It has been some time...

It has been some time since I felt so exhilarated and intoxicated with incessant happiness at that instant moment I received that particular paper...

29 Dec 2006 - The day that will leave a significant imprint in my memories as I finally passed my class 3 driving test and obtained my much coveted license. It was a wish come true; a wish that I have been anticipating it for the past 6 months. I was so excited and joyous when I received the assessment checklist from the hands of the examiner, showing that I passed the test with 6 demerit points, 34 points short from my first driving test on 5 Dec.



















First driving test results



















Second driving test results

Recalling the night before the test, I did a revision of the proper driving procedures and look through my mistakes. I even went for extra lessons before the test to regain my confidence and better my driving skills.

On the day of the test, I woke up feeling very nervous. Hence, I tuned in to symphony 92.4, listened to classical music as I did a final revision of my mistakes. I met my instructor at the petrol kiosk beside BBDC at 8am where he handed me his car insurance and wished me good luck. Thereafter, I proceeded to the second storey but found myself to be too early. Feeling nervous, I took a breather outside BBDC facing the circuit as I tuned in to 92.4. I was scanning the layout of the circuit, observing the traffic signals, road signs, danger area etc. At about 8.15am, I went up to submit my PDL, IC, the car insurance and the test receipt before everybody taking the test at 8.25am were gathered inside the room for a briefing by one of the examiner.

Your fate of getting which instructor and test route depends on the outcome of the balloting process. On the board are the names of all examiners and test routes assigned to them. So, the first person will be assigned to the first examiner and so on. Basically, they placed the test receipts of each candidate in a box. Any examiner will randomly pick the first receipt. Next, the person who was picked will pick the next one and so on. I was so close (just one name away) to getting back the same examiner! What a close shave!

My examiner this time round gave me a fierce look. When he entered the room, he raised his voice and said 'Low Yizong, come!' I was quite shock though. However this examiner was helpful in the sense that I will point to the direction he wants me to go but he is impatient. Most of the time he was rushing me but I ignored him. I would rather get 2 demerits from 'delay in moving off' than getting 8 demerits or even more from causing obstruction from others. I got my other 4 demerits from turning wheel while stationary and wide turning.

Whichever the case, yesterday was the time that I drove with extra caution, care and consideration for other road users. I felt that it was the best effort that I have given; one of the best driving experiences I have ever had. Every time I approach a traffic junction, bend, pedestrian crossing or stop-line, I will make sure I assess the traffic conditions around me and check the mirrors and blind spot for safety as I don't want my negligence or carelessness from me. A simple motorcyclist who just zoom pass you when u are turning could foil your plan.

The other time, I committed 2 immediate failures (mistakes that are grave, failing on the spot) namely failure to stop before stop-line and failure to give way to pedestrian. Contributing to my bad score was mistakes like rolling off stop, not confirming safety, not slowing down when approaching road hazards and the list goes on. The accumulation of these small mistakes costs me 40 demerit points. When I went home my brother teased me, my mum asked me why score was so bad while my aunts were shocked at my result.

But this is not the case this time round. My instructor said that my score was beautiful (meaning excellent) and my relatives were proud of my score. My hard work really paid off. For those out there learning to drive or have gotten your license, I urge you all to observe proper road safety. For those taking the test, I wish you all the best. Just drive confidently and cautiously, observing the traffic rules.

C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S

C-arolers sining
H-opeful children
R-inging bells
I-incredible people
S-haring presents
T-ree decorating
M-eaningful messages
A-awsome lights
S-now falling

Genting trip...home sweet home...

Finally, the last installment of my Genting trip experience. Nothing much happened on this day; a day usually for us to spend all our money away. For me, I just went windows shopping at Sungei Wang and BB plaza with a friend, and we had the thought of getting our hair cut since it is relatively cheap here. A typical hair cut there costs about $20, including getting your hair washed and dyed in some saloons. I did consider dying my hair, but feel that it was inappropriate as I might be going for interviews.

