn to the right so as to steer into the nearest lane as it was empty.

Luckily for both of us, Angeline noticed the abnormality just in time and steered me back on course. If I were to really complete my turn, I would be driving against the traffic. Which really means disaster.

Phew! Now that was close.

Lesson ended on a good note despite the near disaster experience for both of us..

Subjects Completed: 2.01, 2.02


That's it for this entry.


From my Past,
To my Future

Bike Maintenance

Woohoo! My bike's functioning normally again!

Before, when I cycle I would hear the sound of the sand grinding against the gears or the chain. It goes 'Eeek eeek eeek eeek..' and it's really really irritating! Pains my heart when I think about how the sand is wearing my bike down whenever I take it out for a ride.

I thought it's time to do my bike some justice and so I did some bike maintenance today. And after an hour of cleaning, my bike's functioning as superbly as it did when I first bought it!

The gear and chain now moves perfectly silently! =D

I'm so so glad that my bike has been salvaged and I'm definitely going to maintain my bike more regularly from now on.


From my Past,
To my Future



Anyway, maintenance is very important! I think I'll put that as one of my resolutions!

New Year Resolutions 2010

The arrival of a new year calls for new resolutions. Here goes...

1. Complete my driving practicals in 20 lessons!
2. Pass my driving test in 1 try! Hopefully with a perfect score too!
3. Break the battalion record of 8m 30sec for 2.4km and be excused from 6 months of regimental duties!~
4. Complete my first marathon within 4 hours!
5. Train a few top students! Haha!
6. Get marksman for my second year ATP! ( Yep, I already got it this year. With M16 too! =) )
7. IPPT Gold with perfect scores! (Got that this year too!)
8. Sign up for bike rally!
9. Maintain my bike every week!
10. Keep my table tidy!
11. Learn something new every month!

Ok, that's about it. Will add in more in the time to come..


From my Past,
To my Future

Sundown Registration

It was a fine day today so Kendrick and I decided to go down to the Athlete's Circle early in the morning to register for the Adidas Sundown Marathon.

I travelled for an hour, waited 20 minutes for him, spent 10 minutes walking to the Athlete's Circle.

And... guess what?

We were greeted by what appears to be a closed shop. It didn't take us long to find this notice stuck to the glass door.

"...blah blah blah... will be closed from 31st Dec to 2nd Jan for some blah blah maintenance."

Ah. Damn it. And I had just checked their website yesterday to avoid any disappointment today. They mentioned nothing about the temporary closure.

We were both really sad. 3rd's a Sunday and they're closed on Sundays. The earliest it would open would be on the 4th. And I would be back in camp by then. So that means another week of waiting.=/ Not to mention we travelled all the way down here too.=/

But we hung around the entrance of the shop anyway. There were brochures so he took the chance to do some show and tell. He told me about the power gels, about the sundown marathon held this year and about urban marathon held by men's health. I also collected the brochures for furher reading as he talked.

And then there was this man who came to the shop too. I thought he would also be sian diao like us when he saw the notice. But then he simply went to a corner and talked to the wall. To our surprise, a reply came from the wall and a man walked out from within the shop to open the glass doors. The two of them went in to talk about something and the door closed slowly.

Half-stunned, Kendrick and I stared at each other, not knowing whether to follow in before the door closes completely. When the door opened again, I went ahead and asked if we could register for the marathon.

In the end, I spoke to the wall too. And we were asked to go to level 2 to register. There were two computer terminals and we created an account each before registering for the marathon. Kendrick was rather particular about the singlet sizing and took his time to decide whether M or S would suit him better. I went for M after some thoughts and registered.

When Kendrick finally made up his mind, he tried to register again but couldn't find the category for '42km Men's Open'. He refreshed and tried again for a few times but the category still couldn't be found. So we checked with the person in charge and... it turns out that all the slots for the marathon had been filled.

Wow.

It took me a few moments before I finally came to accept the fact. It was only a few minutes. Probably only 2 or 3 minutes. And this meant the difference between in and out.

