I have lost count of the number of my driving lessons since I take lessons practically every day, sans the weekends.
But I should complete Stage Two by next Monday.
There are 4 Stages in all, with Stage 4 having the least number of subjects ie. three. According to the counter staff, I should complete all my lessons with another 7 or 8 sessions, which means I can book my Practical Test by the end of this month.
Last Friday, I slotted in my compulsory Automatic Car lesson just right after my 8.15am lesson. So that made it 4 hours of driving with just a 15-minute break in between.
I was surprised that Automatic Car driving was so much smoother and easier. With the need for attention on the gear-shifting and clutch-handling taken away, you can just focus on your speed and the hundred-and-one thing you need to look out for on the road. With the clutch and gear, I constantly need to remind myself to shift the gears at different speeds for the different road conditions and areas ie. bends, turns versus straight roads.
I was telling William that 40km/h is a comfortable speed for me and below is our conversation just yesterday:
Me: Eh, I always drive 40km/h leh. Will I fail the test for driving so slow?
W: Of course la!
Me: Huh ... Is this car driving at 40?
W: No. About 50-60.
Me: That car leh? Got 40 or not?
W: No. 55.
Me: This one leh?
W: No. ... Aha, this one is 40!
Me looked up.
W: (pointing at a cyclist)
Sunday, 20 May 2012
Friday, 11 May 2012
A New Lease of Life
I hadn't been blogging, and if I did, the alignment and paragraphing was totally off - because the computer was removed for at least a week - for a greater good.
It underwent a facelift.
Following my '3D drawing', the carpenter did up the book cabinet, settee and study table.
Let the pictures do the talking:
The original condition of where the settee would be, with tons of stash, wanted and hoarded
The Ikea book shelves, with handsewn curtains to cover the eyesore
The Ikea study table, sunken and broken in the middle, covered by the red mousepad.
A mess, as usual
When the study was cleared
My nephew's artistic expression on the wall
Handsewn curtain (by my elder sister) to cover up the mess in the study
We painted the study with Nippon's Raindrop blue.
We felt it was 'too blue' and boyish, so I mixed 2 litres of white base paint to the remaining paint and repainted the room.
Not very visible in the picture, but the blue did become lighter.
On the day the carpentry was to come, I was already mighty pleased with the glass door that greeted me
The carpentry, yet to be installed
Light filled the room when the curtains were down
After Day 1 ...
The settee
The table with cabinet and shelf
The book cabinet
Day 2 ...
Settee
Table with cabinet and shelf
9 ft full-height book cabinet
Warm lights beneath the cabinet
The door, with a soft glow from within
Thursday, 3 May 2012
The hurt that has never left
I was sourcing for some ROM images as samples for my brother's coming solemnisation this Saturday when the first Googled page emerged as the ROM website. For some reason, the ROM I had more than 12 years ago came back to me.
With almost no fuss at all, I typed in his name and date of birth on the searching page for marriage registration.
The search showed that he is married three years ago.
I didn't expect him to be a live widow.
We have been freed from each other, after about 9 years of a relationship.
I cried though.
The hurt that was done so many years ago probably has never really left.
In that relationship, all was sweet for the first few months. He bought flowers for me, and told me to let him know when the flowers wither so that he could always get me fresh ones; he asked if he'd returned my call on his pager within five minutes and he'd aim to do just that every time; he said he felt like he was on top of the world when I said yes to being his girlfriend; he didn't even mind if he was a substitute since I was on a rebound.
But after the honeymoon period, the passion turned cold. I tried all ways to retain the relationship. Every possible way. I should have left him. But I didn't.
When I moved to Marsiling, I travelled just about every day to Tampines for our dates. But he often left me crying all the way home, from Tampines to Marsiling MRT station. It was a sure sign that the relationship was doomed but I didn't let it go.
I made a few weak attempts at breaking up with him but I gave in the moment he called.
It took many years of hurt for me to give up on the abusive relationship.
