Chris' visit to Singapore (and more)...

Chris flew back with me to Singapore after my short visit to the US. It was very nice to have company for the long flight and to know he would get to experience a taste of where I've been "living." (You'll notice I got a little crazy with the camera as usual.) There was champagne, good menu choices (including sushi for Chris), several movies, many games of cribbage, and a lot of napping. We had three legs that got us there... PDX to LAX, then LA to Tokyo, then Tokyo to Singapore. The second leg was quite delayed, and we had a very tight connection to catch the flight to Singapore. Based on my previous experiences in Tokyo, I did not think we were going to make it. In fact the flight attendant told us that we would likely make the flight, but our luggage would not. In Tokyo, after you've disembarked from your flight, you have to go through a full security screening again, and the lines are very long. Fortunately, we were the first through screening and we barely made the flight. And as an added bonus, our luggage even made it!!

After arriving in Singapore at 1:00 AM, we headed back to the Hilton where I have been staying in Singapore all along. It was time for Chris to meet my new friends! We got a bit organized and decided to get some rest so we could make the most of the time we had on Friday before heading to Bintan. We got up and went for a stroll so Chris could see some of the local culture and we could get some lunch. After seeing this picture, he was disappointed that he didn't do some sort of a leap for the picture.

In the early afternoon, we came back to get ready for the Bintan trip. We consolidated into one bag for the weekend, and checked the rest in with the bell captain to retrieve when we came back.

We arrived at the ferry terminal with plenty of time to get some Chinese Noodle Soup before departure. After a very disorganized experience getting onto the ferry... we loaded up and were on our way. It was a one hour venture to the island of Bintan, Indonesia. There are only 8 resorts on the island, and we had reservations for a suite at the resort called Nirwana. We had a nice dinner on Friday night and explored the resort a bit. We walked around the pool and down on the beach IN THE WARM WATER! After a nice (typical Asian... I say this for a reason) breakfast on Saturday, we found our lounge chairs next to the pool where we planned to sit and relax all day long. We read books, listened to music, swam in the pool, laid in the sun, played cards under the umbrella during the rain, sat at the swim-up pool bar, and really just enjoyed the view and the company. The tropical storms were pretty crazy. The thunder and lightning were more intense that I can ever recall experiencing.
Then comes the rain!! If we leave our great chairs, we'll lose them... so - knowing it is only about an hour or less for the storm to pass, we lowered the umbrella, played some music, and played some cribbage (I would love to say I won - but I DID NOT).

We later took a couple of strolls on the beach, and then went for dinner. We enjoyed a couple of drinks on the balcony of our suite and retired for the evening... both of us recovering from jet lag!

We got up early on Sunday morning, went to breakfast, and made claim to our lounge chairs by the pool. I was able to capture this shot of the infinity pool overlooking the ocean before anyone was able to disturb the water. We were scheduled to leave Bintan on the ferry at 4:30, so we had plenty of time to enjoy the resort before leaving. Again, we sat by the pool, then later walked the beach. Chris found a very cool Hermit Crab that I'm sure Connor would have loved to have. He also decided he might be interested in the impersonation business as a Sand Flea.

We departed Bintan at 4:30, arriving in Singapore at 6:30... we lose an hour due to the time change from Indonesia to Sing. We had big plans to come back to Singapore and spend the night on the town. Instead, we laid down on the bed at our hotel and slept for about 12 hours! That enabled us to get up and get ready for a big day of Singapore exploration. First things first... Chris REALLY needed a Western breakfast - meat, eggs and potatoes! We had a lovely breakfast at the Hilton and then set off for our whirlwind Singapore adventure. We began at the Singapore Botanical Gardens. That was a tremendous experience. We saw several gardens within the park that I will never forget. The Singapore National Orchid Garden was out of this world! We spent about 2 hours walking through the gardens and then took a cab to Boat Quay where we experience the famous Singaporean Chili Crabs. Boat Quay is the on the Singapore River in front of the financial district. This is where many of the clients I'm working with are located in Singapore. After a nice lunch, we walked to Clarke Quay around the corner. Spur of the moment, we decided to go to Sintosa - which is the white sand beach area of Singapore. We didn't have much time, but we wanted to explore it a little bit.

What better way to explore than on a Segway. It was really cool (nerdy, I know, but cool). We finished the afternoon at the Hard Rock Cafe which is around the corner from my hotel. It had been a long day and we had very nice Dinner plans... so we went back to the hotel to begin, yet again, the bag consolidation process. Chris was going to take back 2 more bags for me, leaving me with only one since I will be plane hopping even more. We had an amazing dinner at a place on the 69th floor of the Swissotel call the Equinox, followed by drinks upstairs at the New Asia bar on the 70th floor. Amazing views of the city!

Chris' flight was at 8:20 on Tuesday AM. He returned home without any problems, and was actually able to hook up with a colleague in LA during his very long layover. So for now, things are "back to normal." I am in Singapore until Monday afternoon, at which point, I travel to Manila, Philippines.

Just as a point of reference, this picture is overlooking Boat Quay and the Financial District.