Waking after a short night’s sleep, I lounged in the luxurious bed and watched the latest news of the war on CNN. It’s always been interesting to get the rest of the world’s perspective on the USA. After stretching out my bones for an hour or so, I finally arose to plan my day and eat some breakfast. I picked up the "Where Singapore" magazine from my room, grabbed "The Straits" newspaper from the cool bag hanging from my outside door handle and headed down to the lobby restaurant for a rather uninspiring breakfast of omelet, chicken sausages, hash brown potatoes and fresh fruits all for S$25.00. However, I did get an opportunity to plan out my day.

Since we don’t have a light rail system in Seattle yet, I decided to ride the MRT (Singapore’s light rail system) around the island to check out the scenery and people. The Singapore Sheraton is about a 2 minute walk away from the Newton Station where I purchased a TransitLink farecard (which can be used on buses and trains) for S$12.00 and jumped on the next train to the downtown area to get my bearings. The stations and trains are VERY CLEAN! I exited at the City Hall station which is attached to the Stamford Westin and Raffles City shopping center. I decided to review my options while sipping an expresso at the adjacent Starbucks. While sitting in front of the shop, I struck up a conversation with a young Australian man who happened to associated with a company in our industry, and had been working at a tradeshow here in Singapore. After chatting for a short while and finishing my expresso, I headed back down the escalator to take the red line train which makes a loop up to the north side of the island and then back down further west where it meets the east-west green line.

Heading north, we existed the underground portion of the system at Bishan station into the green countryside. Although countryside may be a misnomer because most of the island is covered with population centers of tall apartment blocks built around town centers of schools, shops and entertainment centers. For some reason I had the misconception that the island would be mostly flat like Florida, but it has hills and valleys, not too high or low. I noticed as we were proceeding west on the line that the station numbers didn’t jive with those in the "Where"magazine map, and I thought for an instance that I was on the wrong train, but I checked the small system map that I had picked up with my farecard and saw that they must have renumbered the stations. Anyway, on this system you can’t get lost.

As I headed west to the Jurong East station, I noticed that there were differences in the ethnicity of the people exiting at the different stations. Once I reached the transfer point at Jurong East (which is really on the west end) I headed east to the end of the green line at Pasir Ris (which I could have skipped since it didn’t look any different). However, I need to mention that although the MRT doesn’t yet go all the way to Changi Airport, it is under construction. I continued to the end of the line then proceeded back to downtown where I jumped on the train to Marina Bay at the end of the red line, expecting to end up at a waterfront location. Wrong! Once I exited the station, after having an extra S$2.00 deducted from my farecard since I had been in the system for two hours, I found myself in a parklike setting, blocks away from any buildings or shops.

Since the temperature was about 90F, I decided to jump back onto the train to Raffles Place where I exited and walked down to the Lau Pa Sat Festival Market for some lunch. This market is an open air food and merchandise building constructed with beautiful cast iron arches. After sampling various tasty samples of fish, pork and veggies, I headed up Robinson Road toward the Riverwalk Boat Quay on the Singapore River where I stopped at a pub to have a cool Tiger beer and watch the river launches ferrying people across the river and a skimmer boat keeping the waters clean. Have I mentioned yet that Singapore is a very clean city?

Finishing my beer, I continued up the Riverwalk to North Bridge Road and Raffles City. On the way I stopped in a mall to window shop. Since I didn’t need shoes or cameras, I proceeded out the side door back to the street. Upon reaching Stamford Road, I considered walking up to Orchard Road, but after going about a half block in the sun, I reconsidered and headed back to the City Hall train station in front of the Westin Stamford. As I was walking back, I passed one of the few internet cafes in Singapore, 50 min for S$1.50. (Note: it’s ˝ block west of North Bridge Road on Stamford Road), but couldn’t remember the name. Since I was getting pooped, I decided to pass on the opportunity to get on line, and headed back to the hotel.

After I arrived at the hotel, I headed to the bar to whet my whistle with a cold beer. I met a couple of German fellows from Hamburg, who had been at a tradeshow and were heading home tonight. After chatting for a couple hours with them, I headed up to my room to call it an early evening since I had to get up early for my 7:35 flight in the morning. Putting in a wake-up call for 4:00 am, I called it a night and hit the sack. Unfortunately, my body clock wasn’t cooperating because I woke-up at 1:00 am and ended up watching tv until the phone rang at 4. After packing and checking out, I caught a cab for the airport at 5:30. Again, the cab ride took about 20 min and cost S$25.00.

