Day Five

Let’s see. By this point in time I have come to terms with the fact that my luggage is gone forever. Come to find out, 5 other people on my trip are also missing luggage which in a devilish way makes me feel way better about my situation and that I will not be the only one looking like a walking disaster for the next four weeks. On our cab ride home, Theo, Kathryn, and I decided to drink to our sorrows – most notably our favorite swimsuits we will never see again, Theo’s tunic from Indonesia, and everything black that Kathryn owns. We learned there are no open container laws in Singapore so you better believe we drank the entire cab ride home.

But let’s back up. Yesterday… more students finally came, I have never been so happy to see other faces. I sat by the pool and watched them swim (no swimsuit) and then we went for a walk out and about campus. That consumed most of the afternoon and into the evening hours when people were ready to pass out. Fairly uneventful day that was much needed for the travelers who arrived at 6am that morning. They had a rough 48 hour go trying to stay up until a decent hour as to relieve jetlag the next day.

Some kind of fish/egg/spinach combination. 3 dollars

Today is where it gets interesting. For whatever brilliant reason, we thought that we could get 15 people to the same place downtown. Thinking about this logically- this took 4 taxis and a whole lot of broken English. Given the recent string of events, our taxi was naturally the only one that did not make it to our chosen meeting destination, The Majestic Opera House. Our driver thought the Majestic Salon would be a better destination. Without proper communication channels, we became a foursome and the other eleven set off on their own with intermittent cell phone calls between Amy and I – the two lone ATT users, trying to connect at some point and probably racking up some serious international phone charges.

Tooth Relic Temple - or something of the sort

I think we were better off as a foursome- herding fifteen Americans through the heritage districts of Singapore would have also been rough go- the going theme of this trip so far. After Chinatown, we managed to stumble upon the highest point in Singapore which Garrett and Kevin lovingly talked their way into letting us to up to the rooftop. A bar at nighttime, during the day this lookout offered a complete 360 view of Singapore including the port, marina bay sands, and even off into the distance – Indonesia. After this we headed through the Arab district and finally Little India.

Highest Point in Singapore - Roughly 63 Stories

By this point we had connected with the other group of students but it was clear they were tired of the mob mentality and we splintered off into separate groups- Kathryn, Theo, and I making up the shopping excursion. If you have ever tried to force-shop you know it is not fun. Possibly one of the biggest shopping districts in the world could not have annoyed me more as we rummaged through racks and tried not to spend a fortune on things we did not want in the first place. Our main goal was swimwear so we weren’t left out- again. I am now the proud owner of a white swimsuit with butterflies on it… clearly we had limited options. We also decided to make our own dressing room in the middle of forever 21 because the lines were horrendous and only allowed in 3 GARMENTS. Clearly making a spectacle out of ourselves, at this point it was dire circumstances and we were pulling on dresses over our clothes left and right.

Shopping mall - they do it big

So that brings me to the present. A group of people are getting ready to go out and see the nightlife but I am so tired and achy that I decided to sit this night out. We were on our feet from about 10:30-8:30 and that is much too long in the tropical heat. Sunscreen is hard to come by here and since mine is safely stowed away in Kermit, possibly floating in the Pacific Ocean by now, I have a nice lobster tint to make me stand out even more amongst all the Asians. Clearly an American. Tomorrow is when the real fun starts and everyone gets settled in for a kick-off bbq. Glad I have that swimsuit. - Becca

Day Three

If I learned anything over day two, it was that people in Singapore do not need much personal space. While standing by the City Hall metro stop (side-note, trying to connect with other people sans communication devices is rather difficult) I found people walked within an inch of my face even though the entire corridor was open for travel. I also found that community dining is a favorite and people will sit right across from you regardless of where the open seats are in the cafe.

I did luck out and get a fantastic cab driver while I was trying to work my way back into the city from the University. Since I was clearly an American, his first question to me was about all the tornadoes we have been having lately- must be up on his news. He then proceeded to give me a guided tour of the town on the way to my final destination that included the las vegas sands resort, parliament, high court, some famous IT center, and a variety of other buildings. He also kept saying 'coaster roller' which made me laugh and constantly referred to the lehman brothers collapse and wall street. I haven't figured out the tipping system yet - I have been told it is illegal for them to accept tips in Taxi's but I still feel bad about it.

