Singapore

When work (well, IWIRC and III) gives you your first opportunity to go to Asia, you jump at the chance to visit Singapore. And let’s be honest, seeing as how its on the other side of the world, I wasn’t going to just go for a 3-day conference (though some crazy people did (I’m looking at you Judge Gunn)). So I got to spend a week exploring this sweltering tropical city-state nation and business hub.

There’s a lot to tackle here so this is definitely going to be a multi-part series about Singapore.

So, where to begin? First, for all of you travel novices out there who don’t actually know where Singapore is, let me show you (spoiler alert, Dave had no idea until he looked at a map).

Here’s Singapore. Its in Southeast Asia just south of Thailand and Malaysia. Only a short 15,347 kilometers from New York.

First up was figuring out how to get to Singapore. Y’all know I am a loyal Delta Airlines customer, but to get to Singapore on Delta, it required a flight from JFK -> ICN and then ICN -> SIN. It was a cool 23 hour journey with a 42 minute layover in Seoul. Did you laugh reading that because I did when I was researching flights. I know international flights tend to be early but 42 minutes seemed to be cutting it a little close for the connection. Then, I learned III was offering discounts on Singapore Airlines given the number of people headed to Singapore from the U.S. (nothing crazy but hey, 10% off a $6k+ flight is real money). Bingo!

Plus, flying from JFK to SIN direct on Singapore Airlines meant I was going to get to experience the longest flight in the world. COOL. Who wouldn’t want to spend 19+ hours on a plane?! Business class, here I come. For the JFK to SIN direct flight - there were only 2 class options - business or premium economy. There were no suites and there was no steerage (coach).

So, Friday night I head to JFK for the 10pm flight. Singapore, here I come. See you early Sunday morning.

And I must say, Singapore Air is fancy (with the exception of the fact that it relies on the Air India Lounge at JFK (do not recommend - 1 out 10 stars) plus you leave smelling like bad curry. Ewwww). Otherwise, the entire flight experience on Singapore Air - flight, check in, the service, food (3 meals were served but you could order snacks anytime), flight attendants (they looked immaculate the entire flight. Serioulsy, how??), facilities, etc. were all top knotch. The business class seats were incredibly roomy and comfortable (@Delta Airlines pay attention). The only downsides were (1) the movies were all at least 20 years old and (2) the seats flip for the lay flat option so you need to have a flight attendant come help. But there were multiple pillows and blankets, so it was actually possible to sleep on the plane.

Fast forward to 6am Sunday morning and I arrive in Singapore. Clearing customs and immigration was very easy (you have to prefill out a form before you go through - but there are ipads set up just before customs). The entire process is automated, including being fingerprinted. My suitcase arrived in no time and I was in a cab headed into the city.

Since there was a group of us that planned to sightsee before the conference, we coordinated and all stayed at the same hotel - JW Marriott Singapore South Beach. I booked a long stay plan which included breakfast everyday at one of the onsite restaurants Beach Road, and it was the perfect home base in Singapore. The hotel was in a great location and very accessible. Rooms were small but more than functional for two people. The hotel was directly across the street from Raffles and a short walk to Chjimes and many other Singapore sites. The business center of the city was a roughly 7 minute cab ride away. Places like Marina Bay Sands and other landmarks were allegedly walkable - but it was too damn hot.

Did I mention the trip to Singapore was in June, pretty much the hottest month of the year in southeast Asia. Good thing I am from the south and can deal with humidity, because the humidity level was at 99.99% with a real feel of 100-110 pretty much the entire week. So, walking too far was out of the question.

View from the JW Marriott Singapore South Beach

Having survived the longest flight in the world and seeing as how it was 7am Sunday morning, I opted for a shower and then breakfast. I wanted to try my best to live a normal day to fight the jetlag and entirely flip my schedule given the 12 hour time difference. Honestly, this was the hardest part and was a total mind-fu*k when trying to keep up with what was going on in NY for the week.

I rarely do this, but I had also booked my hotel room for the night before I arrived so that I knew I would have a room to check into at 7am. It was totally worth the extra few hundred bucks - especially since I had no idea how I would feel after the flight. I had also booked myself a spa appointment for Sunday at 11am, so I had built in relaxation time before hitting the ground running for the rest of the week.

Turning to breakfast, it was the most ridiculous breakfast buffet I had ever seen! American, Asian, Indian, Noodles, dumplings, donuts, a walk in cooler full of fruit and yogurt and cheese - seriously anything your heart desired was available. And after the 19 hour flight, I think I just about tried 1 of everything!

I swear I took way more photos at breakfast but this is about 1/20 of what was available! And pretty much everything was better than these passion fruit donuts - they were so disappointing!

After breakfast, the spa and shower # 2 for the day, I headed out to meet friends and explore Singapore. First up, shopping at Ion Orchard - one the ridiculously fancy malls in Singapore!

Stay tuned for Part 2….