Yay! I'm here!

After three interminable flights, I made it to Singapore on Sunday at 12:30 a.m. local time. (Btw, my entries from here will be twelve hours ahead of my usual EST; I'm not really awake at 5 in the morning.) The DC-10 flight from Raleigh to Detroit was by far the most comfortable; I was in the row directly behind first class and had all sorts of leg room. The Detroit airport was very cool; it looked like the inside of a hanger, with birds actually roosting in the girders and struts of the curved ceiling. It was very spacious and very new; there were enormous digital screens showing CNN and slidewalks to speed you to your gate.

Though I had an hour and a half layover, I didn't have to wait long to board the flight to Tokyo, since my seat was in the back of the Boeing 747. Unfortunately, we had to wait an hour on the ground because of luggage problems, and the whole time I was worried that my suitcase was getting misplaced. We finally took off and the flight was jam-packed. I only slept a little, but got to talk to a student from James Madison who was sitting next to me and going to visit her parents in Thailand. They showed Catch Me if You Can, Maid in Manhattan, Daredevil, and something else which I can't remember right now.

After the longest thirteen hours of my life, we landed at Narita airport in Tokyo, where we all got off the plane. I wound my way through the big doughnut of the terminal, following the green signs to connecting flights, eventually making it to the gate for continuing service to Singapore, where they were announcing the final boarding call. I got on, found my seat, and ten minutes later we were gone, baby. The flight was only half-full so I was able to stretch out a little, but it was incredibly bumpy almost the entire seven hours to Singapore. The only movie they showed was The Truth About Charlie, but I slept through most of it. So around 12:30, 25 hours since I left from Raleigh, we touched down at Changi airport (which Janet's father helped to design). I went to the baggage claim, found my suitcase (thankfully), went through a quick customs check, and met up with Janet. She was such a sight for sore eyes.

We took a taxi back to her house, and I hauled my bags up to my room all the way on the top floor. (Janet lives with her parents in a four storey/seven split-level condominum, where all the rooms are directly off the stairway, which runs through the center of the condo.) I called my mother to let her know I'd arrived safely, then Janet and I talked until about 4 a.m.

The next morning/afternoon, Janet's parents took us to the Marina Square mall (which is part of a huge convention center in downtown), had some sushi for lunch, then drove to a huge book warehouse sale where I found a pretty nice used copy of Viriconium by M. John Harrison, and Janet found a whole armload of goodies. After that, we drove around for a long time trying to find a fish farm, but they were all closed since it was Sunday. So we went back to the house, and napped for a while. That night, Janet and I took a bus ride to the Tampines (pronounced Tampa-neez) Mall and saw The Matrix: Reloaded, and omigodomigodomigod I already want to see this movie again. Holee monkey. The hype is totally worth it. Woo. We came back and Janet's parents were already in bed, so Janet and I watched a cheesy subtitled kung fu film.

Yesterday, Janet's mother took us to lunch near Singapore's oldest hotel for chicken rice, Singapore's most popular food. Then we went to the Jurong Birdpark, which is the most phenomenal zoo just for birds that I've ever seen, and which boasts the Waterfall Aviary, a 100-foot waterfall that supplies the majority of the water to the rest of the park. There were birds everywhere, some hopping or flying right in front of your path. We got lots of pictures (to be posted soon). It was pretty incredible. They have a tram that you can take, but we walked the whole way. After the park, we headed to Suntec City, which is the huge convention center I mentioned earlier, and which has its own mall. Then back home, but before we could nap (which I really needed), Janet's father called (he was at work) and said that he was taking us for a seafood dinner on the east coast. We ended up at Gold Coast and had an enormous amount of seafood. (Janet just mentioned that the crabs we had last night (in the shell), which I thought were huge, were actually small Sri Lankan crabs that normally grow to twice that size.) After we were all full to bursting, we came back and watched Friends, which, for reasons I'm assuming to be type transfer differences, was sped up slightly, making everyone's voice sound higher, like they were all on helium.

This morning we had brunch, then went to Janet's aunt's house, where she and her mother prayed at the family shrine for good luck on our trip to Bali tomorrow. Then to East Point Mall (for those of you keeping count, that's four malls in three days; shopping is a national pastime in Singapore), where we went to Pet Safari and looked at all sorts of bunnies, hamsters, puppies, and fish. Then back here, to where I checked email and started this entry. Whew. Later, we'll be going to Pasir Ris Beach to ride bicycles.

Some general observations so far: even with the weather as hot and humid as it is (Singapore sits right near the equator, and is very tropical), they prefer to drink hot drinks here, green tea most of the time. Almost all the building roofs are covered in those orange half-cylindrical clay roof tiles that you see in period Asian movies. And it's a bit comforting to be able to see English almost everywhere; even though Singapore is primarily a Chinese immigrant country, because there are so many nationalities here they've chosen English as their common language. Janet knows it better than she knows Mandarin, though in my opinion, she speaks both fluently.

We've had some nice time to ourselves, mostly in the morning, and it seems that her parents are allowing us some space, which is great. We leave for Bali tomorrow, and I'm busting out the swimsuit.

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Now Reading:
Witpunk edited by Claude Lalumière & Marty Halpern

Stories Out to Publishers:
9

Books Read This Year:
20

Novel Word Count:
9200