Now that I’m done with my driving theory test, I’ll be starting my motorcycle practicals soon and I’ve been searching around for a while for a motorcycle helmet. Unfortunately, the prices here in Italy are pretty expensive. We were in a motorcycle shop and I was enamoured with one that looked like a soccer ball. But at 200 Euro, its a tad bit over the budget for me.

Anyway, Fabrizio, a friend of ours adviced us to try to look in Via Portuense. So yesterday, Cart and I were in Via Portuense. According to Cart, it was a rough area. I didn’t snap a picture, but here’s one screenshot from google maps to give you an idea.

But in anycase, it was a good place to buy stuff like bicycles and motorcycle acessories. And while the area didn’t look classy, it reminded me of Lim Ah Boy Shop – a place where me and my brother sometimes head to, to get motorcycles acessories. Even the insides of the shop was exactly like a typical motorcycle shop in Jalan Besar – all crammed full with motorcycle goods.

And some minutes later, I chose this simple matt black helmet from Vemar.

It costs 60 Euro (discounted from 75). While in Singapore, I would never pay anything more than 40 Singapore dollars (about 20 Euro) for a helmet, this was still relatively the most affordable brand new helmet that I’ve seen so far.

Now I’m looking forward to making it more special by sticking a rinaz decal over it to add to my rinaz stuff collection. I’m sure it’ll look spiffy!

Cart on the other hand wants an afro-hair helmet. I cant find one so far, but this is the closest one resembling one. Would take a while to glue all the hair pieces together though.

And now that I’ve seen this, as well as the sunflower motorcyclist I’ve spotted out on the Singapore roads. I think I’ve pretty much seen everything

Anyway, one step closer to getting a moto!

By the way, I try to blog every alternate working day, but I haven’t been posting my regular Friday and Monday post because I had my driving theory test yesterday and needed time to prepare myself. Did you miss me?!

Anyway, to backtrack, back when I was living in Singapore, I went through the usual routine of getting a motorcycle license – registering in Bukit Batok Driving Center, taking the driving theory test, going for practical motorcycle lessons and then getting a license after passing the practical motorcycle test. And since then, I’ve been riding and having fun in my journeys such as the Vespa Ladies day out and the trip to Malacca with my fellow Vesporeans.

But since coming to Italy, I thought that it would be as simple as to just convert it. But in the end, it seems that my riding license isn’t valid here. I’m not certain why, but it could be partly because as a commonwealth country, as we drive on the left, like in the UK. Moreoever, conversions can only be done for people staying for less than a year in Italy. Since I’m staying here long term, I just might as well take retake my license.

Hence somewhere early June, I registered at a driving school to undertake the A3 license which will allow me to ride all types of motorcycles. Including the MV Augusta Brutale as my brother would suggest. But ehm, I dont think its such a good idea – It looks really heavy! My GT 200 was already so tough to push up when its on its side.

Anyway, when enrolling you’d need to get ready some items :

• Permesso di soggiorno – Your permit to stay in Italy
• Carta D’Identita – The Italian Identity Card
• Codice Fiscale – This is similar to the Social Security Number
• Marca da bollo – This is a stamp that can be bought at Tabaccaio. Costs about 14 euro
• 3 nice ID sized pictures of yourself
• Moolah for the driving school. It costs 180 Euro for my entire lessons
• Moolah for the driving theory test. It costs 80 Euro

After which, you’ll be given an appointment with a doctor. He will do a colour blind check, blood pressure check as well as an eye sight test. Once he’s validated your physical fitness, you will get a paper certifying that you are physically able to drive.

And then you can commence with the theory lessons.

The driving school that I go to, L’ACI was publicised as having English speaking staff. As I am still not very fluent in Italian, I thought that it would be better for me to learn in English. Unfortunately, the staff are not very fluent in English either so I had to rely on Cart on helping me. But the staff were friendly and patient, and there were always someone to assist you when you need help.

My only qualm is that my lessons doesn’t seem to follow a table. Being a former educator and most of all being a Singaporean, we always expect to have a schedule of what we will be anticipating. Like day 1 – Classification of roads and vehicles, Day 2 – Traffic signs, Day 3 – Traffic law. You only get information when you start each day itself. Bleargh! Things like these should be told to students in advance. Are all Italian schools like this?

But in any case, it wasn’t too bad. As mentioned, the staff were patient so I can always ask to clear any doubts. And because they are not fluent in English, I was able to learn more Italian words and terms. So it was a fair trade-off. Regardless, it would be useful to supplement your learning with a textbook. I recommend reading this book, L’Esame Per La Patente di Guida Per Cittadini Stranieri – Inglese by Essebi.

This book is supposed to be translated from Italian to English by Simon Creasey and Mike Farrell who gives me the impression that they are native english speakers (rolls eyes) the translated book sometimes gives me the impression of Babelfish where the translation doesn’t sound very smooth or natural. I cant believe they spelled Motorbikes as Motorbykes. And Kilometer as Chilometer

Regardless, it is still very useful in knowing the rules and terminologies needed for the theory test. The proof is in how my book is starting to get frays from all the flipping and turning.

