Traveling Mercies

My plane with our stewardess, Lee Ling Ling
the "Singapore Girl".  Basically, one of the most gorgeous,
put-together Asian women on the planet.

As I write this I'm sitting in the Singapore Airport.  Saying goodbye to my friends and team members at the church, as well as the families I have grown to know and love through skating was so incredibly hard.  But, as I've been assured over and over again, God does things for reasons we don't always understand, and the most heart-rending decisions are normally the ones that are the most fruitful.  In any case, I've asked a lot of people for good vibes, prayers, etc for my traveling and let me say, it's worked!

I started off my day on Tuesday, August 21st.  My cousin, Sara, dropped me off at IAH about 2:30pm, I got checked in, ripped half of one of my toenails off trying to lug my 50.5 pound bag onto the scale, and tried to bribe my way into Business Class (it didn't work, by the way).  After waiting FOREVER to pay for my extra bag, I got checked in, and said my goodbyes to Sara.  I have been dreading this since I decided to move, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  When you're kindred spirits with someone, no distance can really change your friendship.

IAH to Moscow Breakfast.  Baked Beans
And Eggs?  

SO, about the plane.  It was NICE. When I first got on, we were all handed hot towels and a menu detailing dinner and breakfast.  The plane was in a 3x3x3 configuration, which I hadn't ridden on before, but it worked out great because the middle seat was empty.  I was SURROUNDED by Vietnamese people who were all really friendly, especially the woman I shared my row with.  We took off, I perused the in-flight entertainment options (nearly endless, by the way) and we had some dinner.  My strategy, I'm proud to say, worked for the most part.  I was able to stay awake for almost all of the 12 hour flight, except for a brief catnap from 11:30pm-12:30am Houston time.  In the morning, we had a strange combination of scrambled eggs, chicken sausage, potatoes and what tasted like baked beans.  It was a little unusual, but actually quite good.

We landed in Moscow, which was uneventful, except for the graveyard of planes sitting beside the runway.  Not exactly the most assuring sight after a 12 hour little sleep flight, but hey, whatever does it for you, Russia.

Flight path from Russia. Right over garden spots like
Islamabad and Kabul!!

The Moscow airport was wholly unremarkable except for the abhorrent service by the airport employees.  Some of their policies seem downright ridiculous (for example, making transiting passengers on my flight (me) wait in a line to be passport checked, baggage screened, then passport checked again).  And some poor woman and her 90's-ish elderly mother got separated in front of me and the staff wouldn't let her back in to help her.  Otherwise, I sat around waiting to re-board my same plane after they cleaned and re-staffed.  A short hour and 20 minutes later, we were off again.  THIS time. though. I had an agenda!  I downed some Ambien shortly after we took off, had some Thai red curry with rice, and I was racked OUT. Somewhere over Kazakhstan, I awoke, drooling on myself and getting the stank eye from a man across the aisle, so I decided to turn over the other way and drool in private.  I slept pretty solidly through that leg of the flight and awoke when we were just over Calcutta. According to the map, we flew over Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan (right over Kabul, eek), Pakistan before taking a hard left towards India/SE Asia.  We also certainly flew within sight of the Himalayas, but it was night and I was asleep, therefore that wonder of the world still remains to be seen.

I knew I liked Singapore about 2 hours before we landed.  I was served the BEST pancake (okay, crepe) that I have EVER had.  And it was on an airplane.  I can't make this up, people.  It was doused in some delicious vanilla cherry sauce and I NOMMED it like it was my job.  Henceforth, I will only be flying Singapore Air.   Which means I'm in need of a wealthy benefactor.  Anyone? Ha.  Anyway, we landed in Singapore which was awesome.  There were a bunch of outlying islands that we crossed over on our way to the airport and they were ALL populated.  Tons of lights.  Some guy in front of me said, "Are those designs?"  And I wanted to say, "You're thinking of Dubai", but I refrained and watched him try to make out what the "design was".

Welcome to Singapore Airport Spa. 

We put down in dark Singapore at 5:10am, Thursday, August 23 local time (4:10pm, August 22nd, Houston time).  I really have nothing to say about Singapore itself as I couldn't see anything, but if it is anything like the airport, I will be returning for a visit.  It was like some crafty Scandinavians came down here, asked some Singaporeans how to best fuse these two ideals and BOOM! Out came Singapore Changi Airport.  The BEST part of my whole trip, however was the "Transit Hotel" I visited  when I disembarked.  Now before you start thinking I did something sketchy, you just back that train up! The transit hotel has rooms that can be rented to sleep if you don't need a whole night in a hotel room, and it is located right in the terminal.  The BEST part, however, is that you can also just pay to rent a shower.  I researched this before leaving, but didn't have high expectations.  I was imagining a truck stop type setup, but boy was I wrong.  It was like Singapore Airport Spa in there.  Each shower was in an individual room with a sink, vanity, plug, and bench.  They even threw in a towel in the price of the shower. (The best $6.94 I've ever spent).  I get inconsolably cranky if I have dirty hair, so this decision was a life-changing one.  I took my time repacked my bag, was able to change clothes, dry my hair, and even put on some makeup so I didn't look like someone out of a "The Walking Dead" episode.

I'm waiting now for my HK flight, which departs in about an hour and a half.  I was able to call my parents and let them know I got here okay, thanks to Skype.  I think this is about it for now.  I'm being met at the airport in HK by one of my bosses, Wade, and m co-worker, Julie, I think.  Stay tuned for my HK arrival!

Til Next Time,
The Adventurer