Saturday June 3, 2006
I'm in Singapore right now and it is approx. 1:12 pm, and my flight to India is not until 7pm so I thought I'd regal you with some tales. The trip got off to a surprising start when the x-ray machine found a pair of scissors that I accidentally packed in my carry-on. Oops.
I suppose I should mention that I really hate to fly - the notion of turbulence and having my ears pop is an experience that I'd describe as far from pleasant. My flight path is Toronto to LA, LA to Singapore (with a brief stop in Taipei) and then Singapore to Trivandrum, India.
I think that Air Canada has hit a new low. They now charge passengers for EVERYTHING - $2 for a pillow and blanket; $5 for a sandwhich; $3 to go to the washroom. Sinagpore Airlines is the anti-Air Canada. They gave us a free toothbrush and pair of purple socks (which I forgot on the plane) and on the flight from LA to Taipei we got 2 meals. 2! Except I slept through the first one because by the time the plane left LA it was 1am, which was 4am Toronto time.
The biggest shock so far was dealt to me in Taipei where we had a 1-hour stop over between LA and Singapore. A 1.5L bottle of Evian and a cup of coffee cost me $11US. Actually, the real shocker was the coffee which was $6US. That's right. Six. American. Dollars. For a cup of coffee. Granted, they brew each cup individually using a set of instruments and containers that look like they would be used in a crystal meth lab in some guy's basement. But $6!? If I'm going to pay that much for a cup of coffee, I'd better have someone pouring it down my throat.
Let me tell you more about my love affair with Singapore Air. Aside from haivng a flight attendant on the flight from LA to Taipei named Paul Martin (the former Liberal leader has really hit on hard times since the Grits lost power in the last election) each seat had its own personal TV screen on the back of the seat in front of it. But, also, we can each watch what we want - including a selection of over 50 movies. I saw "13 Going on 30" which kind of sucked and bits of "Failure to Launch" (can anyone say Chick Flick Fest?) which I saw the entire thing on the f light from Toronto to LA. I was also able to see 2 episodes of "Everybody Hates Chris", 2 of "Two and a half Men". Who needs Blockbuster when I've got Singapore Air?!
The flights have been long enough for me to read over 1/2 of The Cider House Rules, which is a great novel, but to be frank, John Irving probably could've cut at least 15 pages from what I've read so far by using way less descriptions and details. I've also read 6 chapters of Everybody Worth Knowing, by the author of The Devil Wears Prada, Laura Weisberger, who is pretty hot.
The Singapore Airport is laden with one of the most vile carpets evoking images of puke. However, if it is perfumes and fragrances and time pieces you desire, you won't go for want of either, here. I couldn't go 10 feet without finding some sort of retail store or kiosk that wasn't selling either fragrances or watches. Try to find a cup of coffee here for under $2 - impossible - but you can buy almost any imangiable perfume at this airport. Maybe not Chacin's perfume. I think that's exclusive to the Toronto market.
It turns out that we flew Silkair to TRV, which sucks bigtime compared to Singapore Air. For starters, no movie at all, let alone no individual TVs with 50+movies and TV shows and CDs - on Singapore Air we had access to a number of recent CDs including U2's latest, which gave me a fix because I had left Beaker, my iPod (yes, I named it after the Muppet character) back at home.
Once we landed at TRV, let's just say that the airport is budget. We had to go down one of those staircases from the plane to the tarmac, just like the Beatles did then they landed at JFK in '64. Except, there were no throngs of teenage girls there to greet us. Just security guys with machine guns and rifles.
We then had to take a bus about 3 hours to our hotel. This bus looked like it was from the Steve Reuben - owner of the infamous Studio 54 - reject collection. The interior felt like velvet and it was a maroon. The inside lighting was pink and there was a pole smack dab in the middle, with several jokes cracked about it being a dancer's pole.
I was so relieved when we finally arrived - not only becuase I had to pee really badly, but because it meant that I was that much closer to my first shower since Thursday morning - the longest I've gone without showering or bathing in as long as I could remember. Now, in fairness to myself, my Friday June 2nd lasted all of one hour that I was in LA because once I got on the flight to Singapore, I promptly fell asleep and when I woke up, we had crossed the International Date Zone, and lo and behold it was Saturday.
