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
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