All of us at Puffing Billy...
Doesn't this look as if we were in Japan???
In the 'Forbidden Forest' near Hodgwarts...
Oops...wrong direction from the other photos...lol...
Jess took this just before she went after the arriving train and caught Ryan with the train!
Exactly the same pose as the last one..lol...
In fact, local taxis scored the lowest in almost every category polled. The survey's 200-odd respondents, comprising expatriates from 30 countries, even went so far as to brand local cabbies "a national disgrace", "a source of national shame" and "a serious threat to tourists - rude bullies and extortionists".
The most frequent complaint was of overcharging and taxi drivers refusing to take passengers who did not agree to pay a flat rate much higher than the regular fare.
The survey covered five main aspects, namely taxi quality, courtesy of drivers, availability on the street, availability by phone and driver job knowledge.
On a 10-point scale, local taxis got scores of 3.8, 4.4, 4.4, 4.8 and 5.5 for each respective aspect. This was in sharp contrast to the 8.6, 8.0, 8.1, 8.8 and 8.7 earned by taxi drivers in Singapore.
Expat Group CEO Andy Davison, whose company owns The Expat, said the high response rate combined with the absence of any really positive feedback, makes it clear people are unhappy with the current services on offer.
"In the last 10 years, we have done about 40 surveys among the resident expatriate community on many aspects of life in Malaysia.
"Most have produced very positive results, but our first survey on the taxi service has revealed a very negative picture," he said yesterday.
On suggestions on how to improve the image of local taxi drivers, Davison said that fares should be high enough that drivers would not feel the need to overcharge in order to make a living.
He also said driver training was an area that could be improved on.
When asked to comment, Taxi Operators Association chairman Datuk Aslah Abdullah said he couldn't deny the findings of the survey.
"However, you also need to check what the fares are in the other countries being compared, because that's where the problem here lies."
On training, he said drivers had undergone tutorials conducted by City Hall and taxi associations since the beginning of this year.
Folks, there you have it. Let's hear from you, the users of taxis, on the findings of the survey. Talk Back!
Initially, I did not really feel like going out today. But since my holiday is so short, I decided to have fun! We went to Mt. Dandenong. The journey there was not smooth though. We missed the first bus but luckily we did get on time for the train. Then, we saw another bus passed by in front of our very eyes! And you can ask Li Ping how ‘difficult’ the journey was.
Nevertheless, we had a genial time at Skyhigh Mt Dandenong Observatory. Despite the gale, the bird’s eye view of Geelong to Dandenong Ranges made the trip worthy. We could even roughly see the outline of Monash University with naked eye! The scenery in the garden was also quite breathtaking. Afterwards, we had a brief stroll along the Forest Walk. Unlike the typical rainforest found in Malaysia, the canopy is actually quite sparse and rays of sunlight could reach the dry forest floor. Of course, we took a lot of photos!
Afterwards, Ryan suggested us to go for a ride on the famous Puffing Billy steam train. We discussed about this during breakfast and he just quickly printed out bus and train timetables online as a backup plan. The journey there was quite exhilarating. The road was so windy that I nearly puked! For an hour trip, the concession ticket was quite expensive. But the view along the way was spectacular! I did not expect to see Port Philip Bay at all. When the train was on the famous Trestle Bridge, there were even drivers who stopped by and took our photos. I even managed to took a photo with vineyards in the background. The train operators also kindly showed us the coal-fuelled train engine. We went all the way up from Belgrave to Emerald and the wind was growing in force and speed.
And we just could not stop having fun! For dinner, we visited Korean BBQ in Clayton since Siaw Tze was craving for Korean food. We ordered BBQ chicken, pork, beef and octopus. And the waiter even fried rice on the hot plate! Everyone was already famished so the food was finished in a second.
Only then we headed back home and I had a really nice hot shower!
每逢过年，外婆都会早起，为了准备鸡蛋糕和鸡蛋卤肉。。。过年最期待的就是吃外婆精心烹煮的食物了！从懂事以来每年都是如此。。。但是以后过年再也吃不到了。。。Good oral health is the basis of general well-being. It ensures a healthy smile. This boosts self confidence and leaves a lasting impressio...
