My Favourite Bus Service

The 414 (Putney Bridge Station - Maida Hill, The Chippenham) is my favourite bus service basically because its the one I take most often. It is really useful when after a long day of lectures, you don't really want to trudge back through Hyde Park. And it passes by some really nice places - Harrods, Hyde Park Corner, Park Lane (the Dorchester Hotel), Marble Arch and of course, Edgware Road (it also passes through Maida Hill, but I suppose that can't be helped).

So even though I am so grateful that this service exists, I still have a few quibbles. Like, for example, why do some buses not travel the whole route, and terminate at Marble Arch, or Edgware Road (the latter I have no problem with btw). It is really irritating to have to wait for the next bus because the one that comes first does not go the whole route. What is even more annoying is sometimes, the front of the bus says Maida Hill, but inside, the voice informs you that it is, in face, terminating at Marble Arch. The one time it happened to me, the driver was decent enough to let all the passengers (who, like us, were caught unaware when the bus came to Marble Arch and the engine went off) to get onto the next Maida Hill-bound bus without having to tap our Oysters again. This doesn't happen anywhere else as far as I am aware.

And secondly, the frequency can be rather strange sometimes. The other day, four 14 buses came and went at the bus stop before the first 414 arrived (luckily not a Marble Arch-only bound one or I would have been so incensed). I don't know if its just 14s which have crazy frequencies or whether the 414 is just slow. But still, it's annoying.

However, I guess it makes up for some of that by giving me a view of Danni Minogue turning on the lights at Harrods, or getting me back when I was under-dressed for the day. So, hooray for the 414!

In London Now!

Having been in London for just over a week only, I haven't been able to travel that much. But traveling on the 7 just now (to and from Russell Square - the route is actually Russell Square to East Acton) I have found 3 ways in which the buses here are nicer than in Singapore.

1) I didn't have to wait that long for a bus to arrive. A bus came just 5 mins from when I arrived at the bus stop.

2) There are electronic signboards (both on upper and lower decks) indicating the next stop as well as the terminal where the bus is going.

3) I have not yet seen a bus that is as crowded as the (Singapore) 7 along Orchard Road, 28 along New Upper Changi Road or 5 (at peak hours) along the PIE.

I'll have more updates once I actually travel more and (possibly) get sick of the buses here as well.

Bus 5: 48 Marcus:1

I finally got an apology from SBS over service 5! I sent an SMS to Ask Iris about the bus 5. It told me 13 mins (shorter than normal though). 5 mins later, it sent a second message, telling me it had been delayed, the waiting time was now 12 mins, and apologised about making me wait. That must have been hard on them, having to take responsibility for their tardiness. Now, if they could take one step further and ensure the bus 5 actually arrives on schedule, then they won't have to say sorry any more.

However - on the way back, similar situation. 20 min wait. Note to SBS - a double decker bus arriving every 20 mins is NOT equal to a singe deck bus arriving every 10 mins, ok? Just because you sent a double deck 5 does not appease my frustration at having to wait that long.

Overcrowding

Lugging back my purchases from the Pc fair yesterday, I was at the bus stop outside Bedok MRT. There was a 28 already there as I got off the escalator - it was still there because of the huge queue waiting to get in, when there was obviously little space left. This was a double decker mind you. I joined the end and finally managed to get on - wedged between the drivers seat and the door. There might have been more space upstairs, but there was no way to get through the throng blocking me from the stairs. So me and my two huge bags settled for leaning against the front window. As the bus closed its doors and moved off, I saw the driver giving me an angry stare. At first I thought he was annoyed that I squeezed onto his already crammed bus, but a second later I realised it was because I was blocking the view of his side mirror. Whoops. At the next stop, the lady made a hand signal indicating she wanted to get off. I moved to one side, only to get smacked by the doors as the opened. Ouch. The guy next to me got his backpack stuck behind the door as well. By the time the bus had cleared (about 3 stops later) it was much better, but I did not have time to enjoy the breathing room as it was almost at my own stop already. As the bus turned onto Bedok Reservoir Road, I saw a 59 (single deck ... haha ... losers) with other commuters stuck in the same position as I was (next to the driver and the front door) looking miserable. After that I felt better. At least there were others suffering with me.

