Singapore

I made it to Singapore today, with little effort, really. The hotel shuttle took me back to the Tokyo airport, Japan Airlines had everything set for my new ticket, the flight was uneventful, immigration and Customs in Singapore were very quick, the luggage was there, and I took the subway from the airport to within two blocks of my hotel. So even though I am here later than I expected to be, everything is in fine shape. My class materials are all ready, and everything is where it needs to be to get started tomorrow.

There were a couple of neat things from today. The hotel had a very nice Japanese garden, and though I only got to spend a few minutes there this morning, it was really lovely and calm. I took some pictures with my phone (since my camera was in my luggage and thus still at the airport), and had some ideas of things to do (over the long-term, not right now) in the yard at home. The koi pond had some gigantic fish in it, probably because you could purchase food to throw to them, and of course all the kids in the hotel wanted to do that. There was a family there feeding the fish, and the little boy came up to me and asked me if I wanted to feed the fish, too, and gave me a couple of food pellets to toss in. I enjoyed being in that spot, even though it was just a few moments before I had to catch the hotel shuttle.

On the Japan Airlines 777, they had a video camera that showed you what the pilot was seeing as you took off and landed, which was cool. Then during the flight, they had another camera you could watch that looked straight down, so that you could see what you were passing over (when the clouds let you see all the way down). Both of those were cool.

So for now I am settled in at the Concorde Hotel in Singapore, on Orchard Road. It's close to the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station, if you know Singapore. I am going to wrap up this post, and go wander down to get some dinner, and see what's for sale over at the outdoor shops.

Tomorrow I'll figure out what travel I can make happen on this trip, and will let you know what's up, and how class went.