Prac 8.01 (1st attempt) - Passed

Prac 8.01 (1st attempt) - 22/12/14 (Twentieth lesson)

Hi guys!! Its been a week since my last post, actually I've been to a self-practice (SP) session last thursday but I guess I won't be blogging about my SP or RC (circuit revision) sessions cos after all, they're just practice sessions so it'll be repetitive!! So anyway, I did horribly last thursday during my SP session!! My plank was shitty (posture is crazily wobbly, timing almost just pass 6 seconds) and I tried doing uturn at the traffic light junction for the first time (thankfully Chin Hwee was there to guide me!! Cos all these while I've only been doing uturning at the mini circuit and on the public road) but my uturning sucks ahahaha, right foot fell off pedal and did a wide turning. Felt so demoralized after my SP sesh cos I had my 8.01 booked the following monday! Also cos I know I'll be throwing away my $60 just like that if I fail my 8.01.

So today I took my 8.01 with 7 other people! Total there's 8 of us, 2 girls (including me) and 6 guys. Chin Hwee was incharge of our 8.01 today, and the first thing he said to me was "惨了啦!" Hahahaha cos he prolly saw how badly I did for my uturn last thursday. First half (4 of us) attempted the assessment first, and I was one of them while the other 4 people were in the second group, doing defensive riding where we'll be accompanied by 1 instructor each to ride around the circuit and outside on public road.

We did a 1 round of practice around the circuit test route before going to station our bikes at the starting line. Before that Yufang had "specially" helped correct whatever mistakes I did and I was extremely thankful! Gave me tips and stuff on how to 改 my silly habits. Felt sooooo nervous and anxious!! Our first group, number tags 13, 14, 15 and 16 had to go in order and I was number 15, hence, I'm number 3!

Did our circuit test route as per normal, but my heart was beating like crazy inside hahahaha. Slope was alright. During the "S" course, in my head I was repeating "FASTER FASTER FASTER!!" cos my "S" course isn't very stable in terms of hitting the required timing. Crank course was alright. Then here comes the narrow plank.. Recently I've been performing real badly at plank?! So anyway I did my plank and tried my hardest to prevent wobbling and I felt like I went too fast!! Then Chin Hwee told me, "Wah lucky lah you, timing is 6.38seconds." (We have to stay on the plank for more than 6 seconds). Then my ebrake.... Oh gosh my ebrake sucked so bad!! Did my ebrake then I saw the instructor writing something on his paper.. Die liao lor! Then Chin Hwee was a little further from the ebrake station and he told me, "You know you got marked for posture anot? That's 4 points! You could just tiptoe if you cant reach the ground so your handlebar won't be slanted."

Then we moved out to the public road! Went on left filter lane, lane change... And I saw the dude infront of me didn't cancel his signal all the way!! We have to cancel signal after lane changing from 3rd to the 1st lane and then turn it back on after the traffic light junction. But he was lucky lah first time it won't be marked as 4 points for failing to cancel signal. And.... Here comes the frightening uturn!!! My nightmare happened.. When doing my uturn I didn't throttle enough hence, I wobbled!!! My right foot slid off the brake pedal but I didn't drop my right foot on the ground. Then I did my uturn.. Luckily no wide turning. In my head I was thinking, shit man I'm gonna have an immediate failure.. Cause I know dropping of right foot is an immediate failure. So I was quite sian when going back to bbdc. Saw Vincent and he asked how I did, I told him about my uturning incident and he told me, "That doesn't necessarily mean its an immediate failure! Probably will mark you as wobble."

Then we went for our defensive riding, where each of us will be paired with an instructor and we went to ride around the public road test route 2x + 1 round in the circuit. Very angry with myself, for 2 rounds when I did my uturn at the public road, I did it with no wobbling and no wide turning!! Why is it when I took my assessment my right foot had to slid off?!?!! :(

Went to park our bikes and wait for our results. Chin Hwee then came and told us that out of 8 of us, 5 passed while 3 failed. I already had a feeling I won't make it. Then he gave us all our score sheets one by one and..... I passed!!!! Unbelievable. Thought I was gonna get immediate failure for uturn but I was marked as wobble.

This is my riding assessment checklist for 8.01 final evaluation!

I got marked for incorrect posture and clutching in too early (incorrect technique) = 6 points in total for ebrake. Sharp turning when turning at junctions, not checking blind spot (when I was just gonna start my final evaluation hahahaha shit) and not looking for traffic at side roads.

So thankful I don't need to go through 8.01 again, cos its so expensive! hahahha but I definitely will keep going for self practice (SP, circuit revision (RC) and road revision (RR) throughout my wait to my TP to hone my riding skills. Imagine how nervous I felt during my 8.01, it'll be 10 times worse during my actual TP!! Happy riding to you guys if you are taking up 2B practicals now!! :) I'll prolly blog as and when if I take any SP/RC/RR. Merry Christmas in advance! :)


Countdown to my 2B TP: 57 days

Prac 7.01 (2nd attempt) - Passed

Prac 7.01 (2nd attempt) - 15/12/14 (Nineteenth lesson)

Went for a night session today, at 7:20pm! Already got a feeling there'll be heavy traffic everywhere but figured if I could do it at night, I can do it in the daylight as well? hahaha.

Took my 2nd attempt of 7.01 with 4 other ppl, 2 guys and 2 girls. They're all 1st timers while I'm taking the 7.01 for the 2nd time. Instructors we got were this tall tanned uncle, only got his surname called Lim and another guy we got was Yufang, he was this bike team leader! Really nice instructor, initially I was really intimidated by him riding a class 2 bike + fierce face when I saw him during my 2nd attempt of 2.02 (cos he was there to help my instructor observe us) but now we did talk and all and I found he's really helpful! Gave me comments on how to improve my riding whenever I'm on the circuit.

Did uturning practices in the mini circuit and then my instructors told me to be the first bike LOL. First bike!!!! It makes me nervous lah cos people will follow me and stuff. Before that we went for a briefing on the public road test route then off to the road we go! I find that the key to doing a good uturn is..

GRIP THE FUEL TANK AND NEVER LET GO!!

Hahahaha its true... Plus just twist the throttle!!! It helped me so much and I never fall from the bike anymore. Except once in the mini circuit just now, I accidentally closed throttle, fell and dropped the bike LOL. Other than that I didn't fall off anymore nor did I do wide turning.

Did 4 rounds around the public road test route today, since I was the first bike I had to wait before the bus stop everytime I finished my right turning. I waited for quite a long time for the 4 remaining bikes to arrive cos you know, it's a peak hour session so there definitely will be more cars.

More cars = More waiting at the uturn!

It was so exhilarating when I went to throttle like mad after doing my left filter lane and had to do a lane change from 3rd lane to the 1st. I love the feeling! After that we went back to BBDC to return our bikes.

So I passed my 7.01 yayyyy!!! I can now go ahead and book my 8.01 final evaluation (where we have to do our circuit courses + public test route without getting more than 18 demerit points according to the TP checklist). Say if I pass my 8.01, then I'll only be waiting to take my TP!!! Will prolly have to go for more RC and SP before going for my 8.01 cos 8.01 cost like almost $60/session!! (non-peak). A normal SP or RC session is around $16 and $26 respectively (nonpeak).

And by the way, I have booked my TP test date already! It'll be on 17th Feb 2015.. Anybody reading this taking the same TP date as me? Drop me a comment!! :D

RTP, RTT and SP = 5 hours at BBDC

Alas! My long awaited 13th dec saturday is here. I've been waiting so long to take my RTT so I can book my TP! Because I've been passing my prac 1x a week so I kinda regret not taking my RTE earlier hahaha.

Woke up at 7-ish in the morning to prepare to head out. I had booked 2 riding theory practice from 0825 all the way till 1005, followed by my riding theory test at 1030-1120 and then a self-practice (SP) practical session at 1130-1310! Yeah its like almost 5 hours at BBDC hahahah, specially opted not to work today (cos I work normally work on the weekends) just for riding.

Did a quick run through on the 5 riding theory booklets and quickly made use of every minute hahahah. I felt so nervous when I walked down from the 3rd to the 2nd floor for my RTT.. Because all I could think of was, "What if I fail?!?! I'll have to wait like 2 more months before I can retake my RTT and then book my TP.." Went to the test room and the TP person gave me a slip of paper with my PIN and seat number. Sat at my seat, waiting for more people to arrive. Saw this dude sitting beside me started googling on stuff like, "how to control a skidding motorbike". Hahahah!! Did my test.. It consist of 50 qus, must get 45 and above correct answers to pass my RTT! I actually finished it in like 5-10 mins BUT! Being the cautious person I am, I went to review all my 50 answers again.. Actually I got confused with 2 qus but yeah. Submitted my answers and went to view my results...

I got 48/50!

Bet my 2 incorrect answers were the ones I got confused at hahahaha. Went to grab some food before heading to the motorcycle office to wait for my SP session! Yesyesyes this is my first ever self-practice practical so I was a little lost hehhhh. I was ready to grab my bike when Vincent said, "Why you never wear elbow and knee guard!" hahahahah I told him "oopsssss sorry I didnt know! It is my first time taking SP hahaha." Wanted to practice my uturns first so I told the instructors there if I could use the mini circuit for uturns, they were really nice and helped lay out the cones for me.