Walking around Raffles Park area

Luggage is still MIA at this point, making this rather difficult. I stole anything I could from my previous hotel and made a trip to the local singaporean favorite - The Gap. I refuse to buy additional clothes yet (besides my one outfit for today) because I have faith that the airlines can get their act together and send Kermit my way. I also think I deserve a voucher for having to buy things just so I can get by in the meantime but we all know the airlines will fight that even though they are the ones holding my bag hostage. I did manage to buy some flip flops, havaianas, which seem to be popular with the locals and are apparently an american brand that I have never heard of.

Watching an Indian band play by the water

I don't really know what is in store today - more students are arriving at various times so I need to work on intercepting them as they come in. A group landed at 6am this morning so I imagine they are all passed out in their rooms. I find that I am already acclimated to this schedule- I think traveling for over 30 hours somehow reset my clock and when I got here I was already on Singapore time. Until next time - Becca

Day One.Five

After approximately 33 hours of travel time, as if it hasn’t already been eventful enough – I am officially sitting in Singapore where it is roughly 3 o’clock in the morning. The hotel is out of power adapters (naturally all of my electronics have died by this point), the kitchen is closed for cleaning until 5 a.m., and it is official- my bag is lost to the airline monster. At this point it is all just quite comical. Josh Turner is blasting out of my iPad (the one device I have left working) and I am wearing the complimentary bath robe which I always found stupid up until this point in time in which I have no clothes and cannot judge it. My exhaustion has turned to adrenaline and it looks like I will be raiding the minibar seeing as how the ’24 kitchen’ is in fact not truly 24 hour and surfing Singaporean channels. It’s going to be one wild ride and I look forward to frequenting the Singapore International Airport tomorrow morning in order to find new clothes and some semblance of decent makeup so I can go in public again. Cheers to traveling.- Becca

Day One

Nearing hour 7 on my plane ride to Narita/Tokyo International Airport has given me some serious time to reflect on the morning’s events. Last time I checked I was supposed to be sitting on a plane to Hong Kong right now and much closer to my final destination. The world decided to plan different events for my short jaunt over to Southeast Asia today.

• 3:30 am – early wake-up call, which ultimately doesn’t’ really matter because who sleeps the night before a big trip anyway
• 4:15 am – learned that there are still drawbridges in use today and one is in fact going up in front of me between myself and the airport. Great.
• 5:45 am – board an early hopper flight from Reagan to JFK, or so I thought
• 7:10 am – clearly still circling the skies past our landing time, I get the feeling we aren’t landing at JFK anymore…
• 7:30 am – captain comes on, enjoy La Guardia airplane because that’s where we are diverting to due to weather
• 8:00 am – deplane in a virtually worthless airport, slowly accepting the fact I may not leave for Asia today
• 9:00 am – replane in La Guardia once they realize how many international travelers were on our flight that now have no hope of getting out of LGA successfully
• 10:15 am – I think just to spite me, the universe allows our plane to touch down at JFK while my Hong Kong flight is taking off almost simultaneously. Goodbye plane number one
• 10:30 am – stand in the infamous customer service line where American proves worthless yet again and Virginia and I end up on Delta for the rest of our journey. Hunt for luggage commences
• 12:30 pm – by this point we have exited security and are standing by the baggage claim (where American lovingly told us to go) and it is becoming clear that it is either us or the bags going to Singapore today
• 12:31 pm – make a last ditch effort to find the bags, all of the airlines shrug and say we will send you your bags when we find them… don’t worry, I don’t need clothes in Asia JFK
• 1:30 – barely make the final boarding call of our 13 hour flight to Tokyo, exhausted, unfed, and  bag-less. It’s going to be a long haul…but I am secretly excited to see Japan at least from the plane - does that count as a visit?

So that brings me to the present. I have already watched episodes of Better with You, Parks and Recreation, The Dilemma, Little Fockers, and the newly started – Gulliver’s Travels. Delta figured I only needed one meal over a 13 hour period which I had roughly 5 hours ago. I know I joked about this trip being a diet (seeing as how I don’t like Asian food) but I did not think that would begin before I left the states. I am pleased to see however that we are still flying over land, my guess is northern Alaska given our route went the opposite way I expected – north over Canada and Alaska and then into Russian airspace, as the pilot put it. Sounds quite sinister if you ask me. As most of you know I have an irrational fear of drowning so this is good news. Bring it on Russia. I estimate that I have roughly another 10-11 hours left of traveling before I get to Singapore at roughly 1:15 am Thursday. My trip started Tuesday morning at 6:00 am. The world works in mysterious ways. -Becca