Life in SG #1 - Taxi Drivers
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"Gong simi? Ai dio ah?"Originally posted by nOrmalbOi:Chio ah lian look lah
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"Ang dao yi bi ah tap ji!"Originally posted by Camellias4me:"Gong simi? Ai dio ah?"
"Ai sio hun ki mai?" -
Tsk tsk... ciggies went up in price la. Mai sio liao lah.. Beng!Originally posted by nOrmalbOi:"Ang dao yi bi ah tap ji!"
"Ai sio hun ki mai?" -
"mai sio liao ah ah lian?"Originally posted by Camellias4me:Tsk tsk... ciggies went up in price la. Mai sio liao lah.. Beng!
"ho wa ter li mai sio!" -
Life as a cabbie is not easy esp now so many taxi flooding the streets
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Recently I am a frequent user of cabs.
Basically there's a few type:
1. Talks a lot and drives
2. Don't talk at all and drives
3. Drives nice and smooth
4. Drives slower than I jog
5. Drives like a maniac
6. Driving skill is so horrible that you thought you are on a boat
I got kenna drivers who was half asleep a few times... they sway into the right lane without even realising
Last evening I kenna one who asked if I am paying with $50 or $100 dollar notes. If I am, I have to get off then he insists that he will exit the round about at Jurong Bird park...
"Uncle, there's NO round about at Jurong Bird Park exit, just a traffic light and u do a right turn"
"Yah lah, the round about lah"
"eeerrr... round about is at pioneer liao, no need go that far"
"Yah lah, the round about at the Bird Park there lah"
"...... whatever"
I got 101 stories about taxi drivers. If I got time I share with you guys
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Heh... I agree totally re: the driving bit!Originally posted by the Bear:taxi-drivers are nice people, but most of them drive like lunatics
and a lot of them tend to step on the accelerator, back off, then step on it again... continuously... the taxi lurches, decelerates, lurches, decelerates... and motion-sickness gets you
Do you think they step on & off the accelerator to 'up' the meter faster? -
i hate travelling with a cab driver in a bad mood, or maybe his natural self. i gave him directions and he neither nodded nor answered. it was like talking to the wall.
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Hmm, I don't think it affects the meter
Personally I like my cabbies fast. If they go slow or keep to the center lanes, I get really impatient, cos it's more time wasted travelling And I'm usually quite silent (read: unconscious) during a ride Originally posted by SydneyLibrarian:Heh... I agree totally re: the driving bit!
Do you think they step on & off the accelerator to 'up' the meter faster? -
My city is populated with taxi drivers of eastern middle and indian origins, bringing with them their customs, music and driving habits, with a degree or two for good measures. Most think of driving as a blood sport, champion technique is to pull out wildly to overtake and slamming back sharply into the lane. Others indicate their intention to overtake by bleeping their horns, wing mirrors are strictly decorative. It is the grumpiest drivers who know the city best, in the same way some women know the layout of their local grocery stores.
Some drove as if they were in a hurry to receive their eternal rewards from Allah or Krishna, while I gripped the arm rest like it was a lifeboat on the Titanic. Phew....it was something of a relief when I do arrived at my destination.
From their cabins came Hindi or Arabic film music screeching at enough volume to wake up the dead then kill them again. At least the driver appreciates his music while I olerate it. Some speak to me in English, probably a near version of it, as I had difficulties making out what was said.
I have never found out why they scrutinised my fair skin as if searching for a clue to solve one of life's mysterious or why they wear their shoes with the back tucked in to make them look like slippers. However, taxi drivers work long hours, it would kill a person of lesser vitality. Three cheers to them! -
I love to talk to the taxi drivers when I'm taking rides. They are quite chatty and sometimes, it kills the boredom of the ride, especially if it's a long one. Most of them are nice folks.
When I flag down a cab in my uniform, they seem to be a tad nicer to me, just cuz they know I'm a 'missy'. They'll always ask how long I've been working as a nurse, do I like the job, do I meet nasty folks at work, etc etc. Recently, one of them told me about how his wife was worried for a friend who just came down with stomach cancer and wanted to find out more. A lot of times, I end up taking the opportunity to educate them a little on health issues. hehe!
Sometimes, they'll ask if I'm married or not. Depending on my mood, I'll give them one of several answers - 'fei fei bu mei, mei ren yao' / 'xian zai de nan ren hen nan xiang xing' / 'yao chu guo le, bu yao fu dan' / 'xian zai qing qing song song hen kwai le, jie le huen hui you xing de wen ti', etc etc etc.
Sometimes, they'll say the 'ji you du li sheng huo' is much better.
There are a few drivers who will slow down once they start talking to you. Only in those circumstance would I try to talk less because I don't wanna long, slow ride.
Taxi rides can be quite fun! -
Nice Taxi Drivers does not equal to good drivers.
