Favourite Fish Soup Stall Calling It A Day.

I woke up rather late yesterday afternoon after feeling exceptionally tired the previous night. It was already 5.15pm, made a hot cup of coffee black and ate three pieces of McVitie's Digestives biscuits while going through my mails. Then, I felt like, and started writing about the 'mobile' passenger I had ferried earlier. When I finished and put up my post, I felt a bit hungry again and was thinking what to have for 'lunch' later, meanwhile I logged on to my facebook to read some postings and made some comments and then I thought it would be nice to go to Whampoa Food Centre and eat my favourite steam-boat fish soup dish, a sudden craving, and before anything else could happen, I was on the way to Whampoa.
Whilst enjoying my food, I was told by the waiter who served me that in about 3 months time, this steam boat stall would be closing down. I was surprised and started asking questions. It seems the owner had sold his stall for a tidy sum and decided to call it a day after having done this business for such a long time and since a very good offer to buy his stall came along, it was done. Last night his takings were a few thousand dollars by the time I had finished eating and left. I felt sad about its closure in the very near future.
The fish soup steam boat dish was simply delicious and I patronise this stall at least 3 times a week. I am going to miss my usual for sure and it won't be the same anymore when there is a takeover. Well, looks like I have to hunt and search for another good fish soup joint soon, won't be the same though, but for the time being I better start thinking about earning some bucks to cover my rental as its getting......., waah! 9.30pm already!
Better start working now.

My Passenger Was A "Handphone'.

After sending a passenger to Bangkit Road at 8.45pm last night, I decided to park my cab at the multi-carpark beside the Kim San Leng Coffee Shop to have my 'lunch'. As I was parking my cab, I heard a faint ringing sound, like from a mobile ring tone, coming from behind my seat. I looked around and found an old model Nokia handphone, wedged in between the back seat partition and still ringing. I answered the call and this guy said he was my passenger whom I fetched to Ponggol Central about an hour ago and had left his mobile in my cab. I could still remember him and remarked that he was very lucky in that the next passenger that boarded my cab sat in the front seat so he was not aware of a misplaced mobile handphone or else it would or could have been 'lost'. He said he did not realise that he had lost his mobile till now, I told him where I was, and that I was going to have a bite first and after I had finished, I would drive to meet him at the same place where he got off from my cab and return his mobile.
He was relieved and happy because he needed to call his boss urgently on his private line and his phone number is stored in his mobile. He was at a loss as he did not keep a copy of his boss's mobile phone number anywhere else and had no record of it at all. He told me to switch on my taxi meter and he would pay me the metered fare when we met up as soon as possible.
After having done with my food, I fetched my 'handphone passenger' and headed towards Ponggol Central. When I arrived, the owner of the handphone was already at the agreed location waiting for me. I showed him the metered fare, it cost him $15.40 which he happily paid me. He apologised for causing me the inconvenience but I told him it was alright, my work was not interrupted at all as his handphone was as good as my 'passenger'. We both laughed, wished each other goodnight as I drove off to continue my work.

Sharing Between Friends And Strangers.

Rain or Shine, Friday has always been my favourite working day. I had a very busy and tiring but fruitful workday with nearly all trips going long distance on the busy highways. I think the lowest fare I collected was $12.00 and the highest was $25.00 But most importantly I had very friendly passengers, local as well as a number of Permanent Residents with only one local traveller, the lady lawyer returning from Kuala Lumpur whom I fetched from Terminal 2, going to her Marine Parade Road home. She was the one who paid me the $12.00 fare. She was in Kuala Lumpur for only one night, a trip she relishes as she enjoys getting away from her regular workplace once in a while and feels refreshed each time from such breaks.
The one that paid me $25.00 was the only Tourist passenger, a 41 year old gentleman carrying a medium size travelling sling-bag, whom I picked up at 6.00pm in the city area and he wanted to go to the airport at Terminal 2. When I asked him what time was his flight, he told me at 4.00am, I was quickly startled and began talking and asking questions with a bit of hand gestures, but each time he looked surprised and bewildered, somewhat lost. I immediately realised he could only speak a little bit of English, and so throughout the journey, we both used hand gestures, spoke only simple English words and amazingly, we managed to understand each other quite well. He is a Kazak, and comes from Kazakhstan. He is here to visit his wife who is also a Kazak and is working in their country's embassy in Singapore. He told me about his country having four seasons, says Singapore is beautiful, trees everywhere and also mentioned a bit about his father, mother and family. Our conversation to get to know and learn more about each other was limited due to time and language constraint and before long we were already at the airport. It was great trying to understand each other and we both thoroughly enjoyed our handicapped conversation while it lasted. He shook hands with me, said goodbye, and all this while he had on a smiley face which I cannot forget.

Diverse Personalities Of Commuters.

There are about 5 different types of passengers who make use of taxis, I shall try to categorise them into particular groupings.

