On the way to Bugis

My train from Pasir Ris docked into the centre lane of tanah merah station,which was the expo/ airport lane. For a second I panicked, I'd thought that I took the wrong train. Then I got angry at myself for not checking first. Since, you know, MRT trains break down on a pretty regular basis. The announcements then came on. It's really to Joo koon. Whew. The train operators were repeating non-stop that the train was to joo-koon. Annoying. Why didn't they go to the normal lane?

Attentive and considerate human.

Hoho, today on my way home from a gathering/ eating session with Yao Cheng and Physilia Lim, my ez-link card was too low on cash to board NR7. So I had to change a ten dollar note with this passenger. Was so awkward during the time that he was digging out the cash. The trip was $4.50! From Paya Lebar to Pasir Ris! So I paid the driver and tried to walk up to find a seat. The bus was so shaky that I fell/leaned on the backwards seat. Then I heard "you wanna seat?" (or something along that line). And it was that note-changer motioning for me to sit on the seat beside him. LOL the trip home was awkward.

My facebook status on that uncle

Second meeting with old grumpy 'must board first' uncle: "Old people really get away with everything. This old man just barged past me and GLARED at me like I'm at fault when I've been queuing and waiting for the damn bus for 20mins!!! What?? My fault that I came earlier? Really? You just want to be first on the bus?" Third meeting with old grumpy 'must board first' uncle: "Ugh that "die die must be first on the bus uncle" is here again. This time same thing. I'm first in line and he blatantly almost shoves me aside to get on."

BUS RACE

Sometimes my buses like to arrive one after the other. Maybe 2 or 3 minutes apart. But eventually when they catch up, they will start with what I call a bus race. Its exciting. Really. You sit in the bus observing, watching your bus inch past that other bus. Just when you feel like you're winning, some passenger decides to alight, thereby slowing the bus down. And you're lagging behind again. Then, as your bus sets off, inching closer to the other bus in front, your bus gains leverage when people decide to flag that bus down to board since its, well, in front. It has no choice! As your bus zooms past again, you look back at the stopped bus and think "HAHA". Then someone stops your bus. As you silently cheer your bus on, there would be many disappointments when you get behind. But never mind, the first bus to reach the interchange WINS.

SMRT SMB154 A

So I don't complain directly to the bus company. Thats because I feel like my complaints will fall on deaf ears and I'm too tired to deal with it.

11.51pm on a Thursday night, bus 167 sped past the bus stop at Upper Thompson, the one that before Thompson plaza, with no inkling of slowing whatsoever or turning in to see if there is anyone at the bus stop waiting for it. Luckily for me, my reflexes were still at optimal stage, I managed to flag down the bus for another commuter and 1. But at the rate the bus was speeding past, by the time it stopped, it had gotten a good 10 metres away from the bus stand. Really now. It didn't even turn in! Well it couldn't cause it was pretty far away already.

What I want to say is, this bus driver is negligent, impatient, inconsiderate and whatever else I cannot think of at this point in time. The least he could do is slow down. Not everyone is observant like me (take note, my job forces me to notice up to a 25th of a second). What if its an old lady/man? They aren't gonna be so fast. Hell, they will miss the bus altogether, not realising it! And you expect them to trek all the way to your bus? No apology from the so called bus captain too!

Citaro bus design

Singaporean bus commuters should know of this bus. This is our latest "improved" bus.
And here's my complaint: I take a 1 hour bus ride to work every weekday. And another ten minutes when I change buses. Ever since the new "improved" sbs buses came out, there has been so few choice seats for me. The ride gets so annoying. You know why? It's because my legs dangle off the seats. Hey don't call me short at this point, there are many, MANY girls who are like me as well, their feet dangle off that they have to slouch to get a better rest for their feet, sitting only at the tip of the seat. my legs become numb by the time I get to my destination and there's only 4 seats available that I can sit comfortably in.

And my legs have been bruised so many times from the jerky bus, with its 1 foot raised step. I dont know what is that for but it's bloody dangerous especially when you're standing there waiting for people to shift so you can step off. You just don't know when the bus will jerk. JERK bus.


Falling into the crowd will be something like that, except more awkward and much much less fun.


Or like that. Still not fun. But it still beats falling in a nearly empty bus. There were aunties who fell, hit their head and slipped into a coma!

Here's my solution for the dangling legs issue: With the increased horizontal leg space to accommodate taller people, the distance between chair AND the floor can be decreased! Everyone will be comfortable and happy, having a support for the feet. Nobody ever complains that their knees are too high unless the idiot designer makes it so that its at chest level.

And for the raised platform: the aisle in the centre can also be sloped up. Not such a drastic fall.