A Mind of My Own

When the MRT was first setup, I was curious about it. After a while, I noticed that it arrives according to the dictation, less than 4 minutes of waiting. Over the years, I’ve noticed that I have to wait for 7 minutes for the next train should I have the unfortunate fate of walking towards closing doors and risk losing my leg or arm.

After so many years, the fares have increased from 20 cents (I think) to 90 cents for 3 train stops. Now, I wonder if the price for 2 train stops will be $1.20 onwards since the price of oil has been rising despite the MRT not using any petrol, diesel or whatever liquid fuel for any matter. It uses electricity that is generated from the power station or somewhere.

The slogan for SMRT is Moving People, Enhancing lives. Is that what they are doing? Moving people alright but at what pace? Can we actually reach from one end of Singapore to the other end in 20 minutes using the train? No. I have tried and it took me 1.5 hours, the fastest was only 1 hour and 15 minutes. By car, it would have taken me 20 - 30 minutes provided that all the traffic lights are green and no traffic jam.

[via Flickr]

In what ways have our lives been enhanced? I see people blocking the whole stretch of the platform at popular stations like Jurong East, Outram Park, Raffles Place, City Hall, Bugis, Ang Mo Kio and Bishan. None of them will let me alight unless I’m using a long umbrella that is wet, using a large bag to barge my way through or holding a hot kettle. All these are during peak hours.

[via Flickr]

I’ve met different people in the trains such as telling others to move into the middle of the car, inconsiderate people taking up floor space, loud music that not everyone enjoys, non-existing announcements of the stops, loud or soft announcements of the stops, people eating and drinking to their hearts’ delight and many others.

I have even had elderlies rushing into the train to grab that available seat they have already marked with their eyes. Another elderly lady attempted to poke me with her umbrella despite a lot of people alighting. It’s very rare to see someone giving the seat to an elder or pregnant lady.

World class transport means that it’s supposed to be efficient. It does arrive on dictation, after 11 minutes of waiting. It shouldn’t stop violently due to some other train still at the station. Signals should be given way ahead. Or have they until the driver belated sees the red light?

If the price of the rides have to be increased, service such as waiting time should be improved. It isn’t reasonable if the price increased but the cleanliness and waiting time standards have gone down the drain.

There should also be transparency such as delays that don’t let others speculate about suicides on the tracks. Speculation is to be expected if there is train delays. Don’t just state that there will be a delay and sorry for the inconvenience caused. It can’t quench the cat’s curiosity thirst.

Finger pointing isn’t even needed. Just facts and transparency. I thought going for interviews state that as employees, we should own up to mistakes? Commuters don’t really care much about how long the inquest for such incidents will take, just that they need a solution to their transport problem.

All these factors determine why we are taking the public transport. Increasing the taxi fares don’t help because everyone is trying to earn more money. Everyone is out to win, not lose. While the buses have less graffiti, the waiting time still needs to be improved.

Taxis are there to provide a more personalised transport mode. Buses are there to provide a general mode, albeit more than the train. Trains are there to get us to the general area. Changing between trains and buses are common, it’s how much of a hassle.

If you have to change from bus to train to bus just to get from Seng Kang to Tampines or Bedok, what mode of transport would you choose? How long do you think the public transport will take? 20 minutes? 50 minutes or even an hour?

Are the commuters’ voices being heard in the first place? Are the ones stating all the changes and implementing them taking the public transport at the same time as those commuting to work? Do they even know?

I took half day just to take my degree. The place doesn’t allow me to collect it on other days. I decided not to attend the ceremony. Just felt that the 2 hours during noon weren’t going to be worth my time. DD decided to drive me there. We turned into Orange Grove Road but missed the turn after the private apartments. I’m so bad at reading maps. After the collection, we went to Nihon Mura at The Cathay for a very late lunch.

After lunch, we went to Bugis to collect DD’s birthday present by the union. Totally got lost because there were some streets that were one way. When DD turned in at Seah Street and prepared to reverse park, there was this idiot (didn’t catch the license plate ) driving racing pass us by barely 1mm from the driver’s side. Fortunately, DD braked on time. That’s why I prefer DD to lovingly drive me around.

We proceeded to look at the street directory again. I shall never become a navigator. I can’t read maps. Finally, we figured the route and proceeded to the union and waited for this lady to answer some idiot who loved to call at the moment we were about to be served. The present? It was a diary with a calculator.
I wondered if it was worth risking hit by some reckless driver. Well, since we were in the area, might as well redeem the gift. That’s what the union is always for. Redeem gifts like manicure sets, diaries, calculators, torchlight-cum-radio-cum-siren and other whatnots.

Lesson for that day was that never read maps if one is unable to read them. Consulting them during critical times would result in wrong turns. Always be alert on the lookout for some rash drivers thinking that they are Formula One drivers who can maneuver way much better than F1 wannabes.

Usually, I prefer 3D2N trips as it allows me to have a goo rest on the 1st day of arrival. However, Batam isn’t really a place where you would like to stay for more than 2 days. It’s mostly known for its massage services, just like Thailand. Batam was hot and sexy.