There was a saloon 'Kimarie academy' just opposite to the hotel having a promotion of hair cut + wash + dye for just $15! It is really a great bargain but what put us off was the thought of having your hair done up by 'trainees' of the academy. After some searching for reasonable hair cut prices in the shopping malls, I and my friend settled down for a cut at 'kimarie' (not the acedemy that I was talking about earlier). If I am not wrong the hair cut + wash + style costs less than $15.

First we were ushered to our seats which were next to each other, given a cup of water and asked by the hair stylist what kind of style we prefer. Nothing could be more comfortable when they massage our head in the midst of applying different kinds of shampoo/conditioner etc. It was more like a visit to the massage parlor though. The entire process of constant massaging took almost 20 minutes before they washed the shampoo off our hair, drying it and started on cutting/trimming the hair.

In the end, it was my friend who looked like he had a visit to the saloon. I was no different from the time I entered the saloon. Just lost a few strands of hair, a wonderful massage. No bad actually for $15. When I was back in Singapore, i cut my hair again.

We left Malaysia for Singapore at 2.30pm, with me penniless and a packet of chicken rice (my lunch) in my hands on the journey home.



































Indoor roller coaster @ Times square







































Breakfast @ Federal hotel




















The state of my hotel room when I first entered















Hotel lobby waiting for everybody to gather


































That's my chicken rice on the table!

My KL-Genting-Sunway trip...Day 3

So much for the Genting trip - rain and rain. And it happened again on our sunway lagoon trip. The pictures below were taken on our journey to Genting...We were dressed in our respective beach wear, clad in our broad shorts, anticipating the water slides there, not expecting the rain to come again to dampen our mood...






























There wasn't really many exciting and thrilling rides at sunway, except for a few spiral water slides which will bore u after an hour or so in the park..The slides takes involve 2 person seating on a float which will send you flying. The person seating in front will get more thrill as he will be the first to experience the bumpiness or gets water splash along the way...




















An ancient structure sitting at the entrance of the mall before Sunway















The entrance signboard















The indoor roller coaster




















A bird's eye view of Sunway




















The water slides which I mentioned about...















A tiger held in captive..















Indoor display of 'crystals'




















The prominent feature of Sunway...















Indoor Jurassic park???

There was also this similiar wave pool and lazy pool like Singapore which is definitely larger in scale but didn't fascinate me much. When it was raining, all of us went to a small pool where we played 'monkey'. We threw googles all over the pool, catching the attention of many on-lookers till the rain was over. But the weather didn't turn for the better, hence we left about 1 plus, spending only at most 3 hours in the park...

For dinner, I went 'nandos' again..the food and ambience is so nice there. Then we went to KL tower and the famous petronas tower. Our mood of transport was through their railway system which is much more complicated than ours.




















Look at the number of stops and interchange..




















The small station platform...

After we alighted from the train, we walked quite a distance before we reached petronas tower. However, KL tower was just beside the train station, so it was very convenient.




















KL tower in the day




















Close-up view of KL tower at night



















The Zouk in KL which we passed by on the way to petronas

New hope...

After my swim class this morning, I came to realise that I had a miss call from a rather familiar number. Is it someone calling to enquire about swimming lessons? Or is it someone calling to enquire about tuition classes? Or is it someone...The list goes on and on. It also seems that the number belongs to my former driving instructor. Why did he call me? Is it because he managed to find a earlier re-rest date for me? I was really hoping to hear good news from him.

On my way back, my phone rang. The same familiar no. "Hey, Ricky here. Your test day is on 29 Dec 8.25am." I heard it as Apr 29 at first as the word 12 seems to sound like 4 in chinese. I was caught with a little surprise. It was to my surprise how he managed to get a test date so fast. I had been logging in everyday at every moment when I am at home hoping for anybody to cancel his appointment so that I can acquire that particular slot. But he did it in just one log in! Today at noon time! Is it because that particular time has lots of people cancelling their test dates? Or Ricky has some connections with someone? Or is just his pure luck? The reason remains unknown.

