Today's journey to the Arts House from Boon Lay proves that: sometimes the MRT is really faster than a cab.

I hitch a ride on the free shuttle from camp to Boon Lay to cut down on booking and distance costs. I have to run all the way from the drop-off bus-stop (at one end of the MRT Station) to the taxi stand (which is on the other side of the MRT Station – and slightly further up). To my chagrin there is a queue that extends out of the shelter and there are only two taxis at the lot.

I run across the road . . . thank goodness there's an empty cab waiting at the red light. I ask him if he would send me to Shenton Way, he said yes and I hopped in.

I told him I was going to the Arts House, Old Parliament, behind Victoria Concert Hall . . . I told him this progressively because I was sure nobody knows what the hell is the Arts House, people may know the Old Parliament but that name doesn't ring a bell anymore because all the political stunts are pulled off in New Parliament (the Arts House is indeed the Old Parliament, it was refurbished into a performance and exhibition venue), and Victoria Concert Hall is probably the most recognisable of the three. If he doesn't know what's that I'd probably have to say "clock tower".

Driver: "I thought you said Shenton Way?"

Me: "Well, it's near Shenton Way right?"

He takes the AYE. Not long after the traffic slows down. To our horror, the EMAS sign reads: SLOW TRAFFIC ALL THE WAY TO LOWER DELTA.

And we are freaking outside the old Tang Dynasty City, near Jurong East.

I ask the driver to turn out at the Jurong Town Hall exit. No way am I going to be stuck in this stupid jam. We turn out to West Coast Highway which proves to be a relief – straight road, moderate traffic. The driver hits 100km/h.

Things start to slow down in Pasir Panjang, but still it's not too bad. The cabby swears at those container truck drivers – he says they are capable of driving fast, but they want to behave like they're the king of the road, so they deliberately lug along – furthermore they choose to drive on the innermost right lane, which ought to be reserved for fast-moving vehicles. What the hell. When is the flyover going to be completed?!

We pick up speed again as we finally head onto the flyover – alas for a short distance only, covering the Keppel Bay condominium right up to Prima Tower.

And then . . .

Bloody Keppel Road JAMS.

The taxi crawls until we reach the traffic junction outside the Fullerton hotel.

I certainly want to mention about those fuckers who park their cars illegally on BOTH sides of Robinson Road. It's a yellow zigzag line, which means you're not allowed to park there at all! Okay, you can wait, but only to pick people up, and you ought to be in the car so that if someone honks you from behind you can drive away and not hold up traffic.

So what these asses do is to park their car, turn off the engine, go away, and create roadblocks out of their vehicles. Some even park on the bus lane. Cars that travel on the outermost lanes find themselves having to filter out to the next inner lane because the stationary car is blocking them. When they filter in, the car behind has to stop, and all the cars after that are forced to stop as well, causing a bottleneck. And it's so freaking dangerous because any wrong move could cause an accident. And for an accident to happen it would be hell for all the other drivers behind. Honestly what the hell are these drivers thinking? Damn you all, how many people have you frustrated!?

I ask the driver to look for an alternate route. He tells me to forget the idea, because all the other roads are jammed like this, and I would never get to my destination. Might as well wait and suffer with everybody. When we pass one of those slip roads, I discover that the adjacent street, where traffic flows in the same direction as ours, is equally bad.

Eventually I spend something like an hour on the taxi, and my bill shoots up to $20. Things would probably have been worse [financially . . . and any other factors?] if I had booked a cab from camp . . .