Singapore Flyer

Singapore is a beautiful city/state. I’ve been to other far eastern countries and my 6’3” large frame stood out among the Asian people. Singapore is Asian but it is Indian, and British and many other nationalities so I don’t stand out too much until I open my mouth. It is an expensive city to live in but it is growing to max out its 275 square miles of land. It is a modern city. There are lots of new hotels, transportations and entertainment projects under construction. One that can’t be missed as you drive around is the Singapore Flyer, reported to be the world’s largest giant observation wheel. At 165 meters (541 feet) it is almost three times taller that the Texas Star in Dallas which stands at 65 meters (213 feet). When anything outside of Texas claims to be the “Biggest” anything I feel obligated to check it out. It was a mere 10 minute walk from my hotel so myself and two of my colleagues that convinced that this was important thing to do went along with me. As we approached the base of the wheel it was obvious that this was not the Farris wheel I first rode at the first goat roping and county fair that I went to as a young Texan. The cars had room for 30 people, or enough room for a dinner party of 20 and it was air conditioned. As near as I could tell (count) there were 25 cars. It was a slow ride. It was slow enough that you walked on the car and the wheel never stopped and about 30 minutes later you walked off. As you went around the wheel to could get a good view of the city, the harbor, the new hotels going up and the construct site for a new theme park.

Is it truly bigger than the Texas Star? Maybe they made a mistake in converting meters to feet or something.

An Affront to the National Dish of Texas

Tonight at the Singapore waterfront I was at the scene of a crime. It seems that the most popular seafood dish in Singapore is a crab the size of a dinner plate covered to what is reported to be chili. One of my colleagues and fellow Texan Bill of Plainview put forth the theory that the mud crabs smelled so bad that they had to something to cover it up to make it more palatable. To further support the “odor” theory the next crab that hit the table was the “Chili” crabs first cousin the “peppered” crab. It had so much pepper on it that it looked like it survived the Valdez oil spill only to be missed by the PETA wash crew.
…and to top it all off! I got chili on the front of my shirt.

Singapore Airlines

We left Houston at 6:00 PM and arrived at LAX about 8:00 PM California time. All that was left was the 18 hour leg to Singapore. As we boarded it was obvious to our group of seasoned travelers that this was a new Singapore Airline plane. I’m not sure what kind it was but it was big. The entire “ship” was business/first class and the seating was new to me. I basically had a “cube” to myself. All window seats were singles seats and the center had two seats in the “cube”. One of the struggles with international travel is the inability to get any sleep at all, but these seats made out into completely flat beds. These beds are not nearly as comfortable as your own bed at home but so much better than I’ve ever seen on a plane. (I’ve never been on Air Force One.) How much did I sleep in 18 hours? About 5 hours. But I did see the new Star Trek movie and 3 chick flicks. I enjoyed them all.

What did I forget?

It’s time to dust off the passport and hit the rode. When traveling around the US if you forget to pack your socks you can just go to Wal-Mart and pick some up but when traveling to Singapore you better have what you need. Of course they sell lots of stuff in Singapore but if you’re looking for a 2X Tall shirt there are not very many 2X or Tall folks there. Did I remember my cell charger? How about the adapter to the Singapore 220 volts outlet that is standard there? I’ll only be gone a week but the stuff I’m packing makes me think I’m packing for a month.
I’m leaving my house at 3:00 PM and I’ll spend 2 hours in the Houston airport, 3.5 hours in the air to LAX, 2 hours in LAX and 17.5 hours in the air to Singapore arriving at 5:35 AM Monday in Singapore. Total hours 23.
Then I get to go to work. (Tuesday morning) What fun. I’m home sick already.