3 feb (or 2 feb, depending on where you are in reference to the International Date line)
It was 16.5 hours on the plane, the second longest trip I’ve ever made. (The longest was 17 hours from Italy to New Zealand in 2016.) It seems like a good thing to get a direct flight but wow, that is hard on the body. And I still have a hard time believing that a machine (in this case a plane) can do that kind of activity for 16/5 hours without a break. For as much as I have flown, I still am by nature a nervous flyer, though I’ve gotten better over the years. There were two pretty good batches of turbulence and it was only once I arrived here that Mark Hansen reminded me that we were flying over the atmospheric rivers that were on their way to California this weekend.
The border control and customs here in Singapore has been streamlined incredibly well, most of it done online beforehand, so I was off the plane and out at the meeting point in 15 minutes. I loved popping out of customs and catching the perfume of the air. Immediately I caught the smell of Asia, a sweetness and a heaviness to the humid air, so few white faces right away, tea and fried noodles. It was because of falling in love with Changi Airport that I first came to Singapore back in 2006 and it has just gotten bigger and more beautiful. Mark and Leonard met me and ushered me right to a new huge attraction smack dab in the middle of the airport, huge waterfall with a light show and bleachers all around surrounded by a shopping mall and food court. Quite a destination spot.
Every other time I have been here I have stayed with the Franciscan friars at Queen of the Angels. This time Mark insisted on getting me a hotel room in honor of my ten plus years of service as prior just ended. It’s a very interesting little place in the middle of what is known as Little India and aptly named (so I have been told) for the peripatetic ex-prior, the Wanderlust.
A tiny room really. The bed takes up almost the whole space, with a small corridor and a nice sized bathroom.
There’s an outdoor terrace with a “dipping pool” (hot tub). Perfect place for morning yoga.
There are lots of idly and dosa, lots of fried noodles. I found myself strangely shy to ask and order, just not used to the environment again yet. And I am having a hard time understanding most people’s accents! And they mine, I’m sure. I wound up with a nice “butterfly bun” covered with sesame seeds and two big pieces of cooked sweet potato, only to realize once I started eating them that they were basically fried as well. Delicious though. I have been known to love what is called te tarik (“pulled tea”) here until I found out that it is loaded with fat and sugar due to being made with condensed milk. I tried to get a plain old black tea with plain old milk yesterday at a stand at the airport, only to cause general confusion and wound up with a nice strong cup of tea with powdered milk. I didn’t bother this morning (not wanting to resort to Starbucks or one of the other Western franchises here) and got a nice flat white instead. I took quite a tour of the surrounding neighborhood, something I’ve rarely done (or been allowed to do) in the past especially in this area of Singapore. I’ve found a gym about a half mile away that allows three day passes for tourists, but I had to apply online and now must wait for them to get back to me.
All in all, I am so happy to be back here and have these days with my friends here before I head to India next week. Singapore is always a nice transition spot to India. One of our friends, Keith Toh, who lives here and also serves on New Camaldoli’s Financial Advisory Board, put together a spread sheet of my time so as to be able to make sure I get to spend time with everyone who wants to. I’m trying to get the mornings to myself, as I do today all the way until 3 PM actually. When Mark will pick me up and we will go to Leonard’s for Mass and then dinner.
