Rain + Peak Hour = No taxi

I heard the first alarm and promptly hit the snooze button. I told myself to wake up because the next time the alarm rings will be after 7am. Somehow, I heard the alarm ring again. I distinctively remember hitting snooze!

Then I realise that it is the snooze that IS ringing.

I climbed out of bed and walked to the washroom with my eyes barely open. It was a cold morning again, but at least it wasn’t raining. Yet.

I munched my breakfast, marvelled at how Wong Lilin ate her own placenta, and read that Jacintha will be the next Idol judge to watch. Then my pig of a sister woke up and stole the remaining slice of my Delifrance Tuna Mushroom puff, so I landed up munching on the breakfast meant for her.

It seems to pass more quickly in the morning. Time flew by me. It was 7:45am. Even if I were to catch the MRT, I wouldn’t have been in time for the 8:05am bus. I decided to take a taxi.

It started to rain. Despite how I told myself never to take a taxi in the rain – because there’ll be none to take – I grabbed the umbrella and went down at 7:55am.

Standing along the road, I noticed several people ahead of me who were already trying to flag the passing taxis to no avail. They were all either “On Call” or “Hired”.

I thought to myself I probably had a better chance trying to flag one down from the street adjacent to where I was so I crossed the road and walked over. Same thing. The taxis didn’t stop for me.

15 minutes passed and the rain was still coming down. A mother and her little daughter stood behind me in the invisible queue for a taxi. Another 10 minutes passed and nothing changed except for the mother’s temper towards the little girl. She must have been feeling very frustrated with her daughter’s attempts to play in the rain.

I gave up and started trying to call the regular 65522222 and 65521111 lines for a taxi. I go the regular message of the line being engaged. I kept trying. It was 8:25am.

The mother made a couple of calls too. I think she called her colleagues or friends. Probably to see if anyone could pick her up. Must be that she couldn’t get through the hotline either.

5 minutes passed and I got the machine. Another 1 minute and I was speaking to a telephone operator. I felt so lucky – whilst standing in the increasingly heavy rain with vehicles going by making the wind colder on my skin. I was given a taxi number and I waited some more.

It took another couple of minutes before the taxi came. No calls from the office. That’s good. Because my official time for starting work is 8am. I was very late. And I do not like being late.

Mr Taximan brought me to my destination. The meter read $5. I forked out a $10 note and waited for my change.

He turned around and said, “$10 just nice.” It was a hint to say I should get off his taxi already. I stared at him wide eyed and looked at the meter again. He explained that peak hour was an additional $1, to which I nodded.

What I didn’t know was the ridiculous surcharge of $4 for peak hour taxi bookings. I stared at him in disbelief and almost stormed out of the taxi but it’s not as if he set the rules. No wonder I could get through the damn hotline so much faster than usual. No wonder every taxi on the road was “On Call” or already “Hired” (probably previously On Call).

So I landed up spending twice as much than I normally would have on a taxi ride to office. I’ve learnt my lesson. FOR GOOD. MRT is the way to go on days with rain. Even the bus would be better. 45min and $10 to get to work? What a bloody waste. I shall have instant mee goreng for lunch today.