thomo the lost posted this in 
July 4th, 2006Hmm, might have to start a separate classification for taxi articles at this rate 
OK, so now I am in Singapore for a bit. Last night I had to catch a taxi from the bars along the riverside (the Penny Black to be exact where I was reacquainting myself with draft Kilkenny – memories of Trondheim and Dirty Nellie’s pub (now gone) came flooding back to me (if you’ll pardon the pun). This morning was a reminder of all that is good with Kilkenny too – but that can wait for another entry.
So in the past I had always caught taxis in Singapore in the daytime as I had only had really short trips here. If anyone had asked me about Singapore taxis I would have rated them with Hong Kong, really good, and not known for overcharging customers.
OK, so last night was an eye opener. Coming back from The Penny Black at midnight, I rounded the corner and there were about 20 taxis waiting. The first taxi asked me “taxi?”.
I said “yes.”
He said “where to?”
I said “M-Hotel.”
He said “$20.00.”
I said “Bull****, it is only a $7.00 ride.”
OK, so some haggling with other drivers and to avoid ‘waiting’, I accepted a $15.00 ride to the hotel. The driver noted that he had been waiting there for an hour for a fare. I noted to him that I was not surprised if they all were trying to charge that way.
So, in Singapore, around midnight, taxis seem to try to charge what they like.
Tags: 
Wow! This was mentioned in the local papers about two weeks back. The papers specifically mentioned that Clarke Quay was targeted by these predatory taxis. They would charge between twenty to thirty dollars per ride.
I was surprised that you thought highly of our taxis. A lot of us were bemoaning the fact that the taxis here tend to hog the road and were road menaces.
I notice that you have a penchant for military history and wargames. We do still have a small wargaming group here. GMT Games, Decision Games, Avalon Hill, SPI, etc. There is a miniatures wargaming group here somewhere (not of the Warhammer variety).
You could contact some of the wargamers here if you felt the need to play if you were ever here.
http://singapore-wargames.tripod.com