Upon arriving at the airport, I was glad that I had arrived early because the 1K line was 10 deep and moving reeeeaaaalllllyyy slow. All passengers who were checking their bags had to go to a separate area first for a hand search of their bags before they were allowed to check their bags at the counter. It took 30 minutes to get to the counter to get checked in, then I headed up to find the internet café to send Punki an email. The internet café is located at the far end of the terminal on the second level. After checking in with Punki, at a charge of S$2.00 for 15 minutes on the internet, I headed up to the SATS Premier lounge for a quick snack and cup of coffee. SEA-Flyer was correct in stating that the snacks in this lounge beat most of the RCCs. I remembered that I had promised to send my daughter a postcard from SIN, so I headed off to one of the shops to get a card before I had to board. I found a great card with a view from the RiverWalk Boat Quay, but they had no stamps, so I decided that I would have to mail it from Narita. By this time it was close to boarding time, so I headed out to Gate 22, where I had arrived less than 36 hours earlier. We were supposed to start boarding at 6:50, but didn’t start until 7:00.

Once we started to board, I finally found my seat 16G on the upper deck and settled into my seat with a copy of the Sunday StraitsTimes. My seat mate was an Asian area manager for an Indianapolis-based company, and we had a lively conversation about the differences in living in Singapore and the states. Breakfast was an appealing swiss cheese omelet on a chicken sausage patty. We must have been hitting a line of thunderstorms all the way to NRT because the seatbelt sign was off and on for most of the trip. However, we ended up arriving on time at gate 26.

Grabbing my bags, I headed to the RCC in Satellite 2 to see if I could figure out how to get on line with my worldwide dial-up program. Finding an empty cubical, I plugged in, booted up my laptop and headed to the bar for a cold beer. You gotta love those Japanese beer machines! Beer firmly in hand, I headed back to my laptop to figure out the access number secret. Actually, I just asked the guy across the aisle who said to just add a 0 to the local number, worked like a charm! I sent an email to Punki to let her know that I had arrived, then remembered that I had to mail the postcard to my daughter. Only I had no yen, only US $20.00 bills and a S$5.00 bill. Fortunately, my former seatmate who was situated in a cubical across the aisle offered me US$3.00 for the S$5.00, a fair trade since the exchange rate is $1 US to 1.8 S$. So I ran up to the concourse to find a stamp for the card. I bought a stamp at a shop across from the RCC and then left it with one of the RCC hostesses to mail. The extra yen change I gave to the RCC room attendant. I sent a couple of more emails, checked my emails and Flyertalk posts, then left to board the NRT-SEA flight at gate 18.

We boarded on time and again I passed through without getting checked, (must be the beard). Arriving at my seat, 12B, I was disappointed to find that the seat spacing was really tight for business. Now, three of my flights were on 747-400s, and this was a 777, but my seat had the tightest spacing in the whole cabin. I figured as long as I could recline and stretch out that it didn’t matter, so I didn’t ask if I could move. As the cabin filled, it was apparent that there were going to be a lot of empty seats, (30%) but I thought that 1K-SFO was going to be joining me on this flight in seat 11B, so I didn’t move. However, the guys who ended up in 11A & B were not FlyerTalkers. By then, it was too late to move, but I figured no problem until they both fully reclined their seats as soon as we had wheels up, and their seat backs almost hit the center console so that I could hardly pull up my video screen. My seat mate was a young man in the import business (whatelse?) on his way back from 3 weeks in Beijing.

As we reached cruising altitude, the captain announced that we should be arriving about 45 minutes early due to the good tailwinds. As I checked the map route on the video, I noticed that our ground speed was about 650 knots. I enjoyed a wonderful salmon sushi entree and a beef filet, then settled into my seat and watched the "The Knight’s Tale" before I drifted off to sleep. When I awoke, I saw that we were still on schedule to arrive early. We were served a cheddar cheese omelet with chicken sausages and potato patty for breakfast. I would rate it 1 on a scale to 1-5. Sausages were ok, but the omelet had too much cheese, and the potato patty was tasteless and dry (maybe I’ve had too much airline food in too short of a time). Not a good ending to a trip for a guy who likes to eat.

