Singapore galore!

Travel. Sights. Sounds. Food. Fun - some of the best things in life.
Explore new places, shake off the old mold, do the extraordinary - something daring. Aah! but between work, parenting and other responsibilities I can barely get much in edge wise. Time flies, suddenly I'm older, less energetic and then I think I deserve a party for arriving home from work. But just when I settled into the mundane an opportunity knocked on my door with a bunch of goodies - a business class air ticket, a 4 star hotel and yeah! I was set for a 17 hour flight to South East Asia with an 8 hour lay over in Frankfurt.
Highlights: I ate my first crab, munched on a red baby octopus, tasted the yummiest dumplings ever. 3 times I nearly missed my flight, I got hit on, I lost my phone and all in the space of 5 days.

Red baby Octopus

Chili crab

Hubby took care of the kids while I traveled to a different country, a different continent. Of course I suffered small panic attacks along the way. As the plane prepared for take off my heart was stuck to the door of my house, wriggling and begging to stay. I had not been separated from my family for more than a few hours in the past 2 years. "Take deep breaths Mary, it's going to be alright" I had to be my own shrink.
It took until the eve of my travel to grudgingly tell the kids I would be away. Little Miss A didn't seem to mind on condition that I returned. My boy had a shopping list ready. When on the morning of my flight, my little girl hugged me tight and said "O mummy, I missed you!" I knew I was in big trouble, I hadn't left yet. My husband had his work cut out for him and I had mine too.
On trips, he does the paper work, marks the gates of departure while I focus on the kids. Alas! I ended up in the wrong lounge, and located the right check-in counter just in time to board. While the masses hurdled their way through to economy, I walked majestically to the counter, showed my business class ticket and was ushered in with a smile - never felt so good. That was just the beginning of my boarding adventures.

Frankfurt am main

Frankfurt bridge

Locks of Love

So, here is one travel tip: To capture the essence of a city take a bus tour, you will see the big picture, learn the history of the area and identify hot spots to return to when or if you have the time.

Marina bay

Lantern festival

China town

Since catching up with my colleagues we were constantly running to check-in counters - almost always the last to board. I will blame that on the comfort of the business lounge. The second you walk through the doors, the world outside ceases to exist; comfy couches, champagne, wines, delicious food... you forget you have places to go, once you stretch out that's it!
So we nearly missed our flight back and had to run for miles to the departure gate, on the way we remembered we hadn't even checked through security. Liquids out, computers, pat downs ... in a sweat we whizzed past people leisurely walking through the airport "excuse me! excuse me!" my heart rate tripled, I was near breathless and I thought such drama was left for the movies.

I had a window seat. My neighbor, a blond guy with a stern face. He didn't smile or make eye contact, I suspect he was German. I thought "O well, one less job for me. I can sit quietly and mind my own business". He was very resourceful though, since this was my first business class flight I didn't know how to work the gadgets. I watched for his moves and followed along a few seconds behind; ear phones, remote, tray - open side compartment. Adjust the seat, raise the legs; press the remote with the figures. I became a pro. Flights without looking over my shoulder or asking a wriggly kid to sit still sure felt strange. Good strange!

Long flights can feel like being locked in a bed room with a stranger. The seats are separate but you fall asleep next to each other. Mannerisms pop up unexpectedly, like the guy who begun to file his nails on the table cloth or the one who was constantly nibbling at his finger nails.You wake up next to each other, freshen up, have breakfast together, lunch together...well we can only pray the flight is not any longer otherwise you get to know each other in an odd sort of way.
On the flight out of Dulles, my phone slipped out of my pocket, I couldn't find it when we landed. I had the cabin crew searching, literally dismantling the seat but there was no phone. The doors were closing, I had to leave. I got to my hotel room in Singapore, pulled out my toilet bag to prepare for the night and oops! there it was - my phone.

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip :-). The work? Intense and educative but not as fun as the in-betweens.