Japanese Buffet Lunch Today

Kuishi Bo Japanese Buffet Restaurant
1 Jurong West Central 2
Jurong Point #B1-47/51

Japanese Food Street
Singapore 648886

Price Up by 100% for IBP Shuttle Service

JTC announced to the IBP community yesterday that the fare for their shuttle transport to and from Jurong East will be increased from the current 20 cents per one-way trip to 40 cents.

This means people like me who rely on the shuttle service regularly will have to face a permanent income cut, while businesses at Jurong East, especially the food courts and coffee shops, will also be indirectly affected. Currently, many workers at IBP take the shuttle service to and from Jurong East to go for lunch which fare is 40 cents per round trip per person. Come December 1, this will mean an increase of 100 per cent of the cost at 80 cents per person.

Looks like I'll have to consider walking to office from Jurong East MRT station in the future, and will certainly cut down my frequency of having lunch at Jurong East!

So much for boosting the economic downturn and cutting cost!

Daily Shuttle Madness

Take a look at the picture below and you will understand why I am suffering every morning simply to travel to my office located at Jurong East's International Business Park.

Photo: October 13, 2009 at 08:27

The photo shows a typical daily scene of the morning queues for shuttles at Jurong East temporary shuttle 'interchange' near the JTC building below the Jurong East MRT staton.

This morning, I have to wait for more than half an hour before managing to catch the shuttle to IBP, causing me to be rather late to work.

Wonder why the shuttle 'interchange' cannot be arranged like the interchange for public buses. Presently, it is just a place to jam up all the company shuttles around the area.

Long Pick-up Queue at Jurong East

Not the longest queue yet, but this is the sight you can see every morning between 8am to 9am at the new shuttle pick up point at Jurong East next to JTC Summit, after the partial closure of Jurong East St 12 and Summit Lane from 5 July 2009 to facilitate construction work for MRT Jurong East Modification Project.

So far the weather has been fine over the last few days in the morning, but I wonder how these passengers are going to handle the situation on a raining day with such poor shelter that is not designed to brave the rain nor the sun.

Photograph: July 10, 2009 08:26

Photograph: July 9, 2009 08:24

Long Queue Every Morning

Not the longest queue yet, but this is the regular sight you can see every morning between 8am to 9am below the MRT track af Jurong East station.

The queue is for the shuttle bus service to International Business Park (IBP), and on certain days, it can stretch all the way to the next road junction, sometimes under scorching sun, sometimes superficial rain. On a day when the rain gets too heavy, the queue rearranges itself under the shelter beneath the MRT track in squeezy zig-zags that often give queue-jumpers an opportunity to skip the queue within the already stifling crowd.

Such is the situation workers at IBP face every day, and on an extremely hot morning, this can be unbearable. Is it, therefore, good enough reason and the right time for the relevant authorities to start looking into how this painful daily routine may be solved, and consider the provision of a sheltered path for these sufferers?

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A Place of Serenity

A place I sometimes go
To walk and talk with God
To calm my soul and refresh my thoughts
Away from work and from routines
During lunchtime after a meal