Present, About Driving (Part 5)

I seriously wonder if I'm just not driving material. It's my 5th lesson already and I'm still stuck in the driving course. Perhaps the instructor thinks I'm not good enough. This is bad, coz learning to drive isn't cheap.

Apart from the lack of confidence in myself, today's lesson was pretty relaxed, owning to the joker nature of the instructor and the ease of driving in the course. Considering that this was the eve of the release of the 'A' Level results, I felt that I drove well. Well enough to have a little chit-chat session with the instructor while driving. Of course, this was because I was in the driving course rather than outside the big dangerous public roads.

I was like a caged bird, protected from the outside world but hoping to roam free. Perhaps driving is something like learning kung-fu, you always start with the ma pu-- the half squat position and you need to do that for years. Well, the instructor is always right. If I'm not ready, then I'm not. Better luck next time.

Speaking of luck, I guess I need a lot of it tomorrow.

Past, Chapter 3: The 5-dollar Crush (Part 14)

I quickly brushed off the kinematics question and came to the focus of the day. Her question was on functions and I didn't let her down (after all, functions was my specialty). The difficulty was how to translate my methods for her to understand. And so we started talking face to face, me answering her every question that tested my very foundation in maths that brought me here in the first place. I liked the way we can talk as if the other 2 people at the table were invisible, liked the way she looked at me in admiration.

I really wish I can just explain the math to her forever, but she understood soon after. My time was up, was I daring enough to ask for a place at their table? I lacked the courage, and tracked back to where I started.

I couldn't really study anymore for the day, yet I didn't want to go home. Just then, I noticed they were leaving but their stuffs are still on the table. Maybe they went out for lunch, whatever they are planning to do, she didn't ask me along. Me and my wishful thinking, I wasn't really anybody to her, just somebody she knew.

Present, Results Out on 6 March

Yep, the official news came in the afternoon on Monday. Luckily it was coming out on Friday, otherwise I might not be able to drive properly if it was on Thursday.

Time to face the truth, like my Dad said, it's all fixed, no point worrying about it. But why am I still scared? Probably because of 2 reasons:
1. I may fail GP. Can't helping thinking back to the day of the GP exam. Was my essay good enough? My one paragraph AQ definitely took away some grades.
2. Are my H2's good enough when pitted against peeps from the top colleges. I thought I gave it my all, but was my all good enough?

While I hope for good results, here's wishing good luck to all you peeps out there that are as hopeful as I am right now.

Present, About Driving (Part 4)

This lesson happened to be the lesson in which I thought I'd drove my best, however, this also happened to be the lesson in which the instructor picked on me the most. What a difference in perspectives. My confidence became my poison, that's what the instructor implied.

So we started the lesson warming up in the driving course before moving off onto the public roads. I admit I was getting good at driving in the course already, then the errors came.

Error #1: Tailgating
Instructor's advice: Keep a safe distance of at least 1 and a half car lengths in the driving course.
My reason for error: Hey, I'm driving at 1st gear here, I've got perfect speed control. Wait, is there any speed to control?

Error #2: Failure to stop at the Stop line.
Instructor's advice: Retake your BTT, the pass was a fluke.
My reason for error: I admit it's dangerous to not stop in front of the stop line, but then again with my current speed, it's as good as stopping. Besides, I already checked before hand for oncoming traffic.

Error #3: Failure to give way to traffic from the right.
Instructor's advice: You'll definitely fail your practical test if you take it now.
My reason for error: I was too anxious to move, forgive me.

And so the instructor's comments became harsher and harsher, it really doesn't pay to argue back. So I humbled myself when I go onto the public roads, remembering the errors I made. And maybe, just maybe, I got even more confident in my driving since he didn't have anything to pick on me anymore. Was so sad that I didn't learn anything new today, it was more like familiarisation driving.

Oh well, plenty to look forward to next week, with another lesson and the 'A' level results coming up.

Present,The Teacher, My Favourite

Okay, I know it's not Teacher's Day yet, but recent happenings have sparked an urge for me to write about and thank my teacher. Wait, I wonder how should I address her now. Let's just say she was Ms Elaine Lam back then. Why did she get a special thanks from me? Probably because my maths took centre stage while she was my mathematics teacher. She is a woman of great talents, probably someone like Mr Terence Toh, minus the occasional arrogance. She was the most eye pleasing teacher in Zhonghua back in those days.

