Round the world in 6 days.
So they called me on Friday 03/24/06 and said go to the Far East on Sunday 03/26. This was the trip that was supposed to happen a few weeks ago which got cancelled. So they sent me a first class ticket and said go. Initially to Tokyo, but when I got there they said go on to Singapore. This is the same as flying to London from here, so coming back is like SA to NYC and then to London. So I decided to wait over in Tokyo for a First class flight back rather than doing a marathon in coach, the only class available on the direct flight from Singapore to NY.
American does a great job in First Class to Japan, catering to Japanese and American tastes. The Japanese meal was as good as any on JAL and a wonderful array of variety.
The sleeping arrangement is very good, but nothing like Singapore where you get your own little office, which converts, into a bed. The real advantage of the twosie bed system is that you can travel together with another person. On JAL or Singapore you are on your own for the duration, though JAL is a lot closer than SIA.
The American entertainment system is superior in that you can choose a movie and watch it on your own personal VCR. It’s just a bit primitive to deal with little tapes in a digital world. Singapore is a wide variety, but not on demand yet.
The crew is very attentive, but Singapore takes service to a new level, not just the high quality handouts of clothing and travel goodies, but the wonderful smiling Sarong draped staff. American is America doing it’s best to provide oriental service; Singapore is Orientals doing what they do best, providing pleasure to other people.
Tokyo.
The weather is about the same as New York at this time of year +- 55. It never gets as cold and most subtropical plants, Ficus, Podocarpus, Camellias etc., survive well. Not palms though.
The Cherry blossoms were in full bloom, which is spectacular. Not just in the large gardens, but in the streets squeezed in little avenue between.
Every airport in the world has a system. Even if you have been there many times, it is hard to remember the subtleties. So I paid 22,500 yen to a legitimate taxi driver, about $US 200. I must admit it was almost worth it because of the door-to-door convenience and the ability to catch up on Japan and Japanese baseball.
But on your own money, take the bus for 3,000, about $30.00. You need to know where your hotel is to get the right bus, so research it before you leave. The bus can stop at many hotels before it gets to yours. Another way to enter or leave Tokyo is via the Airport terminal in the city. It’s the first stop from the airport, but it’s on the way to the Grand Hyatt so if you are going there you may as well stay on the bus and save the taxi fare. Leaving from the Airport terminal is particularly convenient because you check customs and immigration as well as security before you board the bus.
But if your hotel as far away, some of the convenience is lost so again research it as it’s worth the plan. Another thing you should plan is that no matter what the phone companies say, your cell phone will not work in Japan. It may not work either in Indonesia although some say you need to program it to find a network and it will, it simply will not in Japan. Sym cards will not work either. Trust me, don’t bother with these. You need to rent a phone, easier said than done at the airport, but hotels like the GH have them.
Tokyo is divided into many specific districts that have fairly discrete ambience. I stayed this time in Ripongi, which abuts Akasaka. Shinjuku, where I used to stay many years ago, is a more commercial and hotel area. Akasaka is kind of the Electronic store section and Ripongi is where it all happens. Shopping in Ripongi hills, a man made hill of malls is convenient and quite interesting, but nothing like the nearby Ginza which is the real thing blending traditional noodle houses with Mikimoto.
The Grand Hyatt is a very good hotel by any standards, with very good restaurants and service. But, compared say with the Oriental in Singapore, it is a very Western hotel. The gym is free if you show up dressed and don't take showers. There is a wonderful chlorine free lap pool and spa. The gym equipment is health club class.
In most of these hotels, it is worthwhile to upgrade to the club class as it gives you a private lounge for meetings, relaxing and having free beverages and snacks available. But again, the Oriental takes this top a new level, with really great breakfast included that comprises both dim sum and western cooked or continental breakfast.
If I sound like a fan of Singapore, I am. It started in the airport lounge in Tokyo. They serve a wide variety of snacks including pretty good dim sum constantly available. Free Internet access it by cable, which you exchange for your boarding pass. But in Singapore the place is wireless and the food and wine is so good you really do not need to have dinner before taking the red eye out as I did.
The weather here is tropical and the temperature was 84 degrees on arrival, about 30 higher than Tokyo. It does moderate a little at night and out near the water when a breeze cones trough it fells like someone turned the ac on.
