Singapore - my first view
My first week at Singapore has been quite good. As a newcomer, there are a lot of things one gets to see, know and learn about a place. The first thing i experienced about this place is its humidity. Right after i got out of the airport terminal, the humid hot air hits you. The heavily conditioned air at the wonderful airport makes the difference even more dramatic.
Another observation about the weather is that it almost rains everyday. It rains once and then we are done for the day. The rest of the day remains either pleasant or back to being very humid depending upon the intensity and time of the rain.
Because of lack of enough space, most living spaces are in the form of apartments built by the Housing Development Board(HDB). These apartment complexes are very well places. For a bunch of apartments, there is a children's playground, shopping complex and gym. Thereby, most things get done at a short walking distance.
If you have to travel long distance, there are 4 available options. The most common public transport is the SMRT(Singapore Mass Rail Transit). Other options are buses, taxis and ofcourse cars.
The SMRTs are very efficient and are the backbone of public transport. The train network is divided into many lines( purple, green, red, circle, etc) which run across the country. Fares are collected mostly through pre-paid cards. One swipe at the entrance and one at the exit, irrespective of any number of interchanges across the lines. It deducts money mostly based on the time gap( though not confirmed). Sometimes money gets deducted once across train+bus journey, which is very nice. One doesn't have to bother much about train timings as there is one for approximately every 3-4 mins.
Buses are the next alternative, especially during peak hours, as the MRTs can be quite crowded then. Buses are a little slow because of the number of stops and not to forget, the traffic signals and snarls.
Taxis come to your help when you are running short of time or when you have a lot of baggage to carry. These are mostly the only times when one does take a taxi, which is a costly alternative.
The most costly alternative to commute is by means of a car. They are comparatively less in number because of their high pricing( an initiative by the Govt to reduce the number of commercial vehicles on road).
Further updates in subsequent posts.
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