We were excited, very excited, at the thought of having ... Roti Prata, Fishball Noodles, Chicken Rice, Bean Curd, Butterfly in 30 hours' time! Yes, we are flying back to Singapore for a three week holiday!
The boys were briefed on how we were getting back to Singapore :
3-hour Coach to Chicago, 17-hour flight to Narita Airport, Japan, and another 8-hour flight from Japan to Singapore! There was no complaint from the boys when I woke them up at 1.30am. They would be missing out 9 days of school, and were looking forward to meeting their grandparents. They were all excited the moment they woke up!
We were blessed with good weather ... there was no rain!
I couldn't imagine standing at the unsheltered bus stop, in the rain with two kids and two suitcases at 2am, waiting for the coach with the wild wind blowing *Teeth Chattering*!
The ride to Chicago was smooth and we arrived safely at Chicago O'Hare Airport Terminal 1. We didn't alight at the International Flight Terminal. ANA's International Flight check-in was done at the domestic airport ... very strange indeed. I was glad to have done my homework beforehand, or we would have to pull our suitcases and travel from Terminal 5 to Terminal 1. We might have lots of time to spare at the airport before checking in, but it was always unpleasant, at the start of a trip, to find that you had arrived at the wrong terminal!
I thought all went well, until boarding time.
Police security started random questioning and all passengers had their passport checked twice! Some passengers were picked to have their hand-carry checked, just outside the plane entrance! This sudden checking caused a flight delay, and it didn't help that there was a thunderstorm. Our flight was further delayed. We were hungry, and sleepy. I was glad I had some museli bars with me, to feed the hungry boys!
It was a smooth flight from Chicago to Japan. We arrived in Japan in the afternoon, and saw the sun setting on the way from Japan to Singapore! The sun looked a huge egg yolk, dropping down behind the clouds faster than I thought! It was beautiful! The last time I saw something as beautiful, was 12 years ago. I was on the flight to Nepal, and my jaws dropped when I saw Mount Everest "hanging" in the air .. you must be sitting on the "correct" side of the plane to enjoy this awesome view.
Well, it was 11.35pm, June 1 when we arrived in Singapore!
We enjoyed the food on board ANA, the inflight entertainment, and the friendliness of the service staff. But we didn't quite enjoy the tight space. On the whole, it was a better flight experience when compared to our flight to the States two years ago =)
My dear pal, Jean, was at the airport to welcome us. Not only did she send us home, she brought along a Pandan Cake and some "ZhongZi"! Yum! Thanks a million, Jean!
It felt good to be HOME!
We went to bed at 2am, tired but happy!
... Sweet dreams ....
No comments:
Post a Comment