Comments, opinions and an occasional ramble
Travel
Where my feet treads…
Singapore, Boston and NYC public trains matchup
Jan 20th
For almost all of my travel in the United States last month, I was mainly using public transport (that’s because I was mainly in cities). I had the opportunity to ride the New York subway, operated by the Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA) and the Boston T, operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transport Authority (MBTA). So, how does the train system stack up when compared to Singapore’s SMRT and SBS Transit?
For starters, let’s deal with the most sensitive topic of price. Both the MTA and the MBTA operate on a single fare system. It doesn’t matter how many stops you ride; the price is the same. The New York subway’s ride is USD$2 per trip using the Metrocard, while the Boston T ride is USD$1.70 per ride using the Charlie card (it’s 2 bucks if you pay cash). There are pros and cons of a single fare system. I think the biggest advantage is that you always know how much you are going to pay if you choose to take the train. The bad thing is that if you are riding only for a couple of stops, it can feel like a rip-off.
However, the good thing is that both the New York subway and the Boston T offers the unlimited ride option. For a certain price every month, you can take as many rides as you wish on the train. That will take the pain off having to pay a fixed fare for only a few stops for the frequent rider. The MTA charges USD$81 for the monthly pass, while the MBTA charges USD$59. In Singapore, you get only unlimited rides if you are a student or a full time NSman. It would be nice to have an unlimited pass in Singapore but I suspect that will result in adding an extra sardine into a can already full of sardines, especially during peak hours.
Singapore wins hands down on the cleanliness and general comfort in the trains. The trains in Singapore are extremely spacious and clean compared to both the New York subway and the Boston T. Even the design of the train station is superior. In New York and Boston, for many stations, you better make sure you know which direction you are heading and enter the fare gantries on the correct side because you cannot get to the other side once you are past the fare gantry (unless you have a death wish and decide to try your luck running across the track).
However, in terms of design, there’s something about the New York subway that stands out, and that is the availability of express trains. These trains run on different tracks and they don’t stop at every stop. This means if you are traveling long distances, you can hop on an express train and get off at the nearest express train stop to your destination to hop onto a regular train. This is a real time saver that I wish the Singapore train system has. I’m sure more people will be keen to take the MRT if there’s an express train service to cut traveling time by up to 50%. Unfortunately, I don’t think this is possible because of the way the train tracks are laid out in Singapore.
Overall, despite its faults, I would rate Singapore’s train system above that of New York and Boston. Although we don’t have the unlimited fare option, I think the general cleanliness and spacious design of our trains more than make up for it. But, don’t take my word for it. If you get the chance, go try out the New York subway and the Boston T.
First impressions of Boston
Dec 16th
I arrived in the evening a couple of days ago and obviously, the first thing I noticed that it was damn cold! It’s not like I’ve not experienced winter but sub-zero with winds blowing is really, really cold. I’ve brought adequate winter gear so I wasn’t frozen but it’s still very cold.
I went around the Boston over the weekend, mainly using their T, which is the train system. It’s quite a convenient way to get around, but where the T stops are located are not exactly very obvious, especially when it’s underground. The good thing is that fares are not distance based, and you can buy passes for unlimited rides, which makes touring the city rather cost effective.
My first impression of Boston was that it looked strikingly similar to England. Of course, that didn’t come as a complete surprise to me because I knew that Boston is a part of New England where many English settlers came to in the early days of America’s history. Well, I liked my last trip to England and it feels good to see buildings that look similar to those I saw in England.
Boston is pretty international in terms of population. I saw many different nationalities over the weekend. I didn’t feel quite as out of place as I did back when I was in England where I felt I stuck out like a sore thumb among the Caucasians. People here seem generally nice and friendly, and I always like being in a place where language is not an obstacle in communication.
I also made a trip down to Boston’s Chinatown and it seems that most of the Chinese owned shops there are by Cantonese people. Most of the Chinese food sold there are more of Hong Kong styled food. I’ll probably give them a try later, after I come back from my trip to Florida’s Disneyworld. 
Off to Bangkok
Jan 6th
I’ll be flying into Bangkok this weekend and won’t be back till Wednesday night, so there’ll be no further updates from me until Thursday earliest. I’ll bring back some first hand reports of Bangkok one week after the bombings, although I doubt there would be anything much to report. I would think that life has returned back to normal.
Until my next post. Ciao.
From Bangkok to Buangkok
May 13th
It has been a mad week. I departed for Bangkok on Friday morning at 8.15am and reached Singapore at 10.35pm Sunday night. I went to work at IMH the next day, and I had to travel from Clementi to Buangkok (which is in Sengkang). I had programmes on every night after work from Monday to Thursday, and the earliest I ever got back in these four days was 9.30pm.
I’m so grateful that it’s a public holiday today. I badly need the sleep. Finally, I didn’t have to wake up at 6.15am, although I did wake up at that time. I suppose I’m used to waking up at that time already. But I made myself go back to sleep till 11.30am, and I’m feeling so much better. So I have no excuse not to update on what’s been going on in the past week.
Bangkok is still a nice place, although things were certainly more expensive compared to my last visit 5 years ago. It was very hot and humid though. I bought quite alot of water to drink, but I didn’t spend that much because bottled water is cheap! One bottle of cold mineral water (600ml) cost only 10 baht, which is about 40 Singapore cents.
My fiancee had a Thai friend who brought us around for 2 days, and I am thankful that we had her to bring us around. She brought us to places where we had REALLY good and cheap food, help us talk to cab drivers so that we don’t get lost and best of all, she helped us bargain! I must say that Thai people are really hospitable and nice! Thanks Nuey for being such a nice host!
The trip was mainly a shopping trip, so there isn’t much to talk about, except that I tried my first traditional Thai massage. A word of caution: it is not for the faint hearted. It can really hurt at times, and you are stretched to the MAX. Of course, after the massage, you will feel relaxed and more flexible. However, the process can really hurt sometimes, especially when they press and pull tense muscles.
I blew about 3500 baht on shopping, and that’s about 160 SGD. I bought alot of things with that money though. 4 long sleeve shirts, 3 pairs of long pants, 2 pairs of jeans, a belt, a pink T-shirt and a pair of leather shoes. I think 160 SGD will only get you like a pair of pants and 2 long sleeve shirts in Singapore.
Overall, it was a good trip, although it was quite rushed. It would have been better to stay an extra day so that things can go at a slower pace.
I learnt something on this Bangkok trip that I’m going to share with all the guys. If you enter some shady looking massage joint, you have the option of asking for a “happy ending” after your massage. I leave it to you to find out for yourself what’s a “happy ending”. 
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