There were 2 instructors there, presumbly taking 1.03 prac, I know they are quite the "old bird" there, like the chief instructors kind.. They helped correct my posture and stuff, what to do and all. Of course I felt the pressure and stress to perform well since they're very experienced and I was afraid of doing it wrong. Subsequently I could do it (I think)! I went round and round the mini circuit several times wahahahha bloody retarded but then I prolly only had kena 2/3 times went off course/my right leg slipped. I was still very wobbly lah but I guess I have to slowly work on my uturns. Then I went off to the main circuit to practice my courses!

It was damn fun doing any courses I want?! Of cos SP will be cheaper cos there won't be any instructors guiding you. But sometimes at certain courses, some helpful instructors will give me pointers on how to improve my courses or help me to clock timing for plank or "S" course. I prolly went like 4-5 times around the circuit test route before heading back to return bike. The 100 mins really passed by damn quickly!!

Haven't decide whether to book another SP or to go for my 7.01 first but I'll prolly do either 1 next week. Good luck to me!!! :D

Prac 7.01 (1st attempt) - Failed

Prac 7.01 (1st attempt) - 9/12/14 (Eighteen lesson)

So in the end, nobody wanna buy my slot hahaha so I had to go for my 7.01 even though I don't even feel confident AT ALL!! :( So 7.01 is about: Independent riding in light and medium density traffic, with uturn, overtaking, defensive riding, risk forecast and reacting to hazards.

Took my first attempt of 7.01 with 2 guys and 1 girl, including me it'll be 4 of us! Instructors we got were Harry and Shaiful (he took my first attempt of 1.01 and first attempt of 2.02 previously). We were all first timers as well.. First we got our bikes, parked it in the middle of the mini circuit, briefing on how to do a uturn before heading out to the public road! Then we did our uturn practices.... And.... I fared horribly HAHAHA!! But not as bad as yesterday's uturn practice during my RC #2. Subsequently I can do my uturn but sometimes I went off course (wide turning) or my right leg will fall off the rear brake pedal :(

Took a break and got a briefing on the public road test route, where and when to lane change, check blindspot and basically where to go! Think overall we did like 4 rounds about the public road test route, I can't remember :|

There's a part where we have to lane change to the first lane after filter lane > merging lane. Everytime I'll forget to off signal?!!? Cos we have to off signal, pass by traffic light junction then signal right again to do our uturn. Anyway my uturn was bad!! Think 2/4 times I did a wide turning, instead of turning to the first lane I turned to the second and quickly lane change to the right my gosh :(

Just by doing a right turn after uturn requires 5 safety checks!!! Check left right for pedestrians, right blindspot, oncoming traffic, left filter lane and another time on the left before merging.The instructor said if we missed out anyone we will fail the class, when I heard it I felt damn scared hahahha I kept repeating the 5 safety checks in my head.

Anyway my last round before heading back to bbdc was horrible!!! Misjudged the speed of oncoming vehicles while doing my uturn and I immediately turned out hahahha best thing was I turned into the second lane wtf wide turning!!!! Then I already knew I'm gonna fail today's practical lesson already. Went back to return our bikes before a debriefing by Shaiful. In the end only 1 guy passed out of the 4 of us.

In conclusion, I must must MUST go for more practices on uturn before booking my 2nd attempt of 7.01!! Will be overseas from tmr till friday, and saturday is my RTT!! Hopefully I can pass my RTT and proceed with my booking of TP. Have also booked a SP session after my RTT, would wanna practice my uturning and "S" course. Don't think I'll book my 7.01 until I feel I'm ready hahaha. Good luck to me!!!!

RC #2

RC #2 (Circuit Revision) - 8/12/14

Went for my second RC session today! My previous RC was on 27th Nov, so it was a good (almost) 2 weeks since I last touched circuit courses. Sky was pretty dark when I was on my way to bbdc so yeah... "Gonna be riding in the rain today" was the first thing I thought of and deep down I was hoping it wouldn't rain heheh.

Took my RC with 4 other people today and the instructor we got was Izhardi! He took my first attempt of 3.01 previously. Looked out the window and saw it raining cats and dogs ugggghhhhh... Went to put on raincoat and pants after getting our ICs checked. This is the 3rd time I'm encountering the rain!!!!

Did a few rounds of narrow plank and pylon slalom first, omgzzz my favourite plank hahaha!! My average timing today was 8 seconds plus.. There was once I went super slow on the plank until I hit 10 seconds+ and Izhardi said "Faster leh, don't need so long!!!" LOL hahaha I didn't even realize it. Then we moved onto ebrake.. Today I did alot better than my previous RC #1 ebrake station. One time I stepped on the rear brake too hard and I heard some knocking sound.. Luckily my rear tyre didn't lock and skid!!!! My only problem is that I keep looking down at the line hahahah wahlao my eyes need to maintain.

Went back to return raincoat and pants cos it stopped raining, and moved onto "S" and crank courses!! If you guys have read my previous entries, the "S" course really is a nightmare for me!! Initially my timing was between 11-11.6 seconds subsequently I tried to throttle more and.... I got 10.3 seconds+ woohoo :D Crank course was okay for me. Next we did right turn, lane changing and slope. These 3 components were ok for me as well!

Moved onto uturn at the mini circuit.... I WAS IN A MESS!!! When doing my uturn I don't know if I braked too hard or never maintain clutch or throttle keep turning off and on and... I dropped my bike wtf. Right leg kept falling off as well, I cannot stay in my lane and shit...

I CANNOT DO A PROPER UTURN AT ALL!!!! 

Best of all... My practical 7.01 is tomorrow.. Public road riding with UTURN.

Oh the horror!!!! Seeing how badly I did for uturn today, I immediately went to put my 7.01 practical for tmr on try-sell. Its been a few hours now and still nobody wanna buy my slot :( Hoping some person will buy my slot so I can go for more uturn practices first. Because I know I confirm will fail my 7.01 tmr and waste more $$ (cos road pracs are more expensive hahaha) if I attend the practical. We shall see... *fingers crossed*

Prac 6.01 (1st attempt) - Passed

Prac 6.01 (1st attempt) - 3/12/14 (Seventeen lesson)

Hi guys, I'm finally back to taking my practical lessons!! The defensive theory lessons (PPL) really took up most of my time, plus PPLs had to be cleared in order. Anyway, 6.01 is - Independent riding in light and medium density traffic. In other words... RIDING ON THE PUBLIC ROAD!!! I was really reallllllllly excited today. 

Booked session 7, latest I ever booked till date, cos 6.01 had to be taken either in session 7 or 8 in the night time. Figured I don't wanna take session 8 cos it'll be from 9:10pm to 10:50pm, by then I think I'll be sleepy and stuff hahaha so I took session 7.

Took my first attempt of 6.01 with 4 other people, including me it'll be 5. Instructors we gotten were Vincent and Chin Hwee (he took my first attempt of 2.01 and first attempt of 3.02 previously). First we went to choose bikes and Chin Hwee briefed us on what to check for, like fuel tank, signal lights working or not and how to tie raincoat and pants on the back seat to make sure it was secured. Then we went to the bench where we were being shown the public road board and got briefed on our positioning, to be in a staggered position on a straight road, to give way to bikes when turning left or right and stuff. Deep down I was really excited to get started, all I wanted was to hop onto my bike and go but I can't lah hahahaha must listen to instructions first.

After being briefed, we went to practice our staggered positioning around the bbdc circuit before moving out via the bbdc carpark. Vincent had to take the lead and we all followed, Chin Hwee was the one doing the "sweeping" of the last bike, which was me cos I was the last bike hahaha. The feeling was damn exhilarating?! I rev and just whack throttle hahahaha. I prolly went 60-70km/hr omg, rather than in circuit I can only go up to 20-30km/hr only?!

Went around bukit batok area, I don't remember where but we did lotsa left turns, major to minor road and stuff. Stopped at the kerbside to have a small briefing on what were our mistakes. Majority of us were okay on the road, just that we didn't do our safety checks properly. We had to really exaggerate and turn our heads to check for, example: any pedestrians crossing the zebra crossing. We can't turn our eyeballs to see, must literally turn our heads and stuff.

After a small break, Vincent asked for the second last bike and the last bike (which was me) to move up hence, I became the second bike. Did more right turns during our 2nd half of the practical class before heading back.

Whilst heading back to bbdc.... This happened. Here's a badly drawn diagram depicting the incident!!

This bloody silver car just literally swerved between the instructor and first bike into the ESSO petrol kiosk station wtf?!?!?! So the first bike guy and myself immediately braked hard. Imagine if the car went even slower, I guess either myself or the first bike guy will crash into the car. Luckily we weren't going especially fast lah so we could slow down in time. Reckless driver is impatient pffttttt. The instructors even asked us during our debrief whether we rmbed the car plate number hahahah all 5 of us didn't but the instructors did?! It was SJP something something and ends with a P.