Did not notice this before but after I got my lic and once I took a cab to meet my friends. During the journey, I talk to the driver, nice, friendly, crack some hokkien jokes abt the goverment....but the moment I look out onto the road on how he drove, I gave no respect to him, he was infact endangering my life
1.) Lane change without signalling
2.) Turn without signalling
3.) Speeding.
2.) Tailgating on the E'way
3.) Agressive driving behaviour.
So next time u take a cab, dun believe they are nice ppl, they are nice because u are their customer but not to the other ppl on the road. -
Some taxi drivers may appear to be quite oblivious to every other vehicle around them, they may step on the accelerator hard as if crushig venomous snakes underfoot, they may even approach each rise in gradient like an enemy. Once they started talking, I couldn't shut them up even if what was said got more and more disjointed. That whatever they said was nothing I understood simplified my transaction with the middle eastern drivers. Some dished out unsolicited advice liberally, I should begin calling him my psychiatrist.
Pakistani drivers gossip about Indian movie characters who are either heros or villians and they are infinitely more ridiculous, more evil, more long suffering and more ugly than anybody I had ever encountered in my dull life. Some of them work out the fare as though it is a feat which seems to require the mind of an accountant.
The indifferent transport system serving my city is terrible on any day of the week. Without taxi drivers the work force would perished and civilization crumble. Despite their peculiar habits, I appreciate the service they provide. -
Before we talk about cabbies....
Do you guys notice, whenever you need a cab, its never around but when you dont need one... when you don't there's plenty to choose from -
Had a ride with this crazy cabbie who honks and flashed his lights at cars in front. He met his match when one of drivers got angry n followed my ride from jurong to west coast. while i was alighting,the driver managed to catch up and a big quarrel started between him and the cabbie. I wonder what happened to the cabbie?
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oh cmon have a heart.. he didn't go countdown so he had to drop u off and then go home mar...!!Originally posted by the Bear:there was a cabbie who scared the heck outta me...
1-1-2000 at 4am... from Tuas Checkpoint to my house.. we did not pass a single car because the AYE was totally deserted...
i was too petrified to move because the needle of the speedo was off the scale... -
My experience with the "disappearing act" was around 11:30pm.Originally posted by X-men:Before we talk about cabbies....
Do you guys notice, whenever you need a cab, its never around but when you dont need one... when you don't there's plenty to choose from But that was really years ago. Don't know about the "behaviour/strategy" now. -
I met 1 who horns @ every chance he gets whenever he spots "potential hazards" like for eg. Car changing lane ahead *HORN*, car entering expressway *HORN* (yet his cab is on the 2nd lane?!), pedestrian jaywalking 100m ahead.. *HORN*!? I mean.. we'r not even NEAR those "hazards"! Wacko!Originally posted by morbid:Had a ride with this crazy cabbie who honks and flashed his lights at cars in front. He met his match when one of drivers got angry n followed my ride from jurong to west coast. while i was alighting,the driver managed to catch up and a big quarrel started between him and the cabbie. I wonder what happened to the cabbie? -
Me never take taxi before. Onli go in my parent car
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i see motorcyclists like that everyday too...
seems that all driving and riding by these people will be done by hornOriginally posted by Camellias4me:I met 1 who horns @ every chance he gets whenever he spots "potential hazards" like for eg. Car changing lane ahead *HORN*, car entering expressway *HORN* (yet his cab is on the 2nd lane?!), pedestrian jaywalking 100m ahead.. *HORN*!? I mean.. we'r not even NEAR those "hazards"! Wacko! -
I tired to talk to the cabby most of the time, unless when I am dog tired and need to catch a wink during the ride.
As I am out of the country most of the time, I find that they are a good source of information for informal updates. Also they provide the "man on the street" view of the current affairs.
the other thing is that when u r talking to them, they tend to drive slower and keep them awake as well -
most taxi drivers that i had met are quite wise n friendly and sometimes there are lots n lots of topics to talk about. Maybe some of those unfriendly just having problems on their own. There's one day i met quite an unfriendly one.. but turns out that he had just lost someone and ended up talk with me becoz he's doin lonely work n no ppl to talk with...
But i DONT THINK SO for Taxi drivers in malaysia... Mostly very rude and they CHEAT... They do something with the meter... One day from A to B is Rm 12.. another day may ended up Rm 16 - 20... From what i had experienced there.. ALL young indian taxi drivers cheat. -
I remember once I took a taxi driven by an indian driver..... that was the most horrible experience I had.
It was not the way he drives, it was not the way he was blasting his indian music on the radio BUT the smell.
No offence to the indians here, I can stand the smell of the hair oil or something that we usually would smell but this cab has got a really weird and unpleasant smell.
End up I have to open the window to let the air in BUT still don't help and have to apply hong you (axe oil) on my nose to block out the smell.