I was up at 5am due to slight jelag, took some picture of the sunrise, had breakfast and went to the gym. I was up early so I took a nap in my rain forest chalet :). It´s the end of October and I am at the beach…I have to admit that dark clouds are rolling over the high mountains behind me and it looks rather grim at this moment, but it has 30 degrees, I feel relaxed but let’s start back in Barcelona.
Business trips can become exhausting especially if the bookings and decisions to go somewhere are made on a very short notice. I know it´s complaining on a high level but still, sometimes it feels a bit too much. This time though I was almost begging and I plead myself guilty having asked this time once or twice more than usual if the business meetings are still on :). Lately all business trips I´ve done were for the same project or were at least related to it. This way I was able to go to Bratislava, Vienna, Houston, San Francisco/Sacramento, India, Bukarest and this time to Singapore and Tokyo. Whilst sharing my pictures or my travel plans here and there colleagues or people on social media comment with “lucky you” and it makes me wonder. Am I lucky to be able to do these trips? At the end I am working hard and a lot to be chosen to go to these locations. I wouldn’t be in this position though if my former flatmate and todays colleague and friend wouldn’t have referred me as a good replacement during her maternity leave. So I eventually I can call myself lucky and have to thank Patricia at the same time. 😋
My flight was supposed to leave on Saturday the 26th and for that day another round of strikes was announced and someone told me that it was planned for Saturday. As they tend to block even highways or train tracks, I went to the airport already at 5.30 to be there at 6. Of course, no strike was happening at that time so I had a looooot of time to waste. So I went for a coffee, finished some stuff for work and joined an hour after the group of Chinese people that were joining me on my flight to Asia. Getting my ticket to Beijing was easy and rather fast printed. However, somehow the ticket system was not able to print my ticket from Beijing to Singapore. They were staring at the screen, saw the booking but the system didn’t want to print it. So there I was on the counter in Barcelona and waited and chatted with the lady at the check-in counter…for 15 minutes. At the end they weren’t able to issue me a ticket and told me to get it in Beijing. So there I was with my ticket to China and my luggage checked till Singapore.
The flight was as unexciting like watching a stone to erode by wind. So as I had more or less 10 hours to spent, I tried to catch up some sleep which was more or less just another fail of trying to sleep in an airplane. I used the time though to finally catch up on the last season of game of thrones and I have to admit that I am not that convinced about its ending. I don’t dislike it but several things happening don’t make much sense / destroy the story shown till that point.
Eventually I arrived in Peking at 4am and damn it was cold there. It had 3°C and I was just wearing a T-Shirt as I was traveling to a hot country. It was dark outside, obviously, but it almost looked like snow on the gras on the airport.
As I haven’t had a ticket to go to Singapore I tried to communicate with my hands and feet with the Chinese airport staff, but I could as well have given smoke signs…would have had the same effect. Seems like the night shift doesn’t need to speak English. I found the Air China counter but even though they have planes arriving in the middle of the night, their counter was closed till…
So I stood in line to wait behind a family from probably Russia that had a flight to Phuket. Whilst waiting I was chatting with a French couple that needed the ticket as proof of their onward travel for their short time visa to visit Beijing during their 18hour layover to Australia.
The counter next to the Air China counter was already open where a young presumably British woman with a 2-3 year old daughter tried to communicate with smoke signs with the personal. She need the ticket fast as her flight would have left 30 minutes after the counter opened. As the French couple has had many hours left for their sightseeing tour through Beijing we let the women through in the hopes that she still would make her flight. Sitting on an airport because of a missed flight is not nice, especially with child. After some minutes of talking I found out that the father of the girl is from the UK which explains why Matilda and her mum spoke with this lovely British accent. After a few minutes though I heard some Austrian accent sliping through and we figured that our home countries share the same language. Luckily the counter of air China was already open at 5am, so I assume that she got her flight…at least that’s what I hope. I hope you have a great vacation little Matilda and your mum as well, I just don´t know her name.
Beijing airport itself is huge as every big city airport but it was freezing in there. Eventually every airport looks the same outside. Inside though there’s always something to discover. The Singapore international airport probably the best one with a “park” and even a waterfall inside. Beijing though offers private karaoke cells 😂. For some singing to spend the time during layovers.
So I spent the 5hours layover singing, “Sing Hallejulia”… no I am just joking.
Though last week Thursday I went to the Barcelona English Choir once again for a group singing of songs of the 90s and decided to eventually join them as of January.
Back to China :). I Had some breakfast, walked up and down the entire terminal to take pictures and to waste time. The flight to Singapore was even more boring than the one from Barcelona to Beijing.Imagine watching a snail “running” a marathon :). So I watched the latest movie of the X-Men universe and have to say that Sophie Turner is the worst cast for that role. She simply lacks the facial expressions to play a powerful character with superpowers. She played her role in Game of Thrones well, but she’s the wrong cast for Jean Grey.
Like their colleagues on the airport, the stewardess on my flight to Singapore didn’t speak English at all 🤦♂️. So I learnt to say “Hello” and “thank you” in “Chinese” and asked for the immigration paper with smoke signs…I am expert now in making chair, a pen and a paper with only 5 casts of smoke ;).
Arrived in Singapore more or less on time it was immigration time and it was packed. Luckily though the line I chose was a fast moving one….ha I bet you Murphey! I quickly grabbed my luggage that somehow made it to Singapore and jumped into a cab. My cab driver told me that the rain season is just starting and that I better get used to the dark clouds every morning or evening…Boss! Workshops during rain season? How am I supposed to take pictures when my cameras get all wet all the time 🤣🤣🤣.
Interesting discovery though…the world is full of German speaking people.😋 On the Beijing airport and in Singapore I’ve heard so many Germans and here in the hotel its even worse. Next stop, moon. Think no German has visited that one yet.🤦♂️
I didn’t see much from Singapore as I staid close to the airport. It’s sad to say but the area seems to be the living area for the locals. It wasn’t the most wealthy area but therefore very much packed with locals. I didn’t eat anything at the end but enjoyed a beer, caught up on WhatsApp messages and watched the storm outside. Singapore is supposed to be a very clean city and if I compare the outskirts of it I’ve staid at I have to say that it’s more or less like the Barcelona city center. The smaller street and sidewalks remind me of Bali, which is not too far away. I even considered going there for my week off, but I’ve been there and seeing something new is always nice. My way to Langkawi mostly was unspectacular except that I’ve broken the speed camera of the Malaysian police. 😜
More to come…first beach and pool days and on Thursday I think I will do the culture program.
Tofu Indites 