A Little Help Goes a Long Way.....

 

My luggage outside the lift at Little India MRT station.

When Soh Wah and I arrived at Heathrow Airport, we looked out for placards with our names. The tour agent had booked a private car transfer for us from the Airport to the Hotel.

I decided to purchase a local phone card so that I could use it in London and Europe.
After waiting for a few minutes, we decided to call the Holiday Inn Hotel. To our surprise, we were told that there was no such arrangement by the hotel, and that the hotel only has regular pick up of their guests from the Brent Cross Tube station.
My friend and I were stumped. When we found out that it would cost about 60 pounds by London cab, we decided to take the challenge of taking the tube to the hotel.

It dawned upon us that when we had to transfer in between our journey, there was that
formidable task of carrying our luggage up the many flights of steps when there was no escalator! To our pleasant surprise, the people in London were so friendly...
they immediately helped us to carry up our luggage without even being asked! I kept thanking these kind souls profusely, grateful for the much needed assistance.

Soh Wah and I reached Brent Cross Station in the nick of time at 11.30p.m. and phoned the hotel. The private car came to pick us up. After midnight, there would be
no more pick up till six o'clock.

Hence, when we returned to Singapore, I decided to see whether I could manage to carry my luggage and take the mrt instead of the taxi, and to find out if the people in our little red dot are as spontaneously helpful as the ones we met in London.
When I transferred at Tanah Merah Mrt station, a helpful Indian gentleman asked if he
could help me with my luggage. I found out that he is a foreign student from Mumbai, and he is presently studying in the National University of Singapore. When
I transferred my train at City Hall, he helped me to carry one luggage to the other train and then ran back to catch the same train to continue his journey towards his campus in the west.

When I reached the Little India MRT station, I met some of my neighbours and they helped me to carry my luggage.

A little help goes a long way to a weary traveller and makes the journey even more pleasant and beautiful.

Gan Cao