Seize the day? A day's too long to hold on to. But the moment? I think that's just the right word. Opportunities come and go, only hanging there for a moment. I think this experience showed me the importance of seizing living moments.

Ah.

Anyway, back to the story. Kendrick was sad. So was I. Even though I got in. I thought we would have fun training for the marathon together. I visualised us running early in the morning during the weekends. A good change for my rotting and lazy self. But right now, he has no reason to train.

Sigh... And we were planning to have a lil run this afternoon. He was going to show me the new route that he had planned out too.

Still, Kendrick tried to be positive and said that he'll join standard chartered at the end of the year. And probably the 2011 ultramarathon. Or maybe the 2012 one. He gave me tips too, on how to train for my first marathon. Said that as long as I can prevent cramps, blisters and my energy from running out, I could most probably finish the marathon with a good timing.

__________________________________


Anyway, we did meet up later in the afternoon to explore the new route that he mentioned.

It starts a bit further down from the old BPGHS, at around Blk 484B. From there, it's straight down the Chua Chu Kang Park connector which is just beside Brickland Road. All the way to Bukit Gombak MRT station. After the station, turn left and follow the road to Xiao Guilin and all the way down. Turn left at the first T-junction and proceed straight down to the Hillview Park connector. From there on, simply continue to Bukit Batok Park and challenge the really really steep slope.

Here are some distances calculated for the route...

From Lot 1 to bus stop at Blk 484B 1.5km

From the bus stop at Blk 484B to
1. Bukit Batok Street 34 2.5km
2. Base of Slope 6.4km

Distance up the crazy slope 350m

I think I'll go for 20km trainings every week, starting from this week. Lot 1 to the slope, 8km, up and down the crazy slope for 5 times, 3.5km, back to Lot 1, 8km. Should be crazy enough a training.

Maybe next time you wouldn't see me riding a bike to camp. I'll get there by foot.


From my Past,
To my Future

Driving Diaries 2

This is the second installment.

I did guard duty on 20th (Mon) and booked out on Tuesday for my off. On my way home I dropped by BBDC to top up my account and checked if there were any available slots this few days. To my surprise, there were three available slots today. I didn't want to miss out on such a good chance so I booked all three of them immediately.

My parents weren't as pleased as I was when I told them about it. In fact, they weren't very happy when I booked the two lessons on the same day just two days ago. Said that it was a waste of time and money as I wouldn't be able to absorb it all. Normal people take one lesson a week.

Well, I have my own reasons for doing so. I had to pass subject 2.11 first before I can apply for the practical test. So my strategy was basically to complete up to 2.11 asap so that I can book a test date. Besides, I need to get the feeling for driving early on before I lose it. Just like mastering a skill-when you have it imprinted in your body early, it's harder to lose the feel.

So anyway, here goes...

Lesson 3
21/12/2009 (Tues)
1220-1400

This lesson's about changing from gear 1-3. I wasn't confident of going out to the road today at first so we went for a few rounds int the circuit.

The traffic inside was slow moving, so I took the chance to up gear and down gear rapidly, practicing as much as I could. After all, I had only been doing shadow gear shifting practice the whole of yesterday night and I finally have a chance to put practice to test.

After the few rounds, the instructor thought I was pretty steady so he asked if I was ready to go out. I thought I was pretty good myself too, so I told him 'let's go.'

We took a simple route. Only left turns and straight roads. I asked him if I have to check blind spot and mirrors or not at the left turns. He said all I need to do is to stop and move off-he'll check for me. Haha. So nice right?

Turns out that driving on the road is quite ok. Perhaps even easier than inside a circuit since there're no slow moving cars and the road's wider. Went for a few rounds and everything went pretty smoothly. Towards the end, the instructor for the car I was following even praised me for being able to keep up with his student at just my 3rd lesson! =)

At the end of the session, I asked my instructor a few questions regarding the practicals.

Q: How many sessions does it take to complete the driving practicals.
A: On average, 25 sessions. Some people take more, some less.