Anyway, I was delighted to get another chance at my driving test, earlier than I expected certainly. At least, i don't need to renew my PDL which expires on 6 Jan provided I make it the second time round. Bless me with a kind examiner....

I was so paranoid when I failed the first time. And I even called up different instructors to find out whether they can get me a fast test day. Everyone said I have to follow the quene which stretches till late March except for Wicky. He promised that he could get it for me within a month. And he did it. No doubts.

Now I am just hoping to better my skills before the test and hopefully get a good examiner. This will be my final go..the last one..the best one...

Just my Luck...

It's all over - My much anticipated driving license.

I waited so long for this day, 5 dec, almost half a year when I began my enrolment in BBDC on 3 Dec. Since then I was so excited and obsessed with learning driver, with a private instructor who drives a mitsubishi lancer. Gradually, under his guidance, I honed my driving skills and was confident that I could make it the first time.

However, that didn't happen. Everything was gone in a moment's folly. 2 immdiate failures and 40 demerit points. What a bad result. It was just my luck that I got a bad tester, my instructor who tried to console me after the test. My instructor was also confident that I could pass. The tester, who I thought to be friendly when I first saw him, was actually full of sarcasm.

Even before he entered the car, he deflected the top left mirror which normally aids me on my view towards my left. Deflecting it would mean that the area on the left hand side of the car is narrowed. My instructor said it was a unprecedented move by the tester. I am not sure what his intentions are though.

His action made me drive very slowing through the entire circuit, starting with s-course, slope, vertical parking, directional change and lastly parallel parking. I was extremely meticulous as I was afraid of mounting the left kerb without the help of the small mirror. Everything was fine except that I was apparently nervous.

The tester explained to me that I have to step on the accelerater when reversing or during the narrow courses but my instructor didn't teach me before. Is he too strict? That was the small issue as I didn't get points deducted from that.

I lost points from rolling backwards twice on the slope, failure to confirm safety (which I did), failure to stop at white-line (didn't see) and caused one vehicle to slow down or take evasive action. Circuit was pretty alright as compared to driving outside the public road. The tester said I drove too slow, change lane abruptly (my instructor didn't correct me), didn't slow down when approaching road hazards (I didn't realise) and didn't check mirror (I did check). I felt as though he was aiming his arrows at me, another innocent being, and he told me this "You first time right? Never mind, slowly learn from your mistakes. Come again another time".

I was composing myself, not to retaliate verbally, as I knew it was already the end of the test. My plans of driving today to fetch my gf has been dashed. Hope to get my retest soon of I am able to book a slot which someone has cancelled in the month of dec...

My KL-Genting-Sunway trip...Day 2..cont'd

For dinner, we patronised 'Nandos'. In my opinion, the food there taste better than swensen, cafe cartel etc...they manage to cook the chicken in such a way that I don't have that greasy feeling when I am eating. Too bad this fine restaurant is not available in Singapore, otherwise I will surely patronise it. The restaurant has its own unique chilli sauces in 4 different flavours - Garlic, flaming hot, hot, and the last one I forgot already. Anyway, the chilli sauce tastes great. You can even purchase them and add variety to your meal...















All of us occupying a remote small room which was vacant at that time















Fried rice with 1/4 chicken and chips..















Chicken Kebab with salad, peri chips and old style chips...

After the meal, we went to 'chinatown', within walking distance from the hotel. Imitations of brands like nike, addidas, converse are available there. A billabong broad short which costs $60 over in Singapore can be brought for $15 or lesser. Of course the vendors there are under the watchful eyes of the police. Almost all the vendors there carry a walkie talkie which they used to inform one another of any police intrusions or interceptions. Taiwan also has something like that in 'Shi lin ye shi'. Whenever police encounters is expected, a codeword known to them will be aired over the walkie talkie. In a flash, the place will be in a chaos as the vendors run away to hide with their goods. But the things there are worth a look or buy...

That's all for day 2...preparing for sunway tmr...