Travels With SG:Singapore

Hello everyone!

Because it is so hard to maintain two separate distribution lists, Michael and I have formally 'merged' our distribution lists...
So, those who have not received a travel dispatch from me in the past, now will, (I'm sure you all know who I am...:) and ditto for those who had not received one from Michael (you definitely all know who he is..,:)

Indonesia

Since I last wrote, we have taken an Indonesian cooking in Ubud...
More like a "stuff yourself silly" class, toured "all" the temples on Bali, had a most relaxing massage, had our 3rd round of J.E., and Rabies shots, had a major bout with "Bali-Belly" (sound glamours doesn't it??? Layman terms-THE RUNS), did the four day boat trip to Flores via Komodo and Rinca Islands to see the 'komodo dragons'-which looked like large lizards, huge claws and a snake-shaped head...Then we chartered a bus along with 8 others and toured Flores for 4 more days...
Flores is a very beautiful island (ah, the colored lakes-volcano craters that change colors-see the photos...) but, it is a very difficult island to leave...

Why, you ask? Well...
When you go to the Merpati office (an Indonesian airline) they tell you that there are no flights till July...
So you do the only 'logical' thing and book a trip back to Bali on the 'god-forsaken' Pelni Boat, and spend 2 more endless nights in Ende (nothing here) waiting for the Pelni Boat to arrive...
They have no more first or 2nd class cabins on the Pelni Boat, so you are stuck in economy class...
Sleeping on top of each other, smells of vomit, body odor, dirty bathroom, etc.etc.etc....
I'm too old for this shit!!!

When the day finally arrives for us to leave Flores, the boat looks packed (it is over packed!)...
They let people on the boat before letting people off the boat(ummmm, does this sound a bit stupid or what???)...
We decided to say goodbye to our traveling companions, and find another way off the island...
While we were watching this "chinese-fire-drill" we met the captain of the Pelni boat...
He said, and I firmly quote, "YOU DO NOT WANT TO GET ON THAT BOAT!"

The boat claims to sell 915 economy seats...
Well, they actually sold 3700 economy seats! 2 passengers died in economy class prior to getting to Ende, and 2 were thrown in jail...
To make a long-story short (I'm really trying)...
We quickly befriended the captain, or did he befriend us??? We had coffee with him and the chief of police for Ende before chartering a bemo (small van) back to Moni...
The captain reserved us 2 seats on the Merpati plane, leaving from Maumere the next day...

The next day...
We caught public transport (no aircon) to Maumere (four hours crammed in the back seat with 2 other adults...these seats are really made for 3 adults-and you all know how big Michael is)...
Got to the Merpati office, and they have never heard of us, or Mr. Josef (with whom our captain made our reservations)...
We press them, and they suddenly find our names on a "stand-by" list, and tell us that Mr. Josef is at the airport...
ON TO THE AIRPORT...
No, Mr. Josef only works in the office, never at the airport, but they will do everything that they can to get us on the flight...
We wait...
They take our bags...
They take our money...
We make it through the "security" check point and into the waiting lounge!!! We see our bags board the plane...
YIPEE!!!!

But, alas, it is not to be...
They come collect us and tell us that we can not fly today without a proper ticket, and the office is closed till 8am tomorrow (it is now 2pm)-even begging and crying does not work (believe me, I put on the waterworks)...
They retrieved our bags, we retrieved our money $$$...
Get this...
There are no Taxi's at the airport-NO, I am NOT KIDDING!!!...
A very nice Indonesian man, who had seen everything that we had gone through (along with 2 other Indonesian business men-who are also in the same predicament) takes pity on us all and drives us to a hotel-get this...
He does NOT want money!!! Even in our deepest darkest hour, there is a bit of light!!!:)

Later that night...
One of the Merpati guys comes and tells us that he can get us on the flight tomorrow...
He just needs our money (are we on candid camera, or what???)...
We tell him that don't have enough money-we will have to go to the bank tomorrow, and then to the office...

He comes back one hour later with proper tickets-our names are on them and everything...
We give him rupiah and some American cash-ALL SYSTEMS GO!!! I wonder how he got proper tickets at 8pm at night when the office closed at 2pm??? INDONESIAN B.S!!!...
Is the camera still on???

The next day we land on Bali...
Go to Kuta and get a hotel with pool and phone-we splurge big time...
$18/night!!! (we usually pay $2-4/night) I have never been so happy in all my life to get to Kuta!!! We change our tickets to get out of Indo ASAP, and on to Singapore!!!

Singapore

We are being spoiled rotten! We are staying with Bill Cave, (an old co-worker of Michael's) his beautiful family, Ling, and their 3 kids-DJ (age 13) NiNi (3 1/2), and CeCe (2)...
And one on the way!!! They live in a very large "apartment" (about 2500 sq/ft, plus a 500 sq/ft balcony) 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom, overlooking the eastern harbor...
We have our own room, bathroom and ...
AIRCON!!! They also have a live in maid...
Who did our laundry yesterday...
Talk about a change from Flores!!! We are so BLESSED!!!! It really has been an enjoyable week-with a family...We really needed it!

Singapore claims to be a "western" country...
We have been here a week, and my impression is that it is a Chinese Country (The culture is very Chinese, and for some reason the people are VERY RUDE...
It is so unbelievable-it only seems that the people from India smile and are friendly to travelers, and want to be of service-whether in a shop or at a restaurant)...
But Singapore does have all the western conveniences-drinking water from the tap, flushing TP down the toilet, malls, capitalism, materialism, malls, and the "keep-up-with-the-jones" syndrome...more malls!!!

We have seen quite a bit of Singapore and will be heading on to Malaysia Friday...

We'd love to hear from you, and don't forget to check out our photos!!!

All for now!
Luv,
SG