On the move part 1: Sede Boqer to Singapore
The last couple of weeks have been quite an adventure. Getting ready to leave Israel was a real push, and I could have used an extra day or two. Of course, I could have also started to get serious about it a day or two earlier, but where’s the sense in that?
Anyway, I did manage to get on the bus and get myself to the airport in Tel Aviv without too much trouble. I even managed to figure out the train schedule in Hebrew without too much help. You may have heard stories about the security in the Tel Aviv airport. Most of them are true, so I was surprised at how easily things went. I showed up about 3 hours early, and discovered that my line was the really long one that wasn’t moving at all. That made me a bit nervous, but eventually it started moving. When I got to the front of the line, a nice young woman in uniform asked me the usual questions about who packed my bags and whether anyone had given me anything to carry because it might be a bomb (they actually use the word bomb in Tel Aviv, instead of just hinting at it with euphemisms). That part went smoothly. Next was the x-ray machine, which was a bit more of a hassle. My big bag had to go through 5 times before they put their little sticker on it.
Next I moved to the inspection station, where they spent a lot of time on my laptop. They seemed thoroughly confused by my Mac, though I know other Macs have gone through the airport. At one point, they asked me about a screw on the keyboard – how long it had been there and who put it there. I pointed out that it was there when I bought the computer, and that every Mac laptop for the last 3 years has the same screw on it to hold the keyboard together. They weren’t too impressed by that. Next, they proceeded to search my large duffel – the same one that went through the x-ray machine 5 times. They seemed concerned about something in the corner. Getting to the corner, of course, involved removing most of the contents of the bag. When they found my binoculars, their expressions of confusion seemed to go away, and the rest of the search seemed to go quickly. I’m not sure what is threatening about a pair of binoculars tucked into some soft stuff in a suitcase, but they seemed pretty worried about them. That’s about it – the rest was just like any other airport, only the books in the bookstore were in Hebrew.
Next, came the endless flights: 5.5 hours to London, 1.5 hours in Heathrow, 12.5 hours to Singapore. On the London leg, I sat next to a freelance reporter for the Associated Press, who had been covering the Palestinian elections. She seemed interesting, though we didn’t actually say anything to each other until the plane landed. She had one of the largest diamonds on her finger that I’ve ever seen without having to look through security glass. We talked a bit about the elections, and what it was like covering the events in the Palestinian territories. She had also been in Ramallah for Arafat's funeral, which she said was a bit crazy. All in all, though, she seemed to think that it was not too difficult to cover those stories. very interesting to cover, though.
The leg to Singapore was pretty uneventful for a 12.5 hour flight. I had a window seat, which was pretty unexciting for the overnight leg, and the 6 hours I was asleep. I’m not sure how I managed 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep, but I’m glad I got it. When I woke up, we were approaching the Thai coastline. It is a pretty spectacular coast, but was especially interesting after the recent tsunami. We actually flew right over Phuket, and it was possible to see the effects of the tsunami. There was a big brown band along the whole coast, where the tsunami had come ashore and caused havoc. We were much too high to see any detail, but it was possible to see the extent of the damage, and it was very extensive.
Singapore was an adventure. I was told to go shopping there, so I had arranged for a hotel room right next to the main shopping area. I arrived at the hotel around 19:30, so had a shower and headed out to see the shopping. I ended up eating at a place that served pizza because it was open, and packed with Singaporans, so I figured it was okay. Turns out they were right – it was good. And they had great cheesecake for dessert. After that, I wandered a bit to get a bit of a feel for the place. That was a bit overwhelming. First, shopping in Singapore goes until about 22:30 or later. I don’t know if this is a Friday night thing or everyday, but the street and the shops were packed. And the selection of shops was impressive. I saw at least three Rolex shops, Gucci, Armani, Bang and Olafsson, as well as Barnes and Noble, Apple, Orange Julius, Swensens and KFC. Amazing. Every block had shopping centers at least three stories high, and some had seven or eight levels. And the street went on for miles. I was sent to Singapore with orders for two digital cameras, so I scoped out the camera stores for the next day. I figured I was too jetlagged to haggle, so just looked.
The next day I got up, had a nice hot shower, stowed my bags at the front desk, and went shopping for electronics. Turns out Singapore isn’t as good a deal as it used to be, but I did manage to get digital cameras for about what they would be in the US or Australia. I guess that’s good enough, and much better than the prices in Israel, as near as I could tell. I got a few goodies for myself along the way. As for food, I had a couple of great donuts, and other baked goods for breakfast, and a fantastic pepper beef dish for lunch that came with soup and rice. Great food in general in Singapore.
After rounding up a bunch of digital toys, I headed to the Art Museum to see their exhibit of Botero works. It was an impressive exhibit, including sculptures, drawings and paintings. My favorites are his paintings of people, but there were some good still lifes, as well as some interesting scenes and figures. They wouldn’t let me use any of the digital cameras I had with me, so I have no photos of the experience. There was also a nice exhibit of Tony (?) Wong photos.
That was my adventure in Singapore – shopping and art. The taxi driver on the way back to the airport said that next time I should spend four days there, and see the zoo, the bird park, the night safari, and the big national park in the middle of the city. But first I should hire a taxi to take me on a three hour tour of the whole place. He even gave me a whole itinerary. I wish my travel agents were as helpful as he was.
After Singapore, it was a 4.5 hour flight to Darwin. I couldn’t sleep, and the individual entertainment system was buggered for the first 3 hours of the flight, so I was pretty annoyed. They finally got it working, and I saw the first hour and a half of the Manchurian Candidate before we landed. Overall, an unsatisfying experience.