For the years that I broke away from it, I thought all was forgotten and the hurt was gone, but 5 years down the road one day, when I was alone, and remembered how he had hurt me, memories were still vivid and tears couldn't stop flowing.
The hurt was so bad that nothing could make me spend the rest of my life with him, even when there was a baby.
In fact, it was the baby who gave me the resolve to get out of that abusive relationship. I didn't want my baby girl to model her future partner after that Peter Pan.
Today, I still cried. The lost years of youth and emotions are not something that can be easily compensated.
The relationship has left me with a lifetime of regrets and hurt. Each time I recall, the wound feels like it's still fresh. I had held onto the relationship out of fear and insecurity. Not because of love.
Being in an emotionally abusive relationship made me believe that no one else would 'love' me more than he did, even when he would scold me audibly, with despise in his voice, in public,"Useless woman!" and immediately apologised under his breath when I picked up my bag and wanted to leave.
It is this hurtful relationship that gives me the most contrite understanding of quotes about how one should never enter a relationship out of loneliness, else she would find herself end up feeling lonelier, and one who waits for others to give her happiness would never be happy.
There were tons of reasons why I should leave him and just about none that I should stay, yet I was blinded by false emotions. I clung on the past sweet memories of the relationship, thinking that THAT was the real him and when he realised that, he would revert to how he had treated me the way he did when we first got together.
That pathetic relationship made me realise things I would otherwise never be able to:
1. Others will not love you if you do not love yourself.
2. No love is worth your pride.
3. A girl should take time to choose her boyfriend carefully, even the first one.
4. If a man truly loves you, he wouldn't do anything to hurt you. What doesn't break you will make you stronger.
All the hurt do make me stronger. I no longer wait for someone to give me happiness. I go look for it myself.
If anyone is in a relationship I was, my message to her is: waste time not.
With almost no fuss at all, I typed in his name and date of birth on the searching page for marriage registration.
The search showed that he is married three years ago.
I didn't expect him to be a live widow.
We have been freed from each other, after about 9 years of a relationship.
I cried though.
The hurt that was done so many years ago probably has never really left.
In that relationship, all was sweet for the first few months. He bought flowers for me, and told me to let him know when the flowers wither so that he could always get me fresh ones; he asked if he'd returned my call on his pager within five minutes and he'd aim to do just that every time; he said he felt like he was on top of the world when I said yes to being his girlfriend; he didn't even mind if he was a substitute since I was on a rebound.
But after the honeymoon period, the passion turned cold. I tried all ways to retain the relationship. Every possible way. I should have left him. But I didn't.
When I moved to Marsiling, I travelled just about every day to Tampines for our dates. But he often left me crying all the way home, from Tampines to Marsiling MRT station. It was a sure sign that the relationship was doomed but I didn't let it go.
I made a few weak attempts at breaking up with him but I gave in the moment he called.
It took many years of hurt for me to give up on the abusive relationship.
For the years that I broke away from it, I thought all was forgotten and the hurt was gone, but 5 years down the road one day, when I was alone, and remembered how he had hurt me, memories were still vivid and tears couldn't stop flowing.
The hurt was so bad that nothing could make me spend the rest of my life with him, even when there was a baby.
In fact, it was the baby who gave me the resolve to get out of that abusive relationship. I didn't want my baby girl to model her future partner after that Peter Pan.
Today, I still cried. The lost years of youth and emotions are not something that can be easily compensated.
The relationship has left me with a lifetime of regrets and hurt. Each time I recall, the wound feels like it's still fresh. I had held onto the relationship out of fear and insecurity. Not because of love.
Being in an emotionally abusive relationship made me believe that no one else would 'love' me more than he did, even when he would scold me audibly, with despise in his voice, in public,"Useless woman!" and immediately apologised under his breath when I picked up my bag and wanted to leave.
