Off to Asia!!

So I left on Monday night, June 11 for Singapore (my flight was supposed to depart at 11pm, but I was flying our of Newark...of course we left after midnight). I arrived in Singapore this morning. It is Wednesday, June 13 (what happened to Tuesday...I'm not quite sure...it's all a blur). I flew on Singapore Airlines, considered to be one of the top airlines in the world (and you'll read all about why in a few lines) direct, a 19 hour flight with NO stops. That's right, NONE, not even for fuel. So you must be thinking, which way did you go...east or west? The answer (drum roll please)........ NEITHER....we went OVER. From Newark we went directly north over Canada, across the North Pole (so I have now flown over the top and bottom of the world), and then down through Russia and Asia to Singapore. Think upside down U. Whoa. So what is so great about Singapore Airlines? First let's talk seats. Keep in mind I flew economy. The seats are the width of first class in domestic flights. There is tons of leg room. There's a foot rest on the bottom of the seat in front of you and a calf rest pops up on the bottom of your seat. The reclining ability is also quite crazy. I also lucked out and had an empty seat next to me. So window to my right and noone to my left...so much room and noone to contend with if I need to get out of my seat. Next, food. I signed up for the seafood meals. Dinner...white fish, asparagus, potato, fresh fruit, chilled shrimp on salad, rolls, and oh yeah, for dessert, how about some Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough icecream. Delicious! For the next, oh, 10 or so hours they had all kinds of snacks in the back room. There you can stretch, walk, and look out the window at the North Pole (sorry, no Santa sightings). The snacks were unbelievable, esp. the fresh fruit. For breakfast I had an egg omlette with salmon, steamed carrots, hashbrowns, yogurt, blueberry muffin, oj, and roll. Wow...even thinking about it makes me full. So for once my exerience with airline food was quite good. Then let's talk entertainment...tons of new movies, all on demand, tons of tv shows, all on demand, I made my own music play list, and best of the best, got to play a little original 1985 Super Mario Brothers. I didn't have to go to my laptop at all (but if I did, there's a place right in my armrest that I could charge it if I had to). Three movies, four shows (including a little Planet Earth), and so much more! And then the service was great. I had heard of the beauty of the stewardesses...true. They look like they stepped right off the stage of a beauty pageant...french twist and all. They were all so nice and they treated everyone with so much respect and courtesy. So my experience was quite good, esp. since I ended up spending almost 20 hours on the plane. My best experience on a plane so far in all my traveling experience;)

So now my goal is to not go to sleep until tonight...9pm at the earliest which is 9am NY time. I think I can, I think I can.

Lunch was eaten at the "coffee shops"..a line of cafes/venders. Eating was good and cheap. Ate at a Thai place, had prawn cakes and pineapple fried rice.

Pictures are of the north pole, sunrise?, and the coffee shops with my sister.

More will be coming later, including an elephant ride, mokeys, fire eaters, and Balinese dancing.