It is good to reserve. The transit hotel was turning people
away left and right, but they'd saved us a nice big room for
our whopping 6 hours. Sleeping is good, even if it costs a
hundred smackers, one of the reasons we most frequently
double up.

In the morning, out into the real world, where it was
decided that breakfast was in order. I steered us to a food
court (they seem to be everywhere in this airport) where she
could get American food and I could get food.

Upstairs there's a balcony with a simulated hawker center
plus some chain representation. I went over and inspected
all the offerings. There was a roast meat stall that looked
promising, so I went there and ordered a roast duck and
pork combo without rice, S10, about double what it would
cost in Chinatown but half what it costs at Fung Lum in
San Fran, where I have always had good luck despite all
the bad things you read about it on the Internet. I managed
to ball up the payment process and annoy everyone - seems
you order, the attendant tells you what to pay, then you go
over to a kiosk where another attendant takes your payment
and - this is the weird part - gives you a card that you
then go back and give to the food person. This avoids the
food person handling money and the money person handling
food. I didn't get that at first.

Meanwhile lili was off at the Mince Monarch getting a bacon
and egg biscuit made with Halal bacon-surrogate. Another
just say no food.

Immigration was as always a piece of cake. lili got a few
questions; I got none.

It's a buck ride to town on the SMRT, with changes at Tanah
Merah and Paya Lebar (the names alone make me feel the
tropical breeze and smell the smell of Asia and make me want
to go right back there). Forty minutes or so to the Conrad,
twice what the $30 cab ride takes but more fun. You get off
at Promenade, a new stop just a couple years old so pretty
much off my radar, and through the mall, and there you are.

We were hugely early and were informed that our room would
be ready at two, but we were welcome to store our bags at
the front desk and go up to the lounge for drinks, which we
did. Chilled with red wine (for her) and Coke (for me), and
then it was time to meet our colleagues for lunch at Din Tai
Fung, one of the outlets in the now-huge, probably closing
in on a hundred locations, dumpling empire.