Circle Line

Last week I went to try out the new Circle Line, taking a trip from Marymount to Bartley. Here are some observations:

1) Marymount Station was really empty. I wasn't even sure it was open, standing at the entrance next to an HDB block. I mean, the escalator wasn't even running. Until this little girl went and stepped on it and it started working. 

2) In my carriage on the way to Bishan, there were about 5 people. 

3) Bishan was crowded. The transfer to the red line was weird though. How come you have different platforms for different directions?

4) At Serangoon, everyone got off. Except for me and like 2 other people, that's all.

5) Not only is Bartley really empty, it's like in the middle of nowhere. Seriously. 

I would have more comments, if I wasn't overwhelmed by all the loneliness.

Dumb Bus Luck

I always seem to be very unlucky when catching buses. Last week I was going to catch the 5 at the stop across the street from my house. Unfortunately, as I reached the pavement, the light turned red, stopping me from crossing. Anyways, while I was waiting, I looked up from my iPod and found a 5 zooming down the road. I was annoyed, of course. (This is obviously not the first time this has happened with the 5, as anyone who has read my earlier posts will know.) I was even more annoyed 20 minutes later, when I was still at the bus stop. Finally I caught it. Luckily I left my house early.

And at Bedok station the other day, when I was going down the escalators, I saw through the giant window of the station, a 28 pulling into the bus stop. By the time I went down the second escalator, walked through the underground passageway and up another escalator (this is why journeys involving Bedok MRT are so unavoidably tedious), it was long gone. Fortunately for me, the 67 is more reliable, and I was able to hop on that. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, since that was June 5th (woo hoo!), and I had my pink IC in my wallet, I also had like 3 bags of stuff to lug home. Being unable to find a seat on the bus (though I managed to snag a corner one on the train) seriously cramped my back. And I kept hitting people with my bag while staggering down the aisle.

And finally, the weird one last Saturday. I was going to Katong to eat at Astons. So I took a 67 with the intention to change to 32 along New Upper Changi Road. Well, as the bus was at the stop opposite Chai Chee, I looked out the window - to find that the 32 had just pulled out of the bus stop ahead of my bus and was going down the road. The 32 has like an interval of 15 mins or more, so I knew if I didn't catch this one it would mean a horribly long waiting time. And I was thinking, "Oh no, not again." Anyways, the two buses were chasing each other down the road. Another bus stop loomed. The 32 stopped. So did the 67, just as the 32 was pulling out. Dratz. How typical. I was looking at the passengers going out, hoping they would tap their cards faster. As the 67 continued its journey, this time up this hill towards Siglap Road, I saw a traffic light. The 32 passed through. Just when I thought the lights were going to change, the 67 went through as well. Phew. Then came another traffic light. Ditto. Then a miracle happened. There was a bit of congestion on the road in front and the 32 had slowed down. Now, the two buses were only separated by a taxi. At the next bus stop, I was able to quickly jump off the 67, run all the way (hitting my hand on those weird rock posts they always have at bus stops) and signal to the driver of the 32 who had already closed the door. And thankfully, I did it before the 32 separated from the 67 by turning left into Frankel Avenue. Phew. My luck had finally changed for once.

Random Thoughts on Buses in the East Area

I was taking the 32 last week when I went to Old Airport Road Food Centre. While the bus was going down Frankel Avenue, my only thought as the big houses went by, was that this place doesn't really need one anyways. From Bedok Interchange, there are 4 different buses you can use to go to Old Airport Road - 16, 30, 32, 33. The 30 is the cheapest, the 16 most expensive, while the 32 and 33 cost the same (fare zone pricing.... I still have no idea why you can travel to the same place but be able to pay different fares). When I got off the bus opposite the food centre, the buses behind me happened to be a 30 and a 33. So that made me feel like I chose the right bus. Even though I paid 20 cents more than if I did take the number 30. Oh well.

And on my way home from Aljunied, I took the 21. I passed by the Geylang Serai Market on the way. There are still loads of people eating there, which is good I suppose. What was not good was all the people getting on clutching bags of groceries on a already crowded bus. Please, more double decker 21s, please.

