[ranting again]

This is probably my second rant about driving here. I concluded that women have to be very patient when they want to go out. These are the reasons:

1) They have to wait for their hubbies to chauffeur them places. In my case, I can make appointments 3 times a day - in the morning, during lunch time or after hubby comes back from work.

2) Take a taxi. In my case it is quite a hassle because I don't speak Urdu which is fine in most cases because as long as I have some "key phrases", such as numbers to haggle, "ahead" and "beside KFSH", it's pretty ok. Neither do I speak Arabic, though the other problem is that you can't trust local drivers so there comes another trouble of weeding out one half of the fleet. What I don't like is when the cabbies realise I can't speak much Urdu or Arabic, the drivers start enquiring more and more about where I'm from etc. Seriously, what does it matter to you where I'm from? I just want to get home. Plus stop mixing a spattering of English into Urdu and Arabic and expect me to understand what you're saying. Give it up already.

2) If they have a driver,

• hopefully they have one who is punctual. Today I spent 20 mins waiting for the time my driver was supposed to arrive, and another 20 mins that he was late. And the drive home was only 10 mins. I guess a taxi will be faster. I guess the hassle of explaining where I live is easier than waiting in the cold for so long. Oh, and I should probably give up calling drivers when I'm early, in the hopes they are free and come pick me up earlier.
• they still have to plan carefully. Finish on time or feel bad making the driver wait. Yesterday our late meeting ended very late, and my driver had come at the original time, even earlier because it was his first day so he wanted to be sure where he was. Annoyingly, even after telling him the new time (and oh, I tried to call him to come earlier than my postponed timing), he was 10 mins late. Nevermind I thought, it was his first day. I also guess that parties will have to end on time. Once the nurses and I were having a good time and they suddenly had to rush off cos they had booked their driver at a particular time.
• the driver changes frequently. My first driver lasted half a year, then he got transferred to the west coast. My second driver got a part time job so unless I want to leave office at 2, which is quite ridiculous, I can't go with him anymore. Hopefully my latest one will work out, if he starts getting punctual. Seriously, I don't like waiting, much less waiting like a fool along the road, in a society where men stare at women who have uncovered faces or are alone.

The past couple of months I've been going to work pretty often (an achievement haha). Taxis are hard to come by at the end of the day because security has been tightened at the drop off area. Other than that, I realised that probably the only thing I spend on here is transport. Gone are the $1 bus rides from NUS home. Spending $6 a day on cab fares is expensive even by Sg standards. Then again, a lot of things pertaining to women, e.g. gyms and spas, are expensive here. Gah. It's actually not as bad as it sounds. But after today's 40 mins wait for Mr AK, I'm a little pissed. Don't mind me....