Joho the Blog
An Entry from the Archives

Let's see. I left Boston on Sunday at 6, and flew from Newark, NJ at 11pm. They served dinner at 12:30 AM (rice and spinach because heaven knows we vegetarians don't like to combine elemental foodstuffs into interesting new creations) and I "slept" from 1:30-7:30AM. For some reason, they didn't serve breakfast until 1:30pm on Monday, then at 5:30pm on Monday we landed here, except that it was 6:30AM on Tuesday.

I read the Sunday edition of a Singapore paper on the plane just to see what's up. There was almost no news about Singapore, except for the reality TV shows. Are things going that well here? Could be.

After retrieving my luggage from the ultra-modern, ultra-clean airport, I stepped into a taxicab. I don't know if it was incense, breakfast, or just my cabbie, but it smelled goooood. She's from Malaysia, but married a Singaporean and is now a citizen. She likes Singapore better because it's clean and safe. When I asked her what was the one place I should see as a tourist, she recommended Sentosa, which she described as a "fantasy island." I think I'm probably not going to do that; I have so little time here that I hate to squander it on fantasy.

Because I arrived so early, my room wasn't ready yet so I wandered around Orchard Street at 7:30AM. It's the Fifth Avenue of Singapore, except smaller, clean, and palm-tree festooned. Also, it's in Singapore.

I ate a breakfast I may regret at a tiny local place -- half-cooked eggs, tea, and delicious toast spread with something green and something yellow -- and came back to my room. I slept for an hour. Now it's 10:20AM.