A Tenth of Melbourne
This morning I heard a knock on my door. I was still in bed and so I tried to convince myself that I didn't hear the knocking, that it was just a figment of my imagination. Then came the second knock, and I grudgingly crawled out of my warm covers and dragged myself to the door. I turned the cold metal door knob and pulled opened the door to find Quoth(ie) greeting me with a chirpy "Good job!" and signalling two thumbs up. He came in, switched on my laptop and started downloading files.
I crawled back into bed and went back to sleep.
He understands. :)
Anyway, I've just received some good news from my ex-colleague from Levi's! I was asking him if he could spare me one of his company coupon to get a new pair of Levi's jeans for myself. I'm going to get a 40% discount! Whoooo hoooo! I'm going to get the heart shaped diamente studded on the back pocket ones! That would be my fifth pair of Levi's. Not too bad right? Hmmmmm...
Anyway, I was watching the episode of Oprah with Tom Cruise promoting his latest movie - War of The Worlds but it seemed like he was talking more about his girlfriend Katie Holmes. Just out of plain curiousity and bo-liao-ness I decided to check out their height. Cruise is 1.7m and Holmes is 1.75m. I'm at least 1.6m - just made the minimum height requirement for a airline stewardess at SIA. I haven't measured my height in a long long time. I've stopped measuring my height since I was 15 because it hadn't change for the previous three years. So you could say that I stopped growing when I was 12 I guess. Just a little family trivia for you, my elder brother is 1.84m tall. Even my mum is taller than me. Go figure.
Considering Tom's height, I think I would be a ideal height for him. I'll probably be just at the right level for good hug and long sloppy kisses. *gets lost in imagination* Alright, I better stop before my bf gets annoyed. Hope it's not too late. :P (Sowwwwy dear)
Tomorrow I'll be watching Mr and Mrs Smith with Joan, my friend from uni. She's going to pick me up around noon and we'll be going to Northland Shopping Centre for the movie. I used to walk to Northland when I first arrived here. It is a 30-minute walk, which makes it an hour there and back. Good work out. I think I've only done it about four times. Now I've met nice people with cars. Life is good. Haha. I get so deprived of getting car rides here compared to how it is in Singapore that I feel so privileged whenever I get a lift in a car from anyone.
It also made me realise that the transportation system in Singapore is actually tons better than here. I don't think you will catch me walking for 30 minutes to anywhere in Singapore, under that piercing hot sun. Here, the trains are at 20 minutes intervals. In Singapore, it's like 2 - 3 minutes during peak hours. Trams here are slightly better at 10 minutes intervals. However, their tardy speed just doesn't really compansate much for its frequency. You really have to plan beforehand especially if you're catching the train here else it gets quite fustrating to miss the train by a minute and having to wait for another 20 minutes for the next one.
Another thing is the bus stops. In Singapore you get a covered bus stop of a reasonable size, good shelter from sun and rain and sheltered walkways from bus stops to neighbourhood estates. Over here, most of the tram and bus stops are just marked by a sign on a pole specifying the route and stop number. There are shelters at some of these stops but they would only be just enough for two to four people, and because the trams stop in the middle of road, bad weather is always a problem.
Trains stations at certain suburbs are really dodgy. There is no staff managing the station, no toilets, plagued with dim lighting and there's only a button which you can press that tells you when the next train is coming and another one for emergencies. You compare this to the shiny ceramic tiled floors of our MRT stations in Singapore. Each station is brightly lit and usually next to a connecting bus stop. Underground stations are fully airconditioned as well. There would be at least has one staff at maintaining the control station during operational hours. Each platform is equipped with electronic signs specifying the waiting time for the train and the terminating destination.
However, I do see the reasons why that type of transportation is not that easy to attain here. Singapore is probably just one tenth the size of Melbourne, therefore the costs of maintaining the transportation infrastructure that in Singapore is significantly smaller. Melbourne covers such a vast area, it has quieter suburbs dispersed around the metropolitan area, it would be unfeasible to provide the same resources throughout these less popular suburbs, whereas Singapore being so compacted, the population distribution is also relatively even throughout the island, so it doesn't really apply to Singapore. Some highways in Melbourne don't even have street lights. I guess the main factor is the difference in land mass which results in higher the operational costs for Melbourne to provide the same intricate transportation network like we have in Singapore.
After typing so much, I have to say that cars here are so cheap anyway, so if you can't stand the public transport, go buy a car! LOL.
I've to do laundry later today, I starting to feel a little like a slob. Maybe I should vacummn the room too.