While taking the 28 just now, I was appalled to see the entire lower deck crammed to the gills. Luckily many people got off at the Bedok MRT stop so there was space. I went upstairs, to find the whole place quite empty ie there was no one standing with a few vacant seats scattered around. Is standing not allowed upstairs? Oh yeah, there was this ang moh guy who got onto the bus at the same time as me. And he got off at the same stop as me. And he followed me all the way back to my block. Poor ang moh guy; forced to take public transport when all the other ang mohs have cars. Seriously, what is with all the overcrowded buses in Bedok? The MRT station was also rather scary, with so many people everywhere. Listen up, MP for Fengshan, please take notice, and please do something about this problem. Either kick some people out of Bedok, or get more buses. 

What is with the Little Nyonya reruns on TVMobile? But congrats to Joanne Peh anyways for winning Best Actress. But yeah for the Ninja Warrior on TVMobile. I started laughing while watching on the bus just now and some people started staring.

And finally a freaky thing just now. I saw a bus 5 - electronic destination board version - and the number "5" on the board kept sliding in and out of the sign. Weird. Too bad about my camera! Why do I keep forgetting it????

I Saw A Unicorn!

Ok, not quite. I did see a double decker 5 bus, though, which in my opinion is just about as rare. And I managed to hitch a ride home on it, too. So, hooray I guess? But too bad I didn't take a photo. Otherwise people might think I hallucinated it or something. Haha.

The Blacklist

This week, I read in the newspaper about SBS and SMRT getting fined because of overcrowded buses. Let me go through the list one by one -

7 - Totally overcrowded, especially on Saturday afternoons. Not to mention slow like crazy as well, especially on the stretch between Holland Road and Victoria Street.

8, 10, 16 - Never taken regularly, so I have no comment.

21 - Taken many times, but fortunately all in non-peak hours. I'm guessing the overcrowded part if this service is the long stretch along Sims Avenue, but I dunno.

28 - Wow. I know about this all too well. I took this once on a weekday morning and I was shocked to discover it took about 20 mins to travel down Bedok North Avenue 3. Not to mention so many people on it was hard to move around. The evening peak is not much better, even with a double decker bus, there was almost no room to stand when I got on at Bedok MRT.

58 - Never taken. 

59 - Only sat at non-peak times, but I would hate to be on an overcrowded 59 on the long PIE stretch, standing the whole way. (There was once I stood the whole way on a 502 Express from Jurong East to Orchard, but the less I try to remember from that traumatic incident the better.)

90, 97, 145 - Dunno. No comment.

196 - Awful, awful mess. Very slow sometimes. Just another annoying service. Unless you take it around the Dover area - then its ok.

198 - I have taken it before when I went to NUH - not that crowded, but then again it wasn't 6pm.

246 - Never seen before.

254 - Oh yes. I have seen this service at the evening peak time, and I swear I have never seen more foreign workers trapped on the same bus together before. I wonder what its like on the non-air con buses. Not to be mean or anything.

255 - Same as for the 254. But less so.

Oh yeah, why is the 5 not on this list? Because there have been multiple times that I have barely been able to squeeze onto the 5 because it was too packed, and one of those times it wasn't even peak hour. It was 10pm. Not to mention that I had another traumatic 5 incident today. I was waiting at the bus stop for the 5. I had been there almost 30 mins, and I realised that I had not even seen a 5 bus, in either direction. But 2 of every other service had already passed me. I got worried as I thought maybe it wasn't operating today. I called the LTA Hotline, and to their credit, were very helpful, telling me that it was working, and said the next bus was due in 15 mins. Just before I started getting impatient (I mean, why should I have to wait 45 mins for a bus. Even in KL you don't have to do that) a 5 just suddenly pulled up to the bus stop. I really feel that the 5 service is out to irritate me as best as it can. Thanks to them, I was late for dinner. But that is always to be expected.

