8 new Premium Bus services starting from 30th June 2008

Adapted from SBS Transit website www.sbstransit.com.sg and from SMRT buses website www.smrtbuses.com.sg

Click on the images to view the enlarged version.

8 new premium bus services will be launched tomorrow in the hope of bringing more commuters to choose the public transport option during weekdays morning peak hours. These 8 premium bus services cover a range of areas like Woodlands Ring, Meyer Rd, Balestier, Sin Ming and so on to Shenton Way. The prices ranges from $3.60 to $5 and concessionary travel including Seasonpass holders and concession stamps are not allowed to be used for payment.

Water Cure Program

Recently, I just read a book about the healing effects of water, water as an effective anti-histamine agent.

Visit www.watercure.com for the healing effects of water and the optimal quantity of water to consume every day.

Fantasy route amendment service 49

Click on the poster to view the enlarged version.
Service 49 will be amended to ply Lower Kent Ridge Rd, passing by National University Hospital and some of the NUS various landmarks. It provides a link outside of NUS campus besides 95 currently. In addition, service 49 will now ply CBD areas like Shenton Way and Marina Centre to link the city to the east and west. This is some sort like an alternative to East-West MRT line.
At the same time, service 49A will also be introduced at the same day as service 49. However, please do note that its operating hours is only during weekdays morning and evening peak hours. Please view the poster for further details. 49A differs from 49 in a way that it skips the CBD areas that 49 covers. It aims to quicken the link between the east and the west.

Amazing Race

I went for the Amazing Race organised by the Bus Fans community under Singapore Buses forums last Saturday. Well, it was exciting and costly. I spent up to 15 to 20 bucks just for my bus ride and train ride. However, service 143 is like being seen for about 70% of the time.

We went to Novena to get our second clue which is to find that particular driver driving service 143 in a Compressed Natural Gas Bus which is holding a clue to our next destination. The bus is stipulated to reach Somerset MRT by 1058 hrs. However, we miss the bus. So, we went from Orchard to Toa Payoh in search for the driver. After that, our next destination is Teban Gardens Food Centre which 143 plies too. Our final destination is at Barbourfront Centre which 143 plies there too. What a coincidence.

Overall, this Amazing Race is a test on my proficiency of my bus route knowledge in Singapore and allows me to see new places such as Jalan Angis Laut playground, the beautiful scenary along East Coast Parkway from Fort Rd to Keppel Rd.
It was an eye opener for me as I have met many others on that day which is good at their bus routes, have great interest in buses too. Each of them are armed with Transitlink Bus Guide 2008 and some of them even brought their excerise books to record down the cameos that they have seen today.





A picture shot by a senior bus fan. My team is in search of a stall that holds our answer at Seah Im Food Centre.





Finally found that stall. Yay. A picture shot by that bus fan too.

Fantasy route change 963

Click on the image to view the enlarged version.
Service 963 will be amended to ply Marsling Rd / Marsling Lane / Marsling Dr with effect from 15th June 2008. This route change aims to enhance links in the areas mentioned above by connecting them to Bukit Panjang, Bt Batok, Clementi, Dover and Harbourfront.

Monitoring the monitor

My monitor has a problem recently. The screen will turn dark red when I switch it on. As I switch off and on a couple of times, sometimes, it will go back to normal. So, now I am monitoring the monitor.

An update

It has been quite a while since I have updated my blog. Perhaps I am lazy to update, or too engrossed in other things such as new games.

First and foremost, I have left my job as a warehouse assistant at Allegro. The experience is great, knowing how to carry big things using cool machines, knowing how to update transactions in system and physical stock, knowing how to work in the receiving department. However, I am unlucky to quit in the university vacation period and thus part time jobs are harder to find now. I am offered a surveyor job by an agency and since I hve not done it before, I might as well give it a shot to gain some experience about surveying.

This brings back the memories of surveying a couple of years back when I was doing surveying during project work. Honestly speaking, I was shy about surveying especially at the questions that I was going to inquire about. I guessed my group members at that time would know. And the place I am going to work if everything is confirmed is Changi Airport. I have been there for a sightseeing trip, but I have never been there to work.

As time flies by, I have received more letters and smses from the university about freshman's orientation, administrative procedures and my Qualifying English Test which bores me the most because I have to mug again. Having served NS for two years, my mug skill has totally rusted about current affairs even though I do read newspapers sometimes. I have also started recording some articles classified in the different various categories such as environment, social problems, poverty and so on. One article that I think is memorable is comments by former ASEAN secretary about the different interpretations when someone nod. For example, if someone nods his head while you are talking, does he mean that he agree to what you have said or does he mean that he hear you? The article relates that to Myanmar Cyclone Nargis aftermath about foreign aid. Things have to be asked specifically about what the Myanmar's government in order for foreign governments to deliver relief manpower and supplies to the victims swiftly. The illustration used in the article is great as it can be applied in a macro scale and also in a micro scale.

