Police Driving Course (Day One) -- I'm a Van-Man ^-^

When i reach the police driving school at bukit timah, i was fully awaken. Not only this is what i had been waiting for for years, i just had a scare. 30mins ago i still thought i would be late, 'cos traffic was real bad on e way on bus 156 (and the driver...so slow already still dont want to overtake e same bus infront... grr.) Luckily, it loosen up after bishan, and i'm very on time.

Fast forword into action. After all the admin stuff and briefings, we are all divided in to 4 groups for driving assessment. (Here they would see how well each can drive.. for those who cant make it, the course would end here.) For my car, i have 2 other "partners".. one whom had been drivin a Auto gear car for 5years (BMW to be exact... rich guy..) and the other have a very similiar case to me.. drives every weekend with his dad van. But he have 2 years of experience (Mine 8months) . So, because of me, a "beautiful" yellow-red triangle is stuck on the windscreen....haha.

A quick wash of the car (required in training daily) and we start to roll. First driver, the "Auto-gear-BMW" man. Unfortunately, 5years is a really long time, and in this case, he really lost all the clutch skills... In the end, the car kept stalling through-out the journey...(If u recall, on the last season of Amazing Race, a team of 2 ladies lost that leg 'cos they have problems with manual cars...This was exactly what happened today) Poor chap.. he was really stressed up... Finally we reached Senoko and that's the first break of the day.

After a cup of tea... it's my turn..! Thank heaven i did fine... except for some small problems: .....At start the handbrake wouldnt go down...the clutch was so high that my leg strike the steering wheel...the accelerator pedal have zero feedback...with the thick leather shoes i really cannot feel the pedals... at times i could even "lost" my pedal too. ....And it rain heavily all the way... visibility was very poor.... Realised that i been driving a van til i'm not used to the driving position of a normal car...haha.. "normal" case should be the other way round eh.

Now is the turn for the 3rd person. 2years of van driving helps indeed. With a Vrrooom he moved off swiftly, and with every gear change at 4000rpm, the car is soo alive... that's the quickest journey out the three.. haha..

Hit back to the school, bad news arrives. The instructor decided to fail our first guy, 'cos he really wasnt prepared at all... So it's the two of us for the rest of the course.

Right after lunch... a quick theory lesson and it's back on the road again.. and to both of our delight, now it's to drive a Van.. (my partner commented he is not used to a car too) Seriously, after driving for awhile, everything feels right at home... Moreover it's a Toyota too... So it means the SwitchGear, Dials, Meters, Steering wheel etc are all exactly the same as my father's...(except for body, this is a much bigger van... 11seater mini-bus) While during the morning session is all full of uneasiness, now it's all ....relax.. Seems like i'm really a Van-Man now... haaha...

But, i still have to get used to the Saloon Car. 'Cos for the next 2 days we would only be using Car...

Think for tomorrow i would try to push the seat all the way back, and hope it helps in getting a more comfortable position ;p

Day Two (upcoming) : Braking, Cornering, Control, etc.... Yeah..! (...the fun begins...)