Record Time

I made it home from camp in record time yesterday. First up - the 154 reached the bus stop at approximately 3:45 pm. Normally this bus, which caters to a lot of students in uniform, stops at almost every stop along Dunearn Road. Not so yesterday, at the time I went back. Whizzing past the bus stops felt quite fun. Except that I had a throbbing headache and spent most of the journey with my head pressed against the window. Not so much enjoyment there.

I reached the bus stop at Trellis Towers. The moment I got off, I saw a 506 reach. I debated for about, well, 2 seconds over whether to wait a while more or just pay an extra dollar for the express bus. I quickly jumped onto the 506 after the brief moment of deliberation. And it was a good decision. It almost never stopped, due to hard-up people who are not like me and didn't want to fork out. So, yeah, I suppose. I even amazed myself when I reached the front of my house after walking back from the bus stop at 4:45 pm. Not bad time, and less standing than the MRT. So chalk one up for the bus.

The Green Line Again

A shocking thing happened at Clementi station on Friday morning. A train pulled into the station and I could not get on because it was really full. Like no space to even breathe full. The next train arrived about 2 minutes later, which was good, but it was just like the other one. Which was bad. I managed to squeeze my way on and endured the squishiness. It lasted only about till City Hall station, where all the passengers seemed to suddenly disappear. Me and a friend then managed to get seats. It got better after Lavender, where there was so much room on the train you could lie down on the row of seats and not get into anyone's way. A certain acquaintance who was traveling on the way with us (let's call him K, shall we) declined to take a seat even though it was this empty. Instead of treasuring a moment where he could actually sit on the MRT (which is getting rarer and rarer) he chose to stand all the way back to the East. And I can't really figure out why. Anyways, I wonder if it's a waste to send all these empty trains all the way to Pasir Ris. It seems a bit wasteful to me. Oh wait, on the other hand, then what will bring all the disgruntled commuters from the East towards the town area if all the trains don't go back. Never mind; I just answered my own question.

254 - Observation

Anyways, on Tuesday, I had nothing to do (which, nowadays, is typical of any day.) So I decided to watch the 254 buses as they barreled past me along Pioneer Road. I took note of their timing and decided to look up the timetable on the SBS website. Unsurprisingly, especially with the erratic (as seen below) waiting times on this service (for the 2 hours I observed, anyways). Anyways, the times are below. (Waiting times in brackets)

• 13:57
• 14:12 (15 m)
• 14:31 (19m)
• 14:48 (17m)
• 15:05 (17m)
• 15:20 (15m)
• 15:26 (6m)
• 15:34 (8m)
• 15:44 (10m)
• 15:48 (4m)

The average waiting time is 12.33 minutes. But between 14:00 and 15:00, the waiting time is on average 17 minutes. For 15:00 to 16:00, it was 8.6 minutes only. I have no idea what caused this random change in frequency. Oh yeah, on the SBS website, it says that between 08:31 and 16:59, the frequency is between 6 and 17 minutes. One of the waiting times falls higher than this (between 14:12 and 14:31) but amazingly there is also one that falls lower than this range (15:44 to 15:48). Now that is really mind-boggling. I don't know what to expect from this anymore.

95 / 100

Why does the service 95 have so many sub-services? (The pic above shows a 95B and a 95D service; presumably there must be a 95A and 95C as well.) I was trying to figure out that question on a recent trip to NUS. On the way there, me and a friend stopped at Clementi station, and got onto a cab. We asked the driver to take us to our destination, University Hall. He had no idea where it was, and he freely admitted it. When we reached the area, he saw a sign pointing out "University Hall". He followed the sign and dropped us at this modern looking building. Only after we checked it out did we realise it wasn't University Hall; instead it was some music conservatory. In the end we had to take a NUS shuttle bus to reach the place. (At least on the map the NUS bus services are marked clearly.)(Oh yeah, and from what I heard from another friend, who is currently studying at NUS, no cabbie knows where anything is there. The first time he went there, a taxi driver took him in circles around the campus before he finally asked to be let off.) And on the way out, I took the 95 out of there towards Buona Vista MRT. Luckily that day all the buses were 95 standard. I would be flummoxed if I had to decipher where all the different 95s were going.

