Whimsical Student.

Last Saturday evening I fetched an interesting young female secondary four student from a local school from Jurong Point taxi stand and she wanted to go to West Mall. During the journey, she asked me a host of questions in respect of the taxi driving profession. She said she wants to be a taxi driver when she finishes school after the end of this year as she finds it very interesting and most important of all she can have a vehicle to use without having to foot out a huge sum of money to buy one, only need a thousand dollars or so as capital money. I was shocked to hear of her intentions, her ignorance, I mean coming from a sec. 4 student. I told her that she will have to be at least 18 years old in the first place to apply for a driving licence and secondly she can only be eligible to apply for a taxi vocational licence if she is 30 years old, the minimun qualifying age, to which she exclaimed "Wah liao! like that ah, have to wait so long and must be 30 years old than can become a taxi driver meh?". I replied "Yes what, you think so easy meh?". I knew she was still very immature and childish and so gave her a simple 'fatherly' talk about the importance of education and not to think so much about starting to work and blah, blah, blah and so on till we reach West Mall. She looked a bit stunned and silly when she paid me the fare, but she did thank me for my bit of talk and advice for her as she alighted and quickly disappeared in the crowd.

Sleeping Buddha.

Fetched an elderly Indian couple from Clarke Quay early yesterday evening and they wanted to go to St. Michael's Road which is off Serangoon Road. I managed to ask them casually if they were locals and they said "No", they were visitors from Mumbai. They wanted to visit the Sri Lankaramaya Temple to see the sleeping Buddha. They cannot speak much English and so I could not find out their actual reasons for coming to this Temple. Anyway, when we reached their destination, I took the chance to take a couple of pictures of the sleeping Buddha. I asked if I could photograph them also, but they declined.

The Re-appearance.

The first passengers I picked up on Monday evening opposite Mount Elizabeth Hospital was a young Caucasian woman with her two young children, twins, a boy and a girl, together with her maid and they wanted to go Hindhede Road, entrance to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. After they alighted at a condominium nearby, and on my way out, I saw monkeys walking, running and jostling along the entrance of the road, I quickly stopped and parked my cab along the kerb, took out my iPhone and started taking pictures of the monkeys which I had earlier thought already vanished from this area. (Refer to my earlier post "Where Have All The Monkeys Gone")

I spent about 20 minutes watching the monkeys antics, wrestling with one another, chasing one another and also a mother holding her baby perched on the railings and it was fun and interesting just watching them at play. Yes, the monkeys are still there to entertain.

Relentless Shocks and Revelations.

Just ask these words "Heard the latest?" or "Have you heard?" and we get to hear all sorts of comments, feedbacks, criticisms, thoughts and suggestions. As a taxi driver, I chat and interact everyday with a very wide and varied audience, people from all walks of life and from all over the world, different races and religions. I get first hand news and views of any sensational stories past and present and yesterday, the topic was of course 'the shock' about misappropriation of City Harvest Church funds involving its pragmatic leader, Pastor Kong Hee  which in turn also brought about recollections of similar past episodes such as the NKF saga, Ren Ci and many others including recent fallen Top stars from government.

It was an interesting day of chit chats with so many of my passengers. I was flooded with accusations, criticisms and the like from my passengers and me too, adding extra contributions to our exciting discussions,  like in a mini forum. In recent times, there has been varied subjects, such as the 'Ferrari tragedy', death falls of 'maids', reservoir 'suicides' and numerous 'corruption' cases all of which makes for lively chats between me and my passengers. Its been a great pleasure ferrying and meeting cheerful, pleasant, intelligent and friendly strangers all willing to engage in healthy lively talks, enjoy laughter and discussions.    

Unforeseen Hiccup.

Three days ago, my PC which served me so faithfully for so many years broke down. I tried to rescue it by getting a very good friend of mine, a professional troubleshooter, to do everything possible to get it back to shape but to no avail. I had to sadly dispose of my PC and yesterday bought a new one, this time, with Microsoft Window 7 Home Premium, simplified. Stayed home last night to get to know my new PC after necessary installations and registration were completed. I am delighted with its performances and enjoying so many new features and now I can't wait to get back into action once again with my new partner.

I had to take leave and was only driving sporadically the past few days and had to suffer a bit of taxi rental loss and some income. Today, a Monday, I can foresee a slower, with a longer working shift to make some recovery back to normalcy but as usual, I will continue to provide good services to one and all, at the same time enjoy myself whilst doing so. Hope to see and meet you again sometime, till then, have a nice day.

By the way, did you know I am in Facebook? Do visit me and check out on my new Page (on the right, below "ABOUT ME') and also you know lah, please "Like" it, Thank you. Cheers!  

Violent Attacks Against Cabbies.

