I SPY…

I know I am back in Singapore when I see the gorgeous sun that I have missed so much the past few weeks, I sweat at the thought of going outside and I hear the tropical birds outside my windows in the early morning.

When Paul and I left Ohio, it looked like this:

When we arrived in Singapore, it looked like this:

It did seem a bit odd when I landed in January and it was a million degrees outside but this is my life.

Our 36-hour journey was a bit better than I expected. We took one plane about two hours to New York City and then boarded another plan for the long flight. Fifteen hours later, we found ourselves in the Middle East and we watched the sun set as we landed.

We originally planned to travel outside of the airport into the city of Doha, but we were advised that we would not be able to obtain a visa unless our layover was 12 hours or more. Our only option was to spend our six-hour layover in the terminal.

The international transfer terminal was quite small compared to other airports. We did enjoy our time in the lounge. I froze so I could not sit in one place for more than an hour – I likely drove Paul crazy with my ADD-type moves.

We enjoyed our lukewarm showers and ate some surprisingly good onion rings in the tiny food court. I continued reading a book I started on my last cross-world adventure and then we did what Singaporeans do best – we stood in an incredibly long line as we prepared to board the short seven-hour flight home.

When I opened the window shade mid-morning, I was glad to see the sun for the first time in two days. As we approached Singapore, I also got to see a new view of one of my favorite Singaporean sights – the giant puffy clouds.

When we arrived home and opened the door, I was a bit taken aback. It looked different than when I left home but I did not know why. Maybe it’s because the housekeeper had three weeks here without us messing up the place.

The first thing we did was race into the bedroom and change out of our long pants and long shirts into something more tropics friendly. Paul unpacked and I procrastinated the unpacking. I ventured out in a perfect “I don’t care about myself” outfit of old sweatpants and an Ohio State jersey, messed up airplane hair and the remnants of my 4 a.m. makeup application and I went to the store.

I got only enough food items for two days and the things we absolutely needed, knowing that I could hit the store again in a couple days. We were good. We landed at 1 p.m. and made it until 7 before we crashed, I at 7 and Paul by 7:45.

I slept my predicted 12 hours while Paul got a little less. He went to work the next morning and did not return until dinner time. I don’t know how he managed to spend all day at the airport after a 36-hour, cross-world course. Last night we made it until 9. We might be O.K. Well, I will be O.K. – Paul is still on the get-up-way-too-early plan.