Another loooong day & a homecoming: ATH - SIN - SGN

5:30
Friggin alarm clock ! I want to SLEEP !

6:00
Lucky Thi Lan, she doesn't have to check out until 11:00 and while I am packing, she is back in bed SNORING, LOL.

Last glimpses of something ancient Greek in the morning sun

I am shocked.  Even with the prospect of being in SaiGon soon, I am NOT enthusiastic about leaving Athens.  I like it here. I like the company. These last few days were GREAT FUN.   
Of course, I'm not looking forward to the long flight either....

7:00
The remnants of the Moet & Chandon have put me in a more high-spirited alas also more tipsy mood.   I am now confident that I can handle anything that fate will throw at me .....

8:10 
It's time to leave.  To leave that comfy penthouse, to leave Athens, to leave a friend. 

Good thing the Metro station is literally just around the corner.

Check-in:
Amazing. Not only do I get an aisle seat for both flights, the fabulous counter woman manages to give me the SAME seat number for both flights !  In retrospect (5 minutes after getting my boarding pass): I should have taken the offer of upgrading to business class for 181 Euros.  That is a STEAL !  Maybe I still get the option in the plane? 

The security check is a breeze and Passport Control consists of a brief glance (that will change in Vietnam, LOL).

A star-lit walk to the Winston Smoking Lounge ;-)

I buy a sandwich, two cookies, and two tiny bottles of wine at the gate.  Surprisingly cheap and probably much cheaper than the stuff on the plane.  NO, food is NOT included in the ridiculously low ticket price !  CAD 360 for a 12 hour flight followed by a 2 hour flight?  THAT is CHEAP!

By now the earlier tiredness is back full blast. GOOD, I might sleep through a good portion of the flight.  

I walk into the plane and sit down in 14c (left side, aisle seat).  There are FOUR Centre ROWS entirely unoccupied to the right of me.  Boarding seems complete, so I sneak over and sit in the middle seat to block that row for stretched-out sleeping ;-)

And YES, that 'bed' consisting of 3 consecutive seats lets me miss quite a bit of the 12 hour flight ;-)

NO TV screens, NO iPads. To watch TV, I would have to have downloaded the airline app to my device in advance.  Ah Well.  I'll end up getting plane WiFi later.  50 MB for US 10.99.  I use 4 out of my 50 MB, close the computer to use the rest later, and later have to find out that you have to use it in one session because my streaming allotment expired and they want me to buy a new package.  Deutsche Telekom runs this service.

I can't believe how quickly I wolf down my Nasi Lemak, but the spices, the meat, the rice, the quail egg work VERY well together.  Two hours until Singapore.  I've never been there ... Not that I will actually enter the city....

4:20 FINALLY. We have landed at Changi.   Yes, even inside the airport, I am walking on Singapore soil.

A SMOKING LOUNGE.  How civilized.  Actually, before committing to this flight, I checked to MAKE SURE that the transfer terminal at Changi has smoking lounges.
The lounge is exposed to the outside air and it is 27 degrees ;-)  

No wonder because this is the closest I have EVER got to the EQUATOR.  I'm only 1.19 degrees north of the Equator 

4:30 am
Sitting in a Starbucks and sipping an Americano that  I managed to buy with the last 5 Singapore $ change from the plane.  I'm trying to get WiFi.  The airport system asks me for my cell phone number.  But my phone doesn't roam here ;-(

4:40
I'm getting my dick wet.  LOL. NO, not in that OTHER sense of the word.  I'm sitting on a toilet and the bloody thing doesn't wait for me to push the flush button. It wants to be a bidet?  The second time I know it's coming.  But still better than the stall at the end. The door has a sign:  Watch your step! Toilet pan ahead.  A squatter toilet !

my ride

5:05
still TWO hours to kill .....
They have WiFi password dispensing machines. It scans your passport and gives you an access code. So I get WiFi after all.  

another Nasi Lemak (take out in the airport)

7:05
Lift off
I spend my last Singapore Dollars on another wine in the plane.

As usual, and as befits the time of day, I fall asleep in the plane.
I wake up, and when I look out the window I catch myself humming THAT SONG AGAIN: "Hello Vietnam".

The line-up at the Visa-On-Arrival Counter is longer than I have EVER seen it.  Tourism to Vietnam is increasing, but so far the processing capacity of the visa office has not increased with the growing numbers.  That's OK, I had scheduled one hour for this stage before I even arrived.

I LOVE walking towards the 152 bus.   As soon as the conductor and driver see a person detach from the huge welcoming group at the Airport Exit and walk in the general direction of the bus, they start waving to direct the lonely wanderer towards the CHEAPEST mode of transport available.  Still only 5000 VND ;-)

I'm almost there:  Bui Vien Street.
Bun Cha 145 CLOSED ?  The whole street looks slightly different. NOT better ;-(  But the little grocery store across the alley still has white wine, even though it is only Dalat this time.  Another routine by now: Check into my hotel with a bottle of wine in my hand, LOL.

I walk into the hotel lobby, wondering whom I will see: Huyen, Chuong, Phuong?

It is Phuong. And she has a kettle for me!  

Time for a nap in "My Bed"