It is this hurtful relationship that gives me the most contrite understanding of quotes about how one should never enter a relationship out of loneliness, else she would find herself end up feeling lonelier, and one who waits for others to give her happiness would never be happy.
There were tons of reasons why I should leave him and just about none that I should stay, yet I was blinded by false emotions. I clung on the past sweet memories of the relationship, thinking that THAT was the real him and when he realised that, he would revert to how he had treated me the way he did when we first got together.
That pathetic relationship made me realise things I would otherwise never be able to:
1. Others will not love you if you do not love yourself.
2. No love is worth your pride.
3. A girl should take time to choose her boyfriend carefully, even the first one.
4. If a man truly loves you, he wouldn't do anything to hurt you. What doesn't break you will make you stronger.
All the hurt do make me stronger. I no longer wait for someone to give me happiness. I go look for it myself.
If anyone is in a relationship I was, my message to her is: waste time not.
Friday, 20 April 2012
3 and a half
With a cute profile, thoughtful gaze and pretty, long and curly eyelashes, you are still as babyish as ever.
Struck by an awful flu this week - fever, runny nose, cough, phlegm, vomit, diarrhoea and stomach wind, you had to down 7 different types of medicines, and you bravely did.
You sang a song of your own while I cleaned up your little buttocks, diarrhoea and all.
You are my brave and lovely angel.
Rectification Lesson
I went for my third lesson yesterday.
Am I glad that it was a different instructor this time round.
It was supposed to be the sixth module. However, he spent the bulk of the lesson reteaching me on the basics: gauging that the car is in the centre of the road, pausing and holding the steering wheel when turning, driving straight by looking far ahead, stepping on the accelerator in a way that prevents the car from vibrating and without having loud engine.
He even made me drive down the slope to the carpark, saying,"I am not scared, why you scared?"
I felt more sure about these driving techniques.
Let's hope I would be confident in handling the car in time to come.
Am I glad that it was a different instructor this time round.
It was supposed to be the sixth module. However, he spent the bulk of the lesson reteaching me on the basics: gauging that the car is in the centre of the road, pausing and holding the steering wheel when turning, driving straight by looking far ahead, stepping on the accelerator in a way that prevents the car from vibrating and without having loud engine.
He even made me drive down the slope to the carpark, saying,"I am not scared, why you scared?"
I felt more sure about these driving techniques.
Let's hope I would be confident in handling the car in time to come.
Saturday, 14 April 2012
Final Theory Test and 2nd Driving Lesson
I passed my Final Theory Test last Wednesday, with a perfect score of 50/50 again.
The Test started at 6.45pm. I glanced at the time the moment I finished: 6.53pm.
If anyone who is taking the theory test wonders how I seem to pass my Theory Tests effortlessly and with a perfect score each time, there is no secret: just do the practices available at the driving school. For the Final Theory, I booked four sessions, two back-to-back sessions on Monday, and two back-to-back sessions on Wednesday just right before the actual test.
You see, just about every question tested in the Tests is in the practices. Within a span of 45 minutes, which is the length of a practice session, you would be able to cover about 100 questions with explanation for the answers. For vanity's sake, as well as for keeping tab on the number of questions I covered, I counted the number of questions I did within a session.
Unfortunately, the computer that prints the 'Pass/Fail' slips was not in working order the night I took the Test, so this time round, they just stamped a 'Pass' on the identification paper they gave you before the Test.
I went for my second driving lesson yesterday.
Not fruitful at all.
I was disappointed when I saw that the same Malay instructor was allocated to me again.
Again, he asked me to take Auto-car for driving lessons. Again, I did not learn much from him. He does not really teach in a tangible manner which you can apply to a general situation. For every situation I encountered, he merely told me the steps without explaining why to me.
Instance 1
I saw a car stopping in front of me.
Me: Oh dear, what should I do? Should I stop?
Instructor: Go up somemore ... step on the clutch ... get ready to stop ...
I did a full clutch and stepped on the brake upon hearing the word 'stop'.
