The glamour of business travel never ends. My boss decided for 2011 that all of us will fly economy class regardless of the company policy that should allow us to fly business class for flights loner than 5 hours. His reasoning is sound – he wants more of us to be able to travel and participate in conferences and trainings around the world. Generally the cost for a business class ticket is on the order of 5-10 times the cost of economy, so it’s really a huge savings.
On the other hand, 12 hours in economy class to Singapore is really not fun. In fact, it’s downright painful. I chose Singapore Airline knowing they have the biggest seats and the best food and service in economy class. But, I still ended up with an entertainment console that wasn’t working properly and a seat that felt like a board. I have to admit that maybe I was a bit resentful about sitting in the back of the plane. I was also irritated that this trip is messing up two weekends of my personal time. So, after 12 hours of watching movies with every 3rd word cut out, I was fed up. I wasn’t able to sleep at all, which is unlike me. I was tired and cranky.
I left the Netherlands at 10:00 AM Saturday morning and arrived in Singapore at 5:00 AM Sunday local time. I was just relishing the thought of crashing in the hotel for a few hours before doing some sightseeing and shopping. Here’s where I got even more cranky. Of course, you can’t check into a hotel at 5:00 AM. Normally the travel agent books us in the night before for early arrivals, but this time they didn’t. The hotel was extremely good about it and did manage to get me in a room by 10:00, which is still hours earlier than normal check-in time. So I had to sit in the lobby trying to keep my bloodshot eyes open for another 4 hours.
When I finally got into my room, it was fabulous. I set the alarm clock and slept for a few hours. To sleep longer would just prolong the jet-lag issues. Then, I got up and went out to explore. I got some chicken rice for lunch (one of my favorites here) and some Diet Coke to shake off the grogginess.
For my one day of sightseeing, I decided to see the Sands Tower. It’s a new building in Singapore with 3 tall pillars and what looks like a cruise ship balancing between the towers. There’s an infinity swimming pool on the top garden deck, 56 stories above the city and harbor. I paid $20 to get to the top. The view and the cooler breeze were appreciated.
Feeling pretty good about things, I walked over to Boat Quay, a section of the Singapore River with lots of restaurants serving Singaporean specialties like Chili Crab. Chili Crab is my other favorite local dish. Of course, it’s rather expensive, but remember, I flew economy to save $4000, so I can afford to splurge on a nice dinner. Now you may be wondering how fun it is to splurge on a nice dinner by yourself. In the case of chili crab, it’s almost a necessity. It’s a very, very messy dish – a crab cooked in the shell covered with a tomatoey chili sauce. To eat the crab, you have to just dive in with both hands and start cracking shells. The sauce goes flying, drips down your hands, and quickly saturates silverware, napkins, and glass. The finger bowl is your best friend.
After my meal, it was back to hotel for a proper night’s sleep. I was expected in the office first thing in the morning.
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