タクシー

Now, some of you may remember this incident where I came back from Japan and was sort of mildly irritated at the amount of money I had to pay for my cab fare. I considered it sort of like a moment of remembrance, since even now, more than 2 years on, I still remember it. Sometimes, it's hard to imagine time passing by so quickly... but it does.

So anyway, today was another taxi-time, a meter-moment, a cab-construed-chronological-circumstance.

You see, today, I went down with a colleague to cover some event at Timbre @ The Arts House. The trip there itself wasn't the issue, apart from the fact that some of the roads around the Marina area are blockaded for the F1 race this weekend. So we dropped off at the Fullerton Hotel, and then we went to the event.

While it started there, the event was really the launch of a river taxi (again! that confounded construction!) service that would ply between Fullerton and Clarke Quay, along the Singapore River. The ferries themselves were pretty neat, I thought. No photos, though. I was on duty, so it would have been rather un-professional to take photos.

But anyway, we ended up at Clarke Quay area. Now for those of you who know me, I rather like the Clarke Quay area, since 1) Central is there, and 2) Meidi-ya under Liang Court is there. And if I am in sudden dire need to purchase Japanese stuff, that is a good place for me to go. Another would be Bishan, or Taka, but that's another story.

So anyway, the whole event ended at Clarke Quay. My colleague and I then went to look for a cab since she had to rush back to office to file the story. We managed to get one at Liang Court, and then we zipped back up to the SPH media center at Braddell.

What I found appalling was... no, it wasn't that the driver drove the way my brother drives on Need for Speed. So like I was saying, what I found most disturbing... no, it wasn't that there was a massive jam along the CTE that makes the trains in Japan look spacious.

What really irked me this time was that the taxes I had to pay for my cab ride was higher than my cab fare. See, I shall give you a breakdown of what I paid for in my 20 minute ride.

Cab fare: $7.80
ERP: $3.50
City Area Surcharge: $3.00
Diesel Surcharge: $0.30
Peak Hour Tax (35%): $2.75
GST: $0.30

So what this adds up to is:

Base Cab Fare: $7.80
Taxes for Cab Fare: $9.85
Grand Total: $17.65

Bother inflation.

Cheerio

仕事

I started work 3 weeks ago on the 1st of September.

I went for two days of training, then reported to the Sports desk to do work.

And I thought I had reached a major milestone last Sunday when I sort of started work at 11, and ended at 10.45. I was joking with one of the editors that it would be my first 12-hour work day.

Hard to imagine that exactly one week later, I did manage to clock my first 12-work day. I worked from 11.45 Sunday morning to 12.20 Monday morning. Ooooh.

And I would probably talk about how it's like working, but I'm zoning out in the feeling-tired-but-not-feeling-sleepy sort of way. I'm sure if I go and lie down on my bed, I will be able to fall asleep. But I'm not on my bed now, and I'm actively typing something so I am not that zoned. Not that that will always work. I can fall asleep at my computer. Just not now.

On an aside note, I have been thinking about Japan a bit more now. I don't know why.

Oooh Japan....

I really should spend time to post up those JMT dinner photos, but I'm starting to feel tired now.

Cheerio.

P.S. The wonderful thing about blogging is that unlike when I'm writing articles, I can use all the contractions I want. So I'll use words like I'm, and I'll, and you'll, and can't, and shouldn't, and it's, and we're, and....