Fantasy Route Change 965

Click on the image to view the enlarged version.

Fantasy Route Change 965 from Woodlands to Sengkang. It will now ply Woodlands St 83, Woodlands Circle and western part of Yishun Ring Rd. 965 is part of my 3rd fantasy route amendment after the introduction of two new fantasy bus services which are 967 and 968 to enhance the links within Woodlands and Yishun estate. Currently, Woodlands St 83 and Woodlands Circle are currently served by 912 only while the western part of Yishun Ring Rd is currently served by 812 only.

Benefits of this amendment
1. Open up more links in Woodlands St 83, Woodlands Circle to Yishun and Sengkang. An alternative service to Khatib MRT station in Yishun Ring Rd.
2. More convenient for residents living around Woodlands St 83, Cirlce, Yishun Ring Rd to go to other places.

Cons of this amendment
1. More fare stages.
2. Some bus stops which are listed in the poster above will not be served by 965.

1 vs 5 insane ownage

Of course with certain conditions.
1. The heroes chosen are Int based heroes. In my game, I have 2 heroes with disable skills. They are Crystal Maiden and Warlock.

The first and only hero Broodmother in DOTA that I can only win in 6.51AI version 1.52 in a 1 vs 5 insane AI which I am proud of. lol.

Here are some of the pics.


Tanking with CM with avatar on.



On the verge of dying



A triple KILL



VICTORY with 85 kills. Yay.

Broodmother still has a major weakness which is stunners and disablers. I still can't win 1 vs 5 with stunners and disablers present in the enemy team.

New Fantasy Intra Towns Route 967

Service 967 will be introduced on the 20th May 2008. It will serve between South Eastern part of Woodlands and eastern part of Yishun. In addition, it will pass by Khatib MRT in between the two towns which will provide residents living in these two towns a choice to venture either to Woodlands/Yishun or Khatib MRT which ever is more convenient to them.

New fantasy route 968/968A

Service 968 will be operating with effect from 19th May 2008. In fact, it should be 968A since tomorrow is a public holidays. Yay. lol.

Benefits of 968/968A
1. To provide a direct and fast link for residents living in Woodlands estate to the city.
2. Acts as an alternative service from Woodlands Interchange to Republic Poly. It can also provide direct links within the Woodlands estate to Republic Poly which is currently served by only 169, 902 and 911.
3. To provide a direct link from Woodlands estate to Bukit Panjang town.

A close shave

Yesterday, I almost got knocked down by cars rather while crossing the road. It was a close shave.

I was going to Hougang Point while on my way back from work to home. So, I reached a traffic light junction between Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 and Yio Chu Kang Rd. There was a couple in front of me riding a bicycle together. At first, I thought they had pressed the button for crossing the road. However, I realised that they hadn't when the green man doesn't appear while the traffic lights along the road parallel to the route that I was crossing. So, in an attempt to save time and seeing that there were no cars going in the direction which will intercept to the route that I was crossing, I crossed the road. By the way, the roads have 3 lanes on each direction. So, I had to cross a total of 6 lanes of road. After crossing the 4th lane, the traffic lights on the road parallel to my route of travel had turned amber and red very quickly. I noticed something was wrong when I saw the cars start to stop.

At that time, I was still in the middle of the 4th lane towards the 5th lane of the road. My mind couldn't think of what to do next at that time but my instinct told me to run to the other side of the road. I started to run towards the other end of the junction when the cars at my left started to accelerate. And while running, I noticed that none of the cars bothered to stop when they saw people still crossing halfway along the road. There was no honking of the car horns either to warn me of danger. Phew. What a close shave.

Fantasy route change.

Fantasy route change. With effect from 11th of May 2008, service 89 will be extended to Ang Mo Kio and renumbered as 129. The former 129's route will not be used. Service 109 will also be withdrawn while service 74 will be shortened to Hougang.


Pros of the changes
1. The demand for the new 129 I think will be rather high as it taps on former 89's demand plus it runs parallel with 25's route from Ang Mo Kio to Hougang Ave 2.
2. It is the fastest and direct route to travel from Sengkang to Ang Mo Kio.
3. Direct link from Hougang Ave 2 to Pasir Ris and Changi North areas. It is also faster to travel from Ang Mo Kio MRT to Pasir Ris MRT as compared to 88.
4. Provide a link from Changi North areas to the North-South Line.


