A little Re of sunshine

Thursday

Ironically yesterday was the busiest work day this year and it was 6-30 before I finished. I managed to get myself organised and remembered most things before getting driven to the airport by my son.

I met up with Peter, another Mensa member going to the gathering and we chatted in the airport until they called the last boarding for our flight. I'd been watching the crowds at gate 4 thinking that there were still a lot of people queuing, but the flight had changed to gate 3 instead.

It was just after midnight when we left and we arrived about 5-30. I tried to get some sleep and I probably did, but it certainly wasn't restful, since the seats are close together and only tilt back a little. I gave in and bought an expensive but small bottle of water since I was getting a bit dehydrated by the time we were getting ready to land.

Singapore Airport is very efficient. There was almost no waiting at passport control and our bags were waiting for us when we got to baggage. Straight through the green and in a few minutes we were in a taxi. It cost only $26 for the 2 of us. Some people we met later took the trains for a couple of dollars but not worth the effort at that time of day.

The hotel was all lit up in pink and is supposedly a trendy place. We were to early to get a room but there was free Internet so we checked emails etc and chatted till nearly 8. By then it had started to rain and was really pissing down. The internet here is very fast - up to 14mb both download and upload.

At this stage we contacted Mal, who arrived yesterday and left our Laptops in his room. I took the shuttle to the nearest station where I found an ATM and got some local currency. The 2 guys arrived a bit later and we had $2 breakfasts there. Because of the rain we decide not to go any further at that stage. Back at the hotel we met up with Matthias from Germany and another member from there who were enjoying their $21 breakfasts. About 10-30 our rooms were ready.

I have a De Luxe, which is hotel speak for the smallest sized room. It is adequate but not luxurious although I have a view over the park from the 9th floor.

I have changed to something a bit cooler in preparation for a trip to the shops or similar.