First day, I made the very poor choice of runwalking to Tao Nan School bus stop, thinking, if i missed 36 at the previous stop at Marine Terrace Blk 57, there is the traffic light to slow it down and i can make it on time.
How foolish...it's AM PEAK time!
I shoulda just gotten on one of the TWO 16s or 196 that will bring me to town, but nooo. Fer once i stuck to my choice of 36 (which I don't normally like to take cos' of the distance from home-bus stop) but yeah, ECP jam is a major UGHHH and worst of all, the bus is sardine-packed! Leaving me standing all the way on a not-so-quick-ride as i'd hoped. And i was late. Of course. For fifteen good minutes, since the chiller classroom's clock is 5 minutes ahead of Singapore's real time.
That pretty much was the pre-set Morning Adventure for the days to come.
Late 10 minutes (according to my time now) and on time for about three days each.
The second Monday, i missed 16 by metres (arggghh, one of my travel peeves) so i got on 196, to make the switch to either 14/ 16 at Suntec City. So i waited. Damn, I wanted a miracle. Well, not exactly, but i certainly did not want to wait. Some minutes later, 16 came lolling in. !@#$%^&* So i ended up on the bugger that i missed by seconds back home! Oookay. Then the next peeve; 14 caught up and zoomed straight ahead, beating 16 as it got past the lights ahead and DAMN! 16 got stuck light after light. Sobs. So i made it on time anyway. But annoyed i was.
The next day: lucky methinks, "mm, things are going smoothly..."
Having to sleep 5 minutes more than the previous day, and still leave the house earlier, AND caught 16. :D Then the shocker came.
The bus turned into Still Road. ?!?! Panic. I'd just taken out my reading materials ready to settle in fer a nice read on the ardous journey through Joo Chiat and beyond (being melodramatic here) and now did i absentmindedly hop onto 13 instead?
Solution: MRT to Dhoby Ghaut? Bus 7 to YMCA?
I asked the lady in front of me: "excuse me, this is 16 right?"
and she replied: "yah, the driver went the wrong way"
PHEW! So we missed the busy Marine Drive and Katong Mall stop. Yay. Ha. That was a heart-beater for someone like me who's always crammed for time.
I'm just halfway through the eventful bus rides.
Wednesday: I lost 16 again and so it was 196 & 14 to school which the latter got stuck behind 36 (-_-) and another service at SMU. Nothing really extra-ordinary.
Thursday: (out of Singapore now) The bus ride from Larkin to Kota Tinggi was really long (1.5hrs approx) and the bus macam Singapore's yellow bus of the '80s (TIBS), had small seats with little legroom and music playing from the driver's radio set. I realised, people there are not as plugged in as the pampered ones here, where there are iPods, Sony Wii, etc, to distract from the simple pleasure of zoning out on the journey home/ to work.
Friday: Hitchhiked a bas sekolah for a few minutes to Bandar Penawar Bas Terminal after a terribly long walk on a long quiet road to catch a bus that doesn't run on schedule at the bus stops. Since my dear companion is distrustful of the people to hitchhike, we reeeally had a good walk on the dusty roads. So we finally got on the comfortable 5pm bus back to Larkin, after a good hour's wait at the crowded interchange. The ride at RM8.40 made it the most costly bas taken throughout the 2-day trip but the reclining chairs and ample space to chuck my bags made its worth. Ohhh, but it was a helluva bumpy ride at one stretch! Like a badly built rollercoaster track.
Homeward bound from Causeway: THREE SBS/ SMRT buses came and nope, still no sign of the 170 to Queen Street. Wasssup with that. It didn't wait?? Or did the driver stop fer a longgg break on the JB side? Ohhkay! All's well's that ends well. Another hour long journey home, from services 170 to 48 at Little India station with me tumbling off the former cos' i relied on matey to give advance notice about the stop which didn't happen. All that barang makes me a very clumsy traveller. Meeting Stella was a bonus on the bus, keeping me awake so i don't miss my stop. However, catching up with her means i didn't alight at my usual (KCP) stop, so i had to trek up the mountainous Overhead Bridge at Marine Terrace.
That culminates the bus stories from 2 weeks in July.
Thanks to Observer Grissa...
A Quick Read before getting Blood-Suckered
Noor getting ready to be pumped (my companion sucker)
chel getting ready to be pumped
Jul 21, Thirteenth Time
Jul 24, Politics, Economics, America and the Future lecturer with part of the class
Clockwise from Dr. Lawrence Wells Cobb: Gladys, Lathika, Gidien, Rahul, Noor, Jothi, Nishi, Grissa, Michelle
(probably my last class shot with Grissa...)
Quotable Quotes
If you think you're too small to make a difference, you've never been in bed with a mosquito.
-TVM choice quote
You should pay whatever price for domestic tranquility.
-Matt Hamilton (adapted from Karlie Harmon)
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction."
-E. F. Schumacher
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