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Friday, January 30, 2009

poly class photo

normally we have our K1, K2, primary or secondary class photos. How about poly class photo?

managed to find this: Mugshots of everyone

looks good for tagging in Facebook!
Posted by zhiming at 10:55 AM No comments: Sunday, January 25, 2009

newbie to motoring (40,000km servicing)

had the privilege of sending my car for servicing so soon, since the previous owner didn't do the 40,000km maintenance. It's a major servicing point, so i expected many parts to have worn out. Indeed it was, and more stuff had to be changed...

didn't send it in to my authorised distributor since they quoted $506 with only the basic replacements - engine oil, oil filter, transmission oil, brake fluid and fuel filter. The workshop recommended to me did these at $430. But due to additional wear and tear, the gentleman Nigel told me to postpone the change of fuel filter, and replaced the air filter, aircon filter, battery and spark plugs instead (!). The throttle body was also adjusted FOC. The total cost was $540, which is still cheaper. Kah Motor would have charged me much more. Hoisting it up... drain the oils Motul 300v engine oil Voltronic brake fluid Automatic transmission fluid and oil filter Air filter Aircon filter (yes, no filter previously installed) Old battery Spark plugs faulty... Courtesy of my brother's camera
Posted by zhiming at 12:49 PM 2 comments: Labels: driving

Friday, January 23, 2009

newbie to motoring (starter kit)

so many things to prepare for this set of wheels: Microfibre cloths, waffle towel Antislip mat, 1.5L water, interior detailer, carwash concentrates IU cover
Posted by zhiming at 11:08 PM No comments: 


before the collection day, WQ and his gf, plus me went to Old Airport Road hawker centre.

had gong gong for the first time! Gong Gong! Sotong! Kang kong! Chicken CHOP

drove a rental car from Eazi Car Leasing last tuesday. WQ drove me to Turf City to collect the car. The staff looked rather beng-ish, but their service attitude is still good. Just don't act tough while talking to them lah. They even washed the car before i took over.

with the ex-policeman beside me it's difficult to get lost. Went to many places as far as the airport, kent ridge, 99 bends, did vertical parking, mscp and expressway driving to boost my confidence on the road. Had some near misses, such as assuming there's a filter lane when there isn't, nearly crashed into a container lorry, and went too near to some structures. Fit 2008 Compact and zippy car

now the more important pictures: Civics in line

if you realised, my parking is not centered... Engine compartment

going for 40,000km servicing this weekend. Hope i can learn more about the engine then.
Posted by zhiming at 5:47 PM No comments: 
Sunday, January 18, 2009

new responsibility... more details in my private blog. Password protected though, get the code from me. If i don't respond... i'm sorry! =)
Posted by zhiming at 5:02 PM 4 comments: 
Wednesday, January 14, 2009

very busy

just to create a post to tell people i'm still alive. Have been so busy and stressed over some matters, hope it'll be done and over soon. Please wish me well =)
Posted by zhiming at 1:25 AM 2 comments: Thursday, January 8, 2009

the reality of driving

have been super excited about driving ever since 5 Jan. Now there's a new web site in my bookmarks, sgCarMart!

started to read up more on the essentials of driving locally, financial readiness etc. Also saw a few companies renting out cars, some even to p-platers. Quite keen to try them.

drew came over to campus despite his NS schedule to let me get acquainted to real parking. It's easier than the circuit's vertical parking, just slant the car at 45 and enter. But i think this requires practice and of course, a familiar car to be proficient. Then i drove out from campus to YCK MRT, where we said goodbye.

of course, he took over the car from there lah. I took the train home.

my feelings? I was trying the school's Civic for months, so felt out of place with his Kia Rio. Driving wise, no need to stop at stop line all the time anymore! No need to practise lane discipline! Or rather, only L-plates seemed to practise that. It is so awkward; wanted to change to the extreme left but he told me it's not necessary. Somewhat a culture shock.

still have to worry about parking coupons when i do rent out a car. Plus p-plate, street directory, etc etc. Quite a chore after all. It's so fortunate being a passenger rather than a driver.
Posted by zhiming at 12:41 AM 2 comments: 
Tuesday, January 6, 2009

fishing trip last sunday

fished out some pictures from my Diamond, although these were taken last year (New Year Eve) it's well worth to publish them: Shiok! But what is Ms Tan rubbing ...? Ladies, massage your guy with this from the kitchen.

