Hey...

Probably not a very cheerful greeting but if I had attempted a HEY!! YO MAN WHATSUP!, I don't think I could relate what I really feel to what I typed.

Anyway, last fri, I hailed a cab from marina to go to IKEA. It was a tibs cab. Once the cabby opened his mouth, I knew something was amiss. He asked, "Do you know how to go there?" I'm not really sure how to get to Queensway via road so I turned to Andrew. Andrew told the guy to go by AYE. The guy asked again, "Do you know how to go?" Andrew asked for the directory. As we were locating the place and picking out possible route, the guy asked again, "Do you know how to go to AYE? I'm not really familiar with this place." So we told him to go by ECP and then he asked, "How?" Can you believe it? He doesn't even know how to go ECP from city area! And he doesn't know about AYE too. The whole ride we had to keep giving him directions and stuff. We told him its near Alexandra Hospital and he don't even know where that is! It was a horrific experience I tell you.

Then came another cabby experience. This time, by someone else. My mom's friend had a car accident with a taxi late last year. It was the cabby's fault because he forced into the road and resulted the collision. My mom's friend's car was fortunately intact. So they exchanged numbers and particulars and left it at that. My mom's friend tried to contact the guy after that incident but realised that he was given a fake no. He thought that since his car was alright, he did not pursue the matter. However, the injured & default party went to make a police report. His servicing totalled a thousand dollars. Recently, after like half a year, the cabby turned around and sued my mom's friend for the servicing expense. This cabby is from NTUC.

This makes me think about further what could have brought this about. I supposed I blame the taxi company for such. After all, they are the one earning a pile out of renting the cabs and it should be up to them to regulate and screen these drivers. Because of competition from other taxi companies, the stockholders seek to maximise profit by just renting out their vehicles to anyone who's interested. They neglected the quality of drivers which could either benefit or cost a bad experience to the customers (namely us) at our expense. I deeply express my regret and disappointment at all of these government owned corporation. They came with the pretense of making consumers better and more protected but I sense their motive is otherwise. That I shall not elaborate and leave it to you intelligent creatures to think about.

Enough said about that. I just heard on the radio that Mario Vazquez is quitting the American Idol 4! I tell you he's the most promising contender on the show and this news really came as a shock. In fact, he is actually one of my faves. He has these smooth voice and charisma about him and whenever he's on stage, you'll feel that the stage was tailored made for him. But after deeper consideration, I supposed his leaving was more ambitious than anyone thought. Apparently, if he continue to contest in the competition, he would be limited to one record company only. I supposed he thinks he's much better than America Idol can offer and hence, left. Whatever the case, I wish him all the best.

This makes me think about myself. Mario is so willing to take risks. He knew that he stood a high chance in clinching the AI4 place but he knew that there's a possibility he could be so much more when he left. What about me? I tend to hold on to things and hope that the best would work out for me. I know there's a chance it could be much better if I just turn around and venture somewhere else but I lack the courage so. Should I take his cue?