I passed the signs test! The red mark in Arabic says so… I’ll just need to practice and learn more for the big day.

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And yes, I got my road test scheduled on September 23. I hope that the route, and the Police officer to test me will be kind.

This is really a Happy Day! Thanks Lord!

Driving in Dubai is totally different. A lot of the people are disciplined. It’s very rare that you see someone taking your lane or driving unresponsibly like what we have in our country.

Traffic Jams?! Don’t mention it. Here you have a traffic which is actually moving. Compared to the Philippines, you can’t get further even for a kilometer in an hour on busy hours… Talking about EDSA?!… MMDA’s, Buses, and others, it’s a nightmare… That is why I like rural driving more…. Long drives, Stop-overs, and road trips…

Well, I enrolled with Five Star Motor Driving Institute, a private driving school located in Karama, Dubai. It is a requirement before you can drive here. Even though I know how to drive, I admit that driving in a different country is different. Speed limits, traffic violations, and other stuffs…

Day 1

I started my driving lessons last thursday… I was surprised that I still know how to drive after 9 frozed months.
 
My intructor is an Indian, credible enough who is working with their company for 15 years. He has been in Dubai streets for 35 years. And once visited Philippines years ago…

He knows how to speak Filipino. It’s cool because he tries to teach me in English and Tagalog at the same time…

I am not surprised with other nationalities to speak our language for there are so may Filipinos here, and probably they would like to learn it as well for making friends and doing business.

Going back, everything went ok. He thought me how to make proper U-turns. Closed and Open U-turns and all that…

I had a great driving experience. I missed it. For 1 and a half hours, I finished my 1st two out of 10 sessions.

Day 2

7AM, we went to Zabeel, and he taught me proper gear changing, clutch use and turning…

Back home, I learned driving from my friends and family and I admit that I was not trained to use the clutch well.

When he taught me about clutch use, I can say that my driving went smoother, which is part of the police’s checklist for passing… 

You can check out on my video feeds for a clip of Day 2…

Even if I am a little slow this morning due to working at night, everything went just fine.

Tomorrow, I’ll have my signal test with the Dubai Police.

Monday, August 7, 2006. Happy Lucky Day! – Wish me luck…