Instructor: I didn't ask you to step on the brake, but you go and brake.
Me: (Huh? 'Stop' is not 'brake' meh?)
There was a slow-moving traffic, really slow, sometimes stopping.
I did not know if I should step on the accelerator when the gap between the car in front and mine widened. He also did not say anything when I stepped on it.
It was later when we exchanged seats that I observed what he did that I understood: when in slow-moving traffic like a jam, step on the clutch to stop, and half-release the clutch to move.
He could have explained this to me very simply, but he failed to arrest my inability to understand his point when he gave only step-by-step instructions without explanation.
Instance 2
Instructor: You need to look at your rear mirror before you move off.
Me: Oh why?
Instructor: ... Good question! You will be penalised 2 points in the test if you don't do it. Is it good enough?
Instance 3
Instructor: You need to look at your rear mirror before you turn and after you turn.
Me: Oh why?
Instructor: ... You will be penalised 2 points in the test if you don't do it.
Other than the above instances, I felt that there must be a way to show me how to gauge if I am at the centre of the lane instead of just reminding me that I am drifting (which I already know) and that I need to remain in the centre of the lane.
For turning, he did tell me to turn the steering wheel when the centre line of the road disappears below the car corner, but I felt that it did not seem to apply all the time as when I did what he said, he had to help me steer at times. I got the feeling that the guidelines he gave me are not a rule-of-thumb for general situations, but for a learner driver, I need rule-of-thumb guidelines.
For all his obvious hints of 'go and learn auto-car', I was thinking to myself,"If I continue to be under you, I definitely would fail the test and would need to learn Auto." and something told me that the females who learn under him did not learn well.
Quietly frustrated, I approached the reception counter and spoke to a lady wearing a tudung,"Can I have just Chinese instructors for my driving lessons?"
I was not expecting a positive reply, but to my pleasant surprise, she asked me for my blue driving booklet, and after tapping on some keys at the computer, she stuck up her thumb and told me she had put a note there saying that I needed 'Mandarin instructors'.
Yay!
I had felt that the two sessions I spent was only fruitful for about 15 to 20 minutes when the Chinese instructor was with me. And each session cost me $71.69 (off-peak)! I simply did not want to continue wasting money learning nothing, or minimal, at the price I was paying.
The Test started at 6.45pm. I glanced at the time the moment I finished: 6.53pm.
If anyone who is taking the theory test wonders how I seem to pass my Theory Tests effortlessly and with a perfect score each time, there is no secret: just do the practices available at the driving school. For the Final Theory, I booked four sessions, two back-to-back sessions on Monday, and two back-to-back sessions on Wednesday just right before the actual test.
You see, just about every question tested in the Tests is in the practices. Within a span of 45 minutes, which is the length of a practice session, you would be able to cover about 100 questions with explanation for the answers. For vanity's sake, as well as for keeping tab on the number of questions I covered, I counted the number of questions I did within a session.
Unfortunately, the computer that prints the 'Pass/Fail' slips was not in working order the night I took the Test, so this time round, they just stamped a 'Pass' on the identification paper they gave you before the Test.
I went for my second driving lesson yesterday.
Not fruitful at all.
I was disappointed when I saw that the same Malay instructor was allocated to me again.
Again, he asked me to take Auto-car for driving lessons. Again, I did not learn much from him. He does not really teach in a tangible manner which you can apply to a general situation. For every situation I encountered, he merely told me the steps without explaining why to me.
Instance 1
I saw a car stopping in front of me.
Me: Oh dear, what should I do? Should I stop?
Instructor: Go up somemore ... step on the clutch ... get ready to stop ...
I did a full clutch and stepped on the brake upon hearing the word 'stop'.
Instructor: I didn't ask you to step on the brake, but you go and brake.
Me: (Huh? 'Stop' is not 'brake' meh?)
There was a slow-moving traffic, really slow, sometimes stopping.