Q: The least number of sessions?
A: I would say 20 sessions. That is for the 'zai' ones. If everything goes smoothly and you haven't failed any subjects. Normally people fail one or two and they have to keep repeating until they pass. Like the parking. The 'zai' ones, those with higher IQ, they just listen to the instructions and do it in one try. The weaker students can spend quite a few sessions on just a single subject alone.

Q: When should I up the gear?
A: As and when you can. It has become a habit for me already so you can see that I up my gear to 3rd gear or even 4th gear very naturally. Even in the circuit, I can up it to 3rd gear even though the traffic is quite slow moving. Eh, and you must enjoy playing with the gear ok? Like in Initial D like that! -shows fast gear changing- That's why you learn manual mah!

Haha. And more questions la... But I should stop here.

Subjects Completed: 1.05, 1.06



Lesson 4
21/12/2009 (Tues)
1815-1955

This lesson's about changing from 1st-4th gear. And about intermittent braking. When the instructor took me for a ride outside, he asked if I know what is engine brake.

"Hmm.. Engine brake ah. Braking action occurs when you slow down the wheels. The engine brake uses a slower moving engine to slow the wheels down. And to slow down the engine you down a gear."
"No lah..."
"..."
"Engine brake! Engine brake!"
"I think that was quite a complete explanation on the mechanics behind engine brake?"
"Engine brake means when you down gear to slow down the vehicle! You are supposed to learn that the last lessson!"
(Er, ok... Wasn't that what I just said?)

His bad impression of me due my lack of understanding of engine brake made me feel quite awkward right at the start of the lesson. As a result, I drove really cautiously and made sure that I don't commit any blunders.

Turns out that he was pretty pleased with me. He was confident enough to chat with me freely as I drove and we went quite far out. To Jurong. And he was planning to take me even further. Until I suddenly said that I needed to pee.>.<>.< Ah.

We tried to find a toilet for me for quite a while but there wasn't any convenient ones. So we took a turn back to the Bukit Batok area in the end. Stopped by the road while I went to the toilet in the coffee shop.

When I got back to the car, it was near the end of the lesson so he just drove us back to BBDC.

At the end of the lesson, he told me he would have brought me out to Clementi if not for that lil incident. And I would have to take note not to clutch in too early when I brake. Always brake and clutch in only at the last minute, just before the car stops.

Subjects Completed: 1.07, 1.08



Lesson 5
21/12/2009 (Tues)
2155-2305

This lesson's about low speed control and negotiating a sharp turn.

Unexpectedly, my morale suffered a big drop this time round. I didn't quite like the instructor. He wasn't cold like my 2nd instructor but he was wayy too talkative. And he speaks too fast. He sounds like Nick Chan, my NJ physics teacher. Haha. But not as encouraging as him.=/

Anyway, into lesson proper. Here's the secret to negotiating sharp bends. By sharp, I mean 90 degrees. No rounded thingy at the corner. Two criteria to fulfil. One, the curb should be a quarter of the windscreen from the left. Two, quickly steer completely to the left when the line of the curb is below the left side mirror.

To negotiate such a sharp bend would require you to move very slowly if you don't want to rush your steering.

Most of the time I was moving off without my feet on the accelerator. As a result, the car creeps really slowly but it sometimes it vibrates like crazy due to insufficient engine acceleration.

Btw, I learnt this technique in my second lesson. I don't know if the instructor realised what I was doing, but I don't think I was supposed to do that... You're supposed to make good use of the half-clutch technique so that you can move forward slowly while keeping the engine at a nice hum. Not vibrating like crazy.

The next subject's safety routine. I did a few practices on it but there wasn't enough time to access whether I deserve to pass this subject or not.

Oh well, it's a 70min session, so too bad for me.

Subjects Completed: 1.09


That's it for now!


From my Past,
To my Future

Driving Diaries 1

Yo.

I just started learning driving recently and I thought perhaps it would be a good idea to leave some notes about my driving experience.


