Trip 5: Bendies

The land of bendies - 800, 851

   From Bukit Merah Interchange, I started today with a double-decker ride on Trunk Service 851 towards Yishun, passing through Tiong Bahru, Chinatown and Ang Mo Kio, with much to see along the way.

Tiong Bahru Road, with two B10Ms on both sides. (851)

Marymount Road, near Sin Ming (851)

Another MAN A95 double-decker on Service 851, near Yio Chu Kang.

Yishun Town Centre (851)

   After an hour and sometime later, I arrived at Yishun Temporary Bus Interchange, temporary until the Integrated Transport Hub at North Park Residences opens in 2019.

   Yishun, much like Woodlands and Choa Chu Kang, used to be dominated by bendy buses, predominantly the Mercedes O405G. Nowadays, double-deckers are more prefered due to their smaller physical footprint and hence, ease of handling. Nonetheless, there are still many bendies in operation, including the newer, wheelchair-accessible MAN A24 buses. 

Mercedes O405G Hispano Habit bendy bus, parked at the old Yishun Bus Interchange (taken in Jan 2015)

Bendies at the Temporary Interchange (taken in March 2015)

   I hitched a ride on one of these buses on Feeder Service 800, looping around at Sembawang Road and Yishun Street 71 before returning to the bus interchange.

Interior

Serangoon Showers - 82, 103

   After the trip on the bendy, I went to the nearby Northpoint Shopping Centre to have lunch. When I came back, I was lucky enough to catch another Volvo B10M Mark IV, similar to the one deployed on Service 165 the other time.

   This time, it was deployed on Trunk Service 103, and I took it all the way from Yishun to Serangoon, passing through Seletar Airport, Jalan Kayu and Yio Chu Kang Road. As the bus sped down Yio Chu Kang Road with the windows fogging up as it started raining, it created a soothing and nostalgic atmosphere, reminiscent of when these buses dominated the Singaporean roads.

   The rain poured the heaviest when I reached Serangoon Bus Interchange. I walked to the bus stop adjacent the shopping centre to catch my next bus. Despite the shelter's best efforts, keeping me completely dry proved to be a tough ask. Thankfully, the rain started to calm down after then.

Buses approaching the bus stop

   From the bus stop, I took the half trip of Trunk Service 82, which starts from Punggol, goes through Sengkang and Hougang before looping around at Serangoon Central and returning. I took the return trip.

Raindrops in Punggol (82)

The Heartlands - 83, 86, 261

   Arriving in Punggol, I had a quick walk around the shopping centre (as I always do), before I took Trunk Service 83 a short distance away to Sengkang, passing through Punggol Field and Compassvale. This route I always use to travel from the two estates when I don't feel like taking the MRT one stop.

Leaving Punggol Interchange (83)

   With nothing much to do at Sengkang Bus Interchange, I hopped onboard yet another double-decker bus on Trunk Service 86 to Ang Mo Kio, passing through Rivervale, Jalan Kayu and Yio Chu Kang.

Leaving Sengkang Interchange (86)

Tampines Expressway sector (86)

Approaching Ang Mo Kio Interchange, MRT opposite (86)

   Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange, in contrast to Sengkang, was much more spacious with many more amenities in the immediate vicinity and is Singapore's 3rd air-conditioned bus interchange. Ang Mo Kio has quite a number of feeder bus services given the size of the estate (5).

Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange

 

   I took one of them today, Feeder Service 261. The route takes the bus down Ang Mo Kio Ave 10, doing a quick turnaround at Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 1, before returning. It was quite a pleasant journey, barring a point where the front left mirror of the bus knocked over a road sign.

 

Ang Mo Kio Ave 10, with AMK Industrial Park 1 on the right. (261)

Bendies again - 169

   For my last route of today's trip, it was back to bendies. Trunk Service 169 gets its healthy load of commuters during weekday peak hours. As such, most buses deployed on 169 are high-capacity buses. Most of them are double-deckers, as with modern practice, but I took a bendy, winding its way through Upper Thomson and Yishun, before picking up workers near Senoko Industrial Estate and ending at Woodlands.

Leaving Ang Mo Kio (169)

   To return home from Woodlands, I first took a double-decker on Service 960, but there will still be a charm that bendy buses will always have over double-deckers.

   Yes, you might not get the 360-degree view from the upper-deck of a double-decker, but there is still an adventurous feel to sitting in the back carriage of a bendy bus. Being so far from the front and seeing the articulator and the front carriage wobble and bend as the bus manoeuvres around bends is an experience that you can never get from any other kind of bus ride.

   All this is sad knowing that after the retirement of the Mercedes O405Gs, there will only be so few bendies left, but much like the old Volvo B10Ms, all we can do is cherish the experiences we have with them as they fade into history.

Bending... (169)

Recap of trip:

Routes done - 82 (half), 83, 86, 103, 169, 261, 800, 851

Progress - 30.5/371 (8.22 %)