Big Yellow Taxi

I think the taxi companies' love us and the bus & MRT companies hates us. This is because we travel around by taxi instead of wasting time waiting for the buses. MRT is ok since the waiting time is standard but then the train station is a distance from our house, takes about 10mins to reach our block. On top of that its always very crowded.

We don't (and have no intention to) have a car. I have a driving licence but have only driven a car 2-3 times since I got it ages ago. Think it has expired plus not sure where I've misplaced it. Daddy does not have a driving licence and its not a top priority for him to get one as of now. In future MAYBE he will try his luck.

It all started 6yrs ago when Little DinoEgg was born. Every morning I have to sling him, carry his bag n my bag to granny's house and subsequently to his school. I will take a 10mins walk to the nearby LRT station, then walk to the destination; a good 10mins from LRT station to the school. Then I decided to take a bus from below our block then change to LRT instead of walking, however the bus is always not punctual and most of the time its crowded. Imagine me doing the balancing act with the baby n barang barangs throughout the 15mins jerky bus ride. Yupe, practically no one offer seats to us, it irks me when they stare at me doing the balancing act. Trying to see what a super woman I am is it or anticipating me falling down together with my child so that they can give me The Look?? It gets worst when Little DinoEgg outgrew the sling, means I have to carry him... my arms can break into pieces after every morning's bus ride.

So I decided to flag down a taxi every morning.  Faster, more relax journey, lesser travelling time and best of all a happier me n baby to start the day.

Another reason is... I can take it if I have to take an hour or more bus/train journey to reach my destination.  I will have no energy to enjoy the day with friends or family coz I will be so drained out during the journey.  Little DinoEgg too!! He can be well behaved in the train or bus but when we reaches the destination he will be cranky, restless, grouchy and sometimes he will want to go home when we barely set foot on the destination.  In the end, both of us cannot enjoy the day.

*Imagine travelling fm NE side to Jurong Bird Park in MRT!  A whole 1.5hours (at least) on the road!  I don't have energy or mood to enjoy the park.*

With the recent taxi fare hike, we feel the pinch initially but got over it soon.  Some of my friends commented that we spend alot on taxi fare (a few even sniggered at it).  Not that we are rich so we splurge on this but we believe its money well spent, in this case we get to our destination faster and get to enjoy what ever activities we will be having.  I believe quality time is more important then being calculative risk a bad day out.

Initially we only take taxi in the morning as we have to send Little DinoEgg to school, we also realized that the MRT are getting more and more crowded.  Eventually I decided to give up on MRT becoz of a few unhappy incidents on the train, the ultimate one is when I met an unreasonable lady who hurl bad words at me, you can read about it here. Since then we have converted to 100% taxi on every where we go.

Then recent months, the MRT has been a disappointment with many breakdowns for hours causing inconvenience to the commuters.  Late for work, late for school and just a few days ago I heard on the radio that it causes a parent to miss his son's wedding tea ceremony *GASPED*  After MRT release statement that they will do a thorough check on the tracks, power supply etc WHICH will cause inconvenience to commuters, we can expect them to raise the fare again.

In view of this, I think I place my money with the taxi is a safer bet.  Of course we have our fair share of bad experience with the taxi uncle or the taxi companies.  Vexed when you need a cab like YESTERDAY and couldn't get one fast enough.  Those are the bad & unlucky days.... however it's still better then having to sit at the bus stop looking far ahead on the road n hoping to see the bus slowly trotter up OR wonder when is the blardy bus going to appear!  

PS : The long waiting of the one thousand and one not-punctual-at-all bus refers to the one at my block, may not applies to every bus.