NZ Taxis vs SG Taxis
When I took my 1st taxi ride in Christchurch, I saw on the meter that the starting fare was NZ$2. I was very pleased that it's cheaper than Singapore, where the starting fare is now S$2.50.
I happily chit-chatted with the cabbie, and when I happened to glance at the meter again a few minutes later, I was shocked to see that the meter had jumped to NZ$8.40! I just couldn't believe my eyes! Then I stared at the meter to see how the fare works, and found that the meter jumps by 20 cents instead of 10 cents, like it does here in Singapore. I also found out that for every km, it costs NZ$2.40, and for every minute of waiting time, such as waiting at traffic lights, or worst, traffic jams, it costs NZ$1. In the end, my journey of less than 10mins cost me NZ$13.40! My goodness! It was so expensive!!! It cost more than the 20 min-trip from my home to the conservatory, where the distance between them is about 19km. Imagine if Singapore charges $2.40/km. For 19km, it'll cost $45.60, not including waiting time at traffic lights! And we'll have to pray really hard that there'll never be traffic jams!
Therefore, from now onwards, I shall stop complaining about our local taxi fares.