The Singapore Airport is Awesome

My layover between Siem Reap, Cambodia and Phuket, Thailand took me back to the magical place that is the Changi International Airport in Singapore. As you may recall, my last adventure here was after an excruciatingly painful flight, so I didn't really stop to smell the proverbial roses while I was here. This time around, however, I had plenty of time to explore all of the wonders that Changi had to offer.

Jargony marketing speak: yes. Still delicious: YES. And in
case you were wondering, yes, this is me showing
self-restraint when it comes to my ketchup intake.

It turns out Maslow really did know a thing or two about priorities, so my first stop was the food court. In my quest to eat at a McDonald's in every country I visit (even for just a layover), I was pleased to find one in the food court. Whenever possible, I like to try out the local flavors McDonald's has to offer, so naturally I ordered the Samurai burger with seaweed fries. (Side note, "Samurai": way harder to spell than you think.) Which ended up just a normal burger but with teriyaki sauce, and normal fries but instead of salt, they give you seaweed flakes. Which turns out to be really awesome, actually.

With that taken care of, I decided to take a stroll around the airport. This place is ridiculous. It should be a tourist destination in and of itself. As I continued to walk around, I came upon the Sunflower Garden, an outdoor garden that is everything it promises to be:

If only there was sun

Back inside the airport, I found... the coy pond?!

Note: Fish in pond may be larger than they appear.

Next on the agenda... the indoor butterfly park!

Apparently butterflies like pineapple. Unfortunately, evolution didn't
bestow them with any semblance of a natural ability to actually eat
pineapple on their own. How they survived all these millennia is a mystery
that still baffles entomologists to this day.

...with a built-in waterfall?!

I couldn't even make this stuff up if I wanted to.
Ok, I probably could, I'm a pretty good storyteller.
But you get the point.

And last but not least, the world's largest golf ball / control tower:

I'm pretty sure Zeus is still looking for his ball somewhere
near the Arabian Sea. Poor fool doesn't even know his
own strength.

Needless to say, this time around, Changi was a far better experience. No wonder it's won a heap of awards. Thanks, Singapore! Maybe I'll come back and see what else you have to offer someday.

The Longest Cab Ride Of My Life

Random river along the way

I said goodbye to ROR and left Fort Kochi around 10am today. I'm really glad I got to meet him. He was so welcoming, an awesome guy, and this definitely would have been a very different (and probably a more boring and shorter) trip to Fort Kochi.

I think this figurine was
supposed to protect us on
our journey. Guess it worked.

I called the same driver who brought me to my hostel from the airport my first day in Fort Kochi. It's about a 175 km drive to Thekkady. I decided to sit in the front seat for the drive. I chatted with the driver for a bit. He's been doing taxi work in one form or another for a long, long time. He also used to work on a U.S. army base in Iraq driving a forklift back in the day, so he knows a handful of people in the U.S.

Not the prettiest waterfall in the world

It was raining for most of the drive. We stopped once for tea. I've been drinking a lot more tea than usual in India. I guess that's probably not a surprise. Along the way we also passed by a mini waterfall! I also saw my first tea plantation. It was huuuuuge. Endless acres of very short trees covering rolling hills.

Stubby trees as far as the eye can tea

View of the courtyard from my room. Gorgeous!

We got pretty close to my hotel but couldn't find it, so I had my driver call the place. They sent two guys on a motorcycle who showed up 10 minutes later and guided us to the rest of the way. My trip ended up being about six hours long. Total cost? About 75 bucks. Cray-tea!

Caught this handsome devil in my mirror

It was still raining when I got there. I was blown away when I walked into the courtyard of my hotel. It was beautiful. The nicest place I've stayed in yet. When I got there, they said they had been waiting for me, and even called the website I used to book my stay there to see when I was coming! I had a sneaking suspicion, which I later confirmed, that they haven't had a guest in a while because it's the low season, so they were probably all too happy to have me there. The head of the staff seems to be a woman named FA. She's probably in her mid-30s and wears traditional Muslim garb. There are three other people on staff, two guys who look to be about 16 years old and an older guy who is probably in his late 20s/early 30s.

I got to my room on the second floor and it was huge. And had one of those cool birdcage seats hanging from ceiling. I was really excited to be able to relax for a bit. They even brought me tea! This is going to be a good stay.

CONTINUE ON to Thekkady Part 2: And Then I Went To The Hospital