had the first fishing trip with them for 2009. Shupei was supposed to turn up, but had too much drinks. Aiyo, teacher ah teacher...

i seen a few more new spots this time. Even went the fenced off borders of Ubin.

had sporadic rain which made us roll down the canvas, then it stopped after 5 minutes -.-

caught lots of small fishes who were schooling around existing structures. Dropped my line down and instantly fishes were pulling the baits away! Learnt to cast the fish line further too. 2 in a row To be updated: don't know what name. But nice silvery fish
Got 10+ of them. Stressed up sergeant majors. Food for the bigger fishes This stonefish looked uglier than my catfish man.
But they say catfish is uglier! Omg! Best catch of the day - Jin Mu Lu

Posted by zhiming at 12:34 AM No comments: Labels: fishing

Monday, January 5, 2009

driving - #30

lucky number: 130

have not updated my mega revision post for ages. In total, i took 29 lessons; 17 for subjects 1 to 30 from 19 Sept to 31 Oct, then 12 more revision lessons from 7 Nov to 3 Jan. The revisions took longer because of exams, and of course a 2 months wait for TP slot.

this was my last lesson, which is the warm up before TP. Booked the 0915 hrs slot, warm up was at 0820.

my past popular mistakes were...

- not stopping at stop line (learnt this the hard way, tio kan by my regular instructor too many times)

- directional change (mount kerb when reversing in or moving out from lot)

apparently, this is the #1 immediate failure reason for auto learners at SSDC too, because testers will often bring us to 17A which is the narrowest of all directional change lots. The Civic body is larger than most other L plate car models, also the turning radius is not as wide.

- some exotic instructions not given before requiring multiple manoeuvres in the circuit. A typical scenario is to do lane change and right turns after turning out from minor road, all in less than 20 metres. Lots of points can be awarded if careless.

the warm up was largely fine, except i forgot to stop at the stop line after doing ramp (terrible habits die hard, immediate failure!) and improper technique for e-brake.

then the instructor brought me up to level 3, helped me handle the paperwork and i sat at the waiting area for my tester and test route. About 10 testees for the test session, all looked so tense. I didn't get nervous until i was the 3rd last to be called. One uncle called me in a business tone, told me my test route (#1) and told me to wait at my test car.

then he took so darn long to come down la! Only left 2 girls driving manual waiting at the test area. Had a chance to say hello to one of them before we finally left.

- 17A (directional change)
- 25 (parallel parking)
- 16 (s and crank course)
- 14B (vertical parking)
- 27 (slope)
- 13 (ramp)
- test route #1 (u-turn at AJC)

demerit: 2 points for turning steering wheel while car is stationary at 25. The lot has uneven surfaces, so not much of a choice unless i stepped on the gas and risked knocking down poles.

went back to school, hastily parked the car and followed the tester up. Then he showed me my result slip! Watched the graduation video, picked up my training booklet from counter 1.

thanks to these instructors. Fierce or kind or boring, they facilitated my learning process:

- Mr Raup (5833); took me for first 2 lessons
- Mr Tan KP (5532); very friendly+fatherly instructor
- Mr Yeow SC (5621); my most regular instructor, no-nonsense principle in teaching. Screw up and you're dead. But he gets his job done.
- Mr Ramesh (5414); took me for last few lessons, extremely encouraging

- Mr Tham KY (5643 and Chiau TK (5428): riding instructors, met them only once but knew my weaknesses and made me improve on them.


my humble advice to those learning in progress...

- learn as much as you can during practical lessons

- don't cram lessons if you cannot absorb (i'm guilty of this, luckily i had enough revision lessons)

- don't rote learn according to notes (that's what i did), learn to perform corrective actions advised by instructors

- don't be embarrassed to make mistakes in circuit, it's not painful as long as it's not your TP

- maintain constant --> frequent revision lessons towards test date. It was during revisions that my funny problems crop up... such as the mount kerb problem. During training, no such problem.

- aim to get your license to DRIVE on the road, not to pass TP.

looking for buddies to teach me real life parking! Posted by zhiming at 1:21 PM No comments: