expiration date 

i’m excited… today was the first day i drove a car in Melbourne. i drove in Brisbane before, but Melbourne is a different beast to me. this city, since it has trams running in the middle of the street, has a strange traffic rules. it’s so strange that i still can’t quite explain it here. does anyone know what hook turn means?

anyways, i haven’t been able to gather courage to drive around the city until today. Yani’s brother, Lendra, and his family are on vacation in Indonesia. so Yani and i took his car and decided to go comic shopping at Chapel Street. Yani drove to, and i drove back.

there are a few minor problems, though:

- we’re driving someone else’s car without permission
- i don’t have australian driver’s license
- neither of us know our way around the city (thank heavens for the map!).

i probably felt as giddy as a teenage girl trying to sneak out of her window to go to a party and breaking her curfew… and an adult way, of course. that feeling didn’t last long. once my dad knew i drove the car, he tagged along and we went out to eat at Silks. you know, once you’re dad tags along in things you do, you sorta lost that rebellious feeling.

the thing that excites me the most is, it’s been over 4 years of not having to drive a stick shift. i’ve always thought that if i start driving stick shift again, i’ll keep forgetting that clutch exists, stop in red lights and stall. despite of all the nervousness, it turned out that i still can drive manual transmission. no stalling at all! yay me!

next plan: get international drivers license once i’m back at Jakarta.

linkydink: i already put this on avocadolite, but i love the work so much that i have to put it up here as well: kurthalsey.com.