So what happened since?
A New Car! (Chevrolet Orlando)
I got a new car!!! My 7 year odd Fiat Punto Evo had been too squeezy for a family of 5 and the kid's pram practically took up all the boot space. Saw a newspaper ad that Chevrolet was selling its 7-seater Orlando 1.4 Turbo (138hp) for S$103,000! Price was just too difficult to ignore and I kinda like it's SUV look so I went down on 1 May for a test drive. Love everything about the car and by end May, was driving around SG. Glad that my wife and kids liked the car too. The Orlando is fairly powerful but the fuel comsumption is a around 11km per litres. Ok for a large car... heard from my colleague that her Subaru Forester runs at 8km per litre... ouch... so i guess it isn't too bad. Wifey drives the car on most days while I only drive during weekends and the occasional trip to work (1-2x a month)... which brings me to my next purchase...
A New Bicycle (Giant Fastroad Comex 2)
The cycling bug has infected me as the Tour de France and Vuelta de Espana rolled from July to September. Got myself another road bike from Tay Cycle that comes with a straight handlebar, carbon frame and tubeless wheels, differentiating itself from my 2011 Trek 2.1 still serves me well as my "racing" bike. Since then, I've been cycling to work at least once a week if the weather is decent. Shaved 15 minutes from riding the new bike as compared to riding the Brompton, thanks largely to the larger wheels and racey riding profile. It now takes me 50 minutes to cycle from Sengkang to my office in Ghim Moh. The travelling time is about the same as driving my car assuming there's no stupid accident along Lornie-Adam Road.
So what's the best way to commute to work?
Well, we all know how unreliable the trains are these days... If it's working fine, then it would take about 60-70 minutes from my place to work which is pretty alright. But having to squeeze like sardines, not once but twice each... no thanks...
Seriously, cycling to work is really a viable option in Singapore and it's not as dangerous as you'd think. Yes, it's tiring at the beginning but if you do regularly, your fitness will improve and exercising in the morning is good for the body and goes a long way to improving overall well-being in the long road run. My colleagues are often amazed at me being crazy enough to cycle 20km for 1 hour, twice in a day... I really find it enjoyable! If not for my motorcycles, I'll probably cycle to work everyday.
But, I know my limits and commitments so I will still ride my motorbikes on most days. Compared to driving, I save about 60 minutes per day if I ride my motorcycle to work. That's 5 hours per week x 50 weeks = 250 hours or about 10 days per year!!! 10 days!!! That means a commuter who drives or takes public transport loses about 10 days every year of his/her live being stuck in traffic!!! Of course the biggest caveat about riding is safety... just one crash can cause serious injury or even death... oh well... I've led a good life thus far and being well covered by insurance, I'd figured I enjoy the rest of my life doing things I rather do and spending 10 extra days commuting is not one of them...
Oh... I will still drive to work if the weather is dreadful or I'm not in the mood but each time I drive to work, I'll get super cranky having to drive slowly from start to finish... really... I hate driving in Singapore... but at the end of the day, I've thankful for being blessed in having so many options to get to work :)