Cons of the changes.
1. Residents living in Sengkang and Punggol lose the links to Bukit Timah and Clementi Rd due to the route amendments of service 74.
2. There is no direct bus from Serangoon, Hougang Ave 3, Pasir Ris Dr 1 (eastern part) to Changi Village due to route withdrawal of 109.

Ways to deal with cons.
1. 129 will pass by the stretch of Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 and Hougang Ave 2. So, from Serangoon to Changi North, one can take 147 to Hougang Ave 2 and transfer to 129.
2. To travel to Bukit Timah from Punggol or Sengkang, take 88 to Hougang Ave 8 or 129 to Hougang Ave 2 or 136 to Upper Serangoon Rd and transfer to 74. 74's route will be the same as stated in Transitlink Bus Guide 2008.
3. From Pasir Ris Dr 1 to Changi North, one can take 39, 53 or 81 to Loyang Ave, cross the road and transfer to 9 or 19.
4. From Hougang Ave 3 to Changi North areas, take 81 to Pasir Ris Dr 1 and transfer to 129.

As usual, an update

It's going to be May soon and there's only two more months left back to school. To be honest, I am not really excited upon going back to school. It means having to learn all the theories and formulae which I have put it at the back of my head. No more time to play games then.

Anyway, I went to Pasir Ris yesterday for a mini gathering. For this, I will like to take this opportunity to thank Pearline and her family for the invitation. The food is good and the ambience is great. Besides, yesterday was the day where I witnessed my cousin Ian who has just been enlisted for National Service two weeks ago. This reminds me of myself two years ago where I rushed from Tekong to the previous gathering organised at the same place. He looks more tanned than me two years back. Perhaps this is the best evidence of how rigorous NS nowadays is. All the memories of the BMT life two years ago suddenly flood in my mind with all the marching commands and the left and right timing said out loud by the timer. He seemed to have adapted to the BMT life. Anyway, boys are compelled to serve NS, serve the country so no choice lah.
So, as usual DOTA and NS life are the main topics of discussion yesterday. I guess it can last for several days just talking about these. I remember two years ago that I was having this thought that I would hate Pasir Ris town as this place reminds me of book into Tekong at Changi North. The feeling of extreme boredom of BMT life, the separation of family and your own comfort zone to serve the country. Luckily, two years have passed swiftly without me knowing it. Pasir Ris has changed quite a fair bit. There is a new cinema and a shopping centre now at Downtown East. The traffic congestion at 2000 hrs over there seemed to signify the crowds over there. Downtown East has surely become a more popular place for entertainment.

So, anyway, my cousins and my brother and I have agreed to meet one day with our friends for a DOTA showdown. While I was hoping for that day to come, I wish my cousin Ian all the best and be in good health.

A busy week

This work week passes really fast as I am kept busy for my whole course of work. For this week, I have been working under the receiving department of the warehouse. Numerous goods with confusing part numbers have been coming in and I have to match the part numbers and descriptions in the delivery orders with the purchasing orders in the system. This process alone takes at least a day. There are about a hundred of those items to be matched one by one and to add on to the hassle is there is no sequence nor pattern between the items in the delivery and purchasing orders.

So I have been matching and updating the items received in the system for the pst three days. Besides, there are numerous problems that I have identified during the course of matching like the physical part number is different with the part number stated in the DO. In addition, some descriptions of the items which are seemingly similar is different from what is stated. Sigh!!!

Anyway, I have completed Neverwinter Nights 2. This boss the King of Shadows is harder to beat and it requires strategies to be able to beat it. The whole combat lasts for around two hours alone. It is quite a fierce and intensive battle. Some of my characters die and revive again including my main character. My main character is a cleric who has a resurrection spell plus I have another cleric character on my team. Coupled with the good graphics and animation, I have enjoyed the battle.


Now, I am back to the old game DOTA which the latest AI map is v6.51.

An update for a loooong time

Time flies in the blinking of both eyes. This phrase is used I think during my GP AQ question. lol. Indeed, one month or perhaps two months have already passed without me knowing it. I have worked for Allegro Manufacturing for almost two months now. As I have mentioned in the earlier post, I am getting bored. I have learnt several things, like calculating of goods, using of several big machineries to handle big goods and also get a chance to see big crates which are taller and bigger than me. It sounds easy to count the physical quantity but when a lot of goods come in simultaneously, it becomes a challenge. There are many different kinds of goods and for me, I differentiate them by looking at their part number. However, most of the part numbers are long strings of code. In addition, some different goods have almost similarly "looking" part number (one number or alphabet different.

However, in my opinion, it is the best period now till the commencement of university. I don't have any homework or projects for me to do after work. I don't have any responsibiliies during my work. I am tasked to assist my colleagues in their work. Besides, I don't have to study till late at night. So, for now, I work in the morning and afternoon, play at night.