And in the afternoon I had lunch at Golden Mile. (The Thai beef noodles are nice. Yes, I went there for food, not for the giant dried water beetles or whatever else is there.) And I took the 100 bus to Aljunied to swap for the 67 to go home. It was okay, but passing through Geylang would not be my preference. It was like only 2, why are all these you-know-whos out so early? 

The Night Bus

Finally, I got the chance to ride the SBS Nite Owl Service, as I happened to be in town last Saturday night. (Don't ask why I went home so early. The story is lame and depressing.) Anyways, I was around the River Valley area, and I was walking towards the bus stop outside UE Square. As I was approaching the bus stop, the first bus 2N passed me by completely. Never mind. I went to the 7-11 across the road and got myself a snack. And then I waited. For quite a long time. I tried using AskIris to find out when the next bus was coming, and it told me 9 minutes. 9 minutes later, no sign of bus. I used AskIris again. It said 9 minutes. Again. Sighing in frustration, I resigned myself to enduring the wait while seeing SMRT buses whizzing by. (Seriously, while I was waiting for the 2N, all the Night Rider SMRT services passed by, with the NR1 and NR7 coming twice.) Finally, when I was about to cave and flag a taxi (like last time), then I saw it. I got on and sat near the back. The TV behind wasn't working like the one in the front, so I was not able to watch "Walk The Line". I was quite sleepy at that point though, and once the bus went up the ramp towards the ECP, I had dozed off. I slept for most of the way past Eunos and Bedok Reservoir. Luckily I woke up 3 stops before mine and managed to get off at the right place. I was surprised to see so many people still around at that hour. But never mind. In conclusion, because of the somewhat dim lighting on the bus, it is very easy to fall asleep while riding. So those who have been out drinking, I recommend the taxi still as the safest way to get home. And the taxi is quicker, too.

Embarkation Time - 12:53am

Disembarkation time - 1:32am

Fare - $4

Fare Decrease and the New Ezlink Card

So the bus and train operators are going to cut their fares by two cents starting from April. Whoop-dee-hoo. Public transport fares are supposed to be link to fuel prices, according to SMRT and SBS. And oil prices are lower today than two years ago. But since 2007, the fare has gone up two times - by 2 cents, then by 4 cents. Now the 2 cent decrease means the fare would have gone up by 4 cents compared to 2007. Do these people think that we don't notice the previous price increases but only think, "Wow!! This is so generous of them!!"?? Thanks a bunch for trying to make public transport more economical, public transport operators.

Now on to a non-joy!-related topic. I haven't changed my ez-link card to the new one yet. It's not just because I am lazy to queue up (although the line at Bedok Interchange was long enough today to put me off), I can't abide the new rule requiring you to have a minimum amount in your card before you can ride the bus or train. What was wrong with the old rule? I mean, the most you can get on your card is $-1.00 before it will stop working, but there is a $5 deposit on the card. Do you think people whose card goes into the negative will suddenly think, "Oh. It's time to ditch this card. Let's go buy another one with a $5 deposit!" instead of paying off the negative. I guess they do need to revamp the card so it can be used for other things as well. But I really think it is a stupid rule.

Change of MRT signs

I was at Bedok station today when I realised that between yesterday (when I last took the MRT) ad today, the signs and the route maps have been changed, to show the extension of the East West line to Joo Koon. I am not sure when the two new stations are opening, but judging from this it must be pretty soon. (And when they do I shall be there to check them out. ) When the extension begins operations, it will either mean journeys on the Green line will be more jampacked and crowded than usual, or it could just mean that those commuters who normally get off at Boon Lay will be able to alight from the new stations, thus relieving congestion there but the overall number of people taking the train will stay constant. I'm personally hoping for the second. 

Anyways, something funny happened yesterday while taking the train really early in the morning. It was around 6:30 am and everyone was kinda sleepy. And really, half of the people in the seats were dozing off. (I was not one of them.) At Outram Park station, the woman in the seat opposite mine was sleeping, and her head started to droop, eventually coming to rest on the shoulder of the middle-aged ang moh guy sitting next to her. He either didn't mind this intrusion onto his space or he didn't want to wake her up - I dunno which. (I only noticed this because the aunty sitting next to me was pointing this out to her friend and laughing.) Then two stops later, at Redhill, the train had already stopped and the doors were open. People were already disembarking. Suddenly, the woman awoke with a start. Unexpectedly she got off her seat and literally ran off the train. Was this her stop and she just realised it when she woke up or was she embarrassed at leaning on a stranger's shoulder and decided to get off rather than continue sitting next to him? I have no idea either.