Most importantly though, I recommend that you do as much sample quizzes as possible. Its NOT ENOUGH just to read the book. With over 300 quiz combinations, it’ll test your road-worthyness knowledge.

In each quiz there are 10 questions. And each question, there are 3 parts where you answer Vero or Falso. The school provided me with an online simulation of the quiz which made me solidify even more what I’ve learnt. And one thing that I’ve realised is that the test is really tricky mostly because of the play in words as well as signs that look similar to each other. So you have to be very very vigilant and not be tricked.

And again, the English translation sometimes are really frustrating. Hence I feel that its very useful if you know at least a basic amount of Italian, just to flip the translation from English to Italian once in a while so you don’t get tricked by this.

I’m quite annoyed with this one because of the translation. Tempo in Italian means time, not speed. So I should have gotten another point

But in any case, do as many quizzes as possible. Aim for less than 4 errors as you only pass when you get 26 points and above. And don’t feel too deflated when you don’t do well in the beginning. Better to do mistakes here than to pay an additional 80 Euro for a retest! Soon you’ll get a feel of the mechanics. I only felt a little more confident as my statistics went better as I went along.

So continue to do the simulation tests. As my friend Lynn would say, do it in the toilet even! But after a while I’d get a brain cramp and go nomming in the kitchen before continuing to do the quizzes again. Seems very fastidious, but trust me, when the day comes you’ll feel more confident as you have enough artillery to go to war.

On the day of the exam, you could do some last minute quizzes if you like to, but I’d rather spend the last few hours before the exam to relax and listen to some music to calm my nerves.

To take the exam, you’ll have to reach a place called the Motorizzazione Civile – for the one in Rome, it is located at Via Del Fosso Dell’Aqua Acetosa Ostiense 9 (wah, what a very long name) Try to be there at least 15 minutes before your allocated time as they don’t allow late candidates inside the hall.

Oh and don’t forget to bring along your original copy of your Permesso Di Soggiorno and your Carta D’Identita as well as the documents (such as the medical certificate) that the driving school has provided you.

When you see a plentiful of juvenile delinquents people carrying books, trying to do some last minute cramming, you know you are at the right place. I laugh at these people for their futile attempt. Believe me, you’ll only forget what you read 5 minutes upon closing the book. And with over 300 combinations, there is a high chance that what you read will not come out in the test itself. So why bother? (I sound so snooty don’t I?)

Anyhow, an invigilator will come out to take your attendance after which, you’ll enter a room full of monitors. The monitors do not display anything at the moment. You’ll be allocated a seat and after which you’ll need to show your documents. And then you’ll be handed a white smart card. This card will be used to be inserted in the central processing unit (powered by Sun Microsystems!) and you’ll see your monitor starting up. For the first few minutes, the invigilators will explain to the candidates on how to use and navigate through the touch monitor.

And then you do your quiz in 30 minutes. Read calmly. After doing your regular quizzes, this should be second nature. As always, try to compare the english translation with the Italian one just to double check. Even when you see people completing their quizzes in less than 30 minutes, use your remaining time to double check your answers because sometimes there could be some careless mistakes done in haste. No point doing it fast anyway because its not like you’ll get additional points for completing it fast. Moreover the results will be announced after everyone is done.

Once the time is almost up and you are ready to lock in, click on the confirm button. You hand the smart card back to the invigilator and exit the hall where you and fellow candidates wait for the results to be announced. After a while, the invigilators will announce your result. But they will only tell you if you got a pass or a fail though. I tried to ask how many points I had in total but the information wasnt delved and details will only be known after a day or two online.

Anyway, for now, I’m happy to let you know that this lady is one step closer to riding a scooter.

I passed my Driving Theory Test! yay!

Thanks to everyone who wished me luck and also my vespa tshirt which I wore yesterday.

It was blessed by a goat

In any case, I’m just starting to learn riding theory in a private school which was supposed to be an English speaking one but they were as fluent in English as I was in Italian. It isn’t necessarily bad though, since its actually useful for me as I could polish up my Italian by learning about road terminologies.

And I’ve learnt to be a lot more patient and not to laugh (juvenile I know) because now that I’ve been thrown on the other side, I understand how difficult it is for non natives to learn another language. Even if I think sometimes it sounds really strange and non fluid. Like the book that I’m reading from.

Considering that it is supposed to be translated by a native speaker, it sounds quite babelfish to me.

In any case, some of the signs were familiar to me, many of the signs are pretty universal, pretty much most of the symbols on this page below. Who doesn’t know the stop sign? And the left and right arrows?

There are some signs that I’ve never seen before though, for example, in Singapore there are no trams like as there are towards the Rome city centers.

Recently, I’m learning about the right of way – which vehicle has the precedence to go first and it confused me as I was taught a little differently when I was back in driving school in Singapore. It took me like freaking one minute just to stare and compute. Oh gosh, I cant imagine how it will be like in the actual exam!

And speaking of exams, Lynn passed me her driving theory quiz book for me to borrow. And I’m starting to feel overwhelmed. Blog reader Roberto said that its not difficult, but I still feel apprehensive. My theory test is in a month’s time and I’ve yet to cover 1/4 of the books. So much to read and study!