Went back to bbdc via the carpark and Vincent went in the opposite direction of the carpark?! We all just followed.. Turns out he "tricked" us to see if we can ride independently hahahaha!! Anyway during debriefing, Chin Hwee and Vincent brought up the carpark thing and said, "You all know what you all did wrong just now lah, so you all need to come back.."

All of us were thinking.. Wah need to come back to retake 6.01 already.. Suddenly they added on..

"Come back for your 7.01!!"

LOL, they got us all for a second there. So in the end we all passed our 6.01!! Next will be our last road lesson, 7.01 - independent riding in light and medium density traffic which includes, uturn, overtaking, defensive riding and public toad test route. So excited to get started! We were advised to go for a RC to brush up on our uturns since we'll be doing uturns in 7.01.

Will be overseas from 10th-12th, so I can't attend any bike pracs! Plus I've got my RTT on the 13th so I can book my TP date after :D Still haven't decide whether to book RC or SP next week to practice my uturn, but I've booked my 7.01 on the following week's Monday. Hopefully everything will work out hahahah. Wish me luck!! :D

RC #1

RC #1 (Circuit Revision) - 27/11/14

So... It was my birthday yesterday! Yet I still went riding haha, figured riding makes me happy and I should be happy on my birthday.. Yes? I turned 23 yesterday! Woohoooo :D

It was my first RC practice, because I still cannot book the next practical 6.01 yet. I have not completed my PPL defensive theory lesson (I'm left with the last one btw!) and have not applied PDL. My last defensive theory will be on saturday, and by then I'll prolly go apply for PDL on the same day as well. Hopefully I can start my 6.01 next week!

So I took my first RC with 4 other people. Did "S" and crank course first, right turn + lane changing, slope, narrow plank, pylon slalom and lastly ebrake.

And of course, I got stuck at the "S" course lah. My problem is sometimes I still keep turning off and on my throttle hence, I always fail to hit the required timing of under 11 seconds. Some of the older instructors there helped me alot and all, pillioned and showed me how to it and stuff, asked me to not worry about going faster or striking kerb. After a number of painful tries, I got the timing hahaha. Did slopes, then the S and crank courses a few more times before moving onto narrow plank and pylon slalom. Both of these courses were okay for me!! Then we moved onto ebrake...

Idk man but wtf is wrong with my ebraking skills?! My posture is shit, right leg keep dropping to the ground when stopping, eye kept looking below the line, wobbled when ebrake, used front brake too much... ZZZZZ. It doesn't help when there's a ferocious looking instructor shooting cut throat stares into me when I do my ebrake... Prolly because I accidentally cut into his class's student's lane when moving out earlier on after ebrake. I already checked my mirror and blindspot, I saw the dude was moving rather slowly and there's a gap so I moved out... I know I should give way lah but.. I apologized and all already and I'm still learning everytime I go for practs so.... Okay so moving on.


I felt like I did shitty today, particularly my ebrake and S course (still very inconsistent). Did badly whenever I wanna stop as well, damn unstable!!! Idk issit cause I haven't touch a bike for more than a week, then felt damn ganchiong and shit. Okay I think it's like a 50 50 performance?! Since it's my first RC practice, I shan't be too hard on myself. In conclusion... I still need to go for more RC practices!!

Prac 5.02 (1st attempt) - Passed

Prac 5.02 (1st attempt) - 18/11/14 (Sixteenth lesson)

HI GUYS!! Today I felt especially nervous because 5.02 is my circuit evaluation..

Objective:
- Complete circuit test route with less than 12 demerit points and no IF (Immediate Failure) in accordance with the riding assessment checklist.

A very stupid thing happened today.. Cos normally I'll fold my training details slip with my IC and put it in my jeans pocket but while I was putting my bag into the locker, I wanted to check my number tag so I dugged my jeans pocket AND.... My IC fell out (I also don't know how) and fell under the vending machine hahahaha!!! Bent down to look under the vending machine but I only found my IC wtf, my details slip was missing!!? Luckily my instructor said it was alright lah heh.. Phew.

Since my last practical was exactly a week ago, Syahir had advised us to go for RC (circuit revision) before going for 5.02 and... I didn't go for any RC ahaha I wanted to try to attempt my 5.02 first.

Took the class with 3 other people, 2 guys and the china woman whom I had 2 classes with last time! Okay so her name is called Suwan, not Suzhen ahahaha. 1 of the guy was his 2nd time while the rest of us were 1st timers. The instructor we got was this (kinda) old malay instructor, whom I didn't get his name, and he looked damn fierce and stern!! So intimidating lor, stress hahaha.

Went for like (I think) 3 rounds around the circuit test route as a practice before the actual assessment. At 4pm, we went back to park our bikes before briefing by the instructor. Then we started our assessment! We were told that the first bike should keep to one lane before each courses, and the rest of us should queue behind the first bike to avoid delaying other classes' students. Reason being, we had to wait for the instructor to clear the last man before he had to move to the next course and assess us.

AND GUESS WHAT......

I was the first bike hahahahah.

Idk what other people think about first bikes, to me it feels like a huge responsibility?! Like the rest of the people have to follow my route, see me do my courses first and all first etc.

So this happened at the slope.. There was a car on the slope so I thought the same theory applies, when 2 bikes are at the slope, 3rd bike can wait at the bottom of the slope. Yalah being the first bike, I don't what why I forgot what my 2.02 instructors said and went to the bottom of the slope to wait for the car to finish doing the slope instead of waiting at sign number 7. Saw my instructor (he was on the higher slope observing us) looked down at the assessment checklist and he wrote some stuff... Hoseh liao, thought I failed already hahaha.

And here comes my dreaded and nightmare 'S' course. Idk lah.. This Figure 8 'S' course just scares me?! If go too fast then strike or mount kerb how!? Ahahaha I tried my very best to go as fast as possible though, but felt it wasn't good enough.

Since we had time, the instructor asked us to go for a second round.. And well well well..

I WAS THE FIRST BIKE FOR THE SECOND TIME!! 

Initially I asked the other guy to go first but he said, "Nono you go first". Wahlao what is this, the pressure is just... :\

Redid our entire circuit test route and at the crank course, my instructor told me, "wah now second try then you all never do all the silly mistakes". LOL so I think all our first try were damn bad?! Went to return our bikes and the instructor asked us, "So you all want to take your first or second assessment results?" I said anything so one of the guys said to take the first assessment result instead.. I mean it's only fair right? Results of course must use 1st one hahaha. Besides, the instructor said our 1st and 2nd results didn't have much difference anyway. Waited at the bench at the circuit test route board for our instructor to finish keying in our results..

So he came back after awhile and handed this green slip of paper to the first guy.. Then the second guy.... I was thinking.. Wah die lah confirm cannot make it!! And.... My instructor gave me the green slip of paper!! Unfortunately my china friend, Suwan didn't make it.

I scored 10 demerit points for my circuit evaluation assessment!
We need less than 12 points to pass this lesson.

Okay so my nightmare 'S' course caused me 4 demerit points wahlao.. I really need to work much harder for this course ley.

Don't be afraid to throttle more Joyce!!!!

Wobbled when changing lane/negotiating bend/turning.. 4 demerit points! Idk which mistake I made but I'm guessing it's the turning part?

And this... Incorrect positioning = 2 demerit points!! Yes this mistake was due to me waiting at the bottom of the slope when there's a car on the slope ahahha silly mistake lah, could have avoided it.

So this slip of paper is to show I have completed my circuit training programme!! :')

Ahahahha, so 感人.. Exactly 8 weeks ago, I started on my very first motorbike practical 1.01. I still can clearly remember my very first practical lesson, so excited, so anxious to finally get the chance to ride on a real motorbike (instead of the arcade ones ahahahah).

Now I'm left with defensive theory lessons before I can head on out to the road for road lessons!! I actually already attended 1 defensive theory lesson (PPL 1.01) so I still need to clear PPL 1.02 and 1.03, 6.01 and 7.01 road lessons before my final evaluation of 8.01 and lastly.. TP!


My progress up till now:
23/09/14: First lesson
1.01 - failed

25/09/14: Second lesson
1.01 and 1.02 passed together

30/09/14: Third lesson
1.03 - failed

2/10/14: Fourth lesson
1.03 - passed

7/10/14: Fifth lesson
2.01 - failed

9/10/14: Sixth lesson
2.01 - passed

10/10/14: Seventh lesson
2.02 - failed

14/10/14: Eighth lesson
2.02 - failed

15/10/14: Ninth lesson
2.02 - passed

20/10/14: Tenth lesson
3.01 - passed

23/10/14: Eleventh lesson
3.02 - failed

26/10/14: Twelfth lesson
3.02 - passed

28/10/14: Thirteenth lesson
4.01 - passed

4/11/14: Fourteen lesson
4.02 - passed

11/11/14: Fifteen lesson
5.01 - passed

18/11/14: Sixteenth lesson
5.02 - passed

Prac 5.01 (1st attempt) - Passed

Prac 5.01 (1st attempt) - 11/11/14 (Fifteen lesson)

After a week, I went for my first attempt of 5.01! 5.01 consist of; introduction to circuit test route, pillion riding and u-turn. When I reached the bike waiting room, I was surprised to see the china lady!! She was damn happy to see me hahaha. I got to know her during my first attempt of 4.01, S and Crank courses. I think her name is Suzhen, I'll just call her Suzhen LOL. And other guy who took the same class with us was Soe, we got to know each other during my 3rd attempt of 2.02. So 3 of us were first timers for today's class, and I was friends with both of them so I felt comfortable.

