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| Fly is cheap, but not sure if fly is safe. |
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Blog Update!
Hello readers (if there are any)! I am happy to report that we made a good push to tidy up the blog today after returning from our trip to Komodo National Park. Since the blog seemed to be getting a little chaotic, I
created country specific pages so it is (hopefully) easier to navigate. Just click on a country tab at the top of the page and then you can select links to any of the articles that were posted about that country. I encourage you to check out the Phnom Penh posts which have been completely updated as well as the most recent photos from Komodo National Park in Indonesia. We will be in Bali for the next couple of days taking it easy before we head off to the Philippines, so hopefully we can get you caught up on Bali and fill you in on our dive trip to Komodo.
Joe's Nook: Meanwhile, in the Singapore airport...
Editor's note: While we were soaking up the sun on the deck of our pirate ship and experiencing some of the best diving in the world, Joe was on his way home. His final post from the Singapore airport follows:
The final chapter - Mama I'm comin' home
It's just past 1:00am in Singapore's Changi Airport. The low simmer of Terminal 3's massive waterfall is the soundscape on which inaudible clammers of Southeast Asian languages drizzle to complete the avant garde composition that is "The World's Greatest Airport," after midnight edition. Changi Airport was voted as such by Business Traveler Magazine from 1988 to 2009 - 22 years straight (Seriously!?). The prospect of killing 19 hours in this hub of international travel seemed at first to be an intriguing endeavor. One that became less appealing when I was informed that the (good) air conditioning, movie theaters, and countless munchy stands stood behind the large departure doors that required a boarding pass to penetrate. A flash of Indiana Jones went through my mind as I came to the realization that I, in fact, had..."no ticket." This hurdle became much higher with the news that the United check-in kiosk would not be available until two hours before departure time, aka 0500. So with 18 hours 47 minutes of quality airport hang time still present (picture Tom Hanks in Terminal), I decided to check out some of Singapore's new age monuments: the Artscience museum, the Millenium shopping mall, and finally the world famous Marina Bay Sands Resort & Casino.
Six hours later and seventy bucks poorer (gross under estimation), I was back at the airport, but this time with a new mission: find a non-awkward napping nook and sleep away the final quarter day. Things were really coming together this time. I did a brief bathroom style head-to-toe cleanse with newly purchased wet wipes, brushed the teeth and popped a sleep aid. Slumber was within my reach as I tied my luggage to the most secure articles of clothing on my person and cozied into the indoor soccer grade carpet of the viewing deck. Five minutes later: "Sir. Excuse me. Sir. You cannot sleep here. It says right on the sign that you cannot sleep here. You may sit, but no sleep. Thank you sir."
My bad. Amidst my excitement for the prospect of time passing with me unconscious, I managed to snag a floor spot directly in a no-sleep zone. Awesome. They have killed for less in Singapore I imagine, so here I sit - not sleeping. Anti histamine goodness coats my thoughts as I struggle to write this final nook entry through one open eye. But alas, I should really tighten things up for the final leg of the trip (I hope the reader will forgive the verbose nature of my partially sedated two finger typing).
So to bring things full circle: This trip was more incredible than I could have ever imagined. Without question, I will be visiting this part of the world again in the future. The destinations themselves are worthy of any and all praise you will hear from personal accounts or Lonely Planet editions. But what won't be so readily available without the purchase of a plane ticket, will be the people whose positive nature, generosity and extra pairs of party pants really made this the trip of a lifetime for this novice traveler. Don't mean to get too gushy here, but it's time, for some shout outs (and yes I am listening to Big Boi right now, so it's only fitting).
Much love to The Lewis and Young families. Patrick and Pre in Singapore. Conway, Laure, Sara and the rest of the Bali gang. And also cheers to the many folks we befriended along the way: Rena and her fish, the housing staff at the Encore Ankor Guesthouse (http://www.encoreangkor.com/), Robbie and his fiancé, Sam Ang, Cam Sung and the taxi driver from Ubud who liked a lot of bass.
And last but certainly not least, the couple that made this trip happen in the first place. I'm now glad to call the Lewis' my travel mates, in addition to them already being great friends.
- Joe
The final chapter - Mama I'm comin' home
It's just past 1:00am in Singapore's Changi Airport. The low simmer of Terminal 3's massive waterfall is the soundscape on which inaudible clammers of Southeast Asian languages drizzle to complete the avant garde composition that is "The World's Greatest Airport," after midnight edition. Changi Airport was voted as such by Business Traveler Magazine from 1988 to 2009 - 22 years straight (Seriously!?). The prospect of killing 19 hours in this hub of international travel seemed at first to be an intriguing endeavor. One that became less appealing when I was informed that the (good) air conditioning, movie theaters, and countless munchy stands stood behind the large departure doors that required a boarding pass to penetrate. A flash of Indiana Jones went through my mind as I came to the realization that I, in fact, had..."no ticket." This hurdle became much higher with the news that the United check-in kiosk would not be available until two hours before departure time, aka 0500. So with 18 hours 47 minutes of quality airport hang time still present (picture Tom Hanks in Terminal), I decided to check out some of Singapore's new age monuments: the Artscience museum, the Millenium shopping mall, and finally the world famous Marina Bay Sands Resort & Casino.
