drive
Wednesday, January 14 at 11:38 AM
hello again ! yesterday, i had my very first driving lesson - i can't wait and was eager to start the process. actually, i wanted to write yesterday straight back after driving lessons but somehow the internet connection sucks, it's terribly slow - i really have to wait for about 5 minutes and it still doesn't pop out ! feeling angry and impatient in the end, i just shut down the computer and watch american idol instead, haha ! i'm too lazy to wait, and today, right now, all my feelings, my enthuasiasm are now gone - puffftt !

so, where do i stop .. oh yeah, driving ! my driving lesson starts from 5 pm - a male instructor but he's a nice uncle. unfortunately, both of us arrived late at the training institute because the instructor got lost in finding my address. he drove me to the training institute somewhere in kelana jaya. when we arrived, i saw some five to six kancil cars with a chinese instructor standing in the middle of the field.

my instructor stop at the side, show me the light signals, the clutch, the brakes, the accelerator, the types of gear and of course, the steering wheel. he drive me around the field - from the slopes to the side-parking and the three-point turn a few times then it was my turn to drive. WHAT ?! DRIVE NOW ?! i'm soo freaking nervous. he told me to adjust the seat, so i'm able to press the clutch, brakes until without feeling any discomfort. then, he teach me about the gear - there's gear one, two, three, four and reverse (oh, there's gear five but of course, i shouldn't use it during my lessons - pretend it just doesn't exist, and also - the car's in manual - kind of tough) so, he ask me to drive forward and backward a couple of times. when we want to stop, we're suppose to press the brakes, press the clutch at the same time, then slowly press to the maximum without letting the brakes go and free the gear. i always forget to press the brakes, so everytime my foot is not on the brakes - the car started to move and sometimes i got so nervous that i press the clutch immediately, the car engine will turn off instantly. and of course, it takes time and a few practices to master it to pull it off like a pro. as a first timer, of course i'll do mistakes like the one i mention above.

after driving forward and reverse multiple times, i felt that i did okay so off to the three-point turn. i was suppose to turn the steering wheel to the right until the maximum, i was a bit lazy so when i turn, i almost kind of hit the guiding pole infront - the instructor wasn't angry but his tone kinda gave me a shock somehow. so, i did the three-point turn about five of six times to master it (still forgetting the brakes and the clutch, again). but i like it, it sort of make it more chanllenging and make me more alert and active. at the end, the instructor told me that i'm already fine with the three-point turn - there's a girl driving in an aqua kancil, around 19 years old still haven't master yet the three-point turn, so in other words, i'm a much faster learner than her, haha ! i beat her, well, that's what the instructor told me =P anyway, it was drizzling and my arms are wet since i pull down the window to let the cool air flow in.

want to hear a cool story ? the car that i drove for the lessons was actually just a substitute, the one that i suppose to drive had the air-conditioner being serviced. okay, that's acceptable but although it's a kancil, it's kinda fast too. everytime i release the clutch slowly, it will start to move fast, i'm talking like 20 to 30 kilometres .. sort of. i always have to press the brakes or sometimes the clutch from the time. and the accelerator, ahaha funny story. when i'm about to reach the slope, the instructor sometimes told me to press the accelerator just a bit and when i press it, it kinda move forward too fast. so, the car kind of jerk forward which totally freaks me out ! haha, so stupid. seriously, driving that kancil reminds me of a bmw mini-cooper ! 'it's so small yet lots of power' – the quote which reminds me of gorgeous edward cullen's non-approval birthday gift to his average gf bella swan – an audi coupe. boy, if i were her, i would probably say yes to the audi coupe ! you're seriously making a huge mistake, did you know that, bella ?

anyway, last but not least, the side parking. i’ve did the side-parking about twice or three times and suddenly, the worst nightmare .. well, semi-worst nightmare just happen.! the radiator turns out to be hot and quickly, i switch to free gear and switch off the engine. to make it worst, I was all alone with the instructors, other students have went back to their respectitive places ! hah, why bad luck always happen to me ? the instructor then told me fortunately it happen at the driving institute and not on the road on the way back home. i thought for a while, maybe he’s right too. i shouldn’t dwell too much about the radiator. oh yeah, did i mention that it’s 7 pm ! i waited for the radiator to cool off for a while, fill the tank and the instructor sent me home, which is also a bad idea since it was the peak hour where people who work in kl are heading back home – so, stuck in the trafiic jam ! thanks a lot. both of us were quiet in the car that it almost kills me, suddenly the instructor just pop up questions to kill my boredorm.

i finally got back home safely around 7.50 pm. so, that was kind of tiring eventhough the lesson is just two hours. when i got back home, mom couldn’t wait to hear about my first day of driving – and i was like talking non-stop from a to z. dad couldn't bother enough about my story - so, i don't really dwell too much about it. apart from all this bad incidents keep happening to me, i learned that not all things went perfect or run smoothly - there has to be some obstacle or challenge that we have to face - big or small, so be prepare for that.


i'm really looking forward to my next driving lesson - next tuesday at 10.00 am so i could avoid the heavy traffic jam. i guess that's it, wait till i'm ready to blog about my first driving test.