And the instructor we gotten was... Syahir!! Yes, it was him again hahaha, he took my 1st attempt of 1.03, 3rd attempt of 2.02 and first attempt of 4.01. Funny thing was.. When I got to know Suzhen and Soe during my 4.01 and 2.02 respectively, the instructor we gotten was Syahir as well. Hahahha coincidence? I think not :D

So we did U-turn first at the mini circuit. We had to go straight then stop at the 2nd set of cones, before doing a u-turn. As you can tell.... I was damn clumsy?! HAHAH. Below is a badly drawn diagram of what I did initially... The black arrows and black lines were the intended path.

Yep I didn't dare to turn my handlebar more to the right and felt damnnnn ganchiong, in the end I went past the 3rd set of cones and went out of the route hahahah, I was the red arrow... I think ppl confirm were laughing at me lah. BUT!! Subsequently I did it. With the help of both Syahir and Shaiful! Although I still think u-turn is damn scary hahaha. 

Next, we parked our bikes and went to the bench + circuit test route board for a briefing by Syahir, on where to check blindspots, signal and basically which route to take. After that when we were about to head out to do our courses... 

IT STARTED RAINING! 

-_-


Oh my goodness srsly. Had to go and put on raincoat and pants... This was my 2nd time riding in the rain!! Though riding in the rain is fun but still I rather choose not to hehhhhh.

Did our lane changing, slopes, S and crank courses, right turning, narrow plank, pylon slalom and lastly, ebrake! Our first round was alright. I'm glad I survived my nightmare S course hahaha. Parked our bikes, had a short break and next, we did pillion riding! Basically we had to do pillion riding through the circuit test route. Suzhen and I pillioned each other while Soe pillioned Syahir. Suzhen pillion me first and we even chatted a little while she ride LOL. She said she pillion people before back in China, but without licence. Then it was my turn.. I felt nervous cos afterall, its my first time "pillioning" someone.. Afraid I'll drop the bike and cause us both to fall or something?! Anyway we survived, but I did dropped off the plank while doing the pillion riding. 

After that, we went for a last round around the circuit test route before returning our bikes! Did a debrief and Syahir gave us a sheet of paper containing information about the Class 2B test route and the riding assessment checklist. And YEPPPP, all 3 of us passed our 5.01!! YAYYYYY :D It was a really fun and stress-free practical for me today, since I took this class with my 2 friends made in bbdc and my favourite instructor.

Next practical will be 5.02: Circuit Evaluation.. Where the instructor will use the assessment checklist to assess us!? Wah damn nervous hahaha. My next lesson will be next tuesday, good luck to me! :D

Prac 4.02 (1st attempt) - Passed

Prac 4.02 (1st attempt) - 4/11/14 (Fourteen lesson)

Alas! Finally my work schedule allowed me to book my practical lesson. I've never gone past 5 days of not going to bbdc for bike practicals cos it's a peak period in my working place now plus there are insufficient conducting staff. Speaking of which.. Working nonstop for days with little rest has taken a toll on me. Fell sick on Sunday, with dry coughs, stuffed and runny nose plus I'm currently nursing a fever. I hate feeling like this!! After a week's break, I did feel anxious cause I was afraid I'll lose the feel of the works of a bike.

Anyway, today is my first attempt of my practical 4.02: Circuit training review. So we had to do all the circuit courses we learnt since day 1. Took my 4.02 with 3 other guys, all of us were first timers. The instructor we got was Azad, he took my previous 2nd attempt of 2.02.

1) Narrow plank and pylon slalom
I don't know about other people but narrow plank was the most fun to do out of all the courses!! I feel this sense of accomplishment whenever I can balance myself slowly on the plank. There was once I accidentally used my front brake LOLOL whoops, use only rear brake pls joyce. My average timing was like 7 seconds plus? Moving onto pylon slalom, sometimes I do feel scared to turn my handlebar more but generally I think it's okay. There was once I didn't turn my handlebar fast enough and felt I couldn't make the last turn at the cone so I forgo and went straight hahaha shitz.

2) Emergency braking on a wet surface
Ebrake!!! I still have a habit of clutching in too early arghhhhh. There were instructors helping me, Kelvin said sometimes my eyes will still look down at the line ahahaha. Damn I need to stop these habits!!! Subsequently I stopped doing it, I did cause engine to stall once though. Abit scary to do ebrake with no elbow and knee guards (cos previous lessons we wore them) incase we really skid and fall.

3) Right turning, lane changing and slopes
Redid our 2.02 route all over, right turn, lane changing and slopes!! I think I have a problem of having poor judgement, like I'll hesitate whenever I wanna do my right turn. You see, right turning has a much further distance to carry out and we have to make sure both sides are clear. Well... From what I've learnt from driving on public roads and stuff, if you are not confident of moving out, THEN WAIT!! But cannot wait too long also hahaha.

4) 'S' and crank courses
Oh the horror!! I still can remember taking my 'S' and crank courses practical exactly a week ago. The 'S' course really scares me hahahaha, must clock timing, must not mount/strike kerb, must look far etc. My first round around the 'S' course was bad, I didn't grip my fuel tank tightly, arms too stiff hence, I became quite wobbly. After given corrections by Azad, I managed to clock timing and maintained posture. Yippeeee!! Crank course was okay, thankfully I didn't mount the kerb like what I did last week hahahaha malu pls.

5) Overall circuit revision
Azad told us to try 1 round of the "real" circuit test route, where to go first and stuff. So I redid my narrow plank first, pylon slalom, ebrake, lane changing, slope, 'S' and crank courses and headed back to return our bikes.

I feel the 100 mins went by so fast?! Cause we did lotsa courses today as well. Azad said that for myself and another guy taking the same class as me, we were quite stable and okay for our courses!! I was damn thrilled to hear that lah, cos initially I didn't have high hopes of doing well and passing today's class due to my sickness and not going to practical for a week. But once I got on the bike today, everything came back to me.

Anyway I felt like I'm progresing really quickly!! It's been only 6 weeks since I first started my class 2b practical. Right now, I'm left with practicals 5.01, 5.02, 6.01, 7.01 and 8.01! Plus Defensive Riding Theory Lesson PPL 1.01, 1.02 and 1.03. Furthermore my RTT is still quite long... It's in dec omg. Kinda regret not going for RTE earlier so I can book my RTT at an earlier date!! Okay then I'll probably cut down on going practicals so often. My next lesson will be next tuesday, wish me luck! :D

Prac 4.01 (1st attempt) - Passed

Prac 4.01 (1st attempt) - 28/10/14 (Thirteenth lesson)

Recently I've been chionging through practicals because one, I don't have that many workslots this month cos its a nonpeak period and two, next month onwards, through nov and dec, it'll be the school holidays and corporate bookings will increase like mad! So it's better to clear most of my practicals now incase there are no more time till TP hahaha.

Today's practical 4.01 is all about 'S' and crank courses.
Objective:
- 'S' course: Clear in less than 11 seconds
- Crank course: Clear in less than 6 seconds

I remember hating crank course so much during my Class 3 days, more than 4 years back, I was so scared of mounting the kerb! Took my 4.01 with 1 guy and 1 lady, we were all first timers. Instructor we've gotten today was Syahir! He took my 1st attempt of 1.03 and my 3rd attempt of 2.02 previously. I was quite happy to get him because I know he's a really good instructor.

Went for a warmup round before heading to the 'S' and crank courses! This is what it looks like as seen below... Grabbed this pic off the net, I know it's damn pixelated hahahah.

We had to queue up, signal left, left blindspot, go through the 'S' course, stop if there are vehicles, turn left, queue outside the crank course, signal right, right blindspot, go through the crank course, wait outside if there are any vehicles, stop at traffic light junction, signal left, left blindspot then redo everything again!

First, Syahir told us to get a "feel" of the courses by going in gear 1. I was in a clumsy mess when trying the 'S' course!! After which I couldn't stop laughing at myself cause I can definitely tell I looked like a bloody retard. Including crank course as well ahahah. Nervous like hell!!!!!

So Syahir told us what to do for these courses.. I guess initally I had a huge problem with my speed!! I did not maintain my throttle and keep turning it on and off, making me wobble + didn't use my footbrake. In the end Syahir had to pillion me to show me what to do.. Initially he went slow, taught me how to maintain my throttle, where to look, where to speed up and use foot brake at. Subsequently he went medium speed and then he went really fast!!! Or that's what I felt lah. My heart was beating like crazyyyyyyy, felt sooooo nervous! He turned quite low at bends and I was really scared of falling LOL. Laughed at times, and at one point during the 'S' course, he leaned so low to the ground when going round the bend I was saying, "OH MY GOD DON'T!!!!" hahahaaha.

