Brian’s PhotoPile

I arrived back in Rochester Friday evening. The effects of jet-lag were not too noticeable until Saturday night, probably because I hadn’t slept much on the flights home and stayed up late when I arrived. Anyway, after being up nine hours during the day Saturday I went to bed at seven-thirty and slept until five this morning. I feel pretty rested now and will complete this little travel blog. It took a little over twenty-six hours to get home counting the five hours in Detroit’s airport and the hour at Tokyo; not to mention the time spent just sitting in the planes after boarding while waiting for departure. That’s probably another two hours. I didn’t get around to reserving my seat assignments until the last minute so I wasn’t able to find any window seats. I watched a couple Nicolas Cage movies between Singapore and Tokyo: “Bangkok Dangerous” and “Matchsticks”. I know a lot of people, my spouse included, can’t stand Nicolas, but for some reason I like him so I thought this would be a good time to view them. It’s a good thing I didn’t drag Judy to see “Bangkok Dangerous” in a theater, she has no desire to see violence portrayed on the screen. Overall, I thought the film portrayed this snippet of life well. I liked the ending of “Matchsticks”, but as with the first film wondered why I felt so compelled to watch it. In the Tokyo airport I found a candy shop where I purchased a few sweets. Detroit airport has one of those passageways I’ve seen in other airports that have flashing colored lights which change color along with the music. Many of the diners have car themes, and there is a flashy red express tram to take you from one end of a terminal to the other quickly. Here in Rochester we have snow on the ground from the New Years day storm. This morning when I got up the temperature was 11 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill factor of O degrees.

After booking into the Fullerton I went for a swim on their terrace swimming pool that overlooks the Singapore river. I had made some arrangement with Steve Black to meet somewhere in Little India around 8 P.M. The concierge recommended I take a taxi, but I felt like walking so with map in hand off I went. I no sooner got across the bridge opposite the hotel than I discovered that the Asian Museum was open and had free admission for the New Year holiday. What a fantastic place; great exhibits of artifacts from many Asian cultures. The Tibetan robes are worn on special events and are about twice the average persons height. The little hole you can see in one of the robes is for whoever is in costume to be able see where they are going. Back outside I was approached by this little old man to ride his tricycle. I asked if he could take me to Little India so off we went. I soon realized I got more than I bargained for when we started weaving through side streets as he pointed out various landmarks. I enjoyed the ride and all the places he showed me before we finally arrived in Little India on time. Steve and I had a beer then went to a record store that a sort of punk rock like band was playing in. He knew the guitarist/singer and planned to video tape them. About 11 P.M. I returned to the hotel to be with the family and see the fireworks show that we would be able to view from the hotel room. Huge crowds had jammed the bridges as midnight approached and then we were treated to a stupendous show. Jae and I stayed in the room for the night and then had a stupendous continental breakfast in the ballroom. About two in the afternoon the rest of the family showed up and we dined on the largest buffet with the most exquisite food I’ve ever seen. On one of my trips to the buffet I tried a selection of shell fish, something I more than likely wouldn’t have an opportunity to do in the states. As much as I love seeing these little critters exist in their natural habitat, unmolested by mankind, I must say they were delicious. We’ll be getting up at 3:30 in the morning tomorrow, if we can sleep, to be ready to catch the taxi to the airport at 4 P.M. for our flight back to the USA.