2B License: At Long Last!

This blog is about to have some radically new content, guess why? It's because I've finally unlocked the ultimate hobby; attaining a motorcycle license. In Singapore, getting a motorcycle license is a relatively arduous process, and considering that I am not very inclined to motor vehicles in general (my Class 3 license took me three tries), getting my Class 2B license was a pretty big deal for me.

Oh yea, it's sweet to see the tick in the "Passed" box

So this post will be about me recounting my experience in getting my 2B license at ComfortDelgro Driving Centre (CDC), my motivations for getting a motorcycle license, and what I intend to do with it.

Motivation for Taking Class 2B

The motivation has been there since I was in my early 20s; I thought that motorcycles were a really cool form of transport and it allowed for such a raw experience of being on the road. It's basically the ultimate vehicle to do exploration in since you could go where cars couldn't. Also, being a gearhead, motorcycles naturally appeal to me. There's a thousand different ways to pimp your motorcycle and get it to look the way you want, not to mention all the protective gear, navigation gear and all sorts of other gizmos that this hobby entails. In my early 20s though, all these were very much just thoughts.

It wouldn't be until 2019 when I was on vacation in Sabah to climb Mt. Kinabalu, where I really wished I could bike around the city on our rest day. Hence I signed up for motorcycle lessons once I was back from that trip.

My experience at CDC

I am quite pleased with the experience of the 2B course at CDC. The instructors are really doing their jobs out of passion; they're exposed to the elements everyday (including Sundays) and motorcycle lessons start from 8.30am all the way to 10.40pm. While I'm sure they have a schedule and are not working through all of those hours, the instructors are really there to help you attain your license.

Understandably, some lessons (especially the early ones where learners haven't quite figured out how to work the clutch and throttle), the instructors can get pretty fierce with learners. Remember though, motorcycling is a high stakes activity, there are certain things that need to be done correctly and if instructors shout at you when you're doing something wrong, that same mistake could be something life threatening outside of the driving school. I'd much rather get a dressing-down in the school and learn from it than to learn to ride haphazardly. 

The instructors are happy to clarify doubts that learners may have most of the time, and considering the price learners are paying, I'm more than glad with the level of service. I would sum up the experience of taking the 2B course at CDC as a positive one!

I shall not recount my experience with all the stages of practical lessons in this post, that will be reserved for another post.

The TP

The Traffic Police Test (commonly just abbreviated to TP) is pretty nerve-wracking. Personally, it took me five (yes you read that right, five!) attempts to get my 2B license.

So, you've got to reach CDC at 7am, in order to take attendance, collect your number tags and attend the warm-up. Number tags are given in order of residential status, then seniority (foreigners will go first, thereafter Singaporeans are sorted according to age, the younger you are the more behind you will be). Make sure to bring your booklet, NRIC and PDL (e-copy will do). If for some reason you don't want to do the warm-up, coming at 7.45am or so will be fine, but make sure to collect your number tag upon reaching CDC, whether warm-up or not!

The instructors will allow for up to two rounds of warm-up in the circuit, and by about 8am, all warm-ups will stop and everyone will be seated (either at the training shed or the motorcycle reporting counter). Testers will waltz in to where you are seated at about 8.15am to check everyone's NRIC, where you will have to recite your own name and IC number while they are holding your NRIC.

Afterwards, instructors will push out in groups of 4-5 people to mount onto the motorcycles. You will have some choice in what bike you want to use, so remember the bike numbers which you like! The earlier groups will have less choice since the bikes are arranged in rows of five, so they have to pick from the front row as anything from the rows behind will be blocked from moving off by the bikes in the front row.

For the testees who are assigned a larger number tag, you will have more freedom in choosing your bike for the test since there will be more space between the available choices left and you can choose something in the middle of the pack and still have space to maneuver your way out.

Circuit Evaluation
At this point, the usual test route of the circuit will commence. Here are some things I found that have helped me immensely during the TP:

- Make sure to eat something!

 You probably won't have much appetite since you may not have slept at all (but try your best, a good night's sleep will make all the difference in your performance), and probably had to wake up at 6am to reach CDC on time. Combine this with the test anxiety and it's easy to just forgo eating anything. You really need to though, the TP is a very lengthy process with lots of waiting in between and you will need the energy.