And I'm embarrassed to say this but.... At one point of time in my CRANK COURSE, my nightmare came true... I MOUNT KERB LOLOLOL!! I didn't look far and jengjengjeng... Mount the kerb. Some guys at the opposite of the traffic junction shouted, "OH MY GOD SHIT" hahahahha wahpiang they must be laughing really hard at me lah.

Subsequently I got the idea of how to get through these courses, maintained throttle and use footbrake! At first I clocked in an average of 11.20+ seconds so Syahir kept saying, "FASTER FASTER!!" He even ride behind the 3 of us when we did our "S" and crank courses so we will go faster ahahah. Then my average timing for the 'S' course improved to 10.30++ seconds!! There was once I clocked in 9.56secs, I couldn't believe it lah hahaha.

After that Syahir told us to finish up our last rounds for the 'S' and crank courses, and to go to the narrow plank, pylon slalom and ebrake! We went to the narrow plank station first, and I was really surprised I still got it, I did not fall off the plank!!! Then we did pylon slalom, and another narrow plank (but it was a higher one) and I went really slow this time w/o falling!! Followed by ebrake station before we headed back to return our bikes.

All 3 of us passed our 4.01!! *cheers* I was really glad to have gotten Syahir today for the 3rd time (his instructor ID is - 6463 MUHD SYAHIR). He really pushes me to perform well, I'm always a little nervous and scared inside everytime there's a new lesson but he is really professional, finding ways to help me. Plus I find he's very knowledgeable in this field! Saw him did the narrow plank when we went to try it after our 'S' and crank courses and wahlao, I was damn amazed at how long he can stay on the plank for HAHAH.

Next lesson will be 4.02: Circuit training review! Where we will be doing everything we've learnt since the start of our first lesson. Not sure when I'll be able to go for practicals now since work is getting busier, so I can't go to bbdc for practicals as frequent already.. Hopefully I can make time! Ohmy, wrote a very lengthy post today hahaha.

Prac 3.02 (2nd attempt) - Passed

Prac 3.02 (2nd attempt) - 26/10/14 (Twelfth lesson)

It's rare I'll book a weekend prac.. That's cause I'm not working today but I can foresee myself working all weekends through nov to dec since it's the school holidays so there's gonna be lots of bookings! Anyway I left house pretty late.. Drove out only at 11:23am when my practical was at 11:30am hahahah, I literally tried driving as fast as I can to bbdc, ran to grab my number tag, grab helmet and wore elbow and knee guard before finding my instructor for the day.

Took the class with 4 other guys (all 1st timers) and its my 2nd try. Got instructor Quek today, who took my 2nd attempt of 1.03 last time. Instructor Quek asked me to go practice ebraking on my own while he went to brief the rest of the 4 guys on today's lesson and stuff since I already knew what to do.

Reminded mysef to rev and throttle on in my initial speed before maintaining at 30km/hr subsequently. There's another instructor, the one I mentioned that he looks damn intimidating and fierce (during my 2nd attempt of 2.02) hahaha. He gave me really great tips, like maintaining speed, pushing myself back while I ebrake, and wait til my left thigh leaves the tank then clutch in. Had a slight problem with clutching in too early so instructor Quek told me to only clutch in when the bike feels rocky. Stalled engine prolly like 1-2 times today hahaha but stalling engine won't cause any demerit points, clutching in early causes 2 demerit points.

At some point of time, there were like 14-16 bikes queuing up to do the emergency braking station hahahaha!! Bikes from class 2b, 2a and 2 were all queuing up. I felt like I was queuing to head into jb at the checkpoint LOL. And towards the end of the session when I was waiting for my turn, I heard this "BAM" sound, looked up and saw this guy taking the same practical as me skidded, fell off his bike and rolled on the road WTFFFFF!! Afterwards I saw some of the guys taking the same practical as me dare not speed up more nor do they dare to brake hard HAHA, then the instructor said, "Why speed so slow?" "Never brake harder, see you passed the red line already." "Is it cause you saw him fell?" It was cause he braked too hard and his speed exceeded 30km/hr. Anyway it was scary to see people fall off their bikes.. And its only 30km/hr!! Imagine licenced riders fall off their bikes at prolly 80km/hr?! Gonna hurt so bad :(

So during debrief, instructor Quek didn't point out any mistakes for me. I passed my 3.02 with 1 other guy! YIPEEEEE!! And he shook all our hands after the session ahaha that was a first for me.

My next lesson will be 4.01: 'S' and crank courses! My sis said its not gonna be easy so I'm hoping I won't kanchiong or what lah hahaha. Looking forward to next tuesday :D


My progress up till now:
23/09/14: First lesson
1.01 - failed

25/09/14: Second lesson
1.01 and 1.02 passed together

30/09/14: Third lesson
1.03 - failed

2/10/14: Fourth lesson
1.03 - passed

7/10/14: Fifth lesson
2.01 - failed

9/10/14: Sixth lesson
2.01 - passed

10/10/14: Seventh lesson
2.02 - failed

14/10/14: Eighth lesson
2.02 - failed

15/10/14: Ninth lesson
2.02 - passed

20/10/14: Tenth lesson
3.01 - passed

23/10/14: Eleventh lesson
3.02 - failed

26/10/14: Twelfth lesson
3.02 - passed

Prac 3.02 (1st attempt) - Failed

Prac 3.02 (1st attempt) - 23/10/14 (Eleventh lesson)

Today's lesson is about ebraking on a wet surface! Sounds easy? Nope. Had to wear elbow and knee guard today, prolly cause this lesson has a high probability of falling. Objective is to go up to 30km/hr then ebrake immediately!

First we tried to go up to 20km/hr, in order to grasp the feel of braking using front and rear brake.. We had to use the front brake more, incase our rear brake gets locked and skid. Initially I didn't brake hard enough and was quite near the red line after braking at 20km/hr!! Plus my left hand kept standby at the clutch or sometimes I clutch in too early.... Maybe I was scared of stalling the engine but then again my instructor said stalling the engine during TP won't cause or immediate failure or whatnot.

Then we went on to 25km/hr.. Having to check the speedometer at times. Subsequently I got better and corrected my mistakes! However idk wtf happened to me when I tried going 30km/hr... Cause we had to queue before the stop line before going to do the ebrake. So there I was, waiting for my turn cause there's another female biker doing her turn. Suddenly she skidded, went up the kerb and crashed (?) into the fence!! I was like, "OMG SHIT". Of course an instructor tended to her. I got damn worried lah that the same thing will happen to me??!

So its like this, we had to speed up quickly and change gear at the first small cone, then speed up and change gear to 3 before reaching the second small cone. My speed changing from 1 to 2 is quite close.. And I only tried to speed up upon reaching the 2nd small cone. My instructor said that's very dangerous. He went to pillion me to show me how it's done, I was damn scared lah hahahaha. He went 2 rounds to show me and I was damn motivated to do well BUT... My speed adjustment is damn cui?! I really need to speed faster at the initial stage. My instructor was saying, "WAH first time I pillion someone and they cannot do it!" LOL paiseh max.

Expected lah, I failed but the 3 other guys passed. I must be the first person in BBDC history to have failed my 3.02 HAHAHA!!

I just need to work on the speed changing properly. And to stop doubting myself and go all out!!! Booked my 2nd attempt of 3.02 for this coming Sunday.. Hopefully I'll be able to clear this stage by then :)

Prac 3.01 (1st attempt) - Passed

Prac 3.01 (1st attempt) - 20/10/14 (Tenth lesson)

3.01 consist of narrow plank and pylon slalom!

Objective:
Narrow plank: Stay on for more than 6 seconds
Pylon slalom: Finish the entire course in less than 6 seconds

I've seen blogs and forums about people failing their 3.01 countless of times! Came across 2 blogs, where a guy passed on his 13th attempt while this girl passed on her 9th attempt. Was I intimidated? YOU BET I AM!!! Have heard stories from my sister (she passed her 2b last year) where she seen people fall off the plank and when they tried to get back up, the bike fell and landed on their foot and stuff (OUCH!). My last practical was last wednesday so I was kinda nervous whether or not I've already forgotten the feel of the bike and stuff. Cause to me, even 3-4 days can affect my performance!

Took my 3.01 with 3 other guys, instructor today was Izhardi. We went for a warmup around the circuit before the instructor gave us a trial run on the narrow plank and pylon slalom. I went second, before that I saw one of the guy taking the same class as me fell off the plank and I was like "SHIT SHIT SHIT" hahahaha. I fell off the plank during my first trial, it was damn nerve wrecking for me! Then we parked our bikes and went to the side where Izhardi went to brief us on what to do for narrow plank and pylon slalom. The key is to, GRIP TANK TIGHTLY, ARMS RELAX, LOOK FAR DON'T LOOK DOWN!!

After a few tries I managed to stay on the plank!!! Can you imagine my happiness when I knew I stayed on hahaha, for the first few times I didn't try to clock the timing but to maintain my balance and the feel of the plank first. Then for pylon slalom, I regret to say but I accidentally knocked the cones down like 3 times ha ha ha ha... One of the time is because I didn't kick the gear high enough before I entered the pylon slalom course hence its in neutral gear wtf hahaha. I panicked and my speed wasn't enough hence, knocking down a cone. Kept apologizing to Izhardi cause he's the one who had to pick up the cones when I knocked them down hahah.

