A Quiet Breath

despite my plans to leave the house on time, i found myself running late for my afternoon korean class again. i left my place at 1135pm, and i was contemplating whether to take the cab (like i did last week). but i did some maths, and decided that the first ten minutes of class weren't worth $10 of cab, so when the feeder service came, i boarded the bus.

unfortunately, i am actually quite fickle-minded when it comes to small daily decisions. halfway through the journey to the train station, i suddenly panicked about being late, and i changed my mind about taking the public transport. so i alighted one stop away from the train station to get a cab - but what a foolish decision! because the traffic is extremely heavy and slow at the junction.

but even more unfortunate was the lack of cash in my wallet and the lack of cabs which could accept card payment. i wasted ten minutes trying to flag a cab, and still my attempts were futile. i was so exasperated that i even contemplated skipping class. after all, skipping one lesson would cost me only $5 (the class is actually free but cutting one class would mean losing the deposit for one lesson). ten minus five, i would only make a $5 loss compared to a $10 loss if i were to take a cab. furthermore, the time was already 1155pm and i was perspiring profusely in the scorching heat.

while i was cursing under my breath, i was still not ready to give up. i made a dash to the nearest cab stand (thankfully there was no queue!), stared into every cab for the credit card sticker, and threw myself into the cab when i finally found one that could pick me up. then woosh, i was on my way to class!

of cos, the journey did not turn out as well as i expected. firstly, when the cab left the CTE tunnel onto havelock road, i saw to my dismay, the activation of ERP after 12noon! urghhh! i could have save on ERP had i taken the cab from the start (there was no ERP from 10am-12nn). and that wasn't the worst that could happen. the cab driver did not know where my destination was, so in the end, he overshot and we got lost!

now that's a loud URGHHHHHHH!

i got off at a random building, and thankfully, i recognised one of the buildings and got my bearings from there. by the time i reached my class, it was 1215pm (i would have reached at the same time if i had taken the train) and i was perspiring AGAIN.

lesson of the day - fickle-mindedness is expensive.