Laters~
PS: It's been raining for a good part of the early morning over here, which is a good sign because in case you didn't know, the whole of Australia is in the worse drought ever in over a century.
I crawled back into bed and went back to sleep.
He understands. :)
Anyway, I've just received some good news from my ex-colleague from Levi's! I was asking him if he could spare me one of his company coupon to get a new pair of Levi's jeans for myself. I'm going to get a 40% discount! Whoooo hoooo! I'm going to get the heart shaped diamente studded on the back pocket ones! That would be my fifth pair of Levi's. Not too bad right? Hmmmmm...
Anyway, I was watching the episode of Oprah with Tom Cruise promoting his latest movie - War of The Worlds but it seemed like he was talking more about his girlfriend Katie Holmes. Just out of plain curiousity and bo-liao-ness I decided to check out their height. Cruise is 1.7m and Holmes is 1.75m. I'm at least 1.6m - just made the minimum height requirement for a airline stewardess at SIA. I haven't measured my height in a long long time. I've stopped measuring my height since I was 15 because it hadn't change for the previous three years. So you could say that I stopped growing when I was 12 I guess. Just a little family trivia for you, my elder brother is 1.84m tall. Even my mum is taller than me. Go figure.
Considering Tom's height, I think I would be a ideal height for him. I'll probably be just at the right level for good hug and long sloppy kisses. *gets lost in imagination* Alright, I better stop before my bf gets annoyed. Hope it's not too late. :P (Sowwwwy dear)
Tomorrow I'll be watching Mr and Mrs Smith with Joan, my friend from uni. She's going to pick me up around noon and we'll be going to Northland Shopping Centre for the movie. I used to walk to Northland when I first arrived here. It is a 30-minute walk, which makes it an hour there and back. Good work out. I think I've only done it about four times. Now I've met nice people with cars. Life is good. Haha. I get so deprived of getting car rides here compared to how it is in Singapore that I feel so privileged whenever I get a lift in a car from anyone.
It also made me realise that the transportation system in Singapore is actually tons better than here. I don't think you will catch me walking for 30 minutes to anywhere in Singapore, under that piercing hot sun. Here, the trains are at 20 minutes intervals. In Singapore, it's like 2 - 3 minutes during peak hours. Trams here are slightly better at 10 minutes intervals. However, their tardy speed just doesn't really compansate much for its frequency. You really have to plan beforehand especially if you're catching the train here else it gets quite fustrating to miss the train by a minute and having to wait for another 20 minutes for the next one.
Another thing is the bus stops. In Singapore you get a covered bus stop of a reasonable size, good shelter from sun and rain and sheltered walkways from bus stops to neighbourhood estates. Over here, most of the tram and bus stops are just marked by a sign on a pole specifying the route and stop number. There are shelters at some of these stops but they would only be just enough for two to four people, and because the trams stop in the middle of road, bad weather is always a problem.
Trains stations at certain suburbs are really dodgy. There is no staff managing the station, no toilets, plagued with dim lighting and there's only a button which you can press that tells you when the next train is coming and another one for emergencies. You compare this to the shiny ceramic tiled floors of our MRT stations in Singapore. Each station is brightly lit and usually next to a connecting bus stop. Underground stations are fully airconditioned as well. There would be at least has one staff at maintaining the control station during operational hours. Each platform is equipped with electronic signs specifying the waiting time for the train and the terminating destination.
However, I do see the reasons why that type of transportation is not that easy to attain here. Singapore is probably just one tenth the size of Melbourne, therefore the costs of maintaining the transportation infrastructure that in Singapore is significantly smaller. Melbourne covers such a vast area, it has quieter suburbs dispersed around the metropolitan area, it would be unfeasible to provide the same resources throughout these less popular suburbs, whereas Singapore being so compacted, the population distribution is also relatively even throughout the island, so it doesn't really apply to Singapore. Some highways in Melbourne don't even have street lights. I guess the main factor is the difference in land mass which results in higher the operational costs for Melbourne to provide the same intricate transportation network like we have in Singapore.
After typing so much, I have to say that cars here are so cheap anyway, so if you can't stand the public transport, go buy a car! LOL.
I've to do laundry later today, I starting to feel a little like a slob. Maybe I should vacummn the room too.
Laters~
PS: It's been raining for a good part of the early morning over here, which is a good sign because in case you didn't know, the whole of Australia is in the worse drought ever in over a century.
saccha went to bed sometime after 3:25 AM
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