Subsequently I got like 6.2-6.7 seconds for the plank, and 5.4-5.7 seconds for pylon slalom. It's still on the dangerous side lah but I'll definitely practice more for this station! Because falling off the plank is an immediate failure :O

After the lesson we had a debrief. Izhardi said the 2 guys did well for today's lesson, but for myself and an uncle we still can do better, like we were on the average side (sometimes can sometimes cannot). So he asked the both of us whether we can advance to 3.02 anot, the uncle said "depends on your decision". hahahaha!! Despite the fact I accidentally knocked down the cones 3x and I fell off the plank like 3x as well, majority of the time I managed to stay on the plank and clocked the timing! In the end Izhardi said, "Ok today the 4 of you passed, if not I would not have brought you to the ebrake station just now. So you all and can move on and book your 3.02!" Because just now when the lesson was about to end, we went by the ebrake station. I was damnnnnnn happy!! It's quite rare I'll pass my lessons on my first try. But still it was a really fun 3.01 for me! The narrow plank and pylon slalom were so interesting hahaha.

My next lesson will be on Thursday.. Cause I'll be working tomorrow plus there's no slots on Wednesday :( Looking forward to my 3.02 - Ebrake on a wet surface!

Prac 2.02 (2nd attempt - Failed, 3rd attempt - Passed)

Prac 2.02 (2nd attempt) - 14/10/14 (Eighth lesson)

Since I'm working in the afternoon, I booked a morning slot which was at 9:20am. Woke up at 8am, felt soooo tired and all. Took the class with 2 other guys, one of them was at his third attempt while another guy was his first time (but he told me he took 2b 2 years back and is continuing now). Sun was scorching hot like crazy, felt so dehydrated.

This instructor called, Azad, took my 2nd attempt of 2.02, but there's this chinese instructor who came and helped with the lesson. Firstly.. He rode a class 2 bike so the engine and stuff is mad loud, secondly his face is damn intimidating and really fierce, lastly I saw his instructor ID is 1000++ whereas other instructors are like 6000++, cfm he is damn experienced and all. So whenever he looks at my performance I felt damn stressed up.

And well well well... my lane changing screwed me up again. I just couldn't speed up fast enough when I was changing lane. Turns out whenever I was gonna change lane, my right hand immediately went to close the throttle wtf. Yeah in the end the 2 guys passed the class and I need to retake my 2.02 AGAIN!



Prac 2.02 (3rd attempt) - 15/10/14 (Ninth lesson)

My favourite session is session 5, 3:20pm - 5pm but suay suay after workslot came out and I wanna book session 5, it was taken up. So I took session 6, 5:10pm-6:50pm (peak hour period somemore, pay extra $4 hahaha).

Anyway it started raining damn heavily at 5pm and deep down I was thinking,

"Shit man I'm just gonna fail my 2.02 AGAIN!!!"

Went to put on raincoat and pants first, I was damn lost ahahah cos it was my first time encountering the rain. Thankfully theres this guy taking the same class guided me on how to wear raincoat first then the number tag. The only size I could find was L, and I look bloody ridiculous in it!! Vincent said I looked damn funny, I told him I couldn't find a smaller size one so he went to help me get a size M raincoat (but it was still big, long and reached until my thighs kind) hahahaha I'm just short lah zzz. So how does riding in the rain feels like?

IT WAS GREAT!! Hahahaha it was damn cooling lah with the raindrops and all but when I was stationary it got very warm inside. Plus my new vans shoes were soaked!! Everytime I tried to stop my left feet will sometimes slip on the ground and stuff.

Took my 3rd attempt of 2.02 with 2 other guys, and the instructor I got was Syahir (he took my first attempt of 1.03). Did right turning, lane changing, slope, traffic light junction and left turn filter lane. At the end of the session, 2 people passed!! And yessss I'm one of them hahahaha.

I think I'll really be damn upset if I fail again lah actually. But deep down I knew I did alright today cause Syahir didn't have much to say about my performance and I didn't do any "fatal" mistakes hahaha. I accidentally stopped at neutral gear like 2x, so I quickly kick down to gear 1 hahaha whoopsss! Must not commit the same mistake again :(

Next lesson will be narrow plank and pylon slalom! Feeling damn nervous cos it looks damn difficult. Well I'm always ready to learn!! Yipeeeee :D

Prac 2.02 (1st attempt) - Failed

Prac 2.02 (1st attempt) - 10/10/14 (Seventh lesson)

Was damn excited the night before so I booked my 2.02 today.. Big regret AGAIN WTF. Early morning I woke up at 6:30am because I had to go to work for oned amazing race.. Work srsly wore me out like crazy and after work, I headed home, showered (cos I was damn sticky), got changed and took the bus down to bbdc already. Felt damn drained :(

Anyway the bloody SGBUS app is fucking retarded srsly. Stated bus is ARRIVING yet I waited almost 3 mins then it slowly crawled to the bus stop... Yeah it made me late for class today wtf (prolly 5 mins late). I literally ran from the bus stop to the bike waiting room to grab my number tag and this driving instructor saw me running, told me to slow down and relax HAHAHAH.

I shall never be late AGAIN!! All the M sized helmets were taken except one.. I should have suspected sth was wrong with it. Kelvin told me to lift up my visor and when I did, the left side cracked wtf cos it was jammed or something. Anyway I immediately told my instructor about my helmet and had to go change a new one.... Size L somemore dammit, so big!!! Maybe I should just buy my own helmet right wtf. Kelvin even asked me why I push bike like damn difficult like that HAHAH I said, "I'm a girl, got no muscles one!!" but it was damn heavy ley. Actually I got a few similar remarks from my instructors, one of them even said I push the bike like giving birth HAHAHA LOL PLS.

Today we were wearing blue tag. Took the class with 4 other people.. 3 guys (1 of them was the same dude I met last tues, and yesterday) and 1 angmoh girl (saw her with blue tag while I was taking 2.01 ytd, guess she's retaking her 2.02 today) plus me. First we were taught these few things,
 -Turning left, going to filter lane, check blind spot and traffic, stop if necessary etc.
- To position ourselves to turn RIGHT
- Lane changing
- Turning right from major to minor road and stop if necessary
- After turning right, change lane immediately to number 29
- Slopes
- After slope turn left and immediately changing lane at traffic light junction
- Positioning ourselves at the traffic light junction if there's oncoming vehicle in the opposite direction
- Turn right and then redo the entire route again

I guess I'm still damn timid about turning right.. Right turning isn't as easy as left turning because we need to have clearance from both directions. For me the lane changing was a bloody pain to do!!! There was once I kena engine stalled 2 times on the slope.. I got kinda frustrated cause for me slope is pretty easy to clear.. Once again I threw the clutch too fast and didn't throttle enough.

Had 2 main problems.. One is my lane changing isn't very smooth. Secondly, I need to stop dragging my gear and quickly speed up during lane changing. It seriously was quite tough to have to do many things simultaneously during lane changing.. Signal, check mirrors, blind spot, lane change and stuff like that. I felt quite stressed today idk why?! Like the tension was really high and I felt like I had to push myself to do better. I got remarks from other bike instructors at the circuit (like 3-4 of them) on what I was doing wrong and what I should be doing instead, for example I should stop at the dotted line, in line with my handlebar when I stopped and wanna turn right from major to minor road.

Today's class of 5, 3 passed. Yeah so as you can tell, I failed my 2.02 hahaha. It's funny cos my instructor said, "I'm sorry but you and you failed". I think he's the first instructor (out of 3 previous time I failed) to say "sorry" when I fail my lessons.. Anyway I don't mind failing my lessons. I rather have the assurance that I had grasped a good foundation in my orientation days before moving up.


My progress up till now:
23/09/14: First lesson
1.01 - failed

25/09/14: Second lesson
1.01 and 1.02 passed together

30/09/14: Third lesson
1.03 - failed

2/10/14: Fourth lesson
1.03 - passed

7/10/14: Fifth lesson
2.01 - failed

9/10/14: Sixth lesson
2.01 - passed

10/10/14: Seventh lesson
2.02 - failed

There seemed to be this pattern.. Where I tend to fail the lesson first before passing. Furthermore I'm still at my orientation stages!! As I progress further there definitely will be more challenges ahead of me. So far I'm really enjoying my class 2b lessons! Instructors at bbdc were really nice and friendly as well. Looking forward to my second attempt of 2.02!

Prac 2.01 (2nd attempt) - Passed

Prac 2.01 (2nd attempt) - 9/10/14 (Sixth lesson)

Woke up super early in the morning for work, it was a filming event for Channel 5's Secret Singapore show! They filmed land zovb and bloop. Okay so anyway, I was really really drained and kinda regretted booking practical today but still.. After taking a 15mins nap at home I bussed down to bbdc.

