Tuesday, April 12, 2011

typical, you wait ages for a bus.....

...then several come at once...and you don't get on any of them.

Efficient, and business-savvy as always, several years ago the Singapore government dredged up a vast plain of reclaimed land on their westernmost point and sold plots to pretty much every big pharmaceutical company you can think of. Not bad for a landfill. Image from http://www.nea.gov.sg/cms/esd/brochure/TMTS.pdf As a further masterclass in getting something from nothing, they have also packed Tuas South with refuse incinerators who's ash waste is taken by barge to be carefully poured out on Pulau Semakau; so generating electricity from the incineration and gradually increasing the size of Pulau Semakau, now a popular tourist, and wildlife spotting, destination. On a more personal note, as a result of this process, the view from my new workplace looks just like my last workplace (albeit with less smog and more palm trees than Middlesbrough) thus helping ease my transition.

Wonderful though this whole enterprise is, it means that the Roche Singapore Technical Operations site is a little bit out of the way to say the least. Subsequently, after waiting until 8am for a bus that I must have watched arrive and leave sometime around 7:15, along with a score of other buses, my Monday commute meant riding the MRT to the end of the line and then a further 20 minute taxi. I'm no expert on etiquette but I would think being 90 minutes late on your first day of work is probably not the best way to make a good impression.

I could blame myself for missing the bus, I wanted to go to Roche, but perhaps I should have known that, as I learned today, the Roche bus is actually labelled for Mayflower Primary School. How silly of me.

1 comment:

  1. Don't worry about being late on your first day. I'm sure they did not mind. Plenty of chances to show how goodie shoes you are.

    ReplyDelete