Departure & Arrival ~

Orinda - SFO

Saturday we took the B.A.R.T. Bay Area Rapid Transit from Orinda to SFO...and Mar tagged along...so' nice! The Bart dropped us right into the international departure area...China Eastern Airlines. We quickly checked in and sat a waited with Mar for a little while!

Nick & I departed out of SFO on time ~12 noon and flew 13 hrs to Shanghai arriving local time 4 pm the next day ~ Sunday!

Hey lookie there..KLM "Royal Dutch Airlines is also flying to Singapore....go Dutchies!

We had an 8 hr layover in Shanghai. It was raining quite a downpour in Shanghai with thunderstorms and lightening.  But after 13 hrs of flying we were glad to walk around a bit and stretch out.  We both took a nap there stretching out on the airport benches!

At 12 midnight we flew onward to Singapore -

Oh look here how funny....from the movie list on board..."interesting" title option huh?

chuckle! chuckle! Yep! Yep! Yep!

 ...another 5 hrs flight and arrived in Singapore, Monday morning right on time! Gosh such a large airport and very nicely done!  BIG! People were friendly & helpful.  Nick & I found the ground transport area and got a shuttle to our hotel ~ Por-ce-lain Hotel pretty close to downtown.  So glad we booked that before (Thanks Jim & Mar for the encouragement!) the evening before departing from SFO.  

By this time we had been up 33 hrs already! We were excited to get to our destination ...Wow Singapore! The traffic drives English style    ...on the left.  Sure takes getting use to - when you step off the curb!!

We we took a shower & a 2 hr nap this morning and got up so we would not have that jet-lag...! "Let's go see what this beautiful & interesting City is all about! 

Do you see what I see??? Does that look like a ship on top of those buildings? Crazy big!

Lots of tall buildings and you also see the English influences that had been here from the past still very much present.

Oh my goodness...Ellen was excited...ladies...there is miles & miles of shopping here on Orchard Road....not 1 mall but miles of malls....where are my girlfriends????!!!!

Come quick!

Does this not make you think of Dobbie Gillis???  OK you ole' timers! ha!

Maynard...where are you?

Well it was around 5 pm today and we thought...hmmm we think we are tired....dah! Lets get back to the hotel and rest a bit!  By the way it is 90 today and yes dear friends & family....high humidity! HOT & sticky!

So those air conditioned stores & malls are a good place to be!

...an old building from the past surrounded by many skyscrapers!

We did fall asleep - and slept till around 8:30 - just a few hours and then got dressed again to have a bite to eat...and enjoy the coolness & evening atmosphere....

Time to have a bite to eat in Chinatown!

9:30 ~ dinner in Singapore...and lots of people were out and about too! 

By this time we were ready to crash....it has been a delightful 1st day in this interesting City! 

Still hard to believe we are here!

Oh yes...we meant a gal who was vacationing with her boyfriend from Holland "Sandra" was full of information and shared her 5 week vacation with us  ~ she loves Indonesia the most she said...also had done a 1.5 yr trip through eastern Asia a few years back.  Nice to hear ~ Fun to speak Dutch so very far away...and hear her excitement on this very first day! Sandra was heading back to Holland that evening!