Singapore

More of the Singapore story, including my departure for Tokyo en route back to the U.S.A.

Here are all the participants in the Singapore Smart Client course.

I wish I could name them all, but I'm afraid I'd miss someone.

As you can see, we had just one lady, from Viet Nam. Steve Borg is kinda buried in the middle, and you can probably pick out yours truly.

Steve and I delivered the course at Avantus, a local Microsoft Certified Partner and Technical Education Center.

Jake and Ronald came from the Philippines for the training class.

They were among the sharpest guys there, asking good questions and offering insightful comments.

As I was taking this self-portrait, the guys were ribbing me: "His arms are so long he doesn't need someone else to take his picture."

You think they might be just envious or something?

Tian-An Tan (on the left) was a consultant and instructor at Avantus, and Faridah Razak was the company's Operations Executive.

Both were very nice people.

Tian-An was kind enough to volunteer to guide me through a visit to local shopping areas on my final evening in Singapore.

He took me to Bugis Village, a shopping area with a variety of large and small establishments, ranging from department stores to flea-market-type booths.

When we got there it was already late evening, but there were still pedestrians coming and going.

You can see a few of them like ghosts crossing the street on the right. In the upper right is a nearby hotel.

The Fulu Shou complex is a subset of the Bugis Village milieu.

Just thought I'd throw in a little Francais to see if you're awake.

On that night, September 10, Singapore's Chinese community was getting ready to celebrate the annual Lantern Festival.

Because of this, many areas around the city were festooned with lights and decorations.

Hmmm.... There seems to be a ghost in this picture. Seems to have the form of a small child.

Must be my imagination.

Anyway, Tian-An told me that even local Singaporeans come to this dancing waters fountain in Bugis Village to take pictures.

When I took the next shot, suddenly, the child reappeared!

Wonders never cease.

I wanted a photo with the dancing waters, so Tian-An took one.

But as soon as he squeezed the shutter, the waters decided to take a break from their dancing.

So he tried again, and got this shot, except this time, my eyes decided they would have their little fun by blinking at the critical moment. Sheesh!

We stopped by a fast food place to grab a quick bite, and Tian-An seemed to be looking forward to something tasty.

He ought to be.

It was late, he'd generously delayed his trip home to guide me, and I'm sure he was famished.

There were dishes here to suit every taste.

In addition to the variety of main dishes, they offered pastries of various kinds.

They desserts all looked yummy, but I restrained myself.

We enjoyed our repast at an outdoor roadside table, with the main portion of Bugis Village behind Tian-An, on the other side of the road.

I grabbed this shot just as a bus from the Singapore Bus System (SBS) was passing by.

Finally, at about 10:00 p.m., I took my leave of Tian-An. He headed home and so did I.

On my way back I grabbed a train at the Bugis Station (note the ghosts heading for the escalator).

My hotel was just one stop away so it was a quick trip.

The next morning, regretfully, it was time to go.

I got a taxi at the hotel entrance. As you can see, it was still dark as I left for the airport.

Mr. Chang was an expert driver and a pleasant travel companion for the twenty minutes or so that it took to get to the airport.

Once I checked in I went up to the upper departure level.

Singapore has a spacious airport with lots of plants, multiple levels, and good lighting.

It's a good airport. I see a lot of airports, so I appreciate the convenient ones (like Orlando's).


Standing in line for the unavoidable security check, It seems I wasn't yet in my sunniest mood.

The lady's mannerisms and conversations with her husband suggested that she wasn't at her sunniest either.

I guess no-one's really at their best in the early hours of the morning when waiting impatiently in a security line, right?

Finally I was seated on the plane, a nice big 747, headed for Tokyo.

Not too many passengers on this flight. Was it because of September 11? Dunno.

I hope United at least broke even.

I asked the flight attendant, Suzuki, to take this picture.

Hint: If you can see both of my hands, it's a good bet I didn't take the picture myself.

And here she is, ladies and gentlemen. Suzuki of United Airlines.

She was Japanese, so when we arrived in Tokyo, she was going home, looking forward to seeing her young son, she said.

Ahhh.... The exit row.

Best seat on the plane, especially when you have the entire row to yourself, as I did in this case.

Room to stretch your legs whenever you want to.

There's just one small fly in the exit row ointment. In many planes, it's located right near the...umm...facilities.

On the 747, there were four of those facilities right there beside me.

I had many "visitors" during the flight, but none of them talked to me. They always seemed to veer off at just the last moment.

I mostly ignored them and caught some ZZZs as we jetted towards Tokyo.

It had been a busy few days, and I'd awakened early this morning, in part to catch the early flight, and also because I had to prepare a funeral program for a friend.

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Well, I guess that's it for Singapore. I really enjoyed this trip. Great people and a classy environment. I look forward to going back.

Pardon? You say you want to see the Tokyo part of the trip and the return to Orlando? Well, if you insist, I'll try to post that entry soon.