the ultimate time waster
I was supposed to have piano practice at 6.30 just now, but I found no one there when I arrived at 6.35. The practice room was still empty when I returned from dinner after 7, so after muttering a few choice words, I decided to go home. But I didn't want to reach home too early because I didn't want to recount the tale to my mum, and I had nothing to do at home anyway. So I took a long bus ride, on bus 74 all the way to Hougang interchange and then 165 back to Ang Mo Kio.
It was a mind-numbing journey. Half and hour into the ride and we were still stuck in Ang Mo Kio. I could've hopped off at AMK Hub but I didn't. The bus sped on towards Hougang, and as the journey dragged on I felt myself losing focus. I was in a stupor, slowly losing consciousness in the drone of the engine and the air conditioning. I was prone to motion sickness in long bus rides, so I found myself yawning every now and then to stop myself from puking. When we finally entered Hougang, the bus kept turning here and there and I swore we travelled on every street in the area. What's worse, we seemed to stop at every bus stop and this made the trip longer.
Suddenly, I realised I was the only passenger left in the bus. I snapped out of my semi-consciousness. This meant we were approaching the bus interchange! Over there, I exited the bus hurriedly, relieved to be on terra firma once again. I checked my watch: it took me an hour to get here.
I was lucky to have had a fast and reckless driver. He sped down Bukit Timah Road and Lornie Road like nobody's business. Many times I was forced to the back of my seat when the bus accelerated. I loved it. It brought to mind the best bus ride I ever had, on service 52. On that wonderful ride, the bus negotiated a curve at such a high speed its side scraped the road. All of us were experiencing a force of at least 2G and I was clinging onto the handrails for dear life. Good times. I never had a bus ride that fun anymore.
If I'd boarded a double-decker, I could've taken 2 hours to reach Hougang. Because more often than not, the 74 double-deckers that I board are one of the slowest vehicles around (that includes bicycles). They trundle along the roads with a maximum speed of just over 20km/h. Sometimes, they go so slow that I believe I run faster during my morning jog. Their slow speed is painfully evident on Lornie road, where stopping at bus stops and traffic lights are rare, so it's like an expressway. So there we are, at the extreme left of the road, doing under half the limit, while other vehicles zoom by. Another bus roars past us and seconds later, it disappears into the horizon.
To be honest, it's not only the 74 bus drivers who are under the snail's curse. In fact, the slowest bus I have ever travelled on was ironically a service 52.
Back to the story, where I just stepped off bus 74 into the bustling Hougang bus interchange. Not far from me was a pasar malam, where sticks of fishball, sausage, chicken wings and other mouth-watering fried food were sold. It took me all I had to tear myself away from the lure of those artery-cloggers and reluctantly, I took bus 165 home.
And so ends my account of my boring trip home from school, which took a grand total of 1.5 hours, more than twice the usual time. Now I understand why my senior refuses to take bus 74 home. Riding it once was tiresome enough, but doing it everyday, that's another story. Next time, I'm going to hop on bus 89 from Changi Beach to Hougang. I've seen the route, and it's long. But I guess I'm prepared.
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