Neverwinter Nights 2 first comes to my mind if someone is to tell me to list down the games that I can think of. I am currently embarking a quest as a virtual character in the game to eliminate the greater evil dubbed "The King of Shadows." It seems to sound very impressive but its strength will be known to me when I engage him in the battlefield. I have actually played Neverwinter Nights 1 before and I utilised my 2nd lowest spell "Searing Light" to eliminate the final boss. The boss seems to be very resilient in terms of inflicting physical damage or spells onto him as commented by my brother.

For Neverwinter Nights 2, I have restarted once due to a bug that has resulted in a failure to advance my quest. In my opinion, Neverwinter Nights 2 is a rather good game with a balance of pros and cons between the different classes which one can choose from. There are classes for the specialisation of physical attacks, spell casting (more spells casted per day or learn a greater variety of spells), healer, nature, archer, knight, rogue and several others. Besides, their plot quests and side quests are clearly indicated in the journal and the person to look for are marked in the map prominently. I do not have to read the guide as extensively as Final Fantasy 8. So for now, I am on my way to the King of Shadows. Wish me luck.

Fantasy route change. Withdrawal of service 149. Amendments of services 62, 80 and 100.

Click on the picture to view the enlarged version plus the route details although the picture looks ugly. lol.



Anyway, my fantasy route change. I feel that the 149's route that I have created runs parallel with the current 62, 80 and 158. So, I thought of extending 62 to Marina Centre, extend 80 to Punggol following the former 149's route and amend 100 to ply Serangoon Ave 1.

62 will be extended to Marina Centre a little bit different from the former 149's route. It will be going via Victoria Street while the previous 149 went via North Bridge Rd. The reason is 80 is already plying North Bridge Rd and hence I do not wish to duplicate too much of 80's route.

Yi Heng has found a job in Citibank which is commencing on onday. One of his job scope involves dispatching letters to other banks. It is like delivery services. However, it is done on alternate days. In addition, you can work overtime to complete the stack of cheques and letters hat you have pending to be delivered to the clients. When delivered, the client or a representative of the receiving organsiation will have to sign the acknowledgement form to prove in black and white that they have received the cheque or documents. That is like my favourite job no doubt the responsibility is high in safeguarding the $$$ plus checking that the amount and quantity qritten in the acknowledgement form is correct. This is due to the fact that I like to travel and it involves travelling to many places. Besides, $50 transport allowance is given to the dispatcher and I think I won't have to spend $50 for transport. Just buy a bus concession stamp and it involves all my transport needs.

I tried to find other jobs with my friend Yi Heng but no luck. All the jobs require urgent manpower and I am required to start work on the next day. However, I feel that it is too rush for me since I am still committed to my current job as warehouse assistant.

On my hobbies and interests, it was only recently that I found out that my dream job will be to become a bus route planner if there is such a career. It involves creating new bus routes, plus the reasons for such bus routes created plus the demand factor necessary to sustain the profitability of the route. How this comes about is actually since I visited singapore bus forums. I noticed that there are several people who have written numerous route suggestions and posted into the forums. There are arrows and road name to describe the route details. After that, I thought of using Transitlink Bus Guide format to record my new fantasy bus routes created. So here it is. I use Microsoft Word to create the tables merging cells and splitting cells. It looks similar but is different if one examines carefully. It is simply interesting. Plus I can add the types and number of buses that are permanently deployed onto the amended or new bus sevices.

Fantasy roue change 151

Fantasy route change. Service 151 will ply Hougang Ave 1 instead of Hougang Ave 3 from 24th March 2008. For more route details and the pictorial illustration of the route, please click on the image as above to see the enlarged version.

The rationale of changing 151 to ply Hougang Ave 1 which seems to run parallel with Hougang Ave 3 is that there are more residential estates and HDB flats along the road. In addition, many of the commuters who board the service are going to places like Bukit Timah and Clementi Roads where there are educational institutes. SO it is best for 151 to reroute to ply the road where it is nearer to the residential estates. The next reason is that there are several bus services that goes to Hougang Ave 3 stretch the road from Hougang Central. 87, 51 are the two services which fit the bill. By rerouting 151, it creates an uniqueness for this service and it fits the idea of looking from a commuter's perspective of creating bus routes.

Amendment of service 77 (Fantasy route change)

Click on the image to see the enlarged version.

Service 77 will ply Bt Batok West Ave 3 / West Ave 6, East Ave 6 with effect from 16th March 2008. The amended service 77 will benefit residents residing in Bt Batok West Ave 6, East Ave 6 to provide a link to the city.