Leaving Singapore

Our intention was to get to the airport a bit early so we could check in, drop our bags in storage, then explore the Jewel. It was a beautiful morning!


JL and Isabelle took advantage of the hotel buffet for breakfast, and Josephine and I grabbed breakfast in the mall. The coffee was so good!!




Everything took a bit longer than we had planned, however. There was a bit of a hiccup at check-in with Bamboo Airlines, since I made a typo on JL’s visa application. Oops. He was recommended to apply for another visa with the correct spelling. That took some time, and we ran out of time for the Jewel. Maybe on the way home we will be able to see it!

We had a turbo-fast lounge visit at the Plaza Premium contract lounge where Isabelle devoured a delicious chicken curry. We then hustled to our departure gate, only to find that boarding hadn’t started yet like we thought it had.


 We ended up being the only 4 passengers in business class!




Our flight attendant was extremely attentive and nice. On this short two hour flight we had a full lunch:


Upon arrival in Ho Chi Minh, we were treated to a private shuttle to the terminal. We felt so special! Then we got to line up with everyone else for immigration. Unfortunately, the new visa hadn’t yet arrived in JL’s email. As a last resort, JL presented his visa with the typo and the immigration agent waved him through - hooray! We paid a pretty penny to store our backpacks and waited for our food tour guide to arrive. 

Cain was awesome! I left the photo taking to JL for the tour, but here’s a photo of the traffic. There are not a lot of traffic lights and changing lanes or crossing the street is a bit about negotiation and a critical mass of people willing to stick out their necks. I’m so glad we went for the tour - we ate at tiny places I never would have known existed. Now for an overnight flight to Melbourne. See you in Australia!



Popular posts from this blog

Cultural Thoughts

Image
Turkey: Istanbul was a culturally varied, welcoming place. At restaurants, the hustle performed by the servers waiting at the street was intense. Everyone wanted your business! At our first restaurant, the server proclaimed that he loved Canada and that his girlfriend was from there, but he couldn’t name the city she was from. 😂 Other vendors played a similar game, trying to engage you in conversation. The easiest approach was to ignore them, unfortunately.  Most places tell you not to flush toilet paper, but to instead put it in a small waste bin. Smoking is MUCH more common than at home, and we are very unused to smoke at restaurants.  Lots of seagulls and hooded crows were to be seen around town.  Greece : The restaurant service flow was a little different from in North America. When we were done our main courses, we had to signal the server that we wanted the bill. They simply wouldn’t bring it until asked! Once we asked, though, we would often get a small dessert, f...
Read more

Whirlwind Melbourne

Image
After a lovely sleep (well, I woke at 5:30, but that’s just me), we headed out to explore a bit of Melbourne. Breakfast was at a tiny coffee shop and the girls loved their hot chocolate.  The cafe was in a narrow alley typical of the Melbourne CBD.  It must have been some breakfast to make a sign about it! Next up was the National Gallery of Victoria. It was free! Unfortunately everyone was tired at this point.  But Isabelle still managed to climb a tree! Poor JL.  Such a pretty city: Then it was back to the airport! We had a TON of time to kill, first at the Singapore Airlines lounge. They close in between flights, so we snuck a few minutes in the Air New Zealand lounge: Once boarded, the girls slept pretty much right away while JL and I had our preselected meals. I had a lovely barramundi.  We’ve now arrived in Singapore and are waiting to board our flight to London. This one’s a monster 13.5 hour flight! See you on the other side. 
Read more

Second Day in Wellington

Image
After another lovely breakfast, we took a walk up Mount Victoria to find a couple of the Lord of the Rings filming locations: Next up was a visit to the Weta Workshop where they make special effects for lots of movies. Unfortunately, photos inside were forbidden, but it was really cool to handle actual prop swords and helmets used in the films.  Watch out, JL!!!
Read more