One interesting thing in Singapore is the fish restaurant on the airport road. It is a famous local hangout where you can get the real seafood at local prices. It is so cheap it pays you to rent a cab for $70S and have them wait while you eat overlooking the water from whence cometh your grub.
Unlike Tokyo the security screening is individual gates in Sing. This means don’t sit in the lounge until the last moment as I did, as there is no advantage to First class tickets until you board the plane and you will get stuck it a long long line. Unlike in Tokyo where a First class ticket causes small loud people to clear they way until you have passed into your luxurious setting.
Singapore is an entire city built the way Walt Disney would build a modern Oriental city. So while the only pockets of tradition are old government buildings abandoned by the British and beautifully repurposed, the rest of the city is new, incredibly clean, safe and the inhabitants very proud of their city country.
The place is buzzing with thousands of restaurants along the many waterways. I ate at the Indochine, which is one restaurant in a complex of Asian eating-place set in the Asian museum, am old Government House complex. The setting is stunning as is the Vietnamese food. Singapore has such a diverse population from all over Asia as well as East India, but they are not migrants or economic refugees. They seem to have attracted the highest quality of people who all speak a brand of English, quite difficult to understand and are quick to tell you they are not what they might look like, Chinese, India etc. but Singaporean.
Now if you want over the top, go to Raffles. Sink a true yard of Tiger Ale in the Long bar, where the fashionably seedy old British décor pervades including the swigging fans that incessantly swing from side to side. Gone are the fan wallahs who used to pull the operating popes, replaced by electric motors. I now know why Elliott found this his favorite bar. The stench of cigars smoke, pipe tobacco that has permeated every crevice is the true smell of a bygone era that the well intended non-smoking laws everywhere but at Raffles have eliminated. The Singaporeans realize this and apply the non-smoking laws to all the modern places but have left Raffles untouched. I hope they keep it that way.
The courtyard bar and café is fabulous, where you can pick out your seafood including the freshest largest Tiger Prawns I have ever seen. They will cook it anyway you want right in the middle of the courtyard. The only downside is that much of the rest of the courtyard has been converted into a series of high-end stores. Tastefully done but nevertheless a pity.
While the Singaporeans are proud of their independence, they were proud that the Queen stayed there last week.
The India Room is a curry room with the British Raj buffet that you might have seen 100 or 150 years ago. The setting and service has not changed, only the prices. My beer in the Long Bar was $30.00.
It never fails to amaze me that people at a curry buffet who can eat, as many items as they want, will fill their plates with the largest mound of food that loses its individuality by all mixing together. Take you time and spend a couple of hours being looked after by people who enjoy playing the serving role as they understand it.
The Orient Hotel where I stayed is a very good hotel, but it is quintessentially Oriental, architecturally and attitudinally. Whether it is a bar or restaurant, you are in the orient not a Hyatt with a Chinese restaurant. The place is full of sensory clues, Flowers they way they fold the napkins etc. It is hard to describe the natural beauty that surrounds you and the man made gardens and structures that have been designed to be symbiotic with nature. This makes it a total sensory experience that keeps hitting you. Unlike Singapore, this place is not new and has been designed with a tradition thousands of years old.
I had one of the best Chinese meals every at the Cherry Blossom in the hotel. Yes I went for the most expensive set menus but not just to spend money, but also to experience the delicacies fresh that are unobtainable in the US. Fresh Abalone, sharks fin, sea cucumber and well as the most delicious crispy fried miniature eels, even avid eel haters will love.
Even the fried rice was special, but you need to like dried fish to appreciate the flavor that resembles fish sauce but is subtler. The service was incredible with gorgeous but knowledgeable waitresses falling over themselves to do something for you. The menu number five was for a minimum of two people. But my waitress disappeared into the kitchen for some time before proudly emerging with a successful grin of sheer pleasure to have succeeded in providing what a guest wanted.
The only negative comment I would make about this city is that it is very difficult to come to grips with the cab system. They have lines at the hotels you can join if you can find a hotel. But the cabstands are complex. All the locals call cabs on their cells and you are left wondering how long it will be before a real cab shows up. So get a number from the cab that brings you from the airport and call cabs from wherever you are. They are very cheap, $10 US from the airport and a couple of dollars anywhere you want to go in this relatively small city are with 4 million people. Everyone I met was, fabulous.
