On our way to Singapore
Two rows in front of us, middle row 39. On the flight from Heathrow to Singapore they had 4 seats but were a family of six. Two children were older than our Sara and two younger. She was English and could not be older than mid forty looking at the age of her children but somewhere after the second or third child the aging process had accelerated, making her look much older. He was Indonesian, half her size and constantly busy getting things out of their 5 hand luggage bags scattered over 4 rows. It was a moment of true beauty seeing the panic in the older English couple’s eyes as they were double checking their seats. A family of four in front of them and a child behind them, stereo crying for 12 hours? Headsets were prepared immediately for use after departure.
If you only fly in Europe with low cost carriers like Ryanair the friendliness of the Singapore Airlines staff is overwhelming. Checking in on Heathrow a great experience compared to the you-fly-cheap-so-don’t-expect-service-mentality on Charleroi for example. Let alone the free drinks and dinners served by beautifully dressed flight attendants who ran around for 12 hours non-stop with a smile carved on their face. However, the smile disappeared at times when passing by row 39, even for the Singapore die-hards this was too much. Because the plane was not fully booked, we were given 4 seats so Sara could have 2 seats as a bed. We feared she might tune in to the crying at row 39 but after an abundant children’s meal she fell asleep quickly, contrary to the little ones on row 39. On Brigitte’s question how she managed she simply answered: I don’t…
The public restrooms on Changi Airport were already a sample of what Singapore would be like, new, clean and carefully planned. After smooth customs formalities and the first wet stamp in our ‘virgin’ passports, we walked into the hot air over where even the taxi queue was heavily structured and running smoothly. Everything seems well planned and it seems chaos is to be avoided at all times. A taxi ride is always a way of getting to the city and here in Singapore football is a universal conversation topic as well. Our driver knew more about Euro 2008 than about the problems his own Singapore Red Lions were having trying to qualify for the World Championship Football in 2010 the day after against Saudi Arabia (2-0 win for Saudi Arabia, Singapore is out). He worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week to make a bit of profit after paying vehicle rent and petrol.
The hotel is big but comfortable. Sara’s entrance at the reception desk causes some commotion and she gets her first gift. Seemingly cool she deals with all the attention as if she knows she will get much more of it in the rest of Asia. The swimming pool is fantastic and overlooks the very touristy Clarke Quay, a good example of what Singapore is all about. A few square meters which is a melting pot of tastes from all over the globe. And as always, taste is subjective. Barely dressed Asian girls in Hooters failing to show the one thing Hooters is all about next to a shop selling miniature figures form the German Erz Mountains.
The swimming pool proves to be the ultimate meeting point. Sara has several friends in no-time. The behaviour of children is so different when it comes to going down the slide. Sara and her New Zealand friends intrepidly go down screaming while the Asian kids slowly descend without any noise. The slide also provides the first address to stay on route. A grandfather from Auckland is mourning the loss of his wife with his family in Asia but spontaneously offers his house in November when he finds out we are from the Netherlands.
Set the alarm for 2:45 AM to see Holland crush the French but need to cheer quietly as Brigitte and Sara are sleeping through the whole match. I really have to try and adjust the schedule to be able to see the quarter finals and hopefully beyond when in Malaysia. We decide to stay a few more days in Singapore to get used to the heat and humidity. We seemed to get used to it better day by day and Sara slowly is getting into the Asian time and rhythm.
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