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
xuan's road to a qualified driver 