Where's the bus?

Recently, my friend NN informed me that there is a private bus that plys the Shenton Way route, where my office building is located.

Although this bus would not take me right to the doorstep of our home, I would be able to alight next to Mandarin Gardens and thereafter take a bus to Parkway Parade (if I am headed in that direction) or take a taxi home (if I am going home, which is relatively near Mandarin Gardens).

Da and I have to date taken this bus once - when we were going to Parkway Parade after work.

This evening, a night meeting which I were supposed to attend was cancelled and I decided to leave the office around 6.45 pm as I was tired. When I approached the spot near my office building where the private bus would stop to take passengers, I was surprised to find only one other person there even though it was close to 7 pm (the scheduled time of arrival of the bus). I was not certain whether she was also waiting for the bus or whether she was waiting for someone to fetch her.

By 7.05 pm, the bus was still not in sight. Suddenly, the lady who was standing near me turned towards me and asked me, "Are you waiting for the Bedok bus?". I took a guess that by "Bedok bus", she meant the private bus that would travel in the direction of Bedok. When I said "yes", she informed me that this was the second day in a row where she waited for the private bus and it did not arrive at 7 pm. The day before, there were several other people waiting for the private bus as well and in the end, the crowd dispersed and each person left on their own.

I was in a dilemma. Should I wait a while more for the private bus or should I go home by alternative means of transport. Although I did not have any direct bus home (via public bus), I did have an MRT station relatively near my home. Well, by "relatively near", it meant a 10 to 15 minute walk from the MRT station to my home.

After waiting another 5 minutes, the lady turned towards me and said that she was not going to wait any more as it would seem that the private bus did not turn up again for the second day in a row. When she left, I decided to follow suit and I made my way home. I have to admit that my tired bones protested the walk home, especially when I detoured halfway between the MRT station and home and went to the minimart to buy some groceries.

When I reached home, Da was already at home. MIL had bought some dinner and brought the food to our home. FIL was tired and did not join us.

Da ate a bowl of beef noodles.

MIL had bought some dry noodles for me. When I took a bite of the noodles, I tasted chilli. MIL explained that the stallholder had reached for the chilli and added it to the noodles before MIL could stop him. I am not a chilli-eater and frankly speaking, I fail to appreciate the additional flavour that the inclusion of chilli apparently adds to a dish (erm.. except for Muar otah!). Interestingly though, I do not mind curries although I do drink a lot of water each time I partake of a curry dish.

It's a friday tomorrow! Yippee! Enjoy the rest of your workweek / schoolweek and have a restful weekend ahead!

Shaloam,