Early last Saturday morning, 16th June, a 58 year old taxi driver was attacked by his passenger brandishing a weapon. He was viciously slashed and when he tried to retaliate, his attacker struck again. The cabbie suffered deep cuts and damaged nerves on his left arm which needed surgery. This was an unprovoked attack and the assailant did not rob or even tried to take his valuables. No one has been arrested yet.
In an earlier incident, on 8th June, a 48 year old taxi driver was beaten unconscious by his passenger simply because he drove a "lousy" car. This attacker, a 30 year Korean was arrested and police investigation is still on ongoing.
These recent violent attacks on taxi drivers clearly shows cabbies' vulnerability, with the cabbie sitting in front with his seat belts properly fastened (its the law) it is futile to even try to retaliate against aggressors who attacks from behind, worst of all with hidden deadly weapons.
Well, still thinking of taking up a taxi vocational licence and become a taxi driver? It is scary isn't it after reading what happened to the two unfortunate cabbies. Yes, it is a dangerous job, very unpredictable, afterall, who knows who or what your passengers can do to you even without any provocations simply because they are from the "cuckoo's nest".
Taxi driving is also about knowing a bit of psychology, must be tactful, alert always and some ability to judge 'body language' as well as through simple dialogue. Overall appearance is not always a safe guide. Through experiences all these years plying my trade, I must admit I am lucky not to have encountered 'psychotic or mad' passengers.

"Xiao Long Pau" at Din Tai Fung Restaurant.

Its mid term school holidays and so last night at 7.00pm, I invited my granddaughter Jasmine (14) and my grandson Julian (13) for dinner at the chinese restaurant 'Din Tai Fung' at Resorts World Sentosa beside Universal Studios.
When we reached the restaurant, there was a long queue and we had to wait for 15 minutes before a table was available. Each of us had a bowl of noodles, each a different variety and also shared three trays of their world famous 'Xiao Long Bao', ten pieces in each tray. We were all good eaters and thoroughly enjoyed our dinner.
After that, we had ice cream just next door to the restaurant before we adjourned to Park Lane at Selegie Road to visit my nephew Brighton's Cyber Cafe called Spot On Gaming Pte. Ltd. to play the latest video games. I watched my grandchildren enjoy playing their favourite games till we left at 11.45pm. It was a terrific night of enjoyment, lots of fun and laughter for all of us. I have always cherished outings and spending time with my grandchildren.

Mobile Power.

These days, passengers are all accompanied by their faithful Smart phones and iPhones and as soon as they board or even whilst boarding my cab, their mobile is glued to their ears and chatting away continuously. Nestled comfortably in their seat and you notice them staring into their beloved gadget, reading emails, into Facebook or chatting and most of all, playing their favourite online games quietly throughout the entire journey to their destinations.
Times have changed when handphones were just communication tools where we use them as and when we need them to convey and receive calls only. Today, practically everyone owns a mobile, its like a part of our body and you will definitely feel very naked and lost when you are without one. Most passengers no longer watch where they are going, know immediately where they are, how the driver drives or even notice whatever is going on along the routes and surroundings after giving instructions to the taxi driver where they wish to go whilst boarding the taxi. Those were the days when you have passengers telling you which road to take, turn left or right or teach you how to drive, grumbles all the way or sometimes even scolds, but today, the whole scenario has changed because everyone minds their own business all because their beloved mobile companion is with them.

Missing iPhone On Board Bus No.35.

Picked up a young couple at Parkway Parade taxi stand around 9.00pm last night and they asked me if there is a bus terminal at Changi Airport and I told them yes. They wanted to go to the airport. The guy told me he must have lost his iphone in the bus they took, No.35 now heading towards the Airport. I asked him to call his mobile, but he said he left it on silent mode. I asked if his iphone was with him when he was on board the bus and he said yes because he remembered he was checking on a message in his phone. As we proceeded towards the airport, I said they could try to locate where his mobile is with his girlfriend's iphone and they quickly did that and discovered his mobile somewhere at St. Parick's Road. I suggested we hurry there to try to catch up with the bus but he said we might as well go to the bus stop near Changi airport police station to wait for the bus with his iphone in it. At the security gate he went to inquire where the nearest bus stop is and was told nearby, we followed the road and it led us to the Budget Terminal and not a bus stop was in sight. We decided to go to Terminal three where they could find out more from airport authorities as to where the bus bay was. I drove towards the basement of T3 where they asked to alight near the front of the long taxi queue to continue their quest to recover the missing iphone. They told me that the bus was only carrying few passengers and they were seated at the rear seats so hopefully his iphone might still be lying there somewhere. The guy and his girlfriend were visibly stressed and very anxious along the whole journey. I wished them all the luck and hope they recover his lost iphone as we departed.

One Of Those Days.

Saturday night, after fetching my passengers, a Malay mother and her young son to Woodlands Ave 1, I decided to head towards one of my favourite eating place nearby to have my dinner. Time was 9.30pm and I had been driving non stop for more than three hours already, now feeling a bit tired and hungry. At Al Ameen restaurant, I ordered a plate of Nasi Bryani and drank Teh-O. Below are pictures of my food and surroundings.

After my meal, I suddenly felt a craving for Durians which I saw just now around the corner, behind the bus stop and so I walked there to check it out and eventually bought three Durians of the D24 type for only $10.00, (an offer I could not refuse) which I brought home for my treat to enjoy after work. Feast your eyes on the fruits displayed. As I write, the smell and taste of these exotic fruits lingered on.