We boarded the ferry at 10am and reached Batam at around 11am. It was still 10am, Batam time. It doesn’t matter how early we reached the place. The hotel rooms weren’t ready. We reached the hotel, Pacific Palace, at 12 noon but were told that the rooms weren’t ready. So, we had to walk around to entertain ourselves until 1pm. By a stroke of luck, one of the rooms was ready just before we decided our next course of action.

Thus, we dumped our bags into the room and went out. However, we realised that we had left out something during our haste for lunch. Thus, we went back to take it. On our way out, the receptionist or some manager looked for DD. Thankfully, we went back because the manager actually went to the room to look for us.

Since we had the keys, DD and I decided to check out the rooms. We chose the room on the left and scared the lights out of the guy who was attempting to do something with the lights. So sorry. Then we went to check out the other room. Thankfully, there wasn’t anyone to frighten.

Since I felt that the 2nd room was better, I chose that room and left with the other choice to the other couple. I was right in choosing that room. The overall displeasure about that hotel is that it had no bath tub. It’s a 4-star hotel but no bath tubs for deluxe, superior and executive rooms. What sort of designer decided it to be that way?

The toilet was large, larger than the ones in Hard Rock Hotel Bali and Ritz Carlton Bali. So I can’t get it out of my mind that it doesn’t have any bath tubs except for Junior and Classic suites.

We went for a massage at Miracle Aesthetic Clinic which had quite a professional decoration. However, I found it odd that their jacuzzi had this vacuum like object that had a pipe to emit the jets. It felt that the bath tub had shrunk due to that extra object. The staff was rather nice to switch off the aircon after discovering that I was cold.

While the massage was average, the jacuzzi was superb. 2 hours of Strawberry spa includes body massage, body scrub, steam, jacuzzi and some refreshments. The package cost Rp 300, 000 excluding tax. Sweet deal, right?

Thus, our 1st day in Batam ended with dinner at some food court. I can’t remember the place but I think it was in Nagoya, with more than 10 stalls selling seafood. Apparently, Bali and Batam are known for their seafood.

The next morning, which is this morning, the couple that got the 2nd room, reported that their bathroom had flooded. The pipe was clogged. The 1st couple joked about letting the water level rise so that they had a standing bath tub. However, in reality, the shower door had opening between the fixed glass and the door. It wouldn’t have really flooded that high.

Naturally, we went to the Mega Mall opposite the ferry terminal before departing for Singapore. I bought nothing except J. Co donuts that Kris had introduced. It does taste different from those bought in the cake shops. The donut was light and easily bitten into. However, my favourite snack still isn’t donut as I am not fond of sweet stuff.

I won’t be booking Pacific Palace but will book another hotel for my next trip to Batam. There’s another option, I can just go for a 1-day trip in Batam. Another lesson lesson learnt, any change in the package meant more money for the locals as they would state a charge of a certain amount per person before you take up their service. The utter horrors of holidays that I dislike very much.

Having had the privilege to travel a few times, I must say, my favourite trip is to Australia. I went there during the Chinese New Year. Of course I visited my relatives before that. It was a package tour but ended up half free and easy.

However, it wasn’t that bad because we had a guide who drove us around according to the itinerary. In fact, I still remember this couple, there were only 3 couples. This particular couple caught SH and my eyes because of their odd pairing.

They didn’t look married. They didn’t behaved married. They behaved as if they were brother and sister. We just couldn’t make out what sort of relationship they had. The guy wasn’t that great in English and there was this one time, it rained heavily on our way back. One of us wanted to buy something and the guide recommended 7-Eleven. And so, we went there to make some purchases.

Before we alighted, the guide was telling us a whole lot of information and we weren’t used to the accent yet. This guy (from the odd couple) kept nodding and agreeing. At the end, he asked, “Ee kong simi?” (What did she say?)

We couldn’t keep our laughter in. I guess face was the issue here. It’s one of my favourite trips as it was rather relaxed and we had someone to drive us around. The only thing was that I got sick of was seeing kangaroos and koala bears from day one to day six. I did like feeding them though.

I really wonder if the fine is even enough. Would the fine be even successful in compensating? I doubt so. I’m sure the fare hike will come again in some time this year. It has become an annual affair where fare increase is normal.

I’m also sure that the ERP will also be adjusted again. So will all the food prices and petrol and GST. After reading an article about the complaint that no checking was done during the IT Show where huge boxes of HP, Compaq, Samsung were seen, I was thinking if the search for “suspicious looking people or packages/luggages/bags” have been carried too far.

Let’s just say there are 100 people trying to board the train. It’s a public transport. The one that may sometimes break down and cause more than 57, 000 people to be late for work or where some people love to end their lives there.

Now, back to my assumption. You have 100 people with huge sealed boxes that have to be thoroughly slashed open and searched to ensure there isn’t anything dangerous. Time for each box may take 5 minutes because of the search. Another 5 minutes to re-seal if they have the scotch tape. So, for the search to go through all 100 boxes, you have used up 1, 000 minutes. Would this search accomplish anything? I doubt Mas Selamat is able to hide in any of the boxes either.

