... these girls

I wasn't entirely expecting to see Lacie and Jenni until we got back to Tokyo. Then again, it was just as likely that they would show up on my doorstep at 3AM ... these girls.


Well, on Saturday morning, I got a phone call in my room. It was Jenni.

J-san: We are here!

Me: Where?

J-san: Downstairs.

Me: Downstairs where?

J-san: In the hotel.

Me: In what country?

J-san: Just come downstairs... in your hotel....


It is 3AM and Jenni, Lacie and also Camie have successfully procured an emergency passport for Jenni and found themselves a bus or train or flying machine out of Malaysia (they have told me the story a millions times and I am still confused about how it all happened... these girls). They arrive in my hotel and we throw some sheets and towels down on the floor in my single room and get a few hours of sleep.


In the morning, we check out of my single room and into a triple (Camie finds a hostel). Jenni decides to have a day to herself to deal with the aftermath of The Great Snatching of 2009 and Camie and Lacie want to check out Sentosa. I warn them that it will be a stark contrast to the untouched beaches of Thailand but they are up for it. And I am too since my beach day had been cut short by the thunderstorm. Off we went, deciding to go to Tanjong, the Hip Beach. It is quite lovely there- we spread out our towels and settle in on the sand. Not 30 minutes later, the thunder starts again. We pack up and head for a nearby restaurant for some Tiger beer and pizza. At least this time, the weather improves and we are able to enjoy a nice beachside afternoon. We also go to another little island connected by footbridge to Sentosa. It is the southern most point of southeast Asia. Right. Well whatever... Singapore seems to like having the best, tallest and biggest of everything!

Camie, me and Lacie

Me at the southern most point in southeast Asia

View from the top of the tower on the southern most point in continental Asia

We head back to the hotel to meet up with Jenni and decide on Little India for dinner. By the time we get to Little India, we are starving and order basically everything on the meal- chicken tikka masala, curry, multiple types of naan, little bits of heavenly chicken goodness and, of course, more Tiger beer. Wherever I seem to go with Lacie and Jenni, adventure follows... these girls. The table next to us is a group of young gentlemen celebrating one of their birthdays. When the cake comes, we sing along. The birthday boy sends over strawberry ice cream to our table and before we know it, we are joining them for their birthday celebration at one of Singapore's nicest dance clubs.

Little India.... just trust me that it is.

Impromptu fire in Little India

At dinner

Lacie and Camie and all of our food!

At the club

At the end of the evening, Camie heads to her hostel and us to our hotel and we promise to call her in the morning when we wake up so that we can plan our last day in Singapore. At 11:30am, Camie is knocking on our door having been awake for hours and wondering if we have left without her. Ha- there was pretty much no chance that any of us would be chomping at the bit to get going at 8AM. We send Camie off to wander around so that we can get ready and, more importantly, find coffee. We all meet back up for lunch at the mall near the hotel and gorge ourselves on noodles, potato chips on a stick, fish cakes, donuts and Starbucks coffee. Even the food at the mall food courts is delicious and cheap. In fact, all of our food costs less than the venti Starbucks iced coffee that I ordered. And even the Starbucks is half of the price of the Starbucks in Tokyo. After lunch we say our goodbyes to Lacie who is heading back to Bangkok that afternoon. Camie, Jenni and I decide to take a nice harbor cruise to end our Singaporean vacation. We find our way to the cruise and then to the top deck. It is a lovely, sunny afternoon and people are friendly. We chat with an Australian couple who are traveling around the world. The wife had visited Singapore 20 years ago and had always wanted to return. We hope to be returning to the interesting places that we have visited in 20 years. We also start chatting with two gentlemen here on business from Michigan. After having traveled around for the last 2 weeks, Camie and Jenni seem excited to share all of their hilarious adventures with someone who is not me and the time on the cruise passes with lots of laughter and a few Singapore Slings to refresh us from the heat.

Camie, Me and Jenni on the harbor cruise

We stopped over at a little island called Kusu.

Kusu Island

When we arrive back at the port, our new friends invite us to share a taxi with them to the main area of Singapore which is a relief to us since we had taken a subway, walked and then a cab to the port and did not have a clue as to how we were going to get back in the right direction. They very graciously invite us have drinks with them in the Executive Lounge at the Marriot and we accept. It is not everyday that three 25 year old students get to watch the sunset from the top of a gorgeous hotel's Executive Lounge. I do realize that this part of the story is where readers may start to raise eyebrows... 3 25 year olds... middle aged executives... an exotic land.... but there really was not anything funny about it. We met up with our new friend's business colleague who had lived in Singapore for years and he told us all about his experiences and the history and political underpinnings of Singapore past and present. We joined them for dinner at a lovely Thai restaurant right next to the river that runs through the middle of Singapore. After dinner, we went our separate ways. Jenni thought about friending one of our new friend's 17 year old daughters on facebook... these girls.

Sunset in the Marriot Executive Lounge

Jenni and Me

Sunset

Our new friends and us

Camie, Me and Jenni

The gentleman sitting next to us played some lovely music on his guitar.

River view

Camie and Jenni thought about j-walking... but then we realized that in Singapore that might be punishable by death and thought better of it.

Camie heads back to her hostel and, after checking the internet, packing, showering, etc, Jenni and I tuck into our beds at around 230AM. The alarm goes off at 4AM for our taxi ride to the airport. Neither Jenni, nor I, really speak to others before morning coffee meaning the taxi ride is silent and our goodbyes to each other short as we part ways for our separate flights back to Tokyo. Mine went off without a hitch and I arrive back in Tokyo at about 430pm to relative chaos at Narita. Apparently, a Fedex plane carrying cargo and two pilots had crashed and exploded at the airport that morning. I am quite lucky to have been able to land and, of course, even luckier not to have been on a flight that ended so terribly. Many of my friends are stuck across southeast Asia as they try to get home from their vacation despite most of the runways at Narita being closed. A sobering end to a great vacation.