So I've actually been using a low cut bike since my 2nd lesson, apparently their "higher authority" had permitted me to use low cut (mainly used for girls around 155cm.. I'm about 159-160cm) after seeing how I had to tiptoe so yeah. Ever since then I've been getting alot of queries from other instructors asking what's my height and that I should use the normal cut CB125 bike. I've always wondered if I'll be damn clumsy should I change to a higher cut bike.. Like the feel is gone that kind? Today I gathered my courage and told my instructor taking my class today about my plight and requested if I could try the normal cut CB125 first and he said okay. Turns out actually I can put my whole left feet down lah so hahaha think Ima stick with the normal cut bike from now. It's weird lah, maybe last time I never place my butt properly on the seat or my legs grew over these past 2 weeks LOL.

Took my 2nd attempt of 2.01 with 2 other guys.. Where 1 of them was actually from my previous 1st attempt of 2.01 last tuesday. He remembered me and told me, "why are you here? I thought you passed last tuesday" hahahah wah I wish. Another guy was taking it for the first time.

Both of us (retaking 2.01) went to do our own self practice for left turns first while the other guy got pillioned by the instructor, think he's showing him the areas to check blindspot and stuff. After that we went ahead to do slope!! I was damn worried about it lah initially, cause of last tuesday I did it damn horribly. The instructor taught me really well and what to do and stuff! I'll prolly still need to be more efficient in changing signals lah hahaha, sometimes forgot to cancel signal and sometimes I'll forget to signal left at first when coming down the slope.. Only when I'm gonna stop at the stop line then I'll signal left.

I felt the 100 minutes of today's prac flew by really quickly. All 3 of us passed our 2.01, yayyyy!! Next will be my 2.02, turning, lane change and traffic rules. There'll be right turns as well, and slopes!! Oh the horror, seems like there's so many stuff to clear for 2.02. Really got this gut feeling I cannot pass 2.02 in my first attempt lah but I gonna be optimistic y'know hahaha.

Prac 2.01 (1st attempt) - Failed

Prac 2.01 (1st attempt) - 7/10/14 (fifth lesson)

2.01 consisted of lining up in the correct position, stop behind stop line properly, left turns, blind spot checking and slopes. 

Took 2.01 with 6 other people!! It's a full class again. 2 out of 7 ppl were retaking their 2.01 for the second time while the rest of us were taking it for the first time. Since we were a full class so 2 instructors took our class today. 

Started with blind spot checking and left turns... And seriously it was NOT EASY AT ALL!! I kept having a bad habit of wide turns sighhhh. At times I moved off first then check left blind spot BUT! It should be checking of vehicles on the right, left blindspot then move off. 

Next is slope. I was damn 鸡手鸭脚 like that wtf. We had to go up the slope, drop down gear 1, use brakes, signal right, check blind spot, throttle on with half clutch thn while going down the slope, release clutch and let it engine brake down before braking then clutch in. I think I got the order right lah HAHAHAH I'm not sure. 

Weather was damnnn humid, felt damn headachey LOL. During debrief, instructors asked us for our comments and all. In the end only 1 person passed in our class of 7. As expected I FAILED! I already knew it lah I was damn buay zai haahha. 

Booked my retake of 2.01 for this coming Thursday. May it go smoothly pls!! I've been going for prac lessons only every Tuesday and Thursday and normally the wait from Thursday to next Tuesday is 5 days.. I should probably book one slot in between so I won't get so rusty. But I work on fridays and the weekends so... Guess I have to make time for my prac! 

BBDC riding theory practice, riding theory evaluation

Riding theory evaluation (1st try): 2/10/14

Prior to that, I only did 1 practice session only. Thinking of giving it a shot, I went for evaluation immediately on that very Friday. And yes yes yes... I failed horribly hahahah. Think I scored only 85% or something. You need at least a 90% to pass your RTE and RTT!! Wasted $5.35 like that. In conclusion..

PLEASE PLEASE GO FOR RIDING THEORY PRACTICE!!

Riding theory evaluation (2nd try): 3/10/14
Following day, I booked 1 session of riding theory practice and a riding theory evaluation after. Rushed down to the centre after work by taking a really long bus ride :|

Quickly rushed through 5 booklets and wanted to make the 45 mins of practice session to the fullest. One practice sesson is $3.21. Tried remembering tricky questions that I got stuck at during my first try at the riding theory evaluation. Then I went ahead with my riding theory evaluation (with my memory fresh after going through the practice) and I scored 100%!!

Yes so in conclusion.. again.. Go for riding theory practice!! Unless you're the damn tyco kind lah hahaha.

Booked my riding theory test after... Which is a little more than 2 months after from now.

It'll give me plenty of time to clear my practicals whilst waiting for my RTT! Hopefully by then I would have cleared most of my prac and can book for my TP after.

Prac 1.03 (2nd attempt) - Passed

Prac 1.03 (2nd attempt) - 2/10/14 (Fourth prac lesson)

With much hesitation, I booked my 2nd attempt of 1.03 the night before. Reached BBDC, wanted to print my slip but I couldn't find my IC wtf, found it eventually and made my way to the waiting area quickly. Reached the waiting area and saw my number left on the chair and I thought to myself, "WAH I'M THE ONLY STUDENT?!?" Suddenly one of the instructor told me my class is already outside hahaha, immediately shouted" HUH OMG LAH" and I dashed out of the holding area room. Put on knee and elbow guard and helmet before my instructor said, "1.03 come here" and I saw 6 other students (excluding me)!! So my instructor was saying, "wah full house today" so a second instructor came and helped out. Yeah man total of 7 students taking 1.03 today, a few were like me.. Doing a second attempt for this.

Did warmup at the mini circuit at 1st gear, then 2nd and 3rd gear. Then we lined up and headed out to the main circuit area where we rode many rounds till gear 5 and dropped gear according to traffic conditons (like pedestrian crossing or vehicle infront). The instructor said once we cleared the main circuit he will pull some of us back to the mini circuit for low speed control practice. I was riding around (feels so bloody cool riding at such a fast speed, I can even hear the wind lolool!!) then my instructor signaled for one guy and myself to head to the mini circuit for low speed control practice first.

Deep down I was saying to myself, "DON'T SCREW THIS UP JOYCE, YOU FAILED LAST TUES COS OF THIS STAGE!!!" I tried not to look down at the cones and used alot on my rear brake instead of front (which will make me lose balance). And like 90% of the time I felt like I didn't wobble as much as I did last tues!! Was a little afraid turning on the throttle even more but I know the clutch is what controls the movement and all.

Then the rest of the 5 students came and joined us in the mini circuit for low speed control. Imagine the circuit is really small and we had to quickly cover the gap whenever any of us moved forward hahahah!

At the end of the stage we had a debrief, the instructor asked whether we did well enough to pass the 1.03.. Some said they did okay but the instructor said no and pointed out their mistakes while some admitted they know they didn't do well. When the instructor asked me, I said I did okay today and he replied me with just an "OK" and moved onto the next student and I was thrilled!! It means I passed weeeeeeeee!!! So in the end out of 7 students, only myself and a guy passed today's 1.03 lesson (I think it was the guy's second time taking 1.03 like me).

So thrilled to start my stage 2.01!! Yipeeeeee :D

Prac 1.01, 1.02, 1.03

Prac 1.01 - 23/09/14 (First prac lesson)

Felt super intimidated cause it was my first time in my entire life I'll be on a bike! Was pretty blur about what to do, where to sit, whether or not to take the number tag outside the classroom or what. Some of the instructors already knew who I was cause my sister took her 2b there a little past 1-1.5 yrs? My sister did socialize with them and since we are twins... We pretty much look alike hahaha.

Took my 1.01 with 4 other guys + me as the only girl. Put on knee and elbow guards + helmets and we got onto our bikes. Was tiptoeing throughout.. I'm standing at 1.6m ± 0.01cm so prolly cos I have short legs or something thats why I had to tiptoe LOL. They said I was "too tall" to take the low cut bike cos its meant for 1.55m people.

First lesson was basically learning how to clutch in and brake properly, all in gear 1. I was pretty buay balance and kept relying on my front brakes (which is really bad cos I'll just fall forward). The rest of the guys were progressing much faster than me so I kinda felt the pressure + being frustrated with myself. There was another instructor who came and helped me by providing a longer route by marking out with cones etc to practice 1/2 clutch, controlling the throttle + braking.. Cause initially we were doing it against a wall which was prolly 1-2 metres distance. Anyway, I failed the lesson in the end, already expected to. But the rest of the 4 guys passed their 1.01 hahaha.

Even though I felt damn embarrassed about my first lesson, my family told me normally first lessons for everything will be damn unstable plus I'm unfamiliar with the bike and how it works. So I decided to go on and book my retake of 1.01.


Pract 1.01 + 1.02 - 25/09/14 (Second prac lesson)

Reached like a few mins late so I was moving damn frantically, tryna put my bag in the locker and quickly going into the classroom to take my number tag and little did I know... I locked my bag without taking out my gloves and hat liner WTF hahahah. Furthermore I only had one 1 dollar coin and I just used it.. Saw the instructor taking me and I shamelessly asked him if he had change for a 1 dollar coin hahaha he did and I quickly went to the locker to grab my stuff.

