Sunday, April 10, 2005
Made it to Singapore!
I finally made it to Singapore. After getting up at 4:00 AM on Saturday morning to begin the trip, Lori and Cameron took me to the airport to see me off. It was tough going and knowing I wouldn't be back for a couple weeks, but there was an adventure ahead, and I was ready to take it on. (The day before I had a bad case of butterflies so it was good to finally feel like I was ready).
After saying goodbye and giving Cameron 14 kisses, hugs and gunks (one for each day I'd be gone) I got on the plane for my big trip to DC, all 50 minutes of it. I was in first class though so it wasn't too bad :). I then had a 5 hour layover in Dulles but I was able to spend that in the All Nippon Airways lounge and eat all the Japanese crackers I wanted. Next it was on to the 777 to Tokyo, a 14 hour flight. A very long flight. The first 10 hours weren't too bad, I had a nice meal and several hours of sleep, but the last hours felt just as long as the first 10. My feet were swollen and my butt was sore and I was ready to get out and walk some. It felt good to get off the plane and walk around a bit.
I spent a couple hours in Narita Airport waiting for my next plane. I spent the time in the United Lounge. It was a huge lounge but very full of people. The best thing about it was that they had Oreos so I made a bit of a pig of myself. I plugged in my computer to go over my presentations but I couldn't really concentrate on them very well.
Next I boarded the 747 for the 6 hour flight to Singapore. Much nicer seats on this flight so it could have been much better, but I was so tired I couldn't really enjoy myself. I had trouble staying awake long enough to get my meal and then had trouble falling asleep afterwords (It always works that way). I got in about 2 hours of sleep, but I did collect a nice puddle of drool on my book so maybe it was a bit more than 2 hours.
We landed in Singapore about 11:40PM (EDT +12h) and I joined the herd as we worked our way through Immigration, then collected my bags, and went through customs. I finally found my ride waiting for me and he helped me get everything in the car for the 20 minute ride to the airport. I'd like to see that ride during the day. We went right along the coast of the South China Sea and you could see what looked like hundreds of ships anchored off the coast.
We entered the Central Business District where all the skyscrapers are and I was dropped off at my hotel, Raffles The Plaza. It is a huge and very nice hotel. The service is incredible and Lobby was amazing. The driver brought in my bags as I checked in and went up to my room. I had forgotten about asian rooms they are a little confusing. It took me the first 5 minutes to figure out how to turn on the lights :). Finally the porter showed up with my bags and he straighted me out. I've included a few picture below so you can see the place I'm staying in. Its pretty nice.
Of course I had a few problems sleeping last night but I finally got in about 5 good hours and hopefully, I won't have any more troubles. I'm meeting the group for breakfast at 10:15 this morning and then I'm going to take a walk around and see what's here. I'll add more to this tonight and maybe even a few more pictures.
BTW, I did get my phone and it is the same number as I used to have 757-288-0295.
Room from front door
Bathroom
The head. Notice the phone in case you really need to make a phone call while sitting down. There is also a help button under the phone. Hopefully, I won't need that one.
Here's the shower. the thing hanging from the ceiling is the shower head. It almost drowned me this morning.
My own personal bar
The rest of the room with the wall of windows.
the desk and suitcase stand
The bed. on each side is a control station where you can operate any light in the room as well as opening and shutting the curtains
This mall is a part of the hotel
After saying goodbye and giving Cameron 14 kisses, hugs and gunks (one for each day I'd be gone) I got on the plane for my big trip to DC, all 50 minutes of it. I was in first class though so it wasn't too bad :). I then had a 5 hour layover in Dulles but I was able to spend that in the All Nippon Airways lounge and eat all the Japanese crackers I wanted. Next it was on to the 777 to Tokyo, a 14 hour flight. A very long flight. The first 10 hours weren't too bad, I had a nice meal and several hours of sleep, but the last hours felt just as long as the first 10. My feet were swollen and my butt was sore and I was ready to get out and walk some. It felt good to get off the plane and walk around a bit.
I spent a couple hours in Narita Airport waiting for my next plane. I spent the time in the United Lounge. It was a huge lounge but very full of people. The best thing about it was that they had Oreos so I made a bit of a pig of myself. I plugged in my computer to go over my presentations but I couldn't really concentrate on them very well.
Next I boarded the 747 for the 6 hour flight to Singapore. Much nicer seats on this flight so it could have been much better, but I was so tired I couldn't really enjoy myself. I had trouble staying awake long enough to get my meal and then had trouble falling asleep afterwords (It always works that way). I got in about 2 hours of sleep, but I did collect a nice puddle of drool on my book so maybe it was a bit more than 2 hours.
We landed in Singapore about 11:40PM (EDT +12h) and I joined the herd as we worked our way through Immigration, then collected my bags, and went through customs. I finally found my ride waiting for me and he helped me get everything in the car for the 20 minute ride to the airport. I'd like to see that ride during the day. We went right along the coast of the South China Sea and you could see what looked like hundreds of ships anchored off the coast.
We entered the Central Business District where all the skyscrapers are and I was dropped off at my hotel, Raffles The Plaza. It is a huge and very nice hotel. The service is incredible and Lobby was amazing. The driver brought in my bags as I checked in and went up to my room. I had forgotten about asian rooms they are a little confusing. It took me the first 5 minutes to figure out how to turn on the lights :). Finally the porter showed up with my bags and he straighted me out. I've included a few picture below so you can see the place I'm staying in. Its pretty nice.
Of course I had a few problems sleeping last night but I finally got in about 5 good hours and hopefully, I won't have any more troubles. I'm meeting the group for breakfast at 10:15 this morning and then I'm going to take a walk around and see what's here. I'll add more to this tonight and maybe even a few more pictures.
BTW, I did get my phone and it is the same number as I used to have 757-288-0295.
Room from front door
Bathroom
The head. Notice the phone in case you really need to make a phone call while sitting down. There is also a help button under the phone. Hopefully, I won't need that one.
Here's the shower. the thing hanging from the ceiling is the shower head. It almost drowned me this morning.
My own personal bar
The rest of the room with the wall of windows.
the desk and suitcase stand
The bed. on each side is a control station where you can operate any light in the room as well as opening and shutting the curtains
This mall is a part of the hotel
