Suggestion #1 - my commute

A few days ago I asked for suggestions of things that I should blog about...here is the first blog from one of the suggestions that came in...and it isn't too late for you to make a suggestion...come on...you know you want to...

Kate's Commute to work...

I usually try to take the bus to the office.  If I have an early morning meeting or am being lazy I'll take a taxi but most days I am on the bus.  The taxi takes less time but costs about 10 times as much which is really hard to justify.  This is my route to work based on taking the bus...

I start by leaving my apartment...

Yep, that is my front door...and yep, there is a black cat Halloween bag hanging from it.  I put it up my first Halloween here and it has been there since.  It now serves as an umbrella holder...you never, ever, ever want to leave the house in Singers without an umbrella.

That is the outside of my front door...I love my welcome mat...I brought it from the US because welcome mats are one of those things  that are insanely expensive here and also very boring looking...I like fun welcome mats.

Since I live on the 5th floor I have to take the elevator (aka - lift) up and down.  I wouldn't mind taking the stairs but they don't bring me out at the lobby of my building but instead take me out the back.  They also are outside so I end up getting very warm within minutes of walking out my door...not fun when headed to the office. 
Another fun elevator fact...probably not fun...just interesting...there are two...but the buttons only call one elevator at a time.  It is actually pretty common here for the elevators to not be linked which seems a bit odd to me.

That is the walk from my building to the bus stop.  It is just down the road from where those cars are stopped.

You can see the bus stop just up ahead.  I usually pass a few people on the way there but didn't this day.  It was actually pretty quiet at the bus stop.

Can you guess which bus I take?  And I'm actually pretty lucky that the stop near my house is serviced by so many buses.  BTW - I take the #14 to the office.

Me in my seat on the upper level.  Most of the #14 buses are double-deckers and the upper level is typically less crazy and quieter than the lower level.

The bus I was on when I took these pictures is one of the older buses.  But they are still quite clean...just a little more wear and tear... 

I typically get an entire seat to myself unless the bus is fully packed.  I think part of it is because I sit in the aisle seat and not at the window.  I think the other part is because I'm not Asian.  I've seen it time and time again where people get on the bus and will typically choose to sit next to the other Asians before sitting next to any Westerners...not sure why...and I take no offense to it since I get more room...

Eighteen bus stops and about 20-30 minutes after I board the bus I arrive at the bus stop by my office...

There are usually quite a few people who get off the bus here since I work in a place called Science Park.  I'm not sure where everybody was that day...

That is a picture of the overpass I walk on to get to the bus to take me back home.  They recently just completed the cover so now you can get across without getting horribly wet.

I walk between a couple of buildings and then arrive at my office building.  I take a shortcut so I end up coming up from a driveway and don't come to the front of the office.  I realized just now that I don't have a good picture of my office so will have to get one at some point and post it.

The lobby of our building is really boring.  It is a shared space so there really isn't anything in the lobby...and that little television only plays ads which is kind of annoying.  At least here you only have to push one button to call all three elevators.

Me riding to level 3...

And walking to my office.  We occupy three floors of the building and the level that my office is on is shared with the chocolate company Ferrero Rocher...and no...they do not ever share with us...

My commute ends at my office - room 313.