Punki and I will arrive at 11:50 p.m. on the 13th. We will probably leave the all nighter to you youngsters. We will definitely attend Saturday night's dinner and probably attend the Sunday festivities. On Monday we plan to fly to Kulala Lumpur and spend the night, retuning to SIN on Tusday evening, and flying out on Wednesday. Anyone who would like to join us is, of course, very welcome.

Thanks to all of you who contributed input on travel to and from KUL. We are always open for input.

Joe

Hmm, so I guess as new permanent arrival to SIN I can't skip out of this. Right CGK? Though I do have a guest in town that wknd (not FT infected) and need to see how things work out time wise. Will be in touch with the usual suspects - CGK, MovieMan, Savage25, MAN Flyer, and Fly4fun. Cheers ...

mjm - Pls remove me from the list. It was short lived. Next SIN Do perhaps.

Here is my itinerary, waitlisted for upgrades. Hotel is Swissotel Stamford.

UA 1579 Departs PHX WED 11 JAN 6:15A Arrives SFO WED 11 JAN 7:21A 1C
UA 837 Departs SFO WED 11 JAN 11:30A Arrives NRT THU 12 JAN 3:25P 46H
UA 891 Departs NRT THU 12 JAN 5:15P Arrives SIN THU 12 JAN 11:50P 30B
UA 890 Departs SIN THU 19 JAN 7:15A Arrives NRT THU 19 JAN 2:45P 30A
UA 852 Departs NRT THU 19 JAN 5:00P Arrives SFO THU 19 JAN 8:55A 46H
UA 1510 Departs SFO THU 19 JAN 11:10A Arrives PHX THU 19 JAN 2:10P 11D

Count me in for Saturday dinner with a probable guest.

Even though most merchants in SIN are very honest many taxi drivers are not. The most frequent ripoff is to add surcharges when picking up someone at a hotel. This will show in the "Extras" display on the meter. This happens to me about 75% of the time when going from a hotel to the airport. Another scam that has only happened once is not to use the meter and then display the previous fare which is much higher.

When I get ripped off I get the license plate of the taxi, phone number of the taxi company. I refuse to pay and go get a police officer. The police really can't do anything about it but it scares the driver so much that he will often say to forget the fare if you let him go and don't file a complaint. The police told me to contact the Land Transport Authority (LTA) 1800 - 2255 582. You can file complaints with the LTA and/or the taxi company. I have not tried contacting the LTA.

A list of charges can be found at http://www.cdgtaxi.com.sg/commuters_...mvn?cid=681937 . Typical surcharges include the 10-50% midnight surcharge and the S$3 or S$5 surcharge for rides originating from the airport.

Unfortunately, I will have to miss this nice event (and the follow up in HKG). Have fun, all of you.

In the five years I have lived in and taken cabs in Singapore, I'm lucky to be able to say this has never happened to me.

It never happend to me either when living there. I think the scam is mainly pulled on foreigners when going to or from hotel and airport. These people are unlikely to know the rules.

as usual you are a wealth of info. ^ ^ ^

THANKS,

Hi

Please take me off the list. Unfortunately work and travel commitments mean I can no longer be in SIN for the do. boo hoo.

I need to move from "definite" to "maybe." I start a new job on the East Coast on the 9th, and will not be able to take the 13th off. Unless I can find some kind of "Concorde" service that leaves the East Coast Friday night and gets to SNN by Saturday night, it's doubtful. Have tried SQ, Cathay, etc. etc. I think there's just not enough hours between Fri. & Sat. to get there. But, hard to forget what a blast last year was, so still looking....

gfowler-ord-1k, glad to hear you can make it! I'll be in the NRT RCC on 12 Jan as well; hope I can buy you a drink (or two). ^

It's impossible given the time difference. You would need a Concorde to do it. Even the Sonic Cruiser wouldn't make it in time.

Aah, is there no way you could beg off to a previous commitment on Friday the 13th so as to join us? Just that one day?????

If not, you will be very much missed, Skye1.

so other time then, mate