(Sticky) The start of the road

So I, like most people who signed up or intending to sign up for driving, want to get the license.

The first step: Private or School? School is definitely gonna cost more. But statistically proven, the passing rate is higher for school in relative to private. What I recommend is, unless you manage to find a good private teacher or are really on a very very tight budget, it’s better to stick to school. Well, at least I signed up for school.

The second step (school route): Which school? Frankly, I think it’s best to pick the one closest to your home. Bukit Batok Driving Center is known to produce the most number of passes on both the first and second attempt in the Traffic Police Practical Test. But it’s not worth sacrificing so much to go to BBDC if you live of the east side of the island. Of course, if you (or your parents cause you might be under father/mother scholarship if you are still schooling) are filthy rich with a chauffeur to drive you to school. Else, pick the one closest to home.

The third step: Which class? For me, I chose Class 3A over Class 3. Personally, for daily needs, I think Class 3A is more than sufficient since most of the commercial cars are auto these days. Also, Class 3 takes more time to learn and requires better coordination (which I perceive I am a little weak over here). More time to learn equates to more lessons, which then equates to more money. Driving isn’t cheap. Choose wisely.

The forth step (BBDC school route only): Go to the school physically. Bring your NRIC. Enroll. A one year membership fee cost $96.30. So what does this mean? It means that you better complete your entire course within one year. Else, you gotta pay another $8.03 per month to extend your membership when it expires. Being a member basically allows you to go for classes. This logic is a little weird. You see… When you pay the government money to attend primary/secondary/tertiary school, you only need to pay the school fees (in this case, membership fees) and your classes are included. For this school, it operates a little differently. You will still need to pay for every single thing you decide to do in the school. Continue reading for more details. Oh ya, the school will give you a free goodie bag as part of the enrollment. This goodie bag includes: Basic Theory Book, Final Theory Book, Practical Handbook and a 1-year free NTUC Personal Accident Insurance.

The fifth step (BBDC school route only): Book your Basic Theory Lesson 1.01 and 1.02 at $17.12 each! I would say if you do not plan to read the basic theory book, the lesson will be a simple summary of everything inside. However, even if you love reading, you still have to attend both lessons. It’s mandatory in order to progress to the next stage. Note: Do not be late for classes for more than 10minutes to prevent burning more money to book another session of the class.

The sixth step (BBDC school route only): Sign up for one practice session at $3.21 (recommended by me & school as well) and book your Basic Theory Evaluation (BTE) at $5.35. Practice sessions are really useful. Whenever possible, you should schedule it right before your BTE so that the answers are still fresh in you head. Now you may question what is the BTE. BTE is basically the mock/prelim exam for the Basic Theory Test (BTT). Since this is a school, they go to the extra mile to ensure that you can pass your BTT in one shot (or maybe they just want to earn your money?)

The seventh step (BBDC school route only; only progress to this step after you have passed your BTE, else repeat step six): Congrats on making to this stage. It’s tiring, but hang in there. You finally can schedule for your BTT at $6. Meanwhile, you should book your Final Theory Lesson 1.01 and 1.02 at $17.12 each.

The eighth step (BBDC school route only; only progress to this step after you have passed your BTT, else return to step six): Congrats on passing your first official paper, the BTT! Now it’s time to get your PDL! Excited? Don’t forget that there will be an eye test. PDL costs $25 and is valid for 6 months. After getting your PDL, update the expiry date with the information counter. Don’t forget to have money in your account. Tadah~ you can book your first practical already. Off peak prices for 100min of practical lesson costs $66.34 and $74.90 for peak periods.

Concurrently, the ninth step (BBDC school route only): Sign up for one final theory practice session at $3.21 (recommended by me & school as well) and book your Final Theory Evaluation (FTE) at $5.35. Practice sessions are really useful. Whenever possible, you should schedule it right before your FTE so that the answers are still fresh in you head. Now you may question what is the FTE. FTE is basically the mock/prelim exam for the Final Theory Test (FTT). Since this is a school, they go to the extra mile to ensure that you can pass your FTT in one shot (or maybe they just want to earn your money?)

The tenth step (BBDC school route only; only progress to this step after you have passed your FTE, else repeat step nine): Congrats on making to this stage. It’s exhausting, but hang in there cos you are almost there to that card you wanted at the start! You finally can schedule for your FTT at $6.

The eleventh step (BBDC school route only; only progress to this step after you have passed your FTT, else return to step nine): Congrats on passing your second official paper, the FTT! Assuming your practical lessons have been progressing smoothly too, thus, upon completing the first stage of your practical lesson, go for one mandatory driving simulator lesson at $13.91. How much difference is there between the driving simulator vs the driving games in the arcades? You are the judge.

The twelfth step (BBDC school route only): Finally! Yes, finally! You can book your Traffic Police Practical Test at $186.92. Meanwhile continue with practical stage 2-5.

The thirteenth step: The big day arrives! All the best and put everything to good use. You will be fine.

