January 22 - Trip 16: Trunks 2, 59, 120 (half)
This trip was mainly a visit to Changi Village in my free time. I first took the full length of Trunk Service 2 from New Bridge Road Terminal. Passing through Chinatown, Bugis, Geylang and through Upper Changi.
Bras Basah Complex near Bugis. The route mainly duplicates the East-West MRT Line after Bugis and up to Tanah Merah.
Chai Chee Estate in Bedok
Aside from the heavily urbanized city centre and new towns, Service 2 also serves private housing estates along the old Upper Changi Road North on the approach to Changi Village.
Changi Village is of course known for its food and the seaside. As such, I had my lunch at the hawker centre and had a quick break there before I set off again. Out of Changi Village, I took Trunk Service 59 to Bishan.
The route of Service 59 winds through Bedok Reservoir, plies an expressway sector and serves Toa Payoh before reaching Bishan.
Passing through Toa Payoh.
This was a rather short trip, but since it wasn't late at all, I ticked off half a trip of the Trunk Service 120 back at its starting terminus New Bridge Road Terminal to its looping point at Telok Blangah Heights estate, one of my local bus services, it also passes through Redhill and Alexandra Road.
Just for fun, I also went to VivoCity nearby at HarbourFront before heading home.
January 25 - Trip 17: Trunks 5, 6, 36 (half), 120 (half); Feeder 354
Having done half of Trunk Service 120's loop route to Telok Blangah Heights the trip before, I first set off to finish off the intra-town service first, terminating at New Bridge Road Terminal.
Henderson Road near Telok Blangah Heights, not far from Mount Faber and the Henderson Waves Bridge.
Terracotta-coloured flats opposite Redhill MRT Station.
I went to have lunch at the People's Park Hawker Centre nearby in Chinatown after finishing Service 120. Afterwards, I slowly made my way to Bukit Merah Interchange for my next trip, Trunk Service 5 eastbound to Pasir Ris.
The intersection of Zion Road and Havelock Road, heading northwards to Scotts Road and Newton.
Service 5 is another one of my personal favourites due to its semi-express route between Novena and Bedok Reservoir, utilising the Pan-Island Expressway, making it a great alternative to the MRT from Newton going eastwards.
The route serves and links residents of Bedok Reservoir, Simei and Upper Changi.
After going through Upper Changi and Old Tampines Road, I wound up in Pasir Ris. I set about ticking off some short loop services that serve the estate and its surroundings.
First up was Feeder Service 354, which serves the private housing estate and condominiums of Jalan Loyang Besar and Downtown East.
And on the flipside, Trunk Service 6, which serves Loyang Industrial Estate. Despite its short route length, the service has regular deployments of double-decker buses under Go-Ahead Singapore. (In contrast, this route didn't have many double-deckers when SBS Transit operated the service)
From exiting the bus interchange to entering the relatively small industrial estate along Loyang Way, east of Pasir Ris.
For my last trip of the day, I ventured eastward once more to Changi Airport and caught Trunk Service 36 back to the city and Orchard Road, another semi-express like service linking the Airport to Marine Parade and the City Centre,
An interesting thing about the route is that because Changi Airport technically isn't a bus terminus, Service 36 operates an 'infinite loop' service, presumably with single buses having multiple drivers over successive trips.
Despite its classification, I will count Changi Airport, as well as Jalan Rumah Tinggi, as bus termini, because drivers are allowed a break at these looping points as their routes are often long and winding. In addition, they were formerly proper bus termini, hence it just makes sense to class them in this way, of course for the benefit of my own enjoyment.
January 28 - Trip 18: Trunks 88, 133, 184 (half), 403; Feeder 231; Expresses 12e, 147e
I set off earlier for this trip as it was the day that two new limited stop services were introduced, but before that, I ventured westward to Bukit Panjang first to tick off Trunk Service 184 going southbound to its looping point at Clementi MRT Station, since I had already done the northbound direction a few weeks previously.
Another ride on the old bendies before they are phased out.
Odd bus stop pole along Bukit Panjang Road.
Having reached Clementi I went to first take a trip on the newly-introduced Limited Stop Service 147e on its debut. A variant of Service 147 that allows for a more direct connection between Clementi and Chinatown as a result of its skipped stops.
SBS Transit deploys new MAN A95 double-decker buses on this route (hence the shiny silver handrail)
Approaching Holland Village estate and Buona Vista, the service also uses the Ayer Rajah Expressway between Queensway and Outram Park for a faster connection.
Service 147e ends at Clarke Quay MRT Station north of Chinatown, taking a quick train ride back to Outram Park, however, I managed to hitch a ride on the second new service debuting that day, Limited Stop Service 12e.
Out of Chinatown, the route plies Bugis before directly connecting through to Bedok South using the East Coast Parkway, serving Simei before terminating at Pasir Ris, like its parent Service 12.
Descending from the Benjamin Shears Bridge, near Tanjong Rhu.
Pasir Ris East
Once I got to Pasir Ris, there was still one short loop service I haven't yet ticked off. (since I had already done Trunk 6 and Feeder 354). I took a loop of the short Trunk Service 403, running to Elias Road and Pasir Ris Road End near Pasir Ris Park and serving the private residences there.
The route's vicinity to Pasir Ris Park had it labelled as a 'Parks' service by SBS Transit during the last decade, with special branding and fares, but the branding was gradually dropped, with the last Parks Service, 408 being withdrawn in August 2016.
After a trip around Pasir Ris, I headed out on Trunk Service 88 to Toa Payoh, serving Sengkang, Hougang and Ang Mo Kio, a popular inter-town Trunk service.
The route uses the Tampines Expressway between Pasir Ris and Sengkang as a direct connection.
The two sides of Ang Mo Kio, the town and its commercial centre.
Having arrived in Toa Payoh as it started to rain, I did another loop on a local service, Feeder 231, serving residents of Lorongs 1 and 5 of Toa Payoh New Town.
The old and new flats of Toa Payoh's Lorong 4 under overcast skies, served by both Services 88 and 231. (photo was taken on my trip inwards to Toa Payoh)
I took the MRT up to Ang Mo Kio for my last trip of the day, Trunk Service 133 down to Shenton Way Bus Terminal, serving Serangoon, Lavender and Bayfront.
Usually used by commuters during weekday peak hours as a link between the New Towns and the City, but since it was a Sunday, the bus was relatively empty.
Exiting Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange.
Terminating bus stop for all Shenton Way Terminal-bound bus services.
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