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My brief love affair with Papa’s car ended last night. Driving everywhere these few days made for quite an adventure. The other day, I drove on ECP towards Harbour Front around sunset, and it was beautiful. The feeling was just too awesome, I couldn’t help smiling to myself. I kind of prefer driving by myself now to having the father beside me, even though it means no built-in navigator for a geographically-challenged Jannah. Haha.

I find that most people look twice or stare when they see me driving. Probably because I look too young to drive, or because the sight of a small person like me driving a big car is weird. I don’t know. But it sure is uncomfortable to be stared at. People also do double takes whenever I pay with credit card. Cashier counter staff take a good hard look at my face when they think I’m not looking. I feel like I need to prove that I indeed own that card!

Hmm, looking youthful ain’t that great, at this age. I’ll probably start appreciating it maybe ten years from now.

Just came back from sending EB home after our Friday night supper. After six weeks of spending Friday nights in school, it felt really really good to just sit there & rot like I had all the time in the world. And driving home alone in the wee hours feels calming, somehow. The roads are so clear & there’s nobody to horn at me when I cruise slowly. Nowadays the parents don’t even call anymore when I’m out this late. Neither do I need to call them. Maybe because I don’t go out that often. And they trust that when I do go out, it’s not to joyride or something of that sort. Haha.

Exams are in 11 days, and this time around I feel especially eager to see the end of the semester. I think I burned out rather early this semester, falling ill for days & all. It’s a good thing I lined up only three modules for next semester, with just one exam. Am toying with the idea of setting off for Hong Kong right after the exam in November. Then possibly Cebu (or somewhere in the region – Bangkok?) with YB in January next year. Oh, and EB & Latiff are even planning a trip to Tioman next month. Colleagues are asking me to go to Malacca with them sometime soon for sightseeing – obviously recruiting me for my Malay-speaking “skills”! I’m expecting a nice raise to come in this month, so hopefully I’ll have more disposable income for all that travelling. Especially looking forward to Tioman & Cebu; I have a weakness for nice beaches.

On a totally unrelated note, the spine of my Marketing textbook has officially fell apart. The damn thing.

Feeling rather sluggish right now. Driving lessons at 7 a.m. get me yawning for the rest of the day. But the test is on Friday, and though I think the chances of passing on my first try are slim, I’ll try my darndest to. And trying my darndest means getting as much practice as humanly possible by 3.45 on Friday. Especially in the circuit.

I am infinitely more comfortable on the road than in the driving circuit. If I were to compare the two by learning methods, I’d say driving in the circuit feels like rote learning, while the road is more experimental. After tons of practice, I’m really quite good at circuit. But on my bad days I overlook details I’m supposed to have memorised by now, e.g. where I should position the car exactly so that it reverses nicely into the parking lot. Truth be told, doing things in one set, uniform way every time agitates me quite a bit. In the case of the driving test, however, that’s the way things work. I don’t really have a choice.

Well, it’s 2007. And I’m still wondering where 2006 went. I guess this is what it feels like after you’ve worked your ass off for a year & thought of little else. Read the rest of this entry »

This morning’s driving lesson was good. Lessons are always fun, but I did especially well today. For some reason I felt confident & very PATIENT on the road. (I’m usually impatient. Must’ve got it from Papa. Then again, in Singapore, few drivers are actually patient.) The early morning rush hour traffic was insane as usual, and I did get horned at (once) & rudely overtaken left & right (countless times). But I didn’t let it faze me, nor did I stall my engine more than once. So yeah, I FEEL GOOD! ^_^

11 days to my advanced driving theory test. I better pass it, or I’d have to wait even longer to book a practical test date!

Thanks to my girls & driving.

On Friday we crashed at birthday girl Haida’s place for the night. It was the first time in many years I was staying overnight at someone else’s place, but somehow I managed to sleep well. Looks like I really live up to my “can sleep anywhere, eat anywhere” reputation within the family.

Highlights of E.B.’s birthday: Read the rest of this entry »

I finally fulfilled my craving for ramen today. Yum. Not the best ramen I’ve had, but it was good enough.

Driving today was good, though I am getting bored of going round the same route over & over again. Then again, things got more interesting today – more pedestrians, jaywalkers, cyclists, motorcycles, overtakers & heavy vehicles than I’ve ever encountered before. And I actually went up to 40 km/h. I know, how grand. Haha.

The best thing is, I stalled the engine only a couple of times today. All that moving-off-with-first-gear practice must’ve paid off. So we moved on from practicing footwork to practicing steering. I’m still wobbly, but much more in tune with the steering wheel. And yes, I keep both hands on the wheel when turning now. ^_^