There is some prejudice about the large Muslim countries on its borders, but typically respectful, even the quick wok and dim sum place at the ferry dock advertises no pork or lard. Thgey are somewhat preoccupied with a kind of sex trade that involves young girls, virgins they say, that older Singaporean and foreign men go to Indonesia for. Very poor people apparently sell these girls into the system. Not a new story but a tragic reminder how pervasive the abuse of young women is.
Singapore is very strict about anything to do with child sex, as well as there infamous no drugs policy. The police are strict about everything and have enormous power. While their intent is benevolent this seems fine but in a way it is a police state.
Singapore is abutted by Malaysia to the North and Indonesia to the South, including a necklace of islands. Indonesia comprises 4600 islands in addition to the better-known ones like Bali, Sumatra Jakarta.
I went to Bintan Island. The Banyon Tree resort there is unlike anything I have seen, Stunningly rugged, I saw no beaches but they do exist, the resort sits high up overlooking a dramatic rocky the Pacific coast to the west and the South China sea to the east. Swimming in the endless pool and looking out over the ocean is like being in a postcard.
The Indonesians are completely different to the Singaporeans who are egalitarian. The Indonesians are aware of and seem accepting of a class system and are open about it. My drive told me he was not the right class to play golf. There was no resentment in his tone.
They are brilliantly service oriented. I needed to change my ferry booking and get to the airport, so the receptionist abandoned her post produced a car and driver, rushed into the terminal barking orders in Indonesian and I was on the ferry. She did ask for a tip, which she richly deserved, but there was no charge for the car she commandeered from two unsuspecting resort employees.
But they are a little language challenged and make quite a few mistakes with orders, so you need to be very sure they actually understand what you want. Yes sir does no men they necessarily do.
We ate Nasi Goreng at one of the world’s most spectacular golf Courses overlooking the ocean drinking Bintan beer, a light very refreshing drink.
They really know how to live. But you will need a second mortgage to stay here.
When I asked about winter and summer they explained there was no such thing. Only Wet, October to February, but sometimes into April, and Dry. The dry season is a real problem as they have millions of acres burned each year sometimes causing a worldwide pollution hazard.
Clearly on Bintan they have go the message about security. They have a variety of checkpoints on the way to the report and screen the car from top to bottom with bomb seeking detectors.
With good reason. This morning when I got back to Japan the Indonesian Government issued a warning for all westerners to leave as there was going to be a terrorist attack against westerners on Sunday 04/02/06.
The ferry takes just less than an hour in a pleasant well-ordered experience. (I traveled off peak during the week so I imagine weekends may be a little more chaotic). My ferry was booked and paid for on my credit card by the ultra efficient Sam. However, despite two confirmation numbers, they had never heard of my booking, my credit card or me. While they turned the computer upside down to find it, they were relieved when I told them all I wanted was a ticket, which they gave me immediately. Much to their relief. If I had not stopped them, I would still be there while they investigated the mystery.
So back in Tokyo at the Grand Hyatt for a little sleep and a workout, I had dinner in the Chinaroom a very good Chinese restaurant. Very expensive. They had Magnotta Icewine on the menu, 375 ml for Y21,000 about $190.00 for a half bottle.
Back to my room to watch the Yomuri Giants play the Bayshore team which they beat 12-2. and an early night for an early start in the morning.
JAL is a very good airline. Comparable to American, probably a little better, perhaps I like the Japanese flavor more and it has a fanatical devotion to efficiency. Everything is beautifully done, brilliantly packaged and presented. You cannot fault it except there is no Internet access on the plane.
However, it is not Singapore, which caters to pleasure and is efficient in the process. The lounge Internet is wireless and hassle free. JAL requires scratch passwords and a log in which requires thought. Singapore service is help yourself; casual with an immense variety, while the very accommodating servers at JAL are trained to serve you, so you can’t make your own tea without insulting them. Snacks were traditional sushi; at Singapore they had a variety of Western and Eastern snacks, hot and cold.
The bed on the plane is more like American but surprisingly less private and nothing like the cozy privacy of Singapore. It seems that JAL and American started with a seat and the added flaps and moving bits that end up in a bed. Singapore started with a desk that converts into a bed, which is brilliant outside in thinking.
Everyone on JAL is in smart uniforms versus sexy Sarongs; perhaps this sums it up best.
As I said to Mom, you cannot travel like this unless you go First Class. It is too stressful and you need sleepovers. I don’t know how these people can afford it, but the planes full and I had to wait nearly two days to get a flight back to NY.