- Manage your emotional state

TP is undoubtedly nerve-wracking. Even having been through other stressful situations (job interviews, presentations at work, public speaking experiences), the TP still ranks up there as one of the most nerve-wracking. Do box breathing, and remember that if you're already able to book the TP, then you already have it in you! In truth, the TP is no harder than lesson 8 if not for nerves, so manage your emotional state and you'll be able to perform.

- Show your intentions clearly

Show clearly what are your intentions through actions, whether it's wanting to change lanes or checking your blindspot. Make sure to turn on your signal lights, or turn your head visibly. Intentions should never be implied, as the testers are looking for you to physically perform the action as an indicator of your intent.

After you're done with the circuit evaluation, you'll end it by parking your bikes back in the nursery on the main stand and a long wait will commence. You will be given till about 10.15am to have a break, before being seated back at the training shed or counter. The testers will now announce the numbers that will not be able to progress to the road evaluation. Thank your lucky stars if your number isn't called out, you get to progress to the second part of the TP. From what I've heard, it's about a 90% passing rate for those who go on to take the road evaluation so you're that much closer to getting your 2B license! Save the congratulations for later though because it is still very much possible to fail the road component.

Road Evaluation

Again, as with the circuit evaluation, you will head out for the road component based on your tag number. There are resources online to show you the critical areas where the testers are located. Again, some tips I have for the road evaluation are:

- Ride at a decent speed

You're no longer in the circuit, 30km/h won't cut it, and driving too slowly demonstrates a lack of confidence. Go anywhere from 40-50km/h, that will be a comfortable speed for the road evaluation.

- Independence of mind

Do not blindly follow the rider in front of you and do whatever he's doing. Often, there is a desire to follow whatever the rider is doing ahead so that you can lessen your cognitive load. Do NOT do that, every rider is in his own unique situation and you need to assess for yourself the situation you are in. The rider in front may have enough time to pass a green arrow and turn right, but do you? If you try to rush a traffic light so that you can remain as a 'follower', you may just cross an amber or red light. Don't do that to yourself, especially at this point where you're so close to your license already.

The ride back to CDC is the home stretch and honestly one of the best feelings ever. It's a huge moment of relief so ride back smoothly and park your bike in the nursery. Thereafter, proceed to the 3rd level of CDC and enjoy your one hour long wait as the testers decide who will get their 2B license and who will not. You will have taken off your number tags at this point so remember what it is mentally. If your number is called out during this one hour, unfortunately you didn't make it. After the agonizing wait, the tester will come into the classroom and announce that if you're still seated in the room, then it means you've passed. Congratulations!

Quickly book your Expressway Familiarization Ride (EFR), which is a free lesson that has two slots, 12.45 pm and 2.35pm. You will for the first time ride on expressways and it's a world of a difference to be riding at 90km/h outside, as compared to riding in the circuit or road revisions. Afterwards, all that's left is to create your driver's license (if you don't already have it), or send for it to be updated with a sticker if you already have a license for another class of vehicles.

 

2020 So Far: An Interest in Prepping

We're nine months into 2020 already, and I think we can all agree what a year it has been so far. Everyday lives across the globe have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic which is still spreading amongst us this very moment. Global supply chains have been disrupted, bilateral relations have turned sour, politicians have tried doing everything to deny the existence when COVID-19 was still not present in their own countries, and several high profile politicians and actors have even caught the virus.

The lockdown eventually came, when countries realized they had to do something before the entire population of their countries caught the virus. Hoarding behaviors sprang up first in Asia, while westerners derided the survival mindset of Asian countries. Before long, the very same behavior was observed in western countries where the most severe wave of the virus was seen. For awhile, the whole world was trying to get used to the life of lockdown; shops and malls were closed across the world, as people ate and worked from home. Things were starting to stabilize. 'No', said the powers that be, we're not ready for peace yet. And thus, after an act of police brutality, protests and riots began USA. Fueled by the pent-up frustration of having to stay home for the last three months, social unrest got to an all-time high and riots spread to the streets across the country, as were looters looking to cash in on the chaos. That wasn't the only thing that was at an all-time high though; stock markets around the world recovered from what must have been the shortest bear market. Whether it was the immense stimulus packages around the world that was artificially propping up asset prices or not is god's guess. As if economic outlook does not matter anymore, stock indices rose to record highs leaving behind their footing in reality, and behave as if they had a mind of their own.

