a conforming bao

i thought about lunch. ba bao seemed good. $1.10, meaty and filling. i took my wallet and headed to the elevator. pressed the elevator button to go downstairs. however, i stopped short and turned back to office, took my mug and made myself instant cereal instead. and good thing, i saved $1.10 too.

with the change of the public transport fare system, i am paying $0.05 more per trip from home to work. that's 4.5% increase for me. only 60% of the population will benefit from this change. as i was telling dearie the other day, smrt/sbs transit are corporations with shareholders to be accountable to. how could they possibly implement a fare system that will be detrimental to them and eat into their profits? reading alot of complaints on the internet in response to the fare increase. these complaints amount to nothing because at the end of the day, all we will probably do is to accept and pay.

cycling is actually viable solution to alot of things.

1. we cut down pollution
2. we avoid the mad rush on buses/mrts
3. we won't be subjected to the pain of fare increases
4. we get to exercise. good for health. don't fall sick so easily. save on medical bills.

but..

1. singapore is so warm. by the time we cycle to work, we'll be perspiring. unless we work near to our offices.
2. singapore road is not cyclist-friendly. first threat comes from taxi drivers who aren't the most friendly of the bunch. on top of that, we also have impatient drivers who do not give a damn to cyclists.
3. there is no SAFE place to park bikes. no one released statistics of bike theft in singapore right? or probably too many of it have gone unreported.

so having circle around the bush, i am back to point zero. we are at the mercy of public transport. don't even think about owning a car because the rate of increase is more eye-popping.

it made me think about some countries i've travelled to. in japan, one can park his/her bike by the road side and not have to worry someone will come along and steal them. in australia, cyclists can wheel their bikes (don't have to be foldable bikes which reduces to a certain dimension) into trains.

i haven't heard of many companies advocating staff to exercise and make exercise a part of life. they will advocate overtime and finish your work more.

whine whine whine. at the end of the day, all of us just be obedient and conform to the norms.