I have a feeling I will be back here soon, so stay tuned. I also heard I might need to be in Paris in the first week of May.
So April looks like a busy time.
Maybe Mom will come with me next time.
American does a great job in First Class to Japan, catering to Japanese and American tastes. The Japanese meal was as good as any on JAL and a wonderful array of variety.
The sleeping arrangement is very good, but nothing like Singapore where you get your own little office, which converts, into a bed. The real advantage of the twosie bed system is that you can travel together with another person. On JAL or Singapore you are on your own for the duration, though JAL is a lot closer than SIA.
The American entertainment system is superior in that you can choose a movie and watch it on your own personal VCR. It’s just a bit primitive to deal with little tapes in a digital world. Singapore is a wide variety, but not on demand yet.
The crew is very attentive, but Singapore takes service to a new level, not just the high quality handouts of clothing and travel goodies, but the wonderful smiling Sarong draped staff. American is America doing it’s best to provide oriental service; Singapore is Orientals doing what they do best, providing pleasure to other people.
Tokyo.
The weather is about the same as New York at this time of year +- 55. It never gets as cold and most subtropical plants, Ficus, Podocarpus, Camellias etc., survive well. Not palms though.
The Cherry blossoms were in full bloom, which is spectacular. Not just in the large gardens, but in the streets squeezed in little avenue between.
Every airport in the world has a system. Even if you have been there many times, it is hard to remember the subtleties. So I paid 22,500 yen to a legitimate taxi driver, about $US 200. I must admit it was almost worth it because of the door-to-door convenience and the ability to catch up on Japan and Japanese baseball.
But on your own money, take the bus for 3,000, about $30.00. You need to know where your hotel is to get the right bus, so research it before you leave. The bus can stop at many hotels before it gets to yours. Another way to enter or leave Tokyo is via the Airport terminal in the city. It’s the first stop from the airport, but it’s on the way to the Grand Hyatt so if you are going there you may as well stay on the bus and save the taxi fare. Leaving from the Airport terminal is particularly convenient because you check customs and immigration as well as security before you board the bus.
But if your hotel as far away, some of the convenience is lost so again research it as it’s worth the plan. Another thing you should plan is that no matter what the phone companies say, your cell phone will not work in Japan. It may not work either in Indonesia although some say you need to program it to find a network and it will, it simply will not in Japan. Sym cards will not work either. Trust me, don’t bother with these. You need to rent a phone, easier said than done at the airport, but hotels like the GH have them.
Tokyo is divided into many specific districts that have fairly discrete ambience. I stayed this time in Ripongi, which abuts Akasaka. Shinjuku, where I used to stay many years ago, is a more commercial and hotel area. Akasaka is kind of the Electronic store section and Ripongi is where it all happens. Shopping in Ripongi hills, a man made hill of malls is convenient and quite interesting, but nothing like the nearby Ginza which is the real thing blending traditional noodle houses with Mikimoto.
The Grand Hyatt is a very good hotel by any standards, with very good restaurants and service. But, compared say with the Oriental in Singapore, it is a very Western hotel. The gym is free if you show up dressed and don't take showers. There is a wonderful chlorine free lap pool and spa. The gym equipment is health club class.
In most of these hotels, it is worthwhile to upgrade to the club class as it gives you a private lounge for meetings, relaxing and having free beverages and snacks available. But again, the Oriental takes this top a new level, with really great breakfast included that comprises both dim sum and western cooked or continental breakfast.
If I sound like a fan of Singapore, I am. It started in the airport lounge in Tokyo. They serve a wide variety of snacks including pretty good dim sum constantly available. Free Internet access it by cable, which you exchange for your boarding pass. But in Singapore the place is wireless and the food and wine is so good you really do not need to have dinner before taking the red eye out as I did.
The weather here is tropical and the temperature was 84 degrees on arrival, about 30 higher than Tokyo. It does moderate a little at night and out near the water when a breeze cones trough it fells like someone turned the ac on.
One interesting thing in Singapore is the fish restaurant on the airport road. It is a famous local hangout where you can get the real seafood at local prices. It is so cheap it pays you to rent a cab for $70S and have them wait while you eat overlooking the water from whence cometh your grub.
Unlike Tokyo the security screening is individual gates in Sing. This means don’t sit in the lounge until the last moment as I did, as there is no advantage to First class tickets until you board the plane and you will get stuck it a long long line. Unlike in Tokyo where a First class ticket causes small loud people to clear they way until you have passed into your luxurious setting.