Ride on~

The third lesson (street driving)

Subjects Cleared: 1.05 & 1.06

I had my third practical lesson today. Things went pretty smooth. I am really kinda enjoying myself throughout the entire lesson. The weather over the past few days have been pretty bad. The sky must be feeling sad lately since it kept crying. Poor thing. Anyways! Ten minutes before my lesson, the sky changed from not bad to very bad. Growing up in Singapore kinda trained me well at being kiasu. Since it’s raining, there were two racks of umbrella for students to use. Before the umbrella are all gone, I swiftly made my way there to grab a good umbrella. Some of those are actually in pretty bad shape and they don’t really shield you well from the rain.

At 5:10pm sharp, the bell rang and the instructors made their way slowly to the parked cars. Mine was car number 124 this time round. I was there much earlier than my teacher of the day. I was kinda hoping to get a Chinese instructor this time. Guess my luck was running out. Mine was a teacher from my assigned group. He is a Malay from G8???2 and is No. 6??2. Okok! Please don’t misunderstand me here. I am NOT racist. The reason why I ain’t looking forward to Malay instructors because those in my group look really young. Further more, I think I read somewhere that if their number starts with 6XXX, they ain’t experience, impatient and no good. But hey! The one I got this time round was pretty steady too. He is much better than my first lesson instructor No. 2??4!

We kicked start the lesson with me producing my PDL, IC and that slip of paper. This teacher was quite gentlemanly. He was sheltering me while he asked me to put my umbrella n bag at the back seats. After which I got on shielded from the rain by his umbrella. But.. His movements was slow. Pretty slow!

I was instructed to go counter clockwise as well. Shamefully, I mounted two curbs twice and thrice respectively. Went about five rounds in the circuit. He said he would only allow me to get out of bbdc if I can make one perfect round. I am really sick of the circuit! Well, it seems easy, but it’s not! There are these two particular curbs out of the total four, have unfortunately identified me as their enemy. I held my breathe, in a very awkwardly stiff posture, finally completed that circle. Phew.

The instructor took over the driver’s seat and out we go onto the streets. As a normal pedestrian, we always jay-walk and didn’t realize how annoying it might be to the drivers. This is the first time I truly appreciate those drivers that stop at zebra crossings and traffic junctions for me to cross. Driving on the roads are so much fun than driving circles in the circuit! But your eyes will be mega busy. The instructor went about three rounds before allowing me to take over the steering wheel.

After all, this is my first time being on the streets driving, so you can imagine how nervous and excited I was. My eyes, brain, hands and feet were so so so busy. For eyes, I need to keep a look out of possible road hazards, the bumps, traffic light, oncoming cars, cars behind my car and so on and so forth. My hardworking right feet had to get busy between the two pedals, i.e. accelerator and brake pedal. Hands will be the steering wheel, the signal lights, wiper, gear and handbrake. How busy was that when trying to coordinate all of those together?

The instructor told me that I gotta step on the brake before the hump and let it go after the front two wheels are over it. I gotta go slower and get ready to stop when approaching the zebra crossing. Also, stop right behind the mandatory stop line I need to come to a halt. My instructor was pretty particular and insisted on me signaling the light early. When I type early here, it means really early! Like 4 seconds in advance.

At the last 20 minutes or so, I was asked to pick up speed to 50km/h. That was really fast initially. After a few seconds, I kinda got over it and it felt pretty alright. Haha! Looking forward to my next lesson when I can go up to 70km/h. Woohoo~

Next lesson: 24/12/2012

FTE(passed) & second practical lesson

Subjects Cleared: 1.03 & 1.04

Yeah~~~ Good news today.

I successfully passed my FTE on the second attempt. I managed to complete four practice booklets during the practice session prior to the FTE session. There was about 3-5 questions in my FTE that I wasn’t exactly sure. Anyways, I completed my FTE in like 12 minutes confidently with 3-5 questions unsure. But anyways, I passed with 92%! That matters only.

After I passed, I booked my FTT! The earliest timeslot available is 1st Feb 2013 next year! wow. That’s a long long time to go!! I bet I will most probably forget everything by then. So, as a precaution, I am going to book a practice session before my FTT. It’s a lil early to book now so I gotta wait till January I guess.

I waited for about 30minutes for my second practical test. This time round my car number was 120. The previous session was 118 though. Just 10minutes before my lesson, the sky started pouring!! Unlike my first lesson, this time round I am more concerned over on how I can into the car without getting wet. haha. I queued up to grab this mega big red umbrella from the umbrella rack to shelter myself. My car was pretty easy to spot this time round. Surprisingly again, my instructor is a Chinese again! He is No.2??4. He is so much better than my previous instructor! He was a fantastic teacher.

We went a couple of rounds (clockwise) in the circuit. I kind of mastered all the bends and attempted to pick up speed (from 15km/hr to 30km/hr.. v fast for me le I feel) while driving and turning. Was doing turning on the inside lane first. After that I was instructed to change to the outer lane. Things went well here. Then the challenge came! Instructor asked me to go anti-clockwise. It was a lot of harder then imagined cause need a lot of visualization, which I kinda lack of. 😥 On one particular kerb/curb, I mount it like 4 times? Aigoo~~ The instructor was very good and patient actually. I guess I need a bit more of practice over that. How I wish he can be my permanent teacher! Let’s see who will be my next instructor. On a side note, I am pondering if I should fix my group. My current group doesn’t seem to be reliable. Hmm… we shall see.

