What's it like to attend the PDVL course at STA?

Few days back I attended the PDVL course I booked 9th July 2017.

The night before, i was checking out the parking charges at STA which is located at The Herencia.
I found out there was no suitable or better parking locations around that area.
So my options are either public transport/grab or uber/taxi/drive my own car to reach there.

I found out public transport was not convienent for me as I had to take a train and change a bus.

Taking PHV/Taxi there will cost me $10 and the return trip will cost more as The Herencia is located at Kim Yam Road which always surge during peak hours.

I figure the parking fee will cost me $18 for the entire duration for the course so it makes sense for me to drive my own car there!

The course starts at 9:00am and I was told to arrive 15 minutes early.

I left home at 8:20am and planned to take CTE there but there was an ERP gate that will cost me $6!
Unwilling to pay the ERP toll, I took the PIE to Stevens Road instead and was delayed as the traffic was little heavy there.

I was informed to be on time else I might not be allowed to take the course and I zoom zoom my way there.

I reached STA at 8:50am but realised many people was not there yet.
The latest person that showed up was around 9:30am and he was allowed to enter the classroom!
(Why did I rush?!)

The instructor was there chilling and he started giving out a book and few notes to us.
We were asked to sign beside our name after taking those items.

Books, notes, mock papers

This course is from 9am-6pm with couple breaks in between.
Be prepared to stay there for a whole day!

Class schedule

Take note that you are required to wear a collar shirt,long pants and covered shoes.

The instructor was very strict on this rule and some had to go to their car to take a jacket with collar to enter the classroom.

During the breaks, some went downstairs to smoke, other drank coffee from  the machine which was reccomended by our instructor. He says it's the best in STA, takes a minute to grind the coffee into powder and brew! It is $1 and accept $2 notes.

Best coffee machine in STA?

Lunch was provided by Uber and Grab. Totally free! 

Uber has a small buffet table behind the room where people take the test with many iPads on the table.

Grab provides lunch boxes and free drinks in the chiller.

You can eat at any side you wish regardless which platform you are driving for.

Free lunch from Uber and Grab

According to our instructor, one day is simply not enough to cover the entire course. 

So he will only teach us what topics/chapters to study. (Like giving tips)

And we have to go back and study on our own.

He said most classes will only have about 2-5 pass on the first time.

We had about 20+ in our class that day.

So don't expect it to be an easy pass!

Our instructor went on to share his experience in the industry and telling us many interesting stories.

So 50% of the time wasn't on learning the course... but it was still enjoyable.

I wanted to leave around 3pm as I was starting to get bored 

(remember I have signed on the attendance sheet already)

But I stayed on the entire course until 6pm.

At 6pm, the instructor pass the attendance sheet to us again and asked us to sign twice in the two boxes beside our name. That's actually the important one, the first signature was for collecting the materials!

Luckily I never ran off half way!

Anyway, you will only have to sit for the course once and you can simply retake the test if you fail.

When I exited the carpark, it was $17.50 as I expected. 

But i did not expect their carpark machine does not accept my Citibank SMRT EZ-Reload card!

Luckily I have a spare cashcard and that got me out of STA.

True enough, it was surging at 1.9X during that time and I picked up a rider and start driving for Uber right out of the Herencia. Awesome!

Our test is a week after the course and I will have to try my best to read the books.

Hope I can pass in one try!

Thoughts?

Did i miss out anything? Please let me know in the comments.

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