Singapore is an entire city built the way Walt Disney would build a modern Oriental city. So while the only pockets of tradition are old government buildings abandoned by the British and beautifully repurposed, the rest of the city is new, incredibly clean, safe and the inhabitants very proud of their city country.
The place is buzzing with thousands of restaurants along the many waterways. I ate at the Indochine, which is one restaurant in a complex of Asian eating-place set in the Asian museum, am old Government House complex. The setting is stunning as is the Vietnamese food. Singapore has such a diverse population from all over Asia as well as East India, but they are not migrants or economic refugees. They seem to have attracted the highest quality of people who all speak a brand of English, quite difficult to understand and are quick to tell you they are not what they might look like, Chinese, India etc. but Singaporean.
Now if you want over the top, go to Raffles. Sink a true yard of Tiger Ale in the Long bar, where the fashionably seedy old British décor pervades including the swigging fans that incessantly swing from side to side. Gone are the fan wallahs who used to pull the operating popes, replaced by electric motors. I now know why Elliott found this his favorite bar. The stench of cigars smoke, pipe tobacco that has permeated every crevice is the true smell of a bygone era that the well intended non-smoking laws everywhere but at Raffles have eliminated. The Singaporeans realize this and apply the non-smoking laws to all the modern places but have left Raffles untouched. I hope they keep it that way.
The courtyard bar and café is fabulous, where you can pick out your seafood including the freshest largest Tiger Prawns I have ever seen. They will cook it anyway you want right in the middle of the courtyard. The only downside is that much of the rest of the courtyard has been converted into a series of high-end stores. Tastefully done but nevertheless a pity.
While the Singaporeans are proud of their independence, they were proud that the Queen stayed there last week.
The India Room is a curry room with the British Raj buffet that you might have seen 100 or 150 years ago. The setting and service has not changed, only the prices. My beer in the Long Bar was $30.00.
It never fails to amaze me that people at a curry buffet who can eat, as many items as they want, will fill their plates with the largest mound of food that loses its individuality by all mixing together. Take you time and spend a couple of hours being looked after by people who enjoy playing the serving role as they understand it.
The Orient Hotel where I stayed is a very good hotel, but it is quintessentially Oriental, architecturally and attitudinally. Whether it is a bar or restaurant, you are in the orient not a Hyatt with a Chinese restaurant. The place is full of sensory clues, Flowers they way they fold the napkins etc. It is hard to describe the natural beauty that surrounds you and the man made gardens and structures that have been designed to be symbiotic with nature. This makes it a total sensory experience that keeps hitting you. Unlike Singapore, this place is not new and has been designed with a tradition thousands of years old.
I had one of the best Chinese meals every at the Cherry Blossom in the hotel. Yes I went for the most expensive set menus but not just to spend money, but also to experience the delicacies fresh that are unobtainable in the US. Fresh Abalone, sharks fin, sea cucumber and well as the most delicious crispy fried miniature eels, even avid eel haters will love.
Even the fried rice was special, but you need to like dried fish to appreciate the flavor that resembles fish sauce but is subtler. The service was incredible with gorgeous but knowledgeable waitresses falling over themselves to do something for you. The menu number five was for a minimum of two people. But my waitress disappeared into the kitchen for some time before proudly emerging with a successful grin of sheer pleasure to have succeeded in providing what a guest wanted.
The only negative comment I would make about this city is that it is very difficult to come to grips with the cab system. They have lines at the hotels you can join if you can find a hotel. But the cabstands are complex. All the locals call cabs on their cells and you are left wondering how long it will be before a real cab shows up. So get a number from the cab that brings you from the airport and call cabs from wherever you are. They are very cheap, $10 US from the airport and a couple of dollars anywhere you want to go in this relatively small city are with 4 million people. Everyone I met was, fabulous.
There is some prejudice about the large Muslim countries on its borders, but typically respectful, even the quick wok and dim sum place at the ferry dock advertises no pork or lard. Thgey are somewhat preoccupied with a kind of sex trade that involves young girls, virgins they say, that older Singaporean and foreign men go to Indonesia for. Very poor people apparently sell these girls into the system. Not a new story but a tragic reminder how pervasive the abuse of young women is.
Singapore is very strict about anything to do with child sex, as well as there infamous no drugs policy. The police are strict about everything and have enormous power. While their intent is benevolent this seems fine but in a way it is a police state.