Meanwhile back in reality, the economic engine has had a spanner thrown into the works and the aviation and tourism industry is basically left in limbo while they're burning cash to pay off fixed costs and expenses every day while barely generating any revenues. A good chunk of employees in these sectors have been forced to severely reduce spending in fear of getting their jobs cut anytime, which is a process that is well underway as employers in aviation, tourism and F&B are declaring bankruptcy left and right and choosing to close for good. This in turn leads to less consumer spending as the reduced spending from people in all these affected sectors mean less earnings for someone else. The economic engine is being shaken to its very roots. At this point, it's hard to say what might come next, but if I had to I'd bet heavily on the effects of climate change. The consequences of mankind's actions for the last 100+ years is fast catching up with us.

 Eventually though, you get used to whatever is happening. Mass gatherings now seem to be a thing of the past. Sporting events, concerts are now a relic from the past. I'm glad to have attended some of these events and if this is really how things will be until a vaccine is developed and distributed widely to the whole world, then these coming few years are going to be dark days for the entertainment industry, or anything where a live audience used to be the best way to view an event.

Looking back at how 2020 has passed so far, it seems ridiculous that the year has went by like that. Back in early March when the virus was starting to soar, life was relatively normal and I was in fact about to head to Vietnam. Nine days later, flying back to Singapore, I avoided stay-home notice by a single day. And that was it, one week back to work, my company embarked on a work from home arrangement. <To be continued>

Review of Garmin Forerunner 945 - My First Smartwatch (of Sorts)

We're six months into 2020 already, and I think we can all agree what a year it has been so far. Everyday lives across the globe have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic which is still spreading amongst us this very moment. Global supply chains have been disrupted, bilateral relations have turned sour, politicians have tried doing everything to deny the existence when COVID-19 was still not present in their own countries, and several high profile politicians and actors have even caught the virus.

The lockdown eventually came, when countries realized they had to do something before the entire population of their countries caught the virus. Hoarding behaviors sprang up first in Asia, while westerners derided the survival mindset of Asian countries. Before long, the very same behavior was observed in western countries where the most severe wave of the virus was seen. For awhile, everyone was trying to get used to the life of lockdown; shops and malls were closed across the world, as people ate and worked from home. Things were starting to stabilize. 'No', said the powers that be, we're not ready for peace yet. And thus, after an act of police brutality, protests and riots began USA. Fueled by the pent-up frustration of having to stay home for the last three months, social unrest got to an all-time high and riots spread to the streets across the country, as were looters looking to cash in on the chaos. That wasn't the only thing that was at an all-time high though; stock markets around the world recovered from what must have been the shortest bear market. Whether it was the immense stimulus packages around the world that was artificially propping up asset prices or not is god's guess. As if economic outlook does not matter anymore, stock indices rose to record highs leaving behind their footing in reality, and behave as if they had a mind of their own.

Meanwhile back in reality, the economic engine has had a spanner thrown into the works and the aviation and tourism industry is basically left in limbo while they're burning cash to pay off fixed costs and expenses every day while barely generating any revenues. A good chunk of employees in these sectors have been forced to severely reduce spending in fear of getting their jobs cut anytime, which is a process that is well underway as employers in aviation, tourism and F&B are declaring bankruptcy left and right and choosing to close for good. This in turn leads to less consumer spending as the reduced spending from people in all these affected sectors mean less earnings for someone else. The economic engine is being shaken to its very roots. At this point, it's hard to say what might come next, but if I had to I'd bet heavily on the effects of climate change. The consequences of mankind's actions for the last 100+ years is fast catching up with us.

What to do in tumultuous times like these? If you were thinking that it's about keeping your head down, working hard to retain your job, learning new skills, you'd be somewhat correct. More obviously though, it's to buy a new watch. Don't forget that this is The Watch Post, after all (please note that I'm not advocating you spend your money frivolously, I am fortunate enough to be in an OK position financially, and I managed to score a good deal on a used piece). With so much being said, let's introduce my most recent acquisition.