So, what did the person want to achieve by searching all those boxes and bags? To ensure that it’s safe? Or to make sure they can find that JI guy? What was the purpose?

After watching Fool’s Gold, Jumper was up next. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that exciting. The scenes were Blair-witch like and the characters weren’t developed to their potential. There wasn’t any motives for the so-called good guys and bad guys.

David Rice was made to be some Casanova who was into “banking” (as in robbing banks) and traveling around the world collecting surfboards, exercise machines and other various objects that just decorated his flat.

Roland was made out to be some heartless Jumper killer. This is the part where I don’t understand why he can’t stand anyone who can just jump around. No flashbacks to show why he hates them. Just kill and saying they will all turn bad one day.

The saving grace of this movie, the hot, chiseled body of Hayden Christensen. My, he has since grown out of his Anakin Skywalker image.

After watching Fool’s Gold, I wanted to visit the places where they have clear blue sea. And find a few treasures to auction off. With the sun pelting down and getting a tan, watching babes and hunks by the beach playing beach volleyball and the clear blue sea, it is heaven.

This movies stars Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson as a couple who renew their love for each other despite a divorce to find the Queen’s Dowry. Ah, the adventures begin. I find that Benjamin gets hit on the head almost every time he attempted to appease Big Bunny. Ouch. The most painful part I guess must be when his ex-wife knocked him out with an old man’s cane. That must have hurt a lot.

While some found this movie average, I found it quite funny. Since I have no previous movie with the leads in another movie, a comparison would be unfair. I went because DD passed to me a pair of free tickets he had won in a contest from The New Paper. The goodies were the same except with a pair of calendars.

This time, I don’t know how long we spent watching the ads. Managed to find someone who was available to watch it with me. Meet my new lover, HF. She enjoyed it too. Thanks, DD.

I had Sex on The Beach for my 1 Night Stand. The sweet and tangy aftertaste was wonderful. It was sweet at first. After a few more, it became a little sour with a sweet taste. Ah, the wonderful taste. With wind blowing and the waves crashing against the sand.

The aftereffects weren’t so good in the end. However, not as bad as Singapore Sling. I was lucky to try out the drink. I actually enjoyed it. However, HF didn’t enjoyed Singapore Sling as it was quite bitter and gave her a pounding headache. Thankfully, her brother drove us home.

On the way, there was this rogue taxi driver (Premier, SHB 8332 J or D) decided to cut into the lane after the light turned green. Not happy with the horn being sounded, he braked suddenly twice. He even had a passenger and still did this dangerous stunt.

[via Flickr]

With Chinese New Year falling on Thursday this year, 5-work-day week workers are happy to have a long weekend. For those working on shifts and unable to take any time off without sacrificing your allowance, I do hope your bosses will give you more time off subsequently.

It’s also time for me to meet up with my aunt who had gone through the trouble of flying back for this holiday. I’ve always been doted by her. This weekend is also the best time to travel but it’s expensive if you haven’t booked your trips early.

Besides the time of meeting up with relatives who are very concerned about your marital status, the next best thing is to get the ang baos from them since you are not married, yet. Eat, drink and be merry.

This is also a time to get fatter and I am no longer fitting my tops and pants. So sad. However, I shall comfort myself with the many ang baos that I will shamelesly collect and eat, drink and be merry.
[via Flickr]

I need a holiday. Taiwan or somewhere. The plans are still fuzzy but I’ll get round to them. Meanwhile, enjoy the holiday and don’t eat too much ba kwa, pineapple tarts, love letters, and play too much mahjong. If you still get ang baos, don’t waste them on mahjong la. Not worth it.

My dear readers, may this year of the rat or mouse be filled with prosperity, good health and joy for you.

Since the huge hoohaa about Complaints Choir being canceled because of foreigners singing the lyrics, I decided to do a little research on how it all began. I thought it was organised by M1 Singapore Fringe? And so, I am late but it also means that I get to see others put up their opinions too.

The idea was the brainchild of a Finnish couple, performance artists Tellervo Kelleinen and Oliver Kochta Kalleinen. They were discussing the Finnish term Valituskuoro, which literally means “complaints choir” but refers to a situation in which numerous people are complaining about something at the same time. Tellervo and Oliver thought it would be interesting to make an actual choir of complainers. They circulated flyers and posters in Birmingham, England in 2005 and soon got together a small but enthusiastic group of participants. Each one contributed some random complaints, the list was set to music, and the resulting performance was an instant hit (both in Birmingham and around the world, thanks to YouTube).

My first Youtube experience was with the Helsinki Complaints Choir. When I read the subtitles, I realised that they have complaints and peeves similar to ours too. Youtube has videos of the rest of the Complaints Choir. The wonders of technology.

Singapore Complaints lyrics found at Chillycraps. Featured in Mr Brown, Yahoo!, Online Citizen, The Vancouver Sun, The China Post and many more. Full article from Straits Times by Simply Jean.