Boredom in the Skies

I'm at a complete loss as to why Singapore Airlines are constantly voted the world's number one.  Until the recent trip I'd never flown with them, but had heard great things about them, and we were all quite giddy about the journey.  Who knew they'd pale into insignificance compared to Emirates? (And no, I don't work for Emirates!) 

My main issues:

• The entertainment system.  You can't pick and choose what you want, all the films and programmes are shown on a loop.  If you miss the first half an hour of a film, you'll have to wait until the end for it to swing back round again.  Rubbish, especially on a 7.5 hour flight.
• The food.  DIRE.  I was served some slop which was supposed to be chicken in ginger sauce on the outward journey. On the return I had wised up and requested a low-calorie meal instead (chicken breast with pureed carrots - a vast improvement.  And you get it ten minutes into the flight leaving more time for wine drinking and snoozing)
• The plane.  So old it had ashtrays in it.  

On the plus side, they were very generous with the wine, and the girls are stunning.  Their uniforms are fabulous and can even be bought in the markets of Chinatown in Singapore.  We actually had a girl-crush on one of them and had to enquire abut her eye make-up application!  And when you're travelling in a group you can definitely make your own entertainment if necessary.

I don't want to sound like a travel snob, but if i have the choice in future, I'll be flying Emirates all the way.

We Heart Singapore

I'm back! Did you miss me?  I'm currently reeling from too little sleep (not sure if it's actually jet lag.  More likely flying through the night and availing ourselves of a bit too much free wine) and adjusting to being thrown right back in the deep end where work is concerned.  Anyway, let's get onto the trip.  It will probably be the subject of a few blog posts, such was the hilarity and variety of what we encountered whilst away. Let's start with Singapore, shall we?

I'm going to assume that you haven't been - if you have - this may bore you. In a nutshell, I LOVED Singapore!!!!!  Reasons why:

• It's a solid 30-35 degrees, all year round, with lots of sunshine and blue skies. It was actually scorching whilst we were there.  Yes, it does rain, and it's very humid, but the great weather means that you have the outdoor lifestyle all year round, not for only half the year like you do in Dubai.  Hello roof top bars, hello strolling the streets..which brings me onto my next point:
• You can walk everywhere.  It's a proper city, with (shock) pavements, walkways, it's all designed for the pedestrian.  We spent many happy hours walking around just absorbing the vibes and the personality of the place.  Which brings me onto my next point:
• Singapore is COOL.  What do I mean?  Everyone looks good, not in an anodyne, labelled-up kind of way, more in a cool sneakers and unusual jeans, interesting make-up and hair kind of way.   It feels a bit like New York. Which brings me onto my next point:
• It has a big city feel and vibe.  There's something in the air that's palpable.   And it's hard to ignore.  It's such an interesting mix of cultures and people.  Which brings me onto my next point:
• It's very multi-cultural, just like Dubai.  We saw all nationalities working and living together in one melting pot.  And there's something fascinating about that for me. Which brings me onto my next point:
• It's a very cultural place.  Not only do huge modern skyscrapers jostle for space next to older areas like Arab Street and Little India, there's art galleries, a symphony orchestra.  The cultural section of Singapore's Time Out goes on for pages and pages, not like the paltry efforts of Dubai's.
• And my last, but very important point: it has BEACHES.  Yes, head to the beautiful Sentosa Island for the day and you'll see Singapore's bright young things kicking back in lush beach clubs and cool bars.

Now don't get me wrong.  I'm not knocking Dubai.  Anyone who knows me knows just how much I love this city and the Middle East.  We all squeaked with excitement when the plane touched down here, and I spent the afternoon of my first day back mooching around one of my favourite parts of the city: the creek.  It's just that as an ex-pat,living in an autocratic city where your whole life revolves around a visa that is to a large extent out of your control, you never really know how long you'll stay.  I'm nowhere near done with Dubai.  But I think I may have found the answer to: where next?

Where in The World?

The next adventure is booked: in November I’ll be jetting off to Singapore, and then onto Bali. If you know me you’ll know that my hunger for world-exploration has gone up about ten notches since I moved to Dubai – and it was pretty high before I got here. The top list of places I want to visit (in order of preference) are:

Singapore/Bali (tick)
Hong Kong
Tokyo
Vegas (probably unlikely due to distance but if accessible from Tokyo then all over it)
Capetown
Vietnam
Maldives

I don’t think it’s an unreasonable list and I’d quite like to cross Hong Kong off before the end of the year – we have another public holiday coming up in December which would make it feasible.

Thankfully my desert family is also like rats up drainpipes where this list is concerned. We all have a slightly different list but with some common denominators.

This has all been made much more fun (honestly) by the procurement of a giant world map, the likes of which I haven’t seen since geography lessons in secondary school. And speaking of which, despite getting an A in GCSE geography, I have learned that I haven’t a clue where anything in the world is!

When I told a colleague I was going to Bali he asked: “Why don’t you do Australia at the same time?” I thought this was a ludicrous question and said so. He gently explained that Bali is…right next to Australia. Who knew!? And don’t even get me started on the fact that I thought Vietnam was only a 3 hour flight away. I’ll get my coat.

We spent a hilarious ten minutes scouring the map the other night at M’s, with much wine-fuelled exclamations: “Oh, so that’s where Hawaii/Beijing/Mauritius/Vietnam etc etc is.” Well, there’s only one way to truly know your way around a world map, and that’s to jump on a plane and see as much of it as possible. Watch this space.

The Wisdom of Friends

Feeling very sober at the moment.  Not just because I’m on the wagon (don’t ask) but because there’s a weird feeling in the air at the moment.  Whenever I’m feeling a little ungrounded I reach out to the people I love most in the world, and this time I had a chat to Mr L in Manchester.  He’s one of my oldest (quite literally – ha ha – sorry Mr L) friends and always cheers me up.  But this time he was the one feeling glum – a friend of his had just died of a heart attack.  Yikes. 

Then there was news of a girl who killed herself here in Dubai.  Let’s be clear – I don’t know her/never met her, but it did start me thinking about my lovely uncle, who did the same thing when I was a small child.  I have one fabulous photo of us together – I’m all blonde tumbling ringlets and bridesmaid dress, he’s sporting a debonair seventies hairstyle and enormous tache.  We’re both laughing and it’s a stunning shot.  He can’t have been more than 25 when he died, and my cousins were my age ie 3 or 4, and just born.  It’s something that I haven’t thought about for probably 30 years, but it’s been on my mind for a few days.

I’m all for mulling over lessons that life throws at me, but those who know me well know that dropping into a slump isn’t my usual style at all, so what to do to change this status quo?  

In the words of Mr L: “Don’t be glum - I have had a rude awakening.  Burying (or actually cremating) one of your friends is a sobering experience and it makes you stop, take stock and look at what's going on.  I am going to make each day count.”  Sage advice.

So this week I shall be mostly: booking flights for the family to visit at Christmas, sorting a November break to Singapore and Bali, and hitting up my international playboy friend Rich in Hong Kong about putting me up in December.  Which all sounds much more like me.  You have been warned…..