trains

I'm in Singapore, for a week of vacation. Armed with many pleasant memories of taking the train in China, I decided to go by sleeper train to Malaysia for three days.

On the train, you can sleep in a real bed, with sheets, instead of a narrow airplane seat. The sway of the train lulls you gently to sleep.

I booked the deluxe sleeper cabin. The web sites says this comes with its own private bathroom, towels, complimentary dinner and breakfast. What a delightful description!

Our train was scheduled to depart at 10:15pm. It was delayed for FIVE HOURS. I sat until 3am in the humid Singaporean train station, where the heat was abated only slightly by the small ceiling fans.

Finally, the train arrived. I got settled into the compartment. The bed was quite comfortable.

30 minutes later, loud knocking on the door. I tried to ignore it, which generated another bout of even louder knocking. I opened the door. It was the attendant, handing out towels.

Another 15 minutes later, he knocked to pass out fried noodles.

I finally drifted to sleep, then was suddenly awakened and forced to walk through an immigration line.

Afterwards, the passengers were finally permitted to get a few hours' sleep, before loud knocking to collect the towels.

Shortly before Singapore, there was a final call, to pass out dry coconut rolls for breakfast.

The service did meet the letter of the description. But something got lost in translation, I think.