You know, looking at these pictures now, I'm starting to think that there might come a day where I'll want to do this same bus route from point to point, beginning to end.
There're many long haul bus routes that criss-cross all over the island day on day.
But there're some, like Bus 2, 197, 972, 174, 67, 5 and even 980 that bring you through so many different neighborhoods with all their different vibes that, once on, you actually find yourself taking a tour of the country in a way that you didn't anticipate before.
I've not gone on the full bus route of Bus 2- I wish I have- I've not even been on the route from Chinatown to Changi Village, don't say Kampong Bahru (where it actually begins) but this afternoon I got on the bus from Geylang to Changi Village, and that, let me say, is something I am incredibly glad, and thankful for.
First off, the journey took longer than I thought.
I had imagined it to be a straightforward, hour plus-long journey.
Turned out to be almost two hours long.
Which, I must emphasize, I'm not complaining.
Not when I had Chonkycam with me, and so took more than enough pictures to split the posts of this one single bus journey into two.
I got up the bus at (if I'm not wrong) the bus stop on Sims Avenue near the HDB estate. What estate it's called, I don't know, but there's a coffee shop there, there's an NTUC there, and it's the bus stop you have to board the 33 before it turns right into Sims Way towards Mountbatten Road.
From here the bus went straight all the way down the stretch we call Geylang, first passing by a row of shop houses that I always associate with HAO Mart, after which further down it went, passing by Lorong 19 at which junction I think is a fruit shop (of peace and harmony).
From there the bus went down, going past what is, I believe, a halfway house (with its charming coconut trees) and the Bee Cheng Hiang outlet.
Aljunied Road came on right after that, where the UNION Gas building stands, with a zichar coffee shop place on the first floor.
Honestly, I don't recognize many of the buildings this side of Geylang. Most of the time my attention is on the left side of the bus, and somehow, even if I happen to be sitting on the right, I tend to stone, so much so that I only start paying attention when we're near certain condos, or signs, like the small single-storeyed shops, or the Moutai Store in one of the shop houses, or the low-rise condos with their classic-looking balconies and brightly painted fronts.
One condo has units with balconies that look out over the road.
I often see it when on the bus, and which I take notice of because the balconies, although beautiful, are often empty. There's no furniture, no plants, not even a clothes rail, much less laundry hanging out.
The clean look piques my interest, but because I'm usually on the bus- as I was this afternoon- I don't get to see it further.
Not far from this condo comes the junction of Paya Lebar Road and Sims Avenue, with PLQ Mall on one side, PLQ 3 on the other, and presently-renovating Tanjong Katong Complex after.
A huge car park- crowded mostly on weekends- comes up next, followed by a little housing estate of a few standalone blocks, then a building which I think is a community center (I'm not sure), and which also marks the turn that public buses take to go into Eunos bus interchange.
A condominium comes up next- they've got a Watsons and a Fairprice Express on the first floor- and then the junction leading to Sims Avenue East.
It is into the neighborhood of Kembangan that one comes upon next.
There is the condo that sits right across the MRT station.
Then there are these two houses, and the houses after, that sit on what I think is a very unique piece of land. It's difficult to describe- the position of these two houses- but they sit somewhat in the middle of two major roads, traffic trundling up and down front, and back.
To be honest I don't know how they manage to keep their sense of serenity.
Maybe it's the high wall they've erected.
Maybe it's the trees and shrubs that they have in the garden.
It's not the quietest location (to me) but certainly, if you ask me, a very prime piece of land.
Especially since it is from somewhere around here- right after the last house, I think- that the junction into Opera Estate begins, and a very interesting estate it is too.
From here on all the way until the turn into Bedok Road there is- out my window- the view of the MRT line.
There aren't many pictures, but a very long stretch it is.
From here on, the line includes not only the MRT stations of Bedok and Tanah Merah, it also includes the estates along New Upper Changi Road, beginning from somewhere at Chai Chee and continuing all the way down past the roads of Bedok South Avenue 2 and Bedok South Avenue 3.
Along the way on one side you pass by Bedok Mall, Bedok Town Center, the Bedok Stadium, and a couple of condominiums (on one side).
On the other side, however, the view is more sparse, with the consistency being the single concrete MRT line.
It is a big area, mind, with an ever changing view.
At one moment you might be looking at the sweet cozy-looking terrace houses of Maria Avenue and Terang Bulan Avenue behind the concrete MRT line.
In the next moment you find yourself staring up at the structure of Bedok MRT station.
After that, trees and shrubs nestle by the concrete pillars and the concrete line, and all of a sudden, a housing block appears parallel to the road on the opposite side of the line even as the bus trundles along.
Somewhere after this housing block the shrubs disappear- entirely- and you're greeted by construction and gigantic construction equipment.
That's when you know you're in the vicinity of the Tanah Merah MRT station, and turning into Bedok Road soon after.
I should like to know just how the Tanah Merah station will look like in the future, really.
It's amazing to think just how this East-West Green Line will one day be converted to the Thomson-East Coast Brown Line and how it will connect to the airport right from here, at the edge of Bedok, heading into industrial territory and Xilin Avenue.
That will come only in a couple of years time.
Today the line is still green, and it is somewhere around here that the bus makes a left into the area that, if I'm not wrong, is often called Simpang Bedok, and houses the Bedok Shopping Complex of a Giant supermarket inside, and a hawker center.
I'm not sure of this area- I haven't come here often- but there is a strong kampong vibe around this place- one that reminds me of Malaysia- enhanced further by the presence of the old post office, which I hope, has been retained, and will not be torn down.
This is nice, quiet, little estate, mind.
I'm not sure how the sounds are when night comes but even looking at the houses now, one can't help but feel like there're vibes which are countryside, and which cannot be erased. It isn't whether or not there are shop houses, or whether or not there are coffee places, brunch places, and cafe places in these shop houses.
It is simply that there's a feel of quiet settlement around this place, that feel of calmness and reassurance that everything in life will be okay.
I particularly liked the houses had such neat narrow facades and such spacious, block-shaped rectangular yards. There was nothing fanciful in the windows or the balconies, no rattan chairs facing the garden, or gargantuous pots of flowers.
But it felt simple, functional, pleasant.
I thought of those B&W houses near Haig Road and Tanjong Katong.
But of course, they were constructed in a different era and served a different community.
I don't know if there are that many houses with such long driveways left around in Singapore.
Or if there are such neat looking houses side by side sitting relaxedly on their own.
Here the bus makes a right into Upper Changi Road, crosses a canal that I don't know its name of and then continues on by a couple of factories.
