I was fairly exhausted when the lesson ended as I did circuit revision right before Lesson 3. Can't imagine how tiring it was when I was doing Class 2B.
Booked TP test immediately. The earliest slot being 2 freaking months away... sigh...
Notes:
Shahr33n: The SG Daddy Blogger |
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Cleared Lesson 3 with just 4 demerit points (max 16 points to fail). The 4 points came from being a wee bit fast on the bumpy course (5.83 sec instead of minimum 6 sec... sheesh). I guess they needed to give me some points...
I was fairly exhausted when the lesson ended as I did circuit revision right before Lesson 3. Can't imagine how tiring it was when I was doing Class 2B. Booked TP test immediately. The earliest slot being 2 freaking months away... sigh... Notes:
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CRANK COURSE
I was really bad at handling the bike at the crank course. I wasn't allowed to stay in first gear and do half clutch, so at low speed (2nd gear), the bike was very juttery (almost stalling). Every time the bike was about to stall, I applied a bit of trottle and the bike would lurch... thus, it's best to apply a steady trottle at 2nd gear and apply rear brakes when necessary. Oh, check back right and left before moving off. At the end of the crank course, best to stop if there are on-coming traffic. EMERGENCY BRAKING The emergency braking is pretty much the same as Class 2B except that you need to hit 40km/hr and stop between the yellow and red line. Make sure you look straight as looking down may cause you to get demerit points. Before moving off, check back right, right foot down, step down to first gear, right foot back up, signal right and get ready for Bumpy Course. BUMPY COURSE Turn off signal indicator immediately after moving off. Stay in 1st gear, and maintain half clutch before standing up and leaning forward. Go as slow as you can by playing with your half clutch and rear brake. For the first few attempts, the instructor was yelling at me for not standing high enough. Later he told me that I must really stand up and true enough, it was much easier to control the bike when standing upright as opposed to "half-standing". We were made to do as many attempts as possible until 10am. Overall, I didn't do so bad and passed Lesson 2. I've booked Lesson 3 and Circuit Revision on 27 Dec (back-to-back). For those who aren't aware, you can book lessons back-to-back so as to make good use of your travel time to CDC. For instance, I booked my Circuit Revision from 8.30-10am slot and then Lesson 3 from 10.20 to 12noon slot. By doing Circuit Revision immediately before the next lesson, you would have familiarise yourself with the bike and be more confident during the lesson. It's already one year (plus 4 days) since I got my Class 2B and this morning, I was back at Comfortdelgro CDC to take my 1st Class 2A lesson! It was nice to be in a familiar environment. Feels nostalgic to see riders learning Class 2B and falling...
Sigh... already the first thing that I forgot to bring for the lesson is my new booklet... thankfully, they let me take the lesson but I must not lose my receipt if I pass the lesson. Thanks to a blogger's advice, I kept all my knee and elbow guards. No problem re-using :D The rest of the registration steps are similar to Class 2B so I won't write about it. My instructor for the lesson was Mr Edwin. Charming fellow, asking me questions again and again... anyway, my head was spinning by the time he went through the briefing... so much to remember (lane formation, checking blind spots, etc)... I will cover a bit more about the test route and things to look out for in subsequent posts. The bike, a Honda CB 250 was smaller than the Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS so the Honda hardly gave me any problems. I was more concerned with not screwing up the checks and sequences... note for Class 2B/2A learners, use the centre stand when parking the bike. Only Class 2 bikes can use side stand... Fortunately after 1 hour of riding, I became more confident as my muscle memory of riding over 50 hours during class 2B gradually came back. Here's a quick run-down: Station 1: Slope (steeper than 2B) Station 2: Plank (minimum 8 secs) Station 3: Slalom (minimum 6 secs) Results: PASSED first time :D You'll be given 3 attempts for each station. I overheard from the instructor who was briefing the failures that learners need to pass 2 out of 3 attempts to clear the station. You may struggle if you have been riding an auto transmission bike (e.g. scooters) or didn't ride at all for over a year since passing 2B. Lesson 2 will be this Sunday morning. Will cover the Figure-8, e-brake and bumpy course. Stay tuned! Afternote: To reward myself, I went over to Racing World and got myself a new pair of gloves - Alpinestars GP Air. My A* Scheme gloves is rather worned out and wanted one with palm/wrist slider/protection. As some of you may have read, I'm a strong advocate for wearing safety riding gear (even though I'm riding a 'slow' 125cc three-wheeler). Other motorists can still hit you or you were not giving 100% attention while riding or make one tiny mistake. The consequence can range from minor to devastating if you go down with minimal riding gear. And do yourself a favour by getting an integrated health plan (preferably allowing you to get treated at a Private hospital or at least a B1 if your budget is limited). Medishield Life simply doesn't cut it for non-life threatening injuries (no matter how much pain you're in). You should not cut corners with your life especially when riders cannot give 100% guarantee that they won't meet with an accident. By being