Have you noticed...

With COE priced cheaper than your chicken rice and xiao long baos, and oil at $49 a barrel, it suddenly seems as if buying a car ain't that tight on your skinny jeans pockets.

But for all those drivers who are spending more time in their car than at home, they actually miss out on the fun of travelling together with other commuters.

Just the other day, I saw an advertisement of The Economist on the train. The ad went:

Qns: "Can the world fit another 2 million people?

Ans: ______________________________

__________________________________

I'm not sure if it meant for people to fill in the blanks. But some smart aleck wrote:

"No. Cos there are too many Bangalahs."

No offence. But I couldn't help but feel the corners of my lips twitch against gravity. Squeezing on a crowded train during morning rush hour isn't all that pleasant ya know! The last thing I would want to see is some boring ad about investment.

And the other day, I saw that SMRT has implemented the "tracking-stations-dots" that'll blink on the coming stop to indicate the next station. I thought it was pretty cool especially when you're one of those sardines packed in the middle of the cabin and cannot hear/see where the train is stopping. Or for foreigners who cannot understand that Tampines is not pronounced as "Tam-pines". Oh yeah, it will also show which side of the doors will be opening.

But ours still can't be compared to Tokyo. The Tokyo-ians uses a plasma screen which will indicate the directions and estimated travelling time. To top it off, they have really nice tunes when the doors are closing. Not like our "Doors closing. Beep beep beep beep......"

Apart from quirky ads, you may chance upon interesting species onboard. Perhaps, "crabby cabbies" aren't the only "aliens who hold regular council meetings with cauldrons" (as quoted from Phin, writer of Today column)

Recently, there's a surprisingly increasing lot of hungry people who eat onboard...

Or getting all snuggly-muggly onboard...

Or bringing his best friend onboard...

The ultimate - This uncle unable to resist the sudden urge of nicotine dosage when onboard...

So next time, keep your chins up when on board. For you may never know the interesting finds that lie hidden in each cabins. And don't suddenly feel drowsy when you see an elderly or pregnant woman. Keep those chins up!

You can do your part to save the Earth by travelling less in cars, and more by public transport.