Share with us on how you would normally do your bus spotting
while on the roads. Points to consider are:
- What preparations did you make prior to your start of bus
spotting
- Where did you start off from; where do you like to go to
- What did you take for your bus spotting (e.g. Camera, Water
Bottle)
- How do you dress up for a bus spotting
Or any other relevant points which are of significance to
you.
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For me, I would always have a system of doing bus spotting in mind.
A few days before my actual bus spotting, I would always look at
the map and the Transitlink guide so that I know the fastest
solution to get to a particular place (with sufficient hot spots
that bus photographers would target). Of course I would also ask
questions here in this forum.
A few hours/minutes before going out, I prepare my stuff needed for
my bus spotting. I carry along a black pouch (which I normally hang
it around my neck), with important things such as my camera (for
taking photos of buses), my handphone (to contact with other bus
fans/my parents should something happens on the road) and a small
A6 size notebook, which fits snugly into my pouch. I also bring an
umbrella should there be rain, and extra items such as extra
batteries and memory cards (will be adding in some first aid kit to
my pouch soon). Before I go out, I ensure that I have sufficient
water to last me for the whole journey as I do not normally bring a
small water bottle - it adds to my load.
I would normally start with a Service 225 bus, if I'm lucky enough
I may be on SBS 3721J, or I may be on other buses. I whip out my
notebook and pen before the bus comes (if I have time), and I tap
my EZ-Link card without having to do the troublesome way of having
to take out the EZ-Link card to tap. On my notebook, I would
usually write all the three usual bus stuffs such as cameos, new
adverts and rides. Sometimes I even record the behaviour of our bus
fans or other people who may be hindering the bus operations/saying
about our buses. When I reach my desired place, I take out my
camera and start taking whatever I can.
Out on the roads, the situations may suddenly change unexpectedly.
In handling this, if I miss the bus, I just let it miss and have a
go on another day. Sometimes I receive news (say rare cameos) from
other people. If I have the time and I am at another place where
the particular bus is out of reach of my area, I would call up my
parents and request permission from them to go to the particular
place. If not, I have to leave it alone and I just let myself
regret for not taking picture of that bus. It happens to me most of
the time, one example is SBS 8018Z cameo on 58. I was in Tampines
when I received the message in the afternoon. I thought of asking
my parents to let me go to Pasir Ris to take photos of the rare
cameo but they did not allow me to go. In the end I just regretted
of not taking the opportunity to have a photo of it (But anyway I'm
still young).
When I come back home I take my 225W again, sometimes it can be
Service 17. When I come home, I take a rest first before starting
to sort out my spottings of the day.
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Different people do different things. What is yours?
