On the Road Again - SE Asia...

Boy, it didn't really sink in that I was traveling again until I typed the word "boy" at the beginning of this sentence... Right now I'm sitting at a Thai Restaurant on the grounds of my sister's building, the Thai Pan, which I understand from its Yelp reviews that it's quite tasty. I'm quite looking forward to a good meal. But it really hit home, to me, just how integral writing about my experiences is to my enjoyment of traveling as the experience itself. Hence the blog.

For me, blogging and traveling go hand in hand. It forces me to reflect on my experiences and how they're affecting me from moment to moment. Not a moment passes that goes unanalyzed and unappreciated. And most importantly, not a single experience will go forgotten.




No even the 36 hours leading up to this moment which has been nothing but planes, airports, and sleeping, but I'm going to tell you all about it anyway. Deal with it.

The first thing that struck me was how quickly I felt like I was out of Seattle. I felt like I was in another world as soon as I stepped up to the All Nippon Airlines (ANA) ticket counter to check in. Despite the feeling that I was running late, I actually arrived minutes before they opened at 10:15AM (for my 1:15PM flight). ANA is a Japanese airline, and it was immediately evident as they lined up their crew before about 3 or 4 waiting American travelers for a synchronized "Ohayoo Gozaimasu" (Hello) and a bow. It was like the Rockettes, but upside down and with their torsos instead of their legs.




The flight itself was actually very nice, like all trans-oceanic flights, I'm finding. Personal video monitors are standard along with a healthy selection of newer movies and old classics available free to the passenger, and even video games. Already having a healthy collection of games and video on my iPhone and iPad, I opted to save my stored content and enjoy their free movies. I saw Pixar's "Brave" which was cute and more touching than I was expecting (I probably should have expected it, being a Pixar movie and all), I saw "Safety Not Guaranteed" which was much more thoughful and layered than its trailer suggested, and I saw "In Search of a Friend for the End of the World", the only indie comedy about the Apocalypse that I think I've ever seen. Interesting, but I don't think I'd watch it again. Finally, I watched the old Robin Williams classic "Dead Poets Society", a great movie about living life, one that I'm really glad I saw right before I embark on this journey... Yes, it's at times corny, and at other times sad, but I like its message of living life outside the lines.




The in-flight meals always impress me. In fact, it's food I'd probably eat happily if served at a fast food restaurant. They're usually reasonably portioned (not too big), relatively non-fatty, and tasty meals...

I had a 2 hour delay in Narita Airport which wouldn't have been so terrible except that it meant my arrival time to Singapore would be 3 AM instead of 1AM. But I had free wi-fi and was able to check Facebook and iMessage back and forth with a few friends while I was there, which was nice. My main concern was waking up John (my brother-in-law) and my niece and nephew at 3AM, but luckily the kids didn't stir when I arrived, and John was very gracious (albeit sleepy-eyed) when I arrived.




The kids and he were already gone when I woke up this morning, but I got a chance to meet and get to know Ruby, my sister's friend and live-in caretaker. She is totally fantastic. She made me a couple cups of really fancy coffee and then took me down to the kids' school so I could say hello and give my niece and nephew a big hug. John and my sister are really lucky to have her!




So now that I've slept and showered, I am ready to see the world, but before I go, a couple of observations...

One. I worried way more than I needed to. Things have actually gone very smoothly; things have a way of working out, in my experience. My first worry was not being able to vote, but luckily, my absentee ballot arrived literally the day before I left for Asia, so I was able to drop my ballot the morning I left and cast my vote -- so I'm happy to have done my duty as an American.



Second. I worried a lot about having 'everything I needed' for entry into a foreign country. But so far, things have been pretty easy. Even Singapore, known for its strict customs was a piece of cake. The customs lady was really informative, friendly and very chatty. I rather enjoyed my customs experience, oddly. But I think being a worry wart is good thing in a lot of ways. Yes customs was easy, but probably because I checked and triple checked the entry requirements before stepping on the plane.

Third. Boy, the world has changed technologically since my 2009 trip to S. America. Back then, it was just me and my iPhone 3g and I needed to check into an Internet cafe everytime I wanted to post a blog. It's really nice to have my iPad with me this time around, allowing me to write a little whenever I get the opportunity. Now, I won't need to interrupt my trip to write, and I'll always be able to write when I feel inspired to. And I know Panorama has been around for a while, but I love the way iOS 6 has it integrated into the camera -- it's something I'll actually use, and have already used a lot.



Anyway, I'm almost done with my lunch, so I'm off. I'll check back with you all again soon, when I have more interesting stuff to talk about....

Location:Singapore