Public transport

4/2/23

Poor G had to take the metro to school again, but this time, she caught a taxi for the last leg. She's trying to find out from other commuters at school about alternatives, namely the bus. I downloaded the Moovit app which gives better routes than Googlemaps.

The day was dull and overcast, but the rain wasn't predicted until Wednesday, so it was a surprise when we had a downpour mid-morning. I tried to get a picture, but the picture I took in the evening, is much more interesting!

So, G was not home long before she agreed to come out with me. I have had a breakthrough with the new parts supplier based in Sharjah. It's not ideal, but the price he is offering is knocking off nearly $1000, so I can't ignore it. I let Khalid know. He gave me a revised quotation, but the Sharjah company is still cheaper. They don't have a facility to pay online, so I have to go in person to pay by card.

Thus began the journey to (finally) travel to Sharjah by bus. Thankfully, we live two minutes walk from the Karama Bus Station. We got there to discover the Sharjah service stopped during COVID, so we had to find another route. The best is to go to Ghubaiba and catch the Sharjah bus from there. Thanks to bus lanes, even during peak traffic, it took just 20 minutes to get to Ghubaiba. The Sharjah bus left five minutes after we arrived, and in just over an hour, we were in Sharjah! Amazing!

We eventually found the shop and got five out of seven parts. The rest will be delivered by courier. I called my friend Rita to see if she could help get us from there to a metro station in Dubai via the Peugeot garage. It was good to see her again!

A quick Subway meal at Deira City Centre before getting a taxi home just before 11 o'clock. Public transport is useful but tedious. One needs loads of time for it. Today though, I am thrilled to have saved loads of money which I can put towards the labour cost of what is a major repair on the engine and chassis.

PS. I watched the road in my blip being built when I was a kid. It has changed so much!

PPS It has rained a lot today.