Singapore is abutted by Malaysia to the North and Indonesia to the South, including a necklace of islands. Indonesia comprises 4600 islands in addition to the better-known ones like Bali, Sumatra Jakarta.
I went to Bintan Island. The Banyon Tree resort there is unlike anything I have seen, Stunningly rugged, I saw no beaches but they do exist, the resort sits high up overlooking a dramatic rocky the Pacific coast to the west and the South China sea to the east. Swimming in the endless pool and looking out over the ocean is like being in a postcard.
The Indonesians are completely different to the Singaporeans who are egalitarian. The Indonesians are aware of and seem accepting of a class system and are open about it. My drive told me he was not the right class to play golf. There was no resentment in his tone.
They are brilliantly service oriented. I needed to change my ferry booking and get to the airport, so the receptionist abandoned her post produced a car and driver, rushed into the terminal barking orders in Indonesian and I was on the ferry. She did ask for a tip, which she richly deserved, but there was no charge for the car she commandeered from two unsuspecting resort employees.
But they are a little language challenged and make quite a few mistakes with orders, so you need to be very sure they actually understand what you want. Yes sir does no men they necessarily do.
We ate Nasi Goreng at one of the world’s most spectacular golf Courses overlooking the ocean drinking Bintan beer, a light very refreshing drink.
They really know how to live. But you will need a second mortgage to stay here.
When I asked about winter and summer they explained there was no such thing. Only Wet, October to February, but sometimes into April, and Dry. The dry season is a real problem as they have millions of acres burned each year sometimes causing a worldwide pollution hazard.
Clearly on Bintan they have go the message about security. They have a variety of checkpoints on the way to the report and screen the car from top to bottom with bomb seeking detectors.
With good reason. This morning when I got back to Japan the Indonesian Government issued a warning for all westerners to leave as there was going to be a terrorist attack against westerners on Sunday 04/02/06.
The ferry takes just less than an hour in a pleasant well-ordered experience. (I traveled off peak during the week so I imagine weekends may be a little more chaotic). My ferry was booked and paid for on my credit card by the ultra efficient Sam. However, despite two confirmation numbers, they had never heard of my booking, my credit card or me. While they turned the computer upside down to find it, they were relieved when I told them all I wanted was a ticket, which they gave me immediately. Much to their relief. If I had not stopped them, I would still be there while they investigated the mystery.
So back in Tokyo at the Grand Hyatt for a little sleep and a workout, I had dinner in the Chinaroom a very good Chinese restaurant. Very expensive. They had Magnotta Icewine on the menu, 375 ml for Y21,000 about $190.00 for a half bottle.
Back to my room to watch the Yomuri Giants play the Bayshore team which they beat 12-2. and an early night for an early start in the morning.
JAL is a very good airline. Comparable to American, probably a little better, perhaps I like the Japanese flavor more and it has a fanatical devotion to efficiency. Everything is beautifully done, brilliantly packaged and presented. You cannot fault it except there is no Internet access on the plane.
However, it is not Singapore, which caters to pleasure and is efficient in the process. The lounge Internet is wireless and hassle free. JAL requires scratch passwords and a log in which requires thought. Singapore service is help yourself; casual with an immense variety, while the very accommodating servers at JAL are trained to serve you, so you can’t make your own tea without insulting them. Snacks were traditional sushi; at Singapore they had a variety of Western and Eastern snacks, hot and cold.
The bed on the plane is more like American but surprisingly less private and nothing like the cozy privacy of Singapore. It seems that JAL and American started with a seat and the added flaps and moving bits that end up in a bed. Singapore started with a desk that converts into a bed, which is brilliant outside in thinking.
Everyone on JAL is in smart uniforms versus sexy Sarongs; perhaps this sums it up best.
As I said to Mom, you cannot travel like this unless you go First Class. It is too stressful and you need sleepovers. I don’t know how these people can afford it, but the planes full and I had to wait nearly two days to get a flight back to NY.
I have a feeling I will be back here soon, so stay tuned. I also heard I might need to be in Paris in the first week of May.
So April looks like a busy time.
Maybe Mom will come with me next time.
Comments
Perhaps they act much nicer and sound more urgent face to face because you have flown round the word to get there.
Or perhaps they just take longer to think things through.
But when they want you to show up they don't consider the distance or the difficulties, so we will wait and see what happaens next.