I'm in Singapore right now and it is approx. 1:12 pm, and my flight to India is not until 7pm so I thought I'd regal you with some tales. The trip got off to a surprising start when the x-ray machine found a pair of scissors that I accidentally packed in my carry-on. Oops.
I suppose I should mention that I really hate to fly - the notion of turbulence and having my ears pop is an experience that I'd describe as far from pleasant. My flight path is Toronto to LA, LA to Singapore (with a brief stop in Taipei) and then Singapore to Trivandrum, India.
I think that Air Canada has hit a new low. They now charge passengers for EVERYTHING - $2 for a pillow and blanket; $5 for a sandwhich; $3 to go to the washroom. Sinagpore Airlines is the anti-Air Canada. They gave us a free toothbrush and pair of purple socks (which I forgot on the plane) and on the flight from LA to Taipei we got 2 meals. 2! Except I slept through the first one because by the time the plane left LA it was 1am, which was 4am Toronto time.
The biggest shock so far was dealt to me in Taipei where we had a 1-hour stop over between LA and Singapore. A 1.5L bottle of Evian and a cup of coffee cost me $11US. Actually, the real shocker was the coffee which was $6US. That's right. Six. American. Dollars. For a cup of coffee. Granted, they brew each cup individually using a set of instruments and containers that look like they would be used in a crystal meth lab in some guy's basement. But $6!? If I'm going to pay that much for a cup of coffee, I'd better have someone pouring it down my throat.
Let me tell you more about my love affair with Singapore Air. Aside from haivng a flight attendant on the flight from LA to Taipei named Paul Martin (the former Liberal leader has really hit on hard times since the Grits lost power in the last election) each seat had its own personal TV screen on the back of the seat in front of it. But, also, we can each watch what we want - including a selection of over 50 movies. I saw "13 Going on 30" which kind of sucked and bits of "Failure to Launch" (can anyone say Chick Flick Fest?) which I saw the entire thing on the f light from Toronto to LA. I was also able to see 2 episodes of "Everybody Hates Chris", 2 of "Two and a half Men". Who needs Blockbuster when I've got Singapore Air?!
The flights have been long enough for me to read over 1/2 of The Cider House Rules, which is a great novel, but to be frank, John Irving probably could've cut at least 15 pages from what I've read so far by using way less descriptions and details. I've also read 6 chapters of Everybody Worth Knowing, by the author of The Devil Wears Prada, Laura Weisberger, who is pretty hot.
The Singapore Airport is laden with one of the most vile carpets evoking images of puke. However, if it is perfumes and fragrances and time pieces you desire, you won't go for want of either, here. I couldn't go 10 feet without finding some sort of retail store or kiosk that wasn't selling either fragrances or watches. Try to find a cup of coffee here for under $2 - impossible - but you can buy almost any imangiable perfume at this airport. Maybe not Chacin's perfume. I think that's exclusive to the Toronto market.
It turns out that we flew Silkair to TRV, which sucks bigtime compared to Singapore Air. For starters, no movie at all, let alone no individual TVs with 50+movies and TV shows and CDs - on Singapore Air we had access to a number of recent CDs including U2's latest, which gave me a fix because I had left Beaker, my iPod (yes, I named it after the Muppet character) back at home.
Once we landed at TRV, let's just say that the airport is budget. We had to go down one of those staircases from the plane to the tarmac, just like the Beatles did then they landed at JFK in '64. Except, there were no throngs of teenage girls there to greet us. Just security guys with machine guns and rifles.
We then had to take a bus about 3 hours to our hotel. This bus looked like it was from the Steve Reuben - owner of the infamous Studio 54 - reject collection. The interior felt like velvet and it was a maroon. The inside lighting was pink and there was a pole smack dab in the middle, with several jokes cracked about it being a dancer's pole.
I was so relieved when we finally arrived - not only becuase I had to pee really badly, but because it meant that I was that much closer to my first shower since Thursday morning - the longest I've gone without showering or bathing in as long as I could remember. Now, in fairness to myself, my Friday June 2nd lasted all of one hour that I was in LA because once I got on the flight to Singapore, I promptly fell asleep and when I woke up, we had crossed the International Date Zone, and lo and behold it was Saturday.
posted by kacob at 5:13 PM
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