(pic on Garmin against yellow background)

I've always held out against the idea of a smartwatch, given that the average digital Casio lasts two years on a button cell battery. Two years? Yea, that's as good as a mechanical for me. I reckoned that this level of maintenance should be what is expected of a watch, and that having to charge a smartwatch like the Apple Watch daily was far too much hassle for a timekeeping device. During this lockdown though, I've been running more than I have ever been. For the past three months, running is one of the few activities that I can legally leave my house for, and I've been taking advantage of it since almost all forms of activities are now pretty much prohibited. I thought it'd be nice to have a fitness tracker which could keep track of my runs during this period. If there's one thing a traditional digital/mechanical watch can't do, it's tracking a run (or actually anything besides telling the time).

So with that, I was now in the market for a smartwatch. Most smartwatches these days can fulfill the role of tracking a run as long as it has GPS, and the range spans from a $150 Amazfit watch to the $500 Apple Watch to the Garmin MARQs which run over $1,000. I decided I wanted a watch more oriented towards fitness tracking, and not a general purpose smartwatch. The nice thing about fitness oriented smartwatches (Suunto, Polar, Garmin) is that they typically have longer battery lives up to two or so weeks as they use transflective displays (sort of like e-reader screens which consume far less battery than LCD/OLED screens) and also are easily readable under the sun. I suppose I could live with charging once a week. Other nice things to have would be maps for navigation so I could use them when I travel (whenever that will be) and wanted to navigate and explore the area. Of course, I eventually realized that only the flagship products of Garmin have offline maps available. That meant that I had to go for the highest end product, which is met with the highest end of prices too. I finally caved when I saw that Amazon had the Fenix 6 Pro for about $800 for Father's Day and went ahead with it.

Ten minutes after placing my order, I cancelled it. It really didn't feel right to be spending 800 bucks on a watch when the global economy was in a free fall. I was prepared to give up this venture of getting a smartwatch at that point, it's not worth feeling that I've done something so wrong just to have a new piece of shiny kit on my wrist; that money could instead have been given to my parents as allowance or I could've spent it on household items which my family could benefit from instead. As luck would have it, I then came across a used Forerunner 945 and the price was much more palatable than the price for the Fenix 6. Maps? Check. Battery life? Check. Price? Check. It was time to go ahead with it.

The Forerunner 945 is a watch with so many functions I don't think I could cover them all if I tried. It's a watch meant for triathletes and avid sportsmen. I'm just an average run-of-the-mill runner who has an interest in watches. With that, I shall try my best to review this watch including the functions that I don't use and how it has benefited me as a whole.

The Forerunner 945 comes in at 47mm in diameter, which may sound very big but given I was pleased to find out that it didn't hang over my wrists which are relatively small. <To be continued>

Review of Garmin Fenix 6

The year is almost coming to a close, nothing will stop the ticking forward of time, even the year 2020. I think no one is in disagreement on what a year 2020 has been. It has upended normal life as we know it, with the entire tourism and aviation industry being upended with no end in sight for their troubles. Even with a vaccine in sight now, the logistical undertaking to administer the vaccine widely will mean that COVID-19 will linger among us for a long time.

Being in tiny Singapore, we have been fortunate to have handled the situation effectively besides during April and May. What COVID-19 has instead done is to show that Singapore needs the world to be open, our very survival depends on it. Without an influx of tourists, many businesses have become unviable overnight, and hotels, hostels and tour operators are pretty much bleeding money trying to survive until the tourists come back again. I don't see this happening anytime soon, not with all the social unrest that has been unearthed by COVID-19. Travel and regular leisure activities will be in the back of people's minds for at least a few years to come.

Meanwhile, being stuck in such a tiny country has also presented a set of challenges that everyone living here faces. There just isn't very much to do in this country, not least with many activities being restricted in some form due to 'social distancing' or otherwise outright disallowed. So, I took to a particular activity that is both cheap (or not) and good for health; walking. Since April when we started having lockdowns in my country, I've been going on long, long walks to pass time and also preserve my sanity. One should never underestimate the effect of not having anything to do on the days off work. A mind cooped up at home makes for an irritable person.