prepared, you can enjoy your ride with a peace of mind and if luck is not on your side, hopefully, you can walk away and be able to ride (or live) another day :D With 3 small kids and a burgeoning list of hobbies, it was a matter of time before I ran out of storage space at my 4-room flat. Frankly, I could throw away things that I no longer need but I'm a bit of hoarder so I figured that I transfer some of the unused stuff offsite for a few months and then bring back only those that I need. This also gives me an opportunity to repaint the living room. I went scouting for a storage solution provider and lock+store along Serangoon North Ave 4 was the nearest to my home. There are several sizes to choose (12sq ft, 24, 48, 65, 97, 145, 194). Unfortunately, they ran out of 24 square feet room which is the size of a HDB lift. They offered a 48 sq ft room which costs $225 per month (after discount) but I don't need such a big room. I googled on my phone for another nearby service provider and headed over to Extra Space Asia Singapore at Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2. After confirming that they have a 24 sq ft storage room, the sales exec gave me a tour of its facility. I thought their smallest storage solution of 12 sq ft (lockers) was rather small when looking on my phone but it was suprisingly large in person. There are two lockers per column, the lower costing more as you don't have to lift your stuff to put it inside. I wanted a locker but they only have the 2nd level lockers and I didn't want to break my back to carry my stuff up so I stuck to the 24 sq ft storeroom which cost about $120 per month. I was given a 6 pin code for entry/exit. The facility is open 24/7 so you can go there anytime you like. You would need to get your own lock for the storage door. I also had to buy my own boxes. You can buy the boxes from them for a reasonable price. Here are some photos of me storing my stuff after signing a 6-month contract: Best of all, when I signed the contract on 28 Nov, they had just started this Christmas Lucky Draw prizes and a week later, they called me up to inform that I actually won the first prize, which was a new iPhone 7 (128gb) worth $1080. I'm super blessed! Guess you know what I'll do with it :D
So did I give a positive review just because I won an expensive prize? Haha... no... I'd say that the prize is just a bonus for me and I'm thankful for winning it! Overall, the experience was a pleasant and hassle free. I may downgrade to the locker size room which is about $80/mth after I have met the minimum 3-month contract duration. There are probably cheaper storage providers around but the location may not be ideal. It's only a 10 minutes drive from my home to the facility. So shop around and ask for quotes. Hope you don't have to spend $ to get extra storage space. I have 3 beautiful children. Today, I shall talk about my first child (son) who recently turned 5.
At the age of 3, he was diagnosed with autism. Autism is "a mental condition, present from early childhood, characterized by great difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts". I had noticed the symptoms when he was 2 and pushed for him to be checked as soon as possible. Hearing the official confirmation from the specialist that he has autism was a sad day for my wife and I. We were not sadden for having a special need child but worry over the kind of life he would lead. Will he make friends? Will he have a decent job? Will he meet the girl of his dream? Will he have his own kids? Will he... The journey of providing him the proper support began from day 1. It also involved my wife quitting her job shortly after getting her degree at SIM so she can give him full attention. I must admit that my wife has made a lot of sacrifices so the least I can do is provide my family by giving nothing less but my best in whatever I do. Financially, we are doing alright so that's one less thing to worry about. Fortunately, my son's autism is on the milder side but we don't think he could go to a mainstream school. For the next few months, we will try to get him into Pathlight School which has a long waiting list. We do think that his siblings would play a significant role in bringing out the best in him. While I don't like talking about my personal matters, especially something this sensitive, several recent experiences have prompted me to speak up for families with special need children. Indeed, we tend to take such things for granted until one has to go through it. In case you are one of them, rest assured that you're not alone. Hence, I will do what I can to raise awareness on autism by sharing our experiences. Ultimate, we don't need anyone's sympathy. We just want children with special needs to get equal opportunity in life... #lovechildren #lovelife |
About MeJust your typical guy in his 40s, married to a lovely wife + three kids, living a life in tiny Singapore. Categories
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Class 2B Summary
Circuit Orientation: 1 Lesson 1: 2 Lesson 2: 1 Lesson 3: 1 Lesson 4: 1 Lesson 5: 3 Lesson 6: 2 Lesson 7: 1 Lesson 8: 1 Circuit Revision: 8 Road Revision: 4 Basic Theory: N/A Riding Theory: 4/4 Defence Riding Theory: 3/3 Internal Evaluation: 1 Riding Theory Test: 1/1 Final Practical Test: 1/1 Amount Spent $140+$300+200+200+150 Class 2A Summary Lesson 1: 1/1 Lesson 2: 1/1 Lesson 3: 1/1 Riding Theory: 1/1 Circuit Revision: 2 Final Practical Test: 1/1 Amount Spent $330 Class 2 Summary Lesson 1: 1/1 Lesson 2: 1/1 Lesson 3: 1/1 Circuit Revision 2/2 No show: 2/2 Final Practical Test: 1/1 Amount Spent $400 Total [2B+2A+2]: $1720 Archives
April 2023
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