Six hours later and seventy bucks poorer (gross under estimation), I was back at the airport, but this time with a new mission: find a non-awkward napping nook and sleep away the final quarter day. Things were really coming together this time. I did a brief bathroom style head-to-toe cleanse with newly purchased wet wipes, brushed the teeth and popped a sleep aid. Slumber was within my reach as I tied my luggage to the most secure articles of clothing on my person and cozied into the indoor soccer grade carpet of the viewing deck. Five minutes later: "Sir. Excuse me. Sir. You cannot sleep here. It says right on the sign that you cannot sleep here. You may sit, but no sleep. Thank you sir."
My bad. Amidst my excitement for the prospect of time passing with me unconscious, I managed to snag a floor spot directly in a no-sleep zone. Awesome. They have killed for less in Singapore I imagine, so here I sit - not sleeping. Anti histamine goodness coats my thoughts as I struggle to write this final nook entry through one open eye. But alas, I should really tighten things up for the final leg of the trip (I hope the reader will forgive the verbose nature of my partially sedated two finger typing).
So to bring things full circle: This trip was more incredible than I could have ever imagined. Without question, I will be visiting this part of the world again in the future. The destinations themselves are worthy of any and all praise you will hear from personal accounts or Lonely Planet editions. But what won't be so readily available without the purchase of a plane ticket, will be the people whose positive nature, generosity and extra pairs of party pants really made this the trip of a lifetime for this novice traveler. Don't mean to get too gushy here, but it's time, for some shout outs (and yes I am listening to Big Boi right now, so it's only fitting).
Much love to The Lewis and Young families. Patrick and Pre in Singapore. Conway, Laure, Sara and the rest of the Bali gang. And also cheers to the many folks we befriended along the way: Rena and her fish, the housing staff at the Encore Ankor Guesthouse (http://www.encoreangkor.com/), Robbie and his fiancé, Sam Ang, Cam Sung and the taxi driver from Ubud who liked a lot of bass.
And last but certainly not least, the couple that made this trip happen in the first place. I'm now glad to call the Lewis' my travel mates, in addition to them already being great friends.
- Joe
Komodo National Park in Panorama
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| Labuan Bajo harbor |
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| Our pirate ship |
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| Sunset hike |
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| Sunset over Labuan Bajo harbor |
Indonesia: Komodo National Park, Day 4
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| Second dive site: Day 4 |
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| On our way to visit the dragons! |
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| The girls after our trip to visit the dragons. |
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| Arr...pirate ship. |
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| Sunset from Labuan Bajo |
Threatdown Alert! Komodo Dragons!
Yeah! It's Dragon time!
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| Marta meets her arch-nemesis - the Komodo Dragon. |
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| Drew joins the Junior Ranger program at Komodo National Park - it's a very prestigious program. |
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| Our first sighting! A baby Komodo - isn't he so cute. |
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| I don't know why Marta didn't like them. He was totally smiling at her. |
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| Marta and Conway - so far alive and well. |
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| Our guides. They made me feel really safe with their sticks because that would totally stop a raging prehistoric beast from sinking its bacteria laden mouth into my leg. |
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| Look up! Holy crap - they're in the trees! |
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| This one looked ready to enter the thunder dome against one of the Asian tourists that was totally less than the 10m away from the dragons as our guides instructed us to do. |
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| This guy totally freaked me out. I snapped a photo of him from 20 feet away and he perked his head up like it was go time. I slowly walked away, but he had his eyes on me until I was out of the strike zone. |
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| The monkey thought that the whole spectacle was pretty funny. |
Indonesia: Komodo National Park, Day 3
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| Batu Bolong - probably our favorite dive site of the trip and our first dive of Day 3. |
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| Amazingly clear waters of the Indian Ocean. |
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| Drew kayaking. Again - Looking forward to seeing Tommy's shots of this. |
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| Laure takes a break on the top deck. |
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| Conway peers into the crystal clear water. |
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| The stop for our morning swim. Amazing. You could see the fish swimming at the bottom ~30 feet. |
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| Crew Member. |
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| Dive Master: Harry. Excellent guide. |
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| The sun sets on Day 3 of our adventure. |
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| Tommy shooting from the crow's nest. |
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| Tommy |
Indonesia: Komodo National Park, Day 2
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| Sunrise with our neighboring pirate ship looking on. |
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| Breakfast after our first dive. |
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| Fellow pirate, Tommy, assesses the photo shoot setup. |
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| Taking a dive. Can't wait to see Tommy's photos of this. |
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| Diving, swimming, kayaking and photos. A good morning. |
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| Crew member taking a break. |
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| Crew member waiting for Laure and Angela to come up from their second dive. |
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| Beautiful clear water of the Indian Ocean. |
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| Tommy steps out from behind the camera to take a dip. |
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| Marta and Conway after our third dive. |
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| We had a great crew. |
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| Sunset hike. |
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