This is where the Garmin Fenix 6 comes in. After walking for about 2 months and using my phone to track my walks, I wanted something that would allow me to look at my surroundings more and my smartphone less, and down the rabbit hole I went. I settled on a used Garmin Forerunner 945 initially, and it did serve me very well indeed. The topo maps on the Garmin are a delight to use, letting you know with turn-by-turn directions how to get to your destination. I have taken walks anywhere from 10km to nearly 40km and the topo maps are an excellent guide.

But once you're in the rabbit hole, it only goes deeper and deeper. Come November, I was no longer pleased with the Forerunner 945. It performed well, but physically was not what I expected out of a watch. It was really light since it was completely constructed of plastic, and that was really good when going out for a run since I don't feel the weight on my wrist, but it didn't feel like a quality watch. So what's the really expensive solution to add some weight to your wrist? I still very much liked the implementation of maps by Garmin, as well as the battery life a Garmin offers. No other smart watch using an OLED will have a two week battery life, so it was going to be a Garmin again. At the time, the Descent Mk2i was already available but it costs something like SGD2,300, enough to buy an iPad and the Fenix 6, so that was out of the question. I had always liked the Descent line of watches since I think I will one day use the diving features. The price tag though was something I could not bear, especially not for a smart watch that will be obsolete in three years.

Ah, as luck would have it.. 11.11 sales came soon enough and the Garmin official store on Shopee was having the Fenix 6 on sale for SGD 838. After further rebates from my credit card, I could have the Fenix 6 for about close to SGD 800. Still a mighty high price for a smart watch, but also based on the resale value that I saw Fenix 6 was capable of, I felt comfortable making the purchase.

I will not go too much into the details and specifications of the watch itself, but share more on my experience in using the Fenix 6. First, what's the difference from the Forerunner 945 and second, what value does a Garmin smart watch add to my life? Truth is, if you already have a Forerunner 945, the Fenix 6 is almost identical functionally. Everything you can do with the Fenix 6, you also can with the Forerunner 945. You have topo maps, music and NFC payments on both (albeit reduced music storage on the 945), and the Forerunner 945 will do it for a significant lower cost. The real difference is in the construction of the watches themselves. The 945 is unapologetically plastic, this is part of the draw of the 945, so that the weight is kept down and isn't a hindrance in a triathlon. The Fenix 6 is composed of a steel bezel and a steel caseback, which sandwiches the middle part which is made of plastic.

Essentially, the price difference between a Fenix 6 and 945 is entirely down to the physical construction of the watch, and the Forerunner 945 at about SGD 700 and the Fenix 6 at about SGD 900, I do feel that asking an extra SGD 200 is a lot for simply making the bezel and caseback steel instead of plastic. It is what it is, Garmin still makes a killing with their smart watches and this is how their price structure is, but they've certainly been going upwards in price which I do not like one bit.

 So what does owning a Garmin do for you? Well, I got into the habit of taking long walks especially during the lockdown period in April where people weren't allowed to gather in groups and shops deemed non-essential were closed for a full two months. In that period, it truly was a challenge finding ways to spend leisure time and I took up a cheap and healthy activity of taking walks of upwards of 10km. I thought it would be good to have topo maps so that I didn't have to take out my phone at every turn (really an expensive solution to a first world problem) and in this regard, the Garmin did very well. The screen on the Fenix 6 is large enough to make it useful in knowing how far ahead to go before a turn is needed. Besides that, I tracked all my walks and it does give a certain sense of satisfaction to see your history especially when I went on longer walks (my furthest walk was about 38km).

 I've also been running much more since COVID and I use my Garmin to track all these runs too. It's nice to be able to see your heart rate, pace, and other metrics that the Garmin tracks. Of course, there are much cheaper solutions to seeing such basic run info, your smartphone would be good enough if you just wanted to track pace. Rather, it's the complete package of having a watch that tracks everything, and does topo maps and also has some basic smartwatch functions that makes it such a fancy gadget that I felt like owning one. Well, in this regard, I am totally a gear junkie and I do read up on gear to acquire. I felt the Garmin is pretty much the most 'do-it-all' watch available. The maps would be especially helpful oversees if I didn't want to keep taking my phone out (and of course 2020 happened, smashing any hopes of travel). Most smartwatches will be able to do GPS maps, but I didn't want to be charging my phone all the time. <To be continued>