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March 13, 2006
Past, Present, and Future
Two days ago: Although reportedly being overbooked by at least 5 people from San Francisco to Tokyo, the flight went out perfectly full with no open seats and no volunteers needed. Northwest has really got their revenue management down to a science. Uneventful flight, except for mild turbulence. Coming in to land at Narita (Tokyo), the winds were very strong and it was a very rough decent. The pilot used about 1/4 of the runway length to try and steady the plane for touchdown. A kid in the aisle across from me expelled his dinner.
Yesterday: Arrived into Singapore just after midnight. Mark had come in a few minutes earlier from Hong Kong, so he met me at the gate. We caught up a bit while waiting in line for a taxi. Caught one a few minutes later and we were off. My hotel was much closer to the airport than Mark's apartment, so I was let of first. Checked into my room and crashed. Woke about 9am and got some Internet access to check mail, call home, do some trip planning, etc. Spent the rest of the day wandering the Bugis Junction area and down by the river. Saw the Raffles Hotel, the Riverwalk, Chinatown, Clarke's Quay, etc. Started to feel the effects of jetlag and heat by dinnertime, so I called it a day. Hung out around the hotel area for the evening and then slept a good 9 hours or so.
Today: I must have slept through the Call to Prayer yesterday morning, but I heard it loud and clear this morning. The hotel is across the street from a large and famous mosque (Sultan's Mosque) and at a few minutes before 6am, the speakers started blaring. I didn't get much sleep for the remainder of the morning. Got a pretty decent buffet breakfast from the hotel for $10 SGD and I'm about ready to go search out the train station. Planned itinerary over the next few days:
Today: Train to Kuala Lumpur, arrive about 7pm. Overnight in Kuala Lumpur.
Tomorrow: See the Petronas Towers, KLCC, KL Chinatown, etc. 8:45pm overnight train to Butterworth.
Thursday: Arrive in Butterworth around 5:30am. Take the ferry across to Penang. Dump my bags and explore Penang.
Friday: Perhaps take a ferry to Langkawi and check out the beaches and otherwise veg. Ferry back to Penang, ferry back to Butterworth for overnight train back to KL.
Saturday: Arrive in KL at 6:30am and transfer to train bound for Singapore. Arrive in S'pore around 3pm. Check into hotel. Have one last evening of light sightseeing/exploring and then to bed early for a 3am wake-up.
Sunday: 6am departure for Tokyo->SFO->MSP.
Posted by Derek at March 13, 2006 08:03 PM