A trip to the ICA building and the two newly-built stations along the Thomson-East Coast Line with my mother

in #singapore4 years ago

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Welcome back, readers! Yesterday, my mother and I went to the ICA building to make our passports which will expire in the next few weeks. Four of my family members will be going to Batam of whom my younger sister is inviting. Actually, we go to Batam to help the residents in the village by giving them goodies. My father will be staying at home to take care of our kitten and cat. This is the first time that my mom and I will be staying in one of the hotels at Batam. We will be going from 14 to 16 March 2020.

On that day, I exercised at the nearby park before setting off to ICA. We took Grab to go there and the driver's name is Sulaiman. My mother started the conversation with the driver and they were laughing heartily at each other. I just stayed quiet. I was wondering why Sulaiman drove his car to another block instead of going to the intended destination. Ahhh...
He was taking another passenger. He wore a mask and sat behind the car beside my mom.

I soon found out from the conversation from my mother and the passenger named Joseph that he wore a mask because his colleagues are from China and he wanted to take precautions not to get infected by the Wuhan coronavirus. It was a virus that had killed 305 people and infected 14557 people. So guys, practice good hygiene and wear a mask if you are sick.

The driver dropped off the passenger near the Esplanade. I forgot the name of the building. Anyways, we were soon on our way to the ICA building and the total fare is SGD 9. I tipped SGD 3 to the driver. I hope he was happy with that small amount.

It had been eons since I made a passport and my mother asked the security guard for guidance to make a passport. He said to proceed to Level 2. At Level 2, we were again muddled and my mom asked a lady. She said to take an application form and pointed to the location. We realized that we needed to make a passport photo and went to the e-lobby at Level 1. I thought that there will be going to be a photo booth to take the photos but I was wrong. My mother once again asked the cute lady the location for taking the photo. She said to go to BLK 467 behind the ICA building.

This is getting more and more tedious to apply for the passport but we never gave up. My mother led the way and a person invited us to the shop specializing in taking the passport photos. He said no teeth could be shown while taking the photo and my face turned out to be quite funny. My mom took the photo with no problem. In total, it costs us SGD 6 to make it.

We were back to the ICA building in no time and took the application form on the 2nd floor. We filled up our particulars and headed to the first floor to pay the creation of the passports by NETS. Each passport is SGD 70 and I paid SGD 140 for me and my mother. The passport will be made in 7 days in which we must book an appointment so that we can get our passports swiftly. We stapled the receipts to the forms and dropped them in the deposit box.

We then took a taxi to Woodlands North MRT station. The taxi driver didn't know the exact location of the MRT station and I repeatedly shoved my smartphone to him showing the map and he still adamantly didn't know. Well, I just said to drive according to his abilities to where ever is nearest. He drove quite fast reaching speeds up to 137km/h. I got to say that he had years of experience of driving under his belt. In the distance, I saw what looked like the MRT station from the outside. It was Woodlands South, not North. I did not want the taxi meter to keep on running and dropped us off right outside the station. The fare is SGD 18.20, more expensive than Grab.


The entrance to Woodlands South MRT station

The residents of the nearby HDB blocks are lucky to have a station right smack in front of them.


An artistic design on the walls of the entrance


Another view of the entrance


I liked the small lights beside the escalator which are absent on present stations. I behaved like a small child repeatedly touching those lights.


Inside of the station

The Singapore government had decided to give free travel on the newly-built stations along the Thomson-East Line from 31 January 2020 to 2 February 2020 and I was very grateful for that.


Platform level inside the station


Platform doors on the platform level. I apologized for the sub par quality of this photo. When STEEM moons, maybe I can get myself a better smartphone camera.


The image showing the names of the 3 MRT stations that just opened


Even the staircase handrails have lights installed! What a design!


Inside the train bound to Woodlands


Notice that this is a different station as the wall has a different design than the previous one

Inside Woodlands MRT station

I had a very great experience taking the train from Woodlands South to Woodlands. I was filled with gratitude to the authorities for constructing the MRT station with such care and accuracy. Kudos to them. My mother wanted to buy food at Causeway Point, a shopping mall but the Banquet restaurant was nowhere to be seen on the top floor and I was filled with a tinge of sadness. Fast forward to going home and I treated myself to this nice Chicken Rice. Signing off! Sejuk!


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Very nice photos, and great advice about staying safe from the coronavirus. That virus has been causing a bit of a scare all over the world now, as it doesn't show signs of slowing down at all, and new cases are popping up all over the place. Stay safe friend. The chicken rice looks delicious. Upvoted!

Same to you, my friend! Stay safe.

@tipu curate

Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 0/10 - need recharge?)

Thanks, man!