(a) The die hard taxi users, this group of commuters will not use any other types of public transport other than taxis irregardless of any fare hikes.
(b) The 50-50 users, very calculative group, they will travel halfway by buses and trains, and the rest of the way by taxis, always ready with correct fares.
(c) The occasional or 'once in a blue moon' type of passenger will only use the taxi as a last resort, very fussy, unappreciative, and most likely the ones that make the most complaints and loves grumbling.
(d) The expats and permanent residents group, are usually direct in their requests, knows local rules and regulations well and what they can expect of the services.
(e) The tourist commuters, are usually very polite, takes everything in their stride for they do not know and will accept whatever and wherever, very appreciative and likes to tip. A very excited, friendly and cheerful lot.

I started driving a taxi in October 1997 and my experiences with passengers, up till today, after all these years, have given me some sort of ability to summarise and categorise the above interesting behavioural patterns of certain groups of commuters. Of course there are also the inimitable stingy, unreasonable, quarrelsome, arrogant type of passengers, a minority group though, but overall and generally, most commuters are generous and truly very pleasant individuals.

Christmas Is A Time For Giving And Receiving.

Christmas is just round the corner and we should all be rejoicing and getting ready once again for another year ending with many happy surprises of goodies to come such as, the main Christmas celebrations in churches and everywhere for christians as well as non-christians from all over the world, giving and receiving gifts for families, friends young and old and happy re-unions for everyone, annual holidays, annual company dinners, great annual sales, great parties and entertainments, annual salary increases and bonuses and lots more.
The biggest 'Hoo-Ha' of discontentment this year seems to be coming from taxi commuters with yesterday's sudden announcement of taxi fare hikes and surcharges to be effective this coming monday by the owners of Singapore's largest taxi fleet. This 'hot' topic is presently the 'Talk of the Town' from all walks of life.
Past experiences have shown us that in any sort of price increase issues, comes firstly, resentments, disapprovals, complaints all round but, by the end of the day, all issues will eventually quieten down and then  gradually be accepted as the days go by and will soon be forgotten while life goes on. This has been the norm for us Singaporeans, if you like, just try recalling the recent 'outcries' in the General Elections, price increases in coffee and food episodes. But come this Christmas and it will bring forth Harmony, Joy, Well Wishes and all 'ill' feelings, grudges will soon disappear and be forgotten.
As for me, in this unpredictable and ever changing world that we live in, I feel happy to take this opportunity to Wish You, One and All  "A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!". Cheers !

"Paiseh, Paiseh Uncle"

After dropping my passenger at the entrance of RWS casino around 11.00pm last night, I headed towards the very long queue of commuters lining up at the taxi stand with only about three other taxis in front of me and none at all at the taxi stand. Straightaway this young lady, first in the queue, boarded my cab and told me to go to Sophia Road. And as soon as I drove away from the taxi stand, she quickly uttered in mandarin that she was going to puke and asked if I had a plastic bag.
Hearing the word 'puke' in mandarin, I immediately reached out under my seat, got hold of a plastic bag and quickly handed it to her. A few seconds slower and I would have 'puke' splashed all over inside my cab. She had half her head inside the plastic bag and started 'puking' instantly with coughing and 'gargling' sounds at the same time. After a while, when she felt a bit composed, she started thanking me three to four times, saying "paiseh, paiseh uncle, sorry uncle, for giving you problem".
She told me she felt much better and that it was the second time she 'puked'. I spoke in mandarin saying she must have had one too many at the same time asking her if she spoke English. She said "Yes, 'paiseh, paiseh uncle' so sorry for the inconvenience, first time attending my company's annual dinner (Citi Bank) and my colleagues kept giving me mixed liquor drinks which I find hard to refuse as I had only recently joined the company. I drank altogether about ten glasses and it was okay then. I lined up at the taxi stand, waited for nearly half an hour and nearly 'puke' at the queue, but managed very uncomfortably to control and held on till your taxi came, 'paiseh, paiseh uncle', thank you uncle, thank you".
I said "Its good you that you are feeling much better now, don't worry, don't mention, its no problem for me, but when you get home, have a hot cup of coffee or milo before you go to bed. By the way, from your accent, you don't sound local, where do you come from?" She replied, "I come from China, studied here for 3 years, after graduation, started working and am now bonded for 3 years with this bank". Furthermore, she added "Lucky for me that you arrived and I did not puke at the taxi stand otherwise I would have lost face as it would have been very ugly and embarrassing in front of the many staff of the company also waiting at the taxi stand".
Her fare for the trip was $10.40, she paid me the money as she alighted and kept saying 'paiseh, paiseh uncle', 'sorry uncle', thank you, thank you and before I could even say anything, she was gone, disappeared into the building.

Solicited.