Indecent Behaviour

Something really embarassing happened last Thursday. (The person involved was annoyed that I told others about what happened....but who cares about him. Now everyone will know!) It was nights out and I was going with a few campmates to have dinner. So there we were, walking out of camp towards the bus stop when we found that person, who shall not be named. (For convenience, let's call him, say, H. Those people in the know will be able to guess his identity in a flash.) He was listening to his MP3, sitting at the side of the road, and was kinda stoning out, looking emo. So we asked him along with us, and he agreed. But we couldn't decide where to go - Jurong Point or West Coast Plaza. Anyways, H wasn't paying attention to our discussion and we decided on WCP, not knowing he wanted to go to JP instead. So we got onto a very crowded 154 bus to make our way towards Clementi. It was so jam-packed that the group of us had no choice but to stand right in front of the bus, next to the driver's seat. H was standing on the step below me. He was acting weird and moody all the way. Halfway, I adjusted the zip on my pants - checking to see whether it was still up. Then suddenly, H was like "Is your [crotch] itchy? Here, let me help you scratch. And he did. That was gross enough by itself, but to make it even worse, there was a little girl sitting on the seat facing us, and she had a shocked and disgusted look on her face. H didn't even notice, and tried to grab mine again. Luckily he stopped after that. When we got to Clementi, he then found out he didn't want to go to the same place as us and ditched us. And acted like a drama king in the process. I feel bad for saying this, but this worked out for the best - at least we had a peaceful dinner after all. But this was still an incident of pretty icky behaviour from this person.

Sleeping on the Bus!

Yesterday I was taking the service 65 - I got on at Dhoby Ghaut station and I was going all the way home. It was a very, very, long trip. And a very boring one. I was reading the newspaper for a while, until I got a mild headache. And 3 different people already had come up the double-deck, sat next to me, and got off at their stop already. The third guy got off at a stop on Circuit Road. By that time I was really sleepy (hey...I had to wake up at 6 so I could go all the way to Maju Camp to handcuff people) and since the seat next to me was empty, I decided to go to sleep. I tried all sorts of sleeping positions (leaning my head on the window, leaning my head on my hand against the window, leaning back with my head drooping) and then suddenly I just dozed off. I only woke when I heard somebody pressing the bell to signal the bus to stop. And I looked out the window and saw the block opposite mine and I suddenly realised I had arrived at my stop. I quickly rushed down the stairs and got off. Now that was a miracle. (Note: This is a true story. I dunno why people suddenly just wake up when they reach their stop. Maybe I have been taking buses too long. Or something.) 

I missed out watching The Reader again!!

I went today to Great World City to watch a movie. It was the only cinema where both "Doubt" and "The Reader" were showing, so I trekked across the island from home on the 5 bus all the way there, standing up for about 40 minutes of the trip, which was annoying but tolerable. Although I ended up not watching "The Reader", as the GV people countered my plan of sneaking into the R21 movie by not starting any other movie within 45 minutes of the 3:25 screening of "The Reader". Sigh. I dunno who I am more upset with: The GV people for being so cunning, or for the Censorship Board for not cutting out the supposed "sexual scenes" and making it M18. But then again, I cannot believe I am advocating censorship. Anyways, since I went home early then, I took (the 5 again!) to Tiong Bahru to take the MRT. I had never been there before, but it looked like any other mall in Singapore, and therefore wasn't too exciting. In other not exciting news, I took the shortest bus ride ever, on the 9, from Bedok MRT to Bedok Stadium, lasting all of 90 seconds, and costing $0.31 for that. Oh well. That's what I get for being too lazy to walk 500m.

Never pay cash for bus trips!

