(Hours 56 & 57)

Today's lesson was a little different from the usual. I had taken the opportunity to treat the lesson as if it was the test. This gave me an indication on how well I am performing and what areas I need to cover before I take the actual test. In order for the result to be accurate, very little guidance was given to me and only the directions were called. This helped me identify my own weaknesses and experience driving 'alone'.

As time is passing, I feel that the last 2 lessons have 'clicked' and I have improved in certain aspects of driving. This accounts for my planning and awareness skills since I am thinking ahead on how to act for different issues. Although sometimes I may not have achieved what I would have liked to, I am aware of where I went wrong and how it could have been corrected. Many of them are minor errors like observation checks and signals, but the amount would be enough to fail me in a test.

I am driving next lesson under test conditions again. I found this lesson very useful as it has helped me to understand my own problems. To end the intense atmosphere, we went back to the cheap supermarket to practice a bay park. The bay park was totally successful and to finish, I performed many figures of 8 and plenty of 360 turns in the centre of the empty car park.

(Hours 54 & 55)

A certain phrase from the last lesson had a powerful effect to make me perform better this week with confidence. The tight left turns are still getting me at times which had never been a problem before... I think now that I'm more aware of holding the clutch in and swinging the car out onto the opposite lane, it's more than likely I will make this error.

While I was practising to park in a supermarket bay, a member of security had come to stop me as he stated that 'learner drivers' are not allowed to use their car park for training purposes.. I was a bit shocked since I had done them there before without any trouble and a lot of parking spaces were still free.. Anyway, we moved off to the cheap supermarket nearby as we knew they couldn't afford security patrols!

(Hours 52 & 53)

My instructor finally took me on the A55 today.. he must have been crazy to have let me drive on a major dual carriageway! This was where he told me he would show me how to 'pass a wagon' if I wanted to learn. I was up for it and my first overtaking of a lorry began here... or overtaking any vehicle for that matter. I was quite amazed with my performance for the overtaking and the whole drive on the carriageway. I felt self-confidence through the run but it wasn't for long. I guess having the courage to take the challenge had led me through.

Shifting lanes was frightful! The fears were caused by many 'over the shoulder' observations and even though it lasts for just a few seconds, it's horrid to know that you're not looking through the windscreen while you are driving at such a high speed. Like they say 'your hands follow your eyes!' I managed it successfully on a few occasions and knew I was worrying too much again.. but like always, I still do stupid things like flying around corners with the clutch in!

I had a marvellous dinner tonight at a Japanese Restaurant which substituted my usual Chinese Restaurant that had temporarily shut down for kitchen maintenance.. I didn't expect it to be so packed in there, with only 3 seats remaining after me. I sat at the bar and almost laughed aloud when everyone was cutely arranged around the conveyor belt watching the sushi whizz past.

Just like the others, my eyes were following the sushi dishes too while I was waiting for my Tokyo Roast Pork Ramen.. people looked at me with strange faces as if to ask me 'why am I only looking and not eating?' The point finally came when I couldn't resist the temptation and I decided to treat myself to a red plate appetiser before my ramen arrived. The souped ramen was tasty and the sushi was pretty! I feasted on another 3 plates of sushi after the noodles, with one particular dish I really liked.. the Inari Tofu pockets that contained rice. It looked odd on the belt as it doesn't have a presentation like the others. It was unexpectedly sweet and delicious.. and I must say sweet sushi tastes as good as the salted ones!