Let’s start 2008 off right!! Jan 2 – Jan 6, 2008: Singapore, Singapore

Here are a couple pics of my cutie nieces that I finally got to see over the holidays!! I didn't have a productive vacation, but it was well worth it to see my family and spend some quality time with them...All this traveling has really made me appreciate the time I'm with them:

Before I get sidetracked with a million other things, here’s a little bit about my time in Singapore. I think my new phrase for the moment is “It’s all relative”. I find myself saying that a lot these days…let me explain why.

So I flew back to Chicago from Bama on January 1. My flight was slightly delayed, but not by much so it all worked out fine and I had most of the 1st to unpack, do laundry, re-pack, clean and run a few errands prior to leaving early January 2nd to fly to the other side of the world. Yes, it was a bit rushed, but as I’ve spent the last 8 months living out of suitcases and packing/unpacking almost every week – the packing part has gotten pretty easy these days. It also helps to have a checklist.

January 2nd, I ran a bit late but made my flight with enough time to spare. In and out of sleep while on the plane, I soon realized that after 3 hours we were still on the ground. Some mechanical issues with the air-con caused us to have to go back to the gate, but at the end of the day…no biggie. I’ve realized that a few hours of delays may get annoying, but “it’s all relative” and it’ll work out. The flight was long and slightly painful for a few reasons:
It was a full flight, so in order to get my normal “Economy Plus” seat – I had to sit in the middle.
The flight from Chicago to Singapore was approx. 20 hours, connecting in Hong Kong.
I forgot to charge my I-Pod prior to flying and realized that the battery was dead.
I’d seen all the movies that they were playing on our flight.

Lucky enough for me my co-worker Holly had some sleeping pills that knocked me out for most of the flight! Since the majority of our flight to Hong Kong had to catch the connection to Singapore, they held the flight for us and we made it in time…landing in Singapore only 1 hr late. So it all worked out ok! And, I have a really great friend who sacrificed his sleep to meet us at the airport at 1am.

Unfortunately my co-workers, Christina and Shannon did not have the same luck that I did. Long story short, they ended up in and out of airplanes and airports in Chicago and Hong Kong over the course of 3 days due to plane mechanical issues, delays, missed connections and the sheer ridiculousness of dealing with rescheduling flights with United Airlines. It took them almost an hour to tell me the whole story and I truly felt bad for them. They ended up completely missing a weekend in Singapore since they spent it in airports! Maybe it happened for a reason, so we need to look at it that way - better they were on the ground than in the air and have technical issues...but my small delays were nothing compared to their ordeal - "it's all relative".

Singapore was good, actually nicer than I expected. I’ve heard mixed things about it:
Some people loved it (shopping, food, cleanliness, safety, etc.)
Some people don’t like it (possible “Big Brother” conspiracies, too many rules, etc.)
Some people were a mixture of all of the above.

I actually really liked it. Granted, I didn’t see a whole lot in the 2 days I was there (thanks to jet-lag and the rain); but overall, I really liked the cleanliness, safety and the fact that it is actually a beautiful area – lots of trees and greenery around. The Singapore Zoo was awesome!!! Unfortunately we missed the Night Safari due to dinner plans one night and rain the next night. Sentosa Island was also very cool, but we only had time to ride the Luge a few rounds and walk up to the MerLion statue before the downpour hit us and we headed back to Raman’s place.

(click on the picture below to see my Singapore pictures!)

Friday night I met up with some family that lives in Singapore – cousins of my Dad. It’s always initially awkward to meet relatives that you’ve never met before, but Hemu and Shagun were really great! A pretty young couple with a very energetic 4-year old daughter and a gorgeous dog and cat (that I didn’t see due to allergies). Their apartment was beautiful and wonderfully decorated with all sorts of Asian items from around. It also happened that my Dad’s Aunt and her family were in Singapore on holiday, so they came to dinner as well. The reunion was really nice and dinner was yummmmmy J. I’m never one to say no to Indian food and I had LOTS of it that night! We stayed there pretty late, but I headed back to Raman’s with a second wind and ready to go check out the Singapore night-life!