I had a really tiresome trip back home from camp yesterday. (We only got to go home on a Thursday after enduring a rowdy steamboat dinner, featuring splattered eggs on the floor everywhere and endless ear-piercing toasts. The night was an embarrassment for everyone involved.) It was my usual public transport commute which I usually use when not taking taxi home - bus to Clementi MRT, train to Bedok, then a bus home. I take this trip so often I dunno why yesterday was unusually annoying. First I didn't have enough credit on my ezlink card (although this never stopped my card from working before... so thanks for not informing us, SMRT) so when I got on the 184 I had to pay cash. It was a journey of about 4 bus stops, and cost $1.00. Which is a total rip-off, because if you pay by ezlink it is $0.71, which represents a 29% discount. This should be enough for everyone to get ezlink to pay for bus fares. And makes it hard for me to understand why I still see so many people (who are evidently not tourists) paying by cash. Oh yeah, and paying by cash meant I could not get the transfer discount for my MRT fare, which ended up costing a whopping $1.59. Total fare - $2.59. Fare if I paid for the bus using ezlink - $1.90 ($0.71 for the bus, $1.19 for the train) which is about a 27% discount in total. Luckily it was quite late so the MRT journey, while feeling longer than usual, was comfortable enough as you can get standing the whole way for 30 minutes. Then I got off at Bedok station. I am always torn between waiting at the bus stop outside the station along New Upper Changi Road and waiting at the Interchange for my bus ride home. I elected yesterday to wait at the bus stop. The 67 came soon enough, but again, the bus ride back, which is about 4 stops, again felt unusually long. The bus was stuck for long periods of time on Bedok North Avenue 3, which is surprising - it was like 10 o'clock already and I didn't see why there should have been a traffic jam there of all places. In other news, I think this was the first time I took 3 straight SMRT services (67 and 184 are SMRT bus services, instead of SBS). And at least I am not discriminating - now I am whining about both bus operators, not just one.

28 vs 59

Last Sunday, due to circumstances outside my control, I ended up at Toa Payoh Central. And after that, to get home, I decided to go to the the bus stop at Toa Payoh Lorong 6 just outside the supermarket, where I had a choice of buses I could take - the 28 or 59, both taking me home, but using different routes. (Actually, there is the 506 as well, but since it is way more expensive, I didn't even consider using it.) I kinda knew the 59 was the fastest way, but I waited almost 20 minutes with no sign of a bus. Then when the 28 came up, I got tired of waiting and just got on. This 28 was a single decker, unlike the double deckers I usually see during peak hours. (And believe me, there is a need for them - once I could barely squeeze onto one while getting on along New Upper Changi Road). But since it was a Sunday afternoon and nobody was likely to be out it was justified. It was a pleasant ride, going past nice quiet houses along Braddell and Bartley and passing the Geylang Serai market and Bedok Central. And it wasn't crowded - I got my own seat almost the whole way. (On an unrelated note - Why is the new Bartley MRT station in the middle of nowhere? Seriously, the station entrance is a chunk of glass and metal in front of a wooded hill. The only sign of life nearby is the school opposite. The reason they need a station in such a deserted area is, again, beyond me.) But it is not a good idea to read on a bus - I got bored halfway and started reading, only to develop a headache approximately 7 stops later. On disembarkation, I thought, okay, this was not as bad as I had expected. But I still wanted to find out how it compared to the 59.

So, just now, I found myself in Toa Payoh again. Yeah, I have no life, so instead of going home from Orchard by the conventional way (i.e. being like a sardine riding on the East-West line), I decided to take the train up to Toa Payoh and then take a bus from there. It would be better than taking yet another eastbound journey on the MRT which I must have done about a hundred times since I came to Singapore. And at least I would get a seat instead of standing and suffocating the whole way. (To be fair, on the Green line, the only really squishy part is between City Hall and Bugis. After that, from Bugis to Aljunied, you can start to breathe, but you have to be careful turning about in case you elbow anyone. It is only after Aljunied, then you can move about. You can only ever think of getting a seat after Bedok, which is the stop I usually get off from, and thereby I almost always end up standing on the MRT.) So this is how I ended up at the same bus stop as I was six days ago. Fortunately, this time, the 59 bus only took 7 minutes to arrive; I only waited from 6:26pm to 6:33. The bus was quite full, so I had to make do with the backward facing seat, which I usually try to avoid unless I have no choice. But this journey was relatively quick, zipping down the highway back to the east. And I almost didn't notice my stop; I must have zoned out from all the traveling backwards feeling. Anyways, here is a comparison:

Journey Time

28 ~ 57 mins (12:41pm to 1:38pm)

59 ~28 mins (6:33pm to 7:01pm)

(The journey on the 59 took less than half the time than that on the 28.)