Next lesson: 21/12/2012

Final theory evaluation (attempt 1)

Very reluctantly, I have added “attempt 1” beside the post’s title. That is because I failed my FTE in the first seating. So demoralizing. No one to blame but myself. I was over confident with my abilities and played with luck. As proven, lady luck wasn’t with me. I failed with 80%. To pass, 90% is required.

I managed to get an application from my friend that comprised of a lot of sample questions for the FTE/FTT. I thought that was sufficient. My preparation for the test included flipping through the final theory course book and attempting 390 questions out of the total 690 questions. I decided not to sign up for the FTE practice. Bad choice! The questions that came out in that FTE varied quite a bit from those in the application.

In my devastation and desperation, I signed up for a practice session right before my next scheduled FTE session. I also purchased a $7 book from a book store at West Mall shopping center. I will study hard to pass my next FTE.

My virgin drive

Subjects Cleared: 1.01 & 1.02

Today was the first time I went for my practical lesson. The boyfee accompanied me to “kill” time while working on our little project, which I shall not go into. I was completely on my nerves, with a little portion of me feeling extremely excited. My tummy was literally tying knots inside. I thought the next moment I would need to rush to the loo. 10min prior to the actual lesson, I went to scan this red color machine to get a small slip of print out, which contained the most important information, i.e., the car number that I was assigned to. The moment when the lesson bell struck (5:10pm), I walked with shaking limbs to my car (mine for the next 100min at a rental cost of $66.34). I was feeling timid. My instructor was a male in his late fifties (just my wild guess). His name is No. 2??4. A little unexpected over here since I was expecting a Malay male instructor according to the group of instructors that I was assigned to.

I showed him my identity card, PDL and that little slip of paper I printed out. I got on the passenger seat beside the driver’s seat (as instructed) while he hopped onto the driver’s seat (obviously). I wasn’t well prepared for my first class. So if you are reading this right now and anticipating for ur first driving class, please remember to read the practical handbook to know exactly what should be taught to you. I obviously didn’t do that, which thinking back, I felt dumb. For the first part of the lesson, the No.2164 instructor was supposed to open the bonnet and boot, then get off the vehicle with me. He was supposed to show me the important parts in the vehicle. Well, he said that opening the bonnet is hot, so we should just stay in the car and he then verbally described the parts to me. *faint* Since it’s my first lesson and given the fact that I was unprepared, I thought that was the norm. How naive of me.

So when that part was over, he should have let me try out the ignition switch. But he didn’t. T-T Well, you guys may say that isn’t it just slotting the key in and turn it? I know it’s like this, but you still gotta try for that hands on experience. What if on the day of my test and I can’t power on the engine? Things happen at times unexpectedly you know. Now, imagine u want to change the door at home, ain’t you going to try turning the key and knob before agreeing with the purchase. Nuff said over this.

After listening to all the theory for a long long time, which seemed like a decade to me, I finally got to do something really practical and hands on. Adjusting the seats and mirrors were a breeze. Then the most awaited part came!! I was allowed to step on the two pedals, play with the handbrake and gear. It felt pretty cool when the giant machine started moving to the front. A freshie, like me, will feel like you did something super challenging and awesome, though all I did was just letting go of the brake pedal. Oh wells.. But still.. its the experience that counts. Reversing straight was fun too. Things got a little boring when I repeated the same thing over and over again.

When that was deemed as sufficient by instructor No. 2164, off we go onto the “roads”. Yeah, finally out of the “car-park”~ Horray. Went about three rounds on the circuit and did some turns here and there. Real simple ones though. I seriously didn’t know when to start turning the steering wheel. No 2164 wasn’t conveying the message across clear. He kept saying “look right left right left right left straight”. There were so many things to look on the left and the right and straightahead. Nothing sensical was going into my head. I was just using my feeling. When the feeling was right, I would turn the steering wheel. Oh, i forgot to mention, the accelerator was so omgawdly sensitive. I think I just depressed it by 1mm, and I can feel that the car is speeding (@less than 20km/h though). When the needle on the speedometer moved up by a little bit, I just felt like it was a lot. A unit more on the speedometer, I may start feeling as though m a pilot? Just speculating and imagining. The brake pedal was pretty ok, though still sensitive.

Let me tell you, that 100min passed at lightning speed. Every 60 ticks on the clock equates to $0.70 gone to the driving center. Lesson one was pretty alright but I don’t like the No 2??4. He is no good no good. If can avoid, best avoid. He kept pressing my horn to bring attention to his colleagues while on duty, i.e. teaching me. He is lazy as he refused to get off the car and open the bonnet to give me an orientation of the vehicle. Most importantly, I don’t think he knows how to teach well.

Next lesson: 17/12/2012