Everyone was basically ready for bed when I got back, but I was able to talk Raman into taking me out so I could at least say that I’ve seen the scene ;-). We headed to Clark Quay – apparently where the tourists and ex-pats hang out…and it provided for some good people watching. Clark Quay was a little area on the Singapore River that was filled with streets of bars, restaurants, outdoor eating areas and patios and clubs. We walked around for a bit then proceeded to just hang out at one of the patios and catch up on things…probably one of my favorite things to do with my old friend.

Saturday was Sentosa since we went to the Zoo on Friday with Barun – a friend of Raman’s who was also in town for a few days on a hiatus from his trip to Nepal. He definitely preferred Nepal over Singapore, but I don’t think Barun is much of a shopper anyways. I’d heard a lot about Barun over the years and he had heard about me, so I already felt like I knew him so well…oddly enough, this was our first time actually hanging out together. (side note: Barun makes really great Chai which he so graciously made for us every morning!) It was a good relaxing day at the Zoo and we even got to watch them feed a polar bear – very cool by the way!

Saturday night, Raman had his “going away party” since this was his last weekend in Singapore. Sunday he headed out to South India for a week and then back to the States, Cincinnati and hopefully some rest! But the whole purpose of his party was to get rid of some alcohol that he inherited from a friend who moved from Singapore a few months ago as well as to see his friends here before leaving. Funny thing is that the first 5 people who arrived didn’t even want any alcohol!
As more people came, more people drank and finally took some of the bottles home with them. Since Holly didn’t make it out to Clark Quay on Friday, I took her there Saturday night while Raman entertained his other guests. We walked around a bit and then posted up at the patio outside of Attica so we could eat some Tapas and listen to the good dancing music. We spent the whole night just talking, so we didn’t even make it inside any of the bars or clubs! We arrived back at Raman’s around 1:30ish to find the party was winding down but not over. Oh, by “party”, I mean lots of people sitting around talking about work, news and politics mostly. A really good get-together, but definitely not like a party I would have had. It was actually a nice change of pace J. The people that I talked to were pretty interesting and everyone was really nice, so it’s nice to know that he had a good group of people out here…plus, Raman’s really good at getting me in touch with other friends when I travel, so now I’ve met a few people in advance!

After everyone left, I was nice enough to stay up all night with Barun since he had to leave at 6am Sunday morning to head back to Nepal for a bit before returning to the States. We played some games and watched a movie and before I knew it…it was morning! Needless to say, Sunday was exhausting and I crashed not long after eating an early dinner in my hotel room.

Speaking of hotel rooms – I checked into the Ritz Carlton here in KL, only to find that my suite is AMAZING!! Not like I’m not spoiled enough, but I have a little living area in my room, a great bathtub and shower in the bathroom, free ironing (great since I despise ironing!) AND my own personal butler!! I just call him when I want anything from tea to juice to a newspaper, reservations, snacks, information, etc. It’s pretty sweet, I have to admit. The Ritz is also in a really great area so Christina and I walked around a bit last night (Wednesday) to check it out. The humidity here is insane and reminded me of how hot Japan was, but I’ll take it any day to the 4-below, windy, snowy weather in Chicago!!

The hotel is also connected to this place called the Starhill Gallery which is a ridiculously expensive shopping mall with over 22 restaurants. The owner of the Ritz also owns this mall, so all the food from the restaurants can be billed to our hotel rooms. We had Lebanese food last night at this restaurant in the Gallery called Tarbush…SOOOO GOOD!!! I definitely want to go there again, but I think we’re going to try a different restaurant each day we’re here. They all have their own theme and look really nice, so I can’t wait to try them out! From Chinese to Japanese to American, Indian, Lebanese, Tapas, etc….you name it, they have it. I better keep up with my daily workouts or I could definitely put on some pounds out here!

Well, I’m off to explore, but I’ll post some KL pics later this week. Oh, and we’re heading to BALI this weekend!! I’ll be sure to write about it later as well…I’m definitely excited about hitting up the beach and getting a nice (but cheap) massage J.

Btw – thanks Raman for lending me your Lonely Planet book!! Definitely great for some initial research and planning.