Singapore...
So, I arrived in Singapore last night. It took just over 24 hours of travel time.
The day began on Tuesday morning, Eastern time, in Dulles, Va. where I stayed overnight in a Hampton Inn. I returned my rental car at about 9 am at Dulles Airport, took the bus to the terminal, and was amazed to find very few lines. I was checked in and through security in about 20 minutes. My flight was United flight 803 to Singapore, a 1-stop flight with aircraft change at Narita, Japan (the main airport for Tokyo). Depature time was 12:20, and it was only just past 10, so I spent the time wandering the large midfield concourse at Dulles; they could really use some moving walkways here! I found an electronics store and bought a universal power adapter for my laptop, and a new charge/sync cable for my iPod. I got a Stephen King book and some snacks at a newstand.
My flight to Japan was on a Boeing 777 - the first time I've been on one. United now has four classes of tickets - First, Business, Economy Plus, and Economy. Even though my ticket was Economy, I was upgraded to Economy Plus for some reason automatically, which basically just means more legroom. I did end up with a middle seat in the 5-seat section, which was somewhat annoying; the flight was completely full. However, my seatmates got up enough that I didn't have to bother them too much. They served lots of food and drinks on the 13-hour flight - two full hot meals, a "noodle service" which was basically Ramen-style noodles, plus all the drinks you wanted. I set my watch to Singapore time and tried to sleep at the start of the flight, which worked out okay, and then watched movies for the second half on the seatback video screens.
Changing at Narita airport was great - it's amazing how polite and respectful the Japanese are. There was a security checkpoint to go through, and my bag needed to be re-screened as I forgot to take out a bottle of water. The lady was amazingly nice - almost apologetic for having to inconvenience me a bit - and even retrieved the bag and brought it back to where I was standing after it went through again. Quite a contrast from the TSA! (And they all spoke English too - which I'm quickly realizing is the ligua franca of Asia - makes it much easier for American visitors than I realized it would be.)
By the start of the second flight, which was 7 hours from Narita to Changi airport in Singapore, I was pretty tired but forced myself to stay awake for the meal service, which was Japanese-style teriaki chicken and rice. The Singapore-based flight attendants were amazingly nice on this flight - stopping by periodically to check on each passenger. This plane was also a 777 and had quite a few empty seats; I was in the very last Economy row, but at least I had a window seat. I was worried the last row would be loud since it's well behind the engine, but it wasn't that bad. After supper I slept for much of this flight, and later got some reading done.
Arrival in Changi airport was smooth - since the 777 jumbo jets have two doors with two jetways, it emptied out really fast even though I was in the last row. The immigration/customs was extremely fast and easy, and I only had to walk about 5 steps out the door to the taxi stand. I did have a bit of trouble explaining the destination to the cab driver, but he finally figured it out. I got to the hotel about 1am Singapore time (Thursday morning), took a shower, set up my computer and IP phone, and got to bed about 2:30. This morning I was able to get up at 7:30 AM, since I had plenty of sleep earlier on the plane, and feel pretty adjusted to the time change.
I'm going to have some work-related meetings this afternoon and tomorrow, and then have Saturday to explore Singapore a bit. My flight for Sydney leaves 8:00 PM Saturday night.
Pictures: (will be updated later): http://www.portzer.com/gallery/singapore
The day began on Tuesday morning, Eastern time, in Dulles, Va. where I stayed overnight in a Hampton Inn. I returned my rental car at about 9 am at Dulles Airport, took the bus to the terminal, and was amazed to find very few lines. I was checked in and through security in about 20 minutes. My flight was United flight 803 to Singapore, a 1-stop flight with aircraft change at Narita, Japan (the main airport for Tokyo). Depature time was 12:20, and it was only just past 10, so I spent the time wandering the large midfield concourse at Dulles; they could really use some moving walkways here! I found an electronics store and bought a universal power adapter for my laptop, and a new charge/sync cable for my iPod. I got a Stephen King book and some snacks at a newstand.
My flight to Japan was on a Boeing 777 - the first time I've been on one. United now has four classes of tickets - First, Business, Economy Plus, and Economy. Even though my ticket was Economy, I was upgraded to Economy Plus for some reason automatically, which basically just means more legroom. I did end up with a middle seat in the 5-seat section, which was somewhat annoying; the flight was completely full. However, my seatmates got up enough that I didn't have to bother them too much. They served lots of food and drinks on the 13-hour flight - two full hot meals, a "noodle service" which was basically Ramen-style noodles, plus all the drinks you wanted. I set my watch to Singapore time and tried to sleep at the start of the flight, which worked out okay, and then watched movies for the second half on the seatback video screens.
Changing at Narita airport was great - it's amazing how polite and respectful the Japanese are. There was a security checkpoint to go through, and my bag needed to be re-screened as I forgot to take out a bottle of water. The lady was amazingly nice - almost apologetic for having to inconvenience me a bit - and even retrieved the bag and brought it back to where I was standing after it went through again. Quite a contrast from the TSA! (And they all spoke English too - which I'm quickly realizing is the ligua franca of Asia - makes it much easier for American visitors than I realized it would be.)
By the start of the second flight, which was 7 hours from Narita to Changi airport in Singapore, I was pretty tired but forced myself to stay awake for the meal service, which was Japanese-style teriaki chicken and rice. The Singapore-based flight attendants were amazingly nice on this flight - stopping by periodically to check on each passenger. This plane was also a 777 and had quite a few empty seats; I was in the very last Economy row, but at least I had a window seat. I was worried the last row would be loud since it's well behind the engine, but it wasn't that bad. After supper I slept for much of this flight, and later got some reading done.
Arrival in Changi airport was smooth - since the 777 jumbo jets have two doors with two jetways, it emptied out really fast even though I was in the last row. The immigration/customs was extremely fast and easy, and I only had to walk about 5 steps out the door to the taxi stand. I did have a bit of trouble explaining the destination to the cab driver, but he finally figured it out. I got to the hotel about 1am Singapore time (Thursday morning), took a shower, set up my computer and IP phone, and got to bed about 2:30. This morning I was able to get up at 7:30 AM, since I had plenty of sleep earlier on the plane, and feel pretty adjusted to the time change.
I'm going to have some work-related meetings this afternoon and tomorrow, and then have Saturday to explore Singapore a bit. My flight for Sydney leaves 8:00 PM Saturday night.
Pictures: (will be updated later): http://www.portzer.com/gallery/singapore