结婚后一年，才开始拥有汽车。
新加坡汽车价钱昂贵，举世闻名。当时刚在职场上工作2-3年，月薪不高，只能分期付款购买一辆二手1000毫升的小型汽车Toyota Starlet. 从那时起，便成为拥车一族， 极少乘搭公共交通工具。
回想哪一段没有车的日子，苦多与乐。
高中时期，宿舍远在裕廊已被“下架”的南洋大学。单单从南大到华初的旅程就要花费一个小时的时间。结果凌晨天还没亮，一群同病相怜的学生，便得拖着疲惫睡意惺惺的步伐，乘搭第一趟从南大巴士站出发的巴士车(sbs 174)。幸好上车的都是我们一群莘莘学子，没有其他闲人，因此都有位坐，美其名闭眼养神，其实是会周公去了。一路上有多少人断断续续上下车，都无关痛痒。到学校时，通常都会有同学互相照会，以免过站。
遇到周末，如要外出看戏，便得花超过一个半小时，才能抵达市区内的电影院。往往在回宿舍的时候，就得人挤人上巴士，一路站到文礼那一带才能有位坐。幸好高中时，我向来很少出门。
上大学时，第一年所住的学生宿舍就在新加坡中央医院的对面，附近就有巴士总站，也靠近牛车水一带。出门搭巴士，或步行到附近的电影院，都蛮方便。第二年，宿舍搬到国大后面的肯德岗去，搭巴士就没那么方便了。需步下斜梯，透过国大医院，再越过马路，才能抵达巴士站候车。大学第三至五年，会被分配到各个医院去临床上课。当时没有地铁服务，幸好同组单位有位同学是拥车族，有顺风车可搭，不然匆匆忙忙的来往医院与国大讲坛，不累死才怪！
毕业后，在新加坡中央医院当实习生，住在专为实习生所设的实习生宿舍一年。过后，搬到金文泰租赁组屋，与李隽“同居”了两年以上。当时出入都得搭地铁或巴士。往往在出门前，都得腾出一刻至半个小时的时间，以免迟到。
有一回在值夜班后，搭巴士回家时，睡意蒙蒙，遗失了钱包；里头的身份证，信用卡全泡汤，找不回了。
开始去上班时，走了一段蛮长的巴士旅程（1个半小时，直通车）；后来经过朋友的提示，才发现另外一个捷径（只需半个小时便可抵达，但需转换一辆巴士）。
拍拖的时候，送了女朋友回家后，便得再乘搭巴士回家，往往会在巴士上昏沉沉的睡着，偶尔到站时还需车长唤醒。后来我的岳父大人会“顺路”用自己的租用德士，载我一程。
过后我的室友在我结婚后搬到自己的私人公寓去住，也在那个时候，我购买了第一辆汽车。不久在领取政府组屋后，我也搬到蔡厝港的政府组屋去住。
习惯了自驾的自由，没有车的日子，相信会很难熬!
Tuesday 26 April 2016
Sunday 10 April 2016
Ah Boy to Man... the beginning
Today (7 April 2016) is the day that CK is enlisting into National Service.
We (my wife and I, togethe with CK) took a shuttle bus from Pasir Ris Bus Interchange at 9am, reached Changi Point ferry terminal to take a ferry to Pulau Tekung.
Walked through the introductory station --> took a tour on bus round selected spots of the camp --> witnessed the oath ceremony --> took lunch at the canteen --> waved bye-bye to CK and departed from the camp. The whole event took about 4 hours in total (from 9am-2pm).
CK called us at 9.30pm. He brought us the good news that he is scheduled for interview for NUS Medicine tomorrow (with 3 other fellow recruits in the same camp). He was obviously delighted, and so were all of us in the family! Wishing him all the best tomorrow! (It turned out that there was no interview, but members of the selection committee for NUS Medicine had come to brief the shortlisted candidates the paper work needed (personal portfolio/ referreee letters etc) prior to their skill stations test in about 1 week's time).
Time flies, truly.
It was only "yesterday" that he was a boy who always cried "leg pain" when he did not want to walk further (when touring Statue of Liberty in NY, walking in the city etc).
He was the one who put a pebble into the tiny opening in the passenger door lock of our Toyota Corolla when we were on a road trip in Tennessee; as a result, we were unable to close the passenger door, and had to tie a string to secure the door while driving. Finally, we managed to find a kind soul in a nearby village; he used a screw driver to dislodge the pebble.
It was him who alerted us that his younger brother (who was around 2 years of age) had swallowed a lithium battery; he was 3 years of age then.
He usually did not finish his milk; leaving it for his younger brother...
He always asked for "discount" when doing Maths homework in primary school.
He cried his heart out when getting back his O Level results (because he faired unexpectedly bad in his Higher Chinese), landing him in Anderson JC unexpectedly.
He suffered throughout his 2 years in AJC, because he was "looked down" by Chinese scholars.
But now, he has finally "arrived"- scoring straight As in his A Level exam, got shortlisted for admission assessment in one week's time.
We (my wife and I, togethe with CK) took a shuttle bus from Pasir Ris Bus Interchange at 9am, reached Changi Point ferry terminal to take a ferry to Pulau Tekung.
Walked through the introductory station --> took a tour on bus round selected spots of the camp --> witnessed the oath ceremony --> took lunch at the canteen --> waved bye-bye to CK and departed from the camp. The whole event took about 4 hours in total (from 9am-2pm).
CK called us at 9.30pm. He brought us the good news that he is scheduled for interview for NUS Medicine tomorrow (with 3 other fellow recruits in the same camp). He was obviously delighted, and so were all of us in the family! Wishing him all the best tomorrow! (It turned out that there was no interview, but members of the selection committee for NUS Medicine had come to brief the shortlisted candidates the paper work needed (personal portfolio/ referreee letters etc) prior to their skill stations test in about 1 week's time).
Time flies, truly.
It was only "yesterday" that he was a boy who always cried "leg pain" when he did not want to walk further (when touring Statue of Liberty in NY, walking in the city etc).
He was the one who put a pebble into the tiny opening in the passenger door lock of our Toyota Corolla when we were on a road trip in Tennessee; as a result, we were unable to close the passenger door, and had to tie a string to secure the door while driving. Finally, we managed to find a kind soul in a nearby village; he used a screw driver to dislodge the pebble.
It was him who alerted us that his younger brother (who was around 2 years of age) had swallowed a lithium battery; he was 3 years of age then.
He usually did not finish his milk; leaving it for his younger brother...
He always asked for "discount" when doing Maths homework in primary school.
He cried his heart out when getting back his O Level results (because he faired unexpectedly bad in his Higher Chinese), landing him in Anderson JC unexpectedly.
He suffered throughout his 2 years in AJC, because he was "looked down" by Chinese scholars.
But now, he has finally "arrived"- scoring straight As in his A Level exam, got shortlisted for admission assessment in one week's time.
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