Anyway, I did manage to get on the bus and get myself to the airport in Tel Aviv without too much trouble. I even managed to figure out the train schedule in Hebrew without too much help. You may have heard stories about the security in the Tel Aviv airport. Most of them are true, so I was surprised at how easily things went. I showed up about 3 hours early, and discovered that my line was the really long one that wasn’t moving at all. That made me a bit nervous, but eventually it started moving. When I got to the front of the line, a nice young woman in uniform asked me the usual questions about who packed my bags and whether anyone had given me anything to carry because it might be a bomb (they actually use the word bomb in Tel Aviv, instead of just hinting at it with euphemisms). That part went smoothly. Next was the x-ray machine, which was a bit more of a hassle. My big bag had to go through 5 times before they put their little sticker on it.
Next I moved to the inspection station, where they spent a lot of time on my laptop. They seemed thoroughly confused by my Mac, though I know other Macs have gone through the airport. At one point, they asked me about a screw on the keyboard – how long it had been there and who put it there. I pointed out that it was there when I bought the computer, and that every Mac laptop for the last 3 years has the same screw on it to hold the keyboard together. They weren’t too impressed by that. Next, they proceeded to search my large duffel – the same one that went through the x-ray machine 5 times. They seemed concerned about something in the corner. Getting to the corner, of course, involved removing most of the contents of the bag. When they found my binoculars, their expressions of confusion seemed to go away, and the rest of the search seemed to go quickly. I’m not sure what is threatening about a pair of binoculars tucked into some soft stuff in a suitcase, but they seemed pretty worried about them. That’s about it – the rest was just like any other airport, only the books in the bookstore were in Hebrew.
Next, came the endless flights: 5.5 hours to London, 1.5 hours in Heathrow, 12.5 hours to Singapore. On the London leg, I sat next to a freelance reporter for the Associated Press, who had been covering the Palestinian elections. She seemed interesting, though we didn’t actually say anything to each other until the plane landed. She had one of the largest diamonds on her finger that I’ve ever seen without having to look through security glass. We talked a bit about the elections, and what it was like covering the events in the Palestinian territories. She had also been in Ramallah for Arafat's funeral, which she said was a bit crazy. All in all, though, she seemed to think that it was not too difficult to cover those stories. very interesting to cover, though.
The leg to Singapore was pretty uneventful for a 12.5 hour flight. I had a window seat, which was pretty unexciting for the overnight leg, and the 6 hours I was asleep. I’m not sure how I managed 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep, but I’m glad I got it. When I woke up, we were approaching the Thai coastline. It is a pretty spectacular coast, but was especially interesting after the recent tsunami. We actually flew right over Phuket, and it was possible to see the effects of the tsunami. There was a big brown band along the whole coast, where the tsunami had come ashore and caused havoc. We were much too high to see any detail, but it was possible to see the extent of the damage, and it was very extensive.
Singapore was an adventure. I was told to go shopping there, so I had arranged for a hotel room right next to the main shopping area. I arrived at the hotel around 19:30, so had a shower and headed out to see the shopping. I ended up eating at a place that served pizza because it was open, and packed with Singaporans, so I figured it was okay. Turns out they were right – it was good. And they had great cheesecake for dessert. After that, I wandered a bit to get a bit of a feel for the place. That was a bit overwhelming. First, shopping in Singapore goes until about 22:30 or later. I don’t know if this is a Friday night thing or everyday, but the street and the shops were packed. And the selection of shops was impressive. I saw at least three Rolex shops, Gucci, Armani, Bang and Olafsson, as well as Barnes and Noble, Apple, Orange Julius, Swensens and KFC. Amazing. Every block had shopping centers at least three stories high, and some had seven or eight levels. And the street went on for miles. I was sent to Singapore with orders for two digital cameras, so I scoped out the camera stores for the next day. I figured I was too jetlagged to haggle, so just looked.
The next day I got up, had a nice hot shower, stowed my bags at the front desk, and went shopping for electronics. Turns out Singapore isn’t as good a deal as it used to be, but I did manage to get digital cameras for about what they would be in the US or Australia. I guess that’s good enough, and much better than the prices in Israel, as near as I could tell. I got a few goodies for myself along the way. As for food, I had a couple of great donuts, and other baked goods for breakfast, and a fantastic pepper beef dish for lunch that came with soup and rice. Great food in general in Singapore.
After rounding up a bunch of digital toys, I headed to the Art Museum to see their exhibit of Botero works. It was an impressive exhibit, including sculptures, drawings and paintings. My favorites are his paintings of people, but there were some good still lifes, as well as some interesting scenes and figures. They wouldn’t let me use any of the digital cameras I had with me, so I have no photos of the experience. There was also a nice exhibit of Tony (?) Wong photos.
That was my adventure in Singapore – shopping and art. The taxi driver on the way back to the airport said that next time I should spend four days there, and see the zoo, the bird park, the night safari, and the big national park in the middle of the city. But first I should hire a taxi to take me on a three hour tour of the whole place. He even gave me a whole itinerary. I wish my travel agents were as helpful as he was.
After Singapore, it was a 4.5 hour flight to Darwin. I couldn’t sleep, and the individual entertainment system was buggered for the first 3 hours of the flight, so I was pretty annoyed. They finally got it working, and I saw the first hour and a half of the Manchurian Candidate before we landed. Overall, an unsatisfying experience.