A short drive & a walk in the park

I drove alone yesterday late morning by practising my parking and venturing to the park. It felt kind of liberating :)

Lunch @ Macau Express @ Singapore Expo

I managed to get S and myself safely to Singapore Expo while driving through the rain. Luckily it wasn't raining heavily when we left home around 1.30pm, but my parking skills are still quite lousy :P It was quite a downpour when we had our lunch. We shared a portugese egg tart, pork chop bun and fish curry spaghetti which didn't taste too bad.

Popiah & curry puff

As part of my driving practice, we drove to Serangoon Garden Food Centre. S had braised duck rice and helped to take away half a duck for dinner for my family. I had popiah and finally got my hands at the curry puffs from this Rolina stall. It was quite yummy.

I sent S to the MRT station before driving back home alone. It was my first time on my own so he was a bit worried. My parking skills are still terrible and need his and Dad's guidance every time. But I am familiar with the way back and assured him that I would be home in one piece with the duck meat. I had to move the car in and out of the parking lot a few times though before I was satisfied :)

A taste of my driving

After passing my test on Wed, Dad let me try driving his weekend car that evening around the carpark. Last night we went a little further outside of the carpark around the estate. This afternoon, I drove Dad, Mom and Sis to Defu Lane for roti prata lunch.

Next stop was Pet Megamart to check the pet supplies but we didn't get anything. The ride to Sunset way was quite scary at times but luckily I managed to slow down in time or change lanes safely at the expressway. I treated them ice cream at Daily Scoop to calm their nerves :p

The ride back home was no less nerve racking but I got all of us safely home. It was a good experience. I still need to get used to this bigger Toyota Altis (compared to the driving school's Toyota Vios). I feel that I have more control with a manual car as compared to Dad's auto car. My parking is lousy and my reactions are a bit slow sometimes, but I guess it's a matter of practice.

I think Mom and Sis are a little bit scared now to sit in the car when I'm driving, but they are still supportive and think I will improve with practice. Dad has been patiently guiding me in driving his car safely. He also knows the way around Singapore pretty well, so he can let me know in advance where to go. Hopefully I will be a good and safe driver soon :)

Last driving lesson?

The lesson this morning was quite interesting and enjoyable as it was my first time driving in heavy rain and the instructor was quite encouraging. He said I showed confidence in the circuit but he observed that I was more hesitant and less smooth outside on the road.

My driving test will be on Mon afternoon. I guess whether I will get my driving license after that will depend on my skills. And maybe some luck too. Haha. I hope this will be my last lesson. It has been fun but tiring too from all the time and money spent since 25 Jan. But I don't want to be one of those lousy or reckless drivers out on the roads, so I'm mentally prepared if the tester thinks I need more practice :)

Ups & downs of learning driving

Last Sun's lesson made me feel down as I didn't do well, didn't react fast enough, didn't observe safety when I panicked. The instructor wasn't very encouraging too. I contemplated whether to switch to learning auto car but after thinking it through and encouragement from friends, I've decided to just persevere.

This morning I got a cheerful instructor. He explained to me clearly how to start the car smoothly, brake smoothly, using clutch in and clutch out instead of brake for low speed control and do a nice U turn and lane change. He was encouraging and said I've improved. Hopefully I will do better for tomorrow's lesson under another instructor. Then it will make this a good weekend as I have passed my final theory test yesterday :)

Review of my driving lessons

Yesterday afternoon was my 6th lesson and I think I have made more improvement as compared to 4th and 5th lesson. I got 3 different instructors for those lessons. The first instructor for the 1st 3 lessons was the most encouraging and gave me the confidence to drive on the road. The next 2 instructors were older and more serious, still friendly but will shake their head when the engine stalled while I attempted to stop @ the junction and didn't do a full clutch while braking. Shaking head without humour is quite discouraging but I did learn from the process, just that it became a bit nerve wrecking and less fun.

For the lesson yesterday, the instructor ran through with me all the steps to start the car properly, feel the biting point, when to change gear, when to shift down gear to do engine break, pressing the pedals properly. He didn't make small talk, just focused on my driving and guided me as I drove around the circuit and the Ubi area outside of driving school. I still take too long a time to get the biting point and accelerate but I'm the way there. He didn't encourage or discourage. I prefer the teaching styles of the 1st instructor and the last one which make me feel positive and the lessons were enjoyable too.

Work and drive

I have a good start this morning by going for my driving lesson @ 8.30am. This time, I could start and brake the car smoothly most of the time. The instructor also cleared me to proceed to new module the next lesson (tomorrow), as I have a better understanding of the gear changing and would able to do so as we drive through Bedok Reservoir Rd to Tampines and back to the school. Along the way, we would chat a bit about work and life.

This experience and other incidents often make me wonder why often I am not able to find the awe, joy, wisdom and meaning in my work. My colleagues are nice, not back stabbers, my bosses aren't nasty but they are not of mentor material either because they are too busy or they don't care about staff development. Work is just reactive.

I know I am lucky too that this job can provide financial support for my lifestyle and my 2 home cats and about 10 community cats, etc. I also have time to pursue my interests after work and spend time with family and friends I guess I shouldn't complain too much but I like it that I am not complacent and still have the drive to find things to learn on my own. If not, life will be boring and meaningless.

Changing gear

This is basically the gist of 3rd driving lesson earlier this afternoon. The same instructor taught me again. I don't mind as he's friendly and patient :) I could only change the gear from 1 to 4 slowly and mechanically upon his instructions, as the car picked up speed. I also kept forgetting to change the gear back to 1 when I stopped the car. There's a long way to go but at least I managed to brake and start the car smoothly.

Learning to drive a manual car

After taking basic driving theory test a decade ago, I finally decided to enroll for driving lessons at the driving school in Ubi. My first 2 lessons on Tues and this morning was under the guidance of the same instructor coincidentally. He taught me the basics and got me to drive round the circuit and do right & left turns after demonstrating. I am still not good in braking smoothly - I either clutched in too slowly (causing the engine to stall) or braked too hard (jerking the car). It has been fun though :)