砂漠のJeffire

Jeffirean Stories

Monday, April 09, 2007

Today I took the bus 851 from Bugis to Yishun. I only bought bus concession for this month as I wouldn't be going to school much, hence I took the bus as it seemed to be the fastest way to get home on bus (if there is any other way, please tell me).

I begun the trip with a seat in the middle of the bus, but as we passed by the Fu Lu Shou Complex, the old people flooded in, so I gave up my seat. Later at the Little India station, there was a free seat at the front 2nd row(the one with the "Please offer the seat to those who need it") so I went to sit there but was intercepted by a big sized lady who stuffed herself into the inner seat and put on her earphones. So I just sat on the outer seat.

Later when we passed by the stop near the Old Police Academy (where you always see the blind people there), there was one person who had the white cane, so I promptly gave up my seat. But he didn't take it, but another person offered him a seat about the 4th or 5th row. He was encouraged to take the seat so he just took the seat with gratitude, however my seat was taken up by a lady, which I guess it was okie since I already gave up my seat. However, the person did not give up the seat (even it was the "offer seat") when there was a another lady with a small kid and a baby in hand. Two ladies facing the reverse direction gave their seats up, thus relieving the lady of potential danger.

After passing Ang Mo Kio Secondary school, a girl clad in that uniform blocked the way while she stood near the entrance. An old man wanted to alight opposite KFC but couldn't because he couldn't take out his card on time. Eventually he alighted opposite Yio Chu Kang MRT. I presumed he wanted to do some more shopping at the centre but wasn't fated to.

Next, at the Castle Green condominium, one of the elderly man suddenly shouted at the window and then he tried to hurry down the bus. I thought he saw a friend and wanted to say hello, but he just rushed down the bus without tapping his card. Then suddenly he reappeared at the front door, and a guy in black t-shirt handed a silver handphone to a little boy in Anderson PE T-shirt. The elderly man said to the little guy that how could have he forgotten his phone, and luckily he saw the incident and intervened. After hearing this, I felt that the boy was really really very lucky to have someone so nice to help him, whereas I had to suffer the agony of losing stuff. Of course blame should be put on these blur owners like me, but sometimes you have to put yourself into other shoes and see that perhaps the demands of life could have sapped the owner's alertness. Ah well, I thought the elderly man was brave, decisive and action-taking. How I wished I was like him as well... to have the courage, the decisiveness and the conviction for justice. Sometimes we are just too self-protective that we never offer good help to others. Also, I also did not hear the little boy thank the uncle as apparently he was stunned and shocked. Moreover the whole bus was looking at him. However I felt that he should had thank the elderly man for making the effort to go down and up the bus for him.

The ride ended smoothly as I alighted with a surprise that the guy that had been standing beside me also alighted at the same stop. The funny part was that I was peering in his direction towards the rear side to see if there was another bus I could take instead of this hot and seatless bus, and he was peering occasionally in front to look at the traffic conditions. Hahaha.

Since I am at this, maybe I should also talk about the other bus journeys I had. Firstly I took 62 from home to go to my dad's workshop. Bad timing it was at 2pm as all the students were waiting to go home. The first batch was from the school opposite my home, Punggol Secondary School I think. The Malay guys at the bus stop had the cheek to tease a cute girl who was talking on her phone by trying to emulate the other party on the phone. Luckily the bus came quickly and the teasing had to end. Unfortunately, it was the start of a market ride as the same Malay chaps began to make noise in the bus with their silly chanting and screaming whenever the bus braked harder than normal. The situation worsened as students from another 2 schools boarded (at Hougang, but I don't know which schools they were from) and this time it was Malay girls who responded with a counter boo whenever those from the back began to scream. It was virtually a school bus full of rowdy kids, but luckily I had an old man sitting beside me, not one of those idiots. If not I would probably had screamed the bus down to a screeching halt.

After that I took 51 from Hougang Ave 3. I hate that journey because some idiot in the bus farted. Men! You know, uncles of a certain age certainly have no manners and no shame.

After handing my father the document he needed, I took another bus 25 to the next bus stop where I knew there were more buses that went to town. Again I had 51 that came and I just took it. This time the ride was pleasant and had great sights of Geylang and Joo Chiat. I also watched Lost and Found, a foodie show by Gurmit and Michelle Chia. They introduced some great finds including: 1. the beef noodles at Amoy St market 2. Rex Satay at Changi Airport T2 Staff Canteen (anyone want to go there and try the Malay food!!!!) 3. Bak Chor Mee at Beach Rd coffeeshop which is very famous (moved from Hill St to Marina Square to present location) and Pika, Eileen and I had ate there before. And on the way to town I also saw Rui Kee Chicken Rice, the so called original hainanese chicken rice of Singapore. 776 North Bridge Rd is indeed within the Arab St zone. Let's go there try!!! Anyway the bus ride was very tiring as it was long and jumpy even though I had a window seat on the upper decker. I also saw many suspect Chinese ladies in Geylang gathering in a group, but let's not have any stereotyping here, ok? I just hope my Taiwanese hotel would have nothing of the sort as it is a very cheap accomodation by normal Singaporean standards as you can see in the forums of Hardwarezone and Flowerpod.

Well, I guess that summarises my thoughts of the day. I suppose I would try to blog more often like XM as I always wanted. Instead of devoting time to the special events, I would also like to highlight the bits and pieces of normal life like my bus rides. As an observant person, I am sure I can bring home many insights.

Oh, and don't forget my nickname in Army: "Walking Bus Guide". This came from one of my old hobbies, to take long buses on rainy days to enjoy the cool and comfortable ride. (esp SMRT buses and not SBS "yucky" buses.

Ciao
Jeffire

Acknowledged my existence at
7:18 PM