Vibrant Colours and Exciting Atmosphere in Chinatown

Posted by: Norazreen binti Abd Haris; Emmanuel Phua

Chinese New Year Light Up: Golden coins and horses are lined up along the road as a decoration to celebrate the Lunar New Year this year in Chinatown. Photo credit: Norazreen binti Abd Haris

A Quick Glance At this Post

	Time	Fare	Advantage	Disadvantage
Service 33	41 mins	S$1.93	Cheaper option to Chinatown	Crowded  bus and poor frequency
Service 166	43 mins	S$1.43	Many seats available and fair frequency	Long ride and bus may not be constantly double decker
Service 190	37 mins	S$1.63	Short journey time and good frequency	Crowded bus and poor frequency

Celebrating Year of the Horse

The Chinese Lunar New Year is around the corner! Here’s a post that may be useful for you just in case you need to get to Chinatown in the very last minute prior to the New Year. What more? Perhaps, you may want to check the area out during this season. The whole area is lighted up by beautiful and colourful lights that signify the Year of the Horse.

Quick Ride from the West: SMRT Buses may be travelling long distances, but, it does not mean that it will be a slow ride. Not only that, the frequency may also be very short at times. Photo credit: Norazreen binti Abd Haris

Quick Ride to Chinatown from West of Singapore

If you are living in the Western part of Singapore, service 190 may be just the bus that you need to get to Chinatown quickly and comfortably. Recently, we took the bus from Phoenix Station to Chinatown Point and were very impressed by the efficiency of the service. The ride was rather quick and as for the bus, it was barely crowded. After arriving at our destination, we discovered that the frequency was also very short. In less than five minutes another bus would have arrive at the bus stop. However, although the ride was fast, we doubt that the frequency will always be as good as it was since there have been instances where commuters had to wait for a number of buses before they were able to finally board it.

Mercedes, Citaro: The bus may be new but it does not really have that much of a standing area. The air-con of this bus model also cannot be adjusted, so it may get stuffy along the journey.  Photo credit: Norazreen binti Abd Haris

Service 33 versus Service 166

Other than service 190, we also tested out service 166 and 33. These buses start from different terminals. Service 166 starts from Clementi while service 33 from Kent Ridge.  So, why are we comparing these two buses against one another? Well, despite the different starting points, generally, they both cover the same areas along Chinatown.

Our journey to Pearl Centre via service 166 exceeded our expectations! The ride was quite smooth despite the slightly congested traffic condition. Not only that, the bus was also somewhat empty and we were able to enjoy a relaxing ride. In terms of frequency, you may be happy to know that the next bus does not take long to arrive in case you missed the earlier bus.  

On the other hand, service 33 was a disappointment. It took us a good 30 minutes before the bus left the interchange. Not only that, the bus that we took was one of the newer models which means that there was less seats available. Due to the huge gap between the bus that we took and the previous bus, there were many people who boarded the bus; causing it to be super crowded! What makes it worse is that the air-con could not be adjusted. So, we could not help but to feel uncomfortable during our journey to Hong Lim Park. Perhaps, we will give service 33 a miss the next time we need to get to Chinatown.

Check Out our Photos on Facebook!

Lastly, if you are already at Chinatown, you may want to check out the street markets there. To get a quick feel of the atmosphere in Chinatown with the coming of the New Year, take a quick look at our Chinatown photos on Facebook and don’t forget to leave your comment below. 

Gong Xi Fa Cai!