Getting the PDL
19/12/2009 (Sat)
~12pm

Applied for a Provisional Driving License today. I thought this would be a pretty good time to start on my my driving practicals since I've delayed them for quite some time already. I passed my FTT on 24/11 last year.

Booked the earliest 2 lessons, which happened to be tomorrow..



Lesson 1
20/12/2009 (Sun)
0800-0940

First lesson today's at 8am. Learned about the basics of the car. Got a hands-on experience too. The accelerator and brake pedal's really sensitive. And just like Bertrand told me, it was like 'Woah!' when you first get the car engine revving up and the car moving. Haha.

I got to drive the car forward and backward within a parking lot at first. After I'm confident, I got to drive a few rounds around the circuit. Changed to second gear once or twice.

Subjects Completed: 1.01, 1.02



Lesson 2
20/12/2009 (Sun)
1220-1400

The second lesson on the same day. I got a really cold and strict female instructor this time. Argh. And I thought she would go easy on me. This time, I drove a few rounds as warm up and got criticised quite a few times.

'How come you're still on gear 1?'
'Er, previously I only changed it when the instructor told me to.. So when am I supposed to change the gear?'
'What do you think?'

'How come you're still holding the clutch on half-clutch?'
'The previous instructor told me to do so when moving on gear 1, if not, the engine might stall..'
'And why is that so?'
'He said the weight of the car would stop the engine from moving.'
'...'
'...'
'Why don't you try releasing your leg from the clutch pedal and see if it still moves..'

Yea, and the car moved, obviously.

I was also taught how to get the car moving from a stop while it is on a slope. Basically, I was supposed to step on the accelerator slightly, till the engine's rotating at roughly 1.5k-2.0k rpm and hold it there. Thereafter, I'm supposed to release the clutch pedal slowly until the biting point and hold it there. The car will vibrate and that's the cue to release the handbrake.

Unfortunately for me, when the handbrake was released, the car gave a jerk and that made me lose control of the clutch pedal. I don't know why either, but my leg released the clutch too quickly and that caused the engine to stall. A few times.

Argh.

But at least I made it past the slope finally. And I got a lil lesson on low speed control. She made me take my feet off the accelerator. Asked me to release the clutch pedal to half-clutch and then gradually release fully. To my surprise, the car moved. Without any teaching, I learnt a few things from this exercise. One, the car can move without any use of the accelerator. Two, how to control the car at low speeds, especially during the turns. You have to steer the car much, much slower at low speeds.

Oh, and before that she also scolded me for not changing down my gear from gear 3 to 2 and not slowing down enough before turning. Said that I was driving rather dangerously. Haha. I guess I was too used to seeing dad navigate bends at higher speeds, so I simply did it at the same kind of speed.

And even after I managed to correct most of my mistakes, I still find it quite difficult to check the mirrors every 5-10 seconds. As a beginner driver, it can be taxing to be multi-tasking stuff which I'm not used to. I had to ensure I'm at the centre of the lane, that I up the gear when the engine revs too loudly, that I down gear before the curve, that I turn the steering wheel just nice at the curve, that I stop nicely behind the car in front. So many things. And on top of that, I have to take my eyes off the front?!? That's just impossible to me at this stage.

At the end of the lesson we chatted a bit and she was nicer then. She said that I'm doing well so far and she would have brought me outside to drive today if not for the time. She even asked when my next lesson is and said that she would like to teach me again. Unfortunately, I haven't booked it yet so I wasn't able to tell her..

Subjects Completed: 1.03, 1.04


Ok, that's it for this entry.=)


From my Past,
To my Future

Christmas

I can't believe I forgot!

Merry Christmas!!!

is what I was going to say but come to think about it, I'm not even a Christian, why should I be wishing Merry Christmas?

And for that matter, why should any non-Christians?

Haha.

But still, for the fun of it,

Merry Christmas!!!

Let's all be jolly and merry in this season of giving!=)


From my Past,
To my Future