Artwork on Singapore City Stations - Hillview

Problem
You get out a stop early or late when travelling.

Solution
Enjoy the serendipity - random chance encounter with good fortune or joyful discoveries.

Story
I didn't overshoot my station. But I was studying Italian and German languages on my phone and was afraid of going past my stop that I jumped up in a panic and got off a station earlier. Up on the concourse area I immediately noticed the difference in style between one station and another. Hillview has brown terraced hills on the platform level and photos of green hills on the ticket concourse level.

I could probably have gone back to the ticket office and explained and asked for a refund for the extra journey created by separating my last stop. But I felt too foolish.

Meanwhile, I pretended it was not my mistake, but an Act of God, or twist of fate, or maybe the angels on somebody else's shoulder (when the angel on my shoulder wasn't looking) which had sent me to the wrong station in order for me to enjoy it.

In London, England, I went on a one day training course for London registered tour guides. The trainer taught them to write down fact on card index cards, in the order of the direction of the journey and the return journey. They needed another set o cards to fill in time if the coach was held in traffic for an hour. They also had to keep the tourists happy and entertained, if they had to wait an hour for the replacement bus to be sent after a breakdown.

Tips
Look at every station, at home or abroad, and pretend to be a travel guide, answering questions form a group of mixed nationality visitors.

See my other posts on stations in Singapore, Hong Kong and London, England.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.