Feels like I’m taking A levels all over again

One of the things that I fell crazy in love was the Vespa GT 200. I was surfing through the internet innocently some years back, stumbled upon it and at first look, there was a deep longing and I knew that it just had to be mine.

So much so that at the time when I didn’t have a riding license, I was willing to sacrifice time and money to learn to take my 2B riding license.

It was a lot of sweat and tears. I still remember having to go through the 8 ring in a certain amount of time and the emergency break round was one of the scariest one for me since the floor was wet and there was a chance to slip. But it was worth it in the end.

And the day when I finally got my baby Vespa was one of the most thrilling experience of my life. And I loved every moment. And I’ve never regretted it. Its the feeling of having your own wings and be able to fly.

Since moving to Italy, I havent rode on a scooter for a while. Firstly because I had to start all over again since Italy doesn’t accept to convert Singapore riding license since I’m living here permanently. I was accompanying Cart to the Motorizzazione Civile (driving school) to have his license replaced when his wallet was stolen last year. I was looking through the list of licences and thought to myself. Rather than just getting a patentino, which allowed you to drive a motorcycle, I might as well get the patente which lets me drive both motorcycles and cars.

But which car would I choose? I don’t know yet. Perhaps the smart car?

Its small, its cute and it looks pretty suitable for city driving since it looks easier to find parking with it in the limited amount of parking spaces here in Rome. Only thing is that its a two seater. And contrary to the namesake, Cart thinks that most smart drivers aren’t very smart.

But all that chanced when Cart and I were walking in Parco Laghetto last sunday for our exercise. There was a police fair going on and then I spotted this and I was totally mesmerized.

Isn’t it the cutest thing? Its like Mr’s Bean’s car only much much much cuter. I love the shape, I love the design. I love everything about it. Its so adorable!

Its the Fiat 500! In Italian, 500 is cinquecento, and I love the character the car oozes out. Just like my vespa. Did you know that Michael Schumacher, multiple world champion of the Formula 1, has a couple of cinquecento himself? Good taste.

Even the insides is really cute. I love the choice of cream coloured steering wheel and the bright and happy red seats. Check out the dashboard! Isn’t it totally retro? I think I’d feel happy just sitting and driving in this.

The only problem is that the car is really small. Meant to fit 4 people at the same time, it looks quite cramped. Judging from the picture of me next to it, I could probably fit in fine, but poor Cartcart would probably feel like he is in a sardine can with this. Imagine if we had to drive all the way from Rome to Milan in this.

Actually, I don’t want to imagine being in this for 10 hours. It was tiring enough being in a roadtrip from Rome to Napoli.

But in anycase, now as I am typing this, I feel like kicking myself for not opening the door, and sitting down to get a feel of it. I was just too chicken with all the police swarming all over the place (it was a police fair after all) and the last thing I wanted was to have them catch me and fold me into two or something. Cart said that there are still people driving this car and will ask around for me to have a go for it, but I don’t wanna feel like I’m a bother.

In any case, this model isn’t manufactured anymore with the last one being produced in 1975. And instead, its been replaced by the Fiat 500 nuovo. Its vastly improved with better safety system like 7 airbags all around, comforts of airconditiong, and USB drive where you could plug in to listen to music. And its slightly bigger, so it should be more comfortable for passengers.

So if I’d choose a car, I’d probably choose the Fiat 500 nuova.

The main thing to do now is to work and save up about 15k euro. But to do that, I’d have to get a job first because I’d hate to have to depend on Cart for everything. And to get a job, I should be more fluent in Italian.

Le Sigh! The things I do for love.

In the meanwhile, check out this retro video advert of the cinquecento. Very cool!

Hopefully all goes well and I’d get one. Would you hope for me too?

Sidenote : I also saw a police lamborghini at the fair.

Ok question. Why would the police need a lamborghini? Cart thinks that its for the speedy transport of important items like a human transplant or documents.

I think its just for showing off.

Ok. So its not a real scooter. But one day … one day …

Its just that all the bureaucracy of trying to get a Carta D’Identita and then a Patentino after that is quite daunting.

But anyway Stickrinaz is enjoying herself! She really missed riding!

Other stickrinaz adventures :

• Stickrinaz in Malaysia
• The things I do for Chicken Chop
• Rinaz is a chair killer
• O what a day!
• rinaz and the chocolate factory

Next time I’ll leave at dawn!

Sidenote : All the RL pics shown are snapped using the Samsung Innov8.

Other stickrinaz adventures :

• The things I do for Chicken Chop
• Rinaz is a chair killer
• O what a day!
• rinaz and the chocolate factory

I prefer to be a speed demon myself rather than watching other people race :P

In any case, this is a montage of the scooter charity aid 2008 that I joined in on the 13th September. This is the 4th year for the convoy to raise funds for the Tabung Amal Aidilfitri for the needy.

Scooter Charity Ride 2008 from rinaz on Vimeo.

What do you think?

Related link :

• Charity Ride 2007