I'm typing in front of a waterfall surrounded by orchids and tropical plants, and the Internet is free. Doesn't get much better than this. So where is this wonderful place? Singapore Airport. The most beautiful airport in the world, I think. I just saw some kue lapis (layered cake) as I was on my way over here so I'm heading over there next. The only thing that has put a damper on my trip so far is the weight of my carry-ons. Surprise. I'm guessing my carry-on is over weight. The bruises on my legs and arms and the fact that I can barely lift it up into the overhead compartment are my clues. And I think only I would call my purse a purse and not another carry-on. It's so heavy my sternum aches from the strap. But it's extremely hard to be prepared for every and any possibility and still pack light. In Tokyo (a surprise stop for me since it wasn't mentioned on my ticket or itinerary), they searched my bags as I was headed into the plane. The lady spoke about five words of English and looked very flustered as she was trying to do a thorough job on my bags. She eventually gave up. lol But guess what - they now let you bring tweezers on the plane. Boy is security getting lax.
I sat next to an electrical engineer from Singapore on the second half of the long stretch from Portland to Singapore. I was asking him about the political situation in this part of the world. He told me that he thinks that the reason Singapore has less trouble with corruption is due to it's very strict laws that are enforced and the fact that they pay their elected officials very well. They are paid very well for the work they do, which is key. Their government job is not all they do; they have regular jobs. Therefore, since it is more like service instead of their sole source of income, they are less likely to squeeze every last penny from their position and the opportunities it affords. It was an interesting conversation.
Sadly, after talking politics, there was no one to sing me to sleep like there was on the way to Japan. This old Japanese man sat in front of me on that leg of the flight singing along with the songs on the new entertainment center in the plane. Everyone would be falling asleep, when all of a sudden there would be loud burst of song. Not quite the soothing lullaby, but at least, he didn't have the worst voice in the world. Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to him in Japan.
I did learn that we give and get when it comes to salad dressing. When I was opening my salad dressing packet for dinner, the dressing shot forward from the pressure decorating the chair in front of me, and when the guy next to me opened his at the next meal, I got spots, on my shirt, jeans and blanket. Thankfully, I like ranch. Unfortunately, my shirt doesn't.
