The Mojito Life -
RUM for the soul,
A sprig of fresh MINT for newness,
A dash of sour LIME that puckles up your face, &
Sweet SUGAR to keep Life going.
Every now and then, the introvert in me need to have some downtime.
It had been sorta crazy 2 weeks. Today, decided to push away an engagement, and spent some time at home, tidy up the living spaces a bit, and hopefully, catch some catnap (god knows how bad my dark eye circles have become already).
In the end, no luck at the catnap (damn the body clock) but at least my room now looks less like a tornado swept warzone. Caught up with some admin work (pay bills, update the house mortgage payment ) and read a bit of the book that the aunt bought for me some time back with some CDs playing (Lisa Eckdahl now).
Other than the fact that my head is throbbing prob from the lack of sleep, I feel much more centred, rather than feeling like there's a thousand and one forces tugging at me.
If only it had been a retreat at some quiet resort in some exotic places, like Ubud. Still haven't had the chance to check out that place.
End of the first week of the public transport challenge.
And I'm blogging this on the way home in the mrt (obviously can't do the same if I'm driving .. Talking about a good sign..)
The first 2 days were not too bad. Though now I can understand why people are so willing to pay a premium to live within walking distance to the mrt station. The walk to that bus stop for the feeder service and squeeze (cos obviously everybody's destination is the same) can really be a put off.
Though I cheated a bit by catching a ride from a colleague on the first day. It was real late cos of the new assignment I was working on,and I think I should be kinder to myself than to suffer the long feeder bus ride home. And the friend sent me home after dinner on Tuesday (of course right..)
That led me to wed and thurs, when I drove because of the discussion on a friends wedding emcee script and to help out at a community event by the company.
So today was the first day that I was a public commuter for real (taxi to meeting venue doesn't count!)
It looks like an exciting period leading up to end of the year.
Doing something that is not part of my job scope (all in the name of exposure), but I am not sure if I enjoy being sandwiched between people with different agendas, and being pushed out of the comfort zone. I know the latter is like a taboo thing, like nowadays how can anyone be expected to stay in their comfort zone? But hey..sometimes life can be so much easier without having to grapple with many turning wheels if you are not sure where to put your hands.
Revisiting a thorny case and hopefully it wont be as bad as the last round. I reaallllyyyy hate confrontations.
Could possibly be gone from SG for a good 5 weeks. Note separate key words underlined for emphasis....
I have been toying with the idea for a while already....especially most since my car is stuck one of the many thousands condemned to a snail's pace along AYE every morning, and having to pay the dreaded the ERP despite burning fuel (and $$$$) with the obnoxious amount of time contributing to the greenhouse effect arising from carbon emission.
And thinking that perhaps if I had taken public transport, I would have hit the office faster (Yes, even though I would rather be somewhere else). With the opening of the Circle line. I was wondering if it is time to make the switch.
Seriously, ever since about 2003/4 after I first bought my Gilera Runner, I had not taken public transport to work or anywhere else in general, unless exceptions, for example, if I had to leave over the weekend for a dive trip from work. Not like some friends who I know, who genuinely like driving or cars per se, having a car to me was just about pure convenience. But I do dig the fact that I get to do whatever I like in the car, be it blasting the songs on the radio, or zombing out in the morning on the way to work. Obviously something that I won't get the chance to on a train. :/
Of course, there is also the cost factor. Driving nowadays are getting so so much more expensive with the ERP sucking up money from guileless drivers. Anyhow, the car ownership framework in Singapore is kinda flawed:-
If COEs are aimed to control ownership, then why has LTA still allow for new releases of COEs? If new COEs are allowed to be issued, albeit at a slower rate, it is still an increase right?
Ok..so you decided to allow people to buy cars nonetheless, and decide to deter people from crowding the roads by introducing usage-based charges to to stagger the surge in traffic i.e. the ERP. But..... people still need to go and leave from work at a certain time right? I am sure that the employers wouldn't mind if their employees hit the office earlier..but do the employees then have to choice to leave early? If no, they would have to leave late to miss the ERP charges right? More often than not, they will probably just end up as suckers to be had whenever they drive under the guillotine-like structure after a long day of work, hoping for a hot shower and meal, and some chill out time before hitting the sack.