AND, I was supposed to take my 1.01 with another guy but he didn't turn up so basically I was his only student for that session... Got pros and cons lah I guess. Pro: Instructor can work closely with you regarding your mistakes. Con: He has to basically focus ONLY ON YOU (ok I don't know if thats really a con hahaha)

I used a low cut bike that day. Practiced my 1/2 clutch plus throttle movement and then my instructor asked me to up gear to 3 then kick down to gear 1 when stopping etc. After awhile I got to go out to the main circuit! But only till gear 3 lah. Went round the circuit before stopping and dropping to gear 1 then moving off. There was once after stopping, I think I leaned my bike too much on the left and my left leg cannot tahan the weight so I dropped the bike LOL oopsssss.

Went back and did a debrief. The instructor passed me for both 1.01 and 1.02 and I was really thrilled! 1.02 is about going up to gear 3, drop gear and stopping at gear 1 from 3.


Pract 1.03 - 30/09/14 (Third prac lesson)

Today's lesson was broken up into 2 parts, 1) go up to gear 5, drop to gear 3, then to gear 4, then drop to 3 when going around bends. 2) Maintain low clutch control. Took this lesson with 2 other guys.

First we went to warm up at the mini circuit by going up to gear 3, drop to gear 2 etc. Must remember to close throttle, brake, clutch in, drop gear, release clutch then release brake!!! Afterwards we went to the main circuit where we went up to gear 5! There were areas where we had to go up gear 5, then drop to 3 before entering a bend, then maintain at 4, drop to 3 again before entering a bend, go up to 5 and then drop to 3 again hahahah, I know it sounds very messy when I type it out like that. I think changing gears for me wasn't a big problem but sometimes I don't have time to go up to 5 before having to drop down to gear 3. The instructor didn't have alot to say about my gear shifting.. I probably have to work more on my braking skills :(

Before that, my instructor told us to not change lane if we were to be stuck behind cars unless given a signal cos we weren't taught how to change lanes yet. What happened was.. I was SUAY SUAY stuck behind a private car taking TP. The TP car then braked so I stopped behind and waited, yes I waited. Saw the TP car engine stalled (I know it stalled cos it surged forward plus I kena car stalled before hahah). The car subsequently DID NOT move at all, no signal, no brake lights, never switch on engine again?!?!? Then I saw the TP person (sitting at the passenger seat) kept looking back at me. There was another car taking TP (yah wtf damn suay or what) waiting behind me and the car changed lane. I kept looking around cos I didn't know what to do, no one was nearby so I couldn't ask anyone whether to wait or change lane.... Then I made the move to change lane (yes wtf was I thinking) and suddenly some bike instructor from far shouted "OIIIIII" at me and deep down I was like "shit ffffff bad move". Saw my instructor after and I went to tell him what happened. He said he already knew cos someone went to walkie talkie him... Wah bloody embarrassed lah you can't imagine how paiseh and bad I felt?!?! My instructor said I'm like "sabo-ing the TP car and stuff" but he said it's alright it's okay.... I kept apologizing though?!?! SIGHHHHHH.. I don't know whether I caused that TP person to fail or what lah but I don't understand why after stalling the engine, the car didn't immediately turn on engine again and move off or do something?! Plus the TP tester kept looking back at me so I don't know what that means, felt damn lost..... I still feel damn bad about it idk lahhhh :( :(

Then we went back to the mini circuit where the instructor laid out several cones, around 1-1.5m apart. We had to stop at each individual cone. On a straight lane, we need not place our left leg on the footrest unless doing a turn, and there was a part where we had to go up to gear 2 and then let it engine brake until the next cone. It was really difficult tryna control my low speed!!! Damn frustrating. I kept wobbling and couldn't brake smoothly so at times it was pretty jerky.

During the debrief the instructor gave us his comments.. 2 students failed 1.03, myself and a guy, the other guy passed cause I did saw the way he controlled the bike and it was quite steady hahaha. I don't mind failing my lessons and rather fail to ensure I had grasped my foundation of the bike well enough to proceed to stage 2. Felt damn shagged and tired after the lesson (tiredest day I felt as compared to other 2 lessons I took previously), but I had to go for my riding thory practice after. Immediately knock out upon reaching home.

Done with theories!

YAY!

Cleared my theory lessons, BTL 1.01 & 1.02, RTL 1.01 & 1.02.
Time spent for all = 400 mins, $$ spent = $68.48

I seem to be chionging through everything (I just did my enrolment a week ago), that because I've already graduated from uni and have nothing to do hahaha. But I still am working part time so my timing can be pretty flexible!

Initially there is a slot for later in the noon but I'm still recovering from a nasty sore throat so I decided to give it a pass. Just booked my orientation 1.01 practical training lesson for tomorrow and I can't wait! But my session will be the "seemingly" hottest time of the day lah so I hope I won't die of heatstroke wearing jeans, long sleeve top, gloves, shoes and helmet ha ha ha ha ha.

Enrolment of Class 2B at BBDC

HEY GUYS!

I know I haven't been using this blog in the longest time, cause I've been blogging (diligently) at my dayre at dayre.me/dearjoyce but recently I did something that I wanna document every single detail down!

So back in 2009, immediately after my 18th birthday on the 27 nov 2009, my parents told my sister and I that we should take our Class 3 licence and we did! Immediately after signing up online we headed down to the centre at night *yes on the same day on my birthday date* I was telling my dad I wanna take up auto motorcar but he said class 3 will make so much more sense cause I can drive both auto and manual so I agreed, even though deep down I was terrified cause I heard some of my friends couldn't cope with manual cars and they failed their TP test a few times as well.

From the period of Dec 2009 to May 2010 when taking my Class 3, those were the best!! I was looking forward to going for practical lessons, I had so much fun talking to the instructors there and it was just plain fun to drive a manual car. I passed my Class 3 (on my first try!) with a total of 10 points on 26 may 2010, not bad for a girl taking manual motorcar hor hahaha.

You can read my post about the day of my Class 3 TP HERE!


Back then when I was still in poly, wanted to take up Class 2B after Class 3 but my parents had some strong views about it, they stopped me from doing so. And I listened to them and not sign up for it, carried on with my daily life but occasionally the thought of getting 2B will still pop up.

Then after graduating poly I went on to university. My uni's timetable was not fixed and normally is in the afternoon so I kept putting the "take-2B-licence" thought off. Seeing people ride makes me feel damn gian to own one myself hahahaha. Guy friends have been telling me that riding is damn fun, a total different experience. After dragging for another 2 years, I've finally finished my final exams in my entire university life in 1st Sept 2014. I can consider this to be the end of my undergraduate life.

I've always been an introvert, I dare not try out new things by myself, I get scared when trying out something new. That's when I decided to take up a new skill and do something for myself, also I would love to have a form of transport for myself. My sister had taken her class 2b secretly prolly just little over a year and half ago and passed on her 2nd try. My parents knew about it but when they knew about it, she was already at her last few stages of riding so... Might as well let her continue. My mom had also given me the green lights and asked me to buy my own bike, THAT'S IF I CAN PASS MY 2B!


So on 14/9/14 (Sunday), I pre-enroled online and the following day, I went down to BBDC in the afternoon (after a sibei tiring work morning) to enrol physically, paid my fees and went for a quick introduction talk.

WHOOP WHOOPPPPPPPPP!!
Feeling so excited to get started man.

I have to attend 4 theory lessons, BTL 1.01 & 1.02 and RTL 1.01 & 1.02! Luckily I'm exempted from BTT cos I passed it years ago.

On 16/9/14, a day after my enrolment, I checked the BBDC website to see what are the available slots for both riding theory lessons. Seeing there's an available class on the exact same day in the evening, I quickly signed up for it. Although it was RTL 1.02, the centre said the lessons' order don't have to follow strictly. So yes, I attended my RTL 1.02 FIRST before my RTL 1.01.

Went for RTL 1.02 that tues, proceeded to level 2 room 2 and outside the classroom at the waiting area I saw ALL GUYS (I was 10 mins early) and felt damn intimidated?!?! Then we entered the classroom and the guys stared at me as if I'm taking the wrong class or something. In the end there were prolly about 20+ guys and 5 girls (including myself). I know that definitely the ratio of guys:girls will not be equal so I prolly have be buay paiseh and thickskin abit ya ahahaha.



Damn, it's a super lengthy post, I'll keep updating on my progress of taking a Class 2B licence!

NDP 2014 Combined Rehearsal 3 show!

Hello!! Yesterday I attended the NDP combined rehearsal 3 show at the floating platform. Alot of people have been asking where did I get my tickets from. Well I gotten tickets from my mommy who's in the 6th Division and because her division is incharge of this year's NDP, I got tickets!! Yep she's a regular in the SAF :D

Crowd was MASSIVE!!!! Now I know why I rather go to work on weekends than go out. Because there are just too many people in Singapore already. Take train also must squeeze, cross road also must squeeze. Hahahah okaaaaaaaaay.

Was seated at the yellow sector, which had a pretty decent and great view because it was somewheat right smacked in the middle of the floating platform.

MY NDP 2014 funpack! But I don't like pink, trades for red, anyone? :p

My brother and I!

Confetti in the sky!

Tryna take a selfie with my momsy!!

My favorite segment of the entire NDP show!

Read my dayre for a more detailed post!! Y'all can follow me there as well hehehhe.

http://dayre.me/dearjoyce