Before heading to work on Monday morning, Ryan and I had all day on Sunday to explore. We chose to start with Chinatown.


Many shops in Chinatown sell all sorts of snacks. Barbecued pork is very popular, as are all sorts of packaged, dried snacks. For some reason, the fish rings just didn't appeal to me.


We spent quite a bit of time in the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. The roof-top gardens were my favorite, but the architecture and many sculptures were also fascinating.





After we left the temple, we went on to explore an indoor market. Quite different from Florence's Mercato Centrale. Those are huge fish heads in basket at the lower right of the photo. Steamed fish head is a very popular dish in Singapore. I did not indulge.



These guys aren't pets... they are lunch.

We arrived in Singapore on Sunday morning at 3 a.m., caught a cab and headed out to Raffles Marina, where we would be staying for the next three days. Not long after we arrived and did some exploring, we fell fast asleep.

In the morning, we ordered room service and decided to try a local dish called Congee (pictured below, right.) Congee is a sort of rice porridge. It is mixed with a raw, or partially cooked egg, and in this case, chicken. Congee is served with a fried breadstick. We also ordered an "American" breakfast, just in case. Our local meal was quite good, but I was glad to have some fried eggs and a hashbrown too.


Raffles Marina is located in the industrial area of Singapore (making it easy for me to get to and from the printing plant) and it is quite nice. Many international travelers sail up and dock for a night or two. In the photo below, the land you can just barely see in the distance is Malaysia. From the hotel, you can also see the customs checkpoint and the bridge to Malaysia.




From the few facts I picked up while talking to our printer representative, Desmond, I learned that Singapore has an interesting relationship with Malaysia. Because Singapore is so small (only 273 square miles), has no fresh water resource, and virtually no land to produce crops, the city-state relies heavily on Malaysia for their water supply and the import of fresh produce. In order to ensure that they will not forever be reliant upon Malaysia for water, Singapore collects a large amount of rainwater for domestic use, has a water recycling program, and is currently developing desalination plants.

Other interesting facts about the Singapore/Malaysia relationship:

Because gasoline is so inexpensive in Malaysia, border patrol requires (and checks!) that a Singaporean's car has at least 3/4 of a tank of gas or they won't let you in the country. Previous to these laws, Singapore residents were driving over to get cheap gas and subsequently forcing prices up for the Malay people.

Though unregulated (they don't check your trunk for groceries) Singapore people commonly shop in Malaysia because it is cheaper. Again, this change in supply/demand drives prices up. The Malay people aren't too happy to shop alongside folks from Singapore.

Making up for the earlier stress of cancelled flights, we lucked out and got exit row seats from Detroit to Tokyo. We were able to stand often, walk around, and altogether avoid the claustrophobic funk that comes with being on a plane for twelve hours. However, we weren't able to sleep at all. I was traveling with a head cold and Ryan was dealing with olfactory disturbances (more on that later.)

By the time we got to Tokyo we were in a ridiculous state of exhaustion-induced giddiness. During the short layover, we toured the gift shops, marveling at the strange gifts we could bring back to our friends and family.


Little did I know that on the trip home, these very things would no longer be exotic and amusing, they would make my stomch turn. In Singapore, I would see enough dried fish, seafood, and other oddities to last nearly a lifetime.


Here we are waiting for the next flight from Tokyo, Japan to Singapore. Another 8 hours to go. This was not our finest moment.

It really doesn't matter how much planning goes into a trip, when flying, we are all at the mercy of the airlines; being what they are lately, that's a scary position to be in.

On Friday, September, 26th, I woke early in anticipation of the many many hours of traveling we had ahead of us. I zoomed Sal over to the kennel and returned home to shower and top off the suitcases. We were relaxed. We had a couple of hours before we needed to head to the airport, and we were ready. I'd done so much planning, making sure we had everything for every situation and that we were together on each and every flight.

Ryan turned on the computer check-in for our flights online only to find that our flight to Tokyo had been cancelled.

Cancelled.

Northwest Airlines was kind enough to rebook me for the following day, and Ryan through various US cities, finally arriving at some random time in the future. (Honestly, I wasn't listening to details, I was still hearing the word CANCELLED.) Immediately we got on the phone with a representative. We were first asked:

Can you leave from Dulles airport instead of Reagan?
yes.
Can you make it onto a 9:30 a. m. flight?

I looked at the clock. It was 8:37 a. m.
If that was possible I would have to be standing in line at the airport at this very minute.

With a bit more time spent on the phone and the frequent reminder that I had paid FULL PRICE for this ticket (thank you business travel) NWA was able to work out an itinerary that was comparable to our first, but it required some running.

Over the past few days I have been gearing up for our big trip to the other side of the earth. While I'm very excited about this adventure, I am not looking forward to the amount of time spent cramped in an airplane. I'm most concerned about staying hydrated, staying comfortable, and eating healthy.

Luckily, our travels will be interrupted twice. I welcome the layovers as an opportunity to get out of our seats and walk around.

Our Itinerary:
On Friday, September 26th, at 12:15 p.m., Ryan and I take off from Reagan National Airport and head to Minneapolis, Minnesota. (First flight: 2 hours 40 minutes)

From Minneapolis we fly to Tokyo, Japan. I've always wanted to go to Tokyo! Even though we will only be in the airport, I will cherish to two hours we are there. (Second flight: 12 hours 25 minutes)

From Tokyo our final flight is to Singapore. (Third Flight: 7 hours and 25 minutes)

We arrive in Singapore at 1:55 a.m. on Sunday, September 28th. That's 25 hours and 40 minutes of traveling. Remember, Singapore is 12 hours ahead of us, so it will be 1:55 p.m. on Saturday, September 27th, in the States.

Hopefully we will get to our hotel without any problem, tuck in for a snooze and awake bright and early to explore.

Monday I head to the plant to begin the press-check for Modern Masters: American Abstraction at Midcentury, the book I recently designed. We are printing 5,000 copies and the publication is 255 pages. We will be working 24 hours a day and if all goes well we will finish in three days. That leaves Ryan at least three days of solo exploration. He will be equipped with the camera and already has strict instructions to snap away.

We will have a computer and I hope to keep you updated throughout our trip. But if I get to caught up in the moment, I will be sure to report back just as soon as we return home.

Whenever I stop contributing to my blog, I'm typically looking around, frantically thinking about what to write next. And like every aspect of my life, the more pressure I put on myself, the less apt I am to get anything done. I can assure you, an entry will come soon.

A few mementos from our trip to Asheville.