Travelling along Boon Lay Way after exiting from Toh Guan Road and heading towards Clementi, just past Chevron building, I was flagged down by a young Chinese lady standing by the side of the road at about 11.30pm last night. She opened my front passenger door, sat in but did not shut the door and spoke in Mandarin. She asked me quickly if I could just spare her a minute and said I must be quite tired and that she could help me relax a bit by providing me with a good massage which I will surely appreciate. I was taken aback, momentarily surprised, she looked to be in her early thirties, well dressed and pretty enough. I told her no, I was not tired and I don't need a massage thank you, to which she said in a pleading manner that she needed some monetary help and would even sleep with me and also provide other extra sexual favours. She told me she was not a foreigner and I believed she was not through her mandarin accent. I asked if she spoke English, "Yes, a little" she said. "Miss, I don't have much money and I need to carry on working for now so if you please excuse me, I have to work". She said "Sorry, sorry trouble you" smiled, got out and shut the door. I looked at her walking away as I drove off and it suddenly dawned on me that she must have really needed some money very urgently to even offer and sell herself like that. Then again I thought, she could also be a smart 'hooker' with good marketing skills, very presentable and yet looked to be in a sorry plight.

Picky Passenger.

An elderly woman boarded my taxi at Resorts World taxi stand just before 8.00pm last night. She wanted to go home to her condominium apartment situated at the former Yeo Hiap Seng factory site along Dunearn Road. As soon as I began driving away from the taxi stand, she asked me what the $1.00 shown on the left hand side of my taxi meter was for. I told her that it was for the peak hour surcharge which is between the hours from 5.00pm to 8.00pm, at the same time pointing to her the exact time shown on my wristwatch, to which she immediately said, "But it is past 8.00pm now, the lady who stood beside me at the taxi stand told me so. How can you charge me the extra $1.00 then? You are taking advantage of me". I started explaining to her that it was beyond my control as the meter fare and time is adjusted and fixed by the LTA, Land Transport Authorities, and I cannot manipulate or add in any amount I wished. She began speaking in a harsh and angry tone, accusing me of adding the surcharge of $1.00 saying, "I come to the Casino very often and I know about the fixed $3.00 surcharge \, this I will pay but not the additional extra $1.00 which is unfair". I replied "Aunty, if you are unwilling to pay the peak hour surcharge of $1.00 I will forego it, but please mind your words, I am not a cheat so don't keep repeating your accusations". She said she comes from Indonesia and she has often donated big sums of money towards charities and the $1.00 means nothing to her, its the principle. It was futile trying to keep on explaining about the surcharge and so, I chose to remain silent for the rest of the way feeling rather annoyed over the incident. When we arrived at her condominium, the metered fare was $14.10 and I said "You may pay me $13.00". She paid me according to my request and exclaimed "These few days keep raining all the time" as she alighted. 

Joy To The World.

Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way, and soon it will be Christmas Day. The famous Christmas decorations are already being put up including 'Lights On' along Orchard Road. So many beautiful Christmas trees of different sizes are being lined up everywhere together with the awesome and colorful lightings, has turned this whole area into a "Fairyland". This year's colour theme of blue and silver, have brightened up the greetings to welcome the yuletide celebrations.
Already crowds of shoppers are showing up all over the island, lugging bags and bags of Christmas goodies from the many well decorated shops and shopping malls. Party mood is on for sure.
The influx of tourists this year, an all time high, from all over the world is very evident and coupled with the year end school holidays, makes for a very, very joyous and crowded time of revelries.
Christmas season is starting early this year, you can tell by the increase in the long queues of commuters at taxi stands, along the roadsides and around popular spots. This of course brings on, without fail, against Taxi Drivers, the inevitable 'gripes and complaints' of , "You know how long I've been waiting here or not?", "Where are all the taxis?","Why no taxis at all?" and "See, every taxi 'Busy' or with 'On Call' signs", "Changing shift", "Look lah, they won't stop at all!" and etc.
Looks like this is going to be "Huat ahh..." for us taxi drivers this year, Cheers!  

Return To Me. (Sounds familiar?).

Staying put like in a 'merry go round' and unable to get out for three solid hours, I became very "Sian" and started counting. You see, I was following the queue at Bukit Panjang Plaza taxi stand at about 7.45pm last night and for the next three hours or so, I kept coming back to the taxi stand, time after time, fetching passengers to places nearby one after another, and each time, all my passengers carried at least 7 to 10 NTUC plastic bags full of groceries, goodies and stuff which very much slowed down the loading process. My 'boot' had also worked overtime getting filled up with plastic bags on every trip. I kept count of about 8 similar continuous trips and it seemed endless, kind of a repeat 'dilemma', a feeling of getting 'stucked' at the same taxi stand which must have possessed a kind of powerful 'magnet'.
The taxi fares were all slim as expected, between $3.20 to $4.40 going in short circles, to Petir Road twice, Ring Road, Fajar Road, Jelapang Road, Segar Road and Pending Road, all the roads located so close by.
Finally, after telling myself to drive away from the 'stale' stand for the last time, my wish came true and I ferried this young man to West Coast Drive, what an exciting change of venue but, as soon as he alighted near the Food Centre, after paying me the $8.00 fare, another young man immediately came on board, "Uncle, Bukit Panjang Plaza please". "Ouch, oh no, not back again" I whimpered. It was too good to be true, sighing as I started the drive back.