Driving Test

Mmmmm... Driving test... more important than a school test, but less hyped and crazed about it. And today was my turn to take it. We took our numbers, mine was in Session 2, #08. Which meant I had to wait for the first 30+ people from Session 1 to finish first.


So I waited from 8am............






Through 9am................






Past 10am........... Dark clouds started to roll in.....







At around 11, the skies opened REALLY REALLY WIDE and guess what? It was then my turn came. Right on my JPJ test form, Masa Bermula 11.48am

So first came the slope. No problem there, my wheel was stopped right in the middle of the yellow line. From here onwards I had the window down (Well, I HAVE to because I have to check the wheel position on the line and also for the later tests). Took my test forms from the first JPJ officer, and on to side parking.

No problem here either, but with the window down so that I can look out of the car, I was getting drenched. JPJ officer signals me to do the parking, I reverse, turn, reverse summore, turn summore, car's in the box, raise my hands to signal I'm done, JPJ gives me the all clear, and it's on to 3 point turning~

I was worried slightly about this because I cant see if the left wheel is touching the white line inside the 3 point turn area. But after some last practices yesterday I was feeling good. So, I turn in, stop outside, raise hand to signal I'm ready, slooooooowly go in, turn right... slowly..... straighten the car.... stop. Reverse out.... turn out left... I looked at my front wheel, it was absolutely M-I-C-R-O-M-E-T-E-R close to the white line. You couldnt lay a pencil, a ruler (standing upright), or probably even a piece of paper (width wise) between the wheel and the white line. IT WAS THAT CLOSE. But I didnt touch the line, and moving out of the 3 point turn area smoothly, I've completed my circuit test. Soaked. Masa Tamat, 11.56am.


I park the car back at the starting point, and as I got out of the car, there was the sound of thumps, tumbles and knocks. A sort of kathunk-kathunk-kathlunk-kaplop into the big puddle of water...... I looked down, it was....



















MY PHONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!










Quickly I picked it up and turned it off before the water could reach into the electronic parts. Could this be the demise of my beloved Nokia 6300?



12.05pm, JPJ Test Car #7 with license plate CCC 1624 comes back from it's road test, then my number gets called out. "Sesi Dua, Kosong Lapan!" (in other words, my number 08). The tester looked really really REALLY strict. Hair shaved like a soldier, donning aviator glasses, I took one big gulp of spit before stepping in.

"S-slamat sejahtera tuan..." I hand him my JPJ form, go through the pre-driving checks; adjust seat, adjust mirror, put on seat belt, free the gear, start engine, test wipers (jolly good thing they worked fine), test signal lights, done. Had a bit of a hiccup starting the engine (all the road test cars were stubborn to start up for some reason), slowly reversed out (because the smart guy before me parked the car pointing towards the waiting area, not parallel to it). Let me show you a simple diagram:

Ok, that settled, I went on my way. I was given route C. Luckily I practised that course just yesterday, so the route is very much clear in my mind. Everything went well despite the rain. Until the very last T junction....




I would be turning right to go back to the driving school. A car from the left was signaling to turn right (aka turning in to where I came from), but I saw that he was quite a distance away (or at least my perception of it) so I went ahead first.









Whoops.









"Nampak tak kereta dari sebelah kiri tu? Dia nak belok masuk tadi?"
"Err, nampak, tapi dia nampak agak jauh lagi..."
" Kenapa awak pergi dulu? Awak spatutnya bagi dia belok dulu. Nasib baik dia berhenti. Kalau dia pergi terus, habis la awak kena accident."

Shit, failed. So close yet so far. I thought.


Continued in to the school, parked my car, and then........




"Lain kali, ikut peraturan jalan raya betul betul."
"Baik tuan, terima kasih tuan."

He hands me the paper and just steps out of the car.














Masa Tamat, 12.26pm. Markah: 18/20. Keputusan: Lulus.

*Phewh* With that over I handed my forms to the JPJ officer at the counter to validate my test, and I'm done. And my phone,  I waited another hour or so before I turned on my phone again. Thankfully, still fully functional.