Farewell, comrades..
The long-awaited day has come. On a Tuesday overcast late morning, I drove my father's Cefiro back to camp to collect my card to freedom. Expecting there to be a thorough security check, I engaged Neutral gear on the slope. But good old RP Chris on duty, so he let me in without more say. Forgotten that I have engaged Neutral gear, I released the brake and stepped on the accelerator. VRooM the engine went. Chris then reminded I wasn't driving a manual car and the sentry was laughing. How embarrassing...
I drove up and Jon was about to cross the zebra crossing outside Wendy's. I waved to him and promised to meet him later. Drove through the 'tunnel', and swung my car into the perm staff parking. Wanted to park at my boss' lot but didn't dare, although I could, and I wished I had done that! I got out the car and made a silence entrance via the service staircase to my former office.
Chief, Ben and boss were in office. Said 'hi' to Ben. Boss saw through me as though I was transparent. Was appalled but more disappointed, for all the effort I had put in. Never mind, I thought. I greeted Chief, and sat down at her cozy cubicle.
"You got your wish granted. I signed your clearance form," she laughed.
I laughed too. Both Chief and I tried to laugh. Chief was due for a better working place. But while I left, she was still there. To me, the ideal situation was for the both of us to get out of that horrible place together, or that she should have gotten out earlier than me. But life isn't always ideal. I knew she was glad to see me proceed to the next phase of my life, but I could sense that she was sad to let me go. I felt sorry for her.
"Here's a present for you. I don't know what to get for you, lah," Chief said as she passed me a teddy bear and a card.
"Thank you ma'am. No need to get me anything actually. We meet for makan on Thursday ok?" I confirmed.
Ben passed my pink IC back to me. Whilst I tried to contain my happiness, I wished Ben all the best. After photocopying my clearance form and talking to Jon, I proceeded to say one last goodbye to Chief in her cubicle.
I went to back to my car. Then I saw my clone. Bade farewell to him. When CEO Potato drove in, we ended our conversation and my clone saw me off until my car was out of his sight.
The sentry opened the gate for me and I drove off. Chris wasn't there. This is the first and last time I drive into this place, the place that changed me, I thought. ORD didn't happen boisterously as I had expected. And life still goes on.
DyS2 Leo's ORD photo with Chief Clerk
Scania K230 joyride
The Scania K230On 1 Nov 07, the Scania K203, officially commenced public service. The K230s are Singapore's first single-deck Wheelchair Accessible Buses (WABs) with Euro 4 engine, Seven buses were deployed on service 100 and two on 174. I met Kai Hong for a joyride on service 100 (SBS8138K) from Harbourfront to Serangoon.
BUDDY TRAVEL: The Scania K230 accommodates up to two wheelchair bound commuters.The bodywork looks nice, objectively speaking, although it is a Malaysian bodywork - Gemilang. However, I was quite upset over the number of seats - 29 only. And the fact that I have to take one step to get to the rear of the bus. More steps to the penultimate row and one more to the last row. Sitting at the last and penultimate row gave me a headache, because I was seated too high up to look out of the window. Space above the front wheel was also wasted because no seat could be placed above the wheels. Two wheelchair compartments seemed too many for me. But after reading SBST's press release about how two wheelchair friends can finally travel together, I decided that it is time myself, as well as other Singaporeans, show more compassion.
BEWARE OF STEPS: The engine has to be mounted at the rear of the bus so that the entrance and exit can be zero-step.
The Scania K230 feels like a Sentosa Volvo B7RLE, probably 先入为主, because the latter is a zero-step bus with a similar layout. The Scania K230 doesn't feel like a public bus because of its similarity with a Sentosa leisure bus, as well as the Sengkang LRT. The purple handrails are so reminiscent of the SKLRT! The beige interior, including the window frames, make the bus look like an LRT. It's more gross with the beige frames since the windows are relatively short lengthwise and long heightwise. I made a joke with Kai Hong that Hwa Chong students will blend into the K203s on service 174.
The Volco B9TL is another WAB
Lastly and most disturbingly, the engine (sound) lacks the 'soul', which Kai Hong called it, compared to older buses. Whatever happened to the melodious engine sound of the older buses? Even the the Volvo B9TL (second newest bus in SBST) engine sounds more interesting. The K203 engine sounds very electric vehicle-like - something like a LRT. The Scania K203 is nonetheless comfortable and environmentally-friendly, but lacks the "soul" that some bus fans crave for.
Verdict: 3.5/5 Stars for Scania K230.
Pictures: Courtesy of http://off-service.blogspot.com and Wikipedia
ORD soon - Reflections
The past two months prior to ORD was a roller coaster ride. After AHM we were busy preparing for Audit in late Sept. Suffered a burnout that lasted more than a week. A few days off after the audit didn't help with the recovery. Before I coulod recover from the burnout, I had driving lessons in first week of October, HR Test on 5 Oct and Traffic Police Test on 9 Oct, which I scrapped a pass. On the same day, I drove back to camp - my first time driving as a qualified driver.
I did my last duty clerk on 21 Oct with lt khoo. Everything went smoothly. Went for my leave from 23 - 25 Oct, and Dental FFI on 26 Oct. FINALLY...
Now I feel a little depressed, but much happier. Alan is the one feeling the bulk of the blues now. The very sian and sick feeling of what is happening in the army. More so, I miss my friends, many of whom already ORD already, chief clerk, cosy office cubicle, free food, canteen break, SFI aunties. Used to miss the regimented lifestyle... But since things are so bad now (especially the number of duties), I am very happy to be out of there!!
