On the Road

Rained again when I went for my driving lessons on Friday. I was assigned a different instructor for my 3rd and 4th driving lessons respectively. My 2nd driving instructor, Ong started off with showing me some notes (which I hadn't seen during my first two lessons) and recapped with me some stuff I learnt the day before. He also showed me how the switches/buttons on the dashboard work (this was not covered during my earlier lessons). He seemed surprised my 1st instructor hadn't explained them to me and he also corrected the way I make a turn at the road junction and round the bend. Glad that I got to try out a different instructor because I picked up additional stuff. I learnt how to pull the car to a stop along the road and how to make a smooth lane switch.

The instructor for my 4th driving lesson went MIA so I was kept waiting in the car for 10 mins, until another instructor, Wee saw me. His student had gone MIA so after checking with his supervisor, he took me on my driving lesson instead. Got to drive out to the public road. Thrilled because I was getting bored with the circuit and it's more real out there. His teaching style is different too. My tendency is to slow down while make a turn at the junction or round the bend. His 'approach' is to drive nearer to the kerb and turn at normal speed (and step on the accelerator a little). I've to watch out driving past a car that is parked on the side - Wee's comment is that I drive too near it, and my turning angle is too wide (may end up 'swinging' into the opposite lane).

I made a few observations while driving a SSDC-labelled car on the public road. Taxi drivers are an impatient lot - they do not give 'chance' to newbies like me and seem to take every opportunity to show off their driving skills. Other 'more' experienced drivers will speed up, not give way or want to overtake when a SSDC-labelled car is on sight. I won't be losing my cool over such behaviours because if I do, I'm bound to become nervous. They can do whatever they want - I'm just gonna concentrate. Yup!

I'm going for my 5th driving lesson tomorrow after work. Ong recommended that I take at least two driving lessons every week. Will probably stick to one lesson per trip, unless I forsee that I can't make a second trip during the week. The thought of going for my driving lesson helps in dispelling the dreary of going back to work after an extended break :)

My 6th driving lesson is scheduled on Tues, 27 Feb. If I take two lessons per week, that will be chalking up close to $130 leh! Learning to drive in S'pore is really expensive!! I've created a spreadsheet to keep track of how much I've spent to learn driving. I should be taking my trial advanced theory test next week. The book is quite thick - hopefully I can retain the information and pass the actual test on first attempt lah!