01-01-2009

I have arrived here in Singapore; it is apparently quite warm. The flight actually did not cross the Pacific ocean or the Atlantic ocean, instead we went over what may have been Greenland and then Russia. I don't really know for sure where I was because countries apparently are not labeled like they are on maps. At one point the outside thermometer read -83 degrees Fahrenheit. Landing in Hong Kong was quite painful for my ears, this was unfortunate. I did not experience the same thing landing in Singapore, I guess maybe because we stayed at a lower altitude.Here is documented proof that I was in Hong Kong. It was very smoggy (a number of people in the airport were wearing face masks) so you know it must be Hong Kong.

Upon arrival in Hong Kong I was forced to go through another security checkpoint. I was unprepared for this and as a result had to spend some time emptying my pockets for an irate security woman. They took my toothpaste. They did not have a problem with my toothpaste at JFK but the Chinese must have had some personally bad experiences with toothpaste because they were having none if it. "Too big" they said. This was essentially the worst thing that happened to me on the trip so I guess that is a good thing.

I could not sleep on the plane for the first 16 hour portion ( not 20 as previously believed) because whenever I started to nod off I would either start to tip over or I would get elbowed in the head by the Chinese woman next to me who spoke no English. I managed a couple hours of sleep on the second portion thanks to bucket-like headrests, but I was still dead tired. I am used to more than 2 hours of sleep in a 32 hour timespan. Of course when I got to my room I was no longer sleepy.