Lesson 1: Aug 25 (Sat) 7.30-11.30am

First lesson.

Geared up properly with a comfy helmet and a pair of gloves in the week (total cost: HK$600).

Not having super good sleep the night before due to over-excitement.

The first thing we do was to lift the bike up to the centre stand. It was much heavier than I've imagined, and I probably need some weight-training.

My brain was not functioning well in the morning, and failed to understand what the instructor meant by friction point, clutch control, blah blah blah... So all I was doing was letting the engine died, restart, died, restart, and so forth. Really it took me ages to find the friction point and start going forward a bit.

On to actually moving, I had then found out my serious balance problem. Most of the time my feet were not on the pegs, and I was literally "walking" with my feets on the ground - when the power should be going from the right handle!! Jesus. A lot of energy was wasted on felling over and pulling up the bike back up. Such a nightmare.

The other 4 classmates (all mate) went like they'd learned driving before, with absolutely no engine breakdown and such. Only one guy had a few time falling over, and I heard the occasional engine restart. They were very quiet and tend not to talk even during break time (typical Hong-Kong-ese).

Another scooter class was running when we had a few minutes of theory in the classroom. At that moment I was really afraid of not passing the damn compulsory test, and thought of switching to auto gearing... But that will lose the whole meaning of learning - shifting gear is an essential part of driving, isn't it?

After the break my mind was much more clearer to remember the control mechanics, I started doing a little bit of acceleration from the right handle, and moving my feet back on the pegs. Maybe when I got more tried, I had less energy to grip too hard, and relaxation was what I needed - same as any physical activity.

However the instructor showed us how to weave around mini traffic cones(?), go "8" circles, and ride/balance cross a metal bar. I'd leave these to Lesson 2, as I'd better be learning how to turn...

During the week I bought a bicycle (another $500 expenditure) just for this. One of the instructor watching really told me to practice more on a bicycle. Additional motorbike class will be $175/hr, and I definitely don't want to spend too much on that.

I felt much better after 3 nights of bicycle riding at the nearby bike park.