Fare

28 ~ $1.33

59 ~ $1.33 

(At least SBS is fair in that traveling the same distance gets you the same fare.)

Conclusion: When choosing buses, always pick the one that can take you to your destination faster, if the fare is the same. Because you have better things to do with your life than spending an additional 29 minutes in a bus. You can't even read, and to listen to music you have to pump the volume way up, damaging your ears. The only way the 28 wins in this contest is in cost per minute - it is $0.023 for the 28 compared to $0.0475 on the 59 - but I would argue that maybe, for buses, it is better to have a lower cost per minute than a higher one. 

The Chinatown Express - CT 18

This morning, I went to Chinatown to eat at a dim-sum buffet. Because I was lazy to take the train, I decided to take the only direct bus from my area, which is the CT 18. I have no idea why SBS decided to name their Chinatown services CT 8, CT 18 and CT28. I know that 8 is supposed to be a "lucky" number and all, but what it has to do with buses is beyond me. It is weirdly irrational for them to name their services this way I think, but oh well. Anyways, I forgot to check the bus schedule online (this being a special service, it has a special schedule as well.) So I went to the bus stop, and checked the service sign. I arrived around 10:20am, and the sign (as seen in the pic above) said it would arrive at 10:45. Seeing I had a while to wait, I decided to sit and listen to my ipod. When 10:45 finally arrived though, there was no sign of the bus. I panicked for a while, thinking that by being too engrossed in my music I had missed the bus. As I was to find out, it was just that the bus was late - 5 minutes to be exact. I am already used to this and so the delay didn't bother me much. What did was a selfish taxi driver which refused to move out of the way of a bus stop at Bedok Reservoir Road, which resulted in a lot of horning. Apart from that, the journey was uneventful, and fast when you look at the distance covered. I was supposed to meet at Chinatown MRT at 11:15, and when I got off at the bus stop at Chinatown Point, I was a bit late, no thanks to the bus delay. But luckily another guy was even later than me, so I did not have to suffer the embarrassment of letting everyone wait for me. Haha.

Time of Embarkation - 10:50am

Arrival at Destination - 11:22am

Fare - $1.80

My Peeve with SBS Nite Owl

So, last Friday night (or Saturday morning, but either way it's the same) I went out to Mohamad Sultan Road at night. I decided to be frugal and take the SBS night service, called the "Nite Owl" home. I checked the website for details. Turns out that they revamped the service quite a bit, and the timings were different from last time, not that I had ever taken it before, but I just checked up on it in curiosity. So I checked, and it said that the bus (I was taking 2N) would arrive at my bus stop at around 12:50 am. It also advised me to be at the bus stop 5 minutes early (though that was clearly a mistake). Ok. So I said goodbye to everybody and made my way to the bus stop, arriving at approximately 12:45, as advised. I waited. I used AskIris to find out when the bus was coming, only to be told that it was not in operation. So I started panicking. Until I saw the 3N bus coming. Then the 5N and 1N. (CLearly it was not the night for even-numbered buses). I waited in vain, until I got fed up around 1:10 and hopped into a cab. Now that was a mistake. As the cab pulled out of Mohamad Sultan to River Valley Road, guess what was finally pulling up. The 2N. I could have screamed in exasperation. Evidently it must have been the service that, according to the website, was supposed to arrive at 1:30 am. I was fed up, as I really wanted to try the bus to see how long it would take to get home, as well as me wasting $17 on the cab when the bus would only cost $4. Oh well. At least I got home early, not that I was very sleepy at that point anyways.