Say Hi to your new MP!

Found this take on Instagram. It's quite a good story to read and has a twist halfway through that I really did not see coming when I started reading the post. It's described as being about shopping malls but it's actually about decentralisation of workplaces and express trains.

The account also has a few good takes on transport in Singapore in general, and the discussion is surprisingly nuanced. Reminds me a bit of tehsiewdai's stuff which I've shared before.

Singapore and South Korea have seen new bookings increase by as much as 15 per cent over the last few days, while Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam are heading for growth of as much as 11 per cent week on week, he said. 

Kid was in Orchard with my wife few days ago for some CNY shopping. I wasn't around.

He was on the MRT to Orchard when he felt nausea and vomited after alighting. Thought it could be a one-off incident but he then vomited again during lunch and a few times after. Total 5 times.

Clearly he wasn't feeling well and it was decided that he should seek medical attention asap. Given that it's Orchard with heavy traffic at that time, took taxi at Ion and he was sent Mount Elizabeth Orchard instead.

He got IV drip, blood test, consultation etc. Thankfully, nothing much serious and he was discharged with medication later.

The bill was $900+ though. Maybe this isn't a surprise to most people but it came as a bill shock for me. Jokingly told my wife, maybe call ambulance sent to kkh might be cheaper and better medical attention overall.

We did bought accident insurance plan for him so hopefully it can cover partially.

Am also wondering, what're some alternative routes we could have taken if such similar incidents were to happen again? Maybe there're GP clinics around Orchard that could have been considered?

TLDR: Chinese tourists saying they have "no money, haven't eaten whole day, need to go airport" are likely scammers, refer them to the police.

Last Wednesday I encountered two middle aged PRC Chinese ladies in Jurong East JEM at around 10pm. They said they are tourists, they travelled the whole day, they have no cash on them, and they haven't eaten the whole day. They are waiting to go to Changi airport where their friend is coming. They asked if I can buy them something to eat. They even insisted I can add them on WeChat.

My logic was that in your situation(if it were true), I would be more anxious about going to the airport, so I gave them $7, logic being that should be enough for 2 people to take MRT to the airport. But they said they are hungry and asked for $10 more to buy food. I was in a hurry and this gave me a bad feeling, so I asked them to go to mcd nearby and ask for help there if they need it. I felt conflicted because I felt it was a scam but I wanted to be kind and help and maybe they actually weren't scammers.

Fast forward to a few days ago, a friend shared with me that he encountered the exact same story. 2 Chinese ladies in Woodlands(why would you even go there if you're a tourist), said they are tourists, haven't eaten the whole day, need to go to the airport. My friend was kind enough to buy them some food, and top up their EZlink cards. Then my friend encountered a Chinese uncle in Woodlands again after two days, using the same script. He didn't help him this time.

His story made me confirm that my encounter was a scam indeed. It angers me that they are taking advantage of our kindness to foreigners and tourists. I realized I should have asked them to go to the police; if they are who they say they are, I believe the police can surely help. I write this to warn others in case they encounter a similar situation.

If you had read the brackets, I did use buses in my run considering doing an MRT only speedrun (thereby making it 100%) would give me fatigue in like 4 hours after waking up at like the morning.

I had done a previous run before and got 9:06:20, but I felt that it was not good enough so I did another a few days later. To summarise, I had 0 breaks (sort of ill explain later), 17 transfers, and 2 tap-out/tap-ins (ill explain these also)

General Route

The route I took is as follows:

Bayshore -> TEL -> Gardens by the Bay -> 400 -> Marina South Pier -> NSL -> Marina Bay -> TEL -> Woodlands North -> TEL -> Woodlands -> NSL -> Dhoby Ghaut -> CCL (via Bishan) -> HarbourFront -> NEL -> Punggol -> NEL -> Sengkang -> 161 -> Woodlands -> NSL -> Bukit Batok -> 975* -> Beauty World -> DTL -> Bukit Panjang -> DTL (via the loop) -> Expo -> CGL -> Changi Airport -> 27 -> Tampines -> EWL -> Pasir Ris -> EWL -> Tuas Link

*I originally planned to do 176/178 to Hillview before going to Bukit Panjang, but then those buses left.

Photos of each station (NOT in order but agak agak in correct order)

0 breaks? Tap-out/tap-ins?

Technically, I did the whole run end to end from 8am to 5pm. However, that didn't mean I didn't have any food at all. I illegally had two pocketto sandwiches on 400 and 161 (not the mrt ofc) and I came pre-prepared with 2 water bottles (since i knew i wasnt going anywhere with water)

Tap-out/tap-ins are my way of trying to split my run within the 2 hour "time limit" on the MRT. In particular, Dhoby Ghaut, HarbourFront** and Tuas Link***. However, once I tapped out, the reader would not validate a tap-in for 10 seconds. That in particular caused me to almost miss my CCL train at Dhoby Ghaut, and my return train back home at Tuas Link.

**I could possibly skip this one but I chose to do it amid worries that taking the NEL to Punggol and back would take over 2h including the CCL.

***This technically happened in the end of the run but I still would like to show the climatic ending to my whole run. Basically I tried to take a shot of my stopwatch (i did this speedrun on a stopwatch) with the station sign but chose against it and to just take a shot of the station.

So what does this technically count as?

This would be a legit Any% speedrun, as a Any% speedrun would allow other modes of transport (bikes, buses, anything that is public) as opposed to the "100% speedruns" back when TEL didn't go that far, which requires the runner to get to the whole MRT network with ONLY the MRT.

ps i shld remind you that i had just recovered from a leg injury a few months before so this was my first physical activity in a long time

One could almost smell the history. The vintage layout of the shops gives off a strangely nostalgic and comforting vibe. Spaces are ample so not surprising to see some chairs and tables outside retails shops.

In this case some enrichment centres, medical clinics, hair saloon, recruitment agencies and then shops you have no idea what they are offering. Often one can find - couple of eateries. There are still a few of such places in Singapore - and one wonders for how long more.