Sunday, December 12 - Dalian China to Singapore

On Sunday morning, I awoke early, feeling most recovered, although my stomach was at about 65%. I packed up my room and went down to the cafe in the hotel for a light fruit breakfast. I also put down a fair amount of juice to start to recover the 18 gallons of fluid I had lost the day before.

Winson picked me up around 9:30am for some final shopping, then we headed to the food court in the Parkland mall for some lunch. I again, just went with a plate of vegetables while Winson had a rice and beef bowl. For completeness sake, I should mention that I purchased the fruit plate at a nearby Chinese grocery market, where I also picked up some dried fruit for the long flight I had later that day to Singapore. I was suspect that my tummy would be up for Chinese airplane food. In their defense, the food is generally pretty good, with large portion sizes, I just didn't think I was up to the task.

Anyway, I said my goodbyes and took the 30 minute taxi ride over to the airport around 1:00pm. I was able to get an exit row seat, and waited at the gate for my 3:30pm departure out of Dalian China. Time passed reasonably fast, I enjoyed a Pepsi, and fought a slightly cramping stomach. We took a bus ride from our gate to our airplane, and climbed the steps to the plane under a growing cloudy sky. The plane was a pretty packed 737-800 aircraft with 3x3 seating in economy (where I was). Luckily, the seat next to me was vacant, and I settled in for the flight. We flew 1 hour and 45 minutes to a stop city in China called Hefei - located about 50 miles West of Shanghai. There we deplaned, and went through customs, and re boarded the plane around 6:00pm (about 30 minutes after we landed). We took off around 6:30pm and had the long 5 hour remaining leg to Singapore. The route took us over Hong Kong, and Ho Chi Min City - to name a few places. This flight, for some reason, really had me annoyed - there were tons of kids - which I don't mind, except they ran freely up and down the isles NONSTOP hitting every seat every time they went by. Additionally, it seemed that 25% of the passengers had never flown before and were constantly hitting the flight attendant call button. I also was getting hit from the elderly couple from behind me who didn't want me to recline my seat. At some point, we were served dinner, where I had a nice dinner roll, some fruit, and a couple of bites of rice. Additionally, I managed to get down 2 small cups of sprite. In addition to the kids running up and down the isle, the grown-ups also looked to bump everyone they could walking down the isle. Finally, I think they took turns napping in the bathrooms, as I had to wait FOREVER, each time I needed to go. Finally, with about 2 hours to go in the flight, my neck started cramping up from the uncomfortable seats. The remaining 2 hours of the flight finally ended, after a very long trip. On top of all of that, my stomach was feeling very bloated for some reason, so I was uncomfortable from that too. At 11:45 pm or so, we landed in a dark Singapore, and I nearly wept for joy getting off of the plane.

I went through immigration, and waited a "lostapause" amount of time. That is just long enough that you actually start to worry that your luggage is lost. However, it did in fact arrive, and I headed out into the Singapore night for the late taxi ride to my hotel.

The night was humid. (some of you may smile at that movie quote here)

In fact, in Singapore, this is the rainy season. A check on weather.com reveals a minimum 75% humidity, highs of 87 degrees, and lows of 75 degrees with a 60% chance of scattered showers each and every evening and night. It did feel nice and warm - especially knowing the kind of weather going on back home.

The 30 minute taxi ride to the hotel revealed to me one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been in. The place is immaculate, high tech roadsigns, and upon entering downtown, the most magical and beautiful holiday lighted tropical paradise imaginable. I already notified my wife that I may not return. Really, it is that incredible. I arrived at the Hilton Hotel, right in the heart of the decorations downtown, checked in and headed up to my room on the 12th floor. The room is top notch, with a large flat screen TV, and a large, all glass work desk. I unpacked and climbed into bed around 1:30am. It was another good hour before I feel asleep, mainly due to my very sore neck.