Transportation

To get around Singapore, I use a combination of taxis, buses, and the MRT (the subway). If you have 4 people, taxis are pretty cheap. No taxis are allowed on campus unless they are picking someone up or dropping someone off, so you have to call to get one, but it only takes a few minutes for them to arrive. Elsewhere in town, there are usually taxi stands so you only have to wait a few minutes. The buses are also convenient and run fairly frequently. However, I was on the school bus today when it rear-ended a car. Oops. I don't know that there was any actual damage.

The subway may be my favorite mode of transportation. Depending on the time of day, they can be very busy. However, it is worth taking the subway for the times I get to see the MRT Rap. That's right, their subway system has its own rap song, complete with music video. It is all about proper etiquette when loading and unloading the MRT. The pictures are stills from the video.

Of course, I also do lots of walking. You would think that walking is a fairly universal mode of transportation and would not cause many problems. However, you would be wrong. In the United States, it is generally understood that you should always walk on the right side of the hall or sidewalk. Additionally, when on an escalator, you can stand on the right side or pass on the left. There seems to be no such standard here. Cars drive on the left, so you would think everyone would stick to the left. No such luck. As a result, everyone is constantly running into one another. Additionally, there are random steps everywhere. To get into my bedroom, I have to step up. To get into my bathroom, I have to step down. This is the case everywhere. I am getting better, but I will not be surprised if I leave Singapore with a broken ankle.

In Malaysia, we stuck to the taxis and buses. You have to be careful with the taxis, because they like to charge you a flat rate instead of going on the meter. The meter is always more. However, in Singapore they are very strict about not letting you squeeze an extra person into the taxi, but that is not the case in Malaysia.

When we got to the airport, in Kuala Lumpur, we had 7 people trying to go to the same place. We didn't want to take two taxis, but the van only held 7 passengers. However, a guy told us he would go ahead and take us. Thus began the sketchest taxi ride of my life. First, we immediately had to stop at a gas station. He pulled into the station and lifted up the hood of his car next to a pump. He realized he was on the wrong side, so he got back in the car and pulled around to the other side, still with his hood up. He then proceeded to pump something in under the hood of the car. At first we assumed it was some strange way to get gas. But no, because once he finished, he had to pull into another pump to get gas. Again, he pulled in on the wrong side on his first attempt. While filling up, he went inside. We all sat there talking and listening to music until Yinka (one of the guys in the car) asked, "is it just me or is the car still running?" Sure enough, it is apparently standard practice to leave the engine running while you fill up on gas. Finally, we got moving again. We headed toward the city until we came to a round-about. We the proceeded to go around this round-about not once, not twice, but three times. The first time around, we all managed to see the sign pointing towards Kuala Lumpur. Not so with the taxi driver. However, he eventually managed to get us to our destination. I am still somewhat convinced that he must have just stolen the taxi and that was why he had no idea what he was doing.

When we returned to Singapore last night, we took a taxi from the bus station (it was cheaper than flying) back to our hotel. This became the flat out scariest taxi ride of my life. The speed limit most of the way was 70 km/h. Our driver decided 120 km/h was a much better speed. Honestly, I was okay with this. As some of you know, I tend to drive fast myself. But then our driver's head started bobbing. At first I thought he was just getting into the music. Then I looked at his eyes. Sure enough, he was falling asleep while he sped through the city. We stopped at a red light. He took a nap. We didn't start moving again until we made some noise to wake him up. I'm still not sure how we made it back alive.