the whole world over

Hello to the world at large! I am currently writing from my new bedroom in Singapore. That's right folks, I arrived safe and without any major hiccups. Considering that my body is extremely confused about where it is and when it should be sleeping or awake, I am merely going to publish my travel log notes from my trip.

As a disclaimer, I would like to point out that I embarked on the journey running on about 4.5 hours of sleep and facing 34 hours of travel. Therefore, I hardly take responsibility for observations and comments made. Enjoy and hopefully the next time you hear from me I will be in a much clearer state of mind.

Leg 1: CHICAGO O'HARE AIRPORT.

All set with the essentials:

9:35 a.m. CST
Three little boys are doing a relay race up and down the hallway

10:45 a.m. CST
Two preteens come and sit at the gate wearing shirts with the following:
"For Sale: brother (video games included)" "For Sale: sister (doll accessories included)"

Leg 2: Flight from CHICAGO to HOUSTON

11:43 a.m. CST
Shortly after boarding, a woman argues with the flight attendant about the lack of blankets on board a regional flight.

11:51 a.m. CST
Preteens, as mentioned above, are sitting behind me and act as though take-off was a roller coaster. Wheeeee!

11:52 a.m. CST
Screaming child on board...Check.

1:16 p.m. CST
Clouds look like meringue or marshmallow fluff! Or perhaps popcorn. This could be the empty stomach talking.

2:05 p.m. CST
Hello, Houston.

Leg 3: HOUSTON AIRPORT

2:23 p.m. CST
I ride the mini interterminal train that felt suspiciously similar to a carnival ride, except replace loud happy music with quiet, creepy elevator music.

2:45 p.m. CST
Standing in line for boarding pass #2, behind two Germans (?) with about five suitcases and two humongous cardboard boxes.

Next line over has an African toddler waddling around touching everyone's luggage.

3:00 p.m. CST
Security line #2, get bored waiting so decide to play "Guess the Nationality" of everyone around me. Absolutely no shame in eavesdropping.

3:45 p.m. CST
Finally get through security.

4:46 p.m. CST
Three little girls meet at the gate, sealing their future as BFFs--the common link? Disney princess t-shirts and backpacks.

5:10 p.m. CST
Boarded the plane and starting to get comfy in my seat with pillow, blanket, and entertainment system. 24 hours to go! Just found out my seat mates (one Russian, and one American) are getting out in Moscow. Hour 11 means an empty row to myself...hopefully.

Ah the joys of long flights--more incentive to befriend your neighbors. The chitter-chatter of small talk fills the air.

6:30 p.m. CST
Completely ecstatic to find the Glee soundtrack in the electronic CD collection.

8:40 p.m. CST
Flew over Buffalo, NY and saw FIREWORKS! Could only see the initial explosions, none of the flying sparks. But it looked like fireflies lighting up everywhere!

10:26 a.m. Singapore Time (ST)
Decided to switch my watch and start thinking in Singapore time.

10:27 a.m. ST
Am now trying to stay awake per Singapore time. The coffee I drank after dinner is definitely helping. That and the stubborn Russian woman in front of me, who's fighting with the lead flight attendant about letting her kids sleep on the floor...

6:06 p.m. ST
Land-ho! Hello Moscow. Never before have I heard so much Russian spoken in one closed space--this of course is due to the hustle and bustle of getting ready to get off.

6:45 p.m. ST
That last comment was nothing compared to being in the Moscow Airport...

Leg 4: MOSCOW AIRPORT
6:46 p.m. ST
Got to deplane, which means a real bathroom break, some walking and stretching, and yet another run through security (Garish, my traveling buddy of a stuffed animal and spare pillow, doesn't know how to feel about being sent through X-ray machines 3 times.)

7:21 p.m. ST
On the plane again. Same plane, same seat, new seat mates (bummer!). This time it's an older Russian couple who don't seem to know English. Conversation should be intriguing...
11 hours to go!

p.s. I am extremely tired and wired (due to another round of coffee an hour or two ago). This whole swapping night for day and day for night thing is no picnic.

Leg 5: Flight from MOSCOW to SINGAPORE

10:37 p.m. ST
The woman next to me keeps having problems plugging her headphones in. She's really cute, and when I offer to help, she giggles. No need for common language here :)

Looking out the window, it's hard to tell what country we're over, especially without those nifty boundary lines that are on maps. At least I can keep track of the changing biomes. According to the map we're currently heading out of Turkmenistan and into Afghanistan. Which means mountains!

1:27 a.m. ST
Can't sleep....grrrrrrr....

5:21 a.m. ST
Finally land in Singapore and touchdown is met with a plane-wide round of applause.



That's it for the travel log. So I'm going to post this before I fall asleep...