Really up in the air this time

This time I really am on the road.

And the destination this month is Singapore, Singapura, “Lion City”.

Singapore is just about as far away as you can go from Houston before you are heading back, and the direction I traveled this journey took me by a route as far if not further than I have traveled before in one trip. I left my house last Thursday afternoon, and arrived in my hotel in Singapore 27 hours and nearly 10000 miles later: 21 1/2 hours in the air, 1 1/2 hours on the road, and 4 hours at airports waiting to get back in the air.

I was flying on Singapore Air and the first leg of this trip took me from Houston to Moscow. I managed to sleep from somewhere over Canada to somewhere over Norway. We landed in Russia sometime after 2 PM local time. No luck seeing anything of Russia except for our approach over Moscow (didn’t spot any familiar landmarks from the air, but did see quite a few traffic jams on the highways below) and the magnificent views in the airport. Since I bought something at the gift shop and visited the restroom, does that count as a destination?

We re-boarded the same plane about an hour later and soon were off to my eventual destination of Singapore. We flew over southern Russia and Kazakhstan (saw quite a bit of snow still on the ground below) before I fell asleep again. Our flight must have continued west of Tibet, for when I woke up later we were around the northern Pakistan/India border. The ground was ablaze with lights of the cities, towns and highways below, and this was sometime around 2 or 3 AM India time!

As we neared Singapore, the lights below us were from thunderstorms over Malaysia and Indonesia further south.

BTW, Singapore Air lived up to its reputation for magnificent service and food quality. My seat converted to a lay flat seat for sleeping and was wide enough to rest either on my side or back, but surprisingly I did not find the cushion itself as comfortable as on other airlines. But I think I did sleep as well as on other long flights.

We landed around 5:15 AM on Saturday morning and by 5:40 - this is where I find Singapore airport service unmatched anywhere - I was through passport control, picked up my suitcase, retrieved cash from an ATM, visited the Men’s room, and was in a cab for the hotel. Less than 30 minutes from airplane seat to taxi. Amazing!

I arrived at the hotel at 6 AM, and another surprise – my room was ready!! A chance to clean up, unpack, rest a bit, and call home.

Half way around the world and over a day later, and the first thing I do is call home. As much as I enjoy traveling and experiencing new and different cultures, it is home that is always with me. And I am blessed!

More later on experiences in Singapore

Pictures of the trip are at http://scottshots4.shutterfly.com/593