Okok..maybe the ERP still doesn't really dis-incentivise people to change their driving habits. How about making it really cheap for people to drive during non-peak hours? Ok I must come clean. I am also seriously contemplating if I should convert my car to the revised OPC scheme if this public commute do take off. So I may eventually become part of the guilty crowd of people who leave their cars at home, occupying one precious parking lot; more so now because it is so much cheaper to retain an off-peak car and people want to be free of the awful public transport if they can..and causing the authorities to find ways to accommodate the increase of cars per household in that HDB estate. Just look at the situation of cars who can't find a lot at night and had to park illegally along the kerbs. (Btw I just lost a patch of greenery at the back of my block because they are paving for more packing lots. I'm kinda devastated. )
But..taking the public transport always give me the mental image of a rat race of a humongous proportion. Just image..the MRT door opens and then out pour these many people rushing out from the packed tubes, the whole space thunder with footsteps and these huge surge of human traffic scrambling to take over the escalator wheeling them upwards/downwards. And the cycle continues repeatedly.... Eek.
I had never had to be part of this human rat race because my past jobs didn't require me to report at the usual office hours (actually officially some of them do...but then I believe in flexi-hour - I put in more hours towards the night, but don't expect me to come in super early ...), and obviously I drive..so I never really had to put my EZ link card to much use. Looking back, it had been almost 8 years that I had been driving! If I take public transportation, I wonder if I will suffer from withdrawal symptoms..like will my hands suddenly start twitching to grab the steering wheel or something.
Anyway that was the background rationlisation, which had been bouncing around before I decided to just bite the bullet and start the public commuting TODAY. I am giving myself one month..to see if I succumb to withdrawal symptoms and be sucked back to the car (and swallowing rantings and all about jams, parking, ERPs etc etc..) or survive and blend into the rat race of multitude.
Squeak!
(as for the first day of public transport commute..I kinda survived..kinda..)
In commemoration of that patch of greenery behind my block. You shall be missed dearly whenever I see those OPC cars lined up on the tarmac throughout the days.
T'was a good weekend, catching up and spending time with..
- C for brunch at Octa Hotel*. I was more impressed by their whimsical items that they sell (I think I want the wall clock!), rather than their menu. Maybe the idea of hi-tea in a parisian chic cafe would be nicer than brunch, which to me is synonymous with hearty stuff (read: huge toast, blueberry pancakes, egg benedicts, sausages, eggs scrambled/poached....not all at one time of course. I am rattling off the memories of yumminess brunches I have had!). So after we shared one breakfast set, we over to Outback Restaurant for more fulfilling stuff (like fried mushrooms and wings. The satisfaction of oil-laden food sometimes! :p). We talked about nothing in particular, but so much about what are happening around us.
- The Friend. Who finally came back from China after 5 days of being shuttled between cities**. Couldn't really make up our mind where to go, so I decided to try out this new coffee place that I read about at Papa Palheta - Loysel's Toy. Great coffee beside Kallang Riverside Park! Another coffee place other than 40 hands to go to.And ended off the night with Shirlyn and the UnXpected at WalaWala. Always edgier than any other live bands that I have heard in Singapore.Impromptu movie this morning. (I dont think I have ever watched a movie before 3pm =.="), followed by leisurely lunch and massage, which made me feel super sleepy after that session.
And the weekend is over just like that. Before I slip into the typical Monday-blues tirade of whines...I WILL HAVE A GOOD WEEK AHEAD!
Hope this neuro-linguistic self -programming works :/
Anyway, something that Shirlyn and the UnXpected covered on Saturday (I love this band that does so unconventional songs)
** And me torn between being determined to lead my own life pretending that it was life as usual, or to acknowledge that maybe things are not as grim as I thought they are.
