Tuesday, July 03, 2007

So near, yet so far

I just got through my Basic Theory Test to obtain a driving license in Singapore. Phew, I am indeed relieved now!
I had enrolled for the test in April and managed to get the earliest test date for private candidates only for July 2nd. The preparations for the test did not happen till last week of June until I heard the passing score was 45 on 50 and a few I know flunked the test on their first (some even second) attempts. I had no choice but o carry the BTT booklet on the MRT like many others and read through it during my travel to office and back home. I could do that only for 2 days 'coz they weren't rocket science!
Come July 2nd, I did everything wrong, right from taking the wrong bus, missing the shuttle, struggling to find a cab, finally sitting in the wrong room until the instructor directed me to the right one. For the test at 9:15 AM, I took incharge around 9:20 AM and was out in 10-12 minutes passing my test. The questions, like I've been telling my friends were so dumb and its quite funny when you have get through 50 such one's to clear the test.
While I had a sense of accomplishment (despite the dumb questions), the major blow came in when I realised that despite having a foreign license and having cleared my BTT, I was required to have the International Driving Permit (IDP), usually issued by the domicile country of the candidate. Yikes!!! All my excitement crash landed like the Colombia Space Shuttle. Given that there aren't any easy options available to get through, I have decided to wait for a couple of months after which I would go to my hometown for my vacation and have this thing done as the first activity :-(
Bless me!

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