Bukit Batok Driving School – Part 2
Following up from Part 1 where I outlined about the sign up process and the Basic Theory Lessons and Tests. In case you’ve missed it out, do check out part 1 here.
Using try-sell I managed to get two practical lessons on 10 January. You might have observed that BBDC has demarcated peak & non-peak lessons. Since I self-funded my driving lessons, I took non-peak since it was ~$10 cheaper and the timing was convenient. But I would suggest trying out different lessons to understand what it is like to drive in different circumstances – crowded streets, night, morning and heavy rain.
What do you need to bring / know before your practical lessons?
Make sure you bring along your e-Provisional Driving Lesson & NRIC. There is a BBDC app on Apple and Google Store, download it on to your mobile phone and log in. This app will tell you the car number which is allocated to you and its location. This information is ready 30 minutes before your lesson.
On the day of my first lesson, I was kind of lost as I did not know where my car was parked. Try to reach earlier, enter the glass door to the circuit area. Usually the pillars have a map on where the cars are parked and the sign boards are hung at the top. If you still can’t find, approach the instructors and ask for help (that’s what I did in the end).
I was assigned to G8002, many worry that when they buy slots from try-sell, the instructors would come from a different group and may not be ‘effective’ in their teaching. Mostly, my try-sell slots allocated me to my G8002 instructors, nonetheless it was a good exposure to have different instructors. Each person has some tips and might teach differently and you would pick up new things. Well there were a few cases where the instructor came from a different group and I didn’t really learn much, read on more.
Here is the snapshot of my 31 practical lessons, and the subjects I took.
Stage 1 Practical Lessons
Lesson 1 (1.01,1.02,1.03) was pretty chill, it was very much of a familiarization of the car – how to fuel, the different parts of the car, how to drive straight, press accelerator / brake. The instructor was pretty nice and strike conversations on what I do etc. I observed that group instructors will try to get to know you better since you are considered to be their client and they would try their best to teach you well as it affects their KPI.
Lesson 2 (1.04) was on turning around the bends of the circuits. I didn’t have a good time here, the pace started getting a little intense. The instructor emphasized 1.04 was an important class as the next lesson would be driving on the roads (this stressed me out further). This instructor taught by the book, and I couldn’t catch the concept easily given the short 100 minutes lesson. Tip : It’s alright if you can’t get something, try to ask for help from other instructors during your other lessons, they are more than happy to assist.
Lesson 3 (1.05,1.06) is speed adjustment, stopping and slowing down. Here you get to drive on the road, I was taught by the same instructor from lesson 2. After a quick warm-up in the circuit, I drove out around Bukit Batok area. Again, the instructor methods didn’t suit me, and I could not align the car into the lane using the textbook method. I was pretty stressed and took almost 20 minutes to get used to the road conditions. Well I found a trick to calm myself down in subsequent classes – having a mint during the lesson to calm down.
Lesson 4 (1.07) was speed regulation. I was taught by a funny instructor who teaches manual cars. He was great because he taught me a couple of methods on how to align the car and turn properly (so grateful!). Usually for this lesson, they will train on the circuit for 30 minutes and bring you onto the roads. I found out that I tend to brake abruptly and he joked that I should have taken Class 3 instead.
Lesson 5 (1.08) is on braking. Many of the topics overlap and it can be frustrating. Like why pay more for the same topic, when you can advance me to the next one? It was a continuation, sometimes instructors teach additional stuff to take note which should be taught in stage 2. So this instructor has a ‘RBF’ face, but he is the funniest guy in my group. I took a night class and he was tired by then so he was pretty grumpy and he started pinpointing the errors. In BBDC, after the end of the lesson, most instructors would say sorry and explain that they were trying to inculcate knowledge so on and so forth. Well their job is on the line, if customers complain too, so I guess they have to make up for it. Tip: Go with an open-mind, try to look at the feedback they offer and learn
Lesson 6 (1.09,1.10) on Sharp turns and safety check, taught by an instructor outside my group. I spent around 45 minutes in the circuit and another 45 minutes in the road. He was too nice, and I didn’t learn how to check blind spots properly, every time I mounted a kerb he said it was fine and asked me to try again. The only perk was driving at night, I understood traffic conditions at 8pm. Tip: If your instructor doesn’t offer tips, ASK & try not to take night class if you wear specs and can’t see the kerb, like me
Lesson 7 (1.11) is the Evaluation of stage 1, you need to pass this otherwise you will be stuck in Stage 1. My RBF instructor (I really miss his jokes) taught this. It is a test for all topics from 1.01 to 1.10. I mounted the car on the kerb 4 times and I don’t know how I even advanced to the next stage but at least I walked away with some knowledge on how I can prevent myself from mounting onto the kerb. Tip : Establish a good relationship with your group instructors! They advance you to the next lesson/ stage!