TPPT

I said I expected myself to fail. Have also heard too many stories on how the immense nervousness would get on you during the test - your mind would suddenly go blank when you're doing your parking, roll back on the slope, strike curb, etc etc ...

According to my instructor's analysis, my strength is in braking, positioning at junctions (for right turns) & in the circuit. Whereas my killer - forgetting to signal, dragging gear, insufficient acceleration, forgetting my U-turns (quite a few times I committed the serious mistake of doing right-turn instead!). But he said the most important factor was still coping with my nervousness as I panic very easily & usually can't get things right thereafter. In fact all the instructors that'd ever taught me (before I fixed to one) gave the same comment: "Try to relax, don't be so nervous". I also don't want to be like this but can't help it leh.

Last Sat, truly I was so nervous once I started the warm-up session that I didn't handle the clutch well which caused the car to jump & engine stalled. What a start. Hubby's watching everything & I believe he must have been really worried for me! Then there's the usual blunders like forgetting to signal/off signal & dragging gears.

After I got my test route, I made deliberate effort to remember where the U-turn was so as to try not to make the grave mistake (of turning right instead) & told myself to stay calm.

Amazingly I wasn't that nervous when I started off. Given my character.. wasn't that amazing? I thought I fared well in the circuit which was a booster.

Then I went on the road & there wasn't much hazards. The road was quite clear even when I did my lane-changing & I remembered to not change lane when approaching a traffic light (which I did before). The engine didn't stall, not even once (it always happened during my lessons). I was happy I mastered my half-clutch well as I didn't use handbrake at all on slopy roads & no rollback. I was pleasantly surprised by my own miraculously good performance.

At the end of the test.... I still F-A-I-L-E-D. I tell you at that moment, I was so sad & disappointed. If I were to behave like how I did during lessons... got all jittery, I'd expect myself to fail as I deserve it. My instructor said if I could refrain from commiting those of my common mistakes, my driving was ok & should be able to pass. But why? I really didn't make those mistakes.. I remembered my signals, didn't miss the U-turn, changed gears promptly. But why? Maybe he just wanted to encourage me by saying those nice words :(

I got 4 points in the circuit (failed to confirm safety) & 28 points on the road !!! Gosh! And I thought I'd done well on the road. I particularly felt unjust for a 8-point mistake which he marked me for - turning on flickering green arrow. Me?? My instructor would know me the best on this... during lessons, whenever I approached a right-turn junction I always hoped that the arrow would flicker so I didn't need to rush to turn which could easily get out of control. And on that day I was staring hard at the arrow hoping it'd flicker but no.. which's why I proceeded on. It might have flickered in the midst of my U-turn. So what if I stopped when the green arrow wasn't flickering yet? Would I have been marked for another mistake then? Other than that, I was heavily penalised on insufficient acceleration. Then 4 points gained in veering off course (which I deserved as I got a lil out of my lane when doing lane changing), some points for forgetting to check blindspot, taking too long to check blindspot. Just these mistakes, 28 points.

My instructor & some others (hubby too) told me first impression was very important. If I could do well in the circuit, the rest would usually be easier. They bluffed me.

I was very calm when doing the circuit... I did everything well... even when he demanded a last minute stunt. Look at the pic below for what happened.

Training car A was about to do his reverse parking & car B was waiting for his turn. Car C was practising on the platform (for auto cars). The tester told me to turn into that lane & do that particular reverse parking. I was quite taken aback but what could I do except obey? I had to squeeze in-between the 3 cars. Car A, which was about to reverse (his reverse lights were already on), must be very shock to see us behind & honked at us (I supposed the instructor didn't see it's a doube-L car then). After a while they gave up & moved on a lil to wait to turn left. But I only had enough space to move forward to barely see the 1st pole. Yet I did it (perfect, I thought). I'm not sure whether I got my 4 points of "failed to confirm safety" there though.

So it's not true afterall, even after I managed to clear those "obstacles".

Gotta wait another 2 months+ for re-test. Unbelievable! Now I've even lesser confidence than before. What if the next time I do badly in the circuit? What if the road condition isn't good? Or worst of all, what if next time round I suffer from a panic attack?

Was it really a heng-suay situation?