Thus, i decided to visit public transport again.
It has been an 'old' friend, started when my grandpa passed on years back. Being a young believer, i did not wished to be cornered to join the taoist rituals, i decided to get away.
Remember the days of the student concession sbs monthly stamp? It meant that there will not be any costs for limitless rides. My broken heart led me to bedok interchange. I began wandering aimlessly down the various booths till i reached a familiar bus service - Bus 30. This was one familiar service who accompanied me wtc and the destination of boon lay sounded far enough.
I still remembered getting to the upper deck, finding an isolated spot, checking myself in. I remembered opening the window, staring out blankly, setting my mind to idle mode. I did not recall any significant sights except the tang city which was torn down recently.
Apart from wiggling my sore bum, i did not remember moving much. Reaching boon lay was not a relief. I disembarked from the familiar 30 and began walking down the boon lay interchange. Honestly, i only remembered walking past many bus berths with totally unfamiliar services. Man, that felt darn far.
The darkened sky discouraged me from exploring further. At the back of my mind, i was wondering the various punishments that would be administered for my absence from my grandpa's funeral. A screaming mother, facing the music, a public caning??? After all, i was one of the favorite grandsons and now, i ran away from paying my last respects... ... It was painful and actually, it still smirks a little. i have fallen from grace to this ingrate. The favor & hope bestowed upon me has been disqualified cause i did not join in. Trust me, i would do anything to affirm my fillial piety but there is a conflict of values... ... Or at least that was my story then.
And yes, not forgetting the long dates on bus with my first college sweetheart. Just in case any of you are wondering, nope we broke off in college, there was no fairy tale ending of 'they both lived happily ever after'. That would be another long blog i guess. :p sending her back home seems to be an expectation but to send her back from serangoon to bukit merah and rushing back to eunos after that is quite an achievement cause it was almost daily for the few months we were together. If there is any frequent flyer miles for sbs, i would probably be their spokesman by the volume of distance chalked. Yes, i was madly in love and dun forget, only fools fall in love :p
not forgetting the long rides during my national service days from eunos to bukit gombak. It was a good 2 hours in total, pending the traffic @ bukit timah & little india. That was when i was reading lots during the journey. This was one of the ways to 'appear' smart, to impress some of the pretty ladies who shared the same bus routes. Trust me, the success rate with ladies is unbelievable - not even one contact number after 2 years!!! Guess air force geeks were never in fashion, not even if u carry a saxophone at times. :) this but confirms my impressive track record with gals. Haha. Well, not that i am complaining but to be left on the shelf did left me making good friends with dust and lizards.
The next long distance relationship was during my university days, shuttling between tampines (for tuition) to home, to singapore general hospital to attend to my dad who subsequently passed on due to cancer, to boon lay, to the usually last bus service 179 which brings me back to ntu hall V. I did not have good slots for my classes, was too busy to get good classes due to my dad's condition. In fact, i failed almost 3/4 of all subjects taken in year 1. It was a bad year.
Honestly, my dad's passing on helped to put me back on tracks. Sad but true. The only time to study, prepare, do tutorial was on the train. I ended up crashing daily, surviving on 5 hours sleep for years.
I even did volunteer work @ grace haven (serangoon north) during that time to buy good deeds in exchange for better health of my dad. Of course, that did not happen. That itself is a 2 hours journey from ntu to grace haven.
So, i shared many long rides with public transport, in all fair, a great journey.
Enjoy public transport.
One thing for sure, i will be taking some more public transport soon.
Music - His gift, my duty, our fellowship
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