I want to regale my account of the last week (dry January, meh it's not for me), but something else has really tickled me this morning, and I have to share it.
I'm sure many people trying to take the green line to work this morning struggled slightly. Or, rather struggled by Singapore standards. From the East, the trains were coming every 4-5 minutes rather than every 2 minutes, and they were all very full. (Oh my days). In fact, I had to watch two go right past me, without even attempting to get on. (Wtf?!) (No problem for me of course as I love the commute - it's when I read)
I wrote a post when I first moved to Singapore (nearly three years ago) about the pros of the Singapore MRT system over the London tube, and I was slightly overwhelmed by comments from people in Singapore that disagreed with me. I was called ignorant, and all manner of other words. It amused me. And I hate do to rehash an old post, but the MRT is still better than the London tube (although I will admit - it has gotten busier in three years)
When finally on the train this morning (I waited 8 minutes in total - shock horror!), I took a look around and almost burst into laughter. The girl in front of me had the following watsapp exchange with her friend (slightly naughty of me to read over her shoulder):
Crazy morning
I'm finally on a train
But I had to wait 7 minutes! 2 went past me
Ah yo!
Must be strikes.
I'm going to complain. And it's so full I can't breathe (slight exaggeration, we could all definitely breathe)
I looked across at the man standing next to me, he was in the middle of writing a very stern but whiney email to the MRT office about how disgraceful it was that he had to wait for his train. He was sweating profusely, and clearly the heat on the platform had gotten to him. On the London tube, there would be no signal, and one wouldn't be able to access emails to write an email let alone send it. He would also not be able to cool down because there is no air con on the London tube.
A wry smile to myself as I think wistfully of the London tube system. There's just something about it - the long waits, the smell, the dirty air, the slightly crazy people, the book reading insistence, the sweat, the queues, the price, the delays, the lack of signal, the suicides and the breakdowns. Ah it's delightful.
The contrast - I still I got to work on time today. I was cool. The train didn't jolt every two minutes. There wasn't a breakdown. My commute still only took 20 minutes and the train smelt clean-ish. Oh and the journey cost me $1.
In comparison people, the Singapore MRT system is BLOODY AMAZING! And you need to get over the whingeing because of a tiny delay. These delays are probably necessary to make sure it runs to perfection on the other 364 days of the year.
Brit in Singapore
*The writer blogs at http://britinsingapore.blogspot.sg/