Father fulfils son’s dream of riding ‘rare’ bendy bus in Yishun, netizens relive nostalgic memories

Man takes son to ride bendy bus in Yishun, ticks off ‘bucket list’

A father and son in Singapore recently crossed an item off their bucket list when they managed to catch a “rare” bendy bus in Yishun.

39-year-old Jonathan Ang told MS News that his son Dylan had loved buses and trains since he was a toddler.

In fact, Dylan’s first words after calling for dad and mom was “bus”, his dad said.

As a young child, he would excitedly point out passing buses from his window. At his request, his dad would take him to the front or rear cabin of MRT trains so he could see the railway tracks.

According to Mr Ang, Dylan had always wanted to ride a bendy bus. They gave it a shot three to four years ago at Woodlands Interchange but weren’t lucky enough to catch sight of one.

On Saturday (15 Feb), the now seven-year-old boy asked to ride a bendy bus again.

Determined to make his son’s wish come true, Mr Ang took to the ‘askSingapore’ subreddit asking for recommendations on how to find one.

There, Reddit users provided a page on the Land Transport Guru website named the ‘Bendy Bus Finder‘.

“Since there are only 40 bendy buses out of about 5000 buses that are currently operational, you will need some patience,” one of them said.

Another netizen suggested that Yishun Interchange had the highest chance of catching a bendy bus.

Father & son manage to board bendy bus

Mr Ang told MS News that on the day of their attempt, Sunday (16 Feb), only seven bus services had bendy buses on their routes, with four in Yishun.

He approached a supervisor for help, who took the time and provided them with the info on the next bendy buses on schedule at the interchange.

Eventually, Mr Ang and Dylan managed to get onto a bendy bus on bus service 804.

“He liked it and took quite [a few] pictures,” Mr Ang said.

He also mentioned that his son was initially hesitant to stand in the bendy section of the bus until he offered to stand there with him.

“We took pictures after we alighted and considered a bucket list crossed out and mission accomplished.”

The ride was less enjoyable for Mr Ang, who felt queasy from motion sickness. Regardless, he was just glad that his son had a good time.

Man & Singaporean netizens reminisce in nostalgia

Other than nausea, the bendy bus ride hit the 39-year-old father with nostalgia.

It had been over a decade or two since he last boarded one. He recalled the ones in the past being “jerkier” and “squeaker”, with the bendy portion being circular with handholds.

The modern buses had a more stable connecting segment, which he called “less fun”.

One commenter on his Reddit post called bendy buses a “unique experience” and said they missed them.

Another netizen claimed that the last batch of bendy buses would be scrapped within the next three years and encouraged Mr Ang and Dylan to enjoy riding them while they still could.

They also told Mr Ang to write in to SBS Transit to compliment the supervisor who had helped them.

As for what was next on Dylan’s list, Mr Ang said he had received suggestions online about bus service 825, an electric minibus.

Others also recommended a bendy bus for service 858 between Woodlands and Changi Airport, allegedly the longest bus ride in Singapore.

As such, it would likely be one or both of these options.

Also read: Student takes longest bus ride in S’pore to force himself to study, trip lasts 3 hours

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Featured image adapted from Mr Jonathan Ang on Reddit.