A 2.5 hours journey to Bristol isn’t far but having the office located distant from town, the inconveniences are sometimes worse than the distance itself.
After a long 7 hours’ workshop for the new project launching, I thought I could finally be on my way home. However the taxi did not turn up at 5.15pm as booked hence I’ve got to make another reservation. There was no direct taxi service in this remote zone and therefore the booking has to be done through a company in another town whereby the next available service was 1.5 hours away and I ended up waiting in the cold while shivering in hunger. I have even decided for the worst case that if the next taxi did not turn up eventually, I would rather walk that 8.3km than to linger around the business buldings area, but thankfully the taxi arrived on time.
Reaching at the Bristol Temple Mead station and grabbing a pack of Chicken Wrap in haste, I board on the South West train towards Reading. As beers are sold openly and legally in the train, this resulted in 2 drunken kids nearby my seat who were shouting and laughing inconsiderately and have been walking to and fro many times in the coaches trying to get more beers from the counter.
Finally surviving the boisterous moments, I thought the next service in Reading will be a smoother one. After passing the Ascot station where I am in a pleasant mood getting closer to home, we heard a sudden long honk signal and followed by a loud “bang”. Instantly almost everyone could guess what has happened but this was further confirmed after witnessing the depressed expression of the guard returning from the control room – it is confirmed that the train has hit someone. Sitting in the first coach of the train, we could clearly hear the sound when that person was knocked down.
We were stuck on the same spot for 2 hours waiting for the police and medical personnel to arrive because we were unfortunate to be on that part of the railway surrounded by bushes while heading to Sunningdale. Having notice many times these incidences, but never did I expect to experience this by myself. Everyone in the coach waited patiently for the instruction and looks like this happens really often as no one is over-surprised or over-reacting to the situation. While waiting in the train, I was eavesdropping on the sharing of some spooky experiences by two passengers sitting in front of me. Listening to the European version vs the Asian version of ghost stories is truly a different feeling and this could probably be ascribed to the movies production which has successfully embedded the stereotype in our mind.
Finally, it was decided that the train has to travel back to the Ascot station and many police officers were already waiting at the exit. Some of them were distributing mineral waters to all the passengers and the Railway Coordinator is arranging shared taxi services to bring each and every one of us to our possible destination.
11th November 2015 was indeed a long day where I started my journey at 5.30am boarding on the first train service but only managed to get home after 12.30am. The next day is as well a tough one having a meeting starting at 9.00am…zzzzz
After a long 7 hours’ workshop for the new project launching, I thought I could finally be on my way home. However the taxi did not turn up at 5.15pm as booked hence I’ve got to make another reservation. There was no direct taxi service in this remote zone and therefore the booking has to be done through a company in another town whereby the next available service was 1.5 hours away and I ended up waiting in the cold while shivering in hunger. I have even decided for the worst case that if the next taxi did not turn up eventually, I would rather walk that 8.3km than to linger around the business buldings area, but thankfully the taxi arrived on time.
Reaching at the Bristol Temple Mead station and grabbing a pack of Chicken Wrap in haste, I board on the South West train towards Reading. As beers are sold openly and legally in the train, this resulted in 2 drunken kids nearby my seat who were shouting and laughing inconsiderately and have been walking to and fro many times in the coaches trying to get more beers from the counter.
Finally surviving the boisterous moments, I thought the next service in Reading will be a smoother one. After passing the Ascot station where I am in a pleasant mood getting closer to home, we heard a sudden long honk signal and followed by a loud “bang”. Instantly almost everyone could guess what has happened but this was further confirmed after witnessing the depressed expression of the guard returning from the control room – it is confirmed that the train has hit someone. Sitting in the first coach of the train, we could clearly hear the sound when that person was knocked down.
We were stuck on the same spot for 2 hours waiting for the police and medical personnel to arrive because we were unfortunate to be on that part of the railway surrounded by bushes while heading to Sunningdale. Having notice many times these incidences, but never did I expect to experience this by myself. Everyone in the coach waited patiently for the instruction and looks like this happens really often as no one is over-surprised or over-reacting to the situation. While waiting in the train, I was eavesdropping on the sharing of some spooky experiences by two passengers sitting in front of me. Listening to the European version vs the Asian version of ghost stories is truly a different feeling and this could probably be ascribed to the movies production which has successfully embedded the stereotype in our mind.
Finally, it was decided that the train has to travel back to the Ascot station and many police officers were already waiting at the exit. Some of them were distributing mineral waters to all the passengers and the Railway Coordinator is arranging shared taxi services to bring each and every one of us to our possible destination.
11th November 2015 was indeed a long day where I started my journey at 5.30am boarding on the first train service but only managed to get home after 12.30am. The next day is as well a tough one having a meeting starting at 9.00am…zzzzz