If you have read my past posts, you may have got a hint that my secondary school life wasn't that great, especially in Sec 3. I was constantly in turmoil at school, new subjects, classmates that don't seemed to get along (at least on the surface they did), not to mention a form teacher that constantly picked on me. Mathematics became my only solace in the gloom as I sat quietly there, hoping that at least something good should happen in these bad times.

Perhaps that something was her. She said that maths is never a difficult subject and she would help the class get through the 2 math subjects. That is really true, for there are like 8 out of 10 people getting A's for 'O' level Mathematics and Add. Mathematics. My maths was good but not the best. At the class level, I was never the top, but among the top. And so like a supporting actor, I never got as much attention as the lead, at most a few fans. This year was different, I came out tops with 90% for add. maths, the best part was the 2nd best in class managed only a 62%. Wow talk about sparrow transformed into a phoenix.

I shall not go on with all the hoohah about what happened next. Point is I got to work more closely with Ms Lam after that, for my work proved to be of standard to supplement her teaching materials. Furthermore, I was the AV personnel back then. So I was real proud when I was setting up the OHP and this close to hearing that Ms Lam was once again using my work for reference. Those were the days when my glimmer of hope came from her (my form teacher still picks on me). Thank you, Ms Lam, from the bottom of my heart.

Ya, Ms Lam got a facebook account recently and I'm glad she still knows who I am. Time really flies, I watched her (figurative) from being single to being married to having kids now. All the best to you, Ms Lam, my favourite teacher.

Present, About Driving (Part 3)

Today marks an exciting new area of driving, that is driving on public roads. Can you believe it, I get to drive on the public roads on my 3rd lesson, how cool is that? For the lesson, I'm learning gear shifting, so you really can't expect my to shift to the 4th gear in that small driving course with hundreds of cars (no kidding). If I really did that, I would have died.

So gear shifting is all about hand and footwork coordination. Yea, beginner drivers like me love to look down at the gear when shifting, but that is unwise coz you take your eyes off the ever-changing road conditions, which proved to be very dangerous.

Being accustomed to the driving course for a while, I felt afraid of the big dangerous public roads. I'm expected to drive up to 4th gear speed, which to me felt pretty fast since it was the first time I exceeded 2nd gear speed. In addition, I still wasn't that good at gear shifting yet, and so there were panicky moments when I hurried to down shift as I approached a junction.

Maybe it was because of the 'L' plate or maybe because there were less cars, for I felt comfortable driving after a few rounds around Ubi. I think it's because of the 'L' plate that made other road users move extra careful around me. I think I was more of a threat to them than they were to me.

After an eventful 100 minutes, the instructor declared I was proficient enough in gear shifting. Yeah, I wonder what's up for next lesson.

Past, Chapter 3: The 5-dollar Crush (Part 13)

June 19 could have been the best day of my life. Ya, you must think I'm mad. It's the middle of the holidays and common tests are just round the corner. I woke up early today and headed for school-- the only place I could study in. I've been in the library on every other day for weeks now, soaking in the aura of the books, hoping against hope that I would do well in the first major tests in JC.

It was on that very morning that she came to the library with her friends (1 guy, 1 girl). She saw me, smiled and waved. I waved back, hoping she would sit near my table, but her company preferred the other corner. And so there I was, unable to concentrate on what I initially set out to do. I was fighting a constant battle within me, whether I should join her group. On one hand, there's the seat beside her that is beckoning me to come over. On the other hand, I wonder if there's anyone else coming, and it would look impolite to barge in like that. This bothered me for the next hour or so, until she messaged me (the first time she messaged me).

******: hey r u free, can help me with some qns?

I turned to look her way, she smiled. This was the ticket to the coveted seat I've been pondering about for the last hour. I went over.

Her girl friend had some H1 physics questions (kinematics) to ask (how thick-skinned) while she had math questions. At that moment, I had to thank my teachers for bestowing me with adequate knowledge for the task at hand. I threw a smirk at that guy (or I tried to).

'Fancy you not being able to answer those questions, shame on you that she needed my help coz you were useless'

'Okay, don't malu yourself now' I told myself as I mustered all my effort to complete the tasks at hand.