The rain was streaming past on the windows as we landed in Seattle (Surprise, surprise). As we pulled up to the gate, I grabbed my "North Face" vest out of my bag to face the Seattle elements, and headed for Immigration. Guess what, I learned that the first person to arrive at customs from the baggage claim area get their bags checked! After clearing customs with flying colors, and a statement from the customs agent that 1 day in Singapore is not enough, I headed out to catch the tram to the terminal, only to find out that SeaTac has a security check station to get into the terminal from the international gates. My carry-on baggage was checked again, and my nail clippers made it through so that we are safe again in Seattle.

After a short tram ride to the terminal and a short wait for the patriotic Jet Motel van, I picked up my car and headed into the city and the arms of my lovely Punki. Then I crashed in front of the tv to recuperate and rest my body. I hereby resolve that all of my mileage runs will include at least a one day layover, I’ll leave the quick turn-arounds to the younger group.

At the completion of this run, I reached 85,000 status miles and over 50,000 miles with the bonuses, so with the PiP coming up (12,000) all I’ll need is an additional 3,000 to qualify for my 1K for this year.
All in all, the trip to SIN was a very sinless trip, so next time I’ll have to convince Punki to make it with me.

Four Paws up report, Hunki! Your details inspire me to FINALLY get to SIN next year (now that I have a valid passport!)

hey, if you need 3,000 miles, you can come to NYC for a weekend and we can do steak and some sightseeing!

That will easily put you over your 1K.

Maybe coney island for Nathan's hot dogs and Ben Benson's steak!

Great report Hunki--see you guys Saturday!

Thanks for the good report.

I was waiting for a comment on "sinning"

If Immigration said 1 day wasn't long enough in SIN, I wonder what they'll think of my 7 hour stay next month?

Thanks for the report Hunki!

The Hawker Market at Lau Pa Sat is a must do on any trip to Singapore. Lau Pa Sat means "Old Market" and was the original wet market where fresh meats and fish were sold to the public. On a sad side note, A&W has opened an outlet at the market and while it does not necessarily take away from the atmosphere, it's a shame that this market now has a small western presence.

Thanks for the report, Joe; it is interesting to know what to expect when I do the same nutty run next week, the only differences being that I am ORD-SIN and the legs are all 747 upper deck. Hugs to your irrepressible
Punki.

"SINless in SINgapore, eh? Good thing! My wife always worries that I'll be arrested and caned or something for gum chewing or jaywalking! Thanks for the excellent report!

Thanks for a continued great report, Hunki.

OMNI to Catman-- will you do a short mileage-run to SIN or will it be part of an extended schedule? I think I will need to do a long run in 2002 since I will have to renew my Senator status. Let me know and perhaps we can plan something together?

GREAT trip report Joe - makes even me think about doing a mileage run!

[B]"SINless in SINgapore, eh? Good thing! My wife always worries that I'll be arrested and caned or something for gum chewing ... [B][/QUOTE]


Actually, there is a big misconception that one cannot chew gum in Singapore when in fact, not only can you bring it into the country and chew it as well, you simply cannot sell it, due to trade restrictions on the sticky stuff.

Enjoyed reading your reports, Hunki. Quite gutsy of you to go all by yourself. Glad that you are back, safe and sound. Hope to see you and Punki soon!

Actually, during my conversation with the German fellows, one of them recommended this place called BRIX http://www.singapore.hyatt.com/sinrs/dini/di06a.html located at the Grand Hyatt, about a 5 minute walk from the Sheraton. He said that it features a great wine and whiskey bar, a live band, and lots of companionships available for the evening , wisely, I chose to retire early without.

I concur that the Lau Pa Sat market is really great (and the UA ticket office is right accross the street!)

Hunki, I made the same mistake of going to the Marina Bay MRT station. I emerged from underground only to find...nothing. Well, there was a bus stop there, but that was it. The Port of Singapore was close by, so I can only assume that the port workers must use this stop! Also, I too rode the MRT all around the island. I'm glad I'm not the only person who likes riding trains...

There's a great internet cafe type place on the third floor of the Suntec City Mall, incidentally.

UA is STILL showing "A Knight's Tale"??? When will this agony end? Is Heath Ledger the son of Jim Goodwin?

Hunki, thanks for the great report.

Yes, a colleague and I were supposed to be on that flight-- except on our outbound, we misconnected at SFO and missed SFO-NRT (mechanical out of ORD... ). We ended up heading to TPE instead for a quick couple of days-- still lots of fun, but still haven't seen SIN. Another time!