I did not know if I should step on the accelerator when the gap between the car in front and mine widened. He also did not say anything when I stepped on it.
It was later when we exchanged seats that I observed what he did that I understood: when in slow-moving traffic like a jam, step on the clutch to stop, and half-release the clutch to move.
He could have explained this to me very simply, but he failed to arrest my inability to understand his point when he gave only step-by-step instructions without explanation.
Instance 2
Instructor: You need to look at your rear mirror before you move off.
Me: Oh why?
Instructor: ... Good question! You will be penalised 2 points in the test if you don't do it. Is it good enough?
Instance 3
Instructor: You need to look at your rear mirror before you turn and after you turn.
Me: Oh why?
Instructor: ... You will be penalised 2 points in the test if you don't do it.
Other than the above instances, I felt that there must be a way to show me how to gauge if I am at the centre of the lane instead of just reminding me that I am drifting (which I already know) and that I need to remain in the centre of the lane.
For turning, he did tell me to turn the steering wheel when the centre line of the road disappears below the car corner, but I felt that it did not seem to apply all the time as when I did what he said, he had to help me steer at times. I got the feeling that the guidelines he gave me are not a rule-of-thumb for general situations, but for a learner driver, I need rule-of-thumb guidelines.
For all his obvious hints of 'go and learn auto-car', I was thinking to myself,"If I continue to be under you, I definitely would fail the test and would need to learn Auto." and something told me that the females who learn under him did not learn well.
Quietly frustrated, I approached the reception counter and spoke to a lady wearing a tudung,"Can I have just Chinese instructors for my driving lessons?"
I was not expecting a positive reply, but to my pleasant surprise, she asked me for my blue driving booklet, and after tapping on some keys at the computer, she stuck up her thumb and told me she had put a note there saying that I needed 'Mandarin instructors'.
Yay!
I had felt that the two sessions I spent was only fruitful for about 15 to 20 minutes when the Chinese instructor was with me. And each session cost me $71.69 (off-peak)! I simply did not want to continue wasting money learning nothing, or minimal, at the price I was paying.
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
First Driving Lesson
Today marks the first time I sat in the driver's seat.
It was my first driving lesson.
A Malay instructor.
He was nice and friendly. However, I felt that the learning was not very effective. My car kept stalling, and my brake was too abrupt. It jerked the two of us forward each time I stepped on the brake.
The instructor kept telling me not to release the clutch 'too fast', and to 'brake gently', but I just could not get it.
After some time, he had to excuse himself for a while and a Chinese instructor sat in.
Upon the first time that I stalled with him in the car, he explained to me that the pedals are 'very sensitive'. I just need to release the clutch gently to the point when the car could move and stay my foot there and it would not stall. As for the brake, I only needed to press very lightly, not pump all the way in.
Within 20 minutes of his teaching, I got what I could not with the previous instructor.
I was a little disappointed that he had to go when my instructor returned.
My family members and friends who learnt driving mostly did not have a fixed instructor, so I am quite sure I do not want to fix an instructor either.
Let's hope I have better luck the next time.
It was my first driving lesson.
A Malay instructor.
He was nice and friendly. However, I felt that the learning was not very effective. My car kept stalling, and my brake was too abrupt. It jerked the two of us forward each time I stepped on the brake.
The instructor kept telling me not to release the clutch 'too fast', and to 'brake gently', but I just could not get it.
After some time, he had to excuse himself for a while and a Chinese instructor sat in.
Upon the first time that I stalled with him in the car, he explained to me that the pedals are 'very sensitive'. I just need to release the clutch gently to the point when the car could move and stay my foot there and it would not stall. As for the brake, I only needed to press very lightly, not pump all the way in.
Within 20 minutes of his teaching, I got what I could not with the previous instructor.
I was a little disappointed that he had to go when my instructor returned.
My family members and friends who learnt driving mostly did not have a fixed instructor, so I am quite sure I do not want to fix an instructor either.
Let's hope I have better luck the next time.
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