Day 29, part 1: flight to Singapore, country 3, City 9

Well, the city count seems inflated because I'm counting Glenelg and McLaren Vale alongside Sydney. That hardly seems fair based on city size. But in terms of keeping track of places we've stayed, that's the count. Yesterday I was thinking back to earlier places in Australia and I could visualize both Sydney places and all the Adelaide stops, but I drew a complete blank on Melbourne. Then Kathy says "highrise" and pow, all the visuals return. Brains are so weird. Or maybe just my brain.

We wake early, pack the roll-aboard suitcases that contain all our clothes, shoes, toiletries, umbrellas, electronics, etc for six weeks (amazing feat in itself) and Uber to the airport.  

The Singapore Airlines line is quite long, just as reported by Robbin and Dan. However it is two lines and they move quickly. They have a really odd system. First you stand in one line to self-tag your bags. Then you go back to the beginning and stand in the other line to drop your bags. Efficient use of anytime resources, yes, but daunting from a customer service point of view.

Kathy and I split up and stand in both lines at once (tell me, you wouldn't do that??). Then my self-tagging line stalls when the family at front see a customer service agent, head down, stuck helping one passenger. The family thinks they should wait for him to get free. Everyone behind them is too polite to jump the line (or cannot tell why we are stalled). And all eight self-service kiosks go unused. Argh. Meanwhile Kathy cycles through the entire bag drop line twice. It's only on her third pass through that I can join her with tags. So much for our ultimate efficiency ploy!

In the departure hall we see our flight on the board with "go to gate" and no gate number. All the other flights have a gate number and so why are we special? Eventually we hunt around and find the Singapore Airlines plane taxiing to a gate. But how to get to the gate? It is #18 (Google Flight tracking concurs that this is our plane & gate). There is no path there, the gate is completely closed off. Yet we see people trickling up to it. Ahhh, the yellow overhead signs to "international departures" will take us there in a circuitous route. 

We go through a second security screening. Apparently Aussie domestic security screening is not strict enough for international carriers. But we've already filled our water bottles. And they once again flag Dave's sunscreen. Why haven't I learned to put all that in the checked bag?

Soon we are on the plane, a Boeing 787-10. It is huge, 9 pax across in economy with row numbers going up to the 70's. Apparently 337 passengers. Massive. 

I notice on the flight plan that we'll fly over Jiggly Bottom. Or something like that. Crikey, these Aussie names are really odd.

The seven hour flight goes very quickly, without even much of a nap. In no time we are in Singapore. Customs etc is super easy and we have done all our paperwork online ahead of time. Despite traditional threats of caning and incarceration (for what would be innocuous violations in the USA) we see no heavy police or military presence. 

Rather there are very cute statues all over the place.

We have elected to ride the MRT Metro from the airport. To me it is a way to jumpstart independently navigating the city. Once I know my way around, taking an Uber is convenient. But while I'm learning, the Uber could even stand in the way of self-navigation. Once we figure out which kiosk to buy metro cards from it is a breeze to metro to within a few blocks of our hotel. 

And we learn stuff. 

My first "fruit prohibition" metro sign -- no durian. That thing in the upper right is a fruit, not a bomb. 😂

Also the signs are in four languages, English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil. National language is Malay. Official language is English. 

Also, here is a subway map... of the station we alright in at our destination.

Those boxed letters are labeled exits. This underground station is huge. Clean and bright. The main amusing thing is that there is no "you are here" designation.

Street art. 

And finally to our hotel. When we walk into the hotel's A/C we realize how much we have been sweating in the hot, humid weather. This place is luxurious. 

We are getting a room upgrade, but the cleaners are not finished. So we get a tea service from a very chatty tea man. He is very aware that his job is to offer tea, make guests feel welcome and at home, and burn lots of time. Even before we are checked in it is time to leave for our Chinatown walking food tour. 

We're a little early so we stop in the store at the meetup point and buy some heavily cured pork medallions -- Chinese New Year gift food. For a snack.  Two minutes later the tour guide pills out a bag of these exact same treats to get out tour started. We are jumping the gun, but this is going to be okay.

Store with the pork snacks. 

Red is a lucky color. 

As we walk along we see aspects of Chinatown, a mosque and an Indian temple. 

Chinese New Year's decorations.

Indian temple.

From the air

Chinatown is all the four story tile roofed building in the middle of scrapers. 

The guide, Grace, points out a Harry Potter themed bar we can visit later. 

Very shortly we are in Chinatown walking past a street vendor selling durians! These are the malodorous fruits in the flesh! 

Soon we are at the Chinese Zodiac themed Lego statues. Yes, each zodiac creature had a Lego statue. For instance this year's Year of the Snake has a snake Lego. 

Leighton's year of the tiger. Enthusiastic, ambitious and charismatic.

Elloott's year of the pig. Courageous and thoughtful.

Alden's year of the dog. Honest and faithful.

Street Legos.

Now it is time for a quick walk around and some serious eating. 

Chinatown. 

More Chinatown. Lunar New Year celebration (two weeks long) is wrapping up this weekend. 

Indian temple.

In the tea house/coffee museum. 

Outside they have a poster showing how to order your coffee (Kopi) and tea (Teh). Varieties of milk, especially sweetened condensed and evaporated. No decaf that we can see. 

I get a standard Teh. Delicious and helps to beat the heat. 

Cayu toast (coconut jam & butter)

We try a traditional pineapple jam cookie, given as a holiday treat. They also come in Pokemon themed tins. History of gift giving is something like this -- golden bowl.... golden fruit (pineapple 🍍)... cookie with pineapple jam. Delicious. 

Street murals from Yip Yeh Chong. His traditional motif is a cat somewhere in the image. 

cat at bottom right

Next we head into the Chinese Complex hawker market. It's a dense multi story building with tightly packed stalls and a warren of passageways. Good thing we have a guide. Here's our group of eight.

We start our serious eating with a delicious soup. 

Chicken on rice. 

Noodle dish 

"Carrot cake" that has neither carrots not cake. Has a root veggie like turnip etc. Delicious.

Most of what we ate tonight is from the stall on the left, 02-042. The excellent appetizer roll was from 02-112. We must return!