Heathrow to Bali, second day of the trip.

We had arrived early in the morning at Heathrow after a sort of easy flight from Miami on Virgin Atlantic. The menu on the flight was: "To Begin Your Meal" Caesar salad with romaine lettuce and Parmesan cheese and croutons. In other words: a salad. "Your Choice of Main Meal with Fresh Bread" Braised beef with green beans, carrots and mashed potato OR Chicken forma with a mixed basmati rice and lentil dal OR Penne pasta in a creamy spinach sauce with hard Italian cheese. In other words: beef or chicken or pasta. And for "Dessert" Chocolate pudding served with (guess what) tea or hot chocolate. AND...to top it off: "Before We Land" Chilled Orange juice, bagel with cream cheese breakfast cereal bar served with tea or coffee. Or, Jew food from NYC. When we hit Heathrow it was so early in the morning that we waited many hours before heading into the city to meet Richard Eisermann for lunch.

Now, we were back at Heathrow for the LONG flight to Bali, via Singapore. It was 4 in the afternoon and we were feeling the effects of NO sleep since we left Miami. Of course, Judy had slept a bit on the plane, longer than I, but still, we felt tired after the walk in London. Our flight was Singapore Airlines # 319 departing at 6:30. Our luggage had been checked through to Bali (we hoped) and all we had was our backpacks with a change of clothes. We had decided to clean up in Heathrow for the next part of the flight, you know, shave and wash for me, and change of underwear. We had heard wonderful reports of the service on Singapore Airlines and were looking forward to a pleasant flight.

The flight was called for 12 hours and 50 minutes, or 13 hours! This was no fun. My cardiologist had recommended that I take an extra baby aspirin before the flight along with my usual medicine, "Just to keep your blood a bit thin while you are sitting for so long." He also said that I should try to walk around as much as I could.

Right away on the airplane we noticed a BIG difference with other airlines. The stewardesses were dressed in traditional Asian dresses and bowed to every passenger as they entered. They helped us find our seats (they WALKED us to the right seats), made sure we were comfortable, helped us put our bags up in the luggage holds and wished us a good flight. They did all this in an effortless way that we later learned was completely typical of the people in Indonesia.

Here is the opening statement on the Singapore menu booklet: "Welcome Aboard Singapore Airlines. As you settle back to enjoy your flight, we are please to offer World Gourmet Cuisine, a sumptuous selection of dishes created under the guidance of our own chefs. Using fine quality produce, the menu features authentic Asian flavours derived from traditional recipes, as well as Western cuisine with an inspired, modern touch. To further delight the palate, complement your meal with a choice of fine red or white wines carefully selected by our esteemed Wine Consultants. Bon Appetit!" WOW! It his only economy class? AND the seats were large, wide and comfortable, with foot rests and large arms, AND padded head rests that folded out to embrace your head. All that AND lovely bowing ladies in red sarongs with huge smiles and you have the essence of Singapore Airlines.

This is the dinner menu London to Singapore: Appetiser: Salmon Quiche. Main courses: Shepherd's Pie OR Wok fried chicken with wolfberries, braised vegetables and steamed rice OR Indian prawns curry with spiced vegetables and pilaff rice. Cheese: Cheese and crackers. Dessert: Ice cream. From The Bakery: roll and butter. And to top this off: Cognac Otard VSOP or Jim Beam or Smirnoff Red Label Vodka or Cabernet Sauvigon or Chardonnay or Riesling or lots of beers and soft drinks. You could also have a Singapore Sling ("created in 1915 at the Long Bar of Singapore's Raffles Hotel and is now famous the world over. Enjoy the Singapore sling - a concoction of dry gin, Dom Benedictine, Cointreau and cherry brandy, shaken up with lime and pineapple juices and a dash of Angostura bitters and Grenadine.") My god, have it all! That's my attitude. Eat, drink and S L E E P! There was also a complete range of about 40 movies and music channels and a little travel kit with a toothbrush, toothpaste and slippers and eyeshades. Heavens to Betsy! hello to Singapore Airlines. And off we go!

Gate three is finally called, after a "please wait" notice. First time for me, LOTS of Chinese students--like a HS school trip. Lots of Moslims in the airport. Six men from India on a "small hadj" they told us. To Jerusalem, Damascus, Cairo Baghdad. They were sitting behind us in the waiting room lounge. they opened a plastic bag and the lovely smell was overwhelming. Judy said, "Did you smell that? It smells delicious." Before I could answer, one of the men turned around and said, "Would you like some? It is our Indian food: samosas and tiny dumplings." Judy got embarrassed, but we couldn't refuse. It was delicious. We wished them a good trip and off they went, full of spirit and bubbling with happiness.

On the plane, we were separated by an aisle. You know what--it is a god idea to travel separated by an aisle. Singapore Airlines is VERY comfortable! The seats are wider because the rows are three across and not four. Very big seats. We got hot towels to clean off. VERY hot, by the way.

Sleeping? Judy took a lorazapan and so slept about four hours at a stretch. I finally took one with seven hours left and got a total here and there of four hours. So, we both got at the end--maybe six hours. We will land at 2:00 with a temperature of 27 Degrees Cenlsius. Wow! The whole flight was a pleasure. A great neighbor lady--a head-hunter for the oil-gas and financial industries. I watched three movies and listened to four hours of Vivaldi to sleep. the whole flight was 12. The movies were pure action films about Navy Seals, about drugs and revenge in New Orleans, and about something else. I started to watch the Woody Allen documentary about his life, but ran out of time. He told about his Aunt, who used to say, "If you don't behave, I'll wrap you in a blanket and smother you." He said, "If I had died, the world would be poorer for fewer great one-liners." He showed his watch, "This watch was my grandfather's. He sold it to me on his death bed."

In fact, the Singapore flight was "easy". We had plenty of room to relax, to walk around and to sleep.  At night, when we both were awake, I would go to the galley and get a snack of "savoury sandwiches, roasted peanuts or fruit" and a drink, usually we would have a vodka and juice. Then, back to sleep. Before we arrived in Singapore, we got a "before touch-down" breakfast. This was now really Asia: "fruit appetizer and yoghurt; braised egg noodles with minced pork in oriental sauce and vegetables OR cheese omelette with kassler, mushrooms and potatoes and a roll with fruit preserve." I mean, after all, what a treat.

We landed at 2:20 in the afternoon in Singapore Airport. Our flight to Bali didn't leave for two hours, so we had plenty of time to wander in the airport. Well, imagine that. A lovely, modern, completely clean airport, BUT in Asia! Here is Judy with the LIVE flowers in the airport. She doesn't look tired at all after the 30 plus hours since we left Miami. A passer-by took a photo of both of us in the airport. I am wearing a new shirt because I cleaned up in the airport toilet room. I felt so much better with a shaven face, and I even took a kind of "sitz" bath in the sink and stuck my head under the faucet for a shampoo of sorts.

But, this was Asia and here is the living proof not only that we have gone into another culture, but that Singapore was a clean and "proper" county.

Enough said, right?

At 4:40 we took off in Singapore Airlines flight no. 946 for Denpasar, Bali. We would arrive finally after the long flight at 7:10 at night. What would we find? This was getting exciting! We were smiling and happy and relaxed and desperate to put our feet on real land and in Indonesia.