that day when my friend told me about the queue for bus 179 (which takes you to NTU/NIE from Boon Lay Bus Interchange) could snake all the way to the entrance of the mrt station, i laughed it off.

if you know where the bus berth for 179 is, you'll also think that my friend was sprouting nonsense. it's all the way to the other side of the bus interchange. imagine a "U" shaped interchange and the mrt entrance/exit is at the right side of the "U", so the berth for bus 179 is to the left side of the "U". you have to run ten miles from the mrt station if you're late to catch the bus!

but this morning i finally saw for myself how true the situation was.

lo and behold! i was making my way to the other side of the "U" when suddenly the person in front of me stopped in her tracks. i wondered what was wrong so i overtook her and realised that she was in the queue!! and then my friend's words rang in my mind and without knowing what bus service it was, i also joined the queue. the worst thing was, i had to find the end of the queue line as ppl were just happily queueing one behind another! the position of my queue was slightly further than half of the interchange yea! (this means i'm near the middle of the "U", around the bend there)

it's terrible lah.

i was cursing and swearing silently cos my watch read 8.05am. how the heck am i gonna reach by 8.30am wif the queue? (in "normal" circumstances, i would have been able to reach NIE safely by 8.20am.)

but well, thanks to the efficiency of SBS (really commendable!) they were despatching their 179 buses like mad to cater to the huge crowd. and i was just slightly late at 8.32am.

and guess what?

the bus line i queued for was 179A. the express bus that goes all the way to NTU without stopping in between the journey.

thank goodness!